#and as soon as she's alone she throws herself over the edge of Gil's bed

[softquietsteadylove]

Would you please do one more chapter for the president AU? Like Thena is holding a speech and Gil protects her from a sniper, getting shot on scene but she learns later about his status cause she is being Transported to safety?? Some intense stuff? Thank you so much love your stories never stop please!! ❤️❤️❤️

Thena looked up as Sersi approached her with gentle steps. Sersi always walked lightly but she truly was walking like a deer on a frozen lake. She had been chosen to face the slaughter. "How is he?"

She seated herself quietly. Sersi was also shaken by the events of that morning's press conference. A shooting was always enough to have anyone on edge. And for a bullet to have actually landed--wounded one of their own; everyone was anxious. "He's still in surgery."

Thena nearly curled over her knees completely in her seat. It wasn't the presidential thing to do. But she couldn't breathe. "Sersi-"

"Thena, I'm sorry," her friend whispered, leaning across the seat to rub her back.

Sersi had witnessed first hand the way Thena had cried and screamed Gil's name as she was dragged away from him for her own safety.

There was always a risk for her safety. It came with the job. But the shot was planned, came from above. Only the wind and Gil's sharp instincts had saved them all. And while he had gotten her down in time, he was less fortunate.

His name had ripped out of her throat at the sight of his blood. She couldn't control it, couldn't conceal what seeing him hurt did to her. The rest of her SS guard pulled her away and under the cover of their protection. She could remember her hands clawing to get back to him. In the end, they had picked her up in order to evacuate without her struggling against them.

Gil's body was just...lying there.

"Sersi, I can't do this," Thena repeated, nearly gasping for air. Air Force One was far, far from crowded, but she felt as if she were being tossed around in a glass jar.

"Yes, you can, just breathe," Sersi encouraged, kneeling in front of her. "He's alive, Thena, that's all you need to worry about for now."

He was alive for now. But the thought of the man she loved lying on a steel table being operated on--possibly never hearing her last words to him; it was unbearable. It was unthinkable that their last kiss had been in the office between meetings, or that the last they'd held hands was when he was helping her in and out of the beast.

How could the last time she told him she loved him be 17 hours ago?

Thena attempted to pick her head up. She blinked, but the tears were far from controllable at this point. Not that Sersi minded. She shook her head, "if he dies-"

"You can't think of that right now," Sersi tried to urge her to calm herself again. She stood, using the natural movement to ease her back into her chair properly again. "He's getting the best care he can right now. I promise as soon as we get word we'll turn right around."

They couldn't. And even if redirecting the Eagle were that easy, they were only so capable of speed. Sheer distance still separated him from her. And if things took a turn for the worse and she didn't make it in time-

"Thena," Sersi followed as she stood, unable to sit any longer. The sound of their heels was muffled on the aircraft carpet. "You have to-"

"I don't have to do anything!" It was true, that was her position as designated by their godforsaken country. And with anyone else, she might not have felt quite as bad for it. But Sersi's face betrayed immediately what her outburst felt like to receive. Thena sighed, lowering her shoulders. "I'm sorry, I just...you don't--I can't lose him."

If Sersi had wondered at all what their relationship was before - which was honestly doubtful - she certainly had her evidence now. But she came over to her again, wrapped her arms around her and hugged her as a friend, not an advisor or cabinet member. "You won't."

Thena shook her head again. She wasn't so confident, and in a rare moment like this when she could afford to be unsure, she was rampant with doubt. She hugged her friend back. "This can't be how it happens--it can't."

Sersi gave up on the empty platitudes, rubbing her back as she listened to her weepy breaths.

"I can't do this without him," Thena pulled her head up again, attempting to resolve herself. "I mean it. I can't do this - any of this! - without him. I'll go insane."

Sersi had no argument for that. Gil was her personal aide, as well as defacto security for her, and that said nothing of the fact that Gil was just the best at generally handling her. "Things will work out."

The words barely sounded like words by this point. Thena looked out the window, starting to pick at her nails. Gil would usually pick up on her nervous ticks and stop them. He could say it was unsightly for Madam President to bite her nails, and then he would have an excuse to hold onto her hand for three whole seconds.

What good was having an aircraft with the highest level of clearance in the world if it still travelled at this kind of speed?

"So," Sersi started along a different path. She lightened her tone, seating herself and looking up at her, "how long?"

Thena remained staring out the window, tearing at her finely cared for nails layer by layer. "You want the exact date?"

It was sharp and sardonic, but Sersi smiled. "I suppose not. Obviously it's long enough, though. And I'm guessing it was since before Ikaris."

That did pull Thena's attention away from the clouds below them and back to her friend. She didn't bother hiding her surprise; Sersi never talked about Ikaris in any way.

But she continued, breezing over the mention of their past with treachery. "It was easy to tell that you were close, and not just as handler and VP."

She didn't think they had been so obvious. But then again, Sersi actually had an oddly sharp sense for the dynamics people could have with each other. It was part of what made her such an asset.

Thena finally sat down again, wrapping her arms around herself, only to start biting her thumb. "It was just going to be nothing--in the beginning. It happened once, let's move on."

Sersi waited patiently for the rest of the story.

Thena sighed, "but then it happened again, and then a third time. But we always said it couldn't be more than that. We had jobs to do. And we both understood that."

"Until," Sresi prompted her, and even smiled impishly when she was glared at for it.

Thena closed her eyes, and imagining Gil's smiling face was almost enough for her to smile in real time. "He was escorting me, as always. We ended up talking and, in essence, we both determined that we were not achieving the casual intentions we had claimed."

"So, you were already in love, is what you're saying," Sersi clarified. Thena glared at her again for her impertinence, but it did nothing to make the quiet woman back down. "I could have told you that."

Thena rolled her eyes, but it did bring somewhat of a smile to her face. "We agreed to explore the potential for more--quietly."

"How did you keep it a secret?" Sersi asked and leaned forward, her curiosity pulling her in. "I mean we had our suspicions but the biggest doubt was simply 'how would you even get away with it?'."

"With practice," Thena conceded, even letting her head tilt back to the head rest. "We got good at sneaking him in and out under different covers. And it worked--for well on a year."

"A yea-?!" Sersi nearly burst out loudly, even for being within the sound cover of a jet. But she managed to rein herself in. She cleared her throat more quietly, "a year?"

Thena nodded. The best years of her life. She gnawed at her cuticle. "Then everything happened. The transition of my position was so fast and so imperative, we didn't really have time to talk about what this meant for us. But Gil...Gil said he wasn't going anywhere."

Tears sprung to her eyes again.

Sersi put the pieces together. "You did fight awfully hard to keep him as your personal detail when you took office."

Thena scoffed, "and let some stranger guard me?"

"They wouldn't be a stranger," Sersi scolded her for denouncing the entirety of the rest of the secret service. But she sighed, "but I suppose you wouldn't have been a good protectee for any of them anyhow."

Especially not if she knew she could have Gil instead.

"It had to be him," Thena resolved, going back to fidgeting with her hands on her lap. "We kept saying we just had to make it through the rest of the term."

Sersi made a face. It wasn't nearly so simple to just exit the office. But this wasn't the time, and she knew that very well. "Thena-"

"He made it!" Kingo ran out, holding up the satellite phone in his hand as if he were a horseman riding at dawn. "They got him stabilized, at least."

"He's alive?" Thena asked, although she immediately discovered she had no air in her lungs. She stood and walked towards Kingo but her knees weren't strong enough anymore.

Both Sersi and Kingo lunged for her as she fell in the middle of the aisle.

"Whoa, hey," Kingo whispered as he caught her, lowering her into a seat properly. "Gil's alive, we're already cleared to return to land and we'll put a bypass on the hospital so you can see him, okay?"

Thena gasped. She couldn't breathe, but for an entirely different reason. She accepted Sersi's shoulder as she cried, hyperventilating into her soft green cashmere dress.

"He's fine, Thena, just breathe," her gentler friend soothed her, running her hand over her hair. "Not much longer. I promise we won't pull you away until you've spoken with him."

"Uh, we really can't-" Thena could hear Kingo begin, and then cut himself off, presumably being glared at by Sersi. He cleared his throat and stepped back, "you got it, Boss. I'll tell Phastos the news."

"He's alive, he's alive," Sersi repeated to her, whispering in her soft accent like a lullaby. "You'll be with him soon."

"I love him," Thena choked out desperately. It ripped out of her just as desperately as she had cried out his name after seeing him get shot. She had to say she loved him, just in case something tried to take him from her again.

"I know," Sersi soothed. "You can be with him soon."

[fuwafuwamedb]

Dodging Death Pt 13 (CasGil, Hans, Hakuno, )

Previously: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

___

If this could just end, that would be great.

The world hadn’t been this complicated before. She would go to school, study hard, get some good grades, go to work, harass Hans, and then go home to lay down and relax. There’d be a little wine here and there, usually accompanied by a large, liberal amount of ice cream or chocolate cake.

When Gilgamesh had come along, she’d imagined doing the old cat lady maneuver. She would lay down at night and have her large, fluffy cat join her. They would enjoy the late night television that she wasn’t really supposed to watch since she had to head to school early in the mornings. They would sneak to the kitchen for bits of turkey or some other treat. In the end, she would enjoy the life of solitude and peace.

That was it.

Sitting on the cold marble floor of a hotel suite high up in one of the largest hotels in Fuyuki, staring at a test she sincerely hoped would be flunked was not in her plans. She hadn’t pictured some random blond throwing himself into her life, showing her magic and claiming her for himself.

At most, she’d imagined being with Emiya.

Embarrassing as it was, she’d had a lot of late nights with him. There’d been a lot of take out menus and bad cooking jobs done on her part. She’d made memories painting her house some subdued colors, escaping the exotic and poor paint colors she’d bought her house with. There’d been times where she’d ended up calling Emiya and coasting over to his and Cu’s place to crash on their couch and shower while her own was being repaired.

Who could forget the classic toilet repair attempt, where Emiya had opened the tank of the toilet and had been plunging with a great gush had come up.

The pure look of disgust and agony on his face…

He liked Sakura.

That was well and good. Sakura was an angel of a person and there was probably no one that would treat him with as much kindness and respect as she would. She was a bit dependent too, which was something that Emiya was used to accommodating. The two would get along well.

Plus, she’d already agreed to give Gilgamesh a chance.

The king was tall and handsome. He was clearly intelligent. He had a pride that saw no shame or reservation.

If there was something he wanted, he was going for it. If there was something he didn’t like, it was dropped and abandoned fully. There was no halfways with him. There was no second chances or regrets. The man lived his life like so many wished to live their life.

If she had told Emiya that he was having a child, there would have been fear.

She had no doubt that the man would have been panicking and going through a long list of reasons why that would be a bad plan. His fear would feed her fear, the two of them would have been sending one another into pure panic attacks with all of the things that they would be risking, if there were things that could be risked.

Gilgamesh, meanwhile, was thanking her.

You’d have thought he was receiving some kind of special award with the way he had wrapped his arms around her and thanked her for doing this. In the car, her hand on the shift had been stroked for ages by the man. He’d tried to even follow her to go into the store, earning himself a good warning that she was going to just get a couple things and come straight back out.

One minute.

Just one minute left on this test and then she was going to shower and talk to Gilgamesh again.  

This was going to be a good talk.

The first thing they needed to do was talk about her house.

Going back was an option, but the axe killer getting into her home made that very uncomfortable. The person had slipped right in, almost killed them, and then left. She hadn’t heard a word from the police. No one had mentioned the killer being caught. Her home was even on the newspaper she’d seen at the store.

Sure, she could return, but there was no point.

Hakuno leaned back against the wall in the bathroom and stared up at the ornate ceiling.

Another option was to sell the house.

Being that Fuyuki was a clean and well off city, there was no doubt that the place would sell pretty easily. It wasn’t even the best neighborhood either, but it was close enough to the bus and the subway and to a few decent food places. Someone would take it.

That meant she’d have some money on her hands.

Gilgamesh was also handling this bill for the hotel. As questionable as it was to use him like that, it meant she could save some money. Hell, if things didn’t work out, she could probably just have him return to Uruk and she could be in charge of that wealth remaining.

First thing she’d do was travel.

Maybe she would move to the countryside somewhere and have a flock of sheep. She could sew her own clothes and wear furs in the deep winters, looking over the mountainside and calling out to the wolves in the distance.

Or, she could open a little shop.

She could be the owner of her own sweets shop, making them for the pure pleasure of making confections that would amaze and excite shoppers. She’d pick her own hours, opting to close early to go out into the great summer sun and lounge while a group of kids played in the grass or some elders played croquet or something.

That was if things didn’t work out though.

If they did…

If she found that she liked being with Gilgamesh…

The gods themselves only knew what then.

She would be sharing her life with someone. They would work together to make plans and chart a course towards the rest of eternity together. There was no doubt now that she would have a child. It was only a matter of how soon and to what situation.

Hopefully Gilgamesh knew a lot about families because she didn’t know a thing.

Her three tests on the counter blinked.

She didn’t move.

Right now, she was both pregnant and not pregnant.

She could go drinking and perhaps there would be consequences. She could take a fall or a hit to the gut and perhaps she would be risking lives.

Maybe…

Maybe she wouldn’t look.

Hakuno stood up, moving to the door to tell Gilgamesh no and to continue this talk about how their lives would continue. She had the knob half turned when she looked back.

The three tests gleamed on the counter.

It was best to look though…

She should have a look, see the negative, and carry on. It would only take a minute and then she would be back to the task of avoiding an axe killer and living life. There was nothing that was dire about those three white sticks on the counter. Nothing said she needed to fret that much. Her tests had been more terrifying.

Right. She could just-

Hakuno closed her eyes again, turning away at the last minute.

She was not brave enough for this.

“Gilgamesh!”

The door opened. The man himself glancing in to find her hovering near the counter.

“I-I can’t look.”

“You can’t look?”

She shook her head.

Looking meant finding out. Looking meant that she would have to face the consequences of whatever was said. While she thought that, looking up at Gilgamesh while thinking that felt entirely ridiculous.

The man glanced at the three tests, picking one up to look at the information.

“Gilgamesh…”

A small kiss was pressed to her shoulder.

She was, wasn’t she?

Hakuno wrapped her arms around the man, holding him tightly to herself. Her eyes closed, her hands holding onto his shirt.

He needed to say something.

Don’t worry about things, you’re not pregnant.

Congratulations, you’ll make quite a mother.

Something would work.

Anything at all would work.

The silence was building. The need to run was combined with the deep need to hide against him until the end of time.

He just needed to say something. Anything.

The man was constantly talking. He had been more than happy to go on and on for ages in his Epic and in her class. He enjoyed talking about anything and everything. He was insistent upon filling the air… So why was he quiet?

“Gilgamesh?”

He captured her lips, pulling her up into his arms. She didn’t get the chance to look now. He was carrying her over to the bed and draping her across the sheets. His lips were pressing to her cheek, her jawline, her neck; he kissed lower and lower down her person. The zipper of her dress was sliding down, the undergarments snapped faintly before she found herself laying exposed on the sheets.

Where did the time go?

Unbuttoning the man’s suit, tossing his clothes to the wayside, once more finding that strong chest with her hands as she met those lips and lost herself once more to the waves of their great chemistry; Hakuno found herself distracted once again.

Being at this during the middle of the day was not helpful either.

She could see the sun pour in from the windows, making the man’s sunkissed skin and golden hair simply gleam. She could see every single inch of him, built to perfect and looking up at her as she shoved him onto the mattress and straddled his waist.

The time simply went out the window.

She learned how to drape her leg over his chest, using the other to help her movements up and down his person. She learned how to hold his bent leg with her arms, glancing over at him as she rode him hard and fast. He rolled them over as she came, resuming a more standardized position.

The sun was far off over the horizon as Hakuno found herself stirring at his side finally. The bed was a mess, their clothes abandoned to the wind. She was pretty sure the marks on Gil’s person were going to be there for a while.

4:15 in the evening.

“Gil.” Hakuno moved to the edge of the bed, tentatively standing up on wobbly legs. “Gil?”

He didn’t move.

Maybe it was best to leave him to rest while she went to work.

That didn’t sound like a bad idea. She could focus on getting some alone time in and getting her head on straight. Maybe get some homework done too. Rin and Rani would be able to give her some notes.

That sounded like a great plan.

A new dress would work for work. It wasn’t like she was going to be going too many places for a few days. She could have both dresses in the wash in the morning.

A quick trip to the bathroom showed her that she’d be wearing her hair down. The faint signs of redness on her neck were definitely going to be noted by patrons otherwise. She washed her face a bit and tried to think as she glanced in the mirror.

Her eyes drifted to the tests still chilling on the counter.

…

Hakuno turned and walked out, finding Gilgamesh sitting up and frowning.

“We spent too much time in bed, didn’t we?”

“I’ll head out. You can rest a bit-“

“I’ll come. You will just need to give me a minute.” He yawned, pulling her close to kiss before heading for the bathroom.

“Gil! I have to get moving!”

“I’ll only be a moment.”

A moment had the shower turning on.

Hakuno groaned at the sound, opening the door and glancing over at him checking the temperature.

“I have to leave now, Gil. I work at 5. That means I have,” she checked her phone, “thirty minutes to get in my car, over to the library, park, run in, and clock in.”

“Hakuno, you will be fine-“

“If you take a shower, then I won’t be on time.”

He sighed, turning off the shower.

“You will owe me,” he pointed out.

“I owe you too much already.” But one more thing wasn’t going to make much of a difference. She moved from the doorway so he could grab his clothes, watching him fix everything once more back into place. His tired little yawn in the midst of buttoning his shirt was almost enough to call in, but Hakuno turned away.

The wood grain on the door became of interest, all the way up until Gilgamesh was moving to her side and clearing his throat.

She nodded to him at seeing him ready.

“We will go there and back. You need rest as well, Hakuno.”

“Straight to the library and back,” she agreed.

The elevator ride was a quiet one. The trip to the car was no more exciting. Hakuno made record time in navigating the roads, pulling in and clocking in without issue. Gilgamesh settled himself near some of the art on display, deciding to look at one of the pieces with great interest as Hakuno went to clock in.

“You’re dressed up weird,” Hans noted, barely looking away from the books that he was scanning back into the system.

“I ah… I got engaged.”

“What a waste. White hair wasn’t worth your time. He has a stick so far up his ass that it’s a wonder it hasn’t messed with his brain. I don’t doubt he hates his younger self.”

“Emiya is not that bad,” she argued. “You’re um… You’re not still mad about his age comment, are you?”

Those sharp eyes glanced her way, narrowing dangerously.

So… he was mad.

“That… friend of yours, lacking any brains at all, uses poor humor and dry remarks to cover up the fact that he is a depressed, selfish asshole with an axe to grind against the world for no other reason than-“

She wasn’t listening.

It was hard to listen when there was a cute little blong woman coming into the library this evening. She looked a lot like Rin for some reason. Her blond hair bounced as she walked, her small smile was so nervous, especially as she murmured into her phone.

The girl was probably here for her boyfriend. She somehow didn’t seem comfortable with this kind of place.

Poor girl.

“-And furthermore, if you’re going to get engaged to that kind of man, then you really need to look at your own life decisions and think about where you see your future heading.”

“I’m engaged to the blond guy in the art area,” Hakuno told him simply, watching the blonde woman head up the stairs.

She seemed so sad for some reason. Sad and frustrated.

Maybe she could take a few minutes to help cheer her up a little. There were still some cupcakes in the back probably. Rani was typically bribing her for doing her work.

“…You married him?”

“I’m going to.”

Blonde Girl was going into the archives. She must really be suffering. Whoever was making her do this work was definitely paying her. The spotlights in the room left a bit to be desired. It could get creepy in there after a while.

Hans moved into her range of vision.

“You’re marrying that guy?”

Hakuno followed his gaze, nodding at the sight of Gilgamesh.

“Yes.”

“Blondie in a suit?”

“If he had his way, I have no doubt that I’d be married and with at least one kid right now.”

Gilgamesh glanced her way, earning a small smile from her.

The proud smirk and nod had Hans turning away.

“He looks like some kinky minded, sex addict. You be smart and sign a prenup. Maybe make sure he pays you for any divorce. I’d write a will too. Guy like that looks like he’d put the hit out on someone for looking at another wrong.”

“He’s fine, Hans.”

The blonde woman was back on the stairs again. She was moving to search the next area of rooms.

Hans followed her gaze, frowning as well as the woman moved into and back out of the room.

“Hakuno, go check-“

“I’m on it.”

It was the duty of a librarian to help those find whatever they were looking for.

[chocobabyporcelain]

Hey! Your dating Cindy hcs were cute omg! Could I request a reader insert drabble of Cindy taking care of her drunk girlfriend please?

Aww, thank you so much! Yes! Loving, caring girlfriend Cindy is exactly what I’m here for! Most of this is from my own experience of taking care of dumb drunks, or even being the dumb drunk being taken care of ;;;TW/CW for vomiting mentions, I guess? It’s only one tiny paragraph, but I know some people get queasy or even have phobias, so I’ll just forewarn you.

Gonna tag some lovely people: @neko-otaku13 @itshaejinju @themissimmortal @bespectacled-girl @expectogladiolus @angel-dream @itsmootothecow @zacklover24 @rubyphilomela @eternallydaydreaming2015 @insomniacapples @valkyrieofardyn As always let me know if it’s not okay to tag you, and on the flip side let me know if you want to be tagged

cind babewhere r u think i lost m shoe my foot is wet come get me pls

Cindy looked down at her phone and sighed. You hadn’t lost yourshoe, it was in your hand. And Cindy knew it was in your hand,because she had just watched you take it off from where she wassitting, around three feet away.

It was Saturday night, date night, and you had decided that youwanted to go clubbing. Cindy never really was one for clubs. Shewasn’t a big drinker and she had to drive home anyway, but she didlove seeing you dance, shaking those cute hips and watching yourskirt ride up just enough to get a little flash of your knickers. Shecouldn’t say no to you. So, you went clubbing. You and Cindy bothdid one shot when you got there, Cindy got herself a beer and youkept knocking back shots. Basically, by the time you text her,roughly two hours later, you were lucky you were still able to useyour legs.

Cindy tucked her phone back into her bag and shuffled herself out ofthe booth, she got to her feet, approached you and gently lay herhand on your shoulder.

You spun around, shocked expression quickly morphing into a widesmile. “Cindy!” you yell and throw your arms around her, leaningall of your weight on her.

Cindy just smiled, linking her fingers together behind your back.“Hey, baby.” she greeted, giving you a quick peck on the lips.“Ready to go?”

“No,” you whined, resting your head on her shoulder. You sniffed,tears burning your eyes. “Cindy, I’m so stupid!” You stumbledbackwards, pointing down to your feet. “I lost my shoe!” Youwobbled as you tried to raise your bare foot out in front of you,almost toppling.

Cindy reached out to steady you, grabbing hold of the kitten heeldangling from your fingers once she was sure you could supportyourself. “No, it’s okay, look, I have it.” She held the shoeup to your line of sight, coiling her free arm around you. “Nowc’mon, we gotta get you home.” She guided you towards the exit,ignoring the voices around her saying “She’s such a good friend.”and “Thirty gil says they’re banging.” It seems as thoughpeople are either well-meaning, but oblivious or utter arseholes.There is no in-between.

She managed to guide you to the car with little difficulty, stoppingonly when you stepped on a slug and started crying. She loaded youinto the car, wiping away the few stray tears as you babbled aboutthe “poor sluggy who didn’t get to live,” and quickly dashedover to the driver’s side, climbing in beside you.

The ride home was an uneasy mix of sleeping and weeping on your part,poor Cindy trying to soothe you when you began to sob. Luckily, yourflat wasn’t too far from the club. “We’re home, babe.” shesaid softly as she pulled up outside your complex.

You groaned, sick to your stomach at the thought of moving. “Cindy,”you sobbed out, rubbing your eyes with the heel of your hand,smearing already running mascara and eyeliner, turning yourself intoa drunken rendition of Bucky Barnes. “I feel sick.”

Cindy sighed, reaching over to brush your hair out of your face. “Iknow, sweetie.” she cooed. She reached down to unbuckle yourseatbelt. “C’mon, let’s get you upstairs and into bed.” Sheclimbed out of the car, circling around to your side to help you outand guide you into the building and into the elevator.

The entire ride up, you sobbed and sighed, your head resting onCindy’s shoulder while she and the mirrored wall kept you upright.Cindy rubbed your arm and pressed kisses against your head. As muchas she hated seeing you like this, it was self inflicted and she mayor may not have thought you were an idiot for letting yourself getinto this state.

The elevator dinged, doors opening onto your floor. With Cindy’shelp, you staggered out of the elevator and up the short hall to yourfront door. She reached into your bag, fishing out your keys andawkwardly trying to balance you and open the door at the same time.She tried her best, but her efforts were in vain as the two of youtoppled into the flat and onto the floor.

You gasped hard, coughing and retching. Cindy jumped up, grabbinghold of your upper arms and practically dragging you into thebathroom. She held your hair while you were sick, throwing up theentire contents of your stomach into the toilet until all you coulddo was dry-retch and cry. “Cindy, I hate this.” you bawled.

Cindy sighed and rubbed your back. “I know, baby. I know.” shewhispered. She leaned over you to rip off a square of toilet roll,wiping your mouth clean before dropping the square into the bowl andflushing it all away. She helped you to your feet, guiding you overto sit on the edge of the bathtub. She dug through the medicinecabinet for a little while before pulling out a bottle of Micellarwater and some make-up removal pads. She wet a pad and rubbed itgently over your eyes, wiping away the black smudges that had becomeof your expertly applied make-up.

“M’tired.” you croaked out, resting your head against the coldbathroom wall. “Can we go to bed now?”

Cindy tossed the blackened pads into the waste basket and ran herhands under the tap. “Sure thing, honey.” She smiled at you asshe dried her hands, then helped you to your feet. She lead you fromthe bathroom, down the hall to your bedroom, where you flopped ontoyour bed.

Repressing what felt the her fiftieth sigh of the night, Cindyperched on the edge of the bed next to you and tried to help you situp. “You can’t sleep in that dress, (y/n).”

You grumbled, but complied, letting Cindy manoeuvrer you into anupright position and pull down the zip at the back of your dress. Youcollapsed back as soon as it was down and wiggled your way out of it.You giggled, clumsily wrapping you arms around Cindy’s waist as sheunhooked your bra and tried to untangle you from it. She was notletting you sleep in that evil contraption. “Now you have to getundressed.” you sang.

Cindy chuckled. “No, no, sugar. Sleep time.” She tried to liftyou slightly, just enough to peel back the bedsheets and tuck you in,but you were at an awkward angle and maybe a little too heavy to liftwith one arm. “C’mon, into bed.”

You huffed, clearly unhappy, but did as you were told regardless,tossing your bra off the side of the bed. “Don’t make me sleepalone.” you whined as she pulled the covers over you.

“I’ll be right back.” she promised. She disappeared into thebathroom briefly to wash off her own make-up and deposit her outfitinto the laundry hamper. She wandered back to your room and climbedinto bed next to yo in just her panties.

You giggled, carding your fingers into her blonde curls and pressinga kiss to her lips. “Hey there.” you purred.

Cindy shook her head. “Not when you’re like this.” she said.She pulled you close to her, coiling her own fingers into your hair.“You need to sleep.”

You would have protested, but honestly, you didn’t have it in you.She was right. You groaned, tucking your face into the crook of herneck. “Love you.” you muttered.

“I love you, too, angel.”

The next morning hit you like a truck.

It was too bright, your mouth felt like cotton and already everythingwas the worst.

You groaned, turned over in bed and reached your arm out for yourgirlfriend, but felt nothing. You sat up, blinking yourself into fullconsciousness. “Cind?” you croaked out, throat protesting in amanner that was not unlike swallowing sandpaper.

You threw off the duvet and struggled to your feet, stumbling outinto the hall. You could hear a clatter in the kitchen that made yourbrain feel like exploding. Despite every instinct, you followed thenoise into the kitchen and sat at the table.

As expected, you found Cindy in the kitchen, hovering over the stove.“Morning,” she greeted. “Didn’t reckon you’d be up justyet.” She moved over to the sink, filling a glass with water andplacing it in front of you, along with two paracetamol. “Take thatand I’ll make you some coffee.”

“Thank you.” you whined. You tossed the pills into your mouth andknocked back the water. “Cindy,” you frowned, giving her yourbest puppy pout. “I’m sorry you had to put up with my drunk asslast night.” you apologised.

Cindy laughed, placing a mug of hot coffee on the table. “I know,right?” she folded her arms and sat nest to you. “You’re solucky that I love you so much!” She put an arm around you and youleaned into her and groaned. “As long as you don’t make a habitof it, we’ll be okay.” She teased.