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chaotic-mystery · 1 year ago

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Pairing: dbf!Joel miller x f!reader (no outbreak)

Summary: You kissed Joel after you had that terrible fight with your dad and you have no idea what Joel’s thinking now. Did you just ruin everything or will he finally admit he likes you just as much as you do him? What about Michelle?

Content warnings: my blog is 18+ so mdni! Eventual smut, age gap (readers in her twenties and Joel is in his 40s) dads best friend, enemies to lovers, slow burn, infidelity, family issues and daddy issues, talks about emotionally absent parent and effects it has, reader not feeling good enough for someone to love them, talks of healthy father daughter relationships, as well as a brief mention of being drunk. Let me know if I’ve missed anything!

|| wc: 4.2k || notif blog @chaoticnotifs || I love u ||

Within a few short moments, Joel was pushing you off him, his breaths shallow and the look on his face was already telling you something before his words did. “Darlin’, I-” He started, and he sighs deeply, great.

“Baby, I think you’re a little drunk. We can talk about this tomorrow, okay? Cmon, let’s getcha inside and get some sleep, lord knows you need it after all that cryin’. His hand smooths down his jeans over his thigh while his other hand takes yours gently, giving it a slight shake. You were sober as one could be but there was no more fight in you to argue, especially not with him.

“Yeah, probably right. Thanks for today, Joel. I appreciate it, more than you’ll ever know.” A soft smile grew on your lips before climbing out of his truck, walking to your front door. You wanted to turn around so badly and follow him into his house to his room, climb into his bed and just be held by him. Instead, you were faced with your cold, empty bed you dreaded laying in because Joel wasn’t there. It didn’t even dawn on you about Michelle until you noticed the last clean shirt you had with the bar logo on it that was hanging in your closet. The last you knew he wasn’t really with Michelle, more so on a break after everything at White Pony.

All night you tossed and turned, constantly looking out your window to Joel’s bedroom window who had a lamp on each time you glanced over. Your dreams were flooded with him, he suddenly consumed your every thought, awake or asleep. He was haunting you, the ghost of his fingertips on your skin, the way his soft lips felt on yours before he pushed you away. To be in the truck again and do it over, to kiss him longer and touch him, feel his skin and how his strong hands felt around your waist, to sit on his lap and just have him hold you right against his chest until he was content.

–

“Sarah cmon, you’re gonna be late, girl!” Joel shouts from the porch and you're awake, eyes fluttering open slowly to look at the ceiling. Sarah climbed out of who you assumed was her mother’s car and shut the passenger side door, running up the sidewalk.

Dad, stop! I’m coming, don’t eat all the pancakes!” Her giggle echoes between your houses and up your window, causing you to smile subconsciously.

Joel went inside before she made it to the porch, and her laugh got quieter as she shut the front door behind her. Soon enough it was quiet once more and you were left alone with yourself. Before you left to come back to Texas, one of your good friends mentioned to you about journaling and how healing it can be for you. With every intention of making it work, you started to dig through your drawers to find the little dyed green leather journal you got from the book store. It’s been through a lot, the way the pages are wrinkled from when it fell in the bathtub one night, some of the corners burnt from sitting next to an open candle flame for too long. Everything on its pages are things from being a kid you’re trying to process, doodles, everything you wish you could say to your dad. Journaling was sometimes helpful but most of the time it left you feeling empty.

If you didn’t harbor the feelings inside and constantly think about it, what were you supposed to feel? Is it normal to feel this empty on a day to day basis and was that something you really looked forward to? You sighed and tugged on your hoodie and pants, walking out into the hall to go downstairs and start your day with a cup of coffee. Ever since Joel watched you make coffee once at work, he hasn’t let up since. Every time he sees you with a travel cup he asks if it's hot or iced, knowing what the answer will be and he’s disappointed every single time.

With your glass almost empty by now and four pages scribbled on, you finally felt comfortable to stop. It was almost like you blacked out writing, not really sure what exactly you wrote down but it brought you that same empty feeling once more so that must’ve meant you were done for the day. A knock on your door takes you from zoning out and you’re met with Joel’s face, a plate of pancakes, and a glass of orange juice.

“Before you start, the orange juice was Sarah’s idea. I know you hate eating breakfast when you first wake up so I figured you’d nibble on these until you’re hungry enough to eat them normally.” His small smile makes your heart skip a beat and you reach out to grab the plate from him, along with the orange juice and you take a small sip, tipping the glass to him with a nod.

“Give Sarah my thanks, yeah?” The awkward silence was killing you and you were hoping he’d bring up last night. He just shoves his hand in his pocket and clears his throat, looking around at the neighbors homes as Joel racks his brain on what to say.

“Joel I-” you start but he cuts you off.

“Darlin’ it’s fine, you were drunk. We’ve all been there before.”

You groaned in annoyance and walked to the kitchen island with the front door wide open, signaling him to follow.

You leaned your ass against the counter top and folded your arms across your chest, glancing out the window above the sink to the left of you. “I wasn’t drunk, okay? I was perfectly sober. I wanted to kiss you, I’ve thought about it a lot and it was something I wanted. I’m sorry if you didn’t feel the same way. I know you’re with Michelle and I know she doesn’t trust me around you and I just gave her all the proof she needs to keep thinking that.” You were rambling out of nervousness and he just stood there and listened, his hands were on his hips while he looked at the floor. The bundle of anxiety was growing in the pit of your stomach and you were worried you just fucked everything up even more by bringing up Michelle.

“I-I just…I needed to know what it’s like to kiss you, Joel. I’m sor-”

“Honey, jus’ stop,...’kay? First of all, Michelle not trusting you isn’t because of you, it’s because she caught me one too many times checkin’ on you at work and she didn’t like it. You are a smart, funny, sarcastic woman and you’re beautiful but baby, you’re so much younger than me, not to mention my best buddy's daughter. This would never work, you and I.” Joel barely whispers the last part of his sentence and his shoulders drop, eyes finally meeting yours. The same rejected feeling crept up and bit you in the ass once more, a common feeling for you from almost every person you’ve met in your life.

“Not to mention you slept with Tommy, couldn’t do that to him.”

You roll your eyes and scoff, shaking your head at Joel. “Oh suddenly you and Tommy care who you share and pass around between the two of you? That’s really rich, Joel, considering he dropped that little nugget about you two tag teaming a girl while his drunk ass had to come get yanked out of my bed?”

Joel’s jaw clenched together and his nostrils flared slightly, the anger in him rising the more you called him out.

“Be careful if you’re gonna run your mouth about shit you don’t know.” The look on his face gave you a slight jumpstart to your heart and excitement in your tummy. He’s sexy when he’s angry but telling him that right now would only make him even more upset.

“So are you saying if I didn’t sleep with Tommy, wasn’t my dad’s daughter, and about twelve years older, I’d have a shot with you?” You wiggle your eyebrows at him and walk over to him slowly with your arms behind your back, trying to look innocent.

Joel however, sees right through your bullshit and chuckles at your attempts to get more answers from him. “Did I say that?” He cocks his head to one side and watches you get close until you stop right in front of him.

“I might be reading between the lines, but oh well. Was I at least a good kisser?” You smirk at him and see the sparkle in his eye, Joel tries to fight back the corners of his lips from curling upwards.

“Why is it so easy for you to piss me off and then you wanna be sweet? You’re a damn sour patch kid.” The annoyance in his tone was only masking the laugh he was containing.

“That doesn’t tell me if I was a good kisser or not, Mr.Miller.” You grab the collar of his flannel and fix it so it laid flat and Joel’s breath hitched when you brushed against his skin.

Joel cracks his fingers in nervousness and hesitates before answering quietly, “I don’t remember, honestly. It was short.”

“Aw, is the age catching up to you, old man?” You tease, batting your eyelashes up at him.

Gently but firm enough to feel it, Joel’s hands meet your hips and squeeze firmly as he leans in, lips ghosting over yours. Now it’s your turn to have your breath hitch and the nervousness bubbled in your stomach.

His eyes close for just a moment before he grumbles,”Yeah I bet you wanna kiss me again. Does it get you all excited, baby? Kissin an older man like me when you’re not ‘sposed to?” He pulls back, standing up straight this time with the evilest grin on his face.

Joel could see you panicking to find an answer, an excuse, something. Without waiting for your answer, he turns on the heel of his boot and heads for the door, leaving you speechless and heart racing in the middle of your kitchen.

“What’s wrong sweet girl, cat got your tongue?” The door was shut before you could come up with a smart ass response to retort. Even worse than a cat having your tongue, Joel Miller had your tongue. If he wants to play this game with you, he’d soon be figuring out how much better at it you were than him. With the warm plate of pancakes calling your name from the marble counter behind you, you pulled back foil and watched the small amount of steam roll up into thin air.

Tearing into the fluffy pancakes, you rip a piece off and put it in your mouth, the butter soaked into the layers but still present. It was good at first and it had been a long time since you had a homemade breakfast. Before you can understand what’s happening, your fingers grip quickly and pull apart piece after piece and shove it in your cheeks as you close your eyes and feel the tears sting. To be cared for by a man who’s old enough to be your dad but isn’t your dad will always be hard for you. Why was it so easy for them to do kind things for you without a second thought but it was like pulling teeth for your own blood? For just a second you felt the jealousy of never having what Sarah and Joel have, that connection and inseparableness of father and daughter. The hot tears fall down your cheeks as your arms drop, no more soft pancake shoved in between your teeth as your brows furrowed in sorrow… anger, confusion…jealousy. It was almost as if a switch flipped and you were yanked out of your dark mindset over a kind gesture from your neighbor.

You grab a napkin from the holder in the middle of the counter and quickly spit out the mush, your vision so blurry and fuzzy from the tears. Your home was quiet with only the fridge buzzing softly and your runny nose sniffling subconsciously. Cold fingers wrap around the orange juice and you bring it to your slightly puffy post-cry lips, taking a small sip and letting the tangy liquid roll down your esophagus. You try to swallow your feelings and bury them deep inside once more to hide away the things you don’t dare talk about with anyone.

What little bit of jealousy still inside you causes you to push the plate away from the end of the counter, groaning in frustration at the meltdown you thought you had controlled.

Weeks go by and you haven’t heard much from Joel. His truck was gone when you got up early in the mornings trying to find a new job and his driveway was still empty by the time you were going to bed. Not a single phone call returned to you from him, your red landline phone he made fun of you for buying at a garage sale hardly rang unless it was someone trying to sell fake insurance. Thanksgiving came and went and it was like nothing happened between you and your dad, or at least no one brought it up when you gathered with the rest of your family at his house. They were all surprised to see you since you left years ago with your mother and never visited for the holidays but no one wanted to ruin the day of pretending you were a big happy family. The only people you called while you were away were your grandparents. They were like your best friends, always knew what was going on with you and they wanted better than what you got, they even knew their son made many mistakes when it came to the way he parented you. Even at your age now you still need them how you did as a little girl, clinging to their side when you felt overwhelmed by all the people swarming you asking millions of questions while you’re trying to get a plate of food. You sat in the corner in an uncomfortable chair while you ate your food but all you could seem to think about was Joel, where he was or who he was with, was he even celebrating today? He was probably with Michelle and her family, talking away about how great she is to her parents while the reality was that she was still upset with him over Halloween. They were just like your family, everyone pretending to be something they weren’t. Luckily it went okay without anything bad happening this time but there was still Christmas to come.

With the holiday just passing a couple days ago and still no sign of Joel, you decide to call him just to check up on him. Three rings into the call and you were praying to the universe he didn’t answer, not because you didn’t want him to be okay but you didn’t even know what to say if he did pick up. Just as the fourth ring starts, Joel’s deep voice fills your ear canals.

“H-hello?” He sounds confused at first but then it fades to irritation quickly.

“Joel..? Hey..” You stutter out as you shove the red handset into the crook of your shoulder and ear while you fiddle with the cord.

“What do ya want, kid? Somethin’ wrong?” You can hear muffled voices behind him but all you can focus on is Joel and the way his voice sounds like velvet over the phone.

“N-no, no nothing wrong I just..” your voice wavers for a moment and something inside your mind tells you to be honest with him even if it’ll blow up in your face. “...I miss you..and you left without saying a word…was it something I did-” You stop yourself from babbling on and cut the risk of looking even more dumb to him. Joel’s end was consumed by the muffled voices and laughter, a door being shut silenced the noise and it was just you and Joel.

“It’s kinda hard to talk right now, honey. I went with Michelle to her parents in Kansas for Thanksgiving. You didn’t do anything wrong. I'm just trying to get all of this sorted out, okay? You gotta remember I’ve been with her for a long time and it’s not just somethin’ I can just leave out of the blue.” Joel sighs deeply and your heart starts to get heavy inside your body, the phone cord tangled in your fingers.

“Okay, sorry for bothering you. Have fun and have a safe drive back, guess I’ll still be here waiting for you.” It wasn’t your goal to get annoyed with him but this was how you coped. You’d shut down as soon as something bad was happening and acted like it didn’t hurt. Like it didn’t make you want to curl into a ball of embarrassment when he didn’t say he missed you back. Before he could respond you hung up on him and unplugged the phone line from the handset so he couldn’t call back, not that he even would.

With the kitchen clock reading almost nine o'clock at night and your head in a mess, you figured it was more than needed for you to go to bed. Your bedroom window seemed so incomplete with the safe sight of Joel’s lamp lighting up the window it sat in. Before getting into bed you thought you’d feel better if you put on the Wizard of Oz, your favorite childhood movie. Tucking yourself right between your pile of blankets and pillows, you laid there watching the house spin and spin in the tornado but you couldn’t resist not looking over at Joel’s house every two minutes like he’d suddenly be back and throwing rocks at your window like those corny rom coms. Even imagining it seemed too crazy, you and Joel could never be like that. The ruby shoes were sparkling on your eyes as your lids got heavy and you were asleep within seconds, dreaming of Joel once again.

You wake up hours later to the DVD menu on loop and your front door being pounded on. With your heart racing you look out your window and see Joel’s truck in the driveway with the engine still running, driver's side door wide open. You wrap the throw blanket around your shoulders and practically run down the stairs to look through the peephole. A messy haired, sweaty, disheveled Joel was leaning against the door waiting on you to answer. Swinging open the front door, he yanks back the screen door that was separating you two and stepped inside, grabbing your face and walking you backwards.

“What the hell do you think you’re doin’? You unplug your phone after throwin’ a tantrum and I can’t call you back, don’t know what’s goin’ on with you?!” Joel’s voice rattled you even though it was caring, it was still coated in frustration.

“I’m sorry I went to bed, I meant to plug it back in I’m- I’m sorry..” You look at his face and it dawns on you just how freaked out he was. He drove ten hours straight just to come see if you were okay.

“What did you think I was gonna do? Hang up and just go about my time in Kansas not knowing what happened to you? Bein’ a goddamn brat making’ it hard for me to get in touch with you.” Joel’s jaw clenches as his hands tighten on your face. His eyes haven’t relaxed yet and it’s almost like he’s searching in yours to find some truth to your actions, to find some reason.

You were speechless at him. Every time he did something it surprised you even more that someone cares about you that much to go the mile for you.

“Did you really drive all night to come back and check on me?” The hint of excitement in your voice makes Joel roll his eyes and a small smirk grow on his face. His face finally softens and he pulls you against him with his hands rubbing your back.

“Of course you wanna hear me say I drove ten hours just for you, crazy brat. Don’t ever do that to me again, understood?” Joels scruff softly brushes against your ear and you finally feel safe again, even if your relationship was up in the air.

“Would you maybe wanna stay with me, just until I fall asleep?” It kind of came out of your mouth before you thought about it but there was no more hesitating.

“I can, yeah. Let me go shut off my truck and I’ll be back in a second.” He kisses your forehead softly and walks back outside to his driveway, pulling his keys out of the ignition and locking the door. His black suitcase rolls against the pavement behind him on the walk back to your house. The sun would soon be up and shining through the tree branches but you had a hard time accepting this wasn’t a dream. He leaves his suitcase by the door and sits on the couch, sighing as he gets comfortable. Joel’s eyes watch you closely as you walk back to him with a water bottle directed to him to grab.

“Just try to be quiet when you leave, okay?” You mutter as you lay your head on his lap while tugging the blanket over you as you curl into a ball like a cat. Joel chuckles and rubs his chin slightly as he adjusts and gets comfortable with the pillow behind his head. It came as no surprise to yourself that you were already preparing for the heartbreak you’d eventually have to feel when he left while you’re fast asleep no matter how much you tried to enjoy Joel being there in the moment.

“I’ll try my hardest, baby girl.” He teases, softly running his fingernails against your scalp. Joel’s breathing slows to soft snores that fill the living room, the only sound that was audible as the sun came up and soon drowned the room in warm rays.

Joel’s watch on his left hand read just a little after eleven and the house was still, your light snores getting his attention as he rubs his eyes of sleepiness. You looked so peaceful to him and he didn’t want to leave you just yet.

He grabs onto your shoulder and shakes you awake gently, brushing the hair out of your face that fell during your nap.

“I’m starving and I know you don’t have enough food here to feed the both of us. Cmon, let’s go eat…I’ll buy.” Joel was trying to bribe you and you hated that it was working. You sit up and look at him with barely opened eyes.

“Really?”

Joel stands up to stretch and his midriff is exposed by his shirt, causing your eyes to glance at the skin you hadn’t seen until now.

“My offer is good for another thirty seconds, clock is tickin’.” The playfulness in his voice makes you grin and you grab your house keys from the bowl of clutter near the front door. Your head nods towards his truck and he strolls outside, shaking his head at your outfit.

“You really gonna wear that? Don’t think the waitress would take too kindly to a shirt that says, “Cougars” with a heart…” His fingers pinch the fabric and he lets go, a small indent left on the shoulder piece.

While you both buckle in, Joel looks around for anything you could use to cover what he thought was a god awful shirt. He tosses a black hoodie at you to wear and you begrudgingly tug it on when you notice his company’s logo on the back.

“There’s nothing wrong with showing cougars love, Joel. Would you rather it say dad’s best friend?” You can see his eyebrow raise as he cocks his head slightly to glance over at you.

“Don’t push it.” He mutters and starts to head to the diner.

You both decide on a booth and look over the menu before ordering and Joel sips his coffee, taking in the strong notes of the blend to prepare clearing his throat.

“So uh- think it’s pretty obvious I can’t leave you alone no matter how hard I try. I need to get some stuff sorted out but I’m really not trying to string you along, kid.” His brown eyes flick up to meet yours and he extends out his hand to grab your arm across the worn table.

“I know I just…I hate not knowing if you’re with Michelle or not. We need to be careful around everyone, ya know- pretend that we still hate each other..” You lead on and cough slightly at the hand laying on your arm.

Joel nods understandingly, knowing exactly where you’re coming from.

“No, I’m not with-“

“Michelle, hi!” You finish his sentence as your eyes meet her piercing stare as she stands behind Joel. Her arms were crossed and nostrils flared, not understanding entirely what she walked in on.

“Michelle..”

fuck.

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milunalupin · 25 days ago

Note

Hi!

If your not to busy could you possibly write a George x reader angst one shot with a fluff ending

You can can choose the plot cause I know what ever you do will be AMAZINGGG

thank youuu

sorry that this took me so long, thank you so much for your request and patience lovely !!

— more than this

george weasley x reader ★ 983 words

Shadows stretched across the grass as you stood near the edge of the Black Lake, struggling with a storm of emotions. What had started as a casual arrangement with your dear friend had spiraled into a chaotic mess that threatened to unravel everything. You liked him, a lot. Sometime it felt like he liked you too, when he walked you to class after kissing you silly in a broom closet. Or after having his way with you in the dorms he... oh who were you kidding. George Weasley would never like you the way you have always like him.

“Hey! You look like you’ve seen a Boggart,” George called, approaching with that familiar carefree grin. Today, however, it grated on your nerves.

“Maybe I have,” you replied sharply, not bothering to hide your irritation.

He frowned, concern flickering in his eyes. “You’re acting strange. What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” you snapped, turning your gaze away. The truth was, you were trying to process feelings you had buried deep. The more time you spent with him, the harder it became to ignore how much you cared. "I'm just thinking."

“Thinking about what? Quidditch? Seamus' latest disaster?” He leaned against a tree, arms crossed, his smile fading.

“About us,” you finally admitted, the words tasting bitter on your tongue.

“Us?” he echoed, panic creeping into his voice. “What do you mean?”

“I mean this arrangement,” you muttered, crouching down to take a seat on the grass. He pushed himself off the tree and slowly made his way to join you on the ground, waiting for you to explain yourself.

“It’s not just physical for me anymore, George.” you said, frustration bubbling over.

He shifted uncomfortably, running a hand through his hair. “But we agreed it was just for fun, right? That’s all it ever was.”

“Was it?” you pressed, turning to look at him, your heart racing. “Because it feels more complicated than that. Do you even feel anything?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, eyes darting away. “It’s just a bit of fun. We’re friends. It’s easy.”

“Easy?” You scoffed, disbelief pouring from you. “Is that all you wanted? Something easy?"

He flinched at your words, anger flashing in his eyes. “It’s not like that. We can’t just throw everything away because of some—some feelings!”

“Feelings? You think my feelings are trivial?” you shot back, your heart racing with frustration. “I didn’t ask to care about you, you know!”

“Then maybe it’s just a phase,” he said, almost dismissively. “You’re caught up in the moment. It doesn’t mean anything.”

Your heart sank, despair creeping in. “You’re really going to deny what’s happening between us?”

“Maybe it’s just the thrill of sneaking around,” he countered, crossing his arms, shutting you out. “You’re just imagining something more.”

“Imagining?” You frowned, shaking your head as desperation flooded your voice. “I want this to be real! I want you, George. Not just in the middle of the night or hidden away from our friends. And I think you feel the same.”

He looked away, conflicted. “But what if this ruins everything? What if it stops being fun? What if it gets messy?”

“Maybe we’ll figure it out!” you cried, your voice rising with frustration. “I’m tired of pretending! I’m tired of hiding because you can’t face what’s right in front of you!”

He hesitated, the cracks in his facade deepening. “I don’t know how to handle this. I’ve never cared about anyone like this before.”

“Then maybe we shouldn’t keep doing this,” you said, your heart heavy. “If you can’t be honest with yourself, maybe it’s best we end it.”

Silence fell between you, heavy and suffocating. George’s expression shifted, a mix of shock and hurt flashing in his eyes. “You want to end it?”

“I don’t want to be just a fling,” you replied, your voice trembling. “If you can’t see what’s happening, maybe it’s time to walk away.”

His gaze dropped, the weight of your words sinking in. “You really think I don’t care?”

“I think you’re scared,” you shot back, “And that fear is driving you away.”

The red-haired boy sighed, wrestling with his thoughts. “I thought I could keep things light. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I didn’t want to lose you as a friend.”

“Then why are we even having this conversation?” you asked, the desperation in your voice rising. “If you care, then say it!”

George looked torn, wrestling with his emotions. “Because it’s terrifying! I don’t know how to do this.”

“Then figure it out,” you said, voice steady despite the chaos inside. “Or we really are done here.”

He took a deep breath, finally meeting your gaze. “Alright. You want the truth? I’m scared to admit it, but I like you. I really do. I’ve been trying to convince myself it’s nothing, but it’s not. I don’t want to lose you, but I didn’t know how to say it.”

“Then let’s stop pretending,” you urged, your heart pounding. “Let’s see where this goes, but we have to be honest with each other.”

George nodded, a weight lifting from his shoulders. “Alright. I’m ready, I want to try.”

With that, he leaned in, his lips finding yours in a kiss that was both tentative and electrifying. His lips felt warmer than they have before, lovelier. His hands came up to gently cradle you face, thumbs caressing your cheeks. As you pulled away, the air felt charged with possibility, the uncertainty still lingering, but now accompanied by a flicker of hope.

“So, what now?” he asked, a mix of seriousness and relief in his eyes.

“Now, we figure it out,” you replied, heart racing but steadier than before. “No more hiding.”

“No more hiding.” he agreed, a small smile breaking through the tension. And in that moment, you both knew you were ready to confront whatever lay ahead, together.

#golden trio #golden trio era #george weasley #george weasley x reader

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writingonleaves · 1 month ago

Text

write me into your thoughts (i'll be safe with the words on the page) - jack hughes

pairing: jack hughes x amelie fishel (reckless driving au)

warnings: swearing, not proofread nearly enough lol, not much else i can think of!

inspired by + title: "on the page" by maggie rogers

word count: 15k

author's note: hi everyone! thank you for your patience. i had a wonderful time writing this one - it's always fun digging into jack and amelie's relationship. this is a part two, so if you haven't already, please read part one here! please let me know what you think and flood my inbox with all your thoughts!! worlds like this only come alive with you all, so any feedback you have, i'd love to hear it. i hope you enjoy❤️

taglist: @ru-kru, @bunbunbl0gs (lmk if you wanna be added)

amelie

Their first official date happens later than both Amelie and Jack would’ve liked.

They have to postpone it twice. The first is because Amelie is assigned to cover an Islanders pre-season game last minute. The second is because Jack forgets that he has a thing with Hockey in New Jersey until the night before. Both of them wanted to get away in Prague with just each other for a few hours but it proved to be too complicated, both with the actual scheduling and wanting to keep it on the down low from the team, especially because they’re not really anything yet and she just started the job and he respects that.

The Devils had asked her to tag along with some of the guys even on their off day to compile some sort of photo collage. They didn’t really give her many instructions, so she took that as an invitation to be creative. She switched between disposable, digital and film and had a lot of fun doing it, tagging along as they did touristy things and enjoyed each other’s company during meals.

At first, she was a bit intimidated at inserting herself into a group of guys who had just met. It took her the first full season of covering Michigan hockey before she even felt comfortable. But Curtis Lazar specifically took her in, introducing his family to her and treating her like an uncle would. Amelie just let the guys riff off each other while she snapped pictures whenever it felt right. Whatever she did, the team seemed to like, and that’s more than okay with her.

(She got some awesome pictures of a few of them on film that she didn’t necessarily think are the best to put out to the public but she thinks they or their families might appreciate them. She saves those, and vows to herself to try to do that as much as she can, making sure that her love of photography doesn’t just boil down to her job.

She has more than a few pictures of Jack, whether purposefully or not. They’ll be of use someday.)

The time they got to really let loose was the night after the second game, with everyone in high spirits after winning both games against Buffalo. Amelie had squeezed Seamus for an extra long time when she first saw him after the game and everyone was dressed to go out.

Both of them being rookies as Wolverine alums. It’s kinda touching. At least, everyone else thinks it does. Amelie does too, really, but she’s just trying not to fuck up at her very new and very cool job. The sentimentality of it all hasn’t quite hit her yet.

She’s trying to ignore Jack’s eyes that seem to always be on her. Right now, she just needs to focus on Prague and then deal with whatever that is when they get back to Jersey.

The day after the Devils home opener, she gets a text from Jack.

Jack Hughes

is today finally the day?

Amelie Fishel

i’m free! are you?

Jack Hughes

;)

just got out of morning skate

lunch? and we can walk around after?

or would you rather do dinner?

Amelie Fishel

lunch sounds good

you want me to pick a place?

Jack Hughes

i got it

11:30 okay? i’ll pick you up

Amelie Fishel

that’s perfect

see you soon!!

Amelie swallows as she looks into her closet. It doesn’t really matter. Jack’s seen her going-out outfits as well as her lounging at home fits. But she wants to feel good and comfortable because she doesn’t really know what to expect.

She’s surprised Jack has seemed to be so receptive, even though she’s the one who messed it all up that July night.

With a white sweater and black leggings on, she ties a black ribbon into her hair and takes a deep breath, just as her phone buzzes.

Jack Hughes

what’s your apt #

Amelie Fishel

She spritzes her perfume on just as she hears a knock on her door. She grabs her bag, slips on her boots and goes to open the front door.

Amelie swallows as she opens the door. Jack looks up from his phone, quickly slips it into his pocket, and smiles sweetly. He’s wearing an olive green jacket over a white shirt, tucked into blue jeans. His curls look good and she takes a deep breath.

“Hi,” he breathes out.

“Hey.” She looks down at the singular pink tulip in his hand.

He clears his throat. “I, uh, walked past the floral shop like, a block away from here? And I just..thought of you.”

“Oh,” she mutters softly. “Thank you. Let me put it in a vase and then we’ll head out.”

“Yeah, of course,” he says. “Take your time.”

Amelie fetches a mason jar and cuts the stem so that it’s proportionate. After admiring it for a second as it sits on her kitchen table, she walks back to the door, making sure she has her keys. She debates reaching for his hand, but she doesn’t, as they walk towards the elevator.

She notices that he leaves some distance between them as he leans his back against the wall. She must be giving him a look without realizing, because he lets out a nervous laugh. “What?”

“What?”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You’re making me nervous.”

“How?”

“I don’t know!” She vaguely gestures. “Why are you so…quiet?”

He laughs, and she smiles at the sound. “Sorry,” he says genuinely. “I’m not trying to be…I just don’t wanna mess this up again.”

All humor washes away from Amelie’s face as her stomach churns, watching Jack fidget. “I’m the one that lied to you, Jack,” she says softly. “You have nothing to make up for.”

“Maybe,” he admits. “But that doesn’t mean I didn’t do things wrong either. I wanna do it right this time. I’m sorry if I’m being weird.”

She can’t take it anymore, scooting herself closer to him and intertwining their hands together. Immediately, he squeezes them.

This might be their first official date. But she thinks she’s been his for awhile now, Even when they weren’t talking.

In hindsight, Amelie knew that lying to Jack, even if it was only for a few days, was the wrong move the second she did it. It took talking to her sisters, some friends and fucking Ethan Edwards for her to stop beating herself up about it so much and focus on moving forward and making it better (“if that’s something you want to do,” Ethan had added over the phone when she was close to hyperventilating. “You have endless chances to make up for lying. It’s obvious he still cares about you. You just need to do something about it. He’d forgive you in a heartbeat, Ami.”)

She had convinced herself that Jack wouldn’t want to hear her out, and that working adjacent with his team would just be filled with polite exchanges and nothing more. But then they locked eyes at Media Day and he caught her trying to get herself together and told her that he’d always say yes to her, whatever the fuck that means.

They’re walking out to the parking lot when Jack tugs their hands to a light stop in front of his car. He opens the passenger seat door, but pauses. She turns to him in confusion.

“You okay?” He asks, eyebrows pinched in concern. “I lost you for a bit.”

She tries to smile convincingly. “Yeah. Sorry.”

“Amelie, we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” he swallows. “If you-”

“No,” she says firmly, slipping into the seat. She’s not gonna let misunderstandings come between them again. “I want to do this. I’m just…freaking out a bit?”

He starts the engine before turning towards her. “Yeah, yeah. I get that. It’s just me though.”

She huffs. Because that’s partially the problem. She changes the subject. “Where are we going?”

“Clee likes this place called Elysian Cafe? I think it’s French.”

Amelie hums. “Sounds good.” She looks over to him. “Who knows this is happening?”

“The date?”

“Yeah.”

“Luke and Clee, obviously. Quinn. Probably Nico through Clee. Or me. I probably mentioned it to him. Why?”

She shrugs. “Just want to know what I’m working with.”

“Who knows on your end?”

“Just Col and Char,” she chuckles slightly at the memory. “They’re the ones who convinced me to try again in the first place.”

“Then I know who I have to thank,” Jack smiles. “You-I hope that’s okay that I told them?”

She shrugs. “They’re your siblings. Or dating one of them. I wouldn’t have any right to feel upset, especially because I did the same thing.”

“But you work with two of them.”

Right. Yeah. Part of the reason they had their whole misunderstanding in the summer. She takes a deep breath. “Yeah. I’m trying to get over that hump for myself. But it’s not something neither of us can control, I guess.”

He becomes quiet, before, “I’m sorry I didn’t understand that before, like, why that mattered so much to you.”

She blinks as they wait at a light, the turn signal flicking being their only soundtrack. “That’s okay. I lied to you, so we were both in the wrong.”

“But you did it for good reason and I didn’t see that at the time,” he runs a hand through his hair.

Amelie swallows down any doubt and leans over to kiss Jack lightly on the cheek. “I appreciate that. Thank you.”

One side of his lips quirk up into his signature smirk. Amelie doesn’t even roll her eyes. “So how’s the start of the job been? Busy?”

“Very,” she settles back in the seat. “But good. Media day was nuts, as you saw. Prague was really fun. Pre-season was good but crazy. I’m sure I’ll get used to it soon.”

“Have you been able to explore Jersey much? Or go into Manhattan?”

“Not really,” she admits. “When I do have free time I’ve been unpacking and sleeping. I’m on duty for the Rangers when you guys are on the road trip though so maybe I’ll have more time to explore the city then if I’m not too tired.”

He pouts slightly. “What am I supposed to be telling everyone? That my girlfriend works for the enemy?”

“I work for your team too, loser,” she shoots back, before hesitating. “Girlfriend’s a bit presumptuous, no?”

“It is,” he admits. “But I’m hoping by the end of this date and however many more that I can make it an easier decision for you.”

Amelie’s half stunned at his boldness. But then she remembers that they have kissed multiple times. It just feels different without the fragility of summer and Michigan. It feels different in New Jersey. Almost forbidden. But she knows those are just boundaries she’s put up all on her own.

She tries to push that down. She can’t keep getting lost in her own head. Jack’s right here. “How about you? Season starting out okay? Is that a stupid question?”

He chuckles. “Season’s good, I think. Prague was definitely very fun. I don’t know. You don’t wanna look too ahead, you know? Just focus on the next few games. Work on what you need to work on.”

Amelie can’t help but snort. “Very diplomatic of you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Did you spit that out to a journalist earlier?”

He sputters, “You asked!”

She chuckles. “I know.”

When they reach the restaurant, they’re not even sitting down at their table yet when Amelie’s skin prickles up. She can feel someone watching them. She’s proven right when a young teenager politely asks for a picture right after they get seated. The interaction takes all of 30 seconds but Jack looks so apologetic afterwards.

“I’m sorry,” he says after the boy walks away.

“It’s all good,” she replies sincerely before grinning with a light shrug. “I know you’re a big deal.”

“Still. I don’t-”

“Jack,” he shuts up immediately, looking at her like she’s the only person in the world. “It’s fine. I promise.” They both thank the waiter as he fills up their glasses. “How is everyone? Luke and Quinn and Clementine and all them.”

“They’re good,” he says, automatically more at ease talking about his family. “I mean, you see Luke so you know. Quinn seems to be doing well up there with the Canucks. Just start of the season stuff. And Clee’s good. Really busy at the hospital so I’ve barely seen her, to be honest.”

“Do you like living with them?”

“I love it,” he replies honestly. “Living with both of them is like, I don’t know. It feels like childhood again. But we’re all grown up and not as stupid as before. Well, me and Luke. Clee’s always been smart. But no, it’s fun living with them. I’m not sure how long it’ll be until Clee moves out so I’ll take what I can get.”

“She’s moving out?”

Jack shrugs. They both order — mussels to share for an appetizer, a burger for him and fish tacos for her. He waits until the waiter walks away. “She hasn’t said anything yet. But her and Nico are getting pretty serious. I mean, I guess they’ve only been dating for, like, 6 months, but I could see her moving in with him sooner rather than later.”

She hums. “How do you feel about that? Like, them being together. It has to be a bit weird, right?”

“It can be,” he drums his fingers on the table. “Last season, I joked a lot about it. But then it actually happened and it was like, woah, my older sister is now dating my captain and two parts of my life are combining in a way that it hasn’t before. But they’re pretty good at like, the separation I guess. Not that-I really like them together. I think they’re actually really good for each other. He calms her down and she knocks some sense into his head.” He chuckles and Amelie realizes how much she loves that sound. “I would’ve introduced them earlier if I’d known how good they would be together.”

“I can’t imagine living with either of my sisters, to be honest, even if I love them.”

“Why is that?”

“I think I need my own space.”

He hums, and before she can overthink about how that may come across, he switches topics. “So what did you get up to the rest of the summer?”

Overthinking about how I left things with you is the honest answer, but they don’t need to get into that. “Not much, I guess. Packed. Hung around. Saw some friends. Went to a concert.”

“Who did you see?”

“I don’t know if you know her. Lizzy McAlpine?”

“I don’t. Text me some of your favorite songs from her later. I’ll listen to them.”

She chuckles. “I don’t really think it’s your type of music.”

“What’s your favorite song by her?”

“Uh uh,” she teases with a wry smile. “You don’t get to have that information yet.”

“I’ll earn it,” he says, a bit too seriously for their topic of conversation. “So, concerts. You know, everyone usually comes by to New York City. I’m sure you’ll be able to catch some people there.”

“You an expert on NYC?”

Jack shrugs. “Not really, considering, you know, all this. But when we have a few days off I like to go in. I have some spots I enjoy a lot.”

“We should go in sometime and you can show me your spots.”

His lips spread slowly into a grin. “Yeah?”

She nods, looking down at her lap. “Yeah. Whenever I get my feet under me.”

“It seems like you’re handling everything just fine,” he says.

Amelie lets out a laugh as she leans back. “I’m really good at faking it.”

“Luke misses you.”

“I just saw him yesterday.”

“No, I know, but like, just hanging out with you. He’s started bugging me about the three of us hanging out like we did in Michigan.”

“We’re not in Michigan anymore.”

“Sure, but what’s the difference?”

She’s saved from answering as their food comes.

Lunch is delicious and fun and light and Jack is exactly how she remembers from the summer, even if the October chill is settling in and they’re not in the MIchigan sunshine anymore. Seeing Jack against the windows of a cafe in Hoboken, looking at ease, at her, nothing has changed between them. But also, so many things have.

She wishes she could fully enjoy and let go of … whatever has been in her gut since she hid her sobs in her hand at her grandparents’ house. Jack has been doing everything right and she’s trying to enjoy herself.

(She’s scared)

They decide to walk around for a bit after they eat, not wanting to leave each other’s company quite yet. They’re walking through a park and admiring the empty fountain when Jack laughs.

“Uh oh.”

She’s confused. “What?”

Jack chuckles, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I don’t know. You look like you’re about to say something that you don’t think I’m gonna like.”

She blinks. Fuck. “Am I that obvious?”

“No,” he admits. “Lucky guess. Or maybe I just know you. Spill. What’s going on in that pretty head?”

She stares at her shoes. Be brave, she tells herself. “Can you-can we take this slow? I-I know that we aren’t really starting from step one but I-I,” she trails off, trying to steady her voice.

“Hey,” he mutters softly, pulling her to the side of the path so they don’t block people. “I was kidding earlier about the girlfriend stuff. I don’t care about that. I care about you and whatever pace you want to go at. Or no pace if that’s something you also want to do.”

“And you’d be okay with no pace at all?”

She stares at his adam's apple bopping up and down. “If that’s what you wanted. I’m obviously not, not gonna force you into anything you don’t want to be in. I’m not that much of an asshole.” He chuckles weakly.

She realizes suddenly that Jack actually thinks there’s a chance of her turning him down. A chance of her saying she doesn’t want anything to do with him, which is definitely not the case. She knows she wants him. She just doesn’t know what that looks like yet, which is why:

“We can take it slow?” She asks.

“Whatever pace you want,” he assures. “Whatever you want.”

“And the team?”

“What about the team?”

“Well, they’ll have to know, right? I might not work for the Devils directly but there’s a conflict of interest there.”

“They don’t have to know anything,” he assures. “Definitely not yet. Once they do, we’ll figure it out together.”

She bites her lip, because yeah, that sounds nice, but he’s untouchable in the grand scheme of things. She’s much more disposable in comparison. “Jack.”

“We’ll figure it out together,” he repeats. “I promise.”

And promises have never really meant much to Amelie. But the look in Jack’s eyes is so comforting and insistent that she can’t do anything but believe him.

*****

jack

It’s getting colder now, as it does in early to mid October in Jersey. Jack rubs his hands together as he locks his car. He has the day off today after playing the Caps last night and Amelie also has the day off. The plan is to spend a day in New York City. He hasn’t heard from her this morning, which is a bit unusual, but that doesn’t phase him as he enters the elevator and then stops in front of Amelie’s apartment.

Three crisp knocks and he’s shoving his hands in his coat pockets and rocking back and forth. It takes upwards to a minute before the door is cracked open. The automatic smile on his face quickly drops into a concerned frown when he sees her.

“Are you okay?”

Amelie, hair messed up, in a Michigan t-shirt and flannel pajama bottoms, responds with three consecutive sneezes. “Shit,” she sniffles. “I thought I texted you.”

He closes the door behind him and lets himself in her apartment. “What happened?”

“Woke up feeling like crap,” she coughs into her elbow. “Coughing, sneezing, a bit of a sore throat. I think it’s a bad cold.”

“So no frolicking to the city, I assume?” He jokes lightly.

Her shoulders deflate. “I’m sorry. I was really looking forward to it..”

“No stress,” he assures gently. He untangles her crossed arms and squeezes her fingers gently. “Go lay down on the couch.”

Her eyebrows furrow. “Huh?”

“Do you have things in the kitchen to make soup?”

“No?” She blinks. “I was supposed to go grocery shopping tomorrow.”

He hums. “Okay. I’ll run to the store. Do you have medicine?”

She blinks again, her brain catching up. “You don’t have to stay. You’ll get sick.”

“I’m staying. Do you have medicine?” He repeats. She nods. He presses a kiss on her forehead, another wave of concern washing over him as he notes how clammy it is. “Hang tight, baby. I’ll be back soon.”

“You really don’t have to stay.”

“I want to,” Jack swallows. “If you really want me to go, I will. But you’re not feeling well, and I’d like to help out.”

A few seconds of silence before Amelie nods, rubbing her nose. “Okay. Thank you.”

“Anytime. I’ll be quick.”

It takes 30 minutes for Jack to grab ingredients from the note on his Notes app for a basic chicken noodle soup recipe that his mom sent him way back in his rookie year, some cough drops, extra cold medicine, and call Clementine in a panic to check that he isn’t forgetting anything (“She probably just needs to sleep it off,” Clementine says, traces of Nico’s voice in the background). Jack had grabbed Amelie’s keys from her counter when he left so he lets himself back in quietly, finding Amelie laying down on the couch.

“Hey,” he announces himself with a soft voice. Amelie just lets out something between a groan and a sigh. “That bad?”

“No. I’m just being dramatic,” she pouts, scrolling through Netflix. “I wanna watch something but I know what. Do you have a preference?”

Jack starts unpacking the bag in her kitchen. “You’re the one who’s sick. I’m fine with whatever.”

“Have you ever seen La La Land?”

“I have not.”

“Of course you haven’t. We’re watching it. It’s my comfort movie.”

“Gimme, like, 15 minutes?” He asks. “I need to prepare the soup.”

“Sure,” she yawns. “I should probably take a shower.”

“You’ll definitely feel better.”

She lets her hair out of her hair tie. “Just tell me I look like shit next time.”

He gives her a look, shaking his head. “You never look like shit.”

Amelie scoffs lightly with a small smile, getting off the couch. “Sure, Jack.”

“Shoo,” he flicks his hand. “Delicious chicken noodle soup coming to you soon.”

17 minutes later, the soup is simmering on the stove and Amelie walks back out with damp hair. She coughs heartily and winces, coming to the kitchen and pouring herself a glass of water. “It smells good.”

Jack almost beams. “Thanks. An Ellen Weinberg-Hughes specialty.”

She hums. “Movie time?”

“Well, it’s one of your favorites. So we have to.”

When they get to the couch and Amelie presses play, he hesitates. He wants to put an arm around her and let her snuggle against his side, but he doesn’t want her to be uncomfortable. As the opening number starts, he doesn’t have to overthink it any longer, because she pulls the blanket over both of them and leans the side of her head against his shoulder. He swears she can feel the smile on his face when he kisses her temple.

Two hours later, two empty bowls are on the table in front of them, there are tear streaks on Amelie’s face and Jack is a bit confused. “That’s your comfort movie?”

“Yeah. Don’t pretend you didn’t like it.”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” he blinks. “I’m just saying that it seems pretty sad to be a movie that comforts you.”

She shrugs. “It’s sad, but it’s also life. And it’s beautiful. And it’s about moments and how sometimes, things just aren’t meant to be. It’s realistic.”

He hums in affirmation. “Not a dreamer, eh?”

“I wish I was more of one,” she admits. “Sometimes I feel like I’m limiting myself because I don’t want to dream too big because I feel like I’ll inevitably be disappointed.”

“I don’t think you could disappoint anyone,” he rushes out.

“It’s not about what other people think,” she says with a light cough, staring ahead at the TV. “It’s about what I think of myself.”

And, well, yeah. Jack knows that feeling all too well.

“You’re doing awesome, you know?” He says, trying to offer some encouragement as they face each other, knees barely touching. “I mean, I’m not going to pretend I understand every aspect of your job, but I’ve heard from Josh and, just from seeing how hard you work and how much you care about it, especially because you’re new…don’t stress out about it. You’re doing great.”

“You think?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks.”

“You don’t sound so sure,” he teases.

One side of her lips quirk up, as she tilts her head to the side in thought. “I guess it wasn’t really my professional life I was talking about with the whole dreamer question.”

“So your personal life?”

“Yeah. I don’t know. La La Land is so heartbreaking but it’s also, at its core, a story about love and dreams and…” She trails off, avoiding eye contact with him.

Jack swallows. Guess he’ll be the brave one. “So you’re a romantic.”

“Is that surprising?”

“A bit. But not in a bad way.”

“I don’t know if I’ve ever let myself really believe that I am one, if that makes sense.” It doesn’t, but she pays him no mind, a furrow in her eyebrow indicating that she’s piecing her thoughts together. “I think for awhile, I just convinced myself it wouldn’t ever amount to anything. So instead of ever, I don’t know, thinking that I would find someone who really just likes me for me in that way, I figured no one ever would. Which sucks, because I’ve always wanted that.”

He wants to say so much, but nothing comes out of his mouth except for an affirming hum. “The movie was great.”

She blinks, a smile spreading on her face. “You think?”

“Yeah. But you should sleep,” he tucks a piece of her hair behind her ear. “I’m surprised you didn’t conk out during.”

Her lips turn into a pout, “I usually would fight you, but I don’t have the strength.”

“Bed or couch?”

She yawns, already leaning her head on a pillow. “I’m not moving.” Before Jack can think about what he’s going to do, she makes grabby hands in his direction. “Nap time.”

“Me too?”

“You have other places to be?” She asks, eyes already closed.

He tucks himself next to her and pulls the blanket over them both. “Nowhere but here.”

(“Thanks for coming today,” Amelie says hours later, leaning her hip against the doorway as Jack’s about to head home. It’s already 10 p.m., and he has practice tomorrow morning.

“Do you feel better?” He asks. She nods. “Then that’s all that matters.”

“But what if you wake up tomorrow and you’re sick? Still gonna like me then?”

And he knows she’s half-teasing, but he ducks down to leave a lingering kiss on her cheek. “Of course.”

She hums, rubbing her eyes. “And thanks for the soup. I’m gonna have enough to last me for days.”

“That was the idea.” He shoves his hands in his pockets. “Am I gonna see you Friday?”

“Unless I get worse, then I should be there,” she nods, before wrapping her arms around his waist. “See you later.”

“Bye, babe.”

“Wait,” he turns back around as she leans her head on the doorway. “‘Staying.’”

“Hm?”

“That’s my favorite Lizzy McAlpine song. Or one of them.”

“‘Staying?’ That’s what it’s called?” She nods. He tucks that into the back of his mind. “Okay. I’ll let you know what I think.”

“Goodnight, Jack.”

“Night.”)

amelie

It’s been a crazy month of ups and downs, but Amelie isn’t lying when she tells her family that she loves her job.

Sometimes she feels a bit out of her element, like when she can’t get a good angle on a shot no matter how hard she tries or when the dynamics of being a part of a professional sports organization (and sometimes, with the teams she covers, it feels like multiple organizations in one) are harder to figure out than usual. But then the familiar sounds of a game flood through her ears and she reaches up to touch the ribbon in her hair — switching between red, orange or blue depending on what team she’s shooting — and she takes a deep breath and feels okay again.

More often than not, if she’s at the Rock, she catches Jack’s eye, or a glimpse of his hair, or even just the 86 and it brings her a sense of calm.

They don’t interact that much at work besides hellos and some stolen short conversations here or there. She’s usually busy running around during pre-game and then he’s playing when they’re actually in the same proximity.

She has a moment after shooting an Islanders game and then getting the notification that Jack had just scored in a game against Colorado in their arena. Before she leaves the parking lot, she clicks on Jack’s contact anyways, waiting to leave a voicemail.

“Hey, uh, congrats on the goal. Unsure if you win since the game is tied as I’m calling, but hope you guys pull it out. I don’t really know why I’m calling, to be honest. I was just thinking about you. I think we both have a day off right when you get back to Jersey, and I was wondering, if maybe you’d wanna go into Manhattan finally? Let me know. I’ll see you when you get back. Okay, bye.”

(She wakes up the next day to see she has a missed call and a voicemail from Jack

“Hey Baby. I guess I could’ve waited to call you in the morning but I didn’t want to wait. We won, by the way. And yeah, I’m totally down to go into the city when we both have a minute. I, uh, we’ll catch up when I get back. But it was really nice to hear your voice, even if just over a voicemail. Have a good day. Bye.”)

They don’t get to go to Manhattan when Jack comes back, because Amelie is asked to fill in last minute for a Flyers game. She feels like she’s more bummed about it than Jack is. Or at least outwardly. In fact, after that voicemail, they don’t really get a chance to talk until four days later, when Jack catches her at The Rock before the game against Washington.

He grabs her arm lightly and leads them to a small alcove. “Hey.”

“Hi,” she can’t help but smile. “Good skate this morning?”

“Good as can be. Bummed we couldn’t go into the city the other day.”

She sighs. “Yeah. I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault,” he hesitates, before: “Hey. What plans do you have after the game tonight?”

“Nothing?”

“Come over to mine after,” she opens her mouth but he barrels on. “Clee’s working late and Luke won’t bother us. I just, I don’t know. I feel like we haven’t been able to see each other. And you have to head over to MSG tomorrow afternoon, right? We can grab breakfast somewhere, then.”

Amelie opens and closes her mouth two times. “You don’t think it’s too soon for me to stay over?”

His eyes widen. “Shit. I didn’t even-I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t-I wasn’t, like, I don’t expect anything. I can sleep on the couch. I just figured it would make it more convenient because we’ve been missing out on seeing each other lately. I’m gonna be tired after the game anyways and I was thinking we could just put something on TV or-”

“Okay.”

He blinks. “Okay?”

She nods before she can back out. “Yeah. I have an overnight bag in my car in case I ever get stranded somewhere and need to crash.”

“You sure?”

She can’t help but chuckle a bit. “You brought it up first, Jack. You backing out now?”

“No, of course not. But the last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable.”

“It’s fine,” she says. And it is, really. But now that’s all she’s going to be thinking about for the rest of the day. “Seriously. It’s good. Your bed better be comfortable.”

He barks out a laugh. “It is. Great. I’ll see you later?”

“I’ll be around. Good luck.” With one last smile, he ducks out of alcove. She takes a breath, tugging at her jacket, before making her way out as well.

Kennedy, another photographer that strictly works with the Devils that Amelie’s become fast friends with, chuckles. “You’re not slick.”

Amelie lets out a small scream, before rolling her eyes. “Fuck, Kenny! A warning next time would be nice. And it’s not anything.”

Kennedy snorts as they both walk down the hallway. “Yeah, sure.”

“No, seriously, it’s just…we’re figuring it out.”

The older girl softens. “Hey, I was just making a joke. It’s none of my business. You guys are adults.”

“It’s something,” Amelie admits. “But I just don’t quite know what yet.”

“You’ll figure it out,” Kennedy assures. “I’ve known Jack longer than I’ve known you. I know you’ll figure it out. Now, Candace just brewed a fresh pot of coffee and we need to grab some before everyone comes in.”

They’re almost too late, because Coach Keefe has just poured out his cup and Kennedy rushes over to take the carafe out of his hand as he laughs. One day Amelie will get the confidence to do that.

“How are you settling in?” He asks Amelie kindly as Kennedy hands her a mug.

“Pretty well,” she says. “Still trying to get used to the chaos of the season but it’s been great and everyone’s been awesome.”

“I imagine that’s even more difficult when you have a bunch of schedules to balance.”

“It can get tricky,” she shrugs with a smile. “Keeps the job fresh though.”

“I bet.” A few seconds of comfortable silence sipping their respective coffees before Coach continues. “You went to the University of Michigan, right? I think I’ve seen you wearing that maize M around.”

“I did.”

“My niece is a junior in high school and thinking about doing something with sports, whether it’s business or photography or communications, probably because she’s been surrounded by the ice her whole life,” Coach Keefe laughs. “Earlier this season, Luke was talking to her about Michigan and I think he got her hooked.”

Amelie has to laugh at that. Classic Luke. “Well, I’d be happy talking to her if she wants a perspective from someone who wasn’t an athlete.”

“Would you really? I’m sure she would appreciate that.”

“Yeah, totally,” she fishes out a business card. “She can text me anytime. No promises I’ll respond too quickly, but I will as soon as I can.”

“Thank you, Amelie. Truly.”

“Of course, Coach.”

He turns back to Kennedy and jokes. “You must hate her, huh?”

Kennedy, who went to Ohio State, rolls her eyes. “With her, Shea and Luke, I feel constantly outnumbered here.”

“Don’t forget Jack,” Coach Keefe said.

“Oh, we don’t,” Kennedy chuckles. Amelie simultaneously wants to roll her eyes at her unsubtly and slap her shoulder. Instead, she settles with a look, to which Kennedy pointedly ignores.

After morning skate and editing what she needs to edit, Amelie heads to the grocery store for a quick run before stopping by at home to relax for a bit. She decides at the last minute to grab a bouquet of mums to put in her kitchen. After unloading her groceries, she tries to tidy up around her apartment but ultimately gives up, collapsing down on the couch. She has around an hour to kill before needing to get redressed to head back into the rink.

What does she do with that hour? Lounge around on her couch and pick up the latest book she’s reading. A memoir that AJ, the head of Devils socials, recommended. She hasn’t read as much as she used to, due to everything changing, but snuggling into her couch even just for a little to flip pages in a book calms her down.

When it’s time to go, she’s about to walk out the door before she stops herself, heading to the kitchen to grab a bottle of wine. That seems reasonable to give to Jack who’s inviting her over as a thank you gift, right?

After the game, that’s when she starts getting nervous. She edits the photos she needs to, sends them to Josh, the guy in charge of Devils media, and then lingers. She drove here, but she doesn’t wanna beat Jack to his place. She starts drumming her fingers against her desk, scrolling aimlessly on her phone. She knows he also got tagged for doing media tonight too, which explains why he’s taking a bit longer.

“Hey.”

She practically jumps out of her seat, putting her hand over her heart. “Jesus, Jack.”

“Jumpy,” he comments with a smirk before leaning against the door frame. “You good to go?”

“Yeah. Was just waiting for you.”

He grimaces. “Yeah. I should’ve given you my keys so you could chill at mine instead of here. Sorry.”

She stands up, gathering her things. “It’s fine. Can you send me your address again? I think I know where it is but I wanna make sure.”

They walk out together. People are milling about but no one questions anything. Amelie doesn’t know how she feels about that. Her phone buzzes, indicating Jack texted her his address. She’s parked on the other side of the garage but he walks her to her car anyways with a shrug, but it means a lot to her. She follows him easily to his apartment, the GPS guiding her along the way and when she parks right next to him, he somehow beats her to her own door and opens it for her.

“Thanks,” she says quietly, getting her overnight backpack from her backseat. “Do you mind if I bring my camera bag into yours? I don’t want them to get cold or-”

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” he grins, tie thrown over his shoulder and dress shirt wrinkled. He looks so handsome. “You’re not you without your cameras. You want me to grab something?”

“I’m good, thanks,” she says, locking her car. “Good game.”

“You think?”

“You got two assists and a few shot good attempts at goal,” she says with a furrowed eyebrow. “I’d consider that good, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. I just, I didn’t think you paid attention that much.”

She nudges his hip with hers as the elevator pings for each floor. “It’s kinda part of my job.”

“Is it?” He shoots back. She just rolls her eyes. “Have you eaten yet?” He asks.

“A bit. Have you?”

“A bit,” he echoes. “I was gonna roast some veggies and make some rice. I think I have leftover chicken. Unless you want something else? Clee probably has a bunch of stuff in the fridge that we-”

“That sounds perfect,” she interrupts him. “I’m good with anything. Promise.” She waits for him to unlock his front door. “Do you mind if I jump in the shower first?”

“Not at all,” he swings upon the door. “You can just leave your stuff in the living room. Bathroom is the second door down the hall to the right.”

She quickly rummages through to grab her toiletry bag and her pajamas. “Do you have a towel I could borrow, by chance?”

“Of course. We have a bunch in the closet in there. Take any one you see.” She nods in thanks before heading to the bathroom.

After towling her hair dry and tossing on an UW Madison sweater on she stole at some point from Colette ages ago, she pads out. Jack’s in the kitchen, back towards her, humming as he squats to check on the veggies in the oven. He’s changed out of his suit and has a Devils sweatshirt on now with gray sweatpants. His hair is damp from the shower he must’ve taken at the rink.

He catches her staring, but to her gratitude, doesn’t say anything. She lifts up the bottle of wine she got from her bag. “I don’t know if you’re allowed to have this during the season but…”

“One glass won’t hurt,” he grins. “Thanks. You didn’t have to.”

“You invited me into your home,” she comes over to the kitchen and takes the bottle opener from his hands. “I’m not an animal.”

Dinner is simple, but it’s delicious, and in the last hours of the evening with dim lighting, both their voices are low. At some point, Luke comes out for a glass of water, entering and leaving in a flash with a salute. That should feel weird, but it doesn’t. The not-quite-a-couple-yet couple catch each other up on their days and lives and Amelie feels a ball of warmth in her stomach.

It’s as if the clinking of Jack washing dishes — he literally whacked her hands when she tried to help — brings her out of her reverie. She waits until he’s done and sitting next to her again before:

“Hey Jack?”

In the middle of sipping his wine, Jack raises an eyebrow. He places his glass down and leans his elbows on the counter, giving her his full attention. “What’s up?”

She tries to stop fiddling with her hands, folding them on the counter. “Are-are you seeing anyone else?”

Silence, and then a soft, disbelieving, “What?”

Her mouth starts moving faster than her brain. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. Nor would I blame you, to be honest. I mean, I’m the one who’s been moving so slow and setting the boundaries and the pace and like, I get it. But-”

“I haven’t been seeing anyone else since we met.”

Her mouth snaps shut. “You-”

“I haven’t even been remotely interested in anyone else since I saw you and Suzie at the end of my driveway,” he says, eyes steadily staring into her, unflinchingly honest. “Even when you haven’t been sure about me. Even though you’re still not sure about me. Even when we had our argument. My feelings haven’t changed.”

Amelie suddenly feels ashamed. “Oh.”

One side of his lips quirk up. “Yeah. Have you been seeing anyone else?” Before she can control herself, she snorts. Jack pouts slightly. It’s cute. “What?”

“I barely have time to see you. In what world would I be seeing anyone else?”

“Hey,” he puts his hands up in defense. “I don’t know what you’re doing when I’m on the road.”

She shakes her head, staring down at her nails. “Nope. No one else.”

“Then that settles it.” Something flashes through his eyes and he rounds the corner, hoisting himself to sit on the counter. His leg brushes her side. “I’m sorry for not making that clear.”

“I’m sorry for being psycho and possessive.”

He tuts softly. “You’re not being either of those things.”

Her eyes glaze over, unfocused, as her mind takes her elsewhere. “It took three months for Cooper and I to officially get together because he was still dating around after our first date. Which was fine. It really didn’t bother me at the time. But-”

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” Jack assures. “But no. There’s been no one else for me.”

She swallows, busying herself by pouring herself out a glass of water before coming to stand inbetween his legs. She leans her forehead on his chest because she doesn’t wanna look at him when she asks her next question. “How much did Ethan tell you?”

“About Cooper?”

“Yeah.”

“Enough.” She picks her head up as he lightly rubs circles on her wrist.

“Did he tell you why we broke up?”

“Not directly,” he leans his forehead on hers momentarily. “I’d like to hear your answer to that though, if you’d be willing.”

She squeezes her eyes shut, and chokes out, “He got tired of me.”

“I’m sure he-”

“He told me, word for word, that he got tired of me. Tired of waiting. For what? I have no fucking idea.” And fuck, it’s been well over a year since she blocked his number, but she can’t recall the breakup out loud without a crack in her voice. “Apparently he’d ‘wasted’ a year of his time on a relationship that had long run its course.”

“And had it?” Jack asks gently. “Had it run its course?”

“Maybe. But it wasn’t fair to me that he didn’t even give me a chance to fix it.”

He nods stiffly, before, “Absolute jackass.”

“Definitely,” she hoists herself up on the counter to sit next to him, careful to not spill any wine. “When we broke up, it wasn’t like I didn’t see it coming. Things were kinda rough for a month or so beforehand. But I didn’t expect for it to hurt so much. I-I felt, just, really sad. Kinda betrayed. Pretty angry. I definitely didn’t think it would fuck up my perspective on relationships as much as it did.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

She almost brushes off his apology, staring unfocused into his living room. “I wish I didn’t feel this way. But when I met you, one of the first things I thought was that it wouldn’t move past the summer because what was the point? You would get tired of me eventually.” She squeezes her eyes shut. “I know that sounds ridiculous and whiny and it’s not true, but it’s hard for my brain to believe that. If I wasn’t enough for Cooper when we were in school and just dealt with that schedule, what would happen between you and I with our schedules and careers? That’s ultimately why I shut you down in the summer, I think. But also, fuck, Cooper was kinda an ass.”

He cuts in with a loud snort, “Clearly.”

She whacks his shoulder lightly, before letting out a sigh. “You know, he showed up at a party I was at a week later with another girl.”

“Yeah. Ethan mentioned that.”

“Right. It was a hockey party.” She squeezes her eyes shut, as if that will erase her memory. “I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like this, but I felt like I wanted to crawl out of my skin and also scream my lungs out and lock myself in the bathroom and never come out. It kinda fucking sucks seeing a guy you thought you loved and loved you suddenly just throw it all away like it meant nothing. Because if he could do that so easily, who’s to say the next one won’t?” She downs the last of her wine, sighing deeply. “I’m working on remembering that I want to be in a relationship and I deserve it, but it’s really hard. I don’t blame you if you don’t wanna stick around as I’m trying to figure it out.”

Jack hops off the counter, this time stepping between her legs. She bites her lip in anticipation as he takes her hands and intertwines them, looking her dead in the eye. “Amelie. I really, really like you. Like, I-still-get-nervous-for-a-second-before-I-see-you like you. Or, I-can’t-believe-you’re-even-giving-me-a-chance like you. I’m here. I want to be here. As long as you’ll let me hang around, I will. You don’t have to be afraid to be honest with me about where you’re at. I won’t ever hold that against you.”

“But-”

“Staying, right? Your favorite Lizzy McAlpine song?”

She tilts her head in confusion. “Yeah?”

“I listened to it.”

“Okay?”

“If you’re afraid that I’m gonna just leave when my feelings suddenly disappear, which they won’t, I’m not going to do that. I’m not Cooper, okay? I’m not gonna fuck around for a month before deciding if you mean something to me, because I know what you mean to me. And I want to be here when you’re trying to figure it out. When we’re trying to figure it out, to be honest. You think I know how to be in a relationship?” He laughs at himself. “I’m bound to fuck it up somehow, probably many times, but I’m not just gonna leave when I do. I’m sticking around. I’ll stay and figure it out with you to the point where you’ll probably find me annoying. I’m not just gonna leave when things get hard.”

“But how can you promise that?”

He shrugs with a wry and somewhat defeated smile. “I can’t, I guess. You just have to trust my word.”

And to Amelie, weirdly enough, that’s the answer she was looking for. Cooper made so many empty promises. Jack’s unabashedly unsure of everything yet isn’t leaving her in the dark.

She squeezes his hands. “I trust you.”

His swallow is visible. “Yeah?” He rasps out.

“Yeah.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“I’m sorry if that hasn’t come across.”

He shrugs, planting his hands on either side of her on the counter. “Don’t be. Part of the gig, isn’t it? Earning your trust. And I’m having the best time.”

She scoffs. “It’s not annoying?”

His signature charming smile is back as he lets out a breathy laugh. “I don’t know if you really understand the effect you have on me.”

She wants to kiss him so bad. She doesn’t, nudging him away so she can hop off the counter. “You tired?”

“Aren’t I always?”

“You choose what we watch,” she says, poking his shoulder.

He brightens up. “Cuddles?”

She rolls her eyes, but opens her arms when she collapses on the couch. Jack doesn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around her waist, humming in satisfaction.

(At 1:26 a.m. Clementine walks into the living room to see the sight of both Jack and Amelie asleep on the couch, his arm securely around her waist so she doesn’t fall off, their feet both dangling off the edge. She quietly clicks off the TV, adjusts the blanket so it covers both their bodies completely and takes their empty glasses to bring to the kitchen.

She takes a second to watch them — in a non-creepy way at all — from the dimly lit kitchen. Amelie and Jack’s chest rise and fall in unison and even when Amelie adjusts herself, Jack’s arm tightens on instinct to keep them from falling.

Clementine smiles to herself before tiptoeing to her bedroom)

~*~*~

jack

Jack doesn’t like feeling out of his element. And when it comes to Amelie, he feels like he has no fucking clue what he’s doing, even if he fakes it well. So that’s great.

He gets to the rink, and that’s old hat. Many things have changed, but at the end of the day, it’s still hockey. Blades to the ice is a feeling as natural as walking.

But now, knowing that some games, Amelie is more or less watching. It doesn’t distract him perse, but he definitely takes note, trying to subtly find her when he’s on the bench. It’s become a fun game for him. Sometimes, her red ribbon is easy to find. Sometimes, he thinks she’s hiding from him.

For Jack, not putting a label has been a bit difficult, because he’s always been the kind of person who needs to categorize things in some way, more for his own brain than anything. But at the same time, it also doesn’t matter to him that they’re not official. To him, they are, and that’s how he approaches all his actions. The dating apps from his phone are long gone. When he’s not thinking about hockey, he’s thinking about her. He’s trying not to be too overbearing while also not letting Amelie even question the possibility of him not being all in.

When he was crying in his bedroom back home in Michigan, this seemed so far out of his reach. But now Amelie’s here (her apartment is only a few miles away, even) and he’d be damn stupid if he let this go.

He’s never been in a relationship — or whatever this is — where coordinating both their schedules has been both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because not only does she understand, but their schedules overlap a good amount. A curse because her schedule is so unique covering many teams and even if he’s free, it doesn’t mean she is and vice versa. They’re only a few weeks into the season and it’s already becoming hard to find a few hours in their days to go do something.

Everything is at her pace. He wants to be sure that she knows that he takes that seriously and he’s not going to leave or get frustrated.

When Amelie said that she wanted to meet Clementine, Jack practically immediately darted for his phone, asking when the resident would have some free time. She’s been almost surprisingly chill about it all, not asking that much and only bringing it up if Jack brings it up first. Which, if he thinks about it more, makes complete sense to who calm, collected, older sister and beloved-by-all Clementine Sandoval is.

So that leads them to today, grabbing brunch in Hoboken on a Sunday morning with himself, Amelie, Clementine, Luke and Nico. Jack had asked Amelie if she wanted the latter two there or not, and she said she was okay with it. Jack hopes it brings Amelie more ease to have Nico and Luke around rather than stress.

Jack’s leg is shaking and Luke is in the backseat as they sit in the car outside Amelie’s apartment. Luke shoves Jack’s shoulder. “Dude, stop shaking your leg. You’re stressing me out.”

“Sorry,” he responds automatically.

“You know Clemmy. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.”

“I know.”

“Amelie’s scared?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t know. I just want them to get along.”

“They’ll get along,” Luke says matter-of-factly. “It’s Clemmy. And it’s Amelie. And me and Cap are there. How bad could it go?”

Jack just sighs. It’s not going to go badly. It won’t.

Honestly, it can’t.

It’s that he’s always felt that Clementine brings out the best version of himself and she’s one of the biggest parts of his life. If there’s an inkling of this not going well, he doesn't know what he’s going to do.

“Chill, man,” Luke says as Amelie floats through the front door. Jack is momentarily mesmerized by her maroon scarf and the white bow in her hair as she spots him, paddling over to his car. She’s about to go in the backseat, but Luke gestures to her through the window to take the front.

“Hi,” she breathes out, slipping in and shutting the door. She turns around to face Luke. “You didn’t have to leave me the front.”

“I wasn’t in the mood to hear Jack’s bitching and moaning,” Luke deadpans, a small smile peeking through as Amelie chuckles.

Jack is about to shoot something back at his brother but then Amelie reaches over to squeeze his hand. He immediately relaxes. “Well, step on it,” Amelie jokes lightly. “We don’t wanna be late.”

“You look really nice,” Jack says, pulling out onto the road.

“Thanks,” she responds quietly. “You do too. You too, Luke.”

“Thank you,” Luke sings. Jack isn’t looking at him but he knows that half-smile smirk thing that drives Jack bonkers is on Luke’s lips.

“You excited?” Jack asks.

Amelie coughs. “I’m scared as shit.” Luke snorts in the back. Amelie doesn’t even look as she whacks his knee. Jack knew he liked her for a reason. “No, I’ll be fine. I just want her to like me, that’s all.”

“She will,” Jack assures.

They don’t talk much the rest of the ride, Amelie singing softly under her breath. He realizes that everytime they’re in a car together, Amelie has to sing, almost like she can’t control herself. It’s so endearing.

Jack sees Clementine through the window of the restaurant in the middle of laughing at something Nico is saying. He internally rolls her eyes. They’re so gross. He flashes one last reassuring smile at Amelie before he leads them in, Luke holding the door for all three of them.

Clementine sees the trio come in immediately and grins. “Hi Jacky.”

He narrows his eyes. “Hello.”

“Chill out,” she says. “Hey Lukey. And Amelie!” Clementine stands up, engulfing her in a hug. Jack can’t see Amelie’s face. “It’s so nice to meet you finally! I’ve heard so much about you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Amelie says, pulling away with a small smile. “Hi Nico.”

The captain just smiles at her warmly. “Hey Amelie.”

“Have you guys ordered yet?” Jack asks as they all sit down.

Clementine snorts. “No. We were waiting for your slow ass.”

“I am right on time, actually,” Jack snaps back.

Clementine ignores him, turning to Amelie instead. Immediately, the older girl just launches into questions. It’s a borderline interrogation and Jack can tell Amelie is a bit thrown off but she takes it all with grace paired with the most beautiful smile. By the time they order, Clementine’s already talking about how much of a pain it is to live with him and Luke and how much she wishes she didn’t and everyones jumping at each other as Nico just sits back and laughs and Jack hopes and hopes that this isn’t too much for Amelie. He’s seen her quietly work a room full of hockey players, but this is his family.

(When their food comes, he takes her hand underneath the table and squeezes it. Without a passing beat, she squeezes right back, as she asks Clementine about her time at Stanford)

At one point, the two women are still riffing seamlessly off each other (making fun of him, thank you very much), and Luke snorts. “Are you just going to take this? Fight back, dude.”

“Don’t,” Nico says wearily. “No point. You know this.”

Jack grunts, because Nico’s right. He rolls his eyes as Clementine shoots him a smug grin, but he feels himself soften hearing Amelie’s chuckle.

This could be his life. This is his life. Almost all his favorite people in the same place. He doesn’t get this peace that often in New Jersey. Especially not during the season.

Amelie fits like a puzzle piece perfectly into his life. How lucky is he?

Clementine has a night shift and apologizes for it (“I should probably nap before or else I’ll be dead on my feet”), to which all of them decide it’s a good time as any to leave. They’ve already been talking for almost two hours, which has to be a good sign, right? Jack gives Clementine a kiss on the cheek, hugs Nico and messes up Luke’s hair, staring fondly as Amelie gives Clementine, Nico and Luke parting hugs. He catches Nico’s knowing look that he’s been on the end of many times before, usually hockey related.

As he starts the engine of his car, Amelie deeply sighs to him. Immediately, he’s alert. “You okay? Was that too much?”

She shakes her head adamantly. “No, not at all.” She must sense his worry, because she continues with a laugh. “It was actually really fun.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she leans her head on the window, looking towards him. “I see why you talk so highly of her. Clementine, I mean. She’s really cool.”

“Isn’t she the best?” Jack grins.

“She mentioned her dad a few times?” Amelie prods gently. “Did something happen?”

Jack swallows. “I never told you?”

“I don’t think so?”

“Oh. I thought I did. Uh, her dad, Miguel, died back in 2015. New Year’s Day. Cancer.”

He sneaks a look at Amelie and she looks heartbroken. “I’m so sorry, Jack,” she whispers.

He continues on. He needs her to get it. “I miss him a lot. Constantly. He was the best guy. And Clee’s just..I love her so much. And Maeve, her mom. My mom, to some degree. I don’t know where I’d be without them.”

“That must’ve been really hard, for all of you,” she says softly.

“He never got to see any of us in the NHL,” Jack says. He’s trying to stay calm, but he’s gripping the wheel really tightly. “Hell, he never even got to see us in the NTDP. Or Q and Lukey at Michigan. He should be here. He would’ve loved all of it. But yeah, that’s Miguel.”

“She’s wonderful,” Amelie says after a few moments of silence. “Even just from that lunch, it’s obvious how much you all care about each other.”

“It’s hard to describe it, to be honest,” he says. “I think some people think at first that it’s something that it’s not. I’ve never seen her as anything but a sister.”

“I’m really glad you have someone like that,” she says, sounding somewhere between happy and sad. “And I’m sure she feels the same way.”

Jack chuckles. “I don’t know if she would. Most of the time I think we annoy her more than anything.”

“Annoying is 90% of what being a sibling is,” she points out. “Char and Col and I all love each other, but we annoyed the crap out of each other growing up.”

“You miss them?”

“All the time, and I saw Col a few weeks ago.” she tucks her legs up underneath her chin. “I think missing someone or something is all a part of it. You ever miss people even though they’re metaphorically right there? Or you haven’t had enough time to miss them yet?”

He sneaks another look at her and he feels his heart beating faster.

“All the time.”

~*~*~

amelie

Amelie and Kennedy are hanging out in the kitchen area when out of the corner of the eye, she sees Jack come in.

It’s not unusual for players to come into the kitchen area of their own practice facility. But he’s beelining right towards the trio, which has Amelie’s arm hairs sticking up.

“Hey Jack,” Kennedy greets warmly.

He nods with a close lipped smile. “Dynamic duo. How are you both?”

Kennedy raises an eyebrow. “Dream duo?”

“That’s how Josh refers to you two.” Amelie tuts as the other two laugh. Jack turns to her with an unmistakable twinkle in his eye. “What?”

Amelie shrugs. “Nothing. Just funny that Josh even refers to us at all.”

“It’s because we brighten his day,” Kennedy smirks. “What would he do without us?”

“Without you,” Amelie corrects with a wry smile. “I’m not here everyday.”

“You’re here enough,” Kennedy shoots back. She turns to Jack, and Amelie is immediately intrigued yet scared to hear what comes out of the older girl’s mouth, always the one to stir the pot in a harmless way. “Sick goal last night.”

Jack blinks. “The one that got called back?”

“The very one.”

Amelie bursts out laughing and Jack lets out a chuckle as well. “Thanks, I think,” he says.

“Got some cool shots of it actually, but alas.”

“Alas, indeed.” Jack then turns his attention to Amelie. She can’t help but let a smile peek out. “I don’t think I saw you last night.”

“That’s because I was in Philly. They needed someone last minute.”

Jack pouts. “But what if the Devils need you?”

She rolls her eyes. “Then they have Kenny. And numerous other talented people on call.”

He nudges her elbow. “I know. We like having you around though.”

Amelie purposefully ignores her friends / coworkers’ eyes that she can feel boring into the side of her face, choosing to instead focus directly on Jack. “Do you know who’s been looking for you all morning?”

His eyebrows furrow. “Who?”

“Emma.”

“Shit,” he curses. “For what?”

Kennedy rolls her eyes. “A Tik-Tok, probably. That’s what the kids are doing these days. You’re a kid. Shouldn’t you know?”

“You’re like, only three years older than me, Ken.” Jack protests. “I don’t wanna hear it.”

“She was in the media room last night I saw her,” Amelie smirks. “Go. Before she kills you. Or us. And I don’t wanna deal with that.”

He narrows his eyes. “Fine,” he swipes the unopened gatorade on the table, to which Amelie sputters at. That was hers, thank you very much. “I’ll see you two later.”

When he’s out of eyesight, Amelie lets out a deep sigh. “Annoying ass.”

“I have to agree, and I’ve been here for years. They all are though. Except for like, Nico.”

Amelie snorts. “Well, yeah. That’s a given. Everyone loves Nico.”

“Jack is right about one thing though,” the older girl nudges Amelie’s shoulder with her own. “We miss you when you’re not here.”

She just smiles, accepting a side hug from Kennedy. It’s a pretty damn good gig she has.

~*~*~

jack

It’s no surprise that hockey players are creatures of habit.

Jack is starting to freak himself in his willingness to break slowly from some of his habits for Amelie. Nothing crazy. Just an extra scoop of ice cream if Amelie’s craving something sweet after a game (he’s learned that she has a really strong sweet tooth and always has candy in her bag and car) or making sure that her texts and calls can come through during his pre-game nap.

Only seven other people have that privilege. His parents, his brothers, his sister (Clementine), his second mom (Maeve) and his captain.

He’s always liked to stay silent and blast music on the way home from a game, win or lose. Now he’s started asking Amelie more and more to see if she wants a ride, since she doesn’t love driving and often carpools with a coworker into work. They don’t have to be talking, but letting her into his post game routine so seamlessly — especially since he and Luke don’t usually drive to the rink together that much — is something he hasn’t done for…anyone.

It’s just so easy with her. Their conversations, whether over text, phone or in-person, are never stale. She makes him laugh daily with her witty sense of humor. He always looks forward to catching a glimpse of her at the rink before a game or after a practice. He’s come to look forward to seeing her texts after a game since they’re usually a picture or two of him that she “thinks are the best ones.” Leaving on a road trip has become genuinely harder because he can’t see her for a few days.

He finds himself wanting. Constantly. It’s a newer feeling for him.

Sometimes, it feels scary. Especially since he hasn’t really gotten a direct answer from her yet about what she wants this to be. But they’re basically dating without the title.

He would like an answer at some point though. But it’s not stopping him from doing all he’s doing already. Or feeling all he’s feeling already.

They’re playing the Habs at home tonight, and he’s feeling good, driving into the arena now to prepare. Last night, he had Cole over for dinner and it felt like old times. They had an optional skate this morning where most of the team was present. He likes where the team is at and he’s confident about what he needs to work on in his individual game.

Walking in, he says hi to the guys, dodges a classic slap to the head from Curtis and goes to the medical room to stretch out. As he’s stretching out his calf, he spots Josh wandering through the hallway. He makes direct eye contact with Jack and comes into the room.

“Jack, hey.”

Jack smiles easily. “What can I do for you, Josh?”

“Have you seen Amelie? I have one of her cameras and I need to give it back to her before the game starts.”

“Uh, no.” Jack smirks slightly. He has an idea of where this might go. He’ll play. “Why would I know where she is?”

Josh blinks. “You two are always around each other.”

Jack tilts his head to the side, feigning innocence. “Are we?”

“Seems like it.”

“Well, no,” Jack grins. “I don’t know where she is.”

“You looking for me?” The two guys whip their heads to the doorway to see Amelie. She’s wearing a denim jacket over a simple black shirt., brown boots on her feet. The classic red ribbon is in her hair and Jack wants to kiss her so bad.

But he just nods. “Just in time.”

Josh looks to Amelie. “Your camera.”

She lights up, taking it from his hands. “Oh, right. What did you think?”

“It’s sick,” Josh admits. “I might have to add it onto my list.”

“Yeah, I saved up for that baby for two years,” Amelie laughs. “Worth it though.”

“Very worth it. Thank you for letting me borrow it. See you out there,” Josh turns to salute to Jack. “Good luck.”

“Thanks, Josh.” And then it’s just the two of them. “Hi. You look nice.”

“Thanks.” She bites her lip, making sure no one is coming down the hallway. “Does he know?”

Jack raises his eyebrows in amusement. “Know what?”

“About us?”

“We’re an us?”

She gives him an unamused look. “Jack.”

“I’m kidding,” he watches as she walks to where he is, looking up at her from where he’s sitting. “I don’t think so, to be honest. He’s a bit-”

“Unobservant,” Amelie concludes with a laugh. “Yeah, he’s a killer photographer. Has a great eye. But with everything else?” She lowers her voice. “Actually, I was gonna ask and I’m really sorry, but could you give me a ride home later? I rode with Kenny because she wanted to try this bagel place and and we just came straight here-”

“Of course,” Jack assures. “It’s not a problem at all. Ever.”

She snorts. “Yeah. Sure. I am out of your way, you know?”

“I love driving you home,” Jack admits fully with his chest. “I don’t mind it at all.”

“Okay, thanks,” she backs away. “I’ll see you out there?”

“As always,” he says, a smile still on his face as she walks out of his sight.

…..

They’re in his car after the game, a comfortable silence between them sans Amelie humming along to some he’s vaguely heard before, when things change.

“I told one of my college friends earlier today that you were my boyfriend.”

Jack almost slams on the breaks. “You did?”

“Yeah.”

Suddenly, he feels like he’s missing something. He looks over to her as he rolls his car to a stop in front of a light. “Is this your way of asking?”

She shrugs, but the streetlights expose the slight smile on her face. “Maybe. Is that bad?”

Despite himself, he laughs. “It’s definitely not what I expected.”

“I mean,” he thinks he hears her voice shake for the first time he’s known her as he pulls up to the front of her apartment complex, killing the engine. “We basically are anyways, aren’t we? And honestly, I-I think I’m ready. If you’re still interested.”

He wants to shake her silly because she’s being so ridiculous. He snorts. “If I’m still interested? Of course I’m still interested.”

“Good,” she breathes out. “Great. I, uh, yeah.”

“Yeah?” He repeats softly, afraid that this bubble will pop unexpectedly when he wants to scream happily from the rooftop. “I’m yours?”

“I’m really annoying,” she warns with a swallow. “I’m trying not to be. But I am. This is your last chance to back out. I don’t know if I know how to be a good girlfriend.”

Jack knows that’s not true and, frankly, doesn’t care. “I’m yours,” he rushes out. A firm statement this time. “However long you want me, I’m yours.”

“Okay.”

He lets out a breathy chuckle. “Okay? Can I kiss you?”

She pouts slightly. “Don’t one up me like that. I didn’t ask the first time.”

He blinks before a full fledged grin takes over his face. “You remember planting one on me in your grandparents’ kitchen?”

“I remember everything that involves you.”

Jack lunches forward to cup her cheeks and kisses her. Amelie responds immediately. He can’t believe this is happening.

They eventually pull apart and he watches her eyes open slowly as he rubs her cheeks with his thumbs. Her light grip on his wrists is the only thing keeping him tethered.

“Why haven’t you kissed me since we’ve been in Jersey?” She asks, tilting her head to the side.

“Because I didn’t know if you’d want me to,”

She visibly deflates. Jack quickly kisses her forehead lightly. He doesn’t wanna see her like that. “It’s late. I’ll let you go.”

“Okay,” she says softly, grabbing her backpack. “Goodnight. Text me when you’re home safe.”

And oh. Isn’t that lovely? “Of course. Goodnight, baby.”

The second he sees Amelie walk into her building, he dials Quinn’s number. He picks up on the fourth ring as Jack starts driving.

“Hello?”

“Dude.”

“What?” Jack hears rustling on his older brother’s end. He presumes Quinn is lounging around on his couch, freedom present in his off day.

Jack drums his fingers on the wheel, waiting for the light. “I think I have a girlfriend.”

Silence, before Quinn lets out a quiet snort. “Amelie finally say yes?”

“Hey,” Jack protests. “You’re making it sound like I’ve been begging her, which I haven’t, because that’s a dick move.”

“So what happened?”

“She said she was catching up with one of her old friends on the phone and slipped up and called me her boyfriend then we got to talking and she was like, okay.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah.”

“And this happened, just now?”

“Literally less than a minute ago.”

Quinn chuckles. “Good on you both, dude. About time.”

“Is it supposed to feel like this?” Jack says with a swallow. “Is it too soon to feel like this?”

“Like what?”

“Like I wanna spend the rest of my life with her?”

Silence. And then a crackly, “Shit, you’re serious?”

“Don’t be an ass,” Jack scowls.

“I’m not trying to be,” Quinn says. “I’m just, holy shit. You really like her.”

Jack lets out a deep breath. “Yeah, I do.”

“Clem told me she met her the other week.”

“Yeah.”

“What did Amelie think?”

“She told me Clee was great. What did Clee say?”

“I’m not saying.”

“Ass.”

“You love me,” Quinn shoots back. “So now what?”

Jack blinks, cracking his neck. “I try not to fuck it up, I guess.”

“You’re not gonna fuck it up, dude.”

“You don’t know that.”

“You’re not gonna fuck it up,” Quinn repeats. “I’m serious. Especially not this.”

“I’ve done it once. I could do it again.”

“But you won’t. And if you do, it won’t fall to pieces. Because you won’t let it.”

Jack takes a shaky breath. He hasn’t felt anxiety this severe since the moments before he went in for surgery earlier this year. “I’m terrified.”

“Then talk to her,” Quinn says. “I’m sure she’d appreciate knowing that, to be honest. And also, I would bet money that she’s just as, if not more, scared than you are.

“Nah,” Jack brushes his brother off. “She’s so calm about this all compared to me.”

“Or she’s better at faking it,” Quinn points out. “She’s awesome, Jack, And you’re not so bad either. Don’t overthink it so much. Enjoy it. This is what you’ve wanted for months.”

“Yeah,” Jack responds, nodding to himself. “Yeah. You’re right.”

“I know. I gotta make dinner, so I’ll call you later, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re good?”

“I’m perfect.”

Quinn chuckles. “Good. Congratulations, dude. She’s awesome. Can’t wait to see her when we come to play you guys.”

“Thanks, man. Love you. Talk later.”

“Love you, Jack. Bye.”

When Jack pulls into his garage, he takes a deep breath. He kills the engine, reaches for his phone and swipes through to Amelie’s texts she sent just a minute ago.

It’s a photo of him at the faceoff dot from earlier. But it’s the text underneath that has Jack grinning uncontrollably.

Amelie Fishel

2830.jpeg

now you’re gonna get endless photos of yourself all the time !!

Jack Hughes

i don’t mind in the slightest

goodnight. sleep well

Amelie Fishel

you’re home safe!

❤️💤

see you tomorrow

~*~*~

amelie

A fun part of the job that she didn’t expect has been seeing the familiar faces around the league that she’s known before. As in, the people she overlapped with at Michigan. There’s a lot of them.

By now, she knows who wears what number for the teams she covers. She’s not required to know the rosters of the opposing team, but she likes to pair numbers with faces and names as much as she can. It’s become a fun game for her too.

It just proves to her that this world is so incredibly small. For better or worse.

Currently, the Devils are in the midst of their game against the Sharks and all she can think is: damn, the Sharks jerseys are pretty.

The teal of it all is tickling the color theory part of Amelie’s brain so well. She wishes the teams she covered were more original in color.

As Amelie’s sifting quickly through the photos she took during the second period on her new camera, she stops at a picture of two teal jerseys celebrating their goal. Number 2 and number 71. She quickly double checks on Google. Yup. She was right. Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini

Amelie’s always been good with names. Macklin’s stuck with her after working the draft. And Will’s is just so iconic.

She checks the time. She still has 7 minutes left before the third period starts. Quickly, she connects the camera to the laptop and then the printer, printing out two copies of the same picture. She reminds herself after the game to venture towards the visitors’ locker room as soon as she can before the Sharks leave. Maybe grab Bordeleau to make it easier. Hopefully he remembers her.

Once the buzzer sounds, she pats her pocket, making sure the two photos are there. She briefly thinks of a game plan, deciding to give it at least 15 minutes so she doesn’t interrupt the locker room. She hangs out in an alcove where she knows from prior experience that she can hear the visiting’s teams general coming and goings. In the meantime, she pulls up her laptop to edit some photos.

As luck would have it, she sees a glimpse of Thomas and now she’s on a mission. In a brisk jog, she catches up to him and taps him on the shoulder.

He turns around and his face lights up in recognition. “Amelie? Holy shit.”

She smiles. “Hey Bords.”

“I thought I saw on Instagram that you’re working in the NHL now,” he gives her a quick hug. “That’s awesome. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

“What can I do for you?”

“Yeah. Listen, I know you guys are probably heading out pretty soon, but do you mind grabbing either Celebrini or Smith or both of them for me?” At his initial confusion, she pulls out the photos. “Thought they might want a copy.”

He nods with a small smirk. “Yeah, I’ll grab them. Be right back.” Not even a two minutes later, Thomas comes back with Macklin and Will both in tow, all back in their game day suits, though much less refined than she’s sure they were walking in.

She puts on her professional smile, sticking her hand out. “Hi. I’m Amelie. Uh, I’m a photographer with the NHL,” she hands the rookies the photos. “I took this in the second period and I figured maybe you’d want a copy? No charge. Just keep a bit hush about that.”

Macklin takes the photos as Will looks over his shoulder. “These are sick. Thank you so much.”

“You’re so welcome.”

“How do you know Bordy?” Will asks.

“We went to college together,” she replies.

“Michigan?” She nods. Will continues. “You must know Rutger and Shea then. And Luke. Unless you didn’t overlap?”

Amelie laughs. “Oh, I know them very well. I was Rut’s TA. He loved that.”

“It’s beautiful there,” Macklin says. “I train there in the summers now and it’s so nice.”

Right. He trains with Jack. Go figure. “It is,” she reminisces, trying not to get too emotional about what home means to her in a literal and metaphorical sense.

“Do you work for the Devils now?” Thomas asks.

“Kinda,” Amelie says, redoing her hair and aimlessly retying her bow. “I cover the Devils and Flyers mainly, but Rangers and Islanders as well. I technically work with the NHL rather than a specific team.”

“Have we met?” Macklin asks with an innocent tilt of his head.

“Maybe?” She says. “I was at the draft. So possibly in passing. And maybe if you came to Yost? I can’t remember what year BU came to play in Michigan.”

“I never did at BU,” Macklin says. “But the draft makes sense.”

She backs away. “I won’t keep you for long so-ah!” She crashes into someone and whips around to see Jack, one side of his lips quirked up.

“Watch where you’re going,” he says with a playful tilt.

“What are you doing here?” She shoots back.

“Josh was looking for you, actually, and I just saw you out here.”

She looks down at her feet, because deep down, she knows it’s because he was purposefully looking for her. But she doesn’t mind the vagueness, especially in front of Thomas, Macklin and Will.

Jack does some sort of bro handshake with all three of them, paired with a friendly nod. “What’s up?”

Macklin grins. “Amelie here took a picture of me and Will and wanted to give it to us.”

Jack leans over to look at the picture and lets out a small chuckle. “Yeah, that’s a keeper.”

Amelie gives a parting smile. “It was nice to meet you both, and good to see you again, Bords.”

“Thank you for the picture,” Will says sincerely. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Amelie just shrugs, accepting a quick hug from Thomas before backing away and letting Jack say his parting words.

When he faces her directly, his back towards his fellow hockey players, in his Devils sweatshirt and his wet hair fresh from the shower, she swallows.

He’s hers. Isn’t that great?

“Hi,” she says softly when he gets in earshot.

“Hey,” he says. She wants to kiss him so bad. “Did you drive here today?”

“No. I carpooled with Kenny. Is she still in there?”

“I’m not sure,” he says. “How much longer you need?”

She hums, hands automatically fiddling with the camera around her neck. “Maybe 20 minutes?”

“I can drive you home.”

“You sure?” She whispers. “I don’t wanna keep you. I’m sure you’re tired.”

“Being here for 20 extra won’t hurt me,” they stop before parting to different hallways. “I’ll come knock on your door in a bit, yeah?”

“Yeah,” she nods with a small smile. “See you.”

(As the three Sharks watch Jack and Amelie walk away, they all notice how Jack’s hand doesn’t quite touch Amelie’s, but it’s damn close. And their bodies are tuned to each other in a way that goes beyond mere coworkers.

Macklin blinks. “It’s none of my business, but are they-”

“Yup,” Thomas responds. “I follow her on Instagram. They’re definitely dating.”

“Huh,” Will comments. “That’s kinda cute. The sports photographer and the player. Think Grace made me watch a movie like that once.”

“She’s great,” Thomas says with a nostalgic tilt in his voice. “We were both freshmen at the same time and I just, I don’t know. It’s awesome to see where she’s ended up.”

“Did you ever predict that she and Jack-”

Thomas snorts. “No. Absolutely not. Not any hockey player, to be honest. She was just always on the quieter end and seemed way too smart for any of us, because she is. But she’s, just, so great.”

The two rookies hum, watching as the couple turns the corner out of view.)

~*~*~

amelie

They finally, finally go on that Manhattan date, on a brief break where Jack doesn’t have any games and a day that Amelie is also free. The con is that he doesn’t tell her what they’re doing, only says “trust me” and “wear something you can walk in and be warm in and is a little fancy but not too much.”

She appreciates it, she does. And Jack elicits nothing but comfort and ease, especially since their conversation a week and a half ago. So she is trying to be at ease with the lack of knowing the plans. But by the time Jack knocks on her door a little bit after 2 p.m., she’s been dressed for over an hour, pacing around for almost the same amount of time.

She whips open the door and smiles, momentarily taken aback. “Hi.”

He laughs a bit, eyes sparkling. He has a canvas jacket tossed over a plain black t-shirt and black jeans. He looks clean and fresh and so cute. “Hi. Ready to go?”

“Mmhm.”

He waits for her to grab her bag and jacket, before interlacing their fingers and kissing their locked hands. “You look pretty.”

She tucks herself into his side, feeling giddy. “Thanks. You’re sweet.”

“I’m glad we’re finally able to do this.”

“I am too, but I think you’re a bit crazy for wanting to drive into the city.”

Jack shrugs. “It’s not too bad. Nico does it all the time with Clee. I’ve picked her up from the hospital before. As long as you don’t mind possible traffic. Besides, want you to be comfortable.”

She just looks at him, marveling at how much he really likes her. She wishes she was used to this feeling. Not wanting to dwell outwardly on that right now, she changes the subject. “What are we doing?”

“What do you mean? You know what we’re doing.”

“I know that you asked me if I knew of any places to eat in the city for a late lunch or dessert,” she deadpans as they get into his car. “I know you have more up your sleeve.”

He grins. “Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t.”

“Jack-”

His hand rests on her thigh and he squeezes lightly. “Hey. I got it, okay? Just worry about having a good time.”

She sinks back into her seat, shooting him a glare. He laughs and she softens. “Fine. Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound snippy.”

“No need to be sorry,” he responds easily. “How was your day yesterday?”

They talk the whole time it takes for them to get into Manhattan. As always, Amelie’s on the aux. She hasn’t told Jack yet, but she’s started making a playlist of songs that she’s played that he’s noted that he likes or seems to bop his head to. Jack parks in a garage attached to a hotel in Soho, right by the sushi place that Amelie suggested per Colette. (“You’ve met my brothers. When do I get to meet your sisters?” Jack had joked. And the thought of that didn’t terrify Amelie as much as she thought it would.”) He doesn’t even give her the chance when the check comes, snatching it away despite Amelie very much verbally disagreeing.

He waves her off, as he signs. “Amelie. No. Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m getting the next one,” she says adamantly.

“We’ll see,” he says.

“Jack.”

“We’ll see,” he repeats with a smirk. “Ready to go?”

She grabs her bag and jacket. “To where, exactly?”

“You’ll see. We’re hopping on the train.”

She lets him lead, even leaning her forehead against his chest on the train when it’s packed. They ride mostly in silence as she takes in the city. This isn’t even close to her first time in Manhattan, but it’s always a bit overwhelming. Jack’s steady presence calms her down, especially when the train jolts and he automatically steadies her.

When they get off at the 42nd Street station, Amelie has an inkling she knows where this is heading. She gives Jack a look, but he just holds her hand firmly in his as they exit the busy station.

“Are you taking me to a show?”

He turns from where he was walking slightly in front of her with a smile. “Busted.”

She feels her heart dropping down to her feet. “Jack.”

“Well, hold on,” he jokes. “You don’t know what show yet.” She’s still in a daze, because she’s maybe only mentioned in passing how much she loves Broadway and musical theater and she’s trying to wrap her head around the fact that he remembered enough to incorporate into their first date. Tickets aren’t cheap, especially with-

“Jack,” she says as they glide to a stop in front of Richard Rodgers Theater. “No. You didn’t.”

He grins, exaggeratedly gesturing at the “Hamilton” billboard. “I did. I don’t know much about Broadway, but even I know Hamilton is supposed to be a great show.” Amelie’s so incredibly touched as she continues staring at Jack in disbelief. People are walking by them in a blur and all she can focus on is his smile, that slowly turns unsure the longer she stays silent. “I also did reach out to Charlotte on Instagram after I saw she followed me and asked if you would like this.”

That’s a loaded sentence. “Y-you asked my sister?” She sputters out.

“Well, yeah,” Jack shrugs sheepishly. “I wanted to make sure it was a good idea.”

“This is too much,” she finally chokes out.

“But in a good way?”

“I-I’ve always dreamed of seeing Hamilton live.”

“Dope,” he holds out his hand with an easy smile. “Come on. Let’s go in.”

She looks at him, takes a deep breath and intertwines their hands.

#k writes #hockey fanfic #hockey writing #hockey fic #nhl #nhl writing #nhl fic #nhl fanfic #hockey blurb #nhl blurb #jack hughes x oc #jack hughes x ofc #jack hughes #new jersey devils #luke hughes #reckless driving au #jack hughes fic #jack hughes writing #jack hughes fanfiction

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clarisse0o · 2 months ago

Text

Camp Wiegman-Part 66

Lucy Bronze x Ona Batlle

Alternative Universe : Military School

Words: 6k

Masterlist

———————————————————————

Wednesday, March 3; 5:30 AM - Ona and Alexia's room.

I was sleeping peacefully until I felt my blanket lift, letting a draft hit my chilly body. Naturally, I couldn't help but be scared, being the little scaredy-cat that I am, but I was quickly greeted by a warm breath.

"Shhht. It's just me."

A smile spread across my lips, even though I was still in a fog. Lucy slipped under my blanket, and I took the opportunity to turn around and bury my face in her chest. I could feel her smile as she kissed my forehead, holding me tight. Her body was freezing, but it was already starting to warm up against mine.

"Happy one month, my love," I mumbled against her chest, which hummed with satisfaction.

"Happy one month," she whispered back.

I sighed in contentment, not daring to move or let go. I was afraid it was just a dream, but I kept touching her, and she was still here. I knew I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, but I didn't mind. I was perfectly comfortable next to her. I had missed her arms. After all, we always get used to the good things too quickly.

"I knew you'd plan something," I whispered. "It's not fair. I don't have the same advantages as you."

She chuckled, making her chest vibrate again beneath me. It was a pleasant surprise. I hadn't thought about it at all. Starting my day in her arms would give me a lot of motivation and good cheer.

"Hey, just so you know," came my roommate's deep voice. "I'll allow the cuddling next to me this time because it's your one-month anniversary, but please, keep it quiet."

We laughed as I heard her turn over in her bed. Lucy calmed me by sliding her hand under my T-shirt. It felt good to feel her. I liked it when she touched my skin.

"Did you hear, baby?" she teased me.

I smiled and nodded, pressing myself closer to her. I took a deep breath to take in her scent. I was happy she was here, in my bed. I'd have her scent on my sheets now. It would help me sleep better, even though it would be both a joy and a torture in the nights to come. I lifted my head and kissed her hard. It was another sweet torture that I intended to enjoy on this lovely morning. It was hard not to fully enjoy what was mine when I saw her every day. We continued like that for the half-hour we had left. Our time was cut short by the shrill alarm echoing down the hall. Lucy sighed, and I could see the disappointment on her face that it was already over. Still, she didn't move. Alexia had time to open the blinds, letting the daylight flood the room, momentarily blinding us.

"If you're not getting up, does that mean we have time to get ready?" Ale asked.

"Definitely not," she teased. "Come on, get up, beautiful."

"Just a little longer," I mumbled.

Alexia laughed as she went into the bathroom. As soon as she left, I resumed kissing Lucy, but she giggled and gently pushed me away. She kissed my forehead and got out of bed. I hadn't noticed because of the darkness, but she was already wearing her T-shirt for the day. I watched her as she pulled on her pants and jacket before Ale returned. I would have liked to get dressed too, but my clothes were in the bathroom.

"Thanks for the wake-up call. It was nice."

"My pleasure," she smiled. "But I'm serious. Go get ready," she said as Ale returned.

"I'm going, I'm going."

I dragged myself out of bed and went into the bathroom. I hurried as much as I could, knowing I still had to make my bed. When I was done, I wanted to tackle that, but I noticed it had already been made.

"Thanks," I said to Lucy.

I gave her a quick kiss on the lips to emphasize my gratitude. I then rushed to my closet to give her my drawing. It wasn’t much, but I didn’t want to be empty-handed. It was a self-portrait of her from behind, with her hair to the side. I highlighted the tattoo on her neck and her profile. I could see Lucy's eyes light up, and nothing made me happier.

"I didn’t expect us to be giving gifts..."

"I didn’t want to come empty-handed. The rest will come this weekend, of course."

"Oh, really?"

"Don’t think you're getting away without celebrating properly," I teased her.

"Oh no, no," she laughed. "I remember you’re in charge of the evening," she said with a mischievous smile. "I’m expecting a lot if you’re the one running the show."

I laughed softly and playfully hit her shoulder. She’s challenging me! I really hope she’ll like what I’ve planned.

"Alright, off you go. See you tonight."

"Have a great day."

I kissed her one last time before joining Ale, who was waiting for me at the door. Poor thing, I always made her wait. She didn’t seem to mind. As soon as we stepped into the hallway, she put her arm around my shoulders.

"So, my friend. Looks like you're starting the day off well."

"I couldn’t have dreamed of a better start," I admitted. "Not everyone would do that."

"That’s true," she giggled. "Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you something."

"Yes?"

"Since you haven’t brought it up again, I was wondering how the discussion about the gallery offer ended."

"Oh, yeah. I didn’t mention it again, sorry."

"Did everything get sorted out? You have no idea how upset Jenni was about it."

"She didn’t have to be. It’s something that concerns only us anyway."

"That’s true, but she’s very protective of Lucy," she sighed. "So, what’s the decision?"

"For now, we’re waiting for the interview with Mr. Fields next week. I tried to schedule it for Friday afternoon to avoid needing permissions and all that, but he wasn’t available."

"Did you manage to find a time slot anyway?"

"Yes, yes. Monday, in two weeks. But we decided not to wait. Lucy found other galleries for me to apply to. Beth is checking their relevance before I send my applications."

"That’s right, I heard beth has a lot of friends in that field. She’s passionate about art thanks to her mother. Jenni and Beth are really close friends »

"Really? No, I didn’t know that."

"Well, now you do," she laughed. "And what if the guy doesn’t give up?"

"Lucy thinks that if I make it clear I don’t want to leave, he won’t chase me," I explained, shrugging.

"She’s probably right," she agreed.

"I know," I sighed. "But I can’t afford to accept. I don’t see myself leaving. I feel good here. She understands that I don’t want to be away from her, so it’s fine."

"Do you know why she reacted that way?"

"She was afraid I’d regret choosing her over a good opportunity, you know. I made it clear that wouldn’t happen."

"It’s a bit absurd, isn’t it?"

"You know, I think Lucy has never missed a single opportunity for her professional career. Look at where she is now… It might be absurd to us, but not to her."

"I see... Well, it’s perfect if everything’s settled."

Ale has such a big heart. I love her for that. We walked through the dorm doors to reach the outside.

"Hey, girls," Patri called out to us. "You’re a little late this morning, aren’t you?

We are greeted by all our friends gathered near the entrance. Even Alba and her girlfriend were there. Misa has been surprising me by hanging out with us more often since they started showing up together. In just three days, she’s been with us constantly, much to Ale's dismay. I could tell Ale wasn't thrilled with the situation. I found it a bit difficult too. I wasn't talking to Alba as much as I did before the holidays. For a while, I had the impression her girlfriend held a grudge against me. That seemed to fade once she found out I was dating someone. It was clear she didn't like my relationship with her girlfriend, and the last thing I wanted was to reignite any tension. Why does everyone always see me as a threat? It’s not like I’m trying to go after everyone, quite the opposite!

“Sorry, we were hanging out in the hallway,” my roommate defends us.

“Good thing it wasn’t Bronze who kept you back,” someone jokes.

A slight irritation creeps up inside me. Ever since I started dating her, I’ve had less patience for comments like that. There’s no one sweeter than Lucy on this earth. It’s crazy that she’s gotten such a reputation around here.

“You all seriously need to stop making her out to be a monster. I’ve already told you she’s not nearly as bad as you think.”

“Okay, I think we’ll take that as our cue to leave,” Ale says, grabbing my shoulders and steering me toward the cafeteria. I immediately regret my outburst as I catch the others’ glances. I hadn’t meant to let my words get the best of me. I need to calm down.

“Let it go,” Alexia murmurs. “They don’t know what they’re talking about.”

I take a long breath and exhale slowly. Checking to make sure we’ve put some distance between us, I say, “But seriously, it’s so frustrating! You know her now too. You know she’s not as cruel as everyone says.”

“I know, but relax. Now’s not the time to show everyone how much she means to you. You’ve already got Leah and Alessia watching your every move; I think that’s enough, don’t you?”

I growl in frustration. Ale keeps going, as if to drive her point home.

“We’re almost done with the school year, and besides, Lucy chose this reputation for herself. There’s nothing you can do to change it.”

“She only did that to protect herself,” I sigh. “I hate it, you have no idea.”

“Just a few more weeks in this environment, and then it’ll all be over. You’ll be fine.”

I nod reluctantly. She’s right—it would be foolish to ruin everything now, but it’s tough.

“And what about you? How are things with Alba?” I ask, shifting the conversation.

I had noticed that things weren’t perfect. Like me, Ale had been keeping her distance. I know they’re together in class, so I don’t see everything.

“Not great. I think Alba expects me to reveal who my girlfriend is ever since she introduced me to Misa.”

“I see... Maybe it’s time to tell her, don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” she sighs. “This charade has lasted long enough, and I’m tired of lying to her weekend after weekend. Plus, I also need to figure out how to tell her I’m not going back to live with my grandparents after school.”

“Is that a final decision?” I ask, surprised.

I can’t hide my joy. If she’s moving in with Jenni, it means we’ll stay close even after leaving here. She laughs softly at my reaction.

“Of course. It’s been decided for a while now. I’m just scared to tell her it’s Jenni. She’s going to kill me, don’t you think? She’s older than me.”

“Lucy’s older than me too,” I roll my eyes. “It’s not that big of a deal. I think what matters to her right now is knowing who you’re seeing. I feel like dating Misa has been good for her. She seems in love. Maybe now she can relate to you and wants something more with Misa after school too. Have you asked her?”

“No,” Ale mutters. “I don’t like that girl very much.”

“Get to know her before you say that. She might turn out to be cool.”

“And you’re the one telling me this?”

“What can I say? You can’t just reject her. You wouldn’t want her to do that to Jenni, would you?”

“That’s true,” she sighs.

“Come on. What did you just tell me? Oh right, ‘It’ll be okay, don’t worry,’” I mimic her teasingly.

She laughs softly, nudging my shoulder. I laugh too, and we exchange a calm smile.

“Talk to her as soon as possible. She’s happy right now, so take advantage of it.”

“You’re right,” she says with determination. “I’ll try. Thanks.”

“It’s nothing. I’m here if you need support.”

She gives me a grateful smile as we reach the cafeteria. Along the way, I briefly spot Lucy heading to her table, her tray already full. I’m surprised she passed us so quickly. We exchange a small smile, which makes Ale laugh.

“You two really have a lot to learn about being discreet,” she teases.

“Oh, stop it,” I groan, playfully hitting her.

She laughs more. It’s only been three days, but it’s already hard. She’s right—we need to calm down if we don’t want to get caught. Sometimes, you have to make choices, and right now, I’d rather keep Lucy close than push her away.

Wednesday, March 3; 2:30 PM – During class.

“Can I ask you a question?” Alessia interrupts me during one of my exercises.

“You just did.”

I smile as I finish writing my last calculation on the sheet.

“Ha ha ha, very funny.”

“I think so too,” I reply, my smile widening.

“Seriously, can I?”

“You could have before. What’s up?”

“What do you see in her?”

I don’t need more context to know who she’s talking about. She’s seemed pretty distracted today. I wasn’t expecting her to still be thinking about my relationship. After all, we hadn’t talked about it since. Ale had suggested I address it since she’d noticed the criticism from her sister, but I hadn’t done anything. I was always afraid of confrontation.

“Why are you so interested, exactly?” I ask casually.

Deep down, I’m nervous, but it seems I’m not the only one. Alessia keeps her head down when I look at her, fidgeting with her fingers. I place my hand on hers, and immediately, our eyes meet. Hers are filled with sadness, which weighs heavily on me.

“What’s wrong?”

“I never hid that I liked you, Ona. I gave up on it a while ago, but I just wanted to know where I went wrong.”

Her honesty touches me. Alessia is such a remarkable girl. I’ve come to learn that after spending time with her. We have so much in common, especially our love for art. I shake my head to let her know she’s mistaken.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Alessia. I was already taken by her before we even met. That’s all.”

“Okay...” she murmurs. “But be honest. If you had met me first, could you have liked me as more than a friend?”

I look up at the ceiling, pondering her question. Like I’d told Lucy before, Alessia could have been my type. But would I have been able to open up to her and trust her like I do with Lucy? The answer is easy.

“I could have,” I admit. “In different circumstances.”

The hope in her eyes fades just as quickly as it appeared. I hate hurting her like this, but I can’t lie to her. She deserves the truth.

“It’s no secret. I have a troubled past, and I struggled to get through it. No offense, but you wouldn’t have been able to help me the way she did. I never thought I could open up to anyone again or even find myself... But she did the impossible, and I could never thank her enough.”

“How? She seems so... I don’t know. Detached from everything.”

I laugh softly. She's so right. Lucy is a completely different person here.

"It's just a mask, you know. She's not like that in real life. She broke me down just to rebuild me. The bond we share is special. It's strong and, most importantly, based on trust."

"Okay," she replies, followed by a deep breath. "You seem happy... and in love, too."

"I am," I confirm with a small smile. "Losing her would destroy me."

She nods thoughtfully, taking her time before responding.

"What does she think of me? I feel like she doesn’t like me much. Maybe I'm wrong, but she seems to react very coldly toward me compared to the rest of your friends."

I chuckle. If only she knew. No one gets accepted on the first try. Still, I can't deny that every time Lucy crosses paths with her by my side, she looks like she could kill her with her eyes.

"She knows that you like me. I told her that at the very beginning, during a conversation."

"You told her what?" she chokes out. "Oh my God, that explains everything! She must hate me!"

I burst out laughing, drawing the attention of our teacher for the first time. He looks up to give us a stern glare. We've been working independently for half an hour, which is why we've been able to talk so freely. I calm down immediately, not wanting him to forbid all conversation or, worse, send us out of class.

"I wouldn't go as far as to say that. She's just jealous," I say, pointing to my neck. "But she doesn't hate you. She doesn't even know you."

"She hates me, and she has her reasons," she insists. "Oh my God, why did you tell her that!?"

I struggle to hold back my laughter. Her expression is priceless. If I could record it, I would. I catch our teacher's eye again, and his stare instantly silences me. I pretend to get back to work to avoid any further attention, but I glance at Alessia, who has also bent over her table.

"You're exaggerating. It was a dark time, and I was telling her a lot of things. What do you want me to say... I couldn't take back what she already knew."

"You could have kept it to yourself! Oh my God... What must she think of me now...? She’s going to kill me, for sure."

"Stop. You're being ridiculous."

I think I'm trying to reassure myself. As much as I comfort my girlfriend, she continues to fixate on my friend.

"She's trying to push me away from you, isn't she? Is that why she canceled our tutoring sessions?"

"Aren't you going a bit far?"

I take it lightly, but Alessia seems far from convinced, given her silence. After a moment, I sigh and continue speaking.

"No, she didn’t cancel our tutoring for that reason. She was helping me study long before you started doing it."

"Then why did you stop studying with her?"

"Because we had a falling out," I admit for the first time. "I wanted to distance myself to avoid getting hurt, but it ended up being a failure for both of us."

"Oh..." she replies, her expression showing that she suddenly understands.

"If she wanted to start tutoring me again, it was partly to reconnect, but also because my grades had dropped. My mood was one reason, but it's also because her study methods worked better for me."

"Are you saying I wasn't a good enough teacher?" she squints at me.

"No," I laugh. "Sorry. It's just that with her, I tend to daydream less, you know? She's more strict and serious."

She raises an eyebrow, making it clear that she doesn't entirely believe me. Alexia's words come back to me. They think I'm not really studying with her after class. I let out a heavy sigh.

"Look, I know you and your sister talk behind our backs."

I give her a moment to respond, but she doesn't, so I continue.

"I really do study with her after class, nothing more. I'm two years behind, Alessia. Don’t you think I have a lot of work to catch up on? Her help is invaluable, and I’m grateful to have her. She stays serious, even with our relationship. She doesn't mix the two."

"Really...?"

For the first time, she seems to be doubting herself. I know then that I've won, that she’s finally going to believe me.

"Yes, really," I confirm. "I have proof in my bag with a whole ton of exercise sheets she gave me to complete before the final exams."

"Is that why you asked the teachers for old chapters?"

"Yes. I need them to review, but also to refresh Lucy's memory."

"She studied management?" she asks, surprised.

"It's more complicated than that, but partially, yes."

"Okay..." she murmurs. "I guess you'll be meeting her tonight as well?"

"Yeah. Plus, today is a special day. It’s our one-month anniversary," I admit.

"Oh! Already? I thought it was less time..."

"No, no, it’s been a month," I confirm proudly.

"Well... I’m sorry for talking about you two."

"It's fine. I understand your reasons. I don’t leave you guys out on purpose, you know."

"I know... I just hope she won't ask you to end our friendship because of what she knows."

"She won't. She knows my friends are important to me, even if she gets jealous. You’re not the first one to go through this."

"If you could tell her that I accepted a long time ago that we’re just friends, it would help," she laughs softly.

"I’ll do that, I promise," I laugh along with her.

"I'm happy to count you as a friend, even if sometimes I feel like I don’t really know you."

"Oh?" I raise an eyebrow, surprised.

"Well... you talk about your past so much, but no one really knows anything. Don’t take it the wrong way, but it feels like there are missing pieces to the puzzle, you know? But it’s understandable that you wouldn’t want to share, it’s very personal."

I nod, even though her words leave me deep in thought. Do Mapi and Alexia feel the same way? They’re my best friends, but they don’t know either. Unlike Alessia, they’ve never mentioned it. What if they think the same and just haven’t said anything?

"Anyway," she continues, pulling me from my thoughts, "you deserve happiness. If Lucy is your source of that, then hold onto her tightly."

I smile awkwardly, feeling uneasy from her last words.

"Thanks, Alessia."

"Miss Batlle, Miss Russo. Do I need to permanently change your seats to ensure you get your work done?"

I jump as our teacher stands in front of us. Fortunately, he grabs my sheet, not Alessia's, who, from what I saw, hasn’t made as much progress as I have. I feel increasingly proud to surpass her lately, even if I still doubt my answers. After examining my sheet, the teacher gives me a disapproving look, earning a cheeky smile from me. Judging by his expression, maybe I got it right after all.

"Get back to work," he says sharply. "It would be a shame to waste these last minutes and end up getting kicked out for the weekend."

He places my sheet back down and walks away. Alessia and I share a mischievous smile before getting back to work. If I get kicked out now, I’ll lose much more than a weekend, not to mention the scolding I’d get from my girlfriend. Finally, the last few minutes tick by, freeing us from these never-ending classes. Time is starting to drag, and I have to admit, I feel more and more uncomfortable in this stifling environment.

"Are you going to meet her?" Alessia asks me.

"Yeah," I reply, adjusting my bag on my shoulders. "I’d like to get my homework done so I can relax."

"I get it. Well, see you at dinner tonight."

"Yep, see you later."

I head off as she waits for her sister and Lotte. I quickly find myself in front of Lucy’s office. Surprisingly, the door is closed. I knock three times as usual and feel compelled to wait for the signal before entering. I'm caught off guard when I find Wiegman in my usual spot. A wave of panic washes over me, but seeing her relaxed demeanor, I realize she’s not here for the reasons I feared.

- "Hello, Ona," she greets me.

- "Hello..." I respond hesitantly.

- "How are you?" she asks, more out of politeness. "You're here for your revisions, I suppose? Miss Bronze mentioned it to me."

- "Uh... yes."

I look to Lucy for support, but all I get is a stern look before the director turns to her. She smiles as if nothing's out of the ordinary. From all this, I understand I need to play along.

- "I assume this is your spot," she says, standing up. "I'll leave it to you. Anyway, we're done here. Do you have any questions?"

- "No, I think that will be all," Lucy replies with a small smile. "Thank you for stopping by to give me the latest details."

- "It's no problem."

I wait by her side, expecting her to move so I can take my seat, but I realize we’re far from that when she turns to smile at me.

- "I’ve received a lot of good feedback about you this week. If we disregard the chatting, one might almost think you've become a model student. We're all pleased, so keep it up."

She pats my shoulder as if we're old friends, before finally deciding to leave with a final goodbye. I sigh and drop into the chair, the tension melting away. Lucy laughs softly.

- "It's not funny! I really thought she'd figured everything out! What was she doing here?"

- "She brought me the latest details for your upcoming outing in a few weeks. I thought she'd leave before you arrived, but you know how she is—once she starts talking, there's no stopping her."

- "Hmm..."

I groan in frustration. I don't like having my emotions toyed with like that. She teases me gently while I unpack my things. I’ve got a test next week and a few exercises, so I've got plenty to prepare tonight.

- "So, you're still chatting, huh?" she teases with a playful grin. "Maybe I should resume my punishments to remind you of the importance of class. Or perhaps I should request that you be moved when you're seated next to your friend."

I roll my eyes with exaggerated amusement.

- "Any excuse is good. I thought we weren’t mixing personal relationships with work, huh?"

- "I'm not mixing anything."

- "Oh really? Because I still sense a bit of jealousy in your words. Why only move me away from her when I talk just as much to her sister or Lotte?"

- "Are you suggesting I isolate you alone at a table? Though, that’s not a bad idea."

I laugh and shake my head. She's beyond reasoning at this point. But mentioning Alessia reminds me of the recent conversation I had with her.

- "Hey," I say calmly. "Can I ask your opinion on something?"

- "Of course."

- "Do you think Mapi and Ale might be upset with me because I’ve never told them about my past?"

Lucy furrows her brows.

- "Have they given you any reason to think that, either through their words or actions?"

- "No, no. It’s just that I had a conversation with someone. They kind of hinted that they don't know me well enough because they don't know what I went through before I came here... So, I started wondering."

- "That person sounds a bit too nosy, if you ask me."

I bite my lip. Thank goodness I didn't mention Alessia by name.

- "It’s just that they might not be entirely wrong. I know why all my friends are here."

The many conversations we’ve had at the table have allowed me to figure it out. The first ones I learned about were the Putellas siblings, thanks to Ale. Then I learned about Patri and Claudia, who grew drugs for their neighborhood. There’s also Lotte, who went through a rebellious phase after his dad left their home. She used to get into fights and committed some vandalism. Her mom didn’t hesitate long before enrolling her in this school to get her back on track. That story surprised me the most. I can’t picture her as a fighter. She’s so calm and quiet around us. Just goes to show how deceiving appearances can be. As for Leah and Alessia, their story is a bit more complicated. It took me a while before Leah opened up to me. I already knew it had something to do with drugs since my detox. She was knowledgeable, and that's what brought us closer back then. She told me in private that they lived in rough neighborhoods in London due to their family situation. To survive in school, they had to join their local gang with Alessia. Unfortunately, they got caught during a fight with another gang the same day their father landed a better-paying job in Manchester. This caused them a lot of trouble. With the help of their lawyer, they were released on the condition that they collaborate and join the Wiegman Camp. Of course, they accepted, as this also provided them with a free higher education while allowing them to follow their parents to Manchester@.

- "So what?" Lucy continues. "That doesn't mean your friends don't know you. The past doesn’t define a person entirely. It's also about how they handle situations, their reactions, and their way of thinking, for example. How do you think they know someone had a painful past, hmm?"

- "Well... I told them..."

- "Everyone can tell you've had a difficult past, Ona."

- "Really? Even without me saying it?"

- "You never told me, and yet I knew it the first day I met you. I just had to look at you. You were fearful, hiding it behind your tough defensive attitude."

I blush, remembering our first encounter. She had thrown me out of bed, and I had stood my ground. I thought she was looking down on me with her airs, but in the end, she just wanted to break through my shell from day one.

- "Who said they didn’t know you?" she asks again, determined to find out.

- "It doesn’t matter," I mutter.

- "Are you sure?"

- "Yes. I was just worried about Mapi and Alexia. I was afraid they might feel the same way. I don’t want them to think I don’t trust them or that they don’t know me well enough."

She sighs softly and leans forward to take my hand in hers. I immediately catch her gaze when I lift my head.

- "I imagine this person who made you feel this way wasn’t Alexia, if you’re saying this."

- "No... It wasn’t her."

- "Then that means it’s a friend you’re not as close to..." she muses aloud. "Whether it’s that person or even the girls, you don’t have to tell them anything unless you want to. The girls know you well enough. They understand your boundaries without knowing everything about what you’ve been through, am I right?"

I nod. Of course they do. But Alessia doesn’t, and I realize what Lucy is trying to tell me.

- "Telling them everything would just satisfy their curiosity... Because deep down, they already know you well enough."

I smile shyly, nodding. I understand her point. A past can shape us, but I don’t need to reveal it to know who I am. Our reactions and actions define us well enough. To think I almost had regrets because of Alessia.

- "Thank you."

Her response is to bring my hand to her lips for a kiss. Lucy’s romantic side is something I never would have guessed at the beginning of our relationship. I need to step up to meet her level of devotion.

- "You're very welcome, beautiful."

- "Do you think I should tell them...?"

- "They deserve to know what hurt you, especially Mapi, given all the support she’s given you. It’s the same for Alexia, I think. But you shouldn’t force yourself. Do it when you’re ready."

- "I-I think I am. I really love them so much. They’ve supported me through everything. Even with you. If there’s anyone I want to tell, it’s them."

- "Then tell them. I’ll be by your side if you need support."

I shake my head. If I’m going to do this, it has to be on my own. Even though I’d love her presence, I need to handle this by myself. It’s the only way for me to build my confidence.

- "I guess they’ll be getting a girls' night without you... if you don’t mind."

She laughs heartily and kisses my fingers again.

- "Not at all, baby. As long as you stay reasonable when I’m not around."

- "I promise. You know, we never really talked about it, but I appreciate how we've managed to bring our friends together like this."

- "Me too," she admits. "We’re creating our own little group, and it’s wonderful. It brings us even closer."

I smile, wholeheartedly agreeing with her. "Us." It's a word that still gives me butterflies when she says it. I can’t wait to officially start our life together.

#woso #lucy bronze #woso community #ona batlle #barca femeni #woso soccer #lionesses #sefutbol fem #ona batlle x lucy bronze

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escapingrealtiylovinginsanity · 7 months ago

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Will Halstead: Guitar

I needed to write some fluff after all the angst I’ve been writing lately. The song used is Body is a Wonderland by John Mayer. This was inspired by 2x8 of med (I think/ish) That singing did all the right things for me.

Warning: Slight NSFW content at the end (a paragraph or so).

You hadn’t meant to snoop. You were only in his closet because you were looking for something soft to wear. You weren’t going to put back on that slinky dress or your ruined panties. And honestly, it was Will’s fault. If he didn’t want you digging around in his closet he shouldn’t have disappeared before you got up. This thing between the two of you was new and labelless. Dating, screwing, or just a casual thing- you didn’t know.

You did know that this- whatever this was- was a common enough occurrence that you felt comfortable enough to pillage through his closet. You fingered a few shirts before stopping at a soft well-worn sweatshirt. You pull it off its hanger and the smell of Will’s detergent and cologne floods your senses. It’s plain olive green with a Chicago Med logo on the breast. When you pull it over your head it drowns you. It falls past your knees and your arms completely disappear.

That is when you see it out of the corner of your eye. You hum to yourself as your hand grabs the neck of the acoustic guitar. It was well-loved and worn. You carry it back to the bed. You sit down setting it awkwardly on your lap. You had tried to pick up the art of playing a few times before with little luck. You had learned five chords before you had waved the white flag of surrender. You remember two maybe three.

You wiggled your fingers before pressing them onto the strings. When you stroke the strings, you wince. Even you know that sound isn’t right. You make a face chewing on your lip. You were about to put it back when a voice stopped you. “Flip your fingers.” Will was standing in the doorway, a bag in one hand, a warm smile on his face. The other was held up in front of him alternating his index and middle finger. You look back down at your hand and change the position of your fingers. You look back up at him and he nods encouragingly. You stroke the strings again and a rough but much more pleasant sound follows. “There you go,”

You look back up at him guiltily. “Sorry,”

“It just takes practice.” Your eyebrows furrow before you laugh shaking your head.

“No, not the bad playing. I mean for-” You gesture to the guitar on your lap. He smiles again as he sits on the bed next to you. He holds his hand out.

“May I?”

“I mean since it is yours.” He takes the guitar in one hand while offering you the bag from the other. The smell of the bag hits you and you moan in delight when you register its donuts from the bakery a few blocks down. He chuckles at your excitement as you take a bite. He starts strumming and you look up at him. You are surprised when he starts singing in a smooth light voice.

“We got the afternoon

You got this room for two

One thing I’ve left to do

Discover me

Discovering you

One mile to every inch of

Your skin like porcelain

One pair of candy lips and

Your bubblegum tongue

And if you want love

We’ll make it

Swim in a deep sea

Of blankets

Take all your big plans

And break ‘em

This is bound to be awhile.

Your body is wonderland

Your body is a wonder, I’ll use my hands

Your body is a wonderland”

His brown eyes are warm as he looks at you. You are caught in the moment, drawn into him like a moth to light. Your soul absorbs the words as your mind reminds you it is just a song. He’s just playing a song; it doesn’t mean he means the words. Even if he does... it was purely in a sexual way...right?

His hand grips the neck to stop the sound. He is still staring at you with those memorizing eyes. “Wow,” You breathe. “I did not expect that from you.” You glance at your lap before flicking your gaze back up to his. “I’ve never been serenaded before. It was-” beautiful, heartwarming, romantic, special, memorizing- “-sexy.” His eyes darkened and you leaned forward stealing a kiss and then another. He set the guitar down and cupped your cheek overtaking the kiss. His mouth tasted like bitter black coffee.

“Oh yeah?” You murmur your agreement against his lips. His caresses are slow and soft. His fingers tighten on your waist pulling you up and over his lap to straddle him. When he fucks you, he does it slowly. Purposefully. His thrust is deep and rhythmic. His attention focused on your pleasure. He keeps eye contact with you. You watch the emotions flicker in his brown eyes. After a while...

It feels like he’s not fucking you at all.

Taglist @zaidatorcuatomorgado

#chicago med #will halstead #will halstead x you #will halstead x reader #will halstead imagine

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californiaboytoybilly · 9 months ago

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VILLAINOUS VALENTINES || BILLY HARGROVE X STEVE HARRINGTON || ALSO AVAILABLE ON AO3 || NSFW 2.2k

cw: stalking, voyeurism/exhibitionism, mutual masturbation, sex toys, dominant bottom billy, mildly dubious consent, pervert steve harrington, cocky billy hargrove, model billy hargrove

beta read by: @bottombillyapologist (tysm 🖤)

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT.

o:|| ~ IT’S A GIVE AND TAKE KIND OF LOVE WE MAKE ~ ||:o

He was watching.

Billy knew he was watching. He was as predictable as the soft creak of the weathered floorboard that accompanied his first step across the threshold of his bedroom, somewhere beyond the soft fluttering of his sheer curtains.

Casting his eyes to the side as he walked towards his bed, Billy tried not to smile as he caught a glimpse of him, half hidden behind the stone statue in the garden. Steve- because it wasn’t hard to find out really anybody’s name or place of work when you had a wallet full of cash- had become something of a toy to him.

Steve didn’t know that Billy knew he was there, of course. No, no. That had been the best part for the blonde.

He imagined a breathless gasp echoing in his garden as he dropped the towel tied loosely around his waist, shower damp skin prickling as it was bared to the air. Steve would be drinking in the sight of him, lip clasped between his teeth all guiltily the way he did when Billy started coincidentally passing by the ice cream stand he worked at in the mall when he went to visit his favorite photographer.

Not many professional photographers would let you drag them into their supply closet for a quick fuck after a session, and Billy had been in a five year dry spell when it came to anything more than casual.

Maybe it was a little fucked up that he knew someone was stalking him and enjoyed it, but Billy wasn’t trying to pretend to be normal. It could’ve been his vanity, his ego, some need to be seen by someone— but he didn’t care why.

Putting on these Friday night shows was the only time he even bothered to touch himself anymore. It just wasn’t the same without his little audience member.

Billy sighed as he sat down on the edge of the bed, reaching for the rich tub of lotion he kept nearby. He wondered if the anticipation was simmering in Steve’s stomach in the same way it was for him as he scooped up the cream on his fingertips, thick and sweetly scented like white tea and raspberries.

As his fingers swirled the cream over his toned chest, massaging and pressing, leaving tingling little trails in their wake, his body began to wake up in other ways. Billy’s head tipped back, a private smile just for himself spreading across his lips as he let his legs fall open.

The teasing was the best part, but he found himself incredibly impatient for the main course. It had been a long week and he’d been eager for this.

Letting his back hit the wall, Billy slowly trailed his massaging fingers lower as he worked his skin cream in, breath catching in his throat when his fingertips brushed the very top of the thatch of hair between his hips. So close.

Finally, he couldn’t bear it anymore. He needed to get off like it was as important as the oxygen he breathed.

Wiping off his fingers carelessly on the sheets, Billy let his eyes open just enough to peer subtly towards the window once more. There he was, even less hidden than before as his distraction clearly won out over his need to be hidden. That was how Billy had first learned of him after all.

As soon as all of the calendar model’s perfect golden skin was on display, Steve’s blood rushed south and Billy got to see a little more of his admirer as he slipped up.

Though the details were a little fuzzy from here, Billy could see his hand slowly rubbing over the denim of his jeans, pretty jaw dropped just a little as he braced himself against moss covered stone. Fizzling pleasure like fireworks flooded Billy’s body at the confirmation he was enjoying what he saw.

Like he always did.

Maybe one day he’d invite him in. Sit him down in the leather chair in the corner and make him beg to touch the object of his obsession, while Billy took himself apart painfully slow in front of his eyes. Maybe he’d even let him lick his spent dick clean after, just a fleeting taste to drive him wild.

Billy throbbed between his legs at the thought. Fuck, that was enticing. He always felt so boneless and lazy after a good orgasm, cleaning up was a hassle he didn’t always want to bother with. He knew Steve would do such a good job, clever pink tongue catching every single pearly drop like it was a priceless wine he could never afford.

With that image burned into his mind, Billy let his eyes slip shut as his hand wrapped around the base of his cock, flushed and weeping where it had risen to kiss the soft skin of his abdomen. If he gasped a little louder than was strictly necessary to ensure the sound would carry through the crack of his open window, that was his own business.

Need scratched up the inside of Billy’s body with fire-tipped claws, a beast yearning to be set free. Tonight wouldn’t be a slow, leisurely show. He needed it too much for that.

A whine escaped him as he rubbed his thumb over the swollen head, ass lifting an inch off the bed as he just barely stopped himself from thrusting into his hand. Fuck. His free hand blindly traveled over the bed until it slipped under his pillow to the place where he’d hidden what he needed for this.

Cool, pink glass brushed his fingers and he smiled as he removed it from its hiding place. Heather had been horrified at the very thought of a glass toy, cringing so hard in the shop despite the salespersons assurance it was solid and completely safe that she’d almost escaped her own skin.

Billy loved it. The temperature, the unyielding nature of it, the heart shaped bumps and ridges that made his toes curl. He lifted the toy to his mouth, opening his eyes just a little as he spit on the flared head of the toy.

He tried his best not to look right at Steve as he lowered the toy, letting it skim over his waiting hole as he spread his legs a little further, chin falling to rest on his chest with a pant as he pushed it inside of himself. A shudder rolled up his spine, tongue damn near falling out of his mouth as it lolled.

The spit wasn’t enough to make it an easy slide, but the friction only made his cock jump in his hold again. He liked it to burn a little so he could feel it later.

Idly, he wondered what Steve was packing. Would he stretch him open like the toy? Make it burn? Or was his proclivity to watch because he was on the smaller side? Did it make him feel inadequate, did he watch because he didn’t believe he could please Billy?

He was sure he could find a way. Size wasn’t everything.

Maybe if his cock was too small to ride, Billy would tie him to the bed. His ankles and wrists bound, laying there helpless and desperate as Billy straddled his face and rode his tongue until his blood turned to lava in his veins and he lost the ability to speak.

It only felt fair. Payment in pleasure for all that Billy had given him over the last six months.

He worked the toy faster as his desperation built, thigh muscles bunching up tight. Another lazy glance under his lashes showed him that Steve’s hand had disappeared into his pants, head pressed against the statue and shoulder rapidly rising and falling.

You wish you were inside of me instead? Billy wondered, before the toy brushed against a spot that had him damn near choking on the moan that ripped free.

Steve’s head dropped the second the sound reached his ears, only for a moment, mouth moving around a word Billy couldn’t make out and hand never so much as pausing its rapid motion. Just the sight of him had Billy going faster, rocking himself down to meet each thrust of the toy to get it deeper but—

Billy whined, annoyed. He was so fucking close but it wasn’t enough. He needed more.

It almost pained him to let the toy slip out of him, cock weeping and angry at the sudden neglect as he used his hands to get to his knees. He was loath to sacrifice his little glimpses of his favorite freak, but… maybe it wouldn’t hurt to give Steve something special tonight.

It was Valentine’s Day, and he felt like being nice.

And, he really needed to fucking cum before he exploded.

Billy turned his back to the window, kneeling on the soft mattress holding his weight, and bent over to reach into his nightstand. He might have shaken his ass, just a little. As a treat.

It didn’t take long to see what he was looking for. Bright red silicone and big enough to make his mouth water. He snatched it as well as the tube beside it, impatiently slicking it up just a moment later.

Finally, he thought as he slid down onto the toy, which was tightly held in place by his feet. It left his hands free to brace him against the wall, back muscles tightening under his skin as he began to fuck himself down onto the toy. It was bigger than the other one, enough to almost hurt, but he relished in it.

Once he was sure he wasn’t going to topple over, he removed one of his hands from the wall and dropped it to pinch at his nipple, head falling loosely back on his shoulders as he let out a litany of curses.

Had Steve fully come out of hiding now that he thought Billy would be oblivious? Or was he still being careful? Maybe he was even taking pictures…

That thought shouldn’t have been appealing at all and yet it had him rocketing towards the edge, probably forming a puddle on the sheets where his bobbing cock drooled endlessly. Quiet enough to not be heard from outside, Billy tried letting Steve’s name mingle upon his pitchy moans and heavy breathing. He liked the way it dripped from his tongue.

In fact, he liked it so much that he made an incredibly risky decision. One that had the chance of scaring off his skittish little bunny for good.

But his orgasm was creeping up on him, he felt drunk on the endorphin rush, and he wanted more next time. He wanted to be touched. Wanted Steve to get on his knees and beg for the privilege to do so. Even the thought was…

His body trembled, hand shooting down to stroke himself one, twice—

It crashed into him like an ocean wave, Billy’s hips dropping down as far as he could take the toy as he clenched tight and let out a near wail of Steve’s name. It trailed off into a sob of a moan, back bending and body shuddering violently as he painted the wall with his release.

Did he imagine the startled sound behind him? His brain was swimming as he struggled to catch his breath, barely able to muster the energy to lift himself off of the toy and let it fall to the bed. He angled his body as he flopped sideways, landing on his back with his legs splayed, one dangling off the bed.

He wanted to look, see if he’d scared him off. But he felt like his muscles had been reduced to pudding and he really needed a minute to reattach himself to reality.

A minute felt like a week before he could drag himself into a sitting position, wincing at the stab of soreness that would haunt him deliciously tomorrow. He pulled himself to wobbly feet, stretching out his body as he stumbled his way towards his window.

Steve stood wide eyed in the same place Billy had last seen him, lips parted and face bright red as Billy hit a button to flick on his pool lights and effectively illuminate him. He had a dark patch on the front of his pants, which made Billy lick his lips as he fought back a smirk.

He was looking at Billy both like he was the most alluring and most terrifying creature he’d ever seen. It absolutely didn’t make the blonde preen.

His bunny shuffled in place, looking like it was taking every ounce of strength he had not to run. Billy lifted his fingers to his mouth, kissed them and then winked as he pressed them against the window.

Steve jolted, lip sucked into his mouth and looking for all the world like he forgot how to blink.

Billy took a step back, reaching out to either side of the window to grab onto the edges of the curtains as a broad smile broke out onto his face. “Happy Valentine's Day, sailor boy.” He called out, watching only long enough to see Steve’s face slacken and go impossibly more red before pulling the curtains shut with a flourish.

Perhaps he’d indulge in a little bit of ice cream tomorrow.

He’d certainly worked up an appetite.

#billy hargrove #steve harrington #harringrove #billy x steve #stalker steve harrington #model billy hargrove #harringrove smut #stvillainousvalentines #billy antis dni #don’t like #don’t read #cw stalking #Spotify

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tojiscumdumpster · 11 months ago

Text

CHAPTER FIVE - READER

⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀✧ summary page

content warnings - vanilla smut.

I’m sober enough to be grateful that it’s Saturday, but I’m hungover enough to wish I didn’t drink so damn much last night. Four cocktails and eight shots? I’m surprised I’m not a corpse right now. My head is throbbing, and my body still feels too sluggish to get out of bed.

What time is it? Eight? Nine? Who knows? What I do know is that I’m going to take it slow today.

But even though I have the biggest headache right now, I can’t deny that last night was probably the best sleep I’ve had in a while.

It felt warm. Safe, like I was being protected and cared for. And I know damn well Mr. Don Julio was not responsible for that.

When I get drunk, I can sometimes remember bits and pieces of what happened the night before, in the next morning. I know I was at a bachelorette party. I saw Toji—

Wait, I saw Toji. We snuck away into the utility closet to make out like two horny college kids and talked. But he said something that hurt my feelings, causing my whole over drinking fiasco.

Then, some random guy who was hard on the eyes started dancing with me. I can’t remember much after that, but I’m sure he was a creep.

Realistically, I do need to get up to start my day. I have a couple of errands to run, and I sort of promised Nanami that we would meet for lunch later. Why? I don’t know. Again, I don’t hate him. It’s just… I don’t know.

But when I tried to get up from bed, I felt like I was being held down by an arm. Rough yet soft grumbles pass through ears that scatter goosebumps across my core.

In a way, they sound therapeutic. Though, I’m still skeptical about who’s in my bed because I don’t remember hooking up with anyone, let alone allowing someone to sleep over.

However, the moment I looked up to see those dark, mid-length, raven locks. The distinctive scar on his lip. His soft rose-colored lips, I broke from his embrace and jumped away from him.

Did I…

“Toji?”

He barely stirs, but my voice is enough to wake him up. “Hm?”

My mouth waters at the sight of him, laying in my bed, wearing only a tank top that bare his biceps, but leaves me with questions because of the scars that accompany his beautiful skin. And his briefs that shows his toned thighs and— fuck . His semi-hard dick print.

I should look away, I should. But it’s hard when the man you’ve been fantasizing about for the past week is laying in your bed, looking like that.

“A picture will last longer,” he rasps. That deep fucking husky voice that sounds even sexier in the morning.

Y/N. Focus.

Heat floods under my cheeks as I look away. “What are you doing here?”

“Last night really fucked you up, didn’t it?”

“I… Did we… Did we-”

“Have sex?” He finishes for me, and I nod. “No. I wouldn’t do that to anyone… Not to you.” His last words were filled with softness that made my heart skip a beat.

Why am I so drawn to this man?

Toji continues, “You’re pretty fucking clingy when you’re drunk, though. I took you home and cleaned you up for bed and I saw-” He stops mid-sentence, causing me to raise my brow in curiosity.

“You saw what?” He sits up and turns away from me. I notice a light crimson color forming across his face and spreading to his ears. “Toji Fushiguro, are you blushing? What did you see?”

“Just drop it.”

“Nope,” I countered, jumping on him to get his attention back to me. I’m now playfully straddling his lap, completely oblivious.

It's like my hangover washed over me the second I knew Toji was in my presence. He was my serotonin, and I didn’t even realize.

“Aren’t you supposed to be hungover? Where the hell did all this energy come from?” He asks.

“Suddenly I’m not hungover anymore because I’m more interested in what you saw-”

“Naked,” he interjects. “I saw you naked. When I was looking for your oversized tee shirts, you took off your dress while my back was turned and… yeah.”

“Oh…”

All the energy I had come to a halt while zeroing in on Toji. Me, still straddling his lap, becomes lost in his expensive emerald-colored hues. They’re so sharp. So pretty. Those soft lines, forming around his eyes that come with age, suits him well. But you wouldn’t even be able to tell he was forty-two because his skin is so smooth.

His eyelashes are dark and medium length. Brows straight and thin. Lips rosy and slightly plumped. Toji, who claims to be an indecent man, appears like a beautiful catalyst to me.

It’s true what he says about us barely knowing each other, even though it doesn’t feel like that because in such little time, my life feels safe with him.

“Y/N,” he whispers. He calls for me and when he does, I feel his erection growing against my pussy.

“I’m sorry.” I start to pull away, but he holds me in place.

“It’ll go down. Don’t want you to feel pressured to have sex with me,” he assures.

“Okay… what if I—” I begin rubbing my sex against his dick.

“Y/N.” This time his voice is hoarse when he says my name.

My pace quickens and the added friction of his briefs acting as a barrier brings me more pleasure than I expected. I lick and kiss all over his neck to hear more of his husky groans.

“Tell me if you want me to stop, Toji,” I say barely above a whisper. “Do you want me to?”

He grabs my hips and rolls me on him faster. “Fuck no.”

It’s not sex, but fuck, this feels so good. The material of his briefs has me feeling Toji like he is bare under me. Dry humping might be a virgin thing to do, however, it’s aiding me in a much needed orgasm.

I take one of Toji’s hands to hike up my shirt and squeeze my nipples, having me arch my back in pure bliss. He’s just so hard. I’m very tempted to pull him out and ride his dick, but I’m not ready for that yet.

Our moans continue to mingle the quicker we chase our release, and I feel myself soaking up his briefs. Embarrassment fills my emotions from how needy I sound, along with my whimpering. Toji forces our lips together to devour all my sounds of pleasure, biting and sucking on my bottom lip that he can’t get enough of.

My sudden change of movements from grinding on his cock to bouncing and rolling seems to have an effect on him, just as much as it does to me.

“Fuck, you’re going to make me bust in my fucking boxers like I never had pussy before, Y/N,” he admits. “Keep doing that.”

“Maybe because you never had mine.”

Something about my words had Toji growling and flipping me over, where he’s now above me. The look in his eyes is almost primal. No. It is primal. Hungry, craving to feast on me until I tap out.

Before I protest from his loss touch, his lips are back on me, and he dry fucks me as if he’s actually inside of my pussy. His hips snaps into mine while dragging his mouth across my face and neck. Toji continues to pinch my nipples underneath my shirt and I'm a whining mess.

“Toji, I’m about to come,” I cry.

“Why do you sound so fucking sweet? How are you going to sound when my cock is actually inside of you?” Too many questions where I’m too horny to form an answer. “You think you could take me, pretty girl?”

“Yes.”

He chuckles, showing mockery to my answer. “We’ll see.”

Why did that laugh, those two words, trigger me to come? It hit me hard, and blurred my vision with the tears that pricked my eyes. Toji’s presence was enough serotonin, but this? Nothing or no one could possibly ruin my day after this.

I softly gasp for air and it’s as if he knew to kiss me with such eagerness to breathe all the life back into me. Holding him tightly, I wrap my legs around his waist to take his thrusts and swallow his harsh grunts.

“About to fucking come, Y/N,” he growls.

“So come.”

He gives me a few more dry thrusts until the bed creaks and the headboard hits the wall before coming in his briefs.

Toji gives me a sloppy kiss, overpowering, and not giving me a chance to keep up with his moments. Coming down from our orgasms together is an experience I never expected to happen so soon, but it felt right to do it now.

I’m completely sober to remember this moment with Toji.

Our breaths are shallow and his forehead rests on mine. Soon, he slowly rises from me to look at the mess we, well, I made on his briefs.

They’re drenched. While he pulls apart a string of my wetness connects to him that makes my cheeks warm and causes me to look away. I know I shouldn’t be embarrassed, but I am.

“You’re so�� fucking wet.” His deep and raspy voice soothes me. I feel his hand grasping my chin to turn my face to him. “Beautiful.”

“Not into the lovey dovey shit, huh?” I say, repeating the words he said to me last night.

He scratches the back of his neck. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. What you said was right, wanting to scare people away and shit.”

I don’t want to interrupt his thoughts so I nod my head so he can continue.

“I’m not good at relationships. Only been in one and, well… you know how that ended.”

I stand on my knees to level with his eyes. “I’m not asking for a relationship from you. Not now, at least. Let’s just get to know each other.”

He looks at me to consider my request, eyes wavering across my face. His hand goes to spring the tendril in my face, and I remember to curse myself later for now putting on my bonnet.

Toji takes his time to caress my face, line out my jaw, cuff my neck, and trace my collarbone. His touch is delicate yet burns through my skin. If I can feel this all day, I know I would be okay.

“Alright.”

“Alright?” I repeat.

He nods, giving me a half smile. “Alright.”

Again, my arms are around his neck, and I pull him into a kiss for a few more minutes before I head out for the day.

Having lunch with my ex-fiancé, who is also my boss, is not how I wanted to spend my afternoon, but here I am anyway.

After I spoke to Nanami this past Monday about potentially having dinner with him last night, it completely slipped my mind that I had a bachelorette party to attend. I’m rushing at five in the evening to grade tests for six different classes because my free period was used for a parent-teacher conference, and here comes Nanami coming in my classroom to see if we can still go to dinner.

I was honestly shocked that he had the nerve to ask me that question, like I want to spend my weekend grading papers. Unlike him, I like to enjoy my only two days off without thinking about work.

But when it comes to him? I’m sure he expected me to drop everything and accompany him to dinner.

Nanami stopped doing that for me, so why would I do that for him?

Anyways.

Because I wanted to see why he was so eager to talk to me, I decided to allow him to take me out to lunch today so we could talk. To see how things are going. His words, not mine.

“How was the bachelorette party?” He queries, pulling me from my thoughts.

I sip on my sparkling water. “It was fun. Had too many drinks. So, I still feel a bit sluggish.”

“I see. I know the martinis here are your favorite. Too bad you can’t drink any.”

“Not unless you want me to puke everywhere.”

Silence.

This is exactly what I was worried about. Is this why Nanami wanted to meet up? To have awkwardness while eating eggs and waffles? The chemistry. The love, at least, the love I had for him, died. A long time ago. This feels trivial.

“You brought me to one of the restaurants we used to go to together, you ordered my entire meal because you know me ever so well, and now we’re struggling to make small talk.” I come in hard with my accusations. “What did you want to talk about?”

“I want us to try to make things work, Y/N.”

I laugh. “That’s not happening. We tried twice. How many times do you need?”

“Now? Just one. I know I haven’t been the best in our relationship, but these months without you made me realize there’s more important things in life,” he explains. “Memories. Marriage. Parenthood… I eventually want to build that with you if you allow me.”

“If I allow you?” I mock. “That’s the thing, Ken. I never was opposed to any of that. You knew how much getting married and becoming a mother meant to me. I didn’t take away from you. You took that away from us.”

“I’m sorry.”

I scoff. “Sorry for what? For staying late at work? For declining me sex? For having me to go to our friends get togethers alone? What exactly are you sorry for?”

I attack Nanami with all these questions because it honestly fucking amazes me that he invited me to lunch to try to convince me to give another chance.

We were together for five years. Engaged for one. Problems began two years prior. I’ve been more than patient with Nanami. I was the only person to actually understand how he feels because I’m a freaking teacher. Work is hard on me, too.

But the difference is, I know how to keep it at school. Yeah, maybe I have my days when I have to grade at home. However, when it came to Nanami? I dropped the world for him…

Why couldn’t he do that for me?

I’m not going to cry over him in front of him. Not here. Not now, so this lunch needs to be cut short.

“I’m sure you’re sorry, Kento. Actually, I know you are,” I tell him. “I can’t act like we didn't share some amazing memories. The love you had for me when you were in our relationship was beautiful. You made me light.”

“I still lov-”

“But you also hurt me—badly.” I gather my things to leave him at the table, but before I do. I say one more thing to him. “I don’t think I forgave you yet. If you want to be friends, cool. Give me time for that. But romantically? There’s no chance for that anymore.”

Nanami’s hand sits in lap, and if I know him like I think I do, they’re probably balled up in fists. I know his anger isn’t directed toward me, but at the reality of our demise.

“Okay… I understand. I’ll give you time, Y/N.”

“Thank you.” I give him a solemn smile. “See you around, Ken. Take care of yourself.”

PREVIOUS CHAPTER | NEXT CHAPTER

discussion question #1 — we see both reader and toji becoming familiar with each other, and trying to figure out why they don't feel like strangers. based on their interactions, who do you think will fall in love first?

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awkwardlyflustered · 1 year ago

Text

Smile, Idiot

A/N: Okay so it has been a l o n g time since I’ve written anything, but the new Red, White, and Royal Blue movie has sparked something in me because I love it. Speaking of, this contains very slight spoilers for the movie. Nothing insane by any means, in fact, I think it all might be in the trailer. It’s definitely a little rougher than I would like it, but I’m still getting into the swing of things so cut me a little slack. (Side note, I might have switched the dialogue at the beginning, but shush. My amazon isn’t working).

“I think they want us to shake hands now,” Henry muttered, turning stiffly towards his American counterpart.

“Well then… smile, idiot,” Alex muttered right back at him, grabbing his hand and forcing a fake smile onto his face. Henry scowled before mirroring the insincere smile and posing for the camera.

Through all of the rest of the stupid interviews and all the other stupid activities they had to do, they kept their distance as much as possible. It wasn’t until they landed themselves in a tiny little storage closet, literally on top of each other, that any of their hatred ceased.

“...what was that?” Henry asked, his face adorned with a smirk.

“Nothing! Shut up!” Alex rushed out, his face bright red. “You heard nothing, and you’re wrong, and also shut up.” The little squeak Alex had let out when Henry’s fingers brushed against his ribs would have been explored more, but the door was opened and the two had to scramble out of the closet. Henry still tucked the encounter away in the back of his mind anyways… just in case.

Just in case came about much quicker than he thought it would. Just about a week later the two found themselves in one of their usual positions of Henry on top of Alex, the pair making out. Conveniently, Henry remembered their little excursion, and his hands managed to find their way down to Alex’s ribs. Alex broke away from the kiss with a little flinch.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“You remember the day when we got pushed inside the supply closet?” Henry asked nonchalantly, still not moving his hands. Alex’s eyes widened, and he started to squirm, but Henry just pushed him back into place. The events of the supply closet flashed through Alex’s mind. He was so conflicted, on one hand, it was when he realized that Henry wasn’t just a royal pain in his ass (pun intended), but it was also when Henry found out…

“Yes- yes of course I remember,” he muttered out sheepishly, still kind of trying to squirm away.

“Good, then you know what’s coming. Now what was it you said? Oh yes… Smile, idiot.” Before Alex even got the chance to respond, Henry was already digging into his ribs. As much as Alex would like to say he remained stone faced, only stopping to chuckle at Henry’s foolish, child-like behavior, he couldn’t. The pure, joyous stream of giggles that came tumbling out of his mouth was the furthest thing from that.

“God you are so cute,” Henry adorned, “It is absolutely unfair that you have such cute giggles. You’re gonna kill me with how utterly adorable you are.” Alex didn’t think it was possible, and yet, he felt more heat flood into his cheeks as his boyfriend praised him.

“Shuhut up, yohohou prihihick!” He squealed out, grabbing onto Henry’s wrists, having given up on trying to squirm away. Henry pulled away in a dramatic presentation of offense.

“Me a prick!? Me!?” Alex took the break happily, quickly catching his breath before retorting.

“Yes, you! You may think you’re absolutely perfect, your majes-” Alex suddenly cut himself off as he remembered the position he was currently stuck in. Henry cocked an eyebrow down at his lover, and slowly loomed over the boy.

“What was that? Did you just call me your majesty, after I’ve told you how many times that is specifically reserved for the king? This is obviously deserving of a punishment.” Alex pursed his lips and squeezed his eyes shut, preparing for the onslaught of tickles he was about to be hit with.

Henry took his time toying with Alex, relishing in every flinch and twitch that came from even the slightest touch. Every time Henry’s fingers touched him, Alex could feel the electricity shooting through him. The anticipation was the worst part of it. He had absolutely no idea where Henry’s devious fingers were venturing to, and could hardly take it. Finally, much to Alex’s chagrin, Henry’s fingers finally settled in to the dips of his hips. They weren’t there for even a second before Alex began desperately begging.

“Nononono, Henry please I can’t take that. I’ll be too loud, people are gonna hear-” Alex got cut off by Henry leaning down and kissing along his neck, slowly making his way up to give him a quick peck on his lips before whispering into his ear.

“Guess you better keep quiet then.” Leaving Alex with absolutely no time to react, he started rubbing his thumbs in quick circles, which left Alex a howling mess. There was absolutely no hope of him even maintaining a semblance of quiet. How could he when his absolute worst spot was being tickled by a mad man? Alex squirmed, and screamed, and begged. Anything and everything he could think of to at least get Henry to move spots, and Henry absolutely reveled in it. He loved nothing more than making the hottest man on earth squeal and screech with laughter.

As much as he did enjoy it, he was honestly worried someone was going to catch them, so he instead opted to lift up Alex’s shirt and begin gently nibbling along his abs. Alex was beyond relieved his hips were being left alone, but it by no means made this new form of torture any better. Henry couldn’t help but smirk at the little buck Alex did every time he hit this one spot just above his left hip.

“H-Hehen, plehehease,” Alex giggled out, pulling Henry down by his collar. Henry relented, finally, happy falling into a kiss with the younger boy.

The two continued kissing for a couple minutes before Alex pulled away and looked at him with a smirk.

“Hey, Henry?”

“Mhmm?”

“Run.”

Henry didn’t have to be told twice. He broke out in a grin, beaming ear to ear, before leaping off the couch and running to find protection from the tickle monster out for revenge. He did not get very far, of course, and again their hotel room was filled with gleeful giggling, and desperate pleas.

#RWRB #alex claremont diaz #henry fox mountchristen windsor #lee!Alex #Ler!Henry #Tickle #tickle fic #rwrb tickle #Hopefully this is alright #It has been so long since I've written anything #I just love them too much to not #Plus Alex is such a little shit and deserves to be wrecked 20 times over

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mickittotheman · 7 months ago

Note

49 …out of necessity for the prompt game if you are so inspired?! ❤️😍

I did one for this prompt here, but I was indeed feeling inspired so here's another!

49. ...out of necessity

“Hey, Mickey?”

Mickey drops the bowl in his hands to the table with a clatter. Clears the distance between the kitchen and his room in quick strides. “What? What’s wrong? What’s happening?”

His gaze flits to Ian first. Still in the same position. Still curled up on his side, facing the wall, the sheets tugged up over his head. Mickey breaths out a long breath, not sure whether the feeling flooding him is relief or disappointment or both.

Carl blinks at him, wide eyed. “Nothing. Jeez. Just wanted to ask you something.”

Mickey sighs again. He snatches his brass knuckles out of Carl’s hand and shoves it back into the top drawer of his dresser. All his other weapons have been cleared out into a couple of cardboard boxes shoved deep inside the depths of Mandy’s closet. He’s not taking any chances. “Stop messing with my shit. You couldn't have fucking walked out there to ask me the question?”

Carl shrugs. “You said not to leave him alone.”

Right.

Mickey twists his lips. Looks at Ian again. Looks away.

“Fuck did you wanna ask me?”

Carl goes all shifty. Starts fiddling with the sheets. Looks, for a moment, like the little kid he is, not the wannabe tough guy he’s pretending to be. “Um. I know it's kinda stupid, but… Debbie used to watch those stupid fairytale movies, you know? The girly ones, with the princesses and castles and shit?”

“Okay,” Mickey drawls, eyebrows steadily creeping higher. He waves his hands around when Carl doesn’t continue. “You called me in here just to tell me that?”

“No– I,” Carl frowns. Shrinks in on himself. Looks impossibly younger. “It’s just. You said you’d be willing to try anything, right? To make him better?”

Mickey makes his best ‘duh’ expression.

“Well um. One time when we were little. And Monica was around. And she was like this. Debbie had this idea, that maybe Frank should try kissing her, because in her stupid movies they would always cure everything with true love's kiss or whatever. It didn’t work, but we thought maybe it’s just because the way Monica and Frank love each other is kinda fucked up, and maybe…”

Carl trails off, blushing furiously. He shoves himself to his feet before Mickey can even begin to wrap his mind around what the fuck he’s talking about.

“Nevermind. This is stupid. I’ve gotta go. Gotta meet someone in twenty.”

He brushes past Mickey on the way out of the room. Mickey stares after him, mouth open, brows furrowed incredulously. The front door slams shut.

What the fuck.

Mickey sighs. Pinches the bridge of his nose. “Fucking Gallaghers, man,” he mutters.

On the bed, Ian doesn’t so much as twitch.

Mickey circles over to his side. Grabs the plate of toast off the nightstand– half eaten, better than yesterday– and brings it out into the kitchen. Eats the slightly stale toast. Finishes his bowl of cereal. Leaves the dishes there for someone else to deal with.

He grabs a gatorade from the fridge, grabs an extra quilt from the couch, brings them back with him into his dark, stuffy room. He pulls the curtains open. Cracks the window just a bit. It’s cold as fuck outside, but he’s been looking into shit, and fresh air is supposed to help. He circles back to Ian’s side again, sets the gatorade in reach, seal already twisted off to make it easier for Ian if he decides to drink some. He drapes the quilt over him, tucks the edges in tight, smooths a hand over the sheet covering Ian’s hair.

Mandy used to like fairytales, too. Mickey stole a copy of Sleeping Beauty from this girl in his class back in primary school. He read that fucking thing to her so many times he could practically recite it from memory alone.

Carl was right. This is fucking stupid.

But he was also right about Mickey being desperate enough to try anything.

He scowls. Rolls his eyes. Crouches down beside the bed. Leans in. Squeezes his eyes shut.

His breath hitches when their lips touch. Fuck, but he’s missed kissing Ian.

He misses being kissed by Ian even more.

He pulls back. Digs the heels of his palms into his eyes. Fuck.

When he lowers his hands, Ian is awake, staring back at him.

“Holy shit. Ian.”

Ian doesn’t respond with anything other than a slow blink, but he hasn’t talked in days now, and his eyes look clearer than they have since this whole fucking mess first started.

Mickey grips hard at Ian’s arm. Ian doesn't shove him away this time. Just blinks again.

Mickey takes in a shuddering breath. Pastes on a strained smile. “Hey there, sleeping beauty. You feeling any better?”

Ian moves his shoulder, just a tiny little twitch of a shrug. His gaze darts down to Mickey’s lips, then back up to his eyes, then down again. Mickey can see his jaw flexing, his throat working, his mouth twitching like he’s struggling to say something.

“What is it? You need something?”

A short, sharp, jerky nod.

“You want your gatorade? More food? Another blanket–?”

Ian shakes his head. His brows twist in frustration. He looks at Mickey’s lips again.

Oh.

Mickey’s breath whooshes, like he’s been kicked in the sternum. He kinda fucking feels like he has been.

He darts forwards again. Brushes his lips against Ian’s, chaste. Pulls back to look at him before doing it again, and again, and again.

Fairytales are bullshit. But maybe there’s some things they got right.

send me a number~

#prompt games #gallavich #my scribblings #if this hurts to read. just know it hurt infinitely more to write.#jk this was fun (said with tears and blood on my face)

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catindabag · 1 year ago

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TBOSAS on Crack short take (30)

*When Dean Highbottom revealed all the Mentors’ infamous list of crimes to everyone at The Academy*

Casca: Thank you, my dear students, for coming to our annual school meeting in Heavensbee Hall. May this year start with good-

Festus: *raises hand* Sir! Dean Highbottom Sir, will there be free food after?!

Casca: Put your hand down, Mr. Creed. And do shut up while I’m spea-

Festus: But I’m hungry~.🥺

Iphigenia: Me too!

Androcles: Can we have pizza? I really want to eat a slice of pizza right now.

Coryo: Is pie even on the menu?

Pup: Does anyone want soup?

Sejanus: I brought bread pudding.

Felix: Can we have takeouts?

Casca: Wait a damn minute! Creed, why are you and your classmates here?! Didn’t I personally banned your class from attending forever?!

Coryo: *stands up* But sir, this is The Academy’s annual meeting. Our class must be allowed to-

Casca: Sit the f*ck down and shut your mouth, Crassus Snow!😡🔪

Coryo: But-

Casca: Not another word, Xanthos!

Festus: Can we ask why?

Casca: Why?! Do you even remember what your class did last year?!

Felix: Sir, I swear it wasn’t us!

Androcles: I wasn’t even there when that incident blew up!

Casca: Don’t you dare lie to me, boy! You were even one of the masterminds-

Livia: Oh, move on, Highbottom!🙄💅

Coryo: Yeah! The water wasn’t even that deep-

Casca: Your freaking accursed class flooded the entire Heavensbee Hall with glitter!

Hilarius: Well, no one got hurt.

Festus: And everyone enjoyed-

Casca: Do you know how much money The Academy had to pay the freaking Department of Education to fix your mess?! To fix our screen?! To get rid of the hot pink glitter?!

Coryo: The glitter was Livia’s idea-

Casca: I had to take another freaking big ass loan from Mama Cardew!😩

Livia: And because of that, my allowance tripled!🥳

Felix: It wasn’t that bad-

Casca: I should’ve just expelled all of you! Especially you, Creed!!

Festus: But you didn’t!😂

Casca: Do you even know how many crimes I had to cover up for your class?!

Androcles: What crimes are we speaking of? Outside or just inside the school?

Felix: I ain’t no criminal! I’m innocent!

Casca: Just let me grab my list. . . Oh, here it is! *reveals a big ass book instead*

Livia: is that your very own Burn Book?

Casca: Mic check, mic check-

Coryo: Well, Andie, good luck. I just hope they didn’t tell Highbottom about the missing Pitbull Rabbit Incident.

Androcles: You know what, I hope they did.😌

Lysistrata: Impressive, really.

Casca: Let’s start small. The first petty crime your class committed was the stealing and eating of the Dean’s favorite apple pie without remorse.

Coryo: That was one time.

Lysistrata: Twelve times, Coryo.

Casca: Another was when a certain someone deliberately locked me up inside the broom closet. Also, without remorse.

Florus: What? I didn’t want to receive a demerit. And I really needed to steal that bleach from the Dean.

Casca: The third was when a certain rich girl illegally customized and dyed our prestigious school uniform sunshine yellow without my consent.

Juno: Excuse me? Yellow was the color of that season, peasant.💅

Casca: There was also that time when someone stole my Bichon puppy and dyed its fluffy fur lime green.

Io: I swear it was in the name of science.

Casca: *keeps on reading* Stealing and hacking my personal computer to change his or her math and literature grade.

Apollo: To be fair, Andie just helped us do the stealing.

Iphigenia: So who did the hacking?

Diana: Coryo Snow.

Coryo: 50 bucks is 50 bucks.

Sejanus: And you guys didn’t even think to invite me?!

Casca: Quiet! Now where was I-

Clemensia: Page 4, paragraph 5, line 7, Sir.

Casca: Oh, yes. Calling and pestering the National Security, just because his calculator was stolen.

Urban: It was a serious national crisis! We had a calculus test that day!

Androcles: And I needed that calculator more than Urban.

Casca: The smuggling of illegal drugs to school, and passing them off as ✨Miracle Pills✨.

Lysistrata: Last I checked, my parents are certified doctors. But for legal reasons, it wasn’t me, officer.

Casca: Dumpster-diving for scraps before class, and lying to Peacekeepers that it was a legitimate after-school activity.

Festus: Collecting free food coupons inside Highbottom’s dumpster is not a crime!

Casca: Skipping school for the hundredth time to attend an underground fancy-dress rave.

Arachne: What? Domitia and Vipsania were also doing it.

Casca: Emptying the school’s food pantry to feed their Tributes.

Coryo: Oh, c’mon! I wasn’t the only one! The Ring twins and the others were doing it too!

Casca: Stealing the Dean’s morphling bottles and illegally reselling them at the Capitol Black Market.

Androcles: Honestly, I needed the extra cash.

Felix: Why? Your family’s rich.

Androcles: My mama froze my allowance after I stole my uncle’s credit card to buy “prohibited” fireworks for the New Year.

Casca: The Smuggling and trading of banned films and items at school for personal profit.

Dennis: It was a really good and profitable business!

Casca: Vandalizing the school’s Hall of Fame by spray painting their family crest on every corner of the hallway.

Hilarius: And it was worth it.

Casca: Poisoning and almost killing half of the school by bringing their infamous deadly apple pies to our ✨End of The Year Class Party✨.

Palmyra: Well, I just hope that this juvenile criminal was caught and sentenced to prison.😌💅

Casca: Annually scaring the freshmen by dressing up as a bloody serial killer cannibal ghost every October.

Persephone: It was pretty funny though.

Casca: Lying to the School Board Committee that I was a certain someone’s sugar daddy who willingly pays for his sugar baby’s education.

Livia: You weren’t?! I mean, you and Coriolanus Snow were so-

Coryo: What the actual f*ck, Livia!

Sejanus: Coryo’s mine!!😡🔪

Casca: Secretly depleting and embezzling the class fund without their classmates’ consent.

Iphigenia: Oh, that’s so horrible! Who would ever do such a horrid thing?

Everyone:. . .

Iphigenia: But for legal reasons, I hope they’ll be caught soon.

Casca: Hacking the school’s sound system to automatically play ✨Gem of Panem✨ whenever I enter and exit a room.

Diana: It was funny!

Casca: Bringing a whole ass dairy cow to their Class Show & Tell, just to milk it in front of the judges.

Domitia: I was thirsty!😩

Casca: Stealing a Jabberjay from Dr. Gaul’s lab and teaching it to say “Your school sucks! Go home, Losers!” to guest students and professors.

Vipsania: To be fair, my aunt (Professor Sickle) gave me her permission.

Casca: Forging his father’s very important signature in order to skip school and attend an underground rap competition.

Pup: The prize money was really worth it, Sir!

Casca: Smuggling illegal sexy magazines and secretly placing them inside my office.

Gaius: To be fair, it was a dare.

Casca: Using his granduncle’s influential family name and position to delay the Hunger Games for the hundredth time.

Felix: Can’t we just officially postpone it forever? No one really wants to watch it anyway.

Casca: Lying to Capitol News that I was unfairly treating and harassing a certain student for being poor.

Clemensia: I wasn’t lying! You were literally emotionally abusing poor Coryo!😠

Casca: How dare you place yourself between me and my Crassus! You have no right to slander me and my boyfriend like that!

Clemensia: *sighs* I should’ve added “delusional” as well.😞

Casca: Now, where was I? Oh, yes! Stealing my boyfriend (Crassus) and claiming that their so called “Snowjanus” ship is better than #Crasca4Ever!

Sejanus: Becuase it is the superior ship!

Casca: No, it’s not!😡🔪

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callsign-magnolia · 1 year ago

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I Hope You Dance // Ch. 50

MATURE CONTENT (18+)

A/N: This is cross posted to my Wattpad, so if this seems familiar that is why!

TW: Mental abuse, emotional abuse, slight physical abuse, death and loss.

Description: When Caila meets Rooster, sparks fly. But, she's already married, to a man who she thought loved her, and won't let her go. Rooster will fight for her, he just has to convince Caila to fight for herself.

The songs mentioned in this chapter are Dethrone & Concrete Jungle both by Bad Omens! (Give them a listen if you like metal)

Word Count: 7.3k

Chapter 49 | Masterlist

It’s been a few weeks since the pictures started. Six in fact, which puts us two weeks before Rooster’s birthday. I was still debating on what to do for him. Maybe a night out at The Hard Deck? But we do that so often. I want to do something different for him. But I had no idea what. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go out myself. With these pictures going around, I get looks everywhere I go. Mav even had to make an announcement on base that no one was allowed to talk about it. Whoever was posting these pictures was smart, they would wait a while between posting at this point, like they were waiting until we let our guard down and then they would post another. It was mentally and emotionally draining and most nights I went straight to bed after dinner and fell asleep. I know Rooster is worried about me, but it’s so hard to have any motivation to do anything. I’ve done well to keep it from affecting me at work, but as soon as we were in the car to go home, it’s like I deflated like a balloon. Slouching in the passenger seat as Rooster reached for my hand, kissing it and resting our intertwined fingers on the console.

I stood washing the dishes from dinner when Rooster’s arms wrapped around my waist, his lips pressing to the spot just below my ear. “You okay?” He asked, resting his chin on my shoulder, his hand splaying over my belly, a warm feeling flooding me. It’s been weeks since Rooster and I had sex. With the photos being out I hadn’t felt like it, and Rooster has been great at hiding how it’s affected him. I know it has, because he’s been spending a lot more time in the shower and I can hear him. I took a deep breath leaning back into him. “I’m okay.” He smiled into my neck, holding me tightly. I bent down to reach into the sink for the pan and accidentally brushed against him. He let out a quiet groan and I could tell he was seriously holding back. I remembered one of my sessions with Dr. Lender that I had recently. He told me that I need to keep up my normal routine. With everything going on it’s easy to fall into isolation, and to distance myself from everyone. I needed to do everything I could to live normally and that includes, fucking my fiance. I had lingerie in the closet I’ve never worn, the ones I bought months ago.

Once I finished the dishes I went upstairs, but I was surprised to find Rooster laying on our bed, nothing but boxers, rubbing himself through the black material. “Fuck, Mags.” He whispered and I grinned. I didn’t say a word as I crossed the room. He jumped up as I startled him. “Mags.” He said and I kept walking until I walked into the closet, closing the door behind me. “What are you doing, Mags?” He asked. I ignored him, slipping on the white crotchless panties as well as the baby clue corset. I tightened it and took a deep breath, turning to the door. I was nervous for some reason, wondering if Rooster would like it. But I mustered up the courage and swung the door open. Rooster was sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning back on his hands. “Oh. My. God.” He whispered. “Like what you see, Lieutenant?” I asked, giving him a slow spin. “Oh, honey. You have no idea how much I love it.” He said as I stepped closer. He raised one hand, skimming it over my bare thigh. He continued to stare, taking in every inch of me, and it made me feel sexier than I had felt in weeks. “You look ethereal.” He mumbled, one finger hooking into my panties. “Yeah?” I asked and his eyes met mine. Warm and brown, full of love. Love that was only meant for me. I reached out, caressing his cheek before dragging my hand along his shoulder, then to his chest. I took another step forward, gently perching myself on his lap. I could feel how hard he was through his boxers. “I’ve missed you.” I said, leaning in, my nose nuzzling his jaw as his hands grabbed my waist. “I’ve been right here pretty girl.” He said as he turned to me, kissing my cheek, just below my eye, before kissing my nose, then my lips. It was gentle, sweet even. I dragged my hand down his chest, slowly trailing to the waistband of his boxers and he groaned as I dragged a nail over the bulge in them.

“Oh, pretty girl.” He moaned as he pulled back from me. “You want it?” He asked, his hand gently gripping my chin, keeping my gaze on him. I could only whine in response and he smirked at me. “Then take them off.” He said and I stood, grabbing his boxers and slowly pulled them down his legs. His throbbing erection, resting against his stomach as it sprang free. I sat up, placing a kiss to the swollen head as I did before reclaiming my place on his lap. I rested my hands on his neck, pulling him into another kiss as he palmed at my ass. I was soaked, leaking onto his thighs as I rutted against him. “I need you out of these.” He said, looping his fingers through my panties. “No need.” I said. I stood again, taking his throbbing dick in my hand, pumping him a few times, making him moan for me before I straddled him once more, lining him up with my entrance. I slowly sank down on him, reveling in the way his thick cock stretched my walls. It hurt in the most delicious way and I whimpered when he was fully seated inside me. He groaned, looking at where our bodies met, and I leaned forward. “They’re crotchless.” I said and he moaned again. “God I love you.” He said with a chuckle.

“Not god, but you can worship me all you want.” He groaned, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me flush against him. My hips shifted and the head of his cock nudged against that spongy spot inside me, making me moan. He pressed his lips to mine, swallowing any noise I made as my fingers weaved into his hair. His large hands moved to grab my ass, slowly rolling my hips against him. “Bradley.” I whined and he smirked at me. “What is it, pretty girl?” He asked, rolling his own hips into mine. “‘m so full.” I moaned out and he chuckled. “Yeah? You like being full of my cock?” I could only nod as his cock kept nudging that one spot, my clit dragging across the coarse hairs at the base of his cock. “Mm, my pretty girl all dumb on my cock. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so stupid for me.” I felt dumb. Something about not being with him for so long, made him feel a thousand times bigger and better. He scooted back on the bed with me in his lap before laying back, his hands resting on my hips. “Go on.” I knew what he wanted, so I leaned forward slightly, resting my hands on his chest before lifting my hips. I rode him slowly, trying to keep myself from cumming so quickly, but it was so hard. He felt so good and I was a moaning mess. “My pretty girl is so dirty for me, isn’t she?” I could only nod as I moaned. “Wants nothing but my cock inside her. God, I could stay buried in this pretty pussy for the rest of my life.”

My hips stuttered, my legs growing tired from the constant motion and Rooster noticed. I squealed as he flipped us over, me now under him, just how I liked it. “Look at you, all pretty in your little corset. All for me.” He said, leaning down to kiss me before he thrust his hips into me at a brutal pace. “Oh fu-u-u-u-u-ck. Yes, Bradley! Yes!” I cried out, my nails dragging down his back as he fucked me. He grabbed my knees, tossing them over his shoulders. He pushed till my legs were flush against my chest, kissing the tops of my breasts that were spilling out of my corset top. “You like that, Mags? You like when I fuck you like my own little slut?” A shiver ran up my spine at his words. He’d never spoken to me like that, but goddamn did it turn me on. “Yes! Fuck! Bradley, make me cum, please!” I begged and he smirked, his hand coming up and wrapping around my throat, squeezing slightly. “I will. I always make you feel good.” He said, as he thrust into me with long languid strokes. A tingling sensation started in my toes, working it’s way up my legs until that sensation in my belly washed over me and sent me spiraling into my orgasm. “Bradley! Fuck yes! Don’t stop, Roo!” I begged as I held him tightly, not wanting him to stop. His head was near my lips and I smirked. “Cum inside me, Roo.” I whispered and he groaned. “Fill me up with your cum, Roo. Need to feel it inside me. Wanna watch it drip down my thighs.” He thrust into me quickly before he suddenly stopped, cock buried inside me completely and his ropes of cum filling me to the brim. “Fuck, you like when I cum inside you?” He asked, still holding my neck and making me look at him. “Yeah. I can’t wait till we’re married. I’m gonna walk around constantly stuffed full of it.” He groaned, bringing his head down to rest on my shoulder. “You’re making me hard again.” I smirked, tilting my head to whisper in his ear again. “Then fuck me again. I am your personal little slut, aren’t I?” With that he rolled me onto my side, his chest pressed against my back as he lifted my leg and fucked me hard. Bringing another orgasm down on me. “Have you lost weight?” He asked and I sat up, nodding. “A little, why?” I asked. “I noticed it physically but you just felt lighter when you were in my lap.” My eyes lit up and my smile widened. “Really?” He raised a brow, chuckling at me. “Yes.” He said leaning forward and pressing a kiss to my lips.

We easily fell back into our routine, and the bed together, and after a few days it was like everything went back to normal and I felt more myself than I had in awhile. That is, until the worst hit. “Fuck! Yes! Yes! Bradley, don’t stop!” Bob and I were walking by a group of Ensigns who were staring at a phone. It was distorted but I could pick up my own voice anywhere. I turned to face them, listening to some very familiar voices. “NICE TITS!” I knew exactly what they were watching. “Ensigns.” I called and they all looked at Bob and I before standing at attention, a blush covering most of their cheeks. “Phone. Now.” I was handed the phone and I looked at the video at this point Rooster and I were getting dressed. I clicked out of it to see who originally posted it, and sure enough it was a guy standing on a catamaran, shirtless with a douchey smile on his face. The caption? Since the photos are going around, thought I’d treat everyone to her sex tape. I took down his name and twitter handle before handing the ensign his phone back. “Admiral Simpson's office. Now.” They immediately turned and headed that way.

Bob followed behind and I walked into Cyclone’s office first. “Sir,” I addressed and he raised a brow at me. “We have a problem.” I filled Cyclone in and he yelled and he threatened those boys. But ultimately he had to talk with their commanding officer. They were docked here for the week and would ship out at the end of this week. He sent them off before sitting back in his chair, sighing. “Lieutenant. We have to get this under control.” I nodded. “I’ve already gotten his name and I’m calling my PI as soon as I walk out of here.” He nodded. “Was this man the one posting all the other photos?” I shook my head. “The caption insinuated he didn’t do it, but there will probably be an investigation into that. We’re still trying to catch the guy who’s originally posting these.” He hummed just as my phone dinged. I looked at it, seeing I was tagged in a photo on twitter. My heart thudded wildly in my chest as I opened it, but I felt sick at the picture in front of me. It was one Rooster sent me after I was deployed. He was sat in the chair in our room, facing the mirror. He was completely nude, cock hard and resting against his stomach as he took the picture with a wicked smirk on my face. “Magnolia?” Cyclone called and I turned to him. “What is it?” He asked and it took me a moment to respond. “I-it’s Rooster. It wasn’t my picture this time, it was his. Oh my god.” I gasped as I saw the caption below the picture. Call off the wedding and I’ll stop posting them. “What does it say?” He asked. “Someone wants me to call off my wedding.” I said before turning and sprinting out the door, bumping into Bob. “What’s wrong?”

I explained everything to him as we rushed to the hangar, I had to find Bradley and tell him before someone else showed him. But I seemed to be too late as I heard him shouting through the hangar door. “WHAT THE FUCK?! I’M GONNA KILL THIS SON OF A BITCH!” I rushed in and the sound of the door caused everyone to look at us. “Bradley-” “Have you seen it?” I nodded as he came over, his hands tightly gripping my biceps beneath my flight suit. “Bradley honey, I’m so sorry.” He shook his head. “It’s not your fault. But this fucker is going down. First that video, now the pictures of me and asking us to call off the engagement? I’m done playing his games, I could… I could…” His grip tightened with every word, so much so it was painful. “Roo, you’re hurting me.” I whispered. He looked at his hands on my arms and quickly let go. “Mags, honey. I’m sorry, I didn’t-” I nodded, taking his hands in mine. “I know. I know you didn’t mean to. This is incredibly stressful and we have to figure out something soon.” He nodded. We agreed to talk about everything at home, but the rest of the day was tense. So many people had seen the video at this point that whenever people saw us, they would stare and a few were even bold enough to make gestures. A few men motioning to their laps was enough to have Rooster raging. But finally, we were done for the day so we showered and climbed into the bronco to head home. After a windy ride home we walked into the house, sighing in relief from being done for the day.

Rooster set our bags by the door and walked towards the kitchen. I grabbed our bags, taking them up to our room and setting them by the closet. As I set them down, the light hit my engagement ring, making it gleam. If calling off the wedding would make this all stop, then perhaps I should do it. I paced the bedroom for a little bit, thinking of the pros and cons. Hundreds of cons and one pro, the pictures would stop. But we only have to call off the wedding, we can still get married at the courthouse and have a wedding later. Making my decision I grabbed the navy felt ring box, placing the ring inside and starting downstairs. I walked into the kitchen, seeing Rooster leaned against the counter, Dahlia standing on her hind legs, leaning on him as he pet her. I couldn’t help but smile at them, watching as he rested his forehead on Dahlia's, looking up at her, seeing as she was a head taller than him on her hind legs. “What are you looking at?” He asked, smiling at me. Dahlia immediately left him, coming over to me for some love. “Just you two.” I said, stepping closer. “So, we need to talk about this picture business.” I nodded. “I wanted to talk to you about that too.” I said, setting the box on the counter and sliding it closer to him. He stared at it a minute before he started laughing. “That’s funny, Caila.” I bit my lip and his laughing stopped. “Mags. That ring better not be in that box.” He said as he snatched it, opening it up. “Listen to me-” “NO! NO! THE ONE THING I’M NOT DOING IS CALLING OFF THIS ENGAGEMENT!” He yelled. “Rooster, don’t yell at me.” I said sternly and he scoffed. “WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO WHEN THE LOVE OF MY LIFE WANTS TO CALL OFF OUR ENGAGEMENT BECAUSE SOME SICKO IS POSTING PICTURES OF US?!” “STOP YELLING AT ME!” I screamed back and we both stopped, chests heaving. “I won’t wear the ring. We can still go down to the courthouse and get married, we can have a wedding once this is all over. I just think for now we just need to play along.”

“Going down to the courthouse is not what either of us want. Mags, I want to see you in a white dress, walking down the aisle towards me. I want to say our vows in front of everyone and kiss you when it’s all said and done.” I sighed as his hands came up, cradling my face softly, a sharp contrast to the grip he had on my arms earlier. “No. I’m not letting some smart guy whose probably sitting in his mom's basement with cheeto dusted fingers keep me from marrying you in December. We will figure this out, Mags.” He said, kissing my forehead. He opened the ring box, and pulled it out, grabbing my hand and slipping it on my finger. “I swear to god, Mags. If I have to slip this on your finger one more time.” He joked, making me laugh. “So… we’re not calling off the wedding?” He asked and I shook my head. “No. We’ll figure this out.” I said, leaning up on my toes and kissing him. After that we called my mom and she had Chelsea write up a press release for us, which would be announced on the day of Rooster’s birthday. In the meantime I tried to figure out what to do for him, or even what to get him. I thought and thought and thought as the days went by and I struggled. I felt bad because he knows me so well, and I feel like I barely know him since I can’t come up with anything to do. A few days later Phoenix called me after work. I was lounging on the couch while Rooster was in the shower. “Okay, wait till you hear this.” She said before I could even say anything. “Okay.” I said. “That band that we love? The one we found when you stayed with me?” I nodded. “Yeah?”

“I know I mentioned it before, but they’re gonna be in San Diego on the twenty-eighth.” That sounded so fun. “I would love too, but that’s the day after Rooster’s birthday and I’m still trying to figure out what to do for him.” She hummed. “I forgot about that.” I laughed. “Don’t tell him that.” She joined me in my laughter. “That sucks, I was hoping we could go.” She said and I sighed. “I know. But I can’t drag him to something I want to do on his birthday.” I said. “What did you want to do?” I jumped up, a scream escaping my throat as he startled me. “Bradley!” I whined, smacking his arm as he came around the couch, sitting in front of me and pulling my legs into his lap. “Sorry. What did you want to do?” He asked. “Nothing.” I knew if I told him he’d go just because he wanted to please me. “A concert for a band we like.” Phoenix said loudly, loud enough for Rooster to hear. He hummed, “Which band?” He asked. Phoenix gave the name and I yelled at her. “Phoenix! Stop telling him!” He just laughed. “Is that the metal band you keep listening to?” He asked and I nodded, a blush on my cheeks. “Yes.” He smiled at me. “They’re actually really good.” I rolled my eyes at him. “So let’s go.” I huffed. “Phoenix, let me call you back.” I said and she agreed before I hung up. “Do you actually want to go, or are you just saying that because I want to go?” I asked and he grinned at me. “No, I actually want to go. A concert sounds fun.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “It’s standing room only, so we’d be on the floor.” I said and he nodded. “Okay.” He said with a smile. “Okay, but we’re staying to either the left or right side. I’m not dealing with the mosh pit and I am sure as hell not spending my night lifting crowd surfers.” He just laughed as I grabbed my phone. “Of course, honey.” He said as he leaned forward, kissing me. With that I called Phoenix and told her to book the tickets.

I still hadn’t figured out what to do for Bradley’s birthday. He said he wanted a simple dinner with just me and him with no gifts. He didn’t want to go to The Hard Deck, he didn’t want a small party. Just me and him. I loved the idea but I still had to figure out what to get him, whether he didn’t want a gift or not. It took some searching but finally I came across something. I immediately grabbed my phone. I googled phone services in Virginia before I started dialing. I called many services, explaining the situation before I finally found it. “Yes, ma’am we do have Carol Bradshaw in the system.” I nodded. “I know it’s a long shot, but do you have any old voicemails saved on the server?” I heard clicking on the other end before she answered. “Yes, ma’am. We have them as far back as nineteen eighty-one.” I bit my lip, smiling. “Great. Can I have the access number?” She had to email me some forms and because neither of Bradley’s parents were alive I was able to get a hold of the number pretty easily. Now I just had to listen them all and find the one I needed.”

I woke up about twenty minutes early on Rooster’s birthday deciding to get up and make french toast for him. Once that was done I went back upstairs, smiling as I saw him in bed. I quickly shut off his alarm before it could wake him and crawled onto the bed, managing to slip under the covers. Thankfully he was already laying on his back, making it easy for me to gently slip his boxers down, morning wood almost smacking me in the face as I did so. I smirked, gently wrapping my hand around him, giving him a few teasing strokes until precum beaded on his tip. I kitten licked the head of his cock before taking it into my mouth, sucking gently. His chest rose as he took a deep breath, a sign he was starting to wake. I took more of him into my mouth, struggling a little as he stretched my throat. A moan escaped his lips and his legs shifted as I sucked on his cock. “Mags?” His morning voice alone made me wet, my legs rubbing together for friction as I started bobbing my head along his cock. My hands rested on his lower stomach as I took him down to the hilt, gagging as I did so. Sudden;y the covers were tossed off of me and I looked up, meeting Roosters eyes as he stared down at me. “Best birthday ever.” He said, hand coming up cradle my face as drool fell from my mouth, coating his cock. “You’re so pretty with my cock in your mouth.” He said and I brought my hand up, fondling his balls as I sucked him off.

“Oh fuck, Mags. I’m gonna cum.” He was always so much more sensitive in the mornings. I quickly took him all the way into my mouth, my nose brushing against his trimmed hairs at the base of my cock. Hot ropes of cum shooting down my throat as I looked up to him. His head was thrown back, one hand buried in my hair, holding me in place until he was done.Soon he was and I sat up, smiling at him. “Show me.” I smirked, holding my tongue out so he could see the last bit of his cum that rested on it. “Swallow.” He said as he reached forward, gently gripping my face. I pulled my tongue in, swallowing and he smirked, pulling me into a kiss. He pulled my naked body onto his lap, my arms wrapping around his shoulders. “Happy Birthday, my love.” He smiled into the kiss, pulling away slightly. “You’re amazing, you know that?” I smiled at him. “You may have told me once or twice.” I said. “I hate that we have to work today. I’d rather keep you in bed.” I chuckled. “Well, I made french toast for you.” He laughed, standing with me in his arms. Once downstairs, he put me down and I made him sit at the island. We were both naked as I grabbed the french toast and walked over. I straddled his lap, smirking as he groaned. “I know of a way to make this better.” I raised a brow. “Oh, you do?” He nodded and raised me slightly, grabbing his cock and lowering me onto him. “Oh…” I moaned, feeling so full of him. “Feed me?” I smirked, grabbing the fork. “Whatever you want, my love.” He made it three quarters of the way through the food before he took the plate from me, setting it down and fucking up into me.

Soon we had to get ready for work and I handed him a card before we left. It was a birthday card but it had a slip of paper inside. “The holder of this card may get a blow job at any time on his birthday.” I smiled as he smirked at me. “I just suggest you be careful about it. Don’t wanna get caught on base.” I said and he just stared at me before yanking me into him, kissing me intensely. “I absolutely adore you.” He said, backing me into the wall. “Wanna make use of that card?” He leaned back, a grin on his face before looking at me again. “In uniform? Hell yes.” He said and I smirked, reaching for his belt. “Better make this fast then. Don’t wanna be late for work.” I grinned, pulling his cock from his boxers. Good thing I decided to forgo makeup today. I made quick work of him and we were on our way to work. Once we got through our briefing and got into our flight suits before we walked into the hangar. “Happy Birthday!” Everyone cheered and he turned to me. I put my hands up. “I had nothing to do with it.” I said and he turned back as Phoenix held up a single cupcake. “You only wanted dinner with your fiance and no party, so we thought we’d at least give you this.” She said and he smiled at her. “Happy birthday to you-” Mav started and everyone else picked up, finishing out the song with a loud cheer. He blew out the candle and offered me part of the cupcake. I just swiped my finger through the icing and dabbed it on his nose. “It’s yours, eat it.”

We were busy today but he asked for another blow job during our lunch, in a very specific place. “Gotta make this fast.” He said as he sat in the cockpit of his super hornet. He unzipped his flight suit, pulling his cock out as I knelt down in the floor by his legs. I had to move around the joy stick which proved difficult but I still managed to lick a stripe along the large vein on the underside of his cock. “I only thought this would happen in my fantasies.” He groaned out as I took him into my mouth before releasing him with a ‘pop’. “How long have you been fantasizing about this?” I asked before bobbing my head along his cock. “Oh fuck,” He moaned out. “Since I first saw you. It was the first place I ever imagined you sucking me off.” I released him again and smirked at him. He was struggling to find something to do with his hands, seeing as he can’t grab my pristine bun. “Since you first saw me? My, my, how dirty.” I said with a wink before sucking him off again. It wasn’t long before he was coming down my throat, trying hard to contain his moans. “Let’s get out of here before we get caught and get in trouble.” He said, climbing out before I followed suit. The rest of the day was normal, study flight maneuvers, sit in meetings, do some paperwork and soon we were headed home. I showered and slid on Bradley's favorite sundress of mine. It was white with little pink flowers, spaghetti straps, it came to mid thigh. It was fitted, but since I had lost weight and continue to lose weight, I feel so sexy. I grabbed my bag, hoisting it onto my shoulder and stepped out of the locker room.

Rooster was faced away from me, talking to Payback and Bob as I walked up behind him. “Hi, honey.” I said in a sultry tone and he turned to me, eyes practically bulging out of his head. “We’ll leave you guys alone.” Payback said and they walked away. “Hi, pretty girl.” He said, his large hands gripping my waist and pulling me close. “You like it?” I asked and he nodded, his fingers scrunching my dress slightly. “I may not make it home.” He said and I giggled. But of course, he couldn’t wait. So here we are at a red light, his cock in my mouth as one hand lifted my dress, palming my ass. “I can finally mess up this bun.” He said, taking my hair down and running his fingers through all the hairspray I had in. It felt nice as he massaged my scalp and after a few more minutes I was swallowing more cum. I gasped as I popped him from my mouth, looking at him and wiping drool from my lips as he pulled into the driveway. “Messy head has got to be my favorite.” He said, smirking at me. “Enjoying your birthday so far?” I asked and he nodded as he reached over, caressing my cheek. “I am. This is one of the best birthdays ever.” He said, I turned nuzzling into his hand before kissing his palm softly. “Are you sure your jaw doesn’t hurt?” He asked and I couldn’t contain the giggle that bubbled up my throat. “No. Honey, I’m fine.” I told him. He didn’t really believe me, but that all went away when I cooked his mom’s recipe for marry me chicken. “God this is amazing.” He said, as he put a bite in his mouth. “Marry me.” He said and I giggled. “Already taken, honey.” I said as I wiggled my ring finger.

After dinner Rooster sat on the couch and I told him to stay there. “Honey! I told you not to get me anything!” I ignored him as I grabbed the wrapped box from the closet, taking it downstairs. “I know. But you’ll love this.” I said as I handed him the medium sized box. He stared at it for a moment before he looked at me. “Go on! Open it!” I said excitedly. He just chuckled, ripping the paper off and opening the box. “O-oh. Mags you shouldn’t have.” He said as he pulled out the fuzzy bear. He stared at it, flipping it around, not looking all that pleased. “Do you not like it?” I asked and he looked at me, questioning his next words carefully. “Oh, ye-yeah. Of course. I always wanted a teddy bear for my thirty-ninth birthday.” I just giggled. “Look down in the box.” He did and pulled out a photo. It was him and his parents and in his hands was the original version of the teddy bears I gave him. “Wait… Is this Mr. Snuffles?” I nodded. “Not the exact same one, but yeah, it is.” He smiled, leaning back into the couch. “My dad gave me this just before his first deployment after I was born. I carried this thing to college with me. Hell, it’s probably in one of those boxes Tilly gave me.” I smiled, laying my hand over his and his eyes snapped to me.

“Squeeze the left paw.” I said and I couldn’t hold back the tears that lined my eyes. He kissed my temple before squeezing the paw. “Hi buddy!” It was his dad’s voice and immediately tears fell from his eyes. “You’re one today! God this year has flown by and I wish I was home more to see you grow. But I have a few weeks of leave coming up and I can’t wait to spend all my time with you and your mama. We’re gonna go to the beach, and spend all our time playing in the backyard! I know you’re only one, but I’m even gonna get started on that treehouse for you. You're the greatest gift your mom ever gave me, and I hope I can be as good of a dad for you as your grandpa was for me. I love you, Bradley. To the moon and back, as far as the universe stretches and I can’t wait to see you grow up and become an amazing person. I have to go, but I promise we’ll have so much fun when I get home. I love you, buddy!” As soon as it cut off sobs racked his body and I pulled him into me. “Bradley-” “Thank you.” He cut me off and I smiled, kissing his head and running my fingers through his hair as he clutched the bear to his chest. “I figured you’d cry but I didn’t expect this.” I said and gently soothed him until his sobs turned into little hiccups. “I forgot what his voice sounded like.” My heart broke. I could never imagine not knowing what my daddy’s voice sounded like. “Oh, Bradley.” I pulled him down till I was laying flat on the couch, his body on top of mine. “This is the best gift you could’ve given me, Mags. Thank you.” He sat up, wiping his eyes just as Dahlia came over, licking his face and making him laugh. “Thank you, big girl.” He said, leaning over and kissing her head. “So, you like it?” I asked and he listened to the message one more time. “I love it.”

The next day we spent most of our time lounging around before we got ready for the concert. “You sure you want to go?” I asked as I finished straightening my hair. He nodded as he slipped on another Hawaiian shirt. “Of course. I’m really excited.” He said smiling at me as I stood in the bathroom in nothing but a black bra and thong. He groaned, sitting in the chair in the corner, looking at me with a devilish smirk. “What I wouldn’t give to have you on my cock just one more time.” I giggled as I walked over to the closet. “No time. We have to meet Phoenix and Hangman at the venue. So save it till we get home.” I said and he groaned as I tossed on a simple blue dress. I usually wouldn’t wear a dress to a concert, but I know Rooster will be behind me the entire time so I wasn’t worried about creeps sticking their hands up my dress. Once I was dressed, I slipped on some flat sandals and pulled my ID and my card from my purse. “Put that in your pocket?” He nodded, taking them and putting it in his wallet. “Ready?” He asked and I nodded. The drive the venue was easy, parking was a bitch and we wound up walking for twenty minutes before we arrived at the end of the line. “Are they here yet?” Rooster asked and I shrugged. “Let me text Phoenix.” I said. “No need. Hangman!” He yelled and a blonde head snapped around to him. After a minute they stepped out of the line and came back to meet us.

“Was parking bad for you too?” Phoenix asked and Rooster scoffed. “You have no idea.” He replied. We talked until the line started moving and finally we were able to hand over our tickets and walk inside. “Want a beer?” Rooster asked and we all agreed. It took a minute but we found a space on the left side close to the bar and the bathroom and out of the path of the crowd surfers. We enjoyed the openers but now it was time for the headliners, the entire reason we were here. The lights turned down and the music started causing Phoenix to grab my hand tightly. The mood in the crowd shifted and the mosh pit grew, pushing us a little but nothing too bad. I couldn’t help but scream the lyrics as Phoenix and I bounced. “Here am I! Take me to the pearly gates! Don’t let ‘em hit you on the way out when I take your place!” Rooster and Hangman had to take a step back from us, seeing as we kept bumping into their chests. I was sure my voice would be gone by the end of the concert, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. I was having the time of my life, especially when Rooster would wrap his arms around my waist, holding me close and swaying with me. He even knew some of the lyrics. “I said it’s enough! I begged and I ran in circles! I climbed to the sun and fell in a concrete jungle!” By the end of the concert we got into the merch line, waiting forever before we were all leaving with shirts tossed over our shoulders. “We should hit up The Hard Deck.” Jake suggested and I smirked. “I don’t know man-” “Please, Roo? Just stop by and say hi. Then we can go home and we can do what you asked about earlier.” He sighed, knowing we wasn’t about to say no. “Okay. But we aren’t staying long.” I cheered, grabbing his face and pulling him into a kiss. “Yay!” I cheered, grabbing his hand as we all walked towards our cars. “See you there.” Hangman said as Phoenix and him veered off.

Rooster helped me into the bronco before getting in himself. I smirked, sliding myself into the middle seat and leaning on him. “Did you have fun?” I asked and he nodded, kissing my head. “One of the best concerts I’ve ever been to.” He said, backing out of the parking lot. “You know, I was listening to that one song and they’re right. Love is the death of peace of mind.” I hummed in agreement. “I worry about you a lot Mags.” I smiled up at him. “That’s okay. I worry about you a lot as well.” He chuckled and soon we were pulling into the sandy parking lot of the beloved bar and Rooster dragged me out through his door. I was caught off guard when he pushed me up against the side of the bronco. “Let’s get this over with,” He said as he kissed my neck, his fingers reaching around to grip my ass through my dress. “That way I can get you home and naked in my bed.” I giggled, pushing him away slightly. “Then I guess we better go in.” I dragged him inside and immediately everyone was yelling. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” There was a banner above the bar and Penny had a cake set up. “I thought I said no party.” I shook my head. “No party. Just a typical Saturday night at the bar. But tonight we have cake!” I said, pulling him towards the bar for a beer. “Happy birthday, Bradley.” Penny said, pulling him into a hug. “Thanks, Penny.” Mav came over, hugging him as well. “So, how was yesterday?” He asked and a blush crept up my cheeks. “Amazing! You should see what she got me!” He said, pulling out his phone and pulling up the picture of the bear. “Is that Mr. Snuffles?” Mav asked and Rooster nodded. “She even managed to get an old voicemail dad left for me on my first birthday and put the recording in the paw, so when I press it, it plays.”“How did you get the voicemail?” Mav asked. “I called almost every phone company in Virginia and finally found the one that had Carol’s name. Then I filled out some papers and got access to the voicemail box.” Mav seemed shocked as Bradley tucked me into his side. “That’s amazing. When I come over you’ll have to play it for me.” Rooster agreed and we walked off, grabbing some cake from Penny. We spent about an hour playing pool and catching up before Bradley was ready to go. “Bye guys!” He called and everyone waved. We were halfway to the bar when he stopped, turning me to face him. “Thank you. For the past few days, you have made me so happy.” I smiled up at him. “Good thing I get to make you happy for the rest of our lives.” He smiled, hands coming up to hold my face before he leaned down, kissing me sweetly, making butterflies build in my stomach. Suddenly, a loud bang went off, scaring everyone. The sound of glass shattering filled the room as Rooster grabbed me, something splattering against my face as he pulled me to him. Something whizzed by my head and soon, everything went quiet. Roosters fingers dug into my skin, scrunching my shirt in his grasp. I pushed away from him, standing straight, and looking around. Everyone else was looking around in confusion and standing from the floor. I turned to Rooster, looking up at him. “Are you…” My voice trailed off when I noticed how pale he was. I had never seen him this pale and he had a look of fear in his eyes. “Roo?” He gripped me tightly and stumbled a little. My eyes trailed down to his chest, the white tank top he wore under his Hawaiian shirt, flooding with red. A horrified scream escaped me as I grabbed him, but he slipped through my grasp, crashing to the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Taglist: @mak-32 @rosiahills22 @fanboyswhore9 @genius2050 @callsign-athena

#i hope you dance #top gun maverick #bradley rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw #rooster top gun #rooster #rooster fanfic #robert bob floyd #bob floyd #jake hangman seresin #hangman #phoenix #natasha trace #pete maverick mitchell

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