#and from there...... I'm gonna try to stay relatively caught up

[byanyan]

we're down to 9 drafts left that're from before february, plus 5 which are from the last week. progress has slowed over the last couple days (for various reasons) but hoo boy, we're still working our way toward being caught up and only!! getting!!! closer!!!!!

[writingoddess1125]

Deadpool Headcanon

Dad!Deadpool and GN Reader

Fluffy Weirdness

Kinda just came to me so enjoy? 🤷🏼

Masterlist <<

Kofi <<

• Deadpool, finds out that he has a teenage kid, (Y/N) by total accident.

• A relative of a old fling of his telling him they had his kid before disappearing themselves.

• His reaction is a delightful mix of shock, denial, and inappropriate jokes.

"Wait, I'm someone's dad? Damn- They must be fucked up!"

• But underneath all the sarcasm and one-liners, the idea begins to settle into his brain.

• A tinge of fear eats at his brain and itches under his skin..

• When Wade first digs into (Y/N)’s background—using his "very legal" skills—it’s mostly to make sure they’re not a mini supervillain in training.

• But what he finds instead knocks the wind out of him: (Y/N) has been in and out of the foster system for years.

• That hits him harder than he'd like to admit- making him pace a bit back and forth in thought.

• At first, he doesn’t know how to handle it.

• His own past was screwed up, but seeing his kid going through the same kind of instability?

• It messes with him. Wade cracks a joke to numb the ache.

“Of course, my kid’s in the system… couldn’t have inherited my charm or good looks, huh?”

• Deadpool starts paying more attention, following (Y/N) closely.

• He watches them move from one foster home to another, each one more temporary than the last.

• Sometimes (Y/N) would get picked up by a social worker right after school, with nothing more than a worn-out backpack slung over their shoulder.

• Wade stays out of sight, gripping his weapons tighter than he should, resisting the urge to intervene... for now.

• Seeing (Y/N) trying to stay strong, dealing with bullies, shifting from home to home, makes something snap inside Wade.

• He realizes he’s angry, really angry. No kid, especially not ***his kid*** , should have to feel so lost and abandoned.

• He remembers what it was like to feel that way, and no amount of sex, drugs, or killing can take the edge off that pain.

• Wade starts leaving more than just quirky gifts. In (Y/N)’s locker, there’s a new hoodie with a note, “To make you feel less invisible. You’re worth more than these idiots know. ~ D.”

• Another time, a stuffed unicorn with a note, "Even the toughest need a cuddle buddy." One day, Wade overhears (Y/N) talking to a friend about how they’ll probably get moved again soon

"Yeah, these fosters are.. assholes to put it mildly" (Y/N) jest to one of the few friends they have. Not knowing the hoodie that had mysteriously appeared had a wire hidden in it.

• That night, a hefty envelope shows up in their locker, stuffed with cash and a note that says, “You ever need a place to crash? You’ve got options. Let me know when you’re ready. P.S. This is totally not a bribe. ~D”

"I'm probably gonna get moved again-"

• Deadpool even starts anonymously dropping hints to social workers that (Y/N) should stay in one stable placement, using his "subtle" methods to make sure they’re treated better. He also might’ve scared a foster parent or two into straightening up.

• It doesn't take long for (Y/N) to get to notice all the changes- The social workers treating them better, and now getting to stay with an actually nice family.

• He watches (Y/N) cope with it all, still from a distance hkwever, but now more protective than ever. He knows he can’t change the past, but he can sure as hell make sure (Y/N) doesn’t feel abandoned anymore.

Mini Shot

(Y/N) sat on the roof of the foster home, the cool breeze brushing against their face as they stared out into the dimly lit neighborhood wrapping their read hoodie tighter around themselves. As they sat something caught their eye—a shadowy figure across the way from them perfectly out of view, watching them from a distance. Their heart skipped a beat at first in fear, However after a moment a wash of a unknown familiarity seemed to hit.

Before they could stop themselves, (Y/N) called out softly, "Thank you."

The figure stepped into the light just enough for (Y/N) to catch a glimpse of their hand as they gave them a casual thumbs up.

Without a word, he turned and walked away, vanishing into the night as (Y/N) watched. A sense of pride in Wade's step as he headed off. He'd done it—he'd helped his kid in some way.

And that was enough..

For now

[pupmilo-nl]

It was already dark when you turned around the corner of Oak Streat. Normally you'd be miles away, relaxing on uour couch with a nice hot cup of tea before going to bed. You'd never be in the city at this time. And you definitely wouldn't be walking around this neighborhood ... But today you are. It's really unfortunate that the car had to break down, especially after such a long and dreadful day. So when you got a message on grindr asking to hook up and maybe even stay the night you happily said yes.

You finally reached his front door and stopped for a while. Are you sure you're gonna do this? Just crash at a random dudes place? You really needed that place to sleep, and how bad could it be right? His profile had just some photos of his sneaker collection, some sock pics and a picture of his feet. The small parts of him you saw looked promising so it wouldn't be that bad right? The whole sneaker thing was a bit strange but hey, whatever floats your boat.

When you finally got all your thoughts together you rang the bell. It didn't take long for the door to open. A hot guy with the cutest smile ever was standing there, smiling at you and welcoming you in. "Hey! Glad you could find it! And euhh, sorry for still wearing my soccer clothes, didn't had time to shower yet". You definitely knew he was right about the whole no-shower-yet thing ... He was still dripping of sweat and you could have sworn you felt your nose hairs burn. Normally you'd have gagged and ran, but something was different this time. Yeah he reeked, but he radiated a calmness. "Ow that's fine, I'll manage" you responded.

He let you in and you followed him upstairs. "Yeah, sorry for the mess here. I share this place with a couple of other guys and they know how to make a mess... My room should be a bit tidier". Hes was definitely right. His room was relatively big and had not much in it. Just a desk, a closet, a plant and his bed. There was one thing which caught your eye though, his big sneaker collection, stacked up high right above his bed.

"You like them? It took a long time to get that many. I'm very picky you know" He was so right, there were so many! You noticed that seeing them was not the only thing you did... You definitely could smell them too. As he closes the door behind you the smell of humid sweaty sneaksers fills the room. It hits you so hard your eye's start to tear up a little bit.

"yeah sorry for that smell.... They do stink a bit dont they hehe. I like it tho, it remembers me of their former self, euhh previous owners". You were just a tiny bit too occupied by the smell and trying to listen to him that you didn't notice that slip up. "You didn't think I bought them all don't you? That would cost a fortune... No, they were somebody else! Euh somebody else's!"

Somebody else!?!?! What the fck was he talking about? Oh help of course you got the weirdo... Oh well, it's just for a night right? And he's hot as hell! So at least I'll have some fun right? "Hmm you heard that didn't you ... Well, no point of holding back I guess. You see, they did were someone else! I just love wearing hot guys! Hot and cute guys like you! Just like this one!!"

He undid his sneaker and hold it up proudly. You felt the warmth coming from his sneaker and you start to smell the humid air as it slowly fills up the room. You wanted to run. This has been enough... You'll sleep at the bus station or whatever. But instead of moving away your body didn't respond. He slowly moves his sneaker closer to you. As more and more damp air enters your lungs you feel your pants tenting a bit. What!?!? You liked this?!?

"you'll be such a great pair! i just know you will boy! And secretly you know that too! Look at your crotch boy, that tent and wet spot don't lie". He pushed his sneaker to your face and you feel your mind going silent. You know you should stop breathing in this deeply but you just can't help it, it smells so strong, it stinks so bad. It's so good..... You sniff deeper and deeper, sealing your fate

TF captions made by a friend ☺️

[minhosimthings]

Backstage Notoriety

Synopsis: Chan trying to shush you, as you try not to alert the rest of the boys about what you're doing backstage

Pairings: Bang Chan × Soloist!fem!reader

Warnings: SMUT MINORS DNI, fingering, overstimulation, Degradation (like only a little), praise, gagging kink, necklace is used as a gag, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it), pregnancy joke, angry sex, rough sex

A/N: ITS YO GIRL MONA BACK WITH ANOTHER SMUT YALL WOOOHOOOOO I really like this for some reason I had fun writing it. Also Chan has got me in a chokehold rn I NEED THIS MAN TO BREED ME. And yes this is me procrastinating on my ongoing wip.

Dating a fellow idol was something you never thought you'd do in your entire life but here you were. Staring at your boyfriend dancing with the rest of his kids members and watching all his Stays with bedroom eyes. To say you were jealous was an understatement. A very great understatement, that is.

Being a soloist was a lonely job, with the one exception being that you didn't need to follow a packed schedule like other groups did. You could just sit back after your stage, and stare at everyone's outfits backstage, as you wait for your boyfriend to take you home and fuck you into oblivion. Yet as you watched your boyfriend show off his waist in a crop top your favourite colour, you couldn't help but want him to notice you. Stupid horny teenager coded feelings right?

"Haneul how much time till they finish?" You asked your manager who was packing up your things. She looked over at you and smiled. "Just another minute or so Y/N be patient you'll see him soon enough." She bent down and kissed your head "I'm going home alright? Tell Minho where I went or he'll go crazy. You'll come with Chan or should I tell a car to wait?" You shook your head at her. "I'll come with him don't worry. You should worry about Minho though he's gonna go mental when he finds out you left without him." Haneul let out a laugh and patted your shoulder before quickly walking out the door, leaving you all alone.

The sound of thunderous applause startled you, as you saw your boyfriend quickly walking down the stage, seven kids following him like penguins. The first one to enter the room was your boyfriend, suprisingly not covered in sweat and fashioning a towel round his neck. His face was not without happiness as he caught his eye on you and strode over, making adorable grabby hands.

"Baby!" he hugged you tightly, as you did everything in your power to stay mad at him, "Next time I'll make sure they arrange our shows right after one another. I can't stand not being with you for so long." "hmm" you hummed in response, not reciprocating the hug as you usually did. The rest of the members had entered the room by then and you spotted Minho frantically searching for his phone. "Haneul went home Minho." you cried at him, successfully catching his attention as he looked at you with widened eyes, "Don't worry, she's probably waiting for you."

"Oh alright." Minho said, plopping down onto the sofa, "Thanks for the message." You smiled gently at him, and turned to pick up your phone, when warm arms wrapped around your waist, making you freeze in your spot. The offer to sink into Chan's embrace was a tempting one, one that would effectively ruin your plan. "Did I do something wrong baby?" you heard Chan's voice whisper in your ear, tone akin to one he'd use for a child. You were being childish after all.

"Just tired Chan. I need to get home alright?", you briefly responded, wiggling away from his embrace. "I'll drop you off to the car." Chan responded, wrapping an arm around your waist so tightly that you couldn't protest, "I left something in my dressing room anyway so we can just get that on the way hm?" His tone worried you slightly. It was unlike the lovey-dovey one he usually used with you. Lovey? yes. Dovey? Definitely not.

The silence between you and Chan was too loud as both of you walked to Chan's dressing room, which was relatively near the exit point. His stare remained in front of him, not even a glance at you. You, on the other head, were trapped in his hold on your waist. It was tight. Too tight. The Pain kink comes in handy though right?.

"You really thought ignoring me would do anything baby?" Chan suddenly spoke up, when you reached the door to his dressing room. You shuddered as he pushed you against the door, one hand on the doorknob, the other holding your chin to him. "Chan-" "Nuh uh baby." He glared, "You're gonna pay for this."

Chan bombarded your lips with his and kissed you with every inch of pain in him. You would have melted into the kiss had it not been for Chan opening the doorknob and pushing you in.

"Wearing this cute little outfit and ignoring me." Chan mumbled in between the messy kiss, "Stupid little girl aren't you?" You gasped for air as Chan slid his fingers down your panties. You decided to give your stylist a bag of chocolates the next day, for giving you such an accessible dress.

"Ah Chan!" You shout out as Chan moves his fingers around your pussy, touching you exactly at all the spots he knew you adored. Chan slowly pulled off your underwear and threw it on the floor before pulling you into another kiss, fingers still racing across your cunt. His other hand reached up almost automatically to your hair, gripping it hard. You moaned into the kiss at his touch on your scalp as your hands quickly undid his trousers.

He’s rough. Good god, he’s fucking rough. His cock stretches you open deliciously, slamming into the deepest parts of you. The slick sounds of your dripping arousal fill the room with every violent thrust. You were sure your already short dress was about to get shorter as Chan kept such a firm grip on them, feeling the fabric twisting in between his fingers. With Chan continuing to fuck you, It’s almost impossible to keep yourself quiet at a time like this.

“J-Jesus,” you gasp, “holy fuck, Channie, y-you, fuck, you feel so fucking hot.” Your voice wavers in pitch and volume. Chan maintains a brutal pace, which you could swear he does on purpose. He lets out a gruff chuckle.

"It's Channie now is it baby?" He mocks you, "Fucking you so good you can't even speak can you?"

You let out a loud yelp when you feel his hand give your ass a hard slap. You jerk forward, shuddering on his cock. You can feel his towering frame lean over you, pulling you up by the shoulders, gathering you to his chest. He puts his fingers in your mouth, silencing your cries of lust.

You suck on his fingers, moans bubbling in your throat as Chan pistons his hips. It’s almost embarrassing how much you like the feeling of Chan using you like his personal doll.

“Babe,” Chan slows down. “As much as I love hearing what I do to you…” he gently maneuvers you, flipping you to look into your eyes. His hand tucks a piece of hair the fell onto your face behind your ear. His hand cups your cheek, the sweetness of his actions causes your mind to run wild with what kind of degenerate, devious plans he has in store for you. He reaches over to his neck and slowly unclasped the metal chain decorating it ever so wonderfully. "You're way too loud darling.”

"Open your mouth for me darling." He cooes at you as he shoves the necklace into your mouth. You wince in pain as the cold metal hits your tongue. Chan stares at you with an amused look on his face. "That's my good girl." He praises, giving a sudden thrust, which makes you widen your eyes.

You make a muffled cry for more, your soft and loud moans were music to his ears. He breathed heavily along with you as held onto your hips tightly. Skin smacking echoed in the room and you heard his soft groan which sent you coming. He groans louder as you clench around him.

Thankfully, Chan didn’t argue or get you to beg for his cock any more as he jolted his hips into you. “Always so loud aren't you darling?”, he scolded light-heartedly under his breath.

“Cha- Channie no more,” you plead with the necklace muffling your tone, tossing your head back onto the wall, hips bucking up into his despite your words. Chan growls, pushing you down by your stomach and blanketing your body with his own and pressing your knees almost up to your tits.

“You can take it, my dove, I promise,” the words come out choked, hoarse, but you wither under them nonetheless. The necklace had been laying down on the floor, having been detached from your mouth a long time ago. You can feel his cock pulsing deep inside your walls, seed almost spilling out from your entrance from his last two orgasms. You’re sure he’s overstimulated beyond belief, just like you, but he just can’t seem to stop.

“Wait, don’t cum yet; I’m so close, don’t cum”, you begged , not entirely wanting it to end just yet. Chan gasped, his mouth opening wide as his eyes did the opposite as they clenched shut as he concentrated on fucking you and not having another orgasm.

It doesn’t take long to feel the first flutterings of that eye-wateringly beautiful sensation between your legs as you quickly stammer, “I’m cumming! Fuck!”. Chan’s legs nearly gave out underneath him, hearing your sweet words.

As your pussy contracted in wet bursts around him, Chan released every drop of cum inside of his body, deep into your walls so that you could feel yourself becoming full and it beginning to drip out as it became too much. His thrusts slowed to a stop as you both slumped against the wall, bodies covered in a thin line of sweat.

"You alright honey?" He mumbled into your neck as he holds you tightly in his arms. "I'm good." You simply respond, cradling in Chan's warm muscles. Chan quickly deposits your weak figure on the divan before rushing off to find a towel and a change of clothes.

"I'm sorry Channie." You mumble, feeling your face turn red as Chan puts your shoes back on. He looks up at you with an amused expression and hums. "It's alright darling." He chuckles, "My jealous little baby." You slap his arm playfully as he gets you up slowly and walks you to the door, this time the grip on your waist being a comforting one.

"I wonder if your cum took or not." You blurt out. Chan looks at you with widened eyes before giggling. "You wouldn't really have to get used to being called mom do you? What with your seven adopted kids." "Our seven adopted kids." You correct him as he blushes and kisses you on the forehead.

"Seven kids who are probably wondering what their mom and dad have been doing backstage."

[builtbykittie]

Electrified

S.F.K x f!reader

Summary: Escaping an uncomfortable situation at a party, you frantically look for your best friend, just to find he was also searching for you.

Warnings: 18+ per usual, alcohol consumption, SMUT, semi public sex, unprotected sex (y'all know better), this is literally just porn... nothing too crazy.

Words: nearly 4.5k

A/N: Ugh another Sam friends to lovers? Yes. This is a Taylor Swift inspired fic🥰. Every time I hear this song, I think of Sammy (despite the fact he hates pop music) So I finally wrote about it, enjoy! (Disclaimer I literally didn't edit this much at all & I'm so sorry)

.

"Who are you trying to impress," Sam's eyes trace the shape of your body before looking back to the road. "Nobody," you fix the length of your dress in the passenger seat. "Why? You worried someone might try to take me home?" you smirk.

"Pfft, no," he rolls his eyes, thumbs drumming to the beat of the rock song piercing through your ears. "Then why do you care," you bicker with him as if you're siblings, trying to get each other as annoyed and worked up as possible.

The truth is, you couldn't care less if anyone else saw you. You only wanted Sam to see you, for some stupid reason. Sam is your best friend, and has been for years, so why would you even try to impress him? For the same reason everybody else tries to impress their person of choice, of course.

"Oh thank god. I'm saved!" Sam snickers as he pulls into his brother's crowded driveway. You giggle and roll your eyes "Sam you know I don't like parties, you're gonna have to deal with me eventually tonight."

"Yeah, well, I'm saved for now," he playfully grabs your knee and gives it a shake before pulling his seatbelt away from his body. "Oh shut up, you know you would gladly argue with me for hours," you unbuckle your own seatbelt, pushing the door open with your heel.

Sam helps you down from the passenger's seat, his large hand hovering over the small of your back, then gently grabbing your waist as you slip out of the seat until your heels touch the ground. "You got me," he grins. It's simple touches like these that keep you on your toes, a wave of electricity flowing through your body every. single. time.

You look around at the countless cars lined up in front of Josh's house, starting to grow anxious. "I'll be in there the whole time. If anything happens, just find me," Sam pats your back and gestures for you to follow him into his brother's house.

All you really want is to stay in and watch movies, but Sam wouldn't dare to miss his big brother's party, and you don't blame him.

Sam parts ways with you within just minutes of being in the house, instantly going to mingle with any person who catches his attention. You grow a little jealous, not just of the other people getting his attention but also of his social skills. You wish you could make conversation with people as effortlessly as he could, but instead, you hunt for any person you're relatively close with.

"Y/N!" You hear your name being called by a voice you could recognize from miles away. "Jake?" You locate him in just seconds, walking over and pulling him into a side hug. "You here with Sam?" Jake looks around for any sight of his younger brother.

"Yeah. He left me as soon as we got through the door," you smile, swinging your arm through the air as if to swat away a pesky fly. "Yeah.. Sam's an asshole," he laughs, but he can't seem to mask the look of concern playing on his features.

The unbearable sounds of Sam shouting with others only seem to make you more upset. You should be happy that your best friend can have fun and be himself, but it all just gets caught up in a fit of jealousy. "You don't need to worry about me. Do you know where Josh is?" You look around, having not seen Josh once at his own party.

"Hm, downstairs maybe. You know how Josh is, he's just trying to converse with everyone," you nod your head, giggling as you picture his adorable self going around to every single person here and making them feel welcome.

"Well, I'm gonna go look for him. I'll see you later," you wave, squeezing through and dodging everyone till you reach the stairs. There he is, his slim figure facing away from you as he talks to someone at the bottom of the stairs. You wait there only for a few seconds until Josh discovers you himself, swiftly making his way up the stairs "Y/N! When did you get here? Where's Sam?"

"There he is! We didn't show up too long ago. And Sam's gotta be around here somewhere." Josh pulls you into an embrace, stepping back and complimenting your dress. "Thanks, Sam didn't like it," you giggle "I gotta say, you always have the best parties. You truly are a man of many talents."

You and Josh are rudely interrupted by a woman's voice shouting your name, followed by a cold hand wrapping around your arm. Your brows furrow, giving Josh a puzzled look before turning around to meet eyes with a girl you knew, but not well enough.

She's obviously wasted, her eyes bloodshot, her skin a deep shade of crimson, not to mention the fact you can hardly understand her "I haven't seen you in forever!" You avoid any physical contact, lest she spills her drink on your brand new dress you'd spent all afternoon staring at yourself in. "Hey, Jen. Been a while, huh?" There's no doubt in your mind that this conversation would be 100% less painful if you had something in your system, but you were completely sober.

"Let me get you a drink," she pats your shoulder and gestures toward the counter that is littered with countless alcohol bottles, empty and full. It's as if she read your mind. You let out a sigh of relief, turning back to Josh but he's not there, and now you're surrounded by people you'd rather not be around.

Normally you wouldn't take a drink made by someone else, but these are Josh's friends, and Jen was 100% a girls girl. "Thank you," you take the drink from her hand, awkwardly sipping off the red solo cup filled with what tastes like a mix of vodka and cherry juice.

"We're playing games in the living room, you should come join," Jen grabs you, pulling you in the direction of the living room before you can even say anything.

"Oh no, I'm so bad at games, I'll just embarrass myself," you whine, but letting her drag you into the room of people nonetheless. "Not skill games, silly!" She points at everyone sitting in a circle, familiar faces looking up and insisting you to sit. It all feels so childish, like a bunch of high schoolers that got ahold of their parent's alcohol, playing games to get a rise out of each other.

You find Jake in the circle as well, a defeated smile on his face as he shrugs in your direction. "Fine," everyone cheers, scooting over to make room for you and the dark-haired girl next to you. Jake is sitting straight across from you, his sweet brown eyes calming you down and silently telling you to relax, to have fun.

You're not sure when, but at some point, the questions being asked have taken a sharp turn from being embarrassing yet harmless, to being strictly about the sex lives of everyone in the circle.

All color drains from your face as the bottle slows down, pointing straight at you. You already know the question is gonna be about you and Sam, it always is.

"Have you hooked up with Sammy yet? What's he like in bed?"

"I haven't... which is a surprise considering he'll take any girl home," you fail to hide the venom and jealousy that has laced your voice, everyone giggling and "ooh" ing like little children. "Just spin the damn bottle. I don't wanna hear about Sam's sex life anymore," Jake saves you from any more invasive questions, sending a wink in your direction.

You sit miserably through a couple more rounds and a few more drinks, the constant discussion of sex reminding you that you haven't gotten off in a while. You've been so busy for the past few days, you'd completely forgotten how long you've gone without a good orgasm.

Wetness in your panties becomes evident to you as you adjust your position. For every minute you sit there, the anticipation grows, your heart pounding and your hands trembling as you absent-mindedly search for Sam every other second. Your mind sifts through every possible affair, unsure of how to fix your problem. Do you relieve yourself in Josh's bathroom? Look for someone to go home with?

Finally, you stand up, your legs beginning to carry you away from the circle before your brain can even make a decision. "Excuse me," you ignore everyone's stares and questions, moving through the house as if you're on autopilot mode.

You still don't know where you're going, but when you find yourself subconsciously searching for Sam's face, it becomes apparent what you truly want. Now you're frantic, plowing through people and shamelessly calling his name. You're in a daze as you search every corner of Josh's house, not paying any care to how beside yourself you may look or how desperate you may sound to lingering guests.

Turning the corner to yet another crowded room, you run into someone's chest, exhilaration coursing through your veins and what's left of your inhibitions melting away as you realize it's Sam.

"Sam! I was looking everywhere for you!" you basically throw yourself onto him, smoothing your palms over his chest. "I was looking for you," his tone is sexy, hypnotizing sultry brown eyes stare into yours. You don't know if it's just the drinks, but there's a specific energy radiating off of Sam's warm body. If you stand there for long enough, breathing him in, you're sure that it will get you high.

An overwhelming feeling takes complete control over you, lifting yourself slightly to whisper in his ear "I need you, Sam." You shock yourself, unsure where your sudden bluntness came from.

You watch Sam's eyes widen and feel his chest rise and fall underneath your hands, his body growing unbelievably hot.

Sam's breath significantly picks up as you cup his face, rubbing your thumb across the warm surface. You back him into a dark part of the room, starting to press kisses against his neck.

He looks around in a panic, but luckily no one is looking "Y/N, we're leaving. Now." His lanky fingers wrap around your wrist, and he begins to pull you through the house, nearly running.

You both are far too turned on to say goodbye to anyone or pay attention to comments people make as you pass by. But to your misfortune, Josh stops you.

"Hey! Are you two leaving already?" Josh quirks an eyebrow as he notices something on Sam's neck, a smirk playing on his lips after connecting the dots. "Uh, yeah," Sam searches for an excuse "You know how she is with parties." Sam lifts your arm as you awkwardly smile beside him.

"Okay, well, it was really nice to see you. Enjoy yourselves," Josh doesn't pull you in for a hug like he normally would, instead just sending you on your way. His smug tone and grin would normally send you into a panic, but right now you couldn't care less about anything other than Sam.

You hope to make a beeline straight out the door, but you're stopped by yet another Kiszka brother and Daniel by his side.

"There you are. Leaving?" Jake's eyes flick down to the same spot Josh noticed, now you're curious. Sam nods "She's not feeling great and I'm her ride." Jake snickers and taps Danny with his elbow, a crooked smile growing on his face "I'm sure you are."

"Oh fuck off. Are you gonna let us leave?" Sam doesn't even try to act calm, the more you stand the more the anticipation builds. "You can't stay just a little longer?" Danny smirks, Jake bringing his hands up to rest on his hips.

"No," now you're incredibly impatient and unable to stand still as your arousal soaks your panties "I really don't feel good." "Awh... Well.. you heard the girl," Jake laughs through his words, sending a jab to Danny's side with his elbow. Danny slings his arm over Jake's shoulder as they begin to take steps backward "see ya!"

"Fuck. Finally," Sam breathes, and you look over to him, your lipstick painted all over his neck. "Sam," you whisper, but he's too distracted to hear it, or anything anyone is saying. Suddenly, the room erupts with hollers as Sam shoves you through the door.

"Sam, they all know," you whine, reaching a hand up to massage his scalp as he pulls you into his side. "Good," he pulls his keys from his pocket, unlocking the car and practically running to it. Sam walks around to the driver's side, and that's when you realize you can't wait any longer.

"Sam," you drop your head, fully aware of how desperate you've become. "What baby?" He opens the door, a smug grin pulling on his cheeks. "Sam I- I can't... I need you."

"I thought you'd say that," he snickers, slamming the door shut and pulling the door to the back seat open. You waste no time sending the door flying open and crawling in, locking the door behind you.

Your lips instantly find his, your teeth clashing into each other's as you smash your lips together. "What were you thinking?" Sam sucks in a breath as he backs you toward the door and hovers over you. Before you can respond he starts again "I mean seriously. Wearing this tiny fucking dress. Kissing me in front of those people. Getting me all worked up."

A whiney moan escapes your mouth as he lifts the hem of your dress, his cold fingertips grazing the skin of your upper thigh. "I knew you'd like it," you confess in a moan, lifting your hands and tangling them in his hair, pulling him into you.

Suddenly, he violently pulls the silk black fabric above your head. Your words obviously sparked a fire in him, a vicious one nobody could put out. Sam's fingers rake over your thighs then up to your unclothed breasts, groaning at the sight "You knew full well what you were doing dressed like this."

Sam takes your nipple in his mouth before releasing it with a pop and sucking a bruise to the swell of your breast. "So what if I did, Sammy?" You moan, arching your back into him. You reach down and cup his bulge, palming him as a devilish grin grows on your face.

"Then I'll just have to fuck you until you can't see straight." With that, he begins to trail kisses down your breasts to your navel, his finger drawing lines across your skin so close to where you desperately need his touch.

"Sam, please," you whine, back arching up into his touch as he kisses along the band of your panties. Your pleads are met with a sick laughter against your tummy "you're so needy, you know that?"

You couldn't roll your eyes back further in your head, trying your very hardest to not reach down and pull your panties off yourself. "You can't act like you don't need it just as bad, Sam. I know how bad you want to fuck me," you moan, knowing it'd set off something in him.

You were right, because without warning he swiftly pulls the tiny piece of lace fabric down your legs, leaving you completely naked. "Jesus, you're eager, huh?" Sam hums and brings his lips to your tummy, sucking the skin into his mouth before lapping at the raw skin with his tongue.

"You just can't admit it huh Sammy? You can't admit that I'm right?" You try to get him as worked up as you possibly can, your body rolling into his touch. "Wow. You're right, Y/N. I'm just dying to feel you," he rolls his eyes dramatically, but he's far from lying.

Slowly and painfully, Sam makes a line of kisses down from your navel to the very top of your heat. "Please.." is all you can muster up and your eyes clamp shut in anticipation, just waiting for him to do something, anything.

"Now you're being nice? What happened to the bratty girl who was here just a second ago?" Your breath hitches in your throat as you feel his hot breath against your core. "Sam, stop. Plea-" you're unable to finish your sentence when he suddenly points his tongue, dragging it through your arousal drenched folds.

You suck in a choked gasp, involuntarily pushing yourself against Sam's face, earning a hum against your heat. The vibration sends a shock through your body, your hands mindlessly flying to his hair "oh Sam..."

His tongue quickly warmed up to you, it was as if he already knew your body. Without warning, Sam shoves a finger in you, hitting a sweet spot as he does so. "Sam.. I can- I'm almost-" you're interrupted by your own moan as he pushes another finger in, instantly curling up.

Sam lifts his head to look you in the eye, stopping his movement causing you to whine at the loss of contact "can you do one more?" You're a bit taken back by the question "I- I don't know... Nobody's ever..."

"I know you can," he presses a peck to your clit and slowly slides in a third, stretching you out in a way you've never experienced before. "Oh- oh my god.. Sam,"

"Good girl... You're so tight around my fingers, baby. Are you close?" All you can muster up is a weak nod and a hum, pushing yourself down onto his fingers further. You find yourself holding your breath, a moan ripping through your chest as he presses the flat of his tongue against your clit.

You take the opportunity to grind against his tongue, your hips beginning to shake and your thighs burn when you feel your orgasm approach. Your movements significantly quicken, relentlessly grinding and pushing yourself against Sam's tongue as he viciously rams his fingers into you.

Within a matter of seconds, the burning pleasure flows through your entire body, your eyes shut so tightly you might need to pry them open as you mutter his name over and over.

"Fuck, Y/N," Sam breathlessly snickers, slowly pulling his fingers from you and rubbing the slick all around your core. He returns to hover over you, bringing his face down to your ear "you know... A couple girls tried to take me home.. but I was looking for you, Y/N."

Your eyes widen in confusion and you nod your head, silently telling him to continue. "I couldn't stop thinking about you.. that dress.. your body. I needed you. Only you," he takes the shell of your ear in between his teeth, gently biting down.

The confession sends a shiver down your spine and your mouth falls open once he finds a sensitive spot behind your ear. You reach up and push his head against your neck, you can basically hear your heartbeat in your ears as he continues to nip at and place open mouth kisses to your neck.

"I thought you didn't like the dress," you smirk, your other arm reaches down, desperately trying to find what you need so bad. "So greedy... you're not satisfied with just these?" Sam teases, dragging his fingers through your heat.

"Sam, stop," you moan, your body jolting at the touch. Another wicked snicker leaves his lips as he presses his clothed bulge to your core "that attitude isn't gonna get you anywhere, doll. Ask nicely."

As much as you hate it, you're ready to accept defeat. "Please, Sam. I need you. Please... give it to me," you whine, grinding up against his bulge. An animalistic groan bubbles up from from his chest as he props himself up with one hand, the other fumbling with his button.

"Need help with that?" You giggle, watching as he fails to swiftly undo his jeans. You don't let him respond, his head dips down to rest in the crook of your neck as you reach to finish the task yourself.

Within just seconds you get his button undone and his zipper down, pushing them to his knees and instantly cupping his erection. Suddenly, you start to process just exactly what is happening.

He lifts his head and you look into his gorgeous brown eyes, yours widening as you take in every feature of his face lit by the moonlight. "What is it baby? You nervous?" He smiles at you, his hands running down your body, squeezing painfully at your thighs.

"Well I'd be lying if I said I wasn't, Sammy," you confess, and his face softens, the devious smile that played on his lips visually turning into a fond grin.

"Oh, Y/N. There's no need to be nervous, I promise," he brings his head back down to softly kiss your lips, but you had something else in mind. You take the opportunity to palm him through his boxers, eliciting a desperate groan from him. You can tell he's been holding back, and it's painful.

You bite his lip as he pulls back, every ounce of doubt or anxiety draining from your body. "Tell me, pretty," he pushes his boxers past his hips, his unbelievably hard cock springing free. "You knew I'd like that dress?"

If you're being honest, you completely forgot you had even said that, but it's obvious he'd been working himself into a frenzy over it. "Sammy.. I wore it for you," you drag your fingers over his body, his breath hitching in his throat as you draw a line down his length with your fingertip.

"I wore it because I thought.. I don't know.. it'd turn you on..." You trail off, looking away from him and suddenly hyper-aware of your naked body. "Well it worked, didn't it?" He giggles, grabbing your face and forcing you to look at him "does this mean you've wanted to fuck me before tonight?"

"Well... I mean yeah," you reach down, grasping the base of his cock "are we just gonna lay here and have a conversation or do you want to fuck me, Sam?" A shocked look plays on his face which quickly morphs into a sinister smile "you're feisty."

You grasp the back of his neck, bringing him close to you and sucking on the skin behind his ear as you slowly stroke his cock. "God- damnit Y/N," Sam groans as he involuntarily fucks himself into your hand.

Just as he juts his hips to fuck himself into your hand, you move it, and push him down to be lined up with your dripping entrance. "Fuck me until I can't see straight, Sam," you whisper lowly into his ear, granting him permission to enter you.

"Oh fuck," he groans, your own noises mirroring his as he stretches you out so slow that the sting could become almost too much for you. You arm instinctively flies over his back, pushing him down closer to you "oh my god."

Within just a matter of seconds he begins to roll his hips, snapping them into the meat of your thigh and hitting a sweet spot just right. The moan that tumbles past your lips could disturb the entire first floor of the party still very alive and just feet away from you and Sam.

"Yeah you like that?" He punctuates his words with another sharp thrust, followed by a slow, languid thrust. "Mhm.." your eyebrows knit together, unable to form words as he keeps up this intoxicating pattern.

Your mind grows foggy, your only thoughts consisting strictly of Sam. "M- more," you whine and reach down to unbutton his shirt, desperate to feel his skin on yours.

"More? Are you sure you want that?" Sam struggles to form his own sentence as you clench and quiver around him. You nod your head frantically, pulling his chest down onto yours and arching your back up into him.

The slight change in position allowed Sam to go even deeper, the new leverage giving you everything you needed. "Oh Sam.. right there.. oh," you cry, clawing his back.

He feels too good

He hits an especially sensitive spot with a particularly rough thrust, a shocking wave of electricity flowing through your body. "Holy- holy shit..." you all but shriek, and you violently throw your head back, crashing into the door behind you.

"Woah- you okay?" Sam's movements never falter, keeping that same pattern. "Yes, Sam. Just keep- keep fucking me," you finally get the full sentence out after what feels like forever, and you know you're not going to last much longer.

You try to warn him, but your pathetic attempts to form words fail miserably. "Shit Y/N... you're so-" he interrupts himself with a guttural groan as his own orgasm to approaches.

Just as you requested and he promised, what was left of your vision completely fades away and you no longer fight to keep your eyes open.

Suddenly, fiery white pleasure viciously burns through your body and you're sure you've never felt anything like this before as you cry out his name over and over and over. "Shit. Shit shit shit," Sam's pleasure takes over his mind and you feel his hot release spurt inside you.

You're unsure just how much time has passed, but it's enough to bring you back down to earth. "Sam? You still with me?" You giggle, rubbing his back as you half expect him to be asleep.

"I'm here," he breathes, a wave of melancholy taking over your mind as you realize it's over. "I'm gonna pull out love, you ready?" All you can do is nod, clamping your eyes shut and preparing yourself. You bite back a whimper as he pulls from you, a mix of your juices dripping down your leg.

The last thing you'd expect is Sam going down and licking the mess up. A sharp, yet intoxicating feeling shocking your body as he licks through your folds and over you overstimulated clit.

"Think you could go another round?" You whisper, untangling his sweaty hair. His head shoots up to meet your eyes, a sinister grin playing over his features "go get in the front... We're going home."

.

.

.

[da-birb-writes-sometimes]

CONGRATS ON HUNDRED DOVE!! you sent me a risqué ask for 100 so now i do it back to ye-

"caught in the rain" with leona :D or ruggie, if someone got to him first! ehehehehehehhehehehe you can see stuff 😳👀 for free ✨✨✨

btw your ask is sending me so hard but i'm already typing out so much for leona so your ask is gonna be the last one for the event lol

Caught in the Rain; Leona Kingscholar

Content; Fluff, gender-neutral reader, reader needs to get bonked with a stick (/j)

Content Warning; Swearing

Word Count; 700+

AN; Don't expose my ass on my own blog, Soru /j. (just trying to feed your own simping along with the simps) But I hope you enjoy what I wrote for Leona and this prompt! As a reminder, do not put my work — or others for that matter — into AI as it steals. Link to Masterlist

The sky lay heavy with dark clouds, the smell of rain thick in the air, yet not a single drop had yet to strike the ground. The air was dense with humidity, warm from the harsh sun’s rays from earlier in the day. But yet, you found yourself outside, trying to find Leona.

He had invited you to spend your summer break as his guest in the palace. Well, less so 'invited', more so demanded.

“Do you have anywhere else to be, herbivore? I thought as much. Come on, you’re staying with me.”

You still don’t really know why, but you weren’t going to throw away the chance of staying someplace beyond nice for the summer… plus Leona wasn’t so bad once you got to know him. Yes, he puts on an act of not caring, and being abrasive, but you knew that he cared, that he worried. Also, the two of you had been having this back-and-forth banter for months; blurring the lines of just friends bickering and something... more. But neither of you had made a move. It just hung in the air between you, nearly as suffocating as the humidity now; potent with the possibility of a massive storm.

Back to the present though. You were on the outskirts of the palace, looking for wherever Leona had decided to take a nap for this afternoon.

“Leona,” you called, but all you heard in return was the low rumble of thunder in the distance. Where is that overgrown house cat? I swear if I get caught in a downpour because of him… “LEONA!”

The first drops of rain began to fall, gentle and sparse. But you knew full well that in a few minutes' time they would be falling hard and fast.

“LEONA KINGSCHOLAR?!” You shouted at the top of your lungs.

You heard an annoyed huff of air off to your left, and looking up you saw none other than Leona lounging in the low-hanging branches of a tree.

“Ya don’t need to yell, ya know,” he sighed, landing softly on the ground. He looked up to the sky and frowned before setting a slow pace back to the palace. “Are you coming or what, herbivore?”

You followed after him, catching up so the both of you were going at a comfortable pace. Thunder was still rumbling, and the rain was slowly picking up, but there was no rush. Well, there wasn’t any rush until there was a flash of lightning and it seemed like the entire sky’s worth of water came down all at once on the both of you.

“Shit,” Leona hissed and guided the both of you to the relative cover of a tree to wait out the worst of the monsoon. “Just our luc-” He stopped talking when he looked at you though.

You were spitting out some stray rainwater that had managed to get into your mouth. But once the intruding water was gone you looked over to him but you felt your eyes lock on his torso; the white shirt that he was wearing was now completely see-through and you could see everything. Stop staring! Damn though- STOP STARING! But your eyes refused to move.

Leona noticed this, and he also took in your drenched appearance but was more subtle with it. “Tch,” he tapped you on the nose, breaking you of your staring stupor. “My eyes are up here,” his voice was teasing though, light.

You snapped out of it, catching his mirthful eyes. “You’re beautiful,” you whisper. You felt your face grow warm at the slip of your tongue, but it was true. Even before you openly ogled at him, you always thought that, but never said it to his face.

Leona chuffed, but he didn’t say anything; neither denying or accepting your statement. “You aren’t half bad yourself,” he said softly.

The two of you sat underneath the tree, still in your soaked clothes, watching the rain fall together in a comfortable quiet. And while the first golden rays of sunlight may have been stunning, the both of you thought it was nothing when compared to the captor of your hearts; each other.

After all, you still had the rest of the summer to build on this new development.

[shigarakisdumbwhore]

Little Things in a Relationship with Dabi

A/N: for this headcannon, i'm gonna try to leave as much wiggle room for creativity as i can. meaning, if you have an OC with a very specific quirk and backstory, I'll leave it to you to fill it in as you read! i know a lot of fanfics sour that when they give the reader or y/n their own story or quirk so I'll be vague. this is also gonna be gender neutral for all to enjoy! Does contain manga spoilers though!!!

Warnings: jealously, slight possessiveness, violence? as much as MHA violence goes

Dabi is unlike any man you have ever met in your life. From his background to his personality. He's a bit snarky and cold, but once he clinged onto you, he turned into a different man.

You met him when he was trying to recruit people for the League's sake. Despite being the one who introduced you, he wasn't too fond of you. He kept his distance, wouldn't talk to you, huffed and puffed in your presence, and was just relatively a nuisance to you.

Something changed, you weren't sure what clicked but it did. He talked to you. And he wasn't mean, he wasn't cold, he wasn't snarky, or sarcastic. He was normal. From there it spiraled on into what you two now considered a relationship.

Dabi wasn't one for grand romantic gestures. He never asked you to be his significant other but the bond shared between you two couldn't be described as anything BUT a romantic relationship.

This included small things. Very small things that meant a lot to you. He didn't show it, but you could feel his appreciation through the unspoken bond. It was like you two were intertwined by the soul. His feelings were your feelings.

Spending quiet nights outside, looking at the stars was one. The first night it happened, you were looking to spend some alone time, but stumbled upon him. He was laying on the concrete. He didn't seem to notice you at all, so you assumed he was caught up in his own thoughts. So you were surprised when he stopped you from leaving, telling you to stay. This became a regular thing. Laying down next to him, watching the stars as you sat in silence.

It was peaceful and liberating. No thoughts, words, nothing came to mind. It was completely tranquil. Only once did Dabi speak, "This is what I imagine it feels like once it's all over." You asked him what he meant but he only responded in an ominous chuckle. That could mean many things. The end of hero society or the end of his life? Whatever it meant, it was obvious he planned to keep it from you.

He would subtly give you affection. If you were sitting on the couch, he would sit next to you and put his arms over the back. His arm would just happen to reach behind you. If anyone ever questioned it, he'd roll his eyes or deny it. But you knew, and it made you blush slightly.

Despite never establishing the relationship, Dabi would get really jealous. Like really jealous. If anyone tried to flirt or get your attention, he got annoyed and was very vocal about it. This caused some teasing from the others that he usually brushed off with a, "Whatever," as he walked off.

Dabi is also protective of you, unlike the others. He knows they could hold their own, he knows you can too. But the thought of anything ever happening to you, the thought you ever leaving made him crumble inside. He didn't expect to open up to you, much less ever again after what happened to his family. So losing you was not ideal. They can live without me, but I can't live without them. That's what he thought about.

Once he revealed who he was to the world, he spent a lot of time alone, but you knew he probably needed some support. You gave him time but eventually he came back around, inviting you to sit in silence with him. He opened up a bit about what his childhood was like for him, how he became Dabi, and what he plans on next. Hearing everything made you feel sad for him inside. This was a new side of Dabi, this was Toya being vulnerable with you and you weren't gonna break that trust.

Dabi trusted you with everything. You knew things about him that the League didn't, that even the Todoroki family didn't know. He would sometimes ramble on about it in the middle of silence. Then say, "Whatever, it doesn't matter anyways."

He'd make up excuses to touch you whenever he could. If you were walking up a mountain, he'd gently push you up by putting his hand on your back. He'd jump in front and pull you up, holding your hand for a little longer as he tried to savor the sensation before it became "weird" to the others. If you got hurt, he'd walk over and offer to take care of you. Once Spinner ran to your aid and Dabi pushed him, jealous seeing him touch you, touching his most prized possession.

He would fantasize about a future with you, telling you all the goals he'd have. He would tell you how having a partner with the same ideals as him was nice for a change. You both shared a strong desire to bring down hero society, especially Endeavor. "Let's make a brighter future, together," he'd say with flames in his hands.

You tended to his stitches a lot. Scolding him if he went too far. He always reassured you that he's fine and he can handle it, but his body always said differently.

Nobody knew what to call the relationship, but it was clear there was mutual love. It was a relationship, even if nobody labeled it as such. But that was the most beautiful of relationships because there were no ridiculous expectations, just pure love.

If you like this then you'll also probably love Little Things in a Relationship with Shigaraki and Little Things in a Relationship with Aizawa pt1 and pt2

[heyidkyay]

And I'm petrified of being alone, now |

Part Eight

Matty Healy x reader

Summary: She’s just trying to get by, really. What with being a single parent to her four year old son whilst simultaneously trying to kick start a successful career as a radio presenter. She’s got everything she’s ever wanted though, friends close by, a mum who’s merely a phone call away, and of course her baby boy. What else is there to wish for? But then, it’s not long before her relatively normal life gets upended and turned on its head, and she’s suddenly forced to deal with situations she’s never even thought to imagine.

What happens when one mention of a certain controversial singer on her show sends a flood of unexpected challenges her way? 

Authors Note: Hey! Quick note, this part has a LOT going on, it jumps from pov 2 or 3 times, but there's details mentioned that will make more sense later on, I hope that leaves no one confused:) Also there are a few new characters coming in, some will stay, some won't, so keep that in mind! I was gonna end this part like halfway through and then post, but it felt a little unfinished, so here it is hope you enjoy:))) x

Warnings: A short scene revolving around body image, mentions of scars, drugs, sobriety and heavy drinking

Masterlist

Messages now Jamie O (glasses!) In the area, fancy meeting up for coffee?

It had been a good few days since I had last messaged either Jamie or Matty. Though the latter hadn't seemed to have caught onto the fact that I had suddenly distanced myself. Jamie, on the other hand, had and had surprisingly given me some space with it. 

Well, up until now that was.

It was a weary sigh that escaped me when I gazed down at my phone, needless chatter of gossiping mums and squealing children having faded far into the background.

I had only just managed to drop Teddy off at nursery, dipping and diving through the crowd to deliver him right to the classroom door, and was already halfway out of the playground now. It was my first day off in weeks- like proper day off. And now, I had Jamie to deal with.

Alright, maybe that was a bit harsh, but saying that, I wasn’t so much of a twat to just ignore the first message he’d sent me in a while. Especially after I'd disregarded all of the man's previous efforts. Still I couldn't quite stop myself from huffing quietly as I shot him back a message, anxiety creeping in.

Messages now Closer to Tufnell Park than the studio at the minute

Jamie’s response came only seconds later.

Messages now Jamie O (glasses!) No worries! Meet you near The Dome?

Sidestepping a few latecomers as I exited the school gate, I chewed on my bottom lip but eventually sent a text to let Jamie know that I'd be there. I only hoped that the man didn't ask too many questions about my sudden disappearance, I wasn’t too sure I could take the heat.

Early morning rush hour was in full swing by the time I’d made my way out onto the highstreet, people bustled past me to get to work without a care, or even an apology, for anyone who got in their way, zooming on ahead like a soldier in a storm. That was one of the things that had taken me some time to get used to, in truth. How different the crowds of London were to the tiny population of my hometown.

I'd just surpassed the underground station when I caught sight of a vaguely familiar head of dishevelled hair. Jamie stood a way ahead, smiling at the passersby with his hands shoved deeply into the lining of his coat's pockets. He wore a pair of dark, fitted trousers and had a smart looking scarf thrown haphazardly over his right shoulder, something to shelter him from the exaggerated cold. 

Somehow, his face seemed to brighten upon seeing me approach.

"Glad you could make it!" He said as I approached, and he clapped my upper arm in light greeting. "Thought you would have managed to beat me here though."

I made do with a small smile, before gesturing my head over towards where a quaint cafe sat up a few doors down so that we could begin walking.

"Nah, it's pretty hectic trying to escape the crowds at this time. Did you catch the tube up here then?" I conversed and saw Jamie’s brow dip for the briefest of moments before he hastily shook his head at my question.

"Oh, no. Was just leaving a meeting up in Shoreditch, you were on my route so I thought I'd ask."

I gave a low hum, unsure, but didn't comment on it when I thanked him for holding the door open for me to pass through.

"What are you in the mood for then? It's on me."

"Ah, no it's-"

I didn't even get the chance to decline the offer before Jamie was waving me off with a charming smile and a wave of his arm. "Honestly, mate. It's fine, a cup of coffee won't have me out on my arse. So what do you want?"

Blinking with a somewhat disbelieving shake of my head, I prattled off my usual order in a low murmur and told Jamie that I'd find us a table. Just wanting to be helpful, but also to get a second to think things through.

The cafe wasn't too busy. It held the expected usuals; a handful of early-rising old timers and a couple of suits headed in late. So there were a few free tables up for grabs. I picked the one by the window.

Jamie joined me a few minutes later, wearing his usual grin as he carried over a tray of goodies. I raised an eyebrow at the mountain of sweet pastries procured but the man simply shrugged.

"Looked like you'd had a long morning, figured you to be the chocolate type." He commented as he nudged a large croissant in my direction.

Just looking at the buttery roll made my stomach grumble. Teddy and I had been in a wee bit of a rush this morning to get out of the house after my alarm had failed to wake us, so I'd skipped breakfast and picked Teds up something to eat on the way into school.

Toying with the rim of the coffee's handle, I gave Jamie an appreciative smile. “Cheers.” I breathed out and carefully pulled the plate in a little closer.

After that we both simply sipped at our warm drinks for a short while, watching as the morning commuters passed by the large window. It was a calm affair and far from as awkward as I might've expected the meeting to be. In fact, it was actually the first time Jamie and I had met up since that day at the studio, and even then we hadn't had much of an opportunity to chat. 

Still, Jamie’s company felt very similar to that of Adi's- perhaps even Finn's. It allowed me to relax a little. 

It was only after I'd broken off the end of my croissant that I spoke up.

"So, is driving across London at nine in the morning just to buy me a drink your idea of a date, or do you do this with all your mates?"

Jamie blinked at me once, twice, before his eyes widened in alarm, which caused me to, quite literally, snort into my tea.

"I'm joking! Don't fret. Just wondering why the sudden change in pace."

Jamie gifted me a sheepish grin in response and took a quick swig of his coffee before he finally replied.

"You went quiet on us." He shrugged as he picked apart a blueberry muffin, separating the berries from the soft sponge, which amused me somewhat. "Gave you a couple days to breathe, but I reckon you've had long enough. You wanna tell me what's up?"

My eyes strayed back to the window as I withheld a sigh, knowing full well that this had been coming. 

“You know how it is.” I shrugged, almost petulant, and gripped at my cup a little tighter. "Just got busy. I mean, you have to deal with Matty and the band constantly. Can’t be an easy feat."

I received a laugh in turn but my attempt at a little lighthearted humour didn't derail Jamie.

"I know we haven't known each other that long, and you really do have no reason to trust me, of all people, with your problems. But I am here if you ever need anything. Can't speak for Matty, try as I might, but I wouldn't put it past him to go completely out of his way to do whatever you asked either." He chuckled to himself then, like he knew something I didn’t. "He actually hasn't been able to stop talking about you, you know. Not since we met."

I tapped at the mug and felt my tongue prod the inside of my cheek to keep from snorting at Jamie’s words. I just shook my head.

"Doubt he's even noticed I've stopped replying." I quipped lightly, trying to shrug off the sudden emotion that admission had stirred up.

"Ah, so you have been ignoring us then."

I inhaled sharply and dropped my gaze. I couldn’t outright lie to him. 

"Yeah, sorry. Just had a lot going on, you know? This is all new for me, you and Matty, you've just. I don't even know. You just turned up out of the blue and..."

"Sort of invited ourselves into your life?" Jamie filled in with a wry smile.

"No, no! That's- that's not what I meant. Honestly. It's just strange. Different from what I expected." I attempted to backtrack, but ultimately failed.

"No, I get it." Jamie assured, but didn't push the topic any further. "You're stupid, by the way, if you think Matty hasn't noticed. In all the time I've known him, the idiot’s only ever texted me when he's needed something- but the last couple days? I don't think my phone’s stopped going off."

I shovelled another piece of the chocolatey pastry into my mouth to keep myself from replying or reading too much into that.

Jamie released a breathy chuckle and shook his head, as though he could read my reaction, my thoughts. "You've been good for him so far, Mouse. No parties. No drugs. Can't say the same thing about the drink, but he's cut a lot of it out. And I'm chalking that all up to you, ‘cause I can't think of anything else that might've changed in his life to have forced his hand like this."

His words confused me, but then he paused for a moment and purposely caught my eye. 

"Whatever's happened, don't let it keep you from opening up. Not just for his sake, but for yours too. Besides, you can never have too many friends, can you?"

I wiped at my mouth before dipping my head in quiet assent. "No. I ‘spose I can do friends."

Jamie all but beamed, looking pretty proud of himself as he reached across the table for a scone. "Now, tell me all the things that I've missed."

***

Matty practically jumped out of his seat when he heard the front door rattle shut. 

He'd been on edge since the moment he had woken up, but had decided to try for once. He made breakfast (well, rather a late lunch), tried all that meditating malarky (his therapist would be, oh so, proud), and even ended up doing a loop of the block in a desperate attempt to keep his chaotic mind at bay. But nothing. Nothing. Had been able to keep him from wearing the soles of his feet into the fucking floorboards. 

"And where’ve you been?" Matty instigated as soon as Jamie strolled into his sitting room with his usual smile, shaking off the autumn chill he’d invited in with him.

"Around." Was all the twat replied as he draped his heavy overcoat on the back of one of the upholstered armchairs. He paused to eye Matty closely. "Why, what's got your knickers in a twist?"

Matty’s scowl was infamous by this point, but Jamie was one of the fair few to have gotten used to it. A right shame, that. "Nothing! Just- I texted you, wanted an update."

Jamie quirked an amused brow his way and it took all of Matty’s nervous pent up energy not to blow up at him. He could feel his own irritation building though, it tingled in the tips of his fingers and raised goosebumps across his skin. 

"That all? You know the team won't give us an answer until they’re certain that it all won't fall through."

Matty gritted his teeth together and tugged a rough hand through his dishevelled hair. "It's bollocks! It's our fucking album, why do they get a say in what happens with it?"

Jamie sighed quietly to himself as he wandered over towards the heavyset globe sat in the far corner. Matty watched on as he slid its top off and procured a pair of tumblers, pouring two fingers of murky whiskey into each of the old fashioned glasses.

"You know why, mate." 

They'd had this conversation too many times before. And yet,

Matty clenched his jaw to keep from snapping, lashing out, but his knuckles whitened around the glass when Jamie pressed it into his palm. He almost wanted to laugh.

"Thought you wanted me off the drink?" He remarked coldly but swallowed the spirit down before Jamie could give him an actual answer, or take it away. He only wished that the alcohol burned brighter, these days it barely left a bitter tang on his tongue.

Jamie didn't touch his own as he made his way on over towards the chaise lounge, but his fingertips tapped a smooth rhythm against the crystal. The house didn’t make a sound.

Matty followed, as expected, restlessly flinging his feet up onto the centre table before his agitation once again began to overwhelm him. He huffed when he dropped them back to the floor again, the heavy vibrations grounding him somewhat as he moved to rest his elbows on the knobs of his knees.

"That newest story's doing wonders for you right now though." Jamie told him gently when Matty’s quick eyes met his gaze, his hands still toying with the full glass. "They want to rebuild your image. Figure it'll help with album presales, and they're not really all that wrong, mate. Since you've been out of um-”

“You can say it.”

Jamie rolled his eyes but barrelled on, “Since you've been out of rehab. Well, the public's been enjoying seeing this new side of you. Besides, I thought you liked whatever her name was."

With a scoff, Matty forced his gaze away. "It's complete shit and you know it. PR just wants control. For me to fall in line. And the public couldn't give a single fuck about what I do! All they live for is the gossip, the drama. And that's what I do best, no? Don't worry though, J, I'm sure I'll fuck up sooner or later."

"Don't talk like that." Jamie scolded as he pushed his tumbler onto the table and moved a little closer. He looked to be fighting an internal battle, his fingers twitching on the inseam of his leg to keep himself from reaching out to comfort.

"Oh, fucking come off it, Jamie! You know it's true." Matty spat back, the rage once again building. These past few days had had him fraying. "I bet they’re already sitting there at that table just waiting for the other shoe to drop. And I already know they’ll want to be the first in the know, when I finally do fuck up again. Spout about what a waste of space I am! How they should've sacked me off sooner. That it should've been me and not-"

"Don't."

Jamie’s voice cut through the room like a blaring siren, but Matty had never heard him speak so lowly. 

"Don't go there. He wouldn't want you thinking that way."

Matty locked his jaw and narrowed his scrutinising eyes at Jamie. "Don't act like you know what he'd want."

Jamie glanced away for the briefest of seconds and inhaled slowly before his gaze finally returned. Matty could see his own torment reflected in Jamie’s sad eyes. "It hurt me too. You know that."

Matty forced his eyes closed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Unable to deal with the many emotions that threatened to overpower him. He swiped Jamie's drink off of the table and swallowed it down in one, then swiftly stood and strode across the room to make another.

The amber liquid warmed his chest as expected and he felt the moment it hit his empty stomach. He braced himself against the globe's golden stand, leaving his hair to fall helplessly into his face. Thankfully, it shielded his glossy eyes from Jamie’s view.

It was still so hard. Most nights it was all he could ever picture-

No. Not today, he rebuked. Not now. Not again.

It was a never ending nightmare that he just couldn't seem to wake himself up from. And how he fucking wished he could wake up.

Matty went to refill the glass again but faltered. His hand stilled, midair, fingers itching to grab at the ancient old bourbon that sat only inches away, but instead he reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out his phone.

Too many notifications cluttered the screen. But not a single one from the person he wanted to talk to most. 

In a fit of dismay, he went to throw the stupid thing at the nearest wall but a hand caught his wrist before he could do any real damage.

Matty’s eyes flickered up to meet Jamie’s- he choked.

"I just-" He tried to force out but the words felt like thick bile in his throat. His lip trembled and Jamie tugged him close. Matty wondered when he'd ever allowed the man to get so close. To breach his high walls.

"I know." Jamie hushed him, allowing a steady hand to come to rest at the back of Matty’s neck. "I know, mate."

Matty wondered if he truly did.

***

Mesmerising. 

I let the word play over and over on a loop in my head as my fingertips trailed along the jagged lines of my torso. 

Seventeen I'd been- my first time with this boy from college and he had called the scars I was forced to bare mesmerising. As if they were something special, something to be proud of. I'd frozen back then, the word had, so suddenly, hindered my entire world, but he'd gone on exploring without even noticing the way my mind had started to spiral.

The scars had always been a difficult pill to swallow. They weren't mine. I hated how others could so easily claim their own. His scars. My scars. Hers. I didn't want them. They were just there. A myriad of haunted memories to which I'd been burdened with since the age of seven.

All these years later and still I couldn't recall the smooth expanse of skin that had once been there- untarnished, unharmed.

The bronze shadows, created by the setting sun which illuminated my bedroom walls in a burning shade of amber, crawled across the floorboards beneath my feet and caressed my skin. They dipped and curved, exaggerating sharp lines and hallowing shallow slopes.

I'd only meant to have a quick shower, in and out, before Finn inevitably ended up dropping Teddy back home. But I'd left the wardrobe door wide open in my haste to leave early this morning and had yet to shut it, exposing the slim mirror attached to the inside of the wooden door. A slip up.

So now my distorted body stared back at me mercilessly and I couldn't find it in myself to tear my eyes away. The meek girl stood within its four cutting lines just wasn't me. It was simply the reflection of a sheltered kid who'd been forced to grow up far too quickly. 

Her skin, hardly what you'd pale but not far off, was flushed and pink all over from the steam of the shower. Her hair, still damp and wet, clung to the majority of her forehead and dripped water droplets down the line of her throat. Her eyes, usually a deep, warm colour, were somewhat sunken, hidden behind heavy lids and long lashes. The dark circles that sat beneath them only emphasised the muted scarlet that rimmed her waterline- a lack of sleep. 

I wet my lips. They were dry, bitten from hours of relentless anxiety, but parted enough so that my front teeth could just about be seen. Her face was lined by worry. Fine wrinkles etched themselves around the corners of her eyes and mouth, then again between her furrowed brows.

The scars, faded but somehow still raw, swept up her neck and collarbone, and jumped over her right shoulder. One crept across the cut of her jaw, whilst another sliced through the bridge of her nose to meet another, smaller scar, on her cheek. Her chest, where it had been previously impaled, was now stretched and knitted. Some lines were a few shades darker than her natural complexion, maroon, and oftentimes cardinal. Others were lighter, pale and whitened. Faded.

A gruesome gash down the centre of her abdomen led to a spattering of fine hairs that lined her navel, trailing low beneath the hem of the towel she'd wrapped around her waist earlier. Her hands were now fisted at her sides though, so much so that prominent veins danced up the insides of her forearms, skirting around the few fawn freckles that painted her skin.

Mesmerising.

The sudden blare of a mobile ringing sent a sharp chill up my spine and knocked the air back into me. Shakily I inhaled, averting my eyes from the mirrored prison, then spun round on my heel to answer the call.

There was no greeting, no small talk. It was cutthroat and to the point.

"I need a drink. You coming?"

And I had never answered a question quicker.

--

It was a hard task, squinting down at my phone in an attempt to concentrate on the text I was trying to send to Finn, but the strobe lights and throng of people around me were making the task rather fucking difficult.

To be honest though, I couldn’t actually remember the last time I'd stepped foot inside a club. Or even spent an entire evening sat in the local pub. But I’d been all but desperate, and so, in the heat of the moment, I had practically jumped at the first offer I’d been given. 

I was beginning to second guess that decision now though as I pushed my way through the rowdy crowds, the assorted smell of liquor and sweat already clinging to my clothes. I hadn't really put too much thought into those, too busy trying to escape my own head. Really, I’d just thrown on an old skirt from my uni days, a top that made my tits look great but hid the scar there, and the well-worn leather jacket Finn had gifted me at the end of my first year working on the show.

I had just sent the text off, double checking with the man himself that he was still alright to have Teddy til the following morning, when a raised voice caught my attention.

Frowning, my head snapped up but that soon faded once I caught sight of the tall ginger propped up against the bar not too far away. My lips curled up into a lopsided grin on their own command and I was quick to pocket my phone, already moving towards him.

"Mighty Mouse. You actually made it!" Ronan Kelly bellowed in that familiar Irish lilt of his, welcoming me in with a hearty squeeze to the waist as we embraced. "It's a feckin' miracle!"

I gave him an impish smile and dipped my head slightly to rub at my nose, then made the effort to catch Ronan's icy gaze. "I guess it has been a while."

"A while- Babe, I ain't seen you in months!" Ronan laughed, flashing a row of white teeth and wrinkling his bright blue eyes. I felt some of my worries ease at the sight of the man's familiar face, a warm reminder of older days. "Can't believe you actually agreed to come out with us!"

I shook my head and released an airy chuckle, "You know how it is, Ro- got Teddy to worry about now."

Ronan's face, if possible, lit up even further at the mention of the small toddler. "Ah, grand! How is the wean? At school now, right?"

It was sweet of him to ask and I smiled up at him as I went to answer, but was forced further into Ronan’s space when some prat barged past me to get to the bar. Ronan caught me by the waist with a natural ease he’d always been capable of and narrowed his eyes at the guilty party from over my shoulder. 

Not wanting things to escalate, I did my best to quickly wave it off and distract. "Teddy's good!" I heard myself tell him, voice slightly raised to be heard over the pulsing music, tiptoeing almost now in his grasp. "He's with Finn at the moment."

Ronan's gaze reluctantly trailed back to me upon hearing me speak, he reluctantly smiled and nodded but had yet to drop his hands from where they were now stationed at my hips.

"I'm sure Finn is completely lovin' that."

With a light laugh, I rolled my eyes at his sarky reply and moved to press my forearm up against the edge of the bar’s countertop. "They're a proper little duo. Finn has been a saint, what with all his help and that. Don't think I'd be standing here today without him really."

"Well, let's cheers to that then, hey?" Ronan grinned, then raised a hand to gesture over towards the barman.

Within seconds two pints were being placed on the bartop, a dizzying yellow colour filled to the brim with minuscule bubbles that had my mouth watering. It had been a long while since a fresh pint of lager had wet my lips and it helped that Ronan’s presence was a comfort.

"Sláinte!" He announced brashly, already having hoisted his glass into the air between us.

"Cheers!" I laughed, clinking our glasses together before gulping down a too large swig.

"That's what I like to see!" Ronan whooped, almost proudly. He squeezed my right hip in celebration before choosing to steer us both away from the bar and over towards a wall lined with darkened booths. "Come on, Auley and everyone's waiting over here, been excited to see ya!”

I only nodded in reply, pint close to my chest as I followed after him, bobbing between an array of patrons effortlessly now. The earlier anxiety shovelled deep, deep down.

***

Withdrawal was something Matty had never thought too much about in the years before. He'd always had everything right there, on tap. A quick hit, a line just to pick him up. It always felt so easy.

But now, without the copious amount of pills, the parties, he finally realised why the fuck people were never able to stay away for too long. Because sooner or later, they always ended up crawling back.

It wasn't so much the flu-ish like sickness that had him reeling, although he really could've done without the high-fever sweats and the full body tremors. It was more that ever encompassing sorrow. The depression that never seemed to lift- but then again, depressed wasn't even the first word he would use to describe it. It was like a thick plume of murky black that fogged every exit, far beyond the gut wrenching nausea that clawed away at his insides at all hours of the day, or the constant drilling in his head that kept him from sleep.

Being without- 

Being without was practically maddening. A spiral of hellish days with no escape, the only choice he had was to carry on or simply turn back. And he'd come too far now to run towards the latter, he’d already made that mistake. And if he had anything to thank his godforsaken mother for, it was the sheer stubbornness they both so clearly shared.

Matty couldn't complain though, he wouldn’t, as much as he wished he often could though, because he was still leaning heavily on the spirits. He knew. As well as the band and Jamie, who'd also been hellbent on 'helping'. In their own way.

Although the idiots hadn't made things much easier for him, the guys hadn't put up much of a fight against his drunk ramblings or the never ending mood swings. They just took it all in stride. Which Matty was mostly grateful for.

The alcohol though, he'd currently taken to using as a crutch. He'd drink a little more and more just to cope with the effects, the longing, to get him through to the next day. But he'd never felt too dependent on it before and didn't feel as though it was a massive problem now, he'd been drinking since before he'd worked out how to pick the lock on his dad’s old liquor cabinet. He’d keep drinking ‘til he was near the grave.

The drinking though, was just a baby habit in comparison to the drugs.

It was also how he'd managed to find himself out on a Thursday night. 

He'd actually managed to forgo Hann's mothering this time, sending his mate off home early from the studio before he'd called up an old friend. Itching for that familiarity of older times, shaking with it really, but knowing better.

"Oi, Healy- you still with us?" Crowed a loud voice in his left ear.

Matty startled at it and turned back around to find the one and only Danny Willis hanging over his shoulder, usual open-mouthed grin on full display, a drink in hand.

He blinked up at him once before Matty’s lips turned upwards into a lazy smile, he spun around on his foot to get further in his friend's face. "Thought you'd gone off with that bird?"

"Who, blondie?" Danny questioned, smirking now. "Nah, wouldn't have left you hanging all alone, mate."

Matty snorted.

"Ah, so you do care!" He drained the dregs of his bourbon then grinned at the twat, "Always wondered whether you fancied me, Danny boy! Guess this just proves it, don’t it?"

Danny wound an arm around his shoulders and leant in to press a sloppy, wet kiss to his cheek. Matty pulled away, cackling as he tried to shrug the added weight off.

"Prick." Matty scoffed lightly, stumbling as he rubbed at his face. He grunted at the small group he'd accidentally bulldozed into in his haste and they all scowled in return, but it wasn't long before Danny jumped in to rescue and steer him away.

"Come on. Let's get out of here, hey? The next bar awaits and all that." Danny proclaimed, chucking back the remnants of his own drink. Matty chuckled when the man winced and then wiped the corners of his mouth. "Reckon we might be able to find someone decent for you to take home there!"

Matty merely hummed in reply as they pushed their way through a set of double doors and out into the night, not really listening as he propped himself up against Dan's side, ignoring the whispers that tended to follow wherever he went.

"Ah, look at that, would you!" Danny's voice came again, right by his ear, as he paused on the pavement to cock his chin outwards, forcing Matty to follow his gaze. "It's a full moon!"

Matty rolled his eyes.

***

"Come on, Mouse!" Auley tried for the umpteenth time that night. His larger than life smile, I noted, had always been much gentler than that of his brother's. "You can't stay cooped up in this booth all evenin'! You need to put yourself out there, darlin’- have some fun!"

I shook my head, chuckling up at the giant of a man standing before me. "I swear I'm fine here, Aul. You go and have enough fun for the both of us."

Auley's face scrunched up in distaste as he reluctantly pushed away from the table's edge, the dim lights of the bar illuminating his hair, almost seeming to set it alight as it added a halogen glow to the already coppery red.

Ronan chose that moment to reappear, brushing past his brother to settle back into the booth next to me. He set two more drinks down on the table. "Leave the poor lass alone, won’t you, Aul! You know how she gets."

I rolled my eyes, albeit fondly, and Auley did the same as he slowly backed away, mouth quirked upwards. "Yeah, yeah. Yer like a pair of old women, you two- peas in a pod or somethin'."

"Ah, shove off!" Ronan laughed, a deep rumbling sound that shook his whole body. "Think I can hear the dance floor callin' your name, mate."

"Too right." Auley quipped, flashing another bright grin at his brother before he turned back to face me. "Know that this isn't over just yet. You might've won this battle but you ain't won the war, darlin’. I'll soon get that dance."

I snorted, but was unable to help my grin. "One day, babe."

Auley winked at me and I watched on as he melted into the mob of people before us, leaving Ronan and I alone.

I observed the crowd for a long moment, taking note of all their dizzying smiles. For a Thursday night, the bar was oddly rampacked, but I couldn't find it in myself to complain too much, not when everyone seemed to be having a great time. 

There was a large group of us out tonight. Alongside asking me to join, Ronan and Auley had brought along the entirety of their flat as well as a few others, some from uni, others from work, I reckoned. They'd all split up within the first half hour though, but they kept drifting back and forth, I could easily spot Penn and his brightly coloured shirt over by the snooker table in the very far corner, and most of the girls had crowded together out on the dance floor. 

"Havin' a good night then?"

I repositioned myself upon hearing Ronan's question, he was closer now in an attempt to be heard over the music, and I sipped at the foamy top of my pint before answering. "Yeah, I am. It's, well it's been a while since I last did anything like this." I chuckled, eyes roaming the room again. 

Ronan shifted closer once more, the booth’s leather seat squeaking quietly under his weight as the song on the overhead speakers faded into the next.

"I'm glad. We haven't seen you proper since yer last year at uni."

It was true but that wasn't just down to me, I felt the need to say. But instead gave him a small smile as I just shrugged, thumbing the edge of the table, "Life gets busy with a baby. Plus, it's not as though any of you lot had time to just drop by and see me, with all your classes and what not."

Ronan’s lips pursed at my words and a quiet stretched between us. I watched on as he fiddled with the bottom of his pint glass, before finally he replied. "Could've made time. Finn did. Cassie, too. Just- it felt strange, going back after that summer and you not bein' there."

To be honest, I didn't really know what to say to that. 

As much as I had loved my time at university, I hadn't really had much space for it in my life after Teddy had come along. And although I’d never regretted my decision to leave, not after everything I'd gone through to get to where I am today. Because my God, had that been hard. I did sometimes miss the memories I’d made there, the people I’d met and, surprisingly, the workload too. It made me question whether I could have had it all, a degree and a baby. Although, I somehow doubted that that was what Ronan was grasping at here.

But it wouldn’t do well to continue to dwell on the past. I'd already spent a large portion of my life doing exactly that, and I’d known in the long run that I would have to have let go of some things in order to provide a better life for Teddy, better than the one that I’d had. I wanted my son to have every possible opportunity, every choice, in order to better himself. I wanted him to be a kid for as long as life would let him.

And as much as I really did love spending time with Ronan and the old gang, I also knew that come tomorrow morning I had actual commitments and responsibilities to attend to. I didn't have the opportunity anymore to skive and bunk off of lectures so that I could deal with a nasty hangover and sleep in. Teddy was always relying on me to come through. And come through I would. Every time.

But right now! I just needed to let my hair down. Enjoy an evening away, and maybe (hopefully) get rid of some of that tension that had been piling up over the previous weeks.

Thankfully though, I was saved from answering when a flushed Alice came hurrying over, clinking her cocktail on the table so hard it's fruity contents spilled out across the wooden surface. The overexcited girl, who was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, didn't pay much mind to the mess as she threw herself into our booth and peered over her shoulder to search for something or other. 

I shot Ronan a bewildered look, but the ginger merely widened his eyes at me as if to say that he had no clue what was going on either. 

"Er, you alright, Al?"

Alice's head snapped back so fast that I honestly fretted a little over the whiplash she must've felt.

"No?! Do I look alright?" Alice stressed, digging her perfectly painted nails into the red cushion that lined the booth's back. "You'll never believe who Penn and I just saw walk in!"

I only hid a smile to myself whilst Ronan decided to humour Alice. "Who d’ya see, Ali-cat?"

Alice's face was nothing like I had ever seen before, her usual pretty smile had been traded in for a kilowatt grin, bunching her rosy cheeks and narrowing her soft brown eyes.

"That singer! You know- the one with the hair and the face! Ah, what's his name? From that band!"

"Matty!" Answered Indra- seemingly a friend of a friend of a friend- who had bounded up to our table in the time Alice had been freaking out, practically hyperventilating. "The. Matty Healy!"

"That's who!" Alice exclaimed and was nodding away excitedly now, whilst I simply sat frozen, drink halfway to my lips.

"Didn't you interview him?" Indra queried suddenly, her eyes as wide as saucers whilst her gaze flitted back and forth between me and the bar at an impossible pace.

Shakily, I set my glass down.

"You did?" Ronan piped up beside me. I swallowed thickly before turning my head towards him, then back towards the two girls, who were anxiously waiting on my reply.

"Uh, yeah." It felt as though I’d forced the words out of my mouth. A ball of cotton having replaced my tongue.

"Oh, Mouse! Introduce us, would you? Please!" Alice all but squealed imploringly.

My alarmed eyes flickered back to Ronan again, then Indra, and then Alice.

My mouth had never felt so dry as I tried my best to ground myself, to get over the sudden, unexpected headfuck that had sent my mind reeling.

"Ah, I don't know, Al. It's, well. I-" I really did struggle to find the right words that could possibly get me out of this entire situation, but before I even knew what was happening, Indra was already reaching for me and pulling me up out of the booth. 

Alice jumped up to join her and patted my sleeve eagerly before proceeding to try and drag me away. Ronan, thank the stars, reached out to stop them just in time, tugging on the hem of my jacket and shooting the two girls a sharp look.

"Oi, you two. Behave, will yer? You didn't even give her the chance to answer."

Alice looked up and flashed me a sheepish grin, "Sorry, hun."

Feeling sheepish and rather relieved, really, to be freed from all the clawing hands, I waved her apology off, knowing Ali was only just drunk and excited. "It's fine, just- I think I'm better off heading home now in truth. You know, I've got Teddy to think about."

Both of the girls' disappointment was overwhelmingly obvious, but they didn't push it any further, simply nodded and tried to smile as best as they could.

"No worries, Mouse. You get on home, babe. Sorry again."

"Wait, you're not actually leaving, are you?" Ronan questioned suddenly, causing me to cast a glance over at him. He was frowning now, that much was obvious from the deep set line rapidly forming between his bushy brows. "It's not 'cause of that tosser, is it?"

Immediately, I felt myself shake my head, already knowing that the lie would taste bitter in my mouth.

"Ah, come off it! Stay for another round at least." Ronan goaded me, moving to stand with the girls, his hand still on my elbow though.

"Nah, I'd best head home, Ro. I don't want to be dealing with a hangover as well as a screaming toddler tomorrow morning." I insisted with a lighthearted chuckle, I gifted him an apologetic smile whilst fishing out my phone to call a cab.

It wasn't even late yet, just gone eleven, and there was an unread text from Finn demanding that I have some fun. I gave a heavy sigh.

"Don't be like that, babe. Come on, one more drink and I'll even walk you home." Ronan raised a brow just as he jutted out his jaw and smiled.

It was tempting but...

I laughed lightly and shook my head. "Honestly, Ro-"

But the man wouldn't hear it. "Come on, ladies. Help me out here!" He implored to both of the girls standing either side of him now, the way he towered them was almost funny.

Indra giggled just as Ronan wrapped his strong arms around her and Alice, shaking them a little. Alice simply rolled her eyes at him in amusement, but pulled away slightly to squeeze my hand.

"It's up to you, M. You know we love seeing you, but I can call you a cab if you really want to head off now."

I could only smile at her and silently questioned why we didn't spend more time together outside of the group. I could easily recall Finn saying something or other about a pottery class the two of them had attended the previous weekend and wondered if that would be something I might enjoy.

"I'll be fine, babe. Thank you, though." I told her kindly, before turning to face Ronan. "You enjoy the rest of your night, alright? I'll text you when I've made it back."

"Mouse..." Ronan groaned unhappily, "Just one more drink. For me?"

I shook my head and tugged my jacket further around my body as I stepped away from the trio, patting down my pockets to make sure that I did have everything I needed. 

"I'll come out again, soon." I promised them, but tried to aim my words at the frowning redhead as I continued to back away. "You can hold me to it."

Ronan worked his jaw before he nodded curtly, and I sighed to myself before spinning on my heel to hastily make my exit. 

Only, it didn't quite happen like that of course, because, of all the people, in all the world, I just had to bump right into none other than Matty.

[hellofanidea]

curt has a crush on arthur 🎤🎤

This got away from me so badly, and it now is its own ficlet! It does get heavy during the latter part, however, so tw for alcoholism, PTSD, character death, and people being shitty to each other in the throes of those.

"Y'know Curt's got a thing for you?" Bucky grins at him one night, closer to five sheets to the wind than three, leaning into Arthur's space outside of the O Club.

There had been a few of them who wandered out initially, chasing fresh air to clear their soaked heads, but then the band had started up again and they had followed the music inside in search of dance partners. Arthur had expected Bucky to be first amongst them to go, but he had stayed when Arthur lingered under the night sky, and now he understands why.

"Not sure you're meant to say shit like that, Major," Arthur laughs, mostly out of shock at the way Bucky seems perfectly at ease with the idea. "Gonna get somebody a blue ticket home."

"Naw," Bucky scoffs, still smiling, though it's starting to look more like a leer. "Ain't runnin' to tell nobody. Just figured I'd try my hand at bein' a wingman."

He laughs at his own joke, swaying away and hiccuping drunkenly.

There's no need, Arthur wants to tell him; him and Curt have been slipping into dark corners together for a bit of stress relief for nearly two weeks now. He wonders if he pieced together Curt 'having a thing for him' from the newly charged air between them, or if Curt really had said something to him. Wonders what either of those could mean.

"You're a good friend," he tells Bucky instead, and means it. "You're also drunk as a skunk. C'mon, we should head back inside before you sober up enough to remember this in the mornin'."

Bucky makes a dismissive noise, but turns towards the door with him anyway.

"You're not gonna give me anything to take back to him? What kind of a wingman are you makin' me, Foster?" He complains.

"Well, considerin' I didn't try to punch yours or his lights out when you said somethin', a real lucky one, sir."

Several Years Later

"Y'know Curt's got a thing for you?" Bucky slurs, and Arthur feels his heart drop to his knees.

It's hot in the VA hall they've piled into for the reunion, and Bucky's been on fine form all night, to the point that some of the boys who didn't know him as Air Exec or CO or POW had been looking at him funny, and Arthur had to volunteer to take him outside for a moment. Let him cool his head in the relative privacy of the side alley. Catch his breath. Shiver off some of the burn of whiskey in his stomach.

And Arthur has been doing so well recently, but now he wants that same burn something fierce. He should go back inside, send Viv or Buck to take care of Bucky. Find Ev and get out of here before he follows Egan the way he always does eventually, and throws away three months of stone cold sobriety over the invocation of a ghost that he's never without anyway.

He doesn't go back inside. He stays next to where Bucky has his head tilted back to the sky, his eyes closed. Ignoring the tremble of his fingers, Arthur takes out a cigarette and lights it.

"Yeah, Bucky," he sighs around the filter. He doesn't have the energy to play along, or the heart to stop him.

"What, no joke about a blue ticket?" Bucky asks.

Irritation abruptly curdles in Arthur's stomach. He can't tell if Bucky's really back in Thorpe Abbotts in his mind, or if he's just trying to get a rise out of him. It reminds him, bitterly, of the Stalag. Bucky growling at him at him like a cornered animal, digging his fingers into Arthur's bruises; Arthur letting him, because at least it made him useful.

"I'm a civilian, now," he reminds Bucky. "Me 'n' Ev get caught it's jail, remember?"

The other man has the decency to look uncomfortable at the reminder, kissing his teeth unhappily. His closed eyes remain turned up to the pollution-hidden stars.

"Yeah. Forgot that." A heavy pause, and Arthur feels himself tense. Bucky's winding up for something, drawing his arm back to throw a curve ball. Definitely looking for a fight of some kind, and Arthur hasn't taken any of the bait so far, but he's come pretty close. "You 'n' Ev moved pretty fuckin' quickly. After Africa."

"Don't," Arthur snaps.

"I mean, I've heard the stories, you practically jumped him right there in the desert, right? Fucked him all the way up until you got yourself shot down. Wrote him fuckin' love letters from a Nazi prison camp, for fuck's sake." Bucky's eyes open. There's something dangerous in their piercing blue. "I bet Curt's body wasn't even cold when you jumped on his dick."

Arthur had never snapped at him in the Stalag, had taken his licks from Bucky like a good little soldier and kept on trotting after him. It had been worth it then just to feel the ache. Even more worth it for the times when Bucky wasn't at his lowest ebb and he would try to silently make it up to him.

Now, though? Arthur doesn't have that kind of patience left in him. Not even for Bucky, not when it's about Ev, about Curt, and not really about either of them at all, but about Bucky needing something he thinks he can only get by finding a sore spot and poking.

He has to know it's coming, but Bucky doesn't dodge when Arthur throws the punch. It's a good hit, or a bad one, something crunching under Arthur's fist in a way that instantly overrides the fury that had risen in him at Bucky's provocation. Bucky goes staggering, hands up at his face, and Arthur stares in horror at the aftermath of what he's done.

"Jesus, shit, Bucky, 'm sorry, 'm so sorry, are you alright?" He jabbers, frozen to the spot.

Just out of reach, Bucky sways. He's making grunts and groans as he seems to fight to stay upright. When one of his hands moves, red spills from between his fingers like wine, trickles down the backs of his hands, and drips onto his dress uniform. It's all over his tie. It'll stain, badly, and Arthur can't stop staring at it, even as Bucky straightens out and makes a throaty 'whoop' noise.

"Always knew you had a helluva swing on you, Foster," he laughs thickly.

His own blood is all over his lips, and he's still laughing, and there's too much happening at once, too many pasts layered together in Arthur's head. The smell of burning skin draws him from them, then the pain in his fist. Not just his knuckles; he had curled his hand tight around his still lit cigarette to throw the punch, and the end was now searing into his palm.

Finally, he drops it. If he lets it burn him a moment more than he needs to, that's between him and God and his ghosts.

[acealonsowrites]

TKDB Boys as Lewis Capaldi songs

Putting this out as I warm myself up to starting part two of my Subaru mini fic. Lewis Capaldi is my fav singer at the moment so I'm combining my two hyper fixations :) Some of these make complete sense (objectively) and others make complete sense TO ME (subjectively) and some I'm completely lying through my teeth and just wanted to assign a song to be done with it. I'll let y'all know which is which and my explanations for them + the lyrics that I feel best go with them. Most of these we have to pretend the boys are romantic and melancholic cause that's the only way this'll work. The easiest were Towa and Subaru, I feel like they're the embodiment of the two faces of Lewis's songs (pining for love and having imposter syndrome lol). The hardest were Tohma and Ritsu but I'll try my best to explain.

Makes sense (objectively):

Luca, Kaito, Alan, Sho, Leo, Towa, Taiga, Subaru, Haku, Ed, Rui, Lyca

Make sense (subjectively, ie: to me):

Jin, Haru, Romeo, Zenji, Yuri, Jiro

Lying through my teeth:

Tohma, Ren, Ritsu

So without further ado, here are my song assignments for the boys :)

Frostheim

Jin - How This Ends

“All the flowers would die and the tears from your eyes would come as no surprise as I tried to forget how we bled, and we bled, and we bled, and we bled. So this is where we ended up. All of those years that I wasted for love. And here it is, forevermore, the house is on fire and I can’t find the door. If I had the heart to start it again, I’d stamp out the sparks in my own self-defense. No, you ain’t gonna like how this ends.”

I only had a bit of a hard time assigning Jin's because I felt like his and Romeo's could kinda go to either or. But in the end, this one made the most sense for Jin. It makes me think about what his family life could be like and it's a good contrast with the fire themes being an obstacle for the Ice King. The start of this song also mentions being useless and full of excuses which makes me think of how he's viewed from an outsider's perspective since Tohma clearly does all the work.

Tohma - Don’t Get Me Wrong

“Pray silence, I’m begging. Too tired to tell you I ain’t coming home. Stop for a second. Guess I got caught up in leading you on. And I ain’t responsible for the lump in your throat. Haven’t you had enough of all of this? Haven’t you had enough of loneliness? Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to stay too long. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to tell you whatever you want. But haven’t you had enough of loneliness? Haven’t we had enough of second best? So don’t get me wrong.”

GODDDD it was so hard assigning Tohma a song. Mostly because I just can't gauge him? I don't think I understand him all that well but I still tried. Anyways from what little we know about his past and how he most likely was Vagastrom turned Frostheim but still having relatively good relations with Vagastrom, something tells me that he switched houses because of some hidden ambition of his. He seems to be very driven and determined, like he wouldn't let external factors come between him and his goals. Like the song suggests, he doesn't settle for second best and hopes you understand.

Luca - Pointless

“From all my airs and graces to the little things I do, everything is pointless without you. Of all the dreams I’m chasing there’s only one I’d choose. Everything is pointless without you.”

What a sweet boy. This was one of the first ones I assigned in my head, mostly because he's a perfect little gentleman. He has goals and ambitions like Tohma but in my head there's nothing he wouldn't do for a loved one. Later in the song the lyrics go "I'll wait for you, I'll wait for you. You'll wait for me, too." And idk it just feels like him? Tell me I'm wrong.

Kaito - The Ancient Art of Always Fucking Up

“The story goes now he’s the kind of fool who breaks his heart as often as the moon shows its face to you. And I regret to say politely, I’m the guy who’ll more than likely lose like I always do.”

Boyfailure at it's finest. This entire song is his, I was thisss close to typing it all out. A master of the ancient art of always fucking up, Kaito seems to be prone to self-sabotaging both with love and finances. Give this song a listen, I promise it'll make sense.

Vagastrom 

Alan - Someone I Could Die For

“You know I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t dying for someone I could die for, someone I could try for. Fall apart and cry for, go ‘head risk my life for. Bullet to the brain for, take away the pain for. You know I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t dying for someone I could die for.”

Can you tell I love him? Call him Bruno Mars the way he'd catch a grenade for you. Or in this case, take a bullet to the brain for you. He's got that tough-looking exterior and he doesn't really feel he deserves love or to be that close to anybody but something tells me he yearns for it. Out of all of Vagastrom he's the only one looking for that someone to be vulnerable with but he's obviously not gonna show it.

Sho - Let it Roll

“And if you want to stay lost a while, I’ll rearrange the road I take and meet you out in the wild. And if you want we can wait behind. We can find a place to hide, maybe I could change your mind.”

Look I love Sho, okay. Sho, I love you. Listen Sho, I love you. You hang out with Leo which means you have the emotional depth of a walnut. I wasn't going to give him a song that was that deep because it just didn't make sense. He just seems like someone you could take a ride with and completely forget your troubles. He's unfortunately here for a good time, not a long time.

Leo - Forget Me

“Cause I’m not ready to find out you know how to forget me. I’d rather hear how much you regret me, and pray to god that you never met me, than forget me. Oh, I hate to know I made you cry but love to know I cross your mind, babe.” 

Lol, no he doesn't hate that he made you cry. He's actually collecting your tears in a bottle. But he really would rather you keep him on your mind even if it's pure hatred than have you forget him. That's probably his number one fear: being forgotten. He wants all of your attention and he doesn't care how it comes.

Jabberwock

Haru - Someone You Loved

“I’m going under and this time I fear there’s no one to turn to. This all-or-nothing way of loving’s got me sleeping without you. Now, I need somebody to know, somebody to heal, somebody to have, just to know how it feels. It’s easy to say but it’s never the same. I guess I kinda liked the way you helped me escape.”

Haru was also a bit of a tossup for me. This is mostly carried by the desire to heal someone. It really feels like he just needs someone on his corner FOR ONCE IN HIS LIFE. Someone PLEASE help him escape some of his responsibilities or at least take some off his shoulders.

Towa - Before You Go/Haven’t You Ever Been in Love Before

“So, before you go, was there something I could’ve said to make your heart beat better? If only I’d have known you had a storm to weather. So, before you go, was there something I could’ve said to make it all stop hurting? It kills me how your mind could make you feel so worthless.”

“And maybe I’m a fool, but I just can’t live with regret, I’d rather dive off the deep end. Will you hold me like you want me? But you don’t give me nothing else. Feel this happening, but you feel absent. Can you tell me what it is? And she said this: ‘Haven’t you ever been in love before? You heard em say, it takes the pain away, and it’s a feeling that you can’t ignore. But it’s more like a knife to me, than a high to me, and my heart can’t fall apart anymore. If you knew what I know you’d be terrified. Haven’t you ever been in love before?’”

Like I said in the intro, Towa's vibes make up half of all Lewis Capaldi songs. He's the free spirit, he's the guy that believes in soulmates. I gave him two because I couldn't decide which one fit him better. He's really looking to take away all your troubles so lean on him as much as you like. For the second part I was imagining a conversation with him under the tree going like this. He'll hear you rant about how this curse has sullied all thoughts of love for you and hearing this breaks his heart a little because he feels you deserve love.

Ren - Bruises 

“There must be something in the water, cause everyday it’s getting colder. And if only I could hold you, you’d keep my head from going under.”

This one's short because it's Ren, hello! He's so emotionally stunted, there really wasn't much to go off of. Chose something with water in it cause haha funny. Honestly though if he DID find a way to express emotion, he would probably hold the metaphor of drowning and you being his lifesaver close to his heart. I actually love him so I had to try at least a little bit for him.

Sinostra 

Taiga - A Cure for Minds Unwell

“That, if I’m being honest, I couldn’t tell you this is all I wanted. I struggle sleeping cause the house feels haunted. Filled with the shadows of regret, and the things I should’ve said to the ones I’ve laid to rest and lately, I’m terrified that all my youth is fading. Man, growing old is so excruciating. Is there a cure for minds unwell? Cause my head’s a living hell, if I’m honest with myself.”

At first, I was conflicted on finding a song for Taiga for obvious reasons but then I remembered this specific part of this song and it made me think of some theories of Taiga freshly post-clash realizing that his mental state was deteriorating and then I got sad :,) Y'all are really geniuses with these theories by the way, I love it. Keep the hurt coming for me PLEASE.

Romeo - Burning

“So maybe now instead of balancing on the edge we could put this to bed for good. Could call it quits or risk sinking with this broken ship but I don’t think we’d make it through, through. Now it’s only the beat of my heart that reminds me not to stare at the sparks. Can’t set fire to my soul just to keep ya, keep ya, keep ya from burning alone.”

Like I said, Jin and Romeo really could've gone either way. Their family situations to me feel vaguely similar but this one felt like it spoke more to Romeo. He is, as Taiga calls him, a greedy bastard. He's experienced what it's like losing everything and now he's desperately trying to hold on to what he has like his life depends on it and he's really not about to let anyone stop him. He's not really caring or empathetic to your situation however much he fakes otherwise and he's not about to risk his livelihood to save you, I'm sorry.

Ritsu - Grace

“On the verge of almost bleeding you out. Are we too wounded now to ever come down? Oh, how I long for us to find common ground. I’ve got nothing but you on my mind.”

This was the hardest one BY FAR. I kinda don't have an explanation because even though I said "let's pretend they're romantics," he's really just, not? And he's not melancholic either so have some crumbs lol.

Hotarubi

Subaru - Maybe/The Pretender

“I gave my all but not enough. And with the weight of expectations I’ll be sleeping rough. How come I’m the only one who ever seems to get in my way? Lately I’ve been fucking up a good thing any chance I can get. Somebody to lean on, somebody to hold. It’s just another to lead though, before I let go and I ain’t tryna be lonely, solely, but everything I touch turns to stone. Maybe you’re better off on my own.” 

“I spend almost all of my time feeling like I’m falling even further behind. I know I’m so good at seeming like I’m not on the edge of a knife. I feel like everything I do is a lie, and all the words just further pull the wool over eyes. I know I’m no good at being who I am away from the light. I’m the pretender, what can I tell ya? Designed to deceive, so tell me who you want me to be.”

Again, two songs because he's the second half of all Lewis songs. Did someone say imposter syndrome? He's an actor, what do you expect. The first one could have also gone to Rui but I feel it's more fitting for Subaru. He's a little too self-conscious about his stigma and he holds out on personal relationships because of it.

Haku - Love the Hell Out of You

“You’ve got your demons, spent seasons on the dark side of the moon. Don’t try denying cause you know that I’ve been there, too. Right now I know how it feels like the world’s gonna end. But I’ll get you through, if it’s the last thing I do. I’m gonna love the hell out of you. Take all the pain that you’re going through. And I’ll bring you heaven, if that’s what you need. Cause you’ve always loved the hell out of me.”

Lock me up and throw away the key, he knows how to get the best out of me ~ HAKUUUU my love. This one was a no-brainer, I mean come on. He and Rui are peak romantics. He was the first one to help you and by god, he'll be the last. I have no other words. Live, laugh, love, Haku.

Zenji - Heavenly Kind of State of Mind

“From now until the afterlife, be it rain, or hail, or shine, we could be intertwined. Whether you were heaven-sent to save me from above, or the only one who doesn’t hate me, that’s enough. When I need someone to save me from original sin, you call me like a chorus only angels could sing. Now I think about you all of the time, oh what a heavenly kind of state of mind.”

I'm sorry but this one was FUNNYYYY to me. You know, cause he's, y'know...anyways. This whole song feels like how he talks and how he would probably sing it too. Even from the start, "it's almost cruel, the blue in your eyes. The kind of blasphemy that makes a congregation cry." TELL ME THAT'S NOT SOMETHING HE'D SAY. It's almost as eccentric as he is and there really was no better option for him.

Obscuary 

Ed - Forever

“Darling, nobody said that it would last forever. That doesn’t mean we didn’t try to get there. I never said that we would die together. That doesn’t mean it was a lie, remember. Nobody said that it would last forever.” 

Hahaha pain. Can you imagine Ed living through a bunch of lovers and outliving them all? At some point he'd stop caring but he'd really have to tell you not to expect much from him. He probably avoids becoming attached to anyone anymore.

Rui - Lost on You

“Everyday I’m a slave to the heartache, and you’re wasting away every night. I don’t wanna leave you lonely, but I’ve run out of love this time. You know that I adore you, though I couldn’t give enough. Hope you’ll be safe in the arms of another, cause I can’t take the weight of your love.” 

Pain again. I warned y'all this one would hurt. Of course he'd HAVE to give you up at some point because not being able to touch you was punishment enough. You both have to move on now.

Lyca- Mercy

“For every second you’ve been talking, I’ve been trying to count the lines around your face cause I don’t know if I’ll ever be this close again. I feel like I’m just wasting time before you pull the trigger. It’s the drawing of the line, it’s my ghost you’re gonna give up. Got your made up mind, it hurts to see you’re alright, when I’m not alright. So if you’re calling it a night, oh please have, have mercy. Have mercy on me, you’re breaking my heart.”

HAHAHAHA PAIN PAIN PAIN OH IT HURTS SO GOOD. I thought of two things for this one. 1) Idk but I headcannon that whoever this Neros person is, he's either dead or he wants nothing to do with Lyca. Either way I can imagine their time together before Lyca was imprisoned and him not understanding why Neros is leaving him. 2) His time with Subaru before he actually trusted him. He fully believed Subaru was sent to kill him and he felt kind of conflicted opening up to someone who would probably be his downfall. But then he warms up to Subaru and instead of thinking "when is he gonna kill me" it's "when is he coming back" whenever the lulls between Subaru's visits become too lengthy. This one really hit too close to home :,)

Mortkranken

Yuri - Old Navy Blue

“No matter though how good things go, they’ve always got to end. I’ve said goodbye to family from the side of their sick beds. So, to all the ones I’ll always love but faded out of view: until we meet again, this one’s for you. Well it’s sad, but sometimes it’s true, that your friends become the people you knew. Once upon a time, that you left behind, old navy blue.” 

Okay hear me out. So before the Mortkranken episode, I really did not like Yuri. After it though? AND after Episode 8?? Bro really is overworked and does he get the respect he deserves? Not a lick. I also headcannon that his medical ambitions stem from his possible experiences with loss in his personal life and now he's really just determined to be the best doctor there ever was. Sure, he's got some arrogance going for him but I mean it's kind of warranted when your talents aren't truly recognized. It's kinda necessary or else he's gonna lose his shit. No harm keeping his ego in check from time-to-time though.

Jiro - Rush

“I miss the tone of your heartbeat. It’s such a warming and familiar sound. I hope you’re finding the power to help you make it through the darker days. For now I’ll wait by the hour if you wanna take somebody’s breath away.” 

Do I even have to explain this one? Pre-clash to post-clash Jiro is most likely a completely different person. I can imagine him having some remnants of memories from his past of who he was and who he left behind but still not quite fully understanding what this emptiness is and if it was always there.

Anyways that was the post. Thanks for sticking around this long if you made it all the way down here lol. Part 2 of Subaru mini fic will either be out tonight or tomorrow. Okay bye love you!

[brighteststar707]

Faye!!! Congrats on your two years 🎉 I'm so so incredibly happy that we met through good old Mysme I could CRY fr. You are so special to me!!

So I was thinking for a while but didn't want the slots to go, so I'm gonna come outta nowhere and SHOCK HORROR not pick either of my two husbands, Jumin or Zen.

But how about number 30, confiding in them, with Vanderwood. The little tease we got in V's route just made me smitten at the time. He literally is thrust into the RFA drama and I can't help but feel he'd connect with MC. Like lord help us Vandy, wtf is going on.

Lola! Thank you so much for your message! I'm so grateful to have met you, you mean so much to me and I wish only the best for you <3

I'm pleasantly surprised by your request! It's a good event when I can write more than one fic for Vandy.

Picture this: It's V's route, Seven has saved you from Mint Eye, now you, V Seven and Vandy are in the cabin. Your relationship with V is.... not really existent at this point so this fic could be romantic when you squint hehehe

Love ya <3

Confiding in Them

✦Vanderwood x Gn!Reader ✦ Words: 1553

Time in the cabin feels like it has slowed down to a crawl. It is dark outside, and eerily silent. Inside, there are only the sounds of footsteps back and forth across the floorboards, and V’s harsh breathing in the next room. The repetitive nature of the noises has only added to the liminal feeling.

You had reassured the others that you weren’t tired, and then promptly fallen asleep on the sofa, still sitting upright with your jacket draped over your shoulders. When your eyes opened again, you weren’t sure how long you’d been asleep for, or where your dreams ended and reality began. Your life lately has been so strange, it has been hard to keep track. You had dreamt of car chases and cult initiations, the faces and voices of your loved ones so close and yet out of reach. How was that any different to what you had experienced over the last week?

Someone had covered you with a spare blanket when you were asleep, as well as lit a fire in the fireplace opposite you. It was warm, and you were still disoriented from sleep, so you stayed put, wrapping the blanket tighter around yourself and watching the fire dance over the logs.

You allow yourself, maybe for the first time, to process the fact that you managed to get away from Mint Eye and everything they had planned for you. In the (relative) silence of the cabin, with everyone else occupied, it starts to sink in. Back there, with a part of you constantly in fight or flight, it was hard to process the reality of your situation. You were just trying to survive. Now that you’re safe, it all hits at once.

The isolated compound, the flowery pink room, the wardrobe full of clothes made to your measurements. Ray, monitoring your conversations with the RFA, his kindness that teetered on the brink of desperation. The minty blue of his eyes, too vibrant to be natural. The silence in the hallways, so unsettling for a building so full of people.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

You jump and turn your head towards the speaker. You were too caught up in your own thoughts to hear him approach you.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Vanderwood says. To his credit, he does actually look apologetic.

His voice is quiet, deep, and still unfamiliar to you. You have grown used to the voices of the different RFA members, have even started to find a certain comfort in hearing them. On the other hand, he is still practically a stranger to you.

You had very briefly met Vanderwood when he first got to the cabin to help Seven, but you had said little to each other since.

“It’s okay. I’m just a bit jumpy, I guess.”

“From what I’ve seen tonight and what Seven told me – which isn’t much, mind you - that’s not surprising.”

Seven has been keeping an eye on Vanderwood since he entered with a vaguely threatening air you haven’t yet seen from him, reminiscent of someone keeping their attack dog on a short leash.

“What did Seven tell you?”

He joins you on the sofa, sighing deeply before answering. He has been at V’s bedside, tending to him in his terrible state, since arriving, and he has good reason to be tired.

“He has kept most of the story from me. I know that that guy back there has been fed more different drugs than I’ve ever seen before and that you’re his…?” He leaves it open-ended and throws you a meaningful look. He’s still trying to fill the holes in his story.

“Don’t look at me, I don’t even know what we are.” Thinking about V too much makes you scared all over again, so you change the subject. “What else do you know?”

“Nothing except that you were there with them. He’s smart enough to keep RFA stuff away from agency stuff most of the time. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures, though.”

“You can say that again.”

You sound wearier than you mean to. The longer you think about everything, the more ridiculous it all sounds. You watch as a log cracks in the fireplace with a satisfying pop and feel Vanderwood turn to assess you for a moment.

“And who are you in all of this?”

“That’s a long story.”

“And I am a very good listener. Literally, it’s part of my job.”

You laugh. He doesn’t.

“Really, I feel like I haven’t talked to a single person since I arrived - Seven doesn’t count. I need a change of scenery.”

It isn’t that his voice softens, but he sounds like he’s choosing his words more intentionally this time he speaks. It makes him sound more sincere. Maybe that’s what encourages you to indulge him. Or maybe, you just need someone to help ground you now that you feel like you’ve detached from reality.

“Well, I was sort of… kidnapped and held hostage in this cult?”

His eyebrows disappearing into his fringe is the only thing that gives away his surprise. He scans you once over, a well-practiced look. He’s looking for any obvious damage.

“I’m fine, you say quickly, “Seven managed to save me before anything really bad could happen.”

He nods. “You can trust him with these things.” He thinks for a moment, before quickly adding, like a sudden thought that came into his mind “were you with the hacker?”

“Yeah.”

“You met him? What was he like?”

The questions tumble out of his mouth faster than he can stop them. Is this what he sounds like when he’s excited? You had heard him discussing the hacker with Seven earlier, asking questions with his eyes wide. Turns out it’s rare for someone to give Seven this much trouble.

“Strange. Kind of sad. I wish there was something I could do for him.”

Vanderwood’s enthusiasm vanishes.

“Then he sounds just like the rest of us.”

In the silence that follows, you both turn your attention back to the fireplace. The flames seem to have a life of their own, and your cheeks feel warm from the heat of it. Somewhere, from another room, you hear Seven’s voice. You wonder who he’s talking to, or if it's just to himself.

“So, if that guy,” Vanderwood gestures back to the bedroom where V is sleeping, “was drugged to oblivion by that cult, how did you get out okay?”

“He has a bit of a personal history with their founder. The whole RFA does, actually, but his is more… delicate, from what I understand. See, I’m the stranger in this equation.”

“Huh. I don’t know why I expected this to be simple. Nothing Seven involves himself in ever is.”

“They used to all be like a family once apparently. I’m still trying to understand it all myself.”

He puts his head on his hands for a second in a show of exhaustion. “Maaaaan…. how are you staying sane through all of this? Just hearing the gist of things is making me tired.”

You’ve been asked this question a few times, but you’ve never given the real answer any thought before. Next to V, who could barely stand upright and was talking to the air last time you were at his bedside, you were always fine. It felt wrong to even imply otherwise.

But now, when you think about where you were a week ago and how much has changed since then, you aren’t so sure. You can’t remember the last time you felt rested and, even though you’ve been reassured that you’re safe here, you’re scared someone is watching you. You can’t even think of walking down the street by yourself before you break out in goosebumps.

"Oh. I guess you hadn’t gotten that far yet, had you?”

“No… I guess not. Is it that obvious?”

He holds out a gloved hand in front of your face and taps your forehead once, lightly.

“You’re easy to read. Or maybe it’s just me.”

With only the flickering firelight on his face, his expression is hard to make out, but you find some comfort in his gesture.

“I feel like none of it is real. At least if you can see it, it means that I’m not making any of this up.”

He nods and you lapse back into a comfortable silence.

“Hey, I know it may not be much coming from me, but I think you’ve got some good people on your side at the moment.”

You’re not sure what possesses you to ask, “Is that including you?”

He seems to be stunned for a moment before he smiles. It transforms him into a brand-new person, and you can imagine what a different life might have looked like on him. Your anxiety gets pushed down by a wave of pride at managing to elicit that expression from him. You have a feeling it’s quite rare.

“Yeah, I guess it does.”

Suddenly, V groans loudly, startling the both of you. Vanderwood jumps back to his feet and quickly follows the sound to the bedroom door. Before he disappears completely, he turns to you and says, “Listen, I need to go back to playing nurse, but can we talk more a bit later?”

You smile.

“I’d like that.”

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

I feel like maybe someone needs to say it and I figure it's probably best coming from the guy with the Calico Jack pfp who has been very open about not being the biggest Stede fan (he reminds me of my shitty ex hope this helps), because then this comes off less like unhinged blorbo apologia. I just. I'm gonna walk through a minefield with this meta, but I want to talk about the whole Stede abandoning his kids thing. I understand that many people feel all types of things about this and it's valid I get it, but I think we need a bit of perspective.

So basically, recap from discomfort in a married state, which is where we get 90% of Stede's tragic backstory from. I know a lot of stuff with this show is anachronistic, but Stede's marriage really does not seem like one of those things. I say that because in the modern day in the US, which is the audience that OFMD is geared towards and the culture which all the other historical anachronisms seem to favor, it's an American show, arranged marriage is basically unheard of. But it was relatively common among the aristocracy of 1717. Based on this I think we can assume a few things about Stede's marriage. 1) Divorce is not an option, and 2) You have to have kids to carry on the family name and have somebody to pass your money down to. Sure nobody's forcing you at gunpoint to have kids, but culturally back then the expectation is that you get married in order to have legitimate children. If they didn't have kids Mary would have been socially ostracized and seen as a failure of a woman, there would have been social consequences for Stede as well though less harsh. It's informative that Stede and Mary have the classic heir and a spare, i.e. one child to inherit the fortune and one child just in case something happens to that first kid, it's also informative that the younger child is male, since at the time the fortune would either go to the son or the daughter's husband if there was no son to pass it onto.

This is the context we have to understand Stede in. He's a gay man who was forced to be a husband to a woman and who was forced to be a father. The being Mary's husband and being a father are inextricably linked for Stede, because remember the whole point of getting married was to have an heir and you cannot get divorced it's illegal and pretty much unheard of. Stede is so miserable in this state that he literally fucks off to sea to become an outlaw where he'll probably die tomorrow. He's so fucking desperate that instead of going on a rich people cruise like a normal rich guy trying to get away from the family he's doing fucking crimes that could get him hanged to death if he gets caught and could get him killed while he carries them out. This is Stede's last ditch effort to leave his old life behind before he kills himself. This is a borderline suicide attempt from our boy. He's too chicken to do it for real but he can't live like this anymore and he needs to do something.

So like, yeah. Stede's abandonment was probably traumatic for his kids. He was put in a situation where he didn't have many other options, and most of those options are in fact more traumatic for Alma and Louis than Stede just disappearing one day. Because like, staying miserable like that for another... decade minimum I'm gonna guess based on how old Louis looks and acts, is an incredible fucking ask, and having two miserable parents will probably fuck those kids up in a whole host of ways. I know people who have parents who didn't love each other but stayed together for the kids and those people do have issues. Alma herself says that it's probably best he leave because Mary was happier when he was gone. He could just kill himself like normal, which is also pretty goddamn traumatic for his kids I shouldn't have to explain that one. Or he could fuck off in the middle of the night leaving them with Mary and the nanny that almost certainly exists, this isn't child neglect it's child abandonment, Stede can be sure Alma and Louis will be taken care of if he leaves. Even if Mary falls into the worst tropes about widowdom and becomes unable to care for them herself, they're very rich they have people who will care for them. That will fuck them up to, but not significantly more than him sticking around would and at a certain point you have to take care of yourself. The best options are not having the kids in the first place or getting a no fault divorce and being a weekends and holidays dad, but oops, he was forced into having the kids in the first place and he can't get divorced. There's no good options left, those kids are getting traumatized one way or another. The option that hurts himself the least is hitting the bricks.

So like, yeah, dunk on him for being an absent father. I love dunking on him for being an absent father it's very funny. I'll take any opportunity to dunk on Stede. But treating Stede's abandonment with the same lens you would examine modern child abandonment or acting like it's akin to child abuse (I have seen both takes on this wretched website, I'm far more sympathetic to the first than I am to the second) seems kinda unfair. Just like, idk remember the context of him never having asked to be a father and him not having any good options left. Walking out wasn't the right move because there was no right move. I think Stede probably should have had a conversation with Mary about how the only way for him to be happy was for him to leave and made sure that his leaving wasn't a surprise to his kids, but sometimes I think the way that people take it so damn serious is a little unfair

[zuzsenpai]

personal post

I met a friend for lunch yesterday who I hadn't seen in maybe 7 or 8 years. We've known each other for almost 30 years at this point, but for the last decade our conversations have largely been through birthday and Christmas texts. I went to school with her from kindergarten through eighth grade, our families were close, and she was a really good friend. But we had very few things in common as we became teenagers and eventually adults. She was a cheerleader and very classically "boy crazy", while I was a HUGE fandom nerd who was too awkward and nervous to even think about dating (still am, lets be real). She eventually became a very stereotypical "sorority girl" and I became a uhhhh bigger fandom nerd. But she always appreciated me as a friend because she claimed I was the "least fake and most genuine" person in her life. I was a bridesmaid in her wedding back in 2014, and since then she moved 90 mins away while I stayed in our home town. She became a social worker for a veterans hospital and I became a video editor/animator for a health care network. Our parents have stayed friends and see each other a lot more than we do tbh, and like I said, we became "2-3 texts per year friends". None of this background info is super relevant to what I'm about to say, but whatever. I said it anyway.

So yesterday we spent about 3 hours catching up. It was nice to see her, but a bit difficult. Because everything she caught me up on was one negative thing after another, one medical issue or work stressor or aging parent issue after another. She bombarded me with details on how every week at work is worse than the next. That she can barely handle the stress. That work stress is what's caused her to fail to get pregnant for the 5 years she's been trying, and now she's at the age where a pregnancy would be geriatric. That she can't do IVF because she has a severe anesthesia phobia. That her parents are dying and her husband's parents are dying and every vacation she tries to go on gets screwed up somehow. Even the tiniest little thing like "oh let me see a picture of your cat", turned into complaining about the cat's medical problems. I know life can be VERY shitty, especially for millennials, but what she said really got to me.

I absorbed the negative vibes and responded with complaints about my life/medical issues/work/relationships/parents as well. And soon I came to the realization that there's nothing good going on in my life either. Or at least nothing she would understand. Things like "I'm replaying a game I love because I want to write fanfic" or "I'm slowly pulling together a new cosplay".... those are things that I would consider positive in my life, but they felt like they weren't worth mentioning. But you know... maybe I should have mentioned them. Because she probably went home thinking the same thing about me-- that I'm a negative person and my life is shit.

During our entire 3 hour conversation, neither of us laughed once, and that really struck me. I spiraled a bit after I went home. It made me realize I need to be more positive, because I really don't want to lose the friends I talk to and see more regularly. Obviously I can't ignore the shitty things going on in my life, but I think it's important for me to say to myself that I'm doing alright sometimes. That something made me happy or something in the future will make me happy. I can't turn into my mom who, whenever she talks to any friend or relative in her life, only talks about her medical problems or other people's medical problems.

I had a rough year, not gonna lie. I broke up with my boyfriend. Then I had the most severe mental health crisis of my life. Then I had a breast cancer scare and lumpectomy. Then Zuko got sick and I started to have burnout/depression spiral/massive uptick in anxiety. Then work got too difficult to handle. Meanwhile I've been struggling with constant exhaustion, increased body image issues, loneliness, bad social anxiety, and the process of re-evaluating my life with the "I probably have autism" lens.

But I can't let this year define me. I can't let negativity and shitty situations define me. I can't have someone I care about think about me and say to themselves "wow she is depressing and all I know about her is that her life sucks." Because at this point? All that old childhood friend and I know about each other is that our lives suck. Literally nothing else.

I need to be more positive. Seriously.

[chiffaust]

DAY 8 — CHRISTMAS PROMPT 💋 + adonis otogari

💋  ─  be caught standing under the mistletoe

Bringing Adonis along to a relatives Christmas party as a plus one isn't exactly the plan you you were thinking of from the start—hell, you weren't even thinking of attending.

But one after the other, you were dragged and so did Adonis. Adonis agreed to go with you without a second thought; sometimes you truly do think that he's too kind for this world.

"[Name], do you want some food? They're quite delicious." He asked, bringing a plate full of food to you, a smile was to be seen on his face.

"No, I'm fine... I'm not exactly hungry." You turned down the offer, smiling apologetically at him.

"It's okay. If you want some food, please just tell me. I'll get it for you right away." Adonis said, leaning onto the wall beside you, still indulging himself in the food he has on his plate.

Silence overtook you two once again as the Christmas BGM and the chatters of everyone became louder to you. Ah, how you hate this. You just wanna go home already.

"[Name], are you okay? Is there something bothering you?" Adonis asks, catching on quite quickly that you're bothered about something.

His question brought you back to reality, you look at him, smiling apologetically as you sheepishly chuckled. "Haha, it's alright. I just hadn't seen my parents, that's all. They were the one who dragged us into this, after all..."

"And my cousin too. Where are they. They said they'd come. They bailed on me, they're gonna pay for this." You restlessly tapped on your arm, teeth gritting at the fact that they'd bail on you like that. To Adonis, it seemed like you were really a moment away from blowing up.

Before he could say anything to comfort you, a voice echoed from afar; the voice called out your name. He looked at the direction the voice came from and then to you who suddenly had such a pleasant smile on your face.

"Yes, auntie? Do you need anything?" You ask as you see one of your aunt coming from the crowd.

She then proceed to drag you to somewhere amongst the crowd and had told Adonis to come to which he did.

He had asked you where she's taking the both of you to, but you didn't have a single clue either. How annoying, really. Nonetheless, you didn't voice out your distress and continued to follow her.

Then she stopped, and told you two to stay there. As she left, you let out a loud sigh, shaking your head at her actions.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this, Adonis. Whatever she's trying to do..." You look up at Adonis, smiling sheepishly once again.

"No, it's okay. I think your family are pleasant people. You know, I met your father while at the dining area."

"R-really? What did he say...?" You ask, nervousness overtook you at his statement.

"He told me that he was happy you chose me as your boyfriend and that I was a kind man." Adonis then smiled once again, remembering the compliment your father gave to him. "He said I could come over to your house too whenever I want. Maybe we should sometimes? I didn't had the chance to thank him for his kind words ♪"

No way... The person he met, was that actually your father...?

Suddenly, the whole place went quiet somehow. You both looked around, confused as to why everybody's attention were on you all of the sudden before you look up and see it;

The mistletoe.

Your face started heating up in embarrassment at the realization on why everybody was quiet; they were seriously expecting you to kiss Adonis.

Some where whispering amongst one another and some were already making that kissy face at you.

"J-just so you know... That will not happen! In your dreams, you bast—"

"Uhm, [Name]. Can I kiss you?" Adonis sudden asks, albeit bashfully. "It's okay if you don't want to, I—"

"N-no, let's kiss!" You replied out of instinct and grabbed him by his collar to bring him down closer to your height. The kiss didn't last for long, but your family soon went crazy.

You were gonna get teased as hell on your next family gathering. As you basked in your embarrassment, Adonis soon wrapped his arms around you, pulling you closer for a hug.

"You seemed quite flustered... We can stay like this for a while if you'd like."

You huffed at his statement, not doing anything to be free from his grasp. If you're going to get teased then so be it. You love your boyfriend.

[justabigoldnerd]

Rules: post a kiss from any of your OCs/WIPs. Any kiss, from familial, pecks on the cheek, kisses on the forehead, to full blown steamy make-outs

This week, I'll share all the kisses in "All Eyes On Me (Your Eyes On Me)" !!

This fic is pretty much porn with plot so I'm gonna put all but the first one below the cut lmao

1.

However, by eight o'clock, both the platter and the decanter were empty and Illya was far too comfortable on Solo's expensive couch to move. "'M goin' to bed, Peril," Solo's face appeared over his, "Stayin' or leavin'?" A small smile tugged its way onto Illya's face. Solo was excellent at keeping his American accent relatively neutral, even when drunk. But recently, he'd stopped trying to hide the twinge of New York in his voice around his partners. "Staying," he slurred, his own accent noticeably thicker.  "'Kay. I'll grab a blanket. Don't go anywhere." Solo and his curls were gone again, but not for long. A soft throw blanket was draped over Illya's form, and Solo reappeared. "Good night, Cowboy," Illya drawled, tilting up his chin to better see his friend. "'Night, hun," Solo gave a loopy grin and leaned forward to plant a kiss on Illya's forehead. "Wha-," he started to question, but sleep was closer than Solo, who was currently stumbling his way to his bed, and he decided that whatever that was could be dealt with in the morning.

2.

Illya slid his hand up Dunne's neck and cradled his jaw. A kiss was coming. This was not the person Illya wanted his first kiss with a man to be with. But the mission came first. And in the dark of the club, if Illya squinted hard enough, he could pretend that it was Solo standing with him, eyes sparkling, waiting for him to seal the night with a kiss. "Keeps me happy," Illya replied, watching Dunne's mouth for a moment longer before taking a breath and dipping his head, kissing him with all the hunger he could muster.  Dunne hummed into the kiss, locking his hands around the back of Illya's neck and deepening it, inviting his tongue into his mouth. When they parted, Illya kept his eyes closed, beaming. The tightness and wrongness in his chest made it difficult, but Illya was able to convince Dunne that he'd thoroughly enjoyed the kiss.

3.

Dunne rambled on about everything under the sun on the short walk to his flat. Illya mostly tuned him out, nodding along in mock interest. It was nothing important, mostly about horse racing and art. Soon, they reached the building and Dunne tugged him upstairs, suddenly in more of a hurry. Illya allowed himself to be pulled into Dunne's apartment, taking a moment to examine the room for any clue as to where the safe would be. He didn't have long, however, because Dunne pushed him against the wall and kissed him roughly. His hands skirted under the fabric of Illya's shirt, fingers burying themselves in his hair. Illya squeezed his eyes shut, desperately imagining that Dunne's brown eyes were blue. He had a job to do. He grabbed Dunne's face and kissed him back, letting his target unbutton the rest of his shirt. Once it was open all the way, Dunne helped him out of it. His hands caught on the number of scars marking his torso and he pulled away for a moment, intrigued.

4.

"Me too," Illya said quickly, his heart racing. "Sorry?" "I like both. Just not Dunne." The tension in Solo's shoulders melted away, and he laughed, breathy and relieved. "I never would've guessed." "Like I said," Illya drawled, everything from the past few days finally making sense. He grabbed the seat of Solo's chair and pulled it close. Solo gasped lightly and braced himself with one hand against the table. A pink flush spread across his face. "You are a terrible spy." Trading lessons for passion, Illya cupped Solo's face and closed the distance between them with a truly delirious kiss that made heat coil in his belly. All of the exhaustion was banished from his body, replaced by adrenaline. After a second of shock, Solo reciprocated, shifting impossibly closer to Illya and tangling his fingers in his hair. When they finally parted, Solo panted, "I was jealous. I wanted to be the one to tear that tiny shirt off of you. I wanted to be the target of what I taught you. I wanted you to use them on me." "I imagined he was you. To make it through," Illya laughed, amused by their mutual oblivion. "Did it help?" "Little bit. Nothing like the real thing," he pulled him into another kiss, his hands drifting to the buttons of Solo's waistcoat.

5.

Solo caught his hands and pulled away a bit, concern on his face, "Are you sure? After what happened tonight?"

Illya adjusted so that he was holding Solo's hands, and gazed into his eyes, "More than ever." Then he stood and pulled Solo with him to the bed. He let Solo climb onto it, then Illya hovered over him, pressing starving kisses to his lips. Solo's hands slid up Illya's chest and worked to unbutton the fresh dress shirt Illya had changed into after his shower.

6.

Having never bedded a man, Illya was unsure how to proceed. He knew what felt good for himself, but that was it. Planting a kiss to Solo's hip bone, he rumbled, "Show me what you want."

7.

"Close, I'm close," Solo warned, his rhythm faltering. His eyes squeezed shut and his whole body tensed. Illya kept the pace, but rose up to kiss Solo through the orgasm. "Mm- Fuck, Illya!" Solo cried into the kiss as his back arched and he came, shuddering. "That's my úmnitsa," Illya purred, swallowing the moans of Solo's come-down with grateful kisses.

8.

"'Pretty good'? I think I deserve more credit," Illya pinched his waist playfully, making them both laugh. "Okay, fine," Solo rose up to kiss him again, "I never want to scream anyone else's name." The commitment in his words scared the little boy in his chest that had been abandoned one too many times. Illya comforted the small, teary-eyed version of himself by assuring him that, politics being what they are, if Solo were to abandon them, he would have to kill him. "You won't," Illya promised between kisses that were growing deeper again, "Not if I have any say."

9.

"There's one more thing you need to learn," Solo said, dripping with mischief. "What would that be?" "The definition of a 'switch'," the disheveled tone had dissipated, replaced by a sultry confidence made hoarse by Illya's efforts. Solo pulled him into one more kiss before swiftly rolling them over so that he straddled Illya's hips. Woah. Maybe Dunne had been right about one thing.

10.

"How'd you guess?" Solo grinned, ducking to press a soft kiss to Illya's lips before biting down on his bottom lip. Illya gasped in pleasure and pain. When Solo sat back up, he praised, "So clever."

11.

"Well, my dear, that's what I'm about to do," Solo eased, pressing a soft kiss to his inner thigh. "Oh." Eyes twinkling, Solo traced the skin of Illya's thigh with his fingertips, resting his hand on his hip. He trailed gentle, almost-chaste kisses along the inside of his other thigh until he reached Illya's dick. Solo gingerly wrapped his free hand around the base of Illya's length, then looked up at him through his lashes, "Ready?"

12.

Familiar with the high of the afterglow, Illya just smiled down at him and pulled him up to give him a slow, chaste kiss. "Decide that in the morning. Shower?"

13.

"No rush. I'm enjoying this. I meant it when I said I was in love with you," he got quieter as he spoke, vulnerability seeping through the cracks. That warm ember glow spread through Illya's chest again and he ran his fingers through Solo's curls. "I am in love with you, too." "That settles it, then," Solo gave him a soft kiss on the lips and cuddled further into Illya's arms, "Five more minutes." Illya closed his eyes again, "Five more minutes."

14.

When Solo re-emerged from the bathroom, he looked far more put together in a gray-blue three piece suit and his hair carefully styled. Gaby leapt up and crossed the room, throwing her arms around his neck in an unexpected hug. When she pulled away, she looked between him and Illya and declared, "You smell like him. You fucked." "I prefer 'made love'," Illya clarified, making Solo turn beet red. "I hate both of you. I expect this from you," he turned back to Illya, "But et tu, Peril?" "Is fun to see you flustered," Illya shrugged, approaching him, holding his face, and kissing him softly.  "I guess that's payback for my stunt back in London, huh?" "So clever," Illya purred, and Solo flushed again. "I'm going to go call Waverly and report you both to HR."

15.

Gaby, mid-lyric, threw out her arms at the sight of him and wrapped him in a tight hug, kissing him on the cheek before taking the flowers he brought. "These are beautiful! I know just the vase," she reached up into Solo's cabinet and produced a pretty, rectangular, green vase. The epitome of spring with the white and yellow bouquet.

16.

"You brought flowers?" Solo cooed, turning from the stove top. That adorable frilly pink apron was tied around him again. "How domestic, Illya!" Illya rolled his eyes good-naturedly and pulled Solo into a slow, soft kiss by his waist. Solo's hand held his face gently, and he smiled into it. When they parted, Illya said, "I am getting used to domestic. Is nice." "No arguments from me," Solo grinned, still wearing that awestruck expression he got after every kiss, despite the months that had passed. Illya could understand, though. He kept falling in love with Solo over and over again. With every kiss, every meal, every mission, every witty or not-so-witty quip, every bicker and rescue and night spent enjoying each other's company in every sense of the phrase, Illya fell even more in love with the most unlikely of partners.

Open Tag for anyone who (made it this far, lol 💕) wants to join!!! 💕💕💕💕💕

[fletchervanhall]

A Flavier Father's Day

Featuring: Xavier Mitchell & Fletcher Van Hall with Winter & Henry Mitchell, and Phoebe & Drew Van Hall Location: The Mitchell Home; San Francisco, CA Time Frame: Morning, Father's Day 2024 Notes: Plenty of feels, funnies, and whole lotta family!

FLETCHER

Fletcher had fallen asleep spooning Xavier and woke up the same way. In addition to being a very light sleeper, he was a relatively still sleeper in that he didn't toss and turn much when he slept well. But over the months, even with most of that time being Phoebe's infancy and not sleeping fully through the night, he found he slept very well when Xavier was in bed with him. For Father's Day weekend, they'd been at the Mitchell home. The night before, he and Xavier harmlessly argued over who would make breakfast in the morning. Fletcher was determined to be up before him and so far, it seemed like that had been the case. It was relatively quiet from what he could tell and since there was no sounds coming from the baby monitor to indicate Phoebe was awake yet, he'd had a triumphant feeling surge through him as he carefully lifted his arm from around Xavier and slowly rolled to the edge of the bed to get out of it. When he stood, he stretched his arms far apart and quietly yawned before padding around the foot of the bed. But as he reached the door, he felt and then sensed that he no longer was the only one awake in the room and stilled. Eyes narrowing a bit, he turned around and looked at his boyfriend. "Good morning sweetheart. And before you pick up where we left off last night...well, words-wise, I'm already up so I'm making breakfast for us. So there. Stay there and I'll be back soonish with food. And maybe a morning delight if the kids aren't already up and about too."

XAVIER

Sleeping in or sleeping for longer than four hours at a time was a foreign thing to Xavier. He didn't have a newborn that kept him up like Fletcher but he did suffer from bouts of insomnia from time to time. He had tried different alternatives to try to get him to sleep from anxiety meds to melatonin to cherry juice to warm drinks at night to CBD oil but nothing seemed to do the trick. His mind was always awake and while he was still young and actively working on new projects, it suited him well but in the back of his mind he knew that sleep was important and he didn't want to spend his later years burnt out. After meeting his boyfriend, he'd often joke that Fletcher would wear him out and while some of that was true, it was more than just the intimacy getting him to sleep peacefully, it was their closeness. The nights they spent together were the best ones and Xavier would always find himself missing Fletcher's presence and his warmth. With his boyfriend's arm draped around him, he'd favor holding the older man's hand until they both drifted and Xavier was starting to realize why sleep was so damn important. Xavier wasn't one to let go of anything and in the back of his head, before falling asleep the night prior, he reminded himself he'd have to beat Fletcher to the clock to make breakfast for Father's Day. It was an important day for obvious reasons but it was also their first Father's Day together and separately. There was something very special about that. When he felt Fletcher moving beside him, he kept his eyes closed to give off the illusion that he was still asleep. Xavier tucked his lips in as soon as he felt Fletcher roll off the best, trying his best not to snicker and with his boyfriend's back turned to him, he quickly and very quietly climbed out of bed, slowly creeping up behind him. And that's when he was caught. "Oh hiii, baby." He grinned widely. "look, I love it when you're so demanding but I fear that I will be winning this round." Xavier leaned and tip-toed to kiss Fletcher on the lips. "Morning delight included. I already have a menu in my head." He tapped his temple and smirked.

FLETCHER

Fletcher laughed, "It’s cute you think you're gonna win." He dipped his head to meet Xavier's lips and then smiled as he listened to Xavier. "Good. In that case," and he bent his knees, wrapped his arms around Xavier's thighs and lifted him off the ground, walking back to the bed where he deposited him. He climbed onto his boyfriend and pinned Xavier's hands over his head, looking down at the man with a smile. "Now stay here, sugar," Fletcher insisted, his voice low and demanding. He lowered his face enough to kiss Xavier's full lips, thoroughly and deeply and hadn't parted until they needed air. He brushed his nose across Xavier's as he sweetly murmured, "Let me make you breakfast, X."

XAVIER

"It is really cute, right?" Xavier replied with a mischievous grin before kissing his Fletcher. The night before had been amazing as always and he wouldn't mind a repeat as everyone slept as long as Xavier could make everyone breakfast and spoil the shit out of Fletcher. When they broke their kiss and Fletcher bent his knees, Xavier watched with a puzzled expression. "What are you--oh my God. How're you so insanely strong?!" He laughed when he fell back onto the bed, an amused smile spreading against his lips. "You're man-handling me." His smile only widened when Fletcher pinned his hands. "Not fair..." Before he could say anything else, Xavier was kissing his boyfriend, already giving up on this battle. When they broke their kiss, he chased another quick one and grinned at his boyfriend's antics. "I hate you." He stole one more kiss. "No, no kidding. I love you. Okay, you can make breakfast. I'll clean the dishes." Xavier looked up at Fletcher. "Happy Father's Day, baby."

FLETCHER

Fletcher chuckled, "I mean I know I'm not built like The Rock but you make it sound like you weigh a metric ton or something." He smiled and gazed down at Xavier as he climbed on him. "Mmhm, sure am," he confirmed of man-handling his boyfriend. "Completely fair," he casually argued, an impish smirk appearing on his face before he'd started kissing Xavier. He gladly accepted the stolen kiss and grinned back. "If this is your brand of hating me, I could live with it." He kissed him back again and then kissed his nose and forehead. "Happy Father's Day, sweetheart." And as he sat up, releasing Xavier's hands to tug his ribbed tank off and toss aside, he asked, "We might've worked up our appetites a little last night but how about a little sampling of what's to come later?" He reached to trace a thumb along his lips and then glided his fingers down Xavier's chest. While slowly scooting down Xavier's legs, Fletcher leaned forward and stamped kisses across his chest, giving plenty of attention to each pec. His fingers roamed to the elastic waistband of his boyfriend's pajama pants, all the while keep his eyes locked on the man before him. Just as he was about to climb off of Xavier and rid him of his pants at the same time, he heard eager knocking on the front door. Completely caught off guard, Fletcher jolted, lost his balance and fell backwards off the bed with a solid thud, accompanied with a loud, "Shit!" from him.

XAVIER

“Still pretty strong.” He grinned, looking up at his boyfriend, completely amused and turned on at the same time. Breakfast did sound nice and he was plenty hungry but Xavier was enjoying Fletcher’s attention and when the question of sampling what they’d be doing later was posed, he used his now free hands and arms to prop himself up and watch his boyfriend. “That sounds like a good idea.” Xavier’s teeth raked across his bottom lip as the anticipation grew along with other things. “Only a sample?” His grin pulled at the corner of his lips and as he was going to lift his ass to assist Fletcher, he heard the door and his gaze snapped in that direction. He could have sworn everyone was still sleeping. And that’s when he realized Fletcher had lost his balance and as he was about to reach for him, Xavier missed and his boyfriend fell back. “Oh no.” He whispered, sliding down to the floor to help Fletcher. “One minute!” He called out toward the door and then let out a small laugh as he rubbed Fletcher’s arm. “Are you alright?” He asked him and made sure that he wasn’t hurt. As he got up and helped lift Fletcher up, Xavier noticed his other problem in his pants and turned around. “Dammit uhhh…” he closed his eyes and began thinking of all the unsexy things he could. The 96 year old crossing guard at the kids school completely naked with the exception of whipped cream anything. “Come in!” He sat at the edge of the bed and placed a pillow on his lap, pulling Fletcher down beside him. “It’s about time! Are you guys okay?! We heard a crash.” Henry came in with a platter of breakfast foods and Winter followed with another platter. “Henry, I told you not to ask questions. We made you both breakfast! We made some for grandad Drew but he’s still asleep sooooo once everyone eats and is ready, we’d like you to join us and Phoebe in the living room for presents!” Winter smiled at both the men sitting beside each other. “No seriously are you guys okay?”

FLETCHER

Fletcher was flat on his bare back at the foot of the bed, eyes squeezed shut as he slowly rolled to one side, rubbing the back of his head. “Ugh, goddammit,” he hissed. He was sure he wasn’t seriously injured but he certainly didn’t want to repeat this again. As he accepted Xavier’s help and they got to their feet, his back stung a little but he momentarily ignored it as he noticed the tent pitched in his boyfriend’s pants. Nothing and everything about their situation had been funny and, oh how he wanted to take care of that ‘problem’ for Xavier. But the kids were just on the other side of the door and likely weren’t going to wait too long for them to get themselves together. He considered sitting in front of Xavier between his legs but thought it would probably make matters worse for his boyfriend. He’d been pondering this with a hand still on the back of his head and his eyes on Xavier’s crotch until the younger man pulled a pillow there. Fletcher was momentarily taken by surprise from Xavier’ pulling him down beside him on the bed but he was trying to put the turn-ons out of his head for the time being and not work himself into the same problem his boyfriend was currently concealing. Looking to the door, Fletcher watched Henry and Winter enter the bedroom, brows lifting at the platters that each of them carried in. “Wow, guys. Yeah, everything’s okay, but wow. You two must’ve been up really early. What time is it?” He looked around for a clock or one of their phones to find out but listened to Winter. “Presents, huh? Well thanks, both of you. We’ll eat our breakfast, get some clothes on and meet you downstairs. Is Phoebe already up? I can get her diaper changed and I’ve got a bottle ready for her in the fridge. It just needs to be warmed up.” Hearing Winter check up on them again, Fletcher said, “Yeah, we’re okay. Promise, kid.”

XAVIER

Xavier began rubbing the back of Fletcher's head and then moved to his back, pouting a bit as he did so. "That sounded so rough, baby. Happy Father's Day, you have a goose egg." Xavier watched as Fletcher's gaze settled on his problem and then pointed to his eyes. "Hey! eyes up here!" He shook his head and grinned at Fletcher. "Stop looking at it like it's a meal! We have to behave. For a little bit." He then smiled as the children walked in, bearing all his teeth like he didn't just chastise his boyfriend for staring at his boner. Their gesture touched Xavier and he watched as the kids placed both platters on the dresser. "This all looks amazing! Wow! And it smells great! Thank you." "Happy Father's Day!" Henry chimed in and then glanced at his watch for Fletcher. "It's 7:22 a.m. Winter woke me up at 6:30 a.m. and we started. We even made the French Toast from scratch. You will be pleasantly surprised at the lack of egg shells." Winter smacked her brother on the arm and smiled when he rubbed it. "Don't listen to him. He makes fun of my cooking skills but he knows he loves it so...enjoy, guys! Phoebe is not up yet but once she is, I'll get her ready and give her the bottle! And then you can snuggle her on the couch and spend some very important daddy/daughter time while we set up the presents!" Winter was so excited about the surprises. "I'm really glad you're okay! Now eat up! We'll see you two in a little bit!" She was about to lead Henry out but then rushed to hug Fletcher tightly and then her father. "Love you, bye." "Peace out, fathers!" Henry threw up the peace sign and exited with his sister. "Peace out, children..." Xavier laughed and glanced over to Fletcher. "They love you."

FLETCHER

Fletcher softly snorted, "God, I hope it won't be that bad. My back hit the floor before my head did..." His comment trailed off as his eyes stared in the direction of Xavier's crotch. But he quickly snapped his gaze up to his boyfriend's face and cast him an unabashed grin. "But it was supposed to be my morning snack." He let out a dramatic sigh and then took a seat beside Xavier at the food of the bed. Henry and Winter's appearance with 2 trays of food really had surprised Fletcher but he was also warmed by their gesture and thoughtfulness. He smiled at them and listened to Henry, chuckling a little. "French toast without eggshells is the best way to have them. Thanks, Henry. Thanks, Winter." He was about to open his mouth again to protest Winter and Henry taking care of Phoebe when she first woke up but reminded himself that it was Father's Day and the kids were wanting to do some nice things for them and Drew. Drew was likely to be the last one up in the house but that was typical. He stood up, partly in front of Xavier to help it not look odd that he was resting a pillow across his lap, and shortly after he'd done so, he received Winter's hug. "Thanks, kid. Love you too. You too, Henry." Henry's departure made him chuckle a bit and after the door was shut again, he went to the dresser and plucked a strip of bacon from one of the trays. "Nice to know since I love 'em too," Fletcher said while munching on the bacon. He strode to the bedroom door and quietly locked it before going back over to the trays of food. "They really outdid themselves with all this. Come look."

XAVIER

You're welcome, dad--and Fletcher!" Winter added quickly, catching herself before saying the D word plurally. Would Fletcher even like that? Would Dad get mad at her considering it took her so long to call him the D word? It was different with her dad. Winter didn't understand why a celebrity would want to adopt her and Henry. Why would he want to add more pressure to his already crazy life? Was he trying to be another Daddy Warbucks? Were they just an Instagram post? Were they just meant to make Xavier look good? It didn't take long for those concerns to disappear and while Henry was convinced a week into being fostered, Winter knew she had to keep her guard up. She never imagined a life like this one in a million years and since Fletcher came a few months after they did, it was easier to include him into their unique family. In fact, Winter was thrilled that her father had found someone and that welcoming two kids into his life didn't keep him from falling in love. Everything that came after, meeting Drew, Phobe, and Emiliana cemented the feeling of family that she had yearned for. Even though she was only a few years older than Henry, it was a big enough gap for her to see herself as his sole caretaker. She couldn't believe her luck. "Come on, let's get Phoebe and you can finish setting up the living room, okay?" She messed Henry's hair and smiled as he skipped away to place everyone's gifts on the couch. Meanwhile, Winter quietly entered the nursery they had set up for Phoebe and she chuckled softly when she noticed Phoebe stretching. "Hey, Wiggleworm! Good morning!" She reached into the crib and picked the baby up. "Henry warmed up your bottle so we're going to change you into your Father's Day outfit and then get some food, ok?" Winter went to work, tickling the baby's toes every chance she got.

Xavier stood up, tossing his pillow to admire his kid's work. He smiled as he took in their gesture before plucking a grape off the vine. Xavier tossed the fruit into his mouth and snaked an arm around his boyfriend. "They really did outdo themselves." He reached for a fork with his free hand and gathered some scrambled eggs onto his utensils. The syrup from the French Toast had trickled down onto the eggs a bit and it tasted delightful. "Oh my God, try the eggs. They remembered the trick I taught them that keeps them fluffy." He gathered some more onto his fork and raised it to Fletcher's lips so that he could have a taste. "Mm before we get ready and go out there, let me give you my gift." He tiptoed for a kiss and then opened his closet to pull out a large-sized gift with various objects inside. He opened his top drawer and pulled out an envelope with two Father's Day cards and handed that to Fletcher first. "Okay, first gif is in there and the resttt...in here." He placed the bag on the dresser before reaching for more fruit.

FLETCHER

When the kids left the bedroom and Fletcher got to munching on some bacon, he leaned against the dresser to watch Xavier ditch the pillow and chuckled. He leaned over to drop a kiss on his boyfriend's shoulder and then hummed a little before accepting the offered bite of eggs. He licked his lips and nodded, "Mhm, those are great," and then he raised his brows. "Gift, huh?" Initially, he'd folded his arms and watched Xavier make his way to the closet. "Uh. That looks like gifts as in plural, sweetheart." He stuck the remainder of bacon into his mouth and dusted his fingertips along his pajama pants before taking hold of the envelope. As he chewed, he opened it and read the card, a soft smile appearing on his face. When he flipped the card open, however, he saw two strips flutter out and bent to retrieve them. "Holy shit, the Foo Fighters? I haven't seen them live before." Playfully, he tapped the corners of the tickets to his bare chest and stared up at the ceiling. "Now to just figure out who the hell I'm gonna go with..."

XAVIER

“I haven’t seen them either but I hear they’re amazing live and I figured you’d really like the show. We’re right at the front so the seats are incredible.” He heard what Fletcher said and raised a brow. “No sexy short kings come to mind? None? Damn, just when I thought we were getting hella serious.” Xavier sighed dramatically as he started cutting up his French Toast and then took a bite. Henry was right about Winter getting the recipe right. Everything tasted delicious. “Mmm Phoebe got you a present and a card too by the way.” A gentle smile pulled at the corner of his lips. “And I got a couple of gifts. Plural, yes but I can’t help myself and I wanted to spoil you.”

FLETCHER

"This is incredible, babe," Fletcher said, staring at the tickets in awe. He was already looking forward to going to the concert with Xavier but easily joked, "Mm. Do you know James McAvoy? He seems like he might enjoy Foo Fighters." He glanced up from the tickets and smirked before kissing Xavier's cheek. And then he moved from leaning on the dresser to standing behind Xavier and sliding his bare arms around Xavier's waist. He kissed the groove of his neck a few times and then reached around Xavier for some grapes and some bacon. "Are you compensating for not getting to be my sugar daddy before?" he teased in between bites and then shifted to his boyfriend's side to open the card from Phoebe. "I know you had to have had a lot of fun picking all this out," he commented, eyes lowering to read the card. His smile returned when he finished reading it, and then he propped both cards on the dresser. Setting the tickets down, he reached into the gift bag. Before taking the items out, he asked, "Do you want your gifts now or later? Fletcher had flowers being delivered after remembering how much Xavier liked getting them for Valentine's Day but he didn't know the exact time the bouquet would be delivered. The matching outfit with Phoebe made him chuckle. "This is cute. Maybe we'll rock these today." He had his and Phoebe's clothes for the week in his duffle still but thought it would be nice for them to wear the new attire. He grinned at the Foo Fighters shirt, as well as the tumbler, commenting, "New favorite cup." But when he took out the framed image, Fletcher's expression softened completely. "X... this is more meaningful than you know." He lifted his gaze to his boyfriend and after placing everything back in the gift bag, he gathered his boyfriend in his arms and kissed him full on the lips. Taking his time, he put as much of his appreciation into it as possible, tasting vanilla, cinnamon & syrup from Xavier by the time he pulled away. "Thank you, sweetheart."

XAVIER

Xavier loved seeing Fletcher so happy. There was something wonderful about how his face lit up when it did. He saw it often when he was with Phoebe, making him fall in love with his boyfriend repeatedly. At the question about James McAvoy, Xavier pretended to be in deep thought. "He does seem like the type, you're right. I could give him a ring tonight? See if he's available?" He grinned and looked back up at Fletcher when he situated himself behind him. Xavier enjoyed every kiss and let out a soft chuckle as Fletcher's facial hair moved against his neck and tickled him. He reached behind him, his fingers walking up his boyfriend's neck and they settled at the nape, gently caressing the skin as they buried themselves into his hair. "I am. Just wait until your birthday. Took everything in my power NOT to give that present to you today. But I'll behave." He wasn't lying. Xavier had ideas and since he preplanned most things, he was already getting that prepared as well. "Oh! before I forget, I got us tickets for the Deadpool and Wolverine grand opening fan event next month on the 25th. I actually got those last month because I wanted to make sure we had tickets to go see the movie. As soon as I heard about Fan events and presales, I knew it had to be done." When Fletcher moved to the side, Xavier's arm dropped and he leaned against the dresser to continue eating, stopping after having a healthy portion to wipe his hands and mouth. "That's completely up to you. You can give them to me when we all do presents or now. I did have a lot of fun picking them out. I got Drew a few things too and that was so much fun. One's back at his house and set up. I hope he likes it. " Xavier smiled as Fletcher admired the matching outfit, happy to hear they'd wear them today. "I'd like to see that." He was enjoying each and every reaction to his gifts, grinning at the favorite cup mention.

When Fletcher stopped at the frame, Xavier leaned in, biting his bottom lip as he stared at it too. "Yeah? I wanted you to have something special. Your first Father's Day and I wanted you to have something from when she was born. That's so important, those memories." It's why he had put together an album for Fletcher and the Sip N See. Xavier wanted those moments available for Fletcher always to look back on. He reached to wrap his arms around Fletcher's neck once Xavier was in his arms and looked up at him lovingly before their lips locked. Xavier closed his eyes, taking in the feeling and keeping Fletcher as close as possible. When his boyfriend pulled away, Xavier sighed. "You're very welcome, baby."

FLETCHER

"Yeah, maybe you can pull some strings. Get me a hot date for that night." He grinned and playfully squeezed Xavier's butt before wrapping his arms around him from behind. He'd closed his eyes while affectionately tending to his boyfriend's neck and shoulder, simultaneously enjoying the feel of the other man's s fingers wandering into his hair. He grinned and chuckled, "Are you sure you're gonna be able to wait another couple of months?" He couldn't even imagine what Xavier had in store for him for his birthday but he was sure it was going to be both thoughtful and plentiful. Gift giving and acts of service really were love languages Xavier most often expressed. And throughout their relationship, Fletcher adapted to understanding that about him and loving him for all his sincerity. He kissed his neck and shoulder a few times before halting abruptly, the moment he heard Xavier mention tickets for the premiere of Deadpool & Wolverine. "Shut the fuck up," Fletcher blurted out in amazement. "Jesus, X, this is too much." He'd never been this spoiled in his life before; Drew gifted him things from time to time but like Fletcher, there typically weren't many or too extravagant, with the exception of The Ink Tank. Fletcher knew Xavier enjoyed doing things like this. He was about to answer Xavier but then asked, "Set up? What'd you get him?" And after finishing with the gifts and kissing Xavier, he said, "You are my sweetheart." Once he gave a few more tender pecks, Fletcher turned to the platter while remaining in Xavier's arms to take a few bites of the French toast. After licking his lips, he agreed, "Mhm, you were right. Winter killed it with the French toast." He enjoyed some more of the breakfast with Xavier before going to his duffle and taking out the card he'd gotten for him, along with a square gift box. "I've got a couple other things but they're supposed to be delivered sometime today."

XAVIER

“I’ll do my best. I just hope McAvoy can do that thing I do with my tongue you like so much.” He loved being in Fletcher’s arms. His smile remained on his face as he felt his boyfriend’s lips brush against his skin and he laughed when he was asked if he would be able to hold on to the surprise he had planned for Fletcher’s birthday. “I’ll definitely try my best.” Xavier would be the first to admit that spoiling others was his favorite thing to do. He didn’t feel like he needed to do that to buy anyone’s affection, it just came naturally. Coming from nothing, it meant a lot to him to be able to do big gestures for others especially those he loved. When he felt Fletcher stop his kisses and he told him to shut up, Xavier laughed again and shook his head. “Not shutting up but that’s not even a Father’s Day present. It was honestly something I meant to do anyway and had forgotten to mention to you. I already knew I wanted you to go to the premiere and the fan event is going to be so sick with the popcorn buckets and the giveaways and with it being in laser IMAX 3D, well, I really wanted to go with you. I know Deadpool is your favorite so…” he shrugged a little and then kissed Fletcher’s cheek. “It’s a garden bed!” He smiled so widely that his teeth shined. “Baby, it’s so beautiful and it has a little set up for his tools and for extra pots. I got pots and soils too and I figured I’d take him to the nursery when he has time so he could pick out the seeds for it. He won’t have to bend too much to tend to it and I could help him paint it if he doesn’t want the wood finish. And if he likes it, I can get him another. I’m not saying he can’t tend to his garden but I figured something more accessible would make him feel good about it.” Xavier knew that the garden meant a lot to Drew and he had done a lot of research on Parkinson’s by now to know that he didn’t want to Drew to feel less than by taking away his hobbies. What he needed was accessibility.

He chuckled at all the kissed and his cheeks warmed up from Fletcher calling him his sweetheart. Being someone’s anything, being his something made Xavier feel so complete. He reached for the last piece of his French toast. “Right? She’s a good kid. “ he already knew what Winter and Henry had gotten both Drew and Fletcher and was looking forward to see both their faces. When Fletcher walked off and came back with a card and gift, Xavier, very excitedly, opened the card with a giant smile. His first Father’s Day. He really couldn’t believe those were words used to describe today. Xavier was a dad. A dad to the most incredible children. He pressed the card against his chest and looked up at Fletcher with a thankful expression. “Love you.” He was so genuinely touched that he had a partner to share this day with, one that was also celebrating his first. He then set the card beside the others before opening the box, his eyes twinkling at the sight of the bracelet with the names of both his kids. “This means so much to me. It’s gorgeous. Here, help me put it on, then.” He smiled, removing the bracket from the box before handing it to his boyfriend. “Ya know, you’ve made me so happy today. And you’ve made my kids happy too. I don’t know if you realize how much I love you. It’s bloody amazing. you’re bloody amazing.”!

FLETCHER

"Hm... but is that appropriate concert-going decorum?" Fletcher pretended to ponder before grinning at Xavier. He chuckled at Fletcher planning to try his best at keeping whatever plans were being made for his birthday under wraps for the next month and a half, and then relished the moment of the two of them being physically affectionate towards each other. He then plucked a few grapes and after giving Xavier the gift and card, he moved to the bed where he sat and watched him open the card and then the bracelet. "Love you too, he said back and took in Xavier's reaction to the bracelet. He smiled and then held his hand out to take the item, undoing the latch and holding it out before guiding it around Xavier's wrist and hooking it shut again. "Thank god it fits," he smiled, glad he'd chosen the right size range for the bracelet. "I feel like you could be standing in front of a mirror saying that." He smiled warmly and twined his fingers with Xavier's before pulling him onto his lap and wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. "You, Henry and Winter have added so much light to my life. Mine, Drew's and Phoebe's lives are worlds better with you three in it." He kissed Xavier's chest and then rested his cheek there. "And now it's damn near impossible to even try to imagine not having you and the kids as a part of it." His fingers ran slowly up and down Xavier's back "Thank you for loving us, sweetheart."

XAVIER

"For me it is." Xavier teased. He looked over to the monitor, smiling as Winter was getting Phoebe ready. He was glad that the kids had really grown to love Fletcher's family like their own. There was something really special about how well everyone gelled together and how much they all cared for one another. Sometimes it felt like it's always been like this. Xavier smiled as Fletcher hooked the bracelet on. He turned it around so that he could admire the names on it again and then tapped the empty spot beside Henry's name. "And that spot is for my munchkin." He smiled even wider, letting that thought set in. If things continued going in such a positive direction for Fletcher and him, he hoped that they'd become a unit, a little family. "It fits perfectly." Xavier joined Fletcher, sitting on his lap, and wrapped his arms around his neck. He listened to his boyfriend's words and he swore he felt his heart swell at that moment. "We feel the same about all of you. Henry is obsessed with Drew. Winter thinks we were all connected in a past life somehow and she thinks Phoebe is like her little doll." He chuckled softly, dropping his arms when Fletcher moved to rest his head against his chest. Xavier began massaging his boyfriend's hair and he kissed the top of his head. "Thank you for making it so easy." They remained close in that position for a while longer with Xavier picking up his boyfriend's chin, framing his face gently so he could capture his lips. When he heard a few knocks, he smiled and looked up at the door. "Come in!" He didn't get up from Fletcher's lap but waited to see who was there. Henry poked his little head in and waved. "Uh, sorry dads--dad. Dad and Fletcher? I'm working on it. Drew is up and ready and Phoebe is finishing up her bottle. We have some light tunes on Spotify and presents galore! I'll see you lovebirds in the living room!" Xavier could hear Henry's giggle and shook his head. "Let me throw on a shirt."

Xavier got up but not before kissing his boyfriend again. "If you behave, I'll show you some of that concert decorum a little later."

FLETCHER

Fletcher glanced down at the space on the bracelet Xavier tapped at and smiled a bit. He'd considered a charm for Phoebe but he and Xavier hadn't yet talked about the blending of their families or if he'd felt like a second father to Phoebe, the way he was surprised to find himself already feeling like a stepfather to Winter and Henry. But Fletcher had saved the name of the business he'd ordered the bracelet from and would be able to add to it someday. His arms stayed wrapped around Xavier's lower back while they talked and kissed. It wasn't until there were knocks at the door again that his lips parted from his boyfriend's. He looked to see who was there and then let out a low chuckle from Henry's greeting. "Thanks, Henry. I'll get my shirt on too and we'll be down in a sec." He'd have to grab Drew's meds on the way down but appreciated the kids giving him and Xavier a somewhat later start to their morning than usual. Fletcher met Xavier's lips and spanked his ass shortly after he'd gotten off of his lap. "Behave like that? Or behave like a monk?" He smirked standing up and looking around the floor for the shirt he'd discarded the night before. He picked up the ribbed tank and pulled it on over his head. As he consolidated the few bits of food onto one tray and then stacked them, Fletcher added, "I'll keep Phoebe in my hands so I won't be tempted. How about that?" He smirked, carried the trays out on his way to brush his teeth and then stopped by Drew's room in the Mitchell home so that he could check his daily medicine container. The Sunday A.M. medication was already emptied out and out of habit, Fletcher looked at each spot to make sure the correct ones were either empty or still filled. And then he made his way to the living room to join his uncle, boyfriend and then kids.

XAVIER

“Somewhere in between both?” Xavier chuckled, getting his shirt on and plucking Drew’s card from his dresser. He knew his kids had the sunglasses case wrapped in the living room and the garden bed would be a surprise in the form of a photo inside the card so that Drew would know what was waiting for him back home. Xavier quickly washed his face and brushed his teeth before stopping in the kitchen to get the Brita filter and some glasses out for everyone. He started a fresh pot of coffee in case Drew or Fletcher wanted more and then helped put away some of the perishable items that had been used to make breakfast. “We made grandpa Drew breakfast too.” Henry appeared like a ninja, giving Xavier a fright that made him chuckle. “You gotta teach me how to do that.” Henry smiled at his father and then gave him a hug. “Happy Father’s Day, dad. Did you like breakfast? Did Fletcher?” “Mm hmm. We loved it. That French toast was to die for and by the looks of it, you two made bacon just the way Fletcher likes it.” “Good!” Henry led his father into the living room and Xavier trailed behind carrying the Brita Filter and a few cups. “Good morning! There’s a fresh pot if you want more coffee, Drew. Or I can make you some tea. Whatever you’re in the mood for.” He went up to the older man and hugged him. “Happy Father’s Day. Sleep good?” Winter was sitting on the floor with Phoebe, showing her a couple of toys. “Don’t do any dishes! Fletcher! I can hear you!” She smirked and chuckled when Xavier messed with her hair as he passed her to sit down on the couch. “Okay! There are presents that I will now hand to you. These ones are from Winter and I” he went up to Drew and hugged him, Winter handed Phoebe to Xavier so he could hug him too. Xavier smiled when Phoebe was in his arms and he blew a few raspberries onto her tummy before he let Fletcher take her. “Check out her outfit.” The kids then handed Fletcher his bags and Xavier his. “Okay! Open them!!” Winter beamed

FLETCHER

“Hm… I don’t think I’ve ever actively tried to be monk-like. In fact I don’t even know why I asked. But I’ll give it a try. I guess,” Fletcher sighed, pretending to be disappointed that he wasn’t given the go-ahead to give more smacks to Xavier’s ass while they were downstairs. After the two of them finished getting ready and going downstairs, Fletcher was rinsing off some of the dishes but paused when Winter called him out. He chuckled a little and shook his head. “Alright, alright, Oh Pyschic One,” he called back, turning off the faucet and drying his hands. He made his way into the living room and took a seat beside his uncle. “Happy Father’s Day, old man,” he said with an affectionate jostling of Drew’s knee. “Thanks,” Drew replied and a beat later, he nudged his nephew and nodded in Henry and Winter’s direction. “These’re some great kids."

“Yeah, they are,” he murmured back, already knowing that Xavier hit the jackpot when he and the foster agency arranged for Henry and Winter to come live with him. He then watched Phoebe be passed from Xavir to him; Fletcher extended his arms and accepted his daughter, immediately holding her up high and looking up into her face. “Good morning, tree frog,” he said with a warm smile and then glanced down at the tutu onesie she had on. With a grin, he brought her close so that he could repeatedly kiss her cheek, “My first one thanks to you,” he whispered to her, sitting his daughter in his lap. He looked at Xavier, “Did you get her this outfit?” He wouldn’t put it past his boyfriend, but he also wouldn’t put it past Winter and Henry either. Or Drew for that matter, but he started with asking Xavier. And then the gifts came. “Wow, guys,” he started, brows shooting up without having opened them yet. With one arm secured around Phoebe, he started with the gift bag that held temporary ‘dad’ tattoos and a bracelet. The tattoos made him chuckle, “I can rock a couple of these today.” And the bracelet was on that he started to put on but paused and read the tag with it, instructing him to look inside the stand-out charm. Squeezing on y shut, Fletcher held up the bracelet and looked, only to find himself gazing at an image of him and Phoebe. She’d been scrunched up to his chest, fast asleep and he was staring down at her, serenely watching her sleep. The bracelet immediately went on his right wrist. “Thanks, you two. This is…” He gestured to the bracelet and then gave a few shallow nods, unsure of how best to say how meaningful it was. “Yeah…” was all he could manage before reaching for the wrapped square. In truth, he didn’t know what he was looking at but surmised enough that it would get hung up somewhere. “This looks pretty cool… are those sound waves?” he asked, looking from Henry to Winter.

XAVIER

Xavier chuckled at Fletcher's words and shook his head as they both got ready. Once they were downstairs and reprimanded by Winter, he moved into the living room to take his appointed seat. He smiled at the gentle interaction between Drew and Fletcher and also at how much Henry enjoyed having Drew around. He knew Winter loved him too but Henry had already grown an attachment. Once Phoebe was in Fletcher's arms, Xavier looked on with admiration and he smiled at his boyfriend's words to his daughter. "I sure did. That tutu had her name on it." He tickled Phoebe's side a little and then let Henry sit beside him. "You two did such a good job with all of this." "Winter would have gotten the black tutu but dad was like, red suits her well too. We wanted everyone to have a great day. It's our first Father's Day with like, a real dad and all." He smiled at his dad and Xavier wrapped his arm around the younger boy. "Well, it's all very special." Xavier winked at his teenage daughter who smiled back. She was busy waiting to see everyone's reactions. Xavier had opened his gifts, feeling very touched by all the details. He promised his kids he'd hang the family frame and tell them how much he loved his mug and personalized Pokemon cards. When he was finished, Xavier handed Drew the card which contained the photo of his new garden bed and the leather Gucci case for his new aviators. While Fletcher tried to come up with something to say after placing the bracelet he got from his kids on his wrist, Xavier massaged his back affectionately. Winter stood up and walked to Fletcher, turning the sound waves around to reveal the QR code. "Yeah. take a picture, it'll take you to a Spotify....you'll see!" Winter explained as Xavier took in his daughter's excited expression. She was beaming and it wasn't hard to notice. "Go ahead, Fletcher!" Henry smiled widely, waiting for the older man to follow the directions.

FLETCHER

Fletcher smiled, knowing his boyfriend well enough to have correctly guessed that he was behind Phoebe's outfit. "The red looks good on her." And when Xavier tickled her side, she squirmed a little and made her gasping laughs that Fletcher loved so much. She'd only recently been responding to being tickled but she'd been laughing at things for the past few months. His smile softened at the information Henry supplied about the black versus the red and Fletcher nodded in agreement about the red suiting her. "The day's early but I think you two already did a great job with making today special for all of us." "Damn right," Drew agreed. "You kids are very thoughtful. All of you," he said, shifting a pointed gaze to Xavier and Fletcher. He was content watching the two men open gifts from the kids and was happy seeing his nephew not only touched by the gifts that were given but that he was in love with someone who clearly loved him back and had a couple of kids who loved him and his family as well.

He hadn't expected to be gifted anything but when Xavier handed over a card and a glasses case, he gave the young man a harmless look of reproach, "I shoulda known better than to think you saying 'Happy Father's Day' would be enough." He saw the Gucci label and shook his head before setting the container in his lap to open the card. Chuckling at the card's front, he then opened it and just barely caught the picture that slipped out into his lap. He finished reading the card first and then picked up the picture. "What in the...?" He recognized the garden bed right away and said, "Thanks, Xavier. This is gonna be great on the old knees." He chuckled a little while patting one of his kneecaps and then he flipped open the sunglasses case. "And you're gonna have me looking like I should be in some kinda gardening magazine with these bad boys on." Though his hands were unsteady, he took out the sunglasses and decided to slide them on his face before sitting back in his seat and going back to watching the happenings in front of him. His son had texted him before he'd woken up, and his daughter was likely to call later, but the present company held his full attention. Fletcher was looking at the framed sound waves and listened to what Winter explained after turning it around. Keeping am arm around Phoebe, he shifted to take out his phone from his pajama pant pocket and tapped for the camera. Scanning the QR code, he was immediately taken to Spotify. His brows furrowed until he tapped the "play" button and heard a series of Phoebe's very young laughter. While the bracelet rendered him mostly speechless, this present very nearly made him cry.

His eyes misted up and while no tears spilled over, he was deeply touched by how priceless this gift was. Phoebe would continue to grow. Her laugh would change as she did. And now Fletcher would have this memory to cherish. Setting his phone back on the couch, he stood up with Phoebe still in his arm and moved to hug Winter tightly in his free arm, and then he did the same to Henry. "You guys are the best. Hands down."

XAVIER

"It really does. And it's not pink!" Xavier looked over to Drew and laughed, enjoying that they both were on the pink train when it came to Phoebe but Xavier did try to include other colors. He adored hearing the baby laugh and it made him melt. Xavier always loved children and knew that someday, someway, he'd end up with a house full of them. It was nice to see some of that happening already. Henry felt a sense of pride at Fletcher's words. They felt important to him. He really wanted to impress Fletcher and Drew and he wanted to have a big family so badly that this most felt like a dream to him. "You're welcome." When Drew spoke, Xavier grinned, his gaze shifting from one man to the other. He continued rubbing Fletcher's back, feeling how emotional he was getting and he felt lucky to have such incredible kids who had quickly grown to love his boyfriend and his family. When Drew opened the card, Xavier watched eagerly, glad that he liked the content of the card and that he seemed to like the gift. "You're welcome! If you like it, we can add more here and there. And looking stylish there, Drew! Gotta get you on a gardening dating app or something." He winked at Drew and chuckled. Henry and Winter quickly placed the giant box and gift bag that belonged to Drew at his feet and hugged him again. "Happy Father's Day!!" They said it in unison. Once Fletcher figured out the QR code, the two of them beamed. Xavier, unaware of the contents of these gifts, watched his boyfriend in anticipation, curious as to what would play for Fletcher. When he heard Phoebe's laugh, he smiled, looking up at a smiling Winter and Henry, and watched as Fletcher stood up to hug them both. "You guys...that's very special." He felt his own tears forming but he wiped them away. His kids hugged Fletcher tightly and Xavier welcomed his boyfriend back to his spot, gently massaging his knee. "Alright, Drew! Let's see what you've got!"

FLETCHER

"That's the biggest surprise," Fletcher dryly quipped, a soft smirk on his lips. He saw his uncle shake his head at him but he gladly shared a look with Xavier who knew of his fondness for pink. The gifts from Henry and Winter had been deeply meaningful to Fletcher. The bracelet was something he was going to wear as often as possible, and he already decided that the soundwave frame was going to go in his bedroom. Henry and Winter were true treasures of children, that much Fletcher was sure of. Xavier had been the perfect person to have been chosen to foster them. And the day that the children legally became his, Fletcher truly was happy for all 3 of them. Winter and Henry had constant and unconditional love from Xavier. And Xavier had his compass in the two of them, guiding him back home any and every time he needed it. For Fletcher,.it was a sight to witness and a pleasure to be enfolded into,l their family, along with Drew and Phoebe. After Drew learned that Xavier purchased him a new gardening bed, he listened and then laughed, "Hell no. I'm not looking to date anybody." "You sound like me now," Fletcher teased. "Now look at me."

"Yeah well you're still plenty young for all that and had the love to give. Any love I've got to gives for you guys and your kids." It went without saying that Drew included Rodrigo and Jade with that, and to a lesser extent, his own children and his son’s children. He'd then looked at the gifts the kids placed at his feet and looked at them in disbelief while returning their hugs. "Alright, Mitchells, this is the last time you get to spoil me without any fussing, you got it?" He got to opening the gifts, slowly, while Fletcher learned about the audio that went with the soundwave frame. The sound of Phoebe's innocent, sweet laugh seemed to have touched everyone who hadn't already known about the audio. And after Fletcher stood and hugged the kids with gratitude, Drew agreed with Xavier. "Yeah, you kids really knocked it outta the park with that one." He enjoyed the moment a little while longer, and then finished opening his gifts from Henry and Winter. The shirt with Phoebe's face all over made him laugh and the whiskey glass had him smiling from seeing the 3 kids' names engraved beneath handprints. When he finally reached the large box and unwrapped it, he gave an astounded chuckle, "This is gonna be a gamechanger for my old ass. Thanks for this." His smile was genuine as he looked between Winter and Henry. "Between thie anr the flower bed your dad got me, I'm gonna be growing the hell outta my herbs, veggies, fruits and flowers."

XAVIER

"Last time spoiling you without any fussing? Hard ask." Xavier chimed in and the kids laughed a bit. Phoebe had been reaching for Xavier's face and pretended to gobble her little hand up. As she grew, he was starting to see more of Fletcher in her, and Xavier couldn't help but adore her little features. He couldn't believe he had the privilege to witness a lot of her development already. Xavier continued playing with her as the kids looked on to watch Drew open his gifts. "You got your little teef coming in? Daddy told me!" He whispered in sing-song, trying to get the baby to smile as much as possible. "Mm, I don't know. Dad may be on to something with a dating app." Winter grinned as she watched Drew admire the gifts, gently pushing in the aviators on the older man's face. She was so proud of Henry for budgeting his allowance and getting some sincere gifts and Winter felt so much pride in herself for doing the same. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so full of love for so many people. She and Henry stayed silent after their gift-giving abilities were complimented. Once Drew was done, Henry beamed and said "You're welcome." Xavier smiled at Drew's words and then added, "Just let me know when and we'll get some seeds. I got a call that they want to do some comedy special back in New York City next week so I'll be there for that just for a week but once I'm back, we're all spending a lot of time together. I have some ideas. It's going to be a great summer. " He sighed contently, "Thank you so much for letting us into your lives. We love you guys so much." He then glanced over to his boyfriend. "You're gonna get sick and tired of me." He chuckled and leaned in to kiss his cheek.

FLETCHER

"I think you're up for the challenge," Drew told him with a deadpanned expression. He then shook his head when the kids laughed. "Don't encourage him you two. I mean it," he added with a wag of his finger. "If it helps," Fletcher said to his uncle as he passed Phoebe to Xavier, "I can try to rein him in. I'm not attached to his hip so there's no guarantees but I can try." He smirked to his boyfriend and found himself gazing a while longer at him and Phoebe--a sight he wouldn't ever get tired of. He loved them both and knew Phoebe loved Xavier. And as much as Xavier praised him as a father, Fletcher felt equally about Xavier whenever he witnessed it with Henry and Winter as well as the way he was with Phoebe. He listened to Xavier and Drew and while he was mildly bummed about Xavier's upcoming trip to New York, Fletcher wasn't one to express it or say anything unless asked. Settling down next to Xavier again, he glanced about at the family, their family and let his eyes linger on Xavier's face. "We love you too. All of you." He shut his eyes when Xavier's lips pressed to his cheek but when he opened them again, he dead-eyed his boyfriend. "I will not get sick or tired of you. Not seriously anyway." He cupped the back of Xavier's head and kissed him full on the lips for a few seconds and then told him, "Put that outta your mind today," while offering Phoebe his index finger to grip and shake. After a moment, he asked Winter and Henry, "Did you two eat breakfast?"

XAVIER

"Always, sir." Xavier chuckled but then let the moment pass between Drew and the kids. They were so drawn to him. He had learned it had a lot to do with them never having a family. They didn't know what a grandfather was or an aunt or a cousin. They survived together without the kind of exposure. Henry had stories to tell and awards to show off. Winter just needed a nudge, a protective figure, someone to talk to when teenage life got to be exhausting. "Okay. No app." Henry giggled and Xavier felt his eyes well up. It's not like the kids didn't have his parents, it was just that he had also been a kid that wished for a big family. Xavier happily accepted Phoebe into his arms and she smiled, stuck her tongue out, and squirmed and giggled; he enjoyed every part of it. "He can try but I'm so cute..." Xavier continued playing with Phoebe , cherishing every coo and giggle. The kids were helping with cleaning up and Winter had gotten quiet as she text someone which made Xavier's brows shoot up. He watched from the corner of his eye but knew Fletcher would soon get him to well, reign it in. Xavier let the tears fall from his eyes, making sure only Fletcher saw them and he smiled at him, pressing a finger against his lips before letting his boyfriend kiss him. "Good. Feeling is mutual." At Fletcher's question, Winter pocketed her phone and nodded. "Why don't you tell Fletcher, Hen?" Winter smirked and Henry rolled his eyes. "I ate 10 slices of bacon and two pancakes. I kept eating it like a snack until it was too late to realize I had gone through half a package." Xavier's eyes widened. "Son, you better be kidding." "Meh, he'll be fine." Winter laughed. "But yes, we ate but it won't be long before lunchtime rolls around so everyone figure out what we're ordering and go get dressed or whatever adults do on a day off. We meet back here in 1200 hours."

FLETCHER

Their family dynamic was relatively new, and it was unique but it was beautiful and it was theirs. Fletcher was truly happy about that fact, especially given his own upbringing and how, for a large part of his life, it ended up feeling like him and Drew as their own family unit. Drew's kids separated themselves as swiftly as possible thanks to Fletcher. Drew never told him as much but his cousins certainly did. And while he used to have bouts of guilt for Drew about this, he'd since gotten over it and kept himself out of their dysfunction unless it was something directly affecting Drew. Rodrigo and Emiliana entered their lives in an unexpected way and were now family just as much as Phoebe was his blood. And now, they had Xavier, Winter and Henry whom he hoped would forever be in their lives. He chuckled at Xavier commenting on his own cuteness and then quickly said, "I want all of you to remember this moment with Xavier calling himself cute." He grinned to his boyfriend and their occasional "cute" battles with each other in private. And a few moments later he saw the tears form and spill over Xavier's eyes. While a bit curious and concerned, he hadn't fussed and just quietly wiped his tears away following the kiss on Xavier's lips, he gently kissed each eyelid and then slipped an arm around Xavier's back. He briefly Winter's expression but hadn't called her on it, thinking that he or Xavier could ask her about it later. His brows raised upon hearing how many strips of bacon Henry had eaten. "Maybe cut back to four next time, huh, kid?" He chuckled a little and then said, "But I'm glad you two ate. And hey, thanks for cleaning things up." He listened to Winter and quietly muttered so only Xavier could hear, "Not sure they wanna know what these adults do on a day off." Quickly though, he spoke normally and asked, "1200 hours? Are you prepping to join the military?"

He checked the time on his phone and leaned into Xavier's side for a moment. "Phoebe's gotta go down for her first nap in a little while, probably by the time we're done showering and getting dressed for the day." And by that time, she would also likely need her diaper changed again. Still wearing the aviators, Drew told the bunch, "I was thinking of taking a little walk around the neighborhood after I got dressed if either of you kids wanna join me." While he napped about as much as Phoebe did throughout the day, Drew knew that staying active was important. He raised from his chair and reached for his cane. "We can all figure out something for lunch later on, yeah?" Fletcher suggested, gathering the gifts to consolidate in the gift bags. It would be easier to figure out where to put certain things once he was back at Drew's house. For the time being, he left them at the center of the coffee table and went over to his uncle. "You need anything?" Drew knew he was asking if he needed any help and waved him off, "No, no. I can dress myself. If I come back out with underwear on my head and my shirt hanging off my arms, then I might need something." Fletcher rolled his eyes at his uncle, "Smartass," and then watched after the older man taking to the stairs with one hand on the railing and the other holding his cane. Drew going up and down stairs always made him a little apprehensive but he knew that giving his uncle some independence where possible was important. As soon as Drew was out of sight though, Fletcher asked Xavier, "You ready to go up and get ready for the day?" He hadn't forgotten about his morning delight promise to Xavier but figured if the kids ended up going on a walk with Drew, that they could take advantage of that moment.

XAVIER

“Yeah yeah. Remember it because it’s not often.” Xavier laughed and his expression softened at his boyfriend’s gentle gestures. He smiled, nuzzling Fletcher’s neck for a few seconds and leaving a kiss against the inked skin there before pulling back. When Fletcher leaned into him and made the comment about what they do on their day off, he chuckled softly and shook his head. “Don’t think so,no.” Winter rolled her eyes playfully and shrugged. “Can you imagine me in the military ? The school has a this junior ROTC and while the uniform is nice I doubt I’d survive.” She grinned and stood up in case Drew needed help. She noticed that Henry did the same thing. They both volunteered to go on the walk with Drew and agreed to meet back in the living room once they were ready. Xavier stood up as well, swaying Phoebe gently in his arms and noticing that she was already trying to doze off. “Okay.” He kissed her cheek and handed her to her daddy. “Let’s get the munchkin ready for her nap and we can sort our morning out then. Winter, Henry listen to Drew please.” They both nodded and Xavier pointed to his eyes and then up the stairs indicating that Winter also keep an eye on Drew to which she silently nodded. Once upstairs, he yelled out a ‘Have Fun!’ To Drew, Henry, and Winter once they yelled that they were leaving. He turned around to face his boyfriend and grinned. “Want to take a shower with me after the baby falls asleep? I’ll make it worth you while.”

FLETCHER

"Reminders like that don't need to be made often. Just as long as you know it like the rest of us," Fletcher replied with a cheeky wink to Xavier. He did his best to dry his boyfriend's eyes and then shut his own when eyes upon feeling the kiss against his neck. When muttering about their day off, he grinned, and then Winter's response made him chuckle. "Who knows? You could've and some secret ambition just now coming to light." He was glad that Henry and Winter were going to join Drew on his walk, not liking the idea of his uncle going out alone. If anything happened, he knew Winter and Henry would call or one of them would come back to get him and Xavier. When he glanced over to Phoebe, he saw her resting her head against Xavier's shoulder and her small lips part for a yawn. He smiled softly when Xavier handed her back to him and once he had his arms around her, Phoebe rested against him in a similar fashion, head tucked under his chin. He caught the exchange between Xavier and Winter and gave his boyfriend a grateful smile. After a little bit or swaying and dropping a couple of kisses to the top of Phoebe's head, Fletcher followed Xavier upstairs and went in the direction of the nursery Xavier set up for her. He quietly began to sing Rascal Flatts' "My Wish" to her and took slow strides around the room, all the help further lull her to sleep. When he heard Xavier's question, he nodded and then grinned at his boyfriend's last remark as he continued softly singing Phoebe to sleep. It had been a good ten minutes before he felt his daughter was in a deep enough sleep to lay her down in her crib. Once he felt assured she wasn't going to wake right up again, he kissed her forehead, laid her in the middle of her crib and pulled a light blanket over her, up to her chest.

With the monitor on, Fletcher left the room with Xavier, twining his fingers with his boyfriend. "Now about that shower. I'm pretty sure I'm the one who promised morning delights first. You and the kids gave me a lot this morning. I'd like to return a little of that to you while we have some time to ourselves." Passing the bathroom, he led Xavier back to the bedroom saying, "We'll shower. Later." And when he pulled Xavier past the threshold and into his arms for a passionate kiss, Fletcher reached over his boyfriend's head to shut the door, intending to pick up where they left off earlier that morning.