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l-r-christian · 3 years ago

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Title: 'Tied to one' part three

Pairing: Poly!Mikaelson x Black!Witch!Reader

Summary: Hayley had gone to a undoing the Mikaelsons soulstrings to Y/N and to have Elijah tied to the hybrid. Not only did it undid the strings it also had brought back Mikael and Esther along with the second oldest Original.

Warnings: Angst, Jealous Mikaelsons, Hayley being kinda of bitch, Reader being a shy bean, Soft Finn

A/N: holy another long part Batman 😳 I am really enjoying doing this series.

Hayley went to the witch that she was going to check out with Elijah but since the noble vampire and his siblings found their soulmate, Elijah was more focus on Y/N instead of Hayley.

"This spell is powerful. Are you sure you want this? The price for this is great."

"Whatever it takes. Just do the spell." Hayley said glaring at the witch who swallowed knowing she'll die after doing the spell as to rewrite a soulstrings could disrupt the balance of nature. Hayley woke gasping feeling an arm tighten around her and Elijah's scent hit her nose and felt him nuzzle her neck.

"It's too early to be awake baby." Elijah's voice husky from sleep making Hayley flush as she realized that she was bare. Hayley looked seeing it was 7AM and heard Klaus with Hope then felt Elijah's hand move along her waist.

"Elijah?"

"Hmm?" Elijah acknowledge Hayley as he placed kisses along her neck pulling her closer and Hayley caught a glance at her string that was tied to Elijah's finger and couldn't help but notice three other strings tied to hers.

"Hum...what...happen last...night?"

"Did you drink too much last night?" Marcellus threw a party then Niklaus and I took you to bed which you took us both so well." Elijah says as Rebekah walked in without a care surprising Hayley when the vampire kissed her.

"You and Nik wasn't too rough on her, right?"

"Never Rebekah." Elijah says kissing Hayley's shoulder before getting out of bed and Rebekah began to dress Hayley. The hybrid walked out a little overwhelmed of the fact she took Y/N's place to which she noticed the witch wasn't in the compound as it was like that the witch didn't even step foot in the place.

"What happened to Y/N?"

"Y/N? Who is that?" Kol asked confused as the others looked at Hayley confused as Hayley realized the spell the witch did had work though Hayley only wanted Elijah.

"Nothing, I was just thinking of a character of a book." Hayley said sitting next to Elijah as everyone took her word unaware of what was coming their way. Mikael woke in a tomb with the thought of killing Klaus while Esther had woke where Klaus left her last frowning when she didn't see Finn. The second oldest Mikaelson had woke before his mother and saw his string having a burst of color and went to follow it to his soulmate.

Y/N flet like something was wrong as four of her strings was a ash gray yet one was a warm orange and brown with swirls of gold mixing with her pastel colors but she couldn't ignore the magic over the other four. Y/N rush down the street carrying a bag of herbs and bumped into a man who quickly caught her from falling.

"Oh.....sorry." Y/N breathed staring at the man getting lost in his hazel-green eyes as the string on her finger glowed and the man stared into her chocolate eyes. Soulmate echoed through Finn's head and now he was going to focus on her no longer caring about Esther's mission.

"No my fault. I'm Finn Mikaelson......your soulmate."

"Oh hum....I'm Y/N L/N." Y/N said flushing when Finn kissed her hands and he noticed the ash gray string.....dead soulmates this made his heart ache at the idea that Y/N had ready lost four soulmates.

"Witch?"

"Yes....an old one..... I was just getting some herbs." Y/N said as Finn held his arm out to his little soulmate and the urge to protect her filled him.

"Allow me to take you home."

Klaus stormed into the compound tearing a stake from his chest getting the others attention right away. Elijah stood pulling away from Hayley worried about Klaus watching the Original hybrid pour a drink.

"What happen Niklaus?"

"Our father happen! Mikael is some how alive again." Klaus growled angry as Elijah narrowed his eyes as Freya frowning walking into the den getting their attention.

"Freya is something wrong?"

"Finn isn't in the pendant.....I can't feel his soul."

"First Mikael now Finn what's next? Our mother?" Rebekah asked as they all looked at one another unaware of Hayley's worried face. Hayley left the den to check on Hope as Freya went to do a spell to Finn and Kol leaned back looking at the others.

"Hey do guys feel like something is missing? I know that Mikael is important and a missing Finn but lately I have been feeling a dull heartache."

"Yes and the ash gray string....are we going to ignore it?" Rebekah asked as they looked at the second string seeing how dark the string was. Klaus and Elijah knew what both Rebekah and Kol was talking about.

"A dead soulmate we never met? Though it is impossible as soulmates always find one another." Elijah said as Klaus stood from his chair he sat in.

"We'll deal with it later at the moment our loving father is alive."

Finn watched Y/N make some kind of potion for her protection rituals as the three months he spent with her was the most joy he had ever felt in a millennium as she made him feel alive. The vampire moved behind her placing his hands on her hips nuzzling her neck taking in her scent relaxing against her making the witch smile reaching up rubbing his cheek and he turn his head kissing her palm.

"You seem clingy today Finn."

"Only for you my beloved. Are you feeling better today?"

"I am so is our little jelly bean." Y/N said as Finn placed a hand on her abdomen listening to the small heartbeat. A sudden crash caught Finn's attention and he quickly place his soulmate behind him growling lowly fangs showing feeling Y/N grip the back of his shirt.

"Protective of your little witch, brother?" Finn heard Klaus say as the oldest Mikaelson stood straight glaring at the hybrid as Elijah and Hayley walked in. Y/N peeked out from behind the tall vampire seeing the other Mikaelson brothers feeling an urge to hold them fill her.

"What do you two want?"

"Our mother and father has been back for awhile now. Niklaus and I hoped you knew where mother was."

"I haven't seen her, Elijah. I have been focused on my soulmate." Finn says as the two looked at Y/N feeling the need to kiss her filled them as an ache settled in their chests hearing a soft heartbeat coming from her. Elijah was snapped out of his thoughts when Hayley held his hand making him smile as Y/N felt hurt for some reason but shook it off.

"Your witch uses old magic maybe she can find mother or father. Her magic won't be sensed my mother."

"It is up to her."

"We should help them my big bear." Y/N says softly still staying behind Finn feeling shy as she clings to her vampire while Klaus smirked looking at Elijah.

"A bear? Elijah, I thought our brother was the boar."

"He is, Niklaus."

"He isn't a boar! He is a bear!" Y/N said shouting at them narrowing her eyes at them then squeaked when the three looked at her.

"Stop scaring her. We'll help."

Freya was so happy to see Finn even more learning her brother found his soulmate too while both Kol and Rebekah stared at the young witch feeling the need to rush to hold her. Y/N was beautiful in their eyes as it seemed her mocha skin was glowing as Finn was carrying her things talking to Freya about the spell Y/N would be doing.

"So you're Finn's soulmate." Y/N heard a voice say and look seeing Kol standing in the door away watching the black beauty working on a spell as Kol thought it was odd that he could see her strings but was drawn back to her cute face.

"I'm Y/N and you must be Kol." Y/N said smiling as Kol spotted her tarot cards and walked in sitting down.

"Can you give me a tarot reading?"

"Yeah I can. I need to leave this sitting anyway." Y/N said shuffling the cards and had Kol pick four cards. Hayley stopped hearing Kol and Y/N while seeing Finn and Elijah watching from the doorway.

"What do they say?" Kol asked watching the witch frown as she looked over the cards then looked at Kol.

"Someone close to you is lying to you, something is not real or not what it seems." Y/N said as Kol stared at the cards and how all this felt familiar. Kol looked at her and his heart skipped a beat as he swore a memory flashed in his mind.

"What do they say?"

"Hmmm something good is in your future." She says making Kol smile brightly staring at her in awe as Elijah comb though her hair loosening her curls letting them fall down her back.

"Is that good thing you, baby?" Elijah asked the witch as he kissed her neck making her flush while Kol smirked enjoying how Elijah flirted with her.

"You alright Kol?" Elijah asked snapping the vampire from his thoughts and just got up leaving in a hurry confusing them all. Y/N looked at Elijah worry on her face as Elijah looked at her feeling the urge to cup her cheek to soothe the witch.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No beloved." Finn said moving down kissing her forehead as jealousy fill Elijah watching Finn with Y/N. Hayley stepped up to Elijah pulling his attention to her as he gave her a smile.

"I'm sure Kol is fine. Maybe your tarot cards are wrong?"

"Her cards are never wrong." Finn says noticing the worry on Hayley's face but Y/N grabbed his attention.

"I found your mother. She is in the Ninth ward hiding with the witches."

"Stay here with Freya. I don't want you hurt." Finn tells you as much like Elijah the other three felt jealousy fill them seeing Y/N cup his face placing a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Return to me safe. Return to us safe."

"I will my beloved." Finn says smiling as his siblings saw their ash gray strings spark with color before dying out. The siblings left unaware that Mikael was headed for the Abattoir while they headed for Esther and soon Hayley's mistake was about to com ed to light.

#L.R writes #mikaelson x reader #mikaelson family x reader #Finn mikaelson imagine #elijah mikaelson imagine #klaus mikaelson imagine #kol mikaelson imagine #rebekah mikaelson imagine

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awanderingdeal · 3 years ago

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I vote leo meeting the harvard team! 💕

So this fic has been a bit of a mare to write, but we are here!

You can read the first part of this here

Rating: T

CW: Alcohol, academic superiority complex and coming out.

Logan, Finn, Leo, Percy, Will and the general Sweater Weather universe belongs to @lumosinlove. The other team members were made up by me for this fic.

“Okay, tell me their names again,” Leo said, tugging at the rolled neck of his sweater as he shut the car door.

“Nutty,” Finn laughed. “There’s not going to be a pop quiz. We’ll introduce you when we meet people.”

Leo scowled, letting Logan thread their fingers together. It was weird being able to do this in public still and Leo couldn’t help but glance around. “I just don’t want to make a fool of myself.” Logan squeezed his hand reassuringly, meeting Leo’s gaze with a soft smile.

“Nobody expects you to know anything. And everybody’s great.” Logan wrinkled his nose like he’d just smelt something bad. “Except Wesley, he’s an ass, but I’ll point him out.”

Like many of the others in Harvard square, the building was all exposed brick and white accents, blending in seamlessly with those around it. Inside was different, more modern. Leo didn’t get to see much of the first floor, the one dedicated to the restaurant Finn, Logan and the rest of the team had dined at previous evening, before he was ushered up a grand staircase, but he’d seen the photographs. The cherry blossom ceilings and walls of glass provided the perfect backdrop for the instagram feeds of the hoards of celebrities and influencers that flocked there. Hence his surprise when, after checking their invitations again, an employee pushed open a set of double doors to reveal a room that more resembled a 1920’s speakeasy than anything 21st century. A loud cheer went up as they crossed the threshold.

“Is this a team thing?” Leo mouthed at Logan.

He got his answer from Percy Marshall. Leo had met him a few times before when they’d played the Rangers. “You’re the last to arrive,” Percy chuckled. “I’d say I was surprised, but that would be a lie.” He slapped a hand playfully against Finn’s bicep. Is this outfit change number 52, Finn? Don’t worry, you didn’t disappoint. You look wonderful.”

“Fuck you, Marshy,” Finn laughed. “Tremz was on a call to his sisters actually.”

“Oh, I do apologise,” Percy clasped his hand to his chest. “We wouldn’t dare break up a Tremblay soiree.”

“You’re an ass,” Logan scoffed, plucking at Finn’s slacks. “I was only talking to them because Finn was taking so long. Did you know there are several shades of mustard and only one of them goes with this shirt?”

“Oh look, they argue like an old married couple too,” William Morgan, another of those Leo knew, and Percy’s teammate on the Rangers, teased. “Marshy, these hands are looking too empty. Get these men a drink.”

“Aye, aye, capt’n.” Leo set to follow as Percy led the way to the bar, stumbling slightly as he found Will’s firm grasp on his shoulder stopping his movement. Logan turned as his fingers slipped from his hand.

“Go ahead, Tremzy. I’m going to introduce Leo to some of the team. We want all the gossip without you two around to censor him.”

Logan frowned. “I’m not sure -”

“Relax, Logan. This isn’t a hazing. We’ll be right over there,” Will pointed towards a group perched on stools around two of the tables in the centre of the room, a mix of the old team and what Leo assumed were their partners. “Knut’s a big boy. He can object for himself if he really doesn’t want to come.”

“I’m sure I can hold my own,” Leo cocked his head slightly and smiled. “You better not leave Harzy with Percy for too long. They’ll be three shots down by now.”

The next few hours passed in a whirlwind of introductions. Leo had lost count of the number of hands he'd shaken and the new names he'd learned. It reminded him of those first few days in Gryffindor, being shuffled around from place to place and everybody telling him he'd get used to it.

The quiet of the bathroom was a welcome reprieve to the chaos. “Sweetheart,” Leo laughed, listening to Finn sing to himself in the stall. “Are you okay? You’ve been in there a while.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” A concerningly loud crash preceded the door being pushed open. “I’m here.”

“You’re drunk,” Leo chuckled.

Finn pulled his hands from under the stream of water, shaking droplets everywhere as he squeezed the tips of his thumb and forefinger together. “Maybe just the tiniest bit.”

Leo shook his head fondly. “Let’s go and find Lo.” Glancing back to check Finn was following him proved to be a mistake. “Shit, I’m sorry,” he apologised, rubbing at his forehead and stepping back from the wall of muscle he’d just crashed into. Of course, the tall man with his hair pulled back into a loose ponytail was the one person Leo hadn’t yet met.

“Leo, this is James. Call him Hunter,” Finn grinned with his hand resting in the small of Leo’s back. "Hunter, this is -"

"Leo Knut. I know. Everybody knows," Hunter said and Leo noted the familiar notes of his own accent in the words. He faltered with his hand thrust halfway in Leo's direction, letting it fall back by his side. "Oh fuck, sorry man. Did you want to introduce him as your boyfriend? Go ahead."

"It's cool, no worries." Finn shrugged, the rounds of his cheeks tinged with the slightest of blushes. "Aww, what the heck!" He squared his shoulders, standing a little taller, the corners of his mouth splitting with pride. "Hunter, this is Leo, my boyfriend."

Hunter extended his hand again for Leo to shake. “Nice to meet you. Please excuse me, I have to use the bathroom now, but we’ll talk later.”

***

"Boys." The call had come from behind them and Logan groaned low in his chest as they turned to acknowledge it.

"Wes! You made it," Finn smiled, the corners of his mouth tight. "We weren't sure you'd be able to. With all those big meetings you have to attend and such. Is your wife, Renee, wasn’t it, here? I'd love to meet her."

Something flickered in Wes' smug expression. "They stayed in California. Nate has a very busy schedule. Harvard is very important to me, as you know, so I came alone."

“Isn’t Nate three?” Logan blinked.

“You have to give them a good start if you want them to get them to get into a good college these days, I’m sure you understand. Where was it you went, Leo?"

Leo pursed his lips, letting the same calm wash over him that he channelled for interviews. “I didn’t go. I got drafted straight out of high school.”

“Oh, well, that’s a shame,” Wes said. “College isn’t for everybody though, is it?”

Logan bristled beside him, and Leo placed a placating hand on his shoulder. “Indeed,” he blinked. “I didn’t need my intelligence validated by a degree then, and I still don’t now. And I was hardly about to turn down an offer from The Gryffindor Lions now, was I?”

Wes grumbled something that sounded vaguely like an agreement before turning on his heel and walking off in a manner that Leo could only describe as petulant.

“You’re so hot,” Finn took Leo’s face between his hands and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I’m going to get a drink. Do you want another?”

“Please,” Leo nodded. Logan raised his still mostly full glass as a rejection of the offer.

“You should have let me punch him,” Logan huffed. “He would have deserved it.”

"And get blood on your shirt? Let’s leave that on the ice, shall we?” Leo tugged at the lapels of Logan’s jacket.

***

"So," Logan started as they claimed one of the low tables in the corner, a little tucked away from the rest of the room. "What do you think?"

"It's always nice seeing where you two started," Leo hummed, threading his fingers through the thin curls on the nape of Logan's neck. "I just don't know how you used to do this everyday. Live amongst all this energy. The guys all seem great, but it's a lot even now and I'm assuming you've all mellowed somewhat with age."

"I am not old," Logan scoffed. "Mais non, I agree. Wasn't always like this though. There's more than one graduating class here and we've been apart a long time. A lot of excitement."

"Sorry, sorry, I got caught up with Biscuit. He has triplets now, isn't that crazy?" Finn said, pressing a glass into Logan’s hand and setting Leo’s in front of him before flopping onto the couch opposite. "One Margarita for the fine sir."

"Thanks, Harzy," Leo laughed lightly.

"I can't believe him and Vanessa are still together," Logan hummed, taking a long sip of his drink. He leaned back, crossing his left leg over his right thigh and snaked his arm across the dark leather, brushing his fingers against Leo's shoulder. "I only introduced them because she was flirting with you at that party, the one just after we got back from winter break my junior year, and I wanted to distract her."

"Oh, so that's why you got all moody," Finn said. "She wasn't flirting, she needed help with an essay, idiot."

"The fact you remember Logan's mood on a night seven years ago says more about you than him," Leo snorted.

"First of all, Tremzy being grumpy? That's just a good guess. Second, some of us were still stupid at 20, Knutty." Finn sighed wistfully. "Hey, at least it doesn't feel like I'm being stabbed in the chest these days when I think about it. Progress, right?"

Logan tipped his glass in Finn's direction, nodding his head briefly. "I'll cheers to that."

"To -" Leo started, letting the toast die off as another of Finn and Logan's old team mates approached. He hoped the disappointment he felt wasn't written across his face; whilst he hadn't really expected to be left alone for too long, he had hoped for the brief respite to have lasted longer.

"Hey." The newcomer had his hand shoved into his pockets and his shoulders stooped, almost as if he was trying to hide himself. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Ken!" Finn patted the empty seat next to him. "Of course not. Come, sit."

Leo extended his arm, offering his hand. "Nice to meet you. Ken was it? I'm Leo."

"Ken's what the team always called me. Don't really hear it much these days." Leo thought he saw something sad in the smile sent his way. "My real name is Obi."

"That's because you went off the radar," Logan gave a pointed look.

"About that -" Obi swiped Finn's drink, ignoring his disgruntled protest. He drained what was left of it, pulling at an non-existent loose thread on his sweater. "I wanted to say thank you, you know. For having the guts to come out. I know Black and Lupin were first, but that was forced wasn’t it. You made a choice. I know that must have been hard. It was one hell of a ballsy move."

Leo looked between Finn and Logan, expecting them to answer, but neither of them spoke. "We didn't have much of a choice, not if we didn't want to be watching our back every second of every day."

"It was still brave," Obi muttered. "I couldn't have done it."

"Ken, what are you saying?" Logan never did have much patience for others taking their time to get to the point, even though he was a fan of the scenic route himself.

"They gave you a whole Harvard degree and you need to ask that question?" Obi huffed a laugh. "I'm gay. I met Marco, my now husband at the end of senior year, and freaked out. I didn't know how to make these two worlds work, so I didn't. I moved to DC with him, and started a new life. I'm an accountant, he works in marketing. We have four rats, and a Vizsla called Poppy. It's all very domestic. I love it, but I was a coward.”

"You're not a coward. You don't owe that information to anybody, Ken. Not the others, not the media, not the NHL and not us. Not now, not then, not ever.” Finn took a breath, holding up his finger to signal he wasn’t finished. “Besides, it's not as if Lo and I planned this. We went into this with every intention of stuffing this deep, deep into the depths of denial, never for anybody to find out. Including ourselves. And then Nutty came along.”

Obi smiled at Leo, turning his attention back to Finn. "When did you become Gay Yoda?"

"I spend way too much time in our psych's office. Just spreading the wisdom. Heather would be proud."

"Do the others know?" Logan asked.

"Not yet, I think I'd like them to though."

Logan shifted, leaning forward in his seat. "There's no rush, Ken. We've got your back, whatever you decide."

"So, do you have photos?" Leo cocked his head. "We got to show off. Now it's your turn. Even if it's only for us."

"Of Marco?"

"I'm sure he's wonderful, but I was actually talking about Poppy. And the rats," Leo teased.

There were moments when Leo wondered whether they had made the right decision. When he was playing in front of hostile crowds, or fending off stupid media questions, or blocking bigots on twitter. And then there were moments when he knew the decision they had made was 100% perfect. Right now, that was one of those moments.

#leo knut #finn o'hara #logan tremblay #rating:t #cw:alcohol #cw: academic superiority complex #cw: coming out #sweater weather #lumosinlove

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maybe-itll-be-someday · 4 years ago

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How We Raise Them

This is a birthday gift for the most wonderful human being and writer that I get to have the pleasure of being my friend? @jetaime-jespere you inspire and support me in so many ways. 10/10 would recommend being her friend.

This story, of puppy kisses, margaritas, and tooth-rotting domestic!Hotchniss is just for you.

Read on AO3

Emily always had a knack for caring and nurturing.

The house plants in their home were all bright green, a hobby she had gotten from JJ after too many nights spent fussing over Jack. Jack had seemingly grown up in the blink of an eye - far from the toddling two year old that Aaron had first brought into the office, his steps uneven and hand tightly wrapped around Aaron's finger. He was now almost 17, finally starting to grow into the long, gangly limbs he had no doubt inherited from his father. He was a great kid, but no doubt a teenager now, complete with the home-grown embarrassment for his parents' PDA and a sense of false confidence that he knew better than his parents' combined 80 years of experience.

Jack was starting to take charge of his own schedule, planning out his soccer and baseball practices and time with his girlfriend and was now rarely at home outside of eating dinner and sleeping. Sometimes, they liked to joke that their home was more of a hotel, only utilized for meals and a warm bed.

"He's grown up so fast, Aaron." Emily had lamented, curling a warm leg around his as they listened to Jack pitter around the kitchen before school. Emily had a rare day of no meetings, her new job as Section Chief agreeing well with a more attainable home life balance. Aaron had been teaching at the Academy for two years now and he didn't have his first class until 2 PM, granting the two of them a morning spent lazing in bed while Jack fended for himself before school.

He was old enough to drive now and have a girlfriend, and that fact took Aaron's breath away every time.

Aaron remembers when Jack was born, a wriggly screaming bundle of joy that entered the world with the loudest wail Aaron thought he'd ever heard. Now, he was driving, sending applications to colleges, and in a relationship with a nice girl.

He had grown up so fast.

Now, both of them had a plethora of time - time that used to be spent shuttling Jack from school, practice, and birthday parties between cases, making sure that his homework was fully done, PTA meetings (which Emily insisted on being a part of) and coordinating Jack's schedule with precision, slotting in play dates and trips to the mall to buy new khakis because he shot up like a weed.

All the time spent taking care of Jack, now exchanged for hours searching for different plants and nurturing them until their home was an urban jungle.

So Aaron starts doing some research while Emily is asleep, hoping to bring something a little more difficult than plants to take care of.

Before their entire home had turned into a greenhouse.

The house was quiet, too quiet, when Emily arrived home from a day spent in meetings discussing budgets. She was exhausted and would do anything for a glass of red and a foot massage from her loving husband.

"Aaron? I'm home." She calls out, shucking her shoes and purse by the front door.

There was silence that permeated from the house, followed by a sharp yelp from what she can decipher is Jack.

"Jack? Aaron?" She calls out again, following the source of the sound only to be met by an out-of-breath Aaron.

"Hi honey." He says, his breathing heavy as he presses a kiss to her lips in greeting. She cocks an eyebrow suspiciously, glancing over his shoulder to see if Jack would pop out from their den.

"Hey. Is something the matter?"

"No, no. Nothing's the matter." Aaron says, shaking his head. He wrapped his hand around hers, a bright smile on his face and she couldn't help but feel lucky that this is where they had ended up. Married, raising Jack together in a row house in Dupont Circle. Now Jack was nearly an adult - their duties as his parents were slowly dwindling down to providing advice and making sure he made the right decisions.

On those days, when she and Aaron are left in the empty rooms of their house, devoid of Jack's sounds of make believe as he pretended to be an astronaut or a G-Man like his father, she can't help but let a small pang of regret hit her.

She didn't know how much joy she would derive from being his step-mother, and a small part of her wishes that she and Aaron had created a brood of their own.

But it wasn't part of their journey, and she was okay with that.

"I have a surprise for you. Look, I know we've never talked about it..." Aaron starts to ramble, leading her to the den at the back of the house as her confusion grows.

He stops right by the closed door, hearing the shuffling going on on the other side of the door.

"But you're an amazing mother to Jack and I know that he's leaving for college soon. I don't want our house to be quiet."

"Aaron..." She says cautiously. "What did you do?"

The den door swings open, revealing Jack with a bright smile on his face and a small bundle in his arms. The tiny ball of fluff makes a soft mewl in Jack's arms, popping its tiny head up to reveal long floppy ears and the sweetest eyes she thinks she's ever seen. Aaron smiles, dropping her hand to pick up the puppy in Jack's arms and drop it right into hers.

There's a tiny jingle and her fingers brush against cold metal, reaching down to reveal the tag that hung around the puppy's collar.

Finn Hotchner

"This is Finn."

It turns out, despite all the research that Aaron had done for puppy rearing, it was still much harder than they had anticipated.

Emily groans as she hears a sharp whine come from their living room, where they had set-up Finn's crate. Aaron was adamant about them crate training Finn, despite the fact that Emily and Jack would have been fine letting Finn sleep with them in their beds.

This was the third, no maybe the fourth time, that night that he had whined in his crate like he had been abandoned on the side of the road instead of sleeping next to their fireplace.

Aaron pops up a sleepy head, eyes blearily adjusting to the faint moonlight streaming from the window and glances as the neon numbers that shone on his bedside table.

5:30 AM

"Good God, does he ever sleep?" Aaron groans as Emily let out a large yawn, patting a soft hand on Aaron's shoulder to tell him to go back to sleep.

"I've got him." Emily says as Aaron sinks back under the covers, quickly drifting back to sleep as Emily rolls her eyes and throws on her robe. She pads out into the living room, her soft footsteps enough to catch Finn's attention and get his cries to stop.

"Hey sweet boy." She coos, letting him out of his crate as he pattered out, his limbs still floppy at 10 weeks as he let out a large yawn, Emily's heart melting as he curled up by her ankles. He was clearly just desperate for attention.

More specifically, desperate for her attention.

Finn had latched on to her, claiming her as his human the moment Aaron had placed him in her arms almost three weeks ago. The puppy was always quick to dart to Emily when she came home, eager to expose his belly to her for pets after a long day at work. He followed her around at home, hearing the soft tapping of his paws against their hardwood floor as she cooked dinner or made coffee in the morning. He curled up right at her feet in her office as she worked through mountains of paperwork, content on sleeping right at her feet as she filled out reports.

"Come on." She coaxes, moving from her spot by his crate to let him out into their back garden.

The sun was softly breaking in the horizon, the long summer days already evident by the soft light that streaked the sky. Finn zoomed out onto the grass, quickly tripping over the limbs he still didn't have much control over and Emily let a small smile play on her lips.

After the initial shock of the fact that they now had a dog, despite almost no previous discussion prior, Emily found herself completely enamored with the puppy. She found herself thinking of the tiny ball of fluff often, taking time out of her day to check the camera they had installed in their living room to see what he was up to when they were at work (it was mostly sleeping) and watched with a fond smile as Aaron let him out during lunch. He would crouch down, despite the hell she was sure it caused on his knees that were now worn with age and trauma, and play tug with Finn or attempt to train him in what would only cause frustration for both of them.

She had always seen the softness that lined Aaron's interactions, despite the steely demeanor that had hardened like calluses after too many tragedies. But she saw the gentle way in which he raised Jack, always insistent on talking and sharing - a far cry from the slamming doors and harsh hits that were consequences of his father's temper. She felt it in the way his hands drifted to her lower back when he felt a need for connection. She heard it in the soft tones that he'd use when talking to children, a sparkle in his eye as he interacted with them.

It had filled her heart with a new measure of love she didn't think was possible, watching him soften to Finn in a way she never expected.

Aaron yawns, stretching his limbs to ease the sleep from them when he realizes that his wife's side of the bed had gone cold. He glances up at the clock and realizes it had been almost two hours since Emily had gotten up to let Finn out. A bloom of warmth grows in his chest when he realizes where they could probably be.

He finds her on their couch, stretched across in a deep slumber as Finn dozed quietly on her chest. It was a position he had found her in often, Finn always opting to sleep anywhere where he was physically touching Emily.

Another Hotchner wrapped around her finger.

When Emily is jolted from sleep by a loud clink, the warmth of Finn is nowhere to be found. She props herself up, sounds slowly coming into focus and she can hear the sounds of Aaron's soft whispering and a familiar scratching of utens. There's the sweet aroma of coffee wafting from the kitchen, and she follows the scent to catch Aaron red-handed.

Aaron is reading the paper on the counter, not noticing Emily walk in, and slips a small piece of his bacon to Finn who is sitting patiently by his side.

When she chastises him, he just laughs and passes her the cup of coffee he prepares for her on Saturday mornings.

"This is the only way I can get him to love me, Em."

As it turns out, having a puppy was a little too similar to having a baby.

Their days now revolved around Finn - their sleep schedules were disrupted by crying in the middle of the night, their daily list of tasks including someone having to be home to let him out every three hours whether it be them or a pet sitter and on top of Aaron’s classes and Emily’s workload. It had only been a month since they had gotten Finn and they were exhausted.

Emily had never had a dog and Aaron had never grown up with any animals, so both of them severely underestimated the amount of work that went into keeping a tiny ball of fluff alive and healthy.

Aaron finds her in the living room, sprawled out on the couch with relief on her face at the silence she worked so hard to cultivate amidst the chaos.

“He finally passed out.” Emily whispers and Aaron eyes the puppy who is sleeping peacefully in his crate after being forced in for a nap.

He produces a margarita from behind his back, salt lining the rim.

“I knew I married you for a reason.” She says happily, taking a grateful sip and moaning in delight as the sweet liquid hit her tongue and the tequila stung her throat. He clinked his own glass of whiskey to hers before taking a seat next to her, both of them needing the alcohol after weeks of sleep deprivation and tending to Finn’s every need.

“I think we’re getting too old for this.” Emily muses, watching Finn shift in his sleep.

“I don’t know about you, but I feel young and spry.” Aaron jokes, pressing his lips to her shoulder as she takes another sip of her margarita. His lips slowly trail from her shoulder, dancing across her collarbone before settling at the base of her neck. He feels Emily tilt her head slightly to expose more of her skin to him and a breathy moan escape from her lips.

“So this is why you made me a margarita.” Aaron knew that certain kinds of alcohol produced different reactions from Emily. Wine always made her sleepy, whiskey always made her angry.

Tequila, on the other hand, made her very mouthy.

“I just thought my beautiful wife deserved a drink.” He mumbles into her skin, taking the glass from her hand and placing their drinks on the console table behind them. “Also because Jack is sleeping over at Tyler’s tonight and Finn is finally asleep.”

It was the first free night they had in a while, out of earshot of their very perceptive teenage son and Aaron thought that deserved some sort of celebration, one that hopefully involved making her scream and not caring who heard.

“So no ulterior motives?” She teases, but Aaron’s lips are very persistent against the pulse in her throat.

“None whatsoever.”

They barely make it back to their bedroom, clothes hastily strewn against the carpeted bedroom floor with Emily’s legs straddled across his waist and his fingers dancing across her underwear when he hears it.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Aaron groans when a familiar high-pitched whine comes from the living room. They freeze like two teenagers caught by their parents, hoping that the whine would just be Finn waking up for a brief moment before going back to sleep.

It isn’t long before Finn’s wailing at the top of his tiny lungs and Emily giggles, hopping off his lap as Aaron flops dramatically back onto their bed.

“It’s your turn.” Emily says, pushing Aaron towards the direction of their door as he pouts like a petulant child. Aaron grumbles as he goes towards the living room, slightly annoyed when Finn bounds out of his crate like he hadn’t just interrupted the one solitude moment that they’ve had in over a month.

“Kid, I could kill for less than this.”

Finn slides into their family like the final piece of a puzzle they didn't know was missing.

He quickly becomes Jack's best friend, chasing him around in the garden and attaching himself to Jack’s hip when he was home. When Jack leaves for college a year after they get Finn, Emily finds him on Jack’s bed, a sullen look in Finn’s eyes at the profound absence of his playmate.

Aaron finds an unusual confidant in Finn. There are nights that are difficult, the memories of Foyet amplifying the phantom ache in his chest, especially when Jack graduates high school and when he gets accepted into both Georgetown and Yale.

He raises Jack to grow up just fine and he still hates, even after all these years, that Haley wasn’t around to see the kind of man Jack has become. Despite losing Haley at such a young age, too many of Jack’s mannerisms made him believe that he could have only gotten those traits through genetics. The way his left eyebrow twitched when he got angry, one of Haley’s tells when she was beginning to lose her temper. Jack fidgeted with a pen, clipped between his fingers, the same way Haley did when she was concentrating on a test back when she first caught his attention at 16.

On those nights, he steals away to the kitchen and sips a fingerful of whiskey. It was a habit he’d developed years before, a quiet moment just for himself. He was used to doing it alone.

Until they had Finn. He remembers the first time Finn had done it, a floppy 6 month old with disproportionate limbs and an attitude that was driving both him and Emily crazy.

He could only ruin so many of their expensive leather shoes before they had a problem with it.

It had been the night of Jack’s graduation and Aaron poured himself his whiskey, raising a glass to an empty kitchen with a hollow ache in his chest on days like today.

On days that she should have gotten to see.

“We did it, Haley.”

Finn had walked in then, intrigued by the clinking of the glasses that was coming from the kitchen. It was as if he sensed the sadness that lived in Aaron, walking up to give gentle licks to his palm and refusing to leave Aaron’s side as he sat at the dining room table nursing his drink.

He hasn’t spent a night in the kitchen without Finn since.

But despite the fact that they knew that Finn loved all of them, Jack and Aaron both knew that there was something special about the way that Finn loved Emily.

Finn was her shadow - always glued to her side whenever she was around. He often favored Emily’s company on the couch over anyone’s, huffing in disapproval when Aaron would come over to sit next to Emily. He was a constant presence in any room that Emily was in, either laying at her feet or pressed up against her somehow. They had often joked that Finn would choose Emily over boiled chicken, which aside from Emily was Finn’s greatest love.

When Elizabeth dies, suddenly and with no warning, Emily is inconsolable. She had always wished that their relationship was better than it was, despite the fact that it had improved in spades as the years went on. But it didn’t stop her from wishing for just one more day with her mother.

Finn is steadfast by her side from the moment she finds out. They all hovered over her, but Finn was practically tied by an invisible tether to Emily, refusing to let her leave his sight. He stays still when she cries into his fur on a quiet afternoon, grief heavy in the air. He licks the tears from her face and lays on her lap when their house is full of guests giving their condolences. He doesn’t bark at Aaron, like he normally did when he was hugging Emily, and instead lets her find comfort in his arms.

“Emily? Have you seen Finn?” She hears Aaron call out from their kitchen. She glances around their office and is about to call out that he wasn’t with her when she hears a loud crash and an exasperated Finn Hotchner.

She opens her office door to find Finn staring up at her, his fur caked in dirt with a trail of mud tracked on their hardwood floor. Jack comes into view, home from college for the summer, with a sheepish smile on his face. They had probably played with the hose in the garden - one of Finn’s favorite past times on hot days. She can hear Aaron yelling expletives in the kitchen and she simply bursts into laughter.

This was her family.

Mud on hardwood floors and all.

And she wouldn't change them for the world.

#hotchniss #aaron x emily #ckbwrites #literally i love you and your writing i can't believe you let me be friends with you #happy birthday sweet girl

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spaceorphan18 · 4 years ago

Text

99 Perspectives on a Single Love Story #36

A/N: The Story of Kurt and Blaine told through the eyes of everyone else but them. Each chapter is a different perspective in the ongoing tale of their love story.

I started something like this a while back - and now I’m taking the idea and really running with it. Each chapter is a ficlet of a different character at a different point in Kurt and Blaine’s life - documenting their love story. This starts in Audition, and each chapter will be paired with a different episode until reaching Dreams Come True.

[Ao3]

***

Hiram and LeRoy Berry (On My Way)

It had been cute but somewhat alarming when the idea of Rachel and Finn’s marriage first came to their attention. But a month has gone by, and for as much as they suggested to postpone it, Rachel is still a Berry. And Berrys are headstrong and ambitious. It’s not surprising that she’ll push on through to get what she wants. It doesn’t mean that either Hiram or LeRoy are happy about it though. Finn Hudson is a good kid. His mother is good people. And someday, possibly after Rachel has her Tony, it would be a nice present for herself to nab a permanent piece of man candy.

But honestly. She could have waited. If not for herself then at least for her dads who have now dug a hole so deep with the positivity around the marriage they can not utterly see a way out.

There are wedding preparation materials all over the dining room table. Bridal magazine, fabric swatches, plates of various sweets and cupcakes. This little game is becoming frightening real all too quickly. Rachel’s at the table, chattering away with her friends Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson (the latter of whom they have just recently met - and whom they both agree is a delightful young man). But the reality of the situation is - this wedding is now happening way quicker than it should be. And if they can’t convince Rachel to back out - maybe her friends can help.

As Rachel takes a bathroom break, Hiram and LeRoy jump on the chance to join the kids at the table.

“So, uh, so this is coming along nicely,” Hiram says, conversationally, pointing around at the piles on the table.

“Rachel’s going to make an exquisite bride,” Blaine says, cooing over a page in a bridal gown magazine with a post-it note that reads ‘maybe’ on it.

“She isn’t she?” LeRoy says, forcing a smile as he looks at the magazine. “But you know what, if she really wants this dress -- I think a fall wedding might be a better match. The color scheme is all wrong in spring.”

“Yes, yes, that’s right - we wouldn’t want the color scheme to be wrong for our baby girl’s big day,” Hiram agrees. “You know what might be better than a fall wedding? A fall of 2024 wedding.”

“Yes!” LeRoy agrees quickly. “Fall of 2024. I hear it’s supposed to be a good year.”

“The Plaza Hotel might have an opening in the Fall of 2024,” Hiram adds. “LeRoy, check to see if The Plaza Hotel has an availability in 2024. We should book that now. Wouldn’t want to lose out on such a location.”

Kurt seems to understand where this is going. Blaine does not.

“See, Blaine, I told you -- we really need to wait until we’re thirty,” Kurt says, turning towards Blaine, as if this is something he’s said many times before. Blaine rolls his eyes at Kurt.

Both LeRoy and Hiram pause -- as it hits them that they have a couple of young gays in front of them. They look fondly at each other, and then at Kurt and Blaine.

“So, so, uh, are the two of you, uh, the two of you together?” Hiram asks, a grin on his face.

“We are,” Blaine says proudly, grabbing Kurt’s hand.

“And planning to get married?” Hiram asks. And then a devastating thought enters his brain. “Oh god, oh god, oh god, please tell me you don’t want to have a double wedding. I cannot afford a double wedding.” He points directly at Kurt. “Your dad with this excellent lube shop cannot afford a double wedding.”

“Calm down, Hiram, I’m sure they’re not going to crash any weddings any time soon,” LeRoy says, waving a dismissive hand at him.

“Someday, we’d like to get married,” Blaine admits, looking adoringly at Kurt.

Kurt grins at him, but he’s more held back. “But not yet. We want to be ready.”

“Good because marriage is terrible,” Hiram says unexpectedly. “And you should tell Rachel that.”

“Hiram, c’mon,” LeRoy says, tilting his head at his husband. “How often to we come across a young, gay couple in Ohio? Let’s not discourage them.”

“Well, we shouldn’t be encouraging them either. We are, after all, responsible adults.”

“True,” LeRoy agrees. “But marriage isn’t as awful as you’re making it sound.”

“Oh, well yes, yes,” Hiram says, thinking it over. “It, uh, it starts out all, uh, all rainbows and glitter but then you wake up one day and you have a mortgage you’ll be paying into your eighties and a partner who believes Velveeta is an acceptable cheese substitute.”

“It was one dish,” LeRoy argues. “And how many times have I told you -- you don’t like what I cook, you can cook yourself.”

“Oh, no no no no no,” Hiram wiggles a finger at him. “You said, LeRoy, you said as part of our marriage vows that I would never have to cook. Do you remember our marriage vows, LeRoy, they were sacred.” He then turns to Kurt and Blaine. “I do, however, make a good French Toast. Kurt, you’ve never been over on a Sunday morning for one of our Brunch and Broadway meals, it is the talk of the town.”

“They are exquisite,” LeRoy agrees.

Blaine looks up to them with wide eyes. “They sound delightful.”

“Don’t encourage them, Blaine…” Kurt says, leaning over to whisper in Blaine’s ear.

“So, now, where were we? Oh, right. Teen marriage,” Hiram says. “Not a good idea”

“Not a good idea, right,” LeRoy agrees.

Hiram continues. “And maybe, maybe maybe, since the two of you are teens -- a delightful teen couple who is not getting married. Maybe the two of you might want to mention they should wait.”

There’s an awkward pause, as Kurt and Blaine aren’t sure what to say to that.

“I told them from day one that they should wait,” Kurt finally admits.

“But they’re so in love, Kurt,” Blaine argues, as if it’s not the first time the two of them have had this conversation. “Do you really want to get in the way of that?”

“No, right, right, right, but listen to your partner, Blaine,” Hiram says, excitedly. “Kurt is right. You can be in love when you’re older. In fact, it’s a lot better when you’re older. You’ll have jobs and careers and your own piano rooms. And a much better idea as to whether or not your partner is, in fact, a bit crazy.”

“Oh, I’m crazy now, huh” LeRoy is aghast at the low blow.

“Well, I mean, your crazy idea is what got us in this mess in the first place,” Hiram points out.

“Yes, it was my idea to be supportive,” LeRoy says defensively, “And hopefully let her come to her own decision. But if you really want to play the blame game -- let me remind you that you were the one who wanted to have a child in the first place. So, technically, this is all your fault.”

“Well, I just wanted to impart wisdom on a small being in the hopes that I could produce someone just as magical as I am.”

“And you think I’m the crazy one.”

At that moment, Rachel comes out of the bathroom. “Dads, hi, what are you guys talking about?”

“Nothing honey,” LeRoy says, pulling her to sit on his lap.

“We were, uh, we were just talking about how ravishing you’re going to be on your big day,” Hiram covers, picking up one of the magazines. Rachel coos.

As Hiram, LeRoy, and Rachel start discussing the wedding, they fail to notice Kurt and Blaine lean into each other.

“Do you think some day we’ll be like them?” Blaine asks, looking adoringly at Rachel’s dads.

Kurt shakes his head in disbelief. “God, I hope not....”

#s.o. writes things #99 perspectives #late friday night is not the most ideal time to post this - but I wanted to get it done before the weekend #cause i won't be around

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poedameronloverx · 4 years ago

Text

Close To Home

Life In Lockdown Masterlist

Pairing - Poe Dameron x F! Solo Reader

Warnings - Massive amounts of Covid talk in this chapter as it starts to effect our lovely little squad, so if that upsets you please don’t read, I don’t want anyone to be triggered or upset by this content <3

Month 2 – April 2020

As the weeks went on, you found yourself getting more and more used to remote working. Your boss had made a lunch time finish on a Friday a weekly thing and you were grateful for it. Poe was getting every Friday off, and Rose got to finish at 3pm on a Friday. You and Poe were working round each other better, you’d gotten used to his singing and he got used to you getting up to wander round the room and stretch every hour or so. The novelty of having people around all day had worn off for BeeBee, he would choose to spend an entire day with either Poe or you and lie by your feet for the day. Rose’s idea of doing something each evening had stuck and you had set up a weekly plan of things to do. Movie nights became a Friday night tradition. Rose had ordered relaxation colouring books for each of you and that became your Monday night routine. There was a YouTube marathon on Tuesdays, you’d all found a series to binge together on Wednesdays and you played board games on Thursdays. Poe was teaching you to cook, you could make basic things but he was much better than you were and you’d asked him to help you learn. Rose loved teasing your about how cute you both looked and how domestic it was. Things were still strange but everyone was getting used to it.

Rose and Finn occasionally took walks after work, just the two of them. Poe had just arrived back home with BeeBee. He wandered into the living room and found you sitting on the sofa crying your eyes out. He was by your side in an instant, pulling you into his arms and rubbing your back.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

“My dad” you sobbed “He has the virus; he’s in the hospital on a ventilator”

“Oh sweetheart, I’m so sorry!” he pulled you tighter “He’ll be fine, I’ve never met a man as strong and stubborn as Han Solo!”

“Mum said he’s really ill, she’s not even allowed to go and see him”

“It’s not fair”

“I just want to go and see mum and hug her”

“I know sweetheart, I know”

Poe held you until you eventually cried yourself to sleep. He pulled you onto him, and grabbed the blanket from the back of the sofa and draped it over you. BeeBee jumped up onto the sofa and lay by your legs. Your body heat and the heat from the blanket lulled Poe to sleep. When Finn and Rose came back a little while later they eyed you suspiciously. The sound of Rose’s keys against the coffee table woke Poe.

“This looks romantic” Finn said

“Far from, I’ve just held her whilst she cried herself to sleep” Poe replied, glaring at his friend

“What’s wrong?” Rose asked

“Han’s got the virus; he’s in hospital on a ventilator”

“Oh my god, when did that happen, is he alright?”

“I don’t really know” Poe shrugged “She was really upset, I only got the basic information from her”

“I’ll phone Leia” Rose replied “To get more information but also to check on her”

Finn nodded “That's a good idea”

“I should text Ben.” Poe said “Then we need to work out what to do here. I don't want to put her to bed before dinner, I know she’s exhausted herself crying but she needs food in her system, as much as she probably won’t want it”

“We can make a start on dinner, wake her when it’s ready and make sure she eats at least a little then she can get some sleep” Finn said

Poe managed to lift you off him enough to move, he laid your head on a pillow and made sure the blanket still covered you. BeeBee got up and moved along the couch so he could snuggle against your stomach. Poe headed to the kitchen and made a start on dinner with Finn’s help. Rose sat on the bottom stair and called Leia. She was on the phone for 10 minutes before joining the guys in the kitchen.

“What did she say?” Finn asked

“He had a few symptoms so they called the doctor yesterday and he was told to go in and get checked out, they didn't want to worry Y/N and Ben so they just kept it between them at that point, the hospital got him tested and obviously he had it so they said he would get kept in overnight but he started to struggle to breathe so they put him on the machine. They don’t know when or if he’ll come back around”

“Oh god” Finn replied

“We just have to take care of her” Rose said “We know how close she is to her parents and not being able to be with them is going to be so hard for her”

“She has us” Poe replied “And we’ll be here for her day and night, no matter what time”

“Absolutely” Rose nodded “I’ll wake her for dinner”

The next week was difficult, you’d asked for some time away from work as you knew you would never be able to concentrate whilst your thoughts were all about your father. He hadn’t been getting better but he also hadn’t gotten any worse, which the doctors said was a really good thing. Poe and Rose had both taken a few days off to make sure someone was with you and helping keep your mind off things. You and Poe were on a walk with BeeBee one afternoon when your phone rang.

“It’s mum” you said to Poe before answering the phone. He gently took hold of your arm and led you over to a wall where you could sit. He could only hear your side of the conversation but the fact you hadn’t burst into tears yet made him feel more positive. “I’ll speak to you later mum, love you. Bye”

“How’s things?”

“Dad came off the ventilator this morning” you replied, happy tears appearing in your eyes “He’s breathing on his own and the doctors are really happy with his progress”

“That’s great news sweetheart. And it’ll be a load off your mind knowing he’s doing okay”

“Yeah, it really is” you replied “Thank you, you’ve helped keep me going this last week or so. I really appreciate it”

“I’m here for you anytime sweetheart” Poe replied

“I appreciate it more than you'll ever know. It's been so scary seeing all the stuff on the news, I guess I just didn't think it would end up so close to home”

Poe held his arms open and you fell into his hug gratefully. Poe gave the best hugs in the entire world. He hugged tightly and it made anyone he hugged feel secure and content.

Easter was very much a non event, the weather wasn't great so you were inside all day. Poe cooked a nice meal for everyone and you sat and watched a lot of TV whilst eating all of the Easter snacks you'd ordered in with the food shop. You were all happy to have a few days off work, Finn had a few weeks off whilst the schools were closed for the spring break. A few days after Easter, your father was released from the hospital. He still wasn't 100% back to his normal self but he was really glad to be back in his own home. You face-timed with him and your mother every day, just to check up on how they were both doing. You knew it wasn't easy on Leia either. She had to take care of Han plus do everything herself at home, whilst trying to work. Finn decided to take up gardening whilst he had free time, he ordered loads of plants and gardening tools online and got to work as soon as they arrived. Your garden had never really been full of plants because you and Rose were always too busy and neither of you were that into gardening. Finn cut down all the bushes, planted loads of flowers and painted the fences. The small fence that separated the patio from the grass was painted a sky blue and all of the surrounding fences were white. Poe helped Finn with the painting, whilst you and Rose cleaned up all the garden furniture. Once you were done, it looked like a whole new garden.

As the month went on, things with everyone's work got quieter. You were no longer working full days, Monday to Wednesday you only worked from 11am until 3pm, Thursday you worked 9am-12pm and Friday was a day off. Rose only had to work Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Poe no longer had to do any work. He was luckily still getting paid but his work just didn't have anything else they could do remotely. They told him to keep checking his work emails just incase anything did come in. It took a while to adjust to all of the free time. Working from home had been strange anyway but only working for part of the time made it even weirder. Finn was still working his normal hours after the school break. Friday became a cooking day. Poe continued to teach you how to make meals, and sometimes the pair of you would bake.

Rose liked to come on walks with BeeBee when she had the spare time, the park was everyone's favourite place to go. It became a lifeline to everyone. The stay at home order still said you were only able to go out once a day for some exercise. You all began to look forward to walk time so you could get to your park. You could walk all the way round it twice before BeeBee got bored. You would always stop at the kiosk and get a coffee or an ice cream, whilst the dog ran after his ball.

“This is his dream” Poe chuckled as he watched Rose throwing the ball “He's getting to spend time with people he loves, he's getting much longer walks than normal and he gets to run after his ball a lot”

You smiled “Animals must be loving this lockdown thing, they get to spend so much time with their humans and don't have to stay home alone all day”

“Bee is loving living with you and Rose. He's always really happy when you guys come to visit us so all of us living together is great for him”

“I'm actually really enjoying it too, I had my reservations at first. Especially when Rose just mentioned Finn moving in. I didn't want to be the third wheel in my own home. And even when she said you were coming too, I wasn't sure we'd all manage to work around each other but thankfully we have and I couldn't be happier to be spending this lockdown with you guys. Especially with how much you helped me when my dad was ill”

“I'm glad we're all together too. It's made things feel so much better knowing that anytime I have a bad day I get to spend it with my best friends. Living with Finn is great but sometimes when him and Rose are all loved up it gets a bit annoying. I mean not that I'm not happy for them because I absolutely am, they're a great couple but yeah”

“No, I totally get that. Being the 3rd wheel isn't easy” you nodded “They're adorable, but sometimes it sucks to be left out so I'm glad we have each other during this lockdown”

“Me too, I think you're the only one that gets what it's like to be 3rd wheel to them” Poe chuckled

The final few days of the month were difficult, Rose fell ill with suspected Covid. She had all of the symptoms but she didn't feel overly ill. Finn moved into the spare room with Poe, he didn't want to get ill whilst he was still so busy with work. You looked after Rose, bringing her food and plenty of fluids to keep her going. You were glad that she didn't have a really bad case of it, but you worried for the rest of you.

So here’s the next part. I hope if you read this far that you enjoyed it and you’re still enjoying the series. Your comments would mean the world to me <3 Have a lovely weekend!

#poe dameron x reader #poe dameron x F!Reader #Poe Dameron x F!Solo Reader #tw covid #tw: covid #tw Covid19 #tw: covid19

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futurebicon · 4 years ago

Note

I am happy to give you ideas! Please supply me with your brilliant writing! I need a bedtime story! Maybe Sirius getting pretty badly injured at a game? Re's reaction and then him helping with recovery?🥰

Okay this ones a little unrealistic probably but I was looking up injuries in hockey and this came up multiple times so yeah. (Also I got so carried away with this one. I literally lagged my phone with how long this ended up being. There’s defiantly going to be multiple parts because I wrote too much and Tumblr won’t let me write more

Warning : Injury, panic attack?, heart problems, mentions of child abuse

“You okay?” James asked Sirius.

“Yeah, I just feel-off. I guess.”

James nodded, still concerned about the pained look on his face.

He stood up to go tell Remus when Sirius collapsed.

Remus jumped over beach to get to him. The other players on the bench crowding around him.

“What happened?” James screamed.

They could hear the announcer talking about the commotion on the bench. Everyone on the ice skating over and shouting questions. The stadium filled with quiet whispers.

Remus’s mind went blank. He went into the medic routine, not thinking about the fact that it was the love of his life on the ground.

“He’s in cardiac arrest” Moody told them.

“He’s 24” Logan exclaimed.

“DAMN IT GET A MEDIC NOW” Dumo shouted. All of them screamed for a medic as Moody cut off his jersey and gear and Remus began CPR

“WHERE THE HELL IS THE MEDIC HES DYING” Kasey screamed. This sent a shock through the crowd.

The medics appeared and pushed everyone out of the way, only Moody was allowed on the bench with him.

“NO. HE’S DYING AND YOURE NOT HELPING HIM” James tried to fight them.

“Stops, Stop” Remus put a shaking hand on his chest. “Let them work. Let them help him. Please James, I’m begging you to let them help him” his voice shook.

James nodded, backing away from the bench.

Dumo went over to stand near Remus. “What are you thinking right now?” He asked him, knowing that it was pointless to ask if he was okay.

“That I don’t want to lose him. I don’t want to lose him” Remus told him honestly. “My biggest fear is him getting hurt or leaving me and now he’s hurt and could be leaving me forever”

Dumo wrapped his arms around Remus, who’s breathing picked up as he thought about Sirius dying.

“Breathe, breathe Loops” He waved over Leo to help calm him down.

“Hey, hey. I know you’re fucking terrified right now. I can’t even imagine what I would do if it was one of my boys but you need to try and breathe Remus. You’re no help to Sirius if you’re panicking. Respirer, Remus”

He nodded, taking deep breathes.

“Good, good.” Leo nodded.

“If he d-”

“No, we’re not thinking about that right now” Dumo cut him off.

“His heart stopped” Remus began to remember bits and pieces of the last few minutes. Remembered checking for a pulse and telling Moody there wasn’t one. “His heart wasn’t beating. He was dead”

The rest of the players were standing around in terror.

They all went quiet as they tried to process what he said, they could hear the medics counting off numbers for the defibrillator.

Alice and Frank were quieting the stadium while trying to figure out what was happening.

The other team, the Hufflepuff Badgers skated over.

“What happened?” one of the players asked.

“Apparently cardiac arrest.” Adam Fox told him.

“He’s young though, isn’t he?”

“Yeah. Yeah he is” Finn said sadly.

A stretcher ran past them, loading Sirius onto it.

His skin was the color of snow. His black hair a stark contrast where it fell into his closed eyes. Remus wanted nothing more than to tuck it behind his ear like he’s done hundreds of times. His jersey and gear had been completly removed. A medic was on the stretcher, preforming CPR as they rushed him off the ice and into the waiting ambulance.

Remus shook his head and covered his mouth, tears streaming down his face. James turned him around and hugged him. The entire team gathered around them in a huge hug.

The Hufflepuffs made a circle around them, all of them with their hands on their neighbors shoulder and head down.

They stayed that way for a while before refs told them that the game was over. Their coaches wanted them in their locker rooms. They nodded and pulled away.

The Hufflepuff players patted all their backs and told them they would pray for Sirius.

It was silent as they walked into the locker room.

Remus walked over and sat in Sirius’s stall. He jolted as he realized that they wind of had to cut his necklace off.

But his eyes drifted to the wall of his stall. A small nail in the back corner had the ‘12’ necklace hanging from it. With a post it beside it that read “Re, promise I still love it. Just can’t stand the thought of it getting broken. I love you.”

He smiled sadly, reaching over and took the necklace off the makeshift hook. He couldn’t hold back his sobs any longer.

“He’s going to be okay. He has to be okay.” James cried beside him.

Coach Weasley walked in a few minutes later. “They’re trying to stabilize him and get him on a ventilator. They’re thinking about surgery to put in an ICD”

“ICD? What the hell is that?”

“It’s a device that will monitor his heart rate and shock it if it beats irregularly” Remus explained.

“Like a pacemaker?”

“No pacemakers force your heart to beat. ICDs just monitor it and help if something goes wrong”

“Can he still play?”

“He will be able to if he chooses to but he’s out for the rest of the season. The league can’t risk it.” Coach told them.

“He’s 24 years old. How can you go into cardiac arrest at 24 years old?” Olli asked.

They all looked to Remus for the answer.

“He’s an athlete and works out religiously. Too much exercise can sometimes cause the left heart valve to overwork. He told me that when he was younger his parents wouldn’t let him or Regulus sleep. Making them practice on their rink until morning or they collapsed.”

“Jesus Christ they need to be in jail.” Logan gasped.

“Or hell” James requested.

“The second options much better” Kasey said. “I volunteer to help send them there”

“All of you get dressed to go to the hospital.” Arthur told them, not even commenting on their murder plans.

The team had never changed so quickly.

“Remus, you’re driving over with me.” Dumo told him, Remus just nodded.

“What if he’s not okay?” Remus broke the silence in the car. “I know everyone’s saying he will be but what if he’s not? Realalistic he’s not going to be okay”

“Then we deal with it if that happens. No one knows what’s going to happen. None of us know how to prepare for a teammate to die. So all we can do is wait”

“I can’t lose him Pascal. I don’t think I can live without him.”

Dumo didn’t respond, just reached over and placed a hand on the back of his neck, squeezing slightly. Partly because he wanted to comfort him and partly because he knew it was true.

***

The hospital was quiet as they all waited for news. Some of them sitting on the uncomfortable chairs, a few of them pacing.

“Can all of you stop” Sergio told them, getting annoyed with the footsteps.

“No we’re stressed out so we’re not going to sit” Finn rolled his eyes at him.

“It’s annoying” Kasey told them.

“Too bad. Deal with it” James rolled his eyes.

They argued for a few minutes before Remus snapped.

“KNOCK IT OFF” he barked. “My boyfriend is in there dying or already dead and you’re fighting because footsteps are annoying you.”

They all quieted and sat down.

Lily and Natalie walked into the waiting room a few minutes, tears on their faces.

James and Kasey stood up to hug them.

“What’s going on? What happened? No one knows anything.” Natalie asked.

“What did you see?” Dumo asked as Celeste walked in.

Lily pulled away from the hug she was in with Remus. “Me and Nat were watching the game. And then they panned over to the bench where you were crowded around someone on the ground, one of you tipped over the bench so there was more room and the arena got quiet. Then Dumo was shouting for a medic and Kasey shouted that someone was dying. And the crowd started screaming. Then medics ran over and made all of you clear out and James was screaming something at them. Then Dumo went over to Remus and they said that they think it’s Sirius but they don’t know what happened and then he was wheeled out on a stretcher with someone doing CPR. The the game was over. And the announcers just talked for the rest of the time trying to figure out what happened and replaying everything. They talked to Hufflepuff players but they said it wasn’t their place to explain.” She told them.

“Sirius went into cardiac arrest” James told them.

“Oh god” Celeste gasped.

“Remus I’m so sorry” Lily breathed, pulling him in for another hug.

Nat had more tears falling down her face. “Did they say how he was?”

Dumo shook his head.

They sat down. Lily sitting between James and Remus. Remus’s head on her shoulder as she held James’s hand.

No one knew how long they sat there for before a doctor walked over to them. They all stood up.

“How is he?” Remus asked, terror coursing through his body at the sober look on the doctors face.

“He’s stable.” Remus breathed for the first time in hours.

“His heart did stop multiple times so we ended up having to insert the ICD you were told about. He’s still not awake due to the medication. He’s allowed one visitor for now.”

They all nodded at Remus.

“You were lucky. If you hadn’t reacted like you did we wouldn’t of been able to save him.”

The doctor gave him Sirius’s room number and the overview of directions to get there before leaving.

Lily kissed his cheek and squeezed his hand. “Go see him.”

Remus just nodded and walked down the hospital hallway. He took a shaky breath as he walked into Sirius’s room. But none of it prepared him for it.

A bandage was around his chest and over his shoulder, protecting the stitches underneath. Too many wires were starched to him. Remus walked over to the chair and pulled it up beside him.

“Hi baby” he said as he grabbed his hand gently. Kissing his knuckles.

“I know you can’t hear me but I need you to wake up. I need to hear your voice and see your pretty eyes, okay. I need to know that you’re here and I’m not going to lose you. Please baby.” He begged. Reaching up with the hand not holding Sirius’s to brush the hair out of his face.

“I love you. I love you” he repeated, kissing his forehead. “Please wake up”

Time was water, Remus was drowning in it. Knowing he couldn’t do anything except wait.

Finally, Sirius’s hand twitched in his.

Remus stood up. Watching Sirius blink his eyes open, squinting at the bright hospital light.

“Hey, hey baby” Remus smiled at him, his eyes filled with hears as he looked into Sirius’s grey ones.

Sirius came to his sense and jolted, his eyes going wide and making a machine beep once.

“Shh, shh, shh. You’re okay. You’re okay” he ran a hand through his hair.

A nurse quickly entered the room, the beeping of the machine probably alerting them.

“Oh, you’re awake” she smiled. “I’m just going to check your vitals real quick.”

“What happened?” He asked.

“You, uh, you went into cardiac arrest during the game” Remus told him.

“Can I still play?”

Remus laughed “You just almost died and literally died multiple times and that’s what you ask. And yes you still can once you’re healed but you’ll be out for the rest of the season to recover and give you’re heart time to rest”

“Wait so I had a heart attack?”

“No. You’re heart stopped.”

“Why?” Sirius’s asked. Sticking his arm out for the nurse to pull out an IV that wasn’t needed anymore.

“You exercise too much love” Remus smiled at him.

“That can cause my heart to stop?” He asked the nurse.

“Yes. You overwork it when it beats too fast while you work out. Eventually it gives out.” She explained.

“Oh, can it happen to the other guys?” He asked, concerned.

“It’s rare.” The nurse shook her head. “And from the looks of it, the excessive exercise goes back to your childhood”

“Baise mes parents”

“Fuck your parents is correct. I’m pretty sure the guys are plotting a murder plan in the waiting room” he joked.

“Good”

“I’ll leave you two to plot a murder alone” the nurse smiled before leaving the room.

“I like her, she seems nice” Sirius told him, still a tiny bit loopy from the meds.

“Yeah she does seem nice” Remus smiled.

“Are you okay?” Sirius squeezed his hand.

“Don’t worry about me”

“Too bad I’m going too anyway.”

Remus smiled sadly. “You terrified me baby. I thought I was going to lose you.”

“I’m right here, mon amour”

“I know you are. I just... realized I can’t live without you.”

“And you won’t have too. Now lean down so I can kiss you”

Remus giggled and leaned down, letting Sirius kiss him. He kissed back. It wasn’t a deep kiss but Remus poured everything into it. I love you. You scared me. I need you here with me. I love you more than anything. I can’t live without you.

“I love you” Sirius said when they pulled away.

“I love you too”

Remus sat back down as the doctor knocked on the door.

“You’re teams driving me insane.” He smiled.

“Yeah they do that a lot” Sirius told him.

“Alright, don’t let them hug you and mess up your stitches, I already told them that but I don’t think they’ll listen.”

Sirius nodded. “Am I allowed to sit the bed up. My backs hurting from laying down”

“Yes you can. Just not too far.” He told him before leaving to go get some of the team.

Remus helped him move the bed up. Kissing his forehead when he was sitting up.

“I love you” he muttered against it.

“Love you too” Sirius responded.

Remus knew he had told him that a lot today but if that was all he could said for the rest of his life he would mind.

A few minutes James, The Cubs, Dumo, Celeste, Natalie, and Lily burst into the room.

“Oh merci putain tu es en vie” James gasped.

“I am alive” Sirius laughed.

“If you die again I’ll kill you”

“That’s not at all how it works” Remus told him.

“I’ll make it work”

“We’re glad you’re okay. You scared us for a while there” Dumo told him.

“One could say you have us a heart attack” James smirked.

“Oh my god that was the worse joke I have ever heard in my life” Sirius groaned with a laugh.

“I think it was a pretty good one, si je le dis moi-même”

The girls all kissed his cheek and then scattered across the room to find a place to sit.

“So, what exactly happened?” Sirius asked them.

“You just looked...bad. Like you were pale and kept wincing and rubbing your chest. So I went to tell Remus to check to make sure you were okay and you completely collapsed.” James told him.

“Everyone was around you, Moody and Remus were trying to figure out what happened and the medics were taking forever. We screamed for them but they still took too long. Moody said you were in cardiac arrest and started CPR” Leo picked up.

“They made us go onto the ice so they could work on you. Moody and Coach were the only one allowed on the bench. Remus was freaking out and so was everyone else. The Hufflepuff team came over and we told them what happened. And then they wheeled you out on a stretcher” Logan continued.

“What does everyone know?”

“Just that it was you that it happened too. They were doing CPR on you when you were rushed out. They asked the other team what happened but they said it wasn’t their place to tell. Coach said they’ll have to release a statement in a few. He’ll come back and talk to you about it in a little.” Dumo told him.

“What treatment did I get?”

“You were on a ventilator for a litttle while they were trying to stabilize you.” Remus explained. “Once you were stable for a while they did a surgery to place an ICD in your chest. It’s a small device that will monitor your heartrate and heart beat. If something happens it will send a shock through your heart. I don’t know much else about it so the doctor will have to explain it.”

“But I can still play with it in?”

“Yes. You can still play.” Remus smiled.

“Good” he said with a nod.

“Why is your biggest concern hockey after you just died?” Dumo asked.

“Because it is”

“You’re impossible, you know that?” Remus laughed, kissing his temple.

“When can I leave the hospital?”

The others shared looks.

“What? How long?”

“Cardiac arrest is really serious baby” Remus told him.

“How long?” He repeated firmly.

“A month”

“What? But I’m perfectly fine” he exclaimed.

“I know you are but that’s just for right now.” Remus told him. “But 40% of people die within a year after cardiac arrest”

Sirius threw his head back against the pillow.

“I’m sorry, baby”

“Fuck my parents”

“We have the murder planned” Kasey told him.

“You’re the one to kill them” Natalie added.

“Good”

“No one is killing anyone. But if it’s okay with you, we can tell people about it and the reason your heart stopped.” Remus told him.

“I’ll have to call Reg about it. Ask him about it or I can say that he was the favorite child so they didn’t do anything to him.”

Remus nodded. “You’re parents have to pay for what they did” he said as he moved the piece of hair that won’t stay out of his face.

“Yeah” The coversation was cut off as the nurse from before walked in.

“How are you feeling?” She asked.

“I’m okay, my chest is a little sore but it doesn’t like, hurt-hurt” he told her.

Everyone tensed before she responded with a nod.

“With the surgery and multiple rounds of CPR, you probably will be for a while. If it gets more than sore tell us right away” she said as she checked his blood pressure.

Sirius nodded and squeezed Remus’s hand, it was still tensed up. He tugged on it lightly. Remus stood up and kissed the corner of his mouth. Relaxing immediately.

“Alright, vitals are good. Dr. Hudson will be in soon to talk about further treatment.” She told him, closing the door as she left.

Sirius reaches for his necklace subconsciously, jolting forward when he couldn’t feel it.

“I have it. You took it off so it would break on the ice. Remember?” Remus pulled it out of his pocket.

Sirius nodded, sitting up to let Remus clasp it around his neck.

“Good thing you took it off. They would of had to cut it off it you hadn’t.”

Sirius nodded, relaxing as he fidgeted with it.

Dr. Hudson walked in a few moments later.

The team stood up, promising to be back later.

“Alright” he pulled up a chair. “So you’re going to be staying here for a month. Just so that we can monitor you and make sure that your ICD works like it should. If you go into cardiac arrest or have any other heart issues we’ll have to keep you hear longer. 40% of people discharged from the hospital after cardiac arrest die within a year.” He told them.

“So what do I do about hockey?” Sirius asked.

“That’s literally all you’re concerned about” Remus shook his head with a smile.

Dr. Hudson chuckled. “You’ll be able to play next year.”

“Next year” he exclaimed.

“Sorry but we have to make sure you won’t die again” he smiled at how upset he was.

“After you’re discharged from the hospital and you rest for 2 weeks you’ll be able to sit on the bench during practices and games.”

“Good I still get to yell at them” he smirked.

Remus and the doctor both laughed.

“Your Coach is going to be here in a few minutes. So I’ll leave you all to discuss what ever you need to discuss.”

They thanked him as he stood and left the room.

As sad, Coach Weasly entered a few minutes later with a guy in a suit. “This is Mr. Tela. He’s from the league and is going to make the formal statement” he told them.

Mr. Tela shook Remus’s hand before going to shake Sirius’s.

Sirius winced and sharply inhaled in pain when he at up and extended his arm. “Sorry, forgot I had stitches”

“Perfectly fine” Mr. Tela smiled.

“So what’s the statement going to be?” Sirius asked.

“We need to be careful to not not scare your fans. There’s already mass panic at the fact that Winters screamed that he was dying. And the fact that you where taken away with someone doing frantic CPRhas obviously made fans assume the worst.”

“When are you making the statement? Do I have to say anything or is the league going too?”

“The league will announce it. It’s been over 12 hours since it happened so we’ll have to announce it soon.”

Remus blinked. 12 hours. It felt like just minutes ago but at the same time it felt like years.

“What’s the statement going to say?” Remus asked.

“This is what we have for now. You two can add anything or ask for it to be removed.” He took out two pieces of paper that had the statement printed on it.

Gryffindor Lion Captain, 24 year old, Sirius Black collapsed during the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff game last night. The reason for the collapse was cardiac arrest. Black was quickly rushed to the hospital where they were able to revive him. He will be hospital for the next few months. Sadly, he will be unable to play until next year to make sure his heart will be able to stay stable. The reason for the cardiac arrest is unknown as of now.

“Wait why aren’t we telling them the reason for it?” Sirius asked.

“We weren’t sure if you would want it to be known yet.” Mr. Tela said. “If you would like the reason to be included we can add it.”

“I’ll have to talk to my brother about it. See if he wants everyone to know how shitty out parents are.”

Mr. Tesla nodded. “We’ll give you sometime to do that. Just call or text your coach when you’ve made a decision and we’ll come back in and talk about what exactly to say.”

“Thank you” Sirius thanked him.

They stood and left the room.

“Merde, I don’t have my phone”

“Here” Remus pulled it out of his pocket. “Grabbed it from your bag.”

“I love you” Sirius smiled, leaning over and kissing him.

“I love you too. Now call your brother.”

@lumosinlove

#lumosinlove #sweater weather #oknutzy #ask #why did i write so much?#i have so mch more #coops #sweater weather lumosinlove #this is so long im sorry #i wish i had a stupid break line

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craniumhurricane · 4 years ago

Text

call me, baby, if you need a friend

Cleaning up some old WIPs. This has been in my drafts since end of season 2/around season 3.

Basically 4 times Clarke calls Bellamy and 1 time that Bellamy calls Clarke.

Thank you @casleyislove and @sushigirlali for always reading things before I post them!

[ On AO3! ]

___

(i)

It's a quiet night in at the Blake apartment. Or, at least, for Bellamy it is. He's having a nice Friday night by himself after surviving a truly grueling week of finals. Octavia tried to convince him to go out and celebrate the end of the semester the "right way," but he turned her down… he's still not quite sure how he managed to do that.

His feet are currently propped up on the coffee table with a large bowl of store brand cocoa puffs in his lap. Bellamy may be an adult but damn if he isn’t going to celebrate the end of the term with sugary cereal… nevermind that he didn’t actually make time to grocery shop this week. The TV was queued and ready for the marathon of Ancient Aliens episodes he’d missed due to studying, and he was just about to press play when he hears a short but insistent buzzing sound.

Glancing around, his eyes land on Octavia’s phone sitting on the corner of the coffee table. She must have left it in her hurry to leave since she was running late to meet up with her boyfriend.

Bellamy keeps his eyes on it for a second before deciding to ignore it, and once again his finger hovers over the play button on the remote. Then the phone lights up again, this time with a phone call; a picture of Octavia and a curly haired blonde that he recognizes, the name CLARKE THE GRIFFIN flashing across the screen. He considers ignoring it for a second time but... if she’s resorting to actually calling instead of texting again then something could be seriously wrong.

Bellamy swipes his thumb across the screen to answer and brings the phone to his ear but before he can even say anything a voice on the other side interjects immediately.

“Men are dicks,” the woman says without preamble. “No! Worse than that. They're weird tumors that grow on dicks," she pauses, seems to think about it, and then adds, "Preferably life threatening.”

Bellamy blinks a few times before he answers, “I'm sure you're right, but don't you think that's a bit harsh?”

The line is quiet. He can hear her shifting the phone, no doubt checking the screen to make sure she called the right person.

“Octavia?”

“Bellamy.”

Clarke huffs. “Where's Octavia?” she snaps. He can hear the annoyance seeping into her tone, which in turn just makes him feel his own frustrations start to rise.

He tamps it down though. “On a date,” he answers.

She deflates at that, “Oh right. One month anniversary with Lincoln.”

He hums a confirmation and then they’re silent for a few minutes. So long that it’s Bellamy’s turn to look at the phone and make sure she’s still there. “Did you need something?” he asks once he sees that the call is still, in fact, in progress.

She takes a deep breath before answering, “I ended things with Finn tonight.”

Bellamy had only met Finn Collins a handful of times; the guy was fine except for a little cocky… and he always seemed to want to show off in front of pretty girls. His hair was too long and always styled like he was some kind of frat boy that came from big money even though Bellamy's 100% sure he never so much as pledged.

And then there was that one time he flirted with Octavia.

Ok, so Bellamy didn’t like the guy. But a break up is still a shitty thing to go through which is why he says, “I’m sorry,” and finds that he means it.

“Not your fault,” Clarke says immediately, “But I was kind of looking for someone to watch me binge drink and listen to me vent.”

He understands that, having gone through the same thing when he broke up with Roma at the start of the term. If you could really call them “hooking up occasionally” the same thing as dating, but still, getting drunk with Miller had been essential in the whole moving on process.

“You want to come over here anyway?” he offers carefully, casually. He doesn’t mind Clarke. She’s younger than him, around Octavia’s age. They aren’t exactly friends, but he would consider them a little more than acquaintances. Enough that it shouldn’t be too weird for him to invite her over even without his sister present. Plus, her getting drunk here is a better alternative than her getting drunk by herself in some bar.

“You don’t mind?” she asks and he thinks he hears relief in her voice, “I was kind of already on my way over to your guy’s place... I don’t really feel like going out and I really don't feel like being depressed and alone in my dorm right now.”

“Nah,” he says and then tries a joke to brighten her spirits, “Sounds like something fun to watch. I’ll order food.”

“Chinese would be great,” and he swears he can hear a smile in her voice so he’ll count his dumb joke as a victory. “Thanks, Bellamy, see you soon.”

He's not even a little bit mad about dumping out his now soggy cereal.

(ii)

“So, you’ve been in school for basically forever. Is it normal for a person to experience this amount of stress?”

Bellamy’s lips twitch as he holds his phone to his ear. After Clarke crashed his Friday night in, and spilled on the whole cheating Finn debacle while they did shots, Bellamy figured he should give her his own cell phone number. As much as he hated to admit it, and honestly he never will, his sister and her boyfriend were getting serious, so who knows how much Octavia would be available for late night bitchfests about significant others, fellow students, and the human population in general. Which were just a few of the topics they discussed that night. Hanging out with Clarke ended up being kind of fun, a better night than he originally planned. She even let him watch a little of his marathon and offered her own commentary. Bellamy would do it again… which is something else he would never admit.

It's not like they suddenly talk every day, but it’s a near thing. They would send each other the occasional text when one of them sees something that the other absolutely has to know about. Mostly, he gets pictures of old dogs she sees at the park, asking if this will be him in 20 years. Bellamy responds in kind with memes about college life and rubbing it in her face that they no longer apply to him since he graduated last semester.

But sometimes she reaches out to him if there is something particularly bothering her. Such as dealing with egotistical dickwads that consider themselves professors and shutting down female students in a male dominated class.

Clarke’s probably the only person that ever calls him and can never start the conversation with a simple ‘Hello’. Actually, she’s probably the only person that actually still calls him.

“I just got a job teaching so that insult isn't going to work anymore since I literally will be in a school as part of my job,” is his first response before he turns to one of concern, “Midterms got ya down?”

“It’s just,” she gives an exasperated sigh before continuing, “I want to do something that helps people, I know I want to help people… But maybe I don't want to help people the way my mom wants me to help people...ya know?”

“You’re going to have to give me more to go on here, Princess-”

“I’m thinking about switching my major,” she says abruptly, like she’s ripping off a band aid.

He’s silent, waiting to see if she’s going to say anything else. When it becomes clear she’s waiting for him to say something he responds honestly, “If being a doctor isn’t something you want to do, then you shouldn’t do it.”

“But-”

“What your mom wants you to do shouldn’t overrule what you want to do, Clarke,” he interrupts her. Due to the increasing amount of time he’s been spending with Clarke, he’s learned that the Griffins have always had a capital “P” Plan and he knows that Clarke has a hard time knowing when she can push the boundaries of said Plan.

She’s silent again and Bellamy’s starting to think he’s going to have to prod her a second time. He’s got the beginnings of his big speech all prepared when finally she speaks up. “I’m thinking about going into Art Therapy,” She says thoughtfully, “Or maybe teaching? Helping out underprivileged kids...or hell, even underprivileged adults. Or maybe something for the community?”

His lips twitch on another smile at hearing the beginnings of a hint of passion in her voice. “Teaching can be very rewarding,” he says magnanimously.

She snorts and it turns into a full laugh, “You haven't even started yet! It could be the worst thing you’ve ever done and a total waste of your degree.”

“Your confidence in me really is touching,” he deadpans and then adds simply, “You’re an amazing artist, Clarke. I think doing something with that could be something you'd enjoy and be really really good at.”

She’s quiet when she asks, “You think I’m amazing? You’ve never told me that.” And Bellamy swears he can hear that smile in her voice again. The one he always looks forward to. The one he tries to coax out of her without realizing he’s doing it.

He feels his cheeks start to heat up and even though she can't see him, he feels the need to brush it off. “Yeah, well, I generally try to be as dickish as possible so…”

She snorts again and damn if he didn’t feel a slight flutter in his chest.

“For the record, I think you’re going to be an amazing teacher,” she says it so matter-of-factly but he’ll have to dwell on it later because she sobers and then asks softly, “So, you think I should do it?”

It’s not hard for him to build her up. She spends so much time being there for the rest of their slowly merging friend groups that she rarely takes time to see the greatness in herself. He doesn’t mind helping.

“I think you should do whatever the hell you want.”

(iii)

“Women are worse than men.”

Bellamy rubs the sleep from his eyes and glances at the clock; it was almost 3 in the morning. “I thought men were tumors?” he asks around a yawn.

“Yeah, well, women can be tumors too,” Clarke huffs, but she just sounds tired, “Comparing people to tumors is equal opportunity. Strides in feminism are being made, didn’t you know?”

Bellamy pushes himself into a sitting position, suddenly more alert as he picks up the trace of tears in her voice. “You ok?” he asks.

Clarke is silent at first, but he waits her out, he knows that she’ll tell him. “Lexa broke up with me,” she says quietly and then adds in confusion, “Or we broke up with each other? I’m a little unsure. We spent the whole night arguing and then suddenly she was packing up her stuff.” She pauses before taking a shaky breath, “It’s over. We’re over.”

“I’m so sorry, Clarke.”

“She was leaving anyway,” she continues, bitterly, “Some new job. She was leaving in a few weeks and didn’t even bother to tell me. I told her we could make it work long distance, I was willing to try and make it work. That’s when the arguing started. Not just about that but about-,” Clarke abruptly cuts herself off and hesitates, “about... other things. Things I didn’t even know were an issue.” She’s quiet again before she adds, “She didn’t say it but I think she was disappointed that I never suggested going with her...”

The thought makes a quick flash of irritation run through him. “She wanted you to uproot your entire life and go with her,” he summarizes as he tries to adjust the pillows on his bed by beating them, maybe a little too roughly at the thought of her doing just that, before leaning back against them.

“Which is completely crazy, I know,” she hurries to say, “but I wish we could have talked about it.”

“I am sorry, Clarke,” he says again, “I know Lexa seemed like she was it for you.”

“But maybe she wasn’t?” Clarke counters as if trying to reason with herself. “I don’t know. We were both committed to each other, but maybe this was a sign that we weren’t going to be able to make it work long term?” She pauses and Bellamy can hear the gears in her head turning as she processes a way for her to handle this, too explain it to herself. “When we were together,” she hesitates before continuing, and he can imagine her biting her lip, “I was happy... but I felt like a separate version of myself, ya know? Still me, but not completely me?”

Bellamy chews on the words he wants to say and goes with, “Sometimes the person you're with can change you; it's not always a bad thing.” He gets quiet as he adds thoughtfully, “I like to think Gina made me a better person...and she probably did,” he pauses, this time unsure if he should keep going, but Clarke hasn't said anything, so she must be waiting for him to continue, “We tried, tried really hard, to make it work, but eventually you just realize that maybe the relationship isn't going anywhere and what’s best for everyone is just to call it.”

“Wait, you and Gina broke up?” Clarke asks in surprise, “When did that happen!?”

“That's what you got from that?” He rubs a hand over his face as he thinks about it, “About two weeks ago?”

“Shit,” she says and is quiet before asking in a small voice, “Why didn't you tell me?”

“Honestly, I haven't seen a whole lot of you these last few months,” he hears what he said and corrects himself, “We haven’t seen a whole lot of you.” He’s surprised at his ability to keep the bite out of his voice; because the truth was this last year has sucked since Clarke started dating Lexa.

They met at one of Clarke's art gigs. Lexa was cool; fun when she wanted to be, but also a little hard to be around. Most of the time, she seemed to prefer doing things without any of Clarke’s friends.

“I’m sorry,” Clarke says.

“It’s fine,” he answers her and means it. “Gina and I are still good friends.”

“I wasn’t talking about you and Gina,” she says, voice soft.

He realizes what she’s actually apologizing for and he doesn’t know what to say. Because of course he forgives her, he will always forgive her.

The silence lasts too long so he clears his throat and prompts, “Want to come over and get drunk?”

Her laugh through the phone breaks the tension, “It’s like 3 o'clock in the morning.”

“My bar is always open.”

She chuckles. “I really want to hit something,” she says with a determined edge to her voice, “Then maybe get drunk.”

“How about this, we get a few more hours of sleep, wake up at a normal time, and go hit something,” he offers and then adds as if it's an afterthought, “And then get drunk, of course.”

She laughs again, “Oh, of course.” There’s that smile. “I forgot what being single with you was like.”

Bellamy sobers at the thought. It has been awhile since the two of them were single at the same time. “Always here to help, Princess.”

(iv)

“Why did I agree to this trip again?”

He’s packing up the essays that are scattered across his desk when she calls, 4 o’clock on the dot. Bellamy tries to suppress a laugh but he’s pretty sure she can at least hear the teasing smile in his voice.

“Just getting back to the hotel?” he asks in lieu of his own greeting.

“Yes!” she exclaims in exasperation. “And if it were up to Josephine, we probably would have walked all of damn Paris tonight,” her voice gets muffled at the end and he can only assume she’s thrown herself face first onto the nearest bed. “I cannot wait for a shower- No! A bath, definitely taking a long, hot bath.”

And now the image of Clarke Griffin in the bath, with just enough bubbles to cover up to her chest, has entered his mind. He shoves it away before anymore thoughts can accompany it.

This used to never be a problem. Sure, he’s always known that Clarke is attractive, but he has never been attracted to her. But ever since he broke up with Gina and she broke up with Lexa, Bellamy has been exceedingly aware of the fact that they have both remained single.

The last time this happened was right after Finn.

Bellamy shakes his head for good measure before responding. “You’re going to fall asleep in the tub and your roommate will find your prune-y, wrinkled body in the morning.” He cringes. Apparently he wasn’t able to get the image of her completely out of his head.

Clarke scoffs, but he can tell that it’s in an exasperated but fond kind of way. “How is it that you manage to be a buzzkill from over 4,000 miles away?” she asks drily and then pauses before adding, “Actually, Josie would probably just leave me in there for the entire trip and never let on that something was up.”

He turns the key to lock his office behind him and heads for the staff lot. “Don’t worry, if you don’t call to check in, I’ll call the National Guard,” he teases.

“I know you would,” she says simply, like it’s a known fact.

Things have been a little weird after he became aware that they were both single. Mostly because, he’s pretty sure that Clarke has also come to realize it. When he turns to look at her, he often finds her already looking. Their innocent touches are now more frequent and linger just a bit longer.

Bellamy has come to realize that he doesn’t want to be single and the reason he doesn’t want to be single is because he wants his best friend to not be single with him.

There’s just never a right time to tell her.

“So, what did you do today?” he asks.

Despite the exhaustion and jetlag that’s surly setting in, Clarke jumps into an animated retelling of the flight and arriving at their hotel room just in time to change clothes and head back out to walk the streets of Paris to get their bearings before their tours officially start tomorrow.

“I’m a little disappointed that we’re doing the Louvre first thing tomorrow. I was hoping to be a little more alert for that.”

“Your coffee addiction hasn’t stopped just because you’re in another country,” he points out as he gets in his car.

She laughs, “Jeez, you are such an ass.”

He starts the car but doesn’t leave just yet; afraid the long distance call will drop out.

“What are you doing now?” he asks into the comfortable silence.

“Admiring the view,” she admits softly. “It really is gorgeous all lit up. Makes me want to dig out my sketchbook.”

“You have a week, Princess,” he chuckles. “Don’t screw up your jetlag even more by losing track of time in your drawings on the first night.”

She’s quiet again before confessing softer somehow, “It also makes me wish you were here.”

His heart clenches in his chest and he wills himself to sound normal. “Maybe next time,” he tries for teasing but it comes out almost wistful.

“Next time, hmmm?” Clarke hums. “You’d come to Paris with me?” And he’s sure she’s flirting with him.

“Well, maybe not for our first date,” he says, “But maybe, like, our fifth or something.”

Clarke’s quiet for a long time and he’s afraid he’s overstepped, misread the room. He’s about to take it back, play it off as a joke when she finally speaks.

“And what would a first date look like?” she asks with what he thinks is hope in her voice.

He swallows a couple of times. “Well,” he starts, “Since you’re already getting some of the best museum experiences, I’d probably settle for dinner and a movie. Something cheesy that’s playing at the dollar theater; where we’re the only ones there and can yell at the screen.”

She chuckles and his heart flutters, “We already do that, Bell. Quite frequently, actually.”

“Yeah, but if it’s a date then I’d get to kiss you at the end of it.”

“What? No making out during the movie?” she asks and he can picture how cute her face gets when she pouts.

A grin spreads across his face and he’s grateful no one can see how goofy he must look.

“We’ll have to make sure it’s a really bad movie.”

(+i)

Clarke rubs some moisturizer on her face before capping the tube and tossing it into her bag on the bed. After ensuring that everything she’s going to need for tomorrow is packed, she zips it up and grabs one of Bellamy’s hoodies to slip on over her clothes.

Ever since he picked her up from the airport when she got back from her trip to Paris, and she ran directly into his arms, giving the other people waiting quite a show, there always seems to be one laying around, waiting for her to find it. She assumes that he gets as much of a thrill out of her wearing them as she does.

She heads down the stairs of their townhouse, passing various pictures and artwork, and shoots Raven one more text not to forget to bring her dress to the venue tomorrow. She’s supposed to help her get ready in the morning along with her mother. In the meantime, Abby has sent a car to pick her up and take her to the hotel. Easier to get ready if she’s already there for the stylist… something else her mother insisted on paying for. No matter how many times Clarke told her she didn’t care what her hair looked like because she was marrying the love of her life.

Clarke locks up the house and greets the driver, slipping into the backseat. She intends to spend the ride lost in thought, going through the checklists that were running through her head.

Their engagement had been on the short side but she didn’t mind. They were both ready to get on with this next chapter in their lives.

Her phone is resting loosely in her hand, face down on her knee, when it starts to vibrate with an incoming call. She holds her breath for a second, praying it isn’t the florist or the caterers. But when she sees the photo of her and Bellamy from New Year’s flash on the screen, she can’t help but smile.

She taps the button and greets him with a sultry, “Hi, handsome.”

“Hey,” he says and she can tell he has a soft smile on his face, the one just for her. “You just leave the house?”

“Yep. On my way to the hotel now, so hopefully you haven’t forgotten anything because it’s too late now.”

“The most important thing is already on its way,” he responds with a teasing lilt.

Clarke can’t help the sharp laugh that escapes her lips, “Oh my god! You are such a sap!”

“I was referring to the ring, obviously, Princess.”

“Oh, obviously,” she says, mock serious.

They chuckle to themselves for a few minutes and she honestly can’t tell if the driver is rolling his eyes or thinks they’re being cute from hearing one side of the conversation.

Bellamy sobers up first only to let out a groan. “I hate whose ever idea this is,” he whines.

“Aren’t you the history professor? Shouldn’t you know where common traditions and such come from?”

He scoffs, “No, I mean I hate whichever of our friends is making us do this.”

The two of them haven’t seen each other since yesterday morning, him having been spirited off by his groomsmen while she was left to spend last night alone in their bed. And now they’re meant to go one more night without seeing each other.

To Bellamy’s point, Clarke isn’t altogether sure why this is a tradition anymore, nor why they are choosing to follow this particular one. She and Bellamy aren’t even that superstitious! And yet somehow they were talked into spending the days leading up to their wedding apart.

“Ah,” she answers him now, “That would be Raven and Miller. Although, I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do with marriage traditions and has everything to do with getting back at us for making out in front of them so much.”

Bellamy scoffs again, “Well, jokes on them, because after tomorrow, I don’t ever have to stop kissing you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she says, “We’ll have to come up to eat at some point.”

The driver pulls up under the awning of the hotel and Clarke gets out and grabs her bag before he’s able to get out and grab it for her. She gives him a wave and a simple thank you before heading through the sliding doors.

“How’s your room?” she asks into the phone as she bypasses the check in desk, her mother having already checked her in and given her the key card to her room this morning when they were getting their nails done.

He heaves a deep sigh. “Lonely,” he answers as she steps into the elevator. From what Clarke knows from his texts, Miller dropped him off here last night and left him to his own devices. Apparently, the best man gets to sleep next to his husband but Bellamy wasn’t allowed to sleep next to his soon-to-be wife.

She makes a split second decision and presses a different button, jolting the elevator to stop sooner than intended. When she steps off she casually offers, “I could help with that.”

“Oh yeah?” He chuckles. “You going to describe for me what you’re wearing?”

“Hmm,” she hums as if she’s considering it. “I could do that… but I was more thinking that I could show you.”

Clarke stops in front of a door and gives it a nice rhythmic knock.

She doesn’t have to wait long before it’s opening and Bellamy is standing in front of her with his phone against his ear and a huge grin on his face.

She lowers her own phone from her ear, pressing the end button without looking.

“Hi, handsome,” she manages before he’s pulling her into his room.

#no one cares ashleigh #bellarke fanfiction #bellamy blake x clarke griffin #my fanfiction #i'm going to post this and run away because omg #i feel like this is long and i rambled #and i had some unresolved issues regarding clarke's relationships #anyway #enjoy!

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awanderingdeal · 4 years ago

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Never too late - 4 - 5

A continuation of Leo and Regulus' attempts (antics) to give Regulus the childhood he never had.

CW: All content warnings relate to Part 5: piercings and food talk

Please message me if you feel I need to add any content warnings

Rating: T

Previous and future chapters can be found on my masterlist

Credit for the sweater universe and the characters within it go to @lumosinlove. What a hero.

4. Take photos! Candids, selfies and posed group shots. They’ll hold the best memories.

“Merde, what are you doing?” Logan asked, resting his head on Leo's shoulder as he peered at the laptop.

Leo grinned, tipping his head back slightly so he could press a kiss against Logan’s cheek, “I’m getting inspiration.”

“That cleared a grand total of nothing up,” Logan huffed, circling the sofa so that he could flop next to Leo. “Oh my God, no. I thought I had deleted everything from back then” he groaned, reaching to close the lid of the device.

Leo swatted his hand away with a scowl. “First of all, I am offended that you never told me that you used to have bangs,” he gestured to the image of a young Logan on the screen, laughter bubbling in chest. “Second, I think you may have caught most yours, but you failed to check your tagged photos.”

Logan sighed again, apparently resigning himself to the fact Leo was going to trawl through the photos no matter what. “Is there at least a reason that you are torturing me like this?” he asked, curling into Leo’s side.

“It started off as me finding inspiration for classic high school photos to take with Reg, but now I’m just looking at how adorable you were at 14.” Leo chuckled.

***

“I want to be on the top!” James yelled, earning a snigger from Finn.

“No, Logan needs to go on the top, he’s the smallest and I’m not breaking my back for you idiots,” Kasey said from where he was braced on all fours.

“He’s actually very heavy. Like a tiny ball of muscle,” Finn said. Logan seemed conflicted as to whether he should be thanking his boyfriend or reprimanding him, the confused frown making Leo smile, but he figured he should intervene before a full on argument broke out.

“Maybe we should ask Regulus where he wants to go? These are his photos after all,” Leo suggested, turning his gaze onto the man in question.

Regulus threw his hands up, shaking his head. “I was coerced into this madness,” he defended. “But if I must participate then I want to go on top. At least then I don’t get squashed when this goes wrong.”

“O, yee of little faith,” Thomas scoffed, making a dramatic show of stretching his limbs.

“I’m retiring after this season, I’m too old for this,” Dumo groaned as he joined Kasey on the floor.

“You say this every season,” Kuny laughed, taking the spot next to Pascal and nudging him in the shoulder.

“Alright, Cap. I think you better go on the base too,” Leo said, laughing at the scowl he earned. It appeared that Sirius had been trying to make himself blend into the cushions in the hopes he might get out of the photo, but Leo wasn’t about to let him off that easily. “For Reg?”

“Regulus doesn’t even…” Sirius began to argue, but he was interrupted by his brother’s low chuckle.

“I have suddenly changed my mind. Come on Sirius, don’t be a spoil sport,” Regulus teased.

Sirius opened his mouth to start a rebuttal, but all that came out was a resigned sigh, and the man heaved himself to his feet, getting a loud cheer from the rest of the team. Once he had taken his spot, the rest of the pyramid seemed to form easily. James, Remus, Leo, Logan and Finn all climbed on, until eventually it was Regulus’s turn. With a little help from Timmy and Olli, the man managed to take his place at the top of the pyramid.

“Okay, Sergei, take the photo,” Leo instructed, feeling parts of the pyramid begin to shake.

“Which button is -” Sergei asked, before a semblance of a smile crossed his face. “Oh, found it.” Just as the words left Sergei’s mouth, Leo found himself tumbling to the floor, several of his team mates on top of him, a chorus of grumbling in several different languages erupting as they clutched various body parts.

“If anybody has broken anything, I am not explaining this to Coach,” Sirius declared, from under James and Finn.

“Did you at least get the photo?” Dumo asked.

“No, we need to do again,” Sergei grinned, a groan reverberating around the room from the rest of the team.

***

Regulus wiped his hand across his cheek so subtly that he nearly missed it, but the redness in his eyes was obvious.

“Are you crying?” Leo asked quietly, feeling the muscles 0f his forehead tense into a concerned frown.

“I’m fine,” Regulus said, blinking rapidly, shutting the scrapbook perched on his lap with a little more force than necessary. Leo had spent hours compiling the photos taken over the last few months into it: the forming a pyramid, two dozen or so polaroids taken at various events, a fair few with peace signs; the transition of Regulus slowly becoming more comfortable with the action obvious with each one, another was a take on the classic shoe circle only with hockey skates. Somehow James had snuck several selfies of himself into the mix.

“No, Reggie, what’s the matter?” Leo pulled the book from Regulus’s hands and put it on the coffee table, turning so that he could face his friend more easily.

Regulus shrugged, playing with the sleeve of his shirt, a nervous habit Leo had picked up on over the past few months. “I...I just never really had any friends in high school. It’s kind of hard when you’re taught to see everybody as competition, you know? So, I don’t really have any photos that aren’t stuffy family portraits or media shots. I didn’t realise that bothered me until now.”

Leo bundled Regulus into a hug, his friend making a disgruntled sound as he found himself pressed against Leo’s chest. “Just accept it,” Leo huffed, wondering how he had managed to find himself saddled with so many emotionally constipated hockey (or ex-hockey) players.

5. Find your style - change your hair, get a new piercing, buy a new outfit. Go wild!

“Hey, Reg,” Finn waved, mumbling through a mouthful of cheese.

“Harzy! Do you know how much that cheese cost?” Logan scolded, his expression somewhat more horrified than Leo would deem reasonable, “Please respect it.”

Leo grabbed his jacket, patting the pocket to ensure his wallet was inside. He rarely used his physical cards anymore, but it gave him far too much anxiety to rely on just his phone. “We’re leaving now. Try not to kill each other while we’re gone. It would be tragic to lose both of my boyfriends in one day,” he said, dropping a kiss first on to Finn’s cheek and then Logan’s.

“Bye Reg,” Finn waved again.

***

“Thank you,” Leo smiled at the cashier as he took his purchases from them. He looked down, noting that between the two of them they had amassed nearly twenty bags. Leo wasn’t usually one to spend money frivolously, but he had found himself swept away by Reg’s enthusiasm. Apparently when he wasn’t being stuffed into tight button ups and tailored pants, Regulus really rather enjoyed fashion. Finn would have been proud of the multiple pairs of trainers they had acquired so far. Still, they probably had enough for today.

Before Leo had a chance to suggest a change of activities, Regulus beat him to it. “Do you want to get some food?” he asked, the grumble of Leo’s stomach answering the question with no need for any words. Regulus laughed, “I’ll take that as a yes. Are you good to get Thai?”

Somehow over the course of filling their stomachs with curry and Pad Thai, an innocent comment about how Regulus would look cute with a piercing resulted in them walking into the nearest studio that had decent reviews. Regulus had changed into one of his new outfits: a loose black and white striped shirt, a pair of black pants cuffed at the legs and chunky white sneakers because his old outfit was deemed unsuitable for getting a piercing in.

Leo had just finished up getting his lip done, pamphlet of aftercare instructions clutched in his hand, and was waiting for Regulus to come out of his room. The boy had refused to tell him what exactly he was going to get done, and the anticipation was killing him. A few minutes later, Regulus pushed out the door to the small room and Leo’s eye was immediately drawn to the light catching Regulus’ eyebrow.

“Oh my God!” Leo exclaimed, wincing as the movement sent a surge of pain through his lip. “You look so good,” he added, moving to inspect the barbell peeking through Regulus’ brow.

“Thanks,” Regulus blushed at the approval. “Yours is cool too. Logan and Finn are going to freak out.”

“They sure are,” Leo chuckled. “Alright, I’ll settle this and then I’ll drop you back home?”

***

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Regulus scowled, reading the instructions on the back of the box of dye for what Leo was sure was the fiftieth time.

“I told you, you haven’t been a teenager unless you have made some questionable fashion choices,” Leo countered. “Except I’m going to look amazing with blue hair so it’s not really questionable.”

“Well, it can’t be worse than this anyway, right?” Regulus grimaced, gesturing to his bleached blond hair.

“Noughties boy band members would be jealous,” Leo laughed.

“It’s a shame it is neither the noughties anymore, nor am I a boy band member,” Regulus replied, shoving the box into Leo’s hands. “Just do it.”

A little over an hour later, Leo was nudging Reg in front of the mirror. “Okay, this was definitely not a mistake! We look amazing. I am taking up a career in hairdressing if I get injured,” Leo declared, holding his hand out for a high five. Whilst Regulus did return it, it was less enthusiastic than Leo had been going for. “You don’t like it?”

“No, I like it,” Regulus shook his head, dragging his fingers along the short sides. The cut wasn’t that different to what it had been before, other than a slightly more dramatic fade. “Just feels weird. My parents would die if they could see me.”

“Well, I think we look badass,” Leo said, running his hand through his own blue hair. He’d left the front long and floppy, deciding to go wild and undercut the back. “Come here, let me take a photo.”

Leo was glad that Regulus had finally learned that while he was not one to throw a tantrum, he did have his ways of getting what he wanted and it was easier for everyone if Regulus just compiled most of the time. The post had barely been up on their Instagram pages for more than 3 minutes when Leo’s phone began to vibrate, Logan’s flashing onto the screen.

“Regulus! Why did my little brother just call to tell me that he wants to dye his hair blue?” Remus yelled up the stairs as Leo picked the call up.

And if drug stores all over the country sold out of blue hair dye the next day? Well, Leo guessed there were worse trends to have started.

#Leo Knut #Regulus Black #Sweater weather #lumosinlove #cw: piercings #cw: food #rating: t

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fireinmoonshot · 5 years ago

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REBEL | ARMITAGE HUX x READER | PART ONE

CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE RISE OF SKYWALKER.

PART ONE OF ? Summary: Armitage Hux finds himself strangely fascinated by you, a Resistance fighter and pilot, even though he knows he shouldn’t. You know that there’s much more to him than you see on the surface. Pairing: female!Reader x Armitage Hux Fandom: Star Wars Word Count: 1464 Warnings: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER SPOILERS. A/N: I had this idea while watching The Rise of Skywalker last night, and then realised that it was definitely going to have to be something I explored more through more than one chapter, and so this has come into existence. If you read this, I hope you enjoy it. I’m going to try and keep it consistently updating as much as I can and it’ll also be posted over on my Ao3 (here) if you’d like to follow it there!

This is a bad idea.

This is a very bad idea.

Yet Armitage Hux still sneaks out of his quarters for the third time this month in the dead of night, fully dressed in his best First Order uniform, hair combed and gelled to perfection, and makes his way to the meeting place the two of you had been meeting in ever since he’d first decided to give information to the Resistance.

He knows that was a bad idea. He does it anyway.

It’s easily the most dangerous thing he’s ever done, other than that time he confronted Kylo and could have nearly been choked to death because of it. But among the First Order, traitors and spies are the worst of the worst and sometimes, late at night when Armitage is unable to sleep, he wonders how he, of all people, came to be one. His father would be particularly disappointed in him.

He can’t help but feel a little smug about the fact.

Armitage stalls as he hears the unmistakable sound of Stormtroopers around the next corner. They would not question him if they caught him, but he isn’t willing to risk it. Rumours travel fast, and he prefers not to be a part of them.

―

You’re already waiting for him when he arrives, and he finds himself a little disappointed at his tardiness. Usually he arrives first – and that gives him the time to ensure that he looks proper and regal before you show up. He always looks proper, it’s a requirement of his job and his position, but he always likes to make sure. To double check.

It isn’t like he’s trying to impress you or anything, not at all. He just… he wants to make a good impression as a General. You’re the only person aware that he’s a spy, and he trusts you enough to know you wouldn’t tell a soul. It had been accidental, anyway, how you’d discovered his failing allegiance to the First Order – Hux had been conferring with Boolio when you had arrived early to get the very same information Hux had been sharing. You’d been sworn to secrecy, and while he hadn’t trusted you at first, he’d grown to over your last few meetings.

He didn’t have many good impressions of other people he’d met from the Resistance. You were the only exception.

“I thought you weren’t coming.”

Armitage raises an eyebrow at you. You’re sat on a large crate, swinging your legs. It’s your usual spot, but you look a little happier than usual today. You even look more comfortable than you usually do. He supposes, for a moment, that it’s because you’re used to meeting now, but then he notices your clothes. You’re dressed in your usual Resistance garb even though he’d sourced and given you First Order clothes at your last meeting, just on the chance that you were caught on the ship. He didn’t want to risk that. You, clearly, did.

“I thought you had agreed to wear the clothes I gave you.”

You shrug. “I forgot them.”

He narrows his eyes. You flash him a grin.

He moves to sit in his usual spot – a stack of crates beside yours. You can’t help but notice that still, he looks out of place, even though you’ve been meeting for a long while now. He’s so prim and proper compared to you, especially in his First Order uniform. It’s all clean cut lines and straight edges. Your uniform is a little more lax. It’s softer, much more comfortable, if not a little scratchy at times.

“I told you last week,” you decide to offer an explanation. “I understand why you want me to wear it when we meet, but it feels weird putting it on– and yes, I have tried it on. I just feel a little bit like a traitor. It’s bad enough that I have to fly one of your TIE fighters to and from our meetings so I’m not suspected or spotted. It’d just be like me asking you to wear something like this and to fly an X-wing. Would you do it?”

Armitage pauses, and then shakes his head. “No, that uniform looks awfully scratchy.”

His confidence to admit it makes you laugh, and rather irritatingly, his cheeks flush pink for a moment and he drops his head, eyeing the ground, a little embarrassed.

“Shall we get to it then? Give you the information you’re here for?”

“Uh-huh,” you nod and swing your legs again. “Go on. I’m listening. Spill the beans.”

“I’m not going to say it.” He shakes his head and then pulls out a small device from the pocket of his coat and hands it to you. “That’s not how these things work, remember? Take it. That’s still how I’m giving you intel. It doesn’t feel as bad if I don’t say it directly.”

Grinning at him once more, you shrug a shoulder. “Hey, one day I’ll get you to say what you have to say out loud. I hate to break it to you, you’re still committing treason whether you speak the information or not. And it’d sure be a hell of a lot easier if you said it rather than coding it and putting it onto this thing,” you say, holding up the device. “It’d save you time, too.”

Armitage throws you a look. “I let you keep that thing. That’s risky enough.”

You pocket the device. He’s right. Usually, especially when you were getting the information from Boolio, you weren’t allowed to keep the messages on the device themself. Finn would usually transfer them straight to R2 who would do all the decoding. But times were different now, and somehow you got the messages directly from the source himself.

Most of all, you’re just thankful that Leia trusts you enough to go to the meetings on your own. Poe and Finn have always been apprehensive about it. Leia’s told them to be quiet about it more than once.

And then there was the fact that you’re talking so easily to a General of the First Order. That’s something that’s never not going to be strange. Over the last few months, though, you have, at least, found some sense of normality in it. Hux is different than anyone you know, but he was fun to talk to, and you’d found yourself looking forward to your meetings lately, though you’d never admit that to him.

"Well,” you make a move to stand. Your meetings never last too long. You always leave before they get awkward. “I should probably go. I’ve already been here too long.”

He stands with you and looks at you for a moment – he’s taller than you are, and he looks down at you, but it’s not in a patronising way. You don’t feel that with him. He’s made it clear that he doesn’t care if you win, that he only wants Kylo dead. But you can’t help but feel that there’s something else deep down inside him that disagrees with that.

Armitage nods. “Probably for the best. Same time in two weeks?”

“Only if the world doesn’t end before that.”

Against his better judgment, he smiles.

―

Armitage watches as you leave.

There’s a small window in your meeting room. His lips twitch as he sees you wave at him as you move your TIE fighter away from the Steadfast. And then you’re gone as quickly as you came. Secretly and entirely unseen. He spends only a moment more in the small room before sneaking back to his quarters, thinking over your brief meeting.

For some strange reason, he’s grown to rather enjoy the meetings.

He enjoys the feeling of rebellion. He enjoys the rush of adrenaline that gives him. And even though it’s dangerous, he knows that it has to be worth it one day. If Kylo ends up dead, if you win. If you lose but Kylo ends up dead anyway. He smiles at the simple thought, but finds himself strangely uncomfortable with the idea of the Resistance losing.

He supposes you must have had some control on that change of heart.

As he sits down on the edge of his bed, he lifts up his lamp and looks at the small numbers engraved on the bottom of it – a frequency that nobody else knows but the two of you, for emergencies only. For times when he’d need to give you life-saving information, if the time ever arose. A reminder of everything he’s risking. You had your set meeting days, but this was different. He only hopes that he never has the occasion to use it.

For some strange reason, the idea of you hurt is one he finds rather unpleasant.

He’ll have to do something about that.

#star wars #star wars x reader #tros #the rise of skywalker #armitage hux #armitage hux x you #armitage hux x reader #hux x reader #general hux x reader #hux #general hux #rebel

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twistedrunes · 5 years ago

Text

The Two of Us

Tommy Shelby x Female Reader

(Tommy’s female best friend part II) AO3

Hello friends!

Well wonder of wonders I have actually managed to turn one of my many wips into a finished piece. This one started as a request from @thewallpapergoesorido who asked from a “fluffy” continuation of the “Tommy’s female best friend head-canon's I did a while back. Sadly I didn’t manage to make this fluff but it is a continuation ;) The inspiration to continue came from some nice reader comments and feedback (which Dumblr is now hiding from me!). So thank you all.

The piece follows-on immediately from the head-canon’s so you may want to read those first Tommy’s Female Best Friend HC

Warnings: Language (including Gypsy instead of Romani) as per the show

A giggle bursts the blissful bubble surrounding you and Tommy. Suddenly aware of where you are, you step back, hands fussing with your hair and uniform. You spin around, just in time to catch the two trainee nurses, wide eyed and sniggering into their hands as they hurry inside the quarters. From the corner of your eye, you notice the curtains of Matron’s office move.

Flustered, you turn back to Tommy shaking your head “Not here.”

“I am here,” He murmurs softly, taking your hand and placing it on his chest holding it in place with his own. “I’m here.” He repeats, attention focused entirely on you.

“No,” you say, looking back at the door which had closed behind the trainees, “you shouldn’t be here.”

Tommy’s free hand glides along your jaw, turning you to face him, his thumb brushing your cheek when you finally meet his gaze. The golden light of the autumn afternoon softening his features a little. “I came back.” He says with a husky hum, moving closer to kiss you again.

Regretfully you avoid his kiss and place a hand on his chest to gently push him away. “Please Tommy, men aren’t allowed,” you try to explain.

“Let me take you somewhere,” Tommy offers, finally seeming to understand.

“Where?” You ask, head snapping back to look at the door as you hear the hinges squeak.

“Anywhere, fuck I don’t care.” Tommy falters, realising he’s not got your full attention.

“Fuck,” You mutter as Matron fills the doorway, arms folded over her ample bosom.

“Sister, is this man bothering you?” She asks, her voice clear and firm. Without pausing for your response, she looks over your head and fixes Tommy in her steely gaze. “I will not hesitate to call the police.”

“No, thank you, Matron, there’s no need. He’s just a friend.” You reply hastily.

Matron arches her eyebrow but remains in the doorway.

You turn your attention back to Tommy “I’m sorry,” you begin to apologise.

“Just come talk to me for a bit ‘ey?” Tommy implores, his hand reaching for your face again, but stopping short of making contact.

“I can’t,” you say helplessly.

Tommy takes your shoulders in his hands, “Please,” A look of pain creasing his forehead.

“Sister?” The Matron calls sharply.

“In a moment” You say, too quickly and too sharply. You close your eyes for a moment, Tommy’s hands slip into his pockets, and you fix a smile on your face before turning towards the door again. “I’m sorry Matron, this is my friend, Mr Shelby,”

The Matron’s face remains set and stern, as she cuts you off. “Perhaps your friend would be more comfortable at Sally’s?” You stare at her dumbly. “While you change?” Matron explains.

“Pardon?” you ask, still confused.

“Your friend, perhaps he would be more comfortable at the cafe while you get changed and freshen up.” The Matron repeats slowly, a hint of a smile turning the corners of her mouth. “That is if you wish to speak with him?”

“Yes. I do. I do want to speak to him.” You say quickly, finally realising what she is suggesting.

“Just up this way?” Tommy asks Matron, pointing up the road in the direction of the tea shop.

“Yes, on the corner you can’t miss it.” Matron replies.

Matron regards Tommy for a long moment before she turns her attention back to you, “Come on then Sister, chop, chop.” She directs with a little clap of her hands.

Training, more than anything else causes you to hurry towards the door. “Meet you there in half an hour?” You ask Tommy before you step over the threshold.

Tommy nods, giving you a little smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes, before looking up and meeting Matron’s eye. “Thank you.”

It’s on the way to the pub that the thought first comes to you. Why hadn’t Tommy written to you? He’d been alive all that time but hadn’t written. Why hadn’t you received a single letter from him? You push the idea to the back of your mind, telling yourself that you should just be grateful he’s here. Matron was always telling you; you think about things too much.

“So, what brings you to London?” You ask Tommy, taking your place across from him at the small corner table in Sally’s Cafe. Nerves have gotten the better of you and for some reason you can’t think of a single thing to say other than small talk.

“Business,” Tommy replies, leaning back in his chair and lighting a cigarette. There’s a new confidence in him. “We’re legitimate now, John got a licence.” He says a look of pride on his face as he shakes the match to extinguish it.

“That’s wonderful Tommy. How is he?”

“He’s good.”

“And Arthur?”

“Good.”

It’s all you can do not to sigh. You feel like you’re on one of the blind dates the girls at work kept arranging, the conversation just as forced and painful. In your mind the same thought keeps coming back; why hadn’t he written to you? You push the thought away. “Will you be in London long?”

“Not long, some business at the races. We’ll head back tomorrow.”

“Where are you staying?”

Tommy takes a long drag on his cigarette as his eyebrow arches airily “The Regatta.” A hint of a smile playing around the corners of his mouth.

That hint enough to push thoughts of why you hadn’t heard from him aside, letting you just enjoy the fact you were sitting again with your best friend. “Very posh.” You tease gently.

A waitress arrives with the tea, Tommy looks up and thanks her. Neither of you speaks while she sets things on the table. You both reach for the teapot at the same time, Tommy’s hand closing over yours. Your breath catches as you’re reminded that this isn’t just some daydream, but your Tommy, alive and in the flesh, back from the dead. Your heart and mind race, and you feel yourself on the edge of tears. It’s all you can do not to fling yourself across the table at him. “I’ll pour.” You offer instead.

Tommy nods, taking a moment before he removes his hand from yours. He watches you while you pour. “Thank you.” He says as you set the teapot back down. He takes a sip, watching you over the edge of his cup. “It’s good.” He smiles. This time, for a moment, it reaches his eyes.

“Better than the tea I used to make back home.” You quip.

Tommy huffs a laugh “Not hard that, considering what you had to work with ‘ey? Lukewarm water with leaves that’d been reused four times. Tea in the Army was better.”

You nod in agreement, smiling as you remember the two of you playing house at your kitchen table. Things were much simpler then. “Not nearly as bad as the fuckin’ cigarette you made,” you remember with a snort. “It was more lint and hay than tobacco.”

“Top grade hay,” Tommy insists with a laugh.

“You damn near burnt your eyebrows off!” you laugh “And you burnt a hole in your coat when you tried to hide it from Arthur.”

Tommy grins, dimples forming on his cheeks. Warmth fills your chest at the sight. Reaching across the table Tommy takes your hand. “You tried to fix it for me though.”

“Lots of good that did, Pol spotted it from a mile away. I thought she was going to skin you alive!”

“She always had a sweet spot for you. Reckon that’s what saved me.”

Guilt twists your stomach making you feel sick, you set your cup down on your saucer. You’d been so angry with Polly, Ada too, furious that they hadn’t told you about Tommy. Of course, now you know there was nothing to tell, Tommy was alive and they had never thought any different. They probably had no idea you thought him dead. You smooth the tablecloth in front of you and don’t meet his eye, ashamed.

“They’d love to see you,” he says.

The waitress arrives with sandwiches for both of you. Tommy acknowledges her with a slight nod but doesn’t look away from you. To get out of his gaze you do, making eye contact with her as you thank her.

Tommy’s still looking at you, eyes wide as he waits for your response “A lot’s changed. You should come home, take a look for yourself.” He suggests once the waitress has moved away.

Your head drops, to look at the plate. “It’s not home anymore.” You reply glancing up. There’s a frown on Tommy’s face, more around the eyes than his mouth. “Work’s always so busy, it’s hard to get away.” It’s a weak excuse and you aren’t entirely sure why you make it. You take a mouthful of your sandwich so you can’t say anymore.

Tommy sits back, arm hanging over the back of the chair, sandwich untouched. “Must be, it seems there are babies being born all over at the moment.”

“Oh,” you’re hit by how different things are from the hopes and dreams you had when you were young. “No, I’m not a midwife. I work at the repatriation hospital, for those still recovering from the war.” You take another bite of your sandwich.

Tommy sits forward in his chair again, his fingers reaching out for your hand, brushing over your wrist. “There’s a lot of that around too,” he acknowledges, his voice softer.

You swallow hard, forcing the question you want to ask back down and replacing it with another. “How’s Ada?”

Tommy sits back in his chair again, but less relaxed, his body stiff. A sign he’s irritated, you could still read him like a book it seemed. “She’s good, misses you. So does Finn, and everyone else. Like I said they’d love to see you.” There’s irritation in his voice. He flexes his jaw, looking away from you for a moment before he takes the final mouthful of tea from his cup. “Shall I order another pot?” He offers, cooly.

You check your watch and shake your head. “No, I’d better be getting back to quarters. Matron will be wondering where I am. I’m on shift again tonight.”

“So soon? You’ve not finished your sandwich.” For a moment the coolness slips away.

“I’m not that hungry. I’m sorry, I’ve really got to get back.”

A hard look flits over Tommy’s face, but he recovers quickly and stands, crossing to the counter to pay while you gather your things. At the door, he helps you with your coat. He holds the door for you as you step out. Outside the door you both stop, neither able to properly look at the other.

“I’d better be going,” you say to break the long, uncomfortable silence.

“I’ll walk you,” Tommy says, it borders on an order rather than an offer. It makes you wonder who he’d become during the war.

“No, thank you.” You decline, Tommy’s lips purse slightly in irritation. “The others will be watching, it’s best if I’m alone.”

“I’d rather you didn’t walk around alone at night.” Tommy counters smoothly.

“It’s early evening at best.” You counter. There was nothing unusual in this routine, Tommy had always been protective, often maddeningly so. “I walk myself home regularly.”

The muscles stand out on Tommy’s jaw as he kisses his teeth and looks away. He flicks his hand in a way that seems to be dismissing you. “I’m sure.” You can’t miss the sarcastic tone.

It’s like a slap in the face. But your pain quickly turns to anger. How dare he come here like nothing has happened in the past few years? As if you hadn’t been alone since the moment he left for the war. “I can look after myself.” You snap.

Tommy’s jaw twitches again before he looks down on you, his blue eyes hard. “Fuck! Why is this so difficult?”

“I thought you were dead Tommy,” You begin, but Tommy cuts you off.

“Yeah and it seems like you’d prefer it fucking stayed that way!” The ferocity of his words cut through you, crushing your heart, unable to bear it you turn and run. Not looking back as Tommy yells after you. “I thought you might have missed me. But, I’m just a friend, I was obviously fucking delusional to think you might be pleased to see me!”

Gasping for breath, you crash through the front door of the quarters. You lean back against it, trying to compose yourself before anyone sees you. Matron appears a heartbeat later, holding open the door to her office.

“Sister,” it’s both a greeting and an instruction.

Resigned you trudge the few steps to her office. You’re surprised when she directs you to one of the wingback chairs by the fire rather than the straight-backed timber chair in front of her desk. You remain standing however and launch straight into your apology. “I’m sorry Matron, about earlier and now this,” you gesture to your face, before drawing a deep breath and rushing on with your explanation “I didn’t invite him, I didn’t even know,” You trail off, stopped by Matron raising her hand in front of you.

“Tea?” The Matron offers, as you fall quiet.

“Tea?” you repeat dumbly. Matron nods. “I have night shift.” You tell her.

“I’m aware. You have time, take a seat,” she instructs nodding towards the chair again. You follow her direction and move closer to the chair, but still don’t sit.

“He’s the man in the photo, in your room?” She asks as she removes the kettle from the fire. It’s not really a question, the Matron is observant and astute. “You were told he was killed in the war, weren’t you?”

Tears fill your eyes, and your throat tightens, so you nod.

“Praise be,” She says, her eyes casting upwards as she sets the kettle down and crosses herself.

Hot, silent tears roll down your cheeks, and you wrap your arms around yourself. A horrible truth ripping you apart.

“So, these are tears of joy?” She asks dryly, placing a cup of tea in your hands and gently guiding you down into the chair.

You shake your head. “It’s not a miracle Matron. If he had written, I would have known he wasn’t dead.” Your tone is decidedly bitter.

“Tsk,” Matron tuts. “The man survived. You survived. He found you. It’s a miracle.” She settles back in her chair, taking a sip of her tea.

This wasn’t your first time in Matron’s office. You knew from experience, that this was Matron’s way, tea and a patient ear. Not that she wasn’t a stickler for rules and discipline. No quarter was given for an unstarched collar or an unmade bed. But unlike many of her contemporaries, she understood her nurses had lives that weren’t always easy or without complication. Experience had taught her that those issues were better uncovered with quiet calm and solved with compassion.

You take a sip of your tea. “We had a fight.” You admit.

“Hmm?” Matron hums, retrieving a tin of biscuits from the drawer of the small side table and offering you one.

“We’ve never had a fight before,” you realise, taking a biscuit without thinking and placing it on your saucer. You sit holding your cup for a good minute before you feel you can speak. Matron waits calmly. “Not really a fight.” You pause again, “We just couldn’t seem to understand each other. When we were young, we didn’t even need words, we just knew, and today,” you shrug unable to find words to describe the level of disconnection you had felt.

You sit watching the fire for a few moments, trying to gather your thoughts, to understand what had happened. You find yourself floundering. “I can’t tell you how many times I dreamed.” You stop yourself. “They were silly little fantasies really, about him coming home. Seeing each other again,” You pause again, “I’m not a fool, I never thought it would be the same as before. Not just that we were adults now, I know France changed me, I’m sure it changed him too. But I never imagined we’d lose the connection we had. Ever. It was awful today, stilted, like there was this, wall between us.” You pause, thinking that even as children a wall hadn’t stopped your connection, you had found a way. You chew your lip trying to stop a fresh round of tears.

“I ruined it.” You admit sorrowfully. “The whole time all I could think was why did he stop writing to me. He was alive, so why didn’t he write? Just one letter and I would have known he was alright. Why couldn’t I just be grateful?” You wrap your arms around yourself.

Matron puts down her cup and places her warm hand on your knee.

Biting the inside of your lip, you blink rapidly and look again at Matron’s face, it’s kind and warm and open. “I think he was upset that I introduced him to you as just my friend.” You emphasise the just, as Tommy had. “I didn’t mean it like that, I know men aren’t allowed, and I was trying to explain to you that he wasn’t someone who needed to be sent away, that he wasn’t an unwelcome suitor.” You look across at Matron hoping she understands.

She nods, but still offers no council.

The grandfather clock in the hall begins its deep percussion to alert you to the time. A reminder that life must, as always, go on. “I better go get ready for my shift.” You say standing.

Matron stands as you do, moving to the door and placing her hand on the handle but not turning it. “The war changed everyone it touched, yourself included.” This time it’s you that nods but adds nothing. Matron turns the door handle but pauses again still not opening it, bringing her other hand to your shoulder. “Perhaps he had dreamt of a different reunion too.”

Her words stay with you throughout your shift. You oscillate between anger at Tommy and yourself, then spiralling from anger into despair. You keep it all inside while you dress wounds, while you offer comfort and once while you offered prayer. The prayer felt like a fraud, it had for a long time. You could no longer believe in a good and benevolent God after France. Each act of your vocation had seemed to carry extra weight and by the end of your shift, it was all you could do to drag yourself back to quarters.

Tired and drained you climb the stairs to your room, bypassing the dining room and your colleagues eating breakfast. Hoping to just sneak to bed with no-one noticing. As your foot hits the stop stair Matron calls out to you.

“Sister, may I have a moment?”

“Yes Matron.” You reply dull, but compliant. The journey down the stairs is just as exhausting. Matron steps back into her office, rather than watch your descent. You follow her inside. Entering the first thing you notice are the yellow roses in the ornate vase on Matron’s desk. Your favourite flower, another dagger in the heart. Tommy had once promised, when you had seen a similar bouquet in a florist’s window as a child and been awed by their beauty, that when he was a man and had money, he would buy you some. You’d teased him that he would just steal them.

“Mr Shelby came to see you last night.” Matron interrupts your memory, standing and gesturing to the flowers. “He brought these.”

You sigh, “I told him I was working,”

Matron holds up her hand, stopping your apology. Between her fingers a small envelope. “He left this as well.” She says holding it out to you.

You take the envelope, smiling as you note the florists mark on the back of the envelope. The small card reads, simply Not stolen T. The familiar handwriting brings more tears to your eyes. You knew it was an apology, of sorts, even with you Tommy had never been very good at them. You were sure it was because of all the times he’d been forced to apologise to his father, and that those apologies still didn’t appease the monster who would beat him anyway.

“Matron?” you take a deep breath unsure how to continue.

“He and I spoke, briefly, I think you should go see him before he goes back to Birmingham.”

“What did he say?” You ask, stunned.

“Nothing he can’t tell you himself, if you’re quick. Do you know where he’s staying?” Matron enquires.

“Um, yes, the Regatta.” You remember.

“Quickly then, upstairs and change and I’ll call you a cab.” Matron instructs. You don’t move. “Come on, chop, chop.” Matron claps her hands and you turn for the door. “Your flowers,” Matron says.

Quickly you turn back carefully picking up the vase. “Thank you, Matron.”

Your heart is pounding as you make your way down the long hall, counting off room numbers as you pass. At 211 you stop, raise your hand and stop again. Your turn and walk back down the hall, almost to the elevator before you stop again. Squaring your shoulders, you stride back to room 211 and knock on the door.

Nothing.

The manager had told you Tommy hadn’t checked out, so you knock again.

Nothing.

Heart sinking you decide to try one more time. You knock, pressing your ear to the door to see if you can hear any movement inside. “Tommy? Tommy, it’s Lyra.”

Nothing.

You close your eyes, unsure what to do. The ding of the elevator brings you to your senses, Tommy didn’t want to see you. You resign yourself and start to walk back down the hall. You fix your eyes firmly on the ornate carpet, afraid that making eye contact with another soul may just break you.

“Lyra?”

Your head snaps up at the familiar, husky voice. “Tommy?”

“What are you doing here?” Tommy asks, surprised.

“I got your flowers,”

“Did I get you in trouble?” Tommy asks, hand rubbing over the back of his head. For a moment he looks like the boy you remember.

“No. I told you I was working,”

“I thought you were blowing me off,” Tommy admits.

His statement makes you frown, sad again at the distance between you “I wasn’t. I wouldn’t.” You tell him wearily.

Tommy nods. Glancing back to the elevator as it dings again. “You want to come in?” He asks, gesturing towards his room.

You nod, “I think so.”

“I’d like you to,” Tommy says quietly, his hand coming to rest on the small of your back.

Once you’re inside he helps you with your coat, laying it on the bed carefully. Before he can remove his, you pluck a piece of hay from his collar. Up close you can smell the stale liquor and cigarette smoke, along with the sharp and acidic scent of opium. None of which are hidden by the softer smells of horse and hay. You hold up the piece of straw for him to see.

Tommy sighs. “I’ve got a business acquaintance; he’s got a stable, I went to have a look at the horses.”

You feel a tightness in your chest. The stables were always Tommy’s safe place; when things got bad at home, or at school. You always knew you would find him up at Charlie’s Yard, in with the horses. You brush some horsehair from his sleeve, knowing in your heart he’d spent the night in the stables. You move closer, this time to brush some dirt from his cheek.

Tommy turns his cheek as your hand makes contact, taking a step away to remove his coat. “I’d better clean up,” he jerks his head towards the closed door you assume opens to the bathroom.

He leaves the door of the bathroom open as he strips down to his undershirt, pushing up the sleeves to wash his face and hands. You sit, gingerly, on the edge of the bed. Nervous again. Fingers entwined, you close your eyes, offering, for the first time in a long time, a prayer. It was simple, but heartfelt, asking God that, this time you and Tommy would find a way to communicate. To connect like you used to.

As you open your eyes you see Tommy leaning against the doorway, rubbing his neck with a towel. He smiles a little. “You never used to be shy of seeing me in my underclothes.” He teases, but you can hear the caution in his voice.

You smile nervously in return. “No,” you say slowly, “but it’s been a long time.”

“Feels like forever,” Tommy says quietly.

“The flowers are beautiful. Thank you.”

“I paid for them,” Tommy says quickly. “Just like I promised.” He looks at you intently, the towel balled up in his hand.

“I know. They’re why I came.” Tommy’s eyes soften inviting you to go on. “You promised to buy me those flowers,” you pause “and I promised we’d always be friends.”

“We promised.” Tommy corrects you. “And we promised we would always talk about things.”

You nod solemnly, “Everything. No matter what.” You repeat the vow, the palm of your hand tingling where you had cut it to make your blood oath.

Tommy throws the towel onto the vanity, his thumb rubs over his own palm absently “Everything, no matter what.” He repeats.

Still, you sit for a long moment, looking down at your hands still clasped in your lap. “Why did you stop writing to me, Tommy?”

Silence follows, you look up at Tommy, who looks for a moment like he wants to run but closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and then speaks. “I thought you had found someone.”

Your eyes widen at the explanation as you find yourself even more confused. “But why would that matter? We’ve both dated before, that never stopped us being friends.”

Tommy shakes his head, running his hand through his hair before he pulls a cigarette case from his pocket. “My fuckin’ brothers.”

“What do they have to do with anything?”

Tommy pulls a cigarette from the case, offering one to you and putting the case away when you decline with a shake of your head. He watches you over the flame of the match as he holds it to the tip. Drawing the smoke deep into his lungs his reply comes in a cloud of smoke. “You know they love you like a sister, right?”

“I love them too,” you reply honestly. While you and Tommy were best friends you had always had an easy relationship with Arthur and John. Ada as a little girl had idolised you, desperate for another female to talk to and you had been close. Even little Finn felt like family.

“They’d always ask about you. Read your letters sometimes too.” Tommy takes another deep drag, blowing the smoke towards the ceiling.

You wait for Tommy to keep speaking, but he seems lost in thought. “Tommy?”

“Them and their nonsense got me all mixed up in my head.” Tommy snaps frustratedly, motioning his hand up near his head. Before rubbing it over his face again. His breathing becomes more rapid. You begin to stand and reach out for him, concerned. “Are you alright?”

Tommy turns away banging his hand against the door frame. “Why was it so much easier to talk when we were kids?”

“Things were different. We were different.” You say moving closer. Tommy jolts away from the hand you are reaching out for him. Spinning away and grabbing hold of the sink as his jaw tenses and he glares at himself in the mirror.

“I’m different,” Tommy says flatly, he turns his head to face you, still gripping the sink so hard his knuckles are white. You hesitate outside the doorway unsure of what to do. Suddenly an idea strikes you and you pull the bathroom door closed between you.

“What are you doing?” Tommy asks, his tone unsure, worried, as he jiggles the handle.

“Making it easier,”

“We’re too old for games,” Tommy says with a sigh.

“It’s not a game, Tommy.” You assure him, leaning against the door. “When we were young, we used to talk through the wall, all our deepest secrets passed through that wall. Maybe that’s why it was easier. We couldn’t see each other.” There’s silence and then you feel a weight press against the other side of the door. “Tell me what happened with your brothers.” You encourage.

“We all got leave, in Paris, at the same time. John and Arthur got drunk,” his voice sounds close, warm through the timber.

“Of course,” you say, rolling your eyes, but still smiling fondly at the thought.

“Of course,” Tommy echo’s in a weary tone, before continuing with his story. “We were in some club. There were all-sorts there, Allied forces, not just soldiers but auxiliary staff too, nurses and clerks, lots of women. Lots of dancing, people going off with each other,” Tommy pauses.

“I know the kind of place,”

“Arthur asked how you were. I told him I hadn’t heard from you in a few weeks. John said you’d probably found someone. I said that it didn’t matter if you had that we would still be friends, that you were probably just busy, or the post was slow.” Tommy’s speaking in a monotone, relaying facts. You close your eyes realising how happy you were just to hear his voice and feel his weight on the other side of the door.

“I danced with this girl for a bit and when we were having a drink back at the table she asked if she could write to me.” Tommy stops again, you can hear him breathing as he gathers his thoughts. “John made some smartass comment about how I already had a pen pal. Then Arthur made a big production about how it was okay because you would understand, we were just friends. Poor girl took off like a shot.”

You feel the gentle thud of what you imagine is Tommy’s head pressing against the door. “Did you like her?” you ask kindly.

“She was nice enough I suppose, but no, not really,” Tommy says plainly. “Arthur said that it would be like that for you. If you were seeing someone and they got wind of us writing that they’d run a mile. Said I’d be doing you a kindness if I stopped.”

“No,” you whisper quietly, eyes closing as you try to ignore the pain in your chest. For a long minute, neither of you says anything. You can feel, in your bones, in the air, through the wood that Tommy’s still not telling you everything. Throwing caution to the wind you push again. “You never listened to anything John and Arthur had to say about us before, Tommy. Why did you really stop writing?”

“You stopped writing to me,” Tommy says, sadness heavy in his voice.

“I didn’t! I wrote whenever I could. I had about a months worth returned to me and then,”

“Fuck,” Tommy hisses. “After what Arthur and John said, when the letters stopped it just made sense and,” he stops, the door opens and Tommy steps through, taking your upper arms in his hands. His voice is strained, “Fuck! Let’s just forget what happened during the fuckin’ war, yeah. It’s over. None of it fuckin’ matters.”

“It mattered to me; your letters mattered to me.” You protest.

“Why?” Tommy demands.

“I thought I’d lost you. They were all I had.” You confess, dropping your eyes to the buttons on his undershirt, wishing you still had a door between you. “No one understood.”

It was true, all around you other women lost their family, fathers, sons, brothers, husbands, fiance's and people understood, allowed them to grieve. Without a label, the deep affection you had for Tommy made no sense to others. They couldn’t understand, and you were too heartbroken to explain. To comfort yourself you had clung to the one part of him you had left, his letters, now read so often they threatened to fall to dust at any moment.

“Understand what?” Tommy pushes, a tiny hint of desperation in his voice.

You chew on your lip for a moment trying to make sense of your feelings. Tommy watches you. All this time and what exactly had affected you so deeply when you thought you had lost him still evades you. How could you tell him that you felt as if part of you had been amputated? You’d seen enough to know the pain, the feeling of loss that doesn’t end. The shock of losing a part of you, of losing something you never doubted would always be there. Like a man missing a leg, you felt unbalanced, unsure of how to participate in a world not designed for you. Men felt pain in hands and feet they no longer had, you were the same, a pain in your chest that had never gone away.

You place your hand on his chest convincing yourself again he was really there in front of you. “Us,” You whisper.

Tommy’s eyes close, hands coming to your waist pulling you closer, his forehead resting on yours. He opens his eyes again, capturing you in the blue abyss of them. Before you can lose yourself in them he kisses you, softly, hesitantly. He holds your gaze as he pulls away.

“I never stopped writing Tommy, not even after I thought you were gone.” You confess, hand coming to his cheek. Tommy presses his cheek to your palm and sighs deeply. “I missed you so much. I still wanted, needed, to talk to you.” Tommy takes your face in his hands. “Just one letter and I would have known you were alive Tommy.” You sob.

Pulling you to him Tommy holds you tight. “I’m sorry,” Tommy whispers into your hair and you can feel the truth in his words. “I never wanted to hurt you, I thought you were happy, that you were better off,”

“Why?” you ask moving enough in his embrace to see his face.

“I’m not the same, things happened in France,” Tommy’s face twists in anguish.

You reach out, hand stroking his bristled cheek, relishing the feel of his warm skin against your palm. Tommy sighs and rests his head against yours again. “None of us are the same. None of us.” You tell him. It was true, loud noises made you jump, the smell of sulphur made you nervous and the feel of mud or dirt on your hands made your skin crawl.

A silence draws out between you again, far less awkward this time. Slowly your breathing falls into sync. Your eyes close and you fall into an embrace.

“Lyra,” Tommy’s breath is warm against your ear.

You open your eyes, chewing your lip. “Mm?”

“Come home with me. Just for a few days, a holiday. Give us some more time.” Again, he takes your face in his hands, watching you intently. “I can’t say goodbye again so soon.”

It’s evening by the time you get away. Hasty arrangements were made, John and Arthur going on ahead, you organising leave and packing a case.

At the station Tommy finds an empty carriage and ushers you inside, watching as you sit in the corner. Putting your suitcase up in the racks, Tommy turns, smiling as he looks down on you. He sits on the same bench, but closer to the window. He pats the space next to him invitingly. You shake your head shyly, looking out at the still crowded platform meaningfully. Tommy smirks and rolls his eyes.

You sit in silence, watching the crowds. Tommy’s hand moving closer and closer to yours until the sides of your hands brush against each other. A bolt of electricity passing through you, like a shot or a burn. But you don’t pull away. He hooks his pinkie around yours as the guard blows the whistle and the train begins to slowly pull out of the station. There’s something both silly and sincere in his action and you can’t help but smile.

As the train picks up speed and the buildings of the city start to blur Tommy tugs gently on your hand encouraging you closer. He looks around the empty carriage meaningfully when you hesitate. You relent and slide across. Tommy wraps his arm around your shoulders, and you rest your head against him. He kisses the crown of your head and rests his head against yours.

As the buildings turn to houses, Tommy strokes your hair. “I’d like to read the letters sometime, the ones you wrote me when you thought I was gone.”

You sigh deeply, you shuffle a little so you can see his face. “I burnt them.”

“Oh,” You can see the question on his face before he asks it.

“Do you remember that funeral your mum and Uncle Charlie went to, the old Gypsy woman, the one in the field?”

Tommy nods. “We bunked off school and Charlie caught us.”

You smile remembering. “He answered all the questions I had about Gypsy’s.”

Tommy’s hand comes to your face, his thumb rubbing along your cheekbone “The smoke?” He asks. You nod. Tommy’s face darkens for a moment, but lightens as his eyes search yours “You thought I’d go to heaven?”

“Of course.” You say, hands coming to his face, holding it tenderly. You lean in, kissing him with the lightest of touches.

Tommy’s hand slides into your hair, holding the back of your head as he kisses you back. Your hands begin to roam, revelling in the silkiness of his shorn head, feeling the warmth of his skin and his pulse in his neck. Kisses getting firmer and needier. Tommy nips at your lip and your heart is pounding, nearly leaping out of your chest it feels so light. Tommy kisses your neck, another shock of electricity setting your skin on fire. You both move closer, hands ceaselessly exploring each other, breathing becoming ragged.

“Tickets!” A voice booms outside the door. You freeze for a moment before quickly sitting back in the seat properly. Sitting up straight like you’re on parade.

Good evening,” The conductor greets you as he opens the door of the carriage. “Tickets?” He asks, a smirk as he takes in you and Tommy. Horrified you desperately trying to straighten your clothes and fix your hair, knowing your lipstick is a mess.

Tommy, on the other hand, makes no attempt to fix his appearance simply pulling a few pounds from his pocket, “Two for Birmingham.”

“Heading home?” The conductor asks conversationally as he takes the money and exchanges them for tickets.

“Yes.” Tommy agrees as he takes the tickets and puts them in his pocket.

“Enjoy your trip.” The conductor says to Tommy, opening the door again.

“Thank you.” You say as he closes the door again.

Tommy settles back in the seat again, arm around you and pulling you closer, the frenetic energy of a moment ago gone for now “It will be good to get home.” He reflects quietly.

You snuggle into him, your hand taking his and entwining your fingers. As you listen to the gentle thud of Tommy’s heart you know that your destination doesn’t matter. Birmingham or Bayeux, you were already home.

---

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bellamyblake · 4 years ago

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I’d love to know your thoughts on sab 👀 I also didn’t enjoy it and liked the books a lot more

This will go on under cut because I can't deal with more hate right now.

I didn't like the sa/b books. I only ever liked the so/c books. I honestly can't believe they are written by the same author, in my head it feels like s/oc was written by an entirely different person and it always felt that way.

Now I read so/c because back at the bellarke fandom a few fellas recommended it and I liked it. I just can't believe that now, I am living to see the day where ma/tthias and n/ina are compared to bellarke of all things when back then I remember that was everyone's least favorite couple and people were glad he died LOL. I guess it's cause the author compared them to one another but tbh to me they couldn't be more different, but that's just me.

So I'm putting s/oc aside. Not that I mind it. I honestly just think that the entire shit was absolutely fucked up. Everyone always wanted just so/c to become a show not s/ab. In the fandom everyone couldn't fucking stand s/ab and then THAT became the foundation for the show???

Stupid af. At least for me.

Then I realized why that happened.

So/c is fine but it's like a story that won't go anywhere from a certain point. Even the fans agree that the second book from the duology is a little like...felt pushed, not too honest to everything that was happening. Like the sequence you thought you wanted but didn't really.

So/c is a story of a bunch of people coming together to do a task and then everyone goes their way. That is the reason why it's no good for a show-they are bound by the idea of doing this heist and getting the money so they could all part ways and in reality they do because all of them want different things or outer circumstances demand their presense elsewhere.

They are cool as a side storyline-you know the rush of a heist and all that, all the bickering and the smart lines, it's cool right?

Plus it appeals more to the younger audience as well.

But they I realized later on ofc, needed s/ab because it fits perfectly not only into what is popular lately (aka bad hero who everyone likes but we've reached the point of no defending needed if he's hot enough and a young girl he chases which is the more fucked up thing I believe). but also what sells.

So you got a very attractive 40 y/o dude who girls are known to fangirl on and a young new face that you know nothing about but that apparently fits in the narrative, though I'm sorry but as much as I dislike A/lina, I cannot see that girl as her either. i think the casting wasn't good, esp when it comes to so/c I'd only exclude the actor for J.esper they've chosen. Perhaps for Ma/tthias too. I'm very disappointed with the casting of K/az. That is what pushed me off at first. I didn't see In/ej that way either but I'd say perhaps the actress fits to a point. But K/az is a total disaster for me. Anyway, so you got the hot dude, the girl and the very basic idea of darkness and light colliding-so that is a story that albeit very stupid in its core can perhaps progress in a way-

and it progresses in the romantic way I guess? The allure to darkness, the love, the absolute finn of a character on the other side forming a very weak triangle that nobody cares about though I've heard ppl like M/al more in the show which is kudos cause he's an absolute disgrace in the books.

Can we also please talk about the fact that A/lina is considered ugly in the books and only grows beautiful when she gains her power?

I won't even go into casting a thin N/ina when she's absolutely the only ever slavic character I've seen in any show/movie/book that i've related to cause honestly-the best written character imo despite L/eighs fucking no knowledge of this culture.

And that brings me back to the absolute main point that is-I don't get why more slavs aren't outraged by this blasephamy that the show and the book is. She says the entire time that she wrote about it and based it on imperial russia cause it was *more interesting* and sounded like *something cool* but that she had no knowledge of it at all.

Start with their names perhaps? Why the darkling has a female surname and alina a male? I think you could at least check that out it's not as hard lmfao.

I remember while reading the books how she used some absolute idiotic words that made no sense like otkazastsya which what??? what's that ma'am. In its sense that's a verb you're using it as a noun and has absolutely no meaning whatsoever???

So that was something that always pushed me away from the books and that's why I knew I wouldn't watch the show after it. the casting solidified it for me, that being also because I'm not a personal fan of b/ bar/nes but that's just my problem in an overall scheme of problems.

i could probably go on and talk about the saints, the killing of animals for power or the dark/ling some more but i'm quite tired and I don't think that'll add much to it. i think that it could've been done a lot better also costume wise if they wanted to represent the slavic or russian culture some more. seeing the soldiers even on the promo clip before the show was out made me close the tab immideately.

#answered #anti sab #anti soc #anti shadow and bones #anti six of crows

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its--ok--to--shine · 5 years ago

Text

Watching It: Chapter 2 a Second Time

It was honestly very enlightening for me and I recommend everyone see it again to see what you pick up. This is mostly about Reddie content ~this is a long ass post~

SPOILERS AHEAD

The Reddie Dynamic:

In the first movie, they really show the affection that the two characters have towards each other by keeping them in close proximity and or they are touching. In all but three scenes of the first movie, Richie and Eddie are near each other. Even when the are looking up at Bowers in that weird hole, Eddie is literally leaning on Richie. At the jump at the quarry they are separated but interacting. I was sad they weren’t so close to one another in the second movie but I think it’s because of their repression of feelings. They jump back to the teasing but getting back to physical part of their relationship takes time. They arm wrestle and then there is no physical touching until they go back into the Neibolt house.

The Lack of Pennywise in the Background:

I loved this part of the first one and scoured the background of every scene desperately trying to see if It was in the background in Chapter 2. Like I’m paintings or other scenes. One person pointed out the painting in Beverly’s house but I didn’t see It in it. I thought that since they were back in Derry, Pennywise would be spying on them. I was like “oh it’s gotta be in the background” when Mike brings Bill to the library, but no. If anyone saw Pennywise in the background please let me know!

The Restraunt Scene:

I listened to the Reddie conversation in the background of the Bill and Bev scene and like low key you can see Richie listening and being supportive but also realistic about how it’s all in Eddie’s head. Richie has never seen him and still never sees him the way Eddie sees himself: weak

The Hammock™️ Scene:

THIS SCENE IS NOT LONG ENOUGH!!! I pray there is more in the director’s cut! Hearing “I fucked your mom” in the background was so good and sweet it made me wonder... is there another time they say that verbatum? Is Eddie saying “I fucked your mom” a call back to this scene??? Thoughts on this anyone??? Richie holding Eddie’s leg still has me 🥰

The Street Fighter Scene:

Was extremely telling the second time around.

Finn knew he was playing a gay character because during the game he completely looks at the other guys lips! It’s a very sweet moment. As another post on tumblr said, Richie was vulnerable and even felt safe with this boy. He thought the feelings were reciprocated. I think they were but Bower’s cousin was too afraid of his own feelings to accept it. Although some say Richie running away and not having a quip was uncharacteristic of him, I think he was stunned, shamed, and torn apart by what unfolded. It was as if someone stabbed him with a knife where it hurt most. He could barely comprehend it and couldn’t even deny it because he is gay and Bowers yelling “faggot” cut so deep. Also chronologically this was after the fight between Bill and Richie in the first movie before Bill goes to the archade to get Richie. In that scene Richie is playing street fighter alone which makes it really sad when you think about how after the f*ggot comment he had to play it alone :(

The Montage during Stanley’s Speech:

Richie putting his hand on Eddie’s back is adorable and Eddie does in fact pull him into the photo booth and they have a cute second together 🥺 I thought so the first time around but I confirmed the second time.

When Eddie said “please don’t be mad, Bill”:

Richie goes to Eddie to check on him before he is attacked by the Stanley spider head not after!!!! They don’t talk about it until the “you’re braver than you think” scene. Also the “don’t be mad, Bill” was way more heartbreaking because I rewatched the first movie and Pennywise says it as Georgie to Bill. In the book Eddie looks up to Bill. They all do since he’s the leader but idk that got me the second time around.

The doors scene:

It was Betty ripsom again!! Because she says, “where’s my shoe?” In the first movie we see her top half and then that scene we see her bottom. The closet though and her being from the waist down is again a call back to the AIDS comment Eddie makes in the first movie and both of their internalized homophobia is brought to the fore front here. Also after they slam the door Eddie yells “you told me to trust you!!!!” It’s faint but hilarious.Also Richie touching Eddies arm had me smiling like an idiot 😌

The possible kiss scene:

Although many believe the possible kiss scene is when Eddie saves Richie from the deadlights I fully believe it’s way after that. Eddie gets stabbed, rolls down that cave part, they discuss how to defeat it, Bill helps Richie movie Eddie while Ben mike and bev are being chased by it. Then Eddie says “I fucked your mom” then they go back to the other losers. It stays with that scene for a long time. Which is uncharacteristic of the whole sequence before this part. They jump back and forth between bill, Ben and Bev, and Richie and Eddie. It reminded me of the long scene in Neibolt in the first. Where we never cut to outside and come to find out later they deleted a cute scene with Beverly/Ben and Mike/Stan. When they return to Richie after the losers are beating Pennywise up, he leaves Eddie so suddenly and then rips off Pennywise’s fucking arm. The scene is right before that. They kiss and then Eddie dies clutching on to richies jacket. Richie then leaves. Which then leads to my next point-

Eddie did not die alone:

When Richie is fuming and leaves Eddie he looks like he passed away. He is clutching Richies jacket. I am hoping this is touched on in the directors cut bc although it has a dramatic effect, I hate HATE the idea that he died alone. I just don’t see how that motivates the story at all.

THAT SCENE:

I didn’t notice anything different in that scene. I just felt heartbroken once again and astounded by Bill Hader’s acting.

Other weird things I noticed the second time around:

• When It is the Paul Bunyan statue before he attacks Richie he says “Want a kiss, Richie?” Which I found both funny and fucked up.

•they cut to Richie yelling you’re a clown and I died because eddies hand is over richies!!?????

Like ya they are keeping the jacket in place but 🥺🥺🥺🥺

•all the blood goes up. Why is that? Is it because everything floats? I don’t know why but like If anyone knows lemme know

•the fact that they left Eddie there still does a number on me. I hate it

•the place where R+E is carved on the kissing bridge is shown in the first movie but the spot is blank. I think that was purposeful to not only show the Bridge but give us a timeline and like show us where it was going to be if that makes sense???

•although not at all compliant to the book, I still think Eddie should have lived and during the voiceover when Stanley says “be proud” it should have been both of them at the bridge or getting off the plan in LA together.

•the director’s attention to detail is astounding. All the things he did were INTENTIONAL!! Don’t let anyone deny it. He told James to do the little hand gesture. So the minute details we see and catch are purposeful and justify the true love that Richie and Eddie have.

Anything I missed? Thoughts? Lemme know and thanks for reading 🎈❤️

#it #it 2017 #it chapter 2 #it chapter two #reddie #reddie hammock #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrack #it chapter two spoilers #it chapter 2 spoilers

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oh-great-authoress · 5 years ago

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This is for Lena of @lenacs, who has been a great help to me in my fic writing and a fantastic mutual! Go check out her tumblr for her awesomeness and information about her fics! I highly recommend you check out her current fic, “Flashes of Light” for some amazing Armitage Hux/Rose Tico fluff. Thank you for feeding my need for Gingerrose fic, Lena! And before I forget, Lena, there’s two parts in this fic in which I paid homage to your beautiful Day 4 of Summer Gingerrosefest 2020 fic!

This incorporates ideas I will be putting into my AU fic, Gray Guardian, 😉 but for this I tried to keep it as canon as possible, aside from you-know-who isn’t shot by that sleemo Pryde.

And to my dear Gingerrose writers, if there is any similarity in this to any of your works, I swear, it was totally unintentional, this just flowed out of me at an unholy hour of the day.

This is slice-of-life, shamelessly indulgent fic, with the fluff up to 11. This is Fluff Without Plot. So, without further ado, I give you…

The Peace of Love

It was early morning, and as usual, Armitage was up at his upstairs work table, magnifiying glasses on his head, as he fiddled with the central computer of an X-Wing — Dameron’s X-Wing, to be exact. He had just made some adjustments which would make the starfighter more agile, especially when the Resistance General was doing reckless maneuvers such as dives and rolls when he heard a loud yawn from the bedroom. Ah.

He took the magnifying glasses off and switched them out for the tortoiseshell-rimmed pair in his shirt pocket, (which he sadly had begun to need more and more often) as he stood and adjusted his thick-yarned knit cardigan. Going to the kitchen, he took the breakfast he had prepared, and placed them on the tray, which he carefully took to the bedroom.

“Good morning, my flower,” he murmured to his smiling wife, Rose.

“Good morning, Armie. How long have you been up?” She concernedly asked, since she was a deep sleeper and he tended to wake at the drop of a pin, which, combined with his insomnia and too-ingrained-to-change habit of waking early, he sometimes didn’t get nearly enough sleep.

“The usual, don’t worry. I slept well, my dear.” He set the tray down on his made side of the bed, and sat so the tray was between them. Rose immediately snatched up one of the slices of toast. A smile curled his lips as she moaned at the taste of the butter spread on the toast. She was about to scarf down the last slice when she said, “Have you eaten already?”

“Yes, I had breakfast earlier. Go ahead.”

Rose made quick work of the meal and he was about to pick the tray up and take it back to the kitchen when she extended her hand towards him. “Come rest with me for a while.”

This was odd for her. Usually, Rose liked to get up after breakfast, being as hard-working as he was. “You’re not getting up yet?” He cautiously asked.

“Not just yet.” She widened her eyes and slightly pouted her lower lip, a look that never failed to get under his skin. “Come on, I know you want to go back to what you’re doing, but, just indulge me, Armie? Please?”

He had lost already, had lost from the moment he had fallen in love with this magnificent woman over two and a half years ago, but it behooved him to put up at least the appearance of a fight.

“Fine,” he sighed, putting the tray on the floor, before removing his shoes and cardigan, and climbing into his side of their bed.

“Happy now?” He softly asked as he took her into his arms.

“Very,” she grinned, adjusting herself in his embrace.

They were silent, as they just laid there, but his mind was as loud as ever, if not louder.

How? How had he come upon this fortune? He was a mass murderer. He had killed billions when he ordered that Starkiller be fired. He had killed his own father. He had ripped countless numbers of children from their mother’s breasts to turn them into mindless drones. He had contributed to, if not directly had a hand in, the destruction of numerous planets, Rose’s included. And yet, this woman, this brilliant, beautiful woman had chosen to spend the rest of her life with him.

In no way, shape, or form, did he deserve even the slightest ounce of compassion from Rose, let alone her love. He deserved death, an ignominious death, at either the hands of the First Order for his treason, or at the hands of the Resistance for his crimes. Despite all this, Rose bothered to get to know him even when he was just a string of letters communicating with her from across the galaxy, feeding her First Order secrets. And when, unable to resist the first stirrings of emotion in his long cold, dead heart, he told her his name, she had been shocked, yes, but she had not launched into the tirade of vitriol he had been expecting.

Eventually, their relationship had evolved from mere spy-handler to genuine, if not tentative, friendship. And when Poe and Finn exfiltrated him from the Steadfast, he was greeted by a black-haired blur careening into him, barely managing to keep himself upright from the blaster wound in his leg. “Sunset Crown, you’re alive,” she whispered.

“Midnight Blossom. Alive, if not a little worse for wear.”

“You can call me Rose now, you know.”

“Ah. Well… call me Armitage then… Rose.”

After, following the agreement which tied him to the backwater planet of Tareth to develop all further technology for the New Republic ‘til the end of his days, which was far more than he ever hoped to get, fully expecting that he would be hurled into a deep, dark hole, never to see the light of day again, no one was more surprised than he to see Rose waiting for him outside the ship that would take him to his glorified exile.

“Rose. I suppose you’ve come to see me off.”

“No, dummy. I’m coming with you.”

He was doing a fairly impeccable impression of a fish in that moment, he was certain. The only word that came out of his mouth at her declaration, was a “What?” which squeaked out of his throat at a higher octave than usual for him.

“I’m coming with you.”

Recovering, he replied, “I heard you the first time. What I’d like to know is: whatever for?”

“Because I want to. Someone has to help you get established on Tareth. Might as well be someone who li - tolerates you. Unless you don’t want me to come?” She defiantly tilted her head, vaguely reminding him of their first meeting.

He wanted to tell her yes, he didn’t want her to come, he wanted to tell her to leave now, to run as far away as possible from him, to forget him, to never think about him again. But he found he couldn’t. She was like a sun, you see, and he the helpless, but all too willing planet caught in her orbit, blessed to have the rays of her light shine upon him. And a not-small part of him wanted to keep that light, her light in his life for as long as possible.

It wouldn’t be so bad, he convinced himself. Her friendship was all he would ever need. It was more than he ever deserved, and he would be content with that. It was enough. It would have to be. And he’d let her go, he swore to himself, if she ever gave the slightest hint that she wanted to leave. He’d no more wish to tie her to him than he would wish to hurt her.

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and months turned into half a year before he knew it. And in that span of time, his heart, his traitorous heart, became increasingly, inexorably tied to Rose more and more, with each passing day, until he was convinced that she would be able to hear his heart screaming for hers.

It all came to a head when he arrived at his small house after running errands, to find a delicious smelling dinner spread on his dining table, Rose in a dress as red as her namesake, ebony hair spilling over her shoulders. His breath caught in his throat, and he had to swallow several times before he was reasonably sure a logical sentence would come from his mouth.

“This looks amazing, Rose — it smells delicious.”

Her smile lit up the room. “Let’s eat it then.”

They both sat and ate, conversation flowing freely. He was listening to Rose talk about how she had just been reading a starfighter engine repair manual that had been absolutely revelatory when he internally voiced the thought which he had never vocalized, ever. “I love you,” he mentally said. Or so he thought.

Her head snapped up from where it had been briefly looking at her plate, and she dropped her fork. “What?” She breathed, wide-eyed.

No. No, no, no, no, no. He had said it out loud! He couldn’t decipher the look on Rose’s face — overcome with shame, fear, and self-hatred, he did the only thing he could think to do: he ran.

He bolted out the door, and before he knew it, he was standing beside the bench in the woods he had placed there when he needed to get away from everything — his thinking bench, as Rose called it.

“Idiot, idiot, idiot, what were you thinking?! How could you say that?! Why did you say that?! She’s going to leave now, you’ll never see her again!!”

He sank onto the bench, his head in his hands, thoughts swirling.

“Idiot, idiot, idiot,” he muttered, once more after a few minutes, shaking his head in his hands.

it was a testament to how off-kilter he was that he didn’t hear Rose coming.

“You’re not an idiot, Armitage, far from it in fact,” she said, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder as she knelt on the ground before him.

“I know the quality of my mind, Miss Tico, I merely refer to words I should not have said. And for the love of God, I beg you, get up,” he murmured, something in the night air making him speak softly.

“Why?”

“Because I never want to see you kneeling before me ever again, Rose!” He said, his voice beginning to rise.

An understanding look came into her eyes, and once she moved to sit beside him on the bench, he continued in a quieter voice, “I’m sorry, Rose. I… should not have said what I did.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Armitage… unless you didn’t mean what you said in the house.”

His head shot up to look her in the eye.

“Did you mean it, Armitage? Tell me.”

“I…”

“Tell me!”

“I meant it! I meant it. God, I meant it,” he passionately said.

A smile brighter than any he had ever seen on her face parted her lips. “Good. Because that’s what I’ve wanted to hear from you for months now.”

“What?” It seemed to be his go-to word when he did not know what to say, apparently.

“I said, that’s good. Because I love you too.”

“You — you shouldn’t, Rose.”

“I’ve never been good when it comes to people telling me what I should do.”

“I — I’m a criminal, a murderer, it — it is ill-advised to care for me, let alone love me.”

“But I do. Why do you love me?”

“Because… of you, everything you are, your incorrigible spirit, your kind heart, your brilliant mind, your captivating beauty, everything. And I could not stop myself from loving you, no matter how I tried.”

“It’s the same for me, Armitage. I couldn’t stop myself either. And I don’t want to. Let me love you. Please.”

He looked at her long and hard, searching for some sort of deception, even as he knew she was incapable of it.

“I…” he began. “I cannot find it in me… to refuse you,” he murmured, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.

At this, she rushed into his arms, both immediately embracing the other. Eventually, she pulled back, a somewhat expectant look on her face. he had no idea what it was she wanted until her glance darted to his lips. Ah. A curious mix of excitement and apprehension surged through him. “M-may I —“

“Do it, before I do it for you,” she grinned.

Plucking up what courage he had, he threaded his hand through the black silk of her hair as he slowly leaned in, giving her every opportunity to back out. Then his lips met hers, and if his heart had not already been irrevocably hers, it would have been in this moment. He kissed her softly, gently, and yet passionately. He could have spent eternity drinking of her lips. When they parted, breathless, Rose reached up to brush away tears he had not realized he had cried.

“I do not deserve you, Rose.”

“You have me anyway,” she softly smiled.

Before he knew it, he was standing before the holy man of their town and exchanging vows and rings. He’d never forget that day. He was there in his best shirt and sweater, when she walked in, in a simple, but elegant white dress, a bouquet of white roses in her hands.

Now pulled back to the present, he looked down at their hands, his ring of Haysian smelt glowing in the morning sun. It tugged at his heart in an odd way sometimes to see the ring on his finger. He often felt she shouldn’t have given this to him, something rare and this precious from her homeworld that he had helped to ruin. But she always said that he was as precious to her as this metal was to her people, if not more so, and that he should think of it that way. And if it made him feel better, that he should think of it as a reminder to himself that he was different now, that he was sorry for his actions as the intractable General Hux. And oh, how he was sorry.

As the familiar self-hatred washed over him, he laced her left hand in his, raising it to his lips. She shifted to look up at him, sensing the change in his mood. “You okay?”

He ducked his head, staring at her silver ring, stamped with Arkanisian knots, considering his words.

Rose let him be, knowing that he’d reply in his own time. Eventually, he spoke. “No. But I have you, so I will be.”

Smirking, she placed a finger under his chin, gently raising his head so he looked at her. “I love you, Armitage Hux, with all my heart and all of me.”

“I love you too, Rose Tico-Hux, with all of my being, such as it is.”

She only smiled and leaned in to place a searing kiss upon his lips, chasing away any thought other than that of his beloved wife in his arms.

When air became a necessity, and they drew back, after they caught their breath, Rose straightened his glasses and murmured, “We should probably get up now.”

“Yes… we should. But let’s stay here for a little longer.”

“Okay.”

The end.

Hope you enjoyed this oneshot I wrote instead of sleeping, 🤣 Lena!

P.S. Does this count as a submission for Summer Gingerrosefest 2020? Hmm. I’ll tag it anyway.

#lenacs #star wars #star wars fic #star wars au fic #general hux #armitage hux #rose tico #summergingerrosefest2020 #day 5: positive love #The Peace of Love

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calpalirwin · 4 years ago

Text

Snip, Snip

Summary: Finn gets a vasectomy.

A/N: Back. On. My. BULLSHIT!!!!

Word Count: 1.4k

And away, and away we go!

“So, are you and Mia gonna go on any dates?” Vanessa asked over Saturday dinner.

I nodded. “Yeah, we talked about going out again in a few weeks.”

“A few weeks?!” The woman’s eyes went wide. “Finn…”

“What?”

“That’s too long to wait.”

“Well, I doubt I’m gonna be up for anything much this week. And then I have the kids.”

“Why aren’t you going to be up for anything this week?”

“I have my appointment Monday afternoon.”

“Appointment? Wait, you’re getting a vasectomy?!”

“Would you lower your voice?” I chuckled, looking around the restaurant. “Yes, I’m getting the vasectomy.”

“I thought you said Mia can’t have kids.”

“She can’t.”

“So, what do you need a vasectomy for?”

“Ness…”

She raised her hands defensively. “I know. This is something you were gonna do regardless. Your body, your choice. Just promise you’ll call if you need anything? None of this heroic ‘I don’t need help’ crap. If I found out you strained yourself I’ll render your vasectomy useless, you hear me?” She gestured at my lap with her knife.

“Alright, Mom, relax. I already stocked up on easy shit to make and plenty of bags of frozen veggies. I’ll be fine.”

“You’re gonna live off of Hot Pockets for a week like some twenty-something bachelor?”

“I am a twenty-something bachelor,” I reminded her.

“You’re twenty-eight, not twenty-two…”

“You’re twenty-eight?” Ashton piped up. “I thought you were twenty-six…”

“No, I’m twenty-six. Finn’s two years older than me,” she told him before turning her attention back on me. “You either call me, or I’ll call your mother.”

“I love how she goes from ‘Mom’ to ‘my mother’ when you’re threatening me. I’ll call, alright? Actually is one of you free to take me? They won’t let me drive home.”

“Jesus, Finn…” Vanessa rolled her eyes. “How does that part slip your mind?”

“Somewhere between you threatening to cut off my dick and call my mommy.” I flashed her a sarcastic smile.

She rolled her eyes again, while Ashton chuckled, “Yeah, I got ya, mate. What time?”

~~~

“You sure I can’t make you something to eat?” Ashton asked as he helped me onto the couch and then went to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

“I’m sure,” I answered weakly, taking the offered drink. “I’m good, honestly,” I continued when he just stared at me with a look of concern. “A little tired, but good.”

“How about I order you a pizza or something? So that way you have it for when you do get hungry.”

“Is this Ness rubbing off on you, or your own big brother instincts taking over?” I joked.

“Ha-ha,” he deadpanned while he pulled something up on his phone. “But this isn’t a therapy session, and you’re not my therapist.”

“Be a lot richer if I was. Year and a half worth of back pay? Could retire now.”

Ashton let out a snort of laughter. “Alright, mate. Pizza’s on it’s way. And knowing Nessa…”

“She’ll be here to check on me before she goes into work tomorrow. Yep. Thanks for your help, man.”

“Anytime, mate.”

I dozed off while I waited for the pizza, and even though I wasn’t that hungry, my mouth still watered at the smell of it wafting from the box. I munched slowly on a slice, ready to call it a day even though it wasn’t even dark outside. I sighed as my phone rang, doing a double-take when I read Mia’s contact instead of Vanessa’s. “Hey,” I answered. “Wasn’t expecting you.”

“Who were you expecting?” Mia asked with a small laugh.

“Nobody. So what’s up?”

“Nothing much. I just… is it mature of me to admit to missing you, or incredibly pathetic?”

“Mature,” I chuckled. “I miss you, too. I know it’s probably frustrating only getting to spend real time with me every other week. Fatherhood doesn’t exactly bode well for spontaneous romance.”

“No, it’s not frustrating. Makes me value the time we do get to spend together that much more, you know?”

I laughed more. “Yeah, let’s see if you’re still saying that in a month.”

“A month? Mighty presumptuous of you.”

“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘optimistic’ actually.”

Her laugh was a light, full sound, like the tinkling of bells. “So, are you busy?”

“Now who’s being presumptuous?” I teased. “No, I’m not. I’m actually taking some time off. So if you wanna come keep me company while I decide which show on Netflix to binge for the next couple of days, I got a still hot, and mostly uneaten pizza here.”

“I’ll be by in ten.”

“I’ll be here.”

It was closer to twenty minutes than ten by the time Mia knocked on the door. “It’s open,” I called out.

“Is that really smart?” Mia scolded lightly as she came in.

I shrugged. “Normally it would be locked. But Ashton left it unlocked when he left. And I just never got up to lock it.”

“Why didn’t you when you got the pizza?” she asked, sitting down next to me on the couch and grabbing a slice.

I sat up carefully so my legs weren’t stretched all the way across the couch like they had been. “I didn’t get up.”

“Mmm… does this have anything to do with your mysterious time off? What did you do? Pull something surfboarding?”

I laughed. “No. I got a vasectomy.”

She choked. “Sorry, you what?” she sputtered.

“I got a vasectomy.”

“Why?” Her voice was tight and controlled.

“Because I don’t want any more kids…” I explained slowly, not understanding why she seemed mad.

“Okay, but I can’t have kids. I told you that.”

“I know.”

“So, what would you need a vasectomy for? Are you saying you want to see other women? Are you saying you don’t trust me?”

“I’m saying I don’t want any more kids.”

“Okay… but are you aware of how that comes across to me?” She picked her words carefully and I would admire it if I could swallow my rising annoyance at her thinking my vasectomy had anything to do with her.

“Are you aware you’re reading too much into a choice I made that has nothing to do with you, and that makes me want to get defensive?” I countered.

“Finn… I tell you that I can’t have kids, and a few weeks later you get fixed. That doesn’t make me have a lot of faith in what we are. In fact, it kinda does the exact opposite.”

“Okay… but if you let me explain rather than jumping to conclusions…”

“Jump to conclusions?! Finn, you had surgery to make you not able to have kids with your girlfriend that already can’t have kids!”

“It has nothing to do with you!”

“Cuz that makes me feel so much better!”

“I’m the one who’s gonna have to ice his junk for the next three days, but you’re hurt?!”

“Yes!”

“Why?!”

“Because you don’t trust me! Or you don’t see us working out long term!”

“Okay, but did I say that?”

“No…”

“So why would you think that?”

“Because of your actions!”

“But are you listening to the words behind the action? I don’t want kids. This has nothing to do with you or us. This is just a me thing.”

“Again… not making me feel better…”

“Oh, my God…” I pinched the bridge of my nose and breathed slowly. When I felt calm enough, I grabbed my phone, scrolling through my emails. “Here,” I said, handing her the phone when I found the email I’d been looking for. “I made the appointment two days before we met. Believe me now that this has nothing to do with you?”

Her eyes looked over the confirmation email. “Oh…”

“Yeah… I didn’t do this to hurt you. I did it because I’m done having kids. And yeah, if I’d been smarter I would have gotten it done a long time ago. But everything’s been a little hectic so now was the time I finally got around to it.”

“So you do trust me?”

“Of course I trust you. And yes, I see us working out long term. Or I hope so anyway.”

“Sorry…”

“Forgiven.”

“I’m still gonna make this up to you.”

“Oh? How are you gonna do that?”

“Nurse you back to health.” Her voice was a whisper as she leaned across the couch to press a kiss to my lips.

“Mmm, I won’t say no to that.”

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#snip snip #ashton&vanessa #finn&mia #galcal irwin #we stan healthy communication!!!!

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