#anytime they invite over other people and do that running bit without thinking they both very quickly explain 'no no its a bit i swear-'

[t4tdanvis]

dante, travis, vylad, and aphmau qpr makes zero sense outside of my rewrite and that is a tragedy

[justmeinadaze]

Saying Sorry (Steve X You)

A/N: My valentines gift to you. I've been thinking it's been awhile since I've created a series with just Steve and for some reason I'm crushing on season one King Steve so alas...I bare you this. I definitely have an idea of where I want this to go and I hope y'all like it so we can go through it together :)

The title and the idea came from a song I was listening to. Like I said I've been listening to my emo music more so lol

Warnings: Smut for sure. The reader does get assaulted but its very brief ( she is smacked) and Steve swoops in to save the day. These two are childhood friends who grow apart. The reader has rumors being spread about her (calling her a slut and cheap) .

Word Count: 4710

You and Steve had known each other since you were kids growing up in Hawkins. The first time you met him was in kindergarten on the playground. He was extremely shy, sitting by himself in a nook within the jungle gym.

“Why are you hiding?” He jumps at the sound of your voice. 

“I’m not hiding! I just… I don’t know anyone yet.”

“Okaaaay. How are you going to meet anyone though if you don’t talk to people?”

“Well, I’m meeting you.”

When you smile at him, he returns it with a little one of his own as you sit down beside him. 

“I’m Y/N.”

“Steve.”

He was incredibly sweet and kind. On valentine’s day he brought you a card that he had made with your favorite candy tapped inside. During nap time, he would lay beside you and the teacher would always end up separating you two because you couldn’t stop giggling. On your birthday, you invited him to your house for a sleep over. Your mom was surprised when he showed up alone without his parents. 

“Steve, honey, where’s your mom or dad? I was hoping to meet them and introduce myself.”

“Um, my dad is at a meeting and…I don’t know where my mom is. She left before I did.”

Your mom looks at him with concern before she sighs.

That night you two created a little fort out of blankets in your room and curled up underneath it in sperate sleeping bags. 

“Is it normal for you to be alone at home?”, you ask turning to lay on your side to face him. 

“Yeah. Usually there’s a nanny or housekeeper that looks after me but after they leave sometimes my mom and dad leave to.”

“Is it lonely?” Steve doesn’t respond instead turning his eyes to the floor. “Well…you can come over here anytime you want!”

He grins at you and you can’t help but giggle.

“Kids, go to bed! It’s after midnight!” You both laugh as your dad shouts from down the hall.

As you two grew up, you started growing closer with him becoming your best friend and you his. In middle school, your bodies started changing and Steve seemed a bit more focused on his appearance.

“How’s my hair? Does it look good?”

“Steve! Calm down.”, you laugh at him. “Your hair looks perfect as always. Don’t be so nervous!”

“How can you be so relaxed? Aren’t you nervous?”

You and Steve were going on a double date with some of the other kids from school. He had a huge crush on a girl from his English class but was so scared of messing things up. You offered to go with him with one of the guys who had been flirting with you to ease his mind.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I don’t really like Travis all that much. I mean I like him but not like…you know?”

He softly smiles as he continues to run his fingers through his hair. “Not one bit.”

You gently reach for his hand and smooth the mess he made on top of his head. “Steve, you have no reason to be nervous. You are a great guy and if Jennifer doesn’t realize that well then fuck her.”

He cackles at your curse as he pulls you into a hug. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

After the date that night, you noticed a change in him. It was very small but noticeable to you especially when he called you up after your mom dropped him off back at his house. 

“See? I told you there was nothing to worry about!”

“Yeah, it was weird though. I’ve never actually kissed a girl before.”

“Did you like it?”

“I did.” You heard his smile through the phone. “She said something before that didn’t make sense. She said that you and I shouldn’t be friends.”

“What?! Why?”

“She said you’re a bit of a…a dork.” He panicked at your silence. “Which is stupid because, obviously, you aren’t and even if you were you know I don’t care about that kind of thing. I love you and you’re my best friend.”

“What did you say when she said that?”

“I didn’t get a chance to say anything because she kissed me.”

“I should kick her ass.”

He laughs, breathing a sigh of relief at your sarcastic tone. “No! No ass beating. Like you said…fuck her, right?”

As soon as you became freshman, that’s when the drastic changes happened. He stopped coming over to your house and hanging out with you at school. You used to sit together at lunch but you found yourself eating alone while he sat on the opposite end of the cafeteria with the popular kids. 

You called his house and either no one picked up or his mom said he wasn’t home.

“I’m sorry, Leslie. He isn’t here.”, his dad’s gruff tone hits your ears. 

“It’s Y/N and do you know where he is?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. No, I don’t. I think he went out with some girl from the cheerleading squad. Look, I really have to go. Can I take a message?”

You hung up the phone in frustration. 

Your final straw was when he didn’t show up for your birthday. You and Steve had spent every year together on that day. Your parents would get a cake, order food, and you guys would stay up watching movies till you fell asleep. It had been weeks since you heard from him but you thought at least he would be here for this.

You pound on his door with your fist for what feels like forever until he finally answers. His hair is disheveled and his lips are stained with a nice shade of red lipstick. 

“Y/N. Hey. I’m a bit preoccupied at the moment—”

“Where were you?!”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Steve, do you know what today is?”

He steps forward, quietly closing the front door behind him. “Y/N, I really can’t do this right now. Can we talk about this later—”

“WHEN?! When can we talk about it? You’re never home and you don’t answer my calls. I never see you at school and we don’t hang out anymore. When should we talk?!”

“I’m not going to apologize for being busy with school and living my life. I’m sorry we don’t spend as much time together but I made some new friends. It’s not just me and you anymore.”

“You’re such a fucking asshole. You really think these ‘friends’ give a damn about you? All they care about is your money and good looks!”

“You’re just jealous because I’m hanging out with the popular group and you’re not! You’re just a fucking poor, pathetic dork who has no friends other than me!”

Steve watched through your eyes as your heart broke. “Wow. Thank you for showing me who Steve Harrington really is. Happy Birthday to me, I guess.”

His eyes closed as he came to the realization of what today was. “Y/N, shit, I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t mean…I—”

“No. Don’t worry about it, Harrington. It’s all good.”

###############

It had been two years since then and you were both juniors now. Steve had steadily rose to the king of Hawkins high, becoming a jock and making all the ladies swoon. You flew under the radar as best you could with a 4.0 GPA and a style that everyone compared to Joan Jett. You both had basically become night and day. 

He heard rumors about you but did nothing to dispel them. 

“Does she think she’s cool wearing those ratty, torn up clothes and boots? Please. Probably hiding the fact that her family can barely afford to keep their house let alone some new clothes.”

“I heard she fucks boys under the bleachers if they give her $20 bucks. She’s cheap!”

“Oh my god. That’s most likely why she has all those As!”

The rumors you heard about him were a bit more factual and kept you up to date on what was going on in his life. 

“Steve is taking out Tammie tonight. Five bucks he takes her to lover’s lake!”

“I heard he’s failing physics but the teacher passes him anyway so he can play basketball. Lucky bastard.”

“Steve Harrington is throwing a party at his house. His dad just made a killer deal so he’s flying his mom to Hawaii to celebrate. Empty house with a ton of booze!”

You did everything you could to avoid interactions with him and with your different social circles that wasn’t hard but some days you were thrown a curve ball. This morning happened to be one of those days. As you walked to your locker, you heard a loud crash next to you as Tommy leaned against them. 

“Hey Y/N. How are you this beautiful morning?”

“I was having a great morning until you opened you mouth.”, you threw him a fake smile as you slammed your locker closed. 

“Well, that’s not very nice.” His girlfriend Carol blocked your path to keep you from leaving. “Someone not have their morning coffee? Probably time to find some new clients to fuck so you can afford that.”

“Oh, they’ve escalated to clients now. The rumor mill continues to be amusing. Now, get out of my way.”

“Ah ah. We just wanted to talk to you and see how you were. This is no way to treat your friends.”

“You are not and will never be my friends.”, you glare at them.

“What’s going on?” Steve sauntered slowly up to his friends, his face contorting slightly when he sees you. “Tommy. Carol. Come on. We’re going to be late for class.”

“Better run along and do what your king says.”, you sneer at them.

He stops, slowly turning around as he snickers. “You know what? Maybe we should stay. I heard you guys when I came up. She definitely needs to be nice to you. It’s not like she has any other friends.”

“Kind of like a kid I used to know back in elementary school.” They all laugh, making faces like you said the stupidest thing they had ever heard…but not Steve. His breathing staggered at the memory of you befriending him when he had no one. “Leave me alone.”

He sighed, gripping Tommy’s arm and pushing him down the hallway. 

##############

“Hey. You okay? I heard Steve Harrington tried to put you in your place today.”

You did actually have friends; they were just invisible to the popular kids. Carrie had become one of your closest but you could never bring yourself to tell her about your past with the boy in question. Honestly, it just hurt too much. 

“I swear to God I hate this school.”, you mumble. “Yes, I’m okay and no he didn’t. Like he even could.”

She chuckles as she throws herself in the chair next to yours at your lunch table. “He’s having a party tonight. We should crash it.”

“That…is the worst idea you have ever had.”, you smile at her.

“Oh, come on! We’ve never gone to one and it’s not like we’ll see him. He’ll be too busy grinding on some cheerleader.”

“See, I don’t understand how that’s common knowledge but I’m the whore!”

She grins as she pulls you to her shoulder and rests her head on yours. “You are not a whore. You are beautiful, perfect, and one of my closest friends. Also, I heard that Andrew will be there.”

You both giggle, sitting like that together until you give in and finally agree. 

########

It had been so long since you had been in Steve’s house. Not a whole lot had changed except for a few more expensive items you didn’t remember being there before. The bass was beating through the entire home as everyone danced and drank. 

“Carrie, I think we made a mistake!”

“It’s party, Y/N! Have a drink and dance! I’ll be right back!” With that, she was gone. A heavy exhale escaped your lips as you went outside to find some peace and quiet. You grinned when you noticed the pool in the backyard, remembering the summers you and Steve spent in there. 

“Steve! I can’t swim. I’m scared.” Your little voice shook as you stood on the steps in the water. 

He effortlessly glides towards you before standing up and taking both your hands in his. “You have no reason to be afraid, Y/N. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.” He chuckles as you wrap your arms around his waist.

“Hey! It’s ok. Do you trust me?”

You look up into his big brown eyes as his smile shines confidently down at you.

“Of course.”

“Hey, Y/N! Carrie said you were around here somewhere.” Andrew grins as he comes up beside you. 

“Did she? Because I have completely lost her.” 

He laughs at your sass. “She said you were funny.”

“Hey Andrew.” Steve’s voice comes up from behind you. 

“Sup, Harrington. Pretty good party you got going on here.” The boy grins as he takes a sip from the cup in his hand.

“Thanks, hey, do you mind if I talk with Y/N really quick?”

You were startled by his question. Wasn’t he just an asshole to you this morning? Is he going to be snarky again because you showed up to his house unannounced? Andrew nodded and backed away so you two could talk.

“Look, I know you fucking hate me but—”

“I don’t hate you. I would have to care to do that.”

Steve rolls his eyes as he sighs. “Yeah, okay, whatever. You’re a badass. Good for you. Now, listen to me. You need to stay away from him.”

“From Andrew? Why?”

“He has a reputation for being…rough.”

“Oh, good. Well, I have a reputation for being a slut so we’ll get along nicely.”

His eyes narrow down at your snarky tone. “Whether you are or not, doesn’t fucking matter to me. I don’t know you anymore but I know him. Trust me.”

“You’re right. You don’t know me anymore and I definitely don’t fucking trust you. You have no right to pretend like you care about me or my well-being, your highness!”

“Fine! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

You scoff at him as you turn and grab Andrew’s arm, leading him inside the house.

###################

You and Andrew found a corner in the living room that was quiet enough for you two to talk. Honestly, after a few minutes, you found yourself bored and zoning out. All he wanted to talk about was the baseball team and their stats. 

“Wow, Andrew, as fascinating as this is, I have to go find Carrie now and head home.”

“What? No.”, he whines and you cringe at the sight.

“Yes, unfortunately, it is late so…”

Abruptly, his hand wraps around your bicep as you start to stand and he pulls you back down towards the sofa you had been sitting on. 

“Come on, Y/N. Let’s not play games here. You don’t have to go home yet. I think you just don’t care about this kind of foreplay.”

“I’m sorry?”

“You know, the whole get to know you thing. I can respect that.” His body starts to press against you, leaning you back against the cushions.

“Andrew, no.” You try to push him with your palm but he swats it away. 

“You don’t have to pretend with me. I know what you’re into. I can even pay you double whatever you normally charge.” Andrew’s lips find their way to your neck and with all the strength you can muster, you lift your leg and kick him in the groin.

He howls in pain as you push him off of you. “You’re disgusting!”

As you start to run away from him, he chases after you, grabbing your arm again to turn you around and slap you hard across the face.

Suddenly forceful hands are pulling his off of you and pushing Andrew backwards. 

“Get out of my house.” Steve’s voice bellows well over the music causing some heads to turn towards him. 

“That bitch started it!”

“And I’m finishing it. Now if I have to say it again it won’t be nicely. Get. Out.”

Andrew grumbles something under his breath as he stomps out the front door. Steve grabs your hand, pulling you up the stairs, and into his closed off bedroom. As soon as the door shuts, his hands cup your cheeks as he looks over your face. 

“Are you okay?” You were still in a state of shock as your eyes scanned around his room. “Focus, Y/N! Look at me. Are you okay?”

You broke as your head fell into his chest and you cried. He stumbled back at first, completely thrown off guard before his arms slowly wrapped around you, holding you to him. Steve closed his eyes and sighed when he felt your hands shaking against his back. 

“Everything’s okay. He’s gone. You’re safe here.”, he whispers.

“Am I?” Something ignites inside of you as you push him away from you. “You don’t give a damn about me, Harrington and don’t pretend like you do just because you played hero!”

“Hey, I warned you he was an asshole! But no, still as fucking stubborn as ever. You’re lucky I was in the house!”

“Fuck you! I could have handled it!”

“I can’t believe this. You’re actually upset with me right now for helping you!”

“No, I’m upset because I’m in this fucking house talking to you!” 

As he prepares to fire back, your chin falls to your chest. Your shoulders shake as you cry again.

Steve hates seeing you like this and it makes him feel even more protective. 

“Do you…do you want me to find your friend so she can take you home?”

You wipe your eyes before meeting his. “No, I’ll just, um, walk. It’s not a big deal.”

“Y/N, please, at least let me drive you.”

“No, it’s okay. I don’t want you to leave your guests.” You fly past him to open the door. “Thank you for what you did. I’m sorry I snapped at you.”

##############

“Steve! Oh my god!” Your mom excitedly wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a hug. “It’s been so long. How have you been?”

“I’ve been good. Thank you for asking.”, he grins. “Is Y/N here?”

“Yes, she is. Maybe you can help make her feel better. She been upstairs in her room all day. I’m about to go meet her dad at that little get together thing they are doing downtown. We invited her but”, she shrugs. 

Steve holds the front door open for her as she leaves before heading up to your room. It’s only been two years but it still amazes him how your house looks the same. When he knocks on the door, your voice echoes through from the other side. 

“Mom, I said I’m fine! Oh…” You pause when you see him in your doorway. 

“Your mom let me in. I, um, came over to check on you after what happened.”

“Well, Harrington, thank you but like I said, I’m fine.”

“Please, Y/N. Don’t be so difficult. I’m trying here.”

You smile sarcastically as you turn towards him. “I’m sorry, sire. What’s difficult for you? The fact that you haven’t spoken to me in over two years or pretending like you care how I’m feeling?”

“First of all, YOU stopped speaking to ME.”

“Oh please! I lost you even before freshman year. Your only concern was that everyone liked you and thought you were cool!”

“Apparently so was yours! Don’t give me that look. I hear what people say. About how you open your legs for any man at the right price!”

“You’re still such a fucking asshole!”

“If I’m such an asshole than why did I pull Andrew off of you? Why did I follow you around that fucking party making sure you were okay because your stubborn ass didn’t want to heed my warning!? Why am I here right now?!”

“You followed me around?”

“Yes.”, he sighed as he placed his hands on his hips. “I know we don’t talk anymore but that doesn’t mean I want anything bad to happen to you.”

“Unless it’s your doing?” He looks at you completely confused. “Steve… you were the worst thing to ever happen to me. No one has ever hurt me the way you did. Even before that you were slowly slipping away and there was nothing I could do. I miss the kid I grew up with. I don’t know who the fuck you are now.”

“Y/N…I”, he pauses as he tries to gather his thoughts. “I’m not the same shy, weird kid you met in the jungle gym in kindergarten. I have a life and more friends, things like that. I changed. It happens.”

“Welp, thank you for that rousing speech.”

“I swear to fucking God!”, he growls as he walks over to you till his face is close to yours. “You’re so—”

“Fucking stubborn. I know! Now get out of my house and leave me alone!”

“Make me.” Steve’s tone was low, revibrating through his chest. 

It had been so long since you had seen him especially this close to you. You took note of the light stubble that dusted along his jawline and above his lip. His lips themselves had plumped out a bit more since middle school and his eyes had aged in the way a mans would when they leave adolescence. Growing up, you two had been relatively the same height but right now he towered significantly above you. He was right; he definitely wasn’t the same kid you had met. 

While you were studying him, he was also scanning over you. Your eyes were angry but he could still see the kindness within them that befriend him. You smelled like you had just recently took a shower as the strong floral scent filled his nostrils. Your lips were fuller even now as they pouted out. He would give anything to see you smile again. 

Steve’s hand shot out, gripping the back of your neck to bring your mouth to his. It was light at first, both your lips just pressed together but as he started to pull away you quickly grabbed his face with your hands tugging him back to you. 

Passion took over reason as he walked you towards your bed. As soon as the back of your knees hit the mattress, you pause to lift up his shirt before tugging away at your own. Steve’s lips trail down your cheek to your neck as he fumbles with his belt. 

You rapidly remove your pants as his own fall to the floor with a loud clank. He picks you up, holding you by your thighs as he carefully places you down on the mattress. 

After removing his boxers, he reaches for your panties, violently pulling them down your legs and tossing them to the floor. 

“Steve, Steve. Hang on.”, you pant. He doesn’t acknowledge you, grinding his hips with yours. You moan when you feel his cock rub against your pussy lips. 

“Steve. I just want…need you to know. Those rumors aren’t true. I’ve only been with one other person.”

His eyes lock with yours as he spits in his hand and rubs it into your cunt making you moan. He grips his length and watches your face as he guides it into your entrance. Steve doesn’t give you much time to adjust to him as he pushes deeper into you before pulling out and pressing into you again. 

“Fuck. Oh my god.”, you whimpered at the feeling.

“Jesus fucking Christ”, he whispers as his head falls back into the nook of your neck. “You’re so fucking tight.”

He thrusts into you at a steady pace as you pressed him closer to you. You knew you missed him but feeling him against you like this fully reminded you how much. All the memories you two had shared came flooding back and it broke your heart all over again. You needed to push those memories as far away as you could. They hurt too much. 

“Harder, Steve. Please.”

Again, there was no acknowledgement from him besides him doing as you asked. You fingers clung to his hair as he sucked on your neck. The sound of skin slapping together filled the room and you craned your neck to the side to find his lips.

Steve obliged and you mewled at the taste of him. When your hands reached up to hold his shoulders, he pulled away, staring down at you as he felt your pussy tighten around him. He thought to himself how beautiful you were underneath him like this. He really did miss you but… what would the other kids say? When his dad was being a dick he used to run to you but now with his status he had more friends and vices he can utilize to numb that pain. 

In his house he was nothing but in school he was a king. People practically worshipped him. So what, he had to pretend to like things he didn’t or act like an asshole at times to get what he needed. They were his family now. 

“Why are you hiding?”

“I’m not hiding!”

“I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Steve pushed back memories of his own as his rhythm picked up, thrusting into you till you came moaning his name repeatedly. His cheek pressed against yours as he chased his own release. The sound of him grunting filled your ears until he hastily pulled out, pumping his cock over your stomach until ropes of his seed landed on your skin.

His forehead fell on yours as his arm came back up on his side to steady himself. You both panted into each other’s face, trying to catch your breath. 

“Steve. Look at me.”, you whispered. His brown eyes found your own and he let out a pleasurable sigh when your hand caressed his cheek. “Don’t go. Not yet.”

He silently nodded, reaching towards your bedside table to grab a tissue before cleaning your tummy and tossing it into the wastebin. Steve rolled onto his back, staring up at your ceiling. 

“Y/N?”, his small hands knock on your door as he pushes it open. “You weren’t in class today and Mrs. Link said you were sick. I wanted to make sure you were ok.”

Your back was to him as you lay quietly in your bed. He shuffles around to the opposite side as you bury your face in your pillow. 

“Y/N, what’s wrong?” Steve kicks off his sneakers and lays down beside you. As he pushes your shoulder back, he notices the tears that were streaming down your face.

“Tommy told all the sixth graders that I’m ugly trash.”

His nostrils flared in anger. “I’m going to kick his ass next time I see him!” He suddenly panics as you start to cry again. “Y/N, you aren’t trash and you’re not ugly. I think you’re…you’re one of the prettiest girls I have ever met.”

Steve breathes a sigh of relief when he sees you laugh. “Thank you. I appreciate you saying that.”

“I mean it! You’re pretty like the girl in that space movie we saw at the theater. With the…” He makes twisting motions on the side of his head near his hair.”

“Leia?”, you giggle.

“Yeah! Princess Leia.” He smiles as you start to brighten up. 

“Thank you for coming over to check on me.”

“Of course. You’re my best friend.”

Steve turned his head to look at you and noticed your back was facing him. Your breathing was steady so he figured you had fallen asleep. As he picked up the covers to get out of bed and grab his clothes, something possessed him to change his mind. Instead of pulling them off, he tugged the sheets further over his waist as he slid his body closer to you. His arm wrapped around yours as he tenderly kissed your shoulder, falling asleep beside you.

[casspurrjoybell-20]

Sky Twizzlers - Chapter 29b

*Warning Adult Content*

Good News and Revelations - Part 1 - Evander 

I cornered Rin a little while later. The others were distracted talking and Rin had excused themselves. I followed after them once they left and watched as they leaned against a tree with their forehead pressed against the bark.

"You okay?"

They flinched and turned around quickly. 

"Evander. What are you doing?"

"I was following you," I admitted. 

Why lie? 

"You were acting strangely back there."

They looked down. 

"I don't know what she told you but..."

"You're afraid."

They looked back up at me with tears in their eyes. It shocked me for a moment. Rin was expressive once you got to know them but the pain practically radiating from their body scared me. 

"Evander you don't understand. I wish... I wish I could tell you."

"Then tell me," I urged, stepping closer.

"I can't. You'll see me differently," they whimpered.

I was suddenly reminded of how we first met. I'd stopped some bad people from robbing and beating them up. At least, that's what it looked like. The fear in their eyes that day was enough for me to invite them back to my apartment. They had nowhere else to go apparently. 

They'd just had a bad break up and the guy kicked them out of the home they shared without anything except for what Rin could carry in a backpack. It was cruel. The vulnerability shown before me reminded me of that time. So, I reached out and pulled them into a hug. Rin gripped my shirt tightly and attempted to meld themselves into my body. 

"I'm terrified," they whispered.

“Of?”

"I don't want to go back. I don't want my mate to see me differently because of my past. I don't want anyone to judge me for it. It wasn't my fault," they rambled.

"Of course it wasn't," I affirmed. 

I pushed them away a bit so I could look right into their eyes. 

"You were captured, Rin. None of it is your fault. Your mate will not judge you for that, nor will anyone else. You are not to blame."

The tears started falling from their eyes as I said that. They looked so... broken. And lost. Like a small child attempting to cling to what made them feel safe. I wanted to talk more but I was stopped by the voice that rang inside my head.

‘Where are you?’ Aaron's voice echoed.

We'd attempted to communicate through the link more often the last few days so we could all become used to using it if we needed to. It was still a little surprising hearing one of their voices in my head so suddenly, though. I decided to physically go to him rather than say I was coming.  I looked at Rin and they seemed to still be on the verge of shattering. 

I gently pulled them along back towards the group, where I could hear that our mates had returned from the meeting. I could hear that Wren had told Joshua about the pregnancy given the excited chatter. When I finally saw them, Erin was looking around for his mate. Rin pulled away from me to practically run over and attack their mate in a hug. It shocked the Alpha but he pulled Rin close and kissed the top of their head. 

To be honest, I was worried about Rin now. I wanted to talk to them more but that would have to wait. Still, I had to look out for them. They were my friend. We'd been friends for years now and I wasn't about to break that off anytime soon, especially if we both had longer life spans than our mates. We'd need each other at some point. That thought left a bitter taste in my mouth. I didn't want to think about the fact that I was immortal and my mates were not. 

Would I have to live the rest of eternity without them once they die? Could I turn them like Elvira did with me? Could shifters and nymphs even become vampires? Or could I give up my immortality? I would have to ask Elvira about it at some point. For now, I wanted to do what I could in the moment, which was hold my mates. I walked over to them and pulled Aaron into a kiss, then Aubrey. Aaron looked at me like I was crazy. 

"What was that for?" he asked.

"I wanted to kiss you, so I did. Is that so wrong?" I answered.

"No," he grumbled. "It just surprised me."

He glared at me and slapped my arm.  

‘Cute.’

"You projected that thought on purpose didn't you?"

“Maybe.”

He huffed but reached down to grab my hand despite being upset. Aubrey laughed and pinched Aaron's cheek, which got the beta grumbling even more.

‘God, I love them so much.’

I wish I had the courage to project that thought, too. One day. I promise that.

[ohpuckthat]

Leaf to Leaf... (Auston Matthews)

Pairing: Auston Matthews x Fem!Reader Established Relationship

A/N: I was binge-watching Leaf to Leaf videos and got this idea. I don't know. I'm trying to get back into writing... again. Hope you like it 😊

When I was told that I was paired up with Auston for the Leaf to Leaf this season, I was a little nervous. We had been dating for almost 5 years but we had kept it fairly private. People knew we were dating but we rarely talked about each other in the media or posted about our relationship. The whole thing with Leaf to Leaf is to know a little more about the players.

I took a deep breath as we both walked into the room, various action shots of the team on the ice on the wall behind a table with two stools. I hopped up on one of the stools as Auston sat across from me. We did a quick mic check and got started.

"You ready?" He asked, playing with the flashcards in his hands.

"Ready as I'll ever be." I smiled, playing with the rings on my fingers.

"Awesome. So, we're starting deep. How does it feel to be the second woman to play in the NHL?"

"Oh wow. Okay, um. We are starting deep." I laughed, clearing my throat. "Well, firstly, it's incredible to be playing in arguably the best hockey league. I honestly didn't think I would be playing in the OHL let alone the NHL. I think we're making steps toward having hockey be for everyone, um, especially with Hayley Wickenheiser and Danielle Goyette running our development department and we had um, Taya Currie drafted by the Sarnia Sting in the OHL so it's really exciting to see what's happening."

"Well said." He smiled, placing his hand on mine.

"I hope that answer wasn't too long," I said, turning my attention to the crew.

"It's perfect." We heard from behind the camera.

"Thank you."

"Alright, next question. This one's a lot lighter and I honestly want to know your answer to this too. Thoughts on the moustache?"

"Your moustache?" He nodded. "I like it. I will say, and I've told you this before, I prefer it with the stubble but I like it. I like the clean-shaven too though. I just like your face."

"I like your face too."

"Thanks." I smiled, my confidence skyrocketing.

"Anytime." He smirked. "How did it feel scoring your first NHL hat trick?"

"Oh god. I was so hyped. To have done it in Toronto and my family was at that game just made it ten times better. I remember hopping over the boards thinking Spezz and Simmer were right behind me but it was you and Mitch and it didn't click until the puck went in the net and you literally picked me up."

"I was just so proud."

"Well, and it made it a little bit more special have you two on the ice. I'm probably the closest with you guys on the team so, yeah."

"You're so sweet. Alright, last question. Favourite trip?"

"Oh, I'm between two. My mom's dream vacation destination has always been Australia and New Zealand so we went just the two of us and had a blast. Spent most of the trip at the beach but I think it was just what we needed and I have a lot of good memories of that trip."

"What was the other one?"

"You invited me on your family vacation to Cabo."

"Oh yeah." He laughed, playing with the flashcards before setting them down. "That was a good trip."

"It was. I spent a lot of time with your sisters and your mom. But yeah."

"Okay, so we'll do the speed round and then a game. Then we'll switch to Y/N asking Auston questions." The producer said,

"Sounds good," I said, readjusting myself on the stool.

"You ready?" Aus asked, focusing on the cards in his hands.

"Mhmm."

"Go to Tim's order?"

"Um, medium peppermint tea and a pack of Timbits."

"Winter of summer?"

"Winter."

"Blue Jays or Raptors."

"Oh, uhh. That's hard. Um, Blue Jays."

"Favourite show?"

"Uh, The Office."

"Good answer. Me or Mitch?"

"Steph." I quickly shot out without even thinking. "Is that really one of the questions?" I asked, turning to the crew.

"No that was mine. I wanted to know who you'd choose." Auston laughed, sliding over the questions.

"Yeah. I'm gonna stick with Steph."

"I'd choose you." He said under his breath. "And finally, waffles or pancakes?"

"Pancakes, with Canadian maple syrup."

"Nice. You do make really good pancakes." He smiled, swinging his legs under the table slightly.

"Pancakes were one of the first things I learned how to make."

"Really?" He asked as the crew was getting the game ready for us.

"Yeah. I started with breakfast foods cause it's my favourite and it's a lot of easy and good basics."

"I did not know that."

"We're all learning things today!" I laughed placing both hands on top of his. The producer walked in front of the camera and passed me a pair of headphones and Auston another stack of flashcards.

"So, Y/N, you're going to put those headphones on and you're going to try and guess what Auston's saying and then you'll swap when the music runs out. Pretty simple."

"Awesome. Sounds fun." I said, placing the headphones on.

I could not hear a thing. Auston had his face turned to the camera. I tried my best to guess what he was saying but I couldn't make it out. He finally turned to me and nodded before saying something.

"I have no clue what you just said." He tried again, speaking even slower. "One more time," I asked, leaning forward even more. He spoke once more, even slower this time. "Scotiabank arena?"

"Yes!" He yelled, nodding frantically. "Next one."

He turned to the camera again and said something really quick. When he turned back to me, he had a huge smile on his face. He nodded again and said the next clue. I shook my head, missing the whole thing. He said it again, much slower and in parts.

"June..." He nodded. "Okay, June... Ele... eleventh?"

"Yes!"

"Our anniversary?" I laughed, setting my elbows on the table. He nodded, looking back down at the clues. I shook my head and turned my attention back to his lips. Learning from the last two times, he took it slow. "I?" He nodded. "La... la. Love?" Another nod. "Okay? You? I love you."

"I love you too." He smiled, moving one hand below the table. I furrowed my brows in confusion but couldn't think too much about it before he had started again.

"Will, Willy? No, sorry. Okay, it's will. Y... you. Okay. Mmmm... mmm... Maa... Oh God, this is hard. Maa... Marry?" And just like that, my heart dropped.

The music stopped and it felt like the only people in the world were me and him. He stood up and took the headphones off my ears, and pulled me to my feet. He lowered down onto one knee and opened a small box to reveal a beautiful ring.

"So? Y/N M/N L/N, will you marry me?"

I lost all my words. Through tears, I nodded, hoping he would understand. He grabbed my left hand and slid the ring over my finger. He stood up and pulled me into his arms.

"I love you," I whispered, planting small kisses just below his ear.

"I love you too."

[pies-writes-and-more]

Karasuno boys when you wander away

Characters: Tsukishima Kei, Dachi Sawamura, Asahi Azumane, & Kageyama Tobio, all with a Fem!Reader

Warnings: probably some swearing but nothing besides that :) 

A/N: So this is somewhat based on my IRL relationship haha. I’m very bad with just walking away or getting distracted by something and always worry my partner xD thought it would make for some cute headcanons! Let me know if you’d like more!

Haikyuu Masterlist

Tsukishima had only looked away for a moment. He walked towards a fresh fruit stand, glancing at the peaches and wondering if you wanted one to snack on on the way home. He glanced back and his lips parted to ask you, but you were no where to be seen.

His lips turned into a frown, trying not to give into that small moment of panic as his eyes scanned the outside market. You were no where to be found nearby. His heart pulsed harder against his chest as his mind reminded him of that news story of girls going missing in public places. Tsukishima pushed through people, giving half-assed apologies as he thought about you being dragged away and no one noticing. How had he not noticed? How would he find you? What should he do now?

His heart raced as he continued to look for you, giving out a small yelp when he felt someone grab his hand.

“Tsukki?” You were suddenly next to him, smiling innocently up at him. “Are you okay?”

The rush of relief that came with seeing you next to him was followed with frustration. “Idiot! Where did you wander off to?” He scolded, his hand tightening on yours.

“There was a puppy,” you admitted with slight embarrassment, smiling shyly. “I just gave him a couple of pats - he looked so lonely. Everyone was ignoring him,” you explained, nodding towards an older man who was dozing off on a bench. He had a leash in his hand and a large dog sat next to his feet, eagerly watching people was if begging for someone to pet him.

Tsukishima shook his head in disbelief, “You scared me for a dog? Moron,” he grumbled, pulling you further into the market. He didn’t want to be in such a big crowd right now.

You giggled, trying not to note the redness in his ears, “Aw I’m sorry Tsukki, I didn’t mean to scare you.” You tugged on his arm gently, trying to give him an apologetic smile but he kept looking away from you.

“Whatever, get yourself lost for all I care,” he pouted slightly and you tried your best not to laugh at how such a tall boy could act like a 4 year old.

“I’ll stay with you, promise. Won’t ever leave your side!” you insisted, clutching his arm and beaming up at him.

Tsukishima glanced at your smile, noticing it looked... almost playful? “What?” He raised an eyebrow, already knowing he wasn’t going to like the answer.

“You care about me,” you teased, reaching up to poke his nose playfully. “You were worried about me because you careeee about me.” You had expected him to pull his arm away, stomp off until you apologized for making fun of him.

But instead he just rolled his eyes, flicking your forehead gently, “Maybe just a bit.”

That surprised you just a little, your heart skipping a beat or two in response, “I am sorry, Tsukki, I didn’t think I went off that far. It just got really crowded,” you told him sincerely, squeezing his hand gently. “But lucky for me! You’re so tall so it’s easy to find you!”

Tsukishima scoffed some more but blushed anyways, feeling now like he had overreacted, “Whatever. You’re buying me a snack to make it up to me, idiot.”

“Mmkay!” You beamed, the two of you roaming the market together. Tsukishima pretended like he had completely forgotten the whole thing, but you noticed that he never let go of your hand that easily after that. And he always kept you close in crowded areas.

So yeah, maybe Tsukishima Kei really did care for you.

Daichi is a calm cool collected dude. Calm. Cool. Collected. It was as if he was chanting these words in his brain, eyes frantically trying to find you. CALM COOL COLLECTED, he desperately tried to remind himself. Everything is FINE.

But that still didn’t answer the question: where the hell could you have gone off to?

It was one of the first big matches that Daichi ever invited you too and the crowds were 10x bigger than anything you’ve been to. Daichi’s whole body trembled with the idea that you were completely lost and waiting for him to find you.

“I’m sure she’s alright, Daichi! Y/N’s probably just exploring,” Asahi clapped a hand onto his friend’s shoulder, though Daichi could tell he was nervous too.

“Stop being such worry-bums,” Suga insisted, smacking both of their arms. “Y/N can be as scary as the rest of us! No one would pick on her!”

You were fully capable of dealing with things yourself, Daichi knew this. But he felt a surge of protective energy anytime he felt you needed him. “I’ll be right back,” he mumbled to his friends, his feet quickly running around the gyms to try and catch a glimpse of you.

“Daichi!” Your voice made his eyes widen, darting around to try to find you. Suddenly, he was attacked with a full on jump hug, staggering backwards to keep them upright.

“Y-Y/N! Where’ve you been?” Daichi asked with a laugh, holding you tightly and trying to avoid showing you how nervous he was.

“Coach Ukai told me Hinata left his shoes in the bus so I went to grab it before the game! Shimizu-san and Yachi were both busy so I wanted to help!” You explained, smiling up at him while holding the little bag up for him to see. Your eyes flickered over Daichi’s for a moment, noting the slight blush on his cheeks and the way he couldn’t fully meet your gaze. You couldn’t help but let out a giggle, your lips turning into a little smirk, “Were you worried about me, Daichi?” You teased and laughed as his face turned even more red.

“Well I can’t win without my lucky charm on the stands,” he chuckled, ruffling your hair.

“Oh and I just thought you liked me,” Y/N shot back with a laugh. “Didn’t know it was just cause of your game.”

You turned on your heel, starting to walk back to the gym, Daichi following while stammering out a, “I-I do liked you!” He tried to laugh off his nerves, rubbing the back of his neck as he gave you a smile, “Don’t make me all nervous before a game, love!”

You two shared some more laughs as everyone warmed up, and just before you headed to the stands, you pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. Daichi tried to play it off cool but he was wobbly the whole walk towards the team and the group of boys just laughed, all slapping his back in pride. 

Unlike the Cap’n, Asahi is not calm, cool, or collected. I mean I think he’s cool but not in this sense LOL.

Asahi and you decided to have a picnic for lunch in a nearby park. But while he was setting up, you magically disappeared and Asahi felt all of his panic just intensify.

Did you? Leave him? To be on his own? Was this your way of breaking up with him?

No, Asahi tried to convince himself, you loved him. You guys had been together for almost a year now, that’s not how you’d end thins... is it?

Maybe you got lost? Did Asahi walk a little too fast to this spot? He knew sometimes you had a hard time keeping up with his long legs but he thought you had been holding his hand this whole time.

His eyes scanned the somewhat busy park. He couldn’t find you anywhere. His heart was starting to beat way too fast and his fingers were shaking while he tried to text the other third years to ask what the hell he should do.

Suga: LOL knowing Y/N she probably saw some cute chipmunk or something and stopped to take a photo of it

Daichi: don’t worry, Asahi, she’ll probably find you soon - you’re this gigantic dude in a park. I doubt she’d lose you

That didn’t help. Now Asahi was noticing how parents and kids were specifically avoiding him. His bottom lip pouted as he wondered just what he could do to seem less intimidating. Should he sit down? No, what if you were trying to see him? Sitting would only make it harder!

Just as he was considering climbing up the nearby tree to see the park from a higher distance, you popped out from some nearby bushes, holding a few wildflowers.

“Asahi?” You blinked in surprise, finding him trying to find a foothold on the tree. “Are we... eating in the tree?”

“Y/N!” The poor boy almost knocked his head on the tree when he turned around to see you, eyes widening. He immediately ran over to you and twirled you around in a hug, “God, you scared me!” 

You quickly apologized profusely seeing how nervous he was, “I’m sorry, Asahi! I saw some pretty flowers over there and thought maybe it would be nice to decorate our tablecloth with!” You kiss his nose and cheeks over and over again trying to get him to calm down (but really that’s just making him more flustered).

The two of you share a gorgeous meal together, and you spend the rest of the day with his head in your lap and you braiding his hair, intertwining some of the flowers you found. The two of you talked about everything and anything and Asahi made sure from that day forward, he could always spot you. Any time you guys weren’t holding hands or standing next to each other, everyone noticed that Asahi’s eyes would dart over to you every now and then, whether consciously or unconsciously. 

When he got home that night, he pressed the flowers you put in his hair in a book and kept them as a keepsake. And then gave them to you in a gift for your anniversary later.

Kageyama would start feeling panic and wouldn’t even know why. The game was starting soon and something just didn’t feel right. His muscles? No… he felt in tiptop shape. He stretched a little extra today too to make sure he wasn’t feeling stiff. His stomach? No, he made sure to have some food and milk a little earlier. And he wasn’t feeling nauseous so it couldn’t be that. His hands? No, they felt perfect in fact. He was so excited for this game earlier, he had felt the anticipation running to his fingers to just set the perfect ball. So why was he feeling so uncomfortable?

His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to think about what was making him feel different. His eyes scanned the crowd unconsciously before realizing what it was.

You weren’t standing up there with the rest of the Karasuno fans.

Where the hell were you?

His feet moved towards the gym doors before Ukai yelled at him, “Where the hell do you think you’re going, Kageyama? The game is staring soon!”

Kageyama’s eyes widened, noting the whole team watching him curiously. Why did Kageyama seem so nervous? He never seemed nervous.

“Don’t worry, Kageyama, with my spikes better than ever, we’re definitely going to win!” Hinata grinned, trying to lighten the tense air in the team.

“I’m not worried, just don’t be stupid on the court,” Kageyama replied, shrugging it off. But his eyes still scanned the stands. Where were you? You had said hello to the whole and wished Kageyama luck just a few minutes ago? So how come you weren’t standing up there with Coach’s friends and Yachi?

The whistle blew to indicate the game starting and Kageyama felt his stomach turn. Why was he feeling like this? You were probably fine so what did it matter?

You had been buying some milk from the nearby vending machines to make sure that Kageyama had some after his game. You knew that he had accidentally finished all the ones he had packed earlier and had been kinda crabby about it so you thought maybe it would cheer him up. You had stood in line for the vending machine for what felt like forever but it was all worth it knowing that you could throw the milk boxes into your lunch bag to keep them cool. Knowing Kageyama would be excited about it made you really happy.

As you walked back towards the gym, you could hear cheering. Your eyes widened as you realized that the game had already started and you ran towards the stands.

“Y/N! There you are!” Yachi’s smile looked oddly nervous. Not that she wasn’t normally nervous at these games, but this one seemed different. “I think something’s wrong with Kageyama.”

Your eyes shot down to the court, seeing how stiff Kageyama looked next to everyone else. They were patting him on the back, yelling “We’ll get the next one!” and Noya screaming, “BRING IT ON!”

“He was looking for you in the stands earlier I think,” Yachi told you with a small giggle, “He looked really nervous when he couldn’t see you.”

Your heart swelled slightly, wondering if Kageyama was off his game because he hadn’t been able to see you. “Kageyama!!” You yelled from the stands, cupping your hands around your mouth. The dark haired boy’s head shot up to look at you, a sense of relief growing on his face. “You can do it!!” You screamed some more, the people on the stands behind you yelling in support.

Even from far away, you could see his lips turn upward in a smile.

Alright, you both thought to yourself. Now we can get started.

[marvelandsuchstuff]

Sleepless Nights and Golden Sunlight (Corpse husband x reader)

A/N: helllllooooo everyone, I think like most of the internet I have been obsessing over this man for the past week and couldn’t help myself. I would however like to take this time to say that I will fully respect this man and if he ever does want this taken down - I will do so :). Anyways I wrote this shit in 12 hours and it’s now 2:45 am lol but I hope you enjoy!

Warnings: None, unless I can kill you with softness

It was well past 6 am when the sun had crept through the sheer curtains of the room (y/n) lay asleep in. The golden light streamed on to the grey bed in which she was peacefully in her own world. She was curled up around one of the pillows, with a small smile cracking through her soft lips.

In one of the other rooms, a man sat at a desk trying to record a video for the third time in the past four hours. He was growing increasingly furious with the script in front of him, no longer wanting to attempt reading it out. Put it down to the lack of sleeping for more than three hours or the fact that he was pushing himself too hard again with the rapid rate of growth over these past couples of weeks. But what he did know is that he needed to finish this video, however, no matter what he did, he just couldn’t seem to do it.

That’s when he finally gave up and slammed his hands down on the desk in front of him, not noticing how loud it had been. He sighed and looked at the time on the side of the screen and starred as the minutes passed. Great. Another sleepless night had passed him by without a shutter of a thought. That’s when he heard a sleepy girl’s voice from the doorway.  

(y/n) awoke from her peaceful state when she suddenly heard a forceful thump from down the hall. She hurriedly pulled herself up, dazed and confused and still half asleep, slowly gathering her surroundings. The golden sun bursting into the room now blinded her eyes as she tried to look around at where she was. (y/n) put her hand up blocking it from her line of sight and sighed with relief as she realized she was at corpses' house, in his bed. Safe.  

Although this fact comforted her, she still was mildly distressed at the sound she heard moments before. Almost immediately she noticed how she was alone in the king bed, which wasn’t surprising, in fact, it was normal for her. She knew corpses’ sleeping habits often kept him awake until ludicrous hours in the morning and often he would only end up getting a few hours sleep before returning to reality. Often she would have to drag him to bed, only for him to leave once she had fallen asleep in his arms and he made sure she wasn’t worried about him. So, she decided to go find out what was happening and where her boyfriend had gotten to.

She put her hand down and slowly swung herself out of the warm covers onto the cold hardwood floors. She pushed herself off the mattress, steadily gaining her balance and then slowly walking to the door, still very tired from not having enough sleep. She then opened one of the bedroom’s double doors while leaning on it for a bit of support. (y/n) roamed down the hallway, her feet cold from the wood under them, searching for her boyfriend.

She noticed the dark purple glow coming out of his gaming room, which only could mean he was in there. As soon as this realisation occurred, she felt her legs growing even weaker and used her last source of strength to get over to the door frame. She quickly lent herself against it to support herself before she entirely collapsed onto the floor.

Once (y/n) had gathered herself again, she glanced over toward the computer monitor and lo and behold saw corpse staring at something on the screen. He seemed like he was in a different world, taking no notice of the small girl behind him. After about a minute (y/n) built up enough energy to let out a small and soft “hi”.

The chair swivelled around to face her, and a weak smile crept onto corpses’ face, “hey baby”,

However, he soon realised the state (y/n) was in and quickly dashed over to her before she completely fell to the floor.

“Princess, what are you doing awake?” he asked with concern as she sank deep into his chest for some stability.

“Hmmm, I’m ok”

“You sure, because right now you're clinging onto me as if gravity didn’t exist” he chuckled lightly.

“Yeah,” she whispered and giggled a bit, “Anyways I heard a loud noise and wanted to make sure no one had come to kidnap you,”

He laughed again, “Well I’m standing here are I? So I must be fine unless I’ve been given some drug to make me hallucinate the most beautiful person in the world. Which in that case I want to be on this forever.”

(y/n) laughed and smiled into his chest. They both just stood like this for a moment taking in the silence and the warmth of each other. Their breaths aligned creating a bliss in which the earth itself shattered away and nothing else mattered. Two souls becoming more intertwined with each second passing by. Heaven.

Corpse was the one to finally break the silence, softly asking, “Do you want to go back to bed?”

(y/n) nodded into him, “mhm, can you come with me?”

“Of course princess, I wasn’t planning on leaving you anytime soon” he mumbled.

Then suddenly he manoeuvred around her, still making sure she had balance. He carefully picked the girl up bridal style and moved over to turn the lights off. At first, (y/n) was a bit taken aback by this but quickly adjusted to his body and curled into him. She closed her eyes softly caving into the darkness but wanting to stay awake until they got into the bed.

Corpse carried the girl in his arms down the hall, no longer concerned about the video he left or the lack of sleep he had. All that mattered was his wonderful and sweet little girlfriend who kept him sane at the worst of times. He looked down at her and he wondered how she ended up with him.

“Why’d you choose me?” he whispered, not sure if she heard him.

This made (y/n) open her eyes, now full of concern. “Because I love you, I knew it then and I know it now”

They both recounted the night they met. It wasn’t much, the met when poki had invited (y/n) to play a couple of games of among us and he was there. (y/n) remembers instantly feeling overwhelmed by even the few amount of people there. Corpse realised this a couple of rounds into the game after poki kept asking why she was so quiet compared to normal. He had seen her talk in poki’s videos a few times and was wondering the same because she was often more vocal in those videos. So he decided to message her to see if she was ok, seeing the same signs as he does with himself. For some reason (y/n) decided to tell him what was going on in hopes that he could help, knowing that he also struggled with these things.

After that, they immediately became really close and both were happy that they finally found someone who fully understood one another. The rest became history and now they were here, together.

“I love you too. So much,” Corpse said, smiling as he pushed the second of the double doors open. He then walked over to the opposite side of the bed and then carefully laid the girl down on the mattress. He moved the pillow she had been curled up against to make sure her head was supported.

After he put her down he went to the wall with the control panel and lowered the blackout blinds so they wouldn’t be disturbed by the already light sky outside. Then, he went back around to the other side of the bed and climbed on top of the grey sheets. He pulled the covers over both of them and tucked them into (y/n) side to keep her even warmer. Then snaking one hand over her torso and leaving one to play with her hair, he pulled closer to her body

“Are you going to tell me what was that noise I heard now?” (y/n) quietly asked,

“It was nothing, I just got mad at a video I was trying to film”

With this, (y/n) turned over to face him, searching for the emotions on his face. A strange look of sadness and anger and hatred she knew all too well. Very often this was corpses’ permanent emotional state where it is for something like a video or mean tweet, or more often himself. Every time she sees this side of him, it breaks her heart because he, of all the people in the world, definitely doesn’t deserve to feel like this.

The worst part is, however, often she feels as though there is nothing she can do to help. The best way she has found is to be there for him, whenever and whatever he needs because she knows he would do the same for her.

“Can I do anything?”

However, what she didn’t realize was how much she already does to help, just by being there. Because often if she’s happy and doing ok, he would always come back to her. His own personal light in the dark.

“Get some sleep for me baby. That’s all that I want you to do,” He replied, running his hand through her hair.

“Ok, but please stay with me?” she asked as she fell back into her own little world of dreams.

“Of course princess, I wasn’t planning on leaving you anytime soon”

[k3rm1e]

heyo!! i was wondering if you would mind writing hc’s for a reader who just had a major accomplishment but their parents don’t really congratulate them or anything, and then philza celebrates with them instead and tells reader how proud he is. i kinda want some dadza comfort rn :’) anyway, thank you sm!! have a great day <3

accomplishments

heyo!! i was wondering if you would mind writing hc’s for a reader who just had a major accomplishment but their parents don’t really congratulate them or anything, and then philza celebrates with them instead and tells reader how proud he is. i kinda want some dadza comfort rn :’) anyway, thank you sm!! have a great day <3

hello anon! i’m sorry i took a while to answer this. i went a bit off track with this and got A LOT more angsty, so i’m really sorry about that. If you want me to make a much more fluffier or mellowed-out version, i’d be happy to. please, read the trigger warnings before reading this.

i don’t plan on writing more angst-y things like this, especially not this angsty, so don’t worry. once again, please, if you would like me to rewrite this into a less emotional version i’d be happy to

cw: swearing

tw: talk of god and the church, slight manipulation, repetition of words

accomplishments:

  holy shit. you were in disbelief. a state of shock. one million twitch followers. one. million. followers. you were silent. shock can have many effects on a person. some scream and laugh out of joy, or a misplaced sense of mania. others cry, because they cannot handle it. some remain confused, because their brains are unable to conceptualize the event. you were silent.

  what should you do? would a “thank you” tweet be good enough or would it come off as insincere? should you wait to stream? or would that make people feel you didn’t care because you took so long? through the anxiety you could feel the true realization that you now had one million followers. like a truck, you were hit with the most excited feeling ever. getting up, you jumped around your room. you spun and jumped and cheered and whooped and yelled and smiled and danced and were overflowing with joy, with the acknowledgement that you had done it, you had really fucking done it. 

  opening the window above your desk, without a single fuck, you screamed. “WHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! FUCK YEAH!!!!!!” let’s just hope your neighbors don’t wake up.

  you stayed up all night, celebrating. tweeting out a thank you, you received congratulations from your fans and friends while you talked with the people in your discord vcs.

  in the morning, your mother and father had woken up. with a newfound determination, you ran downstairs. streaming was your passion and you wanted to tell the world what you had done. but, because of limitations, your mother was your metaphorical world.

  “mom! mom! mom! mother, mother, mumther!!” you shouted, dashing down the stairs, tripping over your feet. stupid wood flooring and slidy socks.

  from your place at the bottom of the stairs, you heard her sigh, “yes, sweetie?”

  you bounded over to her, setting your arms on the kitchen counter. from the hallway you could see your dad, who was sitting on the couch drinking his sunday morning coffee. “mom! guess what?” without giving her time to respond, you shouted, “i hit one million follows on twitch! one freaking million!”.

  your mother didn’t seem as enthusiastic as you. “is that why you were causing such a ruckus last night? and, watch your mouth, even though ‘freaking’ isn’t a ‘true’ curse, i don’t want you swearing. especially not on the lord’s day. i couldn’t fathom going to church everyday, only to allow you to have a mouth like that.” she continued to stare at her work papers.

  “oh, uh, okay mother. dad? did you hear me? i hit one million on twitch.” you awkwardly turned your head over to your father.

  “she’s right, you know that, don’t you sweetie?” your father stood up, and made his way into the kitchen. “language like that, it’s shameful. surely, we don’t need you to have a private session with father paulson, do we?” your dad stood next to your mother, rubbing her back as he stared at you.

  “no, no, of course not. um, i’m gonna go upstairs now.” you turned around, wishing you could simply disappear.

  “without breakfast? are you truly that upset with us? we can’t have you ending up like those people, committing sinful acts and going to hell. god would never forgive you. we’re already taking a risk allowing you to stream, putting yourself out there.”

  both your mother and father stared at you. your blood felt like ice in your veins. the white walls of your house seemed so much brighter, yet duller at the same time. everything felt a white-pure-pink-orange. your breathing got uneasy. choppy. in, out, out, in, in, in, out, in, in, out, out for different increments of time. 5, 3, 2, 7, 10, 9, 6, 4, 1, 6, 8, seconds, over and over and over.

  “we just wanna protect you, dear. we love you, don’t you get that?” your mother stared at you.

  you felt like a scene in those movies. the ones that directly cater to teens who thought their lives were shit when in reality they just hadn’t grown up enough to make sense of something yet. were you one of those teens? or is this actually wrong. you don’t think it is, but you don’t talk to others about this. family matters stay in the family was a common phrase repeated in your household. the church was family, they could know. your mother and father, they could know. others, they must not know, never know.

  “of course, mother, father.” you wanted to force yourself to speak, but syllables were incapable of getting past your lips. your mouth was full of peanut butter from the sandwiches served in your elementary school cafeteria. but, the partly frozen chocolate milk always washed it down. “of course. i love you guys too. love you.” you smiled, a disgusting smile that felt violating to exist on your face, violating, violating, violating.

  you dashed up the stairs, to your room, up, up, up. running in, you wanted to slam the door, scream out the window, puch your pillow, smash your pc, cry, whatever you could do to get out your emotions. but instead, you lightly shut your door and slowly walked over to your desk chair to see who was online. you would go live later. it was only 5 AM, after all. they could wait. at least, you hoped they could.

  opening discord, just to see what everyone was doing, you saw philza minecraft was online. you went over and messaged him, ‘phil. philza. philza minecraft. vc please?’ in response, you received a short, ‘sure m8, gimme a minute’ you waited, until you heard the noise confirming he had joined.

  “good morning phil.” your energy from before had receded back into the confines of your chest. the prior excitement was gone and replaced with a feeling of fatigue.

  “morning mate, how are you? congrats on the one mill!” phil sounded excited, happy for you. you smiled, chuckling a bit.

  “i’m alright man, just tired. how are you? and, thanks for the congrats.” you smiled, feeling the fatigue set in.

  “i’m good. but you, you don’t sound very good. couldn’t sleep, could ya’? that was how i was when i hit one mill. way too excited to sleep.”

  “yeah. yeah, i’m just tired.” you were getting a bit too tired to talk. the day had barely started, and yet the full-body emotional exhaustion had set.

  “‘just tired’? the hell happened kid?” phil’s voice sounded concerned. fuck. the last thing you wanted to do was worry him. he had his own life and you had already caused enough trouble today.

  “it’s nothing big phil, seriously. just my parents.” there, a slight bit of information. family matters still within the family, just a few words.

  “they being shitbirds? or are you lying, and something big did happen?” he was being inquisitive, which was dangerous. questions were dangerous.

  “no, why would i lie?” his inquisitiveness would continue, you knew. so you spilled the metaphorical beans. “they just, just weren’t as supportive as i’d wished they were when i told them. i was really psyched, y’know? and them, just sort of, not giving a shit? i don’t know man, it just feels bad.”

  “i get you. it’s shit, when people don’t care about your accomplishments. my parents never really saw streaming as a true profession in the beginning, which led to shit like you describing. i promise it gets better though, even if it feels like shit now. and, for what it’s worth, i’m proud of you.”

  “it’s fine phil, you don’t need to try to make me feel better. i’m okay, seriously.” you didn’t need or want his pity. accepting it would feel patronizing.

  “no, you need to understand that i’m not fucking around. one million is a big fuckin’ thing, especially for you who hasn’t been streaming all that long to achieve. it’s fucking amazing, mate. be proud of yourself, for christ’s sake.” his fake anger chimed through your headphones. even though you were being berated, you still felt better.

  “thank you, phil. i needed that.”

  “your welcome, mate. and look, anytime your parents are being shit, don’t try to hold it all in. call me, or wil, or someone, okay? don’t hold that shit in.”

  you fake sighed, just to piss him off. “okayyyyyy….”

  “good. now, go take a nap or some shit. i love you, kid.”

  “love you too, dadza.” this time, your words didn’t feel forced. the smile on your face wasn’t violating, but an invitation to better times. it would be alright. okay.

[midnightstar-90]

Hidden~ Eddie Diaz x Nash! Reader

A/N: I wanted to add some action, so I moved up when Shannon decided to divorce Eddie. Eddie is too good to make him into a cheater. I'm not really good at describing intimate-type stuff either.

Lose Some, Win Some

Y/N's POV

I am finally home. I'm home with my son, and the school gave me a couple of days to rest. I sat on my couch, watching the news. "Today, police suspect LAFD's 118 for robbing $300,000 worth of cash from a local bank. Police say that the LAFD was there to help the bank manager and a delivery man with a seizure or a possible nerve agent. Police also say that they found the cash inside one of their firetrucks. More information coming up, soon."

After hearing that, I remember the number on one of the firetrucks at the crash. The 118 saved me, and if they saved me, that means that Eddie and my dad are being questioned for a robbery. I haven't known Eddie long, but I know that Eddie, nor my father, would rob a bank.

Zachary walks into the room. "Mommy, I'm ready for bed," my little man says. I turn to him and say, "Ok, I'll be in there in a bit." He runs back to his room.

I hear a knock at the door. It is almost 9:30 pm. Who could be at my door? I go to the door and look through the peephole. Eddie and Christopher stand at the door with a to-go bag.

I open the door, and I say, "Eddie? Chris? what are you doing here?" "I bet you have heard about what is going on. The police have ransacked our house, and I was wondering if you could watch Chris until this blows over?" Eddie asked me desperately.

I smile at the two boys. "Sure. Chris, Zach is in his room getting ready for bed. You can go hang out with him until I get you a bed ready. His room is down the hall, the First door on the left," I tell the little boy, and then turn to Eddie.

He hands me Chris' night bag, and I joke and say, "There better not be any evidence in here." He chuckles, saying, "Nope, no evidence, just clothes, and a toothbrush."

I invite him into my apartment. He walks in and says, "Nice apartment. Is that a skylight?" He points up, at the skylight, in my living room.

(Y/N's Living room /w a skylight)

"Yeah, when Levi died, I would tell Zach that his father was watching him from the stars. So, I decided that anytime we missed Levi, we would watch the stars," I said, trying not to tear up.

Eddie reaches in his pocket and pulls out a picture. "I'm guessing this is Levi?" Eddie asks, handing me the picture. I look at the picture and lose my cool. Eddie sits me on the couch and just hugs me.

This is the closest I've ever been to a man since Levi. It felt good. I felt protected. I don't need protection because I was in the navy, but this man made me feel loved.

We sat on the couch, with me crying into his shirt. "Mommy, aren't you gonna put me to bed?" "Yeah." I get up, heading into my child's room.

Eddie follows me into the room, and what he sees shocks him.

(Zachary's bed)

Christopher is sitting on the bottom bunk of a firehouse bed. The whole room was dedicated to firefighters. When we got in that crash, and he met his grandfather, Zach decided that when he gets older, he would become a firefighter.

Christopher looks at his dad and says, "Dad, Zach said he wants to be like you and uncle Buck when he gets older."

Eddie continues to look around. He walks towards the cubby. Inside the cubby is some of Zach's favorite toys, some pictures of Levi and I, and some pictures of Zach and I. What really caught Eddie's eye, was the picture of Zach on my shoulders, at the El Paso Zoo.

I am tucking the boys in, when I hear, "You were in El Paso?" I look back and say, "Yeah, that was Zach's 2nd birthday. Levi was born in Austin, but he grew up in El Paso." Eddie just nods and goes back to looking around.

As I'm tucking Christopher in he says, "Dad and I are from El Paso. It would have been cool if we met before LA." I smile at the boy, before walking out and turning off the lights.

"We have a lot in common, you know?" Eddie tells me. I look at him and he looks back. "Oh, really?" I ask. Eddie and I move closer to each other. I continue to look at the man and I ask, "Like what?" "Well, for starters, we were both fought for our country." Imagining this man in a military uniform made the moment even hotter. I moved closer. "Ok, and?" "And, we both had a son at a young age."

At this point, he was towering over me. I quickly pulled the man into a kiss. He kisses back. I move my hands from my side to his chest, and he grabs my hips. He deepens the kiss as I move my hands from his chest to his neck. I feel strong hands go under my shirt.

We keep making out for a couple of minutes until I pull back. "I'm so sorry. I forgot you married," I say frantically. "She told me she wasn't ready. She filed for divorce. I also didn't feel like our relationship was working. She left us when Chris was little. I kinda like this hot teacher, who was in the Navy and has a son. Also, she knows about being a firefighter." Eddie tells me, holding my hands.

I kiss Eddie again. Eddie and I head to my room, without breaking the kiss. That night was the best night in forever. Everyone got a sleepover.

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

The robbery thing has been put behind us, but a new problem has arrived. My father didn't tell the LAFD everything about why he transferred, therefore leaving him suspended. He hasn't told me either, but I think it is best to let him come to me about it.

I started work again today, except I feel like I'm looking after 3 kids. My dad insisted that we hang out, you know since he wasn't there for most of my life.

I wake up at 5 am to a large banging noise. I look to see who it is, and surprise surprise, it is my father with tons of groceries. "Dad, what are you doing here. Zach is still asleep, and I don't have to be up till 7 am." I tell my dad, letting him in.

He heads to my kitchen and sits down the food. "I was thinking that I could make you and Zach breakfast, and then I could take you to work."

I gave my father a loving look. I feel bad that his past came back to haunt him, but maybe something good will come out of it. Besides, I missed the father/daughter bonding we had. Eddie told me his food is at grade A chef level, so why not let him cook for me.

"Well I love what you're doing, but I'm missing sleep. If it's fine with you, could I go back to sleep?" I ask, and receive a nod back. I walk to my room, but I turn back to check upon him. I know he's sad, but at this moment he looks happy.

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

I woke up at 7 am to a heavenly smell. I walk into the kitchen, after remembering my dad was making breakfast. As leave the hallway to see my son and father talking about firefighting. I smile, and my dad turns to face me.

"Ah, you're awake! I woke up Zach and got him dressed for you." my dad says taking a bite of the french toast. I go into the kitchen and make myself some food. I see french toast, fresh fruit, bacon, eggs, and freshly squeezed orange juice. I look amazed as I take some of everything.

My dad works up the courage to ask me a question, "I was wondering if you wanted to stop by the firehouse, like old times. I have some people I would like you to meet." With my mouth full, I say, "Yeah, I missed those days" "Oh man, mommy is breaking a rule. She is talking with her mouth full," Zach says to the man next to him.

Dad laughs. "Well I ate, but I have to get dressed." I head to my room to get dressed.

(Y/N's outfit to work)

I walk back into the living room and we get ready to head out. We make it to the school, and I say goodbye to my father. I take Zach to class. I get to the office and I see Eddie and Chris. "Hey, I was just hanging with your fire captain." "Well, can you tell him we want him back because his replacement is terrible?" I laugh.

"So, are you coming to the firehouse?" Eddie asked me like he knew my dad would ask me. I give the firefighter a suspicious look and then say, "Yeah, my dad asked me this morning. Would you like me to bring Chris?" He gives me a "yeah, sure", and then we say goodbye.

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

Christopher and I had so much fun. We were in math, and I helped teach him fractions with mini Kit-Kats. Then, in English, we acted out storytime with his class. The day ended in science, where we build and erupted our own volcanos.

It is the end of the day, some and of the boys waited outside for my father. When he arrived, we got in and started heading towards the fire station, which was only a 5-minute drive.

We walk into the 118's fire station, and Zach went off. A scream could be heard throughout the whole building. All the firefighters and paramedics stopped to see what was going on. My dad walked up to me and said, "Just like his mother."

Eddie and another man walked down the stairs to see what was happening. I smile at the majestic man walking towards me. We go into a hug before I hear a cough.

"Eddie, aren't you gonna introduce me to the pretty lady," the man asked Eddie. I smile at the man, but Eddie and my dad roll their eyes. My dad jumps into the conversation, "Buck, this is my daughter, Y/N, and her son, Zach. Y/N, this is Buck."

Buck and I shake hands. "My name is actually Evan Buckley, but everyone calls me Buck. You are somewhat of what Eddie has told me. Your pretty, but I expected a younger Bobby, with boobs." Eddie smacks Buck's chest.

I'm laughing and I head upstairs with the others. "Mommy! Mommy! Can I go down the fire pole," Zach asks, tugging on my pant leg? I nod my head yes.

Another man and woman walk over and sit with us in the lounge. "Why is there a little boy running around? Did someone drop him off, because I think your only supposed to do that with babies, not children," the man said, sitting right next to me. "That's my son. I'm Y/N." I hold out my hand waiting for the man to shake it. "I'm Howie, but everyone calls me Chimney. This is Hen," The man says, and the woman waves.

We continue to talk until the emergency bell rings. Everyone heads downstairs, but I pull Eddie back. I give him a long kiss, with my arms around his neck and his around my waist.

I pull back and say, "I had fun the other night. Maybe, I could see if my dad could watch the boys, and you and I could maybe have dinner at my house." Eddie groans and says, "Oh, how I would love that. We could also watch a movie."

This man will be the death of me. "Yeah, but you need to go." Eddie runs off to an emergency, I head to the store with my dad, Christopher, and Zachary.

"You know, you don't have to hide Eddie from me," He tells me. I look at him shocked. "I see the way you guys look at each other, and I saw you guys kiss today," he says calmly.

"Well, since you know could you help me make a meal for him and I tonight, and can you watch the boys?" I practically beg. He nods, and then he moves towards the isles, picking out ingredients.

"I don't want to intrude, so I will give you a recipe card. But yes, I will take the boys, just use protection. I don't want to see another grandchild for a while," he says, earning a smack on the chest from me. "There are children around," I whisper.

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

My dad gave me a recipe for Ravioli, served with garlic bread and bacon-wrapped asparagus. I am almost finished cooking when I hear a knock.

(Y/N's Date Outfit)

I open the door to see a devastated Eddie. I go in to hug him, and Eddie says, "She's dead. Shannon died in the emergency room. That call we left for, that was for her. What am I gonna tell Christopher."

I welcome the man in, and I sit him on the couch. "Do you want to eat?" I ask, hoping that I could get him to relax and eat. "No" is all I hear, before he shoves his face into my shoulder, and lets it all out. I rub his back and say, "Everything will be fine."

We sit there, on the couch, just cuddling. I smell something burning. My eyes widen and I yell, "My bread!"

Eddie's mind comes back to earth and he heads towards the kitchen. Not only is the bread burnt, but there was also a slight fire. Eddie quickly grabbed the fire extinguisher and put out the fire.

I was so scared. Eddie saved me from a fire. At the moment, I forgot all about the food, Eddie's emotions, and everything else. I kissed Eddie out of thankfulness. We kissed for about a minute before he pulled away.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have done that, with everything going on. I was scared. I could've just stood there and let the fire grow, but no, you saved me. You are m-" Eddie cut me off with a kiss.

Eddie picked me up and took me to my room. He laid me on my bed, and next thing you know, our clothes are off.

Taglist: @notanordinaryprincess95 @jjpogueprincess @wiypt-writes

[weelittleweasley]

guitar lesson (f.w.)

prompt: the band that the weasley siblings had formed brought new excitement to hogwarts. new music, new 

pairing: guitarist!fred weasley x fem! reader

warnings: language, allusions to sex (for like one second)

word count: 4.7k

a/n: this is literally just pure fluff. pure cute musical fluff.

George groaned and halted his drumming, “Bloody hell, Ronald, it’s not that hard to get the chord progression right after the third time drilling the song!” he cried out before tucking a drumstick behind his ear. “We go from G to B minor to E minor back to B minor. What is so hard about that?” he scolds his brother who just rolls his eyes. “Do we want to get this right or not?” George looks to the rest of the band comprised of his other siblings.

Ron just retorted simply, “It’s the first time we’ve ran this song in weeks, George. Everyone is rusty. Just give it a rest. We’ll get it right next go. Besides, aren’t we due for a five?” he looks to his sister who gives him eager eyes and a nod, signaling they were in desperate need of a break. 

George scoffs at his younger brother and says, “No, you’ll get it right the next go. Which starts now. Ginny, from the chorus. Fred, keep the chords crunchy, it sounds better that way. Ron, don’t fuck it up. Ready?” George directs the band as they all sigh. 

They had only been in band practice for an hour and a half and George was already making it a living hell. Sure, it was his idea to form a band and it seemed like a great idea. It was a way to spend more time together, to make music, to meet new people, and blow off some steam. If anything, Fred was the first one to jump on the offer. He knew that it would be a way for his family to bond, but also a way for him to show off his guitar skills that he had been honing for the past few years. Fred had once said, “Ladies love musicians. Especially the guitarists.”

But now it seemed like the band, which once was a low-key, stress free environment has changed wildly. Almost overnight things took a rapid 360. George had managed to book a gig for their band, The Burrow Bangers, at Three Broomsticks for the next weekend. George had convinced Madam Rosmerta to let them have the whole building for the evening for the gig if they promised to bring in the people. Which would not be a problem. Students were itching to see the band of siblings play. But this meant high stakes for the Weasleys. A real gig, paying them real money, to play real music. All they had ever done before was fuck around and play random music that they thought was funny. But this? This was all very new and very different than what they were used to.

With a few strikes of his drumsticks, George yelled out, “A 1, 2, 3, 4!” And the band swelled with music, George keeping rhythm on the drum kit, Fred wailing on his guitar, Ron strumming on the bass, and Ginny belting into the mic.

“She’s a Killer Queen, gunpowder, gelatine, Dynamite with a laser beam. Guaranteed to blow your mind; anytime...” Ginny belted into the mic, her alto voice resonating throughout the room of requirement as Ron and Fred stared at each other, wondering when they would get a break. Fred looked concerned at Ginny who's voice was obviously getting tired from belting for an hour and a half with no water or bathroom break.

Fred drops his guitar and speaks, “Hold on, hold on!” The band fades slowly before George throws up his hands in protest, asking why they stopped. “Do you not hear Ginny’s voice? She’s tired. We’re all tired, Georgie. We’ve been working non-stop for next week’s gig. I don’t think a ten minute break is gonna kill us,” he protests.

George rolls his eyes, “None of you are taking this seriously. We are getting paid for this. People are coming to watch us. Don’t you wanna be decent?” George rises from his seat, searching the eyes of his siblings for some agreement. 

Instead, he’s met with concerned eyes and tired expressions. Ginny looked absolutely exhausted, Fred looked exasperated, and Ron was flat out fed up. But all were equally concerned as to why their brother was so gassed up over this gig. George sighs, “I-” Fred gives him a sympathetic smile. “Of course, we wanna be good, Georgie. But we need to balance things out. Let’s all take a break for a while. Reconvene tonight after some much needed rest and we’ll talk details of rehearsals then. Good?”

Ron eagerly nods his head before slipping the bass off from around his body. Ginny turns off the mic and starts out with Ron, talks of what was for dinner in the Great Hall. Fred approaches his twin and places a hand on his shoulder. “What’s bugging you?” he asks, knowing that this behavior wasn’t typical for George. It wasn’t like George to get serious all of a sudden and push everyone to work without a break. Something was up and Fred could read it all over his brother’s face. 

Defeated, George sighs. “I don’t know, Fred. I guess I’m getting myself all worked up because I invited Angelina to the show and I wanted to ask to be my girlfriend and I guess I just want things to be perfect for her in a way.” Fred gives his brother a knowing look, wiggling his eyebrows. “Oh, shut it, you dickhead,” George laughs, pushing his brother’s shoulder. “You’d do the same if you fancied someone,” he teases Fred as his twin shrugs. “Freddie...you don’t mean to tell me no girl has walked up to you and has told you how hot it was that you played lead guitar in Hogwarts’ premiere band?” he teases.

Fred laughs, “Can’t say anyone has...yet.”

This makes George laugh and shake his brother’s shoulders. “That’s the spirit,” George slings his arm over Fred’s shoulder. The two twins carry back their band equipment as they make their way to the Gryffindor common room. “Seriously, Freddie, I bet I can set you up with one of Angie’s friends. I’ll tell Angie to bring her to the show and she can see just how sexy you look fingering those strings,” George alludes as Fred chuckles. 

“Nah, mate, I don’t wanna just have a set up of a date. I want to naturally meet a girl, you know?” Fred tells his twin as George rolls his eyes. Fred was always a hopeless romantic deep down. Although he had some flings in the past and had his fun with shagging a few girls casually here and there, Fred was looking for something more serious now. Someone he could connect with. “I’m not expecting for the perfect girl to be right around the corner, Georgie, but I’m not expecting her to be a-”

Fred stops mid sentence as he feels his body collide with another body as they walk around the corner of the hallway, making Fred and the person he had bumped into stumble back a bit. “Godric, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t pay attention to where I was going,” Fred looks around at the sheet music that was now cast about the floor. “Did I make you drop anything?” Fred asks, now looking up at a pair of eyes that made his heart skip a beat.

There you stood, a little flustered, in a hurry on your way to the library. You were late for a study group with some of your friends from your Charms class and it would be your third time late this week. If you were late again, they would surely give you shit for it. But as you took in who was causing you to run late, you suddenly didn’t mind. “Uh,” you gulp, “I’m alright, don’t worry. I should have watched where I was going. Now I’ve made quite the mess, haven’t I?” you lightly laugh as you crouch down to help him pick up the miscellaneous pieces of sheet music.

Fred joins you on the floor, picking up the scattered sheets. “It’s equally our mess,” Fred gives you a soft smile as you blush lightly. 

Fred looks up at George who wiggles his brows as if to say Oh La-La! before he winks at his brother. “Oh, hey (Y/N),” George speaks before continuing to walk down the hallway, giving his dear twin some privacy. Fred shoot his brother a look to say, Mate, what the fuck? 

“Hey, Georgie,” you laugh. The two of you continue to pick up the pieces of parchment as you inspect the scribbling on them to be the treble clef. “You’re a musician?” you ask him, referring to the sheets. Fred nods. “What instrument?”

“Guitar,” Fred beams as you widen your eyes and nod. “I’m actually in a band with George and my other siblings,” he tells you. “I didn’t know you were friends with George.”

You hand him a small pile of sheet music before you both rise to your feet. “Yeah, George and I have been friends for a little while. I helped tutor him in Divinations class,” you tell Fred who nods. Fred mentally yells that he wishes George would have told him that he was friends with an absolute stunner of a girl. “I didn’t know that you and George were in a band. That’s really cool,” you tell Fred with a smile.

As you stand before Fred Weasley, you hope he doesn’t know how flustered you were. You had always seen him in the halls with George and admired how charming and handsome he was from a far, but never said anything to him. You could have easily told George that you had a thing for his twin, but you were far too nervous to act on your little crush. You clutched your textbooks closer to your chest as Fred fixed the strap of his guitar on his chest, muscles flexing underneath his shirt as your eyes darting to watch them tug against the thin shirt material. 

Fred spoke, “We started the band a couple of months ago. So it’s a pretty recent development.”

You nod your head and awkwardly stand before him before realizing that you were just staring at Fred’s face, admiring how his lips curled into a little smirk when he looked at you. Clearing your throat, you breathe, “Wicked.” Fred chuckles. “I’ve always been fascinated by musicians. I wanted to teach myself how to play guitar, but I’ve never gotten around to it,” you word vomit, instantly regretting the words coming out of your mouth. Damn it, (Y/N), you might as well just tell him your life story, you think to yourself. 

With a cheeky smile, you watch Fred’s face light up. “I could teach you,” he suggest as your eyes widen. Fred immediately back pedals. “If you want! I mean, Godric knows that you are probably very busy, but if you ever wanted an instructor, I wouldn’t mind giving you lessons,” he retorts as you can’t help but have a lazy smile appear on your lips. Fred’s heart skips another beat as he gulps. “That’s only if you’d like me to teach you, (Y/N).”

The way he spoke your name made your stomach erupt with butterflies. His voice was like honey as words parted from his lips, the sweetest sounds you have ever heard. You watched his eyes as they looked into yours, monitoring how you reacted to his proposal. 

Guitar lessons with Fred Weasley? You would have to be mental if you said no. With a meek smile and you reply, “You really don’t have to, Fred.”

“I want to,” he jumps before clearing his throat, realizing how quickly he answered, making you giggle as Fred blushes a deep red that matched his hair. “I would like to teach you, (Y/N).”

With a nod, you say, “I’d like you to teach me.” 

Fred smiles widely. “Wicked,” he breathes out as you look away from his gaze to hide your rosy cheeks. “Just one catch,” he smirks as you furrow your brows. “You have to come to our show next week. At Three Broomsticks. And bring friends.”

Extending your hand, you tease him, “You’ve got a deal.” Fred shakes your hand firmly as you laugh. “I’ll see you around, Fred.”

You start down the opposite direction before Fred calls out. “First lesson is on Thursday! 4pm sharp,” Fred says as you flip around to look at him. “Tardiness is not tolerated,” he winks at you as you roll your eyes before walking away to the library.

As you walked down the corridors, you could help but smile to yourself. Your cheeks tingled from your large grin as you toyed with the edges of your books. The thought of Fred Weasley’s hands guiding yours as he taught you how to play guitar made your heart giddy. You nibbled on your bottom lip at the thought that danced around your head. Suddenly, you didn’t care how late you were to this study group.

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

Thursday rolled around slowly, but surely and Fred was checking himself out in the mirror, combing his fingers through his red hair, brushing the pieces out of his face. He nervously looked at himself in the mirror. Should he have shaved? Was he wearing too much cologne? Should he brush his teeth for a third time?

He frantically ran around his dormitory room, thinking he should change his shirt again. Maybe you liked the color green better than blue. As if the color of his shirt would determine the outcome of this lesson/date. Fred didn’t even know if he could count this as a date. 

George tapped out rhythms on his bed frame, watching Fred change his shirt for the fourth time as he shook his head. “Freddie, mate, are you really sweating that much?” he laughed.

Fred shot his twin a dirty look. “No,” he spat. “I just...I like the green better than the blue,” he lied, pulling the green shirt over his head and down his torso. Fred darted to his bed and grabbed his guitar and checked the time on his watch. He had ten minutes. “Good Godric,” he huffed.

“You alright? Haven’t seen you this shaken up since the time you thought you ate puking pastilles before your O.W.L.s,” George laughed as he tapped away on his bed frame. 

Fred nervously tapped on his thighs, “I’m fine, George. I, uh, I’m giving (Y/N) a guitar lesson today,” he reveals to his twin who's eyes widen and chuckles, “It’s just a lesson. Nothing else. But I’m bloody nervous about it.”

Sitting up, George speaks, “You got nothing to worry about, mate.” He walks over to Fred and places reassuring hands on Fred’s shoulders. “(Y/N)s a great girl. She’s sweet and funny and proper fit,” George raises his brows as Fred groans. “I’m teasing you, Freddie, calm down. You’ve got nothing to lose. Now get down there and make her swoon.”

Fred was never nervous for dates or flirting with girls. All of that stuff came naturally to him. But for some reason the thought of you was enough to make his stomach do somersaults. The palms of his hands got sweaty when your name was spoken. There was something about you that made Fred Weasley lose his senses and that was hard to do. 

Shaking it off, Fred huffs and leaves the dormitory making his way down to the common room. With each step he descended, his heart beat harder and faster against his rib cage. As he came down the stairs, your figure came into view which only made Fred’s mouth dry with anxiousness and excitement. He took a deep breath in and exhaled in attempt to calm himself down. I got this, she’s just a girl, he thought to himself. “4:00 on the dot,” Fred speaks, getting your attention, causing you to turn around to face him with a smile on your lips. “Very punctual, (Y/L/N).”

You take a good look at Fred and think about how effortlessly good he looked. Hunter green t-shirt hung on his tall frame perfectly as he walked over to where you sat on the couch, acoustic guitar in his hands. “Not to toot my own horn, but I was here at 3:55, Weasley,” you joke as he smiles. “Early is on time and on time is late.”

Fred chuckles, “In that case, pardon me for my tardiness. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive someone as foolish as me.”

His smile made your heart flutter and you couldn’t help but smile back at him. His joy was infectious. How could someone be so addictive? “Hmmm,” you pretend to think, “You’re lucky I’m such a kind and forgiving person.”

Fred places a hand over his heart and feigns relief. “Thank Merlin,” he fans himself as you chuckle. “Alright. You ready to get started?” he asks as you nod your head. “Brilliant, let’s start with the basics...”

After an hour of trial and error, you had managed to learned some chord progressions and strumming techniques from Fred. You had to give it to him; he was a great teacher. He was patient and smart and knowledgable. Not to mention, you loved listening to him talk about music and how passionate he was about playing. When he talked, he spoke with so much heart and life, it made you gently smile as you watched how animated he became. Fred Weasley really was one of a kind. 

You were nearing the end of your lesson as Fred showed you how to play an F chord on the guitar. “Best chord,” he spoke as you looked at him quizzically. “F is for Fred, keep up (Y/N),” he teases making you scoff. 

He explained the finger placements as you struggled to get it just right. “Wait, my second finger goes where?” you ask again as Fred points to the third string. You adjust and strum as an off-key chord resonates. “Now, that can’t be right,” you laugh as Fred shakes his head.

Fred gets up and moves from the chair in front of you to the seat next to you on the couch. He looks at you and asks, “May I?” He gestures to placing his hand on yours as you shake your head.

Gently, Fred places his hand on yours that holds the neck of the guitar as the other hand rests on your other elbow. Having his body is such close proximity to yours made your breath hitch in your throat as you felt his chest press against your back. Fred’s fingers adjust your placement carefully as if you were made of glass, trying his hardest not to make you break into a thousand bits. “This finger goes on the third string and this one stays on the second,” he lowly instructs. “And now, strum,” he speaks, a smile in his voice.

And so you do, a soft F chord playing as the strings underneath your fingertips hum sweetly. You two let the sound ring a little bit, either one of you not daring to breathe, scared to say or do anything. Just the position that you were in, his hands on yours, his chin resting near your shoulder, your back pressed against his chest. You gulped and exhaled softly. “Pretty,” you smiled.

Fred chuckled softly. “Yes, you are,” he spoke making your heart stop, wondering if he had just spoken those words. 

You turn to face him, a questioning look in your eyes as Fred allows a small smirk to dance on his lips. Cheeky bastard, you think to yourself as you smile at him. 

The two of you remain in this position, looking into each other’s eyes for a moment. Fred’s eyes were a rich brown, like pools of chocolate melting under the summer sun. His eyes were full of playfulness and cheer which made joy course through your veins. Fred Weasley was special. 

You didn’t even realize that he was leaning in until his forehead was pressed against yours and you connected the gap between you two, connecting your lips in a gentle kiss. As you kissed, he inhaled deeply, cupping your cheek with his hand, bringing you closer to him. His hands were calloused from the guitar strings as they pressed against your soft cheek. You pressed your lips onto his harder as Fred smiled gently into the kiss, enjoying every moment. You were first to pull away, but it didn’t last long, Fred’s lips following yours for another kiss as you giggled lightly. His lips were soft and tasted of sweet cinnamon and you wanted more, like your own drug. 

Fred gently pulled away before speaking, “I have a confession.” You hum in response. “I was planning on kissing you this whole time. I was just trying to find a good excuse to sit next to you,” he confessed.

You smiled involuntarily and laughed. “I believe that,” you speak before placing another kiss to his lips quickly. “I also have a confession,” you bite your lip as Fred looks at you confused. 

Scooting back a little, you cradle the guitar in your grasp before skillfully strumming a combination of chords that could be recognized as the beginning chords of I’m Looking Through You by The Beatles. Fred’s mouth goes agape and eyes wide as you play better than he could ever. “I lied about not knowing how to play the guitar,” you laughed. “I’ve known how to play since I was ten. I just wanted an excuse to see you again.”

Fred shakes his head in disbelief. “You sneak!” he exclaims. “A woman after my own heart,” he jokes as you laugh before he kisses your cheek. “Well, I guess you don’t need anymore lesson from a git like me. But I still think you should hold up your end of the deal,” he squeezes your hand.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Weasley,” you smile. “Although, I will be coyly judging your skills from the audience.”

Fred laughs, “I’m sure you will be, darling.”

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

After days of rehearsing and planning and scheduling and rehearsing some more, the gig at the Three Broomsticks rolled around. Ginny had managed to convinced the entirety of the Hogwarts quidditch league to come out which already filled the Three Broomsticks at half capacity. But getting more people to come wasn’t a problem. The promise of good music and Butterbeer was enough to have swarms of students flow into the small building. 

The Three Broomsticks was soon teeming with people, chatting and drinking and laughing. The energy was high and the Weasleys could feel it from their make shift backstage (which was quite literally a curtain that Ron managed to pin up). 

However, this meant that expectations were high which in turn made the band exceptionally nervous. Ginny nervously danced around, doing lip trills to warm up her voice as Ron tuned the bass. George sat at his drumming seat and ran over rhythms in his head, Fred pacing back and forth, biting on his nails.

You shuffled through the audience and found Harry and Hermione sitting at a table in the front as you approached them. You could hear Hermione gush about how hard Ron has been practicing for the gig, a rosy hue forming on her cheeks as Harry poked at her crush. As you approach, Hermione notices you and beams, “(Y/N)! Hi! Are you excited for the concert? You know Ron is playing bass?”

Harry rolls his eyes, “Did you know Hermione has a big, fat cru-”

“Shut it, Harry,” Hermione quickly snaps as you laugh. “Anyway, what’s up?”

You smile, “Do you know if Fred is with the others still? I know he was nervous about tonight and I just wanna make sure he’s doing alright.”

Harry looks at Hermione and then back at you. “Yeah, he’s back with the others,” he says as you nod, leaving. But before you can leave, Harry stops you, “Wait, hold on, I didn’t know that you and Fred were....” he looks for the words.

“We’re not officially together, but we’ve been seeing each other,” you confess with a smile. Hermione gives you a teasing glance as she sips on her Butterbeer and Harry nudges her with an ooh. “Oh please. You think you two are slick? Everyone knows Harry fancies Ginny and Hermione is practically head over heels for Ronald,” you teases as they both wear bright red cheeks. “Mhm, that’s what I thought,” you laugh. “I’ll see you both in a minute.” You make your way to the back of the Three Broomsticks, behind the curtain to find a nervous band of siblings. Ginny catches your glances first and a smirk comes onto her lips. “Oh, Freddie,” she sing songs. “You have a guest.”

Fred turns around to face you and relief washes over his face as your heart skips a beat. Fred looked good sporting dark wash jeans and a black henley. Simple, but Godric, it was enough to make you swoon. Fred grabbed your hand and walked you over to the corner for a little more privacy. “I’m glad to see your face,” he spoke before bending down to press a sweet kiss to your lips.

“I told you I wouldn’t miss it,” you squeeze his hand. “How are you feeling?”

He shrugs and gives you an awkward smile as you blurt out a laugh. “I don’t know,” he joins in. “Nervous? Excited? Weird? All three?” 

You reach up and brush his hair out of his face as he relaxes under your touch. Just the simple gesture was enough to calm him down instantly. “It’s alright to feel like that. You are gonna be bloody brilliant. All of you,” you tell him sincerely. “You’ve been working so hard and you are all so talented. You’re gonna knock the audience’s socks off. I have no doubt in my mind,” you encourage him.

Fred smiles and without another word, he pulls you in by your waist to press your lips to his. You wrap your arms around his neck as you kiss him sweetly. His lips are pressed against yours firmly, but sweetly with passion. His touch was enough to make your head reel. Fred pulls away and presses his forehead against yours, “I’m playing for you tonight. And only you.”

Your heart skips a beat as you smile, staring into his eyes with so much adoration. It had only been a week and a half since you had started seeing each other, but you couldn’t help but have the overwhelming feeling that Fred was the one for you. He was everything you could ever ask for. Charming, kind, handsome, funny, witty. Fred Weasley was it. 

“And I’ll be cheering you on the whole time,” you tell him, extending your pinky finger to him as he loops his with yours. The two of you press kisses to your thumbs, making it a pinky promise. “Now, go get ‘em, tiger,” you encourage him. As you walk away, Fred taps you bum playfully as you scurry away, back into the audience with Harry and Hermione. 

The three of you buzz about the band and the atmosphere, sipping on Butterbeer before suddenly the audience starts wildly cheering. You turn your attention to the make-shift stage and see the Weasleys all enter. You immediately start clapping and cheering for the band as Ginny speaks into the mic. “Hello, Hogsmeade!” she laughs as the crowd cheers louder. “We are the Burrow Bangers and tonight we’ve got quite the show for you all!” she exclaims as the audience claps and shouts out. You look over at Harry and a wide grin is plastered on his face. “So, without further ado...”

“1, 2, 3, 4!” George bangs on his drumsticks before 80s rock blares through the small inn, the crowd immediately cheering and dancing the sound of the music.

And you had to admit it. They were damn good. They were all in synch with each other and blended so well together. The Weasleys were performers no matter how much they may hate it admit it. Not to mention, Fred looked hot wailing away on his cherry red electric guitar. His fingers skillfully strummed out chords and he musically added riffs when needed which made the crowd roar. 

You were overwhelmed with pride at the boy you had taken such a keen liking to you and it was palpable. Fred would catch your eyes every now and then and drop his left eye into a wink, making you blush and cheer louder for him.

Tonight, and every night following, he played for you and you only.

[writinglizards]

No One Else

Summary: Jaskier hates winters and he hates Yule time, especially.

How is he supposed to spend the holidays with his loved one when his heart is in the Blue Mountains, tucked away safe in Kaer Morhen?

Read on Ao3

Jaskier hasn't spent many Yule holidays with people he cares about, family or otherwise.

As a boy, he remembers a few Yules, but mostly his parents had gone off to bigger, grander Yule celebrations at the homes of other, more influential nobility, leaving Jaskier and his siblings at home. There may have been a few, insincere gifts as a child, but even those tapered off as he grew older. Then he'd been old enough for school and he’d spent...remarkably little time at home, even on the holidays. And then he'd gone off to Oxenfurt and never looked back.

Oxenfurt is more his home than Lettenhove ever was, but his Yules here are still mostly lonely. As a student, he'd been one of the few not to return home for the holidays and had spent most of them, therefore, shut up in his dorm writing and composing as if it were a normal night. As a lecturer? It's not much different, only a nicer set of rooms. There's no point visiting siblings he hasn't seen in years or spending the night down in a tavern with the rest of the sad sacks.

The only person he wants to spend his time with retreats into the mountains every winter and wouldn't stay in Oxenfurt even as a last resort. Jaskier knows, he's offered him lodgings here over the winter before and Geralt has always been quick with a reason he can’t accept. It’s a standing invitation, but Jaskier knows he’ll never take him up on it--he’s just lucky Geralt lets him stick around the rest of the year.

This year, they'd parted much earlier than normal. Geralt had been following a contract south and Jaskier had needed to be in Ellander for a festival and things just hadn't lined up. They'd parted before the first leaves had even begun to fall and Jaskier hates that he'd missed so much time with Geralt this year. After all, it's only a matter of time until he decides he's done humoring him and letting him tag along. He's lucky to have squeezed so many years out of the witcher already--each subsequent year is a gift and Jaskier is terrified of when they will finally end.

Either way, he hasn't seen Geralt since before the first turn of fall and he's missing him terribly, not that that's new at all. He always misses Geralt when they're apart, but winters are...harder. The chill reminds him of cool evenings camping under the stars, the snow always inevitably makes him think of Geralt's hair, bright in the sun, the lit holiday candles always glimmer in a way that makes him think of gold eyes in the dark.

Winters have never been Jaskier's favorite season, but missing Geralt makes them so much harder. Yule is always somehow the hight of that pain--the holiday meant to celebrate the year, to be spent with those you love--and Jaskier spends each and every one alone.

There's a knock at the door and Jaskier reluctantly uncurls from brooding in the armchair by the fire and goes to answer to find one of the attendants that runs the building. It's bizarre to have a personal visit in general, but especially on the night of Yule.

"Master Jaskier?" He's...nervous?

"Yes, Nichol?"

"There's ah...someone here to see you? We didn't let him in because you hadn't said--"

"It's fine, Nichol," who could possibly be here to see him? "Send him up, won't you?" He moves as if to close the door, but Nichol doesn't move.

The man shifts from foot to foot. "Y-yes, Master Jaskier. It's just--" Jaskier cocks an eyebrow, "he's--it's a witcher, sir." It's like being thrown headfirst into the Pontar in the middle of spring--ice cold and shocking. Something must be very wrong.

"Is he--" but there's no point in asking this nervous ball of a man about what the witcher looks like or how he is, is there? Jaskier can tell now, the fear hiding in the set of his shoulders. That’s not the disposition of someone who could be concerned with the well-being of a witcher. "Give me a moment, I'll follow you down."

Geralt's standing at the desk downstairs, whole and unharmed, and Jaskier lets out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Geralt!" He turns as Jaskier approaches and the look on his face brings Jaskier up short. There's...something wrong. "Geralt, is everything okay?"

"Hm." It's one of his cagey hums. Jaskier won't be getting an answer out of him anytime soon.

"Well, come on up, anyway. No reason to stand in the hall and talk." The attendant is visably relieved when Geralt hoists his swords back over his shoulder and follows Jaskier back to his rooms. Mentally, he makes a note to have a very strong word with the head attendant about sensitivity training the next time he sees her.

It's silent the entire walk back, which isn't new with Geralt, but Jaskier finds himself a little nervous about it anyway. What’s Geralt is going to think? He's never been to Oxenfurt with Jaskier, never seen his rooms, never met the people he works with or the shop owners that know him by name. It's...unsettling. And then there's the reason Geralt's here, which he still hasn't given an answer about.

The door is unlocked, so he shoves it open and ushers Geralt in. He ducks a bit as he passes Jaskier and enters the room and then he...stops. Freezes on the spot. Jaskier freezes in the doorway in response.

"What." He means it as a question, but it comes out taunt and frigid, like an accusation.

"Looks like you," Geralt grunts out after a long moment. Jaskier doesn't know if that's a compliment or not (probably not).

"Sorry, I can--" he starts, already darting forward to clean the loose parchment from the divan, stack the books laying haphazard all over the room, do something.

"No," Geralt interrupts, and Jaskier feels his stomach flip-flop almost unplesantly, "No, this is--it's nice, Jaskier. It's you." And that's...he doesn't know what to do with that.

"Oh," he laughs, just a little strangled, "okay then. Um. Make yourself at home, darling. Sorry there's no Yule decorations I'm...a little unfestive this year.” He’s never festive, actually, but Geralt doesn’t know that. “Have you eaten?" He doesn't wait for Geralt to answer, "of course you haven't. I'll call for something. Won't be more than a moment." He ducks out into the hallway again without waiting for an answer.

He spends the entire walk to the kitchen trying to calm his rapid heartbeat, walk off the nerves that have made their home in the set of his shoulders, the fidget of his fingertips against his thigh. It's just Geralt.

He orders a spread and doesn't let the curious look the cook gives get to him at all as he paces in the hallway and waits for her to finish.

"You know we could send this up for you, Jaskier? No one should have to pace the hallway Yule night." The cook says when she hands the plate over, finally. He smiles at her, only a little tightly.

"Oh, I know Margret, darling. Needed the walk, though. Thank you, love." She 'hm's at him but lets him go, something akin to the noise Geralt makes when he's not buying Jaskier's bullshit. It makes him a little sick, how much he both loves and hates that noise--it sounds wrong coming from someone else's throat.

The walk back to his rooms is both too long and too short--he's worked himself up into a minior frenzy by the time he's at his own door again.

He takes a moment to breathe, eyes closed, before he forces a smile back on his face and pushes through the door. "Food's here," he calls, setting the spread down on the low table in the sitting room. Geralt's nowhere to be found. "Geralt?"

He finds him in the bedroom, the spare shirt of Geralt's that Jaskier nabbed in a moment of weakness earlier just this year to keep him company for the winter in his hand. "Uh, I'm--I'm sorry that's--"

"I thought I'd been a shirt short." His tone is even and neutral and it makes Jaskier want to tear his hair out. Does he care? Does he not? Jaskier can’t tell.

"It, um, must have ended up in my pack. I meant to bring it back this spring." The look on Geralt's face says he doesn't believe a word. "Food's here!" he deflects.

"Mm." He allows himself to be redirected and follows Jaskier back into the sitting room, leaving the shirt on the bed. He settles himself on the divan after Jaskier clears him a spot and digs into the meat and cheese spread without a word. As far as Yule meals go, it’s not very traditional, but Jaskier’s sure it doesn’t matter. He settles himself on the floor by the table and picks at the spread absently, giving Geralt the time he needs to eat unharassed. He tries not to think about how this is the first Yule he's spent with anyone in any capacity since he was a boy and very determinately does not get emotional over the fact that it's Geralt here with him, even accidentally. He can feel his eyes on him as he plucks at a loose thread on his doublet and tries not to fret.

"Soooo--" he says after Geralt's eaten his fill and leaned back, kicking his legs out in front of him, "--what brings you here to Oxenfurt, Geralt?" He winces immediately, but he's already asked, so-- "Shouldn't you be at Kaer Morhen already?"

Jaskier can already tell he's fucked up.

"I won't stay long," Geralt says, expression blank the way it only is when he's withholding his true reaction.

"I didn't say you couldn't stay, you oaf," Jaskier snaps immediately, tries not to let his irritation get the best of him because he knows what Geralt’s like when he meets anger for frosty frigidity, "I would be deeply offended if you left, actually."

Geralt stares at him, hard. "I’d be...intruding," he says, no elaboration.

"What? Gods, Geralt, intruding on what? I'm--" he gestures to the expanse of his very empty rooms, "--pretty fucking far from busy, if you hadn't noticed."

Geralt's expression does pinch at that. "I noticed. Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why aren't you--" he pauses, seems to be searching for the right words, "--why aren't you...involved? Doing things. It's Yule, Jaskier, why are you--"

"Alone?" Jaskier interrupts, seeing where this is going. Geralt doesn't say anything, just stares at him, steady. Jaskier sighs, hard. "Who else would I spend winters with, Geralt?"

"I don't know," Geralt says slowly, "I just...I assumed you had someone."

"You assumed I--Geralt. Tell me you didn't think I had some...some lover I'd never told you about waiting for me here in Oxenfurt every winter."

The look on Geralt's face tells him he thought exactly that.

"Melitele's tits, Geralt." Jaskier sighs, breathes in slowly in an attempt to calm himself. "So why are you here, then? Since it's pretty clear you aren't here to take me up on the offer of wintering with me."

Geralt's expression does something complicated Jaskier can't parse before it smooths out into slightly constipated indifference again.

"The passes are snowed in."

And that's-- "Yes, Geralt. I know that," Jaskier says, drawing on the infinite well of patience he seems to only have access to when trying to coax Geralt out of being an obtuse ass. "Why didn't you make it up the mountain before the passses snowed in?"

Geralt visibly swallows. Jaskier can't help but track the bob of his adams apple. "I--" the gust of breath is audible as Geralt sighs, shoulders loosening in something like defeat, "I missed you, Jaskier."

The fire crackles in the hearth. It'll need another log soon. "What?"

Geralt looks like he'd rather be hunting drowners. "I missed you, Jaskier. And I was--I was thinking about coming to see you but I--I couldn't, I wasn't sure--" Jaskier will not faint like some kind of wilting damsel, even if he feels as if he can't get enough air all of a sudden. "--And then the pass was closed and I. I don't--I won't stay if you don't want me to. I'll figure something out."

"Geralt," Jaskier says. It comes out barely audable and he has to clear his throat and try again, "Geralt, love, of course you can stay." Something in Geralt's posture loosens in relief this time, as if he'd still been afraid Jaskier might ask him to leave until that moment, "of course you can. I missed you too."

Something flashes in Geralt's eyes, something that looks a little like surprise. "Oh."

They tip-toe around each other the rest of the evening. Jaskier helps him bring his bags up after a brief visit to Roach during which he slips her a sugar cube he knows Geralt pretends not to see. He gives Geralt space and time to get settled until his armor is off and his bags partially unpacked. They don't really talk until Jaskier realizes he's going to have to either offer Geralt his bed or make up the divan for him. And. Well. He's a weak man, after all.

"Geralt?"

"Hm?" He’s taking stock of his armor by the fire when Jaskier ambles up beside him to stand at his shoulder. He tries not to fidget, despite the nerves trying to choke him. There’s no reason this should be different from any other time they’ve shared lodgings (except of course, it is).

"Going to bed soon, love?"

He stares at his armor just a beat too long before he leans back to look up into Jaskier's face, expression mildly puzzled. "Mm?"

"I--" he can feel his face heat, "I wanted to--to offer to share. You know since I--I don't have--"

"I can sleep on the floor, Jaskier."

"No! No, I--I have plenty of room. And I. I want you in my bed, Geralt." That comes out...not quite the way Jaskier meant it. Or it comes out too honest, actually. He absolutely wants Geralt in his bed like that, he just doesn't think Geralt would want it.

Interestingly, Geralt's cheeks color and he looks away. Jaskier expects him to refuse again. "Okay," he says, soft, and something in Jaskier's chest flutters.

He follows Jaskier into the bedroom and it's...almost normal. Like sharing at an inn, except this is Jaskier's room, Jaskier's space. It's as much a choice as it is a necessity.

The shirt on the bed taunts him. He wants to wear it--has been wearing it--but with Geralt here--

He’s stolen from his painful reverie when Geralt thrusts the shirt at him, gaze averted.

“Wha--”

“Wear it,” Geralt rumbles, already slipping into bed, predictably on the side closest to the door. Something warm and bright burns through him. He does as he’s told.

The material falls to roughly mid-thigh. It fits well enough in the shoulders, but Geralt’s slightly longer and bulkier torso means it billows on him a little like a slip. It makes him feel impossibly small and it’s...nice. Even nicer to settle together, not quite touching, and Jaskier reluctantly relaxes. He's drifting comfortably but not quite asleep when Geralt shifts and tucks himself along Jaskier's side, rests his head gently on Jaskier's shoulder and it's suddenly all too much.

"Geralt," he whispers, afraid to break the spell they seem to have fallen under. They are well outside their normal playbook at this point and Jaskier has no idea how to navigate the situation, only knows he wants it to continue, wants Geralt close.

Geralt stiffens and stays still for a beat too long before he starts to pull away.

"No, love," Jaskier corrects immediately, rests his hand on the back of Geralt's neck to keep him close, tangles his fingers in his hair, "no, please stay." Geralt shivers and tucks himself in closer again, eyes resolutely closed.

"Sorry," he says.

"Don't apologize, darling. I'm--I'm happy you're here, you know? I haven't spent a Yule with anyone in a long time." Geralt makes a tiny noise of acknowledgment. He should say it, he should say it. If there's ever been a time it's now, clothed in Geralt’s old shirt, with Geralt curled along his side, the heat of him radiating through the thin material. He presses his lips to the top of Geralt's head and feels him relax slowly. His heart pounds.

"I know you're in love with someone," Geralt breathes, warm against the soft skin of the bard's throat, "I figured it must be someone you had here. But--" Jaskier's breath hitches, "there really is no one else, is there?"

"No," Jaskier says, voice just a little strained.

"Who is it?" It's barely more than a breath.

"Geralt," Jaskier sighs softly.

"Humor me," he murmurs, presses his lips to the exposed skin he can reach. Jaskier's breath punches out of him.

"It's always been you," he says, running his fingers through Geralt's hair. Geralt makes a small noise. He seems...content. Soft and quiet against Jaskier's side.

"I thought it was too good to be true," Geralt says into the dark when Jaskier doesn't think he'll speak again. "Figured there must be someone else." His chest aches.

"It's only been you since I was twenty years old, Geralt," and oh, that's a bizarre feeling, to get that one off his chest. He's very aware of the fact Geralt hasn't said it back, but...he's here, isn't he?

"Idiot," Geralt scoffs, "I should have left you behind at that inn in Posada." To the ear untrained in Geralt-isms, it sounds dismissive, harsh. Jaskier hears the fondness in it, all the things Geralt isn’t saying.

"Where would I be without you, witcher?" He breathes, feels the tears prickle at the corner of his eyes.

"Safer," Geralt says, without missing a beat. Jaskier scoffs.

"You know, traditionally Yule visitors bring a gift, not verbally berate their hosts." Geralt snorts a laugh, presses his lips to Jaskier's skin again.

"Mm, thought you might like this gift," Geralt says, spreading a palm above Jaskier's pounding heartbeat.

"Geralt, you did not wait until Yule to come to Oxenfurt so you could make a tasteless joke about gifting me your company, tell me you didn't."

"I didn't," Geralt repeats, but Jaskier can hear the smile in his voice.

"Oh, you are awful," he says, delighted.

"There's also lute strings in my pack for you," he says, "I bought them in case...well. They're yours anyway." Jaskier knows what he means. He bought them in case there had been someone else, in case Geralt had been right.

"Thank you, love," he chokes out past the lump in his throat. It's the first time anyone's gotten him anything for Yule since he was a child. "I'm sorry I don't have anything for you."

"Just you is enough," Geralt breathes into the curve of his throat. Jaskier feels fit to burst.

He may not like winter and he may not care for Yule, but this one? This one's just fine.

[suchalonelysunflower]

All I See (a.i)

Pairing: Ashton Irwin x Plus-size! Fem! Reader

Requested: Yes!

Summary: You are starting to feel insecure and your boyfriend, Ashton, helps you with that.

Warnings: Fluff and a bit of Angst. Some grammatical errors (English is not my first language, sorry)

Word count: 1.3 k (short enough but not enough to be a blurb)

Author’s Note: This sums it up. Remember that Reblogs, Comments, Feedback and Likes are super important and you don’t know how much it helps ❤️ Hope you like it and Happy Reading 🦋✨🌻

My materialist // wanna be part of my tag list?

Anon : Hi lovely! I really love your writing and I was wondering if you could write some pure fluff with Ash and a plus sized girl? Maybe she gets insecure about her body and he makes her feel better 💖 thanks so much and I hope you have a great day!

“Babe!” Ashton called from downstairs as he started walking up to your room “We are still going tonight, right?”

Calum’s sister, Mali-Koa, is celebrating her birthday in a very known club in LA. She invited everyone she knows and even people she’s never met before, it was safe to say that she was going all out tonight.

You smiled at your boyfriend “Of course! Mali will kill us if we decide not to show up” You laughed “Plus, I was just about to start looking for my outfit, if you want to help you can stay”

Ashton smiled softly and walked up to you, placing a small kiss on your lips. It was funny how even though you’ve been together for a long time, every kiss still brought butterflies to your stomach.

He took a seat on the edge of the bed and clapped his hands together, excited about the options you would bring. You giggled at his childlike behavior as you started going through your closet, hoping you’d find the perfect outfit for tonight.

“I was thinking this one,” You said as you pulled out a black long-sleeved dress, it was flowy and soft and it reached just before your knees “with the black heels and-“

“Isn’t it too hot for sleeves?” Ashton interrupted a confused gaze set upon his eyes “Don't get me wrong, doll. I love the dress but I’m not sure you’ll be entirely comfortable in that”

He was right. Warm weather was settling in and you would barely survive in a club filled with sweaty people. If you wear that you would surely regret it immediately afterward.

You sighed “This is the only long-sleeved dress that I have, though”

Ashton noticed the hint of sadness in your voice, making him frown as you put the dress back in your closet and started looking for some shirts.

“What about this?” You asked again, taking a long-winged sleeved top and ignoring Ashton’s gaze “I have the black jeans that go with it, you know? The one that I bought with-”

“Okay, what is going on here?” Ashton finally asked, shaking his head as he tried to understand your reasoning.

You smiled nervously at him, trying to hide the pinch of anxiety that was starting to settle in your chest. “What do you mean?”

Ashton gave you ‘the look’ and you felt a shiver run down your spine. He knew something was up, he always knew and you loved and hated that at the same time.

Ever since you met you felt like he could read you like his favorite book. He knew everything about you, front and back, and now you feel like an idiot for trying to hide something from him, knowing that it wouldn’t have worked either way.

But how can you explain something like this to him? How can you explain a flaw to someone perfect?

Ashton saw the hesitation in your eyes and sighed “I’m not questioning your fashion choices, love. You have amazing taste. But what’s bothering me is that you are choosing every single item of clothing that could work if we were on the other side of the world” He stood up and walked towards you, softly grabbing your hand “You and I both know that you won’t be comfortable in these, even if you say you are and, last time we talked about this you had your eyes set on that beautiful short blue dress you love so much, saying that it was perfect for this occasion. So, tell me what’s wrong, doll. Maybe I could fix it?”

You looked into his hazel eyes, they were honest and with pure intentions, maybe that’s why you couldn’t hold up his gaze and ended up looking down.

“It’s not something you can fix, Ash,” You said with a tiny voice “I just- I don’t want to wear that dress”

“What made you change your mind? I swear that when you wear that dress your whole face glows with happiness” He said, giving you a small smile “But, it’s your choice, baby, and you don’t have to explain it to me if you don’t want to.”

He was about to pull away his hand from yours when he felt you tugged on it harder. Soon, Ashton's eyes found yours and he didn’t like what he saw.

Your glossy eyes were staring back at him, trying their hardest to contain the tears that were about to spill out of them. Without a word you took out the blue dress from the closet and placed it over your body facing the mirror.

“This made me change my mind,” You said, voice almost breaking when you caught your reflection.

You didn’t look at how teary your eyes were or how Ashton was staring at you with a confused and hurt gaze, already understanding what was going on. No, instead you were looking at your arms, your legs, and your tummy, finding every little flaw, every stretch mark, every molecule of fat completely intolerable.

“This dress makes my arms look like tanks, the long sleeves will cover them. My legs will be on display and I don’t want people to see how my thighs become jelly as I walk or sit or dance or -” You took a deep breath, drowning out the knot in your throat “And it will mark my tummy, showing every imperfection at clear sight. It’s not that I don’t want to wear the dress, Ash. It’s just that I can’t. I can’t let people see me like that when I’m feeling like this”

Ashton’s face was emotionless as he stared at your reflection. You could never tell what was going on inside his head, yet you’ve never seen such sad eyes on him.

He couldn’t understand how or why you saw yourself like that, all he sees is you in your most beautiful way, and it breaks his heart to see you cry because you don’t feel like that’s true.

“All I see,” He said, taking a step closer to you and softly rubbing his hands up and down your arms “Are the arms of the strongest person I know, the arms that can hold you in an embrace you never want to get away from”

Soon, he let his touch wander lower, caressing your thigh as he said “Every mark you see is beautiful; they show how human you are. They prove to me that you are real and not just a dream, cause if you were I know I wouldn’t want to wake up anytime soon”

Lastly, he rounded his arms around your torso, hands placed in your tummy as his face rested on your shoulder.

“All I see is you. Perfect, beautiful, strong, hot, and kind are just some adjectives to describe all that you are, and I’m just saying a few because you deserve the whole dictionary. You are beautiful in every way, my love. And it breaks my heart that you don’t see yourself the way that I see you”

You sniffed, lifting your hand to caress his cheek, eyes meeting through the mirror.

“You believe that?”

“It’s not something I believe, doll. It’s something I know”

You smiled through the tears as you brought your lips to his, believing in every word he said. Now you knew that whenever you didn’t love yourself as much, that Ashton will always have enough love for both of you.

“I love you,” He said softly, placing a kiss on your cheek.

“I love you more” You smiled “Now go! I need to change” You said with a laugh as you gripped the blue dress closer to your heart, knowing that everything will be alright.

*

Tags: @iknowyouthinkimbulletproof @mystic-232 @talksoprettyjjx @theshyspy @sarcasticallywitty15 @hoodhoran @flaneurcth @notinthesameguey @myloverboyash @nicebasscalum @bubblegum18

[unprofessional-bard]

Chapter 12 - The Development, Pt. II

Unprofessional Bard's Masterlist

Losing My Religion Series Masterlist

Previous Chapter • Next Chapter

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female!Reader/OC

Warnings: TW!!! Mentions of depression/anxiety, lack of appetite and suicide; jealousy (the reader is Angry™️); talks of (unwanted) pregnancy and miscarriage (cult activities).

Summary: Who would've thought a dinner and a bouquet of flowers would ever bare bad omens?

Word Count: 5.588

Author's Note: I apologise for the repost! I forgot to do my taglist + the tags didn't work for me so let me try this again. This is a whole chunk of angst and nothing more. I'm sorry about this but it is going to get darker :')

Enjoy!

gif credit: winterswake

"Oof, this wasn't your greatest idea, you know that right?" You sighed anxiously, hands on your hips.

"I've done many things that weren't so great, sweetpea," Joel wiped his wet hands on the cute little apron around his waist after he put the vegetables he had cut into the bowl which was on the counter next to the cutting board: "We both know it, but this totally ain't one of 'em."

He carried another bowl to the dining room where you stood, gave your exposed neck a brief kiss as he passed by. Kiki and Ward were going to arrive anytime now for Joel's infamous dinner plan. When he put the bowl down, he scanned the table with a puzzled expression: "Why are there two more plates?"

You leaned your weight on one leg as you grabbed the edges of the chair, which stood at the head of the table: "I... invited Tommy and Maria over, too–"

Joel's expression made you feel guilty: "(Y/N)."

"What?" You spoke defensively, a nervous expression on your face and tone to your voice. "It was going to be awkward as shit otherwise."

"You don't know that," He growled. "Not when you pull stunts like this."

"I don't care," You emphasised each word, exhaustion present in your stance. "Better safe than sorry, Joel."

He nodded disapprovingly and walked back to the kitchen as you stood there, your head hanging with a sigh. You slowly raised it up, hands on your hips again, then turned your head to the side just enough for him to hear you over the sound of the steamer: "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not," He said when he walked past you, carrying the last piece of dish to the table. His anger wasn't for nothing, you accepted what you did was an ass move.

"You're right." You huffed, which made him look at you. "I'm not sorry for inviting Tommy and Maria over, but I am sorry for upsetting you."

His tense stance eased slowly at your words, then he proceeded to mirror your chair holding pose, huffing quietly: "Well, one of us is gon' have to eat less, I'm more worried about that."

"I'll gladly volunteer, I lost my appetite." You rubbed your eyes, which sported dark circles underneath them– which worried Joel.

He stepped closer to you, reaching for your hip with his dominant hand and began rubbing soothing circles there: "No. You eat. Don't think for a second I didn't notice how you started eatin' less." This whole ordeal was getting to you more than you cared to admit. It had been eight days since your decision to arrange dinner with them, but it clearly didn't escape Joel's notice. You looked down, ashamed, running a hand through your hair nervously: "Hey, look at me," Joel gently took your chin between his fingers and lifted your head up, his nose inches away from yours. The three knocks on your door didn't stop him from saying: "You're worryin' over nothin', sweetheart. It's gonna be alright."

"We'll see," You looked into his eyes with a blank stare, gulping, giving his hand a light squeeze before walking to the door, collecting yourself in the meantime. From the small windows on the door, it wasn't hard to tell the brunette couple had arrived. You took a deep breath as you opened the door with a sincere smile: "Hello there– Come in, welcome."

"Hi!" Kiki grinned and Ward just offered an awkward resemblance of a smile.

After escorting them to the living room, you spoke: "Joel's getting finished in the kitchen, then we can have dinner."

"Joel's cooking?" Kiki gave you an alien look. It wasn't a my goodness what a man I bet he cooks real fine tone, but more a genuinely confused one.

"Uhm, yes?" You lightly flinched but smiled still, equally confused at her question. Giving a brief look at Ward, you noticed how he was staring hard at her and she was pointedly ignoring him. "Don't worry, he actually cooks better than me... haha."

You stared into each other's eyes for five seconds, both of your irises reflecting a pair of question marks at each other, then she let out an odd laugh: "Oh! If you say so... What a beautiful garden you got– Lots of flowers."

"Why, thank you," You smiled a little nervously. "I like taking care of flowers and plants..."

"Oh really? I do– did too, once upon a time..." Kiki did an exaggerated smiley face. "I should bring you some, then!"

"That's very kind of you," You felt yourself soften a little at her words. "Well, how have you both been? Feeling like you two are fitting in? I hope people aren't giving you trouble."

"Oh," Kiki looked at Ward for the first time, who's gaze was focused on you now. "No, I think we started to fit in better–" Ward nodded in agreement, his head turning in her direction: "Gets better every day."

"That's good news," You quietly huffed out a breath of relief, nodding at her words, which was when Joel walked in to greet them, and also when there was another pair of knocks on the door. This time, thank God, it was Tommy and Maria.

The dinner went without a hitch, to say the least. Although it had it's awkward moments, Tommy and Maria always picked it up one way or another. Delicious meals were eaten and wines from your collection with Joel were opened– it was pleasant to a certain degree. You and Joel sat across each other on the other ends of the table, Maria and Tommy sat to your left while Kiki and Ward sat to your right. Kiki was seated by your side, but she mostly had her attention on your husband. She didn't drink, but Ward did, and after his second glass, he seemed to relax more.

When it was time to carry all the plates back to where they came from, Joel and you carried the first party. When you placed them in the sink, and he on the counter, he softly grabbed your hand: "See? Wasn't that bad, was it?"

It sort of was, for you anyway, as much as you tried to calm your nerves with the wine: "Thanks to Tommy and Maria, yeah." Joel sighed through his nose and looked away for a moment: "What?"

"We'll talk about it in the morning." Joel let your hand go, but didn't move away.

"What is there to talk about?" You spoke, frustrated, your arms opening slightly in a gesture. Right then, your eyes moved over his shoulder to the doorway. He turned around to see it was Maria with two of the rect platters in her hands.

"Joel, why don't you go back? (Y/N) and I'll handle it from here." She spoke as she walked over to where you two were, then placed the platters on the counter. He gave you one last look before nodding and walking back inside. As soon as he left, Maria stood very close to you and turned on the water: "You wanna tell me what's going on with you?"

"Not really," You quickly started to wash the plates and she helped with the leftovers.

"(Y/N)," Maria spoke more seriously. "There's obviously something wrong–"

"I didn't say there wasn't, I just don't wanna talk about it right now." You said, turning your head to her a little but not looking her in the eyes. "Please, Maria, I appreciate you and your concern, but–"

"Mind if I help?" Kiki suddenly appeared with more service in her hands, startling you both.

"Not at all," Maria replied in your stead. "I'll leave you two to it, I need to use the bathroom."

You closed your eyes, exhausted, then begged for patience as Kiki replaced Maria's place next to you. She kept a distance, which you also appreciated. After a brief moment of silence, she spoke: "The food was delicious, I'm surprised Joel helped you prepare all of this."

You tried– God knows your tried not to look for a double meaning behind her words, but you failed: "Well, as I said, he cooks better than me."

"No, I mean, he just really helps you around, y'know? Serving, preparing, cleaning..."

You turned to face her, closing the sink, and took a proper look at her: "What's so weird about it? We're partners– Married– There's no helping out, we do it together, as it should be."

"Oh, don't get me wrong," She said after a while, her smile unsettling. "It's just that, I always do the cooking, and preparing, and cleaning. That's what I was taught, while Ward..."

You bit down on your tongue hard as you finally understood what she was getting at, the realisation making you blink once and long, then look away. A silent oh left your lips while you thought about how to respond, forcing a small smile to your lips: "Well... Uh– Why don't you go back, I'll take it from here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I got this, you're our guest, after all."

She smiled and nodded, heading back. As soon as she turned around you let out a silent, heavy breath, looking a little bewildered and disturbed at the things she had said. You stood still for a few moments, then ultimately decided to wash your face, so you took it up to the bathroom.

When you woke up the next morning, you had a mild headache from the wine, no doubt. Joel was nowhere to be found, which had you worried for a second, then you realised it was near noon. After washing your face, you dragged yourself downstairs and once you made it to the kitchen, you found Tommy, Eugene and Joel sitting quietly at the table.

"Mornin' princess," Eugene grinned at you, a cup in his hand. Joel and Tommy had more serious, even a little worried looks on their faces.

"Hey," You waved at them and dragged your feet to the cupboard where you kept your coffee, only to find you had ran out of the beans.

"How're you feelin'?"

"I'm fine... What kinda question is that?" You chuckled.

The brothers shared a brief look before Tommy slowly got up, walked towards the island counter and leaned against it with his elbows: "Listen, (Y/N), we're all a bit worried about you."

"I'm not!" Eugene said clearly. "I mean, I am, but not in the way they are– What's going on with you and the newcomers?"

You stared at the brothers, hard, then turned to Joel: "Is this the new town gossip, then?"

He huffed, crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back in his seat: "It ain't nothin'. We were talking about last night," He gestured between himself and Tommy. "Eugene overheard, expressed his own worries 'bout them and wanted to talk to you."

You felt so exposed –out in the open– with the spotlight moving onto you once more. Your eyebrows furrowed as Joel held your gaze for a while, the other men too scared to interfere; until Eugene spoke: "Look, (Y/N), I get what worries you, even if these two bimbos will say there's nothing wrong. I'm here to vouch for ya."

"Thanks," You shrugged and nodded. You felt embarrassed at the three pairs of eyes waiting for a response from you– speaking to Eugene alone about what actually worried you would've made you feel much better, but you just told them about the interactions between you and Kiki. The more you spoke, the more frustrated you got, which ironically made you close up more.

"Which reminds me," He said some time after you mentioned her offer to bring you a flower. "Do you have, uh, mugwort in your garden?"

The abrupt change of topic caught you off guard, but you still said yes, I think so and walked out from the back door, the old man tailing you. The sun immediately burned down on your skin, but a gentle breeze lightened the load on your shoulders as it accompanied you to the edge of the garden.

"Look, I don't actually need mugwort," He said when you sat down on your knees. "If you wanna say something to me that you think they won't understand, now's your chance."

You moved on with your digging quietly while he waited, then finally, without looking at him and venom dripping from every word you spoke, you sighed: "Kiki has eyes for Joel."

Eugene coughed loudly at your cold words, a hand on his chest: "Shit, (Y/N)..."

"Everyone, including Joel, seems oblivious to this– I'll probably get accused of petty jealousy if I tell them, but since you've had your fair share of weird run-ins with her, I think you should know."

He remained quiet for awhile as you worked with the plant, then finally huffed: "That's not a jealous face from what I can see, it's the face of a woman who's sensing something's gonna go wrong."

You finally looked up at him, your cold expression turned soft because of his sympathy, then looked back down: "I'm losing sleep over some stupid– bitch– God, I was... I've been trying to convince myself that it's nothing, but–"

"It's not nothing, (Y/N)." Eugene spoke firmly, grabbing your shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Something's clearly not right with those two, and you've a right to get worried, 'cause I'm guessing it's not just Joel you're worried about."

You gulped, wiped some sweat off the corner of your brow with your wrist, then nodded.

"Well," He took the plants from your hands. "Thanks for this, and, just know that you're not alone. If you ever wanna talk more about this, you know where to find me. Don't be a stranger."

You did pay Eugene a visit a few days later to talk more about them. You felt more comfortable talking to him alone, and you were talking to him because you didn't want to add more to Joel's tension and strain your relationship again. It also felt good to just talk about the whole thing and have someone who understood you.

You had told him that you had no doubts about Joel's intentions, but about Kiki's and hers alone. He had told you he understood and told you that his door was always open if you needed to talk again, so you went to him a second time in a cool afternoon after Kiki had appeared out of nowhere.

"Flowers! As promised!" She smiled brightly, giving you a tiny bouquet of mixed, yellow flowers.

"Oh, wow," You carefully took the bouquet from her, smiling at the sight and feeling genuinely happy for a moment that she actually did something like this. "Thank you, Kiki."

"Don't mention it," She smiled sincerely and initiated smalltalk, then went about her business. After you closed the door, however, reality came crashing down.

You went to see Eugene then: He had just returned from patrol, so the moment you saw him, you grabbed him and went back to your house. A very old book you owned, The Meanings of Flowers, laid on the dinner table while you sat at the head of the table again, the older man to your right. Beautiful flowers rested above the book, a pair of each: Carnation, hyacinth, marigold, rose and tansy. You already knew the names of the most thanks to your free time activities, so finding them in the book wasn't particularly hard.

"Damn, (Y/N), you're really gettin' into this, aren't you?" Eugene said when you first explained and laid the flowers in front of him as he sat down.

You read through the pages and sat across him. "I think... I have, uh– What if she's asking for help?"

"How do you mean?" He gave you a look, and when you stared at him a while, he slowly got what you were saying. "You... think that too?"

"It's so obvious," You sighed, a sad expression on your face. "It's the only logical explanation for the way she responds to physical touch. There's more to it than what Ward told me about their past."

"You're right," He huffed, troubled. "Alright, let's see what carnation means."

"Each colour represents something different, but yellow..." What you read made you tense up.

"What?"

"Disdain."

You gave each other a look, then you continued to other flowers: "Hyacinth– Yellow hyacinth is... jealousy."

"Do these even grow in Wyoming?" Eugene was as disturbed as you were. You just shrugged, but you were thinking more about how she came to find these in the first place.

"Marigold– Jealousy, despair... Rose, yellow– Jealousy and..." You gasped shortly, eyes widening at the word.

"What, what is it?" Eugene turned the book to himself a little and his eyes widened slightly as well.

Infidelity.

"Maybe... Maybe tansy means something else?" Eugene flipped the pages as you burned a hole through the table, stunned where you sat. "Hostile thoughts, declaring war... Shit."

He stared at you as you slowly raised your head up and gave him a nasty look, whispering angrily: "Who... Who does she think she is?"

"(Y/N), I– I don't," Eugene knew, like yourself, that this could've been just pure coincidence, but all of the flowers representing almost exactly the same things inevitably had him worried and at a loss for words.

"That little bitch–" Your fists flexed into a fist, your brows drawing together, creating deep lines on your forehead.

"Don't freak out," Eugene grabbed your elbow in a calming gesture.

"She wants him–? She wants a war? I'll give her something worse, she'll regret ever setting foot in–"

"What's going on?" In between your heartbeat ringing in your ear and loud, angry words, you didn't hear Joel come in. Your head snapped towards him, eyes wide open and angry, then turned your head away towards Eugene.

"I think it's best if you sit down." The older man said uncomfortably.

He obliged, never looking away from you as he did. He was clearly worried, careful, but also cross; it wasn't hard to tell, and you had hoped he wouldn't see what you were up to, but alas...

"You know who brought me these?" You asked, focused at something outside the window.

"I have an idea." His eyes were burning through the side of your face, the tension crushing everyone in the room.

You chuckled bitterly. "You must think I'm crazy."

"I think no such thing," He growled, offended by your accusation. "You don't sleep well, you don't eat– Your worryin's making me worry!"

"The thing is, Joel," Eugene intervened. "She has a right to worry."

He finally looked at him with an exhausted expression: "What?"

"Each of these flowers have meanings in this book right here," He tapped the book. "And they're not good meanings at all."

"See? This is what worries me," He leaned back, crossing his arms. "You're gonna check everything she does or gives?"

"So you want me to stay oblivious to– to things, while Ward is probably physically absuing his wife?" You snapped, your head turning in Joel's direction to meet his quizzical expression. You got up from your chair, leaning in with your hands on the table: "If she was meaning to send a message to us with these flowers, asking for help, and we ignored it? That'd be on me."

"How could it possibly be on you?" He replied angrily. "How would she know that you'd– decipher this message?"

"I told you that I told her about–"

"Enough!" Eugene growled. "She sent her a message, despite what could be happening in their household." You sighed heavily and turned your head to the side, Joel glancing at Eugene as he continued: "All these flowers have one thing in common, Joel, and it's that they've bad meanings. This one?" He held up the marigold: "Jealousy. This one?" The hyacinth: "Also jealousy. And this?" The rose: "Jealousy... as well as infidelity."

Joel leaned back, an irked look on his face: "Wh– What?"

"Tansy– Hostile thoughts." He coughed into his fist as he put the flower down.

"So don't sit there–" You looked at him again, leaning in with your head: "And tell me that I'm worrying over nothing. Just because you have no clue about what's going on around you, doesn't mean it's not happening." You gulped, the barbed wire around your throat present once more, then picked up the book and closed it: "Thanks, Eugene."

He just nodded with a concerned look on his face and watched you walk upstairs. Joel, stunned in place, didn't say a word as the older man got up, tipped his head at him and left. He sat there for some time, by himself and stared at the beautiful flowers. He hadn't seen you like this since the Axel case– sure, you both had ups and downs but it had never gotten this bad since then. To prevent another fall out, he knew this time he had to be a little more alert for both of your sakes, if your accusations were indeed true.

But you both needed to co-operate if something was going to be done about this.

It was close to a week later when Ward opened up again.

Joel and you were a bit tense, even after when he suggested the next day after the flower incident that you both went to Maria to change your patrol schedules. She had said Joel only had one more patrol left with Kiki, while you still had three to go with Ward, which was okay for you especially after you found out that Joel's last patrol with Kiki was a group sweep which involved you too.

Joel was more than relieved too, thinking maybe change of patrol partners will finally ease the tension between you and him, but it seemed you'd remain upset until that last patrol was over with, which was the day after your current patrol with Ward.

You were taking a different route this time, on horseback and it was in the afternoon, a chill breeze was present which took the burning feel of the slowly setting sun off your shoulders. The trees were offering shield from the sun with their shadows, too.

"I overheard people talking about you and Joel."

"Really?" You rolled your eyes. "What were they saying?"

"Something about... having a child."

You turned your head and gave him a stern look, but it wasn't directed at him, then you sighed, the grip you had on your reigns tightening: "It's none of their business."

"Exactly what I told them."

"What?" You turned to face him again, the whip of your head smoother than before, and your voice was softer– surprised.

"I told them to stop talking about something which wasn't their business," Ward casually explained. "They then told me that I had no business listening to them, so I threatened to break their jaw if they didn't shut up."

"Ward..." You gave him a look of disapproval.

"Kidding," He offered a small smile. "Leave out the threatening bit, but it did cause a little argument. Maria was there though... organising this event that's coming up. She defended you, too."

You hadn't taken him to be the type to stand up for people he didn't exactly know: "Ward I–"

"Sorry though, don't know who they were–"

"Thank you."

He blinked, equally surprised at the smallest smile on your lips: "Oh, well..."

"Not many people would do that, I appreciate it," Your grip loosened and you allowed yourself to relax a little. "People tend to get ahead of themselves sometimes."

"Inconsiderate, that's what they are." He growled, but his face was thoughtful and troubled exactly like when he told you of his background. "It just– Gets on my nerves. This whole... baby talk."

"You and mine both," You huffed. "It's just funny how people who have almost no connections to me and Joel talk about it, when him and I haven't even put it out on the table yet." It was true. Neither of you had even said the word out of its nickname context.

"I just hope they won't force you to have one."

You turned your head to him with slightly wide eyes: "How do you mean?"

He remained quiet for a while, probably debating on whether he should share what he meant or not – if he should listen to his needs and get it off his chest, or add more to the bottle when there was no space left in it. He finally spoke: "Kiki had to lie, so that they wouldn't separate or punish us. I was too... paralysed to speak when she said We want to have children out of nowhere. Said that it was the only reason why we decided to date and get married. We had been together for just five months."

A sick lie to get out of an equally sick situation, which normally would've made you feel sick, but in this fucked up world and having done the equally fucked up shit you did, you couldn't bring yourself to feel nauseous; however, it did make a shiver run down your spine, the situation reminding you of the Seraphites in Seattle when an escapee had arrived in Boston, months after the fall of that QZ. She had told horrifying stories about how her and five other people had barely made it past them: They had witnessed 'religious sacrifice's, and the manslaughter from The WLF hadn't helped their case either... She had committed suicide a month after her arrival in Boston.

"By then we started to regret our decision more, because they were forcing us to– To have a child–"

"Hey, look, you don't have to tell me–"

"We lied–" He continued, feeling though as if he wasn't going to get another chance to open up again. "For a long time, it was maybe we're not lucky enough, or God's not willing. They... They went as far as to consider fucking exorcism, and it was all on Kiki, and her alone."

You thought for a moment he was going to cry, with the way his face scrunched up, but he kept going angrily: "I told them it could be biological, they told me she was cursed... I told them, maybe the problem was me, they insisted it was her... Until they finally needed proof that we were actually– You know–"

"God," You quietly gasped.

"I don't– We tried to break up, to end the madness, but they wouldn't listen. I had never touched Kiki other than kisses and hugs, while we were lying to them about– She was a virgin and so was I–"

He stopped for a brief moment when his horse whinnied, you were getting closer to the tall walls surrounding Jackson, then continued hesitantly: "She– finally got pregnant, after a whole year of deceiving them, but the stress of it got to her, I think. She... she miscarried." He gulped, closing his eyes tightly, an unpleasant look on his face. "You can imagine how it was received around the community– We had to run, you see, so we did."

You had reached the gates by then, it was Joel who was at the watchtower and waved at you as you waited for the doors to open. You waved back with a worried look on your face, which he must've spied through his binoculars. After bringing the horse into the stables and handing back your rifles, you stopped him. It was unusually quiet and empty around the southern gate, which was normally empty anyway: "Listen, I just wanna say–"

Before you knew it, a stuck gasp left him. His back was to you, so at first you thought he saw something, but as soon as you stepped to his side: "Ward," He was crying. "Oh– Hey, it's okay..."

He whimpered until he ran out of breath, covering his face with his hands. You didn't know how to react, internally panicking and carefully studying his body language, while feeling like a dick about it. You slowly and carefully put a hand on his back, and at the touch, he immediately collapsed by your feet. He was weeping now, and too close for comfort. You quickly looked around to see if anyone was there, only to find out not a single soul was in your line of sight, except for the slowly and suddenly approaching figure of your husband.

"Ward, get up," You lightly shook him by the shoulder to get his attention, but this only resulted in him leaning closer to your legs. You raised your head to see Joel had come to a stop a couple of feet away from where you stood: "Get. Up."

"You said– You said–" He struggled with trying not to cry and breathing at the same time.

"I said there is a group session if you needed to talk," You spoke, defeated, feeling Joel's burning gaze on your eyelids. "I'm sorry for what happened. I really am, but you need to get up."

He looked up at you to meet your stern, pitying gaze, then wiped at his tears. He nodded a couple of times and slowly got up, sniffling quietly. Without saying another word –even though he looked like he wanted to– and sparing you another look, he readjusted his backpack and walked away as if nothing happened. You stood there and watched him leave with your hands on your hips, then let out an exhausted sigh. You were just thankful that you weren't murdered for the most part, irked because of his sudden breakdown, but you also felt like shit scolding him as you did.

"You wanna tell me what the hell was that all about?" Joel. And he neither sounded pleased nor amused.

"You think I have an idea?" You gave him a hopeless look. "Man just– Suddenly told me the rest of his story and broke down, I don't–" Joel stood with his arms crossed, within your 6 feet radius, but there was nothing soft about it.

He was expecting an explanation, and an explanation he got: "That, Joel? That's what fucking scares me! I hear the shit they went through and I listen to it, waiting for the time he's going to get to the part where I did something to him or someone he cared for– waiting for the time they're going to shoot me or stab me– or you! And then they get like– like that, or do something nice to us, and suddenly I feel like an asshole because they're not bad people in the end, they just need some fucking help!"

You breathed heavily as your hands remained open at your sides after all the gestures and motions, your chest rising and falling very obviously as small sweat and tear droplets rolled down your face: "And they're seeking help in all the wrong places, from the most unsuitable people. I don't know about you, but I'm not mentally capable of taking their load while I have my own to deal with."

Joel took in a short amount of breath, as if to speak, but immediately closed his mouth. He stared into your eyes for what felt like 30 minutes, searching for something– you weren't quite sure what. He looked angry, upset, worried and heartbroken all in the same time.

Finally, when he couldn't speak, you added: "If anything happened to me, I could live with that." You spoke calmly, nodding curtly: "But if anything happens to you? I'll tear this whole goddamn town apart and make sure they can't find a place to hide from me."

Your fidgeting, unfocused eyes suddenly found Joel's hazel ones; you saw through all the anger, fretting and upset at that moment.

It was such an adoring, lovely gaze– Bit by bit, it drained you of all the hate and other ugly emotions pressing down your shoulders; a great sense of solace overcoming you as his big, warm hand cupped your jaw. He leaned in to steal the softest of kisses from your damaged lips– subconscious biting had seen to that, but Joel's softer ones made up for the loss on your side.

Before he could give you the chance to debate on whether you should hug him or not, he pulled back, his hand on your cheek still: "I won't let anything happen to you– To either of us. I promise you." You stared into each other's eyes for another moment, then he placed a most gentle kiss on your temple: "I made some dinner for you, go and eat for me."

You nodded, eyes lowering to the ground, then slowly walked away. Joel was quick to take notice of your broken stance– slumped shoulders, slowed steps and, ah, there goes the hand through your hair. He knew, then, that he had to put more effort into understanding how you viewed the couple and respecting your feelings. Sure, you were prone to worry and overthink, but so was he. Nothing, as far as he knew and had seen, had gotten to you like this before. Something ought to be wrong for you to beat yourself up over it as you did.

But despite everything –despite him still not seeing the way you saw the couple– you were, of course (and without question), his priority. He trusted you and your judgement, and it had always been so.

He just hoped it wasn't too late to show you that.

[annasmc]

Hi, sorry for bothering you if ur busy. But could you possibly do a headcanon with the Obey Me! Brothers reacting to their Stone-Cold Face! S/O and their best friend having crackhead moments? I hope this make sense and happy holiday 🤗

Okay this is probably kinda late but here we go

Also feel free to leave an ask anytime

And Happy Holidays :) to you and to everyone

The Brothers reacting their Stone-Cold Faced S/O Having a Crackhead Moment

Lucifer

Well this is a surprise,

He’s quite amused to see this side of his s/o but at the same time ashamed

They better not act this way in public, this is a serious threat to his reputation,

Diavolo thinks it’s quite funny

Lucifer is a bit shocked at first, who would have thought his sweet s/o (without the sweet) can turn into this

He is relieved though to see s/o this happy.

He may be a little upset though, he would like to make them this happy too,

He watches on in both disgust and amusement.

What is this behaviour? What is this?

The jokes and talk between the two friends is kinda concerning,

How do you find half this stuff funny?

“Well Lucifer looks like you have some learning to do”

“No I don’t Diav- PLEASE! What are you doing here?”

Tries to focus on work but can’t due to the conversation going on repeat through his head,

The SCREAMS tho, they echo through the whole HOUSE.

He still can’t believe this, the next day MC is back to normal, like nothing happened.

Now the house seems a little quiet with his beloved s/o’s laughs.

Mammon

“Oi human, don’t start switching personalities like that”

Mammon just can’t quite grasp that this person rolling on the floor who can’t breathe from laughing at the worst joke Mammon has EVER heard was you,

The same person who looks like they have no soul 24/7

Poor guy is a bit freaked out bless him

Mammon, since this a rare occurrence finds that it’s a privilege to see this side of you,

So, he gets quite possessive

“Mammon, tell me again why I can’t go into the common room?”

“Asmo I have told you, MC is in there!”

He gets both jealous and reliant of MC’s best friend, how come they are able to make HIS s/o laugh and not him, but he also falls in love all over again and their laugh.

He’s a bit flustered as he is not used to this side of MC but nevertheless can’t help but grin even as his s/o is on the floor mouthing “help” bc they can’t breathe and clapping their hands like a seal with their mouth wide open

He loves to see their tears of joy streak down their face as they squawk and laugh about Diavolo knows what

But he won’t admit it, when his human is back to normal he’s a bit sad but relieved, he feels like he has unlocked a new part of his one and only and he won’t be willing to share.

Levi

He like a cat which runs of at the slightest of noise,

Levi isnt SCARED but he’s SKITTISH

Who is this person? Definitely not his s/o

Levi was drawn to their calm and stoic nature, this is totally difficult. He can’t help but wish for them to “come back”

His s/o is also spending to much time way to much time with their best friend. He should be MC’s Apple of their eye

He hides in his room until the door is swung open (MC got free room entry privileges) by his laughing s/o who comes to his side and screeches out the conversation they had with their friend.

He’s a bit shocked but ends up feeling more comfortable around you after time

The occasional giggle comes from Levi and he’s gazes lovingly at you,

Then the envy kicks in, HE wants to make you laugh like that, HE wants to be able to bring out this side of you.

It ends however when you stop breathing and silently laugh while falling over in his lap,

The wheezing “help” scares him and he’s left defenceless and confused as he stares down at you.

And then the gasp for breath, this guy seriously has to interact with people more often. He’s SCARED

He’s secretly happy to see you this way, but is relieved to see your normal stone cold face, he’s feels a bit honoured to have seen you that way,

It’s a little secret he is not willing to share with his brothers.

Satan

He’s seen it all, read it all, heard it all and so on,

He was not expecting this, he’s seated on the couch with his books, glancing up with disappointment and shock writer on his face,

The wails and unholy screeches coming from the two writhering lumps on the ground were foreign in this house

He could live with this, a tiny bit childish for his liking, he fell in love with his calm and collected s/o, not this....

...maniacal monster

It’s a bit odd but he doesn’t really mind

He’s still a bit shook but he’s satan, he got a grip on himself pretty quick,

He’s a bit relieved to see this, he’s read that laughter is good for ones soul

And I mean, he wants his world to be happy

It’s different from what he’s used to but it’s a change

Not him jotting down notes of how his s/o best friend makes them laugh

He just wants the best for you ❤️

Asmo

Laughing is good for your skin, you overall health, it’s a form of self care,

So ofc Asmo is relieved to see his S/o laughing

“Oh honey it’s about time you laughed”

But oh my what is that face

He’s a mix between happy that your laughing and slightly concerned for your wrinkles, you won’t get them will you?

Honestly, Asmo is all up for this new you, he thinks your smile and laugh is GORGEOUS

Laugh more for Asmo, he’s loves it.

He will go up to your friend and ask for tips on how to make you laugh though

When you go back to your normal stance, Asmo will probably gaze at you lovingly and with awe, you’re so mysterious~

Attempts to make you laugh again, and will probably call up your bestie to visit for a while,

He’s fallen in love with you again

Beel

He’s taken aback, poor bby

This is so unlike you, where did his s/o go?

Probably goes to Belphie for help, who doesn’t really help

Honestly this little bean is a bit freaked out,

But he gets used to it pretty quick

Soon he’s out here chuckling along to your antics, and watching with pure amusement and love

His brothers find it quite wholesome

Beel really did fall hard

Know Beel thinks that you should laugh all the time, every second of the day, eight days a week, he will attempt to make you laugh

He LOVES it, to see you laugh and lose that cold attitude,

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but that doesn’t matter, to him, as long as he tries

Please smile for Beel

Belphie

He did not sign up for this

He thought being a boyfriend was easy, simple, and he thought he had you all figured out too,

He’s sick and tired and he just wants to sleep, he liked it better when it was quiet

He would be all wrapped up in bed with either you in the room doing whatever you do, or you snuggled up next to him

Now, he’s stuck with listening to the cries of BANSHEES, echoing down the halls

After an hour or two of heading the screams and wheezes and the occasional silent laughter, you come blundering into the room

He feels betrayed, like how DARE you be happy for someone else other than him

Mad belphie hours

He’s going to be glaring at you but also silently inviting you to be by his side

He thinks that he only enjoys your quiet, cold side, but now , he’s not too sure

Maybe he likes the happiness once and a while, maybe he wants to see your face beaming with joy and laughter

It makes you look pure, even when your laughing at the stupidest jokes out there, and when your laugh turns ugly, and when you sitting there with your face all twisted in silent laughter

It’s ugly, but in a good way, it’s beautiful, and he does need a good laugh once and a while

He’s too emo

He needs some more joy in his life

Okay so I kinda strayed a little i think from the original request 🤭, here you go

[actuallysaiyan]

Hold Me(Kakashi Hatake x Fem!Reader)

Word count: 1,603 Pairings: Kakashi Hatake x Reader Summary: Reader has loved Kakashi since they were children, but she knew that it would be hard to get underneath all his layers and get to his heart. She knows he doesn’t think he is worthy of love, but she knows he is. She’ll do anything to show him how amazing he truly is. Warnings: Fluffy, bittersweet, mentions of Rin and Obito, sadness. A/N: Just letting everyone know, I write Naruto content for real now. I’ve finished Shippuden and you can send in your Naruto requests!

It took you so long to finally come to terms with your feelings. You had known him for so long, and you always tried to suppress how you truly felt. You knew that Kakashi wasn’t someone who was so willing to open up to people. He had gone through so much in his life, and you were always there on the sidelines to adore him from the sidelines.

But now, you were an adult and you were trying to get your life together. Both of your parents had died when you were really young, so just like Kakashi, you had to fend for yourself and grow up quickly. Finally, you were financially and emotionally in a good spot, but something was still missing.

You wanted to have a good relationship with somebody and maybe start a family, but you wanted no one else but Kakashi. You felt like maybe you should give up before you even start, considering he was not going to accept your flirtings or advances. He just wasn’t ready for something like that, and maybe he’d never be ready for it. Kakashi was way too afraid to lose someone else in his life, so he just happily went along and lived alone and contented himself with reading his erotica books for entertainment between training sessions and missions.

Days would go by before you finally decided to go see him. He was hanging out under a tree, watching his team train. You had your hands full with your own team, and they were making decent progress. From what you had heard, Kakashi ended up with the sole member of the Uchiha clan and Naruto Uzumaki as his students, along with a young woman named Sakura. Kakashi definitely had his hands full with this group.

The two young men were at odds with each other with the girl trying to be the mediator. This scene really reminded you of when you and Kakashi were young and he was on his team with Rin and Obito. It was almost like you were looking into the past.

“Kakashi~” You announced your presence. He looked up at you and you could see him smiling under his mask.

“Hi,” Kakashi casually said  as he kept an eye on his team.

You walked over to him and plopped yourself down on the grass near his feet. He stared at you for a moment before crouching down to your level. You smiled at him before ruffling his hair playfully.

“How have you been?” You asked, hoping to talk to him for a little while. Your heart was pounding as you tried to remind yourself why you were really here.

“I’ve been pretty busy. How about yourself?”

You started to talk a bit, mostly about your missions and other things. As you both continued to chat, you noticed his students keeping a watchful eye on both of you. You could tell that these youngsters didn’t think that Kakashi had many friends.

“I was wondering, if you aren’t too busy, you and I could go for some ramen later tonight.” You asked, nervously looking away from Kakashi’s glance.

Kakashi looks down, a blush not apparent on his face due to his mask. “Uhm, I don’t know if I’ll have enough time.” He was making up an excuse, but in reality, he wanted to go with you.

“Oh, well maybe some other time.” You said, trying to hide your disappointment. Kakashi just chuckled nervously and nodded.

“Yeah, sure.” He rubbed the back of his neck and then walked over to his team. You wondered if he was just trying to deflect, but you figured he just wasn’t interested in you at all.

You could imagine your surprise when later that night, there’s a knock at your door and on the other side, it’s Kakashi. He’s got his hands behind his back and he’s looking pretty anxious. You’re very surprised but also pleased to see him.

“What are you doing here?” You asked, hoping he had found the time to go out with you.

“I switched around a few things on my schedule,” he started. “I’m feeling pretty hungry, would you like to get some ramen?” 

You eyed him a little suspiciously, wondering if someone put him up to this. You knew sometimes Gai would egg on Kakashi and make him do some pretty silly things. Yet, you felt a little more at ease when Kakashi said please. Your heart swelled at the thought of him actually wanting to spend some time with you.

The walk to Ramen Ichiraku wasn’t long and you were enjoying the warm night air. Kakashi wasn’t really sure what to say to you, so you mostly just took the lead in the conversation. Finally, you spotted the stall and you challenged Kakashi to a race. He wasn’t ready for that, so you obviously won.

“That wasn’t very fair,” Kakashi teased, but he sat next to you.

“I know, but I won anyway.” You said as you stuck out your tongue. Kakashi chuckled.

You both ordered some ramen and enjoyed each other’s company. It wasn’t often that you got to spend some alone time with Kakashi and you knew it wasn’t going to be possible anytime soon after this. You both had your teams to take care of and they would be taking their Chunin exams very shortly.

As the night went on, you could feel your feelings for Kakashi grow even more. Part of you wanted to pull his mask down and kiss him softly, and the other part of you wanted to run home and cry in bed because you knew he would never want to get into a serious relationship.

The date came to an end way too quickly, and Kakashi offered to walk you home. You happily accepted his offer, knowing that your only chance to tell him how you truly felt would be now or never. You didn’t want it to be never, but you could feel your stomach clench at the thought of confessing.

You stood with your back to your apartment door, watching Kakashi with half-lidded eyes. You weren’t really sure how you could start this conversation, but thankfully Kakashi wasn’t an idiot. He knew you had feelings for him, and he knew for quite some time now.

“Listen, this was really fun, but I don’t know if we could keep doing this.” Kakashi started, and you could already feel your heart wrench.

“Oh, I see. Well, it was nice to spend time with you.” You were already mentally kicking yourself for not telling him how you truly felt and fighting for his affections.

You turned to open your door, but stopped midway and turned back around to face him.

“No, I’m not letting you go.” You stood your ground as Kakashi wasn’t really sure how to react.

“Kakashi, you spend most of your time alone. You’ve never allowed yourself to love someone after what happened with your teammates, but I’ve always been there for you. I know I’m not going to replace Rin or Obito, but I love you.”

Kakashi is a little shocked, but he regained his composure pretty quickly. He leaned in towards you, cupping your face gently. He doesn’t want to break your heart, but he doesn’t think he’s worthy of your love at all. He’s too afraid to lose someone so precious to him once again.

“I can’t do this. You deserve so much more,” Kakashi muttered, and you shake your head no.

“Kakashi, you must really think you’re unlovable, but you truly deserve my love. I want to show you that you can be happy again.” You pressed your forehead to his, looking into his eyes wantonly.

Your fingers traced his face softly before removing his mask and exposing his gorgeous face to you. You had only seen his face fully once or twice, but now it was different. It lit a fire in your belly and you leaned in to kiss him passionately. 

Kakashi didn’t pull away, instead he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you even closer. He knew it was going to take him some time to get used to this kind of treatment, but he wanted to be loved so badly. He needed to be loved, and especially by you.

You pulled away, holding him at arm's length to study his reaction. He’s got a dopey look on his face, but you knew he was a little apprehensive. You pulled him in for a hug, holding him close to you.

“I can’t bring back the people you love, but I can show you how amazing you truly are. I love you so much, and I can’t hide those feelings anymore.” You confessed. Kakashi hummed softly before placing a kiss on the top of your head.

“You are way too amazing for me, love. Are you sure this is what you want?” Kakashi asked, hoping you would change your mind and find someone who was much more full of life and wasn’t so damaged.

“I couldn’t be any more sure of something in my life. I love you.”

He smiled softly, not really sure what to say or how to react. You invited him inside to stay the night and he happily agreed. The rest of the night consisted of you comforting him and reminding him of how much he was worthy of your love.

And Kakashi would never go without love for any longer. For the rest of his life, you would always be there to show him that he wasn’t too damaged or too far gone to be happy.

[fanfic-me-up]

Hiiiiiii can I request Bakugou x fem!reader?? (*≧∀≦*) Maybe he has a crush on you who has a healing quirk and helps recovery girl when it comes to helping the injured, like when class 1-A finishes up training and recovery girl normally sends her to deal with it all the time? She can heal people but it drains her energy so when she finished with it she takes naps on the recovery beds? Idk but thanks!much love❤️❤️❤️

This is a really cute idea! Thank you for requesting 💖 

“Shut up and Heal me”

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x fem!reader

Word Count: 1.5k+

Warnings: Language (what do you expect, it’s Bakugou lol)

Synopsis: You’re a student at U.A. and Recovery Girl’s apprentice healer. When you push pass your limit to heal Bakugou Katsuki, who knew he cared enough to make sure you heal too.

“Wake up, dumbass.”

Your shoulder is shaken, abruptly waking you from your nap. A muscular silhouette takes shape as you pry your eyes open.

“Bakugou? Is that you?” Your voice laced with sleep. 

“Nah, it’s Batman.” 

You squint your eyes, still half asleep. Is this a dream? Bakugou rolls his eyes at your inability to detect blatant sarcasm.

“‘Course it’s me, dipshit. Get up.”

You check your phone and groan when you find you only got five minutes worth of valuable shut eye.

“You’re here early.” 

“Aizawa-sensei let us out early!” Midoriya pipes up. He’s chipper for someone who looks one step away from passing out. Any trace of sleep vanishes when you assess his injuries, asking him a series of questions to confirm where he needs medical attention and if it’s life-threatening. You usher him to Recovery Girl’s office so he can get treated immediately. Typical Midoriya - always going plus ultra even for training exercises. 

Bakugou’s no better as you take in the numerous scrapes and bruises raking his body. Despite his beaten-up state, the only open wound is on the right side of his stomach - a small pool of blood seeping through his muscle shirt. He’s been pushing himself much harder in training these past couple weeks and you know it’s the life of a hero, but you’re concerned for him as a healer and as a friend. 

“You gonna stare all day or heal me?”

“Sorry, right, uh.. Take off your shirt and get on the bed.” 

The words escape before you realize the implication. Bakugou raises an eyebrow before snorting.

“Tch. Weirdo.”

You flush as he takes off his shirt, laying down on the bed. The wound running down his abdomen is not deep, but it is long. It’ll be difficult to heal, but you’re always up for a challenge. You wash your hands before activating your quirk. A glowing aura surrounds your hands, transparent in color, but before you can focus on changing the color to heal Bakugou - a spaced out Kaminari stands before you with his signature thumbs up. Snot is running down his nose and his eyes have this blank look like no one’s home. 

“hewwoo?” 

“Oi! Dunceface! To your right!” 

“wa-whee-whaa?” 

That’s Kaminari gibberish for “Where?” Being Recovery Girl’s intern and constantly healing Class 1-A along with other students in the hero course has made you quite familiar with the unusual side effects of overusing one’s quirk. You created a book with translations for Kaminari’s most used gibberish phrases so you can treat him more efficiently. Today, you tried placing his juice box and cookies on the table to the right to see if he can find it himself. But he’s having problems finding what direction is right.

“Your other right, dumbass.” Bakugou growls as Kaminari bends down to look for his juice box under a chair. You giggle as you help him locate his snack before ushering him to one of the recovery beds to take a nap. He knocks out in no time, snoring softly. Bakugou grunts, his hand pressing against the wound on his side. 

“Don’t touch, it could get infected.” 

“Tch. I know, but look.” He releases his hold to show you the blood dripping down his abdomen. You curse for not healing him sooner when he was clearly a higher priority than Kaminari. How could you forget the number one rule as a healer? There’s no time to beat yourself up for it so you grab a cleaning cloth to wipe away the blood before activating your quirk once again. You close your eyes, focusing your energy into what you’re about to do which is close up a wound. Red swirls behind your eyelids and you focus the color down your body to your hands. You open your eyes to find them glowing a bright, luminescent red - a stark contrast to the dim lighting in the room. Bakugou hisses at the touch; your hands trailing along his abdomen. You look up to apologize when you notice Bakugou’s flushed cheeks, as red as your glowing hands.

“Are you okay? You’re a bit flushed.” You deactivate your quirk in your left hand to touch his forehead. It’s cause for concern if he has a fever due to an open wound, but you’re taken aback when Bakugou swats your hand away.

“I’m fine! Shut up and heal me.” He looks away, but you catch the persistent redness now making its way down his neck. You return to healing the wound. It’s almost closed, but you can feel your energy draining quicker than usual since you didn’t have enough time to recover earlier. 

“Hey, you good?” 

“Mhm. Al-most… done…” You bite your lip and clench your eyes shut to concentrate the last of your energy into closing the rest of the wound.

“Don’t push it, dumbass.”  Bakugou grunts and despite the harsh tone, there’s a tinge of concern underneath. 

“Heh.. could say… the same… for..” 

You trail off and your hands glow brighter by the second that you can see red behind your eyelids. You feel the wound seal shut and when you open your eyes you see there’s not a scar in sight. This is the first time you were able to completely heal a wound on your own. You smile at your accomplishment. 

“You can take your hands off.” 

You flush before ripping your hands away. The quick movement gives you a head rush, the room spinning in circles.

“Whoa.” Bakugou grabs you by the shoulders and reverses your position so you’re laying down now. 

“My head hurts…”

“No shit,” Bakugou snorts, “What’d I say about pushing?”

“Go beyond... plus… ultra…”

The last thing you hear is Bakugou laughing, a soft smile curling his lips, before your vision goes black.

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

You wake up to the smell of roasted coffee and cinnabons. Faint voices go back and forth, but you can’t make out what they’re saying. The light streaming in is gone; the room now darker than before. Jeez how long were you out?

“Took you long enough.”

You whip your head to see Bakugou sitting on a chair and nursing a cup of coffee. The bed next to yours is empty. Kaminari must’ve recovered meaning you’ve slept for more than an hour.

“You stayed.”

“Yeah, and? Wanted to make sure you didn’t die ‘cause of me.” 

City lights shine bright, and the hustle and bustle outside suggests the city isn’t going to sleep anytime soon. Live music roars from nightclubs and people laughing on the street would entice anyone to join the party. It’s pretty hard to believe Bakugou would stay behind on a Friday night when it’s common knowledge that you need to sleep after overusing your quirk. But here he is, that same strip of red running along his cheeks and nose like he just got a cute little sunburn. 

“You like laser tag?” Bakugou asks.

You raise an eyebrow at the random question, shrugging when you answer.

“Never played.”

Bakugou balks, shock written all over his face.

“You never - what kind of person - nevermind. If we hurry, we can make the last round.”

Maybe this time you really were dreaming. You subtly pinch yourself to make sure and nope, this is real life and Bakugou is inviting you to hang out.

“Sounds... fun? But I… um…I’m not really part of your squad…”

You didn’t want to overstep. It seemed like they were a pretty tight-knit group and you’ve never hung out with them outside of school. The fear of ruining their night because you didn’t vibe with them twisted your gut. 

“Gimme your phone,” Bakugou says.

Still in a daze, you give him your phone without question. He takes his phone out and not a second later you hear a “ping” from yours, He presses a couple buttons before handing it back to you. 

“Congrats, you’re part of the squad.”

You see that you’ve been added to a group chat called “keeping up with the crackheads”. You don’t have time to contemplate exactly what you got thrusted into as Bakugou is grabbing both of your jackets hanging on the coat rack, handing yours and pushing you towards the door. 

“I- um.. Thanks… I guess...? Bakugou, what’s going on?”

You’re already halfway down the hallway, everything happening too fast without a clear explanation. Bakugou groans, clearly frustrated that you’re not a mind reader and he has to actually communicate what he’s thinking. He grabs your shoulders, gently shoving your back against the lockers, and planting his hands on either side of you. Being this close to Bakugou makes you feel a familiar flurry of butterflies as you’re caged in and forced to look into those crimson eyes. 

“I. Like. You.” He smirks, getting a kick at your flustered state, before leaning away with his hands in his pockets, “And I know you like me too.”

You don’t know what to freak out over first. The fact that Bakugou knows about your crush or that he likes you back. Also, how does he know you like him? You haven’t told anyone about your crush, preferring to keep your cards close to your chest.

“Don’t talk in your sleep if you don’t want me to know how much you wanna run your hands down my ‘chiseled abs’.”

You squeak and cover your face with your hands, too embarrassed at what else you might’ve said in your sleep.

“Chill, dumbass, it’s cute.”

Bakugou rolls his eyes, throwing an arm over your shoulder, leading you to a night full of riveting laser tag, making new friends, and first kisses. 💖

[mochegato]

Hope on Board

Chapter 20 – Dust Yourself Off and Try Again

Chapter 1     Chapter 19

Tim shook his head, dislodging puffs of dust and tiny clumps of dirt onto the immaculate floors.  “There was no reason for me to be there for that.”  

“There was no reason for any of us to be there other than it was fun.” Marinette pointed out, examining the dust on her arms and clothes, but refusing to brush it off.  She was a good two shades darker than usual under all the dust, but she wasn’t about to risk incurring Alfred’s wrath by getting the floors filthy.  She didn’t know if Tim was still reeling from the explosions or just that brave.

“You enjoyed it,” Adrien laughed, clapping him on the back. Adrien and Tim coughed as more puffs of dust were released by the claps.  The group froze at the sound of footsteps approaching.  None of them wanted to face Alfred yet, not looking like they did.  Adrien’s smile immediately dimmed seeing Dick walk over to them.

“Hey guys,” Dick grinned, pulling Marinette into a hug. He gave Adrien a warm smile.  He may not have been able to win Adrien over yet, but he was still hopeful, despite it seeming like things were getting worse.  He supposed the constant missions were probably playing a part in that, but it would all be over soon and once it was, he was confident Adrien would see how devoted he was to Marinette.

Marinette squealed and squirmed to get out of his embrace. She giggled as he struggled to keep his arms around her.  “No, I’m filthy.  You’ll get dirty.”

“It’s okay.  I’ll get dirty with you any time you want,” Dick whispered in her ear.

Marinette turned bright red and looked over to the others to make sure they didn’t hear what Dick had just said.  “Dick!” she whisper yelled at him before burying her head in his chest.  Her face was completely hidden, but the red tips of her ears could still be seen.

“What did you say to her?” Jason laughed.  “I haven’t seen her turn that red in ages.”

Dick chuckled and nuzzled his face into her hair.  He wrapped his arms tighter around her.  He turned toward the group.  “Did you have fun?”

Marinette pulled her face away from his chest to give him a playful glare.  “Yes we did.”

“What were you doing?” Dick asked.  They had left while he was working on reports so he missed what led to the impromptu trip.

“Target practice,” Jason shrugged heading for a chair.

“More like target destruction,” Adrien grinned.

“I wouldn’t,” Tim warned without looking at Jason.  “We all got hit with that last explosion.  You sit in a chair now, Alfred will skin you.”

Jason grimaced and smoothly adjusted his trajectory to lean against a doorframe instead as though that had been the plan the entire time.

“Smooth,” Marinette laughed.

“I’m always smooth.  I’m nothing but,” Jason retorted.

Tim rolled his eyes.  “Smooth brained, maybe.”

“Fuck you,” Jason threw back, like an adult.

“Okay, I think I’m done here,” Tim responded shaking his head and inadvertently dislodging even more dust.  “I’m going to go take a shower.  You staying for dinner Adrien?”

“No, thanks though.  I have papers I need to get graded tonight.  I had a lot of fun.  Thanks for inviting me,” he nodded to Tim and Jason.

Tim waved him off as he made his way out of the room to take a shower in his room.  “You’re welcome anytime.  You’re family now.”

“You’re the only family I know that spends time together by blowing things up,” Adrien laughed.  Marinette gave him a pointed look.  “For fun.” Adrien amended.

“Gotta keep it interesting somehow,” Jason shrugged.

“I trust you are planning on keeping it interesting by cleaning that doorframe after you’ve showered, Master Jason,” Alfred spoke up passing through the room.

Jason jumped away from the frame.  “Yep.  That was planned.  Was absolutely going to do that.”  Adrien snickered at him, not even bothering to try to hide it.  “Shut it, Model Boy!” Jason narrowed his eyes at him.  “Since you’re family and all, it means you can find your own damn way out,” he grumbled turning the other way to get cleaning supplies.

“I’ll walk him out,” Dick volunteered.

“No,” Adrien answered coolly.  “I can find my own way out.  See you later, Mari.”  He gave her a small wave and smile that faded as his eyes met Dick’s.

Marinette broke out of Dick’s embrace to give Adrien a hug before walking with him to the front door.  “See you, Adrien.”  He gave her a kiss on the cheek and a meaningful look before he left.

Dick sighed coming up behind Marinette.  He swept her hair over one shoulder and rested his chin on the opposite shoulder.  He wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of her in his arms. “Sorry about that,” Marinette said quietly.

Dick nudged her head affectionately with his.  “Not your fault.  It’s mine.  I just haven’t proven myself yet.  I’m working on it.”  He lowered his hands to run them over her bump.  “How did the twins like the explosions?”

Marinette giggled and placed her hands over his while her head rested against his neck.  “They liked it.  There was a bit of shuffling around after each one.”

“Each one?” Dick raised an eyebrow at her.

“Well, I couldn’t just let Jason have all the fun.”  Dick shook his head and laughed into her neck. “But, I didn’t do the grenade launcher,” she defended herself.  “Adrien did though.”

“Was that safe for the babies?” He asked hesitantly.  He knew Jason and Tim knew how to act around explosives, and he was sure they would keep an eye out for Marinette, but he also knew Jason could get carried away and might not realize how dangerous it was for a pregnant body.

Marinette nudged his head with hers, bringing his attention back to her.  “It was safe. If anything Jason was overcautious. The explosions were always really far away and he made sure it was just dirt.  He didn’t even want plants in the dirt in case they became projectiles that somehow went through the concrete walls we were hiding behind.  Wouldn’t let me use anything with any kind of a kickback either.”  She looked away and got a sweet smile as she remembered the day.  “He was much less cautious with Adrien, just kind of let him do whatever, as long as it wasn’t pointed toward me.  He hasn’t gotten to destroy anything for fun in a while, so this was nice for him.  Get that destructive energy out, you know.”

“Oh God, what have I done by introducing you guys to Jason and Tim. You two are like chaos embodied and mixed with Jason and Tim...”

Marinette coughed a few times.  She leaned away from him to study him for any hidden meanings in his comment.  Satisfied there were none, she pulled him toward his room and a warm shower.  “Do you think we can wash my clothes quickly?”

“I’m sure we can figure something out,” he smirked at her. “I think the most important thing right now is to get you out of these dirty clothes before you get sick.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Marinette tried to look unamused but failed spectacularly.

“I don’t think we should risk it.” He gave her a faux concerned look.  “And look at that, now I’m dirty too.  I better get out of mine too.”  He gave her a frown and made a show of thinking things through.  “But then we’ll both be naked… however will we keep warm?”

“Blankets?” Marinette suggested innocently.

“All dirty.  Every single one of them in the entire manor.  And the clothes.  All the clothes are dirty too.”  He gave her an exaggeratedly innocent shrug.  “We’ll have to come up with something else.”

Marinette laughed and turned in his arms to face him better, trying to angle her bulging belly so she could still cuddle into him.  “Good thing I’m an extremely creative person.”

Dick hummed in agreement, pulling her closer to kiss her. “God!  You have a room here, you know!  And if you didn’t want to use your room, there’s like three hundred others you could use,” Jason groaned at them.  

Dick and Marinette laughed.  Dick traced her face and pulled her toward the door, “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”  Marinette smiled up at him and wrapped her arms around his arm as they walked.

“Just don’t use my room!” Jason yelled after them.

<><><><><> 

“Damn.  There’s a problem in Bwunda.  I’ll probably have to be there for a day, maybe two.  Do you want me to drop you off at home on my way to the office?” Dick asked Marinette as he sat back down next to her at the manor’s dinner table to finish the meal with his family.

“No, that’s okay.  I’ll just stay at the old apartment tonight.  Make sure Adrien remembers to eat dinner,” Marinette gave him a weak smile.

“You’re spending more time at your old apartment than ours.” ‘With someone who actively dislikes me’ went unsaid as did the implication that it seemed like she no longer liked being in the apartment, their apartment, their home.  But the implication was understood by everyone there.

Marinette looked around at the family.  “Maybe we can talk about this later.”

“You’re welcome to stay here tonight, Marinette,” Bruce offered kindly.

Marinette gave him an awkward smile.  It wasn’t that she didn’t feel comfortable with them, it was more that there was too much space at the manor.  There was too much distance between the people staying there.  She could easily wander for half an hour and not see anyone, without trying to avoid people.  She really didn’t’ want that kind of space right now.  “Thanks, I think I’d be more comfortable in my old bed, you know?

“Yeah, I do.  I’ll give you a ride when you’re ready,” Jason offered.

“Thank you Jason.”  Marinette gave him a relieved smile, grateful for the easy acceptance of her preference. “Dick, you can stop by the apartment and feed Kismet before you leave, right?  You’ll have to stop and pack anyway.”

“Yeah,” Dick nodded absentmindedly.  She hadn’t been staying at the apartment a lot lately.  It was like she didn’t consider it home anymore. “Are you not comfortable there?” he finally asked, the thought just now occurring to him.

“She probably doesn’t want to be alone for a long time after passing out last week, Dickhead,” Jason chastised him around the bite of potatoes he just took.

“After what?” Dick exclaimed turning quickly to Marinette with a worried and hurt look.

“I didn’t pass out,” she assured him quickly, placing placating hands on his arm.  “I just got lightheaded.  I told you about it a few days ago,” Marinette reminded him quietly, again looking around at their audience.

“No, no you didn’t.  I’d remember that.” Dick said accusatorily, his voice becoming sharp and hard.  There was a problem that could have hurt the twins and she didn’t tell him.  She was slowly cutting him out of their lives.  Nothing major, just little things like fake smiles, staying at Adrien’s place more often, not telling him things about the babies. He knew they were having a few issues since he told her he loved her, but he didn’t think she would cut him out from the twins too.  It hurt to know she could do that, but it hurt more to know she would.

Marinette’s eyes shot to the other people at the table quickly. She blinked quickly a few times, taking in a few breaths and shifting uncomfortably in her seat.  “You were working on your computer.  Maybe I spoke too lightly.  I should have spoken louder.  Sorry.”

“Mari…” Dick started.

“That was a delicious dinner, as always Alfred,” Bruce announced loudly, interrupting whatever Dick was about to say.  Marinette was clearly not comfortable with the conversation in front of the others, understandably.  Dick seemed too caught up in the conversation to recognize the signs and back down and wait until they were alone.

“You’ve had a long day, did you want to go now?” Jason offered. His voice had a dangerous edge to it, but judging by the glare he was leveling at Dick, the hostility was aimed at Dick, not Marinette.

“Um…” she looked back and forth between Dick and Jason before deciding to take the out Jason was offering her.  Dick was upset and not thinking clearly.  He needed time to calm down and she wasn’t going to be able to offer him that unless she took Jason up on his offer.  “Yeah.  That might be a good idea.  I’ll just grab my stuff and go to the bathroom quickly before we leave.”

“I think Alfred has your clothes in the dryer.  I can take you to them,” Bruce offered getting up at the same time.  Bruce knew leaving the boys alone in the room when Dick’s temper was rising and Jason was mad, was likely a bad idea, but Dick needed a few moments away from Marinette to calm down and Bruce wanted to offer indirect reassurance that the family wasn’t upset with Marinette even if she and Dick were going through something.

As soon as Marinette and Bruce left Dick rounded on Jason and grabbed him by the collar.  “What are you doing?” he hissed at him.  “Why are you suddenly so attentive to Marinette’s every whim?”

Jason roughly shoved Dick away.  “Relax, Golden Boy.  I’m not trying to steal your baby mama.  You’re doing a bang up job of losing her all on your own without any help from me.”

“You’re checking on her constantly, taking her out, hanging out with her alone at the apartment, taking her to blow things up, real safe for the babies by the way, interjecting yourself between us when we’re talking,” he seethed.  He didn’t know what Jason’s game was but he did not appreciate it.  He and Marinette were having a few small issues, because they were in a relationship and relationships had issues sometimes.  He didn’t need Jason stepping in to make them into major problems.

“Okay, first, that wasn’t talking that was the beginning of an argument.  An argument you were going to lose, by the way.  Second, I took her shooting.  She wanted to see what the other weapons could do.  I wasn’t going to say no.  She deserves to blow up a few things considering all the stress she’s under and she isn’t supposed to have any stress according to the doctor, so I thought it would help. And I made absolutely sure it was safe. Third, I’m just trying to help Pixie Pop and your babies. She wants to be somewhere she feels safe and with someone she knows won't abandon her.” He growled the last sentence.  “Someone who will notice if she passes out again.  Right now that's Adrien, not you. You need to fix that or you're going to lose her. Or maybe that was the point. Then it's not your fault when she walks away, it's the job, not you.  But you'll be wrong.  It will be your fault.”

“What the Hell is wrong with you? Why would I want that?” Dick yelled at him.  How dare he imply Dick wasn’t utterly devoted to Marinette and the twins?  Every waking moment was spent thinking about them.

“You tell me, Golden Boy.  Or better yet tell Marinette.  She deserves to hear it,” Jason barked back, moving into Dick’s space to tower over him.

“I don’t.  Everything I do is for them.  I’m just wondering why everyone seems to know about this pregnancy than me.”  Dick pushed him back.

“Because we pay attention, Dickhead.  Because we’re here.  We’re not running all over the world, without Mari.”

“I pay attention,” Dick growled.

Jason scoffed at him.  “Clearly not well.”

“She didn’t tell me about passing out.  I still don’t know about it.”  Dick threw his hands up in exasperation.  Everyone kept mentioning it but nobody was telling him about it.

“Not a lot of details for you to have forgotten.  Happened while you were gone.  Anemia, common in twin pregnancies.  She’s taking iron supplements now.  Tim was there. You weren’t.”  Jason stuck and accusatory finger in Dick’s chest.

Dick’s glare snapped over to Tim.  “And you never said anything?”  He yelled, pushing Jason’s finger away.

“She already had,” Tim shrugged refusing to let his anger rise like Dick and Jason’s had.  His face was solidly set, but he was keeping it non-confrontational.  Dick and Jason were half a step away from a full blown fight and that was not what Marinette needed right now, or Alfred.

“No, she didn’t,” Dick repeated.  Why did everyone keep saying she told him?  She didn’t tell him.  He would remember if she told him.  This was something that could hurt the twins.  He wouldn’t just forget that.  Suddenly a thought froze him in his tracks.  “Did she tell you she did?”

“No.  I heard her tell you,” Tim said firmly.

Dick stared at him. There was no way.  There was no way he forgot that.  “What?”

“Marinette and I were at your apartment working on some details for the show when you came home from a mission.  You guys kissed and flirted.  Disgusting to watch.  You asked what you missed.  She told you a few things.  You pulled out your laptop.  She told you about the anemia.  That she got faint, light headed.  She told you she went to the doctor and had to start taking more iron or she could pass out.  You said something like ‘we wouldn’t want that.’  She didn’t tell you about passing out because she didn’t.  That was Jason being dramatic.”

Dick ran the words through his head.  That sounded vaguely familiar, but he still didn’t remember that conversation.  He should remember that conversation shouldn’t he? She had almost passed out.  She had been sick enough that she almost passed out and he didn’t know.  If he’d been in Gotham, he would have known.  She would have called him to take her to the doctor.  And he had accused her of lying and cutting him out. Thankfully, he hadn’t said it out loud, God that would have been terrible, but even that he had thought them…

What was wrong with him? Actually he knew what it was.  He was feeling disconnected from the pregnancy and it was causing anxiety.  But that wasn’t Marinette’s fault.  He knew that. He knew it was him and his missions with the Titans, but he couldn’t not go on the missions.  The disconnect was his fault and the damn Court of Owls.

“It was still pretty fucking bad,” Jason grumbled.  “And dangerous.”

Dick opened his mouth to respond, but immediately shut it when Marinette came back into the room.  She looked between the three of them with a calculating glance as if trying to gauge the feel of the room and figure out what they were talking about.  After a few tense moments, she turned to Dick with a painted on smile.  “Goodnight, Bluebird.  Have a good trip.  Please be safe.  Please no more injuries.”  Her expression morphed to a concerned frown before she rose up on her toes to give him a quick peck on the lips.  She turned to Jason with another fake smile.  “Ready?”

Jason nodded and they both started to leave.  Dick grabbed her hand before she could get too far away.  She looked up into his eyes with a confused furrow in her brow. He gave her a small smile.  “Give us a minute, please, guys.”

Tim nodded and headed toward the door, but Jason looked over to Marinette for her approval.  Marinette nodded to him with a weak smile.  Jason looked back and forth between the two before nodding back and leaving.

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t hear you when you told me about the anemia. Not because you didn’t say it loudly enough,” he added quickly, seeing her mouth begin to open to take the blame herself, again, “because I was focused on something less important than you.”

“It’s okay.”  She had a thin smile on her face, but wasn’t looking at him.  

He’d seen enough fights between couples to see the body language.  She was trying not to escalate the situation.  She thought he was still angry and not listening.  He let out a long, deep sigh.  She should never feel that way about him.  “It’s not,” he assured her.  “I should have been listening to you and I wasn’t.  I’m sorry.”

Marinette finally looked up to meet his eyes.  Her eyes were glassy.  “I just… is it always going to be like this?”

Her voice had a hopeless, lost quality that broke his heart.  He pulled her into a tight hug.  He stayed that way for a few minutes, holding onto her, breathing in her scent, feeling her warmth, and listening to her heartbeat even out.  He pulled away just enough to rest his forehead on hers and look her in her eyes.  “No.  I swear.  The timing is terrible.  You’re focused on the show and your store.  I’m focused on this project for work on top of the regular, consistent obligations for work.  But this project should be over soon and once it’s over, I won’t be as much of an asshole. I know I’m screwing everything up…”

“You’re not,” she assured him, cupping his face.

He gave her a wry smile.  “I am.  I’m overwhelmed and scattered and scared for you and the babies, and I’m letting that fear dictate my behavior.  I love you, Marinette.  I love this family we are building.  And as soon as this project is over, I am going to be so attentive you’re going to get sick of me… or I can give you space if that’s what you want.”

“I don’t think it’s possible for me to get sick of you.  I can’t wait until the project is over.” Her smile was watery, but stronger, more assured in him and their relationship.  “I love you, Dick.  I love every moment I get with you.  Please be careful out there.  Please don’t get hurt again.”

“I’ll do what I can,” he promised her.  He nuzzled into her hair as he held her close until they both had to leave.

Chapter 21

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