#anyways i put a lot of thought picking cards that fit and then realized i could make it work w/ the timeline of bmc
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Day 19: Tarot card
Past, present, future. You're fucked dude.
#be more chill#bmc#squipril#squipril 2024#you can pry this color scheme from my cold dead hands. i fuckign love blues#happi's art#technically these should all be reversed for the meanings im going for (or at least high priestess & emperor. magician could go either way)#but it looks nicer right side up :)#anyways i put a lot of thought picking cards that fit and then realized i could make it work w/ the timeline of bmc#so yeah!#a little late but eh. that seems to be how it is with me haha
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ushijima x reader. some angst, mostly fluff, suggestive content. timeskip spoilers.
plot: your long-time coworker turned friend, Kuroo, sets you up on a date with one of his finest clienteles.
To stay unattached is to keep a distance.
Ushijima Wakatoshi knows this well enough. He had gotten accustomed to it at an early age, when his parents divorced. It was pretty clear that his mom hardly wanted anything to do with him, and neither did her family.
His intention is to keep this maxim walking into the date. Though, it doesn’t deter him from being the gentleman he is, even when you show up 15 minutes late.
Your first impression of Wakatoshi is that he is a man of few words. You aren’t put off by it, however, you prefer a man that knows his points, speaks it, and waits for a response in deliberate silence. It’s endearing in its own way.
It’s endearing now, when you can’t help but find yourself staring at him. His dress shirt and pants—Armani— are tailored to fit him perfectly. You saw when he stood up to greet you, even pulling your chair out for you (swoon.) His jawline is sharp, eyes stoic, and his shoulders are so broad—
He’s turned to you with expecting eyes.
“Oh- sorry, what did you say?”
Wakatoshi clears his throat and straightens in his seat. “I said because I’ll be in Europe soon, I’m not looking for anything serious right now.”
Oh. Okay… you can work with that. You usually don’t do one-night-stands, but the longer you look at him, the more amorous you’re getting.
“I’m sorry if that disappoints you.”
You perk up, realizing you haven’t given a reply. “Not at all! I’m not really interested in that either.”
A lie. You fear you are quite the hopeless romantic at heart.
As you resume to your dish, he takes a moment to watch you.
Wakatoshi might not be too well versed in pop-culture, but he has picked up a few magazines in his free time and reads enough ads to know that you’re quite the public figure yourself. Quite the vivacious one at that— according to some headlines.
He isn’t too sure of what your job is, just knows that you’ve worked alongside Kuroo for a while and recently ventured into the fashion world. Your confidence in style illuminates under the dim lamps of the restaurant: classic, chic, timeless. He hadn’t missed the wandering eyes when you walked through the door.
When Kuroo had called him during his off-season trip back to Japan, Wakatoshi had initially declined, not wanting to start something he wasn’t sure if he could finish. But, Kuroo had insisted, saying that you thought “his eyes are pretty” and wanted to see for yourself if they were olive or brown. Safe to say, he was intrigued and figured he’d quell your thirst for knowledge.
When dinner concludes after some small, but interesting talks, Wakatoshi insists he pay for the bill, and before you can deny, his card is already given to the waitress without even looking at the check.
“Thank you for dinner, Wakatoshi. It was delicious.”
“Of course.” He says as he holds the door open for you. You both walk to the marble water fountain placed in front of the parking lot. “Have you decided what color my eyes are?”
You freeze.
(“They’re definitely brown.” Kuroo assured.
“We’ll see. You didnt tell him I said anything about his eyes though did you ?”
“Not at all!” Kuroo gave his salesman smile to your glare. His two thumbs up acting as a shield from your valid accusation.
He did.)
You make a mental note to leave a scathing voicemail later.
“Oh!” You laugh, bashful, a hand coming up to rub your neck. “That….”
It appears Wakatoshi is still waiting for an definitive answer. You suppose he’s the not the type of man to tease, but still comes off just as humorous through his bluntness. It’s lovely, you think, you prefer to be the one teasing anyway. You step closer, leaning in close enough for him to feel the surface of fabric on your evening wear against his own. The string lights around the restaurant have given you both a warm, golden hue. It’s brighter out here.
“…Right now, they look olive. In the restaurant, they looked a dark brown.” Your voice is quieter now, but you’re still looking at him with that inquisitive gaze of yours. And he can’t help but study back. He scans your face and absentmindedly thinks those magazines don’t do you justice. He watches as your lips curve upwards into a small smile. “I guess it depends on the lighting, but my verdict is olive.”
Neither of you have moved, still inches apart. It feels… intimate. “What color do you say they are?”
Wakatoshi never thought about it, never really cared, but right now, he just wants to agree with you. “Olive.”
He watches as your smile grows, feeling his heart beat at a quicker pace. “Ah, I love being right.” There’s a moment of silence until you take a step back and extend your hand, “Well. Goodnight, Wakatoshi.”
Wakatoshi gives a nod, breaking out of his short-lived trance. He takes your hand, thinks your skin is some sort of magnet the way he can’t bring himself to pull away.
And before he can think clearly and go through with his plan of saying goodbye and leaving it at that to go your separate ways, he leans in closer, gently tugging you in with his hand still in yours.
You don’t move a way, instead you purse your lips as you look to his and back up at his olive eyes.
His voice is just above a whisper.
“May I… kiss you?”
He’s not sure who kisses who first after he asks. He just knows that for the following weeks, Wakatoshi sees you more than he should be. He becomes accustomed to your presence in his apartment, your smell on his bed, and the way you call him ‘toshi against his lips.
The weekend before his flight(weekends of which you usually spend the night) you don’t come over. He doesn’t play dumb at the fact that he had been the one to say it wasn’t serious in the first place. You seemed to take that to heart. He remembers the sadness in your eyes the last time you were in his home, telling him you weren’t good at goodbyes. Did you think he was?
Wakatoshi spent that weekend mulling the last few weeks over, missing you. He mentally scolds himself for letting it go this far, but how was he supposed to know his heart would cave at your simplest touch?
This kind of issue can only be resolved by talking to one person: a best friend.
And Tendou Satori rarely misses a phone call from his.
“I suppose me leaving is for the best.” Wakatoshi had rationalized, the afternoon before his flight, filling Tendou in about the heartache that is you.
“Maybe.”
“The more distance the better.”
“Ah, but Wakatoshi-kun, doesn’t distance make the heart grow fonder?”
His flight landed in Poland around noon. Many hours on the plane, Wakatoshi decides he isn’t good at goodbyes either. He calls you when he reaches his hotel.
“Hello?”
“Hi.” His voice is caught on the air, surprised you’d picked up so quickly. “I just landed. I…I—“
To be unattached is to keep a distance. But, even thousands of miles away from you, Wakatoshi is bound, tied true to the anchor that is your voice and the mirage of your face when he hears it.
“I miss you too.”
He wants to laugh because really, it’s only been three days since you’ve seen each other. Have you both grown lovesick?
“Can I see you when I get back?”
“Wakatoshi, that’s weeks— months away.” You laugh. He smiles upon hearing it. Yeah, lovesick. “Who knows what will happen by then?”
His smile is replaced by a confused frown. “What will happen?” Before you can answer, he has spoken again. “Nothing will change. For me, at least.”
You hum. A beat of silence. “‘Toshi?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be thinking about you until then.”
Wakatoshi thinks he might just fly you out and attach you to him forever.
…
(On a random weekday, Kuroo receives a box of Parisian chocolates and a typed out ‘Thank You’ card on his desk. The card flips to show a man with red hair and red eyes.)
a/n: ty for reading! long distance sucks, but this couple will make it thru :’)
#ushijima x reader#ushijima wakatoshi x reader#ushijima wakatoshi x you#ushijima x you#ushijima x y/n#haikyuu fic#haikyuu fluff#haikyuu fanfiction#haikyuu x reader#haikyuu x y/n#haikyuu x you#haikyuu x gn!reader#ushijima fluff#ushijima angst#ushijima fanfiction#ushijima wakatoshi#haikyuu ushijima
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pac || yes or no, and a message from Spirit
☁️ think of a question you need a Yes/No answer for, take 3 deep breaths and pick one of the piles below! this should give you a general idea of what the energy surrounding this matter is + what Spirit wants you to know and/or do. ☁️ take only what resonates and leave the rest! if you feel like the pile you've initially picked doesn't really apply to the situation you're thinking of, it's OK to pick another one. ☁️ remember that this is all for entertainment purposes and that free will still exists. don't feel pressured to do anything you don't want to or to make a pile/answer fit you situation, ok? ☁️ enjoy, my friends!
🍀 pile 1 || cards: five of pentacles, seven of cups rx, balance, magic.
Your answer, my dear pile 1, is No. Spirit wants you to know that there is something much better for you out there, and that you shouldn't keep yourself stuck to only this option (or the very few you've been considering). I can feel your sadness and frustration, but please trust that your Spirit Team is doing their best to help you navigate through & overcome this period, alright? Don't rush into a decision just because you want to get this over with. As soon as this moment of transition is over, you might realize that what you thought you wanted, isn't all that great after all; or, alternatively, that you were willing to settle for something that isn't in alignment with your greatest good and/or true desires. It might also happen that, if you give it time, Spirit could give you the green light to pursue this option - that's only for a few of you, though. For the majority, I see that this really isn't the best bet anyway.
[extra confirmation that this might be your pile (doesn't have to apply): a white cat; Kat/Cat/Catherine/Katherine/Catarina; white socks and ballerina shoes; 29; dark blue walls; just painted or got your nails done by someone else; Andre/Andrew/Andres; low temperatures; slavic countries; pisces.]
🍀 pile 2 || cards: king of wands, page of pentacles, illumination, growth.
Goodness… this pile has such a strong and assertive energy, that there is no way you guys are still doubting yourselves! It's a clear Yes, my sweet pile 2. You already know what to do, where to go, what to leave behind and what to take with you on the journey ahead. You've seen the light already, and chances are that you are have already made some moves towards your goal, so just keep going! Don't be impulsive, though; always make sure to stay grounded and realistic. If you haven't made any moves, however, someone else might've OR the Universe has been preparing the stage for this to happen. You might soon realize that things just seem to be falling into place all around, and you're all of a sudden full with good luck. Finally, I feel like some of you might also need to hear this: stay informed! Do all of the research you think is necessary, and stay up date with all of the new details/updates regarding this matter.
[extra confirmation that this might be your pile (doesn't have to apply): 1st year as a college student; taking the subway every day now; swimming as a hobby; dark green hoodie; Jen/Jennifer/Jerome; G initial; Grace or "with grace"; 19; a item of jewelry that you never take off, likely a necklace; Church; eating your meals in a rush or on the go; soccer/football.]
🍀 pile 3 || cards: ace of wands rx, eight of pentacles rx, love, flow.
Not yet. Something needs to be done or finished before you get that much desired green light from Spirit. If you felt pulled towards Pile 1 as well, feel free to check that out, by the way! - for some, those messages may also apply. Your energy isn't heavy, even though I still get a big sense of frustration here. Now, after struggling so much with this reality, you know that you are either not ready for such a change OR to receive this "thing" and be able to handle it. I feel like you guys have been doing a lot of inner-work lately, and have been putting a lot of effort into matters of self-worth, self-confidence, and so on; and this realization may have come from that. My dear pile 3, you are on the right path, alright? You just need to stay focused on yourself for now, so you can later receive all of the blessings you have been waiting & praying for.
[extra confirmation that this might be your pile (doesn't have to apply): fidgeting with your fingers 24/7; daily warm, soft hugs from a family member or best friend; 29, again; 00; white bomber jacket; always making sure you have your gloves with you; a spike in humidity; geography or biology; lab coats; lost and/or got a new transit pass, passport or ID; significant earth placements.]
🍀 pile 4 || cards: eight of pentacles, the lovers, fear, abundance.
Some of you may have had to leave people, or even home, behind to pursue a dream, or may be considering it (and, by the way, it doesn't have to be literal or physical). You're afraid that you'll be alone and/or that those you're leaving behind will not miss you. However, Spirit wants you to know that none of that is true, and that things will turn out much better than you could've ever expected. You have big plans for your life but also a big heart; and instead of having these two parts of yourself work together as they should, they are fighting against each other. Sometimes, in order to achieve something major, we must make some sacrifices, you know, pile 4? And that might sound scary, yes, but when you are living through it, you'll see that it actually isn't. We make sacrifices every day without even realizing it… for example, when we sacrifice an extra hour of sleep to spend some more time texting that special someone; or when we sacrifice our precious feet just to show off our new favorite, yet insanely painful, pair of shoes. If you're on the other end of it, however, and you're the one being "left behind", make sure to use this time to work on your goals instead of focusing all of your energy on how much you miss that something or someone. So, your answer is neither a Yes nor a No, because I feel like most of you guys are wording your question wrong?? Just know that this is a time for you to prosper, my dear pile 4, and that you should move forward with your goals.
[extra confirmation that this might be your pile (doesn't have to apply): spending a lot of time alone, sitting in the parking lot; your car's a mess; fidgeting with your earrings or rings; rubbing your eye until it hurts; Sanders/Sandra/Salome/Soumaya; north african countries; south east asian countries; stuffed teddy bear; 57; dad's or grandpa's birthday.]
decks used || Tarot of the New Vision & Prism Oracle
(Disclaimer: Based on current energies. All is alleged and for entertainment purposes only.)
#tqq#tqqgame#kpop tarot#nct tarot#nct dream tarot#blackpink tarot#aespa tarot#red velvet tarot#enhypen tarot#kpop pac#kpop pick a card#kpop astrology#bts tarot#seventeen tarot#stray kids tarot
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hi! may i request some mikoto + amane (platonic obvs) … anything? they are very dear to me 😭
Yes!!! Thank you so much for the request -- they really are such a good pair ;-; (The thing is, I had so many nice scenes in mind about how they parallel each other, but they wouldn't know or reveal that about each other so I kept restarting...) Anyway, here's something right after Mikoto's first trial/verdict!
Mikoto could pick up on someone’s bad mood from a mile away, though the skill was unnecessary when the other party very clearly and calmly informed him, “I’m in a bad mood.”
After refusing his offer, Amane turned back to a thick textbook she’d been taking notes on. Didn’t kids usually complain that school was already a prison? She must have wanted the full experience. He'd worked nonstop at his studies as well, but this was a new level. Amane often reminded him of his little sister, though she always took the extra step like this. His sister would have jumped at this opportunity to play a few rounds of their favorite card game.
“It’ll be fun!”
He flashed a smile, but it had no effect on her severe expression. “I know you’re just trying to comfort me about our verdicts. I refuse to be pitied.”
“Comfort and pity are two very different things. But anyway, it wasn’t either of those things.” He gave an easy shrug “To be honest, I’m just a little bored. It’s weird not having any work to do during the day.”
Mikoto couldn’t remember the last time in his life he’d had so many hours to himself. A lot of the others were fun to play games with. A few of the sportier prisoners helped him stay active. He enjoyed smoking breaks with the other men. Still, he was left to his own devices for the majority of his time. It was maddening. He’d recently requested some more art supplies, having used up the last batch, but they had yet to come in. Now with the verdict announcement, he wasn’t sure they’d ever arrive.
“That is your own problem. I already have something to do.” Her eyes lingered on the cards for the briefest of moments before returning to the book. “I told you, I’m not in the mood for it.”
Regardless of her hostility, he took a seat beside her. He leaned his arms out on the table. “We don’t have to play the same game.” The last time they'd played as a big group, several prisoners pulling the tables together to fit everyone. Amane had kept very quiet, eyes darting around at the cards as she tried to keep up with the rules. Not many of the others noticed the frustration clear in her face. Mikoto wasn’t the type to let her win out of pity, though he had begun to mutter the rules and strategies to himself a bit more as the night went on…
“Is there a game you liked to play at home?”
“No. There was no time for games in the house.”
“All work and no play… hah… I know what that’s like.” He slumped his cheek onto his arm, lazily shuffling the cards around. He felt bad for bothering the girl if she truly was upset. He thought it was the bad experience that made her reject him, he hadn’t realized there were also family issues attached. Usually he could read people well; maybe he was losing his touch. He seemed to be losing touch with a lot of things, these days.
He readied a game of solitaire.
“Mikoto?” Amane kept her face turned away. “There was… one game.”
“Yeah?” Mikoto shuffled the cards back together. He slid them over to her. “You should teach me!”
She didn’t touch them. “You probably already know it.”
“Nah, I only know a few games. I’m better with tarot cards, though those aren’t really the gaming type. Come on, what is it?”
She told him the name of the game, insisting it wouldn’t be worth playing. She kept her attention on the textbook, but her eyes weren’t reading any of it.
“Ahh, I’ve heard of that one! We start with four cards, right?” He started dealing them out.
“No, five –” she pointed to the deck, urging him to add two more.
“Right, right.” He laughed lightly. “And the goal is to get pairs, and put them in a pile, uhh, here.”
Amane shook her head. She shifted her body slightly towards him. “You must be thinking of a different game. There’s actually three piles for pairs. One here, one here, and when it’s your opponent’s turn…”
Her eyes gleamed as she explained the rules. She pointed to various cards, telling him exact moves and point values. “And to win, you need to –” Her expression shifted. “You… you already knew all this.”
“Of course not!” He put on his most convincing smile.
She deflated. “You’re not a very good liar.”
“Tch, tell that to the warden.”
His shoulders sagged along with her. If Amane could see right through him, why was the rest of Milgram still coming up with stories about what he did and didn’t do? “Well, I might already know the rules, but it’s been a long time since I’ve played. You can still give me a hand. Plus, if you really are in such a bad mood, it’ll be good to take a break from your studies. You should always take a break when things get too overwhelming, yeah?”
She gave him a withering stare.
“Eh? What’s that face for?”
“Alright, let’s play. You can go first.”
“I mean it, what was that look? Aw, come on…”
#milgram#mikoto kayano#amane momose#see - the thing is they both had crimes about 'protecting themself' but both would deny it was for that reason#they both seem to have some family trauma but would never admit it#theyre both used to putting on their best behavior and being 'good' for others but hardly realize that themselves#they are both in denial all the time !!!!!#so i tried to show them getting along for their own perceived reasons -- mikoto thinks he likes her because she reminds him of his sister#and amane thinks she likes him because hes being kind about their verdicts#and while both are right theyre Also drawn to each other because they are very similar at their core#and both have skills with reading people/picking up on cues making it tough to lie to one another#that forced honesty makes for a solid friendship haha!#i also remember a comment from yamanaka that amane would be the worst at card games because shed have trouble with the rules#she seems old enough to handle complex games but she probably never got to play a lot at home ;---; and mikoto probably learns a lot of#types of games (and tarot) so can connect with even more people#i thought long and hard on whether mikoto would let someone else win but he doesnt seem the type (plus amane would notice)#once again i know amane starts speaking in the plural but this comes a bit before that#yaay thank you so much for the request! this was really fun to do - i hope you enjoy!#ive thought a lot about amane and john but less on her and mikoto lol so this was nice :D#drabbles
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enjoy this little thing because i can't seem to get through writers block right now <3
1.9k words of primo and theo (oc) being cute about an old picture of him; a few drug mentions and a bit of suggestiveness under the cut but nothing too crazy hehe
Comfortable silence had blanketed the sunlit study for a while before either of them realized that the music had stopped playing. Another record had spun to its conclusion.
“Why don’t you put something on,” Primo said eventually, giving a slight gesture towards the general direction of the record player without taking his eyes off of his book.
It was only polite of him to offer, Theo thought, since he had chosen the last few. She yawned deeply as she sat up off of the chaise lounge and set her own book aside. Flipping through the illustration books of old botanical studies had been interesting at first, but now she was glad for something else to put her mind to.
She stood and wiggled from side to side to stretch out her back, then padded over the soft rug in her stocking feet over to the far wall where the turntable and speakers were. Primo had a fairly modest system- not that she really knew much about them anyways- but she thought his collection of music was rather impressive. The bookshelf next to the player supported multiple wire racks of records, each one stuffed to the brim. It was always a treat to discover what he might have hidden amongst the classics.
The sunlight warmed the floor in front of the shelf, where she plopped down criss-cross and began to ghost her fingertips along the ridges of the record sleeves. “Anything in particular?” she asked him, and he answered with a simple hum from his place in the wingback chair.
“Your choice, cara mia.”
Satanas, that narrowed things down. There was so much to choose from… she began to thumb out a couple at a time, sliding them down to get a glimpse at the covers. Some she knew by sight alone. A few familiar covers made her smile to herself- they had almost worn out Rumours, mostly thanks to her. His beloved collection of Tina Turner’s discography was neatly organized in its own section, in the rack that she preferred to peruse; where ABBA and Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles were just a few among some of her frequent picks.
The other shelf was a trip to the wide expanse of hard rock spanning the decades, and from the dawning era of metal; Led Zepplin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Blue Oyster Cult… just a sampling among countless other artists, many she wasn’t quite as familiar with. Hmmm… maybe she ought to close her eyes and just pick one.
She did, trusting her intuition as she smoothed her fingers over the thin spines, and out came one of her favorites. She gave a little huff, though; she didn’t think he would really be in the mood for it today.
“How about Foreigner?”
He was quiet for a long moment- must have been deliberating- and then he answered somewhat nonchalantly. “Mmm, maybe not.”
She was right. So much for her choice. With a little private roll of her eyes she put the record back on the rack and put her intuition to another test.
Ah, that was better- a Pink Floyd album seemed a much more fitting soundtrack for this lazy, comfortable afternoon they were sharing. When she slipped the record from its well-loved sleeve, something happened to catch her eye; a corner of something, maybe a note, had almost come out with it. No reason to stifle her curiosity…
Oh, it wasn’t a note, it was an old photo. She set the record and its cover down beside her on the floor and flipped over the photo; it was hardly bigger than an index card, and the image quality wasn’t the clearest, but the subject matter instantly made her stomach flip in surprise.
“Hey, ah…” she started, entranced by what she was looking at. “What were you up to in seventy-three?”
From behind her she heard him turn a page slowly before he answered, a little facetiously. “Hmm… a lot of sex and drugs, I imagine.”
Satanas in fucking hell, she could imagine, too. In the picture he absolutely looked like a god of the former and someone who knew his way around the latter. He must have been in his late twenties, she calculated quickly, and she found herself stroking her fingertips over the papery surface of the photo as she stared down at it.
“Why do you ask?”
“Oh, uh… just…” she couldn’t keep her train of thought on the right track. Holy fuck. She had wondered about what he might have looked like as a young man, and she had some good guesses, but to see it for herself like this was so exciting that she could feel her face starting to flush warm. Whoever took the picture must have caught him at an interesting time, because his expression looked a little sour. But his face, fresh and bare of any paint, was unspeakably handsome- his angular jaw, strong nose, and piercing eyes set under his brow made her heart flitter even now. His skin looked so youthful and more tanned here- she thought she could even notice the shade of a few freckles across the bridge of his nose- and he seemed to glow in the bright sun, maybe from sweat.
And if that wasn’t enough to draw her attention, then his outfit had captured it. A silver earring sparkled in his earlobe, since his long, wild blonde hair had been tucked behind his ear on that side. A cropped, sleeveless shirt hardly concealed his lean arms crossed over his chest, where he dangled a joint lazily between his fingers and a hairtie clung to his wrist. Or his midriff, where a trail of light hair down his belly caught the sun and led the eye to the low rise of his red athletic shorts, which… left absolutely nothing at all to the imagination. Lucifer almighty.
“Um,” she managed finally, enraptured with the image of him. “Do you still own these?”
“Own what?” he questioned, and now with the record momentarily forgotten she got up to bring the photo over to him.
As she approached he flicked his mismatched gaze up to her, and noticing the telltale color dusting her cheeks, he put his book down. She could only smile shyly as she handed it over to him.
He looked at it for a while as recognition sprawled slowly over his painted features, and eventually his wrinkles creased deeply with a knowing smile. “Where did you find this?”
“In the Dark Side sleeve.”
“Ah.” She could tell that he seemed amused, both at the memory the picture stirred and at her reaction to it. “Yes, that makes sense. Terzo took this,” he explained. “I remember he was so insistent. He was in quite a phase with that camera of his.”
“Oh, yeah?” That piqued her interest- maybe that meant there were other pictures like this one, hidden away in Papa Terzo’s office in a forgotten photo album or dusty storage box… maybe she could sweet-talk someone into getting a glimpse at them, a peek into the past where her amato was experiencing life as a young man. A very, very attractive young man.
But for now she was happy to soak up the image of him in this one; sweating away the heat of some long-passed summer, in shorts that would make even a most devout sinner blush and glance away. What that would make her, she couldn’t say.
He kept smiling, taking in the details of the old photo before finally holding it back out for her to take. “He would tell you I made a terrible subject. But, in my defense, he always picked the worst moments. I believe I had just finished repairing something here, I don’t recall what… look, you can see how filthy my hands were.”
She took the photo again and sure enough, his hands were indeed dark and smudged with the remnants of whatever work he had been doing. She hadn’t even noticed at first glance- an understandable miss, considering what other details there were to admire.
“Satanas,” she finally murmured to herself. “You were so…”
How exactly could she describe him? It was like seeing him at his truest; unhindered here by the slow marching of time. This was the man she knew, unfiltered by age or responsibilities or the hardships she knew he had experienced as his life had gone on- and perhaps much more uninhibited in his self-expression. It only added another level, formed another facet of her attraction to him. In the simplest of terms- he was so fucking hot. Holy shit. She thought she could stare at this forever. Maybe he’d let her keep it to put on her bedside table.
He waited patiently for her to come to her conclusion, and when she didn’t he let out a deep chuckle. “Oh, Theo.”
“Seriously,” she insisted. “I… I think you should let me see the rest of Terzo’s pictures.”
That really made him chuckle then. “Be careful what you wish for.”
“The ones of you,” she said with a little giggle of her own, and now she moved closer to sit slightly against the arm of his chair.
“Maybe one of these days. We can take a little trip down memory lane, yes?”
“I’d like to,” she answered, smoothing her thumb carefully over the photo she still studied thoroughly. “I really like seeing you like this.”
“Young?”
“Well, yeah, but also just… yourself.” She was trying to convey her meaning- how she truly loved learning about his life as himself, as Primo, not just as Papa, and seeing him for who he really was… she wasn’t quite so articulate, but he got the jist. His hand came to slide around her back, settling at her hip, and she let her hand rest against his. The creases and wrinkles in his skin were so pleasant to trace with her fingertips, and she did so absentmindedly.
“You flatter me, dolcezza.”
“Oh, come on. You look amazing. And you still do,” she continued, turning to smile down at him, and when she noticed his eyes softening she felt her own heart do the same.
“I’ve changed a bit.”
“Well, yeah. Haven’t we had this conversation already?” She quirked her brow at him. “Something about aging, and wine…?”
He smiled again, that magnetic smile that even when hidden under layers of dark paints could light her up with excitement and affection. “Oh, yes, you and your metaphors.”
“Oh, pfft. You know I mean it.”
“I do know.” His hand, settled against her hip, squeezed softly around her flesh there. “And I appreciate it very much. You are awfully sweet to me.”
She felt fresh warmth blooming in her cheeks, and to that she didn’t know what exactly to say, so she just squeezed his hand. They sat like that for a few moments- the room still blanketed in that comfortable silence, the honey-gold sunlight still illuminating the space- until she glanced back down at the photo one more time, and couldn’t help but smile.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Mm?”
“Do you still have these?”
He looked slightly puzzled at her, until he realized exactly what she was referring to, and now he really laughed.
“Theodora.”
“What? I just want to know.”
“Even if I did,” he countered, rumbling with deep laughter, “I doubt they would fit.”
“I mean... we could at least just see if they do.”
“Mm. Certainly you have no ulterior motive.”
She couldn’t defend herself against that, and he knew it. At her slightly sheepish-looking smile, he laughed again and took her gently to pull her down for a kiss.
#the band ghost fanfiction#ghost band fanfic#papa primo#primo emeritus#papa emeritus i#primo x oc#em writes#fotv#well this is fotv-adjacent i guess#primo x theo#need a regular tag for them#if liz gives me permission i'll add the picture in question :-)
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A BUNCH of questions for Kat please?
Appearances: 6, 15
Objects: 2, 4, 14
Food and Drink: 3, 15, 16
Weather/Nature: 4, 15, 16
Community/Relationships: 1, 5, 10, 20
Mind/Body/Soul: 8, 14
Hobbies: 10, 16, 18
Ahhhh thank you so much!! This will be a lot of fun!
Under the cut for space
Super Long Hopefully Fun OC Asks
Appearances
6. How much interest does your character take in trends?
Not much. Mainly, she just doesn't have the budget to keep up with trendy clothing or makeup - she'd rather spend that money on art supplies.
15. Would your character wear something someone else picked out for them?
It depends on who picked it out. She of course trusts Jace, Emily, and Ahk and wouldn't hesitate to try out something they picked (though Ahk's tastes may be a little antiquated). Others, it kind of depends. She's not picky about clothing, but she's kind of curvy and it can be embarrassing for someone else to pick out an outfit only for it not to fit... she'd rather shop for herself
____
Objects
2. What gift would your character give to someone they didn't like but felt obligated to?
She'd try to still put some thought into it and tailor it to their personality, but she'd stick to something easy like a gift card, or a book/movie in their preferred genre.
4. Is there an item your character liked that they can’t get back?
She's always a little sad when art companies change the formulas of their products (goodbye, Dandelion Yellow...), especially since her choices are either to hoard what she has left of the old formula and never use it or to use it anyway and lament when it's finally gone.
14. Is there an item your character is embarrassed they own or want?
I think she'd realllly want to try out some of those trendy gimmicky art products, knowing they're stupid but wanting to try them out of curiosity anyway.
___
Food and Drink
3. Is there a food or drink your character is unwilling to try?
Not that I can think of. There's foods she dislikes for sure, but she'd try anything once.
15. What food or drink does your character consider a treat?
Tiramisu and a latte from her favorite Italian bakery! It's her go-to "finished a big project and I'm gonna treat myself" prize
16. Is there a food texture your character doesn't like?
Look. She's a Southern gal through and through. But grits have to be a very certain texture for her to enjoy them, otherwise they just feel strange and a little slimy.
____
Weather and Nature
4. Is there a natural phenomenon that scares your character?
I think she always gets a little wary of tornadoes. She's seen them do some damage, though thankfully not to her own home.
15. Is there a creature that scares your character?
She's got a healthy appreciation for venomous snakes. And she gets freaked the fuck out by ticks - she's the one loading up with bug spray every time she'll be out in nature, because if she has to get a tick off of herself she might cry.
16. What celestial body would interest your character the most?
Not one particular celestial body, but she likes linking astronomy with history. The star Antares representing the goddes Serket, Polaris and Sirius and their historical significance, how stars are translated differently by cultures... she finds it fascinating and beautiful
____
Community and Relationships
Does your character prefer company or solitude when sick?
Company, for sure. She'll never ask, but she loves being taken care of at times like that
5. Who would your character first seek if they needed medical help?
....a hospital. None of her friends are really skilled with medicine, so she'd rather be safe than sorry (the closest would be Jace, as a tattoo artist, but that's still iffy)
10. Is there a habit your character has that they learned from someone else?
I feel like she's started to adopt Ahk's regal posture when she needs to do something intimidating (like talking with McPhee, or doing midterm evaluations with her instructors). She doesn't even realize she does it, but she sort of pulls herself up the same way he does.
20. What would it take for your character to get into a fight?
It would take a lot for her to get into a real, physical fight, but if someone were posing a genuine threat to one of her friends, she'd be the first to jump to their defense.
____
Mind, Body, and Soul
8. What scents does your character find comforting?
She loves the smell of old parchment. She associates it with Ahk, for one, but it's also a very nostalgic smell for her and reminds her of wandering the aisles of her local library as a kid
14. Is there a secret thing your character longs to hear?
She wants to hear that she'll be remembered. Not in the sense that she'll be famous, but she wants to hear someone say that one of her art pieces moved them, and so there will be a piece of her that will always stay with them
____
Hobbies and Activities
10. Is there a skill your character doesn’t know they’re bad at?
She doesn't realize how many insecurities she still holds onto. She's gotten a lot better about that, but there are some things she still hasn't fully let go of and she doesn't entirely realize it
16. What’s an activity that reminds your character of someone else?
Cooking always reminds her of her mother and her grandmother, since they would cook together every night.
18. What is a topic your character wouldn't want to talk about?
She doesn't really like talking about the future. For one thing, it's so uncertain, especially in an art-based career - she doesn't know what opportunities will or will not pop up for her. And for another, there's always some difficult thoughts about the future, particularly in how her life will move on but the museum will stay constant.
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Yep, both is good.
But for sure you can't not have feelings about him, because he really is fascinating and very human (his tvpersona and the real guy).
For me he was like an onion. I didn't expect to like him at the beginning (another typical sociopath soldier bot) but then I realized it was a layer he put on himself and it hepled him to do his job and there were more layers and the dude was complexed as hell. Plus as I love the bigass events (Foy, finding that surgeon) but what always got me, were the lil things, like sending Shifty home, holding Chuck's hand or staying for the boys in the army to the end. Or trying and failing to steal Perconte's lighter. Honey....
Lol, Easy was like, ok we thought he was the toughest sonofabitch in the army, in reality he is but also is a weirdo with questionable hobbies and poor social skills, so let's play along to keep his mighty reputation. And then someone says something bad about him and the company is after that folk's blood, because, as you said, he was their Captain (ok, that's may be my headcanon).
Matheson sounds like a dude who would not fit in modern times. While Sparky probably would thrive ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Anyway, I'm amazed how well they created him in the show with such small screentime. A big cheer for Matt too, because HOT DAMN, the role of his life.
He is!! And I'm just impressed as hell with the fact he never really said anything to correct any of the information, just rolled with it. Yet he's outraged when two lines are inaccurate about his ex-wife. Even with info from some family and records, interviews, I see so much conflicting info. And going through the BoB boxes I have seen so much gossip about guys they actually like, makes you wonder how much things spiraled with someone who was a ghost story.
I do like that most of the guys who were present for stuff are on the "I'm not giving details, but he did it, but he was still an amazing CO and that's that." It threw Ambrose for a loop because he didn't get how you could have both. Lol.
Matheson's comments were so definitive and weird. 'His problem was WOMEN.' okay? Elaborate. 'he's been married four times'. That's it? That's your problem? It means is it weird he kept tabs on him after the war? I know he ran into/away from him when he spotted him in DC in the 60's. (it's early I hope I'm not getting him mixed up w/someone else.)
I also like how he transitions from writing his full name to 'Sparky' in letters to Dick as their pen pal relationship spirals into 'Dick, you're a pain in the ass'. He's got a nickname for the guy they knew, and uses it. Even to the point of telling them to leave him out of the BoB stuff because they just are going to find someone to play 'Sparky'. Not Ron, who is holding his 'World's best Grandpa' mug and throwing the letter in the mailbox before hanging out with his grandkids.
IDK, a lot of the focus over the years has been 'OMG did he really kill those people' and not 'Sparky, what level of intelligence were you involved in when you were with Battalion?'. You don't just pick some random officer to serve at Spandlau prison. Even if he took language courses to apply for the job. Not when you're hoping he can get some info out of the Russians too. His Hospital admission cards are [Blank] in Fold3, unsearchable by name. Service number on other records not what is on the copies of Docs from the National Archives on the Speirs website. Only that number will land you on his WW2 Hospital cards. Not to throw out conspiracies, but WTF.
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Avoidance
masterlist
part two
Summary: Reader doesn’t know what she did to make Spencer hate her so much.
A/N: This fic is just a reminder that sub!Spencer lives rent free in my head at all times. Also, if anyone would like to be on a taglist for one shots like these, let me know! I’m going to work on getting one started.
Pairing: sub!Spencer/femdom! reader
Content Warnings: honestly way too much swearing, sexual harassment, slapping, hands free orgasm, oral sex (male and female receiving), hand job, orgasm denial, edging, unprotected sex, vaginal penetration, degradation, femdom
Word Count: 8.2k
I have absolutely no idea what I’ve done to make Spencer Reid hate me.
Usually, when someone despises a person to the point of complete and total avoidance, there’s a reason. No one just wakes up and decides to resent another person for the hell of it – right? Wrong.
Because Spencer Reid positively loathes me – and I have no idea why.
It all started on my first day at the BAU. I had somehow landed the highly coveted job of media liaison after the previous one had decided to complete the training to be a profiler. For reasons unbeknownst to me, they thought a twenty-four-year-old fresh out of college with no prior job experience was the best fit for the position. I didn’t understand it, but I also wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
To say that I had been terrified the first time I set foot into the bullpen would be the understatement of the century. After a very formal and very intimidating orientation with the unit chief, my predecessor, a beautiful blonde named Jennifer, offered herself up to be my personal tour guide. Jennifer introduced me to the other members of the team, and with every smiling face I came in contact with, my fears of being the odd man out were assuaged. I could tell that Penelope Garcia, tech analyst extraordinaire, would most likely be my biggest ally – and it was abundantly clear that Derek Morgan and I would probably get into a fair amount of mischief together. Elle Greenaway seemed like the obvious choice for a future drinking buddy, and Jason Gideon – well, he merely grunted at me in acknowledgment before retreating back to his office. I figured three out of four wasn’t so bad.
I didn’t meet Doctor Spencer Reid until after lunch. Jennifer mentioned something about him guest lecturing at a local university, which surprised me considering she mentioned him being a year younger than me. Apparently, the kid was an actual genius, which was more than a little bit intimidating, but Jennifer assured me that Spencer was a sweetheart.
“He’s a little quirky, but I’m sure you’ll love him. Just don’t be surprised if he tries to talk your ear off,” Jennifer laughs. “Last week I asked him about the weather and he went off on a tangent about climate change that lasted nearly an hour.”
By the time Spencer strolled into the bullpen at exactly one in the evening, I was sitting perched atop Jennifer’s desk, thoroughly engrossed as she told me about their latest case. When she stops talking midsentence in favor of smiling at someone behind me, I half expect that Morgan is attempting to sneak up on me, when:
“Hey, look who’s back,” Jennifer greets, prompting me to turn around excitedly. I was eager to put a face to the man I’d heard so much about.
And when I turn, my eyes land on the prettiest man I’ve ever seen.
Sharp cheekbones and a chiseled jawline are framed by shaggy brown hair, complete with beautiful brown eyes and soft, pillowy lips. As if his good looks weren’t enough, he’s dressed in the most adorably nerdy sweater vest and a pair of thin framed glasses. He’s absolutely precious – a fact that Jennifer had conveniently left out.
“How was the lecture?” Jennifer asks him as he places his satchel on the desk adjacent to hers. Spencer perks up at this, smiling excitedly from across the divider.
“I think it went really good, actually. I incorporated this really cool joke that I heard about quantum physics. Do you want to-”
He stops abruptly when he realizes Jennifer isn’t his only spectator, and those lovely brown eyes go almost comically wide when they settle on me.
“Spencer, this is Y/N Y/L/N. She’s the new media liaison. Y/N, this is Doctor Spencer Reid.”
I give him my best smile, tacking on a small wave for good measure.
“It’s nice to meet you, Doctor Reid. Jennifer’s told me a lot about you.”
“Uh, y-yeah. It’s n-nice to meet you, too,” Spencer stutters. He looks positively stricken and I’m fairly sure he hasn’t blinked in over a minute. I cast a glance at Jennifer, who seems just as confused as I am.
Well, she had mentioned that he was a tad strange.
“I’d like to hear the joke,” I offer, only to immediately regret it when I see him tense up.
“N-No, that’s o-okay,” he chokes out as he struggles to gather the files on his desk. “It’s n-not that good, anyways.”
And just as quickly as he came, Spencer leaves in a flurry of crumpled papers, leaving Jennifer and I wondering what the fuck just happened.
--
Things didn’t get better with time. In fact, they got much worse.
In the six months that I had been working for the BAU, I could count my interactions with Spencer Reid on one hand. It wasn’t for lack of trying on my part – in my desperation to figure out what I’d done to make him avoid me, I sought out the young genius every chance I got. But every time I got within ten feet of him, it’s like an alarm would sound in his head and he’d make up some excuse to leave the room.
The others had noticed his strange behavior, too. It seemed they all had made a sort of game out of it – calling Spencer into rooms that I was in just to see him panic, or asking me to personally deliver files to his desk. At first, I played into it, hoping that their teasing would help to diffuse some of the tension.
After a month of being on the receiving end of Spencer’s cold shoulder, I started avoiding him, too.
I tried to act indifferent – like it didn’t hurt me as badly as it did. I no longer sought him out, and by month two, we had a sort of understanding. I didn’t go near him, and he didn’t go near me, and that’s how it went on for four miserable months.
Until today.
“Reid, Y/L/N, you’re in 202.”
I damn near drop my bag on the floor. This was bound to happen at some point or another, but I hadn’t planned on that day being today, and I was not prepared. After nine hours of running around the local police department, my body was weighed down from fatigue and I was downright grumpy. Not to mention I had picked the worst possible day to try and break in a new pair of heels, and my feet were throbbing.
Needless to say, I was in no mood to deal with Spencer Reid’s bullshit.
“Uh, Hotch? Could I maybe room with Elle?” I ask, sending a glare in Morgan’s direction when he snorts out a laugh. Hotch raises an eyebrow at me.
“Why? Is there a problem?”
Yes, sir, there certainly is. And your guess is as good as mine as to what that problem is.
“No, but I just think that-”
“Good. Then you should be fine to share a room with him.”
Right.
I spare a brief glance at Spencer, who, in the last thirty seconds, has turned the color of a tomato. I pray that he’ll speak up and voice his discomfort, but just like always, he stays silent.
Hotch doles out the room keys and I begin the trek down the hallway, my poor aching feet groaning in protest with every step. I’m vaguely aware of the sound of footsteps behind me, and it’s not until I swipe the key into the key card that Spencer speaks.
But not to me – no, never to me.
“Derek, please, I’m begging you. Just switch with me this one time, and – and I’ll do your reports for a month!”
After six months of dealing with Spencer’s aversion to me, his words should come as no surprise. And really, I’d expected as much - but that didn’t mean it hurt any less.
“Not happening, kid. This is the perfect opportunity for you to get over whatever problem you have with Y/N. I bet you’ll even end up liking her. She’s not going to be rude to you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“… T-That’s not what I’m worried abo-”
I don’t wait around to hear the rest of his sentence. I push open the door to the room, not bothering to wait for Spencer before closing it. I kick off my heels as soon as the door clicks shut, letting out a half relieved, half frustrated groan.
After claiming the bed nearest the air conditioner as my own, I pluck my pajamas and toiletry bag out from my suitcase and shuffle over to the bathroom. The way I see it, the quicker I get a shower and can go to sleep, the faster the night will pass. Before I know it, this unfortunate situation will be a thing of the past.
After drawing out the shower for as long as I possibly could, I exit the bathroom clad in a tank top and a pair of shorts, hair dripping wet and skin freshly scrubbed clean. Spencer’s sitting on his bed, book in hand and tie loosened. He doesn’t look up at me when I walk by - not that I’d expected him to. A thick silence hangs in the air as I pull a bottle of lotion out from my suitcase, and I debate turning on the TV just to make things slightly less awkward. In the end I decide against it, because I doubt even that could make this situation better.
I prop a leg up on the bed and begin to lather my legs in cherry scented lotion, paying special care to my aching feet before moving on. It’s not until both of my legs have been thoroughly massaged and coated in lotion that I look up.
Spencer’s eyes are locked on me, mouth hanging open and chest heaving up and down. His knuckles are white from how hard they’re clutching the book in his hands, but despite that I can still see the way they’re trembling. When he realizes I've caught him staring, he closes his mouth and gulps hard.
I straighten up and raise an eyebrow in a silent question, and that’s enough for Spencer to snap his book shut and scramble off of the bed. He’s clumsy as he moves to his suitcase, dropping his bottle of travel shampoo twice before he reaches the bathroom. If I wasn’t so off put by whatever the hell had just happened, I might have thought it cute.
--
As if the universe thought my current predicament wasn’t enough to deal with, the next morning I was dealt another shitty hand. This time, my distress came in the form of a young cop who couldn’t pick up on social cues to save his life. After an entire morning of dodging sleazy advances, I finally managed to shake him when his superior sent him out to go and actually do his fucking job.
Or so I thought.
I’m standing in the breakroom, pouring my fourth (or is it my fifth?) cup of coffee when I hear the sound of footsteps in the hall. I don’t know if I’ve developed a sixth sense about these things, or if I’m just particularly on edge today, but I know it’s the young officer before he can even cross the threshold.
And when he does, and he sees that he has me cornered, a saccharine smile stretches across his lips.
“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” he drawls in an accent that could probably be attractive if he wasn’t so damn skeevy.
“Might wanna get your eyes checked,” I mutter, refusing to look in his direction as I stir my coffee.
“Pretty and feisty. Just how I like my women.”
“I am not your anything,” I seethe, and instead of backing off like any respectful human being would, he just chuckles and begins to saunter towards me.
“C’mon baby, you don’t have to be that way. You don’t have to act all professional with me.”
“Don’t call me that.” I look at him now, and the smug, self-righteous smile on his face makes my blood boil.
“You don’t like baby? That’s fine – I’m sure I can think of lots of other things to call you,” he murmurs. He’s closer now, so close that I can practically feel his breath against my neck.
“I’m going to tell you to stop one more time, and it would be in your best interest to listen,” I growl.
“Or what?” he taunts. “I’d like to see you try to stop me.”
I jolt forward when a hand comes down hard on my ass, squeezing me harshly through the material of my skirt.
Oh, fuck no.
I’m whirling around faster than I ever thought possible, and then a harsh crack sounds throughout the room as my hand comes in contact with his face.
My hand stings from the contact, but the pain is welcome because he flies backwards, stumbling and grasping as his already reddening cheek.
“What the fuck?” he roars, eyes flashing with unbridled fury. I take several steps towards him, and to my utmost delight he nearly trips over himself in his hurry to put distance between us. I stop when his back hits the wall and I lean in until our faces are only inches apart.
“Listen here, you limp dick fuck,” I snarl. “I’m getting real sick and fucking tired of pathetic pieces of shit like you thinking they can put their hands on women. What’s your problem? Are you so fucking tactless that you can’t get anyone to fuck you?” I punctuate my question by jabbing my pointer finger into his chest and cocking my head to the side. “Are you so unappealing that the only way you can get your hands on a woman is to wait until she’s alone and try to corner her?
Or is it a power thing? You’ve got the gun and the badge so you think you’re entitled to just take what you want, don’t you? You think no one can stop you because you’re in a position of power. Well, I have some news for you – I outrank you, and you just assaulted a federal agent. I will not stop until I ruin your fucking career, and if you even think of trying to lie your way out of this, I’ll do a helluva lot fucking worse. After the week I’m having, I am just looking for an excuse to kick your fucking dick into the dirt. Do you understand?”
By the time I finish speaking, my chest is heaving up and down and my eyes are narrowed into slits. The officer is so angry that he’s shaking, hands balled up to fists at his sides. For a moment, I think he’ll try to hit me, but then his hard-exterior cracks and the anger gives way to fear.
“You – You can’t tell anyone about this,” he says, trying his best to sound menacing. But his voice wavers, and I can tell he’s losing his grip. “It’ll r-ruin my career.”
I raise my hand up to his cheek, placing my palm over the red imprint I had left on his skin. And then I flash him the sweetest goddamn smile that ever there was.
“I’d like to see you try to stop me.”
I give him a pat on the cheek before turning around and heading for the door, only to stop halfway when I see that I have an audience of one.
Spencer stands in the doorway, a coffee mug gripped tightly in one hand, mouth agape and eyes wide. He’s standing stock still, eyes darting in between the police officer and me. I let out an exasperated sigh because of-fucking-course it would be Spencer that would happen to walk in on whatever that just was.
“Close your mouth, Reid. That’s how you catch flies,” I deadpan, prompting Spencer to snap his mouth shut.
Without another word, I brush past him and leave the break room.
--
I suppose the universe had decided to finally give me a break, because that afternoon we were able to apprehend the unsub. But my good fortune only went so far, because Hotch announced that we would be leaving first thing in the morning – which meant another night alone with Spencer Reid.
He didn’t mention what he walked in on when the two of us arrived back at our room, and I didn’t expect him to. The two of us went about the motions of unwinding from the day in complete and utter silence, and by the time I emerge from the shower I decide that I’ve had enough.
“I’m gonna go stay with Elle and Derek,” I murmur as I zip up my suitcase and slip on my shoes.
“Oh. O-Okay.”
And that was that.
It’s about an hour later when my phone is on four percent that I realize I hadn’t remembered to bring my charger with me. I contemplate just letting it die, but the idea of sitting through a seven-hour jet ride tomorrow without it sounds excruciating. Then again, so does the idea of having to suffer through an interaction with Spencer.
The phone wins out in the end, and with Derek and Elle still snoring softly in their respective beds, I slip out of the room and into the hallway. With any luck, Spencer will be in a similar state and I’ll be able to sneak in and out without him waking up.
I think thank my lucky stars when I slowly crack open the door to Spencer’s room and see that the lights are off. I take special care to close the door as quietly as possible before tiptoeing across the carpeted floors, feeling my way around in the dark so that I don’t trip over anything.
I make it halfway across the room when I hear it – it’s quiet, and if the air conditioner had been on, I wouldn’t have even heard it at all. It’s faint, so faint that I wonder if I’d imagined it, but then that same sound breaks through the silence and I know it’s not a product of my imagination.
I hear the covers rustle, and then a low moan followed by the distinct sound of skin on skin. My blood runs cold as the moans grow louder and more frequent, rolling off Spencer’s lips in rapid succession. There’s heavy breathing and whimpering and holy fuck I just walked in on Spencer Reid masturbating.
Spencer cries out a particularly load moan, one that sounds so pornographic that it shoots straight to my core. It’s sexy and dirty and he sounds absolutely wrecked, and the part of my brain that is still capable of logical thinking is screaming get out! Get out, now!
I begin to slowly backtrack, moving at one tenth of the speed that I had coming in because the possibility of being caught is absolutely not an option. If Spencer hates me now, he’d really hate me if he found out I snuck into his room at night and heard… that.
I’m about five feet away from the door when:
“O-Oh my God, yes! Y/N, please - fuck!”
I think then that I certainly have to be dreaming, because there’s no way I’d just heard him correctly. There’s no way that Spencer – the same Spencer that scurried out of the room when I walked in – was moaning my name while he touched himself. Absolutely not.
But then it happens again and again and again – my name falling from his lips incessantly like some kind of debauched chant.
It feels like my skin is on fire – my mind a befuddled mess – and before my brain can tell me what a terrible idea it is, my feet are carrying me back into the room and I’m coming to a stop at the foot of Spencer’s bed.
Bathed in the glow of the moonlight shining through the window, Spencer looks ethereal. There’s a thin line of sweat beading on his forehead, and his usually meticulously slicked back hair is fanned out on the pillow like some sort of halo. His teeth are nestled into his bottom lip now, and all that can be heard are tiny whimpers as his hand slides up and down underneath the bed sheets. Spencer’s always beautiful, almost painfully so. But the way he looks now, shadows dancing across his face as he works himself to orgasm, is infinitely more breathtaking than words can express.
It doesn’t take long for Spencer to release his lip from beneath his teeth, and when he does my name is flying out of his mouth once more.
I take that as my invitation to speak.
“I don’t think I’ve heard you say my name before.”
Spencer’s entire body stills and his eyes fly open to reveal two dark pools full of sheer panic.
“I-I can explain,” he stammers, moving to clutch the comforter to his chest in an attempt to cover himself.
I let out a hum and sit down on the edge of the bed.
“Please do. I’m very interested in hearing about just what you were picturing me doing.”
Spencer sucks in a harsh breath. I can practically see the wheels in his brain turning -desperately trying to concoct some kind of reasonable explanation.
“I-I… I don’t… I’m s-sorry,” he stutters, and it’s so adorable how he’s squirming underneath my gaze that I decide to help him out.
“Was I sucking you off? Or were you fucking me?” I wonder aloud. He tries to hide it, thinking the covers will mask the way that his hips buck up, but I definitely see it.
“I-I…”
“Which was it, Spencer? Was I taking you down my throat or were you fucking my pussy? Or maybe I was coming undone on your face – was that it?”
Spencer lets out a low groan, and if my patience hadn’t been running so fucking thin, I probably would’ve left it at that. But after the hell he’d put me through for the last six months, I feel like he deserved to squirm a little.
“Fucking answer me.”
“Y-You were, um… r-riding me. And you s-slapped m-me.”
Oh.
This just got a lot more interesting.
I raise an eyebrow at him and I can see the way his Adam’s apple bobs up and down as he gulps.
“So, you liked what you saw today, did you?”
Spencer nods so fervently that I have to bite down on my tongue to suppress a laugh.
“Words, baby. Use them.”
“I-I liked it. A lot.”
“Apparently so, seeing as you were moaning for it like a desperate little slut,” I breeze, my tone cool and indifferent. “Have you done this before, Doctor? Touched yourself to the thought of me, that is.”
“… Y-Yes. I’m s-sorry. I didn’t m-mean to. It just kind of happened one night, and once I started, I couldn’t s-stop.”
I reach out a hand and brush away the hair that had fallen into his face, tucking it back behind his ear before continuing.
“Why the cold shoulder, then? And here I thought you hated me,” I muse, before pausing and cocking my head to the side. “Do you hate me, Doctor?” I ask, and just when I thought he couldn’t look more guilty, he proves me wrong.
“No! I just… couldn’t be around you. I felt so b-bad. You were so nice, and I was using you to g-get off,” Spencer explains. “I couldn’t look you in the eye. Not after picturing you… like that.”
I let out a sigh. Knowing that Spencer didn’t actually hate me for the last six months was a relief. Knowing that Spencer was secretly rubbing one out to me was something else entirely. Whatever was I to do with this information?
“So, you want to fuck me, then?” I reiterate. “Why not tell me this sooner?”
“The probability of you responding positively to me telling you that I, uh, m-masturbate to you was very l-low. And after what I saw today, I think I was wise for keeping that from you,” Spencer says, the last part coming out in a rush. I can’t help but let out a low laugh.
“Yes, but the guy that was coming on to me today wasn’t someone I find attractive. He was pompous and crass and pushy - and you, Doctor Reid, are none of those things.”
“R-Really? You think I’m attractive?”
I hum.
“Very much so, Doctor. But I’m afraid you may have waited too long, and now I don’t feel as inclined to be nice,” I murmur, allowing my hand to trail down from his shoulder to his collar bones before lightly grazing his nipple with my thumb.
“O-Oh my… God,” Spencer whimpers, eyes fluttering shut as my fingers continue to dance across his skin.
“But then again, I don’t think you really want me to be nice to you. I think you want me to treat you like my little play thing.” I stop my hand just below his navel and I thumb across the light layer of hair that makes up his happy trail. “You want to be my dirty boy - don’t you, Doctor Reid?”
“P-Please,” Spencer chokes out, hips jerking up when I allow my thumb to graze a little lower.
“Please what?”
Spencer lets out a frustrated groan.
“Please, I-I want you to u-use me. However you want, just as l-long as you just do-don’t stop touching me,” he rambles. He’s shuddering underneath me, his breaths coming out in harsh pants as my hand wanders lower and lower until I abruptly pull away. “W-Why did you stop?”
“Because I don’t think you deserve to be touched just yet. You’ve got six months to make up to me, after all. I think I want you on your knees for me first,” I say, and from the way his eyes seem to dilate even further, I don’t think he has any objections. “Are you familiar with the color system?”
Spencer nods.
“Green for good, yellow means slow down, and red means stop now.”
“Do you have a safe word?”
“I… I’ve never really, uh. Done t-this.”
Oh. Oh.
I withdraw my hand from its place on his leg and Spencer lets out a distressed whine. “No, please! Don’t go. I’m not a complete virgin, I promise. I got a h-hand job once,” he argues. “And I think I’ve done enough, uh, research, and I really want to try to make you cum. I want to be good for you. Please let me try.”
Spencer looks like he’s about two seconds away from crying, and I can feel my argument dying before it even leaves my mouth.
“Oh, baby, I know you’d be so good,” I coo, and just like that Spencer’s leaning towards me, desperate to have the contact. I indulge him, placing my hand on his cheek, and he relaxes into the touch. “Are you sure you want to do this with me? I’m not what anyone would call vanilla, and I don’t think you know what you’re getting into.”
“I trust you. I wouldn’t want it to be anyone else,” Spencer whispers, and he sounds so damn sincere that I feel my resolve crumbling.
“You’ll let me know if at any point you want to stop?”
“Yes. Absolutely!”
Enthusiastic little shit.
“Safe word?”
“Um… Tolstoy?”
I let out a snort.
“Alright, smarty pants. We’re going to start now, okay?”
“Yes, Miss,” Spencer pants out.
Fuck me running. He clearly has been doing his research.
“Get on your knees for me, baby. I wanna see just how eager to please you are,” I instruct as I stand up and shimmy out of my shorts. I discard my shirt, too, absentmindedly throwing it somewhere across the room. Spencer lets out a startled squeak when he sees that I’m now completely naked, aside from my underwear.
“Y-You’re so pretty,” Spencer breathes out. “Even better than I imagined.”
The sentiment tugs at my heart, really, it does, but I specifically requested that he get on his knees and he seems a lot more content to just sit and stare.
“On your knees,” I command, and Spencer jumps up almost comically fast.
“S-Sorry, Miss,” he apologizes as he lowers himself down. I seat myself on the edge of the bed and spread my legs for him.
“Don’t apologize, just do as I ask of you, okay baby?”
Spencer nods.
“C-Can I kiss you? Like on the lips first?” Spencer asks as he looks up at me with big doe eyes. It’s a beautiful thing, the image of Spencer Reid sitting in between my legs, cheeks flushed and chest rapidly rising and falling. I give Spencer a sweet smile and lean forward, and the excitement radiating off of him is practically palpable. He leans forward, too eager to wait for me to close the gap, and the action makes my chest swell in adoration.
Just as our lips are about to meet, I pause, and Spencer barely has the time to look confused before my palm connects with the side of his face. The moan it draws out of him is obscene and his hips jolt forward, desperate for some kind of friction. His dick rests painfully hard between his legs, flushed red with precum beading at the tip.
I waste no time in taking his chin in my hand and tilting his head upwards.
“Did I say you could kiss me?” I ask him, voice sugary sweet, contrasting starkly with my actions.
“N-No, Miss. I’m sorry,” Spencer pants out. His hand twitches at his side and I can see how desperately he wants to touch himself, but his desire to please keeps him still.
“Then the answer is no. Maybe if you can prove to me that you aren’t completely incompetent at eating pussy, I’ll consider it,” I allow a moment for my words to sink in. “Color?”
“Green. So fucking green,” Spencer whines.
“Good boy,” I praise him, and the effects of my words are instantaneous. Spencer rests his cheek against the skin of my thigh and then he’s nuzzling his face against me in a silent plea for permission. After a moment, his pleas become a lot less silent.
“Wanna be your good boy - please let me,” Spencer begs as his nose brushes against my skin. “I want to make you feel good. S’all I ever think about, since the first time I saw you.”
His words send a jolt of pleasure to my core and I reward his brazen honesty with a tender smile and a nod.
“Go ahead, baby. Let me see what that pretty mouth of yours can do.”
The words barely have time to leave my mouth before Spencer is reaching out and hooking a finger underneath the waistband of my panties. I raise up off the bed just enough for him to slide them down my legs, and before I even manage to settle back down onto the bed, Spencer literally dives in. He starts with one long lick, and by the time he reaches my clit he’s crying out lewd moans against me. The feel of the vibrations mixed with the feel of his mouth on me is maddening in the best possible way, and my eyelids threaten to flutter closed under the weight of my pleasure.
“Fuck, baby – you’re doing so good,” I sigh as I lift my hand up and card my fingers through his hair. “You look so pretty on your knees for me.”
Spencer’s movements stutter when he feels my hand tangle itself into his hair, and I let out a light chuckle. I grab hold of the roots and give an experimental tug. My actions cause his hips to jolt forward violently.
“O-Oh my…” Spencer keens, raising his glossy, lust filled eyes to mine. “H-Harder, please.”
I oblige, and Spencer lets out a particularly filthy groan before lapping at my pussy like a man possessed. His hands come to wrap around my thighs and he pulls me closer to him, causing me to let out a gasp when his nose nudges against my clit. The sound only spurs him on further – Spencer begins assaulting my clit, alternating between short, kitten licks and light sucking. The control I had so adamantly been asserting over him began to slip from my fingertips the longer he worked his mouth against me, and quiet, breathy moans started falling from my lips.
“Such a good boy, Spence,” I moan as I scratch my fingernails against his scalp. “You’re making me feel so good, baby. Love that dirty little mouth of yours.”
Spencer thrives on the praise – that much is made obvious by the way he whimpers and tightens his grip on my thighs. He’s completely submitted himself to the act of getting me off, only stopping long enough to cry out when my hands give a particularly harsh tug on his hair.
“Add a finger, baby,” I tell him, allowing my hand to drift down the side of his face, caressing the sharp angles of his cheekbones.
Spencer releases my thigh from his hold and tentatively raises a hand to my entrance, eyes raising to meet mine.
“You’ll tell me if I do something wrong?” he asks, and his concern is so endearing that I tilt his chin upwards and lean forward until my lips meet his.
Spencer gasps into the kiss, shocked, but it doesn’t take him long before his lips are moving against mine fervently. His lips are slick with my arousal, and I dart my tongue out just long enough to swipe it across his bottom lip.
“D’you like how I taste, baby?” I murmur against his lips, pulling back slightly when Spencer tries to bring his lips down against mine.
“S-So much,” he whispers, before letting out a frustrated groan when I tease him with the slightest brush of my lips before pulling away again. “P-Please, kiss me again.”
I bump my nose against his before I reach down and grab his hand in mine.
“Don’t be a greedy boy, Spencer. Greedy boys don’t get to cum,” I chastise him as I raise his hand up to my mouth. I trace my bottom lip with his pointer finger as Spencer watches on in rapt fascination, before taking the digit into my mouth and sucking. Spencer chokes out a pathetic cry and his hips hopelessly buck into the air as I swirl my tongue around the pad of his finger, taking special care to coat it with spit before releasing it from my mouth.
I guide his hand back down to my pussy, gasping when the tip of his finger brushes across my entrance.
“Just take it slow, baby. Start with one and move up to two once you get the hang of it.”
Spencer nods, eyes alternating between my face and my entrance as he slowly slides his finger in me.
“You’re so warm, oh my God,” Spencer breathes out, tentatively pulling out his finger before inserting it back in. I hum appreciatively as he begins to move faster, eyelids fluttering shut when he lowers his head and begins languidly licking my clit.
“Feels so nice, Spence. I fucking love your fingers. Knew that they’d feel like this. I can only imagine how good your cock will feel,” I ramble, one hand fisted in the sheets and the other tugging on his honey brown hair.
I groan as he inserts a second finger, reveling in the way he’s stretching me out.
“Curl your fingers when you – fuck! Just like that, baby. Gonna make me cum if you keep doing t-that.”
Spencer speeds up both the onslaught of his fingers and his mouth at my admission, tongue working figure eights on my clit while his fingers brush up against my g-spot. A familiar warmth starts to spread in my lower belly, and with every swipe of Spencer’s tongue against my clit, the coil in my stomach winds tighter and tighter until, finally:
“O-Oh, fuck, Spence!”
The coil snaps, sending jolts of pleasure straight through my core. I can feel the way my walls tighten around Spencer’s fingers as my orgasm rips through me, never stopping their ministrations in an attempt to help me ride out my high. Vibrations ripple across my clit when Spencer lets out a cry of his own before his movements halt completely as shudders wrack his body.
I know he didn’t just…
I allow myself a moment to recover before I lean forward and drag my eyes down Spencer’s slender frame – and sure enough, his tummy is covered in white ropes of cum and his now softening cock is hanging limply between his legs.
Spencer’s eyes reluctantly open when his shudders cease, and one look at my pissy expression is enough to send him into a fit.
“I-I didn’t mean to cum! I’m so sorry, Miss. It’s j-just that you looked so pretty when you came, and you taste so good! And you were pulling my hair, and you called me a good boy and I just couldn’t do it anymo-”
“Shut up,” I seethe, voice cold and laced with annoyance. Spencer’s mouth snaps shut and he gulps. “Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t remember saying that you were allowed to come. Am I mistaken?” “N-No, Miss.”
“Mm, that’s what I thought,” I hum. “Stand up.”
“B-But I want to make you cum again! Can I plea-”
“Shut the fuck up and stand up, Spencer.”
Spencer rushes to his feet, stumbling a bit when his legs begin to shake. He corrects himself, standing perfectly still in front of me with a shameful look on his face. I scoot back on the bed and fix him with a stony look.
“I want you to lay on your stomach across my lap. Can you do that, Doctor Reid, or are you too stupid to follow simple directions?”
Spencer adamantly shakes his head, scrambling to splay out across my bare thighs. Once he’s comfortable, I raise a palm to his bare ass cheek and smooth my hand across the skin.
“Color?”
“G-Green,” Spencer stutters out.
“Wonderful. Since you’ve decided to be a greedy little slut and cum before I gave you permission, I’m going to punish you. Do you remember your safe word, baby?”
“Tolstoy.”
“Good boy. I’m going to give you ten, and I want you to count them out for me. One for every month you held out on me, and four because you’re an insolent little whore who can’t do as he’s told. Does that sound fair to you?”
“Y-Yes, Miss. P-Please.”
A harsh smack sounds throughout the room, and Spencer lets out a whorish moan that’s bound to wake the people in the neighboring rooms. The pale skin of his ass transforms to red, and I rub my palm across it soothingly.
“O-One,” Spencer says through gritted teeth as he rocks his hips against my legs.
“You okay, baby?”
“Y-Yes, Miss. Please don’t stop. I deserve it. P-Punish me, please.”
My palm comes down across his ass four more times, and with each strike I watch Spencer fall apart right before my eyes. Tears are gliding down his flushed cheeks, and his cock is now painfully hard against my legs.
“Five more to go, baby. Keep counting for me, my pretty boy.”
By the time my hand comes down against his flesh for the final time, Spencer has devolved into a mess of pathetic whimpers. His cock is smearing precum across my thighs as he rocks against me, and his ass is covered in a litany of bright red marks. Incomprehensible pleas are falling from his lips, and his hands are tightly fisted in the sheets.
I lean forward and place a gentle kiss to each of his battered cheeks.
“T-Thank you, Miss. Thank you, thank you, thank you…”
“You’re welcome, baby. Can you go lay in the center of the bed for me?”
Spencer gives a feeble nod and crawls to the center of the bed, carefully laying himself down and letting out a low hiss when his ass came in contact with the mattress.
I let him rest against the sheets before I roll over and settle in between his legs.
Spencer’s cock, painfully hard and leaking precum, sits against his belly. Spencer watches as I trace lithe fingers up his thigh, his chest rising and falling quickly as I get closer to where he demands my attention.
A garbled groan rips from his throat when my hand grasps his cock, and I have to place my other hand on his hip and force him back down onto the bed when he tries to buck up.
“Stay still, baby,” I tut as I drag my fist up and down at an agonizingly slow pace.
“S-Sorry, M-Miss,” Spencer stutters. His brows are drawn together and his eyes are heavy lidded. “Need m-more, please.”
“Mm, I don’t think you need more. You just want more. Dumb little greedy baby,” I tease as my thumb swipes across his head.
“Oh… G-God, please!” Spencer mewls.
“Is what I’m giving you not good enough?”
“N-No, it’s just-”
I raise an eyebrow at him and halt my movements.
“No, it isn’t good enough?”
Spencer lets out a frustrated groan and his fists clench the sheets.
“P-Please, Miss! I’ll be your good boy, I promise. Just let me cum, please, I want it so bad!”
Thoroughly pleased by his shameless begging, I start moving my hand again.
“Let me know when you’re about to cum, baby.”
That moment comes when, not thirty seconds later, the muscles in Spencer’s abdomen start to spasm – telltale signs of an impending orgasm. Spencer is so lost in the way my hand is moving against his cock that he makes no move to warn me, and just as I see his eyes start to flutter shut, I withdraw my hand.
“W-Why did yo-”
“You didn’t tell me you were about to cum. I thought you said you were going to be a good boy, Spencer? You sure aren’t acting like someone who wants to cum.”
“S-Sorry, please, just… fuck!”
Spencer’s whole-body folds in on itself when my mouth wraps around the head of his cock. I swirl my tongue around the tip, lapping up the precum that had gathered before I pull away.
“You’ve got such a pretty cock, baby. Can’t believe nobody’s had you in their mouth yet,” I murmur, pausing to drag my tongue along the veiny underside of his erection. “Let me hear you, baby. Wanna know how much you like when I use my mouth on you.”
“Love it so much, oh God… Feels so warm and wet. Thank you so much, Miss. God, it feels perfect,” Spencer keens as I take him into my mouth again. Mumbled praises fall from his lips as I take him deeper, and the second my nose hits the soft skin of his belly, Spencer’s hand comes up and begins to tap incessantly on my shoulder.
“S-Stop! I-I’m close – Jesus Christ, I’m so fucking close and I really want to cum inside you, i-if that’s okay with you,” Spencer babbles, eyes wide and pleading. I smile up at him.
“Do you think you deserve to cum in my pussy?”
“H-Honestly, no, but I’m hoping you’ll let me anyways,” Spencer says, shooting me an adorably shy smile that has my heart doing somersaults in my chest. I let out a light laugh and shake my head, moving to straddle his lap.
“Are you sure you want to do this, Spence?” I murmur as I caress the side of his face with my hands. “This can stop right here, if you want it to.”
“Please, Miss. I want this. I want you,” Spencer reiterates, eyes shining and filled to the brim with adoration.
“Want you, too, baby. You can call me my name now, if you want,” I say as I place a gentle kiss on his lips. I move to pull away, but Spencer’s hand is quick to grasp the back of my neck and pull me back in.
While our lips move together, frenzied and desperate, I sneak a hand in between our bodies and grab Spencer’s cock. He gasps into my mouth as I drag his head in between my folds.
“I-I won’t last long,” Spencer chokes out, eyes trained on where I’m rubbing him against me. “I’ll try my b-best, but I’m sorry if I c-cum too fast.”
I sink down just enough that his head is the only thing inside me, watching as his face contorts beautifully as a result.
“Don’t worry about me, baby. Tonight’s all about you.”
With one last, chaste kiss to his lips, I slowly begin to lower myself down onto his length. The sound of our moans fill the room as Spencer clings desperately to me, hands finally finding purchase on my hips.
“Y/N, fuck, you feel so good,” Spencer whimpers as I begin to slowly rock against him. “I-I knew it would feel good, but oh my God. I-I can’t… I’m gonna cum, soon. M’so sorry.”
His admission prompts me to move faster, raising my hips until he’s almost completely out of me before I’m slamming back down.
“Spence, you feel so good. Such a good boy – my good boy.”
“Yes, yes, I’m all yours! Only yours, please!” Spencer whines. I lean forward, and the change of angle is enough for both of us to cry out.
“Are you gonna be a good boy and cum for me, Spence?” I murmur into his ear, biting lightly against his earlobe. “I want you to cum in me, baby. Don’t you want to be my good boy?” I punctuate my words by lightly wrapping my hand around this throat and squeezing, and that’s all it takes for Spencer to completely fall apart underneath me.
“Y/N - fuck!”
Spencer’s grip on my hips tightens as he bucks up into me, painting the inside of my pussy with his cum as he yells out strangled exclamations of my name. He presses his face into my shoulder as I ride him through his orgasm, whispering quiet thank yous and pressing open mouthed kisses to my skin as the euphoria floods through his body.
I place a kiss to his forehead before I crawl off of him, having every intention of getting up and procuring a wet washrag. But Spencer reaches out to grip my arm, and his eyes look so sad that I stop in my tracks.
“C-Can you stay? Please?”
The insecurity in his voice tugs at my heart.
“Of course, I’m staying. Was just gonna get a wet washrag for us. M’not gonna leave you, Spence,” I murmur. Spencer visibly untenses, but his grip on my arm doesn’t lessen.
“Could you just stay here a little bit longer?”
“Sure thing, baby,” I say, prompting Spencer’s lips to pull up into a pleased smile. I crawl back into the bed and lay on my back, and Spencer instantly plasters himself to my side. He hums contentedly as he wraps his arms around me, and I let out a light laugh when I catch him stealing glances at me.
“What is it, baby?”
A rosy blush spreads across his cheeks.
“Can I kiss you?”
After everything we just did, he still feels the need to ask permission to kiss me. What a sweet boy.
My answer comes in the form of me pressing my lips to his, and that’s how we stay until he pulls away.
“I have another question,” he says shyly.
“Lay it on me, baby.”
The blush on his cheeks gets significantly more pronounced.
“It’s just that, uh, you didn’t get to cum again. And I really want you to, because you took such good care of me,” Spencer pauses, and his fingertips lightly graze the inside of my thigh. “C-Could I please eat you out again?” Another pause, and he retracts his hand. “I-It’s okay if not. I understand if you just wanted this to be… a one-time thing. I guess I was just kind of hoping that it w-wouldn’t be. But that’s silly – you were just doing me a favor. I’m sorry I asked.”
Spencer cringes as he finishes speaking, not even giving me a chance to reply before he’s trying to pull away. I tighten my grip on his arm, and Spencer gives me a weary look.
“First of all, I don’t think I would ever say no to being eaten out – especially if you’re the one offering. Second, this is definitely not a one off. I have lots of plans for you, pretty boy,” I explain, and the relief that radiates off of Spencer is almost palpable.
“Thank God,” he sighs, and then he’s scooting down the bed and settling in between my legs.
--
And if the rest of the team notices the way Spencer starts following me around like a lost puppy - well, they’re all kind enough not to point it out.
#spencer reid x reader#spencer reid smut#spencer reid#spencer x reader#spencer reid x you#spencer reid fanfiction#sub!spencer#dom!reader#criminal minds smut#criminal minds fanfic#smut#dom/sub#sub spence
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A Size Up
Summary: Living with your best friend proves to be harder than you thought after he changes
Pairing: Jean Kirstein x black!fem!reader
Warnings: smut (18+!!), major size kink, a lot of praise, unprotected sex, fingering (f.receiving), oral (f.receiving), little bit of cum eating, multiple orgasms, reader is picked up, best friends to lovers, confession of feelings, aftercare, fluff at the end like it gets really soft, college!au
Word Count: 3719
A/N: This came from the fact that Jean is 6'3" and for whatever reason, it brought out the size kink in me, also I’ve been having really bad Jean brainrot, so enjoy
This definitely had to be a punishment for something that you did because this is more than torture. You had met your roommate in your freshman year of college, and there no issues there. Everything was perfectly fine, great even.
But then he changed.
The next school year, he had grown, now towering over you, his hair now coming down to his neck as he started to grow in a little facial hair. These new changes affected you in a different way than he usually affects you, and it was absolutely making your life harder.
You had always felt some type of way towards Jean, sometimes catching yourself thinking what it would be like if you were dating, but you always shook those thoughts out of your head. Now you were feeling a different type of way.
You were fucking horny for your roommate and the worst part was that you couldn't do anything to relieve yourself. No matter how many times you made yourself cum, it was like it would start all over again. You literally interacted with him all the time, and there was always something new that would make your panties slick with arousal, and you find yourself in the same position every night, vibrator in between your legs, your hand covering the moans of his name.
And another thing was that this change hit you like a truck. He had asked you if you would be cool with living with him for your final year of college, telling you that he didn't have anyone else to ask and that he was tight on money. You were a little hesitant but said yes anyway. To this day, you still don't know if that was the best or worst decision of your life.
The first incident was when you were walking to the bathroom, jumping when the door swings open, meeting a wet Jean with a towel wrapped very loosely around his waist, and because of how close you were, you had no choice but to lift your head up to look him in the face. "Oh, shit, sorry. Bathroom's all yours," he says easily, before slipping past you, his scent making your eyes close for a split second when it fills your nostrils.
You watch him walk down the hallway, and that's when you notice how defined his muscles are, and you were just looking at his back, only imagining what the rest of him looked like, and you walk into the bathroom, smacking your head on the door when it closes.
It also didn't help that he was always walking around the apartment shirtless, and you finally got a look at what his body looking like from the front, and you swallow heavily as you feel your mouth water.
The bathroom really isn't that big, so there's no way that the both of you could fit in there comfortably, and it was your time to be in there, but he was in a rush and needed something. You had turned around when he came in there with a rushed apology, fucking shirtless of course before reaching over you to grab something from the mirror.
Your breath hitches as you run your eyes down his frame, his abs so deeply outlined that you can barely stop yourself from touching him as your eyes run over his shoulders which definitely weren't that broad when you met him, you can barely see anything behind you. He gets what he's looking for before giving you another quick apology and walking out the door.
You lean back against the counter as you feel your legs trying to regain strength.
A cold shower sounds really good right now.
There was another time where Jean was having an off day, and you offered to watch a movie, his head laying in your lap while your hand runs through his hair, making him sigh contently, and your eyebrows raised when he starts to shift, both of you end up laying on the couch instead of sitting, with him in between your legs.
You don't stop carding your fingers through his hair, and his eyes are trained on the movie, but yours are trained on how big he looks between you as he looks at the TV over your thigh, and the last thing you can think about is watching the movie.
You barely make it an hour, and luckily Jean is feeling a little better, sleep starting to come to him, and you nearly bolt to your room. You try to fight the demanding arousal in your core but you can't, and you wish it was Jean inside of you instead of the plastic toy that does nothing to help you relieve your problems.
~
Now it was your turn to have a bad day, nothing going your way today, and you fight back tears of exhaustion when you walk into the apartment, letting your bag fall softly on the floor as you toy your shoes off.
You let Jean pull you into his lap as you bury your face in his neck, his hands rubbing up and down your back instantly making it feel like all of the stress lift off of you. This was one of these moments where those blooming, high school crush feelings resurfaced, and they always come back whenever he does something considerate like this.
But to your dismay, the lustful feelings were winning out this time. The feeling of his hands on your back felt really nice, but you were only focusing on how big they were, and you shift slightly as you try to think of anything else. "Do you feel better?" he asks, and you smile softly as you lift your head up to look at him.
"Yeah, I do. Thank you, Jean," you say, and you hope he doesn't hear the way your breath hitches when you see how close your faces are and how you still have to look up at him even sitting in his lap. His frame still eclipses yours, and you need to find a way out of this situation before it gets too late.
The air between the two of you shifts as his hands slow to a stop, one resting on your hip as you take a deep breath in. "So, anything else you wanna do?" he whispers, and you're so close to letting that wall breakdown.
And then your stomach fucking grumbles. Loudly.
Both of you laugh softly, the tension that was there broken slightly, and he nods his head towards the kitchen. "There might be some leftovers in the fridge," he tells you, and you nod again, and you swear you felt his hand linger a little longer on your hip as you stand.
You notice some leftover pasta on the stove so you open the cabinet to get a bowl and you realize you can't reach it. You tense briefly when you feel a hand on your hip. "I got it," Jean says, his body thick and heavy against your back, and that tension that was in the room is back.
He sets the bowl down on the counter, and you turn around, his hand returning to your waist when you're finally facing him. He brings his other hand to rub at your side, and once again the feeling of his hands on you makes dirty thoughts swirl in your head, and suddenly you don't feel very hungry anymore. At least not for food.
"You still hungry?" he asks, his voice a whisper, but it's so deep that it sends a shiver up your spine. You shake your head slowly, and he must be thinking the same thing you are because his hands slowly make their way under your shirt, quickly heating your skin.
"Good." And the next thing you feel his lips on yours, and his hands gripping your waist tighter as yours run over his shoulders. He groans as his tongue slides into your mouth, before hoisting you up on the counter.
His hands move down to your thighs, gripping them and pulling you into him, and your legs wrap around his waist as your hands tangle in his hair. He kisses you deeply before sucking on your tongue, making you pull on his hair which makes him moan loudly in your mouth.
"Please tell me you want this," he breathes when he pulls away, both of your chests heaving from the lack of air as his hands run over your thighs and back under your shirt, and you nod your head eagerly.
"Yes, I want this, Jean, I want you," you sigh, and he puts his lips back on yours before sliding you off the counter and moving his hands under your butt, and your legs wrap around him as he carries you to his room, never breaking the kiss. He kicks the door open, closing it with his foot before getting on his knees on the bed, your back falling against the mattress as your arms wrap around his neck.
He kisses you with as much lustful passion as he can while he slots himself between your legs. He kisses down your jaw, waiting until he gets to your neck to pull at the skin between his teeth, before soothing the pain with his tongue. He rolls up your shirt, planting soft kisses up your stomach that makes you shudder before you quickly take it off.
It barely falls to the floor before he already working on undoing the clasp on your bra. That falls to the floor along with your shirt, and you moan softly when he licks over your nipples as you bite your lip to try and muffle it. He looks up at you as he grabs them in his hands, his fingers running over and rubbing the buds softly.
"Don't muffle them, baby, I wanna hear you," he tells you, not giving you a chance to respond before he's putting his mouth back on them, and you do as he says, the soft whines falling out of your mouth as he sucks one into his mouth, his teeth grazing over it softly before he does the same thing to the other.
He kisses back down your stomach, licking at your navel, and he chuckles to himself when you lift your hips so that he can get rid of your shorts easily. "Someone's needy, huh?" he teases but removes the fabric anyway, and his gaze goes dark at the sight of your folds already soaked, and he groans before sitting up to remove his shirt.
He lays back down, adjusting his body before throwing your legs over his shoulders, and you dig your hand into the chestnut locks on his head in surprise when he digs in, his tongue running over your folds to get your slick on his tongue as soon as possible.
He sighs when he feels your legs squeezing around his head, feeling drunk off of your thighs warming his already heated face, and the fact that you taste so good. He spreads your legs, massaging the crease of your thighs and holding them down when you try to move them back.
He sucks at your clit, licking at it with firm circles before he brings a hand down to prod his fingers at your hole. With how much wetness has accumulated, it's not hard for him to make his way in, his fingers stretching you out before finding that bundle of nerves inside of you, making you jump.
"Please, Jean," you beg when he's working on stretching you out with three fingers, and he huffs against your folds.
"Patience, angel. I gotta prep you for me," he says, giving your clit one last suck before he slides his fingers out, and he can't resist putting them in his mouth, licking over every inch until your taste is gone, and then he's sitting up to shed the rest of his clothes.
He throws his clothes on the floor as his dick slaps his abdomen, and what you've been fantasizing about is way bigger than you've imagined, and now his words make sense. He leans down over you, bracing an elbow next to your head as he guides himself towards your hole, covering his head with your wetness.
"I'll go slow, okay?" You nod, spreading your legs a little further, and you throw your head back as you dig your nails into his arm when he starts to make his way in. "Fuck, you're still so tight," he groans, kissing you softly as he keeps his thrusts shallow, slowly inching his way in.
"You're doing so good, baby," he praises, rubbing on your clit to ease the burning stretch. "You look so pretty taking me so well."
"Jean," you moan, your chest rising and falling quickly as you look down to see that he's still not all the way in.
"You can do it, angel. You're so doing so good," and he grunts as he feels your walls pulse around him. "Breathe, baby, you can do it. There you go, atta girl."
He braces his other arm on the other side of your head, breathing heavily to try and control himself as he lets you get used to the rather huge intrusion. You feel so full, fuller than you could've ever thought, and you definitely feel him in your throat. This is even better than you could've imagined, shocked at the fact that your body's going limp just from him being inside you, not even moving yet.
You nod your head when you're ready even though your body is still humming. He grabs your hands, lacing his fingers with yours before he slowly pulls out, a scream ripping out of your throat when he slams back in.
Your mouth falls open as your eyes roll back in your head, overwhelming pleasure coursing through your veins as you chant his name, the pain long gone. The look on your face only spurs him on along with how small you look under him, how you seem to run away from him and pull him closer at the same time.
You look so wrecked taking his dick, and he wants to keep seeing it on your face, snapping his hips faster, and your limp body jolts when he pushes on that sensitive spot, making you see stars, and he aims there as you both get closer to your climax.
Your nails are digging in his skin at every part that you can reach. "You close, baby?" he asks even though he's right around the corner from cumming, and you nod your head quickly, your brain too fuzzy to even think about speaking, and he goes back to rubbing at your clit. "Cum for me baby, you're taking me so well, go ahead," he purrs, and he gives you one last hard thrust, and your back is arching off the bed as white hot pleasure rips through your body.
Stuttering moans follow as you clamp around him, and he watches you come undone, triggering his orgasm as he cums with a loud moan of your name, throwing his head back as he cums inside of you. He thrusts through the last of your highs before slowly pulling out, and you wince as you feel soreness already starting to form.
You sigh heavily as you catch your breath, throwing an arm over your eyes as your heart beats rapidly in your ears. You don't even realize that Jean's left until you feel something warm softly rubbing over your core.
You jump slightly, and he rubs over your thigh as he carefully moves your leg to the side. "Relax, angel, I'm just cleaning you up," he tells you, his eyes going glossy at the sight of his cum dribbling out of you and your trembling legs.
You let your arm fall back down on the mattress as he leaves to throw the washcloth in the sink in the bathroom, and the next thing you feel is the bed dipping next to you. You let him move you into his lap, wincing again when you straddle him.
He rubs up and down your back as he kisses you softly, massaging your thighs that are still shaking before snaking his hands on the inside of your thighs to do the same. "You did so well, baby," he praises, and you hum softly, still dazed from your orgasm.
He leans over towards the nightstand before returning his attention to you. "Here, you still gotta eat." He breaks off a piece of cookie with one hand, dropping the bigger piece before bringing the smaller one to your mouth.
He goes back to massaging your aching muscles as you chew softly before feeding you a few more cookies. Your legs have stopped shaking, but the dulling pain is still there, and you whine quietly when he shifts under you. "Sore?" he asks, and you nod your head without a word. "Don't worry, I got you."
He grabs your legs before softly laying you on your back, and he moves your legs, pushing them closer to your chest. His hands ghost down dangerously close to your core, the touch making you clench around nothing, which isn't missed by him before pushing your legs down.
You grimace when you feel your muscles pull, and he rubs gentle circles on your skin with his thumbs. "God, you're so beautiful," he says, his eyes running down your naked body and zeroing in on your cunt. "I gotta taste you again," he adds, more to himself, and he holds your legs in position, which gives him enough room to reach you without anything getting in his way.
It seems like he eats you out with more enthusiasm this time, desperately wanting to taste you again, and he can see some remnants of white still dripping out of you, so he starts there, lapping it up before he slides his tongue inside, moving it in and out, moaning when he feels your walls clamping around his tongue as your wetness coats the muscle.
He pulls away, a mix of his saliva and your slick connecting his tongue to your lips before sucking at your clit, and the action causes you to pull on his hair, making him moan again. He can feel your legs twitching against him, reaching your climax faster due to still being sensitive from the first one.
Along with yours quickly approaching, Jean's is approaching fast too. The feeling of you pulling on his hair that's only getting tighter makes his dick twitch against the sheets, and he ruts against them. The faster he moves, the crazier he becomes about eating you out. His moans vibrate against you, only sending you higher, and the high-pitched moans of his name coming from you do the same.
"Cum, baby, I wanna taste you, please cum," he begs, his voice borderline delirious, and it takes a couple of swirls around your clit, and your body's tensing harder than it did the first time.
Jean's catching everything in his mouth, rutting against the sheets rapidly as your slick coats his tongue, and all of the images from not too long ago flood his head, and he's cumming against your cunt with a loud groan, his muscles clenching as he spills onto the sheets.
Your ragged breaths fill the room again as you let your body go slack, Jean finally letting your legs go as he licks around his mouth to get as much of you as he can. He flops down next to you, wrapping his arms around you, and pulling you into a deep kiss, moaning softly when you taste yourself.
"Feel better?" he asks, pulling away but keeping his face close to yours.
You give him a happy sigh as you nod, and he's meeting your lips again as lifts your leg to rest across him before rubbing up your thigh and over your ass softly. "So, what now?" he jokes softly, laughing quietly when you do.
"Well, is this part where we confess our feelings?" you respond, and he sighs contently as you run your fingers through his hair softly.
"Only if you feel the same way." He tries to keep it light, but there's still that underlying tone of uncertainty, that maybe this whole thing was one-sided.
You scoff softly as you kiss him again, continuing your strokes in his hair. "Of course I feel the same way, Jean," you say, and he smiles widely.
"Good. Because I definitely want to do that again," he admits, raking his nails down your back gently, making goosebumps rise over your skin. You laugh in response to his words, and he feels his heart skip a beat as he watches you.
And he swallows thickly when you look back at him. "I love you."
You give him a soft yet big smile. "I love you, too." And he can't fight the smile that widens on his face before he kisses you again, fuller this time, gripping your hip softly. You laugh again when he rolls onto his back, pulling you on top of him, and he wraps his arms around you.
"Seriously?" he asks in disbelief, and you nod eagerly.
"Yes. I love you, Jean Kirstein." His face hurts from smiling, and he peppers kisses all over your face, making you giggle loudly, and he tightens his arms around you when you try to move away.
He rolls over so that he's on top before meeting your lips for a chaste kiss, and then he's pulling away to look at you, finally getting something that he's wanted for so long, but thought he would never get.
"What are you looking at?" you ask, your eyebrows furrowing softly.
"My girlfriend," he responds, both of your hearts fluttering at the term, and you raise your eyebrows.
"Really? You're not even gonna take me on a date first?"
"I would very much rather go for another round of amazing sex, but I guess I'll settle for that," he replies sarcastically, and he feels his heart skip again when you laugh. "I love you," he tells you again, saying the words making it feel like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.
"I love you, too."
Why do I love using the best friends to lovers trope with Jean LMFAO
#jean kirstein#jean kirstein smut#jean kirschtein#jean kirschtein smut#jean kirstein x black reader#jean kirschtein x black reader#jean kirstein x reader#jean kirschtein x reader#aot fanfiction#snk fanfiction#aot smut#snk smut
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Keiji and Sara’s relationship throughout yttd
In which I analyze the found family dynamic between Sara and Keiji then nobody reads it. But jokes aside, I realized back when that anon asked me for my thoughts on Sara that I had enough thoughts on the relationship between these two alone for its own meta so here goes. What Sara and Keiji’s relationship means in the grand scheme of yttd.
ALSO THIS IS NOT SHIPPING SHIPPERS GET THE FUCK AWAY
Sara when she meets Keiji is distrustful of him. And how can she not be? The guy has some creepy bags under his eyes, doesn’t seem to care about the situation, and for no reason is gravitating towards her. And his response when she asks why the hell he keeps putting a random stranger in charge? “Because you’re cute.” Yeah. I’d stay within 50 feet of this guy too Sara. Especially when he’s not spilling a word about himself.
Alright we might as well get the gross part out of the way. To clear things up. In the Japanese version, the word he uses “Kawai” can be seen as a more fatherly word to use with a kid. But the comments about going on dates from himself and from Shin? Those are still there. And I still think they’re really uncomfortable and wish they weren’t in the game period but we can get thematic significance out of them.
We still don’t know Keijis reasons in game for being attached to Sara. My theory? She’s his handicap. He was told to get close to the higher scorer who could easily backstab him, and he’d be stuck with her. It just kinda makes sense to me. But since that’s just a theory I won’t lean to heavily on it for support. But let’s talk about his comments.
Keiji… well, it’s shown at many points in the game that Keiji just thinks of himself as doomed to be a bad person. It can be seen during his day two negotiations when he calls himself a killer and explains he can’t even trust himself so Sara shouldn’t really bother and more explicitly so is the classroom scene between him and Ranmaru where he says he isn’t fit to protect Sara because of his sins. The flirting is both a way to distract people, and to put distance between himself and Sara. He’s not really “protecting” her.
Okay gross bit nobody wants to talk about is over I promise we won’t talk about it again. Let’s talk about Russian Roulette. In this scene, Keiji once again tries to make Sara the leader with no explanation, but then, Sara yells at him, something he didn’t expect. And through this he actually reveals something huge. The source of his trauma. His shooting. For Keiji to have actually revealed something that big, I think that this is the first moment he began to see Sara past whatever reason he first started making her a leader. This is the beginning of their bond.
This bond gets solidified over chapter 1-2s investigation. Keiji is still putting her in charge because his handicap said to build her up for whatever reason, but they’re able to have chats, and she keeps picking at his armor. He reveals his dark sense of humor to her, and she, suspicious just sort of keeps him at arms length. Also she rides his shoulders to screw in a light and he complains which is funny. The scene post Nao also helps the two of them sharpen investigative skills together, as they discuss the mystery of Miley, and Mishimas head.
Then another significant scene. The white room. I call this scene significant because, instead of letting Sara investigate the gruesome scene of the first trial, Keiji for the first time, allows Sara to walk out. Something that will become relevant later but until then, Keiji has begun to put Sara’s well-being above serving whatever purpose he had by building her up. So keep that in your pocket while we go over the main game.
There’s only two points for the main game I want to cover. While Keiji and Sara do put their heads together a few times, Sara still doesn’t fully trust him, so I will only go over 1. When Shin brings up Kai’s emails. Keiji has been fully logical this whole time, questioning everyone’s alibis including Nao’s who he saw the emotional plea from, but when Sou brings up potentially damning evidence of Sara, he just asks if he read the emails wrong. 2. When Sara is panicking over being chosen for the final round, Keiji loudly shouts “GET A GRIP SARA!” With a serious expression. Before quickly backtracking and going back to a devil may care expression. This shows he is both already emotionally attached to Sara, but unwilling to stake himself towards giving himself to a new cause.
Anyways, he stops her from pressing the button blah blah blah, onto chapter 2! I’ve made a post about this before but it seems as early as here, Keiji is trying to talk Sara down from pushing herself further. But at this point, Sara has already dedicated herself to the role because her best friend died due to her priority to protect everyone. Keiji sees the problem and he tries to get her to rest up, but he still doesn’t spend the time to have a serious talk about it because as he says in the classroom. He isn’t fit to protect her. He doesn’t think of himself as a good person who can help her. He thinks of himself as a murderer and he doesn’t allow himself to recover from the trauma.
Sara however is starting to rely more on Keiji. He’s been willing to comfort her in her times of grief and furthermore, she has something to relate to him on. They both have deaths of important people in their lives they feel responsibility for.
There’s also the fact that Keiji sees a lot of his old self in Sara. An idealistic person, being beaten down, and worrying over the idea they might be becoming a bad person. He feels the same as her.
Not to mention… Keiji follows through on his promises. He actually tells Sara about the person he respected like he said he would which establishes a further sense of trust.
However, something that tears that sense of trust apart is the tokens scene. When Keiji doesn’t even let Sara hold 50 tokens, it raises suspicion. Sara already knows he shot a person- what more could he have to hide? That scares her away. The negotiation event is an attempt for Keiji to win back her trust. But it slowly turns into Keiji’s self-loathing session. And his declaration maybe Sara shouldn’t trust him.
However, time passes enough (and Keiji supports Sara enough in the final attraction) for them to get together and investigate in 2-2. And there’s a lot of moments I can talk about there so I’ll be just doing a few rapidfire things. So first, Sara is in peak weird girl mode and Keiji can hardly control her chaos. Second, Keiji makes a full on decision at one point to go against Sara when she’s putting herself in danger of getting caught for their search so they can hide. Third, his response to “I don’t intend to die” when he asks “will you die with me” is that’s a good answer.
And fourth… a moment I really wanna touch on… Keiji watches something that could easily incriminate Sara. It’s not just some word of mouth thing like with Shin who lied about things several times before this point. But in that moment, he still relies on Sara and says he wouldn’t feel bad betting his life on her. The message is clear. Keiji supports Sara unconditionally.
Now let’s talk about Keiji totally dropping Sara’s ass with the card trades.
The way Keiji makes his trades is very telling. He first, steals a keymaster card from either Sou or Kanna to give to Sara. This is supporting Sara, but it’s doing it in a way that supports his view of himself. That he’s a scumbag who would steal someone’s immunity just to give it to someone he likes more. And would a shithead like that be “worthy” of sacrificing themselves and taking the card for Sara? (And he knew she had it. Qtaro had to tell him for their plan to happen) no. Instead he essentially opts for a revenge plot. A plan to ensnare Shin and kill him for pawning off the sacrifice to Sara. Basically, he wanted to fuck up Shin like how he fucked up Megumi. Nice going Keiji. This is… kind of his low point in the story.
But 3-1….. man this chapter hits in all the right ways. I don’t remember 3A that much, (although I do know that Keiji shows a lot of concern over Sara potentially being triggered by Joe memorabilia) and also if you fail the Keiji Midori fight you can have Sara attempt to tag Keiji and he rejects. And how can we forget… the mr policeman flashback. As Sara says, this is Keiji’s first time opening up on his own.
And then… coffin saga. Sara through everything is not willing to let Keiji die. Although she’s had her ups and downs with him, leaving him to die is inconceivable to her with everything they’ve been through together. So she opts to sign the contract both times she is offered it.
Keiji clearly is somebody important to Sara. Important enough that Ranmaru bringing him up is enough to snap her out of her murderous trance. Enough that she throws logic out the window when she has a sign he’s okay.
Likewise, the scene in the classroom for Keiji is… a huge step. When he’s alone with Ranmaru, who is unstable, in that classroom, his priority is Sara. He turns his back to the threat to hold Sara and try and make sure she’s okay- dumb move, but it shows how far he’s come.
And again, I want to reiterate- Keiji is Sara’s anchor. At the banquet when Sara is about to give up, she imagines Keiji talking to her which brings her back in the game. Much like Joe did back in chapter 2. The message is palpable. Keiji is Sara’s new Joe. And when Keiji comes back to comfort her? He’s now fully willing to sacrifice himself. It winds up not being needed seeing as Qtaro is the one that died. But in that moment, we see Keiji has made a huge leap from chapter 2. He almost sacrificed himself for Gin. And he would’ve used his final moments to comfort Sara. He’s embraced that he’s a father figure. He allows himself to be a good person.
Anyways I don’t know how to conclude this and I’ve been writing for hours. Bababooey.
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CW: Angst, angst, angst.
Word count: 2916
Nina sighed as she snuggled her pillow. It sucked watching Sidney shake hands in the handshake line, the disappointing end to a good season. She sniffled as she watched Sidney stoically shake hands with the Flyers, disappointment and anger on his face.
This season, the Penguins had drawn the Islanders in the divisional semi-finals. After a hard-fought seven game series, the Pens had finally got past the Isles. However, the Flyers, surprisingly, made it past the Canes and the Battle of Pennsylvania was on. Unlike 2018, the Flyers won this time, in five games. Nina put her phone on vibrate, just in case Sidney called her.
However, Sidney didn’t call that night or for a fucking week. Nina was understanding at first but understanding turned into annoyance when pictures were posted of Sidney golfing with Kasperi, Brandon, and a couple of the single players. Nina just was glad she had the foresight to limit comments on her IG to approved commenters because she had no interest in people asking questions about him.
Scrolling her phone, Nina read a text from Marisa: has he called u yet?
No, Nina simply responded. She wasn’t going to call him first either. Let him have his bitch fit and golf. He didnt tell me he was going to go do that n im not his wife.
Nina’s phone rang and she answered. “Yes, Marisa?”
“Oh, Nina, he’s a douchebag. I can ask Kevin to slash him a couple of times next season,” Marisa commiserated.
Nina replied, “He hasn’t called me or texted me since that night. I haven’t tried to call him since Sunday because fuck that. I know he got his superstitions and everything but, no. Hell no.”
“I agree. Have you been out?”
Nina shook her head before saying, “I was finishing finals so I haven’t been out. Karesha told me we’re going out this coming Friday and, you know I don’t party like that but I will.”
“Give him something to miss,” Marisa advised.
Nina scoffed, “Something to miss? He’s lucky if I let him talk to me whenever he gets back.”
**
Sid groaned as he turned in his bed in Cole Harbour. He was so fucking pissed about the way the season ended; they finally got past the Isles only to get tripped up by fucking Giroux and his Flyers. Fucking Hart was a damn brick wall and fuck, Sidney could sense that his time in the game was coming to a swift close soon. For the past week and in a half, he had been in a funky snit, annoyed and needing to be away after golfing with the boys.
At the same time, he felt like shit. Sidney knew he shouldn’t have avoided Nina’s call; he was still raw from the loss and he didn’t want to expose Nina to that side. But, she hadn’t called or texted him since and Sidney didn’t know how to break the silence that he had created. Picking up his phone, Sidney blinked when he saw all of the messages on his lock screen. The team’s group chat had been busy last night.
Unlocking his phone, Sidney’s eyes bulged when he saw the messages. There were pictures of Nina out, with one of her friends, wearing a dress that was barely there. Her hair was falling straight over her shoulders but what really got Sidney’s attention was the fact that there were guys all around her. Then Nate sent a text; i guess ur single now. Told u not to go home without talking to her
“I’m a fuck up,” Sidney moaned.
“Yup, you are.”
Sidney blinked as he looked at his phone. He managed to call Tanger and Tanger didn’t look pleased.
“Sid, we’ve been friends for a long time but, I didn’t think you were this stupid,” Tanger scolded. “Really?”
“You know with the way the season ended,” Sidney began before Tanger cut him off.
“Nina knows that. She respects that. Nina’s not clingy or needy like some of the other girls. But, Cath told me you haven’t even called or texted her? Wow, Sid, wow.”
Sidney blushed as he listened to one of his closest friends berate him. Tanger was right. But how was he going to even apologize without looking like a bigger dummy?
“Well, you’re already acting like a dummy, Sid, so you might as well look like a bigger dummy,” Tanger snarked. “Nina isn’t like the other girls. She doesn’t need you.”
Sid gritted his teeth at that statement, especially since he knew that it was very true.
Sidney heard French yelling in the background before Tanger stated, “Cath thinks that despite being so good at hockey, you suck at being a person. And you made Nina cry when Cath last talked to her.”
Sidney wanted to slap himself. He made his pretty girl cry. “Fuck,” he yelled.
“Yeah, fuck. Fix it, Sid, instead of fucking yourself over forever.”
Sidney scrolled his phone after Tanger hung up on him. It looked like he was flying into Pittsburgh asap.
**
Nina sighed as she padded in her apartment. Last night was fun, going out with Karesha. They had just gone out to dinner, a jazz lounge, then ended the night at a rooftop bar. Nina knew people had been taking pictures of her all night and that people were wondering where Sidney was but that wasn’t her problem. There had been plenty of guys willing to take her home but Nina wasn’t interested in any of them either. She still wanted Sidney but fuck him too.
Her doorbell rang and Nina looked at the panel. It was Sidney with a pastry box and a wide grin on his face. Nina opened the door with a smile.
“Hi, pretty girl-”
Then she slammed it in his face, her grin growing wider as she loudly locked the door. Just like a man, coming back right when they realized she was getting attention from other men.
“Go away, Crosby, unless you want attention because you’re knocking on my door,” Nina yelled from the inside. Putting her earpods in, Nina cleaned her apartment for the umpteenth time, singing along.
Sidney gritted his teeth outside of Nina’s apartment. He was expecting her to let him in, yell at him, then he would charm his way back in. He didn’t expect to get the door slammed in his face and being told to leave. His desire not to gain extra attention was the only reason he left.
Nina sighed when she heard Sidney stomp away. Her anger was starting to change to sadness, again. She had hoped this would be different but Sidney was just like every other man; ain’t shit at the end of the day.
**
“Take him for all his cash, girl. Then tell him, maybe I'll take you back.”
Nina rolled her eyes as she listened to Jamila. “For someone so wealthy, you sure like to talk about taking men for their cash.”
“It’s like this; men figure out their self-worth by how big their dick is, how many women they fuck, and how much money they have. You don’t want to go to jail so you can’t cut his dick off. So, fleece him and then dump him for good,” Jamila advised.
Nina sighed and Jamila groaned. “Oh my God, please don’t tell me you miss this dumbass. Dude didn’t contact you after losing in their playoffs! He ignored your call! He only contacted you in person after you and ‘Resha went out! The dick can’t be that good!”
Nina sighed as she listened to Jamila. Over the past couple of days, there had been Edible Arrangement deliveries, lunch bought for the staff, cards proclaiming that he was dumb as hell and sorry for being an idiot. And Nina still didn’t respond. No calls, no texts, Nina was still upset and feeling raw.
“Jamila.. Glass houses remember?”
Jamila sighed over the phone. She didn’t really have that much space to talk but she persisted, “You let him off easy, he’s going to walk all over you forever. I know I’m a fuck up but I never let a man walk all over me. Don’t let Mayo Boy, no, he’s Miracle Whip because that shit is disgusting and he hurt you. Don’t let Miracle Whip think he can apologize a couple times and you’ll come running back.”
“I haven’t made any decisions yet. Plus, I’m going away with Desi, Sio, Lauren, and Kim to Phuket. You know, that trip you helped plan but you can’t go on now,” Nina said as she logged into her workstation. Work had become a refuge of sorts. Everyone was pretty much professional, no one brought up anyone’s personal life. It was all about work and the patients and it made Nina happy. “I gotta go, I have a patient at 8:30.”
“Bye girl, and remember what I said,” Jamila replied.
“Byeeee”
Nina hung up and pulled her earpods out of her ears. It was time to focus on another day of work. Before Nina realized it, it was lunch time. Rubbing her temples, she sighed as she thought about lunch. Grabbing her purse and her keys, Nina made her way out of her office. “Rita, I’m going to get lunch,” Nina called out to the receptionist.
However, as soon as she left, Nina saw the infamous Range Rover in the parking lot and she closed her eyes. She wasn’t in the mood and it looked like it was going to get embarrassing for Sidney.
Luckily, it wasn’t Sidney who came out but someone totally different. Nina let out a breath she was holding and walked to her car. Her vacation was coming up in three days and she would be away for two and a half weeks. Sidney would probably leave her alone once he realized she was out of the country. Nina was sure of it, he had to have been icing her out to dump her anyway for the offseason.
**
“Still no call?”
Sidney sighed as Geno plopped in the chair across from his. He had put on his best smile today for Nikita’s birthday but he was feeling the strain.
“None,” he finally replied. Sidney felt so tired and such a fool. The best thing in his life had slipped out of his fingers and it was all his fault.
Geno snickered as Anna strolled in, holding a box. “Zhenya,” she asked before rolling her eyes at Sidney.
“Da,” Geno replied.
Anna started speaking rapid fire Russian, too fast for Sidney to even attempt to keep up. Geno started to laugh when Anna pointed to Sidney before pointing to the box. Then Anna abruptly turned on her heel and left the room.
Confused, Sidney asked, “What was that?”
Anna hadn’t been talking to him and Sidney felt like he was part of the subject of that conversation. Geno chuckled before replying, “Anna said that it’s a shame Nina isn’t here but she made sure to at least have a gift sent for Nikita before going to Thailand.”
Geno didn’t add the rest, which was Anna saying Nina had better manners than his captain, to at least send a gift that she didn’t have to send, before disappearing. He wasn’t interested in kicking his captain when he was down.
Sidney winced. Part of him felt a bit happy that Nina was somewhere, having fun but it was without him so it was his fault.
“Oh, look at this, Nina’s riding elephant,” Geno crowed as he looked at instagram. Sidney looked at the picture. Nina was riding an elephant, making some kind of triangle symbol with her hands. Then he looked at the comments and the first one said: look at you, dropping baggage and having fun.
Geno snickered before saying, “Poor Sid.”
“Not supportive, Geno,” Sidney remarked, closing his eyes.
There was a pause before Geno replied, “Maybe donate money to things Nina likes. Maybe she’ll talk to you when she gets back.”
**
Sidney checked his phone for what seemed like the umpteenth time. “Cros, she’s not going to text you.”
Sidney rolled his eyes at Tazer’s annoyed tone. Webs, Pricey, and Tanger laughed at him. They were all in Toronto together for a team Canada thing but that was over and they were out for drinks.
“Heard you fucked up, badly,” Webs stated in a dry tone. “When in doubt, always apologize first and buy the woman her favorite thing second.”
“Nina’s not big on buying stuff,” Sidney absentmindedly replied. Getting Nina to splurge on herself was like going to the dentist. It wasn’t fun.
One thing Sidney did realize from off and on monitoring Nina's Instagram was that she was big on helping out at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, she liked volunteering at the Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh, and every year, she volunteered at a pop-up shop for girls who wanted to go to prom but couldn’t afford it.
Sidney wrote five figure checks to each organization, in Nina’s name, no strings attached. Sidney was serious about trying to get his pretty girl back and he knew that Nina was serious about volunteering and giving back. Now, he was just waiting to see Nina’s reaction. If Nina told him thanks but it was over, Sidney would be upset but he could accept it.
There were no texts that night but that morning, Sidney woke up to a text from Nina. It was a simple thank you but it meant more than anything to Sidney at that moment.
**
Nina sighed as she looked at the thank you cards that had been waiting for her when she returned home. This was so out of the ordinary, she had to text Sidney when she saw them. It was more meaningful than gifts.
The trip to Phuket had been amazing but there had been a tinge of sadness for Nina. She enjoyed riding the elephants, experiencing the beaches, going diving, everything. It was truly the vacation she had been waiting to have, after Covid and then switching jobs had pushed everything back. Despite her best efforts, Nina missed Sidney. She missed that dumbass hockey player, he had wormed into her heart that easily. She missed him and was still supremely angry at him. Nina felt like the biggest dumbass on earth. As she waited for him to show up at her place, she wanted to bang her head into the wall. I fucked up by dating him, Nina said to herself.
Her doorbell rung and Nina opened the door. It was Sidney, hands in his pockets, no gifts this time. He ached to bring her into his arms but Sidney wouldn’t touch Nina unless she gave him permission.
There was a stony silence after Sidney closed the door, neither willing to say the first word. Nina tried to summon some of the anger she had but all that was left was pain and sadness. Before she even realized, a couple tears had slipped. Sidney saw them and his composure completely crumbled. He did the one thing he swore he would never do; he made his pretty girl cry.
Nina hiccupped as Sidney pulled her into his arms. He just held her as she cried. “Fuck you, Sidney Crosby. I felt like you were icing me out before dumping me. Fuck you, you fucking jagoff.”
“I-I should have said something but I was so pissed and I didn’t want to lash out at you. Then it just snowballed,” Sidney said, heartbreaking as Nina sniffled.
“You’re such a fucking dumbass. I don’t even know why I’m even considering taking you back.”
Sidney said, “I just didn’t want to burden you with everything I go through at the end of the season, especially when it’s disappointing.”
“Fuck that, Sidney.” Nina glared up at him, the big dummy. “Communication, it means that if you say you’re in a relationship, you communicate. You should have even sent a text, ‘I’m pissed as fuck, going golfing with the boys, be back soon’ or even just periodically texted those stupid hi and good morning beautiful texts. How would you feel if I didn’t call or text you and went away?”
Sidney paused as he considered Nina’s point. He was unhappy he didn’t know that Nina had gone away without telling him but he couldn’t say anything now. “Your face says it all, Crosby,” Nina snarked.
“I’m sorry, Nina,” Sidney said, deep from his heart.
Nina sighed, she could tell he was truly sorry. “Those donations… they were a total surprise. They all needed the money and are dear to me. But the Pittsburgh Prom Dress giveaway, we always need more funds since it doesn’t get as many donations around the year. Your donation not only allowed us to provide more dresses this prom season, it also allowed us to expand our collection so that we could provide suits as well as dresses. Thank you, Sidney.”
“You’re welcome,” he sincerely replied.
Keeping her cheek on his chest, Nina said, “I’m dumb because I really am considering taking you back. But don’t ever do that again.”
Pulling away a bit, Nina looked deep into Sidney’s eyes. “I’m serious. I don’t think I’m clingy, I don’t require much, but don’t even do that again. I don’t need you to call me everyday but don’t ever ignore me like that again, Sidney.”
“I won’t, I swear,” Sidney promised, happy that his pretty girl was talking to him again.
#sidney crosby fics#sidney crosby fanfiction#Sidney Crosby#hockey imagines#hockey imagine#hockey rpf#hockey fic#nhl fanfiction#nhl rpf#nhl imagines#nhl imagine#penguins fic#penguins imagine#hockey fiction#hockey fics#nhl fiction#nhl fics#angst#sidney crosby imagines#Sidney Crosby imagine#sidney crosby fic#sadness#i promise a happy ending#all bets are off
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I'm not sure if u take requests but if u do could u write a NSFW alphabet for Issei?¿ ♡
So lemme tell you something- I got this req and the first thing that came out of my mouth was BIIIIIIIIITTTTCCCCHHHHHH
And I proceeded to scream cry and yell about this for idk how long. I put so much thought into this- I literally wrote it in almost one night completely. I have SO much to say about this man. My Issei brainrot is only fueled by my stupid horny Pisces brain- WHICH HE ALSO HAS god bless him. Anyway enough about me this turned my mind into soup and it all fell out of my ears enjoy ur fucking horse cock
NSFW Alphabet- Matsukawa Issei
No thoughts head he. 😌
gn!reader focused, obviously nsfw....
𝕬 - 𝕬𝖋𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖈𝖆𝖗𝖊
Best Service Dom. Best Dom EVER. Anything you want you get, you have to only say the words. Food? Already ordered so it would be there by the time you finished. Cuddles? His arms are wide open and his body is very warm. Sit in a bubble bath and scroll through your favorite online stores? The bath is nice and warm and his credit card is at your disposal. He takes amazing care of you, and will stop at nothing to make you feel secure/safe/happy at all times..
𝕭 - 𝕭𝖔𝖉𝖞 𝕻𝖆𝖗𝖙
Welll…. I… we all know what it is. I’ll explain more later but in addition to that he also has the most amazing arms/abs. He’s very lean, definitely naturally so. Doesn’t need to work out but does so anyway keep toned.
𝕮 - 𝕮𝖚𝖒
Likes to cum inside you, but simply so that he can watch it ooze out of your hole. Sometimes he’ll even keep fucking you after he’s finished to see himself push it back in even after it’s out.
𝕯 - 𝕯𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖞 𝕾𝖊𝖈𝖗𝖊𝖙
I hate adding this but he has a foot fetish. Not like a hardcore creepy kind of foot fetish- he just likes to suck a toe here and there. But only if they’re freshly pedicured… he’s very picky. He’ll give foot massages all the time tho if you ask him. He just never tells anyone about it because he knows his friends will clown him.
Not ur foot but close enough he would get you one of those little golden name anklets and kiss it every time he lifts your leg over his shoulder. 👀🦋
𝕰 - 𝕰𝖝𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖈𝖊
Absolutely. He’s done a lot in his life, and is not short on any stories of past encounters. He is kind of a sex encyclopedia, but he’s very casual about it. If you bri bc up something you wanna try, 11/10 times he’s going to not only have done it, but be able to suggest ways for you to make it better- with several anecdotes.
𝕱 - 𝕱𝖆𝖛𝖔𝖗𝖎𝖙𝖊 𝕻𝖔𝖘𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓
Doesn’t just like doggy- it is his lifeblood. It’s easier for him to control your movements while also making sure that he can bury himself all the way inside. He can have a vice grip on your hips one moment, his fists full of your hair the next- and if he starts spanking you well… that’s between you two and god.
He does like plain old missionary too, but only bc he can see himself in your tummy.
𝕲 - 𝕲𝖔𝖔𝖋𝖞
It makes him laugh sometimes when you struggle to take him all at once. He thinks it cute that you try, but it’s hilarious how big your head gets sometimes. He has to fuck you dumb and remind you that you can’t do that.
𝕳 - 𝕳𝖆𝖎𝖗
Trims, but not super short. He does wax his happy trail tho bc it makes him self-conscious.
𝕴 - 𝕴𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖆𝖈𝖞
Can actually be very romantic if he wants to. He is a Pisces, after all. He does enjoy foreplay and the sensuality of that to get you prepped, and he takes extra care to make sure you’re fully ready. He is going to be hard on you, but understands that he has to take good care of you, and he does
𝕵 - 𝕵𝖆𝖈𝖐 𝕺𝖋𝖋
Daily. At least once. It keeps the stress away and livens his mood. He does it as soon as he wakes up, and then if he’s having a really hard day or difficulty sleeping, he can do it to ease his nerves.
𝕶 - 𝕶𝖎𝖓𝖐
Size, obvious because everyone is smaller than him Skdkfkf he’s a giant. He’s 6’2 and his cock is at least 3 feet of that.
Daddy Kink, self explanatory mostly. It’s just so fucking sweet on his ears, his baby cooing for their daddy, trying so hard to work his entire cock into their tiny hole, trying to be so good for him… he loses it every time.
Voyeurism, likes watching you touch yourself. He finds it amusing how you think you can get yourself there without his help. You both know that’s impossible, but it turns him on to see you try.
Praise, again- he loves to make you feel special. And you work so hard fitting all of him inside, he has to tell you how good of a job you’re doing, especially because he’s appreciative of you letting him impale you. He has to let you know.
Mutual Masturbation, Kinda goes with voyeurism. If you’re away from each other, you’re definitely going to have sex via FaceTime- he just wants to see you, and also wants you to see him. To him, it lets you know you’re the only one that can get him there, and that your presence alone- even if he’s not touching you, is more than enough.
Lingerie, Loves nothing more than seeing you all pretty for him. He also just really likes the feeling of lace or silk against his fingertips He can get out of control and rip your sets tho- but don’t worry, death is a very lucrative business- He will buy you several replacements.
𝕷 - 𝕷𝖔𝖈𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓
LOVES car sex. If the mood strikes, he WILL pull over. But really, he’ll take it wherever he can get it.
𝕸 - 𝕸𝖔𝖙𝖎𝖛𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓
He’s very eager to please. A little lazy, yes, but at his core he wants to make sure you’re feeling good.
𝕹 - 𝕹𝖔!
He has done literally everything at least once and the one thing he just can’t get into is piss. One bad experience and a 3 month uti later he’s sworn off it for good.
𝕺 - 𝕺𝖗𝖆𝖑
Not his favorite. He could honestly go with or without it personally, just because there’s so much of him. But he will happily fuck your throat if you want him to, and will go down on you for hours to make sure you’re truly prepped. For someone who’s not a big fan of it, he’s actually AMAZING with his mouth. It’s lazy but in the best way possible.
𝕻 - 𝕻𝖆𝖈𝖊
Starts off slow so you’re good to go, but will pick up the pace as you stretch out. He does enjoy a few slow deep thrusts in between drilling you into oblivion tho. He never tries to make your guts into a smoothie on purpose, it just kinda happens that way.
𝕼 - 𝕼𝖚𝖎𝖈𝖐𝖎𝖊
He will never say no to quickie. The amount of fast food bathrooms and abandoned parking lots you’ve seen is astronomical. The amount of times Makki has kicked you out of his apartment for trying something while he goes to the bathroom is even higher.
𝕽 - 𝕽𝖎𝖘𝖐
He's the classic degen. bf who reaches across the table at the same time as your dad when you go “daddy can you pass the salt?”
So yes, he’s definitely going to tease you under a table at thanksgiving dinner.
He’s really going to have you whenever he wants- even if it comes at the expense of your pride/morals sometimes.
𝕾 - 𝕾𝖙𝖆𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖆
Can go on forever if you let him. Will overstim you to hell and back before he even thinks about cumming. Doesn’t even know he’s doing it- he’s so used to fucking you brainless that he doesn’t realize it’s too much. But he is SUPER apologetic about it and will make sure to treat you extra carefully.
𝕿 - 𝕿𝖔𝖞
He actually has a few for when he’s feeling lazy. He used to run through fleshlights like they were tictacs but he’s since finally found one that he won’t break.
He got most of them for free because he worked in a sex shop during college- he was very popular.
𝖀 - 𝖀𝖓𝖋𝖆𝖎𝖗
Yes. He will 100% rile you up with touches that seem innocent enough in nature, but are a tad bit too low, or linger on for a bit too long.
Will also give you “the look” in public and pretend he doesn’t know what you’re talking about- he definitely does.
𝖁 - 𝖁𝖔𝖑𝖚𝖒𝖊
Vocal in bed, especially with praise. Will constantly tell you how good you’re doing or how good you feel. Doesn’t moan a lot, but they slip out from time to time. Instead it’s a lot of deep breaths, groans, and curses.
𝖂 - 𝖂𝖎𝖑𝖉𝖈𝖆𝖗𝖉
If mortuary school hadn’t have worked out, he and Makki were going to start their own porn company. They actually have a very solid business plan. They made a pact to sit on it for now, since Issei is working at the funeral home.
𝖃 - 𝖃-𝕽𝖆𝖞
LMFAOOOOO
Literally a foot long. Longer actually. I’m going to honestly say 13. No I won’t take it back. Perfect thickness too. Honestly it’s like… god really took his time and got it fucking right. Everything about his physique is perfect- it would only make sense his cock is that perfect to match. Color is even all around, the head is bubblegum pink. There’s also one very prominent vein on the underside, and a few tinier trails of veins on the top. The statue of David? Don’t know her. Only know the statue of Issei.
𝖄 - 𝖄𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌
High sex drive, but he can keep it subdued if he has to. Especially because he knows he’s too much for most people. He's not shy about it though. Is CONSTANTLY horny on main. Not that you mind.
𝖅 - 𝖅𝖟𝖟
Service Dom through and through. He won’t sleep until you do, and even if he’s dead tired, he won’t sleep at all if you’re staying awake. He’s going to do everything to take care of you and your needs first. When you do sleep he likes to hold your head to his chest and will press his nose down into your hair so he can fall asleep surrounded by your scent.
Taglist Starseeds (check ur privacy settings if your url is in bold): @honey-makki @crushzone @yumekosgamblingroom @boujiesav @onesingleravioli @ushijimasfarmhat @trouvelle @nekoma-hoe @right-shoe-jpg @atsumusc0ck @ukaic @nivky0-0 @animoozies @charmarsmith
#daisy’s red light district 🚨#haikyuu headcanons#haikyuu hc#haikyuu x reader#haikyuu smut#hq headcanons#hq x reader#mattsun x reader#hq smut#mattsun smut#haikyuu drabble#hq drabble#haikyuu fic#hq fic
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Have you ever seen where they get kids to ask the players tough questions and there all dress up and have fake beards and stuff. Maybe you could do that with Jules and Katie asking the team all these really hard questions?????
Thank you for giving me an excuse to spend an hour and a half watching adorable kids ask questions and melt the hearts of celebrities. You’re my hero. There are no fake beards here, but I hope you enjoy it anyway! Sweater Weather characters belong to the incredible @lumosinlove!
“These chairs are so small,” James said as he scooted closer to the table. He nearly knocked Talker over with his elbow as the four of them squeezed in; the two kids on the other side shared a look.
“Ready, everyone?” Dorcas asked. When she received six thumbs up, she turned to the camera with a cheerful smile. “Hello, Lions fans, and welcome to Lion Pride! We have a couple of very special guests today to do the introductions.”
“Hello! I’m Katie and I’m six!” She held up six fingers and all four hockey players melted a little bit.
“I’m Julian, and I’m ten.” He waved, a little shy.
Dorcas smiled. “And how are you two related to our favorite Lions?”
Katie lit up and pointed behind the camera. “That’s my dad!”
There was a chuckle in the background. “Can you tell them my name, mon chou?”
“Pascal Dumais, but everyone calls you Dumo.” She swung her legs and her tulle skirt fluffed out.
“Remus Lupin is my older brother,” Jules said with a grin. “But Finn thought he was my dad.”
“It was an honest mistake!” Finn protested around a laugh. “Cut me some slack, Little Loops!”
“Do you want to do the intros for the guys, too?” Dorcas asked. Katie tugged on Jules’ sleeve.
“Can I go first?” she whispered. When he nodded, she hopped out of her chair and ran to the other side of the table, tapping each player on the shoulder. “This is Pots, Talker, Harzy, and Sirius.”
“Aw, man, I didn’t get to do any of them,” Jules pouted.
“You can ask the first question,” Dorcas said, hiding her smile behind her clipboard. “A quick reminder for our Lions: if you refuse to answer any of these, it means you hate children. Take it away, Jules!”
“Okay.” He cleared his throat and looked across the table with a solemn expression. “How many sticks have each of you broken?”
“Oh, that’s a tough one,” James mused. “A lot, but not always on purpose.”
“I haven’t broken that many,” Talker said. “I’ve forgotten to return quite a few to the rink after games, though. I think I have about five in my trunk that I keep meaning to put back.”
“Maybe…ten? Fifteen?” Finn rested his chin on his hand. “I should start a tally board.”
“Too many,” Sirius laughed. “I need to be more careful.”
Katie wiggled in her seat as she picked up the question card. “Why do you swear so much?”
Matching expressions of shock painted all four players’ faces. “Have we sworn in front of you?” Finn asked in a small voice.
“Yeah.”
“Mon dieu, I’m the worst person on earth,” Sirius murmured as Talker leaned his forehead on the table.
James opened and closed his mouth a couple times before answering. “Uh. Well. I don’t know, Katie. Instead of answering, I’m going to take this time to personally apologize to you and your dad, who is laughing his a—his rear end off in the back, as well as promising to form better habits.”
“If you could be any superhero, who would it be?” Jules asked, seemingly unfazed by the previous question. Wordlessly, Sirius gestured to his Captain America t-shirt.
“Spiderman,” Finn said without hesitation. “He’s the coolest.”
James unzipped his jacket to reveal a Superman shirt. “We didn’t coordinate this,” he said, tilting his head toward Sirius. “But yeah, Superman’s the best.”
Talker thought for a moment. “I really like Hawkeye. Are we talking Marvel or DC here?”
“Anything.”
“Anything? Hmm. I’m going to go with the Flash, then.”
“Nice.” Jules reached over to give him a high-five.
“I got Jules’ approval, everyone else can go home.”
“What’s your greatest fear?” Katie asked, still swinging her legs.
The table went silent. Sirius turned to Dorcas. “Is this the plan? Get us rolling with fun stuff and then give the hard ones to the five-year-old in a princess dress?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Cool. Well, munchkin, I don’t like bugs and I’m not a huge fan of the dark.”
“Vegetables,” Finn said sagely, which sent both kids into a fit of giggles and made all the adults break into sunny smiles. “God, you guys are cute.”
“Pomeranians freak me out,” Talker answered once they had calmed down a bit. “They have those tiny little eyes and sharp teeth.”
James shrugged. “I’m not a fan of heights.”
“I thought you wanted to be Superman?” Jules frowned. “He flies all the time.”
“I think I’d be less afraid of heights if I knew I could fly.”
“So you’re afraid of falling, not heights.”
James looked to the camera. “And now I’m getting psychoanalyzed by a ten-year-old. Uh, yeah buddy, I guess so.”
“Hmm.” Jules looked back to the question card. “Who would win in a fight, you or our moms?”
“Your moms,” Talker said immediately as the others nodded. “No contest.”
“How would we even get in that situation?” Sirius asked. “What the did we do to make the nicest women in the world that mad?”
“Stole brownies,” Katie said with great gravity for one so young. “Mom says you four are the worst about it.”
“Mom wouldn’t even have to fight you.” Jules cocked his head to the side. “I feel like she could just give you a disappointed look and that would be enough. Katie, your turn.”
“Yay!” She brightened again. “What is your favorite cereal?”
Sirius smiled. “Fruit Loops.”
“Cheerios,” Talker said. “They’re good for you physically and emotionally.”
“I’m with Talkie on this one,” James agreed.
Finn gave them all disappointed looks. “You’re so old. Mine’s Lucky Charms.”
“Okay, Leprechaun Boy,” James snorted. Finn reached over and smacked the back of his head. “Hey!”
“Do you ever play hockey at home?” Jules asked. “I feel like Sirius doesn’t have to answer this one since it’s so obvious.”
Finn laughed. “Does tapping a puck around on the carpet with brooms counts?”
“Yeah, that counts.”
“Then yeah, sometimes.”
“I have no space in my apartment to play hockey,” Talker said. “Though I plan on moving someday and then the answer will be yes.”
“I made a rink in my backyard.” James smiled slightly. “Lily likes to skate sometimes while I run drills.”
“My turn, my turn!” Katie scooted her chair closer. “Okay. Out of everyone on the team, what two people would you take with you on a dessert island?”
“Desert,” Jules corrected quietly.
“Desert island. Are there deserts on islands?”
“I think they mean like super sandy beaches with no people on them.”
“Oooooohhh.”
James mouthed a thank you to Dorcas, who gave him a thumbs-up in return. The other three looked at the kids with unbearable softness. “Well, I’d feel awful if I took your dad with me, so I think I’m going to go with Finn and maybe Kasey. We’d have a blast.”
“Nice, dude.” Finn fist-bumped him. “Unfortunately for you, my choices are going to be Leo and Logan, since I already know we could live together without starting a war on the third day.”
Sirius thought for a second. “I think Nado would actually be able to survive on a desert island, so I’ll bring him along, and for the second one…maybe Kasey? Yeah, Kasey’s cool.”
In the ensuing silence, Jules gave him a significant look. “Aren’t you forgetting someone?”
“You’re not on the t—” The realization hit him like a truck; his eyes went wide and he slumped in his seat as the others burst out laughing. “Oh no. Oh, no, no, no.”
“Your own fiancé.”
“Please don’t tell him.”
“He’s gonna laugh so hard,” Jules cackled, leaning back in his chair. Even the camera crew was losing it in the background. Dorcas had to step out of frame. “You’re never going to live it down.”
“Well, the first person I would bring with me is Remus Lupin, because he’s read a lot of books and definitely knows how to survive on a desert island,” Talker said around his snickering. “And then I’d bring Cap, because God knows that would get entertaining after Loops finds out about this. The sarcasm would be off the charts.”
“Okay, next question.” Dorcas came back into view, still grinning. “Jules, go for it.”
“Can I ask Katie’s question again so Sirius can give a better answer?” he asked gleefully. Dorcas hesitated, then shook her head. “Bummer. What was cool when you were young that isn’t cool now?”
“When?” Finn looked scandalized. “I’m 24!”
“Yeah, and?”
“Ugh. Um, maybe Furbies? People were really into Furbies when I was in high school, though I can’t say I’m sorry to see them go out of style.”
James bit his lip in thought. “Tamagotchis.”
“I loved those things!” Talker said excitedly. “My sisters and I used to go nuts with those things!”
Sirius smiled. “Lite Brites.”
Finn’s eyes went wide. “I forgot about those!”
“Regulus and I each had one and we loved them. That was the only thing we agreed on and we used to sit—” He paused for a second to laugh. “—we used to sit in the middle of the ice rink in the backyard, still in our skates and everything, and do Lite Brites for literal hours.”
“That’s so cute, oh my god.” Talker shook his head. “What a nostalgia trip.”
Katie knelt on her seat and rested her arms on the table. “Who skates faster, you or me?”
“You,” all four answered in unison.
Jules rolled his eyes, but he was clearly hiding a smile. “How many push ups can you do?”
“How many can you do?” James countered. A flash of competition lit on Jules’ face and all the guys grinned. “Uh-oh, there’s the Lupin glare.”
“How about we have a little competition?” Dorcas suggested. “See how many everyone can do in thirty seconds?”
“Absolutely,” Finn said. The four of them had a little bit of trouble getting their knees out from under the kid-sized table, but eventually they succeeded and gathered in the middle of the room. “Katie, are you joining us?”
She smiled innocently. “No, I know I’d win.”
“Get ready.” Dorcas pulled her phone out as they knelt. “On your marks, get set, go!”
The guys went easy on Jules from the outset, but they made it look like those pushups were the hardest exercise they had ever done in their lives. Talker took a second to dramatically wipe his forehead and James’ wheezing was almost comical; Jules, however, was giving it his best shot. When the timer finally went off, Finn collapsed with a groan. “I forfeit.”
“Did I win?” Jules panted, pushing his hair out of his eyes.
“You did, congratulations!” Dorcas put her timer away and winked at the camera as they headed back to the table. “Great job, everyone. Katie, your turn.”
“Do you live in a mansion?”
“I live in an apartment,” Finn said.
“Same.”
Sirius shook his head. “My house might be big, but it’s not a mansion.”
“Does a two-story house count as a mansion?” James asked. “No? Then no, I don’t.”
“Who is your least favorite person on the team and why?” Jules turned to Sirius with raised eyebrows. “Are we going to have another desert island problem?”
Sirius threw his hands in the air, speechless, as the other three cracked up. “Jules, can I adopt you?” James begged around his laughter. “Please?”
“You’ll have to fight my mom for that, I think.”
“My least favorite person on the team is James Potter,” Sirius sighed. “Not the person I’m getting married to.”
“We could get married. Lily might mind, though.”
“Full offense, but I know way too much about you to ever consider that.”
James ruffled his hair and turned back to the kids. “My least favorite person on the team is Remus Lupin, because he ran me over in practice the other day.”
Finn side-eyed him. “Didn’t you trip him after he stole the puck from you?”
“He ran me over.”
“Sure, Pots. Um, my least favorite is Kasey Winter. He threw ice at me while we were in the ice baths.”
“Logan took my Gatorade last week and hid it all over the rink,” Talker said. “I’ll never forgive him for such a crime.”
“Oh, I like this one!” Katie exclaimed as she looked at her card. “What’s the best birthday party you’ve ever had?”
“My tenth birthday was at Red Robin and I got a Power Ranger outfit.” Talker grinned. “I was the coolest kid on the block.”
“My eighteenth birthday was pretty fun,” Finn said. “There was a bouncy house and Alex almost broke it because we were jumping too hard.”
“Does it have to be my birthday?” James asked. “Because my son’s first birthday party was awesome.”
“Why?”
“He threw cake in Sirius’ face and a food fight broke out in the backyard.”
“That was a pretty great day,” Sirius agreed. “My last birthday party was my favorite.”
“You spent the night with us!” Katie said happily.
“I did, yeah,” he laughed. “And I had a really good time.”
Jules perked up when he read the next question. “I love this one! Do you have a lucky pair of underwear?”
“Yes.”
“Yeah, totally.”
“Of course I do.”
“Is there a superstition I don’t have?”
Jules looked especially pleased with those answers as Katie picked up her card. “This is the last one,” she warned. “And it’s super important and super hard. What kind of dog would you be and why? You can take your time, I don’t mind.”
“Thank you, Katie, we’ll need it,” Talker said as he desperately tried to contain his smile. “I’ll go first, if nobody minds. I would be a border collie because one, I love them; two, they have a lot of energy; and three, they love making friends.”
“That’s a good one,” she said seriously. “They’re also very soft.”
“Yes, they are.”
Once Finn managed to suppress his quiet laughter, he raised his hand. “Can I go next?” Katie nodded. “I’d be an Irish setter. They have red hair and they’re really affectionate. Plus, I met one the other day at the park and haven’t stopped thinking about him.”
“This was a tough question, Katie, but I think I’m going to go with a golden retriever,” James said after a moment. “They’re good family dogs and they like to be on the ice with those big ol’ paws.”
“That’s what I was going to say!” She beamed at him. “Sirius, you don’t have to go. I already know what you’d be.”
He raised his eyebrows, looking highly amused. “Do you now? Can everyone else know, too?”
“Well, it’s obvious,” she said. “You’d be Hattie. She looks just like you and she gives the best hugs.”
A small puff of air left Sirius’ lungs and he blinked as James reached over and patted his shoulder. “Oh. Okay.”
“That wraps us up,” Dorcas said, looking between them with a soft smile. “Any closing statements from our guest stars?”
“Ready?” Jules muttered to Katie, who nodded rapidly. “On three. One, two, three!”
“Go Lions!” they shouted in unison with matching grins. The camera crew cheered and the players applauded, all laughing.
“Thank you for tuning in, everyone! Remember to like and subscribe for more content.”
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Gender? In THIS Economy?
Read here on AO3!
Summary:
Duke is questioning stuff and goes to Tim for advice. (feat. trans!Tim and nonbinary!Duke)
“Here you go. One Batburger with extra pickles, extra onions, and extra extra mayonnaise.” Duke drops the paper takeout bag unceremoniously into Tim’s lap. “Your taste buds need a tune-up, bro.”
Tim unwraps his burger and takes a bite. Batburger may be questionable when it comes to copyright laws, but damn if they don’t pile on the condiments better than any fast food restaurant in Gotham. “Sounds to me like you simply haven’t reached the sky-scraping level of enlightenment that I have, grasshopper.”
“Enlightenment would have been going to Red Robin and using your uniform to get a discount,” Duke says. He sits beside Tim on the rooftop’s edge, their legs dangling side by side a hundred feet above Gotham’s plunging gray streets. He digs into his own burger and makes a face. “Enlightenment would also be getting the Robin Nuggets next time. This tastes like dried leather.”
“I like it,” Tim says with a shrug. “It has personality.”
“So does raw sewage, but you don’t see me eating that.”
Tim concedes the point. His communicator buzzes in his belt. He checks the screen and discovers an alert from Cass composed entirely of clown emojis and red harlequin diamonds.
Duke notices. “Should we get that?”
Tim pockets the communicator. “Nah, Spoiler’s got it. We have time to relax.” And he’s not about to pass up quality time with the one little brother who doesn’t hate him. It’s hard enough as it is for Tim and Duke to find the time, what with them being on opposite sleeping schedules and work snatching their attention away with grabby, toddler-sized hands.
“Don’t get a lot of that during the day shift,” Duke says. “Every time an alarm goes off, it’s my business.”
Tim knocks him in the side with his elbow. “That’s what you get for turning to the light side instead of kicking it in the shadows with us. More employees to go around.” He sips his soda for a moment. “Why did you come out tonight, anyway? I thought you stayed in on weeknights.”
“Right. I actually wanted to talk to you about something.” Duke says it carefully, like he’s testing the waters. “I need advice.”
Tim has to admit that his chest puffs out a little at that. It’s not often people come to him for advice when Dick and Barbara are right there, all full of adult wisdom that Tim is too pitifully shrimpy to possess. “What’s up?”
“It’s kind of...personal.”
“Yes, Bruce does have special powder for suit-chafing. It’s in the cabinet under the first-aid supplies.”
“It’s not that,” Duke says, though he snorts in half-hearted laughter. He looks down at his hands like he’s dreading the words lodged in his throat. “What was it like, realizing you were a dude?”
One of Tim’s eyebrows shoots up. “Oh.”
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. It’s an invasive question.”
“No, no, it’s fine. You just caught me off guard, is all.” It’s not like this is the first time someone has asked. Tim used to be uncomfortable talking about it, but he’s grown up since then. Talking about his trans journey is as normal as talking about what he did yesterday. He eats a fry. “What do you want to know?”
Duke searches Tim’s face for a sign that he’s lying, that he should back off. When he doesn’t find one, he asks, “How old were you when you figured it out?”
Tim thinks back. “Nine, I think? But even before that, it’s not like I ever really felt like a girl. I knew there was something wrong, but I didn’t know what. When I first heard about what being transgender meant, everything I’d been feeling until then clicked into place.”
“What was it like?” Duke asks, “growing up the way you did? Presenting as a girl when you knew you weren’t?”
Tim shrugs. “I don’t know. It was life at the time. I dealt with it.”
“Was it hard? Pretending to be something you weren’t?”
Tim doesn’t know what answer Duke is looking for, or why he’s so interested, but he won’t ask. “My parents always had this idea of me being the perfect daughter, all obedient and graceful and crap. I’m pretty sure their hope was to eventually marry me off to the highest bidder so they could reap the business benefits.”
“That sounds awful.”
Tim shrugs again. “I didn’t start feeling any different than I should have until around six or seven. I was always a tomboy. I liked doing boy stuff and playing sports, but my parents thought it was a phase I would grow out of. They’d make me wear dresses and go to fancy parties with them, all the while I just wanted to claw my skin off and go home.”
He remembers the nights he would lie awake in bed, imagining what it must be like to have been born someone else. Anyone else. To grow up as a little boy who was allowed to run around, to get dirty, to be himself instead of following some arbitrary guidelines someone else drew up the day he was born. He imagined what it would feel like to answer to a different name than the one he’d been given, which grated on his ears the longer time went on, like an itchy sweater he couldn’t shed. It was hell.
He gives Duke a sly grin. “But the upside of having absent parents is that there aren’t as many people watching you. No one cared if I went to school in the boy’s uniform instead of the girl’s. No one was there to stop me from cutting my hair short the way I wanted it.”
Duke's eyes widen. “You cut your own hair?”
“It went exactly the way you’re thinking. I had to go to the barber the next day and have them fix it because it was so uneven. But by the end of the day, it was the way I always imagined it. I was finally starting to look like the person I wanted to be.”
Duke stares intently at the remains of his burger as if the universe’s answers to an unspoken question were written in sesame seeds. “Did it get better after that? Did you feel...at peace?”
“‘Course not. The world wasn’t magically fixed just because I took a step in the right direction. My problems didn’t go away.” When he says that, Duke looks almost...disappointed? “But,” Tim adds, “it was better than it was before. I still had to act for my parents and the rest of the world, but I didn’t have to hide from myself anymore.”
“How did your parents react when they found out?”
Tim grimaces. “They...didn’t take it well.” He can still hear his father’s voice in his memories, bringing up therapy and camps and whatever places he could think of that would “fix” his little girl.
“But, after a while,” Tim continues, “it was clear that I wasn’t going to change my mind anytime soon. I guess they figured it would be easier to go along with it than fight me every step of the way. They still didn’t like it, but they tolerated it.”
Duke is quiet.
“Why do you ask?” Tim prods.
Duke’s expression doesn’t give anything away. It’s nights like this when Tim can see how perfectly Duke fits into this mental institution they call a family. For all that Duke thrives in the light, he keeps his cards just as close to his chest as the rest of them. He gives Tim a half-smile. “Just wondering.”
“Okay.”
They fall into weighted silence, the scales tipping on either side of their post, but never settling. Tim waits. He finishes his burger and busies himself with reorganizing the pouches in his belt, giving Duke the privacy to think.
“I don’t know,” Duke starts after several minutes, “if I’m a boy.” He looks at Tim. “I think I might be something else.”
“Okay,” Tim says calmly. “What do you feel like?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve always felt different, y’know? When I was a kid, it was because I was smarter than everyone in my class. And it was fine, because I knew what it was and how it worked and why it was a good thing, being the smart one. It made sense. Time went on, the other kids started catching up, but that mismatched feeling never went away. I never felt right in my skin.”
Duke’s face rises to the dark clouds, the Batsignal shining from the top of the police station like a holy beacon. “Then I met Batman. My powers started to come in and everything clicked into place, all at once. That was why I never felt like I fit in with everyone else, because I was different. I had powers. That must have been it.”
“But it wasn’t,” Tim guesses.
Duke shakes his head. “I thought it would be. I mean, what else could it have been, you know? It should have explained why I never felt at home in my identity. But time goes on, I learn how to use my powers, and it fixes some of it, but not everything. There’s still part of me that looks in the mirror and sees something off. Some detail out of place.”
“Do you feel like a girl?” Tim ventures to ask.
Duke folds over the corner of his straw wrapper again and again in tiny triangles. “Nah, I doubt it. I like some feminine things, but I don’t think I’m a girl. Or a guy. I think...I might be nonbinary?”
Tim does his best to channel Bruce’s “supportive dad” energy and smiles. “Okay. What pronouns do you want to use?”
“They/them, maybe? For a while?”
“Duly noted.” He puts a hand on Duke’s shoulder. “I really do appreciate you telling me.”
Duke rubs the back of their neck, their cheeks flushing. “It feels good to say out loud. Not just in my head.”
“Do you think you’re going to tell anyone else? You don’t have to if you’re not ready, but our whole family will support you.”
“Yeah.” Duke picks at their nails, nodding absently. “I know they will. I’m not worried about that.”
“Then what are you worried about?���
Duke takes a deep breath in, and Tim is reminded of a balloon close to bursting. “My parents aren’t dead. I’m going to get them back. And when I do...what are they going to think when they wake up after half a decade and find out that their son isn’t their son anymore? What if they don’t like the person they see?”
Tim can’t say that he hadn’t swum with the same thoughts years ago, back when the person who is Tim Drake was still on the drawing board. But there’s a difference between his situation and Duke’s. “Your parents love you, Duke. They’re not going to stop loving you just because you’ve grown up since they last saw you.”
“What if it’s too much? The superpowers and the crime-fighting and the new gender...it’s a lot to take in.”
“Well, sure,” Tim says. “It might take some time for them to get used to it, but this is who you are. They’re going to love it just as much as they love the rest of you.”
Duke smiles, and if their eyes are a little misty, Tim pretends not to notice.
“Besides,” he says. “If I were you, I’d just lead with the superpowers thing. Anything after that sounds perfectly acceptable.”
#i know this is choppy i'm sorry i just got sick of staring at the word doc#i want to focus on writing but the other half of my brain is like 24/7#ravencycleravencycleRAVENCYCLE#it's a struggle#duke thomas#the signal#dc signal#tim drake#red robin#robin#batman#batman and robin#batman and the signal#batfamily#batfam#trans tim drake#nonbinary duke thomas#trans duke thomas#pride month#fanfiction#fanfic
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Danger Days - Chapter nineteen: "If you're gone (maybe it's time to come home)"
Word count: 16,9K
Summary: Joey is not ready to start touring, but being away from Matthew sounds like a good plan to get over him. But... Matthew has other plans, and he is determined to be forgiven. Gerard is not letting his illusions go either, but he has to realize he is wasting his time.
Warnings: Cursing, there are some arguments, a little angst, and some fluff.
A/N: I'm soft.
Masterlist
Chapter one | Chapter two | Chapter three | Chapter four | Chapter five | Chapter six | Chapter seven | Chapter eight | Chapter nine | Chapter ten | Chapter eleven | Chapter twelve | Chapter thirteen | Chapter fourteen | Chapter fifteen | Chapter sixteen | Chapter seventeen | Chapter eighteen | Chapter nineteen | Chapter twenty | Chapter twenty one | Chapter twenty-two | Chapter twenty-three | Chapter twenty-four |
--
::: March 30th, 2011. Los Angeles :::
Frank sighed and looked around. It was early morning, and there was chaos around him. It was video shooting day, and his family was with him at the small indoor venue where MCR was recording the “Planetary Go” music video. Five hundred kids were outside, waiting in line to get there and be part of the show. Meanwhile, inside the arena, his wife and kids hung out with Joey, Ray, and Mikey in the dressing room. They were still waiting for Gerard, who was late, as pretty much always.
- "I brought some things you might need through these next months"- Jamia said to Joey as Frank walked closer- Mostly books and a few maternity shirts I loved.
- "Thank you! I’m gonna need all your help, ‘cos I have no fucking idea what I’m doing."
- "You are gonna be just fine! You have mom material!"- Jamia pointed out as the young woman held Lily in her arms, smiling- "You are glowing"- Joey grinned- "Now tell me everything about, have you seen him? Have you talked to him? Did you tell him?"
The drummer widened her eyes and held her breath for a second. Mikey looked at her and kissed her temple.
- "I’ve seen him, I told him, he is thrilled, he has been..."- she made a pause and tried to find the right words to describe how the last ten days had been for her- "Incredibly caring and supportive. I hate him"- Mrs. Iero frowned.
- "He is making it hard for you to hate him, right?"
- "Awfully! I swear I have to do some exhausting mental work to keep myself from forgiving him each time I see him! It’s awful!"
- "If you want to forgive him…"- Jamia started, but Joey shook her head.
- "No! This is not about forgiving him because I won’t! once a cheater, always a cheater!"
- "Yeah… that’s true."
- "And I don’t trust him!"
- "I know…"
- "And..."
- "It’s ok, Joey. Don’t worry"- Jamia smiled and changed the subject- "Did you tell your parents yet?"
- "No, we are gonna be in Seattle in four days, so I’ll tell them in person."
- "Are they going to the show?"
- "Yeah! They are thrilled! And they want to meet the band, which I know is gonna be weird. I’m so glad you are coming along for this leg."
- "I was dying to come with you, and now you have two babies to get used to"- Joey chuckled, but her happiness was clouded when Gerard walked into the room with Lynz.
Ever since her talk with Mikey, Joey had successfully managed to stay away from Gerard. And the best part: no one had asked if there was something wrong, ‘cos though neither Frank nor Ray knew the details of the story, they both knew there was something definitely wrong in the way Gerard looked at the drummer, and she was clearly awkward around him.
Gerard was in hell, and he knew he deserved it. He had crossed the line, and the distance between him and Joey was the proof. Gerard was afraid even to talk to her, and he felt the wall his brother had created around her. Mikey wasn’t mad at him anymore. He was just worried about him and also a little disappointed. Gerard had always made sure to give him a positive example- even in his darkest times- and suddenly, that whole mess fell upon them.
- "Hey guys!"- Lynz said with a happy face and arms wide open as she walked into the room and started hugging everybody, including Joey, who felt like a whore the second she saw her. She had promised her she was never going to do anything with her husband, and she had failed.
- "Hi Lynz! How are you?"- Joey tried to keep a straight face and smiled.
- "Congratulations! Gerard told me about your baby!"
- "Thank you so much!"- the drummer was making the biggest effort to look happy and natural- "Wanna see the ultrasound?"
Gerard looked at the scene, and his stomach tightened. Joey seemed to be so happy. The drummer gave Frank his daughter and took the ultrasound from her backpack.
- "Hey! I wanna see it too!"- Ray said, moving closer.
- "That little bean is my baby!"- Joey pointed and chuckled- Can you believe that tiny thing is gonna be a person?!
- "Shit!"- Ray sort of mumbled- "It’s so small!"
- "Ok, kids! outfits ready?"- Brian walked into the room and looked at them- "Neither of you is ready, come on! Move! We are late!"
Matthew finished packing and smiled. He wasn’t carrying much, but it was enough to follow Joey for the next eighteen concerts she had with the band, starting march 21st and until April 23rd. His plan was simple: standing in the first row of every show and cheering for the drummer. He wanted to show her how much he loved her, and he was willing to postpone his whole life for her. He had gotten in trouble in his job for doing that, and he didn’t care. He wanted to be with Joey, and he wanted her to know how much he loved her, and if that meant being fired from Criminal Minds, so be it.
He put the eighteen tickets for the shows he had already gotten in an envelope and smiled pleased.
- "This has to work"- he said out loud- "I mean… it has to, ‘cos I don’t know what to do next…"- he grabbed his phone and looked at the hour.
- “Good luck with the video today”- he wrote and sent.
The latest days had been weird for him and Joey. She would accept to see him when it came to things related to the baby, but of course, she would never let him get too close. The nap they had shared had been the last time he had held her in his arms. The rest of the time, she had been distant, and though he had done his best to stay calm and positive, sometimes it scared him to think maybe he was really going to die trying to get her back.
But “weird” didn’t mean bad, though. And Matthew had made the best of the time he had shared with her. He would bring her treats she liked and would call every morning to know how she felt. She always picked up. That was good; it meant she didn’t hate talking to him.
He also took her to see a nutritionist, to help them make a meal plan, considering Joey wasn’t the healthiest person when it came to meals. They also had a conversation with a personal trainer to help her identify the exercises and movements she could do to train and stay fit those first months. Besides, Matthew kept getting thoughtful presents to make her pregnancy more comfortable, and he brought one every day as an excuse to see her, even for a minute. He got her the pregnancy pillow and customized it as one of his stuffed monsters. He got her natural spa products for her bath to help her relax. He even got a tiny drum for the baby. Joey hated him because she couldn’t stay mad at him if he was being so adorable. He bought her so much food she was sure she was getting fat for eating too much and not because of her pregnancy.
- “Thank you”- his phone dinged, and he quickly read the text, smiling.
- “Wanna come for dinner tonight?”- he wrote and held his breath. It was a bold move, but he needed to play all his cards.
- “Better not, I’ve got an early flight.”- she replied. Joey held the phone in her hands tight, locked in the bathroom. She really didn’t have to change for the video, she just had to put on an MCR t-shirt, and she wanted to fix her hair. Joey wasn’t really going to be in many shots anyway, she just was a support player in the back. She couldn’t take the eyes from the phone, though she knew she had to. She was waiting for Matthew’s answer.
- “Can I stop later to say goodbye?”- and a smile lodged on his lips as he wrote those words. Joey had no idea he was going to be on tour. Joey bit her inner lip as she considered the options. She wanted to see him but didn’t want to give him hope, but he was the father of her kid, but… he cheated.
- “I can bring some dinner, in case you get home tired and you don’t want to cook.”
- “Mother fucker!!”- the girl coursed and sighed- “See you at seven.”
- "Yes!!"- Matthew jumped from his bed and danced around his room on his own. He just had to be calmed and try not to fuck it up. He could do that, right?
Lynz kept a good eye during the whole day, trying to see if Joey would look at Gerard, but she didn’t. They didn’t really talk at all. She knew Joey had told her they weren’t close, which made sense with the scene in front of her. It was like Gerard didn’t exist for the drummer.
- “Isn’t that weird too?”- Mrs. Way thought. She could notice Gerard was concentrated entirely on the whole “making the video” process. He kept checking with the director and making sure everything was ok. Joey talked with Mikey and laughed a lot with Ray. Her husband and the young woman never interacted except during the show. Gerard wouldn’t stop going back to the drum and looking at her every time they had to perform. Just like Lynz had seen in the Valencia show. Joey didn’t seem to pay that much attention. She would be playing, their eyes would crush, they would nod, that was it.
- “Ok, if it doesn’t seem to be anything going on, why can’t I shake these thoughts from my head”- the bassist asked herself as she kept staring at her husband performing.
During the break, Joey walked away from the stage and the noise and locked herself in the bathroom again. She checked her cell phone and read.
- “Do you think we could ever get to be friends?”- and she held her breathing, nearly in shock. The text was from Gerard. When the fuck did he text her? He had been there the whole time. She looked around, but she was alone in the bathroom. She reread it, frowning. Why was he texting her? They had managed to spend weeks talking the minimal, and she was completely in favor of keep doing the same for the rest… of her life, basically. And so she didn’t reply. It was clearly easier for her to stay away from Gerard than from Matthew for obvious reasons.
- "Hey!"- Lynz walked into the bathroom and smiled. Joey kept looking at her reflection in the mirror, fixing her makeup- "How are you feeling?"
- "Like I could puke everything I’ve ever eaten, and at the very same time, so fucking hungry"- the drummer answered with a smile- "How have you been? I haven’t seen you since London."
- "Good, busy, thank God. That’s the only way I can stand being apart from Gerard for so long."
- "It was an eternal tour!"- Joey added- "It felt like a lifetime! Are you coming along these following dates?"
- "Yeah! I’ll be there on April 5th, I have to finish a project I’m doing with a friend, and I’ll take a plane to Canada."
- "Awesome!"- Joey was doing her best to be as normal as possible. Besides, she honestly liked Lynz- "You and Jamia! Finally, I’m not gonna be the only woman around! You have no idea how exciting this is for me. I’ve been around guys my whole life, but I really need a break after these last months. I’m actually hoping to have a girl"- Joey guided her hand to her stomach and chuckled.
- "What did Matthew say, by the way?"- the drummer sighed and closed her eyes- "Sorry, I didn’t mean to… Gerard told me what happened between you two."
- "No, don’t worry"- Joey smiled and sighed again- "Matthew is happy with the baby news."
- "That’s good."
- "He is thrilled, actually. He cried when I told him, cried during the ultrasound, cried when he realized the baby due is close to Halloween."- Joey couldn’t help but smile, remembering his face, tears filling his eyes as she told him she was pregnant. She had never imagined he would be so happy.
- "And how is everything between you two?"
- “Did that little shithead tell his wife everything going on in my life or what?!”- the drummer didn’t answer. She felt pretty awkward knowing Lynz was aware of the whole story.
- "Sorry… I didn’t mean to intrude."
- "It’s ok… I…"- Joey scratched the back of her neck, honestly nervous about explaining her mind- I’m sorry, I’m just not really used to talk about things with people.
- "No, please, I was out of place, I just… Gerard was in shock when he told me, and he said you were pretty affected"- Joey nodded and looked down.
- "Yeah, I was a mess, but I’m better now…"- the two of them stayed in silence for a few seconds, that felt like hours- "I should go back"- Joey pointed to the door, and Lynz nodded.
- "I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable"
- "Don’t worry, I’ve got problems communicating with people… not just in this matter"- Joey tried to smile, though she knew she still looked pretty awkward- "It’s a long story."
- "Hey, no need to explain, really"- Lynz opened her arms and hugged her.
Joey didn’t get a thing. Why was she being so nice? Did Lynz want to be her friend? Was she being honest or just trying to be friendly under the circumstances? Did she want to get closer to her to know if she was crushed on Gerard? There were too many questions around Joey’s head, and she didn’t have the time or the energy to try to find an answer to any of them. She just hugged Lynz back and cut her a friendly smile.
The whole recording process took the entire morning and part of the afternoon. By the time they were done- and gave the kids in the audience a short show of five songs - the band and their families were ready to go home.
- "Bug, we are gonna go grab dinner together. Wanna come?"- Mikey wrapped an arm around Joey and kissed her temple as they all grabbed their things in the dressing room.
- "I’m too tired. I wanna go home."
- "Want me to go with you? Ask for some take-out? Maybe from the Vietnamese place you wanted to try, watch a movie… you know, rest before the tour that’s coming, what do you say?"- Joey smiled but declined.
- "I have plans…"- Mikey raised an eyebrow and nodded.
- "You are gonna see Gubler"- and by the tone in his voice, she knew he wasn’t happy with the news.
- "He is gonna drop by to say goodbye."
- "Sure… are you sure you are ok with him?"
- "What do you mean?"
- "You have been hanging out with him a lot."
- "No, I haven’t!"
- "Name one day this week you haven’t seen him"- Mikey furrowed his brows and crossed his arms on his chest, staring at the drummer.
- "Today?"- she answered, thinking.
- "See?"
- "He keeps bringing presents for the baby. What am I going to say? Stop being such a good dad?"
The whole band was overhearing the conversation. They were all pretty nosey, actually. And the whole Matthew/Joey drama was their favorite subject at the moment.
- "He ain’t trying to be a good dad! He is trying to win you over! Are you gonna let him break your heart again?"
That escalated quickly. Joey stood in front of his friend, not knowing what to say. Lucky for her, Lynz was the one to talk next.
- "Are you jealous, Mikey?"- though her words weren’t really the best to be spoken at the moment. The bassist looked at his sister in law almost in shock, nearly insulted.
- "Not jealous, worried. I am concerned about her ‘cos I don’t want her to get hurt again, is that a fucking sin or what?"
- "No, it’s not! I’m just asking ‘cos you sound like a jealous boyfriend worried his girlfriend is gonna cheat or whatever."
Joey hated Lynz’s comment, every single word in it, ‘cos it was meant to start a fight. Had she said it with those intentions?
- “No, she didn’t… did she? Is she trying to know if Mikey and I are into anything? No, stop being paranoid!”
- "I’m not jealous, Lynz"- Mikey’s words were cold as he responded with a serious face- "I’m just worried and taking care of her. That’s what friends do."
- "Sorry! There’s no need to get all serious."
- "Ok, dinner?"- Ray clapped and tried to lighten the mood- "Let’s go before Frank gets all cranky."
They all nodded and started walking. Gerard made sure to stay a little behind as his wife talked with Jamia and moved closer to Joey.
- "You didn’t answer my text"- he whispered, and the drummer froze in shock, even a little scared. Why was he talking to her? They had managed to spend weeks without saying a word directly to each other. Why did he decide to talk to her the only day they had been around his wife?
- "Sorry, I’ve been busy"- Joey mumbled and started walking quickly to get away from him.
- "And would we ever be friends?"- Gerard asked, following her and talking under breath, making sure no one except her could hear him.
- "Sure, if you stop saying nonsenses, we can be friends."
- "Nonsenses? You mean telling you that I love you?"- the young woman widened her eyes and turned to him immediately.
- "Don’t say that! Ever again!"
- "But I do. I am in love with you, Sugar."
- "And that’s why we can’t be friends"- Joey sentenced and walked to her car, never looking back. She said goodbye to the rest of the band, kissed Cherry and Lily a few times each, and drove home.
- “What the fuck Gerard?!”- she yelled inside her head- “What the fuck is his problem?! His wife was right here? And he keeps telling me that he loves me? is he stupid? Has the stress affected his brain functions? Did he start drinking again?”.
There was no explanation for his behavior, and it freaked Joey out, ‘cos a new leg of the tour was starting the day after, and she didn’t want to face it that way. She didn’t want to travel with Lynz knowing her husband was trying to get into her pants again.
Again, that was the worst part. Joey felt like a whore knowing what had happened with Gerard. She didn’t want to even think about it, but the image kept coming to her mind. His lips on her, kissing her jawline, her neck, her breast… If she hadn’t thought he was Matthew, would she have let him go on? If she wasn’t in love with her ex, would she had sex with Gerard, even knowing he was married?
The answer could actually scare her, ‘cos it was against everything she had ever believed in. But she thought it was possible. The only thing that kept her from having sex with Gerard was that she was in love with Matthew.
If she had sex with Gerard, would she stop loving Matthew? The girl shook her head, frowning, disgusted by her own thoughts. That was never going to be a good idea.
Gerard was in silence, staring at the food in front of him. He didn’t want to eat. He didn’t want to be there. He could hear his friends talking, his wife laughing, but all his mind could register was the fact Joey was now in her apartment with Gubler. With the guy he hated the most in the whole world. With the guy Gerard wanted to be. The guy he was jealous of. The one she loved instead of him. Just the thought of what could happen between them made him sick in the stomach.
Was she going to forgive him? Was she going to have sex with him? Was she going to marry him after all? Matthew was going to be with her that night. He was going to make her laugh, he was going to lean over her slowly and whisper sweet words in her ear. He was gonna make her blush, he was going to get her wet and cream her undies.
The singer shook his head and tried to think of anything else. But he couldn’t.
- "Are you ok?"- his wife asked, frowning- "You haven’t had a bite."
- "I’m not hungry"- Way whispered and tried his best to cut her a nice natural, all innocent smile.
- "Sure?"- Lynz touched his forehead in case he had a temperature, but he was ok- "Do you want to go home and rest?"- the singer nodded right away
- "Yes, I think I need to lay down for a while."
- "Ok, I’ll tell the guys."
Gerard was full of it. But going home and locking himself in his studio sounded like a nice idea. At least there, no one could see him freaking out over the idea of Joey being with someone else but him.
Matthew counted to ten as he stood outside his car and took three deep breaths to calm himself down. He had done the same, like a mantra, each time he walked into Joey’s apartment those days. He had to control himself from running over, from making a mistake. He had to make sure he wasn’t going to mess it up with her, Paget had told him over and over again: he only had one chance to make things right, and he couldn’t fuck it up.
His friend was the only one who knew Matthew was gonna be a dad, and she was as thrilled as he was, mostly ‘cos she knew how badly Gubler wanted to have a baby. And the fact he loved Joey more than anything made it even more perfect. Well, it would be perfect if he hadn’t cheated, but both of them hoped to fix that any time now. As soon as possible, as a matter of fact.
- "Hey"- Matthew smiled as his ex-girlfriend opened the door. She was already in her pajamas, make-up swept off her face, a messy bun on her hair, and some chocolate around her lips. Matthew had never seen her as beautiful as in that moment.
- "Shouldn’t you be quitting sugar already? We agreed no more lava cakes from this week on."
- "I’m eating the leftovers from the fridge, ‘cos it’s all gonna be rotten when I come back, and the whole place is gonna stink"- Joey answered, cleaning the corner of her mouth, turning back to the kitchen.
- "You know chocolate won’t get bad… wait, where did you get chocolate from?"- Joey turned to him and grinned.
- "Frankie got me some"- Gubler nodded and left the take-out boxes on the counter.
- "Are you hungry?"
- "Actually… I don’t know… are you?"
- "A little. But I can wait a while if you want…"- he smiled at her and stared in silence. The young woman turned away to the fridge again and opened it.
- "Anything else that’s gonna spoil while you are away?"- he asked.
- "Not much… peanut butter will live, I guess."
- "Yeah."
- "And ketchup."
- "Yeah… but ketchup was making you sick a few days ago."
- "But who knows next week..."- the conversation between them was so natural, neither of them remembered how bad things were between them for a long while.
They talked about the fridge, the new self-watering system Joey had gotten for her plants, and how excited she was to see her parents again. And that was when Matthew pushed things a little too far.
- "Are you going to tell them about the baby?"
- "I don’t know"- Joey simply answered and walked away from him. She had been walking away from him most of the time he had spent in her apartment, and he kept following her like a lost puppy through the whole place.
- "Why not?"
- "‘Cos they are gonna ask too many things. ‘Cos I want to know if everything is ok with the baby first, wait until he is twelve weeks. And mostly, ‘cos I’m gonna have to tell them you are a cheater mother fucker and that we are not getting married, and I haven’t seen them in forever… I don’t wanna ruin the trip."
- "Maybe you don’t have to tell them we broke up,"- Joey raised an eyebrow and looked at him, standing on the frame of the bathroom door, staring at her putting all her beauty products (the few she had) in a “go-to” bag.
- "Sure, Matthew"- her answer was snarky, and she refused to turn to him.
- "I mean… we don’t have to break up"
- "Again? You wanna do this again?"- her voice was annoyed, making it clear she was tired of talking about their relationship.
- "We’ve danced around the subject all week, and we haven’t properly talked about it."
- "We are over because your cock was in your ex’s mouth the night of your birthday a few weeks ago. That’s all there is to know about that subject. That’s why we are in this fucking shitty situation. And no, Matthew Gray Gubler, I am not going to forgive you! So can you just drop it?!"
A heavy silence hung in the room. Joey lost it, and she ended up yelling. She was tired, she was sad, she was stressed. And most of it, she was anxious and slightly depressed over the whole deal.
- "I’m tired of this shit! We are gonna be parents together. I swear I am doing my best to get along with you and have a healthy relationship. Still, the fact is, I am doing my best to stop fucking loving you ‘cos I am not going to get back together with you! Ever!"
Her words were full of anger, and she couldn’t stop herself from screaming at him.
Matthew looked at Joey in silence. He didn’t know what to say at that. He had a lot of ideas in his head, but all of them were probably just going to get her even more upset. And that was the last thing he wanted to do that minute. And so, he just nodded and turned around and left the room. Joey sat on the edge of the bathtub and bit her lips.
- "I got this for our baby today"- he murmured a few minutes later when he walked back to the bathroom.
- "What is it?"- Joey mumbled and looked at the iPod Matthew gave her- "What? You know the baby won’t use one of these in probably another ten years, right?"
- "It’s not the iPod, it’s what’s in it"- the drummer nodded and wondered what was in it- "I just…"
Matthew cleared his throat. Words came painfully slow from his lips as he spoke.
- "I recorded a few stories and tales and things for the baby, so they can listen to my voice while you are away. That way, they won’t forget me"- Joey’s heart ached in love at those words.
- “This is one smooth loving bastard”- she thought and took a deep breath- "Thank you, that’s very thoughtful"- he shook his head and took a few steps back from her, ‘cos he knew all his body wanted was to lean over her and kiss her.
- "It’s nothing"- he sighed and made a pause- "I’m just worried if we are not gonna be together again, my baby might forget about me."
Those words broke Joey’s already broken heart. The sadness that Matthew’s face reflected showed her how bad he was feeling and reminded her that this was also a troubled time for him. Even when he was the one that had brought those problems to their relationship.
- "I promise you, that’s never gonna happen. You are always going to be our baby’s dad, and you are always going to be part of their life, no matter what"- he nodded and looked down, biting the inner part of his cheeks.
- "I think I better go"- Joey didn’t want him to go. He didn’t want to go, but her words had been so hard, they had left him speechless. Uneasy. Depressed.
- "You…"- the young woman stood up and took a deep breath, not know what to say- "You can take your part of dinner if you want."
That was not what she wanted to say. She wanted to say, “I’m sorry I just said all that in the nastiest way possible. I fucking love you, stay with me and hold me ‘cos I am scared and sad and alone”. But that was not what came out from her lips.
Matthew nodded and walked to the kitchen. He sighed and closed his eyes as he grabbed his box of Chinese noodles. That evening hadn’t come out as he was hoping. It had actually been the complete opposite. He had fucked it up. Making Joey upset only caused more pain to the two of them. He knew she would say things in the most painful way possible, not because she wanted to, but because that’s how she reacted when hurt. Hurting back. Hurting deeper.
Joey stood in the middle of the hall, watching Matthew grab all his things and turn to her.
- "Take care"- he whispered, and she nodded slowly.
- "You too."
- "I’ll call you to know about the baby bean"- she nodded again.
- "Of course. I’ll see you when I come back, and we’ll have another check-up"- he looked at her as she whispered those words. Each one of them hurt as they left her lips, ‘cos they were goodbye words, and she didn’t want to say goodbye.
Matthew just stood there, staring at her, not knowing how to move. He didn’t have the strength to walk away from her at that moment. Still, the words she had just practically yelled at him were a warning he was pushing her, and by pushing, he was never going to make things better. He had such a sad look in his eyes, Joey took a step closer to him. He kept his eyes on hers, almost holding his breath.
- "And… thank you for being here with us"- she held her hand on her tiny belly as she spoke- "I know it’s hard and all, I just… want you to know… I appreciate it."
- "They are my baby too"- he simply answered with a short and sad smile on his lips- "I would do anything for the two of you, any day."
Joey bit her lips and took another step closer. He stood still, not knowing what to do. Joey walked slowly to him and stood right in front of him.
- "Sorry about what I said"- she managed to whisper.
- "No, Joey, please don’t apologize, you said what you said ‘cos it’s the truth, and I understand how mad you are… please don’t say you are sorry for something I brought to myself, to the two of us"- Matthew made a pause and sighed, his eyes stuck into Joey’s- "To the three of us, actually"- she nodded slowly.
- "I didn’t want you to leave with an argument if we were not going to see each other until another month"- Joey managed to murmur but couldn’t hold her eyes in Matthew’s for another second, and so she looked down.
- "I didn’t want to start a fight either…"
The two of them stayed in silence. The distance between them was so small Matthew could hold her tight if he only took one step ahead. But he controlled himself. It was one of the most challenging efforts he had ever made, and he moved his hand to her chin, lifting her face sweetly.
- "Take care, ok?"- his eyes traveled slowly from her lips to her eyes, and he noticed how her cheeks blushed sweetly.
- "Ok"- she whispered, nodding.
- "I’ll call you"- she didn’t say a thing and just nodded again. Matthew moved carefully over her and landed his lips on her forehead. It was the sweetest touch Joey had ever recalled feeling from him. So delicate and tender, and at the same time with such intense love. It was impossible for her not to close her eyes and feel her knees trembling. He stared at her in silence and smiled shyly before whispering “Goodnight” and walking out of her house.
Joey stared at the door and restrained herself from the deep desire to run after him and wrap her arms around his neck, to kiss him deeply. She didn’t. She couldn’t. She shouldn’t. Instead, she walked to her couch and laid down, wrapping her arms around her legs, feeling how warm tears fell from her eyes. How many times can a heartbreak after being broken? ‘Cos every time Matthew said goodbye, her heart ached, just like the day they broke up. And her body ached, feeling the empty space he left by her side.
- "I love you so fucking much"- she mumbled, sobbing. Tears kept falling like a waterfall until she fell asleep.
::: March 31st, 2011. Oakland :::
Mikey looked at Joey as they walked into the hotel and checked in. They had hardly shared a word that day, ever since they left California. She sat with Jamia and helped with the babies the whole trip, and her plan was to continue to do the same until it was time to play the show.
- "Are you mad?"- he asked out of the blunt as he stood next to her in the middle of the lobby, both waiting for their room keys.
- "No, why?"
- "You are not talking to me."
- "You haven’t talked to me either"- she answered with a shrug- "Are you mad at me?"- Joey furrowed her brows as she spoke, thinking maybe that was the point, and she never actually noticed it.
- "No"
- "Then?"
- "Are you ok?"
- "I’m tired and puked breakfast on the plane, you?"
- "I’m tired and drank three coffees on the plane ‘cos I couldn’t sleep"- Joey nodded at her friend’s words- "Why does it feel weird?"- Mikey pointed out and crossed his arms on his chest
- "I don’t know... - the drummer answered and looked at his shoes- "I love those boots."
- "I’m not gonna give them to you. They are not your number."
- "Shut up"- Joey cut him a short smile, and he did the same- "I hated Lynz’s comment last night"- Joey confessed and kicked Mikey’s boot friendly
- "Me too… Gerard said I was too rude to her."
- "You were, but she kind of deserved it"- Mikey chuckled at Joey’s confession- "Really, I just hated so much how she was insinuating you were jealous of whatever, considering she has no idea we are best friends!
- "I know! I thought the same"
- "That’s ‘cos we are best friends"- Joey added and smiled, giggling. Mikey looked at her and wrapped his arms around her slowly.
- "Did you have a good night after you saw that asshole?"
- "Yeah, it was ok"- Joey lied, hiding her face in his chest- "He brought dinner and left."
- "Good"- they rocked slowly, still hugged. Mikey kissed the top of her head and whispered- "I’m not jealous."
- "I know"
- "I’m just scared"
- "Why?"- Joey moved apart from him but never got an answer. Jeffrey showed up and gave them their keys.
- "Get ready. We’ve got an interview in an hour here in the conference room"- the bassist frowned, nodding.
- "Good news for me, I get to get some more sleep"- Joey added and stuck out her tongue to Mikey.
- "I hate you"
- "I know."
Gerard looked at his brother talking with Joey. He saw how they hugged. How he kissed the top of her head. How she smiled at him sweetly and hid her face on his chest. They looked like a fucking couple, and he hated everything about it.
- "Stop it"- Ray said and stood next to him- "I thought you were gonna be over your fucking obsession by now"- he pointed out with an eased tone of voice like he was just talking about the weather.
- "You are gonna fuck everything up if you keep looking at her like that"
- "What do you know?"
- "I know she won’t talk to you at all, and I think there has to be a reason I don’t know"- Gerard stayed still, pretending those hadn’t hurt him. Or scared him. He didn’t even look at Ray as he spoke.
- "And I know you like her, so stay away from her before you do something that ruins everything."
- "I’m not gonna ruin anything."
- "Your wife is gonna be here soon."
- "I love my wife."
- "I know… just try not to stare at Joey drooling, like she is the object of your undeniable desire and love when Lynz is around."
Gerard turned to his friend and tried to say something back, but nothing came out.
- "And for the love of God, don’t fuck it up!"- Ray tapped on his back and walked away.
Gerard Way was busted. He was fucked. And it was the first day of the tour.
Matthew laid on his bed and sighed. He was in Oakland, staying at a hotel two blocks from Joey’s. He had made sure not to book his room in the same place as her, to keep a safe distance in case she got too mad- which was always an option with her, especially under those circumstances. Those were the worst circumstances they had ever faced, so Matthew was being extra precautious. Even more after what had happened the night before. He was still angry with himself for pushing her too much. He had to be patient.
- “Let’s hope she won’t get angry with me for doing this.”- he thought and stared at the ceiling. He could only stay still for a minute or so. He quickly moved to his bag, grabbed a book and his phone.
- "Hey"- Joey’s voice at the other side of the line made him smile right away
- "Hello, how was your trip?"
- "It was ok"- Joey cleared her throat and looked at her feet as she walked around her room. She felt weird and awkward talking to Matthew after what had happened the night before- "How are you?"
- "I’m ok…"
- "How are you feeling from the bruises from the car crash?"
- "Like nothing ever happened"
- "Good…"- there was a silence on the line. Matthew could hear Joey’s breathing as she scratched the back of his neck and said the first thing that came to his mind.
- "So at what time is the concert tonight?"
- "At eight"
- "Good… and… are you having lunch soon?"
- "I don’t know. I was thinking about napping now and maybe grab a late bite before going to the arena."
- "Remember the nutritionist said you shouldn’t skip meals"- the drummer sighed, knowing he was right.
- "But I’m so sleepy, I’m gonna fall asleep on the table eating."
- "You couldn’t sleep last night? “God knows I couldn’t.”
- “I did. “No, I didn’t. I stayed up crying and thinking about how much I love you, damn it!”
- "Then why are you so tired?"
- "Maybe because I’m turning food into a human being"- Matthew chuckled at those words, and Joey smiled, listening to his reaction.
- "That seems to be a good reason. I’m sorry I questioned you"- the girl kept the grin on her face for a second
- "That’s ok. I should really go grab something to eat and then nap. You are right about that."
- "Talk to you later?"- he asked as casually as possible- "Maybe after the show, to know how you are feeling?"
- "Yeah, sure. Talk to you later, bye."
Matthew hung up and sighed. Just a few more hours and his plan to get his girl back would start. His stomach tightened as he imagined what Joey was gonna say when she saw him. Was she going to be mad? Was she going to be happy? Was the band going to hit him? There were too many questions for him to answer, so he did the only thing he could do: lay on his bed and grab the book he was carrying.
Jamia, the babies, and Joey had lunch together. The drummer loved having her around ‘cos she wasn’t alone back in the hotel all the time like she was in Europe, and that meant less time to overthink everything. She loved hanging out with Jamia ‘cos she was too nice and understanding with her. It felt like they could be friends. Jamia considered Joey her friend already, meanwhile the young woman still had trouble opening up with people.
Though she had to be honest with herself. The latest months had changed a lot of the things that made her a loner. It was all Matthew and My Chem. Except for Gerard. But for Joey, Gerard wasn’t really in the picture anymore. He was the guy she needed and wanted to avoid at any cost. Even if that cost meant to leave the band.
- "So… have you thought of any name already?"- Jamia and Joey were at the drummer’s room. The babies were napping, and the two women were laid on the bed, eating Oreos.
- "Not really… I just…"
- "It’s not real yet?"
- "It’s so not real yet"- Joey whispered and chuckled- "I keep looking at the ultrasound, and I can’t believe there’s a baby in my tummy… I bet I ate a sea monkey at some point, and that’s what’s been growing inside me"- Jamia snorted as she tried to keep it down and nearly laughed out loud.
- "Wait until the sea monkey starts kicking. That’s the weirdest thing of all"
- "You are not making it magical, J"- Joey made a pause and chuckled- "You are so gonna be J from now on"- and Jamia smiled.
- "Sounds nice coming from you."
- "Good, ‘cos I think I’ve got no more brain cells to think of anything else."
- "Oh honey! You are just starting!"- Mrs. Iero tapped on her friend’s leg as the two of them laid back next to the babies- "You have months of exciting emotions, like pregnancy arousal, cravings, hormonal changes, hair coming in weird places, and my personal favorite, pregnancy brain"- Joey frowned disgustedly.
- "I’m afraid to ask about the arousal, the hair, and the brain shit"
- "Whenever you are ready, I am here."
- "You are my Jamia San Kenobi"- Joey chuckled and sighed- "My pregnancy Jedi master"- and Jamia smiled.
- "I’m glad I can help"- and after a few minutes, they were both asleep as well.
The doors to the theater opened at five, and Matthew ran inside to make sure to grab a spot on the first row. He nearly tackled a few teenagers to get there. But he did and sighed, relieved at his success.
- "Hey! Where are you? did you make it?"- Paget called and didn’t even say hello to her friend. She just started asking questions right away, making him chuckle.
- "Hey! Yeah, I’m in Oakland, already at the theater. It’s a very cool venue, small, intimate… I’m almost sure Joey is gonna get to see me."
- "Are you in the first row?"
- "Of course, I am"
- "Good"- Paget smiled and nodded- "We miss you around here."
- "I’ll be there when everything is ok."
- "We know."
- "Is anyone mad at me?"- and Paget chuckled.
- "No, actually everybody thinks you are the sweetest and most romantic guy on earth following your girlfriend like that."
- "I’m following her to get her to be my girlfriend again, actually."
- "You get the point"- and Matthew chuckled- "Ok, Gubler, gotta go, please call me and tell me how this went."
- "Of course!"
- "Hey! Wait! Did you make a banner?"
- "Yes! I remembered your advice and got a banner."
- "What does it say?"
- “The distance is nothing when one has a motive”- the actor confessed proudly
- "Pride and Prejudice?"- Paget asked, puzzled.
- "Yes, her favorite, I’m making her banners with quotes from her favorite books"- and his friend sighed.
- "Stop it! I am gonna end up falling for you!"- and the actor chuckled- "If she doesn’t take you back, I am single!"
- "Shut up!"- Paget laughed, knowing Matthew had blushed, though he knew she was joking.
- "Call me later."
- "Sure thing!"
Joey kept jumping on her spot. She was backstage, feeling really psyched to play that day. She didn’t really know why. Maybe it was the two hours nap she had taken that afternoon with Cherry and Lily. Perhaps the fun size Snicker Mikey had just given her, breaking her meal plan on the first day on the road.
- "You look extra happy today"- and it all stopped the second she heard Gerard’s voice next to her.
- "Hey, yeah… I think it’s a sugar rush"- she answered and looked around, feeling safer knowing everybody was around her, including Jamia and the babies.
- "How are you feeling?"
- "Good"- Joey smiled and nodded- "You?"
- "Good… but I’m not pregnant"- the girl smiled and looked away from him, trying to keep that conversation as casual and distant as possible.
- "You look gorgeous, by the way"- Gerard whispered and even blushed as he moved a little closer to her- "I guess it’s true pregnant women glow and grow in beauty."
Joey took a step back and gulped as she felt her cheeks burning red as Gerard just continued talking.
- "‘Cos each time I see you, you catch my breath."
- "Please don’t..."
- "I’m just being nice"- Gerard smiled, pretending to look as innocent as possible.
- "You and I both know that’s not what you are doing."
- "Hey Iceland"- Frankie appeared all of a sudden and wrapped an arm around the young girl, kissing her temple and giving Gerard a glare that forced the singer to take a few steps back.
- "What are you guys talking about?"- and Joey sighed, relieved to feel him next to her, like a little guardian angel, though Frank Iero had nothing angelic.
- "I was just telling Joey she looks gorgeous today and that pregnant women are beautiful"- Gerard answered like it wasn’t a big deal at all. Joey wanted to run away or hide under a rock. Frank just tightened his arm around her and nodded.
- "Yes, she does… wanna help with my warm-up?"
That was the most random question Iero could come up with that second, but it didn’t matter, ‘cos Joey smiled and quickly said yes, escaping from Gerard’s presence. But not from his eyes that followed her through the room. He wasn’t worried anyone could see how much he loved her, ‘cos he didn’t want to hide it anymore. Not until Lynz was there, at least. But that was a problem he would face when the right time came, in a week or so.
- "What can I help you with, Jersey?"- Joey asked as Frank grabbed a few kettlebells and started making bicep curls.
- "Absolutely nothing, you just looked like you wanted to get the fuck away from him, and I decided to rescue you"- the young woman wanted to deny it all, but at that point, she was just so glad Frank had taken her away from Gerard, she just nodded and smiled.
- "You are such a smart guy"
- "You are gonna make me blush…"
- "Can I use one?"- she casually asked, pointing out the kettlebell.
- "Definitely not! You’re not lifting any weight until we talk with your doctor"- Joey rolled her eyes and shook her eyes.
- "We already did that. I am ok to work out… I just can’t… run and… carry heavyweights"- Frank raised an eyebrow, and she smiled guilty- "Sorry, I just love lifting weights."
- "Have your baby first, then we care gonna train like we are fucking CrossFit athletes"- the soon-to-be mother chuckled and reached out her hand to her friend.
- "Jersey, we’ve got a date."
The crowd was running anxious, and so was Matthew. He had stayed put on his spot in the first row, right in front of the drumset like his life depended on it, no matter how much kids would try to push him away.
- “This is gonna work, this is gonna work, this is gonna work,”- he kept repeating in his head as he felt the weight of two thousand people pushing him against the security fence.
The crowd started yelling louder and jumping as the band appeared on stage. And along with them came his girl.
His breath was caught in his throat as he looked at her walking to the drum, a huge smile lodged on her lips. She looked so happy, happy like she had always looked when playing. There was nothing Joey loved more than her job. She had fought so much to get there, Matthew could barely get a glimpse of how good she felt playing as a professional drummer.
Looking at her sitting behind the drum in a My Chemical Romance concert, with that sweet and happy grin on her face, made him fall a thousand times harder in love with her. He felt proud of her and jealous of all the people who had been able to see her glowing in joy in the latest months when he had been away from her.
- “You fucked it up! Now fix it!”
Gubler never noticed the countdown of the music had started, and all the kids were yelling every word in “Look Alive Sunshine” until Gerard’s voice took him from his thoughts. Joey started playing, and the singer yelled.
- Oakland!! Make some noise!!- and the show started.
The whole crowd jumped, and Matthew jumped along with them, his eyes locked in Joey, who was lost in her drum. He smiled, watching how her lips now moved along with the song, murmuring the lyrics. Of course, she had toured with them long enough to learn all the lyrics of each song. She would probably deny it but sing them in the shower when she knew no one was listening.
The first one who spotted Matthew was Mikey. He frowned as he looked at Gubler standing in the first row, not getting what the fuck was going on. But Matthew never cared -he hadn’t actually considered- the fact the band could spot him in the audience. There was no one else on that stage but Joey for him, and that’s why she was the only person he had eyes for.
As soon as “Na Na Na” ended, Mikey walked to Frank. The intro of “Mama” started, so the bassist talked as fast as possible.
- "Dude, Gubler is here"- Iero looked at him frowning- "The first row, staring at Joey"- Frank looked over and saw him. He hadn’t seen him ever since New Year, and if there was one thing the Jersey boy was dying to do was to break Matthew’s face so hard no one would ever recognize him again.
- "Mother fucker"- he said and didn’t take his eyes from the actor- "I’m gonna kill him!"
But at the moment, he didn’t have the chance, ‘cos he had to play a show. But for a second, he and Mikey shared a look and turned to Joey. She was playing, eyes shut, smiling. They knew she still had no idea what was going on. And that was ok for them.
It wasn’t long until Gerard found the actor. It wasn’t hard to see him ‘cos he was the tallest guy in the front row and the only one who wasn’t looking at him. Matthew was the guy who stood still, hypnotized with each movement of the drummer, drooling over her like a kid staring at his first love. Gerard felt how his whole body shook in anger. Even his hands shook with a deep desire to kill him. Right there, in front of everybody. But he couldn’t. He had to keep on singing, keep on playing. Keep on pretending everything was ok, not just for the show and the kids, but for Joey too. He kept wishing she hadn’t seen him yet. Maybe she could never see him.
But the singer needed to let Gubler know he was fucked. And so he stood right in front of him, at the very edge of the stage, and managed it to catch his eyes. Both of them looking at each other in such deep hate, it was obvious the pair knew they despised each other. Gerard didn’t think about it twice. He had the higher ground. It would be a shame not to take advantage. And so, he spit on Matthew, and an evil smirked lodged on him as he saw him cleaning his face in anger. That was a little piece of sweet, sweet revenge. But it still wasn’t enough to make the actor pay for everything he had put Joey through.
Ray widened his eyes when he spotted Matthew, just the second Gerard spitted on him. He saw the whole moment in action and knew it was gonna be hell after the show. What was Gubler doing there? Trying to get Joey back. Ray knew that moment was gonna come, eventually. Toro knew how much Matthew loved her. It was crystal clear for everybody to see.
Ray was the only one who could keep a cold head to analyze the whole picture, and that’s why he always tried to remind his friends Joey and Matthew weren’t a subject they could decide on. It wasn’t something related to them at all, though they were friends with her. They were their own thing, a thing they could merely watch but never ever control. It was clear neither of his friends had listened, and so Toro sighed. He was going to have to stop a big fight after that concert.
- "The next song"- Gerard said after “House of Wolves” was over. It was Joey’s favorite song, and they played it as often as possible- "It’s about being a kid, about you being a kid, about me being a kid, about us being a kid, about you having a kid"- Joey raised her eyes from the drums and looked straight into Gerard’s eyes. That’s when she heard him.
- "Yami!!"- it was Matthew’s voice, but it couldn’t be. Joey frowned and looked around.
- "Yami!!"- he yelled and raised the banner. Frank, Mikey, and Gerard looked at him in the most honest and pure hate anyone could have ever seen from them. Ray tried to concentrate on Joey. She was the one he cared about at that second. And when he saw the puzzled expression on her face as she looked at him, asking what was going on, Ray couldn’t control himself and pointed at the actor.
Joey’s heart stopped. It was Matthew, it was really him, standing there, on the first row of the concert, staring at her with the biggest smile anyone had ever had around her in her life. And he was holding a banner that read, “The distance is nothing when one has a motive.” She couldn’t move. She didn’t know what to do. He just smiled at her and mouthed, “I love you.”
- "Bug!! Bug, are you ok?"- Mikey waved in front of the drum and looked worried at the girl. She just nodded at him and then at Frankie, who stood next to the bassist.
- "Yeah, I’m ok"- she smiled and started counting. It was time to play “Kids from yesterday.”
Everybody loved that song, and she wasn’t going to fuck it up, not even if her eyes and mind were stuck looking at Matthew in front of her, as he kept smiling like a kid on Christmas morning as she played.
Gerard stared at the scene, and it felt he was gonna make a tantrum in the middle of the stage. Joey was staring at Matthew, and her whole face had lit up, even if she didn’t want to. And just like a little child, Gerard made sure to stand right between the two of them to stop them from looking at each other. And like if they could all build a fortress, Frank and Mikey stood around the drumset, protecting Joey, trying to make sure Matthew knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere near her, over their dead bodies.
Matthew didn’t give a damn. He just wanted to look at her. He just wanted her to know she was the most important person in his life and that he was willing to drop anything and everything just to be near her.
The song was ending. Joey kept playing drums, her eyes glued to Matthew’s, until Mikey stared at her, counting the beat at the song’s end. She nodded at her friend and kept playing, both of them, the two of them, to finish the song together, just like they had done for over five months now, in perfect timing. Joey loved that part, and he knew it, ‘cos it was the only part of the show they had a little solo. Mikey was happy Matthew didn’t take that moment from them. At least he felt Joey was still in the zone, playing and being present at the show and not lost in thoughts.
Joey was lost in thoughts, she was making her best to play a good show. But Matthew’s appearance had moved the ground underneath her feet. It had been the biggest and warmest surprised she had had in a long time.
“I’m not ok” set the mood for the rest of the concert. No one on that stage was ok. But Gerard was the one affected the most. He would sing, giving his back to the audience and looking at Joey as often as possible. He knew that was going to drive Matthew insane, but it also helped him stay focused.
His eyes locked in Joey’s face tried to read her. She looked… happier. And that hurt, ‘cos though Gerard knew she didn’t love him back, it didn’t help to know he was still in her heart. It was so obvious she was in love with him even a blind man would see it. Even Joey would try to keep her eyes shut or look away, she would always end up looking at Matthew, and Gerard could swear a smile lodged on her lips each time she saw the actor. It made him want to punch a wall, or Gubler’s face, whatever came first.
- "Give me all your fucking money!!"- Gerard yelled and ran to the drum set as Joey started playing “Vampire Money” with a huge smile- "Are you ready, Ray!!"
- "Yeah!"
- "How about you, Sugar?"
- "Yeah!!"
- "How about you, Frank?"
- "Fuck you, Gubler!"- he answered, and Joey turned to him in shock, though Iero looked at her with the cutest and most adorable smile on earth.
- "How about you, Mikey?"- Gee yelled
- "Fucking ready!"
- "I think I’m alright."
Gerard would always call Joey “Bug” when he addressed her in that part of the show. It was the only moment of the day he could call her by a nickname, and “Bug” was her official band nickname. But that day, Way wanted to make a difference. He wanted to make it sound a little more personal than it was in real life. “Sugar” fit perfectly, and in his mind, Gerard would always call her Sugar.
Somehow, being so angry brought a different energy to the band while playing. They were mad into it. Gerard sang as his life depended on it, while Mikey wouldn’t stop moving, and looking in the most threatening way possible at Gubler, every once in a while. Frank would jump and yell and shout, playing his guitar with the energy of a caffeinated hyper ten years old. Matthew never even saw them. He couldn’t care less. All there was for him on that stage was Joey behind the drum, looking at him with the corner of her eye every couple of minutes.
She didn’t know what to think or what to feel. She was in shock. What was Matthew doing there? What was he going to do next? What was he planning? Joey needed to run away from that stage and hide under a gigantic pillow ‘cos she had no idea how to face what was going on, though, at the same time, she was dying to run to Matthew and hug him. She just felt so good to know he had followed her to see her one more time. She felt special like he always made her feel.
Gerard started singing Cancer, and Joey turned to one side of the stage. Jamia looked at her, literally waving. She could perfectly read her lips, “What the fuck?” and the drummer could only shrug.
- "Hey"- Mikey appeared in front of the drummer and cut him a quick, shy smile- "Are you ok?"
- "Yeah, just surprised."
- "You knew?"
- "I had no idea"- he nodded and looked around
- "Just a few more songs, then we can go hide and eat a pretty good dinner"- Joey smiled at him and watched him walk back to his side of the stage.
But Joey didn’t want to hide in her room and eat dinner with Mikey. Though she refused to admit it, all she wanted to do was to stand in front of Matthew and feel his eyes fondling her skin as he talked to her, just like he was doing at that moment, from a distance. She could feel his eyes running up and down her skin, though she didn’t look at him.
Jamia nearly jumped on Joey as soon as the girl reached backstage. The babies were miraculously sound asleep. No one got how, considering a huge rock concert had been happening that whole time a few meters away from them.
- "Oh my god, what the fuck??!"- Jamia made her best to whisper/scream to not wake the babies, but to make Joey wide open her eyes and frown.
- "I swear I have no idea!!"
- "He is adorable!!"
- "He is a cheater Jamia"- Frank interrupted his wife and took off his shirt, frowning- "And you shouldn’t be that excited. He is just trying to win her over."
- "He is being romantic, Frank"- Jamia corrected him and looked at Joey again- "What are you gonna do?"
- "I don’t know"
- "Call him!!"
Jamia was the closest to a best friend from high school Joey had ever had. Sure, back in the days, she had Tabatha, but her friend had her share of social life, and Joey was always shut down to any kind of social interaction. Now Jamia was talking about boys and telling her to call one. If that was high school talk, Joey had no idea what it was.
But before she could actually make a decision, her phone rang in her backpack, and J widened her eyes in excitement.
- "I swear to God, Jamia! you are just acting like this ‘cos you think he is hot!"- Frank turned around to see his wife, clearly annoyed, as Joey grabbed her phone and held it tight in her hands, not knowing what to do.
- "I’m just being honest with my friend. He is being cute and asking for a second chance. Coming unannounced to a concert with a cute banner is the sweetest thing I’ve seen a guy doing for love!"- Jamia stopped talking, and Joey’s cell stopped ringing. She looked at it feeling disappointed, until a second later, it started ringing again.
- "For Christ’s sake! Answer!"- Jamia sounded annoyed, and Joey did as told, not really thinking about her own actions. She just… deep down wanted to do it.
- "Hello?"
- "Hey..."- Matthew stood still in the middle of the arena, waiting for the kids to leave the place, he was anxious to know what Joey thought of what he had done, and though he had thought about waiting for a while to call her, he just couldn’t control himself.
- "What was that?"- Joey asked, blushing, as she locked herself in the bathroom.
- "That was me dying to see you, traveling to Oakland to be with you, even from a distance"
- "Why did you do that?"- Joey managed to ask, feeling she was nearly mumbling each word.
- "‘Cos I love you, ‘cos I miss you…"
Neither of them was able to say another word. Matthew was nervous and didn’t know how Joey managed the whole situation, though her voice sounded peaceful and calm. That should be a good sign.
- "You shouldn’t have…"- she whispered and felt her heart was about burst inside her chest
- "Do you wanna come out for a minute and talk?"- she wanted to, so badly, but it scared her to think what would happen if Frank, or even Gerard, got near Gubler.
- "Where are you?"
- "Still here"
- "You haven’t moved?"
- "Nop"- Matthew smiled and looked around- "I don’t know if they are planning to kick me out though"
- "Give me five minutes, I’ll change into something dry, and I’ll be right there."
Gerard Way was in hell. Literally burning alive as he watched Joey walking out of the bathroom in a fresh shirt and combed hair made a ponytail. She had even fixed her makeup.
- “God! She even got pretty for him!! What the fuck?! How can she be so eager to forgive him?!”- his eyes could burn holes in the wall as he did his best to look away from Joey.
- "Hey Bug, what are you gonna do?"- Mikey asked her as he stood next to her and held her hands. Gerard hated that too. He had managed to decode each movement from his brother around Joey like he was her couple. Lynz’s words had really fucked up with his brain. And if he was jealous of Mikey before, now it was turning into something worse.
- "I’m gonna go talk to him"
- "Are you sure that’s a good idea?"- Mikey looked worried, but Joey smiled at him and held his hand tighter.
- "Yeah, don’t worry, I’m gonna be ok."
- "If he does anything to you, I’m gonna break his fucking face"- Frank added from the other side of the room, already in a clean shirt and now holding one of the babies in his arms. For someone who sounded so threatening, he surely didn’t look the part.
- "It’s ok kids, let Joey take her own decisions, ok?"- Ray finally spoke up and sighed- "She knows we are here for her no matter what, but she has to do what her heart tells her to do."
- "Thank you, dad, but don’t think for a minute I’m gonna forgive him"
- "Even if you do, Bug. You will always count on me"- the guitarist walked to her and kissed her temple.
- "Best dad ever"- she whispered and opened the door.
Matthew felt his heart stop in his chest when he saw her walking over to him. He did the only thing that came to his mind and raised the banner he still held in his hands, so she could find him. It wasn’t hard to see him. There weren’t many people left at the arena, mostly just the crew setting everything to go.
- "Hey"- Joey said and waved as she walked to him and stood right in front of him. Just like she had imagined, she could feel the warmth of her eyes traveling down her face as he stared at her in pure bliss and love.
- "Hey"- he replied and smiled. He didn’t really want to talk. He didn’t know what to say. All he could think of was to kiss her and hold her tight.
- "What are you doing here, Matthew?"- she finally asked and crossed her arms on her chest to remind herself she couldn’t feel anything but anger against him and that she shouldn’t be so happy to see him. Or worse, she shouldn’t be showing him how happy she was to see him.
- "I just wanted you to know how much I love you"
- "By traveling to San Francisco to see a show?"
- "With a handmade banner"- he added and smiled.
- “That damn fucking adorable smile is gonna be the end of me,”- Joey sighed, thinking what to say next, making her best to stay calmed and not drooling over him.
- "That was a good touch."
- "Thanks, just like Lizzy, I would walk any distance just to be with you ‘cos you are my whole purpose."
Joey nodded, melting inside, as she made her best to stay cold and look indifferent. She didn’t know if it was working, but she wanted to believe so.
- "I’m not gonna forgive you just 'cos you showed up unannounced to a show"- that was all that came to her mind, it wasn’t the most intelligent answer, but it was all she had.
- "I wasn’t expecting you to forgive me today"- he simply replied and shrugged. There was a weird mix of security and happiness around his whole attitude Joey couldn’t wrap her mind around.
- "Good"- that was the whole answer she could give him, furrowing her brows. Matthew stared at her in silence for a second and took a step forward, closing the gap between them a little.
- "It was an amazing show, by the way"- he said and smiled. Joey’s knees shook as a response.
- "Thanks"- she whispered and looked down
- "How’s the little bean?"
- "Good… floating, I guess. I’ve felt pretty good today."
- "That’s great"- the two of them nodded at the same time and stayed quiet- "Remember to play the tracks I made for the bean."
- "Yeah, I will tonight."
- "They are just for the baby, so no peeking, ok?"- Matthew’s voice felt velvety as he talked close to Joey. She managed to raise her eyes from the ground, and Gubler swore his heart could be heard from any corner of that arena as it beat harder just to feel her looking at him.
- "I’ll put the headphones on the belly, so it will be the first secret you can share with your baby"- she smiled at the end of her answer, and Matthew held his breath.
- "That’s the cutest thing I could think of"- he mumbled, and the two of them stared in silence, sharing a moment that was a mix between love and angst.
Joey was still fighting to get away from him and stay mad at him. She had to play over and over again, like an old movie, the pictures she saw of Matthew cheating, just to keep herself from wrapping her arms around his neck.
- "Does she look in pain to you?!"- Jamia pushed Frank back as he kept trying to walk towards Joey and Matthew and drag her away from him.
- "She is gonna cry! He is gonna make her cry!"
- "Frank! This is not your war! Look at them and tell me they are not in love! If this was a cartoon, there would be hearts above their heads!"- Jamia was right, but Frank didn’t want to listen.
- "Hey!! Asshole!!"- Frank yelled, and Joey turned to him, frowning- "Stay the fuck away from her!!"
- "Oh shit!"- the words sneaked through her lips as Matthew looked at Frank and didn’t find anything better to do but to wave, infuriating Iero even more- "You know he wants to kill you, right?"
- "I am aware… the way they all looked at me made it pretty clear during the show, Gerard actually spit on my face."
The way Matthew said, it didn’t sound like it was a big deal. But it was, and Joey’s eyes were wide open as soon as she heard him.
- "He did what??!"- and she shouted- "Who the fuck does he think he is??!"
The young woman’s face was red in anger, and she quickly turned around and headed to the backstage area. But Matthew stopped her, grabbing her hand quickly.
- "Hey! Hey! Calm down, it’s ok! I don’t care!"
- "But I care!! This has nothing to do with him! He is not even my friend!! What the fuck does he think he is doing?!"
Unfortunately, the scene didn’t really look good from a distance, and Frank watching them, not getting what they were talking about, could only see his friend trying to get rid of Matthew and him not letting her go.
- "Take your hands off her!!"- Frank shouted and ran over, Jamia following close behind- "I said let go!!"- he pushed Matthew and put an arm in front of Joey, trying to keep her back.
- "What the fuck, dude?"- Joey shouted.
- "I don’t want him to hurt you, Bug!"
- "I’m not hurting her!!"- Matthew frowned, feeling insulted- "Why would I hurt the mother of my baby?!"
- "He ain’t hurting me!!"- Joey supported him, ‘cos Frank actually ignored Gubler’s words
- "Doesn’t look like he is being pretty nice either!!"
- "Frank! Stop it! Joey says nothing is going on!"- Jamia held Frank’s arm as Matthew tried to cool down the mood.
- "Hey! Nothing is going on"- Gubler used the calmest voice he could to talk to Iero- "I understand you wanna protect Joey from me ‘cos I was an asshole and fucked it up, but I am not gonna hurt her!! Ok?"
- "What fuck do you know! You broke her, and I am not gonna let you near her again!"- and just like the day Mikey had told him the same, Matthew’s heart tightened in his chest, listening to Frank yelling how badly he had hurt the woman he loved.
- "I can take care of myself!!"- Joey shouted- "So stop it! Now let me go kill that mother fucker!!"- the drummer turned around and started jogging to the dressing room. But Matthew followed her quickly and grabbed her hand again.
- "Please don’t! Joey, I don’t care! He can do whatever he wants to do. That ain’t gonna stop me!"
- "You don’t get it! I hate the guy! And the fact he thinks he can come and spit on your face like he is the fucking king of the world, or that he can avenge my sorrow, it’s wrong!!"- Joey pushed and let go of Matthew’s grip and continued her way until she opened the door and found Gerard, Mikey, and Ray playing with the twins.
- "Hey Bug"- Mikey turned and smiled, but Joey ignored him, ‘cos her eyes were locked on Gerard’s, staring at him with pure hate.
- "What the fuck is your problem, kúkalabbi (scumbag)?"- she spit every word with contempt- "You fucking think you can come and do whatever you want ‘cos you are the fucking lead singer of a band?"
Gerard frowned, though he had a hint of what might have happened.
- "I don’t care what the fuck came through your mind at the moment! You can’t spit on someone’s face! You can’t spit on Matthew’s face!"
Mikey wide opened his eyes as soon as he heard those words. Even for him, that was a little too much.
- "Joey, I think I can…"- Gerard tried to explain.
- "Haltu kjafti! (shut up!) No, you can’t!"- but Joey shut him up in a second- "This is my problem, my battle, and my fucking business!! You have no right in trying to avenge me! None!"
- "He fucking cheated on you, and you are mad at me?!"- he frowned, surprised, not getting what was going on.
- "Yes! I am mad at you! You are not even my friend, and you were doing shit I never asked you or wished for you to do!"
- "If I want to spit on his face, I can fucking do it!"- Gerard shouted back- "I hate the fucking bastard!"
- "So I can spit on yours then!!"- and Joey was about to do it when Matthew rushed and covered her mouth.
- "No! No! No!"- he held her tight, but sweetly- "Calm down! please! Calm down!"
- "What the fuck are you doing here?!"- and Gerard freaked out at the sight of Gubler- "Get the fuck out!"
- "I will be gone as soon as Joey asks me to leave"- Matthew simply answered and looked into Gerard’s eyes with the same hate yet calm he had the last time he saw Way at Mikey’s New Year’s eve party.
- "Who the fuck do you think you are?! Get out before I kick you out!"- at that point, Jamia and Frank were in the room as well. Jamia had an eye put on her babies, playing in their cart, while holding Frank back to keep him from getting into that fight.
- "Stop it!"- Joey managed to move from Matthew’s grip and looked into Gerad’s eyes in a fury- "I hate you!"
She didn’t yell, but her words were a dagger and cold as ice. The honesty was evident. Maybe now Gerard was going to understand he had to step back. She looked at him in the eyes for a second, then grabbed her things and stormed out, followed closely by Matthew.
- "What the fuck?"- Mikey asked to break the awkward silence that hung in the room after Joey had stormed out.
- "I spit on his face today, when I saw him there, looking at her with his stupid fucking puppy eyes, I just… lost it and spit on him- Gerard murmured, and his voice broke.
She hated him. She meant it. How was he going to win her back if she hated him? Jamia’s jaw fell as soon as she heard him. One thing was hating the guy, even trying to punch him, but spitting on someone’s face, that was… well, it seemed offensive and degrading. It was over the top.
- "Not that I wouldn’t think about doing something like it, but…"- Frank started, but Jamia’s eyes stopped him
- "That was out of line, Gerard"- Ray said with a calm, though stern tone of voice- "I told you all, the only thing you are gonna accomplish by acting like a bunch of possessive friends is to push her away. If you all call yourself her friends, you can’t fucking do this shit!"
It felt like Ray was scolding his kids. Mikey wanted to argue, but it was true, just like the day he had hit Matthew in Joey’s house, and she had freaked out and gotten mad at him.
- "I would do it again if I could"- Gerard whispered and sat down, fighting the urges of smoking a cigarette.
- "That’s why you ain’t her friend"- Ray added, and the look coming from Way’s eyes let him know he wasn’t happy with the reply- "Her words, not mine."
Matthew followed Joey on her way out of the arena. The cold air hit her skin and made her shiver as they stood foot outside the building.
- "Here"- he quickly took his hoodie off and gave it to her. She didn’t argue. She was too mad to argue about anything else. She was also too mad to talk about it. She just wanted to walk away from everything. Walk and ease her mind.
- "Excuse me, Joey?"- a girl walked over with a huge smile and forced her to take her eyes from the ground- "Can I have your autograph, please?"- Matthew wide opened his eyes in amazement. Joey quickly smiled and grabbed a sharpie from her bag. She signed the girl’s ticket to the show and smiled for a selfie with her.
- "Wow"- Matthew chuckled as the girl was gone- "That was…"
- "Weird, I know"
- "That was amazing! Kids are reacting to your work! Kids are looking at you and being excited about what you do! I am so fucking proud!"- he didn’t really stop himself to think. He just wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight.
- "Thanks"- she whispered and felt how her cheeks turned pink- It’s still pretty weird. It’s not something that happens all the time, but…
- "It’s impressive, Joey!"- Matthew nearly yelled- "I mean it, sometimes it shocks me how cooler and greater you can be!"
He sounded honest. He sounded proud. Joey’s heartbeat in joy with those words but didn’t say a word. She was thankful it was night, and the street lights weren’t illuminating his face properly, or he would be able to see how blushed and nervous she was.
- "Don’t overreact"- she murmured and kept on walking in silence. Matthew sighed and walked with her, stuffing his hands in his pocket to stop himself from trying to hold her hand.
- "Are you hungry?"- he asked after a while
- "No"
- "When was your last meal?"
- "An apple and a fun size Snicker before the show"
- "Mikey keeps controlling your candies?"
- "Yes… but Jamia is a horrible influence"- Joey chuckled at the thought of the two of them that afternoon acting like kids- "She gives me Oreos"
- "That’s drugs!"- Matthew acted shocked- You shouldn’t!
- "I know! But they are so good!"- the drummer smiled. Talking about anything was better than addressing the pink elephant in the room.
- "And how’s Jamia?"
- "Great, she is baby training me with the twins."
- "That’s very nice of her"
- "Yeah, and the babies are the sweetest…"- Joey made a pause and sighed- "She is the only rooting for you."
- "I knew I liked her for a reason."
- "Frank keeps saying it’s because she has the hots for you."
- "She doesn’t"
- "She totally does"- and the young woman laughed at her own words. Matthew only smiled widely to hear her happy for a moment- "I was actually considering selling Frank a picture of you in underwear for her birthday."
- "Double the price, and we go halfsies"- Gubler answered and chuckled- "I can even pose like a french model."
- "Deal"- there was a silence between them that lasted a few minutes. Gubler didn’t know what to say, and Joey didn’t know either.
- "Are you sure you are not hungry?"- he asked, just to ask anything
- "Do you think I overreacted back there?"- she just spit it. She was scared she had exaggerated the whole deal, and now the guys were going to fire her. Gerard could. He definitely should after how she acted with him. He was, after all, the closest thing she had to a boss. They were all the people she worked for, not with.
- "No, Joey, you didn’t… I mean… I really don’t care how he acts with me ‘cos I know he is a mother fucker asshole in love with you."
Joey’s heart froze at those words. She widened her eyes and looked at Matthew. She had almost forgotten he had always said that about Gerard. And he was absolutely right.
- "I know it’s true. I don’t care what he says, he is crystal clear, but that’s not the point."
- "The point is, I totally yelled at him in front of everybody, told him I hated him and stormed out the room like a brat after I tried to spit on his face… thank you for stopping me, by the way."
- "You are very welcome"- Matthew sighed and looked at his hand- "You totally spit on me, though"- he joked and cleaned his hand on Joey’s sleeve.
- "Gross!!"- she argued and chuckled- "This is your hoodie, by the way"
- "Damn it!"- the two of them smiled and just walked around.
- "Maybe I could eat some pizza"- Joey whispered and pointed to a little restaurant in the next corner
- "Pizza it is."
Mikey looked at his clock as he stared at the ceiling in his room. It was eleven-thirty, no news from Joey. He was worried but didn’t want to call her, ‘cos after hearing Ray talking, he didn’t want to push her away. He didn’t want to make her feel like he was mad at her. He was just worried. Worried as fuck. Feared to lose her, to see her sad again. Worried she might leave forever.
A knock on the door made him jump from his bed and run to the answer. It was Gerard. He looked like shit. Mikey left the door open and let him in, walking back to his bed.
- "How are you?"- his question was pretty stupid considering Gerard’s puffy eyes.
- "I fucked it up, right?"
- "Yeah… but in your defense…"- Mikey stayed quiet and thought about his words- "Well…"
- "I know, it wasn’t the way to deal with him"
- "It definitely wasn’t… but I don’t think it was so bad on its own. I think when you mix this with all the stupid shit you’ve done to Joey."
- "I haven’t done anything"
- "But keep harassing her and telling her that you love her"- Gerard groaned, annoyed, and laid back on the bed, hiding his face under his hands.
- "But I love her"
- "Dude! You are mad if you think this shit is gonna work. She clearly loves him. I’m starting to think she is gonna forgive him though I don’t want her to. And you are fucking married. There is no way you can get anything with her."
- "But maybe..."
- "She doesn’t love you, Gerard!"- Mikey shouted- "She doesn’t! You never stood a chance! And now she hates you! You can’t even be her friend. After today, you can’t even fucking try! You dig your own grave!"
Gerard heard his younger brother’s words. He wasn’t even sugarcoating it. Maybe that way, Gee would understand. Maybe he was doing it ‘cos he loved him. Mikey was being tuff ‘cos he was also pretty tired of his brother’s attitude. Gerard wasn’t being rational. He was acting like an animal, with no clear thoughts, just based on his instincts.
- "And what do I do now?"- Way whispered, and Mikey sighed.
- "Start with apologizing and pray she doesn’t want to leave the band"- the singer wide opened his eyes. He hadn’t thought about that, but it was a serious chance. Maybe he had pushed her too far.
- "Do you think she can quit?"
- "I don’t know what can happen. She isn’t the kind of girl who can take these kinds of things very easily"
- "If she can forgive Matthew, she can forgive me"- Gerard thought out loud
- "She loves him, she hates you, you do the math."
- "But we are in the middle of a tour. She can’t leave like that."
- "I think the same, but it all depends on her."
- "What does Ray think of this?"
- "I haven’t talked to him"- Gerard grabbed his phone and dialed Toro’s number.
Ray frowned as he stared at the brothers. Mikey was lying on the bed, looking at his phone, waiting for a call or a text from Joey. Gerard was walking in circles in the room, rambling about making Joey stay in the band.
- "If she wants to leave, she can leave"- Toro said when there was finally silence in the room. Both Ways looked at him, shocked, but Ray just smiled- "Hey! It’s her fucking decision! Not ours!"
- "Do you want her to leave?!"- Mikey nearly yelled
- "No way! I love her in the band! I’m just saying if she decides something, we should respect her."
- "You keep saying the same shit! And you are not considering the fact she could make a mistake"- Gerard frowned and kept walking in circles.
- "Come on! She ain’t a baby! And she ain’t yours to take care of! She can manage herself pretty well, so stop it! You just don’t want her to leave, I can understand that! but just stop giving her reasons to do it!"- Ray didn’t know if Mikey was aware of how fuck up his brother was. And Mikey didn’t know if Ray knew Gerard had given her plenty of reasons to leave already.
- "She is not even here yet!"- Gerard was thinking to himself, but his friends could listen to him clearly- "I bet she already forgave him."
- "Still not your problem!"- Ray added, frustrated.
- "I love her! How can’t it be my problem!"- it felt so good to take it out of his chest, but Ray’s shocked face made Gerard realize he had said too much- "I mean, she is my friend, and…"
- "Oh come on!"- Mikey argued, sick of listening to his brother talking about his feelings- "You are in love with her, and it’s sick! Deal with it!"
- "And it’s not like you are making it hard to guess anyway"- Toro added- "Frank has been arguing you have feelings for her for months now."
- "And you told her your “feelings,” and she rejected you!"- Mikey said, making Ray insanely curious. He needed to know the details of that story.
- "What I feel is not your fucking business"- Gerard said defensibly.
- "It is if you are making this kind of show! Your wife will be here in a few days, so get your shit together and be professional for once!"- Ray argued and sighed- "I’m going to bed now, please try to leave that woman make her own desitions and her own life, and just focus on being good friends"- he said and waved- "And don’t fuck it up!"
The night was cold. The wind played with Joey’s hair as she stood outside her hotel, biting her lips, holding her backpack tight, and making her best not to look Matthew in the eyes as he stood in front of her, smiling. It all gave her the first date vibes. Like they hadn’t been down that path already.
- "Well… I better go. I’ve got another flight tomorrow"- she whispered, and he nodded.
- "Yes, you have to rest, you just played a kickass show"- he answered and smiled- "And our little bean must be exhausted with all the walking we just did."
- "Little bean is floating carelessly inside my tummy, making me crave for a brownie"- Matthew chuckled and opened his backpack.
- "I just have cashews"- and he handed her a paper bag. She couldn’t help but smile at him as she grabbed it and opened it in a second.
- "Your addiction coming in handy"- he chuckled and nodded.
- "I’ve got more if you want"- Matthew started looking in his backpack, but Joey stopped him.
- " Thanks, but these are enough for today"- they stayed in silence for a second, Joey staring at the bag, Matthew staring at her, caressing her skin with his eyes, looking at her eyes, her lips, her hair- "Are you going back home tomorrow?"- she asked and still didn’t dare to look at him in the eyes.
- "Not yet"- he whispered and bit his lips, wishing she wouldn’t ask him if he was going to keep on following her. A part of him wanted to keep it a secret surprise for one more show, at least. And a huge part of her was too scared to ask if she was going to see him at another show.
- "Well… take care"- she said and finally managed to stare into his eyes. It was a mistake, considering how badly she wanted to kiss him and how much she had to argue to herself to avoid doing it. And he was looking at her in adoration, with such love she felt she could melt like an ice cube under the July sun.
- "Remember to play the bean my tracks"- he said, and she nodded.
- "I surely will"
- "I don’t want the bean to forget about me."
- "That won’t happen, I promise"- they just stared in silence for a moment, Matthew almost leaning over to kiss her- "Ok, bye"- Joey waved and turned around.
- "Wait!"- Gubler held her hand and stopped her. He walked to her and wrapped his arms around her. She stood still, not moving an inch, as his warmth filled her skin under her clothes, and his lips pressed a kiss on the top of her head- "Take care"
- "You too"- she mumbled, words having trouble to leave her lips ‘cos his closeness was killing her- "Wait, I still I’ve got your hoodie"- she tried to move away from him to take it out, but Matthew looked at her and shook his head.
- "Keep it… please"- Joey had left all of Matthew’s clothing back in her apartment, ‘cos she didn’t want to carry anything that reminded her of him for the next month. Having his hoodie was against her own rules. Then why did it make her feel so happy?
- "Thanks"- she moved apart from him and watched his smile for one last time- "Good night Matthew Gray"- her words were a whisper that made him shiver. He loved the way his name sounded like coming from her lips.
- "Good night María Josefina."
The actor waited until Joey was out of her sight to walk away from the hotel. He headed it to his hotel, a few blocks away. Ignoring the whole problem with Gerard, he thought things had been pretty good after all. He really didn’t care about Way at all. He knew he would give him a hard time. He just didn’t want him to make Joey feel bad. Joey was all that mattered to him. Mikey and Frank could threaten to hit him, even fulfill their threats. He didn’t care. He even agreed with them. He deserved to pay. But Gerard? No, he didn’t have any right to get into that fight. Gerard was an asshole who needed to stay away from Joey. He was the one Matthew hated.
- “I don’t think I had ever hated someone as bad as I hate that son of a bitch”- but that didn’t matter at the moment, now Matthew had a bigger issue to tackle: Which was going to be the phrase in the banner he had to make for tomorrow’s show?.
There was a knock on Mikey’s door, minutes after Gerard had left. He groaned and walked to answer, to find Joey standing at the other side, with a shy smile on her lips, almost a sheepish look.
- "Are you mad at me?"- she whispered right away, and he opened his arms to hug her.
- "Never."
- "You swear? ‘cos I yelled at your brother I hate him in front of the whole band and tried to spit on his face"
- "He was out of place, and he deserved it"- Mikey whispered and kissed the top of her head. His touch felt so different from Matthew’s a few minutes ago. It almost made Joey feel guilty that her friend had kissed her head after the man she loved had done the same. Almost like she was cheating.
- "And are you mad Matthew was there?"- Mikey let her go and invited her in.
- "Are you ok with him being there?"
Joey stayed in silence, walking into the room, standing next to the bed instead of sitting down. She looked down at her hands and didn’t say anything. Ray’s words were starting to make sense to Mikey as he looked at her and thought she was going to start drifting away from him if he continued being an ass.
- "Bug, it’s ok. I am not gonna get mad at you… if you love him, if you want to be with him, I’m still gonna be your friend."
- "I just don’t know what I want"- she whispered and scratched her eyes, feeling tired and sleepy
- "Anything you want to talk about, I am here, and I swear I’m gonna be the best friend in the world, and I am not gonna judge you, I am not gonna freak out, and more than anything, I am just going to worry about your happiness, ok?"- Joey pouted at her friend and wrapped her arms around him.
- "I just don’t want you to be mad at me ‘cos you are my best friend."
- "I will never get mad at you Bug, you are my little sister, and I love you. I just want to take care of you."
- "I don’t like it when people try to take care of me. I know what I’m doing."
- "I know…"
- "But I’m gonna let it slide with you ‘cos you are my brother"- she said and chuckled against his shirt. Mikey kissed the top of her head again, and she chuckled- "Just don’t push me."
- "I won’t…"- Mikey chuckled and moved to look at her- "We are cheesy, though"
- "So fucking cheesy!!"- Joey chuckled and sighed, relieved- "Ok, now that I took that from my chest, I need to go to bed. I am so fucking tired."
- "Did you eat?"
- "Yeah, Gubler bought dinner"
- "And he also gave you his clothes apparently"- Mikey pointed her hoodie and noticed she blushed.
- "Yeah… I’ll still steal yours, you know"- he smiled and messed with her hair.
- "I’m counting on it. I actually had them washed"
- "Thank you so fucking much!!"
Mikey felt a little better after Joey left. She was worried he was mad at her when he was concerned about the same. She didn’t say a word about leaving the band. That was even better. And she didn’t look sad after being with Matthew. That was enough to let him sleep calmly that night.
Joey was weary. She kicked off her shoes and laid on the bed, closing her eyes. Matthew’s smell surrounding her made her smile and sigh. Yes, he had been romantic. Yes, she had butterflies in her stomach. Yes, she loved him. None of that took away the fact he was a cheater, but he was trying to make amends. That was undeniable. How much was he willing to try? And how much was enough for her to forgive her? Neither of that she knew, but it didn’t matter at the moment. For a few seconds, Joey allowed herself to be in love.
Before she drifted off in her sleep, she remembered Matthew asked her to play the songs he had put on the iPod for their baby. She didn’t want to move from that bed, but she was way too curious to know what was in it.
- "Hey Bean, we are gonna tell your dad you are the only one who listened to it, but mom is gonna sneak a little bit, ok?"- the young woman whispered to her tummy, feeling like a dork.
- "I’m gonna take that silence as a yes"- she put on a headphone and placed another on her belly.
- "Hey Bean!"- Matthew’s voice caught her breath as soon as the first track started- "It’s me! Your dad! I wanted to record these for you so you can remember my voice while you are away with your mommy, ok? Sorry, it’s not the most soothing voice you’ll ever hear, but I love you, so I guess it’ll have to do the trick"- Joey chuckled and closed her eyes, refusing to take out that hoodie, listening to Matthew’s voice, and drowning in his scent.
- "So let’s start with a bedtime story, I’ve got the feeling you are doing a lot of sleeping in there, so I’ll read you one of my favorites growing up"- Joey’s heart melt with each word recorded on that iPod
- "I promise when you are out of your mommy, I’m gonna reread it, and you’ll tell me if you like it, ok? Now, let’s get to business:"
“I am Sam. I am Sam. Sam-I-Am.
That Sam-I-Am! That Sam-I-Am! I do not like that Sam-I-Am!
Do you like green eggs and ham?
I do not like them, Sam-I-Am.
I do not like green eggs and ham.
Would you like them here or there?
I would not like them here or there.
I would not like them anywhere.
I do not like green eggs and ham.
I do not like them, Sam-I-Am.”
Slowly and softly, Matthew’s voice relaxed Joey like a sweet lullaby, and she fluttered her eyes until she fell asleep safe and sound as his reading continued reading Dr. Seuss's stories to their baby.
Taglist: @all-tings-diego @worryd0ll
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#gerard way#matthew gray gubler#mikey way#ray toro#frank iero#mcr#mcr fanfic#mgg fanfic#babymetalldoll writes
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Cards.
Fandom: Cookie Run
Character(s): Cinnamon Cookie
Ship(s): Cinnamon/Reader
Word Count: 2,166
TW: Uhh,,, tarot reading? If that sets anyone off?
Notes: Hey, Cinnamon, thanks for being the character that got me out of my "I'm writing 1k words or less" fic phase./j Anyway, this started as an idea I mentioned on my main - Black-market tarot reading Cinnamon. It ended up a lot cuter than I thought it would, and made me write a HELL of a lot more than I have in a LONG time. Oh, and, I use he/they pronouns for Cinnamon! They alternate every paragraph. And, once again, I'm sorry for the weird formatting, mobile tumblr and all. Again, I don't currently have access to a computer.
The City of Wizards was an interesting place. It always had a specific feel to it, and it was always somehow shrouded in darkness yet bright. Saying you loved this place might have been an understatement. There weren't many people who lived in the town anymore - Some people thought no one did - But you knew there were people, and you knew exactly where to go to find them. And that's what you were currently doing.
You strolled through the city, looking for one place in particular. It was near one of the further corners of the town - A small little magic shop that sat inbetween two buildings that were vacant. You could miss it if you didn't know what you were looking for - The sign, with that ever-so-slightly too fancy font, fit into the rest of the town, and the windows being full of little trinkets did as well.
You turned on your heel and turned the door knob, immediately being hit by the scent of incense and cinnamon. You walked into the shop and closed the door, calling out, "Cinna?" A hum came from behind one of the shelves, and out appeared the devil themself, Cinnamon. "Hey!" You stated simply. They smiled at you and returned your greeting before asking, "Do you need anything, or are you just here to look around?" Either was fine by them - And you knew that. There was many a day where you'd sit in the shop or just look through what Cinnamon had in stock.
"Well, I-' He seemed surprised you actually wanted something, but not in a bad way. "I was actually wondering if you could-- Give me a reading? With your tarot cards?" He was a bit taken back, but seemed pleased with your request. "Of course! Right this way." He did that over-dramatic cape swish thing. It always reminded you he loved to entertain people when he did that. You followed him to a small room in the back where he did readings - Few people knew about it, but of course few people came in the near vicinity of his shop.
A table sat in the middle with some boxes and a mat laid on it. Cinnamon sat down on one side and gestured you to sit in the chair on the other side. You'd never actually gotten a reading from them, but apparently they were actually pretty good at it. They opened a box and pulled out a deck of golden-edged cards, the backs were purple. They tapped at the sides, before looking at you. "What do you want to know?" "My love life-" You blurted out before anything else. You covered your mouth, wide eyed. Why had you said that?! Cinnamon seemed to be amused by this and let out a soft laugh before beginning to shuffle the cards.
He did the card-fan thing. "Pick a card, any card!" You let out a soft laugh before grabbing one. He placed it face down on the table before shuffling the cards some more. He pulled and shuffled a handful of times, ending up with a spread of six cards. He flipped over the card you'd pulled. The card read, 'The Fool.' "This card," Cinnamon began, picking it up and turning it towards you, "represents you. It's a card that means new beginnings and new possibilities. It can also mean impulsiveness. The Fool is..." Cinnamon glanced up for a moment, before looking you in the eyes. "The Fool is a free spirit who doesn't know exactly what they want, but is willing to try anything to find the right path." And with that, he placed the card back down onto the table.
They flipped over the next card; it read 'The Magician.' "This card represents the person who... You're going to be with? Who you like? This is the other person." They turned it towards you. "You're a magician." You joked, giving a soft breath of a laugh. Cinnamon's face turned a soft shade of red from your comment, but continued on. (Little did either of you know that little joke was closer to the truth than either of you could think right now.) "It symbolizes being original, and confidence and skills. They might be extremely confident in their actions, and they're probably skilled in something." You placed your chin in your palm, staring at the card, then at Cinnamon.
He went to the next card. It read 'The Lovers.' "This card represents you and that person's bond." He stated. "That's good, isn't it?" He nodded in response before starting, "This card represents, well, love. It can also mean trust and harmany." "But I'm not in a relationship with anyone?" You mused. He shrugged. "You probably already know them and just trust them a lot. You two are probably already really close." You nodded, but something pulled at your conciousness. What if your joke was actually true? If he was the one representing the magician? "Hey," He waved a hand infront of your face, "Are you alright?" "Yeah, sorry- Go on." You sat back, and he turned over the next card.
The card read 'six of cups.' "This is your past with them, it represents nostalgia and, in this case, an old friend." You nodded, humming. "It seems like you two have known each other for a long time and trust eachother a lot." They stated simply. You traced a circle on the table with your hand. It was suddenly very hard to look at Cinnamon.
He turned over the next card. There was one more after this and you'd be done. It read 'two of cups.' Cinnamon let out a soft laugh. You tilted your head, actually meeting his eyes for a second. "This is your future with this person. The two of cups represents happy relationships and love. When you two get into a relationship it'll be a good one. I'm jealous." He said jokingly. You let out a small laugh. Your face was hot.
They finally turned over the last card. It read 'King of Wands.' "This card is advice for you." You tilted your head again, murmuring a soft, but non-demanding, "Well?" "I think in this context it's telling you you should be honest with them and tell them. It represents honesty and charm." You blinked. Cinnamon looked at the spread, then bagan to put the cards up. You looked down at your hands for a minute. Be honest? You hadn't excepted that. You didn't even realize you were-- Of course you were. Cinnamon was your closest friend. They stood up, snapping you out of your own thoughts. You stood as well. "Do you need anything else?" They asked, walking towards the door. "I don't think so- Here, let me-" You dug around your bag for a minute for your wallet. "No, it's fine-" "Are you sure?" They nodded.
You two got out into the main part of the shop, and you realized the time. It was dark outside by now - Actually dark. "Hey, Cinna?" He looked at you. "Can I spend the night - It's- It's gonna be dark out and I have to walk home. I don't think that's safe." Without thought he spoke, "Of course- Let me close up shop and we'll go upstairs and make dinner." You nodded and decided to look around while he did so. You found the two shop cats, one a black cat and one an orange cat. "You have cats?" You called. He walked over to you, kneeling down to pet one of them. "Yeah! I thought you knew?" You shook your head. "This is Pumpkin," He pointed towards the orange one. "She's new, so she doesn't have a name yet," He sighed. "Maybe you can name her later?" You nodded, "I'll see what I can come up with." With that the two of you headed up the stairs to Cinnamon's apartment.
It was a nice little space. You'd been up here before, but you'd never actually spent the night. They went into the kitchen while you looked around, eventually landing near Cinnamon Bunny's cage and giving them some pets. Cinnamon's apartment always smelt nice. They always smelt nice - It was that soft smell of a pastry shop that used a lot of cinnamon. They seemed to have the stuff everywhere, but you weren't going to complain too much - Unless it was another one of their shows where someone got too close and sneezed. Sometimes, in practice, when you'd watch them, they'd sneeze and mess up their tricks. You found it endearing.
"[Y/N]?" Cinnamon called. "Yeah?" "Food's ready." You walked into the kitchen. He'd made a full meal for you two, and honest to Millennial Tree it looked amazing. It tasted even better. You'd had Cinnamon's cooking on occasion, but never an actual meal made by him. As soon as you two had finished the oven beeped. He looked pleased. "I preheated it, if you want to make something for tomorrow morning?" You nodded, and followed him into the kitchen, placing your plate and silverware into the sink. He pulled out a series of things from multiple cupboards and cabinets, then grabbed out aprons and handed you one.
You two ended up making a mess while baking. There was flour everywhere, but you two were both laughing. They ended up getting two brooms, and you swept up the mess you made. Once that was done they looked over the both of you. "We should get cleaned up," they laughed. You nodded, before realizing something. "Cinna, I don't have-" "You can borrow some of my clothes." They hummed. You nodded, and they went off to get some, shouting back at you, "You can go take a shower if you want, I'll bring them to you." You did exactly that.
You felt much cleaner once done with the shower. He had left you a shirt that looked like it would be too big for him (or you) and a pair of sweatpants. You put them on, and were immediately ingulfed by that soft scent of cinnamon. You tried your hardest not to bury your nose in the clothing, instead leaving the bathroom. You were met with Cinnamon sitting on the couch, playing around with a deck of cards. You sat beside him, watching his hands as he played with the deck. "Are those alright?" He asked, flicking one card around. You nodded, letting out an "mh-hm." He got up then, and glanced at you. "I'm gonna go take a shower, too. I'll be back."
You ended up trying to do the tricks you saw Cinnamon do with the previously mentioned deck of cards. You failed at every one of them, but it gave you time to waste. Your mind did end up drifting back to the reading earlier. Cinnamon had to feel the same way, right? If the cards were anything to go by, they had to. You sighed and put the playing cards down, staring up. You then realized that you'd have to be sleeping on the couch - Not that you really minded. You knew they didn't have a guest room or an extra bed. Before you could get too lost in your thoughts Cinnamon appeared again. They were wearing about the same thing as you. The oven dinged. Convenient.
"I'll sleep on the couch and you can have the bed, by the way." He'd stated, as if he'd read your mind earlier, while pulling out the pan of cinnamon rolls. What else did you think he'd make? "No, I can- It's fine." You replied. He shook his head. "You're the guest, you should get the bed." He was pouring a light sugar icing on the rolls. "I-" Be more confident, the cards. "We could just-- Share the bed? Its big enough for that, right?" Cinnamon glanced at you, before letting out a small sigh. It was hard to tell if it was of content or annoyance that you didn't just take the bed alone. "Yeah, it is- That's fine."
Once the rolls had been fully iced and put in the fridge you two headed to Cinnamon's bedroom and got in their bed. You faced away from eachother, at least at first, but you decided to, again, take what the cards said, and turned towards them. Their back was facing towards you. "Cinna?" You murmured, shifting closer to them. They let out a hum, glancing back at you. You suddenly felt extremely hot. No going back now. "I-" You took a breath in. Dammit. Say it. "I think the cards were talking about you??" Why was that a question. They let out a small laugh and turned towards you. "I know." They responded simply before pulling you close to them. "Goodnight." And with that, they closed their eyes and drifted into sleep. You stayed there, dumbfounded for a couple of minutes, before just accepting it and murmuring a, "goodnight" back and getting to sleep. You two could properly talk this out in the morning.
#cookie run#cookie run ovenbreak#cinnamon cookie#crob#ovenbreak#cr ovenbreak#fanfiction#fanfic#x reader fanfic#x reader#cookie run x reader#AM writes
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