#WAS gonna cut my losses and finish this up tomorrow

[dirtbagcore]

Saiki K + M!IK crossover AU!!!

posting my demon!kusuo design for saiki k week 2024 day one: swap AUs!!!! ((cause species swap counts right? lolol)) thanks @idance2silence / @saiki-k-week for organising!

btw i do have a fic for this AU started, but idk when im gonna get around to finishing it soz :') we'll see!

∠※。.:*:・'°☆.。o○★*☆♪ﾟ.+:｡

closeups/art style reference under the cut :3

[kumkaniudaku]

Stay A While (4)

Summary: A storm in Shelby Springs threatens to take away everything Terry loves.

Pairing: Terry Richmond x Black!OC

Word Count: 4,131

Part: 4 of 5

Warnings: Mentions of violence.

Chapters: One. Two. Three

The past was a funny thing. 

In an instant, all of the promise and joy of tomorrow could be snatched away, ruined by the sins of yesterday no matter how deep they were buried in the Earth. 

When Terry limped away from Shelby Springs just before the heat of Summer could settle into the air, he expected to be gone for good. He’d taken his bruises like a man and cut his losses, never to speak of the horror he’d experienced at the brink of death. Horrors that flashed through his mind as he sat with his back aching in a wooden chair at Summer McBride’s kitchen table. 

Soft humming by the stove kept him tethered to reality though the present conversation had long turned into background murmurs. Summer sat opposite him, smart tablet in hand, as she scrolled through documents and videos sorted in a digital folder labeled evidence. 

“They didn’t delete every video. The especially heinous ones, they kept on a separate drive for blackmail if they didn’t get what they wanted. Mike’s in here.” No answer. Terry maintained his focus on the wallpaper just past her head, not blinking. “D’you hear me, Terry? Terry?” 

Still no answer. Summer peeled her concerned gaze from his face and directed it toward Patrice as she started to step closer. Patrice offered her an apologetic smile and touched Terry’s back to rub slow, soothing circles. He stiffened at her touch before picking a new spot in the room for his undivided attention.

“TJ, if you don’t wanna see the video, we understand. Right, Summer?” 

Summer nodded though she disagreed. “Right. But, you gotta know they might show this one in court tomorrow. I’d rather you be prepared now.” 

“It’s your call. Say the word and we’ll stop right here.”  

Patrice punctuated her statement with a kiss atop Terry’s head before draping her arms over his shoulders. 

He sighed and reached across his body for her hand. “How bad is it?” 

Once again, Summer looked to Patrice for guidance. A nod gave her permission to tell the truth. 

“Not life threatenin’ but…pretty bad.” 

“Play it. I’ll tell you when to stop.” 

With trepidation, Summer pressed play on the video and slid the tablet across the table. 

Terry and Patrice watched the last known footage of Mike as he encountered officers Marston and Lann. What started as a traffic stop with Mike as the passenger devolved into a brutal beating. Each blow to his body felt like a gut punch to Terry as he watched, tears welling up in his waterline. 

“Oh my God,” Patrice whispered to herself. “Maybe we should stop right here.” 

Terry shook his head and clenched his jaw, his eyes never leaving the screen. “No. Let it finish.” 

Watching the beating in its entirety became his self-inflicted punishment. He should’ve been there to protect his baby cousin. The least he could do, in his mind, was experience a fraction of the pain Mike was subjected to, even if it made him sick to his stomach. 

The video ended abruptly with no resolution outside of Mike being cuffed and thrown in the back of a cruiser like a wild animal. Patrice gripped Terry a little tighter, nuzzling her nose into the crook of his neck just as a tear slid down his cheek. Summer sat across the table with her head bowed in silent prayer. 

Sniffling and the rhythmic tick, tick, tick of a wall clock were the only sounds in the room, leaving space for shared grief among the unlikely group of vigilantes. 

After some time, Terry swiped at his face to rid himself of the evidence of his sadness and forced out his question in a hoarse voice. “So what’s next? What do I gotta do to make these motherfuckers pay?” 

“Just tell your story. The defense is gonna antagonize you. They’ll try to make you confused, get you turned around and caught up in a lie, but you can’t let ‘em. Edwin Carter’s on the prosecution and he owes me a favor so, he’ll handle your prep. He should be here soon if you’re feeling up to it.” 

Terry mulled over the thought of rigorous back and forth before looking to Patrice for her opinion. “What you think, Treece?” 

“I think that every one of these pieces of shit should rot in hell. If you wanna fight, let’s fight. But as soon as it’s too much, we’ll pack up the truck and go home. No explanation needed. Fuck ‘em. No offense, Summer.” 

“Understandable. None taken.” 

“Fuck ‘em,” he parroted, chuckling at the sound of his sweet girl cursing like a hardened criminal. He looked at Summer who waited expectantly for an answer as he slid the tablet back to her. “Tell me about Carter. You think he’s in this like we are?” 

“I know he is. He’s got a vested interest in seeing Burne and that whole department crumble. Been on his heels for years. This was just the right time to bring the hammer down. He’ll take care of you.” 

“Then we’ll take care of him,” Patrice interjected. “You think he’d be down for a hot meal?” 

“If he ain’t, I sure as hell am. I haven’t cooked in here in ages.” 

“Come grab as much as you’d like. TJ, I’ll make your plate.” 

A kiss on the forehead was Patrice’s way of exiting the conversation to busy herself with dinner preparation, leaving Summer and Terry at the table alone. Summer watched him reckon with his decision and cleared her throat for his attention as she stood. 

“She’s good for you. Don’t screw it up. Take it from me.” 

Don’t screw it up.

The simple sentence sat with Terry through his half-eaten dinner and grueling trial prep with Edwin once he arrived. For hours they meticulously picked through Terry’s story, poking holes to simulate the courtroom and inducing stress to ensure that he was prepared. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. His throat burned from repeating the same words over and over and over until they were seared into his brain. He left that house in the middle of nowhere emotionally exhausted and nearly regretting his decision to answer Summer’s call to action.

Terry’s chest had grown tight with anxiety that followed him back to their cramped hotel room on the outskirts of town in what Summer considered a safe zone for him and Patrice. 

The amber glow underneath the bathroom door was the only light in the room. It was barely visible as he lay on his back and stared at the ceiling listening to the sound of running water while Patrice brushed her teeth. Mike’s video played in his head on a demented loop. Every scream and crack of their fists against his flesh was magnified in the theater of his mind. He was a man tormented with no end in sight. 

He didn’t hear when Patrice shut off the water or when she called his name to see if he was awake. He only felt the empty spot beside him dip as she climbed into bed. She cozied up next to him without speaking, throwing her leg across his waist and laying her head on his chest once he’d opened his arm to welcome her presence. 

“I thought you were asleep,” she whispered in the dark. 

“Not yet. Was waiting on you.” 

“That’s sweet.” 

His chest rose and fell quickly with his chuckle. The feeling made her smile in the dark though he couldn’t see. 

They lay in silence for several minutes, both of them listening to the other breathe as a soundtrack to the night. Patrice felt herself dozing off until Terry’s deep voice cut through the still air. 

“I’m scared, Treece.” 

She didn’t hesitate to answer. “Yeah? You wanna talk about it.” 

“Not really. Can you just…talk? About anything. I need to hear your voice.” 

“Of course, baby.” Patrice nestled closer to Terry, earning a tight hug as a wordless thank you for her understanding. “Sometimes I think about the first time we met. I’d heard about you from some of the girls in homeroom, but they made you sound like some random dickhead on the football team. But you were so sweet. And that smile, God that smile. I’d never seen anything like it. I still haven’t.” 

“What’d you think about me then?” 

Patrice sighed from the sweet memory. “I thought you were special because you were kind and smart even though your friends weren’t. I thought you were too skinny to be so tall, too. You looked like you hadn’t grown into your body yet.” 

Terry chuckled. He vividly remembered spending hours in their garage gym each week desperately trying to bulk up so that he could shed the gangly giant image that had followed him from middle to high school. 

“What do you think about me now?” 

Running her fingers along his arm, Patrice stopped at the gunshot wound on his shoulder. She traced the raised scar before sliding her hand back down to lace her fingers with his. 

“I think you’re beautiful inside and out. I think that in every single galaxy, you’re my person. And, even if there’s one where you’re not, I’d still spend my whole life searching for you because your absence would leave me feeling empty inside.”

In the pitch-black room, they searched for each other, desperate to share their affection. Their tongues danced a beautiful waltz together in lockstep. The subtle smack of lips joining and separating raised the hair on the back of Terry’s neck as he fought to restrain himself. Not here. Not now. Not before he had the opportunity to do right by her and make their union official in some grand gesture he hadn’t nailed down the plan for just yet. 

He owed her more than rushed sex in a low-rank hotel on the eve of what could be a life-changing moment for them. 

Sensing his reluctance, Patrice abandoned her thoughts of straddling his waist and pulled away from the kiss to take a breath. Terry gently rolled them over beneath the sheets to act as the big spoon in their equation. 

“I love you. So much,” he whispered in her ear, this time making sure that she heard every syllable. 

Patrice lifted her head to look over her shoulder and kissed his bottom lip. “I heard you the first time. I love you. I’ll always love you.” 

“Marry me.” 

Patrice’s giggle soon turned into full on laughter, prompting Terry to join in despite his simple statement not being intended as a joke. She settled in and began lulling herself to sleep by dragging her finger along the outline of his Bad Brains tattoo that she’d committed to memory. 

“One day, maybe.” 

Unfortunately, sleep never came for Terry. He spent the entire night listening to the soft snoring Patrice swore didn’t exist and thinking through every scenario for the hours ahead. If they were quick, they could skip town and leave all of this shit behind. Maybe they could settle somewhere like Detroit or Chicago. She’d get a new job as a teacher and he could find work doing anything as long as she was happy. She’d never go for that convoluted plan, but it was a good enough distraction from his reality. 

In the morning, when the sun was high and the earthy aroma of a midnight rain had settled over the city, Patrice and Terry stood hand in hand in front of the courthouse with Summer by their side. 

It was now or never and, on the last day of testimonies, now was the only option. 

Patrice sat with the rest of the spectators beside Summer, her eyes trained on Terry as he fidgeted with his tie on the witness stand. Chief Burne sat beside his attorney with a smug grin plastered on his weathered face. He was convinced that every minute of this trial was a farce. Soon a jury of his peers would find him not guilty of crimes he surely committed and he could get on with the status quo. This wasn’t his first rodeo. The system was made for men like him. 

Without a word, the defense attorney stood up and started toward Terry. He pretended to clean his glasses before speaking, adding flare to his one-man show. 

“Terrence. Or do you prefer Terry?” 

“Terrence, please.” 

“Right.” the attorney responded with a curt smile. “Terrence, shall we begin?” 

A rhetorical question. There was no way out. 

For what felt like an eternity, Terry was subjected to question after question regarding his whereabouts, his training, his motives, and why the twelve people sitting on his left should believe that the Shelby Springs police department was a corrupt organization headed by a man intent on defrauding citizens from here to Atlanta out of their hard-earned money. 

Sweat pooled under his arms like the remnants of a monsoon. His heart raced with every thinly veiled accusation. His cuticles were nearly picked raw from his nervous scratching. He felt nauseous, highly irritable, and alone with every face in the room seeming to frown back at him like he was the one on trial for countless atrocities. 

In the sea of adversaries, Patrice kept her gaze sympathetic in hopes that he would take her expression as a life raft in a raging storm. 

Closing arguments came after a short recess, leaving Chief Burne’s fate and serval victim’s justice in the hands of twelve strangers randomly selected to balance metaphorical scales of guilt and innocence.

The wait was unbearable and energy draining. So much so that he couldn’t find the wherewithal to engage with Patrice over dinner at a local diner while she gushed over the quality of their evening special. 

“Getting solid Nashville hot chicken outside of Nashville is like a miracle. We should play the lotto tonight too.” Terry acknowledged her excitement with a quick half smile, barely looking away from the window he was resting against. Patrice persisted. “How’s your food?”

“It’s, uh, it’s good. Solid steak. Potatoes could’ve been cooked longer, I guess.” 

“Want me to send it back,” she asked, preparing to flag down the young waitress servicing them for the night. 

Terry declined and pushed his food around the plate. “I’m not even hungry. We can box it up for you to eat in the morning.” 

“Alright. Well, how’s football going? Anything new?” 

“Nope. Teenage boys still smell like sweat and weed 24/7. If they don’t tighten up, they can kiss that dream of a state championship goodbye.” 

“That’s why they have you, Drill Sergeant. Whip ‘em into shape.” 

“I don’t really have the energy for all that these days.” 

Solem silence settled over the pair as Patrice studied his tired, sunken eyes and sagging shoulders. He looked defeated and for good reason. If she could hand him a win on a platter, she’d spare no expense and sacrifice anything to make it happen just to see him smile again. 

A quiet sigh escaped past her lips before she rested her fork across her plate. “I’m gonna run to the restroom then we can get out of here, okay?”

He didn’t answer or look her in the eyes to signal that he’d heard anything she said and she didn’t push him despite feeling completely disregarded. 

Half of him wanted to chase behind her and drop to his knees in a dramatic apology. Hurting her was never his intention, but the weight of the world was crushing him relentlessly. 

Footsteps approaching the table moments later made him take a deep breath in preparation for an apology or paying the bill. The opportunity never came. 

Instead, he found himself face to face with Sandy Burne and that devilish grin he’d grown to despise. 

“Terry Richmond. We meet again and, somehow, under even worse circumstances. Enjoying your last meal before things get real bad?” 

“We can test how bad they can get if you’re feeling ambitious tonight. I got some gas left in the tank from the last time we saw each other.” 

Sandy chuckled and widened his stance. “Better save it, son. You’re not too far out of Shelby to avoid consequences and repercussions should things escalate the way they did before.” 

“Is that a threat?” 

“I never make threats. I write checks that me and my men cash. Ask Mike.”

Terry could feel his heart rate reaching dangerous levels. He wanted to cause physical harm, break limbs, step on throats - anything to inflict pain on an everpresent thorn in his side. 

Burne relished the opportunity to make him uncomfortable. He took note of Terry’s fingers curling into a fist against the table as he stared straight ahead. “Ooh, are we upset? We could take things to the parking lot if you’re feeling ambitious.” 

Impulse control had faded where the need for violent retribution stepped in. Common sense was out the door. Terry’s eyes darted between the entrance and the small group of men that had formed outside the window awaiting his next move. He sized them up, ranking them from the least to the greatest threat, and made his decision. 

He began to move out of the booth. 

“Sandy fuckin’ Burne, you peckerwood son of a bitch. To what do we owe the displeasure of seeing your worn out, leathery face up close? Zoo couldn’t hold you?” 

Patrice stepped closer, her tone deceivingly jovial though she meant every word as a targeted insult.

Sandy took a step back to let her pass as she headed back to her seat across from Terry. He scoffed at the idea that she could speak to him with no regard for his position in society. 

“I’m sorry, have we met?” 

“Oh, God no! I don’t frolic with terrorists or walk in lockstep with the wicked. You’re a God-fearing man, right?” 

“I am.”

“Good. You should be. Because your time is coming, Sandy Burne. I’m sure of it.”

“What are you trying to say?” 

Patrice looked him up and down, her eyes briefly stopping at the light right spot around his left ring finger where a wedding band presumably once sat. She smiled and flickered her gaze back up to his face screwed in a scowl. 

“Nothing your wife hadn’t already said when she left your sorry ass for somebody with a functioning brain and half-decent dick. Kathy was her name, right? I bet she doesn’t even think of you anymore. But she and her lawyer would be glad to hear that you’re carrying around that pistol off duty. It’d be enough to keep you from those sweet girls for good, wouldn’t it?” 

Shock came first on Burne’s face. His mouth hung open in clear confusion before he recovered with a steely glare. His hand twitched on the handle of his gun in apparent anger. Terry pulled his bottom lip into his mouth in anticipation of the inevitable. If he moved quickly, he could disarm him, take the beating that was sure to follow, and end up in a holding cell for the weekend to save Patrice from danger. 

She, however, wasn’t the least bit concerned. She had dealt with men like Sandy Burne before. And, if she knew his type like she thought he did, he only purported a willingness to utilize real violence to get ahead. In reality, he was a man desperate for power in the most sneaky, backhanded way possible.

She kept a poker face, staring at Sandy with the same force he showed to her until he slowly pulled his hand off his weapon and tapped his fingers on the table. 

“When all of this is over and I’m back at my desk, take your gal and get out of my town, son. Don’t come back unless you are personally invited by the mayor himself. And even then think twice. I’ve given you two too many chances. Three times and both of you are out.” 

Burne didn’t leave room for additional conversation. He scanned Patrice’s face a final time to commit it to memory just in case she followed through on her thinly veiled promise to expose him to his ex-wife’s divorce attorney. He wanted to capture a mental picture of the executioner committed to destroying his life piece by piece if he made a false move. 

A final curt smile was all he left behind before exiting the same way he came and taking his cast of bandits with him. Both Terry and Patrice watched until they were clear of the parking lot and gone into the night to speak. 

“Let’s make sure we’re packed and ready to go first thing in the morning. Don’t leave anything up to chance.” Terry instructed, pulling out his wallet to toss enough money on the table to cover the bill and tip. “How did you know that about his wife?” 

“Edwin Carter is good people.” 

Terry didn’t need further explanation. The less he knew, the better. 

What he did need was a morsel of Patrice’s optimism that she tried to share once they returned to their hotel room. 

“Look. If things don’t go our way here, I need you to leave without me. Go home, grab as much as you can, then go stay with your parents or my parents. It won’t be safe for you to live alone.” 

“Everything will be fine. Get some sleep.”

The conversation came back to him as they filed into the courtroom with the surprising news of a decision. Days of no rest had left him weary and something like a warm zombie with vacant eyes and trembling hands. 

According to Edwin, reaching a verdict this soon in a case that was rushed to this degree was unusual. He didn’t know what to make of the timeline. He could only hope for the best. 

Apprehensive chatter in the room ceased once the judge stepped out of her chambers and approached the bench. Everyone stood in reverence at the behest of the bailiff before quickly settling in silence. 

The judge adjusted in her seat and then addressed the crowd. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to remind you that once the verdict is read, there should be no outbursts. Please ensure that you maintain proper courtroom etiquette and remain seated until the jury has exited the room. If we’re all on the same page, has the jury reached a verdict?” 

“Yes, Your Honor,” the foreperson answered, standing with the decision in his hand. The judge gestured for him to continue. 

Terry gripped Patrice’s hand, unknowingly holding his breath in preparation for the worst. Summer bowed her head again in prayer. Patrice closed her eyes and tilted her head toward heaven. 

Count 1: Guilty. Count 2: Guilty. Count 3: Guilty. 

Guilty down the line. Each alleged crime culminated in the same result. Justice seemingly served. A criminal enabled by a corrupt system was finally stripped of power and forced to convene with the very people he’d helped put away. 

A whirlwind of handcuffs, shouting, and a struggle sent Sandy Burne to his next destination and the trio outside the courthouse onto the steps to celebrate an unexpected triumph. 

They exchanged hugs and happy tears until the crowd had cleared and they were the only three left in the area. 

Summer extended her hand toward Terry for a shake. “It’s been a pleasure working with you, Terry. I’ll text you something profound every once in a while if that’s okay.” 

“Of course. Take care, Summer. Keep me updated on your girl.” 

“You got it.” She turned to Patrice who rejected the handshake and pulled her in for a warm embrace. They rocked side to side, squeezing tighter. “I appreciate your help. And your cookin’.” 

“Come by the house any time, you hear? There’s always a spot for you at our table.” 

One more squeeze was their silent signal to let go and say another goodbye before Terry and Patrice were left standing alone. 

Terry looked out into the distance, a smile ghosting at the corner of his full lips. Optimism. 

“You ready to get out of here? I think we could get to Atlanta by the evening and stay overnight if we book it.”

“What if we didn’t go home,” he asked. His head turned to get a look at Patrice’s confused expression. She searched his bright eyes for hints at his end goal. 

“I’m due back at work in a few days, Terry. Break is almost over.”

“I’ll have you back before then. Let’s celebrate first, though. I know the perfect place. You trust me?” 

Patrice took a deep breath and nodded. “You know I do.” 

“Good. Then let’s go.” 

TAGS: @planetblaque @wvsspoppin @thatone-girly @avoidthings @slutsareteacherstoo @eilujion @amyhennessyhouse @yaachtynoboat711 @jenlovey @pinkpantheris @blowmymbackout @onherereading @hrlzy @becauseimswagman1 @thiccc-c @urfavblackbimbo

[equallyshaw]

that one hurt | trevor zegras

zegras x oc hughes.

warnings: angsty, swearing, self doubt, and self belittling in a way. but, sweet ending (:

word count: 2.1k (longer than i anticipated lol)

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

molly hughes, older twin sister to jack, glared at trevor as soon as he walked in and slammed the front door. trevor did not acknowledge her after the loss that evening between them and dallas stars. she crossed her arms as she leaned against the kitchen counter, watching as he walked right past her and to their bedroom. she sighed, cleaning up the rest of the kitchen after baking some cookies and heard trevor walk back in. he was going on and on about a harmless habit she did, "how many times do i have to fucking tell you about this shit? huh?! jesus fucking christ." he screamed at the girl. she froze in her spot, as trevor grabbed his keys from the counter and slammed the front door again. her hands quickly covered her mouth, as she let out a sob. she'd never been yelled at like that before, in her entire life. she'd made sure she was always in peoples good graces and always put the needs of others before her own needs and wants. she felt betrayed and felt as if her whole being had been stripped.

she quickly made her way over to the bedroom and grabbed a bag, throwing clothes and a bag of toiletries in there. she had one place she wanted to be and one place only.

-

molly pulled up to the townhouse alex had gotten in santa monica, and she saw alex sitting on the front step waiting for her. he stood up as she turned off the car, meeting her to grab her bag and give her a hug. he rubbed her back softly, as she cried into his shoulder. alex looked to molly as a sister and was beyond pissed at trevor, and was ready to tear him a new one if one of her brothers hadn't already gotten to him yet. alex took the bag from the back seat and let her walk inside first. "im-im sorry for just barging in like this, al. i didn't know where else to go." she said sighing as she made her way to the kitchen. "don't mention it molls, you're family. im always gonna be here for you." he said smiling and pulling her in for another hug. he kissed the top of her head, as she calmed down a bit more. "did you tell your brothers?" he asked softly and he felt her shake her head. "nah...you know one of them would be flying out here even if they have practice or a game tomorrow.." she said giggling just a bit. alex knew that to be true. "well good thing i dont have work tomorrow so lets make some pizza and watch the office?" he grinned, pulling back and heading to the freezer. "frozen pizza session? dont have to ask me twice." she hummed preheating the over and taking out two pans. the two worked in unision, opening the pizzas and placing them on the cooking sheets to go in. "do you have any seltzers?" she quesitoned opening the fridge and saw her favorite brand, "oh would you lookey here." she grinned taking it out and opening it. "its like you knew i was coming." she hummed chugging just a bit. "well if i didnt have it, we all know youd chop my head off." and she saluted him with a knowing smile.

the two spent the night watching the office and finished off both pizzas and molly with a few seltzers. the two passed out on the couch for what seemed like hours before molly awoke to her phone ringing with her brothers contact popping up. "hello?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes and seeing the sun begin to rise. "oh thank god you're ok!" jack said rubbing his tired eyes and molly heard luke sigh in the background. she looked over at alex who was sound asleep and she headed over towards the first floor powder room. she turned on the light, chuckling to herself as she saw just a tiny bit of tomato sauce on her chin. "wanna tell me why you turned off your 360 location missy?" jack demanded and molly rolled her eyes. "you have us worried sick - not to mention mom and dad calling us at 2 am asking if we had heard anything and then you've got trevor als-" she cut him off, "oh he was worried as to where i was? im sure he could give two shits jack." she said pinching the bridge of her nose and sitting down on the covered toilet. "whats that supposed to mean?" he asked taken back a bit, "maybe you should call your so called bestie back and asked what he said to me last night and see if you can put the pieces together as to why i turned my location off and left the house." she spat, and heard jack whispering to luke to call him. "he said something that really hurt me jacky and i-i had to leave. im with alex, im ok. i proimse, im just very upset with trev." she said softly, her lip quivering. "oh lovey, im sorry. what did he say? just so i know what to scream at him." he added the last part, causing her to giggle just a bit. "um-- its stupid." she hummed, trying to downplay the situation. "lovey it cant be that stupid if it made you turn off your location so nobody could find you and it cant be that stupid if it made you go stay with alex. just tell us molls." luke said butting in and molly sighed.

"i just have a weird habit and i knew trevor was in a bad mood and i did it anyways and so its my fault that he blew up at me. its my fault he screamed at me." she said feeling a few tears fall out. "he yelled at you?" jack said in disbelief. trevor didn't have a bad bone in his body, when it came to molly. he looked at her as if she hung the stars and the moon, and never had any inkling to hurt her. "that son of a bitch." jack breathed as he took lukes phone from him and marched into his bedroom. "there is no reason why he should have yelled at you loves. none. i don't care if he was angry or upset at the game, he shouldn't have screamed at you. don't make yourself feel as if it was your fault. we all have our habits, and knowing you its a dumb one and one that did not warrant his outburst." luke said trying to comfort his sister. molly nodded, "thanks lukey. its just, nobodys ever yelled at me before like that." she whispered and luke's heart broke. he knew how sensitive she was and how hard she worked to make sure nobody ever got upset with her. "damn he's really going in on trev right now." luke said hearing the shouting coming from jack's room. "oh lovely, well im gonna go back to sleep. its 5 am luke, yall are nuts for calling me." she giggled and luke chuckled. "goodnight lovey, sleep tight." and she thanked him.

-

it was around 11 am when alex and molly heard a knock on the front door, and mollys eyebrows crinkled. she sipped her coffee, before digging back into her sandwich while alex went to go see who it was. "seriously?" she heard alex's lack luster enthusiasm, "i know shes here. i want to see her." she heard trevors familiar and ever recognizable voice. "listen man, i dont really feel like yelling at you right now so please just leave." alex said and trevor wouldn't budge. "the three of them have already screamed at me and picked me apart for the better part of the morning. please, i dont need anyone else to add to that." trevor said with a hint of exhaustion in his voice. molly sighed, walking towards the front door and stood next to alex, "its fine al." and alex nodded and eyed trevor before he walked back into the kitchen. "outside. now." she said pulling the door shut behind her. "what the fuck do you want trevor?" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. she saw his under eyes darker and exhaustion in his eyes, and the look of pure regret and guilt written across his features. "im so sorry molls, i really am. there is no excuse for what i said or did and especially me leaving. i shouldn't have left and i shouldn't have said what i said. you know that i didn't mean it lovey, please. tell me what i can do to get your forgiveness?" he asked pulling her in close by the hips. "first off, you can take your hands off of me." she said pulling them off of her, "and secondly, you can leave. im not ready to speak to you yet. you hurt me trev, that one hurt. especially since you know its the most harmless habit of mine." she said setting her boundary.

trevor knew it would be hard to get her forgiveness, but he was also happy that she was setting boundaries because he knew that her being her, it was hard to do. even though it hurt him, he understood why she was. "nobody has ever yelled at me like that before. and i will not allow it to become a norm in it either." she said taking a step back. "so please, just go. ill talk to you when im ready." she said and trevor nodded softly, a lump forming in his throat. "alright lovey." he said taking a step in front of her, and placing a soft kiss on her temple. "ill be at home waiting." he said looking into her green eyes, and she nodded watching him leave.

-

it was two days later and alex was off for a small road trip, so as molly hugged alex goodbye she decided she did not want to be alone and lonely in the house. she cursed herself at 'caving' quicker than she liked but trevor was also her person, she missed him. over the past 48 hours she thought about the situation, thought about what she wanted to say to him and she ran it over with alex who supported her wholeheartedly. she drove down from santa monica to newport, and savored the hour and a half driving down the coast with some alred's coffee. she pulled up around 2:30 in the afternoon and saw trevor outside with jamie, pulling their surfboards off of trevors car. good, molly thought. hopefully a surfing session did some good and helped him refocus. jamie smiled widely as trevor walked passed him, once he saw molly's car pull in front of the townhouse. trevor turned around to shut his car door and saw molly's car parked, and quickly made his way over towards it. "molls?" he called out and molly rounded the back of the car, coming face to face with the hockey player. shes smiled sweetly and then waved towards jamie, who just like trevor still had their wetsuits on. "ill be inside, im gonna go get settled." she said softly to trevor as she walked passed. "call me later if you wanna get dinner." jamie said to trevor and trevor nodded and jamie left. the hockey player quickly jogged inside, looking for molly.

she stood in the doorway of their bedroom, cream hydrangeas in a crystal vase sat tall on her bedside table. a new joan malone candle stood in front of it, and saw a small card with them as well. she smiled softly, walking over towards it setting her bag on the bed. she opened it, and sat down on the bed. the letter contained everything that trevor could never get out on his own, the letter explained everything that he wanted to say but knew he'd be too flustered to say it correctly and in the way he envisioned. trevor paused at the door and saw that she was reading the letter he had written once he'd gotten back from santa monica. molly's lip quivered, and she looked up towards trevor. he quickly found himself kneeling in front of her, grabbing hands that reached out for him. "youre not losing me trev, i promise you that. i love you way too much trev, youre pretty much stuck with me for life." she hummed, giggling a bit. he smiled widely pulling her in for a kiss. his hands softly grasped her cheeks, pulling her closer. after a few seconds, they pulled apart before going in for more.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

hope you all enjoyed! if you did, please like and reblog -- i appreciate it (:

random tags: @zegrasworld @hugheshugs @itsnotgray @slafgoalskybaby @zegrasbabyyy

[storiesoflilies]

school bus love (5)

synopsis: it’s high time to throw caution to the wind, don’t you think?

pairing: teen!toji fushiguro x teen!f!reader

warnings: none.

a/n: i just wanted to say that I absolutely adore all the comments saying this drabble series is making you nostalgic. besides me telling you all a bit about myself, the main goal really was to create a slice of life piece that makes people reminisce their school days xo

part 4

today was momentous.

freedom was teasing her, dangling sweet summer fruits and the smell of sea salt in front of her. she gritted her teeth, her wrist aching as she frantically wrote the final few sentences of her last question. the clock was ticking, and it would all be over soon.

three.

two.

one…

“that’s it, everyone! time’s up!”

she had never packed up her things so fast in her life, practically shoving her way through the throng of students gathering outside the exam hall. all she could think about was feeling the warm sun on her skin and seeing the patches of blue between the jagged white clouds. today marked the final exam she had to sit, and she was now completely free for the summer.

in a exactly a week’s time, she would be sunning herself on the beach, swimming through crystal-clear waters, and snacking on crunchy slices of watermelon in the shade of palm trees with her best friends. in a week’s time, she would be back home for a whole month, a prospect that should make her buzz with excitement, if not for the nagging reminder of just one thing.

she wouldn’t be seeing toji.

they’d had a handful of conversations over the past three weeks, but nothing more had progressed. she still wasn’t sure if he really liked her, and she was starting to become convinced that she had to cut her losses. it was becoming exhausting overanalyzing toji’s every word, trying to decipher any hidden meanings in his messages and figuring out times when he might have been glancing at her too.

the chase was quite boring without much progress to show for it, and it was a hard pill to swallow that toji probably just wasn’t into her the way she wanted him to be.

she put her headphones and tuned out the world – and all thoughts of toji – attempting to bask in the sheer relief of having finished her exams, which had all gone relatively well. later that night, after pampering herself with an extra self-care routine in the shower, she called her friends for a celebratory gaming session. naturally, she aired out her frustrations about her gorgeous boy.

“i’m just worried the conversation is gonna completely fizzle out, ya know?” she ranted, rapidly clicking her mouse buttons. “it’s not like we’ll be on the bus together anymore.”

“oh my god, girl. i literally agree with your mom,” asa suddenly snapped, taking her aback in shock. “why don’t you just ask him on a date right now?”

“r-right now?” she sputtered. “i can’t do that.”

“why not? if he says no, then you’ll know if he doesn’t like you, and you can move on,” morgoth hummed, a rare voice of reason for once.

that was a whole lot easier said than done.

could she even do something so bold? she doubted she was courageous enough for something like that, and she was still clinging to her little girl dream of being asked out by a boy on her first date. her heart started to pound as it battled with her mind, her soul watching the back and forth she was having within herself.

suddenly, a thread snapped, and the raging waves stilled as if nothing had ever happened.

fuck it.

she left the game, earning cries of protest and anger from her friends, and whipped open her notes app on her phone. if she thought too much, she would chicken out and change her mind. after typing a dozen variations of how she was going to phrase the message, she finally settled on one and quickly copied and pasted it into their snapchat conversation.

hey toji, are you free by any chance to hang out tomorrow? x

and hit send.

oh…

she hit send.

she.

hit.

send.

“holy fucking shit,” she whispered incredulously, a sense of dread spreading from her head to her toes.

morgoth grunted, “what happened now?”

“i just asked toji out on a date tomorrow,” she replied, voice cracking with electric nerves.

her friends both sputtered and coughed at the same time. “fuck off, no you didn’t,” asa said, obviously shell-shocked with a hint of excitement. “tomorrow?!”

“what do you mean ‘fuck off’?! you told me to do it,” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and rocking back and forth on her bed.

“hah! well, what did you say?”

“i just asked him if he wanted to hang out tomorrow, and i put an ‘x’ at end to kind of… i don’t know, flirt i guess?”

her friends both cackled, and heat rose to her chest and face.

toji fushiguro is typing…

she gasped, more so screamed, “guys, fuck! oh my god, oh my god! he’s typing.”

“that was quick,” commented morgoth under his breath.

toji fushiguro has sent you a chat!

another shrill gasp. “guys, he replied!”

“leave it!” asa giggled, his giddiness infectious and making her laughter bubble out of her chest. “don’t be a desperate bitch.”

“fuck you, he replied quick! I’m not gonna just sit here and wait.”

toji fushiguro: yeah should be free for a bit tomorrow, when were you thinking?

oh my.

oh my…

“what’s he saying, huh?” asa giggled again.

“something good, i guess. her breathing suddenly got quicker,” morgoth chuckled, his laughter reverberating through his microphone.

hmm not sure haha, whenever you’re free i guess, i’m free all day tomorrow

play it cool. play it cool, goddamn it.

toji fushiguro: yeah, what about some time in the afternoon sure?

yeah sweet, does 4 sound okay or is that too late?

toji fushiguro: yeah 4 should be sweet, sounds good

aight, where do you wanna go? i still don’t know the good places to go to lmao

toji fushiguro: tbh i have no idea, sure like let’s just see when we meet up what you’re feeling

“hehe, guys, he says it’s up to what i’m feeling.”

ahaha ok then, where do you wanna meet up then?

toji fushiguro: oh yeah shit, uh you know where like the big wheel kinda is at the seafront? we could meet up there if you want?

the ferris wheel ahaha?

toji fushiguro: yeah the big wheel ahahah, literally the most recognizable place i could think of in town

haha ok no worries, i’ll see you tomorrow then, i’ll text you when i get there :)

toji fushiguro: yeah see you tomorrow x

she wasn’t a physical being limited to the confines of her bedroom anymore. no, she was limitless and infinite, soaring with ravens among the indigo clouds of twilight, her heart leaping with every sudden dip of their wings. life was good, life was meaningful, and holy shit. toji fushiguro had agreed to go on her very first date ever with her.

“guys.”

“what?”

“he sent me an ‘x’, and we’re going on a date tomorrow.”

p.s: fun fact, these are the actual text messages i sent to my boyfriend the day i asked him out :3

©storiesoflilies 2024, all rights reserved. please do not plagiarize, translate, or repost any of my work on other sites! i only post on ao3 and tumblr.

[kamaluhkhan]

maybe it's my fault

pairing: shuri x fem!reader

summary: lately, you've been feeling a ton of pressure, you're way too busy, and you're barely sleeping. life is taking its toll on you, but you drop everything to be with shuri when she needs you most.

warnings: angst! mention of illness and death (t'challa's, mostly). reader has a bit of a saviour complex. lots of plot w/ a little smut ;)

author's note: hi hi it's been too long since i've written a fic, but i just rewatched black panther so i decided to finish one of my drafts. this could be read as a part 3 to my other shuri fics, but it's wayyy more angsty than i usually write. also happy endings.....we don't know her! you've been warned.

you were in the kitchen, chopping up fruit for a smoothie, while sam and bucky were watching the news in the living room. you could only hear muffled sounds from the tv thanks to the lecture you were rewatching through your earphones, hyperfocused on absorbing as much information about genetic coding — the topic of your last exam before spring break — so it was easy to miss sam calling your name until he was practically shouting. you finally removed one earbud.

"yeah?"

“when's the last time you heard from your girlfriend?" 

"i don't know," you answered, still mostly focused on your professor droning on about complex protein structures while you kept cutting up strawberries — and tried to keep your eyes open. you probably hadn't slept in 36 hours. "we've both been busy. why?"

there was no immediate answer, which you didn’t think much of until you looked up and saw what they were watching. in shock, you accidently let the knife slip, and it nicked your thumb instead of the fruit.

"fuck."

blood dripped from your hand, but your eyes stayed glued to the screen.

KING T’CHALLA, RULER OF WAKANDA, DEAD FROM UNKNOWN ILLNESS. COUNTRY IN PERIOD OF MOURNING. 

you could tell from the way bucky and sam were silent that they were also overwhelmed with the news. t’challa was an avenger, a teammate — but he was also a friend. he was compassionate and wise and always made you feel welcomed, even when some of the elders disapproved of shuri dating an outsider. this hurt you, deeply, especially after losing so much of the team in the battle with thanos. but none of that mattered — all you could think about now was shuri….

you instantly pulled out your phone, and tried to call her. 

it’s shuri. i’m probably designing better technology, so i’ll call you back with that. 

you then tried the kimoyo beads on your wrist, but still no answer. 

“i have to go.”

sam nodded. “just let me look after your hand first —”

“i’ll deal with it on the quinjet.” you ran to your room down the hall, and grabbed your overnight bag (thank Gods you hadn’t unpacked yet, even though you’d decided to stay over at Avengers tower this week). “i just finished fixing up the old one, so i’ll take that and you guys can still use the new one for your mission tomorrow. if i leave now, i’ll get to wakanda by morning.” or maybe midnight. or afternoon? there was also a time difference that you couldn’t quite remember. “i’ll call peter on the way, let him know what happened. can you tell the others?” whoever is left, you thought to yourself.

again, sam nodded. bucky mumbled a simple take care as you start to leave for the quinjet.

sam called your name, so you turned around before a few tears could escape. he brought you into a hug. you couldn’t help but stiffen, a reflex because of so many i’m sorry for your loss hugs you’d gotten used to. when sam pulled away, he put his hand on her shoulder, eyes sincere but sad. “it’s gonna be alright, kid.”

you really wanted to believe him.

shuri’s lab was all too familiar to you. there was something perpetually alive about the space: always people talking, inventions being brought to life, loud music blasting. 

but, right now, it was silent. only shuri was there, designing something on the holograms and taking notes. 

you hear her A.I. griot announce that someone had arrived, but shuri doesn't seem to care.

“i told you i did not want to be disturbed,” shuri grumbled.

“he made an exception,” you replied, trying to keep your tone playful.

shuri didn’t say anything and kept working. “did my mother call you?” she finally asked. “i told her not to.”

you moved closer to shuri’s workspace until you were right next to her, leaning backwards against the desk but keeping your eyes on shuri and trying to pull her attention away from whatever she was working on — a suit, you guessed.

“she didn't call me. i came as soon as i heard,” you answered, crossing you arms. “but i did talk to her and she seemed…worried.”

“there’s no need to be,” shuri said. “i’m fine. we had the funeral — it happened, it’s over.”

you uncrossed your arms, sighing deeply. “you know, your brother once told me that in wakandan culture, death isn’t the end. it’s a stepping off point. then, he told me that he believed, even if they’re gone from the physical world, the people we love never leave us. their lives aren’t over if we honor them, keep loving them.”

t'challa's thoughtfulness helped you after losing tony and steve, and it was something you wished you had heard earlier in life. something that gave you hope, made you feel a bit lighter when it felt like the weight of the world was crushing you.

but, hearing this prompted shuri to freeze momentarily, though she couldn’t bring herself to look you in the eye.

"i am not my brother.” she went back to working after that.

for a moment, you simply watched your girlfriend work. shuri’s hair was different — braids gone and shorter than the last time you had seen her. her jawline was also sharper and her eyes a bit more sunken, like she hadn’t slept or eaten in days.

when it became clear that shuri wasn’t going to stop, you turned around and focused your attention to the holograms she was juggling. it wasn’t a panther suit, but what looked like a deconstructed dora milaje armor that shuri was redesigning.

“you want this to fly?” you noted the thrusters placed on the feet of the suit.

shuri glanced at you briefly before enlarging the section in question. “yes.”

you hummed, reaching over to zoom out to a full view of the suit. “if you add small repulsors, the wearer will have more control over how and where they fly.”

 “i was going to add something like that to the back.”

“i’d suggest the shoulders,” you said, tilting your head. “small, triangle shaped — kind of like angel wings. also, if you add reinforced plating to the shoulders and arms, you can redistribute the extra vibranium through the repulsor energy so the wearer can materialize a blade or a laser.”

“brilliant,” shuri mumbled under her breath.

you nudged shuri with your shoulder. “you would have figured it out eventually.”

“i know.” shuri leaned into you, a sign that she was softening. “that’s why it’s brilliant. i wish it'd thought of it sooner." she whispered the last part. there was a faraway sadness to her tone that made your heart ache.

you turned to face shuri, and gently put your hand on her cheek so she met your gaze.

"i think it's a sign that your beautiful brain needs some rest, baby." you knew what shuri was like, and based on your conversation with queen ramonda, shuri had locked herself in the lab for days.

shuri sighed, moving to kiss your palm before realizing the state it was in — freshly wrapped in a thin layer of gauze that you had bled through.

“what happened to your hand?” she questioned urgently.

“oh. nothing serious. just a slip of the knife.”

wordlessly, shuri brought you over to the medical bay and gestured for you to sit down on the table. you did, and shuri settled between your legs, using vibranium to heal your cut.

"shuri," you called after a few moments of silence, leaning your head down slightly to try and catch her eye. "you know i'm here for you, right?"

"i know." she finished cleaning the wound and wrapped your hand in a fresh vibranium-woven bandage. you wanted so badly to do the same — to wrap up shuri's grief, to protect her from pain, to help her heal.

"i mean that you don't have to, i don't know, act like everything is fine. we can talk about what happened — we can talk about t'challa."

"i know," she repeated, eyes finally meeting yours as she rested her hand on your knee. "i just....i can't. it's either i shut myself in the lab for hours or i think about my brother and want to burn the world down. and i can't...." shuri choked back a sob and her grip on your knee tightened.

you brought your hand up to her cheek, gently tracing the dark circles under her eyes with your thumb.

"well, what if we try another option?"

you spent the next few days in wakanda with shuri, ignoring your responsibilities in new york. most of the time was spent lazing around the royal palace, but with you shuri at least got enough sleep and food, even if you barely left her room at first. eventually, the two of you actually ate in the formal dining room. you could have sworn queen ramonda teared up when her daughter showed up again to share a meal since t'challa's passing. queen ramonda gave you a warm smile before the feast was served.

as you were walking back to shuri's room, stomachs full from a delicious dinner, your phone vibrated. you checked to see who it was: peter, texting to remind you of a lab assignment you had slipped your mind.

"oh shit," you groaned.

"what is it?"

"an assignment for my genetics class that i completely forgot about," you explained, rushing to open your laptop, which you'd left on shuri's nightstand after the two of you binged a few episodes of star trek (the original series). "one of our lab partners fucked up the results, so pete and i had to sort things out, but we've both been so busy...."

your phone vibrated once more, this time displaying an incoming call from jimmy neutron, your affectionate contact name for peter parker.

"i should take this."

shuri nodded. "let me help, yeah?"

considering how brilliant shuri was, you offered her your laptop without question. you paced back and forth, talking with peter over whether or not failing this assignment would mean you both failed the class, until shuri's voice cut through your conversation.

"why do you have a file with my brother's dna?"

you know exactly the file she was talking about, and it made you stop in your tracks to face shuri. you thought you were being too careful when you didn't attach his name to the file — but, apparently, you weren't careful enough.

shuri was sitting upright on the bed now, practically glaring at you as she waited for your answer. you tried to ignore your increasing heart-rate.

"pete, i have to go." you could hear him start to protest on the other end of the line, but you quickly ended the call. "well, we keep blood samples from every team member in case something happens."

hopefully your answer satisfied shuri.

it didn't.

"this isn't with your avengers files, though," shuri pointed out. you tried to grab the laptop back from her, but she moved it out of your reach. "and even if it was, you would have noticed something wrong."

"shuri," you warned, finding it harder to not let your voice waver.

"did you know my brother was sick?" her tone was harsher than before.

"shuri —"

"the samples show abnormal cell growth at an earlier stage than when i was working on a cure for him," shuri noted, turning the laptop screen towards you. like you, she must have spent hours looking at t'challa's dna to the point of memorizing its sequence. "so either you didn't notice that something was wrong, and we both know you're too smart enough to miss something that obvious, or — "

"shuri." this time, when you said her name, it was less of a warning and more of a plea. you did not want to go down this road. frankly, you were hoping you never had to.

"you knew my brother was sick and didn't tell me," she finished. shuri handed you the laptop and you closed it slowly, watching as she walked to the other side of the room before facing you again. "tell me that isn't true."

all you could do was bite back tears and hope the floor swallowed you whole. when it didn't, you took a deep breath and stood up.

"i can explain." you approached her, but she took a step away from you and scoffed.

"what's there to explain?"

"just....please." you walked back to the bed and took a seat. "let me explain."

t'challa intercepted you at your favourite coffee shop about four weeks ago.

it was march in new york, so hints of spring were starting to peak through the winter snow. you had back to back classes, but you always had time for a coffee in between.

the cold air hit you as you exited the shop, a drink warming your hand. you noticed him standing there: no dora milaje, no fancy suit, just t'challa. he wore sunglasses and a sleek black trench coat with a purple scarf, his silver necklace peaking out from the collar.

"t'challa?" you called, almost doing a double take. the two of you were friends, sure, and probably future in-laws, but the image of him waiting for you outside a student-run cafe felt too out of the ordinary. "is everything okay?"

he smiled softly, taking off his sunglasses. "of course," he said. then, t'challa did something that surprised you even more: he greeted you with a hug. as he pulled away, he added: "just in town and thought we could catch up. shuri said this was your favourite place for cinnamon lattes."

you shrugged. "my girl knows me well. could we catch up later, though? i have a class in...." you glanced at your phone. "right now, actually." you looked back up at t'challa, and something about how his smile faded away made you feel like this was more important. "you know what, i can get notes later. come on."

t'challa followed you to a bench nearby, scanning the area as you made the short walk. the two of you sat in silence for a few moments before you broke it.

"so, is everything okay?" you asked again, taking a sip of your drink.

"actually, no." he paused, voice low. you waited for him to continue, your heart beating fast as you tried not to expect the worst. "i'm sick, y/n."

"you're sick," you repeated slowly, letting the words sink in. "i'm....i'm sorry." you reached over and squeezed t'challa's hand. he gave you a sad smile in return. that was the thing about t'challa: he was always trying to put on a brave face.

"i need you to help me find a cure."

"of course," you answered instantly. you loved t'challa like he was family; you would do anything for him. but, something felt a bit strange about his request. "why not go to wakanda, though? i mean, i'd be happy to help, but the technology there is way more advanced than anything i could do in new york. shuri's lab has all the resources we would need."

t'challa shifted in his seat, breaking eye contact.

then, it hit you. the impromptu meeting, the uneasiness of t'challa's demeanor, the whispers as he explained the situation.

"she doesn't know, does she?"

t'challa shook his head. "she doesn't even know i'm in new york."

suddenly, you throat tightened and it felt difficult to swallow your coffee.

"am i the only one that knows?"

"you and nakia," he said. "i'd like for it to stay that way."

"but — but it's shuri. you're her brother and — and she can help us find a cure."

"so can you," t'challa countered. compared to your nervous stuttering, he kept his voice clear, measured. "you're studying biochemistry and cellular biology, correct? top of your class? my sister says you are almost as brilliant as her."

"almost," you laughed, allowing yourself a moment of reprieve before returning to your conversation. "t'challa, why not just tell her?"

t'challa reflected before responding, his eyes following a couple holding hand as they walked past you.

"my sister is happy," he finally said, turning to you. "i wish for her to stay like that for as long as possible. i believe this is the only way."

it broke your heart to know that, even as he was suffering, t'challa would do anything to protect shuri. you both knew what shuri was like: she would drop everything, go back to wakanda, spend many sleepless nights trying to solve this problem, to save her brother.

"are you sure?" you practically whispered the question.

"yes. i trust you can take care of this. in fact, i know you can. please, y/n."

his urgent tone, the sincerity in his eyes; t'challa was desperate, you could tell. this wasn't a decision he made lightly, to keep such information from everyone, including shuri. if you were the one he came to for help, help you would.

so, you promised keep his secret, to handle it yourself and carry on as normal. t'challa would return to his normal duties as king for as long as he could hide his illness. but, you set a term as well: if you couldn't find a cure within two weeks, when shuri went back to visit wakanda at the end of the month, t'challa would tell her and let her work to find a cure.

"one more thing," t'challa said after you had discussed your agreement. you were about to part ways, but you turned around when you heard him speak again. "shuri can never know that i came to you first. she's proud, my sister. if she finds out, she'd never forgive either of us."

you nodded firmly, but as t'challa turned to walk away, you called his name once more. you ran towards him and hugged him, tight. it startled him at first, just as you were when he greeted you, but he hugged back.

if you knew that was the last time you'd see him, you'd have held on longer.

over the next week or so, you worked relentlessly. you would've worked at the lab in avengers tower, but you knew you had more privacy at oscorp. occasionally, you went to class or had avengers business to take care of, but otherwise this was your life: rearranging dna sequences, examining blood samples, and mixing chemicals to try and find a cure for t'challa.

you came home one night, after hours in the lab. your only break was a brief stint stopping doc ock from robbing a bank. she'd managed to throw you around pretty hard — sleep deprivation made you an easier target, apparently — leaving you with a nasty bruise on your side. peter arrived to the scene just in time, and suggested the two of you celebrate with sandwiches as delmar's (where spider-man got a discount), but you made up an excuse so that you could return to the lab.

the apartment was dark when you entered, with only the kitchen light on, so you figured you were the only one home. you dragged yourself over to the sink to get a cup of water. you drank it in three gulps, and were reaching for another when you felt someone grab your side.

"fuck!" the cup fell from your grasp as you winced in pain. you turned around, too tired to even wonder if there was an intruder in your home, but met shuri's gaze instead. she was wearing boxer shorts and an oversized i ♡ wakanda shirt she'd gotten for you as a joke.

"shit. sorry." she knelt down to pick up the broken glass. you tried to follow, but winced again at the sharp pain in your side that prevented you from bending over. "don't worry. i've got it," she reassured, standing back up. "you've been busy lately. and pete told me about the fight with doc ock. you should rest."

you ignored her last comment. "i thought you were coming home late tonight."

shuri raised an eyebrow. "i'd say it's well past late." she gestured towards the clock on the stove. it read 2:27 am.

"right." between hours in the lab, with no cure in sight, and being thrown around by a scientist with metal tentacles, you were exhausted. it was the kind of exhaustion that settled into your bones, made everything feel heavier. not to mention the weight of the very big, life changing secret you were keeping from shuri....yeah, you weren't particularly in the mood to chat with your girlfriend in a dimly lit kitchen with broken glass at your feet.

before shuri could ask more about your day, you excused yourself to take a shower. you closed the bathroom door behind you, stripped yourself of your clothes, and hopped in the shower. you stood there for a few seconds, letting the warm water wash over you, until you were startled by the shower curtain opening.

"sithandwa, are you okay?"

"other than the minor heart attack you just gave me, yeah," you huffed.

shuri tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "are you sure?"

"i'm fine," you snapped. noticing how shuri's eyes widened slightly at your outburst, you tried again, your voice softer. "i'm fine."

you lifted your arm to close the shower curtain, but let out a strangled moan when the sharp pain in your side returned. shuri furrowed her brow at your reaction, until her eyes landed on the dark bruise forming under your left ribs. instantly, shuri joined you in the shower, fully clothed.

"you're not fine," shuri decided, placing her hand gently on your skin. "why didn't you go back to the med bay to have this taken care of?"

peter asked you the same thing when you parted ways earlier, but it was easier then to shrug off the severity of your injury. besides, you had to finish up some work at the lab. but here you were in front of shuri, completely exposed, no where to run.

"i...didn't have time. you can scold me later, okay? right now, i just want to relax."

you exhaled as shuri's fingers grazed your skin. with how preoccupied you had been — along with the guilt at hiding t'challa's illness from her — you and shuri hadn't been intimate in what felt like forever. it felt good to be close to her, for her to touch you again.

by then, shuri's clothes were soaked through, the white fabric of her shirt clinging to her skin, transparent enough to reveal her dark nipples underneath. you couldn't help but stare.

"like what you see?" shuri smirked. her fingers started trailing south, reaching your hips.

this made you roll your eyes, and you just had to smile at how cheeky your girlfriend was being.

"you know i do, pretty girl."

"hm. you said you wanted to relax?"

you nodded, and not even a second later shuri had her body pressed against yours. it sent a shiver through you, despite the warm water from the shower. she brought a tattoed hand up to your face, craddling your jaw.

"then relax," shuri whispered. she started placing kisses up your neck, and when she reached just below your ear, she added: "let me take care of you."

shuri gently pushed you against the wall, the ceramic tiles cool on your back. to your annoyance, she took her sweet time leaving kisses down your body.

"shuri," you whined when you felt her teeth graze one nipple while she pinched the other between her fingers.

"what is it, my love?" shuri pulled away from your chest. you knew she loved teasing you - something you mostly loved to hate. sex with shuri sometimes took hours: it was slow, deliberate, accompanied by an orchestra of laughter and moans and pleading (lots of pleading).

this time, though, she didn't even give you time to beg. shuri simply got on her knees in front of you. she briefly ran her tongue through your folds before tilting her head back to meet your gaze. "is this what you wanted?" shuri smirked when you moaned as she slid a finger into your cunt.

the shower went cold by the time you two were done.

you started drying off, carefully as to not further your injury. shuri left to put on fresh, dry clothes, leaving the ones she had soaked through in a wet heap on the floor. you were just slipping on your underwear when shuri returned, catching your eye in the mirror.

"what?" you chuckled at how coy she was being, hands behind her back as she rocked back and forth on her heels.

"i have a surprise for you," shuri sang. she moved from the doorway to standing behind you, the two of you looking at the mirror. "close your eyes." you complied and felt a coolness surround your neck. shuri placed a kiss on your jaw, which made you smile. "open them."

you were met with the sight of yourself, top half completely bare except for a deep purple pendant around your neck.

"do you like it?" shuri gently wrapped her arms around your waist, eyes never leaving your body in the mirror, and you allowed yourself to melt into her. "it reminded me of the sky on our first date, and how beautiful you looked." she reached a hand up to trace the silver chain. "i was thinking i'd remake this with vibranium, maybe make it so the necklace holds your suit like t'challa's. you'll have to wait until i get back to wakanda to make the upgrade, of course."

at the mention of her brother and her home country, you stiffened.

"shuri." you exhaled and you turned to face her. "are you sure that you don't want to go back to wakanda sooner?"

shuri tilted her head. "why would i do that?"

"i don't know. more time with your family...."

"i've spent my whole life with them," shuri countered. "i'm moving to new york so that we can start our life together."

"i didn't ask you to do that — "

"don't push me away, okay?" she interrupted, wrapping her arms around your waist once more as though they would keep you in place forever. "you've been doing that lately, and i know you're busy, we both are. but, life is crazy and scary and unpredictable, and all i know for sure is that i love you. and i need you."

you wished you could return her words, as you have many times before, but the sentiment now felt empty.

it felt wrong for you to let shuri love you passionately, when you were being so careless with her heart.

you tried to shake away that feeling, telling yourself that keeping t'challa's secret was the best situation to keep him healthy and shuri happy - to protect both of them from any pain or suffering.

you told yourself that enough times, you almost believed it was true.

shuri looked at you now, and for the first time, you felt the heat of her anger targeted towards you.

"how long? how long did you know my brother was dying and let me believe everything was okay? how long did you lie to me?"

you took a ragged breath. "two weeks."

"two weeks?" shuri shouted. "i couldn't save him because i didn't have enough time to find a cure. you took that from me."

"i spent that time trying to find a cure, but....but i wanted to protect you, at least for a little while."

"no one asked you to protect me!"

internally, you kept replaying what t'challa had said: he wanted shuri to be happy, yes, but she could never know that he came to you himself and told you he was sick weeks before he told her. you wanted to honor the promise you made him, even as you now felt shuri slipping through your fingers.

you were never a quitter, though. it was your best — and possibly most self-destructive — trait. you tried to approach shuri, to grab her hand, but the second you made contact, she jolted away.

"my brother is dead because of you."

her words felt like a knife. you felt dizzy — there was no way to stop the bleeding, so you sat back down on the bed to ground yourself.

"i....i tried to save him," you defended. "after i first found out, i tried to find a cure myself."

shuri scoffed, shaking her head and narrowing her eyes at you. "you just had to be the hero, didn't you? running around, wanting to save everyone. like you're the only one who can."

"i really tried," you choked. by now, you were holding back tears, feeling your head start to ache. you started massaging you temple to relieve some pressure, but it didn't work.

"and what kind of sick game are you playing, coming here pretending to be supportive? you're just feeling guilty."

guilty was definitely something you felt, but it wasn't why you came here.

you got back up and tried to approach shuri one more time, walking over to her slowly.

"i came here because i love you, shuri." your voice was softer than it had been before. "i loved t'challa, too -"

"don't you dare say his name," she growled, once again moving away from you briskly. "and i don't care if you love me, because i can never look at you the same way. we're done."

hands by your side, staring at shuri from the opposite side of the room, you almost couldn't process what she had said. she repeated her last sentence, this time a bit louder, and you shook your head as though to wake yourself up.

"shuri, please, don't do this. we're both in pain — "

"you have no idea the pain i'm in," shuri interrupted, and you noticed how she choked back a sob. "you can stop trying to be a hero for me. i don't want you. i don't need you." she paused. "not anymore."

to prove her point, shuri finally approached you. she tugged your necklace — the one she had so lovingly given you — hard enough for the clasp to break.

both of you were startled by the severity of her actions, how final it all felt. shuri looked, almost regretfully, at the purple pendant in her hand, but never met your gaze. she then turned away from you, the room settling into an uncomfortable silence as she waited for you to leave.

and you did, a few moments later.

[gotham-ruaidh]

Little Bit Better Than I Used To Be

Catch up: Chapter 1 (Starry Eyes) || Chapter 2 (Save Our Souls) || Chapter 3 (Dancing On Glass)|| Chapter 4 (Merry-Go-Round)|| Backstage (1) || Backstage (2) || Chapter 5 (Danger)|| Backstage (3) || Chapter 6A (Love Walked In) || Chapter 6B (Without You) || Backstage (4) || Chapter 7 (Stick To Your Guns) || Chapter 8 (Time For Change) || Backstage (5) || Chapter 9 (Take Me To The Top) || Backstage (6) || Chapter 10 (Home Sweet Home) || Backstage (7) || Chapter 11a (Nightrain) || Chapter 11b (Nothing Else Matters) || Chapter 12a (Handle With Care) || Chapter 12b (I’m So Tired of Being Lonely) || Chapter 13a (Angel) || Chapter 13b (She’s My Addiction) || Chapter 13c (Patience) || Chapter 14a (Where Do We Go Now?) || Chapter 14b (Where Do We Go Now?) || Chapter 14c (Where Do We Go Now?) || Chapter 15a (Dreams) || Chapter 15b (I Sing A Song of Love) || Chapter 15c (You Can Do This If You Try) || Chapter 16 (Let That Feeling Grab You Deep Inside || Chapter 17A: Never Tear Us Apart || Chapter 17B: It’s Tough To Be Somebody, And It’s Hard Not To Fall Apart  || Chapter 17C: I’m Wishing, Lord, That I Was Stoned || Chapter 18: Turn The Page ||| Also posted at AO3

Chapter 19: When You're Alone, Do You Let Go?

Love bites

Love bleeds

It’s bringing me to my knees

-- “Love Bites,” Def Leppard (1988) [click here to listen]

Pittsburgh || Early October, 1988

Ian Murray hissed as his sister-in-law sutured the gash on his forearm.

Claire Fraser briefly glanced up before turning back to her work. “Are you going to tell Jenny about this, or is that something I’ll need to do?”

Ian sighed. “I’ll tell her. God knows she worries enough as it is.” He took a deep breath as Claire’s needle pierced his skin. “You know she hates not being on the road this tour – she’s so happy we’re finishing up next week, and that I’ll be home for the break. Young Jamie has been teething – she’s not sleeping too much these days.”

Jenny Fraser Murray – Jamie’s older sister, and Ian’s wife – lived with their three small children on the Fraser family farm in upstate New York. The farm where Jamie and Jenny had grown up, and where their mother Ellen had died when Jamie was eight and Jenny was ten, and where their grief-stricken father had raised them before suffering a fatal stroke eight years ago.

Growing up without a mother had been hard enough – but it was the loss of his father, just when Print was starting to make a name for itself in the New York City club circuit, that pushed Jamie into his addictions.

That neither of his parents had seen his success, was one of the deepest regrets of Jamie’s life. Which was perhaps why, Claire mused, he had always been so kind and thoughtful with her Uncle Lamb.

“Breathe deep. This is the last one.”

Ian did, and Claire quickly and thoroughly pushed the needle through Ian’s arm one final time, before tying off and cutting the suture.

“Good. All done, just one more thing.”

Claire unspooled a few lengths from her roll of elastic bandage – black, instead of the typical tan color – and wrapped it around Ian’s sutures. “Here you go. I want to check on this tomorrow, and the day after. You’ll need the stitches for at least a week, and you really shouldn’t get this wet.”

Ian took a deep breath and carefully flexed his hand. “The show is gonna be interesting tonight. But at least I can still play. Thank you, Claire.”

She smiled, already rolling up her suture kit and rearranging the medical bag that she’d had to use quite a few times this tour. “Glad to be of service.”

“Hey.” Ian touched her hand, and she met his gaze. “Give yourself a bit more credit. You bring more to the table than you know.”

Now it was her turn to sigh. “I feel so out of my depth sometimes,” she admitted, quiet so that the roadies out in the hall couldn’t hear. “You know that I know nothing about this world. Jamie is working so hard to show it to me, and you and Angus and even Colum have been so gracious.”

“You make it easy, Claire. Jamie loves you. We only want the best for you. And I – ” He squeezed her hand. “I really want you here. You’re such a breath of fresh air for all of us. He’s changed so much in the past year, and you’re a big reason for that. You’re good for each other.”

She smiled.  “I never thanked you for being the one who got him to treatment.”

Ian snorted. “I was tired of watching him make bad choice after bad choice. It only got worse as the band got bigger – I’m sure he’s told you that.”

“He has,” she said sadly. “But you were there. You saw him. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for you. You and Jenny.”

His eyes unfocused just a bit, clouded with memories.

Pulling open the door to the band’s dressing room, one night on the ’86 tour. To find Jamie kneeling on the ground, snorting lines of coke off his guitar case, just as quickly as the lighting guy from the touring crew could lay them out.

And

Jamie pounding on Ian’s hotel room door at four AM, somewhere in the Midwest. Ian opened the door, startled, and Jamie tumbled in, guffawing, gripping an empty bottle of Jack Daniels, racing across the room to hoist up the window and toss the bottle to the street fifteen stories below. He turned, grinning stupidly, to look at Ian in triumph – and startled a bit to see Jenny in the bed.

“Hey sis,” he slurred. “When did you get here?”

Jenny crossed her arms over her chest, shielding her five-month pregnant belly. “Maybe if you hadn’t had that liquid late-night snack, you’d remember.”

Ian cleared his throat. “Had Jamie not listened to me – to Jenny and me – that morning in Sacramento, and had we boarded the plane to London later that week, he would have come home in a body bag, and where would we be?”

Claire pursed her lips. So many times she had wondered how her life would have been – how Jamie’s life would have been – had he not made that one small choice to finally get the help he needed.

“Claire, I’ve known Jamie since we were seven years old. We grew up together at Lallybroch. I married his sister. He’s my brother. And now you – you’re my sister.”

She blushed, so happy.

“I want only the best for you. For both of you. I’m always here. Jenny is, too – well, even though she’s not here, she’s always going to be here for you. Because that’s what family does for each other.”

Claire’s eyes shone with tears. Heart so full.

Ian smiled, and patted the back of her hand. “Keep that kit out, in case I pop the stitches tonight. Can’t have blood gushing onto my bass in the middle of a song.”

“Hey!”

Colum filled the open door of the dressing room.

“Ian – this is your fifteen minute warning until curtain.”

Ian held up his arm. “I’ve got an excuse.”

Colum winced. “I don’t want to know. I’ll just thank God yet again that we’ve got a bona fide doctor with us this tour. I love Arch Bug, but he didn’t exactly develop a good bedside manor when he was a corpsman in ‘Nam.”

Ian smiled and stood, grabbing the bass that leaned up against the wall. “She’ll be ready if I need more.”

“Speaking of which.” Colum turned to Claire. “Your husband is looking for you.”

Claire snapped her medical bag shut. “Where is he?”

Colum crossed his arms. “Two doors down on the right. But if you’re asking about his headspace right now, it’s getting very close to me asking the opener to play an extra song so that you can do whatever it is you do to calm him down.”

She pursed her lips, and fished in her pocket for a fresh stick of Doublemint. “He’ll be on time.”

to be continued...

[munsonfamilyband]

This was just a random thought I had while I’m still trying to figure out how to finish my Valentine’s Day Ficlet

—————

After finding Eddie nearly dead and limp in Dustin’s arms, Steve managed to carry him out and through the gate. Nancy found his keys in the trailer and the five of them climbed into Eddie’s van, with Steve supporting him in the back. When they came to a squealing stop in the hospital parking lot, they all burst out and Steve ran inside with Eddie’s body in his arms still. He was quickly taken away and they were stuck in the waiting room.

The four of them were sitting in chairs, Robin leaned against Steve’s shoulder and she could feel him getting more and more relaxed, which seemed like a good thing before he spoke up.

“Robbie, I think-I think I’m gonna….p’ss out….” Before she could even respond he was going fully limp and half sliding out of his chair. They screamed for help and then it was just Robin, Nancy, and Dustin in the waiting room.

~~

Steve woke up to soft voices that he didn’t recognize, pain radiating from his sides and a too light blanket covering his legs. He forced his eyes open and saw three people he vaguely recognized sitting in chairs around another bed and made eye contact with the black guy sitting at the foot of the bed. The guy startled and turned back to the other guys.

“Oh shit, Harrington’s awake. Should I, like, go get someone or-“

“Eddie…?” Steve croaked out, his voice raw and he saw all three of them suddenly turned to face him with varying degrees of anger on their faces.

“Why the fuck do you want to know about Eddie? You’re probably the reason he’s here in the first place—!” The shorter one with big hair had stood and was stepping toward him when the third guy put a hand on his arm to stop him.

“Dude, pull back the third degree. He’s in a hospital bed right now. Jeff, go get a nurse or something.” The black guy nodded and stood up before leaving the room. The shorter guy gave Steve one last nasty look before he collapsed back in his chair.

If Steve’s throat wasn’t so sore he would have said something, but even swallowing felt like knives in his throat. It felt like the silence in the room stretched on for ages before the door opened back up. He got a glimpse of the black guy, Jeff he heard one of the guys say, and a nurse before long limbs and blonde hair were in his face and Steve gave a weak smile.

“Rob…” He tried to lift his hand up to touch her, needing to know she’s real but he found he was too weak to manage getting his hand up more than a couple inches. Thankfully, she saw him move and swooped in to grab his hand in both of hers.

“I am so mad at you right now, and if you weren’t in a hospital bed actively dealing with an infection, I would have already hit you. What sort of warning is ‘I’m gonna pass out’, Steve? And why did you decide it was a good idea to carry a human person while you were injured the way you were, huh?” He could see that she had been crying, and was fighting back tears at that moment as well, so he gave her a weak smile.

“No one else could lift him…is he-did he…”

“He’s fine, he’s literally in this room, Dingus, did no one-“ She cut herself off and turned to face the guys who had apparently been watching them the whole time. “Did he ask about Eddie?”

The short guy from earlier scoffed, “yeah, and I told him he had no right-“

“No right?! Who do you think brought him here, asshole?! Steve literally carried him here while also injured!” That seemed to get all three of the boys to freeze, looking between Steve and Robin. Robin just rolled her eyes and looked back at Steve, her anger immediately melting away. “Eddie’s fine. They think he’s gonna be out for another day or so just from the blood loss, but then again, they also said you weren’t going to wake up until tomorrow and-“

“Miss Buckley, if you wouldn’t mind stepping back, I really should be checking over Mr. Harrington’s injuries.” Robin’s eyes snapped over to the nurse and seemed to remember where they were, quickly stepping back.

“I am so sorry, I was just so glad he’s okay, I totally forgot he needed to be looked at.” The nurse gave her a gentle smile as she walked over to read Steve’s vitals on the screen next to the bed.

“It’s alright, you aren’t the first person to get in the way of a nurse out of relief that your loved one is okay.” She wrote down the information on Steve’s chart and turned to face him. “How are you feeling? In any pain?”

Steve managed a nod, swallowing thickly before he could speak. “My sides are really painful, and my throat hurts.”

“Well I can definitely fix that.” The nurse walked over to a tray that Steve hadn’t noticed and grabbed a syringe. The whole room listened to his heart monitor start beating faster as he watched her get closer, Robin sliding a chair up to the other side of his bed and grabbing his hand. “It’s alright, I’m just adding this to your IV bag, needle won’t go anywhere near you.” Steve felt his muscles relax but his heartbeat didn’t start to slow down until the nurse was putting the needle back on the tray. “There, some more pain killers should help with the pain in your sides. You already have plenty of antibiotics in your system but I’ll be back later to give you more of those. I’m going to go get you some ice chips to suck on, which should help with the sore throat.” Steve had already closed his eyes so he just nodded, and he heard Robin say something but he wasn’t paying enough attention to make out what she said.

The next time he woke up, there were more voices in the room, some he recognized and some he didn’t - though somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he had heard them recently. Unfortunately for him, when he tried to open his eyes every fiber of his being resisted and all that happened was he groaned. The voices all stopped at once, and then the whispering started.

“Do you think he’s awake?”

“Maybe, I don’t know if he’s made that sound while sleeping before.”

“He definitely hasn’t, but his eyes are still shut-“

“He could just be in pain-“

“If he’s asleep, you all bickering will certainly wake him up.”

“Hey! We’re just worried, okay? And just because you guys stole Dustin-“

“We didn’t steal Dustin, he came over here on his own.”

“Because you guys kept glaring at us-“

Steve finally gathered enough strength to speak, having had enough of the fighting that had just started, “would you all please shut up?” This did not work, and Steve asked himself why he thought it ever would, as multiple voices started shouting his name in excitement. Squinting one of his eyes open he saw Erica and Robin, and surprisingly, El, Mike, and Will all staring back at him. Immediately, Steve noticed people were missing, some of his kids were missing. “Were’s the rest of you?” He saw Erica glare over at the other side of the room - Steve couldn’t see what she was looking at, but he assumed there were people.

“Dustin’s been stolen, and they are refusing to wake him up so that he can see that his god damn-“

“Erica….”

“Shut up, hair boy. They won’t wake him up to see that you’re awake, just because they’re mad that Eddie isn’t-“

“Eddie? He’s okay?” Robin grabbed his hand, sitting down on the bed next to his leg.

“We talked about this yesterday, do you remember? You woke up and asked where he was, if he was okay. I told you he was fine, just out because of the blood loss.” Steve frowned, trying to remember but it was all so blurry.

“Oh…okay. Good, that’s…. Good. So, Dustin is… with Eddie?” He looked at Robin for confirmation before he kept talking. “Okay, that’s okay. Where…..is Max-did she?”

“I won’t lie to you, Dingus. She’s hurt, pretty badly. But she’s alive, and she’s been awake for a couple hours since coming out of anesthesia for her surgery. Lucas is with her, which is why they’re missing. But they’re both okay, Max is going to need a lot of help but she’s okay.” Steve just nodded, and he was so glad Robin knew him as well as she did, because she wiped away the tears that started falling so he didn’t have to. Just then, there was the sound of coughing from the other side of the curtain and Mike was running over to the other side of the room, only disappearing for a second before skidding back to their side.

“He’s waking up!” Robin stood quickly, still holding Steve’s hand.

“Then pull back the curtain, idiot! And go get everyone else!” El decided to go get the others apparently, as she gave Steve’s leg a gentle squeeze before leaving the room. Mike quickly rolled the curtain back and Robin helped Steve sit his bed up so he could look over at the other side of the room. There was someone standing in the way though, and by his posture you could tell it was intentional. “Gareth, I swear to god, if you do not move so Steve can see if Eddie is alive I will put a whole pack of chewed gum in your hair.” Surprisingly, that got him to move, albeit with some annoyed grumbling, and suddenly Steve could see Eddie for the first time since he got them to the hospital. He was curling into himself as he coughed, bandages covering his torso and parts of his arms, and his hair had been pulled back at some point into a bun-type thing.

Tension Steve hadn’t even been aware of melted away and he leaned more fully into his pillows upon seeing Eddie breathing and alive. When he finally stopped coughing, Eddie opened his eyes and gave a weak grin to the guys by his bed, including Dustin.

“Hey, guys, how’s it been?” They all started shouting at him, but the grin never left his face as he started looking around the room. That is, until he made eye contact with Steve. Steve knew he was smiling dreamily (Robin was going to make fun of him so much later) but seeing Eddie pause and then give him a soft smile in return made everything feel warm in Steve’s chest.

They were beaten and bloodied and Vecna wasn’t even dead, but Steve had a feeling they would be okay.

[javierpena-inatacvest]

Lots of Madeline's updates and life ramblings below the cut 🤠

Hey lil homies!! Glad that we're all collectively swooning over OUR SAG WINNER (!!!!) Pirate Pedro 🤪 So happy for our lil drunk baby boy and am ready to fight anyone that says this isn't the hottest look of this award season (I need this man to be a Disney Prince or in a Historical Romance IMMEDIATELY)

I know I've been posting one shots and drabbles, but I feel bad that the posting of chapters for NTL have been taking so long between each one. I've been going through a really bad bout of sleep anxiety and insomnia the past few weeks that has been absolutely kicking my ass, and I'm lacking the normal passion/energy I have for writing (and let's be honest, teaching 8 year olds all day is not helping with that exhaustion when you're running on 4 hours of sleep a night 🥴)

I'm currently working on the wedding chapter, and as I'm typing, I'm thinking I'll split it up into two parts bc it's gonna be hella long if I don't, and lord knows when I'll finish with it if that's the case. Thanks as always for being so patient with me, I promise I'm doing my best to get new chapters out bc our two favorite idiots in love bring me a lot of joy and comfort, just like I hope they bring you 🥺

In other news, I finally got myself enough together to cross post NTL on ao3, so if you have any interest on reading/following on there, here is my ao3 account!! I'll work on adding more there soon, just wanted to get all of NTL there first!!

On a positive note, just like Osita, I am a die hard hockey girlie, so the fact that I have been to two Red Wings games in the past 3 days has really been a bright spot in my week 🐙🔴 (big shoutout to @itsokbbygrl for Patty Kane, I am so sorry for your loss 🤪)

Have a great week my cute lil friends, I wish you all a fabulous day and no Sunday Scaries!! Here is a live look at me arriving at work tomorrow!!!

-Madeline

[aurumacadicus]

For @winterironmonth!

NSFW Thursday: Trope/Kink, Word

I’m always like “I’m gonna make this so fucking sexy” and then make it funny or sad instead. What’s wrong with me. Anyway it’s over 2K so look out for under the cut.

--

Tony couldn’t help but flinch a little when he felt Bucky’s fingers trail over the bone on the inside of his ankle. He reached up to touch the bandages over his eyes, then let his hand drop back to the bed. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Bucky assured him gently. “Do you want me to stop?”

“No,” Tony answered, perhaps faster than he normally would. “No, I want to, I just—” He bit his bottom lip, then lifted his hands back to the bandages covering his eyes. “I can’t do the same for you.”

“I don’t need a full-body massage after a fight,” Bucky replied, amusement coloring his tone. His fingers curled around his ankle, then slid his grip up, slowly, thumb digging into the meat of his calf.

Tony jerked helplessly, unable to bite back a moan as his back arched up off the bed. His legs got so sore in the suit, and he hadn’t gotten a chance to stretch properly after the fight, stuck in medical to get his eyes seen to. Bucky always seemed to know exactly how hard to press, where to pay more attention, how long to hold each pressure point. “Fuck, fuck oh my god, please—”

Bucky’s metal hand joined the first, sliding back down to his ankle and then pushing back up to his knee. “How’s your back?”

Tony sucked in a deep breath, trying to keep his toes from curling in pleasure. He heard Bucky chuckle and figured he hadn’t managed it. “Huh?” he managed after a moment, remembering vaguely that Bucky had asked him something.

“Your back,” Bucky repeated, thankfully sounding unbothered. “Is it sore too? Need me to get that?” His hands slid up further, thumb of one digging into the muscle on the inside of his thigh while the other pressed into his hamstring.

Tony let out a reedy noise, hands gripping the blankets tightly. “Oh-!”

“There you go,” Bucky murmured. “Relax, sweet thing.”

Tony reached out, searching for something to hold onto, and a moment later he felt Bucky’s shoulders under his fingers. He gripped tightly, letting out a soft sound of dismay. He felt so helpless, at the mercy of everyone else to do even the most basic of tasks. He couldn’t even grab Bucky without help. How was he supposed to relax when he couldn’t do anything?

“Oh, sweetheart,” Bucky sighed, sounding so, so kind. “Give me your other leg, sugar.”

Tony obediently swung his other leg up, and Bucky caught his ankle in his flesh hand easily, using the other to carefully ease his other leg back onto the bed. “It’s sore, but not—I don’t want my back rubbed,” Tony muttered. He already felt too anxious laid out on his back. He’d be even more vulnerable on his stomach, what with how much he had to focus on breathing to be comfortable. “Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” Bucky agreed easily.

Too easily, Tony thought, but wasn’t sure if he had the energy to call him on it. Mostly, he just wanted to forget the day ever happened, embarrassed about letting his guard down too soon. As soon as Bucky was finished rubbing his legs down, he was going to take a painkiller and sleep for a thousand years, and—Something scraped over the inside of his calf, and Tony yelped.

“Easy,” Bucky drawled, and now he could sound he hear how smug he was. His hands stroked down his calf, soothing the scrape, and then his thumbs dug in at the back of his knee in a way that made tingles start at his toes and travel up to his scalp. “You said you liked when I gave you beard burn sometimes.”

Tony mewled when Bucky scraped his cheek over his skin again, toes curling. He did like it, but—now it felt like so much, sharp, and it left a heat that lingered in a way he hadn’t noticed before. Maybe hadn’t had the chance to notice, when all of his other senses were straining to make up for the loss of his sight. He squirmed uselessly in Bucky’s grip, mouth falling open in a gasp when Bucky’s beard scraped over the inside of his thigh. “Oh, fuck!” He tried to arch his hips up, but Bucky was immovable. “Bucky, please.”

There was something sharper, a quick there-and gone—teeth sinking into his skin for a minute. “What are you asking me for, sweetheart?” Bucky asked gently, and then there was the slick heat of a tongue swiping over where he’d been bitten. “What do you need?”

“I,” Tony began, feeling like he was going to vibrate out of his skin. He wanted… he wanted everything. But he was already exhausted from the battle that day, and he still felt a little vulnerable with his bandaged eyes. Wired and tired, Bucky had called it once with an amused grin. “Please,” he whispered, hoping Bucky would understand.

“Okay,” Bucky answered, as if he did, and then his fingers curled over the hem of Tony’s briefs, fabric tugging forward. “Gonna get you off nice an’ easy,” he offered when Tony shifted under him anxiously. “Then I’m gonna use your hand to jack off and come all over your pretty red thighs.”

Tony’s hips jerked up at the idea. He moaned quietly, then reached out again, hands petting at Bucky’s shoulders. “Are my thighs really that red?” he asked, cupping Bucky’s cheeks and stroking his thumbs over his stubble.

Bucky leaned into his hands. “They’re gonna be,” he promised, voice going into that deep purr that always made him shiver with anticipation. Then his face slid from between Tony’s palms, and his flesh hand reached into Tony’s briefs to wrap his fingers around his cock, at the same time his jaw scraped along the inside of Tony’s left thigh.

Tony jerked, mouth opening, but nothing came out, too shocked. His hips jerked up so he could thrust into Bucky’s fist, but then Bucky’s stubble scraped across his thigh again, heat over heat, and he fell back onto the bed with an overwhelmed groan. There was that sharp sting again—another bite. “Stop biting me,” he whined, squirming impotently as Bucky used his metal hand to hold him down against the mattress.

“No,” Bucky replied, unperturbed, and bit him again.

Tony hissed, thighs twitching together, but Bucky just took the chance to shift his weight and drag his stubble over the inside of his right thigh as well. He couldn’t help another whine, hands grabbing the sheets in a tight grip as Bucky thumbed at the head of his cock. “You’re being mean to me,” he accused, although there was no heat in his voice.

“It’s easy to be mean to you,” Bucky said, then lifted his cheek away from Tony’s thigh. “You make such cute sounds when I do things you don’t expect.” His metal hand left his hip, and then there was another sharp sting that made his hips jerk up again, followed by a clapping sound—a slap. “I should take a picture an’ show you how red your thighs are. Gonna look nice with my cum all over ‘em. Should make you sleep in our mess.”

Tony shuddered at the thought, tipping his head back into the pillows with a gasp. It wasn’t fair that Bucky could get him so hot just by fucking talking to him. He wouldn’t enjoy it.

“That sound good, sweet thing?” Bucky drawled, sounding smug. “Wanna go to sleep all wet and sticky, even though it means I hafta wash you off tomorrow?”

Tony opened his mouth to tell him he could go fuck himself, but then there was hot-slick-wet dragging up the vein along his cock. “Yeah,” he choked out instead, helpless to resist.

“That’s what I thought,” Bucky said, amused now, and licked over his cock again before returning to stroking him off. His metal fingers pressed flat against Tony’s left thigh, the cool metal against his hot skin making him shiver in response. The fingers trailed up, slowly, the heat from his skin warming them until the temperature difference wasn’t so jarring. “Spread your legs a little more.”

Tony spread them obediently, before the order even really registered, and he was rewarded with two of Bucky’s metal fingers rubbing over his hole. “Fuck,” he gasped, hips jerking to press down against them, and then Bucky twisted his other hand around his cock the way he knew he liked it, and it was all over. Tony couldn’t even make a sound as he came, mouth dropping open again, shout caught in his throat as Bucky jerked him through it, one metal finger slipping into his hole just enough that he tried to clench around it.

“Fuck, that’s so hot,” Bucky groaned, giving his cock one more sloppy lick.

Then his hands were gone, and for a moment, Tony felt bereft, left out in limbo with nothing to ground him. Tony tried to swallow back his panting, find the air to ask for his hands back until he could center himself, but then he realized he could hear Bucky’s belt buckle jingling, the rustling of clothes—his pants and underwear being shoved down to his knees. He reached out greedily, wondering if he could convince Bucky to crawl up and use his mouth.

“Naughty,” Bucky scolded, smacking his hands away lightly. “I told you. You’re not jerkin’ me off. I’m using your hand.”

Tony wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but before he could ask, Bucky was tugging him into a sitting position, using his own knees to hold Tony’s open in a position that wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable, but he couldn’t imagine staying in it long-term. “Bucky?” he asked breathlessly, just before Bucky’s flesh hand cupped his jaw and tipped his head back to draw him into a kiss. He moaned quietly as Bucky bit at his bottom lip, then let out a sigh against his mouth as Bucky’s other hand grabbed his right one, drew it forward until the backs of his fingers brushed against his heavy cock. He wrapped his hand around it and moaned, running his hand gently up to the head of his cock and back down, reacquainting himself with it. He could envision it in his minds eye, flushed, and thick, and glistening with precum.

Then Bucky’s hand covered his, and he suddenly understood what Bucky had meant by using it to jack off with—Tony didn’t get to control the speed, the grip, or whether Bucky got to thrust into his hand; his hand was just there to provide friction, and Bucky got to decide what to do with it. He couldn’t help a whimper at the heat it set simmering in his belly, being helpless and used as Bucky liked.

“Fuck, you’re so hot like this,” Bucky ground out against his mouth. “‘s givin’ me so many ideas, doll.”

“Yeah?” Tony asked, more breath than word.

“’course,” Bucky answered, then bit his bottom lip again with a grunt.

Tony moaned, then winced a little as he felt something splattering on the sensitive skin of his chafed thighs. But then Bucky’s hand was slowing down, movements getting sharper, jerkier, and he realized that Bucky was doing exactly as he’d said, coming across his open thighs. He took a moment to marvel at the fact that Bucky hadn’t taken that long to come, but then, he had no idea how long he’d been hard, either. He slid his free hand down his leg, fingers dipping in until they trailed through one of the wet streaks. “Is it as pretty as you expected?”

Bucky made a sound as if Tony had punched him in the gut. “Prettier,” he said, and then groaned, loudly, when Tony lifted his fingers to his mouth and swiped his tongue over them to clean them. “Fuck. That taste good, sweet thing?”

“Always,” Tony said, and then shoved two fingers into his mouth as far as he could, just to listen to Bucky groan again. Bucky put his hand against his chest and shoved him backwards. Tony yelped, pulling his fingers from his mouth. “Hey!”

“You are in no condition for me to do everything I want to you,” Bucky said flatly. “I honestly shouldn’t have even done this. You’re recovering. Stop being sexy.”

Tony frowned, confused. “I’m always sexy, though.”

“You’re incorrigible. I’m getting a washcloth,” Bucky added, mulish. “I can’t in good conscience leave you to sleep in our mess.”

Tony reached out for him before he could clamber off of him. “Wait, can you—” Then he pulled his hands back, embarrassed. “Or. A washcloth is fine.”

Bucky’s weight shifted between his legs. “What is it, sweetheart?”

Tony squirmed, self-conscious. But, Bucky had said he’d take care of him. It was why he hadn’t had to stay in the infirmary. And the doctors had only allowed it if Tony could admit when he needed help. So. He sucked in a deep breath, then said, “Please stay.”

Bucky was quiet for a long moment, long enough that he opened his mouth to tell him never mind, it wasn’t a big deal, but finally, Bucky said, “Of course. Let me check your bandages, yeah?”

Tony didn’t realize his shoulders had gone tight with anxiety until the relief from Bucky’s easy acquiescence made him relax. “Okay.” He felt Bucky’s fingers against his face and forced himself not to lean into them, letting him check the bandages for any discharge. Finally, though, Bucky shifted, weight falling in a long line beside him that he rolled toward immediately. “Just for a minute.”

“Of course,” Bucky repeated, sounding fond. His flesh hand curled around Tony’s waist, pulling him in until they were pressed together from shoulder to hip. “C’mere.”

“I’m messy,” Tony warned, but Bucky didn’t let that deter him. He probably knew better just how much of a mess he was anyway.

It was only when he woke up the next morning and flailed his way through his sightless disorientation that Tony realized Bucky had waited until he was sure he was asleep to clean them both up before he allowed himself to sleep as well.

[enginire]

snowpiercer prompts. episode 1 - 3.

you're gonna have to hide.

it's going to be okay.

be prepared to brace.

we'll do the best with what we've got, alright?

you want to take care of the food?

you really think i can be an engineer?

never forget who you are.

with all due respect, we've heard it before, and this doesn't exactly fill the belly.

if we don't do something soon, it's gonna be too late.

i don't think you've got the guts to stand with us.

you can question my plan if you want, but you question my fight, and we've got a serious problem.

we do this now before they toss us again and find the weapon.

we need to think long-term about this.

there is no long-term if we're too old and sick to fight.

you're not allowed to have better cantonese than me.

there's more violence, i heard.

alright, well. bad news travels fast.

you know you love an excuse to wear your fur.

what do you want with me?!

we've had a murder.

i guess he didn't think rich people would murder each other.

we've got a body.

if anyone can get back to us, it's him.

i think they cut him up into pieces to hide him better.

this is your chance. take it.

why would you want to go back there?

my department's responsible for smooth relations.

doors will open wherever your investigation leads you.

you want justice? clear her.

get these two out of here, i'll start with her.

give us a minute alone, or this is as far as i go.

you told them i was a cop?!

you were the only person i could think of to help.

you really pulled out all the stops, huh?

how did it go with the suspects?

there is way more to this than you're saying. otherwise, why would you be so desperate for my help?

a murder could upset the entire ecosystem. it's complex.

i thought the boss could use some comfort food tonight, and i bet you can use a drink.

we locked up the wrong person.

once this murder is solved, the other work can continue.

we stick to the script. we finish what we started.

we've got to remove the body.

nothing like mountain weather to agitate everyone further.

just what this day was missing… another corpse.

they're killing each other up there.

i think i've got a way we get out of this alive.

there's to be no more loss of live.

you have a rough day stewarding the future of humanity?

it's gonna be bumpy tomorrow.

the only reason we're here is we refused to die in the first place.

do you think i want to be here?

finally! someone with the moral fortitude to take responsibility for their actions!

they keep trying to take our dignity, but any survivor will tell you they check their dignity at death's door.

the more they steal from us, the more human we become.

you were in it to save your buddies. i don't owe you a thing.

you two are gonna have a great day.

your people killed their friends. i don't think you realise how unpopular you are.

security forces don't grow on trees.

i'd be happy to share insights if you share details of the investigation.

i'm trying to assess how far you can move a body.

it's her lips to god's ear, isn't it?

we offer epiphanies.

i'm not gonna let them pin this murder on you.

would it be so terrible if you stayed up here?

sometimes detective work requires a personal touch.

just to be clear, i've never done an autopsy before.

you're not saying this is cannibalism.

one gang in particular - they would kill anyone, eat anyone. had no choice.

we need to look in your freezer.

bet you could cut my leg off with that.

brace for impact!

we need to know if it's structurally sound.

is this what the start of a resource crash feels like?

i know. it's bad. but how bad stays between us.

if you're gonna retail him for meat, then why the torture?

he puts arms and legs in my fricking noodles.

there's no use in getting us both shitkicked.

you still care about getting the right guy?

we need every department. we need friends high and low. you see?

i swear to you, i will not stop fighting.

we're still in motion, alive and kicking, and it's not thanks to chance, or fate, or god.

you've got killers and cannibals and god knows what else up here. so don't lecture me about balance.

you'd think loneliness would be impossible all crammed in here, but this place was designed to separate us from our possessions, from our loved ones. now every last shred of us is worth something to someone.

everything's rare, so you've gotta pay with something personal.

we held onto these for a long time, but they're worth more as a commodity. to trade if you get into trouble.

by your steady hand, we will ride out this hardship and outlive the ice, bound by our cause and our need.

tell them there's unrest brewing.

let me explain clearly. we each have our place up here, our lane. and until you earn his trust, your lane is narrow.

authoritarian states usually control their own drug trades.

well, look at you, detective. already working on the case.

you should see me without the handcuffs.

false imprisonment? a cannibal ring right under my nose? it's embarrassing.

and i can't even find my underwear!

i can't wait to slap him with this.

you're at an impasse with this case. so today, i'm shaking the hell out of this tree to make something fall out.

you know how the underground works.

i see you, with your surprise casino and your roman games. you're just misdirecting us from an extinction event.

god, i wish i were welding.

i'm gonna have to ask you to leave.

well, hopefully now we can focus on our next steps.

kinda everywhere, isn't she?

i'll keep doing what i do best, and you keep doing what you do best: survive.

we're gonna get a lot more information out of her if i go alone.

i can ask if he'll meet with you.

twice in one day, i'm stuck dealing with you.

you're just pissing him off.

so you go out there, and you tell him that i've got eyes on me too.

you think i don't have more dirt on you?

me and your boss? we're getting pretty close. i could probably just make some shit up.

that shit's poison. you should be ashamed of yourself.

you don't want that kind of publicity.

if i give him something about this murder, he'll probably forget about the whole thing.

it was a great success, despite a riot breaking out - maybe even because of it.

well, i'll put the riot to bed, you put them to bed.

this whole time, i've not been seeing what was right in front of my eyes.

you don't remember me, do you? but you do know who i am.

[kleiner-ghost]

Egor x Reder [Loop 1]

Turns out getting shot in the head helps you remember things better.

Because there are not enough, if any, fics shipping me the reader with Egor.

"Hey, we're heading to Updam, for the concert and then the party, care to join?" A fellow eternalist asked you. With his black and gold outfit he really did look like he'd fit at Alexsis' manor. The pistol he carried on his hip further played into that aesthetic.

"Nah." You replied.

"Hoping to catch a glimpse of Doctor Evans?" Another eternalist cut you off before you could finish. Her whole thing was blue and purple, and if the bloodstained on her pantsuit were anything to go by, she'd already enjoyed her first day plenty.

"Hoping to catch a glimpse of my employer actually." You corrected her, as you hopped onto a crate behind you, further indicating that you were not leaving.

"Your loss." The eternalist in blue and purple shrugged and headed off.

"You sure?" The man in black and gold insisted. "It'll be fun. There's gonna be music, and alcohol and drugs."

"And Alexsis." You added. "Come on, look me in the eye and tell me he doesn't creep you out."

The eternalist did not meet your gaze, and instead looked to the side. The two of knew what he was thinking about. Alexsis had a reputation, one that had made you, and a handful of other sensible people, to question the real meaning of "devouring of the lambs". You suspected that Wenjie made corpses vanish to prevent Alexsis from digging a knife and a fork into one.

"Women, wine and song." The eternalist who's been trying to convince you went back at it. "You can't really be staying behind to meet doctor Serling?"

You shrugged.

"I wanted to see Wenjie too, but she threw a bottle at that guy," you pointed at an eternalist in a red glitter suit who was sitting on ground, fixing up his minigun while muttering something under his breath, "and now I'm scared I'll get shot."

"Why?" The guy in black and gold asked, visibly perplexed.

"I'm curious. And also slightly... paranoid, I guess is the word. Have you ever thought about why they want us here, the visionaries?"

The man before you shrugged.

"I was friends with a guy who was friends with a guy whose cousin met Ramblin' Frank in jail. I got offered an eternity of partying and I could not refuse."

It seemed by his demeanor that he was just about done trying to convince you.

"An eternity, exactly!" You exclaimed, and almost lost balance atop your crate. "There will always be a tomorrow to party, but there won't be another today to figure out who we're working for."

The eternlist shook his head, seemingly saying 'your loss', and headed off towards one of the trucks that still had space in it.

You watched him go, and hopped off your crate. The sun was slowly setting, and the temperature had began to drop. You reached to the holster on your back and unclipped the magazine of you pistol, checked it, and put it back in place. You were starting to get a feeling in your gut that something was about to go very wrong rather soon.

“Come on, it’s freezing!” 

You hear a voice complain behind you. And true, it was cold, but when you turned around you almost laughed at the poor guy.

“Go indoors.” The eternalist who’d had a bottle thrown at him by Wenjie said. He was just about the only one not laughing at the man in his underwear. 

The poor bloke might have replied if not a voice suddenly echoeing throught the loudspeakers.

“You lot! Stop whatever useless loitering you are doing and get to work! I know Frank fished half of you out of God knows where, but you still signed a contract. A legally binding contract!"

"Asshole." Somoen swore at the loudspeaker.

"And an idiot." Someone else, no doubt another Wenjie fan, added.

You didn't say anything, as, despite how much the tone annoyed you, you had in fact signed a contract to defend this outpost during at least 80% of your time in the loop in return for being able to fool around for the remaining 20%. You had done the math, and came to the conclusion that 20% of eternity was still an eternity.

"I want you to cover this island with my fool-proof security system," the voice continued. It then went on with explaining where exactly each turret, field nullifier (whatever that was), and trip mine should go. "Oh and don't even think of coming anywhere close to my compound. I am conducting extremely important scientific research, and I will shoot on sight." The voice concluded.

"Well, that's much cue." You said, heading towards the central bunker where you were all the explosives were stored.

"You seriously gonna follow his orders like that?" One of the eternalists called you out.

"Hey, if you're not happy, you should have gone to Alexsis little party." You replied, and flipped your pistol in your hand, mostly to look cool, but also with the intention of slightly intimidating the other guy.

"That's right." Someone else chipped in. "So let's get to work, and regret out life choices tomorrow."

You did just that, and barely noticed that it was already fully dark when you finished placing the last of the mines. You were meant to go and guand the bunker entrance with the rest of the eternalists, but you couldn't help but wonder who the man you were guarding was. On one hand everyone called him an idiot, and he had proven to have quite a bad personality, but on the other, you doubted the other visionaries would have left someone like that lead them with the Aeon program.

Disregarding your orders, you snuck past the trip mines you'd just finished installing, and back outside in the snow.

The cold air hit you with surprise, and you zipped up your jacket and pulled its collar as high as its leather fabric would allow. Then, once you'd gotten somewhat used to the cold, you snuck behind a truck, and watched the clearing before you.

Egor Serling was just as you'd imagined him to be, strnagley enough, based on the fee indirect interactions you've had. He was tall, and wore a coat too big for him. His round glasses further added to that air of an 'out of place nerd' that he gave off. You wondered what those rectangular red patched on his face were.

At some point, you realized that you had stared past what was socially acceptable. You should have gotten put and introduced yourself, or snuck back to your post. But you hadn't, and now doing either felt awkward.

So, you distracted yourself by closely watching what the man was doing. Although you couldn't make out much from the angle and the distance, you saw him fiddle (perhaps claibrate) some machine, while mumbling to himself. Every so often he would rub his hands together and blow on them in a fruitless attempt to keep the cold away.

Then, you saw something orange move amongst the white snow. You squinted, following the direction it had vanished in. For a second, you thought that you'd imagined it, but then a head popped up from behing the container at the far end of the clearing, almost immediately followed by the baril of a gun.

You recognised that man as the head of security. His face was posted all over freestand rock, and more scarcely displayed in other areas. Colt Vahn was his name, if you remembered correctly. And you did, and learning about visionaries was somewhat of a hobby. You followed the direction his weapon was pointing in, past Egor and towards the container home behind him. But there was nothing of interest there.

"Oh shit." You swore as you realised what was going on.

You jumped up and fired a volley of shots at Colt. You might or might not have hit him before he ducked back behind cover.

Hearing shots, Egor vanished. You could just about make out a purple outline of where he was, and a trail of footsteps in the snow following him.

Unfortunately Colt had made that observation as well, as he had moved onto a nearby hill, and pulled out a rapière.

Without thinking twice, you dashed, pushing Egor out of the way.

"What-" he complained, as he briefly reappeared.

For half a second, you felt his mind mingle with yours, as you could hear thoughts that were clearly not your own about some sort of experimental wave receiver device. Then you fell to the floor, bleeding out from a head wound.

[Loop 2]

[tbmunson]

Can you write a platonic fluff Henderson sibling request where Dustin is jealous when his older sister who’s also his best friend is spending more time with Max after season 3 and she comforts him? Thank you in advance!

I'm Here For You. Dustin Henderson x Henderson!Reader

Summary: Basically what the ask says.

Warnings: A little sad, platonic sibling fluff

WC: 622

Masterlist

You rolled to a stop in your driveway, sighing as you cut the engine. Today was a particularly hard day for Max and although you never got along with Billy you couldn't imagine losing Dustin like that, or having him lose you. You spend a few days a week with Max trying to help her through the loss of her brother the best you could, especially since her stepdad left and her mother slipped into drinking. You found the strength to get out of your car, embracing the December cold as you made your way to the front door.

You closed the door behind you and shed your thick coat.

"Y/N! I'm glad you're home! I was just wondering if you'd help me put together a mini campaign. Eddie said I could DM a short one over break and I don't wanna make it too long or overly complicated and-" Dustin was so excited but you were exhausted.

"Can we do it tomorrow Dusty?" You hadn't meant to interrupt him, or even sound as disinterested as you did, but today was the last day of class before break, meaning you had tests just about all day, and spent the afternoon trying to comfort Max since this would be the first Christmas without her brother.

"Yeah. Sure." Dustin replied flat toned before turning to walk away. It was out of character for him but you didn't question it as you made your way to the bathroom to shower.

You hummed as the warm water washed over you, clearing the stress from the day away. It was like a moment of clarity. Dustin was really upset. He never, and you meant never, stopped talking that easily. You quickly finished your shower and got dressed before walking down the hall towards his room.

"Yeah. She's spending all of her time with Max. I never see her anymore. I know Max lost her brother but I feel like I'm losing my sister." His voice was soft, defeated almost.

"I'm sorry Dusty-Bun. Have you talked to her?" Suzie's voice came through the static.

"No, but-"

"Maybe we should." You said, walking into the room.

"I gotta go, Suzie-Poo." Dustin looked up at you, sadness written across his face as you settled down onto his bed. "You weren't supposed to hear that." He said, looking down.

"No, I think I was." You sighed, reaching over to rest your hand on his knee. "Dustin, I'm sorry. I wasn't intentionally ignoring you."

He nodded and looked at you with glossy eyes, a tale tell sign that tears were soon to follow. "It just sucks not having you around all the time. You're my best friend."

The quiver in his voice broke your heart. You pulled him by his hands to sit next to you. "You're mine too. I just... I guess if it had been you that lost me I would want someone to be there for you." You wrapped an arm around him and held him close.

He finally let the water leak from his eyes and down his face. "I don't wanna think about losing you. Ever." He closed his eyes and rested his head on your shoulder as you rubbed up and down his arm gently.

"You won't. I'm here for you, always." You kissed the top of his head as held him.

His wet eyelashes fluttered on the skin of your neck, making you feel more guilty. "Promise?"

You nodded, squeezing him again. "I promise, Dustin. I love you." You whispered, rocking him like you used to do when you were little.

"I love you too, sis." He finally wrapped his arms around you, hugging you tightly.

"Let's get started on this mini campaign, huh? Eddie's really gonna let you DM?" You smiled down at him, watching the excitement light his face up once more.

[ameliora-j]

needy // dm x reader

words: 1.4k

warnings: smut, daddy kink, masturbation (m&f), use of a vibrator, degradation, dumbification if you squint, bondage, nipple play, clit slapping, slapping kink, edging, mean dom draco, sub reader, finger sucking

a/n: all acts are consensual. safe word is in place.

you were bored out of your mind, laying in draco’s dorm as you waited for him to come back. he was out, doing his prefect duties or in the library studying, or doing some other thing you didn’t bother to pick up on finding out before he left, leaving you with nothing but a kiss to your forehead. you had been needy all day, and the platinum blonde was very aware of this fact.

you had been tugging at his robes since breakfast this morning, whining and begging him to take you, even if it be into a broom closet. he left you with nothing more than a kiss to your head and, “patience, bunny. be good for me and wait,” which did absolutely nothing to sate the ache in your cunt.

when the day was finally over and the two of you walked up to his dorm, you were practically thanking all the gods that were listening that you could finally… finally get off. however, your boyfriend had other plans. just as you were ready to jump his bones and pull him into a kiss that left both of you breathless, he turned and pressed a light kiss to your forehead before giving you some half-assed excuse of where he had to be. leaving you in his dorm… alone, and aching for his cock.

you tried to be good, truly, you did. but you were just so wet. you had already soaked through your panties and the ache was beginning to crawl itself up through your cunt and settle itself in your lower abdomen. you couldn’t take it any longer. you pulled off your soaked panties and reached into the drawer of draco’s bedside table, pulling out the purple toy that was angled just right to hit your gspot and had an attachment that vibrated against your clit as well.

you wasted no time, lifting up your skirt so it laid across your tummy, turning on the toy, and plunging it deep inside yourself. you moaned out loud as you finally felt the relief you’d been waiting all day for. “fuck,” you whimpered as the tip of it hit against your gspot just right.

you were so close. almost there. just a few more thrusts of the toy and you would be toppling over the edge and hurtling into seventh heaven. if you could just—suddenly your pleasure was gone. your orgasm was ripped from you and you felt a strong grip on your wrist, causing you to gasp and move to cover yourself up. when your eyes landed upon your dominant, he didn’t even need to utter a word for you to know that you were in deep shit. his eyes told you all you needed to know. “sir…” you bit your lip, gulping nervously.

“what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” draco spoke, tone icy.

“i-i… sir, i was j-“ you began to stutter.

“just being a needy little slut?” he finished for you, causing you to gulp again.

“i-i didn’t… i wasn’t… i just,” he cut you off with nothing but a harsh glare.

“speak properly or shut the fuck up,” he growled, causing you to nod. “needed to be filled up so bad, huh? just couldn’t be a good girl and wait for me,” he tutted as he pushed your shoulder back and crawled over you. “i was just about to come back and tell you how much of a good girl you’ve been, waiting for me. was gonna reward you by licking your cunt untill you fell apart all over my tongue and then i was gonna fuck you stupid with my cock. but needy sluts don’t get daddy’s cock, do they princess?”

“no…” you whimpered, causing him to swat harshly at your clit and look down at you, expectantly. “no sir,” you quickly corrected.

“no they don’t. what do needy sluts get, hmm?” he raised a brow.

“they get punished daddy,” you murmured bashfully.

“speak up,” he demanded, slapping your clit once more.

“they get punished, daddy,” you repeated a second time, louder than the first.

“good. so you haven’t gone completely dumb,” he hummed before pulling out his wand. “arms up,” you followed his instructions, putting your left wrist in your right hand. he pointed his wand at your hands and cast the binding charm, rendering you immobile and completely at his will. he ripped open your shirt and tore off your bra before he began an assault on your nipples, squeezing and twisting them untill the buds hardened between his fingers.

“daddy,” you whimpered, causing him to slap at your tit harshly.

“don’t wanna fucking hear you,” he grunted. “y’gonna lay there. and y’gonna take what i give you, do you understand me?” he asked you.

“yes, daddy,” you nodded nervously. that’s all he needed as he turned the toy on high and plunged it back into your cunt. you shrieked at the overstimulation and thrashed about the bed. draco removed himself from you before ridding himself of his clothes. he sat upon his haunches at the end of the bed and took his cock in his hand, squeezing gently. “wanna touch you daddy,” you whined as you watched him.

“needy sluts don’t get to touch,” he responded as he continued to stroke his cock, ignoring your whimpers and pleas.

~~~

draco had made himself cum four times already as he watched you, helpless and at the mercy of the toy. the vibrator was still sat deep in your cunt, pressed right against your gspot as the attachment was pressed harshly against your clit. “cum,” you babbled incoherently, causing him to pull the toy away and steal your orgasm for the sixth time tonight, making you practically scream in frustration and he chuckled as he kissed your pout.

“what’s wrong, bunny?” he mocked as he stared down at you.

“i wanted to cum, daddy,” you whimpered. draco could tell you were losing your sense of self. he knew he needed to stop soon before you fell too deep, but he also knew you could take one more.

“oh bunny, want daddy to make you cum?” he cooed mockingly.

“please daddy, it hurts,” you blubbered as tears collected along your bottom lashes.

“where does it hurt, hmm? tell daddy,” through your hazy stupor, you couldn’t register that the man was mocking you.

“hurts in m’belly daddy. wanna cum, please. i’ll be good,” you sobbed out.

“one more for daddy, yeah?” he asked as he ran his cock up your slit. you shrieked as he plunged himself deep within your walls and set an unforgiving pace from the start. he gave you no time to adjust as he abused your gspot with the head of his cock.

“please,” you blabbered repeatedly. he set his tongue on your bottom lip and you sucked it between your lips, using it to sate you as his cock continued to abuse your cunt. he took your leg and threw it over his shoulder, allowing him to hit that much deeper. you let out a scream and nearly bit down on his thumb as he began to rub rough circles into your already swollen clit.

“gonna cum princess,” he grunted as his thrusts turned sloppy. “fuck,” he groaned loudly as he buried his cock deep inside you and painted your walls with rope after rope of his cum as his thumb continued it’s assault on your clit.

“daddy. daddy daddy daddy please please,” you begged as you arched into him.

“you wanna cum?” he teased with a smirk.

“yes. yes yes yes please. please almost there almost there,” you babbled. he smirked before pulling away and shaking his head as he tutted at you quietly.

“already told you. needy sluts don’t get to cum,” he told you as he pulled his cock out of your swollen, red cunt. you sobbed at the loss of contact as he released you from your binds.

the tears continued as draco lifted you from the bed and took you into the bathroom. he shushed you as he sat you on the toilet and made you go as he ran your bath. he put in your favorite bubbles and gently set you in, climbing in behind you. you sunk into his chest as he gently washed you of and whispered praises into your ear to bring you back to earth.

“dray?” you whispered softly as he finished dressing you in one of his shirts and a clean pair of panties. you were sat in between his legs as he brushed through your freshly shampooed and conditioned hair.

“yes bunny?” he whispered back as he laid down and pulled you into his chest, rubbing your back soothingly.

“‘m sorry i broke your rules,” you murmured bashfully.

“‘s okay bunny, know you couldn’t help it. do you understand why i had to punish you?” he checked as his fingers dragged up and down your spine. you nodded with a hum of affirmation. “good. now go to bed, bunny. if you’re a good girl, i’ll make you cum before breakfast tomorrow, okay?” he pressed his lips to the crown of your head.

“i love you,” you murmured as you closed your eyes.

“i love you too bunny,” he answered.

add yourself to my taglist :)

taglist: @mollysolo @i-love-scott-mccall

[yujikitu]

Once Upon A Dream (Pt.4)

They couldn't find Billy or Griffin, so they all agreed to look again tomorrow and just go home.

So now its the next day and they're looking again, luckily it was saturday so school wasn't an issue though perhaps being at school would be easier to find them.

They decided to bike around rather than walk, Vance being nice enough to offer his bike? Well nobody actually knew if it was his bike considering the only transportation they've seen him use was a police car or just plain walking.

But anyways Robin and Finney were using Vance's bike while the blonde went on Bruce's bike, and they searched around in hopes of finding Billy atleast.

He was the paperboy afterall, and if he was like them just going about regularly then he'd be biking around early throwing newpapers into people's lawns.

For someone they thought would be easy to find it was actually way harder than it seemed.

It was like they were biking around forever, yet still no sign of Billy.

Maybe he didn't hand out papers and just went home? Well it's not like any of the others knew where he lived so they would either have to wait until school starts, same thing with Griffin nobody knew where he lived and nobody even knew him at school.

This is starting to become a disaster quickly.

They were gonna cut their losses when suddenly Bruce points outs to the sidewalk.

It was Billy's dog in all their furred glory with Billy's bike next to them.

Though this time it was different.

Billy was there sitting next to his dog, along with Griffin who's bike was also there.

It was a surprise, finding the both of them on some sidewalk.

Griffin had taken it upon himself to pet Billy's dog who was very happy for the attention while Billy himself just sat there watching.

They stopped their bikes and walked up to the two boys.

Billy looked at them but he didn't say anything.

While Griffin seemed to curl in onto himself, an attempt to make himself smaller.

Though he was already pretty small compared to the others.

It gave them a sick feeling in the stomach, seeing Griffin here.

They could see how young he really looked, how small he was compared to them.

It was really fucked up.

"I was biking around doing my job when i found him on the side walk with his bike" Billy eventually spoke up, looking at Griffin.

"We've been sitting here a while, didn't say much until you guys came"

"We we're looking for you Bi- Paperboy" Finney stopped himself, remembering what he said in the basement, he didn't know if he still wanted to be called Billy or Paperboy.

"We're glad we found both of you though" he finished.

Billy nodded "So what now kid? You found us"

Finney frowned a bit "I don't know, but we should stay together if the grabber is still around"

"He isn't" Griffin spoke up for the first time.

They all looked at the smaller boy and he seemed to chuckle out of nervousness.

"I checked, i went to the house both of them nobody was there the doors were even unlocked so i went in for myself then left that's when he found me" the boy gestured to Billy.

Now that confused them all, the grabber wasn't there anymore but they all remembered what happened?

What kind of freaky fucking fever dream is this?

"What the hell were you thinking? Going to that house, so what if he wasn't there it was fucking stupid of you to go because what if he was there?"

Vance the ever knowing mood changer Hopper.

Griffin laughed nervously again and and looked anywhere but at the blonde " I don't know what i was thinking" he admitted

"Yeah i can fucking see that only an idiot would go back to the house of their kidnapper" Vance kept going on.

Billy spoke up then "Leave the kid alone, he's here with us now and did us a favor by checking"

"Yeah man just leave him alone" Bruce agreed.

Vance glared at all of them "No i won't, he could have gotten hurt or fucking killed if that asshole was still there" he then grabbed Grffin by the collar of his shirt.

The smaller boy scrambling to get away but Vance yanked him closer "You got some fucking death wish kid? Getting killed once ain't enough for you so you went back to that house?"

"Leave him alone!"

"Let go of him!"

"Stop it!"

"Vance!"

The boys all said simultaneously.

Griffin shook his head "No i just-"

"You just what? Thought it was a good fucking idea to check if he was there? Knowing what would have happened if he was there? You wanted to repeat what happened all over again" Vance questioned practically shaking Griffin by the collar of his shirt.

"No- of c-course not-" Griffin stuttered.

Vance didn't get nuch else out as Robin and Bruce practically yanked him off the poor boy.

Billy held Griffin up from behind while glaring at Vance.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Saying all of that shit? He's just a kid like the rest of us, so what he didn't think it through but he's here now so what does it even matter" he gritted out.

"Yeah man, you didn't have to go ballistic on him" Bruce said.

"So what? He could've gotten killed! So fucking what if he's here now there was still that chance he wouldn't have been if the grabber was still there. If was a dumb fucking idea use you got no fucking survival instincts?" Vance spit out as he pushed the other two off him.

This was a disaster, even more than before.

"Everyone just calm down, it doesn't matter anymore he's safe and the grabber isn't here. Yes he could have gotten hurt but he didn't" Finney said, going between them all, trying to diffuse the situation.

Vance looked just about ready to kill him but he just scoffed "Whatever"

It took them a minute to all calm down, Bruce and Robin keeping a eye on Vance.

Billy making sure Griffin was ok.

And Billy's dog wagging their tail like nothing had happened, wow this dog was truly unbothered.

"So if the grabber wasn't there what do we do now? Im sure we all remember what happened" Bruce spoke up eventually.

What could they do? The grabber wasn't there that didn't mean they didn't experience the tramua they went through.

Yeah that thought was quickly cut short when a black van drove pass them...

The same black van they all knew.

The watched silently as it slowly drove out of sight.

They all looked at Griffin who look pale, terrified even.

"I-i- but he wasn't at the house, i checked! B-both of them!"

Griffin wasn't lying, they could all tell.

But what the fuck happens now?

A/n: Finally got that over with, honestly thinking about leaving this cliffhanger

[favefandomimagines]

Oh (e.b.)

Summary: buck runs into his ex fling, taylor kelly, leaving you to feel like nothing but a second choice

AN: inspired by the winter finale of 911

You were a catch. You were smart, had a good job, beautiful. Guys were lining up to date you and yet the man you wanted to be with didn’t want you.

It seemed to everyone around you that the two of you were meant to be but to Buck, it wasn’t that obvious. He didn’t see how you looked at him, didn’t hear how you talked about him. Clearly, he didn’t know how you felt about him.

So, you stuck it out. You put your feelings on the back burner and just decided to be his friend. If he wanted to be with you, he would.

But you couldn’t ignore the feeling in your chest when he told you he was having dinner with Taylor Kelly.

“We got to talking at that call and then Albert said him and Veronica were having dinner and I just, called and asked if she wanted to come.” Buck explained. “And she said yes?” You asked.

“Yeah, she seemed on board. Maybe this is the universe telling me something.” He said. “The universe? You’ve never believed in that stuff.” You told him. “But this is Buck 3.0. I’m all for a change.” Buck answered. “When is this dinner again?” You asked. “Wednesday at 6.” He said. 

“Oh.” You muttered quietly. Wednesday was your birthday. And it seemed that Buck was caught up in bettering himself and finding someone that he had completely forgotten about you. But you had enough trying to remind him and get him to see that you were right there the whole time. 

You swallowed the lump in your throat as you looked at the mug in your hands. “You okay?” He asked. “Uh, yeah. I think I’m gonna head home. I have a long shift tomorrow.” You said, rising from your seat.

“You just got here.” Buck pointed out. “Buck, I just, I gotta go.” You said in a more stern manner. He looked at you with furrowed eyebrows and watched you leave his apartment.

You let out a large sigh as you got in your car before the tears came.

How were you so unlucky that the guy you were head over heels for, wanted someone else? He wanted someone else so much, he forgot about her birthday. When you were right there through everything? You were there through Abby leaving, Ally breaking up with him, the lawsuit against the department, his parents, everything. And yet you were left on the back burner. 

You always put his feelings above your own, not because you felt like you should. But because you cared about him and if he was happy, you were happy. Though, the more you thought about it, the more you realized that he sometimes didn’t give you that same courtesy. 

Your day was like the day from hell. Everything that could go wrong in your line of work, went completely wrong. To make matters worse, you had lost one of your favorite patients. She had stage 3 leukemia but she never let that change her personality. 

She made going to the hospital after shifts worth while because at least you got to spend time with her. But the cancer was too aggressive for the chemo and she died in her sleep that night. You tried not to let losses get to you but she had been your patient since you started volunteering at the hospital. You were really hoping you’d see her remission but the universe had other plans. 

All you wanted to do was lay on the couch with Buck and just cry. You got in your car and dialed his number, getting a few rings before he picked up. “Hey, you!” He greeted you. “Hey, do you maybe want to come over later? I’ve had the worst day. I lost a patient and-” You started before he cut you off. 

“I’m sorry, Y/N, I can’t. I have a date tonight, trying to put myself back out there.” He said. “I can come over after.” He added. “No, forget it. It’s fine.” You said. “You sound upset.” Buck said. “I’m fine, Buck. Enjoy your date.” You replied before hanging up the phone. 

Since that evening, you had been avoiding Buck like the plague. On shifts, you wouldn’t talk to him. Sticking to Chimney and Hen like glue to avoid any conversation with Buck. 

You went so far to ask to ride in the ambulance to calls, rather than in the fire engine like usual. It wasn’t odd for you to be in the ambulance because you were an EMT but you usually rode with the rest of the team.

“Does anyone know why Y/N won’t ride with us anymore?” Buck asked his crew. “Are you that dumb?” Hen asked. “Hen,” Bobby started. “It’s because of you, dude.” Eddie answered. “Me? What did I do?” Buck questioned. “Well, you blow her off all the time, completely ignore her feelings and ditch her for dates and you’re so oblivious you can’t see that she’s totally in love with you.” Eddie explained. “When you were hurt in the hospital, she didn’t come to work for days because she didn’t want you the throw a clot. She had to work triple shifts just to make enough to pay her rent because of all the days she missed sitting with you. Did you ever thank her for that?” Bobby added. “Well, no, but-” He started. 

“And when she lost her favorite patient, Emily, did you ask her if she was okay?” Bobby asked. “I-I couldn’t I had a date. And she didn’t say it was Emily.” Buck said, trying to defend yourself. “If you don’t reciprocate her feelings, that’s fine. But she’s your best friend. And as her best friend, you are supposed to be there when she needs you. She shouldn’t have to explain herself.” Bobby concluded. “You also forgot her birthday.” Chimney added as they all got out of the engine. 

The rest of his shift, Buck tried getting you to talk to him. But it was always, ‘I’m busy, Buck’ or ‘Can’t talk, we’re working.’ He’d given up when he tried to stop you after a call and you had given him a look he had never seen before. 

The guilt was eating him alive. He was a terrible friend to you and he thought being with you was a pipe dream. Until Hen and Eddie told him you loved him. But regardless of your feelings for him, you had done so much for him and he didn’t realize it until you were gone. 

That night, Buck went over to Taylor’s to gain more perspective on what he could do to fix what he royally screwed up. 

“I don’t know what to do. She hasn’t talked to me in weeks. We’ve never gone this long without talking.” Buck explained to Taylor.

“Well, you did forget her birthday. And not give it a second thought that she was hurting over the loss of a patient.” She said. “That’s not helping.” He replied. “You asked for my help and I’m being honest. You really hurt her. She almost got evicted because she was so worried about you. The first person she wanted to be with after her friend died was you and you went on a date instead.” Taylor said. “I know. I tried to talk to her but she won’t answer any of my calls or texts. She won’t even look at me anymore.” Buck said. 

“You are so stupid sometimes.” Taylor laughed. “What?” Buck asked. “She has feelings for you. Why else would she get so upset? If she only saw you as a friend, you would be getting screamed at not avoided.” She explained.

“Everyone keeps saying that but there’s no way Y/N has feelings for me. She’s...perfect. Perfect doesn’t fall for damaged goods.” Buck rebutted. “Trust me, she loves you.” Taylor told him. “And do you love her?” She asked. “Of course I do. But being with her seemed like it was too good to happen so I tried to move on. I guess I tried so hard I ended up hurting her anyways.” Buck answered. 

“Then tell her. And do a whole lot of graveling while you’re at it.” Taylor said. 

Buck quickly left the apartment and got into his car driving like a bat out of hell. When he arrived at your apartment, he didn't even bother to park in the parking stall correctly, his main focus was just getting to you.

When he finally reached your door, he knocked on it rather harshly and heard the sound of your urgent footsteps coming to find out who it was.

"Buck? What are you doing here?" You asked. Buck couldn't even find the words to answer because he was more focused on what you were wearing.

You had on a formed fitting red dress, your hair was curled and flowing over your shoulders and you looked beautiful.

"Wh-Why are you dressed like that?" He stammered. "I have a date." You answered. "You have a date? With who?" Buck asked. "Emily's brother. We became close when Emily had chemo and after she died we kept in tough. Why are you here?" You questioned.

"Don't go on the date. Please, for the love of god, don't go on that date. Because I love you, Y/N. I was too stupid to see it until you weren't around anymore. And I was terrible to you. I was supposed to be your best friend and I was so worried about my own life I dnd't even ask you how you were doing and oh my god I missed your birthday." Buck rambled.

"Slow down, Buckley, and talk to me at a normal rate, please." You said.

Buck took a deep breath and looked at you intently. "I'm in love with you. I-I always have but being with you always seemed like a pipe dream because you're perfect. You have always been perfect and you know that I'm not." Buck explained.

"Exactly. I've seen you at your worst and I still love you but even as your best friend you never gave me the time of day. Missing my birthday to go to dinner with Taylor Kelly. Brushing me off after Emily died because you had a date." You laughed bitterly. "I have stood by you no matter what. But god forbid I need you once in a while." You added.

"And I am so sorry, Y/N. You have every right to be upset with me, I'm upset with me. I'm pissed off at myself because I didn't realize what I had until it was too late." Buck replied. "Evan, do you understand the situation you just put me in? I get to go on a date with a great guy, one who actually pays attention and then the man I've been in love with for years, shows up at my doorstep to tell me he loves me back." You started.

Buck's facial expression fell, fearing the worst and anticipating you telling him that you'd moved on and he was too late.

"And I have to call that guy and tell him that I can't make it. Because the person I actually want to be with is right here." You finished.

The light in Buck's eyes returned at your words, looking at you with a gentle smile.

"Really?" He asked. "Yes, really and please don't make me regret it. You've screwed up a lot lately, let's not add us to the list." You said. "So there's an us now?" Buck questioned. "I-If that's okay with you." You stuttered. "It's absolutely okay with me." Buck said with a smile.

"I guess I got all dressed up for nothing." You sighed, letting Buck inside your apartment.

Buck was quiet for a moment as he watched you take your heels off and your earrings, placing them on the table by the door. "Then let's not make it for nothing. Let me take you out on our first official date." He said.

"Besides, I need to see you in that dress more often." He added a smirk on his face. "Alright then, Buckley. Take me on a date. You have a lot to make up for." You smiled, offering him your hand.

Buck took your hand in his, happily, and held you steady as you put your shoes back on. “Trust me, Y/N, it’ll be the best date you’ve ever been on.” He said. 

In the moment, you laughed at his words but after the date had concluded and all was said and done, it had indeed been the best date you have ever been on. 

[jjacob]

all i want for christmas is you

❝ the school had started to take notice of you. lee juyeon, however, had always noticed. ❞

PAIRING ▸ lee juyeon x fem!reader (ft. best friend!lee minho)

GENRES ▸ fluff, high school au, sports au, best friends to lovers au

WARNINGS ▸ mild profanity but !! lots of !! fluff !! 

SUMMARY ▸ the bet was simple: find a date to the winter ball. the only problem was that juyeon didn’t want just any girl. he wanted you.

PLAYLIST ▸ all i want for christmas is you by mariah carey

WORD COUNT ▸ 5055 words

AUTHOR’S NOTE ▸ merry christmas! this is a gift for addy @honeyju​ the biggest juyeon simp ik !! ily addy i am excited/scared/not emotionally ready to read the minho one which ! btw y’all should read here bc our stories are loosely connected! also disclaimer: i know jack shit ab football but i tried

LEE JUYEON TENDED TO REGRET HALF THE THINGS HE SAID SOMETIMES. 

In eighth grade, Juyeon’s sense of humor was largely self-deprecating and consisted of saying he wanted to die at the slightest inconvenience. But, with his spectacular timing, he let the joke slip in front of a teacher once and froze up upon seeing her concerned expression. Juyeon later received a note from the counselor’s office and had to convince them that he was perfectly fine.

In tenth grade, Juyeon had grown past his phase of dark humor and moved onto high school football. He made the cut for the team the previous year, and managed to make it on the varsity team by the time he was a sophomore. In the beginning of the season, they asked who wanted to be captain the next year, and Juyeon boldly declared that he did. Thus, he was ridiculed and sentenced to pick up balls and clean up the gym after every practice from then on.

Now, as a high school junior in the varsity football team, Juyeon had screwed himself over by making a stupid bet with his best friend, Lee Minho.

Lee Minho was, in short, a conniving bastard. Juyeon never should have trusted him and gone along with his antics. The mere thought of what he had gotten himself into was enough to send his heart into overdrive.

The bet sounded simple enough: find a date to the Winter Ball.

Of course, it was easier said than done, but Juyeon was a star athlete and had girls sliding in his DMs left and right. He could easily find a date if he wanted to, and, honestly, Juyeon only needed to send a few texts and he would probably be secured for the dance. The problem was, however, that Juyeon only wanted you.

Minho was well aware of Juyeon’s pitiful, unrequited love towards you. It was probably the reason he suggested the bet; his best friend either wanted to see him miserable or see him score a chance with you. Either way, Juyeon wasn’t sure his heart was ready to shoot his shot.

Juyeon had crushed on you ever since you sat next to him in the seventh grade and let him borrow your pencil. It was such a silly start to his admiration for you, but his feelings grew stronger when the both of you actually became friends. You were so bright when you laughed, so sweet when you spoke, and so adorable when you smiled. Juyeon had never felt this way about anyone else and always got butterflies when he saw you. Juyeon was never one to chase after girls but he would find himself constantly thinking about what you were up to and having several internal dilemmas over whether he should ask you to hang out or not.

Five years later and Juyeon still harbored feelings for you. Now, they had matured into something deeper, but you still racked his brain nevertheless. It didn’t help that you had a major glow-up in high school and were probably the most beautiful person Juyeon had ever seen.

The school started to take notice of you.

Juyeon, on the other hand, had always noticed.

“Are you sure we can finish a medium before practice?” Minho asked Juyeon, setting a box of pizza on the table in front of him. “Also, I saw Y/N by the gym earlier.”

Juyeon perked up. “Y/N?”

“Yeah,” Minho replied, grabbing a slice of pepperoni pizza for himself. “You know what day it is, right?”

Minho took a bite out of his pizza, observing Juyeon with a raised brow. His best friend was on the baseball team but treating themselves to pizza had become a monthly ritual. Despite being on different teams, he was closer to Minho than his football teammates.

“Thursday?”

“And that means?”

Right.

Juyeon had formulated an elaborate plan to ask you out during the football game today, but, of course, it all depended on whether their team won or not. It would have been kind of ridiculous to propose after a loss. On the bright side, he knew he could count on the fact that you’d actually be present considering you were a cheerleader.

But what if you already had a date? You surely hadn’t mentioned it to him or posted about it on social media, so he was riding on an assumption that you haven’t been asked. That was bizarre to Juyeon, though, because you were the prettiest person he had ever seen. However, it was true that you were gradually getting popular, and that made Juyeon a touch nervous.

“I ask her out tomorrow,” Juyeon breathed out. “Am I ready for this?”

Minho scoffed lightly. “Are you ever?”

Juyeon frowned at his best friend, scrunching up his nose at his distasteful comment. “What about you? Have you gotten a date?”

“That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

Juyeon sighed. That was probably all he would get out of Lee Minho today. Once Minho set his mind on something, he carried it out diligently until the end. Juyeon honestly had no idea who he wanted to bring since Minho didn’t like talking about girls he was interested in, but he supposed it wasn’t that big of a deal as long as his best friend was happy.

It wasn’t like Juyeon was never going to hear about his friend’s endeavors. After all, he did pick up on Minho’s slow descent from an apathetic individual to a whipped ball of fluff. If Juyeon mentioned that to his best friend, however, he would probably be ridiculed for consistently being whipped for you since the seventh grade.

Juyeon nearly jumped out of his seat at the sound of his ringer going off. He scrambled to pull his phone out of his pocket, ignoring Minho’s teasing smirk at the sight of his frazzled self.

y/n: hey :) i’m gonna drop off some gingerbread cookies my mom made after practice so lmk when i can come over

Juyeon must have saved a country in a past life for this kind of luck.

juyeon: i love your mom’s cookies. you can come over whenever you’d like

y/n: how about we walk home together after practice?

juyeon: sounds good to me

Now, the pizza was starting to make his mouth water, but if you were walking home with him, Juyeon was ready to drop it and run to see you even though he loved pizza. But Juyeon loved you more than he loved pizza, and he believed that was true love.

“She made me cookies,” Juyeon announced.

“She made you cookies,” Minho repeated, leaning forward in surprise.

“Well, her mom did, but yeah.”

Minho turned his attention back to his pizza. “So this is about your mommy kink again.”

“I don’t have a fucking mommy—why would you say that?” Juyeon cried out, kicking his friend’s shin under the table.

“You don’t? Last time I checked, she was making dinner in the kitchen when I came over yesterday.”

“I’m talking about the kink!”

Yet, even a silly back-and-forth with Minho couldn’t get Juyeon down from his high over you. He was still processing the fact that you were going to walk home with him and, if Juyeon played his cards right, maybe he could get a feel of how comfortable you would be if he asked you out during the game tomorrow.

Minho snickered. “You look happy.”

Juyeon couldn’t even mask his lovesick smile and flushed cheeks. He folded his arms on the table in front of him and buried his face in them, his head spinning at the thought of you.

“Shut up, Minho.”

The only problem with you being on the cheerleading team was that you were extremely distracting.

Juyeon was the star quarterback and frankly, it was kind of pathetic that the one thing that kicked him in the ass was seeing you in the knee socks and pom-poms. It didn’t help that you were a flyer so Juyeon’s stomach pitted with anxiety whenever he saw you being thrown up and whenever he heard a scream coming from the direction of the cheerleaders.

Today was different, though. Juyeon could care less about the screams and falls from the corner of the field. All he could think about was you and how he was going to ask you out. If his plan was going to work, it was going to draw a lot of attention and be quite embarrassing if it failed.

All of his confidence got knocked down with a single sweep when he saw someone asked you to the dance.

One of the cheerleaders broke into a fit of giggles at the sight, clasping a hand over her mouth. “Oh my god!”

You were frozen stiff, an awkward smile on your face as the guy walked onto the field with a sign and about a dozen roses. Juyeon could feel his heart sinking to the ground with each step the guy took, with each second his smile grew brighter.

“Is he seriously confessing during practice?” Sohn Youngjae asked, brows furrowed as he rested his arm on Juyeon’s shoulder. “That’s real brave.”

“What’s his deal doing it here? He isn’t even on the team,” Juyeon said, coming off more bitter than he had expected.

Younghoon scoffed. “It’s a bold move. He must be confident that Y/N’s going to say yes.”

Juyeon squared his shoulders. He was conflicted with the swell of anger and deflation of you possibly being taken, but nevertheless, all he could do was watch helplessly as you were being asked out. From where they were on the field, Juyeon couldn’t hear much, but he could see your reactions quite well. The wolf-whistles and cheers were pissing him off, but he was fixed on you.

He turned to look towards Minho, who was practicing on the field adjacent to theirs. His best friend met his gaze immediately like they had some form of exclusive telepathic communication. Minho nodded towards you and raised a brow, as if nudging Juyeon to go interrupt them. That, however, was something he was far too cowardly to bring himself to do.

Your voice resounded clearer than Juyeon had expected.

“I’m really sorry,” you apologized sincerely, ducking your head and keeping your hands entwined behind you. “I’m not interested, but I do appreciate the gesture.”

Juyeon felt a weight lift off of his chest. He wasn’t sure if he should’ve felt relieved that you shot him down or nervous that you rejected an attractive, confident guy who clearly liked you. However, he soon had no time to mull over that when the guy’s reaction was getting more aggressive than crestfallen.

“Y/N, I asked you out in front of all these people,” he said with a distasteful laugh. “Are you seriously rejecting me right now?”

“Sorry, I just don’t want to go with you,” you replied firmly, voice dropping as you became more conscious of your surroundings. “I’m sorry it had to be public but you didn’t really give me a choice.”

For a split second, Juyeon wondered how he could still hear you when you were practically muttering at this point, and then he realized that he started walking to you without even realizing. His feet carried him unknowingly, hand balled at his side and eyes stony and trained on the guy.

“You could’ve just accepted it and told me later that you didn’t want to go with me,” he said with a scoff. “It’s like you enjoy humiliating others publicly.”

Your teammates rushed forward to argue and fend him off while you opened your mouth to protest, but Juyeon was faster, moving in front of you so he was head-to-head with the guy.

“She said she’s not interested,” he said with a threatening undertone, wondering where he managed to muster up the courage to be this assertive.

You were visibly shocked by Juyeon’s actions, and he couldn’t even blame you because he was equally just as surprised as you were. Yet, all he could do was glare daggers down at the other guy with steely eyes and frown until he backed off.

“Thanks,” you said softly once the guy had left.

Juyeon was flustered by all the girls giggling behind you but was amazed by how cool and collected you remained despite that. He turned to you, eyes softening and shoulders relaxing. He knew he was getting an earful about this from his teammates after practice and most definitely from Minho as well.

“No problem,” Juyeon replied, cheeks red. “He was bothering you. I couldn’t just ignore it.”

“That was really sweet of you, Juyeon.” You bit back a smile and suggested, “Meet you at the front gates after practice?”

“See you then.”

Even though Juyeon could’ve spent the rest of practice talking to you, he sprinted back as fast as he could because his cheeks were only getting redder as the cheerleaders gushed about what he did for you. He could hear their gossip and whispering even as he was running back to his team. Juyeon was positive he wouldn’t escape the embarrassment, though, because Lee Jaehyun was smirking at him when he got back.

“You’re blushing, dude.”

Juyeon shoved him.

There was a universal law that was newly decreed. It read: Lee Minho shall never text, call, or speak to Lee Juyeon whenever Y/N was around.

The reason for that being the fact that Juyeon was easily embarrassed and Minho’s texts were not helping his case. He felt it was rude enough to check his phone while he was walking with you, but every time he saw a notification flash, his eyes widened with sheer distress over Minho’s texts.

minho: like three people asked me if you and y/n are fucking bc of what you pulled during practice today

minho: wait are y’all fucking and just not telling me

minho: i knew it was sus that she was coming over to your house

juyeon: fake news!! stop making me feel shy :(

Juyeon decided he had enough Lee Minho for today and turned off his phone.

“That was honestly the coolest thing I’ve ever seen you do,” you gushed to Juyeon as you walked home with him, fingers looped around the straps of your backpack. “Way cooler than you punting footballs.”

“No need to flatter me,” Juyeon replied coolly but his shy smile and red-tipped ears said otherwise. “That guy was being unnecessarily aggressive.”

“His proposal was out of nowhere!” you exclaimed. “I don’t get what he expected me to do.”

Juyeon smiled through the pain. Lord, give me strength, he prayed to whatever divine power was out there.

“Are you not interested in having a date to the dance then?” Juyeon asked, looking down at you curiously.

You paused for a moment and Juyeon thought his heart would stop in anticipation for your answer. Come to think of it, he had never seen you go to a school dance with a date before. You were always with your friend group. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary to see you stick with them, but Juyeon was hoping he could change that.

“Well,” you started, “if the right person asked me then I wouldn’t be opposed.”

Juyeon couldn’t exactly read your smile but it made him want to faint. The rest of the walk back home was spent talking about school and football, but Juyeon couldn’t get your answer to his question out of his head. He even walked past his house because his head was so full of you, resulting in you needing to stop him and tell him that they had already reached his place.

“Y/N! It’s so good to see you!” Juyeon’s mom chirped with a good-natured smile. “How has your mom been?”

Juyeon’s eyes widened upon the realization that they never stopped by at your place first to get the cookies. He opened his mouth to interject but you went on to answer.

“She’s been great, Mrs. Lee,” you replied, smiling just as big, and pulled out a box of cookies from your bag. “She wanted me to give these to you.”

“That’s so sweet! Give her my thanks,” his mom replied and opened the door wider once she accepted the cookies. “Come in for some tea, will you?”

Juyeon was practically frozen at the doorway while you were taking off your shoes and walking inside. If you had the cookies with you this entire time, then why didn’t you just give them to him to take home himself? Unless you were worried about the courtesy, it was a bit out of your way to take the time to walk home with Juyeon to deliver them.

“Juyeon, what are you doing out there?” his mom asked. “Come inside. It’s cold.”

“Right.”

Having you over at his house wasn’t exactly the sparkly fantasy that Juyeon thought it would be.

He was getting quite jealous of your mom hogging all of your attention. It wasn’t like you and Juyeon drifted apart during high school, so he wasn’t sure why his mom had to pull you away from him and have her own conversation with you. The worst part was that Juyeon couldn’t even join in on the conversation. He had no idea what they were even talking about.

That is, until his mom brought up the dance.

“Do you have a date, Y/N?” Juyeon’s mom asked.

“I don’t,” she replied. “I usually just go with my friends.”

“You’re so pretty, though,” Mrs. Lee tutted. “I’m sure someone must’ve asked you out.”

“Actually, someone asked me today,” you said. There was a moment of silence as you looked over at Juyeon while his gaze bore into yours. For a moment, you were struggling for what to say, mouthing words that weren’t being processed. Juyeon rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly once you regained your composure. “Juyeon actually helped me out.”

Mrs. Lee straightened up. “My son did?” She looked amused as she turned to Juyeon.

“Yeah,” you answered, grinning. “He was really cool.”

Juyeon blushed darkly once their eyes were on him. “W-what? I couldn’t ignore it. I wasn’t even doing that much. I was just helping out. You know, being a decent person,” he rambled and stood up. “Anyways, isn’t it getting late? Mom, Y/N has to go home soon and it’s gonna be pitch black outside if you keep her here.”

“Oh, you’re right.” Mrs. Lee frowned as she peered out the window. “Juyeon, you walk her home then.”

“What?” he sputtered out, looking between you and his mom before he caved, muttering, “I’ll go get my jacket.”

After an exchange of goodbyes, you had stepped out of the house and waited while Juyeon was slipping his shoes on. There was a moment of struggle where he had tied his laces too tight and couldn’t get the shoe on but he managed to slip it on after a few seconds of internal screaming. Juyeon zipped up his jacket the moment he stepped outside, the brisk coldness making his goosebumps rise.

“You really don’t have to walk me back,” you told Juyeon. “It’s cold outside.”

“It’s really late,” Juyeon replied, rubbing his hands together in hopes that the friction would provide some heat. “You shouldn’t be walking home by yourself, and I really don’t mind.”

“Thanks,” you mumbled, ducking your face. “For this, for what you did during practice—everything.”

Juyeon was glad that you weren’t looking at him because his mouth was opening and closing over and over again like a fish. He was also thankful for the fact that he could blame the dust of pink across his cheeks on the cold winter bite. Unfortunately, you lived close by so Juyeon didn’t have time to come up with a cool response and he didn’t want to leave things like this. There was a good vibe going on and he was upset that he couldn’t act upon it; when it came to you, Lee Juyeon was a coward.

“Um, we’re here so…” Juyeon trailed off when he turned to you, sort of thrown off by how beautiful you looked with your windswept hair and flushed cheeks. Dazed, he reached forward and moved a strand of your hair out of your face. “It’s good I walked you home and you’re not like, lost or… something—I’ll shut up now.”

You laughed, and it was an octave higher as if you were rattled from him touching your hair. “Ah, yes, a few streets down can be a harrowing trek.”

Juyeon laughed with you before his eyes settled on you. Your hands were crossed, rubbing your arms that were prickled with goosebumps. A wave of guilt washed through Juyeon and led him to strip his jacket off immediately. He ignored the piercing chill and put his jacket around your shoulders, making sure they covered your bare arms.

“My house is right here,” you argued. “You’re going to be cold.”

“Keep it on. I have something to tell you after the game,” Juyeon said firmly. It was his second burst of courage for you today and he was a little too amped up for his own good. “If you don’t like it then give me back my jacket tomorrow.”

Before you could respond, Juyeon turned on his heel and bolted home, the biggest grin across his face because he was head-over-heels for you.

Juyeon had never been so nervous in his life.

The game was underway, Juyeon’s leg bouncing as he eyeballed the scoreboard. His team was strong in the first two quarters, cutting it close by the third, but now they were neck-to-neck. They had ended with a tie and now they decided to go into overtime for the sake of choosing a winner for the game. It was a sudden death round so whoever scored first would win the game. Juyeon, however, found it difficult to concentrate.

Especially with Lee Minho breathing down his back.

“Are you ready?” his best friend asked.

“Yes—well, no, but I don’t really have a choice.”

“That’s true.”

“I already made the sign and told the team and everything,” Juyeon whined. “I really screwed myself over, Minho.”

Minho pushed at the back of his head. “Dude, I’m talking about the game.”

“Oh, that—that’s fine,” Juyeon stammered. “Fifteen minutes—we just have to win, and then I have to ask out the most amazing person I’ve ever met.”

“You could chicken out,” Minho suggested, “but that also comes with me never letting you live it down.”

“You see, I kind of already implied that I’m going to tell her something important.”

“You did?” Minho’s voice was somewhere between shocked and impressed.

“Shit, I gotta go,” Juyeon muttered, pushing himself off the bench. “Keep the poster safe for me!”

“Good luck, champ!”

Juyeon, sweaty and bangs sticking to his forehead, had to ignore every distraction and think about winning the game before his stomach threw itself into a pool of anxiety over asking you out. He got in a huddle with his team in the remaining fifteen seconds they had before they had to get in formation and lowered the facemask of his helmet. It was up to this one last play to determine whether they would win the game or not.

“Just like we practiced, alright?” Juyeon told them. “Double-wing power pass. We get them to bite thinking it’s a run play and then open up a passing lane.”

“Alright, let’s go,” Jaehyun cheered, and the rest of them put in their mouth guards and lowered their facemasks.

Juyeon took a shaky breath as he got in formation at the line of scrimmage. His heart was racing but he wasn’t sure it was about the game. Nevertheless, he steeled his nerves and held his ground. The whistle blew and the crowd was silent, observing the tension on the field carefully.

“Silver-80! Silver-80! Hut! Hut! Hike!” Juyeon yelled, and the center, Sangyeon, snapped the ball to him.

Juyeon faked a handoff to Jaehyun, the fullback, and spun around, rolling to his right. Changmin sped up in front of Juyeon to defend him. A smile tugged at Juyeon’s lips. Their plan was working just as he intended, but there was a problem: they couldn’t open up a passing lane for the running backs like he thought they would. The play was too rushed, so it wasn’t ever a guarantee.

So Juyeon had to do what he would normally deem crazy.

He spun at the sight of the other team coming to tackle him and skirted around the field, belting down the field. He dodged past another linebacker that tried to body him. His primary motivation was that he didn’t want a concussion before he confessed to you, but he assumed it was okay to admit that to himself as long as he didn’t throw the game.

Juyeon felt a hand grab him but he pushed forward, running across the goal line and into the end zone. He threw the ball down and cried out in joy as he scored a touchdown. The whistle blew and the scoreboard flipped. They won.

He did it.

Juyeon’s team ran to him, cheering at the top of their lungs. He was lifted up on Jaehyun and Younghoon’s shoulders, grinning happily before his heart sunk back down. The cheerleaders ran to the field, cheering and tossing their pom poms up. The crowd was roaring. Juyeon was realizing that he had to do the scariest thing that a heterosexual teenage boy ever had to experience.

“Jaehyun, Jaehyun,” Juyeon tapped his shoulder quickly. “We have no time. I have to do it now.”

“Oh shit.”

Jaehyun and Younghoon dropped Juyeon onto the turf. Juyeon winced at the sudden impact, gathering himself back to his feet and hoping you didn’t witness that. Jaehyun gave him a half-assed apology and pushed him forward to run and get his poster and flowers from Minho. Jaehyun then grabbed Changmin by the shoulders, urging him to go to the announcer’s booth.

Juyeon sprinted over to Minho, waving his hands dramatically. “Give, give, give,” he demanded amongst all the cheering.

Minho didn’t waste any time and pushed the poster and bouquet into Juyeon’s hands. “Break a leg, tiger.”

“Trust me, I nearly did.”

Juyeon jogged back onto the field, cheeks hot and head a little dizzy for what was about to come. He didn’t even tell his mom he was going to ask you out and she had to watch her son ask his best friend out to the dance. This was probably going to be a moment of utter humiliation but once Juyeon saw you in your high ponytail with a bright smile on your face, all that fear faded away and it was just you and him.

More importantly, you were wearing his jacket over your uniform and Juyeon felt like he was going to combust from the cuteness.

“Guys, guys,” Jaehyun called to the team. “Surround Juyeon. Make sure Y/N doesn’t see him.”

Juyeon’s heart was beating a hundred miles per second. He was glad he was running on the adrenaline from winning the game because otherwise, he would be cowering in fear and sweating buckets right now.

“Everyone, listen up!” Changmin spoke over the intercom. “First of all, the football team scored a major dub today—ow! Sunwoo, cut it out—alright, I’ll get to it!” Changmin broke from the mic and started bickering with Sunwoo.

There was a pause, and Juyeon was surprised to hear Minho’s voice fill the speakers, “Anyways, my buddy and our star quarterback, Juyeon, has something to say for a special someone.”

The crowd fell silent, a couple cheers and wolf-whistles as it was pretty obvious that a confession was about to happen.

“This is so fucking fluffy,” Sunwoo mumbled.

“Shut up, Sunwoo,” Juyeon replied, nudging him with his elbow.

The football team moved out of the way so that they weren’t huddled around Juyeon anymore. Juyeon’s breath caught in his throat as he walked forward to the middle of the field, holding up his sign, reading: Will you be my sunshine?

“Y/N,” he called out loudly, “honestly this confession is long overdue, but will you go to Winter Ball with me tonight and be my sunshine?”

The crowd started cheering and whistling again, and Juyeon wanted to die. She hadn’t even given him her answer yet and everyone was acting like she had agreed and they eloped. The cheerleaders pushed Y/N forward and she approached Juyeon, looking like a deer in headlights.

Juyeon took another shaky breath and continued, “I’ve been in love with you for so long so it would be an honor if I could take you to the dance,” he said and his voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m sorry if this is uncomfortable for you.”

You bit your lip but that wasn’t enough to contain the happiness that showed on your face. You zipped up Juyeon’s jacket and threw yourself into his arms. Everyone practically exploded but Juyeon was sure his heartbeat was louder. He wrapped his arms around you and buried his face into your shoulder.

Was this what people called a Christmas miracle?

“Oh shit!” Changmin screamed over the intercom. (“Shut up, they’re having a moment,” Minho’s faint voice was picked up in the background).

“Oh my god, you just made me the happiest man alive,” he mumbled.

You pulled back and reached forward to move his damp bangs off of his forehead. “Took you long enough.”

“Wait, did you—did you like me?” Juyeon choked out.

You laughed and cupped his face in your hands. There was a shaky inhale and exhale of breaths when his lips brushed against yours, and Juyeon closed the distance, kissing you like he was starved of your touch. His hold tightened on you as you melted into him, and then you both pulled away, smiling and dazed and lovesick.

You giggled. “Does that answer your question?”

“Yes,” he breathed out, grinning as he brushed his nose against yours.

Juyeon could care less about all the presents and holiday cheer because he had you and you were all he wanted.