#and Charlie hits him with the “that’s what happens when you aren’t a woman”

[the-dalseum-duet]

cra-chea-ing out

i’m. actually tweaking.

also on my period so that’s probably why I’m on the fucking verge of tears over this shit.  funny pun title tag (brief Kai name drop tag too) : @svwhssftr

Adrienne Lenker is an indie artist who does very much sad soft teenage lesbian music. The Phoebe Bridgers type. But GOD. SHE IS A LYRICIST. They’re very simple but so damn effective which is what always gets me good. It will kill me every time. I haven’t heard a lot of her discography but rn. But Always is getting to me

I tend to focus on a lot of the very flashy and entertaining aspects of Dalseum and I do this on purpose. Because I physically cannot bring myself to think about the more domestic aspects without FUCKING CRASHING OUT. kai must be there to soften the blow or else i physically cannot finish writing it because i will break down. i will hysterically sob. but I heard the lyrics

“I don’t want to be the owner of your fantasy, I just want to be a part of your family”

 and I was just like “sonnit che…” so. here we are. a spiel abt sonnet and noeul’s relationship bc i do not write nearly enough abt them

and the rest of her songs are VERY sonnet coded I just cannot bring myself to write abt it. cannot. I will sob. anyway. I very violently paced circles in my room over “I could be a good mother, and I want to be your wife. so I hold you to my knife and I steal your letter”

NOT A LOT. JUST FOREVER. INTERTWINED. SEWN TOGETHER I’M CRASHING OUT OVER THESE TWO I’M CRASHING THE FUCK OUT 

so of course. we gotta start w sonnet’s past. grew up very sheltered in a monastery and went to an art school in Britain where they met Adam and realized all that was out there in the world. something abt sonnet choosing to abandon their monastic practices for the glamour of Dalseum… something abt becoming someone who could never return to your family without them seeing you as a moral failure… hashtag relatable. back to sonnet 

so they’re desperate for human connection with people their age. which is why I think they get so attached to Noeul. he makes them feel special and physically loved even though he treats them like shit outside of their hookup sessions. bc sonnet doesn’t understand this yet. they just see the part of him that cherishes what they offer him.

sonnet’s also definitely has some form of personality disorder. theeeeere is something VERY wrong with them. probably bpd if I’m being honest but I’m just not educated enough about it. their behavior toward noeul is very similar to having a favorite person though. 

and ofc the whole Blaire thing happens after Sonnet leaves the Council to focus on healing after what happened with Adam. this really gets me tbh. bc they tried to fix what was wrong with them. they knew they could do better. they TRIED to do better so fucking hard but the life of the council was too enticing. and they gave back in. and they just… do whatever noeul tells them bc it’s easy and they don’t have to worry about being a good person anymore. they don’t have to focus on healing when they can just keep destroying their self image because it feels so much better to indulge in whatever Noeul does and his praise than to face the implications of what they’re doing 

and Noeul knows sonnet is doing this. and he really doesn’t care because it’s easier for him, too. he doesn’t have to think about what might have been if he tried to better himself for Charlie. (SPOILER: SOMETHING HAPPENS APX. NINE MONTHS AFTER THIS THAT FORCES HIM TO DO EXACTLY THAT FOR FIFTEEN YEARS!) but people know Sonnet, and Sonnet knows how the Council works and all the ways they bullshit their way to seem prestigious. They were who a Sang man was meant to marry, and Noeul is no better than the thousands of men who came before him. No matter how much he tried to change that. They both gave in to the easiest option. 

But here’s the kicker. Neither of their strategies work. Sonnet doesn’t fill the void that Charlie was, and Sonnet fucking knows this. THEY KNOW THIS. THEY KNOW THIS. DO YOU HEAR ME RN THEY KNOW THIS. THEY KNEW THEY WOULD NEVER BE NOEUL’S FIRST CHOICE. SONNET KNOWS THAT NOEUL PRETENDS THEY’RE CHARLIE the shotgun is in my mouth right now actually 

And they know that everything they do is for show. they’re Charlie without the rough bits. without the arguments. without the social awkwardness. without the small, unimpressive body. without the longing for more. WITHOUT THE LONGING FOR MORE!!!

and Sonnet is fine playing this part for a few years until Marie starts getting a little older. they see her love for her family and her love for them. and suddenly Sonnet has a purpose again, and that’s to be Marie’s parent. like, they enjoyed taking care of Crow as a baby bc that’s just the way sonnet is. they’re naturally VERY empathetic. they ALWAYS put others above themselves. which is incredibly tragic considering they’re the main antagonist for half of the entire plot

but Marie was different because Marie was their daughter. ofc they don’t really have that initial biological connection the way Noeul connects with Crow (and i could absolutely talk abt sonnet’s distress over their own inability to carry children. for a very long time. but not now) but Marie is the closest thing they’ll ever get. and by God is she more than they could have ever wanted and hoped for. Marie makes Sonnet feel like Sonnet again and not just some stand-in for some girl Noeul never got over

and Noeul and Crow have this parallel connection for a while. Crow makes Noeul realize that he’s more than just his job and that he can have meaningful connections with others that are just. meaningful connections. and not just business transactions. even if that comes in the form of his illegitimate son

(and yeah I could also talk abt Noeul always seeing Charlie in Crow and Sonnet doing the same seeing how he connects with Crow more deeply than connects with Marie but the gist of that is self explanatory. very angsty! but age old trope there)

But this is the key difference between them:

Sonnet raises Marie to be Marie.

Noeul raises Crow to be Noeul.

And this is evident over the course of Blackbirds and how Sonnet and Noeul react to Crow betraying the Court’s values. Noeul thinks Crow is just being immature and isn’t a legitimate threat because he assumes Crow has the same thought process he did at that age. He only takes him seriously when he realizes Charlie is with him.

But Sonnet sees Crow for all he is. They see that yes, he is just a scared and confused kid, but they know he doesn’t want to inherit the role of his father. He sees how his loveless marriage and alcoholism has destroyed him. They know Crow’s smart and driven as hell. They know he’s just like his dad at that age. 

That’s why they only intervene when Marie gets involved. Because Marie is their heart and soul. Marie is the good they gave to Dalseum. As the Court proves to be less and less stable, they confine themselves to their sacred room just. to get high and play music and shit. because they know everything around them is collapsing and there’s nothing they can do because their role on the Court has been reduced to Noeul’s arm candy. Marie is the only person left who truly sees them for who they are. 

and once Noeul announces that Marie is going to become empress and Sonnet will no longer have any say on the Court, they disassociate entirely. like the entire week before Marie’s coronation they just get stoned out of their mind and. I’m actually debating having them attempt to overdose on Crow’s leftover pain meds bc damn that shit has to mentally kill someone. they just fully embrace their dehumanization. but after none of that works they launch Operation Doehunt with Gale and we all saw how that went (spoiler alert: gale had a closed casket funeral)

I had a point here. Oh yeah.

Sonnet didn’t care that Noeul didn’t find them specifically attractive. They just wanted someone that made them feel important. They jumped through the hoops he told them to jump through to prove to him that they were EVEN WORTHY of his time and attention… even though Sonnet was worth so much more than that. But, after all the dust settled, they just wanted Marie to be happy. That was all they cared about once their entire life as they knew it was jeopardized. 

They didn’t want to be a part of Noeul’s fantasy. They just wanted to be a part of his family. 

Tune in next time for a potential “not a lot, just forever” analysis. that’s it for now. 

update: wrote this like a day ago but you called me in the middle of my crashout so I had to put it on hold. so here is the finished product that’s literally unintelligible bro what does half of this mean

[macabr3-barbi3]

Dream a Little Dream (of Me)- Chapter 5

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Even more fun new abilities, like making Alastor have a real conversation!

I'm sorry, I know it's been forever- I have a terrible habit of getting caught up at chapter 5 on all of my fics for some reason 🤣 the new banner was created by my beloved @fraugwinska who is this fic's #1 hype woman (ily 💕)

I've hit a point in this story where I think I'm going to start implementing a few more plot elements- I love writing the smut but I have some fun ideas for actual story; they can only do so much before something else is needed to keep it going, so going forward there will be a bit less of a focus on the sexual aspects of the reader's relationship with Alastor and more on some emotional parts and world-building. I hope that's not too disappointing, and that you all will stick along for the ride with us <3

For weeks following your fleeing of his bedroom, Alastor is in an absolutely foul mood.

The night after your argument, your silent lounging on your bed- in your own bedroom once again, sleep deprived and irritated, unwilling again to interact with anyone else’s dreams- is disturbed by a shuddering of the hotel and loud, clattering thumps coming from down the hall. You stumble bleary-eyed into the hallway with everyone else, Charlie identifying the disturbance as coming from Alastor’s room and knocking gently on the door.

When he opens it he looks distraught, eyes wide, smile strained, his hair looking like he’s been running his hands through it constantly, tugging at it. “What is it,” he asks the Princess, and to Charlie’s credit she doesn’t shrink back from him when she asks if he’s okay, tells him that he’s disturbing everyone’s sleep.

He locks eyes with you where you stand a few feet away, still hovering halfway into your own room. “Perfectly fine,” he tells Charlie, but his eyes don’t leave your face. “Merely a… nightmare, I suppose. More of a disappointing dream than anything else, really.”

You duck back into your room with a slam of the door, chest heaving with your anger and frustration and not listening to whatever else he had to say to Charlie. What right did he have to say that you were a disappointment? You didn’t even know what he wanted from you, let alone what you had done wrong- what, not wanting to kill people? You were no saint, having ended up in Hell in the first place, but you had morals still, lines you wouldn’t cross. Regardless of anything that had happened between you thus far, any yearning or feelings that might have resulted from it, you wouldn’t change who you were as a person for him. You came to the hotel seeking redemption, for fuck’s sake- how could he think that he could ask that of you?

You start booking other hotel rooms with the money you’re earning as the Resident Events Coordinator- honestly, Charlie probably pays you way too much, but it's helping you in the meantime so you aren’t going to complain- and you’ll camp out for a few days at a time and practice your abilities in the dreams of others. It’s fun for a while, to innocently mess with people by creating clones and turning things upside down. You find that once you’ve been inside someone’s dreams you can almost tune into their thoughts like a radio broadcast now- a little concentration and you get fleeting snippets of consciousness from them; grocery lists, work tasks, gossip. It’s nothing like it had been with Alastor, like you were deep-diving into his brain, seeing his memories through his eyes. He might have been right about your connection to him being what allowed such a thinking to happen, since you showed no signs of being able to do such a thing with anyone else.

Charlie notices how often you’re away from the Hotel, because she’s doing everything in her power to keep you there aside from having Vaggie physically restrain you. She keeps proposing new activities for you to coordinate, from a night at the club to an outing at LuLu World, and most recently she had you planning a trip to her father’s mansion for some fancy dinner and tour- Lucifer himself wouldn’t be interacting with them beyond the actual meal, he was just opening the space to them so they could all see where Charlie had grown up, another lesson in ‘empathy’ that Charlie hoped would help them make progress.

So you spent the evening making sure that everyone was corralled into the correct locations and not slipping off where they shouldn’t be. Angel had already tried to convince Husk to raid the wine cellar with him, Niffty was lamenting that she wasn’t allowed into the King’s personal quarters to clean, and Charlie was growing more and more frustrated that rooms she wanted to show the group had been filled with rubber ducks. Alastor keeps his distance from you, occasionally fading into the shadows to go do his own thing- you hope Charlie and Lucifer don’t hold it against you that you have no ability to control that man. 

Dinner calms everyone down, wine and delicious food putting everyone in a better mood while Lucifer dazzled them with magic and stories about Charlie as a child. You laugh along with everyone but you can feel Alastor’s eyes on you the entire meal, and when you finally steal a glance at him he’s looking away.

Typical.

You help Vaggie herd everyone into their rooms- their own rooms, to Angel’s disappointment at not being able to share with Husk- and leave Alastor to Charlie so she can berate him about not making an effort to get along with her dad, snippy barbs flying across the table at each other between stories. You tell the girls that you’ll stay up a bit later to make sure no one does any ill-advised exploring in the night, and bid them a goodnight as you head off to clean up from dinner. Lucifer seemed to have used his magic to take care of most of the food mess, but he’s nowhere to be seen when you return to the dining room so you take your time in stacking plates and organizing the dishes so that whatever staff he might have has an easier time of taking care of it all.

Just after midnight finds you seated on the couch in Lucifer’s library, your eyes surprisingly not bleary with a need for sleep despite not having truly rested in days. Everyone else is asleep- you focus your powers for a moment and can’t pinpoint anything coming from the others, other than an unpleasant staticky noise that comes from Alastor’s room. The fireplace crackles pleasantly a few feet away from you, the comforting smell of old books surrounding you and making things feel… calmer than they have as of late, with Alastor stomping around the hotel like some angry beast and refusing to interact with you at all. He was always making this expression towards you, like he wants to say something, or wants you to say something, and it was wearing away at your resolve.

You didn’t want to have this distance between you. Even beyond the more intimate moments that you had shared, Alastor had always been good company; he was helping you learn more about your powers, even if it was only to sate his curiosity; outside of his bedroom he was friendly and fun, and would probably rather die again than admit that he enjoyed the company of the others as well. Throughout of the course of this… thing between you, something had changed on your side. You think about the night he tore his stitches, the words you had whispered before realizing he had passed out above you.

“I would be yours. Forever. For as long as you want.”

The words still sit uncomfortably true in your ribcage, make the rift between the two of you feel even wider. Maybe it would be easier if he knew- if you could take his avoidance of you as an answer. You wanted to find him, try to have a proper conversation about boundaries when it came to your power- have a proper conversation about your feelings, and-

A throat clears in the doorway of the library, and when you turn Alastor himself stands in the doorway. “I hope I’m not intruding,” he says stiffly without stepping into the room, and you wave a hand at him to indicate that he can join you. He stands at the other end of the room still, closer to the fire, and won’t meet your eyes. “I heard you telling Charlotte that you would keep an eye on everyone tonight- but I know you haven’t slept. I’m happy to take up the watch if you would like me to place a temporary pocket dimension in your room, or transport you back to the hotel for the night.”

You want to drop it- ignore the fight that still hovers frustratingly between the two of you when Alastor is offering an out. His way of apologizing, perhaps, but your thoughts from earlier are still there. You needed to actually talk about it, or the pair of you would just keep coming back to the same issue.

“It depends. Does accepting your offer mean that we wouldn’t be talking about how you casually mentioned having me kill people for you? Because in that case, no thank you.” You watch the fire instead of him, how the flames twist and dance with one another as he stiffens at your words.

“I… regret how that evening transpired,” he says at last, ignoring your sigh as he comes closer to the couch. “I’ve thought on the matter and I recognize how such a request-”

“A request that you made seem like a command,” you remind him, “with that shit you pulled with the leash.”

He takes a deep breath, the flames flickering green behind him as he tried to keep his composure. “Yes, I can see now how that would have upset you. Regardless- I recognize how such a request was inappropriate, even if we did have a tentative agreement in regards to my limits with your powers. I understand that it is a boundary for you, and I will do my best not to test that again.”

You finally turn to look at him, and he looks… properly abashed. But there was no way he would have come up with that on his own, not with the glee that had been evident in his features when he brought up the idea. “Did Charlie help you with that?” You ask, and he scowls- which is less scary than he probably hopes it is, and is more a confirmation than anything else.

“I may have sought her expertise in handling interpersonal conflict,” he says, his stiff posture finally loosening up as he joins you on the couch. “Apologies do not come easily to me- not sincere ones, anyway. I don’t-” He clenches his fist and turns away from you, dark shadows crawling across the floor in arcs away from him. “I don’t know how to have something in my grasp without possessing it entirely. We have a deal but it’s not one that grants me the liberties that I would prefer in regards to your powers and your actions.” 

You take a deep breath and scoot closer to him. “I appreciate you being honest with me,” you offer, and he grimaces like the idea is distasteful. “Listen, I’m sure you think having feelings makes you weaker or something but really, it’s important to talk about these things. And to apologize… which I accept. But if we want to keep, you know, experimenting with my powers and whatever else, I think we need to have specific guidelines of what we expect of each other that isn’t crossing any boundaries for either of us. What, exactly, do you want?”

Alastor seems to struggle with himself for a moment, clenching his hands and refusing to meet your eyes. “I… I’m not quite sure what I want,” he says, like the words of ignorance pain him. “I’ve despised having to keep my distance from you since our disagreement. To see you laughing with the others and turning away from me with that look on your face was unpleasant to say the least. I don’t want that space between us again- if you’re amenable to the idea I think I would like to have you back in my bedroom, once I have repaired the bayou dimension.”

“You want to be closer then- physically.” You hop cushions, sitting right beside him and placing a hand on his knee. “That’s fine, we can do that- you’ll have to tell me what happened to the bayou sometime, though.” He nods stiffly, hesitating a moment before he places his hand over yours on his knee. “Anything else?”

“In regards to your powers, I would still like to experiment if you will allow me.” Alastor lifts your hand from his knee and presses a soft kiss to the back of it. “I understand that hurting others is a limit you will not cross-”

“I won’t hurt you either, if that was your idea of trying to get around that.”

He frowns. “Too clever for your own good- I suppose that is part of the reason that I tolerate you. Very well- I will not ask you to cause physical harm to anybody, period. I also still would like to ask that I am the only one who knows of your abilities for the time being.”

“Done. I do have a condition of my own.” You turn to face him fully, and pull his hand to your heart. “I don’t want this to be a proper deal- no soul binding or anything like that. I would want the rope from our wager removed.” He stiffens at that, but he doesn’t jerk away from you like you expected so you continue. “We have to be able to trust each other if we want any sort of relationship to work, whether it be for experimentation or something more. We should be able to follow each other’s requests and boundaries without needing it sealed with a chain- that doesn’t give us any room to adapt or change as my powers grow and situations shift.”  

His jaw clenches, and he doesn’t look at you for a long moment, instead keeping his eyes trained on the flames before he finally nods- you bite your lip to keep from grinning or doing something stupid, like shouting in excitement. “I hope you realize what you are asking of me,” he says finally. “I don’t generally keep people close to me that I cannot control or own in some way or another. It keeps me detached from needing people, or caring about their approval. But I do believe I want those things from you, which is why I am agreeing to these terms. Please understand that this is… new territory for me.”

You lace your fingers through his. “It is for me, too. But that’s where the trust comes in- I have to trust that you’ll respect my boundaries without the compulsion of a deal, and you trust that I’m here with you because I want to be- whether you just want to continue experimenting with my powers or… anything else.”

Alastor’s red eyes glance at you from his peripheral. “Anything else, you say? I take it to mean that you also wish for things to return as they were between us in an intimate manner?” Your face flushes but you nod, and to your relief he smiles softly and reaches across the scant distance between you to touch your shoulder. “I would like that as well,” he says, and cups your cheek in one hand, leaning in so your foreheads rest against one another. His breath ghosts across your lips, and you realize with startling clarity that this would be the first time you’ve kissed him outside of dreams; the first one in reality, a milestone to mark the resolvement of your disagreement. You embrace it, leaning in and letting your lips meet, a gentle pressure before your mouth opens with a gasp when he trails his free hand up your thigh to caress the skin under your shorts with his thumb. “So soft,” he murmurs into the kiss, almost absently, and then he’s pulling you to him, maneuvering so you sit sideways in his lap. He lets his fingers creep a bit further under the hem of your shorts. “May I?”

“Please,” you whine, and he grants you mercy by snapping your clothing out of existence so he can make unhindered contact with your skin. His fingers move slowly, tracing through the wetness along the folds of your entrance before he parts them and slips a digit inside. The short weeks that have passed since the last time you were with him feel like a lifetime, but he still knows the intricacies of your body like a well loved instrument; a second finger follows, and pressure against the spot inside you that makes you see stars. “Fuck, Alastor…”

He steals the rest of your words with his mouth, his tongue snaking in to tangle with yours, drinking down the sounds you make like ambrosia. Another finger, and you twist in Alastor’s hold to grind yourself down against them, to angle your hips to guide him more effectively where you want him to go. “Someone is eager, hm?” He pulls back to whisper in your ear, hand finally leaving your face to come around your back, pulling you as close as he can to his body while still working his fingers inside you. His thumb comes into play, brushing with perfect pressure on your clit, dipping into the wetness that coats his fingers so the slide of it is slick and perfect. Tension builds inside you, muscles shaking as you ride Alastor’s hand towards a sloppy orgasm. He brings his mouth to your chest, sharp teeth nipping at the sensitive skin there before sucking gently, still making eye contact when you glance down at him through the haze of pleasure that threatens to overwhelm you. “Go on, darling,” he says softly, laving his tongue over the marks he’s sucked into your skin, fingers thrusting more insistently as everything in you coils tighter than a spring. “Cum for me, go on-”

You cry out his name as it takes you over, the electric flash of ecstasy that consumes you from the pit of your stomach to the tips of your fingers as Alastor works you through it. You can feel your heartbeat in your eyes from the force of it, a soft throbbing that you know Alastor is experiencing where his digits are still inside the grip of your internal walls. Everything is tingly and fuzzy afterward, as your pulse returns to normal and your breathing slows, aware now of the soft kisses that Alastor is pressing into your collarbone.

He removed his fingers from you, bringing them up to his mouth to drag his tongue up and down the length of them while you blush. And despite the pleasure he’s already given you, you want more- you grind your hips down to convey the sentiment, the mess of your orgasm still evident and soaking through the front of his trousers where you can feel the hard ridge of his cock. He hisses at the friction, twisting a hand up into your hair while the other grips your hip and pulls you down harder. “You tempt me, my dear,” he says, “but someone is coming.”

“I don’t hear anything,” you mutter, continuing to rock your hips in little circles. Even with how sensitive you are, the pressure against your clit feels damningly good, too good to stop or heed his warning. “And if someone comes in, I’ll handle it.”

Alastor laughs out loud. “Oh, you’ll handle it, will you? By all means then, have at it.” He gestures vaguely towards his pelvis, unaware of the trick that you’ve been holding up your sleeve in your recent solo experimentations. You would never get a better opportunity to surprise him, you think, as you rip the belt from his pants and help him shimmy them off, his thick erection beading with fluid at the tip when it’s freed.

You lean back against the couch cushions, pulling him down with you and using a gentle hand to guide him to your entrance. You let out a soft whimper as he pushes into you, breath punching out of you with a gasp when he sinks to the hilt in one swift thrust. You tangle a hand into his hair, gripping the base of one of his antlers and grinning when his hips jerk against you at the action. His eyes are half-lidded and soft as he stares down at you, seeming to have to focus on slowing down when he pulls out and slowly presses back in. “You’re so lovely,” he whispers, and your pulse leaps into your throat when he leans down to press a kiss to your forehead.

Your mind is flooded with images when he makes contact, emotions that ride through your veins along with the physical pleasure you’re feeling- evidently he’s been watching you the last few weeks, following you when you left the hotel to make sure you weren’t in any danger, sending his shadow to watch you sleep. You can feel the bitterness in your pulse as he watches you interact with the others, only to turn away when you notice him. The vague sadness that night that he had destroyed his room, his bayou, because how could he remain there when there were traces of you everywhere? 

You break the connection with a gasp, using your grip on his antler to pull him back to your mouth as he continues to fuck into you at a steady pace. He groans into your mouth, his fingers digging into your skin hard enough to leave bruises, marks that you can come back to when the need was to great, more tangible proof that this was real, that he wanted you outside your abilities. “Alastor, please,” you beg, letting the fingers not currently brushing the base of his horns to trail down his spine, tracing the vertebrae beneath your touch as he shivers. He shifts his legs, brings himself closer to you, the angle changing and pushing the tip of his cock exactly where you need it. 

The door to the library creaks open, and you both freeze.

“Hello?” There’s a hint of pain as Lucifer’s voice echoes in the room, where Alastor has tightened his grip enough to break skin with his claws. His other hand untangles itself from your hair to press against your mouth, silencing your heavy breathing. “Who’s in here?”

The couch you were seated on was high-backed- he wouldn’t be able to see you from the door, but if he entered the room, came around the front, you would be fucked in a far less pleasurable way than you currently were. Alastor’s nostrils flare above you as he hears the soft clacking of the King’s boots as he takes a couple steps in, apparently not able to help himself from bucking his hips forward, his teeth bared in a snarl when he feels your muffled groan against his palm.

More light blooms in the room from the wall sconces- you had been sitting in here with just the fire, and the glare of more lighting makes you squint your eyes, Alastor silhouetted beautifully above you. “I know someone is in here,” Lucifer demands, and you take a deep breath against Alastor’s hand and snap your fingers. “You were all told to-”

“Why, good evening, your Majesty!” 

You almost wish you had manifested in Hell like the CEO of that tech company, with some sort of electronics built into your head so you could record the look on Alastor’s face at hearing his own voice respond to Lucifer. Your eyebrows are creased, trying to focus on the figment you’ve conjured to keep the King’s attention away from the couch. 

“Oh, it’s just you,” Lucifer says, and you can hear the hint of disdain in his voice- you wonder, not for the first time, what the issue was between these two- some conflict that had started before you were at the Hotel that no one felt necessary to fill you in on. “I thought you were told to keep to your own quarters past eleven.”

You make the thing twirl it’s cane, snapping it back to the ground and inspecting it’s fingernails. “Yes, well, I had some business to attend to. And might I add, sire, you are also out past your imposed bedtime.” 

Maybe it was something about using your powers to sass the king of Hell with some false puppet, but Alastor seemed to react well to it- his eyes dark, teeth bared, he plants a foot on the floor to brace himself so the couch doesn’t shift and thrusts into you hard, his hand pressing harder against your mouth when you whine at the feeling of his cock dragging against your walls. There’s wonder in his expression, something akin to adoration; this was what he wanted from you, you realized, displays of power, shows of your abilities that he could see and benefit from, that showed that he could trust you. 

Lucifer scoffs across the room. “This is my house, if you’ve forgotten,” he retorts. “I can go where I please. And I heard you talking to someone!” Rapid footsteps, like he’s coming further into the room, and even as it makes Alastor buck his hips wildly against you, you don’t think he really wants to be caught in such a compromising situation.

You make the figure step forward- if you really concentrate you can almost see through its eyes, a vague image behind your eyelids of Lucifer standing before it with his arms crossed where you’ve blocked him, his gaze frustrated. “I was talking to myself,” you make it say. “I must have intelligent conversation on occasion, you know, and with everyone else in bed and only you left awake, I had to make do.”

Alastor grins above you, pleased with the tone and the words of this replica you’ve created of him; refusing to use his likeness to submit or offer pleasantries to get him out of the room; you were doubling down like Alastor himself would. You can hear the inaccuracies- you’re sure Alastor can, too- but Lucifer appears none the wiser as Alastor begins to fuck you in earnest, the couch thankfully staying still and not squeaking or moving as he holds his hand over your mouth harder and leans down to nibble at your collar.

“Of all the disrespectful-”

“Careful now, your Majesty,” it says, and you make shadows appear to crawl across the floor towards him, tendrils approaching the couch as well. When Alastor notices them he groans into your skin, and through the copy’s eyes you see Lucifer snap his head in the direction of the sound. “You wouldn’t want Charlie to catch us in a disagreement, would you?” And thank whatever beings heard prayers down here, Lucifer deflates- you had made a gamble with that, assuming that Charlie had spoken with her father about getting along with her hotelier, but knowing the princess the way that you did you figured there was no way that she would allow them to be at each other’s throats like they were. You let the false shadows sink back, and have your illusion give him a cheeky little wave. “There’s a good King. Now, may I get back to my business?” With the last word, Alastor stills, waiting for a confirmation or denial, possibly preparing to phase the two of you out of the room if Lucifer came further into the room-

“Do whatever you want,” Lucifer grumbles, “Charlie and that little coordinator need to keep a closer fucking eye on you, but I can’t be bothered.”

“I’ll be sure to mention that to our event planner,” you make it say, and Alastor makes another soft noise into your throat against where your pulse beats steadily, replicated in the rhythmic clenching of your walls around his still hard length. The interruption doesn’t seem to have doused your arousal, nor Alastor’s- the possibility of being caught like this makes your blood boil in the most pleasant way, Alastor’s cock still filling you perfectly even as he’s stopped actually fucking you for the time being. “I’ll bid you a good night, sire; I still have matters that need tending to, free of distractions.” You see Lucifer cast a middle finger back at the image of Alastor as it speaks, and then mercifully he’s storming out, a swirling golden portal opening for him to step through and then closing with a loud crack.

In time with the noise of the portal slamming closed, Alastor pulls his hips back and snaps them forward again- his hand is removed from your mouth with your gasp, and he moves it to your hip to pull you more forcefully into his thrusts. “You,” he growls against your jawline, “are perfect.” He kisses you, licking into your mouth and stealing the air from your lungs as it’s punched from you with every rock of his pelvis. “The audacity to pull such a stunt- the control you maintained over the illusion was breathtaking, I don’t- fuck,” he concludes eloquently, fingers coming between your bodies to rub at your clit again as he races towards completion. It reignites the fire in your abdomen, heat flashing through your body like a strike of lightning that burns across your skin, making you cling to him tighter. He looks down at you with dark, unfathomable eyes while he fucks you, his pace growing uneven and broken as he approaches his end. “Please, darling,” he whispers against your lips, “cum for me, I need-”

The plea is what breaks you, every muscle in your body tensing and releasing as the orgasm slams into you like a car into a brick wall- messy, sudden, destructive. You don’t leave your own mind this time, your consciousness firmly rooted in reality as you watch Alastor lose his composure, his eyes fluttering closed with a gasp of your name while he spills into the slick heat of your cunt, his hips still rocking as if he means to fuck his release as far into you as he can. You shiver with the aftershocks, Alastor still maintaining a gentle swiping across your clit, and you can feel the way your walls twitch around the length of his cock while he stays buried in you to the hilt.

“No mind traveling today, I see,” he asks quietly, another kiss pressed softly to your forehead, and while no mental images come forth you can feel what he’s feeling now; the lingering ache of pleasure, the pride he still feels at your show of your new ability, an overall sense of happiness that you wouldn’t expect to be able to bring Alastor. He had put aside his discomfort to have an honest, responsible conversation with you to fix what you had both thought might be irreparably broken, and you were thankful.

You hum against his throat. “I’m content where I am,” you tell him, and the vibration of his laughter on your lips is perfection.

From the previous tags list: @aconstructofamind @littlebluefishtail @spottypug @bishiglomper @ivebeenthearchersstuff @minamilinaqueen

if any of you would like to be removed for any reason, please let me know! <3

[stingslikeabee]

When Six asked for a moment all of a sudden, Melissa just nodded - out of respect, she didn’t follow him, of course. The woman merely stood where she was, still using the kitchen counter as some sort of support for her body although there was no tiredness in her bones - just a refreshed alertness, the weight of what they were seeking to accomplish settling on her shoulders but not in an oppressive way.

A dreadful thing, killing a parent - and yet, Edgar had never been a father; just an abuser with shared blood ties. Honestly, it felt more like liberation.

And while the barmaid was not really trying to eavesdrop, some bits of the conversation carried over to the kitchen - ‘another job, something important’. Melissa was still testing how she felt with these words attached not to some faceless person she had intel on for sale, or some foreign country one only saw in the news or something far removed from the Killer Queen reality. It was her - she was asking for the hit, the target was someone she was on familiar grounds, the people being threatened the two girls she loved more than anything.

As soon as Six was back, the barmaid just looked at him again - a bit of a staring contest for a second, the kitchen isle serving as some sort of middle ground between their bodies. But there was nothing requiring minimum distance there - no animosity or fighting will to be contained; they were on the same side and Melissa found herself almost nodding, as if she was supposed to greenlight or sign-off on something. Truth to be told - the brunette didn’t know the specifics or even the protocol operatives like him followed - for her, it was about intuition and trusting her instincts (and him).

“What? No room for my skin care products? So mean,” the barmaid replied with a sarcastic remark of her own, a bit of humor coloring her own visage, too. It could have been a type of defense, launching these comments and pretending she was not affected by what they were doing - but that was not the case with Melissa; she nodded shortly afterwards, and shifted her weight so the brunette could fully lean against the counter in an identical stance to the one Six had favored. Both arms atop the fake marble, chewing gum moving from one side to the other inside her mouth, gaze locked onto his.

She was no assassin herself (at least not yet) - but she wasn’t afraid; of him, or of becoming one. That decision had not been made yet, but Melissa was visibly determined to keep going; no hesitation, no judgement about whatever side of his was getting brought into light - she had come to him for help, after all. The barmaid didn’t do that sort of hypocritical shit.

“I would expect nothing less from a professional,” Melissa drawled the last word out, but it was meant fondly. A tilt of head followed and she softly tapped her index digit over the counter, numbering the items that followed, “Fake identity, cheap motels, coffee to go, hired cars - I am patching you up at some point, aren’t I? I can see it happening as part of the package,” the woman chuckled, but it was no empty attempt at sounding valiant - Melissa was fine; the metaphorical door that Six had been holding for her was crossed smoothly.

“It’s pretty late already,” she said in a more serious tone then, looking at her watch - a habit not many people still had on that day and age, but one Melissa kept up with nonetheless. Honey-colored eyes rose to meet Six - she had gone straight to him after closing up (and deliberating on doing it, of course), so that didn’t leave either of them with a lot of quality time for a nap. “Should I crash here and we drive together to my place to pack tomorrow? I can call my sisters from the car and text Charlie now - nothing much he needs to do apart from keeping the place from burning down for a few... Days? A week?” Melissa’s eyebrow was raised then; she was gauging how long they needed but rather to keep her colleague posted on expected absent periods than anything else.

As far as she was concerned - they could take a full year and it would still have been worth it.

------IT WAS A bit like this when he was tasked to look over claire fitzroy the first time he'd met her. for a spell he kept her at an arm's length while he told himself it was just a job. she'd whittled down his resolve and by the end of the mission, the favor for fitz, six knew he felt more for the little girl than he should. little sister. in a strange way it made him miss his blood family, but the man he was no longer existed (he did, six just refused to acknowledge it) and he'd cherry-picked the people he wanted to be affiliated with, now. factor in the ability to actually think and act on his own and it was an entire different ball game.

for a long time he kept melissa at an arm's length. it wasn't as if this particular moment, their agreed-upon-contract had opened an entire other door but these sorts of things didn't happen overnight and melissa would be introduced to a side of six she likely knew existed but never really saw in action. it would be a turning point all its own ... either she embraced the weapon he was or ran for the hills.

he had a feeling it would be the former.

" excuse me for a moment. " he pulled away from his rested position against the island and fished his hand in his other pocket this time, retrieving his phone. a burner, but they all were and by now six had every number relevant memorized front and back. he moved from the little kitchen to the living room, to the back bedroom where he lingered in the door frame while the line trilled in his ear. swathed in shadow ---if it weren't for the noise he made when the other line picked up and the fact that melissa saw him go there, he might have very well blended.

" yeah. it's me. how is she? " a pause. six took two steps into the bed room and turned, eyes shifting to melissa while he listened intently to the other side. " good. gonna be a bit late. have another job, something important. give her my best. " another pause. " i need seema. oh-eight hundred. tell her i'll make it up to her for the short notice. you too. "

and that was that. six pressed the phone back into his pocket and crossed back to the living room, back into the little kitchen, back to his perch where he resumed the exact position he had been in before the phone call in question: both palms on the edge of the island, body weight carried in his forearms. there was something maybe a little different about the look in his eye, this time. expectant ... as if something drastic had changed.

and it did. melissa had opened the door to his world. he was merely holding it for her as she stepped through.

" eight o'clock in the morning. i can come with you to pack. light. " it was amusement. amusement lingered at the end of his tone now, though that impassive expression still rested on his face. hard to read, except for someone like melissa who was pretty good at studying those little tells and tics as they came and went. six never really felt anything about upcoming jobs ---they were orders received, details shared, bits of himself that he had to dress up and present before the work was done and he moved on. but this wasn't official shit anymore, and there were no strict rules. just what he chose, what he felt abided best.

but he didn't move. not until she confirmed she was ready to go and get things ready. he just stayed there, unflinching, almost unblinking, studying her with those cold blue eyes where the lightest flavor of beguilement danced. " maybe nobody will remember you. maybe they will. we need them to not. " it was neither a confirmation nor denial that he was giving her an alter ego, as it were ... though if she chose to believe it six wouldn't deny a handy out to his genuine interest.

" you wanted to be a real partner. you get the whole treatment. " whatever that was.

[katmoonz]

Tell Me Your Dirty Secret

Pairing Bill Weasley x Fem!Reader (slight Sirius Black x Fem!Reader)

Word Count: 4.5k

CW: Smut, Jealousy, choking kink, possessive!Bill, Dom!Bill, Sub!Reader, use of pet names, aftercare, slight degradation, oral (male receiving), vaginal sex, slightest bit of violence, unprotected sex. if I’ve missed anything out plz let me know!

It’s midnight and there is not a soul in sight. Spending the holidays with the order in Grimmauld place sure was exciting from Sirius’ drunken shenanigans and Molly's incredible cooking to the twins' pranks, there was never a boring moment within the household.

Currently, you were sitting in the kitchen nursing a cup of hot chocolate thinking about your boyfriend Bill Weasley. You had met Bill through his brother Charlie, whose year you’d been in at school, the crush you had on Bill started from the moment you met him but you waited until you had left school before trying to get closer to him.

At the moment Bill was away on order business he was due back in the morning, this left you unable to sleep out of concern for his safety and with time to collect your thoughts.

Bill is the most handsome man you’ve ever met, his piercing blue eyes and his strong muscular form are all perfect but his kind and charming personality made you even more attracted. Bill is the sweetest boyfriend you could ever ask for, always checking up on you asking about your day, complimenting the meals you make, running a bath when you don’t feel well. His warm embrace makes you feel so safe and secure among other things... The sex is amazing Bill is always so attentive, always taking care of you first before carefully making love to you but it wasn’t enough. For the past few weeks, you had been wanting him to be a little rougher with you but you didn’t know how to tell him what you wanted.

It started one morning when he’d walked into the bedroom to find you struggling to tie your shoes, he’d bent down and tied them for you. You watched as his fingers, which were laden with rings, quickly but efficiently tie your laces before he stood up to kiss you on the cheek.

That was only the start of your fascination with his rings, he would often massage your shoulders for you after a long day at work before retiring to bed. When he kisses you he often holds your face in one of his hands, the cold metal of his rings against your face would cause butterflies in your stomach.

But you also wanted him to choke you. You’d started imagining him choking you after going out to a bar with him, a guy had been harassing you and you’d been trying to ignore it but he grabbed your arm tightly within his hand in a bruising grip trying to talk you into going home with him. You could smell the alcohol on his breath and before you knew it the man was being held up against the nearest wall by Bill, his hand around the pervs throat as he gave him a gruff warning to leave you alone.

Since that moment you’d constantly been fantasising about what it’d be like to have Bills hands around your neck whilst you had sex. The only problem with this being that Bill was ever so gentle whilst having sex with you, he’d never been rough in the bedroom.

You sigh as you finish off your hot chocolate before walking over to the sink with your mug to wash it out. *there must be some way to get him to be rough with me* you think longingly, suddenly the idea strikes you like a lightning bolt *Bill only had his hand around that man's neck because he pissed him off, perhaps if I make him jealous enough and then try to seduce him he will be rougher*

With that thought in mind, you decide to head up to bed not wanting to wear yourself out before tomorrow’s order meeting which would be the perfect opportunity to put your plan into action.

-

The weekly order meeting at Grimmauld Place was due to start in a few minutes, the house bustling with order members. Bill spots you from across the room and starts making his way over to you, “y/n” he shouts over the crowd.

Looking around you, you notice that the seat next to the owner of the house Sirius Black is free so you quickly seat yourself next to him.

“Alright love,” he says arching one brow before taking a sip out of the goblet in front of him.

“Yeah good,” you say looking around the kitchen for Bill, you spot him speaking to his mother who must have accosted him before he could get to you.

“trouble in paradise?” he asks before leaning back in his seat.

“No, no, nothing like that” you hastily reply, “I just um…” you look him up and down before taking a quick glance at Bill across the room.

“Y/n?”

You decide to give in and ask Sirius for help with your plan considering that he seems to be one of the few people in the room who would agree to it. “Would you help me with something?”

“Sure doll, what?” he asks, leaning in closer to listen to you.

“I need to make Bill jealous”

Sirius smirks before looking over your shoulder for Bill, he turns back to you and looks you up and down “what’s in it for me?”

You consider backing out for a second but at the thought of potentially having Bill's hand around your neck, you decide to go for it. “I’ll get you a bottle of firewhiskey”

Sirius smiles before taking your hand in his “deal” he doesn’t release your hand and whispers “don’t turn around he’s watching us, play along.” He raises your hand to his mouth before placing a chaste kiss upon your knuckle, you giggle both out of nervousness and to keep up the act.

You place your hand on the table and continue your conversation with Sirius.

“Why are you trying to make him jealous? If you don’t mind me asking?”

You look into his eyes and contemplate whether you should tell him or not. “I just want to piss him off,” you say, batting your eyelashes innocently.

“Mhmm, so you don’t just want some rough passionate make-up sex” He replies cockily picking up his goblet again.

You look at him sheepishly “how’d you know?”

He places his goblet back on the table before putting his hand on top of yours, “you don’t look like an angry woman trust me I’d know from all of the women- well also men that I’ve angered in my lifetime and every time you look at him you look as if you want to jump his bones.”

“I um-“

Sirius cuts you off, “it’s okay, you don’t need to explain yourself, maybe give me a few details tomorrow if you’re still able to walk, oh and my firewhiskey but I’m glad to be at your service doll”

You hit him on the shoulder before letting out a laugh, a tear falls from your eye as you laugh.

Dumbledore walks into the room getting ready to start the meeting, “Let's hope that Bill sits reasonably close to us” you say getting visibly excited.

Sirius lets out a chuckle, “Have fun I suppose but don’t come crying to me in the morning when you need a pain-relieving potion”

Bill walks over to you and leans over your shoulder to kiss you but you dodge him at the last second so that his kiss lands on your cheek. “Hello love, you look like you’re having fun” instead of turning around to speak to him you continue to look at Sirius, “mhmm,” you say dismissively. Bill gives you a look of confusion before walking away, he sits down at the opposite side of the table to you just as Dumbledore starts the meeting.

The meeting is relatively boring. It mainly consists of Albus talking about the upcoming patrols, you can feel Bill's eyes on you as you try to concentrate on the meeting and decide to shift your chair closer to Sirius’. Your hand is still on the table and after a few seconds of sitting closer to Sirius you can feel him place his hand on top of yours, he starts to stroke your knuckles with his thumb. You look up at him offering him a smile, he smirks back at you and leans into your ear. “We’ve barely done anything and he looks irritated already, follow my lead” he whispers before he leans back into his chair he strokes your cheek lightly with his free hand.

A couple of minutes pass by before Sirius shifts his chair even closer, he takes one arm and wraps it around you, you lean into his side with your head resting on his shoulder. You hear an angry huff from the other side of the table and take a glance up to see Bill with an angry expression upon his face.

Mad-eye starts giving his report on the happenings in Hogsmeade and you can feel yourself start to drift off to sleep as he continuously rambles.

You open your eyes at the feeling of someone lightly shaking you, “y/n love, you fell asleep the meetings finished” you look up to see that you have fallen asleep on Sirius, the rest of the order are starting to get up out of their chairs. Bill walks Molly and Arthur over to the floo giving yourself and Sirius a minute to yourselves.

“I don’t think we’ve pissed him off enough,” you say whilst trying to think of what else you could possibly do.

“You’re staying for drinks with us aren’t you? Perhaps we could flirt a bit more or you touch me up” suggests Sirius and before you can put up even the slightest protest at his suggestion Bill returns to the table with Charlie, Remus, Tonks and drinks in tow.

For a while Bill ignores you but you can see the slight frown upon his face every time he looks down your end of the table.

After a while of sitting back and listening to Charlie's stories about his encounters with dragons, you hear someone’s stomach rumble. Tonks giggles “sorry, I guess I’m still hungry”

Bill stands up “I’ll see if I can find any food, I’m sure Mum left some cookies a couple of days ago”

As Bill walks around the table you reach out to Sirius and put your hand on his thigh. You hear Bill let out a low growl as he notices how close you are to touching Sirius’ crotch. Before making his way over to the pantry he leans down over your shoulder, you can feel his warm breath behind your ear. “What are you doing?” He asks angrily.

You turn around to look at him and notice the red tinge on his face. It almost matches the shade of his hair due to how angry he is. “Nothing babe, I’m just talking to Sirius, am I not allowed to speak to my friend?” You reply innocently.

Bill lets out a huff before wiping a hand across his face trying to calm himself down, he proceeds to walk over to the pantry to find the cookies and upon returning he practically throws the plate onto the table. Everyone bar yourself and Remus takes one. After a couple of minutes you reach out to grab a smaller one but Sirius stops you by grabbing onto your hand. “I’m not sure you’ll want one love, they’re a few days old so they are quite hard.”

“That’s okay, I like it hard” you reply cockily before grabbing one.

There's a stunned silence for a moment before everyone starts laughing, that is everyone except Bill.

Sirius stretches in his seat before standing up, “c’mon let’s go sit in the library it’s much warmer up there” Sirius reaches towards you taking your arm in his before leading the way up to the library.

Upon reaching the library, Sirius backs you into a bookshelf and cages you in with his arms. “I’m sure you’ll get what you want soon, love” he whispers down into your ear. Instead of withdrawing after whispering into your ear, he keeps his face close to yours so that if anyone were to walk into the room it would look as though the two of you were making out.

Sirius has the most breathtaking eyes you’ve ever seen, you can feel your breath hitch as you gaze into his face. Sirius due to his lineage has sharp aristocratic features upon his face, his lips voluptuous and full. If you weren’t already with Bill you definitely would have jumped Sirius’ bones.

A couple of minutes go by, you hear the sound of the floo signalling that someone has left. Another minute flies by and you feel your heart flutter in your chest with anticipation. A stomping noise comes from the staircase before the door is abruptly opened,

Bang!

In a matter of seconds, Sirius has been roughly pulled away from you and pinned into the wall by an angry Bill.

Bill has his hand wrapped around Sirius’ throat and you can feel the anger radiating off of him. “Hands off my girl” he growls. You whimper but Bill ignores you so that he can focus on Sirius who is currently pinned to the wall smirking.

“Trust me I’m not interested in your girl” replies Sirius cockily despite having a muscular hand around his throat.

“Then why were you all over each other?” Asks Bill, his hand on Sirius's neck slightly loosens

“Because she asked for it” Sirius replies cockily. Bill tightens his hand around Sirius’ neck yet again and you whimper even louder than before. Your panties are completely soaked and you’re rubbing your thighs together to try and relieve some of the arousal that you are feeling. Both Bill and Sirius hear your whimper and look over to you watching as you non-discreetly rub your thighs together.

“She planned this Bill, look at her, she’s getting off on it,” Sirius says with a hint of laughter in his voice.

Bill watches you for another second before letting go of Sirius.

“Is that true princess? Did you plan this?” asks Bill, with a strange look on his face. You don’t respond to him so he walks over to you and tilts your head up to look at him.

“Answer me when I talk to you” he growls dangerously, his eyes have darkened slightly, possibly due to his anger or arousal. You whimper again before nodding. “come on love, let’s go to bed” he firmly grasps your arm and marches you over to the door, he stops and turns to speak to Sirius from across the room “we still okay to stay tonight?” He asks gruffly.

“Sure mate” replies Sirius leaning against a bookcase with a smirk on his face. The last thing you see before you are dragged out of the room is Sirius winking at you.

With a tight grip on your arm, Bill marches you up the stairs of Grimmauld Place towards one of the guest rooms. You can feel butterflies in your stomach both excited and nervous at the prospect of getting what you want. Bill drags you into the guest room and closes the door. Bill turns around to watch you for a minute before beckoning you forward with his finger. “Come here love”

Cautiously you walk towards him till you are standing right in front of him.

“Why did you do that?” asks Bill, the strange but intimidating look remains on his face.

“M’sorry” you reply, slightly embarrassed.

“No love, I didn’t ask you to apologise. I said why?” He steps forward so that there is no space between you. You can feel his breath on your face.

“Just wanted to make you jealous” you reply, sheepishly.

Bill puts his hand under your chin and tilts your head to make you look at him. “Why’d you want me jealous princess?” his mouth is right next to your ear and you can feel his warm breath against the side of your face.

“S’hot” you reply putting a hand on his chest

“Mhmm, and what else?” Asks Bill, starting to kiss and suck on your neck.

You let out a quiet moan, “want you to be rough”

“Rough? how’d you want me to be rough?”

You pull back from him slightly to look into his eyes, his pupils are wide with arousal, “Well?” He asks arching a brow

“Want you to fuck me hard,” you say breathlessly, you can feel the tingle in your pussy from just admitting to your desire to be dominated.

“Good girl” he whispers before kissing you, Bill brings up one hand to start massaging your breast as he backs you up to the closest wall. Bill presses you up against the wall and softly bites your lip before backing away from you. You whine, Bill stands in the middle of the room with his arms crossed looking slightly amused at how desperate you are. “strip” he orders. You look up at him and don’t make a move to take off your clothes.

“Are you dumb princess? I said strip” Bill gives you a stern look as he orders you to take your clothes off. After a few seconds more of staring at Bill blankly, you start to remove your clothing. Just as you are about to remove your panties his voice reaches your ears again. “Leave them on”.

You look at him and rub your thighs together, your panties damp with arousal. Bill comes closer to you and puts one hand on your shoulder to push you down “Be a good girl and suck my cock”

You get onto your knees and wait patiently for him to unbuckle his belt, you watch as his ring laden fingers pop open the button on his trousers and push them to the floor alongside his underwear. His cock, long and hard now revealed to you.

The sight of his cock has what one might describe as a Pavlovian effect on you, your pussy throbs with excitement and your mouth suddenly feels as though it has too much saliva. You lean forward and spit on your hand before enclosing his length in your fist, you run your hand up and down it, getting him harder with your hand. You bring your face closer and look up at Bill, his face expectant. “Well?” He asks.

You bring out your tongue and give the head of his cock a lick, Bill shudders and lets out a pleasurable moan, you grin before taking him slightly into your mouth, sucking on the tip like a lollipop. Bill starts to moan a bit louder, you take him deeper into the warm cavern that is your mouth. You bob your head up and down whilst using a hand to work the rest of him off as he has a rather generously sized cock. Bill puts a hand in your hair, his eyes are shut revelling in the pleasure that your mouth is giving him. “Yess, good girl” he hisses, trying not to succumb to the urge to just cum in your mouth.

After a few minutes, Bill pulls on your hair, you release him from your mouth and look up at him before whining in disappointment. “Up,” he says, you stand up slowly trying to adjust to the blood flow getting back to your feet after being on your knees.

Bill reaches down to help you and pulls you into his chest as you rise, “are you gonna be my good girl?” He asks with a smirk on his face, without giving you a second to reply he lifts you off of your feet and carries you to the bed, throwing you down and settling himself over you. Roughly, Bill pulls down your panties before chucking them across the room, he brings himself back up to your face grasping your jaw in one hand. Your pussy throbs as you stare into each other’s eyes.

Bill has the most beautiful blue eyes you’ve ever seen, the blue orbs a stark contrast to his ginger locks which are tied back in a bun at the back of his head. As you distract yourself with your boyfriend's beauty he sneaks a hand down to your pussy. You gasp as a lone finger suddenly fills your aching core, he pumps it in and out a few times before stopping causing you to squirm, “Bill, please” you whine.

Bill smirks and leans down to take a nipple in his mouth, he waits until you let out a little moan before releasing your nipple with a pop. Not wasting another second he pushes his cock into you, letting out a groan at how tightly you are gripping him, he starts with gentle thrusts before steadily speeding up. You can feel the tingle in your pussy and let out little moans every time Bill pushes back in.

As you get closer to your release Bill starts to slow down, he slows till you start to whine having been pulled away from the brink of orgasm. Bill moves one hand to rest next to your neck and continues slowly thrusting, he leans down and takes your ear lobe between his teeth for a second before letting go and pulling back to look into your eyes.

“So princess,” he starts “did you think it was fun to make me jealous?” he punctuates his sentence with a hard thrust causing you to let out a gasp.

“M’sorry” you whisper back at him.

“Sorry? So you don’t want me to be rough with you?” He asks with a smirk on his face, this time he ceases all movement. You whimper and buck up your hips to try and get him to move, he chuckles. “Look at you, acting like such a desperate slut” he starts to move again, this time with slow, hard thrusts.

“Is that good baby?” he asks

“Not enough” you whine back at him

“Not enough?” he asks “maybe my desperate whore would get what she wanted if she asked for it”

He wait to see if you respond before continuing, he looks you dead in the eye, “Tell me” he whispers huskily “tell me your dirty secret”

Without thinking you end up blurting out what you want, “want your hand on my neck”

Bill takes one hand and gently wraps it around the front of your neck, pressing down lightly at the sides. Bills rings feel cool against your skin, the cold metal a stark contrast to the heat of your sweaty body. You moan loudly and your pussy clenches around his cock drenching it even more.

Bill feels himself getting close from the grip you have on him so he starts to thrust harder “good girl” he hisses.

It feels like a dream, how could this delicious demanding man be your Bill, you are in such disbelief at how easy it was to get him to be rougher with you that the next words that fall from his mouth seem almost unreal.

“Touch yourself” he huffs out mid-thrust

You reach a hand down and start frantically rubbing your clit, desperate for release. You feel the tingle in your navel grow and your moans get louder. Bill senses that you are about to cum and presses down slightly against the sides of your neck pushing you over the edge. You see white and feel Bill release your neck as he gives a few more thrusts before releasing inside of you, he manages to stay on his arms long enough to pull out and drop down next to you.

Half asleep from the powerful orgasm you hear someone moving around the room, you let out a groan and shift slightly to get more comfortable.

“Shh baby” Bill whispers, he moves your legs to start cleaning you up and you let out a whine at being moved from your position. Bill gently strokes your cheek, “it’s okay, I’m just cleaning up the mess, good girl” He takes a wet cloth and carefully wipes up the mess between your legs.

The mattress shifts slightly as Bill returns to you, he pulls you into his chest and softly kisses your forehead, “my good girl” he whispers into the top of your head just as you drift off to sleep.

-

The soft glow of sunlight coming through the dusty old curtains is the first thing to greet you upon awakening. You stretch out your limbs which are sore from last night and try to roll over but find that you can’t due to the strong arm that Bill has wrapped around your torso.

Bill softly snores and you peer up at his face over your shoulder, his features even more beautiful in the glow of the morning sunshine. His skin has a pretty sheen to it, the freckles on his arms and face stand out against his pale skin.

Carefully so as not to awaken him, you slip out from under his arm. As you stand up you almost lose your balance and have to hold on to the edge of the bed to steady yourself. You notice Bill's shirt from the previous day abandoned on the floor so you pick it up and pull it on buttoning it up before shuffling out the door.

You head to the restroom and then start to make your way down to the kitchen, the trip taking almost twice as long as usual due to your aching muscles.

Finally, you get to the kitchen which is empty, you make yourself breakfast before sitting down. After a few minutes, you hear the floorboards creak signalling that someone is approaching the kitchen. The door creaks open and you are greeted by Sirius who is grinning from ear to ear, “morning love, wasn’t expecting to see you today”

You roll your eyes and finish your breakfast. You slowly stand up and make your way to the sink with your dishes, you lean against the counter after ridding yourself of them. “Soooo” begins Sirius, “how was it?” He leans against a nearby wall and takes a sip of his coffee waiting for your answer.

“Good” you respond not giving anything away

Sirius looks you up and down before putting his mug down and crossing the room to stand between your legs, he’s so close that you can feel his breath upon your cheek. You close your eyes as he brushes a strand of hair away from your face, you feel him shift away from you and as you open them again you find him softly smiling at you his eyes have a mischievous twinkle.

Sirius walks back towards the door pausing before turning back towards you. “I have a present for you” he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a bottle, he throws it to you, you catch it. It’s a bottle of pain-relieving potion. He winks at you before leaving the room.

Tags: @crystal-dee @fredweasleylittleslut @padf00ts-l0ver @divanca2006

Taglist form

[aquamoonchaii]

genre || romance?, greek mythology, 

warnings || implied smut, suggestive, death, agressiveness

pairing || demigod!johnny x reader, hades!jaehyun x reader

wc || 3,4k

collab || god among us by @yutasgalaxy

charlie's notes || this is a new genre for me, hope you enjoy it! i’m sorry this is so late, the writer’s block hit me like a truck for this one!

summary || there's something about death that is so powerful, no one can do anything about it. Except the woman that makes the underworld god crazy, she should die for the good of the humanity but she won't. Someone should make something about it, huh?

"So you despise Zeus but act like him having three men at home and me here? I should leave something to let them know I'm the alpha." You slap his mouth telling him you wouldn't talk about them, he just growls and grabs your hand harshly keeping you in place as his whole naked figure crushes you to the mattress, you sigh as the feeling of his lips start to leave kisses on your neck, the sloppiness and the aggressive bite marks are rewarded always after with heated kisses that only end when there's lips bleeding. He would always wait for them before you go, as he would check every single mark he left.

"That ma'am is really doing naughty stuff with people's money, huh?" Johnny nods as he gives details watching you get dressed with another dress you had in your bag. "Ok, noted. Did you really have to rip my dress each time?"

"You really piss me off, what can I do about it?"

It was a moment of impulsiveness and pure rage, all happened so fast it must be a fucking dream. Like the ones you usually have thinking how this world would be better without those people. Those you work for.

They have the blessing of the king and think everyone else is born to serve them, fuck deities and the powerful. As a mere mortal with no powers, you just gain money from your skillful hands and the embroidery that shines in the richest people here. Gold is property of Hades but are you really one to ask the god of the Underworld? You just have it a few days in your hands anyways.

Being short of money isn’t a problem either, you have people under your orders. Well, more like three young men that look like they need an older sister. You have them close because even in the other tasks that have nothing to do with gold filaments and needles, they are willing to help. So you'll always protect them.

Taking a bit of the evil rich's wealth and making them pay for their sins isn't a crime as your hands aren't stained with blood, right? It's just accelerating the process of Hades’ job.

The needle in this embroidery seems to fail as you look at the bruises on your right wrist wondering how such force on his hands gave you as much pleasure as pain, your eyes trail to your long nails that must leave marks on his broad back every time you meet. You don't have time to think of him as the mission is almost finished so Hyuck, Renjun and Jeno would come and you can enjoy a great meal after this.

"Y/N!" You giggled as your name is called, that sweet voice comes from the man that makes the best herbal medicine in the town. The amount of people he has saved from his knowledge is amazing, you leave the work aside to receive him with a hug when he enters but your smile quickly falls.

"Hyuck! They're going to kill him!" Renjun lets himself fall at your feet as the adrenaline goes wild through his body, his hands are trembling. Your ears suddenly hear your own thumping of your heart as Renjun's words sound far away and you start running.

He has been caught.

It's your fault.

I got you Y/N. Aren't I the best? When I return, you better sew me the most amazing shirt. I'll enter this time alone so you will wait and worship me later.

You don't remember how you arrived but Jeno is waiting for you at the door. He quickly blocks your way when he sees you taking out a dagger. "We promised we wouldn't kill anyone."

"I won't let him die, Jeno."

"You know we need you, right?" Jeno sighs as you nod at him, he lifts you up by the waist to enter from a secret entrance. Before you start climbing the rest, you turn around to see a really worried guy. You wish you could apologize for this but you can't.

Now that you think about it, he warned you about it somehow. Maybe it was fate, but looking down from a little window at Hyuck trying hard to maintain the smug smirk as life slipped through his fingers, simply makes you enraged.

That man chained up to the wall is being punished like his old times as a slave, he is shirtless and he is trembling. Deep wounds are all over his body and each one feels like yours as you promised it would never happen again.

"Say her name, little bastard. Who planned this?" Hyuck raises his head a bit and spits at the big guy in front of him, your body comes across the little window and you don't care if he says your name at this point. He laughs as the big guy groans, annoyed at his behavior.

'We should talk with Zeus and ask for wealth and powers, isn't this the most amazing thing to do? We help the poor and rich people kill each other when we help their secrets come out! Our hands are bloodless! Aren't we angels? We should be praised now.' Says Hyuck as you wipe his mouth, Jeno whines and you do the same to him, Renjun laughs and wonders how they are all so loyal to the promise of not killing anyone. 'We are not like them.'

"Are you going to die smiling at me, little bitch? How sweet of you, I'll tell your owner that so she'll get the fucking rules." The big man takes out a dagger and pushes it through his lower stomach, making him gasp loudly as you approach slowly. 

"You'll remember me even when Hades meets you, you were always below my feet always. And you'll die like that too." He suddenly loses the chains and lets him go so Hyuck falls and the man puts his left foot on his neck. After a harsh thump, he is not moving anymore.

You lose it then.

Pushing the dagger against the man that injured Hyuck repeatedly as you smile at his widened eyes. It's the same weapon anyways, so he is feeling how his weapon hurts, no screams stop you. Not even when his master appears and looks at you horrified, calling you out, not even her screams are enough.

That man hurt him before, he hurt a lot of slaves for fun and because of his master's orders. It was insane.

Just like you right now.

You finally stop when you hear Jeno's voice again. The blurriness of the scene is because hot tears don't stop rolling down your face, when you look up he is there hugging Hyuck's body. The thump of your heart never stopped and you are not brave enough to ask if he is still breathing.

Your trembling hands touch the big guy's body now covered in blood lifeless because of you. It's not a dream. You killed a person.

No matter how hard you try to stand up, your legs are not answering. You just push yourself away and crawl besides Jeno who is sat on the ground holding Hyuck in his arms.

You use the sleeves of your dress to wipe Hyuck's face, this habit of yours was his favorite but he doesn't wake up.

"It's not funny, Hyuck. Don't make me say 'please', just wake up."

"Y/N…" Jeno calls softly your name as he grabs the hand that caress Hyuck's face and takes a deep breath. "... it's my fault."

You slapped his hand and two fingers went to the man's neck laying between you two, your lips quivering when there's no signal of life. "It's my fault, death takes over him because of me so I'll stop it."

Jeno doesn't take your words seriously as his mind seems far away looking at his dead friend, his jaw is clenched and his arms hug him protectively. He doesn't notice when you take out the stone from his pocket.

"I'll go to Hades. Please take care and protect Renjun."

Before he can say a thing, you disappeared.

Jeno was in charge of taking the precious metals so he needed the permission of Hades, Hyuck robbed a stone from a demi-god who used to brag about a stone that meant Hades' protection. Somehow, you have to try talking to him to make a deal to save Hyuck, only the god of the underworld could help you.

Even saying his name out loud can doom you to the underworld where your soul would stay with him forever. But you can't lose him, there's no choice.

You run to the forest and scream his name out loud, begging for him to help you save Hyuck. He could punish your soul when you die twice as harsh for what you did, you would embroider the most beautiful capes in the universe if he wanted to, you could help him here if it's needed. There's no exact way to get to the underworld so you just hope for the best as you beg and promise things like you are not scared for your own life.

"Hades, please God of the underworld, I'm calling you because I have no one else to go to. Thanatos wouldn't hear me as I'm a murderer now. Please! I need your help!" You look everywhere searching for any signal but you don't feel like you are even heard, your own echo being the only companion. When your voice gets hoarse, you just sit down picturing the last time you saw Hyuck: being murdered for not calling you out, you want to scream and cry but tears won't fall as they should. Tears are a sign of giving up and you are not going to cry grieving yet.

You'll fight for your best friend.

"It's JaeHyun." Says a male voice from behind and you quickly stand up, searching for the dagger you have. There's none, still you put yourself in a defensive position and he smiles. "You shouldn't be so brave when I'm allowed to punish you twice."

"What?"

"I don't think you are this slow when you literally summoned me because of a friend, do you really think you can defeat death?" A subtle wind surrounds him as it turns dark around him.

You gulped at the man that has his neck full of drawings in full black ink. There's this soft black fabric around his body, his hair is slicked back, you could recognize his face from far away. This is also your first time meeting the God of the Underworld.

"How do I know you are not a dark magician trying to fool me?"

"I guess seeing someone breaking your loveable friend's neck may be shocking enough to not recognize Hades when you have him in front of you." He raises an eyebrow as you stay silent still searching for any sign of him lying. "You'll have to follow me."

"Where?"

"Where do you think we'll talk about saving a soul if not in the underworld?"

People despise him because he takes souls to the underworld and never returns them, even saying his name seems like a death wish. However, there's few options left and dark magicians wouldn't want to treat a slave.

Your feet seem to follow your thoughts and quickly walk towards Jaehyun. He smirks when your sweaty hands meet his as he offers them to take you to the unknown.

You quickly close your eyes and pray to whatever deity to see the guys one more time after this.

"You must be the people Y/N lives with?" Says a tall man as soon as he enters the cabin where Jeno and Renjun are watching in awe how Hyuck's wounds start healing but he doesn't wake up. If Jeno didn't see this, he was ready to run after you because it's been a couple of days since you were gone. 

Renjun quickly stands up and goes to meet the man, Jeno prefers to stay besides Hyuck as he observes the man with jewelry on his left ear. His weird clothes also makes him notice he's not from here.

"So he's not dead, huh? Of course he wouldn't die." He scoffed and Renjun let's a deep sigh, that means you are still alive. However, when the soldier tries to get closer to Hyuck, Jeno takes out his sword. "You don't want to, little slave. I just came here to give the message that your Y/N is alive so don’t make a fuss plus you shouldn’t be so cozy, your energy is coral when I talk about her.”

Jeno thinks this man is despicable but at least he had good news, you're alive. But where has he seen him before?

"Who asks Hades for help? Shouldn't you be sacrificing someone to Zeus? Why me?"

"As a mortal, I can't talk crap about gods."

"So you think crap about them." The amused smirk Jaehyun gives you makes you feel caught, he is Zeus' brother anyways. Your lips make a thin line as you shake your head, clearly remembering you are talking about his brother. “What’s exactly the deal you want to do with me?”

"Don't let Hyuck enter here, save him. He's still young and he deserves it, more than me. I could explain a lot of things he has done for people, he is not just my assistant-" Words come out hurriedly, the tint of anxiety is making you feel really small next to him.

“You know I can see people’s energy, right?” When he orders his servants to bring herbal tea, your cheeks flushed, Jaehyun laughs and continues. “Calm down first, you don’t need to tell me about it, I already know your little group of heroes.”

Your nervous behavior stopped and your hands got cold instantly, the sweat started to run slowly through your forehead. “Hey, hey. Did you really think you could basically take my place and punish sinners without me knowing that?” Racing thoughts start messing with your mind as you forget this little detail, you gulp when Jaehyun grabs your jaw softly but firm. “Were you mortals playing to be god?" He approaches and whispers in your ear "Did you want me that bad to notice you?”

Your jaw tensed trying to push him away but it was useless as his strong body didn't move an inch. "That's not true!"

"Why not? I like that, you've got protection for that reason. I don't like seeing you cry, your little toy alive would be your reward as I still get information from all of you."

"What?"

"I sent Johnny for a reason, sweetheart."

Jeno feels your voice and runs to you, quickly searching for your face and holding it with both hands. His restless eyes soften at your smile, he doesn't mention the man who came in the name of Hades because everyone is surprisingly alive and doing well as Hyuck finally wakes up when you appear.

Something feels off though.

You feel his hot breath on your neck, the way it tickles on your clavicle makes you leave a shaky breath, your lips make a thin line as you cursed because he smirked. It's ridiculous how you let him fool you.

"What do you want?" Usually, you would've put his hand on your waist or maybe caressed his face to tease him a bit. You don't move an inch as you look at him emotionless.

"Why are you being like this, Y/N? Aren't you in the mood of being wild and using me a bit more?"

"Johnny, if you wanted to give information to Jaehyun, you should've just told me you were Hades' dog first." You messed around with him thinking he was just a flirty asshat guard that always gave you information about the sins and corruption you chased silently with the others. His expression hardened and pulled away, so you finally met him and he told you everything he thinks. This sort of carnal relationship you both have wasn't in the order but it felt good and it was easier to keep the conversations private, it was ridiculous for him to talk with a mortal in public.

"He let you call him Jaehyun?" The scoff he gives makes you raise an eyebrow as he looks disgusted by it. 

Johnny followed such stupid orders of getting out of the underworld to search for an insignificant human because Jaehyun said so. You are interesting enough for Hades, who let only the people he treasures the most let them call him Jaehyun, you're ruining the rules of the underworld kingdom as no mortal has been there alive or under Hades' protection before, it's ridiculous for the God of the Death protect a person from his own kingdom! He even asked his most loyal soldier, son of Thanatos demigod to protect you? It's so humiliating, he wants to kill you himself. 

"Are you really asking me that? You fooled me! I thought you were on my side!" 

"Why? Did you think we were going to be a loyal couple or something like that? We are just taking information from each other when we are naked. Isn't it fair like the justice you fight for?" You are speechless, he is kind of right about that but he promised to not tell anyone. Maybe Jeno should take the lead in searching for new stuff now, he doesn't seem like someone who would protect you either, he looks at you from head to toe and maybe his roughness wasn't just passion, he genuinely despises you for a reason you ignore.

"Weren't you here to protect us? I guess you didn't get your master's orders."

"To protect your little lovers? I just came to make you sin, Y/N. And you loved it." He grabs you by the neck and talks against your lips clearly annoyed by your words as always, he wonders if that Jeno has already confessed to you. You don't even flinch at his behavior, there's a smug smile on your face. "You are not him, Johnny." "Do you really think I'm playing? I can send you to the underworld in a finger snap."

"Why don't you do it then?" 

He wants to but Jaehyun would have you then and why should a simple mortal be there?

Bring her to me Johnny, but don't kill her. Protect her and convince that lady to be part of my reign, she is punishing people in a sweet way as they pay in life for their stupidness. I don't know if she is a good element or not, find out first. If she is just defying me, tell me and I'll make her pay with the biggest punishments here alive. If she is good, I'll make her my queen.

And Johnny hated that he always ended up in your bed. With the stupid human who also hated him because he was to her eyes 'a dumb guard that took care of dirty business', he was ready to tell JaeHyun that you were defying him and to torture you because you can really seduce mortals and gods. But it was too late as you met JaeHyun, no matter his effort for you to not go to him, he even killed the ma'am and every witness of your good actions.

He has been running away from Hades as you were clever enough to notice his interest in you, using him as an alliance. Your words seem convinced that justice was the rule in this world as you mocked Zeus without saying his name as he didn't do anything to the bad rich. Endearing how you challenged everyone behind dresses and needles, you were really stupid and he would listen to all of this.

He just told the half of the stuff you spoke to Jaehyun, he feels he has the right to know and hide your secrets. Your stupid secrets.

"You don't know anything."

His burning stare doesn't stop as you peck his lips. "I hope you were not too explicit in details to Jaehyun. That would be too awkward."

"Why, you gave him your body too?" The harsh sound of the slap echoes the empty room, his own words make his breath hitch in rage. That would be fucking disgusting for him to even imagine. 

"You act like you don't care but you wish you could claim me, huh?"

"That's the most ridiculous question I've ever heard."

"Then answer it, Johnny. Why would you betray me for her if that's not the reason?" Says a very known voice from behind, he gulps. Hades is here.

® aquamoonchaii 2021, all rights reserved.

[pinknatural]

After a long while, Jack straightens back up, wiping away his tears.

“Sorry about your shirt,” he says again. Dean waves his hand in dismissal. What’s some snot and tears? 

“It’s fine,” he says again. “I mean it, kid.”

Jack looks like he might begin to cry all over again, but he sniffs and makes a valiant effort not to. They’re in a motel room--Dean couldn’t bear the Bunker, and Sam and Eileen’s honeymoon phase. He’s happy for them, of course he is, but seeing them so in love is kind of painful, and Dean could tell Sam was trying not to be overt about it to spare Dean’s feelings, and Dean just felt that, well--he might as well remove himself from the situation, at least for a little bit. 

(Plus, now he has some peace and quiet--the motel room is littered with books and research, scrolls and files and other pieces of lore--all on the afterlife, of course. All on how to get there.)

“Okay,” Jack says. “Okay.” He raises a glowing hand to his own forehead, but he pauses when his fingers are about an inch away. He swallows. 

“Come on, kid, what are you waiting for?” Dean asks. 

“I could bring her back,” Jack whispers. “I should bring her back.” 

He lowers his hand, turns a stricken gaze to Dean. 

“Who?” Dean asks. He thinks, Kelly. He thinks, Maggie. He thinks, absurdly, Charlie. 

“Emma,” Jack says. 

Dean feels as if he’s been hit over the head. 

“What?” he says. Has he turned into a fish and been left out on the docks? Where did all the air go?

“You’ve been thinking about her,” Jack says, like a confession. “Praying.” He has, if only because he’s been wallowing in what he can’t have, the husband, the daughter. He has, if only because he’s been wondering if the way to the Empty could be through Purgatory. Would he have time to sweep the place first? Would he be able to find her, unlike the last two times he was there?

“Yeah,” Dean tries to say, but no sound comes out. He tries again. “Yeah. You could really…?”

“I can do anything,” Jack says, with a sad, bitter smile, and Dean reaches for him. Jack falls into the embrace, wrapping his arms around Dean’s back, clinging to his shirt. Dean runs a hand up his back, cups the back of his neck. 

“You don’t have to,” Dean says. It’s one of the hardest things he’s ever said. “God, kid, I’d like nothing more, but you don’t have to. You gotta do what’s best for you, you hear me?”

“I know,” Jack says. He sniffles. Dean thinks he might be crying again. “And I love Claire so much but I just want my sister. Dad, I want to bring her back.”

Dean squeezes his son. He closes his eyes. 

“Then bring her back,” he whispers, and one of Jack’s hands leaves Dean’s back. Golden light shines, starting behind Dean and filling up the room, making it brighter and brighter and Jack gets smaller and smaller and Dean just holds on, tighter and tighter. 

The light fades. 

A little boy has his face buried in Dean’s gut, arms wrapped tight around Dean. They don’t even go all the way around, anymore. Dean runs a hand through Jack’s hair, stunned even though Jack told him this was what he wanted, even though they’d talked and talked about it before Jack decided to go through with it. 

“What?” a tiny voice says, and Dean turns around. 

Emma is standing there, only she’s not--she’s not exactly the Emma Dean remembers. Instead of being sixteen, she’s something like eight years old, eyes wide and hair tangled with leaves. She’s splattered with blood, and wearing the same clothes she’d died in--the same clothes Dean buried her in. They’re too big for her, and she looks like she’s on the verge of tears. 

“What happened?” she asks, looking around the motel room wildly. “Where am I?”

“Emma,” Dean says, untangling himself from the three year old on the bed and kneeling, reaching out gently. He stays near the bed, afraid of spooking her. “You were rescued from Purgatory. You’re safe.” He turns to Jack. “Why is she little?”

“She’s human,” Jack says, shrugging. He’s chewing on the end of his sleeve, eyes wide. His clothes, at least, are three-year-old sized. Dean wonders where he’s supposed to get Emma some clothes, but there’s a pink suitcase sitting beside Dean’s duffel. The sight of it is too much, and he looks back at his daughter. 

“Safe?” Emma repeats, looking down at her hands. She flexes her tiny fingers. 

“Eight years have passed,” Dean says, still holding out his hands--he’s not sure if he’s trying to soothe her or reach for her. “You’re safe, you don’t have to kill anyone, I won’t hurt you.”

Emma looks around again. She sees her suitcase and stares at it, then swings her gaze back around. “Who’s that?” She points at Jack. 

“That’s Jack, that’s my son,” Dean says. “Your brother. He brought you back.”

“How?”

“He was powered up--he was God--but now he’s just a kid,” Dean says. “He, um, wanted to bring you back.”

“Dada was prayin’ for you,” Jack says, voice muffled around the sleeve he’s still chewing. Dean reaches out and gently removes it from his mouth. “He wanted you to come back. I wanted to meet you.”

“Oh,” Emma says. She looks down at her pants. “I’m all dirty.”

“Yeah,” Dean says. “The bathroom’s over there if you want to--shower. I can help you if you want.”

Emma shakes her head and reaches for her suitcase. She goes into the bathroom, turning around and looking back at Dean and Jack, eyes wide, until she shuts the door behind her. Dean collapses back onto his feet, running his hands over his face, laughing incredulously. 

“I did good?” Jack asks, sliding off the bed and crawling onto Dean’s lap. “I did good?”

“Yeah, buddy,” Dean says, voice cracking. He hears the shower turn on, the water begin to run. He curls up tight over Jack. “You did great.”

--

The first thing Cas is aware of is big blue eyes. The rest of the features on that face sharpen into a nose and mouth, grace smearing around the small face, and although it seems impossible, it can only be--

“Jack?”

“Daddy!” Jack cries, and he throws himself onto Cas. Cas catches him easily, holds his tiny body within his arms. Oh, he’s so small. His golden wings stretch as big as they go, which is not very big, to wrap themselves around Cas, and reflexively he wraps his own around Jack as well, holding him tight, rocking slightly back and forth.

Then he remembers--everything, and that he’s supposed to be dead, and he looks up.

Green eyes. Freckles, slightly crooked nose, beloved mouth, beloved jawline.

“Cas,” Dean croaks, and he falls to his knees. Cas is on the floor, legs crossed and Jack curled up on his lap. Cas doesn’t want to let go but Jack wiggles away, and Cas is afraid to reach out but helpless to do anything else.

Dean crawls toward him, falls against him. He presses his face into Cas’ neck and breathes, in and out, and Cas thinks he might be crying. But Cas is breathing Dean in, and he smells like the Impala (home) and guns (safety) and lemon (Dean) and Cas’ eyes aren’t very dry, either. 

“You dumb son of a bitch,” Dean says, voice tucked safe into the place between Cas’ neck and shoulder. “You goddamned idiot. You stupid fucker. You dumbass, you, you.”

“Dean,” Cas says, and Dean shudders out a shaky breath, breathes heavily against him. Dean is alive in Cas’ arms, and he couldn’t be happier.

He tilts his gaze up, looking for Jack, and he finds instead a little girl with brown-blonde hair. She’s wearing a pink t-shirt and denim shorts and one of Dean’s flannels. She’s practically swimming in it, but her sleeves are rolled up and her eyes are the same apple-green as Dean’s, and Cas holds Dean tighter. 

“Emma?” he asks. She nods and looks away uncomfortably. 

“Emmie, Emmie, my daddy’s back,” Jack says, bouncing over to her and dancing around, wings flapping madly. 

“Yeah,” Emma says. 

Dean clears his throat and finally leans back from Cas. He reaches out an arm and Emma comes over to him, sitting on the floor beside him and tucking herself against his side. Dean wipes away tears with his other hand as Jack barrels back around, throwing himself into Cas’ lap. Cas holds him and looks around. 

They’re in a motel room, two queen beds, identical to the countless ones Sam and Dean have stayed in over the years. But there’s a pink suitcase next to the TV and a blue duffel with sharks on it beside it. On one of the beds there’s a pair of stuffed rabbits, one pink and one yellow. There are various books and scrolls piled on the little table beside the couch and also piled onto the couch itself. Spell ingredients are on the floor, spread out over a placemat. 

“Daddy,” Emma says, and Cas looks at her, tugging on Dean’s overshirt. His heart melts. Dean deserves nothing less, of course, but he knows what toll gaining then losing a daughter has had on Dean. He’s so glad that Dean can have her back, that she can have Dean, too, that she can have another chance. She deserves it, and already Cas looks at her and sees her hair in a careful braid and her Wonder Woman socks and he knows he would die for her. “If me and Jack are siblings and you’re Jack’s dad and that’s Jack’s dad, too, then. Um.”

She looks at Cas nervously. Dean squeezes her shoulders. 

“Me and Cas have to talk about all that,” Dean says. Cas is astounded that it’s not an instant denial. 

“We do?” he asks, and Dean meets his gaze head on.

“Yeah,” he says. “We got a lotta stuff to talk about, you and me. Kids, why don’t you watch some TV and Cas and I’ll go outside.”

Jack scrambles off of Cas’ lap and turns around, presses a wet kiss to Cas’ cheek, then he climbs onto the bed with the stuffed animals. He grabs onto the yellow bunny and Emma crawls beside him, putting the pink bunny on her lap and pointing the remote at the TV. Cas stands and offers his hand to Dean, who takes it, lets Cas pull him up.

Dean goes outside and Cas follows, of course he does. They don’t let go of each other’s hands. 

“Why are we in a motel?” Cas asks. Dean shrugs. 

“Needed some space,” he says. “Then I wasn’t sure how big of a house to get.”

“A house?”

“Yeah,” Dean says. He rubs at the back of his neck with his free hand. “Can’t raise kids in a bunker, come on man.”

“What about Sam?”

“He’s fine,” Dean says. “On a hunt with Eileen.”

“Oh,” Cas says, slightly confused. 

“Yeah, I dunno,” Dean says. “Salt-and-burn in Orlando, I think. So, um, listen, man…”

“Thank you for getting me out of the Empty,” Cas blurts, afraid Dean is about to reject him. He has always known Dean would do so, but he thinks to hear it would be--upsetting.

“Of course,” Dean says. “You’re, um. I couldn’t just leave you there, you’re--”

“Family?” Cas suggests.

“Yeah,” Dean says. He takes a step forward. “Though, you know, I’ve been thinkin’ about what we are to each other.”

“You have?” Cas takes a step back when Dean takes another step forward. 

“Yeah,” Dean breathes. “Living together, raising a kid together, dying for each other. Never wanting to be apart.”

“Oh?” Cas says, and his back hits the wall. Dean stands over him, caging him in with only one hand--the other still wrapped around Cas’ palm, their fingers intertwined. 

“You know what that sounds like?” Dean asks, breath ghosting along Cas’ jaw, and Cas can’t really think. Why is Dean standing so close to him?

“Family?” Cas croaks, brain stuck on the word. Family, they’re family.

“I was thinking it sounded like husbands, Cas,” Dean says, and then Cas doesn’t have to worry about why Dean is standing so close anymore, because Dean kisses him, and Cas’ brain ceases functioning--but it’s okay, because if Dean says they’re husbands, who is Cas to argue?

--

Sam pulls up to the motel after dropping Eileen off at the Bunker. She was tired from driving all night and Sam doesn’t blame her, but he can’t believe he’s missed everything while he went to one measly salt-and-burn.

He parks the car and gets out, crossing the parking lot. He knocks on the door and Claire opens it. She looks the same as always, except she has a purple stuffed bunny peeking out of her jacket pocket. Sam is smart enough not to comment on this. 

She steps aside and lets him in, and Emma squeaks and practically climbs up Dean when she sees him. It’s a work in progress, with her, and Sam feels terrible but he’s not sure what he can do besides give her time, so he looks away and instead turns to Cas, who smiles when he sees him. 

“Sam!” he says, and he stands up from the couch, crosses the room and hugs him. 

“It’s good to see you,” Sam says, clapping Cas on the back.

“Sam!” Jack says, and he barrels towards Sam’s legs with the determination of a battering ram, and Sam intercepts him before he can make contact, picking him up and swinging him over his shoulder. Jack laughs and laughs, and Kaia waves at Sam from her spot curled up on the couch. 

“This motel room is very full,” Sam says, looking around, and Dean grins at him. 

“That’s why we’re shopping, Sammy,” he says, and he points at his laptop. 

“Find anything good?” Sam asks, crossing the room to sit on the couch so he can see the computer. He deposits Jack into Cas’ arms, and Dean comes to sit on his other side. Emma stays on the bed, hiding behind Claire, who’s obviously taking guard-duty pretty seriously since she’s half-glaring at Sam.

Sam looks away and turns his gaze toward the computer. 

“We weren’t finding any good listings so we’re looking for some land, now,” Dean says. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay in the Bunker? We’ve got a lotta room,” Sam says. 

“Nah,” Dean says. He slings his arm around Cas, who’s perched on the arm of the couch. “We need a house.”

“Windows,” Cas says solemnly, tangling his and Dean’s fingers, and Sam notes the movement with a pleased smile. 

“But if we build a house we can add-in wards and stuff, right into the foundations,” Dean says. “We can make sure it’s safe, and good.”

“Will you build it?” Sam asks, even though he knows the answer. 

“Damn straight,” Dean says. The silver band on his ring finger flashes as he shuts the laptop. Jack crawls into Kaia’s lap, and she wraps her arms around him. 

“I think it’s a good idea,” she says. 

“Yeah,” Sam says. He meets his brother’s eyes. “Me too.”

(ao3)

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Hi! It's an au twilight question.

What if Edward and Bella did the nasty in early New moon. Then the party happens and the Cullens leave. Bella discovers she's pregnant with Renesmee. What do you think what would happen?

A very interesting question, anon. One that will go very interesting places, I'm sure.

That said, as usual, because I'm a completionist, we have to go through the "why no canon?" routine. Bear with me, I simply must.

Why Didn't Edward and Bella Do the Nasty Pre-Breaking Dawn?

For all that Edward is, for all his... questionable morals and sexual fixations, he does have a moral code he strictly holds himself to.

Edward is adamantly against having sex with Bella in terror of the very real possibility that he will murder her in the act. He's very clear about this, he didn't think he could do it, at all, and only his sheer desperation that Bella never be turned, his desire to marry Bella, as well as Alice's thumbs up convinced him to do it.

If Bella was a reasonable person then she would have agreed as well. Sex with Edward, while she's human, is a bad idea. However, Bella never really seems to clue in on what vampires even are so I think the Man of Steel on Woman of Kleenex aspect is lost on her.

Had Alice not given the green light, I imagine Edward would have gone back to the drawing board and ended up either here or here. Bella turning is the worst possible outcome and Edward will risk almost anything, even Bella's death, to see it avoided.

But that doesn't mean it's an action he takes lightly.

He suggests pimping Bella out to Jake before he suggests sleeping with her himself. For Edward, this is a last resort.

More, Edward is a man of his time.

Edward was from an upper class family and, more to the point, still holds himself to the standards of the society he knew when human (much to Bella's amusement).

Edward wistfully talks about courting Bella, how he would have courted her had he been a true man in the time period he was familiar with, and why marriage to him is so very important.

That Edward doesn't seek out the approval of Charlie, Bella's father, is a hilarious aside to me. Edward's all about chivalry until all those old society standards get in his way.

What do you mean a gentleman doesn't sneak into a lady's apartments in the middle of the night to watch her slumber unawares?!

Regardless, marriage is extremely important to Edward, especially in the context of sex.

Edward will absolutely not have sex with a woman who is not first his wife. He also will not marry a girl that society defines as underage, he will wait until Bella's legal and probably until she finishes her primary schooling.

This means Edward was never likely to have sex with her before graduation and certainly not before her eighteenth birthday.

Which, at the earliest, puts her past the New Moon birthday bash.

Edward and Bella Do the Do Anyway

But let's pretend they do it anyway.

I'd say the most likely scenario is after the birthday disaster. This is it, Edward knows he is leaving Bella forever, if he is truly noble then he will never see her again.

Certainly, he will never interact with her nor hold her in his arms. To Edward, this is essentially his last true night on Earth.

So rather than pull a partial D.E.N.N.I.S. system, Edward pulls the full D.E.N.N.I.S. system, he initiates the "I" he was previously missing, "Inspire Hope". Or, in this case, get laid for the first and only time in his life.

He sneaks in through her window. They make beautiful, passionate, tepid love so Edward does not crush her in the act, and as she sleeps blissfully in the aftermath he sneaks back out the window to never be seen again.

(It takes Bella a week to admit that Edward just hit and run. The Cullens aren't coming back.)

However, because Edward didn't actually point blank tell her what was happening, rather than hit her New Moon stage of depression, Bella's instead in denial.

The Cullens are coming back. What, Carlisle has a new job? No, that can't be right, they're coming back. Alice would never leave her without a word. Edward would never leave her without a word.

Jessica pats Bella on the back consolingly and is secretly glad that it's not her. She might have been dumped by Edward Cullen, but at least he didn't humiliate her the way he did Bella Swan.

Leaving without a single word, yikes.

Two weeks go by then Bella gets the flu.

In a single day, she's unable to keep down anything. Huh, that's weird. Very quickly, Bella has her tampon epiphany. Bella is not a virgin, she had sex with Edward, she's late, and she appears to have a baby bump.

Bella is carrying Edward's child.

There is no question of aborting the child. This is Edward's child, the only piece she has left of him, even without Renesmee's gift it's ride or die. Bella is delivering this child even if it kills her.

However, she has some immediate issues.

First, she's visibly pregnant, it's been only two weeks. That's not supposed to happen. More, Charlie is bound to notice sooner rather than later, Bella would like to avoid that, the stigma of teen pregnancy, as well as the inhuman complications that are sure to come along.

Second, there's inhuman complications. Bella can't just go to an OBGYN, not even a town over. She's carrying something half human, a doctor will poke around and find that out, and then Bella's blowing the secret.

Bella knows vaguely of the Volturi at this point, but not the severity of the law, it's more that she promised Edward she would never tell a soul.

Plus, a human doctor wouldn't be able to help anyway.

That leaves vampires.

Bella tries to call/email the Cullens. However, thanks to Edward, all their numbers are disconnected and all their emails no longer exist. Her "Alice, help, I'm pregannant" messages are sent to a void.

(Alice, meanwhile, thinks she's finally successful in blocking visions of Bella. At least Edward will be off her back. Without the cliff diving and Jake, Alice does not assume Bella has died/committed suicide.)

A brief internet survey also yields Bella no results, but it does get her a lot of vampire porn. Thanks internet.

Bella... starts to get worried.

She's getting more and more pregnant in a matter of days, Charlie is starting to notice that she can't keep anything down, and the Cullens aren't taking her phone calls.

Then, Bella has it, she remembers that weird baroque painting Carlisle had of him and those Italian vampire dudes: the Volturi. Conveniently named after the city they live in, Volterra, Italy.

Bella debates her options.

Edward told her that these are the guys who make sure that humans who know the secret disappear. Well, Bella is a human who knows the secret, that's bad. Also bad is that they eat people, Bella is a person.

On the other hand, Edward implied these guys are civilized and friends of Carlisle. That's... good? Bella isn't sure she's on good terms with the Cullens, given the whole abrupt leaving thing, but maybe they don't have to know that.

Bella debates with herself, tries to look up the Denali, and only finds the National Park. She has no idea where these guys even live, or what they even look like besides "blonde hot vampire", and she's short on time. Plus, they are close with the Cullens, so the Cullens probably did tell them "Ew, Bella, No Gross, Do Not Want".

Because the Cullens all hate her now.

Bella has some money saved up, and this is probably a one way trip, and if she doesn't go then... well, it's not looking good. Bella musters up her courage, tells Charlie some outrageous fib to explain why she's disappearing off the face of the planet, and books a flight to Rome, then Pisa, then a bus ride to Volterra.

Bella subsists completely on blue gateorade, this doesn't go well, and she vomits blue in the parking lot.

Regardless, she makes it, huzzah she is in Volterra. It's sunny out and there are no vampires. Bella wanders around the city and looks for the most vampire building she can find.

Luckily, she happens to be right, and it's the very central castle. Well done, Bella.

Bella walks in and spots a vampire. She also spots a receptionist, Bella is very confused. Never the less, Bella says the magic words, "I'm a... friend of Carlisle Cullen?"

Even though Bella doesn't have Aro's name (or any of the other Volturi for that matter), Carlisle's name does the trick. Anyone who works for Aro knows that name.

Color Aro intrigued, he will meet this pregnant woman! (Caius, meanwhile, votes that they eat her immediately out of spite.)

Well, Aro touches her hand and lo and behold she's scarily gifted. And she knows Carlisle, what a great day to be Aro.

Aro explains that everything's totally fine with her knowing the secret, it just means they have to turn her eventually, after she gives birth of course.

Bella stares at him numbly and wonders why Edward made this such a big deal if it was that easy.

Aro insists Bella start from the beginning, as in the very beginning of her life. This is weird, but Bella complies.

An hour later they get to the interesting part: Bella meets Carlisle (and Edward Cullen, Aro guesses). Aro gets to hear the whole, sordid, ridiculous tale of Bella and Edward's romance including the part where he fucked her and ran off into the night.

Aro is stunned.

He first apologizes for the Cullens behavior, they should absolutely not have abandoned her, and not turning her was completely irresponsible (what the hell was Carlisle thinking?)

He then gives the bad news, he... has never heard of anything like this.

You see, normal vampires don't have sex with humans. It isn't done.

Also, there's this thing called Immortal Children (Edward tell you about that, no? Well, he probably thought it wasn't relevant). That thing your carrying might not be a child capable of growth but an insatiable monster.

Or it could be the alien from Aliens.

There's no way to tell, really.

BUT NO NEED TO WORRY, BELLA, THEY WILL FIGURE THIS OUT.

Aro promises Bella his protection and a period of observation for the child. Bella's not sure she likes that observation part, but this seems like a pretty sweet deal otherwise.

As for what to do, well, Aro has to call in the foremost vampire medical expert. Sorry, Bella, but there's only one man for the job.

Aro sends out Demetri to find Carlisle.

Demetri shows up on Carlisle's doorstep, "Carlisle, old friend, Aro has need of you. Your son knocked up a human girl."

Carlisle blinks, blinks again, then does a thousand yard stare. My God.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Edward is already on Victoria's tail. Carlisle tries to call him, to no avail, Edward isn't taking his phone calls.

Alice and Jasper are already on their trip to hunt down Alice's past. Plus, given the Volturi, they'd be unlikely to come anyway. Carlisle sends them a message.

Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett travel to Volterra to clean up Edward's mess.

And sure enough, there's Bella, very pregnant with a child that is very much not human. Carlisle dies inside, Rosalie's on a warpath that Edward would abandon his pregnant girlfriend to the point where the only place she could turn was human drinking vampires.

Rosalie takes it upon herself to leave Edward the world's angriest voice messages until he returns her phone calls.

Aro's delighted to see Carlisle again. Even if he does have a wife now. Also, Aro claims finders keepers for Bella, Carlisle's not happy about this and less happy that Aro points out that if Edward cared so much he wouldn't be absent right now, would he?

They figure out the blood drinking thing, Carlisle desperately raids a hospital to prevent Bella from being fed the leftovers of the Volturi victims. This likely doesn't work out for him.

At the last possible moment, Edward finally picks up his phone. He learns that all he's tried to accomplish failed spectacularly. Bella is pregnant with his demon child, is literally drinking blood, and is in Vampire HQ with the leader insisting she will be turned immediately after the C-section.

Edward races to Volterra and strides into the room demanding Bella be aborted and remain human.

Aro stares.

Carlisle awkwardly explains that Bella's too far along, it's too late now even if they wanted to, more she adamantly doesn't want to abort and never did.

As for Bella being human... Bella pipes in that she's cool on becoming the vampire part. Aro's a great guy. She then races to embrace Edward, he's come back, after all this time. And he's going to be a father, isn't that wonderful?

Edward loses his mind.

And because this is Edward, I have no idea what he'll do, only it'll be utter madness. This is my best guess.

To be a little more serious, he probably tries to abort the child anyway, he mercy kills Bella and the child, or Renesmee manages to get through to him.

Given canon, it's likely the latter. Bella is convinced that her and Edward's relationship is perfect.

Aro has no idea what to think of any of this.

[amysteryspot]

Don’t know how to stop - Thomas Shelby x Fem!Reader

Prompts: 40. “I wasn’t lying when I said that I loved you.”; 69. “What do you want me to say?” + "Don't Know How to Stop" by Halestorm

Requested by: @sighonahurricane

Fandom: Peaky Blinders

Pairing: Thomas Shelby x Changretta!Reader

Summary: “Or what, Thomas?” she interrupted him, defiance in her eyes as she glared back at him. “We both know you won’t kill me. You want revenge, want to see me suffer or you would have already killed me that night at the warehouse, in front of my father.”

Warnings: Smut/NSFW/+18, mentions of violence, swearing, there's a very brief implied reference to rape

Word Count: 2510

A/N: Not even going to try and find an excuse as to why this is longer than it should be, all you need to know is that I was in the mood. I absolutely loved to write this, but I'm feeling anxious about what you all are going to think of it. Really hope that you like it. For reference, reader is a Changretta and this is set between season three/four. Feedback is very much appreciated as always.

(Y/N) = Your Name | (Y/N/N) = Your Nickname

English is not my first language and this wasn’t proofread by a beta.

If you want to be tagged in my stories, just send me a message.

She had been the one that faced the Devil. Down on her knees in front of him, begging for her father’s life as he held the knife to her throat.

“One life for another,” she had offered, fingers curling into the fabric of his waistcoat. “You can have me. Do anything you want with me, just spare his life.”

The deal had been made that night, for reasons that Tommy still couldn’t understand, even after all these years. He wasn’t even sure if he had really considered the possibility of killing her, despite the rage clouding his mind at the time.

Vicente walked free, dragged out of the room in tears, at the expense of leaving his daughter behind, a prisoner of war.

Tommy confined her to the guest wing of Arrow House. He didn’t want to see her and be reminded of the reason why he slept in an empty bed now. It was easier to ignore her existence if he didn’t have to see her every day.

His son had other plans though. Somehow, Charlie found a way to escape his nanny and ended up finding (Y/N). Tommy knew something was wrong the moment he stepped into his son’s room to find it empty. It was safe to say that he was seeing red as he climbed down the stairs, calling for Mary and asking about the whereabouts of the nanny and the baby.

The door to her room hit the wall with a loud bang that startled both the women in there and Charlie, who was all curled up in (Y/N)’s arms.

Tommy looked at the nanny, ordering, “Take Charlie back to his room.”

She did as commanded, quickly, even though the boy didn’t seem very pleased with the idea of leaving (Y/N)’s arms. Tommy walked straight up to her, grabbing her tightly by the jaw, and almost lifting her from the ground.

“You don’t get to talk to him. You don’t even look his way or else…”

“Or what, Thomas?” she interrupted him, defiance in her eyes as she glared back at him. “We both know you won’t kill me. You want revenge, want to see me suffer or you would have already killed me that night at the warehouse, in front of my father.”

His hold on her had gone lax but he still kept his hands on her.

(Y/N) continued, “The boy came to me, I’m not going to blame a child for sins that aren’t his.”

Tommy observed her in silence for a minute. The rise and fall from her chest, the way both her hands were circling his wrist, how she didn’t show any sign of fear even though the imbalance in power was evident. He let her go, leaving the room without another world, only to be haunted by the image of her in his dreams.

“Are you going to kill her or fuck her?” Polly’s voice got him out of his trance.

He looked up at her but did not answer, because he didn’t know what to say.

Polly continued, “Because these are the two available options with you. You are either going to kill her or you’re going to fuck her. Considering that you are mourning, I would bet on the second, or you would have killed her already.��

She took a drag from her cigarette, taking her time in exhaling the smoke, before saying, “You men start wars because of your uncontrollable ego, and in the end, is always the women who pay the price of it.”

In the end, both Polly and (Y/N) were right. He didn’t kill her. His aunt’s words have made him realize something better to put a definitive end to this war between them and the Italians: a wedding. What could be worse for Vicente than having to marry his only daughter to a Shelby?

After a year of mourning, Thomas married (Y/N) Changretta, sealing the pact she had made with him for good.

They slept in separate rooms at opposite ends of the corridor. Since she was his wife now, Tommy had to get used to the idea that Charlie would have to be around her, or people would get suspicious. He had never been one to care about what people thought of him, but sometimes it was easier to maintain the appearances than to go against the norm.

If Tommy was worried about having to see her more often now that they shared the same corridor, he was wrong. (Y/N) was like a ghost. He rarely saw her outside of brief encounters whenever he was at home at the time the meals were served, the occasions when he found her in Charles’s nursery, or when she had to accompany at events.

On those occasions, (Y/N) was the image of a perfect, dutiful wife. She was well mannered and educated, making it easy for her to hold conversations with the most different people. Her charm and beauty helped her, and Tommy was surprised at how good she was at making people believe that their marriage wasn’t a sham.

His family and the staff of the house knew better though—all (Y/N) was was spoils of war.

They were surprisingly civil to each other, posing for the public eye as the perfect couple and avoiding each other like the plague at home. When they met at home, occasionally, a polite conversation could end up in a fight. Except for that night when Tommy found Charlie in (Y/N)’s arms for the first time, their arguments never turned physical.

Until one night when Tommy was especially pissed off by something business-related and ended up pressing her up between his body and the wall of her the drawing-room.

(Y/N) had never backed away from a fight, never showed any signs that she was afraid of him. But that night, that night the way she flinched when he touched her and the look of pure horror on her face as she looked at him, made Tommy let go of her immediately.

As he watched her ran away from the room, Tommy realized what must have crossed her mind, and the mere thought of it made his blood boil. The glass of whiskey that was on his desk exploded in a hundred pieces on the wall, before he retired to his room, plagued by the sight of her running away from him.

He tried to be more careful around her after that, always seeking some kind of consent from her before getting too close or touching her. Tommy would never force her to have sex with him, not for revenge, not because she was his wife.

They crossed the line from civil to friendly at some point, maybe after she sassed him because of Lizzie in front of the whole family, making everyone laugh, but he was not sure. What he did know for sure was that he started to see her as more than someone who was there because of a casualty of war somewhere along the way.

It was hard to ignore her after that. It was hard to ignore the beautiful woman navigating the corridors of his house, playing with his son in the garden, handling the staff, helping with the business. It was hard to ignore the woman he tried to avoid for so long, the woman he didn’t want to acknowledge.

He wasn’t sure at what point he had started to consider the idea to fuck her, it just happened. One night, after they arrived from a gala, fighting about something that Tommy didn’t even remember anymore, they fucked against the vanity in her room.

After that first time, it all went downhill. It was like getting high for the first time and then not being able to control the need to take another hit. (Y/N) was warm, soft, willing, and available, and Tommy decided that he wasn’t going to deny himself or his needs searching for other options when he had her right there.

Things escalated quickly and they developed some kind of silent agreement, another deal. During the day, they acted like old acquaintances, respectful, and civil to each other. But after dawn, they would seek each other out, drowning together in a desire that seemed to have no end.

That had been a long time ago, so long that he didn’t remember how it was not to have her around. Long enough for some unrequited feelings to show up.

He did his best to ignore the guy talking to (Y/N). They were hosting a dinner at Arrow House, the man talking to her was some rich bachelor from London that was being a little too friendly to Tommy’s liking. He downed the whiskey in one gulp and noticed Polly watching him, but his attention is quickly drawn back to his wife.

At the end of the night, after all the guests either left for home or to the guest wing and all that is left are the Shelby’s at the parlour, Tommy revels in the feeling of (Y/N) sitting beside him, reclining against the arm he rested behind her shoulders. From the other side of the room, Polly looks at him and smiles, like she knows something that he doesn’t.

It happens the week after the gala. They’re both getting ready for a family meeting. His room became their room, unofficially, because her things were scattered all over the place—her perfume and jewelry on the bedside table, dresses on the wardrobe, lingerie on the drawers, even the sheets smelled like her.

“Tommy,” she exclaimed in a reprehensive tone, as he pressed himself against her back, arms sneaking around her waist and preventing her from running away as his lips trailed down her neck. “What are you doing?”

“Giving some very due attention to my wife,” he answered, casually, walking them both closer to the bed.

“In broad daylight?” (Y/N) gasped, something between surprise and a protest, although she was doing very little to resist his advances.

“Want to see you,” he stated, before turning her around to kiss her.

“Your family is downstairs waiting for you,” she warned against his lips, breath uneven and fingers clutching onto his shirt.

“My family is downstairs waiting for us,” he corrected, nibbling her earlobe and smiling because of the sound she made. “Let them wait. They’re probably too occupied drinking, anyway.”

Any pretense of resistance from her part vanished when Tommy started to unbutton her dress. He was desperate to feel her skin against his, to taste her, and be inside of her. When they were both finally naked and pressed against each other on the bed, it felt like some kind of miracle.

Tommy drank her in, from the blush on her cheeks to the way her toes curled when he touched a sensitive spot on her body. All the scars, the birthmarks, the dips and curves, the softness of her skin, the heady taste of her on his tongue, and how wet she could get for him. He wanted it all, needed all of her.

He was tired to fight against it, tired of pretending that this feeling gnawing on his chest was something else.

“(Y/N/N),” he breaths against her skin, the feeling of her short nails scratching his back driving him crazy. “I love you.”

Her eyes open to stare right into his, something between surprise and uncertainty on her features. Tommy kisses her, gripping her tights a little harder to dive deeper into her.

The whimper of need that comes out of her lips makes him wild. All he can think about is how she feels, how good she feels, how right she feels. Here, underneath him, crying out his name, welcoming him into her body, scratching his back as the both of them get lost in pure pleasure.

All it takes to make her unravel is for him to press the engorged nub at the apex of her thighs. (Y/N) comes undone and brings him down with her, just a few trusts later, her walls milking him from his orgasm, his seed taking place deep inside of her for the first time in a long time because they were too lost in each other to care.

One more time they pretended, dressing in silence and walking down the stairs as nothing more than acquaintances. If his family suspected of something, they didn’t show it.

The meeting went uneventful, as planned. (Y/N) found a way to sneak out of the parlour before him and when Tommy went upstairs to his room—their room—he found it empty.

Sighing, he made his way to the other end of the corridor. He knocked one time, before letting himself in. (Y/N) was sitting in front of the vanity, taking the pins out of her hair. She was already dressed to sleep, the silk nightgown revealing her legs and a bit of the lace underneath. Their gazes met through the mirror as Tommy closes the door behind him.

“I wasn’t lying when I said that I love you.”

(Y/N) takes a deep breath, still not turning around to face him.

“Tom…”

“We’ve been dancing around this for too long, it’s time to face it.”

She sighs, a hand running through her face as she says, “What do you want me to say?”

He is in her in a heartbeat, pulling her up and pressing her against the vanity, just like the first time they had sex. Tommy takes her face in between both of his hands, nose brushing against her as he mumbles against her lips,

“I want to hear you say it.”

“Tom, I can’t. We can’t,” she protests, weekly, eyes closed and hands holding his wrists.

“A little too late for that because I don’t know how to stop this.”

“Your brother blinder my brother, Tommy. Your wife was killed because of that. I’m only here because you wanted my father that and I made a bargain with you. How this is supposed to work. What people will think?”

“Fuck what people think. We are already married, (Y/N). What happened, happened. We can’t change it. But this thing between us, this thing is real. I’ve denied myself that long enough, not going to keep pretending anymore. I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time now and I know, I know that you feel the same, so stop fighting against it and say it.”

Tommy’s lips brush against hers as he repeats himself, half plea, half command, “Say it.”

“I love you,” she whispers, eyes closed tightly as if the words will be less real if she can’t see him.

“Say it again,” he commands, nose bumping into hers while his thumbs caress her cheeks.

“I love you.”

“Again,” the sound is music to his ears and Tommy just can’t get enough of it.

(Y/N) opens her eyes, looks him in the eye, and professes, “I love you, Thomas Shelby.”

He smiles, for what feels like the first time in years, and confesses, “I love you too, Mrs. Shelby.”

.

Taglist: @stressedandbandobessed7771 @internalmess3 @theshelbyclan @giowritess @captivatedbycillianmurphy

[canyouhearthelight]

The Miys, Ch. 152

I’m not going to jinx it, I’m not going to jinx it, I’m not going to jinx it...

Okay, maybe I am. I managed to queue up the chapters I had in the barrel! Yay!! Which also means that I have a super duper exciting chapter coming up, which I can’t wait to write and can’t wait for y’all to read. I just need it to be perfect.

That said, thank you to @baelpenrose and @charlylimph-blog for your help with this particular chapter.  I love when we are all three in one of these sessions and just descending into chaos in the chat. Also, @mamayoda (who I can’t tag but I do want you to know I see your likes in my notes!) for love-bombing my notes recently.

“Is it just me or is everyone really jumpy?” Charly asked as I set my food down across from her.  It was our thrice-weekly lunch dates in one of the public mess halls, and she definitely had a point.  I had already noticed three people scowl distrustfully at the food consoles, hugging closely to the prepared food side of the room instead.

I sighed. “It has to have been Derek’s stress test.  It wasn’t supposed to impact systems we didn’t design, but…”

She snorted loudly. “Tell that to the week I spent taking cold showers again.  At least this time, the doors didn’t play any music when I walked through them.”

“Did your doors at least open consistently? I was stuck in my quarters for a whole day until we figured out that I could walk through if I had an escort.”  I laughed and shook my head before digging in to my food. “And, come to find out, we actually do manage the water systems, thanks to BioLab 2.”

Contrary to myself, Charly was entirely unperturbed at this revelation beyond sniffing her hoodie and shrugging. “My doors worked fine as far as I know, but Coffey and I tend to work the same hours, so… Maybe that was it.  Oo!” Her cheer of enthusiasm caught me off guard as she started bouncing in her seat. “OOOOO! I bet he activated the routine Xiomara had running when you and Jokul weren’t friends yet!”

“There was a routine!?” I asked, exasperated. “I behaved, thank you. It wasn’t necessary.”

“Meh. Just in case. What do you think her deal is?” She tilted her head to the side, at a table near us.

Sure enough, the woman at that table was darting glances around the room, her shoulders hunched, elbows close to her body, eyes wide.  I could practically feel her shaking from where I was. “I can’t tell if she looks suspicious or afraid,” I murmured, hoping the woman couldn’t hear me. “But the fact that I’ve met mice and chihuahuas who shook less, I’m going to go with afraid.”

As I watched the woman, weighing whether or not a stranger trying to comfort her would make it better or worse, Mona’s familiar face approached her instead.  She was speaking softly enough that I couldn’t make out words, but the woman clearly recognized her and only jumped slightly.

I was so focused on the sight of Mona comforting the woman that I nearly hit the ceiling when Parvati’s voice came from entirely too close to my right shoulder. “Rebecca.  She lost her family twice, first her parents, some cousins, and an uncle when the hack happened, and then her partner and children in the After.  It’s understandable that she’s terrified right now, after the stress test. Too many bad memories.”

My face flushed in humiliation. “Pranav and Zach sent a ship-wide alert that the stress test was happening - “

A perfectly manicured hand clapped over my mouth, one dark eyebrow arched in eloquent disbelief. “Sophia. You of all people know that mental scars do not heed logic.”

Charly’s hair flew around her face as she nodded enthusiastically. “After day three of cold showers, I flinched every time I went through a door in case that stupid song started playing again, no matter how many times I reminded myself that it was a stress test and I had decidedly not given Derek boba tea again.”

Both my hands flew up in surrender. “I stand corrected, I just feel awful to see people react like that.” Gazing around the room, I was suddenly much more aware of all the darting eyes, protective postures, seats turned so that backs were against walls.

Charly had obviously seen the same thing. “We may need to talk to Pranav about limiting the tests to one or two systems at a time.”

“I wish we could,” I admitted, stabbing a potato out of my pie slightly harder than necessary. “His department was passing the tests with flying colors when Derek was limited to one or two systems at a time.  But they failed this last test miserably, it turns out.  As soon as they would react to one thing, Derek would switch to another system, and they couldn’t be everywhere at once as well as they convinced themselves that they could.  And they can’t just be good at small scale attacks: the revolt that happened before the End brought everything down at once, from multiple access points. It was… kind of elegant, in a terrible way.  Very clean.”

Charly squinted at me and Parvati in suspicion. “Are you supposed to know that they crashed and burned in the test.”

I rocked my hand back and forth while I chewed on a mouthful of crust.  It had way too much butter in it, but at least it was actually crust this time. A week ago it had been something pretty close to paper mache. “Technically we don’t officially know that.  Officially, all we know is that Pranav has requisitioned enough additional staff to increase his team of programmers by seventy percent.”

“Asses handed to them, got it,” Charly nodded in understanding.

“We also officially know that Pranav currently owes Hannah quite the enormous favor,” Parvati confided.

“How big?” Charly ventured slowly.

“Big enough that his grandchildren may be indebted to hers,” came the laughing response.

Charly shook her head and clucked her tongue. “He should know better than to bet against Derek.  He breaks the systems for fun, and they asked him to really go for it. What did they expect?”

“Apparently to put up a better fight at least.” I forced a smile, but guilt weighed on my heart as I studied the room again, fully seeing the microexpressions of anxiety, fear, and anger.  It felt like the entire Ark was constantly swinging between hope and fear. The random drills weren’t really helping, either.

“They aren’t,” Parvati agreed, letting me know that I had been thinking out loud. “Everyone is sleep deprived, on high alert, and then all of a sudden all the computer systems went on the fritz for a week.”

I sighed and rubbed my forehead, pushing what was left of my pot pie away from me, appetite gone. “We need to talk to Grey and Antoine about getting counselling for everyone, seeing as how Xiomara and Pranav pretty much just triggered the entire ship. I mean, everyone knows counselling is available, but I think allocating training and resources to the therapy teams is going to take priority over Pranav’s request for the moment.”

Charly tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Do we have the space for some quiet rooms, like you set up for the Food Festival a few years back? That may be a good idea.”

Snapping into work-mode, Parvati flicked her datapad open, bangles clattering as she started making notes. “The quarters left by those who relocated closer to the Archives are still uninhabited, those can be used.  We may be able to convince some people to relocate so we can spread the rooms out more evenly, but even if we can’t, just having those rooms available will help.”

“Make a note to add in the proposal for Grey: possibility of having specific vendors permitted to serve food in BioLab 2.  Encourage mental health days and picnics.”

Parvati nodded in acknowledgement of my request, before adding her own spin. “As a contingency plan, find vendors who will pre-package picnics.  Between the current distrust of the consoles and the fact it will remind everyone of the annual Festival, the good emotions will help.”

“I like it,” I confirmed. “What else?”

“Paintball tag day in the corridors,” Charly announced, without preamble or warning. “Make it a holiday, everyone is off work, limit it to one end of the Ark.”

I shook my head. “Guns, not the best idea.”

“Ew, no. No pew-pew.” She wrinkled her nose. “I was thinking more paint-soaked splash bombs.”

Finger guns deployed, dual wielding. “I am so here for a paintball tag day in that case.  The flavored paint?”

“Not the scotch bonnet please,” Parvati begged. “I just know someone will get that in the face, I don’t care how much Else likes it.”

“Got it, no more pepper spraying people,” Charly agreed seriously. “OOO! I could test the new arrows out!  With something like buttered popcorn paint, obviously. Maybe kiwi on the other team.”

“Just limit the pull on the bows, okay? I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”

“Fiiiiine…”

Parvati smiled and added to her notes. “So, we probably want someone to correlate the current date to whatever the date would be on Earth… Just in case we need to get a consultant for Holi.”

“Good point. Conor is alarmingly good at that, so I can ask him.  It would be a nice cultural event if we could do that. If not, we can totally work on celebrating Holi when it comes around.”

“Final suggestion for right now, because I have to get back to work,” I sighed happily. “This is going to be the biggest ask, and the smallest at the same time…” Both nodded at me to continue. “Care packages, for everyone. And I mean everyone on the Ark.”

“Sophia,” Parvati scolded me. “That’s almost ten thousand people and sixteen animal companions.”

“Well aware,” I forged on, “We’ll talk to Sam about the bows, I can wrap them. Commission some of those really nice chocolates, or maybe some taffy from Simon. And something salty.  I know there is someone on the Ark who makes aromatherapy candles, Tyche is bananas about them.”

Shaking her head, she added it to the list. “If you insist on that, I insist on a celebration for the drop out of FTL.  Hannah and I can use some of the plans from the Food Festival, include Charly’s paint tag - “

“And Kink Night!”

“- and Kink Night, apparently… have several events going on across the Ark, since we already discussed declaring a holiday.”

“Get Bash’s permission to use the Undine again, and I won’t object,” I surrendered before standing. “On that note, I really do have to get back to work.  Come on, Vati, we have work to do apparently.”

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[we-are-inevitable]

burning house // javid (small town au)

A/N: I FINISHED IT !! inspired by an amazing anon ask i got !!

WARNINGS: implied child abuse, injuries, breakdowns, mentions of slurs (said by a queer character)

Read On AO3!

***

“We should make out.”

David’s head snaps to the left, eyes wide as he stares at Jack. Jack, who is nursing a Sonic sweet tea, still in a pearl-snap dress shirt and starched jeans. They’re still sitting in Jack’s truck in David’s driveway, having just left a wedding; one of Racer’s sisters, who Jack has known for ages. David didn’t really know anyone besides Jack, Racer, Albert, Kath, and Charlie, but it was fun. 

It was fun, and now Jack wants to make out, and--

“I’m sorry, what?”

David asks, confused; he blinks a few times, trying to force himself to process what Jack had just said. Trying to will the flush in his cheeks to go away.

But then there’s Jack, looking at David through his eyelashes as he repeats, “We should make out.”

David freezes. Gulps, and his hands clench at his sides. 

Jack stares at him for a few seconds, before that signature Kelly grin of his sinks into a smirk. “I mean, can you imagine what Snyder’d say? Old bastard would have a heart attack. It’s worth a shot, if ya ask me.”

One by one, the pieces start coming back together, and- oh. Oh, right.

They were talking about how much of an asshole Snyder had been at the wedding. Kept making inappropriate comments about some of Racer’s sister’s friends- college kids, no doubt having been raised in this very town. Those comments turned into drunken rants about women, and then the transphobia hit full force, and then Snyder went on a very loud, very homophobic tangent.

Directed at David.

Snyder had been thrown out of the wedding after that; a few of the older fellas in town dragged him out, just because he was ‘causing a scene’ at the reception. It wasn’t like they were defending David- no, they likely agreed with everything Snyder was saying- but at least they had the decency and respect not to ruin the wedding of a lovely young woman by spewing hateful opinions.

Jack and David had left soon afterwards, after congratulating the bride and groom and saying one last goodbye to Racer, Albert, Charlie, and Kath.

And now, here they are, in Jack’s shitty truck, eating greasy food and sipping on too-sweet sweet teas, talking about… making out.

“I… Okay, elaborate, because- because I don’t understand what you’re saying,” David admits, raising his brows. “You want to… make out with me, just to piss off Mr. Snyder?”

Jack nods, then tilts his head and beams at David. “We might get lucky- Davey, there’s a chance’ll drop dead if he sees it. Wouldn’t that be great?”

David can’t hold back his soft bark of laughter. “I mean, if you’re really okay with it, then I don’t see why not,” He admits, and gulps. “You… you are okay with it, right? Like, the whole--”

“Are you askin’ if I’m okay with kissin’ you, when I was the one to bring it up?” Jack raises a brow. “C’mon, Davey, use that brain ‘a yours. ‘Course I’m okay with it.”

David studies him, just for a moment, and sees the sincerity in those deep brown eyes… It’s almost disorienting, the way that Jack would so willingly give up his status around town just to prove a point, just to support David, just to make a bigoted man angry.

And, okay, maybe it doesn’t help that David has wanted Jack to kiss him for a while now. And, yeah, maybe David agrees because this might be the only chance he has to kiss Jack Kelly.

After a few moments of silence, David sucks in a deep breath and says, “That's the least heterosexual thing you've ever said, but… Okay. Tell me the plan.”

***

Kissing Jack is the easiest thing David has ever done.

There’s tongue, there’s teeth, there’s a formulated desperation in the way Jack balls his fist against David’s shirt, the way he presses their fronts together, the way one of his arms winds up and around David’s neck.

It feels so real, so right, but then Jack pulls away and turns his head and says, “Oh, sorry, Snyder! Didn’t see ya there.”

And then it’s a race to hop out of the bed of Jack’s truck, climb into the cab, and peel out of that church parking lot before Snyder has a chance to get a hold of them.

David’s heart is racing, but it’s not from the adrenaline of running from Snyder.

David’s heart is racing, and Jack Kelly’s kiss is the culprit.

***

Jack doesn’t talk to David at all after he drops David off at his house.

David sends him a few texts, but they all go unread, which isn't a very usual occurrence. 

The next day, too, Jack is nowhere to be found at school; which is great , because David is alone for the most part, and David being alone means he gets shoved against the lockers by the Delancey brothers and is called every slur in the book. It doesn’t stop until Sean Conlon walks up and makes the other guys go away; David hasn’t really talked to him all that much, but he’s seen him at Jack’s rodeos and he knows that Sean knows who he is, knows that he's a friend of Jack's, so maybe that’s why he’s helping right now. 

“Those assholes need to stop causin’ trouble,” Sean says as he shakes his head and helps David up. “You okay, man?”

“Yeah,  I- I’m good, I think,” David sighs. “I’m used to that-- it’s fine, really. Thank you.”

Sean studies him for a moment, then frowns. “It ain’t fine and you know it,” He counters. “They give you anymore shit, come find me. I’ll set ‘em straight.”

Davit smiles sadly, and nods. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” He says, then gulps. “Hey- uh… Have- have you seen Jack today?”

Sean looks up at him, brows furrowed, and he shakes his head. “Nah. He didn’t respond to my text this mornin’, either. Somethin’ happen between you two?”

“What do you mean?”

Sean shrugs, and rubs the back of his neck. “Well, y’all are a thing, ain’t ya? Caught kissin’ at the church.”

David’s eyes widen just slightly, and he gulps. “...How do you know about that?”

“I--” Sean pauses, and he takes in a deep breath. It must hit him that this isn't what he thinks it is; Jack and David aren't together, and what happened isn't what the rumors are saying… He frowns, and looks up at David. “Honestly, some ‘a the fellas were talkin’ about it this mornin’ at the feed store. It’s not a secret anymore. I’m sorry.”

“Everyone knows?"

Sean nods.

It takes David a few moments to register what Sean has said, but eventually, it hits him like a blow to the chest. David sucks in a deep breath and nods, hands clenching, and without saying another word, he hurries down the hall and out the side door that leads to the courtyard. He can’t- he can’t stay at school. Not today, at least; or ever.

Not until he finds Jack.

***

“Hey, this is Jack. Sorry I can’t get to the phone right now! Leave a message after the beep.”

David rubs his forehead, waits for the sound, and says, “Hey, it’s… me again. I know this is- this is my fourth time calling, and I’m sorry, I just… I wanna make sure you’re alright? So, uh, I guess, call- call me back when you get this. Or don’t; you don’t- you don’t have to, I just… I’m sorry.”

The line goes dead, and David drops the phone.

***

He doesn’t hear from Jack all weekend.

Not until Sunday, at least. David is lying in bed that evening, reading one of his books for class, when all of a sudden his phone lights up beside him.

He looks up from the page and gulps, seeing Jack’s name and number flashing across the screen. Part of him wants to ignore it, like Jack’s been ignoring him, but he can’t do that. He can’t. Not now, not after everything; if David ignores it, then what good will that bring to their friendship? 

David grabs the phone and answers, sitting up. “Hello?”

“I’m outside,” Jack says, taking a deep breath. “Can- Can you come outside? I’m in the truck, I just--” He pauses, and David gulps. “I’m- I'm sorry, just… please , Davey...”

“I’ll be out there in a second,” David whispers, and hangs up the phone. He hurries to get dressed; all he does is put on a hoodie and change into a pair of sweats, and he quickly pulls on his Converse as well, before gathering his essentials- phone, wallet, house keys- and hurrying out of his room and down to the front door.

At least, he tries to.

“David, where are you going?”

David stops in his tracks and looks back to the voice- his mother, who is standing in the kitchen. He rubs the back of his neck. “I-... Jack needs me. He’s outside. He sounded shaken up about something, so…”

Esther frowns, and steps forward. “Is he alright?” She asks, concerned, but then she shakes her head. “No- it’s none of my business. Let him know he’s welcome inside, dear, and… Just- Just be back in time for school in the morning."

"Thank you, Ima," David says with a sad smile, before taking a deep breath and walking out the front door.

Just like Jack said, his truck is parked in the driveway. Jack himself had gotten out and is now leaning against the truck, his head down and his arms crossed and he looks so… so small . David walks a little faster.

He also notices, as he comes closer, that Jack is in unusual clothing for himself; David has only seen Jack in sweats and a hoodie a few other times in their six months of friendship, so seeing it now is… alarming. He's used to the cowboy getup; the boots, the jeans, the crisp button down and wide brim hat. But this, this is completely new territory. He nearly doesn't recognize him.

Nonetheless, David comes up to stand a few feet in front of him, biting his lip. "...Jackie?"

Jack doesn't look up. Instead, he takes a deep, shuddering breath, and his breath catches in his throat when it does so- he sounds like he's hurt, but he still doesn't take his gaze off of the ground before him. "Davey, I-- Just to clarify, we're still friends, and I ain't just- I ain't just dropping you, 'cause you're one of- one of the best friends I've ever had, but I- I can't… hang out with you in public anymore. And- And I know how bad that sounds, and I'm so sorry, I d-don't want to do this either, but--"

"What? Jack-- Jack, look at me," David cuts in, taking a few steps forward. That entire tangent is a lot to process. Jack can't see him anymore? He's never seen Jack like this; this is something new, something… scary. But Jack still refuses to look up.

David gulps, and continues moving until he's right in front of Jack, who in turn presses himself flat against the truck and winces . "Jackie," David whispers, then hesitantly brings his palm up to rest against Jack's cheek. Jack takes in a sharp breath at that, and then David gently guides Jack to tilt his head up, to look at David, and--

David’s eyes go wide. "Oh, my God , Jack…"

Jack shoots him a sad smile- but its not like he can smile very wide, with his busted lip and his black eye. They aren't exactly fresh wounds; Jack's lip is scabbed, and the coloration of his bruise says that it's at least a few days old… David gulps hard, covering his own mouth with his hand.

"I- I'm fine, really, just got into a scrape," Jack says with a forced chuckle, but David can see it- the pain, the sadness, the hurt- written all across his face. "I just- I've… been gettin' a lot of people askin' if I'm- if we're a thing, and they aren't- they aren't happy about it, and it- it would be best to lay low, 'cause I- I don't… I don’t know what else to do, and--"

"Who did this to you?" David asks, voice soft, as his hand- still on Jack’s face- tenderly moves from his jaw to his cheekbone. He doesn't mean to ignore Jack's comment, but… right now, this is more pressing than the judgement from the town. 

Jack takes a sharp intake and shakes his head. "I told ya, it- it's nothin', alright? I'm fine, and the face ain't even- ain't even all of it, s-so--"

"Not all of it?" David asks, taking a step back just to look down at Jack. "What else is hurt?"

"Dave--"

"No, Jack. Show me what happened."

And Jack is standing there, teetering on the edge of running away and letting Davey see, but he eventually takes a few quick breaths, furrows his brows, and slowly pulls off the hoodie.

And instantly, David’s blood runs cold.

Jack's sides are littered with bruises. Huge ones, right below his ribs- and right on his ribs, which makes David think there's a reason that Jack looks like it hurts to breathe. There's also a few scrapes on Jack’s skin, which have been scabbed over, and he looks… a mess.

Jack's shaking now, and as David glances up from Jack’s torso to his face, he sees tears welling in his eyes. "Jack…" David whispers, sad and desperate, and Jack shakes his head.

"I-I'm fine, Davey, I- I- I just-" A shallow sob rips from his throat, which seems to surprise him, because his eyes widen and he covers his mouth, as if he were trying to stop it. But David can see that he can't control it, not as the next sob wracks his body, and David watches helplessly as fear shrouds Jack’s features. Jack looks near frantic now, but the tears have begun spilling over, and there's no way of stopping them anytime soon.

Between one moment and the next, Jack is on his knees, one hand supporting his weight while the other covers his mouth. He's shaking so violently, eyes shut tightly as he whimpers and tries to control his breathing, and David feels his heart shattering in his chest for him. 

He drops to his knees in front of Jack, gulping. "Jack, I'm- I'm gonna touch you, alright?" He whispers, waiting a few moments, before he carefully and gently wraps an arm around Jack's torso. With barely any coaxing, Jack climbs into David’s lap and holds on for dear life; the sobs come harder now that his face is hidden within the crook of David’s neck, and they- along with the whimpers of pain, likely from his ribs- make David’s chest tighten.

"You're safe, you're okay," David whispers, as best he can, and focuses on gently rubbing Jack’s back. He shifts, moving from his knees to sit with his back against the truck, and Jack sinks further into his lap, fists balling the fabric of David’s hoodie.

This isn't fair. It's not fair at all, because David should have known the kind of backlash they'd be facing. David should have been able to see it coming; especially for Jack, the town's golden boy, the one that everyone loves, the last person they'd expect to disappoint the community. 

And here Jack sits, broken down by fists and harsh words for something that David encouraged.

Jack doesn’t deserve this.

They stay like this for what feels like an eternity, as Jack has his release and David is there to pick up the pieces. This is wildly new territory; David has never once seen Jack cry, aside from the night that he had to get stitches after Dolly kicked his thigh, but… even then, Jack was laughing through the pain.

David can easily see, though, that this is a different kind of pain.

It takes a long while, but Jack eventually begins to calm down. The sobs are few and far between, now; there are still aftershocks, but for the most part, Jack seems to have gotten it all out of his system. He doesn’t move, though; he's still in David’s lap, still catching his breath, still holding onto him… David just wants to hold him, protect him for hours, but Jack shifts and David loosens his hold.

As Jack sits up, David frowns seeing the tear tracks on his cheeks. It's like David can’t hold back; he reaches up and wipes the tears away with the pad of his thumb, and Jack sniffles. "I-I'm sorry," Jack whispers, shooting David a sad, desperate smile. "That's ne-never happened before."

His voice is a broken thing, high and desperate and choppy and fragile, and David can't help but frown. "It's alright, Jackie, you don’t… You don’t have to apologize for that. Ever . It's okay, you're okay."

Jack nods, not quite believing David's words, but he climbs out of David's lap anyway. He pulls his hoodie back on a moment later, then looks down at his lap. "...I shouldn’t've kissed you," Jack whispers, which makes David turn to face him.

That's all the confirmation David needs. "This happened because of the kiss," He mumbles, gesturing to Jack’s bruises. "Did- Did Snyder do it?"

Jack doesn't answer for a long time.

He looks spacey and out of it, staring up at the stars in the night sky, until he slowly shakes his head. "No," He whispers, hands clenching at his sides. "Not directly, at least. He… He told my dad, and he… Dad didn't take it too well, s-so…"

David’s heart drops to his stomach.

"You… your dad- he did this to you?" David asks, voice soft, and he shakes his head as Jack nods. "Jack, you-- You have to tell someone, he can't just get away with--"

"Who am I s'posed to tell, Davey?" Jack asks, defeated. "Everyone already knows my dad's a piece 'a shit, and no one's done shit about it. He- he ain't ever been good, Davey," Jack frowns, and shakes his wrist- something he does when he's anxious. "The cops don't care, the judge don't care, and he- he's been like this for years, Dave, slappin' me around, but- but… this is the first- the first time it's ever, uh, been… been this bad." Jack frowns. "He said he ain't gonna put up with his son bein'... bein' a fag. I told him to shut the fuck up, and he, uh, started in on me. I shouldn’t've provoked him."

David shuts his eyes and covers his mouth, shaking his head as Jack’s words sink in. He gets it now, why Jack doesn't want to be seen with him for a while; and though it hurts, David would move to the other side of the country in a heartbeat if it meant keeping Jack safe. 

"I… I am so sorry, Jack," David whispers, and reaches over to take Jack’s hand in his own. "None of this is your fault, and you don't- you don't deserve any of that, okay? Not at all. You… you know you don't have to put up with that, right? You- You can move out, come stay with us, and--"

"I ain't gonna put that burden on your folks, Dave," Jack whispers. "'Sides, I… I can't just leave the farm. I still have rodeos comin' up, and I gotta practice with Dolly, and- and it's almost calving season… My dad's too fuckin' drunk all the time to take care of shit like that. I have to stay."

David frowns, and rubs his forehead. Of course Jack wouldn't leave, he's far too stubborn for that, but… but at least the offer is there. "If you're sure," David murmurs, "but the offer still stands."

Jack nods and lets the silence stretch between them. Only for a few moments, though; soon, he squeezes David’s hand and turns to look at him. "Davey," Jack whispers, "I… I need you to promise something."

David looks into Jack’s eyes. "Anything," he whispers, the words heavy, but full of meaning.

Jack grins at David’s response, just softly, but his face falls as he glances away. "If you see my dad, run. Get the hell outta Dodge. Don't try to talk, don't try to give him shit for doing this, just- just run. I don't want somethin' to happen to you."

"Do you really think he'd come after me? Even if you stay away from me?" Davis asks, gulping. "You- you explained what happened, right? That you aren’t--"

"I tried, but I- I guess I wasn't convincing, so--"

"Convincing?" David asks, raising a brow. "You… had to convince him?"

"He tried 'beating the queer' out of me," Jack admits, and gulps harshly. "I- I guess it wasn't enough, 'cause I'm still…"

He trails off, but David picks up on the hint. "Oh, Jack…" He whispers, and looks away. "Are you--"

"I- I don't know yet," Jack sighs. "I… think I still like girls, and… and I ain't ever been with a guy, b-but… I just- I don't know, Davey, it's all t-too much."

David nods, and wraps an arm around Jack's shoulder. "It's okay not to know, alright? It… It was confusing for me too, at first. I'm right here if you ever want to talk about it, alright? I promise."

"Thank you," Jack whispers as moves closer, leaning into David’s embrace. He opens his mouth to speak again, but reluctantly shakes his head and rests against David’s chest in lieu of responding.

They sit there for a long while. The breeze has picked up- the grass sways, and the fields around the property and across the street seem to be teeming with life. David can hear livestock and insects all around them, but he chooses to focus on Jack’s breathing, on Jack’s soft sighs next to him.

Under different circumstances, David would love this. He would have loved holding Jack, and being so close to him, but now… Now all he wants to do is keep Jack safe and never let him leave his side.

David turns to look down at Jack, who has his eyes trained on the stars above. He watches him for a moment, before slowly nudging his arm. "Jack?"

"Hm?" Jack looks up at David, meeting his eyes.

"Stay the night."

Jack tilts his head, and raises a brow. "Davey, I--"

"Jack," David murmurs, frowning. "Please, just… stay. Let us take care of you."

Jack stares at him, just for a few moments, before slowly nodding. "...If you're sure," Jack says softly, and looks toward the house. "Your ma won't mind?"

David scoffs. "I think she likes you more than she likes me. She won't mind at all," He says with a grin, then stands up and holds a hand out to Jack. "They… They're gonna have questions, though."

"I know," Jack sighs as he stands, using David's hand, and he soon rubs his face. "I wanna- I wanna tell them, but… will they tell anyone else?"

"They might try," David admits, and rubs his arm. "They just wanna help. You can explain everything to them, just… just know that, no matter what, you'll be safe here with them. With us. Okay?"

"Okay," Jack murmurs, staring up at the house. With a sigh and a decisive nod, Jack takes David’s hand.

They walk hand in hand up to the house, up the front steps of the porch and to that heavy wooden door. They walk in, into the warmly-lit living room, into the warmth of the home, into the safest space in the entire town.

Jack looks at David and smiles. Mouths thank you, and turns to face Esther and Mayer.

All with David’s hand in his own.

[cucumbers-and-olives]

Enemies To Lovers- Part Two (Charlie Gillespie x reader)

i forgot to post this last night, oops! here it is now...

<<<part one—part three>>>

Summary: Its New Years, and you fare asked to stay in town for the annual New Years party. But what happens before and during the party? Well that’s a story!

Category: it’s a league of its own

Fandom: JATP

Paring: Charlie Gillespie x reader

Word Count: 1,960 (woah)

⚠️PLEASE READ⚠️ Warnings/Includes: if mentions of drinking, drugs, (getting) roofied/drugged, strong language and typos

Please make sure you are comfortable before reading this chapter.

A/N: so it’s a few days late, i hope you guys enjoy this NYE fic a few days after

Mandatory Thanking of the Betas: THANK YOU LOVES!!! you two literally hold me up and help me make my ideas into their finished product, so thank you!

AO3 link here (will be up by 1/7 10pm est, i’m have wifi issues at the moment)

Please don’t repost my work without my permission, in part or whole. My work can also be found on AO3 under the same username. Thank you!

“Y/N!” A woman said entering your room. It had been a week since you had arrived in the Gillespie home. In that short amount of time you had met all of Charlie’s younger cousins (there were only three, but they were a handful), celebrated Christmas the Gillespie way, and gotten into a total of five fights with Charlie over a range of things, but each one had a bigger fall out than the last. You supposed that was why at every meal your spot was next to his, an obvious way that Ms.Gillespie tried to “bring the two of you closer together.”

“Hun, you okay?” Ms.Gillespie said, her hand resting on yours. “You’ve been staring at that shirt for a while.”

“I’m alright, thank you,” You said, placing your shirt into the suitcase that lay on the floor. You were packing to leave, but you could tell that the older woman’s appearance in your room meant that you wouldn’t be leaving on your flight. You held your breath as she spoke.

“I’d like to invite you to stay through New Years. You’ve been such a help with the younger kids, and it’s been delightful to have you here.” She must have been telepathic at that point because she rushed out her next point. “And Charlie has agreed to play nice.”

“Ms.Gillespie, you are so kind, but I don’t think I have enough money-” You said, not wanting to overstay your welcome any longer.

“Nonsense, nonsense!” She cut you off. “I knew you would say this, it’s the kind of person you are, and so Charlie has found you a flight and we are paying for it.” You could tell that there was something that she was leaving out, but you could get hit with that later. Ignoring your work and your family was something that you were good at. And besides, hanging out at the Gillespie house was fun.

“Alright!” You agreed. She sweeped you up in a hug.

“Wonderful! Have you had lunch yet?” You shook your head. “Well that is perfect, I’ve got some sandwiches, so I expect to see you down in a few, okay?”

You nodded, and with that, she left, a smile on her face. You were excited to stay longer, but would Charlie’s promise hold? Would he really be nice for the remainder of your stay?

“Let’s hope so,” You said, closing your door and making your way to the kitchen. You should have been paying attention, but you weren’t. Bumping into someone, you both landed on the floor, your phones and other things flying.

“I am so sorry,” You said, picking up the various items. As you reached for one of the notebooks, your hands met and you finally saw who you had bumped into.

“Is this a game to you?” Charlie asked. His eyes were tear-stained, and you slowly noticed that some of the pages had tears on them too.

“I-” You picked his phone up along with yourself off the floor. “Are you okay?” You asked softly, tucking his phone into his back pocket, where you knew it had been before.

“Does it look like it? God, will you just fuck off! When are you leaving anyway?” He grumbled, his previously sad tone taking on a very harsh one. His hand that used to lay by his side was now in a very tight fist.

“I’m leaving after New Years. Your mom asked me to stay, and she’s paying for the flight back,” You said, answering honestly. You didn’t know what happened when he got angry- really, truly angry. And you didn’t want to see it.

“That’s why she had me- Oh my god, no. Just no.” He barked, stalking off.

“Yeah, you know what, fuck you too,” You whispered hotly, calming yourself down as you walked into the kitchen.

~

“Cause I don’t care when I’m with my baby yeah,” You sang along with the T.V. You enjoyed dancing to the Wii, and you hadn't minded when Anna had asked you to join. But the same song had played over five times now.

As the song ended, you placed your control down. “Gimme ten minutes, okay? I just gotta get some water,” She nodded, and you stepped out of the room and entered the kitchen.

“Is it this cabinet?” You said, opening the cabinet that you guessed the glasses were in. They weren’t in that one. Or the next, or the next or the next.

“Excuse me,” Charlie said, stepping around you to open a cabinet you could have sworn you had opened. He grabbed a glass and closed the cabinet, and poured himself a glass of water.

You opened the cabinet to grab a glass, but they seemed just out of your reach. You got on your tiptoes, and your fingers just brushed the edge of the glass.

He let out a little chuckle and grabbed the glass, and filled it up. “Thank you,” You said, reaching for it.

“Oh, you thought this was for you?” He feigned shock. “This is for Anna, she asked me to grab her a glass.”

“Are you kidding me?” You shouted after his retreating form. Sighing, you decided you could do without water as you walked back into the game room.

He sat smugly on the couch, sipping at his glass of water.

“Come on, let’s play!” Anna said, tugging at your hand.

“What song?” You asked, looking to the screen as she pressed play.

“I love it when you call me senorita, I wish I could pretend I didn’t need ya,” Anna sang to the track.

You felt the beat and began to follow the moves on the screen. You knew Charlie was staring at you, and so you made everything bigger. More power, more accuracy, more everything.

When the song ended, he walked out of the room, but he backtracked to whisper something in your ear.

“Strictly professional, Ms.Y/L/N. You aren’t that good of a dancer.”

~

“What do you think of this, Anna?” You said, showing the young girl the sparkling black dress you had on.

“You need more color! And that’s too shiny, and you wore it to Christmas dinner, and-“ She could have kept going, but she caught sight of something in your closet and pulled it out. “This! This is perfect!” Red, off-the shoulder, a leg slit, it was something you would never wear in a million years.

“I’ll… try it on?” You said, and Anna smiled as you stepped into the bathroom.

You pulled it off the black dress and put on the red one, but as you zipped up the back of the dress there was something in the way. A little card.

“Huh,” You were confused as you pulled it out, but as you read it, everything made sense.

You placed the card down to look at yourself in the mirror. The dress fit perfectly, falling down every curve perfectly. It wasn’t you that you saw in the mirror. It was who you pictured in your mind when you thought of yourself.

“Can I see it now?” Anna asked, knocking on the door.

“Yeah,” You said, opening the door.

“Woah,” She gasped softly, looking you up and down. “I think Charlie’s gonna love it.”

Before you could say anything in response, Anna ran out of the room.

~

“Really?”’ You said as you accepted the call on your phone. “I look amazing, but why?”

“Remind me what you’re talking about?” Savannah asked.

“Your acting is on point, Savannah Lee May.”

“Ooh, full name, I’m so scared!” She laughed. “You look good in red, and I knew you would need a dress for New Years!”

“Ya know, if you want to switch to facetime, all you need to do is ask. And the answer is yes.” You rolled your eyes as she squealed, quickly switching to facetime.

“You look stunning!” She gasped. “I wish I could pull off a dress that good!” She whined a bit.

“Who are you talking to?” Owen hollered in the background.

“Y/N! She looks amazing in the dress, come see!”

“Hey Y/N,” Owen said, stepping into frame. He made a face at Savannah. “If she wears that, you have to deal with Charlie when he calls to ruin my New Years.”

“What does he mean?” You asked. Savannah muted herself and had a heated argument with Owen before answering you.

“When we were drunk one time, Charlie talked about his ex. Specifically, the dress she always wore. A red off the shoulder with,” You cut her off.

“With one leg slit. Well that is specific, and I am not the woman that he wants to see in it.”

“It goes further,” She said. “The only people that heard that conversation were Jer, Caroline, Owen and I. So he’ll know that I did this, and he will call Owen to let out his frustration. He’s a nice guy, in that he’ll only yell at men. Truly yell.”

“Wow. So you are sending me into a death trap?”

“Not exactly-“ Owen’s phone rang, cutting her off.

“It’s him! Get over here and answer the phone for me please, Sav!” Owen shouted.

“Who?”

“Anna must’ve told him. She found the dress in my stuff.” You told her and she sighed, hanging up.

~

Music played loudly, filling every corner of the house. And where the music was, there were people. Maybe 75 or so, but it was only 11:30, and you had a feeling that number would increase. You didn’t know what, or more specifically who you were looking for as you scanned the room you were in.

“Hey doll, have a drink!” A random man said, and as he walked by he passed a drink to you. A clear but faintly yellow liquid was in the cup. You didn’t want to know what it was.

“Bottoms up-“ You said, about to tip the cup back and down it before someone pulled it out of your hands.

“I may despise you, but I am not about to let you get roofied,” Charlie said, handing you a beer. “Don’t you know that you have to be holding something at one of these kinds of parties?”

“I didn’t realize it was gonna be one of these kinds of parties,” You muttered, taking a swig of the beer.

“It’s always been like this,” He said, watching all of the couples.

“How close are we to midnight?” You asked.

“Maybe 30 miniutes? I’m gonna go see how my family is.” He said, leaving you in your tiny corner.

~

“10,” The room continued to chant.

You searched the room for Charlie, or at least a familiar face. Couples surrounded you, preparing to kiss at midnight. And you, like a 5 year old, prepared to cover your eyes.

“9,” There was no sign of him, but there were a few men around the room with a similar haircut. You slowly ruled them out.

“8,” His hair was too short.

“7,” His was too dark.

“6,” He was too short.

“5, 4,” You started to give up, just as you saw a couple emerge from one of the back rooms. That couldn’t be him, could it?

“3!” But that was his voice.

“2!” And that was his jacket. Your face dropped as you prepared yourself. You knew what the incoming trainwreck was but you couldn’t look away.

“Happy New Year!” The couples shouted before pulling their lover close.

You watched as his lips met hers. You looked for a bit too long before tearing your eyes away and stalking to your room. But you couldn’t help but look back, and when you did, your eyes met his for a moment.

And the mood shifted.

~

Send me an ask if you’d like to join my tag list(s)! Strike through means i wasn’t able to tag you.

Enemies to Lovers Tag List: @yagorlemmalyn @ifilwtmfc @kaitieskidmore1 @p0uge420

JATP: @n0wornever @unsaidmegan @calamitykaty @screwunsaidemily @crybabyddl @badwolf00593

All: @funsizearsonist

[idk-maybe-i-did-it]

Problem- Remus Lupin

Older Remus x Weasley!Reader

A/N: The Weasley!Reader is 22 years old in this to begin with but is 25 after the time skip, 26 after the second one.

ANYWAY- I hope you like it @elizaphantandroses tis your request after all. I think it was a bit bad toward the beginning but it was better near the end in my opinion

Warnings: Mentions of sexual assault, implied assault, blood and wounds, mild cursing

Let’s start:

Remus Lupin was in an emotional disaster.

Y/n L/n, the new Weasley recruit in the Order, he had a problem for her.

He didn’t have a problem with her work ethic or the ways he did thing, no, Remus had a problem, and his problem was her.

Whenever she was around Remus never was able to think entirely straight, he could never focus directly on his work when she was working on hers. When it was declared that she and Remus had to go on a mission together, his senses were jacked up by a megawatt and they finished up perfectly and quickly because of fear that she would get hurt.

It went the same with Y/n. Remus was her problem as well, and her mum and dad were starting to sense that.

———————————————————————

It was over, the war had ended, and everybody was finally safe.

Fred and George started a new line of products for people with P.T.S.D.

Harry and Ginny were ready, Hermione and Ron were together.

Yet, Remus and Y/n never stopped.

When Remus decided to open a bakery shop ad Y/n showed up one day to apply for a job, Remus hired her without a word and it was splendid. Molly and Arthur watched their eldest daughter as she fell in love again and waited for her to finally realize that the man she loved looked at her like she was his light and breath.

Remus, how do I say this, he loved Y/n, but he tried to tell himself he didn’t. Because he though that she deserved better; Remus thought the woman needed someone Younger, someone brighter, somebody who could give her as she needed and wanted. So, when Y/n one day walked into his house to ask him for help with a wound on her side Remus almost shut the door on her face. Until he realized she needed help.

Which of course led to this now.

“ No Remus let me in,-

“ Y/n really, I have to do something at the moment.”

He watched in sorrow as the woman leant against the door of his home, hand to her side, face screwed up in pain.

“ No Remus please, I’m bleeding out here you’re not just going to-‘

And that was when he snapped to attention and stopped with the lies. The man quickly put his arms under her legs and carefully under her waist and picked her up; moving her swiftly to his bedroom where he could asses the damage. He placed the H/c woman on the side of his bed and helped work her out of the shirt and cloak she had been wearing to reveal a knife dug into her side along with multiple bruises and two jagged cuts running down her chest to lower abdomen.

Remus had to clench his fists in anger and quickly set off to work mending the wounds and bruises, cuts and other marks. Where Remus had placed a spell to stop the blood from coming out of the knife wound he now had to remove to remove the knife itself and furthermore help her. Right before he went to remove the knife he looked up at the woman, “ This is going to hurt like hell love.”

She reached out and grasped his forearm as he went to pull it out and she bit down on her lip, her toes curling and back arching slightly. As Remus finished bandaging the wounds up he went over to his dresser and pulled out one of his sweaters, helping the panting woman into it.

“ What- Who- What the bloody hell happened Y/n?”

The girl shook her head, looking towards the floor, “ It’s nothing Remus...”

She had to stop mid sentence because a certain brown haired man looked up at her from his crouched position and gave her that look that just said ‘I am Remus Lupin, and You will cut the shit.’

“ I was cornered by a group of men on my way back home. They got a few good hits in before I got them with a jinx and Obliviated ‘em.”

Y/n attempted to moved backwards and sit up but Remus was having none of that. He was now even more pissed than before and he had good rights to be so. The man moved over and grasped his wand, waving it slightly and all the blood that had been spilled on the bed was gone then, he moved over and took the girls cloak out and put it on his coatrack before he moved back and picked up the woman, carrying her to the couch in his sittingroom.

Remus sat and placed her laying down beside him, she managed to wiggle over and place her head in his lap, arms propped up on his thigh to make her head adjust better. “ Don’t worry Rem, I’m good now. I just have to aparate home to mum so she knows I made it home and I’ll be fine.”

Remus scowled down at her and growled lowly.

“ No you’re not Y/n. You are going to stay here tonight and I’ll take you over to your parents home tomorrow and explain what’s happened.”

Y/n immediately reacted with a panicked look and slide backwards until she were sitting utop Remus’ leg. She quickly placed her hand on his leg and another on his arm to keep her body steady. “ Don’t tell mum Remus. It’ll kill her! She’s already worried enough about me being out on my own in this muggle town, if we tell her what happened she’ll freak out and I’ll never be able to leave the house anymore. I won’t be able to go to work and I won’t be able to visit the boys and gin anymore, I won’t be able to see Fred and George, I won’t be able to visit Perce and Bill and Fluer, I won’t be able to see yo-‘

Remus stopped Y/n’s panic attack and ongoing ramble by pushing her back lightly against the couch and leaning over her, engaging her mouth, lips and tongue in a very passionate kiss. The girl moved her elbows to prop herself up and reached an arm to thread it loosely through Remus’s hair and tugging on it slightly as he pulled her jaw closer to his. After a few more moments the two started to lose oxygen and Remus pulled away, panting, as he watched Y/n’s chest heave trying to get breath in.

“ I won’t tell your mum if that’s the case. Or maybe she’d let you stay s’long as you’re with me.”

The man let out a cheeky smirk at the woman underneath him and he leaned down, kissing her forehead.

“ Now let’s get you to bed love, you’ve had a rough night.”

———————————————————————

“ You’re moving back in with us.”

Y/n stood next to Remus in her childhood houses’ living room as her mum fussed over her split and sealed side.

“ No mum, I’m my own person. I can take care of myself mum-‘

“ That’s exactly what you said the Christmas of your third year when those boys felt you up and afterwards Charlie still had to hex them brainless.”

“ Dad! You can’t be going there now! We survived the war for Godics sake! I thought that would be enough to prove I could handle myself enough!”

Remus placed a hand on Y/n’s shoulder, hand shaking slightly.

“ She has a point Molly, Y/n can take care of herself. Besides, she’ll be with me. Y/n’ll be fine, it was just one thing and we went off and told the muggle policeman earlier about what had happened aswell.”

Molly, still slightly fuming, came up and moved to where her daughter was standing, engulfing the two of them in her signature bone-crushing hug.

Fred came storming down from the stairwell and lifted his elder sister, spinning her bridal style in his arms.

“ Took you long enough N/n, just give it a bit more time before I get some nieces and nephews.”

“ Shut up Fred!”

__________________________________________

1 Year Later

__________________________________________

“ Hey Rem?”

Y/n asked as she slide into Remus’ lap on Ginny and Harry’s couch. They were babysitting her little sisters newborn infant so Harry could take Ginny out with Ron and Hermione.

She had just gotten the child to sleep and had been planning on going to sleep with her Fiancé on the couch afterwards.

Remus sat up a bit straighter and pulled Y/n closer to his chest, slipping his hands under the soft fabric of the sweater of his that she’d been wearing, rubbing shapes into her soft hips. “ What is it darling?”

Y/n turned around in his lap and began to smooth down the fabric of his button-up, biting her lip.

“ Mum has so many grandkids now Rem... I think I forgot count. Do you mind counting for me?”

Remus guided Y/n legs to straddle his waist as he continued to let his hands gently make their way up her back and torso.

“ Love, your memory must be jumbled, if I recall correctly James is her only grandchild.”

Y/n began to lightly trace the feel of Remus’s shoulders through his shirt as she held an innocently ignorant look on her face.

“ No, Rem you’re forgetting one.”

Remus looked up at his love with a quizzical expression and went back to kneading shapes into her hips.

“ What’re you talking about love? You must be confused because Molly doesn’t have anymore grandchildren... Unless someone else is pregnant and just hasn’t- you’re pregnant aren’t you Y/n?”

“ It depends on whether or not you’ll be mad by my response.”

Remus sat forward slightly pulling her closer to his chest as he wiped a few stray tears from her eye.

“ Love I would never be mad about something like this...”

Y/n nodded her head slightly.

“ I mean, I already talked to Perce and he said that Lyncanthrophilia can only be transferred through a werewolf’s bite. I mean, if you don’t want to keep it I’ll have to live with that but-‘

Remus stopped her worried ranting by pulling their bodies flush, slamming his lips into hers in a gentle yet passionate kiss.

“ I want to keep it Y/n.”

__________________________________________

Drink some water, eat some food, take screen breaks and remember that You Are Loved

^ - ^

[keanureevesisbae]

Mister Cavill, your dog is kinda fat - Chapter 20

Summary: Veterinarian Olivia Tran has zero time for bullshit. After becoming a mom at age twenty three, the one thing she wants is a good life for her daughter Vanessa. Her ex didn’t want anything to do with her nor the baby and she decided that man are officially banned out of her life. But then she meets Henry Cavill at her clinic and her ban slowly starts to crumble apart. Henry on the other hand is looking for one thing: a family. And when he meets Olivia Tran, he finds just that.

Henry Cavill x Olivia Tran (ofc)

Warnings: Childbirth, blood

Wordcount: 3.6k

A/N: Let me start by saying: I don’t know a lot about child birth. I watched those programs ‘one born every minute’ a few times, I checked out this website what to expect and I watched the Hollywood versions of childbirth. So if it’s innacurate, I’m sorry 😅

Masterlist // Previous chapter // Next chapter

Olivia has been in the first stage of labor for a day now, but she somehow manages just fine. The contractions aren’t that frequent nor that painful and as long as he is there for her, massaging her lower back, allowing her to squeeze his hands for some pain relief and do stuff for her when she asks him to, it seems to go pretty well.

Kal and Vanessa are already at his parents place. He promised his mom that he would text her as soon as they went to the hospital, when baby girl is born, so she’ll let the others know. He really is grateful that his family is there for them. A week ago they celebrated Vanessa’s birthday at his parents place and while Olivia and Belle were here at home, he and his parents took care of the party for Vanessa.

Though Vanessa thought it was a shame that her mother wasn’t here, she understood and had a lot of fun regardless.

‘How are you hanging in there, love?’ he asks.

‘I’m fine,’ she mumbles. ‘The contractions aren’t that painful. I just wish I would have contractions more painful and frequent and that my water breaks. If that is the case, it’s really happening. This is just boring.’

He can’t help but laugh. Leave it up to her to call labor boring. He watches as she is laying on the couch, but pushes herself up. ‘I’m going to grab some grapes,’ she mumbles.

‘Sweetheart, I can do that for you.’

‘I know, but I think I need to walk.’

He helps her to stand and watches her waddle off to the kitchen, causing him to smile. He leans back in the couch, having to fight the urge not to run after her. His brothers already laughed at him multiple times. When they were over at his family around a month ago, Olivia stood up to get some more snacks and when he wanted to get up as well, she simply chuckled, placed her hands on his shoulders and told him she’d manage. While she walked over to the kitchen, he felt Piers’ hand on his shoulder, forcing him down on the seat. ‘You can do it,’ his brother said. ‘You can let her do something herself.’

Charlie felt the need to add: ‘If we hear a thud, we know she didn’t manage.’

‘Not funny,’ he hissed.

Everyone around the table started to laugh, causing Olivia to frown when she came back. ‘What’s so funny?’ she asked.

His brothers couldn’t stop laughing and Olivia handed a tiny bag of chips to Vanessa. ‘They are making fun of daddy,’ she told her mom.

‘I’m sorry,’ Niki laughed, ‘but we had to psychically restrain your boyfriend not to run after you.’

Olivia laughed with them, but when she was laughing at his expense, he didn’t mind. He’d kill his brothers later on, preferably without any witnesses.

‘Henry,’ he hears Olivia say from the kitchen, ‘could you come in here for a second?’

He rushes towards the kitchen and he sees Olivia clutching her stomach, as she stands in a puddle of water.

‘My water broke,’ she says with a scrunched up face. ‘Please, don’t panic now, but I need you to do a few things for me.’

‘I’m not panicking. I think I’m offended because you told me not to panic.’

She rolls her eyes. ‘You were panicking this morning, you big idiot, when I told you I had a mild contraction.’ Her eyes widen and she quickly adds: ‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to tell you off.’

‘You didn’t,’ he chuckles. ‘I was just joking. What can I do for you, love?’

‘Can you get me a towel, a new pair of underwear, sweatpants and socks?’

‘Of course.’ He hurries upstairs, gets what she asked for and when he comes back, he sees her pained expression on her face.

‘It’s more painful,’ she whines.

‘Isn’t that what you wanted?’

‘No need to be a smart ass now.’

Henry can’t help but laugh. His mother warned him, because according to the stories (she barely remembers), she was an upright bitch to his dad during labor. He dries her legs, helps her in a new pair of underwear, sweatpants and socks and says: ‘I’m going to call the clinic, okay?’

‘Can you stay here?’

‘Of course.’ Thankfully he put his phone in his back pocket. He calls the clinic, while he is still holding onto her hand. ‘We can come to the clinic.’ He stands up from the chair and expects to pull her up as well, but she stays put. ‘What is it, sweetheart?’

‘I’m scared,’ she mumbles.

He shouldn’t laugh, but she looks so pouty and sad. ‘Oh no, why?’

‘Because… I don’t know.’

‘With Vanessa you were alone,’ he tells her, ‘and you managed. Now I’m with you, so you’ll definitely manage. I’m not going to leave you alone for a single second.’

‘Pinky promise?’ With a pout, Olivia holds out her pinky and Henry hooks his through hers, whispering: ‘Pinky promise.’

The two of them manage to get to the car, but the second he is seated, Olivia groans in pain as another contraction hits her. ‘You’re doing good, sweetheart,’ he says, ‘I’m so proud of you. Breath in slowly, remember what we learned in class.’

Though she didn’t want to go to birthing class, he insisted on going. She had been taking those classes before with Belle, but he didn’t and wanted to know what he could expect. But when they got there, they pretended that they both were first time parents, because she couldn’t remember shit.

‘Fuck you and your birthing class,’ she hisses, but when the contraction is over, she looks at him and chuckles. ‘I’m sorry in advance, Henry,’ she says. ‘I’m going to be a piece of work.’

‘It’s nothing I can’t handle, angel.’

He drives off to the clinic. He lets her squeeze his hand as she breathes through the contractions, that are becoming more frequent and more painful. ‘Very good, Olivia,’ he says, ‘I’m so proud of you.’

‘I want an epidural.’

‘Just tell the nurses that,’ he says. ‘We’re almost there.’

Henry figured out that as long as he is there for her, that it’ll all be alright and hopefully he can live up to that expectation. He tells her to wait in the car, as he hurries off to get her a wheelchair. When he wheels her into the clinic, he is calm on the outside, though he is freaking out on the inside. His daughter is going to be born in a matter of hours.

This is insane.

The doctor checks how far dilated Olivia is and it turns out she is already six centimeters dilated. She practically begs for a epidural and the nurse tells her that she is going to find the anesthesiologist. Minutes pass by after the epidural and he sees her psychically relax.

Hours pass by and he is fighting off the fatigue. He feels it would be unfair for him to fall asleep, though she wouldn’t mind. She told him that a billion times, but he figures that would simply be rude, since she is working hard now. ‘Henry,’ she whispers, holding out her hand.

‘Yes, love.’

‘Tell me something nice.’

‘Like what?’

She shrugs. ‘What are we going to do when we get back home?’

The smile on his face tells it all. ‘When we get home, we are going to cuddle up with baby girl and you are going to recover in bed. Don’t you worry about Vanessa, Kal or the house: I can take perfect care of that and my mom is on speed dial and retired, so I’ll probably call her all the time.’

The tears run over her cheeks, without her actually crying. ‘Happy tears, don’t you worry.’

‘I’m not worrying, sweetheart.’

‘Oh shit, Henry, a contraction.’

He coaches her through this one, just like he has been coaching her through all of the contractions. ‘You’re doing so good, sweetheart,’ he tells her.

Her contractions are becoming more rapid and though she kept her composure the entire time (he doesn’t know how she is doing it, but she is the toughest woman alive), now her groans and cries fill the room.

‘Look at that,’ the doctor says during the check up, ‘you are fully dilated.’

‘No,’ she whines.

The nurse who stands on the other side of her can’t help but smile. ‘Sweetheart, you have been doing such a good job already. You can almost say hello to your baby girl.’

‘Is it too late for a c-section?’

The nurse nods.

Olivia looks at him in desperation. ‘We are going to consider that next time,’ she says. ‘Okay?’

The doctor tells her that whenever she feels ready to push, she should push down and Henry and the other nurse hold back her legs. She brings her chin to her chest as she starts to push. Sweat runs from her hairline over her face, just as tears drip over her cheeks. ‘Henry, it hurts a lot,’ she says, as they are waiting for another contraction. ‘Maybe we should consider adopting.’

‘You’re doing great, sweetheart.’

After a few more pushes, the doctor tells them that he can see the head is already crowning. Olivia told him weeks prior to this moment that she insisted him not to look, because if she can’t see what it looks like, he shouldn’t either.

‘She is almost here, Olivia,’ the doctor says. ‘One more push.’

‘You said that three pushes ago,’ she screams.

The doctor can’t help but smile. ‘This time I mean it.’

After one long push, a screaming baby is placed on her stomach. Henry can’t believe it. This is his daughter. ‘You did it, Olivia,’ he says, placing a kiss on her forehead, as the cries of their daughter fill the room.

Henry gets to cut the umbilical cord and a nurse wraps the little girl up in a blanket. ‘Congratulations, mister Cavill,’ she tells him. ‘She is absolutely beautiful.’

A few tears of happiness stream over his face. ‘Sweetheart,’ he says to Olivia, ‘you did amazing. I’m so proud of you.’ He looks over to hear, only to see that all the color is drained from her face and she is not responding at all. He wants to ask something, but machines start to beep.

‘Her blood pressure dropped,’ he hears someone say and he helplessly watches as they are checking her vitals.

‘What is happening?’ he asks, but he watches the nurses wheel Olivia’s bed out of the room. He stares at the amounts of blood that is left on the floor. For fuck’s sake, that looks worrisome.

A nurse walks over to him and says: ‘Mister Cavill, your girlfriend lost a lot of blood. They will put her on an IV, for a blood transfusion, as we help her deliver the placenta. But I have to ask you to walk with me.’

‘To do what?’ he asks. ‘Can I be with her?’

‘I’m afraid not, sir. We’re going to a different room. One where you can sit down with your daughter.’

‘Is she going to be okay?’ he asks, as he walks with his daughter to another room.

‘We are going to try our best.’ That is not at all what he wants to hear. He wanted to hear a definite yes. This is a maybe, which is practically a no. She places a comforting hand on his arm. ‘You should call someone,’ she tells him, as he is seated in a comfy chair. She points out to him that if there is something wrong, he should press the purple button, before she rushes out of the room.

No, this can’t happen, he thinks to himself. This cannot happen. The little baby in his arms, is fast asleep and he lets out a sigh. She is beautiful, he thinks to himself, but he needs Olivia to be okay. He so needs her with him, so they can raise their family together. He can’t do it alone.

He grabs his phone, before he dials his mothers number.

It only rings once. ‘Henry!’ she exclaims as she picks up the phone. ‘How are you? How is Olivia? Is my granddaughter born yet?’

He hears his dad in the background as well as Vanessa’s delighted voice, asking if she has a sister already. This isn’t the phone call he wants to make. ‘Mom,’ he whispers, his voice breaking already, ‘I’m scared.’

‘Colin, quiet now,’ she hisses. ‘Dear, what is wrong? Is everything okay?’

‘Olivia lost a lot of blood,’ he says, clearing his throat to prevent himself from crying. ‘Mom, they are going to help her deliver the placenta and put her on an IV, but what if something terrible happens to her?’

‘Oh honey, don’t you think like that. You know what, I’m getting in a car and I’ll be there for you. No, Vanessa, sweetheart, I’m going alone. I’ll tell you about it when I get ready. Henry, are you still there?’

‘I am.’

‘Listen to me, be there for your newly born daughter and I’ll be there in a second, okay?’

‘Okay,’ he says. ‘I love you, mom.’

‘Oh sweetheart, I love you too.’

≫≫≪≪

His mom arrives at the hospital fifteen minutes after they hung up and she rushes over to his side, giving him a hug. ‘Oh my, honey. Tell me, where is she? How is she?’

Henry shrugs. ‘I still don’t know, they haven’t told me yet.’

She looks at the little baby in his arms, who gets a little fussy. ‘Can I?’ she asks.

Henry carefully gives his mom his newborn daughter, before he rubs his face. He is worried sick, continues to think about Olivia. No one has told him how she is and it has been a while since he saw her, white as a ghost, being wheeled out of the room.

His mom looks like such a natural, holding the baby in one arm, while placing the other on his leg. ‘Tell me what you think, sweetheart,’ she whispers.

And that is all that it takes for Henry to break. ‘What if she dies, mom?’ he asks, letting the tears run over his cheeks. ‘I can’t lose her. She is my everything. Imagine telling Vanessa that her mother died and—’

‘Okay, Henry, you need to stop thinking like that. It will not help you.’

He stands up from his chair as he paces around the room. He wants to slam the wall, to throw the chair out of the window, but his gazes falls on his little angel asleep in his mothers arms. He can’t throw a fit, not when she is so calm and at peace.

The door opens and the same nurse who brought him here walks in. ‘How is she?’ he immediately asks. ‘Tell me, where is she? I need to see her.’

‘Mister Cavill,’ she says with a professional expression, ‘Olivia is alright. She is still unconscious, but her blood pressure is stable, the placenta was delivered according to plan. The only thing is that the three of you need to stay here for at least one night, so we can observe her.’

Relief washes over him. ‘Of course, of course,’ he says. ‘But she is okay?’

The nurse smiles. ‘She is. We’ll wheel her back in.’

He can’t help it, but he wraps his arms around the nurse. ‘Thank you,’ he says, ‘thank you, thank you, thank you and tell all the others who helped her thank you.’

She chuckles. ‘Of course, sir, will do.’

He sees Olivia being wheeled back in, her eyes closed and hooked to multiple IV’s. She has more color on her face now, but she is still asleep. He walks over to her and presses a long kiss on her forehead. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he whispers. ‘I know I promised you that I wouldn’t leave you. I’m so so so sorry, Olivia. But remember: I love you so much, our daughter is healthy and we are going to be fine.’ He doesn’t know whether or not she can hear him, but saying these words out loud, is comforting for him.

He and his mom take turns holding the baby. When his mom is holding her again, she asks: ‘You two have a name already?’

‘We have two,’ he says, ‘but we are not sure which one will fit her best. Heather or Chloe. But I don’t know really.’ He watches Olivia closely, as his mother is holding baby girl Tran Cavill (for the lack of a first name) and he sees her eyes start to flutter. He quickly stands up as he sees that she is waking up, looking around her. ‘Careful now, love,’ he whispers.

‘Oh my God, Henry, what happened?’ she asks.

‘You lost a lot of blood,’ he tells her, ‘and there was something with the placenta, but don’t you worry now: you are all okay.’

She nods, as tears spill over her cheek. ‘How is she?’ she asks.

‘Baby girl is doing good,’ he says. ‘Very healthy, very sweet. My mom is here too and we agreed that she is so beautiful.’

She smiles with watery eyes and looks passed him. ‘Hi Marianne.’

‘Sweetheart, what did we agree on?’

‘I’m sorry, mom.’

His mother told her a few weeks ago that it’s okay that Olivia calls her mom too. She is in fact the grandmother of her daughter Vanessa, so it’s only obvious that she is calling her mom, right? At least, that was the reasoning his mom used. And Henry knows that Olivia loves having a mom again, and a dad, since his father insisted on her calling him dad, if she was going to call Marianne mom.

She walks up to the bed and hands Olivia their daughter. Olivia looks at the little baby and takes a shaky breath. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she whispers to Henry. ‘I’m so so sorry.’

‘Don’t,’ he tells her, sitting on the edge of the bed and wraps an arm around her petite frame, to kiss her forehead. ‘What happened is nothing for you to apologize over. We’re good now. The three of us will stay in the hospital for another night and then we can go home.’

‘Okay,’ she whispers. ‘Oh my, she looks like Vanessa when she was born.’ Baby girl opens her eyes and looks at her mother. ‘Hi, sweetheart,’ she says in a hoarse tone. ‘Aren’t you beautiful.’ She looks at the wrist of her new born daughter and reads out loud: ‘Baby girl Tran-Cavill.’ She looks up and smiles sadly.

‘What’s wrong, sweetheart?’

‘Nothing,’ she whispers. ‘It’s so sweet.’

He pulls her body closer to his chest and he lets out a content sigh. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘I’m okay,’ she admits. ‘But you and I are waiting at least three to four years before we have another kid,’ she tells him.

He can’t help but laugh. ‘We’ll take all the time we need.’

‘Olivia, sweetheart, you don���t need to do anything with it right now, but I know a woman who is a therapist, specialist in traumas.’

‘I need her number,’ Olivia interrupts her. ‘I went to a therapist after Vanessa’s birth as well. I really need it. I’m a mess.’

‘You are not a mess,’ Henry retorts.

Baby girl starts to get a little bit fussy and Olivia already knows what to do. She truly is the greatest woman alive. She unbuttons her shirt and watches as their daughter latches on her nipple and starts drinking. ‘How is Vanessa?’

‘Worried,’ mom says. ‘I think I have an idea. I’m going back home, bring Vanessa, Colin and Belle with me, so they can meet the little girl, how about that?’

‘Yeah,’ Olivia says. ‘Sounds good.’

Mom gives Olivia a kiss, whispers something in her ear and after she gave Henry a hug, she walks out of the room. The nurse walks in, checks her vitals and tells them she will give them something to drink and to eat in about ten minutes.

When it’s just the two of them again, Henry smiles at Olivia. ‘I’m so proud of you, sweetheart,’ he says. He looks at the baby, who looks so tiny and petite. ‘Tell me: is she a Heather or a Chloe?’

‘Neither,’ Olivia says. ‘We should’ve thought about more names, Henry.’

He sees her frown and the panic in her eyes. ‘Don’t worry, Olivia. We will find a name for her. There is no rush.’

‘Leave it to us to not have a name for our daughter,’ Olivia says. ‘This feeling of breastfeeding… It has been such a long time, it’s weird.’ She looks up and gives him a kiss on his jaw. ‘We did it. We made a baby together and now we are going to raise two kids. Honey, we are such a domestic couple.’

‘We sure are, it’s crazy.’ He chuckles and adds: ‘You should recover first, but after that, we should get married.’

‘Or,’ she says, ‘you and I get married after we had all our kids. I remember being pretty pissed at my parents for not waiting to get married until after I was born and could remember it. We are already not the most traditional pair, let’s just continue on breaking certain etiquette.’

‘That sounds like you and I would definitely do,’ he chuckles. And all of the sudden, something flashes through his mind. ‘What do you think of the name Elodie?’

She tilts her head as she looks at the baby. ‘Elodie Tran-Cavill,’ she says. The baby stops drinking and lets out a small cry, before she looks at the both of them. ‘She is an Elodie.’ While Olivia buttons up her shirt again, Henry picks up the small baby and whispers: ‘Welcome to the world, Elodie Tran-Cavill.’

≫≫≪≪

[benjhawkins]

Fortune’s Favour, Or, The Man who Met with a Mermaid and Lived to Tell the Tale

A bit of original fiction set in 1820 by yrs truly

The October gale swept through Salem Harbor with such ferocity it left us quite glad to make port and head into the nearest tavern, leaving the raging sea behind us. 

The tavern was warm and crowded, many sailors seeking refuge along with several men from the Custom House, all enjoying a drink before once again braving the winds and lashing rains.

“Benjamin Hawkins, as I live and breathe!” I had scarcely walked through the tavern door and shook off the rain when a jolly, booming voice greeted me. I was delighted to espy the face of my dearest friend amongst the crowd. Seeing him after months at sea warmed my soul to such a degree that I all but ran to greet him. 

“Charlie Fortune, aren’t you a sight for weary eyes,” I said, for it was true. His outstretched arms embraced me, and all my cares fell away.

“Come, have a drink and sit with us. We are sharing frightening tales and Thomas swears he saw a spectre last weekend in the old Turner house.” Charlie winked, put a tankard in my hand, and off we went. 

The corner table was filled with the usual suspects, familiar tars and stevedores who called Salem home. Old friends are always a welcoming sight, and they raised their glasses in cheer when I sat down with Charlie. 

“Surely Benji has a terrifying tale he can grace us with?” Thomas said, tilting his mug of ale in my direction. 

“And what if I did?” I grinned.

Charlie slapped my thigh most enthusiastically. He knew what story I’d in mind. 

“Have I told ye all of the mermaid?” said I. 

“Ain’t no such thing as mermaids, lad,” Lefty scoffed, leaning back in his chair.

“I saw one once! In the West Indies!” Davey piped up, and was met with a few laughs from the boys.

“Do you remember the wreck of the Olinda some time past?” I asked the table.

The fellows nodded. It was big news along the wharves. Her cause of wreck was officially recorded as related to the Great Gale of Georges Bank, and she broke up upon the rocks.

“Myself being the only surviving member of the crew, I can attest to the actual reason for her sinking, and I tell you most empathetically it was due to the actions of a mermaid.”

The boys all quieted, and I leaned in to tell my tale.

“We set sail on a Friday, though we all assuredly know what bad luck it is,” I began, “and were not long departed from Salem Harbor, when Captain Rollins spied a mermaid sitting upon a rock jutting from the waves. Truth be told, though I have been at sea since I was a lad of 14, I myself never believed in mermaids until that day.”

Lefty scoffed again but was quickly scolded into silence by the boys.

Davey’s eyes grew large. “Did the mermaid have pale blue skin and dark hair? ‘Twas what the mermaid in the West Indies looked like.”

“‘Twas exactly what this mermaid looked like,” I nodded, “and she watched us from the rocks while she combed her hair, singing with the most beautifully bewitching voice one could imagine. So bewitching indeed, that our captain, God rest his soul, sailed directly towards her.”

Our little corner of the tavern was silent now, save the soft clinking of tankards and the crackling roar of the fireplace. 

“Her song was sweet indeed, offering riches to fill our holds, tempting us with talk of her sisters, each one prettier than the last, all hungry for male company. Of the men of our ship I alone was resistant to her charms, and vainly pleaded with the captain to bring the ship about lest we strike the rocks. A few sailors had already jumped overboard in an attempt to swim to her, and were quickly lost in the sea. But no, the captain insisted this pretty mermaid would make a fine prize for the East India Marine Society. We hit the rocks on our starboard side.

“We heard the mermaid laugh then, but there was no merriment in it. She seemed to delight in our peril, her green eyes flashing. She was the most beautiful and the most terrifying creature I have ever beheld.”

The table sat in absolute silence, all eyes on me.

“I shall spare you the goriest details of the swift sinking of our ship, but through the pounding waves I saw I was the only man left alive. I clung to a bit of a spar and was preparing to make my peace with the world, when suddenly the mermaid jumped from her rocky perch to meet me face to face.

“Her brow was quizzical. ‘You are not like these other men,’ she mused. ‘How is it you alone are unaffected by my song?’

“I replied that surely it was because I hadn’t an ear at all for music, unlike the rest of my crew.” 

Charlie elbowed me. He knew this to be a false recollection of events. But the truth of it shall never be uttered in a crowded tavern.

“Go on then, Ben,” he said with twinkling eye. “What happened next?”

“She gave me a pearl earring, and in exchange--for one must never fail to return a mermaid’s gift in kind--I gave her a gold ring engraved with an anchor, meant as a token for a sweetheart. She promised me fair winds and following seas as long as I should wear the pearl, and I asked her to give the ring to someone she truly loved. She said she had just the mermaid in mind, blew me a kiss, and leapt beneath the waves, leaving me alone and adrift as the seas quieted.” 

I pulled off my hat at this moment and turned my head, to show the company that a fine pearl did indeed ornament my ear. 

Lefty shook his head while Davey stared in wonderment, and still everyone was silent. Quite a satisfactory reaction. 

“I’ll drink to that,” said Charlie, offering his tankard in salute. We all drained our drinks in one go. 

Before long, it was time to take our leave.

“Gentlemen, the company has been most edifying, but I’m afraid I must escort young Mr. Hawkins to his room for the night,” Charlie said with a wink, reaching for his hat and coat. We bade them all goodnight, and out we stepped into clear moonlight, marveling at how quickly the gale had passed.

“You left out my favorite part of the tale,” Charlie said, once we were well out of earshot of the tavern. “Won’t you tell me again?” he pleaded, laughing.

“You know well that’s between God and myself,” I teased, but told him as it went.

“In truth, the mermaid had spoken thus: ‘You are not like these other men, for the love in your heart is different. Your heart belongs not to a woman, nor to silver, nor to gold.’

“‘Indeed,’ I told her, thinking I had nothing else to lose, ‘though I have traveled the seas since I was a lad, sailed innumerable times round the Horn, I always come back to Salem, and to my one love Charlie Fortune.‘” 

Here Charlie sighed. “That is my favorite part.”

“Let me tell it!” I laughed. “She then said, ‘I have lived thousands of years and will live a thousand more and I can sense the rare love that radiates from your heart for your Charlie Fortune.’”

“She saved you because you declared your love for me!” Charlie’s hand flew to his breast, and he laughed again.

“She saved me because she liked your ring,” I gave him a wink.

We continued our merry banter until we reached Charlie’s boarding rooms, and I gladly let myself be led in, his hand warm on the small of my back. 

I was truly home at last.

[writings-of-a-hufflepuff]

Summer Nights: Part 1

Fandom: Harry Potter

Pairing: Charlie Weasley x Overweight/Plus size Female identifying Reader

Series: Summer Nights

Warning: Fred’s death, the series will mention issues such as guilt, grief, etc.

Writer:  @writings-of-a-hufflepuff​ (formerly imaginesofeveryfandom)​ aka @hufflepuffing-all-day-long​

Summary/Request: You’d always had brief glimpses of Charlie Weasley throughout your life, but despite your closeness with the rest of the Weasley family and your friendship with the Weasley Twins, you had never officially met. Until Charlie Weasley decided to take the summer off from his work as a Dragon Keeper at the Romanian Reserve and come back home, to the Burrow, that is. 

Notes: Gif is my own, using my art of Charlie Weasley which you can find on my art blog @artisticwarnug here. If you use please make sure you credit me and my art blog properly, that the ownership is clear as it is my own art and I would hate for it to be unclear that I made it <3 x 

Reader was a Hufflepuff in school but it probably won’t be mentioned that much!

Prologue 

After the war you’d found it harder and harder to spend long periods of time with your family. Not only were you working and living within a magical world that they were not a part of, but they didn’t know of the war or understand the true trauma of the experience for you and most of the wizarding community. You’d lost one of your best friends...Fred wasn’t coming back and your family had no idea that any of it even occurred. You’d seen your own friend alive one minute, and dead the next. Nothing could quite compare to the feeling, like choking on your own breath. Like drowning.

As a result you not only lived with the Weasley’s, Molly protesting whenever you tried to pay her money (you had Bill help you put some into their vault anyway, feeling the need to give them something for their kindness), but spent most of your holidays there as well, rarely returning home for Christmas, Easter, or the summer time. As much as you loved your family you struggled to be around them and they didn’t understand you either. 

In your grief you’d found that helping others made it easier, or at least helped you forget the feelings of guilt and grief that sat so heavy in your stomach. Helping George get back on his feet, helping Lee get his enthusiasm back, helping Mrs Weasley with dinner and around the house, helping everyone just seemed to make it easier to handle. That and working relatively long hours as a healer at St. Mungo’s often took your mind off of the war and what had been lost. You often chose to hide your feelings from the war behind Hufflepuff cheer. But, sometimes you wished someone would notice. You didn’t blame them for not, everyone had their own problems, your remaining best friends most of all. Grief and running a business took much attention. 

You woke up that Saturday morning fully aware that you should get out of bed, but that you didn’t want to. It wasn’t a particularly important Saturday, no plans had been made, no work to be done, no visitors expected. Yet, it would turn out to be a Saturday that completely changed your whole life. 

Since moving into the Burrow, 2 years prior, you had been staying in Fred and George’s old room, seeing as George lived above the Flat. You had spent the first few weeks simply making sure the room was safe, the twins had left many pranks around their room, but also all sorts of potion ingredients. You’d packed everything up and taken it to the Flat...It had been hard, going through all their childhood things with George. Hard for you, but harder for George. Years on and George was doing better, but you knew he still didn’t feel complete, like something was missing. But he slept better, stopped having nightmares, and generally seemed to have some of his old cheer back. It helped that Angelina was there for him as well. He was moving on and growing happier each day. 

The few things that you had been given by the Weasley family included clothes. At first it had been odd, being given some of Bill or Charlie or George’s old clothes to wear to bed or around the house. But, that had gone away quite quickly considering the oversized quidditch jerseys, jumpers, and shirts, were incredibly comfortable. Bill’s fit most snug, being a plump woman, with wide hips and a stomach, and Bill being one of the lankier of the Weasley’s. George and Charlie’s clothes fit much larger on you, however, seeing as they were some of the broader, stockier Weasley’s. It still surprised you that Charlie had been a seeker and not a beater.

The night previous you’d gone to bed in Charlie’s old quidditch jersey and a pair of pajama trousers with little snitches on, that had previously belonged to George. The trousers were much too long on you, covering your feet, and the Jersey while it clung to your hips was loose in every other aspect. It was a pairing that you enjoyed simply for its comfort. It was not something the Weasley’s even blinked at or questioned, after all you’d been gifted the clothes and had been wearing them for the last few years. So you hadn’t really thought twice, as you stumbled out of bed, feet hitting the powder stained floor, about going to breakfast as you were. 

You yawned loudly, covering your mouth with your hand, as you walked into the kitchen, not really taking in which Weasley’s were at the table, being much too tired to do so. 

“Morning” You sighed out as you grabbed a plate and collected your breakfast, Mrs Weasley having already placed dishes of eggs, toast, bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms, and sausages out on the dining table. 

“Good morning, dear!” Mrs Weasley called back, followed by a variety of familiar Weasley voices, and one that you did not recognise, that gave you pause. 

You wouldn’t say you were mortified to look up from your breakfast and realise that Charlie Weasley, the very attractive Charlie Weasley, was sitting in front of you, with an amused half smile and a raised eyebrow. But, you certainly were mildly embarrassed, simply because you were not exactly dressed for introductions and you were almost certain that you had a million knots in your hair. 

“Uh, hello...” You wave awkwardly, a little stinted, with an embarrassed smile. 

“Hello, love. I see mum finally gave away my jersey” You’re certain that Charlie is trying not to laugh, although you don’t feel hurt by this fact. Much like the rest of the Weasley’s Charlie comes across as laughing with you rather than at you. 

“I can...you can have it back, I...”

“It’s alright, looks better on you than it does on me. Might be a tad small for me now actually.” You relax at his easy going manner about it. You were sure it would be a little weird for the second oldest Weasley to finally meet someone while said someone was wearing his clothes. But, apparently not. 

“Y/N, right? I don’t think we’ve properly met?”

It had been two years since you’d last seen Charlie Weasley, that had been at Fred’s funeral and you’d not really taken much notice of him at the time. You had been, naturally, more concerned with and consumed by your own grief and the proceedings before you. 

You’d forgotten how handsome Charlie was. With broad shoulders and deep red hair, pulled back into a ponytail. Charlie was by far the most freckled of the Weasley’s with dense freckles across his face and sharp jaw, down his neck, and over his arms. The last time you’d seen Charlie he’d been dressed in a full suit, covered head to toe, the time before that he’d been a teenager, now you realised that he had a tattoo that you had never previously seen. It was a beautiful tattoo, a welsh green on his neck that twisted its head and puffed smoke from its nostrils. 

“We haven’t, just crossed paths, here and there. Surprising, really.”

“Considering you are not only friends with my brothers...” he pauses just a moment, before correcting himself, “brother, and have been living here, yeah, just a little surprising. Hufflepuff, right?”

“Yeah, managed to make Head Girl in the end, much to...much to Fred and George’s delight.” It was still odd wanting to mention them both, but realising that one of them wasn’t around anymore. But, it was true, Fred and George had teased you for weeks, over the fact that you, best friend to the biggest pranksters at Hogwarts, managed to make Head Girl. “Are you still working at the reserve in Romania?” 

“Yeah, thought I'd be head keeper by now...but...”

“Bad boss?” 

“He’s not bad, but we don’t see eye to eye when it comes to the dragons.” You raise an eyebrow, curious for him to continue. You’d never really been especially good at Care of Magical Creatures but that didn’t mean it wasn’t fascinating to you. “He wants to commercialise the reserve, make it a place people can come visit rather than a place for us to keep the dragons from the Muggles. Daft really, dragons’ll sooner eat a bunch of tourists than sit pretty for them.” 

“The reserves aren’t supposed to be tourist attractions though...why would...surely that’s dangerous and also not exactly fair on the dragons?”

“Oh, it’s definitely dangerous, it takes multiple keepers to restrain a dragon and the dragons aren’t exactly in cages on the reserve like a muggle zoo. Luckily he hasn’t gone through with the idea...yet.” He frowns in a way that tells you he suspects it’ll happen anyway and his tone suggests irritation with the situation. You’re sure for someone who loves dragons so much and wants them to be kept away from muggles and left to their own devices, it must be terribly frustrating. 

There’s a beat of silence as you continue eating. You feel a little awkward, although that certainly isn’t Charlie’s fault. It’s made worse by the sensation of Mrs Weasley’s eyes on the two of you. You were more than aware that Mrs Weasley’s one goal in life since the war had been to marry off each of her children, you included in that. Ginny had since been dating Harry, Ron was with Hermione, George was with Angelina, Bill was already married and Percy...you weren’t sure about Percy.  But, that left Charlie as the oldest single Weasley child, and yourself...still not dating much to Molly’s dismay. She was constantly asking you if you’d met anyone lately. 

“You’re a healer right?”

“At St. Mungo’s, on the Dai Llewellyn Ward for Serious Bites, although I'm often dragged away if someone's had a few too many hexes that have interacted poorly.”

“Ever had any dragon bites?”

“Once, a Peruvian Vipertooth, lady was in a right state for a while. Came out the other end though.” 

“Nasty bites, aggressive little buggers. You’d probably have a field day on the reserve the amount of bites and burns we have each day.” At that Charlie lifted his own arms to show an array of burn scars and old bite marks. Some had healed well, others less so.

You pointed at one, “Looks like you avoided seeing the healer.” You raise an eyebrow and make the face you learnt from Madam Pomphrey, the one that explicitly says you disapprove of avoiding proper medical care. You’d spent a great deal of time with Poppy not just because of the twins but also because she’d helped you prepare for your healer training. 

He lets out a slightly nervous laugh and looks away from you, red rushing up his neck in traditional Weasley fashion at being caught, “Didn’t want to bother anyone, it wasn’t serious. No need to worry, love.” You grab his arm and pull it closer to get a closer look. Trying to ignore the fact he had very strong forearms and incredibly warm skin.

Working on the Serious Bites Ward meant that you had a good eye for bite marks and what might have made them. Some dragons had very distinct bite marks. A Peruvian Viper Tooth had a different set of teeth to a Hungarian Horntail for instance. 

“Ukranian Ironbelly, right? Young one, by the looks of it.��� 

“Just a baby really, got a bit over excited is all. Hurt like a bludger to the head though.”

“You should always see the reserve healer, you know? You could get a serious infection from a bite like this.” You let go of his arm and lean back in your chair, arms crossed, fixing him with the same look again. 

“I would if our healer was as nice as you. He’s got the personality of a fire crab who’s had its tail yanked.” You try not to take the compliment as more than it is. 

“Grumpy and explosive?” You knew a few healers like that. They didn’t exactly have the best bedside manner and it made many a witch or wizard reluctant to seek treatment. 

“Exactly. Augustus Pye still working on the ward? He tried to give dad stitches that time...” 

“Yes...” You sigh, it wasn’t that Augustus was a horrible person to work with so to speak, but you’d had a few awkward encounters with him when you’d first started working on the ward. 

“You don’t sound happy about that?”

“There’s nothing wrong with the man...he just...it's a very small ward you see and he may have...there were a few times where...”

“He asked her out on a date and she said no and embarrassed the poor bastard.” George’s voice comes from behind you with a laugh, before he takes the seat besides you. You’d been flattered, really you had, but, Augustus wasn’t someone you were particularly attracted to. Not physically, nor intellectually nor in regard to his personality. He was nice...but that was just it. You hadn’t expected to go into work and be asked on a date, either, it had been all a bit of a shock really...you hadn’t gotten a great deal of romantic attention in school. Being a big girl meant that boys were more inclined to tease you than date you. Not that you were upset about that, teenage boys were the worst. 

“Thank you, George. I obviously couldn’t disclose that myself.” You roll your eyes

“I still don’t know how you did it, you’re far too nice to say no to anyone.”

“I...” You look at all the curious eyes watching you, feeling a wave of genuine embarrassment as you realise you’re going to have to tell them the truth...that you’d really struggled to say no and had instead, “told him I was already seeing someone, I didn’t want to hurt his feelings!” You protest as George lets out a loud laugh next to you.

“It’s not funny, George! I was very flattered but...I didn’t want to tell him he was just...meh! How do you let someone down nicely? At least this way he thinks it's because i’m already taken not because I find him lacklustre!” 

“Just say it. You don’t find him attractive, you don’t want him to ravage you in the store room, it’s not that hard. You do know you’re an adult and not thirteen, right?” 

You let out an unhappy moan as you let your face fall into your hands at George’s teasing. 

“George Weasley!” You hear Molly scold him about talking about private matters such as ‘ravaging’ and teasing you so much, before turning her attention to you. “It’s okay not to like someone, dear, you don’t have to lie to save someone else’s feelings. Although, it would have been lovely for you to go on a date...it’s been a while, dear.” 

“Mum.” Charlie gave his mother a look which you knew too well, many of the Weasley children had given their mother that exact same look whenever she tried to encourage them to find a date. It was a relief to have someone else tell her to leave well enough alone. You loved Mrs Weasley dearly, but you’d rather date someone you wanted to rather than date someone simply to please her. 

“Oh, alright. Charlie, I need you and Ron to degnome the garden, you too George since you’re here. Y/N, dear, could you water the vegetables in the garden today?”

“Of course, Molly.” You’d long since learnt not to call her Mrs Weasley to her face. Molly hated any of her ‘adopted children’ calling her Mrs Weasley, Harry and Hermione still hadn’t quite gotten out of the habit yet though. Much to Molly’s dismay. 

After much more teasing from George and a shy goodbye to Charlie, you rushed up the stairs to get ready for the day. A day that might very well end with Charlie Weasley being the death of you, death by embarrassment that is.

[prettyinlimegreenboots]

More Hearts Than Mine - Part II

I do not own anything that is familiar to you - songs, characters, etc. This is the next part of the story - you’ll get to meet Jack and the person he’s bringing home with him. Enjoy!

Catch up with Part I Here!

PART II

September 20, 2019

“So I have a question for you.” Jack asked, sliding into a chair across from his girlfriend with a grin.

Kat leaned forward, placing a kiss on his lips. “That depends?”

“On what?” Jack raised his eyebrows, giving her a look.

Kat laughed, picking up her pen, quickly jotting down something on the notebook in front of her. “On where you want to bury the body?”

Jack threw his head back and laughed, loudly, catching the attention of several tables surrounding them. “There won’t be a body to bury. I actually wanted to ask you if you wanted to come home with me to meet my momma and my siblings.”

Kat paused in her actions, slowly looking up from the notebook to see her boyfriend grinning at her. “You want me to come home with you to meet the family?”

“I’d love for you but if it’s too soon, I completely understand.” Jack paused. “I am planning on making a trip back in a few weeks and would love for you to come back with me.”

Kat bit her lip, looking at him. “You have six siblings, right? What makes you think they’re not going to tear me apart? You did mention that you’ve never brought anyone home.”

“They will love you, just as I love you.” Jack said, grinning.

Raising an eyebrow, Kat shook her head. “You’re laying it on thick, Kelly. I don’t know . . .”

“Come on, what do you have to lose?” Jack said, lacing his fingers with his, giving them a squeeze.

Sighing, she leaned back in her chair. “When do we leave?”

October 4, 2019

Relaxing against the seat, she watched the scenery pass by as a Gavin DeGraw song came on the random playlist Jack had put on. “So you said that you had something you wanted to tell me on the way.”

Taking his right hand off the steering wheel, Jack reached over and laced his fingers with hers. “You’re the first person I’ve brought home, but I told you that already. Medda adopted me when I was 14 years old. Racer and I were adopted together, we’re brothers by birth. Medda added Albert and Charlie a year later with Smalls two years after that. My siblings can be rough, hellions even, especially when new people are brought around. Just . . . don’t hold anything against them.”

“Did you tell them you were bringing me?” She asked, biting her lip.

It was Jack’s turn to bite his lip. “Not exactly.”

He yelped as her hand hit his shoulder. “Jack! You’re not making it any easier. Don’t you think telling them you’re bringing me home might help the situation a bit?”

“I was just too excited that you actually said yes that I didn’t exactly think things through . . .” Jack admitted with a grin. “They’re going to love you when they meet you.”

She was hesitant, giving Jack’s hand a squeeze. “If you say so.”

“There’s one more thing you should be aware of.” Jack started, squeezing her hand back. “Momma is special. She tends to adopt anyone that walks through the door. Just know that if something happens with us, which I’m not advocating for by the way, she would be even more devastated and feel like one of her children ran away from home.”

She raised an eyebrow, shifting in her seat. “So are you telling me that we can’t break up because it will break your momma’s heart?”

“Uh huh . . . there’s one thing you never wanna do and that’s make Medda angry at you.” Jack shrugged.

“I take it you’re talking from experience?” She quipped, as a grin stretched across her face.

His silence was all the answer she needed from him. “What did you do to piss your momma off?”

“There’s too many times to count.” Jack grinned, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. “I was the problem child, it’s a wonder she continued to adopt after me and Racer.”

She raised an eyebrow, grinning. “That explains so much . . . what kind of problem child? I mean, should I be worried?”

“I may have been caught stealing once and ran with a rough crowd.” Jack shrugged. “It was a rough two years when I was teenager but Medda was firm and loving and managed to turn myself around. Though, there were many times I thought she would kick me to the curb but she never did.”

“So tell me about your siblings.” She shifted in her seat, eyes bright with excitement, despite her nerves at meeting his family.

A smile crossed Jack’s face as he reflected on his mismatched family. “What do you want to know about the hellions?”

“Should I be afraid that you call them hellions? Just whatever you want to share.” She shrugged, knowing they still had a bit of time ahead of them.

The song changed on the playlist she had picked when they first got in the car. Jack grinned listening to “The Last Song” by All American Rejects.

“Nah, we’re all a mismatch group - we’re all misfits that create a pretty amazing family. Anthony is 17 and my half brother. We call him Race or Racer but he’s the sweetest kid, even though he can be a pain in the ass at any moment. Kid’s got a mouth on him that Momma and I have been trying to curtail but it’s not taking much. He’s dating Sean, better known as Spot. They’ve been together for the last two years but have been friends for as long as I can remember. Charlie and Albert were the next two that Medda adopted - Charlie is a sweetheart with an evil streak. He’s our practical joker so be on the lookout, though Momma probably gave them the ‘don’t do anything stupid’ talk already. And Albert, he’s super smart but doesn’t really apply himself, rather just cruise through school. Albert is a wicked good soccer player and it’s pretty cool to watch him out on the field. His boyfriend, Finch is the goalie and the two of them are pretty incredible - they’re already talking scholarships for college.” Jack paused, shaking his head at the older of his younger siblings.

“They all sound pretty remarkable.” She murmured.

Nodding, Jack grinned. “They all are. Now for the younger three. Smalls is our only girl in the family but don’t let that fool you. She’s tough as nails, despite being a natural girly girl. She plays lacrosse and is damn good at it. She’s ruthless at it and it’s pretty cool watching her fight on the field. She’s a sweetheart and mostly always gets her way due to being the only girl. Romeo is our flirt but he’s harmless. He’s charismatic and energetic and really good at school, despite him being bored most of the time. He’s in a gift program at school and he’s a wicked good artist - he puts me to shame sometimes. And then there’s Henry, our newest brother. He’s four and has the biggest heart - he’s a cuddler, so beware. All of us are huggers, it’s just when you’ve been denied it for so long, you naturally drift to that - Henry never had that trepidation and just loves whoever he comes into contact with - there’s no malice or resentment yet.”

Reaching over, she grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze with a sad smile. “Thanks for telling me. I’m excited to meet them all. Do you have any pets?”

“Albert has Fluffy, Race has Iggy the iguana, and from what I’ve heard, Smalls has been trying to convince momma to get a dog. The house is already a three ring circle yet momma is considering adding a dog to the mix.” Jack shook his head chuckling at his family.

She raised an eyebrow. “So you mentioned that a couple of your siblings were pranksters - anything I should be cautious of?”

“Momma probably had the talk about treating you like she treated all of them when she adopted us so they should be on their best behavior.” Jack grinned. “You’re tough and you grew up with brothers so I’m sure you’ll be just fine.”

“I just want this weekend to go well and for them to like me.” She whispered, giving him a look.

Squeezing her hand, Jack smiled. “A little advice for this crew?”

“What’s that?” Katherine asked, raising an eyebrow at her boyfriend.

“Don’t let the little things bother you; laugh, a lot, and just talk with my siblings - that’ll go a long way in their book.” Jack smiled, pulling into the driveway of a gorgeous house.

A gasp escaped Katherine’s mouth. “This is your house?”

“Yeah . . . momma was married and divorced ten year ago and from the divorce bought this house and filled it with kids that her ex-husband denied her.” Jack turned off the car with a shrug. “Come on . . . the longer we sit here, the more time they’ve got to plan.”

Getting out of the car, she let her eyes scan the front of the tall dark grey exterior with white shutters. A basketball hoop sat in the driveway along with several scooters and bikes. Hearing the car door shut, she felt Jack’s presence behind her with their bags. “Take a deep breath, there’s nothing to be nervous about.”

“You aren’t about to meet your boyfriend’s family.” She gently teased.

He laughed. “No but I had to sit through dinner with your family and I guarantee this will be much less organized than that was. There may even be a small food fight.”

“Something to look forward to then.” She grinned, lacing her fingers with his with a squeeze before they made their way up the steps just as the front door flew open.

“Momma, Jackie brought a pretty girl home.” Henry, she was impressed that she remembered his name, yelled into the house.

In the next moment, her hand was dropped as Jack was engulfed with hugs from his siblings. Their bags were dropped by the door as he swung a couple of them into his arms. She grinned watching him completely relax in the mayhem as an older woman, she presumed it was his momma, came closer to her. “I apologize for my children, it’s not often they’re away from their brother for this long. I’m Medda, Jack’s mom.”

“It’s very nice to meet you. I’m Katherine.” She grinned as Medda engulfed her in a hug. Looking over her shoulder, Katherine caught Jack’s eye as a giant smile crossed his face.

Jack clapped his hands, as the two women broke apart, both with grins on their faces. “Momma, gang, this is Katherine, my girlfriend. Katherine, this is the crew.”

A light blush crossed her face as she looked at the eight faces that surrounded her. “It’s nice to meet all of you.”

“Wait . . how do you know us?” Smalls piped up, looking between her brother and mom.

Katherine smiled. “Your brother told me all about you . . .”

“Glad you know about us but we don’t know about you.” Race’s sarcasm came out as he looked between the girl and his oldest brother. “Thought we didn’t keep secrets, Jackie.”

And with that, he left the room, pounding up the stairs. A few seconds later, a door slammed. A sigh came over her shoulder as a shorter boy smacked Jack’s back a couple of times before shaking his head. “You knew he was going to bring out the dramatics, Jack. Want me to go talk to him?”

“Nah, I’ll do it, Spot.” Jack walked over to Katherine’s side. Lacing her fingers in with his, she gave it a quick squeeze, as he looked down at her. “Let me introduce Katherine to you all then get her settled and I’ll talk to him.”

The next few minutes were filled with introductions as Kat made small talk with all of them. She found out she had a lot in common with Albert, Charlie, and Spot. She cracked a couple of jokes that caught the attention of Smalls and Romeo. As promised, Henry slipped his hand into Kat’s and hadn’t let go the entire time she talked with Finch and Spot.

“I’m going to show her to her room then we’ll be down, okay?” Jack clapped his hands as she finished talking about her journalism major with Charlie.

Jack grabbed their bags before ascending the stairs. Along the way, he pointed out the kid’s bedrooms before leading her to the guest room, which was adjacent to his own room. “This is your room.”

Pushing open the door, she smiled at the brightly painted buttery yellow room. A bed sat in the middle with a small bedside table and an adjacent bathroom. “You get the best room in the house - you don’t have to fight for the bathroom.”

Putting her bag down beside the desk, she gave the room one more lookover before gasping. In the middle of her bed was a snake, basking in the sunshine. Taking a step forward, she carefully picked up the snake, running a finger, gently over its back. “And who might this be?”

Jack chuckled, surprised by his girlfriend’s gentle nature to the snake. “That’s Fluffy, Albert’s pet snake. You never told me you were comfortable around snakes.”

“It’s a ball python, Jack. They’re harmless.” She grinned, eyes floating over to the doorway where Albert and Charlie stood. “Let me guess, her cage accidentally got left open?”

The two at least had the decency to look guilty as they stepped into the room. “Yeah, sorry about that Katherine. We’ll just go put her back in her cage.”

“She’s sweet.” Kat called after them as Jack pulled her into his arms with a laugh.

He leaned down and kissed her quickly before pulling back. “You just won a buttload of brownie points with them. How about you freshen up while I go talk to Racer? I’m sorry about him, Kat.”

“Don’t be . . . I told you that you should’ve warned them you were bringing me home.” She gave him a look, before pushing to her tiptoes and brushing a kiss to his lips. “Love you regardless.”

“Love you too.” WIth a final kiss, he left the room as she took a seat on the bed and tried to calm her racing heart. Twenty minutes down, the entire weekend in front of her.

She quickly ran a brush through her hair before using the restroom before walking down the hallway trying to find out where Jack went. She heard his voice and followed the direction. Stopping in front of Jack’s room, she smiled seeing Race and Jack sitting on the bed beside one another. “Why didn’t you tell us you were bringing her home?”

“I was nervous . . . I’ve never brought someone home and I didn’t want to hype it up anymore than it needed to be.” Jack admitted. “But I realized it backfired. I’m sorry, Racer. Do you forgive me?”

A quick nod of the head, Race grinned, throwing an arm around Jack’s shoulder. “You mentioned she picked up Fluffy?”

“Without an ounce of hesitation, as if she’s held one her whole life.” Jack said, with a shake of his own head.

“I had a ball python growing up. Her name was Izzy.” Kat took that moment to interrupt the two by leaning against the door. “Hi Race, I’m Katherine. It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.” He held out his hand for her to shake. She did with a grin. “I’m sorry about earlier . . . it just took me off guard.”

“No worries . . . I did tell your brother he should have told you all but he never listens.” She grinned.

Race’s eyes went wide at her comment. “He never listens . . . it’s one of his most annoying traits.”

“Oh, no. I’m going to regret introducing you two, aren’t I?” Jack said, looking between his brother and girlfriend.

Kat laughed. “I think Race and I are going to get along just fine.”

“Kids, dinner.” Medda yelled up the stairs as a stampede of feet hitting the stairs was heard.

Jack and Race’s eyes went wide as they made their way to the hallway. “First rule of the household, Kat, dinner waits for no one.”

She watched Race run down the stairs as her and Jack took their time. Lacing fingers with Jack, they made their way into the dining room. All Kat could think was it was organized chaos, with all the kids trying to find a spot around the table. Two chairs were left open on Medda’s left, as Jack dragged her in that direction. “We have assigned seats around the table to stop anything from even starting.”

“Quit making us sound like heathens, Jack.” Race called from across Kat with a wicked grin. “You make us sound like we can’t control ourselves.”

Jack raised an eyebrow in Race’s direction. “Need I remind you about the great spaghetti disaster of 2015?”

Various shouts of disdain came from around the table as Kat’s head went from Race’s outrageous face to Medda putting her face in her hands with a groan. “I thought we promised to never talk about that, ever again.”

Jack put his hands up innocently at Medda’s exclamation. “Sorry momma . . . hence why we have assigned seating around this table.”

And with that, spaghetti was scooped onto plates and conversation hushed as everyone began eating. Katherine ate with gusto while listening to everyone talk about their day. Henry ran an animated discussion about preschool dramatics while Smalls just shook her head at her brother. “Thought you were allowed to be around Avery after you put paint in her hair?”

Henry at least has the decency to look guilty. “Well . . . that was last week. Monday was a new week.”

“Wait . . .” Jack held up a hand, looking around the dining room table. “Henry James, you put paint in Avery’s hair?”

Henry grinned brightly at his older brother. “Well . . . she started it by putting playdough in my milk cup. I had to get her back somehow.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Kat watched Jack bite his lip to hold back the laughter that wanted to escape. “Well that wasn’t very nice.”

“Try having a conversation with his teacher about it.” Medda piped up, giving her youngest a look, while shooting a warning look to her oldest. “So how’s school going Jack?”

Taking a drink of water, Jack shrugged. “It’s going good. Finally got into the groove of classes and homework and balancing everything. I really like my art history class, the professor is really cool.”

“Sounds like a snoozer.” Albert piped up, giving his older brother a look.

“Of course you’d say that . . .” Romeo rolled his eyes at his older brother, before turning his attention to Jack. “Are you studying Monet or Rembrandt yet?”

Jack chuckled at Romeo’s dig at Albert before shaking his head. “Nah, we’re starting with Da Vinci but we’re going to be studying both of them.”

“Ugh . . . Da Vinci.” Romeo made a gagging noise which caused Kat to giggle at him. “Now talk to me when you’re studying Monet.”

“Alright nerds . . . moving on.” Race gave his brothers a look. “What is the plan for the weekend?”

Six eyes looked between Jack and Medda as Kat did the same. She was just along for the ride for the weekend. “Albert’s got a game tomorrow morning that I figured you’d want to go to Jack but other than that, there’s nothing planned.”

“I want to show Kat around a bit at some point but we can play that by ear.” Jack shrugged, looking at his girlfriend. “We can go to Al’s game . . . you know, Kat played soccer in high school.”

Albert’s eyes lit up at that. “What position did you play?”

“Center Midfielder.” She grinned. “My team went to state and lost in the final game in overtime, penalty kicks.”

Albert whistled slowly, shaking his head. “Tough break. I usually go outside after dinner to kick around in the backyard, if you want to join me.”

“I’d love to. Your brother doesn’t know how to kick a soccer ball properly.” She gave Jack a wicked grin before looking across the table at Albert. “He has absolutely no ball control.”

“You’re preaching to the choir.” Race pipped in, looking at Katherine. “There may have been several windows broken because someone has a left foot.”

Jack held up his hands in defense. “I didn’t realize the ball would go towards the house. I was aiming towards the field.”

“What are you even saying?” Kat gave him a look, shaking her head. “I don’t even know the words that are coming out of your mouth.”

Albert, Finch, Spot, Race, and Charlie all busted out laughing at Katherine’s bluntness. “Oh you’ve met your match, Jackie.”

Dinner quickly finished up, and before long the table was cleared before the family headed outside to enjoy the last few hours of the day. All the kids ran out into the big backyard while Jack and Medda hung out on the deck. “I’m so glad you’re home, Jack.”

“It’s good to be home momma. How have you been?” Jack looked over at the woman who had saved his life more times than he could count.

Medda reached out and patted his shoulder. “I’ve been good, busy with the kids, making sure they are all happy and have everything you need. It’s been an adjustment since you went back to school but it seems like we’ve got it all figured out now. But I won’t say that I haven’t missed you.”

“I have missed you too, momma.” Jack smiled. “And funny enough, I’ve even missed the zoo and the antics of everyone.”

She gave him a look. “Only you could call this place a zoo and live to tell the tale.”

“Oh momma, you love me so much more than the others. I’m your first born.” Jack grinned, knowing though Medda would deny it, it was true.

Medda watched Kat and Albert pass the ball back and forth between them. “Jack …. you know I love you all equally but I will say the house hasn’t been the same since you went back to college.”

“Is that a good thing or bad?” Jack asked, not really wanting to know the answer either way.

Medda chuckled. “I’ll let you figure that one out.”

Leaning back in the lounge chair, Jack watched his siblings and friends run around the yard. A game of chase had begun while Kat and Albert continued to kick the ball back and forth, dodging hitting anyone in the process. It was good to be home.