#basically sleeping for 3 hours just so the food can settle in my stomach...i woke up like this yesterday roo

[pudgypup]

😵‍💫woke up at 4 am & currently making mint tea bc i woke up nauseous.......yes im super fucking uncomfortable but its so so sexy to me

[aliwritesfic]

Night Shift Part 3 (F!Reader x Frankie Morales)

Summary: Yours and Frankie’s weekends take very different turns

Word Count: 2K

Warnings: Emotionally abusive relationship, very brief mention of drug use, drinking, T*m D*vis makes an appearance

Part 1 Part 4

Frankie slept better that week than he had in months. Every night was long, uninterrupted, mercifully dreamless sleep. The diner had done exactly what he had hoped. When he awoke that Saturday afternoon, he felt better than he had in ages. He hummed while he rummaged through the refrigerator, grabbing out some leftover padthai and throwing it in the microwave.

Each night that week, a routine between you and him had formed. You’d work, barely exchanging words until the dinner rush was completed, then you’d make him a coffee and he’d make you something to eat. You’d requested something different each night, and each night you’d spoken to him a little more. Some nights you were in a better mood than others, but he quickly realised it wasn’t personal against him.

He found he was a little disappointed when he woke up that afternoon and remembered that it was his day off. If he was being honest with himself, he’d grown to enjoy your company. Something about you intrigued him, made him want to get to know you more.

Frankie spent getting stuff together for poker night with the boys. It was his turn to host, so all he had to do was make sure that his dining room table was clear and his portable speaker was charged. 

While he got ready, his mind kept wandering back to you.

He thought of the way you had a different smile for certain customers. The truly genuine one was reserved for only a select few of your favourites. He felt himself hoping that one day you’d give him one of those smiles, instead of the one that didn’t really reach your eyes and disappeared quickly. 

He thought of how when the diner was quiet, you’d lean against the counter and sip your coffee, your gaze firmly out the window. 

He thought of how when your shift ended and you checked your phone, your face would change for just a fraction of a second before you’d say goodbye and rush out the door. 

Jesus fucking Christ, he thought, do I have a crush?

Frankie hadn’t had a crush since high school, when he had finally had the guts to ask out Portia Inglewood. That relationship had lasted until he left the military, and brought all the emotional baggage with him.

A loud banging on the door knocked him out of his thoughts. 

“Cat!” Benny didn’t wait for Frankie to open the door. “We’re here, and we have beer!”

“You know where it goes,” Frankie called back. 

Santi grinned at his best friend and handed him a beer. “How’s the new job?”

“It’s exactly what I need right now,” Frankie told him. Santi nodded in understanding. They all had their own ways of dealing with what they carried. “Plus, the extra cash doesn’t hurt.”

Frankie didn’t want money - he had plenty from when he’d do private jobs with Santi. If he ever became desperate, he knew he could just join Santi on his next job. 

“Well, extra cash or not, I’ll always be the hottest person you’ve ever worked with,” Santi winked, making Frankie roll his eyes.

“Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better, man.” Frankie laughed. 

The night progressed in a haze of pizza and beer and poker. Will lost money to Tom, and Tom promptly lost it all to Benny. Santi told the group about the new girl he was seeing, some French expat over stateside for a few months. Benny double checked everyone was coming to the fight next weekend. Tom revealed that he and the girls were moving to Ohio to be closer to Molly’s parents. The boys promptly began planning a going away party, which would basically just be another poker night but with more beer and possibly a cake.

Any worries Frankie held seemed to melt away on nights like these. At one point, he briefly wondered what you were doing and if you were thinking of him too. Yep. Definitely a crush.

~*~

You didn’t like Kurt’s friends. Unfortunately, you were stuck spending your Saturday night with them crowded in your apartment, loud and disrespectful as hell. It didn’t matter to them that you’d asked time and time again could they please go outside to smoke, could they please put their beer bottles in the recycling bin, could they please not use your nice plates to do coke on. 

If your grandfather could have seen you now, he would’ve called you a push-over. You hated that you had become this person - afraid to stick up for yourself in your own home. Hell, you didn’t even know at what point you’d become this person. It just seemed to happen over the five years you’d been dating Kurt.

You had lost yourself in trying to be what he wanted.

With a sigh, you sealed yourself away in the bedroom with a bag of Doritos and your phone, wishing you could call your grandfather. You still had his number in your phone. Occasionally, you’d look at it, the numbers seared into your brain. 

Instead of calling the now disconnected number, you settled for messaging Sara. She was one of your only remaining friends from high school, and knew as much about your feelings as you were willing to let on. The thing was, you knew what she would say if you told her how you felt every single day. How lost, how hopeless you felt. She’d tell you to leave, forget Kurt and all the years with him, but to you it wasn’t that simple. 

Part of you still loved him, despite everything, and that part remained hopeful that you and Kurt could fix the fractures in your relationship. Plus, a voice in the back of your head told you he was right when he said he was the only one who could ever love you. 

Being alone, unloved, was one of your deepest fears.

This was one of the nights you actually missed being at the diner. You missed the lemon scented countertops, the radio that seemed to be permanently set on the oldies station, hell, you even missed Frankie and his amazing food. He’d been working with you less than a week but he had already wedged himself into your stomach. But, it was just two more nights until you were back there. It struck you that this was the opposite of how most people thought. No one you knew actually wished to go back to work. 

It was almost dawn when you were woken out of your half sleep by Kurt stumbling into the room. 

“Baby,” he slurred, crawling into bed beside you. “Baby, I love you.”

“I love you too,” you mumbled, moving over so he could fit in the bed easier. He reeked of sweat and booze. 

“I’m sorry,” he planted a sloppy kiss on your neck. “I really try to be good.”

“I know,” you ran your fingers over his head. He liked his hair cropped short, in an almost military like style. “I try too.”

“Can we go back to how we were?” Kurt continued kissing you, his hands moving drunkenly over your body. You bit back a sigh, knowing where this was heading.

You decided it would be easier to let him do what he needed, despite how badly you wanted to sleep. The only saving grace was you knew Kurt would only last a couple of minutes before it would be over. 

~*~

“So, what’s the new guy like?” Manny asked. You were seated outside, at one of his favourite cafes. The sun shone down warmly on you both, brightening your mood.

“I like him, I think,” you said. “He’s nice, quiet.”

“And pretty cute, right?” Manny wriggled his eyebrows. 

“I hadn’t noticed,” you lied. Of course you had noticed. It was impossible not to notice. 

“Don’t feed me bullshit, I can tell when you’re lying.”

“Ugh, fine. He’s good looking. But that doesn’t mean anything.”

“That’s the thing lover, it only means something if you want it to.” Manny took a conspiratorial sip of his drink. “And I didn’t get a gay vibe from him.”

“Oh good, because the only thing holding me back from jumping his bones in the kitchen is that I didn’t know his sexual preference.” You rolled your eyes, deciding to quickly change the subject. “Anyway, how’s the new job?”

“I’m loving it!” Manny lit up. “Everyone says teenagers are the worst group to teach, but it’s like they forget middle school exists.”

You smiled at Manny’s happiness. It thrilled you to see someone you considered your best friend so happy. If anyone deserves the whole world, you thought, it’s him. But he wasn’t going to let you change the subject that easily.

“You know, maybe you could invite Frankie to one of our lunches,” Manny said slyly. “It could be a night crew thing.”

“That would mean inviting the weekenders,” you reminded him. Manny held a grudge against the weekend crew, but you could never figure out why.

“No, weeknight crew only. Come on, lover, it could be fun! Plus, I want to get to know my replacement a bit better. Make sure I’m not handing the spatula to someone I don’t approve of.” Manny pouted and switched on his puppy dog eyes.

“Ugh, fine, I’ll ask,” you conceded, “but don’t be surprised if he says no. The man probably has a life.”

“It can’t hurt to ask though, and I will bother you about it until you have an answer.”

“What are you planning?” You knew that look all too well.

“Just on making a new friend,” Manny said innocently. “Lover, you can never have enough friends.”

At that moment your phone buzzed with a text from Kurt.

Where r u?????

You grimaced and sent a quick reply, hoping it wouldn’t lead to what it usually did.

At lunch with Manny from work. I’ll be home in a couple hours, do you want anything?

“Why don’t you just break up with him?” Manny asked, watching you carefully.

Is he the gay 1?

Yes, you met him and his husband last year.

“It’s complicated,” you said. You didn’t have anywhere to go. You were terrified of being alone. Part of you still felt like you could salvage what you had. The one and only time you had tried to break up with him, he had threatened to kill himself if you left. 

“You deserve better than that,” Manny said. You remained silent, not sure if he was right. “You’ve been unhappy for ages now.”

“I’m happy!” You protested.

“No you aren’t. Don’t fucking lie to me. You’re miserable with that douche bag, even James agrees.”

“I haven’t seen James in months! How the hell would he know!” You were getting defensive, but you still managed to keep your voice lowered. 

“Lover, I talk that man's ear off every chance I get. Because I love him. Because he likes to hear me talk about my day and the people important to me.”

“I’m important to you?”

Manny rolled his eyes and threw his napkin at you. “Of course you are, you’re a sister to me. Stop trying to change the subject.”

“What subject!” You scoffed.

“The subject of you for some reason wanting to stay in a relationship with a man who makes you miserable,” Manny’s voice softened and he gently held one of your hands. The gesture almost made you tear up with its gentleness. You merely shrugged.

“Like I said, it’s complicated.”

Manny nodded. “Just please think about it, for real. I couldn’t sleep at night if I never said anything to you about it.”

The walk home was slow, you took your time to sort out your scrambling thoughts. Manny had offered to drive you, but it was a nice day, and you wanted to enjoy the sunshine. You pushed the issue of Kurt to the side, knowing either way the outcome would be the same unless you magically grew a spine and a few extra zeros in your bank account.

Instead, you thought about Frankie and how best to ask him to Sunday lunch. Honestly, if there was going to be a night shift tradition, it just felt downright rude to not at least extend an invite. And if Frankie said yes, well, that was even better. It was like Manny said - an opportunity to make a new friend. Just a friend.

So why did your stomach flip at the thought?

Tagging @hnt-escape if you’d also like to be tagged just let me know <3

[onlydarylnormanfic]

All of You - Part 9 (The Test)

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Part 8]

Summary: The people of Alexandria are still uneasy with her presence, despite now being Daryl’s wife. So, the Reader is determined to go on a run with Rick, Michonne, Aaron, and Daryl. She is determined to show the group that she can be of good use and try and calm the tensions between them. She goes on the run with them, despite feeling very under the weather, and helps the group salvage food and supplies from a nearby farmhouse. When she returns to Alexandria, Daryl insists on her going to see the doctor to see what is wrong. She finds out why she has been feeling under the weather, much to both of their surprise…

-----

You awoke to the sounds of the birds chirping and the town rising. You could hear voices here and there outside of your open window. You tossed and turned a few times, stretching out and groaning with discomfort as you felt your sore muscles. And then finally, you reluctantly opened your eyes.

“Ughh…” you groaned, closing them again and pulling the covers back over your head, trying to fall back asleep despite the sun rays beaming directly at you through the open window.

You heard Daryl’s footsteps walking down the hallway towards the bedroom. You heard the doorknob rattle and the door creak open. And then you heard a chuckle from Daryl’s throat fill the bedroom.

You forced your eyes open and flung the blankets down off of your face and upper body. You looked over at him with cranky, tired eyes.

“What?” you asked, with a slight edge in your voice.

This made Daryl chuckle again as he walked over with a cup of water for you to drink and a bowl of something else in his other hand.

Daryl shook his head and smiled, setting the glass of water and bowl down on your nightstand beside you.

“Nothin…” Daryl said with a knowing smile as he sat down on the bed beside you.

“What?” you asked again, smiling up at him as you started to awake to the dream that was your reality now, him.

He shook his head, looking away, unable to shake his smile as he watched you fall in love all over again with him as you slowly awoke.

It happened every day, and every day he wondered how he had gotten so lucky.

“Nothin’, it’s just…I never knew until we came here just how much you were *not* a morning person,” he said, chuckling again to himself.

You rolled your eyes and smiled sheepishly back up at him, pushing your arms to the bed and finally sitting up.

“Fine. I’m up. Happy?” you asked with another pout over at him.

He laughed softly to himself and nodded.

“Always,” he said reaching over and grabbing the bowl from the nightstand.

He grabbed one of the fresh strawberries inside of it and brought it to your lips.

“Here I brought ya some breakfast,” he said, gesturing to you to open your mouth.

Your lips smiled at him first, causing him to look up into your eyes again and admire the twinkle in them.

“You’re so sweet,” you said, looking over at him with thankful admiration for another few seconds before you focused on the strawberry and bit into it.

“Mmm…” you moaned happily to yourself as you closed your eyes and tasted the sweet fruit with a content smile on your face.

You swallowed it down and opened your eyes again to see Daryl smiling over at you with the sweetest smile on his lips as he watched you enjoy the fruit.

Life had been so damn good since you two had been married and settled down in Alexandria. Your dad had made good on his promise and let Alexandria survive on its own without his intrusive presence or demands.

You two had spent one full week in honeymoon heaven before starting your new life in this new community.

Since then, you had been trying to do as much as possible to prove your worth here. You couldn’t stand anyone thinking that you somehow thought you were above anyone or above the same hard work everyone else had to do to maintain this paradise in the middle of a deadly storm everywhere around you.

You grabbed a few more strawberries and popped them eagerly into your mouth, your stomach now alerting you to how famished you were.

You chopped away on them, grabbing more and popping them into your mouth. After you swallowed those you reached over, grabbed the water, and chugged it down. When you were finished you put the glass back on the nightstand and burrowed back down into your sleeping position. You looked up at him with a tired, but satisfied smile as your stomach and your eyes silently thanked him for the nourishment. But you couldn’t help but yawn, still feeling so tired.

Daryl looked over at you with concern for a moment. He brought his hand to your forehead, trying to feel if you had a fever. But you felt normal to him. So, he sighed with relief. He put the bowl down and walked around the bed, slipping into his side of the bed under the covers. He laid his arm out on the pillow above you.

You immediately lifted your head long enough to let him lay it beneath your head. You then laid back down and scooted into him, laying your arm over his chest as you settled into him.

He kissed your forehead a few times, smiling to himself as you turned into his body and cuddled into him. You two fit together like the perfect puzzle you were.

You smiled happily to yourself, closing your eyes as you burrowed into his neck, loving the scent of him.

Daryl wrapped both arms around you and held you close to him, watching as you closed your eyes and smiled, relaxing happily in his arms.

“You’ve been so tired lately,” Daryl said, kissing you on the forehead again and nuzzling into it as he closed his own eyes and held you tight.

“Maybe ya should stay here today and rest,” he said with sweet concern.

You shook your head, which laid on his chest, and nuzzled further into him, wrapping your arm around his body, underneath his arm.

“No, I can’t. I need to prove my worth here,” you said, opening your eyes and starring over at the open window opposite you with a wary look in your eyes.

As much as you did, you couldn’t help but feel like people were always judging your worth or your motives. You didn’t know if that was in your head or reality. All you knew was that’s how you felt most times you walked around here. The new world that you had desperately wanted for you and Daryl for as long as possible was turning out to be colder than you had imagined. Despite all of the anxiety you had for your own safety and insecurities you had pushed on, every single day as hard as you could. You did it for him, for your future together, and for the future of this safe haven.

“Ya don’t need to prove nothin’, Y/N. I’ll protect you,” Daryl said, hugging you as he said it.

He wanted nothing more than for you to finally be accepted her and put your mind at ease.

You smiled wider at his words, nuzzling into his neck and kissing it a few times before settling back into the crook.

“I know you can, baby. I just…I just need to prove myself as an equal here too. I have to,” you said, looking up at him with determined eyes.

Even though you didn’t often announce this worry out loud, he read it on your face every single time it crossed your mind. Which was more times than he had ever wanted when bringing you here. He wished like hell he could flash forward to a time when the people he knew and loved here would see how great you were. But all he could do was endure the first weeks of this new deal and hope that you and his family outside of you could somehow find common ground.

He looked back down into your eyes with worry, until he saw your resolve and nodded. He understood completely what that feeling was like and he admired how much you wanted to do this on your own merits. How could he say no?

So, he nodded, leaning down to kiss you softly. When he was done, he kissed your nose, then nuzzled it with his own, finally submitting to you.

“Alright. But, how about I let ya sleep a few more hours before we have to leave?” he asked, looking you over with loving concern again.

You looked up into his eyes and nodded, closing your eyes and then nuzzling into his body again, clinging onto him as if he was your only safety.

“Only if you stay here with me,” you said, starting to fall back asleep in his relaxing and loving arms.

Daryl smiled and settled his body further into yours until he was comfy, settling in to sleep next to you.

Once he did you smiled, and your eyes closed again. Daryl watched you fall quickly back asleep in his arms silently and contently. He dosed off soon after you did and you both fell into a peaceful slumber...

-----

You awoke before Daryl about an hour later. You had tossed and turned until your brain finally woke you up. You sat up and covered your mouth, feeling your stomach turning like crazy. You quickly ripped off the blanket over you and ran to the bathroom, where you hit your knees right in front of the toilet. You gripped it just seconds before you threw up the water and strawberries you had just eaten not too long ago.

“Ugh!” you groaned with disgust, wiping your mouth clean and quickly flushing the toilet.

That’s strange. You thought to yourself. You rarely, if ever, got sick. Maybe the strawberries had been bad you thought as you stood up and walked over to the sink. But your stomach did seem to be more sensitive the past week or so. You ran some cold water and splashed over your face, trying to cool it down.

“Y/N?” Daryl called out from the bedroom.

“Y/N, you alright?” he asked, looking over at the open door with confusion.

He had heard and felt you spring out of bed to the bathroom, waking him from his slumber.

“Yeah!” you shouted back, grabbing your toothbrush.

“I just wanted to make sure we weren’t going to be late!”  you shouted back, shoving the toothbrush in your mouth and washing it clean.

Within seconds Daryl was at the doorway of the bathroom.

He leaned up against it, looking over at you with an in-awe smile as he took you in. Even doing such a basic thing you looked like the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

You leaned over and spit, rinsing your mouth, and then looked back over at him.

“What?” you asked self-consciously as you watched him take you in, hoping you looked better than you felt.

He walked over behind you and wrapped his arms around your body, looking at you in his arms, through the mirror in front of you two. He smiled to himself at the image of the two of you bonded together as if you were one. And from now on you were. He loved that. He still couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have you all to himself, forever.

“I was just thinkin’ about how happy ya make me,” Daryl replied with a smile over at you through the reflective mirror.

You smiled back at him, your heart melting at his words.

“Really?” you asked, nuzzling your head into his as you stared back at him through the mirror all feelings of discomfort leaving your body as suddenly as they had come on.

You wrapped your arms around his, that held you so securely, leaning back into his body with complete loving security as you fell back into him.

“So, you’re not sick of me yet?” you asked, looking up at him in the reflection with a happy, amused smile.

He leaned over and whispered into your ear.

“Not possible,” he said, focusing his eyes on yours this time as you two pivoted together.

“Yeah?” you asked as you turned around and into him.

You wrapped your arms loosely around his neck, smiling wider as he wrapped his arms protectively around your waist and pulled your body into his.

He smiled back at you, leaning over and nudging his nose up into yours, his lips ghosting yours as he stared deep into your eyes.

“I’ve never loved you more,” he admitted with a smile of pure admiration.

He then closed his eyes and pushed his lips to yours.

You sighed happily as he kissed your lips gently a few times and then pushed his tongue into your mouth. You melted into his kiss as his tongue swirled passionately around yours, feeling instantly better at the feeling of him.

His hands immediately started to roam your back as he kissed you with more hunger.

You could feel how hard he was as he walked the two of you back into the counter behind you. As soon as your ass hit the edge of the counter Daryl brought his hand down in between your legs. He pushed his hand down into your panties and began to rub your pussy up and down.

“Ohhh, baby…” you whimpered at the feeling, pulling your lips away from his as your body fell back at his touch.

He grunted to himself, rubbing his leg up and down your inner thigh, trying to give his hard cock some relief. He was always so ready for you.

You groaned with confused happiness as you felt his hard cock running up and down your thigh, turning you on even more as his fingers played with you.

He pushed his lips to the side of your neck and began to harshly kiss it.

“Daryl…” you whimpered, closing your eyes and smiling to yourself at the feeling of him loving up on you.

He pulled his fingers out of you and ran his hands over and cupped your ass, under the fabric of your nightshirt, pulling your core into his.

“I need you, baby,” he whispered into your ear as he ran his hands eagerly up and down your ass with pure need.

“Do you think we have time?” you asked, trying to stay logical while he drove you fucking crazy for him.

“They can wait,” he said, leaning back over and pushing his tongue back in your mouth. He grabbed ahold of your tongue and began to swirl it around as fast as he could this time, causing you to moan happily into his kiss, completely submitting to him.

He knew that was all the convincing you needed. He brought his hands to the sides of your panties. He pulled his lips from yours long enough to step back and push them down to the ground.

He brought his hands to his pants, unbuttoning and unzipping them in front of you.

You stepped out of your panties and watched as he popped open his pants and pushed them to the ground. He stood back up and your eyes went wide with excitement as you watched his throbbing cock pop up to the middle of his bare stomach.

No matter how many times you two were together you were always amazed at how much he always wanted you and how good he always felt inside of you.

He walked over to you and pulled your shirt up.

You quickly raised your arms and allowed him to pull it up and off of you.

He then slammed his hand down on the counter beside you, silently ordering you to hop up.

You obeyed, quickly hopping up onto the counter. You spread your legs and brought your hands to the sides of his body. You stared down and watched as he grabbed his cock, stroking it a few times before bringing it to your pussy.

He ran it up and down your folds a few times and then swiftly pushed himself inside of you.

“Ah!” you cried out in pure pleasure as he shoved himself inside of you so quick.

His hands came quickly to the sides of your hips and ass. He gripped them tightly and began to thrust into you with full fervor.

You leaned into him, wrapping your arms around his neck and your legs around his lower back as quickly as you could to endure the brunt of his excited cock. You looked into his eyes with pure happy disbelief as he started to fuck you the way only he could.

His jaw clenched at the pure look of loving desire in your eyes as he started to thrust harshly into you.

You whimpered and locked eyes with his, looking back at him with happy disbelief at the feeling.

He got lost at the look in your eyes, and how beautiful you were loving every second of him inside you. He stopped his cock’s motion just as suddenly as he had started it. He then wrapped his arms firmly around your body and pulled you up into his arms.

You quickly adjusted, wrapping your arms tightly around his neck and resecuring your legs around his waist as he picked you up off the counter into his arms, still deep inside you.

“What are you doing?” you asked with a happy smile as he started to walk you out of the bathroom and back to the bedroom you shared.

“They can wait a few extra minutes…” Daryl said sweetly, walking you both back to your bed and laid you down onto it.

You two climbed up the bed in perfect unison until your head was back on your pillow and he was back on top of you, just the way you loved it.

He looked over into your eyes with a soft-hearted happy smile, pressing his lips sweetly to yours a few times before finishing his thought.

“…I wanna love my wife down right, just the way she deserves,” he finished with that sweet smile you loved so much.

You smiled back up at him, running your hand softly up and down his neck as you took him in. He was the most amazing man you had ever met and sometimes you still felt like meeting him had all been just a dream. But here he was every day reminding you that he was oh so very real and so very much in love with you. You felt the exact same way and you couldn’t believe that you had found such a love in the strangest of times.

“I love you, Daryl,” you said softly and with pure sincerity in your eyes, wishing you could freeze this moment in time forever.

His smile widened, and he nodded, nudging his nose up into yours and ghosting his lips with yours as he looked deep into your eyes.

“I love ya too, Y/N… Always,” he whispered, looking down at you and getting lost in all that you were and all that you had brought into his life since knowing you.

He couldn’t wait to spend every second of every day with you. He knew he would never get tired of having you by his side. You were his love, his rock, his everything. And he still couldn’t believe that he got to keep you for the rest of your lives.

You ran your hands down to the sides of his neck and placed them there, rocking your hips up and down his with a playful smile on your lips as you goaded him forward.

“Good. Now fuck me, baby,” you said with a slight whine in your voice.

He cocked his eyebrow at this as his eyes turned dark with desire for you again.

“With pleasure,” he said with another dark smile and then began to thrust his cock in and out of you again.

He started fast, hitting into you with pure driven lust-filled passion.

You moaned loudly, running your hands down to grip his shoulders as his cock pushed your body up and down with pure pleasurable force.

“Yeah? Ya like that?!” He grunted with pure excitement as he watched you loving his cock.

“Yes! Don’t stop!” you cried out loudly, rocking your hips up and down with more need as you felt your high coming.

He could tell you were close, so he sped up and increase his pressure on your core, just the way he knew you loved it.

“Ohh…Yes!! Don’t stop!” you moaned happily with every hit from his amazing cock.

He gave you everything he had, slamming harshly into you faster and harder until your hips locked up into his and you came so fast for him.

“Oh, God!? Yes, baby!!” you cried out as you hit your high, closing your eyes with a smile on your face as you enjoyed the amazing feeling buzzing through your body.

“Damn, girl!” Daryl grunted at the feeling of your pussy convulsing happily over his cock and the look on your face.

He sped up his cock, jackhammering into your hilt as fast as he could until he slammed into you and exploded deep inside you.

“Fuck!” Daryl growled, clenching his jaw shut and glaring you down as he came so hard because of you.

He growled again, slamming his cock into you again, pushing your threshold, prolonging his high.

You smiled up at him, bringing your hands back to his hair to massage it as he collapsed on top of you, burying his head safely into the side of your neck. You nuzzled your head into his lovingly, running fingertips softly up and down his back.

He was panting away his high into your neck, causing shivers of bliss to breakout across your skin.

You two enjoyed the post-coital bliss for a few minutes in happy silence. After a few minutes of silent bliss, he began to kiss your neck repeatedly, silently thanking you for the amazing feeling you had just given him.

You lightly patted his back.

“I think we should get going, baby. I don’t want to be late for my first run,” you said reluctantly.

He nodded into your neck, kissing your neck a few more times before leaning back to look back into your beautiful eyes.

“Are ya sure I can’t convince ya to stay here?” he asked, knowing the answer, but needing to ask one more time anyway.

You shook your head.

“I am coming with whether you like it or not, Dixon,” you said with a resolved smile.

He nodded, reluctantly, knowing that that would be your answer.

He then pulled himself out of you and rolled over onto his back. He watched as you got up off of the bed and walked over to your dresser. He watched as you pulled out an outfit to wear. He smiled to himself, rubbing his stomach absentmindedly as he watched you put on your panties, jean shorts, and your favorite black tank top. You looked over at him as you grabbed a pair of socks, noticing the dumfounding look on his face, watching you as you got dressed.

“What’s that look?” you asked curiously, hopping up onto the dresser as you put on your socks, looking over at him curiously again when you were done.

“Nothin’, it’s just… If it’s possible you look more beautiful than you ever have this morning,” he said looking over at you with pure loving admiration in his eyes.

You smiled and rolled your eyes, hopping off of the dresser and putting your hands on your hips.

“Don’t think that sweet talk is going to make me change my mind, mister,” you said with a pointed smile over at him.

He laughed and nodded in agreement. He got up and walked over to you, putting his hand on the side of your face as he looked over at you.

“So, damn, stubborn,” he said with a smile.

You brought your hands to rest on his hips and leaned into him.

“We wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t,” you said with another pointed smile, leaning up to kiss him.

You were swirling your tongues passionately around one another, getting lost again in one another when there was a rap on the front door. You pulled your lips from his.

“I told you!” you said, turning to walk towards the bedroom door to answer the front door.

You turned back around and looked his naked body up and down with admiration one more time before turning serious as your eyes came back to his.

“Get dressed, Romeo. We’ve got to get going,” you said, giving him another smile before turning and walking out of the door.

You walked down the hallway to the front door. You opened it to find Michonne standing on the other side of it.

She nodded a stern hello to you. She, along with most of Daryl’s family still hadn’t warmed up to you much since you had moved here. You guess you couldn’t blame them after what your father had done to them. But still, you were hopeful that one day they would accept you as one of their own. At least for Daryl’s sake.

“You ready?” Michonne asked, pure business on her face.

“Yeah, just give us a minute. We’ll meet you at the gate shortly,” you said with an apologetic smile.

If Michonne noticed, she didn’t let on that she did. She just nodded militantly and turned to walk towards the gate, her sword secured tightly on her back.

You grimaced and shut the door.

You turned back around to see Daryl now fully dressed, walking toward you with an awe-filled smile still on his face after your wonderful morning together.

You forced a small smile, trying to deny how nervous you were about today.

Daryl noticed the change in your demeanor and the look on his face turned to concern. He walked up to you and brought his hands up to cup your face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked with worry on his face.

You shook your head.

“It’s nothing…It’s just I don’t think they’ll ever accept me, Daryl,” you said looking up at him sadly.

He shook his head and then planted a few loving kisses on your lips before looking back into your eyes with resolve.

“Hey, don’t say that. They will. They just need time,” he said, trying to reassure you.

You looked away and shrugged, your confidence in that ever happening was obviously not very high.

“Y/N, they will come around. I know it. But right now? I need you to be focused on the job at hand. Because there is no way I’m allowing you out there if you aren’t focused on staying safe,” he said, dipping down and forcing your eyes back to his.

You smiled and nodded in agreement, taking a deep breath before answering him.

“You’re right. Alright, I’ll get my boots on,” you said.

Daryl nodded in agreement, breathing a sigh of relief. It was bad enough you insisted on coming out there where there was danger around every corner. He couldn’t have you distracted.

You two put your boots on in silence.

Daryl grabbed his crossbow, slinging it over his back, securing the strap around his chest. Daryl handed you your belt, which had two knife holsters on it. You quickly slipped the belt around your belt loops, buckling it tightly. He then handed you two knives that he had welded for you. You grabbed them and holstered them securely on both your sides.

Daryl brought his hand to your chin, grabbing it securely, and then looked seriously into your eyes.

“You stay by my side at all times, got it?” he asked, worry flashing across his face as he thought about all that could happen to you, the most precious thing he had ever cared about.

You nodded, smiling up at him with reassurance.

“I promise,” you said, knowing how worried he really was to have you out there.

You? You couldn’t wait to step foot outside and finally be free from any kind of walls. But you also didn’t want to die either. So, you would do as Daryl said. Even if you usually would fight him on it. You didn’t want to mess up anything. You wanted to be with this man, here at his home, for as long as you could. Hopefully, forever. So, you agreed to his terms with sincerity.

Daryl searched your face with worry on his, trying to find any ounce of defiance in his order in yours. When he was sure there was none and that you had fully agreed he took a deep breath and nodded. He dropped his hands from your face and grabbed your hand, holding it tightly in his.

He nudged his head towards the door.

“Come on,” he said and then pulled you away with him out of the house.

You shut the door behind you and then walked hand in hand with Daryl down the steps of your house and the streets of Alexandria.

You looked around nervously as you locked eyes with people as you passed. Most gave you a look of unease, some even hid their children behind them protectively as you walked past them.

Daryl noticed, his heart pinging with sadness at the look of uneasy sadness on your face as you tried your hardest not to feel it fully.

He nudged your shoulder with his.

“Hey,” he said, waiting for your eyes to come back to his at his behest.

“You here with me?” he asked with concern.

You smiled over at him, getting lost in his eyes as you always did, and nodded. You leaned your head onto his shoulder and squeezed his hand tightly as you forced your eyes forward towards the gate.

“Always,” you said, smiling genuinely as you remembered the love you had for this amazing man and why you chose to endure this.

You reminded yourself that nothing and no one would ever get in the way of you two being together.

He smiled happily to himself, kissing the top of your head sweetly before forcing his own eyes ahead to the gate and to the group you were going out with today.

You and Daryl walked up to Michonne, Rick, and Aaron, hand in hand. You straightened out as you grew closer to the group, noticing their wary eyes as they took the image of you two together in.

Rick was the first one to walk towards you two, looking over at Daryl and nodding seriously over at him.

“You ready?” Rick asked him,

Daryl nodded, squeezing your hand with silent support for you.

“Yeah, *we’re* ready,” Daryl replied, emphasizing the fact that you were also here to help.

Rick nodded again, looking over at you with a hard apology in his eyes and demeanor.

“Y/N,” he said politely and then turned and walked back towards Michonne and Aaron.

You looked over at Daryl with unsure eyes again, your nerves getting the better of you.

He leaned over, kissed your forehead, and then cupped the side of your cheek with his free hand before speaking to you again.

“Don’t worry, Y/N. Just stay with me,” he said with a comforting smile.

You smiled back, relaxing a little at just how much you loved this man.

“Okay,” you said, nodding in agreement back to him.

He nodded back and then you both gave your attention back to the others. Rick and Daryl nodded to one another and then Rick began to tell you all what the plan was for today’s run.

“Alright, today’s mission is like any other, to get as much supplies as we can to bring back for our people. Michonne and I found an old-abandoned farm not too far from here. It is fenced in and as far as we can tell is free from walkers. We have spotted a big garden with plenty of food on the vines. It looks like this place has been well-tended to up until now. Not sure what happened to the people living there, but we are going to use their absence to our advantage. Aaron, Michonne, and I will take the truck while Daryl and Y/N, follow behind us,” Rick stated, looking over at you warily for a moment and then over to Daryl.

“Daryl your job is to make sure you give us a heads up if you see anyone coming, dead or alive,” Rick ordered.

Daryl nodded in agreement.

“Keep your walkies on at all times. But only use them if you have to. We don’t know who’s out there listening,” Rick instructed everyone.

He reached into the back of the truck and pulled out a walkie, bringing it over and handing it to you.

You took it and secured it behind you, clipping it to your jean shorts.

Rick then looked around at everyone with his ever serious eyes and tone.

“Let’s get out there and start re-building what has been taken from us,” Rick said, clenching his jaw and resisting the urge to glance back over at you with his comment.

That didn’t stop Michonne though, she looked straight into your eyes with a wary harsh glare.

You looked away, trying to ignore her glare and focus on the mission at hand. Which would hopefully begin to earn you some trust with these people.

“Alright, let’s head out,” Rick said, twirling his finger around in the air as he walked over to the driver’s side door.

He opened it and hopped inside. Aaron went to the other side and hopped in. Michonne climbed up onto the back of the truck bed, sitting and leaning against the back of the truck’s cab. She slammed her hand on the window above her, signaling to Rick that she was secure and ready to go.

“Come on,” Daryl said and pulled you over to his bike.

He dropped your hand and slung his leg over, sitting easily on the big piece of metal.

You followed him and slung your leg over, settling in behind him. You put your hands on his sides to secure yourself to him and the bike.

He looked back at you silently asking you if you were ready. You nodded and looked forward towards the gate with resolve.

Daryl kicked up his kickstand and pushed his foot harshly down onto the pedal below, igniting the engine with a loud roar.

You quickly wrapped your arms around his body and leaned yours into his with slight fear. You had never ridden his bike with him before. So, this would be another new experience for the two of you.

Daryl felt your tight grip on him and looked back at you with a smirk.

“Hold on, darlin’,” he said, his smirk widening at the sight of you, of all people, being so nervous.

“Shut up and drive, Dixon,” you said with a playful smile, trying to ignore the butterflies in your stomach.

Daryl smiled sweetly back at you as your spitfire nature returned to your being.

“Yes, ma’am,” Daryl said with another sweet smile over at you before turning his eyes and attention back to the road ahead.

The bike jolted ahead, and you watched as you both followed the truck to the gate.

The gate opened and away you all went. You held onto Daryl tightly as you took off together after the truck. You looked back and watched as the people quickly closed and locked the gate behind you, but not before you saw the look of anger on Sasha and Rosita’s faces as they did so.

You forced your mind and attention forward to the task at hand, ignoring the sudden urge to throw up again at the look on their faces. You took a few deep breaths trying to calm your upset stomach as you tried to focus on the mission at hand.

Daryl noticed your wavering body behind him, your grip loosening for a moment before you gripped him even tighter than before.

He looked back at you with concern.

“Ya alright?” he asked with a look of worry on his face.

You gulped back the sensation to puke because of your nerves and nodded over at him with a look of resolve on your face.

“Yeah. I’m okay, let’s just get this over with,” you said, your voice breaking at the end of your sentence, now wishing you hadn’t agreed to come out with him, but knowing you needed to prove your worth to the people your dad had wronged so deeply.

He looked you over with concern again and then nodded, turning his head and mind back toward the mission, knowing how important this was to you and the group.

You held on tightly to him as you all drove forward on the dirt road. You looked around and noticed a few walkers staggering slowly toward the sound of your vehicles far off into the distance. Your heart started to race as you watched them stretch out their arms following you. You shivered a little at the sight. You hugged Daryl, laying your head on his back and closing your eyes, trying to calm your nausea at the sight of the monsters.

You kept your eyes closed, hugging him tightly as the bike sped along, turning here and there until you felt it come to a stop.

Daryl kicked the kickstand down and the bike leaned to the side as it settled into its parked position.

You opened your eyes and noticed a big white farmhouse to the right of you. It was at least two stories with an attic. It was fenced in by a beautiful wooden fence that wrapped all the way around the property. There was a big red barn behind the house with a huge overgrown garden. From here you could see ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, and what looked like squash growing under the massive vines.

You smiled at the sight of what looked like a glimpse of the old world. You imagined children running around playing in the yard while their parents watched them from their rocking chairs that now were empty on the front porch.

“We’re here,” Daryl said, looking back towards you, noticing you were still hugging him so tightly.

You rested your chin on his shoulder and looked over at him with the same happy smile.

“It’s beautiful here,” you said to him, a glimmer of hope filling your eyes at your vision of the future.

Daryl smiled softly back at you, knowing that look in your eyes by now.

“Yeah. It is,” he said softly, getting lost in your eyes for a moment until he heard the sound of the truck doors slamming shut.

“Come on, Y/N. Let’s get this done so I can get you back home,” he said with a nod of his head.

You sighed, slumping a little but nodded in agreement.

You let unwrapped your arms around him, bringing your hands up to his shoulders to brace on them as you swung off of the bike. Once your feet hit the gravel, your head started to spin a little, causing you to brace your hand on the side of his arm for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” Daryl asked, looking you over with concern again.

He had never seen you so off-kilter as you had been the past few days. He was starting to worry there was something wrong with you. And that worried him more than anything else in the world.

You shook your head, closing your eyes as your dizziness slowly subsided, bringing your hands to your hips as you steadied yourself.

“Nothing. I’m okay. I must just have some vertigo from the bike,” you said, trying to shake the dizziness from your being.

Rick, Michonne, and Aaron walked over to you two as Daryl swung his leg quickly over his bike and came to your side.

“You two ready?” Rick asked, looking over at the state of you, and then looked over at Daryl with confusion in his eyes.

You nodded, forcing your eyes to Rick’s.

“Yeah, we’re ready,” you said with hard resolve in your eyes.

You looked back at Daryl with a reassuring yet weak smile.

Daryl narrowed his eyes, looking you over with uncertainty. If it was up to him, he would have taken you home this instant to get you checked out by the Doc. But this was important to you. So, he nodded back to you and then forced his eyes back over to Rick’s.

“Yeah,” Daryl concurred, nodding over to Rick.

Rick looked you over again, noticing how sickly you looked, and then looked over at Aaron.

“Why don’t you two take the garden. Aaron, drive the truck up to it and you two can start filling the buckets with any vegetables you can find,” Rick instructed.

Aaron nodded, looking over at you with wary but kind eyes.

You looked over at Aaron and then back at Daryl with unease. Daryl noticed and leaned over to kiss your cheek and then whisper into your ear.

“It’s alright, Y/N. Aaron’s good people. I trust him with you,” he whispered, looking over at you with another reassuring smile.

You smiled back and nodded, taking a few deep breaths of courage before looking back at Rick for further instructions.

“Michonne, Daryl, you’re with me. We’re going to case the house and if it is empty, we will scavenge everything useful we can find. Grab the bags from the back of the truck and let’s get going,” Rick ordered with another hard nod at Daryl and Michonne.

They both nodded back. Michonne went to grab a couple of big duffel bags from the back of the truck.

Daryl looked over at you unsurely one more time before walking in front of you, turning his back on the others. He looked you over as he cupped your face, softly caressing the sides of them with his thumbs as he leaned down to kiss your forehead sweetly.

When he was done, he leaned back, his hands still securely hold onto your face, and spoke.

“Ya need anything, just call,” he said with sweet concern in his eyes.

You nodded, bringing your hand down to pat the top of his walkie on his hip as you answered.

“I will. I promise,” you said, leaning up to give him one last sweet kiss on his lips before dropping back to your feet.

“Be safe,” you said, your turn to think about all the things that could go wrong here.

“I’m comin’ back to ya, always. I promise ya that,” he said with nothing but pure love and admiration in his eyes as he looked you over.

Even after all this time, you were still the most beautiful thing he had ever laid his eyes on.

He nodded slowly, dropping his hands reluctantly from you after one more sweet kiss on your forehead.

You two nodded your silent goodbyes to one another and then Daryl turned back towards the group.

Daryl looked over at Aaron silently telling him to take care of you.

Aaron picked up on it right away and nodded back to him, showing Daryl that he would do whatever he could to make sure he kept you safe.

Once Daryl was convinced, he took one more loving look at you and then walked to the truck, grabbing two more duffel bags, and followed Michonne away towards the house. Rick nodded a polite goodbye to you and Aaron before grabbing two bags himself and following the other two.

You watched them all easily hop the fence and walk towards the farmhouse. Daryl looked back at you several times before forcing his focus forward.

You watched him walk away from you with nothing but a sad longing in your eyes. Every step away from you made your heart ache more.

“Well, I guess we should get started. Rick really does run a tight ship,” Aaron said, looking over at you with a reassuring smile.

You looked back over at him and noticed his pleasant demeanor toward you.

You offered a small smile back and nodded in agreement.

“Why don’t I open the gate. You can drive through, I’ll close it, and we can head over to the garden,” he suggested.

“Sure. Sounds good,” you agreed.

You started to walk over to the driver’s side door of the truck when Aaron placed his hand gently on your shoulder. This caused you to stop and look over at him curiously at his touch.

Aaron smiled over at you again.

“For what it’s worth? I feel the same way every time I have to leave Eric behind,” he said with a nod of his head and dropped his hand.

“Thanks,” you said offering him a sweeter smile this time at his olive branch towards you.

He nodded again and began to walk towards the gate of the fence just a few yards away.

You followed suit and walked over to the driver’s side door. You opened it and climbed inside, shutting it and starting the ignition. As you did so, you looked out your window, scanning the area for any signs of danger. You saw none. Instead, all you heard was the peaceful whipping of the wind and the cawing of birds in the air above you.

You started the engine and put the truck into drive, looking over and watching as Aaron opened the gate.

He ushered you and the truck over with his hands.

You stepped onto the gas pedal and slowly drove the truck over and into the property. You pressed your foot onto the brake pedal, holding it there as you watched Aaron shutting the gate in your side mirror. After he was done, he walked over to the passenger side door and swung it open. He climbed easily up into the cab and sat down, shutting the door and then nodding over at you.

“Alright, let’s get us some food,” he said with an easy smile, looking happily over at the overly plentiful garden ahead of you.

You smiled over at his easy nature and nodded in agreement, your stomach growling at the thought of food. You pressed your foot to the gas pedal and drove the truck right up alongside the overgrown garden.

You two looked over at it with happy smiles on your faces.

“Wow! Look at all that!” you said with enthusiasm.

Aaron nodded in agreement.

“Looks like we will eat well tonight. Let’s start gathering,” Aaron said, opening the door and quickly climbing down to grab two of the buckets from the back and then walked over to the garden.

You did the same, climbing down from the truck, grabbing two buckets of your own, and following him into the generous garden. You were careful not to step on the vines and the plants as you made your way inside of it, behind Aaron.

You stopped at the tomatoes, putting your buckets down, careful to move the plants aside to do so. You began to pick them, placing them carefully inside the bucket. You looked over with worry every so often at the house that Daryl had disappeared into with Rick and Michonne.

Aaron went to work picking the cucumbers, looking over at you curiously every so often. He noticed your obvious worry and love for Daryl, shaking his head and smiling to himself as he bent down to pick a few more.

“You know…Not to brag. But I am an excellent judge of character…” Aaron started locking eyes with yours as you two worked together.

“…And I think people are wrong about you,” he finished with a smile over at you.

You looked over at him, surprised by his words, but smiled graciously back over at him before responding.

“Really?” you asked with a surprised smile over at him as you continued working together.

Aaron smiled again and nodded.

“Really,” he said, turning his attention back to the task at hand.

You smiled over at him one more time before doing the same. You two picked veggies together in comfortable silence, filling up bucket after bucket under the hot Georgia sun. You started to feel faint again after a while and stood up, putting a hand on your forehead. You closed your eyes and focused on your breathing, feeling nausea hit you again.

Aaron noticed and immediately came to your side.

He looked you over with concern. He leaned down and grabbed a ripe tomato and handed it to you.

“Here. Eat somethin’,” Aaron said as he offered you the tomato.

You opened your eyes and nodded, gratefully taking the tomato and biting into it with exhausted hunger.

“Thanks,” you said before taking another famished bite.

“Here, why don’t you sit down,” Aaron said, taking your arm timidly and guiding you to a nearby gardening chair.

You obliged, your head spinning again.

Aaron helped you sit down and then walked over to the back of the truck. He pulled out a bottle of water and brought it quickly back over to you.

“Here, take a drink,” Aaron said, kneeling down and handing it to you.

You took it, quickly opening the top of the bottle and guzzling it down quickly.

You pulled the bottle from your lips and wiped your mouth with the back of your hand, taking in a few deep breaths of relief as your body thanked you for the nourishment. You smiled to yourself at the sense of satisfaction a moment before remembering you weren’t alone. You looked up at Aaron with a grateful nod as you handed him back the nearly empty bottle back.

He held his palm out at you.

“No, no. It looks like you need it more than I do,” Aaron said looking you over with concern again.

“Have you been feeling sick?” Aaron asked as he took in your state.

You shrugged, gulping down the last of the bottle before resting your arms on your thighs and responding to him.

“I’m alright. I’ve just been a little dizzy and sick to my stomach lately,” you admitted to him, looking longingly over at the house where Daryl was busy at work, wishing he was here to comfort you.

Aaron followed your lovesick gaze and smiled to himself before looking over at you again.

“Well, I don’t want to tell you what to do by any means. But I’d definitely pay a visit to the Doc when we get back,” he said.

You looked over at him quizzically.

“Why? I don’t have a fever or anything. Maybe just some vertigo,” you said, looking up at him with question.

Aaron laughed a little to himself again and then looked over at you.

“There might be more than just a fever you should know about,” he said looking pointedly at you before walking back over to continue his task.

You looked back at the house, wishing you would see Daryl emerge already, completely confused at what Aaron meant.

You felt better after having something to eat and the water. After another few moments of rest, you walked back over and helped him finish salvaging the garden.

After a while longer, you looked up at the house and noticed the trio finally exiting the house, Daryl following Rick and Michonne out with what looked like full duffel bags in each of their hands.

You breathed a sigh of relief, standing up and smiling happily to yourself at the sight of him walking back to you.

He walked down the steps with the two bags in his hands and looked over at you from the distance between you two.

You quickly put the last few squash on the vines below your feet into the bucket beside you and walked over to him.

You ignored Rick and Michonne’s eyes on you completely as you two walked into the middle of the yard, finally reunited with one another. You walked swiftly into him and hugged him wholeheartedly, loving the feeling of your bodies and souls being reunited after what had seemed like forever to you.

He dropped his bags just in time, and wrapped his big, beautiful arms around you, lifting you up into him for a great big bear hug.

You wrapped your arms around his neck as he did so, hugging him tightly as you kissed his neck and then rested your head on the side of his shoulder. You held onto him tightly, tighter than you ever had as you smiled to yourself at the feeling of being back in his arms.

He dropped you back to your feet and you looked up at him like he had been gone forever.

“I was only gone a little while,” he said with a small smile at the look of pure love in your eyes for his return to you.

“I know. I just missed you,” you said with a sweet smile, your nerves finally calming at the sight of him safe and okay.

He smiled sweetly over at your relief to have him back with you. He brought his hand up to cup the side of your face, silently telling you how much he loved you too with only his eyes, and then kissed your forehead.

“Come on. Let’s go home,” Daryl said with another sweet smile.

You nodded, trying to fight your nerves as you turned around to face the group again.

Daryl picked up the bags and followed you over to the truck parked near the garden. You looked over at Aaron and smiled gratefully over at him for being so kind to you today.

He smiled and nodded a silent your welcome before loading up the last two buckets that were filled with veggies from the garden.

Daryl, Rick, and Michonne all dropped their filled bags into the back of the truck. Rick looked over the harvested food and the filled bags with a hopeful smile on his face, the first time in a long time he had been able to do that.

He looked over at you for a second. He had to admit that all of this was theirs to keep because of you and what you had done for them and their community. He nodded a silent thank you to you, much to your surprise.

Daryl walked over and grabbed your hand holding it in his as he stood there protectively by your side.

Rick noticed this and nodded over at Daryl with a silent apology.

Daryl nodded back.

You watched as the two men made their apologies in complete silence, smiling to yourself as you watched Daryl’s shoulders relax a bit afterward.

“Alright, let’s get this back to Alexandria and start going through what we’ve found today. Good job, everyone,” Rick said, looking over at you with one last polite nod before he turned and walked to the driver’s side of the truck.

Michonne climbed into the back of the truck reclaiming her position at the back of the cab. Aaron was about to get into the truck when he looked over at you and Daryl.

“Daryl, you have a second?” Aaron asked him.

Daryl looked over at him curiously and nodded.

Daryl’s hand dropped away from yours and you watched Aaron and Daryl walk a few feet away from everyone. You couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they both looked over at you with concern in their eyes as they began to walk back over to the group. Daryl patted Aaron on the shoulder and then walked back over to you.

“Come on,” Daryl said, grabbing your hand and walking you back over to his bike.

“What was that about?” you asked as you walked away with him.

He looked you over with concern again before bringing his worried eyes back to yours.

“Aaron said we should get you to the Doc when we get back. Said he was worried ya might have somethin’,” he said.

You nodded in complete agreement with him for once. You held your hand to your stomach as another wave of nausea hit you.

“Yeah. I have been feeling pretty sick lately. Maybe that’s a good idea,” you said, taking a few deep breaths as you tried to calm your stomach.

“Ya alright to ride back with me?” he asked, noticing you were sick to your stomach again.

You nodded.

“Yeah, let’s just get home,” you said with a weak smile.

He nodded, looking over at you with concern again before forcing his eyes and feet forward. He walked you both back to his bike and slung himself over, sitting down on the seat. He moved forward to allow room for you and nudged his head back to you.

“Get one,” he instructed as he kicked up the kickstand and revved the engine to life.

You quickly got on behind him, wrapping your arms securely behind him and resting your head on his back. You closed your eyes as the bike jolted forward. You tried to focus on the cool air that blew across your face as you two rode back to Alexandria, following behind Rick and the truck.

When you got back to Alexandria, you opened your eyes, watching Daryl idle watching impatiently for the gate to open. Once it did, you all drove through. You heard the gate clink shut from behind you. Daryl drove you right up to the Doc’s house, parking the bike on the side of the road.

You sighed in relief at the feeling of the bike coming to a halt. Daryl put out the kickstand. You brought your hands back to his shoulders and braced on them as you weakly got down off the bike. You stood there in a haze for a moment before your hand came to your mouth and you gagged. You quickly walked over to some nearby bushes and threw up the water and tomato you had eaten.

“Ick…” you muttered to yourself as you wiped your mouth, your eyes watering with sick pain in your eyes.

Daryl was beside you in an instant, rubbing your back softly as you purged your system.

You looked over at him with an embarrassed smile.

“Well, that’s a new milestone for us. I’m sorry,” you said with another weak smile as you clutched your stomach.

“Don’t be. Let’s just get you in there and see how the Doc can help,” he said with nothing but sympathy for you in his eyes.

He didn’t like seeing you in pain or discomfort.

You nodded, letting him take your hand and walk you both to the front door. Daryl knocked loudly on the front door, pounding on it until it opened.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming,” the Doc said as he swung the door open, looking at Daryl with slight annoyance.

He then looked over at you and noticed the state of you. Your face was clammy, and you looked like you were about to fall over.

“Come in. Come in,” he said stepping aside and ushering you both inside.

Daryl helped guide you inside of the house, following the Doc as he walked you both to the backroom that was frequently used for examinations.

“She’s been feelin’ real sick lately, Doc. You’ve got to look her over,” Daryl said looking you over with worry again.

You noticed this and smiled up at him reassuringly.

“I’m sure it’s fine, Daryl. It’s probably just a stomach bug,” you said, squeezing his hand tighter.

Daryl licked his lips and nodded repeatedly, trying to believe that it was something minor. But in this world, he was too scared of losing you not to go to the extremes inside his head.

“Daryl, why don’t you wait outside while I look her over,” the Doc said, putting his black stethoscope around his neck.

“Go ahead, Daryl. I’m okay,” you said, noticing the look of defiance in his eyes.

He looked you over to make sure you meant your words. When he was sure you did, he nodded again and kissed your cheek.

“I’ll be right outside those doors,” he said, cupping your face as he stared deeply into your eyes.

You nodded, smiling sweetly back at him.

“Go,” you said softly, squeezing his hand one more time before dropping it from his.

He nodded, looking over at you warily one more time before he dropped his hands from you and turned to walk out the door. Before he left, he looked back at you again and said, “I’ll be right here.”

You nodded, smiling happily back at him before you turned your attention to the Doc. You heard Daryl close the door as you smiled politely over at the Doc.

“Why don’t you come sit down and I’ll take a look,” the Doc said, gesturing with his hand to sit on the cot set up in the middle of the room.

You obeyed and sat on the cot with your hands in your lap.

“So, how have you been feeling lately,” he asked, taking a look into each of your eyes before moving his hands down to your neck, checking your lymph nodes.

“I guess I have been more tired than usual, and I’ve been really sick to my stomach lately,” you said.

“Mhm,” the Doc said, putting the stethoscope earbuds into his ears, bringing the flat plate over to your chest.

“Take a few deep breaths,” he said, placing the plate on your chest.

You took a few slow deep breaths as he placed the plate around your chest, listening intently.

After a few more deep breaths, he dropped the plate and took the earbuds out of his ears, hanging it back around his neck. He brought his hands to your stomach, pressing on it near your side.

“Does this hurt?” he asked, checking the area where your appendix was located.

“No,” you answered.

“Have you been having any aches and pains lately?” he asked.

You shrugged.

“I mean aside from the usual wear and tear I guess my body has seemed more tender than usual,” you said.

“Where has it been tender?” he asked you.

You looked up at him embarrassed as you gestured to your breasts.

He nodded again, walking over to a big cabinet, opening the doors, and grabbing something inside of it.

“Any motion sickness?” he asked, holding something in his hand as he walked back over to you.

“Yes, definitely,” you said, nodding as you peered curiously over at whatever was in his hand.

“Here, I think you should take this test,” he said and handed you a box.

You took it from him and looked over at it curiously.

It was a pregnancy test.

You looked up at him in pure shock.

He laughed a little at your reaction.

“I don’t see any symptoms of inflamed lymph nodes or an inflamed appendix. The symptoms you are describing can also be the symptoms of a woman’s first trimester,” he said, matter-of-factly.

You stared down at the box in your hand and nodded, still in shock at this.

“When was the last time you had your period?” he asked.

You searched your mind.

“I guess it has been quite a while,” you admitted, just now realizing how late you were.

“You can use the bathroom back there if you would like,” the Doc said, gesturing to a door behind you.

You looked over at the closed door where Daryl had exited, wondering if you should tell him. You decided to wait until you yourself knew for sure. You slowly got up and walked over to the bathroom door in a haze.

You walked inside, closing and locking the door behind you. You unbuttoned your jean shorts and pulled them and your panties down as you sat down on the toilet. You opened the box, taking the test stick out from the packaging. You read the instructions carefully, one line meant no, and two lines meant yes.

You brought the stick down, shifting awkwardly as you tried to line it up, and then began peeing. You took the stick out after you had wettened it and set it on the edge of the sink next to you. You wiped and got up fastening your shorts and walking over to the sink. You stared at yourself in the mirror as you washed your hands clean.

Were you really ready to be a mother? You wondered. You looked up at the clock on the wall, marking the time. The box said you had to wait five minutes. You walked over at sat down on the edge of the tub to wait, staring at your hands as your mind raced with so many thoughts and questions.

You tried to stay calm, reminding yourself that it could be negative. Then your thoughts turned to Daryl. You smiled to yourself at the thought of him holding your child making them laugh or smile. You thought about how much you had wanted a family with him. You just didn’t know it would happen so soon. Although would you really be that surprised with how active you two had been since day one?

You stared up at the clock every so often, lost in your confused thoughts until it was time to look.

The clock ticked to the five-minute mark. You ran your hands up and down your thighs a few times before you took a deep breath and got up. You walked over to the sink and picked up the stick.

It was Positive.

Your stomach did a flip at the sight of the positive result. You felt like you were in a dream as you set it back down on the sink and walked back out into the Doc’s exam room.

From the look of shock on your face, the Doc figured out the answer.

You didn’t even look at him as you slowly walked over to the door and opened it.

Daryl quickly rose to his feet, looking you over with concern. His hands came to your body, bringing them back to your face to cup it.

You had the strangest shocked look on your face, which immediately made him think something was wrong.

“What’s wrong, Y/N? Is everything alright?” he asked as he checked you over with anxious panic now.

You slowly nodded, bringing your in-shock eyes back to his.

“I’m-I’m pregnant,” you said, looking over at him in pure shock as you pushed out the words.

Daryl’s hands dropped from your face and he stepped back a bit, looking over at you with his own pure shock in his eyes.

“What?” he asked, feeling like he had misheard you.

“I’m pregnant,” you said with more conviction this time.

Daryl stared over at you in disbelief for a few seconds before walking into you and wrapping you up into his arms, giving you a big hug.

You smiled and laughed a little at the sheer force of his happy hug. After what seemed like a five-minute hug, he finally brought his hands to your shoulders, pulling you two apart just enough to be able to see your face again.

He had the happiest smile on his face that you had ever seen. You even thought you saw a few tears starting but he quickly pushed them away.

The Doc came over with a happy smile.

“Congratulations you two, you’re going to be parents,” he said, reaching his hand out to shake Daryl’s.

Daryl took it shaking it firmly as he brought his attention to the Doc.

“Is she gonna be okay? How far along is she? What do I need to do for her?” Daryl asked, suddenly having a million questions running through his mind.

The Doc chuckled a little before responding.

“She’s going to be just fine, Daryl. We’ll set up a weekly appointment for her to make sure we catch anything that could be problematic. In the meantime, she will need lots of rest. So, I would suggest no more runs for her unless it is absolutely necessary. Times have obviously changed. The body can fall prey easier to pregnancy without technology to help guide us. So, the less strain she puts on her body the better,” the Doc said to Daryl.

Daryl nodded, already making a list in his mind of all of the things you were no longer going to be doing.

“As for how far along, if I had to guess I would say you are around 5 or 6 weeks pregnant,” he said to you.

You looked down at your stomach, placing your hand on it. It was mind-boggling to you that you had been with this child for so long already and didn’t know it.

“Get plenty of rest and I’d suggest more soup-based meals until your morning sickness subsides. Your body will tell you what it needs with your cravings and we will do the best we can to accommodate that. I’ll also put prenatal vitamins on the next run list for you,” the Doctor said to you both.

“Just tell me where to look and I’ll get them,” Daryl said to the Doc.

The Doc nodded back to him.

“Very good, I’ll plot you out a map of places that could have them and get it to you by the morning,” he replied.

He then looked over at you two with another smile.

“I’ll let you two settle into the news. But if you have any more questions you know where to find me,” he said, nodding politely again before walking back into the exam room and closing the door behind him.

Daryl looked back at you.

You both stared at each other in shocked silence for a minute before you spoke, still holding your hand protectively over your stomach.

“Are you…okay with this?” you asked with slight worry on your face that he might not be.

He cupped the side of your face and looked lovingly back into your eyes.

“Are ya kidding me, Y/N? I can’t wait to meet our little creation,” he said with a sappy smile on his lips.

You smiled back up and him and nodded, imagining the spitfire that you two probably created.

“Ya just keep surprisin’ me, Y/N…” he said, tenderly caressing your cheek with his thumb as he looked at you in complete awe.

“I love you, Y/N. And I’m gonna love this kid just as much,” he said, with a happy dumbstruck smile.

You smiled sweetly back over at him. The look of pure love in his eyes squashed any doubt you had in your mind about this being a mistake. He was going to be a great dad.

“I love you, too, Daryl,” you said in awe of him, even more so now than ever before.

Whatever came next, you knew he would take care of you and this child so damn well…

—–

Tagged: @katieswinforddiaries @rawr-bitches@jodiereedus22@whovianayesha @hearydaysquite @kal-kal28 @team-barry@simpledyiing@sesshomaru @khyharah @dashesoflipstick @tiquismiquis@dunne31@bryai003 @ketxo @justaclumsybrunette @clinicalkayla@teamfreewiffy@kawaiirepublic  @letusunalivethem @nicolesyneah25 @i-sing-the-body-elektra @deeindarkwonderland @reoccuringfate @imagine-all-the-imagines@megandrawsspace @professsionalsinner @kbnix23@maddybeck01@kingdixonreedus @isayweallgetdrunk@wadeyourebarelyalive@anna1012131@otakuforlife12@youandyourstupidrope @reedus87 @ass-kicker-daryl@benerchic @derpypenguin @bigbaldheadfangirl @daryldixon-addicted@shinydixon @blondielovesr5-blog @stilinskibarnes @alyisdead@addiction-survivor25 @isayweallgetdrunk @cleohalestilinski@reedusteinrambles @betty-rage527 @ladybuglolly @super-who-nerd@alaska00young@fiftypercentmoreintoyou   @mwesterfeld1985@sapphire1727   @the-moose-of-baskerville @purplejellybean @katiescrotch@coffeebooksandfandom@captainhopelessromantik-808 @kjs1939 @colagirl5@uniquewerewolfsuit@princessxpunk @toxic-ink @deepsouth @dixon-daryl@azanoni@lucilepiewhiskey @forsakensiren @kclark14love@girlyfandomfighter13@sweet-things-4-life @dragongirl420 @twd-daryl@cbarter @the-writingdead@sarahdearr  @redm81 @alyisdead @serfyan18@morphinetune@dragongirl420 @momc95 @art-flirt @evilangelqueen@chelbyswartz20  @serfyan18 @alyisdead @bitchassbecky691  @mtngirlforever@evilangelqueen @lokispunisher jules-ette lizzyhowie69@robindixon  redm81rhochradel @beegnc  heyitscam99 serfyan18 mrs-amendolarussosprettydiamondnow supernal-blyss rasax45 alilarkin99@simons-savior86 xbeckydixonx apricotlion sleepylunarwolf  colagirl5 pxstelinkazanonikatiebug0603 sassi-luna beltzboys2015-blog rivaille-the-shortsynestra88synestra88 lana-del-dick smoothdogsgirlmustbeaweasleygingerwilde-abandonlucacangettathisass   automaticstarlightcollectionl rivaille-the-short  russosprettydiamondnow  smoothdogsgirl  colagirl5  twisted-tasty14 @justgipsy  sizzlingcheesecakeglitterbomb @the-wintergirl  @justrepostandlove @risingphoenix761 @rhyatt-deauxtreve  awkwardlysexualvelociraptor  driszzle  natalie-reader  xqueenunicornxx  deliciousassafrasssandwich  littleblackwolf016  princessxpunk  lonewolf471  killer-mermaid93  chocolatealmondmillk  mblaqgi  jellyfishangel  dotslabyrinth @isayweallgetdrunk @baseballbitch116  lonewolf471 @jender123 @madamwhisper  @kazeouki-tan @nayyysa  rosa-berberifolia  @lady-dixon-riddick    paintballkid711  ly--canthrope  themonstermash-graveyardsmash  lonewolf471  @elisdays  @leej2468 sophia-gwendolyn  storybookhall  courtnytrash04  fuseburner  lucillethings

[junquisite]

Treasure

WORD COUNT : 2.1K

GENRE : Supernatural AU, Spirit! Donghun X OC

WARNING : The OC has slightly ambiguous Morals, implied violence, mentions of murder, implied murder, very little mention of blood, PLEASE IT’S SOFT DON’T WORRY!!

NOTE : Hello, i came up with this idea last night at 2.30 in the morning, told @unknown5tar​ about it, then ended up writing this in like 2-3 hours. so enjoy~

The mountain top was reputed - reputed to hold the biggest treasure one couldn't even imagine and no man has ever reached there but the claims still live. The path was dangerous - journey worth weeks that you can't bring enough food for, thunder strikes and too heavy rain and snow or dust storms comprising the unpredictable weather you could never prepare for. And if all that was not enough, there were wild animals to fight you, and ofcourse the dragon at the top of the mountain. 

So Donghun just blinked at the girls standing at the mouth of the cave with his mouth agape.

“How did you get here?” he asked as the girl looked at him quickly and pulled her sword out from behind her.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” she asked as she took frantic steps towards him and he stepped back with his hands raised.

“I’m the spirit of this cave.” he said when her sword was a feather away from his face.

“A spirit? Do you guard the treasure?” she asked as her eyes flickered to her surroundings.

“You can say so. Now if you can just take that sword away from my face.” he said and she took it away, her whole attention at the inside of the cave. Probably looking for the treasure, Donghun thought. 

“Aren't you a spirit? Why would you be scared of a mere sword?” she asked offhandedly as she walked around the barren cave and he was getting nervous as he followed her to the inside of the cave where there was a slight opening at the top reaching the peak of the mountain as she looked around.

“I might be a spirit but I'm still a mortal.” he mumbled as she turned to stare at him.

“How would that even work..” she mumbled but before he could explain she shrugged.

“Whatever spirit, where’s the treasure? It took me almost a month to get here, give me my treasure.” she asked him with a big smile and he just gave her a small smile.

“The real treasure is the friends you made on the way here.”

 There was a scary silence which settled in the cave where she stared at him and Donghun willed his heart to not jump out of his chest. She had a sword that she was clearly not afraid to use.

“You're joking aren't you? is this some test to see if i’m worth the treasure or not because I need my treasure spirit!” she spoke, her words getting louder as she stepped closer to him, crowding him against the wall.

“That is the real treasure. You must not have made it here alone on your own, the friends were the real treasure.”

She started laughing at that and it scared the spirit further.

“Why are you laughing?” he asked as she took a few steps away to sit down on the floor and laugh. When she had calmed down enough she looked at him sharply.

“So you’re telling me the 6 people I left behind to get here were the supposed treasure?” she asked and he nodded.

“What happened to them?” he asked and she shrugged.

“2 died during the climb, one of them got eaten by a tiger we encountered and the other 2 got caught by your precious dragon. He must not have to go out to hunt for a while now.” she said, her lips turning up slightly as she spoke.

“And what about the last one?” he asked and she gave him a sinister smile.

“I didn't want to split the treasure.” she said simply and laughed at Donghun’s mortified face. “Don't look so scared now. I won't kill you spirit.” she said as she got up and dusted her cloth.

“Don't you have a name though? I’ll start, I’m Kim Minji, and you?” she asked as she started wandering the cave again.

“Lee Donghun.” he said slowly and watched her head bob in acknowledgment.

“Aren't you hungry? Do you not eat?” she asked and he looked away. “I don't.”

She laughed loudly when his stomach grumbled at that exact moment.

“I'm going to stick around for a while spirit until I find something worth taking back with me. So share your food with me.” she said as she waited for him at the center of the opening, her hands on her waist making her look more serious then she probably was but it got the point across as Donghun scrambled to go to one of the tunnels just on the other side of the opening. 

He heard her gasp as she entered behind him to the small garden.

“What would you like?” he asked as she looked around.

Figuring she was probably not going to answer anything anytime soon, he started gathering the fruits and berries and anything edible in the small garden he felt like eating.

“This is so fascinating but do you really get enough to eat daily?” she asked and he looked at her confused.

“What do you mean? They bloom and fruit everyday?” he asked. Wasn't that how it was everywhere?

Her open mouth gaping at him made him think maybe it was in fact, not like this everywhere.

“Aren't you going to eat?” he asked as he filled a container with the water behind the garden and she followed him like a puppy to the opening. It made him laugh for some reason.

 After eating she literally groaned and proceeded to lie down on the floor and sigh happily.

“I haven't eaten this much in years and this wasn't even meat.”

Donghun had many questions but what came out of his mouth was,“Meat?”

She sat up at that. “You have never had meat?” she asked and he shook his head.

“What is it?”

“It's basically the flesh of animals but cooked.” 

He scrunched up his face at that. “That's so disgusting.” he said and she laughed.

“I'll change your mind and get you some one day.” she said as she got up and strolled a little away from him and settled in a little corner as Dognhun looked up at the little sky opening above their head, it was getting dark.

“Are you sleeping?” he asked and she nodded as she pulled the small raggish looking bag he remembered her bringing and pulled out a tattered blanket she wrapped herself in.

A few minutes passed and Minji was almost asleep when she felt someone pulling her blanket away. She was about to fight when she felt something more solid and warm being wrapped around her and she smiled and snuggled in.

 A loud noise woke her up and she looked up to see it was about a little earlier than Dawn, the sun was probably about to rise she assumed as she picked up her sword and walked to the entryway of the cave. She peeked outside as two men from her village were holding Donghun at sword point. 

“Stop lying to us spirit! Tell us where the treasure is!”

She stood back as she looked at them. He was a spirit, he must be alright. She thought as she looked at the scene. She recognised the men.

They must have followed me and my group for an easy way, she thought as one of them looked around at the sparse belongings of the spirit and the other held Donghun with his sword in his face. When the first man kicked off a small bundle to the floor and clothes fell from it, Donghun tried to stop them and convince them that there was really no treasure. 

She wasn't going to interfere, she had no need to since he was a spirit, but when the one holding the sword pierced his neck’s skin and drew out blood, she sighed as she stepped out.

“You really have no shame. Was the plan to take the treasure off of my hands when I would get back to the village not enough that you came here following me too?” she said as her own sword dangled lightly from her hands.

She heard Donghun softly whisper her name and winked at him.

“Now why don't you leave my pretty spirit alone and deal with someone who can not only take you on but also probably defeat you.” she said and smirked as she knew she ticked them off.

15 minutes later she was standing with her own feet on top of that man’s head as she cleaned her face of blood with her jacket. She kicked him as she went to check on Donghun who was peeking from the opening and she smiled at him.

“I’ll drag the bodies outside, I'm sure your dragon would love that.” 

“I'm not your pretty spirit.” he grumbled as he looked down on the ground, but quickly looked at her when he heard her laugh loudly.

“From everything I did, you chose to pick up on that?” as she left him to drag the bodies out. 

A few minutes later she came back only for Donghun to thrust a pair of clothes towards her.

“There is a stream from that entrance.. You can clean up, I won't peak.” he said and his red cheeks were begging for her to tease him, so she did.

“I won't mind if you would.” she said and winked at him, and left laughing to the entrance he pointed as she heard him choking.

 That morning  after eating something for breakfast, when she was stretching on the ground and Donghun was sitting in the corner, observing her, she stared back at him.

“What do you usually do here?” she asked and he shrugged.

“Nothing?” she asked and he nodded and she whistled. “I’m equally parts sad and happy for you.” and she sat up, a serious look on her face.

 “I have decided what I want for treasure.” she said and saw Donghun visibly gulp.

“You. i'll have you as my treasure.” she said with a huge smile and he tried to stutter out a response which wasn't coherent enough for her to make sense.

“Hear me out,” she tried to stop him from hyperventilating and when he took a couple deep breaths and nodded at her to  go on, she smiled.

“I’ll stay here. There's nothing calling me back to my village, I've got no one. I'll stay and protect you from people like them and i’ll even take you out!” she saw as his face was slightly scared but at the prospect of going outside, it lightened up.

“You’ll.. Take me out?” he said and she nodded.

“Okay..can i trust you though?” he asked and she raised an eyebrow at him.

“I just saved your life?” she questioned back and he glared at her.

“You also killed them with no remorse.” he said and she shrugged.

“Fair enough. But you can trust me, I'll also teach you to defend yourself my mortal spirit.” she said and threw him her sword which he caught, slightly scared.

“I’ll agree then.” 

~

“Do you think it'll be alright for me to leave the cave?” Donghun asked her and she rolled her eyes at him.

“For the hundredth time Donghun, yes. You yourself told me that I was the only one who came in the past 3 years.” she said as she stepped out with her sword behind her back and a bag full of fruits to trade off for some money.

“How are you today faei.” she cooed at the dragon who rubbed her giant head at Minji’s tiny hands.

“It didn't really took her that long to get comfortable with you.” Donghun said and Minji smiled.

“I never knew it was her. Women bond quickly, don't we Faei.” she said, the last part directed at the dragon who made an elated noise at her and Minji laughed.

“We’ll go to the other village, the opposite to mine. The people at mine must be anticipating either my death or me returning with that treasure to steal it from me. So let’s go to the other village.” she told him and he nodded as she turned towards the other way.

“Lets go!” she said as she grabbed Donghun’s hand and his ear turned red and he looked away.

“We’ll eat bread?” he asked and she smiled and nodded. Then he proceeded to name all the food she has ever mentioned to him and a few steps forward she was full on laughing and nodding at his every word.

“And meat of course!” she added as he scrunched his face at the suggestion.

“How preposterous!” he said as he made a horrified face and she laughed.

“I’ll get you used to it, my precious spirit.” as she pulled him closer with a hand around his waist and he looked away.

She got his attention with giving him a small peck on his cheeks and he was quick to look her way, his whole face read now as he tried to stutter out a response.

“Let’s go my spirit.”

“Not your spirit.” he managed to mumble out and the mountain forest resounded with her laugh.

[fangirlshrewt97]

The Old Guard Fanfic - Second Star to the Right

Author(s): Fangirlshrewt97

Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)

Pairing: Andy & Nile

Characters: Nile Freeman, Andy|Andromache the Scynthian

Rating: General

Warnings: None

Additional Tags:  Family Bonding, Fluff, Family Feels, Vacation, Soft, Family Bonding, Team as Family, soft, Stargazing, andy and nile chat under an open sky, Peter Pan References, Constellations, Stories hidden in the stars, Existential Angst, Mostly Andy talking about how living for 6000 years is not that great, idk guys, there's nothing like looking up at the stars to make one feel small, but that isn't always a bad or scary thing

Summary:

She looked at the stars again. “I like coming to places like this because they make me feel not so old. They are pockets in time, inside of which time hasn’t really passed.” Nile twisted to lay on her back again, looking at the sky. “I feel old when I look at you all, and now without my immortality? I am not scared, but I feel like time is going too quickly. I used to be worshipped as a goddess, as someone not from this world. But I am of this world. So firmly of this world. And looking at these hills, these stars? It makes me feel small.” In a voice that was steadier than it was all evening, she added. “So little makes me feel small anymore. But these stars? They have been here since I was born. And they will still shine long after I am gone. To them, I am as transient as any other human that has walked the Earth. And that is a comfort very few places on the planet can offer me anymore.”

Basically, Andy and Nile share a night under a sky filled with stars and the stories written in them.

Link to A03: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25692349

                                                          ///

They had just finished a bloody mission that left even the immortals feeling worse for the wear. So Andy had told Copley to give them one week off, and hauled them all back into a van, telling them unceremoniously they were going camping. Joe and Nicky had merely slumped against each other, too sore and tired to argue. Nile had sighed, said a very firm “Fine, but we are getting actual food, I am not eating bunnies for dinner.” and fallen asleep in her seat.

Andy woke them up when they reached Lancaster, stopping to eat lunch.

When they got back into the car, Joe curled up against Nicky again, falling asleep quickly. He had been on watch when their mission had gone sideways, and been up for nearly 48 hours. Nicky pulled him more comfortably into his side. Nile curled up in the front seat, plugging her earphones in, and closing her eyes. They were back on the highway quickly.

“Where are we going Andy?” Nile ventured to ask as she saw the city melt into buildings, the skies the peculiar shade of gray she had only seen in the UK.  

“Scottish Highlands.”

Nile paused. Her geography was still not great, but wasn’t Scotland at the opposite end on the island?  “From Surrey? Why are we driving so far?”

“Because I want to be away from people.”

That had shut Nile up. She gave Andy a through once over, noticing the tension in her shoulders, the tight grip she had on the steering wheel, her eyes darting to the side mirrors every few seconds. She looked haunted.

Nicky tightened his grip on Joe and tucked his face into familiar curls in the back seat. Nile settled deeper into the seat, letting Andy drive them.

Agreeing to Nile’s request, Andy had stopped at the last town before they drove into the Scottish Highlands, allowing her family to refuel and buy any food they may need. The two boys had disappeared into a store, saying they were going to buy actual cooking gear for camping.

“Andy, not that I don’t miss the days of spearing innocent forest creatures on sticks and eating, why should we when we can cook them using actual pots and a stove? Look at this, it is specifically made for when people sleep outdoors.” Joe had said, holding up a camping stove with a delighted grin.

Andy had grimaced but held her tongue, just grabbing chocolate and granola bars before returning to the car.

Nicky had nudged Joe to buy the rest of their supplies while Nile was tasked with buying the tents and sleeping bags.

The rest of the drive was peaceful. They had set out in the late morning from Copley’s place, and reached the Highlands by evening, the streetlights thinning out as the sunset painted the sky a beautiful shade of purple and orange. Nile had gasped when they entered the Highlands proper, pressing her face to the window, uncaring that she probably looked every bit the child the others saw her as.

She was all of 26 years old, a woman for others, but painfully young for them. So much curiosity, so much hope, and none of the jaded vision that they other three of them shared.

“Beautiful isn’t it Nile?” Nicky asked.

“I don’t think I have ever seen something so beautiful. Or green.” she said, wonder plain in her voice.

“Used to be, anywhere you walked, green was the easiest colour you could find.” Andy quipped, making Nile look at her. She noted that the tension in Andy’s shoulders from before was slowly decreasing with every mile they drove.

Andy drove them until they hadn’t seen a house for a couple miles, pulling the car out of the road into the Highlands proper, parking it a little distance from the river.

The family of four got out, breathing in air that was so fresh and cool, Nile felt overwhelmed. The only time Chicago air was so clear was in the dead of winter, but even then, the smell of industrialization was inescapable. Being in places like this, still largely untouched by modern civilization, it brought their pasts closer. Joe inhaled deeply before slamming the door, even that loud noise seeming quiet in this place.

“So Nile,” Joe started, making her look at him. “Do you know how to set up a tent?”

///

Nile woke with a start for no discernible reason. She squinted at the pitch black darkness that surrounds her, just flips onto her back and breathes until she feels her heart rate return to normal.

Dinner had been fun, Nicky teaching her the kinds of sticks to use to build a fire, and then showing her how to light it using flint. It had taken her way too many tries, but at least the others had been kind enough to keep their laughter to themselves. Setting up the tents had also been an adventure, but at least that one she had only messed up once before hammering the stakes deeper into the ground.

She took stock of her surroundings, already knowing she was not going to be returning to sleep soon. The chill in the air seems to have soaked into her skin as she slept, her thin nightshirt not enough to warm her. Turning her head, she saw Andy’s sleeping bag exactly as she had laid it out. Their leader had not come to sleep at all.

Reaching her hand out, she felt around for a bit before she stumbled upon the small flashlight she had remembered to buy. Turning it on now, she had to squint at the sudden influx of light in the dark tent. She sat up on her elbows, and saw that there was a small opening at the edge where it was not fully closed.

She sighed. Sitting up properly, she reached for her bag, using the flashlight to grab her hoodie, pulling it over her head. She debated quietly between shoes or going barefoot before shrugging. The possibility of being attacked here without the others knowing was nigh impossible. Barefoot it was. She also grabbed her phone, checking the time out of habit, and seeing it was 3:30 in the morning.

Keeping her flashlight in hand, she unzipped the tent and stepped out. The grass beneath her feet was not yet wet. Moving quietly, not wanting to startle her other two companions, Nile left their small campsite, their fire pit made of ashes and a few red embers.

She turned off her flashlight when she realized it was actually quiet bright, and turned her head to the sky, only to feel as though she had exhaled all at once. There in the sky, an almost full moon shone brightly, so clear Nile could make out a few of it’s craters eve without binoculars. But besides the moon. Besides the moon was a sky so chock full of stars, Nile nearly fell over. As far as she could see, the navy blue ceiling was painted with a million, no, a billion pin pricks of lights, all crowding one another she could barely pick them apart.

Taking a deep breath, she tore her gaze from the sky, setting her gaze to the ground once again so she could find Andy.

The grass was rustling gently, and the hills rose like mountains in the moonlight. Nile walked away from the camp and the car, following the river in the direction where the grass was flatter, as though it had been tread on. After five minutes, she found her target.

Andy was lying on her back on her blanket, one arm tucked her head as the other lay on her stomach. One of her legs was bent at the knee while the other one was flat, and Nile noticed the elder woman was barefoot, shoes set to the sides. When she was less than 10 meters away from her, Andy turned her head to look at her.

“Couldn’t sleep kid?”

Nile shook her head. “Couldn’t stay asleep.”

“Hmm.” Andy hummed before turned back.

Nile took that as a cue and sat next to Andy’s head, closing her eyes. The wind was chilly but she was Chicago born and bred, if the wind didn’t slice through your skin, you just walked on.

“This place looks like its out of a fairy tale or something.”

Andy huffed next to her.

“No seriously. When my mom or dad read fairy tales to me, and they mentioned characters walking for days through valleys, I always imagined places like this.”

When Nile looked at Andy, she saw the woman had her eyes open, a small smile in place. She suddenly felt her breath catch when she realized she couldn’t recall if she had ever seen her look so relaxed before.

“What about you. Couldn’t sleep?” Nile asked after a few minutes.

Andy shook her head once. “Didn’t want to.”

“Why not?”

Andy took a deep breath, letting her eyes fall closed and her bent leg to drop. When she opened them, Nile could see her eyes were slightly glazed, and bit her tongue for making Andy upset again. She had been with her new family for about a year now, and while she liked to think she had gotten a hand of things, these people had had nearly 900 years together. There was so much she did not know about them. Andy most of all.

“I’m sorry Andy.”

“No. I am not. I didn’t want to sleep because we don’t come to places like this often.”

“Places…like this? Like places away from people.”

Andy huffed again, her eyes looking less glazed and more fond. “Open fields, green things that stretch as far as the eye can see.”

“Oh.”

“My home, the place I come from, it was similar to this. Open fields that seemed to reach the horizon. Where you could rise a horse all day and all day, and still not be any closer to the sun. Cities, hell, the world nowadays. It is large and filled with people, gray and metallic. You can’t hear the sound of grass rustling, or run in a straight line for as long as you want.” She paused. “You also definitely don’t get a night sky like this anymore.”

Nile exhaled with an agreeing huff.

“I don’t think I have ever seen such a clear sky, not even in Afghanistan.”

“Lie back, it’ll be easier to see without giving you a neck ache.”

Nile smirked before moving forward and lying back, landing on her back with her knees bent and hands folded over her stomach.

The dazzling array was just as stunning, and Nile thought it was a vision she wouldn’t forget for a long time.

She squinted for a minute before smiling as she identified a familiar set of three stars in the sky. “Andy look, Orion’s belt!”

Andy glanced at her before following her hand. “Hmm. Three stars in a straight line.”

“Yeah, it was the first one my dad taught me.” Nile said, smile fading to the familiar mixture of wonder and sadness that was becoming a friend to her in her immortality.

“Your dad taught you constellations?”

Nile nodded her head as best she could. “Me and my brother both. He bought this telescope that he set out in our yard. Mom was so mad at him cause it was so expensive but he just waved her off, telling her it was well worth the prize to show the universe to his kids. Said he was going to help us find Neverland.”

“Neverland?” Andy asked.

“It’s, yeah,” Nile laughed. “Peter Pan. Um, the book, and then the movie, it was my favorite for a long time. The thought of this magical being coming to call me for an adventure in a land far far away? Plus, the directions to Neverland were ‘Second star to the right, and straight on till the morning’. I remember, the first time we watched the movie, I stayed up that night trying to find which star was supposed to be the second star.”

“I’ve not read that book.”

“I’m not sure how much you’d like it. But it is about a boy who has all these other younger boys he takes care of while fighting off the evil Captain Hook, and he has a fairy friend called Tinkerbell.”

“How…charming.”

Nile snorted. “It’s cheesy as hell. And dark too, cause when you read it after you grow up, it kind of implies that Peter doesn’t let the boys go even when they want to leave, forcing them to be young boys forever. Or something like that, it has been forever since I read it.”

“Hmm.” Andy said. “Second star to the right of what?”

“I have no clue!” Nile said, genuine frustration coloring her voice, and Andy can almost imagine an even younger Nile pouting and stomping her foot with indignation. It makes her laugh.

“Neverland sounds magical.”

“I used to dream for a long time for a way to escape there. Especially after my dad passed. The world doesn’t touch Neverland, and if I stayed the same age as when we first received the news he was missing in action, then maybe he could stay missing forever. Rather than dead.”

A stray tear surprised her by making its way down her cheek. Reaching up, she quickly wiped it away.

Andy was quiet, letting Nile compose herself. “He sounds like a good father.”

Nile replied through a lump in her throat. “The best.”

Andy looked back at the sky. “The first thing I remember my father teaching me was to put a saddle on a horse.”

The unexpectedness and absurdity of the statement startled a laugh out of Nile. She turns to her side, tucking her knees in and using her arm as a pillow as she faced Andy. “What?”

Andy smirked. “My people. We were nomads. Our lands stretched over most of today’s Western Asia. We used to travel far and wide. We didn’t have a settlement, a permanent place to call home. Our home was our tribe, those we travelled with.”

Nile felt like she could barely breathe, so scared of breaking this spell. “That is lovely.”

Andy’s smile dimmed. “Yeah. Until all your people die, and you have to either leave them or risk putting them in even more danger.”

“Andy…”

“Nile, I was revered as a goddess by my people. And by some of the others I crossed during my earliest travels. It,” Andy swallowed, “When you are revered, you are held at a distance, you can be welcomed by people, but you will never be one of them.”

Nile stayed silent. What could you say to that?

“When I started dreaming of Quynh, I cried in relief. Finding her, she saved me in so many ways. She brought me back to the ground, gave me someone who would always consider me one of her people.” Andy trailed off, her eyes looking suspiciously glazed while her voice sounded close to tears. “We were just the two of us for so long, and then we had Lykon, then we didn’t, then we got Joe and Nicky. But then I lost her.”

“How did you stay sane Andy?” Nile asks before she can bite back the question.

Andy gave a wet chuckle as a single tear made it’s way down her cheek. She did not bother to wipe it away. “Some days I wonder if I did.”  

The two stayed quiet them, succumbing to unspoken grief. But Nile felt like she was going to suffocate, and she’d be damned if she let Andy do the same. “Did your dad teach you constellations too?”

Andy blinked before twisting her head.

Nile stared straight back at her.

Andy smiled a small smile. It was enough of a victory for Nile.

“He taught me constellations you wouldn’t know.”

“I don’t know that many constellations to be honest.”

Andy let out an actual laugh. “No Nile. He taught me constellations that have been lost to time.

She let out a big exhale, settling back to her position. “In those years when I travelled alone, I started feeling like nothing in this world was significant. Quynh and I travelled to Egypt, we saw Giza before the pyramids were built.”

And shit, statements like that still blew Nile’s mind, because what?

“What?”

Andy chuckled. “Yeah, I remember going while they were clearing out the place for them. Without Quynh, you are all so young to me. Even Nicky and Joe. I have seen the great wonders of the world be built, be new and enchanting, and also seen them grow old and worn. When you have lived a life like mine, things stop feeling significant in some ways.”

Nile didn’t voice how terrifying she found that idea.

“Andy, just because you have seen all the wonders doesn’t mean new wonders cannot still be appreciated.”

“That’s not what I mean Nile.” She held up a hand, and Nile stared at it before tentatively placing her hand in it. Andy squeezed it briefly.

“When you live as long as we do, we see the world change in a way that is different than the change observed over a single lifetime. I have gone from a world where the only way to get around were horses and believing the world was flat to learning to fly and seeing a man walk on the moon.”

“Oh, that’s a story I want to hear.” Nile said, eyes sparkling.

Andy laughed again. “Perhaps another day. Joe tells it best anyways. But what I am trying to say is that the world changes so quickly, that the thing you take for fact now may soon reveal themselves to be falsehoods and myths, and people younger to you,” and here Andy squeezed her hand again, “will take the piss at you for not knowing something that is obvious to them.”

“Booker?”

“Booker.”

She looked at the stars again. “I like coming to places like this because they make me feel not so old. They are pockets in time, inside of which time hasn’t really passed.”

Nile twisted to lay on her back again, looking at the sky.

“I feel old when I look at you all, and now without my immortality? I am not scared, but I feel like time is going too quickly. I used to be worshipped as a goddess, as someone not from this world. But I am of this world. So firmly of this world. And looking at these hills, these stars? It makes me feel small.” In a voice that was steadier than it was all evening, she added. “So little makes me feel small anymore. But these stars? They have been here since I was born. And they will still shine long after I am gone. To them, I am as transient as any other human that has walked the Earth. And that is a comfort very few places on the planet can offer me anymore.”

“Tell me a story.”

Andy blinked at her. Nile gave her an encouraging smile.

“A…story?” Andy asked, as though the word was new to her.

“Of one of the constellations your dad taught you. So there is one other person who will know about them.”

Andy’s breath hitched. Nile was so young, even by normal human lifespans. Too young to have already died. But so kind, so hopeful, Andy sometimes froze with how much life there was in Nile. But she had meant every word that she had said in Merrick’s penthouse, because Nile did remind her of her time being invincible. But she also reminded her of how precious life is.

“A trade. I tell you the constellations my father taught me, if you tell me yours?”

Nile laughed. “Sure, but I only know the big ones.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

Nile shook her head even as she used the hand still holding Andy’s for a sideway handshake. “Deal.”

She looked at the sky, trying to imagine the sky to be about 70% less crowded. The longer she stared, the more she was able to distinguish. “Ok well, since we found Orion’s belt, we can also find the rest of Orion. And then close to Orion, we can see the Big Dipper, which means, uhhh,” Nile said as she waved her hand before finding her target. “There. That’s the Small Dipper. Um, what else, oh there, on top of Orion, that’s Gemini, and nearby Taurus, oh wow, you know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen all the stars for it at once? One or two would always be too faded in Chicago.”

“You can find all the Zodiac constellations?” Andy asked.

“I know what they look like, but I’ve never seen them all in the sky.”

Andy hummed. “Those 12 constellations. That pattern is seen everywhere in the world, so almost every culture that uses the stars and draws in them finds them.” she explained. “All the Zodiac signs fall in a line that follows the Sun’s path. So if you can find Gemini and Taurus, then you can find the others. Look, follow my finger ok?”

Nile nodded.

“You see that star?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s the first star of Cancer. So, those five stars make up Cancer. Then keep following them that way, you see those two stars, they are part of the head of the lion.”

“Leo.”

“Correct, so you will see one star to that side, and then follow it down, that’s the neck, and then these six stars,” She drew a imaginary line between then several times, “Those six make up the body.”

Andy showed her the rest of the constellations, and then to test her, made Nile draw them all out for her.

“Satisfied?” Nile asked as she finished drawing Pisces.

“What others do you know?”

“Um, the Northern cross.” Nile said, searching the sky. Andy grabbed her hand and pointed it towards one section of the sky, letting Nile focus and “Found it!”

“Where is the North star?”

“The last star of the Small Dipper.”

“Very good.”

Both women lay back down, enjoying the wind rustling gently through the trees as they watched the heavens above. Nile felt the warmth from before grow into a comfortable hearth.

“Thank you for the Astronomy lesson.”

“You’re welcome. There may come a time when your fancy GPS, or even a reliable compass won’t work, but you can always trust the stars to guide you in the right direction.”

Nile turned to look at Andy. “Your turn to show me your constellations. We made a deal.”

Taking a deep breath, Andy let her eyes scan the stars above before finding a forgotten constellation. “Do you see those two stars?” Andy pointed.

Nile followed her gaze.

Nile let Andy show her constellations from her childhood, feeling both a bitter pang of nostalgia for her brother and her dad. But also a curl of warmth in this foreign sea of grass that warmed her better than the fire pit had.

Even if most of the stars they perceived had actually died a long long time ago, they still shone bright, and Nile would make sure these stories Andy was telling her would live on. Just as much as Andy’s own.

She may have stopped searching for Neverland, but she thinks she might have found it anyways. After all, what did Peter Pan and his lost boys have on a 6000-year-old badass woman and two star-crossed Crusaders in love?

Nile settled on the grass, letting Andy make sense of the twinkling tapestry above them.

[ladyreapermc]

Fic: This isn’t a rom-com 11/17

Summary: Keanu and Lilah meet at the set of John Wick. Rom-com shenanigans ensues

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

Author’s notes: let’s pepper a little conflict on this, shall we?

Wordcount: 3056

Warnings: lots of fluff, some sexy teasing, but basically a very tame chapter.

As Lilah slowly blinked her eyes open the next morning, a slow, lazy grin spread over her face. This was the third morning in a roll that she woke up like this, surrounded by Keanu’s embrace and she was quickly getting used to it. Lilah was pretty sure she hadn’t slept this well since she started grad-school, which should really say something about the state of her life in the past six years, but Lilah wasn’t gonna think about it now.

Not when she was warm and comfy and sated and pleasantly sore, wrapped around Keanu’s arms in the early hours of a Sunday, the milky light of the morning filtering through the curtains and shining over their tangled legs.

Last night, after the mind-blowing sex and their nap, they ordered Chinese food and just talked way past midnight since neither of them actually had to work the next day. Lilah felt a little bad that they didn’t manage to go out on their date, but she loved having Keanu all to herself, without worrying about being seen by paparazzi and all that.

She loved curling on the couch with him and talking about everything and nothing, getting to know each other even more. Lilah shared a little more about her family, how her stepdad Frank met her mom Alba when he was working abroad for Doctors without Borders. They met and fell in love rather quickly. Back then, her mom had just lost her husband in a car accident, while Frank was fresh off a messy divorce.

They got married six months later and Lilah and her mom moved to the US to live Frank and his son James, who was just a year older than Lilah. She didn’t remember much about that adaptation period, but she knew it was pretty hard. Frank was always working, her mom’s English wasn’t the best and James was a spoiled little brat

All Lilah really remembered was feeling sad all the time because her mom was always crying. It took a while, but things slowly got better. Her mom picked up English quite fast and James’ mom finally moved on from the divorce. Lilah had mostly happy memories of her childhood, even if as she grew older, she felt this growing sense of being out of place, of not really belonging.

She was the only Latina in her class in the private school she went to and people made fun of her accent, which was why she worked so hard to hide it. As a matter of fact, all through school Lilah struggled to hide her heritage, basically who she was. It wasn’t until college, but especially grad-school, that she started to actually feel comfortable in her own skin and with who she was. Not only that, but Lilah felt she was doing finally something right, something she was good at and she was truly proud of her research. Even if it wasn’t her first choice, she really learned to love what she did.

It was very nice to be able to open up to Keanu like this and see him doing the same. He told her about his own father and his mother multiple marriages and his own struggles with school and dyslexia. Lilah was curious and fascinated about everything she learned about him because she knew not many people had the privilege of seeing that side of him. She latched on to even the smallest of things because they always seemed to have a story behind it, like the little scar on his neck.

“Where did you get this?” Lilah asked, running her finger over it gently. They had moved back to bed supposedly to go sleep again but ended lying on their sides, facing each other and just talking a little more instead.

“Neck surgery,” he explained, taking her hand and placing a kiss on each fingertip. “I had a spinal fusion, so they put a plaque in my neck.”

“Shit!” Lilah massaged his nape. Keanu hummed in pleasure, closing his eyes and leaning into the touch. “I can’t believe I didn’t know. I thought I knew all your scars.”

Keanu cracked one eye open and just arched his eyebrow at her, a smirk playing on his lips and Lilah could feel her cheeks burning. And here she thought she would stop blundering with her words now that she was so comfortable around him.

“You like my scars?” he asked with a husky voice and Lilah grinned and nodded, raking her nails over the one on his stomach and Keanu groaned.

“This one still my favorite, though,” she whispered meeting his lips for a kiss, that turned into two and then three and then into more until they were sated and collapsed tangled together, exhaustion lulling them to sleep.

Which was still how Lilah found herself in the morning and as the sleep fog dissipated. She felt her limps aching and hurting from the awkward angles and did her best to pull away without waking Keanu, but he grumbled and just tightened his hold around her, rubbing his cheek against her neck and making Lilah squirm and giggle.

“Morning,” he spoke against her skin.

“Morning,” Lilah replied and this time, when she pulled away, Keanu actually let her go. She managed to stretch her body and groan. “Everything aches.”

“Good kind of ache?” he asked, peeking at her, hand moving up her thigh.

“Some, yes.” She smirked, catching his wandering fingers before they could go far. “Now, someone promised me pancakes last night…”

Keanu groaned as he turned on his back and rubbed his face.

“I knew I was gonna regret that.”

“No take-backsies,” Lilah teased, poking his side and making him jolt startled and grab her hands, pinning her down on the bed.

Her breath caught in her throat as Keanu used his weight to hold her down, knees on either side of her legs to keep her in place, gaze hard and intense. Lilah felt herself going breathless as her arousal grew. She pushed back against his hand, which was large enough to wrap around both of her wrists, and Keanu tightened his hold just a little, almost as if in warning making Lilah whimper. He nipped at the skin under her jaw and she tilted her head back to give him more space.

“You like that I can do this, don’t you?” Keanu asked against her ear, his voice still rough with sleep. Thet sound making her ache with want “That I'm bigger and stronger and I can pin you down, have you at my mercy?”

“Oh fuck, yes!” Lilah gasped and licked her lips. She was so wet she was could feel soaking her panties almost uncomfortably.

Who knew a control freak like her would be this turn on by the fact that Keanu could pretty much do anything to her, and she would gladly submit and say thank you?

“Breakfast first,” Keanu whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. “Then…” she could feel the weight of his hungry gaze over her skin. He was off her before Lilah could even register what was happening. “I’ll start the pancakes while you shower.”

“You’re a mean one Mr. Reeves,” she said with a pout and Keanu just laughed as he put on a pair of sweatpants and left Lilah with one last kiss.

She lingered in bed, grinning to herself, before finally getting up and heading to the bathroom, giddy with excitement because Keanu’s bathroom was perfect. From the huge raised tub, which Lilah still had to try out, to the large shower stall with directional jets and all kinds of heat controls.

Lilah let the hot water wash away all the kinks from spending the night in an awkward position, before finally stepping out, skin still flushed and tingling as she dug through Keanu’s closet for something to wear, settling for a pair of boxers shorts that hang loosely around her hips and one of his ARCH shirts.

She walked into the kitchen and her lips tilted into a smile at the sight of Keanu flipped pancakes at the stove, spotting a severe case of bed hair. Lilah wished she had her phone close by so she could register the moment, but before she could even think about looking for it, Keanu noticed her, his expression shifting into a gorgeous smile that made her knees weak.

“I hope you don’t mind that I took some liberties,” she said gesturing to her attire.

“Don’t mind at all,” he replied, piling the last pancake on the plate as Lilah followed the smell of coffee. “You look good in my clothes.”

“Where do you keep your mugs?” She asked.

“Second door above the coffee machine,” Keanu replied, turning off the stove. “But that’s… what did you call it again? Chafé?”

“I figured, but my need of caffeine is bigger than my distaste for American coffee,” Lilah said pulling the cabinet door open and let out a huff of frustration as she noticed the mugs on the top shelf and out of her reach. “Keanu?”

He turned around to look after he set their plates on the counter, his lips twisting into a smirk. He walked over, pining Lilah against the counter as he easily took out two mugs and handed it to her.

“Have I mentioned I hate all tall people?” she complained with a pout, making Keanu laugh. “I mean, you’re so tall even if I’m on my tiptoes, you have to bend down so I can kiss you.”

“Well, I like that you’re short,” he said, voice laced with amusement and something else. His hands fell to her ass, pulling her flush against his body. Lilah could feel the edge of his cock against her belly as Keanu bent his head and nibbled at her earlobe, making her shiver and gasp. “I like that I can just pick you up in my arms, carry you around or pin you down or bend you over,” Keanu whispered against her ear, breath as hot as his words. “My tiny little Lilah. Lil.” He kissed her cheek, then her mouth.

“Are you always this horny in the morning?” she asked against his lips, blindly setting the two mugs she was still holding on the counter so she could wrap her arms around his neck.

“Maybe,” Keanu said with a sly grin. “Is that a problem?”

Lilah shook her head with a matching smile before kissing him. She licked into his mouth, tasting the cigarette he must have had while she was in the shower. He lifted her up again until she was perched on the counter and for once Lilah was taller than him. She pulled back from the kiss and just stared at him for a moment, tracing his face and the laugh lines around his eyes.

And how come she never noticed he had freckles on his nose? They were faint, but they were there. Just she never noticed there were some stray greys in his beard… He was so damn handsome and wonderful and perfect. Her heart felt like it would bust out of her ribcage from just looking at him.

“What?” he asked with a cute little frown of confusion.

Lilah shook her head and bit her lip to keep the words at bay. She wasn’t ready for them yet. Neither of them was.

“Nothing,” she replied, kissing the tip of his nose making him chuckle and catch her lips in another kiss. Before Keanu could even think about dragging it on, the sound of her phone cut them off.

“Is that the theme from Psycho?” he asked with an amused huff as Lilah scrambled away from him and off the counter so she could rush to answer it.

“Dr. Williams, hi!” she greeted, hoping she didn’t sound as out of breath as she really was. “What can I do for you?”

When Lilah answered the call she was expecting her advisor to ask about her data analysis or something about the paper she submitted for publication yesterday. She certainly wasn’t expecting to be asked for brunch.

“Right now?” she asked, looking at herself, reminded of the fact that she was at Keanu’s and her only clothes here were the red dress she wore yesterday. At the same time, she knew none of Dr. Williams' requests were really requests. “Sure. Where do I meet you?”

Anticipating her need, Keanu moved closer with a notepad and a pen so she could scribble down the name of the restaurant before hanging up with a sigh. When Lilah finally looked up at him it was hard to miss the look of disappointment on his face.

“It’s Sunday,” he said simply and Lilah stood on her tiptoes to hug him.

“You seem to think that matters to her. It doesn’t,” she tried to joke, but the frown on his expression didn’t waver. “I’m so sorry, babe, but I have to go.”

“I know,” he sighed, wrapping his arms around her waist. “I was just looking forward to spending the day with you.”

“Me too,” she assured pecking his lips. “I’ll let you know as soon as it’s over. Will you meet me at home?”

“Yeah,” Keanu agreed with a nodded. “Go get changed.”

Lilah let go of him with a sigh, heading back to the bedroom to put her dress back on. Sometimes she really hated grad school. It’s was a full-time job that didn’t really have any regulations which meant her advisor could pull shit like this. If only Lilah could have some sort of guarantee that this would actually be a productive endeavor.

Stepping into the restaurant, Lilah adjusted the skirt of her dress, feeling understandably overdressed among the rest of the diners, but there wasn’t much she could do at this point. She quickly located her Dr. Williams, surprised to see she wasn’t alone. Then Lilah remembered they were supposed to be receiving a visiting professor from Oxford for a few seminars. However, Lilah wasn’t expecting him to be this young and blonde and with such bright blue eyes.

“Lilah! Nice of you to join us!” Dr. Williams greeted looking her up and down. “Lovely dress, dear.”

“Thanks.” She could feel herself blush.

“You two haven’t met yet, right?” Williams gestured at the man who had been on his feet since Lilah approached the table. “Lilah, I’d like you to meet Arthur Pierce.”

“You’re Pierce?” the words escaped her lips before she could stop herself. Lilah had been referenced this man all over her dissertation and he couldn’t be that much older than her. He chuckled and nodded, shaking her hand.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Bennett,” he said with a smile as he pulled a chair for her. “I’ve heard a lot about you and your research.”

Brunch ended up being a very pleasant affair. Pierce wasn’t kidding when he said he heard a lot about her research. He seemed to know as much about it as Dr. Williams herself and was more than happy to give Lilah a few pointers and suggestions. Dr. Williams would interject every once a while, but it was basically Lilah and Arthur going back and forth with each other. So much so that it took Lilah a moment to realize that Dr. Williams had disappeared at some point, leaving them alone.

“I think she said something about the loo…” Pierce commented, frowning. Apparently, he hadn’t noticed her absence either. “I have to say Lilah it has been a real pleasure to talk to you. I mean, your research is incredible.”

“Thank you,” she replied with a proud smile. That compliment meant a lot coming from someone like Pierce.

“It’s about time we have some more research on media influence on behavior, especially when we’ve been spending so much of our time in front of screens.”

“That’s exactly what I think! And you can’t just ignore the influence that movies have in the way we perceive the world.”

“You know, I actually got some funding to start a laboratory. It would be something between psychology and social communication and I was looking for researchers to work with me. Dr. Williams told me you were almost done with your dissertation.”

“I mean, I’m still writing it…” Lilah pointed out with a shrug.

“But you could do that anywhere, right? And just come back to defend it.” Arthur asked, sipping his tea with an expectant look that had her confused.

“Wait. What are you saying here?”

“I’m offering you a research position, Lilah,” he clarified with a bright smile. “I mean, you’d have to teach too, but…”

“In Oxford?” she croaked; eyes wide. “Like, in England?”

“Well, yes. You can begin next term, but don’t worry about housing and visa, if you agree, my people can take care of everything…” Arthur trailed off, noticing the look of shock and panic and her eyes. “She didn’t tell you, did she?”

“Who? Dr. Williams? No.” Lilah shook her head and gulped down her water. “You’re serious about this?”

“Yes, I think you’d be perfect, Lilah, but I can see I’ve blindsided you with this. Why don’t you think it over and let me know?” Arthur said, offering her his card. Lilah took it with numb fingers, still too stunned to say anything else.

She remained stunned all the way back home, where she found Jean and Isaac hanging around couch, barely containing their matching grins of excitement.

“Look who’s doing the walk of shame,” Jean teased, jumping to her feet.

“Jean, not now. We have more important stuff to discuss!” Isaac interrupted getting up too and Lilah noticed he had his hands behind his back. “You know, we really should check our mailbox more often. This has been sitting there for three days!”

He pulled out an envelope from behind his back and showed to Lilah and even through her haze of shock, she recognized the logo for NYFA on it.

“You got in!” Isaac cheered, pulling Lilah into a hug.

“We’re gonna have words because you didn’t tell us about this,” Jean complained, joining in the hug. “But I’m so proud of you! Congratulations!”

Lilah held the envelope in her hands, to frozen to say or do anything. Shit. She got in. What was she gonna do now?

x(tbc)x

Go to part 12

Tag list (give me a shout if you want to be added or removed):

@theolsdalova @krazycags01 @beyond-antares @cumberbatchbaps @sgt-morgan @futuristic-imbecile @howtoruin-someones-perfect-day @a-really-bi-girl @fanficsrusz @nonsensicalobsessions @poisonedjoinery @soarocks @kindainlovewithkeanu

[caffeinatedfantasy]

The Seal pt 0.5: The Arrival

{ because I felt like it and the idea popped up? idk }

{ Chris: [bio] Pt [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]/ ?? Day One [ AO3 Link ] 

This whole thing was a mistake. A ridiculous, headache inducing mistake. I was going to go back to sleep and wake up, life back to normal. I was certain of it. This couldn't be anything other than an extended dream. My drink had probably been spiked with something and this was a weird ass drug trip. I've heard of people having bad shroom trips and thinking they're in the trip for months and it's really only been a couple minutes. That had to be what it was. 

I couldn't be dead because Hell wasn't real. 

And if it was, I wouldn't be surrounded by all these attractive demon boys, paying for my shit. [I was still very confused, but I wasn't about to complain about someone buying me clothes to get out of my pajamas. Because of course I'd been wearing them.]

"Can't you just..." I gestured vaguely. Might as well play along. "Poof my clothes here?"

He gave me a look and I inexplicably felt stupid for the question. I shouldn't, and I knew I shouldn't, because why the fuck wasn't it that simple? I refused to let him get to me, though, and stubbornly crossed my arms. "Seems like bad planning to poof my ass down here with shit but my jams, but too late now I suppose. I need a bra, at least."

Yea, I see your eyes going there Mr. High and Mighty. He only made a small noise of acknowledgement before we went back to shopping, but I noticed that one of the brothers' [Asmodeus?] attention stayed there for a little longer until he noticed I was looking at him. 

"Looks fine to me!" He winked, and I couldn't help but chuckle.He was eager to help while they went shopping, getting a bit handsier than needed, but his choices were pretty stylish [and he was very cute], so I couldn't complain too much. 

Well, I could, but I wasn’t going to. The whole... Stern “friendly”[?] talking to from [Lord?] Diavolo about how I didn’t really have a choice because I had signed the contract for the school exchange program three months ago, so I was obligated. [They’d advertised it as Japan. I knew some Japanese. I was excited for that. But. Why not Hell I guess?]

Though. At one point they pointed towards a gate that they said would take me back to the Human World [after I went through the layers of Hell, apparently, which I didn’t remember because I never got around to reading Inferno] and I just straight booked it. 

Or tried to. 

One moment Lucifer was pointing it out, with Mammon joking [maybe?] that I could take that route home as I stared. The next moment Lucifer had his arm around my waist as my legs pumped futilely as I was lifted off the ground the moment I had moved.

I don’t know if I had looked that obvious or if he had read my mind, because I hadn’t even thought about it until I realized what what going on. 

“If you try that again, I’ll have to put a leash on you.” He scolded me. And I could only scowl in embarrassment. [Asmodeus had made a couple jokes about how he had one I could use and I’d look so cute in it, winking and everything. And had looked delightedly scandalized when I’d teased him that he might look better in one than me.]

Overall, it was a couple hours before we were done and I was shown to what would be my room and left to sleep. I didn’t bother with much before I settled into the too-large, too-comfortable bed.

Surely I'd wake up and be back to my normal life then, laughing about my weird ass dream.

--

As far as dreams go, being in a strange house full of demons really wasn't that weird. Except that they hadn't been chasing me, [a staple for me], nor had I ever been lucid during it. I had woken up convinced they'd actually happened, even. I stayed in a weird fugue state, trying to get my brain convinced that it was a dream, and I just needed to accept that [the strange bed just meant I'd hooked up with someone at the bar or something that's all], even when I'd wandered out of the room looking for... Someone.

I was intentionally ignoring the nagging feeling that last night might not be a dream as I walked down unfamiliar halls. It was not just an apartment. Or even a basic house. This place was huge. I'd never woken up in a place like this after a night of questionable choices. [Or at all. Ever.]

I heard the voices ahead as I walked, and the pit in my stomach grew. There were a few of them. Which meant this was going to be embarrassing either way. I was either going to be apologizing for making a fool of myself in front of a bunch of strangers[?] who decided to take care of me. [And maybe I slept with one of them. Though my body didn't feel like it, it was possible.] OR I was going to have to deal with the fact that I was now in Hell. [That I was still on drugs because Hell wasn't real, thank you very much.]

I peeked around the corner once I'd figured out which room the noise was coming from and lined along the dining table were five guys rather animatedly eating breakfast. 

And dear lord, they looked familiar. Every one of them. I had met them all the night before. In my Hell-dream. 

I groaned quietly. I needed to get the fuck out of here. I went to step back from the doorway when the one with black hair [Lucifer] looked up. 

Directly at me. 

He stood smoothly as he called my name. I wasn't sure if the movement was polite [some manners dictated standing when a guest entered, waiting for them to sit before doing so], or if it was to keep me from fleeing [he'd be faster than me, wouldn't he? As a demon and all].

I stood there for a moment, frozen. But I couldn't look like a deer in headlights. No, that was a terrible idea too. I smiled best I could, letting the expression lazily stretch across my face [a customer service smile would be too obvious right now], and stepped forward. Self-deprecation might be easier now.

"Well fuck me, so last night wasn't a dream?" I examined the table, food spread out on plates, and there was even an empty seat with a plate that must be for me. I'd started on the rest of my joke ["Here I woke up hoping that--"] when one of them--Asmodeus-- took my hand and pulled me closer, grinning at me widely.

"If you'd like, there's still time before class..." He purred at me, kissing the back of my hand. And oh dear lord the touch was practically electric. He'd taken my joke as an invitation and was flirting with me. 

But of all the things that could've happened. THIS I knew how to handle. [I wondered if that had been the point.]

Grinning back at him, I leaned forward towards him and gently patted his cheek. "Sweetheart, if it can be finished before class, I'm not interested."

I slipped my hand from his and took "my" seat, staring across the table at the food. [Ignoring how delighted Asmodeus looked at my teasing him back, including an "Ooooh I like you."] 

I glanced up at... Lucifer [when had he sat back down?] as I grabbed some food for my plate. 

"Was hoping this was some bad trip or something, but guess I'm really in Hell then?" I paused, then corrected myself. "Devildom, sorry. Shit's wild though. I take it you're throwing me in right away too?" 

The question was directed at Lucifer, even though I knew from last night that this hadn't been his decision, it had been Diavolo's. He shook his head at the question. 

"You're starting on Monday. To allow you to get settled in." I was surprised by the consideration I was being given, considering I'd been kidnapped and all. I just nodded around my food.

They’d looked like regular eggs. But the taste was... I blanched and stared at the plate for awhile before a hand reached across my plate and grabbed onto the side and-- I swatted his hand with my fork and scowled. “No! Mine!” 

The redhead [Beelzebub? I think? Gluttony for sure] pouted at me. He did look slightly annoyed, but mostly pouting. 

“Looked like you weren’t going to eat it.” He said, and his stomach growled. “Didn’t think humans ate cockatrice eggs.” 

“That’s why they tasted weird...” I muttered, and. [Hold on.] Cockatrice eggs? Gods. Mythology, they were... I glanced up at Lucifer sharply, keeping an eye on Beelzebub for any more food stealing. “They... Won’t poison me or something, right? 

“You should be fine.” He nodded. I paused, taking another couple of bites and stared at the rest of my plate and the weird food there before glancing at the redhead. 

“Make ya a deal. I’m gonna be trying this weird demon food. Anything I don’t like, you have free reign to just nab from me. Can even tell people you’re getting it for me and just eat it. Just ask before reaching for my plate for the other stuff, kay?” I offered with a small smile. He paused for a moment, staring at my plate, before he nodded. 

“Sure.” He replied. Somewhat hesitantly. [I wasn’t entirely sure how well an Avatar of Gluttony could hold to that, especially as I saw him put more unto hs plate from the middle, but I was gonna try.]

It helped that what I had thought were pancakes were... Disgusting, and I quickly gave them to him. [And I’d had a decent stack because. I love pancakes. But only sweet ones. These were... Not that.]

And made it through breakfast without him trying to steal anything else. 

Mammon would be with me today. Because apparently he was allowed to skip class for the day just to help me out. [And why did demons have school anyway? The best answer I got out of him was a shrug and “Diavolo’s idea” with no further elaboration.] 

And I just sort of... Drifted. My brain still running behind reality [questionable] demanding that this couldn’t be real, but that it wasn’t a dream, either, and that stuff would sort itself out soon enough. 

Right?

[artificialqueens]

Notebook or Post-It - [Chapter 3] - (Kamjie) - Black_Magic

Hey, guys! Chapter 3 is here! I’m a week late, but that’s not important. Enjoy the chapter.

I woke up hearing someone open a door and walk away. I felt around for my phone, but I couldn’t find it. Then I remembered what happened last night. I smiled and felt a ball of excitement form in my stomach. Did that really happen? I sat up and rubbed my eyes. From the small amount of light that came into my room, I saw the space beside me in my bed was empty. Where did he go? Was it really a dream? I turned on the lamp that hung above my bed. I looked around and saw my clothes were in a pile. I dragged myself out of bed to my pants. I grabbed my phone to look through the notifications. It looks like Vanjie texted me.

I looked at the time. It was 8:24. I sighed and went to the bathroom for a shower. I turned on the water to let it warm up. While I waited, I texted back a few other people. After that, I sat my phone on the sink’s counter before stepping in and letting the warm water soak me.

It did me good to get a shower. I can clean myself off properly and think about last night. I thoroughly enjoyed every second I had with Vanjie last night. Eating the wings. Staring into his beautiful eyes. Playing Mario Kart. The hot sex. I don’t know why we did. I have wondered how good of a kisser Vanjie is. I got my answer last night.

I grabbed the little hotel shampoo bottle to squirt some on my hand. I rubbed my hands together and stepped away from the warm water to wash my hair.

When I think about it, Vanjie is hot in and out of drag. That makes me think about why I was compelled to screwing my friend. Was it looks? Was it because we were meant to? I know I flirt with some of my friends, but I felt like what happened was genuine. I don’t know. I haven’t had a date in a long time. Haven’t had a good hookup in awhile either.

I tilted my head back to rinse off the lemon scented shampoo. As the soap and water run down my face, I came to the realization of what I need to do. I need to talk to Vanj about last night.

******************************************************************************

I put the finishing touches of my small amount of boy makeup for the day. I did a tongue pop and grabbed the essentials: my phone, wallet, and key card. I hurried out the door so I could make it on time. I looked at my phone for the time. I had four minutes. I ran to the lobby doors and walked from there. As I made my way to the kitchen to get food, I spotted Vanjie. He already had a plate with a huge waffle on it. I went into the kitchen to grab my own breakfast. I grabbed a plate and filled it up. I grabbed an omelet, a blueberry muffin, bacon, sausage, and a bottle of water to wash it all down.

Satisfied with the variety of food on my plate, I joined Vanj. He looked up at me and smiled. “Hey, Kam.” He had on similar clothes as me. A pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, and sneakers. He looked comfortable, which contrasts the rest. His eyes revealed to me his exhaustion from last night. The way he sat looked awkward, although I know exactly why.

“Hey, Vanj.” I opened my water so I could drink some of it. “How are you?”

“I’m good, just sore. I expected as much, though. We really went at it last night. How are you? Probably just fine, you bitch.” I smirked, knowing that’s true. Other than the fatigue from yesterday, I’m good. It’s mostly from the performance and a small amount from when Vanjie and I were together.

“You’re not wrong. I do feel exhausted, but that’s just a mix of things.” He nodded to me and we fell silent. I dug into my breakfast. It was good and much needed to get me started for the day. I can see it would be good for others too. I just saw Violet come through, see what I did there. She looked wrecked. I can almost feel her pain. She looked hungover. I kind of feel bad.

“Hey, can we talk? About last night?” I nodded, knowing we have to. I want to. I just didn’t know how to start this conversation. “So, last night happened. I know I enjoyed it. I know what can happen now. I’d like to hear your side first before we decide.”

“I liked it too. I don’t know what lead to it, but yeah, it happened. I tried to think about it this morning myself. I couldn’t come up with anything. A normal person would brush this off and move on.“

"We aren’t normal people, Kameron."

I nodded and wiped my mouth with a napkin. "No, Vanessa, we are not normal people. That’s why I need to know. Are we going to make something out of this, or let it go?”

I watched the gears turn as he thought about what he wanted. I know him very well. We are so much alike. We get attached easily. If we are shown affection, it’s game over. We can form feelings for someone within the snap of a finger. That can be good every once in awhile. It’s mostly bad. Especially because the feelings can be for the wrong person. Now, hold up! I’m not saying Vanessa Vanjie Mateo is the wrong person. I’m saying she’s not the right person. She’s not right or wrong. Am I making sense?

“If you think we could make something out of this, I’m in. I don’t think it can be long term. Maybe a small relationship?"

"That’s not a bad idea. You’re suggesting a tour fling?” He nodded with a smile. He looks so proud of himself, it’s cute. “Then it’s settled. We should set some rules. None of the fans can know. Certainly nobody who would reveal this.”

“I feel a but coming in. What is it?”

“We have to tell someone we trust. The only person I trust is Michelle. That woman should be a detective. She knows everything that happens with the rest of the queen’s on tour. Either she finds out herself, or we tell her now."

Vanjie took a deep breath. It’s not a big decision. The hard part is telling Michelle. Michelle doesn’t agree with everything, especially the color green. What I know she will say is to be careful and to be honest. That’s what she always asks of all the girls. "Ok, we can tell her. Can we do it later? We have to pack up and get into the bus in a few hours.” That should give us enough time to mentally prepare.

Now that we’ve talked and finished eating, we went our separate ways to our rooms. I’m glad we had two hours to back because I only had fifteen minutes to spare. I gathered everything up and the key cards and made my way to the lobby. I checked out and brought my bags to the bus. Looks like everyone else was scattering because they were all running around.

I made it over with my bags and dragged them in. I picked a random bunk and sat them down with a huff. I walked to the couch out front and plopped down, acting like I was dead. I closed my eyes since I heard someone coming in. “Oh bitch, you really asleep already?” I nodded my head and opened my eyes. Vanjie stood in the doorway while the others came in.

“I’m so tired. I could sleep forever.” Vanjie softly laughed at me.

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” I barely had time to brace myself before he jumped on me with a Vanjie style battle cry. I grunted from the impact and laughed with him. We were laughing pretty loud, to the point where Michelle had to shut us up. “Sorry, Michelle.” I sat up to make Vanjie get off. We can’t have anyone grow suspicious of us. Anyone but Michelle finding out isn’t an option. We looked at her, then at each other. “Should we tell her now?”

“Yeah, do it now before we have to leave. Stay here and I’ll get her.” Luckily everyone else was either still inside, or making sure they have all of their precious luggage. “Hey, Michelle.”

She spun around and met my eyes. “Yes, my love?” That just warmed my heart. She is such a mom, and I love it.

“Can we talk to you on the couch?” I pointed to Vanjie and got a nod from Michelle. She followed me and sat opposite to us. I felt my heartbeat pick up in speed. My hands were shaky too. I was so nervous about this.

“What’s the matter?” We looked at each other, then back to Michelle for the second time. Luckily Vanjie is a fast thinker and talker. She started for me, which I’m thankful for. It gave me time to breathe and calm down.

“Something happened last night. It was after you left. We had a drink and then went back to the hotel. We played some Mario Kart and joked around. That lead to other things.” Michelle crossed her arms.

Before Michelle could cut in, I finished what we had to say. She should know everything else that happened last night. “We basically had a fun night.” I said, trying to lighten the mood. Then, that woman raised an eyebrow at me. I thought I was done for. “To be fair, you left us unattended.” I heard Vanjie’s attempt to not laugh. It was contagious enough as to where I had to contain my laughter too. Michelle sighed, so I looked up. She had a smile on her face. At least I got a smile out of her.

“So, let me make sense of this. You feel like you had a moment. You drank enough to be buzzed, then left the bar. You returned to Kameron’s room and played Mario Kart. Finally, you teased each other, then had a kai-kai session. Because of all that, you felt the need to tell me.” We both nodded to her. She paused for a moment, no doubt to think about what she was going to tell us.

“Yeah, we talked about this earlier. We knew we had to tell you. If we didn’t someone would have found out and told you. We didn’t want you to be blind sided by this.” I said before she could respond.

“I hope you two realize I can read in between the lines. Somewhere between last night and now, you decided this was going to lead somewhere. I strongly recommend not going for it. Being in the limelight like you are, it’s dangerous. You know the fans can be wild. They want so many of their desired pairs to be together. After Sharon and Alaska split up, the fans went wild. They didn’t care what went on behind the scenes. They wanted Shalaska to be an item again. Vanessa, you know this first hand. The world wanted you and Brooke Lynn to stay together. When they found out about the split, they reacted the same way.”

“I know, Michelle. We’re making sure the fans don’t find out. This will all be private and a secret. We talked about a little tour fling. Just so we can have each other and not have to worry about any strings attached. Just coupley stuff here and there and hooking up when we need it.” When Vanj puts it like that, I think it could work.

“Sweetheart, I realize you want this. Think about it. You still feel for Brooke. Both you and Kameron get attached easily. Do you really believe a tour fling will be enough? I don’t think it’s a good idea.” She isn’t wrong. I looked at Vanjie. He had the same disappointed look as me. “I can’t stop you. Just do me a favor. Promise me you’ll be careful?”

���I promise, Michelle.” I said immediately.

“Me too, I promise.”

“Thank you, ladies.” Michelle kissed us on the forehead and joined the girls in the back. Wow, that was easier than I thought. Now for the next step. Not screwing this up.

[carryonsimoncarryonbaz]

Here is Chapter 3 of my fic Behind Closed Doors, that I am writing for @krisrix

Chapter 3

Simon

I’m up early. I always am, no matter how late I get to bed. And last night was late for me.

I couldn’t get to sleep after Baz left. The combination of excitement, apprehension, and outright longing for him took a while to settle down. There’s a tinge of apprehension still lingering this morning.

I know he kissed me. I know he responded as willingly and passionately as I could hope. But Baz gets into his head sometimes I think, and he’s built up an entire spreadsheet of reasons why this is a bad idea.

It’s not like I’ve not thought of all that.

But there’s also a few reasons why this is an excellent idea, the first and foremost being that we have an undeniable attraction to each other. And I think we’d be good together. I really do.

I’m perfectly willing to forego all the trappings of a normal relationship, just to give this a chance.

I’d like to think Baz would too.

Fuck.

I don’t know. I wish he hadn’t left last night. Not when there was so much more to talk through. So much more time we could have had together.

I’ve never seen Baz at a loss for words.

To be honest it unnerved me a bit. In a good way, yeah, that I could render him speechless. But also in a way that’s making my stomach twist with anxiety that maybe I crossed a line and I’ve fucked it all up.

But he didn’t say no. I know that. He didn’t say no.

He didn’t outright say yes either.

Fuck.

I make breakfast. I watch some television. I even resort to cleaning the bathroom, which is a task I absolutely loathe.

I’m waiting for Baz to call or text or something and I can’t settle down.

Having proposed this non-relationship relationship to Baz seems to be doing wonders for the upkeep of my flat, but not so much for my state of mind. By eleven I’ve cleaned the detested bathroom, sorted my laundry, changed my sheets, and made a batch of salted caramel scones. It’s a new recipe and it’s not bad, but nothing like the cherry scones I make in the summer.

By noon I’m beyond agitated. Should I call him? Send a text?

Fuck it. I’m all nervous energy.

In the end I go for a jog mostly because I can’t think of anything else to do in my flat.

So, of course, that’s when I get a text from Baz.

I’m almost home when my mobile vibrates in my pocket but I’m too worked up to wait. I stop, chest heaving a bit, and yank it out of my joggers.

Baz: Happy New Year, Simon.

I wait to see if there’s a follow up to that. There’s not, of course. Wanker.

I’m not sure what to say. I’ve been waiting all morning to hear from him and now that I have a text—a bland, noncommittal text—I don’t know how to respond.

Simon: Started off the year with a jog in the park

Baz: Why am I not surprised by that?

I’m trying to come up with an appropriate response when another text from him pops up.

Baz: do you have a landline?

Simon: ?

My mobile starts ringing and I see it’s him. I pick up.

“Hey.”

“Good morning, Simon.”

“It’s afternoon, actually. I’m glad you texted, er, called.”

“Do you have a landline at your flat or just a mobile?”

“Just the mobile.”

There’s silence on the line. My heart starts to race. I’ve thought about this issue enough in the last week, in the last twenty-four hours, to know exactly what he’s getting at with that question.

And I’ve got an answer ready.

“We can get burner mobiles. Virgin has good rates or we can use Lyca.”

There are drawbacks to workplace issued mobiles. This is the best way to bypass that. Baz hasn’t answered me yet and it makes my pulse pound even faster.

If he’s asked the question it must mean he’s considering it? Considering us?

I’m holding my breath.

He’s still not saying anything. I can’t take it. I just blurt out what I’m thinking.

“Come over to my place, Baz. Let’s talk in person, yeah?”  

“You’re sure?” I don’t think he’s just asking about him coming over. I think his question encompasses so much more.

“Positive.” I run a hand through my sweaty hair. “Give me a half hour to clean up?”

I can hear Baz snort through the mobile. “I’ll see you then. Have you eaten or shall I bring something?”

My stomach rumbles at the thought of food. “I’d not say no to that.”

There’s a muffled sound again, almost like a laugh. “Alright then, Simon.”

I race the rest of the way home. At least the flat is neat and somewhat tidy after my anxiety-induced cleaning frenzy this morning.

Baz

I’m not sure going over to Snow’s flat is the best of ideas. My head is still spinning with the implications of his words last night.

I’ve not slept well. I couldn’t fall asleep when I got home last night, with all those delectable visions of Simon in my head.

I woke up far earlier than I would have liked this morning.

I’m always a bit bad-tempered when I haven’t slept well. Even more cross when I have a lot on my mind.

I have a lot on my mind.

I’d been looking forward to a good lie-in this morning, what with the holiday. I’d not expected to be constructing detailed pro/con arguments in my head half the night. It had taken utmost restraint not to sit down with a pen and paper and make an actual list at half past two in the morning.

As if that would have accomplished anything. There are far too many cons to this daft idea and basically one pro—Simon himself.

It’s undeniably tempting. Totally enthralling to contemplate—it’s everything I’ve dreamed of since I first met him. It’s what I’ve fantasized about for months. It’s been this tantalizing daydream and the realization that I just might be able to make it my reality has sent me into an emotional tailspin.

I don’t get good things. They don’t just happen to me like this.

That’s not my reality.

But fuck it all. I want this. It’s mad and utterly stupid and risky and a whole host of other descriptions that should have me sending Simon a strongly worded text that it’s all bollocks and I’m not even remotely considering it.

I’d be lying if I did that.

So instead I’m driving over to his flat, having managed to compile a list of necessary precautions to put in place before we embark on this lunacy.

Categorized. Itemized. Detail driven.

Bloody hell, I am such a fucking catastrophe.

I forgot to pick up the kebabs.

Simon

My hair is an utter disaster but I can’t be arsed over it. It’s still damp when there’s a knock on my door. I’m trying so hard to look casual again—t-shirt and trackies, my standard weekend uniform—but as I run for the door I wish I’d put something else on. I look like a knobhead, I’m sure.

Compared to Baz I do. He’s all cool elegance in fucking form fitted jeans again as he stands at the threshold and it takes sheer determination to drag my eyes up to his face.

It should be criminal for anyone to look this good in a turtleneck.

“Er . . . hi . . . come in.” I sound a complete tit.

Baz sweeps in but doesn’t take off his coat. He stands by my door, face cool and imperious, but I can see the strain of the fabric as his hands ball up into fists inside the pockets of his jacket.

“Uh. . . I can take your coat?”

Baz clears his throat and blinks twice before shrugging off his jacket. I can’t read him at all right now, his face is like a mask.

I shift to place his coat on the peg by the door and that brings me closer to him, near enough to catch a trace of the cedar and bergamot scent that is so uniquely his.

He smells so damn good.

I linger for a minute by his coat, clenching the fabric in my hands as I do, to keep myself from pouncing on him. His hair’s down today, not slicked back like usual.

I want to slide my fingers through it.

He’s still not said anything. He looks even better without his coat and it’s got me distracted. I should invite him in, make some tea, grab him by the shoulders and snog him senseless, anything other than just stare at him like a gobsmacked numpty.

I feel like a gobsmacked numpty, to be honest. Baz is here. He’s actually considering what I suggested last night.

At least I think he is. I guess I haven’t got confirmation of that yet.

“You want to come in, have some tea?”

“That sounds perfect.” There’s a hint of relief in his eyes, I think, at the mundanity of my suggestion. He swallows then glances down, a faint flush on his cheeks. It’s the softest he’s looked since he walked in. “Sorry, I . . . ah . . . I forgot to bring the kebabs.”

I blink back at him and then remember he said he was going to bring food. I wave my hand in the direction of the kitchen. “Don’t worry about it. There’s chicken from last night. I can heat it up in a bit.”  

I bustle about the kitchen, turning the kettle on, pulling mugs out of the cabinet, plating the scones I made earlier. Baz sits at the table, chin resting in his hand, following me with his eyes.

I gesture at the scones. “Have one.”

His eyebrow arches and he looks more like himself. “And deprive you of your basic dietary staple, Simon?”

“I don’t just eat scones, you know.” I place the butter dish on the table.

“I should hope not. You’d have some obscure disease like scurvy or beri beri if that’s all you ate.”

“I like berries.”

“You truly are hopeless, Simon, I hope you know that.” I think he’s making fun of me but I don’t care. There’s a smile on Baz’s face now and I can’t help but think it looks a bit fond.

Good.

“I’ll have you know I made those scones. I was trying out a new recipe this morning. Salted caramel.”

And that’s all it takes for him to reach over and pluck one from the serving plate. He’s got such a sweet tooth.

I busy myself with the tea and find myself relaxing a bit. I can’t let myself get agitated. He’s here, I remind myself.

I settle in the chair next to him and push a mug across the table. I know how he takes his tea.

Read the Rest at a ao3!! 

[hollands-poppet]

Dancing with Our Hands Tied Part 5// Tom Holland x Reader

Summary: Tom Holland is your best friend and your roommate, but you both have undisclosed feelings for each other.

Word count: 3K 💛

A/N: Okay, so this probably the shortest part to date, and maybe the most boring in my opinion lol i tried to make up for all the angst from the previous chapter hahaha but yeah this part is just really setting up for part 6 

Warnings: cussing I think, didn’t proofread this at all..

Prologue Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

-

Tom took a sip of his tea that he had prepared for him and Harrison, throwing his feet up on the living room table.

“I’m sorry about your Spider-Man stuff mate, they literally cleared all of your shit.” Haz blew into the tea before he took a sip.

“I don’t really care about that stuff..I have a bunch of more storage units full of Spidey stuff..I only care about her right now.” He takes his feet off of the table and sets the tea on it, his hands rubbing together so he could warm himself up.

If Tom had learned about anything these last couple of stressful hours is that he fucked up. A hundred percent, he messed up. He should’ve just shut his mouth out in London and been happy that you had wanted him. How upset he was at himself, and the anxiousness he had been feeling was still lingering around.

Haz took a bite of the IN-N-OUT burger that he had been craving since they had landed, his mouth biting into the bun while he nods in his friend’s response. He wipes his mouth with a napkin, “Mm, what are you going to do mate?”

“Well, we can’t live here..it’s not safe anymore.” Tom responds as he pulls up his sleeves, “I just want to be around her 24/7 since I basically pushed her away back here.”

Haz takes another bite of his burger, “So are you coming back after filming Spider-Man?” He chews while he reaches for the soda that is on the table and takes a sip, the carbonation burning his throat.

Tom scratches at his root, “I am but not without her..” His hand drops onto his thigh and laces his fingers togethers, “I’m gonna ask her to come back with me.” He puts his lip into a tightline, and looks down.

His best friend swallows the other bite he had taken from his burger, “She’s probably scared mate, why wouldn’t she come back with us?”

Tom licks hit bottom lip, “I don’t think you understand mate..” he clears his throat, “ I’m gonna ask her to live with me back in Kingston..”

Haz nearly chokes on the soda he has in his mouth, “What’d you mean?” You think she would would even leave LA for you?”

And that was a question that Tom couldn’t even answer, he wanted to obviously say yes. He wanted to say yes and agree that she would jump into his arms and just fly back with him but he really didn’t know. So he just shrugged his shoulders, and let out a stressful sigh “I-I don’t even know mate..”

“Tommy?”

The both of their necks snap to the hallway, the figure of Y/N standing there. She was leaning against the wall, her right hand holding her up by the wall while her left hand rested at her side while she let out a crooked smile.

Tom quickly shoots up from the couch, his hands reaching for her hands “Y/N..you should be laying down.”

She gladly reaches for his hands but instead holds onto the back of his forearms for support, “I can’t sleep. I was just wondering if you would come lay down with me?” Her tired eyes keeping eye contact with his, his heart slowly repairing as he notices she is trying to over work herself.

It seemed liked her to act like she was strong but he knew she was probably hurting, “Yeah, yeah of course.” He looked back at Harrison who began to start chomping on his second burger, “I’ll be in Y/N’s room if you need me.”

She looks over Tom’s shoulder and at Haz, “I’m sorry for taking him away from you Haz, you’re welcome to use our wi-fi and Netflix.” The blonde nods his head while chewing his burger, he hovers over his mouth to cover his food “Thanks Y/N, feel better!”

Y/N and Tom turn around to start heading down the hallway but Y/N makes a whimpering noise as she takes a step forward, “My side is beginning to hurt.” She puts her hand on hip as she holds onto Tom’s shoulder, “Sorry, I’m gonna be a minute..” She lets out a soft, tired giggle.

Every time Tom thinks he is feeling slightly better about this whole situation, his heart breaks at every effort Y/N tries to act like she is okay. One of his hands moves to her hip, “Here Y/N, let me-” His free hand lands right behind her thighs and he lifts her from the floor, her harms immediately wrap around his neck.

“I’m sorry for being so slow.” She lets out a small giggle as head drifts into his shoulder. He shakes his head, “Don’t apologize, I just want you to experience the least amount of pain.”

He moves through the hallway, and puts himself in a weird angle so that they fit through the door, “I just don’t want you to hurt yourself, you know?” Once he makes it to the side of her bed, he lets her down really carefully..he is really paranoid of making her hurt in anyway.

“Tom, this isn’t your fault.” She reaches for his hand as he brings up the sheet to about her waist, “Hey, hey..Tom.” His chin is grabbed by her hand and pulled into her view, both of them at eye level now, her hand moves from his chin to his cheek and slowly make it’s way into his hair.

Her fingers getting tangled within his curls, “Those people that broke in..it’s not your fault.” She sighs as her hands unlace from his hair and onto her stomach. She takes a deep breath adjusting to her her position on the bed, Tom stares at her so carefully.

He studies her and how fragile she is..physically and mentally. He had hurt her mentally and the people that broke in.. they hurt her even more than she already was. He is knocked out of his trance by her sweet voice, “Well...aren’t you gonna join me?”

He looks down at the woman he was in love with, her hands reaching up for him..her eyes wandering a bit because of her medication. He starts to make his way around to the other side of the bed, his steps slow.

He tugs at the sheets, so that he could get under them with her. Hesitance running through him but he decides to just got for it, he was really just afraid of hurting her again.

His right foot sliding under the sheet first, his body stiff as he lays on his back and face towards the ceiling. His energy giving off an awkward vibe, it wasn’t on purpose though..he just wanted to make sure he wasn’t pushing any boundaries.

He lay there, not sure what to do. His hands coming back from his sides and back to his stomach, nervously moving back and forth. He wanted to do something, he wanted to do something but he wasn’t sure if you were gonna but okay with it until you spoke.

“You can hug me if you want to.” His head immediately shot to her, she was speaking through her eyes closed. “I can feel you hesitating.” Her voice was low, still a bit raspy from all the yelling she had previously done.

“Are-” he gulped. “Are you sure?”

Her eyes shot open, “I still love you, you fool. Just hold me already.”

But he didn’t move. Even though she was telling him to hug her, he couldn’t move. His palms were still fidgeting back and forth, he wanted to do. Fuck, he wanted. His guilt deep down was holding him back and he knew that was what was stopping him.

She stay staring at Tom who was now looking up at the ceiling, his lips in a tight line because he was so nervous to be next to her but she didn’t call him out. She knew he probably felt a shit ton of guilt because of what happened between them but if she knew learned anything, it was that life was pretty short.

She wasn’t going to hold anything against Tom because her life just flashed before her eyes, and it just wasn’t worth it anymore. So instead of waiting for him, she moved first. “Fine, since you don’t want to hold me..then I’ll hold you.”

Y/N sat up slowly and moved closer to Tom, their hips now touching while her right arm wrapping around his waist while she brings her head to his chest. His hands stayed at his side, his heart rate picking up because he wasn’t expecting for you to come to him.

“Relax..it’s just me.” She says as she snuggles into him. He still didn’t hug back, and it was beginning to bug her. He wanted to apologize, and he decided that right now was that moment that he was, “Y/N..I’m so-”

“Tom please..” her voice cracked, not wanting to break out in tears. “I wanted nothing but for you to hold me while they..” she couldn’t even finish the sentence, the topic still being super sensitive. His arms finally made his way around her, her arms tugged around him so tight..her grip like if she was going to being pulled away at any moment.

His arm hairs shooting up from how cold she was, she wanted him to hold her tighter, “Tighter Tom..please.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.” His curls rest on his forehead as one of his arms sway up and down her back. “You’re not..I promise.” There was a pause and Tom gave it a few seconds before he actually tightened his grip..she was so delicate right now that he was afraid of even slightly hurting her. But he did, his arms wrapped tighter. Her leg wrapping over him as she is brought closer into him, her face snuggling even more into his chest.

“Mmmm…” she breathes in his scent, “I missed you, Tom.” His hands running through hair as he finally was becoming more comfortable. His guilt was still settled deep within him but was starting to drain out. Not quick enough but it was, every time she continued to say that it was okay or that he wanted him to hold her. It made it easier for him to forgive himself for what happened.

So, he decided to let the nerves drain itself out with his guilt. “I missed you, too.” His chin resting at the top of her head, he kissed the top of her head quickly and re-tightened his grip making sure he wasn’t letting of her that night.

-

-

Tom woke up to an empty bed, he didn’t even give it a second for himself to stay in it any longer. He shot up and ran straight to the exit of her room, his hands gripping the frame as his head shoots out the door. That is when he noticed the light from the restroom door was peaking out of the bottom crack, he got closer to the door to listen. For all he knew, it could be Harrison in there.

He walked up to the door, and set his ear quietly against the frame of the door. He could hear a slight hum, he knew it was her. He remembered mornings before where she would sing her lungs out in the shower, it had to be her. His heart rate was slowing down, and that’s when he hears Harrison talking on the phone in the kitchen. A yes, and understood being heard here and there.

Tom began to walk towards the kitchen, his blonde friend in sight once he was out of the hallway. Haz immediately hung up the phone once he saw his friend, it was just convenient that he had finished his conversation on the phone.

“Mate, I got some bad news.” Haz remarks as he jumps off the kitchen counter, his phone and water bottle in hand. Tom’s hand runs through his hair, stress already weighing on him.

“So, your publicist made Z and Jacob stay back. The story about the break in already leaked to TMZ, so it’s best that not more attention is shined on you and Y/N.”

Tom rolls his eyes in frustration, he knew that Z and Jacob would already help Y/N so much with recovering from the incident that happened to her. He began to pace in the kitchen as his friend continued to speak.

“Your publicist also mentioned that you and Y/N should go out and get some paparazzi photos snapped of you two, just so the public knows you both are okay.”

Tom stops in place, “You’re kidding right?” His facial expression becoming more frustrated, the crows feet by his eyes more defined. “I would never make her go out especially right now, she’s too fragile for that.”

“Maybe it would be better for me to get some fresh air.”

Both of the guys head shoot at Y/N, she stands in the hallway with some sweats and a sweater. Her wet hair wetting the sweater but she didn’t care, it didn’t bug her.

Tom left his friend by the kitchen counter and towards the girl he loved, “Are you sure? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

She tucks some wet hair behind her ear, “I mean.. Being anywhere is going to trigger me but if I’m with you both then I’ll be fine.” She doesn’t even give Tom a chance to respond and she shoots back to her room to finish getting ready.

Tom turns back around to Harrison and throws his arms in the air, “Bro, why didn’t you tell me she was standing there?!”

The blonde scratches his head and shrugs his shoulders, “I didn’t even see her.” The brunette puts his hands on his hips, “I’m just worried about her getting swarmed with questions, and just triggering her anxiety.”

Haz walks up to his friend and turns him back towards the hallway, “Just go and make sure she is sure about leaving the flat.” He gives him one more push making Tom trip forward, his balance knocked off a bit but he doesn’t fall.

He knocks on Y/N’s open door frame, “Y/N?” She is sitting pretty on her bed, criss cross style while looking through her phone.

“M’yeah?” She drops her phone on her lap and makes eye contact with Tom. He makes his way in, his nerves settling as he stops in front of her..his hands in his pockets.

“Are you sure you want to go out? I know that it’s probably gonna be hard for you.”

She sighs, her bruised eye lightened by now but still a bit tender “I just want to get out of here, being here just triggers a lot y’know? Being here especially is hard.”

Tom didn’t really grasp the idea of Y/N being scared anywhere she was, no matter where she was she was probably going to be feeling some type of way. “I just want to make sure that you’re okay with leaving the flat.”

“Tom, I promise I’m okay with it. Will I be okay out there? I don’t know..” He comes around and takes a seat next to her, his hand reaches for her hand this sits on her thigh. He lets out a crooked smile as he thinks of what he is going to say next, “Well, one look away and I’ll be right next you, I promise.”

She lets out a smile, and wipes away a tear with her sweater sleeve but no more words are exchanged by the two. Instead, she feels like Tom leaving London was a sign of how much he did actually want to be with her so she almost takes this as an invitation for her to lean and kiss him. God, she had missed him so much, she wanted nothing more than to just be in his arms all day.

She closed her eyes and began to lean in so that she could plant a kiss right on his lips but as her face got closer to his, he quickly moved and got up from the bed. When she felt him get up, her eyes immediately shot open and she tucked hair behind her eyes so she could hide her embarrassment.

Tom rubbed his palms together, “I’m gonna shower and get ready, I’ll see you in a bit.” And he made his way towards the door. Fuck, why did he do that is all he could think.

-

From the moment that the trio left the flat, Y/N’s anxiety creeped on her so quickly that she didn’t even realize how hard it was going to hit her. She stayed close behind Tom and Haz who walked next to each other while they walk towards the elevator.

Haz touches the button that summons the elevator, they all stand in silence awkwardly. Tom and Y/N occasionally making eye contact but looking away quickly, the unknown of their friendship making things weird between them.

The ding from the elevator making all of them shoot their attention to the the two sliding doors in front of them. Haz and Tom enter first, and then their backs face the back of the elevator. Y/N steps in and does the same, she is in front of both of them now..not really sure what to do with her hands so she brings them to her sides. You can literally cut the awkwardness in the small space because it was so thick.

It was a short ride which was good but it became more real for Y/N because of the waiting paparazzi outside of the building doors.

A/N: Soooo, what’s gonna happen next? Sorry if this wasn’t were y’all expecting…OKAY Y’ALL! PLEASE SOUND OFF IN MY ASKS! I’ll take any advice, theories, suggestions..please feedback is key! also love y’all, hope you’re enjoying this fic so far. Love ya  -Amy 💛

[exoscenarios3]

Love Is Complicated. (SuhoxReader) Pt.7

Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3, Pt. 4, Pt. 5, Pt. 6

   It was time for the wedding, and I was just as nervous as I was the first time around. Suho ended up inviting his parents. He was very stern with them and told them that if they don’t like it, they just shouldn’t come. To my surprise, however, they did come. They even said they were proud of him. I told my parents about the wedding, but told them not to bother to come, since they lived in the US, and it would be too much of a hassle if they did, but Suho insisted, and bought them plane tickets and a hotel anyways. I honestly didn’t care who came, I just wanted to finally be married to him. 

The wedding wasn’t as big and extravagant like the first one, since we only had a week to plan, but our planner did a good job. It was held in a nearby park, and the party event was going to be in the park’s party room, and I was 100% okay with it. Suho also insisted that I got a whole new dress, instead of the one I had last time. He said that since he’s already seen me in it, it would be bad luck. 

I looked at myself in the mirror, like I did before, and left when it was time to go. My dad led me down the isle again, and I was finally standing with Suho in front of me. 

“No one is gonna run down the isle confessing their love to you, right?” He asked in a whisper, making me chuckle. 

“I really hope not, and I hope it’s the same way for you.” I say, half joking. He smiled and shook his head. The pastor said his thing and we said our vows and I do’s and this time, actually got to kiss, making the marriage official.

~~~

After the reception, Suho and I immediately got in the limo and drove to our honeymoon destination. We just went to Busan, we couldn’t go far since Suho only took a couple days off. 

Our hotel room was gorgeous, and even though it was really cold and we couldn’t go to the beach, there was a spa and heated pool we were planning on going to, but since we got there pretty late, we went straight to bed and watched a movie, made out a little bit, and when the movie was almost over, he started doing work on his laptop when he remembered that he had something due tomorrow, so I cuddled up to him and fell asleep. 

The next morning, we woke up early, and went to the spa. We did the couple treatment, and it was the best thing ever, honestly. For once, we both just got to relax and not worry about work, or Suho’s best friend being in love with him or anything. After the spa, we went shopping, mainly for the kids, even though we didn’t know the gender of the babies yet, we kind of just guessed.

Once we were done, we went swimming. AND after that, we were exhausted, so we went back to the hotel room. 

“Today was fun, but I could sleep for a good ten hours.” Suho said, plopping on the bed. 

“Me too.” I sigh, laying beside him. 

“You know what we could do to end a relaxing but tiring day?” Suho suggested, adjusting himself so he was looking down at me. I smiled, and wrapped my arms around his neck and we leaned into each other, before our lips could touch, his cell phone rang, interrupting us like it did more than it should. 

“Suho.” I whined. He sighed and looked at his phone, and then answered. 

“Hello?” He said, sitting up correctly. He listened to whoever was on the phone for a second, but stopped them from going any further in the conversation. “Listen, I love you, I really do, and I want to hear all about it, but, I’m kind of really busy right now. Can I call you later?” He asked. “I’m sorry. Okay. I’ll call you later. Bye.” He said, hanging the phone up. 

“Who do you love that’s not me?” I asked, pouting a bit. 

“That was Avia. She said Chen moved in, and she wanted to tell me about it. But that’s not important.” He said, leaning closer to me again, but I pulled away a little. 

“I know you don’t mean it like that, but could you not... Tell her you love her? It’s just kind of not settling to hear.” I asked. “I’m sorry, is that dramatic? I don’t want to be that crazy wife, who everyone thinks is trying to control her husband.” I say, slightly freaking out a little.

“Sorry, all I heard was wife and husband.” He said, giving me a kiss. “I understand how you feel. I’ve told you before, and I’ll tell you a million times more, you have nothing to worry about.” He said, giving me another kiss. 

   We were on the honeymoon for another day, and then late that night, we drove back home. I liked being on the honeymoon, but nothing really beats being home to be honest. The only thing was, Suho had to go back to work and I wouldn’t be able to see him. Just because he’s at work, doesn’t mean I can’t visit him though. 

The next morning, he got up early like usual, but instead of sleeping in, I decided to get up as well, and get ready with him. I turned on music, but it was like early 2000’s rap that Suho doesn’t know, but I made him listen to anyways. I got in the shower as he finished doing whatever he was doing. Before I fully got in, he stopped me. 

"Look!" He said, excitedly, turning me to the mirror. "Your baby bump is starting to show." He said, smiling. I smiled too, and put my hands on my stomach. 

"We should probably think up some names soon. We need to be prepared." I said, getting fully in the shower now. 

"Speaking of being prepared, I was thinking-" Soho started, but like anytime he was going to say something important, his phone started ringing. "Oh, this is important, I need to take this." He said, answering the phone. "Hello? Yeah, I'm getting ready now, I'll be in the office in the next hour." He said, leaving the bathroom. I rolled my eyes, and continued taking my shower. Once I got out, Suho came back in. "That was corporate, there's gonna be a meeting as soon as I get in, so I need to go now. But, I wanna talk to you when I get home." He said, kissing the top of my head. 

"Will you be home late tonight then?" I asked. 

"Probably, the meeting is supposed to last all day, so I won't be able to eat lunch either. We might have a little break, but I'll probably just work more." He said. 

"You shouldn't work yourself like this, you'll get sick." I said, worried for him. 

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me too much, okay?" He said, kissing my cheek this time. "i gotta go. I'll text you when I can." He said, leaving the bathroom.

I finished getting ready, and then ran some errands while the maids cleaned the apartment. I didn't want to be in their way. On my way out of the apartment, I ran into Avia. I smiled awkwardly, and nodded my head to her just a little. And of course, we would have gotten on the same elevator, riding from the top floor to the bottom. The ride down was silent, and awkward and I was more than happy when the doors opened to the floor I was getting off at.

   Suho came home later than expected. Which, I wasn’t surprised, but it would’ve been nice to at least eat dinner with him tonight. I ended up leaving him food in the fridge, and tried to stay up and wait for him, but I fell asleep on the couch. Like most nights, when Suho came home, he immediately would wake me up without trying to. I heard the door open and opened my eyes to see if it was him. He smiled, took off his shoes and put his coat jacket on the stand by the door. 

“Did I wake you? I’m sorry.” He said, sitting next to me on the couch. “You should sleep in the bed, you’ll catch a cold out here.” Suho said, putting my legs on his lap, and letting me continue to lay down comfortably. 

“I wanted to wait for you. Dinner’s in the fridge if you’re hungry. I’m sure you are, you probably haven’t eaten all day.” I say. 

“I’m starving.” He said, putting his hands on his stomach. 

“By the way, what did you want to talk about this morning?” I asked, sitting up a bit. 

“This morning?” He said, in thought. “Oh, so I had this idea.” He said. 

“Let’s hear it.” I say. 

“This Christmas, how would you like to go to Germany, and spend a whole week there? We could celebrate Christmas there and I’ll make sure no one from work bothers me.” He suggested. 

“A week in Germany!? Of course!” I said, excited. 

“However, there’s one thing.” He said, making me slump my shoulders. 

“Uh oh.” I said, scared to hear what that one thing is. 

“I would like to invite Avia, and anyone else of her choosing.” He said. I whined a little like a two year old, and laid back down. “Come on, she’s still my friend, and I consider her family. I would like to spend Christmas with her too. And it’s not like it’ll just be the three of us, there’ll be another person.” He said. “And I’ll make sure that we all have fun and there’s no drama. Plus there’s a Christmas present I have that effects all of us.” He said, wiggling his eyebrows a bit. 

“Fine, but I’m gonna complain about it.” I said. He smiled, and kissed my forehead. 

“Good. I’ll call her tomorrow and ask if she can come.” He said, with a smile. I know I’ve been impossible for the past few days, so I wanted to make him happy. “In the mean time, I’m going to eat, you go get some sleep in the bed, Okay? I won’t be too long.” He said, moving my legs and going to the kitchen as I went to our bedroom and fell asleep.

~~Avia’s P.O.V~~

 I got a call that I could come into work, I’ve applied at a near by cafe, and got the job, luckily. However, apparently, after the fight at the after party, Kai fired Sehun and he was now working at this cafe, but I was pretty excited, so I got up quickly, put my hair in a messy ponytai. I threw on a pair of leggings and sweater and headed to the cafe. 

“You’re slow, we called you in like an hour ago.” Sehun said, pulling out two mugs from underneath the counter. “Get back here,” 

I went behind the counter and walked to him. 

“Okay, so I’m going to start with basics. So a classic espresso and cream.” He began. “Wait, put this on.” He tossed me a green T-shirt, that honestly looked terrible, but I didn’t argue. I put it over my sweater so i could continue working.

“Okay, so you go over to this machine, and fill the cup up like halfway.” He demonstrated, and I did the same after him. “This is the hard part,” He said. I was only half paying attention now, already growing bored. He put his hand on my face, and forced me to look at him. “I need you to pay attention, Okay?” 

“It’s just coffee,” I said, my voice distorted due to being squished. I pushed his hands away. 

“Just coffee.” He scoffed. “Tell that to my one million Instagram followers, who come to me for quality espresso art.” Sehun threw the towel he was holding in his hand over his shoulder. 

“What the hell happened to you?” I asked.

“No cursing in uniform, now pay attention. So you just pour starting from the bottom, wiggle it back and forth, and then pull back. See? Easy peasy.” He set the cup down on the counter, and rang the bell next to the register. “Now you try,” he leaned his elbow on the counter. I tried but it just ended up a swirly mess. 

“How is this easy?” I stomped. My phone started ringing in my pocket. I pulled it out, and saw it was Suho. “Ooooh,” I smiled, answering. “Hello?” Sehun took my phone and hung up. “Ugh rude!” He put my phone in his back pocket. 

“Just be happy I didn’t put it in the blender like I did with the last guy who worked here.” 

“Do you think you’re taking this a bit too seriously?” I asked. 

“I don’t think so. I took finance too seriously, and now, I’m out and having a better time than ever, so I’m not going to mess this up.” He said. “Okay, Just watch me and figure it out as you go. I think you’ll catch on.” He said. I was still curious as to why Suho called me in the middle of the day.

~~Your P.O.V~~

“I called Avia, but she hung up immediately.” Suho said, putting his phone back in his pocket. 

���Oh well, looks like she doesn’t want to go.” I shrug. 

“I didnt even ask her yet.” Suho said. I pouted a little, and sat on the couch. “You’ll have fun, I promise. We’ll have a lot of time together, there won’t be any work, or distractions,” He said, suggestively, sitting next to me. 

“We’ll have one distraction.” I say. He put his finger under my chin, and made me look at him. 

“Avia won’t be a distraction. She’ll bring Kyungsoo most likely, and she’ll be too preoccupied with him.” He said. 

“Sure.” I say, rolling my eyes. He pulled me closer to him. 

“Don’t be like that. You’ll have a good time. We’ll have a good time. Who knows, maybe we’ll end up with triplets by the end of this trip.” He said, putting his forehead to mine. 

“That’s not how that works. I’m already pregnant, I can’t get pregnant again.” I laughed. 

“I know, but I can hope.” He said, giving me a kiss.

“Let’s just be happy for the two we’re gonna have.” I say.

“I guess you’re right. I’ve just become greedy, haven’t I?” He asked. Suho’s phone rang, and he answered after a few seconds. “Avia, hey. Why’d you hang up earlier? You have a job now? Where?” Suho asked. “A cafe? Well, congratulations. Oh, what did I call for? Oh yeah, so, for Christmas week, (Y/N) and I are going to go to Germany, and were wondering if you wanted to come with us. You can bring whoever you’d like.” He explained. “Okay, great. We’ll see you soon.” He said, before hanging up. “Avia’s in.” He said. 

“Great.” I sigh.

[hankypranky]

Word count: 1676

Summary:  A door appears in the bunker leading to a bedroom with Gabriel’s comatose body. Sam crosses the threshold, unaware that he cannot return until Gabriel is conscious and strong enough to bridge the gap back into the bunker.

Characters: Sam Winchester, Castiel, Jack, Gabriel

Warnings: Olfactory sensitivities, Wing Kink, Bonding

Part 1 Part 2

Part 3

With no windows, Sam had no conception of the time. The taste in his mouth indicated he slept for at least a few hours. Feeling more coherent, he rinsed out his mouth and inspected Gabriel’s wings. The top, or rather back side had been fully preened, but he was presented with a dilemma. How was he to work through the underside?

He prayed to Castiel, within a minute Cas was at the door. “How are you doing Sam?”

“I think… I think I'm good. Gabriel is here, just not back yet.

Cas jutted his chin out a bit, “Have you been praying to him?”

Sam blushed, “Uh, no.”

“You should sing to him while cleanse his feathers.” Staring into the distance Castiel reminisced, “Back in heaven, before the fall of the Morningstar, we would preen each other. We would sing our love of our father. It was like nothing else.”

Sam wondered how much he missed heaven. If he wanted Dean to groom him as he had with Gabriel. He remained silent.

“Why did you call for me?”

“Well, I'm not sure how to do the underside. I don't know if I can flip him. I don't know how his wings will bend being unconscious.”

“That is a pickle.” Sam raised an eyebrow at the expression. “I can't see his wings, but I can imagine how they must be sprawled out. His wings will naturally retract to a more compact position, so all you need to do is fold them back… Then you should be able to roll him over onto his back. Unfurl them on at a time.” He gestured to the chair and table. “Make sure the weight is supported. “His joints are strong, you only need to be concerned about his primaries.”

“Thanks. Hey, how long have I been in here?”

Castiel frowned, “Almost 2 days. Can I get you anything?”

“Some coffee would be nice, and a sandwich?” Sam ran his tongue over his teeth, “Actually, can you bring my toothbrush too?”

“Ok. I will see what I can come up with.”

Castiel wasn't gone very long before he returned with a bag. “I'm sorry, I couldn't find a way to prevent coffee grounds from mixing in the water pot. There is beer and liquor in there instead.” A little smiled formed on his lips. “Cas continued, “Also, I figured you may want to assemble your own sandwich, everything you would need is in the bag.” He handed it through the threshold.

“Thanks. Any news on Michael?”

His eyes hardened, “No. I believe he is lying low, organizing.”

Sam nodded. “We’ll get through this Cas, we always do.”

Castiel’s face turned red. “How can you say that? You know how futile it is! It's Michael, in his true vessel!”

Castiel’s anger was not a surprise. Sam’s voice was low, “It’s not futile. Our track record isn't the greatest, but Dean is still breathing, so I count that as a win. If anyone has the will power to regain control, its Dean.” Cas pressed his fingers to his forehead and hissed in a breath. Sam wished he could put his hand on his shoulder, to comfort him a little, but couldn't. “Do me a favor?” Cas stared at him expectantly, “Take a shower and put on clean clothes? It will help.”

“I'll take that under advisement,” Cas scoffed. Sam felt a shift in Cas’ mood, “You're doing well with Gabriel. I can tell he is doing better.”

Sam agreed, “I think he is too.”

Castiel’s pursed his lips, “Sing to him.” With his final words spoken, he walked away.

Sam decided to venture into the bag Cas brought. There was a 5 pack of beer, whiskey, a head of lettuce, a few loose slices of bread, a can of raspberry jam, and a knife. Was he supposed to eat a lettuce and jelly sandwich?

Next time he was going to have to ask Cas to order a pizza. It didn't stop him from eating a slice of bread with the jam, washing it with a warm beer. For as long as Cas has been on Earth, it was still surprising how little he understood about food.

Treating it like it was the morning, Sam hopped into the shower. Afterwards, he inspected his reflection in the mirror, a towel wrapped around his hips. His calloused fingers rubbed at the scruff on his face. He was only days away from having an actual beard. The dark circles under his eyes were slightly alarming, but that was his life now. He pulled out the hairbrush that Jack had given him and ran it through his mane.

Having more energy, Sam followed Castiel’s instructions. He used his whole body to lift his wings to allow them to retract. Sliding Gabriel to one side of the bed, Sam was able to roll him over so he didn’t fall off the edge. Then he centered his body, straightening the sheets around him. Still unconscious, his appearance was closer to a deep sleep, than death. Sam fetched his hair brush. Slowly, he brushed Gabriel’s golden locks, lifting his head to make sure he combed all of his hair. Setting the brush down, he massaged his neck. Kneading his fingers up to his earlobes, and then gently tugging on them. He could have sworn he had seen his lip twitch, but he didn’t want to get excited.

Taking a break, Sam sat in the chair and had another beer. He wondered how angels took care of their wings. Was it their grace?

The task before him was monumental. It would probably be another two days before he would be done. Seeing the contrast between the two sides, he felt accomplished with the care he put in.

Self doubt began to creep in the longer he sat there. Would he have enough time to finish before the spell wore off? Would Gabe come return to his body before he was done? Would he feel violated?

The small connection they had formed pulsed in annoyance. Sam stood and went to sit on the bed. Burrowing one of his hands into Gabriel's wings, he scratched an apology and felt a surge of reassurance travel into him. Sam smirked in response and set about preening his interior wings. Their bond merily humming away.

For hours he worked, until exhaustion took root. The turned off the light and laid down on top of Gabriel’s wings, nestling into his side. Having an understanding of their structure now, he wasn't afraid of hurting him. He nuzzled his head into Gabriel's side and inhaled deeply. The aroma of his newly manicured wings filling his loneliness and melting his worries away, he fell asleep within moments.

He felt suspended, as if he were rocking back in forth in an ocean of comfort. He wished the feeling would never end.

The line between reality and dream was blurred when he woke. He snuggled into Gabriel further and clung to the sensation.

When he couldn't deny he was still dreaming, he prayed. ‘Gabriel, I've never felt like this in my whole life. It's been so long since… since I've even held someone.’

A surge of what he could only be described as love stuttered through. Sam relished in it, with small circular motions, he rubbed his hand over Gabriel’s bare chest and returned the emotion.

Their connection settled back to one of peace, stronger than before. Sam sat up and checked for sign of consciousness, but there was none. He checked his pulse, and it was steady.

Sam sighed, and went through his morning routine. He couldn't eat, he knew Gabriel was there, would be coming back soon. His heart skipped a beat at the thought of his return. Things between them had changed, but he didn't know what that meant for them. Would it be like Cas and Dean? No, he wouldn't eye fuck him for years. He would have to make a move. That alone made his stomach do flips.  Would he outlive him? Could he be so patient? When they got Dean back, would they really retire?

A shock came through and stopped his internal musing. That was later. Gabriel had not returned yet, and he basically just told him to shut up.

He took a shot of the Jameson Castiel gave him, and chased it with a beer. Suddenly he was filled with warmth, but wasn't sure if it was their connection or the booze.

Getting back to his task, he moved the chair so he could completely unfurl Gabriel's left wing. The sheer size of his primaries amazed him. Some of them were two feet in length. The milkshake lyrics popped back into his head. Instead of singing that song, he thought about music he actually enjoyed.

Cat Stevens always put him in a good mood. He didn't feel so silly this time. He began to sing, “If you want to sing out, sing out If you want to be free be free Cause there's a million things to be”

As he stroked his fingers through the ruffles of feathers, the strum of contentment was blossomed under his touch. He sang louder and worked his way through the underside. They looked much less frail now that he was done with the larger ones.

You can do what you want The opportunity's on And if you can find a new way You can do it today You can make it all true And you can make it undo You see, ah ah ah It's easy, ah ah ah You only need to know

There was a surge of power and he had to close his eyes. He grasped that feeling and pulled it towards him. It was then that Gabriel sucked in a deep breath.

Sam ran to the side if the bed too see he was awake. Gabriel's honey orbs staring back at his hazel eyes. He clasped the sides of his head and whispered his name.

Gabriel licked his lips. His voice raspy, “You saved me.”

[birdiethebibliophile]

{fic} That Old Sweet Feeling (part 21)

Fandom:  The Adventure Zone:  Commitment Rating:  M Chapter Warnings:  None Relationship:  Nadiya Jones/Mary Word Count:  2,033

Here on AO3. Read the rest: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20

Tagging @someone-called-f1nch, @voidfishkid, @mellowstarscape, and @jumpboy-rembrandt!

Endgame has started. This chapter and the next are a LOT of plot, and this one’s a long boi, so brace yourselves, gird your loins, all that. 

Chapter Summary:   Grace formulates plans. Remy connects the dots. Jonesy speculates.

__________________

Nadiya was stirred from sleep by a soft knock on the door. She made a noise of discomfort and shoved her face back into the pillow. Through her half-awake haze, she could hear a lot of muffled voices, then, suddenly, the door burst open and she heard a loud, “Rise and shine, Reed Richards!”

Nadiya jolted fully awake and upright, nearly colliding with Mary Sage. “Wh- what’s wrong?” she said, danger senses immediately pinging.

“Nothin’, I just wanted ya to wake up,” Mary Sage said, half-collapsing against Nadiya. “Grace said we can’t have breakfast until everyone’s up and you’re the last one.”

“Oh. Geddoff.” Nadiya pushed half-heartedly at Mary Sage, who straightened up with a pout. She considered going right back to sleep, but she was pretty awake now. Right. They were at Grace’s penthouse-apartment-whatever it was in San Francisco. “Breakfast?”

“Yeah, she and Abbey’re makin’ French toast and Remy’s helping,” Mary Sage explained, sitting down on Nadiya’s bed with a slight bounce. “French toast an’ bacon an’ orange juice an’ shit. I think she has grapefruit, too, Jonesy really likes it?”

Nadiya’s stomach rumbled. “I have to shower first,” she said firmly. “I feel gross. And then I’ll be out.”

“Nad…” Mary Sage whined. “Please, we’re dyin’ of hunger –”

“Shower!” Nadiya insisted.

“Bathroom’s down the hall by Remy’s room,” Mary Sage, flopping backwards on the bed, managing to avoid Nadiya’s legs. “You suck.”

Nadiya stuck her tongue out at Mary Sage, grabbed her bag, and headed down the hallway.

She really had meant to take a quick in-and-out shower, but the minute she stepped under the hot water, she groaned and closed her eyes. It felt like the grime and dust of the past week was washing away down the drain. She wondered if Mary Sage had showered – judging by the state of her hair (not completely and totally knotted and greasy like it had been the previous night), probably.

Now that she was thinking about Mary, she couldn’t stop. Mary Sage had seemed more… herself  just now than she had in days. She’d been grinning widely, her eyes alert and not glazed over, with the spark of mischief that Nadiya recognized from their car chase back before they got to the cabin.

Nadiya wondered uncomfortably how long she’d been paying that much attention to Mary Sage.

Hurriedly, she washed her hair and made sure she got a thorough rinse before shutting the shower off and wrapping her hair in a towel, throwing her pajamas back on since she didn’t have any clean clothes.

She hesitated at the hallway exit, but before she could do anything else, Grace turned around from where she was standing at the counter and smiled. “Nadiya! Good morning! It’s real good to see you.”

“Um, good to see you too, Grace,” Nadiya muttered, sitting down at the table – two tables shoved together, if she wanted to be accurate – with Kardala, Jonesy, and a woman in her early twenties wearing retro aviator glasses who Nadiya identified as Pridmore. Grace winked and turned back to the griddle, where she was flipping what looked to be about fifty pieces of French toast. She had been the head of Humanities, Nadiya recalled; Irene’s boss, a tall, solidly-built nonbinary woman in her early fifties with long, greying brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. Whereas most of the rest of them – including Jonesy – were still wearing pajamas, Grace was wearing beige slacks, closed-toe brown lace-up shoes, and a pink flowered long-sleeved button-up shirt under a beige suit jacket, unbuttoned, that matched her slacks. Nadiya couldn’t remember ever wearing anything that nice except for her grad school interviews.

Grace, she decided, was either going to annoy the shit out of her, or was a genuine badass. Or both. Could definitely be both.

“Okay, we got French toast, bacon, grapefruit, orange juice, coffee…” Grace said, clapping her hands together. “Everybody grab a plate and have at it. Creamer’s in the fridge if you want it.”

For the next few minutes, the kitchen (or what was generally being called a kitchen) was complete chaos as everyone scrambled to get themselves their breakfast, but eventually, it settled down, and Nadiya was sitting a bit disbelievingly with seven other people, at an actual table, with actual food.

“There’s plenty, I grabbed groceries from the place next door this morning,” Grace said, stirring sugar into her coffee, “so feel free to have seconds or thirds or however much you want.”

“Thanks, Grace,” Remy said around a mouthful of bacon and a huge grin.

“I’ll help with the dishes after,” Jonesy added, kissing Grace’s cheek as she sat down.

Huh, Nadiya thought, looking from Grace to Jonesy. I guess they’re together. For some reason, she glanced at Mary Sage, who was eating French toast like her life depended on it, and who also winked at Nadiya when their eyes met. Nadiya quickly turned back to her own breakfast.

“So, you wanted to hear about our trip?” Remy said once he’d finished his first cup of coffee and gotten a refill.

“If you wouldn’t mind,” Jonesy said. “And then we have some stuff to fill you four in on.”

Remy launched into his version of the events, Kardala and Mary Sage occasionally chiming in with corrections. Pridmore was signing a translation to Abbey. Nadiya mostly let them take care of it, focusing on eating as much French toast and drinking as much coffee as she possibly could. It felt like it did when she’d spent days straight in her lab and she’d finally made a breakthrough. She would go home, sleep like the dead for twelve hours, and order from her favorite Thai restaurant whenever she woke up. Spend the day catching up on the news she hadn’t been paying attention to, watch an episode or two of whatever she’d been watching on Netflix recently, and let whoever’d been texting her she was still alive.

“Wow,” Grace said, shaking her head. “Y’all have been through a lot, huh?”

“You could say that,” Nadiya said, finally setting her mug down. “So, do you know what the fuck is going on? Because we may have some background now, but as far as we know, we’re still being hunted down by either the feds or Martine or both.”

“Well, first of all, you don’t have to worry about that here,” Grace said calmly. “I don’t know if Jamie, Addison, and Flanagan told you, but Jonesy and I – mostly Jonesy – had been working on some tech for blocking the bonds, and this whole place, as well as the surrounding block or so, is basically under a catch-all invisibility cloak. Well,” she corrected herself, “the cloak blocks artificial bonds – the kind Martine’s manufacturing with the stimplants and her modified oxytocin. Regular bonds still work fine. I don’t even know if there is a way to block those. We gave Jamie and Addison and Flanagan some prototypes we made – doesn’t block all artificial bonds, but it should block Martine, the hub.”

“Like a server in a computer network,” Remy said.

Jonesy shot him double finger guns. “Exactly,” she said. “Each team had artificial bonds with the other people on their team and with Martine – which is the main problem.”

“See, I don’t think there’s any way Martine’s given up,” Grace said, the friendly smile dropping off her face, replaced with a serious, business-like look that matched her outfit. “She’s a master manipulator, and I’d be shocked if she didn’t have a plan M, much less a plan B.”

“Here.” Jonesy pushed her chair out, going over to the counter and fiddling with a projector, opening a laptop and connecting them. “I made a PowerPoint.”

Irene leaned forwards eagerly, but Nadiya groaned. “How is it possible that literally every one of you is nerdier than I am?” she complained.

“I’m not,” Mary Sage said.

Nadiya considered that. “You have most of the Bible memorized.”

“That’s not nerdy, it’s sensible,” Mary Sage said, poking her fork in Nadiya’s direction.

“Focus, people,” Grace said. The room fell silent again as Jonesy’s projection appeared on the wall. “So, it’s clear Martine’s not working on her own. She’s been seen in the Capitol, for heaven’s sake. My best guess is that she sold her tech – the stimplants, mostly – to the government in return for complete amnesty.”

“What.” Nadiya knocked over her empty glass in standing up. “That’s – that’s my tech, she –”

“I’m just telling you what I suspect, Nadiya,” Grace said calmly. “I can see you’re upset, but I’m going to be real honest with you. You not getting a patent for your work is the least of our problems right now. Please sit down.”

Nadiya dropped back into her chair, a burning sensation behind her eyes. She wanted to yell at Grace that she didn’t understand, didn’t get how academia worked, that was her entire PhD, all her research, she couldn’t just start over and pick something else. Martine had all but destroyed her career.

“The biggest problem,” Grace said quietly, “is that the government is almost certainly underestimating Martine. They’ve given her too much leeway; they don’t get the extent of her plans. I think – yes, Remy?”

Remy was raising his hand, and now lowered it awkwardly. “I might be able to help with some of this,” he explained. “I… my mom used to work with Martine. She left me a message, a bunch of info on their work. What she knew about Martine, what she thought Martine’s plans were. That was a while ago, though, I don’t know how helpful it’ll be.”

“Anything is helpful at this point,” Grace said firmly. “Could you go get that for us?”

Remy nodded, jumping up from the table and darting from the room, returning in less than a minute with his laptop, which he opened. “She said something about Martine building an – an army of supersoldiers,” he said, pulling up the documents.

Grace’s mouth thinned, but she nodded. “That would fit with what I suspect,” she said. “Jonesy?”

Jonesy nodded and clicked to a slide showing a photo of Martine talking with two people in suits. “The man on the right there is the Secretary of Defense,” she said grimly. “And the one on the left is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

“According to my intel – and my reasoning – Martine’s persuaded the Department of Defense that her stimplant tech –”

“My stimplant tech,” Nadiya put in, still fuming.

Grace sighed. “Nadiya’s stimplant tech, then. She’s persuaded them that it can be used as a weapon. Every news network I can find is working overtime to fix the PR disaster that was Richard’s broadcast, painting Martine in the best possible light. That’s got to be at the behest of the Department of Defense – honestly, I don’t know how deep this goes, she was at the White House, she may even have the president on her side. However, there’s no way she’s told them about the modifications she’s made. Which means…”

“Holy shit,” Mary Sage whispered. “It means she could have a literal, entire army with those connections. With the bonds.”

“All connected to her,” Grace said with a nod. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s made a few more modifications since the disaster at the ‘Berg. To… make the recipients easier for her to control.”

Abbey, a middle-aged man with greying reddish hair, tapped on the table, then signed something, which Pridmore translated in her strong Scottish accent: “What was her original plan, then? Couldn’ta been this.”

“Again, this is partly speculation on our part,” Grace said, “but partly info we gathered when we were still working for the Fellowship. I don’t think she ever thought Richard’s plan would work. Hers wasn’t a backup, at least not to her; it was the only real plan. She was just using his as a way to execute hers. She wanted to recruit the best and brightest, bind them to her, and… well. Use them however she needed.”

“Well, that leaves me with a lot of questions, but I think there’s only one that comes to mind immediately,” Irene said in her quiet voice.

“What is it, Irene?”

“Why us?”

[jeonsdear]

Sweet Dreams Part 2

Fandom: BTS

Pairing: Jimin x reader

Request: someone requested a continuation of this work and you know what? it is at least going to have three parts so yeah enjoy

Summery: are friends supposed to enjoy sleeping in each other arms? Parts: [1] , 2 , [3]

Warnings: fluff

Words: 1303

A/N: Enjoy!  Also sorry for any mistakes, English isn’t my first language lol. Comments and reblogs are always appreciated ❤️ Keep the requests coming (x) , my collection of stories (x) .

Read it on Archive of Our Own

 You had no idea how you ended up manically laughing alongside Seokjin. Sprawled on the living room floor, watching some weird Christmas film, taking shots every time someone wore a Santa hat you both placed on the corner of the TV. No, that was a lie, you knew how. Tipsy Jin was a whole different level.  The rest of the boys were either spending their spare time in their studios or the gym and since neither you or Jin wanted to spend their Saturday night working or sweating you decided on cooking some delicious food and watching Christmas films while drinking eggnog.

‘‘Jin-Oppa maybe you should switch to water’‘, you suggested giggling, holding your stomach trying to breathe. You had stopped taking shots half an hour ago but Jin had kept going and now he was confidently drunk. ‘‘You’re no fun’‘, he complained but sent a bright smile your way before taking another sip. Deciding it wasn’t your responsibility to keep him sober, you settled into his side following the film.

It wasn’t long until the boys that hit the gym came back, Jimin being one of them. He hurried over to you to embrace you, causing you to shriek because he was a sweaty mess. ‘‘Ehw Jimin, you’re all sweaty’‘ He only laughed already on his way to take a shower. When you turned your head you noticed Jin starring at you with a knowing smile. ‘‘What?’‘ ‘‘I just don’t get it.’‘ ‘‘What?’‘, you repeated completely clueless. ‘‘Jimin and you. You love each other but won’t do anything about it. I would give everything to have that kind of relationship you both have. And you just waste it.’‘ You just stared at the older boy dumbfounded, not really knowing how to reply. It took a few minutes until you were able to form words: ‘’We don’t waste anything!’’ ‘‘Hmmmm...’‘, Jin smiled raising an eyebrow at you. ‘‘No denying you love each other?’‘ ‘‘Jin!’‘, you hissed signalizing at him to keep his voice down. ‘‘He doesn’t love me like that’‘ ‘‘Whatever you say Y/N.’‘, he smiled and watched you dash out the room. God.

'’I’m decent’’, you heard Jimin yell making you laugh while you entered his and Hoseok’s bedroom. Jimin wore low cut sweatpants, single water drops dripping down his nude torso. He was gorgeous. He had always been. But lately he was gorgeous in more way than one to you and you knew exactly why, but didn’t dare to end those train of thoughts.  Trying not to stare you leaned against the wall, playing with the hem of your shirt. ‘‘How was your workout?’‘ ‘‘Good! But I feel like I would have rather watched you and Hyung get drunk watching...what? Christmas films?’’ You laughed while moving towards his bed and flopping down on the soft mattress. Instantly you were consumed by Jimin’s smell.  Home. ‘‘I’m not drunk. Can’t say that about Jin though.’‘ You felt the mattress drop when he sat down next to you, bumping your nose with his finger. ‘‘But you drank eggnog didn’t you?’‘ ‘‘Yeah’‘ ‘‘So you’re staying here tonight then’‘, he concluded making you slightly punch his arm. ‘‘Nah I can walk home Jiminie I’m not drunk!’‘ ‘‘Do you really think I will let you walk home semi-drunk? In the dark?’‘ Laying down you had a great view up his abs and chest and it was more than a little distracting so you shifted into a sitting position. ‘‘I didn’t bring anything to stay over.’‘, you argued making your best friend sigh and roll his eyes. ‘‘This is a fully equipped household, stop being ridiculous. Now, what did you and Jin eat?’‘ You knew when you lost a fight, and really? It wasn’t like you really wanted to put up a fight. ‘‘There’s still some left in the kitchen’‘, you said while following him to the kitchen, trying not to stare at his half-naked glory. 

The moment Hoseok saw you sitting on the sofa he broke out in a bright smile. ‘‘Are you staying tonight?’‘ You nodded, feeling Jimin’s arms tightening around your waist. ‘‘Yay, a sleepover!’’, he excitedly exclaimed and hurried over to you both, making Jimin silently groan. Jimin thought you hadn’t noticed, but every time one of the boys engaged in skinship with you he became all rigid and extra touchy with you. Honestly, you didn’t mind but it slowly became tiring to hide the closeness between you, too. You were tired. Tired of acting like you didn’t want to kiss these plump lips, tired of acting like you didn’t ogle the way his body moved, tired of overthinking every single action and whether that was friendship friendly.  But you had no idea how to go about it so you settled for keeping quiet and suffering in silence.

The next time you opened your eyes you found yourself to be carried. You shifted slightly in the strong arms that belonged to Jimin and blinked a few times, realizing he carried you to bed.  ‘‘Did I fall asleep?’‘, you murmured drowsily enjoying how he chuckled fondly. ‘‘We all did. I just woke up and thought it would be a lot more comfortable in a bed.’‘ He gently lowered you onto his bed and went to fetch a shirt for you. ‘‘You want pants?’‘ ‘‘Nah I’m good.’‘, you yawned, clearly not fully thinking. You didn’t notice Jimin tensing up at the thought of you just dressed in a shirt of his, but he turned around nonetheless to give you space to change.  ‘‘Where’s Hobi?’‘, you asked snuggling into the covers, following Jimin climb into the bed with your eyes.  ‘’Asleep on the couch’‘ ‘‘Shouldn’t we wake him? His neck will hurt tomorrow’‘ ‘‘No.’‘ You laughed, shifting on your back and making room for him. ‘‘Stop being so possessive’’, you joked not really thinking about the implications. And you sure as hell didn’t expect his shrug and the way he buried his face in the crook of your neck. Jimin didn’t deny being possessive because truth is that he was. Not excessively, and not always. But he did value your night time together and as much as he loved his Hyung, he wanted your cuddles to himself. Lost in thoughts you ran your fingers through his soft but touseled hair receiving a groan from him followed by a content sigh. ‘‘You’re sore?’‘,you murmured knowing Jungkook tended to challenge Jimin to the craziest thing when working out, it also put off your mind from the soft noises that made you all fuzzy inside. ‘‘Hmmm yeah I feel like he destroyed my back’‘ His breath against the skin of your neck made you involuntarily shiver and judging by how Jimin’s lips formed into a smile he had noticed.  To distract you both, you moved your hands from his hair down his back, starting to massage the sore muscles. The skin under your fingertips was soft and warm and in this moment you were glad Hoseok didn’t sleep in the other bed in this room.  Jimin tried shifting even closer to you, which was basically impossible, and yawned making you follow him suit. The low laughter that filled your ear and his soft voice asking whether you were tired made your heart race all while feeling so comfortable you didn’t want his body to move away from yours. But Jimin shifted onto his back and pulled you towards him, this time being you who snuggled as close as possible to him burying your face in between his shoulders and neck. ‘‘Don’t you wanna put a shirt on? You’re going to get cold.’‘ ‘‘Guess you’re going to have to stay like this the whole night then.’‘ ‘‘Didn’t plan on moving’‘, you said in between a yawn closing your eyes, humming when his fingers found your scalp gently massaging it. ‘‘Don’t ever.’‘

                   😙🌹💞💕🍑🌈😙💞🍯🌹💞🌈💞🍭🍑💞💞🌈🤧

[harmonicatunes]

Darkness is filled with things worse than fear itself

i had a dream last night which was pretty cool and scary at the same time, it was pretty much inspired by the new jurrasic world coming out soon. it might not seem that scary but im not good with the whole Steven King genre

so basically it started off with me going over to my ‘aunt’s’ house and the ‘’ place emphasis on the fact i had no clue who my brain conjured up but i had never seen this person in my life, but i just went a long with it because it made sense to myself during my sleep.

this house was like a 4 bedroom long hallway looking house, with almost every room occupied by multiple people, who again i don’t remember even passing in the street. with that subtle murmur of chatter filling the house like at fancy restaurants.

it was night time, might i add, and everyone seemed like they were getting ready for bed. the whole routine of showering, getting into pj’s, brushing teeth etc. so basically everyone was busy doing their own thing.

and out of the blue, a crash came out of nowhere scaring the bejeezuz out of me. it happened to be a velociraptor running after my so called aunt.

and then my dream did that weird transition where you miss part of the storyline and end up in another scene completely aware but still unaware.

so this next scene was at an old factory, industrial building with barely any useful furniture around. in this building i was accompanied by a group of teenage/early twenties people who seemed scarred of something. still during the night every shadow morphed into some random monster i created in my mind to be the threat of the situation.

and what felt like seconds a gigantic T-Rex just appears in this building and chases us all around, but never catches anyone until we run towards the door.

where again my dream does that frustrating transition.

the next spot is i’m in a car with 4 maybe 5 of my family members and my boyfriend. we discuss in the moving car of whats going on. with daylight coming around we notice the town we’re driving in is deserted, or better yet everyone is either hiding or dead. 

we talk while driving for an hour or so driving straight on the highway, we gather that of a night-time animals turn into our predators and hunt for us, almost never as a pack but as single evil-eyed beasts. 

as we pull up to a now abandoned hardware store we spread out to gather metal resources to build not only a safe haven but defence mechanisms. as my little brother walks towards the garden out the front of the store i notice not only a rhino on his left but a mountain lion on his right (both animals that are definitely not home to Australia) they both lunge towards him, and as i grab his arm making the animals collide my other family members had packed up the car. 

not even knowing it was growing dark by that time, we debrief in the car where it seems that the days are growing shorter as our fear grows larger.

we find a house before it turns to complete darkness, carefully inspecting the rooms and closing the blinds before feeling comfortable in the new spot. we all settle down for the night.

i wake up (in the dream) to find noises of crazy animals outside clawing at any bit of noise or human flesh they can find. without flickers of light or noises from us to tell them that we’re here they finally disperse. 

the next day we had realised that no one had eaten in a few days, with the house only occupying a couple of cans 3 of us were to find some outside, and being daylight again the animals weren’t really a problem. *it was curious that they somehow disappeared out of sight with no trails as to where they went*

my partner and i began to look for not only food but clothing as well. luckily the house we had settled in was only a couple of streets away from a store. one half of the store was a cheap clothing store, op-shop most likely, and through a staff door led to a petrol station. we gathered clothes for everyone back at our new ‘home’ and passed through the door to search for food. with the days becoming short, after an hour and a half of daylight, nightfall came. coming too fast for my partner and i to run ‘home’ we decided to make camp in the clothing part of the store, rugging up and using old signs and kids clothes as curtains so the animals couldn’t see in.

as we slept we noticed a very loud screech like noise. almost of a large beast. it became louder and circled the store. a crash welcomed the previous T-rex i had seen in the industrial building. it had thrown itself at the back of the petrol station store making an entrance for it to come in and find us. but what surprised me was that it had barely enough time to look around for us to maintain its balance and collapsed onto its side on the store floor. 

unconscious the beast seemed almost gentle. my partner and i under great debate decided to inspect because we’re stupid young adults. thinking it was dead i stroked the wrinkly skinned beast, this returned its breathing and both my partner and i looked at each other in distress and worry as to how we were meant to run around when there were things awaiting outside. as the T-rex opened its eyes, my hand was still stuck to its head from shock. but to the surprise of both of us the beast had not moved or even lunged at us, instead it cried out like it was in pain.

feeling more confident now that the beast needed help more than the urge to eat us, i examined it, ran my hands down the beast’s back and stomach, carefully monitoring whether i over step. as i come across the stomach its enlarged, bursting almost. and that’s when it hit me, it was pregnant. instinctively i didn’t feel the need to kill the animal at its most vulnerable moment, that didn’t feel right. instead without saying a word to him my partner and i ran to the clothing store through the door and collected any remaining blankets and clothes to keep this animal comfortable.

as the time drew closer to when she, being the T-rex, was to give birth something in the air told us she would be alright and so my partner and i left the petrol station. while occupied with her we didn’t notice the sunrise, and so we collected our things and ran back home.

nothing but silence surrounded both of us as we ran. dropping all the food and clothes we found onto the dining room table at the new house, the silence still followed.

that night we both laid next to each other feeling a little different. even though they weren’t safe at night they knew that it was all going to work out, somehow, and somewhere in the future. (cheesy i know but its a good feeling).

and then i woke up.

the end.

[cagsun]

A paradise called Tokashiku

I will tell you the story of our trip to Tokashiki. Or Tokashiku. Whichever you prefer. Japanese have their own way of making words and sounds confusing. Nothing enters and stays in my memory these days.

Well, we arrived in Okinawa to find a flat island full of buildings and not any greenery or tropical trees we were imagining. Being disappointed, we jumped on the ferry next morning hoping it would take us to a tropical paradise despite the efforts of ferry company stuff to stop us from going to that island due to Coronavirus.

This time we were fullfilled. We found a lash green forest looking to a navy blue- blue-turquoise-white gradient of a beach. We climbed up the hill from the pier to take one of the 3 main roads of the island, to get us to a viewpoint. And we were fulfilled again. The view was amazing. Nothing short of spectacular. And there was a free binocular from Nikon that overlooked the ocean and smaller islands on the horizon. It was perfect weather, a perfect view, a perfect atmosphere that I couldn’t stop but just dance.

We stayed there the first night. Smooth grass, seemingly no problems as there were very few people on the island. At the end of the evening, after hours of no single person showing up, someone came with a car, waited for a second, made a U-turn, and then went back. We were watching a film at that moment and didn’t mind the unexpected visitor.

On the next morning, someone came to our tent to warn us. He said that place is a ‘no reservation place’ with his limited English. We didn’t understand completely but we didn’t mind since we were going to leave soon.

After we had packed and we were on our way out of the youth center complex, a car came towards us and a woman went out of it and started running until she came face to face to us. She handed us a paper, and at that moment we were guessing that it was a fine. She explained to us that this is a settlement that you need to reserve beforehand. She explained to us nicely that we cannot camp here, we accepted the paper and everything she said, and silently left the complex as she instructed us to. From the car the guy who warned us in the morning was waving to us. We thought ‘how nice of these people’. The paper was just an explanation of the situation in English.

We kept walking for a few hours until our next station, which was Tokashiku beach. It seemed to be a nice place from the map, so I moved on the curved car road until we reached the paradise beach that it turned out to be.

We entered the beach through a narrow pathway, and the moment we saw it, we decided to stay there. We first went to a shadow on the right side of the beach, we settled there, and I had my first swim. Wow, what an amazing sea. Amazingly clear, crystal light blue, fresh, and transparent until a long long distance I don’t know how much. I then took a discovery walk along the beach, discovered showers, spotted a table to eat on, and a shadowed part at the end of the beach which was separate and reserved from the rest of it. Yes, it was confirmed, ‘this was going to be our paradise.’

We sat a little more on the beach before we went shopping in the next town to buy groceries for the night. Half an hour walking and we were in the only shop in the town, a small place with limited options. So we bought food for 2 days. Usually canned food since this place offered fewer options than the one on the port town.

We came back to our paradise and sat directly for dinner on the table overlooking the beach. We watched the sunset, enjoyed wine and our food. Amazing moments really, in this view that just belonged to us. After a few hours there, chilling, reading, and enjoying, it was already very dark. The only people on the beach were 2 fishermen enjoying nighttime fishing and us. We went to our hidden spot, moved our bags, set up the tent and we camped the night. No problems at all.

We woke up after a nice sleep, around 9 am I think. I took a morning swim, and I saw Tugce talking to a guy. Apparently, the guy told Tugce that we cannot stay there since it’s a national park and they would need to call the police if they see the tent in the night. Tugce luckily told him that we set up the tent just to spend the day. And the guy nicely said, ‘Ah okay, enjoy your day then. We are here if you have any questions or need anything.’ But still it was the end of our dreams to spend some paradise time on this amazing beach beyond that day.

We had a small argument with Tugce since I thought she overreacted to the situation suggesting to go to the next island Zamami, since rain was coming as well in 2 days. I was mad and told her fuck the rain that she was obsessed with the rain and wanting to quit so early.

We would at least spend the day on this paradise. I took another walk and spotted another location, not on the beach but inside the green park, which was called the marine center camping or something. My idea was that we would put up the tent next to the main building of the site, which was hardly visible from outside.

Relaxing by the fact that we found our spot, we continued enjoying the beach. We had plenty of food, good wine, shadow to lay under. Everything, the water, weather, everything was perfect. We shouldn’t be leaving this place.

I swam 3-4 times, Tugce unable to swim due to her period. It was a great day. We had dinner again on the same spot watching the sunset. Views I won’t be able to forget for the rest of my life.

We decided to put up the tent earlier today. We went to the spot, and we took a look at the next building, which was a wooden hut without a door. It had electricity inside and no furniture or anything so we thought, ‘we can just stay here as well, why bother putting up a tent outside. And this is less visible as well.’ We still put up the tent, since there were lots of mosquitos. And spent a good night, being afraid a bit at the beginning from the feeling of breaking into the place and the site, but also knowing that it was really unlikely that anyone would come here at this time.

We woke up to a cloudy day, unlike the previous sunny one. It didn’t look like a day we would want to spend on the beach, and we ran out of our food supplies, so we decided to go to Tokashiki town to do shopping. We put down the tent without packing it and left our things along with it in the hut. Our idea to shop for 2 more days and stay there in peace. We felt like no one would recognize us there and we could stay as long as we want. Rain wouldn’t be a problem either since we were now covered under the wooden roof. What a life! Free-roaming on a paradise beach, with our own hut and show and table with the greatest views.

We took a nice walk of 40-50mins to Tokashiku, and we did a rich shopping for 2 days. We decided to hang out there as we had nothing to do back on the beach. We killed our time inside the port’s sitting area, using the internet which we didn’t have anywhere else on the island.

We basically spent the whole day talking to our friends and family. Making video calls and chats to our loved ones, telling hesitantly about the amazing and unbelievable life we were having at that moment for free. I remember very well the feeling of being reluctant to give many details about what we were doing, as I was scared something bad would happen to the great life we were having. Talking to my mom and brother, I gave some hints on how happy I was, then sent some photos after we hanged up. Also connecting with my friends, really feeling the need to share all of this, but not being able to do so due to the fear of Nazar (evil eye).

At one point, I remember the feeling of the worry of something happening started superseding the excitement to share it, and I started feeling in my stomach. Especially I regretted sharing some messages on my company friends’ group, and I stayed more with these feelings of resentment rather than anything else.

In the last hour of our stay at the port cafe, I felt like, ‘okay we should go back now.’ After the calls were over, we hit the road and I had this internal excitement due to what I didn’t know of. Nad things started going weird then.

On our way back, while we were walking, we were stopped by a car, and the guy in the driver seat told us that he’s looking for some people. And asked us if we stayed in Tokashiku, on the beach. Tugce at first said no, but I felt that it was useless to deny it, and the guy was looking for us. We said we had left our stuff on Tokashiku beach and we were going to the camping at Aharen beach. The guy said come and put up the seats in the back of his van and called someone probably informing someone that he found us. He said he was looking for us all day and took us back to Tokashiku, entering the campsite with the van, all the way to in front of the bigger hut. On the way, he told us that we cannot stay there and asked if we can go to Aharen, we said yes we can, which made us get a bit of a relief to what was going to happen.

We were welcomed by some really angry faces, and non-English speaking men, who told us that police is on his way. We were not able to communicate with the guys, so they called someone, who turned out to be the lady who warned us after the first night. I got to understand that this place belongs to the same organization with the observation point, which Tugce told me she had understood that before. We exchanged the phone many times, explaining to them what we did and why, and after each time they would discuss something in between them. We said we are sorry many times, and kept in silence for most of the time, waiting for the police to arrive.

Apparently, they came to cover the windows of the hut and found out about our bags. So long for our luck, right! Following the series of conversations, I told her about our situation, and was very understanding and emphatic rather than being angry, which could very well have been the case, since we disturbed her twice in 2-3days. First, we were told to go to Ahende for camping, but then the guy called and found out that it was closed. The lady then told me that we should camp somewhere hidden that nobody could see and leave the next morning. I accepted it, but then after some internal discussions, they told us that we could spend the night there, in the same room ‘ that we broke into’. That made us really happy due to coming rain however sensing the pinching in the words.

Finally, the angry man who was waiting for us showed us our room, which was another one, on the upper floor of the main building, with tatami floors, with its own bathrooms and comfort that we wouldn’t even imagine in our dreams. And that angry man excused us because of the rotten part of the tatami floor and left us saying that he’ll meet us at 9 am next morning.

They decided to keep us under control and take us to the port first thing the next morning. We accepted that but told them we would want to go to Zamami, which they rejected saying that everything in Zamami is closed as well. We then told them that we want to go with the slow ferry in the afternoon, to which they responded “Sorry, everyone is really worried about you, and we strongly suggest you go with the morning boat’. ‘And you need to book a room in Naha’.

During these 30-40 minutes that felt like a lifetime, we also explained the situation to the policeman, explaining what we did, how we entered the place, and so on. He took our information and I learned later that Tugce showed him the paper we prepared to explain our situation to people, and he responded ‘Oh we understand you are in a difficult situation, please don’t misunderstand us, we are not bullying you’.

When we were shown the room, we were almost going to cry due to the kindness we have seen from these people, despite the illegal activities that are probably not acceptable at all in their world.

It rained all night as we were sleeping securely on the tatami floors, and we left the place with the young guy who carried us from the town to the campsite in his car. He suggested us to stay in camping in Naha, that would be safer due to coronavirus.

They didn’t check us on if we got on the boat or anything. We bought our tickets ourselves for the afternoon boat. The same policeman came to the morning boat, and we were worried he was looking for us. We said hi, and apparently, he wasn’t looking for us so we had the chance to say goodbye.

There we were, a day later in the same port cafe where we were there to tell about our paradise life to our loved ones, but this time waiting to take the boat that would take us back to reality with the signs of a light slap that this island left on our faces.

April 18th, Tokashiku Island, Okinawa