#and the bed is on the opposite side of the room

[1d1195]

Independent

~10.6k words

From me: I know it's a long one, but it's a one-shot.

Warnings: angst, fluff. I've got about a thousand tropes in this one. Coworker Harry, Roommate Harry, love at first sight, he falls first and harder, one bed if you squint.

Summary: “Go on a date with me,” he groaned.

“Because of the cookies?”

“No! Well, yes. Right now, yes, because of the cookies. But s’not usually because of cookies.”

She laughed. “I don’t date, Harry.”

Harry was tall, with soft brown locks that begged to have fingers run through them, and cool green eyes that reminded her of the sage green bridesmaid’s dress she wore to one of her friends’ weddings the year before. He wore a dark purple button down with sleeves rolled up revealing a bunch of tattoos on his left arm but only a few on the right. His voice was melodic. Smooth, like he was going to sing her a lullaby and warm like it could toast a marshmallow.

Her group chat with a couple of her office friends had been buzzing the moment Harry took residence at the desk across the aisle and one row ahead of her.

Holy fuck. Val texted. Office eye candy 😍

Do you hear that thundering sound? That’s my heart 😍 Rachel continued.

She smirked at the desks, shaking her head.

Don’t shake your head. Say something! At least you’re single, you have a chance! Val sent the messages in quick succession, making her desk partner, Hunter, look at her curiously each time it vibrated.

“Do you have an emergency?” He asked her.

She shook her head. “Nope,” she smiled. “Not at all.”

*

Harry met her and asked her out on the very first day he started his new job. They both worked in an office. Their desks only a short distance apart while they worked together. He assumed there were no rules against dating as there were several married couples within the office as he quickly found out from the shared last names and wedding photos of his coworkers lining one another’s desks.

It seemed, as long as it didn’t interfere with their work, there was no issue.

Which was fine by Harry.

He was happy to ogle her all day long and he would spoil her rotten outside of work. “Hi, m’Harry,” Harry took his opportunity to introduce himself when everyone else left for their lunch hour and she was finishing something up. Leaving them alone in the office. Harry analyzed her desk as quickly as he could.

Their office was wide open with desks back-to-back nearly identical on either side with a long aisle leading to the office of their boss at the back of the room. Her desk faced the front of the room while Harry’s faced his boss’ office. He was on the opposite side of the room, and he had a great view all day long to watch her profile as she worked. Her hair was half up, her beautiful eyes hidden behind glasses, and her mouth set in concentration as she focused on her tasks. He couldn’t see her whole body, but he watched her pull her sandy colored cardigan around her white shirt multiple times that morning, like she was chilled by the air conditioner. His eyes were drawn to her. Like she was a lighthouse, and he was out at sea. All he wanted to do was watch her, keep an eye on her, and admire how stunning she was.

She had a little plant near her window—a bunch of red poppies wrapped up in a burlap vase, tied with a red bow. He couldn’t tell if it was fake or not, but he suspected it was. There was a picture of a large group of friends right by her monitor where she was off to the side in it, one of her girlfriends had an arm around her. Her stationery was cool tones of blues, greens, and purples. Her handwriting was scribbled on a calendar in front of her and he thought the way she curved her L’s was loopy and pretty beyond belief and he wished he had one in his name just to see how it looked. But it made him want to know how she would write his name anyway. There was a date at the end of September that was marked with a heart and he wondered why. Was it an anniversary? A birthday? Or the day her favorite movie came out?

A book sat on the windowsill, and he wondered when she had the time to read it during the day or maybe it was a security blanket kind of thing. There were two paper trays stacked on top of one another to organize her work and sticky notes all over her monitor and desk with ideas, reminders, and even a couple that said things like, “we love you” and “you’re so sweet.”

“Hi, Harry,” she smiled up at him to introduce herself. “Welcome to the team, are you having a good first day?”

He nodded, smiled a little brighter and dove right in. “I think m’in love with you,” she released a laugh that was so unbelievably beautiful Harry thought it sealed the deal. “I wouldn’t laugh, kitten. M’serious,” he frowned with faux sadness. He knew he was being a tad bit ridiculous. Maybe it wasn’t right to say it while they were alone, but he didn’t want to say it in front of everyone either. Hopefully he could convince her he was harmless, even if what he said was true.

Her cheeks reddened and she smiled. “That’s... very forward,” she reminded him. “And you don’t know me.”

“I know,” he rubbed the back of his head. “I was going t’hold off on saying it until tomorrow, but m’unable t’contain it. You’re very beautiful and everyone seems t’go t’you when they need help, so I imagine you’re a lovely person,” he pointed at the sticky note that said we love you once more. She snickered again and looked away covering one cheek with her hand. “M’going t’go t’lunch before I embarrass myself further, but I jus’ wanted to tell you,” he shrugged, stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned toward the exit.

“Nice meeting you Harry,” she called after him a smile on her lips.

He grinned and turned briefly to wave before he exited. “Don’t forget t’eat, kitten,” he called.

*

But now that Harry admitted he was in love with her, she couldn’t help but feel like she was being watched while she worked. Her eyes darted to his side of the room often trying to see if he was staring at her. He wasn’t each time which only made her feel guilty and worse. Maybe her standoffish disposition deterred him rapidly. It was probably for the best, anyway. For a lot of reasons.

Was it disappointment she was feeling from his lack of attention? That didn’t seem right.

“Harry!” Val called from behind her. “Are you enjoying your first day?”

“Immensely,” did his eyes drift over to her and her desk? She stared at her screen pretending to work while she listened.

“Did you just move to town?” Rachel was much further towards the front of the room. He turned to give her his full attention. It made her heart skip a beat with how kind it was. His politeness was a massive turn on.

Even if she wasn’t going to let herself admire Harry from across the way just because they worked together.

“I did, m’actually looking for a place t’live if y’know of any places. M’at a hotel until m’on m’feet.”

Her heart started beating about two hundred times a minute because she knew what was going to happen before it did. She could feel the bubbling excitement from her friends on either end of the room. “Mary Poppins has a room!” Rachel shouted.

Her cheeks turned bright red.

“Her roommate just moved in with her boyfriend like last week! How perfect is that, Mary? You were all worried about finding a normal roommate. I even did his background check, so I know he’s good to go!”

Harry chuckled. “Um... who’s Mary Poppins?”

The whole office giggled. “Miss Poppins, did you not introduce yourself?” Someone else called. Hunter snickered across from her and she glared at him.

This was mortifying. Wasn’t this supposed to be a mortifying day for Harry? His first day and all? How come she was being teased? She took a deep breath and turned from her monitor to make direct eye contact with Harry who was already looking at her. Like he knew exactly who Mary Poppins was without his coworkers needing to tell him. “It’s a two-bedroom apartment. One bath. There’s a nice kitchen, all new appliances.”

Harry’s jaw dropped as she spoke. Like he was surprised it really was her. “Val looks like she’s going to bounce out of her seat,” Hunter smirked as he whispered under his breath to her while she tried not to panic at the thought of living with someone so unbelievably attractive and just admitted he was in love with her.

“Tell him about your living room!” Val sounded like she was bouncing.

“Water’s included.”

“She’s the cutest interior designer. It’s so homey it feels like a warm hug when you walk in. Like living with a rom-com character,” Rachel continued.

“Rent would be about twelve hundred,” she ignored her so-called friends.

“She bakes something once a week too, so it always smells like sugar and Christmas. It’s seriously the coziest place I’ve ever been,” Val kept going.

“In-unit washer and dryer.”

“Then she brings whatever she makes for all of us here to devour. It’s incredible,” Rachel’s sentiment was answered with a hum of agreement from the rest of her coworkers. She even heard someone say remember her apple turnover pastries?

“You get your own parking spot,” she tilted her head and looked at the ceiling to see if there was anything else she had forgotten. “I think that’s it,” she met Harry’s eyes once more, holding his gaze briefly before she turned back to her monitor.

“Harry you should totally move in, you will fall in love with the place.”

“M’sure I would,” he chuckled. “Could I see it sometime?” He asked. His attention never strayed from her face. She could sense his gaze on the side of her cheek the whole time her friends embarrassed the crap out of her. “Whenever you’re free. Doesn’t have t’be today.”

“Today’s fine!” Rachel assured him. “She doesn’t do anything on Mondays.”

She rolled her eyes. “Today is fine,” she repeated and smiled sweetly. She scribbled on a sticky note and headed to his desk to drop the address off with him. Then she made her way toward the restroom because she needed to get out of the room. Needed away from everyone teasing her good-naturedly.

But mostly so she could keep herself from telling Harry that she was quite, very possibly, in love with him as well.

*

True to her friends’ words, the place was cozy as hell. There was a basket of throw blankets next to a sofa that looked like it was comfier than his bed currently in his storage unit. Artwork dotted the walls, board games stowed below her TV, and curtains pulled back from the windows letting in the afternoon sunlight. It felt like a home.

There were three boxes in the middle of the living room between the coffee table and the TV, but it was otherwise spotless. “You’re very clean.”

She nodded. “I know, I’m sorry.”

He chuckled. “Y’don’t need t’apologize,” he put his hands in his pockets, so he didn’t do something crazy like hold her hand.

“I don’t want you to think I’m crazy, is all. You can be... messy... I won’t have a freak out or anything. Unless you leave food in the sink then we get bugs. Then I’ll be kind of freaked out.”

He laughed. “I wouldn’t do that. I like t’think m’pretty clean myself,” he assured her. “I also...” he took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his head. “Y’friends kinda put y’on the spot. I know what I admitted at lunch was kinda out of... out of the blue,” he bit his lip. “Y’don’t have t’feel obligated t’house me.”

“I don’t,” she promised. “I need a roommate and like Val said,” she shrugged. “She did your background check so I assume you won’t kill me, probably. At least not because you’re a serial killer. Maybe because I’m too clean.”

He shook his head with a smile on his lips making the most adorable dimple dent his cheek. She wanted to stick her tongue in it. “Thank you, m’really appreciative.”

She smiled. “You’re welcome, Harry. Sorry we’ll be around each other a lot.”

That didn’t seem like a bad thing at all. “I think it’ll be okay. We didn’t really talk much today,” he shrugged. “If y’get sick of me, m’sure I can find another place t’live,” he winked.

She rolled her eyes. “Won’t be necessary. But okay,” she sighed. “You can move in whenever,” she grabbed her keys from the breakfast bar where she ate most of her meals and pulled a key off the ring and handed it to him. “I have a second job some nights, but if you give me a heads up, I can help you move your stuff.”

“S’very kind of you, kitten, but y’don’t need t’do that. M’not going t’have all that much stuff. M’friend Louis lives not too far from here. He’ll come help me.”

“Offer stands,” she assured him.

Harry’s eyes scanned the room again and landed on the three boxes once more. “Are those your old roommate’s boxes?” He asked.

She nodded. “Two of them. I’m supposed to bring them to her, but they’re super heavy so I’m like... working up my mental and physical strength to bring them to my car. It’s going to be two trips and I’m just being a little lazy about it.”

“I can bring them down,” he grabbed one. It was definitely heavy. It was evident Harry had defined biceps and triceps practically outlined by the pretty purple button down, but it was manageable for him while a struggle for her. “Still probably two trips,” he nodded.

“Oh, I can take—”

“No, no,” he shook his head. “Don’t want you t’hurt yourself. Let me,” he offered and snagged her car keys off the counter.

“Oh, thank you that’s... thank you,” she swallowed, feeling grateful.

“Not a problem,” he assured her and left immediately.

When he returned after putting the second box in her car to return her keys, she had opened the third box and begun laying out a bunch of fall items to decorate their place. “Do you mind decorations?”

“Of course not,” he smiled. “Can I help?”

She blinked at him and tilted her head. “Um... I can handle it. If you need to pack or go... get dinner or something.”

“M’fine,” he smiled, setting her keys on the counter and glanced around the room. He noted there were hooks screwed into the wall at various points. “Can I hang something for you? M’good for height.”

Harry wasn’t that much taller than her, she was definitely taller than the average woman, but it still meant she needed to drag out a stepstool when she wanted to put up her art and decorations. “That would be awesome,” she nodded. “Thank you.”

“Not a problem, kitten,” he smiled.

*

Harry had a dreamy smile on his face as they talked and got to know one another. He hadn’t brought up that he was in love with her. Nor did he make her feel the least bit uncomfortable. Like it had never happened.

Why did it feel like she was disappointed about the prospect of that?

Maybe he wasn’t in love with her. Maybe the initial reaction of seeing someone roughly the same age as him at work made his senses a bit wild for a moment.

No. She wasn’t disappointed. Everything about Harry being in love with her would be a recipe for disaster and it was for the best that he didn’t fall in love with her.

It was just something a little bit out of the blue to say to the only person who was single in the office. Everyone had a significant other they had met within the office or elsewhere. She was the last single person. The same was true with her friend group as well. Everyone in her life had been paired off except for her.

He was her coworker. He was going to be her roommate.

But right as he left, he sent her heart into a frenzy. They were by the door. She wanted to make sure he got to his car safely even though it was a safe neighborhood. It was just the way she was. “Will you go on a date with me?” He asked.

She stared at him in shock, her lips parting like she was mid-sentence, and he had interrupted. “Seriously?” She giggled reflexively, but her cheeks felt hot. They had a lovely evening together getting to know each other. Harry helped with all the decorations and yes, in its own way it was a bit intimate. But he couldn’t possibly think that it was a good idea to date his roommate.

“Yes,” he nodded.

“Harry, I can’t date my roommate.”

“Pretty sure s’how most rom-coms start,” he smiled. “S’okay. I’ll ask again later. Have a nice night,” he grinned with a wave and walked toward his car. Leaving her jaw slack, as she watched her roommate head off into the night.

*

Harry moved in later that week. He asked her to come with him to his storage unit to see if there was anything she would want in the apartment, but she had pretty much everything. It seemed silly to bring a double of everything when she owned all of it already.

But Harry would forever be grateful and indebted to his sister for her kindness as he watched her examine some of his belongings. One in particular caught her eye making him think that he had won the lottery with how excited she was.

She couldn’t believe Harry had a stand mixer and she was nearly in awe of all the attachments to help bake and cook easier. “I’ve always wanted one of these. They’re so expensive,” she blinked. “How do you have one?”

“M'sister got one when she got married,” he explained. “But she doesn’t bake and said it was taking up space in her kitchen.”

“Can we bring it to the apartment? Do you mind?”

The way her eyes lit up at the sight of it? Pure joy and happiness? Yeah. It was going to the apartment. If he ever moved out, he would probably leave it with her too just so she could always look that happy. “Course. Anything else?”

She looked around the organized storage room sifting through the items in different bins while Harry searched for some of his own trinkets that he thought he would want after his initial move. His room and bathroom items had already been moved in with the help of Louis. “This is stunning,” her voice full of awe once more, grabbing a print from behind a shelf. Harry wasn’t sure where it was from. He thought his mum purchased it to make his old place feel like home. “This would look amazing in the living room.”

“Bring it,” he smiled. She tucked it under her arm and continued searching. Harry grabbed a few more odds and ends and she plucked out a few more things she thought would work with the apartment’s décor and mainly helpful kitchen tools.

“It’s your place too, Harry,” she reminded him. “Is there anything you want there?”

He smiled, shook his head. “Y’seem t’have everything, kitten. M’not picky.”

“I don’t want you to feel like a guest,” she pouted. “Like you should bring these,” she gestured to pictures of his friends and family in a bin. “I can move some of mine to my room so you can put them up.”

He grinned. “Sure,” he shrugged. “If y’think s’what I should do.”

“Alright, could we come back in a few weeks and see if there’s anything else you want once you’re settled a bit?”

“Course.”

They gathered as much as they could, Harry would have to come back for the stand mixer. Harry closed the trunk and moved to open the passenger door for her before her hand fully pulled it out of the way. He waited until she was tucked into the seat safely and he handed her the car keys. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be here,” she smiled.

“Hey kitten,” he said leaning against the door before he left. “Will y’go on a date with me?”

“Harry,” she laughed the same way she did the last time he asked her. The same way she laughed when he told her he was in love with her. “You can’t be serious!”

“Deadly,” he smiled at the delight on her face. The pretty pink color rising to her cheeks. “Will you?”

“I can’t go on a date with you, Harry,” she looked at him with a bit of sympathetic pity. Like he was ridiculous for asking. Again. Which he was.

“Then I’ll ask again another time,” he shrugged, closed her car door, and headed to get the stand mixer that made her happy.

*

“Hey Poppy, did y’want t’go get lunch with me?” Her eyes didn’t move from her screen. “Poppy,” he repeated. “Poppy,” he sang. She glanced around and realized she was the only one in the room.

“Me?”

He chuckled. “Yes, you.”

Her eyebrows pinched together. “Why did you call me Poppy?”

“Well, m’assuming s’your favorite flower,” it was a safe bet since there was a small bouquet right beside her. “Also, everyone else calls y’Mary, Poppins, or Miss Poppins. Which I still don’t know why, but I wanted t’be different. Want you t’know s’me when y’hear me talking t’you.”

Her heart raced. Harry was utterly adorable. “I see. Sorry,” she smirked.

“Anyway,” he came over to stand by her desk. “Do y’want t’get lunch?”

“Harry, I told you I don’t date.”

“M’not asking as a date. M’asking as your coworker who has never seen y’eat a bite of food while you’re at work. M’asking as your concerned roommate who worries y’don’t eat until y’get home for dinner. And I don’t even want t’think ‘bout how long y’go without eating when you’re at your second job.”

She smiled at his thoughtfulness. “I don’t go out to lunch with everyone,” she explained. “I don’t know if you noticed, but people always seem to need me while I’m here,” she gestured to her desk. “Lunch is the only time I get a minute to myself. And I can get caught up a bit before the afternoon and everyone comes back.”

“Well do you bring lunch?” He asked, his frown deepening still worried she wasn’t eating.

“I do, it’s in the breakroom. I’ll get it in a minute,” she promises. “Go, you’re wasting your lunch hour.”

“Okay,” he sighed. He stopped in the doorway of the entrance to the office. “Hey Poppy,” he smiled.

“Yeah?” She asked without looking up from her screen.

“Now that y’mention it though, will y’go out with me?”

*

At home, Harry took the trash out because he said it was a boy-job and she shouldn’t be out in the dark by a dumpster. It made his skin crawl just to think about it. He made her promise that she wouldn’t take out the trash and he didn’t mind if he had to go out twice in one day. She thought it was ridiculous. But she agreed.

He cleaned up after himself checking with her to see if it was up to her standard. Even though she assured him he didn’t have to meet her standard. His cologne overtook their bathroom, and it was so comforting she took long hot showers at night just to amplify the scent filling her nose. Harry stretched across the sofa and scrolled through various show options but often didn’t find something that piqued his interest. Instead, he would put on some background noise and read on an eReader. His eyebrows pinched together in concentration.

Harry bought groceries and didn’t ask for any money from them. “M’sure you’ll buy stuff too,” he shrugged. Plus, she already had all the cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, dishwasher pods, and the like. Harry hardly had anything useful so buying groceries was the least he could do.

Except the stand mixer. People moaned about her cookies. Harry got to see her make them firsthand and the very scene with an apron around her body, her smile bright as she tested various stages of the dough, it did wonders for Harry. Some kind of nearly pornographic idea that only Harry would think was pornographic. “Will you try one?” She asked, hope in her voice.

Was he supposed to say no to her? Absolutely not. So, he tried one. “Go on a date with me,” he groaned.

“Because of the cookies?”

“No! Well, yes. Right now, yes, because of the cookies. But s’not usually because of cookies.”

She laughed. “I don’t date, Harry.”

He frowned, faking his disappointment (although he was the slightest bit disappointed). “I’ll try again,” he shrugged and took three more cookies from her cooling rack before returning to the sofa to read.

*

“Mary!” Val sang. “Do you have the stain stick?” She called from behind. She opened a drawer, eyes unmoving from her screen and held it out behind her for it to be passed back by her other coworkers. Harry chuckled.

It killed her that she knew his chuckle without looking. “S’impressive,” he murmured quietly. But she could hear it from across the way.

“That’s nothing,” Rachel said from the other end of the room. “Miss Poppins,” she smiled delightedly. “I have a missing button,” she told her.

That was the other drawer, a small little sewing kit to fix a button.

“Hair tie!” Someone called from the other side of the room.

“Lint roller!”

They all called out items and she had every single one.

“Do you have anything stronger to put in this coffee?” Their boss was walking up the aisle and paused at her desk. She smirked, opened the bottom drawer and placed a mini bottle of liquid on the edge of the desk. The whole office laughed as he snatched it and headed to his office. “You’re getting a raise, Poppins,” he called.

Hunter turned to look at Harry. “I gave her the nickname,” he explained.

“I get it,” he chuckled.

“If you need it, chances are she has it.”

“If she doesn’t, she adds it,” Val explained.

Her smile was soft. Harry thought it was sweet how her coworkers adored her. It was clear she was loved by them. Her thoughtfulness was admirable. Harry wondered how he was supposed to top that. No wonder she didn’t want to go out with him. Why would she want to go out with anyone when she was ten times sweeter than anyone she knew?

*

Her best friend Josephine (Joey) was helping her in the bathroom when Harry got home from the gym one Friday evening. “Holy hell you said he was cute, not hot,” she gaped.

“Aw, y’think m’cute, Poppy?” He asked winking at her. Her cheeks flushed red, making it so she didn’t need any of the blush she was putting on her cheeks. He leaned against the doorframe; arms crossed over his chest. He was sweaty and really wanted to get in the shower, but he didn't mind a bit of time to stare at his sweet roommate.

“I should have known. Only a man that uses such high-end cologne would be this hot.”

“Didn’t you buy Matt high-end cologne?”

“Hence why I think he’s so hot,” Joey beamed. Her friend laughed quietly, shaking her head as she finished with her makeup.

“Sorry Harry, we’ll be out of the way in a minute.”

“Take y’time. M’not in a rush.”

“Oh, you should come out!” Joey squealed. “Harry, please! She’s always by herself keeping an eye on us it would be nice to have someone keep her company!”

“Thanks, Mom. I don’t need a babysitter,” she rolled her eyes. “No offense, Harry.”

“S’okay,” he chuckled. “I don’t want t’impose. Plus m’in need of a shower.”

“Don’t let us stop you,” Joey smiled widely gesturing to the shower.

“Can you not?” She rolled her eyes and looked at Harry with apologetic eyes.

He laughed again and shook his head. “Y’can call if y’need something,” he assured her.

“Harry, please come out! You can meet us there!” Joey said again.

She looked at him with a soft smile. A look in her eyes said he wasn’t going to get out of it. Not if he didn’t have a really good reason. But truthfully? He didn’t need a reason to get out of it. Spending time with her outside of work, outside of the apartment, and errands like the grocery store and running to the post office had him excited to see her in another frame of light. Did she let loose? He would love to dance with her. Even if it was only as friends, roommates, fuck as coworkers even. How did she act around her friends versus her coworkers? God, he was obsessed.

“I can wait for you,” she suggested, her voice soft. Harry smiled.

“Thanks, Poppy.”

*

Her eyes scanned for her friends as she sat on a stool at a high top beside Harry. It was like watching a teacher on a field trip counting heads to make sure everyone was still present. The table was littered with drinks all of which she minded just as intently.

Harry just gazed at her as he sipped his drink. He helped as needed pushing drinks toward her friends as they came back from dancing. “Y’don’t dance?”

“Oh...maybe later. I’m not very good,” she admitted. “I like dancing with Joey because she’s worse than me.”

She caught the eye of one of her friends, Hailey, approaching and she reached into her purse strapped around the front of her for something. Harry watched as Hailey made it to her. “Thanks Mary,” she gushed taking the bandage from her and made her way for the bathroom. It was pretty wild she could anticipate whatever her friends needed. It was like at work. Harry was a bit awestruck and looked at her with a surprised expression. She shrugged and continued sipping her drink.

Jaylen was next. Joey’s twin brother; they had the same facial expressions--mainly the smile that Joey had on her face when she suggested Harry shower in front of her and his favorite person.

The same smile appeared on his face and told Harry he was going to say something just as delightful as Joey had said of Harry. Sure enough, Jaylen draped an arm around her and leaned into her ear to whisper something over the sound of the music. She rolled her eyes and shoved him playfully. His face turned serious and he whispered something again.

She frowned. Then reached into her purse again. Out came a tampon which he slid discreetly into his pocket and then she glanced at his outfit twisting her lips to the side in disappointment.

After a brief thought, she pulled her purse over her body and laid it on the table. The long cardigan she wore came off next, leaving her in a black tank top that tucked into her jeans. It hugged her curves like a glove making Harry’s mouth water and he glanced away worried he would look like a creep. He finished his beer before Jaylen grinned and thanked her profusely and walked away. She took a deep breath and put her purse back into position before wrapping one arm in front of he protectively, gripping the front of her shoulder.

“Are y’cold?” He asked.

She shook her head.

But Harry was sitting beside her. He could see the goosebumps on her skin. She selflessly gave her sweater to her friend for whatever reason (Harry wasn’t totally sure, but he suspected it was menstrual related). But she was going to pretend like she wasn’t cold? Harry was definitely in love. In case it wasn’t obvious by the moment he met her. Boldly, Harry reached below her bar stool and tugged it toward him. She jostled a bit but he maintained her balance. Then he draped his arm around her body pulling her toward him further and he couldn’t help but notice she didn’t pull away. She didn’t make a sound and her facial expression didn’t change.

But Harry felt her body relax into his side, her head dipping ever so slightly toward his shoulder. He smiled softly and brought his lips closer to her ear so she could hear. “Y’don’t have t’lie t’me, Poppy. M’your roommate and all. I know y’like the apartment a toasty temperature.”

She smirked and tilted her head up. Their eyes connected, their mouths only two inches apart. “Thank you,” she said kindly.

Harry really enjoyed holding her.

*

At the end of the night, she rounded up her friends ensuring those who said they could drive actually could and if they couldn’t she called for Ubers until everyone was safely on their way home. Jaylen’s girlfriend, Maya, had her green sweater wrapped around her white pants. She thanked her profusely, drunkenly.

Joey and Matt waved goodbye. “Bye Hot Roommate,” Joey called waving to Harry specifically.

“Jesus, Joey,” Matt rolled his eyes. “Nice meeting you Harry,” he called.

Once everyone was gone, she rubbed her hands on her arms to keep the blood flowing and warming her skin. Harry wrapped his arm over her shoulders again and tucked her into his side as they headed for her parked car a couple blocks away. “Go on a date with me," he spoke straight forward. Hoping if he didn't look, it wouldn't seem like as a massive deal--almost like he would trick her into a date.

She elbowed him. “I can’t go out with a coworker, Harry. Or my roommate for that matter.”

He shrugged. “I’ll ask later,” he boldly kissed the top of her head. Fortunately, she didn't seem to mind. Harry was sure to keep that in his head for future reference. He would most definitely be kissing her again. “You’re an extremely sweet girl, Poppy. Selfless, lovely, kind,” he listed. “Whoever y’end up with, m’going t’be very jealous,” he assured her.

She snorted and laughed quietly under her breath. “Thank you, Harry.”

*

For months it continued with similar routines, feelings, and questions. They grew closer as friends. At work he admired her from his desk from across the office. When she didn’t go to lunch, he reminded her to eat and not work too hard. At home, he grumbled that her loophole of taking the trash out in the daytime was not the point of his promise. He still bought groceries each week trying to figure out all the things she enjoyed eating.  

He helped her clean the apartment and when it was getting cooler outside, she asked to join him at the gym. Her outfits were cute and made guys stare at her as she worked out, unbeknownst to her. She asked for help from Harry which made him feel like he won an Olympic medal. His face was smug as the men in the gym finally stopped looking at her. Thinking Harry was lucky enough to be hers.

It made him happy to help her figure out new machines and with her sets of weightlifting (even though she didn’t like it).

Everywhere they went, people ogled her. She was so kind. Little kids would smile at her in grocery store lines and wave like it was a game of peekaboo. Dogs tugged on their leashes hoping to get a pet from her around the loop she ran in the neighborhood. Their elderly next door neighbor tried telling her a hundred times that she had a grandson her age and he would love to date her (that one drove Harry the most crazy).

She had her head leaning in her palm as she watched the stand mixer beat the brownie ingredients like it was the most interesting thing in the world. But Harry was watching her; so he was, in fact, watching the most interesting thing in the world.

He leaned against the wall just beside the kitchen entrance. “Poppy?” He asked. She looked up at him. “Go on a date with me, please," his expression soft.

She was finally getting used to it. She gave herself a lot of credit. It was pretty crazy she hadn’t caved yet. Harry was so lovely. Not to mention attractive. At the gym, his muscles rippled and glistened with sweat. The outline of every abdominal muscle was sinful. It was a miracle she didn’t drop her own weights or fall on the treadmill when she caught sight of him. It drove her crazy that the women there gazed at him longingly; like he was something to eat. But was she really any better?

She smiled, the blush on her cheeks still prominent, but not as deep. She was used to her heart skipping a beat, the butterflies fluttering in her stomach each time he asked. “That's very sweet, Harry. But I don’t date.”

It was six months since he met her when he finally asked. “Why not?”

She shrugged. He thought she wasn’t going to say anything more, so he frowned, sighed, and headed for the living room to get back to his book. “I just don’t date, Harry. I like being friends,” she told him.

He grumbled something about still being friends even if they dated but she either didn’t hear or pretended not to hear. Either way, it was quiet for a few beats. “If I hadn’t told you I was in love with you that first day, would that have changed your answer?”

She giggled and shook her head. “No.”

“Okay,” he shrugged. Ever determined. He smiled widely at her. “I’ll keep asking then.”

*

When she got dressed up for a family wedding and clicked down the hall in heels and a dress that flowed over her like she was the bride (only wearing green of course, not white). Her hair was curled and pinned so prettily Harry thought he was seeing a real angel in the flesh. “Oh, come on, Poppy,” he groaned and covered his eyes with his hand dramatically. “S’not fighting fair,” he frowned.

She grinned, her cheeks warming more than they had in a while. “I look okay?”

“Stunning,” he grumbled. “M’so jealous I won’t get t’dance with you,” he pouted.

She shook her head. “I don’t usually dance at weddings when I go alone,” she explained.

“Well, y’should’ve told me. I would’ve been your date.”

“Harry—”

“Platonic date,” he rolled his eyes. “This is worse than when y’wore that pencil skirt t’work,” he reminded her. She snickered and shook her head while she looked at her phone. She sucked her lip into her mouth and sighed wincing slightly and then turned to her room again. After several minutes she returned in a different dress. She was equally stunning, but she looked a little forlorn. “An outfit change?”

She nodded. “Yeah,” she shrugged. “My sister is wearing green.”

Harry frowned. “So?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I just...” she shrugged. “It’s alright. I like this dress just fine.”

But it wasn’t green. She looked so pretty in green. It complimented her skin tone so perfectly. She looked stunning. Like she was a queen. “But—”

“Seriously, Harry. It’s fine.”

The muted purple dress looked lovely on her as well. But Harry thought the green made her look otherworldly. He wanted the happiness back in her eye. The light that sparked when he complimented her. “Well when can y’wear it?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Season’s almost over for a wintergreen like that,” she shrugged. “Maybe next year.”

Harry frowned. But then he had a wonderful idea to help both her dress and himself. “Go on a date with me, Poppy.”

The smile reappeared on her face, and she shook her head. “I can’t, Harry.”

“Please? Do it for the sake of that dress,” he pleaded. “We don’t even have t’call it a date. An outing. An adventure. Whatever y’want. Y’jus’ need t’wear it before y’can’t.”

She smiled. “Thank you, Harry. But I can’t.”

He sighed. “You’re welcome, Poppy.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow? I’ll steal you a cupcake. I heard they come from this bakery that I love and if it doesn’t make it home to you, then we’re going to have to go there anyway.”

It didn’t replace a date. But he liked the way she smiled. And going to a bakery together was inherently a couple-y thing to do. So he would take what he could get.

“Sure, Poppy. I’d love to.”

*

She didn’t need people. Needing people had only ever broken her heart. She never asked for help ever. Well...only when they were at the gym but that was a safety thing more than anything.

Even when she should have asked.

Harry didn’t notice until he drove her to a house party that her friends didn’t invite her too. She was sleepy, it was obvious. Leggings, oversized sweater. Her hair was braided loosely and falling apart because she had woken in the middle of the night to answer a message. Harry was in the middle of a good book. Unable to put it down when she ventured into the living room. A yawn falling from her lips. Her eyes barely open. It took several questions and repeated convincing to let him drive her since he was awake, and it looked like she was going to pass out while standing.

Harry insisted on coming in even as she told him to stay in the car, but he refused. She found her friends, her voice was soft as she encouraged Jaylen to leave. A little over his limit and Joey and Maya were about just as gone and unable to convince Jaylen to go with them. A guy from across the room made a joke about Mommy coming to save him. As her pugnacious friend made a turn to deal with the offensive person, she stopped him. She was quick, grabbed his arm, and held tight.

When they returned to the apartment she corralled her friends into their sleeping arrangements. Maya and Jaylen in her bed, Joey on the sofa. “Sorry I took your reading spot,” she whispered as she tucked a blanket around Joey. She snagged another blanket and curled into the only other chair in the living room. “Thank you for driving,” she smiled, closing her sleepy eyes.

“You’re gonna sleep there?” He asked. She nodded, barely moving. Like she was already half-way to dreaming. Harry snagged her out of the chair, cradling her and bringing her to his room.

“Harry,” she protested.

“We’re grown adults,” he reminded her. “We can share a bed without it being weird. S’like a hotel room.”

“Harry,” she repeated, her objection evident in her tone. “I can’t—”

“M’not letting y’sleep in a chair or on the floor. So, it’s m’bed or y’aren’t sleeping,” he shrugged.

She sighed. Too tired to oppose any further, thankfully. Harry laid her atop the covers and draped another blanket over her. He went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, and slid beneath his sheets and glanced at the sleeping angel beside him. He smiled. He liked the way she looked in his bed. Liked the way she seemed comfortable and sleepy beside him. His bed felt warm with her beside him. Even though she wasn’t touching him. She smelled good in his room too.

“Night, Harry,” she mumbled.

“Good night, Poppy,” he answered, reached out, squeezed her hand before releasing it so she wouldn’t break a piece of his heart by telling him they shouldn’t.

It was easy to fall asleep with her beside him.

It was even easier to dream of her with her intoxicating presence in his room as well.

*

Harry noticed how drained she seemed when the weather continued to get warmer. Her friends all had birthdays around the same time, and she was a mess of scheduling and reserving birthday dinners and planning things for all of them. Did Harry miss her birthday? He would have to ask. He hoped he didn’t. He hoped her friends would take the time to plan for her the way she did for them.

Work was approaching a busy season, and everyone kept coming to her more and more throughout the day. He could see the anxiety on her face as her growing to-do list looked nearly unmanageable. Harry tried to go to others if he had issues. But every time he asked someone else a question, they called out for Mary Poppins, and she would glance up and look at Harry with a sad smile asking how she could help.

Harry was worried she wasn’t eating her lunch. When everyone else left, her eyes were hidden behind those glasses, her face concentrating and relieved for the reprieve from people calling her name for help with work or needing something like a pen or a screwdriver. Sometimes Harry hated his job. Not because it was difficult. But it seemed like everyone in the office was incompetent. Or weaponizing their incompetence and foisting their tasks onto the lovely woman who would never say no to them.

Her friends did it too. With all the planning and such.

The poor thing looked exhausted. She didn’t join Harry at the gym and her second job seemed like the only time she got to herself. “I miss reading,” she grumbled when she got home late from her shift. She kicked her shoes off and flopped onto the opposite end of the sofa. “My eyes are exhausted though,” she rubbed them for good measure. “I think I would fall asleep if I tried to read. I think I need to wake up earlier and read.”

Harry snorted. “Don’t burn yourself out, Poppy,” he rolled his eyes. “What are y’reading?”

“I’ve been trying t’read this book for months,” she pulled it from the shelf below the coffee table. He had seen it tucked there for a while. He grabbed it from her, skimmed the back of the book, and opened to the first chapter.

Then, he started reading.

Out loud.

“Harry,” she whispered her eyes wide.

“Yeah?” He asked, pointing at the sentence where he stopped and looked at her curiously. “M’starting over, because I want t’know what’s happening,” he smiled. Her face looked so shocked and confused. Sad even. Like she didn’t know what emotion she was supposed to feel.

“You don’t have to—”

He shook his head, and continued reading before she could finish her sentence.

Harry read three chapters before he carried her sleeping self to bed.

*

Something changed in Harry. He almost turned into a stalker. He tracked her movements and routines for a week. He knew most of them. But he really tracked them. The daily ones were easiest. She went for a run in the morning, he followed her lead and didn’t say a word. He went to her favorite coffee shop and paid for her favorite drink for a week’s worth of drinks in advance.

He wished they carpooled, but she was so busy. So he timed his arrival so that he was at the entrance door holding it open for her. When everyone left to get lunch, he heated up her food and brought it to her desk before leaving silently.

One day, there was a note on her dashboard saying she had a full tank of gas. When she arrived home after her second job, she noted her spare car key was on Harry’s key ring. At home, her laundry was in the wash. The shirts she didn’t like to put in the dryer were hung in the bathroom.

Harry could see it. She was cracking. It was the first time someone had done something for her it seemed. The first time someone so selflessly did things for her, anticipated her needs the way she anticipated everyone else’s.

Her throat felt tight as she looked at Harry in the kitchen, making her favorite dinner—a soup that took hours and hours to make.

He didn’t even know it was her birthday that day which made her heart feel sicker than ever.

“Poppy,” he smiled sweetly placing a bowl in front of her exhausted figure.

“Yeah?” She whispered.

If she wasn't so in awe, she would have realized where his tone was. What was coming next. “Go on a date with me, kitten.”

“I can’t.”

“S’not so hard,” he assured her. “You sit across from me and be yourself because m’already in love with you,” he reminded her sweetly. An impish grin on his pretty pink lips. That dimple she wanted to sink her tongue into on display. “I tell y’how stunning y’look, I pay for you t’eat. I feed you a dessert of your choosing that you’re probably too full t’eat and then I can kiss you wherever y’want. Lips, cheek, forehead,” he shrugged. “Then we come home, and I’ll read a chapter of your book. Y’can decide if y’want t’go on a second date.”

She giggled, her cheeks red. “I can’t, Harry,” she looked at him apologetically, but she felt herself melting as much as the soup warmed her insides. It was ridiculous to eat soup in the middle of the summer. But Harry made it for her anyway.

His heart deflated a little. He wasn't kidding. He was definitely in love. He had to be because there was no other way he could explain the feelings he had for her. Someone so thoughtful, so pretty, sweet, and funny.

Harry had asked her out at least a hundred times. Around Christmas, she got her hair cut and he always found her beautiful, but he asked her almost every day following her new hair style for a month straight. Each time she said she couldn't. She didn't date.

For the first time in the near year since he had first asked her, first met her, he realized she said she can’t go on a date with him. She didn’t date. That he was crazy.

Not that she didn’t want to. She didn’t say no.

Hope bloomed inside him.

*

She didn’t need anything. She didn’t need anybody. It was clear someone or maybe many had let her down so many times. He watched her doing everything she could to make this party as nice as humanly possible for Hailey. Not that Hailey didn’t deserve it, but no one had done anything like this for her. Harry only found out it was her birthday after the fact, and he felt like shit for it. Even though she assured him that was one of the best birthdays she ever had.

All he did was make her soup.

She deserved so much more.

It almost seemed too obvious that they hadn’t done anything for her remotely as lovely as she did.

“You’re staring, Styles,” she murmured without looking up from the chair while he lounged on the sofa.

“Go on a date with me,” he smiled.

She blushed, shook her head. “You’re crazy.”

“You haven’t said no.”

"I've said no about a hundred thousand times, Harry," she rolled her eyes.

Why was it now? Why did he want to tell her what he was thinking about the whole situation now? But it was in his chest. He had to say it. Had to tell her.

“No, you’ve never said no,” he shook his head and looked at her head on, while she continued looking at her to do list, her planner. Her poor neglected book waiting to be read by Harry because her tired eyes couldn’t. She looked up at him and smirked. Ready to protest once more, but Harry shook his head again. “I remember everything you've said t'me. I would remember a 'no,' it would probably kill me t’hear y’say, no kitten. Y'call me crazy, y'say y'can’t or that y'don’t date. Never, not once, have y'ever said y'don’t want t'go on a date with me. Nor a flat out no. So m'going t’keep asking until y'say y'don’t want to. Because I think you do want t'go out with me but for some reason y'don't want t'allow yourself t'be happy. T'let someone else in. M'not going t'stop asking. Not until I hear y'say "Harry Styles I would rather die than go on a date with you. I never want to go out with you." Maybe that makes me conceited or creepy. M’sure it does make me crazy. But I don’t care. I want t'go on a date with you. I want t'go on a million dates with you, actually. So m'not giving up until y'call me creepy or y'say y'don’t want to.”

She swallowed like there was something stuck in her throat. Her eyes didn't move from her lap.

"Kitten," he murmured. She didn’t look up. “Poppy,” he whispered. She finally met his green-eyed gaze again. His expression soft, pleading. “Go on a date with me,” his voice was soft. Harry swore his heart stopped beating because if he was wrong, if she really was saying no all those times, he wasn't sure he could ever stop asking her. The idea he would never get to take her out to eat and order her favorite dessert. He wouldn't see a movie and wrap his arm around her shoulders and that was completely unfair. He wanted to offer his jacket to her when it rained and hold her hand while walking through a museum. "Poppy," he repeated.

She bit her lip, her lips opening and closing like she wasn't sure which word was going to pop out. “I can’t,” she whispered. Her eyes looking at him in a way that he could read right through her. They screamed at him, please don’t stop asking me.

As if he could ever. Harry smiled. "Okay," he shrugged, hope and adoration for her flooding him. "I'll ask again tomorrow."

A sad smile graced her face. "You're crazy," she whispered again.

"Only 'bout you, Poppy.”

*

Harry felt like he was getting sick. Probably due to the sweet girl in his apartment who had worn herself so thin and weary that she had inadvertently brought illness home to him. His head was killing him. His pillow was calling for him the way he wished his favorite stubborn woman would call him.

He didn't even know if she was home. But honestly, he was glad. If she knew he was sick, she would dote on him. Even if she was starting to fell unwell. The thoughts of her were never too far from his mind. He would never be too sick, too lost, too far away from her that she could leave his thoughts.

Sleeping was one of his favorite hobbies because he loved to see her in his dreams. Loved to see the unaffected, carefree, beautiful, stubborn woman. The angel that enjoyed affection both giving and receiving.

It was his nightly dream. The one where she snuggled with him, and it was like they had been together twenty years and not zero. The one where he could taste her lips (even if in his dream she tasted like nothing) he knew it was wrong. She probably tasted like chocolate or caramel or something deliriously sweet.

Unfortunately, his phone vibrated below his pillow pulling him from his perfect beautiful dream.

“Harry?”

He squinted at his phone. Head aching, throat sore. Curious as to why he didn’t have the number saved. “Speaking.”

“Oh, thank god,” the voice sighed. “It’s Joey,” she said. “Harry. Something’s wrong. She won’t stop crying and she won’t say anything but your name.”

He leapt out of bed. Illness forgotten even if he was dizzy. His heart thudded like a chorus of drums, and he didn’t even grab shoes as he raced out of his room, snagging his wallet and keys off the counter as he exited the apartment.

He listened to Joey say a few more things. Something about being out at a club. She never left the bar area. There was no way someone had hurt her. But Harry drove through the night with his heart in his throat like someone had hurt her. He wasn’t sure seeing her would even calm him. He knew where Joey lived, fortunately, so he sped as quickly as he could. The ache in his head and his throat was lost behind him along the drive.

He didn’t knock as he hurried barefoot into Joey’s apartment. Matt was coming from the kitchen and making his way down the hall. He looked at Harry sadly as he approached the main room.

“Poppy?” he whispered as he entered the room, her arms wrapped around herself like she was trying to hold herself together. "Kitten," he frowned and knelt in front of her. He picked her face up between his and he scanned her looking for signs of injury. Anxiety was in every inch of his body. But she fell into his arms before he could look any longer. Sobbing harder than when he entered. “M'here. M'here, baby. It’s okay. M'here," he kissed the top of her head, cupping the back of her head with one hand. The other arm winding around her and squeezing her tight to his body. “Oh kitten,” he sighed, sadness coating his voice. His heart ached. Like it was going to snap in half if she cried any longer. “M’sorry, baby. M'here. S’okay. Tell me. Please. I’ll make it better,” he promised.

Her sobs continued, like she was unable to speak. "Harry," she whimpered.

"M'here, Poppy, s'okay," he assured her even if it wasn't. "Baby," he frowned pulling away to look at her her tearful eyes. He tugged her back to his embrace and continued to soothe her. He rubbed his hand up and down her back hoping it was comforting as he hoped it was.

Harry caught Joey's eye, who looked over from the entryway and smiled weakly.

"You good?" She mouthed. Harry nodded and when he glanced back, her friend was gone.

*

Harry kissed the top of her head for the hundredth time. He continued rubbing his hand down her spine. His head was still screaming.

But she was well worth it. Her cheeks were streaked with salt lines. Her eyes puffy and red around the edges. He had pulled her to him so they could snuggle into the corner of the couch. Her body tucked between the back cushion and Harry's body. Like he didn't want anyone to see her if they entered the room.

“Harry?” Her voice was raw.

“Hmm?” He tucked her hair behind her ear and skimmed his fingertip along the same path repeatedly.

“Will you go on a date with me?” She whispered.

He smiled lazily. His heart exploding in his ribcage. “God, Poppy, I don't know. I have t'check m'schedule.” She smacked his chest with no weight behind it. He kissed the top of her head. “I’d take y’right now. Whenever y’want.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Nothing t’be sorry for.”

"I have issues."

"We can work on them together."

"I don't know if you'll..." She trailed off.

"If I'll what?" He brushed his thumb on her cheek.

She took a deep breath. "I love love, Harry. I love watching people get married. I love when people have babies and grow a family. I want to have babies. I love reading romance novels and watching silly rom-coms where you can predict the ending before the movie even starts."

"Sounds pretty romantic and easy, Poppy," he murmured.

She swallowed continuing. "I will do a lot for you because I believe that's the way love is supposed to be. I want to make your life easier, and I want to do things that make you happy because I think happiness and love are in short supply and I want those books and rom-coms to be real."

Harry nodded. "Well—"

"I've never had that. I had a boyfriend for four years and..." she sniffled. "When we broke up, I said that I wouldn't do that again. I wouldn’t devote myself so completely to someone that wouldn't give me half as much. Then I met my next boyfriend and at first, I thought it was right, finally. It was equal. He loved me the right way, I mean. The way I thought I wanted, deserved... But then it was like he got tired of doing things. I don't know. Maybe my love language is acts of service. I don't know. I’m not making sense, I'm sorry. But..." she swallowed. "I broke it off after only two years that time. I just don't think I can be loved the right way... not forever. I don't know. I sound so selfish, don’t I? I don’t know why you want to go out with me so badly. I want someone to love me the way I love them, and I don’t think that’s...fair."

It was why she always had everything. Why she planned and hosted parties. Why she never drank and always took care of her friends. She loved everyone that was lucky to cross paths with her, with her whole, big, beautiful heart.

Harry tilted her chin up. "M’going to love you the right way,” he promised. “M’going to love you the way y’want because that's what y’deserve. If I love you anything less than you deserve then... well... I don't know what, Poppy. If that’s the case m’probably dead because s’the only possible explanation,” she snorted and tears dripped down her cheeks again but not like the night before. “But it's not going to be a problem, kitten. M’going to love you the way your books love. The way a rom-com loves. M’going to love you the way you love everyone that walks into your life. The way you so selflessly devote your kindness to them. M’going to love you the way you love," he promised. “Because s’an honor to love you,” he assured her. “S’an honor to be loved by you.”

She looked away from his gaze, closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to his chest. His throat was aching again. He was really tired, but he would suffer her wrath and frustration of going on about this later. He knew that she would be beside herself knowing he was sick and dealing with her anyway. But where else would he be? "Harry," she whispered finally. He met her eyes the back of his fingers skimming her cheek.

"What, Poppy?"

"Do you love me already?"

"Of course I do."

She sniffled, her face crumpling with relief. Like all of it had been a trick up until then. "Okay," she whispered. “Can we go home?”

“Course, kitten,” he kissed the top of her head and moved slowly to get up from the sofa. All of his muscles ached from sickness and from the awkward but perfect position of holding her all night in the cramped little space.

He held his hand out for her to take as she stood next. “Harry,” she whispered softly.

“Hmm?” He hummed and looked at her with a soft expression that made her stomach flip, her heart skipped a beat. "Yeah, Poppy?"

“I’m in love with you too.”

--

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[luveline]

hii can you please write about Hotch adoring the reader at night as she's sleep talking sweet things please please?? love you!

The first thing he does when he gets home that night is pop his head into Jack’s room. He wants to go in and kiss his forehead, or maybe hold his hand, but he’s worried he’ll wake him and it’s nearing three in the morning, so he whispers, “Love you,” and heads to the master bedroom. 

You’re sleeping not dissimilar to Jack, on your back, the sheets pulled up to your turned head. Aaron moves away from you reluctantly to get undressed and change into soft sleep clothes. He cleans his face and brushes his teeth, and when he returns to you, you’ve curled your arm over where he should be as though you’d sensed his homecoming. 

He shuffles to you in the dark. Pulls back the sheets, and slides under your arm. He finds your hand to hold and brings it slowly to his lips, letting your hand rest over his mouth indulgently. 

He closes his eyes.

After a short case like this one, he isn’t tired enough to forget how much he misses you. If it had been a week away, Aaron would’ve come home and collapsed knowing he’s back with you, and that you’re going to look after him, but it’s only been two days. All he needs now is a kiss.

“Miss you.” 

He clasps his hand over yours, takes your hand to his chest to see you without obstacle. “I missed you, too,” he whispers, though he squints at you after. You aren’t facing him. “Honey?” 

“Aaron…” 

“Yeah, it’s me. You okay?” 

You rub your nose into your pillow and make a nonsense sound. 

Oh, he thinks to himself. Is she…

“D’you– did you have dinner?” 

“Are you awake or not?” he asks. 

No answer. You can’t be awake, then. You’re talking in your sleep, silly disjointed murmurings, your voice like velvet despite the late hour. 

Aaron hasn’t woken you with his questions, so he assumes you’re sleeping deeply. He shuffles further into the bed, onto his side, and wraps an arm around you. Careful in the dark, his nose comes to rest against your cheek.

“Well, we can try again tomorrow.”

“Shh,” he says softly, “shh, honey.” 

“‘Cos of the time,” you mumble.

He breathes in your skin. This is nice, he supposes, sitting and listening to your voice. You don’t even have to wake up. Aaron must spend half an hour listening to you talk yourself, or whoever it is that’s opposite you in the dream. It’s okay, we can fix it. I don’t know what colour that is. It’s Jack’s book. The book. And then your dog will come home. 

He’s nearly sleeping when it runs back to him. “My hubs,” you mumble, hand suddenly alive where it twists under his arm to return his hug. “Miss my hubs.” 

Aaron laughs in earnest. He’s never heard you call him such a thing. “Missed my wife,” he says, giving your cheek a quick kiss. “Love you.” 

“Miss him… want him to rub my back.” 

Your whining is adorable. Aaron pulls you bodily onto his chest and begins to rub your back, smiling, happy to indulge your sleepy nonsense with whatever it is you’re craving. “How’s that?” he murmurs. 

You don’t talk again for a while, but when you do, you say, “He needs to feed the fish,” and Aaron’s left wondering what exactly it is that you and Jack have been up to this weekend. 

[strawchocoberry]

TOO LATE

ᯓ★ featuring. michael kaiser x fem reader 

ᯓ★ trigger warning. obsessive stalker ex || content warning. enemies to lovers, angst, smut, nipple play, oral sex, fingering, multiple orgasms, hate fuck, choking, spanking, handjob, orgasm denial, rough sex, dumbification, degradation kink

ᯓ★ synopsis. Fate is cruel. It can bring people together or tear them apart. But the ending is theirs to make.

❝Had your girlfriend at my house for two days

Should be obvious, the reason she stayed with me❞

ᯓ★ word count. 8.3k

⤷ note. originally posted on ao3 on April 20, 2024.

She ran and ran in the middle of this downpour, without any specific destination in mind. The moment she noticed him among the crowd, she turned around and started sprinting towards the opposite direction, wishing that he hadn’t noticed her as well. Her body trembled, not because it was soaked, but because it remembered that night. She couldn’t process for how long she’d been running. She was short on breath and her legs were about to give up, her speed decreasing, until her paces came to a halt. 

He was stressed and exhausted from a long day. All he wanted at the moment was something to help him take his mind off of his concerns and relax. He was driving around aimlessly through the night, the rain droplets splatting on the windscreen and mixing with the music soothed him. But it still wasn’t enough to calm every part of his turbulent mind. He needed something more — something that would allow him to shut his mind off and just give in to the moment. 

And as if the universe had heard both of them, they found themselves in the same club. They were alone and in desperate need of some company. Their eyes met amongst the sea of people separating them. It was a fervent inner desire that brought them together at that moment. When he walked up to her, he didn’t need too much time to convince her to leave with him. It was stupid of her to go along with him, she knew that very well. But something in him pulled her towards him, making it impossible to deny him. 

Entering the hotel room, he kissed her lips, taking his jacket off, then removing hers, before he cupped her cheeks and guided her towards the bed. He lay her down and hovered above her. He removed her shirt and bra, his hands immediately fondling her breasts and picking on her nipples, as he left his marks all over her neck. Grabbing the collar of his shirt, she pulled him back to her lips, whilst turning them over, her now being on top of him. He was surprised, but didn’t really mind; he found it electrifying. 

Ridding him of his shirt, she took a moment to admire the tattoo on his left side. Blue rose tattoos adorned his neck, which turned into intertwined thorny stems that resembled a chain through the entirety of his arm and culminated in a crown with a keyhole on his hand. She ran her fingers along it, mesmerised by its beauty. His eyes were locked on her, noticing how she couldn’t take her eyes off of it. Pushing himself off the mattress, he crushed her lips, averting her attention back to him. 

She pushed him back down and decorated the right side of his neck with her marks. She kissed her way down, taking his pants and boxers off, his hard cock springing free. She stroked him a few times, leaving kitten licks all over and lolling the tip, making him moan. Her lips were sinful, the way they wrapped perfectly around his shaft had him groaning in pleasure. Her tongue swirled around his cock, teasing that one vein in particular, making him reach his orgasm. He pulled himself out of that wicked mouth and stroked himself, ultimately cumming on her exposed titties. 

Grabbing her chin, he brought her lips to his, as he removed her remaining clothes. He rubbed two fingers in her folds, smirking at how wet she already was. Her cunt eagerly welcomed them inside, her throwing her head back, her body arching at his thrusts, as he took his sweet time nibbling on her breasts. She was holding tightly onto his shoulders, as moan after moan escaped her mouth. He smirked at how she creamed around his fingers, when he started stimulating her clit with his thumb. And oh, he loved how she clenched down at him, body shivering, the moment she reached her orgasm. 

As she was on her knees, her legs on either side of his, he took a condom from the pocket of his jeans, opened it with his teeth and slid it down his shaft. Aligning his cock with her hole, he placed his hands on her waist, then slowly pushed her down on him. The stretch of his thick cock made tears well up in her eyes, her breath suddenly caught on her throat. He kissed the tears away, as he slowly rocked her hips against his, his fingers running soothingly through her hair. Before long, craving more of him, she picked up the pace, bouncing now faster, moaning in ecstasy. And when her speed started dropping, he slammed her down on him, driving her to her release, him following a while after. 

It was around 3 am when they both fell back on the bed, their bodies dripping sweat and covered in marks. She told him to take a shower first, as she wanted to rest for a few minutes, not quite feeling her legs. When she walked out of the bathroom, while drying her hair with a towel, he was nowhere to be found. But he had left her a note, saying that she could stay till morning, as he had already taken care of the bill. She lay on the bed, still wearing her bathrobe and felt all the fatigue washing over her, as she fell asleep a few minutes later. 

“This is Y/N Y/L/N, our new assistant manager,” Noel Noa introduced her to his teammates. 

She smiled as each of them greeted her with a handshake. But her smile vanished momentarily as the last player extended his hand to her. 

“I’m Michael Kaiser, Bastard München’s U-20 forward.” 

“Nice to meet you.” She shook his hand smiling. 

He didn’t say anything, only flushed her a smile, which made her gulp, picking up a strange feeling of anger lurking behind it. She could think of why, but they didn’t have the time to discuss anything else, as Noa gathered all the players and informed them of today’s training schedule.

And so, her first day started. Since the team’s affairs were mostly handled by the manager, she as the assistant manager was reduced to minor labour, such as helping the players during their training. During the time she didn’t have anything to do, Y/N went through each player’s individual file, trying to learn more about them in order to better accommodate their needs. 

“What a small world we live in.” 

Y/N jolted surprised, hearing his voice amidst the dead silence. Turning around, she noticed Kaiser leaning against the doorframe of the locker room. He had just come out of the shower, hair dripping water down his abs, wearing only a pair of shorts, arms folded to his chest and blue eyes locked on hers. Curving his lips into a sinister smile, he walked slowly towards her, feasting on the pleasure of seeing her take steps back, until she hit the locker behind her. Kaiser took that chance and trapped her in the corner, catching her chin and forcing her to look at him. 

“You knew who I was, didn’t you?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Bullshit!” he yelled, punching the locker room, inches away from her head.

“I didn’t!” she yelled back, defending herself. “I hadn’t realised until I saw you in the training grounds this morning.”

He sneered at how this woman took him for a fool. 

“You really are something else, aren’t you?” 

Her eyes wandered to his neck, looking at the hickeys she had left the previous night. 

“What do you want?” Y/N asked him. 

“Just admit already that last night was something you had planned.”

“I hadn’t. And quite frankly, I don’t understand the cause of your anger.”

“You used me,” Kaiser stated, voice laced with poison and madness. 

“And so did you,” Y/N countered. “We both consented to this mutual exploitation of each other.”

Irritated that he couldn’t deny her claims, he shut the open locker next to her and left. 

A few months had passed since then. Y/N got along well with all the players, except for Kaiser. Ness would occasionally give her the cold shoulder treatment, but she paid no mind, as she had quickly realised that it was Kaiser’s impact. Throughout the duration of these past few months, Kaiser kept treating her like a third-rate character. He seemed uninterested in her, always talking to her with few words, mostly giving her orders, such as “water” or “towel”. 

“Is Kaiser giving you a hard time?” Noa asked her. 

He took a seat next to her on the pitch, his eyes wandered towards the ongoing match between the rest of the players. Noa had noticed from the beginning that Kaiser wasn’t particularly polite towards her, as if he didn’t want Y/N anywhere near him for some unknown reason. He is well-aware of his nature and so he thought that in time he’d mellow down. But that didn’t seem to be the case. 

“It appears that we’re of different mindsets, that’s all,” Y/N answered, laughing nervously. 

“Would you like me to talk to him?”

“No, it’s fine. Besides, I don’t think he’ll listen to you, at least not on this one,” she replied, biting her bottom lip. “Don’t worry, I will not let my personal feelings interfere with my work.”

Noa sighed, then stood up and she did the same.

The training was reaching its end. Mere seconds before the match was over, Kaiser scored a goal, leading his team to the win. Apparently, the players had made a bet between them and the losing team was going to buy dinner. The winners rushed to the showers happily, while the frustrated losers dragged themselves in. 

“I’ll see you all tomorrow then.” Y/N waved at them. 

“Won’t you come with us?” Erik asked. “Or do you have plans for tonight?”

“I don’t, but would it really be alright if I tagged along?”

“Of course!” Benedict smiled. 

Y/N didn’t have time to raise any possible objections, as Benedict softly pushed her out of the door. The other players followed behind them.

Kaiser, however, paused for a minute, an irritated expression painting his face. Ultimately, he regretted going with them, feeling agitated as he was made to sit next to that stupid woman. He didn’t say much, sitting silently next to her, mostly apathetic, nibbling on his food, looking forward to this farce’s finale.

The others seemed quite interested in Y/N, as they willingly brought her with them and included her in their conversations. 

“So, Y/N, do you have a partner at the moment?” Birkenstock inquired, taking a sip of his drink. 

Suddenly, all eyes were on her, eagerly awaiting for an answer. Kaiser sneakily looked at her from the corner of his narrowed eyes, surprisingly interested as well. For the first time that night, he seemed curious about what she had to say, contrary to how he would roll his eyes indifferently every time he heard her cursed voice. 

“I don’t.” 

“Eh?!” the players exclaimed in shock. 

“Quiet down, you’re bothering the other customers,” Noa scolded them. 

“Is it really that big of a surprise?” she asked. 

“It’s just… Unexpected?” Theo explained. 

“What’s so unexpected about it?” Kaiser questioned, leaning on his hand, elbow on the table, his eyes locking with hers. “Not everyone likes the commitment that comes with a relationship. Some prefer to fool around instead.” 

“You sound like you’d know all about it,” Y/N snarked. 

“I do,” he shamelessly agreed. “It’s quite fun, you know. One moment you just need someone to help you relieve the stress of a long day and the next thing you know is that you have someone in your arms to fuck till you’re satisfied.”

He noticed her gaze narrowing, agitated at his words. And Kaiser loved that gaze more than any other expression he had managed to draw out of her during these past few months. “And you know what the best part is? More often than not, all they need is a little attention from you and they’re practically yours to do as you please.” 

She tried, she really did try her best. She knew he was provoking her on purpose, that he only wanted to irritate her for his own amusement. But Y/N couldn’t stop herself from pouring his drink on him, bathing him slowly, as she looked down on him.

His eyes burnt with fierce fury, looking at her in a threatening manner. Everyone on the table, even in the nearby ones, was frozen, watching this scene unfold. Leaving the empty now glass on the table, she picked up her stuff and left without a word. 

“What the fuck is wrong with her?” Ness cursed at the audacity of that woman, who had dared humiliate the emperor in public. 

“We’ll talk about this later,” Noa warned Kaiser, before rushing after her. 

Y/N was standing outside the restaurant, ready to call for a taxi, when she noticed him coming out. 

“I’m sorry. I screwed up. I know I promised that—”

“Don’t think about that,” he interrupted her. “Are you going home?”

“Yeah, I was going to get a taxi.” 

“Come, I’ll give you a ride. It’s not safe taking a taxi this late on your own.” 

“Thank you.” 

The ride was dipped in silence. Noa was focused on the road, while Y/N had her eyes stuck outside the window. She didn’t know what to say, how to excuse her inexcusable behaviour. And Noa didn’t ask her about it; instead he offered to take her home.

With everything that Kaiser had said back there, she wouldn’t find it surprising if they had all realised the reason behind their constant cold attitude towards each other. She felt stupid for giving in to his provocations and the only thing on her mind was the next day. 

Kaiser walked into his house, dumping the training bag in the living room and making a beeline to the bathroom. He discarded the soaked clothes and looked at himself in the mirror. He hadn’t calmed down at all, still enraged from what happened earlier. Diving into the bathtub, he let the warm water engulf him and relax his exhausted muscles. In his mind, that haughty look in her eyes kept torturing him. He had to do something to put her in her place for that. 

As he walked out of the bathroom, while drying his hair, he heard his phone ringing. He went to check who was calling, only for him to throw it back on the couch, ignoring Noa’s call. Kaiser went to his room and lay on his back on the bed, looking at the ceiling. He was restless and his blood burnt hot like lava. Cursing at himself, he stood up and went through his wardrobe searching for a pair of fresh clothes to wear. 

He could hardly recognise himself. He was acting irrationally. He realised that. And yet there was nothing he could do about it. Kaiser reached her front door and rang the doorbell, impatiently waiting for her to answer. Don’t tell me she’s sleeping, he grimaced. The door opened the next minute. The shocked taken aback look in her eyes fed his bruised ego, as he greeted her smirking. 

“What do you want?” Y/N sternly asked, hiding half her body behind the door. 

“You had some nerve back there, humiliating me like that in front of everyone.” 

“You deserved it.” 

“Is that what you think?”

“Are you here to scold me, because your ego took a hit?”

“I’m here to return the favour.” 

“By vexing me?”

“Correct,” he replied, leaning his face dangerously closer to hers. 

They wanted to hit each other, crash each other’s skulls, fucking kill one another. And yet, those cursed mad gleaming locked gazes of theirs drove them insane. Kaiser couldn’t stop himself as his lips pecked hers, before pulling back, their eyes locking instantly. Y/N came out from behind the door, as she initiated another kiss, this time more intense, more cynical, more aggressive. His arms wrapped around her, him chuckling at her wince as he bit her lower lip, whilst walking into her house, shutting the door behind him. 

“If you don’t push me away now, I’m not going to stop,” Kaiser threatened. “And this time, I won’t be as gentle as last time.”

He was waiting for her response, his lips inches away from hers, curved into a smirk. She kissed him and she hated it; she hated that she wanted him. She was just proving to him that his scornful words were true. And she hated it. Without realising, she was biting down on his lower lip so hard that he had to practically grab her hair and yank her head back. She was panting hard with a satisfied smile on her lips, noticing blood oozing from his lip. 

Kaiser had an enraged expression on his face, behind which his fervour struggled to stay under control. He attacked her neck, leaving bloody bite marks all over, delighted to listen to her whimpers. Y/N managed to push him towards the direction of her bedroom, him harshly throwing her on her bed. He removed his shirt, throwing it on the floor, then hovered above her, his tattooed hand wrapping tightly around her throat, choking her, as he kissed her lips, forcing his tongue in her mouth. 

He tore her clothes apart, slapping her tits, before biting onto one of her nipples, while pinching hard the other. She grabbed a handful of his hair, pulling it roughly, as she held onto his arm, digging her nails on his flesh, scratching him. He thrusted two of his fingers in her drenched cunt, making her arch her back. Her hand grasped his clothed cock, quickly setting it free. She squeezed him painfully in her grip, earning a few groans from him, as she kept stroking him. 

Neither let the other cum, leaving each other frustrated from their pent-up releases. Wearing a condom, he violently penetrated her wet folds, drawing one whiny moan from her. He slammed his hips on hers forcefully and aggressively, taking pleasure in how her face contorted from the painful stretch. She grasped his neck and forced his lips on hers, biting down on his wound, tasting his blood. She then moved to his shoulder, sucking on his skin and leaving bite marks, all while she clawed on his back. 

And when he had enough of that, he manhandled her onto her stomach, pulling her ass up in the air and thrusting himself right back in. His hands were on her waist, holding tightly onto it, slamming her body on his. She was holding tightly onto the bed sheets, her face buried into her pillow to prevent him from seeing her tears. He would slap her ass from time to time and sadistically feast on her muffled whimpers and moans. And when he felt her close to release, he would abruptly decrease the speed of his thrusts, only to vex her even more, even if it meant torturing himself at the same time. 

When everything was over, Kaiser dressed up and left, without so much as taking a peak of her. Leaning back on his seat behind the steering wheel, he cursed at the throbbing pain of her scratches on his back, before driving away. Y/N was just lying there, her heart beating like crazy in her chest. She was drained of energy and without realising it she drifted to sleep with puffy eyes and his marks all over her body, as if a curse mark. 

The next morning, neither Kaiser nor Y/N talked about what had occurred the previous night. They spent their day each minding their business and not interfering with one another.

A few weeks passed since then and the situation hadn’t improved. During training sessions, they continued giving each other the cold treatment, although at a somewhat milder level than before. They usually avoided interacting with one another. It was awkward to say the least.

The rest of the players refrained from bringing up what had happened at the restaurant, but that didn’t make it any less unbearable of a tense atmosphere. Listening to her, Noa didn’t try talking to Kaiser about the situation, he did, however, advised him to keep his head in the game, as the team was currently preparing for an upcoming match. 

“Good morning, everyone!” Y/N greeted them, coming into the field. 

Kaiser only looked at her for mere seconds, but that was enough for him to notice her slightly red, swollen eyes. His eyes narrowed in suspicion, pondering over the reason for her crying. However, that was only for a minute. It had nothing to do with him, so there was no reason for him to mull over it. And yet, he couldn’t help but sneak glances at her all day, especially during break time. Y/N seemed fine while handing over water bottles to the players, but when she was left with nothing to do, her gaze wandered off somewhere, a hint of sadness washing over her face. 

Kaiser thought that he was the last one in the building, apart from the cleaning staff. He was surprised to hear her voice talking on the phone, as he passed by the staff’s locker room, heading to the players’ to change and call it a night. Y/N sounded quite upset, but he couldn’t make up what she was saying, as she spoke in a low voice. Hanging up, Y/N leant against the lockers, clenching her heart on her chest.

Picking up her stuff, she walked out and was shocked to stumble upon Kaiser, who was leaning against the wall outside, his arms folded to his chest. She didn’t say anything, simply turned around and started walking away. His eyes were stuck on her form until she disappeared from his sight of vision. 

The following day, though, Y/N went back to her usual self, as if nothing had happened. Kaiser cursed at himself for that slight moment she had managed to occupy his mind. The irritation at his own self was evident during practice, as his shoots appeared particularly violent, even for him. With their upcoming match right around the corner, the rest of the team regarded that as just the emperor getting fired up and nothing more, throwing themselves in practice and matching his energy. 

“Watch out!” 

Y/N didn’t quite realise what happened. Opening her eyes, she found herself lying on the grass with Kaiser hovering on top of her. As Ness sent a killer pass over to the forward from the defence line, the pass was slightly off, going out of the side lines and was about to crush on Y/N who was passing by, not quite having noticed it. Kaiser noticed the ball’s trajectory before anyone else and pushed her out of the way, resulting in their current position.

It was only for mere seconds, before the rest of the team circled them. Their eyes locked for the first time in days. Y/N could only look at him panting hard from the training. Kaiser couldn’t help but lose himself in her eyes, being reminded of that very first night they met. 

“Are you two okay?” Noa asked, concerned. 

“Yeah,” Kaiser replied, pushing himself off the field. “Let’s continue.” 

The players looked over at Y/N, who smiley reassured them that she was alright. Ness apologised with a remorseful smile, before heading back. Noa offered her his hand, helping her back on her feet. He checked just in case that she wasn’t hurt by the fall, sighing in relief. The game proceeded without any other problems after that. 

“Ness,” Kaiser called for him, as they were changing clothes. 

“Hmm?” he responded, turning over to him, while closing his locker. 

The two were currently the only ones in the locker room. 

“What is it?” Ness asked him, tilting his head to the side. 

It had been stuck in his mind for a while now, eating him away. It was no state secret that Ness was obsessively fond of him within the team. The midfielder had engaged in multiple arguments with the other players solely for the smallest things concerning him. Kaiser didn’t usually mind. From his perspective, Ness was a loyal pawn who would go to any lengths to support his emperor’s goals. And he quite liked that. 

“That pass earlier, it was meant to land on her, wasn’t it?” he questioned, looking him dead in the eyes. 

“It was an accident.” 

“Don’t fuck with me, Ness!” Kaiser yelled, slamming him against the locker. “Listen carefully. Don’t ever do something like that again. Your sole purpose is to help me score goals,” he spat, venom slipping off his tongue. “Nothing more, nothing less.”

Kaiser let go of him and picked up his training bag, heading towards the exit. 

“She’s messing with you!” Ness tried to excuse himself. “And she still hasn’t apologised for the way she treated you that night. Ever since, she scorns you and—”

“Enough!” he cut him off. “Leave her be, Ness. I won’t be asking again.” 

Looking at Kaiser leaving without so much as sparing a look at him, Ness clenched his hands in fists, rage starting building up deep within him. And despite all the horrendous thoughts that flooded his mind, he wasn’t going to do anything. He was hurt, feeling as if he had disappointed Kaiser — and he had. Even if he didn’t agree with him, he was still willing to follow his order, from fear of being discarded. Not to mention that if that woman’s behaviour didn’t affect Kaiser, Ness might as well follow his lead and not let her get on his nerves either. 

Kaiser was heading to his car, when he heard some people arguing a few metres away from him. He paid them no mind and continued on his way.

“I said let go! You’re hurting me!” he heard a female voice screaming.

Turning around, his body reacted before his brain could process the situation. Forcefully separating the two, he pushed the man away, as he placed Y/N behind him. 

“She said stop, arsehole! Didn’t you hear her?”

The man clicked his tongue in annoyance and walked away without a word. Kaiser turned towards Y/N, his eyes widening in shock, seeing her terrified like that, her body trembling uncontrollably and tears falling from her eyes. 

“Hey, look at me,” he spoke softly. “You’re safe now, that bastard is gone. It’s alright now.” 

“K-Kaiser?”

“Yeah, it’s me. It’s okay now.” He gently caressed her cheek. “Do you know who that was?”

“N-No…” 

“Did he do anything to you?”

“He grabbed my arm… And tried to take me away…” 

“Alright.” Picking up her bag that had fallen to her feet, he took her hand in his and looked at her. “Come, I’ll give you a ride.”

Y/N nodded and followed him to his car. The time they spent in the car was peaceful, each of them immersed in their own thoughts. She would occasionally steal a few glances of Kaiser whilst he was driving, still quite shocked that he of all people had bothered to help her. As the car came to a stop outside her house, he turned towards her, their gazes locking. 

“Thank you for helping me.” 

“Mmm…” he nodded. 

“Goodnight.”

“Mmm…” 

She watched him driving away and disappearing from her view, then dragged herself inside her house. Closing the door, she leant against it, letting herself slip down on the floor. Pulling up her sleeves, she looked at the bruised handprints of that man, her eyes tearing up. Y/N took a long bath, scrubbing as best as she could the marks, wanting to erase their existence from her body. Exhausted, she fell asleep, occasionally waking up through the night from dark memories buried deep within her. 

The following day of the incident with the creepy man, Kaiser had checked up on Y/N, asking if she were okay. She wasn’t, her puffy eyes told him everything he needed to know, but he still went along with her obvious lie of everything being fine.

Subtle changes had occurred in their relationship, as they were now less cold towards each other. Interactions were kept to a minimum, yet the atmosphere around them was more relaxed than ever before.

The players were glad by this sudden turn of events, thanking whatever happened to make them calmer. Ness was still looking down on Y/N from time to time, not quite understanding Kaiser’s thinking, however he didn’t pull any similar stunt again. 

And at last, the match was about to happen. The day before, the players headed home immediately after morning practice was over to prepare themselves for tomorrow night’s game.

Kaiser was taking a bath, relaxing both his body and mind, while visualising the outcome of the game. When he was done, he wore his bathrobe and sat on his bed, scrolling through the contacts on his phone. Nobody really piqued his interest.

Except for her.

Without realising, he was already calling her number. It didn’t take her long to reply. She sounded surprised to receive a call for him, late in the evening. 

“What do you want, Kaiser?”

“Come to my house.” 

“Why?”

“I need your help, Ms. Assistant Manager,” he said in a mischievous tone.  

Y/N wasn’t sure why she obliged to his request — more like his order. As the doors of the lift opened, she sighed before stepping out and ringing his doorbell. Kaiser opened the door for her, greeting her inside with one of his usual service smiles. 

“So, what do you want?”

“You.” 

“W-What do you mean?” she asked him, flustered by his stern reply. 

“I mean…” Kaiser wrapped his arm around her, his face leant to her ear, as he whispered, “You.” He pulled back, eyes looking deep in hers, as he caressed her cheek. “To be more precise, I want to have sex with you. It’s more like a charm, it helps me relax the day before a game,” he explained. “Of course, you can refuse. I won’t force you to stay. But if you do decide to stay, I must warn you that we’ll be at it for a while.” 

Kaiser observed her, deep in thought as she was. Her eyes locked with his, her body was set aflame by his soft grip on it. She wished to refuse and walk away. And yet, for some reason, she was drawn to him. It was like that night they met at the club. There was something in him that held a tight grasp on her, like a chain around her neck, like the thorny briars of his tattoo had engulfed her body.

“Alright…” she whispered to his lips, before giving in to her desires. Kaiser smirked, pleased that she had obliged. 

They shared slow-paced, open mouthed kisses, feeling their bodies melt under one another’s touch. He lifted her up in his arms, wrapping her legs around his torso, as he relocated them to his bedroom. He threw her on the bed and hovered above her, attacking her lips, as he started undressing her. He held her as a delicate doll, yet he marked her as a whore. His cock hardened by those little whimpers of hers that escaped her lips every time he bit her.

Her body jolted at the fat stride he licked on her drenched folds. His lips sucked her clit, whilst he simultaneously thrusted two fingers in her wet cunt, curling them up, only to feast his eyes in her head falling back on the pillow, her back arching to his touch, her moans blessing his ears, as her body trembled, reaching her release. 

She pulled his hair, making him hiss, as she brought him to her, then kissed his lips. She gasped, as his tattooed hand choked her throat, him finding the chance to bite her bottom lip. He picked her up, as he sat on the edge of the bed, placing her down in-between his spread legs. Untying his robe, she stroked his cock, as she worshipped it with her lips. His breath hitched, letting out a breathless moan, grabbing a handful of her hair, whilst feeling her lips sending waves of pleasure throughout his body, ultimately leading to his climax. 

He grabbed her chin, bringing her to him and crushing his lips on hers, as she rolled down a condom on his cock. She slowly went down, feeling him stretching her oh so perfectly as ever. She was holding onto his shoulders, as she bounced on his cock, clenching around him, making him lose his grip on reality. His tattooed hand choked her neck, as he sucked on the soft skin of her breasts, his other hand slamming her hips down on his. He slapped her ass, smirking at how she threw her head back, moaning his name in pleasure. 

Lying her down on her stomach, he ridded himself of his robe, then slightly lifted her hips, as he positioned himself in-between her spread legs, thrusting hard and deep inside her cunt, forcing the air out of her lungs.

“Kaiser… More… Please…” she begged him.

He leant down, kissing her shoulder, his tattooed hand wrapping around her neck, turning her face towards his. His thrusts were violent and forceful, penetrating her and hitting all the perfect spots, making her mind go blank. 

“Is this what you want? For me to treat you like a whore?” he mocked her, voice dripping with menace. “Look at you, creaming on my cock, moaning my name.” He thrusted with each point he made. “I bet that’s what you have been dreaming since the last time I fucked you, hmm?” he taunted, kissing some of her tears. 

She couldn’t answer him, as she held tightly onto the bed sheets, feeling herself cum all over his cock. He couldn’t help but get riled up, thrusting aggressively in her, barely holding himself back from his own orgasm. He fucked her through her orgasm, then rolled her on her back, caressing her tear-stained cheek, whispering “Beautiful…” He ravaged her poor little cunt time after time, until he was satisfied. 

Waking up in the morning, a soft smile was curved on his lips, looking at her sleeping peacefully in his embrace, her head on top of his chest. Kaiser took a moment to take in her relaxed features as she was asleep, running his fingers through her hair. Kissing her forehead, he silently left the bed and went on with his morning routine of conversing with himself naked before his mirror, then he wore some clothes, before grabbing his phone to go for a light jog. When he returned, he found Y/N still sleeping. Kaiser had a shower, before settling himself next to her, kissing her bare neck and shoulder, urging her to wake up. 

“You sure like to sleep a lot, don’t you?”

“I-I was just exhausted, that’s all.” 

“Mmm…” he murmured, kissing her forehead. 

“Whose fault do you think that is?” she questioned, hitting his shoulder. 

Kaiser laughed, as he handed her over her clothes.

Y/N rolled her eyes, dressed up, then stood up to get to the kitchen, since her stomach was rumbling in complaint. Her legs hurt quite a bit from last night’s vigorous events, resulting in her partially losing her balance, before he picked her up in his arms and moved the two of them to the kitchen.

They had breakfast in peace, talking about minor stuff, acting like lovers. It feels nice, they both thought, but refrained from sharing with one another. If she were honest, this was the first time in days that Y/N had felt this serene. 

“If we win the match, will you spend the night with me again?” Kaiser asked, wrapping his arms around her body, pulling her closer. 

“Only if you win,” Y/N promised. 

He kissed her lips for good luck and ran after the other players on the field.

The match was intense, as both teams were strong. Currently, the score was 2 - 2, only a few seconds remained till the end of the game. All the spectators were sitting on the edge of their seats, anxiously watching the outcome.

Her eyes were stuck on him, following him as he evaded the strong defence line of his opponents. Two of the enemy defenders ganged up on him in an attempt to intercept his goal. Kaiser avoided them and shot the ball above his head, resulting in Bastard München’s win. 

And as she had promised, she let him have his reward for his win. It was maddening. The way he touched her, setting her body aflame, had her standing on the edge of insanity; one step and she was gone. He devoured her like a hungry beast, taking pleasure in breaking her into million pieces like a porcelain doll, only to put all her pieces back together and ruin her all over again and again. He listened to every moan of his name coming out of her parted lips, looked into those teary eyes and oh fuck felt her velvet walls tightening around him, driving him to his orgasm. 

“Are you writing again?” Kaiser asked, leaning down to kiss her neck. 

“Yeah,” Y/N responded, smashing the keyboard, as she was in her writer’s flow. “Hey!” she yelled, as he picked her up. 

He laughed, sitting down on the chair and placing her on his lap, wrapping his arms around her. “Hmm, let me see. I’m really curious about what happens next.” Kaiser was intrigued to read the text on the laptop’s screen. He had accidentally stumbled upon her writing her novel and read it at first out of curiosity. The way she wrote captivated him, leaving him hungry for more. That’s how they spent most of their days for the next two months. 

“Y/N’s late,” Benedict pointed. “Do you think something happened to her?”

“Kaiser, did she tell you anything about it?” Theo asked him. 

“No,” he replied.

Recalling the previous night, Kaiser couldn’t remember her telling him anything about not coming to work today. They spent their time tangled up in-between her bed sheets, until he got called and had to leave. He texted her late at night and she replied to him, yet she still didn’t mention anything. 

“Y/N won’t be coming to work for a while,” Noa, who had just entered the training field, informed them. “The manager just informed me.” 

Everyone was confused at this sudden announcement, most of all Kaiser. He called her a couple times during breaks, but Y/N never picked up or called him back. He was getting worried about her disappearance. He even stopped by her house on his way back to his, but she wasn’t there. 

Kaiser: Just tell me you’re okay, that’s all I’m asking.

His face lit up when Kaiser noticed her text next morning.

Y/N: I’m fine. I have a few things to take care of and I’ll be right back.

He sighed relieved and went about his day, worrying less now that he knew she was alright. 

Nonetheless, Y/N remained out of sight for at least a month. She didn��t contact him after that one text message and no matter what time he passed by, she was never at her house. Kaiser thought that he might have done something that displeased her. But then again, she would have confronted him already or they would have gone back to their hostile days. This time, she was even taking time off work as well, which complicated things. 

Kaiser was near her house, taking some strolls around in hopes of bumping into her. Spotting her amidst the chaos of people, he went after her, calling her name. Seeing him running towards her, Y/N dropped the bags from the supermarket and ran away as fast as she could, hoping that he didn’t manage to catch up to her.

Kaiser was left looking at her running off, then averted his gaze towards the bags on the ground. It was only for a split second, but he swore she was terrified to see him there. Picking up the bags, he took them to her doorstep and rang the bell. 

“If you don’t want to see me, just fucking say it and I’ll leave you alone!” he cursed. 

From inside the house, Y/N heard his footsteps getting further and further away, tears running down her eyes, muffled cries escaping her lips. The man holding her against the door started laughing like a maniac, her body trembled at its horrifying sound. His body pressured hers against the door, disgusting her, making her feel sick. He kissed her neck, taking pleasure in how she squirmed to his touch. 

“He’s loyal, I’ll give you that.” He laughed. “Good job coming back to me. You could have run with him, but you didn’t. I’m really proud of you.” He kissed her cheek. 

“M-Mark, can you handle lunch today?” she asked him. “I want to rest a little.” 

“Yes, everything for you, my dear. Do you need me to bring you anything?”

“No, I’m fine, thanks.” 

Shutting the door of her bedroom, she lay on her bed, burying her head on the pillow and crying. Mark Veidt is her ex-boyfriend, with whom she broke up about a year ago. Mark was obsessed with her, to the point he needed to control every aspect of her everyday life. He separated her from her loved ones, locking her up in his house and keeping her to himself, as nobody else was “worthy” of being in her presence. Y/N managed to take his phone from him, as he had taken hers away, immediately calling the police who arrived at the scene of Mark beating her up and took him away. She never saw him again. 

Everything changed the night he was lying in wait for her to come out of the team’s training building. He attacked her, trying to take her by force with him, but Kaiser interfered. He didn’t know it, but that was the second time he had saved her from him, the first being the night they met.

Mark stayed quiet for a while, stalking her and collecting information on her new lover. He was inside her house, going through her worn clothes, engulfing himself in her scent that he had so dearly missed. Hearing the front door opening and people chatting, Mark hid himself inside her wardrobe, leaving it slightly open to peek outside. 

“K-Kaiser, wait—” 

“No, can’t do.” He crushed his lips on hers, his hands roaming her body. “I need you.” 

Kaiser threw her on the bed, hovering above her. Her moans filled his ears, as Mark watched her getting railed by another man. He couldn’t comprehend it. That filthy man was defiling her body, treating her as a mere fuck toy, making her cry and scream.

And yet she was looking at him with lustful eyes, begging him for more of his cruelty. This was a side of hers that he had never seen before. When Y/N was in his arms, he treated her body with utmost respect, for she was his goddess whom he worshipped wholeheartedly. Even so, she had never looked at him the way she looked at that man. 

As he was cutting vegetables for the salad, Mark accidentally cut his finger. He couldn’t believe that the man he loathed would go as far as to come all the way to her house. He had passed quite a few times, but Mark thought that he was simply pissed that his little bitch was ignoring him. He would get over it; or that’s what he wanted to believe. After today he was sure that man would never approach his beloved again.

He and Y/N had lunch together, then put on a movie to watch, while cuddling on the couch. She was trembling in his embrace and Mark thought that it was because of the horror movie he had picked. He hadn’t realised that he was the real reason she was feeling scared. 

From that day, Kaiser didn’t try to reach out to her again. He was angry, angry at her, angry at himself for letting her toy with him. He loathed those feelings he had for her from the beginning. The only reason he gave in was to stop the bleeding in his heart. He never imagined falling this hard, but he had.

And now that she was constantly on his mind, he was in a foul mood almost all the time. Whenever the rest of his teammates asked him about her, he would reply with “don’t know, don’t care” and immediately throw himself at practice. He always kept his mind occupied so as not to think of her. 

“I didn’t know where else to go…” 

Kaiser tried to turn her down, but that heartbreaking state she was in didn’t allow him. Grabbing her arm, he pulled her inside his house harshly. Throwing her on the floor, he looked down at her, his gaze burning with fierce fury. The woman before him was the one who had arbitrarily stolen his heart and broke it one day for a reason unknown to him. And yet that heart of his bled, seeing her breaking down in front of him. But he knew he had to stand strong and not let her affect him. 

“If you came here to cry, do me a favour and leave,” he spat venomously. “I don’t have time for your bullshit anymore.” 

“I know…” she cried. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Kaiser…”

He clicked his tongue, irritated by her cries and slammed her on the wall. His eyes shot daggers at her, daggers dipped in poison, hoping to kill her and with her have his feelings die as well. 

“Haven’t you had enough fun toying with me? What else do you need?” he yelled, his hold on her shoulders tightening. 

A sorrowful cry escaped her lips, as Y/N slipped through his hands down to the floor. She was trembling, she was terrified. Kaiser had never seen her like that. No, he had, that one time. Kneeling before her, he noticed a bruise faintly popping out of her shirt. Taking her shirt off, his eyes widened, looking at the numerous bruises on her body. 

“Who did this to you?” Kaiser asked, barely able to keep his rage in check. 

Y/N explained to him what had happened and he listened to her words carefully, his face derived from all emotions. He couldn’t possibly control the situation, but he wished he could. Her crying her heart out in his chest broke him. He kissed her lips softly, tasting her salty tears and pain.

She begged him to make her forget, if only for a minute and he obliged to her request without a second thought. He touched her body as lightly as a feather, for fear that he might hurt her more. Two days; Kaiser spent the next two days indulging in her every desire, no matter how small or stupid it might have been. 

“Are you sure you want to come as well?” Kaiser asked her, his hand giving a small squeeze to her thigh. 

“Yeah… It’s my problem to begin with.” 

“Stay next to me at all times.” 

The two exited his car and walked to the door of her house. Y/N took a deep breath before opening the door and walking inside. Mark practically ran to the front door from her bedroom, tears running down his cheeks. His face lit up when he saw her, but only for a moment, as he became alert due to Kaiser’s presence that separated the two. 

“If you wanted to go see him, you didn’t have to run away. You could have simply asked.”

“Would you have let me go if I had?”

“No,” Mark replied, his hands turning into fists. “I’ve seen how he treats you. He’s a beast! He doesn’t care about you! He treats you like a common slut! But you’re not. You’re a goddess! The most beautiful goddess that has descended on earth!” 

“Mark, leave.” 

“Do you really wish to stay with him instead of me? Why? What does he have that I don’t?” he yelled frustrated.

“He makes me feel safe. And he never hit me or did anything that I didn’t want.” 

“Can’t you see that he’s using you?” Mark desperately yelled. “He wants to separate us!” 

“Shut up, already!” Y/N yelled. “He has nothing to do with it. I broke up with you a year ago, because of how you treated me. You cannot make me happy. You cannot love me.” 

“Lies! I—”

The door of her house burst open and policemen rushed inside. They immobilised Mark and handcuffed him, as he tried to break free, cursing at them, cursing at the man who stole his lover, cursing at his “goddess”. Kaiser approached him and looked down on him with his cold eyes, watching him gritting his teeth at him, trying in vain to release himself from the handcuffs and attack him. Who’s the real beast between us? he wondered. 

“She spent the past two days at my house. It should be obvious why,” Kaiser taunted him. 

The policemen took Mark away, as he threw insults at Kaiser, who went by Y/N’s side, wrapping his arm around her, kissing the top of her head. The nightmare was finally over. She had never thought that she’d ever be free of him. She didn’t even believe that she’d be able to love anyone again. But she was glad that Kaiser proved her wrong.

© strawchocoberry — do not copy, repost, translate or reuse my work

[snowball-doie]

| pairing: Haechan x fem!Reader x Jaehyun

| warnings: 18+ MDNI. Poly ilichil. MLM behavior. Breast feeding. Lactation kink.

| wc: 1.6k

| aurora's note: originally written for my poly!ilichil x fem!oc fic. edited as much as possible to be reader friendly. also wrote this in the middle of the night, so i apologize for any errors

It was beginning to piss you off, the uncomfortableness from being so full throughout the morning. The baby'd woken up in the middle of the night, maybe around 2AM, screaming and crying, an obvious tell that she was hungry. Jungwoo brought her to yours and Mark's room, gently woke you up, then handed her over for you to feed. You were half awake the entire time. Mark was dead asleep, Jungwoo was brushing your hair with his fingers to comfort you, and the rest of the house was quiet. You were beginning to hate the fact that you were the only person in the family who could feed your daughter-- Sure, she would wean off eventually and move onto bottles, and then the boys could take turns; Until then, you were all she had.

But once she went back to sleep around 3AM in Jungwoo's room, you couldn't sleep. One of your breasts was still full and tender... The other was sore from being suckled, and as the sun rose, it began to feel full too. You tried to distract yourself. Watching movies in the living room, scrolling through videos on your phone, making a snack in the kitchen. Nothing worked. So you crawled back into bed, this time with Johnny who rolled over in his sleep to embrace you in his arms before the two of you crashed. And then there was more crying around 6AM. The whole house woke up finally, Jungwoo and Doyoung bringing the baby into the room while Johnny helped you sit up and get comfortable before taking her in your arms. You tried to help yourself by having her latch onto the opposite breast than before-- However, she wanted nothing to do with you. She was crying like she was hungry, but no matter what you did, she just wouldn't give in. So Doyoung took her back. Jaehyun and Haechan entered, both of them visibly exhausted, Haechan rubbing his eyes under his glasses.

"Oh, sweet girl, what is it, hmmm?" Jaehyun cooed while Doyoung handed her over to him. "Why're you giving your mom so much trouble?"

"Maybe she just had a nightmare?" Doyoung theorized.

"Maybe."

Slowly, she calmed down in Jaehyun's arms, the crying turning into coos that turned into snores. Doyoung offered to put her in the crib in his room since it was the furthest down the hall, so if she started crying again so early, no one else would be bothered by it. He and Jungwoo left with the baby, Johnny slowly slumped back into his pillows, and Haechan and Jaehyun turned like they were ready to leave.

"Wait--" you called out to them.

They both stopped.

"Please... It hurts..."

They turned to look at you, worried. What hurt? Did you need something? Whatever it was, they were always willing to help, just say the word and they would turn back time for you. So they approached you slowly while watching you struggle to get comfortable in bed, Johnny making more room for you to sit with the two of them.

“She won’t drink from the right side,” you whined. “It fucking hurts now.”

Haechan climbed onto the bed to settle between you and Johnny, his hands drifting upwards to massage your sore right breast. Jaehyun sat on the edge of the bed at your left side.

“They’re uneven. They’re full. It hurts like a bitch to have her just sucking on it for hours and have nothing happen. I’m so fucking over it. Please, just do something…”

A direct request was unnecessary by that point. Jaehyun and Haechan were like sharks lured into bait the way they were staring directly at your tits, both of them eagerly trying to free you again from your maternity clothing. Haechan was the first to do something— The second you were free from the restraints of your bra, he leaned in to wrap his lips gently around the sensitive nipple of your right side which hurt the most. You moaned with relief. It wasn’t sexual, not this time at least… In the past, especially when the boys first came home from tour to see you so, so pregnant, Jae and Hyuck couldn’t keep their hands to themselves, they were always trying to fuck you or at least suck on your tits. Now that there was a baby taking everyone’s attention and all of your physical wellness, they had retreated slightly in order to let you focus on getting better… But you needing them so badly that you had to beg for their help made it impossible for them to hold back anymore; and once Jaehyun began sucking on your left nipple, you couldn’t help but feel completely as peace with the fact that you were finally being given the aid you so desperately needed after weeks of nothing but diapers, baby vomit, and having issues getting her to latch on to you.

Jae looked up at you through his lashes. He could tell that the baby had drunk from that side earlier so it was more sore than full, which meant that he had to be more kind to you than Hyuck who was eagerly sucking and massaging, moaning quietly as he did so. The fullness that kept you up all morning was finally fading… You felt tired all of a sudden. They did you a favor by drinking up everything stored away inside of your body just so you could get another few hours of rest before inevitably waking up again with that same, unbearable fullness and a crying baby down in Doyoung’s bedroom.

Between the two of them, Haechan was more into the idea of the milk aspect. He loved the taste, and the intimacy of having his hair played with while he suckled, drinking every single drop until both of you were satisfied. As for Jaehyun, the attraction came out of wanting to help you. Knowing that he was the one rushing to your aid, the one watching as you melted and thanked him for getting rid of the soreness, your body slumping against his, all of it made Jae swoon. He’d do anything for your family. It was the most important thing in the entire world to him— Helping you out, no matter the request or the cost was the best thing you could ask of him.

Hyuck pulled away first to catch his breath. As he did so, a bit of milk dribbled out of your nipple and slid down your breast. He immediately went to catch it with his tongue, licking up the trail of liquid to make sure he got every bit of it before returning to sucking on you. Your hands found warmth in his long brown hair that he refused to cut ever since the baby was born because he loved how she would reach up to tug on it when he’d play with her.

Jae pulled away next, his hand still cupping the underside of your breast, fingers gently kneading the fat. “Feeling better?”

All you could do was nod in your state of tranquility.

He quietly chortled. “Should’ve woken one of us up earlier.”

“I felt bad,” you replied.

“Don’t,” Hyuck said. “We’d rather lose sleep than see you in pain.” And then he went right back to his task with a satisfied groan and a roll of his hips into the bed.

Jaehyun moved one of his hands down to your thighs for him to massage that too in tandem with your tit. With nothing else dribbling out or left to suck on, he knew that you were tapped out on his side, so all he could do was try to keep you relaxed while Haechan played the catch up game on the other side in order to even you out like you asked for.

“We’ll start weaning her off this week,” Jae said. “Need to give you a break so it doesn’t keep getting this bad. We’ll make a schedule for bottle feeding, too, that way it’s fair.”

You thought about how all of that was already decided in your mind hours ago when you were sitting on the couch watching TV, but hearing Jaehyun say it out loud with Haechan and a half-asleep Johnny as witnesses made you feel like it was real, that the boys would finally get to chip in so you could sleep for an entire night.

Hyuck pulled away while licking his lips and sighing heavily. He was done, too, the pain in your breasts subsiding at a rapid pace.

“Thank you,” you whispered, sinking into the bed some more.

Hyuck kissed you passionately, the taste of your milk on his hot tongue.

“If you guys are gonna fuck, can you do it in one of your rooms,” Johnny grumbled as he rolled onto his stomach and stuffed his face full of his pillow.

Jae pulled Hyuck away from you, muttering something about how you looked too tired to have sex, and that you needed to rest before the baby would wake up again. Haechan seemed a bit disappointed, but he was also incredibly understanding. So despite his hard-on in his pajama pants, Haechan adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose then slid off the bed after Jaehyun leaned in to kiss your cheek. You wanted to ask for them to stay or at least help you into one of their rooms where the three of you could cuddle together, but exhaustion hit you like a truck in a single instant, preventing you from forming a coherent sentence. They just laughed at how cute you were when you were that tired. Then with another kiss and a quiet series of “I love you,” they left, and Johnny reached to scoop you into his arms again.

[annwrites]

trick or treat one-shot collection.

— pairing: jacaerys velaryon x twin!reader

— type: modern!au | (part of a collection)

— summary: you & jace watch a scary movie together in private.

— word count: 901

— tags: twincest, ass-grabbing, fondling, fingering, nipple-play, masturbation, french kissing

— tagging list: @emilynissangtr @aemondwhoresworld @cecestea

You’ve just finished loading the dishwasher when Jace pads into the kitchen and retrieves the orange juice from the fridge, taking a swig directly from the bottle.

You scoff, coming to stand in front of him. “That’s so gross, Jace. We all drink from that. Why don’t you use a cup?”

He slides it back onto the shelf, shutting the stainless-steel door before leaning back against a counter, smirking at you.

“You think me shoving my mouth onto that is gross?”

You flush, shifting your weight from one foot to the other.

“Just use a glass next time,” you reply quietly.

You turn to head back to your room, until Jace grabs your ass, causing you to squeak in surprise.

You swing around, lightly slapping his hand, and he grins.

“What if mom or dad see?” You hiss, barely above a whisper.

He shrugs. “I’m sure one of them would understand. There’s always been those rumors about mom and great-uncle Daemon from when she was around our age.”

You take a step closer, narrowing your eyes at him. “Exactly: rumors. What do you think they’d do if they found out that we’ve been—”

He slides a hand down your arm, interrupting you. “Find out we’ve what? Like neither of them have ever walked in before,” he says sarcastically.

You throw your head back, groaning. “Not since we were little. So, at the time, that was the excuse.”

You level your gaze again. “That we were just young, confused, and experimenting. So we didn’t know it was ‘wrong’.”

Jace takes your hand, twines his fingers between yours, and he leads you back to his bedroom—past the living room where your mom is folding laundry and Joffrey is sitting on the floor watching Bluey.

Luke is currently outside playing while your dad works on the family car.

“Because it wasn’t,” he finally whispers, guiding you down the hall.

Jace shuts his bedroom door behind the two of you and he turns his TV on.

You sit back on the futon pushed against the opposite wall of his room, watching out the window as golden-brown leaves drift down.

“Do you want to stream something, or watch a DVD or blu-ray?” He asks, grabbing the remote from his bedside table.

You shrug. “You choose.”

He sits down beside you then, opening Netflix.

Half-an-hour later finds Jace lying on his back with you half on-top of him and your face half-hidden against his chest.

“Why’d you have to pick a scary one?” You whine, peeking at the flat-screen from between your fingers.

He slides a hand up your shirt, gently toying with your breast. “So I can do this.”

You roll your eyes. “You can do that without giving me nightmares.”

His lip twitches. “Well, at least this way I’ll get to have you crawling into my bed halfway through the night.”

You lightly shake your head, then gasp quietly. “Oh God, why’d she go in the closet? It’s going to find her!”

Jace snorts, so you pinch his nose in retribution.

“It’s not funny!”

He shifts underneath you then—his erection pressing firmly against your stomach, causing a pleasant warmth to bloom between your thighs. “I think it’s hilarious.”

You slide your hand under his shirt and he hums in interest…until you twist his nipple.

“Ow! Really?” He asks, turning to glare at you.

You then press your lips to his, nodding with a smile. “Mhm.”

He wraps his arms around you then, before turning the two of you until his body is lying wholly on top of your own.

You spread your legs so his pelvis can rest comfortably between them.

You sigh as Jace nips his way down your neck, flicking his tongue against your sensitive skin, and you moan, grinding your hips against his erection, and your twin quietly curses.

You roll your head to the side, looking back to the TV, and your eyes widen. “Jace, I hate this movie. Why’d you—”

You promptly shut your mouth when you feel him tugging your shorts off, choosing to instead watch as he tosses them across the room before he slowly sinks his long fingers between your hot, wet folds.

“Why’d I what?” He asks, circling your clit with his thumb.

Your mind goes fuzzy, unable to concentrate on anything that isn’t Jace, Jace, Jace…

Your eyes flutter closed and you hum happily, smiling warmly at the feel of him. “Nevermind.”

He pushes your—rather, his—t-shirt up, exposing your perfect breasts, and he dips his head, his matching brown curls to your own tickling your skin as he begins to lap at your nipples, gently sucking and rolling them between his teeth while he continues to slowly finger you.

He lifts his head, glancing back to the TV while he slips his free hand under the waistband of his boxers beneath his sweatpants—stroking himself.

“Maybe we’ll watch The Exorcist next,” he says with a grin.

You stare up at him from beneath hooded lids. “I didn’t sleep for two nights last year when you made me watch that one.”

He leans down, brushing his lips over yours. “And think of all the fun we had not sleeping.”

You wrap your arms around his neck, easing your tongue into his mouth, not having a reply, since you know he’s so very right.

It had been a lot of fun.

Everything always is with your twin brother.

[beenbaanbuun]

tears - opposites attract

this is kind of short but i was thinking about jongho and i had to write something about him. i’m working on requests and i should be finished with a few of them soon 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

——————————————————————————

mingi…

that bastard has stolen your werewolf from you. it’s just for today and hongjoong promised seonghwa that the two of them—and probably mingi as well—would be back in time for dinner. he promised he’d let san know to make dinner as usual, but as of yet he hasn’t stepped out of his greenhouse once. something about being on the ‘precipice of a breakthrough!’ is what he told you that morning when he slipped out of bed far earlier than you or hongjoong, although a breakthrough of what, you’re unsure.

the first part of the morning was spent with san, trailing him around the house as he tidied and cleaned. you’d asked him what he’d be doing on his day off the following week; he told you he didn’t know but it’s almost certain that he wouldn’t be going home. he mentioned the price of train tickets being too expensive, but with the way he bowed his head to hide his expression, you could tell there was something more going on. you didn’t push, just like you wouldn’t want san to push. instead you stand there in a sad silence as san dusts the mantle piece in the living room.

“did you know this house is haunted?” you break the silence as you cast your gaze across the rug in the centre of the room. you can almost hear the crying that comes hand in hand with your ghost, the sound becoming almost comforting the more you hear it. it sounds strange to say that; to admit that you take comfort from someone else’s misery, but it’s the truth. the sound of his quiet sniffles has become synonymous with friendship and love and affection.

san turns to you with an eyebrow raised.

“well i’d have to assume so,” he takes a moment to look around the room, gesturing to all the antiquities and grandiose, “all this shit is bound to carry a few spirits, right?” the dust cloth he carries brushes past your arm as he takes it back to the mantle; you brush the filthy residue away with a grumble. “i don’t really care as long as they don’t come into my room. i’m far too tired to be dealing with ghosts whenever i try to sleep.”

you giggle at the image of the tearful man standing at the foot of san’s bed, staring at the butler with wet eyes and a frown. if san could see him, you have no doubt he’d take pity on the poor creature. as it stands, the idea is simply that; an idea.

“he might be,” you shrug, “but you wouldn’t know. the further he gets from his pelt, the less visible he becomes.”

the thought breaks your heart a little now that you dwell on it. he could be anywhere at any time and you just wouldn’t know it; does he ever feel ignored? or trapped? to have the only love you’ve ever received confined to a single room must be tough. it’s like an ultimatum that neither of you had a say in. a cruel trick from the universe to punish him for his spirit remaining here so long after his death. perhaps he yearns to move on, to find reprieve from the loneliness that haunts the walls of this house just as he does. the very house that has become your freedom must feel like a prison for him.

you wonder for a moment how long he’s been dead for, but the thought seems to manifest itself as a lump in your throat. he told you in his own words that he’d never known love before, just as hongjoong said the rug had been a family heirloom. you dread to think how many generations it has been passed through, each of them bringing even more loneliness and sorrow to the bear.

it makes sense now, why he cries. at first you figured it might be pain, that perhaps he still feels the weapon that led to his death lodged in his heart. in a way you suppose it is pain, and you have no doubt that it’s in his heart, but just not in the way you expected.

with a sigh, you leave the butler’s side to take a seat on the rug. you want to be close to him right now, for your own benefit as much as his. even though you can’t see him right know, you know he’s right there beside you. the shiver that runs up your arm is enough to confirm that fact. you don’t wipe it away or hide from in, instead basking in that icy cold feeling that makes your goosebumps blossom like the flowers in seonghwa’s greenhouse. you hope he can see them and know that even when he can’t be seen, he can still be felt.

you hope he knows you could never ignore him.

[stormyelliotwritez]

walk with me…

ftm reader who has been in love with logan for years but he thinks logan is straight and also logan like wont stop being in love with jean and is absolutely OBLIVIOUS that r likes him.. (literally all the other x men know) and honestly this can be like super angsty or just silly idc whatever the vibe u best think works

im gonna somehow go with mostly angst coz thats my fav so here goes

tw for gender dysphoria related to wanting to fit logan’s so called type

BUT HE’S STRAIGHT?

Logan was staring at Jean again. This was like the fifth time just this staff meeting. You weren’t sure how much longer you could take this. Maybe Charles would let you go lay down if you faked a fever but maybe he’d do the whole psychic thing and realize you were fine.

You sat through the rest of the meeting and then left quickly, feeling like a loser. It’s been years and he still hasn’t noticed you. He’s always staring at Jean who’s literally been in love with Scott since they met. Why won’t he stare at you? How the fuck is he straight? But alas, he is.

You walked to your room, tugging at your shirt and wishing it would fit better. Maybe he’d have noticed you if you weren’t a boy, if you’d stayed what you’d been born as. Maybe if you were still her, he’d think you were cute. Maybe he’d look at you how he looked at Jean.

You slammed your door shut and clambered onto your bed, curling up into a ball. You stayed there, just thinking, until eventually you fell asleep.

In the morning, you got up and after showering and getting dressed, you threw on the jacket you’d stolen from Logan a few months ago, the one with the school’s logo. Maybe he wouldn’t notice. It’s not like he ever noticed you.

You went about your day, bumping into Scott who made a faux growl sound like Logan’s to tease you and then bumping into Hank who sniffed your jacket and then applauded you on managing to steal from Logan. Later in the day, you ran head first into Storm, when you were trying to avoid Logan, and she glanced at him and then meowed at you teasingly. You’d swear on someone’s grave that the only person who didn’t know about your years old crush was the man himself, Logan.

You managed to avoid Logan all day until… dinner. He was sitting opposite the spot you always sat in. He was sitting there. Why was he sitting there was a question you couldn’t answer. You tugged at your jumper while holding your plate with one hand and you walked over to him.

“Logan,” you said with a nod.

“Bub,” he said back before looking you over.

He didn’t say anything about the jacket. He just sat there and ate his dinner and then stood up. He walked around to your side and leaned down to whisper in your ear. “Nice jacket, bub.”

He then walked off, just like that.

What the fuck? What the actual fuck? He didn’t know though. He would know about your ridiculous crush if he was listening to your heartbeat right now. Oh my god, so he knew you’d stolen it but he couldn’t put the damn pieces together?

You finished your dinner and walked off. You were halfway to your room when someone grabbed your hand and pulled you into an empty classroom. The door was slammed and you were disoriented in the dark.

“You like me, bub?”

That was Logan’s voice. Wait, he knew? How? But…

“Come on, I ain’t got all day,” he said abruptly.

You nodded. You were quite sure he could see in the dark and the scoff he made seemed to say so. How could you have been so stupid? He was probably going to hate you now. He was straight. He’d always been straight and in love with Jean. He was oblivious. He’d always been oblivious. He could never like you. You weren’t a girl, no matter how hard you wanted to still be one so he’d like you. Your heart was racing and soon enough, you were hyperventilating.

His hands were on your shoulders and you were being pulled into a hug, a hug that smelt of wood and fuel. He was hugging you?

“It’s okay, I got you, bub,” he placed a light kiss on your forehead, “I swing both ways, you know.”

You’d always hated that he was still taller than you, one of the downsides of not getting on T until your 20’s and- wait, what? He swings both ways?

“You-you do?” You said once your breathing had slowed.

He nodded. You couldn’t see it but you could feel it. He could like you… as you, as a man? You didn’t have to be someone else? You could just be you.

“Yep, now let’s go. I think there’s two beers calling our names in the teacher’s lounge,” he said before opening the door and pulling you out of the classroom. “Jean mentioned your little crush and now I gotta hear all about how you’ve been pining for me for years.”

Curse you, Jean, but thanks, was all you could think as you just nodded and walked with him to the teachers lounge.

[oatmilkandcookies]

UNLESS (sanemi x f!reader) Pt 3.

MDNI, 18+ angst, swearing

Pt. 4 >

warnings: arrangedmarriage!au, angst/fluff, MANGA SPOILERS, abuse

nightmare (/ˈnʌɪtmɛː/)

a terrifying dream in which the dreamer experiences feelings of helplessness, extreme anxiety, sorrow, etc.

word count: 4k

Part Three (Newlyweds)

-

There was sobbing, and he can’t see anything. His hands felt sticky as he fumbled around to find his bearings. That voice…

“Sanemi…”

A person collapses into his hands, making him fall to his knees to cradle them.

“M-mom?”

It can’t be…there’s no way. She’s crying into his hands, and he can feel the sharp fangs and claws he had worked hard to supress in the trenches of his memory graze against his hands.

“Are you becoming your father Nemi?” she sniffled as she finally looked up, holding his gaze with her very human-looking eyes.

None of this was making any sense. His father… Sanemi winced as more memories resurfaced, the way his father would drag his mother by the hair and fling her across the room, raining angry punches on her shrinking figure. He remembers the bitter taste of his father’s fists when he had tried intervening before, and he remembers the twist in his gut when his father would threaten to hit the rest of his siblings if he ever stepped in between his parents again.

“I-If you turn into him…she will end up like I did,” his mother’s shaky voice pulls him out of his own head.

His eyes widened as the pieces clicked. No. No way. He swore to himself he would never let it happen again.

“She…She’ll become a demon?”

Why was his voice shaking? He watched, frozen as his mother sat up to face him, wiping her tear-stricken cheeks with a clawed hand. She shook her head as she grinned, all her razor-sharp teeth showing, stained dark red with the blood of his siblings. She grabs his hands, which he’s realising are also covered in someone’s blood, and he doesn’t know whose. He could see the tremors in his fingertips as she places his hands on both sides of her neck.

“She’ll die by your hands”

“No!”

A sickening crack echoes as her hands force his to twist.

-

Sanemi jolted awake, sitting up as his breathing heaved, cold sweat running down his back and chest. It was just a nightmare. A fucking horrible one, but it was just that and only that. He rubbed his face as he left his room, silently opening the door to the bedroom opposite his, and he couldn’t lie, he was relieved to see your sleeping figure, gently rising and falling with each soft breath. He leaned against the door frame as he recalled what happened a week ago.

Kamado Tanjiro had accused him of being an abusive husband, and it had made him see red. He didn’t care if people treated him like he was some brute, but the one thing he had sworn to never become, was the pathetic excuse of a man his father was. It took all the trainees, and a screeching Sorai cawing the news that Y/N had been found unconscious and had been admitted into the care of the Butterfly Estate, to stop him dead in his tracks.

He had sprinted as fast as the winds could carry him, and he was met with a sharp gazed Shinobu before he could burst into every room to find you. She had spoken in a very pointed tone as she revealed that you were beginning to show symptoms of malnourishment. She had also dropped that a diet of only birdseed and water, as well as sleeping outdoors was no way any spouse should be treated and it was a miracle you had survived that way for almost a month.

For the whole week you were unconscious, the sinking feeling of guilt only deepened the more he remained by your side, noticing how frail your figure had become, the way your cheeks were sunken and your wrists bony. He’d take naps in the spare bed next to yours whenever the tiredness of staying awake got to him, and when Obanai and Mitsuri came to visit, he would take their harsh words with his head down.

“You know she came from a mountain clan, right? How could you not know their history with women?” Obanai accused.

“I’m sure you didn’t mean it Sanemi! There’s no way you would treat her this way intentionally, right?”

“Nonsense, Oyakata-sama was very clear in his advice to him, Mitsuri. He has no excuse.”

Oyakata-sama’s advice. Why didn’t he remember it earlier? It felt confusing at the time, and he didn’t keep the words in mind, but it all made sense now that he’s piecing the pieces together.

“Speak clearly and have meals together.”

What the hell kind of marriage advice was that anyways? How was he supposed to know that the food you laid out each day was for him, let alone the fact that him not eating it meant that you wouldn't? Fuck, what kind of twisted upbringing did you have?

But Sanemi was never one to dwell in regret, so he swears to himself to dedicate his all to your recovery. By the time you were finally discharged, he had arranged for the Kakushi to deliver groceries daily and had requested for another week off.

Sanemi had been awkwardly looming around you as you went about your daily chores post-recovery and though there was a tiny weird tension between the two of you, you had learned to ignore it and enjoy his adorable attempt of company instead. The only few moments he would leave you alone were when he would be shuffling about in the kitchen while you were mending his uniforms in the living room, (and mysterious plates of ohagi would appear on the table in front of you after you wake up from your mid-sewing naps) or when you would take your evening sit in the backyard (and you can still hear his soft pacing as he waited for you to come back inside to the safety of your home). It was sweet that he was truly working on being a better husband for you.

It was during this week that he learnt about your past. He swears he didn’t mean to, but it was late, you were out in the backyard longer than you usually were and he’s never been a man of patience. He had slammed the sliding door open, and you squeaked as you dropped the wet cloth you were using to wipe your body to cover yourself with a towel. He was stunned into silence, the flash of bare skin and the sight of the gnarly scars that ran down your spine gone in a blink as your wide doe eyes turned to him.

Realising he was staring and had interrupted your bath, he could feel the heat rushing to his face as he averted his gaze and muttered an apology, scampering back indoors. He was dying inside from embarrassment. Gah, you probably think he’s a pervert now.

He slid down against the thin door, face in his hands as he tried to rub off the heat on his cheeks. He didn’t stay that way for long though, jumping back on his feet when he heard your soft knock, and your shy invite to join you in your evening sit. You’d open the door when there was no response to the sight of his back to you, but he’d let you slip your hand in his and he’d let you guide him back to sit outside.

You sat in a comfortable silence, staring at the moon, pretending you don’t feel his heavy gaze on you. Your hand was still in his, and he made no move to remove it as you absently traced your thumb along the large scar that ran across his knuckles.

“Yours aren’t that bad to be honest,” He finally spoke carefully.

“Oh?” Your eyes locked as you shifted to face him.

“These are from my demon turned mum after she murdered all my siblings,” he gestured casually to his face, pulling your hand to rest on his bare chest and the bigger scars that ran across it, “These when I had to kill her.”

And maybe this was a very subtle way of him showing off his muscles to you, so you indulged him by letting your fingers trace the scars along his chest, internally giggling at how he almost seemed to preen proudly under your touch. You’d look up at him, and the faint smirk on his handsome face made your gut swirl in some type of way.

“Mine’s Muzan. Grabbed my spine like it was a handle and he yeeted me,” you’d state so plainly, that it shocked him when he realised what you said.

“Oh shit, you win,” he’d choke a laugh, which made you playfully push his chest with an “It’s not a competition!”

“Yeah, yeah you just want a reason to keep touching me,” he scoffed as he rolled his eyes mirthfully, but his larger hand kept yours held to his chest, and you’d both sit in silence again as you feel his quick pulse, unaware of his fond gaze as you eyed his heart quizzically.

“Um…shujin?”

“Hm?” He’s too caught up in the moment to realise you were still addressing him like that.

“…Are you having…a heart attack?”

- -

Autumn nears as the heavy monsoons shift to rough gales, that have you pinning the laundry with extra clips (so you wouldn’t have another one of your panicked sheet chasing incidents). You could only pray you’ve bribed Sorai with enough fresh peas that he wouldn’t tell your husband about them.

You’ve moved in to the guest bedroom opposite Sanemi’s room, upon his insistence, and married life has been quaint for the both of you. Your husband had left for the regional patrol again, and he had given you strict instructions to keep yourself well fed while he was gone. He had arranged for the Kakushi to collect a grocery list from you each night and to deliver the fresh produce every morning. He’d warn you to keep all the doors and windows shut at night with a gentle pat to your hair, and your heart skips a beat when you thought he was leaning in to kiss your forehead, but he ends up reaching behind you to grab his coin pouch.

You’d giggle nervously because oh no if you had leaned in it would’ve been so embarrassing, and he’d smirk knowingly as you turned shy from how close you were standing together. You’d send him off with a wave, and immediately slumped at the thought of being alone again in the estate for the week.

The week flies by in a blur of chores to keep yourself busy, and today, you had chanced upon your blood stained haori from the well incident, shoved in a messy bundle in the dark corner of a random wardrobe. So you set it out to soak in a tub by said well itself as you continued your work on reviving the dried wisteria tendrils that line the walls of the estate.

A long afternoon of trimming all the dead vines had absolutely exhausted you and you had completely forgotten about your laundry. You were too excited at the possibility of your husband’s return that night, and may have prepared a slightly bigger dinner spread in the hopes of having his company to share it with.

But alas, you end up storing most of it when midnight came around and there were no signs of Sanemi. You were headed off to bed, and that was when you heard what sounded like…a large dog…lapping water…?

—-

There’s an odd stillness in some nights that leaves one’s senses heightened. The sharpened instinct of a held breath and darting eyes, an anticipation for a movement or sound to break the world from its sudden frozen state. Sanemi has learnt to associate these nights with the ones where demons prowl stealthily in their hunt for blood; so he keeps his footsteps quiet and his hand ready on his new blade.

He’s had a long week, and he hopes this next demon would be a quick kill on his way home. The dead air is broken by the sound of beating wings and the sight of his crow flapping towards him. His guard drops for a second but is immediately replaced with a sinking sense of déjà vu. His crow was coming from his estate. Sanemi pushes the wind beneath his feet, desperate to confirm that you were safe and soundly asleep, even though he knew the creeping stench of demon and human blood only got stronger as he neared his home. He jumps high, slashing through the roof with a reinforced slam of wind to land in the middle of your bedroom.

The demon was ugly, human features twisted into a giant mouth that was sucking desperately on a dripping blood tinted haori. Sanemi’s eyes widen at the sight of the broken half of his old blade, lodged into the side of the creature’s neck. Shit. He spares a quick glance to your quivering bloodied figure crumpled into the opposite corner of the room, sobbing face hidden and shaky hand wildly waving the other half of the katana in front of you in a desperate attempt to put some distance between you and the demon. Even though it had already taken a nasty bite out of your forearm, Sanemi couldn’t help the swell of pride in his chest knowing you had almost managed to kill a demon all on your own.

“It’s you, so you’re…him…” the demon slurred, four eyes swirling with delirium and sucking harder on the cloth stuffed in its mouth. Of course.

“Yes, it’s me,” Sanemi grins as he swiftly slashes the back of his hand with his blade, cackling when the effect of his ambrosial Marechi blood was immediate. Saliva pours like a fountain onto the wooden floor when the demon drops the haori in its mouth, stumbling drunkenly towards the source of the irresistible whiff it had been tracking for a month.

And as much as Sanemi would have loved to cut the demon into a thousand pieces and left it to burn a painful death through the rising sun, he settles for a merciful slice to its neck, ignoring its dying gurgles in its own spit to turn his attention to you. You. Fuck, you had passed out.

He’d gingerly remove the blade that had dug into your palm before picking you up to rush over to the Butterfly Estate (again).

——

Fortunately, you had fainted out of shock and not out of blood loss; a quick waft of a medicinal balm and bitter tea being poured into your mouth was enough to rouse you. The gnarly bite on your forearm and the cut on your palm had been swifty disinfected, stitched and bandaged by Shinobu herself. She’d sent you both off with a pouch of wisteria incense sticks to light around the estate.

In the following week after the ordeal, Sanemi would up his patrol rounds, the guilt of his negligence being the reason why you got attacked. You’d barely see your husband around the house but he catches you one night, when he was leaving just before the night was at its darkest.

He had slid his bedroom door open to find your sleeping figure slouched next to it, frowning as he wondered how many days had you been sleeping in this state before he noticed? Ugh, he’s an idiot. Of course you couldn’t sleep in your own room after what happened. Even though the roof had been patched and the interior of your room thoroughly cleaned, you were no member of the corps, and demon trauma wasn’t exactly something you could get over easily.

He picks you up and lays you gently on his bed, lighting one of the incense sticks in his room to soothe your sleep with its calming scent. He shuts the door to his room quietly, a small smile resting on him at the thought of you seeking comfort from him.

He strolls towards the forest near his estate, sword unsheathed as he nicked his wrist then stretching his hands over his head with a yawn. He scoffs as a rustle of movement clearly echoes throughout the silent night. Demons are so stupid.

Sanemi smells the rotting scent of it before it lands with a soft thud behind him. He takes a quick breath, pulling a gale with his sword as he shifts to quickly slice the head off the wretched creature, only to halt an inch before it pierces skin.

Human.

The girl before him was no demon, and the stench he had sniffed before had completely vanished. And though her head was bowed, her uniform was clear: she was a member of the Corps.

Sanemi felt a vein in his temple throb as he's miffed. How did some random girl manage to sneak up on him, a Hashira? He's really losing his A-game and he mentally beats himself up to be harsher on his personal training. There’re no chances to spare when it comes to staying in top condition while demons still roamed the earth.

"My name is Sumiko, great Wind Hashira. I wish to be your Tsuguko and undergo your training," she speaks in a sweet, wispy voice.

She looks up, and if he had not been stunned into how her eyes were the same colour as yours, he would've cut her off already.

"I am here with recommendation from the Love Hashira, who had deemed my ability to manipulate air particles and smells best be refined by the Wind-"

"No."

He stared as her eyes widened in shock at the immediate rejection, and felt irritation bubble as they squint in defiance. It fueled his need to stamp the flickering flame of hope in the young demon slayer.

"I am not looking for a Tsuguko, you can fuck off and tell Mitsuri the same," he scoffed.

He shifts to continue his patrol, pressing down the soles of his shoes onto the earthy forest floor before shooting off to run the rest of his route, leaving behind only a floating leaf and the girl still standing in a sudden daze.

-

Today's the day! Tengen and his wives had sent word that they wanted to visit the Wind Hashira's estate on the way to a famous hot spring nearby. Unbeknownst to both you and your husband, Shinobu had slipped him a crow message with a heavily implied threat if he didn't check in on you and how your husband was treating you.

You had seen the happy bunch in passing at the Ubuyashiki Mansion, only having spoken to the wives once when they were looking for something. And yet, they had treated you like an old friend when you greeted them welcome, immediately dragging you away into the kitchen as the husbands had small talk in the living room.

"Eek, so exciting right? I remember when we got married our newlywed vibes were sooo romantic!" Suma squeals as she admired your wedding ring.

"Suma! Behave yourself!" Makio smacks her hand away, "do you need help with anything?" she graciously...demands?

You politely refuse her, and the three beautiful women trailed behind you as you carried out a tray of onigiri, letting out delighted gasps as you served the group.

A tiny frown creases Hinatsuru's smooth features as you bow politely and retreat back into the kitchen, "Is Y/N not joining us for lunch?" She glanced at Tengen who in turn shoots a look at Sanemi.

"It's not what you're thinking you idiots. It's in her culture that she only eats after me," Sanemi rolls his eyes, picking two of the nicer looking onigiris onto his plate, saving the best one for you later.

"Sounds abit misogynistic," Makio mutters loud enough for Suma to nudge her which starts a small tiff between them until their husband stuffs the halves of a riceball in each of their mouths, making them flush as they chew silently.

Hinatsuru stares patiently till Sanemi sighs, "It's something about making sure the food's not poisoned and whether I decide it's good enough for her".

Suma lets out a sound that sounds similar to an 'awwww' with her mouth full while Makio huffs disgruntledly.

"How's the new intern?" Tengen expertly swerves the conversation topic, his wives letting out an internal sigh of relief as the Wind Hashira gets carried away ranting about Mitsuri and the Demon Slayer Corps.

The quadruple watch as Sanemi gets up, their eyes lingering as he grumbles his way into the kitchen. They hear him pause as he gently sets his plate on the counter, a small grunt of acknowledgement for you to eat before he heads back towards them, immediately picking up where he left off with his rant.

The wives take it as their cue to slip their way back into the kitchen, leaving the husbands to themselves again.

-

"He's such a tsundere," Hinatsuru giggles as you obliviously dig in.

"And he saved the best piece for you too, how romantic," Suma adds with a wiggle of her shoulders.

"So kind, so generous," Makio rolls her eyes, pausing as she catches the look of mischief in Suma's eyes, a small smirk forming on her own face as they both slink nearer to you like Siamese cats.

"How generous is he?" Suma asks, seemingly innocently.

You pause mid-chew to think. Generous? He'd saved your life twice. The infamous ohagis he makes only for himself, yet he shares with you. He'd eaten your cooking everyday since your malnutrition stunt, and he'd save a portion for you neatly, unlike your father who would consider you lucky to get to pluck the rice grains off the floorboards.

He let you sleep in not just his room but his bed, for Kami's sake. You had tried to protest the first time he offered to sleep on the floor instead but he had just turned his back to you pointedly. And you would never tell, but you knew he tucks the blanket back over your shoulders when he gets home just before the sunrise, pats your hair gently before he settles on the ground beside you, joints cracking with a grumble.

Makio lets out a groan as you hum in contemplation, "Is he generous in bed, Y/N?"

...In bed? He gave you his entire bed for Kami's sake, how much more generous can he get? You feel a blush forming as you remember that on colder nights you'd wake up the next morning tucked into his warm side, big arms engulfing you in a comfy hug that has you secretly snuggling. You'd pretend to stay asleep until you feel him tense, the telltale sign Sanemi's awake. It's impressive really, how he'd manage to slowly shift till you're gently laid back in his bed without you feeling a thing until your head hits the pillow. He must be the stealthiest Hashira.

"Um...very..." you finally reply, almost feeling...shy, the three wives began squealing excitedly which made your cheeks grow a few shades darker, Suma gasping as she smacks Makio's arm repeatedly.

You put your hands on your cheeks to cool them down, why were they being so excited? For some reason it felt like you were embarrassed but you don't know why exactly.

You get up as you realised that the dining table hadn't been cleared yet, and you quickly excuse yourself from the ladies. You bow slightly as you collect the plates from the table, not listening to the conversation of the Hashiras. As you turn to carry the pile of dishes, Tengen's loud voice booms,

"This one can really cook! You got yourself a good one, Shinazugawa."

Time stops as he lands a hefty smack on the middle of your back with his wide palm. You tense with a gasp, plates falling to the ground and shattering. Your feet puddle beneath you as you collapse forward, shards of porcelain digging into your palms.

The ensuing chaos is a ring in your ears as your breathing heaves into a panic attack.

----

A/N: A NICE COLD LEMONADE bc i deserve to eat whole lemons for making yall wait this long...

i've had alot of major life changes since the last update (dad died on my brother's bday rip, unemployed twice, back in uni) and i've only recently come back to writing as my escape from reality. (dont worry im fine now, i think)

i rly thank you guys so much esp those who've been here from the start (2 years ago wtf) i cant express how much i appreciate yall sm ya guys are literally the sweetest T.T

i'm following the taglist that i have saved in my notes app from ages ago so if any of yall got new users do lmk!! lord knows that thing needs an update fr

hope this one's worth the wait, i'm looking forward to yall reading it <3

hint for the plot? gotta keep an eye out for selener (Sumiko)

taglist:

@sunaswife @mac-the-oregonian @noelledleapier @therulerofanime @calamitykor @screeeechqueen @a-single-pizza @multilingual-birb @settingmyheartablaze @stressed-lala @behaktaylorgriggs @galaxyfruits @abbylouamanda @dreamsholdpowers

[mikelsonswifeblog]

HAUNTING OF THEA LECLERC.

Formula 1 grid x (oc) Thea leclerc.

Leclerc family x sister Thea leclerc.

Summery- Horror Au- 16 year old Thea started to see something that doesn't exist in living world and gradually darker haunting manifest .

Part 2 - Shifting Realities

Thea couldn’t shake the unsettling feeling that had settled deep within her bones. The whispers, the fleeting shadows, and the creeping sense of being watched had become her constant companions. She tried to push them away, tried to convince herself that they were just the products of her imagination, but the truth was becoming harder to ignore.

It started with small things. Objects in her room didn’t seem to stay where she left them. At first, Thea thought it was just her forgetfulness. She would place her hairbrush on the vanity in the morning, only to find it on the dresser by nightfall. A book she had been reading would appear on the opposite side of the room from where she last put it down. She brushed it off, blaming herself for being distracted.

But soon, the disturbances became more noticeable. One afternoon, Thea returned to her room after a walk along the coast, needing to clear her head. She pushed open the door, and her heart sank. Her desk, once neatly organized with her textbooks and notebooks stacked in the corner, was now in complete disarray. Papers were scattered across the floor, her pencil case emptied, and her chair was turned to face the wall.

Thea stood frozen in the doorway, her mind racing. She hadn’t been home all day. No one else had been in her room—her mother was out with friends, and her brothers were away at their races. Panic clawed at her throat, but she forced herself to stay calm. She crouched down to gather the papers, her hands trembling.

Just as she picked up the last sheet, she heard it again—a whisper, soft and fleeting, like someone speaking just out of reach. She looked over her shoulder, half-expecting to see the shadowy figure again, but there was nothing. Only the stillness of her empty room.

Shoving the papers back onto her desk, Thea backed out of the room, her heart pounding in her chest. She closed the door behind her, leaning against it as she tried to steady her breathing. Whatever was happening wasn’t just in her head. Something was messing with her—something she couldn’t see, but could feel all too clearly.

She didn’t tell anyone. Her mother was so busy, and her brothers were living their lives. They didn’t need to worry about her strange experiences. Thea convinced herself that she could handle it on her own. But deep down, she knew she was in over her head.

---

A few nights later, the sleepwalking started.

Thea had never sleepwalked before. At least, not that she knew of. But one morning, she woke up on the living room couch, disoriented and confused. The sun was just beginning to rise, casting a soft orange glow across the room. She sat up, rubbing her eyes as she tried to remember how she had ended up there.

She had gone to bed in her room, that much she was certain of. She had been lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, listening to the whispers that had become her nightly lullaby. And then… nothing. No memory of leaving her room, no recollection of wandering downstairs in the middle of the night.

Thea stood up slowly, her body feeling strangely heavy. She made her way back to her room, her footsteps soft against the hardwood floor. When she opened the door, she froze.

Her bed was unmade, the blankets twisted and thrown across the room as if someone had ripped them off in a fit of rage. Her pillows were on the floor, and the lamp on her bedside table had been knocked over.

Thea’s breath caught in her throat. She didn’t remember doing any of this. She had no memory of thrashing around in her sleep, of throwing her blankets and pillows across the room. But it must have been her, right? Who else could it have been?

She spent the rest of the day in a daze, her thoughts consumed by the possibility that something more sinister was at play. The whispers, the moving objects, the sleepwalking—it all felt connected, like pieces of a puzzle she couldn’t quite fit together.

That night, Thea decided to test a theory. She set up her phone on her desk, pointing the camera toward her bed. If she was sleepwalking, she wanted to see it for herself. Maybe then she could figure out what was really going on.

As she lay down to sleep, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching her. The whispers seemed louder, more insistent, as if they were trying to communicate with her, but the words were just beyond her comprehension.

She closed her eyes, willing herself to fall asleep, even though every nerve in her body was on edge.

---

Thea woke with a start, her body jerking upright in bed. She blinked in the darkness, disoriented and confused. For a moment, she couldn’t remember where she was or why she had woken up. But then she heard it—a soft rustling sound, like someone shifting through the papers on her desk.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she slowly turned her head, her eyes scanning the room. The shadows seemed to twist and shift in the corners, but nothing moved. The room was silent, save for her own ragged breathing.

She reached for her phone, her hands shaking as she fumbled to unlock it. She quickly navigated to the video she had recorded, her pulse racing as she pressed play.

At first, the video showed nothing out of the ordinary. Thea could see herself lying in bed, still and quiet as she drifted off to sleep. But then, around two hours in, something changed.

Thea watched in horror as her sleeping form suddenly sat up in bed, her eyes still closed. She moved with a strange, jerky motion, her limbs stiff and unnatural. Slowly, she got out of bed and walked to the corner of the room, standing perfectly still for several minutes, her back to the camera.

The whispers filled the room again, louder this time, like a chorus of voices overlapping one another. Thea’s recorded form tilted her head slightly, as if listening, before she turned around and walked back to her bed. She lay down, pulling the blankets over herself, and the room fell silent once more.

Thea stared at the screen, her hands trembling as she tried to process what she had just seen. She had no memory of getting out of bed, no recollection of standing in the corner of her room for minutes on end. But there it was—proof that something was happening to her, something beyond her control.

She couldn’t ignore it any longer. The whispers, the moving objects, the sleepwalking—it wasn’t just her imagination. Something was happening to her, something dark and terrifying that she couldn’t explain.

And whatever it was, it was getting stronger.

Thea knew she couldn’t keep this to herself anymore. She needed help. But who could she turn to? How could she explain what was happening without sounding insane?

As she lay back down, her heart pounding in her chest, Thea realized that this was only the beginning. The darkness that had crept into her life was growing, feeding off her fear. And it wasn’t going to stop until it consumed her completely.

@copyright

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[ryuluvr]

echoes of rain and love.

(wlw fem!reader x jinx, sfw)

tags: pure fluff, established friendship and mutual crush, jinx follows you around without your knowledge, silco is alive, quick mentions of weapons + bombs, shimmer!jinx, arcane!jinx (18+ age)

notes: honestly this is just self-indulgent bc i love jinx so much. it's short n sweet, sorry!

wc: 1.2k

the moon replaced the sun in the sky as the streets became more busy, people flooding in and out of the multiple bars, clubs and brothels around. you thought to call it a day, keeping only one dim lamp on in your bedroom before throwing yourself down on your double bed. it always felt more lonely at night.

with your head gently placed on your pillow, a deep sigh escaped your lips, fluttering your eyes shut after a few moments. you had no real intention of sleeping yet since you were dying to continue a book you started the previous morning, but exhaustion got the better of you, allowing you to slowly doze off on top of the covers.

close to half an hour passed before a loud crash followed by the sound of items falling to the floor woke you up from your sleep. you sat up as fast as you could, heart pounding hard in your chest as you scanned the room. your gaze moved from your books scattered across the floor to jinx standing by the window, but it took you a few seconds to realise she wasn't on the outside of it.

"look, don't be mad.." jinx began, her voice almost as low as a whisper, holding up her hands in defence while a grin tugged at the corners of her lips. "i just wanted some company. sevika's out working, and i was lonely."

you exhaled as you shook your head in disbelief, begging your heart rate to decrease as soon as possible.

"i'm flattered i'm your second option." you couldn't help but smile. this wasn't the first time your friend broke into your apartment just to see you, you just wished she would let you know beforehand and enter like anyone else would, through the front door.

you ran your slender fingers through your hair, watching closely as jinx tiptoed around the belongings she knocked over on her way in, approaching your bed with a slight pout.

"aw, come on. you know you're my first, really." her tone was playful but it was clear she meant every word. you're constantly shocked at how she can have so much energy quite literally twenty four hours of the day. jinx plopped herself on your bed, causing you both to bounce a little, eliciting a tired groan from you.

"sooo, whatcha been up to?" jinx sat crossed legged opposite you, her attention entirely on you and your answer. you had to take a few moments to think, not that you did much in the day.

"work." you rolled your eyes while tucking some strands of hair behind both ears, soon noticing the way your lamp flickered to your side. "it feels like that's all i do lately. i'm exhausted."

jinx tilted her head to one side in curiosity and you saw her pick at her own nail polish, leaving every single nail chipped. she can never stay still, no matter what.

"so why don't you quit?" jinx's question caused you to lightly laugh, assuming it was unworthy of an answer. silco has covered everything for jinx since the day he took her into his care. money hasn't been a problem for her for a while now and she currently has a guaranteed place to live. she's not entitled or even ungrateful by any means, she just has no reason to handle currency anymore.

after pushing yourself back up against the headboard of the bed, you trailed your eyes back up to jinx's face, noticing and loving the way her pink eyes shimmered in the dark room. her braids laid neatly across her lap; you couldn't help but wonder what she would look like with her hair completely down. you imagined yourself running a brush or even your own fingers through her hair, listening to jinx hum her favourite song.

"you still making those little chompers?" you asked curiously, jinx's face instantly lighting up.

"you bet! the one i'm currently working on is gonna be even bigger and better than the last! i'm thinking of testing it on some pesky enforcers once it's done." her excitement plastered a smile onto your face, giggling at her enthusiasm. sometimes you wished she would invite you to her weapon testings, but you knew she didn't purely for your own safety. hurting you in any way would absolutely destroy her.

"then, you'll have to let me know how it goes. just maybe not at one in the morning, okay?" truth is, deep down you wouldn't get angry at her even if she came to you at five.

your friend leaned forward to mess up your hair, chuckling to herself soon after. "i wouldn't count on it." her gaze quickly landed on your window due to the raindrops gliding down the glass, the sound of thunder indicating a storm was quickly approaching.

the weather was enough to make you rush out of bed and head for your wardrobe, taking ahold of some comfy pyjama shorts alongside a black oversized t-shirt, throwing them onto jinx's lap.

"you're not going out in that. i know what you're thinking." you frowned as you spoke to her, your voice full of concern and care. the other girl parted her lips to protest but you cut her off instantly. "you can stay here tonight, if you'd like."

jinx glanced down at your clothes, suddenly in her own world while she ran her fingers across the soft materials. eventually she nodded, unexpectedly giving in with a grin.

"more time with you? don't have to tell me twice." her sweet giggles filled the room, feeling your own heart swell with adoration. you turned your back to her, letting her change into your clothes in peace.

the rain continued to hammer down outside, wind howling too. once jinx stated she was done, you turned on your heel to face her, deciding to fold her clothes up for her before gesturing towards your empty bed. you thought it would take a miracle for her to settle down considering her hyper nature, but to your surprise she slid under the covers and let out a soft sigh. you've never seen her so peaceful or still before, and you weren't sure you'd ever see her this way again.

you followed suit, scooting in bed beside her and pulling the duvet further up to reach your shoulders in an attempt to warm yourself up.

without any warning jinx rolled from her back onto her side to face you, your eyes widening with surprise when you noticed her face was merely centimetres away from yours. blood rose slightly in your cheeks, unable to find any words to speak.

jinx's pink eyes remained glued to yours, and her sweet smile never faded. something about this moment was just so beautiful and you felt like there was nothing you wouldn't do to freeze time. the room was quiet, except for the distant thunder rolling in waves. you took your hand and pushed some strands of hair out of jinx’s face, your touch slow and soothing, as if trying to match the rhythm of your deepening breaths.

the soft crackle of lightning illuminated the room for a brief second, casting fleeting shadows over both of your faces. you leaned in, pressing a tender kiss to jinx’s nose, then another to her forehead, your lips lingering just for a moment. a bigger smile curled on the other girls lips, her eyes growing heavy with sleep. you both nestled closer, your legs tangling beneath the covers, comforted by each other's presence. eventually, your eyes drifted shut, and you surrendered to sleep, wondering if jinx will still be beside you in the morning.

[averillaratargaryen]

“A Better Man.”

Chapter IV

The room was dark, only the faint glow of the moon filtering through the curtains, casting long, eerie shadows across the walls.

Averillara jolted awake, her heart pounding, the remnants of a nightmare clinging to her like a suffocating fog.

Her breath came in shallow gasps as she tried to shake off the vivid images of the dream—chaotic flashes of something chasing her, its twisted face inches from hers.

As she sat up, straining to steady herself, a soft, unfamiliar noise. Murmuring coming from the foot of her bed.

The figure that was sat there caused her to shriek, as she curled her legs back to her, hiding her feet under the blanket.

“Who-? Who are you?” She stuttered from shock, when she found a strange man sat beside where her feet once were.

“I do not share information without a price” He whispered, eerly.

Averillara looked at him, distraught and confused.

“Get out!” She shouted, pointing to the door.

Yet he not budge nor move away from her. He sat there, confidently, with a smug smile on his face.

“It is important to care.. for one’s needs” his hand grasped her ankle, as they slid under her blanket.

Causing her to slap him harshly against his cheek.

Pulling her foot away, Averillara had stood up, from the opposite side to where this man was stood, ready to leave her bed chamber, as it seemed.

“Do not leave” He spoke, in a whisper that caused Averillara to shiver, “I pose no threat to you.”

“Pose no threat?” Averillara looked at him in disgust, as she scoffed, watching him force himself up as he held onto his cane.

“You have come into my bedchamber throughout the middle of the night, and to touch me inappropriately-!” She stopped herself from raising her voice.

Having no idea who he was. Not remembering him, or his name, or what he stood for.

“You must trust me. I mean you no harm” he spoke softly.

Her aura entirely, Averillara found creepy.

She made her way to her bed chamber door, grabbing a hold of the knob before finding his hand squeeze ontop of her.

Averillara looked towards him, seeing how his eyes immediately drew down to her bare feet.

She took a step back, her feet then hiding beneath her gown, watching his eyes then linger back up to her face.

“You are sick” she whispered, looking at him in disgust, realising his intentions being entirely impure.

As if she was no child, compared to him.

Averillara’s eyes soften, as worry takes over her, when he looks down at his their hands, his fingers slowly uncurled off her, as her trembling hand became released.

Her eyes searching his entire self, wondering what it is he wanted from her, or why he acted so strangely.

Yet her softness was quick to dismay, when she found her throat caught in the grip of his hand.

She gasped, already feeling a tightness to her throat, as he held onto it tightly.

His anger releasing into his grip.

“I am the Queen’s trusted servant. And you dare call me sick?” He looked at her with a smirk, “your father is right. You are your mother’s daughter indeed.”

He lifts her head up, his hand moving slightly up, yet still holding onto her throat.

Averillara hit his arm, trying her best to push him away, but with no strength in her upper body, at this moment, failed to do so.

Watching him chuckle.

Her eyebrows furrowed, as she felt herself almost pass out, herself becoming paler by the minute, as he continued to take out every bit of air she had left.

Until her eyes searched and realised, he had only his cane to hold onto.

His weakness, is what she found.

With a quick thought in mind, Averillara lifted her foot, as she kicked his cane down, watching him fall along with it, his hand slowly slipping of from her neck, his grip loosening.

Averillara coughs repeatedly, patting her chest calmly, as she tries to find a breath to catch.

It was heaved, and she felt dizzy, as she looked around.

And then looked down, to see him look up at her.

Still smug.

Averillara had no choice, as she swung the door open, and forced herself out.

She pushed herself forward, opposite her as she rested her body against the wall, breathing heavily, and impatiently.

Watching her bed chamber door creek open, as he helps himself out.

Averillara began to walk off, in fastened steps, almost tripping as she walked side to side, having no grip or awareness to her surroundings.

“M-mother” she called out, a tear dripping from one eye as she felt herself wishing to collapse at any moment.

As she turned her head, she noticed him continuing to follow her, from down the steps, across to the other side, and back up.

It was never ending, as Averillara walked from room to room, wishing to find her mother, Rhaenyra, at this moment.

Yet her mind was so unfocused, she had not realised where she was.

Until she felt herself hit someone, her body against there’s.

Looking back, breathing heavily, she notices that he was continuing to follow her.

Averillara looked back to who was in front of her, and there her eyes met, with his dark ones.

“Aegon” she whispered desperately.

“What are you doing out here, late at night?” Aegon whispered back, before smirking, “looking for me?”

“Help me” she sobbed, her eyes fluttering before she found her head rested against his chest.

His smirk faded, as he tilted his head down at her, “Averillara?”

Yet she did not respond.

He pulls her back, yet her body had no grip. As though she were jelly-like.

“I-? Averillara?” He calls out again, now becoming concerned when she did not respond.

Her eyes closing slowly.

Aegon held her face, before lifting her up by her chin, noticing redness stained against her neck.

As he looks up, he finds the culprit, who stood frozen, as he looked back at him.

“Larys?” Aegon spoke.

“I can explain” Larys spoke out.

He looked back down, in much horror, when his next thought was to act.

“Get me a maester” Aegon then lifted her up, now having her body laying on her arms.

“What?” Larys looks at him confused, wondering why he did not have anything else to say.

What was his need to be so calm of this.

“Get me a maester. Now!” Aegon ordered.

Larys nods, turning around as he walks away.

Aegon looks down, seeing Averillara’s head dropped back, in his arms.

Her passing out, came with a very clear reason.

There was not going to be a peaceful outcome to this.

~

“Where is she?” Jace ran in, to find his sister, laid on Aegon’s bed.

Jace then turns, to see Aegon looking distraught, as he watched Averillara.

“You” Jace was quick to accuse him, as he came for him, holding him from his collars, “you did this to her!”

“Jace!” Rhaenyra pulled Jace away, Alicent almost daring to push him, yet Aegon moved her away, assuring her that he was okay.

“You are mistaken, i did not do anything to her” Aegon responded.

“Then why is she in your bed?” Jace asked.

“Because i found her. What would you have me do? Leave her out there whilst she’s passed out?” Aegon questions Jace’s opinions.

“We do not know for sure than anything has happened” Alicent looks towards both, Jace and Rhaenyra.

“What proof do you need that something has happened, other than the fact that my daughter is laying here unconscious!” Rhaenyra shouts.

She then looks to Aegon, “i do not accuse you, but i know that you know of something. And i must know what has happened.”

“How dare you question my son?” Alicent intervened.

“Who else must i question? He was the last to see her, so he must know what has happened!” Rhaenyra shouts back.

“Lara” Daemon walks in, as she was the first thing he set his eyes on before turning to Aegon.

As he almost drew his sword, Rhaenyra had stood in front of him to stop him, before assuring him, “it is not Aegon’s doing.”

Daemon had no words, no response, but rather let his eyes talk as he stared down at the young prince, who was guarded by his mother.

Rhaenyra had Daemon put his sword away, in no way of wanting anyone to get hurt, before turning to face Aegon.

“Tell me what you know. Please” Rhaenyra pleaded, “she is my daughter.”

“He does not need to tell you anything” Alicent responds for him.

“When i found her” Aegon gulped, pausing as he gains the courage to step forward, away from his mother’s shield.

“Aegon” Alicent whispered, yet he moved her to one side.

“When I found, all i know is she asked that i help her. Before she.. passed out” Aegon responds, “she seemed restless, and unable to walk properly, when i found her walking towards me. I um-? I suppose due to the fact that she may have been suffocated.”

“And how might you know that?” Rhaenyra asks.

“The look on her neck. It was.. sore. Red” Aegon responds.

“Did you not see anyone else? Anyone at all, who could have been following her?” Rhaenyra asks.

Aegon takes a glance at his mother, before looking back at Rhaenyra, “no. I’m sorry, but i have no idea.”

Rhaenyra nods, greatful to whatever it is Aegon had told her, before looking back to her daughter.

Aegon sighs, looking away, to find both Jace and Daemon looking back at him.

Unconvinced that there was not more to it.

“Your Grace” Ser Cristian Cole was heard, as he stood in front of the door, his eyes focused on no one, other than Alicent herself, “his Majesty, calls for you.”

Daemon looks back at Ser Cristian Cole, a scoff escaping him, in how he could be as such, as though someone did not try to kill his own daughter.

“Daemon do not” Rhaenyra whispers, “this is not the time.”

Ser Cole looks towards Daemon, as Daemon does towards him, yet smugly looks away, walking off as he follows Alicent out the room.

“All he cares for is his cock and its desires” Daemon mutters.

Rhaenyra rolls her eyes, finding it unbelievable for Daemon to act this way, before looking back, her eyes meeting to Aegon.

The boy stood, guiltily, as he watched Averillara lay in his bed.

Not having the courage to own up to what he truly saw, or who he truly saw last night, after finding Averillara hurt.

Larys was Alicent’s most trusted server, and almost seen as her partner.

If he were to tell the truth, then he had no idea what consequences he would have to face. Nor having any idea of the consequences after not revealing the whole truth.

~

“I cannot believe you!” Alicent shouts, “she is your daughter, for crying out loud.”

“I did not order him to kill her. I simply asked that he scare her” Ser Cole responds.

“And for what? What reason was needed?” Alicent asks, “do you think some sort of story like this will have her side with us? What were you thinking?”

“Your Majesty, i-?” Larys walks in, unwelcomed, before being silenced, when he finds both Ser Cole and Alicent stood opposite one another.

“Had i given you permission to walk in? Or is that what you thought, after what you planned last night?” Alicent asks.

“I do not know what you speak of?” Larys asks.

“She knows, Larys” Ser Cole responds.

“What were you thinking!” Alicent shouts, “haven’t you done enough?”

“I thought this is what you wanted, I don’t understand-?” Larys looks to Ser Cole, “you told me this what the Queen requested.”

Alicent scoffs, before she looks towards Ser Cole, “so you thought you have the authority to speak for what I want?”

“I did not say that” Ser Cole denied.

“Whatever has happened-! It has happened” Alicent looks to the two, landing on Larys lastly, “you must stay away. Keep a low profile, and do not appear in sight of her. If she is to spill out the truth, then who knows what it will cost.”

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

chapter 5

[prince-strife]

the apartments in evolution and reawakening are different and i have so many questions about it. is that nines’ apartment? did gavin move? did they move in together??

[unfinishedslurs]

stobin vegas wedding (steddie)

“I didn’t cheat on you,” is the first thing he says when Eddie picks up the phone. 

Eddie pauses. “O…kay? That’s a weird thing to say to someone you didn’t cheat on.”

“I promise we did not sleep together.”

“Steve, you’re starting to worry me a little here. What did you do?”

He rubs the bridge of his nose. “I���may have drunk married a lesbian in Vegas.”

There’s a long silence. Steve’s palms start to sweat, sure he’s about to be broken up with. Then—

“Are you laughing?”

The lesbian’s name is Robin. 

“Can I meet her?” Eddie asks. “I want to meet her. Give her the phone. She’s the Jolene to my Dolly, I have to talk to her.”

“She didn’t take your man,” Steve protested. “There is no man-stealing going on here. She’s just…a woman I married.”

“Wow,” Robin says, watching him with raised eyebrows. “Glad to know my role in your life has been reduced to wife. And so soon after we met?”

“Shut up, Jolene,” he hisses. 

“Stephen! Don’t talk to your wife like that!” Eddie scolds. “C’mon, put her on.”

He sighs and gives Robin the phone. 

[wifegideonnav]

tbh when mitski said “you’re my best friend/now i’ve no one to tell/how i lost my best friend”

[halojalex]

Isn’t kinda sus both Alex and Jack posted insta stories shirtless in a hotel room. I feel like they are sharing a bed tonight 👀

no bc why is this where my mind goes every time 😭

[chartreuxcatz]

Hold on, friends, hold on. Wait wait don’t do anything. *curls up next to you* Just stay still for a sec okay, friends? Just wait a sec. *snuggles up against you*