#anyways late but happy birthday liv !!!!

[asianfrootloops]

she didn't die before she could drink !!!

[gyuswhore]

Grease (the tragedy)

“Careful, those marks on the floor aren’t just oil and paint.”

jeon wonwoo x reader

word count: 5.8k

warnings: smut [minors DNI], fluff, angst, mechanic!wonu, annoyances to lovers, blind date gone wrong but then gone right, kissing, clit stuff, oral (f. rec), thigh fucking (oop), this all happens at a desk LMAO, title is a what I thought was a funny spin on how people say "grease (the musical)"....has nothing to do with the musical though but lots to do with actual grease!!!

synopsis: In which you have to sit through one of the worst dates of your life, followed by the insistent tug of fate and compulsion that lead you straight back to where you'd sworn you'd never go.

[a/n]: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WIFE CAMOTHY @highvern everyone go say happy birthday to cam or ill appear in your room at night 🔫 anygays HAVE FUN READING THIS I hope this is all the sexy wonu content you wanted, I cant wait for your reaction hehehhehe

and also bigbigbigbig thank you to jessifer @the-boy-meets-evil for proofing this for me!!! ily heh

and and to everyone reading this who is not cam, I hope you enjoy reading mechanic!wonu as much as I liked writing him heheh PLS REMEMBER TO REBLOG AND TELL ME UR THOTS it could be in the tags, replies, an ask literally anything!!!! id love to hear what you guys think!!!!

masterlist

 [You]: do you think he died on the way [Liv]: hes still not there??? [You]: what do you think????? [Liv]: let me ask Amelia [You]: dont bother [You]: he can show up whenever he wants im leaving in 5 [Liv]: you promised you’d sit thru this!! [You]: sit thru what? an empty seat across from me???

Liv doesn’t respond immediately, and you immediately know she’s buggered off to ask her cousin why your date still wasn’t here. 

It’s not like you couldn’t have asked him yourself, the sparse textbox sitting just under Liv’s contact. You open it to inspect the contents. 

[liv’s cousin’s something]: Amelia gave me your number [liv’s cousin’s something]: friday night at the sage&salt at 7  [liv’s cousin’s something]: is that okay [You]: uh hey [You]: yeah that’s fine

Today 7:20 PM

[You]: im here?

The first thread of texts were enough to make you feel like this was some cold business meeting instead of a date, knowing wherever this would lead would be either the city dump or off a cliff. Liv was hearing none of it, taking the guilt tripping route, saying she’d already committed and her cousin was irritating enough even without a scuffle.

So when Friday evening came around you’d pulled on the first dress your fingers could find, took all of ten minutes fighting with your makeup to make it look like you did something and left the house with zero expectations. 

Despite that, as you see a man walk into the establishment dressed like he’d gotten into a fight with a squid and a paper shredder, you feel the stone in your chest tank into the abyss. Zero expectations, and he’s somehow managed to strike out anyway. 

The jacket looks like he’s put it on as a weak cover for the grime stains on his shirt and trousers, a couple jet black splatters across the outfit to really pull the whole thing together. It’s not like he looked homeless or anything, his face surprisingly handsome with his hair pushed away from his forehead. Although he remains looking like he’d been playing football in some neighbourhood parking lot before remembering he had an adult appointment too. 

You’d never seen the man in your life, but your gut told you this was the shit texter who’d kept you waiting for nearly an hour. He seems to notice too, eyes locking from across the restaurant as the waitress leads him to your table. 

“Wonwoo,” you greet with a difficult smile, half sure it came out as a grimace. “Right?”

“Yeah,” he huffs as he practically slams back down on the chair, and you wonder for a moment how the legs didn’t give out. He says your name and you nod. “Sorry I’m late, I got a call in the parking lot.”

He’s been in the parking lot this entire time?!

It’s like you’ve been doused in gasoline and lit on fire, yet somehow needing to give him a shaky reply anyway. 

“O–oh, I see.”

The waitress saves you from spitting in his face when she asks if you were ready to order. 

Dinner was off the table, as you discussed with Liv who forwarded it to her cousin to her–whoever it was that set up this god awful date–and agreed on dessert and perhaps a drink. 

“I’ll have the chocolate cake,” you request in an attempt to make this somewhat better. You consider for a moment before asking for a drink as well, “And a dry gin martini, please.”

“Um,” he staggers as he barely skims the menu, ultimately flipping it closed. “I’ll have the same, I guess.”

Deep voice. You might’ve liked that if you weren’t already so peeved. 

The waitress disappears with the menus, leaving you two alone for the first time. 

“So,” you start with an exhale. “How do you know Amelia?”

“Her husband.”

“I see.”

Silence. 

“How do you know her husband?”

He sighs like this is all inconveniencing him, and it irks you to an irrespective degree. Like you wanted to be here either. 

“He brings his car to the workshop alot, became friends somewhere along the line.”

“Workshop?”

He looks a little startled, cocking his head to the side. “I’m a mechanic? Did Olivia–was it–not tell you?”

“No, she didn’t.”

It’s silent yet again as the man across from you refuses to elaborate. You curse as you ask him a follow up question. If there was anything you hated more than shouldering a dead conversation, it was sitting through an awkward silence. 

One hour. You’d sit through this for one more hour and then you’d leave. 

“What kind of cars do you work on?”

“Expensive ones,” he answers. You might’ve kicked yourself if he’d ended it at that, but he continues with a purse of his lips. “Ones that rich people abuse to an inch of the machine’s life and wonder why the dealership gives up on it. Vintage pieces too.”

“Have I heard of it?”

“The cars?”

“No, I mean,” you let out a breath. “Your workshop.”

“Jeon Motors, just a couple streets down actually.”

You did know what he was talking about, not expecting to recognise it through the empty question, passing by it on multiple occasions in this part of the city.

“Oh, I’ve seen it a few times.”

“Yeah, we’ve been there for a while.”

“Family business?”

“Uh–sort of.” 

“Okay,” you sigh in an irritated laugh. This was going to be a very difficult hour. “Keep that to yourself too.”

“Is there a problem?”

Just as you lift your eyes to lock with his, a ready yes, there is actually a problem on your tongue, there’s an intrusion. 

“Here are your chocolate cakes,” the waitress places the cakes down, and then the drinks. “And your dry gin martinis. Do you guys need anything else?” By the time the waitress is gone you’ve somewhat forced yourself to put that sudden surge of flames out, to a degree at least. 

“Okay,” he sighs, grabbing his glass and downing nearly half the contents. He emerges, wiping a bit of a spill from the corner of his mouth. “Let’s get this out of the way.”

“Hm?” He’s speaking to you with a very weird surge of intensity, and it confuses you.

“Neither of us wanna be here. You’re clearly trying to be hospitable but I’d really rather you not, especially when we’re both doing this to get our respective ticks off our hides.”

There isn’t much you can do but stare at him. 

“Have I misjudged your advances?” he asks over his glass, sharp eyes piercing. 

“No!” you yelp, reaching for your drink yourself, taking big sips only to emerge sputtering and heaving. 

Your date looks like he’s rising out of his chair when you raise a hand to stop him. 

“No,” you repeat, less jumpy this time. “I guess we could’ve cleared that out from before.”

Did he…snort?

“Sorry.” Dropping his chin to his chest, he composes himself. 

“What?” you ask, remaining annoyed as ever. 

“Nothing.”

That does it. You slam your now empty glass down on the table, slipping your fork out of the napkin a little forcefully, the metal glinting in the light of the restaurant. You dig into a corner of the cake and shove it in your mouth. 

If he was gonna be rude, you could be too. 

“I don’t know about hospitable.” You swallow. “But I assumed not being an ass was kind of an unwritten rule for any situation really. Including the ones you’d rather not be in.”

Wonwoo stares at you with a blank face, his cake untouched. “I’m being an ass. My laugh couldn’t have offended you that much.”

“So you did pick that up,” you comment. “With the way this conversation’s going I would’ve thought it flew right over your engine.”

“I’d argue your laugh was the least offensive thing you’ve done tonight.” You plunge your fork into your cake again. “But clearly we’re in different realms of etiquette.”

Your eyes meet the rough stains on his attire, and then his own that bore into yours like a challenge. The cake isn’t too sweet, rich just the right amount and texturally sound. Maybe something good did come out of this fiasco. 

“Okay fine,” he announces, sitting up straighter. “I apologise.”

“For laughing?”

“And for being obscenely late.”

“And?”

“And…” he genuinely looks like he’s struggling to figure it out, but catches your eyes flickering to his tattered and stained outfit. “And for my entirely inappropriate dressing sense. You’ll have to forgive me for that one, oil and grime are my spoils of war.”

“Wear it like a badge, mister mechanic, but perhaps somewhere it’s appreciated.” 

Wonwoo has already finished his drink, his cake remaining untouched. “You’re quite adamant on disliking me.”

“And you’re quite adamant on being a horrid conversationalist.”

The corners of his mouth lift the slightest bit. Opening his mouth to respond, you cut him off. “Cars don’t talk? Or perhaps, machines are easier to understand?”

“More like I don’t care to be personable.”

“That can’t be good for business.”

“The cars speak for themselves.”

He’s a weird one. Even more so when he offers to pay the entire bill, promising you he wasn’t lying when he said he was good at what he does, and to “make up for lost personality points.” You manage to pay your half anyway, considering the circumstances. 

“Can you at least let me drive you home?” Wonwoo asks as you both step out of the establishment soon after. 

“Depends.” You fix the strap of your bag. “Will it fall apart on the highway?”

The blaring white of the restaurant's outdoor lights backlight Wonwoo to make him look like some sad angel. He turns to you, the same slight smirk that seems to be plastered on his face. “Why don’t you find out?”

“What do you mean sell it? I got this thing a year ago!” 

There isn’t much you can do but sigh loudly as you listen to Olivia talk about the state of her car, the one that cost too much to justify but she seemed to use and abuse like a very replaceable toy truck. 

Leaning against the hood of the darn thing, you talk to her. “The dealership is giving you a shit deal to take it off your hands, you might as well try your luck.”

The look on her face is easy to read as she silences. Not convinced in the slightest, waiting for the conversation to end just so she could figure it out on her own. Sighing loudly, you look back to the dark beauty with a crate of issues that make it spit and sputter to a stop every few weeks. 

“How much did you say the repairs cost again?”

“Enough to put me on food stamps,” she whines through her frustration, tears pricking against her eyes as they glisten under the neighbourhood streetlights. “Why are you smirking like that?!”

“It’s just,” you pause as you consider your next words, pressing your lips together. “This is a little bit your fault.”

Lies, it was entirely her fault. 

Liv stares like you’ve just offended her, which you’re sure you have.

“Care to share how this possible bankruptcy could be my fault?"

“Because you drive the thing like you have a secret reserve buried somewhere in Tenerife.”

“My apologies for making a habit of not being a public nuisance and going forty on a national highway.”

“Your speed-o-metre is not the issue here.”

“Yes, of course, everything’s my fault.”

“Liv, please!” You groan loudly. “Just…let’s try putting up a listing tomorrow. Consider the prospects and you can decide from there.”

Sagging her shoulders and stretching her neck, Liv decides to simply trudge back indoors in silence. You take it as a begrudging yes, and follow her inside. 

That very night, when you were at the very cusp of falling into the dark space of sleep, your brain re-awakens before your eyes do. A jolt as the memory comes back to you of the many months ago, sitting in that restaurant across from a man who was too handsome for the personality he seemed to sire. 

“Expensive ones,” he had said. “Ones that rich people abuse to an inch of the machine’s life and wonder why the dealership gives up on it.”

How fitting. 

“Are you going to explain or should I explode instead?” 

You’d mentally prepared for the bombardment of accusations from Liv, her questioning perfectly right as you yourself cringed at the thought of showing your face here of all places. The one last one that’d officially banned her from ever setting you up with an individual of her choosing ever again. 

Hearing only silence as her answer, she appeals; “I thought he was the worst date of your life.”

“Nothing to do with his skills as a mechanic,” you mumble, refusing to make eye contact. 

“And everything to do with this being a horrible idea anyway!” Liv stares up at the sign on top of the garage. Jeon Motors. “What makes you think this guy can fix my car?”

What did make you think he could fix Liv’s car? If you’d known you might have given her an answer, but as you stare at the giant signboard that you’ve driven past for longer than you can remember, you can’t help but feel this place has been haunting you. Just a little. 

You can’t help but feel the tingle of goosebumps rise on your skin, the hairs across the expanse standing up at the thought of walking inside. There was no way you could differentiate the reaction from plain nerves or from the cringing drills that sound all the way outside the establishment. Regardless, you make an attempt to look confident as you make your strides into the pungent of the workshop. 

The first thing you note is how…clean everything is. Cleaner than any other workshop you’ve walked into anyway. 

The interior is bigger than it looks from the outside, the ginormous hall hosting about a dozen cars within your eyeshot alone. One side of the great hall holds an array of parked cars in different stages of dismantled and deconstructed, while the other side is lined with contraptions that look like stripped and enlarged elevators. 

Once you’ve inhaled a beyond recommended amount of smoke fumes and listened past all of the clanging, banging and sparks, you register the people that are elbow deep in the hoods of the vehicle they’re working on, enough to leave you and Liv standing at the entrance of an establishment that you can barely make sense of. 

“Can I help you?” A man in stained beige overalls approaches your wide eyed pair, face half covered in his baseball hat and hands occupied with a rag. 

To your slightest dismay, it isn’t the man you’re looking for.

“Uh– is Wonwoo here?” you ask. 

“He’s in a meeting right now. Are you a friend?” 

No, just a failed love interest.

“He,” you falter. If you weren’t a friend…then what were you? “He gave me his card.”

“Do you need help with your car?”

“Mine, actually,” Liv pipes. “It’s outside if you wanna take a look first.”

With one sweeping look across the warehouse, your eyes land on one of the few doors on the left. You register the plain look of it for barely a moment before joining Liv outside. 

By the time her car has been rolled and parked inside for a more thorough inspection, it’s taken you every last grain of your willpower to not stalk back out and wait in your car. For whatever reason, you can’t help but feel a very familiar spasm of irritation spark through you. Here you are, left anxiously waiting for the same man for a second time, merely feet away but remaining occupied with more important things. 

At the very least, the multiple hands prodding around the car’s engine were being somewhat of use, attempting to survey the same issues that had been looked at about a dozen times before. You silently promise to be a better person if this trip wouldn’t be for vain.  

“Am I late for something again?” 

Your throat is suddenly clogged as you open your mouth and no sound graces your presence. The face that meets you has his eyebrows raised as he stares at you in expectation, a ghost of a smile on his face. 

“W–Wonwoo, hi, um.” You clear your throat loudly, heat cursing your cheeks. “No, of course not.”

“To what do I owe the pleasure after…four months?” he asks, hands on his hips and his back straightened.

“I…my friend’s car needed to be looked at so…”

“Ah, of course!” He turns to where you’ve motioned, looking at the popped hood of the car his employees are working on. “I’ll take a look at it myself, don’t worry about it.”

He’s already walking away, towards the car and leaving you a ways away from the action. You stare at his back; the overalls tied at the waist and the stained white T-shirt that clings to his form from the humidity.

Wonwoo remains a man of a few words, and you remain at wits end about it all. 

A loud honk gives you something to do as you jump at the sound so up close, scrambling to move away from the smack centre as another car pulls into the garage. 

“Careful, those marks on the floor aren’t just oil and paint.” Wonwoo snickers from his place hunched over the hood as he cranes his neck to look at you. 

You walk over to where he is to get out of the way. “Was that meant to sound like an innuendo?”

“I was talking about the occasional running over someone’s foot,” he answers. “Not sure what you were thinking.” 

Ignoring the jab, you note that it was now only you and him crowding the car, “Where’s Olivia?”

“Went to look at spare parts.” You watch him as his gloved hands reach further into the enclave and yank at something hard. 

“So you can fix it?” 

“The car? It’ll take a couple days but it’s not really an issue.”

Furrowing your brows, you press on, “But the dealership—”

“Dealerships are the spawn of the devil,” he grunts as he finally wrenches out a spare nut or bolt or something that’s covered in oil. “Let me guess, they wanted her to sell it back to them?”

It’s your turn to raise your brows. “Yes. They tried fixing it, but it'd just stop again.”

“Because they’ve been fixing the symptoms.” He raises his eyes to meet yours, hands occupied with rubbing the part in his hands relatively clean with a rag. “They haven’t bothered to do anything about the actual problem.” 

“Because that’s gonna cost…?”

“Couple hundred, give or take,” he announces nonchalantly, turning his focus back to the engine. 

“But—” That’s it?

“Fifty extra for every question I have to answer after this.” You briefly wonder if Wonwoo’s eyes were always this piercing, boring into your soul like he didn’t need words to know what was going on with you. 

“Fine,” you huff, moving to drag a chair over, mostly just so you could have reason to break eye contact, and plop down as you watch him work. 

The more you think about it, the more you can find yourself unbothered by his strange behaviour. He wasn’t bleak, but nowhere near one of the more interesting people you’ve met. Taking the opportunity to really scan the man head to toe, you can’t say you find anything truly concrete to be this put off by him. 

Not much of a talker, but with the times you’ve prayed for a man that knew when to shut up sometimes, you wonder how much you can actually complain about this boon in particular. 

Besides, he was a looker, and you were completely content shutting your trap if it meant you got to shamelessly ogle at him from this close. 

“You know, this place looks bigger than it does from the outside.”

Wonwoo stares pointedly. 

You raise a shoulder in nonchalance, “Wasn’t a question!”

He simply huffs as he mumbles, “More length than breadth I suppose.”

“What are those things called?” you ask as you watch a sedan get lifted into the on some platform on the other end of the row. 

Glancing back, he answers, “Post lift, car lift, whatever you wanna call it.”

“What does it do?”

“Take a wild guess.”

“Touché.” 

Glancing back at him, you catch sight of his stained shirt once again. “Is that the same thing you wore to our date?”

Chin to chest, he registers what he’s wearing, hands still working on pulling bolts and boxes out of the hood. “Have about twenty of the same shirt, I can never be too sure.”

“You’re impossible.”

He smirks, “Touché.” 

You questioned if this was a mistake. 

Olivia could pick up her car herself, so why did you insist to be the one that did it? As you pay the taxi driver, you feel your ankles lock for a moment as you move to slip out of the cab. Frozen, you hear the driver ask you if everything was alright, to which your legs seem to work again, finally foot to gravel in front of the dreaded workshop.

The Jeon Motors sign blares the same as it always has in the afternoon light, glinting as it encourages you to walk in and do one of the stupider things you’ve done in life. Other than the ridiculous outfit you’ve put on, of course. 

But alas, as you hand over your slip to one of the many mechanics in the workshop, you find yourself praying he wasn’t here after all, that perhaps you could miss him as you leave and never have to see him again. 

Somebody yells out his name, and the dream drifts away like smoke. 

Finding the courage, you look up to where the man shouted for him, and immediately wish you hadn’t. 

Wonwoo remains in his overalls, the same ones that he had tied to his waist the last time you saw him. His undershirt however…

The tank top is revealing too much for you to pretend you don’t care, his hair remaining pushed back and away from his forehead as he walks over to you in what feels like slow motion. He takes the slip that he does not need, smiling at you as he says his hellos. 

“Car’s all fixed up, just need some papers that need signing and you’re all set.”

“Oh, but Liv isn’t here today.”

“That’s alright, you can sign them too,” he reassures, motioning for you to walk with him towards the car. “The car was alright in the test drives, revving hasn’t caused any problems either.”

He halts in front of the now (supposedly) fixed black sedan and pats the hood lightly, “If anything happens tell her to bring it straight here, although it shouldn’t have any more problems.”

“What’s your rate of return on customers?” you ask, a slight smirk on your face.

He thinks for a moment, “Pretty crap. But I guess that means I’m doing something right.”

You consider yourself something of a helicopter parent when it comes to your own car, but perhaps you’d change that if it meant you’d get to come here a little more often. 

Goodness, what’s gotten into you.

Wonwoo’s smiling too, and for a brief moment the silence is nearly awkward. A pause before he proposes leaving. 

“Shall we go to the office then?” 

Nodding eagerly, you trail behind him as he leads you towards the other end of the workshop, passing by even more cars in all their stripped or constructed glory. Glancing in front, you catch sight of Wonwoo’s back, ensnared for a moment before you snap your head away, reciting every curse word you know like a mantra. 

“It’s less hot in here too, keep the air on all the time.” Wonwoo stands in front of the plain doors, hands on the handle to wrench it open. You recognise it as the same door you had noted a few days ago. “Would you like anything? Coffee, tea?”

“Um, just water is fine, thanks.”

It’s quite plain, beige and leather against cream walls and unfittingly white lights. There’s a desk on one corner that’s beyond cluttered with more papers than you can register, pens and other office supplies mixed into the disorganised chaos of the large tabletop.

“Sorry about the mess, I can never find time to sort through it.” To your surprise, the light tinge of his cheeks suggest he might actually feel a little embarrassed. 

Cute. 

There’s cabinets that line on one of the far walls, and you watch him take his gloves off to open it and reach for a cup. The white porcelain emerges stained with an ashy grey as his fingers betray him. He looks flustered, glancing at his hands and back up to the cabinet. 

You can’t help but laugh a little, moving forward to help. “It’s alright, let me.”

“Sorry,” he apologised again, with a sheepish look on his face. “I’ll, um, wash this off.”

“Go on, I’m here,” you reassure as you move towards the water dispenser in the corner to fill your clean cup. 

He returns with significantly cleaner hands and apologises one last time. “Seems all I do around you is apologise.”

You have the good humour to chuckle, “So I’ve noticed.”

He does well to clear out most of the clutter that’s on his desk, leaving enough room to set down a few pieces of paper as you take a seat on the opposite side. 

As you scan through the papers, he attempts to make sober conversation. “You should…bring your car around for inspections if you want.”

“Oh? Even if I ask a million questions?”

“I can make an exception or two,” he grins. 

“And if you charge me double?”

“Might not charge you at all.”

“Might?” you question as you lift the pen he’d given you to sign the first space. 

“Might.”

“And what’re the conditions for that?” 

He doesn’t answer as he ponders and you fill in the second blank. “I’ll have to think about that.”

You snort before you can help it, your last signature coming out a little wonky as your hands shake. Turning the papers over to him, you continue, “Well then, let me know when you figure it out.”

He stares pointedly as he accepts the papers before dropping his eyes again, “Can I?”

“Hm?”

“Can I? Let you know?” 

It’s like you’ve been frozen over, the typewriter in your mind jamming as it punches out the implications of what he’s saying. 

“It seems, at least to me, that we may have gotten off on the wrong foot,” he continues. 

You hesitate. “I think so too.”

“I…I don’t want to put anything like pressure on you but–” 

“Would you like to try the new gelato place downtown this week?” you ask finally as you save him from his misery. “If…you’d like.”

He looks stunned for a moment before he’s scrambling, “Oh–of course! Yes, anytime is fine with me.”

“Great,” you smile, lifting from your seat. “It’s a date.”

“I’ll promise to wash my hands this time…and my shirt. And I won’t be late.” 

“Let’s not make promises we can’t keep,” you tease. 

You’re nearing the door as he follows behind, and just as you’re about to pull down on the handle, you hear him say your name. 

Turning around, almost too eagerly, you look up at him in expectation. He’s close, almost right behind you as he looks like he’s debating whether opening his mouth is a good idea. 

“Are you doing anything else today?” 

“Um,” you stutter for a moment. “I don’t have to drop off the car till later tonight, that’s all really.”

He swallows. “Do you wanna stay? Just a little while. We can stay in here, nobody comes in anyway.”

You aren’t entirely sure why you said yes, because you did actually have dinner plans with Liv later tonight, but the teeny tiny voice in your mind egged you on anyway. Besides, Liv wouldn’t mind, not if you were cancelling for this.

This entailed the very friendly contact of Wonwoo’s tongue in your mouth, and the extremely cordial way it seemed to caress your insides. If somebody asked you how it led to this, you don’t think you’d have an answer. Not that you care, especially when his hands are grabbing your waist and hips like that.

He’s already locked the door, reassuring you that nobody would find their boss and client in the smack dab middle of the devil’s tango. You take his word for it, relishing in the way his hot breath hits your skin below your ears, his mouth sucking under your earlobes as you whimper ever so quietly. 

Your hands are on his exposed biceps, feeling him up all to your heart's content. “Do you–Do you always wear stuff like this?”

He emerges, wet lipped and eyes trained. “So I wasn’t imagining it.”

“Imagining what?” you ask as you let him unbuckle your trousers.

“Please. Like you weren’t stripping me with your eyes.”

If you were warm before you, you're boiling up now. Were you being so obvious?

“It’s alright,” he reassures as you feel his fingers make contact with the crotch of your panties, pushing in to put pressure on your clit. “Wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t picked up on it.”

You feel his fingers push the dampening fabric away as his fingers make contact with your hole, coating his fingers in the arousal that’s made itself known. It’s hard to not hiss at the way he begins to circle it, thanking the universe that the loud noises of the workshop outside were masking whatever evidence of the heinous crime you were committing inside. 

Back against the couch in his office, you settle into the cushions once you feel him rub at your clit, one hand spreading your lips apart as he continues to massage your own wetness onto your throbbing cunt. 

When he retreats you almost cry out, but are smothered when he plunges two fingers into your hole instead, curling them almost immediately inside you. The consistent brush of the tips of his fingers on your walls are making it difficult to keep your eyes open, and absolutely impossible to keep your moans at bay. 

“Wonwoo, that’s so good, fuck.”

Through your closed eyes, you don’t note when Wonwoo gets on his knees. But you do feel him yank your trousers off entirely, and you definitely feel him place his wet mouth flush on your lower lips, sucking at your clit as he continues to pump his fingers in and out of you mercilessly. 

That’s all it takes for your noises to become increasingly high pitched, hands buried in his beautiful hair as he continues to pleasure you beyond imagination. 

“I’m so close, keep going, please, it feels so–”

He somehow buries his face in deeper, sucking harder, licking faster, and it’s enough for you to finally feel yourself collapsing on the inside, your composure dissolving as you moan so loud you’re sure they can hear it outside, even through all the clanging and revs of cars. 

There’s no way for you to know how long you lay there slumped against the couch cushions, but when you hear Wonwoo speak to you in your ear, you answer. 

“Was that okay?”

“More than okay,” you say as you grab his face and pull his lips to yours, tasting the tang in his mouth from your arousal. “Do you have a condom?”

“I–fuck,” he thinks for a moment. “I don’t think I do.”

You try not to feel too disappointed, but you sigh into his mouth anyway. 

“Can I fuck your thighs?” you hear him ask, and you might have just orgasmed again, untouched. 

“Fuck, yes you can.” 

With a yelp, you feel yourself lifted off the couch as you wrap your arms around Wonwoo’s neck, letting him guide you to his desk. “Wonwoo!”

You hear a loud crash of the desk being stripped of all its inhabitants, and your back hitting the cool of the table top. 

Wonwoo unties the arms of his overalls around his waist, letting the legs pool to the floor before slipping his hard cock out of his boxers. 

You don’t see it as you feel him lock your knees together and lift both your calves to rest on one of his shoulders. But you do feel it as he pushes the head into the seam of your thighs, watching the indent as the pink of his dick appears before you through the skin of your thighs. 

Wonwoo’s face is contorted as he pulls back and pushes back through again, this time brushing against your still sensitive clit. You gasp at contact, and immediately feel him thrusting faster. 

“Wonwoo,” you grunt. “Lower.”

He obliges, pushing his dick lower so it can rub flush against your clit as he begins to roughen up his pace. 

You moan as you feel his free hand that isn’t holding your legs trail to the ends of your shirt, caressing over your stomach to pull it up and reveal your bra clad tits. He pushes his hands under the nearest cup and begins to grope you so wonderfully with his big, warm hands. Rolling the bud between his fingers, you can only grasp onto his wrists as a handheld to keep you down on earth. 

The desk beneath you is rattling with noise, the full drawers making themselves known as Wonwoo pounds into your thighs like he would die if he stopped, mouth coming in contact with whatever skin of your legs he could reach, his breath fanning the side of your knees. 

You’re close again, and you know he is too with the way his thrusts are beginning to grow sloppy. 

“There,” he pants. “Almost.”

You orgasm for the second time, the throb your clit beyond comprehension as the rough of his dick slides across your clit mercilessly. 

“Cum like this, Wonwoo please I need to see you cum.”

And he does, shooting the heft of his load to cover your already wet cunt and thighs, landing on your stomach as he continues to ride out his high between your legs. 

The back of your head hits the table as you take in gulps of air through the aftermath of it all. Wonwoo is putting his weight on the back of your thighs, holding onto the table for support. 

“Oh, Liv is never gonna let me live this down,” you pant, lolling your head to one side as you register him. 

He peers up at you through his hair, the stupid smirk on his face, “Do you care?”

You’re smiling a little too when you answer, “Not really.”

And then your legs are off his shoulders as he nestles between them instead, diving in to lift your head and kiss you. 

And you let him, although you wouldn’t really call it too much of a kiss—not when the both of you were smiling like idiots through the clash. 

[runningfrom2am]

the finer things in life // LTPF

summary: coryo merely tolerates you at the beginning of the series. this, is why.

pairing: coriolanus snow x fem!reader

wc: 4.6k

masterlists / nav / requests

tags/warnings: capitol brat!reader, maybe slightly ooc coryo, idk i tried my best. underage drinking/drug use (its just weed dw), some suggestive content that's not explicit (that's a first for me woah).

a/n: THIS DROPS SOME MAJOR LORE FOR THIS SERIES LIKE PLS- this is so fun and i hope you guys really like it bc i stepped out of my comfort zone a bit here. anyway, happy new year!! as a treat, have r and coryo getting way too messed up for their own good :)

this is mentioned in one of the parts of s2 (oh god i have no clue which one but trust me.) anyway, here's the night they were talking about.

series masterlist // playlist

"Hey, Coryo." You smile, sitting yourself down across from him at the lunch table.

"Y/N/N." He nods, hardly looking up from his food.

"So," You him, leaning forward with your elbows on either side of your plate. "Are you coming to Livia's big party this weekend?"

He shrugs, swallowing before looking up at you. "I don't know. Maybe. Feels a little... trivial."

"Ugh," You scoff, playfully rolling your eyes. "Of course it's trivial, Coriolanus. It's a birthday party for a seventeen year old that's probably going to have fireworks and a four tier wedding cake." You laugh. "But I have to go, so you should too."

He smiles at you a little, tilting his head with a raised eyebrow. "A wedding cake?"

"Probably. You saw the invitations." You chuckle. "We can walk together, and I'll see if I can sneak in some posca from our cellar. Please?" You plead.

"Won't your parents be driving you? I wouldn't want to impose." Coryo insists politely.

"Oh, god, no." You laugh. "They're allegedly busy. My father will be working, and my mother will be waiting for him to finish work. Can't tear her away from that. My theory is that they just don't want to go."

"Oh, I see." He replies. Your parents not attending social events wasn't uncommon. Their attention was notoriously hard to attract, and his parents had long since passed, so it was pretty standard for the two of you to either walk together or get your driver to take the two of you places alone.

"Yeah! I think we'll end up walking because my brother has tutoring and god forbid he walk anywhere, but that way there's no dreadful small talk with my family anyway."

"Fine." Coryo agrees. "Only because it's you. Also, I don't think talking to your parents is dreadful, Y/N/N."

"It is. Don't lie." You laugh, taking a bite out of your cookie and waving him off.

You hear the doorbell and run to answer it before anyone else can. "Mom! Coryo's here, I'm leaving now! Bye!"

"You're not going to invite him in?" Your mom asks, cutting you off in the foyer.

"We're already running late, sorry!" You insist, adjusting your hold on the two gift bags in your hands very carefully.

"Alright, well, have fun, dear. Extend our apologies to Livia's parents for us."

"Will do!" You nod, giving her a quick thumbs up before opening the door.

"What do you need a bag for?" She asks and you roll your eyes at your friend standing in front of you before turning to face her again.

"They have a pool, I might need to change." You groan.

"Oh, right." She seems satisfied with that answer. "Hello, Coriolanus, how are you doing tonight?" She asks, turning her attention to him.

"I'm well, Ma'am. Thank you. And you?" He smiles politely.

"We gotta go, Mom, bye!" You shut the door before she can answer.

As soon as you're out of sight from your house, you stop and dig through the tissue paper in one of the gift bags.

"Isn't that for Liv-" Coryo's question is cut off by you holding a bottle of a nondescript liquor out to him.

"This one is for us." You smile, taking another bottle out before shoving the folded-up gift bag into your backpack. "Cheers." You twist the cap off of yours, knocking it against the one he's awkwardly holding before taking a swig.

"Posca? Should we..." He clears his throat. "Should we really be drinking? I feel like we'll get in trouble."

"It's not Posca, it's better. Besides, no trouble if no one knows." You reassure him. "Also, I would bet money that we show up and Festus and Pup are already stumbling."

"You're the most terrible influence, Y/L/N." Coryo shakes his head with a smile on his face, opening the bottle anyway to try it.

"No!" You laugh. "This is good for us. It makes me more... digestible to these stuck-ups."

"Are you not included in that group?"

"Oh, Coriolanus Snow, we are at the top of the list."

The air in the expansive house is as hot and stuffy as it could possibly be. It reminded you so much of your own, but warmer, in a way. Maybe it was just the sheer volume of people inside and the buzz of alcohol in your system.

Livia's parents had been kind enough to leave the whole back garden and pool for you kids to enjoy, and to have your own space free from all of the adults who were also invited.

It was warm out for a May evening when you finally made it outside after saying your 'hello's to all your classmates' parents. Your own parents insisted that you spend a decent amount of time doing so, despite them not being able to make it. Coryo was known to do this as well, so you made your rounds together before thanking the Cardew's for the invitations and they showed you where all the other kids were outside.

Coryo already wanted to leave, and if you did as well, you were good at hiding it. He couldn't tell, blindly following you through the crowded house before making it outside.

"Party's here!" You call out as you step out onto the patio, allowing Coryo to close the door behind you.

"Y/N, you gorgeous girl, finally!" You're quickly greeted by Hilarius Heavensbee, and god, Coryo has never hated him more as the boy is wrapping his arms around you. His attempts at flirting with you are humiliating- Coriolanus doesn't know how he couldn't see that he was embarrassing himself.

"Hilary, you flatter me." You chuckle, gently patting his back with your free hand as you pull away.

"You know I try." He laughs, shrugging as he slides in between the two of you, draping an arm over your shoulder.

"Where's the birthday girl?" You ask, holding up the gift bag. "I need to ditch this."

"That's a good question..." Your classmate says, scanning the groups scattered across the lawn in search of Livia.

"I can carry that, if you'd like." Coryo offers, desperate to remind you of his presence. He wasn't going to let you ditch him- you were the only reason he even attended.

"Oh, no. I've got it. Thank you, though." You wave him off, looking up at the boy whose arm is sitting over your shoulder uncomfortably. "Hilary, could you grab Coryo and I some glasses, please?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." He says, stepping away. "What do you want?"

"Oh, just the glasses please. We brought our own drinks." You wink.

"Alright, but only if you share." He chuckles.

"I'm nothing if not generous." You joke, pushing him in the direction of where you see the beverage table is set up.

"His share is coming out of your bottle." Coryo says once the boy is out of earshot.

"Who do you think I am?" You ask, placing the giftbag on the ground and grabbing your bag off your shoulder, digging through the fabric you used to muffle the sounds of glass bottles rattling against one another. "I brought enough for the class."

"Of course you did." He chuckles, shaking his head slightly as you carefully pull another bottle out of the bag. "Be a doll, go dump this in the punch?" You smile up at him, holding it out to him expectantly.

"No! I'm not spiking anything." He laughs.

"Suit yourself, Boryo Coryo." You sigh with a teasing smile, placing your bags on the ground and walking over to the table at the side of the house, unscrewing the cap as you go.

"Where'd Y/N/N go?" Hilarius asks, returning to Coryo's side. He just nods over to you in response, not tearing his gaze away from your form as you dump the contents of the bottle into the bowl.

"Ah, gotcha." Your classmate laughs, holding an empty glass out for Coryo to take.

Coryo mutters a quiet 'thanks', refocusing himself on inspecting the glass in his hand for any dirt or fingerprints. It was spotless- of course it was.

"So, are you guys like... together? Or what's the deal?"

"Pardon?" Coryo is taken aback by the question, finally looking up at the boy.

"You and Y/N." He gestures toward you as you stir the bowl, simultaneously holding the mostly empty bottle up to your lips to let the last few drops fall onto your tongue. "You're always hovering around each other. Anything more to it? Everyone is wondering, but no one dares ask her."

"Oh. No." Coryo shakes his head, wishing his glass was full of whatever bitter alcohol you'd gifted him so he could down it all in one go.

"Sweet." Hilarius grins to himself, watching you intently.

Coryo raises an eyebrow at Hilarius, perplexed by his reaction. "What's so sweet about it?" he asks, trying to understand the amused grin on Hilarius' face.

Hilarius chuckles, leaning in slightly as if about to share a secret. "If you're not gonna go for her, I will."

Coryo's cheeks flush with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. "Be my guest." He spits through gritted teeth. He should have drank more- perhaps it would have made Hilarius's juvenile pursuits more tolerable.

Hilarius nudges him playfully, "Life's too short for missed opportunities, if you ask me." He looks back at you again, not so subtly raking his eyes over your figure and how it fits in your favourite party dress. "And that would be a damn shame of a missed opportunity."

Coryo glances over at you, catching your eye for a brief moment before quickly looking away. He clears his throat awkwardly. "If you say so. I find she's quite... overwhelming, at times."

"That's the best thing about her." Hilarius muses. "Just imagine it... You know what I mean? I bet she's just crazy. In a really good way."

Coryo's brow furrows at the implication, both from offense and intrigue. He knew you were stunning- even a fool could have told him that, but it was to make a mockery of your name to only look at you and see merely the potential of what you could do with your body. To him, you were like morning rain in the springtime; a breath of fresh air when you didn't have to defend yourself at every turn, but Hilarius Heavensbee didn't know the first thing about walking in the rain.

"Don't be vile." Coryo scoffs, giving a slight shake of his head.

As you finish up with the concoction in the bowl, Coryo watches you with a newfound awareness, a subtle curiosity lingering behind his stare.What would it be like? It's not something he has ever considered, or even had the time or desire to look at anyone that way. Especially not you, you were so personal to him it was off limits even in his own head. He didn't understand the seemingly overnight shift a couple years ago now where all the boys in your class started looking at you and the other girls like pieces of meat, but suddenly watching you lick clean the spoon you used to stir the punch, he could see that maybe they had a point. What it would be like to hear you panting into his ear. Tired, loving, even, like he was the only man in the world who could make you feel so, so good. To have your deep red lipstick staining his skin, his shoulders, his neck, possibly lower. The idea of having to explain the stains on the inside of his shirt to Tigris when he pleads with her to somehow get them out has his heartbeat racing... Likely, though, it was just the liquor starting to settle in his veins, is what he decided as he adjusted the front of his dress pants.

Hilarius chuckles at Coryo's reaction, seemingly unfazed by his disapproval. "Relax, man. I'm just saying, life's too short not to appreciate the whole package. Y/N's got the brains, the looks, and that fiery spirit. It's like having your cake and eating it too."

Coryo arches an eyebrow, unconvinced. "I appreciate her for more than just appearances, you know."

Hilarius smirks knowingly. "Of course, of course. I'm just speaking from a purely hypothetical standpoint. No harm in imagining what could be."

Coryo shoots him a skeptical glance, but before he can respond, you join them, empty bottle in hand. "What's the topic?" you ask, catching the tail end of their conversation.

Hilarius grins, shrugging. "Oh, just discussing the finer things in life. You know, like cake."

You raise an eyebrow, sharing a confused glance with Coryo. "Cake? Really? Are we eight?"

Coryo rolls his eyes. "Apparently, it's a metaphor for appreciating the whole package."

You raise an eyebrow, but neither of them care to elaborate. "Well, I hope you both appreciate this 'whole package' of a potion I just whipped up. It should be interesting." You nod back toward the table, taking one of the glasses from your classmate to pour the remainder of your bottle out for the three of you.

By the time your unknowing classmates started to loosen up, you were sitting in a circle in a corner of the yard with a few others.

"I have a present for everyone." You state in a pause of conversation, and Coryo watches as you reach into the front of your dress, into your bra, and pull out a small paper bag.

"Uhm- what is that?" Clemensia asks, leaning back as if the bag would explode.

"Weed!" You laugh, looking around at the suddenly silent group of kids you're sitting with as you peel the bag open, the smell wafting through the air making some of your friends scrunch up their noses in disgust. "Oh my god- have none of you ever seen weed before?" You knew they hadn't, you hadn't really, either, but it was fun to tease them.

They all share confused and embarrassed glances. "Guys, come on..." You chuckle.

"I don't think we should..." Festus mumbles, clearing his throat. Of course he was going to be a baby about it.

"It's harmless! It's a plant, how much could something that grows out of the ground really hurt you?"

"Have you ever heard of poison ivy? Or that stuff poor people in the Districts burn to clean their houses or whatever?" Arachne spits, side-eying the bag on the ground.

"Sage isn't poisonous." Sejanus grumbles, hardly audible next to you.

"Okay, yes, but this is just weed. It's fun. Trust me." You plead, looking around at your friends, eyes locking on Coryo to your left.

"Okay, big shot, have you done it?" Clemensia asks, clearly already knowing the answer.

"Well... No, but there's a first time for everything, isn't there?" You smile. "Coryo, come on." You point him out in particular and he curses himself because he knows he can't say no to you.

"Okay... what do we do with it?" He questions quietly.

You squeal, the alcohol really showing as you lean into him, hugging him excitedly. "That's my boy! We smoke it."

"Alright, how?" Hilarius cuts in, forcing you to look at him instead of Coryo as you furrow your brow.

"Uh... that's a good question. I brought matches, though."

Sejanus sighs. "Anyone have an apple?" he speaks drawing everyone's attention, confused looks now focused on him.

"An apple?" Someone inquires about specifics, but you're busy making yourself comfortable closer to Coryo, leaning your head on his shoulder. When he realizes you're there to stay, he quickly reaches for the bottle at his side to take another swig. He's far too sober to have you all over him like this, he wonders if you could feel his heartbeat the way he could.

"To make a pipe." Sejanus explains, like it's obvious.

You smile, nodding at him. "You heard the boy- someone find him an apple!"

"And a pen." He adds.

"And a pen!"

It doesn't take long for the supplies to be acquired and passed over to him as you sit in a circle on the grass, watching Sejanus carefully as he uses the pen to dig into the core of the apple. You wanted to remember how, but the alcohol in your system was making it difficult to focus. You had to completely block out anything else happening around you.

"Y/N." You blink at your friend as he drops the pen into his lap, holding his free hand out to you.

"Huh?"

"The weed." He shakes his hand for you to pass him the bag.

"Oh! Right!" You giggle, reaching out for the bag and handing it to him as he pries it open.

"What are you doing?" Livia's voice comes from above you and you swivel your head, quickly getting dizzy from the movement.

"Y/N brought weed." Hilarius answers for him, smiling wide. "Isn't she just the coolest?"

Coryo stares at him, moving his arm tighter around your oblivious form so your classmates could better see his hold on you.

"I- um..." The birthday girl is caught off guard, and quickly looks over her shoulder up at the house. "Can you not do that here? Take it to the park across the street."

"Oh- Oh! Of course, yes." You nod, scrambling to get up, immediately pulling her into a hug. "I should have asked, I'm sorry." You slur, not noticing how tense she is under your hold.

"Are you... drunk?"

"Maybe." You giggle, holding a finger to your lips as you pull away. "Happy birthday, by the way! I brought a gift for you, 'is over there." You point over to the table you placed the bag under, swaying slightly.

"Yeah... I already opened it, remember?"

"Oh, shit. Right! Well, I hope you like it, Liv. You're just the best..." You hum, hugging her again as she gives a panicked look to your classmates behind you, who just laugh.

"Alright, let's get you out of here. We're gonna go to the park, okay Y/N/N?" Coryo says, prying you off of Livia and giving her an apologetic look.

"Right!" You giggle, turning so fast you almost lose your balance. "Who's coming?"

"I'll come." Hilarius nods, quickly getting up alongside Sejanus, but no one else moves or says a word.

"You guys are babies!" You laugh.

"And Y/N is a drunk at sixteen. We all have flaws." Persephone speaks up, smug smile on her face as she walks up behind Livia.

Immediately, Coryo is bracing you from swinging at her as your smile drops within an instant and you try and throw yourself at her, manicured hands open and grasping for her hair which you just miss as he holds you back.

"Yeah, that's enough." Coryo grunts, trying to hold you back without hurting you. "We should probably go."

"Coryo, let me go, she-" You hiss, trying to pry him off of you. You didn't know when he got so much bigger or stronger than you.

"Like I said, a drunk." Persephone chuckles, chewing every syllable as it comes out of her mouth.

"That's precious coming from a damn cannibal!" You spit, still trying to get through him as your classmate stares at you in shock. "Yeah- did you even know what your parents were feeding you? 'Cause I do! You probably liked it, you vulture!"

Hilarius holds back a laugh, coming up behind you and pulling you back, taking you from Coryo's grip and hoisting you up over his shoulder to carry you away as you hit at his back, screaming to be let down.

"That's our cue." Sejanus mutters, patting Coryo's shoulder and brushing past him to follow after you and your friend. "Thanks for having us, Livia!"

Coryo is fuming as he watches your classmate carry you away, but he still really can't pinpoint why. It must be the amount of alcohol- he's never drank this much before, but he has heard anger is a symptom. He's seen it in your father. Now, he's seen it in you; but it's not like that kind of outburst was abnormal coming from you. He's probably mad at Persephone for bringing that out of you. It's her fault, honestly.

He silently grabs your backpack and your bottles, half-hazardly throwing them in before swinging it over his shoulder and following after Sejanus without another word.

"So," Arachne states once he's out of earshot, taking a sip out of her glass as she remains on the ground. "Are we betting on Heavensbee or Snow to lose their virginity to her tonight?"

The group very quickly became a hung jury.

"Listen, I know the truth, okay, guys, hear me out." Clemensia speaks up over her arguing classmates. "Tonight, specifically, it'll be Hilarius." She holds her hand up to stop anyone who started arguing. "Coriolanus will probably wait until they're married or something, but trust me when I tell you that he will marry her."

"Marry her? We're sixteen, aren't you getting ahead of yourself, Clemmie?" Festus laughs, shaking his head.

"Obviously he doesn't know it yet, he's denser than over stirred cake batter, but he just follows her around like a lost puppy. That will never change, also, he's the only one that she's never had a problem with! And she'll fight with anyone!" Clemensia states, nodding with the finality of her statement. "That's all I have to say."

"Wait, you're telling me Coriolanus and Y/N aren't together?" Pup asks, just joining the conversation after sitting there confused for the last few minutes.

"My point exactly."

"Sejanus, you wizard, show us the ways." You giggle, plopping down on the ground where Hilarius carefully let you back onto your feet once you reached the park, previous argument completely forgotten.

"Okay." He laughs, sitting down next to you. "There's three holes in the apple. You hold it on the side like this, then you put the weed on the very top hole..." He explains as he's doing it, and you watch intently. "Then you hold the match up until it's burning, and you'll put your thumb over this hole here once you inhale it through the last one..." His voice trails off as he holds the apple up to your lips, doing all the work but letting you just breathe in the smoke.

You try, eyes closed as the three boys watch you until you pull away quickly to cough it all out as the smoke burned into your throat. "Oh my god..." You laugh, eyes watering as you continue to cough. "Your turn."

"You okay?" Hilarius asks with a slight chuckle, rubbing gentle circles into your back.

"Fine." You nod, quickly wiping your eyes.

"Here." Sejanus holds the apple out to the boy next to you. He takes it, and Coryo feels like he can finally breathe now that Hilarius doesn't have his hands on you.

"Where'd you learn this?" He asks Sejanus, ignoring your classmate following the same routine you did.

"Guess." Sejanus answers, looking over at him. "I don't smoke, but lots of my friends parents did. Back in Two."

"Right." The fact that they smoked around children didn't shock Coryo. Not one bit.

"Coryo, loosen up, man, you look like you're sitting with a stick up your ass." Hilarius offers it to him now, and he looks over at you. As if somehow you would tell him what to say.

"Try it!" You urge him on, shifting over so you're kneeling in front of him, taking the apple from Hilarius for him. "I'll light for you."

"Uh, okay, yeah." He swallows thickly, subconsciously leaning back a little bit at your closer proximity.

He takes the fruit from your hand, watching as your strike up a new match. "Tell me when you're ready..." You hum, moving even closer as he lifts the apple to his lips.

"Ready." He says quietly, and before you put the flames to the flowers, you're reaching up with your other hand to push his hair out of his face and hold it back for him so it doesn't somehow light.

He doesn't last long, looking into your eyes and trying to inhale the thick, abrasive smoke; it's only a second before he's pulling back quickly, coughing his lungs out as the other two boys laugh at him.

"It takes some getting used to, that's okay..." You smile, taking another hit while the flower was still burning.

You exhale, and it's smoother this time. "I did it!" You grin, choking only slightly over your words.

"Good job, Y/N/N." Sejanus laughs.

"You okay?" You ask Coryo and he nods, recovering from the coughing fit now as the weed really starts to take affect in your system.

You feel like your world is swaying as you kneel in front of him. "Did it work? Can you feel it?" You ask, and he shakes his head.

"It's the second hit." You determine, feeling bold as you straddle yourself over his lap. "I've got an idea. Do you trust me?" You whisper and he nods quickly, leaning back on his palms. Once again, not nearly drunk enough for this.

"Yeah, you know what, I've gotta get back. My parents are heading out pretty quick, here..." Hilarius makes an excuse, but you can hardly even hear him now. "Sejanus, you coming?"

Clearly getting the message he nods, standing up and dusting off his pants. "Have fun, you two. Get home safe."

"Bye!" You giggle, waving to them with your free hand.

The silence that surrounds you is deafening, particularly for poor Coryo, who is fighting for his life to not move. Not that he doesn't want you this close, apparently he does; if his body and his mind racing with thoughts are any indicator, the biggest problem is that he wants to touch you. He knows he shouldn't.

"I've got an idea." You say again, attention returned to him. "But you have to trust me."

"I trust you." He mumbles with a slight nod.

"Good." You smile, taking yet another pull from the apple, holding it carefully the way Sejanus told you to.

You painfully hold your breath, feeling the drug cloud your mind as you put it down gently on the ground next to you. Coryo starts to panic as you lean in closer, closer than you've ever been to him before, and god, did he hate and love where this was going.

You stop, lips brushing against his as you let the smoke out of your lungs, and all he has to do is breathe. Why is that suddenly so hard? He manages, somehow, feeling the smoke from your lungs flood into his own.

Once you move back, settling yourself on his lap and tilting your head at him, he turns to breathe it all out away from you. He doesn't know if he can look back.

You smile, settling your arms around his neck and subconsciously playing with the ends of his hair. "How does it feel?"

"Good." He says quietly, finally gaining the courage to look up at you.

"Good?" You hum with a slight nod, letting yourself get closer to him again as he rests a hand on your waist.

"Really good." He confirms, looking into your eyes; glazed over from the substances you so carelessly consume. "Y/N/N?"

"Yes, my dear Coryo?" You answer, already getting giggly.

He doesn't say anything more.

Fuck it.

With his free hand he's grabbing the back of your neck and pulling you closer, crashing his lips against yours.

"Y/N, hey." Coryo greets you, catching up to you just as you get to the front doors of the academy. He hasn't seen you since Saturday night- since he walked you home after you spent nearly an hour kissing him absolutely senseless at the park across from Livia's home. He couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Coryo, hi." You smile, textbooks tucked into your arms as you join him walking into the front doors of the academy on Monday morning. "How are you feeling?"

"Me? Fine." He shrugs, failing to mention the crippling hangover he was nursing for all of the day prior.

"What?" You laugh, sighing with fake disappointment. "That's not fair. I was dying yesterday. Literally, when I woke up I thought I had died and gone to hell. I don't even remember how I got home."

"You don't?" He chuckles nervously.

"No. I don't remember a thing." You laugh. "That's how you know it was a good night, so I've heard."

"Really? Nothing at all?" He asks, nervousness and disappointment flashing behind his eyes.

"Well, I remember spiking the punch." You laugh. "Why, did I do something bad?" Your laugh is replaced with anxiety as your voice lowers so only he can hear, catching the look in his eye.

Coryo clears his throat, avoiding your gaze as he shakes his head. "No, well... You did call Persephone a cannibal. Tried to fight her."

"Oh, well, that's standard." You shrug. "No big deal, then."

"Yeah. No big deal."

taglist:@totallynotkaibiased , @stelleduarte , @klplynn , @secretsicanthideanymore , @bejeweledreverie , @gloryekaterina , @andrewgarfieldsbitch , @queenofspades6 , @pepperonipastas , @ladybug0095 , @lunamothwrites , @sbrewer21 , @mus-tbe-a-weasley , @splxtscreen , @unclecrunkle , @karmaswitch , @coconut-dreamz , @nekee-lilac02 , @ooooglymoooogly , @riddlerloveb0t , @lovedbalances , @notyourwildestdream , @snowlandson-top , @too-lit-for-fanfic , @utopiakys , @deafeningballoonnacho , @roosterschanelslut , @chmpgneprblem , @cosmoetik , , @urvampgfsworld , @carolanns-world@nan-nie , @shakespearseclipse , @iovemoonyy , @notyoursweetheart-honey ,  @xyzstar , @eatpizzasass, @slytherinholland , @queenofshinigamis , @elodiebeau , @soulessjourney

[mondaymelon]

enjoy your last birthday.

i will end you. /j

anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELON!!!! i hope you have a great day <3 hehe i was working on something for your birthday and then i got super tired and stuff, so it might be a bit late, but i’ll get it done eventually (in six months)

oh uh hey rei nice to see you here

OOoooOooOhhHhHh nOoiOOo pLwase MeRCy I hAve SO mUxh to lIvs fOrrrrRrTR wEwWWwaAAAhah

pspsppsps thank you rei <33 please get some sleep because i have an inkling that your sleep schedule is worse than mi. Ne

that’s saying something

six months you say? very well. i shall be counting the days

[leahkenobi]

distraction

dorian havilliard x reader

word count: 1.6k

dorian just wants to be what you need.

warnings: it’s very chaotic lol. starts off enemies to lovers, discussion of trauma, mentions of bruises, infected wounds, scars, mentions of physical and mental pain then transitions to sub!dorian, smut, grinding, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap, dorian isn’t real but pregnancy is), dorian has a praise kink, kinda denied orgasm but not really. please let me know if i’m missing anything!

a/n: well. it’s miss @oliviajdjarin’s birth month (livtober, as one may say). yes, this is late. yes, i feel bad. but i hope it is still enjoyable for everyone! i had so much fun writing a sub character (who would’ve thought lol very uncharacteristic). as always requests are open and lmk if you want to be added to a general or specific tag list! i’m always happy to add! i do not own this gif! anyways, happy late birthday liv, love you bunches. hope it was as special as you :)

“oh fuck you dorian,” you said, unable to keep it to yourself any longer.

“don’t you wish you could, my dear,” he said with arrogance that was larger than life.

it had been an exhausting journey from morath. dorian was both the savior you were looking for, someone who stood up for you and helped you out of that horrendous place and also the biggest pain in the ass that ever did exist.

you would have pummeled him to the ground, maybe even stabbed his stupid stupid stomach lined with his stupid stupid abs if it weren’t for the lingering sense of gratitude you held toward the man.

“can we rest here for the night?” you asked, physically and mentally whooped from your situation. your mental scars from morath were just as prominent as the cuts that were turning a sickly green and your purple bruises.

“cmon, just another mile. we’ll be closer to the stream then,” dorian responded.

you knew there was no way you could make it. you’d already been dragging him down because of your lingering injuries. but there was no way you could tell him this. you refused to show weakness in front of anyone, especially the entitled asshole of a king in front you.

dorian had to have noticed your rapid decline in speed. you couldn’t help it, the pain truly was becoming unbearable. but he couldn’t know that. no one could know that. if anyone knew-

no one could see that-

it would be too vulnerable-

too raw-

“y/n,” he said in a firm tone, almost sounding annoyed.

“we haven’t got all day do we? do i need to carry you?” he teased.

“i’m moving as fast as i can,” you grumbled.

“if that’s as fast as you can go, i have some concerns,” he said with a joking tone.

“well dorian no offense. i know it’s hard for you to understand and all but i’m struggling right now. i get that you don’t really know what that means, but for some of us, it means we walk a bit slower than usual because our bodies can’t fucking take it. so kindly, or not so kindly, leave me alone,” you said with force.

because honestly, what did this spoiled royal bastard know about pain and suffering?

he only chuckled in response, which somehow frustrated you more. how dare he laugh?

you were so distracted in your haze of anger that you didn’t notice he had slowed down to your speed. he slipped an arm over your shoulder to steady your form.

you silently walked the next mile with him, every step more agonizing than the last. when you finally reached a spot he deemed acceptable, he dropped his arm from your figure. you nearly collapsed without his support, which made you realize how reliant you had been on him for the last chunk of your trip.

“thank you,” you said hoarsely.

“what was that?” he prodded, wanting to hear you say it.

“thanks,” you said a bit louder.

“i’m sorry, i still can’t hear you,” he said with a grin.

“i said thank you,” you announced loudly.

dorian chuckled. “oh it’s my pleasure. really strengthens my arms when i have to carry you a mile through the forest.”

“alright, would you-“ you started.

“i’m kidding,” he said, “i’m just messing with you. i’ll carry you wherever i need to if it means we will stay safe.”

you nodded your head slowly and whispered another soft thanks.

the pack that had been on dorian’s back contained a thin tent which he pitched while you walked a few yards to the stream to gather water. night was falling, and with it the temperature.

as you walked back to the tent, you realized dorian was no where in sight. you gently laid the water you collected in the canteen on a rock and peered inside the tent.

there he was in all of his beauty. he no longer had his collared shirt and thick coat covering his magnificent upper body. his legs were bare besides a pair of boxers and you couldn’t help but stare. even though he frustrated the ever living hell out of you, he was gorgeous. you noticed a white ring around his neck before he turned to see your face poked in through the tent flap.

“like what you see?” he said with a sly grin.

your face heated at the implication.

“sorry… i- uh… i was looking to find you. i gathered some water,” you stuttered out, flustered by his appearance.

“mm thank you. i am quite parched,” he replied.

you grabbed the canteen and passed it to him.

“goodnight,” you said as you walked away from the tent, trying to find a spot to sleep on the ground next to the tent so the wind wouldn’t blow directly on you.

“and just what do you think you are doing?” dorian said as he poked his head out.

“um.. looking for a place to sleep?” you said.

“y/n. we have been traveling together for a week. what makes you think you can’t be in the same tent as me?” dorian asked.

“we’ve only slept in separate rooms through those port towns. i just assumed it would be uncomfortable for you,” you said with a shrug.

“what would make me more uncomfortable is you out there completely alone with no warmth or company,” dorian said, “get in the tent now, please.”

you nodded and mumbled a quiet okay.

the tent wasn’t very large, just enough room for a few blankets. you slowly crawled under one as dorian sat down and did the same.

once you were both settled, you sighed deeply and let the events of the past week come over you. so much had happened in so little time.

you attempted to close your eyes, if only to stop yourself from processing your time at morath, the rescue, and your complex feelings toward dorian. but before you could fall asleep, he spoke.

“i know that i’m not… easy. or probably the best person to be accompanying you right now. but i want you to know that i’ve felt your pain,” he said.

“dorian just… don’t. i don’t want to hear about the pain of stubbing your royal pinky toe, or the pain of attending too many fancy dinner parties. it’s different, okay?” you said, trying your best not to sound too irritated, but closed off so you wouldn’t have to hear his nonsense.

“we are not as different as you think,” he said.

even in the dark, you could seem him scratching at the scar on his neck.

“what is that?” you asked, pointing to it.

“what makes us the same,” he said with a sad smile.

“what do you mean?”

“the valg, y/n. i felt them too. they hurt me and infested me too,” he said softly.

your face fell. by no means had you expected that.

“dorian i am so sor-“

“no, don’t say you are sorry. i don’t need to hear that. i just need you to know that i’m trying to be what you need right now. so tell me what that is. i can be your punching bag, i could build you up, i could make you laugh, or i could be whatever else you need. i just want to help,” he said, his eyes staring into yours with intent.

somehow, you were closer than before. close enough that you could feel his warm breath. close enough that your mind wandered-

“how about a distraction?” you said with a small smile, letting the feelings of gratitude for the rescue and appreciation of his beauty take over your mind and body.

“a distraction?” he grinned, “how so?”

“lean a little closer, dorian. i’ll show you how,” you responded.

within a second he was on you, mouth meeting your own.

you were hungry for this, hungry for this crumb of normalcy that he could give you. you needed to feel someone.

you pushed his shoulders back to the ground, straddling him. your tongue dominated his own, and he couldn’t have been happier based on the moans slipping from his mouth.

you felt him stiffen in his boxers below you.

“dorian,” you moaned, “please.”

“take what you need. i’m here to be what you need,” he said.

and so you did. you pulled your own bottoms off, then quickly followed with his. you stayed on top of him, grinding into his erection.

“y/n, if you keep doing that i’m not going to last,” he said in between broken moans.

you reached between your bodies, grabbing hold of him and lining him up. you ground down on him and released a gasp as he groaned.

“that better, prince?” you asked with a slight tease.

“so good, y/n. so good,” he said.

“good boy. you feel so good dorian,” you said while pushing his hair off his forehead and leaning down to suck a bruise onto his collar bone.

eventually, his hands found their way to your nub. the second he touched your clit, you jolted.

“dorian,” you groaned, “faster.”

“anything,” he said, looking to you with glassed over eyes.

you could feel the coil tightening in your core as you squeezed around dorian’s cock.

“i’m going to-“ dorian started.

“hold it,” you said, “wait for me.”

“okay,” he responded and leaned forward to kiss your breasts, continuing to stimulate your clit simultaneously.

“i’m right there baby,” you said, “cum with me.”

and he did, spilling into you with a violent groan. you were a mess on top of him, crying out in pleasure.

as you came down from your high, you rolled off of him.

“that was incredible,” he said, reaching into his bag for a cloth to clean you up with.

“so good,” you said.

after he wiped you down, you turned to him.

“thank you,” you said, snuggling under his strong arms.

“of course,” he said, “i will happily be a distraction whenever you need.

taglist:

@oliviajdjarin

[1252291]

summary: he knew he shouldn't have been attracted to you so quickly after his divorce, but the marriage had been over for years, and you had been the first good thing that happened to him in a long time. plus, pta meetings are boring anyways. word count: 3.9k reader description: cis woman (she/her). content warnings: smut, so minors dni. slight breeding kink, slight exibitionalism, car sex, dilf!jean. both you and jean are parents to your own children. (c/n) means your child's name. notes: happy birthday my sweet casserole (@bagsyy ) !! I hope I remembered correctly that you wanna be a fellow parent gettin fucked right by dif!jean. I love you!! and I hope you enjoyed your 21st so much !! sorry this is so late in the day i am terrible at planning ahead.

Sickly sweet invitations, left strewn across the table for the other parents to take. Jean scoffs at the attention to detail. Normally, he would have been supportive; his ex-wife was the head of the PTA, and had a knack for veiling everything important, or ugly under pretty things (and really, hadn’t he been a pretty thing once, too? Or at least, his wife had been determined to make him – them – seem that way). Jean’s tongue slipped from between his lips, wetting them before he found his seat next to you.

You looked up at him with a smile, and gave a quick pat to the chair. After the divorce, Jean had wanted to remain involved in his child’s life, but his ex had made it nearly impossible. She’d quickly taken up to giving him the wrong dates for parent-teacher interviews, and painting herself out to be the good one.

Still, she couldn’t keep him from picking up his child from school, and it’s how he met you. Bright smiles, and on your knees with your arms open as your child ran into your arms. You looked beautiful ––– maybe not something he should have been thinking so freshly divorced, but his marriage had been over for years. All he had been doing was playing the part.

Jean hadn’t been able to look away from you then. His heart was beating hard in his chest, only to feel it jump into his throat when his daughter approached you –– no, not you. Your child, and wrapped her arms around them with declarations of, “I’ll miss you! See you on Monday!”

That was three months ago.

He’d fumbled over his words when he got the guts to approach you, and his face had been bright red. But now, you’re comfortable with each other. You’d been the one to tell him the dates to all school events to make him into the perfect dad until he got a hang of it himself.

At the moment, he sat next to you in the back row, listening to your quiet teases at the expense of other parents.

Jean snorts, glancing over at the couple sat nearly on the edges of their seats, “they’re doing that ‘cause their kids outside. I saw them on my way inside.” It was almost dark, and not everybody could afford a babysitter.

Your lips form into a tight line for a moment, trying to suppress your own smile, before giving in to a soft giggle, “oops. Well, after their whole germaphobe thing, they probably know we all think they’re weird now. Like, I get it - I don’t like when (c/n) gets sick, but it’s a little much to have them disinfect their chairs in the morning.”

“Are you saying I should return the wet ones I just bought Liv?”

You shot him a look that triggered his laughter; his hand came up to hide his expression, not wanting to draw attention to your little corner in the back of the room. It filled you with enough warmth that a smile of your own started creeping up your features, until you were hiding behind your hand too.

––– “Everybody! If I can get your attention up here…”

The shrill voice of Jean’s ex was enough to pull him out of the little world he created with you. One of his eyes closed a little dramatically - acting as if her voice were nails across a chalkboard.

She demanded attention to the front of the room, so parents took their seats with their styrofoam coffee cups, and flimsy paper plates piled with snacks. Jean had grabbed a cookie when he walked past the table, but it was long gone. He regretted not grabbing an invitation. He could’ve folded it a million times while he listened to the woman drone on about upcoming fundraisers, and methods to beg for donations.

You watched the woman speak at the front of the room. When you first met Jean, you couldn’t figure out how he’d ended up with her in the first place, but it was clear why they separated. She was loud - demanding. Jean was opinionated, but he asked for attention, never expected it.

it hadn’t taken long for you to warm up to jean being around.

Gaze was almost unfocused. SHE’S SO BORING, you thought. Your eyes were almost glazed over when you felt hand on your thigh, tracing lightly up the fabric. Your gaze flickered down to Jean’s hand, before you glanced at him from the corner of your eyes. His own eyes never left his ex-wife at the front of the room, but it was clear his focus was somewhere else.

Soft shivers ran up your body, following in the wake of his touch.

Neither of you moved for a second. You held your breath as if that would prevent other parents from knowing what was happening behind them, but without any attention turned your way (and his ex-wife’s meticulousness when it came to never looking at her ex-husband), you relaxed and inhaled softly. This was a regular thing, but it still filled you with anxiety each time it happened. You chewed your inner cheek, dropping your gaze to your lap to watch as Jean’s hand curved around your inner thigh, working your legs apart. He wouldn’t go more than the slow run between your thighs, stopping dangerously close to your core, but it still had your hips shifting – following his touch as he traced his hand back down.

“Needy,” he breathed, letting his gaze lower. You held a soft hum in your throat; swallowed around it, forcing it down while your cheeks started to burn. They felt on fire when he continued, “that’s my fault. I should’ve taken care of you more when I had the chance.”

Memories dance in front of your vision when your eyes slide shut. He’d been in your apartment only four days before, knelt between your thighs. Your legs start to close, trapping his fingers between your thighs the way that his head had been. It had kept his tongue lapping at your slick folds then, but now, you didn’t get anything – just a whine of desperation wanting to claw its way through you.

Heat spread across your body. Your eyes opened, a hand moving across to take his wrist gently. Jean’s hand remained for a moment more, anchored by yours, and although you couldn’t see it, Jean was smiling to himself. When his hand broke away from your hold, you watched him from the corner of your eye as he picked up his jacket. He was silent as he walked around the two plastic chairs you’d been sitting on, and your eyes lifted to the clock in the opposite corner of the room just as the door fell shut behind him.

Five minutes.

That’s all that you needed to wait. But each second felt like an eternity, and every time you tried to will yourself to pay attention, you couldn’t.

Quietly, you gathered your things together. Each shift of your bag left your body riddled with excitement of getting caught, and maybe questioned. They never do. It’s hard to tell if they just don’t notice either of you missing half-way through the meeting, or just don’t care enough to draw attention to it.

It’s easier to not make a sound leaving through the doors when you want to conceal yourself. You keep the door handle pressed down, waiting for the heavy door to fall into place before you’re walking through the school hallways. There’s an attempt (and that’s what counts) to not look at the children’s art plastered over every inch of the hallway – to make it less filthy that you’re moving in the direction of the parking lot.

The evening’s are getting colder as the months ware on. You pull your sweater a little tighter around your body when you get outside, and look across the familiar lot.

Jean flashes the headlights before he gets out of the car himself. He’s parked in the furthest corner. So, he’s planned this a little. He waits for you to approach, and flashes a smile, “hey.”

“Hi,” you offer, smiling up at him.

Jean’s over six foot, easily looking over you towards the school. The park is on the opposite side of the school, so the only thing he’s worried about are other parents from the PTA meeting deciding to escape early.

“Nobody else looked ready to leave.” Jean hummed at your words, before he was reaching up to press warm palm against your cheek. You leaned into the touch, smiling a little as he guided you to tilt up. His lips were soft against yours; they always were when you first start. Pulling away slight, you reminded him, “we only have twenty minutes.”

“Okay, okay.”

The man pulled the back door open for you, grinning as he teased, “m’lady. your chariot.”

Some chariot. You got into the backseat of the car with a smile, grateful that he’d gone ahead without you first because the small space was already warmed. He’d already pulled the front seats up, and down, making as much space in the back of the car as he could. And maybe if you hadn’t been desperate for him, you would’ve laughed at how reminiscent this seemed of being young again with nowhere to go.

Jean got in after you, shutting the door gently behind himself. You worked your sweater down your arms, watching as he reached to turn the small light off.

You were both practiced at this, after all. The parking lot during a PTA meeting was where you’d first ended up together.

“You look so pretty,” he comments, body settled back into the space beside you. Hazel eyes run down your frame – a look of admiration written across his face as Jean’s hand finds your side. The shivers are there again, left behind with each of his lingering touches, until you have goosebumps spread across your bare arms, and his hand is pressing underneath the fabric of your top. “I missed you.”

Your head tilts, meeting his eyes when they lift from your shivering frame. Jean’s are lidded already, and he’s explaining quietly, “I wanted to text you. See you, but - fatherhood.”

“Mhm.” Parenthood. You loved your child – adored Jean’s daughter, but you both navigated around them because this? this is only supposed to be friends with benefits. nothing serious ! even if he spent the nights when he didn’t have his daughter in your bed, or you in his.

Now wasn’t the time to think about your dynamics though. Now was about the warmth exploding underneath his touches, and the way his lips pressed against yours. The soft groan that pressed through his lips and into your mouth when lips parted for him, and your hand traveled down.

His cock was aching, still tucked away in his pants.

Your palm ran across the tenting fabric with a soft giggle when his hips lifted to meet your touch. Revenge, but he accused, “tease,” against your mouth, only for you to giggle again.

The giggle formed into a soft moan when his hand was between your parted thighs, running his own palm against your clothed pussy. Your hips lifted in attempts to follow his movements, and gain more friction than what you were getting. Jean didn’t stop you, only broke the kiss again to let his gaze drop.

“Do you need me to take care of you?” His voice was soft, breath warm across your face. You swallowed, grinding your hips against his hand again with a quick nod. Jean cooed, “yeah? I’ll take care of you, pretty girl. Let’s get these off.”

His hands were quick at unbuttoning your pants, and gentle when he worked the fabric down your thighs until it was pooling at your feet. While he ran his hand up your leg again, you kicked your shoes off so that the pants fell completely away from your body — lost somewhere on the floor of the car.

Jean twisted in his seat to face you, parting your thighs with large hands. He wet his bottom lip, gaze heavy and dropped to watch you tremble underneath his ministrations. Middle and ring finger run between the middle of your underwear, already soaked through.

“Jean–”

“I know, I know. Fifteen minutes.”

His fingers wrapped underneath the wet fabric, pulling them to the side. It was nearly impossible in the dark to see the way that your pussy glistened with slick, but he still hummed appreciatively. Ran the tips of his fingers between your folds, and smiled when you gasped softly.

“Want to be on top?”

You hated the way he always sounded composed, but he was just practiced. Jean fought back the desperation to take everything quickly despite being on a time limit. You were almost always apart during the week, so could anybody blame him for wanting to take quickly, but also savour and commit everything about you to his memories for later? His cock twitched at your moan, his thick fingers pressing between your folds and into your tight heat, working you open faster than he usually would.

His hand was twisted slightly, pumping his fingers in and out shallowly before he was pressing his fingers deep inside of your pussy. It sounded lewd in the quiet of the car, but you weren’t ashamed. Not when his thumb circled your clit a few times. “I asked you a question,” he reminded, his nose pressed against the crook of your neck - willing you to tilt your head to the side so that he could press kisses to your neck. They were warm, and his facial hair a little scratchy, but you’d learned to love the feeling.

“yeah, I’ll be on top,” you whispered, hips rolling so that your swollen clit ran across his thumb again. Jean nodded, glancing down with a little smile as he watched you.

“Good girl,” he praised, his hand moving once more. Pumping his fingers inside of your wet heat, prompting soft moans to escape your parted lips. Jean lifted his head, watching you through lidded eyes for a moment. “Look at me.” You did, drawing your eyes to him, only for his lips to press against yours.

The minutes were ticking down, though. The meeting would get out soon, and the parents would return to their cars around the lot, and you needed to be gone from Jeans.

“Please– need you.”

If it had been any other day or situation, Jean might have needed more coaxing than that, but he was eager to please. Your hand was still clumsily pressed against his erection, but you hadn’t made any movements since he had started fingering you open for his cock. Now, he was rolling his own hips up. When you got the hint, you twisted a little to clumsily unbutton his pants, and push them down a little.

You whined when his fingers left your core, and watched as he pushed his pants down a little. Lips parting when his erection sprang free from the confines of his pants. Jean pulled the fabric of his shirt up a little, letting his cock rest against his softened abs. There’d probably been a time when he’d been chiselled, but getting older had softened him a little; it was still very apparent that he worked out regularly, though.

Your fingers ran teasingly across his erection, drawing a soft groan from him before his fingers wrapped around the length of his cock. The slick that had been on his fingers smeared across the length, making his fist slide easily up and down a few times.

Lips parted, almost salivating at the sight. You wanted him in your mouth, but unlike Jean, you were paying attention to the time. A few minutes had already passed, and time was doing nothing but going faster. Sucking his cock would have to wait another day. With purpose, you pulled yourself to your knees, ridding yourself of your underwear before you swung a leg across his body until you were straddling him.

Warm hands gripped your waist, dipping underneath the fabric of your shirt so that soft skin was underneath his touch. He adored you, really. Rested his head against the back of the seats so that he could look up at you with a ghosting smile. When your hand wrapped around his cock and knocked his own away, Jean bit back a desperate sound. Tongue pinned between his teeth did nothing to conceal his growing smile.

“Fuck, baby,” he muttered, the streetlights just leaking enough into the car that he could see the furrowed expression on your face as you ran the crown of his cock between your slick folds, teasing past your aching clit, before you were lifting your hips again.

His hands slid further up your shirt, revealing more of your body to him. As you teased, he explored. Your breast were in his face when he exposed them. You knew this would happen, so you hadn’t bothered with wearing a bra. Jean hummed, leaning forward to take a perked nipple into his mouth. Tongue warm across the bud as he hummed, his other hand moving to play with the bud that wasn’t in his mouth currently. Your skin worked as a means to muffle the moan when you started sinking down the length of his cock.

Your moans were free though, and filling the car as thick cock slipped inside of you. Your thighs shook a little in attempt not to slide down too quickly, and take more than you were prepared for. But you liked the way it burned a little; his cock stretching you out, forcing broken moans out.

“Jean.” He thought his name sounded beautiful when moaned by you. His tongue licking one last time over your nipple, before he was looking up at you. Your eyes remained locked until he was moving to your other nipple. Lips closed around it, working over it while his hand fell between your bodies.

His left hand remained on your waist, keeping purchase as your nails dug into one of his shoulders. Your other came to play with your own nipple - still covered in Jean’s spit.

A whimper escaped when you were fully seated on his cock, then felt his fingers at your clit, rubbing circles against the sensitive bundle, making your walls flutter around him.

Tick tock , tick tock .

Against your own judgement, and the way that your thighs were already screaming at you to wait, you started to lift on his cock. You lifted until he was nearly slipped out of you before you were dropping back down with a moan. Jean’s moan met yours, his hips rolling up to meet you halfway.

You were quick to start building a rhythm this way despite the way that your thighs started to shake, and get a little weaker each time. Jean kept playing with your clit, his brows furrowed as he pressed kisses against your breast.

“Fuuuuck, y/n. So good for me.” A quick kiss, before he was muttering against your skin, “your pussy was made for my cock, wasn’t it? Takes me so well. So fucking wet, just begging to be bred.”

Your walls tightened at the words. He knew they would send shivers up your body, but what you hadn’t expected was the deep chuckle in his chest when he felt you tighten around him. “You look so pretty stuffed with my cum, baby. You like when you can feel me leaking out, don’t you? Think about me the entire drive home?”

You whimpered softly as you ground your hips. Jean worked his fingers against your sensitive clit, his cock sliding across your fluttering walls. Each time you dropped, his cock passed the bundle of nerves that had your body shaking a little - desperate to follow the little wisps of pleasure that you got each time. Your grip tightened on his shoulder, your other hand moving to find purchase on his shirt; grabbing the fabric, bunching it up.

Jean moaned, gaze lifting to watch as you took a little more control in moving your hips, forcing yourself to slide up and down his cock, and letting the crown of his leaking cock press against your g-spot each time. Your sounds were lewd, filling the car with soft moans of Jean’s name, and the sound of your soaked pussy, getting wetter with each explosion of pleasure.

“Good girl, ride my cock - just like that. Gonna give everything to you,” he babbled, head dropping back against the leather seat. He watched as you bounced on his cock, desperate to reach your high. His index and middle finger’s parted a little, pinching your clit between them gently, earning him another broken moan.

“Jean - g’na cum,” you warned. The heat was mixing in with the heat that had previously built inside of your body; an energy that was close to exploding, and tipping over the edge.

Tick tock.

The man gripped your hips, lifting you a little. He managed to get his footing in the backseat of the cramped car before he started rutting into your pussy, making you cry out each time he skilfully pressed deep inside of you. Your body trembled, feeling the snap so close. You were a mess of moans, mixed in with Jean’s own muttering your name and praises.

Tick tock.

You cried out, feeling the coil snap quickly as an explosion of colours painted the back of your lids. Your head fell forward, your grip a little tighter as you whined Jean’s name.

“Fuck,” he swore, unable to help himself. “You’re so good for me - so fucking good, so fucking tight. Gonna fill you up,” he promised, thrusting into your abused cunt a few more times before he was pulling you down completely with him – burying his length deep inside of you. His cock twitched with each release of cum, filling you to the brim until you were stuffed full.

Jean leaned up, eager to catch your mouth with his. When your lips connected, you moaned softly into his mouth, welcoming his tongue for a moment before you pulled back a little. His nose bumped yours, his smile warm as he looked up at you, admiring the way you tried to hide your face against the crook of his neck.

“Pretty,” he whispered, kissing your temple as you hid away for a fleeting moment. “You’re so beautiful, y/n.”

Time’s up.

You worked your clothes on quickly with Jean’s cum spilling between your thighs as you scrambled to get out of his car and pull your pants up your legs again. They felt a little like jelly, but in the best way. You held your legs closely together, standing outside of his car as the first couple of parents left the meeting.

You tried to conceal a smile, glancing over at the other’s already making their way to their cars.

Jean didn’t try to conceal anything though. His smile wide – bright, as he leaned down quickly to kiss you. “Goodnight, sweetheart. Drive safe, alright?” When you nodded a little, he motioned to your car parked a few spots over, and walked you over to it. “I’ll see you this weekend?”

“Mmmmhm. See you this weekend, Jean-boy.”

His nose scrunched at the recent nickname, but his smile didn’t waver. You’d both been looking forward to this weekend for a month. While you claimed to be friends with benefits, this weekend, neither of you were going to have your children. So, you’d both decided that it would be the perfect time to have your first official date.

thank you so much for reading!! if there are any issues, please lemme know!! I didn't have time for a beta reader pls. I made candy apples halfway through writing this, and screwed myself over with it.

don't forget to drink some water, and have some cake or something!! treat yourself, even if it's not your birthday. okay, i love you! see u l8r!!

[pregnant-piggy]

Snow

Remus Lupin x reader      part of the dad!marauders series

Words: 6.5k

A/N: this is the most fluffy thing i have ever written. I am so happy with this. Also, re-introducing Olivia in this fic, whom we have seen before in Butterflies. She’s back because i absolutely love her and y’know for the sake of the story... Anyway, I hope you like it! Comments much appreciated! Love ya

Dinner was silent without you. The table set for two instead of three made the air in the room miss some of that cosiness you always brought along. The small light from the lamp over the dining table was reflected on the silver forks and knives that lied on the table. Two glasses with water stood next to the white plates, waiting to be emptied.

You were gone for the weekend with your mother. Your father had gotten sick a few months ago and now he was finally better, you had wanted your mother to be able to take her mind off things. You had taken her to a spa, something she always enjoyed.

This morning you had left and Olivia had been in a sad mood ever since you had stepped foot out the door. Though she went to play and acted like everything was fine, Remus could see that she wasn’t really. He was surprised with how well she could keep up that happy mask; she was only four years old after all.

Olivia sat in her own chair, that her grandpa had made specially for her. She stared at the back of her dad in the kitchen, her eyes focused on his shoulders and the way they moved to the music he had put on. She played with the stuffed wolf in her hand, the animal that had been with her since she was one year old. The colours had faded lightly in the past three years as if it had lied in the sun for a while. The grey was no longer the dark grey it used to be and the softness was now gone. But Olivia had it with her at all times.

‘Five more minutes, darling,’ Remus said and he sat down at the table in front of his daughter.

Olivia continued to play with her wolf and Remus felt a familiar, warm feeling spreading in his body. You had given the stuffed animal to her on her first birthday. Though your daughter didn’t know the real reason behind the gift, Remus did and his heart softened every time he saw Olivia play with it.

The oven pinged and Remus shot up from his chair. He was hungry; he had worked later than usual forgetting that you weren’t around to remind him to make dinner. It had been Olivia who had opened the door of his library and asked him when dinner was going to be ready.

A frozen pizza, that Remus had found at the bottom of the freezer, had been put in the oven quickly.

Olivia was quiet during dinner. She stared at her plate and picked the mushrooms of her pizza with her little fingers. The little ring that used to be yours glimmered in the light. She always wore that even when she was asleep. Sometimes Remus worried that it could hurt her in her sleep, but you always reassured him that nothing could happen.

‘Don’t you like the pizza?’ Remus asked carefully, knowing the littlest thing could upset his daughter; something she had gotten from you.

‘I do,’ Olivia sighed and dropped her slice of pizza on her plate.

‘What’s wrong, baby?’

‘I miss mommy,’ Olivia said, her voice soft and the tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

Remus got up from his chair and kneeled down next to Olivia. He put both his arms around her and allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder. His big hand rubbed her warm back and he felt a few tears through his shirt.

‘Oh, Liv,’ Remus spoke softly. ‘Mommy will be home Sunday. Don’t you want to tell her how much fun you have had with daddy?’

Olivia snuffed into Remus’ shoulder and nodded. She lifted her head from his neck and looked at him. He wiped the tears off her cheeks with his thumbs and placed a kiss on her forehead, like he used to do to you when you were sad. Olivia smiled and she turned back to her plate, eating the pizza with a small grin, while she talked to the stuffed animal that sat next to her on a chair.

Remus sat back in his chair and watched his daughter. She truly was the light in his life. He could not imagine a life without her, without her bubbly presence and her cute smiles or her giggles.

The rest of the night Olivia wasn’t sad anymore. It was Friday night so that meant that she could stay up a little later than usual. While she sat in Remus’ lap, her eyes were glued to the TV. A lousy talent show played on the screen, while Remus read his book and tried to answer Olivia’s questions at the same time.

It was nice to have some alone time with his daughter. Though it happened enough that he was alone with her, it rarely was a whole weekend. Usually it was you who was alone with Olivia, whenever Remus was away at the full moon.

Remus knew Olivia’s personality through and through; he had had years of practice with you. Your daughter was the exact copy of you to Remus. She had Remus’ eyes and hair, but the rest of her was just like you. The same nose, the same lips and the same way you smacked them when you didn’t like something. You both could act crazy in the same way and Olivia’s laugh was the same as yours.

‘Daddy?’ Olivia asked and Remus looked up from his book. Olivia had turned around between his legs and was looking at him with her big eyes. ‘What are you reading?’

Remus opened his arm so Olivia could rest against his chest and started to talk about the book he was reading, glad that it wasn’t such a complicated book. Olivia listened with interest and asked more questions. You always said that Olivia was just as a nerd as Remus and though Remus always debated the term ‘nerd’, he knew that you were right. His daughter was a smart little girl and she was interested in a great deal of things.

It wasn’t until Olivia yawned that Remus realised how late it was. He quickly closed his book and placed it on the couch while he took Olivia in his arms. He walked with her through the cold hallway and up the stairs, wondering why it was suddenly so cold.

While Olivia attempted to brush her own teeth, Remus looked for her pyjamas. He found them on her pillow neatly folded and a little note from you with a heart on it on top of them. He took the clothes and placed the note back on the pillow. With the pyjamas in his arms he walked to the bathroom, where he found Olivia on the floor with her toothbrush in her mouth, while she brushed the mouth of her stuffed wolf with another toothbrush, luckily without toothpaste.

Remus chuckled and sat down next to her. He took her small face on one hand and asked her to open her mouth so he could brush her teeth with the other hand. Olivia sang the how to brush your teeth song and Remus laughed when she accidentally bit on the toothbrush.

When he was done he helped her rinse her mouth and then he helped her into her pyjamas. Olivia shivered when her warm sweater was pulled over her head and she was left in her underwear. She crossed her arms over her body and Remus didn’t fail to notice the goose bumps all over her skin. He quickly warmed the pyjamas with a quick wave of his wand and Olivia stared at the wooden stick with her big eyes. Magic wasn’t new to her at all, you and Remus had both agreed to let your daughter get used to it while also fitting in with the muggle world, but every time she saw it her eyes lit up. She seemed to have forgotten about the cold as she asked Remus to do something.

‘Do the bubbles!’ she exclaimed and she clapped her hands in excitement as Remus casted bubbles to fly around in the small bathroom.

Once Olivia lied in bed and Remus had read her a bedtime story, she closed her eyes and fell asleep promptly. It had been a long day for her; this morning she had woken up early and it was late at night now.

Remus pressed a kiss to her head and tucked her in once again, making sure she would not get cold. Not that it would help, his daughter turned so much in her sleep that it was inevitable that the sheets would lose their embrace around her.

- - - - -

The cold night even reached to Remus when he lied in bed. He had his sweater on and even woollen socks, but his toes were still cold and he couldn't suppress a shiver every time he moved under the duvet. He couldn’t fall asleep. He didn’t know that was because it was cold or because you weren’t next to him. He had gotten so used to falling asleep with your arms around him, that it was hard to do so when you weren’t around. No matter how tired he was, he just couldn’t catch any sleep.

So instead he just lied with his eyes closed in his bed, the sheets pulled up to under his chin. It had been cold this winter, but not this cold yet. With a little luck there would maybe even be some snow tomorrow. Then he would have something to do with Olivia.

The little girl loved the snow. It didn’t happen very often that there was snow, the last time had been last year and then it was only for two days. It might have been the happiest days of Olivia’s winter. The big smile that was on her face, Remus could clearly remember.

He didn’t when he had started to drift off, but he was woken roughly by a tug on his duvet. He turned his head to see what was going on and he was faced with Olivia’s teared eyes. Immediately he sat up in his bed and pulled his daughter against his chest. She sobbed lightly in his sweater. He wrapped his arms around her and hid her cold feet under the blanket after feeling they were like ice.

‘What is wrong, love?’ Remus whispered as he placed a kiss on the top of Olivia’s head.

‘I miss mommy so bad,’ she said with a trembling voice and she hugged her wolf closer to her little chest. ‘And I’m cold.’

‘Oh, sweetheart,’ Remus mumbled. He lied back down and placed Olivia next to him. He pulled the sheets up to her chin and he wrapped his arm around her. She crawled closer to his chest and lied her head next to him on his pillow.

They lied in silence for a while, the only sound the soft sobs of Olivia, that calmed down more and more. Remus wiped away the tears from her face and rubbed her back, hoping to warm her up a little. He felt the fatigue taking over him, but he had to stay awake at least until Olivia had fallen asleep.

But Olivia did not seem to have any plans to fall asleep soon. She stared with her big eyes at Remus, who had more trouble to keep his eyes open with the minute.

‘Go to sleep, Liv,’ he mumbled and stroke his big hand over her face so she would close her eyes.

But she opened them again and now started to play with the neck of Remus’ sweater. Her little fingers ran up and down over the hem and tucked on it ever so often. Remus chuckled lightly and took her hand in his. She looked up to him and he closed his eyes for a second.

‘Close your eyes, love,’ Remus tried again and now Olivia closed her eyes, but she opened one slightly and looked at Remus. A giggle escaped her mouth as Remus sighed and shook his head. ‘Come on, Olivia! If you go to sleep now we can play in the snow tomorrow.’

Remus had said the magic words. Olivia’s eyes widened and she stared at Remus.

‘Snow? Is there snow?’ she asked excitedly.

‘There will be if you go to sleep now,’ Remus said placing a kiss on Olivia’s forehead.

She closed her eyes and soon she drifted off to sleep. Her steady breaths filled the cold bedroom and Remus finally let the sleep take over him. He knew he should carry Olivia to her own bed, but he was too tired to do so. So instead he fell asleep with his daughter hugging onto his chest, listening to his heartbeat as she dreamt of the snow.

- - - - -

As the morning sun shone through the crack between the curtains, Remus woke up with two small hands hugging his waist. He carefully removed the two hands and placed them on the stuffed wolf that lied at Olivia’s feet. He lifted the duvet a little, enough so he could slip from it and tucked it around his daughter’s small figure. He walked out of the bedroom and went to the kitchen, hoping that pancakes would make Olivia forget that her mother wasn’t around.

Soft music played through the kitchen as Remus began to make the pancakes. He was stirring the bowl when he heard soft footsteps into the kitchen. He turned around and smiled at Olivia, who stood in the doorframe clinging onto her stuffed wolf as she watched Remus with her big eyes. She slowly made her way over to her chair and as she climbed into it and dropped the wolf, she sighed dramatically. Remus couldn’t keep from chuckling, but quickly turned around and stopped as she saw the glare his daughter was giving him.

‘Do you want pancakes, Liv?’ Remus asked over his shoulder when Olivia had climbed into her chair.

Remus couldn’t see her face, since he was still bowed over the kitchen counter with his back to his daughter, but when she spoke he heard that there was a small smile on her pretty face.

‘Yes, daddy.’

Olivia climbed off her chair and ran towards Remus, hugging her arms around his legs. Remus had to hold onto the counter to not fall over at the sudden weight and he laughed softly, stroking his hand over Olivia’s head. She looked up to him with her big golden eyes and her precious smile. The smile that could make Remus do anything.

‘Here,’ Remus said and he gave to plates to Olivia. ‘Bring these to the table, while I make the pancakes.’

Olivia wobbled on her feet under the weight of the heavy plates. She placed the plates, what was for her, carefully on the table and then returned to Remus for a next task. Keeping one eye on the pancakes in the pan and the other on Olivia as she was setting the table, breakfast was soon finished.

Olivia was sitting in her chair, her knife and fork in her hands and the wolf on the chair next to her, like it had been at dinner last night. She was talking enthusiastically to it as Remus placed a platter with pancakes in between them. Olivia stopped talking as the scent of food reached her nose and a big smile appeared on her sleepy face when she saw the pancakes.

‘What do you want to do today?’ Remus asked in between bites.

‘Play in the snow!’ Olivia exclaimed and she looked over her shoulder through the window.

It had indeed snowed last night, just as Remus had thought. The street was hidden under a blanket of snow and the light blue sky that stretched out over the neighbour houses, made it seem like a little fairy tale and not the street they were living in. The edges of the window were frozen, little ice crystals making their way up to the middle of the glass.

Olivia kept staring outside, the piece of pancake on her fork staying in front of her mouth. She watched the old man that lived two houses away walk through the snow with his dog. The small animal jumped in the snow, barking happily when his legs disappeared in the snow. Olivia laughed happily and only turned back when the dog and owner had disappeared. Her pancakes had turned cold, but it didn’t seem to bother her. She wolfed the rest of her breakfast in and then looked up to her dad.

‘Done,’ she said, with her mouth full of food. She went to grab her glass with orange juice, while Remus took the last pancake on the plate. Olivia chewed fast on the pancake in her mouth, her hands clasped around the glass. She swallowed her last bite and drank her juice quickly.

‘Not too fast, you’ll get stomach ache,’ Remus said, looking at how the orange juice rapidly disappeared in his daughter’s mouth.

‘No, I won’t,’ Olivia said with her mouth still in her glass, shaking her head.

Remus sighed; he would never win this battle. Olivia was just as stubborn as you, though you always said that she had that from Remus. Maybe that said enough.

Olivia placed her glass back on the table and looked at Remus. He chuckled at the juice-moustache that had formed above her upper lip and reached over the table to wipe it away with his thumb.

‘Why don’t you pick out clothes, while daddy cleans up?’ Remus said, licking the orange juice off his finger.

Olivia fled quickly from the kitchen and Remus heard her stamping on the stairs. He collected the plates and glasses and put them in the sink, doubting whether he should do the dishes now or later. Later would be fine, he decided and left the kitchen, following his daughter’s tracks on the stairs.

- - - - -

‘Daddy look what I can do!’

Remus looked up from the bench at the front door. Olivia and him had gone outside now two hours ago and while Remus was more than done with the cold, he didn’t want to cut the fun Olivia was having. Remus hadn’t seen her this exited in a while and it warmed his heart to see his daughter with such a big smile on her face. She was jumping up and down, making snow angels in the snow and with the help of Remus she had made a snowman, who currently stood watching Olivia collect snow with her small hands and throw little snowballs at the tree in the front yard.

‘Good job!’ Remus said and he waved at Olivia as she hit the tree with her snowball.

Remus’ hands slowly had lost any feeling and the same was about to happen to his feet. He was sitting in his thickest coat on the wooden bench near the front door, a book in his hand that was long forgotten as he had noticed that Olivia was quite clumsy when it came to snow. She had fallen at least twelve times now and though it wasn’t like she had hurt herself, Remus was worried that one time she would. Besides, his fingers were too cold to even turn the pages.

After another half hour Remus thought that it had been enough. With any luck the snow would still be there tomorrow and then Olivia could play outside again. But right now Remus felt like he was made of ice and he knew that Olivia was cold too; in the small minutes that she had come to Remus to tell him something he had seen that her cheeks were getting more red and her lips more purple.

She didn’t even complain when Remus suggested they went inside for lunch and hot chocolate. She followed him back inside the warm house and sighed when the door was closed.

‘What is the matter?’ Remus asked as he took off his coat and then helped Olivia with hers.

‘Who is watching Mr. Snowman now?’ she pouted as Remus unzipped her dark blue winter coat.

‘Maybe you can look at him from the window in the living room,’ Remus said as he took of her mittens. Olivia jumped and nearly hit Remus in his face with her hands. He chuckled and bowed forward so she could lean on him while he took off her boots. Her cold hand grabbed the fabric on Remus’ sweater and the other was placed on his head when she lost her balance.

‘Left foot,’ Remus said and Olivia lifted her foot. He took off the boot and sock, that was completely wet. ‘Right foot.’ The other foot followed and the same happened. The bottom of Olivia’s leggings was wet too and Remus ordered her to take them off.

‘I’ll get you warm, dry clothes,’ he said, pulling a weird face as he smelled the sock, making Olivia laugh. ‘You go into the living room and see if Mr. Snowman is still there.’

Olivia ran off to the living room in her pink underwear and sweater and Remus quickly returned with warm pants and two different socks. Olivia was stuck at the window, her eyes focused on the snowman outside and she waved at it as if to say goodbye when Remus walked into the room.

‘I don’t know what mommy does with your socks, but I can’t find two the same,’ Remus sighed and he sat down next to Olivia on the couch. ‘Elephant on right or left?’

The girl put out her right foot and Remus put the sock on. The sock with the giraffe followed on her other foot and when the pants were put on Olivia ran back to the window, this time taking her wolf with her. Remus watched his daughter talk to her stuffed animal and admired how happy she looked. He never could have imagined to have a wife that loved him unconditionally let alone a daughter that was just as dear to him. Sometimes he wondered why he deserved it all, how could someone like him have such a happy bubble around him?

‘Do you want hot chocolate?’ Remus asked and Olivia turned around and cheered as she ran to the kitchen.

Remus followed her quickly and was surprised to find Olivia looking in the right cabinet. As she pulled out the cocoa and stood on her toes to place it on the counter, she started to babble to Remus about how you always made hot chocolate on the nights Remus was away.

- - - - -

The afternoon was filled with merry. Olivia played on her own for a while, until she wanted to know what Remus was reading. He took her in his lap and together they read a for a while. Though Olivia didn’t quite understood what the book was about, her reading was definitely improving.

Though Olivia would go to Hogwarts when she was older, Remus and you had wanted her to learn the basics, just like you two had done. You as a muggleborn and Remus as half-blood had both enjoyed the education of primary school. You wanted the same for your daughter. She was keen to learn and home school was discussed, but both you and Remus had a job and the option of going to a muggle school seemed the easier option. Plus, in that way Olivia could make friends better than when she was at home all day.

She was only four and would turn five in May, so she would not go to school until after the upcoming summer, but Remus had taken the job to teach her how to read. Luckily Olivia was a smart student and the reading went easily on her. It wasn’t much that she knew, she was yet so young, but Remus thought that every little bit would help her. And so, once a day, mostly before bed, he would read with her. It didn’t have to be long, just a page of her favourite book was enough.

After the reading, Olivia watched a film while Remus concentrated on the newspapers of this day, for which he hadn’t got the time to read yet. He was deep in an article about Gringotts new policy, when the phone ringed. Olivia was so concentrated on the talking bees from the movie that she didn’t hear it.

‘Remus here,’ Remus said and he walked to the kitchen, not wanting to disturb his daughter.

‘Hey Rem!’ your voice sounded back and Remus smiled.

‘Hey love. How is it going? Are you having fun?’

‘So much. Mom and I went to get massages this morning and we did face masks this afternoon. Oh, it is so nice here, Rem. We even have access to mimosas throughout the whole day!’ you giggled.

In the background Remus could hear your mother giggle along with you and he sniffed happily in the phone. ‘How many did you have?’

‘Just a couple,’ you said back, Remus hearing by your voice that it was definitely more than a couple. ‘How is it going at home? I heard it snowed.’

‘It did,’ Remus answered. ‘I spent the entire morning outside with Olivia and now she is watching a film. She did miss you last night, however.’

‘I miss her too. And you. I couldn’t sleep last night, though the mimosas did help a bit.’

‘I couldn’t sleep either. But we’ll see you tomorrow! Don’t worry about us, we are having fun, love,’ Remus said and he looked up when Olivia entered the kitchen. She stood hesitantly at in the doorway, her small hand resting on the door frame.

‘Who is that?’ she asked curious and tilted her head a little.

‘It’s mommy,’ Remus answered. ‘Do you want to talk to her?’

‘Mommy!’ Olivia yelled and she ran over to the phone. Remus put Olivia on the chair with the phone in her hand and then turned to the kitchen to make dinner. He listened to Olivia talk about the snowman she had made and the snowballs she had thrown at the tree.

After a while, Olivia gave the phone back to Remus after giving kisses to it. She ran back to the living room, probably to continue her film. Remus took back the phone and pressed it between his ear and his shoulder.

‘She seems to be having fun,’ you said and Remus could hear your smile through the phone.

‘I know that it isn’t how our weekends usually go, but she missed you and I couldn’t stand to see her sad.’

‘Don’t worry, dear, it’s fine.’

‘Listen, I have to finish dinner and you have to get back to your mom,’ Remus said and he put down the knife so he could take the phone in his hand. ‘I will see you tomorrow, don’t rush.’

‘Okay, I love you,’ you said.

‘I love you too.’

- - - - -

Olivia stood on a stool at the sink in the bathroom, watching herself in the mirror as she brushed her teeth. Remus stood behind her, brushing her wet hair. He had taken her in bath, hoping it would tire her a bit so she would fall asleep fast. And when he looked at her and saw her tired eyes, he realised that it had helped.

He put the brush aside and helped her brushing her teeth. She opened her mouth, but it closed more and more the longer it took and Remus had to ask her to open her mouth every time. She giggled when Remus reached the back of her mouth and the toothbrush tickled the back of her tongue. Her eyes squeezed shut and stayed there more a moment before she opened them again. Remus took the brush from her mouth and declared that it was enough for now.

In her room, Remus helped her into her warmest pyjamas, hoping that this time she wouldn’t wake up from the cold. In her pink with crocodiles pyjamas, Olivia pressed a wet kiss to Remus’ cheek and then lied down in her bed. He tucked her in tightly and her eyes closed as soon as the blankets were put over her. Remus brushed the hair out of her face and kissed her softly on her forehead. Olivia’s eyes fluttered open and she smiled at her father.

‘I love you, daddy,’ she mumbled.

‘I love you too, sweetheart,’ Remus whispered back.

Olivia put out her arms to take Remus in a hug and he leaned forward, his knees on the floor. Olivia’s small arms were wrapped around his neck and he felt her hot breath on his neck. He pulled back and placed a quick kiss on her nose. She giggled at the feeling and wiped her nose with her sleeve. Remus brushed his hand through her hair one more time and smiled at his daughter.

‘Goodnight, Olivia.’

Olivia closed her eyes and Remus left her room, keeping the door ajar so he could hear when she called for him. He went downstairs and looked at the mess in the living room. The worst part was that it was mostly his mess. Olivia had put her toys away in her toy box in the corner of the room. It was Remus’ mess that made the room look terrible. Two coffee mugs on the table, next to a few parchments and a book. On the couch lied the newspapers that he still hadn’t finished and pair of socks. The TV was still on and a dim light flickered into the room. On the desk in the corner of the room, was an even bigger mess. But Remus’ workspace was always a mess and no matter how often you asked him to clean it, he never did, knowing that it would be the same mess the minute he would start working.

So instead of being bothered by his desk, Remus cleared out the coffee table, turned off the TV and took his newspaper. He reread the article about Gringotts, since he had already forgotten what it was about, and realised that the rest of the paper was rather a lack of information.

Remus sat down at his desk, hoping to maybe get some work done. But his paper stayed empty, his mind was too tired to come up with a review now. The book he had to review lied in front of him and Remus studied the cover.

After fifteen minutes he gave up and placed himself with a cup of tea on the couch, zapping through the channels. He found a film and soon was involved in a plot of a murder, flight and criminals. The sounds of fighting sounded through the living room as Remus’ eyes were glued to the TV. Though Remus wasn’t a particular big fan of thriller movies, sometimes he could enjoy them. It was a hour or two of not thinking and just watching.

It was past midnight when the film finished with the ‘good guy’ killing the ‘bad guy’. Since the ‘bad guy’ only had killed one man, Remus wondered how good the ‘good guy’ was. He turned off the TV, turned down the lights and went upstairs.

He checked Olivia’s room and found his daughter fast asleep, her stuffed wolf in her hand and her hair around her like a halo. This was one of Remus’ favourite views. There was something so peaceful and innocent about his daughter in her sleep. It reminded him of you, the way she grabbed onto the sheets and the pucker on her lips.

Soon Remus lied in his own bed, looking through the crack between the curtains at the dark sky. It was clouded; the dark grey clouds hid the dark blue sky filled with stars. This was Remus favourite time of the month. The full moon had been two weeks ago, meaning he had yet two weeks before the next one would come. It also meant that at this moment there was no moon at all in the sky and something about that thought comforted Remus.

With his mind running off to the dark blue heavens, Remus fell asleep quickly, not bothered by the cold or your absence this night.

- - - - -

Sunday morning was spent in Remus’ bed. Olivia had crawled into your spot and she talked with her dad about what she had dreamt. Then she proceeded to wonder about Mr. Snowman and how he had slept. Remus chuckled as the listened to his daughter’s imaginary stories and closed his eyes for a moment.

‘Daddy, you’re not listening!’ Olivia cried out and she dropped her body on Remus’ chest to get him to open his eyes.

‘I am, Olivia, I am!’ he sputtered and he pushed Olivia off him.

‘Why were your eyes closed?’

‘I can listen and close my eyes at the same time,’ Remus defended himself.

Olivia sat cross-legged on the bed and shook her head with a serious look on her face. ‘Mommy says that when you close your eyes you’re not listening.’

Remus raised his eyebrow at his daughter and then burst out into laughter. He took Olivia in his arms and peppered her face with kisses. She started to giggle and tried to free herself from his grip. She squirmed in his arms and after a while Remus lessened his grip and she crawled away from him. Panting and laughing she sat at your pillow, staring at Remus with sparkly eyes.

‘Did it snow?’ she asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Remus answered; he hadn’t left his bed yet.

‘Can’t you look?’

‘I can look, but so can you.’

‘But I’m too small!’ Olivia exclaimed and a smirk crossed on her face.

Remus shook his head chuckling and he pulled the sheets of his body. Immediately the cold found its way to his warm body and he shivered. Quickly he put on his sweatpants and a different sweater. He helped Olivia off the bed and lifter her on his hip. She pulled the curtains aside and looked outside.

‘Snow!’ she exclaimed happily when she saw the white backyard. She pressed her nose to the glass and looked at the snow.

Remus put her down again and she ran to her room, taking the same clothes as yesterday and throwing them on Remus’ bed. She pulled her pyjamas over her head and struggled to put the sweater on herself. Remus sat down on his knees in front of her and guided her head through the hole. An enthusiastic head popped out from the neck of the sweater and Remus laughed before pressing a kiss to Olivia’s forehead.

‘Can I play outside? Please?’ she asked.

‘You can, but first we need to eat breakfast, darling,’ Remus said as he helped Olivia into her leggings.

She didn’t waste a minute and as soon as her sock were on, she rushed downstairs to the kitchen. Remus followed her and found her in the kitchen with the box of cereal in her hands. He took it from her and placed it on the table.

‘Go sit down.’

Olivia followed his order and sat down in her chair, for once haven forgotten her stuffed animal. She waited patiently for Remus to put down two bowls and give her a spoon. He put the cereal in her bowl and the milk followed after. She dove into her breakfast and spilled some milk on the table in doing so. Remus cleaned it with a flick of his wand and Olivia looked amazed at the now clean spot.

After breakfast Olivia ran outside and Remus had to call her back to put on her coat and mittens. As he zipped up the coat while Olivia was jumping up and down in her excitement to go outside, he said: ‘I am going to do the dishes, will you be careful?’

Olivia nodded and captured her dad’s mouth with a quick kiss before she hurried outside. Remus stood in the door and watched for a moment as Olivia started to dance around the snowman. After making sure nothing could happen to her, Remus turned back inside and put on the kettle as he charmed the dishes to do themselves. He glanced at today’s newspaper and then decided to take it outside.

With his tea in one hand and the newspaper under his arm, Remus sat down on the bench again, making a promise with himself not to stay out so long as yesterday. But his promise was soon forgotten as he watched Olivia play. He charmed his tea to stay warm so his fingers wouldn’t freeze this time.

Time passed quickly. Olivia was making snow angels in the snow and decorating them with things she found in the garden and Remus was reading the newspaper, that just like yesterday, had not much in it. His attention was pulled away from an article about illegal transport across the Atlantic Ocean by a creak of the fence. He looked up and was surprised to see you.

‘Mommy!’ Olivia cheered when she noticed her mother. She got up from her spot, where she had been on her knees drawing faces in her snow angel, and jumped in your arms. You dropped your bag and caught Olivia.

‘Liv, be careful with your mom,’ Remus said as he came closer.

You shifted Olivia over to the side and kissed Remus. He took your bag and brought you inside. Olivia was talking happily about what she had done this weekend and didn’t stop when you put her down and took off your coat.

‘Come on, darling, give mommy some time,’ Remus chuckled as he took of Olivia’s coat. ‘Why don’t you go to the kitchen and grab the things we need for the hot chocolate?’

Olivia smiled and ran to the kitchen, nearly slipping on her wet socks. Remus hung up her coat and then turned to you. He wrapped arms around you and you buried your face in his sweater.

‘I didn’t expect you so early,’ Remus said as you pulled away and took off your shoes.

‘It was this train or one later at night and actually we were both a bit done at the spa. So we decided to take the early train. I dropped mom off at home,’ you said as you walked with Remus to the kitchen.

There you found Olivia proudly standing in front of the counter. She had the cocoa in her hands and was waiting for Remus to help her. He lifted her and placed her on the counter. Together they made the hot cocoa while you sat at the dining table and talked about your trip.

When the hot chocolate was done and all three of you were sitting at the table, Olivia continued to talk about her weekend. Remus smiled at her and nodded along. He looked at you and you glanced back with a smile on your face. It was good to be home.

- - - - - 

taglists:

dad!marauders: @wassup-peoples​ @iamak20​

Remus: @racerparker @susceptible-but-siriusexual

marauders: @secretsthathauntus @ronniethelost @sognatrice-as-a-hobby @hxrgreeves @wecouldbreakthedistance @valentina-007

general HP: @kitkatkl @girllety @yuptha-tsme @sleep-i-ness @iamak20 @thefuturelawyer @weasleydream @missmulti @deafgirltingz @moonstarrnghtsky @bloodblossom73 @mytreec @lilulo-12fanfiction @emmaloo21 @kashishwrites @ananad1

let me know if you want to be added/removed!

MASTERLIST

[hubz88]

So Aaron asking Ben to move in and this plot about his dad seemed to be more about the parallels with Liv’s drinking problem then any real character development for Ben or their relationship.  Surprise, surprise. 

I had a few people jumping on a twitter response of mine last week, don't really do twitter much and wasn’t hoping to invite a conversation from Ben fans, Ben/Aaron fans, but anyway I was completely baffled, fascinated and mad and had to get my thoughts down.

Firstly my comment was about how weird I find it that on top of having this abusive father his whole life, Ben was so happy to forgive and forget the bullying that Aaron put him through, that made him want to die, within a day and a vague apology wanted to date him and it was brushed under the carpet.  I got two different responses from the fans that I want to look into because it has been on my mind all weekend.

1) About 2 or 3 people commented that I have clearly missed some episodes

This is hilarious to me, not only have I never missed an episode, but I have over analysed all Ben and Aaron scenes a thousand times over, without ever watching back I remember a great detail of what was said, weird dialog, acting/directing choices and facial expressions.

But mainly on this I am just hugely confused by what scenes they actually think I missed? There have been very little actually story about this bullying backstory full stop, no real content and no real resolution or explanation as to how come Ben got over it so quickly.  Given that I was referring to the first week or so on screen, it literally went like this.  Ben having no words in the Hop whilst Liv was acting like Aaron goes their all the time to see Ben at the Hop.  Ben orders a jacket potato and chilli whilst Chas awkwardly tries to suggest that Aaron gets back on the dating horse, hint hint hint to this random man who we know nothing about at this point and if he is even gay/into men.  Ben with Al and Kayak’s getting introduced to Aaron.  Aaron going back on his own to ask about Kayak lesson when Ben flips with the you don’t remember me, now I can hit back and you made me want to die etc. Ben’s car breaks down, Aaron says he can help, gets his number to text about parts or something.  They go for a drink as you do with your school bully.  Aaron explains vaguely about having a tough up-bringing and struggling with sexuality.  Ben has no reason to really trust him at this point or take his word for it but decides to awkwardly start trying to flirt and talks about the bullying he suffered as “reminiscing”, (weirdest line to use in context, I certainly don't reminisce about the kid that used to call me names at school let alone actually kick my head in on the daily). Then Aaron goes to the Hop and asks about a lesson, clear indication of a date.  This was all over a few days episodes, but one actual date time-wise.  That is is, whole story wrapped up.  No Ben talking to other people in the village that tell him to give Aaron a chance, no forced to work together, share friendship group, locked in a room together or whatever contrived plots soaps like to use to get people talking.  No longer story of getting to know each other, Aaron proving he had changed.  Just one conversation and it was all fine. Like what was the point?

Then from that point on we got a couple of episodes were Ben turned up out of nowhere, no build up, no aftermath, again no discussions with other people in the village, friends, co-workers, so we never saw his motivations or reasons for wanting to be with Aaron he just showed up apologizing for their disaster pint or Aaron apologised.  So much so that Ben was only in 11 episodes from September to January and many of those were like one or a couple of scenes, which is so poor when you compare to the other new characters introduction, interactions and multiple mini stories that played out.

The 4.5 months Ben was off screen was also used as a reason some how to explain how the lack of actual relationship discussion makes sense, like they talked again when he came back, (about his sister being an alcoholic), as if that suddenly makes it ok that they haven’t address the bullying or that argument again before Ben became a literal cardboard cut out glued to Aaron’s side. 

2) There was one person who replied saying it wasn’t a date at that point with the first lot of pints, which those terrible pint plots arguably were meant to be a date, but in any case they were still planning to meet up just the two of them, Ben kicked off after Ben didn’t turn up after divorce papers and Kayak lesson etc. So it still doesn’t make sense to want to get so pally with your ex bully. Through-out this point Aaron was pretty hot and cold and damn right rude at times.  Yet Ben kept following him around and showing up wanting to talk and try again and they suggest a pint several times.  One person did not like my response about him following Aaron around as if it was Aaron following Ben around because Aaron was the one that suggested the Kayak lesson to begin with.  But this person clearly hadn’t seen the scenes where Ben kept showing up out of nowhere wanting to get in Aaron’s orbit, Aaron largely seemed uninterested and said about them being friends beginning of December, (I think), which was never shown on screen and apparently didn’t happen according to January scenes at Aaron’s birthday when Ben said the friendship thing hadn’t worked out. 

3) There were the comments of the conversations on his return in May and the scene in the Hop discussing the bullying over some table football, you know do completely casual.  Again ignoring this does not change the facts of how this story started and how poorly it was executed regarding the bullying. Also in my opinion that chat was way little too late, they were official at this point and had only really been seen discussing Liv, her drinking problem, Liv being missing, Ben’s alcoholic dad and oh the mystery guy Ben put in a taxi.  Therefore no actual relationship or feelings chat anyway at this point, other than I’m miserable and we apparently have a laugh despite the fact we haven’t seen that onscreen. So why would I expect any in depth relationship story.  Even the Aaron Ben fan said they “try” with the Hop chat.  And like fair play, if you are happy with such shit a story and effort, then go live your best life hun.  But wow really, what are you liking here?

In actual fact Aaron still seemed quite offish on many occasions with Ben and snappy upon Ben’s initial return once again and yeah he was worried about his sister but why would Ben want to be around this permeantly, with someone he barely knows still, and would have possibly been triggering for him but yet he is promising to support him no matter what, you aren’t on your own Aaron, you have me, we and us etc. .

On the point of proving Aaron had changed the show has made a point this last year of many characters talking about how aggressive Aaron is, Liv about how he pushed her instead of Luke that whole time and calling him a control freak and lots of nasty names.  Mandy calling him a bully when Paul first died before she found out the truth.  Luke calling him a violent thug or something whilst Ben was there and talking about bad boys and stuff moments later, Ethan and Charles talking about him being scary and the same from Vinny at as well.  On top of the Pollard nonsense plot with the brooch and Ben was well aware that he was up for a bulgary/assault charge of which Ben had no real reason to believe he was innocent again he didn’t really know. He had only just re-connected with him after months off screen following the toxic argument, which also never got resolved, no sorry I didn’t realise Liv had a drink problem, I get your concern now, sorry for what I said, sorry for how I treated you, which as much as I don’t like Ben I feel he sort of would have deserved after how Aaron spoke to him.

Finally, and I realise no one is going to read this haha.  In one of my responses to these people before I gave up and said we are never going to agree, let’s leave it. I said content wise the story has been poor, there has been such little effort with the writing and Ben isn’t really a character right now, still only serving for other Aaron related plot and after 10 months on the show has only one small chat about gay marriage with Charles and the weird gay app conversation with Vic, Ethan and Luke outside of Aaron which is just not a proper character on a soap that it is 6 times a week.  Funnily enough, I got no response on that, no comeback or pathetic or disillusioned excuse. So do they all know how bad the story is and choosing to fight on the missing episodes I haven’t seen, whether those pints were dates or the fact they spoke after Ben’s disappearing act, which does nothing but really prove what a nothing of a character he actually is more than anything as there is no way I really believe it was all just down to COVID when other plots didn’t suffer the same way.

I will shut up now!

[electrictoes]

Time Flies Over Us

For @dailysvu’s Sonny Carisi Week

Day 2: Off Duty 

Characters: Sonny Carisi, Amanda Rollins, Fin Tutuola, Olivia Benson, Dominick Carisi Sr, Gina Carisi, Bella Carisi, Mama Carisi, Jesse Rollins, Billie Rollins

Relationship: Amanda Rollins / Sonny Carisi 

Warnings: Gun violence

Five time Sonny Carisi's off duty time gets interrupted + one time it doesn't.

Read on AO3

1.

Sonny held his newest niece above his head, grinning as she laughed gleefully - he wasn’t quite hiding in the kitchen with his father, but he was definitely avoiding the living room where his mother and sisters were fretting over last minute wedding preparations. Sonny could have been relaxing in his own apartment, getting an early night ahead of tomorrow morning’s chaos, but his father had needed the moral support so he’d packed an overnight bag, collected his wedding suit on the drive over, and had plucked baby Grace from her mother’s arms as soon as he walked through the door.

He’d put up with thirty minutes of his sisters squabbling over how exactly Bella’s hair should be styled in the morning, before his dad had rescued him with a quick, “Hey son, give me a hand with something?”

The something turned out to be emptying the bottles of beer he had tucked away at the back of the fridge behind boxes, trays and tupperware dishes filled with food for tomorrow’s festivities - according to his dad, his mom had been cooking non-stop for almost the whole week. They’d been left to their own devices, sipping beer and passing the time with quiet conversation.

“It’ll all be over soon enough,” his dad was saying.

“Real positive, Pops,”

“You know what I mean,” his father gestured to the door,  “The fuss, the speeches. Your mother’s worryin’.”

“Ma’s never gonna stop worryin’ about Bella, Dad,” Sonny told him.

“It’s you she worries about the most, son,” he said, watching Sonny carefully as he rested Grace against his chest, her head dropping onto his shoulder sleepily, “You gotta get yourself a good woman.”

“Don’t start that again-”

They were interrupted by Gina, a frown on her face as she held out his cell phone like she was delivering a bomb, “It keeps ringin’, Sonny,” she said, exchanging his phone for Grace.

Sonny glanced down at the screen - five missed calls, two from Benson, two from Dodds, one from Rollins. He gave his father a sheepish look as he returned Rollins’ call - better than getting it in the ear from his boss about not picking up, “Hey,” he said when she answered, and she sighed down the phone.

“I know you’re with your family,” she started.

“What is it?”

“It’s bad, Carisi. Four kids,” Rollins said, the stress of the case already evident in her voice, “I told Liv you’re busy this weekend, but she wanted me to try you anyway.”

“Where do I need to be?” he asked, already grabbing his jacket and keys.

“Meet me at Bellevue?”

“Okay, okay. Tell the Lieutenant I’ll be there as soon as I can. But Rollins-”

“I already told her you’re out tomorrow,” she said, and he nodded gratefully into the phone, though she couldn’t see him.

His dad frowned at him when he hung up the phone, “Duty calls?”

“Yeah, I- I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“What? Sonny, you can’t leave!” Bella said, her arms curled around herself in the doorway.

“I’ll be back in plenty of time for the wedding,” he promised, pressing a kiss to the side of her head as he passed her, shuffling down the hallway to make it out of the house and on the road before his mother caught him sneaking off.

2.

It was Sunday afternoon, the first Sunday afternoon he’d had free in a long time, and Sonny just had a few errands to run before he could get back to his apartment, enjoy some down time for a change.

His last stop at a bodega just down the block from his apartment building was meant to be a brief one - just grab a couple of things he’d forgotten at the grocery store then head straight home. He was at the back of the store when he heard the shout - the demand for money, a scream from a woman near the cash register. He shuffled backwards, already reaching for his badge as he craned his neck down an aisle to get a better view.

Standing in front of the counter was a kid - no older than than fifteen. He had a gun pointed towards the cashier; it was shaking in his hand. He didn’t have a mask or even a ball cap covering his face - he was in plain sight of witnesses and CCTV cameras alike. This was no seasoned criminal.

But he still had a gun in his hand, and inexperienced kids with guns could pull the trigger like a startled animal at any moment. Sonny quietly edged down the aisle, making eye contact with the cashier as he lifted his badge.

The boy jabbed his arm forward, bringing the gun slightly closer to the cashier, “Hurry up. And don’t press no panic button.”

Sonny continued to move quietly forward as the cashier emptied the register, he'd almost reached the end of the aisle before the boy turned around, his eyes widening at Sonny’s proximity, at the badge in his hand. He turned fully, so that the gun was now trained on Sonny. Behind him Sonny saw the cashier reaching under the counter, and he sent up a silent prayer of hope that there was a panic button there, that back up was coming. He held his hands up as non-threateningly as possible as he stepped closer to the boy.

“I’m Detective Carisi,” he said, “NYPD. You wanna put the gun down?”

“I’ll shoot you,” the boy said, his finger moving to rest on the trigger.

Sonny was now inches away from him, an arm extended out, a hand reaching for the weapon.

The boy pressed his finger to the trigger.

It was a miracle that he missed, given how close Sonny was, even with his hand shaking there were plenty of places he could have hit Sonny, but the bullet soared over his shoulder, not even grazing him before it embedded itself in a shelving unit. The recoil startled the kid - he’d clearly never fired a gun before, and he looked around himself in panic. Sonny closed the gap between them, curling his fingers around the top of the gun and wrenching it from the boy’s hands.

The kid was shaking even more now, terror in his eyes as Sonny read him his rights.

A patrol unit arrived barely a minute later, taking control of the scene, but the peace of his Sunday afternoon had already been shattered; adrenaline coursing through him even as he gave his statement and his badge number to the patrol unit.

3.

Sonny had insisted he didn’t want a fuss - was happy to go for a drink with the squad, dinner at his mother’s house. Just another birthday, just another reminder he was getting older, his joints a little achier, his hair a little greyer. But he should’ve known giving Amanda Bella’s number would one day come back to haunt him, because his drinks with the squad had turned into a party that mixed his two worlds, and threw half of his former law school classmates into the pot as well.

He would admit he was enjoying it, though - having almost everyone that mattered the most to him in one room; drinking, laughing, enjoying each other’s company whilst making jokes at his expense.

Although someone seemed to be buying him a drink every thirty seconds, he’d barely managed to actually drink anything, which meant he was still relatively sober when the call came in. He was leaning up against the bar, Amanda at his side just a little closer than she needed to be - Gina standing opposite them with her latest boyfriend talking their ears of about investment banking, when Liv came over to them, a solemn look on her face.

“Sorry to cut this short,” she said, “But we’ve got a case.”

Sonny pushed off from the bar with a sigh, turning to pass Amanda her coat where it was lying beside his.

“Happy Birthday to you,” Amanda said with a wry smile as they shrugged on their coats.

“Told you I didn’t want a fuss,” he countered. He made his way around the bar as quickly as he could, biding goodbye to his friends and family, ignoring the choruses that he couldn’t leave his own party early.

Amanda held back as Fin and Liv left the bar, waiting for him and walking in step with him the few blocks back to the precinct. They were almost there when she stopped him with a hand on his arm, “Hey Carisi.”

“Yeah?”

“Happy Birthday,” she smiled at him and he returned it gratefully. She nodded once before stepping ahead of him, holding the precinct door open for him when they got there; fully disengaged from party mode and ready to throw themselves into whatever darkness Manhattan was bringing their way tonight.

4.

It was their first official date - after Fin’s not-wedding and the kiss he had played on repeat in his head for the last two weeks they had spent as much time together as they possibly could - he now knew the feel of Amanda’s lips on his like kissing her was his sole purpose in life, he knew the touch of her hands, the way her eyes crinkled when she smiled sleepily over at him in the mornings, and it was all beyond what he had let himself imagine - but that didn’t stop him from wanting to make a fuss of her - to take her out for dinner and spoil her a bit - to spend an evening just the two of them, in a way their demanding jobs and her two rambunctious children didn’t often allow for. Sienna hadn’t blinked when they’d asked if she’d stay late on Thursday night - something in her face told him she was happy for them, even if she didn’t say it aloud.

He’d chosen Thursday because trying to schedule anything important at the weekend seemed too much like tempting fate, and so there they were, a quiet evening in a small, family run restaurant that he loved - their fingers intertwined on the table, him trying not to say anything too stupid, given how mesmerised he was by her tonight.

And then her cell phone rang; she released his hand to pull it out of her bag - concerned it might be about the girls, but Sonny’s heart sank as his own phone began to ring barely a second later - Olivia Benson coming up on his caller ID. So much for a night off.

“Hi Liv,” he said, “Everythin’ okay?”

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Liv said, and he wanted to tell her that yes, she was, but that wasn’t how these things worked, so he made a non-committal noise and listened as she told him they needed him at the precinct - that it wasn’t a case that couldn't wait until morning. He could tell from the look on Amanda’s face that she was getting a similar phone call.

They arrived at the precinct ten minutes apart - or rather, Sonny lurked outside for ten minutes after Amanda walked inside - they’d yet to disclose and their first proper date being interrupted was more than enough frustration for one night. When he walked into the bullpen everyone was gathered together, Liv updating them all on the urgent case they’d been called in for - a missing fourteen year old, a suspect in holding who needed a deal to loosen his tongue, and the mayor’s office breathing down their necks because the missing girl was the deputy mayor’s niece.

Amanda had kicked off the heels she’d been wearing earlier - tucked them under her desk and slipped on the old sneakers she kept in her locker - she hadn’t had time to change of out her red dress, though, and from the looks Kat was throwing her way, it hadn’t gone unnoticed.

He got a similar look himself when he approached them, a raised eyebrow as Kat’s gaze moved over the suit he was wearing late on a Thursday evening. Not the same suit he’d been wearing at work earlier that day, “You on a date too, Carisi?” she asked.

“Huh?” Sonny feigned ignorance, his own gaze trailing to Amanda, trying to pretend he hadn’t noticed how beautiful she looked, how much effort she’d gone to - for him.

Liv was impatient; under pressure and not willing to entertain any charades, “Kat,” she said firmly, “Focus.”

Hours later, when the girl and been found and Kat and Fin were escorting the perp to holding, Sonny leaned against Amanda’s desk, ready to head home for a few hours sleep before they had to come back here.

“You can head off, Amanda,” Liv said, walking towards them, her own bag under her arm. “Sorry to have crashed your date.”

“It’s fine,” Amanda said, not meeting Liv’s eye, “I’ll get a rain check.”

Liv looked from Amanda to Sonny and back again, “Well, maybe the two of you can salvage some of the night,” she said, turning away from them, smiling to herself.

5.

Sonny could feel the insistent buzz of his phone in the pocket of his suit jacket, but he was resolutely ignoring it; cursing himself for not having put it on airplane mode before the show started, but knowing he couldn’t pull it out now. Someone wanted to get hold of him really badly - but whoever it was would just have to wait.

He’d taken a last minute half-day to be able to sneak into the auditorium just as the show was about to start, finding Amanda on the aisle and lifting Billie into his lap so that he could claim her seat. Amanda turned to him, a surprised smile on her face, “You got away?”

“Didn’t want to miss it,” he whispered back.

When Jesse had brought home the invitation two weeks ago, Sonny had looked at his trial schedule and found his heart sinking - the Brewer trial - a CEO forcing his unwanted attentions on the high school seniors who took work experience placements at his company - was scheduled for the whole week. He couldn’t pass it off, it was too big a case, and no one was going to let him reschedule a whole trial around his goddaughter / sort-of-stepdaughter’s school talent show.

He’d made a note of the date and time just in case, and he could hardly believe his luck this morning when Buchanan had requested a recess just after 2pm - an absent witness who had yet to be located delaying the case. The judge had glanced at his watch and with a sigh ordered that court would reconvene 9am the next day. It gave Sonny just enough time to call Hadid, explain the delay, and ask if he could take the rest of the day off - all in one breath as he darted from the courthouse, mentally calculating the time it would take to drive up to Jesse’s school. Hadid had reluctantly agreed, just instructed him to keep his phone on, which he had technically done.

He slipped an arm along the back of Amanda’s chair, the other holding Billie steady on his knee as they eagerly waited for Jesse to take the stage. He’d watched her dance with an intense pride - caught the smile on her face when she noticed him and Amanda in the audience, the way she faltered her steps just for a second before rejoining her friends.

His phone continued to buzz; it had been going almost non-stop for at least 10 minutes now, and he was sure the other parents nearby had noticed, based on the looks he was getting. Once Jesse had taken her bow he slid Billie onto Amanda’s lap, “I’m gonna have to take this,” he whispered, and she nodded in understanding - it was a near miracle they’d both managed to be here at all.

There were 27 missed calls on his phone when he slipped out of the auditorium - every single one of them from his boss. “Ms Hadid,” he said when she answered his returned call, awaiting the bite in her tone.

“I told you to keep your phone on, Carisi.”

“I know, I had something I had to do-”

Hadid didn’t entertain excuses, didn’t give him an opportunity to remind her that he’d been allowed to take the half-day, just insisted he return to the DA’s office as soon as possible. New evidence that could shake the trial’s outcome. No time to waste.

He sent an apology message to Amanda before heading out to his car; he was frustrated the whole drive downtown. Some days it felt like there was always one thing after another, like he’d never catch a break whether he was on duty or not. Still, the next several hours spent reformatting trial prep after the latest bombshell were necessary if he wanted to stand a chance of winning this trial. His mind, though, was drifting continually back to Jesse, standing on that stage with a proud grin on her face.

Although both girls were long in bed by the time he got out of work, he still made a stop en route to pick up flowers to give to Jesse in the morning - and when this trial was over he’d make it up to her, take her out for an Uncle Sonny and Jesse dinner to celebrate.

& 1.

Sonny was once again hiding with his father in his parents’ kitchen the night before a wedding, only this time it was his own, and he wasn’t hiding from arguments about hair and makeup, but rather from the intensity of his sisters’ knowing looks, the baby pictures his mother had pulled out and the way she seemed constantly in the brink of tears at the idea of her baby getting married, despite the fact that her baby was comfortably into his forties now.

“I told you,” his dad was saying, sat opposite him at the same kitchen table Sonny had done his homework at for most of his childhood, each of them cradling a glass of scotch, “Your mother worries about you most of all.”

“I’m gettin’ married tomorrow,” Sonny said, “I’ve got two kids, I don’t know what it is she’s got to worry about.”

His father shrugged, taking a long sip of his scotch, “Ah, mothers and sons,” he said, “Kinda like fathers and daughters,” he added, his eyes going to Bella’s wedding portrait hanging up on the wall behind Sonny’s head. The wall was filled with pictures from every moment of the Carisi children’s lives - birthdays, graduations, weddings - although Teresa’s wedding photo had long been replaced with one of the Carisi siblings at the reception - and an empty patch his mother had already cleared for Sonny and Amanda’s wedding photo, another gap just below it ready for a photo of all the Carisi cousins she was hoping to get - Jesse and Billie included. “You’ll get it when they grow up a bit.”

They were interrupted by Gina, once again handing him his phone with a frown on her face, “You can’t run out the night before your own wedding,” she said as he took the phone.

“What harm’d it do?” he argued, though he had absolutely no intention of going back to work, “It’s not like anyone will let me, y’know, see my fiancée.”

“Dominick Carisi Jr,” his mother scolded from the doorway, “It’s bad luck, and don’t the two of you be arrangin’ a work emergency just so you can see each other. I’ll know.”

He laughed, shaking his head as he glanced down at his missed calls - all from Fin - and dialled him back, “Fin, please don’t tell me this is a work call.”

“Okay, I won’t,” Fin said.

“I’m getting married in thirteen hours,” Sonny said, “Whatever it is can wait until I get back from my honeymoon.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Fin mumbled into the phone, “I’m not about to get slaughtered by your bride-to-be. You don’t need to come in,” he added, before launching into the reason for his call - an issue with the ADA covering their cases in Carisi’s absence, a disagreement over something Fin was sure Sonny had already put in place. “I wouldn’t bother you, but I gotta get out here tonight too.”

“You better,” Sonny said, “You’re a groomsman.”

He confirmed Fin’s memory of the deal on the table, offered to call Crosby himself and put the issue to bed. “Nah, I got it,” Fin assured him. “And I’ll be at your folks’ place at 9am sharp.”

Gina reached out a hand for his phone when he hung up, but he kept his fingers wrapped around it, glancing down at the lock screen where Amanda, Jesse and Billie all had wide - ice cream covered, in the girls’ case - grins on their faces. “Nah, I’ll keep it,” he said.

Gina tugged the phone from his hands, the same way she’d taken toys from him when they were young. “No more work calls,” she said, “And Mom says you’re not allowed to call Amanda either.”

“What? I can’t even talk to her now?”

“It’ll be worth the wait, son,” his dad assured him, and he already knew that was true.

And he was right - of course - because thirteen hours later he married the love of his life, surrounded by their family, their friends, their colleagues - no interruptions, just them.

[heich0e]

hi liv! (☆▽☆) so i was having my #percolatethoughtoftheday today and i was wondering (if you're comfortable with it ofc) if you can share some of the planning process for percolate with us? were there any major plot point changes that would've greatly affected the story? was there anything you removed that you regretted, was there anything you added in last minute, which scene was the hardest to get right, which scene did you speed through, etc etc? because percolate is like 130k+ words which means it definitely has gone through some really ~intense planning~, i'm curious to know more about its behind the scenes process... kinda like how they post behind the scenes footage for a film or a music video after it's released! :-O

have a great sunday <3 (and enjoy ur party... hehe)

yuna :( this is so cute :( i hope you had a great weekend sweet girl

all of percolate's plot was planned and written out in may of 2021. it started as what was supposed to be a one-shot for a friend's birthday (who, as far as I'm aware, has never actually even read the fic LMAO) but the word count was quickly in the thousands and I knew that I had something a bit more unwieldy than expected on my hands. If I'm remembering correctly I hit 10k words in about a day of writing, and I immediately knew that in order to include all of the events that I saw in my head in the story I'd need it to be multichaptered.

I set a kind of arbitrary number of chapters (12 initially) based on the word count of what I then knew to be chapter 1, and took 12 pages of paper and wrote out (by hand!!) the plot and the major story points that I wanted to happen in each chapter. I still have all of those papers, and they're so illegible and chaotic that I'm sure if anyone else tried to read them it would be like a different language LMAO. The planning process was actually very easy, and happened so quickly (all in the span of an hour or so), and then I guess all that was really left to do was write it.

The only major deviations from my initial plot outline that I can speak to are that chapter 10 (levi's POV) was a late, last-minute addition, because I felt that it was important to show at least a bit of what he'd been experiencing so far. There was also another chapter (I think 9 or 11?) that I ended up having to split into 2 because it was going to be too long. There was also a very brief moment in time where Rookie and Erwin were going to hook up but that was scrapped within the first few days, and I'm happy with that decision because I think it would have really unnecessarily complicated the (already kind of messy) plot.

Honestly I sped through writing most of the fic--I know that there were MONTHS LONG waits between chapters, but when I did finally overcome my fic anxiety and just sit down with my chapter outlines to write them, I would say that no chapter took me more than a couple of hours to write. Chapter 14 was likely the hardest just in terms of the amount of stress I felt. By that point there were so many people waiting for the ending that I felt an enormous pressure to do justice to this story that they had been so kind about, and followed intently. I really didn't ever think that anyone would read this fic, so by the time the end rolled around I was more than a bit overwhelmed lmaooo.

If I knew at the outset what I know now about how percolate would be received I think it would have scared me off writing it. I'd never written anything like it before, much less shared it with the world, and it really did just start off as a fun thing I was doing for myself. I'm glad I wrote it, even more glad people actually read it, and am so so sso so so so grateful for the things that I learned and the people who I've gotten to meet through the experience.

Anyway, I have talked for long enough now. If anyone actually reads this unduly long post my sincerest apologies!!

[nooneelsecomesclose17]

Go to the ends of the earth for you - Part 2

Really struggled with this chapter and it was meant to include a Paddy confrontation but it wouldn't fit, so that's still to come!

(AO3 link)

It had to happen, he’d known there would be no escaping them once he was back in the village and he’d barely set a foot outside the door of the B&B on the way to see the solicitor about Seb, before going to visit Robert, when his Mum is there.

“Mum, I don’t have time right now.” He opens the car door only for her to slam it shut.

“Make time. What on earth are you playing at Aaron? You disappear with barely a word, we don’t hear from you for a year and then you’re back and you don’t tell us.”

“Why would I?”

“I’m your mother!”

“Right. Of course. I guess I missed your text at Christmas did I? Or all the calls you made, given you had my number.” She doesn’t answer, barely even looks sorry and he opens the door again. “Like I said, I don’t have time. I’ve a meeting about getting my son back.”

“What? Why?”

“What do you mean why?” He’s half in the car and the voice in his head that sounds suspiciously like Robert tells him to leave it but he can’t. “He’s mine and Robert’s son, he deserves to be with us.”

“Bothered now is he? Now he doesn’t have to share him.”

“You’re hardly someone to lecture on leaving a child Mum.”

“You can’t speak to me like that!”

“I can, and I just did. Now, I’m late.” He spots his Gran at the door to the B&B and she smiles at him, and it gives him the courage to go, to not get sucked into the same old arguments again. “Bye Mum.”

———-

“So you just left her standing there?” Robert chuckles when he’s finished telling his story. “I wish I could’ve seen it.”

“I bet you do. You’re a nightmare. No doubt I’ll get an earful next time I see her or Paddy.”

“Why don’t you find somewhere outside the village? There’s no need to stay there and put up with them.”

“I’m nearer Seb this way. Besides who’s going to keep you in gossip if I’m not there. I can handle ‘em. Anyway, how are you?”

“I’m fine. Stop worrying. Ethan’s good you know, really good. He’s been over everything again this morning.”

“I…is it wrong to say I’m afraid to hope?” That was what was at the root of everything, his fear that all of this would've been for nothing and he’d lose him anyway. Robert reaches over and places his hand over Aaron’s, holding tight when Aaron instinctively moves away.

“I don’t care, Aaron. I don’t care who knows.”

“But…” It wasn’t safe, it meant a target on your back, he knew that. He gulps, Robert was willing to do that, to out himself in here, for him.

“I hid for so long, I don’t…I know it might mean trouble, but I don’t want to have to sit across from you and not even be able to hold hands. I can’t. You’re my husband.”

“I know that. I don’t need you to hold my hand to know it. I just want you to be safe.” He was so proud of him, but at the same time, fear and memories were making him urge to pull his hand away to protect him.

“You keep telling me not to worry about you, well I’m telling you not to worry about me. You said you’re afraid to hope, and so am I, but once upon a time I was afraid to hope I could ever be with you, have a family with you.” He nods, he’s not convinced, daren’t let himself be, but he’s not going to take away whatever’s improved Robert’s mood. “Anyway, tell me about Seb.”

“He’s amazing. He introduced me to all his toys, and told me how he’d shared some with Harry because he was all grown up now and didn’t need them.”

“I can’t believe all that time, Rebecca was gone and we didn’t know. I don’t understand why no one called us. Cain knew where we were.”

“I asked him that. He reckoned he knew we’d come rushing home, and he figured you being banged up for life wouldn’t do Seb any good. I told him that wasn’t his decision to make, but you know Cain. But we’re back now, he’s not without us any more.”

“Well you at least.”

“Only for a while. Then the three of us are going to be happy ever after. I saw the solicitor this morning. She reckons it’s just a formality for him coming home to us, some box ticking and that, as long as we’ve got a decent place for him to live.”

“Which we don’t.”

“That’s tomorrow’s job, finding somewhere half decent for us until you come home and we decide where we’re going to live.”

“You know, you could always buy Liv out of the house.”

“No.”

“Aaron…”

“I mean it. For one thing I don’t want to go back there, not now, and second as angry as I am with her still, I wouldn’t turf her out. Besides, we don’t even know if we’re staying so why make trouble?” He’d thought about it, it’d be easier than finding somewhere else, but at the end of the day he really didn’t want to go back there, not now.

“You were really serious, you’d move out of the village, even if you didn’t have to?”

“I don’t care where we live Robert. It looks pretty clear Mum and I aren’t going to make amends, and anyone else can always visit. I’m seeing an estate agent tomorrow to find somewhere to rent until you get out, so we can show social services that Seb will be cared for, and when you come home then we can do whatever we want.” He frowns as the bell rang signalling their time was up. “I’m not doing anything I don’t want to do so stop thinking the way you are.”

“I hate how well you know me sometimes.” They get to their feet and he hesitates, for all Robert’s words he might not want to hug goodbye, but Robert pulls him close, holding him tight before smiling at him. “Kiss Seb for me.”

“I will. I’ll see you soon.” He’d visit every day if he could but both Vic and Diane had said they wanted to visit so he’d stood aside for a couple of days. Robert goes giving him a nod, and he waits until he’s gone through the door before he turns and leaves.

———-

He doesn’t go back to the village right away, instead he parks up in a lay-by, their lay-by. His head is filled with everything he needs to do, to get everything just so for Seb, find a new house, get Cain to take him back at the garage for as long as it took. The scrapyard sale had gone through about four months into their time in France and they’d been glad of the money, still were, but it meant he had no job to go back to and he felt he needed one to make a good impression.

Then he had to be there for Robert. It felt strange to be the one taking chance, getting stuff done. It had always been Robert, the house, the wedding, he’d always taken the lead and he’d let him. He’d liked it, after so many years of being either on his own or constantly let down by his family, it was a nice feeling to have someone there to take the burden. Now he had to step up and be that person for Robert.

First things first, the job is probably the easiest thing to sort out and he texts Cain, grimacing when the reply says to meet him in the pub. That’s the last place he wants to go, but this is for Seb so he’ll do it. Cain’s buying though he decides as he puts the car in gear, heading back towards the village.

He can’t see his Mum behind the bar when he steps into the pub and he finds Cain at the table in the corner.

“Why did we have to meet in here?”

“I was in the middle of my pint. You can’t avoid her forever.”

“I’m not, she already collared me this morning. I’m not in the mood for anything she or Paddy have to say Cain and you know why.”

“Well you can’t avoid them forever if you’re staying.”

“I don’t know if we are yet.” It’s the first time he’s said it out loud to anyone but Robert but the longer he’s here the more he knows it’s not home anymore. “When Robert gets out we’ll decide where we’re going to live.”

“You’d leave, even if you don’t have to.”

“Doesn’t feel much like we’re wanted anymore. I don’t want a lecture or any kind of interference either. I just wanted to ask if I could get a few shifts at the garage…need to show social services we can provide for Seb.”

“You know I can always find work for ya. You should try and talk to your Mum though. I’m not sayin’ stay, but she’s your Mum.”

“And how’s that working for you and Gran?” He can’t help smiling a little at the scowl he gets from his uncle over the top of his pint. “If she drops the attitude then maybe I’ll talk to her, but we both know that won’t happen. Anyway, that’s all I came in for. When do you want me to start?”

“Oh, you mean you actually want to work? I was just going to make all the right noises for the social worker.”

“Nah, it’s going to be all above board. Besides, I need something to do until Robert gets out.”

“Day after tomorrow.” Cain nods. “Don’t be late.”

———-

“So, you’re taking the house?”

“Yeah, six month lease.” He lies down on the bed as he answers, the busy day getting to him all of a sudden, Robert’s voice letting him relax for the first time in hours.

“That’s optimistic.”

“I can extend it if I need to. Might want to high tail it out of town by then.” He says it to get the expected laugh from Robert and he’s pleased when he does.

“You know, we used to live there, just before I left, Me, Dad, Andy and Vic.”

“Yeah? I can call you if I need to find the stopcock then can I?”

“Ha ha.”

“Anyway, any news on a court date yet?”

“Oh, yeah, the tenth.”

“Not long then. You ok?”

“Yeah. At least we’ll know then, right?” He can hear the wobble in his voice, wants to hold him more than anything. “It’s fine, Aaron. Talk to me about Seb. Still going with the zoo for his birthday?”

“Yeah. It’s too cold for the beach and he loves animals. Then maybe tea at Vic’s. I just…can’t wait until he’s home with me properly. I miss the little monster.”

“Me too.” He lets Robert’s voice lull him nearly to sleep before they have to hang up.

———-

“I’ve packed his bag, there’s extra juice in the pockets and a change of clothes and…” He puts a hand over Vic’s as she’s rifling through the bag.

“Vic, this isn’t my first time. We’re going to be fine, right mate?”

“Yeah!”

“We’ll be back by four for tea.” He feels bad, knows she’s missing Robert too and maybe he should have stayed home, spent the day with her too but he needs to get out of the village and spending the day with Seb sounds like heaven now. “I just need to be doing something, so I’m not worrying about tomorrow all day.”

“I know. Well, you have a good day.”

Seb’s chattering keeps him occupied on the drive, it’s a nice change to the silence of his thoughts. He’s had the court date on his mind ever since Robert told him, all manner of scenarios running through his head, mostly bad as if he’s afraid to even contemplate a good outcome.

Seb loves the zoo, and Aaron takes a ton of pictures that he can take in for Robert at the next visit. He’s worn out on the drive home and Aaron has to carry him from the car.

“Aaron, I just wanted to see how you are after today.” He turns to see Ethan looking at him, concerned.

“Fine. Me and Seb have had a great day at the zoo, haven’t we mate.”

“Oh. Well that explains why I didn’t see you in court.”

“What? That’s tomorrow.”

“No, it was this morning. I assumed Robert would tell you. I did think it was odd not seeing you.”

“He told me…never mind. So…what happened?” He has to bite down on the anger rising inside him, that Robert would lie after everything, all they’d been through. “How long?”

“Two years. He’ll likely only serve half of that and then be on licence for the rest. I can take you through it all if you like, but given everything this was a good outcome.” It didn’t feel like that, it felt an age, and reliant on Robert keeping away from trouble, and the goodwill of someone who didn’t know them. “I just got off the phone, he’s staying at Hotten, although the main prison now obviously.”

“Ok, thanks.” He can’t seem to get his thoughts in order. “Sorry, I…”

“It’s ok. Why don’t I call in tomorrow and we’ll talk. I expect Robert will have called you by then.”

“Hope he’s ready to be yelled at.” Ethan laughs. “Thank you, again. I should…get him inside. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He’s on autopilot as he grabs Seb’s bag from the boot, locking the car and knocking on Vic’s door. “Your Daddy is an idiot mate. You’ll come to learn that soon enough. Always thinks he knows best he does. But we love him anyway don’t we?”

[charmingly-evil]

The Intervention - Bensler Fanfic 

Summary

Seeing their clear feelings for each other and frustrated at their inability to act, Kathleen stages an intervention with Eli and her siblings to bring Elliot and Olivia together. It starts with a date, and ends with a family. Bensler. Can find the link here 

...

They talk to each other as if no one else is in the room.

This is the thought that passes Kathleen’s mind as she watches Elliot and Olivia from the kitchen. She and the rest of her family are over at Olivia’s apartment for dinner, something that has been occurring more regularly since Finn’s wedding.

It started when Elliot dropped by one afternoon to discuss work and (according to Eli), didn’t come home until late that night. Then he was away the next evening. Apparently, Olivia’s washing machine had broken and despite her protests, Elliot insisted on fixing it.  Between ordering and waiting for new parts to arrive and taking lengthy breaks playing with Noah and catching up with his former partner, it took Elliot two weeks to repair the washing machine.

By then, Eli began dropping by, first to check in on his father, and then to play with Noah – catch, chess and cricket - not the first person in the Stabler family to adore Olivia’s son. Soon, it became tradition for Olivia to have Elliot and Eli over every Saturday evening for dinner. Eli was guarded towards Olivia at first, the woman who seemed to have this unique ability to ease his father’s tempers and draw out his deepest thoughts and feelings. Then Noah won over his heart, and he began to warm to Olivia, appreciating the tender care she showed towards him and his dad, treating them as if they were family. His care for her grew as his father told him about how Olivia saved his life and his mother’s, the day he was born.

Tonight, Olivia had invited Kathleen over for dinner, encouraging her to bring her siblings too.

Now, Kathleen is supposed to be decorating the last few touches on a cake she made, but instead she’s watching Olivia and Elliot who are sitting on the couch together, so close that their thighs are almost touching. Olivia’s holding a glass of wine in one hand, her other hand lightly touching his arm. She’s laughing at something he said. Kathleen watches the way he stares at her, as if he’s lost in her eyes. Kathleen sees the way his cheeks lift into a rare smile when she speaks, warming his entire features.

It's like they’re the only two planets in the solar system, orbiting each other’s space.

Kathleen whirls her head around her, seeing her siblings just feet away from the couple, playing with Noah. Can no one else see this?        

Kathleen brings the cake, plates and forks over and places it on the coffee table in front of Oliva and Elliot. The clang of the tray hitting the table alerts her siblings’ attention, however

Elliot and Olivia still seemed to be wrapped up in their own conversation.

Kathleen interrupts. “Dessert’s ready. It’s a butterscotch layered cake.”

Olivia lifts her head up, her eyes widening with delight at the fluffy layers dripping with caramel sauce. “It looks delicious Kathleen, thank you for making this.”  

Kathleen smiles and begins dishing out the plates as her siblings and Noah come over, taking their place around the coffee table. “It’s soothing. It’s helped to invest in these hobbies, you know? Since mom died.” Kathleen turns to Elliot and says, “Dad, I tried to open the champagne you brought over but couldn’t find the bottle opener.”

“You shouldn’t need the bottle opener. I’ll grab it.”

Kathleen waits for Elliot to leave before taking her place next to Olivia. “Thanks for having us over Liv.”

Olivia smiles as she reaches for a plate, seeing Noah’s eager eyes already devouring the cake, almost impatient for a piece. “Of course. We should have done this sooner. I’ve just been swamped with work…” Olivia cuts and hands Noah his slice of cake with a plastic fork, gently warning him, “Don’t eat it all at once, remember what happened at Lachlan’s birthday party.”  

“So has Dad, busy at work I mean,” Kathleen continues. She glances at her father, who is holding the bottle with one hand and searching for new glasses with other. She almost rolls her eyes. It’s a crime in his house to pour new wine into tainted glasses, just another habit he picked up from Italy. “I wanted to say that things have improved. Dad’s been seeing someone, a trauma psychologist. Eli says he’s not coming home late at night anymore and is eating and sleeping. He even calls me on his breaks every now and again to check in.”

Olivia’s smiles and she gently squeeze Kathleen’s arm affectionately. “I’m glad. He told me he was seeing someone and making progress.”

“I notice he’s been a lot happier these past few weeks too, since he’s been seeing you.”

Olivia raises her eyes, taken back. Kathleen leans forward and continues. “You’re good for him Liv. Just…things he can’t share with us, he shares with you.”

“You know I’ll always be there to support your father.”

“I know. It’s not just that…” Kathleen pauses, unsure of how to say it. “I see the way he looks at you…that day after the intervention, when he told you he loves you,” Kathleen doesn’t miss the sharp intake of breath Olivia takes. “I asked him about it. He refused to talk about anything from that night. Eli thought it might have been a mistake, a comment he was directing to all of us. But I know he only meant it for you. He’ll never admit it though.”

Olivia swallows, feeling the weight of what she’s saying. She sees the urgency in her eyes. Olivia takes a steady breath. “Kathleen, Elliot and I care about each other a lot. But that night, he was under a lot of pressure…and I honestly think that pursuing any sort of relationship is the last thing on his mind.”

Kathleen shakes her head. “He meant it Liv. He’s just too scared to say anything. Look, I’m not saying you need to do anything about it,” Kathleen pauses, glancing at Elliot once more, who is pouring champagne into two glasses. “You deserve to be happy. You both do. And I know if mom could talk, she would say the same thing too.”

Olivia’s eyes bloom with surprise, sure she misheard her.

Kathleen reads her surprise look and squeezes her friend’s hand. “I just don’t want you to think that anything is standing in the way. Not from me, or anyone in this family.”

Then Kathleen goes to settle in-between her brothers, absorbing herself in their conversations, just as Elliot returns.

Elliot hands her a glass of wine as he settles on the couch, his eyes shifting between Olivia and Kathleen. “That looked like a serious conversation.”

Olivia blinks once, then twice, recomposing herself. She passes him a small smile. “Oh, it was nothing. She was just telling me about her holiday plans.” Olivia lifts her glass up to her nose and breathes in the fruity aroma. She takes a sip and closes her eyes, letting out a blissful hum when she feels the smooth liquid run down her throat. “Borolo. Another favourite from Italy?”

“Yep. And judging from your smile, one of yours too?”

Olivia pinches her lips together and shrugs, a hint of a sparkle in her eye. “It’s growing on me since you started coming over.”

Elliot breathes out a laugh. “I’m not surprised. I checked your cupboard; you’re still drinking ten-dollar wine.”

Olivia scrunches her nose and casts him an irritated look. “Hey, just because I’m not a wine snob.”

Elliot raises his hands defensively. “It’s hard to go back to drinking American wine when you lived an hour away from one of the best wineries in Rome.” Elliot pauses to take a sip, reminiscing. Then he turns to Olivia and says, “You would have loved the wine tasting their Liv.”

Olivia sees a spark in his eye as he starts to talk about Italy, lifting her heart. A distant memory drifts into her mind when Elliot last tried to talk about Italy, “You would have loved Rome Liv…” before she cut him off.

Tonight, Olivia leans in closer and says, “Tell me about it.”  

Olivia nods and smiles as he talks, in awe at the beauty of Italy that he’s painting for her. But another part of her mind is replaying the conversation she had with Kathleen and her recent moments with Elliot. I see the way he looks at you…

It’s ludicrous, stupid for her to think that anything could ever happen. She shouldn’t want anything to happen. It took her years to get over Elliot and the heart crushing pain he brought her. Anyway, what they have right now is good, perfect. He’s back in her life, more settled than before. Olivia feels like she has a family. She doesn’t want to gamble that away.

Yet Olivia can’t help but wonder what would happen if she took a chance and risked it. Once again, she replays Kathleen’s words.

I just don’t want you to think that anything is standing in the way. Not from me, or anyone in this family…

…

“Did you see the way they were looking at each other?”

Eli rolls his eyes at his sister. They’re back at his father’s apartment and Elliot insisted that it’s too late for her to drive home, and she spend the night at their guest room. She’s sitting at the end of Eli’s bed as he rummages through his closet, searching for his pyjamas.

“Not this again Kathleen. Did you spend the whole night watching them?”

Kathleen wants to chuck one of his dirty socks at her brother. “Doesn’t this frustrate anyone else? They have feelings for each other but are too scared to act. And even you admitted that Dad’s been better, happier since he’s been seeing Liv more.”

“So what?” Eli asks as he bundles his pyjamas together, turning to face his sister. “Yeah, they might like each other. And I’m glad she’s helped him through his grief. But why do you care so much?”

Kathleen casts him a harden look. “You’re going to college in a couple of years. Aren’t you worried about how Dad might cope without you?”

Eli pauses, he hasn’t considered this before.

Sensing him thinking, Kathleen quickly continues. “I’m not at home anymore, neither is Dickie. When mom was here, it might have been okay, Dad wouldn’t be alone. But when you leave, he won’t have anyone. Aren’t you worried about how he’ll cope?”

Eli’s face darkens as he recalls all the evenings his dad would spend at work, overworking himself to forget about his grief and pain, focused only on finding his mother’s killer. He remembers his exhaustion, irritability, sudden anger outbursts and the long periods he would go without sleep or food. Then he remembers the car crash.

Eli winces at the memories. “Okay, I get your point. But Dad won’t be alone, he knows he can call me, us. He doesn’t need another woman just because mom’s not around anymore.

Kathleen studies her brother for a moment and can see his deep fury. Suddenly, she realises just how hard this must be for him, to see Olivia stepping into their father’s life and possibly taking her mother’s place. He doesn’t know Olivia like they do, he just sees her as another woman.

“It’s not just about Dad finding any partner,” Kathleen says softly, grabbing his attention. She tries to gather the thoughts in her head and sighs softly. “Olivia’s not just his partner, but his best friend. We all considered her to be family. You know she was there with mom during the car crash, the day you were born? She saved her life.”

Eli’s face darkens once more. “Yeah, dad told me.”

“And there were times when mom couldn’t get through to dad, when he was working too late, too caught up in his work…It was Liv she encouraged him to speak to, and Liv who reminded him to come home.”

Eli shakes his head, his frustration growing. “Doesn’t it bother you that dad could be moving on with someone else so soon?”

Kathleen nods slowly, understanding him. “It would if it was anyone else. But this is Liv, and she makes him happy, whole. I think they could both make each other really happy, and I know mom would want that too.”

Eli gives his sister a hard look before sighing. His anger slowly diminishes as he exhales, understanding settling within him. “Didn’t dad leave Olivia though and ignore her since we left New York?”

Kathleen hears his point. “You’re right, and I don’t think they’ve spoken about that yet, properly talked about it…” She lowers her eyes, thinking. “But they like each other, they just need a gentle nudge and the reassurance from us that we wouldn’t discourage their relationship. I’m not saying we do anything extreme,” she quickly adds, seeing the panic in his eyes. “I just know if we can just get them into the same room together to talk things through….”

Eli doesn’t look convinced. “Have you spoken to Maureen about this?”

Kathleen shrugs. “I know I can get her on board. Dickie too. They just want Dad to be happy.” She pauses, looking thoughtful, then casts her brother an eye glinting smile. “So, did you want to hear my plan?”

[marmolady]

A Great Big WIP Dump

Here’s a little peek at few of the Endless Summer fics I’m working on right now....

A wild baby Reggie appeared!

Likely to be first finished is a post-Endless Ending visit to Rourke’s MASADA complex, with the Catalysts intent on building this new life on La Huerta.

Excerpt: ‘“I hate this,” Sean lamented. “I really hate this.”

Taylor looked over the rows of tanks, bodies suspended in fluid, only the glowing readings giving away that life prevailed. She shuddered. How could anyone not hate this? “It’s… seriously messed up. But it’s a rock and a hard place situation. What’s more cruel? Leave them like this, or wake them up to the knowledge that everything, everyone they’ve ever known and loved are gone?”

“Are we ever going to have a unanimous agreement on this? Really? Or are they just going to be stuck like this?”

Michelle put a hand to the glass of one of the tanks. Would she want to be woken up to this nightmare? Quite frankly, there were days that she’d envied the guests in their unknowing slumber. “This is too big to make decisions on anything less. This is people’s lives.”’

__________________________

I have no less than TWO Reggie fics on the way. One is a joint Liv fic, because they’re buddies, and they share. There will be art (see above).

Excerpts: ‘“It’s a very special day today, my darling boy; do you know what it is?”

“Da!” came the happy squeak of reply. Reggie kicked his legs around happily; there was something that had gotten his father excited, and that good feeling was catching.

“Your very first birthday,” Grace cooed. “One whole year Reggie has been with us! Aren’t we lucky?” She reached and took a tiny waving hand and kissed it. Her eyes were heavy with rings; it had been so late that she’d waited up, hoping for a last-minute reply of some kind-- anything-- from her mother. Still, there was today… but Grace was left feeling, as she so often had, that hell would freeze over before Blaire acknowledged her grandson. There was a unique kind of tiredness that came with a long cry, and Grace was feeling it all over. But this was Reggie’s day; a celebration of the little boy who had quickly become the light of her life-- and Aleister’s. Today was for love and laughter.’

‘“My moms say we’re probably not gonna get another baby. Maybe ‘cos you have two I can borrow one if I get lonely. Do you have one that you like best?”

Reggie shrugged.

“Maybe next time your mom and dad will have three. You could have all these babies like a baby army, and if someone’s ever mean to you, you will have like a hundred poopy diapers you can throw at them. No one likes poop.”

“I don’t want lots more babies,” Reggie said softly. I want no more.

“If you don’t like babies, you can come and live with us forever!” Liv suggested brightly, oblivious the the wobble of her cousin’s bottom lip.

When Estela popped her head around the corner to check on the kids, Reggie was in tears and Liv looked totally bewildered.

“Mommy, Reggie’s crying…,” she pointed out, rather unnecessarily, for her mother had already scooped the little boy into a cuddle.’

___________________________

Aaaand I’m writing a big Jake/Sean thing. This one will probably take some time because it is a VERY new pairing for me and a long way out of my comfort zone. As part of my research, I’ve been replaying ES and romancing both Jake and Sean (with a new-- male-- MC, not Taylor. Tay is Estela’s), which has been really quite fun. Anyway, this fic’s going to be set over the course of a few years and have cameos from a few Catalyst kids from my previous stories. 

Excerpt: “Well, we got our choice of hotel rooms handy. If you wanna give this a shot, ain’t no time like the present.”

Sean faltered. What would ‘this’ be? A fling… wouldn’t be his style. Anything more serious would be maintained long distance, and come with all the heartache that to him seemed inevitable with such an arrangement. But in that flicker of vulnerability he saw upon Jake’s face, he found his answer. He wasn’t being seen as the quarterback, the star; he was being seen simply as himself. All the hurt and fear beneath the surface, all the drive to care and protect… it was shared, and he was wanted. This could be something different; something honest.

“You’re not gonna leave me hanging, are ya?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. Come to my room-- I’ll order up some champagne. I know you’re a whiskey man, but...”

“Ha. What’s a wedding without champagne?”

_______________________

There are a few various bits and pieces I’m working on that may or may not be finished in the near-ish future. Depends on what I have the worst cases of writer’s block with! Obviously, Taylor and Estela will be moving back to the states and heading to college post-Broken Chains. Expect some Taylor/Estela fluff at some point (no shit!). I’ll also be writing something on the creation of Michelle and Quinn’s family, and another Estela perspective of parts of the books. 

So, that’s what I’m up to. This year is set to be a busy one for me with a new job, study, and trying to have a baby (!), but I’m excited to squeeze in these fun projects. If anyone has anything they’re particularly excited to read, I’m open to bumping fics up my schedule. ;)

Tagging some amazing and supportive, awesome people: @sceptilemasterr @greengroove @saivilo @edgydepressedchoicesthot​

[blazerina]

Surprise (Ethan x MC)

Surprise (Ethan x MC)

Word Count: 4,962 (omg that’s a lot)

Author’s Note: Okay so this is my “mature Ethan & Allie AU” where they’re already married and have been together for a little while. It eludes to some of my other Ethan & Allie stories a little bit and sets the scene for another more angsty Ethan & Allie story I plan to write soon.  I had no idea how to end this so I’m sorry if the ending stinks. Hope this brings some joy to you as you read it – thank you to all of you for your support and encouragement regarding my stories.

**This story is dedicated to @noboundariesplease who became my 800th follower a few weeks ago!!**

@parkerattano @justanotherrookie @mrswalkerwritesagain – thanks for being my fandom besties!

A few of you asked to be tagged when I posted this story so here you go:

@unusualvisionsblog @itstaygs @ethandaddyramsey @x-kyne-x @flyawayboo

Some of you liked my message about this story coming soon so I thought I’d tag you too – hope that’s okay: @queencarb @schnitzelbutterfinger @liam-kostas-wife  @keepcreative @lion-ess24 @lifeof-liv @rookieinbflat @imonlyalittledeadinside @desmaranj @havenofearoficecoldbeer

Love and hugs peace to all of you!! xoxo

--

Ding dong.

The echo of the doorbell rang out among the small, empty foyer of the two-story home that Ethan and Allie shared, just outside of Boston.  Allie was in the master bathroom, her hair in large rollers, putting the finishing touches on her makeup; mascara wand in hand.

Waiting a moment to hear if Ethan opened the door, Allie let out a sigh and rested her hand on the edge of the counter in exasperation.

“Ethan? You gonna get that?!” She hollered.

The doorbell rang again at the same moment Allie went back to applying her mascara.

“Ethan!” She yelled again, tightening the belt on her robe.

Ethan’s head popped into view behind her in the mirror. Leaning in from the doorway with the phone glued to his ear, he silently mouthed the words I’m on the phone.

Rolling her eyes, Allie put the mascara down and went quickly to the door.  A delivery man was standing on the doorstep, holding a basket full of cookies, with several colorful balloons attached.

After signing for the package and offering her thanks, Allie went immediately to the kitchen. Ethan was sitting at the table, still on the phone, looking out the window into their backyard.

“For you…” Allie smiled, placing the basket in front of him as he turned around.  

He rolled his eyes and looked for a card.  After reading it quickly, he tossed it aside, rolling his eyes again. Allie could hear the voice on the other end of the phone. This person was clearly frazzled, rambling on and talking at a rapid pace.

“I will not apologize for your lack of planning, Douglas. I have already been waiting two days beyond the deadline I originally gave you…you’re testing my patience and I already don’t have much…”

While Ethan continued on the phone, Allie poured him a glass of iced tea and set it down on the table in front of him, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek.

Ethan reached for her hand and kissed the back of it silently, looking up at her through his glasses with tired eyes.

Allie smiled and started walking backwards.  Making sure she had Ethan’s attention, she mimed at her wrist, tapping it as if a watch was there.  

“We need to go soon…” she reminded him, quietly.

Ethan nodded and then shooed her out of the room as his conversation increased his frustration.

“And I’m telling you that I will not have a diagnosis until I get those results…”

--

Allie and Ethan had been married almost 16 years now.  Their relationship had weathered many storms at this point, but their connection to one another had never been stronger or deeper. Looking at the pictures in frames throughout their house one could see how their own love and affection for one another had grown. In the pictures from their first days of being together, their eyes sparkled and glistened. Photos from their small and intimate wedding ceremony showed true joy and happiness in their smiles. As the years wore on, they included other family in their pictures, pictures of Jenner alone in a field of wildflowers, and another new puppy, Chief. Nieces and nephews and cousins galore adorned the walls and shelves of their home. In each more recent picture of their life, their eyes were just as sparkling, smiles just as happy, but their faces older and wiser, and maybe a little more tired.

The couple had been through a lot together; it seemed as though from day one they would have more than their fair share of trials and tribulations.  But through it all they managed to come out stronger with more love, devotion and appreciation for one another than either of them thought possible.

Allie was keeping an eye on the time, her stomach a bundle of nerves.  She was working hard to ensure her lipstick looked just right, while also checking every other little detail of her makeup in the mirror.

Tonight need to be as close to perfect as possible.

Downstairs, Ethan furiously ended his call and slammed his phone down on the table with more force than he intended.  He glanced quickly at the ridiculous basket and balloons, muttered a curse word under his breath and checked the time on the wall clock in the kitchen. He quickly realized he was running late and took the stairs two at a time to get changed.

Allie heard him enter their walk-in closet and called out to him.

“All done with that phone call?”

“I am.” Ethan responded, scanning his suit jackets for the one he had in mind.

“I cannot believe you made me go to the door in my robe with my hair in these curlers!” She teased, securing an earring in place.

“You can’t honestly believe that I was going to fall for that…” Ethan scoffed, talking to her through the closet as he began to change.

“Fall for what?” Allie asked, spraying perfume on her wrists and neck.

“Allie…” His tone came across as though he was admonishing her.

“I learned my lesson! I promised you that I would never, ever in the rest of our time together, try to surprise you with anything for your birthday ever again.”

“Well forgive me for being worried that someone dressed as a teddy bear or something equally as cliché and silly, was going to jump out from behind the bushes with a song and some chocolate. You’re very unpredictable, you know.”

“And you love it.” Allie retorted.

A few moments of silence passed between the two of them as Allie made her way to the closet, too. They danced around each other a few times, Ethan reaching here to grab a tie, Allie wandering over to her shoe selection, trying to decide which ones she wanted to wear.

Her eyes scanned the footwear choices before her and she mentally calculated the pros and cons of each, tilting her head in an analytical fashion, her eyes squinting as she thought to herself.

“You still have the curlers in?” Ethan questioned, almost completely dressed now, with the exception of his tie and jacket.

“I told you, I take them out at the very…last…second…” Allie reached for a pair of shoes as Ethan stopped her.

“Wear those instead…” He nodded in the direction of one shelf above the pair Allie was going for.

“Those are old!” She insisted. “You only like these because I was wearing them two years ago on our anniversary when we went to the opera and ate at the one place with the great steak and scotch – I can’t remember the name but you loved it…”

“So what if I did? It was a lovely evening and those shoes bring back good memories.”

“Maybe for you…” Allie’s eyes grew wide as she remembered the blisters they created on the heels of her feet.

She grabbed them anyway and gave him a sly grin.

“The things we do for love.”

After laying out her dress and shoes, she returned to the bathroom and started taking her hair down. Ethan was now sitting on the end of the bed, putting his shoes on, but stopped to watch her, mesmerized by her beauty.

He could only see her reflection in the mirror from the angle at which the bed was to the entrance of their master-bath, but he still couldn’t stop his own breath from catching in the back of his throat. Not a day passed when he didn’t wake up and consider himself the luckiest man on the planet.

Sure, time had weathered them both in certain ways – physically they both had more wrinkles and gray hair; but emotionally they had grown, developed and matured in their desire for one another and their need to rely on each other through all that life had thrown their way.

Ethan was not looking forward to the dinner they were attending tonight.  Allie was the magnetic one – the woman who could make the cashier at the grocery store feel like she had known her forever. Allie was the one everyone wanted to be friends with and the so-called friends the couple did have, were only tolerant of Ethan. They were really friends with her, and he knew it. She had so much that he didn’t. He was in awe of her and admired her more than she was aware.

Allie’s long reddish-brown hair tinted now with a few streaks of gray, fell from each roller, across her shoulders and down her back. The soft tendrils were exactly the way she hoped they’d be – not too tight but not too loose.  She was actually pleased with the way her look was coming together tonight. She then reminded herself that she needed to hurry.

Ethan finished putting his shoes on and straightened himself up.

“All right, I think this is as good as I’m going to get so I’ll wait downstair—”

“Wait – could you help me with my dress please?” Allie pleaded, exiting the bathroom and stepping into the closet, then emerging again with the dress already on.

She swooped her hair to one side and turned around in front of Ethan, a silent request for him to zip up the garment.

He could smell her perfume. The same perfume she had been waring for years. The scent that would forever and always remind him of her.

Without saying a word, he slowly closed the dress, his rough calloused fingers grazing across her smooth, silky skin. He lightly kissed the exposed side of her neck while running his hands up and down both of her arms. She turned around to face him and smiled.

“Please, darling. Promise me. Promise me tonight is just a dinner, our closest friends, a simple night out and NOT a birthday celebration.” His tone was soft but serious.

“You are really worried about this aren’t you?” Allie arched an eyebrow moving closer to him, her lips almost touching his.

“Allie.” Ethan sighed, eyes closing briefly. “I just don’t like surprises.  My birthday is on a Tuesday which won’t be ‘fun enough’ for you, so I’m just worried you’re trying to plan something and make it amazing. You always have good intentions, but I never react appropriately and then I feel guilty and people are watching…”

She interrupted his stream-of-consciousness speech with her lips on his. It took him a moment to kiss her back, but he quickly melted into her touch on instinct.

“I promise I have not planned a birthday-related surprise for tonight. Relax.”

He let out a shaky breath and nodded.

“Okay then.”

“Now go get in the car, I have to reapply my lipstick already, thanks to you.” She swatted his behind as he walked away and he chuckled to himself, slightly relieved.

--

“This is where we’re eating?” Ethan questioned as valet circled the car and helped Allie out of the vehicle.

“Dr. Ramsey, Dr. Valentine – we’ve been waiting for you. Right this way.” An older woman with gentle eyes and white hair led the couple through the lobby of a very fancy hotel.

Ethan felt like everyone was watching them, but he stayed focused on trying to calm his own nerves. He wanted to trust Allie and not be paranoid about some crazy birthday plan, but he couldn’t help himself.

Allie held his hand and smiled at everyone that passed by.  Her heart was beating fast too.  Ethan could feel the pulse in her wrist as he clutched onto her for dear life.

“Ethan…” She whispered, “Are you okay?”

He didn’t respond, his gaze fixed ahead of him, following the woman to a huge ballroom full of banquet tables. When the doors opened Ethan felt light-headed. Not one seat was empty.

Music was playing and there was a stage set up at the front of the room. The room was beautifully decorated and whoever planned whatever event Ethan found himself attending, obviously spared no expense. People had just begun to eat their plated dinners. It seemed as though a few less people paid attention to him now that he was safely inside the room.

His emotions were a mixture of relief and confusion.  

Allie’s voice coaxed him out of his own thoughts.

“See?! Told ya. Nothing birthday related!” She kept hold of his hand and led him to a table closer to the front, where two seats had clearly been reserved for them.

Naveen and Harper were already at the table along with the chairman of Edenbrook’s Board of Director’s and the President of the hospital.

“I was wondering how late you’d be tonight, Ethan.  The table was taking bets before you walked in with this lovely young woman on your arm. Does Allie know?”

Ethan pulled the chair out for Allie and relaxed a little more, now that he was around familiar faces. He still didn’t quite have any idea what was going on.

“Ha-ha.” Allie chimed in sarcastically, leaning over to Naveen and kissing him on the cheek.

“Lovely to see you all this evening – thank you for coming.” She added.

“No, my dear, thank YOU for making this event possible.” The chairman spoke up, nodding towards Ethan.

“If it weren’t for Dr. Valentine, we’d only see Ramsey here walking the halls of the hospital day and night. He’d have no real life to speak of!” Naveen teased.

As the table made feeble attempts at small talk with one another, people would come up to Ethan every so often and shake his hand or clap him on the back, telling him how good it was to see him here or offering their most sincere congratulations. Ethan tried his best to be polite but was quite frankly starting to get a little annoyed. He was hungry and irritable and already wanted to be left alone.

He always felt so awkward and out of place at these things.  He never knew what to say or precisely how to act. Charming people and making idle conversation with them was not his strong suit. It was entirely out of his comfort zone. And what was worse, tonight, he clearly was already supposed to know what event he was attending or at the very least what was going on, however, he really had no clue.

Obviously there was no way that the Dr. Ethan Ramsey was about to admit to a table full of his medical peers, that he did not know what was happening or exactly what they were gathered together to celebrate tonight. To appear as though he had no answers was the worse possible fate he could imagine.

“Allie…” he whispered sweetly into her ear, placing his hand on her upper thigh, below the table.

“What exactly is going on? Help me out here…”

“Allie! I feel as though it has been forever since I’ve seen you!” Harper gushed, clearly, she had already had a few drinks and was feeling quite conversational.

“It has been!” Allie engaged with her but then quickly responded to Ethan between talking with Harper and the rest of the table.

“You’ll see.” She pecked him quickly on the lips leaving him stunned and puzzled. He could not for the life of him figure out what any of this had to do with him.

Allie knew he’d never ask anyone else at the table what was going on. She had him right where she wanted him. He knew it too and he hated her for it.

As hard as he tried not to get mad, he felt anger rising in his chest. He always struggled when he didn’t feel in control. When two plus two didn’t add up to be four, he had a very difficult time adjusting. Everyone was being nice to him, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Was this some kind of party?

Ethan took a few shallow breaths and pushed through, talking to those around him and grasping for Allie every chance he got, in a respectful and not attention-seeking way. Little touches here and there left her connected to him. She was what kept him grounded and he needed her desperately tonight.

He was continuing to get old. He saw it in the mirror as it reflected his own face every single day. This birthday coming up was just another reminder of how much life had been lived. The depth of the few relationships he had and the stark reminder of what he lacked, always hit him square on, around this time of year. Birthdays were not and never would be his favorite.

Dramatically, he began thinking of how betrayed he felt by Allie. She had duped him once again and led him on. How could she promise him she hadn’t done anything when clearly this whole thing had been executed flawlessly? She was too smart. She knew he wouldn’t blow up on her here, in front of people.  

He then began looking around at the decorations, the food, the stage, this lavish hotel he’d only been in once before, and the dollar signs began adding up in his mind. Now suddenly worried about how much she had spent on this over-the-top soiree, he needed to excuse himself and go get some air.

He slowly released his grasp on Allie’s hand, and sheepishly removed himself from the table.

“Ethan, no. Sit down. You can’t…you can’t leave right now.” Allie smiled as she instructed him, but her tone was serious.

“Alexandra, what in God’s name is going on? This is ridiculous that I cannot even…” Ethan was interrupted by a man on stage and he quickly took his seat, not wanting to make a scene.

Through clenched teeth, he leaned over to Allie once again.

“You promised me.” He hissed, beginning to seethe with anger. He thought after all this time she would know him better than this.

“Is a slideshow of my life going to start playing soon? Clowns and confetti coming through in a second? All these people?! Allie, come on!”

“Hush.” She put a finger to his lips, remaining calm. “Pay attention.”

“…it is with that in mind that we take time tonight to pay honor to a man who really needs no introduction…”

“Is that the Governor of Massachusetts?”  Ethan gawked. “You got the governor…”

“Put these on.” Allie slid his glasses over to him with a smile. “Yes, that’s the governor. Now hush and listen.”

Ethan was totally put out at this point, but put his glasses on and sat back in his chair. He was frustrated. His leg was bobbing up and down unconsciously. He had nervous energy. He wanted to leave. He wanted to get up and run out the door. He mentally noted the exits in the room. How fast could he make it? He was a little sore from his run earlier this morning but with this much adrenaline, surely, he could…

“Leading the nationally renowned diagnostics team at Edenbrook hospital has been the bulk of his responsibility for the last 25 years. Under his leadership, this team has brought great prestige and esteem to Edenbrook, to Boston and to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  Not to mention the incredible notoriety and hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue that we have all benefitted from, due to his excellent work.”

Ethan paused, sitting up straighter, starting to put the pieces together.

“His colleagues from across the country have gathered here tonight to celebrate his contributions to the medical field, but tonight I want to celebrate his contributions to our state and to our community. There will be time for more accolades as the evening continues but first, and foremost, let us celebrate him and hear what he has to say.”

Allie squeezed his hand again, beaming with pride.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor, pleasure and privilege to be able to introduce you to our guest of honor tonight. Please join me in congratulating this year’s recipient of the Massachusetts Medical Society Lifetime Achievement Award, Dr. Ethan Ramsey of Edenbrook Hospital.

The room erupted in applause with some people whooping and hollering. Immediately everyone sprang to their feet, even Ethan. For a moment he wasn’t sure if he had to go on stage or not, but it became clear that there was an award he needed to accept and most likely a speech that would been expected.

Stunned and feeling as though he was floating on air, he quickly made his way up to the stage, hoping no one could see that his hands were shaking a bit. He shook hands with the governor, took his award in both hands and immediately looked out among the crowd.

Ethan tried to scan the faces, wanting to soak in this moment – he was stunned and still unsure if he was really awake.  While he tried to focus on the faces and really see who it was who had come out to support him, his gaze was instantly drawn to one and only one person in the room.

Allie wiped tears away from her eyes quickly, wanting to keep her emotions at bay. The only thing she felt in this moment was immense pride, and maybe a little bit of satisfaction in pulling this over on her beloved.  Standing and still applauding, she looked up at him in awe. Awe that he was hers. Not that his accomplishments and professional achievements weren’t worthy – but the only thing he was to her in that moment was Ethan. Her husband. The love of her life.

“Please.” Ethan cleared his throat as he spoke into the microphone, both his heart and mind racing.

“This is quite enough, please sit.” He instructed a little more forcefully.  

Allie led the group in finding their seats as a hush fell over the crowd, waiting to hear from the man they were all there to honor.

“I know this will come as a shock to most of you who know me well, especially those who work with me on a daily basis…but I’m finding myself speechless at the moment…”

Ethan chuckled as did the rest of the room.  He bit his lip, locking eyes with Allie and shaking his head, grinning and smirking, a combination of the two.

“I had no idea, absolutely no clue that this was happening tonight. I’m blown away by your support and your presence here tonight. I…uh…” He cleared his throat again, then looked back out into the audience.

He found Allie’s eyes, and also his words again.

“I do not take this award lightly and it truly means so much to me. I don’t know that I like the fact that I’m old enough now to be receiving lifetime achievement awards, but I am grateful, really. I love what I do, I’m fortunate to have a wonderful job that keeps me guessing every single day; really great co-workers, at least most of the time…” Again, the audience laughed.

“I get to teach med students in their first years of residency, and then you know, help save people’s lives. It’s actually surreal that this is the life I get to live.”

Ethan took a deep breath, biting his lip and trying to measure out his next statements carefully.

“As great as all of that is, I know that there is absolutely no possible way for me to be standing before you tonight as the person that I am today, without the love, devotion and care of my wife, Allie Valentine. She’s my Rookie.”

He paused, looking down, one hand finding his heart as he became overcome with emotion. He took several seconds to gather himself, he wanted to stay composed.

“I was actually pretty upset with her tonight for dragging me here and not telling me what the hell was going on. Even though all the things that have been written about me and said about me are true, and my accomplishments have garnered our entire team with a lot of recognition and such, I am most proud of being her husband.

Why she chose to settle down with a grumpy old man like me, I’ll never fully understand…but everything I am and everything I have today is completely because of her faith in me and her ability to make me the best possible version of myself.

When we met, I thought I would be the one teaching her everything she needed to know, but in the end, she has taught me more than I ever taught her.”

Allie’s eyes were filled with tears, she could hardly look at him without feeling as though she was going to burst with pride. She blew him a kiss from her seat and wiped away more tears, not daring to let them fall down her cheeks and ruin the makeup she tried so hard to perfect earlier that evening.

“I feel like I’m Rambling Ramsey up here so I’ll wrap this up - I could go on all night telling you about what Mrs. Ramsey means to me, what this award means to me, but I’ll stop here. Thank you again and please, I want to work the room as they say and thank all of you personally so come find me and…really, sincerely, this means so much to me. Thank you.”

Before he knew it, Ethan was swept away for pictures, people swarming around him, talking to him, handing him scotch after scotch, as it was well-known to be his drink of choice. It felt like at least an hour before he made his way back to Allie. She had just finished speaking with the Governor, when Ethan snuck up behind her.

Immediately, she turned and wrapped her arms around him.  

“Happy Birthday, my love!” She whispered in his ear.

“I cannot believe you did this to me…” He said seriously, looking in her eyes. “I hope you know you’re going to get it when we get home.” Ethan teased.

Laughing, Allie picked her glass of Prosecco from the table and raised it towards him in a mock toast as she wiggled her eyebrows and walked towards the open bar.

“Was already planning on it…” She muttered under her breath as she watched him walk away.

“I heard that…” He called out over his shoulder.

--

Throughout the night each one of them independently visited with people, giving them their sincere thanks and letting them know how meaningful it was to share this evening with them. Every few minutes or so Ethan would find Allie or Allie would find Ethan and they’d give each other a quick squeeze of the hand or a kiss on the cheek as they brushed passed each other and moved on to the next well-wisher.

“I don’t know what she sees in you…” Naveen said to Ethan as he took a swig from a beer bottle, nodding towards Allie who was across the room. “She’s perfect.”

“No doubt about it, I’m the lucky one.” Ethan agreed as Allie sauntered over to the two of them.

“This cannot be good.” She laughed, pointing at them both.  “What are you plotting?”

“You’re the schemer.” Naveen chided. “No one could have pulled this off better, my queen.”

Naveen pretended to bow before her with both arms raised above his head while he bent at the waist.

“Oh stop.” Allie waved him off.

“It looks like this crowd is thinning out and if I stay in these shoes much longer my feet will need to be amputated.”

She leaned on Ethan, stifling a yawn.  

“I know a guy who can help with that…” Naveen offered, finishing his drink.

“You really know how to throw a birthday party!” He added, following Ethan and Allie out to the valet line for the cars.

“It wasn’t a birthday party!” Both Ethan and Allie said in unison, Allie’s brow furrowed in mock anger.

Naveen begged for forgiveness and said his goodbyes while the couple waited for their vehicle to be brought around. As they sunk into the vehicle, beyond tired, Allie immediately kicked off her heels and Ethan loosened his tie. He threw his jacket into the backseat along with Allie’s shoes and rolled down the windows a bit for fresh air.

“Before we get going…” Allie put her hand on his as it rested on the gearshift.

“I know I said no more surprises – but you can’t be mad at me because this technically wasn’t a birthday surprise it was a general surprise and I knew that if you knew they were giving you an award you’d come up with some excuse not to go and I just couldn’t live with myself if you didn’t get a chance to hear all these people tell you how amazing you are because I know you’re amazing and I tell you all the time but sometimes you don’t believe me.”

She stopped to take a quick breath.

“So, I hope that tonight you know just how many people agree with me that you’re incredible – so please, please don’t be mad. I don’t want to ride all the way home with you in silence because I pulled one over on you.”

“Whoa. Allie. Calm down.” Ethan reached out to her and held her face in his hand.

“I’m not mad. It was a great surprise and…”

He reached across the console and kissed her hard, passionately, with so much force that his lips burned her skin.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” She whispered.

He laced his hand into hers and held it all the way home, staying the way they had been all the years of their relationship and even in little moments all night long…connected, grateful and in awe that somehow, someway they had found each other and were never ever letting go.

[tw-anchor]

25. Bizarre and Supernatural

Anchor

Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode: 3x01; Tattoo

Word Count: 10,258

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence and gore, sexual themes

Author’s Note: Here’s to season three! I’m really excited about 3A and 3B because they are my personal favorites. This season we’ll see more of what Olivia is capable of, as well as her relationship with Stiles. Hope you enjoy! Reblog and like!

Masterlink is in Profile Description!

May 4, 2011

Stiles breathed heavily as he squirted some water into his mouth, finding relief from the cool liquid. The heat felt unbearable, but he kept practicing, determined to make first line for the lacrosse season next spring. Sure, it wasn't officially summer yet, but school was out, and they had time. Winning the championship game wasn't all fun and games—now he had a reputation to uphold.

Scott was certainly working him for it, too. They had already run one of the shorter cross-country tracks before heading to the practice lacrosse field, where they started doing dribbles. They were taking a quick break for water now, and then they'd start on scoring practice.

His phone beeped from his gym bag. A smile bloomed on his face when he saw that it was Olivia. She had sent some Star Wars meme with Anakin holding sand art followed by a bunch of crying emojis. How did anyone think his girl had a heart of stone?

Sweetcheeks: LOL we're still on for tonight, right?

Livvy: Yup. Dress code?

Sweetcheeks: Casual. One word—drive-in.

Livvy: Got it. I'll be ready at 4. 😊

"You're texting Liv, aren't you?" Stiles looked away from his phone at Scott's voice; he grinned guiltily.

"Sorry," he tossed the phone back into his bag.

"It's fine," Scott chuckled. "You're still taking her out for her birthday, right?"

Stiles grinned. "Do you know how wonderfully ironic it is that her birthday is on Star Wars day?"

"No."

"Of course, you wouldn't," Stiles rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm taking her to the drive-in. The original trilogy is starting at five, so we'll have time to pick up some food and head there."

Scott hummed and grinned at his best friend. Even though his relationship with Allison hadn't worked out, he was happy that Stiles and Olivia were getting theirs going. He wasn't shocked when he first saw them together the Monday back at school after everything went down, hands gripped together as they walked the hallways, but it was a great surprise. For a while there, he thought that Olivia wasn't going to acknowledge her feelings for Stiles. He was just glad she did.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Stiles eyed him warily.

"I'm happy for you, dude," he clapped Stiles' shoulder. "Your girlfriend is Olivia Martin."

"Yeah, she is," Stiles smiled goofily and took another sip of water. He set the bottle down and picked up his lacrosse stick, ready to go again. "Come on, I gotta pick Livvy up at four. Why don't you get in the goal and help me make team captain like you promised?"

Scott laughed and rolled his eyes, picking up his own stick. "Hey, you know what I just realized?" he paused, looking at Stiles thoughtfully. "I'm right back where I started."

Stiles gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"I mean no lacrosse, no popularity, no girlfriend. Nothing."

"Dude," Stiles pushed his shoulder, causing him to stumble back. "you still got me."

"I had you before!" Scott exclaimed, using the momentum of Stiles' push to run over to the goal.

"Yeah and you still got me, so your life is fulfilled," Stiles retorted, making his way to an appropriate distance from the goal. He used his net to scoop up a lacrosse ball and got ready to try to get it past Scott. "Now remember, no wolf powers."

Scott nodded and grinned mischievously. "Got it."

"No, I mean it," Stiles pointed at him. "No super-fast reflexes, no super eyesight, no hearing—none of that shit, okay?"

"Okay!" Scott agreed loudly. "Just come on."

"You promise?"

"Would you just take the shot already?"

Stiles bit his lip and steadied his net before winding back at whipping the ball toward the goal. Just as the ball left his net, he saw Scott's eyes flash gold, so he wasn't surprised when Scott easily caught the ball.

"I said no wolf powers!"

-

"Allison, do you see what she's wearing?" Lydia complained to a very tired Allison over Facetime, flashing her phone's camera at Olivia's flowy shorts and white camisole. "She's wearing that for her first date."

Olivia scowled and grabbed the phone from Lydia so she could talk to Allison herself. "We're going to see a movie at the drive-in."

Allison yawned and apologized softly. "It looks fine," she agreed with Olivia. "What movie?"

It was late at night in France where Allison was currently living. After everything was said and done and Jackson was okay, she and Mr. Argent only stayed long enough for Allison to take her finals. They took off to France right after she turned her last test in, leaving barely enough time for Olivia and Allison to talk about their friendship.

Since Allison still didn't know that Derek bit her mom to protect Scott, the youngest Argent didn't offer an apology for hurting Derek. While it annoyed Olivia a little, she understood that Allison didn't know the whole story and could only base her feelings on what she knew. What she knew was that Derek bit her mom and her mom killed herself soon after. So, Olivia brushed it off and Allison apologized for the way she acted.

Their friendship was mended but the two of them and Lydia were disappointed that Allison would be in France the whole summer. They promised to keep in contact and Facetime, so, of course, Lydia thought it was appropriate to call and wake up Allison when she learned that Stiles was taking Olivia out for her birthday.

"Star Wars," Olivia informed her. "It's a special viewing."

"By special, she means Stiles is gonna get into her panties—"

"Lydia Grace Martin!" Olivia grabbed one of the throw pillows off her bed and whipped it at her cousin; Sirius yipped excitedly, thinking they were playing catch. Lydia laughed and Allison joined her. "I am not having sex with Stiles."

"Tonight, anyway," Allison commented slyly as Lydia crowed, "Uh-huh, sure!"

"It's my birthday and you guys are being so mean to me," Olivia whined dramatically, falling back on her bed. Sirius scrambled over to her, giving her face sweet little kisses. "Thanks, Siri, You're my best bud."

"I wanted to have a party for you," Lydia tugged her phone out of her hands. "Did you meet any cute boys yet, Allison?"

"I've been here for a week," Allison said flatly.

"I'm guessing that's a no."

"Leave her alone, Lyds," Olivia nudged the redhead as she sat back up and smushed her head against Lydia's so Allison could see them both. "Take time for yourself, Al. Be an independent woman who doesn't need a man to—"

"All right, Susan B. Anthony," Lydia cut her off, earning herself laughter from Olivia and Allison. "I'm not saying you need a man. I'm saying you want a man."

Allison laughed awkwardly. "I'm changing the subject now. What time is Stiles picking you up, Liv?"

As soon as the question was out of her mouth, they heard Natalie calling up to them. "Olivia, Stiles is here!"

"Now, I guess," Olivia told Allison, checking the time on her phone. It was 3:55; he was five minutes early. "I'll talk to you later, Al."

"Have fun, Liv! Happy birthday!"

Olivia thanked her and Lydia bid her own goodbyes to Allison before ending the call. Olivia dashed into the bathroom she shared with Lydia to check the braid that Lydia put it in while her cousin waited impatiently by her bedroom door.

"Come on, Liv."

"I'm coming," she huffed, walking out of the bathroom and to her door. When she opened it, Sirius zoomed out of the room, too excited to see Stiles. "Why does he love Stiles more than me?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," Lydia shook her head in agreement. She had been so pissed off when she learned that Sirius adored Stiles more than any of his owners. Stiles made it worse when he came over, talking to Sirius in the same voice that Lydia used on him.

By the time they made it downstairs, Sirius was on his back in front of Stiles while Stiles happily petted his belly, making cure little cooing noises. Olivia would never admit it to him, but her heart melted every damn time he and Sirius were together.

"Hey!" Stiles greeted her enthusiastically when he noticed her in front of him. "Happy birthday!"

Olivia smiled at him, her cheeks flushing when he gave her a quick kiss. Usually she wasn't a big fan of showing affection in front of other people, but this was Lydia. Lydia, who would tease the hell out of her later...

"Thanks, Stiles. Are you ready to go?"

"Wait, wait," Lydia cut in, holding up her phone. "I need pictures."

Olivia sighed heavily while Stiles agreed with a smile. "You're worse than your mom, Lyds."

"Shush now," Lydia waved her off. She paused, allowing for Stiles and Olivia to arrange themselves into a picture-appropriate pose and then cheered, "Say cheese!"

"Cheese!"

Olivia's mood brightened as soon as they left her house. They chatted lightly when they went to pick up the pizza they were going to bring to the drive-in and Olivia had told him what she'd had done for her birthday. Derek had taken her and Isaac out for breakfast and then he and Peter took her out to buy her first car and presented her with a new MacBook, while Lydia and Natalie took her shopping when she got home, each of them getting some new clothes.

"How was practicing with Scott?" she asked when she was done telling him about her day and they were settled at the drive-in, waiting for the movie to start.

"It was okay," Stiles shrugged and bit into his pepperoni pizza. "I got a lot of work to do."

"You already did great at the game, so I'm sure Scott will be able to whip you into shape in no time," Olivia assured him.

"Hopefully," Stiles allowed a grin to slip onto his lips. "Thanks, babe."

"You're welcome, sweetcheeks."

They pressed their lips together in a sweet kiss, tasting pizza on each other's lips. Olivia gasped lightly as Stiles swept his tongue along the seam in her lips, allowing his tongue to slip into her mouth and caress hers.

The loud billowing of the Star Wars theme made them jump away from each other. They turned to the dark screen, the light from the bright yellow scrawl illuminating their flushed faces. Olivia glanced over at Stiles as the opening theme ended, giving way to warships flying through space. She wasn't surprised to see him looking back at her.

-

-

"Boy, it's a good thing you drew me a picture."

The sarcastic tone seeping into Jimmy's statement made Stiles snort quietly and grin to himself. He was glad that his back was turned away from Scott as he looked at the various books full of tattoos that Jimmy had drawn up. Picturing Scott's innocent smile made him snort again as he flipped through pages of plastic sleeves, searching for anything that interested him.

The last night of summer and of course, Scott wanted to get a tattoo. Not just any tattoo, though. Scott wanted two black bands curled around his bicep. To be honest, Stiles didn't like the design but it wasn't his body so he wasn't going to say anything—but if the tattoo was as ugly as he thought it was going to be, he would probably have a hard time holding back.

Holy shit, he thought as he turned to another page.

The design took up most of the page but it wasn't the size that was shocking. It was the fact that the drawing looked exactly like the kanima that wreaked havoc around Beacon Hills the previous spring. Jimmy must have seen the kanima because he had all the details down, from the venomous claws to the long tail.

"Hey, Scott," he caught his best friend's attention as he turned to face the chair where he was seated. "you sure you don't want something like this?"

He showed Scott the kanima tattoo with flourish, amusement light his features. Scott wasn't nearly amused as he was; his excited face turned into a frown before he gave Stiles an are-you-serious look.

"Too soon?" Stiles asked needlessly as he closed the tattoo book and placed it back on the shelf it was sitting previously. "I don't know, man, are you sure about this?" he turned back to Scott. "I mean, these things are pretty permanent, you know?"

As Jimmy started getting the ink ready to go, Scott answered, "I'm not changing my mind."

"Okay, but why two bands?"

Scott shrugged. "I just like it."

"But don't you think your first tattoo should have some sort of meaning, you know, or something?"

"Getting a tattoo means something."

Stiles scoffed. "I don't think that's—"

"He's right," Jimmy interrupted him; Stiles crossed his arms over his chest and looked to him curiously. "Tattooing goes back thousands of years. The Tahitian word 'tatua' means 'to leave a mark'. Like a rite of passage."

"Yeah, you see?" Scott grinned smugly at Stiles, making him bristle." He gets it."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "He's covered in tattoos, Scott. Literally."

Jimmy gave him a deadpan look before turning to Scott. "Okay, you ready? You ain't got any problems with needles, do you?"

Scott shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Nope."

As the needle in Jimmy's hand started buzzing, Stiles slowly walked over to get a better look of what was going on to Scott's arm. His stomach flipped when the needle quickly entered Scott's skin. "I tend to get a little squeamish, though, so..."

He trailed off as his vision went blurry and his limbs felt like jelly. He was out before he even hit the floor.

When he woke up, Scott's tattoo was done and he was paying Jimmy for the work. Stiles winced as he craned his neck to look around; they left him on the floor but at least they gave him a cold pack to put against his head. He groaned as he sat up, pressing the cold pack firmer against the back of his aching head. Three minutes later, they were getting into his Jeep.

Stiles blinked at his steering wheel, wondering if he should be driving right after hitting his head but was distracted by Scott's quiet groan of pain. He turned to his best friend while throwing the soppy ice pack in the backseat. "You okay?"

Scott squirmed uncomfortably and grimaced at his wrapped arm. "It kinda burns."

"Yes," Stiles couldn't believe that Scott didn't expect some pain. "you just had your skin stabbed about a hundred thousand times with a needle."

"Yeah, but I don't think it's supposed to feel like this," Scott looked to Stiles for an answer; Stiles shrugged just as Scott jumped and grunted in pain. 'No, it's definitely not supposed to feel like this."

"Oh, God."

Scott groaned again and reached for the gauze on his arm. "Oh, I gotta take this thing off."

"No, no, no, no, Scott," Stiles immediately protested, his stomach flipping. He gagged a little as Scott started unwrapping his arm. "Scott, please stop! Oh, gross—" he paused when he saw Scott's arm. "Woah."

The solid black bands of ink wrapping themselves around Scott's bicep were fading into angry red skin. Within seconds, Scott's arm was back to normal, like he had never even entered the little tattoo shop.

"What, come on!" Scott gasped before looking at Stiles. "It healed."

Stiles was just glad that nothing gruesome happened—and that Scott wouldn't have that ugly thing on his body for the rest of his life. "Ah, thank God. I hated it," when Scott gave him an affronted look, Stiles winced and gave a flat apology. "Sorry."

-

"You're sure that Scott won't be at Stiles' house?" Allison looked over at Olivia anxiously.

Olivia flipped on her right blinker and turned onto the highway. "I'm positive," she reassured her friend. "Stiles said that Scott was leaving at five."

"Yeah but it's Stiles and Scott," Lydia piped up from the backseat, leaning forward so she could talk to Olivia and Allison easier. "Since when do they spend a minute apart?"

"When I ask," Olivia smiled playfully, earning laughs from Allison and Lydia. "I told Stiles that we were going out with you guys tonight, so..."

"Stiles has a brain in that big head of his," Lydia said. "I'm sure that he's smart enough not to tell Scott that he's going on a group date with his ex-girlfriend."

Eh.

"Wait, wait," Allison gave them both an alarmed look. "It's not a date, right? Please tell me it's not a date."

Olivia glared at Lydia through the rearview mirror, wishing that her cousin could have kept her mouth shut because Allison wasn't ready to start dating again. Of course it was a date, though; one of Lydia's summer hook-ups had a cousin who was very hot—according to Lydia—and was interested in getting to know Allison. Olivia and Stiles had gone on double dates with Lydia and whatever guy she was into that day before so it was a natural segway into inviting them, too. Stiles hadn't wanted to go on the group date, explaining that it felt like he was betraying Scott, but Olivia had begged him. She felt bad for Scott about the break-up, but from the conversations she had with Allison over the summer, it didn't seem like Allison was going to be able to reenter a relationship with Scott. It wasn't that she didn't love him—because she really did—but it was hard for her to move on from everything that happened before.

"It's not a group date," Olivia promised Allison. "It's more of a group thing."

"Does this guy know it's a group thing?" Allison looked to Lydia for an answer now, considering she was the one who planned the whole night. "I told you guys that I'm not ready to get back out there."

"Ugh," Lydia groaned and Olivia smiled at her dramatics. "I can't believe you were in France for four months and you didn't date a single guy."

Allison shrugged awkwardly and changed the subject. "Just because you were ready after—"

"Don't say his name!" Lydia exclaimed, cutting her off.

"Jackson is a subject that's off limits," Olivia told Allison with a smile that told the taller brunette she knew that Lydia was gonna have a fit.

"You said his name," Lydia reached toward Olivia's ear and flicked it, earning herself a pained squeal.

Jackson Whittemore was a sensitive subject when it came to Lydia Martin. Despite the fact that Lydia saved him and they declared their love for one another, there were no moves on either side to enter a relationship again. After learning control with Derek and Olivia, Jackson and his family moved to England to start over. Olivia missed him but they still exchanged emails once a week—something that she wouldn't mention to Lydia until the time was right.

"Is he okay?" since Lydia and Olivia didn't speak about Jackson in their calls to Allison, she didn't know what was going on with him. "I mean, did everything work out?"

"Well, you saw how it was when it turned up that he was alive," Olivia reminded her. It had been a whole thing with the hospital and the doctors and the research that annoyed and angered Jackson so much that Olivia had to be by his side every hour so he wouldn't lose control. "but eventually, everyone got over it."

"And yes, Derek and Liv taught him the werewolf 101," Lydia reported. "like how not to randomly kill people during a full moon."

Allison grinned at her. "So, then, you've talked to him?"

Lydia shook her head. "Not since he left for London."

"You mean since his dad moved him to London," Olivia objected; Lydia liked to act that Jackson went to England willingly when he was actually really upset that he had to move.

Lydia waved her off. "Whatever, he left," she said sharply. "And seriously, an American werewolf in London? Like that's not gonna be a disaster."

"So, you're totally over him?" Allison challenged the redhead.

"Would I be going on a group date if I wasn't?" Lydia said quickly, once again blurting out the truth. Olivia and Allison laughed and she sighed. "Yes, it's a group date. It's not an orgy so I think you'll live."

Olivia chuckled as she pulled to a stop at a red light. "I vetoed the orgy," she informed Allison jokingly. She was in a happy mood tonight; it was the last night of summer, Allison was back, and she'd get to see Stiles. "and the club."

"She's a buzzkill."

Olivia scoffed and quickly turned back to Lydia for a moment. "I don't want to be hungover on our first day of junior year. Besides," she turned to Allison for back-up. "don't you like pizza and laser tag?"

Allison went to agree but Lydia cut her off. "That's because she'll win!"

"Ha-ha," Allison pushed Lydia back into her seat, all three of them laughing. "I guess you'll have to take some pointers—oh, my God!"

At Allison's exclamation, Olivia turned to her left to see what had her freaking out. She hadn't noticed that a vehicle had pulled up next to her at the stoplight—which she cursed herself for because she was usually a great driver—and she also hadn't noticed that it was her boyfriend's vehicle.

"What the hell?" Olivia narrowed her eyes at the jeep while Allison freaked out in the passenger seat and tried not to look at Scott—who was with Stiles, trying to avoid eye contact with any of them. "He's supposed to be at his house."

Stiles waved at her enthusiastically and her annoyance flooded away. She could never be anything but in love with that boy. He just knew how to relax her and make her happy in ways that no one else could.

"Oh, my God, I can't see him," Allison whimpered. "Not now."

"Liv, go," Lydia urged, slapped the shoulder of Olivia's seat. "Go!"

"But it's a red light," Olivia winced, looking from Allison—who was still freaking out—to the red light, and then to Stiles, who was rolling down Scott's window. "All right."

She pressed on the gas pedal and drove through the intersection, grateful that the road wasn't busy and they were safe to cross. Allison sighed in relief when Stiles stayed back at the light and Olivia put some distance between them.

"Are you all right?" Lydia asked Allison while Olivia gave her a worried look.

"I'm okay," it looked more like Allison was assuring herself of that than Lydia and Olivia. "I'm fine."

Olivia and Lydia didn't argue or try to coax her to open up. They weren't the epitome of sharing feelings either, especially Olivia, so they didn't want to pry. If Allison didn't want to talk about Scott, they wouldn't.

It was only a minute or so after they left the stoplight that Allison spoke up again, her eyes in the rearview mirror. "Liv, stop. We should go back and talk to them."

Olivia switched her foot to the break pedal. "We're almost to Stiles' house..." when they came to a complete stop, she saw that Stiles had stopped too. "Why did they stop?"

Lydia shrugged. "It's Stiles and Scott. Do you really wanna try applying logic to those two?"

Allison said something in return but Olivia didn't hear; she was too busy focusing on the abrupt tingling traveling through her body. The whispering of her name, along with Allison and Lydia's, flittered through her head and then...

Turn around, Olivia

Olivia didn't waste time; she whipped around, facing the front of her car. Her eyes widened when she saw a huge deer heading straight toward them. "GET DOWN!"

She barely had time to grab Allison's shoulder, force her down, duck behind the steering wheel, and hope that Lydia was safe before the deer was crashing into the windshield. Lydia and Allison screamed as heavy glass flew around the enclosed space.

Olivia inhaled deeply as the deer's body settled on the dashboard in front of her, eyes glazed over with death. She shakily reached for her door handle with one hand and her seatbelt with the other before pushing herself out of the car. She fell on her ass but she hopped up, still staring at the deer with wide eyes.

"Oh, my God."

"Livvy," Stiles was there, gently taking her arm and leading her away from the car. "Are you okay? Babe?"

Olivia inhaled once again and turned her attention to Stiles, who was rubbing her arms soothingly. "I'm okay," she told him, allowing him to pull her into a warm hug. "I'm fine."

She wasn't lying. She was shocked, yeah, but she was okay. She was glad that her abilities were able to tell her that she, Allison, and Lydia were in danger and that she was able to stop any injuries that may have happened. Mostly, though, she was confused. Why would a deer charge right down the middle of the road and crash into them?

It was like it was committing suicide.

As Stiles kissed the top of Olivia's head, Lydia dragged her out of her thoughts when she shrieked, "Well, I am not okay! I am totally freaking out!" Olivia slipped out of Stiles' embrace to grab Lydia's hand. "How the fuck does that thing just run into us?"

"It was weird," Olivia agreed, her eyes following Scott as he moved away from Allison to the deer's body. "and it came down right in the middle of the road. It's like it was crazy."

"It was scared," Scott spoke up; he put his hand on the body and looked back at them, a solemn look on his face. "Actually, it was terrified."

-

-

Olivia had woken up with Isaac on her mind. The dream she had of him and the unknown girl trying to outrace that huge alpha werewolf was permanently printed into her memory as she mechanically got ready for school, dressing in a summer dress and sandals.

While she curled her hair with one hand, she dialed Derek's number on her phone with the other. It was Isaac's turn to look for Erica and Boyd the night before and with how she was feeling, the warnings she was getting, and the dream she had, it was obvious that something went wrong.

"Morning," Derek greeted her groggily. "Ready for your first day?"

"I'm worried about Isaac," she told him.

"What? What do you mean?" his voice was alert and strict, the tone of a worried alpha.

"I mean that Isaac is who God knows where and he's in trouble," Olivia explained impatiently. Over the summer, she and Isaac's friendship grew stronger since they were the only ones left in the Hale pack, other than Derek. She considered him a brother and she knew he saw her as a sister. "Derek, we need to find him."

"I'll find him but you need to go to school," Derek told her; there was rustling over the phone and then a metallic clinking which she figured were his keys. "I'll check out the Iron Works. I'm pretty sure that's where he told me he was going last night."

"Okay," Olivia sighed. "be careful."

Who knew where the alpha pack was lurking?

"Have a good day at school."

Olivia ended the call. Since when did Derek get so paternal? She thought to herself. Right, ever since you were stuck with a psychotic dad and got yourself a boyfriend.

She slipped a headband into her hair and grabbed her purse, heading downstairs. When Sirius yipped in greeting at her as she made it to the kitchen, she crouched down in order to give him a hug and kiss.

"Hi, Siri," she cooed, snuggling her nose into the soft fur of his head. "Did you sleep well? Hmm?"

Sirius nudged her with his paw and when she went to pat him between his ears, he bit her on the wrist. "Ouch!" he struggled out of her grip and ran away. "What'd you do that for?"

Olivia rose to her full height and stared at her dog where he shuffled on his bed, digging into his blanket and stuffed toy. He had never bit her before, not like that. Yeah, he nipped while playing when he was a baby but this was a full-on bite that drew blood.

She heard Lydia's heels against their hardwood floors before she saw her. "What happened to you?"

Olivia frowned at her. "Siri bit me."

Lydia quirked an eyebrow. "Sirius bit you."

"Yes."

"He doesn't bite."

"Wow, I had no idea!" Olivia rolled her eyes and entered the kitchen, heading straight to the sink. "Can you get me a bandage?"

Lydia quickly went to their medicine cabinet and pulled out some disinfectant cream and a large bandage to cover up the bite. She helped Olivia with dressing the wound before looking over at Sirius in disbelief.

"Why would he bite you?"

Olivia sighed, watching as Sirius buried his head into his blanket. "I have no idea."

-

Sheriff Stilinski sighed in relief when he saw her on the other side of his front door. "Olivia, I'm glad you're here," he ushered her into the house. "How are you doing this morning?"

"I'm good, Sheriff, thank you," Olivia had expected Stiles to be downstairs eating breakfast but the lower level was empty of his presence.

"I thought I told you to call me Noah," she smiled sheepishly when he pointed at her. "Anyway, Stiles is...well, he's been up since four-thirty."

Olivia raised her eyebrows in shock. Stiles loved to sleep in and if he didn't get enough sleep, he was like a freaking toddler who skipped out on their nap. "Four-thirty?"

"Come on," he gestured for her to follow him up the stairs. "He was pretty upset about your accident. I think he's been researching nonstop."

Oh, God. Olivia loved Stiles to death but when he was obsessed with something, he was obsessed. She didn't know if it was his ADHD or his need to know anything and everything but if he needed to know something, he was going to look until he found it. There had been numerous times over the summer that she had found him in front of his MacBook, a couple of Adderall in his system as he searched through whatever database he had broken into.

Stiles didn't even look away from his laptop as she and Noah entered his bedroom. "You know how many vehicle collisions last year involved deer?" he asked, though he knew the answer. "247,000."

"Oh, God, please go to school," Noah groaned.

"But that's crossing the road," Stiles continued on like his father hadn't spoken. "This one last night came right down the middle."

Noah stepped over to Stiles' chair, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm not gonna beg you."

"Good, I'm impervious to your influence anyway," Stiles mumbled, switching to another tab of research.

Olivia rolled her eyes; who the hell used the word impervious?

"Would you consider a bribe?"

"You couldn't meet my price."

"Extortion?"

"You got nothing on me."

Olivia crossed her arms in amusement as Noah grabbed the back of Stiles' chair and started pulling him away from his desk.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Stiles reached for his laptop as he fought to stay in control of his chair. "Dad!"

Olivia walked over to the desk and shut the laptop, grinning when Stiles' eyes darted up to her. "Morning."

A happy glint appeared in his eyes as he hopped from his chair and then faltered. "Livvy, what—what are you doing here?" he scratched the back of his neck and then gestured around his semi-messy room. "Uh, yeah, so this is my room."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek in amusement. Watching Stiles act like she hadn't been in his room before was so funny to her. Especially when Noah was behind him, rolling his eyes so forcefully it looked like they'd disappear into his skull.

"Don't be an idiot, Stiles," Noah sighed as he went to leave the room. "Get to school."

Olivia gave Stiles a pointed look. "You do know your dad has let me up here before, right?"

Stiles rolled his eyes and walked over to his door, shutting it firmly. "Well, that was before we did this," he quickly grabbed her, grinning at her excited squeal, and pressed his lips to hers in a sweet peck. "and this," he fell onto his bed with her underneath him, hitching one of her legs up over his hip before returning back to her mouth.

Butterflies attacked Olivia's stomach as she returned his kiss, savoring the soft feel of his lips, the firm lines of his stomach, and the ever-growing hardness between his legs that was pressing against her belly. Her fingers dug themselves into his newly grown hair, moaning softly when his lips drifted from her lips to her jaw.

Contrary to what Lydia believed, Olivia and Stiles hadn't had sex yet. They did almost everything else—there was that time at the drive-in when things got steamy and he ended up fingering her, the night when he slept over and it was the first time she ever gave a guy a hand job, oh, and the time they both went down on each other after their trip to their fourth date. But other than that? No penetration—from Stiles' dick, anyway.

Olivia was ready to take that step with Stiles and have sex. She knew that he was, too, because he was a goddamn horndog when they were by themselves and his awkwardness melted away like ice cream on a hot summer day. The spaz was more self-confident at sex than most of the things in his life, which baffled her—and turned her on at the same time—but he was the one pausing things. He insisted that their first time had to be special. That was nice and all but Olivia wasn't naïve; she knew that the first time was a disaster and what really made the whole thing special was who you did it with. To her, they could have hurried sex in his jeep and it would be special to her because it was Stiles.

But Stiles was serious about it so she would wait. It was sweet but oh-so frustrating—for the both of them.

Just as Stiles' finger started to slip their way past the hem of her dress, she pushed him away from her. "We have school," Stiles pouted and rolled off of her, his head bouncing on the mattress. "and I don't want to be late."

"We have an hour."

Olivia hopped off the bed and straightened her sundress, hiding a bemused smile as she turned back to him, hands on her hips. "I thought you said you wanted our first time to be special?"

"Hey?" Stiles sat up and grinned at her. "I didn't say anything about sex. That was all you, baby."

Baby, she scoffed mentally; she wasn't a big fan of sappy pet names. It was worse than Livvy. Only Stiles would be able to get away with calling her anything like that.

"Yeah, that was all me," she agreed sarcastically. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't control myself."

"It's okay, I understand," Stiles chuckled, getting to his feet and grabbing his backpack from the floor. "Did you eat breakfast?"

"Didn't have the time," she plucked his keys from his desk and tossed them to him. "Allison picked Lydia up pretty early. She's nervous."

"Let's get Dunkin, then," they walked out of the bedroom, Stiles shutting the door behind them. "What's she nervous about?"

"Seeing Scott again, maybe?" Olivia shrugged as they descended the stairs; Noah was already gone for work. "It could be that it's just hard to go back to school without your mom. It was for me."

As they left the house and locked up, Stiles nodded in agreement. "Yeah, me too."

When they arrived at the brand-new school—it had been in progress for over two years and this was the first semester it was going to be used—they had already finished their breakfast and were ready for the day. First, before they could leave the jeep, they had to go over some rules.

"Rules?" Stiles groaned, leaning his head back against his seat. "Rules for what?"

"You know what," they'd gone over Olivia's rules for school before. "No kissing, no hugging, no touchy-feely of any kind."

Stiles rolled his eyes, equal parts exasperated and endeared with his girlfriend. "Can I at least hold your hand?"

Olivia pressed her lips together thoughtfully. "I guess that's fine."

"What about if I put my arm around you?"

"Let's not push it," Olivia smiled lightly when he made a loud but joking sigh. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Stiles leaned into her, lips pursed as he blinked rapidly at her. "Can I at least have a kiss?"

Olivia didn't hesitate to kiss him. It only lasted for a second and it wouldn't be enough to last the whole day but it was still special and it still made Stiles' lungs cease and his heart race.

The two of them separated to find their lockers and their friends. Stiles watched Olivia go with a smile on his face, unable to believe that he was starting his junior year of high school with her by his side. He loved her so damn much and she actually loved him back.

It turned out that his locker was only down the hallway from Scott's. It was very convenient. Scott had already arrived on his new bike when Stiles got to his locker, which made it easier for them to find each other before the bell rang and they had to get to class.

"You wanna ask Derek for help?" Stiles complained, looking over at Scott to see if he was serious; he was. "Why?"

Sure, Stiles was more comfortable with Derek now that he and Olivia were dating but it also made the alpha scarier. When Derek gave him the be-careful-with-my-cousin talk—the night that he and Olivia went on their second date—Stiles had almost passed out. Honestly, he was just glad that it was Derek and not Peter. In general, Olivia was really the only Hale family member that Stiles liked to spend time with.

"He's got the triskele tattooed on his back," Scott reminded him as they walked through the hallways, maps in hand to navigate the new school. "There has to be a way to do it without healing, right?"

Stiles wished that Scott would stop talking about his ugly tattoo. Personally, he thought it was a blessing that it healed.

"Okay, yeah," Stiles conceded but stopped walking as they came across a bulletin board with Boyd and Erica's faces stapled to it; he gestured to them as he continued, "still, doesn't he have his hands a little full?"

Boyd and Erica had been missing since the night that everything went down with Gerard and Jackson. Stiles was worried for them but it mostly stemmed from the fact that Olivia was really upset about their disappearance. She kept having nightmares about her pack members and always had the constant feeling that something was wrong with them.

Scott stared at the missing posters and sighed. He went to say something but both boys were distracted by the familiar British accent of their formal principal—the one that the Argents threatened to kill if he didn't give his job to Gerard.

"Look, these are the applications for the career advisor, I need them sorted," they walked toward the wiry-glass walls that held the main office where the principal was speaking to the secretary. "And what the hell is this?"

Stiles choked on his saliva as the principal held up one of Gerard's broad swords. He pushed Scott's shoulder, ready to get out of there. "Go, go, go!"

Two hallways over, Olivia and Lydia were leaning against the lockers next to Allison's, waiting as the taller brunette organized her newly bough school supplies. Olivia settled on people watching, eyeing the new students and the ones that she recognized from years before. Lydia, on the other hand, was scouting for new hook-ups.

"Freshmen," she sighed wistfully. "Tons and tons of fresh men."

Olivia grimaced while Allison gave her a look of disbelief. "You mean fresh boys, right?" she asked. "Lydia, they're fourteen."

"You might as well be dating a middle-schooler," Olivia tagged on, giving her cousin disapproving eyes.

Lydia shrugged. "Eh, some are more mature than others."

Olivia scoffed. "Gross."

"You know it's okay to be single," Allison pointed out to Lydia. "work on becoming a better person."

Olivia and Lydia exchanged a look; it was very obvious to them that Allison was talking about herself and not Lydia.

"Allison, we love you," Lydia took Allison's arms and turned her so that she was facing them; Olivia gave a supportive nod. "so, if you need to do that thing where we talk about one of us and pretend like we're not actually talking about you, that's fine."

"Totally fine," Olivia added.

Lydia pointed at her cousin before leaning back against the lockers, once again, checking out every guy that passed them. "but I don't want a boyfriend," she continued. "I want a distraction."

Olivia shook her head in amusement and turned away from Lydia, pausing when she saw two guys that she hadn't seen before. There was no way they weren't brothers because they looked nearly identical; they had to be twins. Either way, they were handsome and definitely Lydia's type; brooding bad boys.

"Oh, my God," Lydia had spotted the twins, causing Allison to look their way.

"Brothers?"

Olivia raised an eyebrow at Allison. "Are we seeing the same people, Al?" she scoffed. "They have to be twins."

Lydia hummed, green eyes studying the new kids. "Twins."

The new kids turned down the hallway that headed to the main office just as the first bell rang. Lydia watched them leave, a mischievous look on her face. Olivia rolled her eyes and nudged her to get her attention so they could get going to class.

Because the three of them all had the same English class, they walked through the hallways side-by-side to the section of the school that housed the English department. Stiles and Scott also had the same class as them, which Olivia considered pretty lucky. Out of the two hundred kids in their grade, the five of them all had the first class of the day together.

The classroom was pretty much full by the time that Olivia, Lydia, and Allison entered. Stiles got her attention right away, waving his hand in the air and then pointing to three empty seats next to him that he saved for them. Olivia cracked a smile at him and wandered over to the row of desks closest to the window, sitting in the seat next to him. Lydia scored the seat in front of Stiles but Allison was the unlucky one; the empty seat in front of Olivia had been filled by one of their other classmates.

Olivia grimaced at Allison, her eyes darting over to Scott, who was sitting on the other side of Stiles. "Sorry."

The last empty seat was in front of Scott, the one specific person she was trying to avoid.

"This ought to be good," Stiles muttered under his breath as he, Olivia, and Lydia watched as Allison approached Scott.

Allison smiled shyly—and awkwardly—at Scott, gesturing to the desk. "Is someone...?"

"No, no, no," Scott was quick to respond. "No, it's all you, all yours...Uh, it's totally vacant."

Olivia snickered as Scott looked at Stiles with a miserable face and her amusement definitely heightened when Stiles sent Scott a sarcastic thumbs-up in response.

As soon as Stiles put his hand down, every phone in the classroom started going off. Olivia furrowed her eyebrows as she quickly looked around the classroom and then focused on her purse, pulling out her phone; it was a text message from an unknown number.

Everyone in the class got a text message at the same time? How?

"The offing was barred by a black blank of clouds and the tranquil waterway, leading to the uttermost ends of the earth, flowed somber under an overcast sky, seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness," a tall brunette who had to be their teacher, Ms. Blake, walked into the classroom, reading off her own cellphone. She leaned against her desk when she finished reading and looked out over her students to address them. "This is the last line to the first book we are going to read...It is also the last text you will receive in this class. Phones off, everyone."

Olivia pressed her lips together, impressed by Ms. Blake's entrance. It wasn't bad for a new teacher. She put her phone on silent but she didn't turn it off; if she needed to reach Derek, just in case something happened, she'd have to keep it on.

"All right, everyone," Ms. Blake crossed to the back of her desk. "If you didn't already know from your schedule, I'm Ms. Blake. Right now, while I pass out your syllabi, I want you to get into your textbooks and start reading Heart of Darkness. Make sure you're annotating as you read; write down any thought that you have. I want to know them all."

Like the rest of her classmates, Olivia opened her textbook to start reading Heart of Darkness. Her brand-new notebook was opened to its first page, carefully labeled with the date and what they were doing. Now, Olivia had always received great grades in her English classes but that didn't mean she enjoyed them. English was actually her least favorite class and it bored her to death; there was nothing she hated more than reading old literature and taking notes about what she thought. She thought that it was boring and outdated and she didn't like it—somehow, she didn't think that Ms. Blake would appreciate those annotations.

She was only through half of the first chapter when the classroom door opened and their new principal—well, he was actually the one they had before Gerard Argent—walked into the room. All eyes were on him as he whispered into Ms. Blake's ear before leaving. Ms. Blake's gaze wandered the room before settling on Scott.

"Mr. McCall?" she gestured to the door.

Olivia took the opportunity of Ms. Blake talking to Scott in the hallway to message Derek about Isaac. She was still getting those warning signals in her head and if Scott was being pulled out of class—she wasn't stupid, she knew what was happening—then something worse was going on than they thought.

Ollie: Scott got pulled out of class, I'm guessing it's his mom

Ollie: I think it's because of Isaac

Derek: I'll check it out

Satisfied with her cousin's promise, Olivia slipped her phone back into her purse. She was back to writing notes when Ms. Blake walked into the classroom and continued to write their assignment on the board. They had to read four chapters by Friday—yay.

"Livvy."

Olivia heard the whisper that came from Stiles but ignored it; it was dead silent in the classroom and she was not about to get into trouble for talking when they weren't supposed to.

"Psst," she heard him hiss at her. "Livvy."

Olivia finally turned to him, an annoyed look on her face. "What?"

"What is that?" Stiles used his pencil to poke at her wrist where a flesh-colored bandage was covering Sirius' bite from that morning. "Is that from the accident?"

"No," Olivia pushed his pencil away from her. "Sirius bit me."

"Siri bit you," Stiles immediately furrowed his eyebrows. "No way."

"Well, I didn't bite myself, Stiles."

Stiles huffed and gave her an annoyed look. "Sirius hasn't bitten anyone before."

"Yeah, we had no idea," Lydia, having heard their conversation, bit in. "It isn't like he's our dog or anything."

Stiles' mind raced as he eyed the bandage on Olivia's arm. Sirius didn't bite people; he was one of the most playful and sweetest dogs in the world—and Stiles would die for him but that was beside the point—but he still bit Olivia. And the deer, there had never been any accidents reported where it came straight down the road like that. It's like the animals were going crazy or something.

"Hey," he whispered, hoping to get Olivia's and Lydia's attention again; it worked. "What if it's, like, the same thing as the deer? You know, like how animals start acting weird right before an earthquake or something?"

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek thoughtfully as Lydia quirked an eyebrow at him. "Meaning what?" she asked. "There's gonna be an earthquake?"

"Or something," Stiles insisted. "I just...maybe it means something's coming something bad."

While Stiles and Lydia conferred, Olivia was deep in her head, overwhelmed by her abilities. Her whole body was vibrating and she was rapidly hearing names—Olivia, Stiles, Lydia, Allison—from the classroom but it wasn't just that, either. There was something pulling her consciousness away from her, like she was needed elsewhere.

Scott. Isaac. Derek.

Olivia, they're coming, something whispered to her. They're coming. Olivia, look out the window. LOOK OUT THE WINDOW!

"Olivia!" she startled when someone grabbed her wrist, breathing in quickly. Her eyes locked with Lydia's, who was worried. "Your eyes are purple."

Olivia couldn't respond, she needed to look out the window. When she did, she inhaled deeply; a black bird was flying right toward her and then it was there, slamming into the glass and leaving a gross smudge of blood behind.

More birds were coming; maybe a hundred black birds were flying in the direction of the classroom and it didn't look like they were going to stop. They didn't; the first few birds hit the window as Ms. Blake walked over to see what was going on. And then the fourth bird hit the window, breaking through, and everything was chaos.

Olivia, Stiles, Lydia, Allison. Olivia, Stiles, Lydia, Allison. Olivia, Stiles, Lydia, Allison.

Over and over Olivia heard her and her friends' names, paralyzing her to her seat. She hardly noticed the numerous birds flying around the classroom, terrorizing her classmates. She didn't even notice when a bird started attacking her, too busy caught up in the fact that something was going on with Isaac, Scott, and Derek, too.

It was too much for her at once.

The birds were making Stiles nervous but the fact that Olivia was just sitting there was panic inducing. He cursed himself as he tore out from under his desk, wishing that he had seen her struggling before, and lunged toward her. He wasn't very careful as he pulled her from her seat and covered her with his own body, inching back toward to where Lydia and Allison were huddled together, but he could apologize later. Her eyes were wide and purple and he figured she wouldn't remember much of what was going on, anyway.

The attack of the birds only lasted around ten minutes but a lot of damage was done. Torn textbooks and notebook paper were all over the room, along with pieces of clothing and dead birds. There were a lot of injured people—there was nothing serious but it was birds that attacked them so antibiotics were probably needed—so paramedics and the police were called.

Olivia's eyes were still purple and that could have been the most worrying thing about it all if it wasn't for the fact that she was currently trying to get out of his grasp and head toward the classroom door like her life depended on it.

"Hey, Livvy, what are you doing?" Stiles grabbed her uninjured wrist to stop her from leaving. "You have to wait for the paramedics."

"Scott, Isaac, and Derek...they're in trouble," her voice was hers but it wasn't. It was dazed and almost robotic.

He furrowed his eyebrows worriedly but focused on Olivia; he could help her at the moment, not Scott or Derek. "I'm sure they have it handled. Are you okay," he cupped her face; her purple eyes were blank. "Olivia, come on. Come back to me."

"We're gonna have to get her out of here," Allison stated as she and Lydia walked over to them. Her eyes searched the room; their classmates were still pulling themselves together but soon it would be obvious that something was wrong with Olivia. "Someone's gonna notice."

"Scott."

Lydia bit her lip as her cousin whispered their friend's name. "I'll take her to the bathroom," she volunteered, eyeing Stiles before he could protest. "You need to tell your dad what happened."

"Fine," Stiles agreed with a mumble.

Allison helped Lydia sneak Olivia out of the classroom while Ms. Blake was occupied, trying to round up her injured students. By the time she got back, Noah and some of his deputies had rolled up, as well as a couple of paramedics. Even Mr. Argent had come to the school to see his daughter, worried about how her first day had completely flopped within the first class period.

Stiles quickly explained to his dad what had went on and then looked for his and Olivia's things. Once their school supplies and bags were gathered on his desk, he took his phone from his pants and messaged Derek.

Stilinski: Olivia's freaking out about you guys. What's going on?

Sourwolf: I have Isaac and Scott. We're fine.

If Scott, Isaac, and Derek were out of danger, that probably meant that Olivia was okay. Hopefully she and Lydia were being attended to for their injuries, which were just a few scratches.

Stiles' gaze found Ms. Blake; she was sitting on her desk with bird feathers in her hair, her eyes blank as he started ahead. He felt sorry for the woman. It was her first day of teaching at Beacon High and this was what she got. Why on earth did people even want to work in Beacon Hills? There were disasters all the fucking time.

"Ms. Blake, are you okay?" Stiles reached for one of the feathers in her hair, pulling it out as she flinched away. "Sorry, just...that," he showed her the feather and hastily dropped it to the floor.

He needed hand sanitizer.

"Mr. Argent," his dad's voice caught his attention; he looked to see that Noah was now talking to Mr. Argent, his arms crossed over his chest. "you wouldn't have any insight into this would you?"

Stiles sat on the desk next to his, watching the exchange curiously.

"Me?" Mr. Argent was taken aback.

"Yeah," Noah nodded. "all this bizarre animal behavior, it's...You must have seen something like this before, right?"

"I'm not sure why I would or why you would think I would," Mr. Argent was uncharacteristically flustered as he spoke to Noah.

Noah paused for a second. "I'm sorry, I could have sworn I overheard my son talking about how you were an experienced hunter."

Shit, shit, shit. Stiles quickly ducked his head, burying his face into his phone so he looked busy.

"Ah, right," Mr. Argent replied. "Well, not anymore."

Stiles only looked away from his phone when Noah left the Argents, throwing his dad an accusing look. "You listen to my phone calls now?"

"No, you just happen to be loud," Noah retorted, passing his son to speak to the deputies he brought onto the scene.

Stiles was pretty sure he was dismissed, so he took his and Olivia's things and left the classroom. He and his classmates had been excused for the rest of the day, so he'd be able to find Olivia and Lydia without a problem before they left school.

As he walked through the hallway, making his way to the girl's bathroom, he called Scott. "We got a serious problem at school," he reported when Scott answered, not taking the time to greet his best friend. "Ms. Blake's class—"

"Hey, can you tell me about it later?" Scott interrupted him.

Stiles frowned. "Well, no, I'm pretty sure this qualifies for immediate discussion."

Scott sighed. "Okay, then meet me at Derek's."

"His loft?"

"No, his old house."

"What the fuck are you doing at his old house?" last Stiles knew, the old Hale house had been taken over by the county. Olivia had been really upset about it but relieved at the same time.

"Just meet us here, okay," Scott said hurriedly. "Bye."

Stiles groaned; he seriously hoped he wasn't going to that house for no reason. Derek had said that he, Scott, and Isaac were fine, so why did they need to wait around in the rundown mansion? What was so important that he had to meet them there?

He put his phone back in his pants just as Olivia and Lydia left the bathroom. He was very much relieved to see that Olivia looked like herself again, fully aware and in charge of her body. She was a little ruffled but so were he and Lydia and the rest of their classmates.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her, ignoring her PDA rules to pull her into a tight hug. He was relieved to feel her return his affection. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Olivia assured him as she pulled away. "Sorry about that. I don't know what happened."

"We need to figure out what it was," Lydia spoke up, crossing her arms over her chest. "If that happens again..."

"Someone might notice, yeah," Olivia nodded and then focused back on Stiles, reaching up to carefully prod at the scratch near his temple. "Did you get that cleaned?"

"Yes, ma'am," Stiles confirmed with a grin. "Oh, I talked to Derek and he, Scott, and Isaac are fine."

Olivia sighed in relief. "Good."

"And Scott wants us to meet them at the old Hale house."

Immediately, Olivia clammed up, giving him a tight smile. "You go ahead," she told him, not wanting to go back to the place where her mother had died. "I'll stay with Lydia and get a ride home from Allison."

Stiles frowned. "Are you sure?"

He knew that she hated to be around the old Hale house but he was worried about her being in a small space with Mr. Argent. They weren't the ones that fought and Argent had actually helped her get Stiles out of his house that spring but Stiles was still cautious. Despite her last name being something different, Olivia was still a Hale and Argent was still an Argent.

"Yeah," surprisingly, Olivia stood on her tiptoes to give Stiles a light peck on the lips. "Lyds and I have that party to go to anyway. It's gonna be fun."

Lydia rolled her eyes at her cousin's sarcasm. "Would you stop being a party pooper?"

"No," Olivia turned her gaze back to Stiles once again. "I love you."

Stiles beamed at her. "Love you, too. Be careful."

-

After getting her things from Stiles, it was just Olivia who went with Lydia to her locker. Allison joined them as Lydia started touching up her lipstick but they stayed silent. All three of them were still bewildered with what had happened in their english class.

Finally, Lydia spoke up, "Is it me or is Beacon Hills turning into more like a beacon for the totally bizarre and supernatural?"

Allison laughed and Olivia rolled her eyes as Lydia shut her locker. They were just about to walk away to head to Allison's car when they came across an older woman. She couldn't have been more than five or six years older than them but she looked a little haggard.

"Where's Scott McCall?" the woman asked them.

Olivia, Lydia, and Allison exchanged looks but it was Olivia who spoke up. "How you do—"

"You're the Anchor," the woman breathed and grabbed Olivia's arm; Olivia's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Hey, how do you know..." Allison spoke up angrily, only for her arm to be grabbed by the woman, too.

Both Olivia and Allison winced in pain as the woman squeezed their arms carefully, her eyes looking at something past them.

"Easy on the physicality, sweetheart," Lydia sneered, forcefully pulling the woman's grip away from Olivia and Allison.

The woman let go and started to run away; Olivia looked back at where the woman had been staring at and saw that the twins that Lydia was lusting after were fleeing the hallway, too. "What the hell?" she muttered and looked down at her arm, which was still aching. "She bruised me."

Allison looked at her arm. "Huh, me too."

"What a psycho," Lydia glowered at the end of the hallway where the woman disappeared to.

"Come on," all three of them turned to Mr. Argent, who had walked up to them. "Let's get you girls out of here."

Olivia exchanged a nod with Lydia. After the strange day she had—which only lasted one class period, by the way—she was more than ready to get out of that school. She and Lydia ducked away from the Argents and walked down the hallway side-by-side.

(Gif is not mine)

[lizziesxltzmxn-archive]

Happy birthday, Liv! @bravelittleflower

I’m sorry this is so late (its 10pm where i live) but at least I got it on the right day! lol Anyways, I made you this cover for Faith bc I love her, you, and our crossovers. I hope it’s been a good one!