#a good beau plans good dates

[radioactivatedspider]

She Is His Home.

Main Masterlist Big Sky Masterlist

Pairings; Beau Arlen x reader

Genre; fluff, romance

Warnings; none

Summary: Beau's nervous to ask yn to marry him after only 3 weeks of dating, his daughter becomes his Wingman.

1381 words

Beau had never been good at sitting still. But there he was—slouched on the couch, elbows on his knees, head in his hands, staring at the floor like it held all the answers.

It didn’t.

It just reminded him he needed to vacuum.

The trailer creaked with the late afternoon wind, the distant sound of two giggling voices carrying from Emily’s room. He could picture it—Y/N sitting cross-legged on the floor beside his daughter, both of them painting each other’s nails some ridiculous bubblegum pink while music played too loudly.

They were inseparable already. Shopping trips. Coffee runs. Hair masks. Y/N had even taken over pickup duty from school without him asking—and sometimes, even from Carla’s. That part alone had once been unimaginable. But now? Emily actually preferred when Y/N picked her up.

It scared the hell out of him.

He loved her.

He loved them.

But they’d only been together a few weeks. A month, maybe. And here he was—seriously, fully, terrifyingly thinking about marriage.

“You look like you’re about to pass out.”

Beau lifted his head and blinked at Emily, who leaned against the kitchen doorway with a knowing smirk. She sipped from her iced coffee like a seasoned adult, despite the sparkly "Hot Mess" sticker on her tumbler.

“You okay?” she asked.

Beau sighed. “Yeah.”

She stared. “Lie again and I’m telling Y/N you ate the last of her pistachio ice cream.”

“…Okay, maybe not totally okay.”

Emily walked over and plopped beside him. “Is it the case you’re working? Or… is it Y/N?”

He hesitated, then murmured, “It’s her. I—I think I want to propose.”

Emily’s eyes lit up. “Shut. Up.”

Beau half-laughed, half-groaned. “It’s too soon, right?”

“I mean, for normal people? Maybe. But you guys? You’re like a Nicholas Sparks novel. She basically lives here already.”

He scrubbed a hand down his face. “What if I mess it up?”

“You won’t. And lucky for you, I am very good at Pinterest boards and fake scenarios. You have a certified Wingman.”

Two Days Later, and he was ring shopping.

The jewelry shop was quiet, the kind of place where everything gleamed a little too brightly and made Beau feel like a bull in a china shop. But Emily stood beside him, arms crossed and completely in her element.

“Nothing too flashy,” he told the jeweler. “She’s simple. Honest. She doesn’t wear a lot of rings.”

He ended up designing one. Thin gold band. Small oval-cut diamond. Delicate engraving inside: Feels like forever.

He had a plan.

He’d cook her dinner. Light candles. Maybe take her outside to the porch afterward. Tell her how much she’d changed his life. How much Emily adored her. How much he adored her.

But that’s not how it happened.

They were tangled up in bed, a tangle of limbs and sheets and soft laughter. Her head rested on his chest, her fingers tracing slow circles across his stomach. The air smelled like her—like lilac lotion and warmth.

He could feel his heart in his throat.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt this loved,” she whispered.

And he didn’t think. He just reached for the drawer, pulled out the box, and handed it to her.

Y/N blinked, still breathless, still glowing. “What’s this?”

He sat up, cupping her face, eyes locked with hers. “I was gonna do it the ‘right’ way. Big speech, lights, maybe a guitar if I could remember a damn chord.”

She laughed, teary-eyed already.

“But none of that felt right,” he went on. “Because you’re not about the show. You’re about the real. And this is real. You, me, Em. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.”

He opened the box.

Y/N gasped.

“Marry me?” he asked, voice quiet but steady.

Tears slipped down her cheeks. “Yes. Yes, Beau.”

She said yes.

Right there—half buried in sheets, skin still warm from his touch, her heart racing for a completely different reason now.

“Yes?” he repeated, still breathless.

Y/N nodded, smiling through the tears. “I love you, Beau Arlen. Of course I’ll marry you.”

He exhaled like he’d been holding that breath for years. They didn’t rush. They didn’t jump out of bed and call everyone or pop champagne. They just laid there—wrapped in each other, in promises and silent gratitude. She held the ring box to her chest for a minute before slipping the ring on, whispering how perfect it was. How he was perfect.

They fell asleep like that—bare, tangled, and engaged.

The trailer, once his fortress of solitude, suddenly felt too small. Too temporary. Every time Y/N bumped her hip on the same kitchen drawer or Emily ran out of space in her makeshift closet, he felt the itch to make a change.

So they did.

Beau found a one-story house just on the edge of town. Nothing fancy—just the right size. Two bedrooms. A cozy kitchen. A front porch he could sit on with a coffee in the mornings and a backyard where Emily could lay out and complain about homework.

Moving day was chaos in the most beautiful way.

Y/N folded throw blankets with a fierceness that made Beau smile. Emily ran between rooms, deciding where to hang pictures and where their collective pile of shoes should go. Beau—new key in hand—stood in the doorway watching them. His girls.

That night, after the last box had been unpacked and they’d christened their new bed with laughter and whispered I-love-yous, Beau found himself standing in the middle of the hallway. The lights were off. The air was still.

This was it.

No more running. No more waiting for the other shoe to drop. He had a wife. A daughter. A life.

Y/N came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his middle and resting her chin between his shoulder blades.

“Happy?” she whispered.

“I didn’t think I could be this happy,” he admitted.

“Good,” she said, kissing his back. “You deserve it.”

So did she.

A few days later, Beau found Emily in her new room, stringing fairy lights around her bookshelf. She looked over her shoulder when he knocked on the door.

“You think it’s too soon?” he asked softly.

Emily dropped the lights and sat on the edge of her bed. “No. I think it’s right.”

He exhaled, grateful.

“I mean,” she added with a grin, “you better not mess it up. She’s way cooler than you.”

“Noted,” he chuckled.

“Also, if I’m not your best man, I’m telling Mom.”

They didn’t do the big wedding. It wasn’t their style.

Instead, it was a warm afternoon in early spring. Just a small clearing by a lake outside town. Emily stood between them holding both their rings, hair curled and a grin so wide it barely fit her face.

Y/N wore a simple white sundress and no shoes. Beau wore jeans, boots, and a gray shirt rolled at the sleeves—his sheriff’s badge tucked in his pocket, not on his chest.

They wrote their vows.

“I didn’t know what peace felt like until you,” he said, voice thick with emotion. “I didn’t know a woman could walk into my world and make my daughter laugh like that. Or make me believe in forever again.”

She wiped a tear, then took his hands.

“You and Emily saved me from a life I didn’t even realize I was stuck in. You gave me home. And I’ll never stop showing you how much that means.”

Emily handed them the rings, eyes misty, and whispered to Y/N, “Thanks for loving him right.”

Y/N smiled and kissed her forehead. “Thanks for letting me.”

They said “I do” under a cloudless sky. No frills. No audience. Just a family.

Afterward, the three of them danced barefoot in the grass to an old speaker barely holding a signal. It didn’t matter. They were exactly where they needed to be.

[strawberrykidneystone]

brewing

sevika x fem!reader

summary: the annual basket betting is right around the corner and caitlyn is trying to play matchmaker with you

a/n: ty for all the love in part 1!!!!

tags: gilmore girls au, diner owner!sevika, i love the basket betting episode, side poly victor x jayce x mel bc i said so, jayce is the mayor LMAO, fast burn bc im impatient, first kiss (YOU'RE WELCOME), hope you like fishing!

ao3 version

part 1

today was the basket betting day for raising funds to build the old bridge again and you had once again put off buying a basket until the last minute.

"how about this one?" you asked isha, who's face twisted into one of disapproval.

"too big," she signed with a shake of her head.

"okay goldilocks, well you've vetoed the last 3 baskets i've picked out so why don't you just pick it out for me?" you said in a deceptively sweet voice after tossing the basket back into the pile with the others.

isha responded with an eyeroll and dug through the baskets to find a reasonably small one that was still somewhat fashionable. while she dug around the pile of wicker, you picked up a few groceries that you were missing and waited by the checkout for her to finish up, hoping that she wouldn't pick too small of a basket so at least someone would bet on it without setting expectations too high.

out of seemingly nowhere, caitlyn appeared in front of you with a much too eager smile on her face. "morning!" she chirped happily, clutching her own basket that you had no doubt that vi was going to bet on. It was a reasonably sized basket, and you were sure that her kitchen staff wouldn't skimp on a full 3-course meal that would fill the entire thing up, topped with a dark blue ribbon as it did in years past. hell, before vi came along, even you would've bet on the basket for the food alone.

you gasped at her sudden appearance and put a hand over your chest as if you were having a heart palpitation, "jeez cait, i need to get you a bell or something."

she giggled and rocked back and forth on her feet, a mischievous smile on her face. "my apologies, but i couldn't wait to tell you. i've actually found someone to bet on your basket," she said with an all-too-proud look on her face.

you deadpanned and slumped your shoulders, "what." caitlyn's plans to set you up with her "friends" have never really gone right. the last blind date you went on, set up by her, your date would only talk about the stock market and its impact on the company she inherited from her parents. it was so boring that you went through 2 bottle of wine just to make yourself brain-dead enough to keep listening to them drone on.

"oh don't give me that look, it'll be fun!" she said with a big smile on her face with a playful nudge to your shoulder.

"yeah i've heard that before," you muttered under your breath as you could feel the dread building up in your gut as you watched her duck in between the aisles to find her pink-headed beau.

whoever she was setting up with you, it could not be good.

isha brought you out of your stance of disbelief by bumping your arm with the basket she had meticulously picked out and took your shopping basket from your forearm, placing it onto the waiting checkout conveyor belt. you snickered at her eagerness to get back home to stuff her nose back into her latest book, "okay okay i get it kid."

isha had dodged the town fundraiser by being a child still and would be safe in the library with a stack of freshly picked books at her side.

after checking out at the register and grabbing your groceries, the two of you were off to kill a few hours before it was time to bid.

-timeskip-

this was a new low for sevika.

self help tapes? who was she kidding. blah blah blah love yourself. who actually listens to this bullshit?

well, she supposed she did now.

communicating had never been sevika’s strong suit, but she was determined. if not for herself, then for you. who knew that you had to work on yourself to be better for other people? go figure.

her thoughts were interrupted by a loud commotion coming from downstairs and a frantic call of her name.

speak of the devil and he shall appear. well, she.

sevika ejected the cassettee tape out of her speaker and stuffed it in her sock drawer with the original packaging, running her fingers through her tussled hair and tucked it into a backwards baseball cap, before basically clamoring down the stairs at your desperate pleas. as she walked through the doorway, she almost steamrolled over you with the velocity that she had gained running down the stairs to you and looked at you with surprise. she had never seen you this frazzled before, and that was saying something.

"sevika you have to buy my basket," you basically begged, looking up at her with a look of desperation that reminded her of a feral animal being backed into a corner.

sevika furrowed her brows and stood there a little dumbfounded. she was willing to do a lot of things for you, but the basket auction? she still had her dignity. kind of.

"absolutely not."

"please sev! caitlyn is trying to set me up with these weirdos and i’ll be forced to have lunch with them!" you said desperately, trying to give sevika your most pathetic look to convince her.

"do they know they're betting on 2 packs of gushers and a peanut butter sandwich?" she teased but couldn't help but feel her heart ache at the thought of you going on an obligatory "date" with someone else.

"hey i resent that!" you said in an offended tone before a smirk crawled up your face, "it's a peanut butter and nutella sandwich."

“ooo my bad,” she said mockingly, still looking at you unimpressed.

you clasped your hands together and gave her the saddest eyes that you could muster, “please sevika! this is my hour of need and i need you! i would never leave you hanging like this!”

sevika pressed her lips together and tried to resist your sad eyes, but she was only so strong of a woman. she knew she could never truly say no to you, especially if it prevented you from having a lunch date with someone other than her.

“fine, just stop making that face it’s making me nauseous.”

“yes! thank you thank you thank you i’ll never make it again!” you cried out in joy with an obvious lie, dragging her out of the diner and over to the crowd that had gathered in front of the big gazebo.

the usually empty caged structure was adorned with multiple baskets of every shape and size you could imagine. while participation for the women in the community was “optional”, meaning you would get an earful from jayce if you didn’t make a basket (besides sevika who protested against the event every year), the community needed to raise money for the old bridge once again. jayce was shining on stage in his pristine white suit with both of his partners on either side of him, mel presenting the baskets while viktor meticulously kept track of who had bet on each one on his yellow legal pad.

jinx’s basket had just finished being bet on, sold for $5 to ekko with no resistance from the crowd (there was probably a stink bomb in the basket).

jayce held his hand out to mel, who picked up your basket as it had been next in line. you stood with sevika in the crowd with your arms unconsciously wrapped around her bicep, rapidly tapping her arm as jayce held your basket up. “it’s that one,” you whisper-shouted to her, slightly hiding behind her tall figure from the two people that caitlyn had picked out for you to bet on your basket.

"we'll start the bidding at $3," jayce said pointedly, smiling out to the crowd.

"hey size isn't everything!'' you said through gritted teeth, looking nervously at the two people who both raised their hands to bid.

sevika raised her hand when jayce called for $5 and soon the price of the basket had increased to a whopping $50, something that you could literally never imagine.

"$100, final offer," sevika said gruffly. you couldn't help but gawk up at her, shocked that she would go up that high for a basket that she knew the sad contents of.

the crowd was silent and jacye looked around for any opposers, "going once, going twice, sold to sevika for $100!"

there was scattered applause throughout the crowd and you could help but sigh in relief, hugging sevika's are slightly tighter, "thank you 'vika, you're a lifesaver."

"yeah yeah i'm a fucking saint," she grumbled, silently reveling in the grip that you had on her arm.

the rest of the auction went by in a blur, and you let go of sevika's arm for her to go claim her prize. as she walked back to you with the basket in hand, she looked into the small vessel and grimaced at the pathetic amount of food on the inside. when you opened your mouth to defend yourself, sevika held a hand up and interrupted you before you could, "let's just go get some food from my diner."

you smiled sheepishly and put your hands on your hips, "deal, but we still have to eat it outside like a picnic."

"deal."

the two of you walked side by side back to the diner, getting some intrigued side eyes from the rest of the townspeople of zaun who have been waiting for the two of you to be together since you first moved in. sevika made you two a quick meal and bagged it up, already knowing your favorites off the top of her head. she took the bag under her arm before you could even reach the bag to take it yourself. you fake-pouted about not carrying the bag, but "allowed" her to carry the bag as you followed her into a familiar clearing in the nearby woods that overlooked the dark green town lake that was sparkling in the afternoon sun. you unfolded the red gingham picnic blanket that had been stashed in your little basket and smoothed it out against the grass that stopped right before the sandy shore before taking a seat on your hip. sevika plopping down close to you with her legs crisscrossed, so close that your shoulders were practically touching. you couldn't help but watch as she meticulously laid out the spread of food onto the blanket, it looked like something straight out of a movie.

both of you sat in a somewhat awkward silence for a bit as you started to eat, neither of you quite sure what to say. was this an actual date? or just a friend thing? god this burger is good. i wonder what isha is doing right now- shit, focus, focus.

you polietly wiped your mouth with your napkin and cleared your throat, looking out at the lake, "have you gone fishing lately? i know you've mentioned liking it before but i don't think i've ever actually seen you at this lake."

sevika nodded along as she finished chewing the food in her mouth and finally swallowed it down, "there's honestly not much fish in this one, 'usually head out to the one on the border in my old man's old boat."

"i bet i would catch something if i fished out here," you said in an overly confident voice, hoping to get a rise out of her.

"you? fishing?" sevika said in a tone where you knew that she didn't believe a word you said.

"what? don't give me that! i've never been fishing, how will i know i don't like it unless i try it?" you scowled and crossed your arms over your chest defensively.

"you know what, fine. i'll take you out fishing," she said defeatidly, a playful smirk on her lips.

"then it's a date," you declared, shifting in your sitting position slightly.

that gave sevika pause as a much mroe comfortable silence stood between the two of you.

"...is this a date?"

you turned your head to sevika and blinked at her owlishly. your eyes scanned her face for any sign of her usual joking manner with you, but found none. she was being completely serious.

"do you want it to be a date?"

"yes?... no? i don't-" sevika sighed and took a deep breath to gather herself and think about what she wanted to say next. she looked deep into your eyes with her singing gold ones that gleamed in the sunlight and took your hands in her, her cold metal prosthetic contrasting the warm blanket of spring that had enwrapped the two of you.

"no, i don't want this to be our first date. i don't want our first date to be something that i bailed you out on because you didn't want to go to lunch with a stranger and especially not because of something caitlyn set up." you could feel tears welling up in your eyes and you couldn't help but giggle at the mention of caitlyn's failed plan, but you would definitely have to thank her for causing this.

sevika squeezed your hands in hers and chuckled with you, bringing her focus back to you when the moment passed. "i want to take you out properly, the way you deserve, the way I've been dying to take you out since you first came into my diner begging for coffee. will you please do me the honor of going out with me on a proper date?"

instead of responding, you cupped her cheeks with your hands and pulled her into a kiss. it was surprisingly soft but firm, as if both of you were holding your breath as it happened. her lips were satly from the food, but she smelled like freshly brewed coffee, a scent that attracted you to her from the beginning whether it was purposeful or not. when you pulled away, sevika's eyes were practically twinkling and dazed, looking at you as if you were her whole world. you couldn't help the smile that creeped up on your lips. "yes, yes of course sev," you said softly and sealed it with a peck on her lips.

she nodded and opened her mouth to speak but no words came out, she had wanted this for so long and it was finally happening, there were no words to express how happy she was in this moment. thank fully she didn't have to speak, she simply pulled you into another kiss, pouring all of her feelings against your lips, which you happily accepted.

a/n: sorry this update took forever college has been kicking my ass😔😔😔

part 3 coming soon

taglist: @maneskinwh0re @archangeldyke-all @fandoms-will-be-the-death-of-me @sevikasfan @lez-zuha @comfortripley @sunflowerwinds

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[water-loos]

Lacy !

“Oh, I care, I care, I care…”

mean!steve harrington x fem!reader

masterlist ; series masterlist ; previous chapter ; next chapter

cw: college au, drinking, arguing, strong language, steve is very very VERY mean and out of line / borderline controlling, cigarette smoking, making out? ig?

wc: 3.5k

a/n: i am so so sorry this took so long! also pls don’t hate me for how steve acts this chapter, it’s a jealously thing i promise he’ll get better

That one night was enough to get Steve out of your system. You cried, you hated yourself, and then you finally stitched up the wound he’d left in your chest. It was easy to get back into the swing of partying, meeting new people, and dating around. You could tell that you were beginning to feel happier and like you were having fun again. You’d even felt comfortable enough to go out when Steve finally agreed to start coming to functions, shamelessly dancing with your beau of the night as he and Eddie normally sat chatting at the bar.

You felt free, and life felt good again.

You went into that school year with a newfound confidence, an aura that was noticeable according to your friends. Alexandra said that it was like you finally started taking your sunshine pills again. Robin always showered you in friendly compliments about how she missed your fun side and was happy to see that you were back. Eddie had even started asking you to be his wingman at the bars.

That was until the sunshine abruptly stopped about a month into school. The group had planned an outing to some sort of party that was being thrown by a few mutual friends in this huge apartment they had, and you had even been excited to go for the week and a half before the actual event. You dressed up, did your hair, and even bought a whole new pair of shiny sheer tights for the occasion. Then, as people were starting to show up to your apartment for the albeit crowded pregame, Steve arrived.

Normally that wouldn’t bother you. You’d gotten over him two months ago, right?

He’d walked in with the prettiest girl you’d ever seen in your life hanging off of his arm, her smile perfect and her hair done to perfection. She wore a sweet little pink skirt with an even prettier babydoll top, and her skin glistened with body glitter. The sight of them made you feel sick.

Eddie was first to bring up the new guest as you stood behind your kitchen counter, trying your best to be unbothered as you took large gulps of the mixed drink in your hand. “And who’s this, Harrington? If you’re gonna bring a guest you should at least introduce her.”

“You’re right,” Steve chuckled slightly, his hand coming around to squeeze the girl’s waist and pull her into him. “This is Jade, my girlfriend. Just like the gemstone, right?”

Your stomach lurched at the sound, just as you reopened the bottle of tequila you had originally set aside. You poured half your red solo cup full and filled the rest with lemonade as you kept your gaze trained on the counter.

“You remembered,” She cooed ever so sweetly. Not the type of sweet that you’d think was a front for a sour personality, though. It was worse. It was the type of sweet that had you immediately knowing it was her real demeanor. “But it’s great to meet you guys! Steve’s told me such great things about everyone.”

Your shoulders tensed as she said that, and you felt a little upset with yourself for the wave of anger that washed over you. You’d been over him for so long, why were you feeling so awful about the entire ordeal? Why were you sick to your stomach?

The conversation quickly turned into everyone introducing themselves and getting to know Jade, the laughter in your living room making you want to smash your head into a wall. Instead of doing the right thing and introducing yourself to her, however, you slipped toward the hallway and stepped into the bathroom, cup in hand.

Once inside, you locked the door, pounded back half of the drink, and set the cup down on the vanity. You watched yourself wipe your mouth with the back of your hand in the mirror, your chest aching with how fast your heart was pounding.

What the hell is wrong with me?

Your thoughts felt so loud that they seemed to echo in the small interior of the bathroom, your hands shaking slightly.

Why do I feel so awful?

You were over Steve. You had been for so long. He has a girlfriend now. It means he’s moved on too. It’s that simple.

Why am I so goddamn angry, then?

It clicked. The anger finally set in, and you remembered why it all ended in the first place. Steve had told you so many times that he wasn’t ready for a relationship. He didn’t want to be tied down, and he wanted to live his best college life. “That’s what college is for.”

What does she have that I don’t?

Her skin was impossibly clear from what you could see. Her hair was perfect, her posture, her style, her smile. She was everything you weren’t.

Your hands reached to turn on the faucet, and you took a bit of cool water to your cheeks. The water grounded you and willed away the angry heat that had taken over your face. You tapped along your forehead and took a few deep breaths before drying your face. Your hand reached for that plastic solo cup again and you poured the burning concoction down your throat before crushing the cup in your fist and standing a little straighter.

You headed for the door and swung it open as calmly as you could, revealing none other than Jade, who was about to reach for the handle.

“Oh! Hi!” She said brightly, slightly frazzled by the sudden opening of the door. “You must be Robin’s roommate!”

You tried not to bristle and put on your sweetest smile before introducing yourself.

“That’s right. Robin talks about you all the time, it’s great to finally meet you,” She gushed. “You’re just as pretty as she said you were!”

“That’s so sweet of you,” You replied, the anger you had been feeling gone surprisingly fast with her genuine tone. You cursed yourself mentally and pouted just a little at her compliment. “It’s so nice to meet you too.”

She laughed a little as you stepped out of the way from the doorway. “You have a beautiful apartment— even the bathroom is cute.”

“Thank you! It’s my favorite place in the world,” You said back, your heartbeat rising once more. “Be careful with the faucet, it’s a little finicky. If it’s up too high it’ll splash all over.”

“Thanks for telling me!” She replied with a nod, closing the door behind her. You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding, and stepped into the living area.

You were quick to throw out the now empty cup in your hand and grab a new one, again pouring far too much tequila into your cup and topping it off with lemonade. Once you had a full cup, you walked up behind Eddie and looped your arm through his, successfully pulling him from his conversation with Steve.

“What’s up, rockstar?” Eddie quipped, turning to look down at you. “You feeling okay?”

“Oh I’m all good, don’t worry,” You assured him, taking a sip of your drink. “Do you have a cigarette? I need to pick some up on the way but I want to smoke before we leave.”

“What kind of question is that?” The boy snorted, jostling you slightly with your interlocked arms. “Of course, I’ve got one. You sure you want to? You won’t get sick?”

Your spine straightened slightly as you forced out the most normal-sounding laugh you could muster. You spared a glance toward Steve, who was still standing with the two of you. “No, I’ll be okay. I told you, I hadn’t been feeling good that whole day, remember?”

“That’s right,” Eddie shrugged, his free hand reaching into his back pocket to pull out his shiny silver cigarette case, motioning toward Steve. “You coming?”

“Nah,” He shook his head as you lifted your cup to your mouth again. “I don’t smoke anymore. Haven’t in a couple of weeks.”

You couldn’t help but choke on your drink slightly, pulling the cup away from your face as you swallowed the burning liquid and let out a little cough. “Sorry. Wrong pipe.”

Steve’s shoulders tensed ever so slightly.

“Really?” Eddie said, eyes wide and head cocked. “Good for you, man! That’s great. We’ll make sure to smoke away from

you so there’s no temptation, you know?”

“I appreciate it, man,” Steve chuckled tightly before looking toward you, his face the picture of nonchalant. “Did you get to meet Jade yet? She’s been dying to meet you after Robin told her all about you.”

Anger flared through your veins, knowing his prerogative. He was rubbing it in.

“I did! She’s adorable, Steve,” You replied politely, not letting your emotions show on your face. “I can’t wait to see her around more. She seems sweet.”

“Good to know.”

Eddie tugged on your looped arms after a moment of silence. “Let’s go before everyone starts getting ready to leave.”

You snapped back into reality and let him lead you toward the front porch with an odd sense of urgency. Once the two of you were outside, he closed the door behind you and wheeled around toward you.

“What the hell was that all about?” He asked in typical Eddie fashion, eyes wide and hands motioning wildly as he flicked open his cigarette case.

“What was what?” You furrowed your eyebrows at him and took the cigarette from between his fingers. “What are you talking about?”

“That horrifically awkward interaction that I just witnessed between you and Harrington?” He scoffed, lighting his cigarette before handing you his zippo. “You could cut the tension with a knife, babe.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” You shrugged, lighting your cigarette and taking a drag before continuing. “I was just being honest. I think Jade is a very sweet girl.”

“Are you jealous of her?” He looked at you suspiciously for a moment as you took another drag and flicked the minuscule amount of ash that had accumulated at the cherry of your cigarette. The second your head lifted to respond, his eyes grew wide. “Do you have a thing for Steve? Is that why you were so weird about me asking him to hang out with us at the beginning of the summer? Are you into him?”

You let out a quiet “fuck” before raising a hand to stop his quick-fire interrogation. “Listen, Eddie. I could tell you what that was all about, but I seriously don’t think I want to talk about it. All you have to know is that we have a little bit of history. That’s all.”

“What kind of history?”

“Just history, okay? There isn’t anything juicy to even tell you,” You took a long drag and blew the cloud out of the corner of your lips. “I have no problems with Jade, or with him being with Jade. She’s a very sweet girl and honestly, I think they’re cute together. That’s that.”

You know he doesn’t buy your lie. You can tell by the way his eyes soften at your apprehension to even answer any of his questions. But, you keep the act up and don’t break.

“You know you can trust me to not tell him anything you say, right?” He asked earnestly, voice soft as he looked toward you. The burn of his cigarette lit up his face, casting a warm glow on his cheeks that made him seem all the more genuine.

“I know, Eds,” You nodded. “I just really don’t like talking about it. I don’t want to dwell in the past, you know?”

“I get it,” He nodded back, taking another drag. “I hope you’re okay. I didn’t mean to bring down the morale.”

“You didn’t. Promise,” You huffed, straightening your back that you didn’t realize was slouching. “I’m too excited and too tipsy for you to do that. I’m fucking ready to go out and have a great night.”

“That’s the spirit, babe,” He tutted, turning to sling an arm over your shoulder and pull you in for a warm side hug. “We’ve got shots to take and men to bang, right?”

“And that we shall do.”

———————

And that he did. Eddie had disappeared about an hour ago with a gorgeous blonde who had been making eyes at him from across the living room all night and his red-haired girlfriend, leaving you alone. Robin and Alex were off in a corner with one of the hosts, Sean and Jared were playing beer pong with new friends they had made, and you hadn’t seen Steve or his new girlfriend since your group had arrived. You clung to a wall near the kitchen, swirling the mix of liquor and sprite that you had in your solo cup, zoning out until someone was ready to leave.

You looked down at the clear liquid in your hand again as you felt someone slide in beside you on the wall, their sudden presence causing your head to immediately snap in their direction. He was gorgeous— a tall man with bleached hair, his eyes low-lidded and locked on your own. Your heart skipped a beat with the sudden eye contact, but you didn’t back down. He was exactly what you’d been waiting for all night long.

“You’ve been standing alone here for a good twenty minutes,” He leaned down to say near your ear, a smile on his lips. “You waiting for someone?”

“Sort of yes, sort of no,” You rise to copy his actions, both of your hands remaining on your cup as you attempt to stay as neutral as possible, even if your heartbeat had begun to race. “Why do you ask?”

“Wanted to make sure you weren’t waiting for a partner,” He chuckled a little before straightening out and holding out a hand toward you. “I’m Matthew. Can I grab you a drink?”

You introduced yourself and nodded before sliding one of your arms around his bicep. “Lead the way, Matthew.”

Twenty minutes later, you found yourself tucked in a corner in the living room, almost nose to nose with Matthew as the two of you flirted and talked over the music. You can’t remember when his hands landed on your waist, or when your drink had gotten abandoned on a nearby coffee table so you could stand closer and let your hands roam across his chest and arms.

Unfortunately, Steve chose just as you were beginning to forget about him to walk out of the hallway, hair disheveled and his new girlfriend trailing behind him. He caught your gaze the second he crossed into the main room of the house, causing your spine to go rigid.

“You okay, babe?” Matthew asked, his fingers tapping at their hold on your hips.

“Just a shiver,” You lied, looking up at him and fluttering your lashes. “Someone’s got the fan cranked up.”

“Oh, we can’t have that, can we?” He flirted, letting his arms fully circle your waist in an effort to ‘warm you up’. You laughed softly at the gesture. “Better?”

“So much better,” You replied, a lilt in your voice as you let your arms loop around his neck, leaning into his touch. That brought the two of you closer, your faces mere inches apart.

You were first to take the plunge and connect your lips, your heartbeat quickening with the heat of it. You didn’t feel any butterflies, as usual, but he was a good kisser. You couldn’t complain.

The kiss escalated quicker than you expected, but you welcomed his hands wandering lower as your arms pulled him closer. Your back hit the wall, and your body began to heat up, the rhythm of the kiss doing exactly what you needed it to.

Matthew’s lips started to trail down your neck as your eyes opened ever so slightly, lids low. Your hands rested on the side of his neck as he began to suck hickeys along your exposed skin, and you wear just about ready to take him to one of the spare bedrooms when you spotted Eddie come trailing down the stairs, a sourpuss look on his face. Steve came back into view shortly after, catching your albeit blissed-out gaze and motioning that it was time to go. You opened your eyes enough to roll them at him, but he stood still and motioned again. He even mouthed “let’s go” to you with anger-filled eyes.

That’s when you made your first mistake. You lifted a hand from Matthew’s neck, flipping off Steve over your new beau’s shoulder. The blonde almost lifted his head to look, but you quickly put your hands on his shoulders and urged him to kiss your lips again. You let the kiss go on for a few moments before pulling back, keeping your faces close.

“Want to go somewhere else? A little quieter, maybe?” You suggested, batting your lashes at him again.

“Yeah, babe. Let’s find somewhere quieter,” He smiled, reaching for your hand and leading you toward the hallway. You let out a breath when you couldn’t see Steve anymore, following blindly behind Matthew.

You were halfway up the stairs when you felt a firm hand on your shoulder, urging you to turn.

“We’re going home. Come on,” Steve urged, jaw set.

“Dude, what the fuck?” You exclaimed, feeling Matthew tug on your other hand as he abruptly stopped.

“Who’s this?” The blonde asked, stepping down to insert into the conversation.

“Let’s go,” Steve said again, voice low. It made your chest burn with anger.

“Who are you, my mom? Fuck off,” You scoffed. “I’m fine. Go back without me.”

“You’re drunk. You’re coming with me,” Steve blew air from his nose, looking up at you. “Don’t make me get Eddie.”

“One second,” You let go of Matthew’s hand momentarily, turning back to Steve. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing right now?“

Steve took the opportunity to give you one last look, his eyes a mix of anger and pleading. You bristled and glanced toward the door, where Eddie shrugged helplessly.

You turned around and pulled out a slip of paper from your pocket, handing it to Matthew. “I’m really sorry. Call me, please.”

He stood there, gobsmacked, as you then grabbed Steve by the front of his shirt and dragged him through the party, through the front door, and onto the front lawn. It was there that you pushed him with enough force to get him to stumble back.

“What the hell is your problem, Harrington? Putting your hands on me? Telling me what to do?” You shouted, alerting your friends and any other partygoers that were in the yard. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“He seemed like a creep,” He sighed, stepping back toward you. “It’s late, and you’re drunk.”

“Woah—“ Alex started to say before Robin grabbed her arm to hold her back.

“Dude, I came onto him! It’s none of your business!”

“You barely know the guy! Come on, be reasonable.” He fumbled, trying to defend himself.

“I barely know you!” You snapped, staring daggers at him. You both knew what you meant by that and were locked in a stare-off until Eddie came between the two of you.

“Okay, okay, let’s chill out,” He stepped toward you, putting an arm around your shoulders. “It’s been a long night.”

“Steve, I think you and Jade should just go home,” Robin stepped up, putting on the sweetest face she could. Jade sidled up beside her, an unrecognizable look on her face. “I think you’ve had too much to drink, Steve.”

“Wh—“

Jade stepped up and grabbed his hand, pulling him away before he could continue. Once he was far enough away, you made probably the most childish shout of anger ever, throwing your arms down.

“Can you fucking believe the nerve of that guy?” You grunted, pulling away from Eddie, stomping as you turned toward the group. “I’m not insane that he was being totally out of line, right?”

“No, he was being ridiculous,” Robin sighed, glancing at Alex. “Let’s get home and talk about it. I don’t think having this conversation in the middle of the lawn is a good idea.”

“I already called a taxi for you guys,” Jared said, stepping forward. “Sean and I are just going to walk home. We’re not far from our place.”

“You sure?” You asked, suddenly crestfallen. “If you guys want to come over, you can. I’m sorry about all of this bullshit.”

“Don’t apologize. Text us when you get home, okay?” Sean came to give you a quick hug. “We’ll see you guys tomorrow for brunch?”

“For sure.”

“Alright. Let’s get home, get some food, and talk this all over, okay?” Eddie turned to you as the other boys walked away.

“Sure. It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do now.”

[storiesfromafan]

Missing Him/Her Was Dark Grey

A/N: I know I'm late to post, on day 3 of a migraine but it's moving on slowly. I bring you the last part of whatever this is 😅 I couldn't find the names of Johnny and Betty's girls, so I gave them names. Pls correct me if they do have names.

Previously: part one, part two

There will be a note at the end, it's a little important.

Warning/s: possible spelling/grammers mistakes

Tag list: @charmingballoon @strayrockette

Being gone for almost three months – open road, his bike and no responsibilities – gave Benny a lot of time to think. Thinking and weighing up the pro's and con's of his relationship with you, which he fully admits was left the worst way. Never had any relationship of his had a moment remotely as bad as that. Yet, no relationship was ever like what he had with you. Sure, there were women before you, but they never lasted or effected him like you did.

You were the light in a dim time. The calm to his storm. Yet that calm did bring on the storm too. If there wasn’t passion there wouldn’t be intense fights. Benny could see that. When you fought he would be passionate about it, about you, but that voice in his head. It was hard to tune out. But from years of being not good enough, it was always there loud and clear. Even when he knew better with you, that it wasn’t like that with you. It was different this time.

You had seen him before he saw you, but Benny was the first to fall. Flirting with you and putting himself out there, while you tip toed around him, doing everything to avoid getting close to the Vandal. But he got you on the back of his bike, and that was it. Sure, slow to start, but slow turned to a moderate pace before fast. A speed Benny was use too.

That was why he came back, he was back for you. No matter how much he tried to turn it off, he couldn’t stop thinking about you or loving you. So he had put on his grownup pants – metaphorically of course – and was back in town for you. Benny was ready to do anything and everything to get you back.

Unfortunately it didn’t look that way for you. As he rolls into town, passing the movie theatre, there you were. And not alone. It was brief but the man beside you looked like a complete square, the ideal man to bring home to your family. First there was anger that some guy was out with you. And secondly that turned to utter anguish that you were out on a date with someone else.

Unable to approach you without loosing it, Benny chose to ride on. And right to Grand and Division. Sure, he’d thought about heading to your house. But it would only be the same, or worse if you were planning to take the guy back to your place. That thought truly gutted him. The idea of another man touching you, kissing you and in your bed. He was close to just not even stopping, just riding back out of town. But Benny had been on the road for hours. He needed to stop, not to mention a beer or three.

Before he even entered the bar, just parked his bike, Johnny and a few other familiar faces came rushing out of the building. Benny had just gotten off his bike when Johnny patted him on the back, laughing and saying how it had been a while. Ushering him into the bar, Benny remained silent while the men around him fussed over him. They were truly happy to see him after being gone. Benny had hoped this was the reception he’d have gotten from you. Instead he was greeted to you and your new beau.

It was a blur of men and drinks, and yet he hardly spoke, unless he had too. Moving around the room to different groups. Even a quick game of pool, which he had no real interest in. Finally stepping out into the night, Benny pulled out a cigarette and lit it while standing in the semi dark street. Other than the muffled noise of the bar, it was quiet. Just what he needed after the night he’d had.

The doors behind him opened, but Benny didn’t turn to see whoever it was. He didn’t really care, so long as he was left alone. Unfortunately Johnny didn’t get that memo. Stepping up next to Benny, he too lit up a cigarette and enjoyed the first inhale. Both men stood there in silence. For Benny it was perfect, he was happy to not speak. Yet Johnny was fidgety, uneasy even. For he’d kept an eye on the young Vandal all night, and could see he wasn’t himself, coming to the conclusion something was up.

“So...” Johnny started, “what’s goin' on? Ya more quiet then usual...”

Benny sighed. Knowing this was coming. “Rough ride...” he offered, hoping that would the end of it.

Johnny studied Benny's profile, knowing that wasn’t it. “Nuh, it’s somethin' else. Talk to me kid...”

Johnny was trying to remain calm, voice soft. Not to spook or anger Benny. He truly wanted to know if the younger man was alright. Because whatever was going on, it showed that it was weighing him down. Diming the light that Benny always had. To Johnny, Benny was like a brother, and he worried about him all the time.

Taking a deep drag of his cigarette, Benny released it was a long sigh. “I saw her, with a...date”. The word date almost being spat, like it was poison.

Johnny slowly nodded his head, the man’s words sinking in. “Oh...I see".

“I saw ‘em as I rode back into town...” Benny paused, taking another drag of his cigarette. “They were by her car. It was a brief moment, but it was her...” He dropped the cigarette and proceeded to stomp it out, like how his heart was feeling.

The older Vandal watched the younger beside him. Seeing how this was really affecting him. That was when Johnny realised Benny had come back for you. All this time away and riding around, he’d made up his mind, and chose you. That he wanted and needed you. But now, having seen you with another guy, the man before him looked crushed and defeated. Though Benny only had himself to blame. Taking off in the first place hadn’t helped, or for so long. If he’d stayed around or came back sooner, maybe you wouldn’t have moved on like you have.

“Well kid...what did ya expect?” He questioned, knowing this was going to be a hard pill for Benny to swallow. That the truth would hurt. “Ya left, and she went through the break up process. It would only be a matter of time before she started seeing someone...”

Benny swallowed hard, trying to accept what the man was saying. Though he didn’t like it, or that he was right. “Yeah, I know...” he paused for a moment. “I-I just didn’t expect it to be so soon...”

Yet again Johnny patted him on the back, but this one was full of sympathy. “Yeah, I know kid...”

Silence rolled in after that. Neither having anything to say, or that there was really any more to be said. Johnny had kept an eye on you, seen you go through the motions and process Benny's absence and the breakup. Yet he didn’t think you’d be dating yet. To him there had to be more to it, but didn’t voice these thoughts. Not wanting to fire Benny back up, for he had finally settled.

The following days Benny had kept to sticking around Grand and Division. Playing pool as a way to distract himself, as well as keeping his hands busy. For Benny feared if he wasn’t kept busy, he just might do something he’d regret. Be it tracking down the man he’d seen with you, or confronting you and that going down in a blaze of heated words, with many he’d come to truly regret.

This was on him. He knew that, and could see it. He was to blame. Benny had done his soul searching while away, finally ready to take ownership for his part in your final fight, and breakup. He was ready to admit to all his short comings, manning up to carry the weight and do what was required of him to fix the relationship. But now he wasn’t sure about it. And with his doubts that voice began to surface, getting louder and louder. Sowing the seed of doubt deeper in him, wanting it to take root for good. So that doubt and that voice would never leave him.

And Johnny could see it. Watching the young Vandal, he could see the doubt taking root. Shutting himself off more to the world around him. This wasn’t the Benny he knew. Nor did he want too. Johnny wanted to see the laid back, care free and madly in love with you Benny. The one who would enjoy being around his club, with a passion for riding. Not this shell of a man that was playing pool with Corky.

Johnny knew he had to do something, anything, to help his friend. Now he just had to figure out what to do to help Benny...

After the blind date incident, you had been keeping your distance from those friends. If you could really call them that. They were barely friends anymore, when you were younger and in school together, you were more alike. But after school, years of working and then Benny, you weren’t like them anymore, not entirely at least. Of course Sally phoned the next day, wanting to know how it went after they left. You told her exactly how it went, and that you weren’t interested in being set up with any other men.

“Oh come on (Y/N/N)!” Sally sighed on the other end of the phone. “You have to put yourself out there, you aren’t getting any younger, Hun”.

Hun. How you detested that word. It was Sally's affectionate word to use when she was pissed off. Looking back on your friendship, you noted every time she used it when frustrated, angry or not getting her way. And that’s when you realised how entitled she was. How she was the one to influence those around her so everything was what she wanted or expected. This time she was not getting her way.

“I am serious Sally. I don’t want to be set up or blindsided into dates" you stated firmly. “I am not ready to move on, I am still processing my breakup with Benny. So I kindly ask that you don’t put me in that position again".

You wish you could see her face, as you just know she would be mad. And her tone told you that she was. “Look Hun, I was just trying to be a good friend. I am sorry that you weren’t happy. But I truly had your best interest in mind”.

You smirked, just feeling her holding herself back. “I understand, I just hope you’ll be more considerate from here on out, yeah?”

There was a knock at your front door. “Sorry Sally, I have to go. Someone’s at the front door".

Before Sally could respond to you, you hung up the phone. That being the best feeling so far of the day. There came a knock again, so you quickly moved from the kitchen and across the lounge room to the front door. Upon opening it you were greeted to Betty, soft smile upon her face and some beers.

“Had a bad day?” You asked her with a laugh.

“I thought you might be havin’ the bad day” Betty replied, moving to sit on your porch.

You followed her out, taking a seat next to her on the bench. “Oh it wasn’t too bad" – you took the beer she offered you – “but hanging up on one of the girls from the movies the other night, the high and mighty one, just perked me up".

Betty laughed as she cracked open her can. “You didn’t!” – you nodded your head – “oh she’d love that. She was the one we ran into a few weeks ago, right? Blonde and wears those high-end dresses? Husband has a cushy office job?”

You nodded. “That’s the one, Sally" you took a sip from the can. “She tried to act like she was helping me by setting me up on that blind date. Said you’re not getting any younger, like I don’t know that. I see myself in the mirror every day!”

“You ain’t old" retorted Betty. “You are young, and look young! Have kids and you’ll be old".

You both laughed, not taking the jest seriously. You continued to moan and groan about Sally and Ann, along with how you were keeping clear of them. You were different, better than who they are. You’re a person who is kind and caring, not a harpy that is mean and manipulating.

You enjoyed sitting there, having a few beers and just bitching about life. This was what Betty and you had been doing since Benny left. At first, she did it to check on you, make sure you were alright. But as you got yourself together it became more of bonding time for you both. And now you’d consider the older woman a dear friend, maybe an older sister. You even spent time with her and her young girls.

Before Betty left, she had invited you out shopping tomorrow with the girls. Which you accepted. Retail therapy was just as good as a beer and a chin wag. With plans made, you sat and finished your beer, before heading in for the night. Yet once alone, you found yourself thinking of Benny. Question after question running through your mind. Along with this longing for him. But you knew he didn’t want you, or else he’d have shown up by now. Those two harpies, that you had called friends, and their blind date had to be the reason for him not coming around.

Or he really was done with me... you thought, feeling the weight of those words on your heart.

The following day, you met up with Betty – and her girls – outside a clothing store. Lori, the oldest girl, hugged you first, then her sister Mary, while you greeted Betty. The girls both took a hand of yours and dragged you into the store, while Betty trailed behind you three laughing. Seeing the happy faces of the two girls warmed your heart, it was nice to be wanted by someone, even if it’s from two young girls, who were just the sweetest.

You and Betty chatted while looking around at dresses. She was trying to find a decent dress to wear for a school function. I have to look like those damn prissy witches, of course watching her language around her girls, who still giggled. As did you. You showed her options, and she did the same. Eventually finding a few for her to try. While she did that, you were looking at clothes with Mary. Being funny picking clothes two sizes too small. Which made the girl laugh, and correct you. To that you acted surprised and told her to stop growing.

“How does this look?” Asked Betty stepping out onto the shop floor. “It’s the better of the two, believe me".

You smiled looking her over. The dress was nothing glamorous but suited the older woman nicely. The red colour suited her fiery nature. The shirtwaist dress really gave that house wife look, and that was what Betty wanted.

“It’s perfect, screams house wife” you said with a small laugh, which both young girls giggled at.

Betty roller her eyes. “Good, I’ll fit in then".

The older woman then went back into the change room to get back into her clothes. You continued to entertain the two young girls. But the sound and sight of motorbikes caught your attention, along with the two girls with you. Mary was saying dad over and over again, moving to the change room to tell her mother.

You felt this coldness wash over you, if Johnny and a bunch of Vandals were nearby, so was Benny. The look Betty gave you, as she was pulled from the dressing room by Mary, told you she was thinking along the same lines as you. Mary of course kept pestering her mother about seeing Johnny, her father.

“You alright with it?” Betty asked you softly as you both headed for the registers.

You sighed but gave a short nod. “Yeah...best way to get a band aid off is to rip it off, right?”

“That’s not the best way! It hurts too much!” Mary cut in. Making you and Betty laugh.

With the mood lightened just a smidge, Betty proceeded to pay for the dress. Once it was bagged up and in Lori's hands, the lot of you left the shop. Moving down the street, further down you could see the cluster of motorbikes, and their riders. With every step towards them you felt your stomach sinking. A touch of fear rising from the thought of seeing Benny. Would he look to you? Or speak to you? Or would he act like you didn’t exist?

Reaching the corner, which was adjacent from the Vandals group, Mary spotted Johnny and called out to him. He of course looked around before spotting his daughter, his face lighting up at the sight of his girls, Johnny even returned the young girls wave. It was a sweet moment, you thought.

But when you looked upon the group of men again, that was when you saw him; Benny. He was standing with Cal, cigarette between his fingers as he took a drag. They were in conversation, Cal fuelling the conversation with lit up face and hand movements. But Benny, he looked as good as always. Just adding to the ache in your chest. That listening but aloof look and air to him. It gave him that mysterious but sexy appeal.

Then those stormy blues of his were looking at you. Your step faltered for a second under his gaze. Even from this distance you could see the anger and hurt in his eyes, his face just showing it slightly by the subtle changes. Such as his jaw clenching, eyebrows drawing together. Finally you looked away from him, unable to take it anymore.

Reaching Johnny, Mary launched herself at her father. Who didn’t hesitate to pick her up and hold her close. Betty leaned up to kiss Johnny's cheek, and Lori moved to stand beside her parents. They were the kind of family you had hoped to have one day with Benny. The thought now seeming like a silly dream.

“Hey (Y/N)” greeted Johnny, an awkward smile on his face – possibly due to you and Benny being in close proximity. “How are ya doin’?”

“Hi Johnny" you smiled softly, a little uneasy. “I-I'm alright. How are you?”

The older Vandal softly chuckled, possibly nervous. “Yeah, can’t complain...got my girls here, which is good".

Johnny then jostled Mary, who was still in his arms and laughed from her father’s movements. Your smile turned warm from the sight. “That’s good...they are very lucky...”

Johnny beamed at your words but didn’t say a word. He didn’t need too. The pride and joy on his face said everything. Even with the club, the man tried to maintain a balance of both worlds. He loved Betty and his girls dearly. The way he cared for both his family and bike, and club. It was something you wished Benny understood. But it never took root in him.

Eventually the girls took to running around the park, that the Vandals were parked at. Lori forced to chase her sister, as you continued to talk to Betty and Johnny. Different Vandals joined you all at different times, before moving on to another group. Before you knew it Cal and Benny stepped up to you all.

You tensed when Benny stood across from you. But he didn’t look to you, if he could help it. He was treating you like you weren’t there. And that saddened you, but also angered you more. He just listened as Cal or Johnny spoke. Maybe saying a word or two. His voice – a sound you hadn’t heard for so long – cutting deeply, missing how he would speak to you. All you got now was nothing.

“Where have ya been (Y/N)?” Cal asked, casually sparking up a joint.

You tensed, swallowing before answering. “J-just working...nothing special...”

Cal nodded as he took a drag of his joint. “But ya haven’t even been too Grand and Division for about three months...”

You shrugged trying to not cast a look to Benny. As he’d been the reason you hadn’t gone back to the bar, he’d left town after all. “I didn’t feel like going to the bar...”

Benny scoffed, but didn’t say a word.

Betty shot him a look, before she looked to you in sympathy. “Things change Cal" was her sharp words, telling him to drop it.

Said man held up his hands, starting to catch on that this was not a road to go down currently. “A-alright...” Cal sputtered, choosing to leave it at that.

You felt lighter, knowing it was being dropped. Unfortunately Benny wasn’t done. His gaze drew in on you. Hearing you speak so airy got under his skin. How you didn’t disclose that you had been busy with another man, or men, and going on dates. That had to be what filled up your time, right? It’s what Benny had concluded on. The last month or more, you were out and about, trying to replace him.

Dropping his cigarette to the ground, Benny stomped it out. The aggression and sound caught everyone’s attention. And when looking to him, yourself included, his dark gaze was set on you. A chill ran down your spine, telling you this was not good. He had been so calm, but here was the storm. And you were in its path.

“Why don’t ya tell the truth" Benny’s voice boomed, the gravelly tone deeper and off putting. “Ya didn’t go to the bar because ya were getting around town with different guys".

The tone and the accusation he made left you dumbstruck. Benny had seen you with one man. Where did he get the idea, it was more than that one? Betty was sputtering, coming to your defence but you couldn’t make out what she was saying. The sounds around you turned fuzzy, almost like static, as you stood there in shock. You hadn’t been running around town with Tom, Dick or Harry. You’d been heartbroken and trying to get yourself back together.

Slowly the anger in you rose, with it the fire clearing the fog in your brain, bringing you back to the present. Grasping what Benny was saying, accusing you of not caring, you found that backbone. It was like that night all over again. His lack of seeing or understanding, jumping the gun. You stood tall, shoulders lowering as you drew your gaze in on him. And when Betty quieted down, you knew she could see what was to come.

“For your information, which I really don’t have to give you, the other night was the first date I’d had in forever" you stated eerily calm, but with a touch of sass. “I was blindsided into it. So maybe, in future, get your facts straight Benny”.

There was more you could say, wanted to say, but the way he looked at you like you were lying kept you from airing it all out. He wasn’t listening to you, like usual. He had made his mind up for good. So it wasn’t worth your time or energy to make him see or believe you. This was the Benny you knew all too well. If you continued to fight it would be a loosing battle, as he had made his mind up.

Taking a step back you turned from him, casting a look to Betty and Johnny, who looked like deer in headlights. But there was sadness there in their eyes. Betty knew the truth, she knew what you’d been through. She was there for you, seeing how hard you took his absence. Johnny might have known, for Betty could have kept him in the loop, but he also checked on you. But you never went into depth of it all like you did with his wife.

“Betty, I'm going home. I’ll talk to you later, tell the girls my goodbyes and I’ll see them soon" and with that you turned around and headed the way you came.

You held your head high, striding away like you were on a mission, which was one to keep it together. No crumbling in front of Benny, or Betty or Johnny, no one would see you fold. As you walked away you could hear Betty fire up at Benny. If you couldn’t do it, she was. You know she would give him a good dose of reality. Yet didn’t care. There was no coming back from this now. Right?

A/N: yes, I lied. Sorry, not sorry 😅 but the next part will be the last, I promise. And it will be steamy/smutty. Who doesn't enjoy a heated argument leading to make up sex?

Till the next, final part...

[fashionteahouse]

Part 2 of wanted up pls. Does reader keep her distance? Does Paul regret rejecting her? If she were to come back would the pack accept her? Would the reader even talk to Paul if she saw him again?

sure, okay ! hope you enjoy :)

wanted u - reader x paul

AN: part 1 for context :)

“What happened?” your friends ask you.

“Nothing. Just a change of plans.” you tell them.

For the rest of your break that you spent in La Push, your mind kept drifting back to Seth and Embry but most of all, Paul.

It felt like a part of you was missing. Your friends noticed the difference in your enthusiasm to do things from when you first arrived.

They kept checking in on you but you kept telling them that it was nothing. They took your word for it even though they didn’t want to.

When it was time to leave, you packed slowly. You felt envious that your friends were talking about how good of a time they had.

You couldn’t get back to your normal life. The time was dragging slow and you started to feel a certain type of pain in your chest.

You tried dating for the time being. None of the guys enchanted you as much as Paul did. You soon found yourself trying to scout guys who acted similar, none of them even came close to looking similar.

A friend of yours was surprised when summer break was rearing its head and you turned the opportunity to go back to La Push.

“What about those guys? Don’t you want to see at least one of them?” they ask.

You shrug, “It didn’t really work out.”

“What?” they asked in surprise.

You look at them to show them that you’re serious.

“Well at least come, we get to stay longer. Just meet some new people.” they said.

“I don’t want to.” you say in defeat.

“Please?” they beg. The look on their face made you sigh in somewhat of annoyance. They really wanted to go and you didn’t want to let them down.

They counted down the days and you weren’t excited. You were just going to keep yourself.

The beach was still sunny and beautiful. You and your friend were able to rent out a different cabin but in the same area.

While your friend linked up with their beau, you linked up with the city. Your feet walked the streets of Port Angeles, still trying to make the most of it.

That’s when you saw him. His arm was wrapped around another girl. She was pretty. He whispered things in her ear to make her blush and laugh. You felt a wave of both envy and jealousy and you decide to turn your head to not let your face show in case he looked up.

You decide to walk into a movie theater, wanting to forget that you were already regretting coming back.

The movie you wanted to see didn’t start for another 30 minutes, so you sat on a bench, idling on your phone.

Paul was being tugged into the movie theater. He felt a bit annoyed. The movie she wanted to see was not up his alley.

As the girl asked for two tickets, his eyes wandered and saw you sitting on the bench just staring at a spot on the floor. He wanted to walk over and ask what you were doing there, but the memories of you stringing him and his pack brothers along brought emotions back to surface.

“What’s wrong?” the girl asked as she placed a piece of popcorn in your mouth.

“Nothing.” he says.

He watched as you walked into another movie, and he felt a small wave of disappointment.

The girl whispered his ear off.

“What was the point of dragging me in here if you’re going to talk the entire time?” he thought to himself.

You enjoyed the movie that you were watching. You weren’t the type to go to things by yourself, but you felt like this wasn’t that bad. You enjoyed yourself as you watched the plot in the theater.

“I have to use the bathroom.” Paul says as everyone filed into the main lobby.

When he came out, he found you and the girl he came with talking with one another.

The girl had complimented what you had on, you tell her how pretty she is.

“I wish I would’ve seen that.” the girl says, the girl regretting her decision as you explained what movie you saw.

When you saw Paul walking towards to you both, you say a quick goodbye and walk the other way. You didn’t have it in you to deal with drama.

You tossed and turned that night. You couldn’t sleep comfortably as Paul’s face kept popping up in your head as you tried to close your eyes.

You and your friend spent the day at the beach. You let her talk about the date they had while you spent your time at the movie theaters.

“Oh my god, isn’t he the guy you liked the most?” they ask and point. You follow the point and see Paul, shirtless, on the beach as well.

You turn your head away, “Shit.” you whisper.

“You should call him over.” they suggest.

“No!” you say and they are stunned, “Why?”

“Because!” you say and go further into the water.

An entire month passed. So far, you had ducked Paul twice but you felt funny everytime you did. You so badly wanted to talk to him or just stand close to him, but his face reminded you too much of what happened.

It was dark as you walked down an alley way with your new bought book. You always took this shortcut to avoid the long way.

You walked past two guys who were hooting and hollering. You ignored them. They didn’t like it too much.

Paul made his way to the bar as always. None of the girls he picked up, kept his interest for too long. He felt frustrated. Every second annoyed him. He felt even annoyed that he could easily point out their flaws because they weren’t you. He was sure that he wanted nothing to do with you, but he found himself comparing you with the girls who was spending the night with.

He heard screaming as he walked past the alley. A man snatched the book out of your hand and threw it. The other man pulled at your shirt and you tried your best to pry his hands off.

It was too fast, you didn’t see him. The guy was tugging at you was laid out on the ground in front of you. You were shaking and traumatized.

“Are you alright?” Paul asks you and you turn around, to see the other man, knocked out on the ground.

“Yeah. Thanks.” you say and try to find the book that was thrown.

Paul tapped you and held it out.

You take it back and give him your thanks again.

“I can..Take you to where you are headed.” he offers as you try to leave again.

“I’m good. I’m okay.” you say.

You start to walk. You noticed that the footsteps are loud. You pause and realize that Paul was walking with you anyway.

“I appreciate your help but I’m fine. Really.” you tell him.

He doesn’t do anything but look at you. It made you feel squeamish.

“Look, I’m doing what I was asked. Okay? I’m staying away.” you say and turn but a hand catches you.

He sighs before speaking, “Can we just…At least talk?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. I was wrong. I’m sorry again.” you say.

“Did you at least know? Did you know that they were my friends?” he asks in a bit of desperation because you were trying to leave again.

“No. I didn’t know. I was just having fun and…” you say and look down, “I was a bit impatient and was just happy that handsome men were giving me the attention I was looking for. I liked you alot and I meant everything I said when it came to you. There’s nothing I can do to take it back but I would love to go back in time to redo things differently.”

Paul stands there and takes it all in. It was sincere and it came from the heart.

“How long are you going to be here?” he asks.

“I’m leaving next month. I’m only spending the summer here and I promise you won’t see me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” you say with a laugh.

“I was a bit too harsh. I didn’t get to hear your side of things and just went off the thought of you bouncing around from guy to guy.” he says.

“You weren’t harsh. Your reaction was valid.” you tell him, “I regret it everyday. I can’t even go to sleep without seeing your face.” you admit.

“Me either.” he quietly says and this takes you by surprise. You had no words.

He walks you back to your cabin. He was at least glad it wasn’t the same one from before.

“You don’t have to keep avoiding me, you know.” he says outside of the door.

You nod.

“I will come past in the morning.” he says.

You nod.

He watches as you wave bye to him and enter the cabin where your friend was sleeping.

For the first time in a long time, you slept well.

He kept his word. You both walked along the beach, you crossed your arms as you watch some seagulls fly by.

“How did you sleep?” he asks.

“I slept good. It’s been..A while.” you admit.

He nods as he says, “Same here.”

You give him a surprised look.

“The imprint doesn’t just affect you. It affects me too.”

“But, I rejected it.” You say.

“You didn’t mean it.” he points out.

“So, it will only separate us if you genuinely mean to not accept it?” you ask.

He confirms and then goes on to say, “We should take it slow. Not jump to things so fast.”

“What are you saying?” you ask.

“I’m saying, I still want to see you. We can go slow. If you want.” he says.

You look into the distance. Sure, you wanted to agree, but his friends is what you’re worried about.

“Do you..Want to?” Paul asks.

“I don’t know, Paul. To be honest, your friends are what I’m worried about. I would never be in their good graces. Then, I don’t want them to think I’m screwing you over.”

He makes a face, “They won’t bother you. If they do, you can alway just tell me.”

You both spent the day together. It wasn’t anything on a romantic level but it was nice to be in his company.

Your spirits were lifted and you felt like you could have fun again.

As the days went on, slowly but surely, small things began to happen. Soon, the hand holding began. His hand felt very nice in yours.

Dusk began to settle in and he heard your stomach growl a little.

“Hungry?” he teases. You nod sheepishly but still match his humor with a chuckle.

“Come on.” he says.

When the direction of the familiar home came into view, you panicked. He placed a hand on your thigh, “Easy.”

“No, I can’t. Not right now at least.” you say.

“I told you, just stick with me.” he says. He holds your hand tight as he opened the door. You could already hear the loud chatter.

When you both walked in, the chattering stopped as eyes went into your direction.

“Y/N is joining us for dinner.” he says.

“Oh, good!” Emily says with a smile and she sets the cooking mittens down and pulls you in a warm embrace. You felt relaxed in her hug.

“How have you been?” she asks.

You shrug with a smile. Sam says hello to you, still having a specific look in his eye.

Paul steers you further into the home. It felt nice to be here under different circumstances. The others, were not so enthused.

They just stared.

“Dinner won’t be done for a little while. Just get comfortable, Y/N.” Emily says.

You nod with a shy smile and follow Paul into the living room. As you walked past a couch where his pack brother’s were sitting, they were snickering quietly.

Your palms began to sweat as you felt nervous. You swallow and Paul sits you close next to him on the love seat. You were almost sitting on him and his hand was on your stomach.

You look up and Seth is looking at you. What he did next surprised you. He waved a little. You wave back.

You hear a small scoff and your eyes go towards the direction it came from. Embry looks annoyed.

The room carried on, and you let your mind zone out. You didn’t even pay attention to the details of the television.

You sat next to Paul at the dinner table and Jared’s imprint speaks up.

“So um Y/N.” she says. You look to her.

“Are you and Paul a thing now?” she asks.

You shrug and open your mouth to answer but Paul beats you to it, “One step at a time, right?” he says and looks to you for confirmation.

You give it to him as you nod.

“I never thought you would have this much patience, I swear.” Jared speaks out.

“What do you mean by that?” Paul asks.

Jared shrugs with a small grin, “If Kim did what she did…Man.” he says as he shakes his head as he referred to you.

“What are you trying to say? You didn’t even notice Kim until you phased.” Paul says with narrowed eyes. You didn’t know what the word “phase meant.”

“You were too forgiving.” Embry speaks up. His eyes were straight on you.

“And you can go fuck yourself.” Paul says coldly.

“She already did that for me.” Embry says and Paul rises up ready to lunge across the table to take his head off but, Sam dead it and says with such authority, “Both of you. Stop it.”

“Y/N, let’s go.” Paul says.

“Let her stay, Paul. Y/N ignore them.” Seth says quietly. He felt bad. He gives you a small friendly grin.

“Why should she get the grace of ignoring us? We’re in this situation because of her.” Embry says

“Embry just get over it. She’s Paul’s imprint and was going to be with him one way or another. There’s no use in acting like a baby about it.” Seth says feeling a bit annoyed and wants to move on.

“Yes, can we please talk about something else?”Quil says while shaking his head.

“Thank you.” Emily says agreeing.

The rest of the dinner went without snarky remarks. You were thankful and was even more thankful when Paul eventually pulled your hand into his lap.

You offer your help, when it was time to clean up the kitchen.

As Kim wiped the large table from the mess, you wiped down the counters. You felt a bump that almost knocked you off of your feet and you regained balance.

You look to see it was Jacob, who you found out to be.

“Excuse you.” you say.

He doesn’t say anything.

“Jacob don’t be like that.” Kim says. Jacob shrugs and walks out.

“Like Seth said, ignore them.” Kim says and you nod.

You wash the dishes and she dried them off. You both fell into small talk, getting to know each other. You find out that she had a crush on Jared since forever before he imprinted on her.

“What did Paul mean when he said, ‘phase’ ” you say.

“Paul will tell you. Just ask him.” she says, feeling like it wasn’t her place to disclose such information.

You nod as you hear, “Paul shouldn’t tell her shit.”

You ignore the remark, knowing it was Embry.

“Leave her alone.” Kim says, shaking her head at him.

Kim reaches for the broom but you stop her.

“It’s okay, I’ll do it.” you say. Embry reaches to get a cookie that Emily had made earlier. Kim gives you a small smile before exiting and joining the others in the sitting room.

As you were almost done sweeping, you hear crumbles. You gasp and look at Embry. He purposely made a mess on the floor before saying, “Missed a spot.”

You throw the broom down.

You storm into the living room. Paul looks attentively at you and even sits up a little.

“Fuck this. I’m out.” you tel him and turn around. You hear people ask what happened and what’s wrong.

You get down Emily’s outside steps. Two hands stop you and you’re upset that you’re not stronger than them.

“Just tell me what happened.” Paul says trying to calm you down.

“Okay, I get it. I fucked up. I won’t come back over again. Clearly I’m not welcome.” you say.

“What happened.” he asks more sternly. You explain what happened and how it made you feel.

“Do you want to go home with me?” he asks, trying to ease you. He was afraid that if he let you leave back to your cabin, you would never see him again.

The idea sounded great but you were too upset. You slowly shake your head.

“Y/N, please. I promise I will deal with him.” He says. You don’t say anything as angry tears started to form and your arms were crossed to your chest.

He steers your shoulders and say, “Come on.”

He brings you back into the home and you didn’t realize that you left your phone in there. You scoop it up from the counter, from where you had left it.

You seen that the mess was still there and go to clean it up because you felt bad. He stops you. “Mm mm.” he says as he shakes his head.

He goes in the living room, where everyone was still at.

“Embry. Go clean that shit up.” you hear Paul say.

“No.”

“No?” he asks. You would’ve thought Embry was Paul’s rebellious child by the way he asked him.

You then hear a loud noise, followed by gasps.

You watch as Paul’s hand is gripped the nape of Embry’s neck. He wasn’t stronger than Paul. Embry was pushed into the own mess that he made.

“I said..Clean that shit up.” he says with hardness.

You watch as Embry does clean it up. You hated that you felt bad.

You don’t look at the sight for too long as Paul steer you out of the home. Even though his face was showing signs of being pissed off, you still felt safe and protected.

“You didn’t have to do that.” you whisper as he opened the passenger door for you.

“If I didn’t have your back, who would’ve?” he asks, waiting for you to answer back with something. You couldn’t give him an answer.

[holylulusworld]

A (pre-) Valentine dream (5)

Summary: What’s one more, right?

Pairing: Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader, Soldier Boy x Reader, Jensen Ackles x Reader, Beau Arlen x Reader, Russell Shaw x Reader, Sam Winchester x Reader, Alec McDowell x Reader

Warnings: language, implied smut, mentions of smut, fangirling, RPF (partially), fluff, Valentine’s Day fluff, a new arrival

Catch up here: A birthday dream (4)

Dream a little dream… masterlist

“Whoa, no sweetheart,” Dean grunts as you tried to watch another movie starring Jensen Ackles. “You know that motherfucker is a killer, right?”

Frowning deeply, you glance at the DVD you found at the flea market. It’s a movie with Jensen you have never seen before. “A killer? What? No, it’s called Valentine.”

“Yeah, bloody Valentine,” the hunter grunts before breaking the DVD into two halves. “Trust me, your apartment is already crowded with dudes looking like me. We don’t need a killer among us.”

“Not sure about Soldier bitch,” Russell throws in. “I think he’s not a nice guy either. Have you seen the show?”

You whimper. “He’s not a bad guy. They experimented on him and betrayed him. He’s not evil or something.”

“Hmm…” Dean is not convinced, but this can’t be helped. Ben is already in your universe and won’t go away. “No more movies with Ackles for you.” He says and points a finger at you. “We’ve got our hands full of dicks already.”

“You mean I got my hands full of dicks,” you tease, but cross your heart and swear it. “Fine, no new movies or shows with Jensen. Can we watch something else then?”

“No—” Sam interjects. “We never know if your subconsciousness decides to dream about some other guy. We don’t want to find Captain America or the Hulk in your bed.”

“Or both,” Ben throws in. “She’s a greedy slut, loving cock. I bet the huge green cucumber is just her thing.”

“Eww…no. I have self-control. That green dick is too big, but I wouldn’t mind going for a ride with the Winter Soldier. He’s a hot piece of ass.”

“Another killer,” Dean stops you from daydreaming. “So, no.”

“He’s only misunderstood. It wasn’t his fault that—” Beau clasps one hand over your mouth and shushes you.

“No, baby. No talking about other dudes in this house,” he whispers in your ear. “You can watch the shows you already know with all of us. We skip scenes with other men, though.”

You snicker. “Then we will see five minutes of each show or movie.”

“Good. They are all awful but mine,” Ben plops down on the couch. “Let’s have a marathon with my episodes.”

Dean is fast to snatch the remote control out of Ben’s hand. “Nope. We will spend today as planned. Have a nice dinner, and later, dessert.” His eyes drop to your crotch. “Lots of desserts. I’ll eat that sweet pie until she begs me to stop.”

“Guys, what are you up to?” You watch all of your men sit on the large sectional sofa you got some weeks back. “You are worrying me.”

“You’ll love it, baby,” Beau purrs as they all settle on the couch. “We have this whole day planned. You’ll get your favorite food for dinner, dessert, gifts, and lots of sex.”

“Lots of sex, huh?” you tug at Beau’s shirt. “How about you tell me in detail how much sex we will have?”

“Uh, guys,” Sam clears his throat. He nervously looks around the room, meeting his brother’s eyes. “It’s February the 13th. Valentine’s Day is tomorrow.”

“What?” Dean grabs his phone to look at the date. “Sonofabitch, Shaw! You fucked up! Remembering the date was your only job!”

“What? I told you this week is Valentine’s Day. You never clarified that you want me to remember the exact day,” Russell snickers as you crawl onto Ben’s lap.

“You idiot!” Jensen rolls his eyes. “Dean, Sam, and I have a job. You are hanging out at Y/N’s apartment all day. It was your job to keep important dates in mind.”

“Hey, that’s not a problem at all,” you purr while nipping at Ben’s neck. “How about we watch random episodes of my favorite shows with you, and we can still have dinner and dessert?”

“We could stay awake all night and party into Valentine’s Day,” Jensen suggests as you are busy leaving bite marks on Ben’s neck.

All of your men settle on the couch; they wait for their turn to get kisses and little love bites. You love making out with them but settle for cuddling tonight to watch your favorite episodes of their shows.

“Let’s watch Dark Angel,” you yawn and snuggle closer to Jensen and Dean. “It was the show making me fall for you, Acklestastic.” You smirk as Dean grunts. “Aw, don’t be jealous, Deano. You were the one inspiring me to bring you all here…”

“Fine, let’s watch that crap…” The men finally agree, hoping to appease you to get more than cuddles later…

“The fuck no!” Dean aims his gun at the intruder, staring down at your naked body. Well, not only your naked body.

The party go out of hand and ended in an orgy with your men. Ben and Russell lie next to you on the bed. Beau, Sam, and Jensen somehow ended up sleeping on the ground while Dean was already up to prepare breakfast for all of you.

“Who are you, kid?” Dean glares at the guy glaring back at him. He looks like his spitting image, only a few (or like twenty) years younger. “How did you get in here?��

“Who are you?” The stranger replies. He cracks his neck and raises his fist. “Are you up for a fight, old man?”

“What the fuck?!!!” Soldier Boy is out of bed before Dean can shoot the new arrival. He tackles the younger version of Jensen to the ground, holding him down. “Who are you?”

“What? Where?” Finally, the rest of the bunch wakes, earning a grunt from you as you blink your eyes open. “Guys, more sleep, less noise.”

“Y/N, we are going to have a serious conversation about this…him now,” Dean grunts as you crawl toward the edge of the bed to look at Ben holding someone down. “OH…no…not again. I’m afraid I brought Alec here…”

“From Dark Angel?” Jensen hiccups. He’s on his feet to look at the man Ben holds down. “Crap, no. He’s a kid…”

“Hey, who do you call a kid, old man?” Alec grunts. He wiggles in Soldier Boy’s hold, fighting with all his strength. “I’ll rip you apart if you don’t get off me.”

“Uh—he’s got super strength too,” Jensen says. “You better not mess with him.”

“Tell them, old man!” Alec grunts while trying to buck Ben off. “Get off me, asshole.”

“Alright,” you say and clasp your hands together. “Uh—this is not my fault. Jensen was talking about this role and that he was sad about the sudden end of Dark Angel.”

Ben finally releases Alec, stepping away but keeping an eye on the younger man. He cocks his head as you help Alec up.

“Sorry, this must be confusing. I summoned you here by accident,” you hastily explain how he ended up in your world and that you’ll do your best to send him back.

“So, let me get this straight,” Alec looks around the crowded bedroom. “You all got summoned here and live with her.” He licks his lips and cups his crotch.

“Yeah, but you are not invited,” Dean and Soldier Boy grunt in unison. “Now sit down, kid, while we try to get you back to your world.”

“I don’t know,” Alec purrs. “I think she needs a younger version of all of you. I got more stamina than you, old man…”

Part 6

[mind-empty-just-fictional-people]

Forgotten Anniversaries

masterlist

summary: beau forgets your two-year anniversary but you don’t realize the next day is another one

paring: beau arlen x female fiance!reader

rating: R for language

word count: 2.3k

warnings: language, ends with pre-smut but cuts off before anything happens

timeline: set after s3 but doesn’t really follow canon

author’s note: beau my beloved! such a sweetheart and deserves so much love!! really wish big sky hadn’t been canceled :,,(

Two years ago to the day marked your first date with your now fiancé. You had met Beau Arlen a few months before that date, and he had finally asked you out after several weeks of pining over you. You worked at a bakery in town walking distance from the station, and once you two started dating you often brought over baked goods for your boyfriend and his deputies.

Six months ago Beau had asked you to marry him, and you said yes. The wedding would be in just a couple more months.

Now, you were once again at the Sheriff’s station, Beau was taking you out for your two-years-dating and six-months-engaged anniversaries. Well, actually you were taking him out. He’d been really busy the last couple of weeks so you had planned the date; a picnic in the same spot he’d proposed to you at.

“Sheriff, Y/n is here to see you,” a deputy told him, poking their head into Beau’s office. Poppernak and Hoyt were in the office as well and they were all discussing an ongoing case.

“Let her in!” Beau beamed, covering a few gory pictures he had splayed on his desk.

“Hey,” you said when you walked into his office.

Beau’s face lit up at the sight of you; such a gorgeous woman who had somehow fallen in love with him. He felt like the luckiest man in the world as he eyed you, still smiling. You wore a summery floral dress that brushed your ankles, with a slit going up your leg and ending just below your left hip. A plunging neckline accented your breasts and the necklace Beau had gifted to you last anniversary. Your hair was done up, but not in a way that felt uncomfortable; it looked elegant but still felt laid back. Blood rushed to your cheeks when you noticed his blush.

“Ready to go?” you asked him, motioning to the door a little. His face fell and you slowly matched his expression.

“Shit,” he mumbled.

“You forgot.” You nodded, biting the inside of your cheek with disappointment.

“Could you two give us a minute?” Beau asked the deputies in the room.

“Yeah, do you want us to go without you?” Jenny asked, referring to what they’d been discussing about taking down the current perp.

“No, I’ll be out in a minute,” he told her before she nodded and left the room; Poppernak followed close behind, and shut the door as he walked out.

“You really forgot?” you asked Beau, looking at him with hurt in your eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Y/n I just got caught up in today’s case,” he said. He stood up from his chair and walked over to you, putting a hand under your chin so you’d look at him. “I swear I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s okay, I understand,” you said quietly, smiling a little.

Beau furrowed his brows. “Why aren’t you mad?” he asked, you just shrugged a little. “Shit, you’re really mad, aren’t you? You wanna yell at me but we’re in a very public place so you’re waiting until tonight to really let me have it-”

“No,” you laughed a little. “Beau, I’m not mad at you. I’m disappointed you forgot but that’s just because I was really looking forward to spending time with you! I had this whole thing planned and everything,” you said, mumbling a little by the end.

“A whole thing, huh?” Beau smiled.

“A picnic in the park where you proposed to me. I baked you a special pie, too.”

“Fuck, I’m so sorry I fucked it up, hun.”

“It’s okay,” you assured him, he still didn’t seem to believe you. “You can make it up to me tonight, how’s that?”

“Oh?”

“Mhm,” you bit your bottom lip as you looked into his bright green eyes, “you can do that one thing I really like, then you’ll be completely forgiven.”

“Oh that thing,” he smirked, “yeah, I will gladly do that.”

He bent down and kissed you, snaking his arms around your hips to bring you closer as your hands went into his hair.

“I love you, Beau.”

“I love you too, Y/n.”

Poppernak knocked on the door and poked his head in, “Sorry to interrupt, but we really have to get going, Arlen.” Beau put his hand up, showing a finger to signal he’d be done in a minute.

“I’ll see you tonight, okay?” he mumbled against your lips. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

“Mhm,” you hummed into his mouth as he kissed you again.

“I’ll be home by eight, nine at the latest, ten at the absolute latest, okay?” he assured you, you nodded. “Love you!” He kissed you one last time before he left, putting his cowboy hat on when he opened the door.

“Love you, too.”

**

As the clock struck midnight, you sank deeper into the couch. Your tear filled eyes were glued to the screen as you watched the movie you’d picked; Die Hard. Not the perfect anniversary movie but there was a whole story behind why you’d picked it, having to do with your third date with Beau.

You took another sip of the wine you’d been working on and checked your phone. Still nothing from Beau. The nerve! The absolute audacity this man had! He couldn’t text or call you when he knew he’d be late?

You adjusted yourself on the couch, the babydoll dress you were wearing riding up your bare thighs as a few more tears slipped down your cheeks. You looked away from Bruce Willis and down at the beautiful ring on your finger. Memories of six months ago flooded your mind. How Beau had been so nervous the whole day, as if there was a chance you’d tell him ‘no.’ How he looked at you when he knelt down and opened the velvet box and popped the question. How his smile grew when you answered him.

The front door unlocked, pulling you out of your thoughts, before Beau stepped into your shared house. He walked into the living room and found you there in the dark.

“Hey, Y/n,” he said, walking to the couch and sitting down. You didn’t answer him and instead just took another sip of wine. “I’m really, really sorry, sweetheart.”

“There’s leftovers in the fridge,” you muttered, putting the wine down. “Pie, too.”

“Darlin’ I’m so, so sorry I promise I didn’t mean to stay out so late. The case ran long-”

“And you couldn’t fucking call me?” you exclaimed. “You couldn’t just let me know two hours ago you weren’t gonna make it!? You know how many fucking candles I wasted!?”

“I broke my phone tackling the guy and I came straight here after he was officially in custody,” he told you.

“And do none of your many deputies have a phone you could borrow? Not a single person near you had a fucking cell phone?”

“I’m sorry, I’m so fucking sorry! Hun, I am so god damn sorry!” He reached out and took your hand in his. You let him bring it to his lips and place a kiss on your knuckles. “Please, I love you so much, can we please just celebrate together for a bit before we go to sleep?”

“Our anniversary is over, Beau.” You took your hand back. “You fucking missed it.”

“Actually, today’s an anniversary too,” he whispered, you turned your head to finally look at him. He knitted his brows apologetically when he noticed your tears. “A year ago today, we were sitting on this couch and we had just finished watching Die Hard. You leaned over to kiss me, and as I was kissing you, you mumbled ‘let’s watch the next one.’ And, in that moment, something just like clicked in my brain, and I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“What?” you mumbled.

“Yep. Exactly one year ago today, I decided to ask you to marry me.” He smiled but it faded when he noticed fresh tears falling. “No, shit! Please don’t cry!”

“That is when you decided to marry me?” you asked, he nodded. “Oh my god!”

“A-Are you happy right now or are you still mad at me, because-” You cut him off with a kiss to his full, pink lips.

“I love you so much, Beau,” you whispered when you pulled away. You kissed him again, putting your hands on his face and smiling against his mouth.

“Love you so much more,” he mumbled, mirroring your smile.

“Wait,” you pulled away, worry in your eyes, “when was the last time you ate?”

“Uh, three-ish, why?”

“Oh my god, you must be starving!” you exclaimed and stood up. You held out your hand for him to take. “C’mon, I’ll reheat the food for you and relight the candles.”

“Seriously?” he asked, smiling and beginning to realize you’d forgiven him for coming home so late.

“Yeah, we’ve got a new anniversary to celebrate,” you replied. He stood up and took your hand, bending down to kiss you again. He followed you to the kitchen.

“Can I say something about what you’re wearing now or…” He bit his lip when you twirled to face him before you nodded. “God damn you’re so beautiful! Your tits look incredible!”

“You’re not too bad yourself, handsome.” You gripped his collar, got on your tippy toes, and kissed him deeply. He wrapped his arms around you so you couldn’t pull away and he could kiss you back. “I love you, Beau.”

“I love you, too.”

“Now, c’mon! Sit down,” you said when you finally pulled away and his grip loosened. He took a seat at the table and you couldn’t stop yourself from playing with his hair. You ran your fingers through it before tilting his head back so you could kiss him again.

As you turned to reheat the food he smacked your ass lightly, making you squeal a little.

“Where’s the lighter?” he asked, wanting to light the candles on the table.

“Under the left candlestick,” you told him, bending down into the fridge to get the tupperware of food.

“Wow, you’re gonna be the death of me, darlin’,” he mumbled. He lifted up the left candle to find the small lighter hidden underneath. He lit the two candles before he put it back.

“You remember what we ate on our first date, right?” you asked him hesitantly.

“Yes, I do,” he replied, earning a suspicious look from you. “I tried cooking spaghetti and meatballs for you, but I completely botched it. So, we ordered in from that Italian place on the other side of town—this delicious chicken parmesan dish with a side of ravioli. While we were waiting for the food, you made us a salad.”

You smiled at him, biting your bottom lip a little.

“Happy two year anniversary, Beau,” you said as you brought two plates over, one filled with the same food as your first date, except you made it yourself. “I can’t promise this is gonna taste nearly as good, but I promise it was made with love.” You took a seat next to him as he took a bite of the chicken.

“Oh my god!” he practically moaned. “This is incredible, sweetheart!”

“Thank you.” You smiled and began eating the salad on your plate. (You’d already eaten dinner but you didn’t want to just watch him eat without eating a little something yourself.) “Oh! I almost forgot the champagne!”

You stood up and got the bottle from the fridge before pouring some into his glass and then your own.

“Happy two year anniversary, Y/n,” he said and lifted his glass to clink it with yours.

“Happy one year of wanting to marry me,” you replied and tapped your glass to his.

“And six months of being engaged,” he reminded you.

**

You two were back on the couch, watching Die Hard even though it was now nearly one. Beau didn’t have work in the morning so he didn’t feel the need to rush to bed.

“Remember our third date?” he asked you quietly, his breath fanning your ear. His arm was wrapped around your shoulders and you were leaning on his chest. He kissed the back of your head as you intertwined his fingers with your own.

“We were watching this movie outside your trailer,” you started. “We were sharing a blanket and I kissed you. It escalated when you moved your hand down…” you took his hand and lowered it toward your torso, “here.”

“Then I kissed you here,” he kissed your neck, “and here,” he kissed down to your collarbone. He turned you around so you could straddle his hips.

“It was cold outside so you didn’t want to get me naked until we were inside and on your bed,” you mumbled against his lips. “So… want to move this into the bedroom?”

“If I remember correctly, you took your bra off under your shirt when we were still outside,” he reminded you.

“I did,” you said, still kissing him, “but I’m not wearing a bra right now.”

“But you are wearing panties.”

He stood up, causing you to do the same. He sat back down and ran his hands up your legs and under your lingerie. He smirked up at you before pulling down your panties which you then stepped out of.

���Alright, now we can move this to the bedroom.” He wrapped his arms around your waist as he stood up, lifting you as you wrapped your arms around his neck.

He carried you upstairs and into the bedroom, kicking the door with his foot.

“Did you put roses on the bed?” he asked, smiling against your mouth when he noticed the petals decorating the mattress and the floor leading up to it.

“You did the same thing last year,” you reminded him, also smiling.

[call-me-strega]

Dc x Dp Prompt #14: The Valentines Day Debacle

“debacle • \dee-BAH-kul\ • noun.

1 : a tumultuous breakup of ice in a river 

2 : a violent disruption (as of an army) : rout

3 a : a great disaster b : a complete failure : fiasco.”

~ It was Valentine’s Day and Jason regrets agreeing to go on this date.

Weelll, kind of, but not exactly.

This “date” was actually a covert-op with three caped chaperones because he, Steph, Tim and Cass were all on cases that ended up being the same case.

Steph and Tim had caught wind of some allegedly magic potions becoming popular among college students used to help students score dates with their up coming Valentines. There weren’t any outright love potions but confidence boosters, things to increase your attractiveness, luck boosters, thing to get people in the mood. They had been investigating into it to make sure this wasn’t secretly a drug ring but found it to some real magical bullshit. They’d located the source’s lair/lab where they brewed the potions but not the potion brewer themselves.

Cass had been in Hong Kong when she caught wind of one of her targets following rumors of a witch who specialized in potions to grant small boons and bewitching charms. After dealing with her target she started tracking down the witch to find out her goals and intentions. She followed her trail across Asia, Europe and a good portion of the eastern seaboard before her path led her to Gotham.

Jason was investigating some upper middle class chick that started hanging around the alley trying to get in with the prostitutes and drag queens(and only succeeding in making them suspicious). She met several young men who abandoned the gang allegiances too trail after her like puppies. His investigation showed she was also circling Gotham elites and was in search of gossip on two things: people looking for love and a beau for herself.

They had been going over their cases at a team meeting when they realized their 3 targets were all the same woman. Between the four of them they pieced out she was some new age witch, descendent from an older family line looking to get rich and in a relationship. Her potions weren't really actively harmful but her use of them to gain the upper hand in business deals and amass a following of boytoys she decided weren’t hunky enough for her but would do as muscle was.

Tim and Steph knew she was planning on selling her potions at the Valentine’s/Winter market place in Robinson Park coming up. Jason and Cass knew she was looking to net some more followers while they were there so the plan was simple. One of the guys would go undercover to try and get recruited while the others stayed nearby for back up. They’d try to get some information out of her and if the need for it arose, to take her into custody and hand her off to the Justice League Dark. They’d already talked to Zatana to have her ready to come to Gotham should things go awry and gotten a charm from her to prevent them from getting put under her control.

Oh if only this didn’t go so wrong.

Unfortunately for Jason, he matched their little witch’s tastes to a tee. Thus, he was the one stuck being dragged around market under the guise of having agreed to a date with her. She dragged him around, made him pay for her things, tried to use his stature to intimidate others and was generally rude to the other patrons and staff. Oh, Jason despised her but grit his teeth and pretended to play nice. Cass was investigating her stall and Steph and Tim were tailing them.

Finally over the comms he heard the team confirm Cass had found the info she was looking for and he could finally ditch little miss witch. He broke it to her that he thought this wouldn’t work out and her eye just twitched. She must have tried to charm him because she asked him to stay with her and become her main beau, which he soundly refused. This set her off on a rage as she screeched over how her charm didn’t work and how Jason would have been perfect if she’d been able to get him under her thumb. He tried to back off when she lashed out with a magic rope insisting once she captured Jason he’d be the perfect leader to her adoring little boyfriend army.

So yeah she was more psycho than anticipated.

Spoiler and Red Robin began to swoop in for the rescue which only served to enraged her further. That’s when the team learned that she was talented in more than just potions. She used her magic to start awakening magical creatures in the park surrounding them. Nymphs shed from trees and little snow golems formed and began attacking RR and Spoiler.

Black Bat had run over to extract Jason when the witch noticed her. She shrieked in outraged proclaiming if she couldn’t have Jason no one else would and that he could become fish food for the frost creatures of Far Frozen before picking him up with a spectral vine and slamming him through the frozen lake into a swirling blue portal. Cass tried to go after him but the witch quickly engaged her with too much feral rage to realize she was outclassed in hand to hand against Black Bat. By the time Steph and Tim fought off the nymphs and golems it was too late. Whatever whirling portal had been in the lake closed and Jason was no where to be found.

As Jason pushed through the ice he had one final thought before he felt himself black out: ‘Worst Valentine’s Day ever.’

~ The first thing Jason felt when he came to was cold. He was still submerged under icy water. It was chilled him to the core but was almost soothing in a way. As if cooling of a burn. As is opened his eyes the world seemed to move in slow motion. He was still underwater surrounded by chunks of ice. He could make out sounds of distorted yelling as the world seem to get even slower.

Suddenly he felt something grab his collar and place itself under his arm. Jason was unceremoniously hoisted out of a frozen river and laid out on a river bank. He let out a harsh cough and his head got dizzy. He tried to regain his wits long enough to see who pulled him out.

It was large figure, maybe an inch or two taller than his 6 foot, with the bulk of a viking and the looks of one too. The man appeared to be around the same age as Jason, possibly older, and very concerned. He had messy white hair that was tied(or braided? Jason’s vision was still blurry) in the back. He was wearing armor made of some sort of hide leather and a dark gray metal (iron?) and covered in snow-white furs.

Jason stared at his savior trying to get his wits about him, willing his vision to clear. That’s Jason felt a warm fur cloak wrap around him as the man said something Jason wasn’t able to comprehend. He let out another harsh cough and felt himself being picked up in a princess carry. His rescuer moved incredibly fast for someone carrying a man of Jason’s stature. However, the motion did not help with the dizziness or the cold. Jason shivered, curling towards his “heroic knight” and pulling the cloak tighter around himself. This spurred the man to go faster.

Finally, everything stopped moving and Jason felt himself encompassed in warmth. Several more furs were wrapped around him and he was laid down to rest. At last Jason’s vision cleared enough to see the other man’s face properly. He had a rugged face and a strong jawline. He had a small scar near his eyebrow and round eyes with light eye bags beneath them. He had a straight nose and bow-shaped lips.

Jason felt the world slow down again and realized he’d soon pass out from the cold. The man lifted Jason’s head and slipped a pillow underneath. A rough hand gently pushed the wet hair out of his face and caressed his cheek. Jason stared into the man’s eye. They were kind, gentle, and such a vibrant green they seemed to glow. The man gave him a small smile and the last thing Jason heard before falling asleep was a soothing voice telling him “Rest, we will take care of you.” And with that Jason felt himself relax and fell asleep.

~ When Jason came to the first thing he saw was a 20-something-foot tall yeti with an icy cybernetic arm looming over the foot of his bed.

He promptly screamed and fell out of bed.

A vaguely familiar voice called out from another room.

“ FROSTBITE! I thought I told you not to scare him!”

In walked the man that had saved Jason from an icy death. Upon closer inspection now that he wasn’t dying the man seem 10 times as beautiful than Jason remembered. He almost seemed to have this ethereal glow to him. The man continued to admonish the yeti who just laughed heartily and continued on with whatever task he was trying to complete. The man turned his attention to Jason, smiling at him in apology and lifting him back into the bed.

“ I’m sorry about Frostbite. He won’t admit it but I think he gets a crack out of scaring his patients,” He said with a placating chuckle. His mirthful eyes met Jason’s puzzled ones and he continued on as he began to fiddle with few thermoses, seemingly searching for one in particular.

“ You must be quite confused. I don’t exactly know how you ended up here but this place called the Far Frozen. I felt a pulse of magic near the river and went to investigate and ended up fished you of the water. You were nearly frozen so I brought you back to village where you could get warmed up and medics like Frostbite could help you before the actual frostbite set in.”

He chuckled at his own joke before placing a cup in Jason’s hands.

“ It’s soup, drink up. It’ll help you get warm.”

Jason hesitantly took a sip of his soup. It was surprisingly good! He continued to sip his soup and Jason observed the man. He had a rather muscular build Jason noticed, staring at the man for no other reason than assessing if he’d be a potential threat (and for absolutely no other reason). Danny finished closing up his thermos and continued to speak.

“ I promise once Frostbite treats you for any illness or injury. I’ll help you get home. -Oh where are my manners” he held his hand out for Jason to shake. “You can call me Phantom.”

“ Call me Jay,” he replied, taking Phantom’s hand and a glance at his biceps. Phantom pulled away and stood up.

“Well, I’ll let you get back to resting. I’ll come back later when Frostbite gives you a check up and we can talk about how you got here and how to get you back” He turned and began to walk out before turning his head back one last time and waved. “I’ll see in a bit Jay.”

Jason watched him go and fell back into bed having finished his soup. As he pulled the furs and blankets back over himself he thought ‘Well maybe it’s not the worst Valentine’s Day ever.’

[cartoonsinthemorning]

Fem! Stan somehow gets a boyfriend and ford is not only disapproving but also murderous towards the guy (in secret mostly but he's definitely planning a elaborate revenge plan for taking away his beloved sister)

OOoohh~ This is HONEY to my ears. Yes. Let me share my thoughts about this:

Ford wouldn't approve any type of guy, anyway, not even an actual well mannered, pleasant one- but the fact that, most likely, Stan got with some delinquent, or an older dude, or anyway some questionable character- would be salt on the wound. And trying to warn Stan about her new beau would be a terrible move, because she's stubborn as hell: any criticism or, god forbid, threat to snitch to ma and pa would only result into Stan dating her boyfriend HARDER. Even sneak out at night...to...NO. No no nonono. Ford would rather get burned alive than even IMAGINE what.

So yeah. All Ford can do, in this situation, would be grit his teeth, maybe pick up boxing again to blow out some steam. At first, at least. Because Ford is- canonically, let's be honest- obsessive and kinda unhinged. The planning you've mentioned: I think Ford would, initially, just create elaborate self-soothing fantasies about framing his sister's boyfriend for the scum that he is. Stan gasping in shock, as she cries in her brother's welcoming, forgiving arms and apologizes for her naivety. Then, one day, as Ford is stalking Stan and her boyfriend (Ford would justify it all in his head, as a form of supervision and protection), sees the two make out- and the guy being VERY handsy- and from that point on, Ford's fantasies are not fantasies anymore. Because they would turn into ideations. He'd start to legit imagine how to plan out a murder, and get away with it. Mind you, Ford wouldn't be much aware of the difference. He's kinda doing it on autopilot. BUT- a good portions of the books he borrows from the library would be about criminology, and he would stalk his sister's bf around, learn his habits, try to find out if anyone would notice, if he was to disappear.

In the end, I think Stan would break up with her man in a couple of weeks max- as she is a teenager, after all, and got with the guy mostly out of curiosity and desire to feel grown up and independent. So we never get to find out! Were Ford's ideas about murder so detailed simply because he's very inventive, and a planner, OR was he actually this close to murdering the guy that dared put his filthy hands on his sister? we will never know!

[zepskies]

Ooooh I have a few questions for you to keep the ball rolling! 💚

Would reader and Beau from TMH ever get married? Have a kid?

How would BMD Ben react to their daughter (as a teen/young adult) dating a guy he sees right through as an asshole/maybe a bit like Ben used to be? Would Ben ever tell his kids who/how he used to be when they grew up?

Ooh thanks, Michelle!! 💚💚💚

These are great questions, wow...

Take Me Home (Beau Arlen x Reader):

Would the reader and Beau get married? Have kids?

Oh hell yeah, they definitely would get married! In Echoes, the last one-shot I've written for them, they've just moved in together. I think at that point, she and Beau would be thinking about marriage in the future, but maybe they wouldn't talk about it with each other right away. 😂

We know how Beau is about sharing his feelings, and the reader, being burned before on an engagement and the idea of marriage, knows she loves him but would be hesitant to make that leap...

Until Beau talks to Emily about it. His daughter is more and more becoming his sounding board, since she was so supportive of their relationship from the beginning. Emily would encourage him to get remarried if that makes him happy.

Emily: You're already living together. Doesn't that mean you want to be with her for the long haul?

Beau: Well...yeah. That's just about what it means.

Emily: Then what's the problem?

He can't exactly argue with that logic. 😂 I think he'd be so excited to propose, that he wouldn't even think about the "more kids" conversation until after they're engaged. The reader would think about it first, I think, wondering if he would ever want more kids someday. And if so, is that something she wants too?

Once they actually got around to sitting down and having that honest conversation, I think both of them would be open to it in a "if it happens, it happens" sort of way. Beau would have concerns about being an "older dad," 😂 but in comforting him and reassuring him that he'd do great, because he's already a great dad...it would make the reader realize that she does want kids, and she wants them with Beau. ❤️

(Hell, maybe I'll end up writing that in the future!)

Break Me Down (Soldier Boy x Reader):

How would BMD Ben react to their daughter (as a teen/young adult) dating a guy he sees right through as an asshole/maybe a bit like Ben used to be? Would Ben ever tell his kids who/how he used to be when they grew up?

Ooh, I have an ask that I plan to answer tomorrow that covers how Ben reacts to Lila having a boyfriend or girlfriend, but your question here is even more specific! Love it!

I think if he clocked the "asshole" in Lila's new boyfriend, Ben would call him out immediately. He would try to ban her from seeing him. And when that didn't work, he would 100% threaten the guy off without her knowing.

Ben would have to try to (badly) explain to her why he doesn't trust the guy, and why he's a skeevy little bastard.

Lila: Dad, you don't even know him!

Ben: Oh, I know him. Sweetheart, I know 'em all, better than the back of my goddamn hand. He's a fucking scumbag, and you're more than too good for him. Trust me.

Lila: What do you mean?

Ben would hesitate. He wouldn't want to explain to his daughter that he knows how that asshole's mind works because he used to be exactly like that, before he met her mother.

He probably wouldn't ever want to explain it to his daughter in his own words. Likely she'd have to piece it together from stories she hears about her dad from her mom, and/or her honorary aunts and uncles (like Butcher, Hughie, Loco, and Frenchie).

With his future son, Ben will probably have more "man-to-man" real talks about how he used to get women under the realm of "dad advice." 😅 When the boy got older, Ben would admit to him that he did use to fuck around. (Putting it mildly.)

Ben: I mean, if there was an Oscar for laying it the fuck down, I would’ve taken that shit year after year. Would’ve beat out Burt Reynolds by a fucking landslide.

Son: *grossed out but still confused* Who's Burt Reynolds?

Lmao. 😆

Thank you again for these questions, friend! 💕

[universallydestinytaco]

The Little Smiling Mermaid (Chapter 13)

Merry Mermay, you filthy animals! Here’s to the first anniversary of this fanfic and thank you everyone for your support 💖💛

TW: Emotional/verbal abuse and Mipnessa being a fatphobic and transphobic snot.

Charlie’s dilemma was quite the ironic one as while he was courting his arranged wife-to-be, he was much better at bonding with that mysterious castaway, Pim. As Mipnessa would keep making subtle, passive-aggressive jokes about her fiancé’s quirks all while lovebombing him in front of approximately everyone else, Pim on the other hand was quite the lovable little goober who would keep finding various things to make him laugh. While Charlie expressed his frustrations to his motley crew about how his engagement with Mipnessa was kind of rocky, Pim would silently act-out how much of a (more-or-less) covert pain-in-the-ass the former’s beau was much like a mime or interpretive dancer would, humorously helping Charlie illustrate his point of view as everyone failed not to chuckle at the little pink maiden’s antics…not that Charlie could exactly blame any them for cutting up, with Pim even giving a curtsy at the applause. “Gee dude, you haven’t even been married and yet Mipnessa’s already become a real ball-and-chain.” said the deadpan Lyle, taking a swig from his flask as Chris suggested: “Why not have a talk with your Gram-Gram to call off the engagement? She’s the forgiving type, unlike Uncle Fischoder!” Tomar and Lyle both nodded in agreement. “I know it would be easier to call it quits, but the thing is: for once, things are all according to plan and I’m doing something right instead messing it up! Maybe Mipnessa is stressed because she’s homesick and she’ll ease up once we get the wedding over with, plus I can’t risk disappointing my entire kingdom again, let along any other kingdoms for that matter.” Tomar raised an eyebrow, asking: “Since when did you of all people become a people-pleaser? Like, with all sincerity, are you genuinely going with this out being honorable or repressing your own needs for the sake of the upper-crust busybodies?” Charlie stood there and opened his mouth, but no sound came out. “Why not dish out a taste of her own medicine? Make subtle jokes at her flaws and shit.” Lyle suggested with a mischievous grin, taking another swig at his flask. Charlie facepalmed, whining: “Oh great, we’re already gonna be at our “bickering couples” phase.” A familiar voice called out from afar as the wind carried her message: “You-whoooo! Charliekins, it’s your blushing bride-to-be!” Charlie’s face flushed a peachy pink-orange as his friends low-key groaned at the saccharine pap. “Speak of the devil.” Pim wanted to say, but could only lip-sync without vocals. Mipnessa in her green dress and brown shall, skipped over to give performative affection to Charlie, who felt uncomfortably smothered as his friends mutually felt the awkward tension. “So, when are you two tying the knot?” asked Chris, to which Mipnessa quickly kicked off a long-winded reply: “Good question! Since my fiancé has trouble preparing things head on, me and Queen Dolores have been discussing the due date for the ceremony! I’ve even already had a fitting for my wedding gown-“ Charlie, who didn’t even get a say on his side of the topic, felt as if he was merely a cobblestone path being continually trampled on, with that said, he did find some humor in Pim’s hand mimicking a mouth that never ceased gabbing, prompting some wide grins. While Mipnessa blissfully chattered, Pim immediately got to work writing and sketching in that little book on what he deemed his potential magnum opus….

~

Grim hastily researched his various tombs of spells and magic on how to properly use the trident, finally getting to the page of an encyclopedia of mystical treasures and flipping pages over all the way to the article covering tridents. “About damn time!” The grayish-purple critter snarled sardonically as he quickly observed the walls of text. While Grim was occupied in his conquest of knowledge, Gnarly couldn’t help himself to goofing around with the newly-obtained relic of undersea royalty, puffing his chest and pointing the trident upward. “Look at me, I’m King Steven! I’m all brawn and no brains!” Grim hissed: “Gnarly quit screwing around with that, you’ll turn the whole damn joint into a sand castle for all I know!” Gnarly rolled his eyes as he clutched the trident, “Geez, live a little, don’t be such an overly-serious anchovy.” Grim’s eyes widened as a blood-vessel snapped, his eyes turned away from the book and toward Gnarly, shooting a deathly glare at his lackey. “What was that I heard?”growled Grim, who dropped the book and swam toward Gnarly who dropped the trident in fear, reduced to a terrified statue as Grim picked the trident up and aimed it toward his lackey, roaring: “Nobody calls me anchovy…nobody. calls. me-“ as he picked up the trident and chucked it at Gnarly, who conveniently ducked as the trident hit the wall, exposing itself as a bootleg by breaking in half and dissolving into glittering quartz-sand…and it didn’t take long for it to register to Grim that Damien pulled a fast one on him. “THEY HAD THE NERVE TO FLEECE ME?!!”

~ When evening came, Pim and Smormu put on a floor-show for everyone else residing at the dining room. First, Smormu emerged from behind the window curtains with a trumpet, tooting a few notes and announcing: “Presenting Prince Rosenthorn and his ol’ girl, Vicky!” As she pulled back the curtains to reveal Pim in princely garb, complete with a crown and sash, his right-hand adorned with a stringy-haired puppet with googily eyes and a green dress. Pim kneeled down towards his “bride”, popping open a box with a “ring” (actually the pop-top to a can), Smormu, from behind the curtain, read from a script while voicing the puppet bride. “You made me the happiest girl in the whole world, I always wanted to be Queen! Well, slip it on you portly oaf!” Pim, acting shocked, hastily slipped Vicky’s hair into the ring hole, fashioning it like a ponytail. “Look at me, I’m so gorgeous with my two favorite accessories: my engagement ring AND my fiancé! Kissy-kissy-hubby-wubby!” mused Vicky, as she bombarded her groom in kisses. Smormu emerged from the curtain again, with two glasses of wine, announcing: “Cheers to the happy couple!”, before hiding behind the curtain again. Vicky, lacking arms, barked: “Well don’t just stand there, gimme my drink, dammit!”, prompting a nervous Pim to hastily serve his bride her drink, only to accidentally spill the whole thing all over her! “Oh look what you did, you clumsy dolt! You know what, nevermind, I do look dashing in wine red!” Pretty much everyone except Mipnessa had been cracking up at the play to the point where even Eustace, usually sporting a stiff-upper-lip, started chuckling at it. Mipnessa forced herself to smile and keep her composure as Pim and Smormu kept lampooning her. Pim pulled a sign from behind himself, in sloppy paint: “You know who else does?”, before tossing the sign and Vicky up in the air and ripping his suit off to reveal a wine-red gown he started doing a frantic can-can dance in, as Smormu picked up the puppet and placed it on her hand, voicing the character with ventriloquist lips: “Is that my evening gown?!” Finally, Pim turned around and revealed a pair of polka-dot boxer shorts with the lovingly-stitched message: “Gender? I don’t know her!” on the seat. As Mipnessa forced herself to a laugh and clap with everyone else, Pim and Smormu bowed for their audience before joining them at the dinner table. Charlie, still caught-up in his own laughter, nudged Mipnessa: “God, that was a riot, ey Mip?!” Mipnessa barely reigned in her rage, replying: “Yes, very charming indeed, now please pass me the salt.” Charlie obliged, but since he was a bit tipsy from the wine with the jocular play still fresh in his mind, his hand bumped into the gravy dish, accidentally tipping it and flipping over onto Mipnessa’s side of the table and all over her dress. Charlie snapped out of it and got out his handkerchief to help clean it up, only for Mipnessa to slap his hand and snap: “CAN’T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT, YOU FAT DUMBASS!?” An awkward silence fell upon the party, until Queen Dolores piped up: “I think this engagement was a bad idea, you two just aren’t a match.” Mipnessa, realizing her mistake, tried to cover her behind: “But- This kingdom needs a Queen! You aren’t going to live forever and he’s too wishy-washy to rule alone!” Charlie finally snapped and affirmed his feelings: “She’s right, you know why?! You only see me as a key to the throne! And how DARE you talk to my grandma like that!” Mipnessa put her hands on her hips and snarled: “Who else is gonna marry you, that confused he-she whom willingly ignorant about her own biology?” Finally, in a rare state of anger and disgust, Queen Dolores raised her voice while pointing toward Mipnessa: “We’ve ALL heard enough, you vile brat! You are to be escorted back home immediately!” As Mipnessa tried to plea otherwise, Charlie beamed a warm smile at Pim while offering a token of gratitude: “How about I show you around my kingdom tomorrow?” to which Pim happily nodded.

~

It seemed the morale of Meeplantica started to spiral when their beloved Princess Pimberly was reported to have gone missing, that worry and panic would further escalate after Prince Damien’s recent stunt where he stole the Trident, froze the Sea King in a block of ice and took off into the unknown. Naturally, those who attended meetings at the Rumor Reef have been having a field day with many a conspiracy cropping up, all theorizing what exactly was happening and why the remaining Royals where quiet behind the scenes as one particular figure in scarlet-to-coral ombré robes with a high collar paired with a broadly-brimmed hat would quietly tune in to the on-going discussion.

“I’m calling it: Princess Pimberly was exiled by the Sea King, he deemed her too rebellious and hid her away somewhere, the search party was a cover up! Damien somehow making off with the trident is a reverse-ransom!”

“OR, Pimberly herself was kidnapped and the old King was too stubborn to fork over the trident…and I know exactly who and precisely why!”

“OH MY NEPTUNE- It makes way too much sense! Of course he’s the perpetrator in all of this, he’s slowly orchestrating his inevitable revenge!”

The glamorously-obscured anonymous guest raised an eyebrow upon audibly catching this info as she sipped from her glass, her eyes stuck upon the sight of three familiar merfolk she recalled her awkward younger sibling often hung out with until King Steven banned all three of his offspring from outright befriending commoners (Glep and Alan don’t count, since they’ve already resided in the palace) as she observed their contributions to the conversation. The shorter, bespectacled merman piped up: “We knew the Princess since our school days, confided us in a lot of info we promised to keep safe until she herself is hopefully ready to come forward…BUT for the sake of gathering up clues to find her we will each out our two-cents in and entail info that isn’t exclusively personal to her.” A slender, green mercritter with wild raven hair and a leather vest piped up: “One time she snuck all of into a royal gathering in Noblemer’s clothing, and one of her cousins looked kinda like her with that toothy grin but his complexion was more winter-salmon than warm-lilac, I think he was also the youngest of his line of the royal family and I dunno if anyone here remembers his full title title, say what was it again?” The chubbier orange mercritter was in the middle of savoring some sea-nuts on the counter, he bashfully put them away and spoke up: “I recall he was formally announced as Prince Timothy Gromble II, of a neighboring kingdom close to Meeplantica, he was definitely the youngest and very indigent about that.” The bespectacled merman continued: “He kept goading all four of us into “borrowing” the trident from the throne room solely for the bragging rights, to feel less-small.” The slender green one piped up: “But then his older cousins came looking for him and when they entered the throne room, they all burst into laughter and started teasing him how he looked even small holding the massive trident….and well, things got ugly pretty fast.” the trio shuddered at the brutal end of that fateful soirée as the gossiping school of merfolk felt their discomfort. The bespectacled one cleared his throat and resumed: “If you’ll allow me to skim over the bloodshed, King Steven stripped Timothy of his royal titles, banished him to an undisclosed location and the whole incident was not to be disclosed to the public.” The slender green critter griped: “And then Pimberly’s STUPID sister just had to squeal on us! She got taken out of school, commoners where banned from the palace, our parents found out and our sorry asses got beached for a month, UGH! It’s a damn miracle that Pimberly was able to keep in touch however she could.” The orange heavyset critter piped up: “While the whole thing was kept under wraps, the rest of the royal family blamed Pimberly and treated her even worse ever since, last we talked, she wished that she was banished instead.” The anonymous guest felt a sting of guilt deep down, knowing well the action of ratting the four unwitting pawns did more heartache than helped whatsoever, but resumed to bottle it up with a sense of self-bravado, not to mention a part of her brain was busy connecting the dots with her mouth agape in shock.

CHAPTER 14 COMING SOON!

[shkatzchen]

Welcome to White's Gentlemen's Club (Pt.1)

White's Gentlemen's Club was founded in 1693 and is one of the oldest gentlemen's clubs in London. It has existed in its present location since the late 1700s. When men in Regency and Victorian novels speak about going to their clubs, this is one of them. Even today it remains a private, men's only club boasting King Charles III as a member (his bachelor party for his marriage to Diana was held there).

Because it's such a private space it was a nightmare to try to recreate as the information available was extremely limited. Pictures of the interior were rare and one of the main books I was able to find on the subject is rare and I couldn't get my hands on it. So while I made it as accurate as I could, within sims-constraints, there was also a lot of imagination poured into it. Because the save I was designing it for is modern, I didn't limit myself to only historical or off-the-grid pieces. That particular challenge can wait for the next time I try a Regency save.

The result is a Bar Lot, with plenty of space for games, parties, and socializing, as well as quiet corners to sit with a good book. And thankfully with LittleMsSam's Gender & More Lot Traits, I was able to make it accessible to only men, preserving that bit of accuracy.

The Facade and Layout

As seen at the top of the post, I did what I could to replicate the modern facade. Parts of this were easier than others. Although I had many of the needed objects from when I made the Hotel de Charost, the medallions on the front were difficult to find (in part because I didn't know any of the words to search them by). I couldn't find extant ones, so I made my own based on images I found online. Thank god for normal maps as they do a lot of the heavy lifting here.

The first sims-driven inaccuracy is the necessity to have floors of equal heights. As you can see from this cross section, that's not in fact the case. My build sacrifices the vaulted ceiling of the Coffee Room to allow the second floor to be of uniform height.

I was lucky to find this 1800s plan of the layout of the first two floors. I relied heavily on this for placing interior walls. My layout is seen below.

The Hall

I had nothing to rely on for this room. At all. As the entry hall I decided a closet was in order, if unlikely in reality (I really should have found better doors for it). I also found a reception desk that, when recolored and paired with a counter, provided a little administrative hub. I finally got around to tracking a filing cabinet down, which I ended up retexturing to maxis match.

The Morning Room

This was one of the few rooms I had a photo to work from, even if it was from a single angle, in black and white, and rather out of date. As such, I did my best to match it as well as possible. I tracked down magazines and newspapers and made a new spandrel to cleanly mimic the ones shown. I made new lamps and ceiling lights as well as new curtains, including extremely large ones to fit across the bow window. The bow window at White's is quite famous-- Beau Brummell used to sit there, critiquing the passersby, and the seat was also that of the Duke of Wellington for many years. I have a medallion over one fireplace here of him, which stands in for a bas relief of one of the deceased Kings'. The award below it stands for the silver belt won by Heenan after his fight with Sayers-- a "unsophisticated" visitor once asked "did the King win it," causing quite a bit of amusement. I also made a ceiling clock-- then, with the spandrels, had to lower it to fit below them.

The Foyer and Main Staircase

Staircases are always tricky. There was never any chance of achieving the elegant sweep of the real staircase, or the elegant little niches. there's an odd little window in the wall in the photo-- I suspect there was once a fireplace there. I did manage to replicate the numerous photos (even if some are there more for shape than content).

The Billiard Room

Why oh why are there not billiard tables in the Sims 4? These cc ones do work, and I'm grateful people have put in the time to make accoutrements for snooker, but it would be nice to have official ones. I have so many builds that would use them. This is another space that I had to make out of whole cloth, as I had only a few sparce bits of information. I put the main bar here, along with a small stage. The TV that the bar lot requires is hidden here.

Miscellaneous Ground Floor Spaces

There are some odd spaces which don't have labels. I turned one into a bathroom, as the drawings seemed to imply as much. Another became an old-fashioned place to make a phone call. One is, I believe, the old back entrance before it was enclosed to form the billiard room, hence the odd shape. I added a mirror to make it look bigger and these paintings (the left is the Duke of Wellington as the High Constable of England, a Tudor-style get up he had to wear for George IV's coronation, the right is a late 19th century imagining of Wellington's lone meeting with Nelson).

Tumblr's image limit constrains me from posting everything here all at once, so go here for Part 2 and the First Floor!

[11queensupreme11]

AB Percy in The Little Mermaid :

Percy as Ariel (girl just wants to go up to the surface world and be with her beau 😭)

Poseidon as King Triton (definitely won’t let girlie go to the surface world “it’s too dangerous Ariel”)(precedes to lock her in the palace)

Prince Eric as Anthonius (this is the human she has fallen in love with and wants to date)

Ursula as Beelzebub (will do everything in his power to prevent Ariel (Percy) and Eric (Anthonius) from getting together and becoming end game

Sebastian as Proteus (just wants to serve his king and protect his charge—the lovable but kinda slow Ariel—from the “evil” humans)

Flounder as Grover (he’s just a gullible, sweetheart looking for his chaotic bestfriend whose trapped in another universe🥺)

Scuttle as Adamas (a loud moron but has nothing but good intentions towards his niece and just wants her to be happy)

P.S. Apollo, Loki, Hades, Anubis, Cu, and Poseidon are also close contestants for the Ursula spot since they also which to break up Perthonius (Ariel and Eric) but—plot twist—it’s so that they can all become Ariel’s psychotic Eric (…once the OG Eric is DEAD asf!!)

RIP Eric u will be missed 🥺😢

BEELZEBUB AS URSULA IS PERFECT BECAUSE URSULA IS ACTUALLY WHO I BASED OFF HIS MER FORM AS!!!!!

if you go back to chapter 21 "the devil is my part-time babysitter" i wrote:

PLUS THE WHOLE THING WITH DEALS TOO!!!! HE'S PERFECT LMAO

and also when they do the whole "kiss the girl" scene where ursula sends her two eels to make sure they don't kiss, i can imagine all the yans actually working together for once to try and make sure she and anthonius never kiss, not because the kiss means she wins the deal, but solely because they're just too jealous and possessive 😭

also, you know that scene where ursula turns into vanessa to enchant eric and steal him from ariel???? there's no damn way beelzebub would EVER turn into a woman to seduce anthonius, but i can see loki taking one for the team only for THIS scene to happen between him and percy (and percy doesn't know that she's actually loki, just knows that there's a rando woman trying mind-control anthonius and we all know how protective she gets when it comes to her loved ones):

and even tho that plan failed, the yans would just take a step back and let it happen because "whoops loki's getting beat up, oh well, back to the drawing board men!" 😭😭

it's just basically all of them doing their damnest to prevent perthonius from happening while also trying not to get caught by percy (i know some yans wouldn't bother being discreet, but let's just pretend for the sake of the AU) 💀💀

[tyuntopia]

hiii i js wanted to say ur writing is so good omg and also can i request husband txt. theyve got me feeling a little delusional lately 😭🙏

★ txt as husbands

pairing : ot5 x fem! reader

genre : fluff, kissing, smut but not fully just a bit suggestive, minors dni

a/n : hii it's been a short while, i got kinda busy with life all of a sudden but hopefully in the near future i'll have a consistent update schedule ^^ other than that, i hope you like it !!

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

yeonjun

he would still be so so flirty referring to you as his angel or his darling

he would want to stay in bed with you all day just sleeping and maybe occasional make out sessions where he tells you how beautiful you are to him

as you get up to go to the restroom he orders takeout over the phone so that you don't have to worry about cooking, he's always so considerate of you

you guys would eat takeout in bed while watching a movie and as the night gets older he would turn on candles and caress your body while talking about your guys' future

he could stare into your eyes all day and night and he does do that until you drift off to sleep in which he blows out the candle and gives you a soft kiss on your shoulder before drifting off as well

he would be so good at planning dates to keep your marriage fresh, picnics at the park, hole in the wall cafés in the mornings, massages for the both of you

he would also give you a lot of presents, after work he would come home with a small necklace that he saw that made him think of you, small things like that

he would just love you so much and want to give you world if he could

soobin

he would be such a mushy husband, asking you all the time if you need anything, calling for his honey, his sunshine

LOTS of cuddling, specifically on the couch where he would be on top of you laying his head on your breasts because, and i quote "they're just too perfect"

i don't see him cooking for you, however, as you cook breakfast, dinner, you name it, he would be right behind you, head resting on your shoulder and hands hugging your waist asking what you're doing every couple of minutes,, such a clingy boy

you two would play video games together and bet that whoever loses is in charge of the chores for that day and sometimes even if he wins he gets up, gives you a chaste kiss on the cheek, and lets you know that he'll get them done because you've done so much for him already

you guys would probably always shower together: he would wash you, and then you would wash him and he would be so soft and vulnerable

after marrying, he would definitely call u odi's mom and it would be such a big deal to him

watching you take care of odi makes his heart swell because all he can think about is how you would take care you your guys' children

and at night thats definitely all he can think about now too, bringing it up when he's inside you asking if that's what you want and with a desperate "yes" from you his dream comes true

beomgyu

i think like many of us see, he would be energetic always shining light on his baby, his honey bun, his beau

but i think with you he would let shine his more raw persona

you two would spend hours in bed laying next to one another talking about the most earth shattering things, your fears, desires

he would try his best to be all that he can for you, always being there for you, asking if you need anything, just being the shoulder that you could cry on and vise versa

you two would probably bake brownies together and eat them as you watch that ridiculous dating show because why not

and you bond and laugh over video games that he forces you to play because even though he's older he "still needs to maintain his youth" whatever that means, but you don't mind it, it keeps your relationship fun

you would definitely also have pillow fights all the time and he would chase you around the house trying to tickle you

on slower nights he would draw a bath for you both to just lay together and he would bath you

upon getting out, you would get in bed as he turns on candles and begins playing guitar for you, singing you to sleep

he's definitely a goofball, but there's so many more layers to him that you love and adore

taehyun

god he would be so soft with you, treating you like a queen, calling you his love, honey, sweetheart, you name it he just wants you to know how special you are

you would wake up every morning feeling soft traces of his fingers on your legs and hips along with breathy kisses along your neck and shoulders

he would tell you to rest more as he gets up to walk to the kitchen to start cooking you breakfast, but not before giving you a soft kiss on your forehead which makes you feel all warm and protected so as he disappears you can't help but smile at the ceiling, giggling, and kicking your legs up and down

his breakfast would be so delicious and you would probably do the dishes together: him washing them and you drying them and putting them away ><; dream team and this would probably be the same with all chores

he would probably lift you on the counter after you're done to make out with you softly, his hands gliding up and down your thighs and yours tangling in his hair

he would be so sweet, carrying you to the shower and washing your hair and body, then dressing you in his shirt that he thinks looks so fucking sexy on you

you would probably have movie days in bed together and late night trips to the gym

at night he would be the most sentimental, kissing you everywhere and telling you how much he loves you, taking his time- definitely lots of eye contact and temple kisses

i could also see you guys having a lot of quickies where he pins you against the wall and hikes your skirt up as he lift you up, definitely has a strength kink and isn't afraid to show it

overall, your relationship is just so so soft, you can feel his love from a mile away

huening kai

he'd be such an angel to you, but would call you his angel because that's what you are to him and he makes sure he treats you as such

you'd wake up to tummy rubs and pouty kisses and maybe even tickles which would lead to tickle fights and him and his evil laugh (that is still somehow so cute)

you would probably make pancakes together with lots of different fruits and talk the whole morning about anything and everything

no matter how old you two are he would still take you on arcade dates and lunches with his sisters who he adores so much even though he's always making fun of them

you guys would have dance parties in your living room listening to bruno mars

in any situation he always puts you first and is such a soft gentleman, i love him

© tyuntopia | please do not copy or translate without my permission

[peapodbond]

that was us part five

aka tease tidbit tuesday

but once again it is a full part and ah, thanks to @leashybebes for saying that she's kind of lowkey obsessed with this, because so am i.

who decided the first wedding anniversary gift should be paper? what do you even get for that?

it's paper or clocks, depending on the list you look at.

clocks are better?

depends. if you think of them as keeping track of all the time you've spent together, yeah.

god, you're such a romantic.

abby spends the rest of the day sending photos of watches to tommy. they immediately nix any watches that are skinny or square; abby's never seen sam wear one and they all look sort of… industrial. she bets it's exactly the type of watch that his firm would give out for the big anniversaries.

tommy vetoes a few companies because they're ripping off their designs from someone else. when abby asks when he got into watches, he tells her that jordan has a collection.

that's interesting. tommy had dropped jordan's name a few months ago, mentioning that he'd met a guy at the bar and they'd been on a few dates, but not much since. she's assumed it was going well because there was no text about them breaking up, and she and sal haven't been recruited for another bachelor style grindr lineup, but it's nice to know it didn't just fizzle out after a few dates.

now that she's got a watch picked out, it's time for her to do a little digging on tommy's new beau. even sal has been tight lipped, which has meant problems in the past — mike, for one, but there was also colin — though, to be fair, a lot more had been wrong with colin than just the fact that he didn't like tommy's best friend. in the list of crazy exes, colin was definitely at the top.

what's sal think of jordan?

they get along, abby, relax.

how well?

they're at the race track together right now, actually.

sal's into horses?

no, they're both into go karts.

aren't those for kids?

go karts, not bumper cars. they can still go pretty fast.

oh brother.

yep. gina and i are going to have dinner while they're out.

say hi to gina for me! it's been a while.

she says hi, and you still need to tell her what you thought of the time traveller's wife.

talk to you later, tommy!

do you two think eight months is too soon to move in together?

tommy, no, that's a reasonable amount of time.

it's kind of slow, actually.

sal, you asked gina to move in three months after meeting her.

we never officially lived together but sam asked me a few weeks after our six month anniversary.

aside from her questionable taste in supernatural movies, haven't regretted it once.

you watch twilight every year on her birthday.

sal, that's adorable. tommy, if you want to ask jordan to move in, you should.

she watches them, i read. and yeah, you should ask him. i think you have a good shot at landing the guy.

i hate you.

what happened?

abby, two days ago i walked in on those two in the middle of — well, let's just say it wasn't a pg rated movie.

don't exaggerate, sal. besides, you were the one who came in without knocking.

tommy! don't you lock your door?

i have a key. which i am debating returning.

that'll teach you to wait for someone to come to the door.

he's got a point, sal.

i'm leaving you weirdos now. gina and i have plans.

chicken shit!

i have to run too tommy, i've got to pick the girls up from the barn. just ask him! it'll be great.

thanks, abby. no thanks to you, sal.

jordan's out.

sal's text comes in just before a flurry from tommy, and abby scrolls through them curiously. ah, home renovation questions. once they'd started talking again — really talking, not the quick catch ups at bar nights — tommy had told her that most of the changes he'd made to the house had been done between relationships. she wonders if he's clocked why he does it that way, but she is very much not a therapist. she's also not going to get into that with her ex-fiancé.

he wants to know if she thinks a pale grey could work in the downstairs guest room (study, she'd suggested when he bought the place, even though neither of them had had an office job) or if it would clash with the yellow she'd picked for the living room. abby checks the time and gets him on a video call, making him walk her around the house. they decide that the grey will work, and abby reminds tommy again that he's been meaning to get rid of the tile and wallpaper combination in the laundry room.

sal is busy sending abby a rundown of everything that's happened in the last twenty eight hours. it's — a lot. tommy and jordan had gone out to dinner, some little indian spot that was jordan's favourite, and right before tommy could ask jordan to move in, jordan had told him that he'd gotten a promotion that meant he'd have to move to sacramento.

they'd argued — mostly about the fact that jordan hadn't mentioned a move and a promotion was a possibility, but also about the fact that jordan had suggested, once tommy said that he'd wanted him to move in, that tommy come to sacramento instead. tommy had asked if jordan expected him to give up his seniority in the fire department, his house, to follow jordan to sacramento, and jordan had said that he'd probably be moving again in a few years so it wasn't as if it was permanent —

and tommy had come home single after dinner instead of planning a day for jordan to move in.

i mean, it's not like i can blame him for taking the promotion, tommy texts later, when abby manages to get him talking about it. i knew his job was important to him. we just never talked about what that would mean. he didn't even talk to me first. not that he had to, but—

it would have been nice to have been asked.

if i'd known he was approaching la as an expiry date, i wouldn't have hoped for so much in the relationship.

that's just the kind of guy you are, tommy. one day someone is going to want that as much as you do.

yeah, sure. any chance you and sam want a platonic third?

i need someone to help me with the girls' show tack in two weeks, but we're good. besides, since you don't want to move, you should really ask sal and gina that.

[tgmsunmontue]

Dance me through the panic - 3/3

Maverick/Cyclone - set in the Take more chances, dance more dances verse (Hangster and polycule Bob/Javy/Nat).

PART ONE PART TWO

PART THREE

                He has a couple of suits for when he does his dance examinations, and he knows there are going to be plenty of people at the wedding that are under his command, but also the urge to look good is more compelling. It’s a date and a wedding. Hell of a first date. Seems very… Maverick though. He runs his fingers over the dark navy suit and pulls it out, along with a crisp white shirt, before deciding to go with the charcoal suit instead.

                He places his small overnight bag in the trunk of his car, part of his various contingency plans, then sends off a quick message to Maverick to let him know he’s on his way. The drive passes uneventfully and when he pulls up in front of a small bungalow Maverick is already outside waiting. He’s wearing dress slacks and button down, no jacket in sight. Beau would bet good money that the sleeves will be rolled up within an hour of the ceremony being over. He looks good. He always seems to look good; he also seems to know it, playing it up a little when he knows Beau is watching. He’s not sure how he feels about it yet.

                “Um. I know this isn’t ideal but I told Bradley we’d give him a ride.”

                “Why does he need a ride?” Beau asks, although considering how much he’s heard Bradly complaining about Maverick recently he already suspects he knows the answer. Or at least part of it. He knows the air conditioning at the dance studio fell victim, and now it sounds like Bradley’s car might be next in line. Lord what is he getting himself into?

                “I took his car apart…”

                Bingo Beau thinks to himself, but he just nods calmly, thinks he’s glad that he already knows and likes Bradley.

                “Don’t think about touching mine…” Beau murmurs, because his Jaguar is his pride and joy. He glances across to see Maverick smirking at him.

                “Your car, right?”

                Beau pushes his sunglasses up his nose and licks his lips.

                “Yes I mean my car. Hell Maverick…”

                “Just checking…”

                He’s glad he knows where Bradley lives, the path to the dance studio a familiar one, though he’s glad he planned in a buffer of time, half expecting Maverick to not be ready. Guesses he’s going to continue being surprised by him. Glad he doesn’t need to concentrate on directions on top of feeling watched. When he pulls up outside the dance studio Bradley is already waiting, wearing a maroon suit the Beau recognizes, and already looks exasperated. He slides into the back of Beau’s car and murmurs thanks, although Beau doesn’t miss the slightly dirty look Bradley gives Mav in the rearview mirror.

                Despite the wedding being held in a chapel it is blessedly short and non-religious. It appears that both Machado and Trace have a best man and a bridesmaid each, and he guesses that’s moving with the times. The reception is in a large function room joined to a restaurant in a hotel and is great in terms of convenience. Beau hands the keys of his car over to the valet and tries not to be paranoid that they’re going to take it for a joyride. Then again his date is just as likely to do that and he knows better to forbid him from doing any such thing.

                He dances with Trace, because dancing with the bride on her wedding day is what you’re meant to do. Then he dances with each of the bridesmaids. The entire time he’s conscious of where Maverick is, like a planet orbiting the sun. Because he’s a gentleman he offers to dance with Machado, who immediately allows Beau the lead, and he has to admit to himself he’s a little surprised about, having expected to need to take the follow role. When he offers Floyd a dance they’re half-way through when Floyd realizes he’s leading Beau rather than the other way around. Beau has to reassure him that it’s fine, that he’s comfortable with both, but files it away as interesting, along with Machado’s opposite nature. Interesting indeed.

                He checks in with Maverick regularly, taking his lead from Bradley really who is also dancing with as many of the guests who seem to want to dance. Seresin and Maverick seem content to stand there and chat, although Maverick does do a circuit of the room and talks to several people. Beau even dances with Bradley, although he is pretty certain Maverick is now screwing with him. Every time he glances over Maverick seems to be licking his fingers, or taking a drink, his throat working and but the urge to dance with Maverick is more than anything else he wants. That he can do in public anyway.

                “Beau, if you’re going to lead I need you to stop looking at fucking Maverick…” Bradley mutters under his breath and Beau forces himself to focus and finish the dance, but then he’s making a beeline for Maverick, holding his hand out expectantly, although he’s fairly certain he already knows the answer.

                “Can you dance?”

                “Unfortunately, despite Bradley’s best efforts, I cannot…”

                “Maybe you haven’t had the right incentive?”

                “Maybe you’re right.”

                He enjoys dancing, likes it for a full raft of reasons, but he really loves dancing with partners who he plans to take to bed later. It’s a form of prolonged foreplay and it’s not different right now with Maverick, although he wasn’t exaggerating when he said he couldn’t dance. How he’s so graceful up in the sky and yet somehow unable to follow simple instructions is a mystery. Then again, Maverick and instructions, or even orders, have always been more guidelines. He’s going to have to accept that fact if they’re going to… date.

                Right now though, he’s got Maverick’s arms around his waist, they’re just swaying and it’s nice, more than enough. Although the fact that Maverick’s eyes keep dropping to his lips makes his pulse quicken, glad that he’s already danced for over an hour, burnt off some of the nervous energy he was carrying from earlier about the fact that he’s on a date with someone for the first time in over a year. And he’s doing it in front of such a large audience that know exactly who he is. Who he’s on a date with.

                Who has now somehow maneuvered them to the edge of the dancefloor and is leading him off. He lets himself be lead, doesn’t want to look behind him and see who is watching them leave. Wonders again if this is all a terrible idea then forces himself to remember that he’s the highest-ranking person here and he really needs to stop caring so much what other people think. All his risks in the last few weeks have paid off and he has a good feeling about this one as well.

                Then Maverick is reaching around him for a door handle and Beau can’t help his eyebrows shooting up to his hairline. He can’t be serious? Fucking hell. It’s Maverick. Of course he’s serious. The door closes behind them, they’re in a small conference room and he lets Maverick push him against the wall, part of him is still not sure if he’s more annoyed or aroused. Has a sneaking suspicion that if this becomes a thing, then he’ll find his attraction and annoyance with Maverick an intertwined marriage of feelings. Then the door is opening and Beau thought he was too old to want to die from mortification, but apparently, it’s still a thing.

                “Seriously Mav?” Fuck. Bradley. He’s not sure if that’s better or worse.

                “Why are you opening doors at a wedding reception?”

                “Uh…”

                The door shuts with more force than is necessary and Beau groans, would have thought being interrupted like that would have driven away all dregs of arousal. But it hasn’t. Not at all. Hell.

                “Was he with Seresin?” Beau asks, grasping at his common sense, his sense of propriety. However Maverick’s fingers are fast, his belt already undone, his hand working the zipper of his pants down, and maybe he should actually be sensible and responsible. Then Maverick is sinking to his knees and he shakes his head. He can’t. Not here.

                “No. Come on. We are actually too old for this. Come on, I have a room…”

                “A room? That’s a bit presumptuous don’t you think?”

                “Coming from the man who is seconds away from giving me a blow job in an unlocked room at a wedding reception,” Beau murmurs under his breath, and he means for it to be scolding, but instead Maverick just looks immensely pleased. “Lord, you’re an absolute menace.”

                “Are you only just realizing this?”

                “No. But a part of me is starting to enjoy it.”

                “I think I can guess which part…”

                Beau groans, but Maverick is standing, his hand pressing and massaging over his cock as he carefully works the zipper back up and does the belt back up with a level of gentleness that makes him feel… cherished. It’s not a familiar feeling at all.

                “Maverick… there are… I need them to respect me…”

                “Beau. Babe. They respect me, so they definitely respect you…”

                Beau has never been called babe before, isn’t sure if he likes it or not but really wants to figure it out. His mind is unable to parse any other part of the conversation, repeating babe babe babe over and over rather than the issue of respect he’d raised. He sucks in a couple of lungfuls of air in an attempt to calm himself, which isn’t easy to do with Maverick pressed against his front, apparently happy to simply nuzzle into the curve of Beau’s neck and breathe.

                “Okay?” Maverick asks after a few moments, and he realizes he’s probably been listening or feeling Beau’s racing pulse and the fact he’s finally calming down. He nods and Maverick pulls back and grins at him. “Come on, lets go and play the old person card so we can leave early…”

                “Old person card? Wait… it’s rude to leave before the bride and groom.”

                “Not if you’re old. Old people do what they want…”

                “Maverick…”

                “Mmm?”

                “You’ve always done what you want…”

                “Not always…” Maverick says with a smirk, blatantly looking down to Beau’s crotch and he flushes.

                “Behave. We’ll make our excuses and then we can… escape.”

                “To the room you booked.”

                “Yeah.”

…            …            …

                Of course it’s not quite that straight forward, but after a few kisses that work him back up toward being not calm he follows Maverick, who laces his fingers with Beau’s, traces soft fingers over the skin of his palm in a soft tease as he ends up talking to more people. All it’s doing is making the anticipation ratchet itself tighter in his gut, along with the nerves. In the time they’ve been trying to find to say goodbye though Trace and Machado make their grand-exit, along with Floyd who Beau supposes must be their designated driver.

                Then Bradley is there, giving him a shit-eating grin and sometimes Beau wishes Bradley was someone he could pull rank on.

                “I’ll find my own way home. You have a good night Admiral.”

                Beau gives him a nod and small smile, although Mav has turned, is looking a little embarrassed, which Beau can’t get his head around. They’re out here in front of everyone and now Maverick gets embarrassed? But also he’s realised that Bradley’s habit of annoying him, calling him Admiral, is likely Maverick’s influence. Fuck. He’s doomed.

                “Beau? You okay?”

                He shakes himself and looks to find Maverick studying him, expression inquisitive and he tries to smile reassuringly, fairly certain he fails. Then Maverick is leading him away, their goodbyes all done. Beau’s libido is completely under control, common sense and reason kicking in hard. Along with nerves he can’t seem to shake and he’s starting to feel jittery and he cannot pinpoint why.

                “You good to drive?”

                “What?” Beau asks, unable to parse what Maverik is asking him exactly.

                “Are you good to drive?”

                “We’re going somewhere?” Beau asks, but also, he’s flooded with the sudden relief that maybe he can just… go home. “But… yes. I’m fine to drive.”

                Maverick takes his word for it and Beau’s mouth goes dry as Maverick slips his hand into the front pocket of his pants, pulling out the token for the valet parking and handing it over. Beau hadn’t even realized that was where they had been walking to. Then the car is there and he tips the valet without thinking about it, mind now racing, thinking about the bag he packed. The room he booked. None of it feels right. Looking at Maverick sitting in the passenger seat of his Jaguar is fine though. That does feel right. Neither of them speak as Beau turns into traffic and he’s not sure where he’s meant to be heading. Doesn’t want the night to end, even if the whole hotel room had started to feel fast and… not what he’s looking for.

                He pulls into an empty parking lot near an abandoned building and shuts of the engine, turns to look at Maverick and finds the other man watching him with an inscrutable expression and he worries for a brief moment that he doesn’t want to be there, and then reminds himself that Maverick got on his knees in a fucking conference room. He definitely wants him so it is reciprocal at least. That’s reassuring.

                “What do you want Maverick?”

                “Honestly?”

                “Of course honestly…” Beau scoffs.

                “Well then… anything and everything.”

                “That’s not an answer.”

                “Yes it is. Beau… this is… it’s a first date. Just because I might want to take you to bed doesn’t mean you have to let me. I’m not going anywhere. Unless you… uh…”

                He glances across and for the first time in his experience Maverick looks… uncertain. Beau realizes with surprise that it’s him that Maverick may feel uncertain about and he shakes his head minutely.

                “You’re an idiot,” Beau mutters under his breath.

                “A lot of people do think that…” Maverick muses. “Take me home with you if you want. Drop me home. We don’t have to do anything tonight…”

                Beau glares at him, jaw tense. He doesn’t need Maverick to treat him with kid gloves and he re-starts the car, decision made.

                Home it is.

…            …            …

                If Maverick is surprised, he doesn’t show it at all. Simply links his fingers with Beau’s and lets himself be led inside and the swarm of nervous butterflies are paired with an equally large swarm of butterflies anticipating what comes next.

                “Uh… sorry about the… mess…” he says, and it’s not really that messy, but it still isn’t quite as tidy as he’d have it if he were expecting guests. Especially one he’d like to impress.

                “I’m not here to review your house keeping Beau…”

                It’s not the first time Maverick has called him Beau, he thinks he’s called him babe or Beau in equal measure and Beau is used to hard fingers, bruising strength pushing and pulling, making him fight and use equal strength to push and pull back. He’s not used to this soft gentleness, it catches him off-guard, puts him on the back foot. Maverick’s eyes are dark, watching him carefully and his skin prickles at the intensity, not used to such close observation.

                Not like this.

                “Would you like a drink?” Beau offers, at a loss of what else to say. What else to do. He’s never been on a date before. Maverick is shaking his head, stepping close, his hand reaching to cup his cheek and he licks his lips nervously. He feels like he’s floundering, societal niceties failing him when he needs them most. Not that he thinks Maverick cares one iota, but still.

                The kiss starts off soft, gentle, too nice and he grunts, presses against Maverick with clear intent. He wants him, isn’t going to deny himself that. He’s not delicate. However, Maverick doesn’t press or push back, doesn’t seem in any hurry to move things along and fuck, he’s going to be just as annoying in bed as everywhere else. He’s slipping Beau’s jacket off his shoulder’s, draping it carefully over the back of a chair and at least that’s forward momentum.

                As he watches, Maverick undoes the buttons of his shirt, his eyes on Beau’s face and it feels intense and intimate and he suppresses a full-body shiver. Maverick’s body is sturdy looking and well-muscled. He’d feel more self-conscious if he wasn’t well aware that he’s fit for his age. Knows he can keep up with Maverick even if his skin isn’t the same golden hue from time spent outdoors. Then Maverick is back in his space, fingers on his shirt buttons and Beau feels like an idiot, because he could have been doing this himself and he starts stripping his clothes off efficiently.

                “Beau… babe…” Maverick says, voice quiet and his hands rest over Beau’s where he’d been working at undoing his belt. “It’s a long-distant event, not a sprint. We have plenty of time… Show me your bedroom?”

                He works his pants open as he walks toward his bedroom, mainly to give his fingers something to do. His mind is racing, this is his bedroom, and Maverick, and everything is new here. Then he feels Maverick’s hands on his again, the bare skin of his chest brushing against his back, fingers brushing across skin and he turns, needs to not over-think every little thing.

                Then they’re kissing again, Beau hums, this feels better, lets his own hands run over Maverick’s chest, and there is very fine hair scratching under his fingertips. Then the back of his legs hit the bed and he hadn’t even realized he’d been getting moved. He lowers himself and then kicks the blankets down and off the end, making a mess but he doesn’t care. They won’t need them to stay warm right now.

                Maverick is just standing there watching and he lets his head thump back into the pillow behind him and he brings his arm up so he can hide his face in the crook of his own elbow, not used to any of this but also knowing Maverick likely has a plan. Sure enough he feels the bed dip, hands tugging his pants and underwear down and he’s so glad he doesn’t need to make eye contact right now, just give into the variety of different feelings all clamoring for the top of the pile. Arousal is fortunately winning over embarrassment.

                “You know… there’s a reason I have the reputation I do…” Maverick says, alternating kisses on his legs as he moves up Beau’s body.

                “Yeah?” Beau croaks, swallows roughly to try and generate some moisture in his mouth as Maverick moves up, letting his body press against Beau’s, lips and tongue leaving a trail of damp skin that feels cooler in the air of the bedroom before it evaporates from the heat of his skin.

                “I am very thorough in my learning,” Maverick says, and he can feel Maverick’s breath ghosting over the hypersensitive skin of his cock.

                “Oh God…”

                “I mean, I can be a quick study. But repetition bears its own fruits…”

                Then he’s wrapping his mouth around the head of Beau’s cock and sucking. Beau feels lit up from the inside, the feel of Maverick’s mouth around him, hands on his skin making every nerve feel like it’s been shocked into wakefulness after laying dormant for years.

                Then it falls into a more familiar rhythm between their bodies, Maverick scrambling through drawers until Beau gives him directions to the newly purchased supplies. Supplies he’d only opened that morning to put some condoms in his toiletry bag. Which is still in the back of his car, but the rest of the box is now scattered across his bedroom in Maverick’s haste to pull one out.  

                He lets his hands roam, knead flesh between his fingers and captures Maverick’s mouth with his own, teeth clacking and his lips feel swollen from the simple novel activity of kissing. There’s the slick slide of lubed fingers and he can’t help tensing at the first press against his hole; Maverick’s mouth around his cock is both distracting and arousing and he’s soon pressing into it, urging more more more. Their skin is covered in a fine sheen of sweat, making it slick between them. Bodies shifting to make it easier, silent conversations held with their eyes and hands.

                His breath is punched out of him with a low groan as Maverick presses in, and he’s glad he dances and stretches as much as he does, this isn’t that different from hours of dancing. Still, as good as dancing is it doesn’t make him feel quite like this. Exposed and vulnerable. Hard and aching, wanting and needing more but unsure how to ask for it. The rhythm is steady, so steady, he could dance to it, his body reacting without even thinking, pulling Maverick into him and drawing away and a small little hysterical part of him is determined to teach Maverick to dance. If he can do this he can definitely figure out how to dance.

                Time loses meaning, seconds and minutes measured in kisses and words murmured against his skin; the feel of lips and tongue seeking out sensitive spots on his body until he’s arching into them. Throughout it all Maverick just fucking into him, not fast, not racing to get it over and done with. Not like he wants it over and done with; instead he seems to be enjoying every thrust in and out, in no rush.

                Then, a small shift, almost unnoticeable except Beau can sense the very slight change in the rhythm of their bodies, of Maverick’s body. He’s picked up ever so slightly, his fingers holding Beau close and Maverick shudders as he comes, his entire body feels like a comforting blanket and it feels good, although he’s still hard and aching, the need for release more and more pressing.

                Maverick is shifting, pulling out and he pulls a face, then he’s being encouraged onto his back and then he’s almost jack-knifing off the bed, Maverick’s hand, hot and slick closing around him along with his mouth and he lets out a little hiccupping groan at the sudden sensation.

                “Maverick…”

                “Mmm. I got you babe…”

                His hips flex as he chases the sensation of harder and faster, and he already knew Maverick could read silent cues, his hand moving just an increment harder and faster, exactly what Beau is chasing and he knows he’s biting his lip hard, because Maverick’s mouth is suddenly there, licking over his lips, seeking entrance and he gasps, wants nothing more than to be kissing him. His orgasm washes through him and leaves his limbs feeling shaky, like he hasn’t just used up all the energy in his body.

…            …            …

                When he wakes the next morning Maverick is still fast asleep and something in him unclenches. He’s not been left alone in the middle of the night. He hadn’t thought that Maverick would sneak out, but it had still lingered as a possibility in the back of his mind, a worst-case scenario. The bed is a complete mess, none of the sheet tucked in, other than around their bodies right now. Maverick looks… like a lot less trouble when he’s sleeping. He huffs in amusement at his own thought, like he’d ever be stupid enough to ever underestimate Maverick again, even while he’s sleeping.

                “Morning…”

                “Morning,” Beau returns, returning the smile Maverick is giving him.

                “Come here…”

                He’s not done this before. Well. Not like this. Not when he’s cared for the person, or thinks he has the potential to care for them. Knows that it isn’t a one off. Is already a repeat. He kisses down the length of Maverick’s body, keeping his eyes on the rise and fall of his chest, sees it start to speed up and feels a little thrill of increased arousal that he is the cause of it.

                Maverick seems content to just lie there and let Beau have his way. There is no fighting for dominance and he lets his fingers run over bare skin, feels the fine hairs on Maverick’s upper thighs, his skin coming up in soft goose-pimples but going smooth again under his finger tips and lips.

                “This okay?”

                “God yes… please…”

                Oh.

                Yeah. He could definitely get used to that. Maverick begging him, his body rocking back against Beau’s. He’s done something like this before, but it had been rougher, harder, a battle. This is… different. A willing surrender to him as he works Maverick open. The feeling of the delicate bones of both of Maverick’s wrists under his palms where he holds them pinned against the mattress as he thrusts into him, feels Maverick push back onto him with a groan which Beau matches. Maverick comes quickly, his entire body shuddering in a way that Beau recognizes from the previous night and he already likes that he’s becoming familiar with Maverick in that way. He lets his own orgasm crash through him, wonders how often he’d have to do this before he got bored. He can’t imagine it ever happening.

                He goes and gets a face cloth and wipes Maverick clean, notes with a fond smile that he already seems to be falling back to sleep, although his eyes are slitted and watching him, like he’ll drag himself to wakefulness if Beau just asks.

                “Go back to sleep Maverick…”

                “Mmm…”

                And just like that Maverick closes his eyes and drifts off to sleep and Beau just stares at him in surprise.

                “Now he listens to me…” Beau whispers with amusement, lets himself reach very carefully to brush Maverick’s hair from his forehead. There is definitely a benefit to Maverick falling asleep. He can go and have a little freak out in private.

…            …            …

                He goes and showers, lets the water beat down on his face and back, gets dressed. Leaves a pile of clothes and towel for Maverick because he’s considerate and he doesn’t particularly imagine Maverick wants to get dressed back into a suit. He’s not sure what is meant to happen next. It's a dance he doesn't know the steps to and it makes his heart race with panic. He wants to know the steps, wants to just glide effortlessly into it, except...

                He doesn't know the fucking steps.

                So, he just goes about his normal morning routine, skipping the workout because his body already feels like he’s done more than enough. He puts on coffee and cuts up some fruit to have with cereal, wonders if he should be making Maverick breakfast in bed. He likes the idea of doing it, of spoiling him, just to see him make that small little smile he makes when he’s quietly happy with something. Beau likes that smile.

                He’s finished breakfast, is settled on the sofa with a book when he hears the slap of bare feet on the tile and before he can get up Maverick is pressing a kiss to his cheek and humming happily. He’s not wearing anything other than a pair of Beau’s underwear and he can’t bring himself to say anything. Then he’s reaching for Beau's coffee mug and taking a drink. It feels... Easy. Domestic and comfortable and he wonders what it is exactly he was freaking out about earlier.

                “Morning. Your coffee needs sugar.”

                “Morning. That’s my coffee. I’ll make you your own.”

                “Mmm. Yes please…”

                He sucks in a sharp inhale. Fuck. He can’t develop a response to Maverick saying please, that would be… He quickly sets about making Maverick his own cup, can’t let him realize how much of an effect he already has on Beau in such a short period of time. Fortunately, Maverick doesn’t notice, or rather notices but decides to not say anything. He offers breakfast which Maverick declines, says he’s good with coffee for the moment. It makes him frown, and clearly the frown has Maverick grinning in a way he’s come to recognize over the last few weeks and the last little dregs of apprehension drain away, because he suspects he’s always going to know where he stands with Maverick. His blood pressure might never be the same, but he’s willing to take that risk. Trust in Maverick. Kazansky is still right.

                “What are you thinking...?”

                “Uh. Just... That this feels. Nice.”

                He doesn't want to say easy. Feels like that would give Maverick the wrong idea. Or he'd take it as a challenge.

                “Good. Wouldn't want it to feel wrong or...” He shrugs then and Beau wonders what he's feeling. Realizes that he’s not nearly as transparent or open with how he’s feeling as Maverick is.

                “Just thinking it was a very successful first date and I want a lot more of them.”

                “First dates?” Maverick asks, and Beau rolls his eyes, gives Maverick his most unimpressed look and knows it has completely zero effect on him when he just grins at Beau happily.

                “No idiot, just dates with you.”

                “Good thing that’s what I want with you.”

                “Yeah. A good thing.”