#and then there’s the boys around the corner that always bring out their lawn chairs and shout things at me when i ride my bike past

[willowfey]

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[myuselessartandstories]

Story #30

Stairs

It’s always the house at the end of the road, isn’t it? It’s always the one that has the broken windows and the cracked paint, the messed up lawn and the open door. Why can’t people just tear these stupid things down if nobody’s going to buy them?

Adults are weird, I guess. They don’t want to tear down the house, but they don’t want to sell it either. They also don’t want anyone exploring the empty house. Well, if you won’t tear it down, why is it still there? To explore, of course! That should be obvious.

I wanted to bring some friends, but they all said no. Buncha cowards. I’m the only one not afraid of this stupid house. It is a bit dusty though. And I think I see some spider webs. Wait, what is that? Oh, it’s just a little snake. If this were a horror film, I would have freaked out already, but I’m not a coward, so I’m not scared.

I wish I could have come when the sun was still up, but my parents didn’t want to leave me alone until the moon had already risen. I guess it’s fine. It’ll be like an actual haunted house now. I’ve always wanted to go to a haunted house. Getting the socks scared off of me always seemed fun, but my parents never wanted to take me.

The floor is so creaky. It’s kind of annoying. It would have been cooler if the house was super silent and then something loud happened, but I guess not with this stupid creaky floor. Way to ruin the moment, house. Way to ruin the moment.

The stairs are still intact, which is a strange You’d think after so long of being rained on the stairs would have collapsed. Oh well, fine by me. Means I get to go upstairs. Maybe I’ll find a ghost. Ha. Yeah right.

All the doors upstairs are open. The rooms inside are dark. I should have brought a better flashlight. It’s ok though. I’ll just take a quick peek in one of these rooms. I step inside and the door suddenly closes. Seriously? That’s the best you got? I turn towards the door and twist the handle. I was expecting it to be locked, but it wasn’t. Strange. Aren’t the doors usually locked in a situation like this?

I open the door and I’m blinded by light. As I peek outside, the house is no longer destroyed. In fact, it looks really nice and fancy. There’s a red rug on the floor, which isn’t dusty at all. In fact, the floor is really shiny. So are the walls. And everything else around me. There’s fancy oil paintings hanging on the walls and plants inside of vases near the corners.

This is a weird turn. I don’t know any horror movies like this. Maybe I’m dreaming? I step out of the room and close the door. No reason to be rude. I head towards the stairs and slowly go down. The stairs are also clean, and they don’t look like they’re about to fall apart. As I head to the front door, I pass by what I guess is the dining room. I stop when I notice three people sitting at a table.

They all turn and smile at me. A little creepy, but maybe that’s just me. The man at the end of the table reaches a hand out and does that little “come here” motion that pisses me off whenever my parents do it because it’s really annoying. But this doesn’t piss me off. Instead, I feel kind of happy. I take short strides and sit down in a chair on the opposite side of the little boy sitting at the table, right beside the man who called me forward.

I look down at the food on the table. The food looks super good, and I feel really hungry. That’s strange, I ate dinner at home. Maybe I’m just hungry because it smells so good. I start to eat and soon I feel really tired. It’s strange though. I had so much adrenaline from sneaking out that I thought I couldn’t feel tired, but now I feel like I could sleep forever.

I let my head droop slightly and I close my eyes for a moment. Everything feels light. I don’t think it has been that long, and yet as I open my eyes, I realize I’m in a different room now. It’s a bedroom that’s as brightly decorated as the rest of the house. I look around for a moment before the door opens. The people I had seen in the dining room walk in and stare at me.

It’s a little creepy, and I feel very uncomfortable, so I try to stand so I could leave. As soon as I do, though, the little boy stepped towards me and paused. I hesitated, and the boy took another step forward, then launched himself at me. I blinked and he disappeared from my sight. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I tried to turn around, but something sharp sunk into my neck. I felt immediate pain and I screamed out. 

My neck felt like it was being torn in half. I hear and crunch and finally turn around to see the boy standing with a chunk of bleeding flesh in his mouth. I bring my hand up to where he bit and I feel something wet. I don’t want to look, so I don’t move my hand, but I can still feel the pain. I’m already trying my best to stay upright and not pass out from the pain, but the sensation of my hand touching the inside of my neck makes me freak out more than I probably should.

The boy starts to chew on the chunk of flesh and I can see his throat move as he swallows it. I force down the bile rising up my throat and turn to the others in the room. They smile creepily and lick their lips. Oh shit, what the hell kind of tongue is that?! It’s too long to be human, and it’s fucking yellow! 

I need to calm down. I’m swearing and that means I’m freaking out. I feel myself get lightheaded and I notice the room sort of swirling. The color in the walls fades and the light dims to nothing. Now the house looks the same as when I first came in. Fuck this, what kind of horror movie bullshit is this?! I bolt towards the two adults near the door and push one of them over before I run out the door.

I can hear footsteps, but they’re light and don’t sound like they’re moving quickly. I should be fine. I’ll have to explain this situation to my parents, but I’m more worried about not dying right now. 

As I make it to the stairs - were they this far away before? - I stop. The stairs are gone. They’re fucking gone. How the fuck do stairs disappear? I turn around and notice the family is slowly getting closer. Fucking horror movie walks. I hate this place. I need to think. Think, think, think. Shit. What should I do?

The only windows on this floor are behind them. I don’t want to jump down the stairs, I could break an ankle or something on the uneven floor. My phone! Of course! I pull out my phone and hesitate. I was about to call my parents, but 911 would be better. Even if I can’t fully explain everything, at least I could get help.

I’m about to dial the number when I feel a hand push on my stomach. I look up and see the boy again. He smiles and pushes harder, making me lose my balance and fall over the ledge where the stairs were. I don’t scream. I’m too tired to scream. 

As I hit the bottom, I can feel sharp wooden pieces pierce my back, not deep enough to hurt too badly, but enough to prick the skin. A larger piece of wood skewers through my already present gaping neck wood. I can’t breathe now. All I can feel is pain. I close my eyes for a moment to feel some peace in the darkness, then I see something bright past my eyelids.

I open my eyes and squint. There’s a bright light above me. The light moves and I can see the boy standing above me holding my phone. He’s shining my phone flashlight at me. He does that stupid creepy smile he seems to love, then reaches down and places his hand on my chest, pushing me down further onto all the wooden pieces. I’m so used to the pain now that it feels numb. 

I wish I could have told my parents what I was doing. Maybe if I hadn't snuck out and did what they said, I wouldn’t have gone here at all. Then I wouldn't be in this situation thinking this stuff. Oh well. Looks like I’m actually experiencing death. So this is how it feels, huh? It’s kind of nice, actually.

(I watched a terrible horror movie before this and wanted to make a story with a smart character, but I think I failed)

[dunnswrld]

The Office of Love

prompt: You have a crush on the one and only Johnny Knoxville. What you don’t know is that everyone knows you have one on him thanks to your two life long friends Bam and Ryan. This gets you locked in a office with Johnny as a prank for one of the jackass films. But it doesn’t go as you expected...

warnings: Light smut, some fluff, fem!reader

You finally were able to sit under the tent after Wee man finished his stunt, that lucky little bastard got a water related stunt which would be a blessing today from the hot summer heat. You almost melted into the lawn chair as you tried to soak in the shade the tent provided as much as you could. You began fanning yourself with your hand as you tried to cool yourself down, your black tank top and shorts sticking to your body.

"You look hot, in the temperature and looks way." A familiar southern accent rang through your ears. Your turned your head to be met with Johnny Knoxville walking toward the tent you were under. He was wearing a goofy t-shirt and jeans like he usually does, something you couldn't understand how he could wear in this heat. The only thing he was wearing that made sense for the heat was the sunglasses that covered his eyes.

"Ha yeah. I'm feeling more temperature hot then looks right now." You chuckled. Johnny pulled up a plastic lawn chair near yours and took a seat next to you. "It is pretty damn hot today, I was hoping Jeff would have a heart for once and give us a break." Johnny spoke as he leaned back in his seat. "When has Jeff ever had a heart?" Johnny laughed at your response, his laugh making you laugh.

As you laughed you looked at your friend of many years, his smile was wide as he laughed. You always loved his laugh cause it made you laugh, just like how his smile made you smile.

Though you would never say it out loud, you had a little thing for Johnny. Ever since you were introduced to him when the Jackass TV show first started, you always thought he was attractive. I mean who doesn't right? But even though you tried your hardest to cover up your small crush on Knoxville your two life long friends Bam and Ryan knew exactly how you felt about him.

The two could practically read you like a book. The way you fixed your hair when he was near, asked if he would be going out for drinks and if he was you would make sure to dress far nicer than you would when Johnny wasn't there, or how you only got flustered when only Johnny complimented you.

Which led to the two telling the whole cast about your little crush, and when word got around to everyone they all began brainstorming.

Bam and Ryan both came up with the idea to lock you two in an office as a prank, nothing in the room but you two. Why? To try and get you to confess of course. To make the prank even better, everyone was in on it. Even Jeff.

You and Johnny's laughter died down, taking in breathes as you did. As you took in a breath you saw a certain brown curly haired boy out of the corner of your eye. "Hey Bam." Johnny said with a light chuckle as he came down from his laughter. Apparently Johnny saw the boy as well. "Hey Bam-Bam." You spoke, the nickname making Bam visibly cringe as he approached the table.

"Ugh stop calling me that." Bam groaned, earning a laugh from you. Bam took a seat across the table from you and Johnny, bringing his sunglasses off his face and rested them on his curls.

"Jeff told me he needs you two in his office, something about your guys contracts." You cocked a brow at Bam's words. You turned your head to Johnny and even with his sunglasses over his face you could almost read the confusion off his face.

"Actually? I just resigned it last week." Johnny said, "Yes actually you jackass. You two better go he's in there right now waiting." You quickly stood up from your chair as Johnny did the same, you two walked around the table past Bam. "We'll be back Bam-Bam." You said as you ruffled his hair, his sunglasses falling off his head. Bam swatted your hand away aggressively as you giggled.

You were met with the hot sun again as you step out from under the tent, dread filling your body as you began walking to the building where Jeff's office was. Though you knew you wouldn't have to worry about it for to long as the building the offices were in were thankfully air conditioned.

Johnny jogged quickly in front of you and grabbed the handle of the door and swung it open, propping it with his foot as he did a small bow. "My lady." Johnny snickered. "Why thank you sir." You laughed as you walked into the building. The cool AC hit you like a truck as you walked in, all the heat draining from your body as you sighed of relief.

Johnny and you walked side-by-side down the hall, making your guys way to Jeff's office. The walk wasn't long as you soon saw the familiar door open. You and Johnny peaked your heads in and saw Jeff sitting behind his desk. "Uh knock knock." You spoke as you took a step into the room, Johnny following your lead.

"There's dumb and dumber, take a seat both of you." Jeff spoke. You and Johnny both listened and took a seat in the two chairs facing Jeff. "So what's up with our contracts?" Johnny asked quickly. "Aren't you eager?" Jeff laughed, "Nothing bad, they just got misplaced. You guys just have to resign them nothing hard." Jeff spoke. You nodded at his words happy that nothing serious was wrong. "I'm going to go grab them from the printer in the break room I'll be back." Jeff said as he stood from his chair.

You watched as Jeff walked to the door and kick the piece of wood that kept it open and shutting the door gently behind him. Once the door shut you heard a small click. You quickly noticed a piece of paper taped on the back on the door. You squinted as you tried to make out the words.

"Hi I'm Bam Margera and I'm Ryan Dunn, and this is The Office of Love. PS: the door is locked from the other side and there's a camera ;)"

Your eyes widened in horror. Johnny saw your expression and turned to where your eyes were planted. He read the words and when he finally processed what was going on he mumbled something under his breath as he took his sunglasses off and rubbed his face.

It was needless to say you could cut the tension in the room with a knife. Your eyes moved from the sign on the door to your lap where you fiddled with your hands. It was so much for the AC because your body was hot from embarrassment. You looked out of the corner of your eye to see Johnny looking everywhere but you, and you couldn't tell if that was a good thing.

You were already planning on how you were going to beat the shit out of Bam and Ryan for this. Making you sit in a silent office with Johnny for who knows how long with the reason why you two are locked in the room is for love.

"I'm so sorry Y/n." Johnny said as he looked the other way from you, his sunglasses back on his face. "Wha-What? Why are you sorry?" You questioned. "If it weren't for me we wouldn't have to be locked in here." Johnny sighed. "Weren't for you?" You repeated.

But the reason you were locked in this office was because of you, not him. Bam and Ryan locked you two in here because you had a stupid little crush on Johnny.

"Yeah if it weren't for me having a stupid thing for you and making the mistake of telling beavis and butthead we wouldn't be in here. Geez, I'm real sorry." Johnny spoke as he rested his hand on his forehead.

You froze at Johnny's words. The Johnny Knoxville, had a thing for you? A girl from West Chester who's job is doing dumb shit and recording it? You knew he had the same job but wouldn't that make you unattractive to him? I mean you have done some pretty gross stuff on camera.

"Wait you have a thing for me?" You asked. All Johnny could do was nod and hum, he was to embarrassed to have to clarify again. Your cheeks light up various shades of pink as a small smiled formed on your lips. "I thought I was the reason we were here cause I have a thing for you two Knox, and I guess beavis and butthead picked up on it."

Johnny's head spun to you, trying to read your face of any lie to see if this was apart of the prank and all Bam and Ryan were trying to do was embarrass him. But when he couldn't see any sign of you lying his cheeks light up a bright shade of red and a smile forming on his lips.

"Really? Or is this apart of the joke?" Johnny asked, though he was certain you weren't lying he just wanted to make sure. You giggled a bit as you nodded. "Why did you never say anything?" Johnny asked as he smiled, turning his body towards you so you knew you had his full attention. "I guess I was scared you wouldn't want a girl like me." Johnny's jaw fell as he heard your words.

"You gotta be shitting me- Y/n you're everything I want in a girl! You are badass but also such a sweet girl. God and aren't you just the prettiest thing to look at." You covered your face like a middle schooler as you heard Johnny's words. "Shut up." You said muffled behind your hands. "Aw come on don't be embarrassed show me that pretty face you got."

You felt a pair of hands grasp yours gently and remove them from your face, you saw Johnny's face that was covered by his sunglasses. "There's that pretty face." Johnny said with a smile. Johnny wrapped his hands in yours and placed your intertwined hands on your lap. You looked at Johnny, and you hoped he was looking back. You chuckled as you removed your hands from his and brought them up to his face, gently removing his sunglasses and placing them on his head. "Now there's that handsome face." You said as you trailed your hand to his cheek.

Johnny's cheeks were lighten up a bright shade of red as he looked at you. You two only looked at one another, your hand still on his cheek. The silence in the room wasn't like before, it was a calming silence.

But it was soon broken by Johnny's southern accent, "Could I maybe kiss you?" He asked quietly as he didn't move his eyesight from you. You stared at Johnny for a couple seconds before you slowly nodded your head.

Johnny wasted no time crashing his lips into yours, his lips tasted of cigarettes and cherries. Though you weren't sure where the cherry flavor came from, you weren't complaining one bit. You felt Johnny's tongue slip into your mouth and his hand move to the back of your neck as he deepened the kiss.

Your hand gently moved from his cheek to his chest, you moved to the edge of your chair to try and get closer to Johnny. You wanted to be as close to the boy as you could. You soon felt Johnny's lips pull away from yours, making you let out a whimper from the sudden lose of contact.

"Get on my lap." Johnny said as he trailed his hand from the back of your neck to your arm, gently pulling you in his direction. You followed the way he was pulling you and stood then gently sat on his lap. Thankfully his chair did have armrests making it easier for you to wrap your legs around the chair. You quickly threw your arms around his neck as Johnny placed his hands around your neck. "Where were we?" Johnny smirked, you giggled as you connected your lips to his again.

This time the kiss was more rough, Johnny's calloused hands moved under your black tank top and moved his hands towards your tits. When his hands were placed on your bra he gave them a slight squeeze making you jump forward onto him a bit, not expecting the action from him; you felt Johnny chuckle in the kiss you were sharing which made you feel even more turned on.

As you and Johnny kept making out you heard the sound of the door open. You quickly released from the kiss and turned your head to the door where you saw a large group of cameramen and your two friends Bam and Ryan covering their eyes.

"Okay love birds if we were to let you keep going this would have to be uploaded onto a certain site." Jeff said with a laugh. "Yeah and my mom is gonna watch this movie!" Bam spoke with his eyes covered. Ryan began snickering at his best friends words. "Well maybe if you weren't filming we wouldn't have to upload it anywhere and your mom wouldn't have to see!" You said. Johnny laughed as he slowly moved his hands from your tank top.

"You heard the lady, stop filming us and lock us in here again!" Johnny laughed. "Ew! You guys are so gross!" Bam yelled as he uncovered his eyes and pushed through the camera crew.

"Can you just go already!" You shouted, your cheeks a bright shade of red. "Geez alright alright." Ryan said as he raised his hands. "And take whatever cameras in here with you!" "Bossy much?" Ryan spoke as he casually walked into the room and picked up a camera that was on a side table covered by a plant that was perfectly facing you and Johnny.

Ryan went to leave with the camera until he paused and spun around with a devilish smirk on his face. He began to dig in his pocket, the bearded boy pulled a shiny wrapped condom out of his pocket and tossed it at you and Johnny, it landed almost perfectly on your lap. "Protection!" He said as the group behind him laughed as he quickly shut the door.

Johnny picked up the condom and looked up at you with a small smirk.

"Why don't we put Ryan's little gift to use, yeah?"

[rafescoke]

Jealous ; Rafe Cameron

masterlist

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x reader

Summary: Rafe finds himself being jealous over his friends with benefit flirting with a certain blonde boy

Warnings: Straight smut, angst, cursing, alcohol consumption, jealous Rafe

A/N: i am so sorry JJ for making you the second choice for almost every fic ever i still ly :( anyways thank you for 380+ followers wtf you guys are beyond amazing <3 here’s the smut you guys have been craving for:

“You’re handsome.”

“Oh yeah?” JJ smiled, showing her his pearly white teeth. “You’re not too bad, (Y/N).”

“Just not too bad?” She glowered, and leaned closer onto the blonde boy. He stared into her eyes, feeling her body heat now that she was too close to him, and he could smell her sweet scent. She reminded him of an ice cream during a hot day.

“Fine,” he huffed, and watched as her mouth morphed into a smile. “You look hot, (Y/N).”

“Thank you,” she giggled, placing a soft kiss against his cheeks as he laughed along with her, putting his arms around her.

(Y/N) never really had anything with JJ, being friends with him since god knows when, but she wasn’t cool with his other friends. He was there for her, and she was there for him, but they weren’t what people would call as best friends.

“Where’s the boyfriend?” JJ asked, a glint in his eyes. (Y/N) rolled her eyes at this, being done explaining to him that she’s not dating Rafe Cameron and will never be. They were the total opposite; he’s a kook, and she’s a pogue.

“JJ, I don’t know what to explain anymore,” she grunted, resting her back against the lawn chair as she watched the partygoers dancing to the booming music. “He is not my boyfriend.”

“You’re always out with him,” he shrugged, and (Y/N) gulped before she could answer him. After being Rafe’s friend with benefits for 5 months now, she didn’t think anyone would notice their relationship. They did everything in their power to keep themselves lowkey, but here JJ was; spilling everything.

“I won’t judge, you know,” he said, and gave her a sly smirk. “I get it if you like a kook.”

(Y/N) laughed nervously, and then proceeding to cup his face in her small hands. Her breath hitched at how adorable he looked in her hands, and she felt the urge to kiss his cheeks.

“I’m not even friends with him,” she rolled her eyes, and JJ swung his arms around her one more time, this time pulling her close. They stayed in silence for a few seconds before JJ pointed to a couple by the fire, saying a joke, and (Y/N) had laughed from the punchline.

She didn’t know it was the humour or the alcohol taking over after how many shots of vodka since the start of the party. Whatever it was, she truly enjoyed JJ’s presence; her childhood friend.

Rafe Cameron entered the party with a brunette girl he owed his father to bring, and he had never looked so miserable being in a party before. People looked at them as they made their entrance, and Rafe almost let out an annoyed groan knowing that people will talk about him and whatever the name of the girl was.

His eyes swept over the swarm of dancing bodies to look for a particular (H/C) haired girl, but she was nowhere to be seen. He sighed, continuing to walk to where they served the drinks.

“Thanks for bringing me here, Rafe,” the girl said, and Rafe nodded, not wanting to make any unnecessary conversation with her. He tried to negotiate with Ward, saying how the business will still go on without him having to take whoever this girl is to the party, but Ward had insisted him to do so, saying how he should think about making his family proud.

Rafe grunted, and his feet moved towards the backyard. He was glad the girl didn’t try to follow him after seeing her friends, and he didn’t think he would even talk to her if she did. He didn’t know what he want; he was just as confused as everyone else.

“You think so?”

His head perked up at the sound of her familiar voice, and Rafe found himself searching for her small figure. His eyes passed the couple making out by the fire, some pogue munching on a burger, someone preparing to jump into the pool and then -

Her. And JJ.

He crossed his arms, his eyes not leaving her as he watched her laughed again, her head tilting to one side. Every time Rafe would tell her a joke she would do the same thing, and Rafe felt a minor pang of hurt across his heart after knowing that she did the same with JJ as well.

“You know I would love to, J,” (Y/N) said, running her fingers through his blonde hair. “But your friends just don’t like me.”

“They do!” JJ insisted, “They just think you’re too intimidating. I don’t know what they’ll think about you if they know you’re with Rafe.”

Rafe raised his brows at the sound of his name, but before he could express a proper reaction, he heard her speak.

“JJ, enough with his name,” she groaned, “I don’t like Rafe, and I will never like him.”

Rafe almost laughed at this because god, who does she think she is? She was begging for him every time they did the ungodly activity, pulling his hair and leaving scratches behind his back. Rafe had to explain to Topper and Kelce how it was Sarah’s new kitten that had scratched him when they went out for surfing, and they didn’t even have any pets.

He listened intently again, getting more amused every second. Although he wanted to hear more of their conversation, he couldn’t deny the hurt coursing through his veins at the sound of her voice practically hating on him. He didn’t know if it was an act or if it was the truth, but he didn’t like anything about it.

“Then be with me,” JJ mumbled, and Rafe watched as she nervously laughed as if that was the funniest thing in the world. Rafe stayed quiet, wanting to hear her reply to that plea, and his heart was beating so fast.

“You’re cute,” she suddenly said, pressing a slow kiss against his cheeks again. “I’m so glad I have you in my life.”

Was that a yes? Or was that a no? Rafe cursed in his mind, not having a clue about the truth behind what she just said, and before he could process it further, the girl that he came here with tugged on his arms, catching his attention.

He clicked his tongue, “Yeah?”

“I want you to meet my friends,” she smiled, and proceeded to pull him to her group of friends who were waiting by the corner. Rafe tried to maintain his grim smile, trying to figure out how in the hell this girl did not notice the obvious signs that he was trying to show;

He was not interested.

“Here’s Rafe,” she exclaimed to her friends, and continued to introduce them to him. He smiled weakly at them, not really hearing their names, his mind wandering to a certain girl a distance away.

“Rafe?”

“Huh?” He looked at her again, “What is it?”

“They’re asking if you’re joining the truth or dare game in a few minutes,” she replied, and she had a look that wanted him to say yes.

“No,” he shrugged, and he watched as her shoulders slump. “But we can stay, I guess.”

She cheered, and Rafe used almost all of his energy not to mutter anything back, and followed her to the middle of the party where everyone started to gather for whatever middle school games they were planning to play.

He sat right next to hear, flicking his lighter on and off, not paying any attention towards his surrounding until she heard the familiar laugh again.

(Y/N) giggled at something JJ had said, walking towards the circle and sitting opposite of Rafe. They didn’t notice his presence, being too caught up with each other, and Rafe watched as she laughed again. He gritted his teeth.

“Who’s playing?” A voice suddenly spoke, and Rafe assumed him to be the host of the party. He thought of how the party sucks and he could hold a better party than this, but when she saw (Y/N) saying that she will be playing, he knew he had to be in the same game as her too.

“I’m playing,” he said, and watched as the people around him stared at him. (Y/N)’s eyes widened at the voice and she quickly looked at his direction, and he watched as she tried to contain her shocked expression.

“Okay, we have enough people playing,” the host said, “We’ll start with. . . John B, wanna choose first?”

“Yeah,” John B sat up straighter, looking around the circle until his eyes landed on his best friend. “JJ, truth or dare.”

JJ put on the smirk Rafe hates, “Easy. Truth.”

The crowd groaned and some booed, but JJ still had the smirk on his face, yelling to the crowd that he was just trying to calm everyone’s nerves.

“Okay,” John B rubbed his hands together, “Who would you like to fuck in this room?”

The room fell silent as their attentions were on JJ, and JJ laughed before replying the question.

“Seriously? I thought you’re going to ask for my bank account or something, not that I have money in it. But (Y/N). I’ll fuck (Y/N).”

Rafe found himself gritting his teeth, staring straight at the girl who was also staring back at him. She had a teasing smile on her face and Rafe had to stop himself from pulling her out of this goddamn party and into his car.

“I’ll go with (Y/N). Truth or dare?”

He watched her again, his heartbeat quickening.

“Dare,” she shrugged, and the crowd cheered, finally getting any actions they were craving since the start of the party. Rafe sat up straight, wanting to see to what extend she would do something, and he would be lying if he says he wasn’t nervous.

“I dare you to kiss the hottest person in the room.”

(Y/N) stood up from her seat, walking away from JJ and towards Rafe. He widened his eyes, not sure if she would actually do it or if she was messing with him, but she was clearly walking towards him and everyone knows it.

She leaned onto him and Rafe swore he could feel his heart stopping. He could smell her scent now; that goddamn cupcake smell he loves so much.

“You’re drooling,” she whispered, and turned on her heels.

She proceeded to return back to her position and kissed JJ with all of her heart and the crowd cheered, but Rafe was trying to calm himself down. He felt his anger rising, being humiliated just like that in front of everyone.

He stood up, ignoring the girl beside him’s questions and continued to walk upstairs, leaving the stupid game downstairs to smoke and probably snort some coke in his pocket. He didn’t know anyone here that much, being in a party outside of Kooksville and only knowing the pogues, but he’s not friends with them so he was totally alone in this case.

He entered a guest bedroom and proceeded to climb onto the bed, taking out his stash and unfolding a dollar from his back pocket.

“Hey.”

Rafe jumped to his feet, shocked to his core from the sudden voice, but he relaxed when he saw (Y/N), though he didn’t show it. He continued to separate the powder into lines, rubbing his nose a few times.

“Where’s the boyfriend?” He asked, sniffing and lowering his head to inhale the intoxicating substance. He threw his head back, feeling warm, and looked at her again.

(Y/N) rolled her eyes, being questioned with “where’s the boyfriend?” almost two times now on the same night, and crossed her arms.

“You have no power to be mad at me, Rafe,” she said, and walked closer to him. He watched as she leaned onto him like she did downstairs a few minutes ago, “You’re not my fucking boyfriend, and you know it.”

Rafe laughed, his head getting woozy, but he couldn’t deny the amusement he was feeling at that time, and god he felt like doing the most filthiest things to her.

“And if I want to fuck JJ,” she continued, her face so close to him that her voice was just above a whisper, “Then I’m allowed to.”

“Oh yeah?” He raised his eyebrows, and he stared into her eyes with a smirk tugging on his lips. “You wanna fuck him? He can fuck you better than I can?”

Her breath hitched as he trailed his pointer along her soft cheeks from the temple, and he whispered again, this time with his face so close she could feel the heat from his breathing.

“I’m asking, baby, can he?”

One thing that (Y/N) hate was being challenged, and the look that Rafe gave her fit that exact meaning.

Before she could mutter anything else he attached their lips, moving so fast she didn’t have time to catch a breath. He pushed her over so her back was against the bed, her chest heaving, and Rafe had never looked prouder when he saw her in that state.

“Wanna be a bitch again?”

“Maybe,” she answered, with that twinkling in her eyes.

“Wrong answer,” he replied, and kissed her roughly again, hearing her moans and her fingers pulling on his already unkept hair, making them more messier. He groaned when he felt her biting on his lips, knowing that he would have to create a new lie to Topper and Kelce on why his lips are all bruised.

He pulled her apart again, this time with both of their chests heaving, and Rafe swore he had never looked at someone more beautiful than the girl before him. His eyes trailed down to her chest, seeing her breast all pushed up and her nipples hard against the cold air.

He licked his teeth, “No bra?”

“No-pe,” she giggled, emphasising on the ‘ope’. She inched closer to his ear, “Making it easy for you.”

“Thanks, baby,” he replied before kissing her fully on her lips again, and slowly going down to her core. He placed his wet kisses from her neck to her stomach and down to the aching heat as she arched her back from the tingling feeling, placing her palm against her mouth to silence herself.

He continued to place soft kisses on the outer side of her pussy, his member hardening when he could see the wet mark on her panties. He watched as she bit her lips, closing her eyes from just the kisses.

“Beg,” he whispered, and (Y/N) looked up from her laying position, feeling like dying at the slow reaction from him. She groaned, desperate for her release, and bit her lips.

“Please, Rafe,” she begged, withering as he ran his fingers along her thighs. “Please, baby, I’ll do anything.”

“Anything?”

“Anything.”

Before she could prepare herself he dipped in, collecting her juices with hid tongue and flicking back and forth on her clit. She couldn’t contain her voice anymore, whimpering and moaning his name as he continued to please her, liking the way she was so submissive under his touch.

Just like putty.

“Oh my god, you’re amazing,” she gasped, gripping onto the sheets with her fingers. “I’m close, Rafe, oh my god.”

He chuckled against her core, sending vibrations throughout her body and causing her to yell from the overwhelming pleasure, gripping on the sheets even harder she could feel it coming undone from the mattress. She could feel the familiar euphoric feeling inside of her stomach and arched her back to reach it, until-

“Rafe!”

“Huh?” He looked up to her, innocently wiping his mouth with the back of his hands as he crawled back go her. He gave her a smile, “What’s wrong baby?”

“I was so close,” she answered, with tears in her eyes. Rafe tutted, using his thumb to wipe a tear that escaped, and proceeded to press the thumb on her clit, causing her to jerk upwards in shock.

“You’re okay, baby?”

“You’re a dick,” she answered, and jerked again as he pressed his thumb into her one more time. “The biggest dickhead I’ve ever met.”

“Yeah?” He raised his brow, and placed a soft kiss against her lips. “Should I go then?”

He made a move to go away and without any shame she pulled his by his wrist back, not letting go until he chuckled, placing himself before her again.

“Answer me one question,” he whispered, and tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Me or JJ.”

“You.”

“Who?”

“You, Rafe.”

“Not my name,” he said in a sing-song voice, and proceeded to fake-yawn.

“You, daddy.”

He watched her with a smile on his face, leaning closer and pressing a kiss ok her cheeks one more time. “And will you be good to me?”

“Yes, daddy.”

Rafe was harder than ever, he could basically cum just by seeing her all worked up under him. His breathing was heavy, and he wanted nothing more than to fuck the girl before him.

“Okay, then,” he sighed, and before she could process anything he turned her over, exposing her ass to the air as the skirt she wore rode up to her waist, and (Y/N) felt a rush of cold against nipping on her skin.

She yelped as she felt his palm made contact with her cheeks, spreading his fingers and massaging them right after. He liked the colour of her skin now, all red, just because of him.

He unbuttoned his jeans and pulled his boxers down, letting his member springing free and watched as his precum pooled on his tip, and quickly positioned himself before her.

“Please,” she begged, and that was enough for Rafe to push into her, closing his eyes and muttering a curse word while he felt her closing on him.

“Fuck, so good for me, baby,” he swore, fastening hid movements. The girl was practically screaming under him, and he had to place his hands against his mouth to keep her shut. He groaned, feeling the warm feeling inside him growing.

“Shut up, you bitch.”

She moaned at his words, taking a liking at the way he downgrades her since the first they had sex, and pulled on his hair as she tried to comprehend the euphoric feeling inside her.

“I’m close,” she warned, tugging on his back as he pushed into her, this time with a faster speed than before. “Fuck, I’m so close, baby-”

“Cum and I’ll fucking kill you,” he groaned, pushing himself into her that he ended up balls-deep, watching her scrunched up face trying to take his full length. He grunted, feeling his own end nearing, and getting ready to pull out.

“Fuck!” He yelled, aiming his penis at her face as he shot his load, and she could feel the hot leaks dripping off her face down to her neck. She didn’t reach her high, not wanting to disobey Rafe before, and she felt like crying her hardest.

“You’re crying now?” He laughed, cupping his face with his hands and watched as his cum dripped from her eyebrows down to her eyes, and he took the chance to clean them using his fingers before placing them before her eyes.

“Suck.”

“Fuck you,” she said, her eyes glassy.

“I said,” he leaned closer, placing his knee against her core and watched her jerked again, “Suck.”

She gritted her teeth and took his fingers into her mouth, tasting him and making lewd noises. Rafe watched her with his mouth slightly parted, his eyes a shade darker.

“You’ve been a good girl, princess,” he smiled, and made a move to hold her. She pushed his hands away and he laughed, “Tell me what do you want.”

“I want you to fuck off.”

“Really?”

She bit her lips, not wanting to answer his question. In truth, she wanted nothing but for him to fuck her like it was their last day on earth.

“You still want me to fuck off when I do-” he inserted a finger inside her and she grunted, “This?”

“Y-yeah,” she answered, biting her lips.

“Are you sure? Even when I do-” he inserted another finger, “This?”

“F-fuck, yeah,” she gripped the sheets, feeling the familiar feeing knotting in her stomach again for the third time.

“Really?” He sighed, and took his fingers out, pretending to wipe them on his shirt. “Guess I’ll go. Respect the lady, you know?”

“Fuck you,” she said, and Rafe chuckled when she took ahold of his fingers and inserting them into her by herself, arching herself at the feeing she’ve been craving since forever.

Rafe bit his lips, watching her guiding his fingers and he wished he had his phone with him so that he could record this moment and watch them over and over again.

“Close, baby?”

“Mhm,” she hummed, thrusting against his fingers. Rafe sucked in a breath, hearing her moans, and before he knew it she released himself against his fingers, screaming his name as she reached her high.

He laid himself beside her, staring at the ceiling as they tried to catch their breaths again. (Y/N) turned to look at him, and when he noticed she was looking at him he turned his head to her in the same way, so they were both staring at each other.

“You’re still an asshole.”

“I know.”

“And I hate you.”

“I know,” he smiled, and god, (Y/N) never had a stronger will to slap that stupid smile from his face.

“You love me though,” he suddenly said, and (Y/N) turned to look at him again.

“God, you’re full of yourself.”

“You just don’t want to accept the truth, (Y/L/N).”

“Whatever,” she got up, searching for her discarded panties and fixing her fallen top and skirt. She ran her fingers through her hair to disentangle them before making her way towards the door, only stopping to look at him before she could return to the booming music.

“See you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow.”

-

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[i-used-to-wear-the-fedora]

Stranger Things Demon AU, I'm Still Standing

"So you mean to tell me you guys came out to find Mr. Munson and the house just, what? Collapsed? With no reason?"

"Yep."

"God, why is it whenever something happens in this town, everything's always related to you kids?" Hopper asked as he looked up from the report he was writing at Max and Dustin. The first responders were digging through the wreckage of the old Creel house while the paramedics tended to Eddie in the back of the ambulance. The goth having passed out on the lawn at some point. Trying to explain what happened through sobs leaving the fourteen year olds still extremely confused. "Could you at least tell me how many bodies we're looking for? Flo's some unfortunate calls tonight."

"Three."

"Five."

The two preteens said at the same time. Hopper raised an eyebrow when Max pulled Dustin to the side and whispered.

"Five? They're demons. I don't think they can leave bodies behind." The redhead hissed.

"We don't know that!" Dustin protested. "Didn't tie book say some about mortal bodies or whatever?"

"Yeah but-"

"Chief!" One of the officers digging through the wreckage called out making everyone turn. "We've got one with a pulse!"

"What?"

~~

When Eddie found himself coming back to consciousness his head hurt. Well actually, most of his body hurt but when he opened his eyes, the blinding florescent lights directly above whatever he was laying on made the headache ten times worse. Groaning as he rolled over to see he was in a hospital room. The tiles, walls and bed he was laying on were all a blaring white. The sterile scent of cleaning chemicals filled his nose as the teen struggled to sit up. Looking over to see an IV drip in his bruised right arm.

His eyes drifting over to the chair in the corner to see his uncle slumped over, half asleep.

"Wayne?'' Eddie asked. The man snapped up at the sound of his nephew's voice. "He-"

Eddie was cut off by his uncle rushing over and tightly wrapping his arms around the younger man in a tight hug.

"Eddie! Thank God, you're okay." The man's voice cracked as he said this. Pulling away to reveal a look of relief. "God, what happened? They said a house collapsed on you."

"House...?" Eddie asked, still slightly confused as he struggled to remember everything that happened. Jason and his friends, the car, Steve-wait. Steve.

Eddie froze as everything came rushing back him. Jason, his friends, the blood, the demon. The incantation. He'd defeated the demon but Steve...

"Honestly boy, it's a miracle you two survived."

"Two?" The metalhead asked, confused as he wondered if one of the kids got hurt. Wayne noticed his confusion.

"Your friend from Canada is in a room down the hall with some of the kids from your club." Eddie blinked as both comfusion and relief flooded his mind, wondering how this was even possible.

"Can I talk to him?" Eddie asked as Wayne pulled away from him. Swinging his legs over the bed and trying to stand up but his head swam as he tried to do so.

"Whoa, gotta be careful there boy." Wayne got up and went to the corner of the room. Bringing over a wheelchair he had to help the boy into. "They said you took a few hits to the head so you're gonna need some help moving around." Wayne grabbed the IV stand and pulled it along as he pushed Eddie down the hall until he stopped at the last room in the corridor. As he was pushed in the room, the first thing Eddie saw was Dustin and Max standing next to the hospital bed. They turned and Eddie's eyes widened when he saw Steve on the bed. Still very much existing and alive. Turning to face the other boy as he excitedly sat up.

"Eddie!"

"Steve?" There was a weird silence as Eddie turned to his uncle. "Hey can we....?"

"Oh. Yeah, of course." The older man got the hint as be left the room, closing the door behind him. Eddie turning his attention back to Steve and the kids as he wheeled himself over to the other boy's bedside.

"What's with the look?" Steve asked asked as he noticed the confusion etched into the metalhead's features, giving him a small smile. "You look like you've seen a ghost." He was surprised when instead of getting one of the quips he'd come to expect from Eddie, the goth instead leaned over and pulled him into a kiss.

"I thought you died asshole." Eddie said as he pulled away from Steve. Tears now falling down his face. "That I-I erased you from existence or whatever."

"You did." Max interjected. In her hand was a couple of loose pages from the summoning book. "Kind of. "

"Kind of?" Eddie asked.

"According to this page, it says that souls can be redeemed through sacrifice. Steve told us about how he tried to sacrifice himself to save you from the other demon."

"When you say redeemed, are we talking, you're not a demon anymore?" Steve nodded in confirmation.

"No wings, no powers, no nothing. I am no longer the intimidating demon-"

"I wouldn't go that far." Dustin interrupted to which Max swatted him. "Ow!"

"-I'm just Steve Harrington. The normal human." Steve continued to grin before wincing. "Although I forgot how much it sucks to be...well, human. Having a house fall on you? Kind of hurts. Not gonna lie." Eddie snorted as he kissed Steve again.

"Ew, dude, we're right here." Dustin protested but Eddie didn't care as he flipped his middle finger up at the younger teen.

"So what are you going to do now? I mean as far as the doctors and everyone else knows you're Canadian or whatever so you have no records and nowhere to stay." Max said when the two finally pulled away.

"We can figure that out later." Steve waved her concern off. "Think Wayne 'll mind if I stick around a little longer?" Eddie smirked as he leaned over and ran a hand along the side of Steve's face as he spoke.

"I know I won't."

[biggest-stupidhead]

Bad Timing (Levi x Reader) Part 5

Summary: How do you tell your friends that you’re falling for your big brother’s best friend? 

Work Count: 6.3K 

You were angry. Of course Levi had to go and stir the pot right before the holiday season. The time of year when he spent the most of his hours at your home. Even though he spent most of his time at your house throughout the whole year, this amount of time typically doubled through the months of October through December. The remaining weeks in October were the worst. You both expertly avoided one another, Petra and Levi continued to see each other exclusively. This turned out to be bittersweet for you, the pros were that Levi was busy trying to please Petra to spend too much time at your house. But also it stung to see him with her, even though you had no right to feel jealous.

The two weeks after your kiss, you spent holed up in your room, your phone set on do not disturb. After binging Gossip Girls and all of the classic Disney movies, you finally decided that instead of focusing on romance, you would devote yourself to school. Thankfully you weren't the only person that favored school over social gatherings, you found yourself spending countless hours in the school's musty library with Armin. He was so easy to get along with, down to earth, kind, and most importantly, he was too shy to ask you about anything too personal. Today was one of those days, it was nearing the end of November, the trees had shed their leaves, bearing the naked bark. And the weather was constantly changing. Some days it would snow, others it would pour rain, but that was just the midwest for you. Glancing up from the textbook that had held your attention for the past two hours, your were pleased to see a flurry of fat snowflakes spiraling downwards. The window had frost creeping up from the corners, thank God, maybe the weather would finally settle and allow the snow to stick for once. You could feel Armin staring at you, his eyes piercing the back of your skull. a feeling you had become familiar with. Turning back to face him, he averted his eyes, a comforting pink creeping onto his cheeks with the embarrassment of being caught.

"It's really coming down huh?" you tried to initiate some light small talk.

"Yeah! Hopefully it will stick." Armin responded, a nervous chuckle slipping past his lips as he returned his attention back to his homework. You hummed, glancing back down at the yellowing pages of the old history textbook, a frown marring your features.

"What's wrong? Need some help?" Armin asked, standing up from his seat and coming to stand behind you.

"Oh, well I guess I'm just confused about this law." you pulled the response from your ass. Of course you understood Roe v. Wade, you just didn't want to tell Armin that you were ready to leave. He always made this face that reminded you of a puppy that just got drop kicked.

"Roe v. Wade huh? I can help you with that no problem!" his baby blue eyes lit up, he pulled the nearest chair up to the table, the legs loudly scratching against the rickety library floors.

"Great, thanks!" you tried to sound excited, and you tried even harder to focus on Armin's summary of Roe v. Wade.

"Easy right?" Armin chirped, his finger hovering over the paragraph that explained the law.

"You're right, I think that I just need a break. My brain feels fried." you moaned, folding your arms across the desk and burying your head in your arms.

"Likewise." Armin agreed, dragging his chair closer to yours not very subtly.

"Want to go grab a coffee?" you asked, barely lifting your head to glance at him.

"Sure." he beamed, his innocent face completely lighting up. Your library had a small coffee shop nestled in the back, the cafe was run by students who had free periods. Granted the coffee wasn't the best, but it still did the job. You thanked the girl behind the counter as she passed you your steaming cup of dark liquid. Armin was rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as he waited for his order, you busied yourself with mixing in sugar and some creamer. Finally the barista gave Armin his latte and the two of you meandered back to your corner. You slowly began packing your things, hoping that Armin would get the hint and you would be able to escape the stuffy library. Armin noticed, you closed the book with a sigh and began stuffing pens and other writing utensils into your small pencil case.

"Ready to call it a day?" Armin asked his lips hovering over the steaming hot coffee.

"Yeah, I told Hange that I would be ready to leave by the time she finished with Science Olympiad." you sighed, gathering the assortment of books that you had pulled from the shelves getting up to return them to their rightful places.

"Oh gotcha, same time Thursday?" He asked hopefully, his light blue eyes meeting yours. You clicked your tongue and grimaced, shooting him an apologetic look.

"Ah I would but my mom has Thursday off so I was going to have dinner with her." you explained, watching Armin get that kicked puppy look, that look always had a way of making your heart hurt.

"Aw well have fun!" he waved you off, the sad look on his face replaced with a small forced smile.

"Thanks Armin, I'll see you in Chem tomorrow." you smiled sweetly at him as you turned to leave.

"Bye!" he waved goodbye to you as you pulled the large door open and slipped out. Sparing a glance at your watch you sighed, Hange should be done in the next 5 minutes. But knowing her she would take another 20 minutes to wrap up her Science Olympiad meeting. So you leisurely strolled down the empty stone corridor, your eyes trained on the large windows that lined the hallway and overlooked the courtyard. The library was on the second floor, which gave you a perfect view of the school grounds. The snow seemed to be falling faster now, the flakes were beginning to stick to the blades of grass, giving the lawn a patchy appearance. Hopefully Hange had remembered her snow scraper, surely the car would have a coating of frost on the windows by now. It would not be the first time that the two of you had to scrape ice from her windows using your credit cards or your school ids.

You turned your attention back to the stony corridor, you had almost reached the stairs. You began your descent, a hand loosely gliding down the cold stone banister. Your mind drifted to thoughts of what Erwin's plans were for this evening, did he plan to eat dinner with you? Or would he run off with Hange as he had been doing for the past week or so? You had noticed that the pair had been spending more time alone as of late, and you couldn't blame them. Erwin was already committed to Notre Dame, a prestigious school known for football and extraordinary academics. Hange had recently been accepted into Princeton, one of the eight ivy league schools, and she was ecstatic. This however means that they will attending schools in different states. You knew that they planned to continue dating despite the distance, personally you were a tad skeptical of long distance relationships, but you knew that they were both mature enough to continue seeing each other.

You paused on the landing between floors, the sound of laughter was echoing off the stoney walls.

"That was a dirty move Kirstein!" you recognized Eren's agitated voice, which was closely followed by the hearty laughter of Conny and Marco.

"Pay closer attention next time Jeager." Jean teased, a smile spread across your lips at the sound of your friends. Their presence motivated you to jog down the remaining stairs and turn the corner. Just at you poked your head around the corner your eyes landed on the group of boys walking towards you.

"Oi (Y/n)! Where's Armin?" Eren called out to you first and you waved.

"Still in the library." you jabbed your thumb back towards the stairs behind you.

"Classic." Conny sniggered as he adjusted his duffle bag on his shoulder. You pursed your lips as you took in their uniforms. They wore soccer jerseys and shorts, a matching set of forest green, the school crest, a pair of wings one blue and one white, rested above their left breast over their hearts.

"Indoor soccer?" you asked, nodding towards the ball tucked under Marco's arm. The boy nodded and tossed you the ball.

"Season just started." he stated proudly, you easily caught the ball and smiled at him. Marco was your age, but you didn't usually spend time with him outside of school. The two of you had grown close the year prior when you had been in the same gym class, but since then you hadn't spoken very much.

"How exciting." you murmured as you gripped the ball in your hands. The boys nodded and you tossed the ball back to Marco.

"What are you doing here so late?" Jean asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Studying for the Government test with Armin." you shrugged, tucking your hands in your pockets. Things had been tense in your friend group since you and Jean had began casually seeing one another. The two of you had gone out on a handful of dates over the past month, all of them enjoyable. But you knew you didn't want a full blown relationship, something you still needed to tell Jean.

"Ah gotcha. So will you be coming to Sasha's friendsgiving party this weekend?" Jean inquired, his eyes shined with a glint of hope.

"Oh, I almost forgot about that! Yeah I'll be there." you smiled, a rush of excitement running through you when you remembered the invitation you had received earlier this week.

"What are you bringing?" Conny butted in, licking his lips. You hummed thoughtfully, what would you bring?

"Maybe macaroni and cheese? Or a pie?" You thought aloud as you lifted a hand to cup your chin. Conny groaned and grabbed your shoulder.

"Pie, please for the love of God bring your pie." he begged, his hand squeezing your shoulder. You giggled at this eagerness, and nodded. Pies were easy enough to bake, and if that's what people wanted then you would be more than happy to deliver.

"Thank you thank you thank you-" Conny shook you as he thanked you profusely, Eren snarled and tugged the two of you apart, while Marco and Jean laughed.

"Knock it off baldy." he hissed as he tossed Conny back. You chuckled and waved your hands dismissively.

"I'd better go, Hange should be done soon." you sighed, your eyes straying to the nearest window, you gasped. The snow was coming down in thick swirls, the sun had dipped below the horizon, making it difficult to see much through the snow.

"Oh wow, that's a lot of snow!" Marco exclaimed as he turned to follow your gaze. Jean let out a low whistle, Conny squealed excitedly.

"Yeah I better get going." you called over your shoulder as you made a break for the west wing, which was where the senior parking lot was located. The halls were dark, you only crossed paths with one janitor who didn't even glance up at you. You paused at the door at the end of the hallway and squinted out into the blizzard. The parking lot was dark, a clear indicator that Hange had not arrived to warm up the car before you.

"Ah there you are, perfect timing!" Hange's booming voice startled you as it echoed through the empty hall.

"Oh Hange, thank God, please tell me you have your scraper." you fretted, Hange grimaced, giving you an apologetic smile.

"Yeah about that..." she muttered, her hand rubbing the back of her neck. You groaned and reached into your backpack for your wallet. You fished out your drivers license and your credit card and turned back to the snowy parking lot.

"Better get started then." you grumbled, Hange laughed anxiously and moved to open the door for the both of you.

"Right."

___

You flexed your raw fingers by the vents as they blasted hot air into the cabin of the car. Hange was rubbing her hands together furiously and blowing hot air on her own frigid fingers.

"For the love of God, just keep the scraper in the car year round." you moaned as you slid your id back into your wallet.

"Might be a good idea actually." Hange stuttered between the chattering of her teeth. You huffed, tucking your hands underneath your thighs in an attempt to regain the feeling in your hands. Hange shifted the gear to drive and slowly pulled the car out of the parking lot, the wipers squeaking against the glass as they swiped the relentless snow off of the windshield.

"So, what do you want for dinner kiddo?" she gushed, her coppery eyes glinting mischievously.

"I dunno, something hot." you jabbed back, shifting on your hands.

"Whole gangs going to be there!" Hange prodded, clearly attempting to get a reaction from you.

"Great, who's cooking?" you taunted, shooting her a smile to show that you meant well.

"Oh well I guess Nanaba could." Hange mused, pleased with your good natured jabs.

"Great I'm starving." you leaned back and closed your eyes. Hange chuckled and turned her eyes back to the dark road ahead.

The drive took longer than usual due to the heavy snowfall. The roads were slick with the fresh snow, which stuck stubbornly to the road due to the lack of traffic on the country roads. But you made it to your house without a hitch. Erwin's minivan was already covered in a layer of snow, and Levi's BMW was untouched, Mike and Nanaba had not yet arrived. Hange parked and the two of you quickly gathered your belongings and walked briskly to the front door. You kicked your feet on the mat before entering, the foyer already a bit wet due to snow being tracked in on shoes. You peeled off your shoes with Hange and carried your things upstairs, Hange following close behind. Hange slipped into Erwin's room while you dropped your bag in your own room. You hadn't seen your brother or his short friend yet which was odd, they usually hung out in the kitchen. You met Hange back in the hall, her glasses, which had fogged up when you had entered the house were perched atop of her auburn hair.

"Where are they?" you asked bluntly as you watched her scrub the spectacles with the hem of her sweater.

"Beats me, let's go make some soup or something." Hange shrugged, holding her glasses up to the light to inspect the lenses. So you jogged down the stairs and began pawing through the pantry through the abundance of canned goods. You frowned at the cream of mushroom soup and set it back into the pile before refocusing.

"Heyyy now we're talking!" Hange crooned, you turned to see her pulling out a frozen pizza from the depths of your freezer. You scoffed before turning back to the pantry, a frown settling on your features.

"How about tomato soup and grilled cheese?" you offered as you pulled out two cans of tomato soup and a loaf of bread. Hange shrugged and tossed the pizza back into the freezer, she then opened the fridge and pulled out an assortment of cheese. The two of you fell into your effortless rhythm Hange stirred the soup while you began to cook the sandwiches. Finally the front door banged open, Levi's combat boots squeaking as he walked into the house, he haphazardly kicked off the shoes and stalked into the kitchen and straight into the living room. You raised your eyebrows in surprise as you watched him walk through the house, his arms full with kindling. Erwin followed closely behind, his arms also full of firewood. So that's where the pair had been. Hange fawned over them, greeting Erwin by dusting off bits of bark from his coat before turning to pat Levi's head. Levi swatted her sticky hands off of his head and glared at her menacingly.

"Hands off four eyes." Levi hissed, he ducked expertly underneath her arm and fled to the kitchen where you were flipping a grilled cheese. Erwin and Hange began the chore of lighting the fire while you took on the task of cooking as per usual. Levi frowned at the sight of the damp foyer and turned on his heel to grab the mop. You smiled at the sight of him mopping the floor despite the fact that people were still on their way and it would only end up messy again. Sure enough, just as Levi tossed the dirty water out of the front door and tucked the mop back in the closet, Mike and Nanaba strutted in, arms full of assorted baked goods and board games.

"Hey everybody! Hope we didn't miss anything!" Nanaba trilled as she tracked more snow into the front room. Levi heaved a sigh as he turned to grab the mop, you chuckled and took the container of cookies from her arms so she could take off her jacket. Mike nodded at you as he strolled into the living room where Hange and Erwin were still fumbling to light the fire wood.

"No, we actually only just got home about thirty minutes ago." you assured the blonde as she joined you in the kitchen. She smiled as she watched Mike kneel down to join Erwin and Hange as they blew on the small embers.

"What games did you guys bring?" you attempted to make small talk as you turned back to the task at hand.

"Oh the usuals, Sequence, Candy Land, Clue, etcetera." she waved a hand dismissively as she turned to stir the soup.

"Sounds fun!" you exclaimed as you tossed another sandwich on the plate. Nanaba hummed in response as she smiled stupidly into the soup. You pursed your lips and cocked your head as you studied her.

"Not to be that person but...Have you picked a school yet?" you asked with a small chuckle. She nodded,

"Yeah actually, just picked two days ago!" she beamed, turning to face you once more.

"Wow really?"

"Yeah! I'm going to attend Michigan State University with Mike!" she gushed as she set the spoon off to the side with a clang.

"That's great! Michigan is beautiful, and that's an awesome school." you matched her excitement and dumped the final sandwich on the plate and switched the stove off.

"Thanks! We're super excited." her words were so sweet and filled with love it made you feel sick. You nodded and turned to grab plates and bowls for everyone. Nanaba and Mike had only started dating about a month prior, in fact they had admitted their affections to one another back in October at your house. In a way you envied their effortless relationship, despite only dating for a month they made a great pair.  You served yourself and moved to sit at the island in the kitchen. A cheer from the living room told you that the trio had finally ignited the fire, shortly after they piled into the kitchen and began to dish food onto their plates. Levi once again stuffed the mop and bucket back into the closet and feverishly washed his hands before serving himself. As he reached for a grilled cheese the sleeve of his hoodie scrunched up, revealing a new tattoo on his left wrist. Your jaw dropped momentarily, the sight of the fresh ink shocking you. In fact it was so fresh that the skin around the ink was still red and a bit swollen, glistening with the salve. He rounded the island and dropped into the stool to your left, and your eyes went straight to his wrist.

"Fresh ink?" you asked, propping your chin on the heel of your hand as you watched him bring the spoon to his mouth.  

"Yeah." he replied, not bothering to elaborate.

"Can I see?" you pressed, Levi shot you a glare as he bit into his sandwich but still lifted his hand for you to pull his sleeve up. You gingerly tugged his sleeve up and a tiny 'awe' escaped your lips. The drawing was extremely minimalistic, the delicate black ink contrasting beautifully with his pale skin tone. It was a small tea cup, with a chip in its rim. Levi scoffed and tugged his arm back.

"That's a good one Levi." you gushed as you turned back to your own meal.

"Thanks." he grumbled as he looked everywhere but your face.

"Where do you get them done?" you asked before taking a huge bite of your sandwich.

"WitchHammer." he grunted, his patience growing thin. All of these questions reminded him of a particular brunette. You hummed in response as you entertained the idea of getting a tattoo for your 16th birthday that was coming up in the next couple of months. You already had an appointment at the shop to get your forward helix pierced on your left ear. The others were getting rowdy on the other side of the island, too engrossed in their conversation to notice the side conversation Levi and you were engaging in.

"Did it hurt?" you quizzed feeling a bit playful. You had missed Levi's bluntness and his shitty sense of humor.

"I would be lying if I said no." he retorted, his sharp eyes catching yours for the first time in weeks. You chuckled and nodded as you chewed your food.

"You think that I would look good with a couple tattoos?" you giggled, smiling broadly at the raven haired boy. He clicked his tongue and turned to take you in, his eyes raking over your form. Finally his eyes settled on your hands, his brows pinched together in thought as he stared.

"Personally...I like minimalistic designs, you could probably pull off some finger tats or hand tats." he mused, you glanced at your hands, interesting. You held your hands up to the light to get a better look and began to think of some small designs that you might be interested in.

"Tattoos are a big commitment, don't just get some stupid shit." Levi lectured as he lifted his cup of tea to his lips, you frowned he was one to talk.

"I know." you decided that tonight wasn't the time to argue with him, especially since this was the first time spending time together in weeks. He nodded but kept a skeptical eye on you as you folded your hands onto your lap and turned to listen to the other conversation. You frowned when you realized they were just talking about prom, awkward. So you decided to clean up, the exhaustion of the long day seemed to hit you like a truck and all you could think about was your bed and all of the work that was due on Sunday. You washed up quickly and waved weakly before trudging up the stairs, thankfully the others didn't seem to care that you were calling it a night early. You changed into a pair of flannel pjs and an old ACDC shirt that had seen better days. You sank into your old desk chair and flicked on the small lamp, you rummaged through your back pack and pulled out your laptop and a notebook. Sparing a glance at the small alarm clock you groaned, it was already well past nine o'clock.

You decided to pick up from where you had left off with your Government notes. Your handwriting started off neat, the ink gliding flawlessly across the lined paper. But by the time you had finished the notes and moved on to your chemistry homework, your handwriting had become rocky at best. You frowned at the smudged ink, the green hue bleeding into the once white paper. With a sigh you reached for your white out and continued to write out the reaction. Once you were finished with Chem, you turned your attention to your research paper for English. As you typed you could feel your eyelids drooping, the words seemed to blur and bend across the computer screen. Closing your eyes for a moment wouldn't hurt would it? A defeated sigh breezed past your lips as you folded your arms across the desk and rested your forehead against your arms to block out the blinding light of your lamp. You yawned and rubbed your eyes in an attempt to wake yourself up, though this seemed to be unsuccessful. As you slipped into sleep, you recalled the last time you had fallen asleep at your desk and how fucked up your back felt the following week. But your exhaustion won and your head slumped against your desk, any pain you felt would be a problem for future you.

Meanwhile, downstairs the upperclassman were well into their third bottle of wine and their fifth round of Candy Land. Erwin flicked the spinner and moved his piece accordingly, Levi sat back and sipped the dry red wine, Mike had his hand thrown over Nanaba's shoulders casually. Hange was leaning her head heavily against Erwin's shoulder and Levi swore he had never felt like such a loser in his whole life. If you were down here at least he wouldn't be the only person down here that was single. Hange howled as Erwin pushed his piece past hers, always the sore looser. Nanaba giggled drunkenly as she choked on her glass of wine. Levi rolled his eyes, his friends were past tipsy now, but not quite drunk, and this was usually when Levi would leave. He hated dealing with drunk people, they were messy and loud, the mere thought of any of them vomiting made him cringe. He waited until the spinner came around to him before he excused himself.

"Count me out." he held up his hand to deny the spinner as Mike tried to hand it to him.

"Awe come on Levi! We can't let Erwin win for the fifth time in a row!" Mike begged as Levi stood up and picked up his glass of wine.

"No." Levi denied, his voice growing colder. The group collectively called for him to stay, their voices a bit unsteady due to the alcohol. Levi shrugged them off and carefully stepped over Hange, she snagged his ankle and held him in a vice grip.

"No, don't go Levi! Finish this game please!" she whimpered as she pressed her face into his calf. His nose wrinkled in disgust at the sudden contact, Erwin chuckled and pulled Hange back and pressed a kiss to her temple. Yeah it was definitely time for him to go to bed, besides he needed to put some vaseline on his fresh ink. He slid into the upstairs bathroom, the sound of his friends laughing fading into the background. Tugging up his sleeve his hissed at the feeling of the raw skin coming in contact with the cold air. He pawed through the drawers, pausing at the sight of your feminine hygiene products. He usually used the downstairs restroom since the guest room was in the basement. He slammed the drawer shut and moved onto the next one, a relieved sigh escaping his lips at the sight of the familiar jar of vaseline. He swiped the jelly onto his tiny tea cup tattoo and rolled his sleeve back down, the soothing jelly immediately calming the irritated skin.

On his way out of the bathroom he noticed the small sliver of light that shined through your cracked door. He glanced down at his wrist watch and frowned, it was one thirty in the morning, you had supposedly gone to bed hours ago. He glanced down the stairs, from the bathroom he could see the open floor layout of the living room, where all of his friends were still gathered. He steeled himself and padded up to your door, he lifted his hand and rapped the backs of his knuckles against the surface. He frowned when there was no response, he gently pushed the door open and tentatively stepped inside. The room was dimly lit, the only light emitting from the small lamp on your desk. His eyes softened at the sight of you slumped onto your desk, but quickly hardened at the sight of drool dripping from the corner of your mouth. He sat his wine glass down as quietly as he could on your nightstand and raked his eyes around your cluttered room in search for a blanket. He spotted a quilt neatly folded on your window seat, he unfolded the blanket and draped it over your shoulders. Just as the blanket was settling on your shoulders and he was pulling his hands back, the door flew open. He jumped, spinning around only to be met with the sight of an unsteady Hange. The brunette's eyes widened at the sight of Levi's hand on the back of your seat.

"What..." her eyes narrowed and she pointed between the two of you.

"Is this?" she finished as she stepped into the room, her body swaying unsteadily. Good question, what was he doing in here?

"I came to shut off her light." Levi lied through his teeth, the truth was that he had wanted to spend more time in your presence.

"Lies." Hange hissed as she pointed accusingly at him.

"Tch, believe what you want four eyes." Levi grunted as he stalked across the room, meaning to make a quick get away before she drew too much attention to this fishy situation.

"Hey don't-" she lunged in an attempt to keep Levi from escaping, spilling her glass of wine onto the white carpet and onto Levi's crisp white hoodie. She caught herself on Levi, a drunk giggle bubbling past her lips as she clung to him. Levi staggered under her weight, his back hitting your wall with a dull thud. You grunted, slowly lifting your head from the desk you turned around to see Levi seething under Hange's weight as she pressed against him. Your eyes widened at the sight, Levi was trying to grab the glass from her hand to prevent further spillage, you were so distracted by the rare sight of Levi and Hange in such close proximity that you didn't notice the quilt falling off your shoulders. You blinked dumbly at the two of them as they grappled for the wine glass, Levi ultimately winning due to Hange's drunken state.

"Levi was peeping on you while you slept." Hange blurted, Levi slammed his hand over her mouth and snarled. You weren't surprised when Levis pulled his hand back with a small gasp, you could just make out the sheen of what you assumed was Hange's drool over his palm. The brunette cackled and staggered away from him and out of the room.

"I'm going to tell Erwin." she sang as she stumbled through the hall with her hand on the wall to guide her.

"Hange don't, it's okay really." you called after her, but your words fell on deaf ears as she rounded the stairs and disappeared.

"Damn it." Levi hissed, his eyes trained on the stain on the ground, he pulled the sweat shirt off of his skin, the alcohol sticking to his skin. You cleared your throat awkwardly as Levi pulled the sweatshirt off. You glanced at the stairs, no sign of Hange and Erwin yet, you could hear the sound of the group stumbling around the kitchen. Hopefully Hange had forgotten and favored grabbing another drink over causing trouble, so you stood up and crossed your room to quietly shut the door. Levi had his head against the wall, his eyes closed expecting an onslaught of accusations. Instead he was surprised to see you digging through your closet, pulling out one of your larger sweatshirts you tossed it to him. He caught the garment and eyed is suspiciously before tugging it over his head.

"Thanks." he mumbled, you waved him off and crossed your room to sit down on your bed.

"What's up?" you questioned, it was certainly out of character for him to be in your room. Levi shrugged and slowly crossed the room to drop down onto your bed next to you.

"Your light was on and I came in to shut it off." Levi replied nonchalantly, his eyes dull as he watched you slip under your covers. A chill ran up your spine, your room always got cold in the winter due to the large windows. After a moment of awkward silence you patted the space beside you, Levi quirked a brow at you but when you smiled at him he slid closer to you. He settled against the headboard with a sigh, you looked up at him, taking in the sharp lines of his jaw and the way his Adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed. He turned and raised a brow skeptically at you, you giggled and turned to slip deeper under your covers. He scoffed but turned to face you, propping himself up on his elbow. From this close proximity you could smell the wine on his breath, you noticed that his  pupils were dilated, and his cheeks flushed.

"Thanks...I guess." you muttered as you watched him reach into his pockets and pull out his juul and take a hit. You frowned as he turned his head away from you to exhale, he sighed contentedly and turned to face you once more.

"You're going to get me in trouble." you scoffed as he attempted to offer you the juul.

"You only live once." he smirked as he dangled the device in your face. You gently pushed his hand away from your face, he shrugged and took another drag.

"Are you sleeping over?" you questioned, he simply nodded and pocketed his juul.

"It's like three in the morning." he scoffed rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"Oh, I guess..." you trailed off, the house had grown quiet, hopefully Hange had been dragged to bed by Erwin and had long forgotten about snitching on Levi. You weren't sure what Levi was still doing in your bed, you knew that he wouldn't force himself on you, but still he had never spend this much time alone with you since the time you had kissed. Just as you were about to ask him why he was still in your room, you heard the sound of the front door opening and then quickly closing. Your mother was home, you shoved Levi's shoulder and motioned for him to get out of your bed, a surge of panic rushing through you. Your mom would kill you if she saw Levi in your bed this late. Levi grunted and rolled off the bed, landing heavily on the ground with a thud. You winced and pointed at the door, Levi opened his mouth to say something but ultimately turned and stalked towards the door. When he opened the door, he was met with the tired face of your mother. Her eyes widened at the unexpected sight of Levi.

"Oh, Levi.." she managed to keep her voice even as she took in his appearance, his hair a bit mussed, cheeks pink and wearing your clothes.

"It's not what it looks like mom!" you scrambled out of bed and pushed Levi away from the doorway so that you could address your mother.

"Really..." she narrowed her eyes skeptically as her eyes roamed over your pajamas and messy hair. You grimaced but nodded, she glared at you and heaved a heavy sigh, turning her attention to Levi.

"So your uncle told me that you wouldn't be coming to Christmas this year?" she swiftly changed the subject. Levi blinked, shocked that she had chosen to ignore the suspicious state she had found the two of you in.

"Y-Yeah that's true, I finally saved enough to visit my old friends in France for the holidays." he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Is that so?" she hummed, leaning against the door frame and tugging her light jacket closer to her body. Levi nodded and spared you a glance, you looked surprised, but not upset.

"Well that sounds amazing, you'll have to send us a postcard." she mused, Levi nodded and shifted awkwardly.

"Yes ma'm." he responded, your mother nodded pleased with his response.

"How long will you be gone for?" she probed.

"Until January 8th." Levi answered.

"That's a long time." you quipped, Levi glanced at you and nodded.

"How exciting." your mother's response was genuine, she stepped aside allowing him to pass.

"Yeah." he muttered as he slid past and made his way towards the stairs. Once he was out of sight your mother turned to you, her usually soft features pinching into a scowl.

"Explain." she snapped, pointing a finger at the sizable wine stain.

"Hange spilled it, I'll clean it in the morning." you sighed as you eyed the large purple spot.

"Alright, just make sure that it gets cleaned." your mother leaned forward and kissed your forehead. You smiled at her, it was unusual that you got to see her after her shift.

"How was work?" you asked as you eyed her scrubs, noting a mystery stain on her shirt.

"Messy." she sighed as she followed your gaze.

"Did you save lots of lives?" you giggled.

"Of course." your mother jabbed.

"Get some sleep (Y/n)." she hummed, her hand burying into your messy hair to ruffle it affectionately.

"Goodnight mom." you called after her as she descended the staircase, she waved her hand and you slowly shut the door.

[fcntasmas-archive]

Bookshop AU + scars?

hmmm a good one a good one maybe i'd write something like -- buck, after years of trying to find his place in the world, goes out on a limb and instead of becoming a firefighter buys a small corner space: it takes his entire life's savings and he's not even sure what he's going to do with it, but fuck it if he's not ready to find his path and if he has to make it himself, then so be it. (also, considering the apartments the show has them living in, i, too, will suspend disbelief re: their financial situations, thank you) this shop happens to be near a fancy-looking fire station -- the 118, the sign above it reads, and while buck spends his afternoons sitting in the middle of this empty space, he loves watching the firetrucks leave, arrive, leave, arrive, and he always makes bets with himself, like, how long will it be this time? where could they have gone today? sometimes he’ll bring a lawn chair and sit outside the space, with one of the many books he’s collected throughout his travels, and this is how he meets bobby for the first time. the tall captain’s making his way to the coffee shop next door, and he spots buck — mid-20s, ratty t-shirt, faded jeans — sitting in a lawn chair minding his own business and he’s like, “uh? you okay?” buck and bobby hit it off immediately, obviously. buck explains he’s sitting in front of his own space so he’s not really loitering, and he’s been trying to to decide what he’s gonna do with it. bobby looks at him thoughtfully and suggests buck look at the things around him, what they’re lacking, then at the things buck loves, and see if there isn’t an overlap. buck thanks him, makes some dumb joke about the firehouse captain getting his own coffee, and they part ways. eventually, he meets the rest of the 118: hen, who’s curious about the “tall white boy who is all legs” that sits outside the space for hours at a time, reading a different book every time; chimney (who refuses to explain the nickname), who bet hen he could guess what book he was reading today (he couldn’t); and eddie.

eddie is — buck’s pretty sure what would happen if “buck’s type” and “buck’s wet dream” clashed and formed an entire human being. eddie is way too attractive to be real, and buck manages to fumble through a conversation with him — where he says the words i’m actually just chillin’, like a fucking idiot — before eddie smiles quizzically at buck’s entire, like, thing and heads to the coffee shop, leaving buck to privately hit his head against today’s book (a wyoming travel guide, of all things) in embarrassment. except when eddie comes back out, four coffee cups in a holder, he says to buck, “you know, with all the books you go through, you could probably open a book store.” and it’s like a lightbulb moment — wherein another person screwed in the lightbulb for buck, i mean. so buck gets to work — he doesn’t actually own enough books to fill a bookstore, but when he tells his new friends at the 118 about his ideas, they start donating old books — and their friends start donating old books — and eventually, buck’s got just enough to get himself started.

buck opens the strangest, most quaint used bookstore known to los angeles, california. why? because there’s really no rhyme or reason to it. there’s no order to it — buck kind of just makes up sections (“books that spoke to me at three in the morning”, “books that are not appropriate for children, kids stay out”, “books that made me want to call my sister”, etc.) and he — kind of becomes a success when hen brings denny to the store and he makes a semi-viral tiktok out of it. eventually, the hype dies down, but he retains some loyal customers, and that’s all that matters.

what matters most, though, in buck’s opinion, are the months that follow: eddie comes in every weekend with the most adorable fucking kid on earth — christopher, he introduces himself cheerfully — and they take home exactly one book each every time. christopher will stay away from the sections clearly marked “no children here” (later, buck will add, “YES EVEN YOU CHRIS”) and eddie will carefully peruse through some of the more obscure sections (“books that fed my addiction to cheese”, “books that made me believe in aliens but only from mars”) and pick out what seems like the most interesting one for the weekend.

they’ll stay for an hour, maybe two. buck and eddie will talk about everything and nothing at all — they’ll gauge enough about each other to be friends, but not enough to be closer than that, and, fuck, does buck want to be closer than that. eddie has eyes that promise to tell him a thousand stories and he has scars on his skin that promise to tell him a thousand more, and he wants to know every single part of the man that smiles softly at him in awe, like he’s the most interesting sight he’s laid his eyes on, when he goes on an unrelenting rant.

so one weekend, once christopher is gone and knee-deep in the “books that will definitely make you want to be a (freelance) knight” section, buck looks over at eddie and asks him what his favorite book is. eddie, a little taken aback, admits that he doesn’t think he has one. buck hums, like the tidbit is Very Interesting Indeed, and eddie raises an eyebrow and asks, “why? what’s yours?”

joke’s on eddie, because that’s exactly what buck had wanted him to ask.

buck tells him he’ll tell eddie — in fact, he’ll even trade him a copy of his favorite book — for a story. eddie looks at him a little quizzically, like he’s having trouble understanding the concept, so buck explains that he’s collected way more than just books during his travels: he’s collected stories. and stories are all he’s made up of, and stories are all he loves to hear. it makes him feel like he’s part of something bigger — he collects them like secrets, keeps them close to his chest for himself, for a rainy day.

so buck points at a scar on eddie’s lips, and says, “you tell me the story behind that scar, i’ll trade you my favorite book.”

and eddie is — endeared? charmed? very confused? buck can’t really keep up with the plethora of emotions that flash past his expression, but eventually eddie concedes, and tells buck about the story behind the scar on his lip.

it’s a childhood scar, buck learns. eddie had been playing on a trampoline at his grandmother’s house and he’d bet his sisters he could do a backflip — turns out, he could do a backflip, but he back-flipped off the entire trampoline and hit his mouth on the edge of it. blood for ages, he says, laughing at the memory. he was sure he’d cracked some teeth — was lucky he didn’t. just the scar to remind him that he does not, in fact, have the spacial awareness he thought he did.

buck, satisfied with this response, hands him a copy of holes. he doesn’t tell eddie it’s his personal copy — leaves that tidbit out, content to see eddie’s gaze soften at the gift.

and then it just — keeps happening.

a book for a story. buck asks about a visible scar on eddie’s person and eddie will tell him the story behind it; for every story he tells buck, buck will gift him a copy that means a lot to him. the first book he ever learned to read himself; the first book he ever stole from a library (he forgot to return it, okay); the first book he read so much he wore out.

sometimes, eddie’ll take a second to gather himself before telling buck a story — in these instances, buck promises eddie he doesn’t have to tell him anything, but eddie seems like he’s determined to tell buck about it, and buck will learn about his time overseas, in the military; his adventures in firefighting; his brief stint in street fighting, of all things; childhood stories that involve his grandmother, his aunts, his sisters, even, more than they ever do his parents.

he’ll learn eddie, too, is made up of dozens of stories, and it’ll open up the most beautiful sight buck’s ever laid eyes upon: a man, filled to the brim with love and affection, feeling lonely and guilty every day of his life, unable to leave his stories in the past where they belong. so he gifts them to buck, and buck keeps them as he keeps all the others: close to his chest, closer still to his heart, and he begins to carry them for eddie, watching as, one by one, the weight begins to leave this wonderful man, leaving behind only the love and affection buck thinks he glows with.

eventually, buck runs out of scars to point out — he smiles sadly at eddie that day, says he guesses maybe it’s for the best: wouldn’t want eddie sharing anything else he’s not ready to share. eddie looks at him, a little conflicted, before his lips turn up into a slow smirk and he says something buck is probably going to be dreaming about for the rest of his entire fucking life: “you know, i got a couple more scars where you can’t immediately see. maybe you can inquire about those sometime.”

(and buck, eventually, very much does.)

(though eddie would super appreciate it if it wasn’t while he was trying to go down on buck, thanks.)

[n0wornever]

The Build Up - Luke Patterson x Reader

Could you do a modern day/Alive AU where 5 times Luke and y/n almost kiss and one time they actually do?

It was only a matter of time before Luke Patterson and his best friend cut the tension between them. There were always signs that they’d fall together eventually, but their soft moments were cut short often by those around them.

1: The show

The first time Y/N and Luke almost kissed was  after Julie and The Phantoms’ first solo show. Y/N sat front row, as she always did, bobbing her head to the bass that blasted through the speakers. Her arms crossed at her chest, she let a small smile fall onto her face as she watched Luke pour his heart out in the mic in front of him. His eyes met hers for a moment, sending the next string of lyrics right in her direction. She lightly nipped at the corner of her lip as she held his gaze. 

As the boys ended their set, Y/N scurried past the tightly bound bodies around her to rush backstage. She showed her pass to the guard standing in front of the staircase, shuffling quickly behind him. She walked down the hallway toward his dressing room and knocked on the door. The door opened quickly and a hand pulled her inside. Luke stood in front of her, face beaming with sweat and a smile plastered on his face. 

“You’re like a full-fledged rockstar now, huh?” She said, bringing a smile across her lips. 

“Whatever,” He sighed, shoving her shoulder back. 

“Luke, I’m serious, you guys crushed it out there!”

She jumped up and down on her tiptoes as she held his gaze. He let his eyes wander around her elated face as he took a step closer toward her. He grabbed her waist and brought her into a tight hug, Y/N giggling at the sudden contact.  As they pulled away he studied her face again, letting his eyes fall from hers to her lips and back up. As soon as her started to pull toward her again, the door opened loudly. 

Alex beamed at them as he leaned in the door frame. Luke let go of her hips, running his hand through his hair and letting his eyes fall on his bandmate.

“I was going to say that we were going to get food....but you two look busy...” The drummer’s eyes falling between the two.

“No, let’s go,” Luke blurts, grabbing his jacket. 

He grabbed her hand and let her trail behind him, not meeting her gaze again until the made it to the restaurant. 

2: The Park 

The second time it almost happened, they were alone. Y/N had forced Luke to take a lunch break from studying and eat in the park with her to get some fresh air. 

She interlocked their hands as the walked down the street to the greek food truck. She ordered two gyros for the pair, smiling back at him. He squeezed her hand in response, a smile stuck on his face. She let go of his grip for a moment grab the food. She grabbed it again shortly and led him to a nearby bench. 

Their fingers touched as she handed him his tray and she watched his face grow pink, feeling her skin heat up as well. Y/N let her gaze face forward, her people watching commanding her focus. She felt his gaze on her side and her eyes tore away from the street for a moment with a pensive stare.

“Please don’t watch me eat, you weirdo.” 

But Luke’s eyes didn’t leave hers. He set his food down next to him and she watched as his eyes widened as he moved closer to her. She felt her heart race as he gave her full body a once over. His hand moved toward her face, and her breath caught in her throat. Luke smirked as he brought a tissue up to the corner of her mouth, wiping away excess oil before falling back to his seat.

She felt her cheeks burn as she rolled her eyes at him and kept eating her food. She could hear him chuckle but refused to meet his eyes.

3: Her bedroom

The third time was when they were studying in her bedroom. Y/N had invited Luke over to help her go through the latest chapter of history, a class the two had together. The two laid across from each other on her floor, textbooks open in front of the with highlighters spread around the carpet.

After 15 minutes, Luke’s head fell onto the textbook below him. Y/N looked over at him, shaking her head at the dramatics. He lifted his face to hers with puppy dog eyes, lip jutting up toward her. 

“Can we take a break?”

“We’ve barely started, Patterson.” 

She pressed a finger to the open page and looked at him with pursed lips. He gave in with a grunt and started reading again. Y/N held her finger on a line that she wanted to remember, letting her eyes wander around the surrounding floor for her pencil to jot down a note about it. 

As she searched, a hand came up toward her face. She looked up and met Luke’s eyes. His fingers reached behind her ear, pulling out the mechanical pencil behind it. She felt an oncoming blush as he giggled near her face. Their gaze hung there for a moment in the silence. 

She noted his hands pressing against the floor, moving his body toward hers. She let her eyes fall to his lips for a moment, before she dropped the eye contact completely. Her eyes hurried to find the spot she left off on in her textbook.

“So, anyway what was that about World War II?” 

She heard him sigh above her and smiled to herself as she scribbled in her notebook. 

4: The Lake 

The next almost happened when Julie, Carrie, Flynn and Y/N invited the boys to the lake for a cookout one Saturday afternoon. Julie and Luke’s dads recruited Reggie and Alex to help make burgers, Carrie and Julie helped Luke’s mom cut fresh fruit and veggies and Flynn spun new beats on her portable spin table she brought with her. 

That left Luke and Y/N to entertain Carlos. 

Luke grabbed a frisbee and yelled to the boy to run to the other side of the grass. Carlos obliged, sprinting to the right. Y/N watched the boys with a light smile on her face. Luke nodded at her to come over to his end and she lightly jogged in his direction. 

Luke threw the disk toward the young boy, going right over his head. That didn’t stop Carlos from racing to get it as soon as possible. Y/N brought her hand up to her mouth to mask her laughing as the boy flailed through air. Luke pinched her side, forcing her to meet his smiling eyes. 

The two were drawn away from each other as the noticed Reggie race over to Carlos’ defense. The bassist sent the frisbee through the air and Luke prepared himself to catch it. Y/N took the opportunity to jump right in front of him at last minute and grab the disk before it reached him. She heard a frustrated sigh, and arms wrapped around her tightly, spinning her in a circle. 

As her feet hit the ground again, she spun around to meet his eyes wiggling the yellow frisbee in her hands. He quickly grabbed it from her hand, moving in closer to her face with a scowl across his lips. She rose an eyebrow at him, basking in the closeness. Luke’s eyes fell on her lips once more and she took a soft breath in. Before he could lean any further, he heard yelling from the other end of the lawn.

“ARE YOU GOING TO THROW IT BACK?” Carlos cried, his hand on his hip.

The two giggled as Luke stepped away, pushing the frisbee back toward the small boy before shooting a wink her way. 

5: Julie’s Garage

The last misstep happened during a late night writing session. Y/N had a poetry reading on Saturday she needed to prepare for, and Luke had a song on the tip of his tongue he needed to pen immediately. 

The two sat on opposite sides of the garage as the both wrote silently. Y/N heard the humming coming from his side of the room and smiled, biting down on her pen as she listened. Her eyes rose and she watched him nod his head as he scribbled something down on the paper. 

She lifted herself off the couch and walked over to his chair. His eyes never left the paper as she strolled over to him. Y/N made herself comfortable on the arm of the loveseat, looking down at the boy with a soft smile. After a few seconds, he let his gaze slip over to her. 

“I got curious,” She said, leaning into his arm. “I wanted to see what the powerful songwriter was penning tonight.”

He smiled back at her, placing his pencil behind his ear and leaning back on the chair. 

“Nosey, Y/N you know I won’t tell you that until it’s done.” 

She leaned even closer to him, narrowing her eyes as their faces closed in on each other. She let her eyes fall over his features as a smirk played on her lips, taking in his confused expression. She could hear his shallow breathing as he stared back at her, lips parted and eyes wide.

“I’ll get you to crack one day Patterson,” She said softly, leaning back and lifting herself off the chair.

“I have no doubt about that,” She heard him call after her, bringing a wider smile to her face. 

6: The Dance 

Luke had never been a school dance fan, but when Y/N asked him to be her date, he accepted the offer quickly. She helped him pick out a suit and tie that matched her peach dress perfectly. Luke consulted his mom about choosing a corsage and ordered it two days after she asked. 

The night of the dance, Y/N sat in the mirror, staring at her reflection. She almost didn’t recognize herself under the makeup. She smiled as she touched her cheek softly, basking in the magic of blush. Julie popped in the mirror next to her with a wide smile on her face.

“You look flawless, I’m seriously in awe of that dress right now,” Her friend said, smiling at her reflection.

“Thank you Jules, I don’t know why I’m so nervous. It’s not like it’s our first dance,” She sighed, playing with a bobby pin that was pinching the side of her head.

“It is your first dance with a date,” Julie responded, laying a hand on her shoulder. “A date that we’ve been waiting to happen for like a million years.” 

Y/N rolled her eyes, placing her lipstick in her clutch before turning to Julie. She shook her head and sighed at her friend’s sly grin.

“You know it’s not like that,” Y/N countered, resting her hand on her hip.

“You know none of us believe that anymore.” 

Y/N felt her face heat up under the steady stare, and she pushed Julie forward so that the two could exit the bathroom without any further questions. 

As they walked down the stairs, they met the rest of the group in the living room. Her mom was already capturing photos of the boys, who were posing as each other’s dates for the camera. Alex let go of Luke’s hips and cackled with his bandmates. Luke’s eyes pulled away from the boys as they met hers. 

His eyes widened as he looked down at her dress and back up to her smile. Luke walked over slowly, holding his hand out to her. She nodded, taking his hand in hers and letting him twirl her around. He steadied her again, reaching over to the table to grab the corsage. He slipped it onto her wrist, letting his hand rest on hers. 

“Wow,” He said breathlessly as her bright smile landed on him again. “You look spectacular, Y/N.” 

The two didn't even notice her mom snapping photos of the whole interaction. The girl’s cheeks flushed under his wide eyes and she led him to the rest of the group for more photos. 

As the group dispersed to their cars to head to the school, Y/N took Luke’s hand as he guided her up into his truck. His hands working quickly to tuck her gown in after her. He beamed up at her one more time before shutting the door and moving over to the driver’s side. 

He put the car in drive and sped down the street. As the pair pulled into a parking spot in the school lot, Luke looked over at her again with glossy eyes.

“I mean it Y/N, you look absolutely...incredible tonight. I literally don’t have the right words to describe....” He leaned back in his seat, shaking his head. “Just wow.” 

She didn’t want to know how red she was in this moment, so she waved his gaze off of her, whispering a ‘thanks’ in his direction. Neither of them moved for a moment. Y/N finally moved her eyes back to his, watching as he ran his hand through his hair. His gaze was still set on her as to took off his seatbelt. 

She watched as he leaned closer to her, hovering over her body. She felt her throat go dry at the close proximity they were at in the moment. His gaze shifted from her lips, back up to her eyes and back down. She finally let her eyes fall closed as she felt his hand come up to her cheek. 

His lips ghosted over hers for a moment before they came crashing down. She reciprocated his advance quickly, lips moving in sync with his. As they pulled away, their eyes met again. Luke’s cheeks held a light pink hue as he let go of her face and chuckled to himself. She moved her hand to his lips, trying to wipe off the soft red that had transferred.

“Sorry, I couldn’t take it anymore.” 

She giggled right back, placing her hand on the back of his neck and pulling him in for another kiss. 

.

.

.

Tag list: @xplrreylo @lovesanimals , @anythingandeverythingfandom , @crybabyddl , @oswin05 , @themaddies-obx , @lukeys-giggle , @bumbleberry-pie @kiss-themoongoodbye  @marinettepotterandplagg , @lolychu , @bathtimejish , @dasexydevitt13 @musicconversedance , @txrii  @bestdressedandstressed @daisiesforlacey  @epikskool  @bookfrog247 @carleywhittaker @princessvader15 @rudysbay @spooky-season-bitch  @kcd15  @meangirlsx @itz-jas @parkeret @writerinlearning @calamitykaty ​  @whatever-happens-imma-stand-tall

[bethanysnow]

‘L.A Lady’

Dedicated to @icouldbeyourpuppet​  (They/them pronouns) (TL = translation)

https://open.spotify.com/track/2TVxnKdb3tqe1nhQWwwZCO?si=2cae690d31794ccb

‘...I know something you don’t knoooooow’ Damiano sings opening the door to their studio space. Vic sits in her chair, bass in her lap looking up at Dami with a raised brow.

“okay, and? What is it this time-” 

Damiano puts a finger to his lips with a mischievous look on his face and closes the door. ‘So how do you feel about scheming?’

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Y/N?...What was that one uh English singer you like? Like the one song goes da da dum daaa da. Its something- john...”

    “Elton John, hehe and you are trying to sing Tiny Dancer, why?”

“Uh just, stuck in my head is all” Thomas typed into his phone something glancing at y/n.

Thomas and y/n sat in the living room, football playing on the TV low in the background. As the band had worked on their latest project they had slowly adopted Y/N. They had traveled to Italy for one reason or another, but it got put aside when they bumped into Mr. Raggi. This fuckin skinny white boy stole their heart and they couldn’t tell ya why. He was funny, talented, stepped out of the 70′s like it was nothin!

Thomas looked at his phone again biting at his lip.

“uh, Y/N? You wanna go to uh negozio d’angolo? (TL: Corner store) Wanted to pick up somethings”

     “sure, let me get my shoes”

The two of them walked down Italian streets. Thomas taking their hand insisting to go on an adventure. Maybe might may-haps have ran through some poor ladies garden. Snuck into alley ways between buildings as a ‘for sure shortcut’ but ended up being twice as long. Walked in on a couple making out behind a restaurant on accident. Thomas taking this time to critique the man’s skill in favor of his own. Saying “Have to show you some time” with the biggest smile on his face. But before too long both of you stopped in front of a negozio d’angolo. He leading the way, goes to the back and starts grabbing what you can only assume is the best worst fizzy drinks one can buy and piles snacks into y/n’s arms. Absolutely proud of himself and the treasure trove of goodies he wants to bring back. Paying for them he takes out a soda leaving the store. Stepping out he opens the cap.

“Niente può andare storto!“ Thomas shouts to the open street. (TL: Nothing can go wrong!”)

The pressure expands and grows and foamy white carbonation spills all over him, his shirt, and his hand. Putting his lips around the top in a panic having to try and stop the spray. Y/N starts laughing. Once the soda explosion stopped he shoved y/n with a faux offended look on his face. “Questa è una bella camicia!“ (TL: This is a nice shirt!) Sarcasm dripping off his tone.

He chuckled looking at the ground. Then back at Y/N. His eyes flashed over the street to see all the people there. Going about their day, not knowing that his heart is beating out his chest. The song in his head wouldn’t shut up since Y/N showed it to him.

Out in the street Handing tickets out for God

Turning back She just laughs The boulevard is not that bad

the boulevard- whatever that is...is not that bad. With Y/N. They always laughed at his jokes. Even from the random dancing (totally not only doing it to see Y/N smile. No not at all) to the shouting and out of context memes at 2 in the morning. They smile at him and his heart melts into his shoes.

Walking back they get to the gate. Carrying bags with them Thomas opens the door. They step in and music fills the air.

Blue-jean baby L.A. lady Seamstress for the band Pretty-eyed Pirate smile You'll marry a music man

Ballerina You must've seen her Dancing in the sand And now she's in me Always with me Tiny dancer in my hand

Walking to the center of the lawn Damiano sits in a window with a guitar in his lap singing.

Vic walks up, taking their bags and goes to the kitchen.

“Uh...Thomas??? What the fuck- “

    “I think- um...” Damiano shoots Thomas a look. “OOOHHHH. Uh Y/N- dance with me?....” They nod cautiously taking his hand. 

Sliding a hand behind their back, taking the other. He guides them in a slow dance. Them both starting to hum along. Once it gets to the chorus Thomas starts shout singing. Y/N laughing at his antics.

Looking on She sings the songs The words she knows The tune she hums

But oh, how it feels so real Lying here, with no one near Only you and you can hear me When I say softly, slowly

Hold me closer, tiny dancer

“Thomas?”

    “Yea?”

“Don’t ever change”

Grabbing his face, they kiss him. And the arm that was wrapped around their waist grows tighter. Pulling them in.

Shouts of joy and one giant ‘FUCKIN FINALLY’ comes from a certain window. lol.

But now, he is a doofus that stole their heart. And they smiled at him and stole his. After having a busy day- they held each other close.

(I hope you like it Zodi!!!!)

[drabbles-mc]

Family Time

EZ Reyes x Reader

Request by the wonderful @ly--canthrope: Shopping for the coming baby and the reader and him are giggly, soft, soon-to-be parents and they end up decorating the nursery together that afternoon and their dog is with them and gets curious about the baby bump and then curls up on the reader’s chest, protecting her because she is the valuable one

Warnings: EZ being a super sweet and cute human, a protective doggo, and baby fever

Word Count: 1.9k

A/N: We love a little baby fever for our boy!! EZ would be such a phenomenal dad and you cannot convince me otherwise. Also did I do a little projection with the nursery decorations?? Possibly.

EZ Taglist: @noz4a2​ @queenbeered​ @sincerelyasomebody​ @sadeyesgf​ @thesandbeneathmytoes​ @appropriate-writers-name​ @tomhardydallasstarsgirl​ @multiyfandomgirl40​ @sillygoose6969​ @louisianalady​ @gemini0410​ @paintballkid711​ @chibsytelford​ @yourwonkywriter​ (If you want to be added to the tags for any of my writing please let me know!)

“Oh but wouldn’t this look cute on the wall above the crib?” you pointed at the framed picture on the top shelf.

EZ smiled, shaking his head, “I just wanna know, Querida,” he walked over to you, resting his hand on your ever-growing baby bump, “how much Winnie the Pooh stuff are you planning on putting in our baby’s room?”

You laughed, placing your hands on top of his, “As much as I can!” you rubbed your stomach lightly, “How long have you been thinking about decorating the nursery?”

He shrugged, “Ever since you told me that you’re pregnant.”

You nodded, “Right. So you’ve been thinking about this for about seven months. I’ll even say a year, since we started talking about kids. But, I, on the other hand,” you laid your hand against your chest, “have been day-dreaming about decorating my baby’s nursery ever since I knew I wanted to be a mom. I got lots of ideas in here,” you tapped the side of your head.

There was a soft smile on EZ’s face and you could feel the love radiating off of him, “I love you,” he leaned in and kissed you.

You smiled, “I love you too.”

He stood up on his toes, reaching the top shelf that you couldn’t and placed the frame in the cart, “But you realize the nursery isn’t that big, right? I mean, we’ll still need somewhere to put the actual baby when they get here.”

You laughed, shaking your head, “There will be room. Besides, babies are small. They could fit anywhere.”

EZ laughed, “I’m not sure that that’s the mentality we should be having,” he leaned against the cart, “How about we take this stuff and cash out. We can head home and start decorating the nursery, and if when we’re done we still have room, we can come out shopping again next week and I won’t give you a hard time about not having room to put the baby somewhere. Deal?”

You smiled, resting your hands on your stomach, “Deal.”

The two of you pulled into the driveway of your house. The second that EZ cut the engine on the car you could hear the dog barking inside. You chuckled to yourself, shaking your head. He knew the sound of EZ’s car and yet, despite the countless days he’s heard EZ pull into the driveway, he still loses it every time it happens.

EZ comes over and helps you out of the car. For a while you would try to wave him off, saying that you were pregnant, not incapable. But he would continue to insist, so eventually you stopped fighting him on it. You asked if there were any bags that he’d let you carry in, knowing that he wouldn’t let you do the One-Trip Olympics like you had before you were pregnant. He smiled, handing you the smallest bag as he collected up the rest of them. You rolled your eyes with a smile as you left him to his devices.

You made it to the front door, turning the key in the lock. You tried the best you could to stand off to the side as you opened the door, knowing that your dog was going to fly out into the yard and head right over to EZ. He’d always liked EZ more and you had never really questioned it—EZ was the one who brought him home from the shelter, after all. He was nice to you, but very rarely did he ever get cozy with you.

He came tearing out across the lawn and was attempting to jump on EZ despite the fact that he had multiple bags in each hand. EZ laughed, trying to carefully step around the shepherd that was jumping at him, “Down, boy. Easy.”

He was refusing to let up so you whistled, calling him over to you, “Apollo! Come!”

The dog whipped his head back around to you and slowly trotted over. You stood just inside the door to the house, coaxing him in so that EZ could walk in peace. He trailed happily behind the two of you, sniffing excitedly at the bags that EZ was carrying.

“Looks like we have an extra helper for decorating,” you laughed as Apollo sat in the doorway of the nursery.

“If only he had thumbs,” EZ chuckled.

Both of you looked around the nursery. Painting was already done—EZ had enlisted Angel’s help with that. They’d let you help with that solely because they hated doing the taping. Over the course of a weekend the three of you had turned the previously blank walls of the nursery into a forest scene. While it was for the baby it would be the 100 Acre Wood to keep with your Winnie the Pooh theme, but it was a neutral enough paint job that it could grow up with your child. At least, that was the way that you had pitched the idea to EZ.

The big things had already been put together thanks to Felipe. He wasn’t going to have either of you fretting over putting together the crib and dresser when those were things that he could easily take care of in an afternoon. He’d even attached a mobile to the crib, and also went out and found a nice little bookshelf when you had mentioned it was something you had been thinking of for the baby. He wasn’t always the most verbally expressive man, but you’d never doubted for a second that he loved you and the baby that you had on the way.

“Alright, so what do we need to get into place?” EZ looked over to you for some direction.

You pressed your lips together in thought, “Okay, we need to get the changing table in here, along with the little standalone closet. Plus we got a couple shelves to throw up on the walls. And the string lights. And the framed photos,” you paused, “Oh and the reading corner with the chair.”

“So…the whole room,” EZ laughed as he rested his hand on the back of his neck.

You smiled walking up and kissing him on the cheek, “We don’t need to get it all done today. We got time.”

He rested his hands on your bump, smiling, “Not as much as we think, Querida,” he didn’t take his hands off of you as he continued to talk, “I’ll take care of the changing table and the closet to start. If you want to find a place for the string lights and stuff, I can bring in the chair afterwards and we can work together on the reading corner, okay?”

You nodded, resting your hands on top of his for a moment, “Sounds good. Thank you for doing all the heavy lifting, EZ.”

He laughed, shaking his head, “You’re carrying the most important thing. The least I can do is move some furniture around.”

You were able to hang up the lights and even a couple of the framed photos as EZ got the bulkier furniture all situated in the room. He was right—the nursery wasn’t a huge room, but somehow it still didn’t feel cramped despite all of the things that you were moving into it. It felt cozy, and you couldn’t want for the three of you to spend time there.

“Okay,” EZ took a deep breath, “where’s the chair going?”

You gestured to where the string lights were, “I figured over there? That way there will be some nice soft light while we’re in here reading.”

He smiled, nodding, “Sounds perfect.”

You hated that you pretty much just had to sit back and watch him do everything, but you knew that even if you tried to assist he’d shoo you away. After he situated the chair, he sat down in it and looked around the room. He nodded in approval and waved you over. You crossed the room to meet him, interlocking your fingers with his. He attempted to pull you onto his lap but you shook your head.

“I’m two people now, EZ,” you laughed, “I’ll crush you.”

He rolled his eyes, “Don’t be ridiculous, Y/N. I’m way too strong to be crushed. C’mere,” he tugged at your arm.

You sighed, wanting to pretend that you were annoyed with his persistence but you really loved it. You took his hand in yours and tugged him towards you, “I’d be so much more comfortable just cuddling with you on the couch. You deserve a break from all the hard work anyway,” you lifted his hand to your lips and placed a kiss on his knuckles, “The little stuff can wait until tomorrow.”

The two of you got situated on the couch. You were leaning against EZ’s side, his arm wrapped around you so that he could keep you close but also feel any motion that the baby made. For a few weeks already you had been feeling intermittent kicks, and the sensation never got old. You loved how excited EZ got every time that it happened.

“You’re still okay with not knowing ahead of time?” you asked him as you rubbed your hand over your stomach.

He smiled, nodding, “I like the surprise. No matter what they’re going to be so loved,” he kissed your temple, “Just like their mother.”

You smiled, settling back into him, “I love you.”

He pressed his lips to the side of your head again, “I love you too.”

You both returned your attention to the show you were watching. Every now and then you’d feel a small kick in your stomach, and you’d look over to see EZ with an ecstatic smile plastered across his face as he soaked in the moment. He’d lightly trace his thumb along your stomach for a few moments before his eyes returned to the TV screen.

You heard the jingling of a collar and suddenly Apollo was trying to climb into your lap. You laughed, trying to resituate yourself so that the couch could comfortably hold all three of you. Despite your efforts to make space for him to have his own section of cushion, he was determined to lay with his head in your lap. You and EZ both looked at each other and shared a confused laugh, unsure where the sudden bout of cuddliness came from.

His head was nestled against your stomach and thigh. You gently pet his head and neck, reveling in how calm your usually excited pup was. A few minutes passed with all of you enjoying the calm that had taken over your household. Then you felt another kick. You looked at Apollo, and you could tell that he felt it too. You chuckled quietly to yourself as he pressed his nose against your stomach, trying to figure out what had just happened. While his nose was pressed against the fabric of your shirt, there was another kick. His ears perked up and he looked at you as if to ask if you could explain what had just happened.

You scratched behind his ears, “It’s okay. It’s just the baby. You’ll meet them soon.”

He stared intently at your stomach for a few more moments, waiting for something else to happen. When all was still quiet, he laid his head back into your lap. You watched him for a few moments, chuckling to yourself at the way his eyes would dart over to your stomach every so often before he would close them.

“You think he knows?” EZ asked as he watched the whole scene unfold.

You nod, “I think so. He’s getting ready to love someone else in this house more than he loves either of us,” you chuckled, “You’re about to be de-throned, knocked out of the number one spot on his list.”

He laughed, kissing the top of your head, “I’m alright with that.”

[star-killer-md]

Actus Reus, Mens Rea

@contesa-lui-alucard asked:

Hey hey happy sleepover my friend!! If it’s alright with you, I have two prompts from the Smut list that I’d love to see you combine for... mob Kylo and lawyer reader! Oh snap!! 15 & 37, if you please. If not, no worries, I still hope you have an awesome sleepover 😁 (“Make it hurt, baby.” + “Lay back and touch yourself. I want to watch.”)

Anon asked:

hello, may i request clingy/possessive kylo,, thank you

Thank you lovlies for your requests and sorry from the bottom of my depressed ass heart that it took me so fucking long. Anyway here ya go, hope you enjoy some mobster Kylo deliciousness. I’m so excited you liked him Contesa, and I hope you’re into it as well too nonny! Sorry it got long, I truly have no control over that. 

And thank you so much to @sacklersdoll for reading over this for me!

Word Count: 4.4k

Warnings: Angst (its me), Smut (its me), mentions of predator/prey dynamic (mostly as metaphor), possessive Kylo Ren, semi-public sex, no pronouns for the reader by they are afab, dominant Kylo Ren, some brat vibes, Kylo Ren is not nice, allusions to guns, some sorta stalking behavior

Ship: Mob Boss!Kylo Ren x Lawyer!Reader

Summary: You’ve started to take on some pro bono clients as a favor to a friend and Kylo Ren is Not A Fan™ of all the attention this guy has been paying you. After a few months of consulting on the side, you’re beginning to wonder if life working for a mob boss is something you’re really cut out for. Though you quickly learn that you very well may have passed the point of no return when Kylo shows up at your office to remind you just who exactly you work for. 

“I really can’t thank you enough.”

You shook the woman’s hands and returned her smile. Her son stayed quiet, looking at the ground, but mumbled his thanks as well. He was a good kid. Just pissed off the wrong neighbor. One of those ‘get off my lawn,’ ‘good ole American dream’ types who thought welfare was a sign of the devil, and had it out for everyone in the lower tax brackets. 

“Really, it’s no problem,” you walked them to the door, leaving her your business card. “I’ll see you both at the courthouse on Monday.” 

Evan was waiting in your office when you returned. His patent leather shoes rested precariously on the corner of your desk and you knocked them off with a huff. 

“See you’ve made yourself at home,” you said, crossing your arms and staring down at him in your chair. 

He shrugged and stood under your scrutiny, moving around to take the seat across from you. Evan Goodman was an old friend from undergrad. You often got the impression he was still that same cocky frat boy in the head. Still flashed the ‘my daddy has more money than you’ smile on occasion when he really wanted to get under your skin. With his slicked back hair, unnervingly straight teeth, and his annoying prosperity despite never putting in much effort it was somewhat shocking the two still spoke. He was simply not the type of person who had ever needed to try. Success came naturally to him, and much to your dismay.

“What can I say? You’re a very gracious host,” he mused and leaned forward on the desk. “So, how did it go?”

You sighed, “They’ll be alright, might get saddled with a fine but the charges aren’t that serious.” 

“Good, Rosa’s an old friend. I would have helped her out myself, but not really my deal ya know?”

“Yeah, Mr. Tax Attorney, I get it.” 

Evan was kind of a dick, but he was also the kind of friend who would sit on the bathroom floor with you, hold your hair back and sing horrendous parody versions of ABBA no matter who heard. So you couldn’t hate him entirely. That also meant that when he came to you with cases like this, a favor for a friend or whatever the situation may be, you had a hard time refusing. 

It was also a convenient front for you not-so-legal legal work you’d been invested in for the past few months.

“Seriously, I know I’ve been asking a lot of you recently,” he flashed you that god awful grin and kicked his feet up again. “You can tell me to fuck off if it’s too much.” 

He had been coming to you for pro bono work with increasing frequency, especially over the past month or so, but again, you didn’t wholly mind it. You went into this kind of work for a reason. Though, you were starting to get the feeling that a certain, brooding, less than lawfully abiding businessman did not feel the same. 

Kylo Ren dealt frequently with the shady, black market underbelly of capitalist society, but you were less accustomed to his world and not completely ready to throw yourself to the hounds just yet.

You had already missed more than a few meetings and canceled on dinner tonight to meet with Rosa. To be fair, it wasn’t as if he’d made any indication this ill-defined whatever-it-was going on between the two of you was anything serious. And you were only his consultant, for now, so this took precedent anyway. At least that’s what you tried to convince yourself of. Definitely not a way to avoid thinking about fucking your boss who also happened to be in with the mob. 

Definitely not.  

“I wouldn’t have agreed to help if I couldn’t manage it,” you yawned softly and stood to collect your things. 

It was late and you were beginning to fantasize about how soft and warm your sheets would be. If you got back in time you could pop them in the dryer and get in an episode or two before bed. 

“Hey, let me at least buy you dinner or something since I kept you out so late,” Evan parked his skinny frame in your path to the doorway. 

“You’re going to apologize for keeping me out late, by keeping me out even later?”

“Do you want free food or not?”

Pursing your lips, you stared at him for a few moments. He really did know all your weaknesses. You had skipped out on meeting with Mr. Ren—or Kylo or sir or whatever the hell you were supposed to call him now—already tonight, however, Evan was sure to take you somewhere nice and it wouldn’t be so morally repugnant if it was just as a ‘thank you….’

“Okay, fine,” you conceded and let him lead you out to the parking garage, locking the office up behind you. 

***

The next morning you stumbled past reception in a haze. Both from lack of sleep, and the bitingly cold winds battering your building despite the neighboring high rises blocking the brunt of the gale. The young woman at the desk informed you tersely that a Mr. Goodman was already waiting for you in your office and that you should really get here on time if you were expecting clients this early. 

You agreed that, yes you probably should but, you know, “trains and all that mess,” and tried not to judge her too harshly. After all, she was the barrier between you and the hundreds of calls this place received daily. 

Before slipping through the door with your name plate, you hung your coat on the rack and switched your phone on. It’d died on you last night amidst the allure of fancy, late night dinner and your sleep deprivation riddled brain had not cared enough to plug it in before bed. Fuck Amazon, but thank god for its speedy delivery of portable charges. 

You chewed your lip as the lock screen came to life. One missed call and a text. Both, of course from the most anxiety inducing sender, Kylo Ren. Because why would it be anyone else? His name menacing even typed out in standard black font. 

The text read:

Meet me at 8am.

It was very much like him—a command with punctuation and absolutely no details. The message receipt showed it was sent two hours ago, and it was already half past eight. Shit. Your fingers shook as you pulled up his contact and called. Every interaction left you coursing with adrenaline. Even now, miles away listening to the dial tone was nerve-wracking. Your heart pounded, hands slick in their grip on your phone. Maybe it was because you were never sure where you stood with him. Maybe it was because he was handsome and he knew it. Strong and he knew it. Intimidating and mysterious and closer in some ways to a Greek god than a man. He was all encompassing, and filled every available space in any room he occupied. 

Sometimes you thought you might choke on his presence. 

It rang once, twice, three times before cutting out completely. You stared down at the blank screen, biting your lip and shooting off a quick text. You were sorry, something important had come up, you would meet him the second it was convenient. 

Evan slapped you heartily on the back when you came into the room. He was holding a bouquet of flowers, evergreen with small white blossoms. 

“So, how many hours did you manage last night?” he asked, smiling his shit eating smile and seemingly unaffected despite the fact that he had to be running on just as little sleep as you.  

“I’m not even sure at this point,” you groaned as you tossed your bags down behind the little metal desk. “Time ceases to exist when you take trains past midnight.”

“Fair enough. Hey look,” Evan waved the greenery in your face, “courtesy of Rosa’s shop. She insisted I bring you something as thanks. I figured you could put them out in the front or something to brighten things up.” 

“They’re lovely. Please tell me you’re only here as a glorified delivery boy.”

His shoulders slumped at your lack of amusement, but before he could quip back the landline in your office rang. You answered, holding a finger towards Evan and leaning against the edge of the desk. It was the receptionist, Jess was her name? Maybe? You could never remember, someone else always addressed the holiday gift cards anyway. 

“There’s someone here to see you at the front desk,” she clipped, almost more exasperated than before. 

You told her you’d be right there and hung up. Evan grabbed his coat as you headed out, holding the door for you and following into the hall. 

“I’ll leave you to it if you’re busy, but give me a call after Monday and tell me how it goes,” he continued rambling as you came out into the front.

You had a smart comeback prepared, something about how simple the case was, he should have more faith in you, he was the reason you were busy in the first place, etc…but every word turned to ashes on your tongue when you saw him. 

Kylo Ren, standing right there at the desk and glaring at your receptionist. His suit was dark blue and ironed to perfection. Each leg was creased perfectly down the front and the jacket sat flawlessly on his wide set shoulders. He was a wall of unimaginably expensive fabric and what looked concerning like barely contained rage. You could see it in the twitch of his eye, the set of his jaw, and in the way his gaze landed on you the second you walked in. 

The way a predator immediately hones in on its prey. 

You froze just feet from him in the lobby, floundering like a fish on a hook. 

Evan, for his part, seemed not to notice the tension at all and continued to say his long winded goodbyes, placing the flowers in your hands and completely unaware of the slow, measured tightening of Kylo’s massive hands into fists at his side. 

“I’m free on Monday evening so we should—” 

“She’ll be busy.” 

Evan frowned, turning to face the man standing before him, “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Kylo’s voice was a dark thing, low and rumbling, “She will be otherwise occupied.” 

His words were punctuated by a step towards you, one paw of a hand easily gripping your entire jaw. Lucky he did too, otherwise it would have dropped straight to the floor when he shot one last cobra strike glare in Evan’s direction, and pressed his mouth to yours. Right there. In the lobby. For everyone to see.  

The absolute bastard.

His lips were pillow plump and softer than the silk lining of his suit—and even through the surge of shock and embarrassment and more than a touch of anger—you felt your heart throb at the way he licked into your mouth. 

The flowers tumbled from your hands onto the floor as everything in you went limp under his touch. This was nowhere near the first time you’d tasted him, but it was like this every time. Like drinking ambrosia. An otherworldly experience. 

But that didn’t stop the sharp pain of his crushing grip on your arm, the way he nearly lifted your feet off the floor when he pulled away to drag along behind him. You could hear Evan spluttering in the hall behind you, the receptionist going back to clacking at her keyboard as if nothing had happened. 

When Kylo opened your office door he just about threw you inside. You tripped as he tipped you in, stumbling and catching yourself on the edge of your desk. The power behind his hand alone was undeniable. You shuddered at the thought of the array of purple fingerprints he would leave behind. It made your mouth dry and your heart sink. Confusing and delicious. 

And left you seething nonetheless. 

“What the fuck was that?!” you were not calm, so you didn’t attempt any semblance of it. 

“You didn’t answer me,” he said, level as he always was. 

The quiet before the storm and all that. 

“About the meeting? I tried to call, my phone died—”

“Because you were out catching trains at all hours of the night, I’m aware.” 

You paused, glaring at the wall of muscle between you and the door, “How did you know that?”

“So you’re not denying it?”

Kylo stalked towards you like a beast in his tailored suit and polished leather shoes like talons. You could hear your heartbeat, hear the blood rushing in your ears. Just like a rabbit in the sightline of a hawk, you were clearly being hunted. 

“Why would I deny something I’m not trying to hide?” your voice came out horse as he caged you between the desk and his chest, arms on either side to block any route of escape. 

“No you are certainly not adept at subtlety,” he said and you couldn’t take your eyes off the way his tongue moved behind his teeth. “This is the fifth time that idiot in the hall has distracted you from work.”

“That’s not an answer,” you tried to spit the words but his eyes were boring into you. The honey of them spilled down your spine and made you shiver. “How did you know? You are not entitled to any information pertaining to my personal life, regardless.” 

“Watch your mouth,” he growled. “Entitlement has no part in this.”

You were entering dangerous territory, though stopping curiously did not occur to you.

“I don’t think you have the right to be throwing out commands right now, not after that display.”

“Have you forgotten who you work for?” Kylo hissed at you, hands wrapped around the metal of your desk so hard you thought it might warp under his fingers. 

“Of course not,” you desperately tried to keep your voice down lest anyone get even more a spectacle. 

“Then what is this?” one hand left the desk and pulled a phone from inside his jacket. 

The screen lit up, and you looked in horror at pictures of yourself. Pictures of yourself from last night. Pictures of yourself from last night at dinner with Evan, interspersed with shots of you crossing the street, waiting on the train platform, and stumbling back into your apartment. Each was clearer than you’d expected, presumably from some insanely expensive surveillance equipment. You had been out for hours, and you had been watched the whole time. 

You narrowed your eyes, flicking back and forth between Kylo’s face—the graceful bridge of his nose pointed down at you—and gaped. 

“You had me followed…” you breathed the words into the slowly shrinking space between your bodies. 

He simply nodded, as if, somehow, you were foolish for not having considered this before. Perhaps you were. Perhaps you had no idea what you had gotten yourself into. Perhaps you had signed on for much more than a paycheck when you agreed to work for Kylo Ren. 

“I can’t have my employees getting distracted.”

Kylo slowly drifted ever closer, shoulders bent so he was eye level with you. He pressed further into the desk, pinning you between his body and the hard surface that bit into your ass. Something long and thick and hard nudged your thigh. 

“I don’t know why you though having me followed was necessary—” 

“You’re an arrogant little slut who needs to be reminded of your priorities,” his hand snatched your leg and wrenched it open so he could stand between them, “ I am not something you do on the side.” 

You could hear the way his teeth grit out the words, the way they formed as a growl deep in his beast’s throat. The hand still settled on the desk, skimmed up your hip and chest, his fingers 

biting into your jaw. 

“Do you understand me?”

Your lips were shut tight in a thin line, eyes wide and staring up like the prey you were. The silence only provoked him more. Snarling, two thick fingers wrenched your mouth open, pressing hard on your tongue and making you gag around them. 

“Answer.” 

Kylo Ren almost always spoke in commands. Having power did that to people, and rarely did it ever compel you, but his words sunk deep into your bones. Dredged up some dark, instinctual need to obey. To submit to this show of control. 

“Yes,” you mumbled around his fingers in your mouth, drool slipping past your lips when they moved. 

“Yes, what?” 

“Yes, sir.” 

You watched him suck his teeth, grabbing your face tighter and dragging you close so he could spit directly into your open mouth. He slammed your jaw shut, nearly taking off the tip of your tongue and hissed into your ear. 

“Swallow.” 

Again, you did without a thought. And it was disgusting, but invigorating, sent off some spark in your stomach with how easily he bent your body to his will. There was no man like him, you decided. And maybe this was simply because Kylo Ren was not a man. That term alone would never do him justice. 

In one shockingly smooth motion, you found yourself flat on your back, ass hanging off the edge of the desk with his hands on your hips. He ground himself against you, the throbbing of his cock evident even through the layers of clothing. That feeling on its own had you soaked through, thighs sticking with liquid excitement. 

“Remember who you work for,” he growled into your neck, licking a long stripe up your throat and sucking at the exposed skin. 

But it was very clear to you what he really meant. 

Remember who you belong to. 

You slapped a hand over your mouth as he bit down on the skin just above your shoulder, laving his tongue over the stinging flesh. Kylo pulled back, frowning down at you and yanking the hand away from your face. One held both your wrists in a vice lock while the other ripped your panties straight down your legs and left the dripping fabric discarded on the carpet. 

“No, they’re going to hear you,” he grunted, and pulled one of your hands down, pressing it to your slit and running your fingers through your slick. “Go on, touch your fucking pussy and let them know what a little whore you are for me.” 

It was something about his voice. Something in the way it left him, its timbre, its wonder, unquestioning. You could never refuse him. 

So, with a small nod you parted your folds, head resting on a stack of files as you drew slow circles around your clit with a shaky hand. His eyes never left your cunt, tracing the movement of your finger and the trail of wetness that seeped from you to the desktop. Softly, you gasped as the familiar placement of your fingers made you clench and arch up. Kylo’s rubbed small circles into your inner thighs with his thumbs, kneading the flesh there. 

When the spark was there, the lovely pulsing in your nerves alight, you dipped down, teasing and slipping inside, grinding down as best you could on your hand. It wasn’t enough, but nothing ever was since you’d been ripped open on Kylo’s cock. 

Evidently he did not find your work sufficient either. 

Another finger joined yours, stroking your lips and circling your entrance. His touch made you whine, the promise of hands that were not your own never ceasing to illicit a new gush of pleasure. 

“I said,” he murmured, his touch so terribly feather light. “Let them hear you.” 

He was like a gunshot, sudden and forceful and almost instantly had you screaming. Kylo slammed his fingers into you, so full and so deep, curling hard against that lovely spot inside. 

“Kylo, god, please—” you moaned long and low, your face burning with the knowledge that the walls were barely thick enough to keep your phone calls private, much less the shameful noises he pulled from you. 

“What was that?” he panted, adding another finger and pumping them deep into your cunt. “You can do better.” 

Your teeth dug so hard into your lip you thought it might bleed, but you couldn’t take much more. The ledge was approaching—Kylo Ren knew it—and he was determined to push you straight into the fire. 

You choked when his deliciously thick fingers were ripped from you, walls fluttering around the awful emptiness. Your head lolled back as you listened to him work the buckle of his belt and slacks open, and when you did glance down your mouth watered at the sight. Kylo—impossibly long cock throbbing in his hand—stood between your legs, stroking himself from root to tip. You watched little pearls of precum bead at the head while his thumb swiped across to smear them along his length. 

“You are insane,” you hissed through gritted teeth. 

Did you need to keep this position? No, technically you would be more than well off on the salary Mr. Ren so graciously provided. However, you could not mentally deal with being terminated for getting dicked in your office during work hours. 

Kylo smirked, the edge of his perfect cupid’s bow cocked back and aimed straight at your chest. Without warning, he sunk into you, straight to the hilt and threw his head back as you sobbed with the sharp sting of being split in two on his cock. 

“This is what you do,” he growled into your ear, hands on either side of your head as he worked his length back out only to pound into you again. “You work for me and you take my cock and don’t ever fucking forget that.”  

Your legs were wound so tightly around his waist that had he been any other man, his ribs would have cracked under the pressure. His hair, falling in black, satin waves, was gorgeous even in the sterile office lighting. You threaded your fingers into it at the roots and held him while your body rocked against the desk. It’s metal surface pinched at your sink and made your back ache, though that was nothing compared to the burn of Kylo’s thrusts, sliding against your walls. You felt him in your throat. You always did. That was simply the way things were with him. He filled you painfully, thoroughly, took over all of your senses until it was just him. 

And, strangely, it was the most alive you’d ever felt. 

He was unlike anyone you’d ever known.

You couldn’t scream for him, but you could still let him taste the desperation, the willingness in your body to mold against him. So you kissed him, dragged him by the hair to meet your lips and licked past his teeth, gasping and moaning on his tongue as you sucked it hard and cried into his mouth. 

And he drank you down, picking up a punishing rhythm and breaking blood vessels where his hands gripped your hips. One drifted lower, thumb pressing down hard on your clit as your cunt clenched around his length. The desk was lifting off the ground with every thrust, the room filled with the wet sounds of your bodies and you were quickly melting under him. 

Warmth was spreading, growing, building out from your pussy, igniting in your veins. He was right. This is what you did. This is what he did to you. This toe curling, lip biting, bone shattering kind of pleasure. 

Oh you were so royally fucked. 

“I—oh shit—Kylo I’m,” you pulled back just enough to pant out a warning before the wave took you. 

So hot, it washed over your skin and made your legs shake and your hands leave his hair to dig your nails into his chest through the crisp white button down he wore. 

“Feel that?” he grunted as you convulsed and shuddered under him, “Feel how this pussy was made for me.” 

You nodded, buried your face in his neck and held on as he worked you through your climax and straight into his own. Once, twice he ground his cock deep in you, feeling how tight you were around him until he was spent and spilling hot, thick ropes of cum that coated your walls and dripped out around his length. 

He panted, lazily rolling his hips, fucking you slowly until finally, he came to a halt with his softening cock still sheathed inside you. Seconds past, or maybe hours, you couldn’t tell. Kylo tended to have that effect on you. Time slipped away so easily in his presence, like there was never enough of it. 

When he did pull away, you stayed with your back firmly planted amidst the mess of scattered paperwork and manila envelopes. He rose to his full, towering height and tucked himself away, straightening the wrinkles in his suit and eyeing you only once from the side. You admired his profile, you never understood until now what the meaning of the word “regal” truly was. 

Under the dictionary definition, his picture surely would be there, staring at you down the bridge of his marble carved nose. 

You sat up on your elbows as he stalked towards the door. 

“Was that all you came for?”

Kylo paused, broad back still facing you and leaving the room feeling irrevocably empty with just the intention of his absence. 

“We’ll reschedule for five tonight,” he said, filling the door frame completely. “Don’t be late.” 

The door clicked shut behind him and the sound of it made you collapse back onto the desktop. You laid there for a moment, leaking your combined spend and aching. The throb of him settled in your muscles and festered. But the worst part was the other ache, the pain of being without. And maybe you had been a bit avoidant. Maybe this work really was so you didn’t have to see him. Because if you saw him you’d end up fucking him—which was fine, which was good, which was great actually—but then he would leave. And you couldn’t decide which wanting was worse. The wanting before or the wanting after. 

Maybe it didn’t matter. 

You had more important things to think about anyway. Like securing the receptionist an incredibly large holiday bonus, assuming you still had a job here at the end of the day. 

Maybe that didn’t matter either. 

It might be high time you made a commitment to whatever the hell kind of mess you’d stumbled into. Kylo Ren was an enigma in the best kind of way. Maybe you should stop running from it. 

[tooruluv]

Kozume Kenma x F!Reader x Tetsurou Kuroo ( part 1 )

❝ i’m right here, when are you going to realize that i’m your cure, heartbreak girl? ❞

description: kozume kenma didn’t know the exact day in which he realized that he was in love with you. he knew very well that it was sometime after your first “hello”, but the exact moment got whisked away in the many memories that included you. the problem was, though, that you were in love with and in a serious relationship with the boy he claimed as a best friend.

genre: angst, pining, unrequited love, (characters are aged up as the story continues)

word count: 2,373

warnings/notes: hey all! this one doesn’t really have any warnings, just strong language and lots of angst. i changed up my writing style just a bit for this one, and i’m quite proud of it so please leave me as much feedback as possible!! let’s start another journey, this time with kuroo and kenma ;)

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masterlist

“ i’m right here, when are you going to realize? ”

┏━━━━━⋇⋆⋆⋇❦⋇⋆⋆⋇━━━━━┓

Kozume Kenma couldn’t pinpoint the exact day in which he realized that he was eminently in love with you. He knew very well that it was sometime after your first “hello”, but the exact moment got whisked away in the many memories that included you.

The problem was, though, that you were eminently in love with and in a serious relationship with the boy he claimed as a best friend.

The first day that Kenma met you, he had to take several seconds to process. You were the only person, the only girl, that made him have to catch his breath at the mere sight. You were brighter than the sun, shined blue like the moon. You were stunning. 

And you had your arm wrapped around Tetsurou Kuroo’s.

“Kenma!” Kuroo had called from across the room, waving at his friend. Kenma complied, phone in hand and moving through the crowds without so much as lifting an eye.

Kenma was dragged to a party with the volleyball team. It isn’t that he hated people, nor was he shy. He just didn’t see the point in pretending to enjoy something that wasn’t his thing. He never understood the desire most teens had in wanting to do stupid things and interact all of the time. It sounded exhausting. 

“Kenma, this is my girlfriend.” Kuroo introduced you. And Kenma looked up to meet your eyes.

“Hello!” You greeted with a smile. You had to talk a bit louder than normal over the party’s music. “I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m glad we finally get to meet!”

“Same.” was Kenma’s reply. Though he wanted to say more. 

As Kuroo continued to talk to the both of you, Kenma couldn’t help but watch you from his peripheral vision. You were, in simple terms, the most beautiful person he had ever met. How you managed to be so utterly taken with Kuroo he would never understand. 

You kept one hand on Kuroo’s arm the entire time. Kenma could only define his feelings as jealousy.

Of course, he pushed those feelings down. Because he couldn’t possibly be in love at first sight. To his best friend’s girlfriend, of all people. No. Absolutely not.

When Kenma retreated to a corner of the house later that night, it was you who found him and sat beside him on the floor. He looked up from his game.

“Don’t stop on my account.” You told him, pulling out your phone. “Not one for parties?”

“Never have been.” He brought his head further down to shield his face with his hair. “I’m always dragged here by the team.”

“Yeah, I’m only here to meet Kuroo’s friends.” You admitted. He didn’t know if it was true or if it was a way to initiate conversation to get on his good side for your boyfriend. Either way, he turned his head to catch your (beautiful) eye. “But he decided that trying to beat Bokuto at the keg is his mission for the night.” 

“Ah.”

With that, the both of you became closer. You met up with them at lunch, called him over discord to play games while both of you were at home. And Kenma felt himself falling harder and harder.

Oh, and he became your shoulder to cry on.

Because Tetsurou Kuroo might’ve been an amazing guy, a great team leader and captain, and an incredible friend; but he was a terrible boyfriend.

You were his first girlfriend, so there was room for learning and growth and improvement. But there were also faults in trying to build something that had no foundation.

A couple of months passed, and the honeymoon stage had come to an end, was the first fight.

The reason behind the fight was long forgotten by now, but it had to do with communication. A joke turned into seriousness that it hadn’t meant to be, and it ended in a heated argument between you both. He had ended up calling you an awful name, so you left. 

Kuroo called after you, instant regret and apologies rushing off of his lips, but you were already gone. 

You ended up at Kenma’s. You knocked on his door with tears in your eyes and on your cheeks. How could he have said no?

With a small voice, you asked, “Can we just play games, please?”

“Of course.” Kenma replied without asking anything else. 

He sat on his bed and you sat in a beanbag as you played a game on his TV. He didn’t say anything when he watched you cry silent tears. Instead, he handed you a juice and bag of chips. 

You accepted, pretending that there weren’t tears streaming down your red face. Because he knew you, and knew that if you didn’t want to talk about it, he wouldn’t pressure you to. 

“Mario Kart?” He offered. 

“Oh, you want to lose?” You quipped. A quirk in the corner of your lips. 

Even a small smile from you made him feel better. And fall harder. 

When you returned home that night, Kuroo stood in the exact spot you had left him in. He immediately sent you a thousand apologies, voice choked. You forgave him before he even spoke 

All relationships are rollercoasters, to say the very least. They have their ups and downs, their fast and slow parts, their beginning and end. Your relationship with Kuroo was definitely one of twists and turns. 

Kenma sat on the sidelines and watched it all with a knot in his stomach. He held it down, further and further with each passing day.

Immediately after one intense game that they inevitably won, Kenma searched for you. You rushed from the crowd and into your boyfriend’s arms, congratulating him and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Kenma wondered if the two of you had kissed at that point, you had been together for a month. He had to stop himself from going down that rabbit hole. 

It was when you turned to him that Kenma’s entire world was put on pause. You were the only thing that could move. 

“Congrats Kenma!” You cheered, bringing him in for a hug. Kuroo chuckled beside you as Kenma just stood with his arms at his sides, completely paralyzed. “You were amazing! What the fuck! That last play…”

Your voice was drowned out. You pulled away to talk more about how great he did during the game. But he couldn’t listen to the praise coming from your tongue. He just couldn’t.

Once you were out of earshot, Kuroo turned to him. With a big dorky smile on his face, Kuroo asked, “She’s the best, isn’t she?”

“Sure.” Kenma replied, but he wanted to go on and on.

Becoming very good friends with Kozume Kenma resulted in a lot of third wheeling. Not that you would ever intentionally exclude him. In fact, you tried to make sure that he was a part of everything the two of you did. Even if it was just something as little as an invite.

The third wheeling mainly consisted of Kenma’s aching heart as he endured the presence of the two of you. Every time that he would catch a glimpse of your hand in Kuroo’s, or Kuroo’s hand on your thigh, or a quick kiss on the cheek, Kenma couldn’t help but wish that it was him instead.

Kuroo caught him staring, once.

He was dragged to a bonfire with the team, and he dreaded every second of it. He never understood why people would enjoy sitting around a fire and being eaten by bugs. He also didn’t like marshmallows.

You were sitting on Kuroo’s lap on a lawn chair, legs draped over his and your body curved into his side. Kenma couldn’t help but watch as he said something into your hair and you laughed, smacking Kuroo’s chest.

Kuroo found Kenma’s gaze. He sent him an oblivious smile and waved him over, thinking that Kenma was feeling awkward about sitting on the sidelines. Oh, how close he had been to the truth.

“Hey, Pudding Head.” Kuroo teased. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” You asked. You looked up from your position on his lap, and Kenma thought of a million things at once.

“Yeah.”

Kuroo offered the seat beside him, and Kenma accepted. Kuroo knew him better than anyone, this was something that he knew for certain. He wondered if his feelings for you had been obvious. Kuroo never brought it up.

The rest of the night consisted of Kenma pretending to not be affected by your whispering and giggling with his best friend.

Kozume Kenma remembers one specific moment of his love more vividly than the rest.

You were at his house, hanging out on a day off. There were no tears, no anger or sadness towards your boyfriend. It was just a good time with just the two of you. Kuroo had something with his family, so he wasn’t present.

He didn’t remember exactly how the two of you ended up in this position, but he would not complain.

Your head laid in Kenma’s lap, hair fanned out along his thighs. You were watching him beat this game he just got, eyes focused on the screen. Kenma sat against the wall on his bed, arms on either side of your head with his controller in his hand in his best attempt to not touch you.

“Why don’t you like to touch me?” you asked him.

The question caught him off guard, and he had to hide the surprise on his face. “Hm?”

“Don’t pretend I haven’t noticed.” You shifted to look up at him. Kenma had to adjust his legs to hide something he didn’t think you wanted to see. “I figured that you might be a germaphobe or something, because you always seem to keep your distance or freeze up when I grab your wrist or hug you. But I don’t think you are one, considering you play volleyball with a bunch of sweaty men.”

“I. Um.” Kenma paused the game and looked down at you. Searching for excuses, racking his brain for any fake plausible answer that he could give you instead of I’m pretty sure that I’m in love with you and every time that the two of us make contact I feel like a firework about to explode (and it goes straight to a different part of me that I do not wish to discuss with literally anyone). Because that would go over well. 

With the little thoughts he could muster, he lied, “I’m not used to girls voluntarily touching me.”

You accepted his answer, nodding with your head still against his thighs. He looked down to see that you were already staring back up at him. “What?”

“I was just wondering why girls weren’t throwing themselves over you.” You sent him a smile. He wanted to die. “You’re a catch. I promise I’ll be more careful if me touching you makes you uncomfortable.”

“It doesn’t.” Kenma quickly added. Maybe a little too quickly. “This,” he gestured to the current position the two of you laid in. “This doesn’t make me uncomfortable. I guess some things just take time.”

You smiled at him again. That stupid, gorgeous smile. “One day you’ll be so comfortable with me that you won’t even notice if I kiss you.”

The world was testing him. The gods were playing a game with him. He returned his attention to the game, hoping he wouldn’t collapse on the spot.

One night, around half a year into your relationship, Kenma received a call at the asscrack of dawn. Groggily, he answered without looking at the caller.

“Hello?” He asked, voice heavy in sleep. Who would call him at this time? On a school night, no less.

“Kenma.” His ears perked up at your voice. He sat up. “Kenma, please give me some advice.”

It was the first time that you had ever wanted to talk about a fight. True, it was only the third time, but it meant the world to him that you wanted to talk about it. Even if the sun wasn’t even up yet and he had several hours left to sleep.

“What happened?”

A sniff. He was going to kick Kuroo’s head, he decided.

“I just… how do you deal with someone who refuses to talk to you?” You paused, as if you were trying to put together your words. Kenma waited. “Kuroo is great most of the time, but he leaves me hanging so much. I can go the entire weekend without so much as a text. And today something had happened, I knew it the second I saw the look on his face. But he just won’t talk to me. And today,” Another sniff. “Today, I brought it up and he was really dismissive and told me that I didn’t need to be so clingy. Clingy.”

Kenma had to stop himself from saying something like, if you were with me I would love it if you were clingy.

“Kuroo’s an idiot.” Kenma told you. “He doesn’t know how to talk about things that he actually needs to talk about. Next time you talk to him, tell him how his actions make you feel rather than what he needs to change. You’ll get into his brain easier, it’ll click with him.”

You paused again. Taking his words in. “Thank you. Thanks for being a friend.”

“Of course.”

Friend. Because that was all he would be, all that he could be.

[jimlingss]

Sugar and Coffee [18]

Chapter 17 - Chapter 18 - Chapter 18.5 OR Chapter 19

➜ Words: 4.5k

➜ Genres: 99.5% Fluff, 0.5% Angst, Pâtisserie school!AU

➜ Summary: It isn't hard to be a pâtisserie chef, but it's not a piece of cake either. It seems like for you in particular, life keeps throwing in one wrench after another. It always finds ways to make your sweets bitter. The cherry on top is Jeon Jungkook — a rival with a sensitive sweet tooth who always finds ways to complain about you.

cr.

It’s funny how things come and go in life.   The longer you live and the more things you experience, you realize just how fickle living can be. The events that you anticipate the most come and go while the ones you dread linger. The people you expect to stay with you leave — and the people you expect to leave end up staying.    Similarly, the internship that you had been so worried and excited for was finally finished.    It was sad to say goodbye and to leave the shop behind. You genuinely loved being there, learning and spending your time perfecting your craft. Even bratty Yuna was sad to bid you farewell — the two of you had grown fond of each other over the months, so you sent her a card right when you got home yourself and you heard from Namjoon that she had pinned it on her wall.   Luckily, you knew that this goodbye wouldn’t be a permanent one. It was different to other goodbyes you’ve had in the past.    Namjoon and Sejeong assured both you and Jungkook a million times that it was only temporary — that they’d be happy to hire you back after your schooling is finished if you so happened to choose to work for them again. And it’s a proposition that still interests you greatly. You’re not sure what Jungkook wants to do — but you know you’d love to return and continue making wedding cakes under their mentorship someday.   But for now you had to return on your path.   The end of Summer was quickly approaching, and you find yourself coming back to where it started.   Well. Sort of.   In actuality, you were standing on Jungkook’s parents’ doorstep. Suitcase in hand. Full of hesitance and uncertainty. Fingers kept away from the doorbell. You’re not sure if this is a place that would welcome you again. But Jungkook had insisted. He pressed on, insisting that you should visit his family again, to at least come see him for a few days with the Summer that remained left.   He whined about how much he missed you. And you had to admit, you missed him too.   So here you were, like a complete idio—   “God, okay! I’m throwing out the trash now!”   The door opens.    The boy freezes. He stares at you with rounded eyes as you stare back at him. He’s dressed in a worn t-shirt and gym shorts, flopping hair sticking out in all directions like he just woke up even though it’s well past noon. One hand is on the handle, the other is holding a black garbage bag.   Slowly the corner of your mouth quirks. “Hi.”   A stupidly big grin plasters across Jungkook’s face and spreads into his cheeks as his eyes light up with mirth. Jungkook’s voice softens. “When’d you get here?”   “Just now.”   He drops the garbage and is about to come and hug you, but something shoots out from between his legs to engulf you in a tight embrace instead.   “Y/N!” Eunbi’s summer dress flutters in the breeze and you lift her up as best as you can with a smile.   Lia follows quickly behind, wearing a big smile and she turns over her shoulder. “Y/N’s here!”   “She’s here?” Someone comes stumbling from the kitchen, throwing her kitchen towel aside.   Jungkook’s dad comes out from the backyard, having heard the ruckus. “She’s here.”   “She’s here!” Eunbi repeats in giggles and your arms widen when Lia joins in greeting you with a hug.   Jungkook sighs wistfully, separated from you by his overbearing family members.   Yet, all the worries you had about being welcomed or not instantly vanishes.   They greet you warmly — Jungkook’s dad asking how you’ve been, how exams and classes and the internship was. You’re bombarded with curious questions and enthusiastic answers, only spared when Jungkook’s mom pulls you to the kitchen where she has a whole countertop of food prepared.   She wasn’t sure what you liked to eat, so she made everything she could when she heard you were coming and you can’t find it in your heart to reject her hard efforts. So you consume as much as you can before Eunbi tugs you aside to join her tea party with Lia. You find out their parents have gone for a last-minute trip, so they’ve been staying at their aunt’s and uncle’s, obviously having a blast by the looks of it, especially now with you here.   It’s only when Jungkook turns on a Disney movie and makes them sit down to watch that he’s finally able to sneak you away.   “Sorry about that.”   He shuts the door to his room, sighing at how difficult it was to get a hold of you in his own house.   “It’s okay. I love your family.”   “That makes one of us,” Jungkook mutters and sulks. “You try spending twenty four hours a day seven days a week with them and see how they can drive you nuts.”   “Aww, poor baby. Your family cares about you, how horrible.” Your voice drips of sarcasm and you feign sympathy, reaching over to pat him on the back.    Jungkook scoffs but takes the opportunity to wrap his arms around you. He leans down enough to accommodate for the height difference and he props his chin on your shoulder. His nose digs into your hair, breathing in. You’re ticklish from his grip. “Jungkook…”   “I missed you.”   “It’s only been what?” You rest your head on his shoulder, giving into his warmth. “Two weeks?”   “Long enough.”   “School starts in another week. If I didn’t come, you still would’ve seen me.”   “Yeah, but what if I died before then and couldn’t see you ever again?” he whines and it’s hard to resist the small smile tugging at your lips.   But you manage to pull away from him and roll your eyes. “You’re so dramatic.”   The boy grins and takes a seat on his chair by his old computer desk while you plop down onto the edge of his bed. “So….what have you been up to?”   “You act like we haven’t called and texted each other every single day.”   “Yeah, but I don’t know what the trip was like up here.”   “Fair enough,” you hum. “I guess all that really happened is that I sat next to this really handsome man on the bus here who shared my interests and hobbies. And we had a hot, passionate summer fling and we decided to make this a long-term thing, so we’re getting married. Sorry to say, Jeon, but you’ve lost your chance.”   You laugh and his eye twitches.    In an instant, you’re being pinned to his mattress with Jungkook hovering above you. His knee wedges between your legs, hands pressed flat next to your head. The dark strands of his hair grazes against your forehead and you sink deeper into his pillows. But even in such a compromising position, you can’t help but muse how cute he looks feigning anger like this.   “I’m trying to be nice here, but you’re always testing my patience, brat. You really think I won’t kill you one day?”   “You wouldn’t.” You quirk your head to the side, hands grasping at his forearms. Your eyes glimmer with a challenge before they flicker up to the posters lining his wall. “Not with IU watching.”   He grins, a small laugh coming from his nose. “Jieun would understand.”   You snort and he helps you sit up. “Do your parents know…?”   “No. Otherwise, you’d be on the phone with my grandma right now. They’re overbearing enough as it is.”   You nod. “They don’t think it’s weird that I’m here?”   “No.” Jungkook scoffs. “God, they love you. Isn’t it obvious? They think you’re a ‘good influence’ on me. Better than Taehyung and Jimin are, at least. Those two are just idiots no matter where they go, so my parents are always concerned that all of us will get into fender benders.”   He uses air quotes when he says ‘good influence’ and you bat his arm. “I am a good influence on you.”   “Uh-huh.” Jungkook eyes you skeptically. “They should see you when you get mad—”   “I don’t get mad.”   “—and when you start swearing. Or the amount of dirty, dirty things you can say…”   “Jungkook,” your whine tapers off when he suddenly lays a hand on your upper thigh. Jungkook’s half-lidded eyes and heavy gaze flickers down to your lips. He starts to lean in, head angling and your breath catches in your throat in eager anticipation. Your eyes flutter shut.   But you never feel the velvet texture of Jungkook’s lips against yours.    Instead, there’s a loud knock that startles you both to death. Then, the door opens. And the boy, whose lap you were nearly perched on, is already back on his desk chair, whirling around.   “Hey, Y/N.” Jungkook’s dad is smiling wide. “What are you guys up to?”   “We’re just talking,” his son deadpans. “Is there something you need?”   “Nope.” The middle-aged man who uncannily has Jungkook’s eyes leans on the doorframe with arms crossed casually. “Just thought I’d pop by, see what’s going on, let you know your mom thinks you two can bring Lia and Eunbi into town to pick up some groceries….”   “Okay. We can do that later.”   There’s a terrible, awkward silence as Jungkook’s dad hangs around. It makes the younger frown. “Is there something wrong?”   “No.” He shakes his head, slowly starting to turn away before Jungkook dies in modification. But then he stops and looks back with a smile playing at his lips. “You guys should keep the door open though. House policy. Not mine but your mother’s. You know...she doesn’t want any funny business happening.”   “Dad.”   “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger.” His hands are lifted up in the air and he laughs it off. The older man pushes the door so it’s wide open and then waltzes away.   Jungkook’s sigh is long enough to empty out his lungs and you giggle at their interaction.   The walk to town is lovely. The end of Summer keeps the weather from sweltering or being uncomfortable. It’s warm with a brisk wind kissing against your cheeks.   You consider just how cozy this town is, small houses and big lawns, white picket fences and scalloped shingle rooftops. The grocery store is modest too and several people greet Jungkook when he enters, asking how he’s been and if you're someone special to him.   It’s a place where everyone knows everyone and it’s cute. You never considered Jungkook to be a small town boy, but it’s somehow fitting.   “We need to get apples, cucumbers, scallions….” He flips over the list, trying to discern his mom’s chicken scratch as he pushes the shopping cart. “Uh…..that either says potatoes or tomatoes.”   “Can we get this?!” Eunbi holds up a box bigger than her body. The doll inside is smiling.   Jungkook doesn’t even glance at it. “No.”   “Awww.”   The four of you walk down the cereal aisle and Jungkook stops for a detour. He picks two to compare and concentrates too hard for such a menial task. “I didn’t know cereal was on our list,” you say while peeking over his shoulder.   “I like cereal,” he mumbles.   In spite of taking a full minute on deliberating what brand he wants, Jungkook ends up settling for both. He places them into the cart and continues pushing it down the aisle while humming. You keep a watch on Eunbi in the meanwhile to make sure she doesn’t get lost, but soon Lia comes back with something in hand. “Y/N, can we please make this together?”   The seven year old has a bright, red box of chewy fudge brownie mix. Automatically, you and Jungkook’s faces twist in abhorrent disgust.   “It says we just need...egg, water, and oil!” she reads off of it proudly.   “No, we don’t need a box to make brownies,” you coax with a smile. “We can make it fresher. A few more steps and it’ll taste worlds better than the box.”   “Really?”   “Really.”   “Yay!” Eunbi’s loudly cheering in the middle of the grocery store, arms in the air and hopping up and down. “We get brownies!”   “What’s even in here?” Jungkook takes the box and flips it around. His eyes narrow in on the tiny letters of the ingredient list. “Sugar, enriched bleached wheat flour? What’s carrageenan? Pft, artificial flavour?” He arrogantly tosses it aside. “We don’t need that. We’re professionals.”   You snort. “Uh-huh. A professional who doesn’t even know how to make a moist cake.”   “At least I can temper chocolate,” he bites back without skipping a beat — without blinking or taking a breath. When Jungkook sees your shocked expression, he laughs heartily and throws an arm over your shoulder, nuzzling into you. “I’m kidding. Kidding.”   You scoff, throw his arm off of you. “No, you aren’t.”   “Are you fighting?” Eunbi grabs a hold of your shirt, tugging lightly.   “Only because Jungkook is mean,” you tell with an exaggerated pout.   It’s his turn to be offended. “You just said my cakes weren’t moist!”   You ignore him. “Let’s go, children. We don’t interact with bullies.”   Lia and Eunbi giggle, happy to go along with you and leave Jungkook in the dust, scrambling to roll the shopping cart behind you.   Eventually, the groceries are paid for and the walk back turns out to be equally enjoyable.    Once the four of you arrive back to the house, his parents are out working in the garden, so you and Jungkook put away the groceries together and pull out the necessary ingredients for brownies.   “We can probably make two batches.”   “I wanna do it with Y/N!” Lia immediately exclaims, jumping to your side. She leaves her younger sister frowning and on the verge of tears.   “No, I wanna!”   “How about me?” Jungkook stands in the middle of his own kitchen at a complete loss. It causes laughter to bubble from you.   “Okay, all three of us can do it together and we can verse Jungkook. How about that?”   They nod and Lia tells her cousin that he’s going down, teasing him mercilessly and you indulge them about how you’re better than Jungkook in everything at school — something he adamantly protests about.   Soon, all of you get to work. You teach them how to preheat the oven, grease the pans, and watch as the half cup of butter is melted in a saucepan. Lia and Eunbi help you measure out one cup of sugar and they each crack an egg into the butter.    Three quarter cups of cocoa are shifted into the mixture along with a half cup of flour, a quarter teaspoon of salt and a quarter teaspoon of baking powder. You show the two girls how to fold the ingredients gently together and you catch them a moment before they’re about to spoon the batter into their mouths.   They give stretching smiles and you help them spread it into a pan instead to bake.   It’s put in for half an hour, slightly underdone so it’s sweet and still gooey.   “It smells wonderful in here,” Jungkook’s mom gasps as she enters, taking off her garden gloves and wiping her brow with the back of her hand. “Did you make something special?”   “Look auntie!” Eunbi is jumping, hands jittery, on a sugar high. “We made brownies!”   “Did you now?” She peers over the counter, brows raising. “My goodness, they look amazing.”   “We helped make them with Y/N,” Lia announces, mouth smeared in chocolate.   “Did you thank Y/N yet for showing you how to make them?”   Both girls instantly whirl around, thanking you with bashful and shy smiles. In the meanwhile, Jungkook’s mom is unable to resist and reaches over for a brownie. She groans at the taste and smacks her lips together.    “Don’t eat too much or it’ll ruin your appetite,” she says — much like how Jungkook often reminds you — and ironically bites into her brownie again. The woman turns to you. “These are delicious, dear.”   “They weren’t too hard to make.”   “You should show me the recipe, I’d love to bake these again.”   “I’ve made these before!” Jungkook complains in a higher pitched voice, eating his own brownies when no one takes them out of his pan.   But no one pays mind to him. Not his mother or his twirling cousins. “Of course, I can.”   You, on the other hand, do pay attention to Jungkook. You grin at him as he glares. And only later when there’s a moment of privacy will he tickle you as revenge for making his entire family love you more than him. It’s then that he finally gets the chance to kiss you too.   //   Dinner with the Jeon family is as you would expect it to be. Everyone inhales all the food and chit chats with one another. There’s warm banter shared across the dinner table as his parents make him talk about the trip to Tahiti, how the internship was and if he was on his best behaviour.   He gives you discreet, defeated looks to show how he’s so done with them and it’s hard to stifle your giggles.   Afterwards, you help him do the dishes as his cousins turn on a movie to watch and his parents finish off the brownies you made. Not long after that, everybody begins to retreat to their rooms.   “Aw, do we have to go to bed?”   “Yes. Don’t you want to help plant the flowers tomorrow?” Jungkook’s mom smooths out her hair. “Only big girls can help and you can only get big if you sleep and get strong.”   “Okay.” Lia sulks. “But can I at least say goodnight to Y/N?”   “Yes.” The older woman offers a rather maternal smile. “You can.”   Lia runs to you down the hall right as you leave the bathroom with your toothbrush in hand, catching you off guard. She hugs you tight. “Goodnight, Y/N!”   Eunbi is hot on her sister’s heels and you stumble back when she throws herself at you too. “Night, night, Y/N!”   “Goodnight, you two.”   “Can we play tomorrow?”   You ruffle the five year old’s hair. “Course we can.”   She beams and hops back, following her aunt. Her uncle is already inside their room, holding up books. “Who’s ready for story time?”   “Me!” Lia runs off and waves to you.   At the same time, Jungkook leaves his room to see their retreating forms and scoffs. “Wow, are they not going to wish me a goodnight?”   You slap his arm, laughing. “Stop being so jealous all the time. I can’t help that I’m so lovable.”   He scoffs and affectionately pokes your forehead with his index finger. “I can’t even argue with that.” The corner of his mouth curls and you grin.   Jungkook has that look in his eyes — the one you’ve learnt to recognize. He looks like he wants to kiss you, like he’s about to do it too, but the pair of you are interrupted by someone lingering in the hallway.   “Y/N, you’re sleeping in the guest bedroom, right?”   His mom looks at you and you nod quickly. “Yes, I am.”   “Good.” She relaxes and bobs her head. “Jungkook, you go back to your room now. There’s a long day tomorrow.”   He sighs, but doesn’t argue.   Jungkook turns right back around into his room and keeps the door slightly open for a second, enough to give you an incredulous look. It makes you smile and mouth ‘goodnight’ to him before he shuts the door.   His mom brings you to the guest bedroom, helping you set up for the night and asking if you need extra blankets and pillows.   “Are you sure everything’s okay?”   “Yes, it is. Thank you, Mrs. Jeon.”   “If you’re ever cold, feel free to grab anything from the closet.” When you nod, she gets to the door. Jungkook’s mom is about to turn off the light, but lingers. She twists around to share a smile with you. “Thank you for coming, Y/N. I’m glad to see you again.”   “No, thank you.” You’re caught off guard by her words of gratitude. “Honestly, I didn’t want to be such a bother.”   “You aren’t. Trust me.” She laughs, a tinkling sound emitting from her chest. “I’ve always wanted a daughter like you. Jungkook is two more handfuls than I can handle sometimes, especially when he was young.” The older woman shakes his head with a fond expression. “He might not look like it but he’s still very much a child. I worry about him being gone so far for so long out of the entire year. So, I’m glad there’s someone like you looking out for him.”   You’re touched by her sincerity, but you can’t help but feel like she’s gotten it wrong.   You awkwardly shift your weight from one foot to the other. “Mrs. Jeon—”   “You can call me auntie, if you’d like.”   You nod timidly. “Jungkook actually looks out for me a lot more than I do for him. He really helped me through a lot of tough times, so really, I should be the one thanking him….”   She smiles, the wrinkles around her eyes creasing. “Then I’m even more grateful that Jungkook’s not hopeless. It’s good that the two of you have one another.”   Part of you wants to tell her that you’re unequivocally in love with her son. But by the twinkle in her eye, you get a sense that she already knows the true nature between you and Jungkook.   You don’t need to say it aloud or make any announcements.   Her smile becomes more tender in the small silence and then she finally bids you a goodnight, flicking off the lights in the room.   You end up laying there for a while. You receive Jungkook’s text telling you this is so dumb and you laugh. The bright lights of your phone eventually burns your eyes too much, so you throw it aside, opting to stare at the ceiling and listen to his house.   You can hear doors closing, footsteps, the flicker of the hallway light turning off and more doors closing. Silence settles in for a good ten minutes, but before you can completely drift off to sleep, your door cracks open.   A familiar boy sneaks into your room with a soft sigh. He shuts the door silently and nimbly avoids all the creaks in the floorboards, knowing where each of them are after growing up and spending his childhood in these four walls.   “You’re not supposed to be here.” You sit up, covers pooling around your waist.   His feet slide and the mattress dips underneath his weight. “And I care because…?”   You scoff. “Rebellious, aren’t you, Jeon?”   “You don’t even know the start of it.” He grins. “I just want to lay with you for a while. It’s not like we haven’t shared a bed before.”   “But your parents don’t know that. What happens if they catch you here?” you ask while peeling back the covers anyhow, happily inviting him in.   “Nothing will happen. It’s okay.”   “Yeah, but they might hate me...for tainting their son.”   “Impossible.” Jungkook settles in and pulls the covers up to keep you warm. You cuddle yourself into him and he props his chin on top of your head. “And they don’t care about that. They just don’t want any Jeon grandkids, or at least not until we graduate.”   “Psh. You’re going to have to prove yourself before you implant anything in my uterus, Jeon.”   His nose wrinkles at your euphemism, but then he pokes your side, making you squirm. “Prove myself? Haven’t I already?”   “Just cause I let you kiss me a few times doesn’t mean I have plans to make this long-term,” you tease and this time he’s the one scoffing.    Jungkook rolls on top of you, pinning you underneath him. The soft glow of the lamp posts outside on the suburban street comes through the window and when your eyes adjust to the darkness, you’re able to discern a few of his features — especially that sulking expression of his.   Jungkook’s such a baby sometimes. Or at least he likes to be babied by you. Yoongi, Taehyung, Hoseok, and Jimin would shit themselves if they saw him now. But it makes you happy to be the only one who can see this endearing side of him.   “What more do you want to put me through, hmm?”   You cock your head to the side. “Who knows, you might just get bored of me in a few weeks, Jeon. Better not to jump the gun.”   “I don’t think so. What do you take me for? Someone with that low of an attention span?”   “Well…” You draw out the syllable. “Last I checked, you still don’t know how to make flowers with gum paste.”   His tongue clicks in annoyance and he starts to tickle you again at your weakest parts. You squirm underneath him, giggling as your legs kick to no avail. It makes the bed squeak, the headboard hitting against the wall and Jungkook laughs and quickly lets up. He covers your mouth with his palm. “Shush! You’re going to wake them up.”   You peel off his hand, harshly whispering, “You started it.”   Jungkook’s smile is big enough to make his cheeks hurt. He missed you — your company, warmth, the teasing banter. It’s hard to fathom that his best friend is actually here with him, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.   Jungkook leans down, locking his lips against yours. Your soft mouths slots against each other like it’s the way it always should have been and he relishes in the groan you release.    It’s a gentle kiss, one that merely tests the waters and then he pulls away.   You blink up at him, breath leaving through your parted lips that now taste like his vanilla chapstick. “No funny business, remember?”   “I know.” Jungkook gets off of you, resuming his place by your side. “But I wasn’t planning any ‘funny business’. Where has your mind gone too?”   Your cheeks heat. “I’m just saying.”   He chuckles softly, arm slung across your waist. You’re pulled close as he nestles in. It’s easy to relax and your hand lifts to wrap around his back. The both of you hold each other for a while in the comfortable darkness underneath the cozy covers. You’re lulled in his company.   “Jungkook.”   “Hmm?”   “You can’t fall asleep here.”   “I know,” he mumbles.   But contrary to Jungkook’s words, he does fall asleep with you — sharing the same bed like those nights in Tahiti. Only in the morning, when dawn breaks and the morning light comes through the glass windows are you both naturally shaken awake.    It’s then that Jungkook scratches his bed hair flopping in all directions, eyes swollen as he stumbles back to his own bedroom. And you drift back to sleep with a softened smile on your face.

[criesincherik]

ⓧ  𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬  ⓧ

The peak of understanding and fearing that of world around him came at seven, birth of curiosity blurring with over caution. When it all got overwhelming for him or his alters, they’d all flee to the same spot in the back gardens of Westchester, behind the thicket of tress that sang symphonies of rustling branches, autumn leaves cracking under the slightest of pressure and the whistling from the winds, rushing to greet the treetops. 

In the trees, under the shade they casted happened to be a patch of white clover embedded deeply rooted to the grass roots, he’d sit for hours on end trying to search for a four-leafed clover. Before his structured lifestyle to balance stability in his life, this was his safe haven - still, is. Never changing despite the many rebuilds of Westchester or the ever changing world outside the manor, this patch of weeded lawn never changes. 

In the weeds, noodle arms wrapped tightly around his legs folding over just below his knees, chin resting upon his left knee, irritated skin below his bottom lip from chewing it until it annoyed him. Hazel coloured irises blurred in and out of focus on the weeds, mind settled enough for him to come through take over from Cyndi whom stormed off before Charles had finished on the topic of Erik - Cyndi never meshed with anything to do with Erik, mind boggling it was to David, triggered him so. However, the debate still remind on all of his alters lips, why Erik, of all the mutants and people in the world. 

Silent wheels now made noise from the earth giving him away, David didn’t need the give away from the crunching of leaves under his father’s wheelchair as it rolled up behind him only coming to a stop when David’s back arched to meet his father’s legs. David’s mind has always been a wonder of beauty to Charles, beyond colourful, projective and vivid. Always truthful, no matter how blunt. 

Dust is the colour of doubt, Charles has learnt from when David was little that colours represent his mood more then words. As he always did when he used to come to fetch David from the patch of weeds, gentle to the touch place both hands over the top of his head and fingers now-a-days burying under mahogany locks. Leaning over his legs, the use of his top core muscles to steady him - as much as possible and planting an overwhelmingly loving kiss on the centre of his head. 

A patch of white clover in the left of Westchester’s grass, never has it changed from when he was a boy despite how many times the manor has been rebuilt on the land, this patch of grass has stayed the same and brings David inner peace, it never changes unlike the rest of the world which tends to be distressing to the now young man. 

“Love you to the moon and to Saturn, nounours. Nothing will ever change that... a bit like you in these weeds.” Charles' voice was soft, his hand moving to touch the boy's head and run through the dark locks. Retreating back against his chair, some of David’s doubt towards this arrangement fleeting, corner of his lips flicking upwards. 

In on a little secret, his father wouldn’t leave him and he remained silent to be fussed over by his father. Comfortable silence between father and son, eyes glued over the hedged horizon of the manor fence whilst the sun set in the far off distance. Brought the chill alive in the air, no hesitation from Charles’ to remove his blanket over his own legs, despite the phantom chills that burnt up his veins alive. Placing it over slender shoulders that belonged to David, keeping the brisk air from his beautiful boy. 

Not long after that gesture, did father and son make the trek back towards the manor. The trailing of the blanket being used as cape, swallowing not only the young man but also his father, getting further and further away from the white clover.

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch50- I Got My Second Chance Right Here

Intro: After talking with Scott, Steve and Katie find themselves facing the possibility that there may be a way to undo Thanos’ actions and bring everyone they lost back. Only Tony isn’t on board with the idea and once more Katie finds herself in the middle of the two most important men in her life...

Warnings: Bad Language words

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

A/N: As always, huge shout out to my reposting partner- @angrybirdcr​

Chapter 49​

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

“Man am I glad to see you.” Scott clasped Steve’s hand in his as soon as the gate was open, pumping it up and down furiously.

“We thought you’d been snapped.” Steve took a deep breath, frowning as he looked the man up and down. “You are really here right? This isn’t’ some kind of weird mind trick or…” “Yeah, I am now. I mean, not that I wasn’t, but well, no I kinda wasn’t.” Scott took a deep breath. “It’s really hard to explain but…”

“Well we got time to listen.” Steve smiled, reassuringly “Come on.”

Scott nodded, fired up his van and drove through the gates whilst Steve locked them again, before he climbed in his car, spun it round and drove, Scott following, round to the parking area. Steve led Scott through the facility and into the room they had been sat in where Katie was settling Jamie on the sofa at the other end of the room.

“You stay here, okay?” Katie smoothed Jamie’s hair softly with her hand. He nodded and pulled on his headphones, tablet clamped in his hand as he began to watch Dumbo for what must have been the nine-hundredth time. Casting one more look at him over her shoulder, Katie walked over to where Steve and Natasha were stood, watching a very distressed Scott pacing in front of them, mumbling to himself.

Steve and Natasha shared a look, before Steve looked to his wife and she nodded her head in Scott’s direction, encouraging him to open the dialogue.

“Scott?” Steve spoke.“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine” Scott said in a tone that indicated he was anything but. He opened his mouth to speak but shut it again, before he pressed his fingers into his eye sockets clearly struggling with what it was he needed to say. Eventually he took a deep breath and looked around the room.  "Have you ever studied quantum physics?”

Katie shook her head, as did Steve.

"Only to make conversation,” Natasha shrugged.

Scott pointed to Natasha. “Alright, so, five years ago, right before…Thanos, I was in a place called the Quantum Realm. The Quantum Realm is like its own microscopic universe. To get in there, you have to be incredibly small. Hope, she’s my… she was my…” He took a deep breath, struggling to quell the emotion that was brewing in his voice. “And then Thanos happened, and I got stuck in there.”

“I’m sorry.” Katie shook her head, sympathetically. “That must have been a very long five years

"Yeah, but that’s just it. It wasn’t. For me it was five hours.”

Steve frowned. 

“See, the rules of the Quantum Realm aren’t like they are up here. Everything’s unpredictable.” Scott continued as Steve looked from Katie to Natasha, both of them wearing expressions which were a cross between curiosity and contemplation.

“Is that anybody’s sandwich?” Scott asked, pointing at the plate on the table “I’m starving.” As he strode over to pick up the remainder of Nat’s peanut butter sandwich, Steve shook his head slightly, still not understanding what this had to do with anything.

"Scott, what are you talking about?” he asked, prompting him to get back on track.

“What I’m saying is, time works differently in the Quantum Realm.” Scott spoke trough a mouthful of peanut butter and bread before he hastily swallowed “The only problem is right now, we don’t have a way to navigate it. But what if we did?”

He began to pace again and Katie cocked her head to the side slightly, watching him as he gestured wildly with the hand holding the peanut butter sandwich.

“I can’t stop thinking about it. What if we could somehow control the chaos, and we could navigate it? What if there was a way that we could enter the Quantum Realm at a certain point in time but then exit at another point in time? Like…” He paused taking a breath as he looked at the 3 faces in front of him. “Like before Thanos.”

"Wait.” Katie held up a hand to stop him, her voice laced with scepticism. “Are you talking about a time machine?”

“No. No of course not. No, not a time machine, it’s more like a…” Scott trailed off and looked down before he shrugged. “Yeah like a time machine.”

Steve took a deep breath and shared a glance with Katie, both of them raising an eyebrow. Steve let out a small sigh as he had been hoping Scott had something that they could actually use.

“I know, it’s crazy, but I can’t stop thinking about it. There’s gotta be some way. There’s got to be some-” Scott looked at Steve’s face and sighed. “It’s crazy..I know, yeah…”

"Scott,” Natasha cut him off, “I get emails from a raccoon. Nothing sounds crazy anymore.”

Steve looked at her and had to concede maybe she had a point. The things they had seen over the past eleven years, none of it he would have ever believed possible. So who was to say this wasn’t? But time travel? Really? Was he stood there, actually thinking it could be a possibility?

“So who do we talk to about this?” Scott asked, looking between the three people stood in front of him.

Natasha looked at Katie meaningfully and she shook her head, instantly understanding.

“Uh-uh. He’s done with all this, there’s no way he’ll help.”

“Who?” Scott asked.

“My brother.”

“We should at least try.” Natasha implored, her eyes bright at the possibility that there could be a way to undo everything. Katie really wanted to feel the same level of excitement but all she could feel at that point was a horrible sense of foreboding. And she had no idea why.

“Nat’s right.” Steve looked to Katie. “We should talk to him.”  

Before Katie could respond she saw out of the corner of her eye that Jamie was sliding off the sofa and walking towards them. Scott who hadn’t noticed the small boy up until that point gave a start of surprise before he watched him hurry over to Katie.

“Momma.” He asked and she crouched down next to him.

“You okay?”

“When’s dinner?”

“I’m gonna make it soon, sorry baby.” She kissed his cheek as she picked him up, turning back to Scott. “Jamie this is momma, daddy and Auntie Nat-Nat’s friend, Scott. Wanna say hello?”

Jamie looked over, smiling, not a shy bone in his body, as he waved his little hand. “Hi Scott.”  

“This…you…” Scott was looking between Katie and Steve and Steve gave him a small smile. “Wow, that’s great. It’s nice to meet you, Jamie.” Jamie held out his hand for a hi-five and Scott let out a laugh, obliging. “So, you guys just got the one, or…”

“No, we also have an older daughter.” Steve smiled, as he watched Jamie in his wife’s arms.

“Older?”

“She’s adopted.” Katie explained. “Currently away with friends.”

Scott nodded, swallowing a little as his gaze dropped to the floor. The room fell into silence and Katie took a deep breath.

“I’m gonna go make dinner.” She smiled, before looking at Scott then to Natasha.“See if we can do better than a peanut butter sandwich.” “Scott, why don’t you go with Natasha and she can fill you in on anything you need to know.” Steve offered. “And vice versa of course.”

“Okay.”

Natasha gestured with her head for Scott to follow her as Katie placed Jamie on the floor and looked up at Steve.

“Do you really think there’s anything in this?” Steve sighed. “I dunno, Sweetheart. I mean it sounds crazy, a time machine, but then so does a mad man wiping out fifty percent of all living creatures on the planet with a click of his fingers thanks to some cosmic stones.”

“Just promise me something.” Katie looked at him, “if Tony refuses to help, you won’t go kicking off and falling out again. Because if he does say no, he has his reasons for doing so.” “I promise.” Steve assured her.

Satisfied, Katie smiled and looked down at Jamie. “Wanna come help me make dinner or go with Daddy and talk to Scott and Auntie Nat-Nat.” Jamie pondered and Steve smiled at his face. The three year old was torn, and Steve knew why. Part of him wanted to go and talk to his Auntie and the new man he had met a few minutes ago because he was naturally inquisitive, or a “nosey parker” as Emmy called him. But the other part of him knew that if he went to help his Mom he’d be getting sneaky little tit-bits along the way.

Eventually, the curiosity part won out and he grabbed Steve’s hand. “I go with you Daddy.” Katie rolled her eyes good naturedly. “Traitor.”

Jamie grinned as Steve picked him up, leaning over in his Father’s arms to place a sloppy kiss on Katie’s cheek.

“Love you Momma.” He beamed as Steve smiled at his wife. She stuck her tongue out at her son making him giggle and do the same, then she picked up the bag off the table and headed down to the kitchen.

******

Tony smiled headed out of the house and across the lawn towards Morgan’s little tent. He clapped his hands along to a well-known famous beat.

“Chow time! Morgoona.”

No answer. Tony rolled his eyes, it was just like dad trying to deal with Katie when she had been that age. She’d ignore everyone unless she decided paying attention was of any benefit, well, almost everyone. She’d always come running when it was him who called. Something Tony had always been secretly smug about.  

He sat on the small chair by the side of the tent and looked around him, taking in the gentle breeze coming off the lake.

“Morgan H Stark, you want some lunch?”

“Define lunch or be disintegrated.” She spoke, her voice slightly distorted as she emerged from the tent and he felt his breath catch. She was wearing the silver and blue helmet that belonged to the suit he had been working on in the garage, and she had the play Iron-Man glove that he had made sets of for her and Jamie on her hand, holding it up as if firing a repulsor beam.  

“You should not be wearing that, okay? That is part of a special anniversary gift I’m making for Mom.” He pressed a kiss to the side of the helmet before he took it off. His daughter’s face emerged, smiling mischievously.

“Okay.” She grinned as Tony brushed the hair back off her face and smoothed down the fly-away strands that had risen up.

“There you go. Are you thinking about lunch? I can give you a handful of crickets on a bed of lettuce.”

“No.” Morgan giggled

“That’s what you want.” He teased before he glanced at the helmet in his hand. “How did you find this?”

“The garage” She said simply, as if it was obvious. Which in fairness, it was, because that’s where he had left it.

“Really?” Tony looked at her, narrowing his eyes slightly in suspicion. “Were you looking for it?”

“No.” She said, but the look on her face that told Tony she had totally been looking for it. “I found it, though.”

“You like going to the garage, huh? So does daddy” Tony stood, picking her up in one arm, the helmet still held in the other, heading to the house. He glanced down at it again and chuckled to himself. “It’s fine, actually. Your mom never wears anything I buy her.”

He had just reached the top of the steps to the porch when his attention was caught by the sound of a car heading up the drive. He turned round to see Kiddo’s grey Audi pulling to a stop a few meters away. He paused for a moment, because he hadn’t been expecting them, but then he smiled and waved before he frowned a little. There were other people in the back seat of the car, but he couldn’t quite make out who.

Katie was out of the car first, opening one of the back doors and Jamie barrelled out of the vehicle, running over to his Uncle.

“Uncle Nee!” He called gleefully as he ran up the steps to the porch. 

“Hey!” Tony placed Morgan down and bent to give his nephew’s head a kiss. “I wasn’t expecting to see you guys to-“

He trailed off as he caught sight of exactly who it had been in the back. Natasha raised her head in a greeting which he returned and he then glanced at the man, Scott Lang, who he had last seen in The Raft

A man who had been snapped was now stood on his driveway. 

What the fuck was going on?

“Morgan,” Tony looked down, “take Jamie inside will you? Tell your mom we have visitors, I’ll be in in a moment.” “Okay.” Morgan said, and Jamie took her hand, the two of them heading off round the porch.

“Hey.” Katie greeted her brother as she walked up the steps. “Sorry to spring this on you but…”

He gave her a hug and when she stepped back he looked over her shoulder.  “S’Up Lang? Thought you got turned to dust?”

Steve winced slightly at Tony’s blasé tone, but he could tell from his brother-in-law’s face, he was anything but. His eyes were burning with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

“It’s a really, really long story.” Scott nodded as he rounded the car, looking at Tony

“Which is why we’re here.” Steve slipped his hands into his pockets as he stopped at the porch steps. “Tony, there might be a way we can bring everyone back.” Tony took a deep breath. Five years. Five years it had been and still they couldn’t simply let things lie. Did he want to get involved? No, absolutely not. But he should at least hear them out, right? It could be simple. Maybe not dangerous, either. Maybe.

He looked at his sister and she shrugged, and he could tell by her expression she was torn. Probably from the same fears he had.

“Take a seat.” He gestured to the chairs and sofa on the porch area. “I’ll grab us a drink.”

Katie looked at Steve and jerked her head towards the house and Steve nodded, understanding she was going with him. She followed Tony inside and greeted Pepper who had seen the gang outside the house.

“What the hell?” Tony frowned and Katie sighed.

“He turned up at the compound last night. Apparently he was in something called the Quantum Realm when the Snap happened. He re-emerged a few days ago and drove over.” Katie bit her lip. “The thing is Tony, for him it was a matter of hours not years.”

Tony took a deep breath and reached into the fridge for the tall jug of iced coffee and placed it on the counter before pouring in a generous helping of vanilla syrup. Still without a word being spoke he pulled five glass tumblers from the cabinet, and handed them to his sister. “We’ll be outside.” He said, giving Pepper a kiss. “How many should I expect for lunch?” She asked, giving him a small smile “Set it for eight.” He shrugged, walking away. “I’ll decide whether they can stay or not after I’ve heard what hair-brained scheme Rogers has come up with this time.”

Katie rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. “In his defence, this isn’t his idea.”

“No but I bet it was to come here.”

“Wrong again.” Katie arched an eyebrow as Tony opened the door. “That one’s on Nat.” “Pain in my ass.” he mumbled, as he walked back to the porch. 

He placed the jug down on the small coffee table and plonked into a chair to the right of it, looking up at Steve who was leaning against the wooden rails of the porch, Nat to his right. 

“Alright,” He watched as Scott sat in the chair at the other side of the small table, Katie leaning up against the side of the house. “Explain.”  

So Scott did. About where he had been, how long for, and his theory about how they could, potentially, use the Quantum Realm to navigate time. Tony listened, and for the most Steve was surprised to see the man’s face was passive, no sarcastic quirk of the eyebrow or quip. Nothing. Instead, he reached over and began pouring the drinks into the glasses.

“Now, we know what it sounds like.” Scott stammered out before Steve cut him off, keen to understand what was going on in the Inventor’s head.

“Tony, after everything you’ve seen, is anything like this really possible?”

Tony looked up from pouring the drinks, handing one to Katie who smiled a thanks to him.

“Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale, which then triggers the Deutsch proposition, can we agree on that?”

Scott, Steve and Natasha all looked blankly back at him. Steve had no idea what he was talking about but he saw Katie out of the corner of her eye stiffen slightly.

“As in David Deutsch?” She asked. “The Fabric of Reality?”

Tony nodded before he handed Steve a glass. “Thank-you.” Steve said, he quite liked Tony’s iced coffee, he had certainly drunk enough of it whilst sat in the spot that Scott now occupied over the past few years.

"In layman’s terms, it means you’re not coming home.” Tony finished, and Steve let out a sigh.

“I did.” Scott said almost immediately.

“No, you accidentally survived. It’s a billion to one cosmic fluke.” Tony shook his head, his voice even “And now you want to pull off a, what do you call it?”

Scott shrugged, searching for a term to describe what he had been thinking of doing. “A…time…heist?”

“Yeah, a time heist. Of course, why didn’t we think of this before?” Tony asked, looking up at Steve “Oh, because it’s laughable? Because it’s a pipedream.”

"The stones are in the past.”  Steve spoke softly. The fact that Tony hadn’t dismissed the fact that it was a possibility to time travel was spurring him on, there had to be a way they could do this safely, Scott was living proof of that. “We could go back and we could get them.”

“We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everybody back.” Natasha added.

“Or screw it up worse than he already has.” Tony instantly replied.

“I don’t think we would.” Steve shook his head.

“Got to say, sometimes I miss that giddy optimism.” Tony shot, and Steve took a deep breath, raising his eyebrows. “However, high hopes won’t help if there’s no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said time heist.” Tony leaned back further in his chair. “I believe the most likely outcome will be our collective demise.”

Natasha walked from where she had been stood leaning against the wall of the house besides Katie to the rails of the porch, looking out over the grounds for a moment as Scott spoke again.

“Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel.” He said, almost eagerly, “No talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events-”

“I’m going to stop you right there, Scott.” Tony raised his hand and leaned forward. “Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back to the Future?”

“No?” Scott said, embarrassment flooding his tone.

“Good you had me worried there, because that’s not how quantum physics works.”

“Tony, we have to take a stand.”  Natasha spoke, turning to face him, her voice sad, almost pleading. Katie watched her for a second, before she looked to her brother. Tony stared up at Nat, almost apologetically but Katie could see his mind was made up, and his answer was just what she had suspected it would be.

“We did stand.” Tony’s voice was soft “And yet, here we are.”

“I know you got a lot on the line,” Scott spoke again, “you got a wife, a daughter. But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did.” His voice began to gather pace and volume as he tried to sell his desperation to Tony “We have a chance to bring her back, bring everyone back. And you’re telling me you won’t even-”

“That’s right Scott. I won’t even. I got a kid.” Tony cut him off with absolute irrevocability as Scott stared at him in disbelief.

Steve took a deep breath and glanced at Katie, who had remained silent pretty much all through the discussions. She was looking down at her hands, twisting her engagement ring around her finger, the way she always did when she was worried or thinking. But before he could say anything, the door to the house opened and two sets of small footsteps clattered across the wood. Morgan ran up to Tony, who picked her up as she placed her arms round his neck and Jamie ran to his mother, who swept him up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Mommy told us to come save you.” Morgan said to her dad. Katie gave a soft chuckle as Tony looked at her, grinning.

"Good job. I’m saved.” Tony told his daughter as he gave her head a kiss before he stood up, Morgan in his arms. He turned to look at Steve, Nat and Scott. “I wish you’d come here to ask me something else. Anything else.” He sighed, before looking directly at Nat. “Honestly, I missed you.” She gave a small smile as he turned to head to the house. “Oh, and the table’s set for eight-“

As he went to pass by Steve, the Soldier gently stopped him with a hand on his arm and Katie watched, Jamie perched on her hip, his small hand playing with the diamond studded star shaped necklace she wore, a gift from Steve many Christmases ago.

"Tony, I get it, I really do, but this, this is a second chance.”

“I got my second chance right here, Cap.” Tony looked at his brother-in-law before he nodded over to where Katie was stood holding Jamie. “You did too. And I can’t roll the dice again, and frankly neither should you.”

Steve took a deep breath, bristling slightly. Was Tony seriously implying that he thought he was going to gamble with his kids’ lives? That was the whole point of them coming to talk to him, so that they didn’t do anything that would jeopardise what they had.

“If you don’t talk shop, you can stay for lunch.” Tony headed towards the door.

“I think we should be getting back.” Steve spoke, his words coming out a little harsher than he had meant. Tony turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Suit yourself.” He shrugged, before heading into the house. Katie watched her brother go and then turned to Steve as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked at her and she stared straight back, her face stony. She’d warned him how this would turn out and he’d promised her he wouldn’t get mad at Tony. And whilst he hadn’t got mad per-se, he had to concede that his last comment had been said with a bit of a shitty tone.

“Momma?” Jamie spoke and Katie’s attention turned to her son. “I want lunch. Auntie Pepper was making meatballs.” “Your favourite?” Katie smiled at her son “Wow!”

Jamie giggled and Katie turned back to her husband “You go, we’re gonna stay.” Her statement was accompanied with a look to say that this wasn’t up for negotiation so Steve took a deep breath and nodded.

“Okay, give me a call and I’ll come get you later.” He dropped a kiss to her cheek, before he did the same to his son and then gestured for Scott and Natasha to follow him back to the car.

“He’s scared.” Natasha turned to Steve once they were clear of the porch steps.

“Well, he’s not wrong."  Steve sighed because, despite his disappointment, he understood Tony’s fear and reticence, he really did because he felt it too. They couldn’t do anything that would undo the events of the past five years. But there had to be a way to make sure they didn’t. He looked back at the house where he could just see Katie was stood inside the kitchen, smiling at Pepper.

"Yeah, but I mean what are we gonna do?” Scott asked, his tone desperate again. “We need him, are we gonna stop?”

“No, but I wanna do it right,” Steve said thoughtfully, as an idea suddenly came to him. He opened the driver’s side door and glanced over at Natasha “We’re gonna need a really big brain.”

"Bigger than his?” Scott asked incredulously, pointing to Tony’s house.

Natasha quirked an eyebrow as she understood what Steve meant and she smiled gently before turning to Scott.

“Good job we know exactly where we can find one.”

****

Inside the house, Katie watched the car pull away before she turned and accepted the glass of wine Tony was offering.

“Lunchtime drinking?” She quirked an eyebrow and he shrugged.

“Figured you might need it after that, I do.”

Katie sighed and made her way over to the table, where Pepper was sat dishing out the food onto the kid’s plates.

“Fankoo Auntie Pep.” Jamie said, grinning and she beamed at him.

“You’re welcome, Sweetie.” They ate together, making general conversation about anything other than ‘time heists’ and two helpings of meatballs and spaghetti later, Jamie and Morgan asked if they could go outside to play. Tony headed out to supervise them whilst Katie helped Pepper clear the table before she went to find her brother.

“So we gonna talk about the elephant in the room, or on the lawn?” Tony asked, looking at her.

Katie shrugged. “That’s not why I stayed, Tone.” She sighed, her green eyes locking onto his. “You know, I told them you wouldn’t want to help.” “It isn’t a case of not wanting to, Kiddo.” He sighed. “I just can’t…”

“I get it.” She nodded with a sad smile. “There’s a lot at stake…”

"So why doesn’t Spangles see that?”

“He does. He just wants to see if there’s any possible way we can do it. You know, bring everyone back.” “And what about you?”

“Honestly?” Katie looked at Tony and shrugged. “If you told me there was a way we could do it, and not change anything out of the last five years I’d jump at the chance, because that’s what we do, we’re the A-vengers remember, not the Pre-vengers.”

“Used to be.” Tony corrected her with the glimmer of a smile.

“Well, I don’t remember quitting.” Katie looked at her brother. “We just kinda…stopped.” “Say there is.”  Tony sighed. “Say you suddenly find a way that guarantees that nothing from the last five years will change, and you do it. You pull off the Time Heist, reverse the snap…Kiddo, you open up a whole can of other worms. People have moved on in the past five years, and suddenly you’re bringing back husbands, wives, daughters, sons, mothers, fathers who were long gone and-”

“I know.” Katie cut him off, nodding. “It would be extremely naïve to think things could just simply go back to how they were. There would be a lot of other issues and shit to deal with, I get that, but at least everyone would be alive.”

Tony sighed “I can’t gamble on this.”  He gestured to the kids who were now playing

“Like I said Tony, I’m not trying to change your mind.” Katie shrugged. “And I won’t be gambling on anything either.”

******

It was getting late, and Steve still hadn’t heard from Katie. He was just about to give her a call when he heard the security system announcing the gate had been unlocked. Frowning, he made his way to the door, opening it to see Tony’s car pulling onto the driveway. He stopped not far from the door and Katie stepped out of the passenger seat.

“He’s fast asleep.” She nodded to the rear as Steve headed out to greet her, peering into the back of the car. He gave his wife a quick peck on the lips before he reached into the rear, and gently picked Jamie out of the back, the child only stirring long enough press his face into Steve’s shoulder, grabbing a handful of his sweater in his fist.

“Thanks Tony.” Katie leaned back into the car over the passenger seat to give her brother a kiss on the cheek.

“No problem, Kiddo.” As his sister stepped back, Tony hesitated for a moment and then climbed out of the car, looking over the roof at Steve who was heading back up the steps to the house.

“Cap.” He called. Steve stopped and turned to his brother-in-law. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you what you wanted to hear.”

Steve took a deep breath and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. We’re meeting Banner tomorrow.” “Banner?” Katie frowned.

“Yeah.” Steve nodded. “Nat called him before, he’s gonna hear us out. See if he can help.”

Tony remained silent, his mind whirring. “Just promise me one thing, please.” He sighed. “You can’t, the kids, I mean…”

Steve frowned. “Tony, if you think I’d gamble with our children’s lives, then you really don’t know me at all.”

“I guess not.” Tony’s mouth set into a thin line and at that point Katie shook her head.

“Stop it, please.” She sighed. “I can’t cope with you at each other’s throats, not again.”

Steve licked his lips and turned to his wife. “Sorry.”

“Just take Jamie inside, I’ll be with you in a moment.” She looked at him, Nodding, Steve turned and headed inside. Katie glared at her brother who held his hands up, palms open.

“Like I said before, I get why you’re scared, but Steve’s right. All we’re doing at the moment is gathering facts, maybe understanding what we’re looking at a little more. If by doing that we come to the conclusion that we can’t guarantee what we have isn’t safe then we stop.” Tony took a deep breath, before he nodded back to the house. “Just make sure he understands that.”

Before Katie could reply he hopped back in his car, reversed slightly before he spun round and headed off through the gates. Katie walked straight into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine, grabbing a beer for Steve before she sat down at the table, head in her hands, she was exhausted.

The problem was, she could see this from both sides. Whilst the possibility of being able to bring everyone back was simply too good to not explore, the chance that they could lose either of their kids if something didn’t got to plan was enough to put the fear of God into her.  She looked up as Steve returned having settled Jamie in bed, and she slid the beer across the table to him as he sat in the seat next to her.

“You okay?”  He asked, and she looked at him.

“I’m scared Steve. Tony is right. We can’t risk what we have.”

“We won’t.”

“You don’t know that for sure, none of us do.” She sniffed, and Steve wasn’t surprised to see the tears in her eyes. “Tony before, when he talked about the Deutsch proposition, that was a reference to a guy called David Deutsch. He wrote a book called The Fabric of Reality and one of the chapters talks about how time travel would really work if it proves possible.”

Steve nodded, telling her to continue. He knew when she was on a roll explaining something like this he had to let her finish, plus he wanted to understand her concerns.

“His view of time travel is that if you went back in time and killed your Grandfather, say, you’d simply create an alternate universe and timeline in which you are not born. But the version of yourself that went back in time came from a different universe, so you wouldn’t suddenly cease to exist, like in Back To The Future or whatever, you’d still be there in that new universe.” “Okay, so, according to this Deutsch guy, Scott’s theory about simply not changing anything in the past isn’t quite right?” Steve frowned, thinking he understood. She smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, which to be fair is only what everyone believes because of films anyway. They depict time travel in a single universe. But, if you accept that there are actually many universes that are constantly branching off of one another, then…” She sighed.

“But surely that’s a good thing?” Steve implored. “Iwf hat you’re saying is that we can’t alter our future by changing the past then…” “What I’m saying is, that none of us know for sure.” She corrected, her voice almost a whisper. “And even if we successfully navigate the whole going back in time think, what if when we undo the Snap we jump back five years in our own time line and…”

She trailed off and Steve reached up to wipe away the stray tears that had fallen down her cheek. “Baby, look at me.”

She obliged, and he held her gaze. “Nothing scares me more than losing our kids, or you. Which is why we need to do this right. I get why Tony doesn’t want to help, he’s scared too, but….” he trailed off. “I’m doing this for Jamie, for Emmy. I want Emmy to be able to see all the things she knew before the snap, and Jamie to see things he never has.”

“Like whales in the Hudson?”

“Like whales in the Hudson.” Steve nodded with a smile. “Although I’d never seen that before either, but the point still remains. I want them to have the best possible life that we can give them.”

Katie looked at him, and sniffed. “You swear to me, right now, that the moment we start to see things going sideways, if we can’t be certain that we won’t impact anything that’s happened in the last five years, we stop.”

“Hand on heart, I swear to you.” Steve took her face in his hands, driving his message home “Kitten, I’d die before I let anything happen to any of you.”

“Yeah, that kinda worries me a little too.” She sniffed and he chuckled slightly, before dropping a soft kiss to her lips.

“Let’s see what Bruce has to say tomorrow.” Steve said gently, his thumbs skating over her cheekbones. “If he doesn’t believe we can control the outcome then, we give up. It was a stab in the dark, but nothing more.”

Katie nodded, and he pressed his lips to hers again, this time the kiss slightly deeper.

“I love you.” He moved his hands to lace into hers before he raised her left to his lips and placed a soft kiss over the top of her rings. 

*****

Bruce was already waiting for them at the diner the next morning. Scott’s shocked and puzzled reaction to seeing the Hulk-Sized Bruce Banner was understandable, after all it was the same reaction Katie, Steve and Natasha had all had when they had seen him like this for the first time a few months back. In fact, the only person that hadn’t batted an eyelid was Jamie.

“Hi Dr Brucie!” Jamie grinned, reaching over Katie to hi-five the man, Banner grinning a the boy’s nick name for him.

“You’re getting big, tiny person!” He boomed as the simply ridiculous amounts of food started to arrive. Brue wasn’t shy about digging in, and neither was Jamie, as always. Katie dished out some eggs, sausages and bacon onto his plate and poured him a small glass of the orange juice whilst, in turn, Steve poured her and Natasha some water.

“Come on, I feel like I’m the only one eating!” Bruce pushed a plate forward. “Apart from Jamie that is. Try some of that. Have some eggs.”

“I’m so confused.” Scott looked at Bruce, his face blank as he shook his head.

“These are confusing times.” Bruce nodded with a serious smile on his face.

“Right, no, no that’s not what I meant…”

“No, I get it I’m kidding.” Bruce grinned, dropping the act. “I know, it’s crazy! I’m wearing shirts now!”

“Yeah…wh…how, why?” Scott stuttered, his eyes wide as he looked at Bruce.

“Five years ago, we got our asses beaten. Except it was worse for me. Because I lost twice. First, Hulk lost, then Banner lost. Then, we all lost.”

“No one blamed you, Bruce.” Natasha said softly.

“I did.” Bruce stated simply “For years, I’ve been treating the Hulk like he’s some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then I started looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in a gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together. And now look at me. Best of both worlds…”

He was cut off by a group of three children, one of which tapped him on the shoulder. “Excuse me, Mr. Hulk?

"Yes?” Bruce asked, turning to face them.

“Can we get a photo?” the little girl beamed at him.

“100%, little person. Come on, step up.” Bruce said, taking the phone which was handed to him and leaning across Natasha to pass it to Scott. “You mind?

“Oh, yeah.” Scott shook himself out of his thoughts, accepting the phone.

“Thanks,” he said before he turned to the kids. “Say ‘green’!” “Greeeeen!” came the collective chant before Bruce looked at Scott “Did you get that?”

Scott leaned forward and held the phone out, before he gestured at himself, “Don’t you wanna grab one with me? I’m Ant-Man.”

Nothing.

Katie hastily picked up her glass of water and locked eyes with Natasha, the red head trying also not to laugh.

“It’s alright they’re Hulk fans, they don’t know Ant-Man. Nobody does.” Scott shook his head.

"Wait, no, no, he feels bad. No, he wants you to…he wants to.” Bruce looked at one of the boys “You want to take a picture with him, right?” The boy shook his had vigorously.

“He’s even saying 'no’ he doesn’t.” Scott snapped. “I get it. I don’t want it either.”

Katie looked at Steve who was now staring down at the glass of water in his hand, his fingers trailing round the top. He was getting frustrated, Katie could tell. She reached behind Jamie, who was nestled in-between his parents and gently gave his neck a soft tickle with her fingers and he looked at her, smiling softly.

“Just take the goddamn phone.” Scott called time on the ridiculous exchange that had been going on, and Steve took a long drink of his water.

“Thank you very much!” Banner called smiling “Hulk out!”

“Bruce.” Steve looked at him, deciding to bring him back to the subject in hand. Bruce ignored him.

“Dab!”  he grinned, making the action as the kids all laughed.

“Bruce.” Steve spoke this time again in his Captains voice, but to no avail. He rolled his eyes as the man continued.

“Listen to your mom. She knows better.”

“About what we were saying?” Steve tried once more as Bruce finally, and Katie suspected rather reluctantly, turned back to them.

“Right, the whole time travel do-over.” Bruce leaned back in his chair. “Guys, it’s outside my area of expertise.”

“Well, you pulled this off.” Natasha looked him up and down before she smiled.“I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible too.”

Bruce nodded slightly, before he took a deep breath.

“In suppose, in theory you could do it.” He scratched at his chin. “You could go back in time, get the stones and come back without changing anything that’s happened in the past five years.”

“How?” Katie looked at him, her arm dropping round Jamie’s shoulders as he continued to scribble on the colouring pad they’d brought for him.

“Well,” Bruce said, looking at her. “Thanos was already on his murder mission way before he got the stones. He harnessed their power and got them to work together to do exactly what he wanted.”

“So,” Steve looked at Bruce, “if we tell the stones what we want, exactly what we want…”

Bruce nodded. “Everyone comes home, and the past five years remain untouched.”

Katie and Steve looked at one another, before they glanced over the table and Scott and Natasha smiled.

Everyone comes home…

**** Chapter 51

 **Original Posting**

[fandom-imagines-stories]

The Last Toll

Dean Winchester x Reader

Words: 3865

Part One; Part Two

Summary: Trying to protect the boys from having to witness your death, you leave the bunker to die alone. Dean and Sam desperately try to find you before time runs out. 

Notes: Here it is. The final part in this trilogy of twists and lots of angst. I am super proud of how this series turned out and I hope you guys enjoyed the ride. As always, let me know what you think! (But hey, keep an eye out in the future for possible continuations)

Warnings: Death, gore, sacrifice, lots of angst and tears

Special shout out to my amazing beta reader Sarah, @suckmysupernatural​ . I love her so much and honestly, she’s helped me so much in getting these imagines out for you and she has some absolutely killer writing of her own!

Want more Supernatural? Find it HERE

-

Monday 6:00 A.M.

You had exactly 18 hours left on Earth. 18 hours until a big invisible dog carries you in its mouth down to the eternal Big House. After arguing with Dean last night, it was finally hitting you. You were going to hell. An endless circle of torment that you had no escape from. Beside you, Dean turned over, still fast asleep. You smiled to yourself. You were going for him. 

Carefully lifting the blanket, you silently got out of the bed. You grabbed some clothes and stuffed them into your bag. It would be easier to change in the car. You couldn’t risk waking anyone up. 

You snuck out into the kitchen, quickly ducking behind the wall when you saw a trench coat laid over one of the chairs, it’s owner flipping through a book. Why can’t angels take naps? You tiptoed towards the entrance, making as little noise as possible. 

“You won’t get far.” Cas scolded, not even looking up from his cookbook. You sighed heavily. Busted.

“I can’t stay.” You stepped into the kitchen, putting your bag on the table. “I’ve put them through enough. I have to do this alone.”

“You know what Dean would say?” Cas inquired. You hated when he tried to guilt trip you. “He would say,” the angel lowered his voice to impersonate your boyfriend, “‘You’re one of us. And none of us goes down alone.’ Don’t you want to be with the people who love you? With the man you love so much you sold your soul?” It was odd to hear him speak so emotionally. You could feel tears welling, but you forced them back. If you cried one more time, you’d scream.

“I got to see him one last time. I got to see those eyes bright with life again. I got to kiss him again.” He looked ready to rebuttal so you stopped him. “This isn’t the first time this has happened, Cas. I can’t make Sam watch that again. And Dean…” You sighed, “The only thing that would come from them being there when the bitch comes is more trauma for them to carry around.” You put a hand on his shoulder, urging him to understand. “Let their last memory of me be a good one.” Cas was silent for a moment. 

“Alright.” You exhaled a breath of relief. You knew he would understand. Cas stood and grabbed his trench coat. “But I’m driving.” Your relief was replaced with frustration. 

“Cas, no-”

“Spare the Winchesters if that’s really what you want. There may not be a way out of this, but you will not go alone.” He was using his angel voice and there was no fighting him on this one. With a huff, you conceded. 

“Fine, but I am picking the music.”

-

9:34 A.M.

You’d kept your phone on silent, ignoring all of the calls you had anticipated. If you heard his voice, you would make Cas turn the car around. You did, however, try and read the avalanche of text messages you were receiving from both brothers. 

Don’t do this.

You don’t have to face this on your own.

Please baby, answer the phone.

One of Sam’s messages in particular sent a pang of guilt through your heart. 

Dean’s going nuts over here. We both are. Please just come home. If only to say goodbye.

“Regretting your decision?” Cas wondered gruffly. You shot him a look and turned on the radio. Cas changed the channel quickly as ‘Highway to Hell’ played, muttering that it was inappropriate given the circumstances. Instead, he found a  station playing Night Ranger’s ‘Sister Christian’. You felt that ache in your chest come back. 

“Now what?” Cas read your expression. 

“Nothing, it’s just this song.” You had to laugh at how sentimental you were being. “Dean played it all the time when we first became a couple. He liked to joke that he was the ‘Mr. Right’ I’d been so desperately looking for.” The memory made you smile and you imagined being in the impala with Dean singing from the driver’s side. 

“Motoring!” He would belt. “What’s your price for flight? You’ve got him in your sight. And driving through the night.” You would both sing the guitar part and laugh. 

“Y/N… Y/N.” Cas broke you out of the memory, seeing the sadness in your eyes. You hadn’t even realized that he had stopped the car. “I figured you would want some coffee.” You looked out the window and saw the gas station he had parked in front of. 

“You’re a saint, Cas,” You exclaimed, the grumbling in your stomach finally getting your attention. The angle looked very confused. 

“Y/N, I can’t be a saint. I’m an angel.”

“It’s just an expression.” You laughed, opening the car door. “I’ll be back in a sec.”

Cas knew that if you were anything like your boyfriend, you’d pursue the aisle for some pre-packaged junk food for a while before checking out. Which gave him about ten minutes to return a very angry call. 

“Where are you? Is she with you? What the hell Cas?” Dean yelled into the receiver. Sam sat at the table, still trying to find you, but you must have turned the tracker on your phone off. 

“She’s okay, Dean.”

“Bring her back. Now.”

“I can’t. She’ll run if she thinks I’m taking her to you.” Cas explained, keeping an eye on you as you moved through the candies. “We’re stopped at a gas station in Topeka.”

“Where are you headed?” 

“She won’t say.” Cas sighed. “She just tells me what turns to make and what roads to follow. Although, she did mention something about ‘seeing the old place again’, whatever that means.” Cas watched you pay for your items and head for the exit. “I’ve got to go.”

“Cas, wait!” Dean said, but the line was already dead. “Damn it!” He tossed the phone across the table. Sam caught it before it could slide off. 

“He wouldn’t tell you?” 

“He doesn’t know!” The older Winchester exclaimed in frustration. “He said Y/N is just telling him as they go. The only clue she’s given him is ‘seeing the old place again.’” 

“Did he say where they were stopped at least?”

“Some gas station in Topeka, so they could be heading anywhere.” Dean paced back and forth. He should have known you would pull something like this. You thought you were protecting him by facing this alone. Hell, you’d been doing it since you were a kid. Dean stopped suddenly. 

“What is it?” Sam asked and his brother grabbed the keys to his car. 

“I know where she’s going.”

-

2:14 P.M.

You hadn’t seen the house in about twenty years. Then, it was a family home- bikes left on the lawn, your mother’s tulips overtaking the garden, your terrible chalk drawings covering the driveway. Now, the wood was rotting and a tall chain link fence surrounded the premises. 

“What are we doing here?” Cas wondered, turning off the truck as you hopped out. The bottle of anger liquid practically glowed in the afternoon sun. You took a swig.

“This, my friend, is where I grew up.” You surveyed the house and nodded. “And it’s where I want to die.” You tucked the bottle in your bag and climbed the fence, landing on the other side with a dramatic flare. Cas let out an exasperated sigh. 

“What happened here?” He asked, reading all of the ‘Condemned Building’, ‘Do Not Enter’ signs. He followed you over the fence, clumsily tumbling onto the other side. 

“When I was fifteen, my brother came home from college for the weekend. Only, it wasn’t my brother.” The old wounds didn’t hurt as much anymore, but being here again certainly made them sting a little. “It was a shifter. Now, my parents were hunters before they had us, so they figured out something was wrong…just not fast enough.” It all felt so far away now. “After he killed them, he came after me. Somehow, I got the upper hand and sent a silver kitchen knife through his heart. That’s how I started hunting.” Cas put a hand on your shoulder. 

“I’m sorry.” You just shrugged sadly. 

“It was a long time ago.” You were able to pick the lock on the front door, the smell of mold and dirt filling your nostrils. Home sweet home. 

Somehow, the kitchen table was still standing and the sliding glass door leading to the back porch was intact. Your father always used to joke that it was bulletproof. The last time you were in this room, you stabbed a creature that looked like your big brother. And that was shockingly the least complicated your life had been in twenty years.

“Make yourself at home Cas. I’ve got about,” You looked down at your watch, “nine hours and forty minutes until I become a chew toy and I’m going to spend it reminiscing and getting very, very drunk.” Cas gave you a look of disdain. “Hey, I didn’t ask you to be here.”

“You are handling your impending damnation remarkably well.” He sat down in a creaky chair as you started to empty out your bag. 

“I’m not going to spend my last few hours cowering in the corner, Cas.” You opened the small tin box that you had brought. “I can’t fight what’s going to happen to me. The most I can do is stay here, away from Sam and Dean, and wait.” You repeated it over and over in your head as if you could convince yourself. Every bone in your body wanted to fight. It’s just who you were. You survived. But now, you were staring down the gaping mouth of hell for the man who taught you to live. 

-

4:36 P.M.

You may have had a three hour head start to St. Louis, but Cas couldn’t drive like Dean could. Both brothers continued their attempts to call you but it was still to now avail. It didn’t matter. They knew where to find you.

The exact address of your childhood home was not hard to find. Your parent’s deaths were well publicized so Sam just followed the trail of articles. Sure enough, Cas’ truck was parked in front of the condemned building. 

“Why would she pick this place?” Sam asked, taking in the sad sight. 

“This is where it all started for her.” Dean answered somberly. “It’s where she wants it to end.”

Inside, a half empty bottle of Jack sat beside the pile of photographs you had been looking through. You told Cas dozens of stories, some through laughter, some tears, and some both. With music playing from your phone, you didn’t hear the new set of footprints until the Winchesters were standing in front of you. You jumped up from the table, the alcohol in your system making you dizzy.

“You told them!” You cast an accusing glare at the angel beside you.

“This isn’t what you want.” He replied in a quiet voice. You turned your panicked face back to the brothers. Sam’s expression held a sad understanding, but you couldn’t read Dean’s. He stepped towards you. 

“You have to leave.” You ordered, backing away as he got closer. “I don’t want you here for this. Get back in the impala and leave.” You backed into the corner and Dean towered over you. “Please, Dean.” His eyes searched yours and knew. He pulled you into his arms, tucking your head under his chin. 

“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart.”

You didn’t fight him. You let him hold onto you as your body started to shake. It was another one of your selfish reasons for leaving. If he wasn’t here, if you couldn’t look at his face, you could pretend that you weren’t scared. Now he was here and all of that tough-girl bullcrap was gone.

“I’m right here baby.” He kissed your forehead, taking all of your stress and putting it on his shoulders. You would carry this together. 

“Why did you leave?” Sam asked gently. You turned, Dean keeping his arms around you from behind. 

“Because you shouldn’t have to see this, Sam. You watched it happen to your brother, I couldn’t make you watch it again. Neither of you should be put through this.” Dean lightly kissed your shoulder. 

“You can’t do this alone.” He whispered. 

“I had Cas.” You smirked. The three of you laughed, Cas even cracking a smile.

“Why don’t I go to a restaurant with quick service and get food?” Cas suggested.

“Fast food. It’s called fast food.” Dean snickered into your shoulder. You elbowed him. 

“That would be great.”

The sound of a clock chiming startled all of you, Dean instinctively pushing you behind him. Sam sighed. 

“It’s okay, It’s only five.” You were all so on edge that it felt later. The clock echoed still, connecting a memory in your mind.

“No way.” You broke away from Dean and found the living room. You must not have heard it earlier because of the music. Sure enough, the gigantic Grandfather clock was still ticking. “I can’t believe it still works.” You mused, running your fingers over the dust covered glass. “My dad loved this thing. He never let us play around it because he was scared that my brother and I would break it.” By some cruel irony, it lasted longer than he did. 

-

10:29 P.M.

With stomachs full of fries and mediocre burgers, you had climbed up onto the roof- which was surprisingly still sturdy- to look at the stars. Five hours passed in a blink and you were all getting anxious. Sam and Cas were inside, giving you and Dean time alone. 

“I want you to have this.” You began, talking over the music playing from your phone. You handed him the small tin that you kept all your pictures in. Dean raised a brow and you playfully rolled your eyes. “And no, there’s no playboy material in there so you can wipe that smirk off your face.” Dean chuckled and draped around your shoulders to pull you closer. 

He opened the box and spilled the contents into his lap. The first image made him laugh. It was of you and Sam, fast asleep on a motel sofa, your head on his shoulder and half of his body dangling over the arm of the couch. Someone- aka Dean- had drawn mustaches on your faces. 

“I forgot about this.” Dean put each photo back in the box as he looked at them. Some were from when you were a kid, but most were from your time with them. He paused at one in particular. It was of you hugging him from behind as he worked under the hood of the impala, both of you laughing at something he had said. You were at Bobby’s. Ellen had taken it.

“Damn,” Dean muttered, putting the picture on top of the others. You knew what he was thinking. He’d lost so many people. His parents, Bobby, Ellen and Jo, and countless others. Now he would have to add you to the list. 

“When it comes, I’ll need to borrow your gun.” You said suddenly. He gave you a strange look, taking a second to understand. “I figured it would be a better way to go than becoming dog food.” Dean winced. This was not a subject he wanted to address. A part of him still had hope. 

“Maybe there’s still a way.” 

“Dean,” You sighed, “there would need to be an act of God or the gates of hell closing.” You had a little less than an hour now. Dean’s eyes lit up and he shifted to face you. 

“That’s it. That’s how we can fight this.” 

“Dean, what are you talking about?”

“When Sam was completing the trails, he was able to kill a hellhound with an angel blade. We can kill it.” His voice had a new sense of determination.

“Dean, there would just be more.” You scoffed. He couldn’t be serious.

“So we kill them!” He said it as if it was simple. “It’ll at least buy us more time to undo the deal.”

“Dean…” You looked at him like he was crazy, but the new found hope on his face made it impossible to rebuke. 

“It’ll work.” He said, more to himself than to you. “It has to work.” You both fell silent, listening to the music. You almost laughed. Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’. You sang along in your head.

“And it’s whispered that soon, if we call the tune then the piper will lead us to reason. And a new day will dawn for those who stand long and the forests will echo with laughter.” 

Surely, somebody up there was laughing. Whoever God was, he sure had a twisted sense of humor.

-

11:57 P.M. 

“We need to get inside.” Dean announced, grabbing the tin and putting it in his jacket pocket. “It’ll be easier to corner the bitch so we can kill it.” 

You both climbed down into the back yard. Sam and Cas were waiting, already filled in on the plan. Neither were overly confident, but if there was a chance, they were willing to try. 

“You ready?” Sam asked. You gulped and gave the three of them a solemn nod. Each man filed inside, weapons at the ready. As soon as Dean was in, you slid the glass door shut, jamming a metal bar in between the door and the wall. 

“Y/N!” Dean yelled, trying to force it open. “Y/N, what are you doing?” The door wouldn’t budge. “Let me out!”

You put your hand against the glass, palm splayed out where Dean’s fist pounded. You gave him a small, sad smile. 

“It’s okay.” You mouthed. His hand flattened against yours. “It’s going to be okay.” You exchanged a glance with Sam and he gave you a wordless promise. He would make sure his brother would get through this. You locked your eyes with Dean’s. You never got tired of those emerald irises. Knowing that you put the life back in those perfect green eyes would give you enough courage to face what came next. 

You closed your eyes, feeling a lone tear slide down your cheek. 

12:00 A.M.

This time, the clock’s chiming didn’t make you jump. The howl did. Both Sam and Dean were desperately trying to get the door open, but Cas knew that this was what you wanted. He turned away. 

“Damn it, Y/N! Open the door!” Dean shouted again, hitting the glass as hard as he could. You spoke just loud enough for them to hear you. 

“I love you.” You opened your eyes only to find the heartbreak in his. “I love all of you.” You cried out as a set of claws dug deeply into your calf, yanking you backwards onto the concrete. 

“No!” Dean screamed. He pulled so hard that the handle of the door snapped off. Sam was frozen now, neither brother able to tear their eyes away. 

You tried to hold back your screams, but it was useless. The hellhound flipped you onto your back, claws ripping through your shoulder like paper. Your shrieks were loud enough to fill the kitchen. 

“Baby, please.” Dean cried, his efforts in trying to break the glass merely giving him bruises. He was forced to watch the invisible beast create claw marks along your arms and chest. He felt every tear as if it were happening to him all over again. A pool of blood started to pour out beneath you.

Your most agonizing scream came when you felt the dog’s jaws clamp around your side. You looked up at the men above you. Dean’s face was stained with tears, as was his brother’s. They both looked so anguished, so shattered. So you remembered last night. You remembered their laughing faces and off-key singing. You remembered Sam’s comforting embrace and his knowing smile. You remembered the taste of Dean’s lips and the feeling of his body tangled with yours. You remembered their eyes in the sunset, sparkling and alive. And you smiled. Your boys.

“Y/N! No!” Dean screamed in horror as a chunk of your flesh was violently torn away. You stopped moving. “Y/N!” The last toll of the clock echoed throughout the entire house and the old Grandfather clock stopped ticking. 

Sam pushed his brother to the side and fired his gun at the glass until it shattered. Dean bolted through, not caring if he got cut. The hound was gone, leaving only carnage in its wake. He fell to his knees. 

“Y/N?” His voice was quiet now, hoarse from screaming. Your eyes stared blankly up at the stars, blood splattered across your face. He cradled your head in his hand. “Don’t do this to be, baby. Don’t do this to me.” He pulled you into his lap. “Come on sweetheart, don’t make me lose you too. Please.”

Sam’s chest tightened, watching his brother break down. He couldn’t remember the last time he saw Dean cry this hard. Cas had vanished, so it was just the two of them now. After a moment, Sam let out a heavy sigh. 

“Why don’t you head out the car? I’ll clean up.” 

“No.” Dean growled, head jerking up to look at him. “I have to do this.” Dean straightened and he scooped your body up into his arms. Blood rushed down his clothes like rain, seeping through to his skin. It would stain him for the rest of his life. He pressed a kiss to your forehead one last time and gently closed your eyes. 

And she’s buying a stairway to Heaven. 

-

Tuesday 8:33 A.M.

The ride back to the bunker was silent. Even when they got back, Sam knew better than to say anything. Dean went to take a shower, shoving the small tin to the back of his drawer. Sam poured himself a drink. He looked out on an empty library and lifted his glass, as if he were toasting you. 

Dean turned the water to a scalding temperature, feeling it burn as it rinsed off the sticky crimson liquid that covered his chest and arms. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw your smile going blank as the hellhound tore away your skin. And all he could hear was that stupid clock. Before he even realized it, his hand punched the tiled wall over and over again until it cracked, his knuckles splitting open and oozing blood. He didn’t even feel it. He didn’t feel anything. 

-

It was dark, but you could still see the blade hanging above you, glistening menacingly. Spiked restraints pierced your wrists, holding you down on the table. 

“Sam? Cas? Anybody!” You cried. There was no hiding the terror in your voice. The saw screeched to life and slowly lowered down towards you. “Help me! Somebody please!” You struggled, only making the spikes dig further into your skin. There was no escaping this. Your screams filled the darkness. “Dean!”

-

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