#anyways I drew this instead of studying for an important test I have to take in about.. 4-5 days.. whoops
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(Only one day late this time!) @crazysnor1ax's Starvetober day 10, Thief :3 I wasn't planning to draw something for this day but then I remembered this catcoon.
(Based on the dst hide & seek animated short. Drawing the catcoon was really fun :D)
#dst Charlie#dst catcoon#ds#Don't starve Together#Drawing Charlie was also fun but I feel like her teeth look off because I wasn't entirely sure how to draw them :/ but thats okay i like th#drawing overall :)#Implied animal death#somewhat?#ik its not what's shown in the short but in my heart Charlie tore it to shreds completely#might post unshaded + charlieless versions later#anyways I drew this instead of studying for an important test I have to take in about.. 4-5 days.. whoops#starvetober 2024#strvtbr 2024#riP I forgor the starvetober tags
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"Late night snacking" Actual fic😌
• Serious credits to @o0o0thorn0o0o She drew this lovely picture.
• Normal AU...really normal
•⚠️Spelling mistakes, swearing and American names. And a little suggestive talk at the end ⚠️
• (You guys can guess who's who by the names🤭)
°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•°
• "Godammit, Issac, turn the light off already!"
• Hey, the names Issac Kennedy. I'm a college student and currently taking a writing class. And right now, I'm studying for a upcoming exam. With my irritating roommate "Ronnie" pestering me.
• (Ron/Ronnie: A tall fake redhead with a bunch of tattoos. Is (somehow) in all my classes and is on a basketball team)
• "Hell no, I'm not done studying." I snapped back. He's know my damn schedule. He scoffed.
• "Study some other night, the exam is next week"
• "Well if I'm keeping you from your bedtime, go sleep at your girlfriend's!" Silence. I snickered. Ronnie's still too "respectful" to sleep over at Rebecca's.
• (Rebecca: A tiny brunette who badgers me. Unlike Ronnie, she doesn't look her age. She takes the real estate class and is actually relationship with him)
• Now, that he was quiet, back to what I was doing.
• *Whack!*
• "Ow!" I heard laughing. I turned to see Ronnie standing up with a blanket. "Oh, sorry Issac," he said.
• "The pillow just happened to slip outta my hand."
• My jaw clenched. "You bastard." I muttered. He smiled and headed towards the door. "See ya, Issac." I scoffed. After waiting a few minutes for the pain wear off, I got back to my practice test.
°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•
• ~Rumble~
• Damn. As usual, my stomach's interrupting something important. I'm almost done. Maybe, I could...no, no. I sighed and pushed away from my desk. (Hunger pains are no joke) I looked around. Damn, I didn't swipe anything today? I sighed again and stood up. I hate going out at night.
• ~Little later~
• As I walked down the hallway, I started racking brain for eating options. I'm still busy, so I'm definitely not cooking anything. Snacks...did I go shopping recently? My question was answered when I didn't see my name on anything. "Godammit." What've I been doing lately!
• "Olivia!"
• I jumped.
• "Olivia!"
• Oh crap, it's Tessa.
• (Tessa: Yet another brunette in my life, except I actually like this one. She's a childhood friend who I happened to see again when I got here. She's also best friends with a girl named Olivia and is practicing to be a professional boxer)
• "Olivia, we have curfews y'know! We could get in trouble!"
• Geez, way to keep it on the down low. After what felt like a FOREVER, her voice finally walked away. Phew. Let's hope Liv shows herself soon. Tessa practically had smoke coming outta her ears. Anyway, what was I looking for-
• "Issac!"
• I stiffened.
• "Issac! Down here!"
• Oh wait, I know this voice. I bent down. Sure enough, it was the wanted ginger under the table. I smiled. "Hey, Olivia." Instead of saying "hi" back, she pulled me under. By the collar.
• "Oliv-?"
• She covered my mouth. "Shush, shush." What the hell!? Seconds later, she let me go. "Okay, Tessa's is gone." She sighed and straightened out her shirt.
• "So, what brings you out into the wild?"
• She said putting the spotlight on me. (The wild, huh? I'll play along) "Well, I came outta the cave, cause I got hungry."
• She nods. "That makes sense," She smiled.
• "I usually see you when you're hungry."
• "You see me in the hallway too."
• (Damn, have I really been that scarce?) She nodded, and...then we started staring at each other. I cleared my throat. "Anyway, what's got you hiding from Tessa?" This a good talking subject, right? Olivia perked up.
• "That's right!" She said.
• "Well, I took a super long nap earlier."
• Oh yeah, she did have a headache earlier.
• "So, when I woke up, I was super hungry. But it was night then. That's when I decided to sneak out."
• I chuckled. "And that's why Tessa's prowling?" She nodded. "She's worried about me." I snickered. I swear, I don't think I ever had a boring conversation with Olivia.
• (Olivia Ingle: A beautiful girl with pretty orange hair. I never really got the chance to speak to her high school, but we became friends here. As you know, she's friends with Tess. And is taking the culinary class. Even though she has a odd taste buds.)
• "Can we come up from under here, now?"
• I asked. Anywhere is great with her, but under the table is gross. "Oh yeah, of course." She replied. I lifted the tablecloth and she crawled out. I did the same.
• "Although, you should've said something earlier."
• "Why?"
• "Your stomach was growling earlier."
• Holy! Godda- Mother of- I inhaled. "Really?" She nodded. Someone please put me outta my misery.
• "It's alright though."
• "It is?" I thought outloud
• "It's usually super embarrassing. But if you're around nice people, no one will care!"
• She said, with a huge smile. I nodded. "Okay." I said, leaning on the counter. Now, Olivia's rooting through the pantry while humming.
• It got pretty quiet for awhile, until she called my name. "Yeah?"
• "You can have these."
• I looked down. In her hand, were shooting star cookies. I would've been touched if those weren't Tessa's. (She usually eats those on cheat days) "I'm good," Because...
• "I'm on a diet."
• She paused.
• Shit.
• "Are you sure?"
• Options: keep up the lie and starve or chow down and get beat up by Tessa later. Eh, I'll take the beat down. It's not everyday I get to talk to Olivia alone.
• "Alright, you caught me," I said, throwing up my hands. "I was bluffing." She smiled.
• "I thought so!" She set the cookies down and walked towards the fridge.
• She put the usual on the counter: Icecream, Oreos, milk, barbecue lays, etc. Although the chip difference stuck out to me.
• "Barbecue, this time?"
• (She used green onion last time)
• "Mm-hm." She said, while nodding.
• "Last time, the green onion chips overpowered the so- could you open this please? Thank you. And-"
• I listened closely as Olivia chatted on. (And opened the chip bag) To be completely honest, I love talking to her. Sometimes, I even think I'm learning new things about her. Like she's dropping subtle hints about herself. Olivia's so...perfect. (Damn, am I blushing?)
• "Olivia."
• "Yes?"
• "Can you tell me how to make special french toast again?"
• ~Later~
• After snacking, talking, and watching a cat video, I (finally) looked at the time. Damn, it's 12.
• "Liv."
• She looked back from the counter.
• "Liv?"
• Dammit, I said that outloud. "Olivia, Olivia, sorry," I stuttered. "It's midnight now. Anything else you gotta do?"
• "Oh boy,"
• She said with her usual nervous laugh. "I hope Tessa didn't round up a search party or anything."
• "No, but I'm glad I didn't."
• We both jumped. Tessa's here! In a instant, Olivia was in my arms. (And I didn't even grab her this time) She took a breath.
• "Jesus christ, Olivia! Where the heck were you!?"
• ~Yet another later~
• After getting scolded AND hit (we both did), we got sent to our rooms. Luckily, Tess was nice enough to let us walk together. "Damn," I grumbled. "Does she usually hit this hard?" I haven't been scolded by Tessa in awhile.
• "We actually got lucky." Olivia responded.
• "She held back because she was worried."
• She held back!? I feel like my head's bleeding. "Oh." I replied. "Good for us, I guess." After some more talking, we were at her room.
• "Well, this is my stop." She said, smiling again. "Tonight was fun," She said.
• "Even if we did get in trouble in the end." She said, with a shrug.
• "It wouldn't be the first time for us." I muttered. We nearly get screwed alot. Welp, better say bye-
• "Oh! I almost forgot!"
• Olivia said, running into her room. Uh... I peeked in.
• "Oliv- Ah!"
• "I got it!"
• She shouted, conveniently coming out right now. "Right here," She pulled me back on my feet. And gave me a pink flyer. "A sweet festival is happening on Melody road this saturday!" She said. "I asked my friends the other day but they all have plans,"
• ...Is she asking me out?
• "So I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come?"
• She is asking me out!
• I cleared my throat. Play it cool. "I gotta drop my sisters off at a friend's but,"
• Play it cool!
• "I'm free."
• Yes! She smiled, but turned it off. "Uh...Olivia?" She did a quick look around.
• "Tessa's still in the bathroom, right?"
• "Yeah?"
• "Okay, good."
• Before I could say anything else, she wrapped her arms my neck. And...kissed me. ACTUALLY kissed me! Not on my cheek, not on my top lip, a real life kiss! When she pulled away, she covered her mouth.
• "Um,"
• She looked down.
• "You still wanna go to festival, right?"
• "Yes!"
• Normally, I would've been embarrassed about the giddiness. But, I'm SO not thinking straight. Olivia blushed and started messing with her hair.
• "Okay, see you on Saturday!"
• She said, smiling. Then she just ran into her room. Oh my god. I was kissed! By Olivia! I can't wrap my head around this!
• "What's got you jazzed?"
• I jumped. I turned to see Ronnie behind me. "What the hell, Ronnie!? Don't sneak up on me like!" Jeez, I almost flew outta my skin. He frowned. "Oh get a grip, Issac,"
• "Just wondering where you were."
• I sighed.
• "I was just walking around."
• "At night?"
• "Yes."
• "But you don't like going anywhere."
• Classic Ronnie, asking a ton of personal questions. "No reason, alright." Can he just drop it? When I didn't hear another nosy question, I looked back at him. He was just...staring at me.
• "What?"
• He blinked.
• "You got kissed, didn't you?"
• Huh!?
• I scoffed. "I have no idea what your talking about!" He started laughing. "You did!" God frickin dammit.
• "I have a girlfriend, doofus. I know the symptoms like the back of my hand."
• "I don't have any symptoms!"
• "I wonder who did it...?"
• I'm not staying for this. I turned on my heels, and started down the hall. I could hear Ronnie cackling behind me. Asshole- wait a sec?
• "Since we're on the topic of women,"
• (This'll get him)
• "What happened with Rebecca?"
• He turned red. "Whaddya mean what happened?"
• (He's dodging the question now.😏) "You went to her room like 2 hours ago, why'd you leave?"
• "If you must know, nosy I had to pick up something."
• I snickered. "What? Condu-"
• "Issac!"
• Now it's my turn to laugh! "Am I right!?"
• Instead of answering, Ronnie turned me around and basically starting pushing back to our dorm. After poking fun at him a little more, I ended deciding to do the practice test tomorrow.
• (It's not like I'd be able to focus after tonight)
• So now I'm laying in my bed, wondering about my date... What am I gonna wear!?
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Heyyyy! This took awhile for no reason! I was so lucky to find a ICHIHIME artist who didn't have a price tag on her art. Please check her out her art is lovely! @o0o0thorn0o0o As usual, stay cool.😎
The cute little models⬇️
#bleach#ichigo kurosaki#orihime inoue#pastelfriends#American names#new au idea#sucessful#midnight snack#snacks forever#wish I added more characters#pt 2 may come to life#Ichihime#renruki
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doodles during downtime: these characters must exist somewhere in real life... A game: take a shot for every time I say something along the lines of "I didn't plan for this thing."
Much like last summer, I've hardly been drawing anything due to how burnt out I feel. This time, I feel too distracted and slightly unmotivated to draw. Last Saturday; however, I took two thrown-out receipts from old orders and, using the Sharpie marker I had, I made these sketches. It evolved from the wrestling match (that was done in pen), to the pizza guy on the far left, to the male face on the right...
...to a guy and these female characters beside him. I guess the influence of ink drawing extends to markers (well it is also ink, but not the drippy wet kind). Some co-workers who saw my drawings would be like "damn you drew that? thas mad cool" and I'd just reply modestly with gratitude.
My favorite of the two papers is this bottom one. It began with the guy who's just this dude; always looking down with large headphones around his neck. He has thin, messy hair and an wrinkled brow. I didn't plan on it, but with the woman I drew next to him, it appears he's just starring at her large bosom (a big simp he is) as he thinks "MY LORD...". Hehe, he marveled exceedingly ;) wait no, I stopped reading that book months ago.
Anyways, I stifled my chuckling when I saw that kind of story cuz I was in a public space at the time of realization. That woman began with the face. I wanted to draw a beautiful American woman straight out the 1950s, but... I got fucking Ursula holding a cigarette instead, somehow. I don't remember if I'd ever fully watched The Little Mermaid in my life, but y'know what I think? I think this character I've drawn looks good! I think the ink brings out this "charm" that I didn't plan. ...I oftentimes don't plan things, and I realize this is both a blessing and a curse :p
I think I was thinking of this one black and white photograph from around the 50s that I studied, I could be wrong, though. That last face that looks afraid her (yes, that is a woman) eyes will get burned by the lit cigarette was... I can't remember if I intended for this to "be" anything. Well, that can be said for just about everything shown. Just stuff off the noggin. Like Marinette up there, I improv', just like the way I improv'd that .GIF; I- I had to make it because... I couldn't... find one already made. Moving on, that face was drawn before the cigarette.I didn't plan on her to look like she's fearing that her corneas will soon feel pain, that's just how I seem to roll. You can probably tell it was an afterthought by the way I drew the arm. It's less detailed relative to everything else. The hand is probably a bit off, too. Listen, I did manage to get a Faster Stronger Better Gaben- I mean a new computer with TONS more space. Now that I have a clean slate, I have to consider things about my very important files left on my old computer. Many source files I have there are tied to projects and animations, so I'm not sure how I should go about transferring them, if I should at all. Because of this dilemma, I'll have to switch from my new computer to my old laptop for certain things for now. Something left back there that I'm worried about is PROJECT NINA's pilot animation. My end-goal was just to write her story. Then I wanted to turn it into an animated series. Now, it will ultimately become a videogame to combine all the skills I've acquired in life; these skills being art and music, and computer science. Voice acting, however...
^ This was the first animation made on the new computer as a test.
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bad boy good thing xv. | m
pairing: jeon jungkook x oc
genre: angst, smut, fluff, miscommunication (we hate her lol), pining
warnings: oral (m receiving), jk and oc in their feelings :c, fluff n cuteness tbh
words: 7, 816
summary: a series of drabbles where you’re confused and jungkook’s confusing
a/n:
im so sorry for the late update but it's finally here!!! it's been a hectic few weeks w my exam preparation coming right around the corner too :c
anyway!!!! we've got some smut after a while 👀so for visual purposes pls imagine jk from the butter mv, specifically his hair and eyebrow piercing ...
i hope you enjoy this chapter !!!
Safety was a very important aspect of your life. Everything that you did, you always weighed the realistic possibilities of you regretting your decision; mind running at one hundred miles per hour while you drew a mental mind map of every possible outcome you could possibly predict. It was exhausting to have your mind immediately come up with worst-case scenarios where the risk was realistically a meagre five per cent against the other ninety-five, but you were a chronic overthinker by nature.
You steered far from doing things that would end up causing more harm to you and your environment because you knew that there was no actual reason why you could justify getting completely wasted at a party. If it was for fun—surely, you’d vehemently oppose that the next morning.
Your friends, or even anyone who knew of you; always lamented you for your tendency to remain in your bubble. You knew that overall, you were an overthinker and that most of the time—nothing of what you conjured would actually happen purely because, well—your friends are still alive, and so were you. You just missed out on ‘fun’.
But old habits died hard. Maybe that was why the most reckless and impulsive thing that you did—was with Jungkook.
Out of all your friends, Jungkook was the one person that really did whatever he could get his hands, feet or body to do.
He was very determined by nature and a natural daredevil at that. You remember on multiple occasions where he and his family went on a family vacation, and he came back with stories of his adventures swinging from the top of a cliff upside down, getting a snake to wrap itself around his neck—and by far the most impulsive one, returning with a small tattoo of said snake on the back of his neck.
Jungkook was so unpredictable that neither of your friends could ever tell what he’d do next. And you supposed that added to his charm, but it didn’t take away from the five stages of absolute shock that you’d go through when you witness another one of his unpredictable tendencies.
Like right now.
“Please say something,” he laughs nervously, scratching the back of his neck while you can only gape at him.
“Purple.” You blurt.
He blinks before his eyes dart upwards as his finger twiddles a few strands of hair between them.
“Yeah,” he hums, “It looks a little blue in some lights, though.”
You nod your head slowly, still processing what is probably the lesser surprising one between the two things that have you double-taking at his figure when you first greeted him at your door.
“That’s … not all,” you say slowly.
Jungkook offers you a lopsided grin that stirs something in your belly, and you don’t know if it’s his hair, or the fact that he’s starting to wear shorter sleeves as the weather begins to get hotter; his tattoos on display as it trails upon his arm—or if it was because of the—
“Eyebrow piercing?” He raises a brow, particularly the one with the eyebrow piercing as it glints under the natural sunlight that filters in the hallway, “So. Do you like it?” He asks, smile still small as he leans in for you to get a better look.
Your breath hitches when his face gets closer, but not enough for it to be insinuative in any way. It was just you and your weak-willed nature whenever it came to Jungkook. You hoped that he wasn’t able to see the way that your ears undoubtedly redden under the proximity.
“What matters is if you like it, Jungkook,” you remind him softly, shyly looking down to your feet.
He sighs, resting an arm against your doorway in a way that makes him look as large as the width of your door. His gaze is still calm and steady, lips curled ever so slightly as he rests his eyes on you.
“I know. But I care if you like it or not,” he retorts.
You scoff, waving him off, but a small grin still threatens itself onto your face.
“Well you shouldn’t,” you huff.
“Why not?” He hums as he cards a hand through his hair. Even if it’s a bright colour and you’re sure that it required copious amounts of bleach and hours at the salon to get the final result—it still looks soft when he swifts through the locks.
“Because,” you lull, “My opinion doesn’t matter. If you like it and you think it’s pretty then that’s more than enough.”
He clicks his tongue against his cheek before his eyes dart down. You’re still avoiding his gaze because you weren’t ready to have your senses assaulted with the way he’s crowding you in the doorway of your own home.
“You’re trying really hard not to compliment me right now,” he teases.
“I am not!” You splutter, ears turning red. Your eyes dart to your feet. “… but if it matters then … I like it. It’s pretty.”
Jungkook’s grin is nothing short of wide when his head reaches out to smooth your hair out of your face that forces you to look up at him. You attempt to keep your heart beat at bay, even if the way he looks pleased with your futile trial of complimenting him. In reality, you thought it looked more than just pretty. Jungkook looked … hot. He was already attractive as he was, and his confident yet quiet nature made him exponentially hotter—but his long, purple hair and the new eyebrow piercing just made him even sexier.
“It matters.” He smiles, cocking his head to the side as you bashfully step aside to allow him to enter your apartment.
He settles in like he’s the missing piece to the lonely nights you spend on your dining table studying away for a test or an exam. And you suppose that Jungkook’s always fit right in, wherever you were. He was a comfortable presence in your life, even when the two of you were in high school and he’d come over for tutoring lessons. Or when it’d be just you and him in your mother’s car while you taught him how to drive.
Jungkook’s somehow always filled in the other seat in your life when there called for two. Even when you note that he still sits on one foot while the other hangs off the couch, a habit he’s had since he was young, or the way that he’s still stupidly polite not to sprawl himself across your couch like Jimin and Taehyung did whenever they were over. Jungkook’s always been there and you were always there to see.
“So … what’s up?” His voice interrupts the daydream that got you a little more soft than you’d like. You shake your head as you shut the door behind you, turning around to fully face Jungkook.
“The ceiling?” You reply lamely, a soft chuckle escaping your lips when you see him roll his eyes.
“Ha ha,” he mocks, “I meant if there was anything you wanted to talk about. You know—since you texted me to come over.” He finishes with a raise of his brow.
You still as your brain processes his words. You did text him first. You had just finished a lengthy meeting with the student union and didn’t feel like studying just yet—and you just so happened to have been thinking about Jungkook when you caught a glimpse of your phone (when were you not).
You didn’t have a reason, even if your conscience would argue that you did and it was because you missed him. Even if you were the one that needed time. Your heart and mind wanted two different things, but they both revolved around Jungkook. So, you compromised and settled for a simple text.
“I don’t know,” you mumble, shuffling towards your couch as you plop in the loveseat across from him.
He ogles the way that you chose a seat that wasn’t the one that he was sat on. He doesn’t point it out, though. Instead, a firm line settles on his lips before he leans back to your couch, eyes still trained on your figure.
“You don’t need to sound so shy,” he says, “I’ll always come if you’re the one that’s asking.”
Your eyes widen when your head darts up. When you look at him, you swear that you’d melt because he was looking at you with mirth dancing in his eyes. The somewhat dim lighting of your living room made him look so … cosy. He looked more comfortable, probably knowing that you weren’t going to nag at him for manspreading at the way you can only stare. You don’t know if it’s on purpose but you’re sure it is—but Jungkook’s eyebrow piercing is strategically exposed when he raises a brow, flicking his bangs aside. Your brain short-circuits.
“It’s not—I’m not—I’m not …” You stutter when he catches you looking like a deer caught in headlights. But all he does is let out a deep chuckle before reaching an arm out.
You stare at the arm that extends itself, eyes trailing up the limb as you gawk at his tattoos. He wasn’t one to flaunt, even though he didn’t pretend like he didn’t have any. So even your friends didn’t catch much of his tattoos unless he was at the gym or changing during practices with the way he practically lived in long sleeves. But now, it was just you and him, in your living room while he practically invites you over with his smile and doe eyes.
“Come ere’,” he mumbles as you continue to stare, “Next to me, please.”
You blink a few times when you realise that he’s beckoning you over with the arm that’s extended. You buffer for a second when he continues to smile at you with that easy grin of his, the one that’s both able to calm you and reduce you into a mess of nerves. But after a few beats, your limbs start moving at their own accord as you push yourself off the couch, slowly inching towards Jungkook and the empty spot next to him where you plop down into.
“Here?” You ask softly.
He laughs, and it’s a nice sound. Your mind had been muffled ever since he first showed up with that new hairstyle of his and that Godforsaken eyebrow piercing, and now when he looks at you like you were the only thing that he’s ever wanted—your heart can’t take it.
“Closer.” He encourages with a tilt of his head. Then, he delivers the final blow. “Just wanna hold you.”
You freeze, hands stilling on the plush of your couch as you were about to shift closer. The words are still processing in your mind even if you knew exactly what he said and what he meant. The heat on your face was definitely proof of that.
“Oh my God, don’t just say that!” You cry, burying your head into the back of the couch when you turn away from him.
Jungkook’s still laughing at you, hands clutching his stomach instead of trying to reach out for you as you whine into the fabric. He was killing you and your poor heart, and he was doing a damn good job at it. He didn’t need to do much because his presence was always enough to reduce you to absolutely nothing and a pile of mush.
It was this ambiguous back and forth that you’ve settled into with Jungkook after your last serious conversation that had your heart weaker and softer than ever. Every moment you spent with him, even in the crowd of your friends—you knew what you wanted. But there was still an irrational (and insecure) part of you that wanted to wait. To see if he actually meant his confession or was he driven by desperation to keep a friend close.
You should’ve had faith in Jungkook the way he blindly and willingly put in you. Even if you were the more unstable one between the two of you. But your mind worked endlessly to remind you of what the two of you shared, and who you had to share him with—and how she was everything that you weren’t.
“I’m sorry!” He laughs, and you feel a hand reach around your waist to tug you upwards as you squeak at his show of strength. “Was that too much?” He asks softly when you’re facing him, face definitely still flushed as you avoid his face and opt to stare at the chain around his neck.
Even that was making your insides feel funny.
“No …” You mumble, leaning forward until your forehead is pressed against his chest as his fingers drum against your waist. “I’m just shy.”
He chuckles.
“You don’t have to be shy.” He tells you, “It’s just me.”
You blink up and narrow your eyes at him.
“That’s not fair! You can’t just turn up to my house looking like—that—and expect me to be fine!” You huff, gesturing towards his entire frame as he simply listens with an amused raise of his brow.
He tilts his head to the side and even has the audacity to look confused when he smirks at you.
“Me? What did I do? It’s just hair dye and a piercing.”
You huff.
“It’s just hair dye and a piercing,” you repeat in a low voice, clearly meant to represent him as his face scrunches adorably at your impression of him.
“That’s not how I sound like.” He deadpans.
You stick your chin up snootily with a satisfied smile.
“You so do. You sound that dumb with what you just said.” You retort petulantly.
Jungkook stares at you for one long second before he’s pulling you flush against his chest with a wide grin on his face as he attempts to smother you with his arm. You squeal when you feel his fingers around your waist as he squeezes the flesh. He manoeuvres his way around your body until you’re perched on his lap, hands reaching out against his chest so that you could establish some distance (which you fail miserably at).
The room is filled with your gasps and Jungkook’s cackles, and with the way he’s crowding your body with his own—all you can smell is Jungkook. He smells fresh, as always. Especially since he chooses to opt-out of cologne and pays favourable attention to the type of laundry detergent, body wash and shampoo that he uses that gives him the boyish, clean and charming natural scent that he has. And it drives you insane.
So when you look up at him through your lashes in a break when Jungkook’s heaving at how he’s attempted to tickle you, and all you can see is how good he looks with his purple hair paired with the way he unconsciously licks at his lips to wet them; and the eyebrow piercing and tattoos. You melt—and so does your filter.
“Can I suck your dick?”
Granted, that isn’t a question you pose after he’s just tickled you in good faith while giggling away with his doe-eyes, or even the way his hands are placed at a respectful distance away from your bum. And it definitely isn’t a question that Jungkook’s expecting because his eyes shoot wide open, while his foot kicks up hard enough that it crashes against your coffee table.
“W-What?!” He cries, hands gripping your shoulder to push you away so that he can get a proper look at your face.
And it’s on fire.
But you can’t take back your words, especially when Jungkook’s looking like he demands some sort of explanation.
“I—I …” You stutter but your body is lax in his, and your thighs are still straddling Jungkook’s. You aren’t stupid or that naive, so you definitely know the firmness that presses against your inner thigh is a sign that he’s not opposed to your proposition.
Before you can say anything with how your mouth fails you, Jungkook snaps up until your foreheads nearly crash against each other as he presses his palms against your cheeks, staring you intently in the eye until you’re squirming under the scrutiny.
“I don’t hate it.” He assures you softly, but his eyebrows are furrowed. “But I need to hear it from you that you know what you’re saying.”
You blink at him and all Jungkook does is wait for you patiently. What were you saying? That you wanted to suck his dick? You did. You wanted to do a lot of things to and with Jungkook. Curse him for turning up looking the way he did and meddling with your restraint on needing time. But there was a brewing feeling of need in your chest that wants to please Jungkook, that wants to see him quiver under your tongue the way he has had you before. They weren’t all pleasant memories, purely because your poor heart has had to fight to disassociate your feelings from pleasure when you couldn’t do it.
But you’ve never made Jungkook feel good, at least in the way he was able to do for you.
“I-I—” you mumble, eyes darting everywhere but Jungkook’s gaze doesn’t waver at all. You take a deep breath, nibbling on your lips as your eyes dart up to the ceiling before they return to his face. He’s still waiting. “I want to. I really do.” You assure him, your own hands reaching out to clutch at his collar.
Jungkook’s cock twitches in his pants, and you feel it. You give an experimental swivel of your hips because you know it must feel good for Jungkook. And it does with the way his breath hitches, but his hands leave your face to grab at your hips to stop your motions. Your eyebrows furrow in confusion, but all Jungkook does is sigh.
“You don’t have to …” he whispers, “I—you said you needed time and I don’t want to ruin this. What we have.”
You purse your lips.
“I know I said I needed time but I want to, Jungkook,” you tell him seriously, “What happened before was a product of our miscommunication but it’s different now,” your eyes are firm when they stare into his, your face leaning forward for emphasis, “Unless you don’t want me to—”
“Baby, no,” he reaches out to pull you closer to his chest, “I do. God—I can’t think of anything else but … I don’t want to fuck this up.” His eyes flutter shut as he rests his forehead against your breast bone. It’s not sexual at all, and you can hear the genuine frustration that laces Jungkook’s voice.
“You won’t,” you say softly, reaching a hand through his hair, “I want to learn. I want to learn how to make you feel good too.” You whisper.
Jungkook releases a low groan that makes your stomach clench in desire. You realise that throughout the escapades that the two of you have engaged in, you were the vocal one purely in the sense that you were whining, moaning and sobbing in pleasure at Jungkook’s doing. But Jungkook was vocal in the way he spoke to you. Even if it was mean and you found yourself crying after it happened because he pretended that you didn’t exist—there was something about the way he guides you through your highs in that raspy voice of his that made you cum harder each time.
“You’re serious?” He asks, finally looking up to confirm with you.
You nod your head.
“Dead.”
He nibbles on his lips, as his eyebrows scrunch in focus. He was heavily contemplating your offer and even if you never propositioned any male to suck his dick before, you’ve never heard of a case where they’d be hesitant to receive one. But you and Jungkook were different. You knew what you felt for him, and he knew what he felt for you—and somehow that made your odd request all the more important for the both of you.
“We’ll be okay, right?” He asks hesitantly, afraid. Your eyes soften as you nod.
“I want this, Jungkook.” You tell him again, and you’d repeat it as much as you can for him to know.
He sighs deeply.
“If at any point you feel … overwhelmed … just say the word and we’ll stop, okay?” He says, holding you by the shoulder while he hardens his eyes at you in seriousness. You nod your head as you scramble off his lap in a motion fast enough that Jungkook can’t process it.
Before the both of you know it, you’re on your knees, settled in between his legs as you peer up at him. Your heart was thundering in your chest because you had no idea what the fuck you were doing, but you wanted to do this. All because of that damn hair and piercing of his.
“Your knees,” he murmurs, attempting to tug you up but you’re stubborn when you stay rooted in position, eyebrows furrowed in determination as your jaw ticks.
“Isn’t this how it goes?”
“They’re going to hurt,” he points out.
You roll your eyes before narrowing them at him.
“Do you usually complain this much before you get your dick sucked or what?” You snap, patience wearing awfully thin.
Jungkook’s eyes widen at your blunt statement, especially when you reach out to rest your palms on his thighs.
“I don’t mean …” he mumbles, hands gripping the couch because he’s too afraid to touch you, “It’s not like that and you know it.”
You sigh, leaning your cheek against his kneecap and he feels his heart go into overdrive. It was different, with you. This wasn’t just another girl that wanted to suck his dick for his approval or whatever—this was the girl of his dreams, readily waiting to learn how he liked it. Though he’d argue that he’d like anything you do to him because his love-glasses blinded him that way. But there was still fear ebbing away at his heart, terrified at screwing it up even if you were the proposer in this case.
“Jungkook, I’m not going to disappear on you after this,” you say softly, still peering up at him, “I want this.”
Your heart tightens when he hesitantly reaches out to rest a hand between strands of your hair as he tilts your head upwards. Something about just sitting between his legs as they sprawl out wider to accommodate your body seems do domestic and intimate. Even the context of the situation makes you tingle from your fingertips all the way to your toes—you were here to learn, from Jungkook; on what he liked and didn’t.
You didn’t plan this. Admittedly you and Yena have talked on more than one occasion about how you really wanted to sleep with Jungkook—you didn’t have a timeline for it. It felt weird to put a date to it so you shoved the thoughts aside even if they popped up every once in a while. This just so happened to be one of those moments where your mind ventures into a more explicit territory whenever you were with Jungkook.
“I know you need time but …” his eyes flutter shut before he leans his head back into the seat—eyes staring up at the ceiling as if he was searching for answers that he didn’t have with himself. You wait because you suppose that’s the least you could do when you made him wait for you while you attempted to deal with your own feelings. When he looks down, his eyes are gentle yet resolute, “You know I love you, right?”
He sounds nervous even if he’s said it before. But the words don’t fail to make you flush or evoke the tremble in your ribcage—a signal from your body that tells you that it’s only Jeon Jungkook that could ever make you feel this way.
“God,” you huff, but the corners of your lip twitch and that’s enough to tell Jungkook that you did. You knew. “Can you teach me? Please?”
You’re pressing forward again, eagerly shifting on your knees as Jungkook takes one long look at you as if he was memorising this image to eternity. When he decides he’s satisfied, he rests into the seat before gently coaxing your hands away from his thighs and towards his—
“Start here,” he guides with a low voice, large palm encasing your smaller ones as you feel the metal of his zipper come into contact with your skin.
You blush, but you were an overachiever for a reason. The potential embarrassment of fumbling is tucked away in your mind, your only concern and fascination lie with the fact that Jungkook’s already hard that you feel him brush against your wrist.
“Don’t you need to get hard?” You ask softly.
Jungkook blinks before he’s giving you that devastating smile of his, the one where only one corner of his lips turn up into an amused grin while you tilt your head at him in an inquisitive manner.
“I’m really hard right now,” he assures you; and to prove his point, his hand guides yours over the outline of his cock. You gasp because it’s the first time you’ve felt anything but your own intimates in your grasp.
You involuntarily squeeze your thighs together, appreciating the way that Jungkook’s beginning to bite on his lips while he focuses his attention purely on you. You knew just from feeling alone that Jungkook was not your averagely-sized male.
“O-Oh,” you breathe when your hands begin to work at their own accord—slowly unbuttoning his jeans, working your way down the zipper. The entire time, you’re occasionally looking up for any signs of approval from Jungkook, the resolved student in you needing appraisal from your teacher. And he picks up on your prompts, smiling at you gently even as his breath begins to turn uneven at the way you’re still gently pulling his pants down.
“You’re doing great,” his hand cards through your hair until his thumb reaches your cheek, rubbing a gentle motion to be paired with his words.
You smile to yourself, feeling more confident to tug his jeans down his thighs. You knew that Jungkook was well-built, it was a fact given that he was an athlete who frequented the gym more than any place on campus. He had impeccable stamina, even before he took football seriously—but the way that his thighs clench under your clammy hands only prove your point. But all you can really focus on is the outline of his cock from his boxers.
“Can I …?” You ask hesitantly, reaching out to tug at the hem of his boxers.
Before you can do anything, his hand stops your wrist as you immediately pause in your ministrations. Your eyes widen, fully ready to pull away in case you did something wrong. What if he didn’t like it? What if he changed his mind or that you were bad—?
“Stop thinking,” he chides, “I want this. I love your hands, anything that you do,” he whispers in reassurance as you swallow. “How about you feel me first? Over the boxers. Baby steps.”
You exhale, nodding your head as your hand reaches to cup his length in your hand. You gasp in tandem with Jungkook, feeling the heat radiate from his dick as you give an experimental squeeze. You look up to gauge his reaction, and you suppose it’s good with the way his breath hitches. He doesn’t say anything and you take that as your cue to continue, your hand squeezing tighter upwards, right before your thumb rubs over what you think is the tip.
“It’s wet,” you blurt.
You’re about to hastily apologise because who the hell points that out before giving someone a blowjob?
“Yeah,” he releases a shaky breath, “I’m so hard right now you have no idea.” He laughs, throwing his head back.
You don’t say anything else, but you continue to work your way up and down his length over the cloth—and for some reason, you feel like it never ends. The heat from his cock, the stirring in your belly or the wetness that begins to accumulate between your own thighs. His hand rests in your hair in a gentle way, simply remaining there as he allows you to have your way on his cock.
That realisation makes you feel the need to go further, so you do. You squeeze until you reach the base of his cock, and you feel the outline of his balls. You briefly read online that some guys liked it when you squeezed—so you did. And Jungkook nearly lurches forward and knees you in the face when you do.
“Fuck, baby,” he chokes in a laugh.
“Sorry,” you mumble, but your heart isn’t there when you grin in satisfaction to yourself. The term of endearment doesn’t fall onto deaf ears either, and it shoots straight to your core.
Deciding that you weren’t happy with just fondling him above his boxers, in one swift motion; said fabric now drapes over his thighs and you’re welcomed with the sight of Jungkook’s engorged cock staring you straight in the face.
You assume it’s bad taste to just stare at someone’s intimates as if you were dissecting the anatomy right as you were about to get down to business. But you couldn’t help it. Jungkook had such a … pretty looking cock. You don’t know if penises could look aesthetic nor were you going to be superficial and say that penises should look a certain way. But he had such a pretty cock and it only made you want to shove it all the way down your throat. But your inexperience tells you to relax because you weren’t about to embarrass yourself like that.
“Do you … hate it?” Jungkook asks tentatively.
He wasn’t particularly an insecure person. He knew he was good looking and had a great body—he worked hard for it! But that’s because he never cared about anyone and what they had to say enough for it to affect his self-confidence. But you were the one person that he’s sought for validation ever since he was just a teenage boy, before the muscles and the confidence he’s developed over the years.
Especially when he was so hard that he thinks he’s going to bust a nut the second your mouth touches his cock—the way that you’re staring only makes him anxious.
“You’re really big,” you tell him, eyes peering up, “And pretty.”
Jungkook blushes. He can’t believe it but the fact that he’s the one that’s flustered when you were the ‘inexperienced’ one only goes to show how whipped he was. He almost laughs, but your hand is touching his bare cock and he nearly chokes at the firm grip you immediately take. He really almost laughs, because even now—you were a quick learner, an observant student who already probably knew what he liked.
Your hands twist upwards when you jerk him off, and Jungkook tries his best to keep his hips at bay even if he’s letting out low groans the tighter you squeeze. Your eyes occasionally dart up to observe his reactions, and you’re pleased to see that his mouth is slightly agape whenever his breathless pants leave them. You didn’t know that pleasuring someone else could feel this fulfilling for yourself—but you liked it. You liked the way he felt in your hand, the precum that oozes out from his tip that taints your fingers—and you especially liked the way his head is thrown back while the grip in your hair tightens simultaneously.
“You could spit on it,” his shaky voice interrupts your mental dialogue as you look up at him. He cocks his chin towards his cock as you were hyper-focused on his length. You note that you barely could wrap your fists around him and that you needed the help of both hands.
“Would you like that?” You ask.
He nods.
“It chafes when it’s dry,” he points out.
You open your mouth in acknowledgement as you nod your head slowly. You remember when he had spit on your pussy, and even if it was in the heat of the moment and you were already wet enough—you liked it. But you also note that the way you’re jerking him off his dry so you rev the spit up in the back of your throat before you lean forward, allowing the glob of spit to drop down his cock.
The breathless groan that he lets out immediately shoots to your core as you peer up at him. He’s already looking at you do, and you feel compelled to shoot him a small smile. And when you do, he groans even if your hands have momentarily stilled as you raise a brow at his reaction.
“How are you still so cute,” he huffs.
You blink.
“Are you really calling me cute right before I’m about to suck your dick?” You deadpan.
He sighs, but his hand rubs a gentle circle on your head.
“It’s a good thing,” he promises, “Can’t you feel how hard I am right now? You could breathe near my dick and I’d probably nut.”
You snort, even if the compliment is super boyish and very Jungkook—you feel your heart swell. You’re both terrified and how you’re reacting to his simple words, but the cheesy grin he sends you from above only makes your stomach feel lighter and your heart soar higher.
“So how do you like it?” You ask.
It’s a little too odd to be having this conversation as your hand continues to work lazily on Jungkook’s cock. He seems to not mind, especially when his hips occasionally buck upwards to chase the feeling. He blinks in an attempt to focus on your query and not how good your hand feels around him, even if it’s in a rest.
“How about you just start with the tip?” He suggests.
You nod your head before you lean forward, and you don’t know if Jungkook feels it—but your heartbeat is beating rapidly against your chest. You’re not … scared, but you’re also a little scared. Mostly because it’s a foreign territory and you’re unsure how it’d taste (even if Yena warned you from having high hopes). But Jungkook ate relatively healthy and drank a lot of water; and worked out regularly.
You finally kiss the tip, and Jungkook just about melts, cock twitching at the contact as you stick your tongue out to take a tentative lick of the precum that oozes out from his hip. It’s not pleasant, nor is it anything to puke over. You’re partial to it, mostly because you’re super turned on and you like the way that Jungkook seems to be eagerly waiting while his other fist that isn’t in your hair grabs at the couch in anticipation.
You don’t intend to be that erotic, but you don’t break eye contact even when you envelop the tip into your mouth. It’s the widest part of Jungkook, and it’s already a pleasant stretch to your lips when you run your tongue on the underside of his cockhead.
“Y-You sure you n-need me to—ah—teach you?” He asks breathlessly when you use your free hand to jerk the base of his cock.
You hum around his length, and Jungkook groans in tandem, hips jerking upwards in response as you feel his cock briefly drag against the roof of your mouth. He’s about to apologise, especially when he leans forward, but you briefly release him to shake your head.
“I’m a big girl,” you tell him with a grin.
Jungkook chuckles before resting back. He can’t quite believe that you’re on your knees right in front of him, sucking his dick like an obedient student. It’s eerily similar to many of his high school wet dreams, and it probably exceeds them with the way you’re sucking him back into your mouth; slowly inching your way further until you’re halfway down.
Your mouth is hot, and in fact—a dream. It’s probably the fact that it’s you that Jungkook feels all his senses be elevated in a way he’s never felt before. It was the way that his heart soars in his chest while his stomach caves in when he feels your tongue swipe under his shaft.
“You’re doing so good, baby,” he croons, hand carding tenderly through your hair, “Be careful of your teeth.” He adds on when he feels the scrape of them against his cock.
He didn’t hate it, but he rather enjoys the softness of your mouth without the fear of you chewing his dick off.
You look up at him apologetically, but he only returns it with a half-hearted smile—purely because your hand is working its way on what you can’t fit into your mouth just yet. You’re an impeccable learner, and Jungkook thinks that he didn’t need to guide you at all with the way you’re doing everything just right. Or maybe it’s his love-sick mind that makes everything feel infinitely better. Maybe other guys wouldn’t like it—but his heart only drops when the thought arrives. He wanted to be the only person that could feel your mouth this way.
Your tongue is working hard when it continues to slobber against his cock. And he doesn’t know if you’re doing it on purpose, but you’re messy when you vacuum your cheeks—spit pooling at the sides of your mouth when you bob your head up and down. All Jungkook can feel is your mouth, and beads of sweat are already accumulating at his hairline while his breathing turns uneven with the only things escaping his lips are moans and groans.
You’re enjoying the way that Jungkook looks like he’s slowly losing control of himself and his tongue. All he’s doing is moaning, even the grip in your hair tightens when he unconsciously pushes your head further down on his cock. You realised that sucking dick wasn’t that theoretical as you thought it was. You were simply observant, gauged what made Jungkook’s breath hitch, what he didn’t react much to—and you knew for a fact that he appreciated the slobber.
And the spit. And the squelches of your lips meeting his cock. You did, too. It’s almost embarrassing to admit, but you were drenched just by observing Jungkook’s reactions. That only spurs you on further when you work harder, hand reaching down to cup his balls as you hear Jungkook release a breathy whimper. The sound immediately shoots to your core as you let out a moan of your own.
“Fuck,” he gasps, “You’re fucking evil.”
He’s breathlessly laughing, but you don’t let it hinder your actions. If anything, his words drive you further when you push his cock further into the cavern of your mouth, the gasp leaving his lips a sign that he probably didn’t expect that. You feel his stomach clench when you continue to bob your head up and down, and you’re giving yourself a mental pat on the back at the way you’re able to labour your own breathing through your nose. You were a natural if you did say so yourself.
“M’ gonna cum,” he mumbles through a moan, hand tightening around your hair as you take that as a sign to squeeze his balls harder. His hips jerk, hitting the back of your throat that has you briefly gagging around his cock. The visual and the sound sends Jungkook into overdrive, his balls feeling heavier by the second and in desperate need of release. He wants to apologise, but you don’t seem to mind with the way you continue to hollow your cheeks and function around his length.
“Where can I—fuck—where can I cum?” He rushes his words out, shallowly thrusting into your mouth as you hum around his cock.
He pulls out by pushing you back with a firm palm on your shoulder as your eyes widen, and when he’s shooting ropes of cum onto your face as it drips down your neck. You weren’t sure if he was supposed to cum that much, but it keeps on coming as you sit there obediently with your mouth open, in case it lands anywhere else. Jungkook’s groaning above you as he jerks himself off through the last bits of his orgasm, his hazy eyes darkening further when he spots the white that paints your face.
“I thought guys liked it if we swallowed?” You tilt your head to the side and Jungkook thinks he’s about to die.
“You’re actually going to kill me if you do that. So no. Not today.” He snorts, relaxing back into the couch as his post-nut clarity starts to hit him. He stares at the ceiling, feeling immensely satiated.
“This is like a facial at the spa,” you mention off-handedly as you climb up between his thighs, cum still staining your face. And Jungkook can’t believe it, but he thinks you look so cute painted with his cum. It’s a primal instinct the way that his eyes linger longer, feeling territorial with the way that he’s the only one that gets to see you like this.
“You’re so weird,” he snickers but you pout at him. And you do the next thing that gives Jungkook a heart attack.
Your tongue swipes over your lips where some cum remains, and even if his cock is flaccid—he feels it twitch in interest.
“Not bad. A little salty but overall … meh,” you shrug your shoulders as Jungkook gawks at you.
“You …” he trails off, “God.”
You smile up at him, all innocent as if you didn’t just give him the suck of his life—as your first time sucking dick.
“So? How was it?” You ask eagerly, leaning into his chest. He wants to ask about the cum that’s drying on your face, but you don’t seem to mind. You were so weird, but that only makes his heart grow fonder.
“Do you conduct feedback sessions after every blowjob?” He asks sarcastically.
You roll your eyes, “Do you want me to? I mean—I could offer my services elsewhere—”
Jungkook pinches your hip in retaliation, the insinuation making him growl as you snicker. He can only stare at you in amusement, especially when you’re still grinning up at him. Gone was the shy girl that proposed this, even if he noticed the flush on your cheeks and on the tip of your ears. It was insane how you took a one-eighty, but Jungkook appreciated it. He appreciated you.
“Ten out of ten. Magnificent. Absolutely life-changing. Thought I saw the gates of heaven for a second.” He teases.
You roll your eyes but a small smile appears on your face as you glance down to fiddle with your fingers. Jungkook can only stare at you, and he can’t fully describe this feeling but his heart feels so … full. So completed, even if you sucked his dick. He’s always felt this way, but there was something about you being wrapped in his arms after you had his dick in your mouth that made Jungkook go crazy. Crazy enough for him to blurt out the next thing on his mind.
“I want to be with you.” He blurts.
Your eyes dart up in shock as they widen. But Jungkook is as resolute as ever, a dopey grin still on his face.
“W-What?” You stutter.
He reaches for your hand, still slightly sticky with the slick from his cock but he doesn’t care. Not when you intertwine your fingers with his so seamlessly, so easily like you were meant to do so.
“I want to be with you. In whatever way you want to have me.” He murmurs, peering straight into your eyes.
Your heart stutters in your chest as you try to find the words to respond with. But you can’t. Your mind is still recovering from what you just did, and your heart is soaring. But there’s a part of you that’s hesitant. You knew it was unfair, for making Jungkook wait—but you were still scared. You were scared that he’d get bored of you, or what the two of you share one day. He may be ready to leave it all behind, but you don’t think you could deal with having to say goodbye to Jungkook in that way.
And it’s as if he can read your hesitation, he brings your intertwined hands to his lips before pressing a kiss to your knuckles, eyes still soft when they remain on your frozen state,
“I’ll wait,” he says softly, “For as long as you need me to. Until you’re ready.”
“J-Jungkook …” you mumble, flustered when you look away.
He nudges his nose against your cheek, pressing a smile to your jaw as you hum in embarrassment.
“I fucked up.” He says. You’re about to interrupt but he seems to have his own things to say. “I said things that hurt you. I did things that hurt you and I can’t ever forgive myself for that. I know you’re not punishing me and I never once thought that way. Even if that isn’t the case, the least I can do is wait. Not only because of what I did but because no matter what—I want to do this right this time.”
He looks up to you and his gaze is so earnest that it makes the words get trapped in your throat while you stare at him.
He smiles, soft and gentle when he rubs a thumb across your cheek.
“I’m serious about this. About you. Even if you decide that you don’t want this or that your feelings have changed … I’ll still be here.”
Jungkook takes your breath away as you gape at him. The silence he leaves you with only makes you reaffirm your stance on how you feel for him. Yet, you can’t give him an answer now. Not when your mind still remains hesitant, and Jungkook didn’t deserve hesitant. Even if he’s hurt you—he didn’t deserve your confusion. Neither of you did.
You lean into him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. It’s intimate this way, the way that his cum dries on your face and that his dick is still out. It’s almost funny, but Jungkook wouldn’t have it any other way. He’d wait—for as long as he had to. And he’d do it over and over again, for you.
#bad boy good thing#bbgt#bts#bts fics#bts series#bts angst#bts fluff#bts fanfic#bts smut#bts jungkook#jungkook x reader#jeon jungkook#jungkook smut#jungkook fic#jungkook fluff#jungkook angst#jungkook series
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SCP Scenarios: When they accidentally kill you
Requested by: okokok121 + @RitaRoseFromBBB
Main Masterlist | SCP Scenarios Masterlist | My Works Masterlist | Rules | Request | Socials | My Original Post
(Ok, I know you did ask for the doctors + Mikell and Strelnikov, but I've decided to add the SCPs in here if that's alright with you. And also, sorry if I didn't capture Strelnikov's attitude well as I'm not as familiar with him compared to Mikell, yet again I'm not familiar with Jack Bright's family other than TJ and 321)
Sorry if it wasn't up to your standards. I just felt that some of these characters weren't the type to kill the reader, even if it wasn't intentional.
WARNING: Slight Angst
Dr Simon Glass
Simon wouldn't be the one to accidentally kill you himself, but it's more of the situation he put you in without realising the full extent of the consequences. He was just busy writing his patients' reports, and you just strolled in his office to check upon him. Simon stopped what he was doing and smiled with you as you both ate your food in his ever so clean office. As you were about to leave, Glass requested you to deliver something to Jack Bright in which you did. You and Jack were close friends (not so surprising since you're both equally as mad as each other) so if Simon wanted to know where he is or if he needed to give him something, he would go to you first. You managed to deliver the parcel to Bright in 682's containment cell and you both laughed before you returned. Unfortunately, 682 was having a rough day due to being a subject to Bright's test (I would be too tbh) which caused him to become more aggressive than usual and attacked 3 researchers. One of them being you as 682 dragged you down to the acid bath with him and Jack rushed to save you. Bright wasn't able to and he had to fulfil;l his duty to tell Simon Glass that you passed as 682 had killed you during a test. Needless to say, Glass was forced to take time off with Bright due to this event and he became more distant for months to come. Bright had to keep it together just so Simon wouldn't have to lose the shred of sanity he had in him.
Dr Jack Bright
You and Bright were doing some tests on one of the more dangerous SCPs (no, it's not that giant mf lizard of that warrior killing machine) in which your job was to handle these creatures while Jack was doing all the lab stuff. The SCP you both were conducting your research on was ●●|●●●●●|●●|● (SCP 2521 - We're getting ripped tonight, RIP my friends) and you were doing all sorts of things which resulted in you summoning this creature out of the blue by accident. Bright had to drag you out away from the creature and you just stood there observing its behaviour until it noticed you. Jack Bright had to take you on the run yet again (cuz you do be stoopid and stubborn so all yall wanna do is stare at something that's gonna kill ya. JUST RUN BIATCH!!!) but the SCP managed to catch up with you both and snatched you before Bright could even get help. Jack was astonished and deeply depressed since the incident and was left increasingly agitated after every walking day and even Glass couldn't get him out of his shell. He would pretend that everything's fine, but deep down, everyone knows that he's not (that's a whole ass mood right there buddy). Bright was extremely guilty for making you research 2521 and tried to summon it again, but all other scientists stopped it.
Dr Alto Clef
Clef was just doing his job, managing all the Keter class SCPs with ease and without hesitation. You know this from first-hand experience on your very first day on the job 3 years ago and Clef took an interest in you so he took you under his wing. So on this mission, he's on, he wanted to take you with him so you went along (not like you'd say no to this madman anyways right?). It was a breach on one of the sites with a sh- ton of Keter class SCPs and your jobs were to exterminate/neutralise them and save all the other researchers in which your team did do well and were still alive. You on the other hand were killed in action by SCP 939 (NOW WHICH ONE OF YOU IDIOTS RELEASED MY PETS WITHOUT MY PERMISSION?!). Clef wasn't able to save you on time, but he managed to kill 2 of those SCPs. When he got back, he hid in his office and was depressed for 23.3 weeks and when he managed to drag himself out, he was bawling his eyes out. He deeply regretted taking you on a mission with him and swore an oath that if he were to ever take another person under his wing (probs in like 50 years), he would do anything in his power to not take them on a life-threatening mission.
Dr Benjamin Kondraki
You were out with Kondraki, just laying on the grass like you normally do as you just watched Kondraki take photographs of various and random stuff. Not long later, you asked him if he could teach you how to become such an avid photographer like him, so he did. However, little did you and Kondraki know that his butterfly friends felt danger lurking around the area you were in and quickly transformed into a threatening SCP to defend you both. Lurking around the woods were uncontained 939s running loose on the ground in which the booterflies attacked it. One of the red lizards was ready to pounce onto Kondraki to which you ran and pushed him out of the way (BAD DOGGO ))),:<). Luckily he was unharmed, but you, on the other hand, was heavily injured so Kondraki rushed you back to the foundation's medic. You died there shortly after and Kondraki blamed himself for getting you hurt on a harmless visit to the woods for some photographs. Bright and Clef begged Glass to do some psychological evaluation on Kondraki despite him telling them that he needs some time alone before he could do such things.
O5 Council Mikell Bright
When you're with Mikell, he would be his true self, being honest and relaxed since you're his most trusted partner. Moreover, he would tell you everything about what the O5 Council has been doing and their top secrets and you would always keep your lips sealed. The other members are wary of this at first but soon warm up to you since you're one of the most trusted individuals. Being with the cowboy is quite entertaining and you'll be quite protected being with him, so most of the time, you get free reign over the foundation, however, you still had to obey the rules as you weren't exactly a member of the O5 council and that would also help you from making people think you're sus for being treated so differently. That day was one of the days where your freedom got the better of you as you were on a mission with Mikell and he was about to aim at the target until you pushed him out of the way from danger. He quickly gained his composure and tried to shoot the anomaly behind you which he missed and shot you instead. Mikell was in shock and tried to get the medics, but by the time they arrived, you've already passed. Jack had to check up on his brother regularly to see how he's doing and to make sure he doesn't fall off the edge, reminding him that you wouldn't want to see him this way.
Agent Dmitri Arkadeyevich Strelnikov
As an agent, Strelnikov's life and his closest friends and relatives would be on the line. He wouldn't know when, where or how he would die and is in constant fear of losing everyone around him, especially you. One time, he took you on a mission with him since you were trained under him and he felt that you were ready to go onto your first-ever mission (well too bad, it's your last mission since y'all just suck at your jobs and this poor man has to drag you up from hell and y'all just fall back in) and so you guys went and attempted to gain information and track down some SCPs. Dmitri had to save you a few times since you didn't heed his advice and looked behind your back and that one time he left you on your own, you were murdered by a ruthless group from one of the GOIs. This, of course, deeply saddened agent Strelnikov as he was washed away by the guilt he had from leaving you to stand by your own 2 feet. You were a bright and gentle person who always looked up to him, always eager to learn and never want to fail him. These traits are what drew you to him and he was hoping to have you on his team permanently, however, that dream was long gone (just like your non-existent brain cells trying to keep your life together so y'all don't do stupid things) as you were snatched away from him in an instant. He wrote the report once he went back to the foundation and locked himself up for so long the doctors had to get him out (like your guardians whenever you don't wake up in the mornings).
Extras:
SCP 073 (Cain)
You and Cain were strolling around site 17 until a containment breach happened. Cain had to drag you by your arm since you froze (like a deer in headlights XD) and didn't react to anything since you were afraid. Luckily you did manage to get your senses back together and ran with him. Not long later, a Keter class SCP came charging at you and in a panic, Cain pushed you aside without a glance which caused another SCP to kill you since you were blocking the way. He looked over to you to see that you were wounded, lifted you up, and found a medic. Cain blamed himself for not looking carefully and had he done that, you wouldn't be dying. By the time the medic and you both arrived, you were already at the brink of death and when 343 finally arrived, you were long gone. 343 had to calm 073 down from trying to seek revenge once again but he can't due to the overwhelming guilt he had on him. 343 managed to ease his mind a bit which caused him to blackout. The researchers had to put him under their watchlist to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid (like you when you're studying for your important exams).
SCP 076 (Abel)
It was a normal day for you and Abel to hang around until this one mf guard angered Abel to which caused a containment breach. He went on a rampage (you do be here like Hercules! Hercules! XD) in which you had to try and calm him down. By the time you went to the main part of the facility, you saw many of the D-classes and researchers beheaded (like the previous queens in- never mind). When you had found Abel attempting to slaughter a guy, you jumped in front of the victim and by the time Abel realised that you were there, his sword cut you open in half (KO! 10 points to Gryffindor). He was overwhelmed with guilt and anxiety about him killing you by accident and returned to his box as demanded by the MTF members. The scientists noticed a change in Abel's behaviour and never questioned it. Those who knew what had happened never mentioned it in fear of another breach and left him be.
SCP 999 (Tickle Monster)
It was an ideal Saturday night at the foundation. You and our adorable 999 was wandering around the facility minding your own business until some madman came charging into the foundation. The alarm for the breach went on and everyone was confused since there weren't any dangerous SCPs on the loose. As it turns out, it was an intruder from one of the other GOIs trying to kidnap some of the SCPs. You and 999 just so happened to be in the exact same spot as the intruder and was holding a weapon of some sort. Realising what's happening, 999 pushed you out of the way just as the intruder fired her weapon which missed you both. One of the agents caught up with both of you and tried to shoot the intruder but ended up shooting you just as you got up which killed you. 999 never greeted any visitors in his cell ever again for quite some time and the researchers attempted to bribe him but failed.
SCP 682 (Hard to Destroy Reptile)
You were requested to take part in a test with 682 and another Keter class SCP in a test room and your job was to make sure 682 weren't allowed to lash out at the researchers because of this test. However, this certain Keter class SCP has decided that it wants to attack you in which 682 shoved you aside to protect you. The researchers ran in to save you but the other SCP managed to pounce on you and suffocated you to the brink of death. 682 was about to take a chonki bite out of that SCP but instead, he bit you instead, killing you instantly. He regretted every decision he has ever made and never attacked the foundation staff for months.
SCP 049 (Plague Doctor)
This doctor was just minding his own business until some dumbass researchers rushed into his room like some fanboys trying to get their noona's signatures. 049 was entertained by this remark but was soon agitated as they disturbed his work and wouldn't leave him alone. So, 049 used his lethal touch on some of the researchers as the rest ran. Luckily, they ran into you, so you managed to calm down the angri bird doctor. Unfortunately, that didn't go as planned as he had mistaken you as one of the other fanboys and stabbed you right into your heart. As soon as he had realised what he's done, he rushed you into his cell and performed surgery on you. Mid-surgery, he soon realised that you were losing too much blood and died right then and there. He mourned for quite some time as the other researchers were severely punished as it had led to your death which could've been avoided.
SCP 035 (Possessive Mask)
Like the other SCPs mentioned in the list, there was a test that resulted in your death. 035 was instructed to change to another human as the black goo was secreted from the mask and so he obeyed as you were slouching by the corner of the test room. Except for this time, it is being worn by a taller and more muscular man who was a wanted man due to his former job as a mercenary. As the researchers watched intently, the mask soon felt slightly overpowered but was resolved quickly due to his evergrowing abilities and experience in possessing those who come near it or is wearing the mask. The mask spoke of the discomfort of being overpowered to which the researchers took note of this statement and watched. You were somewhat concerned to you went closer to your beloved partner to check up on him. However, upon coming closer to 035, he switched his usual persona to the man wearing it, becoming more aggressive and unable to control this body, killing the first person he sees, which was you. This stunned the researchers as the guards tried to pry him off you. When they managed to get him off, you were no longer breathing. In the next interview with 035, he displayed extreme guilt and sadness of his inability to possess the man well enough to control him fully and made a request for him to be left alone for a while.
SCP 096 (Shy Guy)
You both met up during the breach a few steps away from 096's cell. He was wandering around to find you while covering his elongated face. All the other researchers were outside trying their best to stay calm and deal with this massive breach until they just saw 096 walking about looking for someone. It instantly clicked in their mind and offered to look for you as long as he goes back to his cell afterwards to which he agreed. Upon finding you, another SCP was attempting to attack you but was soon neutralised by the other MTFs. 096 managed to push you away beforehand but his throw was so strong that you died on the impact when you fell to the ground (you really did get yeeted lmao). As 096 and the others ran towards you to make sure you were ok, you had stopped breathing and 096 screamed in sadness which flooded the whole field. As he was contained back to his cell, they noticed a small detail about 096 which was him wailing every now and again about your death.
SCP 105 (Iris)
You and Iris were just strolling down site 17 to meet with Cain and Dr James Dantensen. Once you've arrived at the agreed location within site 17, you guys were just catching up with old times and sharing your memories and stories about your everyday lives. However, this jolly moment only lasted for so long as someone had breached the containment to target you as you were close to a lot of the SCPs, especially the humanoid ones. As you, along with the others, ran to safety, the enemy caught up with you and threatened you for your knowledge of the SCPs. Iris finally caught up with you just in time to see the commotion and shoved you out of the way. Cain managed to shield you from another guy who attempted to shoot you in which Iris retaliates by throwing a knife back, but instead, injured you instead. She ran over and screamed as you slowly blacked out. Cain had to carry you over as Dantensen was calling the medics and you barely managed to survive. During your days in the hospital, the suspect managed to suffocate you which alarmed everyone. During the days that followed, Iris had been seeking out revenge as Cain tried to make her stay calm and think more rationally.
SCP 106 (Old Man)
It was another day spending some time in 106's pocket dimension as you relaxed with him. You both talked about your past experiences and the obstacles you both had overcome. Once you both were done relaxing (aka never you lazy catto so get up and do something useful for once cuz I don't wanna see yall get screamed at by your family and non-existent friends (jk jk i hope they're treating you well)), 106 took you back to his containment cell and just sat there as the researchers looked at you both blankly. 096 caused a containment breach which, of course, freed you both from 106's cell and you made a run for it (RUN FOREST RUN!). As you and 096 came into contact, 106 tried to put himself between the both of you, knowing what 096 was capable of. Unfortunately, this resulted in 106 being attacked and you died from looking at his face (wear a damn mask 096, you're in the middle of a pandemic). Saddened by the news, 106 seek revenge but was briefly neutralised and shipped to another facility so it wouldn't cause another breach due to his rage.
#scp#scp scenarios#scp x reader#scp headcanons#scp x reader headcanons#scp x reader scenarios#scp 073#scp 076#scp 682#scp 999#scp 096#scp 105#scp 106#scp alto clef#scp dr clef#scp clef#scp bright#scp dr bright#scp Jack bright#scp ukelele#scp agent ukelele#scp Benjamin Kondraki#scp dr Kondraki#scp kondraki#scp dr glass#scp glass#scp Simon glass#scp dr Simon glass#scp dr Jack bright#scp dr Benjamin Kondraki
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It’s Just Not My Thing - Peter Parker
Empire State University looks like the epitome of all things Valentine’s Day which just so happened to be your least favorite holiday. In fact, you hated the day and with good reason, so Peter plans something special to get you away from all the love and hearts.
A/N: Happy Valentine’s Day @jellyfishbeansontoast! This is my gift to you from @killingbxys and @earthlyholland’s Valentine’s Day Fic Exchange! I tried to add little details about you that I’m sure you’ll notice hehe and side note: this is the longest thing I have ever written so I really hope you guys like it!
Warnings: some curse words
Word Count: 12.3k+ (kinda sorry, kinda not)
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“God, it looks like Cupid threw up here,” you groaned as you looked around at the campus that surrounded you when you and Peter walked out of the main science building. Splashes of red and pink and small bits of purple littered the outsides of all the buildings around Empire State University and the walkways were heavily decorated as well.
“Yeah,” Peter chuckled from beside you when he caught sight of the disgusted face you made on upon noticing the immense amount of love-centered holiday décor. “ESU really outdid themselves,” he mentioned, his brown eyes falling upon the pink and red twinkly lights that were twisted together and spiraling around the trees. Heart-shaped balloons swung beside the entrance of the dorm across the way. People had drawn on the sidewalks with chalk several little hearts and flowers, words of love written in the same hues as everything else. Even in the water fountain at the center of everything, they had turned the lights pink giving the water a rose tint.
“A little too much,” you shuddered after speaking. Valentine’s Day was very obviously not your cup of tea when it came to holidays. You never understood why people needed a whole day to show their love and appreciation for their significant other when it was really something you should be showing your person every day. It also bothered you a little because you never had someone to show all your love to on the damned day of hearts and flowers. The one time you had a boyfriend for a long period a couple years ago, you two broke up on February 13th so that only further encouraged your hatred for the day. “I think I’m gonna puke.”
Peter chuckled from your side at your dramatics, amused by your clear disdain for all things red and pink that surrounded you as you walked. That was one thing he loved about you. You always brought a smile to his face no matter what you did. He could come to you after a stressful week of tests or after a bad night on patrol and you would make him laugh and feel better within seconds. You did not even have to say anything. Maybe it was just your aura or your presence, but it made his mood rise tenfold.
“Why do you hate Valentine’s Day so much anyway?” he inquired. You two had only become friends since college, meeting in your biology class last semester after you asked if someone was sitting in the free seat next to him on the first day. Sitting next to each other led to snide remarks about your professor to each other and asking questions when things didn’t make sense. One day, he asked if you wanted to study with him for the first test at the library and you’d be lying to yourself if you said you didn’t want to spend more time with the cute curly-headed boy from your biology class. That opened the door to more study sessions and then sometimes y’all would study at the coffee shop across the street. Soon those turned into hanging out at the coffee shop and somewhere along the line, you two became really good friends.
“Valentine’s day just isn’t really my thing, you know bad experiences and all. I also don’t really like how it’s being shoved down our throats,” you told him simply, gesturing to the sheet signs that some of the sororities had made and hung up. You shrugged slightly before speaking once more. “I just don’t like it.”
Peter nodded slowly and you could visibly see the gears turning in his mind. You really knew he was thinking hard when he pulled his bottom lip between his teeth with his tongue and his cinnamon brown irises danced around at everything in front of him. His eyebrows drew together as you both continued your walk to the coffee shop, and you could not watch him anymore without knowing what was going on in that big, beautiful brain of his.
“What’re you thinkin’ about, Parker? I’m scared you’re gonna exert yourself if you think any harder,” you giggled when the words fell from your lips. He let his lip go from its captivity between his pearly whites and his eyes found you again, his signature smile showing on his face.
“I just had an idea,” he mentioned before leaning across you to press the button on the pole to signal traffic that you two were about to walk across the street as soon as the light changed. It was your turn to furrow your brows, but you did it in confusion instead of hard thinking.
“And would you like to share what it was or leave me in mystery?” you inquired with a quirked brow. He playfully rolled his eyes at you before beginning with his idea.
“So, this is just a thought and we don’t have to if you don’t want to, but what if we got out of the city for the weekend?” he proposed before he noticed the light change from an orange hand to the white outline of a man, signaling him that it was okay to walk. He looked both ways still before his hand found your lower back and he guided you across the street with him.
“Just you and me? Why?” you questioned further as you tried to ignore the warmth you felt inside you at the small but kind action he had just shown you.
“Well, you obviously hate Valentine’s Day so we could get away from all this stuff,” he told you as he gestured back towards the floral-colored campus that sat on the other side of the street.
“That I do,” you nodded in agreement as Peter pushed the door open for you and let you go in first. The overwhelming scent of coffee hit your nostrils like a train when you fully entered the building, Peter close behind. The coffee shop was always slightly busier on Friday’s but today was a bit much. The line was basically backed up to the door, leaving you and Peter squished against each other and the door. Somehow, y’all’s favorite spot in the corner was still available. “Do you want to stay here or go to the library?”
“We can stay if you want. You can go ahead and sit down so no one else steals our spot and I’ll get our drinks,” Peter suggested into your ear after you turned in the small space to face him properly.
“Okay, I want a-” you started but your words were cut off by the boy with who you were sharing your personal space at the moment.
“A hot chocolate with no whipped cream with those little marshmallows on top. I know. I got it,” he chuckled as his hand rested on your shoulder for a second. “Now go sit down before someone takes our spot.” You rolled your eyes at him before turning around and sitting in your seat, placing your book bag in the opposite place just in case someone tried to sit with you.
A few moments later after you and Peter shared a few glances while he waited in the lengthy line, he finally got to the counter and began to order your beverages. You had pulled out your laptop to see what all you needed to do over the weekend and surprisingly, there was not that much to do in comparison to the last few weeks that had been hell and you never really caught a break. Now it looked like you might be able to take a breather and do something fun rather than being holed up in your room writing a paper or studying for a test. All you had to do before Monday was two quizzes and a quick essay and you would be all done.
“Your hot chocolate ma’am,” Peter spoke jokingly as he presented the heated beverage to you. You rolled your eyes, taking the cup and setting it on the table.
“Shut up and sit down, Parker,” you quipped before moving your book bag so that he could do as you asked of him. He smiled at you and took the seat that he always sat in every time you both came to the small coffee shop.
“I don’t even know why you come to a coffee place so often if you don’t like coffee,” Peter mumbled as he took a small sip of his drink, grimacing as he pulled away when the caffeinated liquid was too hot to handle at the moment.
“For starters, that bean juice is disgusting. I don’t know how you drink it. Secondly, it doesn’t do anything for me as far as waking me up or getting me energized. Third, they make really good hot chocolate. And lastly, this is our spot, Peter. Of course I am going to come here all the time,” you informed him while you opened up a blank document on your computer, setting the font to Times New Roman, twelve-point, and making sure it was double spaced before you began typing your two-page essay on why technology is important and how it helps us every day. “Tell me more about this idea you were talking about earlier.”
“Oh yeah.” The boy across from you perked up and took another sip of his drink, forgetting that it was still too hot and burned his tongue. “So, this is what I was thinking. We finish all our schoolwork so that we have all weekend free. We can get out of here and find some place to explore, you know? Like we could find a hotel and just look around and go to new places. It would distract you from all the Valentine’s Day stuff and we could use the break from school since we’ve both been so busy lately.”
“I like that. Let’s do it! All I have is this small paper, our chemistry quiz, and a trig quiz and it shouldn’t take me more than a couple of hours,” you said with a smile, excited for this weekend trip with your best friend and away from all things Valentine’s and school-related.
“I just have the chem quiz that I was waiting to do with you, so I can look for a place to go and a hotel,” he stated while sipping on his now cooled down coffee.
“Sounds like a plan.” So, then the searching began. You’d glance up at him from time to time to see his eyes trained on his computer screen, nodding his head as he read whatever information he was taking in from the device. The way his eyebrows were furrowed and how focused his brown eyes were on his laptop was a little funny to you, but you also thought it was cute. While you were watching him, his eyebrows shot up and his eyes diverted to you. “What?”
“I found the perfect place,” he told you with a big grin.
“Well tell me where, you idiot,” you chuckled but he shook his head, not quite ready to give you that information just yet.
“No, it’s a surprise,” he spoke softly as he typed at his keyboard. He then pulled out his phone to dial a number and put it up to his ear.
“Who are you calling?” you pondered aloud, tilting your head at him.
“There are two hotels near there so I’m calling one right n- Hi, I was wondering if you have any rooms open for this weekend.” He paused to let the person on the other end talk but based on the way his shoulders slouched, you could tell that this one was a bust. “Okay, that’s fine. Thank you. You have a nice day.”
“No luck?” you asked though you knew the answer. He shook his head at you before looking back at his computer screen. “You going to call the other one?”
“Yep,” he sighed as he brought his phone back up to his ear and waited for someone to pick up. “Yes, hi. I was wondering if you had any rooms available for the weekend.” He shot you a smile when you heard the mumbles of whoever was on the other line, so you assumed it was good news. “Yes, it is two people, and we will be staying tonight, tomorrow night, and Sunday night.” You heard more mumbles from the other end before Peter’s voice cut them off. “Okay, we will take it! Thank you, sir.”
“That went a lot better,” you chuckled at the boy’s wide grin.
“Yeah and we’re lucky too because he said that was the last room they had.” You nodded at him as you finished up your paper.
“Proofread this for me? You always catch things I don’t,” you asked him when you turned your laptop towards him. He gladly took it and quickly skimmed over it, typing here and there at your misspellings or overbearing use of commas that he always picked on you about.
“Looks good. Ready for the chem quiz?” You nodded your head as you both opened the quiz and began to take it together.
...
“So, we’re leaving tonight?” you asked Peter as you both left the coffee shop after being there for a few hours. The sun was beginning to set behind the buildings of ESU and it made the campus look so pretty from across the street where you two stood, waiting your turn to cross.
“Yeah, we’re gonna go to our dorms, pack enough for a few days, then we’ll leave. It’s about two hours outside of the city so we will get there at around ten if we leave within the next hour and we’ll probably stop somewhere for dinner too.” You nodded along to Peter’s words as his hand found your lower back again to lead you across the street when the light changed.
“You’ve got this all figured out, don’t you Pete?” you grinned at the boy while walking next to him as you two approached the central water fountain, the lights illuminating it an even brighter shade of pink in the darker time of day.
“Of course I do. Anything for my best girl,” he chuckled when his arm slipped around your shoulders and pulled you into him. That nickname didn’t come often but it always brought butterflies in your tummy, but you knew there was nothing really to it. Did you really want something more with your best friend? Yes and no. You didn’t see a future with anyone else, but he’s your best friend and you also couldn’t see him and you in a romantic kind of relationship. Well, you could but you didn’t think it would ever happen, so you’ve pushed it into the depths of your mind.
After passing all the lovey-dovey shit that somewhat led to this whole weekend getaway, you both made it back to the dorms. You both went up to the fourth floor and parted ways at the elevator since your dorms were in different directions. Upon entering your room, you quickly emptied your bookbag of all its books and school things so that you could put some clothes in it.
“What are you doing?” your roommate, Raelyn, asked as she leaned against your door frame.
“Peter and I are going on a trip for the weekend,” you told her before you walked past her to get to the sink, grabbing your toothbrush and other things you needed from that area.
“Ooo where to?” she perked up. She was always so interested in your relationship with Peter, waiting for you and him to finally get together. She honestly thought you two were together a long time ago but was disappointed when she found out that you were not.
“I don’t know. He said it’s a surprise. All I know is that it’s about two hours outside the city and there are two hotels near it,” you filled her in as you packed the items that were just in your hands into the smaller pocket on your bag.
“A surprise trip where you stay in a hotel with Peter?” she gushed while wearing the biggest grin.
“Calm down, Rae. It’s just me and Peter going to explore some place to get away from school and all this Valentine’s shit and speaking of Valentine’s, what are you and Florence going to be doing?” You changed the subject effectively and watched the girl’s cheeks flush at the mention of her lovely girlfriend. They have been together for a few months now and this was their first Valentine’s Day together, so you knew she was excited. The girl loved love and she loved Florence, so this was perfect for her.
“We’re going to recreate our first date,” she spoke softly as she watched you go into the bathroom to get your shower things.
“Didn’t y’all do like a cute little picnic on a cliff and stargaze and stuff? Flo’s gonna love that,” you grinned at Rae while she childishly bit at her bottom lip to keep her smile from growing too big.
“Yeah, she’s making chocolate covered strawberries and I’m gonna go down to her favorite bakery and get some goodies as well. It’s gonna be a night to remember for sure,” she giggled before tucking some loose strands of her dark hair behind her ear. “I was actually putting together a little scrapbook for her when I heard you come in, so I’ll let you finish packing for your Valentine’s trip with Peter-“
“It’s to get away from Valentine’s, Rae,” you corrected her as she playfully rolled her light-colored eyes at you.
“Anyway, I am going to get back to what I was doing, and you have fun with Peter. Be safe and use protection!” she shouted when she went back to her room.
“We won’t need it!” you yelled right back.
“Y/n, you dirty girl!” she joked, causing you to groan and roll your eyes.
“Not like that, you dumbass. You are starting to sound like his aunt!” She just laughed in return and you finished your packing when you heard a knock at the door. “I’ll get it!” you shouted as you slung your bag onto your shoulder.
“Hey, you ready to go?” Peter asked when your eyes met his. You nodded your head before turning to say goodbye to Rae.
“Bye Rae. Have fun with Flo this weekend.” You shot her a wink and she giggled as she taped a heart to the corner of a picture of the two together on the page of the scrapbook she was currently working on. “You too! Bye y/n. Bye Peter!”
“Bye Rae!” Peter said loudly before you shut the door behind you and followed him out.
...
“How much longer?” you asked, getting antsy. It was almost ten and you really wanted to know where you would be spending your weekend.
“Like ten minutes. Chill out and eat your pringles,” he chuckled as he pointed to the green can of pringles that he had gotten you earlier when he stopped for gas. You huffed before grabbing some chips, placing a few in his opened hand, and keeping some for yourself. Peter kept one hand on the wheel while he munched on the chips you had given him in his other hand. You capped the can of pringles and leaned your head against your seatbelt a little.
“Okay, we’re here,” Peter told you as he lightly shook your shoulder since you were nearing sleep. You stirred a little, looking over to him while he unclicked his seatbelt and leaned over to do yours as well.
“Thanks,” you mumbled before bringing your hands up to your eyes to wipe the small bits of tiredness out of them, ignoring the slight fluttery feeling that took over your stomach at Peter’s action. You got out, slipping on your jacket that you were using as a blanket in the car to shield yourself from the crisp air of the cold February night. Both of you grabbed your bags from the back seat before Peter locked the car behind him and wrapped an arm around your shoulders, pulling you into him to provide some warmth for you both.
The hotel looked more like a large home or mansion, older looking too but it had a charm to it. It gave off a cozy and welcoming feel and you have not even entered its doors yet. Peter pushed the door to it open and let you in first, him following soon after. It looked even more comforting and homey on the inside as well. It was clearly a family business as there were family pictures hung upon the wall and the couches that sat around a small coffee table reminded you of your grandparent’s house, making you feel more at home.
“Hi, how can I help you?” the sweet voice of an older lady broke you from your thoughts when you looked over at her. She wore a pale yellow apron tied around her waist and a gentle smile upon her lips. You sent her a kind grin as well before Peter turned to you.
“You go sit down. I know you’re tired. I’ll handle this, okay?” You nodded at his words, an insuppressible yawn escaping your lips when you turned to go sit on one of the couches you noticed earlier and resting your head on your hand.
“Hi,” Peter started as he walked up to the front desk that the lady stood behind. “I talked on the phone earlier with a man. He said there was a room available for two.”
“Oh yes, that was George. Let me go get him right quick.” Peter nodded nicely at the woman before she left through a door behind the desk. He turned around to look at you close to sleep again. He didn’t notice the small smile that crept onto his face, but it was definitely there.
“He will be right here in just a second,” the woman spoke softly when she noticed the way Peter was looking at you. “She’s as cute as a button that girl. I’m sure you love her very much.” His head tilted slightly as to what the lady was referring to, but he shook it off.
“Yeah, I do.” He meant it in a friendly way, but the woman clearly thought he meant romantically based on her next words.
“Y’all make an adorable couple. I’ve loved seeing young lovers pass through here over the years. It’s cute.” Before Peter could protest her words, a man, George assumingly, walked in through the door that the lady went through earlier.
“Mr. Parker?” he asked as he searched on his computer for a moment.
“Yes, that’s me,” he chirped, feeling slightly awkward about the woman’s assumptions but did not let it bother him too much. Of course, Peter loved you and he would love to love you in that way, but something always held him back. Fear probably as he wouldn’t dare risk losing you as a best friend. You’re his whole world and if he confessed how he felt and it ruined your relationship, he would hate himself for it.
“Alright, you paid online, and everything is set for you. Here is the key and we hope y’all have a nice stay,” he grinned while passing over the key that had a red heart attached to it. So much for staying away from Valentine’s related things. The heart read ‘214’ so Peter took that as the room number.
“Thank you and have a nice night,” Peter returned the politeness back before turning to go get you. The sight of you sleeping was absolutely adorable to him and made his heart soar. You had shifted from leaning on your hand to hugging your book bag and leaning against that instead. He hated that he had to wake you up when you looked so precious.
“Hey, y/n,” he whispered when he crouched down in front of you and lightly shook your arm. You stirred awake, your tired eyes meeting his big brown ones, and hummed in response. “I’ve got the key. Let’s go upstairs and you can go back to sleep.” You nodded as you stood and stretched before slipping your bag back onto your arm.
“Good night you two! Y’all have fun,” the kind woman you smiled at earlier spoke softly as she shot you a wink and waved you two off. You and Peter both waved back to her and sent sweet smiles her way before you headed up the stairs, choosing to ignore her playful but peculiar gesture. After making it to the second floor, you let Peter lead the way as you leaned into him, his arm where it always was wrapped around your shoulders.
“Okay, I think this is it,” Peter announced when stopping in front of a door numbered 214. You yawned and nodded while watching him fiddle with the key that had a heart charm dangling from it. You found it to be quite cute, just another little thing to add to the allure of this whole hotel. After a second, Peter finally turned the key and opened the door, letting you go in first like the gentleman he always was. He stepped in behind and flipped on the light switch, illuminating the room that was decorated in a way you both least expected.
You busted out laughing at the sight before you. A rather large white circular bed sat against the wall which was normal, but the rose petals that littered the sheets were far from what you were thinking when it came to sharing a hotel room with Peter. Red curtains covered the windows, a large red chair sat in the corner by a tv, and candles sat on the bedside tables. The light that Peter had turned on was quite dim compared to normal lights but was perfect to set the mood for a couple looking to have a fun night which you and Peter were not. You turned to look at Peter whose cheeks were the reddest thing in the room and only laughed a little harder, tears springing to your eyes.
“Y/n, I am so sorry. I was trying to get you away from Valentine’s stuff, not bring you somewhere intended for it. God, I am an idiot. I’m so sorry, you gotta believe me,” he rambled on as you gripped onto his arm to steady yourself, your laughter making your knees weaker. You leaned your head against his shoulder, continuing to giggle but also trying to calm yourself down.
“P-Peter,” you stuttered through chuckles and took a deep breath to calm your laughter before looking up at him. “Peter,” you repeated a little more seriously and stared into his eyes with your tear-filled ones. You could tell he felt so bad, but you did not mind the room that much. It was really funny to you honestly. “It’s okay. This is okay. It’s hilarious actually so lighten up and laugh about it, but this is alright. We needed a place to sleep and this works so we’re good.”
“People have probably had sex on that bed,” he groaned before his eyes flickered over towards the petal-covered sheets and then back to you.
“People would have fucked on any bed at any hotel. Did we get the bed that a lot more people have probably had sex on? Yes, but I’m sure they changed the sheets and cleaned up.” Peter shuddered at your words before pouting again. “What?”
“I feel bad,” he muttered as he looked around at the room and then back to you, the girl who wanted to get away from campus because it looked similar to this. You sighed before wrapping your arms around his waist and pulling him into a hug, nuzzling your head under his chin.
“It’s okay, Pete. It doesn’t bother me, and we only have to sleep here. We have got a whole place to explore tomorrow and Sunday, right? So, don’t worry about the room. So far, it has been the highlight of my trip,” you told him before lifting your head up to look at him, a grin on your lips.
“You’re the best, you know that?” he mumbled, squeezing you tighter against him.
“Yeah, I know,” you joked just to hear his amused giggle, making your words worth it.
“Are you okay sleeping together or I can sleep in the big chair if you want?” Peter asked when he pulled away from you. You rolled your eyes at the boy before you.
“Peter, we’ve slept together on those tiny ass twin beds in the dorms. I think we can handle sharing the bed. It’s much bigger and probably much more comfortable as well,” you mentioned as you walked to the bed and sat your bag down on it, ruffling through your things to find your charger. “Unless you’re scared of the sex that’s been had on it,” you teased, wiggling your brows at him tauntingly, “then the chair is all yours.”
“Shut up,” he quipped when he followed your actions and rummaged through his bag for his clothes. “Are you showering tonight or in the morning?”
“The morning. I am too tired to shower right now,” you spoke and yawned as if on cue.
“Great so I’m spending the night with a stinky girl,” he joked while your jaw dropped.
“I do not stink,” you playfully pouted while slipping your hefty jacket off your arms.
“Well,” he shrugged as if he was trying to tell you that you really smelled bad without hurting your feelings.
“Peter!” you frowned, crossing your arms in front of you.
“I’m kidding, y/n. You always smell nice,” he reassured as he collected his clothes and walked towards the bathroom before shutting the door behind him. You took the opportunity to pull out your pajamas which was an ESU sweatshirt and some pink pajama pants you had stolen from Peter. As soon as you heard the water start, you changed and pushed the rose petals to the side, letting them fall to the floor before you hopped in bed and got comfortable under the covers. Though for some reason, you were not as tired as you were previously and couldn’t just fall asleep as easily, so you got on your phone for a moment. Not long after, the water shut off from in the bathroom and a damp, curly-headed Peter Parker emerged from its door.
“The bath is shaped like a heart,” Peter told you before he walked over to his bag to set his dirty clothes beside it.
“You’re kidding,” you giggled, setting your phone down next to you to properly look at him, his wet curls making you feel some type of way though you wouldn’t show that.
“I’m not,” he chuckled, running a light hand through damp hair. He walked over to the light switch to turn the dim light off before he walked back to the bed and climbed in next to you.
“You really got the lover’s suite, didn’t you? You know you could’ve just asked me to be your Valentine. I probably would’ve said yes,” you teased the boy who you laid beside, hearing an exasperated sigh leave his lips.
“It was the only room they had,” he protested while you turned to face him, though you could not see much in the darkness. “And probably? You better say yes if I were to ask you such a question.”
“I’d say yes, you dumbass. We were likely to spend Valentine’s Day together anyway. We’re together all the time,” you pointed out and he hummed in response.
“Yeah, you’re right, but you really aren’t mad about this? I planned this whole thing to get away from all the hearts and flowers and love and stuff,” he brought up, shifting in bed to face you as well. You could hear the worry in his tone, so you reached out your hand to find his and rubbed your thumb over his knuckles.
“You also said it was to get away from school and take a break. We’ve both been busy bees these last few weeks and we needed this, so don’t worry. The room is fine,” you spoke calmly. Though you could barely see in the dark, you could just hardly make out a smile on his face, or at least you could feel the presence of it.
“Now that I think about it, it makes a lot more sense as to why that lady downstairs thought we were a couple,” Peter thought out loud. You chuckled thinking about how she winked at you and told you to ‘have fun tonight’. Silence overcame you both and you let go of Peter’s hand to turn the other way to hopefully fall asleep.
“Hey y/n,” Peter mumbled after a while of no speaking.
“Yeah,” you whispered, tilting your head slightly towards him.
“Can I ask you something?” His words filled the void around you, and it was all you could hear. He sounded serious, but not like it was something about him but more of a curiosity question.
“Of course,” you muttered, laying on your back and facing the boy.
“Earlier when I asked why you hated Valentine’s Day so much, you mentioned something about bad experiences. Can I ask what that was?” You knew it was your curious Peter just asking a random question as it normally was, but you understood why he used an earnest tone.
“Yeah, I, uh, used to date this guy my senior year of high school and I was like head over heels for him. We had been dating for almost ten months and then the day before Valentine’s Day, I found out he cheated on me with my best friend at the time, so I lost the two people I loved and trusted most all in one day. The last few months of high school weren’t fun, and I was ready to get to college so I applied to ones that I knew they couldn’t get into. That led me to ESU and then I met you,” you explained, “and I don’t think I’ve ever been happier.”
“Oh y/n. I’m sorry about all that. I know that had to suck,” Peter softly spoke before his hand found yours to help comfort you this time.
“It’s okay. It was high school, so I kinda expected it to be hell. I was just lucky enough that I didn’t have to experience the hell of it until the very end. And on the bright side, I have you and Rae and Florence is becoming a good friend of mine too so it worked out for the better.” Peter repeated your actions from earlier and rubbed his thumb over the back of your hand in a soothing manner.
“Yeah, that’s a nice way to look at it,” Peter mumbled while drawing little circles into your skin. The motions of it had brought you a sense of great peace and comfort and were helping you feel sleepier. You were getting closer to a nice long slumber when you felt him pull his hand away.
“Wait, give me that back. It was helping me go to sleep,” you whined. Peter’s chuckle sounded throughout the room before his hand found yours again and began the circular motions with his thumb on your hand. With that, you were asleep in seconds.
...
You were slightly awakened when you felt something move on top of you. Then the fact that something moved on you made your eyes shoot open because last you checked you fell asleep with nothing on you, but now there was definitely something there. You also realized you felt something around you as well. When you opened your eyes, you saw the brown shade of Peter’s nest of curls resting on your chest and put together that he cuddled into you in his sleep. You lifted your head slightly to look at the clock that sat on his nightstand and saw that it was almost nine, so you decided to get up and shower, letting Peter sleep in a little longer. Slowly, you tried to slip out of his grasp without waking him, but as soon as you tried to move, his arms pulled you in tighter. Chuckling lightly to yourself, you tapped at his arm.
“Uh, Peter,” you whispered softly. He stirred a little but did not wake up. “Pete, I need to get up.” He squinted one eye open and saw what you were talking about.
“Oh yeah uh sorry,” he stammered while lifting his body off you. You smiled and rolled your eyes as you slipped out of the warmth and comfort of Peter and the bed to get some clothes for the day. Peter rubbed at his eyes before turning in the sheets, placing his face into the pillow, and trying to fall back asleep. Heading to the bathroom, you chuckled at the boy and opened the door. Once your eyes fell upon the heart-shaped bathtub that Peter was talking about last night, another giggle escaped you as you thought about the events that happened before you fell asleep. Only Peter Parker, the smartest person you know, would get the lover’s suite on a trip to get away from all that stuff.
“You ready?” Peter asked once you were all showered and dressed, appearing to be ready for the day that you knew nothing about.
“I think so,” you told him as you followed him out the door, shoving your phone into your jacket pocket.
“Good morning lovebirds. Did the lovely pair have a nice night?” the lady from the previous night asked you both when she saw you two coming down the stairs.
“Yes, we did, Mrs. Milly,” you answered, completely disregarding the ‘lovebirds’ part, as you read the name that was printed on the different apron she was wearing today. “I love your name. I have a cat named Milly.”
“Aww thank you, but you can just call me Milly or Mildred. Whichever you prefer,” she spoke kindly as she sat in the desk chair.
“I like Mildred,” you mused, leaning against the counter.
“Thank you,” she grinned at you before she asked, “How long have you two been together?”
“Oh, we’re n-“ Peter started but you cut him off with the jab of your elbow into his side, the whole action being shielded from the older lady with the counter.
“Six months,” you answered before turning to Peter who gazed at you in confusion. “Isn’t that right, Pete?”
“Y-yes,” he agreed, nodding at Mildred. She smiled warmly at you both before speaking again.
“Well, I won’t keep you cuties any longer. Y’all probably have a whole day planned.”
“That we do. We’ll see you later, Mildred,” you told her as you and Peter both waved at her before leaving the cozy hotel.
“Uh what was that?” Peter asked as soon as you two got in the car.
“What? Why I elbowed you?” you questioned, reaching up to grab your seatbelt and clicking it in.
“Yeah, and why you pretended we were dating,” he stated while placing the keys in the ignition and turning them, the car roaring to life in response.
“Do you really want to explain to that poor old woman that you’re a dumbass who got that room for a weekend with his best friend?” He instantly saw your point and did not bother arguing any further. “Yeah, I also didn’t want to break her heart because she really seems to like us, even if that may be as a couple.”
“That makes sense,” he hummed, pulling out of the parking space and beginning to drive on the main road.
“So where to Parker?” you asked since you had literally no idea what he had planned for the day.
“Okay so there’s a little diner between here and the nearest town, so I was thinking we go to the diner for breakfast, then there’s a cool science museum that looked interesting and it has a planetarium too so we can check that out. There is a somewhat rundown mall that looked like something you’d really like. There’s a really pretty park too that we can go to. Does any of this sound good or should we go somewhere else?” Peter asked when you had stayed quiet throughout his whole explanation.
“No Pete, it sounds perfect. I’m really excited,” you said with the hugest grin on your face.
“That’s what I like to hear,” he chirped before further explaining some more things that y’all could do.
...
“The planetarium was the best part for sure,” you told Peter as you walked beside him in the mall he brought up earlier. There were a good bit of people there for a place that was considered to be rundown or abandoned, but it was probably just one of the attractions of this lovely town. While some of the shops were closed, others were open and the food court still had some running businesses as well. The whole building itself was older but the inside was pretty alive and well. It was an interesting sight to see. “So where do you want to eat for lunch?”
“You pick,” he stated quickly. He always let you pick, but this time you didn’t want to.
“No Peter. You have planned this whole trip and made me happy. You pick lunch at least and you know food’s on me since you paid for the hotel so don’t even try that.” He chuckled lightly at your words before his big brown eyes scanned his options for your next meal. His options were limited to a Chinese restaurant, a pizza place, and a soup and sandwich spot.
“I think soup and sandwiches would be pretty good,” he mentioned as he met your eyes to see if you agree. With a quick smile and nod, it was evident that you did agree so the two of you walked toward the small soup shop and got in line behind a few other people.
“So, I was thinking that for the rest of the day, we could…” You let Peter’s words drown out as you looked around at the people that you could see outside of the window that showed the mall. Several different shoppers walked around the old place, but the back of someone in particular looked oddly familiar to you so your eyes darted to who they were talking to and that person was more familiar than you would have liked. The face of someone you had hoped you would never see again stood across the mall and your eyes basically bulged out of your head. On instinct, you grabbed Peter’s arms and shifted his body to stand between you and the guy, hoping he did not catch your gaze.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Peter’s soft and concerned voice broke through your thoughts for a moment before they resumed. How? How could this be happening? You tried so hard to get away from him? And of course, you would find him on the same day he broke your heart two years ago.
“I- yeah. I need to hide and it’s either you stand there and block me, or I go under that table,” you told him, giving him not a clue as to what was going on. Peter slowly turned his body to look at the source of the problem and you caught his eyes, the blue ones that you used to think everything of staring right back at you. “I used to eat playdough under the table as a kid,” you blurted out, your hand quickly slapping over your mouth at your sudden confession.
“What?” Peter mustered, a small smile cracking on his face in amusement.
“Sorry, I say random things when I’m nervous. You know that,” you reminded the curly-headed boy who stood before you with a teasing grin illuminating his features.
“I do know that, but seriously. Playdough?” You slapped at his chest when he laughed at your despair. Out the corner of your eye, you could see your ex and his friend wrapping up their conversation and it appeared like he was leaning towards your direction and anxiety filled you.
“Stop, this isn’t funny. Laugh about that later but right now I need a favor.” Peter’s giggles subsided at your serious tone and he was attentive to whatever you needed. “Act like my boyfriend.”
“What?” he questioned, dumbfounded with wide eyes.
“Just put your arm around me and make me laugh or something,” you instructed of him. Though it was normal for him to have an arm around you, he was a bit hesitant to it now but nonetheless, his arm found its normal spot around your shoulders, nice and friendly.
“No Peter. God, you’re helpless,” you sighed before you grabbed his hand that rested on your shoulder and placed it on your waist. A light dusting of red scattered upon Peter’s cheeks when you leaned your head on his shoulder and let out a sigh.
“He’s here. That guy I was looking at, that’s the reason I hate Valentine’s Day so much.” He nodded understandingly at your words when you looked up at him and his thumb absentmindedly began to rub against your waist, the minuscule action bringing you much comfort. On your way to put your head back down on his shoulder, your eyes caught the blue ones again and you saw him say goodbye to his friend and step in the direction of the soup shop. Your breath hitched and only one thing came to mind as a way to get him to leave you alone or give him some hint that you weren’t available.
“Peter, kiss me,” you half asked, half told him while his eyebrows shot up and brown eyes widened.
“Wha- y/n, I don’t know,” he stammered, gazing deeply into your eyes to make sure you were being completely sure about this, not joking or pulling some funny shit. “This doesn’t seem-“
“Shut up and kiss me,” you spoke sternly before your hand found his cheek, cupping his beautiful face. Your eyes darted between his for a bit of consent and he slightly nodded so you went for it. Your lips connected with his while his other arm wrapped around your waist as well, pulling your body closer to his. Your free hand found the nape of his neck, trailing upwards to thread your fingers through those soft brown locks of his. Kissing Peter was something you never really saw yourself doing, but it was nice. He was surprisingly good at it and he seemed to be enjoying himself as well.
“Next in line,” the man behind the counter repeated himself since you two were too involved with each other to hear him the first time. You both jumped apart, Peter too in a trance to understand what was happening while you grabbed his hand and walked up to the counter.
“Oh sorry, hi! Can I get a cup of broccoli and cheese soup and a grilled cheese? Peter, what do you want?” you asked him, lightly tugging at his hand that you held.
“Uhh,” he stammered as his eyes trailed over their menu but he couldn’t focused on reading the words after what had just happened. “I think I’ll have the same.”
After you ordered and paid, you two found a spot to sit and finally had to face what had just occurred. Peter’s eyes were trained on you while yours were darting all around to see if you could find your ex, but thankfully, the coast was clear.
“He’s gone,” you sighed before meeting Peter’s gaze. “Thank god, I hated that,” you chuckled before pulling out your phone to scroll mindlessly through it.
“I mean I didn’t think it was that bad, but it has been a while since I’ve kissed someone so I-“
“No Pete,” you breathily laughed. “I hated him being here, not the kiss. You aren’t half bad, Parker.” His cheeks tinted pink at the compliment and yours warmed up a fuzz as well. Before you two could continue the conversation, someone came up to your table with your food.
...
“You two must have had a busy day. I haven’t seen you two since nine this morning and it's almost eleven now,” Mildred stated warmly when you and Peter walked in through the front door, chuckling about a deer that was staring at him funnily before y’all came in.
“We did,” Peter grinned at the kind woman, walking behind you as you stepped up to the desk. It was something about this woman that you loved, and you felt like you could talk to her about anything. She just had a cozy aura about her that matched the hotel’s atmosphere perfectly.
“Yes, we did. We went to the science museum, the planetarium, the mall, a park, walked around the town a bit, and then we watched The Sound of Music at the theater,” you explained to Mildred.
“Oh, I love that movie,” she gushed with a wide grin, her eyes just as wide as she took in your words. You could tell she genuinely loved hearing about your day and she truly was a really sweet lady.
“She does too. It’s one of her favorites,” Peter spoke from beside you, your eyes meeting his when your lips curved upwards at his thoughtfulness.
“You both are so precious! And I am sure you are tired too, so I won’t keep you any longer. I should head to bed myself. Good night y’all,” Mildred told you, her words followed by a yawn as she stood from the desk chair.
“Good night,” you and Peter said simultaneously before Peter’s hand found the small of your back, leading you towards the stairs.
“I really like her,” you told Peter when you made it to the top of the staircase.
“Mildred? Yeah, she’s a nice lady,” Peter agreed as you both walked towards your room, his hand still guiding you there.
“She reminds me of a really nice grandma and it’s a plus that she has the same name as my cat,” you chuckled while Peter’s hand left your back to place the key in the door.
“We should go visit Milly some time. I haven’t seen her in a while,” Peter mentioned, swinging the door open and letting you in first.
“Yeah, I miss her and she probably misses you too. She really liked you and so did my dad which was surprising,” you chuckled before flopping down onto the circular bed, the replaced rose petals jumping up when your body hit the mattress.
“He did? He did not act like it. He actually scared me a bit,” Peter told you as his hands fumbled through the contents of his bag, looking for something to sleep in. You let out a yawn after nodding to answer his question. “I assume you’re showering in the morning again?”
“Yeah,” you yawned out as you rolled over to find yourself some pajamas. “Let me brush my teeth before you get in there, okay?”
“Okay, but you’ve got ten seconds,” Peter teased, eyes gauging your reaction.
“Not all of us have superpowers, dork. I can barely get my toothbrush ready in that time.”
“Twenty seconds,” he offered like that was somehow better and you rolled your eyes before walking into the bathroom.
“I’m gonna brush them slower than I ever have before, so you’ll just have to wait.” It was his turn to roll his eyes at you, knowing you were lying. While you glided the toothbrush over your teeth, you heard Peter yell something from in the bedroom.
“Ew!” he shouted and that was followed by the sound of something falling.
“What?” you asked while still brushing your teeth when you walked back into the room. Peter’s face showed nothing but pure disgust and a slight embarrassment as he pointed down into the open drawer of his nightstand. Your eyebrows furrowed when you walked over to the scene to see a pair of fluffy red handcuffs in the drawer. While laughing, you rolled your eyes at Peter. “You wanted the lover’s suite,” you joked, turning to go back to the bathroom.
“It was a mistake! He said they only had one room left and you would think on Valentine’s Day that this one would be taken but obviously not. I am never going to live this down, am I?” Peter exasperated as you finished up in the bathroom.
“Sorry Pete, but no. This is the funniest thing and I will never let it go. Wait until I tell Flash in physics Monday,” you told him while exiting the bathroom. He wore a frown when he passed you, trudging on his way to take a shower. Unlike the night before, you were able to fall asleep pretty quickly after you changed and got in bed.
...
This morning, you did not wake up with Peter on top of you. You were in fact cuddled into him, your arm around his torso and head against his chest, but you were far too tired to care or move.
“Are you awake?” Peter whispered upon feeling you move slightly.
“No,” you mumbled, hiding your face in his chest. His laughter sounded above your head before he spoke up again.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think our plans for today have been canceled. It is supposed to rain really badly all day like practically monsoon out there, so we’re stuck,” he muttered into the space around you. At that moment, you did notice the sound of the pattering rain outside the window.
“That’s okay. We can just have a movie day like we normally do on Sundays and we can sleep in a little more if that’s okay with you,” you spoke with your eyes closed, really dreading waking up since the comfort of the bed and Peter felt too good to leave.
“Yeah, that’s fine,” he softly spoke, his arm that sat around your waist tightening for a second.
“Do you want me to move?” you muttered before picking your head up to look at him. You knew your hair was all over the place, but you didn’t have a care at all for its tangled state. Peter’s lips turned upwards into a soft smile as his hand came up to push some of that hair behind your ear.
“I don’t mind. You can stay if you want,” his gentle voice spoke, calming and sweet. You nodded your head before laying your head back on his chest.
“Say less.”
After a few more hours of shut-eye, you finally got up since it was nearing lunchtime, but you made sure to leave Peter sleeping. You reached in your bag for those pringles from the other day and quietly tiptoed over to the large comfy chair to sit there and eat chips while you scrolled through TikTok, the volume incredibly low as not to wake him.
“You left me,” you heard Peter’s pouty voice speak from the bed. Your eyes shot up to meet his as you held up a chip.
“You were sleeping and I wanted to eat these without waking you.” Peter rubbed at his eyes and laid back down for a second before his legs swung over the bed’s edge, sitting up. He came to sit next to you, the chair just barely big enough for you both, and stuck his hand in the Pringles can. “Let me see,” he mumbled, referring to the TikTok you were watching so you shifted in the seat so that your back laid against his front, your head on his shoulder so you could watch the short videos together. The both of you seemed to be substantially clingy since waking up, but you both also didn’t mind it.
It had been about an hour or so of sitting there, eating chips, and laughing at tiktoks before one of you checked the time.
“Shit, it’s already one o’clock,” Peter mentioned as his eyes flittered back to you after looking at the clock.
“Really?” you asked before you checked the time on your phone. “I guess you’re right.”
“Are you hungry? I’m not after the pringles,” Peter asked as he looked down at you still rested against his shoulder.
“Yeah, me neither,” you added, “so we can stay in our pajamas a little longer.” You stood from the chair you shared with him and went to the window to look outside. “You weren’t kidding when you said it was gonna monsoon out here. It’s basically flooding,” you announced after pushing back the red curtains to get a better look. Peter hopped up and followed your previous footsteps, standing behind you and peering over your shoulder. A huff came from him before his head plopped onto your shoulder, you looking down at his grumpy expression and trying to suppress a giggle.
“Hey, it’s okay. We can have a super fun movie day. Cheer up buttercup,” you chuckled as you kissed his cheek. You had never done anything like that before with him but felt bold in the moment. It was just a harmless little kiss and meant nothing, so there was nothing wrong with it in your eyes. When you pulled away, he wore a face of pure surprise as he watched you walk over to the remote. “Let’s find something to watch and we can sit in the chair or lay around in the bed and it will be really fun, okay?” Reluctantly, the still-shocked boy nodded his head before crawling into the bed. You followed suit and channel surfed until you found a Star Wars movie, the perfect thing to lift his spirits.
About an hour into it, you were beginning to get cold. You started to realize why each of you gravitated towards the other the past two nights. It was to seek out warmth and now you really wanted to cuddle up next to him, but you felt weird for asking that and you definitely were not just going to do it on your own.
“Y/n, your teeth are fucking chattering. Get over here,” Peter spoke up at the perfect moment. You hesitated for like a second before sliding into his open arms and wrapping yours around his torso.
“My teeth weren’t chattering, asshole,” you quipped as you relaxed against his body, finally feeling warmer.
“No, but I could tell you were cold and I was a little too, so I decided to fix both our problems.” You giggled against his chest before your eyes settled back on the TV screen, watching Leia talk to her brother. After watching one of his favorite movies, y’all watched one of your favorite movies which was Harry Potter: Prisoner of Azkaban, and then a couple of Grey’s Anatomy episodes until you heard Peter’s stomach rumble beneath your ear.
“Maybe we should go get something to eat,” you suggested with a giggle as Peter’s cheeks reddened from embarrassment. “You could’ve told me you were hungry.”
“Yeah, but I know how much you love this show and I was going to wait until the end of this episode before saying something,” he told you while you sat up from his embrace. “Do you have anything in mind about what you want to eat?”
“Not really,” you answered when you stretched, reaching your arms up towards the ceiling. “All I know is that I don’t want to change, but I don’t want Mildred to pick on me for these,” you told him as you pointed to the pink pajama pants you have worn the last two nights.
“Hey, Mr. Stark got me those and you seemed to love them the one time you wore them so I gave them to you,” Peter explained as he sat up himself. “And I doubt she’d pick on you for those. She’d probably say you look cute in them or something.”
“She does think we are cute, doesn’t she?” you smiled, thinking of the nice old woman downstairs. “I’m gonna miss her.”
“I’m sure she’ll miss you too,” Peter chuckled at the fast connection you had made with the woman in a matter of a few short conversations.
“We should make this a tradition. Like every year on Valentine’s, go to a different place and explore or I would not mind coming here just so I could see Mildred and we could always get this room as a joke. I have had a lot of fun this weekend, Peter. This was a great idea,” you told him as you slipped your shoes on and Peter pulled on a dark blue sweatshirt over the hoodie he was already wearing.
“What would we do if we get boyfriends or girlfriends?” Peter inquired, grabbing his car keys.
“Go the weekend before or after. We will still be best friends, Parker,” you giggled at him after you put your coat on and followed him out the door.
“There you two are! I was beginning to think y’all passed out up there,” Mildred spoke as her eyes fell upon your outfits, Peter in a sweatshirt, hoodie, and sweatpants and you in your pajama pants, a sweatshirt, and your coat. “Well did y’all just wake up?”
“No ma’am,” Peter lightly laughed. “The rain kind of ruined our plans so we stayed in and watched movies and now we’re going to pick up something for dinner.”
“Oh, that’s nice! Y’all are just cute as a button in your pajamas. Y’all are probably starving so you two go ahead. I won’t keep you any longer,” Mildred spoke and shooed you two closer to the door. You both said your goodbyes before stepping out the door and onto the porch. Peter wrapped his arm around your shoulders, and you ducked your head into his chest before you both ran together towards his car.
“We never decided on where to eat,” you brought up as soon as you both were in the car.
“Oh yeah. What about pizza? Or burgers? Both sound really good right now,” Peter offered, his mouth practically watering before you at the thought of some food.
“Either sounds great to me.” So, he looked up which one was closer and drove to a local pizza parlor. The place was not but fifteen minutes away and since Peter called ahead as soon as you two got in the car, it was ready when you had arrived. All y’all had to do was pick it up and you did exactly that. Now, you were on the way back to the hotel and though you had a warm box of pizza resting in your lap, you were quite cold.
“Are you freezing?” you asked the driver whose brown eyes flickered to yours for a moment before finding the road again, squinting a bit to see through the heavy rain that persisted to fall.
“Yeah, a little.” At the same time, you and Peter both reached for the knob that controlled the temperature of the air that flowed through the vehicle, your hands brushing against each other. Immediately, you both retracted your hands and heat rushed to your cheeks. A second later, Peter reached out again and turned the knob to the right to get some warmer air.
“Um, I think we should talk about something,” the boy announced while something in the air shifted, feeling thicker and slightly more suffocating. You kept your eyes trained ahead of you as well before you spoke up.
“Uh, yeah. I guess we should.”
“Something has definitely changed between us this weekend. We don’t act like the same two best friends that we used to,” Peter mentioned, not sparing you a glance. You looked over at him to see his face, but not even his face showed you any indication of what was going through that pretty little head of his.
“Yeah,” you chuckled, trying to make the conversation a little more light-hearted and less serious. You didn’t see much of a big deal. Yes, you both had been clingier and you two shared a kiss, a damn good one at that, but that was to distract someone who had broken you with no remorse from coming your way. Peter, on the other hand, seemed to think there was more to this and his serious tone frightened you a tad, not really ever being so pensive about anything other than school. “I don’t see an issue.”
“So, you’re okay with cuddling and kisses and stuff like that?” The way he said that and gave you the most incredulous look made you feel as if your presence was not wanted by him. Maybe you were not wanted by him. It wouldn’t be a first in your life. No, your brain fought itself, he wouldn’t have planned all this for you if he didn’t love you.
“We only kissed once,” you stated while his normally soft brown eyes stared coldly through the windshield. “I’m sorry if I messed something up by doing that, but you didn’t exactly fight it, Peter.”
“No, that’s not- never mind that kiss, but the one this morning. You kissed me on my cheek.”
“Because you seemed upset!” your voice rose ever so slightly as you fought your point, a feeling you have never felt about Peter bubbling in your chest. It was a mixture of anger, hurt, and sadness. You were also growing annoyed with the conversation as a whole and were ready to get back to the hotel which was mere minutes away. “I didn’t think there was that much to it.”
“It’s not something friends do,” Peter argued not sparing you so much as a glance or some hint as to what he was trying to get at.
“Why do I feel like you are blaming me for how we’ve gotten closer over the past few days? You’ve been acting awful cozy as well,” you tried to calm your voice a little as you spoke, but you hated being blamed for things, especially stupid things like this. “We’re best friends, Peter. It’s okay to be a little closer than normal. It’s okay to cuddle, hold hands, or kiss each other on the cheek. I will admit that the kiss yesterday might have been a bit much, but all the other stuff is perfectly normal. I’ll back off if you want, but don’t come at me when you have been doing the same thing and initiating it sometimes too.”
“Those are things that couples do. I have never done that with my best friends. Granted, you’re my first girl best friend that isn’t terrified to touch or interact with another person, but that’s beside the point,” Peter said as he turned into the hotel lot and found a place to park. “I’ve only ever done this kinda thing with a girlfriend and we aren’t dating. I couldn’t date you, y/n.”
That last sentence struck a nerve in you. I couldn’t date you, y/n. Why the hell not? What was so wrong with you that he couldn’t date you? The words brought you back to a place you were a couple years ago when everything that made you hate today happened. You were so easily replaced by both your boyfriend and best friend. You were never really wanted around by them, and you hated yourself for not noticing sooner. Well, you did notice, but you had hope that it was all in your head until you were proved otherwise.
Was the same thing about to happen with you and Peter? Were you going to lose the only person outside of your family that you loved and spent all your time with? If he couldn’t date you, then how could he be your best friend? The two things were terribly similar with the only differences being sexual intimacy and a different kind of love. Peter was your soulmate for sure, maybe not romantically, though you had hoped otherwise, but he was meant to be with you. Now he did not seem to want to be near you.
You didn’t recognize it, but tears had pooled in your eyes, not yet fallen though. Your breathing felt different, quicker, and you felt like you were losing all that was important to you, him. You had always hoped that sometime in the future you and Peter would get together. You two had made a pact a while ago that if you hadn’t found someone by the age of twenty-six, you two would start dating and then get married within the following year or two. That idea was now seemingly being thrown out the window since he couldn’t date you.
“Y/n…” Peter sighed, his hand reaching out to grab yours but you were quick to pull it away.
“I thought friends didn’t do that,” you threw his words right back at him before you got out, leaving the pizza in your seat and slamming the door shut behind you. Now that you were in the rain, you let your tears flow since they now just appeared to anyone else as raindrops on your face. You tried to speed walk towards the hotel for two reasons: to get away from Peter and to get out of the rain. However, the damn arachnid abilities of your best friend made him much quicker, his hand catching your arm and spinning you back to face him.
You hated yourself for the thoughts running through your mind. The rain on his face that dripped down his cheeks and nose was insanely attractive, and the water made his curls droop onto his forehead, another thing that made him look irresistible. You wanted to kiss him so badly, but how could you after the last one caused so much damage obviously since it was one of the things behind this argument.
“Y/n, that’s not what I meant,” he spoke, his honey brown eyes darted between your own. You wondered if he was thinking the same thing you were. Did he think the water droplets sliding down your face looked pretty? Did he think you were pretty? He had commented on your appearance before, saying you looked beautiful on random occasions but now it all seemed meaningless.
“What did you mean, Peter? How else was I supposed to take that?” you argued with the boy. You didn’t care if he could tell the difference between the freshwater drops on your face and the saltwater tears because his words hurt you and he should know that.
“Of course, I could date you. I would love to date you! You are the most gorgeous girl I have ever laid eyes on and I’m still shocked that you choose to hang out with me every day. Why do you think I made that pact about us dating when we’re older? I can’t wait until then because we promised we’d get together. You do not know how much I hope you don’t find someone before then because my only chance to be with you will be gone because I certainly don’t have to balls to ask you out. The only reason I am telling you all of this now is because I’m scared I’ll lose you, y/n. I can’t even bear to think about that right now. I am an idiot and I’m sorry. I’m so sorr-“
“Peter!” you snapped, tired of hearing his rambles as you desperately wanted to feel his lips against your own.
“What?” he asked, brows knitted and eyes locked on yours.
“Shut up and kiss me,” you repeated the words that you said before your first kiss with the boy as you watched a smile grow on his lips. His hands were quick to cup your cheeks as he brought your face to his, lips connecting and a fire ignited within you both. His left hand slid from your cheek down your shoulder and arm until he found your waist and pulled you closer to his body. You gripped onto his bicep with one hand while your other found the back of his head, your fingers running through the dampened curls. A thought immediately popped in your head and you acted on it, tugging on the strands which resulted in his lips parting. Your plan was achieved successfully, and you slipped your tongue into the entrance. He followed suit and after a little bit, you both needed a little oxygen.
“Um, wow. That was um-“ Peter stumbled over his words, trying to muster up the perfect ones to say in fear of screwing up again. “Nice.” You chuckled at his awkwardness, leaning your head on his forehead and looking up at him.
“Yeah, I agree,” you breathed as your eyes scanned all over his features, taking in every bit of this beautiful moment. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Pete.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day, y/n,” Peter responded with a grin, happy he could make you see the holiday as a little more enjoyable for you. The sound of his stomach growling interrupted the moment, and a laugh left your lips. “I’m gonna get the pizza.”
“You do that,” you chuckled at the hungry boy as he walked to the passenger side door, swinging it open to grab the square cardboard box. “You know Mildred is going to kill us. We’re out here drenched in our pajamas in the cold.”
“Yeah, she definitely will,” Peter agreed while walking up the steps with you, “but we can do it together.” He held his free hand out to you for you to take which you gladly did, interlacing your fingers with his. You got up on your tiptoes and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek as well.
“Together.”
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you don’t want this (trust me on this one) (1/1)
warnings: angst. its very sad folks.
summary: Nico visits an old friend
word count: 1,513
read on ao3
“Hey.”
Nico winced as his voice reverberated against the stone walls. He hadn’t even spoken loudly, but the echo seemed to amplify his voice. He was glad there wasn’t anyone else around to overhear what he was about to say.
“I have some stuff I need to say, and I need to just get them out, so… Just bear with me, okay?” Nico took a deep breath, stuffed his hands in his pockets to hide their shaking, and dropped his gaze to his shoes. “I miss you.”
His voice stopped. He had so much more to say, and he’d thought that if he started talking, then he wouldn’t be able to stop. But now he had everything building up inside of him and threatening to push out, and he couldn’t manage to get his vocal cords vibrating again.
Nico cleared his throat, and tried again. “I… I didn’t, like, script this out, but I know what I need to say to you, so hopefully I don’t skip over something important. I mean, the missing you part is probably the most important thing.” He reached up and pinched his nose as he huffed in frustration, and then ran his hand through his hair, tugging on the ends as if that would help him find the words.
“It’s just that, if I’d known that the last time I saw you was going to be the last time, I would’ve, like, made it count, or something! I don’t even remember the actual last time I saw you, because the last time I remember seeing you definitely wasn’t actually the last time.” He huffed again. “Did that even make sense? Whatever. I just know that the last memory I have with you involved me snapping at you because I was tired and pissed off, and-- And I hate that that’s the last thing I remember. Because I know you wouldn’t have left without saying goodbye, but I don’t remember saying goodbye!”
Nico took another breath, and slowly lowered himself to the ground until he was sitting. “I don’t...blame you. You had a lot going on, and I was probably more of an annoyance to you than a friend most of the time, but… I love you, and I miss you.”
His hands fidgeted in his lap before one finally reached out, tracing the J that had been freshly carved into the stone wall as part of a name. “I think… I think that’s most of it,” Nico whispered. “I know I probably should have summoned you, because I don’t know for sure that you can actually hear me, but… But there’s one more thing. And I needed to make sure you weren’t going to interrupt this next part, or try to talk me out of anything.”
Nico drew his hand back, dropping his gaze to his lap again. He couldn’t even stand to look at his friend’s name as he said the words. “It’s, um. It’s two things, actually. Two very stupid things - or, maybe one thing that’s a little more stupid than the other - and if you were here, you would definitely try to talk me out of...well, one of them, for sure.” He took another pause, another breath, and started to smile. “The first one is… I’m gonna tell Will I love him, because… Well, first, because it’s true, and second--” His soft smile instantly flipped into a frown, and he had to force himself to swallow down the emotion he could feel building up again. “I don’t know that I’ll have another chance to tell him. Because the second thing is that I’m going back to Tartarus. We both are. I mean, I’m going back, but Will is coming with me. And… And if something happens to one of us… I don’t want to go without telling him.”
He forced himself to glance away, tilting his head up and blinking his eyes furiously as tears finally started to form. He wiped at his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket quickly, as if trying not to make it noticeable. “The Tartarus thing is the stupid part. Did I make that clear enough? I don’t want you to think that I think that telling Will how I feel is stupid. I mean, as stupid. Because he should already know how I feel without me having to say it. Like, I’m pretty sure I’ve made it clear by now, but… I guess it’s always a nice thing to hear confirmed.”
Nico sniffed, pausing for a few moments as if waiting for a soul to manifest in front of him whether he asked it to or not, but nothing changed.
“So, um. I don’t really know how much you know,” Nico said softly, “so I guess I’ll catch you up to speed as best I can. Hazel’s a praetor now, so her and Frank are kind of like the ultimate power couple around here. Apparently Reyna stepped down sometime after you--” He swallowed down the word. “I haven’t seen her in a while, so I don’t actually know what she’s up to. Nobody will actually tell me anything, so when I leave here, I’m gonna go see what I can dig up.” He shrugged. “Or, I dunno. Maybe I don’t want to know. Nobody actually knows that I’m here anyway. Will and I are leaving in a week, and I wanted to make sure I had time to rest up after making this jump, so I didn’t actually tell anyone I was coming. And if they see that I’m here, then they might figure out that something’s up, and--”
He tipped his head back, but it didn’t stop the tears from rolling down his cheeks this time. “I get it, you know? Why you didn’t make that goodbye memorable. I don’t want to… I’m scared to say goodbye. Because I almost didn’t make it out last time, so what if this time, I can’t? Like, maybe I should just let my last goodbye to Hazel be from the last time I visited - a happy goodbye, instead of one that’s going to leave her worrying about me for the rest of my life.”
Nico drew his knees up to his chest and hugged them. “Except, I know, I know, that’s a bad idea. Because then I’ll have her showing up at my empty gravesite, yelling at me just like I’m doing to you right now.”
He scrubbed his hands over his face. “Okay, sorry. Where was I? Um. So, Percy and Annabeth are here now, too, with Grover-- Did you ever meet Grover? He’s their best friend. I was on a quest with him once. He’s cool. I think you’d like him, but you Romans always had a weird relationship with fauns, so I dunno how you’d feel about a satyr. Um, and Leo’s doing good, last I heard. Staying out of trouble. I think he’s teaching shop classes to homeless kids in Indiana, or something. And Calypso’s going to high school. I heard you tried that, for some gods forsaken reason. Why would you voluntarily put yourself through that? Will just told me that when we get back, he’s going to start studying for AP tests, whatever those are. He says they’ll help him get into college, I guess.”
He paused, as if realizing what he’d said a second too late. “He’s...so certain that we’re both coming back, but… You know what happened when Percy and Annabeth were there. Somebody has to stay behind, and… If it comes to it, I’m going to do whatever it takes to get him out. He’s got so much potential to do anything he could ever dream of, and I… I’m just an old man who missed my shot at a life the first time around.”
Nico groaned, hiding his face in his hands again. “Gods, I can practically hear you lecturing me. Okay, I’m moving on. Who did I miss… Oh. Piper. She’s...good, I think, if what Apollo said can be trusted - and isn’t that weird? I’m actually listening to what a god has to say. And on top of that, a god is talking to us. Apollo visits, like, once a week. I think he’s going to try taking over when Mr. D’s sentence is up at camp. Sorry, anyway. Piper, she has a… A girlfriend, I think, but people usually say partner when talking about Shel, and I don’t really know what the difference is. I’m trying to learn, still, but there’s just...so much.”
He stopped to think. “I’m...pretty sure that’s everyone. Everyone that I’ve heard something about, anyway. So, um, I should probably get going if I want to see everyone before Will realizes I’m not at dinner. If all goes well… If I’m still alive after all of this, I’ll summon you, and we can catch up for real.”
Nico got to his feet. “And, um. If not…” He chuckled sadly to himself. “If not, then I guess I’ll see you in hell, Jason.”
He turned and left the tomb.
thanks for reading!!
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Contract Killer (A Halstead brothers + Halstead! sister + Hailey Upton imagine)
Very, very loosely based off of season 2 ep 3 of PD titled "The Weigh Station".
What if Hailey's story meeting Jay is a little different? And it's all because of one big bad decision and seeing Y/N.
Hailey looked through her binoculars at the man who, if she could help it, would be dead within 48 hours. She could make it 24 if she really wanted to, but she needed to make sure she was alone and that she had time to get it to whoever needed to see him dead. Even though she was the one tasked with killing him, she had no idea who actually put the bounty out on his head. Someone she had put in prison (ironically, the reason they were in prison was for being a contract killer) when she worked in robbery-homicide had called her once they were out and told her about this opportunity. And, since Hailey had been fired from her job for a rumor that went around that she was sleeping with a superior officer and didn't actually pass the detective's exam (both were lies), she needed money, so she agreed to the hit.
A girl walked out of the house, surprising her. She looked too young to be one of Halstead's flings. She looked between 15 and 20 from where she was looking. Maybe she just had a babyface, though. Yeah, definitely just a babyface.
The girl walked outside and to her car with a backpack. She was starting her car when Jay Halstead ran out of the house and handed her what Hailey assumed was a textbook.
Shit, she thought, this girl's in high school or college, so it definitely wasn't a fling or a one night stand. If this was a younger sibling or relative that he was taking care of, then there was no way she was going through with this. When people were helping out their younger family members, well, that's where Hailey drew the line. She knew that Jay had an older brother, Will, but he was a doctor and could take care of himself. If Halstead had a younger sister that was still dependent on him financially or otherwise, well then there was no way she could do this.
Hailey pulled out her burner phone and called the burner number that was given to her in case she needed more information or she encountered any problems.
"JP," she started, "does Halstead have any siblings besides Will? There's a girl at his house and she looks too young to be sleeping with him."
She heard keys clacking on the other end. It took longer than she had expected. "Shit," JP said. "He's got a younger sister, Y/N Halstead. She's twenty and according to this, she lives with him since their parents are dead and she's in college. Need me to hand this off to someone else?"
"Yeah, you know I only did this for the money and my one drawback is people who are dependent on the people you want me to kill."
"What do you know about this guy?" JP asked. He assumed she didn't know much about him.
"They just told me that he was an ex-army ranger who killed innocent civilians in Afghanistan."
"God, they lied to you so hard, Upton," JP told her. "He's a detective with the Intelligence Unit of the CPD. And, he saved people overseas, he didn't kill them."
"Shit. I'm out. I'm definitely out."
Then, she hung up. But, she promised herself that he'd try her best to protect him. After all, she had taken this job, so maybe she could fix it by trying to protect him. She wasn't doing it for him, though. She was only doing it for his little sister. If it were just him, he'd be dead in less than two days.
***
You poured syrup on your waffles at the small diner you and your brothers had gone out to. It was a rare night where you didn't have any major studying to do, Will wasn't working or on call, and Jay wasn't working on a case or undercover, so you were all out for dinner together.
"How's school?" Will asked.
"You know, the usual. Homework, tests, papers," you answered.
"That's code for she constantly complains about how much homework she has, but does it anyway," Jay joked.
"At least I have less school than him," you said, pointing at Will. "And, I'll still get the doctor title."
You wanted to be a sports psychologist, which required a doctorate degree. So, instead of there just being one doctor in your family, there'd be two.
"And you're crazy to think that I'll address as Dr. Halstead."
"Hey, at least it's not a medical doctor," you pointed out, knowing Jay's hatred for needles and hospitals in general.
"But a shrink might be even worse, Jay. She'll be able to see through your shitty I'm fine excuses for how you're feeling mentally after you take yet another bullet."
"You've used up how many of your nine lives now? Four? Five?" you laughed.
"One day he'll realize he isn't invincible," Will said, agreeing with you.
Hailey was watching from afar when she saw a man in a black hoodie enter the diner. She didn't think anything of it, but in hindsight, she wishes she would have been able to look a little closer.
You heard a Pop! and then you were roughly pushed off your stool by Jay and onto the ground, all while hearing him yell.
"Get down! Get down!"
The shots continued and you screamed from underneath your brother.
"You're okay, you're covered," Jay told you.
And then, silence. The shots had stopped.
Slowly, Jay looked up, making sure the shooter was in fact gone.
"Are you okay?" he asked as he got up.
Before you could even answer him, Will was next to you, looking you over in a way that only a trained medical professional would.
"Did we- did we just get shot at?"
"We did," Jay answered. "But, we're gonna get out of here. I'm gonna call Voight and we're gonna figure this out. Did I hurt you at all when I pushed you off that stool?"
"No."
"Stay with Will."
And you did just that while Jay went off to call his unit.
Meanwhile, Hailey watched as squad cars pulled up a few minutes later. From the side of their cars, Hailey saw that Jay's unit was in the 21st district. Now whoever got hired to do the hit wasn't just going after Jay, he was going after his family. And, that's where Hailey drew the line. She knew where she'd be going tomorrow morning.
***
"Sergeant Platt," Hailey said as she walked into the 21st district of Chicago at promptly 8 o'clock the next morning.
"Goldilocks! What can I do for you?" Platt always had a soft spot for the young detective (hence the nickname) since she had responded to a call at her father's restaurant when Hailey was a kid and she was working the beat. And, they had kept in contact ever since. Platt may or may not have been the reason that Hailey got into the academy on her first try.
"I need to talk to you." Hailey looked around, and seeing a bunch of patrol officers, she decided this might not be the best place. "Alone. Somewhere preferably without cameras."
Platt gave Hailey a confused look but led her downstairs anyway. "What's going on?"
"So, I may or may not have taken a job to kill Jay Halstead, but--"
"Wait, wait, wait. I think my hearing is going. Did you just say you took a job to kill detective Halstead?"
"I said I may or may not have, but it's closer to may have."
"Jesus Christ, Hailey, I know you got fired, but why?" Platt asked, stunned.
"Before you tell anyone, once I learned he had a sister, I backed out. But, I needed money and I got terrible information because whoever wanted this hit said that he killed innocent civilians when he was overseas. So, excuse me for trying to rid the world of someone who I thought was the scum of the earth."
"So, you didn't even take one shot at him?" she asked, trying to figure out how she could keep Hailey out of trouble.
"Not even one."
"Please tell me you have useful information because I have to hand this over to Voight...and he will not hesitate to put you away if you have nothing useful."
"I have a name, but he won't get it unless my name isn't even mentioned with this case. And, I want to help. After all, it is kind of my fault this started in the first place."
"You are so lucky Voight owes me a favor, Goldilocks."
***
Hailey was currently sitting in Voight's office with Platt next to her. Platt had explained the whole thing to him, but Voight still wanted to talk to her. He had one more proposition.
"Since there's no evidence tying you to the shooting, I can't press charges anyway. Do you know who happened to have shot at Halstead and his family last night?" Voight asked, all of his anger was gone by now because he had used it up when Trudy Platt first came to him.
"I was there watching, just to make sure nothing happened. But, I didn't get a good look at his face. And, he reached into his pocket so fast and I was so far away that I didn't realize it was a gun. If I had known, I wouldn't have hesitated to try and stop him." Voight nodded. "All I saw was that the shooter was wearing a black hoodie. Sorry I don't have more."
"Okay, Upton, here's the deal," Voight started, "I need a name and I need someone to watch over Halstead and his sister during this, make sure his sister doesn't go out anywhere alone, and that Halstead doesn't do anything stupid. You can do those two things, and I'll leave your name out of this and you can work the case. You have my word."
"So, you want me to be their bodyguard?" Hailey asked, cocking one eyebrow.
"If you want to put it that way, yeah. Only certain times when we're short patrolman or it's nighttime because I know a lot of them sleep when they're supposed to be paying attention."
"Okay, I'm in. The name's JP."
"Any phone number? Other important personal information?" Voight asked.
"I called a burner last time I talked to him, but I doubt he's still using it. I can still give it to you if you want it though." Voight handed her a sticky note and a pen from his desk and Hailey quickly scribbled down the number and handed it back to him. "As for personal information, I know he has a son. I don't know his exact age, but I know he's at least 18."
"Good to know," Voight nodded. "Thanks, Trudy," she turned to leave, but Voight stopped her. "Can you send Halstead in? Need him to meet his new protection detail."
"Platt said you needed me, Sarge?" Jay asked as he entered Voight's office, closing the door behind him.
"Yes, Halstead, take a seat. Upton, you too," he added, seeing as Hailey was still standing.
Jay furrowed an eyebrow as he saw the new blond detective. She was short, had wavy blond hair, and was wearing jeans and a blue flannel, which she wore with the sleeves buttoned up to just below her elbows.
"Am I getting a new partner?" Jay asked.
"Something like that. Meet your new protection detail, Jay. This is detective Hailey Upton."
"Sarge, no offense, but I don't need protecting. If this is about the person who shot at me last night, I can handle it." He wouldn't admit it, but he didn't want a girl as his personal bodyguard. He'd dealt with partner problems in the past with Erin, and now that she was gone, he didn't want another workplace romance. And, he was more than capable of defending himself. Also, he wouldn't say this out loud, but if someone tried to come after him, he had doubts that she'd be able to protect them both, just because of her small stature.
"It's not you that I'm worried about. It's Y/N," Voight stated.
"Oh, yeah, of course." He wasn't going to lie, after last night he didn't want his sister going out alone either. Despite you being in college, he still worried about you.
"She'll only be there at night, just in case you get called on a case. That way, Y/N won't be alone."
"Is that really necessary? Every night until this gets figured out? Will can stay with her, he's got a permit to carry. So, the only time she really needs to be over there is when he's on a night shift at Med."
"Your- Will," Hailey quickly stopped herself, before she let Jay know that she knew that Will was his older brother, "Will's not a cop, is he?"
"No. My brother's a doctor. Why does that matter anyway?" Jay asked, annoyance in his voice.
"Because I'm pretty sure that I'm a better shot than he is."
"Another reason is that, if someone is really watching you, they won't think twice about Hailey being there," Voight said.
"What?"
"Think about it, Halstead. If a random guy is at your house all the time, whoever's watching will know someone's protecting you. But, if it's a girl, they won't think that."
Jay turned his head, digesting what his sergeant had just told him. "Wait, wait, wait, you want her to pretend to be my girlfriend? You want us off pretending to play house while my life, Will's life, and Y/N's life are in danger?" Jay was raising his voice at this point, and it kind of scared Hailey, but she remained calm on the outside.
At this, Voight slammed his hands on his desk. And, Jay didn't miss how Hailey jumped at the sudden action but quickly regained her composure. "Dammit, Halstead! She's staying with you and that's final! There will be a patrol car parked outside your and Will's houses at all times. But, I can't risk patrol falling asleep at your house at night, so Upton's staying with you. End of discussion." He looked at both detectives. "You're dismissed."
"I'm gonna go pack a bag," Hailey broke the uncomfortable silence between the two. "Be at your house tonight at 6?"
"Yeah. Here's my address." He wrote his address down and handed it to her. God, he had some explaining to do.
***
Hailey quickly scribbled a note to her boyfriend, thanking God that he wasn't home from work yet before she had to leave.
Going undercover. Don't try to call my phone. Don't want a repeat from last time. Idk how long this job will be.
~Hailey.
One time when she was undercover, she didn't have time to go home and grab her things; they just threw her right in with a robbery crew in hopes that they could bust them. They did, but not before her boyfriend, Zach, came looking for her and almost blew her cover. When they talked about it afterward, he said that he thought she was cheating on him, so he went to find her.
That should have been her first red flag.
Hailey shook her head at the memories and left their barely furnished apartment. After putting the address into her phone, she started the drive to the Halsteads.
***
When she got there, she knocked and was met with the one and only Y/N Halstead.
"Can I help you?" you asked, seeing a girl you didn't know with a duffle bag slung over her shoulder.
"I'm a friend of Jay's. Can I come in?"
"Uh, sure." You stepped out of the doorway to allow this mystery girl to come in. "Jay!" you yelled to your brother who was currently in the kitchen with Will. "Your friend's here!"
Jay walked into the living room, followed by Will, to see both you and Hailey. "I wouldn't necessarily call her a friend," Jay stated.
"Well, then your fuck buddy's here."
Will smacked you upside the head before Jay could even scold you for doing that. "Y/N, just go upstairs to your room for a bit to cool down," Will told you.
"I don't need to cool down," you argued.
"You sure as hell do," Jay told you. "Go upstairs. Now."
And that was the voice that scared you the most: Jay's stern, do what I say or else voice, which had you turning on your heels and almost jogging upstairs to your room.
Jay, Hailey, and Will made their way to the kitchen where Jay had been making pasta before Hailey arrived.
"Is she always like this?" Hailey asked, just now realizing what she had gotten herself into.
"Not typically," Will answered. "It's just that, after last night..." he trailed off, not wanting to say what actually happened in case Hailey didn't know or couldn't know.
"She knows," Jay said. "She's actually here to make sure Y/N's never alone through all of this so nothing like last night happens again."
"Oh, wow. Okay. Does she know that?"
"I was gonna tell her before she went off the rails like that," Jay answered his older brother. He turned back to Hailey. "I'm sorry about her, really. After last night, she's kinda pissed at me for putting her in danger like that."
Hailey furrowed her eyebrows, wondering if that was actually the truth. "You mind if I go talk to her?" She knew she might have been overstepping, after all, she had just met you, but she knew it was better than either one of your brothers talking to you.
"I guess it couldn't hurt," Jay agreed. "I'll show you your room too since it's right next to hers."
Hailey nodded and the three of them walked upstairs. They showed Hailey to the guest room, where she set her bag on the bed. It was a normal-sized bedroom, with a bed, a dresser, and a tv atop the dresser.
They walked next door to your room, and Hailey knocked on your door. "Hey, Y/N? It's Hailey. Can I come in please?"
"Are my brothers with you?" you asked as you slumped against your bed, tears of embarrassment rolling down your face.
Hailey tilted her head towards the stairs, silently telling the two boys to go back downstairs. To her surprise, they both actually listened.
"No, it's just me," Hailey confirmed.
"It's open." Hailey walked over to you, but not before you started apologizing. "I'm really sorry. It's just, a lot of things happened last night and I don't know how to feel and I just took all my emotions out on you. I'm really sorry," you told her, barely pausing for breath during your explanation.
"Hey, it's okay. Lots of emotions come out when you get shot at...especially when loved ones are in the picture," Hailey reassured you.
"How did you know about that?" It's not like you had seen her around here before, so she wasn't enough in the loop that Jay or Will would tell her. She wasn't in Intelligence. She wasn't one of the responding officers from the scene last night. And, she wasn't a customer at the diner at the time of the shooting.
"That's actually why I'm here. I'm essentially your bodyguard."
"Wow, didn't know I was special enough to have a bodyguard. Are you a cop?" Hailey nodded. "Can I see your badge?" That was one thing Jay had drilled into you: always ask a cop to see their badge.
Hailey handed you her badge and you quickly studied it, seeing it wasn't just a regular badge, but rather a detective's badge. "You're a detective?"
"Yeah, just like your brother," Hailey answered.
"So, do you know how long you're gonna be here for?" you asked, wondering how long another girl would be in the house. And, you didn't mind it, you liked her already, despite how rude you had been to her just fifteen minutes ago.
"As long as the case takes," she answered. "Now, are you good to go downstairs, or do you need some more time alone?"
"I'll be down there in a minute," you answered. "I just need to wash my face really quick."
A few minutes later, you walked downstairs to be met with Jay, Will, and Hailey all sitting at the table, plates full of pasta.
"Is that fettuccine alfredo?" you asked, looking at Jay. It had been your favorite dinner since the first time you went to Olive Garden when you were eight. And, after your mom died and your dad just kinda gave up as a parent, Jay took it upon himself to make sure that he made it for your birthday or any other special occasions you were involved in, such as your high school graduation.
"Figured you could use a pick me up after everything that happened last night," Jay answered.
"Thanks. And, I'm really sorry about earlier."
"I thought I raised you better than that," Will joked.
"You raised her?" Jay asked rhetorically. "I'm sorry, who is she living with right now? Who stepped up when someone was off partying in New York and feeling up girls?"
You almost choked on your pasta at Jay's description of plastic surgery. "First of all, they're called breast implants," Will pointed out. "Second of all, I cleaned up my act...eventually."
"Okay, let me answer this," you butted in. "Mom and Dad basically raised me, but you both helped me out when I was still a minor. There, problem solved."
"Fair enough, " Jay conceded. "But one last question: who taught you how to drive?"
"You."
"Which explains why she went into a ditch the first time she drove by herself in the snow and why she's always adding at least five miles to the speed limit," Will argued.
"Oh, shut up, Will. You drive like an old grandpa. I'm surprised you make it to work on time."
"Enough about us," Will started, turning to Hailey. "Tell us about yourself."
"Not much to tell. Born and raised in Chicago, used to be a detective for robbery-homicide until something, uh, popped off. And, now here I am," Hailey answered, easily avoiding saying that she was fired.
"Did you always wanna be a cop?" you asked.
"I guess I did. Someone broke into my dad's restaurant when I was a kid and I met the most badass female cop and from then on, I wanted to be like her. My dad wanted me to be a lawyer, but I thought that was boring, so here I am."
You nodded, thinking that it wouldn't be as fun to be a lawyer.
"Oh, before I forget," Jay began, "Y/N, as of tomorrow, all of your classes are switched to online."
"Okay."
"You're not mad about that?" Will asked.
"Oh hell no. Half the time I don't even get anything out of my lectures anyway. It just feels like time that could be spent doing homework for that class."
The four of you went back to your food, eating in comfortable silence. But, after a few minutes, you realized that you still had one more question.
"So, where am I going tomorrow? Am I staying here with Hailey or...?" you trailed off, secretly hoping you'd get to spend your days with the new detective. It was just nice to have someone with estrogen around the house instead of the amount of testosterone that was your brothers.
"Since Hailey's helping us work the case, you'll come to the district with me so that Hailey has time to sleep." That wasn't the real reason. There was a patrol car most of the time, but if they were short patrolman, Jay wanted to make sure that you'd be safe. And, the best way to do that would be for you to be in a building full of cops.
"Why can't I go to Med with Will?" you whined. Jay gave you a look that read you know why. "What? All I'm saying is the hospital has better vending machines than the district. But, I mean the district has better wifi, so there's that plus I guess."
"And you don't have to see Will's ugly mug all day," Jay joked.
"Hey! I'll have you know some women think I'm handsome."
"What women? Blind ones?"
And that's how the rest of the evening went, you all getting to know Hailey better and Hailey getting to know you all better.
***
You laid awake in bed, replaying the events of the day. You could see from the crack at the bottom of the door that there was a dim light coming from the hallway, so you assumed Hailey was still awake. Since Jay typically woke up at 5 due to his training in the military, they had agreed that Hailey would go to sleep at the time that he woke up and then would meet them at the district to work the case early in the afternoon. That way, she could still get some sleep and you'd still be safe during the hours that most criminal activity occurs. Despite this, you still couldn't sleep. It wasn't that you were scared, it was just that you felt terrible and knew that Jay deserved a better explanation as to why you lashed out earlier.
You got out of bed and quietly walked across the hallway, trying to be as quiet as possible so Hailey didn't run out of her room, gun drawn, thinking that you were an intruder. You opened Jay's bedroom door just a crack when you heard the tv playing in the background. Seeing that he was still awake, you walked in.
"Hey."
"Hey, what's up?" Jay asked, reaching for the remote and pausing the movie that was currently playing.
"I'm sorry about earlier, with the fuck buddy comment."
"You already apologized. Is there something you're not telling me?"
You moved to sit on the edge of his bed so that you were facing him. "It's just, yesterday when we were shot at, it made me realize how you could be gone so fast. I guess the reason I lashed out is that I was sad and scared."
Even in the dim light from the tv, you could see how much your words had affected Jay. "It's okay to be scared, Y/N. But just know that I have the best unit in the whole city that's got my back okay?"
"But they didn't yesterday and that's the scary part." You felt tears prick your eyes and knew that there was no point in holding them back, so you just let them roll down your cheeks. "If someone you put away gets out of prison and then wants revenge, they can come up to you and get you anytime, Jay. I- Me and Will thought we lost you when you got shot the last time. We can't go through that again. Because next time, you might- you might not make it. And, I need my big brother."
Jay sighed, trying to convince himself not to cry. You had never really talked about the night that he got shot trying to help Angela, and he'd be lying if it didn't worry both him and Will about how much you were bottling up those feelings. He thought you had gotten over it, hell he thought he had gotten over it, but last night had brought up those old fears for you.
Gently, Jay placed a comforting hand on your shoulder. "Hey, I need my little sister, too. I don't think Will can be as intimidating as me when it comes to boys either, so you need me." Despite your tears, your lips turned up into a slight smile at Jay trying to make light of the situation at hand. "And, I will always try my best to come home to you and Will. Always. And, you don't need to worry about me, because you'll be stuck with me at the district until we figure this out."
"Voight put you on desk duty?"
"I'm not thrilled, but he made the right call."
"Yeah, he did. And, you should talk to Hailey. She seems like your type."
***
When Hailey woke up the next day, she was surprised to look in the fridge to find a Tupperware container and a mug, stuck to both was a sticky note with her name on it.
Hailey, made extra for breakfast. There's eggs and bacon in here.
~Jay
And on the mug, he wrote:
Didn't know how you like your coffee, and I had some leftover in the pot this morning before I washed it, so it's yours. There's milk and creamer in the fridge and sugar in the cabinet to the left of the stove.
~Also Jay
Hailey smiled at his little notes and then put the food in the microwave. "Not bad," she said to herself after she took the first few bites. Then, she heated up the coffee and drank it as is...she liked black coffee, so she didn't bother with creamer or milk.
She started to get ready and then pulled out her phone. Y/N was probably bored at the district, so she figured she could grab her some good coffee on her way in. If the coffee at Intelligence was the same as the kind at robbery-homicide, she was sure that a twenty-year-old wouldn't like it.
You were sitting at the table in the breakroom when your phone buzzed, alerting you that you had a text message. Hailey had said it was her and asked what coffee you liked and mentioned Starbucks. So, you told her a vanilla sweet cream cold brew would be great and thanked her and also offered to give her five bucks when she got to the district. But, she told you she'd get it.
You went to rummage around in your backpack for a different notebook when Jay walked in. "How's it goin'?" he asked as he walked over to the coffee pot and poured himself more coffee.
"I don't know how you drink that stuff. The kind here is gross."
Jay shrugged, "Eh, you get used to it after a while."
"I guess," you agreed, grabbing your notebook but not zipping up your backpack.
"What are you working on now?"
"I have to watch some boring ass sociology lectures," you answered, opening your laptop.
"Ew," he took a seat next to you and started drinking his coffee, but not without knocking over your backpack. "No way," he said as he repositioned your bag and reached into it.
"What?" When you saw his hand in your backpack, you tried to grab it back, but he already had his hand wrapped around the object that you wanted to stay hidden. "Give her back!" you shouted as Jay ran out of the room with your stuffed cat in his hand.
You had brought your stuffed animal with you in case you had gotten stuck at the district overnight. Who knows, Hailey and Jay could be out working a case and you wouldn't have been able to go home. So, as a way of making yourself feel secure, you had put your stuffed animal, whom you affectionately named Kitty as you were three years old when it was gifted to you, in the bottom of your backpack. That way, if you had to sleep on the couch in the breakroom, you could tuck it away between the back of the couch and you, so that no one could see that you still slept with a stuffed animal.
"Jay!" you yelled, chasing after him, "Give it back!"
"Never!" he yelled back, running into an interrogation room. You followed him, hoping that he forgot to lock the door.
But, you were both lucky and unlucky as Jay was currently standing with his back to the door, keeping it closed despite how hard you pushed. You heard footsteps walking up the stairs into the bullpen, and he still wasn't budging. "Jay, someone's coming! Please!" you begged, not wanting the entire unit to know that you still slept with a stuffed animal.
You heard laughing from him on the other side of the door. "Give it back!" you tried again, fists pounding on the door.
"Give what back?"
"You know what!"
"No, I don't. What do I have that you want, Y/N?"
"Kitty. Now C'mon Jay!" You heard footsteps coming down the hall where the interrogation rooms were. God, you hoped it wasn't Ruzek; he'd never let you live this one down.
"You'll have to be more specific than that." Even though you could only hear him, you knew he was smirking on the other side of that door.
"Give me Kitty, my stuffed animal, Jay!"
"There it is." He opened the door just as you saw Hailey approaching the both of you. He quickly handed you back your stuffed animal and you hid it behind your back.
"Was that a toy?" Hailey asked, holding your coffee.
"Y/N sleeps with a--" you elbowed your brother in the stomach, and he groaned, which shut him up.
Then, you heard more voices. This wasn't good. You didn't have a jacket on, so had no way of hiding it on your way back to the breakroom. "Jay, I think they need you," Hailey said.
"And you got coffee for who?" he asked her.
"Y/N. Now go. They have to get you up to speed."
"They'll have to get you up to speed, too," he argued. "You just got here."
"Just tell them I'll be there in a minute."
Jay walked away, a smirk still plastered on his face because of how embarrassed he made you. When he was for sure out of earshot, Hailey held out her hand. "Give it to me."
"I don't know what you're talking about," you denied.
"The stuffed animal, Y/N. I'll hide it in my jacket on our way back to the breakroom and then you can hide it from there. I grew up with three older brothers, so I know how it is."
You handed it over to her and she placed it in her jacket, then you walked to the breakroom, but not without glaring at your brother on your way there. Once it was securely stashed in your backpack and you tried to give Hailey money for the coffee, but she refused as she had told you she'd do, only then did Hailey leave you alone in the breakroom to be with the rest of the unit.
"That was mean," Hailey whispered to Jay when she was in the bullpen.
"Something wrong?" Voight asked, looking at the two detectives.
"No, what do we got so far?" Jay asked, turning his attention to Voight.
Voight stuck a picture on the board, causing Hailey to swallow. It was JP.
"This scumbag is JP." Hailey wanted to say he wasn't as much of a scumbag as they probably thought, but since he associated with her boyfriend, Zach, and knew what happened in that apartment and didn't say anything, he was still sort of a scumbag. But, then again, Hailey hadn't talked about what happened in that apartment either, so maybe she was a scumbag for keeping Zach safe. But, he swore he had cut ties with Zach, so who knows what he'd do to keep himself out of jail. "CI said that he might know some information about who wanted the hit. Swears it wasn't JP, that he was just the person hiring."
Great, so she was a CI now, Hailey thought to herself.
"So we just get him to give up the guy who wants the hit done?" Ruzek suggested. "Simple enough."
"Not when he's not talking," Voight said. "He hasn't given us a single thing. But, we can hold him for 48 hours on conspiracy, so hopefully, he'll give something up or whoever wanted the hit will get sloppy within that time."
Hailey knew that JP wouldn't crack, so her only hope was that whoever wanted the hit would get sloppy.
***
"We have five more hours or this son of a bitch gets cut loose. So, do whatever you gotta do," Voight told his unit almost two days later. It had been 43 hours since they had arrested JP and so far all they had learned was that his real name was Joe Price. He wasn't talking and they were running out of time. "Upton, a quick word?"
Hailey followed Voight to his office and she closed the door behind them. "You mentioned JP's got a son who's at least 18. Anything you think we could use as leverage? Because at the moment, he ain't talkin'."
Hailey thought for a moment. "He mentioned once that his son was going to apply for the TSA, but couldn't get in because of a misdemeanor I think."
Voight nodded, thinking. "Maybe he'll flip if I get the charges sealed." Then, they left his office and he made his way to the interrogation room.
"We know about your son, JP," Voight said as he entered the room where Jay and Kevin were currently trying to get him to spill information, even though trying was useless at this point.
At this, JP lifted his eyes to meet the sergeant's. "What's there to know?" he asked bitterly.
"We know that he applied for TSA but can't get in."
"Yeah, because of this pissant obstruction charge from when he was eighteen. But, you don't really care about that unless there's something in it for you, do you?"
"You could say that," Voight started, walking around the table."Tell us who's behind this and I can get those charges sealed. It'd take time, but I can get it done."
JP pondered this for a moment. "You're not just blowing smoke up my ass?"
"You have my word," Voight answered.
JP nodded. "Patrick Shostack. New breed of contract killer. He'll kill the kids if he can't get to the parents. Take out an entire city block just for one target. What I did before I went in, there was honor in it. I've got the stomach for a lot of things, but not for this. This new breed, I ain't got the stomach for that."
"Can we get in contact with this Shostack guy?" Jay asked.
"He's got a messaging service. Whether he calls back, I don't know."
Voight slid a phone over to him and JP dialed the number. "Tell him you have Halstead," Voight told him. "You wanna make a deal. We'll take a photo of him dead. We'll rig it."
"And if he doesn't go for it?"
"Improvise."
JP left a message and then the three left the room.
"Think this will work?" Hailey asked Jay since she had been watching the interview from the next room.
"We'll see."
It had been ten minutes and Voight and Halstead were sitting in the interview room with JP, waiting for the phone to ring. Ruzek had rigged up a line so that they could all hear what Shostack was saying.
The phone rang, and Hailey held her breath.
"Hello?"
"JP." Shostack said on the other end. "Didn't expect a call from you."
"Well, I have something you may want, Shostack."
"And that is? I'm a man who desires many things."
"Halstead," JP answered.
"Thought you backed out."
Please God, do not say my name, Hailey thought to herself.
"I did. But then, I heard they were paying you more and I want in."
"What do you want?"
"Half," JP answered. "And you better make a decision quick because the drugs I pumped into him are gonna wear off soon."
"One third and we have a deal," Shostack told him.
"Deal. I'll take care of it and bring you a photo for proof."
"No, no, no. Just because I trust you, doesn't mean I don't want to see him alive. Well, I couldn't care either way to be frank with you. But, there's someone else who needs to see him alive."
Before he could even think about how what he was going to do could affect other people, Jay pointed to the phone and gave a thumbs up. "Deal," JP told Shostack.
They decided on a meeting place and then walked out. Hailey quickly grabbed Jay's arm and dragged him into the other interrogation room.
"What the hell was that?" she shouted. "Y/N was so worried about you when you guys were shot at the other day and now you're putting yourself in danger not even three days later!"
"Last I checked, your title was detective and not sergeant Upton. I can make my own choices!" Jay argued.
"Did you even think? Your choices affect other people besides you, Halstead!"
"I can handle myself out there! Have a little faith would you?"
"Someone wants your head on a silver platter and all you can think about is making this case! Do you even have regard for your own safety?"
Jay pointed an accusing finger at Hailey, inches away from her face. "You are just here to babysit Y/N. So get back to her and do the job you're here to do and I'll do mine...without you fucking interfering with it."
Hailey scoffed and left the room, leaving him alone. And, Jay went downstairs to get ready for the meet.
***
"Is he always a dick?" Hailey asked, walking into the breakroom after taking some time to cool off.
"Who? Ruzek? He never means for his jokes to go that far. If you tell him they're upsetting you, then he'll stop," you answered.
"No, not Ruzek. Your brother."
You turned to face Hailey dead on. "You questioned his abilities to do his job, didn't you?"
"Now that you put it that way, I guess I did," Hailey answered, trying to figure out why that would make Jay so mad.
Luckily, she didn't have to ask as you decided to explain. "That's one of the only times he gets really mad--unless I do something stupid like that comment the other day. Our dad was always telling him to go into the workforce instead of the military and then becoming a cop. He didn't have respect for what Jay did. He didn't have respect for what Will did either, which is why he had to put himself through undergrad and med school."
Hailey nodded. Stuff from your past coming into the present and making emotions run high was something that she was all too familiar with.
"Wanna watch a movie?" Hailey suggested, hoping that would keep you occupied until Jay and the rest of the team got back.
You opened Netflix and then started the movie, thinking nothing of it. Hailey on the other hand, was silently worried about Jay, even if he had just yelled at her. She was only worrying about what would happen to you though if something happened to him...at least, that's what she told herself anyway.
***
You and Hailey looked up from the movie when you heard movement in the bullpen. Seeing that everyone was back, you both left to see what was up.
The first thing you noticed was how red Jay's wrists were. "Jay, what happened?" you asked, walking closer to him.
"I learned that I could choke out a suspect when my hands are zip-tied in front of me." You put your hands on your hips, not appreciating his sass. "I'm fine, Y/N, really. Now, let the big kids do their jobs and go back and do whatever you were doing. I gotta go do an interrogation."
"Can I watch?" you asked.
"I'm sorry," Ruzek stepped in. "Did you just ask if you could watch Halstead do an interrogation?"
"Adam," you whined, "I'm bored."
"Then go for a walk or get food or something," he suggested.
"Dude!" Jay yelled. "She can't be alone right now!"
"Oh yeah, right. Go get something from the vending machines or something."
"Halstead, Atwater," Voight said, breaking up the little quarrel, "Go interrogate Shostack."
"Voight, can I talk to you for a second?" Hailey asked as you walked back into the breakroom.
You were scrolling through social media, trying to find something interesting that kept your attention, when you started to hear Voight and Hailey's conversation. His office was right next to the breakroom, and it's not like the walls were soundproof. You put in your headphones so that if anyone peeked in, it wouldn't look like you were eavesdropping.
"Just let me interview Shostack," you heard Hailey say.
"Hailey, I know you feel bad about starting this mess, but I can't let you in there. If word gets out that you were a snitch, then that would spell bad news."
What did Voight mean by that? you thought to yourself. How was Hailey in on the hit on Jay's life?
"Could be an asset. I might be able to say I know JP and then he'll tell me more."
"I gave you an out so that you could work this case and not get taken down for stalking Halstead and wanting to kill him. You go in there now, and the deal's off the table. I will bury you." Voight paused and you held your breath. "You said you took the murder for hire because you needed money. Why?"
"It's my boyfriend." Hailey was so quiet when she said that, that you had to strain your ears to even hear it.
"Is he hurting you?" Silence. "I can help you, Hailey. Just tell me what's going on."
"I'm gonna go. I promise you I won't interview him." Then, Hailey left Voight's office.
But, you knew one thing: there was no way you'd be staying at your house tonight with Hailey.
***
Hailey said that she had to take a shower, and Jay was still at the district doing paperwork, so you figured now was as good a time as any.
You knew there was a party going on a few blocks from here, so you decided you'd go. You grabbed your wallet and phone and slowly slipped down the stairs and out the back door. Now you just had to make sure that Jay didn't find out. You couldn't give a damn if Hailey lost her mind over your disappearance. She deserved it after all.
Jay was sitting at his desk, trying not to fall asleep when his phone rang. "Hailey? What's going--"
"I need you to ping Y/N's phone now! I got out of the shower and she was gone and I don't know where she is and she didn't leave a note or anything!"
"Slow down," he told her, even though he wanted to freak out as much as she was. "How long were you in the shower?"
"Fifteen minutes."
Jay cradled the phone with his shoulder as he typed away at his computer. "Is her car there?"
There was a pause as Hailey looked out the window. "Yeah, it's here."
"Okay, she couldn't have gone far." He moved his mouse to zoom in. "I got a location."
When you got close to the party, you decided you didn't really want to go there. If by some miracle Jay's unit found you, you didn't want to wreck their fun. So, you kept walking. That was until you heard your name being called from behind you.
"Shit," you muttered, breaking into a run.
"Y/N, stop!"
Dammit, that one was definitely worse. You looked ahead and then turned around. There was nowhere to go; you were cornered between two detectives.
You tried to dodge Jay, but he was too fast and quickly grabbed onto you and held you tight against him until you calmed down. "Stop fighting! Stop fighting, Y/N! We're going home! What the hell were you thinking?"
You calmed down enough to stop squirming, but you were still furious. "What was I thinking?" you yelled. "I was thinking that she--" You pointed an accusing finger at Hailey. "wanted to kill you. She got hired to do that hit, Jay! She was going to fucking kill you and you want me to be alone with her?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I heard her! I heard her talking to Voight earlier about interviewing that one guy and he said she couldn't because no one could know that she was hired to kill you! I don't give a flying fuck if you need the money, Hailey! Yow wanted my big brother dead!"
Still holding onto you, Jay looked directly at Hailey. "Please tell me it's not true. That she tripped and hit her head or something."
Hailey looked at the ground. "It's true but--"
"Unbelievable!"
"Just let me explain, okay?" Hailey argued.
"What's there to explain?"
"Just listen to the reason I needed the money!"
"So you needing money takes priority over my life!" Jay spat.
"God, I got bad information! They said you killed innocent people overseas and I didn't know you had a little sister, so I stopped when I saw that--"
"So you were stalking me?"
"Dammit, Jay! I needed the money to get away from my boyfriend! But like you fucking care! I was just starting to care about your life and now it's just become a big inconvenience!"
"Go home, Hailey! I never wanna see you again." He looked down at you. "We never wanna see you again!"
"Fine! Get a new protection detail because the person who wants you dead is still out there until Shostack gives Intelligence something!"
Then, Hailey got in her car and drove away and Jay finally let go of you. "Get in the car," he told you sternly.
"Jay, I'm sorry--"
"Just get in the damn car, Y/N!"
You walked over to the car and pulled on the handle. "Jay."
"What?" It took all his strength not to blow up on you when you were both still outside.
"It's locked."
He unlocked the car and got into the driver's seat, you in the passenger seat. "I'm sorry," was all you said as Jay started driving.
"You could've gotten yourself killed! Whoever this new breed of contract killer is, apparently they won't stop until they get me and they'll do it by whatever means necessary! So, excuse me for being worried!"
"It's not like I could stay home with Hailey when I knew she wanted to kill you!"
"But you could've told someone! You could've told me!" The next part, he said quieter, which almost made it worse than if he would've yelled it. "How fucking stupid can you get?"
It's not like he had never called you stupid, he had, but it was always jokingly and when you were kids. But, this time, it felt different, like he meant every single word he said. You put your hand over your mouth, to try and stop yourself from sobbing, but one came out anyway.
Jay didn't even seem to notice, just kept his eyes focused on the road and his jaw clenched.
When you got home, you jumped out of the car, not even waiting for Jay to completely put it in park. Then, you ran into the house, only to crash into Will.
"Whoa! Slow down!" he said, grabbing ahold of you to stop you from falling.
You yanked your arm out of his hand. "Let go of me!" you yelled and then ran straight to your room and slammed the door shut for good measure.
"What happened?" Will asked as Jay walked inside.
At this, Jay finally grasped the gravity of the moment and what he had done. "I fucked up, Will. I fucked up so bad."
"So, you let Y/N sneak out. That's happened to everyone. If I remember correctly, me and you did it all the time," Will said, trying to lighten the mood.
"This isn't like that and you know it." Jay paused and took a deep breath. "God, I should've never left her alone with Hailey."
"Why? What's wrong with Hailey?" Will asked. And so, Jay told him. And Will was as shocked as Jay was.
"What did you say to Y/N?"
Jay sat on the couch and put his head in his hands. He hated what he had done only because their dad had said the same thing to Jay when he was younger and you were in the room and defended your big brother, telling your dad that Jay wasn't in fact stupid, but smart. "I called her fucking stupid, Will." He rubbed his hands on his face, pissed at himself. "God, I did what Dad did that one day and she stood up for me. I'm a terrible brother."
Will sat down next to his younger brother and put a comforting arm around him. "Jay, look at me." Jay lifted his head. "You are not a terrible brother, you are far from that. She'll come around and realize that. Now, do you know why Hailey needed the money?"
"Said she needed it to get away from her boyfriend or something like that," Jay shrugged.
"Do you know where she is right now?"
"No, and I really couldn't care less."
"Jay, listen to me. She said she needed it to get away from her boyfriend."
At this, Jay's head snapped up. "Oh, God. Oh, God. I gotta find her. Stay with Y/N!"
***
"How was the undercover assignment?" Zach asked Hailey as she let himself into their little apartment.
"Was good. You know I can't talk about an open investigation, Zach."
"Hmmm, so you weren't working with other cops?"
Hailey looked at him like he was crazy. How did he know that she was working with Halstead? "No, it was just me."
Then, he pulled a gun from his waistband. Hailey put her hands above her head in surrender. "Zach, let's just take a moment to think this through. How about you tell me what you think happened undercover?"
"And you'll answer my questions honestly?" he asked, but with a gun now pointed at her, it was more like a command.
"Why didn't you kill him?"
"Kill who?" she yelled.
"Jay Halstead! Why didn't you kill him?"
I don't know what you're talking about!" She lied, but then instantly regretted it as Zach took the gun and hit her in the stomach. She reached for her gun in her holster, but then Zach took his arm that wasn't holding the gun and twisted it behind her back. Hailey screamed out in pain and she screamed loud.
***
"Shostack," Voight began as he was pacing back in front of Patrick Shostack who was handcuffed in the cage, "you tell me everything you know about who wanted Halstead murdered and how and why a Chicago PD detective got brought in to kill him. Only then, when you tell me everything, will I even consider making a deal."
Shostack was already beginning to bruise from where Voight had hit him, so he decided it was in his best interest if he talked. He had heard rumors about this dirty cop and he knew that Voight wouldn't think twice about killing him to get answers. "The person who wants Halstead dead is Zach Grey."
Voight pulled out his phone and texted the name to Ruzek, telling him that they now had a suspect and to start going through everything about this guy. "What can you tell me about this Grey? How'd he know Halstead?"
"They were in the army together. Apparently, Grey wasn't good at following orders and made really stupid decisions out in the field. So, Halstead told their supervisor about it, and after a few more mess-ups that almost cost the unit their lives, Grey was dishonorably discharged."
"Why wait this long?" Voight asked.
"Dunno. I know Grey just moved to Chicago two years ago from California. He got a girlfriend and then he hatched this elaborate plan to get her to kill him."
"What's the girlfriend's name?"
"I don't know her name, man. I just know she was short and she was blond. Pretty little thing. Apparently, she was a cop, too. He figured that if anyone could get away with killing Halstead, she could."
"Did she know Grey was behind it?" Voight asked, thanking God that Hailey was with Jay because that description Shostack just gave him sounded a hell of a lot like Detective Hailey Upton.
"Not a chance. He called me and I got her to agree to the hit."
"I thought JP got her to agree to the hit?"
"That's where things get tricky. I used a voice modulator to disguise my voice. I told her, that if she needed money, she could kill this guy. I told her that Halstead killed innocents overseas and that he had no family other than his older brother, Will. Once she agreed to it, I gave her a number to call."
"And that number was JP?"
"Yeah. I think he knows Grey but doesn't know that he's the one behind all this. Told Upton that JP'd know what to do since he'd done it before. And, then it was all up to them after that. Didn't know she'd flip and try to help you, though. Now that was a shock."
"Did you know that Halstead has a little sister and that he's also a cop?"
"Yeah, but Grey told me what to say and promised me some of the money if the hit went through."
"Boss!" Adam yelled as he ran downstairs. "You gotta come see this!"
"We're done here," Voight said, turning back to Shostack and then going back upstairs into the bullpen.
Kevin turned the screen of his computer towards Voight. "If we got the right Zach Grey, then Hailey's got some explaining to do." In front of him was a picture from Instagram of Hailey and Zach, Zach kissing her on the cheek and it was posted only a few weeks ago.
"Please tell me you got an address for this prick."
Ruzek flipped through some papers and pulled one out. "Here's his LKA."
Voight nodded. "Let's roll out. I'll loop in Halstead."
Before Voight could even get a word in edgewise to the young detective on the other end of the phone, Jay butted in. "Did you know that Hailey was gonna kill me?"
"I know, but she backed out because she had gotten bad information--"
"You sound just like her! Why are you defending her?"
"She was trying to get out of a bad situation! Shostack told us everything, just trust me on this one. Please tell me that she's with you."
"She's not. I'm driving around looking for her right now. She said she needed to get away from her boyfriend before she left."
"Shit. Try this address."
Voight gave him the address, but Jay was wondering how they had gotten it. "How do you know where she is?"
"Does the name Zach Grey ring a bell?"
"We served together. I got him dishonorably discharged because he was being reckless and me and other guys almost died because of him. But, why is this important?"
"He's the one who wants you dead, Jay. He found out you were in Chicago and since he's Hailey's boyfriend, he figured she'd be able to get away with killing you."
"But he told her that I was the scum of the earth and didn't know I was a cop or had a little sister, so then she backed out," Jay said, piecing it together.
"Exactly."
"I'm on my way to Grey's place. Hopefully, he has no idea Hailey's been with me because Grey's got a temper."
Jay turned on his lights and sirens and sped through Chicago and into a more rundown place on the southside. He knew that Grey wasn't the best with money just based on how much he gambled overseas, so it made sense to him why he was living in this dump of an apartment complex.
Jay flashed his badge at the person who worked "security" and then made his way to the third floor, gun already drawn. He redialed Voight's number and held the phone between his shoulder and his ear. "What's your ETA?" he asked, creeping closer and closer to the apartment.
"Two minutes out."
Then, Jay heard an ear-piercing scream coming from the apartment where Grey was supposed to be. It sounded like a woman. It sounded like Hailey. "Sarge, I'm going in."
"Halstead, do you have protective gear?"
"Yeah, I grabbed it when I went looking for Y/N. Don't worry, it's on." Then, he ended the call.
"Chicago PD!" Jay yelled and then kicked in the door.
"Jay! Get out of here! He's gonna--"
"Shut it, bitch!" Zach twisted Hailey's arm even more, causing her to scream out in pain.
"Listen, Grey, I know you're pissed at me for what I did all those years ago, but Hailey didn't do any of that. You gotta let her go, man," Jay pleaded, gun trained on Zach.
"She was supposed to kill you!" He moved the gun so that it was now against Hailey's temple.
She whimpered, terrified. He had thrown her gun across the room, so she had no way of defending herself, not that she'd try with a gun against her head. She knew what to do in these situations, which was, wait until a moment of weakness and then get him. Or, wait for backup.
"You want me, right?" Jay asked, putting his hands above his head, gun still in hand. "Take the gun off her and point it at me."
"No!" But all Hailey got in response was Grey digging the gun further into her temple.
"Drop your gun," Grey ordered.
"Okay." Jay dropped the magazine out of his gun and then set it down on the floor.
"Now kick it away."
"Kicking it away," Jay narrated as he kicked his gun across the room.
Only then did Grey take the gun away from Hailey and point it at Jay. "Any last words Halstead?"
Now was Hailey's chance. He was distracted so Hailey swung around and knocked the gun from his hand. The minute the gun was on the ground, Jay jumped into action, tackling Grey as Hailey run at the guns, making sure that Grey couldn't get them. Jay flipped Grey around and pulled out his cuffs. "Get up," he told him after he was finished handcuffing him.
"Chicago-- Oh," Ruzek said as he and Voight entered the apartment to see Grey already handcuffed.
"Let's go get him booked," Voight said. Then, he looked at Hailey. "You should probably get to the hospital just to get checked out."
"I'm fine, really," she protested. "And I don't really want to spend the night in the hospital. It's the least I can do to help Jay with paperwork anyway."
"I'll call Will," Jay said as he handed Zach Grey off to Voight.
***
"Where's Jay?" you asked Will as you walked into the kitchen. You had cried enough and now needed to rehydrate.
"He went to go find Hailey."
That's when it hit you. I needed the money to get away from my boyfriend. Shit, he was hurting her.
"It's all my fault! If he hurts her, it's all my fault, Will!" you yelled.
"Hey, hey, no it's not," he said, taking the water glass from your hand. "We don't even know if he's physically abusing her. It could be emotional abuse. We could be wrong altogether. Don't worry about it."
You sighed and took the glass back to get some water. "Thaks, but that doesn't make me feel any better."
"I think there's hockey on," Will said, changing the subject. "Let's go watch that."
"Yeah, I guess. I'll be right back." You finished your water and put the glass in the dishwasher. Then, you went to your room to grab a blanket.
When you looked on your bed, you saw it was missing something. Kitty. Quickly, you grabbed your backpack and dumped out its contents. "Shit," you muttered as you realized you had left it on the couch of the breakroom at the district.
You ran downstairs, blanket forgotten. "Will! We gotta go to the--" He held up a hand, effectively silencing you. It was only then you saw that he was on the phone.
"Yeah, it's in my car. Yeah, I'll bring Y/N. We're on our way," Will said to whoever was on the other end and then hung up.
"What was that about?" you asked. You had a right to know because, from what you had heard, you had to go somewhere with Will.
"We gotta go to the district. Jay wants me to have a look at Hailey's shoulder, says she doesn't want to go to the hospital this late at night."
"Oh, okay. Can't be that bad because if it was broken or something Voight would make her go to the ED right?" you asked, partially blaming yourself.
"I'd hope so. Let's go."
You were walking up the stairs into the bullpen fifteen minutes later when one of your worst nightmares came true.
"Hey, did some kid leave their stuffed animal here?" Ruzek asked, holding up Kitty as he exited the breakroom.
You and Will shared a look that you hoped nobody else saw as you made your way over to Jay and Hailey. You were about to open your mouth and admit it was yours because you figured, if you didn't do it in the next few seconds, Jay would do it for you. But were surprisingly saved by Hailey.
"It's mine," Hailey lied. "My mom gave it to me and I wanted to get it out of the apartment before it became a crime scene."
"Oh," Ruzek said, furrowing his eyebrows and handing it to her. "Here you go I guess."
"Thanks."
When he turned around, Hailey handed it to you and you quickly shoved Kitty into one of Jay's desk drawers.
"Y/N, I just wanna apologize--"
"No, you were in trouble and trying your best to get out of it." Then, you stooped down and whispered in her ear, since she was sitting down, waiting for Will to examine her. "And you told Adam that that was yours, so it's the least I can do."
"So, we're all good?" she asked.
"We're all good," you confirmed.
"Now, let's take a look at that shoulder," Will said, unzipping his doctor's bag.
After a few minutes, he declared that it was just a light sprain, so it should be fine, even though it might hurt like hell.
"Good, because I need her to be okay," Voight said, exiting his office.
"What do you mean?" Hailey asked. It's not like she was one of his detectives.
"You helped us solve this case and led us to Grey. This wouldn't have been possible without you, Hailey," Voight told her.
"Thank you, Sergeant."
"Since Kim's on furlough right now and Erin left to go to New York, this unit is short...especially on female cops. What you did earlier, disarming Grey, you proved you can handle it here. So, what do you say? You wanna stay?"
"I'd be honored," Hailey answered, breaking out into a smile.
"Welcome to Intelligence, Detective Upton."
A/N: That was long! Sorry, it's taken me so long to update! I got a few ideas and never stuck with them until this one! Please vote and comment and tell me what you thought! Do you like more upstead centric stories or do you like the ones that mainly focus on Y/N and the Halstead bros? Also on my wattpad @ malewk172
#jay halstead#will halstead#chicago pd#chicago med#hailey upton#fanfiction#imagine#chicago pd imagine#halstead! sister#halstead sister imagine#reader insert
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VIII: Struck by Lightning
(Batgirl/Red Hood)
Description: Reader makes a confession, and goes on a date. Previous.
TW: Brief mention of gore (just blood)
In the weeks succeeding the Little Italy mission, I found a rhythm in the two conflicting heartbeats of my life. Occasionally, I met with Jason to file down the multitude of criminals who opposed him (it wasn’t all rescuing orphans and kittens, but his justice was fair and swift), and other than that, I carried on with life as normal; both as myself, and Batgirl. It was an inconsistent, exciting balancing act.
I tried to humor Bruce’s transparent attempts to placate me with cold cases, deeming it study. My school work had unsurprisingly lost its appeal, and I found myself rocking in the river banks of what was sure to be a failing grade in most of my classes- though I had yet to run ashore. Yet.
I danced along, despite my reprisal (a lack of sleep, and white lies on either side), and overall there was a certain stalemate. With that, peace. Or at least, the closest I could get.
On a Saturday I happened to have free (to my great relief), I woke up at one in the afternoon, to a blessedly dim day that kept the light in my room dark enough to cradle my lie-in.
I washed the sleep from my face, and stumbled downstairs, muscles sore from a Thursday night mission with Jason at the Port (of which I told my family I was going to a party). Tim was the only one in the kitchen- looking like he, too, had just crawled out of bed. He was eating cereal in silence.
We hadn’t been avoiding each other, per say- just got wrapped up in our own routines. Routines that kept me out of the house, and him trapped within it.
“Morning.” I said.
“Mm.” He replied.
I poured out my own bowl of cereal and settled on top of the glossy white granite. It was kind of a running joke at the Wayne household that you could sit anywhere but the chairs. Even Damian picked up on it- and, naturally, he was the best at it- perching his lithe little form atop the fridge at one point.
Now, Tim and I sat side by side on the countertop, shoulders brushing and spoons clanging against our glass bowls. Nothing more was said, but it was a comfortable silence.
I thought, for a second, about the world he’d been living in for the past few months as November bled into December. About his work and his many, many jobs he had to do. The way he shouldered them all week-to-week. He didn’t have to, but he did.
Tim made me a better person. I thought so, anyway.
But then, before I met him, I was the kind of person who let Carolyn Crawford slap me across the face to cover for someone else’s secret. Now, I was the kind who let other people take the blame for mine. Maybe Tim didn’t make me a better person. Only I could do that.
*
“I need to talk to you.” I said it firmly, and with authority. Mostly to convince myself that I was certain in my intention to go through with it. Bruce eyed me, looking up from his book.
“Alright.”
“...”
“...”
“In private.”
Alfred and Damian’s voices carried through to the living room as they had tea (an evening tradition). Bruce nodded, closed his book, and led me upstairs.
His office was a quiet, peaceful place. Finished dark wood, glass tables, and black leather accents. It was the room in the house that was most furnished to his own private taste, and thus, a glimpse inside was into him. It was mostly predictable; W.E. briefcases, notebooks and pens, case files open, and a map of the city that was displayed behind his desk. But there were other things too; a rubik’s cube half solved on the settee, a magazine featuring Vicki Vale with a pen in her hand and a defiant, head-strong look on her face. A gorgeous trailing point knife that belonged to Damian (probably confiscated).
I sat down in the chair that faced his own; his giant, glossy desk between us. I wanted to be swallowed into the dark leather. I felt like I was back at the shrink.
“Tim didn’t sneak off on the 21st.” I said quickly, cutting off the silence as quickly as I could. “He’s not the one who saw Red Hood kill that guy. It was me. I made Tim promise not to tell. He lied to cover for me.”
Bruce was quiet. He did that a lot; made you wait for him to speak. Seconds, minutes, hours. It all felt the same when he let you simmer in your own mistakes. I didn’t look up.
“I see.”
Silence. A long, testing silence. His irritating little desk clock ticked away.
“Is that all you wanted to tell me?” He asked.
I nodded.
“Very well. You’re dismissed.”
“Really?” I asked. “That’s it? You’re not mad?”
He paused. “Should I be?”
I blinked, gaze falling on the floor. “I put Tim in a really shitty position. He didn’t have to lie, but he did because I asked him to. I’m mad at me.” I admitted quietly.
Bruce nodded pedantically, resting his head on his hand. “Then that’s good enough for me.”
I furrowed my brow. It wasn’t good enough for me. “It was wrong.” I clarified, trying to press for some manner of reprimand that I didn’t truly want, but felt deserving of anyway. Bruce considered this, in his quiet, inscrutable way. After a moment, he spoke.
“Your mothers trusted me.” He said. I knew that. My parents were business-oriented like that. They were pulled together by happenstance, each without family and carving their own way in the world by studying international law, and applying it to companies who could afford private foreign trade, such as Wayne Enterprises. I attended the parties, the galas, standing around in my designer gowns while my moms handed out their business cards and talked about imports. They weren’t neglectful, just distracted.
“I don’t know if you remember-“
“I do.”
And if I had a dollar for every time the cops or the shrink asked me if I remembered that night, I’d buy my own manor.
Bruce Wayne was at my birth. He and my mothers had been business partners for a while by that time. He watched me, dutifully, when my parents went on date nights, and played catch with me when I accompanied him and Dick to the park. He cooked me breakfast the morning after my mothers died.
I knew it wasn’t a random killing, but he didn’t talk about why they were murdered in their own bed until I was fifteen. By then, I was knowledgeable enough to go searching through the police reports on my own. So instead, one night he’d sat me down at the kitchen table, looking at me earnestly.
“You have to understand, Y/N. Your mothers were...” He’d taken a deep breath. Tried again. “They were involved in things. Things I didn’t know about. It made them a lot of enemies.” Then, something harder passed his features. A frustration.
“They were completely blind to the fact that it meant you would never have a normal life. Not as long as they kept it up- that... double life.” I let the statement hang in the air for a time. “That was stolen from you, from the moment they got involved with the Baciu. And I’m sorry.”
It was easy to be sorry. I was sorry, too. My mothers got themselves tangled in Gotham’s heroin trade, and they weren’t careful enough, so they died for it. It was fairly cut and dry. Open file, close case. But the part that was so bitter to swallow was that it happened to me. A fourteen-year-old child creeping into my mothers’ bed because I’d heard a noise, and the re-runs of Ghost Hunter I’d religiously consumed were conjuring movement in the shadows. But there were no ghosts. Just sheets stained with blood that looked black in the darkness. Just the wet, clogged sort of sound when I peeled back the covers, unable to register they way my mothers were bent, and stilled in a way that only death can induce, where just earlier that night they’d been walking and talking. Bringing me Chinese take-out for dinner.
Their death, and everything that followed was emptying. Cracking open a great chasm and bringing death home, into the halls, and into my room. No longer a rumor. It was an empty chair, and a storied space made cold and worthless. It would’ve been easier if they had simply died as a random killing. Tragic, standard, random Gotham City killing. If I had just been that unlucky. If they’d only been struck by lightning. Instead, I grieved twice; once for who they were, and another time, for who I thought they were.
When Bruce adopted me, I became Batgirl. I made it my own vendetta to stop criminals without killing them, because I knew that some- most of them had children at home who would be the real victims if I did.
But then, I thought deeper. More considerately, about who my mothers were. Moreover, who they weren’t. Pearl and gold, white teeth and hairspray. Singing to me, and playing Monopoly, at which they were both so competitive that they had to kiss and make up after every game. Bringing me a strawberry cupcake in bed every year on my birthday. Kissing me on the head. Telling me to be good. Leaving me in that big house. Going off to Port Adams, or Crime Alley. Signing orders. Putting bodies in Finger River.
Nobody’s innocent here, dollface.
“They trusted me.” Bruce’s voice interrupted my reminiscing with the ghosts of my past. “I know their death was hard, and you may still be recovering. I’m trying to do the best I can for you.” He finished. For all the gnashing teeth and avaricious expanses of Gotham City secrets, he looked tired.
“I know, Bruce.” I said quietly. “Me too.”
*
The following Tuesday, I got home from school and started on a mountain of homework I needed to do- some make up work as well. Christmas break was around the corner, and I was slowly losing motivation as the semester drew to a close. I had too many distractions; and tonight was no exception.
Ding.
My phone buzzed, and I looked down, eyebrows raising to find that it was a text from Jason- one that wasn’t just a pin dropped to a location.
Meet me at Twin Sharks. I’ll buy you a coffee.
- What’s the occasion?
No reply. I sighed. I should’ve called him and made him tell me, but I knew that I would go no matter what, so I decided to play the apathy card. Despite my cool response, my heart (the traitor) was fluttering like a bird. Was this about the kiss? Our partnership? Was it an actual, regular date? Or was he breaking it off? My mind raced, and as I pulled together a tasteful outfit and sprayed myself with perfume, I promised myself that it wasn’t for him.
The Twin Sharks was a diner in Upper West Side, near China town. It was nicer than the likes of Sherman’s, or anything else East End had to offer. The late afternoon was unexpectedly bright, clouds parted for a sweet reprieve of gold and blush in the sky. The sun was a striking blood-orange, hung low over the city. It struck a match in my chest- some childish, poetic hopefulness.
The diner’s door jingled, and I scanned the booths and tables. It was a little crowded, but I spotted Jason alone in a booth, his eyes cast down, involved with his phone. I made my way over to him, slipping off my coat and plopping down his opposite.
“Hey.” I said. His eyes fell upon me, and I saw something on his face- maybe surprise, or something to that effect- before he composed his expression into something unreadable.
“Hey.”
The diner had a big, hot pink neon sign that depicted a matching pair of sharks above the counter. Its buzzing glow mixed with the orange gleam of the lowering sun through the windows- it was all very rose-colored.
The waitress put a coffee in front of me, and I got to work on adorning it with the little cream and sugar packets on the table. He watched me do it for while.
“What?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.
“Nothin’.” He said. Then, he reached across the table, and took my hand, pulling it back to him, and pressed a soft kiss to my knuckles. I was so startled by it that I dropped the sugar packet I was holding. Neither of us seemed to notice. He turned my hand over and placed another kiss in the inside of my wrist before returning it safely to my side of the table. I was certain my face burned like the neon sharks.
“I’m- um- is this a date?” I asked, trying to get him to say something- anything- to get my mind off the way he’d just reduced me to a puddle.
He looked amused by that. “You want it to be?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged, stirring my coffee. “You invited me.”
He nodded, eyes falling away. “Yeah. I’ve got an update for you. D’amici business.”
“Oh.” By the look on his face, it wasn’t good news.
“You’re not gonna like it.”
“Perfect. My day’s been a little too good so far.” I said. He slid me his phone- on the screen was an article from the Gotham Quarterly.
Young Bride Found Murdered in Diamond District Estate
I read over it a couple times, brow furrowing. “You mean...“
“Penelope. It happened last night.”
“Shit.” I muttered, scrolling down and scanning through the article. My throat caught as I read over it. She was shot in her bed. “It says there’s no suspects.”
“Course it does. It’s the mafia. They handle things nice and quiet.”
“And I’m guessing you have a few a suspects.” He nodded grimly as I slid his phone back to him.
“One better. I know exactly who did it. I think you do, too.”
I put my head in my hands, mulling over my options. Really there was only one. Penelope’s beautiful, flustered face and apologetic eyes flashed through my mind. Her wind-chime laugh as we ate scones under the watchful eye of her adoring, peculiar grandmother.
“Okay.” I resolved. “Let’s get that girl justice.”
#batman daughter#batfam#batsis x batfamily#batsis#batgirl reader#batgirl#jason todd imagine#jason todd x reader#jason todd x y/n#jason todd#red hood imagine#red hood x y/n#red hood x reader#red hood#batsis x dick grayson#dick grayson#nightwing#batsis x tim drake#tim drake#red robin#damian al ghul#damian wayne#batsis x damian wayne#batman and robin#barbara gordon#oracle#bruce wayne#batsis x bruce wayne
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↬ prompt: #30 “love isn’t supposed to hurt this badly.” ✧˖° | find the other prompts here
member: taehyun
genre: angst
for: @raina-bear
this week was supposed to be an exciting time, but you had been nervous. you and your boyfriend were starting to get your acceptance letters back from the colleges you applied to. the two of you applied to all of the same colleges, except for you. you had applied to your dream college... far away from the plans you and taehyun had made. he hasn’t know about this, but you didn’t want to stress him out about it when you probably wouldn’t go anyway.
the two of you were truly happy together, occasionally having fights about how your schedules didn’t fit together. despite being labeled “the perfect couple” by your school, you two were completely different people with different interests, causing a clash of schedules. usually the way you both solved these problems was to quit the previous plans in order to see eachother. you both have given up a lot for the relationship and it was too much to throw it all away now. so why were you so scared to see whether or not you got into your dream school?
you had been staring at the screen for hours, refreshing constantly to check your emails, until the unread email popped up. you heart had practically jumped, you shook your hands around trying to think of what to do.
“just open it you coward.” you mumbled to yourself, taking a deep breath before you opened it.
you swear your heart stopped when you read congratulations! you have been accepted into seoul national university for the fall 2021 semester. you couldn’t believe your eyes, continuing to reread it over and over again. you started to tear up, knowing that all of your hard work had paid off. the endless days of no sleep because you didn’t want to miss out on hanging with taehyun. you couldn’t lie, you went behind his back for a lot of things, but you knew that this college was basically impossible to get into.
you were shaking with tears in your eyes when an alert came from your phone.
tae❤︎: hey can we meet up?
his text grounded you back to earth. instead of providing you joy like how his texts usually do, your shoulders dropped. the high you were just on seeming to instantly drop. you remembered now, your hard work wouldn’t of paid off because you wouldn’t leave taehyun. with a heavy heart, you planned to meet up with your sweet and loving boyfriend.
the two of you planned to meet up at the park, where the two of you first met. it was a pretty interesting encounter, he had been singing beautifully when someone ran into him, causing him to fall. you were the one to help taehyun, trying to test out your medical knowledge. the two of you honestly weren’t much different from when that happened, he still sung beautifully and you still improved on your studies.
the park seemed different this time around, the wind swayed softly and gave you a comforting feeling. it eased the burden you were feeling right now.
you could spot taehyun at the swing set, rocking back and forth. his hair was red now, which confused you, but you assumed he wanted to try it out. when you looked at him now you knew you loved him, but you couldn’t help but feel a little held back.
he had looked back up at you with nervous eyes. the two of you could both tell something was off with the other.
“y/n i have something to tell you.” his words set you aback, but you decided to hear him out before you assumed anything. you nodded at him as encouragement to go on ahead.
“i haven’t been completely honest with you. instead of going to the library to study, i’ve been training at bighit. i know i should’ve told you sooner, but i didn’t know how to.” he was trying to maintain eye contact, trying to fight the urge to look down. it was probably this exact moment that you realized he truly has been changing. thinking back, he was frequently tired, but had a determined look in his eyes.
you were going to speak when he continued. “i’m telling you this now because they plan on debuting me and a few others. i’m planning on leaving the company to go to college with you, but i need you to give me the courage.” he could no longer look at you now. you realized that the two of you were both in the same position.
“taehyun... i also haven’t told you everything. i applied to seoul national university and got in. i don’t plan on leaving you though, so i never brought it up.” you also couldn’t seem to look at him either, but you could see his head turn abruptly towards you. his eyes were probably wide in surprise.
“y/n that’s amazing! do you know how hard it is to get into that school?” his voice seemed to pick up a bit, his excitement for you seeming to cheer him up. you on the other hand, couldn’t feel the excitement for yourself because you knew you wouldn’t be going anyway.
“yep, but i’d choose you over anything or anyone else.” athlough your words were sincere, the were filled with sadness. taehyun noticed this almost instantly.
“y/n you should go. i can go to a college closer to yours that way you can get the best education for yourself.” he was honestly the best boyfriend anyone could ask for. taehyun grabbed your hands, causing you to look at him. he meant everything he just said, but the light in his eyes seemed dim.
“taehyun... what about bighit?” the two of you could look into each others eyes now. the mention of taehyun’s dream caused his smile to falter.
“you’re more important.” his hands squeezed yours, probably trying to comfort himself.
“tae... i can see how much you want to debut and become an idol. you’re an amazing singer and dancer... why would you give that up?” you drew your hands back. you wouldn’t let him ruin his dream career.
“i...” he started to tear up. “i can sacrifice anything just to be with you.” you could tell he was in pain and you made up your mind. you couldn’t do this to him.
“love isn’t supposed to hurt this badly.” you grabbed taehyun’s hands once more. “let’s stop giving up things that make ourselves happy just to benefit our relationship.” your eyes had grown teary eyed as you looked at him.
“what do you mean?” taehyun had been looking at you with eyes filled with sorrow.
“i mean... let’s break up... at least until we secure our futures. let’s become our own people. you go debut and i’ll go to my dream college.” you didn’t want to do this, but you had to do this for taehyun. the two of you would never make the other give something like this up, so both of you would have to part ways.
“b-break up?” taehyun was thrown aback, choking on his words.
“yes taehyun... let’s break up. if we’re truly meant to be then we will see eachother again.” you wanted to be strong for him, faking a small smile.
he instantly enveloped you in a hug- his arms wrapped around you tightly.
“i love you.” he sobbed as he clenched your shirt in his fists.
“i love you too taehyun.”
#tomorrow x together#taehyun drabble#taehyun angst#taehyun imagines#taehyun fic#txt fic#txt drabbles#txt imagines#txt x reader#taehyun x reader#taehyun scenarios#txt scenarios#txt fanfic#taehyun fanfic#txt angst#taehyun au#txt au#prompt
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Astrophilia
@star-wars-wlweek
Day 6: Fake Dating/Marriage & Hurt/Comfort
Read it on AO3 and on FFN!
In a final world, the largest steps may be taken without a blink: acquaintances, allies, friends. But in the middle of a war comes the harsh reality that any close relationship is strained, any bond is forged and all are tested.
Some, despite the odds, hold true.
*
The nondescript ship they’d hired was the last place one would find a princess, so it was perfect. Add to that the fact that Tatooine was also the last place to look, and that she was wearing her hair in a plain bun tucked under her hood rather than her elaborate styles, and it became almost impossible that someone should recognise Leia in these clothes.
That didn’t make Qi’ra any less nervous. “We need to sell this, remember.”
“I remember.” Leia cast a look at herself in the mirror, grimacing at the beige robes she was wearing to blend in. Behind her, she saw Qi’ra make the same face. “Though there are plenty of people trying to fly under the radar here. I doubt anyone will look too closely.”
“Better safe than sorry.”
Leia nodded. She could respect that.
“What are our aliases again?” She turned back to Qi’ra as the beep went off that warned they’d be reverting to realspace, and headed to the cockpit.
“My contact was unfortunately obnoxious and gave me limited options, so I am Rey Salli and you are Anna Salli, my wife.”
“Your contact was obnoxious?”
“He knew this was supposed to be a quick job but decided to make us work for it.”
“We have to pretend to be married?”
“If you can stand to do so.”
Leia smiled. “I think I can, yeah.”
QI’ra met her gaze. “I’m only here because you’re paying me, remember.”
“I know.” Leia tamped down her disappointment. “And I appreciate that you keep sticking with the Alliance despite how poorly we do pay.”
“You pay—” She faltered. “Better than other jobs.”
No they didn’t.
Leia glanced at the monitor. “We’re reverting to realspace in five, four, three, two, one—”
They flashed into space above Tatooine, a yellow-brown dustball hanging in the viewport, two suns burning furiously in the distance. Despite what a miserable world she knew it to be—and despite Qi’ra’s stories of her own experiences there—she smiled at the sight of it.
This wasn’t a Rebel mission. This was a personal mission. She wanted to meet the brother she’d only just discovered, but she hardly wanted to lead any enemies tracking her towards him unless necessary. So… Qi’ra was helping.
Anchorhead had no spaceport, so they aimed for Mos Eisley instead. The comm crackled with a hail. “Unidentified transport, please give your name and passenger details.”
Imperial. Whether it was the Imps or the Hutts who had a grip on the spaceport seemed to change with the winds.
Qi’ra replied; her voice wasn’t known for borderline treasonous speeches. “This is the personal ship Dragonstar, owned by myself, Rey Salli, and my wife Anna.”
“Your wife also bears the name Salli?”
“Yes.”
“What is your business on Tatooine?”
“Business and distant family calls. My, uh, second cousin once removed and his wife invited us over.”
They could hear the long sigh on the other end and knew he could not be bothered to verify that. “Cleared. Be prepared to provide evidence of identification upon entry.”
The comm clicked off. Leia cast a glance at Qi’ra. “The Empire are really pushing back, aren’t they?”
Qi’ra didn’t take her eyes off the viewport, and the spaceport growing larger in the scope. “Stay alert.”
They landed, and as they walked down the ramp Qi’ra took Leia’s hand. She jerked with surprise, but didn’t have to fake the smile she gave her.
Qi’ra, against her will, smiled back.
They approached the door to the bay. Stormtroopers patrolled beyond, in the spaceport proper, and Leia tried to show no unease. An officer came to meet them at the door. “Identification?”
Qi’ra handed it over. He scanned it, and found no faults. “Continue.”
Leia nodded and smiled. “Thank you.”
He didn’t even look at her before he marched away. Rude, but thank the stars for it.
They rented a speeder and were hunting for Anchorhead by the time the suns began their descent, their long fabric head coverings flapping behind them in the wind. Of course, that was about the time Leia realised they were being followed.
“Qi’ra,” she murmured, leaning perhaps a little too close to her in the pilot’s seat. But they were pretending to be married anyway, and there were eyes on them, so… “I think a bounty hunter is following us.”
Qi’ra tensed up and glanced in the speeder’s mirrors. There was indeed a dark shadow on the horizon—far enough away that it could have been a trick of the light. But Leia knew when she was being followed, and she knew this desert was barren enough that they wouldn’t run into anyone else if they weren’t being followed.
“We can’t lead them to your brother’s home, and it’s hard to lose someone when there’s such a large open space,” Qi’ra murmured. “We could try to outrun them.”
“Or, we have to fly through the Jundland Wastes to get there anyway,” Leia pointed out. “We could hide in the rocks, and lose them out there.”
“They’ll be after you, of course.”
“I’m not that important.”
“There’s only one of them, right?”
Leia squinted. She couldn’t see very well, but she was pretty sure—“Yes, there’s only one.”
“There you go. You’re not that important.”
Leia wasn’t sure whether to laugh or scowl. She settled on laughing. “Fly faster and we’ll lose them over there.”
Qi’ra hit the accelerator and they shot off even faster. Fast enough that the speeder shuddered like flimsi in the wind and Qi’ra looked tense as a tow cable, but Leia put a hand on her shoulder and she relaxed.
Qi’ra said, “We’re out of sight now, you know. Of them and the Imperials. We don’t need to pretend.”
Leia pulled back her hand and nodded. “You’re right. We don’t need to.”
Qi’ra winced. “Leia—”
“Keep flying. We’ve lost them, but I don’t trust that they won’t catch up again soon.”
She kept flying. Leia kept her hands in her lap, perfectly proper. They came up to the Wastes and flew between the great walls of the canyon, watching it crook up towards the sky in massive hunks of sandstone.
Qi’ra’s hand slipped on the controls, sweaty from the heat, and Leia caught it automatically. She didn’t miss Qi’ra’s intake of breath but also didn’t let the touch linger, withdrawing quickly.
!I’m glad you trusted me to come and meet your brother,” Qi’ra offered. “Even if I’m leaving soon.”
Leia felt herself shutter her heart, almost on instinct. “You’re a valuable asset—you’re reliable, discreet and professional.”
“Yes. Professional.”
“We would very much like you in a more permanent role, but until then—duck.”
“Duck?”
“Duck.” Leia grabbed Qi’ra’s shoulders and threw her back, the bolt aimed at her head barely missing it. The speeder dived to the side—a last minute manoeuvre stopped them hitting the rocks.
“Is that the bounty hunter!?”
“They must’ve known a shortcut.” Leia drew her blaster. “You fly.”
She scanned the sky—there. A few metres above them, where the canyon wall sank. A figure crouched with a sniper rifle, their back to the suns, but she thought she could take them out even with her eyes dazzled—
She fired off a volley of shots. They missed. She fired again.
Qi’ra shouted. The speeder swerved. Her aim struck true, the bounty hunter falling to the canyon floor, but Leia dived across the speeder to grab the controls and bring them to a halt as Qi’ra gasped and clutched her shoulder.
Leia grimaced.
That was… a lot of blood.
“Is he dead?” Qi’ra gritted out. Leia barely heard it at first, too busy yanking open the medkit for bacta and gauze.
“I said, is he dead.”
Leia peeled the ruined clothes back from the wound. It looked bad. “Yeah. He’s dead.”
Qi’ra relaxed.
Leia started cleaning the wound, gripping her hand and squeezing it when Qi’ra hissed. “I… can’t do too much for this here. We’ll have to wait til we get to the homestead. It’s not far.”
Qi’ra leaned against her as they switched seats, and Leia tried to ignore her own heartrate. “Was he after you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Check.”
Leia went to check. The bounty puck that stared back at her when she went through his things wasn’t what she expected.
“It’s for you,” she told Qi’ra when she returned. “From Crimson Dawn.”
Qi’ra peered at the bounty. “Not much there.”
“Better for staying alive.”
“I know. I’m insulted, but glad.”
They sat together, staring at it a little. Qi’ra was deadly still.
Leia put a hand on her good shoulder. “Lie back. I’ll make a bed. Then we’ll get to the homestead as fast as possible.” The sunset was tinting the world with colour now, and the shadows of Qi’ra’s delicate face were cast in red and gold.
Qi’ra studied her, suspicious of her tenderness, but eventually she consented to lie back, a slow sigh seeping out of her as she did.
Leia took the controls and flew on, keeping a close eye on her companion, until the sunset enveloped them both.
#leia organa#qi'ra#leia x qi'ra#my writing#random words on a page#starwarswlweek2021#flash fiction: star wars#flash fiction
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Daybreak | Part Sixteen
Part Seventeen
Pairing: Steve Harrington x Lab Escapee! Reader?
Summary: Part sixteen of this fic. What’s to happen and whose to blame?
Word Count: 2,800 +
Warning(s): Cussing, mild injury description
A/N: Just a thank-you to everyone who is reading & enjoying 🥺
Hopper paced in the kitchen of the Harrington home, his shoes squeaking against the hardwood every time he turned too quickly. A notepad, one-fourth used, sat turned over in his hands, and he stopped his marching to scratch words across a new page. He wrote it all out, hoping that seeing the story in the form of a list may provide him with a simplified perspective; a math problem to be solved on paper. With every bullet point he felt more like ripping the page from his notebook entirely, convinced that if anyone saw it, it would look like he had scribbled down an idea for a bad sci-fi movie. He finished the list anyway, and the last point written in all capital letters read: SHE SAYS WILL IS IN THE ‘UPSIDE-DOWN’. Big cartoonish quotes around the last word.
The only person in the house who could claim it as his own residence entered the kitchen alone, joining Hopper who leaned over his notepad like a kid cramming for a test that he forgot to study for. Steve put one hand down on the counter and leaned against it, agitated. He asked a question simply: “what happens next,” and Hopper slowly raised his head from his notes. His face was dismayed, and it took him a second to think up a response. “Wh- what happens next? I don’t know what happens next, Harrington.” He spoke down to the teenager as he stood up to his full height.
Steve gave him a defeated look, then hardened his expression to mirror Hopper’s own irritance. He wasn’t able to speak before Hopper continued. “If I am being honest, everything she told me today is…” he looked away from Steve, eyes still wide as his hand wavered in the air, beckoning the words to come to him. “... pretty much unusable,” he finished.
“Unuse-” the word wasn’t even complete from Steve’s mouth, and he looked at Hopper wildly. “What do you mean? She just answered all of your questions, willingly, and you can’t use any of it? She just gave you so much on-”
“Look, kid. What she told me sounds like delusion. Maybe the effects of trauma — I understand that the lab wasn’t good to her-”
“Good to her?” Steve’s second hand hit the countertop with a smack. “They fucking tortured her. But what she’s told you aren’t lies. I've seen this shit first-hand.” The curses came out clean, fear of authority gone.
Hopper sighed, picking up his notepad and backing up to lean back against the neighboring counter. He looked at Steve with a tight mouth, flipping closed his notes with a swing of his hand. “If I go into the station with the information she told me, nothing will happen. Even worse, CPS will come for the girl. Unidentifiable and without residence, she’ll be taken.”
Steve butted in again, eager to combat anything coming from the sheriff’s mouth. “No. If you call Child Protective Services, the lab will find out somehow and they’ll come get her.” He would admit that his voice sounded weak, like begging from a small child. His words were true though, and this fear that action he was without control over would be taken made his raging heartbeat audible to him in his ears. “She- she does have residence,” he added breathily, one hand lifting from the counter as he looked down to himself.
“You are not residence. She may be staying here, but this is not her legal home,” Hopper jabbed.
Steve sighed, a mixture of aggravation and defeat, head rolling back as he did so.
“I know you want to protect her,” Hopper’s voice was low yet strong, careful to enunciate. It sounded like the voice of bad news, a tone that was rehearsed, and Steve wished he would turn this speech filter off. “But the things she is telling me are crazy,” Hop cursed himself for his inability to think of a better word to use, but crazy was just so fitting.
“It’s all true, though. Ask me. Ask Dustin. We’ve witnessed it. You- you’ve witnessed it. I mean, you’ve seen the lab. Does that look like an innocent place?” Desperate was a fitting word for Steve’s tone, but it didn’t come off as artificial.
Hopper didn’t say anything quite yet, a look of incapability flashing across his face as he hoped Steve would just continue. And he did, picking up momentum as he spoke. “We can show you. She can prove to you that she has powers, I swear, just not yet. You saw what she looked like when we pulled her out of that place, she needs to rest. But- but,” his eyes were wide now, and stared down Hopper frantically. “She can show you, okay? You need to believe us. She can’t fu-” he stuttered over his cursing this time, like he had realized it would be of no help. His facial expression softened as he finished the word anyway. “-fucking go back there again. I broke that promise once, I won’t do it again.”
-
Hopper stepped down from Steve’s front porch, his legs tired despite the lack of work they had done, off to his car still decorated with fresh scratches across the hood. The argument had ushered him out after it’s conclusion, a lazy (yet genuinely unsure) ‘For now just rest up, we’ll figure this out’ acting as his last words and only instruction. He sat in his car for a few minutes before driving off, finally sliding a hand into the tight restraint of his front pocket and slipping from it his carton of cigarettes. He didn’t even bother to roll a window down before lighting one up.
Steve stood in his doorway for a minute after the door had shut, a closing hand against it as he looked down at his shoes. The creak of unsure footsteps against the hardwood floor drew his head back up, and Nine stood before him: her presence small, her face apologetic.
“Hey!” Steve said, the word a shocked reaction more than a greeting. “Do…” he trailed off as he took his hand from against the door, suddenly feeling the need to entertain, as if Nine were a house guest he was disappointing. “Want lunch? ...Maybe a late lunch, I guess.” His dire attempt to recover the easygoing atmosphere of their earlier morning came off unsettling, like a cover-up. He was desperate for both of them to forget Hopper’s visit, ignore the inevitable while they still had time to. He tried to lead the way with his proposition of a meal, but Nine’s gaze only wavered confusedly from down the hall. Sunlight poured in through the windows, the only source of light in the house as of right now, light switches left untouched for movie-viewing. It illuminated the corridor, painting it a warm color despite the feeling of cold in the space between them. She wanted to advance, perhaps shake the air of the stale feeling, but stayed where she was. “What’s happening?” she said, her voice quiet enough to be lost if it hadn’t been for the harsh silence.
Steve shook his head as if he didn’t know what she was talking about, but could only bring himself to do so moderately. He warmed his expression and tied his voice in ribbons. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t…” Nine stopped, one foot shifting her stance as she bounced uncomfortably. “Don’t pretend.” Her words were solid the second time, and her demeanor circled from worry to intolerance. She bit at her tongue, rethinking her delivery and considering backpedaling to relay it a little softer. She didn’t though, and Steve broke the extended silence with a sigh. He had been caught, and his arms hung at his sides as he took a few steps towards Nine. She breathed out too, a release of anxiety, and felt thankful for this break in what felt like a performance from both of them.
“I don’t really know what’s happening,” Steve said, now landed fully in front of Nine as he looked down upon her grievingly. He wanted to place his hands on either one of her arms, rubbing them up and down lightly in a cheesy ‘we’ll get through this, honey!’ manner that you’d expect from a married couple. He stopped himself, figuring it was in bad taste. Patronizing, maybe, and he didn’t want her to feel like she deserved to be addressed that way. Like she was separate from the solution; like she was the problem, in fact. “Hopper doesn’t really know what to think, but you’re safe. He isn’t going to do anything that will put you in danger,” he told her instead.
“He doesn’t believe me,” she said, looking up and drawing her eyebrows downward as she retreated back to her cold tone. “I have to show him, Steve,” his name came out softer, and she realized it was because she didn’t want to be mad at him. She wasn’t mad at him, and she wanted him to know this.
His eyes turned bigger, but with sorrow, not shock. He tilted his head and tucked his bottom lip in his mouth to bite.
He looked pained, and Nine considered his ask. ‘You can’t use your powers’ he had told her. It was a strange sentence to repeat in her head, as her body usually rattled with demands to do the exact opposite. It felt warm, the foreign request for self-preservation above all else, and she felt bad for not being able to enjoy it. Or feeling able to comply, either.
“I don’t want you to feel pressured,” Steve said, voice quieted like Nine had started out. “I know that it feels urgent, but you’re hurt, and you need to recover. That is what’s most important”.
She looked at him, and they both had a sorrowful gloss over their eyes.
“What about Will?” she asked, voice hushed again.
“I know you want to help, but you have to take care of yourself first. We will find him,” Steve said, voice steady with a confidence he hoped would convince. His eyes peaked to her arm, still wrapped tightly in white, and contemplated how long he should wait to change the bandaging. ‘You have to take care of yourself first’ more accurately meant you have to let me take care of you first.
Nine inhaled, tried to still her breath from shuttering. Her head felt heavy, and she looked away from him as if it would clear her mind, make her train of thought run smoother.
“What if it’s my fault he’s gone?”
She phrased her words like a question, but it felt more like a confession the way it creeped from her mouth, slow and whispered like they were sharing secrets in a public setting. Will stood as a picture in her mind, the background a black void he threatened to fall into. Steve pulled his head back, questioning if he had heard her right and hoping that he hadn’t. He almost stammered out his own question, but stilled his tongue. He now did reach out, one hand cupping her shoulder, his grip strong. A little bit of tension she had been holding in her arm dropped intrinsically.
“Nothing that has happened is your fault,” he said, whispering it like his own secret, voice sweet like syrup. He was careful to enunciate, wanting her to soak up every word. If he sharpened his words maybe he’d penetrate her doubt.
Nine pictured Steve sitting in a small room, the man she could now attach a visual to — Hopper — standing in front of him. She thought of him stuttering over his answers, Hopper’s face glowing with a red rage as he snapped at him to spit it out. Consequences for Steve worse than a wounded ankle had begun emerging from the dark of her mind, the wordless arguing she heard from a room over looping in the background of the ugly scenario she couldn’t help her thoughts from drifting to.
“Nine? Nothing is your fault,” Steve repeated. Nine looked up this time and stared at his black eye, still swollen. Purple skin that held a shine to it to remind her of a contradictory repercussion; an ulterior consequence that she had a better idea about. A situation that her mind could run with — she knew the people at Hawkins’ Lab. Go ahead, picture him bloodied and broken by the familiar faces in white coats, it would be so easy to do!
“Nine…”
That black eye is just the beginning…
Her mind was making her promises.
“You’re not safe,” she barked, and Steve almost flinched. His widened eyes blinked once, twice before he spoke again. His voice was still gentle despite her increased volume. He couldn’t help it. “What are you talking about? I’m fine,” he told her, shaking his head. The shine of his bruised skin caught the light.
“No you’re not, and neither is Will.”
“Will is going to be fine too. He’s stuck — in that place — but that’s not something to blame yourself for,” he said, his heart burning with the need for her understanding. He wanted to place his second hand on her other shoulder to parallel the first, shake some sense into her like the message would stick if he just tried harder.
“He’s stuck there because of me!” Her voice faltered, cracked for the first time that Steve had heard. It shocked him; he was used to her steady speaking. “The thing that took him there, the monster that we saw in the woods, it got out because of me,” she said, retreating to a calmer volume, tone still unable to match.
He stood in front of her, unsure and therefore silent. His hand dropped from her shoulder, and brushed her arm on the way down to reach for her hand instead. Nine twitched, pulled away from his grasp as tears she tried to blink away formed in her vision. She kept blinking as she opened her mouth to speak again, voice decreasing in strength between each pause. “I’m the one they used to reach it, and it followed me out when I escaped. It got Will and it hurt you and so will they.” Her certainties rushed from her mouth in a list, and little Will returned as a mental image; a supervisor of her words.
Steve watched, mouth opening but ill-prepared. A single tear escaped from Nine’s bitter eyes, but she swiped it away like a drop of blood from her nose. “What they did to you, what they made you do, isn’t your fault. Nine, you can’t carry that guilt.” A second tear fell, but she didn’t bother with wiping it from her cheek this time. It ran hot down her face, then disappeared down the length of her neck.
“You’re not safe helping me,” she said, words teetering on the verge of a whisper, admission leaving her throat like a broken realization that she just couldn’t help but say out loud.
And Steve still stood, arms now drooped at his sides, heartbeat heard in his ears again. In his mind, ideas bounced around detailing what she meant — what would happen to him, how it would end. Theories spun around, himself a human target on a wooden board being struck by knives. He stilled his thoughts, latching onto only one.
“I don’t care,” he said. “I don’t care that I’m not safe, because you aren’t either, and that’s more important to me.” He looked into her eyes, and this time she believed that his words were true. She breathed out, a gentle shutter that looked like it should be accompanied by heavy tears; a dry sob that folded her shoulders, pain too tired for crying. She held out, begging Steve with silence to take back his proclamation, but he didn’t.
“You are my priority, and I’m helping you no matter what.”
Nine didn’t speak back, just watched him as he slowly returned his hand to where it was on her arm. This time she let him, her body swaying slightly with her heartache. Steve bent down marginally, peering into her eyes as a determined tear finally dropped to her face. He raised his other hand, quickly placing his palm against her cheek, three fingers folded underneath her chin, and brushed it away with his thumb. He took his hand away immediately — like he hadn’t thought through the action and didn’t want to linger. Like it was purely instinctual. Then, he wrapped his arm around to place a gentle hand on her back, guiding her to his chest in a tight embrace. He rested his chin on her head as he held her to him, and his warm body slowed her raging heart. “We’re going to be okay,” he breathed as they rocked back and forth in the empty house.
---
Tag List: @ggclarissa @gurl-ly @hyp-oh-critical @alewifex @we-are-band-sexuals @cpt-lamby @l0ve-0f-my-life @easvtohate @used-avocado @kwyloz @itzpikapie @samwise-babeyy @rapsfryingpan @kaelyn-lobrutto24 @mochminnie @peterwandaparker @ayamecrevan @lilyhw1 @seninjakitey @lulurose17 @write-from-the-heart @harringtonlr @sledgy14 @stranger-names
#steve harrington#steve harrington x reader#steve x reader#steve harrington fanfic#steve harrington fic#steve harrington imagine#steve harrington fluff#steve harrington series#st#stranger things#stranger things fanfiction#ST fic#ST fanfic#jim hopper
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(Icarus Ch. 4) - Dear John
Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F! MC (Olivia Anika Cohen)
Word count: 1.4k words
A/N 1: Hey guys, this is the final chapter of Icarus! I just, from the bottom of my heart, want to thank every single person who stuck with me through it all. I also want to thank my incredible beta @deliciouslydeafeningstarlight for putting up with me. The sequel to Icarus is already in the works! Stay tuned for updates.
Warning: ANGST
Disclaimer: PB owns characters. There’s lots of Grey’s Anatomy and Friends references.
Tag list: @deliciouslydeafeningstarlight @drethanramslay @ohramsey @theeccentricbibliophile @justanotherrookie @kaavyaethanramsey @batgirlassociationofgothamcity @tyrilstarfury @lilypills @juneiswriting @fleur-de-jasmin-fdj @mvalentine @sanchita012 @choicesstan1 @junggoku @aylamreads @whatsamottowithyou @utterlyinevitable @openheart12
Let me know if you’d like to be added or removed.
Song: Dear John by Taylor Swift.
“Liv, can we talk?”
His serious expression threw her for a loop. Before she let her mind wander too far, he added “Privately.”
Her confusion showed plainly on her face but she nodded. They moved a slight distance away from Ethan but were still in earshot.
She tried to focus her mind as he started to talk but all she could think about was if he knew of her relationship with Ethan.
“So, what I guess I’m saying is I like you. A lot. And I’d really like to take you out.”
The thoughts swirling in her mind stopped abruptly as he uttered that sentence.
“I’m sorry, what?” Olivia said, a little louder than she intended to. Ethan looked towards them curiously.
“I was saying that I like you and if the flirting, the looks in class and most importantly, the kiss are any indication, you like me too.” Tobias smirked.
This captured the entirety of Ethan’s attention. His jealousy flared up again but this time, he was absolutely sure who it was directed towards.
“I’m sorry, Tobias. You’re one of my best friends and I think I’d like us to remain that way. I hope you understand.” Olivia said calmly.
His smirk fell upon hearing her words. Confusion and anger took its place.
“How can you say that after everything?
The flirting...
The looks...
The kiss?!"
With each word, he took a menacing step forward and Olivia flinched away, not recognizing her friend anymore.
This drew the attention of their friends and they made their way over. Ethan, being the closest arrived promptly at Olivia’s side.
“You led me on!” His voice was tight with anger.
With a deep breath, Olivia took a resolute step forward. “Tobias, listen to me. I was not flirting with you. We were just making fun of ridiculous pick up lines. Also, I only let you kiss me because we were playing a game. It didn’t mean anything.”
“Finally, I wasn’t looking at you in class.”
She took another deep breath and steeled herself for what was coming. She looked at Ethan for permission and he gave her a firm nod.
“I was looking at Ethan. We're dating."
Tobias recoiled at the shock. He looked into Ethan’s eyes and that was all the proof he needed. His face hardened in anger before it melted into a dark smile.
“So, this is who you were leaving me for? You bailed on our plans for this bit-”
Ethan’s fist connected with his face, driving him to the ground.
“Don’t even think about finishing that thought.” Ethan glared at him.
Before it could get any worse, Bryce and Jackie pulled apart Ethan and Tobias.
“Walk away, Tobias.” Bryce warned him.
“Seems like this was one thing you could have mentioned when I told you how I felt about Liv.” Tobias said as he stalked off.
Olivia whirled on Ethan. “What did he mean by that?”
She took in the pained expression on Ethan’s face.
Realization dawned upon her. “You knew...”
“How could you not tell me, Ethan?”
“Rookie, he was very drunk and I didn’t think he meant much by it. I’ve known him for a long time and I’ve never seen him like this. I would have told you but it seemed like nothing at the time. I’m sorry.”
“You should have still told me, Ethan. We could have avoided all of this.”
Taking a cue, Sienna led the others back to the dorms, leaving behind only Olivia and Ethan.
“This is all too much to handle, Ethan. We’ve had enough trauma to last us a lifetime and I’m… I'm done. With all of this.
Nothing between us is ever easy. I just want to have a normal uncomplicated life." Olivia stared at the ground.
I think we flew too fast, too far…
“What are you saying, Rookie?”
She looked up, her eyes glistening with tears. “I think we need to take a break.”
“You’re right. Let’s go get some ice cream, we’ll cool off and study later.”
“No, Ethan. A break from us.” Her voice broke and tears streamed down her face.
“I’m sorry.” She clasped his hands before walking away, leaving him standing alone.
“Don’t leave me, Rookie.” He whispered as he watched her retreating form.
Tears spilled from his eyes as he looked down and saw a white piece of cloth she’d left in his hands. He stood there staring at his bold initials. This one thing had managed to comfort him through every low point in his life but it gave him no comfort now.
***
In the wake of last night’s events, Olivia doubted her decisions. Her mind was being rational and practical and it said that she made the right decision. Her heart, however, made her want to go back in time and take everything back.
She opened her eyes to the blaring of her alarm clock. She had set it so she wouldn’t miss the very important test that was scheduled. Not that it mattered anyway; she hadn’t slept a wink. A rushed breakfast later, she found herself walking down the hallways. The weight on her mind dragged her down, making it near impossible to move.
A loud screech from the PA system jolted her awake. The speakers crackled to life as students directed their attention to the deep voice that boomed over their heads.
“Students of Johns Hopkins, I would like to wish you the very best of luck as you take your first test of the year. Before you leave, I would like to inform everyone of an important announcement that will be taking place in the auditorium at noon. All first year med students are expected to be there after the test...”
Deliberations and chattering ensued among the students as the Dean continued his address.
Olivia, like every other student, had the same question on her mind.
“What could that announcement possibly be about?”
“Just a stab in the dark…could be about Dr. Banerji putting us through a series of competitive examinations resulting in him giving away his money as a scholarship.”
She looked around for the source of the voice and came face to face with a dark-haired figure with a smirk on his face. Something about him told her that he was not in the habit of being wrong.
“And how would you know that?” Olivia asked, eyebrows raised.
“I have my ways.” He said with a wink.
Before Olivia could respond, they noticed that the crowd in the hallway had started to thin out. As she turned to leave, she heard him call out.
“I didn’t quite catch your name.”
“That’s right, you didn’t.” She smirked as she walked away.
***
Seated in the exam hall, Olivia tried her best to focus on the test. But amidst the scratching of pens and shuffling of papers, she could hardly seem to hear herself think. And in those rare instances when she could, her mind kept bringing back memories of the previous night. Her thoughts were running a mile a minute.
The night flashed in her eyes and she was left with only one thought.
How could everything go so wrong so fast?
She looked down at her papers and found drops of her tears, staining the paper. Only then did she realize that she had been crying. She hastily wiped at her eyes and fixed them on the clock.
She decided to shelve her feelings for at least another hour and turned her focus towards her papers. Time seemed to pass excruciatingly slowly, the hour seeming like five.
As soon as the examiner collected their papers, she made her way out of the door. She saw Ethan standing outside the other exam hall and stopped in her tracks.
Their eyes met for a second, or twenty; they weren’t sure. All that stood between them was 6 feet of space.
She ran through the infinite possibilities in her mind.
How different would it have been if they had never studied together?
If Tobias hadn’t asked her out? If they all hadn’t been friends? If her and Ethan hadn’t been in a relationship? If she had never come to Johns Hopkins?
If she had died instead of Mia?
Her mind pounded with each answer.
But they did.
But he did.
But they were.
But she did.
But she didn’t.
When she looked back up into his eyes, she could tell he was doing the same.
He gave her a sad, apologetic smile which she returned with one of her own. They gazed at each other for what seemed like an eternity until they turned and walked away in opposite directions.
A/N 2: Dear John- A letter from a woman informing her boyfriend or fiancé that she is ending their relationship or informing her husband that she wants a divorce:
Nothing is worse for a soldier's morale than getting a Dear John.
I am so sorry for everything I put you through these 4 weeks. And if you’ve gotten this far, thank you so much for reading!
#ethan ramsey#ethan x mc#dr ethan ramsey#dr ethan ramsey x mc#choices#choices stories you play#playchoices#open heart#OpenHeart#open heart fanfiction#play choices
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Every Week on Thursday (Aurora High School)
Introduction Part One Introduction Part Two Masterpost
Summary: When Finian realizes just how much he’s struggling in Social Studies, he turns to Scarlett for help.
Pairings: (Pre-romantic) Scarlett Jones x Finian de Seel
Word count: 4,090
Author’s Notes: Guess who’s back and better than ever with some brand new content! It’s ya girl! I’ve been in a real creative slump you guys, but I finally got something done and I’m feeling GOOD! (Requests for this au are still open, by the way! I can’t guarantee that I’ll do every one I get, but we’ll see.)
Important Author’s Notes: This story contains a character who is disabled. I did do some research, but since I don’t have a disability, it’s virtually impossible for me to be an expert on the topic. If you are more knowledgeable about this than I might be, and you notice an inaccuracy, please let me know what it is and I’ll try to fix it!
January 16th, Thursday
Finian hated Social Studies. It was as simple as that. He figured, why should he have to learn about a bunch of old people when most of them were assholes anyway? Not to mention the fact that he just couldn’t get the hang of it. He could never focus on studying, often found himself spacing out during class, and thusly struggled with tests and quizzes. He managed to keep his grades pretty high, and if anyone were to ask he’d say it was just luck, but in reality he found it insanely easy to get away with cheating.
For some reason, though, he’d decided that it was time to put in some effort. He knew he wouldn’t be able to do it on his own, so he’d concocted a plan. He would get himself a tutor. But it couldn’t be just anyone. No, it had to be someone he trusted. Fortunately for him, he knew exactly who that person would be.
The moment the final bell rang, he was off. Fin’s classmates rarely let him leave first, even though they almost definitely should’ve, so he was usually last. As he maneuvered his way through the hall, he looked around for the girl who would (hopefully) agree to be his tutor. Then he spotted her fiery red hair, and almost instinctively smiled. She was standing at her locker, packing her books into her backpack. He weaved around his classmates as he tried to get to her.
“Scarlett!” He called out, hoping she’d be close enough to hear him. Sure enough, she turned and waved.
“Good afternoon, Finian.” Scarlett said as he stopped beside her. She started walking down the hall, and he followed alongside her. “I’m going to the front door, is that out of your way?”
“Nope, not at all.” Fin lied, hoping she wouldn’t notice.
“Okay then, what’s up?”
“I’ve got a problem.” Fin got straight to the point. “I have a big test coming up in Social Studies, and I know nothing. My head is empty, there’s just clouds and stuff in there. Long story short, I need someone to tutor me.”
“Okay… and why are you asking me?” She raised an eyebrow.
“You’re, like, an expert at Social Studies. Why would I ask anyone but the expert?” Fin said as if it was obvious. Then, worried that he was coming on too strong, he added one more point. “Plus, you’re my friend, so I trust you to not fuck it up. For the most part.”
Scarlett laughed and shook her head. “You really have a way with words, don’t you?”
“It’s my specialty.” He ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to slick it back, but it immediately bounced back again. “So, what do you say?”
“Sure, I’ll do it. I’ve got nowhere better to be anyway.” Scarlett shrugged. “What were you thinking for times and locations?”
“Well, I would say my house, but that’s a no for a few reasons. For example, my siblings and cousins never shut up. Plus my parents would flip their shit if a girl visited who 1, isn’t related to us, and 2, isn’t with my cousin Dariel. I’ve got no clue how he gets girls in the first place, but somehow he does.” Fin said, already feeling like he’d given plenty of unnecessary information. “So do you have any ideas?”
“We could go to the library.” Scarlett suggested. “It’s pretty quiet, plus all the books and things will be useful.”
“Which one, the old dusty one that looks like the set of a horror movie, or the big two-story one in the middle of town next to the movie theater?” Fin asked.
“The big one. It’s newer, so I assume it’ll have more up-to-date information.” Scarlett explained.
“I’ve never been in that one. And who knows, maybe after the boring stuff, we could catch a movie!” Fin winked. He was mostly joking, but not entirely. Apparently Scarlett had taken it as a joke, because she laughed a little, then brought the conversation back to the subject at hand.
“And as for times, I’m free on Tuesdays.” She told him.
Fin shook his head. “I’ve got practice for the play on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Friday, maybe?”
“Can’t, I’ve got debate club.” Scarlett thought for a moment. “What about Thursdays?”
“That works.” He nodded. “But today is Thursday, so does today count?”
“I’m going to say no, just because it’s too short notice. Next week, though, sure. What about 3:00, just to give us some time to freshen up after school?” Scarlett picked up her bag and started walking, Fin following alongside her even though his mom picked him up at the side of the school opposite the direction they were going.
“Is that your way of telling me you think I look bad?” Fin asked in false indignance.
“What? No.” Scarlett smiled.
“So you think I look good then?” He raised his eyebrows.
“Shut up, Finian.” Her smile widened and he couldn’t help but stare.
Okay, look. Finian definitely wasn’t much of a people person. He barely talked to anyone outside of the tightly knit friend group he’d made himself, unless of course he absolutely needed to. So what are the odds that he’d fallen for the exact opposite kind of person? Scarlett was extroverted, and was great at talking to people, had a smile that could light up a room, and was certainly more popular than Fin was. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were talking to each other at that very moment, he’d be convinced that she didn’t know he existed. He knew he’d never have a chance with her anyway. But still, there was something about her that drew him in, even though he figured it would end in disappointment anyway.
“I guess this is my stop.” Scarlett said as they approached the front door, pulling Fin out of his thoughts. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He waved to her as she left, waiting to move until the door had closed behind her. Once it had, he started on his way to the opposite end of the school, where his mom was most definitely already waiting for him.
January 23rd, Thursday #2
Scarlett had been sitting in the library and waiting for Fin for the past 30 minutes. She wondered if he’d decided to bail. He definitely had a habit of not admitting when he was struggling, so it was a possibility that he wouldn’t show. Maybe she should just leave and text him later, there was no use waiting if he wasn’t ever going to get there.
She got up and slung her bag over her shoulder, but just as she was about to start walking, the entrance opened. And there was Finian. But he wasn’t in his wheelchair like he usually was, instead using a pair of crutches to get around. She tried not to look too perplexed, figuring it was probably something personal. But he saw right through her.
“What, something on your mind?” He asked as he approached, taking a seat at the table and setting the crutches down beside him.
“No, it’s nothing.” Scarlett shook her head, sitting back down.
“It’s the crutches, isn’t it?” Fin asked, gesturing to the aforementioned objects. “I would’ve gone with the chair, but it’s just that this library isn’t wheelchair accessible. And I didn’t know that since I’ve never been here before, so my dad had to bring me back home to switch them out, which is also why I was so late.”
“But there’s a ramp outside, isn’t there?” Scarlett asked.
“Yeah, but that leads down to the kid’s section. To get up here from there, you have to go up the stairs. And there’s no elevator.” Fin explained. “I don’t usually go with my crutches, if I’m going to be out and about for a long time I’ll use the chair. At school, for example. I really only use these at home, and even there I rarely do.”
“That makes sense, yeah.” Scarlett nodded. “We could go somewhere else if you want, my house is usually pretty quiet.”
“No, no, it’s okay.” Fin held up his hand. “I’m already here, there’s no point in leaving now. Maybe we could figure something else out next time.”
“Okay, if you insist.” Scarlett twirled a lock of hair around her finger. “Anyway, back to the task at hand. What’s your grade in Social Studies?”
“I’ve got an 95, I think.” Fin told her. “Haven’t checked in a while.”
“How have you managed to keep your grades that high if you’re struggling as much as you say you are?” She asked, leaning forward and resting her arms on the table. “You probably don’t even need tutoring if you don’t want it. I’m starting to think this was all a trick just to spend a little extra time with me.”
“Would it be so bad if it was?” Fin smirked. “It’s not, though. I’ve actually been finding other, slightly more against-the-rules ways to keep my grades up.”
“Finian de Seel, do you cheat on your tests?” Scarlett didn’t know whether to be shocked or impressed. She’d only cheated a few times, and every time she’d gotten caught, so if he’d managed to exceed a passing grade just by cheating, that was crazy.
“You got me. For some reason, I never get caught, so I just keep doing it.” Fin shrugged. “But I do want to stop, which is why I asked you to teach me about all of this history shit.”
Scarlett blinked slowly. “How long have you been doing it?”
“Since freshman year, when my grades started falling flat.”
“And you retained at least some of that, right?”
“Absolutely none of it.” Fin said sarcastically. “I guess we’ll have to be here all night.”
“Oh, be quiet.” Scarlett laughed. She had to admit, as annoying as he tried to be, she really did enjoy spending time with Fin. “Anyway… should we go find some textbooks?”
February 2nd, Thursday #3
The next week, after a bit of discussion over the previous days, Fin and Scarlett came to an agreement that they should just try going to the de Karran-de Seel house for their tutoring session. They’d already checked out all of the books they needed from their previous trip to the library, and they could use online resources if they ended up needing anything else. Plus, as opposed to the idea as Fin was before, he knew he’d be the most comfortable at home.
That being said, he felt like the short 45 minutes between the moment he got home and when Scarlett was supposed to get there were the most stressful minutes of his entire life. He spent the majority of his time rallying his family into cleaning up the house a little bit. He didn’t give them much information, which might’ve been a mistake in hindsight, but at the time he didn’t really care.
When Scarlett did finally arrive, the first thing she noticed was how loud it was. She could hear all of the family’s conversation from outside. It was never that loud at home. She walked up to the door and knocked three times. A kid answered the door, maybe around 11 or 12 years old.
“Are you Fin’s friend?” The girl asked. She took Scarlett’s hand and pulled her inside before she had a chance to answer. “Fin! Your friend is here!”
As soon as she was inside, the next thing Scarlett noticed was that Fin’s house was seriously populated. She knew that he had a lot of family, but damn. They all turned to look at her when she walked in, but only for a moment before going back to their conversations. None of them seemed to be too eager to talk to her. And every one of them looked exactly like him, with his same white blond hair and big brown deer eyes. Some of them had freckles like he did, others didn’t. The only one who really stood out was the guy who she immediately identified as Dariel. The best way to describe him, in her mind, would be that he looked like a young Severus Snape. And that wasn’t a compliment. He looked up to shoot her a wink, then went back to whatever he was doing on his laptop.
“Oh, you must be Scarlett! Finian has told me so much about you.” A woman who she remembered to be Fin’s mom approached her, leading her further into the house. “He’s in his room, if he hasn’t come out by now then he probably has his headphones on so he can’t hear us.”
As they dodged around family members, Scarlett couldn’t help but wonder if it was like this every day. She had to assume it was, Fin had made it very clear how many family members lived in the same house. She probably wouldn’t be able to survive a whole day in this house, and she didn’t know how he did it. Eventually, they got to a door at the end of a hallway next to the kitchen. Fin’s mom knocked on the door a few times, but when there was still no response after a few moments, she cracked open the door.
The inside of the room looked like an entirely different world. For starters, it was nearly pitch dark. It took Scarlett’s eyes a second to adjust. Not even natural light was coming in, because the curtains were drawn over the only window. There was a light in the ceiling, too, but it wasn’t on. The fact that the walls were painted black didn’t help much with the darkness. Speaking of the walls, they were adorned with a variety of things.
There were posters for multiple musicals, only a few of which she recognized as ones that had been put on by the school. A bulletin board was hung on the wall, but she could barely tell what it was beneath all of the sketches and blueprints for what she assumed were set designs. A short bookshelf stood along one side of the room. It was stocked with books, but also a bunch of other stuff. Some notable examples were a seemingly homemade robot, a stack of CDs that may or may not have been burned already, a pile of tangled up earbuds, and a small plastic bag full of zippers and loose buttons, among other things.
The floor wasn’t carpeted, it was hardwood like the rest of the house. The bed was in the corner of the room, and it didn’t look like it had been made in at least a few days. It had two pillows on it, but only one was at the head of the bed and the other was at the foot of the bed. Two beaten up notebooks had been thrown onto it carelessly, one purple and the other yellow. Otherwise, though, the room was pretty clean.
Fin himself was sitting at a desk that was opposite the bed. He had a pair of bulky wireless headphones on, and his face was illuminated by the bright light of the computer he was using. He was typing something up, maybe a screenplay. The music playing through his headphones was way too loud, and she could tell because he was singing along pretty loudly too. She had to stifle a laugh, but not because he sounded bad or anything. He actually had quite an impressive voice. It was just that he must not have known exactly how loud he was being.
Fin’s mother entered the room and gently put her hand on his arm. Despite how careful she was being, he still flinched and the room dropped to silence immediately. He looked up at his mom, slid his headphones off and hung them around his neck. “Uh, hey. What’s up?”
“Sorry I startled you, I thought I should let you know that your friend is here.” She stepped aside to reveal Scarlett, who was still standing in the doorway. She offered a small wave.
Fin’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh. Okay.” He hoped that she couldn’t see the redness rising in his face. She could.
“Alright then, I’ll leave you to it! Just let me know if you need anything.” His mom made her way towards the door, flicking the light switch on her way out. “You have to turn a light on in here sometimes, Finian. Someone’s going to trip on something one day.”
“So… not a fan of lights, huh?” Scarlett moved the notebooks aside and sat down on the bed. With the ceiling light on, she could see everything much better. “What song was that? You sounded really good.”
“You- you think so?” Fin stammered, turning his chair around to face her. His eyes were wide, his mouth hanging slightly open. For a second, he forgot he’d even been asked a question. “Oh, right, the song! It was What I Know Now. From the Beetlejuice musical. It takes some pretty powerful female vocals, but I can usually manage.”
“Well I think you killed it. I know you said that you’re on the tech crew, but have you ever considered actually auditioning for the play?”
“Nah, I’d probably just pass out immediately if I went to an audition. Let’s just say I haven’t taken to performing in front of people yet.” Fin was quick to change the topic. Because the truth was, as much as he did want to perform for an audience, he knew that he would be way too nervous to actually go through with it. He’d rather just go at his own pace. He gestured to the bookshelf, which was holding the textbooks they’d picked up the previous week. “I’ve been skimming through one of those books. It hasn’t been the most fun in the world, but y'know. Anything for the pursuit of knowledge.”
“Which one was it?” Scarlett asked, shifting to look at the books he was pointing at.
Fin left his spot at the desk and went over to the bookshelf. He couldn’t remember the name of the book, so he just picked up the one he was talking about and handed it to her. “This one. I read chapters 22 and 23, like you said to. And I did the questions. They’re in the purple notebook, right there.”
Apparently the notebooks weren’t as thoroughly used as she’d first suspected, because when she opened the purple one, only one page had been used. Both the front and back of it had been used to answer the 16 questions, 8 for each chapter. Aside from that, there were about a thousand doodles in the margins and along the top of the page, including little stick figure drawings of their entire friend group. She couldn’t help but smile at that. She took a second to read his answers.
“These are all right!” Scarlett closed the notebook and placed it back down next to her. “Great job.”
“And get this: I didn’t look up any of the answers.” Fin smiled wider than Scarlett had ever seen. Like, straight-up grinned. Not the usual cocky, teasing smirk. Not any sarcasm. Seeing him so happy, it made Scarlett feel… well, she didn’t quite know what the feeling was. But it was definitely a good one.
“That’s great, Fin!” She reached out and put her hand on his arm. “You’re doing a really good job with this, even just over one week.”
“Thanks. I’ve been feeling a lot better about my grades, like I can actually earn them.” Fin leaned forward to pick up the textbook, then turned around, went back to his desk and put it down there. “My future is bright, Scar!”
“Speaking of grades, what about your test? Are you feeling better about that?”
“Oh, yeah, for sure.” He turned back towards her. “I only read chapters 22 and 23, so we’ve still got the next two to go. Which is perfect! Because the test is on Monday two weeks from now, so we’ll have one more Thursday to go, which gives me time to finish both chapters.”
“Then I’m assuming you want today to be a review day?” She asked, clapping her hands once.
“Ugh, please and thank you. You’re the best teacher ever.” Fin laughed.
Scarlett stood up and grabbed another book from the bookshelf. “We’d better get started then.”
February 9th, Thursday #4
Fin quickly came to the conclusion that having a tutoring session at his house wasn’t bad the first time, but he’d rather not do it again. After Scarlett had left, his family asked him endless questions about her. Including Dariel, who asked if she was single, to which Fin had to begrudgingly reply that she was. In conclusion, he didn’t want to do that again.
In the end, they settled on the last location being Scarlett’s house. It was poetic, in a way, that they were studying to avoid cheating in the house where the principal lived. Which made Fin nervous, for good reason. Despite not wanting to continue cheating, he’d already done it many times, so he could still get in trouble for it.
Extremely luckily, the day was uneventful. Productive, definitely, but nothing particularly interesting happened. That day felt much more structured than the two previous weeks. When Fin had arrived, Scarlett had already set up a study station in the living room. Because everything they needed was already laid out, they got to work right away, and the hour that they had flew by.
February 21st, Tuesday
Fin caught up with Scarlett between third and fourth periods. He’d just gotten his test back, graded. And he had to tell her immediately. He pulled her aside, hoping that people would know not to bump into them.
“Scarlett. You aren’t going to believe this.” He grabbed his backpack, took a folder out of it, and flipped through the papers inside to find the test packet. He held it out for her to see. “83 percent! That’s, like, a B! It’s not much considering what I used to get when I cheated, but-”
“Fin, this is awesome! Even better than all that other stuff.” Scarlett assured him. “And you want to know why? Because this time, you did it yourself.”
Fin’s eyebrows drew together in thought, then a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “You’re right. This one’s going on my wall, I think.” He decided, turning the paper around to take a look at it himself.
“It should. I’m really proud of you, Fin.” Scarlett leaned down and kissed him on the cheek.
His face reddened and he did that oh-so-endearing broken engine sputter. “I- uh, yeah. Well, y'know, the real reason I asked you to help me with this is because you’re one of the smartest people I know.” He wasn’t even worried about keeping his cool anymore. He’d completely lost whatever train of thought he might’ve had.
Now it was Scarlett’s turn to be surprised. “Really?” She tried her best to not let him know how big of a deal it was that he’d said that to her. She’d been called a lot of things. Some of them good, others not so much. But no one had ever thought to call her smart. It felt great. Because truth be told, as much as she struggled in some classes, she considered herself really good at some others. It was truly something else to finally have someone appreciate that.
“I mean, yeah.” Fin was starting to come to his senses, but he couldn’t take back what he said. And he wouldn’t want to anyway. “You’re really good at a bunch of crap that I suck at, which is awesome.”
“Thank you, Fin. I really, really appreciate it.” She reached out and ruffled his hair. Then the warning bell rang. “We should probably get to class, shouldn’t we.”
“Definitely. Wouldn’t want to end up in Adams’s office after we put in all this work to not do that.” Fin agreed.
They, somewhat reluctantly, went their separate ways. They couldn’t just skip their next classes, as much as they might want to. They’d get to talk again later. The best part was, though, that they left down the hallway both feeling just a little bit more confident in themselves. And neither of them would be willing to confirm that they thought about each other for the rest of the day. But they wouldn’t deny it either.
Taglist: @taco-taco-belle @ceceism @confusionnoises @bubblegumstardust @incorrectauroracyclequotes (Ask to be on the taglist!)
#the aurora cycle#aurora cycle#aurora cycle book one#aurora cycle book two#aurora rising#aurora burning#squad 312#scarlett jones#finian de karran de seel#finian de seel#fin de karran de seel#fin de seel#finlett#scarlian#fanfic#aurora high school au
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Embers - Male dragon shifter x reader, Chapter Five! (sfw)
So... this was supposed to go up on Friday but no one reminded me and I’m clearly not able to set a weekly reminder like an actual adult.
Hope you’re still enjoying this weekly series... Don’t forget to show me it some love if you are.
And I seem to have thrown my 'short chapters/800 words only' thing out of the window. This one is the longest so far, at 2455 words long. *rolls eyes at self*.
One, Two, Three, Four
An entire week passed without word from Mikaeïl. You had almost given up on the whole commission for this departmental murder mystery dinner, when one lunchtime your phone buzzed and you answered with barely a glance away from what you were doing. With a searingly important deadline looming for work, your stress levels were possibly at their highest since university finals, and you had been staring at the computer screen for what felt like days without a break.
“Yeah?” you barked, still tweaking the design while holding the phone with your other hand.
“It’s Mikaeïl,” came a surprisingly shy, male voice at the other end. “Is now a bad time?”
Your heart skipped a beat or two and you grinned despite the lingering frustration that the design wasn’t looking anywhere near ‘there’ yet. “No, not at all,” you smiled, “I’m at work, but I’d much rather talk to you.”
That seemed to fluster him a little, but he cleared his throat and said, “Well… I spoke with the department and showed them your preliminary design. They loved it and are very happy to commission you to do the posters for the event.”
“Fantastic!” you grinned, genuinely thrilled to have a more exiting project to work on than this steaming pile of minotaur shit currently sitting on your computer.
“I thought we might discuss it in more detail when you bring Celia over on Friday...” he said, his softly-articulated words doing odd things to your insides and heartbeat. You could imagine him standing amongst his hoard of plants, one arm folded protectively across his slim chest as he stood, ramrod straight, surveying the gardens beyond.
A second after that image had flashed through your mind, you realised that it wasn’t your turn to being Celia to her flute lesson that week. When you said as much, he sighed and said, “Never mind.”
“I mean... Celia doesn’t have to be my only reason to come over and see you, does she?” you asked playfully, doodling with the stylus on a new layer of the design. As you listened to him speak, his eyes began to stare out at you from the screen as you drew them, all distant and guarded, but glittering and somehow soft all the same.
“No,” he said slowly, the slight smile audible in his rich voice. “No, of course not. I’m rather busy with work this week, and I’m presenting a paper at a conference on Thursday, but if you’re alright to meet up in town instead during the week we could do that?”
“Stickybeaks?” you suggested, thinking of the cafe where you’d first met him.
He clearly along the same lines because he gave that sonorous chuckle that made your stomach churn pleasurably. “Perfect. What day suits you? I’m free most days after five, except this Thursday.”
“Friday?” you suggested. “I think Stickybeaks stays open til seven. We could have an early supper? That way you can tell me all about the conference too, if you like.”
“I wouldn’t want to bore you,” he said reflexively.
“Oh, I think you’d have to work quite hard to bore me. I’m really quite a curious person...”
There was something melancholic about the tone of his clipped response. “If you say so,” was all he said. “Well, Friday works well for me. Shall I meet you there at half past five? That will give me enough time to walk over from the department.”
“Perfect. Looking forward to it.”
A beat too late, he said with a slight crack in his voice, “So am I.”
You rushed out of work that Friday and ended up getting to the cafe way too early, so you got out your A3 sketch pad and started to draw a number of variations on the same theme that you’d doodled back at Mikaeïl’s house. When he stepped through the doorway at precisely 5.29pm, Mikaeïl glanced around, the lenses of his round glasses glinting in the low light, and when he saw you, the hard line of his tense shoulders eased just a little.
Mikaeïl nodded politely at Lidaë, who was fluttering around behind the counter as usual despite the fact that there weren’t all that many customers in at that time, and then he strode over to your place in the back corner. The pathway through the sleek, modern tables gave you the opportunity to admire the slender form of his body and the effortless grace with which he moved, almost like a dancer. Today he wore a butterscotch coloured trench coat, belted tightly at his slim waist over black skinny jeans, and his autumn-red hair was tied back in a sleek ponytail again, with the shorter sections at the front falling down to mask the full intensity of his bright golden eyes.
“Hey,” you said, half standing.
“I hope you haven’t been here long,” he said by way of a greeting and staring at your drawings again with that odd expression again.
“No, not really,” you said, awkwardly sitting back down again. “I finished work a bit earlier than usual and came straight here. I roughed out a few more designs for the poster anyway.”
“You’ve been here long enough to have finished your drink,” he said pointedly. “Can I get you another?”
You eyed your empty cup and then glanced at your watch. “I just turned in a major project that’s been bugging me for weeks,” you grinned. “I think I earned a grown up drink…”
He cocked his head slightly and the corner of his pretty mouth twitched ever so slightly to show his amusement. “Congratulations. And I think I might join you in that.”
By the time he returned, you’d shunted the sketch book to one side and once he’d set your drink down, he took his coat off to hang it on the back of his chair. It was a real effort not to stare at the beauty of his figure. Perhaps it was the artist in you, but you really noticed the strong, straight lines of his waist and thighs, his body clearly tightly corded with extremely lean muscle, and the elegant movements of his fingers as he worked the buttons of his coat.
When he was finished, he sat and shyly drew his ponytail over one shoulder, twisting the end of it between his fingertips and blinked softly at you. “What?” he asked in a breathy murmur.
“I… Uh…” you blushed, and settled on a bashful, “Nothing. Have you come straight from teaching?”
He nodded.
“Oh boy,” you laughed. “Your students must love you.”
“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not,” he said bluntly.
“I wasn’t,” you said, feeling a heat creeping up your neck. Did he seriously not have any idea how attractive he was? “Don’t take this the wrong way then,” you said, sipping your drink and letting the warmth of the alcohol ignite a little courage in you, “But if you were my professor, I’m not sure I’d get much learning done…”
“Then I’d be failing in my duties as a teacher…”
Damn but he was hard work.
“Never mind,” you said. “How did the conference go?”
“Very well, to my surprise,” he said, holding the stem of his wine glass as if it were a rare specimen rose. He inhaled the scent of the wine before drinking, and closed his eyes briefly as he savoured it. His throat worked and you watched his sharp Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed, and that newly-kindled heat in your cheeks flared a little hotter while blood rushed south away from your brain to somewhere a little less articulate.
“What was your paper on?” you managed to rasp.
He cleared his throat and swirled his wine absentmindedly around his glass. “It’s… hardly a dinner time conversation,” he said.
“What, because you study bodies and death?”
His golden gaze flicked up to meet yours. “Most people find it repulsive.”
“You’re searching for answers,” you said. “I’m sure you’re respectful about the way you treat the remains. What’s repulsive about that?”
Mikaeïl blinked, and then his hard, wary expression flickered to something a little gentler, bordering on relief. “Well, alright. I was presenting my preliminary findings on the use of MRI and CT scans to determine the presence of necromantic activity in long-dead remains…”
“That stuff shows up? Even centuries later?” you asked, instantly intrigued.
He made a side to side shake of his head. “That’s what I’m trying to find out. X-ray has been used in the past, but because any damage caused post-mortem usually presents exactly the same whether the person in question was truly alive or undead, it’s not always particularly accurate… I want to explore the use of other technology to explore the effects that necromantic magic in particular has on the body after the heart has ceased beating.”
“That’s awesome,” you breathed, and he smiled again. “Was it well received?” you asked tentatively.
“Yes, for the most part. Non-invasive examination is always preferable, so there was a deal of interest from others in the field. I even had a lich in the audience who was willing to undergo some testing, which was encouraging.”
“Did you study medicine at the university here?” you asked, and he nodded.
“Quite some while ago though,” he said. “I worked as a medical examiner for a long time.”
You frowned, and he read your next question in your eyes.
“I’m not as youthful as I look,” he said. “My kind is long lived. And before you ask, I’m just over two hundred and sixty.”
“Whoa…” Honestly, it wasn’t actually that much of a surprise, given how… ‘remote’ he seemed at times. A moment later you added with a wry smile, “You must have enjoyed watching the leaps and bounds that science has made then in the last hundred or so years! I’d love to witness something like that…”
“That’s…” he faltered into silence.
“What?”
Mikaeïl steepled his long, fingers and rested his lips against his index and middle fingertips, elbows resting on the table. “That’s… honestly not a reaction I’ve had before.”
“I don’t understand?”
With a dry chuckle, he said, “Most people - though the number is admittedly few - discover I’m old enough to be their ancestor, and they start to act strangely. Friendships have been hard to initiate, and even tougher to maintain, though I’m sure that’s partly due to my own…” he swallowed, apparently unsure of the word before settling on, “‘Quirks’.”
You shrugged. “It sucks, I’m sure, but anyone who doesn’t at least try to understand or get to know you is missing out, and probably isn’t worth the effort anyway, at least in my limited experience. Can I ask you another question though?”
As his lips hitched up on one side, he nodded. “Of course.” And with that, he seemed to relax a little more in your presence.
“Is it super rude of me to ask what you are? I had thought you were at least part tiefling, but that was literally just from the horns and the eyes.”
“A common misconception,” he said over the rim of his wineglass before he took another sip. “And one I usually let slide. But no, I am not any part tiefling. I am… my family is… that is to say…” He set his wine down, took off his glasses, and cleaned them with a little cloth that he drew from his top pocket while he said quietly, “We are dragon shifters. Wyvern, technically.”
You blinked in silence for a stunned moment. Dragon shifters were exceptionally rare these days, having been hunted ruthlessly for sport, mostly by orcs but also by humans, about five hundred years ago. They’d been massacred in droves almost to the point of extinction. “No way,” you finally breathed.
He acknowledged the truth with a brief pursing of his lips, and returned his glasses to his face. Tersely, he added, “Please don’t ask me to prove it here. I won’t fit into this corner of the cafe, and besides, shifting is a huge inconvenience to say the very least.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” you said hastily. “I’m just… amazed? Surprised? Honoured?”
Mikaeïl deftly and promptly steered the conversation onto your drawings and drafts after that, and you allowed him to slide the limelight onto you. Clearly an intensely private individual, Mikaeïl had just honoured you with the truth about himself, and, curious as you were about what he might look like in his wyvern form, you respected his gift by focusing on the real reason you were there. This was not a date after all, no matter how much you wished it were.
Despite that fact, however, it was five minutes before closing time when Lidaë flitted over to you, her iridescent hummingbird’s plumage shimmering, and politely asked if you’d mind wrapping up so she could close up her cafe.
Mikaeïl startled from your conversation as if he’d suffered an electric shock. “I’m so sorry, Lidaë,” he said, standing abruptly and pushing his chair back with a decidedly ungraceful scrape on the wooden floorboards. “I had no idea it was so late.”
She patted his arm fondly and shook her head. “Never you mind, my lovely. I’m glad to see you having such a good evening.”
For the first time since you’d met him, his pale cheeks flushed and he glanced briefly at you before fumbling to pick up his coat. Once he’d slid it on, he fished out his wallet and insisted that he pay for everything.
Outside, with your bag packed and a design finalised, you looked up at him and he turned his deep, golden eyes on you. In the light from the street lamps overhead, his yellow eyes reflected the soft glow in a decidedly inhuman way, and you felt something stirring inside you again.
Feeling perhaps a little uncharacteristically bold, you reached for his shoulders, took them gently in your hands, and leaned in to kiss his smooth, cool cheek. As you withdrew, you saw that he’d gone rigid, his eyes wide with surprise. Allowing yourself a small giggle at his expense, you grinned at him.
“I’ll bring the finished design with me when I bring Celia over next Friday, if that’s ok.”
“Mmhmm,” he hummed softly.
“Looking forward to it,” you said. “And thank you again for supper.”
“My pleasure,” he croaked, bowing his head. “Sincerely.”
Tossing a final grin and a wave his way, you walked off down the street, leaving him standing there, and when you glanced back, you saw that he was walking away in the opposite direction, his fingertips just brushing his cheek where your lips had kissed his skin.
To be continued next Friday! (don’t let me forget!)
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Seven Devils
Warnings: Hospitals, Gore, Inappropriate use of scripture, messiah complex
AO3 <<<Previous
Day 4
you woke up with extreme nausea and stomach pain. You ran to the bathroom, not caring if any noise you were making would wake anyone. The pain seemed to worsen as you heaved into the toilet. You were vomiting blood. The noise managed to wake Sister Ruth, she rushed to your side, holding up your hair and rubbing your back. You couldn’t see the look of horror on her face. “I think we need to take you to the hospital; you might have some internal bleeding.” You tried to shake your head no, not wanting to be subject to the poking and prodding. The pain was debilitating, curling up on the floor as Sister Ruth went to get help.
////
The lights of the hospital were blinding. You wanted to keep your eyes shut and drift back off to sleep. The people around you were talking to you, encouraging you to stay awake and respond. You replied in mumbles and broken words, but enough for them to decipher. The pain had begun to die down, you were given medication regardless. A series of invasive tests were to be conducted. One of the doctors addressed you directly, “We have to lift your top to have a look, okay?” her voice was gentle. You nodded in response. As she lifted your top, the look of confusion on the doctors’ face worried you. She quickly jotted something down, whispering to the nurse present. The nurse left and came back with Sister Ruth. You tried to look down to see what they were looking at but were gently pushed down by the nurse. “Y/N, have you had any surgery or injury to the stomach before?” asked Sister Ruth. You shook your head ‘no’. The confusion around the room seemed to get stronger. You finally managed to sit up and look. Your stomach had two large, jagged scars all the way up. You didn’t know where these came from. They were slightly tender to the touch but looked like they had been there for years. You didn’t have them the night before. You began to panic, mumbling to the people in the room, delirium washing over you. You tried to get out of the bed and run somewhere. You wanted to be far from this country, away from the convent. You wanted to be held by your mother and be told it was all going to be okay. You couldn’t bare the thought of completing the six weeks here. You were sure you were going to go insane. Your movement became weaker as you thrashed around. You fought to stay awake, but the medication was kicking in. The hum of a lullaby could be heard in the distance. //// “I think we need to send her back home as soon as we can”. “I think that’s the best idea, but she can’t be taken back unaccompanied, especially not in her condition.” “I’ll take her,” Sister Ruth suggested. “That is all good and well Sister, but the feast day of the assumption of Mary is this Sunday, and on top of that, the bus to the airport doesn’t run until the Monday after. This is an important weekend in our diocese so emergency travel is almost impossible.” Sister Ruth sighed, her colleague was right, the girl would have to hold on a little longer before she would be able to get home. Before the conversation could continue, the girl in question began to stir. “Good afternoon Y/N, feeling any better?” You nodded in response, trying to figure out where the hell you were. “We’re in the Convent’s infirmary again. You discharged with a clean bill of health, so we brought you here just to keep an eye on you,” Sister Ruth smiled at you. You were told to freshen up, the cold water felt like heaven when you washed your face. This was the first look you had in the mirror since you came here. You felt like your face had changed a little. It seemed a little more mature, your resting bitch face seemed more intense than ever before. You blamed it on the lack of sleep and strange happenings around you, you were sure you’d be back to your normal self as soon as you left this forsaken place. However, the only thing you cared about now was what you were going to eat and what Claire was up to. //// The rest of the girls were off-site today. The sisters had decided to not put you in a sermon today due to the complaints of your snoring. The thought made you giggle. You decided to wander around the grounds of the convent, to finally take in the unique architecture and maybe find some hiding places for you and Claire along the way. You missed your friend and you needed someone to share your strange dreams with. Each arch of the of building was so meticulously carved. Every motif and line of scripture meant something. You could understand it but could not tell anyone what you understood. You hummed a tune from your dreams as you aimlessly wandered through the corridors, your fingertips running over the stone walls, taking in every detail and mapping the structure in your head. A voiced joined in your humming, suddenly snapping you out of your trance. The voice stopped as soon as you acknowledged it. Your mind was playing tricks on you again. Yet it sounded so familiar. You decided to head back to where the sisters were, maybe being alone wasn’t the best idea in these circumstances. However, there was one issue. You had no idea where you were. The corridor seemed endless, with no exit or entrance. You span to look to the other side, finding only a single, red door. Your brows knitted in confusion, you didn’t open or close any doors during your wander, you were sure of it. Yet there seemed to be no other way out, so you headed towards the door. You took a deep breath and looked back one more time, before pushing it open. You were expecting something horrific, but instead you were met with a little chapel. This must have been one of the smaller chapels in the Convent. The candles and incense were still burning. The smell seemed familiar. You took in the beautiful surroundings and tried to figure out if this chapel was dedicated to anyone in particular. Standing in the centre of the small room, you looked up to the stained glass. It was a large effigy of Saint Michael. The setting sun made the image glow. The hair looked like spun gold, the eyes a dazzling blue, starring into the depths of your very soul. You had started to hum again. Thinking to stay just a while longer to figure out why the face looked so familiar.
//// “What do you think Sister Y/N?” “hmm?” Sister Y/N stopped humming. “I asked, how do you think we should go about the repairs?” Sister Y/N had been given leave from any physical labour after being found passed out in front of her room. The following days were filled with intense stomach pain and coughing up blood. Mother Superior said it was a test from God. The boar an illusion created by the devil. Her recovery was attributed to a miracle, but Sister Y/N knew the truth. She had just mustered up enough strength to collect the necessary herbs and create a remedy. Herbal medicine was one of her strong points, just not one she could practice publicly. She now stood in the old chapel with some of the senior Sisters, the convent was in need of repair and the Monseigneur had requested for all the proposals to be complete before his return from the Vatican. The sisters looked at her expectantly. “I’ve been having strange dreams recently,” she started. “I’m wandering through the convent, but it looks so different.” The Sisters leaned in, paying more attention to the words. “Each stone, each wall, everything is so meticulously placed. As if the convent is protecting something. The arches are etched with scripture of protection, they seem to be a reminder of something, but I don’t know what,” she finished. “Did you see this room?” One of the sisters chirped up. Sister Y/N nodded. “The chapel is small but beautiful, hidden away, only those that are meant to find it will.” She looked up the window, “The most beautiful stained glass of Saint Michael watches over us, providing his divine protection,” she finishes. The sisters began muttering to themselves. “These dreams could be sign from God, maybe he wants us to improve the Convent in a certain way,” one of them suggested. “Maybe you could draw the plans up so we can all visualise it,” another suggested. Sister Y/N nodded in agreement, she had nothing better to do anyway and this would be the perfect excuse to enjoy the library before the bane of her existence returned. ////
Sister Y/N wasn’t sure if she really believed in the divine, but she did believe in dreams. Her mother had taught her that the dreams of a witch could be a message from the future, a look into what is to come and a possible path to take. Such a detailed dream had to mean something, she hoped drawing out her plans would bring some clarity. The library was silent, only the rhythmic sound of a pencil or the lighting of an occasional candle could be heard. Y/n drew well into the evening, missing dinner, and evening prayers to perfect her work. The peace did not last for long after. Humming interrupted her work. She knew exactly who it was. “Sister Y/N, you’ve become bold, haven’t you?” he stood behind her, watching her work. She fought the childish instinct to cover her papers. A gloved hand pulled a sheet from the pile, “Missing your evening prayers, and now boldly displaying clairvoyance in a house of God?” “It was a dream Father, nothing more,” she replied.
He finally put the papers down, leaning across her in a cat-like manner. He brought his face level with hers, his nose almost touching her cheek. He studied her, all the little twitches, the way she looked at him through the corner of her eye before quickly looking away. What caught his eye, however, was a strand of hair poking out from beneath her veil. She flinched as he reached for it, pulling the long strand out from its confines. The length and softness seemed to give him an idea. “I said I’d find a suitable punishment for you when I returned and I think now is the perfect time to start.” Sister Y/N was bout to protest, he silenced her by yanking the strand of hair. “change into your nightwear and come straight to my chambers. Failure to comply and the village will wake to a pyre” She didn’t need to be told twice, already in his bad books, scurrying away. Michael looked at the plans again, his grin widening with every page. A few tweaks and they would be perfect. //// Sister Y/N ran to her room, her heart rate at the highest it had ever been. She tried not to slam the door as she got to her dorm. She noticed something strange about the room. Sister Carissa was nowhere to be found. She should have returned with Father Langdon but wasn’t here. Not even her bag. Before she could dwell any further, the words of the Monseigneur rang through her head again. She feared even more punishment for being late, so she ran to his chambers. //// Father Langdon had asked her to come in before she could even knock. She slowly opened the door, hoping deep down inside that it was a vivid dream. She stepped inside, fiddling with her hands and awaiting instructions. The man took great joy in her nervousness. “Fill that bowl with warm water and bring it over here,” he pointed. Sister Y/N nodded in response. As she grabbed the bowl, Michael gripped her wrist, raising a brow. “Yes Father,” she responded. He let go of her, making himself comfortable on the edge of his bed. She brought the bowl back, waiting for instructions on where to put it. He pointed at his feet. She knelt down, placing the bowl. She began to question how this was a punishment. She was going to find out. She began to rice but was stopped by the man. “Did I ask you to rise?” she shook her head. “Kneel” She did. “Do you recall the story of Jesus at the pharisees house? Tell me what was significant about it.” “The woman with the alabaster jar, washed and anointed the Lord’s feet with her hair,” as she finished recounting the story, her eyes widened in mortification. She prayed that this wasn’t her punishment. Michael gently grabbed her chin, tilting her head so she could look up at him. “Some in this convent would scalp you for this opportunity. Hurry up now, you have morning prayers in a few hours.” Sister Y/N hesitated. This had to be the worst form of humiliation and sacrilege, she was unwilling to give this man the status of a god. Her hesitation annoyed him. He let out a huff before tugging at the roots of her hair, almost pulling her up to her full height. “I will ask once more or so God help you Y/N,” she growled. She quickly wiped her tears when he let her go. She pulled her hair to one side, the sight of her exposed neck made Father Langdon shiver. She finally put her hair in the water, washing his feet just like he had ordered her too. Her eyes were blurry, and her nose was stinging with the tears she was holding back. Michael paid no mind to her comfort, running his fingers over her exposed neck. He was sure he could get drunk of the satisfaction he was feeling in this moment. No drug could recreate the euphoria. When she was humiliated to his satisfaction, he pulled his feet away. Sister Y/N let out a shaky breath, she wouldn’t wish this upon her worst enemy. Father Langdon tilted her chin up again, this time she couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. “Have you learned your lesson?” “Yes Father.” His thumb traced her lips, before he pushed it inside her mouth, relishing in the velvetiness he wanted to feel elsewhere. His cock twitched at the thought of it. “Next time you run that wicked tongue of yours, I’ll cut it out and maybe then you could take a vow of silence.” He pulled his finger out with a pop, smearing the remaining saliva on her face. He pulled back completely, standing, and walking to the other side of the room. He let out a shaky sigh. He was facing away from her; she couldn’t see him palming himself in her presence. “Now go before I punish you further,” he barked. Y/N got up on shaky knees, before darting out of the room. She wished to forget this night. //// The convent was shocked at Sister Y/N turning up on time. She attended all morning prayers and evening masses. She avoided any eye contact with the Monseigneur, however. She did not need to be reminded of that night. However, something was eating away at her. She hadn’t seen Sister Carissa at all. At first, she thought it was due to her finally being on time for things. Then she asked the Mother Superior; apparently Carissa had stayed behind for some reason. Y/N didn’t buy it. Something was wrong. Maybe it was the new swarm of flies driving her crazy. They had turned up a few days ago, no one knew why. Sister Y/N went back to her room for the first time in a while. The last few were spent in prayer or shed be found in the library. A rancid smell had taken over the room, making her gag. The swarm of flies was the seemed to be terrible in there. As she looked around the room for some clues, she noticed the ants on the floor, all heading towards her friend’s bed. She got down to take a look, hoping to find a dead bird or some other animal of the sort. The countryside was prone to these things. Instead, she was met with the most grotesque sight. Sister Carissa’s lifeless eyes stared back at her; bone exposed from the rot. A shriek rang through the convent.
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