#also I need to pick out a dinner to make next week--and also maybe we'll watch the show we missed yesterday

[throughpatchesofviolet]

I'll have these moments where I am calm, collected, and feel like I can, in fact, complete all of the tasks I've set out for myself, and then I'll get home and completely lose all that motivation.

[pyrrhiccomedy]

This is my cat.

His name is Eddie Potato.

Eddie Potato came home with us from the animal shelter in January (so about 9 months ago, now). He was around five years old, and had been living on the street before he was picked up by the cops and brought to the state run shelter (my boy was arrested for loitering). When we met him, he was sick, mite-infested, and covered in matted fur, scratches, and bites: but he was also very sweet, and very friendly, and he was already fixed, so we knew he must have once had a home with some loving humans.

[Eddie at his first vet appointment, trying to hide behind a paper towel.]

We'll never know what Eddie's first family was like, of course: but within a couple of weeks of adopting him, we were able to make a few guesses. He was happy to be pet, and calm about being picked up: but the only way he had to let us know that he'd like us to stop petting him was to swat our hands away, claws out. He'd then watch us, very closely, a little tense; like he was either expecting to be scolded for scratching, or expecting us to try to touch him again.

This told us that he had an affectionate family, but maybe not one that respected his boundaries. Maybe it was a family with kids, or maybe just a loving but pushy owner.

He's a medium-to-long haired cat, so he needs a bit of grooming to stay hygienic around his, let's say, pants area. I bought some quality clippers and a pet grooming electric razor. The clippers he was completely calm about: he let me trim the mats out of his fur very calmly, even the ones behind his ears.

The razor terrified him. I mean, he knew what it was on sight. He was sitting next to me on the couch when I took it out of the box, and the moment he saw it, his ears went back; he crouched low and fearful; and then jumped down and ran out of the room.

Okay; so his first family groomed him, or took him to a groomer, that was obvious: and it was probably a 'hold him down and get it over with' kind of experience, given how frightened he was.

He was very sweet, and very gentle - except when he wanted you to stop petting him. This was a cat who expected kindness, who believed that the humans around him were his friends: but he'd learned that his friends wouldn't listen to him when he told them to stop unless he drew a little bit of blood.

We just thought: wow, this cat is a really good communicator. He is being, like, so clear.

Eddie Potato is a very stupid boy - uncommonly stupid, even for a cat - so we prepared ourselves for it to take a while for him to learn that things had changed. We paid very close attention to him while we were petting him for the signs leading up to that swat, and we got better and better at stopping before the swat ever came.

I let him get used to the razor very slowly: for the first week, I just set it next to his food bowl at dinner time, about a foot away, so he could see it while he was at his happiest. For the next week, I'd pick up the razor, and move it around while he ate. The week after that, I turned it on for a few seconds, so he could start to get used to the noise. The week after that, it went on for most of his meal time, and I moved it around his body while I pet him: so he could start to associate the razor sound with nice touching.

Then I groomed him. And he was - fine. A little bit antsy, but fine. Happily munching away at his dinner while I neatened up his pantaloons. I usually only had about a minute before he made it clear that he wanted it to stop, but that was okay: I just groomed him for a minute or so for two or three days in a row, until the job was done.

After four months, Eddie Potato wasn't scared of the razor at all anymore.

And it broke my heart a little bit, because his first family had clearly loved him. And Eddie is a cat who needs to be groomed! And it had obviously always been a scary and stressful experience for him. But it didn't have to be! He just needed patience! Surely, if the people he had lived with before had known that he could learn to not be afraid in just a few months, they would have tried.

Teaching him that he didn't need to swat didn't take much longer. It was so clear that this was not a cat who wanted to hurt us. Once we got the hang of stopping before he got tired or stressed out by petting, the swatting went away completely.

What was so sweet was what he learned to do instead: when he was done with being pet, he started placing his big paws on my hand, and gently but firmly pushing it away.

"Oh, okay!" I'd say. "We're done!" and take my hand away. And he'd watch me, for two or three seconds: and then he'd start to purr like crazy, and push under my hand again.

He wanted to be pet. He just wanted to know that he could make it stop if he wanted to!

It's been months now since the last time Eddie swiped at either of us. Sometimes, he likes to play his little push-away game for ten or twenty minutes at a time! He rolls onto his back for a belly rub, and I do for a few minutes; then he pushes my hand away, and watches to make sure I listened; then he rolls onto his back again for more belly rubs. The whole time purring, purring, purring. Eddie loves his belly rubs, and he loves being listened to just as much.

I'm just so proud of him! He's had such a hard and scary year: losing his family, living on the street, ending up in a kill shelter, going to a strange new home with strange new people. And he still extended his friendship and trust to us, and let us show him that he doesn't need to be scared anymore, of razors or hands or thunderstorms or the sound of traffic. He's so dumb and so small and he's had so much happen to him, and now he gets exactly as much petting as he likes, and he isn't afraid to get his pantaloons trimmed.

Like. That's my little guy. I get to make sure he'll be okay from now on.

[bloodyknucklesforme]

Room for More | Soap x Nina

I was randomly inspired so have a really sweet/sorta sad fic

CW: pregnancy, talk about miscarriages

"Can I bum one?" Johnny asked, walking up to Gaz. They'd gotten back to base a couple hours prior. He'd drive back home tomorrow morning.

"Thought you quit?" Gaz still handed him a cigarette and his lighter.

"I did. Don't tell Nina?" Johnny asked, ashamed. Gaz drew an x over his heart. "She wants to keep trying for a baby. I do too but she's had two miscarriages now."

"Nothing you can do to prevent them?" Kyle was the only person he felt like he could talk to about this.

"No," he shook his head. "Decade and a half of malnutrition and no medical care will do that. I don't want to tell her no because she really wants it. I really want it. Maybe I talked it up too much. Wanting a big family."

"There are other options."

"I know. I'm not against it. She said after the first one that she wanted to give me something. I told her that I don't want anything from her. I don't need it. She's insistent."

"She is," Gaz nodded. "She's always been tough. You only have a couple months left before you're out."

"I think we'll hold off trying again till then. If she has another miscarriage I want to be there for her. I wasn't there for the first one and the second one was awful for us." He took a long drag to distract him from the memory. "Felt like it was my fault."

Gaz clapped his back and pulled him into a side hug.

"I don't think it's anyone's fault," He said. "Not either of yours at least."

Nina had decided to keep it a secret, even from herself. She forced herself to forget what the test had said. She told herself it was easier. She would be less upset when it didn't work out and if she didn't lose it would be a pleasant surprise.

She'd done a good job of forgetting.

Johnny was due back later tonight. His missions were taking longer. He'd been gone for over two months. She'd started her usual rituals of cleaning the house and making him shortbread biscuits. He'd pick up dinner on the way. They'd spend the next couple of days decompressing. The weather was getting warmer. She wanted to have a picnic outside.

She'd gotten everything done and took a shower to freshen up. She caught herself in the floor length mirror as she shrugged on her cardigan. Her stomach had a small bump to it. Almost unnoticeable to anyone except her. She stopped and cupped her hands around the bump.

"Hi, there." She spoke softly to her stomach. She'd never gotten this far. She walked up to the mirror and sat cross legged on the floor in front of it. "I'm...I'm sorry I've been ignoring you these past couple weeks. Truth is I'm afraid of you."

"Not really of you but I'm afraid you'll leave. I won't be upset with you if you do. I know it's not the best place to be. I'd like it if you stayed. I won't ignore you anymore. You can keep me company while your dad is away." She felt a little foolish talking to them. And..and if you make it all the way I promise to take care of you. You won't be cold or hungry. Your dad will love you. I'll keep you safe. He'll keep you safe."

"I don't know if you can hear me. You're probably not bigger than an apple or something. I always thought it was weird comparing you to fruit. It just seems so small. You're so small yet you're bigger than your siblings. They couldn't stay very long. I wanted them to. Like I said, I won't be mad at you if you can't. I know it's not your fault. If you can though, it'd be nice."

"Your dad doesn't know yet. He'll be home soon though. You can meet him. He's quite handsome even with his dumb haircut." She laughed. "He's also kind and he's an artist. If you wanted he'd probably paint a mural in your room. Another reason for you to stay. I hope you like the names we've talked about. Elsie Poppy for a girl. Poppy was my mum's name and I'd like to grow a row of them in the box outside your window. You'll have a whole garden to run around in and I'll plant whatever you want."

"I feel like I should stop talking to you. I think if you leave I won't try again. Your dad drew me a flower for the last two times. They're hanging up in the hallway and I think that more than three would look weird..." She wiped her cheek. "This time it'll be a poppy. Would you like that? I didn't get to ask last time. I don't want to guilt you into staying. I know it's not up to you. I love you. I hope you know that. I'll always love you. Your dad loves you even if he doesn't know about you yet. If you can't stay for me, try to stay for him. He's been through a lot. He'd really like to meet you. He has a nephew and I just know he'd be the best dad to you. He wouldn't yell at you or make you feel unwanted or small. He'd teach you how to play football and draw. He would.."

The floor creaked behind her. Nina spun around. Johnny was standing in the doorway. They had matching tears. She reached out her hand and beconed him closer.

"How long have you been here?" She asked, as they wiped each other's tears.

"I like the name Poppy," He smiled, pressing his forehead against hers. She took his hand and laid it across her stomach. He looked down and grinned. "I'm sorry I don't smell better. I'm your dad. I'd also like you stay. You're strong like your mum."

He pulled Nina into his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist, rubbing a hand over her stomach. His chin sat on her shoulder.

"She makes great biscuits and soups. She'll love taking you to the beach. She might not share her plushes but she'll make sure you have so many of your own." Nina laughed. "She might be English but no one's perfect. Except maybe you but that's because you'll be Scottish."

"She'll read to ya every night. And she'll write the most gorgeous poems about ya even if she won't let anyone read em. You'll have a cousin, a grandma, an aunt on my side. On yer mum's side you'll have Grandpa Price."

"He'll hate you for saying that."

"It's true though. Now let me finish." He kissed her cheek. "Uncle Kyle and Uncle Simon. Then there will be your Teehos."

"You're saying that wrong."

"How do you say it then?"

"There's no H. Tío."

"Since when did you speak Spanish?"

"I've been practicing. Rudy and I facetime every other week so I can practice. He says I'm very good."

"Your tío's Alejandro and Rudy. There will be so many people who love you." He rubbed one of Nina's arms. "Can't say it'll be more than us though. So if you can stay we'd love to have ya."

He moved his hand off her stomach to cup her face to turn her towards him.

"Whatever happens, I love you. If you don't want to try again that's okay with me. We can try other things but even if none of that works. I'll be happy just living my life with just you."

"I love you. I'd be happy too." She turned to hug him, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"You been to the doctor yet?" He asked, rubbing his hands up and down her back.

"I've been afraid," she admitted.

"We'll make an appointment tomorrow, yeah?" He kissed her forehead. "How far along do you think you are?"

"Maybe three months," she shrugged. "I wasn't keeping track like I should have."

They had to wait a week but they got the appointment. Everything looked well. Nina was starting on pre natal vitamins among other supplements. They made another appointment in another two weeks for the first ultrasound.

"What if something's wrong?" Nina squeezed his hand as they waited for the tech.

"We'll figure it out. I'm right here. It'll be okay," he kissed the back of her hand, his leg was bouncing up and down despite his attempts to hide his own fears. He held her hand tightly as the tech performed the exam.

"Everything looks good. Fetal development looks well. That's the heartbeat and oh.." He thought Nina might break his hand until the tech turned grinning. She turned the screen around for them to look at. "Listen to that."

"There's two heartbeats. Why would there be two?"Nina looked at Johnny.

"Twins..."

"Congratulations." She pointed towards the screen. "That's baby one and here's baby two. Fraternal twins."

Nina laughed as tears ran down her face.

"Twins? Really? Johnny... we're going to have twins?" He leaned down and kissed her.

"You made a compelling case. They must have been listening."

"Would you like me to print out photos.''

"Yes please!" The last time he saw her so happy was their wedding day just a year prior. She couldn't stop looking at the photos on the drive back.

"Can't believe I got ya pregnant twice," He laughed.

"Oh you owe me for this. Twins are much harder."

"I'm the one who has build two nurseries now. Do you think we get two baby boxes now?"

"I would hope so. We can't fit them in one." She laughed.

"We'll have to tell my mum soon."

"Price too." She looked at the photos again and laughed.

"What is it?"

"I'm really happy. Like really fucking happy."

Johnny reached across the console and squeezed her knee. All the memories from the past couple years with her played over in his head. All the hard times, the hospital stays, the sleepless nights, the panic attacks, the depressive episodes. All he ever wanted was for her to be happy.

"I love you, Nina. I'm happy too."

AN: Forgive any errors in regards to the ultrasound, I've never been pregnant lol.

tag list: @macravishedbymactavish

[bucky-h0e]

A/N: We getting spoiled this week! I'm working out the schedule, but just for this week I've got a few extra posts to make up for my absence - hopefully you enjoy them all!

Anyway, here's a short, late-ish Valentines' Day special.

Warnings: Fluff, Bucky and Alpine's father-daughter dates, Sam and Bucky embarrassing Alpine like good father's should

Serendipity Masterlist

Bucky and Alpine (+Sam) celebrate Valentines Day

There are many ways this day could go and have gone

The only constant throughout the years are that Alpine always gets Bucky and Sam flowers

and Bucky and Sam always get Alpine flowers

it started off as a competition, Bucky got Alpine flowers one year and Sam went out and bought a bigger bouquet

the next year, Sam bought a bouquet bigger than the one from the previous year, Bucky bought her two

so she basically gets given an entire flower shop but eventually she told them to knock it off

i mean, do you know how hard it is to look after and set up 30+ bouquets?

it's fucking difficult and she wasn't even getting paid to do it

now, if they all have significant others (unlikely because Bucky only has three contacts in his phone and one of those is his therapist) then they spend most of the day with them

Bucky and Alpine will always try to go out for food during the day

just a little father-daughter date

nothing major

Bucky denies it

Alpine has heart eyes and keeps telling everyone that the Winter Soldier is her dad

absolutely uses it to her advantage to get free cake

and to scare away dates

the most likely scenario though is that Bucky doesn't have a date, Sam does and Alpine's situation varies from moment to moment

if she doesn't have a date then she's all

"Bucky's all the Valentines I need"

"Unless Thor comes around cause goddamn"

"i'd stretch for Steven Strange too."

"or literally any Wakandan."

"Especially that M'Baku guy."

"Thanks Al."

if she does have a date

"I can cancel, i don't even know this man. I can just tell him to fuck off."

"I don't need some guy that I met randomly at work"

"At my bar job no less"

"Seriously Bucky, he ain't no M'Baku so-"

"Kid, shut up, go on your date."

"don't interrupt me you living fossil"

"fucking, rude grumpy ass"

once it's decided that yes, she will be going on her date

she drags him over to her place so he can keep her company whilst she get's ready

she'll aggressively sing songs at him

which bucky is very used to at this point

maybe force him into a little dancey-dance

which he'll say he hates but very much enjoys it

spins her at some point and dips her

she'll also cook him dinner, because if he's gunna be alone then she'll be damned if its not with a hot meal

Bucky won't admit it, but he loves when she cooks because it reminds him of coming home to a family and a food on the table made by someone who loves him

also it means he doesn't have to cook

when she's ready, she's normally a ball of confidence (apart from the time she dated a young history professor - she was a wreck)

so he doesn't need to give her a pep talk or anything

which is good because he doesn't exactly know how to tell a girl he hopes she gets laid?

bit of weird thing to say to his young neighbour who he views as a daughter

when her date comes to pick her up, he's standing right behind her glaring at the guy

sizing him up, committing his face to memory just in case

"okay, we'll be off now, lock my door for me would you Buck"

she'll lean up (thats a lie, she practically drags him so he lowers himself to her height) and kiss his cheek goodnight before taking her dates arm and smiling

as he's locking her door with his spare key (they'd given each other spare keys in cases of emergency but lets be honest Alpine uses them whenever she wants) he'll over hear a bit of their conversation which normally revolved around him

"It that-"

"No"

"It is!"

"It's not."

"You know the Winter Soldier?!"

"He's not the Winter Soldier."

That conversation normally tells him that the date isn't going to go well

he knew she hated when a date would focus on that aspect of him

like for fucks sake man is actually a living time machine

and alpine knows a lot about him

ask better questions

whilst she's on her date, he'll sit at home and watch movie recommendations from her and Sam

he'll read

listen to music

drink beer that will definitely not get him drunk

when Alpine comes back, he'll send her a text to make sure she's safe

he used to check on her by opening the door but she once caught her and an ex boyfriend in a rather

awkward

position to say the least

they couldn't look at each other for a week after that and bucky had very quickly learnt his lesson

if the dates gone well then he won't get a response until later that night

if it goes okay then it normally means there will be a second date before anything happens between the pair

if the night is bad, then Bucky had received the text first and had gone out to pick her up from wherever the date was

we love a protective dad

on the nights that don't end with Alpine in her place getting lucky (which is most years up until she meets the before mentioned professor - i've got a fucking plan for these two i swear)

they sit together on Bucky's couch, drinking beer and teasing each other

Alpine is normally still dressed up at this point

"Bucky rub my feet"

"fuck no"

"oh c'mon you're supposed to be a 40s gentleman"

"and you're supposed to be a lady, put the dogs away"

"i fucking sWEAR TO GOD I GOT NICE FEET BARNES"

"jar."

her unhinged and outlandish outbursts had led to Bucky getting a 'swear jar' of sorts

she'd have to put a dollar in for every one

"Fucking... jar you in a minute

"Nice threat Al"

"Grandpa, I swear to god"

"Which one"

now sometimes Sam will join them if he doesn't have a date but come on

you can't tell me that Sam Wilson

Captain America

doesn't have a Valentines' date

he isn't a social recluse like a certain Steve Rogers

Now, Bucky and Sam are very protective fathers

nobody can tell me otherwise

you also can't tell me that they wouldn't be the biggest fucking teases in the world

every valentines day, without fail, Alpine gets a video message from Sam

It's of him and Bucky, giving her "advice"

"This Valentine's Day here's a couple of things from a couple of guys"

Bucky looks physically pained the first few times she'd been sent it

"Rule number one, always make sure to give a gift instead of receive one, thats makes you a good person."

Sam is very obviously loving this, every single year

"rule number two, be yourself always and forever with anyone and everyone"

"that's very nice. Always, Always remember rule number one"

"but always keep in mind rule number two"

"number two has heart too"

"at the end of the day it takes two to make things right"

it was an ongoing joke that alpine was ready to end

especially when they sent it to the professor boyfriend on their first valentines day together

"I am.... so sorry"

"It's okay, love, it'd endearing"

"it's embarrassing"

"they care about you"

"i'm going to end them"

"one thing before you do, how did they get my number?"

poor baby forgot who he was dating for a hot second there

little does he know he's going to be cockblocked most valentines' by James Barnes

this poor man just wants to swoop Alpine off her feet and treat her like a queen

Bucky's sat there like a little gremlin with a beer and a smug little grin

he ain't ready to be an actual grandpa just yet

especially if the kid takes after Alpine

50/50 is just too much of a risk at that point

has 100% convinced Sam to crash one of their dates before now

Sam agrees but has a moment of clarity in the middle of it

"You ever think that we hang around this kid too much?"

Bucky's sat there with sunglasses looking through a newspaper with eye holes cut out

"No."

they're in one of the fanciest restaurants in New York and Bucky looks like a cartoon villain

"What happened to you man?"

"Parenthood."

he's joking, partially

he loves Alpine and the professor is the only boyfriend of hers he's like for her

but

Until the day comes where Alpine meets that man, Bucky is her main Valentine's bitch

and he makes sure of it

he really, really hates all of Alpine's ex-boyfriends

[thotsforvillainrights]

Hello hello! First of all, congrats on the pregnancy! I've missed your writing, and I'm glad to see you back again!

Could you write a lil something about Overhaul with an S/O that brings home a stray kitten and somehow manages to keep it a secret from him for a few weeks, until he comes home one day to his S/O and the kitten just vibing in the living room.

I feel like Kai would be pissed, but would definitely turn into a cat dad. Would constantly say that he hates the cat, then fall asleep with it on the couch. He would never openly admit to liking the cat. Even though it's painfully obvious how much he loves it.

I've been thinking about this scenario a lot and it makes me giggle every time. 👉🏻👈🏻

(Thank you! I appreciate the congrats from you and everyone else as well! Also, of course I wouldn't mind writing about my main squeeze! I'm come back to my senses and revived that 4 year long obsession with him lol)

~Picking Up Strays~

headcanon|scenario|imagine|match-up

You never intended for this to happen and God knows Kai would never allow it in the first place. Yet, the cat distribution system is universal and who were you to try and deny that? Especially not when the small thing was limping and likely starving also. "When was the last time the poor thing ate do you think?" Your father and law stood at the bathroom doorway and watched you bathe it in the sink. "Probably days...maybe even over a week. There's no telling." You replied with a small frown. You made quick work of the fleas plaguing the kitten while also making sure to be careful of the small scabs here and there on it's body. "I'll take it to the vet tomorrow and get it's back leg checked. I should probably also open up one of the Tuna cans in the kitchen so we can fill it's belly. I don't have time to go tonight and pick up cat food since 'you know who' is likely on his way back right now." Pops smirked at your words. "You intend to try to keep the thing even knowing how Chisaki can be?"

"Where else would I take it?" You laugh quietly before grabbing a towel and carefully drying the baby off. "Besides, I don't feel comfortable dropping him off at a shelter. It's so small.. What if he doesn't make it? I don't want that to be the last place he sees before passing." Pops nods and reaches out to take the towel wrapped kitten from you. "Then we'll hide it in my room. It's far enough away that the boy won't hear the small meows and the walls are much thicker there too. Very much unlike this room and the things I hear in the dead of night." Pops teases with a wink and you groan. "Whatever, please just hurry?" He nods and leaves with the creature just in time before Chisaki enters the bedroom. He squints his eyes in speculation as he watches you desperately clean all the leftover dirt and fur from the bathroom sink before he can come get a closer look. "What are you doing, angel?" You huff in relief as the last bit of mess is flushed away down the drain. "What? Cleaning the sink. I spit my toothpaste in the wrong spot and it stuck to the sides. I decided to give it a quick deep clean since it's been a minute anyway. I've never known you to complain about me cleaning before." You smirk at him and he sighs, removing his ornate beaked mask. "I'm not complaining. It's usually you that complains when it's your turn. It's peculiar to see you doing this at 10 p.m." He approaches you and hugs you from behind. "Hurry up and get out. I need a shower."

For the next few weeks, with the help of Pops, you've managed to keep small fry (the kitten) hidden from Chisaki successfully. Between the two of you working diligently over the kitty, he's managed to heal up perfectly and now was a rambunctious little thing! He was on a dinner schedule too since the both of you noticed he tended to eat more than his little tummy could handle.

Pops retrieved him from his bedroom after letting the little one use the litterbox hidden there, while you were preparing his lunch. Pops placed him on the living room couch and went to the back to water his garden. As soon as you emerged from the kitchen with a small food bowl, Chisaki had come back way sooner that estimated from the underground base. If the complete silence and the thick tenseness shrouding the room didn't make you shudder, then it had to be his glare and the hives forming on his face that did. "I can explain..." His eyes dart quickly to you and his glare deepens. "What is this disgusting, disease ridden creature doing in here?" He asks coldly. "Kai please?" Was all you could muster out to stop him from overhauling the poor thing. He scoffs and rolls his glove back onto his hand. "I want it gone within the next 5 minutes or I'll get rid of it myself." He threatens before stomping off to the bedroom. You sigh and pick up the kitten, trailing behind him.

"Y/N, I'm not playing whatever sick game this is with you right now. I'm serious. Get that thing out of here right now." He's angry but you're not called the Overhaul tamer for no reason. "I can see you're upset and I know I've crossed a boundary or two by bringing him into the house without permission-"

"Oh so you're not braindead like I previously assumed then?"

"Ouch, okay that's a little rude. Listen Kai...I usually do my best to respect your wishes but you know I'm still my own person. Sometimes there are things I can't really back down on. When I found small fry he was limping, dirty and starving in a rainy back alleyway behind a store."

"All the correct circumstances for you to NOT want to bring it home."

"Anyway...I felt really bad for him. He would've died in at alleyway if I didn't save him. I took him to the vet again recently and he's pretty much better but has a small respiratory infection he's still fighting off. So once he gets over that then we can get rid of him like you want. I'll take him to a shelter and find him a home. Please can he stay until then at least. Please???" As badly as he wanted to say 'no', you just had to bring out those damned teary eyes he hated so much. His very own weakness. Chisaki sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, but just until the damn thing is better. After that, I want that nasty thing out of the house."

Despite his cruel words, it wasn't hard to see the unusual miracle of Chisaki slowly accepting the kitten into your lives. He's go through his daily hateful rants about it but slowly you noticed him at least using the cat's name instead of just calling him a 'disgusting creature'. Slowly it turned into him getting up and beating you to feeding the cat breakfast. "I was up already first. There was no point in letting him whine until you got up to feed him. It's been done already." Kai was bringing home little items here and there for the kitten as well. "What? I passed this stupid toy up while grocery shopping and read that it helps with development. Would you rather him play with toys or scratch the couch up from bordem?" He grumbled before giving small fry the toys. Kai would fall asleep with the kitten in his lap on the couch and then complain that he didn't know it crawled into his lap when he was passed out. He'd even brought fry a collar one day claiming he needed it since he was so small and the bell would help make sure he wouldn't get stepped on. You knew fry had him wrapped around his little paw when Chisaki picked him up and carried him BY HAND to the bedroom. "What are you looking at? It's been two weeks and he needs a bath. I'm warming up the water in the sink and I don't want him in the way."

It's been a month and small fry has long since gotten over his infection. Chisaki has refused to take him to the pound. "What's the point? He's already here now. Might as well stay."

[austinsgirl]

Rather Die | Chapter 20

rating: Pg-13

warnings: pregnancy talk

masterlist

————————————————————

It is currently Christmas Eve.

Victoria's mom, Evelyn & her stepdad, Peter, both came into Los Angeles to visit and to meet Austin's family as well. Victoria's parents are staying with her & Austin while they are in town.

Currently, both families are together at their place, including Ashton, Mila, & Juliet.

"Wait, how far along are you?" Evelyn asks Victoria as she glazes the ham in the kitchen. Victoria is currently mixing together the potato salad.

"About 5 months. I'm due around Easter." she looks to her mom with a smile.

"Ok, that's what I thought. Just a few more months to go."

"Yeah, I'm excited. About halfway there or so."

"When did you move in with Austin? Not long ago, right?"

"Yeah, I moved in last month like a week before Thanksgiving. I ended up moving in sooner than we planned."

"Why is that?"

"It was just easier, since I was going to be starting the good pregnancy milestones & more doctors visits. Austin doesn't want to miss anything, and I don't want him to either. Also, wanted to get moved in before I was too pregnant and couldn't do anything."

"That makes sense. I'm glad you two have figured things out. I know how rough it was between the two of you at the start."

"I'm glad too."

"And I see he's moved on?"

"Mhm. I think any day now he'll ask her to be his girlfriend."

"I still can't believe what you said to her." Evelyn chuckles.

"Mooomm, please. I know. But it's fine. I apologized, we're good with each other."

"Good. The last thing you need is to be stressing over a new girl he's with."

"Don't worry, I'm not."

Victoria looks over to the living room and sees Austin & Juliet cuddling on the couch, being all cute. She feels lowkey disgusted on the inside, but Ashton comes up behind her & takes her away from those thoughts.

"Hey, baby." Ashton says, wrapping his arms around Vic, placing a kiss on her cheek.

"Hi, honey." she smiles. "I wish you didn't have to leave after dinner."

"I know, me too babe. It's just a lot easier on my family if I go to them rather than them coming here. But my parents want to come out soon to meet you."

"They do?"

"Mhm. We're thinking next month sometime."

"That would be great, Ash." she smiles.

"Is dinner almost ready?"

"Yeah, actually. Hey, Aus?" Vic gets Austin's attention, looking over to him.

"Yeah?" Austin replies.

"Can you get the table set, please?"

"Yeah. Wanna help me set the table?" he asks Juliet.

"Sure." Juliet smiles.

Mila walks into the kitchen, "Hey, is there anything you need help with?"

"Uh, yeah. You can start putting the sides on the table. Mom is finishing up the glaze before she cuts the ham, & Ashley is finishing up the desserts."

"Alright, sounds good." Mila smiles. "Is that a new necklace?" she asks Vic, noticing a sparkly diamond around her neck.

"Yeah, it is." Vic smiles. "Ashton got it for me. We already exchanged gifts."

"It's so pretty, I love it."

"Thank you. I love it too."

Austin overhears their conversation & rolls his eyes. "A diamond necklace?" he thinks to himself. "It's nice, but c'mon. Don't be so basic. At least I got Julie my birthstone so it's more meaningful."

By the time the table was set, dinner was ready. Ham, kielbasa, potato salad, green bean casserole, pierogis, veggies. A whole feast to say the least.

Ashley asks Victoria as they eat, "Any plans for a baby shower? I'd love to help!"

"Oh my gosh um, I haven't even thought about it. I guess we'll have to start planning it." she responds.

"Do you have a theme picked out yet for the nursery?" Victoria's mom asks.

"We're just doing a pretty floral theme with shades of pinks."

"Oh, that'll be so nice! Maybe you can do the shower the same theme."

"That's a good idea." Mila chimes in. "My mom's friend is a florist that could probably help us out."

"Perfect. One step of planning done." Vic says.

"We still have to pick out a name." Austin says.

"You haven't picked out a name yet?" Ashley asks.

"Nope. Have we even talked about it?" Austin asks Victoria.

"To be honest, I don't know. We might have early on."

"We'll have to discuss it later." Austin smiles.

After dinner

"Hey, don't worry about cleaning up. I got it." Juliet says to Vic smiling, as she was gathering up plates.

"Are you sure? You're a guest, I don't want you to feel the need." Victoria responds.

"Yeah, it's fine! Austin & I can handle it, right Aus?"

"Yeah, we got it. You did a lot today, Vic. Go rest." Austin says.

"Alright, alright. Ash? You got time?" Vic smirks a little.

"Yeah, a little bit." Ashton responds.

Victoria & Ashton head off to her bedroom to have a little alone time before he heads off.

As Austin & Juliet clean up, they talk amongst themselves.

"You're still coming over to my parents' house tomorrow, right?" Juliet asks.

"Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Just checking. I know you get shy, and I didn't want you to back out because you're too nervous to meet them."

"I mean, I am nervous, but I'll be fine. They want us there at 4, right?"

"Yeah, 4 or earlier."

"Alright, maybe we can head over there early. Get more settled in before dinner."

"Sounds good, Aus." Juliet smiles.

Not too long after....

"I can't believe you're leaving me." Vic pouts as she's saying goodbye to Ashton.

"I know, baby. I'll be back before you know it. I'll call you when I land, okay?"

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you too."

Ashton and Vic share one last kiss before he heads off to the airport.

"I'll see you soon, love." Ashton says

"See you soon." Vic shyly smiles.

Around 1AM, Victoria finds herself watching the 24hr marathon of "A Christmas Story" while shoving Christmas cookies in her mouth, being hungry and not able to sleep.

She hears footsteps coming down the hall, "Austin?" she calls out, but not too loudly.

"It's Santa Claus." Austin says sarcastically, walking into the kitchen. "What are you doing up?" he asks, looking over at her in the living room.

"Baby girl was hangry for cookies & wasn't letting me sleep. Why are you up?"

"I don't know, honestly. Just not tired enough to sleep. Came out here for a snack, sometimes that helps." Austin responds grabbing some milk & cookies for himself. "What are you watching?"

"The 24hr marathon of "A Christmas Story". Peter left the cable on from the football game earlier, so I just put this on."

"It is a classic. I didn't know TBS still did the 24hr marathon." Austin sits on the couch next to her.

"I guess so. Did you grow up watching it?"

"When we had cable, yeah. Or if I was at my grandparents for Christmas. We weren't always able to afford cable."

"Makes sense. New Zealand didn't have TBS, but I think one channel did show "Home Alone" all day or showed all 3, all day long. My brother would keep it on until my mom got tired of it." Vic chuckles.

"That's cool. We mainly watched VHS or DVDs for movies. I think my sister kept them all after my mom passed, or she donated them."

"Is that one of your favorite memories with your mom around the holidays?"

"Yeah, yeah it is. Also making these cookies with her." He holds up a cookie that looks like a candy cane. "She had taught Ashley & I how to make them. Well, not so much the dough, but how to dye the dough and roll it out to make different shapes."

"Did Ashley make these ones? I don't remember seeing you make them."

"Yeah, she did. They're my favorite because they remind me of my mom."

"That's really sweet, Aus." Vic smiles. "They are really good. I'm gonna need this recipe. I'd like to pass down things like that to baby girl."

"Me too. And speaking of baby girl..."

"What?"

"We should probably think of a name."

"We should. Any ideas?"

"Nope."

"Me neither. Let me pull up a baby name list."

"Well actually..."

"Yeah?"

"If it's okay with you, I'd love for her to have my mom's name as her middle name. Whether it's Lori or Lorraine, whichever sounds better."

"Of course we can do that, Aus. As long as our next born has David for his middle name after my dad. IF it were to happen." Vic jokes.

"Deal." Austin chuckles.

"Okay, names that will go with Lori or Lorraine. The number one name on this list is Olivia, which is so pretty but doesn't really sound right."

"Also, people would probably think we named her after my Elvis co-star."

"True. Emma?"

"Eh. Too popular I think."

"Charlotte? Amelia? I like Amelia."

"I do too. Let me start a list. Charlotte is okay."

"Ava wouldn't sound right, Sophia is too close to Sophia Loren, that actress."

"What's next?"

"Isabella. Reminds me of Twilight."

"Her name was Bella though."

"Close enough, Aus."

"What else is there?"

"There's Mia, which we'd probably call her for short of we named her Amelia."

"Mia is short for Amelia?"

"Yeah. Mia's name in "The Princess Diaries" was Amelia, but went by Mia."

"Okay, well I'll put Amelia/Mia on the list. What else?"

"Evelyn, Harper, Luna, Camila, Gianna, Elizabeth. None of these are sticking out to me."

"Let me see." Austin puts her hand out for his phone and starts looking at the list.

"Ella? Scarlett? Aria?" Austin asks.

"Maybe Aria."

"Hazel?"

"No, too "Fault In Our Stars". Maybe when I was fifteen."

"Madison?"

"I have a cousin named Madison."

"Ellie?"

"That's kinda cute."

"Violet?"

"Violet? That's pretty. Violet Lori? No. Violet Lorraine? Hmm.."

"Violet Lorraine. I like that. It flows nice."

"Yeah, it does."

Austin keeps scrolling to see if there's anything else on the list of names.

"Ew. Hell no." he says.

"What?"

"Eliana is on the list."

"Ew. Fuck that bitch."

"I'm really liking Violet."

"Me too. It just seems right."

"Did we just choose name?"

"I think we did." Victoria smiles big.

Austin repositions himself to be near Victoria's belly.

"Hi Violet, Merry Christmas from your daddy." he says, getting teary eyed. "I love you so much, my beautiful girl." Austin places a kiss on her belly.

Victoria tears up as well.

"Hey, Merry Christmas to you too, Vic." Austin smiles at her as he sits back up.

"Merry Christmas to you, Aus."

"Don't tell Juliet this, but I like it better when you call me Aus."

"You do?"

"Yeah. I mean, you started it. It was your thing first, you know?"

"Yeah, I get that. But don't worry, I won't tell her."

"And you do know I'll always love you, right?"

"You will?"

"Mhm. You're the mother of my child, of course I'll always love you in some way. I'll always care about you. I hope you know that."

"I feel the same way about you, Aus."

Vic looks into Austin's blue eyes. She notices his eyes leave hers to look at her lips as they sit close.

Austin leans in for a kiss, Vic doesn't stop him right away, letting him deepen the kiss as he puts his hand on her face. She eventually realizes what's happening & pulls away.

"What are we doing?" she asks him.

"I-I don't know. I got caught up in the moment." Austin responds, blushing, looking down.

"We won't speak of this. This never happened. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. We should go to bed. Big day tomorrow." Vic says getting up & turning off the TV.

"Agreed. Goodnight." Austin says.

"Goodnight, Austin."

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

[pickinglilahs]

Blackeclipse for the soul

Part 24; Part 25; Part 26 Hey...I know I've been away but here's a new chapter. Also, I wrote a 18+ one-shot that may or may not fit perfectly between this chapter and the last... Also, this chapter is, like...a week or so after the last one so you don't have to remember what happened

"Hey, Starshine? Have you seen James?"

Regulus looked up from his book with a frown. "Not since this morning." A beat. Then, "Should we be worried?"

Remus worried his lip as he sat in his chair in their hidden alcove, holding his school bag to his chest like a lifeline. "Maybe? He was okay yesterday, right?"

Regulus shrugged. "I didn't notice anything wrong, but I don't know him as well as you do."

Remus looked up at him. He knew that was a bit of a sore spot; Regulus often felt behind because of how in tune James and Remus were. It was inevitable, given their prior relationships, but Remus and James both hated it, all the same.

Remus tried to shake the worry for James off. After all, "It's too soon to tell. He slept last night so he could just be off with Siri or something. Sorry for bothering you with this. It's probably nothing."

Regulus set his book down deliberately and came over to kneel at Remus' feet, taking both his hands and holding his gaze. "Moonbeam," he admonished, "Don't ever apologize for worrying. If something feels wrong, I want you to tell me,” he tilts his head, and adds as an afterthought, “Or James. Instincts are our subconscious trying to warn us of things our conscious mind hasn't picked up on yet. And you, Moonbeam, have incredible instincts."

Remus forced himself to relax, closing his eyes and letting out a long breath. "He said he would meet us here after class. It's not like him to forget or bail."

Regulus nodded, stroking the backs of Remus' hands with his thumbs. "Do you want to go look for him?"

The older boy hesitated but eventually shook his head, "No. If he is with Siri, we won't be able to find them anyway. And if he isn't... He's probably in bed. He usually just wants to be alone when he's depressed."

Frowning, "Is it okay to leave him alone?"

"For a while," Remus sighed. "He doesn't think he deserves love and comfort when he's like this and he reacts badly if you try to force it on him too soon."

"Badly how?"

Shrugging, "Sometimes he disappears; takes the map, and hides so we can't find him. Sometimes he yells. Usually, though, he forces himself to act okay. Tries to prove that he doesn't need help. That's why it's so hard to tell when he's depressed sometimes; he's good at hiding it."

"I guess we'll just have to watch him close, then." Regulus squeezed Remus' hands. He leaned up to kiss the other boy's Marked cheek before standing slowly and going back to his own chair.

Remus sighed and pulled out his homework, trying to focus.

~~~

James had not been with Sirius.

Sirius himself said as much when Remus and Regulus sat down across from him later that evening. And while James did join them for dinner, Regulus noted that he didn't actually eat anything.

Remus and Regulus shared a look that James didn't see; Regulus decided to stay up in the tower that night.

After dinner, the trio stopped at the Slytherin dorms and made their way up to bed. They tried to put James between them, but he hauled Regulus over to put him in the middle. They didn't protest.

When they woke up to find James absent the next morning, there was no denying it. Something was up.

"So... What do we do?"

Remus ran a hand over his face, letting out a long sigh. "Same as before? Make sure he's taking his potions and keep an eye on him. Not really much to do."

Regulus could only make out his outline with the early morning light illuminating the closed curtains. "It frustrates you. That you can't just hug his pain away. Take away the ache like we do for you."

Remus turned his face towards him. It hadn't been a question—more an... observation—but it was true, nonetheless. After a moment, Remus snorted and placed his hand back over his face.

"And you complain that you don't know us well enough."

Regulus 'harrumphed' and rolled to crawl on top of Remus. He took the other boy's hands from his face and glared down at him. "It's not about knowing you. Anyone with decent enough observation skills can know a person. It's that... I mean- You two have known each other for years and I..."

Remus brought a hand up to tuck a wayward curl behind Regulus' ear, fingers lingering to stroke over his cheekbone. "And you feel behind. James and I have had time to learn to work together and you haven't."

Regulus' glare slid into a pout, bottom lip sticking out in the most adorable way. Remus bit his own lip to suppress a smile, but Regulus noticed and pouted even harder.

Chuckling, Remus leaned up to nip at his lip. Regulus jerked in surprise, letting out an indignant sound. He tried to pull away, but Remus rolled with him, pinning the younger boy to press kisses all over his face.

Just then, James pulled back the bed curtains. Remus and Regulus froze, squinting into the sudden sunlight. James took one look at them and grinned mischievously. "Are we smothering Regulus?"

"No!"

"Yes!"

James' smile grew as he launched himself onto the bed. He flopped down just beside them and started peppering Regulus' face with kisses himself.

Laughing and tickling and kissing, the boys wrestled across the bed.

"OI! At least close the curtains!"

Remus nearly fell off as they all startled to attention. Luckily, his two quidditch-playing boys had cat-like reflexes—literally in Regulus' case—and caught him just in time. Hauling him into the safety of their arms, James and Regulus looked up to find Benji standing in the bathroom doorway with his arms crossed.

"Sorry," Regulus and Remus chorused, while James grumbled about 'not doing anything.'

Benji and Peter shared an amused look, but the trio were too busy scrambling from the bed to get ready for class to notice.

Remus and Regulus were also focused on James. They discreetly watched his face and body language as they got ready and headed down to breakfast. When James filled his plate and dug in, they shrugged at each other.

Maybe it was just a one-off.

Only time would tell.

@starchasersunseeker @poetrypirate @niad4827 @bradley-95147-blog @shyshadows430

[someoneinjersey]

ok that game tonight was awesome, i thought for sure we'd lose but we won spectacularly. it looked like JH didn't get as much ice time, maybe to go easy on his old injury ooooorrrr maybe for the chirp the other night. still gets me. but what a win, it was so important, we need to keep winning to have a shot at the playoffs. i really don't think we'll make it this year but man i'm still rooting for my boys anyway. also, yanno, fuck the flyers, as always.

i managed to shower, do some laundry, some dishes, and make TWO batches of soup today -- butternut squash and then broccoli cheddar which we ate for dinner in bread bowls. i was like wow now we'll have soup for days! and then i remembered ill eat soup for every meal and snack until its gone because soup is the perfect food. So itll probably be gone by tuesday at the latest. i gotta get back to eating better so i might go to walmart and use some of whats left of my monthly "healthy food" stipend i get with my insurance to grab some salad stuff again. gotta hard boil some eggs too, maybe grab some chick peas and maybe a couple other vegetables to roast. get that fiber up, clog that toilet more.

bizzy will be 7 months old next week and shes almost full grown cat sized. still small but now shes looking more and more like a cat rather than a kitten. shes also now spending time alone as opposed to needing to be with one of us 24/7 which has us both like MY BABYYYYYY. larry's changing a bit too, like requesting more affection at least from me. so there are times i'm lounging in the living room watching youtube or playing xbox and i have deano larry and bizzy all on me in different places. furniture upon furniture.

picked up my book again. i needed a long break because id read two books so quickly and intensely, kinda burnt myself out. its getting more interesting, supposedly its really sad, but i still sit here going through the pages trying to predict what's going to happen besides gayness. always gayness, god bless tj klune. up next are two sort of self help books i'm hyped about (especially "adult children of immature parents" because uuuuhhhhh YEAH)

[storiesofsvu]

Journey to the Past Ch 30

Bryan Kneef x reader warnings: language, fighting, angst, talk of miscarriage. There's gonna be one more chapter, maybe a short one/kind of an epilogue after this one, just to nicely wrap it all up. It might even come in the next 24 hours we'll see how fast I can get it done. Also while the end result was going to be the same, you can thank @thatesqcrush for the prompt in here that made it a little more angsty. LOL

A week and a half after the miscarriage Bryan finally returned to work. He wasn’t quite sure about leaving you yet, wanting to make sure you weren’t feeling too alone, but you basically ushered him out of the door on his first day back. You didn’t want to bring it up but it was starting to feel rather smothering, like he didn’t think you could take care of yourself and it was driving you mad. Having him constantly hovering and checking in was just annoying you rather than making you feel taken care of.

While you were still tired and more than emotional, you felt a sense of relief at finally having an empty apartment again, time to yourself was exactly what you needed to clear your head. You slept most of the morning after he left, letting yourself relax in the quiet for once. Showering and changing into fresh clothes you freshened up the bedroom, tossing sheets and the like into the wash before doing a deeper clean, making sure all and any dirty cups and dishes were taken out to the kitchen. In a spur of the moment decision you went through your closet, feeling like you were at a turning point, needing to clean out things from your life. A couple of bags later and you left them by the door for donation later in the week before collapsing down onto the couch with a beer, curling into the corner of the sectional and flicking on the tv.

A week later you made the decision to return to work yourself, which you knew Bryan wasn’t totally okay with, he thought you needed more time and he made that very clear. It lead to an afternoon of eye rolling, stubbornness and smart remarks before he finally surrendered and shut himself in the home office with a bottle of bourbon. The next morning thanks to it not getting resolved things blew up into a bigger fight, Bryan worried that work was just a distraction and you hadn’t moved on. You argued back that how were you supposed to move on if you were just stuck on repeat every day doing nothing trapped in the fucking apartment and that if he’d lay off it, you’d set up an appointment with one of the therapists the hospital had recommended. You left still upset with each other that morning, but Bryan was glad that you’d at least agreed to talking to someone professional, knowing just how much you were going through and you certainly weren’t talking to him about it. Then again, he didn’t really know how to bring things up, so maybe that was for the best.

Within two days if you had asked Bryan, he would say that you had thrown yourself into your work and were using it as a distraction from everything else going on. That was not helped by the fact that you weren’t home until nearly eight on your first day, and barely made it home for dinner by day two, continuing to work in the home office afterwards with a hefty glass of wine. If he had asked you, he would have been told that you arrived back to a very overflowing inbox, a couple of new prospective clients and three open cases being handled by junior associates. You had literal mountains of paperwork to go through and had to at least oversee as much as you could on the cases.

Day three had Bryan showing up at your office around five, knocking gently on the door frame as he lingered in it, a hopeful smile on his cheeks. You finished your sentence on the legal pad with a sigh before glancing up at him, your brow furrowing at the sight.

“What’re you doing here?” You asked softly and he shrugged, stepping into the room, letting the door swing shut behind him.

“Thought I might come pick you up, take you to dinner.” He offered and you let out a scoff of a laugh.

“Bry, I’ve got at least another three hours of work that needs to get done today. I mean…” you gestured to the state of your desk and he let out a sigh, it was a mess.

“I could order something here?”

“Or…” you picked up your pen again, “you could go home and I’ll see you there when I’m done.”

“Sweetheart… c’mon… you’re drowning here.”

He knew the instant he said it that it was the wrong thing to say, especially at the way your face hardened ever so briefly as you surveyed him.

“I’m not drowning… I’m playing catch up after unexpected time off and two hours of last minute personal time this afternoon because you practically demanded me go to therapy.”

“I’m glad you’re talking to someone; you know I’m just worried about you. I want to make sure you’re okay, we both know you haven’t exactly been eating much. I’m here to help, here to make sure you’re taken care of.”

“And I told you not to coddle me, remember?” You paused in your work once again, incredibly thankful the door was shut, “I’m not the baby here, okay? We lost the baby… have you processed that yet, because you haven’t said a single word about it much less expressed any emotion over it. Did you ever pause to think that maybe you’re the one that needs a bit of therapy?”

“Excuse me?” His voice hardened and you let out a huff, followed by a laugh.

“With that response I’m not going to touch on that I guess.” You paused, refocusing on the task at hand, “thank you for your concern Bryan, I’ll be home later.”

“You seriously think I need to see a shrink?”

“Christ…” you muttered, dropping your pen to massage at your temples briefly before glancing up at him and he could see the mental exhaustion, the beginning of a shimmer of tears in your eyes, “would you please just let me fucking focus on something that I understand for a couple of hours longer?”

Bryan let out a breath, trying to let everything slide off his shoulders as he did so before nodding, “I’ll see you at home.” He stepped toward you, briefly kissing the top of your head before crossing the office, his hand hitting the doorknob before you spoke.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” He muttered without glancing back, knowing if he did you’d already be buried into your work.

*

It was safe to say tensions were a bit thick in the apartment for the next few days and as time went on, things weren’t exactly getting better. Every time either of you tried to talk about what had happened, the other always had some reason to shut it down. You’d been to a couple of sessions and were beginning to actually understand it all, even going back as far as your first marriage and how things began to go wrong involving the same situations all those years ago. Bryan tried to ask you about it and you said you were fine, that you’d had enough therapy to cope.

At first he deemed that to be true. You seemed to be back to a hundred percent, your sleep schedule no longer interrupted with bouts of insomnia or silently crying when you thought he couldn’t hear you. Instead you got up right before him, snagging the earlier shower slot, making a quick breakfast before the two of you would head off for the day. Though most days you ended up taking your breakfast to go, muttering something about a heavy workload before disappearing through the door. It wasn’t that he felt like he was getting the cold shoulder, he knew what that felt like, this was something different. You were still there, silently tucked into his shoulder as you watched tv, curled in his arms as the two of you slept. But something was different, you just weren’t the same person you’d been a month ago.

*

He came home on a Thursday to find you sitting at the kitchen island, it was clear you had been halfway through a baking task before something distracted you. It only took him a moment to realize the thing that had distracted you was the little blue box that laid in front of you on the island. You barely glanced up at him when you heard the door open, his shoes on the hardwood and the lightning fast look you gave he could see the tears brimming in your eyes. An awkward silence took over the two of you as you avoided looking at each other, Bryan practically frozen in the entry way waiting to see what you were going to say. Finally your voice cracked through the silence,

“When did you buy this?”

“Where did you find that?” He asked, slowly stepping toward the island and you laughed.

“You didn’t exactly do a good job of hiding it, so I guess I’ll ask again, when did you buy this? Before or after you knew about the baby?” Your voice nearly shook and Bryan let out a shuddering breath.

“After.” He dared a glance up at you, hating the way his chest was tightening, the way his emotions were surging through his body, “but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want to marry you before, or still. All I’ve wanted with you is a future.”

“You never wanted kids.” You pointed out, taking a heavy swig of your drink as you avoided his gaze.

“I adjusted to the idea.” He stepped toward you again, a hand leaning against the island, “it took a bit but I started to realize that the whole family thing, being a dad thing? It sounded like perfection, the whole white picket fence and all. I know it’s not what I come off as, but it’s what I want with you now.”

There was an awkward moment of silence as you downed your drink before looking up at him, your eyes rimmed red, “you do remember I can’t give that to you now, right? Pretty useless if you ask me.”

Bryan felt the cold surge through him, watching the way you stood from your stool, muttering something about spending the night at Kim’s before you disappeared down the hallway. He poured out his own large glass of brandy, wincing at the sound of the apartment door nearly slamming behind you as you left. He was at the point that he simply didn’t know what to do anymore. He still loved you, or at least he thought he did and he could tell in small moments that you felt the same, but there was a wedge between you now that he was certain would never be able to be fully fixed. Your mornings together were spent quiet, rushed as you both got ready for work, days spent buried in said work, a feeble attempt from both of you to distract yourselves from reality. Once you returned home for the evening they were nights of avoidance, too much alcohol and wordlessly watching tv together, or splitting off one of you in the home office while you focused on work instead of each other.

*

Every fight was a little bit worse than the last one, an ugly taste left in your mouths for what felt like days afterwards. Little things like the toilet seat being left up, dishes in the sink for a week at a time, laundry not being moved from washer to the dryer became full fledged arguments instead of small bickering. It started to feel like you were constantly at each other’s throats at this point and to be completely honest, the amount of alcohol coursing through your veins wasn’t helping the situation, it was simply numbing both of you from facing the reality. Though you discovered it really was affecting Bryan more than you thought. You were complaining about how he insisted you be home by dinner time each day despite knowing how heavy your workload was, that if he wanted you home the least he could do was to get a desk for the extra room, make a second office. Working at the island was uncomfortable and the couch was less than practical.

That was when you found out Bryan had lied about clearing out the nursery.

Everything was still in its place, pristine and waiting for the baby that was never coming.

You felt betrayal and hurt surging through you, the one thing you’d actually asked him to do, the thing that would make it seem like it was some kind of bad dream, the thing that would help you move on the most and he not only didn’t do but lied about doing it on top of it all. It felt like your entire world was crashing down on top of you and it took everything in you to not start sobbing right then and there. Your emotion ended up rerouting to anger as you turned back to Bryan,

“Why the fuck did you not have this cleaned out?”

“I didn’t want to make a rash decision about it.” He shot back, turning from you with a huff as he marched back toward the kitchen, scooping up his tumbler of bourbon.

“It wasn’t a rash decision.” You laughed, following him through the apartment, “why bother holding onto all of that after we lost the baby?”

“Because you want kids!” He argued back, “why get rid of it all now if we’d just have to buy it all again later?”

“Oh my god Bryan!” You felt like you were about to pull your hair out, tears of frustration pooling in your eyes as your chest tightened, “when is it going to get through that thick skull of yours that it doesn’t matter how good your swimmers are, I cannot have kids!”

“I thought you’d eventually get over it and we could actually have a conversation about adoption, or surrogacy!”

“Get over it!?” Your eyes narrowed and he felt the bile creeping up from his stomach, “I’m sorry, I’m supposed to just get over a life altering traumatic experience? You were barely even there! Hell you’re barely even around now and when you are all you’re doing is fucking smothering me!”

“Well I’m sorry.” He grumbled, downing the rest of his drink before grabbing the bottle to refill it, “but the woman that I fell in love with, the one who I loved for over a decade, she sure as hell isn’t the fucking shell of a human that’s here now.”

“Low fucking blow. Even from you.” You scoffed, rolling your eyes as you turned to snag the bottle of wine you’d been drinking, dumping what was left into your glass. “Clear out the room.”

“I want a future with you.” He practically pleaded, reaching out for your arm and it physically stung when you swatted him away with a dark laugh, sipping at your wine.

“You know, you keep saying shit like that, you’ve always been concerned about me, about making sure that you’ve got me on your arm for eternity.”

“Because I do!” His voice hardened, “and you want kids, so that future means having kids in it and I”—

“Bryan stop!” Your voice cracked as you held a hand up to him, “for the love of fucking god, just stop…” you felt your resilience cracking, tears starting to blur in your eyes as you spoke. “You never wanted to be a dad in the first place. You don’t like kids, and the idea of having some money sucking parasite that’s dependent on you for at least eighteen years is your idea of hell. Stop kidding yourself. We’re never going to have a family.”

“Oh c’mon, don’t say that…”

“The only reason you’re worried about me saying that is that you’re afraid if we don’t have kids you’ll lose me and you know it.” You snapped and he felt like you’d slapped him across the face, “but what’s the fucking point anyways, we barely fucking talk anymore.”

“Maybe that’s because I don’t even know what to say to you anymore!” He felt the anger surging in his chest, mainly because you were right, “you’ve thrown yourself into your work so much you never have anything to say to me! You leave for the office, barely make it for dinner and go straight to bed. At this point you’re too damaged for anyone to love! Myself included! There’s a fucking wedge between us, nothing’s the same and at this point I’m not sure it ever will be.”

“That’s kind of the point of life Bry!” You laughed, trying to distract yourself from the fact that you wanted to burst into tears over his words, “you move forward, you move on.” No matter how hard you tried you couldn’t stop the few tears that did manage to slip over your cheeks slowly, you downed your wine and hurried down the hallway.

“Oh so you’re just done with this conversation now?” Bryan called after you, slamming back his own drink before the glass met the island with too much force. He then followed you down the hallway, his brow furrowing when he found you in the bedroom, bag out on the bed as you tossed necessities into it.

“No.” You huffed out, wiping a stray tear away as you straightened up to face him, “I’m completely done. With this.” You gestured between the two of you, “I’m done with us.” You shoved a couple more things into the bag before zipping it shut and Bryan felt his heart hammering in his chest, “you said it yourself the other day, that this felt like it was falling apart and if I’m so ‘unlovable’ then what’s the point?” You grabbed a coat from the closet, shouldering the bag, “I really thought this would be worth the risk, that maybe life had redirected us together for a fucking reason but it turns out it was just another fucking bomb to go off.”

“Oh come on.” He protested, reaching out for you but deep down he knew what was happening was what needed to happen, nothing positive had come out of the two of you attempting to force yourselves to stay together.

“No, I’m done.” You shook your head, moving past him, “I thought I could see past the man whore-ish ways, your terrible reputation and attitude, the fact that you think with your dick and not your brain. Hell, I walked in on you fucking someone else and I somehow put that behind me. You’re a walking pile of red flags Bryan. Maybe if you get your shit together you’ll find someone, but it sure as hell isn’t me.”

“You don’t have to leave right now!” He called after you, following you back out to the door, “there’s no reason for you to have to pay for a hotel, I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“I still have an apartment, remember?”

“So that’s just it?” He snapped and you rolled your eyes, another tear escaping your eye.

“I’m damaged goods. Your words, not mine.” Your hand wrapped around the doorknob and you pulled it open, “I’ll be over to get the rest of my shit when you’re at work. Goodbye Bryan.”

He didn’t have enough time to even form a thought of what he was supposed to say in the moment he had before you’d disappeared down the hallway. He felt his heart sinking into his stomach, thinking that this couldn’t be the end. Couples fought all the time, even to the point of one of them sleeping somewhere else, you’d get over this, you’d be back to talk things out eventually, even if it was just a sober repeat of clear thoughts similar to what had just happened.

He knew that wasn’t true when he got into work the next morning and there was a new representative from your firm in the board meeting. He had no doubt you would never be returning thanks to the icy glare he got from Diane, who had clearly been updated on everything that happened.

A few days later he came home to find his apartment feeling emptier, noticing everything that you’d brought into the place gone. The only thing left of you was a post it stuck to the nursery door, ‘clean it out, it’ll help’ scrawled across it in your writing. He couldn’t bring himself to cry, he wasn’t that type of guy, especially over a break up.

So he did what he did best, drowned himself in a bottle of bourbon. One after another until he felt like he could actually leave the apartment for something other than work. Naturally finding himself around the corner at Press Room. It didn’t take long for him to fall back into his bad habits, a conquest was never hard for him to find, even if he knew it wouldn’t fill the void currently in his life.

You were right on the nose with basically everything you’d said. He didn’t want kids, even if they were with you, he’d selfishly only wanted you, if that meant he was stuck with kids, so be it. He’d been in that relationship for all the wrong reasons and when he thought about it, he knew it. So he did his best to not think about it. He was surprised, but it certainly helped that the last time he saw you was as you walked away from his apartment that night.

___________

@detective-giggles @plaidbooks @thatesqcrush @witches-unruly-heartt @beccabarba @bisexual-dreamer02 @amelia-song-pond @madamsnape921 @whimsicallymad @mrsrafaelbarba @mysticfalls01 @ssaic-jareau @caracalwithchips @barbasbodaciousbeard @alwaysachorusgirl @beardedbarba @michael-rooker @rafivadafreddy @lustvolle-liebe @anlin2058 @fandom-princess-forevermore @tinyboxxtink @alexusonfire @xovalliegirlxo @somethingimaginative17 @momlifebehard @misscharlielulu @alcabots

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

Wifey comes home today and the dogs don't know it so they officially hit peak wretched baby behavior yesterday and have slumped into depressed baby behavior today. I do have work today but it's my short day so I'm thinking after I'm done with work and before I head to the airport with doggos to pick up wifey, I'll wash dishes and dogs.

That way wifey doesn't feel like the house is exactly as she left it you know? I definitely know it's not in worse shape I was very careful to always clean up my presence, but I want her to not have to clean up things that were here a week ago when she left either cuz that sucks and just because I was busy and had a hard time getting around to them shouldn't make them her problem. Most things like that aren't a big deal, or are things we specifically planned for (e.g. she emptied the litterbox right before she left and it's self cleaning so it only needs to be done once a week) but the dishes were a fluke that snuck by us in the last couple days before she left and then I literally never once had the spoons to get to them (heh) while Wifey was gone. Which I expected! I kinda figured that I would either do them all on Friday or maybe if I was very lucky do 1 round a dayon the others. So at least I'm on schedule lol.

Anyway, I did also clean the tub this week, and pick up the laundry in the bathroom, so I figure I might also do a quick wipe down in bathroom (sink, toilet, tub, sweep floors, take out trask) since it usually only takes 15 minutes and would make the whole room look really nice at this point. That plus shiny dishes and dogs is bound to make wifey happy coming home.

Anyway, my morning plans are as follows:

throw chili in the crock pot for dinner tonight

maintenance clean of bathroom

first round of dishes

take out the bedroom and bathroom trashes

refill pet water fountains

Extra Credit: unpack the monthly grocery grocery delivery and confirm their allergen listings

So far I'm over 100% on my tasks today and feeling great about it!

In the next hour I've got some work tasks to do, a little documentation stuff to prep for the day basically, and then it's off the the races for my short day with clients, my one on one, and then me getting the dogs ready for the evening!

Managed to finish all of my work prep stuff even the thing I was sure I wouldn't manage! So yay to that! We're still at "all essential AND all extra credit tasks completed" for each phase of my day so far, though obviously I'm not gonna elaborate on the work stuff for privacy reasons.

Feeling good about the day, feeling good about my ability to get shit down now that I've been back on my meds for a week, feeling pretty good overall! I do think I might be headed for a no show today but I'm fine with that because it'll just give me an extra 45 min for dishes and one less note to write before I switch over to household tasks this afternoon.

I am contemplating doing an extra credit task of throwing on new sheets and remaking the bed fresh and clean for wifey since Jaxxine crunched her yams all over this one all week on top of chewing on the fitted sheet like a pacifier to calm herself lol. But we'll see how that goes.

I've managed to get both blankets into the wash, and the quilt is already in the dryer, so I figure I'm definitely remaking the bed now. I'm most of the way through the tough jobs and then all that's left is the easy or fun ones. I do have to leave in about 3 hours tho, so I'm definitely running low on time. Gotta prioritize a bit and wittle down my remaining tasks. Dinner's all set but for some rice if we decide to make it. I may just empty the dish rack and not worry about washing a 3rd load unless I finish everything else in time. Jaxx definitely needs a bath next, then the tub a wipe down, the pets fed, and me a shower. At that point we're likely to be ok the edge of time so I'm thinking remake the bed and then kitty fun den and then prep the dogs for our trip.

After work plans are as follows:

2-3 more rounds of dishes 1 more round of dishes

bathe the lassie (START WITH THE LAD)

Feed the dogs dinner

bathe self

wipe down tub

build kitty fun den with dinner and treats

pick up wifey from her trip

Extra Credit: wash the blankets dry the blankets

Extra Credit: remake the bed with fresh sheets and blankets

[nancypullen]

What Was I Thinking?

I ended my last post by saying that I'd be back the next day. What was I thinking? I knew the grandgirl and her staff would be arriving for the weekend and I never touch the blog when they're here. So here I am, two days late. Oops. As always, Little Miss brought magic with her. Here she is (I'm not allowed to show her face) under what she calls the "Trading Tree". It's a big Crape Myrtle surrounded by flowers and shrubs, and it's where she keeps her fairy village.

She tidies up the village and always leaves a present for the fairies. Sometimes it's a flower, sometimes it's a shiny penny, whatever strikes her fancy. In the morning she can't wait to see what the fairies left for her in trade. Amazingly enough, it's always something she likes...little owls, glittery things. She also loves having a cutting garden and filled a vase for our table and made a bouquet to take to her teacher.

So it was all mermaids, fairies, and one very benevolent princess ruling over it all. Kindergarten starts in two weeks and I fear that we'll see less and less of the magic as the school year progresses. It happens. <sniffle>

Back to reality, and Sunday started quietly. This is what I see when I come downstairs in the morning. Leaf shadows through the windows of the front door, dancing on the wall of the entryway. I love it.

A soft start to the day and it seems seems determined to finish that way as well. I went on a housework strike today, I just didn't want to look at a mop or broom or sponge or toilet or dish. I'm hardly cooking. Yesterday's dinner was grilled chicken and we have leftovers, so I'm tossing it on top of salad. Easy peasey.

Earlier today I took an inventory of what clay I had on hand and after lunch we made a run into Easton for a quick pick up of additional colors. I need to spend the next month cranking out cards and earrings. I hope there are enough true crime podcasts to keep me company while I do it. I also need to get the vanity in the Halloween bathroom painted. I want to do it before the flooring goes in on Friday. That way if I dribble anything it's not cause for panic. I always use drop cloths, plastic, tape, and all of that - but it'll still be less to worry about if I just get it done tomorrow. That's the plan. In exciting (to me) news, I found two more prints that would lend themselves very nicely to being spooked up.

This one is at the auction and is sitting at $2. I'd turn it all to autumn, make the cottage witchy, turn the fence gray, and probably put a witch on that bench - maybe she's reading, or maybe she's carving a pumpkin.

I don't care for the frame, but I could always paint it.

I REALLY like this one, but it's on Facebook Marketplace for $10. I don't want to spend $10. I'd have a ball with this one. Imagine that turned into a bustling witch village! Curling glittery smoke coming out of each chimney, autumn colors everywhere, witches strolling about town, maybe even signs on each building - a wand store, apothecary, magic brooms, that sort of thing. Plus, the frame is better.

I may talk myself right into spending ten bucks. Darn it. It really would be fun. I finished the first print, or at least I think it's finished. I added a mouse, tried to tidy up some wonky spots, but didn't do much else. I can always add to it if a brilliant idea strikes. I roughed up that mauve mat and then painted it and added a bit of sparkle. I think I'll paint a little bit of glue on that mat and add cobwebs.

It's not great but the trial run of anything usually isn't. I can improve it. It's already cat approved.

That's my day so far being lazy and being crafty. The timer just dinged to let me know my earrings need to come out of the oven, so I'm off to sand them down and then give them a little gloss. Perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon, don't you think? I hope you're doing something that relaxes you. Get lost in a book, try a new recipe, go for a walk, whatever brings your blood pressure down. Who knows what the week ahead holds, might as well stockpile some zen right now. Better than entering the week all stressed out. Sending all kinds of love and good vibes out, hope they find you. Stay safe, stay well. XOXO, Nancy

[simplefelicity]

september 2024 bookkeeping - the first half

i've moved abroad! i'll be here for a few months and my finances are in absolute shambles so i've decided to make this a bi-weekly occasion. or maybe even weekly, we'll see.

what i spent

in total i've spent: 292.34€. for two weeks not that bad, about 150€ a week is an ok budget i think now that i live alone and am trying to organize my life. i would still like to bring it down to 100€ so let's see where i can improve.

food: 61.38€ (eating out) + 45.62€

here eating out is relatively cheap (it comes to about 5€ per meal) and groceries are expensive, as you can see.

i ate out 11 times in two weeks (+ 3 cafes). mostly because we were out and about visiting places and had to eat there but there were a couple of times that i could have avoided, like going to cafes/bubble tea. it happened 3 times, so for maybe a total of 10€ but i've discovered that i don't even like bubble tea here so i should just not go there anymore.

i've spent a lot on groceries in one go but it should last me a long enough time (lots of prepackaged meals).

object purchases: 171.53€

all of this stuff was unavoidable (even if it doesn't feel like it seeing it totaled up). there were 2 souvenirs, which i could have avoided but like... i'm here. i will get a couple of souvenirs i also refrained from buying a third one, so i'm at least proud of that.

in any case, these are all one time purchases and i won't need to worry about getting these objects for a long time.

i could have gotten some of this stuff tax free but i had forgotten my passport. so next time i should remember to bring my passport.

actually, one thing i do regret is that i tried to take my id photo at a photoboot because it was less expensive, but they rejected it and i'll have to go to a professional studio next week anyway. yikes.

experiences: 45.92€

i paid for a traditional craft class, a ticket to a monument and a one day tour that will happen in october. so far, no regrets.

what i earned

my last salary for a while. it was a bit higher than expected so i'm happy about that :)

what i decluttered

not much to declutter in a new house. but i have been taking a lot of pictures so i'm at 9.835, +255. i need to take the time to sort through them and delete delete delete.

next week plans:

i have booked the professional photo id, which will come to about 20€ (ugh). i'm also going to a baseball game but i'm still not sure how much that will cost. and we have planned a one day trip for tomorrow. and i'm going out in one hour and will probably have lunch and dinner out (but it should be street food so less expensive so maybe 8€?).

i will also need to charge my transportation card, which is going to be a monthly expense (42€ but i will get a discount later on).

what i want to do is 1. not get any bubble tea but rather get some water if i'm feeling too warm. 2, pick the least expensive option at the cafeteria i need to go to when i'm on campus. 3, not go out just for the sake of going out even if we are visiting places i've already been to. i should stay at home and eat my groceries.

hopefully i'll be able to stay in the 100€ per week budget!

oh wait, i wanted to start working out again so probably not :( but i love my sport so it will be worth it!

[peanutpinet]

Figure It Out - Lee Jeno (college bad boy) x Reader

A/N: this is another Jeno fic because if you can't tell, there has been a bit too much Jamal (Jaehyun's Indonesian name) and I'm trying to not make this blog a Jamal blog XD also, my friend is a Jeno stan so this is also for her :)

Sentence idea: 71) “No one can ever know about us, okay? If anyone finds out they’ll try and hurt you.” - will be altered a bit :D

Warnings: a bit of angst (?), fluff, Jeno using his inner strength, maybe some threatening (?) - if you can't tell, I just write whatever is in my brain XD

Honestly, you had no idea how you got in this mess. One day you were just hanging out with your friends and by the end of the week, you were confronted by so many people at once.

At the beginning of the week, you were just studying in the library, waiting for Jeno to finish with his practice. Once Jeno texted you that he was done, you decided to head to your usual spot where you would meet Jeno go have lunch or dinner together.

Because you arrived first, you decided to just sit down and scroll through your phone until you saw the campus' Instagram Story and saw Jeno laughing with some of his team members and the popular girls on campus. Sighing to yourself, you decided to exit the social media only to find Jeno's close friend group, Haechan, Jaemin, Renjun, Yangyang and Shotaro along with some of your friends coming towards you.

"You alright babe?" your friend asked

"I'm good, don't worry about me" you lied, putting a fake smile

"Pretty sure she saw the campus' story. I mean, I heard whoever handles their social media is a big fan of Jeno" Haechan bluntly mentioned as Renjun smacked him

"It's fine guys, really. It's not a big deal. I've gotten used to it" you replied as your friends took their seats next to you

"You should really talk to him, let him know how you feel. It's unfair for you to always put up with this. Like honestly, I dunno why he won't make your relationship public" your friend advised

"How about we get a mini revenge on him? Have some guys go up to you and be all over you?" Haechan suggested, earning a glare from everyone

"Treat others the way you want to be treated Haechan" you replied, giggling as you all heard a crowd which Jeno was with

"You're too nice (Y/N). Sometimes he needs to be smacked. Like I don't really get what's on his mind sometimes" Haechan sighed as Renjun smacked him again

"What Haechan is trying to say is, let us know if anything else happens alright? We'll see you back at the apartment" Jaemin advised, giving your shoulder a light squeeze as you nodded, smiling at him

"Thanks Na. I really appreciate it. All of you. See y'all later!!" you smiled, grabbing your things as Jeno called for you

Saying goodbye to everyone, you went up to Jeno who immediately kissed your head, putting his arm over your shoulder as you both walked out of the campus and headed for dinner.

During dinner, Jeno told you about what happened at practice, some of his teammates got pranked during practice, how he managed to score from the center of the field. Sometimes during these talks, you would laugh with Jeno or reply to some of his stories with your own but this time, you decided to just stay quiet and listen, wondering what it'd be like to be able to see Jeno at practice and to actually get to spend more time together rather than just keep it all hidden.

"Hey, you alright (Y/N)? Did something happen? Did Haechan say something?" Jeno asked, worried

"Hmm?! Oh no, it's just, swamped with assignments, that's all" you replied, going back to eating your dinner

"Are you sure? You seemed spaced out when I came to pick you up. Do you want to talk about what's on your mind?" Jeno asked while you shook your head

"Okay. But please talk to me if anything is bothering you, alright?" Jeno mentioned, grabbing both your hands in his while you just nod

On your way back to your shared apartment with the others, you and Jeno decided to step by a mini-mart to get some snacks and drinks since the other guys wanted to have a movie night. While the both of you were getting the things, some of Jeno's teammates came and Jeno told you to stay where you are for a moment whilst he goes greet his mates. You decided to just go up to the cashier and paid but as you were doing so, Jeno eyeballed you, to make sure that you were alright and all.

Right when Jeno's mates left, Jeno immediately went to your side, apologised for leaving you alone, grabbing the groceries with one side of his hand while the other one was put around your shoulder, pulling you closer to his body as you both when back to your shared apartment.

After that night, Jeno thought that you might need some time on your own because of stress. Even so, Jeno would still show his affections here and there by leaving some sticky notes on your books, on your laptop, making Jaemin and Haechan hand you some snacks or even leave some snacks in the kitchen with his notes; making you a bit guilty to stay quiet for several days.

Because that Friday there was a game night, you asked Jaemin/Haechan if they think it's alright for you to go and watch which Haechan of course agreed on while Jaemin said that he thinks it'd be best if you'd ask Jeno first since he wasn't sure if the other guys would be able to come since they had other things to do. But regardless, in the end, you and your best friend decided to just go to the game cause you really wanted to surprise Jeno.

It was the game night and you and your friend went right next to Haechan and Jaemin who were already at the bleachers. Seeing you and your best friend coming, Haechan shoved Jaemin a bit to make room for the both of you.

"Yo!! (Y/N)!! Glad that you could make it!!" Haechan shouted since the crowd was so loud

"I'm just glad that the both of you are here" you replied, smiling

"Did you ask Jeno?" Jaemin asked as you shook your head

"No. I'm planning to surprise him" you mentioned as Haechan hyped you up whilst Jaemin looked at you a certain way which you brushed up, thinking that he was just worried that you might get lost or something

Throughout the game, your eyes never left Jeno's figure. Every time he shot a goal (which is the majority of the game), you could feel the adrenaline rush coming and unconsciously shout. It wasn't until the final second of the game and Jeno making the final shot, winning the game that you basically got up from your seat and cheered him, actually catching his attention.

The second Jeno hear a familiar scream (despite the loud crowd), he whipped his head, meeting your eyes that were filled with happiness and cheerfulness. But unfortunately, for Jeno, his mind was blinded by confusement and anger as he looked right into Haechan and Jaemin who were next to you; as if he was questioning them as to why you were there with neither of them telling him.

Not caring about having to go back to his team after the crowd started to disperse, Jeno stomped his way to where you and the others were. Once he was finally in front of you, he held your wrist a bit tightly, trying to pull you away from the crowd.

"Jen-jeno...wh-where are you taking. Jeno, it hurts" you pleaded as your best friend, Jaemin and Haechan rushed

"Lee Jeno!! Stop it!!" Jaemin shouted, holding his best friend's arm that was tightening around your wrist

"You of all people know that she can't be here without saying anything. Why didn't you say anything? Cause I know for a fact that Haechan likes to not say anything. But you? I trust you" Jeno argued, his tone getting angrier with each sentence

"You're blaming me for her coming? Maybe if you didn't neglect her in the first place, she wouldn't have come here on her own. Maybe she would've asked first. But you never consider what she wants" Jaemin argues back

"Jaemin...don't..." you tried to voice out

"No (Y/N). It's not okay for you to keep following whatever Jeno says. She's a human being, Jeno. You care for her, we get, we all do. But that doesn't give you the right to track her every move, restrict her from doing the things she wants to do. She literally came here to surprise you. Did you ever consider that she wants to come and support you?!" Jaemin scolded, making you jump a bit

But before Jeno could even argue back or even comment or anything, the opposing team that Jeno's team fought came to the scene, gaining everyone's attention, especially Jeno who pulled you behind him as Haechan did the same with your friend and Jaemin standing right next to Jeno.

"Well, what do we have here, the Lee Jeno hiding a certain someone?" Jax, the opposing team, confronted with his gang

"It's none of your business. Leave. Unless you want to lose something else besides the game" Jeno warned, his hand never left yours

"Well, one wouldn't lose without putting a fight, would they?" Jax provoked back, standing right in front of Jeno

"If you know what's best for you and your gang, you better back off Jax. Some of them are newbies, aren't they?" Jaemin commented

"So what they're newbies? Are you going to call your hyungs to come and help you? You three? Against some newbies? Scared? Oh right, your little girl there doesn't know anything" Jax snickered but Jeno immediately throw a punch across his cheek, sending him to the ground with a bleeding nose

"Listen carefully, Jax. You and your little gang can try and provoke me, my friends or even our hyungs as much as you like. But the second I find out you or your gang comes near her or her friends, stalk them, touch them or even just talk to them, I'll tear you all apart limb after limb with my own bare hands and I'm going to enjoy it. Now leave before I actually do it right now" Jeno kneeled to Jax's height, threatening him and his gang as they all immediately left

After Jax and his gang left the scene, Jeno told everyone that they should all head back which you all did. But during the entirety of the car ride, not one of you dare to speak about what happened. Heck, you and your friend just sat in the back seat with Haechan whilst Jaemin was driving and Jeno at the seat beside the driver.

Arriving back at your shared apartment, you were thinking of just going into your room and let Jeno have a moment alone. But the second everyone entered the apartment, Jeno held your hand, asking you to come with him to his room because he said that he wanted to talk. Not even trying to fight, you just allowed Jeno to drag you into his room.

Once the both of you were in his room, he told you to sit on the bed softly, completely different to the Jeno that you saw at the field after the game. As you sat on his bed, Jeno closed the door to his room and grabbed a chair, sitting right in front of you, grabbing your hands in his.

"I'm sorry" was the first sentence you heard from Jeno since what happened back at the field

"I'm sorry for not telling you about why I never really want our relationship to be known. I'm sorry that I never once considered how you felt because of that. I'm sorry that you always had to force yourself to follow what I say. Jaemin was right. You're human and you have your feelings and I never even considered letting you talk from your side of the story. I, I was just scared. The reason why I don't want a lot of people to know about us is that, if they find out about you, about us, they might try and hurt you and I can't live with myself if that ever happens. I can't say much, I'm sorry. All I can tell you is that I, we, uh, Jaemin, Haechan, the others I'm close with, including our seniors like Ten, Johnny, Jaehyun, the others, we're sorta part of a gang. But I promise you that we mean no harm. We sorta do the opposite; we try to put down the actual bad ones. But that still shouldn't be an excuse, what am I even saying at this point?!" Jeno groaned

"Jeno. I'm not angry. I'm disappointed, yes. I'm hurt that you didn't tell me or warn me or anything. But I can never be angry at you. I always figure that you have your reason why you don't want to make our relationship known. I just wished you had told me sooner. We, we could've worked something out" you replied, giving Jeno's hands a light squeeze

"I swear, what did I do to have met you and for you to accept my confession one year ago? I hope that you'd be more open to me about your feelings, okay? Scold me if I'm going too far. I'm dead serious. It's unfair if you just keep following what I want all the time. Like you said, we can work something out. I mean, there's a reason to why I dated you in the first place, (Y/N). As cringey and disgusting as it sounds, I can see my future with you because of how mature you were" Jeno confessed, coming closer and kissing your temple, making you feel the butterflies you had the first time Jeno confessed to you

By the end of the night, you and Jeno just cuddled up in his bed as you finally let out all your thoughts about everything while Jeno just listened to you, giving you his own thoughts. Because no matter how much you guys would disagree, in the end, you both would always find a way to figure it out :)

A/N: I'm finally finished with my internship and actually got a freelance job as an editor/proofreader for a story :" I never imagine I would get that kind of job just by writing fanfics and even publishing my work. Yea, I'm getting emotional cause your girl is also on her period :" but for reals, thank you to everyone who has been reading, liking and even reposting my story :" it means so much to a shy grass (czennie) like me :" I hope you all have an amazing weekend and remember to stay safe and practise good hygiene!! :) xoxo Vinet

[zoyaofthegardvn]

casual affections as a zoyalina fanfic request <3

Casual Affections

A/N: Thanks so much for your request, anon! So sorry I didn't get to it for a while. I hope this is alright! :)

Turning to look towards her wife, Zoya has to fight the smile threatening to overcome her face when she spots the unmistakable look of Alina Starkov zoning out. It's adorable, really. Her eyes are fixated on the centerpiece of the long council table. Her lips are in a straight line, absent is the shy smirk she usually adorns when it's just the two of them alone. Her eyebrows are furrowed slightly, and her chest rises and falls so slowly, she's likely to fall asleep.

Zoya feels the same way, bored to near tears with these weekly council meetings. Being the Queen of Ravka is fun, yes. But, it's also quite boring. She supposes she should be thankful for the boredom, though. It means there aren't any wars to be won, any backhanded proposals to consider, any disrupted trade routes, any grand disturbances. They discuss the same things nearly every week. Taxes, court promotions, public education, First Army and Second Army training, etc. etc.

As Queen Consort, Alina is expected to attend these meetings, too. Sometimes, Zoya lets her get away with skipping them. She'll claim she's got a lesson to teach at the school, or that she's got an important meeting to attend with the kitchen staff, of all people. She'll say she isn't feeling well, or that she needs to be there for the horses when they get their hooves cleaned or else they get nervous. Eventually, Zoya just had to resort in kissing her to shut her up. She'd pinch her butt, sharp and quick. While Alina would yelp and rub at the sore spot, Zoya would run away, laughing, shouting "You're going, my love!" But still, not as often, just every once and a while, Zoya would let Alina stay in bed, or stay at the school, or stay outside, in the forest. She'd bear almost anything in Alina's place if it made her wife happy.

Zoya sighs, knowing that as cute as she looks, others will eventually notice Alina is not paying any attention to them. She moves her left hand to rest on the top of Alina's thigh, admiring the way her wedding ring catches the light as it moves. The touch snaps Alina out of her trance, and she takes a deep breath in, shaking her head a bit to clear the fog.

She turns to look at her lover, her wife, her Queen. Zoya gives her a playful shake of the head, then squeezes her thigh, digging her nails in slightly. Alina jumps, and shoots a fierce look at Zoya. She leans in slightly before whispering, "That was mean, Z!"

Zoya can hardly contain her giggles. She whispers back, "As mean as you ignoring our council, little saint?"

Alina rolls her eyes and sticks her tongue out, then turns back to face the table. They hadn't noticed the silence, everyone had stopped their chattering to observe the Ravkan Queens. From the other end of the table, Genya is shaking her head at the two of them.

Zoya clears her throat, and then she stands. "Well, my friends, I think we've not learned much more today than we did last week. Let us call an end to it, and maybe next week, we'll have things worthy of our precious time to discuss?"

At this, Alina stands quickly, her chair making a screeching sound as it gets pushed backwards. "I think what our Queen means is that, maybe we should not draw these things out unless absolutely necessary." She gives a polite, awkward laugh, trying to ease any tension. But their council is used to this by now, used to Zoya's impatience and Alina's ability to mediate any conflict.

Genya speaks next, "Yes, my Queens. Perhaps these meetings do get a bit tedious. We should work on keeping them... brief."

Zoya grasps Alina's hand in her own, rubbing her thumb along the back of her hand. "That's a wonderful idea, we'll see everyone later this evening, for dinner?" Everyone at the table nods, beginning to stand and pick up their paperwork.

Zoya gives a polite bow, then turns to leave the council room. Alina follows, their hands still intertwined. When they make it to the hallway, Alina scolds her, "You can be so bossy!"

Zoya smiles, she removes her hand from Alina's, instead choosing to wrap her arm around her beloved's waist. "Don't act like you don't like it, darling. You weren't complaining about my bossiness last night..."

Alina, never truly upset with her, throws her head back and laughs. The sound invades Zoya's heart, wrapping around it like a string, tightening her hold on her love and adoration even more than she thought possible.

"You are terrible sometimes, Zoya." She wraps her arm around Zoya too, then rests her head on her shoulder.

"I know, you're just so easy to rile up, and you know I like you riled up."

Again, that laugh fills the air. It bounces off the walls, it flutters out the open windows. It makes Zoya feel giddy and impossibly young.

"Should we retire to our room before we reconvene for supper? I think I would like to boss you around some more, you should be punished for your rudeness today, my Queen. Zoning out, it's very disrespectful, you know." Zoya doesn't even need to look at her wife to know she's likely redder than the keftas the Corporalki wear.

"Well, I suppose that would be alright..." Alina's voice has gotten deeper, quieter. It's Zoya's turn to laugh now. They continue down the long corridor, on the path that leads to their ornate bedroom. Two bodies intertwined the entire way there.

[misslilli]

Happy New Year guys 🥳

Felix Felicis

MSR. AU. E. | tagging @today-in-fic | read on AO3

Chapter 67 - Be My Valentine

The week that follows our adventures at the Beach House drags by so slowly and to be honest, I'm torn if this is a good thing or not.

On the one hand, at the end of it twinkles the promise of a great first Valentine's Day date.

I have absolutely no idea what Mulder's got planned, he's secretive about it and changes the subject smoothly whenever I ask too many prying questions. Not even Felix, who's bursting at the seams with the secret he's keeping, has let anything slip.

On the other hand, the end of the week also marks the start of spring break. My kids are wearing my patience thin with their barely contained excitement mixed into the exhaustion from working hard, report cards need to be written up, parting gifts need to be bought and wrapped and the classroom mess needs to be tidied.

What puts quite the damper on my vacation spirits is the fact that the boys will be gone for a whole week, visiting Sam in LA.

The girls have scoffed and rolled their eyes at me more than once, until Holly finally has had enough and suggested I just fold myself into a tiny ball for them to stuff in their hand-luggage so she doesn't have to listen to my whining on her spring break.

"You'll see them again on your birthday, D, maybe a little time apart is not such a bad thing, you know?," Alex has offered her perspective with a pat on my arm and Sarah has added her two-cents with a wink to "give him a good send-off he won't be able to keep off his mind until they get back."

The outfit we've picked up at La Perla will certainly do its part in that, I think with a tiny tingle of anticipation.

If and when I've managed to get through Valentine's at school without losing my mind, that is. Oh the drama… some kids are giddily reading their cards, showing them off to their friends in fits of giggles, others are glumly staring at theirs because it's not from the person they had hoped for but I did make sure they each get one. Nothing worse than the disappointment of not receiving one at all.

A few cards have found their way to my desk too, anonymous of course, can't betray their coolness with a signed card to their teacher. More or less, they're quite similar, only one of them stands out, the writing a little wobblier than the others, more spelling mistakes on it and I smile at it a little more affectionately.

I display them all proudly on the wall behind my desk, but that special one gets a special spot and the anonymous sender gets an extra tight hug as a thank-you at recess.

It takes a few hours of prep-time for us to get ready in my crowded bathroom, a closely avoided burn mark from the curling iron in Sarah's hand and additional helping hands to fasten clasps and zip up dresses in the back.

Not one of us has any idea where our date will take us and while we're getting ready, we're spit-balling the most outlandish ideas where we'll end up tonight. Everyone except Alex, who has been boycotting Valentine's Day on principle for as long as we can remember.

"I bet Tom's reserved a table at some restaurant, like every year - not to be ungrateful or anything but I wish he'd plan something else for a change, something more exciting than dinner…," Sarah sighs her dismay that her boyfriend doesn't have a romantic bone in his body into her powder puff.

"Well maybe you should plan Valentine's Day for a change, if all you do is complain about his choices, missy, we gave you plenty of good location ideas for next year!"

"A spaceship is not a good location idea, Holly…" I hide my grin into my own powder puff, someone I know would think this to be the utmost perfect location for a date.

Alex answers the doorbell that startles us out of our discussion while we put on the last finishing touches and make our way downstairs. Three gentlemen in their finest suits await us downstairs, though only the one in the middle and his awestruck clean-shaved face makes my heart flutter and beat a little bit faster.

"Miss, I was blinded by your beauty, I'm going to need your name and phone number for insurance purposes!," he grins into our soft kiss hello.

"You're so handsome, I completely forgot my pickup line. Nice touch." I smile up him dreamily, touching a finger to the daisy tucked in next to his pocket square.

"You're disgusting, both of you… Let's go before they can think up more cheesy lines." Holly teases from her boyfriend Rick's side with a tug on his hand.

"You know, we could've walked here from the house, Mulder…," I remark on our stroll along the harbor, decorated with glowing hearts in the trees that line the walkway that add a romantic feel to the Christmas lights twinkling between them.

"No? It's cold and you're in heels that are far too nice to ruin on the long walk down the dirt road!"

"So it's only a short walk huh… we're going to Mamma Mia's!"

"No."

"The Cabby Shack?"

"Nope."

"Oh please, I'm dying with curiosity over here! Where are we going?" The. impatient tug on his hand only puts that secretive smile on his face again and he only lifts his shoulder in response… What it he up to?

I'm almost a hundred percent sure we're headed to the overly fancy restaurant right next to the Cabby Shack but I'm dead wrong again.

Instead, we turn to walk down the dock where we shared our first kiss, only now it's not as deserted and at the end, a two-story boat bobs up and down, festively adorned with more lights and a warm glow coming from the windows on the bottom deck.

Squinting, I read the sign draped across the starboard side.

"Star-Gazing Cruise… Stargazing cruise? We're going on that??" Glancing up, mouth caught between gape and smile, I almost squeal out my delight at Mulder's slow nod.

"Mh-hm. But wait, there's one more surprise at the end of the dock." I don't think my heart can take more surprises tonight.

"You bunch of sneaky bastards!" Holly gives a smugly grinning Rick a swift punch to the arm as we join them at the end of the dock.

"You really had us, I can't believe you planned a triple date for us! Star-Gazing, no less. Kudos to whoever came up with that idea!"

"Thanks Shorty, we thought we'd shake things up a bit tonight, to save Tom from complaints about his lack of imagination." Sarah only laughs airily at the jab, thanking Rick profusely for saving her the effort.

Tom's shoulder sag a few inches before he gives a half-shrug and forces a cheerful smile onto his face.

"Let's get inside, guys, I'm freezing and hungry!"

It's fairly easy to sit on my moral high horse right now, in my contempt for Sarah's laugh, fully convinced my partner is the best thing since they invented sliced bread, has absolutely no flaws and is practically perfect in every way.

Scarily perfect. With his steadying hand on my back, taking off my coat to check it at the door, pulling out my chair at our table and warming my cold hands between his own under the table.

"How in the world did you guys come up with this? Thanks babe!," Sarah glances around at the guys, accepting the champagne flute Tom's filled up with a small smile.

"Well… I got the not-so-subtle hints that you'd like to do something special on Valentine's so I asked around a few of my construction site's for ideas - I own a construction company," he adds as an explanation for Mulder's benefit, placing a glass in my hand. "but they were just as clueless as I was. On one of our Friday poker nights, the topic came up and Rick here suggested we could go somewhere together, to shake things up a little."

"And so you'd only have to come up with one idea instead of two." At Holly's interception, Tom lifts his shoulders again, grinning a little guiltily that she hit the nail on the head.

"Yeah, pretty much. We were still hopelessly lost though, so Simon brought his Alex in to help us out. It was also her who reminded us that there's a new addition to our group and that he might have some great ideas up his sleeve. We were pretty impressed by the Winter Carnival idea, I gotta say!" He hands the final glass to Mulder, who reluctantly lets go of one of my hands to accept it.

"Thanks, although, full disclosure, that's the only one I didn't plan, that was Scully's idea." The memories of that afternoon lights up both of our faces and I give our interlaced hands a little squeeze.

Our conversation is interrupted briefly by the waiter taking our drink order and distributing this night's special menu. It's a mouth-watering four course dinner, started off with little appetizer plates for each couple to share, perfectly fit to eat one-handed. Or feed each other half when we've picked a particularly good one.

"So all this was your idea, then?" Mulder shakes his head no at my question, distracting me from the conversation momentarily with a quick swipe of his tongue across that bottom lip of his. Oh Lord, is it just me or did someone turn up the heat in here?

"I wish I could take the credit for this one. I had a little helper with a vast amount of information stored in his mind from your talks at recess." The mention of Felix reminds me to stop staring at those damn lips my eyes are glued to and force my mind to focus on putting thoughts into words and words into sentences. My dry mouth fails me miserably.

"You okay over there, Shorty? You look a little… distracted…," Tom teases me from across the table, sending an embarrassed flush up my neck. Shit, for how long was I staring?

"Uh-huh…Uhm…Our talk about constellations and star-gazing with my dad as a kid. I can't believe he remembers that, that was months ago!"

"Can't remember where he put his homework or his second sock but that he remembers…," Mulder's deadpan earns him a chuckle around the table. The water glass he pushes towards me with a knowing grin and a wink earns me a blush a shade darker.

We raise our champagne flutes in a toast to great ideas, clinking them together in the middle. I only take a small sip, champagne goes right to my head on an empty stomach and my mind is already plenty fuzzy around the edges from the absent-minded thumbstrokes of Mulder's hand on my thigh. How am I supposed to sit through three more courses and star-gazing without losing my mind?

From the appearance of the entrees to the end of the main course and during the easily flowing dinner conversations, the hand leaves its resting spot only for a total of five times - yes, I counted - until the table is cleared and the waiter steps up to inquire if we’d like to order dessert. I can barely manage to bite back my vocal reaction to Mulder's quiet whisper of what he'd like to have for dessert so very close to my ear, his warm breath sends shivers down my spine.

Leaned back after dessert, Tom's entertaining us with a story about one of his new construction workers, a young guy who always misplaces his tools, has no idea how to handle a hammer or a wrench, can't drill a hole to save his life and is in general a real liability to have on a construction site, but he does make for a funny story.

During his story, Mulder's leaning over every now and then, privately adding his own gleefully delivered dirty twist to 'handling hammers' and 'drilling holes'. Tears in my eyes and pressing my lips together tightly, I'm shaking from the effort to keep my laughter in, it's getting real difficult with each new comment.

"…and I got so frustrated with him fumbling around with a fucking screwdriver, I said Jesus Christ, if you can't get it in, put some grease on it and just screw it, it's not that hard!"

I try to confine my laugh into a snort but I absolutely lose it at this point, bursting into an uncontrollable giggle fit, waving my hands to get Tom to stop. He's so oblivious and confused as to why I'm crying laughing, hiding my blushed face into my hands. "What?? Screwing is not that hard!"

That's all it takes for Mulder to lose his composure as well and he barks out a laugh that only adds to my own amusement and we end up giggling like little children, leaned together for support until we're holding our sides, gasping for breath.

"For crying out loud, you two are so immature," Sarah sighs into her glass and rolls her eyes at us, her annoyance betrayed by the grin tugging on her lips.

I'm trying to catch my breath between residues of laughter, wiping my eyes. "I'm sorry… oh God… that was a good story, Tom, really." Even after the giggles subsided, I can't even look at Mulder, if I do, I'm sure I'll lose it again.

"Hey Richard, you wanna put that down for just one second to participate in the conversation?" The edge in Holly's voice and the use of his first and full name gets Rick to snap his head up from his phone and effectively puts an end to my amusement.

He places the phone face down back onto the table and throws Holly a guilty look.

"Sorry, doll, work stuff…"

She opens her mouth to fire back a nasty comment but thankfully, she's interrupted by the maitre d' clapping his hands for attention, announcing it's time to head onto the upper deck for the star-gazing part of the evening. I breathe a sigh of relief.

Bundled up in our coats, the six of us separate into different sections of the deck for some alone time, Sarah and Tom choose the front to listen to the astronomer pointing out constellations, Mulder and I huddle underneath a blanket in the back to people-watch in peace. Holly and Rick are at the starboard railing, still arguing with hushed voices and flailing hands.

Head tilted back, I search the night sky for a shooting star and name a few constellations I can make out. It's suspiciously quiet by my side and when I glance over, Mulder's not participating in the star-gazing at all. Instead, he's watching Rick and Holly, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. I can practically see the profiler wheels turning in his sideways-leaned head.

"Penny for your thoughts?" My gentle nudge into his side pulls his attention away from the fight, clearing his mind with a little shake of his head.

"I'm sorry, got lost in my thoughts…"

"Care to share?" I'm curious and also a little worried he think this'll be us in a few years, ruining a perfect evening with an argument instead of enjoying the moment.

"I'm not sure if you'll like what I have to say… and I don't want to overstep…"

"You think this will be us in about two years?" He only snorts in response, tugging me closer with his arm draped across my shoulders.

"Don't be ridiculous, no." Oh the sweet naïveté of the first few months of a new relationship. Closely snuggled together in our bubble, we're apparently both still fully convinced that we'll solve all of our arguments calmly and end up laughing in the end or maybe we'll never fight at all - we're such a perfect match and with all of our rules and good intentions for open communication and honesty, what could go wrong?

"Mhkay good. So pray tell, what's on your mind?"

"Two years, you said? I really hope I'm wrong, but I don't think Rick will be around that long…" Surprised at his words, I pull back a little to glance up at him, eyebrow raised.

"What? Why?"

"Because they speak different love languages. Judging only from tonight, hers is possibly quality time and his is receiving messages from other women to answer during dinner with his girlfriend." My face must register my shock and confusion.

"Come on, work stuff? On Valentine's Day? Phone face down on the table? Phone at the table at all? Again, I really hope I'm wrong but either he's just a dick or he's texting with other women. Maybe both."

To fight the sinking feeling in my stomach and to save our own evening from drifting off into Depression Land, I desperately need to change the subject and let future me worry about whether he's right in his assessment or not. Subty, I push my own phone a little deeper into my coat pocket.

"I hope it's neither and you're dead wrong about this… Hey, is it time to exchange gifts yet?"

I'm the absolute worst at keeping gifts to myself, the envelope in my purse has been screaming for attention the whole evening and now that we're finally alone, I think exchanging gifts are the perfect way to refocus our attention to what's really important. If it weren't for the wide-eyed, slow-blinking expression on Mulder's face.

"Oh no, I was supposed to bring a gift? I'm sorry, I thought this evening… was the gift…" I wave my hand at him with a quick shake of my head. Since it brings me a lot more joy to give gifts rather than receive them, I whip out my envelope and present it to him with a flourish and an elated grin on my face.

"Here. I wasn't sure if it was something you'd enjoy doing so I employed the services of a little someone who does know and he signed off on it. Open it!" Envelope in hand, Mulder throws me a dubious look.

"I really hope for him Felix didn't rope you into giving me something only he'll enjoy." Giggling at the thought - that actually does sound like something Felix would do - I shake my head again, nudging him to finally open the stupid envelope.

"If this is tickets to the Trolley Museum or something, I swear to God…" He's trying my patience on purpose and I watch him pull out the contents of the envelope with an open-mouthed expectant grin. Completely taken by surprise, he glances from the tickets in his hand to me and back again several times.

"Are you insane??"

"Yes.," I nod gravely. "Although I'm surprised it took next year's Super Bowl tickets for you to realize that…" Far too slowly for my liking, he fans out the tickets in his hand, staring down at them for a while to keep his emotions in check. Oh stop it, if you cry, I cry.

"I… That's… There's… three tickets here."

"You think I want to get murdered in my sleep?"

My attempt to lighten the mood is met by a hug so tight, it momentarily takes my breath away and a watery laugh that warms my heart and has my eyes brimming with tears too. Crap, I swore to myself I wouldn't cry tonight!

"It's too much, Scully, I can't accept that… these tickets must've cost a fortune!"

"Oh I know a guy, who knows a guy…"

————

[ FM ]

Pulled back from our hug, we wipe our eyes chuckling at ourselves and share a salty kiss I try to put all my thankfulness for her very existence into.

I'm absolutely awestruck by her gift, not only by the fact that she picked something I've been thinking about doing for a long time and what must've cost a small fortune, guy or no guy.

The biggest gift for me and the one that transforms me into a blubbering, emotional mess is that she has included Felix. Simple as that, no questions asked, no "Oh what can we do to get rid of that kid?".

Integrating my child so effortlessly might as well be my secondary love language.

Caught up in my emotional turmoil, I almost forget that I was only joking about not getting her a gift, although it pales in comparison. It's also an envelope to shyly present to her surprised face, but it contains a weekend getaway for only the two of us, to spend a few days away from the day-to-day grind, wrapped in fluffy robes the entire day and with someone else to make us breakfast in the morning.

"Oh my… Thank you, I love it! We'll go at the end of the school year, it'll balance out the funk of saying goodbye to my kids after four years together!"

Gifts exchanged, we return to what we're actually here to do, searching the night skies for stars and she quietly admits she's never seen a shooting star before. After a while of silently gazing upwards, a streak lights up the darkness and we each make a secret wish on the shooting star that makes its way across the sky.

I can hardly wait to get her home and upstairs, to really show my appreciation for her incredibleness and to finally get a glimpse of what she's been hinting at, another surprise, just for me. Oh please let it be La Perla.

[ms-indifferwnt]

I’m Cold

“I'm cold"

"And?"

"Can't you give me your jacket or something?"

"Can't you accept my proposal and marry me already?"

In which Prince Donghyuck's parents are forcing him to get married and he decided to propose to the first girl he sees to shut his parents up

Genre: Prince!Lee Donghyuck x Maid!Reader, Angst, Fluff, Arranged Marriage (kinda), Slowburn

Warnings: Curse words, Suggestive (I'll add more if there are)

Notes: Chapter 5 of Im Cold. Sorry this one took longer, hope you guys enjoy

WORD COUNT: 2.4k

Prev / Chapter 5 / Next

"We'll take it" The Prince starts and Y/n looks at him in shock

"My Prince, er Donghyuck we don't have to," She starts and looks at herself in the mirror "This isn't necessary"

He raises an eyebrow and shakes his head while he readjusted his sitting position "I promised you we'd go shopping so we're going shopping" he eyes her and shakes his head "I don't like that," he looks to the sales lady "Get me a darker color of that exact dress"

"Donghyuck!"

He smiles and playfully copies her tone "Y/n" He crosses his arms "Let me spoil you, besides didn't I tell you to take advantage of me?" He asks

"You're the prince"

"Which is exactly why you have to do so, I would be very disappointed otherwise" He looks to the side and bowed his head at the sales lady with the different colored dress "Try this one" he hands it off to her and she furrows her eyebrows not taking the dress "Put this on willingly or I help you put it on?"

You blinked "You're kidding" you dared and stood your place

"Alright," He says moving to lead you inside the changing room "I'll help you change"

Only for you to yelp and grab the dress "I'll change, I'll change, stop it" walking inside the changing room, wearing the dress he has given her, it was a maroon colored wrap dress, with sleeves that reach her wrists an a skirt a couple of inches higher than her knees.

She walked out, showing the prince the latest dress he has picked out for her and received a shocked reaction from the prince. He knows that the wrap dress would look beautiful on her since he has seen her wear that dress and he has asked for a darker color but, Oh My God, she looked beautiful, the dress was absolutely perfect for her, he trailed his eyes down her body,  and then nods

"We'll take it" He says to the sales lady and points at it "that is my favorite dress, wear it for tonight"

She raises an eyebrow in confusion "What's gonna happen tonight?"

He smiles and shakes his head "Nothing, now change back then lets go get jewelry"

"Your highness-" She started and stayed in place

"Go, Y/n" He ushers and smiles "then we can get ice cream"

"You're highness you're not allowed with too much sweets"

"Then I won't eat, you will, besides I love sweets"

Arriving back at the palace Y/n and the prince (mostly Y/n) was exhausted and excited to just lie in bed and be on her phone and just be by herself, today was too eventful for her liking

"Then I decided to bathe my pink turtle-" He replies when he notices the the female wasn't paying attention to him anymore and was proven right when she nodded

He rolls his eyes ,"Y/n" He calls and snaps his fingers infront of her face "Wakey-wakey?"

She blinks and bows in apology once the prince was able to hold her down to reality "Sorry, I was thinking"

He nods "its fine, I tired you out didn't I?" He chuckles "You should rest, you're gonna need it for the days to come. I'll wake you myself for dinner, so don't worry about it" He leads her to her room, assuring her as he holds her hand.

Once the Prince leaves her room she picks out a change of comfortable clothes and collapsed on the bed. She has been a maid for quite a while but today has left her exhausted, she feels absolutely drained, she was thankful for the rest she was about to have

She couldn't help but think about the Prince and the early encounters, was he always that protective? She shifts and hugs one pillow, remembering that moment when the Prince was furious that he almost did something he might regret, If she wasn't there, something must've happened

"Lets go get Ice-cream"

She blinks and smiles, He did nothing today but buy her cake, clothes, jewelry, and Ice cream. The Prince made sure she was comfortable and not left out, he would be a wonderful King, She sighs and closes her eyes, her thoughts and dreams being plagued by the beautiful sun kissed boy "And when the two weeks are over, we go our separate ways"

She doesn't know why, or what makes this feeling so strong but all of a sudden she hates herself

Donghyuck sat crossed legged in the tea room as his parents spoke to him about his day and his chosen benefactors, it was boring and he barely listened,  his hands moved to play with his watch, a habit he has developed after Prince Chenle gave him a watch on his thirteenth birthday, speaking of that, Chenle's birthday is coming up, Donghyuck should really think of a present for the guy. Come to think of it, he doesn't know about Y/n's birthday, he should ask her, yeah he'll ask her

"Donghyuck" His mom brought him out of his day dream "are you even listening to me?"

He nods, he wasn't, "I was, and I can say yes, its possible" His dad raises his eyebrow and Donghyuck slyly and carefully waved his hand to ask for help from him who distracted his wife, sparing the prince from an earful

Donghyuck leans back, calling over his one of the stand ins there Yuta, who was also one of his friends "What were we talking about? I wasn't listening"

He smiles amused by the Prince "Being in love does that too you," He teases "I honestly thought I'll never see the day-"

"Shut up and tell me Hyung" Donghyuck mumbles

"The queen asked if Lady Y/n would join dinner and you replied with a quote 'yes, its possible'"

Donghyuck groaned as Yuta teases him. He can't believe he just agreed to something on her behalf by accident. There's nothing he could do now, right? I mean the choices were wake Y/n up and probably get the stink eye (she just seems like the person who gets cranky when you wake them. Every morning Y/n would wake up on her own, so its not impossible) or decline his mom's offer and get yelled at.

"I'll wake you myself for dinner, so don't worry about it"

The Prince nods at the memory, right He can wake her and have dinner. He stands and and smiles at his Parents "I'll go wake her" He informs and leaves the room, walking slowly to her, thinking of what to say, on how to wake her "Oh, and for dessert get something sweet" he smiles and bows

The King and the Queen stared at their sons leaving figure "he doesn't like sweets...?" The Queen starts

Yuta grins at the leaving figure before bowing "It isn't for him, your Grace"

Once he entered her room, he smiles at the sight, she changed into a loose tee and shorts, he had half a mind to tuck her in and let her sleep, but he was hungry, and he didn't want to get yelled at

"Y/n" he whispered and pets her hair, sitting down on the bed beside her "Wake up, sleepy head, lets eat dinner"

Y/n roused from her dreamless sleep by the sound of his voice, at first she thought it was just her imagination but his voice kept whispering and almost lulled her to sleep until she heard his voice tell her to eat. She slowly woke up, opening her eyes to be greeted by the handsome Prince running his fingers through her locks. She didn't mean it, leaning into his touch, neither noticed until she felt the warmth of the prince's hand on her cheek and she gasps, sitting up, making the prince stand up

"um," He says, his cheeks slightly pink as Y/n refuses to look at him "Its dinner time, lets go" He stands and clears his throat standing to look through her wardrobe to not look at her in the eye

He places his hand on his chest, willing his heart to stop thumping against his ribcage, he placed his other hand (the one he was holding her with) infront of him and he blinked grabbing one of the dresses there and turning to look at her who smiled softly at the prince, she looked unaffected, he didn't like it.

Y/n's heart was still beating at an irregular pace, she smiles softly once the prince looks at her "I'm sorry but why should I wear something so fancy?"

He looks at her and smiles, placing the dress on the bed "Because, my parents wanna eat dinner with you, would you rather wear that?"

He teases and points at her tee and she instinctively covered up using the blanket and he looked away "Um, sorry" He blushed again, God this room was getting stuffy "Change into this, or would you rather a different one?"

She shakes he head, as Hana walks in bowing at the Prince and Female on the bed, "I'll change into that, thankyou"

Hana takes the dress and smiles as she leads Y/n inside the bathroom, Hana was giggling as she helped her out of her current clothes "I hope I'm not stepping out of line, but you and the Prince have a cute chemistry"

Y/n couldn't help but raise her eyebrows "We were just speaking" She points out as Hana helps he into the dress, a red mid-thigh length, sleeves up until the elbow, the edge of the dress, the skirt part was adorned with a golden design, it sparkled with her movement, she would never admit it but the prince had a wonderful taste in clothes

"Well you were," Hana smiles and and adjusts the skirt so that  it doesn't folded inward "But you and the Prince still have that, shy aura around, not many couples posses that now a days, My lady"

Maybe because we're not dating. Y/n hums and looks at the mirror "They don't?"

Hana nods "I assure you, MiLady, They Don't"

Arriving at the dining hall, with The Prince's and Y/n's armed linked together, you can tell from a far that she would be the perfect bride, The Prince was mischievous and everyone can tell, he had something up his sleeve, He helped her to her seat first, and usually the Prince would be teasing or joking around but for tonight, The King and The Queen watched as their son gave Y/n a reassuring smile and a gentle squeeze, a silent promise that she'll be alright

"Y/n" The Queen calls and Y/n bows along with the Prince "Please, no need to bow, you'll be family" She looks at The Prince at her words and He squeezes her hand again before helping her sit "Donghyuck is so proper with you, such a nice change of pace" She starts and laughs as The prince looked at her in shock

"I am Proper!" He raises his voice

"Donghyuck" Y/n calls and looks at him warningly, you do not raise your voice at the Queen, he looks at her and closes his mouth, sitting down with a small huff when she tugs on his sleeve

The King laughs at the display infront of him, "Donghyuck, you're fiance is right, don't raise your voice at your mother" He smiles and looks at her bowing his head "Its nice to finally meet you, Y/n"

She bows her head "Its my pleasure, Your Grace"

"Please, no need to be so formal" He smiles and assures "We're thankful to have you, Donghyuck needed someone who could control him" He teases

The Queen nods and smiles at Y/n "besides the point, we know you might be a little scared, but please don't be, We're happy to have you in our life, especially Donghyuck"

Donghyuck was focused on Y/n through out the conversation on the way she spoke and acted and how she would bow her head at every word, he looked at how she fidgeted whenever his parents spoke directly at her and he reaches out to push the hair behind her ear, making her look and he smiles "you're doing great" He praises, both implied as a don't worry and acting as his fiance

The King and Queen smiled at how affectionate their son was.

Once Dinner was served everybody started eating, Y/n joining the conversation from time to time until the King stood up "Donghyuck, I need to show you something, come with me"

Donghyuck looks at Y/n "you gonna-" he earned a small laugh from her, effectively cutting him off

"I'll be fine, besides, the King is more important then me"

Donghyuck shrugs and stands up "Well, not exactly"

Y/n blinks "What-?"

He winks teasingly and followed his father

Once they left the Queen stands, making Y/n to aswell "Lets go for a walk in the garden while they ready dessert?" She asks and Y/n nods

The queen leads her out into the hallway and into the garden, Y/n was amazed at how beautiful the flowers looked at night which made the Queen laugh "You've never seen the garden at night?"

"No, My Queen" She answers and stands, no longer kneeling to be face to face with the Iris Flowers "I was one of the maids in charge of keeping the rooms of the palace spotless, I'm usually cleaning at night"

The Queen nods and leads her at one of the garden chairs, letting her sit "Please, don't be so formal, We'll be family soon, its only fair to call me normally" She smiles at her teasingly "I wouldn't mind being called Mother by you either"

Y/n blushes, "I-" she starts out as the redness crawls up her neck making the Queen laugh more

She stops with a wave of her hand, while some maids place the tea and desserts on the table in front of them "Actually, Y/n, I would like to properly thank you", Y/n opens her mouth to speak but the Queen beat her to it "Thank you for returning Donghyuck's feelings and staying by his side, His Father and I have been worried, all we ever wanted is for him to be happy, and being with you does that to him" She smiles and reaches out to hold her hand "Thank you"

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