#and when i tell you all the background noise went silent

[10byten]

Soft Spot for u

- When you started college, one of the student associations assigned you a senior mentor. Back then, you never thought you'd still be friends with him as you enter your final year, while he’s already long graduated. Even less that he’d be the guy of your dreams—the one who makes your heart race. -

Words : 2.6K

You’ve never been much of a party girl. Well, not in the “nightlife scene” kind of way. But a night owl ? That’s totally you. Staying up late doing all the things the daytime doesn’t allow ? That’s your jam. Especially when you’re spending those nights with him.

Since your freshman year, Yuta has been your go-to for late-night hangs: studying, laughing, bickering, drinking, and dancing. You quickly adapted to his vibe - even though, unlike you, he thrives in the nightlife. He loves hopping from on-campus parties to the city’s best clubs. For Yuta, you’d adjust to anything. Normally, you’re not big on people or physical contact, but with him, it’s different.

The first time he asked you to join him at a party, you tagged along, thinking, Why not? At least I’ll have a story to tell. You didn’t like dancing in public—the stares, the unwanted touches—but his touch? That was different. Before long, you were showing up to every party he invited you to, becoming a campus party regular.

Little did they know, you hated parties. You only went for him. For those moments on the dancefloor when his hands rested protectively on your hips, silently warning other guys to back off. It drove you crazy that it felt more big brotherly than anything else. But when you danced together, something shifted. He wasn’t being protective—just… present.

You’ve always wanted to make a move, but the fear of losing him held you back. If he hadn’t made the first move, it probably meant your feelings weren’t mutual. Right? But honestly, just being by his side was better than being with anyone else.

Yuta changed you—not just in how you see relationships, but in how you see life. He was more than a mentor for academics; he pulled you out of your comfort zone and into a brighter, more open world.

Waiting for him to pick you up tonight, you’re lost in thought, touching up your makeup as Keshi’s Soft Spot plays in the background. Your phone buzzes.

Yuta: Be there in 2 mins, love.

You grin, his name lighting up your screen. Gosh, this man owns my heart.

When you hop on his bike, he whistles, eyes raking over your silver sequin dress.

“You planning to set the campus on fire tonight? I don’t remember telling you to outshine me, little miss.”

“No one’s hotter than you, Yuta.” You flirt back, the way you always do when he compliments you. It gives you butterflies every time.

He smirks, giving you a playful smack on the thigh. “Flattery’ll get you far, baby. Keep it up.”

At the party, Yuta, as usual, commands attention. Walking in with him feels like entering as a rockstar’s date—his magnetic aura turning every head. You join his friends—Johnny, Taeyong, Doyoung—who’ve already lined up shots.

Johnny hands you a suspiciously colorful concoction. You sniff it. “Johnny, is this safe? Because I really don’t want to start the semester in the ER.”

Everyone laughs, and Taeyong teases, “Sometimes I forget you’re still in school. Those were the days…”

Shots clink, faces grimace, and the party kicks off. But soon, the buzz, the chaos, and the alcohol start working their magic on your senses. All you want is to dance—with him.

The noise, the games, the music, the chaos of people chatting and singing along, all the stuff happening around you, mixed with the alcohol buzzing in your veins, has your senses on high alert. And now, you only want one thing—to dance with him. You’ve shared him with the crowd long enough, and now it’s your turn. Just you and him, in your world, even if it’s just for a bit.

You leave Jungwoo and Kai behind, still going at that ridiculous card game where every rule somehow ends in "take a sip." It’s funny as hell, you can admit that, but nah—right now, you need him. It’s all you can think about.

You find him at the bar, mid-conversation. You head toward him, sitting by the counter, your mind racing with one single thought: you wanna throw your arms around his neck and kiss him like it’s the only thing keeping you alive. His legs are spread like he’s waiting just for you, a couple of messy strands of hair falling into his eyes, and his half-unbuttoned shirt teasing you with a glimpse of that stunning belly piercing and a peek at his tattoo.

You stop in front of him, hesitating for a second. He’s still chatting with Taeyong but doesn’t miss a beat, sliding an arm around your waist like, yeah, I know you’re here. That little gesture? making you go crazy, and without a second thought, grab his wrist and pull him to the dancefloor. Pressed against him, your bodies move in sync, his hands on your hips, his breath on your neck. Butterflies? More like fireworks. 

He’s totally getting with your vibe, moving with you like he’s reading your mind. When you turn around, you catch that huge smile lighting up his face—and wow, it’s the kind of smile that hits you right in the gut. He’s loving this moment, and it’s setting off a full-on butterfly storm in your stomach.

You kinda wish his smile wasn’t this attractive, this unfairly cute, this stupidly sexy. Because all you can think about is kissing him senseless. Like, right now.

You keep getting closer, grinding up against him more, and for some reason tonight, you’re feeling extra bold. You slide your fingers into his, guiding his hand to trace your curves in a way that’s definitely more suggestive than usual. Yuta doesn’t just go along with it—he’s into it. His response is all green lights, like his body is totally in tune with yours, wanting this as much as you do.

You feel his breath on your neck as you press your back against his chest, and yeah, it’s short. Is he... out of breath because of you? The thought sends a shiver down your spine, and without even thinking, you push your hips back against him, swaying like it’s second nature.

And then you feel it—him. Hard. For you.

That’s the last green light you need. You turn, locking eyes, fingers tangling in his hair as you kiss him, pouring years of longing into it. He kisses back—hungry, desperate.

Next thing you know, you’re in a dimly lit laundry room, pinned against the door as his lips crash back onto yours. His hands are everywhere, his voice dripping with desire.

He kisses you again, and this time it’s pure, raw desire. Like, where the hell has he been hiding all this? Not that it matters—you’re practically melting in his hands. Your skin’s on fire, and it feels like your blood is boiling. He’s gonna make you explode, like you’re some freaking nuclear reactor on the verge of meltdown.

The only way you can even begin to handle this insane craving is by biting his bottom lip, cutting the kiss short. He pulls back just enough to look at you, and there’s this spark in his eyes that makes your breath hitch.

“I didn’t know you had this bad girl side,” he says, smirking. “You’ve always been my sweet, innocent Y/n.”

“Not that innocent I guess, if only you knew about my dirty secret.” 

“Hmm tell me more baby” you smile hearing the petname he gave you, you love it soo much. 

“I touch myself so many times, soaking my panties, just thinking ‘bout you” 

He groan “You didn’t.” 

“I can’t even count how many times since I know you, you’re my favorite fantasm.” You say a lil bit shyly. 

He looks into your eyes, a proud smile on his face. “Then allow me to make the fantasy come true.”  He takes hold of your dress, so small that it doesn't take much effort for him to expose your already soaked thong. He slides two fingers over your pussy to caress you through the fabric.

“You’ve been holding out on me, huh?” he growls, fingers brushing against the lace of your underwear.

“Only for you, daddy,” you whisper, testing the nickname that’s been on your mind for way too long.

He freezes, then smirks. “Gosh, you’re gonna drive me insane.”

You've never been so willing in your life. You only dream of one thing: his tongue on you and IN you. He lifts your leg and places it on his shoulder to get better access. You feel his breath on your inner thigh and you moan at the sensation alone. 

“Oh god.” He look at you, from the bottom and smirk “You can call me Yuta.” And with those words he wraps your whole soaking pussy in his mouth. First he eats you through the fabric of your thong. Then, using his fingers, he shifts it to the side. He flicks his tongue up and down your folds and then concentrates on your clitoris, sucking gently. The stimulation sends you into heaven, you feel as if you've left this earth. And then he starts playing at your entrance with one of his fingers, looking at you “Want me to get inside baby girl?”

“Yes, please, yes !”

 “Your wish is my command.”

He takes hold of your clit again, nibbling lightly, then gently and deliciously slides a finger into your pussy, soon adding a second, which you welcome as a blessing. You try to be as quiet as possible, but your little cries and sobs excite Yuta even more. He picks up the pace and eats you up like he's starving, tasting you like you’re his last meal, you’re trembling. Soon you feel your orgasm coming on and you press down on Yuta's shoulder as if to let him know you're about to burst. He smiles, "Let it go baby, I'm here for you.” You feel the most powerful orgasm you've ever had in your life rushing through you. And this time you can't help yourself, you moan his name out loud and pray that no one else walks by at the same time. He stands up and sucks on each of his two fingers in front of you. Then he slides his tongue back into your mouth. 

“I think you can still feel yourself on my tongue, so much that I've sucked you in.” You wrap your arms around his neck, wanting more, but Yuta slows the pace. “Maybe we should slip away before we're noticed.

You slip out quietly, not even bothering to say goodbye to anyone. On the way back, you’re still all sensitive from the way he completely wrecked you earlier. When Yuta pulls up in front of your dorm, he looks a little more hesitant than before. Still, you invite him to come up with you for a bit.

As you close the door to your apartment, you see him sitting on the couch, his hands covering his face like he’s deep in thought. But you don’t stop to overthink it—he’s already given you too much tonight for you to back down now. You climb onto his lap and kiss him, slow and intense. He kisses you back but suddenly pulls away.

“Wait,” he says, looking at you seriously. “I need to understand what’s happening here. Like, what are we doing right now?”

You stare at him, confused. “Do you want a diagram or something?”

“No, I mean, seriously. Isn’t this, like, a bad idea? I’m older than you, and you’re totally wasted. I am too, actually.”

“So what?”

“So yeah, I don’t think this is a good idea. You’ll probably regret it tomorrow. I don’t want to mess things up between us. You mean a lot to me and—”

You cut him off with a dramatic wave, making it clear he needs to stop talking immediately. “This is unreal. Stop seeing me as the clueless first-year kid who doesn’t know anything and needs a protector. Yuta, I don’t want a protector—I want you.”

He just stares at you, speechless.

“I got a soft spot for you, from the very beginning,” you continue, your voice shaking with the weight of the truth. “And honestly, I’ve been hoping every single day since we met that one day you’d wake up and feel the same. But you’ve always had this big brother vibe, and God, it’s been killing me, because I love your attention, I love how affectionate you are, and how you’re always there for me. But Yuta, I want so much more than that. I never said anything because I didn’t want to scare you off or ruin what we have. But seriously, I’ve been into you since day one. So please, stop being my bro—be my lover. Tonight, I felt like it was now or never. There was this moment, this chance, and hell, it’s my last year. I want to leave this university finally dating the guy I’ve been crushing on since freshman year. So if you’re not into it, just say it, but please stop looking at me like I’m some little kid and start seeing the woman I could be by your side.”

Yuta’s lips crash onto yours, giving you the single greatest kiss of your life.

“So you’ve been this into me for all this time, and you never said a word?” he teases, a grin spreading across his face.

“Yuta, please. I’m not exactly the most social person, but I’ve spent practically all my time with you. I hate parties, yet I’ve been at them every week since I met you. I HATE octopus, but I learned how to make Takoyaki like a pro. I think Naruto is the most boring anime ever, but I binged every damn season. Why do you think I did all that? For who?” you shoot back, exasperated.

“Uh… sorry?” he mutters sheepishly.

“Don’t apologize. Honestly, I love most of those things now because they remind me of you, or they’re just so you. I don’t force myself. If it means spending time with you, it’s always worth it in the end.”

He smiles at you, soft and affectionate.

“I’ll admit, I’ve thought about this a lot over the years too,” he says quietly. “But the age gap always felt like too much. And I had this mentor role, you know? I didn’t want to look like some creepy older guy. More than that, I didn’t want to lose you or ruin what we have.”

Your heart pounds at his words. So he doesn’t see you as some desperate little kid, and, more importantly, the guy of your dreams feels the same way about you.

“Can you say it out loud, though? Just once?” you tease him.

“I got a soft spot for you, Y/n.”

“No, no, no, you can do better than that.”

He chuckles, running his tongue along his cheek, clearly amused but knowing you’re not letting this go.

“I got a big crush on you.”

Your smile stretches ear to ear, and you crash your lips against his again. He responds instantly, sliding his tongue against yours, his hands moving to your hips as he pulls you closer. Then, without breaking the kiss, he lifts you effortlessly and carries you to your room, laying you gently on the bed.He trails kisses along your jawline, down to your neck, and a soft moan escapes your lips. He nibbles at your earlobe before whispering, “If you play your cards right tonight, sweetheart, you just might get me to admit I maybe am in love with you by the end of it.”

[cinaminrolll]

BRO BRO GET DENJI OUT OF THERE!! THIS IS NOT OKAY!!

…i feel sick, just sick

[hannieehaee]

Idk if you're taking requests but I would give it a short and it would mean so much if you actually wrote smthg bout it.

An angsty fic/drabble where woozi and reader are in a long term established relationship and the reader gets their absolute dream job opportunity but it's far from Korea and she tells it to woozi but they get conflicted since woozi cannot transfer between his work and seventeen and reader does not want to give up this once in a life time opportunity. At the same time they are sceptical about a long distance relationship since reader had already been fed up of how less they get to see and stay with woozi with him travelling and working constantly.

You don't have to write it if it's too complex but I'd love to see cuz I really like the way you write!

content: idol!woozi x nonidol!reader, established relationship, light angst, fluff, long distance relationship, etc.

wc: 716

a/n: thank u so much!! im so sorry for how long i took to get this out!!

masterlist

it'd been a week since you told jihoon about your new work opportunity. a week since the air in your apartment became just a little bit colder and the future slightly more grim.

jihoon had been supportive immediately, congratulating you and insisting on you accepting the position. he'd been as supportive a boyfriend as he'd been in the past two years of your relationship. it filled you with warmth and hope for the future of your relationship.

it wasn't until you'd let him know of the location of said job that things became more sad than hopeful.

although he still maintained his supportiveness, there was now a clear air of worry in his voice any time it'd get brought up.

you'd tried to ignore it, pushing it aside until you found the courage in you to actually accept the position. it was your dream job. a once in a lifetime opportunity. except it was an entire country away from the love of your life. and you only had three more days to accept the offer letter they'd sent to you.

the thought of doing long distance would have been fine had you been anyone else. but you barely got to see your boyfriend as it was. living with him was really the only way for you to spend time together. his busy idol schedule had him going all over the world, and when he was at home he was usually ever at the company or in your shared apartment.

if you left, you'd give up on ever getting to see him.

"babe."

the voice took you away from your train of thought. the same train of thought distracting you for the past week.

you looked away from the tv that had been playing in front of you. you hadn't even been watching it, but the background noise helped.

jihoon was at the entrance of the living room, two mugs in hand as he walked over to you and took his usual seat, silently handing you your mug with a tight smile.

not even a single sip from your drink was taken before the subject filled the room once more.

"you need to take this job."

"jihoon ..."

"no, listen," he turned his body to face you, "you and i, we're a forever thing, okay? i don't care if we have to be away for a while. i'm already living my dream, it's unfair that you don't get to do the same," he argued with conviction in his eyes.

"but, jihoon ... it won't be like when you're touring. we'll never be in the same country at the same time, i-"

his hands went to take your mug, placing it on the coffee table before taking your hands into his own.

"i don't care!", his voice raised without meaning to, "so we'll have a year or two in which we can't be as close as we've always been, so what? it won't matter in the grand scheme of things. we'll be together for forty- no fifty years. a few years of uncertainty won't matter a few years from now. babe, please."

his voice pleaded at you.

he was afraid you'd end it all instead of at least trying.

what made it worse that he refused to consider a possibility in which you didn't go and follow your dream. it was a done deal to him. he loved you that much.

that was all you needed to make a decision.

"i'll take the job," you said decisively.

jihoon released a sigh of relief right away, hand squeezing your own in encouragement.

"i-i'll rent a place big enough for the two of us over there. i'll ask for a week off every six months. i'll have it written into my contract so i can go visit you. and- and we'll keep this place here for any time you have time off. we'll call every night, no matter what. even if it's just for two minutes, we'll- we'll make it work."

all you could do was smile at him.

how could you ever worry about change when he was willing to work so hard to move along with it all?

you kissed him then, shutting him up with no words.

and he understood, kissing you back with just as much unspoken love.

[islayhawkin]

Night out

john price x autistic!f!reader

summary: john takes you out for a drink with his team

A/N: this shows the parts of autism from my own experience. Doesn't mean everybody has the same experience. Husband John is so cute.

Found out that I'm way better at writing angst than fluff haha oops

Fluff

It was a friday evening when john took you out to meet up with his comrades. You were introduced to them before but you never really spoke to them. Mostly because john took measures to keep his private life -you- separated from his work. But he came home today and was going to meet up with them just as friends outside of work so he asked you to come along since he didn't want to leave you alone immediately after he just returned.

So it happened that you were sat next to your husband in the car while he drove you both to the bar they agreed to. When you watched him drive you couldn't help but admire the way he effortlessly switched gears and scanned the street through the front as if he was checking a battlefield. He smiled and rested his hand on your thigh once he met your gaze. "You tell me if they make you uncomfortable alright? They can be quite...well you know how soldiers are." he told you in that gruff voice of his, but he somehow made it sound incredibly soft.

"I will. Thanks." You smiled at him and squeezed his hand gratefully.

"Of course."

"There's a toilet, right?" you asked as your mind was already in the bar.

"Yeah 'course. I'll show you." he reassured.

"Okay good."

He glanced at you a few times during the ride. Clearly observing the slight tension in your body and how you tapped your fingers anxiously on your knee, but he didn't comment on it.

After a few minutes of silent driving, he parked the car on the side of a street, shut the motor off and went out to open the door for you before you were able to pull a jacket on. The sound of your shoes could be heard on the gravel in the otherwise quiet street as well as the slam of the door behind you.

John offered his arm and you settled your hand in the crook of his elbow. His form shielded you from the street as he always insisted to walk on the side closest to the ongoing cars. Usually, you would have felt unsettled to walk in such a quiet part of the city in the dark but with john by your side you felt the safest you could ever be.

A torrent of noise engulfed you the moment you stepped foot into the bar. People talking, music playing in the background, glasses clanging. John guided you through the group of people to a table in the back. Loud laughter on the right. A door swinging shut on the left. The arm of a man pushing you slightly into John's side.

He pulled you close to him and cleared the path as well as he could. Apparently, John's friends were already there. He greeted them as the three men stood up and clapped each other on the back rather roughly it seemed to you. You had to do without his arm as support now so you busied yourself with your hands while swaying from one side to the other. Their mouths moved but you weren't able to make out their words through all the noise.

When John stepped back one of them stretched their hand out for you and you took it as your cue to shake his hand and smile at them politely while another man -the other Johnny you recalled- shook your hand. The hand was big but slimmer than John's and slightly sweaty. You wiped your palm against your clothes to rid the feeling, but the urge to wash them lingered.

Kyle and ghost made their way over to the bar to grab you all drinks while you sat down around the table. John arranged the seating so you would only sit next to him and not squeeze in between the men. He leaned his head down and grabbed your hand softly in his.

"You good?" he muttered in your ear. His eyes scanning your face. "It will get quieter soon."

You nodded and grasped his hand back.

One of his fingers pointed in the direction to the left. "There are the toilets"

You followed his eyesight until you spotted a door in the corner. You nodded and moved your thumb up and down over the back of his hand in a soothing manner.

Soap leaned over the table with a smug look on his face. "...never seen the captain like this..." You looked between John and Soap. John was already sighting exasperated next to you.

"What do you mean?"

Soap laughed. He looked carefree as the laugh took over his whole face. You rarely saw such a laugh on John.

"He's all lovey-dovey with ye. We know him to be a lot differently." Soap grinned.

You glance at john next to you, who rubbed his eyebrows, already embarrassed. But there a was a slight pull in his lips that told you he enjoyed people seeing you with him. It made a feeling of warmth spread through your body at his reaction. He looked almost... proud? Maybe you were just interpreting too much into it.

"Wha- how do you mean?" You leaned back over to soap. Careful to put enough distance between you but still being able to hear him.

"Well ya kno', he's a pretty harsh captain. Always scoldin us, shoutin around the field. Doin things that... are verra different from how he treats ya. All soft and gentle."

"Oh. I guess it would be weird if he was that way on the field too. I don't know him any differently..." you shrug.

"Oh lass we're gonna have a lot of fun." he winked. John already feared what he was talking about.

"Alright I think that's enough gossipin about me now."

Soap just laughed but to john's luck gaz and ghost came back with the drinks in hand and sat down next to soap.

The drinks were handed around the table leaving you empty handed. "Cap said you don't want anything, you sure?" Gaz asked as he noticed it.

You nodded with a smile. "Yeah thanks. I drink from john's." You pointed to the drink in front of john.

Gaz gave a nod. "Well let me know if you change your mind ma'am."

You smiled genuinely this time. Being called ma'am wasn't a usual occurance in your life, but every soldier you met did it. It was respectful. You appreciated that. Especially when john had adressed you with it at the beginning of your relationship.

The men started a easy conversation sometimes asking you questions to involve you. It was difficult to hold a conversation when you could only understand half of what they were saying, but over time the bar began to quieten down which made you feel more at ease.

You took john's glass to drink even though you didn't know what it was. Something non-alcoholic since he was driving but still bitter. Just the way john liked it.

John apperantly saw the grimace you made at the taste. "I can get you a other one if you don't like this one, love"

"It's fine."

John scanned your face. He knew you too well and it wasn't the first time you went out together. There were two possible reasons why you didn't want to drink. Either you thought it too expencive or you were too anxious to get anything down.

"I want you to drink something nice. You don't worry about the price alright? You're my mrs. Price I can afford you a drink." He smiled and lowered his head to get to your eye-level. He always did this. You didn't know if he was aware of it. But somehow he was able to make himself look smaller and less intimidating with his body language.

Your eyes shied away to settle on his lips instead. "Okay." You grinned sheepishly. "You know me too well."

Johns face lighted up triumphically. "I'll get it. Be right back." He pecked your temple before walking over to the bar.

The moment he left the table gaz and johnny started talking to you too.

"You know he's thinkin about you all the time when we're out. Always carrin' that picture with him and worryin'."

"-all he does is worry. Can be bloody annoying, no offence." Ghost piped in.

"...also the first few nights" johnny wistled. "He must miss you much-"

"Johnny don't talk like that to the lady."

Soap looked offended. "She knows that for sure! Not something that's unknown to her probably."

You laugh and raise your brows ammused. "I made my assumptions. Even though john rather always seems to complain about you three"

They laugh and slap eachothers arms before engaging in a animated talk about the topic.

The later it get's the more energy was drained. You had an almost blank look on your face and weren't able to make polite smiles anymore neither engaging in the conversation. John noticed of course. He observed the way you became quieter over the evening and seemed to sink into yourself. Even when he saw you this way so many times before it seemed his heart couldn't take you being unhappy in any way. It made him want scoop you up and bring you home. He hated not being able to shield you from everything. Even the others were shooting their captain confused looks.

"You okay?" John muttered, only for your ears to hear.

You nodded. "Can we go home soon?"

"Of course. You tired?" He brushed a calloused thumb over your cheek.

You nodded in response. "If you wanna stay I can wait a bit. I don't want to cut your evening short."

He smiled reassuringly. "I need to get you home."

Relief flooded through you even though you felt guilty for pulling john back again.

"Alright lads. We'll be going. The missus needs to put this old man to bed." He joked.

Even though it was a joke it meant a lot to you. He took the blame for your departure. It made you blink up at him in disbelief.

The men made some comments and complained about you leaving so soon but goodbyes were given and a moment later john led you out of the bar. His hand resting gently against your back.

Your walk to the car was silent but you could feel his glances on you. It wasn't in a uncomfortable way, it made you feel looked out for.

"Why did you do that? Lie about us leaving."

John looked slightly taken aback by the question as if he didn't think about it before.

"Well I assumed it wouldn't feel nice to you for me to announce that you were the reason we were going home. And It's easier for me to take a few hits from the boys than for you. Honestly didn't think much about it."

He opened the door for you before walking around to the other side himself. Your gaze followed him as he shifted in his seat to get comfortable and clip his seatbelt shut. He met your gaze when he looked up.

There was a small smile hidden beneath his beard. "What?" His voices sounded gruff as if he had smoked too much. Maybe he had.

"You're amazing, you know that?"

His expression softened considerably. "Because I'm putting a seatbelt on?" He teased gently.

You gave him a 'seriously?' look. "I'm serious john. You're the best husband I could ever wish for."

He lowered his head bashfully. His heart skipping a beat. He'll never get used to being called your husband. "I try my best darling. I'm glad you think so."

You leaned over to him and kissed his cheek. The hairs of his beard tickling you. It was a familiar feeling. There was no smile on your face, there didn't need to be, you didn't have to pretend anything with him.

"Thank you."

John grabbed your hand in his bigger one giving it a squeeze. "For what?"

"Being you." Your eyes met his and you were able to hold eye contact for the moment.

John chuckled. "That's not a-"

"For always looking out for me. For accepting me the way I am and always trying to meet my needs even if you want something else. For never getting angry at me and being SO considerate. Like, like you did back there taking the hit for me without even thinking about it. You do stuff like that all the time."

It sounded so genuine coming from you even though your tone sounded flat. Almost like you were stating facts. "And I feel like I'm holding you back a lot. You need to give up so much for me and I need you for so many things it probably can be annoying for you..."

John's brows furrowed instantly. "Darling...it's not- you're not annoying to me. Never. And I'll gladly give up whatever if it means that I get your love." His voice was so gentle, that his friends would probably fall from their chair. A slight shake in his head to contradict your thoughts. He adjusted his position to cup your cheek in his palm.

His mind was spiraling to express his thoughts and make you aware of your importance to him. Did he ever make you feel like you weren't? Where did you get the idea? Had he acted annoyed when he helped you sometime? Maybe that time were he had gotten home from work...

"I never meant to make you feel this way. You need to put up with all my bullshit too and I'm so grateful for you. I-" his voice cracked slightly and he cleared his throat.

You were overwhelmed by how you should react. It wasn't the first time you saw him vulnerable, you were used to his nightmares or worries, but it didn't happen frequently either and there wasn't excactly a handbook for 'what to do when your husband feels-' well you weren't entirely sure what emotion he felt at the moment either.

He took a breath. "You just mean a lot to me, love. I want you to be happy."

"But you need to be happy too." you stated quietly.

He smiled. "I am happy. More than happy with you. You're about the best thing that happened to me." A chuckle escaped his lips. "And honestly I quite like that you're a bit dependend on me. Makes me feel needed."

John pulled his head down to lean his head against yours. "You don't need to say anything. I just don't want you to think that you're a burden to me."

"But it is hard on you sometimes is it not?" you whispered. The blue in his eyes was so close that it blurred.

"Yes it is. But I know it's hard for you too being with me sometimes." He adjusted his eyes downwards.

"Yes. We make it work tough."

"That we do love. We make it work." he whispered before closing the small gap and touching your lips with his.

[oceantornadoo]

okay but best frien johnny who gets in your last nerve when you’re pms-ing or ovulating. and he absolutely knows what he’s doing bc he tracks ur cycle

“johnny, just stop! god, it’s like you’re a little boy.” you get up in a huff, leaving a bewildered gaz and johnny in the common room. johnny’s still loosely gripping the remote you were fighting over, stuck doing mental math as he watches your retreating figure stomp down the hall and out of sight.

gaz breaks the tension by snatching the remote out of johnny’s hand, a murmured “sorry, mate” as he picks the first action movie he sees, just to have some background noise. it doesn’t drown out the buzzing in johnny’s head or the concerned look gaz is shooting his way, that ever-present cap doing little to hide his questioning eyes. “‘s fine. the lass isn’t feelin’ her best. gonna go check up on her.” he jerks his body off the couch, not waiting for an ok by gaz as johnny makes his way to your room.

you’d been snappy at him all week. critiquing his messy room (he preferred the term eclectic), his handsiness (was never an issue before), even his smell (he knew you liked his musk though). suddenly, he had an inkling to check that app on his phone, the one hooked up to your period tracker, and lo and behold, he had his answer. now it was a matter of getting on the right side of your hormones.

johnny stopped in front of your door, fishing out the copy of your key he made, unlocking it without announcing himself. he walked in on you changing, hand on your back to unhook your bra as you slipped out of your day clothes. you didn't acknowledge him, instead slipping on your pajama shirt (one of his old ones) and taking off your underwear, kicking it towards your laundry bag as you pulled on sleep shorts. "now who's bein' messy?" johnny muttered, ignoring your scoff as he picked up your discarded underwear and placed it in your laundry hamper. "you here to apologize?" you spit out, refusing to make eye contact as you looked in your mirror, pulling your shirt this way and that. johnny stalked over to where you were standing, settling behind you as he met your eyes in the mirror, shaking his head. "yer period's comin' soon, bonnie. 's why yer all mean an' spittin'."

your mouth dropped at the insinuation, taking a step forward to get out of his atmosphere. unfortunately, he followed you, taking two steps until your back was flush against his chest. one hairy paw reached out to cup your breast over your shirt, his fingers ignoring your pointed nipples as he squeezed you to his liking. "tender?" all you could do was nod and bite back the pain he was sending your way, hormonal nerves shouting at you to stop him. his hand traveled to your stomach, rolling your pudge between his fingers. "bloated?" you nodded again, his motions giving you no relief from your pms symptoms. he didn't seem to care, focusing more on your body reactions. "skin's hot. temp's goin' up, hm?" so that's why you woke up in a sweat last night. which you didn't even tell him about...

"you're being weird, johnny. how do you know all this?" he shrugged, his hand on your stomach traveling again to cup your pussy, his other hand sliding against your spine to reach the back of your neck. "what are best friends for? i know she's all sensitive." he squeezed your cunt for emphasis. "think i should kiss her an' make it all better, mo leannen?" you nodded silently. he pulled down your shorts and got to his knees, turning so he was eye-to-cunt with your sensitive pussy. he gave her a sniff, then a kiss on your clit. another for emphasis, tongue flicking in like he was trying to make out with her. the angle was all bad, the pleasure minimal, which he knew. it was for pure emphasis - to stake his claim that he knew you better than you knew yourself. after another kiss, he rose back up, righting your shorts. "c'mon, need yer sleep before the blood comes." it would be impossible to sleep with him, an absolute human furnace, but you went along anyways, your best friend johnny leading the way.

more best friend!johnny here!

[jessnotfoundd]

We can't be friends - Lewis Hamilton. (Breeding kink)

6! KINKTOBER! MINORS DNI

Remember this contains sexual descriptions, nudity, and intercourse.

Pairing: Lewis Hamilton x Reader!

Lewis took victory in the Silverstone GP and we were out at night to celebrate with the other drivers and wags, we were just friends but everyone could tell the line wasn't as clear as it used.

Things went smoothly. He was chill, drinking a drink like usual, he wasn't a crazy animal while partying like everyone thought, he was actually calm. Enjoying the moment.

On the other hand, you had me, the crazy party animal trying to stay composed aside from Lewis.

"You can go to dance, you don't have to stay here all night trying to be a good girl," he says in my ear because of the loud music. The closeness and the words he chose send shivers down my spine.

"I'm not trying, I'm enjoying the moment, that's all, you won your home-race gp" I looked at him, trying to make him understand I wasn't desperate to go dance. I was lying, dying to dance with him, to feel him against me while we danced like we always used to do.

He guides me to the dancefloor and I already know what kind of night waits ahead, we dance, he teases me, I grow impatient and horny and he plays innocently with me like he didn't do anything.

My back is against his chest in the little space we had for ourselves on the dancefloor. Every brush of his hand against my waist, each subtle shift of our bodies closer, sent a shiver down my spine, He leans in, resting his chin on my shoulder, his lips are so close to my skin that I feel like I could come undone just from how my body feels against his and his breath against my skin.

"You've got some good moves there," he says, I hear it like a whisper because of the loudspeakers around the place. I tilt my head back, trying to answer him.

"I could say the same about you but I'd be lying" I joke.

Lewis chuckled, the sound vibrating through his chest, adding a spark to my growing arousal, his hand slid up my back, his fingers tracing a slow line that made my heart race. The way we were moving wasn't just dancing, it was a conversation without words of what was to come once we were back at the hotel.

"Is this how you celebrate your wins?" I say, turning around to face him, he holds my hips and pushes me flush against him. I can tell he's smirking because I know all his reactions.

"You know I do, just with you" his lips brushed my neck and I could feel the heat pooling in my stomach.

The music was a background noise now, it was as if the world had shifted its focus, leaving just the two of us.

He leaned in close, his hand brushing lightly against my lower back, "Let's get out of here" he murmured, his lips inches away from mine.

My eyes meet his gaze, a slight agreement between us. With a slight tug on my hand, he guides me through the crowd, his grip warm and reassuring as we slipped out of the club and into the cool night air. The rush of excitement from earlier lingered, but now it was laced with anticipation.

The car ride was silent, his hand on my thigh, going up and down slowly, teasing me and making my arousal go higher than expected.

When he pulled into the driveway of the hotel, parking the car with the same precision he used on track, for a moment, neither of us moved, the air was thick with anticipation, knowing what was to come. He stepped out and walked around to open the door for me, he always does, always the gentleman.

At the door of his hotel room, I could tell that something was different between us and how we were doing this, a change in the dynamic for tonight I don't feel like his best friend but like one of his girls, and I was okay with it.

He opened the door, stepping aside to let me in first, his eyes never leaving my body, undressing me, and once the door is closed behind him, the tension is finally broken but his hand spanking my ass.

"This is exactly what I needed before even the race" He pressed his body against mine and I sighed, I was so turned on that I wasn't even able to form a single sentence.

His fingers move to the zipper of my dress.

"I've been picturing you naked the moment I saw you entering the club" His lips are now on my neck. The dress slips off and I can feel him step back to take a look at me.

His palm meets my ass again and the stinging is for a few seconds but I let out a little whimper.

"Lewis" I whisper, moving unconsciously to undress him, taking his clothes slowly, I guide him to sit on the edge of the bed, I kiss his thighs, feeling absolutely drawn to them. "I need you" I take the final piece of clothing covering him, his boxers.

I position myself aligning his cock with my entrance, making circles on his tip, but he's so desperate he sinks me into his whole length.

"L-lewis" I murmured and he chuckled.

"Are you going to be good today?" he grips my ass, setting the rhythm, slow, teasing me.

"For you? Always" I bite his shoulder, and a whine escapes my throat, needing him to be more aggressive than this softer side of him today.

"You want me to fuck you?" he whispers, his tone low and provocative.

I whine in a positive tone.

"I don't want to fuck you today..." He says and my lips find the way to his neck.

"Please?" I try to pick the pace myself, but he keeps me in place, setting the charge of the situation.

"I want to make love to you" his lips against mine are addictive, almost making me forget about how much I needed him to pick up the pace or do something else.

He switches positions and rests my back on the bed, his body hovering over mine.

"Are you going to take me well today?" he moves his hips against mine slowly, his lips going down to pay attention to my breasts, cupping one while his mouth is busy playing with the other, sucking and licking so good had to move away to not finish right here right now.

"Y-yes" I arched my back and I heard him smirk.

"Eager for me to fill you?" his filthy tone is enough to take another whine from me.

My eyes go wide at the phrase.

"What?" I'm surprised to hear him say that.

"Do not play innocent with me" his moves are harder, driving me insane. "We can't be friends" his thrusts are precise and hard, and my eyes are shut closed, wanting to make the moment last. "We can't" he thrust "Not when I want to fill you up with babies" he smirked "How does that sound?" He holds my chin up, "Open your eyes and look at me"

"I'm close" I whisper and hold his hand. "I'm gonna cum"

I open my eyes the second I feel his hands on my shoulders. "Want to have my babies?" He says and that was the final straw. My body shakes. "Hold done a bit more, I'm almost there," He says doing the final thrusts.

I feel his hot cum inside of me as he moves a few times more, both of us getting down from our highs.

"I want you to have my babies" He whispers, knowing this was a desire that he had not only in the heat of the moment. "I'm being for real"

I nod, not actually knowing what to do or what to say.

[cookiescribble]

New In Town

A/N: hey there, to the anon that requested this, I lost your actual submission but I hope this lived up to expectation! I started writing this, forgot I started it, and then got sick but I tried my best haha, enjoy! Happy pride month! - mod ghost

p.s. sorry to mod angel, I definitely called her out in this fic lol 

You had only been at the BAU for about a week, but something about Spencer made you feel like a moth drawn to a flame, as cliche as that might be. Sometimes, you’d catch yourself staring at him during briefings or even just sitting at your respective desks. Watching the way his hands would move over pages as he tore his way through books. His reading speed always amazed you, and you wondered how he actually retained any of the information he was taking in. Yesterday, he’d caught your gaze, making eye contact with you and giving you a polite grin before returning back to whatever it was he’d been doing. Your heart nearly pounded itself out of your chest, which is about when it dawned on you that you definitely had feelings for him. Shit, you thought to yourself briefly. It was probably best to keep this to yourself for now, you’d heard a lot about everything he had been through from the other members of the team and figured it’d be best to leave him alone. Even if you thought this while in private, it didn’t seem to actually stop you from flirting with him. What could possibly go wrong? He’d say no, but that wasn’t terrible. A few days later, you found him at his desk before the team was about to fly off to investigate a new case. You, however, weren’t cleared for field work yet, so you had to work in something before he went,

Gently putting a hand on his shoulder to get his attention, you leaned in closer to him as you said, “Have a safe flight, pretty boy, I’ll see you when you get back,” then walked off toward Garcia while practically being able to feel his eyes on you. Whether that was a good thing or not, you couldn’t tell, and the idea of having to wait until the team came back stirred up some nervousness that seized in the pit of your stomach but you pushed it aside for now to focus on helping Penelope here in Quantico. “I’m sorry, why is Reid making that face?” She laughed as she all but chased you further down the hall and away from the bullpen.

“I’m fairly certain I just called him pretty boy or something, I don’t know. I might’ve blacked out.” You sighed, averting her gaze as much as possible as you pushed through the door leading to all of her equipment.

“I knew it! You have a crush on Spencer!” Garcia cried in excitement, seconds away from jumping up and down. “Could you yell it any louder?? He might hear you! China might hear you–” You grab her arm as you whisper hurriedly, pulling her through the door and closing it behind her, “--wait, am I really that obvious about it?? Who else knows other than you?” “Mainly us girls, don’t worry. But I might be able to help you, see if he likes you back?” “What, have my own spy crew just for a crush? No way, I’ll get over it.” You brush a hand through your hair in embarrassment and frustration as you and her sit next to each other at her desk. All you could think about was Spencer, though. Nothing that happened throughout the day could fix that. Especially when he called a few hours later to ask for information. Garcia picked up the phone before you could react or steel yourself to the idea of talking to him again. “Hey, tall dark and nerdy, talk to me” She spoke quickly, leaning back in her chair. It made you blush, which you silently cursed her for. “Uh, hey, Garcia,” he paused to chuckle, “I need your help–” “Obviously” You started to get up to escape the room and compose yourself, but, much to your chagrin, he’d heard the background noise over the phone, “Is someone else in there with you?” His voice crackled over the phone line again, which made Penelope stop you from moving, 

“Yes, actually,” She nudged you as she spoke,

“H-uh, Hi, Spence.” You spoke up, trying to sound lighthearted. The idea of speaking to him again this soon seized your heart and made it hard to breathe. 

“Hey…as you can probably hear, I made it here safe. No need to worry.” There was a bit of a teasing tone to his voice. You’d never quite heard him use that tone with you before. Or anyone for that matter. 

Before you had time to process that, they were on to talking about the case again and you were able to escape the situation pretty much unscathed. 

The rest of the team didn’t return until later that week, on a Friday, so Garcia got pizza for everyone to celebrate. 

She came to grab you from your desk and the two of you arrived just in time to see something that stirred up something in you, so deep you think you were possessed by one of your distant descendants.

“You’re cutting pizza with a butter knife?!” You ask incredulously, not meaning to come off so viciously. 

Spencer froze, plastic butter knife still in hand as he stabbed into the pizza. 

“We…We don’t have a pizza cutter here, and some of the slices were kinda stuck together with cheese…” he explained, almost frozen in place as he awkwardly chuckled at the ridiculous nature of the conversation while Garcia couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Sorry, I honestly have no idea what came over me. Let’s uh, let’s dig into this pizza, huh? Now that I’m done getting possessed by my grandma?” You joke, going closer to the table with Penelope and grabbing one of the slices that were…cut. Definitely not sawed apart poorly. He’d tried his best. At this current moment, Spencer Reid was honestly just lucky he was cute. Despite that, you smiled politely and spent time with your found family that is the BAU.

That night, after all the fun was over and it was time to go home for a much needed crash, it had been just you and Spencer. You both volunteered to clean up after everything so that everyone else could go home for some much needed rest and to get a start on their weekend. They tried to insist that they’d help, too, but everyone was tired and it wasn’t that big of a mess so there was no need for everyone to stay. 

You thought it’d be fine, because surely you could be at least somewhat normal around him, right? 

The two of you easily talked and joked the whole time, the energy in the room fairly normal until you both reached for the same pizza box. Your hands brushed together and you instinctively looked up at each other, a similar electric feeling running down both your spines. 

“Oh, I can um…I can grab that.” you speak softly, almost afraid to speak in the sudden intense silence. 

“It’s okay, I got it. It’s the least I could do after you almost stabbed me earlier for my inferior method of cutting pizza.” Spence replied with a soft smile.

“Hey, you were the one with the plastic knife, mister.” 

“I’m never gonna live that down, am I?” 

“Not as long as I’m here,”

You both broke out into laughter then there were a few moments of just eye contact before you’d started to lean in closer slowly. Like too fast of a movement would scare him away. It seemed like he would, too, but before either of you could touch the other, he quickly stood up and away from you.

“Sorry—um, it’s been a long day. I can take care of taking out the rest of the trash, you don’t have to stick around. Thanks for the help, though.” He says hastily, grabbing one of the two bags of garbage bags that sat by the door and quickly rushing off. 

You sighed to yourself and grabbed your bag, heading out for the night and silently cursing at yourself. If it wasn’t awkward before, it would be now. 

But you just couldn’t help yourself around Spencer, everything about him screamed out to you like some sort of siren call. Every time you weren’t around him, basically anything would remind you of him. 

You just needed to bite the bullet and ask him out, so that’s exactly what you were going to do. The worst he could do was say no, right? 

So the week after that, you had finally worked up some courage. The whole team was at a bar together, Spencer being the only one not drinking as per usual. You, being about two drinks in at this point, had enough of tiptoeing around him. 

It’s now or never, you thought. 

You went over to him while everyone else was doing their own thing in different spots in the bar, so it was just the two of you, and you sat yourself next to him. 

Spencer looked over and smiled kindly at you, his brown doe eyes shining in the dim lighting. Your chest flooded with warm affection as soon as you made eye contact with him, and it made you that much more sure about this. 

“Hey, having fun?” he asked cheerfully, the happiest you’d heard him in a while. Since you’d started working at the BAU, you’d realize when you thought about this moment later. 

“Yeah, but um…I really need to ask you something, Spence.” 

“Oh? By all means, go ahead,” he gestures for you to continue, turning his body toward yours to give you his full attention. 

“Okay so…um…I…I like you. Like, I really like you—“ you started to say, before he interjected. 

“This isn’t sounding like a question”

“Spencer, please”

“Sorry, go on” he sheepishly smiled, apparently having fun teasing you a little. 

“Thank you, but I uhh…shit—“ you cursed. 

“You were saying you really like me?” 

“Right—so, I was wondering…if…if you’d want to…maybe…go out sometime? With me?”

“We…are out,” he gestured to the bar around the two of you, “right now.” 

“That’s not what I mean—“

“I know what you mean, and I…I’m not sure.”

“What?”

“I’ve had a lot happen to me recently, between going to jail and everything that happened with Cat, as well as everything else and our jobs themselves…I’m not sure I have room to have someone else in my life. No matter how much I like you, too.” 

You nearly gasped when he said he liked you, too, but you held it back. This was the most emotionally vulnerable he’d ever been around you. You weren’t going to take advantage of that. 

“Well…” you take his hand in both of yours, holding it close to your chest. “We could take things slow…ride things out, y’know? But that’s only if you want to. I’m here to make sure you’re happy. Whether it’s with me or not.”

He stared at you silently for a moment, considering everything you’d just told him. He kept glancing from your eyes to your lips, as if he was contemplating at a speed your slightly buzzed mind wasn’t quite up to keeping up with. 

Before you could speak or even think further on it, he was leaning forward and speaking low enough that only you would be hearing it. 

“Let’s go, let’s go back to my place. We’ll talk about this more, I just can barely hear myself think with the music in here.” 

You nodded and stood up from the booth, both of you waving goodbye to the rest of the team with gentle smiles before walking off. 

Back at his apartment, he barely had the door closed 5 minutes before he was kissing you. 

So much for talking things through. 

The way his lips pressed to yours felt passionate, desperate even. Like he’d been waiting to do this for a long time. You let yourself relax into it, your hand drifting up to tangle your fingers in his hair. Everything about kissing him just made you want to lose yourself in him until you weren’t sure where each of you ended and began. 

Then, just as suddenly as he started, he pulled away, taking in deep breaths and pushing his hair back away from his face but still close enough that you could feel his breath ghosting over your face. 

“Sorry, that…I shouldn’t have—“

Before he could finish, you were pulling him back in for more. He wasn’t about to get away with a kiss like that with just a simple ‘sorry’. Not if you had anything to say about it. 

The two of you ended up tangled together in his bed for the rest of the night, the blanket gently wrapped around you both in a comfortable silence. 

Talking could wait, for now you were just…together, and that was more than enough.

[novashelby]

Quick Shot~A Tommy Shelby x Reader Smut

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x Reader

Word Count: 3.4k

Warning: smut, p in v, gun talk, language, insinuated gun use, dub con

Summary: To get away, Tommy visits a pub outside of Birmingham. The barmaid is quite interested in his gun and he makes her a little promise. *I got a request for a smut when Tommy teaches reader how to shoot. But there is quite a few one shots like that, so I made something inspired by it. If the person who requested doesn't like this, please request again. :)

Please reblog and comment. Likes are so kind, but reblogs and comments are much more helpful to a writer. :) Please also enjoy!

“Target practice, Mr. Shelby?” she had asked as her hand quickly swiped down at the wooden counter. Little specks of soapy water hit his steam pressed sports jacket. He didn’t mind. Tommy Shelby knew what he was getting into in a pub such as that one. The Garrison was his go-to, but when he wanted to drink in complete solitude while still enjoying background noise, he went to a shabby one in an outskirt village. The barmaid had a bit more edge and hardly cared who he was. Admittedly, he found it to be refreshing. She grinned at him, placing the wet rag at her hip. “Forgetting to leave your big boy toys at home, eh?” The barmaid also lacked the Brummie tongue. 

Amused, his lips paused at the rim of his glass as his eyes fluttered upward. “Haven’t been home yet. Too busy.”

“Doing?” She pried a little bit more than the usual woman would. Though to her defense, she only knew Tommy Shelby, the factory owner. Not Tommy Shelby the gangster.  

He pulled the glass away from his lips, raising it to her. “Drinking!” he said, a sarcastic undertone that felt so comfortably familiar to her. He’d been going there on an off for a good two years if she had to calculate it. But there were so many faces that came and went, it was hard to tell. He, too, would leave at some point. Another lonely, lost man will take his seat and just like that, all over again, she’d have to become acquainted with another. 

She took an empty glass, and chuckled as she raised it. “To drinking-”

“But you aren’t-”

“I can’t,” she said, placing it back down in its proper spot. She went back to drying the counter, swiping it left to right with a new rag, trying to be mindful of his arm. “Sorry,” she mumbled when it lightly braised his propped elbow. 

Tommy Shelby lazily looked down at his elbow before fluttering his eyes upward. He always wore that sneaky little grin when he wasn’t completely serious. Unfortunately over the years, he had lost it along the way. Less to be amused about and more to be serious about, he assumed. But there, with her, almost alone in an empty pub, he wore it once more. The time was dwindling on the gray line of open and closed. But he showed no interest in leaving and she didn’t care. “Oh no, that was just unacceptable. You’ve done it this time.”

“Hmm, someone as witty as you, Mr. Shelby, I’d thought I would have received a better comeback. You’re slipping,” she said, matching his grin. They took a little pause, having a silent tango; eyes connecting, facial expression matching. When he wiggled his brows up in a quizzical look, she took no shame in mocking him. Neither a girl or woman in Birmingham would dare. But he found comfort in her antics. He wasn’t the Tommy Shelby, but just Tommy Shelby. It was the closest to pre-war Tommy he could get. 

“I’m getting old,” he said, finishing off his glass. She was quick to turn for the whiskey bottle and top him off before he even asked. Tommy was mid stand, ready to leave when she made the silent gesture for him to stay. “I’m driving-”

“And I’m walking,” she said, quick. Once again, they stopped their mundane, routine acts to share a little stare and chuckle. “Plus, you didn’t seem like you were ready to leave. I spared you the awkwardness of saying goodbye.” When he objected, claiming that she must be tired and that home was calling, she told him, “you want to stay more than I have the urge to leave, Mr. Shelby. Plus, I’m curious about you in a way I can’t be curious about on the clock-”

“That’s dangerous,” he accused, sipping at the brown poor man’s liquor. She hung up the rag for the night and locked the door. He had to wait for her to wash her hands of work before she joined him on the chair next to him. “Knowing too much of me is like a curse, and you’re only young-”

“Not as young as you think,” she said, taking his glass and sipping it lightly. His look said I thought you don’t drink. “It was hardly a sip for taste. Besides, from all your mystery, perhaps I may need a few sips.” Tommy slid it back to her, allowing her to have the rest. “I’m twenty-”

He cut her off, leaning in, “I have you beat by a good fourteen years.” Tommy enjoyed the aged old compliment. You look good for your age, but she never gave it to him. Only took continual sips of liquor because she can’t drink. She giggled to herself. He cut her off before she could add the eight to her age. 

Though after a while, she did say, “I heard thirty-four is the new twenty-two. But that isn’t actually what I meant by prying into your business. Hardly care about your logistics like age and birthday, Mr. Shelby. I want to know the fun stuff.” That made him laugh, but she wasn’t laughing. When he tried to protest, saying nothing about him was fun per se, her hand teased at his knee for a moment, lingering there casually. Tommy cocked a brow, mouth slightly agape. He slowly dropped his eyes, watching her fingers spread over his knee, finger tips pressing in. She was entranced by how she so casually came up on him, he hardly heard what she said. “Like what you use that gun for.” 

It was a good minute or so before he answered, as her fingers inched up past his knee, resting more on his mid-thigh. “You shouldn’t really ask what a man uses his gun for, love,” he said, in a mere, barely audible whisper. His eyes never left her hand, watching, patiently waiting to see what her intent was. It was entirely possible she was just being friendly, he thought, never previously considering the pretty barmaid. The ring on his left hand banned him from that. 

“Should I be worried you’re out shooting people and not targets?” she asked, leaning her head down to make him look at her. “Hmm?” 

“Depending on who you ask, people can be targets, too,” he said, finding him doing something that he hadn’t done to anyone other than his wife in a long time. His arms found their way around her waist to pull her in from the chair she’d been sitting on. I’m not usually a lap lady, she said as he rested her over his lap. It was his turn to feel over her thigh and lay it to rest on the inner most part. Her arms loosely hung over his shoulders. 

“That sounds like I should be sliding off your lap, Mr. Shelby,” she teased, eyes glancing to the hunk of dangerous metal strapped to his hip. “Isn’t it strange…being so close to something so lethal?” She dropped one hand to touch it but he was quick to grab her hand, his trust not being fully there with anyone. Startled, she turned her direction back to him. His fingers curled over hers, pressing with a warning. Her fingertips were turning slightly white.  She opened her mouth to speak.

He stopped her, tone turning a bit forceful. “You didn’t ask. You want to touch my gun?”  Her eyes went from flirty to startled to doe-like very quickly. She nodded and he let go of her hand to unstrap his gun and take it out. Her breath hitched as he raised it between their faces. Taunting her, his finger looped around the trigger, caressing it. She went to hold it over his hand, but he stopped her. “But you have to touch something else first-”

“Mr. Shelby,” she snorted, putting her hand down. “Thought you had more class than that. Aren’t you too old to be playing those boy games-”

Perhaps stupidly, he placed his gun on the counter, where she could easily reach it. Or maybe he was confident she wouldn’t. That he’d be good enough for her to be preoccupied with. “What boy games?” he teased, pulling her in more, making her legs rest over the sides of his so she was facing him. Taunting, teasing circles were rubbed on her back over her white blouse. He knew he was being childish in the last spot he could be childish. “Hm?” His fingers felt along her back traveling over her hips. Her breath was caught in her throat. It’d been quite sometime since a man laid their hands so intimately over her body expressing the need for her and solely her. She’d be lying if she said it wasn’t a boost in ego. Palms pressed against her stomach, he felt upward. Each little centimeter closer to her breasts, her fingers tensed. But he skipped over them, going for her arms instead. He knew what she was thinking. The disappointed rush of an exhale exposed all her secrets. 

“You’re playing a game right now.” She pressed into him a bit harder feeling the tent in his trousers poke at her inner thigh. He chuckled as she told him things he already knew. Tommy Shelby was in no rush to go home. Besides, he needed to fuck off the drunken buzz in his head.

Their foreheads touched and he wasted no time, leaning in to trap her bottom lip between his teeth. He couldn’t kiss her. As bad is sounded, he wasn’t going to kiss another woman, but he was going to fuck her. Not just fuck her, but run his hands over her body, touching each and every crevice and space. “It’s been awhile,” he said, half apologetically in response as he pulled back. Her lips wore a reddened shade from where he bit. There was some sort of silent agreement where she understood it. She understood what it was. Her and him, pressed up against one another. It was a fuck and only a fuck, leaving traces of romantic intimacy at the door.

Impatiently, she bunched up her skirt, placing it over her knees. As she fumbled with the fabric, she asked him, “Are you going to be greedy then?” What an insulting thing to ask, he thought, but instead of answering her, he slipped his hand under her, pressing his palm against her cotton white panties. Challenging her, he cocked a brow as if to ask, do I seem the type? She lifted her hips a bit to give him some room to slip her underwear off to the side before sliding his hand over. “Mr. Shelby,” she gasped out in anticipation. 

Smiling to himself, he felt over her wet folds with his two forefingers, before slipping beneath the outer folds. “Still Mr. Shelby, eh?” As if it was an order, she immediately responded with Tommy. Doing the same thing as she did to her breasts, he touched everywhere except where she wanted to be touched. It was amusing as she shifted and rolled around her hips, trying to take control of the situation she was never meant to have control of. His fingers lightly danced over the flesh around her clit and vagina, purposefully avoiding any hope. When she got a little too pushy, he pulled away, using the same hand to cradle her throat just tight enough to hold her in place. “Don’t be greedy,” he mocked with a stern tone, using her same lingo. He leaned in, lips hovering over her temple. Little ghost kisses haunting her desires. Pathetic, perhaps, but a tiny fear hung over her. What if he wasn’t going to fuck her was a nagging thought. 

“Fuck me,” she said abruptly, not even sure how or why the words came out the way they did. “I need you to fuck me-”

“And I need you to be patient,” he said, palms finding their way back to her tummy going straight for her breasts barely contained by her buttoned blouse. A long string of moans sang from her lips as he cupped them over her clothing, squeezing decently hard. Nipples perked, he teased them in circles with his finger tips. “You asked me not to be greedy,” he teased, tongue flicking at her earlobe. “But I think you should take your advice, hm? Or do you think that doesn’t apply to you because you’re a woman, eh?” Stopping his groping, he started with the top button, painfully slow. One by one he undid them, allowing the cool pub air to touch her chest. Tommy didn’t even have the chance to slip it down her shoulders, feeling her goose bumped arms before she had torn it off and tossed it somewhere beside them. 

“No,” she said, grinding down her hips, wet slick soiling his trousers. “I’m horny and you’re being an ass...I asked you to fuck me. Are you going to fuck me or are you going to leave me like this?” Amused by her assertiveness, he sat back and grinned. She mocked it. “It’s been awhile.”

“Really? A pretty girl like you working in a pub?” he challenged, not believing her. “Surely you have a twisted idea of time. What’s awhile? A month-”

“Two years,” she confused, fingers undoing his belt, cursing at the clasp. He didn’t believe her, but chose not to press the reasoning. In the grand scheme of shit, it didn’t matter. Instead, he helped her with his trousers, undoing his buttons and pulling down the zipper. “I got it,” she fussed, pushing his hand out of the way. Tommy watched as she pulled down his underwear just enough to let his cock out. 

“Alright, alright,” he laughed, scoping her up from under ass before positioning his cock. But he wouldn’t allow her to slam down. Gently, he teased at the entrance with his tip, saying, “just the tip.”

“You didn’t even finger me,” she teased back. “Selfish arse!”

“Maybe when I hit a target with my gun.”

“A still one?” she snorted, finding her way to leave playful bites along his jawline. 

“A breathing one,” he said, and before she could react, slamming himself upward, balls hitting her backside. He held her there, studying her face. It was nothing, but a silent scream. A part of him felt a tinge of guilt that he hardly prepped the poor girl, but all her selfish antics made him a bit greedy. “You feel it? This is exactly what you begged for-”

“I said don’t be-”

“Greedy?” he teased, cupping her fragile cheek with one hand as his other teasingly rolled her nipple between his fingers. He rolled up his hips meeting her aching cervix. The pain radiated through her lower half, sending up a searing heat. She hissed, digging her fingernails into his sports coat covered arms. Too deep, she winced through her clenched teeth. “Yeah?” he asked, fake concern lingering, lightly jutting forward, pressing deeper just to watch the painful facial expression laid on her face. “You’re brat…I don’t like brats.”

“Mr. Shelby,” she whined, twitching around him. Pleading, she wanted him to ease. Which he obliged, and lifted her up a bit, pulling himself back. When she regained her composure, she took the wheel and rolled her hips into him; sliding up and down, attempting to slide her hand down to her throbbing clit, but he caught it. 

“No, no,” he said, clasping her hand in his, keeping it there. She was about to complain, but he pressed a finger to her lips. “Shh, just keep riding me…relax me. I’ve had a long day.” She nodded, resting her other hand on his shoulder for support as she raised her hips, a moan stuck in the back of her throat, feeling his thick cock sliding up and down her needy walls. He rested back, his breaths becoming ragged and hitched. She giggled when he rolled his head back, allowing her hand to slip from his grasp. But she was a good girl and didn’t dare touch her clit. She placed it on his other shoulder for support.

She circled her hips, watching his lip quiver stealing his grin. “Am I in charge, now?” she asked in a gasped, speeding up her pace, bouncing up and down. His eyes hazily watched her breasts follow along, taking one in each hand. He massaged them, fingers teasing at the nipples; pulling, pinching, flicking. It sent a perfect tingle down her spine. “Shit,” she gasped, leaning down, resting their foreheads together. It wasn’t supposed to be intimate. It’s just sex. But they kept eye contact, relaxing into each other's rhythms. 

“I’ll play along,” he said, licking up at her lips, but when she went to kiss him, he turned his head. “Keep ridin’ me.” He demanded her in a bathless gasp, getting impatient. He wanted a quick release. She let out a needy cry, begging him why when he slipped his hands from her sensitive breasts down to her hips, gripping them tightly. His knuckles turned white as his fingers dug into her soft flesh. Hard enough she could have sworn she felt him touching her hip bone. 

“Yes, sir,” she mocked, going faster; slamming down on him and enjoying the way his moans were deep and throaty. He jutted up, meeting her in her dips. Tommy’s thrusts got messy the faster they were. It was as if they were competing with who can go the fastest. No, who can wear the other one out first. It was her, of course. She wasn’t going to come from this and he selfishly knew that, enjoying the way her pussy felt around him. “Tommy!” She cried out, holding herself closer to his chest.

“Fuck, your pussy feels so good,” he said, sliding his lips down her neck to bite at her shoulder, growling. “Shit.” It was muffled and low. Rudely, he repeatedly slammed into her cervix, hardly giving her time to breathe and ease it as he felt his climax approach.

She pulled her face away from him and gripped his jaw. “Not in me,” she warned.

“No?” he laughed in breaths. “Where do you want it, huh? Your tits? Belly? Your arse?” He gave her ass a generous squeeze before reaching up and tangling his fingers in her hair, pulling her head back slightly. He felt his climax near, slowing his thrusts just enough to slip from her cunt. “Fuck!” He cursed, tugging his cock one handedly. A deep red flushed over her cheeks as she felt a stream of hot cum spray up her back and drip down over her ass. “Shit,” he moaned, out, closing his eyes to catch his breath. “Fookin’ ‘ell.” She slumped against him, sweaty and hot, but he didn’t allow her to rest long, pushing her off. “I have to get goin’, love,” he said, patting her cheek. 

“So you really are going to leave me like this?” she asked, referring to her lack of orgasm.

Tommy Shelby slid from his chair and fixed his trousers. “I told you, I hit a target and I’ll give the lady what she needs.” He winked, grabbing his gun from the counter. 

She laughed as if he was being humorous. He hardly said good night as he left. He wasn’t a weekly regular, but perhaps bi-weekly. Every other week he’d come in for the same thing; a whiskey neat. But it was going on three weeks then sooner or later a whole season passed without Tommy Shelby. But it was normal. People came and went, and she cursed herself each time she became attached to one person’s presence. 

However one night a few too many weeks later he came in as she was cleaning up. Through the reflection in a dark whiskey bottle, she saw him take a seat. A metal clink echoed the empty pub as he put down his gun. “We’re closed-”

“I’m not here for a drink,” he said. 

“I’m closed,” she said, not forgiving his selfish quick shot. 

He chuckled. “Say, love, do you prefer the feeling of a man's firm hand or soft tongue?” She froze, fingers knotting in the wet rag she used to clean the glasses. Swallowing, she turned to see the gun first then spots of red on his white shirt. Nervously, she looked up his arm to his face that wore specks of red. “Perhaps both at the same time-”

“Mr. Shelby-”

“C’mere,” he demanded, not asked. “And I’ll show you how much of a man of my word I am.”

[gh0stsp1d3r]

HEYY BABES SO CAN U DO A JJ x sister!reader (few years younger, she’s a teen.)

TW: depression, talks of SH, ED, etc…

Basically,

She comes home and seems off and all the pogues know she suffers from depression, and so JJ is like hey bbg (NICKNAMES PLS) and lightly tries to understand what’s going on, and she just kinda pretends nothing is going on. She goes to the bathroom to take anti-depressants and then all of a sudden she just desperately tries to look for something sharp to SH. She can’t find anything in the bathroom, so she slowly falls to the ground, has a breakdown, JJ comes and is all comforting and understanding and then after she explains to him how she almost relapsed, and then she well yeah u can makeup the rest

ℛℯ𝓁𝒶𝓅𝓈ℯ

warnings: depression, mentions of blades, attempted self harm. I am not responsible for what u read.

Masterlist

You raced home to the chateau, your hands shoved into your pockets. You held back your tears, taking a deep breath when you stood in front of the door, hand on the doorknob. You twisted it, immediately being met with the faces of your brother and his friends, all lounging on the couch or the floor, nursing beers and joints.

"Yo, what's up, idiot?" JJ asked you, turning to look. You stared back at him and his friends, before wordlessly making a beeline to the bathroom.

JJ turned around, creasing his eyebrows and shrugging at the odd interaction, chugging a beer. Everyone else seemed just as confused.

Worry began to bubble in his chest, and he tried desperately to push it down. The worry only grew when he heard the noises coming from the bathroom.

You locked the bathroom door, letting the tears silently fall finally, and looking at the medicine cabinet. You were throwing and shoving things around, trying desperately to find it, or anything at this point.

"No, no, no." you murmured under your breath, you couldnt find anything, not a blade or even scissors. Your skin was itching, the urge growing strong. You pulled at your scalp, finally falling against the door, your sobbing becoming louder. You held your hand over your mouth, trying to conceal them, but it was no use.

The urge to do it came suddenly, as soon as you left work actually.

"What the fuck...?" JJ muttered under his breath, all of them turning their heads, the room falling into silence now.

"Go check on her, dude!" Kiara told him, shoving his shoulder and motioning to the door.

JJ walked over to the door, messing with the doorknob. He furrowed his eyebrows, panicked, he rapidly moved the doorknob back and fourth.

"Y/n? Y/n, unlock the fucking door, dude. I'm not messing with you right now." He told you, still messing with the doorknob, then banging on the door.

He thought of the time this happened last time at home, his dad shouting and yelling in the background while Jj worriedly knocked on the door of your bedroom, your dad busting the door open and both of them catching on when they saw the sharp object thrown on the ground.

The banging caused to cover your ears, sobbing louder now.

"Y/n... Please don't tell me you did anything stupid." JJ sighed, you taking your hands away from your ears and wiping your tears. “Unlock the door, kid. Please.”

You slowly stood up, unlocking the door with shaky hands. His eyes went to your wrists, making sure nothing new was there. He sighed in relief, wrapping his arms around you, you continuing to cry into his chest with your arms at your side.

His hands cradled the back of your head, he slowly and quietly closed the bathroom door, giving you both some privacy. He waited until he heard nothing but your sniffles to let go. He grabbed your shoulders, staring at you.

"What happened, kid?"

"I... was working, and..." you paused, sniffling and wiping your nose. "I saw dad come up. He- he fucking came up to me, shouting and cussing at me. He almost got me fired!" You told him, anger lacing your voice. "Then he told me that-that I was the reason mom ran away, and I was the reason his life was so shitty, and tried to guilt trip me into coming back." your face creased up as you began to cry again, hiding your face in JJ's shoulder and grabbing onto his shirt.

“He told me that- that I was a terrible daughter, and he grabbed my wrist and-“

“Alright. Alright. You’re okay. Shh.” He swallowed, hand wrapping around you again. Unsure of what to do, he waited until you stopped crying to talk again.

He motioned for you to sit down on the closed toilet seat, and he sat down on the counter, swinging his feet.

“Dad’s- dad’s an asshole, okay? You know not a word of what he said was true, right? He just wants you to come back so that he can fuckin’ steal your money and have someone to be angry at. Fuckin’ prick.” He scoffed, shaking his head.

You looked unconvinced. He stared at you.

“Nothing he said was true, y/n.” He assured you. “He used to say some of the same things to me. You think I let it get to me? Nah. You wanna know why? Because he is a selfish, druggie, loser addict who no one loves. You’re not gonna be him, because you’re fuckin’ awesome, dude!”

You smiled and let out a nasally laugh, making him smile.

“You’re a wayyyyy better surfer and fisher than he is. And he’s a fuckin’ fisherman! How do you let a teenager beat you at your own job, man?” Your giggle widened his smile, you covering your mouth.

“I mean, shit, I would rather be stuck with you for 100 hours than him for a minute. And you ask anyone out there, they’ll say the same.”

You laughed with JJ, and the bathroom was silent until he spoke up again.

“Don’t do that shit again, okay? Especially not because of a nobody like Luke. Next time he comes to your job or even around you, call me and I’ll come beat his ass.” JJ put up fists, punching the air with grunts.

You laughed at his antics and nodded. “I’m sorry, Jj.”

“Don’t be.”

[nshmuras]

WE CANT BE FRIENDS - wait .. JIA??

synopsis : you and riki have been friends for over 10 years. but.. you started to fall for him unexpectedly one day and to your unlucky surprise , the day you were about to talk to him about your feelings he announced he has a girlfriend. weeks later he showed up at your doorstep explaining that his girlfriend wants him to cut you off.

- you walked down the school halls , looking around at everyone to see just one girl .. at least ONE that riki could possibly like.

you listen into everyone's conversations discreetly so you can hear just a snippet of his name to get a clue but so far .. you had no luck.

you were about to give up and just go to class until your friends came up to you with looks of shock and it was clear they knew something that you didnt.

yunjin , karina and kazuha approach you and immediately start to bombard you with random words all at once.

after a few moments you put a hand up to stop them "okay okay woah.. slow down guys." you said as you looked at the three girls.

"all of you tell me whats happening, i cant understand you if your speaking over each other." you said.

yunjin spoke first "yn! we heard something about riki and his crush ... but. you might not like it." she said holding your shoulders

huh? you might not like it? now you were even more anxious and curious.

"what do you mean?" you said in anticipation and curiosity as you waited for either of them to speak.

it was silent between you four except the background noise of students which were burned out by your suspension.

then, karina blurted it out. "riki likes your enemy jia and he's planning to ask her out tomorrow!" she said in a rushed tone.

wait ... JIA??

hours after school ended you were laying on your bed in despair, the rest of the day at school you ignored and avoided riki at all cost .. you couldn't face him after what you heard.

- you looked at your phone and answered karina's call with a "hello?".

she immediately started to talk and it seemed very important.

"yn! i dont know when this happened but i saw riki go to jia during the end of the day. i think hes gonna ask her out!"

the sentence hung in the air for a while until you spoke up "i wonder if hes gonna tell me. or maybe i should ask him tomorrow?"

"i think you should, maybe then you can get to the bottom on why he's crushing on your enemy." karina added and went silent before speaking again

"wanna have a sleepover?" she said softly since she knew you needed to have a chat.

"yeah.. ill pack my stuff and come."

last /\ next

taglist : @goldenmellow @won4kiss @helenngxz @luv4rikii @qwonyoung23 @lukesboo @pnghoon @yoichiislovie @dreeki @suneng @en-verse @itwasntmee @en-gelic @yangjungwonnie @mygnolia @kairoot @elysianiki

buns note : these chapters might come out faster than usual since i kinda dont wanna make u all wait

[isak-dot-gov]

Accidental Reveal

Pairing: Inȇs Bettencourt x Singer!Reader

Word count: 1307

My Masterlist :)

................................................................

Inȇs was mentally checked out, sprawled on the floor of KK Arnold's dorm room, surrounded by the familiar faces of her UConn women’s basketball teammates. It had been a long day of gruelling practice, and they were all in the same boat—exhausted but trying to squeeze in some downtime. The laughter and casual banter that filled the room was enough to make Ines smile, but her mind was elsewhere.

You.

You were the reason her thoughts kept drifting, pulling her away from the noise of the dorm room. You, her girlfriend, were in New York City, performing the latest stop of your tour for your new album. While you had invited her, she hadn’t been able to make it tonight due to practice and a looming game this weekend. Instead, she’d tuned into your livestream earlier, feeling that rush of pride as she watched you perform with so much energy and passion. The same passion that made her fall for you.

Inȇs had been keeping this secret close to her heart for a while now. You two had decided to wait until the tour was over before going public. You deserved this moment for yourself—your first tour was a big deal, and the last thing you needed was the media focusing on your relationship instead of your music. You had both agreed: when it was time, you’d announce it together. A controlled, mutual decision.

But, in a few short moments, that decision was going to be ripped out of their hands.

KK, ever the social media enthusiast, had decided to go live on Instagram. It wasn’t unusual; they often shared snippets of their lives with their fans. This time was no different—just a casual, fun moment with the team after practice. KK was holding her phone out, streaming the group of girls sprawled across the room, answering fan questions and goofing off. Ines hadn’t really been paying attention to the livestream. She was busy scrolling through messages, hoping to find a text from you telling her how the concert went.

"Inȇs, say hi to the fans!" KK’s voice cut through her thoughts, and she instinctively waved at the camera with a half-smile, still distracted.

"Hey," she mumbled, not even looking up from her phone. She could hear her teammates chatting, laughing at some of the questions being asked in the comments, but it all felt like background noise to her.

KK glanced at her with a playful smirk. "You watching anything good lately, Ines?"

It was a throwaway question, something to keep the conversation going for the fans. Inȇs answered without even thinking, her head still full of you and your electric performance from earlier.

"Yeah, just watched my girlfriend’s tour livestream—she killed it."

The room went silent. 

For a few seconds, Ines didn’t notice. She was still glued to her phone, waiting for your reply. But then, she felt the weight of the sudden quiet, the absence of laughter, and she looked up.

KK’s face had gone pale, her eyes wide with shock as she stared at her phone, still streaming. The other girls were frozen too, exchanging stunned looks with one another. It was like someone had hit pause on the entire room. And then, KK’s brain finally kicked into gear, her hands fumbling to end the live stream as fast as possible.

Inȇs’ heart dropped, her pulse quickening as she realised what had just happened.

No. No, no, no. What did I just do?

She could feel the panic rising in her chest, the weight of her mistake crushing her with every passing second. Her heart was pounding in her ears, her breath coming in short gasps as she stood there, frozen in place. She had just outed her relationship with you—live—to thousands of people watching. It wasn’t just a slip of the tongue; it was a slip that could spiral into a media frenzy.

KK quickly ended the live and slowly looked up at Ines. “Uh… Inȇs, are you okay?”

“I just…” Inȇs stammered, her voice breaking. “I… we were supposed to go public after the tour. Oh my God, I just ruined everything.”

Her teammates quickly gathered around her, offering murmurs of reassurance, but their worried faces only made her feel worse. She could already see the notifications exploding on her phone—comments, tags, DMs. The news was out there now, and there was no taking it back.

"You didn’t ruin anything, it’s just… a little earlier than planned, right?" KK tried to sound upbeat, but her voice wavered. 

“Yeah, and it’s not like you said her name or anything. People might think of someone else,” Paige said, trying to solidify what KK had said and calm the situation. The truth was, they all knew this was big. You were a rising star, with a massive fanbase, and Inȇs was part of one of the most famous college basketball programs in the country. The media wouldn’t let this slide by quietly.

"I need to talk to her," Inȇs muttered, suddenly grabbing her phone. Her fingers were trembling as she pulled up your number and hit call. She could barely hold onto the phone, her hands shaking with guilt and fear.

The phone rang twice, and Ines held her breath.

"Hey, babe!" Your voice came through the line, bubbly and excited. "I just got off stage! How was practice?"

Inȇs choked back a sob, barely able to get the words out. "I… I messed up. I’m so sorry."

There was a pause on your end, the excitement in your voice dimming slightly. "Neshy, what happened? You’re scaring me."

Inȇs swallowed hard, forcing herself to explain, her voice cracking with each word. "KK was live on Tiktok, and I… I accidentally said we were dating. I didn’t mean to and I didn’t say your name! It just slipped out, and now everyone knows, and we were supposed to wait, and I’m so sorry. I ruined everything, I—"

"Inȇs, baby," you interrupted gently, your voice calm. "Breathe."

"I—I just… I messed up. I didn’t mean to put us like that. I know how important this tour is for you, and now everything’s going to blow up and—"

"Babe, slow down," you said, your tone soothing. "It’s okay. It’s really okay."

Ines stopped pacing, her tears still falling but her heart slowing as she heard the steady calmness in your voice. "But… we were supposed to wait."

"I know," you replied softly. "But listen, this doesn’t change anything between us. We’ll figure it out together, okay? The only difference is that now, people know you’re dating someone. And honestly, if they know, they know. We were going to tell them eventually anyway."

"But… the timing—"

"I’d much rather they find out because you couldn’t help but brag about me," you teased gently, a smile in your voice.

Inȇs let out a shaky laugh, wiping at her eyes. "You were so amazing tonight, I couldn’t help it."

"Thank you, baby," you said with affection. "I’m glad you watched. And listen, we’ll talk tomorrow about how to handle everything, okay? We can make an official announcement together if you want, or we can just let it be. It’s up to us."

Inȇs sniffled, the tension slowly easing out of her shoulders. "You’re not mad?"

"Of course not," you reassured her. "I love you. We’ll figure this out, like we always do."

A soft smile spread across Inȇs’ face, her heart swelling with love and relief. "I love you too. So much."

"Good. Now, get some rest, okay? We’ve got this."

As the call ended, she let out a long breath, feeling lighter. The panic had passed, replaced with the warmth of your love. The world might know now, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was that you were in this together, ready to face whatever came next—side by side.

.......................................................

Isak seaks: I wrote like three parts to this lol :0

[ghcstao3]

OMG I NEED YOU TO WRITE THE NEIGHBOURS GHOSTSOAP FIC PLEASE I'M BEGGING YOU PLEASE PLEASE PL

(part 1)

-

Ghost wakes up to the sound of someone knocking on his front door—to which he feels the need to frown at, because he hadn’t been expecting any visitors.

When he grumpily swings open the door to find John on the other side, his irritation subsides, just a little.

“Mornin’!” John greets, his grin far too bright for—Ghost lifts his wrist and squints down at his watch—nine in the morning. “Brought you something. Or, well. My Mam made them so I could bring you—“

Ghost raises a tired hand to wag his finger and point at the container in John’s hands, asking in lazy movements, “What is it?”

“Oh!” John blinks. He thrusts the container into Ghost’s unoccupied hand, and somehow his smile grows tenfold. “Tattie scones. Wasn’t sure what you might like, so. Went with something simple.”

Ghost squints at John a moment, before swallowing a yawn as he offers a mumbled thank you and pries open the lid. He holds it out to John, but he just shakes his head.

“I have my own. Just wanted to apologize for the noise.”

Ghost nods, stuffs a scone in his mouth, closes the lid. He then steps aside and gestures for John to enter the flat because he supposes it’s courtesy, and if he’s making tea for one he may as well offer for another.

John follows with a shrug.

“Tea?” Ghost asks. Then pauses, considering, before he scrunches his nose and signs instead, “Coffee?”

John barks a laugh, shaking his head again. “I won’t force you to make coffee if you hate it. Just water, if that’s okay?”

Ghost obliges, traversing his kitchen as John sits politely at the island. He feels eyes on his back all the while he fetches the water and puts on a kettle, but for once Ghost doesn’t feel unnerved by the sensation. In fact, dare he say he feels almost… comforted.

They sit in silence a while as the water boils and even a while after, nothing more than the shriek of the kettle to break it, and Ghost’s quiet compliments to John’s mother for the scones.

After a few tentative sips of tea and a refill for John, Ghost ventures to begin signing a question that had plagued him since meeting his neighbour.

He only mouthes the words as he signs, rediscovering that comfort in silent communication that he’d had to abandon in his retirement if only for not having anyone left to share it with.

“How did you…” Ghost pauses, wincing slightly as he questions, “…have you always been deaf?”

John’s smile has since dimmed considerably, though it’s no less friendly. He only uses sign for about half of what he says, and if Ghost could guess, it’s likely a clashing mix of habits.

“Not always,” John says. “I was in the military. Specialized in demolitions, got too close to an explosion, though my hearing was already shite by then. Had to retire early, but so is life, I guess.”

Ghost smiles weakly. “We’re not so different, then.”

John’s eyebrows knit together with curiosity, so Ghost takes the invitation to continue. Normally, he doesn’t think he’d ever be so open with a near complete stranger—but sharing that background, somehow it seems… easier.

He knows Price would be a right smug bastard about this if he knew.

“Also military. Retired from injury. Knee is fucked.”

John snorts. “I’m sure that’s one way of putting it.”

Ghost shrugs. They fall back into comfortable, companionable silence until John announces he should go, he does have work to attend to.

“What do you do?” Ghost can’t help but wonder.

“Boring office stuff from home,” John tells him. “Art commissions on the side, if I’m up to it. You?”

Ghost huffs. “Working on it,” he mutters. He doesn’t particularly care for John knowing about that.

The man seems to understand anyway, but says nothing of it. He just thanks Ghost again for the company, Ghost thanks him for the scones, and they bid each other a good rest of their day.

It’s weird—as Ghost hears John’s door shut across the hall, he finds he already misses his presence.

Maybe he should dig up some of his mum’s old recipes and return the favour. It’s definitely not an excuse, or anything like that, just… friendly neighbour activities.

Yeah. That’s all it is.

[i-thirsty-boi]

Platonic Yandere Recoms X Child Na'vi Reader (Pt. 1)

~A/N: This is pretty short because I didn't know what I wanted to include in it. I would appreciate you guys telling me what you want included in the next part in the replies!

Masterlist

CW: yandere behavior (platonic), technical kidnapping, background death

~

-You were a forest navi that lived with your parents in one of the clans away from the mountains. (Not the omatikaya with the Sullys) You were only 3 when it happened. 

-It was a peaceful day in your village and you went out into the forest with your mother to collect herbs for your tsahik. Your mother was a healer as well, so you interacted with them often. You were holding your mom’s hand all through the walk when you both heard a strange noise deeper in the forest. One that neither of you had heard before. 

-As you two were waiting to hear more, you suddenly heard screaming come from your village. Your mother immediately picked you up and started running towards your village. 

-While she was running, she suddenly stopped and dropped to the ground, shouting in pain. You skidded away from her on the ground, then looked over to see she was injured and bleeding heavily. She had a hole in her stomach!

-You went back over to her and hugged her shoulders while beginning to heavily sob. Your crying seemed to draw the ones responsible to you though. 

-You were too distracted with your mother to notice the foreign navi approaching you two. But your mother saw them, pulling you closer to her as she watched them walk closer. 

You only noticed them once they were right next to you two, pointing weapons at you both. You moved to the side, but still clutched your mother, scared and upset by that point. You just cried while looking at the strange navi in strange clothes. You shifted behind your mother while still hugging her neck when seeing one of them walk closer to you. 

The man that walked closer seemed like the leader of them, and he spoke some language you couldn’t understand to you, making you scrunch your face at them. The ones behind the man were looking at both of you, and seeing you do that made the one with, no hair?, smile. You just shuffled back even more. 

Then the man in the front pulled out a weapon and pointed it at your mother. She just let out silent tears and begged them not to kill you. You were her only concern in that moment, knowing she probably wouldn’t make it. You just continued sobbing while holding her tighter, not wanting to let her go. 

-The one without hair was the one to catch the general meaning of the phrase and walk closer to you. Putting a hand on the first man’s shoulder and quietly saying something to him. He just sighed and barely nodded after a few seconds. 

-You just looked between them in confusion, then the hairless man walked right over to you. He crouched down in front of you and said something in an almost gentle tone to your mother before reaching for you. 

-You violently shook your head and held on tighter. Your mother told you it would be okay before breaking your grip and letting the man pick you up. Once he had you in his arms, he walked back to the rest of the group. 

-You cried even louder and reached for your mother as all of them started walking away. The man just rubbed your back as you made your way away from what you knew. In almost no time at all you made it to a big human contraption. 

-Once you got inside of it, you were too tired to continue struggling and just slumped into the grip of the man holding you. Letting out a big sigh before drifting off to sleep. Clutching the man’s shirt the whole time.

-All of them relaxed, subconsciously, when they saw you fall asleep. Glad that they didn’t have to listen to you crying still. They felt kind of bad for you, but understood how you must feel. 

All of them made their way to the area their beds were in. There were enough for all of them, and a couple extra beds, just in case. Lyle tried to set you down on one of the spare beds, but you refused to let go of his neck. He kept at it for about five more minutes before giving up and making his way to his bed with you still clinging to his neck. 

He laid down with you on his chest while everyone else took off their gear to get comfortable for sleeping. Eventually, Z-dog came over to him and gently pried you off of him so he could get comfortable too. She let you cling to her instead, making her way to her own bed. You snuggled hard into her, which she thought was pretty cute. She felt kind of queasy thinking about almost killing you, a very young child, and was almost forced to think about the other navi children she has affected while on this planet. 

-She didn’t even realize that she had kissed the top of your head until Mansk came over and chuckled at her while rubbing your back. He just said he knew what she must be thinking before laying down himself. 

-She just deeply sighed before laying her head down and drifting off to sleep. 

-In the morning, she was woken up by you squirming on top of her. She looked down at you to see you trying to push her away from you. She just smiled down at you before getting up with you in her arms and making her way to the bathroom. 

-She was the only woman there, so she had her own separate bathroom from the guys. She just set you down on a stool on the floor so you could see what she was doing. She knew you really couldn’t understand her, so she figured she would provide examples for you to get you clean and keep you calm. 

-She started by using the toilet, a little embarrassed about someone seeing it, but it was different since you were a young child that didn’t know what anything in their base was. You looked confused, but seemed to understand the purpose of it. So, she helped you onto the toilet and held you up as you did your business. She helped you wipe then moved along to the showers in the connected room. 

-She had to gently shush you when attempting to undress you. But figured her doing it first would help her in her attempts. She took her own clothes off before going back to you and kneeling down to your height and, again, attempting to help you undress. This time you allowed her. 

Once both of you were undressed, she picked you up and brought you into the shower with her. She knew she could work with your hair since it wasn’t in braids like navi usually have. She moved you into one of her arms as she turned the water on in the shower. You flinched because of the surprise of it. She chuckled at you while waiting for the water to warm up a bit. 

Once it was warm, she moved both of you into the spray of the water. You looked at it in confusion, which made her actually laugh. She just set you onto your feet and grabbed the shower head to rinse the dirt off of you two first. She started with your hair and gently rubbed your head to get as much of the dirt out as possible. Then, she moved down your body, rinsing you off before doing the same for herself. When she was done, she grabbed some shampoo, poured some over your hair before rubbing it in. She pulled your head to lean back a little bit, scrubbing your scalp for a bit. Smiling at your relaxed face while she was washing your hair. It didn’t take her long to finish, and she grabbed the shower head again before rinsing your hair out. After that she washed her own hair. Then, she grabbed some body wash and scrubbed both of you down before rinsing you off and turning off the water. She grabbed a towel for herself and dried her body and hair. Then, another towel for you and dried you off and bundled you in it before setting you back on the stool and putting new clothes on herself. 

-Once she was dressed, she picked you up and brought your old clothes out with her to join the others. 

-They saw her walk over to the group eating breakfast. With your clothes in her hand and you covered with the towel in the other. 

-They just raised their brows at her as she was getting close to them. She explained that she bathed you, but didn’t have any more clothes for you. Plus, she didn’t know how to wash your previous ‘clothes’ properly. 

-The men just took a minute to think before saying some of the human female clothes could fit you, and going to look for some. 

-They came back with a t-shirt and cargo pants, along with socks and underwear. Zdinarsk took the clothes with you back to the bathroom to help you put them on. You didn’t struggle until the socks, which she gave up on quickly. It wouldn’t hurt you to walk around barefoot. 

-You were pouting and pulling at the clothes as she walked with you back to the main group. Not at all used to being so covered. 

-As soon as you were set down on a chair amongst the group, your ears went down and you continued pulling at the clothes. 

-Lyle just sat down next to you and patted your shoulder before setting some food in front of you. 

-You looked up at him before looking at the food, sighing before reaching out and taking a very small bit of it in your fingers and eating it. Your ears went back up at the flavor and you began eating it enthusiastically. You even leaned closer to the counter. 

-It didn’t take you long to finish it, and before long you were yawning. You climbed in the man’s lap and laid your head on his chest, quickly falling asleep like you would with your mother. 

-Lyle himself was just shocked at how quickly you went back to sleep, but figured you were young from how tiny you were for a navi. 

-He addressed the group and said they would have to look through the books to ask you how old you were when you woke up. 

-He just got agreements from everyone and Mansk getting up and going to get the navi books to figure out what phrase would be easiest for the situation. 

It took an hour of you napping on Lyle for you to wake up, and by then Mansk was ready enough to ask you your age. He gently knelt in front of you with the book and repeated the phrase from it, which made you scrunch your face. But eventually you held up three fingers. He raised his brows before giving you a thumbs up and using his fingers for his age as well, which made you give a tiny smile. 

When he stood up he just deadpan said that you were three, a toddler. The rest of the group facepalmed, and realized that they had traumatized a toddler. They weren’t surprised, but they were disappointed. 

-They spent the rest of the day entertaining you while trying to teach you some english. You had picked up a good bit of what they were trying to teach you, which they were happy about. 

-You happily ate all of the meals, which kind of shocked all of them. They figured your young age blessed them with your curiosity. 

… 

-It had been almost a month with you, and they were all very attached. They very much enjoyed you being with them. They even had to be reminded to look for the Sullys. 

-In that time, you have also greatly improved your english skills. You could have simple conversations with them in english. 

-You have even been able to do a lot of things yourself after they taught you how to do them, like going to the bathroom, after they put some more stools in there for you. 

-One night, they had gathered to have a discussion once you had gone to sleep. 

They had been discussing whether they even wanted to continue their mission or not now that they had you. They knew for a fact that they couldn’t do both. They could either finish the mission they were given, or continue to care for you. 

And they really liked taking care of you. 

~

To be continued... (Plz give me ideas for this)

Tags: @iggy5055 , @eywas-heir , @onlyreadz , @horniestbutterfly

[translatemunson]

don’t you dare look out the window, darling, everything’s on fire • ttfd

chapter seven of the tortured firefighters department

previous chapter | masterlist | next chapter

cw: fem!reader, afab!reader, no descriptions of reader, huge fire (but no one died), brains being in risk, pov change, oblivious people in love, also maddie and chim are not married yet here, no proofreading otherwise i’d never post this (lmk if i missed something)

You knew something was odd when you stepped foot in CalTech that day. You attended a morning class, did your part as a TA for your professor, and had 20 minutes to grab something before your 1 P.M. meeting. When you were leaving the Linde Hall’s after a meeting with one of your professors, you sensed the panic in the air. And then you heard an explosion.

People were running away from all the buildings around, and the fire was taking over rapidly. That’s when the alarms in your mind went off and instead of running away from it, you ran to the doors and pulled the fire alarm. Once people started evacuating the building on fire, you heard another explosion.

“Help! Help!” A girl, probably in her masters, walked out of the building. “My friend is stuck on the last floor.”

You looked around and tried to hear, over the screams and calls for help, any signs of the sirens. Nothing. You told people to call 9-1-1, but what was taking them so long?

“What’s their name?” you asked.

“Tyler.”

“Ok. Can you tell me where you last saw them?”

“He went looking for more people on the far back labs on the second  floor and- and I heard something downstairs and he told me to run.” She looked back to the building. “Please, someone save him.”

You could hear the voices of everyone from the 118 saying it was stupid, you were not a firefighter, you should wait for them. But you couldn’t. You gave her your backpack, threw the rest of your water onto your shirt, pushed your phone into one of your pockets and ran into danger.

You walked up the stairs, shirt covering your mouth, the fire getting hungrier every second. You screamed Tyler’s name as loud as you could, opening all the doors and checking for him or anyone else.

In one of the labs, you found him with a lady, trying to move her from underneath one of the fallen shelfs. In a silent agreement, he lifted it and you pulled her free. He picked her up and you screamed “The stairs! We can use them and escape through the main entry!”

They made it to the stairs, and you checked the labs one more time, staying behind. Once you started to follow them, part of the ceiling structure collapsed over the stairs and locked you there. The fire was getting closer.

You ran back to one of the undamaged laboratories — for now. You stayed away from the door. You checked the drawers and closets for anything helpful. You opened one of the windows to check if jumping was an option.

No, it wasn’t. You were stuck until help arrived. And your stomach dropped: would they find you before the flames?

Grabbing your phone from your pocket, you called your last hope.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”

“This is dispatcher 990222. I need”, you coughed, “I need to talk to dispatcher Maddie Buckley.”

You heard the noise, your call going through, stuck on thinking Maddie was probably busy with any emergency right now. You pulled your shirt up, hiding your face under the wet material, trying to breathe as calmly as one can do in the middle of a building in flames.

“9-1-1, what’s your-”

“Maddie, it’s Brains.”

“Oh my God, hey. Please tell me you’re safe and sound. We are getting hundreds of calls from CalTech about a fire.” You could hear the muffled voices of other dispatchers in the background.

“I wish.” Another cough. “ETA?”

Maddie fell silent before telling you, “One fire department team is 2 minutes away from campus. Where are you?”

“In the middle of the fire, Physics Lab Building I believe. Last floor. Inside a lab.”

“Oh, Brains,” you could hear her disappointment. “Is there any way for you to escape?”

“Main staircase is blocked, windows open just enough to ventilate the lab, I can’t make this jump even if I tried. The fire is getting close to my location.”

“What kind of lab is it?”

“I’m not sure, maybe just engineering. Nothing explosive or toxic on sight here. But I can’t say the same about other labs around me.”

“Ok, I’m accessing the blueprints right now, I’m looking for a secondary way out of there.”

“Maddie.”

“We are getting you out there, ok? Hang on, there must be a way. I’m gonna guide you to the emergency stairs and-”

“Fire is blocking the exits, Mads. I looked around. ETA?”

“118 just arrived. Which lab are you in?”

You looked around for any numbers or signs. “Electronic, east side I think.”

The line went mute, as you expected.

“Brains, I need-”

“Breaking a window right now. Please, tell them, hurry up.”

The flames were violent and hungry, moving to your direction quickly. You used lab equipment to break two windows, the outside noise took over your senses just to be engulfed with the flames.

You heard one of the gas tanks in a lab exploding. You barely saw the firetruck stairs before feeling your lungs too heavy, your eyes too tired.

And then a second explosion happened.

+++

There was a punching feeling in your head. Worst than a thousand migraines. And the unceasing beeping was driving you insane. The darkness took everything out of you. Until you opened your eyes to bright lights and some familiar faces.

“Oh God, you’re back.” Josh smiled.

“Back from where?” You looked around. Maddie and Josh were watching you carefully. “What happened?”

“They pulled you out of a burning building. You were knocked out because of an adjacent explosion, which that’s why you may feel confused. Luckily you didn’t get much damage from the flames,” Maddie explained. “I’m gonna find the doctor.”

“What time is it? Can I go home?”

“You were knocked out for half a day. You’re probably staying here for another one,” Josh broke the news.

“Great,” your words were pure irony. “Please tell me no one died.”

“A few injuries here and there, no deaths. You made the right call to pull the fire alarms and evacuate the building.”

“Awesome. Can I do it again?”

Before Josh could give you an answer, Maddie came back with the doctor just behind her.

The bald doctor explained everything your friends told you. You breathed too much smoke from the fire, but your lungs would be better in no time. They were more concerned about your concussion, since you were out for 17 hours. They wanted to watch you overnight, run a few more exams, and probably release you in the morning.

“Ok, now you both can go home,” you motioned for them to leave.

“You sure?” 

“I’m awake, I have my phone, they’re gonna start taking me to places. Worst case scenario, I call 9-1-1, which means you. Go home, go to work, I’ll update you later.”

They both said their goodbyes and promised to check in via messages for the next few hours. You just smiled, not noticing you now had work parents to deal with. Maddie was already overprotective of you since your little burnout episode, and now Josh would probably keep a close eye on you. But that was a problem for later.

Unfortunately, you were well acquainted with hospital routines — because of rescue and follow up protocols. They took your blood, got another scan of your brain and body, helped you take a shower and brought you dinner. Boring hospital food. Maybe a burning building wasn’t that bad when compared to hospitals.

“First rodeo?” Buck showed up at your door, taking your mind away from the boring food. 

“Nop,” you dropped the spoon. “Delivering a patient?”

“Just finished my shift,” he closed the door and sat on the chair beside your bed. He was still wearing the black uniform, and the curls were unruled. “How are you feeling?”

“For real? Shitty as fuck. I’m probably getting a medical leave from work because of two broken ribs and I have no clue what my professors are going to propose to adapt my schedule. Again. Feels like I’m walking on a tightrope right now.”

“If I didn’t know you, I’d say you started that fire.”

“Of course, Buck. So, what happened?”

“You were knocked off when I entered the lab. Eddie and I had to carry you down the ladder. You were pretty beaten up.”

“I mean what caused the explosion.”

“Oh, our first assessment indicates a gas leak, but we are waiting on the investigation.”

“Maybe I should join LAFD after all.”

“Hell no!” he almost screamed. “Sorry. You saved a few people, but no more playing the hero, ok?”

“Can I get a gold star for that?”

“No. Sorry, Brains, but you don’t get a reward for being reckless.”

“Why can you be bucking around all the time, and I get a lecture?”

“Because it’s you. You’re… I can’t let you do that.” In his voice, there were a few other things he left out, but you were too tired and hungry to dig deeper on that.

“You know I’m not serious, right? I could never do what you guys do on the daily.”

“Great,” he sounded relieved. “Do you want something else for dinner? I know a few people here.”

“Fries and a milkshake, please.”

“Strawberry, right?”

“Yup.”

“Done. I’m gonna get a change of clothes in my car and I’ll be back with your meal, ma’am.”

“Are you my babysitter for the night?”

“And your ride in the morning.”

“You should bill the Government for these extra hours.”

“That’s ok. I know you’d do the same for any of us.” He stood up and turned his back to you, walking for the door.

Before he could walk out of your room, you said, “thank you, Buck.”

While Buck was away, you asked the nurse to take your dinner away and grab your backpack. You reached for your phone, going through all the messages and missed calls. Word got out on the street that you tried to play the hero and your friends and family poured messages into your inbox.

Your parents were worried and said they could go and help you in an instant — you dismissed them, saying you already had people looking over you in LA. A bunch of your classmates and coworkers wished you a speedy recovery and were just a message away. You were afraid to open the messages from the 118 because they were probably saying you were insane, but also should get better soon.

Buck came back, wearing a fresh set of clothes, and took the greasy paper bag from inside his bag. “Had to improvise since my contact isn’t working today,” he handed you your milkshake and the fries, “Bon appetit, Brains.”

“Merci, Buck.”

“Wait, you speak French?” he sat down on the chair, pulling his feet up on the side of your bed.

“No, I just happen to know a few words.” You took your first sip of the milkshake and smiled. “Oh, oh. You’re my savior, Evan Buckley.”

He smiled and stopped for a moment, on the verge of saying anything. But the room felt in silence, only the chewing and take out containers making a sound. You watched Buck: he was too immersed in his burger to notice you watching him.

Maddie and May’s words during girls night were definitely haunting you. Your date with Stephen wasn’t good as you expected, and talking to Buck right after it really did mess up your feelings. Were you really looking for a substitute for Buck? Were you afraid to ruin everything? Should you trust Maddie's words about her brother’s feelings and just go for it?

The fries and milkshake were gone before you could elaborate how you were gonna start that conversation.

“What? They gave you a room with no television?” Buck complained once he took care of the trash.

“Maybe they didn’t expect me to wake up,” you said, and he looked at you discontentedly. “My laptop is in my backpack, we could watch something.”

“Ok, let’s just,” he took the laptop from your bag, you moved to the side, leaving some space in the bed for it and you gave him your password. “Anything you wanna watch?”

“Nah, just pick something, I’m starting to feel tired.”

“Yeah, you should definitely rest. I’m gonna keep the volume on low.” He picked a rerun of a basketball game he missed a few days ago. “You sure you don’t need anything else?”

“I am, Buck. Thanks.”

You moved your body around until you found a good sleeping position, still able to check what was going on in the game and to feel comfortable even though you had two broken ribs and was prohibited from sleeping on your side. But your eyes were too heavy, your mind was too much, and you ended up falling asleep.

+++

Athena and Bobby decided it was wiser to visit you in the morning. They weren’t surprised to see you were still sleeping — you had been through a lot in the last 24 hours and it was only fair for you to rest. Bobby was already taking a step back when Athena held his hand and pointed to the room.

“Look over there, love,” she said, and their eyes went straight to your hand.

Buck had his back to the door, unaware of what was going on outside of the room. All he could think was you and how he almost freaked out when he saw you, unconscious on the floor.

Bobby and Athena couldn’t stop themselves to get closer to the door and take in a few more details.

“God, I was so worried when they said a dispatcher was in the building. You have no idea, Brains.” He kept rubbing his thumb over your hand. “For a second, I thought I’ve lost you. I promise once you’re out of here, I’m coming clean.” His shoulders shook like a shy laugh.

Buck turned around and saw Bobby and Athena standing there, just watching. He recomposed himself quickly and met them outside the room. Athena gave him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder, and Bobby couldn’t hide his smile.

“How’s she doing, Buck?” Athena asked.

“Oh, she’s ok. Probably gonna get cleared once the doctor retakes a few tests, but yeah, she’s fine.” He looked over his shoulder. “She is finally resting a bit after dozens of nightmares.”

The captain said, “You should take care of her for the next few days. I’ll get Ravi to cover your shifts, don’t worry.”

“Bobby, I-”

“She’s gonna need some help, Buck.” He explained. “Let me know if you’re gonna need some help with her, because we all know how stubborn she is.”

“Will do. I’d tell you to go in and see her, but she fell asleep maybe an hour ago.”

“That’s ok. Text us when she’s home, ok?” Athena smiled.

“Yeah, yeah, of course.”

They said their goodbyes and left. Buck looked at you, sleeping peacefully. Not in danger, not in tears, so close yet so far apart from him.

a/n: the only thing burning now is THEM. jk, i was burnt out. but i'm back. watch me finally bring our favourite idiots in love closer and closer! also huge shout out to @munsonsreputation and @live-love-be-unique for never letting me give upon this idea. love you girliesss! hope everyone's doing well, and i see you soon, ok? love, effie

[vynegar]

vyn 5th birthday ssr, part five

a new resolution

same disclaimers from part one (note the extra one from usual, regarding story content)

youtube link to ShiroNaya’s video of the card story

links to previous parts: one two three four

more tot stuff here

do not repost

[PART FIVE]

[48:29]

Vyn didn’t want the situation to interfere with my work, so the next day I went to the law firm as usual. Online public opinion was worsening, and even his saving Zheng Yan was branded as insincere. The instigators hid behind their screens as they stirred up the masses, who were easily swayed by exaggerations or those were societally disadvantaged.

Some questioned Zheng Yan’s motives, asking why someone who truly wanted to end their life would start a livestream that was just asking for trouble. The opposition pointed out the imbalance in power dynamics; Zheng Yan’s extreme actions were simply out of desperation. He was at the end of his rope, and everyone could see his pain and despair.

[48:47] Near the Research Center

The endless altercations and continued smearing of Vyn’s name was heartrending to see. Once I was off work, I immediately rushed over to the research center to find Vyn.

MC: (It’s so quiet… I wonder why Vyn texted me to come here instead of going inside?)

In order to prevent any incidents, Vyn temporarily closed the research center, so the street that was typically brightly-lit was now empty and silent. One streetlamp feebly lit up a corner, a sharp contrast with the lively, bustling city streets in the distance.

Vyn: Over here.

The sight of Vyn’s warm smile dispelled most of my melancholy and confusion, and I walked up and took the hand Vyn reached out to me.

MC: Were you waiting a long time?

Vyn: No, you arrived just as I finished preparing.

MC: What are these…?

There were documents scattered haphazardly next to the flowerbed, and beside them was a shallow metal bowl. Vyn took a lighter out of his pocket and nimbly rolled the spark wheel. With a crisp click, sparks ignited then quickly extinguished.

Vyn: Just a little ceremony I have prepared.

The trees rustled in the night breeze, like background noise giving his words a sense of despondence.

Vyn: MC, I told you before about why I left Svart…

MC: Yeah.

That was when we visited Ferro Winery, and Vyn used his intoxication as an excuse to tell me about his past and his worries (1). Just like right now, that night was as quiet as if we were the only two people in the world.

MC: The Church interfered with you studying psychology. Eirik tried to resist them, but to no avail. You took the opportunity to abandon everything you didn’t care about and come to Stellis.

Vyn: Yes. I had not thought about that in a long time, until Zheng Yan appeared.

Vyn handed me an old newspaper. The bolded headline on it said: “Psychology student assists police in arresting a murderer. His true identity is…?” The contents of the article were largely consistent with what Vyn previously said, only with exaggerations to make Vyn’s performance seem prodigious. That was understandable, as a way to draw readers’ attention.

Vyn: Back then, my assistance to the police was kept highly confidential, but this article still showed up the next day as a front-page headline.

MC: Someone did this intentionally?

Vyn: Correct. Information can be leaked with unimaginable speed, even under the dual authority of both the police and the Haspran family.

I recalled that Zheng Yan had also alluded to this incident…

[flashback]

Zheng Yan: How shameless can you be?! I heard you used my case to make yourself the center of attention in Svart, and got everyone heaping praise on you and psychology. But who would’ve thought, behind all your fancy titles of “doctor” and “professor”, you’re nothing but filth!

[end flashback]

During the time, I hadn’t paid attention to the meaning behind his words. Now, I realized the irony in them.

MC: Was that also the work of Eirik’s political opponent?

Vyn: Yes…

Just as I expected, Vyn was finally filling in the gaps of what he didn’t elaborate on yesterday. It was because he had already previously been mired in controversy due to his father’s political disputes that made him so certain about Eirik’s call yesterday. He may have guessed it even earlier, once he sensed that there was someone in the shadows pulling the strings, only Vyn had still been holding out some hope.

MC: What happened next?

Vyn: Soon, news of the Haspran family heir’s study of and achievements in psychology spread throughout Svart. The Church was outraged, and pressured my father to explain and resolve the issue for them.

MC: Eirik wasn’t on your side?

Even though I knew the outcome, I couldn’t stop myself from asking. It wasn’t that I had any illusions about Duke Haspran… it was just a futile wish that Vyn hadn’t been completely isolated and abandoned back then.

Vyn: At the time, Father’s new policy reform was at a critical stage. The Church’s support was indispensable.

The words were so simple, yet they chilled my heart. If he needed the Church’s support, then he wouldn’t oppose them for Vyn’s sake… Zheng Yan kept claiming that Vyn made himself the center of attention, but what did that so-called “attention” actually get him?

Vyn: The only solution he could think of was a stalling tactic, and he asked me to temporarily give up on psychology. However, I was already determined to continue researching psychology, and I yearned to explore that in practice. I did not want to wait, and I felt I did not need to.

Vyn paused briefly, and the whole world felt suspended for that moment, even the moonlight dimming.

Vyn: I explained my passion to Father, but he felt that psychology research could be conducted at any time, while his new policy reform could not wait. In truth, neither of us was in the wrong. I should have known all along that our values were never aligned. The conflict finally became irreconcilable, and in the heat of an argument, my father threatened my right of inheritance.

At that point, Vyn looked slightly upward, avoiding my gaze. When he lowered his head again, I couldn’t see any hint of emotion in his face.

Vyn: I had no interest whatsoever in that, so the threat was meaningless. Therefore, I thought of a better solution.

MC: You decided to renounce your inheritance?

Vyn: Yes. That way, the Church could not use me to attack my father, and I could do whatever I wanted. It was a win-win situation.

Despite the satisfactory conclusion, Vyn still looked somewhat despondent. Was it a win-win, or actually a lose-lose…? They themselves might not even be certain.

“Click” – at the scraping of the spark wheel, an orange flame flickered at Vyn’s fingertips.

Vyn: As you can see, these years while I have been in Stellis, my father has always believed that I would change my mind someday. Consequently, he drew up legal documents to ensure that a majority of his assets and authority could be transferred to me.

I couldn’t tell if it was from the streetlamps or moonlight, but the stack of documents were luminous. Even without reading their contents, they seemed heavy.

Vyn: I have never had the heart to fully dispose of them, until now.

[54:23 illustration]

Without the slightest hesitation, he brought the documents to the lighter. Fire greedily leapt across the pages, and Vyn let go before they were fully consumed. The papers that symbolized the power revered and sought by countless people fell into the bowl like shooting stars, and soon only the faintest traces remained. Page after page, the words rapidly curled, shriveled, and burned, our apprehension disappearing along with it.

Vyn: Honestly, I should have done this long ago.

His cheeks were illuminated a rosy hue by the fire; his glasses reflected the dancing flames. Vyn’s face, however, was more carefree and relaxed than I had ever seen before.

Vyn: I loathe Svart, especially all those pretentious people. They see you, me, and Zheng Yan as nothing but pawns to control. From the very beginning when they leaked my assistance to the police, I was nothing more than a pawn in their game of political chess. No one cared if I genuinely loved studying psychology or if it was profitable… just like how no one is sincerely helping Zheng Yan. What he needs is treatment, not someone who sees him and even his mental illness as an opportunity to utilize.

I think I understood the ceremony Vyn was referring to. Being used, abandoned, and framed…that was not something he could be unaffected by. The meaning in burning these documents was miniscule compared to the trouble it would be to sort out the aftermath, but he needed to do this. People commonly use fire to declare the death of something, and Vyn needed fire to make this a true farewell.

MC: What do you plan to do next, Vyn?

Vyn: You mean “we”. From now on, no matter what we do, we will decide together.

Vyn held my hand. Perhaps warmed by the flames, his hand was hot.

Vyn: For Svart aristocrats, engaging with psychology is unacceptable in the eyes of the Church. We can expose this incident, just like what they did previously, and give them a taste of their own medicine.

MC: Alright. What do we need to do?

Vyn: First, I need to diagnose Zheng Yan and begin to treat him. Zheng Yan is an alter of James, which legally categorizes him as incapacitated due to mental illness. Therefore, he cannot be held legally accountable for any of his actions, including his testimony, which is also unlikely to be admitted in court. When he is able to attend court, I would like you to seek justice for him.

MC: Are you going to sue?

Vyn: Yes. Zheng Yan and I were both innocent people who were implicated in this. Of course, I could choose to quietly negotiate with the mastermind right now… I am sure that as long as I am willing to conceal Zheng Yan for him, he will choose to stop while he is ahead. However, I am tired of these temporary ceasefires. Eventually someone has to tear down their hypocritical masks. But this path is bound to be more difficult, and I…

The light crackle of burning paper seemed to finish his sentence.

MC: You’re ready, aren’t you? To walk this difficult, uncertain path. Then go give it your all.

As if caught in turbulence, the ashes leapt up then melted into the night without a trace.

MC: I can’t promise that we’ll win, or that the path ahead will be smooth sailing. But I believe in your decisions, which is why I became your companion.

With the moon bright above us, the last embers were about to extinguish.

Vyn: To be honest, I do not have any grand convictions. I am simply trying to become someone like that person mentioned in a book I read when I was younger. “I love the one who justifies people of the future and redeems those of the past.” (2)

Vyn smiled faintly, his silver hair swaying gently under the moonlight, looking pure and clear. He lowered his head and mouthed the remaining lines, as if in silent prayer –

“I love the one who justifies people of the future and redeems those of the past: for he wants to perish of those in the present.”

“I love the one whose soul is overfull, so that he forgets himself, and all things are in him: thus all things become his going under.”

“I love all those who are like heavy drops falling individually from the dark cloud that hangs over humanity: they herald the coming of the lightning, and as heralds they perish.”

[END PART FIVE]

(1) From Vyn’s Food for Thought SSR. This actually happens at the end of part 4 in the card story, before the scene where Vyn is “tipsy”.

(2) “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” Big Data Lab entry (under Works>Literature): These lines are all excerpts from Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche (translated by 钱春绮Qian Chunqi), although it is not presented in the exact order it appears in the original.

[T/N] The excerpt is from end of passage four in the prologue of Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None (or Thus Spake Zarathustra depending on the translation), a book by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. The lines do appear in this order, however there are lines in between that are omitted. The original is in German, so the quotes I’m using are from the English version translated by Adrian Del Caro and edited by Robert Pippin (2006). You can read the first part of the book, including the passage quoted by Vyn, here: https://assets.cambridge.org/052184/1712/excerpt/0521841712_excerpt.htm

Note that Vyn comments about the Svart coming-of-age ceremony in his Journey Forth With You SSR:

"It is a bit like Stellis' legend of rebirth from fire, only that the agent of rebirth in Svart is water."

[loveinhawkins]

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 ao3

Eddie turns so he’s lying stretched out on his side, leaning on one elbow. Steve shifts gingerly so that his head is half propped up by the pillows—tilts his body to the side as much as he can with his cast. With Eddie’s couch pressed against the bed frame, it almost gives the illusion that they’re in one bed together: maybe it’s that, the casual intimacy of it, that makes it easier for Steve to start talking. 

“It really wasn’t that bad to start with,” he says.

Oh, okay, Eddie thinks, so we’re doing this bullshit again. 

He doesn’t dare interrupt though, because he understands the need to talk around something before getting into the heart of it—like letting a faucet run and run until the water turns clear. 

Still, Steve must sense some of his thoughts, because one of his eyebrows twitches and he says, a little wryly, “Fuck off, I mean it. It was just, you know, the clock and all that haunted house crap. Like, yeah, I’m not exactly a fan of spiders, but I don’t have a phobia or anything.” 

Eddie doesn’t contradict him, doesn’t say But it wasn’t just haunted house crap, was it?; doesn’t say that he remembers every moment of that awful drive, remembers Steve rambling about being late to someone who definitely wasn’t there. Right now, he wouldn’t stop him for anything. 

“Things didn’t get, um, fuzzy until we were at my house. My head started killing me, I was worried that I was gonna throw up in the kitchen sink when I was talking to the kids—thank God I didn’t, at least they actually listened to me, and… When I was in my room, and Dustin—Dustin followed, that’s when…”

Steve gives a little grimace. “It got worse, felt like there was a fucking spike right in here.” He rubs at a spot in between his eyebrows. “Anyway, guess it sorta affected my whole, uh, thinking abilities ‘cause, um…” He winces with an embarrassed half shrug. “I’m sorry about the tape. I really didn’t notice until… Well. Pretty stupid of me.” 

This time, Eddie can’t stop himself from replying. “No.” 

Steve blinks at him. “No what?”

“No. Nope. You’re not gonna—don’t you fucking dare apologise for… for…”

For staring death down without complaint, for hiding pain silently…

Because I know you, Steve Harrington—you were so damn focused on keeping those kids safe that everything else was background noise. 

Before Eddie can even begin trying to put all that into words, Steve says, “All right, okay. I’m—”

“Don’t,” Eddie says quickly, then realises that he’s been had, because Steve gives a tiny smirk. 

“Gotcha.” He sighs, sobers. “Seriously, though. This is why I didn’t want… Didn’t want you to worry.” 

“Oh, okay,” Eddie says faux brightly, like the thought’s only just occurred to him. “I won’t, then.”

It’s somehow the perfect thing to say, because Steve snorts, and the levity must ease him into the next part, because he keeps talking with barely a pause. 

“So I was thinking—well, I kinda thought I knew what to expect from Max. She described… like nightmare stuff, red sky, all that Upside Down shit, and… But it—it wasn’t… It was like real life, to begin with. And that—” Steve inhales. “That tripped me up.”

He blinks rapidly a few times, as if steeling himself. 

“I didn’t know it had… started, at first. Just thought I was still in your room. I should’ve guessed, ‘cause I couldn’t feel your—um, your hand anymore, but I wasn’t—there was a knock. At the door. Um. Well, like not just one knock, it was crazy loud, and—I just had this—I felt like I had to check, so I went to the door, and...” Steve’s voice fails, and he swallows once more, like the word is catching in his throat. He tries again. “A-and.”

Eddie reaches out, touches Steve’s forearm. “Steve, it’s—”

“It was Dustin,” Steve says in one breath. “He’d—it looked like he’d followed us. He was yelling, Eddie, he was so fucking angry, and I kept trying to tell him to—to go, but he wouldn’t listen, and then he—” Steve bites down hard on his bottom lip. “It was like when Max… but I couldn’t stop it. I-I was too slow.”

Eddie can feel Steve trembling. He doesn’t withdraw his hand.

“And then he fell, and he—he was so small, Eddie.” There’s a tremor in Steve’s voice, too. “There was so much blood, and it got in his hair, and I could…” Steve shakily rubs his fingertips together. “I could feel it. But then I… I knew it wasn’t right, ‘cause you weren’t there, and you would’ve been right behind me, I know you would’ve—and it was like, as soon as he knew I’d figured it out, everything went all creepy, all vine-covered and shit, but I just thought—” Steve laughs breathlessly. “Fuck, it was the best feeling. I just thought, oh, thank God, and ran.”

Eddie thinks of last night, of Steve’s nightmare. His chest floods with rage, with horror. His heart hurts.

“But then it got… it felt really… really weird, like, my head went all…” Steve tilts a hand back and forth. “Swimmy? I couldn’t remember what was happening, why I was—and then, it was a memory of—well, it felt like it was happening to me for the first time, like I couldn’t remember it was a memory, if that makes sense? Fuck, I don’t know.”

“It does,” Eddie says quietly.

“Okay. I, um. Do you know about Starcourt?”

“Buckley mentioned the… basics, I think,” Eddie says. “It sounded… nuts.”

Steve chuckles. “Yeah, pretty much. So for this—well, long story short, Robin and I got interrogated, and I got, uh, knocked around a bit.”

Eddie puts this through his Steve Translator, mentally changes a bit to a whole fucking lot.

“And we got drugged with this truth serum, don’t know what the hell was in it, but it was intense, and…” Steve’s hand drifts up to the side of his neck, rubs absentmindedly. “When the needle went in, I realised it was a memory, that it was wrong, because… someone else was drugging me. I kept thinking shit, he looks kinda young, like he kept staring, and I realised it must’ve been him—Vecna, I mean. When he was human. The drugs started—um, working, I guess. It felt exactly like it did when…”

Steve presses his lips together for a moment.

“Sorry. I don’t really like—I didn’t have control, like I was laughing even when I didn’t want to be, and that…” He shrugs again. “It messed with me for a while, after. There was—that winter, I had to get a tooth taken out, and I didn’t want them to use numbing, because it felt a bit like… Anyway.” Steve shakes his head. “Sorry. Got sidetracked. Where…?”

“You were in the memory,” Eddie prompts gently. He sort of hates himself for adding, “Drugged at Starcourt?” but he can tell that Steve needs a bit of a guide through the maze.

“Right. Yeah.” And inexplicably, Steve’s lips curve into a triumphant ghost of a smile. “That’s where he fucked up. ‘Cause, yeah, being drugged sucked, but it was also tied to—me and Robin, we…” Steve smile gets wider, but he also looks one second away from bursting into tears. “It was one of the best times of my life.”

Eddie smiles back, lets his hand drift down into Steve’s. Squeezes encouragingly.

“Once I’d remembered, made the connection, it was easy to… break out of the interrogation? I just ran to Robin, tried to stay there. Whenever the lights flickered, I guessed that he was catching up, so I went somewhere else, tried to keep outrunning him, basically. But I… it was hard to keep… I was getting tired.” His eyes close momentarily, deep in thought. “Sorry. Just trying to… things got foggy.”

“S’okay, Steve,” Eddie says—is not sure he can say much else with the growing lump in his throat. “Take your time, man.”

There’s a pause, and then Steve says, with mild surprise, “Oh, I saw El. I forgot… like, it was just a flash, I was in the woods with you—”

“Sorry?” Eddie says, and he doesn’t even cringe at himself for interrupting; that’s how baffled he is. “With me?”

“Uh, yeah? It only just happened, Eddie, your memory can’t be that bad. You know, The Upside Down, telling me I was a ‘good dude’, ring any bells?”

…What? You counted me being an asshole as a happy memory?

“No, that’s not why—of course I remember, I’m just… honoured I made the cut,” Eddie says, tries to tease.

But Steve doesn’t laugh, just blinks in confusion. “Yeah, why wouldn’t you—? Anyway, we were talking, and then I was sure I saw El just out the corner of my eye, and—she was yelling, I couldn’t hear her, but I could tell she needed more time, so I… tried to give her that.”

Eddie feels a hint of trepidation. “How?”

Steve sighs. “Okay. This bit really was stupid. I sort of…” Steve cringes slightly. “Goaded him?”

“…Steve,” Eddie says. Not stupid—stupidly fucking brave, but never… oh, Christ.

“I know, I know.”

No, you don’t.

“I dared him to find me. Said I wasn’t gonna stop running. And then—everything just disappeared for a moment, and then my head hurt, the worst yet, and then… He must’ve really been trying, ‘cause I couldn’t remember what I was doing again, and… It was all memories, and it felt almost like… you know when you’re dreaming, and a little part of you knows it’s a dream, but you still have to go along with it? Like that.”

Steve goes silent for a minute. Eventually, Eddie taps the back of his hand.

“You good?”

Steve sighs. “Yeah. Just… It’s… it’s silly.”

“I promise you it’s not.”

“It really is.” Steve’s mouth twitches, like he’s disapproving of himself. “Those memories, they… they weren’t horrific or anything, it was just mundane shit. Like, dinners or nights at home or whatever, and I was five, then ten, then…”

Eddie thinks of how he used to lump the Harrington House into the same detached scorn he’d view all of ‘the big houses’ in Hawkins, treat them like big, empty landmarks—as vacuous as the rich kids they’d shelter.

“But in one of them—the memories, I mean—I just snapped, ‘cause it was so boring. I smashed a plate, and that—it never happened in real life, but I just…” He closes his eyes, smiles ruefully. “I remember wanting them to look at me. Just once.”

Eddie lets out an almost inaudible breath, but it’s enough for Steve to shift in discomfort, as if he’s already trying to take back the words.

“Hey, chill,” Eddie says, not unkindly. “It’s not like your folks are gonna hear you say—”

“I’m not—it’s just, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

“What?”

Steve is frowning. “It’s not like they were hitting me, Eddie.”

Eddie thinks of Steve in the RV, slipping into another memory, desperate to be heard: I didn’t, Dad, I didn’t. I’m not lying.

Eddie realises that he doesn’t need to say that there’s more than one way to hurt someone, because, of course, Steve already knows. Instead he digs deep and echoes something Wayne has told him, long ago.

“Once is enough, Steve.”

Steve blinks. One tear falls. Another. Then more. It’s quiet, but not forcibly stifled, not this time. It’s like a release.

“O-okay.” He sniffs, slowly wipes at his face. “He… he caught me, eventually. Or I guess not eventually, if it was really quick on your end. He was—furious. Whatever El was doing along with Robin and Nance must’ve been hitting him, and…”

Eddie feels Steve flinch. “Hey, are you—?”

“He clawed at my…” Steve gestures down to his healing bat-inflicted wounds. “It… hurt. But what was worse is that he—” Steve grits his teeth, swallows back more tears. Eddie can hear the painful click of his throat. “He said that I failed. That after he killed me, he was gonna kill… e-everyone. That I was an idiot to even think I could save… And then I was falling, and I could—I could hear you, but it was all distant and I couldn’t… it fucking scared me, ‘cause I knew you must’ve been touching me, but I—I couldn’t feel…”

Steve’s eyes look haunted. He glances at Eddie.

“That must’ve been when I…?”

Eddie can’t speak. Nods.

I felt you go.

He doesn’t realise that he’s crying until Steve’s hand tentatively reaches across, swipes underneath his eyes.

“Hey, come on. It’s not worth all that.”

“Oh, shut the fuck up,” Eddie says shakily, manages a wet smile. “I decide who’s worthy of my tears, asshole.”

And you definitely are. A thousand times over.

He feels when Steve’s hand slowly falls like he can’t find the energy to hold it up; when instead of his breath catching on a word, it catches on a yawn.

“Shh,” Eddie says when Steve looks like he’s trying to speak again. “That’s enough for now, huh?” he adds gently.

Steve sighs, but he looks grateful. He lets his head sink down more into the pillow and says, “Thanks, Eddie.”

But every time his eyelids so much as droop, he seems to banish the drowsiness with fierce determination, over and over again. It looks like it hurts.

“Why don’t you want to sleep?” Eddie whispers, when it’s clear Steve isn’t going to stop.

Another sigh. “It’s not that I don’t want to—it just… feels too much like.” For a second, Steve’s eyes drift to that unknown point in the distance again. “Like… leaving,” he says. Then he jolts in alarm, fingers reaching out to carefully brush Eddie’s cheek and oh, this again, Eddie thinks, as he blinks through more tears.

“Can I try something?” he asks when he knows his voice won’t break.

Steve nods.

Eddie’s hand returns to the bedsheets, finds Steve’s palm. Traces two letters.

Hi.

“Feel that?”

Steve smiles. “Yeah.”

“Even when your eyes are shut, you can still feel that, yeah? You’re not going anywhere, I promise.”

“Oh, well, if you promise,” Steve teases. His blinks are slowing now, each lasting a little longer than the one before it. But he doesn’t allow his eyes to stay closed.

Eddie feels a surge of affection so strong that for a fleeting moment, he wonders if he’s going to cry again. “Hey, Sir Stubborn. At least rest your eyes, sweetheart.”

“What if I want to—” Steve barely manages to suppress a yawn, “—keep looking at you?”

“Uh-huh. Flatter me all you want in the morning.”

“Rude,” Steve laughs sleepily. “Meant it. Hey, Eddie. Wanna know a secret?”

“Oh, if I must.”

“In… in the RV.” And Steve yawns deeply, like it’s been building for a while; he looks so, so tired. “When all the… haunted house crap. Know why it was… so easy?”

He keeps having to yawn every few words. Eddie’s heart twinges.

“Why?” he murmurs.

“Whenever I looked at you… all that shit… never touched you. You just stayed… you were so… lovely.”

Eddie’s throat is tight with emotion. He reaches out, drifts his fingers along Steve’s brow, until Steve’s eyes finally remain shut, until he feels him drift into sleep.