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hockey-fics · 4 years

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Should Have Seen it Sooner ~ Vince Dunn

Summary: You make the decision to go visit your brother, Sammy, after graduating university. But that visit quickly becomes much more than you ever would have anticipated.

Warnings: verbal arguments, language, smut (nothing overly detailed)

Word Count: `13.5k

A/N: Let’s all pretend that Vince isn’t about to be traded ahahaha...I’m sad.

Your brother had always been your best friend. Even when you were kids and you refused to do so much as admit you liked him. He was the one who you would run to in the middle of the night when you were six and going through a phase of horrible nightmares. He would walk you back to your room, check under the bed and in the closet and lay with you till you fell asleep again. And when you were a little older and started having bad anxiety at school you would sit in the guidance counsellor’s office and refuse to talk to anyone but Sammy, who they would reluctantly pull out of class to come calm you down. When he had a bad loss in a hockey game he would come home and watch terrible reality tv with you, never wanting to talk about the game. He was the first person to make fun of you when you got a bad haircut but was also the first person to come to your defence when someone else made a comment about it. He picked you up drunk from many highschool parties, promising not to tell mom and dad. You helped him with girl issues, carefully constructing text messages to girls he liked, planning his dates for him and giving him pep talks before those dates.

So when he moved to St. Louis and seemed to be settling in there for awhile you had to admit you were quite upset. Of course growing up with him in hockey you were used to long periods without him, stretches of time when he was on the road. But him moving so far wasn’t easy for you. Then you moved away for university and while it wasn’t any easier, the distraction of new people, new places, and new experiences was enough to make it more bearable.

But once you graduated you were back to square one, realizing you were lost without your brother. So you took your degree and ran straight to St. Louis to spend whatever free time you had between graduating university and starting your life and career with Sammy.

It had been two weeks since you got there, making yourself comfortable in Sammy and Vince’s spare bedroom. You had only briefly met Vince prior to the trip but you were quickly becoming acquainted with him, despite the fact that he spent most of his free time playing video games which you were not about to distract him from.

“Why are you even going on a date?” Sammy asks, sprawled across the guest room bed with his phone in his hands as you stand on the other side of the room in front of the mirror over the dresser, curling your hair. “You’re don’t even live here.”

Glancing at him through the mirror you let a strand of still hot hair fall over your shoulder. “Do you only ever go on dates if you’re imagining spending the rest of your life with the person?”

Sammy looks over at you, his nose crinkling. “Gross.”

“What?” Your eyebrows are furrowed as you set your curling iron down, turning around to look at Sammy.

“You’re just going on a date with this guy to get fuck-.”

“Stop,” you exclaim, eyes widening. The last thing you wanted was your older brother thinking about your sex life. “No, I’m just meeting people, going out, having fun. I’m not just trying to get…fucked,” you tell him, turning around to look back into the mirror and continue on with your hair. “If that was the case I wouldn’t be putting this much effort into my appearance when it’ll just get wrecked in-.”

“No,” Sammy exclaims, pushing himself up off your bed. “I don’t want to hear it.” Laughing you watch him walk out of your room, shaking his head.

An hour later you’re in Sammy’s car after he convinced you to let him drive you to your date instead of taking an Uber. “Call me when you want me to pick you up,” Sammy tells you as you climb out of your car.

“Okay, dad,” you joke, rolling your eyes as you say your goodbye to Sammy, closing the door.

And call Sammy you did, only it was much earlier than you had expected. The date had gone terribly. It was only twenty minutes into the date, the drinks you had ordered not even at your table yet, when he suggested just leaving and going back to his place. And the suggestive comments didn’t stop, till ten minutes later and you were wondering if he was even going to let you leave at the end of the night without putting up a fight. So you excused yourself to the bathroom, pulling your phone out and dialling Sammy’s number. But he didn’t answer. So you called again, and he didn’t answer. Four more times and you were about to hang up and get an Uber when the dial tone cuts out.

“He didn’t answer the first ten times, why would he answer now?” It’s Vince’s voice, annoyed but also distant and you’re pretty sure that means he’s in the middle of gaming.

“Where’s Sammy?”

“The shower,” Vince tells you, too preoccupied with what he was doing to even so much as question the six, back-to-back phone calls.

“Can you tell him to come pick me up as soon as he’s out of the shower?” You ask, sniffling as you feel an overwhelming wash of panic come over you. This meant you would have to go back and sit with that man for even longer. “Or, could you just go like knock on the door? Tell him to hurry…please?”

“What’s wrong?” Vince asks, his tone shifting slightly.

“I…he-he’s weird,” you mutter, anxiously running your fingers through your hair. “Creepy,” you add, making him aware that it wasn’t a matter of simply not clicking on a first date.

“Text me the restaurant you’re at.”

“What? Sammy knows,” you tell him.

“I’m coming to get you.”

You wanted to tell him that he didn’t have to. You hated burdening people, hated asking for help. But that was far outweighed by your anxiety about the man at the table on the other side of the restaurant. “Thank you, I’ll text it to you now,” you tell him, saying a quick goodbye before hanging up and texting the address to Vince.

’on my way’ Vince sends back immediately.

You spend another few minutes in the bathroom before heading out to the restaurant, slowly making your way to the table. “Hey, I just got a text from my friend. I have to leave,” you tell him, leaving a ten dollar bill on the table, more than enough to cover the drink you ordered but never even got a sip of.

Outside you stand near the entrance of the restaurant, not wanting to stray too far from the brightly lit entrance. You’re surprised when you see Vince’s car pull up in front of you. Not because you didn’t think he would show up, but because you weren’t expecting him to be there that quickly. Hurrying to the passenger’s side door you hop into his car, silent as you stare out the front window, pulling your seatbelt across your body.

“That bad?” Vince asks, putting his car back in drive and pulling away from the restaurant.

“Yes,” is all you’re able to mutter leaning back in your seat, elbow on the window sill as you rest you head in your hand.

“Too bad,” Vince comments, glancing over at you, “You look good tonight, sucks it was wasted on an asshole.”

Your cheeks get warm, palms sweaty, and you’re not sure why. All you can manage to do is glance over at Vince and mutter a simple, “thanks, I guess.”

The next thing you know you’re in a Dairy Queen drive through and Vince is looking over at you. “What do you want?”

“I didn’t…wait, what?” But Vince is pulling up to the speaker before you have any longer to question it so you tell him what you want and wait in silence till he pulls ahead. “I didn’t realize we were getting ice cream.”

“And we’re going to watch that shitty tv show you’re always trying to get Sammy to watch,” Vince tells you, clearly having already constructed a plan for how he was going to turn the night around for you.

“Thank you, Vince,” you whisper and he glances over, eyes meeting yours before shrugging casually, as if it was no big deal. But it was. It was a big deal. He had already gone out of his way to pick you up, something he didn’t need to do. Now he was committing to trying to cheer you up.

Before you know it you’re back at Sammy and Vince’s apartment and Sammy is lost beyond hope regarding the situation. “It’s okay,” you assured Sammy when he asked you about the six phone calls the second you walked through the front door. “Vince came to get me.”

“Why?” Sammy asks, glancing back and forth between the two of you.

“Because you have terrible timing to go have a shower.” Tugging your jacket off you hang it up on the hook by the door. “I should have listened to you, dating is just a bad idea.”

“Well I didn’t exactly say that,” Sammy mutters, following after you and Vince as you head towards the living room. “What happened?”

“My date was a creep, I called your phone…a few times, and Vince answered after he got annoyed with listening to it ring.”

“I wasn’t annoyed,” Vince chimes in, flopping down onto the end of the couch.

Rolling your eyes you glance over at Vince, shaking your head. “Don’t lie, I heard how annoyed you were.”

“I wasn’t annoyed,” Vince repeats, eyes locked on yours.

“Fine,” you comment, but you were still convinced it was a lie and he was just trying not to sound like an asshole after finding out about the situation. “We’re going to watch Selling Sunset, want to join?”

Sammy furrows his eyebrows, glancing over at Vince. “You’re going to watch Selling Sunset?” He asks, directing his question at Vince.

Walking over you sit down on the opposite end of the couch from Vince, pulling your legs and crossing them as you reach for the remote.

“Yeah,” Vince replies, looking over at Sammy while grabbing the remote for you and handing it to you.

Sammy stands in a stunned silence for a minute, staring at Vince in disbelief. He could barely ever convince Vince to let him pick a series and now here he was, willing to watch a reality tv show about Los Angeles real estate. “Okay,” Sammy finally mutters, settling into the love seat on the other side of the room, exchanging silent glances with you. Silent glances that asked, ‘what’s going on?’ But you couldn’t answer, verbally or silently, because you weren’t really sure where this behaviour was coming from with Vince.

A few episodes later and you decide to put Vince and Sammy, who were trying their best to seem like they actually cared about what was on the screen, out of their misery. “I’m going to head to bed,” you tell them, handing the remote to Vince as you push yourself off the couch, stretching your arms over your head. “Thanks again, for everything tonight,” you tell Vince.

“Anytime,” he replies, watching as you walk out of the living room and into the guest room down the hall.

It’s not long before there’s a knock on your door and you look up from where you were laying on the bed scrolling through your phone. Sammy pushes the door open, taking two bounding steps before throwing himself onto your bed. “What happened tonight?” He asks, his tone a serious shift from his actions of throwing himself around like a ragdoll.

Shrugging you lock your phone, setting it down and adjusting higher on your pillow so you could see your brother without fully committing to actually sitting up. “My date was just creepy…he kept trying to get me to leave with him like 5 minutes into the date.”

Sammy visibly tenses up when he hears this, shifting to sit up as he looks down at you. “So you called Vince?”

“I called you,” you exclaim, laughing as you reach other, grabbing a pillow and swinging it towards him. “But you seemed to think the date was going to last longer than half an hour.”

“I’m sorry,” Sammy tells you, and you can tell that he really means it. Normally you were sure he wouldn’t care about not being able to pick you up at the exact moment you wanted him to. He was your brother after all, he cared, but he wasn’t sweet about it. This was just a different type of situation, you knew it, he knew it, and thankfully, Vince had figured that out too.

“It’s fine, I just won’t rely on you…ever again,” you joke.

“That’ll last like twenty minutes,” Sammy replies, laying back down along the foot of your bed. “Till you find a spider in your room and refuse to come back in till I kill it for you.”

“Don’t put that in the universe, that’s so mean to wish that upon me.”

You and Sammy continue talking till you’re about to drift off to sleep and he sneaks out of your room, like he did when you were six and had a nightmare.

A couple days later Sammy and Vince had to go on a five day road trip and you considered going home, brought up the idea to Sammy. He pointed out the fact that you had a key to the apartment, you had gotten comfortable there, and it was only five days. So you agreed to stay, relatively easily at that. Because if you were being honest, you missed being around Sammy, and you were happier there than you had been in awhile.

The morning they were leaving you were saying your goodbyes, hugging Sammy quickly. “Good luck, I’ll miss you. I promise I won’t throw any parties,” you joked. You were used to sad goodbyes with Sammy, after he would come home during the summer and you would have to say goodbye for months. This one felt so different though, knowing it was only a few days apart. It was comforting.

When you pulled away you looked over at Vince, hesitating a second before throwing your arms around him too. “Good luck,” you told him, his arms tight around your waist. It was different than your hug with Sammy, of course it would be, but you weren’t prepared for just how different. You weren’t prepared for the the scent of his cologne, the way he held you tight to his body, the warmth radiating from him, would make your stomach fill with butterflies. “I’ll miss you as well,” you added, playing it off as a joke, but you knew it wasn’t really a joke.

Vince had chuckled in response, your body absorbing the way his laughter rumbled through his body. “I’ll miss you too,” he whispered, sending a shiver down your spine with the quiet tone of his voice. He had pulled away, looking at you once more before the two of them headed out.

You went about your normal routine while they were gone but the quietness of the apartment was starting to get to you around day three, leaving you longing for not just your brother but Vince as well, to be back. So when Sammy told you the time they would be back you went all out, going grocery shopping and picking up all of Sammy’s favourite foods and the few you remember Vince mentioning liking. And you were halfway through cooking dinner for everyone when they got back from their trip.

“Hey,” you called from the kitchen, sautéing a pan full of vegetables, music playing loudly from the speaker on the counter a few feet away. “I’m making dinner, if you guys already ate I’m going to be sad.”

“We didn’t.” Shockingly it’s Vince who’s greets you first, walking up behind you and leaning over your shoulder to look into the pan.

“How was the flight home?” You ask, turning your head to glance up at Vince. He’s closer than you expected and you can’t stop the smile that spreads on your face. You’re convinced it’s because you’re just glad to have people around again, and not because you had really started to like Vince.

“Pretty good,” Vince tells you, stepping to the side to lean against the counter beside the stove. “How was your week alone in my house?”

Rolling your eyes you set the spatula down beside the stove, looking up at him. “Fantastic, your bed is so much more comfortable than the one in the guest room.”

“Oh, really?” Vince chuckles. “I’m willing to share.”

You’re caught off guard by Vince’s comment, unable to come up with a witty response before Sammy is in the room as well. “What are you making?” Sammy asks, walking over and giving you a quick hug before immediately plugging his phone into the nearest outlet and unlocking his phone, typing quickly.

“Stir fry…who are you talking to?” You ask Sammy, your tone teasing.

Sammy shakes his head but his little smile tells you that it’s not nothing. “Ooh,” you laugh, stepping away from the stove to try to look at Sammy’s phone. But he pulls it away quickly and the next thing you know you’re wrestling for Sammy’s phone like you’re both teenagers again. “Just tell me,” you laugh, hand grasping for his phone as he pushes your arm back with his free hand.

“Her name is Anna,” Vince says.

Pulling back from Sammy you glance over at Vince, shocked at his willingness to let you in on Sammy’s business. “Oh,” you hum, picking up the spatula again to stir the vegetables in the pan. “So, who’s Anna?”

“A girl I’ve been talking to for a few weeks,” Sammy tells you easily. There was never really any need to keep it a secret, he was just playing the part of an annoying older brother in trying to keep it a secret. “We went on a date a couple days before we left.”

“You didn’t tell me you were going on a date?”

“I actually didn’t think it would lead to anything,” Sammy confesses.

“Like Y/N’s dating life,” Vince quips.

You whip your head in Vince’s direction, gasping at his comment. “You’re an asshole,” you exclaim, laughing. “I’ll let you know, I could have a boyfriend if I wanted…I’m just not trying right now.”

“Seemed like you were trying,” Vince chuckles.

“I swear to god, Vince,” you mutter, wielding the spatula you were holding with a joking threat.

“Can one of you shut up so we don’t burn the house down, please,” Sammy chimes in and draws your attention back to the vegetables that were starting to stick to the pan. As you go back to finishing up dinner the boys continue on with their own conversations, discussing things that happened over the trip and the upcoming schedule for the week.

After you all finish dinner you’re back in the kitchen to tidy up and do some dishes, but Vince is at your side at the sink quickly after. Nudging you to the side Vince grabs the wash cloth from your hand. “I got it,” he tells you.

“I don’t mind,” you retort, not moving much further away from the beside the sink. “I’m sure you guys are tired.”

“I slept on the flight,” Vince informs you, running the cloth over a mixing bowl in the sink.

Huffing you step away from him, “fine.” Walking to the cupboard you grab the box of tea you bought a few days prior, taking a mug down as well as you turn the kettle on. “Want some tea?”

Vince chuckles, an obvious enough answer, but he follows it up with “no, thanks,” anyway. “So did you go on anymore dates while we were gone?”

Rolling your eyes you hop up onto the counter while you wait for your tea to steep, watching Vince do the dishes. “No, nobody here was to rescue me if it went poorly.”

“So what did you actually do the whole time we were gone?”

Shrugging you bring the tea to your lips, taking a sip of the hot liquid. “Hung out with some friends a few times, explored the city, watched all your games.”

“Friends?”

“Yes, Vince, I’m capable of making friends,” you mutter, rolling your eyes.

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Vince chuckles, glancing over at you. “I just mean, like, you’re just here visiting and you’re still making friends? Where did you meet them anyway?”

“The gym,” you inform him, your voice quiet and deflated. You didn’t really like to think about that fact, about the reality that you would have to make some kind of move soon. You couldn’t live in this vacation-like reality forever. No matter how much you wanted to.

After the dishes are done Vince heads to his computer to play video games and you head to the living room to watch some TV till Sammy was done unpacking and you could convince him to hang out with you and give you all the details about Anna.

And two days later Sammy was beyond glad that he had given you all the details about Anna when he sent you a panicky text. The boys had the day off and Sammy had gone out to run a few errands while you were hanging out at the house with Vince. ‘I told Anna I would cook her dinner at my place.’

‘that’s dumb, you can’t cook’ you replied quickly, sitting on the couch and watching Vince play video games. You were trying to be more involved with that after he had started watching the occasional episode of Selling Sunset with you.

‘that’s not the issue’ ‘I’ll figure that out’ ‘You and Vince can’t be there, it’ll be awkward’

Sighing you glance up from your phone screen to Vince. “Vince,” you call, standing up from the couch and making your way across the room. “We gotta go.”

“Where?” Vince mutters, not peeling his eyes off the screen in front of him.

“I don’t know,” you confess while sending Sammy a text to tell him you were on it, to give you twenty minutes and you’d be out. “Sammy is kicking us out.”

“What?” Vince asks, spinning in his chair once his game had ended.

“He needs the apartment for a date, now hurry up, we’re going out for awhile.”

Vince groans and sets his controller down, reluctantly pulling himself off the chair. “I didn’t agree to this.”

“I agreed on your behalf.” Walking into your room you grab a jacket, your wallet, and keys before hurrying back towards the door where Vince was already pulling on his shoes. “Have anything you needed to get done?” You ask him once you had your shoes on and you were on your way out the door behind Vince.

“I would have already been doing it.”

Rolling your eyes you reach forward and shove him playfully. “If you don’t stop being an asshole I’ll drop you off at the library for four hours.”

“It’s my car…and I’m driving.”

“No, please, let me drive,” you ask, shuffling quickly in front of him and spinning around so you were facing him. Sammy had given you permission to drive his car while he was out of town and you had loved exploring the city, not really knowing where you were going, just driving.

“No, I’ve seen you drive.” Vince keeps his hand folded firmly over his car keys, gazing down at you.

“That was one time,” you defend.

“One time we almost died.”

Rolling your eyes you cross your arms over your chest. “You’re so dramatic, it wasn’t that bad.”

Suddenly Vince has his hands on your arms and he’s spinning you around, pushing you towards the car. “Get in the car,” his voice is filled with urgency and you notice Sammy pulling up towards the apartment parking lot.

Giggling at the whole situation you hop into his car, watching Sammy pull into his parking stall. Neither you or Vince had to bring up the idea of staying in the car and doing a little light-hearted spying, you were silently on board with the idea. You watch Sammy get out, trying to make it to the passenger’s side of the car to open Anna’s door but she’s already getting out and you watch as the awkwardly fumble around the door for a second. Both you and Vince glance over at each other at the same, bursting into laughter.

“No, but they are cute together,” you comment through your giggles, watching as they laugh off the exchange, Sammy closing the door behind her.

“He wouldn’t shut up about her over the trip.”

“That’s cute.” You watch as they head into the apartment building together before turning your attention back to Vince. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Vince turns his car on, putting it into drive and pulling out of the parking lot, no real destination in mind.

“You must have someone you can’t shut up about…I mean, look at you,” you comment absentmindedly, not really thinking about how it would come across.

“Are you calling me hot, Y/N?”

“Well,” you hum, laughing as your cheeks redden slightly. “I think it’s like, objective, you know. Anyone would say you’re hot.”

“So you don’t personally find me hot?”

“Oh my god,” you exclaim, shaking your head as Vince simply chuckles. He was really trying his hardest to keep you from getting out of that one easily. “Where are we going?”

“The library, I’m leaving you there,” Vince jokes.

“Great, books are more entertaining than you anyway,” you quip.

“I was going to take you to get a coffee but maybe not now.”

“No,” you whine, laughing. Vince had clearly noticed when all three of you would get in the car to go anywhere the first time thing out of your mouth was ‘can we get a coffee’? “I take it back then.”

So a few minutes later you’re in the drive through at Starbucks and you don’t even need to tell Vince your order because he has it memorized, which you’re surprised by. He pays for your coffee even though you insist that you can buy it. Then you’re driving again and you end up parked in front of a shoe store.

“I actually did have something I needed to get done,” Vince tells you, chuckling.

“Oh, so you were just being rude for no good reason then,” you comment, hoping out of the car after him and walking towards the store with Vince. “Does this mean I get to help you pick shoes?”

“Uh,” Vince mutters, glancing down to your shoes. “No.”

“Take me to the library, you’re so mean,” you whine, playfully pushing his arm.

Vince laughs, reaching over and grabbing your hand as you push him. “Come on,” he huffs jokingly, pulling you along into the store. And you suddenly can’t focus on anything but his hand, the way it so easily wrapped around yours, warm and secure. But it makes you nervous, the way it causes butterflies to fill your stomach, so you pull it away quickly.

You’re in the shoe store much longer than you though, Vince taking an excessively long amount of time to make a decision. But you don’t mind because in all honesty, you simply liked being around Vince. Your next stop is for dinner and Vince picks the restaurant, still acting as an unofficial tour guide for you.

By the time dinner is over you had expected to receive a text from Sammy, letting you know that it was fine to come home. But you get nothing, so you and Vince go get ice cream and drive to a lookout, listening to music and eating your dessert. Your conversation flows easily and you would happily have sat there for hours with Vince, talking and joking. But you get a text message from Sammy shortly after telling you he was taking Anna home.

“We’re safe to go back,” you tell Vince, pulling your seatbelt back on.

“Too bad,” Vince mutters.

“What?”

Vince glances across the interior of the car at you, silent for a second as he tugs his seatbelt on. “It’s just been more fun than I thought this would be.”

“I don’t know how to take that,” you laugh. It was nice to hear he had been having a good time, but you didn’t know if you should be upset that he was anticipating it not being a very good time.

Vince chuckles, not saying anything else about it as the two of you drive back to the apartment. You’re back before Sammy and you head for the living room, Vince following after you and not putting saying anything as you pick the movie for the night.

‘going to get an uber now’

You had gone out with your new group of friends for the night, one drink turning to two and two turning to a count you had lost long ago. You had been texting Vince all night, though it wasn’t anything new. The two of you had fallen into a routine of texting almost anytime you were apart. He had picked up on your dwindling sobriety throughout the night, as almost anyone reading your messages could have. So when you told him you were getting an Uber he was quick to reply.

‘I’ll come get you, where are you?’

So you sent him your address, you and your friends paying your bills before heading outside for everyone to wait for their rides. Shockingly it’s Vince who shows up first and your friends are quick to make comments about how none of their real boyfriends were that quick to get there. You brushed it all off, making excuses that he was just a good friend, that he was probably speeding anyway, that you didn’t live that far. Anything to not admit the fact that you and Vince might have a connection that was becoming more than just friendly.

“Hi,” you greet, cheerful as you climb into Vince’s car. It was so unlike the first time he picked you up and Vince was grateful for that, not just because you were in a better mood but also because it meant you hadn’t been out on a date.

“How was your night?” Vince laughs.

“Good,” you giggle, looking over at him as he drives back to the apartment. And you can’t help but think about how attractive he truly was, how he made your heart beat just a little faster. He was your brother’s best friend and you knew the feelings you were having towards him were complicated. “Yours?”

“Probably not as good as yours,” he jokes, taking note of the way you couldn’t stop smiling, primarily a result of the alcohol in your system. But there was also a part of you that was just happy to be around him.

“So anyway, Michael has been staying late at work all the time and Lily is starting to get suspicious about it,” you ramble as you walk through the apartment door with Vince. It’s quiet in the apartment and you realize you hadn’t texted Sammy in awhile, wondering if he was in bed. “Sammy?” You call, stumbling slightly over the edge of the doormat.

Vince wraps an arm around your waist, steadying you as he laughs. “He’s in bed,” Vince tells you. “What do you need?”

“Nothing,” you admit, clutching onto the arm Vince had wrapped around your waist. “Just wanted to say hi to him.”

Vince chuckles and nods. “I think you should go to bed too.” He gently guides you further into the apartment, reaching over to turn the deadbolt on the door while keeping one arm around you, as if you couldn’t stand on your own.

“Hey, Vince,” you whisper although you didn’t need to get his attention.

“Yes, Y/N?” He steps closer now, looking down at you in the silent apartment, waiting to hear what your drunk mind was coming up with.

“Thank you, for everything, for letting me stay here this long. I promise I’ll leave soon. I know you didn’t sign up to have two roommates.”

Vince smiles softly, shrugging. “Don’t worry about it. I like having you here. I don’t, you know, want you to leave if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Oh,” you whisper, processing the idea that you weren’t annoying Vince with your extended stay. “I mean it though, thank you.”

“Come on, let’s get you to bed,” Vince says, changing the subject as he guides you through the apartment to the guest bedroom. He hovers near the doorway, clearly wanting to make sure you were settled in bed before leaving you.

You knew he was there, you knew you should ask him to look away if he wanted to stay till you were in bed, but you don’t. Instead you simply pull your shirt up over your head, exposing a lacy black bra you had worn for no real reason except that it made you feel confident. Shimmying your jeans down your legs you toss them aside carelessly. You don’t even look over at Vince as you reach behind you to unhook that bra, missing the way he stood there, stunned and frozen with his eyes on you. You let your bra fall to the ground, your body angled away from Vince as you grab a t-shirt from the dresser.

“Y/N?” Sammy’s voice calls through the apartment.

“Fuck,” you mutter, clutching the shirt to your bare chest. Your wide eyes look over at Vince who comically steps back and forth between the wide-open bedroom door, clearly not knowing what the correct move was. “Just close it.” And Vince does exactly that, from the inside. “Vince,” you groan.

“You told me to,” he defends, his hand still resting on the doorknob.

“From outside,” you tell him. “Now this just looks…weird.”

“Y/N? Are you okay?” Sammy calls through the closed bedroom door.

“Yeah,” you call back, spinning around to leave your back facing Vince as you pull your t-shirt on, grateful for the size and length of it. “Just getting ready for bed.”

“Okay, just wanted to make sure you got home safe.”

Home. Your eyes flick over to Vince, trying to see if he caught onto the same, subtle insinuation. But he still just looked panicky as he stands beside the closed door. “Yeah, I’m just going to bed now.”

“Can I come in and say goodnight?”

Your heart begins to race as stare at Vince in silence for a second. “Yeah.”

You couldn’t say no, he would immediately know that something was wrong. Sammy pushes the door open a second later and Vince looks to you in panic. “How was-,” Sammy begins to ask when he spots Vince, looking back and forth between the two of you. “What’s going on?”

You weren’t sure why you felt so guilty. You hadn’t done anything with Vince, it wasn’t a lie to say that nothing was happening, that he was just making sure you got to bed safely. Maybe the reason you felt so guilty was because that wasn’t all you wanted to happen. “Vince picked me up, was just making sure I got to bed safely.”

Sammy nods slowly, not seeming convinced. “Well I got it from here,” he mutters to Vince, nodding towards the still open door. Vince glances back at you one more time before leaving, the silence in the room painful. “What’s going on?” Sammy repeats once it’s just you and him.

“Nothing,” you exclaim, flopping down onto your bed and climbing under the covers, hoping to make it obvious that you didn’t have anything else to say.

“You two are getting really close,” Sammy points out. “Are you sure it’s nothing?”

“Yes,” you huff, dramatically yanking your blankets higher up around your shoulders. “Go back to bed.”

“Don’t have to be so moody,” Sammy grumbles, turning off your light and closing the door behind him as he leaves your room. Once he’s gone you lay awake for most of the night, your mind racing with thoughts of Vince. Thoughts you knew you shouldn’t be feeling towards him but the more you tried to think of anything other than him the more vivid the thoughts became till your mind eventually silenced itself completely and you drifted to sleep.

“I’m spending the night at Anna’s place,” Sammy told you a few days later as he was grabbing his keys off the counter and heading for the door.

Giggling you glance up from the book you were reading, shooting him a knowing look.

“Don’t be weird,” he comments, chuckling.

“What do you mean? I didn’t say anything,” you joke, feigning innocence.

“I don’t know where Vince is, he left while you were at the gym, don’t know when he’ll be back,” Sammy informs.

“Have fun tonight,” you call as he walks out the front door.

A few hours later you’ve migrated to the kitchen, finishing up baking some cookies while you were trying to figure out how you wanted to spend the rest of the evening.

“Hey.”

Jumping you whirl around to face the direction of that the sudden voice comes from. Bringing your hand to your chest over your racing heart you laugh in relief when you see it’s just Vince. “You scared me, I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Sorry,” Vince chuckles, reaching over and taking one of the cookies off the cooling rack on the counter. “Where’s Sammy?”

“He’s at Anna’s place for the night,” you explain, leaning against the counter. “Are they good? It’s a new recipe.”

“Yeah, really good. So we’re alone tonight?” Vince asks, elbows on the counter as he leans against it, eyes focused on you.

“Can’t believe he left us without supervision,” you joke, pulling the last tray of cookies out of the oven before turning it off.

“What do you want to do?”

“Movie night?”

“Sure,” Vince agrees, shrugging as he pushes himself off the counter. “Let’s go pick up dinner first.”

After a quick trip to the grocery store and your favourite sushi restaurant you’re back at the apartment, pouring yourself a glass of wine while Vince was already opening up the boxes of sushi. “Want some?” You ask Vince, gesturing to the wine.

“Uh,” he hums before shaking his head. “I’ll pass on that,” he chuckles, walking to the fridge and grabbing a beer for himself.

“Should have figured,” you giggle, putting the white wine back into the fridge.

In the living room you two settle onto the couch to have dinner and pick the first movie of the night. Halfway through the second movie you’ve lost your focus on the plot, eyes on your phone as you curl into the corner of the couch, scrolling through your instagram feed.

“What is more interesting than this movie?” Vince questions, gesturing to the tv and the movie he had picked that was playing on it.

Glancing up you roll your eyes playfully. “Almost anything.” Scooting down the couch you settle in beside Vince, letting him see your phone screen.

And within seconds the movie is long forgotten as he chuckles at a meme you scroll by. The transition from Instagram to TikTok is quick and so is the movement from you sitting beside Vince to you being tucked under his arm and leaning into his side. You’re both giggling at the short videos and the time slips by quickly, the credits on the tv rolling and reminding you of the fact that you had planned a movie night. “Do I get to pick the next one?”

Vince reluctantly hands you the remote, wrapping his arm around you as you rest your head against his shoulder. His body is warm and his embrace is comforting and you know you shouldn’t want to stay like this with him forever, but you do.

The next movie is more interesting but you find it just as hard to focus on with the way you were wrapped up in Vince’s arms. You’re not even sure what compels you to look up at Vince, he hadn’t said anything, hadn’t moved. But he notices and turns his attention to you a second later. “What?” He asks, voice low and rough in a way that makes your breath catch in your throat.

“Nothing,” you whisper, barely able to make any sound come from your mouth as your cheeks get hot. And you want to say the flushing is from the wine but it only started when Vince’s eyes landed on your and you know he wouldn’t believe your lie.

“Are you sure?”

You swallow hard, shifting slightly towards him. “I don’t know.”

Vince’s lips curl into a soft smile, eyes lingering on your lips as he reaches forward to brush a piece of your hair out of your face. “Then just show me what you’re thinking.”

It’s an invitation and you know he’s saying it because he already knows exactly what you’re thinking. But it’s risky and you both know that, too scared to make the move when the potential of it ending poorly is so high. But you can’t hold back any longer. So you lean forward, just enough for him to get the message and he takes over, hand around the back of your head as he leans over and kisses you.

And he kisses you like he’s making every second worth it if things do end poorly. When you pull back your mind is racing a million miles an hour but your body is begging to do it again. You wait a second, hoping Vince would say something. But he doesn’t, and you don’t either, and you can’t think of anything better to do than lean back in and press your lips back against his. This time it’s heated in a way that you had never felt before and you’re climbing into his lap, hips grinding down on him. You weren’t aware of just how badly you needed him to touch you until that very minute when his lips brushed against yours.

“Are you going to actually share your bed with me tonight?” You whisper against his lips when you finally pull back.

“I would’ve shared my bed with you any night you wanted.” Vince grasps your hips, gently pushing you away from him and helping you onto your feet before standing up with you. “Are you sure?”

Smiling you lean up, kissing him quickly again. “Yes, of course.”

Vince wraps his large hand around yours, slowly walking you through the apartment. As if he didn’t want to seem too eager, careful and tentative around the whole situation.

But once you’re in his room, on his bed, Vince is far less careful and tentative. And the night ends with you feeling barely able to move, body having ridden through more highs in one go than you had ever felt.

As soon as you’re done Vince goes back to being careful, considerate as the two of you shower together and he lets you pick out a t-shirt before curling up under the covers of his bed.

“Should we have done that?” You finally whisper after laying next to Vince with your head on his chest in silence for what felt like ages.

“I’m not sure,” Vince admits with an obvious reluctance, running his hand along your bare arm.

“Sammy was already suspicious of us.”

“I figured,” Vince tells you, sighing. “After the night I picked you up?”

“Yeah…I told him it was nothing…I mean, like, I know it was nothing, but-.”

“It wasn’t,” Vince interrupts, pulling you a little closer and pressing his lips to your forehead. “This isn’t nothing to me, Y/N. If I just wanted a quick fuck I definitely wouldn’t pick my best friend and roommate’s sister, no matter how hot you are.”

“Oh,” is all you can say, caught off guard. “Well then, what does it mean?”

Vince is quiet for too long after you ask, the only way you could tell he was still awake in the dark room was his hand still running up and down your arm. “I have feelings for you, but other than that…I don’t know,” Vince finally mutters.

“I think we need to give it some time, not tell Sammy this happened yet.”

“Just go back to the way things were?”

“Yeah,” you whisper.

Vince moves his hands to your waist, pulling you on top of him.

“Vince,” you exclaim, hands clambering for support till they find his bare shoulders, holding you up as you look down at his silhouette below you.

“I don’t know if I can do that,” Vince chuckles, his thumbs running along your upper thighs, large hands now wrapped around the backs of them.

“I think you can,” you assure him, leaning down to press your lips to his. But the fact that you could feel him getting hard again makes you a little wary about whether he really could. “Maybe,” you whisper, moving your hips back as you reach down, wrapping around his length.

“Fuck,” he groans, head tipping back on the pillow. And the last thing you had expected when you crawled into Vince’s bed after the first few rounds was to be doing it again. But you were making up for lost time. It’s slower this time, both of your tired bodies just searching for another release. And you find it, easier than normal, on top of Vince still in his t-shirt, panties simply pushed to the side.

When you finish Vince is quick to help you get cleaned up again, letting you remain collapsed on his bed. You can’t stop your heart from fluttering with excitement with him, at how considerate and caring he was. And when he finally settles back down you curl back into his side. “We need to agree on something.”

“Alright,” Vince mutters apprehensively.

“We can’t hook up when Sammy is here, it’s too risky.”

“Fine,” Vince finally agrees after a couple minutes of contemplation. The two of you drift to sleep very shortly after.

Your eyes flutter open to a gentle shaking of your shoulder. “Hey, babe, you have to wake up,” Vince says, voice quiet. “Sammy and I have practice in a couple hours, he’s going to be home soon.”

Groaning you roll away from him, head buried in his pillow. “It’s too early.”

“I know,” Vince chuckles sitting on the edge of the bed and running his hand along your arm. “You’re the one who doesn’t want your brother to find out.”

“Don’t act like you want him to know you railed his sister the first time he left us alone,” you mumble, still half asleep.

“When you put it that way,” Vince chuckles, head whipping towards the bedroom door when he hears the sound of the front door closing.

“Shit,” you whisper, suddenly fully awake as you sit up completely straight.

“Just stay here, I’ll tell him you haven’t come out of you room yet this morning,” Vince suggests.

Nodding you run your hands through your messy hair, anxiety creeping up on you. If you were going to tell Sammy anything at this point you would rather just admit that you and Vince had feelings for each other, not that you spent the night in his bed.

“Don’t worry, it’s believable. It’s not like you don’t normally sleep in till one in the afternoon.”

Scoffing you roll your eyes, flopping back onto Vince’s bad. “Whatever,” you grumble. “Text me when you two are gone,” you mutter, glad your phone had been in your pocket when you made your way to Vince’s room the night before.

And when you finally get a text from Vince saying they were gone you pull yourself out of bed, making it behind you before wandering out of the bedroom. The apartment is so quiet and you make yourself some coffee, still just in Vince’s t-shirt. Something about it feels so right, so comfortable. After making a coffee you settle down on one of the barstools at the counter in the kitchen, opening your laptop and navigating to Indeed and before you’re even fully processing what you’re doing you’ve sent out a handful of resumes to jobs in St. Louis.

After you finish applying to jobs you move on to getting ready for the day. When Sammy and Vince finally get home you feel the weight of so many secrets on your chest. Of not telling Sammy about you and Vince, of not telling Sammy and Vince about applying for jobs in St. Louis.

“How was your night?” You ask Sammy as he walks into the kitchen, looking up over the top of your laptop.

“Good,” Sammy replies, grabbing himself a snack from the fridge. “How was yours?”

“Good,” you reply simply, looking back down at your computer.

“Up late?” Looking back up you stare at Sammy for a second, feeling like he was trying to catch you in a lie. “I mean, you were still in bed when I left this morning.”

Nodding you pick up your mug, shrugging. “TikTok is pretty addicting,” you comment, brushing it off as you take a sip of your coffee. “I’m going grocery shopping, do you have anything in particular that you need?”

“Just the regular stuff we keep in the house,” Sammy shrugs, not wanting to have to actually think about it.

Rolling your eyes you close your laptop and slide off the stool you were sitting on. “Really helpful, can I borrow your car?”

Sammy groans loudly. “What if I wanted to go out?”

“Well do you?”

“I’ll just take you,” Vince chimes in, walking into the room.

Glancing over your eyes linger on Vince’s for a second, wanting so badly to be able to say something or hug him, something…anything. “Thanks,” you finally mutter, realizing you needed to say something and not just stand there and stare at him.

“Want to go now?”

“Yeah, sure,” you agree, gathering your things and pulling on a hoodie on your way out the door. Once you’re outside you glance behind you and up at Vince. “So, since when are you so interested in grocery shopping?”

“Since it means being with you…away from your brother,” Vince chuckles, hands on your waist, tugging you to stop and pulling you into him. Leaning down he presses his lips to yours, your head tipped back and to the side, fingers clutching at his arm.

“You’re not being very secretive,” you giggle, pulling back and looking around the front parking lot of the apartment building.

“Fine, I’ll wait till we’re in the car.”

Rolling your eyes you get into the passenger’s side of Vince’s car. “We’re going to get groceries…that’s it.”

You drive to the closest grocery story and head inside with Vince, pushing the cart down almost every aisle, the two of you talking and making jokes the whole time. It’s such a mundane task, grocery shopping, but somehow doing it with Vince makes it enjoyable and fun.

Back at the apartment you lug an armload of groceries inside, seeing Sammy sitting on the couch, xbox controller in this hands. “Thanks for the help,” you call to him sarcastically.

Sammy chuckles, barely glancing in your direction. “You’ve got Vince.”

Your heart beats a little faster at that comment, dropping the bags onto the counter and looking over at Vince. You know that he didn’t miss the comment either by the smirk on his face, the way he walks over and wraps his arms around your waist. “See, he’s already accepted it,” Vince whispers jokingly.

“Shut up,” you giggle, rolling your eyes as you playfully push him away and turn around to begin putting groceries away. Vince continues to make subtle moves, sliding his hand along your lower back as he walks by to put a box of crackers into the cupboard, stepping up behind you to take the can of chickpeas that you were struggling to put onto the top shelf out of your hand and doing it for you. It takes you two forever to finally put everything away and once you do it’s time to start making dinner. “Are you going to help me or just be in my way?” You tease.

“I know you like having me around.”

Shaking your head you look down at the recipe on your phone, unable to argue against that. You really didn’t want Vince to leave, even if he was really just getting in your way. Because you liked Vince, a lot more than you should.

A few days later you received a call from one of the businesses you applied to asking you to come in for an interview, to which you easily agreed. It was during another four day span of Vince and Sammy being gone so you were able to get ready and go for your interview without any questions. There was something about admitting to the fact that you were trying to find a job in St. Louis that scared you. Perhaps it was simply because it was a little crazy. You would need to find a job willing to arrange a visa for you, you would need to find your own apartment, and quite frankly, you probably just hadn’t thought it through enough. But you didn’t want to leave either, you were having a good time here with your brother and Vince, although you were trying to convince yourself that Vince had nothing to do with the decision.

The interview went well and the next morning you got a call with a job offer. You accepted it quickly, not just because it meant you could stay in St. Louis but because it was also a job you were more than interested in.

Sammy and Vince get home later that afternoon and you pull Sammy into the living room. “I have some news.”

“Okay?” Sammy mutters, eyebrows furrowed, hands folded nervously over his knees as he sits on the edge of the couch.

“I got a job.”

“Oh, congratulations,” Sammy says, the news processing in his head as you watch his body language sink a little. “Does this mean you’re going back home?”

Shaking your head you fidget with a piece of thread on your hoodie sleeve. You weren’t sure why you were nervous to tell him that you had found a job there. “It’s here.”

Sammy has his arms around you quickly, pulling you to your feet and into a tight hug. “You’re staying here?”

Laughing you pull back from him, staring up at him in shock. You hadn’t expected him to be that excited about it. “Yes…I mean, I’ll obviously get my own place and car and everything but I’m going to be in the city.”

“What’s going on?” Vince asks, walking into the living room.

“I got a job here,” you tell him, voice quiet and apprehensive. You were a little worried that Vince wouldn’t be happy, that maybe he had only been into you because he figured you would be leaving, that it was a short term thing.

“Here? Like, you’re staying in St. Louis…for good?”

Nodding slowly you glance down at the ground, taking a deep breath. “Yeah.”

“Congratulations,” he tells you, walking over and pulling you into a hug.

“Thanks,” you mumble, pulling back to look up at Vince, trying to read his expression. Unfortunately you come up with nothing, sighing as you step away from him.

It’s not till much later that night when you even get the chance to talk to him more, Sammy barely leaving your side as he excitedly looked through apartment listings with you, even though he assured you that there was no rush for you to move out.

Once everyone had gone to bed you sneak out of your room and down the hallway to Vince’s bedroom, pushing it open slightly. “Vince?” You whisper, trying your hardest not to wake Sammy up in the process.

“Hey, babe,” Vince says softly, making your heart flutter so easily. “Are you going to come in?”

Slipping through the door you shut it softly behind you, fumbling through the dark bedroom to Vince’s bed. “Hey,” you mumble, climbing onto the empty side of the bed and sitting with you legs crossed, watching Vince sit up and lean against the headboard.

“What’s wrong?”

How he knew so quickly that you were worried about something was beyond your comprehension. Normally you weren’t easy to read but Vince saw right through it. “I just…if you thought this was something different because I was going to be leaving, I totally get that. We can go back to just being friends…or not, if you don’t want. We don’t have to tell Sammy, I can move into my own apartment and we can pretend this didn’t happen, it’s fine,” you ramble.

“Y/N,” Vince says quietly, reaching over and placing his hands around your waist, guiding you closer as you slide onto your knees. “I like you…I have feelings for you. I don’t want to pretend this didn’t happen.”

“I just thought, I don’t know. Your reaction earlier wasn’t what I expected.”

Vince pulls you over his lap, hands running along your thighs. “Because you don’t want Sammy to know about us and I didn’t want him to be suspicious if I seemed too happy about it.”

“Oh,” you whisper, sliding your hands along his bare chest, resting them on his shoulders.

Vince chuckles, pulling you closer and leaning up. “I didn’t want to be the one to suggest it, but I was hoping you would look for a job here,” Vince admits before pressing his lips to yours. And you kiss him back eagerly, arms around Vince’s shoulders.

Grinding your hips down into Vince you feel him already getting hard. And you needed him, more than you had ever felt you needed someone in your life.

“Our agreement,” Vince mutters against your lips.

You can feel his breath on your lips, can feel how hard he was below you, can feel every little shift of his fingers along your skin. “Vince, please,” you whimper.

“Fuck, you can’t say it like that and expect me not to cave,” Vince groans, hands on the hem of your t-shirt, yanking it up over your head swiftly. And it comes off easily, your lack of a bra leaving it easy for Vince to immediately bring his lips to your chest.

Tipping your head back you close your eyes, every single kiss, flick of his tongue over your nipples sends waves of anticipation through your body. “Vince,” you moan, rocking your hips back and forth against him, desperate for some kind of contact.

Reaching down Vince slides your pyjama shorts down your legs as you move from one leg to the other, helping him take them off. His hand slips between your bodies, fingers up along your folds towards your clit. He eases his way towards it, circling around your clit till your nails are digging into his back and your body is writhing in desperation. When he finally gets to your clit the wash of pleasure is enough to bring a quiet cry of relief from your lips.

“Fuck, I love hearing you, but I need you to be quiet,” Vince mutters in your ear as he brushes gentle circles over your clit. “Can you do that for me, baby girl?”

All you can manage to do is nod and hum out a muffled “mhm.”

“Good girl,” Vince mutters, replacing his fingers on your clit with his thumb, fingers travelling down towards your entrance, one finger sliding inside of you. You’re trying your hardest to stay quiet, head dropping down to Vince’s shoulder as you bite down on your bottom lip. “Fuck,” you whisper a few minutes later, a few muffled moans slipping from your lips as you reach your high.

Coming down from it you stay on Vince’s lap, pulling your head away from his shoulder to look into Vince’s eyes. Remaining where you were you reach down, hand guiding Vince towards your entrance, a heavy breath leaving your lips as you sink down onto him. Vince groans, hands on your hips as he shifts further down the bed. It’s unbelievably quiet in the room as the two of you find a rhythm, both of you fighting with every ounce of your self-control to remain quiet. You stay on top of Vince the entire time, both of you too scared to be too loud to switch positions. But it doesn’t take you long to reach your second wave of pleasure, your body already sensitive from the first. And it’s only a couple seconds after that Vince reaches his, groaning quietly as his grip on your hips tightens. When you climb off of him and collapse on the bed beside him Vince hops up, grabbing a towel for you and returning quickly to start the cleanup process.

After using the washroom you return to Vince’s bed, curling up at his side, head on his chest. “I shouldn’t sleep in here.”

Vince sighs, running his hand along your back. “We’re going to have to tell him.”

“Do we really, Romeo?” You joke, tugging the blankets up higher on your body despite the fact that you had just told Vince you weren’t spending the night.

There’s a few minutes of silence, Vince’s hand pausing on your back as if all his energy was being funnelled to his brain. “What?”

“Romeo and Juliet,” you tell him.

“You think I’m going to get your Shakespeare references?”

“At least you knew it was Shakespeare.”

Vince chuckles and shakes his head, “I’m not that stupid.”

“Well…,” you giggle, tipping your head back to look at Vince.

“Oh, really?” He laughs, grabbing your wrist and flipping you around onto your back. He hovers over top of you, pinning your wrists down. “That was kinda rude.”

“Too bad I’m actually into this,” you whisper, looking up at him through your eyelashes as you bite gently on your bottom lip.

Vince groans quietly, rolling off of you and flopping back onto his back. “Why is everything you do so hot?”

“Kinda glad you think that way, seems like it gives me an upper hand.”

“Looking like that you definitely have the upper hand, for sure,” Vince chuckles, wrapping his arm around your waist as he pulls you into him. And the two of you continue talking, the whole time you were fully intending to make your way back to your own bed.

But you don’t ever make it out of Vince’s room that night.

“Get your lazy ass up.” You’re startled away by a voice yelling through Vince’s door, fist knocking a minute later. “We’re going to be late for practice again, enculé.”

“Oh, shit,” you mutter under your breath, grasping at the blankets on Vince’s bed yanking them up over your bare torso as you sit up. “Vince,” you whisper, shaking his somehow still sleeping form.

“Hmm?” He hums, rolling over to face you. “What’s wrong?”

But before you have the chance to say anything Vince’s door flies open and your eyes meet with Sammy’s. You watch him visibly try to process what was going on in front of him, eyes wide and fists clenched.

“Sammy,” you begin, watching him step back, shaking his head in disbelief. “Sammy, wait, I…it’s not what it looks like.”

“Really?” Sammy counters, obviously knowing that it was exactly what it looked like. But he’s already on his way back out of the bedroom and you make a move to stand up but Vince grabs your arm before you have the chance.

“Give him a second to process,” Vince suggests, glancing down at the way you were clutching his blankets to your naked body. “And maybe put some real clothes on.”

Nodding you crawl out of Vince’s bed, pulling on the pyjama’s you were wearing when you showed up in his room the night before. Vince gets up a minute later, pulling on a pair of jeans a hoodie, glancing at his phone. “We are going to be late,” he mutters, his back to you as he gathers his keys and wallet, jamming them into his pockets.

“Vince, I’m scared.”

Vince turns around quickly, eyes on you. You had your arms wrapped tight around your body, eyes teary. “Hey,” Vince says gently, walking over and pulling you into a gentle hug, resting his chin on top of your head. “It’s okay, everything is going to be fine.”

“Did you see him? He looked so upset…he’s going to be mad, Vince. I can’t, I can’t handle him being mad at me.”

You didn’t even realize you were crying till Vince pulls back, reaching up and wiping away the tears from your cheeks. “He won’t be mad at you, he’ll be mad at me. I’m the one who started this.”

You’re caught off guard by this, laughing softly. “That’s a lie.”

“It’s not.”

“I kissed you on the couch,” you remind him, your hands wrapped around his forearms as you stare up into his eyes.

“I came home early and skipped going for drinks with the guys that night because Sammy told me he was going out for the night. I was hoping for what happened that night.”

You’re caught off guard by his confession, speechless and frozen in place.

Glancing over you see Sammy step into the doorway, slowly pulling away from Vince “We have to go.”

“Yeah,” Vince mutters, reaching over and grabbing your hand, squeezing it as he steps out of the bedroom with Sammy.

You watch them walk away in silence, not leaving Vince’ bedroom till you hear the front door close. Slowly making your way out of the bedroom you try to busy yourself with tidying the apartment to keep yourself thinking too much about the situation.

“Y/N,” Sammy’s voice calls later in the day, walking into the living room where you were sitting on your laptop, scrolling through apartment listings.

“Hey,” you say quietly, looking up at him. Reaching forward you slowly close your laptop, setting it down on the coffee table in front of you. “How was practice?”

“Fine,” he says, sitting down on the love seat beside the couch you were on. Sammy watches you glance in direction of the hallway. “He went to Jordan’s place.”

“Oh,” you whisper, feeling your heart sink a little.

“It wasn’t his idea,�� Sammy tells you, noticing how disappointed you seemed. “I wanted to talk to you alone.”

“Oh,” you repeat, not knowing what to say. Your brother had always known the details of your relationships, telling him all about your crushes, dates, when boyfriends would upset you. This had been the first time you kept something like that a secret from him, and now you were regretting it. Perhaps if you had told him earlier, when you first started to develop feelings for Vince things would have been different. But now it seemed like you two knew there was something wrong with what you were doing, needing to keep it a secret.

The silence in the room is heavy, and it feels painful as you fidget in your seat. Sammy staring at you for a few minutes before finally saying anything. “Why?”

Staring down at the ground you try to come up with an answer to his question. “I like him,” you whisper, shrugging.

“Why him? Did you not even think about what’ll happen when things end between you two?”

“That’s really optimistic,” you mumble, eyes focused on your fingers as you pick a few pieces of lint off of your jeans.

“Well what?” Sammy asks, voice raising in frustration. “You going to marry him?”

Finally looking up at Sammy you roll your eyes, sighing loudly.

“God, now I see why mom got so mad every time you rolled your eyes,” Sammy mutters. “Why the hell are you even rolling your eyes?”

“Because I’m not even thinking about marriage…with Vince or anyone else. That’s crazy,” you reply, your voice getting louder and louder with each word.

“So you’re going to break up with him, or he’s going to break up with you and then my friendship with him is going to be fucked,” Sammy snaps. “You really didn’t consider that? That you’re ruining my friendship with Vince…and for what?”

“Stop yelling at me,” you yell back, hoping up from the couch and staring down at him, tears welling up in your eyes. “I’m sorry, Sammy. I don’t know what to say, I like him.” Sniffling you reach up, wiping away tears from underneath your eyes.

“I’m not okay with it.”

Wrapping your arms tight around your body you try to compose yourself, try to stop the tears from continuously flooding your eyes. You hated that you cried during conflict, hated that when it was conflict with Sammy that reaction was always heightened. “What do you want me to do then?”

Sammy glares up at you, shaking his head. “You already fucked it up, it’s too late for you to do anything.”

It feels like someone just punched you in the stomach, physical pain radiating through your body in response to his words. But you can’t think of a single defence for yourself. “Fuck you,” is all you manage to croak out before turning around and hurrying in the direction of the front door.

“Where are you going?” Sammy calls, following after you.

“I don’t know,” you tell him honestly, yanking on a jacket you had hanging up on a hook beside the door. “Does it really matter? I mean, I’m such a fuck up anyway.”

“I didn’t say that,” Sammy exclaims, watching you pull on a pair of shoes. “Can you just stop? We’re not kids anymore, you can’t just fucking run away.”

“No, we’re not,” you snap, standing up straight again. “So why are you treating me like one?”

“Because it’s my goddamn life you’re messing with.”

“You don’t have to be such an asshole,” you whisper, tears now streaming down your face with no chance of you being able to contain them. “I’m sorry I developed feelings for your friend, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about, I’m sorry I acted on it…I’m sorry I came here, I don’t know what you want me to say.” You’re reaching for the doorknob a moment later, yanking the door open.

“Don’t say that, stop, Y/N, where the fuck are you even going to go?” Sammy asks, reaching for your arm which you pull away from him before he has the chance to grab you. “You can’t just wander around alone crying."

“Well it’s not like this apartment is feeling overly hospitable right now,” you tell him, wiping the tears off your cheeks. “I never would have thought you would be such an asshole over me falling for a guy. I’m sorry he’s your friend, I wasn’t trying to make that happen. In fact, I was trying not to. But you don’t really care, do you? Because the situation isn’t perfect for you so why should you even try to accept it?”

With that you leave the apartment. You take an Uber to one of your new friend’s houses, thankful that she had replied before your Uber even got there that she was free and wanted to hang out. After a brief explanation of what was going on you settle down on her couch, her puppy curled up in your lap as you two talk, able to get your mind off of the situation with Sammy and Vince, even if only for a short period of time.

You two order take out and lay on the couch, sending each other dumb tiktoks for the majority of the night.

‘Are you okay?’ It’s a text from Vince and you switch from the tiktok app to your messages.

‘Yeah, I’m fine. I’m at my friend’s place. You’re home now?’

“Vince texted, I think he just got home,” you tell your friend, sitting up on her couch with a sigh.

“Did he say anything about the situation?” She asks, turning her head to look over at you.

Shaking your head you look down at your screen, watching the three dots inside a text bubble, waiting to get the text he was typing. ‘Yes, when are you coming back?’

‘I don’t know. I guess soon, I just don’t know what to do.’

‘About what?’

‘Sammy’ ‘Us’

‘Can I come pick you up?’

And twenty minutes later you’re leaving your friend’s house, promising to keep her updated on the situation.

“Hey,” you greet as you get into Vince’s car, glancing over at him while pulling on your seatbelt.

“Hey.” Vince reaches over, placing his hand on your thigh, squeezing gently. “How did it go with Sammy?”

“Not great,” you admit, placing your hand on top of Vince’s, sliding your fingers between his and folding your hand over his. “Did you guys talk?”

“A bit.” Vince says, pulling out of the parking lot of the apartment. “What did he say to you?”

“That I’m messing up his life,” you mumble, your eyes filling with tears. “Basically I fucked up and whatever the fallout from this is it’s all my fault.”

Vince’s hand clenches around the steering wheel as he drives with no particular destination in mind. Of course Sammy was one of his best friends and that wasn’t about to change over one fight. But friends didn’t always agree on everything, didn’t always get along. And by the way Vince’s jaw was clenched, eyes glaring through the windshield in front of him, it was clear that was the case. “That’s such bullshit. You know that’s not true...right?”

“What if it’s not?” you croak. “Are we being selfish? Your friendship with Sammy, jeopardizing that when this ends?”

“It doesn’t have to end poorly and ruin anything,” Vince points out. “It doesn’t have to end,” he adds.

“Vince,” you whisper, glancing down at your hands folded together. How perfect they fit, how comfortable you were with him. “That’s crazy to say right now.”

“I know,” he admits, squeezing your hand. “So it might not last forever, but no matter what happens we’ve already started...whatever this is, so why does it matter when it ends?”

You can’t really argue with that point. Your options are end it now or give it time, see how things play out. “But…Sammy,” you whisper.

“Give him time.”

The two of you drive around aimlessly for a little while longer till he pulls into the parking lot of the apartment building, glancing over at you. “You okay?

Nodding you pull your hand from his, resting it on the console as you lean across it and Vince is quick to react, bringing his hand to the side of you face to cup your cheek. His lips are gentle but eager, moving with intent but not pushing too far. And for a moment it feels like everything else has faded away, worries and stress blurring till they’re no longer visible anymore. “How do we do this?” You whisper, pulling back from Vince.

“Do what?” He asks, sitting back in his seat, body angled towards you.

“Deal with being in there, together, with Sammy.”

Vince is quiet for a moment, tapping at his steering wheel. “We’ll just figure it out when we’re in there, see what he’s like.”

Nodding slowly you open the car door, slipping out and walking towards the apartment with Vince. With every step closer you feel a growing anxiety, each and every possibility running through your mind. Would Sammy still be mad? Would he try to pick up the argument right where it ended? Would it be worse if he just decided to ignore it? Would you all need to sit down and have a conversation like an awkward family meeting nobody wants to be a part of?

When you step into the apartment after Vince you hear the sound of the TV from the living room. Slowly making your way into the living room you notice Sammy with an Xbox controller in his hand, eyes trained on the TV. “Hey,” you greet, sitting down on the couch and alternating between watching the game he was playing and glancing at Sammy.

“Hey,” Sammy mutters, finishing up his game before tossing the controller down onto the coffee table and sitting up to turn and face you. “Did running away solve everything?”

Shaking your head you pull your legs up to your chest on the couch. “Should I have stayed here and let you yell at me about fucking up your life instead?”

“I didn’t say you were fucking up my life.”

“Maybe not in those exact words,” you retort. “But you may as well have.”

Sammy sighs and leans forward, his elbows on his knees, running his hands through his hair. “I’m sorry,” he grumbles, looking over at you. “I just…fuck, I hate it so much. Like why him?” His tone is different now, lighter, easier than the last conversation.

“I mean…look at him,” you say, trying your best to to lighten the mood even more.

Sammy chuckles under his breath, shaking his head. “I guess I really should have seen it sooner,” he comments, staring down at the ground.

“What do you mean?”

Sammy looks up from the ground, eyes meeting yours. “You’re exactly his type and he’s been spending way more time just hanging around here since you got here. I’m such an idiot for not thinking this would happen. I pretty much set it up.”

You wait a few seconds in silence, processing that information. You had really just assumed Vince spent that much time at his apartment normally. You figured they were on the road a lot, when they were back in St. Louis he would just want to relax at home playing video games and watching TV. You never would have thought that you played a role In keeping him there. And you definitely wouldn’t have assumed you were exactly his type either. “So you can’t really be mad then…you said it, you set it up.”

Sammy laughs, sitting up straighter and shaking his head. “I didn’t say that either…But I’m not mad, I don’t like it…maybe that’ll change, I don’t know. But I’m not mad at you. You know I can’t stay mad at you.”

You smile softly, standing up and walking over to the couch he was on, dropping down beside him and throwing your arms around him dramatically. “Good, because I can’t handle you being mad at me,” you tell him. Pulling back you let your arms drop from around him. “So, will you come look at apartments with me tomorrow so that Vince and I can-.”

“Stop,” Sammy interrupts, pushing you away playfully. “I don’t want to hear it, you’re so gross,” he says, both of you laughing as you lean back in response to Sammy pushing you.

Out of the corner of your eye you see Vince walk into the room hesitantly and you give him a reassuring smile. “Sammy admitted he actually set us up.”

“I did not,” Sammy exclaims, laughing. “I said I pretty much did…not on purpose though.”

“Close enough…I’m going to make dinner. I don’t know how you two are going to survive when I get my own apartment,” you laugh, standing up and walking over towards Vince, grabbing his hand and pulling him with you towards the kitchen.

“You can come over and cook us dinner,” Sammy calls as you leave the living room.

Shaking your head you make it to the kitchen, only there for a second before Vince is pulling you into him, leaning down and kissing you gently. “I knew it would be okay,” Vince mumbles against your lips.

Bringing one hand to the back of his neck you press your body closer to his, confident that Sammy would be avoiding the kitchen now that you and Vince were in there alone. “No you didn’t,” you giggle. “You just said that because I was panicking.”

“Kind of,” Vince admits.

“Well I’m glad it worked out,” you whisper, sliding your hands to his shoulders. “Because if we never got around to you pinning me down like you did last night I’d be really disappointed,” you joke, looking up at Vince through your eyelashes with a mischievous smile.

Vince groans, shaking his head. “So that’s all I am to you?” Vince asks, playing along.

“Of course,” you joke. Pulling out of his grasp you begin to prepare dinner, but the absence of touch doesn’t last long, Vince stepping behind you and placing his hands on your hips. “Someone is a little needy.”

“I’m hurt after your last comment,” he laughs, wrapping his arms around your waist, watching you chop up some vegetables.

Pausing you turn your head to the side, looking up at Vince. “Fine, I like you for more than just sex,” you tell him.

“So when are you letting me take you on another date…a real one.”

“Anytime,” you tell him, glancing over at him as he stands beside you, leaning against the counter. You can’t help but get caught up in staring at him for a little too long. A few months ago you never would have imagined your trip to St. Louis would even last this long, let alone end with you moving there and falling for a boy. And of course you weren’t sure how it would end, but for the time being you were happy with the new adventure you were embarking on.

#vince dunn #vince dunn fic #vince dunn imagine #vince dunn fanfiction #vince dunn fanfic #nhl fic #nhl fanfic #nhl imagines #nhl fanfiction #nhl one shot #st louis blues imagine #st louis blues fanfic #st louis blues fanfiction #st Louis blues one shot #hockey fanfic #hockey fic #hockey one shot #Hockey Fanfiction

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whereisten · 4 years

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ghouls just wanna have fun (A Creature Feature Story)

A Taeil fic that’s part of our Halloween Series!

Summary: After your date ends up being a dud, you stumbled upon an unusual movie theater and its most appealing visitor, Moon Taeil.

Pairing: Ghost! Taeil x female reader

Genre: romance, angst, pinch of smut, drama, fantasy, horror

Word Count: 7k

Warnings: gore mention, death mention, smut: masturbation mention

(A/N: Hi! Special shoutout to the Creature Feature readers. I love you...It’s almost one year to the day that I posted Part 1 (I know: where the hell is the rest of it?). Rest assured, the series will continue in November. This Halloween series has gotten me out of my funk. I hope you enjoy this story. And to newcomers, welcome! This story can be read alone, if you'd like, but I think you’d enjoy this more if you read my Creature Feature updates! Anyways: SHOUTOUT TO MY BEST FRIEND AND PARTNER IN CRIME/WRITING KRYS. SHE CREATED ANOTHER SPECTACULAR MOODBOARD FOR ME. SHE’S MADE SEVERAL FOR ME. AND I AM SO SPOILED. HER BRILLIANT BRAIN AND VISION DESERVE ALL OF THE LOVE. SEND IT HER WAY. We hope you enjoy this installment and our upcoming posts! Thank you for all of the love in our stories so far!

___

“Jaebum, I’m not going. Let me off here,” you demanded.

Well, tonight was just fantastic. Fan-freaking-tastic.

Your date that your friends set you up with ended up being a bust. He wanted to take you to a house party so he can get high and you could be his side piece for the night. Your friends were all in committed relationships and they thought you were bummed because you felt single and bitter.

No, you were just bummed at the fact that your friends had blown you off too many times for their significant others. That was the actual problem.

But they were doing better with you, you had to admit. They spent more time with you as their honeymoon stages with their significant others had finally dwindled. The set-up was supposed to be for fun.

They even thought that this date could open doors for you.

Doors to what? Well, it ended up being to the stench of weed in the back of Jaebum’s old Sonata.

Jaebum’s car, which included his two stoner friends Jinyoung and Yugyeom, came to a halt at a red light near a plaza.

“You want to leave, y/n? Then here’s your stop,” Jaebum said.

You raised your eyebrows. “You’re kidding me, right?”

Jaebum shrugged. “Take it or leave it. I got places to go.” His friends muttered over how uncool you were. The least this jerk could’ve done was take you back home.

You rolled your eyes. “Fine. Go to hell.”

The car sped off as you stood near the plaza entrance. It was getting colder as midnight approached. So you decided to wait outside of an abandoned Spirit Halloween store so your Uber could pick you up from there. You walked towards the plaza and suddenly…

Bright lights appeared before you that you quickly shut your eyes. You blinked them open, wondering what just transpired when you realized...

There was an active movie theater there, with a giant sign surrounded by bright light bulbs. It read “Sinema”.

What the hell, you thought.

You walked closer and closer and saw people coming in and out of the theater. And then...oh, wow, you really had lost your mind. Little human-like creatures of different colors were flying around the entrance...They were fairies! Their pixie fairy dust landed on your shoulders. You picked off the dust that had fallen on the shoulder of your dress. The texture reminded you of Cheeto dust. It was hard to get off. You were certain your black dress was permanently stained.

Then, a man walked past you and transformed into a large purple dragon before your very eyes. He blew out fire within a few feet from you, you yelped. He set off for the sky and vanished. After, another group of men walked past you, flashing their vampire teeth as they laughed about something. They were all stunning but the one with wavy electric blue hair was the real showstopper. You couldn’t think that too long as people that looked bright and transparent walked towards you.

You thought they were going to bump into you so you said. “Hello? Watch where you’re going!”

But they walked right through you and kept going. Seemed like they got that kind of comment a lot.

You blinked a few times. Did that just happen? Were those...ghosts?

A young woman in her red and navy blue uniform appeared before you. She smiled. “Welcome to Sinema, the premier theater for the supernatural! My name is Haseul. You look like you have a lot of questions. Is this your first time here?”

“I...I…” You started. “Is this really happening?”

She laughed. “Yes...All supernatural creatures and their approved companions are welcome here!”

You frowned. “There must be some mistake. I’m not a supernatural creature.”

Haseul pulled out her phone. “Your name?”

“Uh...y/n y/l/n…” You said. “Wait, why did I say that?” You answered her without even thinking. It was like she compelled you to do what she asked.

She winked. “It’s a special little skill of mine. It’s a part of the job.” She scrolled through an app on her phone. “Well, you’re not a part of the approved human companions list so...You have to be supernatural!”

You gaped. “That’s funny…This is a joke, right? Some kind of Halloween event? Well, you’re a few months too late…”

Haseul shook her head. “Oh, no, this is no reenactment. This is the real deal. Allow me to escort you inside.”

You weren’t sure if that was a good idea but you were curious. You followed her inside.

The movie theater was elegant and modern. The latest video games were available at the arcade. The concession stand was huge. It had to be with the number of creatures that were lined up for snacks. The theater was three stories high. Posters for the latest movies were up. The music that played overhead consisted of songs from the 70s, 80s, and more. Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” was playing. Sinema seemed like any regular theater.

Well, except for the supernatural creatures, of course.

“What is this place?” You asked Haseul. “This can’t be real...I’ve been drugged. Jaebum got something in my system and I’m hallucinating. That has to be it.”

Haseul gave you a confused look. “This place is very real, y/n. I know it might be a hard pill to swallow but you belong here. To the supernatural world. A part of you is connected to this world. I’m not sure why it took you so long to discover that but...you’re here now.”

Haseul’s phone rang and she answered. “Yeah, boss?...Okay, I’ll stop calling you that...Oh? I see. Well, have fun with your boyfriend…” She teased. She hung up and she continued, “Well, y/n, I must be going but if you need anything, you can reach out to anyone who is wearing this uniform.” She showed off her uniform. She looked like a very casual flight attendant. The navy blue skirt was very flattering on her. Her white blouse had a red tie over it. Her name tag had her name written in her own elegant cursive.

“W-wait…” You started.

Haseul gave you a reassuring smile. “You can stay or leave, y/n. No one is keeping you here. But know that you’re always welcome here at Sinema. We hope to see you again.” She walked off to resume working, you thought.

You stood there, confused over what to do. Going to the movies hadn’t been in the cards for you tonight. Much less finding out that the supernatural existed in the same world you did.

Unless this was a parallel world, which just made your head spin even more.

Deciding to stay, you went back out to the main entrance to buy tickets. You heard growls among the chatter of people that stood in line before you. All kinds of creatures stood in front of you: werewolves, selkies, fairies, kitsunes, and more. You felt like the only outsider. For everyone else seemed to know their place…

According to Haseul, the only reason you could access this place was because you were a supernatural creature. And that...that just couldn’t be true. Sure you were adopted but you never displayed any kind of power or ability that would indicate you were a creature.

It was impossible, you thought. A striking young man with long silver hair stood behind you and you could feel his eyes on the back of your head. He was tall and muscular. You wondered what kind of creature he was or if he was actually a companion like Haseul described. You turned to him and his stare never wavered. “Can I help you?” You asked.

He blinked a few times to snap out of it. “I’m sorry...I zoned out…” He tipped an imaginary hat. “It’s your turn.”

“Miss?” The employee at the ticket stand asked. Like the young man behind you, she seemed human. However, the red tint in her eyes told you otherwise. You wondered what she could be.

“Oh, uh... A ticket to ‘Spider-Man: The New Kid’, please,” you said.

“That’ll be 12.50,” the employee replied.

Even if this was a movie theater for the supernatural, they certainly charged like a regular theater did. You paid the employee and got your ticket. The ticket stub was actually very beautiful. It was holographic so you could collect these stubs like trading cards, if you wanted.

You hung around too long so the silver-haired boy approached you.

He smiled at you. “Hello.”

You smiled, a little uneasy. “Hi…”

“First time at Sinema?” He asked. The man was stunning with his high cheekbones and dangerous dark eyes. A devil-may-care smile that must have won over a few women.

You nodded. “Is it that obvious?”

“The look of horror on your face hasn’t faded,” he said, chuckling.

You sighed. “Yeah...Well, I’m still pretty stunned.”

He said, “Well, you’ll get used to it eventually. Something about you makes you belong to this world, right? Do you know what it is?” His eyes widened.

It was almost as if he knew the answer. But if you didn’t know, how could he?

You sighed. “I couldn’t tell you. Maybe I’m just a fluke.”

“Oh, I have to disagree…” He started.

A ghost materialized right beside you. He stood closer to you and stared down the silver-haired man. Even if he was a ghost, he was the most alluring man you’d ever seen. Although translucent, his features were striking and not to be ignored. His undercut that accentuated his face so well was bright red, like rubies. His ears were decorated with crescent moon studs. He wore a navy button down and black slacks, like he was dressed for a hot date. His tan skin cast an ethereal glow. “Yuta, give the girl some air. She just discovered she’s not human.”

The silver-haired man named Yuta sighed. “Do you ever stay out of people’s business?”

The ghost rolled his eyes. “Do you?”

You averted your eyes from them and looked at the concessions menu. Hmmm, the Sour Patch Bats looked promising, you thought. You started, “I’m gonna go.”

Yuta was about to call your name again but the ghost boy raised his hand to stop him. “You’re already messing around here too much. Leave her alone.”

Yuta rolled his eyes. “I don’t have to listen to you. I’m the alpha.”

The ghost boy made faces as he imitated Yuta’s voice. “I’m the alpha. I eat the hearts of my enemies for breakfast. I’m Yuta.”

Yuta growled and it was so animalistic that you wondered if he was going to transform into the creature he most likely was. Your money was on him being a werewolf.

Yuta stormed off and returned to his posse of gorgeous and muscular people. They all watched you and you wondered what was so fascinating about you.

The ghost boy followed you as you got in line for concessions. “What’s your name?”

“Y/n...Yours?” You looked into his soulful eyes.

He smiled. “I’m Taeil. The eyes and ears of Sinema. And you’re new.”

“Yup...And I have no idea who I am or what the world is anymore…Well, it’s time for a snack.”

Taeil chuckled. “The Sour Patch bats are really popular but they sell out fast.”

An employee at the concession stand announced over the intercom. “Sorry, folks. The Sour Patch Bats are sold out.”

Everyone groaned and moaned and growled and wailed. Even you couldn’t help the tiny huff of disappointment that escaped your lips.

Taeil sighed. “Well, lucky for you y/n. I’m friends with the manager of this joint.”

You raised your eyebrows. “Oh, are you?”

He smirked. “I know where she keeps her secret stash of Sour Patch Bats. Now she normally hides those away for her boyfriend but I’m sure she won’t miss one bag…”

Taeil led you upstairs to the manager’s office.

You frowned. “Are you sure we can be here?”

Taeil winked. “Nope. But she owes me.”

Taeil moved himself through the front door and unlocked the door from the inside. You entered the office and found a bouquet of flowers on the manager’s desk.

“How did you touch…”

He cleared his throat like he’d debated what he was going to say. “With most of my strength, y/n...Anything to impress the prettiest girl to set foot in Sinema.”

Although your concept of ghosts was completely debunked (ghosts could indeed touch inanimate objects), your face warmed up at that comment. You tried changing the subject. “Taeil, maybe this is a bad idea…”

He shook his head as he stuck his hand through the manager’s desk drawer and rummaged around before he grabbed a bag of the popular candy. He threw it over to you. You caught it.

You opened the bag and ate the bat-shaped sour gummies of lime, orange, lemon, and cherry. They were the best candy you’d ever tasted and until tonight, you’d been deprived of their existence.

Your eyes grew. “These are...Oh my God.”

Taeil smiled knowingly. “I knew you’d like them. See, the supernatural world isn’t so bad, is it?”

You were touched. He was being so kind and attentive. So quickly, too. “No, I guess not…”

His beautiful lips curved upwards as he watched you enjoy the candy.

“What movie are you going to see?” He asked.

“Well, Taeil, I thought you were the eyes and ears of this place. You should know,” you teased.

He laughed. “Well, I don’t. Is it an oldie? Sinema plays throwback movies every week to appease the masses.”

You shook your head. “I’m watching the new Spider-Man. The new actor they picked is supposed to be above all of his predecessors so I’m excited.”

Taeil asked. “Can I join you?”

You pretended to deliberate. “Well, you have supplied me with sustenance so how could I say no?”

Taeil usually kept to himself, occasionally confiding in his best friend. He really was the eyes and ears of the theater. He knew of all the romantic entanglements that transpired. The current feuds between species. And more.

Typically, he was stuck facing his demons and never quite got past the last thing he needed to overcome in order to ascend to heaven.

He’d sought justice so what was holding him back?

And at the sight of you, he felt an ease in his heart that he hadn’t felt since he was alive.

___

Your first night at Sinema was the first of many where you and Taeil bonded and enjoyed each other’s company. You went to the theater every weekend and met up with him. You’d see a movie together and talk about it for hours on end. He’d even sometimes accompany you back to your dorm. And even if you could see him...no one else in the human realm could. So you would have to pretend you were on the phone when you talked to Taeil. Even as he sat closely beside you. Longing to hold your hand.

You wondered just how many creatures hid from you in plain sight. Some of them could masquerade as humans and you’d never know it. That terrified and excited you.

You loved Taeil’s sense of humor, how he showered you with free movie tickets and concessions (courtesy of his best friend’s connections), his wit, his smile, the goofy, fascinated look he gave you when you spoke.

You always wanted to push back his hair and slap his arm when he teased you. And you wondered what those soft red lips would feel like on yours.

But you couldn’t.

The most wonderful person you’d ever met.

And he was an apparition.

As for Taeil, well, he loved everything about you. Your mind. Your curiosity of the world. Your inability to shut away the unknown completely. The way you adapted to Sinema so quickly. The way you looked at him.

He was convinced that you also wanted to kiss him.

It killed you both, honestly.

You told him you were in your senior year of college. You were getting a degree as a nutritionist but you felt unsure about what you would pursue after college. You felt like nothing got your heart racing. You were just going through the motions, making your parents proud. They’d given so much to you so you didn’t want to disappoint them. So you figured getting a steady paying job was a step in the right direction and maybe one day you’d figure out your passion...and how to capitalize off of it.

Taeil could tell you were frustrated and lost and he wished you didn’t feel so down. He saw the light in your eyes. You had a whole future ahead of you. You would find your dream job someday, meet a man, settle down, have his children, and grow old together.

And him? Well, maybe at that point, he would finally have moved on.

Before meeting you, he was fixated on getting even with the man who murdered him and the woman who betrayed him and got the ball rolling.

He told you all about it...Originally, he didn’t want to because the details were too gruesome. But you’d been honest with him so it was the least he could do for you. He told you about his life in the west coast town of Luna, where he aspired to be a producer and songwriter. And he told you about how his life came to an abrupt end.

Taeil’s killer had been none other than Jung Jaehyun, the man whom his girlfriend had cheated on him with. Jaehyun was a member of one of Luna’s most notorious gangs and he detested Taeil. Taeil’s girlfriend, Lexa, didn’t know how to break up with Taeil so she could be with Jaehyun. She was frustrated because Taeil was so sweet and giving. He was so good to her that Lexa chickened out and never broke up with him. She was getting frustrated and Jaehyun was getting even angrier.

One of the nights that Lexa spent with Jaehyun, she let it slip that she wished there was a way she could get rid of Taeil. And Jaehyun was more than happy to oblige.

Jaehyun and his men cornered Taeil one night. He thought he was meeting Lexa for their 300 day anniversary. He got a text from her phone saying to meet her on the rooftop of the Nectarine Hotel because she had a surprise for him.

However, she was nowhere to be seen. Jaehyun took Taeil by surprise and pushed him off of the twenty story luxury hotel.

Jaehyun’s men lingered downstairs and made sure there were no witnesses on the scene. All evidence of Taeil’s death had been covered up. Taeil’s family and friends reported Taeil as a missing person. Lexa had also disappeared off of the face of the Earth. And many wondered if she and Taeil had disappeared to start anew.

That couldn’t have been further from the truth. Jaehyun, Lexa, and his men disposed of Taeil’s body off underneath an overpass. They’d buried his body and washed their cleans of him.

Taeil always thought about whether or not an afterlife existed. When he hit the ground from his fall, everything went black. The roaring pain all over his body that hit him for one moment...Quickly vanished at the next.

Taeil opened his eyes again and instead of seeing Downtown Luna...Only white surrounded him. Surrounded by golden specks.

An angel appeared before him with stunning peach-colored wings. The angel shined so brightly that Taeil couldn’t make out their face. They spoke softly… “Moon Taeil...Born June 14, 1994...Died October 22, 2018.”

Taeil sobbed then. “Please, is there any way you can save me?”

The angel sighed. “My poor child...You’ve been wronged. I want to give you the opportunity to seek justice...And once you have seeked justice and found peace, you can ascend into Heaven and join us. Our Heavenly Father awaits you.”

Before Taeil could respond, he became a ghost. He manifested into another town he couldn’t recognize. It was the city of Mystic. Jaehyun lived a life of luxury and terrorized the new city with his gang. And who reigned right beside him in a God-awful bubblegum pink wig?

The woman he’d loved and planned to propose to: Lexa.

Lexa played around with the buttons on Jaehyun’s designed shirt as she quietly thanked him for killing Taeil. And Jaehyun murmured back a thank you for giving him the idea and for suggesting a good hiding place for his remains.

Taeil felt sick to his stomach. The love he felt for Lexa had quickly shifted into hatred. And Taeil wanted revenge. He wanted to take them both down. But how, he wondered.

It took him a few more months to figure out how exactly he could enact revenge on them. Haunting them for a few weeks was a thrill but he wanted Jaehyun behind bars. And Lexa? Well, Taeil just wanted her to drown in guilt.

And then, Taeil found Sinema, a supernatural hub in the seemingly typical town of Mystic. Taeil struck a deal with the vampires to help them dig up his body. They in turn compelled the police to find his remains and track down Jaehyun.

Taeil owed the vampires a few months of haunting humans who had deceived them when they were once humans. So both parties were happy.

Taeil decided to spare Lexa from prison. Instead, her family, her friends, and everyone from Luna shunned her for having a hand in Taeil’s murder. Although she was never charged, she was as good as guilty as Jaehyun and his men.

Lexa remained in Mystic in a run-down apartment, barely making ends meet. The luxuries she was able to afford before, because of Taeil and then because of Jaehyun, were no longer accessible to her so she lived a life full of resentment.

But Taeil visited her many nights to remind her that more than anything, she should’ve felt guilt and remorse for what she’d done to him.

How she convinced him that he’d found happiness in her. How she made him out to be a fool. And how she discarded him like a piece of trash.

Lexa’s mind slowly unraveled over time and the guilt slowly consumed her each time.

Taeil ate it all up. This felt like justice and he didn’t want to ascend just yet. He wanted Lexa to get on her knees and pray to God for forgiveness for what she’d done to Taeil.

But that day hadn’t come. So Taeil frequented her apartment at night...Having Lexa think she dreamed of him as she slept.

One late Saturday night...going into Sunday morning, Taeil waited with you at the bench for your Uber to arrive to take you back to your dorm. Sometimes he accompanied you to the dorm and talked to you. You’d have to pretend you were on the phone so your Uber driver didn’t think you were talking to an imaginary friend.

Tonight, though, he wouldn’t be taking you home.

You asked, “Are you going to see her now?”

Taeil froze. “What?”

You wondered aloud, “Lexa...Do you haunt her on the weekends too?”

“Not recently, actually...I’ve been seeing her less.”

You smiled. “Taeil, that’s great. It means you’re getting over her.”

Taeil glared. “I don’t need to get over her. I despise her.”

Your smile vanished. “I know that. It’s just-”

He shot back, “Just what?”

You looked down at your hands and played with your fingers. “It’s just...You’ve sought justice...Jaehyun is rotting in a jail cell...Lexa is guilty over what she’s done...And...I hate to say this...But I think if you stop going to see her...There’s a chance you can finally ascend.”

He looked taken aback at your words. “I can ascend whenever I want.”

You lifted an eyebrow. “Really?”

Taeil looked even more annoyed as he sneered. “Absolutely. Excuse me for wanting to spend a little more time with you before I leave forever.”

His words infuriated you. “Taeil, you...I’m not the reason you want to stay...You’re hung up on your ex. Even if it’s not in the romantic sense...You’re fixated on terrorizing her until what? She begs for forgiveness?”

“And what the hell is wrong with that?”

“Taeil, you’re meant to find peace. You have to let her go.”

“Well, y/n, thank you for your opinion. I never asked for it but it’s certainly never stopped you...Have a safe trip back to your dorm.”

“Fine! Manifest yourself back to me when you get a grip.” You crossed your arms around your chest in anger. He was unbelievable. You were right. He just wouldn’t let go. He wouldn’t give up on seeing that...that wretched bitch.

Why did you let this piss you off so much and why were you overstepping...You had no right…

Perhaps it was because you’d fallen for Taeil and seeing him jeopardize his fate over this woman infuriated you like nothing else had.

The full moon was out that night and you couldn’t help but yell in fury at the sky.

Someone crept up behind you and with his claws, he scratched deeply into your collarbone. “Hey, what the fuck?!”

You turned around to find a werewolf before you. It was a literal wolf on two legs. His muscles protruded like that of a man’s but they were so large...You knew he could easily snap your neck with a quick movement of his hands. His tawny coat shined in the moonlight. His brown eyes watched you, expectantly.

You were about to get on your knees and beg for mercy.

You saw a group of people lingering beside the werewolf. You remembered them. They were a part of Yuta’s pack.

“Yuta?” You finally connected the dots and realized the wolf who scratched you was Yuta. You hadn’t seen him since that first time.

He had been a werewolf, after all. But why had he transformed? Why was he here? Why had he done this to you?

You winced slightly at the scrapes and monitored them as they quickly vanished. You couldn’t believe your eyes.

Yuta’s fur vanished as he transformed back into his human self. He was shirtless but his pair of jeans remained on. “Y/n, I wanted to confirm something…”

You frowned. “What?”

“The scratch of the alpha is borderline lethal to any outsider of the pack...So any pack member or...descendant of that pack member can heal from his bite…”

You laughed nervously, confused. You wanted to get the hell out of here. Where the bloody hell was your Uber? “Uh...That’s interesting, I guess.”

“Can’t you see, y/n? I’m the alpha of the Nakamoto clan. You’ve healed from my scratches...Which means…”

You demanded, “What does it mean?”

“It means you are a descendant of this clan, y/n…”

You shook your head. “No...That’s...Impossible. I’m not a werewolf…”

“You were adopted at five months, y/n...Your parents perished in a war against the vampires...Your parents led normal lives as humans for as long as they could...Much to the disappointment of my father.”

“Yuta, you don’t know what you’re saying…”

“I do, y/n. The pack and I have uncovered everything about you and your family history. You’re a werewolf. An unawakened one.”

“No…”

“Explain how your bite healed. The only way you could enter Sinema of your own accord is if you possessed supernatural blood. And werewolf blood is as supernatural as it gets.”

“Yuta, please, you’ve got the wrong person...I don’t know why you bit me and why it healed. Maybe it’s some magic trick you pulled off to please your pack...I’ve had a shitty night so if you don’t mind, I’d like to go home,” you said, checking your phone for the arrival of your Uber. It was arriving.

“Y/n!”

The Uber pulled up and you turned to him. “Just leave me alone.”

___

You visited your parents the next day. You asked them about where they’d adopted you from. They’d always been very mum about the details.

“Someone told me something crazy the other day,” you said to them as the three of you shared dinner with your adopted younger siblings.

Your parents both looked at each other, concerned.

“He said my biological parents were werewolves!” You laughed in disbelief. “How crazy is that?”

Your parents eyed each other again.

Your mom started, “Who is this man?”

“Mom, I believe the proper response is ‘That man is crazy. Where did he get that kind of story?’”

You knew your parents were hiding something and you wanted to hear the truth from them.

Your father scratched his neck as he took off his glasses. Your younger siblings all eyed each other uncomfortably.

“Why aren’t you guys saying anything?” You asked.

Your dad said, “Y/n...We hoped for you to never find out.”

You shook your head in disbelief. “Dad, you’re scaring me...Find out what?”

Your parents went on to tell you about the incidents you had when you turned eleven. After you’d had your first period, you began to experience terrible mood swings and throw tantrums left and right around the time the full moon occurred. And when you turned thirteen and the first full moon following your birthday occurred…

You’d attacked a neighbor who was walking their dog.

You’d grown teeth and hair all over your body that night. You’d become a wolf, according to your parents.

Once the night had ended, you’d transformed into a human again and fallen asleep.

Your neighbors never knew that it had been you. Your parents helped your attacked neighbor get to a hospital and they reported an animal attack in the neighborhood. Your neighbor couldn’t remember anything.

But her dog never forgot and hated you.

Your parents got a hold of the adoption agency and they had no information on your birth parents besides their names. Your parents then got in touch with a psychic, who referred them to a witch. They took you to the witch and she told them you were an unawakened werewolf. You were a fledgling. Unless you received the bite of an alpha werewolf and acquired your position in the pack, you were susceptible to these monthly full moon transformations and since you hadn’t been awakened, it would be even worse and dangerous for those around you. So the witch concocted a potion that would suppress your fledgling urges but it was critical that you consumed it each month.

Which explained why your parents were always so adamant for you to come home every month for dinner. They put the potion in your dinner. So you were able to suppress your urges up until this point.

Could this be the reason why you felt so unfulfilled? Because you never explored your true nature? Your parents never gave you the choice to control it.

Your parents had good intentions but you had the option to meet the pack all of these years...And you never knew.

You’d always felt like a part of you had been missing and your trip to Sinema had done the trick to lead you to the truth.

___

Back in your dorm and without having ingested the potion your parents had given, you’d only had a few days until the full moon. You were resolved to speak to Yuta.

You’d gotten out of the shower, letting out a shaky breath from all of the bundled up nerves you carried. You were shocked to find Taeil standing in your common room that you shared with your roommates. They were all away for the day.

“Taeil!” You started as you covered your towel more tightly around you.

“I heard,” Taeil started, worry etched all over his face, “If I could kill Yuta, I would…”

“Taeil, I’m going to him,” you started.

“What?” He asked.

“I’m going to be awakened by him.”

He looked at you in disbelief. “Y/n, what are you-”

“I’m an unawakened werewolf, Taeil. My biological parents were werewolves and if I don’t receive the official bite of the alpha, I’m going to suffer by the influence of the full moon.”

“Y/n, the full moon is in two weeks!”

“I know…” You said.

Taeil sighed. “Y/n, you have a chance to be away from the supernatural world. To avoid the dangers of these creatures. I know humans are terrible, deceitful, and cruel...But the supernatural doesn’t fare better. You didn’t grow up in this world. It could consume you and spit you right back out…”

You were resolved, though. You longed to explore more of the world and to embrace the part of you that had always been neglected. “Taeil, I’ve made my decision. My family has respected it. And I hope you will, too.”

A tear escaped Taeil’s eye. “Y/n, I’m so sorry. If I hadn’t left you alone…”

You shook your head as you wished to embrace him. “Taeil, this isn’t on you. This opened my eyes. My path is more defined now...Who knows what awaits me once I awaken? That’s for me to find out.”

Taeil extended his hand out and pretended to caress your face. “There’s nothing I can say to make you change your mind, is there?”

“No,” you said, as you leaned closer to his transparent hand.

He smiled weakly. “Y/n, I’ve thought a lot about it and you were right...I’ve given up on visiting Lexa.”

You opened your mouth wide. “Really?”

Taeil avoided your stare as he stared at the potted plant by the window. “I...wanted to stay longer but...we’re both meant to part ways...And I’m not happy...Terrorizing Lexa hasn’t given me any sense of fulfillment. Temporary pleasure? Yes...But I long to find that peace.”

You cried. “Taeil, I’m so happy to hear that. And you will find that peace, I promise you.”

“In the meantime, I’ll be by your side as you head into your next chapter.”

You smiled at him and didn’t realize your towel slipped to the floor.

“Y/n…” Taeil coughed as he quickly turned red and turned around.

“What?” You frowned.

Without looking at you, he pointed to the towel on the floor.

“Shit!” You exclaimed. But then, you watched Taeil...He was blushing…

“Did it hurt that much to look at my body, Taeil?” You asked, quietly.

“What?” He asked, confused.

“It’s okay...You can look…”

Taeil turned and was shocked to see you still unclothed.

You gave him a flirty smile. “I know we can’t touch...But it doesn’t mean we can’t have fun, right?”

You got onto your bed and slowly began to tease your clit and Taeil’s jaw nearly fell to the floor. He adored every inch of you as he scanned your body and worked his hardest to commit it all to memory.

You could see his member grow in his pants. He immediately gripped his gorgeous length and pleasured himself alongside you.

“I wish I could feel your heavenly cock on my clit…” You told him.

He grunted. “Heaven can wait...This is real paradise...Here with you.”

You muttered sweet nothings to each other and imagined that you made love to each other that day.

___

You and Taeil were more inseparable than before. Because you knew your days together were numbered.

The full moon arrived and Yuta had agreed that this was the ideal time for your initiation into his pack. You would be able to absorb the moon’s power as you transformed from Yuta’s bite.

Yuta invited you to his mansion in the woods not too far outside of town. His pack members were present and they’d arranged a massive bonfire at the center in honor of your awakening.

Taeil was right beside you, much to the chagrin of the rest of the pack members. But what could they do? Drag him out? When they couldn’t even lay a finger on him?

Yuta was dressed in his best tuxedo as he recited the pack’s code of conduct to you and welcomed you into their pack. He transformed into his wolf form and at the brightest the full moon had been, you’d taken on your fledgling form. You howled at the moon and became rabid. Yuta knew what he had to do.

Taeil watched you in concern but Yuta had sworn to protect you. For you would be one of his family soon enough. So Taeil had no choice but to trust him.

Yuta bit into your collarbone and your eyes shifted from their usual color and into a bright amber. You felt yourself regain consciousness and became aware of where you were.

“Y/n, do you know who I am?” Yuta asked.

You nodded.

Yuta continued, “Good. You are now a fully awakened werewolf. Harness your abilities with honor and know that you have a family in the Nakamoto clan forever.”

“Hear hear!” The pack members yelled out.

You’d reverted back into your human form through your own accord. You were shocked at how quickly you could turn back.

You ran over to Taeil and he beamed at you. “How do you feel?”

“I feel...whole...Fulfilled...I have no idea what will happen next but it’s a new kind of uncertainty...And I like it.”

Taeil said, “I’m glad, y/n…”

He started to pixelate before you and his voice began to fade.

Your smile faded. “Taeil?”

“I think God wanted me to stick around for this momentous occasion...Before he summoned me…”

You couldn’t help the tears that escaped you. “Taeil, I love you.”

He cried with you. “I love you, too. I will see you up there...Soon. I’d better be the first person you look up when you ascend, you hear me?”

You wrapped your arms around him and to your shock. To everyone’s shock at the party...You could feel Taeil. He was muscular and the warmth of his body was like the fuzziest blanket wrapped around you after the worst day. He felt wonderful. And you never wanted to let him go.

Taeil longed for the day he could feel your body around his...And it was only at this time when you two had to bid farewell when he could feel you against him. You were strong but at that moment, he held you tenderly. Like you would break at any second. Because this moment was the most fragile. It was fleeting. So you both soaked in the feeling of each other’s bodies as you held each other.

Taeil kissed you and you reciprocated. His lips felt just like you’d imagined them. Soft. Perfect against yours. His kiss was the euphoria you would treasure for the rest of your life.

You released each other.

“Goodbye, Moon,” you teased. You made a play at his last name. Since you were a werewolf now, you’d be highly influenced by the activity of the moon.

He joked back. “Goodbye, Wolfie. Don’t forget to howl at me once in a while. It’s kinda hot...” The cliche of werewolves howling at the moon was actually a common practice for them.

You shook your head and laughed as he faded away. You cried hard that night, missing him already.

Yuta and his pack comforted you as you cried. They celebrated you and they mourned with you. This pack had become your family.

___

Taeil finally ascended to Heaven. It was a lot like Earth but idealistic. Paradise had everything at his disposal. He could go to the movies and have an unlimited supply of Sour Patch Bats. He finally knew what they tasted like. He could get a foot massage whenever he felt like it. He could play his music and sing to his heart’s content. God was a big fan of Moon Taeil.

But the thing he loved most was being able to look after the loved ones he left behind.

Now that Taeil had become an angel, he would accumulate power overtime in order to send blessings to the people he loved most.

Especially to you.

____

You’d gotten a better grip on your powers but you were still a long way from being Yuta’s right hand. You’d moved into one of Yuta’s apartment complexes that he owned. You were finishing up your last year of school, as well. Since you’d stabilized your powers, you could carry on with your day-to-day activities. It’s just nighttime that would be unaccounted for.

One day, Yuta visited you.

You greeted him as you welcomed him inside your spacious apartment. He sat down on your L-shaped couch in your living room as you gave him a glass of water. “To what do I owe the pleasure, boss?”

Yuta never visited his pack member’s homes unless it was important business. Usually, he summoned them to a common area, like one of his mansions in the city.

Yuta smiled. “I see you like your new place.”

You nodded. “It beats hearing my roommates screw their boyfriends every other night, I must admit.”

He laughed. “Well, I’m glad to hear that.”

“What’s up? You’re not usually one for small talk...Unless you want to sleep with them...And that girl isn’t here at the moment.” You knew about Yuta’s tumultuous relationship with Sinema’s manager.

Yuta blushed then. “You...Knock it off.”

You laughed heartily, then. You two had developed an older brother little sister relationship. Yuta was able to uncover more information about your parents and your extended family. He’d been extremely helpful during this time, providing financial support not only to you but your entire family.

When Yuta said the pack was a family, he really meant it.

Yuta was mulling over his next words and he gave you a solemn look. The light, breezy mood had quickly vanished.

The power the alpha held to control the room.

He said, “Y/n, prepare your things. The war is about to begin.”

[Fin...Or is it?]

Stay tuned for the next spooky story...

238 notes · View notes

johnsamericano · 4 years

Text

“Mine.” l.m.k

Genre: suspense (kind of), smut-ish, angst.

Pairing: yandere/stalker!mark x fem!reader

Warnings: Possesive behavior, metions of death, yandere mark, psychological abuse, blackmailing, obsessive love

Disclaimer: This fanfic does not reflect the actual personalities of the idols mentioned, this is purely fictional.

a/n: I wanted to write something halloween-like before spooky season is over. This is actual shit please forgive me 😔

Taglist: @floweringtheflowers

“Where’s your friend, Hyuck?”

“Look, there he is. Jeno!” He walked towards you with a slightly shorter male by his side. “Hey man.”

“Hey Hyuck.” They hugged each other briefly. “I brought Mark, is that okay with you?”

“Sure.” You both answered at the same time.

“Thank you for driving us home, she doesn’t trust Uber drivers.”

“Shut up.” You’d seen the enough horror movies to know it’s never safe to get into a car with a stranger. “Thank you...Jeno and Mark, right?”

“No problem.” You noticed the shorter guy’s gaze was fixated in You. “Let’s get going.” You walked towards his car under the moonlight, the only audible sound was the one from your high heels clicking in the pavement.

“I’ve never seen you at our campus.” Mark suddenly blurted out.

“I’m an arts major, our building is literally hidden behind a bunch of trees.” He giggled. You swore it was the most beautiful sound you’d ever heard.

“I’m an architecture major.”

Hyuck sat beside the drivers seat while you kept chatting with Mark in the back row. He was the sweetest person and his laugh was so contagious. You exchanged numbers before hopping out of the car.

Mark texted you the moment you stepped inside your apartment, beginning a conversation that would keep you up till 2:00 a.m.

Your late night conversations kept happening for at least a week.

“Mark?” He was standing right at the entrance of your building.

“You weren’t lying when you said it was hidden behind a bunch of trees, it took me hours to find it.”

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” He was using a plain black shirt along with beige trousers. His silky hair covered his forehead almost completely.

“I found this nice Italian restaurant nearby and I remembered you said you liked it, so uhm...can I take you there?” He didn’t casually find it, he stayed up all night long looking up for places you’d like.

“You remembered!”

“So...is that a yes?”

“Yes!” The corners of his lips went up, revealing that beautiful smile you hadn’t been able to stop thinking about for the past week. “Let’s go.”

The food was absolutely delicious and the company was even better. Mark kept talking about whatever came first to his mind, installing a nice atmosphere around you.

“Wait, so you’re from Canada?” You asked before stuffing your mouth with lasagna once again.

“Yup.” He smiled while grabbing a napkin and wiping the corners of your mouth. “Sorry, it’s just that you had some tomato sauce.”

“It’s alright, thank you.” You couldn’t deny that the sweet gesture made your heart flutter.

The blush in your cheeks only made you prettier, and Mark couldn’t help but to imagine how would it be to cup your rosy cheeks. He almost felt the heat irradiating from them in the palms of his hands.

“So, uhm, do you have a girlfriend or something?” You shyly asked.

He laughed nervously before answering. “No, I’m single.”

“Is this a date then?” He was about to deny it, but you cut him off. “I mean, I wouldn’t mind if it was.”

“I-I guess it is then.” You giggled awkwardly, proceeding to take another bite of your delicious food. “So, can I hold your hand?” There was it again, that beautiful blush tinting your cheeks.

“Sure.” You extended your free hand, looking at your plate while you waited for him to take it.

He hesitantly reached out for it, taking your small hand between his fingers and caressing the soft skin. Everything around you seemed to have stopped, it was just you and him in your little bubble of happiness.

“Hyuckie.” You greeted him through the phone. “You won’t believe what happened today.”

“You finally got laid?”

“Asshole.” He giggled. “I had a date.”

“Yeah, I know. Mark wouldn’t stop talking about it.”

“Really?” You couldn’t hide the smile forming in your lips.

“Listen, I need to go now but we’ll talk later.” He made the sound of a kiss before hanging up.

(...)

You had a few more dates before he officially asked you to be his girlfriend. Despite everything was going too fast, you were happy with him.

“Y/n?” You were stuck inside of a classroom, trying to portrait the nude model in front of you as well as you could. There was a strange feeling burning in his chest.

“Oh, hey Mark.” Your gaze was fixated in the other male. “Johnny, you think we could finish later?”

“Sure.” He grabbed a silky robe and covered his exposed body. “See you.” He bowed before exiting the room.

“What exactly were you doing?” Mark’s usual sweet tone had become lower.

“Oh, Mark. Don’t tell me you’re jealous.” You mocked him. “Don’t worry, I only have eyes for you dummy.”

But your reassuring words weren’t enough. His mind was full of that naked man, his imagination creating wicked scenarios of you with him.

“I’m serious, Mark. You’re the only one that I love, okay?” He nodded, despite there was a voice in his head telling him not to believe you, that you were a liar. “Do you want to know how much I love you?” You slightly palmed him through the fabric of his jeans.

You made love to him in the middle of your classroom, but his mind was still somewhere else.

“Mark, what’s going on?” You asked while putting your clothes back on. “I told you it’s nothing to worry about, besides, it’s not the first time I-”

“So you’ve done this more than once.” A sarcastic grin adorned his lips. “I think I’ll go home now.”

“But what about our date?”

“I’m not in the mood, y/n.” He slammed the door on his way out.

He’d never talked to you like that before, and it was certainly disconcerting. You picked up your materials, turning the lights off before exiting the room.

That night you recieved a text from Mark apologizing for his behavior. But something felt off. You decided to let it slide, he’d probably be back to normal the next day.

But the thing is, he never completely went back to normal, his scary persona would come out at the minimum sight of you with another boy. And it was frankly pissing you off, but again, you let it slide.

“Touch her again and I’ll crush your legs.” You were taking to one of your classmates when he ruffled your hair, little did you know Mark had been watching the two of you.

“Dude, chill. We’re just friends.”

“Mark, what the hell?” You whispered.

“Let’s go.” He grabbed your wrist harshly, dragging you out of the building while you struggled to get out of his grip.

“Stop, Mark. You’re hurting me.”

He stopped, letting go of you. “Are you cheating?”

“You’re being stupid right now.”

“Well, how about you stop being such a slut with your classmates, huh?” That was your breaking point.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” His heart was aching, regret filling every inch of his body. “I’m sick of your possessiveness!” You crossed your arms over your chest. “And calling me a slut? I think we should take a break.”

“I’m sorry, babe, I didn’t mean any of it.” He tried to embrace you, but yo pushed him away.

“Leave me alone, please.” But how could he stay away from his precious little angel? You were asking him to do the impossible. He’d fallen for you so quickly, yet so hard.

“Please, y/n. Give me another chance, I swear to god it won’t happen again. But please, don’t leave me.”

You went back in, ignoring your boyfriend’s sobs.

‘I can’t loose her.’ The thought kept repeating in his mind over and over again. He had to be with you at all costs, even if it meant threatening you.

“Mark, I swear to god if you call me once again I’ll block you.” You picked up your phone after listening to your call ringtone for about thirty minutes.

“I’m outside of your house. Let’s talk, please.”

“Mark, we’re done. So please, leave.”

“We’re not done until I say so.” There it was again. That cold tone that gave you goosebumps. “Check your messages.”

Your phone vibrated against your cheek, signaling you had a new text. You opened your chat with Mark, only to find a picture of you naked, legs wide open.

“H-how?” You never noticed he’d taken pictures of you, and it made you wonder how many times he’d done it.

“You better open the door before I post this so everyone can see it.” He smirked at you as soon as you opened the door. Dark circles and puffy eyes adorned his face. “Always so obedient.”

“What the fuck?” You tried to grab his phone, earning a small grin from him. “Delete them.”

“Bossy, aren’t we? You should reconsider your words or I might just send the video as well.”

“There’s a video?” Your eyes were wide open, fear taking over your body. “Please don’t, I’ll do anything.”

“Now we’re talking.” He wasn’t capable of sending them to anyone since it would mean that other man would see you naked, but you didn’t have to know that. “Let’s take a seat, shall we?”

He made himself at home. He even had the audacity to hug you.

“I missed you.” He leaned closer to your hair, sniffing it, the calming scent of coconut filling his nostrils. “Did you miss me?”

There was only one correct answer.

“Yes.” You forced yourself to say.

“That sounded like a lie, baby.” He warned, unlocking his phone and mockingly playing your video.

“I-I missed you M-mark.” He hummed in approval, proceeding to turn his phone off.

(...)

You tried your best to please Mark for the next weeks, letting him take you out on dates and grab your hand, like he used to do.

“Mark.” Your voice was shaking slightly. “I need to stay for a few extra hours to finish my project.” He wanted you to inform him about each and every one of your movements, even installing a tracking device in your purse while you weren’t paying attention.

“You know, babe. I’ve been thinking, wouldn’t it be more convenient if we lived together?” At this point, you knew you wouldn’t be able to decline his offer. Nevertheless, you tried to talk your way out of it.

“But we’ve been dating for less than three months and we have different schedules-” His thumb found it’s way to your lips.

“We’ll figure it out. I’ll go to your house on Friday to help you packing. I can’t wait to live with you.” He let out a soft giggle before saying goodbye.

So now you were losing your only private place too. He’d be watching you 24/7, controlling each and every one of your movements. You were doomed and needed to find a way out of it.

You looked for your only trustworthy friend whom you’d not seen very often in the last few months.

“Hyuck can we meet?”

“It’s the first time I hear from you in weeks and you’re not even gonna say hello?”

“I’m sorry, but it’s really urgent. Are you free right now?” He hummed. “I’ll wait for you at the cafeteria.”

You sat down at one of the tables in the corner.

“I thought you were dead.” He hugged you tightly as soon as he saw you. “What’s going on? You sounded uneasy through the phone.”

“I need you to promise you won’t tell anyone.”

“Fine, just spit it out.”

You resumed all the events from your first date to the actual situation. Haechan’s jaw dropped by the end of your story.

“If this is a prank I’m gonna be pissed.” Mark was his friend, so of course, it was shocking to find out what he’d been up to.

“I really wish it was.” You were on the verge of tears, holding them in as well as you could. “Please, hyuck, help me.”

“First of all, I don’t think Mark will send those pictures to anyone. He’d only get himself in trouble.” He combed his hair back using his fingers. “And y/n, is your reputation really more important than your freedom?”

His advice helped you make a decision. You bid hyuck goodbye after promising to call him if anything happened and made your way to your building, where you knew Mark would be waiting for you.

“Mark.” You called him. He turned his head to the side, a big smile adorning his face as soon as he saw you.

“Hey baby. I have a lunch break now, wanna go to that Italian restaurant?”

‘That fucking Italian restaurant started everything.’

“No.” His eyebrows twitched the slightest, but that creepy grin remained.

“Have you forgotten about that photo?”

“Just do whatever you want.”

There was no way you could’ve known he’d take it so literally.

“Hey, y/n.” Johnny was standing a few meters away from you. “Ready for today’s session? You better make me look pretty in that canvas.”

You giggled. That was enough to set a fire inside Mark. He was the only one allowed to make you smile.

“Goodbye, Mark.” You went inside the building with him, laughing at whatever he’d just said.

‘Get rid of him.’ The voice inside of his head kept repeating. He was an obstacle between you and him, and obstacles need to be removed.

Hours went by quickly as you worked on your final project. You took a break to go to the bathroom and rest your mind.

“This is so tiring.” You said to yourself as you washed your hands. A loud thud was heard from a nearby classroom.

You quickly dried your hands and made your way to the room Johnny was in.

“Hey, is everything okay? Why did you turn off the lights?” You used your finger to turn the switch on.

‘Is this...blood?’ There was a poodle of opaque red liquid surrounding your classmate. Multiple injuries were visible in his naked body.

“Hi honey.” Chills ran down your spine as you heard Mark behind you. You turned around to face him.

“M-mark, what did you do?” He smirked, apparently unbothered even though he was standing over a poodle of blood.

“I’m sorry, baby. But he deserved it.” With every step he took forward, you took one back.

“He didn’t do anything!” Tears streamed down your face as he caged you between his arms.

“Oh, but he did.” You could hear some guttural sounds coming out from the limp body. He was still alive. “He looked at you with that dumb little smile, he even made you laugh. I needed to teach him not to mess with someone else’s property.” His breath was fanning against your nose. “And my little girl needed to be taught to behave.”

“Please, Mark. Stop this.”

“But I did it for us, babe. So we can be together forever.” The touch that you once craved now made you nauseous. “Don’t you want to be with me?”

“Mark, please, let me go.”

“I think I wasn’t clear enough.” His blood stained face came closer to yours, tracing your jawline with the tip of his bloody knife. “We’re soulmates, and soulmates are meant to be together.” He tilted his head as the metallic blade slightly pierced through the skin of your neck. “Don’t you think so, honey?”

The sounds coming from Johnny distracted you from the pain in your neck.

“We need to get him some help!” You tried to reach out for him, but Mark slammed you against the wall.

“You like him, don’t you?” Sadness peeked through his voice. “It’s okay baby, my love is enough for both of us.”

“Stop it!” You screamed while pushing him away with all your strength, getting enough space for you to run.

You ran as fast as you could, nevertheless, luck wasn’t on your side. You took a wrong step and fell down the stairs, a rib or two breaking in the process. You whined, hugging your chest in an attempt to ease the pain.

“Oh, sweetie. Look what you’ve done.” Mark smirked as he looked down at you. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.” He crouched beside your curled up body with a grin. “Let’s take you home.”

#nct au #nct imagines #nct ot21 #nct smut #nct x reader #nct #nct 127 #nct scenarios

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maeve-writes · 3 years

Text

Little Red Corvette

Pairing: TFATWS!Bucky x Reader

Rating: 18+; Minors DNI

Warnings: Fluff, some angst, public sex, slight praise and daddy kink.

Summary: Bucky finds happiness in fixing up classic cars. He has his sights set on one in particular. When he can’t find it, you make it your mission to do whatever it takes to get it.

a/n: This is written for @buckyblues 4k Follower Challenge. (Congrats again!) I chose Little Red Corvette by Prince. Normally I’m inspired by lyrics, but the idea of Bucky in a sexy red two seater with a pretty lil’ thing next to him made me weak. I wanted this to be straight up smut but feelings got in the way.

This is not beta’d. Forgive any mistakes!

When Bucky came to terms with his new life, found some peace in a world without Soldat looming over his shoulder, he found solace in his tinkering. He would often take apart whatever technology he could find to see how it worked only to put it together again. It was therapeutic, a constant reminder that things were never broken for long, someone would always be there to fix it.

You were the one to piece him back together. Sam helped, too, of course, tightening any loose screws you may have missed, but you did all of the heavy lifting. You found out what made Bucky work, what parts needed replacing and you fixed him. He would never be the original James Barnes, but no one ever stayed the same, and you didn’t want him to be. You liked the man you woke up next to every morning, who blinked at you with sleep hazed eyes and pressed lazy kisses across your face. You loved the man that ravaged you at night, on any surface, buried as deep as he could go so he could become a part of you, to feel you against his soul.

While you found his tinkering irksome at times, especially when he would steal the coffee maker or microwave when you were in a rush to get to work and just need to zap fry breakfast and fill up your thermos, it was mostly endearing to see his nose scrunched up in concentration as he disassembled things with childlike fascination.

What broke you was when you flopped down on the couch with controller in hand and no console to receive its signal.

Storming into the garage, you slammed open the door to find him hunched over his work bench. “James,” you hissed through clenched teeth. You could see his muscle tense underneath the grey henley he had on, his breathing stilled. Only two women ever used that tone with him, one was his mother, the other was you, and he wasn’t sure which he was more afraid of. When he didn’t answer, you leaned against the door frame and glared at the large frame of his back. “Care to tell me where my PS5 is?”

His shoulder dropped slightly and he dared to look over it at you. Bucky had seen death, had seen war, had seen the near end of the universe itself and nothing made his blood run colder than the receiving end of your icy stare. “I’ll put it back together,” he offered. The grinding of your teeth made him flinch and he dropped his tools to cross the room and make things right.

It took two months to find a replacement for your beloved PlayStation. How could he have known how hard it was to find one in stock? Even when it came in and he hooked it back up for you, you still held out one more day before you finally caved and forgave him with a two day fuckfest that ended with a proposal that Bucky moved on from electronics to cars.

He took the suggestion and ran with it. The next day he and Sam went to the junkyard to find a good frame with potential and towed it back with that bright, genuine smile of his and an eagerness to get started. He spent days on the internet ordering parts, looking up facts on what modern modifications worked best, and watched video after video of reviews on classic sports cars.

You found him in the garage most nights when his dreams became too much and he didn’t want to wake you. Some nights you would bring him snacks with a kiss and leave him to his work. Other nights you would climb behind him on his bench, wrap your arms around his waist and sleep against his back. Either way, you allowed him to work because that’s what Bucky needed.

When he wasn’t off on a mission or wrapped up in you, he was researching cars or fixing them. After one was finished from the base up, he’d give it away or offer it to a charity auction, then start all over. He had his favorites, every “car guy” did, and he also had his white whale.

One night you felt him crawl up your body impressively hidden behind the spread of your book. You lifted a curious brow but before you could lower your novel, he shoved his tablet in your face as he took a seat on your thighs. “Every time I try to find one, someone snatches it away,” he told you, voice a little huffy as if he was seconds away from a tantrum.

“It can’t be that hard,” you tutted, tucking your book away to help him with his search. It turned out that it was incredibly hard to find any sort of form of his new obsession. Every post that either of you found had been sold or had a sale pending. Even body frames were hard to come by, much to your luck. “I’m sorry, babe, but we’ll find one soon.”

Bucky resigned himself to finding a filler car. While he was still enthusiastic about fixing up something new, you could tell his heart was set on it - the 1965 Corvette Convertible, specifically, Rally Red in color. There wasn’t much that your man asked for in life, even though it owed him so much, so for him to yearn for one thing so much and not be able to obtain it, it upset you.

So, you were going to make it happen.

You spent your days working as usual and your nights searching for his coveted car. Your browser was filled with tabs, each watching car auctions, only to be outbid on all of them. Frustrated, you flipped on your VPN, opened up your TOR browser and dipped into the dark web to dig deeper. It wasn’t your first time going through back channels to get what you wanted and it wouldn’t be your last. If it would make Bucky happy, it would be worth the risk.

Two weeks later you told Bucky you would be working later than usual. You had been playing up a huge project at work and the deadline was coming closer. He, of course, hated when you were out past dark without him, but he never vocalized his concerns because he knew the bite he would receive in return. You could take care of yourself, he knew that, but he would still worry because that was his job.

You took an Uber from work to meet the seller at the small airport on the edge of the city. The man was from Germany and specialized in vintage cars; if he didn’t have one you wanted, he’d find one for a hefty price, of course. But any amount was worth your man’s happiness, at least that’s what you tell yourself as you held the small bag of cash in your hand as you crossed the airfield.

Sitting outside what you assumed to be a private jet was the cherry red two seater, top already down and looking as beautiful as the picture you saw online. Yeah, it was going to be worth every penny. “Jonas,” you asked as you approached the man standing cross armed next to the car. He towered over you by at least a full foot and a half and was just as wide. His dark eyes watched you approach, a curious flint sparked in them.

“Yes. You are early,” he noted. He held out a beefy hand and you placed the money in it. “Not one for pleasantries, hmm?” His laughter echoed across the runway and you offered him an amused smile. “Your man is a lucky one.” His other hand was held out, this time with the keys to the car. “For you to meet a complete stranger in the middle of the night, it is dangerous, no?”

You narrowed your gaze and lifted a brow. It seemed your look was enough of an answer because Jonas gave you another laugh. “A woman of very little words, I like you. We will do business again, yes?” It was a statement rather than a question. “Enjoy.”

He swept an arm toward the driver seat and you slid inside. With a turn of the key, the car purred to life and a smile grew on your face. You revved the engine twice, nodded to the man a few feet away before you sped towards your house to give Bucky his gift.

When you got home, he wasn’t there. You found a note left on the kitchen counter: Beers with Sam. -B

Normally you wouldn’t mind him going out because you were happy that he would be even willing to leave the house, but to only leave a note and not text you seemed worrisome.

You pushed any more negative thoughts out of your mind and headed to take a shower. By the time you got out and headed back to the kitchen to make yourself a quick sandwich, Bucky was home, sitting on the counter and watching you. “Hey, handsome, how’s Sam?” You leaned up to kiss him, but it wasn’t returned. “Something wrong?”

“You weren’t at work,” Bucky said evenly. “We stopped by to grab you dinner and you weren’t there.”

Your skin heated and you sighed. “Bucky, I can explain-“

He cut you off with a dismissive wave of his metal hand. “Don’t bother. If you’re seein’ someone else, you can just tell me.”

You recoiled like he slapped you across the face. “James,” you snapped, which caused him to tense up, “I would never, ever even dream of being with anyone but you.” You forced your way between his legs and cupped his face in your hands to make him look at you. “You are all that I want and no one will ever compare to you. Don’t ever say that again, okay? You’ll break my heart.”

He didn’t say anything, not for a few minutes, and neither did you. All he could do was stare into your eyes and see the truth in them. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“It’s okay, I know why you did,” you assured him and pressed another kiss to his lips, this time you received one in response. “Now, can I tell you why I wasn’t at work?” He nodded once, a tiny glint of worry still lingering in his eyes. “Well, I’d rather show you.”

You stepped away from the counter and pulled him along with you. With his hand in yours, you led him to the garage and flipped on the light with a, “Ta-da!”

“Oh, darlin’,” he breathed as he let go of you and stumbled into the room towards the car, all of the fear, worry and angst melting away instantly. “How did you-“ You pinched your forefinger and thumb together and twisted them in front of your pursed lips. He rolled his eyes but smiled and gestured to the driver seat.

“All yours, handsome,” you winked and hit the button to open the garage door.

He shook his head and patted the seat next to him, “You’re comin’ with me.” When you protested saying you were in your night clothes, he waved it off. “We’re just goin’ for a drive, sweetheart, nothin’ to dress up for.” You joined him with a reluctant sigh and flopped into the passenger seat.

When the key turned and the engine purred, Bucky let out a pornographic moan. You turned to him, brow perked. “Sweetheart,” he rasped, “you have no idea what this car does to me.” Your eyes flickered to the quickly growing bulge in his jeans before his deep chuckle caught your attention, “Or maybe you do.”

He reached over to pinch your chin between two metal fingers before crashing his lips against your own. His tongue fought its way inside of your mouth and licked sinfully against the roof of it. “Buckle up,” he whispered against the gasp you released as he sat back.

Lightheaded, you did as instructed and watched him adjust the mirrors and lights before he pulled out of the garage and sped down the driveway and through the neighborhood. His face was bright in the evening light, his smile outshone the moon. “You’re gorgeous,” you told him breathlessly, and you would have most likely not been heard over the wind whipping around you by any other person, but your super soldier caught every syllable and flushed at the compliment.

He took your hand into his and brought it to his lips, kissing each knuckle before it came to rest on his thigh. You could feel the happiness radiating off of him, seeping into your own pores and filling you up until your lips turned up into a matching smile. “What’re you thinkin’ about,” he asked you, flicking his attention from the road to you and back again.

“You,” you replied, “always you.”

The smile on his face grew and he squeezed your hand once more. He found a new happy place, one outside of your shared home, one not between your legs. It was there, in that car, racing free down the open road with his best girl in the seat next to him. “I’m thinkin’ about you, too,” he said as his hand guided yours towards his lap.

“Mr. Barnes,” you gasped playfully but allowed him to rest your hand against his tented jeans, “we can’t do this, it’s sinful.”

“Live a little, darlin’,” he played along, forcing you to squeeze him which caused him to groan.

You pinned your bottom lip between your teeth and rubbed at him over his clothes, feeling the heat of his arousal coming off him in burning waves. Your fingers worked open the button of his pants and with a little maneuvering, you were able to fish out his cock, hard and thick, violently red and dripping with need. His hiss as it hit the cool air caused you to jump back for a moment, but his needy whimper drew you back again. “I swear to god, Bucky, if you crash and kill me, I’m going to haunt you,” you warned him.

He blinked, taken aback by the rather brash statement, about to ask what you meant by that but you were already unbuckled, bent forward and taking him into your mouth. “Oh fuck,” he groaned, metal hand gripping the steering wheel tight enough to pop the stitching on the leather coating.

Your tongue swirled around his tip, gathering what leaked out before you flattened your tongue and took more of him in. He was thick and long, hard to take all at once, but you had learned from many hours of practice just how to get all of his glorious cock down your throat. Your hands worked what wasn’t wet with your tongue yet as you bobbed up to suck on his head and relax your jaw. “Feels like heaven, sweetheart,” he cooed above you, his free hand bundling up your hair to keep it out of the way. “Fuck, your mouth works my cock so good.”

Delighted at his praise, you hummed in return that sent sparks to his core. You took more of him in, nearly all of him, with your cheeks hallowed and your tongue dancing along his skin. More praise fell from his lips, encouraging words and filthy promises, you almost forgot you’re in the car until the tires started to hit the bumps along the white line - an indication that Bucky was veering off of the road.

You pulled off of him much to his disappointment and saw that he parked along the side of the road. “What’re you doing,” you asked, wiping your spit away with the back of your hand.

“You told me not to crash,” he shrugged and undid his seatbelt. “Now get over here and ride Daddy’s cock.”

The words hit you dead center and you nearly collapsed from how weak and needy they made you. “We seriously can’t do this, Buck, anyone can come by and see.”

“That’s livin’, darlin,” he replied. His flesh hand wrapped around his cock and started to pull on it, staring at you with half lidded eyes and a groan rumbled in his throat. “Are you gonna just sit there and stare or are you gonna enjoy the ride?”

Absently, you licked your lips and watched his hand work himself and honestly felt a little jealous of it. That was your cock, it was your responsibility to make it feel good. Thoughts of getting caught and thrown in jail over public indecency were thrown out of the window and you crawled over to him, losing your sleep shorts on your way over.

“No panties? That’s my good girl,” Bucky grinned, his hand moved from himself to your hips as you climbed into his lap. “Been thinkin’ about this pretty pussy all day.” He hungrily licked his lips and reached between your bodies to run his fingers through your folds, drawing a gasp from you. “Absolutely soakin’, hm? Been thinkin’ about me, too?”

You nodded, your pussy clenching around nothing as Bucky’s fingers teasingly danced around your hole. “Daddy,” you whined, desperate for any sort of attention, “please?”

“What do you need, sweetheart,” he purred, his thumb ghosting over your clit as your slick began to run down your thighs.

“You, Daddy,” you answered, hoping that was enough. “All of you. Only you.”

Bucky seemed to be happy with that and slid two thick fingers inside of you. “Such a greedy little pussy,” he hummed, slowly pulling them out again as you whined above him. “You need to be filled, don’t you, baby? My fingers won’t be enough.”

Your teeth dug into your bottom lip once more, threatening to draw blood, when you shook your head in response. “Need your cock,” you told him. “Please.”

“Always askin’ so nicely, sweetness, how could I deny you?” He twisted his fingers inside you one last time before he held himself steady so you could line up. “Sink down on Daddy’s cock like a good girl.”

You steadied yourself with one hand on the headrest of his seat and the other was used to guide his tip towards your core. Once he slipped inside, your hand shot up to grip at his shirt as you lowered yourself with satisfied moan which was nearly drowned out by Bucky’s. “Too big,” you sighed, seated and feeling stretched and full.

“But you’re takin’ it, darlin’,” he smiled up at you, his skin flushed and covered in a thin layer of sweat. “You’re doing so good.” You preened at his compliment and returned his smile. “You move when you’re ready.”

You took the time to adjust to angle and his size, leaning down to exchange a lazy kiss. When you parted for air, you shifted your weight to wrap your arms around his neck and raised your hips to slide up his cock only to slam back down with a moan.

“Is that how you’re gonna to play it, sweetheart,” he asked breathlessly. When you replied with the same harsh roll of your hips, Bucky growled and his hands found your hips. You could feel the bite of his grip against your bone, you knew the bruises it would bring in the morning, but it would be worth it. “Can’t have a nice, slow fuck in the car, can we? My girl needs it hard and rough.”

He shifted his legs to plant his feet firmly on the floor of the car and started to meet your hips with a harsh snap of his own. Delighted at the feral snarl that curled his lips, you increased your speed, bouncing on his thick thighs as he fucked up into you, a growl erupting from him with each meeting of your hips. “Yes,” you gasped, “that’s it, Daddy. Just like that.”

“Yeah, I know how my dirty little girl likes it,” he grunted over the sound of your skin slapping and your slick sex sucking him in. “I can hear how much she likes it.”

Your head fell forward as he pounded up into you, the lewd squeak of the seat joined the chorus of your moans. “So close,” you told him.

But he already knew by the way you fluttered around him, coaxing him toward his own end. His metal hand left your hip and moved between you to seek out your swollen bud. “Gonna cum for me, good girl,” he asked. You tried to answer, tried to nod, but the way his hips shoved up into you and the cool metal against your heated sex that rubbed desperately at your clit was far too much.

A delicious snap came from within you and spread a white hot fire throughout your body. You came with his name on your lips, a desperate, holy cry. And he wasn’t far behind, a few hard thrusts and he spilled into you, whispering praise and adoration.

You stayed joined until the mess between your legs became itchy and the bugs started to swarm from the sweat on your bodies. “Best mill and half I’ve ever spent,” you sighed happily, lifting off of his lap.

“Wait, how much?!”

#bucky barnes x read #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x y/n #buckyblues 4k challenge

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boop-le-snoot · 4 years

Text

PARTY FAVOURS I CHAPTER 21

First time reader click here

TWs/SUMMARY: Wanda fluff, Loki fluff, we're getting a whole ass friendship! Dad sucks. The outfits are neat tho! Check the end for a mood board 😍

a/n: dress inspo and aesthetic visuals can be found here, here and here. (Paolo Sebastian, Firefly Path gowns and Viona Ielegems photography).

"Gi-i-irl..." Wanda drawled, seeing me arrive with Tony, both of us freshly showered and still hazy from the amazing orgasms. God only knew what she'd seen in both of our heads - if judging only by the vivid, crimson blush she spouted, it was definitely something very NSFW. Bruce already sat at the dinner table, quietly slurping his soup, his back and shoulders the most relaxed I'd ever seen. He gave me a knowing smile once he noticed my presence in my usual spot by his side.

The rest of the team appeared completely oblivious, preoccupied by their food.

"So, about the party. Got any costume ideas?" I cut straight to the chase, unwilling to wait for Wanda to start asking for details right in front of everyone.

Steve, Bucky, Pietro, Thor and Natasha all answered affirmative, the latter whacking Clint upside the head and firmly stating "no funny business". I couldn't help but wonder what kind of crazy shit the Bird had in mind and was kind of disappointed at Nat's intervention. A good chaotic moment was always worthwhile in my opinion!

The other bird, Sam, approached Bruce with caution as he wondered if the scientist was interested in doing a paired costume with him, only to be interrupted by Tony declaring, with childish glee, he had a "wicked project" that he and Bruce would be doing together. The scientist gave a resigned sigh and apologized.

Sam wasn't deterred by the slight setback; he approached Clint instead and after being given an okay from Natasha, the Birds decided to pair up. As they should, if you'd ask me.

"I have a costume but I need some accessories. Wanda, Lokes, join me on my lil' shopping trip?" I prompted, wanting everybody to be included. I was fully prepared for Loki to scoff and dismiss my invitation but the Asgardian nodded after a second of brief speechlessness. Didn't anyone invite him to birthday parties as a kid? Either way, Thor gave me a grateful smile, like a proper big brother. Both Asgardians had grown visibly closer during the past couple of months which made me hide a secretive smile behind a spoonful of soup.

It turned out, Loki hadn't exactly been introduced to the buzzing beehive that is NYC. He didn't get out much and when he needed to be somewhere, the man simply teleported to the desired destination. As convenient as it must've been, I still expressed my outrage at his lack of experience doing the usual "touristy" things that, in my opinion, every non-newyorker was obligated to do when visiting. Yes, even if said visitor had literally traveled across different galaxies.

Wanda wasn't much better in terms of city knowledge. According to her, she'd lived here for several years already but never bothered to go beyond the borders of the block surrounding the Avengers tower. The witch didn't have friends outside of her teammates (therapy. they all needed so much therapy. y'all...) so she simply saw no point in going anywhere beyond the local mall.

Which was trash. I mean, I loved Hot Topic and Forever 21 as much as any other young adult with depression and anxiety but it was literally impossible to wear clothes made out of cheap cotton and polyester all the time. I'm pretty sure I would have hives and ulcers if I attempted that.

"We're going on Sixth Avenue and that's final. No friend of mine will be wearing shit from Wal-Mart at a Stark party," I interrupted Wanda's defensive stuttering, using my other hand to summon an Uber.

"That is good advice," Loki, previously silent, added in a sweet tone. I counted on the fashionable Asgardian to be on my side and with his schmoozing skills, I didn't even have to drag Wanda inside the car by, like, her hair or whatever. The three of us barely fit into the small Toyota anyway.

A thought struck me when I had to consciously avoid stepping on Loki's leather shoes and keep away my elbow from Wanda's stomach. "Mister? I'll give you a hundred bucks cash if you turn around and drive to this address," I hurriedly rattled off my home address, delighting in the way the driver nearly did a U-turn at the mention of crispy dollar bills.

We arrived home quickly. Wanda gaped in mild disbelief at the size of my house while Loki looked about as interested as he'd ever be. His face was akin to an expression one made while smelling fresh manure. Opening the garage, I was greeted with an unpleasant surprise of my dad's outrageously painted Corvette standing neatly by my white Range Rover.

Loki looked and felt considerably less tense in the back of my car. The subtle signs of discomfort all but left his face replaced by slight wonder as I explained how to adjust the temperature and turn on the heated seats.

Dad met us at the gates. "You didn't come in to say hello," He pouted. His breath reeked like a five-day drinking binge hangover and he looked a dead man.

"We're in a hurry, dad. There's a lot to be done," I replied curtly, hoping to get rid of him fast. I hated being sober around my drunk father. My fingers twitched on the steering wheel.

"You're like your mother, always busy," Dad's laugh was coarse and bitter. "But at least you find time for Stark and his friends. That'll do your future real good," He clapped once on the hood of my car, heading back to the house with a wave of his hand, just in time to miss the disgusted shudder that ran through me.

I knew my dad well enough to understand the implications of what he meant by his words. In his world, fucking way up to the top was considered the norm. I'd rather cut off my own foot than use Tony that way.

"Sorry you had to see that. I thought he was still in Cali," I gritted my teeth, pulling out of the driveway.

"I'm sorry you had to experience that. I have no kind words regarding your father," Loki's look was sympathetic in the rearview mirror.

"Or your mother," Wanda added, messing with her seatbelt. Loki nodded tersely.

"Aight, aight," I sighed, set on improving the mood. "Let's not poop this party. We're getting some absolutely delicious beverages and wasting my money on outrageous pretty things. My treat."

Wanda's protests were drowned out by Motorhead and Loki's grumbling was overshadowed by Guns'n'Roses. Their resistance didn't stand a chance. Few blocks out, the witch was singing along to November Rain, heavily accented and terribly off-key, and the Asgardian watched New York city intently behind the protection of the tinted rear windows of my ride. He seemed mesmerized by the crowds and the variety of colorful shop fronts. This was the the one and only reason I eased off the gas pedal and drove the speed limit for once.

The atmosphere was, well, magical. Looking at my two companions, I discovered the familiar city anew with every question they asked, every remark they made. The desire to ask in turn about their homelands melted like the tension I was harbouring after the run-in with my father. Content and warm, I had my attention divided between Loki and Wanda juggling their wonder back-and-forth between themselves and the absolutely crazy NYC traffic.

So what if I parked in a no-parking zone just to get us the most delicious coffee in the city? Loki, the resident tea person, ordered himself something unpronounceable, something that made the barista twitch. Wanda got a sugary-sounding vanilla-white chocolate perversion. I just got a mocha, having had outgrown my adolescent desires to experiment with "how sweet can I make this coffee before I literally puke?" beverages.

With a laugh, I instructed them to pose in front of the nearest reflective surface to brag about our coffees on Instagram - this café deserved more recognition. My companions reluctantly obliged.

I wonder if the barista realized just who had bought the coffee - Loki was quite a media darling when it came to fangirls. Tony's PR team did a wonderful job on the Asgardian's redemption arc. The trickster only fueled the utter devotion his fangirls had for him by being extra nice and charming in every video I've seen. I guess you can't out-mindcontrol manners outta somebody, he was raised a prince after all.

It wasn't raining but the autumn chill seeped into the tiny spaces between my layers of clothing. I already managed to regret my fashionable dark academia inspired outfit at least twice, however the matching vibe all three of us had was positively dashing. Loki, wearing his usual onyx black and dark green. Wanda with a burgundy sweater dress and thigh high platformed boots - sweater dresses, out of all things, had no business looking this good on anybody. But she pulled it off.

"You said you've got a costume. Mind sharing what it is?" The witch said, curiously peeking into the windows of a nearby vintage boutique as we took our leisurely stroll with steaming paper cups keeping our fingers warm.

"A fairy dress. It was custom made for me last year and I actually didn't get to wear it. I need some jewelry to go with it," I explained, stopping to show a photo of the dress on my smartphone. "And some shoes, too. Let's hope the party will be held completely indoors, otherwise I'll freeze my ass off."

"Custom made?" Wanda squeaked, looking at the garment in wonder. Loki gave a vaguely approving nod.

"Yeah, there's a company that makes these fantasy dresses. You want one? What did you have in mind for your costume anyway?" I switched the topic quickly, seeing how Wanda withdrew into herself slightly. I heard from Peter she grew up poor, in the middle of a war and I didn't want to make her feel bad or anything. I wasn't good at these things...

"I thought maybe I could match with you," She replied, slowly taking a sip of her coffee.

"Sure. There are a couple of shops with really cute dresses that fit the aesthetic." Marchesa. We need a Marchesa store. And a Zuhair Murad - if there was one on this stretch of road. "What about you, Lokes? Anything in particular strike your fancy?" I asked our silent companion, frantically googling the information I needed.

"Black," He answered moodily.

"Boo, you whore," I rolled my eyes at his scoff. We had watched the Mean Girls recently and he got the reference, immediately raising a sarcastic eyebrow. "You know, you could do so much with this pale aristocratic look you've got going on. How about a medieval vampire?"

"Like Lestat? He's fucking hot," Wanda and I understood each other promptly. She jumped on the bandwagon immediately.

Combining my blunt honesty and her adorable fawning over a fictional bloodsucker, we managed to convince Loki into going on a hunt for brocaded, velvet suits and blouses with ruffles for his look. The trickster revolted at the mere suggestion of procuring some fake fangs, instead magically making them appear and showing them off in the middle of the crowded sidewalk, much to my and Wanda's delighted shrieking. He looked, I daresay, very attractive, like a porcelain figurine. Delicate but dangerous.

We arrived at the store that showcased beautiful, airy dresses of silk, chiffon and tulle. The lace was delicate and the seams invisible. I ushered Wanda into a dressing room with a shop attendant that was quietly but strictly instructed to not discuss the cost of the dresses and hide the price tags.

"I want it to be a gift. My friend here deserves no less than a magical experience," I explained quietly, winking at a bewildered Loki.

"Why did you do that?" He asked once Wanda was given a selection of several dresses in flattering colours and led into a separate dressing room.

"These dresses, they're special so they're a bit pricey. And knowing Wanda, she'll make a scene and refuse to let me buy them for her," I idly twirled my phone in my hands. "But every girl wants to be a princess and it's kinda sad she never got to be one. It's more than just a dress, it's more than feeling pretty, although it's a big part of it. She'll feel on top of the world."

Loki nodded. I'm certain he didn't understand it - being a man and all - and I wasn't sure I understood it completely, too. I never lacked pretty or expensive things, always got whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. But for a moment, I thought how it must've been for Wanda - seeing all these girls on TV, looking like pictures - and never having the chance to experience that. A concept that made me so sad, I was tempted to ask the customer service person for a glass of scotch. Being poor sounded depressing as hell.

Suddenly, Loki's cool, large hand landed on mine. "Thank you. I am certain Wanda will be the most beautiful lady at the ball."

I stared at him. Loki understood.

"Well, I... I don't know how finicky you are on gender labels for clothes, but there were a couple of blouses you might want to check out. They've got the neck ruffles and shit." My throat suddenly seized up and I had to clear it before speaking, steering away from the uncomfortably emotional moment. Thankfully, Loki wandered off without as much as a word.

THE TAG LIST IS NOW OPEN! @another-stark-sub @mostly-marvel-musings @vozit @littlegasps @pilloclock @shereadsinquiet @downeyreads @hermione-grangers-wife @individualistfem @sleep-i-ness @capbrie @lillsxd @agustdowney @dee-vn @justanotherblonde23 @fanngirl19 @persephonehemingway @softie-socks @schemefrenzy @letsby @cutenessloading @romeo-the-cactus @jelly-fishy-babie

& the promised aesthetic

#tony stark x y/n #tony stark x reader #tony stark x you #bruce banner x you #bruce banner x reader #bruce banner x y/n #stephen strange x y/n #stephen strange x you #stephen strange x reader #party favours #bun writes

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itisannak · 4 years

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V-A-L-N-T-Y-N-E (Calum Hood Fluff)

Summary: Calum meets (Y/N) while shooting the music video for Valentine. Past relationships make it kind of difficult for them to be completely comfortable with each other. Past relationships, and the fact (Y/N) is trans. (Words: 8.4k) (Request)

My Uber leaves me right in front of the house that corresponds to the address the driver has been given. My day started with a delivery of fresh coffee and pastries to my door and then continued with an Uber hauling me straight to the client's door. It has been a while since I have done a house visit for a client, I am way past doing people's makeup for a living now, but the client seemed like a big deal; first, I was contacted by his management, then he called himself so we could talk about the aesthetic. And the money he offered for just a day's worth of working, really couldn't be turned down. To my understanding, this will be some sort of video production, so I can only hope for some extra exposure. I ring the bell, shifting my weight from leg to leg as I try to forget how heavy my makeup carrier is today. The door is answered by the man I talked to on FaceTime just a week ago. "Good morning, (Y/N). Come on in. Did you find the house with ease?" He asks, smiling charmingly. "Good morning. The driver didn't even have to look at the GPS to find the house. Thanks for the Uber and the breakfast, by the way. It was very kind of you." I walk into the house; the first thing I notice is how serene the house is, how quiet, how simplistic yet elegant. Then I notice the art-covered walls, the vibrant but subtle pieces that give character to the place without being too loud. I gotta admit, I am surprised by his taste. "No problem. Can I take that for you?" He asks me, pointing at the makeup carrier. "Do you mind if I carry it? The contains can be pretty fragile, I have to be careful." I comment and he nods. "Of course. Where do you want to set up?" He asks me. "Where do you want me to?" "Whenever you are comfortable to. I don't really know about the lighting you prefer." He states. "Can I see where you will be filming? It will help me get an understanding of what light you will be having." I ask and he nods. "Of course, follow me." He heads ahead, walking past the entrance and the kitchen until we are in the back of the house, heading towards the basement of it.

"It is pretty dark in here..." I say, suddenly turning a bit nervous. This could possibly end in a murder... I am in a stranger's house, heading toward a bad-lit basement, I have seen that shit in movies. "Sorry about that. We are going to film on a dark background, so we have covered the windows to avoid getting light in. We will have the filming lights open, of course. And if you need extra lighting, just let me know." He says, showing me the setup. There is another man in here, setting up the lights and camera. "This is Andy. He is my co-director for the day. Andy, this is (Y/N), the makeup artist." Ashton introduces us. The man stands up from crouching before the tripod, extending his hand for me to shake. "It is nice to meet you, (Y/N). I hope you enjoy working with us." "It is nice to meet you too. It has been nothing less of a treat this far." I smile, shaking his hand. "Ok, so. Where do you want to set up?" Ashton asks me. "I prefer here if it is ok. That way we get to see the makeup in the actual filming light and test how it shows on camera easily." I reply and Ashton claps his hands together. "Let's make that happen then. I will bring a table and a mirror for you. Will you need anything else to set up?" He asks me. "A chair and a bowl of water. I can help you carry all that here." "Oh, no. You don't have to. My friend is already here, he will help." Ashton assures me. "Ok then." I smile and move a bit away from the setting so I won't get in the way of Andy setting things up.

"Now, why didn't we move those things downstairs last night?" I hear chatter coming from the stairs. "Be careful here. One dent on the wall and I can kiss my deposit goodbye." "Ashton, you should stop riding my dick like that. A dent is fixable, and I wasn't even grazing the wall." The other man states. They make it down the stairs, caring a folded table and chair. "I am sorry if this was an inconvenience..." I mumble as Ashton unfolds the table. "Nonsense. Just grumps over there complaining for no reason. I am Calum." The man extends one hand. He has a very charming, warm smile, a full head of messy curls, and gives off cool guy vibes as he stands before me with one hand resting in his pocket. "I am (Y/N). Nice to meet you." I smile back at him. "I'll bring the bowl of water. (Y/N), please feel free to start setting up." Ashton announces, pointing at the table. "I better go bring the mirror." Calum says, pointing up the stairs. "Oh, no. You sit here, Hood. I nearly had a heart attack from you carrying a simple chair. I'll bring the mirror." Ashton groans, making Calum roll his eyes at the comment as Andy chuckles. "Ashton is a bit of a grump when stressed." Calum explains as I move to set up the makeup station. "Why is he stressed?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows. "It's his first time directing. He wants this to work." "I thought he was a director... He was so confident about this project." I state. "No, he is a drummer. But always had an eye for photography and videography. He has a truly artistic vein in him." Calum chuckles. "Wait... Is this an MV?" I ask. "You didn't know?" He asks me back, looking at me confused. "I knew it was for a video, not for a music one." I mumble. "We are in a band. He is the drummer, I am the bassist, we have Michael and Luke on guitar. We all have vocals. I am surprised you didn't know. I thought our management contacted you." "They did. But I thought it was Ashton's management and he is some director..." "Did I freak you out?" Calum asks. "No, no. I just didn't think he has never done this before. He sounded so confident when we were talking about what he had in mind..." I comment, lining up my brushes. "He has a way of faking it. Can I help you with that?" He asks me, pointing at my makeup case. "I like organizing my items my way. It is easier for me to be more efficient and not spend time fumbling around for my items." I explain and he hums. "If you need any help, I will be right there. Don't hesitate to call for me." He offers, pointing to the set, where Andy is just about turning on the lights.

Calum is the last to sit on my chair since the golden paint would probably irritate him had it stayed so long on his skin. "You know, I actually kinda liked what you did with Michael's eyes." Calum comments as I mix the pigment with a dash of duraline. "Thank you." I chuckle, taking a sample of the mixture. "And it looked good on camera too. It really showed." He continues. "Yeah, I didn't want to do something heavy. He has very bright eyes and I wanted to keep the sparkle. I am glad you liked it." I reply, picking up my application brush. "Will I be able to talk with this on?" He asks me as I apply the first stroke. "Hm, you will be able to talk, it is not like a clay mask, but try not to, because the pigment might crack from the facial movement. That's why Ashton and I decided to leave you last, so you would be able to talk and eat without having to worry about the makeup." I explain. "Oh... And I thought you left me last because I have a difficult face." "First of all, rule of the thumb is that you work on the difficult faces first, so it doesn't end up ruined by the time you shoot. And then, you have a gorgeous face. Very pretty edges, plump and fresh skin, your face is not difficult at all..." I reply, squinting to see if the paint has any streaks this far.

The invite to the Christmas party found me totally unprepared; after the video release and the credit the band gave me for the looks on it, there has been silence between us. I assured myself that this is a typicality, that I have been mistakenly invited to Ashton's Christmas party. But my manager insisted that I have to attend, to network with people from their industry. To my surprise, the party is way less crowded than I expected it; fuck, I wish I had brought my friend along, so I could chat with her and soothe myself from the anxiety; I feel like everyone is wondering who I am and what I am doing here. I pick a drink from the bar and take a quick sip, before the idea of going outside crosses my mind. I try to be as discreet as I can, not cause anyone to stare as I creep my way out. Ashton gasps as I pass by him, smiling brightly as he moves closer. "(Y/N), you made it. I am so glad to see you again. Merry Christmas." He greets me. "Hi, Happy Holidays. I am glad to see you too. Thank you for inviting me." I cheer, smiling at him as well. "Did you just arrive?" He asks me and I nod. "Yes, I have been here for 5 minutes most." "You came a bit early. We are expecting a few more people over... Come, come... Let me introduce you to a few friends. I am afraid only Calum is here now, from the people you have already met. But Michael and Luke are on their way over." Ashton motions for me to follow him. I do, taking a small sip from my drink as we walk closer to his group of friends. "(Y/N), this is my girlfriend Katelin, my friend Roy, my friend Mitchy, and of course, you have already met Calum. Guys, this is (Y/N), the amazing makeup artist that brought my vision into light for the Valentine video." "Hello everyone, it is nice to meet you. Calum, it is lovely to see you again. I think Ashton is really overselling me. All I did was do my job. The video was marvelous, by the way, I never got the chance to tell you in person." I turn to Ashton, who chuckles and brushes me off. "Please, you did an amazing job." He assures me and I nod my head politely. "Thank you. It was a beautiful project and I am glad I got to be part of it." I comment. "Any latest projects? I have been following your work ever since the video, and I got to say I am impressed. The way you do makeup, your videos, your posts, they make me feel warm and calm." Kaitlin comments, making me press my hand against my chest in gratitude. "I did a couple of shoots for Savage x Fenty for their Christmas promos. I got to say, this year has been amazing for me career-wise. I am glad you like my work. I want to keep a very zen vibe around my work." I reply, smiling at the woman. "Oh, there they are. Michael ad his girlfriend have just arrived. I will go call them over really quick." Ashton excuses himself. "So, (Y/N)... Did you come alone to the party?" Roy asks me. "I thought of inviting my friend along, but I ended up coming solo." I state, making the man hum.

I found an excuse after Luke and Michael arrived with their girlfriends to part from the group, and ended up in the small patio outside. It is a nice change from the crowdedness inside, a way to decompress from the awkwardness I felt while I was talking with Ashton's friends. I pick out my phone, checking the texts my friend sent me to ask if I need an out. "There you are." I hear someone call. I turn around, finding Calum walking towards me. I smile, stashing my phone in my purse before shrugging. "Busted." I chuckle. "We were all wondering where you went." He replies, pointing to the inside with his thumb. "I wanted some air. It is very hot inside, I felt a bit suffocated." I explain and Calum nods. "Ashton has been having the heating on almost all day." "Why? It is way too warm for late-December..." I furrow my eyebrows together. "We are from Australia. We are used to extremely warm weather in December, this is like we are staying in a freezer..." Calum explains and I shake my head from side to side. "I would have never guessed you are not from here. You barely have accents." "Yeah, comes with the years. Anyway, how are you liking the party?" He asks me, changing the talk to me. I sigh, my chest puffing from how long the draw of breath has been. "If I am completely honest, I feel a little awkward..." I admit, biting my bottom lip. "Awkward, why?" The tall man asks me, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. I run my hand over my shoulder, soothing the chills rising from the chilliness of the Californian night. "I had this feeling before coming here that Ashton only invited me as a typicality. I wouldn't have come if my manager didn't insist this would be a good opportunity to network further. And I felt as if I was forcing your friends to talk to me because I came alone." I explain and Calum nods. "Well, my friends are actually nice people, and genuinely wanted to get to know you better. Especially Kaitlin, she was so hyped when Ashton told her he was inviting you. And second, Ashton doesn't invite people for typicalities... He wanted you here, he is in awe of the work you did on our video, we all are, to be honest. But I get that being in a place you don't know anyone can be weird. It feels like you don't have a safety net." "Exactly. If I had my friend over, I could just pull her over and chat with her. But now I feel a little exposed." I sigh, rolling my eyes at how stupid this sounds. "Well, I am here. If you feel uncomfortable at any moment, just pull me over and chat with me." He offers. "Why are you doing this?" I ask him, earning a shrug from him. "I don't know. I just... I feel how you are feeling. I don't like it when I don't have a safety net with me." He explains, making me smile sympathetically. "You seem very easygoing, I cannot imagine you being in my shoes." "It comes with experience in this industry, you learn to mask everything. But if I am being honest, it is torture, always having to look so at ease." He states. I run my hands over my arms even harder, trying to warm up a little. I curse myself for not bringing a coat... "Are you cold?" He asks me. I nod my head. "I don't have a coat to offer you... Let's get in. It is way warmer..." He chuckles softly. "I like talking with you. I wish we could stay here..." I sigh in disappointment; he makes it seem easy talking to someone I barely know, and being inside at the party just seems so hard right now. "Don't worry, I know a corner in the house we can continue this conversation..." He lets me walk in first, but once inside he is the one to show the way and push through the crowd of attendees.

We make our way to the kitchen, which is surprisingly empty, despite the food on the marble countertop. Calum grabs a platter, offering me a slider before taking one for himself. "The good thing about Aston's parties is that there is always plenty of food. Which mostly goes untouched." "Why?" "No one really eats in LA..." He sighs, placing the platter on the counter before hopping to sit on top of it. "This is sad..." I stuff the mini-burger in my mouth, leaning against the countertop opposite of Calum "Are you doing anything on Christmas day?" He asks me. "Not really. It will be a lonely Christmas." "How come?" "Well, it is the first year that I have accomplished all my goals and I want to celebrate it in peace. And my family can be... quite loud..." I reply, shrugging my shoulders. "I get it..." "What about you? How are you spending your Christmas?" "Kinda like you... I usually visit my family or they visit me for the holidays, but this year it's none of it. There is always next year." He shrugs, but I can see the sadness on his face. "I am sorry for that. You are spending Christmas alone?" I ask, putting my hand on top of his sympathetically. "Yeah, but it is fine. I'll be fine." "Well, you are welcome at my house tomorrow for lunch. There will be food, drinks, desserts. Let's not be alone on Christmas Day." I offer, smiling at the man who looks at me with a newly-found sparkle. "Really?" He asks me. "Of course... That is if you feel comfortable coming." "Why are you doing this?" He asks me, furrowing his eyebrows softly. "Safety Net." I shrug, smiling at him.

I rush to open the door the second time my doorbell rings, knowing that behind it can be only my guest for the day. Calum appears behind the door, holding a pot of a beautiful red plant. "Hi, Merry Christmas..." I greet him, moving from the door to let him in. "Merry Christmas. Thank you for inviting me today. I didn't have enough time to get you a gift, and the lady in the flower shop told me this is the most popular Christmas plant, so here." "You didn't have to bring anything. But thank you, it is lovely. What's its name?" I ask, taking the pot as he passes it to me. "I don't know. You should name it. But Reddie sounds like a fitting name." He replies. I burst into laughter, pressing my hand to my mouth to stop myself from snorting. "I meant how is the plant called..." I manage to say. Calum groans and his face morphs into an awkward expression. "You must think I am a dumbass..." He throws his head back, looking at the ceiling before pressing the bridge of his nose. "No, it was just a miscommunication... I'll image search it later. Come on, I have made a light snack in the kitchen for us while we wait for the main to be ready." I motion him to follow me, walking ahead to the kitchen. "You have a lovely house." He comments as he takes a seat on the island in the middle of the kitchen. "Thanks. I pretty much renovated it myself. You should have seen the place when I first moved in." I sigh, remembering the dumpster my house was when I purchased it. "Do you have pictures?" He asks me. "Yeah, I also have a video on my channel if you'd like to see the before and after." I offer, picking up my phone. "Please, I am curious about it." I open the app, quickly searching for my video before handing the device to Calum. While he is watching the video, I plate the snacks and take a quick look at the main course in the oven. "Oh, wow... I can't believe this used to be what this place looked like. And you did it by yourself?" He asks me, handing me my phone back. "Pretty much. I wanted this place to be my dream home. Of course, the place had a good foundation, so I didn't need to intervene, but the remodeling and decoration were pretty much my doing." "It must have taken you a lot of time and money to do that..." "Well, it did take time, but I was able to turn this project into a series of videos for my youtube and monetize it from ads." "It is incredible. You are quite good at this, I should hire you to do mine..." He chuckles softly. "Thank you. So, would you like some wine with the snacks? I have white and red." I ask him. "Red is fine. Seriously, you should consider doing this professionally. You have a great talent." "I don't think it would work." "Why? Your house is the best advertisement." "I mean... It was my dream house. I have been imagining it and planning it for as long as I can remember. I don't think it would be the same, doing this for someone else." I explain, reaching for the glasses in my cabinet. "I guess you are right." "So, I have prepared a few canapes to pair with our wine. And I have made roast chicken with a side of stuffing. And for dessert, I bought this amazing Sticky Toffee Truffle. I hope you like the menu." I list, handing him a glass of wine. "It sounds lovely. The fact that you even invited me is enough. What would you have cooked if I hadn't come?" He asks me. "Pretty much the same, then I would eat leftovers until New Year's day." I giggle, clinging my glass with his. "Thank you again for inviting me." "I hope next year you spend Christmas with your family, the way you like it." I smile at him, taking a sip from my wine.

My phone rings, startling me awake from my mid-day nap. I grab it from the coffee table, rubbing my eyes to wake myself up. "Hello?" I ask as I pick it up. "Hi, (Y/N)... It's Calum." "Hey, Calum. What's up?" I ask, stretching my body as I stand up from the couch. "Are you ok? You sound a bit weird..." "I just woke up. I am fine." "Oh shit... I am sorry I woke you up." "It is fine, don't worry. What's up?" "I wanted to invite you to join me at a New Year's Day party I am going to. Well, starts New Year's Eve, but you get it." "Oh, that is lovely. But I already got plans. I am sorry. Raincheck?" "Do you really have plans or you are afraid you are not going to have a safety net?" He asks me with a soft chuckle. "No, I really have plans. My friend is throwing this fancy dinner party for New Year's Eve. Thank you for inviting me, though. I love that you thought of me." I coo, smiling to myself as I hear him chuckle. "How are you spending New Year's Day?" He asks me. "Same as I would have spent Christmas Day if you hadn't come over." "Then you should come over with me. Ashton is hosting a lunch, and I would love if you were my plus one." "I don't want to impose..." "No, no, you are very welcome. I am sure Ashton will be delighted." "If you are doing this to repay me for Christmas day..." "I am doing this because I like your company, and I want you on the New Year's table. Now, do you want me to come pick you up?" He asks me. His tone sounds overconfident, which leaves me no room to dispute him; either way, I have nothing better to do on New Year's Day. "I can come over by myself. Thank you for inviting me, I am sure it will be lovely." "You are very welcome. See you next year I guess." He cheers, causing me to giggle softly. "See you next year, Calum." I have this stupid smirk on my face as I hang up the phone, which I honestly cannot explain. I lean my head against the back of my couch, thinking of what I should wear for lunch.

(Calum's POV) "Are you sure you don't mind (Y/N) coming over today?" I ask Ashton as I help him set the table. "For the millionth time, I don't. I am happy to have her over. You two seem to get along really well." He states, cocking an eyebrow at me. "Yeah, she is a great person, very talented, very passionate, very kind." "Yeah, yeah... She is all that. And then some..." Ashton chuckles. "What do you mean?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows together as I look for an explanation. "I mean that it is obvious that you like her." "What? No." I scoff. "Come on, dude. You kept looking over at her during the shoot, then you disappeared from my party to hang out with her, you spend Christmas day with her, then you invite her to the party you didn't even want to go to, and now you invite her over to spend New Year's day with us. You keep finding excuses to see her, it is adorable." He looks at me with a bright glance, making me sigh. "Well..." "Well, what? As far as I know, she is single, right?" He asks. "Yeah, she is... You know she is trans, right?" I ask him, looking at my hands as I fidget with my thumbs. "I know. She never kept it a secret." "I mean... I don't know. Fuck, Ashton, this is frustrating. I don't know what to do." I admit, sighing deeply. He stays quiet for a moment. "Look, man... She is a gorgeous woman, there is obvious chemistry between you two. You really like her, I think she does too. I don't know why you are holding back from admitting it, or what mental boundary you are having, but you have to take a step back and deal with your feelings and thoughts. There is not much advice I can give you, but I can tell you the more you try to bury it, the worse it will get." He shrugs his shoulders, making me nod at him. I pick up a pair of glasses, placing them by the plates.

"Look who I found outside..." KayKay cheers as she unlocks the door and enters the house, accompanied by (Y/N). "What were you doing outside?" Ashton asks, walking towards her with open arms. "I was about to ring the bell. Happy New Year." (Y/N) cheers, hugging Ashton while she smiles. "Happy New Year. I hope 2019 brings you all the best." Ashton replies, letting go of her. "I brought some wine and a dessert. I got chocolate eclairs... Get it?" She laughs softly, handing the bags to Ashton, who laughs, throwing his head back. "Of course. You didn't have to bring anything, but thank you. Calum, would you like to show our guest where to put the things she brought?" Ashton turns to me. I sigh and roll my eyes at him; he could not have been more obvious. "Sure. Come on, (Y/N)." I smile at her, motioning to follow me. I take her to the kitchen, where she places the bags on top of the island. "Happy New Year, Calum. We didn't have the chance to wish each other." (Y/N) states, smiling at me. "Yeah, we didn't. Happy New Year." I hug her; she smells amazing, I cannot help but take in her scent. "Thank you for inviting me over. I really don't know if I wanted to be alone today." She mumbles. "You are very welcome. You are gorgeous today." I compliment her, taking a step back to let her image sink in. "Thank you. I didn't know what the dress code was for the day." She laughs softly, making her whole face light up. "It is fine, you look perfect." I reply, picking up the bottle of wine to put it in the fridge along with the box of chocolate eclairs. "Thank you. You don't look bad yourself either..." "Well, thank you very much. How was the dinner party last night?" I ask her, leaning against the countertop. "It was fine, there was a lot of food, we watched the fireworks and then I slept over at my friend's. It was nothing unusual. How was the party?" "I didn't go." I shrug. "You didn't? Why?" "I spent the Eve here. I stayed the night and I am going home after lunch." I explain and she hums. "At least you weren't alone. Did you have a good time?" She asks me, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she relaxes against the counter. "I did. Nights at Ashton's place are always great." "Are you two planning to join us? We are nearly starting..." Ashton announces as he enters the kitchen. "Can I help with anything?" (Y/N) asks, moving from the way to let Ashton take the food out of the oven. "No, no... Just go wash up and take a seat at the table. Calum, will you show her to the bathroom, please?" Ashton winks at me. All I do is nod my head, gesturing for (Y/N) to follow me.

"The food was delicious. I didn't have you as much of a cook..." (Y/N) states as we all help clear the table. "Oh, you didn't? Calum, tell her about my glorious meals." Ashton elbows me playfully. "He is a freaking masterchef, there is no use in lying..." I reply, causing Ashton to smirk triumphantly. "I had to feed all those morons, they would have been dead of starvation if it wasn't for me feeding them." Ashton says cockily. "So, you are like the mother of the group... Nice." "(Y/N), would you like some coffee with your dessert?" Kaitlin asks her, and (Y/N) shakes her head no. "I actually was thinking that I imposed way too long on you and that I should actually call an Uber to go home." (Y/N) replies, making Ashton gasp. "Imposed? No, sweetheart, we want you here. You are always welcome." Ashton assures her, taking his most comforting look. "Uber? You didn't drive here?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows. "Yeah, I took an Uber here. I don't like driving after drinking, and I am also kinda tired from last night, so I didn't want to have to drive today." (Y/N) explains. "Stay for coffee and dessert, I will drive you home after." I almost beg her; just a little more time with her. "Are you sure? I would hate to get you out of your way." She looks at me as if she is trying to reach inside me for an honest answer. "Please, stay." I plead, smiling at her a half-smirk.

(Y/N's POV) "Can I ask you a question?" Calum asks as he drives towards my house. "Of course." "It is a bit personal..." He informs me, pausing to see if my grant is still valid. "It is fine. Just ask me whatever you want." I state, but I am actually anxious about what he is going to ask me. "How come you are single?" He asks, turning his head to look at me. I shrug my shoulders, biting the inside of my cheek. "Well, I guess it is hard for me to keep a relationship. I don't know. I haven't met anyone that was worth my time until now." I reply, dragging in a deep breath. "Why is it hard to keep a relationship?" He asks me. "You know I am trans, right?" "I do. What does it have to do with anything?" He asks me, earning a chuckle from me. "Not everyone thinks like you, Calum. So many of the guys I have gone out with freaked out the moment they found out about it. Full disclosure from the first date, so there is rarely ever a second. If they decide that dating a trans woman does not minimize their masculinity, then they start treating me like shit. They think I am lucky to even be with them. And this is where I leave them. I am a proud woman. I deserve the world, and nothing else. If being with someone means I have to put up with abusive behavior, then I'd rather be alone." I explain, turning to study his reaction. He nods his head, pressing his lips together without turning to look at me. "Why are you asking me?" I ask, staring at him and hoping he feels my gaze to shift his attention. "Well... I don't know. I guess... Fuck. I really like you. Like, really really like you, and I was just... It has nothing to do with you. In my previous relationships, I ended up hurting myself, and when I realized I started getting feelings for you, I started looking for reasons to discourage myself from admitting. I was really hoping your answer would give me some..." He chuckles, turning to look at me. I feel my face heating up and my hands are trembling as I hear him let the words out. "Me being..." I begin but he interrupts me. "It is not. I like you, you are a gorgeous woman, a very smart, passionate person, and I liked you since the moment I met you." He replies. "I don't know what to say, Cal..." "You don't have to say anything. I just wanted to let it out of my chest. What you do with this information is up to you. I owe it to myself, to be honest..." He replies, focusing back on the road.

Sooner than I realized, Calum pulls up to the front of my house. I turn to look at him, finding him already staring. "Look, Calum... I really like you. Really, really like you. But I cannot risk getting hurt. I need you to take some time, think about what you want. I cannot have you looking for reasons to get out, none of us deserve that. So, take your time, talk with yourself, and if you decide that you want to..." "I did enough thinking. I like you. Once I am in, I am never out, unless you want me out. I don't have more thinking to do, I know what I want." "Are you sure about that? Think of the impact, think of what your friends are going to say..." "Screw what anyone is going to say, (Y/N)." He groans; I feel my chest heaving, warmth running down my spine. "Well, in that case... Are you going to kiss me?" I smile at him, making him chuckle. "Isn't it well overdue?" He asks, undoing his seatbelt as he leans in for a kiss.

He goes slow, taking his time to set the pace while his hands rest softly against my cheek. I am at a loss of breath; his lips are so soft and warm, and I just adore the way his fingers are slowly tracing my cheek. I cannot help but sigh into the kiss, earning a smile from Calum as he deepens it. I am without breath as we part, a need to hide my face with my hands punching me in my gut suddenly. "You have very soft lips..." Calum mumbles, smiling at me as he leans his head against the headrest of his seat. "Do I?" I ask with a grin. "Mm... And you taste so sweet..." He brushes his thumb over my cheek, causing me to bite the inside of my cheek as I feel heat crawling up my face. "Wanna come inside for a drink?" I ask him. "I do. But I have to say no. But what about you come over to my place tomorrow night? Let's have a proper first date..." "A date?" I ask, cocking an eyebrow as I look at him. "A date..." He smiles softly, leaning in for one last peck.

And with the blink of an eye, Calum and I are a thing. Calum gets in his bedroom, with just a towel fixed on his hips. I lower my glasses, letting the book I am reading on my lap. "You should really get new books..." I state, making Calum furrow his eyebrows together. "Why?" He asks me, crawling onto the bed and sitting by my side. He leaves a soft peck on my shoulder, making me giggle from the tickling his stubble causes to my skin. "I have read all of the books beside your bed..." I sigh and he gasps. "Already?" "You keep me waiting for way too long, I have to entertain myself somehow..." I pout my bottom lip, earning a coo from Calum. "I should be ashamed of keeping you waiting..." He mumbles, cupping my chin as he looks at me with his infamous gaze. "You should..." I mumble, seconds before I am found on my back, pinned on the mattress with Calum hovering over me. The brotherhood necklace sways in front of my face as Calum supports his weight on his elbows. He leans in to kiss me, placing his hands on my hips to make sure I won't squirm underneath him. "You smell so good." I moan as his lips leave mine and focus on my neck. "I do?" He asks hazily. "So good." I whine, tangling my fingers into his hair. "You are going to pull my hair, baby?" He teases me; the soft silver locks have given place to a short buzz, much to my dismay. He knows I love pulling on his hair when he is inside me, he knows I love to stroke it slowly as we cuddle on the couch, and now he is taking revenge on me, depriving me of the thing I love. Of course, he says he only cut it because bleaching has made his hair weak... "I would if you weren't bald..." I jab at him, earning a laugh. "You are in love with a bald man..." He kisses the spot connecting my jaw to my ear, causing my skin to erupt in goosebumps. "Who told you I am in love with you..." I ask, but the breakage of my voice disallows me to mask the playfulness. "I know, you hate me..." He shakes his head, resting his hand on my thigh. I move the dangling necklace so it rests on his back before my hand grazes his face softly.

Before anything, Calum's phone rings, making Calum sigh in frustration. "I'll be right back..." He huffs, moving to the bedside table to pick up his phone, but only leaving it back on the furniture once he takes a look at the caller ID. "Aren't you going to answer that?" I ask and he shakes his head no. "It's the management. They have been busting my balls all week..." "About what?" I ask him. "We have this red carpet event. The guys want to bring their girlfriends, and management has been trying to get me to agree to go to the event with this new artist they have signed... You know, stupid PR stunt." He huffs, plopping back on top of the bed. I press my lips together, staring at him with tension as I try to understand why the fuck he didn't even think of suggesting I go to the show with him. I get up from the bed, grabbing my clothes from the armchair across from it. "What are you doing?" He asks as I slip off my nightgown. "I am getting dressed." I reply, keeping straight eye contact with him. "Why?" He asks in confusion. "I am going home." "I thought you were staying the night..." "I was. But now I want to go home." "Why?" He asks, knitting his eyebrows together as he tries to understand what is going on. "Because I don't want to be here anymore." "Did I do something?" "Yes, you did..." "What did I do?" He asks, standing up from the bed to walk closer to me. He is confused but seems to be really caring right now. "Are you ashamed of me, Cal?" I ask, slipping into my jeans. "What are you talking about?" "I am going to ask you again. Are you ashamed of me? Are you ashamed you are dating a trans woman?" I ask him, staring straight into his eyes. "Of course not. What has gotten into you?" He asks me, taking a step forward and placing his hand on my shoulder. I dodge him, moving aside to distance myself from him. "(Y/N), what is the matter?" "I don't know, Calum. Look at your friends... They want to bring their girlfriends to the event. I wonder why you haven't thought of doing the same." I finish dressing up, pushing him aside to walk out of the room.

A day goes by and I have no news from Calum, not a call, nor a text. I lie to myself, saying that it is fine, but it really isn't. I cannot bear the thought I spent six months of my life falling for someone who is not proud to be with me. I take my grilled cheese out of my grill, cutting it in half before hopping on top of one of the stools. Before I could take a bite my doorbell rings. I know it is Calum, I just know it. I leave my plate on the island, standing up and walking to my door. I take a quick look at the entrance camera, just to make sure it is him. I buzz him in, not taking my eyes off the screen as he gets inside. Calum is behind my door in record time, knocking on it softly. I waste no time opening the door, gesturing for him to get in. "Hi." I greet him. "Hi. Is it a bad time?" He asks me, scratching the back of his neck. "No, I was having dinner. Come on..." I motion towards the kitchen, followed by a quiet Calum. "Can I offer you something? I made myself a grilled cheese, would you like to split?" I ask him, taking a sit on my stool. Calum does the same, sitting across from me. "No, thank you. You forgot your phone yesterday, you left in a rush." He reaches inside his pocket, taking my phone out and sliding it across the marble top. "Thanks. I didn't realize I forgot my phone." "I tried calling you in the morning, of course, no answer, and I thought you were mad at me." He rests his hands on the counter, looking at me as if he is trying to read me. "You weren't wrong. I was mad." I reply, looking at my plate, suddenly losing my appetite. "Are you still?" He asks me, his slight lisp coming out; he only gets that when he is upset, or stressed, so I get why it appeared now. "Kinda. I am more disappointed than angry, to be honest." I admit. Calum sighs, running his hand over his face. "We had a meeting today with management. I told them I will not be having anyone else but my girlfriend at the show. That's it if you want to come with me." "What if I am not coming with you?" "Then I will be going alone. I don't want anyone else with me." He smiles softly reaching to stroke his thumb over my hand. "I guess you will be going alone, then." I reply; I am careful with my voice, not raising it a bit. This isn't an angry response, nor a payback. "(Y/N), please..." "No, Calum. I don't want you taking me along just because I asked for it. Nor as a compromise. You didn't want me with you in the first place, so I am not coming." I reply. Calum looks at the ceiling, taking in a deep breath. "There is a reason I didn't..." He begins. "Yeah, I know. Calum, I am a proud woman. I told you that from the very beginning. I want someone who will be proud of me. I want someone who will love me enough to take me places. I offered you time when you told me you like me. And you said you don't need any. Now what, Calum?" "The reason I didn't think of taking you with me is because I don't want people messing up with my personal life. There is a reason why there are only rumors about my exes. I don't want people to lose sight of what I am doing with my music. I don't want to minimize what we have to some yellow-page article about cheating rumors." "Why are you inviting me now, then?" "Because I love you. And I know this is important for you. And I want to make you happy." I stay quiet for a moment, letting everything sink in. "Look, the show is in 2 weeks. Take your time, no pressure." He breaks the silence, picking the invitation out of his pocket. "I don't want us to break up over this..." "I don't want us either." I sigh. "I think we need a break..." I admit, looking at my fingers to avoid Calum's gaze. "Are you breaking up with me?" He asks me, sounding shocked over my suggestion. "No. Of course not, Calum. I am leaving for New York in a couple of days, for the Savage x Fenty and the Fenty Beauty promo shoot. I think we should use the time apart to reflect. Again, I am giving you time to think about what our relationship means to you, and how being with me affects you. But this time, I am taking time myself to do the same." I explain, placing my hand on top of his. "I don't have anything to think of." He says softly, his voice barely above a whisper. "You do. And I do too. And this trip is what we need after this..." I assure him. "(Y/N), I love you..." He looks me in the eye, softening his face. "I know, Calum. And I love you too." "A break doesn't mean we are breaking up..." Calum utters, nodding his head as he finally gives up. "It doesn't." I nod my head, smiling at him; my smile is not a happy one, it is covered with my sorrow, a sorrow that comes from knowing that nothing will be the same between us. Calum stands up, walking around the island slowly. He leans down, planting a kiss on my forehead. "I will see you after New York..." He mutters and I nod. "Yeah." "We can still call each other during the break, right?" He asks me. "Of course. This isn't goodbye, Calum." "This isn't goodbye." He repeats.

(Calum's POV) "Any news from (Y/N)?" Ashton asks as he helps me with the cufflinks of the shirt. "She is fine, working lots in New York. We haven't spoken in days." I sigh, tilting my head back. "When is she coming home?" He asks me. "I wish I knew. I feel like I am losing her, Ash... Stupid, stupid me..." I press my palm against my head, a headache already forming between my eyes. "No, Calum. I am sure everything will be alright. When she gets back home, you will sit down and have a talk, and you will figure things out. But you should really stop worrying for now. It is doing you no good..." He pats my back softly. "I guess you are right." I sigh, picking up my jacket. "Are you sure you will be fine walking the carpet alone? You are always welcome to join me and Kaitlin." He offers but I shake my head. "I told (Y/N) I wouldn't be walking the carpet with anyone else but her, and I plan on keeping that promise." I assure him.

I am the last of my group to walk the carpet, leaving the couples to have the spotlight on them for a while. My stomach is tied in a knot and I cannot help but feel alone tonight. I hoped, I truly hoped she would show up to my hotel room, knock on my door and tell me she is here, but it never happened, so the emptiness inside me grows. I smile at the cameras flashing, waving politely towards a couple of people trying to get my attention. I move forward, hoping this walk of flashes is nearing an end soon. I cannot wait to go inside and scowl all I want, without fear of it being captured by the stupid press at the event. I feel a tap on my shoulder, making me turn around in a snap. It's her. She is here. She is looking at me as she waits to see my response, but I am frozen on my spot, my heartbeat ringing in my ears. "Hi." She says, her glare changing to a worried one as it has taken me way too long to respond. I hug her to my chest, tightening my arms around her to fully feel her against my body. "What are you doing here?" I ask, resting my chin on top of her head. "You said you would walk the carpet alone if I didn't come. I didn't want you being through this alone, I know you are not very comfortable with red carpet events." She mumbles, tilting her head back to look at me. "I missed you." "I missed you too." She admits, smiling at me. My headache is gone and my body feels warm as I look at her, flesh and bones before me. "Please, don't leave me alone again..." I plead and she nods her head. "I am not planning to." She assures me. I place my arm on her waist, pulling her to my body before I lean in to kiss her. I have missed her taste and her soft lips, and the way she feels against me, and how softly she kisses me back. Oh, I have missed her. "There will be pictures of us kissing everywhere..." She giggles as we part, hiding her face in her hands. "I guess there will be." I plant a kiss on her forehead, placing my hand on the small of her back to guide her further down the red carpet.

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rina-writes · 4 years

Text

The Absolute Worst

Summary: You accompany your brother, a newly famous YouTuber, to the Dolans house for a collab. Through a series of misunderstandings, you determine that Ethan Dolan is the worst human being in the world. Luckily, the feelings are mutual. Much to your chagrin, because of a misstep on your part, you are now quarantining with Dolans for 14 days. Your only hope is to make it through the tension without it all blowing up in your face.

Warnings: Angsty in the beginning, then smut and then fluff towards the end. (Just in case this isn’t clear...single!Ethan)

You touched your face with disbelief as you stared up at Ethan Dolan’s smug face. You couldn’t believe that you had forgotten to put on your mask, and of all times now? Your face turned red hot as your hand dipped into your pocket to pull out the triple layered fabric mask. You slipped it behind each ear sheepishly, unable to meet Ethan’s eyes.

“What was that about my brother and I being socially irresponsible?” Ethan asked you, folding his arms. “I believe you went as far to say that we are terrible role models for our incredibly young fanbase.”

You didn’t have to look at him to know how he was staring at you. Besides glaring at him all day, you had followed the twins for a couple years. Ethan seemed to be a sweet guy, with his boyish look of large hazel eyes, tousled dark brown hair and rosy red cheeks. The behavior you saw today revealed him to be a complete douche bag.

For starters, when you first arrived with your brother, the boys were too busy to greet you. Something was so important on their phones that they could not tear themselves away. You and your brother watched them awkwardly in silence, wondering what to do. It was only when you cleared your throat did Grayson look up and introduce himself. He had to yell Ethan’s name and slap him on the shoulder to get Ethan to pay attention.

The boys gave you and your brother a tour of their estate, and Ethan lingered around his car to brag about it. As he drowned on and on about his Tesla, you looked at your brother with a worried expression. Your brother was younger than you, and quite impressionable. His most recent video recently gained popularity earning him a check from YouTube with more zeroes than anyone in your family had seen in their lifetime. Your entire family respected that it was your brother’s money, but everyone was praying he didn’t do anything foolish with it. Given the fact your brother could not even drive without a licensed driver accompanying him, you didn’t like the starry look in your brother’s eyes when Ethan bragged about the car. Your heart almost dropped to your stomach when your brother agreed and said, “I’m definitely buying a Tesla.”

“Y/b/n,” You said in a warning tone. “You should really focus on getting a place to live...”

“Lay off, Y/n.” Your brother whispered to you, harshly.

You were a bit taken aback. Your brother never spoke to you like that...at least not in public. You had a fairly good relationship, and he knew you meant well. You instantly blamed it on the fact he was trying to look cool in front of Ethan.

“If you need a place to live,” Grayson smiled, walking over to a navy blue wrapped van. “How about this nice van?”

You blinked slowly. Why on Earth would your teenage brother want a van?

“Is this the van from your cross country trip?!” Your brother yelled, running over to it.

“Oh hell no...” You said a little too loudly. The last thing you wanted was for your fanboy brother to get duped into buying a lemon. You put your hands on your hips. “And how much is this van, Mr. Dolan?”

Grayson’s eyebrows went up at the accusatory tone, and you saw Ethan’s shoulders square up behind his brother. You didn’t back down. Sure, they were large muscular dudes, but you weren’t a coward. At least...not when it came to your younger brother.

“It depends on how much you want to offer...” Grayson said, recovering from his shock with a soft smile.

“How much did you buy it for?” You asked, cutting off your brother before he could jump in.

“$75,000...” Ethan said, folding his arms as he walked forward. “But we’re selling it for 74, plus $100 since Grayson took the time to build it up nicely.”

You gulped. You glanced at your brother who had fallen silent. That was more than what was in his bank account at the moment. You definitely couldn’t afford that.

“It’s less than the Tesla...” Grayson offered with a soft laugh.

You watched as your brother’s eyes widened, followed by the slump of his shoulders. You sighed. Great, now your brother felt like a loser because he couldn’t afford these fancy cars.

“If you’re done flaunting, it would be nice to start the video.” You rolled your eyes.

“Y/n...” Your brother frowned. “Don’t be rude.”

Your jaw dropped behind your mask as you looked at your brother with shock. You were being rude? They were the ones making your brother feel inferior!

“No, Miss Y/l/n is right.” Ethan said, walking past you to the tiny shed where they were going to film the video. “We should get this show on the road.”

You knew he was making fun of you for calling Grayson Mr. Dolan, but you didn’t care. The faster you could get out of this house, the better.

Just as you were getting started filming, Ethan got a call. He left to answer it, but then ran back in with haste.

“Gray, we gotta go! The interview has been moved up to this afternoon.” Ethan announced.

“Wait, what?” Grayson asked, looking at his watch. “What time?”

“4pm.” Ethan answered.

“Damn...” Grayson stood up. “We need to leave now if we’re gonna make it. Sorry, man. Can we take a rain check?” Grayson looked at your brother sumpathetically.

Your brother nodded, disappointed, but he clearly understood. You, however, did not.

“How do they move up an interview last minute?” You asked.

Ethan frowned. “It was a mistake made by my assistant. She mixed up the dates.”

“I thought you said it was moved up?” You questioned.

“I didn’t think I needed to give the gory details.” Ethan groaned. “Honestly, I don’t have time for this.”

“Well, sorry!” You put your hands up in defense. “Excuse the fact that we don’t actually live around here and had to taken an Uber 2 hours to get here. The least you could do was make our time worth it. But no, go to your interview.”

“Y/n...” Your brother whined. “...it’s fine.”

“No, it’s not!” You argued, looking at your brother. You could feel your face soften when you saw the embarrassment in his eyes. You felt like your mother humiliating him in front of his classmates.

“Sorry...I’m not myself today.” You said, more to the boys than to your brother. “Let’s reschedule.”

“No...” Ethan said, clearly a mix of annoyed and amused, “Come with us to the interview and we will finish filming after. It’s not like we need daylight or anything. Does that work for you, Miss Y/l/n?”

You looked at your brother who nodded, so you nodded as well.

You rode in the Tesla to the studio where the interview was taking place. Your brother was texting you and you did your best to not let your annoyance show on your face.

Y/b/n: Can you stop being so mean? What’s up with you??

Y/n: ME???? I’m not the one treating people like second class citizens. They are such jerks.

Y/b/n: Why because they have nice cars? Because they have busy schedules?

Y/n: Because they are PHONY. How do ignore to people sitting right in front of you? How do you claim to be down to Earth and sell a teenager a $74k van?

Y/b/n: Can you just stop? You’re blowing it out of proportion.

You sat back in the seat with pursued lips as you looked out the window. Your brother did the same, looking the other way. You knew the conversation was over for awhile.

You watched from the sidelines as the twins did their interview, scoffing every now and then. You would occasionally see Ethan looking at you and you did nothing to hide your disdain. He didn’t say anything about it until your drove back to the house. Now around 7pm, Grayson offered to pick up food for you all to eat. Your brother volunteered to go with him and before you knew what was happening, you were left alone with Ethan Dolan in his kitchen.

“What was so funny during the interview?” Ethan asked, his eyes dark and his jaw set. His hands were on the counter top supporting his weight as he looked at you. His blue medical mask was tucked a bit under his nose, adding emphasis to the glare in his eyes.

“I just couldn’t get over how easily you lie.” You shook your head with a sarcastic laugh.

“Oh?” Ethan asked, quirking a brow. “When did I lie?”

“Well, for one thing, they complimented you on your manners, but little did they know how poorly you treated your guests today.” Your eyes narrowed.

“Huh, okay.” Ethan nodded slowly, his tongue pressed to the inside of his cheek. “But that’s a matter of opinion, no?”

“I don’t think...” Your voice faltered as you realized it really was. But who was he to tell someone that they should not feel upset about how he treated them?

“Please, continue.” Ethan folded his arms on the counter, lifting one up to rest his cheek on his palm. “This is fun.”

‘What a condescending prick.’ You thought.

“Fine.” You humored him. “How about the fact that you claimed to be observing the covid procedures, but the first time I saw you whip on a mask today was right before we walked in to the studio. Not to mention the countless times we see you online around people without a mask.”

“I stood six feet apart from you until we were in the car.” Ethan said, defensively.

“Sure, fine.” You agreed. “But what about the second point? You should take responsibility to at least quarantine with people if you are going to be regularly collaborating.”

“Am I supposed to quarantine with every single person I am less than six feet away from without a mask?” Ethan asked with a smirk.

“Yes!” You said, incredulously. “Have you been ignoring the news?”

“So, are you saying that you do?” Ethan asked. “Little miss perfect?”

You rose your head proudly. “Yes, I do.”

When Ethan didn’t say anything you stood up taller and continued. “I can’t tell you how to treat others, but I think you are being socially irresponsible to not at least adhere to the health rules set by the state of California. Most of your fanbase is incredibly young and you are setting a poor example for them.”

“I see.” Ethan leaned over the counter to touch your hand. “This is about 3 feet.”

He looked up at your through his long lashes with a bright, mischievous grin. “You, young lady, have forgotten to put on your mask. What does that make of you?”

Which leads us to where we first started. As you recalled the fact that had put your mask in your pocket when you guzzled water from your water bottle, you suddenly realized in the confusion of ordering dinner, you forgot to put it back on. Ethan who was now standing on the same side of the counter as you from six feet away, stood there mockingly.

“Ethan...” You started, as you put on your mask.

“Oh, I don’t get a Mr. Dolan?” Ethan tsked. “How rude.”

Your stomach turned. You wanted to vomit. The thought of apologizing to Ethan Dolan revolted you. You met his eyes, putting on a false air of confidence.

“I was wrong. While I try to consistently follow the rules, even I can make mistakes.” You didn’t say sorry, but you hoped it would be counted as an apology nonetheless.

“So,” Ethan smirked walking a step closer. “By your rules, and the rules of the state of California, doesn’t that mean that we should quarantine together?”

You felt face flush and your eyes go wide. You stammered your reply. “Of course not! I have to self-isolate myself, but why on Earth do we have to do it together?”

“Am I supposed to believe you can self-isolate at home?” Ethan asked.

You looked down. You couldn’t. You and your brother were currently staying with a few friends while you tried to find a place of his own. It would be, to use your own words, socially irresponsible, to go back to a friend’s place without taking the proper safety precautions.

“Grayson and I are actually staying at an Airbnb. As you can see, our house is currently under construction” Ethan gestured to the tarp on some of the furniture. “We have a spare guest room for you and your brother. You can stay there, we can film a few videos with your brother, and you can make sure everyone is safe.”

“I--”

Before you could respond, the door opened. Grayson and your brother walked in with a feast of food for you all to share. They instantly recognized the tension between you two and Grayson looked to Ethan for an explanation. With the largest, phoniest smile you had ever seen, Ethan declared, “Y/n and Y/b/n will be staying with us!”

“What?” Your brother and Grayson asked in unison.

“I’ll explain .” You told your brother as you walked over to him. You started to push him toward the front of the house to speak to him privately. You turned around to look at Ethan and said,

“We will not be imposing on you for free.” You said, sternly. “We can talk finances after I talk to my brother.”

It was your fifth day staying with the Dolans and it felt like an eternity. You decided on paying $500 for your two week stay, far cheaper than any place in California would request for two people. To make up for it, you offered to do some of the cooking and most of the cleaning. Since you were able to work online, you would use your lunch break and after work to prep the meals.

Food was the only thing you and Ethan could agree on. He would compliment your meals, as he could only really make breakfast. You were grateful for the times he would present you with pancakes while you worked.

Outside of food, you bickered all the time. You didn’t like his attitude, his unsolicited advice, and cocky smirk. He apparently didn’t like your temper and your over-protectiveness of your brother that caused you to butt into conversations that did not concern you. On the other hand, Grayson and your brother got along quite well. They frequently worked out together and went surfing together. It was the most happy you had seen your brother since he moved to LA. You still wanted to leave the Dolans, but you hoped that Grayson would still be a good friend to your brother after you both had left their residence.

After all, you had no intentions of staying in Los Angeles forever. Unlike your brother, there was nothing drawing you to the city. It was one of the reasons you were being so harsh on your brother. If he was going to be out here alone, he needed to be taught how to spot those who had his best interest at heart. There was no doubt in your mind that Ethan Dolan could not care less about anyone but himself and his brother. He was the absolute worst.

It was Saturday and thus your brother and Grayson went to surf. You were surprised when you emerged in the kitchen to see Ethan cooking pancakes. You assumed you were in the house alone.

“Why aren’t you surfing with them?” You asked, standing in the doorway.

“Yes, good morning Miss Y/l/n. I am doing well, thank you for asking.” Ethan remarked, not looking up from the frying pan he was coating with coconut oil. “For your information, I don’t like surfing.”

“Oh.” You shrugged, opening the fridge. As you pulled out the water bottle you had chilling overnight, you felt Ethan’s eyes on you.

You became incredibly aware that you were wearing a night set that was in the luggage your friend dropped off the first night of your stay. Since you thought you were alone you didn’t bother to change, but now you felt embarrassed. It was one of those cartoon print night sets with a tank top and matching shorts. The top was quite large so it covered the top half of the shorts, but the shorts were small and didn’t cover much of your behind. It looked a bit ridiculous, but it was surprisingly comfortable.

“Cute set.” Ethan commented.

You turned to look at him, expecting to see some kind of tease in his eyes, but you didn’t. He was staring at you almost blankly, as if he was waiting for your reaction.

“Thanks.” You said, sipping your water bottle.

Ethan placed a small pancake on a plate and used the fork on the side to cut it. He blew on it gently, bringing your attention to his full, pale pink lips. He walked over to you and held out the fork.

“Tell me what you think, new recipe.” He asked, cupping the fork as he brought it to you.

You removed the bottle from your mouth and opened your mouth to receive the pancake. Ethan’s hand rested on your chin and you blushed. You chewed slowly and put a thumbs up of approval. You covered your mouth before saying,

“It’s really good. Like you don’t need syrup or anything.” You reviewed.

Ethan’s eyes lit up and for a second, you saw the YouTuber you witnessed on the internet. He didn’t seem like the monster you had been arguing with the last few days.

“I”m glad you like it.” Ethan grinned. “You inspired me to try new things with your unique recipes.”

“Uh thanks...” You said, the right side of your body leaning on the counter.

You watched him cook in silence, before realizing you could help by doing the dishes in sink. The sounds of pancakes cooking and the water hitting the dishes was the only thing that filled the room before Ethan broke the silence.

“Pancakes are done. Let’s eat ‘em while they’re hot.” Ethan suggested.

You turned off the water and dried your hands as Ethan put the plates on the table. You sat across from each other and began to eat. You usually didn’t eat together, as you were both usually working while eating. You noticed Ethan wincing without touching his food and you looked up.

“What’s wrong?” You asked.

“You chew really loudly.” Ethan said, annoyed. “I hate the sound of chewing.”

“Well, what am I supposed to do?” You asked. “How am I supposed to eat without chewing?”

“You could chew less obnoxiously.” Ethan suggested.

“Or maybe you can stop being a little bitch and stop whining about stupid stuff.” You stabbed a piece of pancake and chewed it loudly.

“Real mature.” Ethan said, covering his ears backing away from the table.

You didn’t care. You followed him, chewing as loudly as you could, even into the living room. When you didn’t have any more left to chew, you continued to smack your lips.

“God, you’re so f*cking annoying.” Ethan yelled.

“I’m annoying?!” You repeated. “HA! You, Ethan Dolan, the most spoiled, self-righteous, arrogant person I have ever met. You are the absolute worst.”

You slammed your finger into his chest as you spoke. Ethan seized your hand quickly and your eyes widened.

“Why don’t you call me Mr. Dolan?” Ethan asked, a darkness in his voice.

“Because you don’t deserve my respect.” You said, you eyes wide with indignation.

Ethan chuckled. “Do you have a complex about me or something?” His grasp on your hand slipped to your wrist. “Cause it seems like you just want to f*ck me sometimes.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” You scoffed, pulling your hand from him.

“Oh? Let’s find out.” Ethan said, cockily. Ethan leaned in, caressing your cheek gently making you freeze. You could feel your heart racing as your mind went back to how soft his lips looked. Your eyes danced upward to look at the ceiling. Your body seemed to move on it’s own toward him and you realized, you kinda did want to kiss him and punch him in the face at the same time. You resigned to the former and your eyes fluttered close. You waited, and nothing happened. You opened your eyes to see Ethan staring at you with a smug smirk.

“Hm, told ya.” Ethan said, backing up.

Tears stung your eyes with humiliation, and you bit down on your lower lip. “You’re such a f*cking asshole. I’ll say it again, you are the worst person on this whole planet. I can’t stand you.”

You turned to run back to your room. You were going to leave this place even if you had to live a tent for the next nine days.

Ethan lurched forward and grabbed you. Turning you in his arms, he cupped your face and kiss you deeply. You gripped his shoulders as his tongue slid expertly into your mouth and began to play with yours. As much as you wanted to resist, it felt really good. It was like something inside of you was put to rest and another part of you was coming alive. When your hands dropped from his shoulders, Ethan’s own hands went down to your waist. You wrapped your arms around his neck and leaned into the kiss, letting your tongue explore his mouth. Your tongues fought for dominance, but for once you didn’t care who won. Ethan’s hands gripped your backside and you let out a soft moan. You felt Ethan’s body tense and he suddenly scooped you up.

“Jump,” He commanded, breaking the kiss to do so.

You were still in a daze, as you stood on your tiptoes and your pelvis pressed into his.

Ethan lifted his hand to give your butt a smack. “Jump.”

You did and he carried you to the couch. He tossed you on top of it, admiring you from above. His hand reached out to grab one of your breasts, confirming his suspicion that you were not wearing a bra. You arched your back toward and he smirked at you.

“Does this mean you want me?” He asked, grinding his hips into yours.

“I can tell how much you want me.” You smirked back at him as his ever growing bulge pressed into your hips.

“I’m going to make you say my name...scream my name.” Ethan warned, slipping his hands under shirt to cup your breasts. “Just tell me you want it.”

“I’m not going to beg for it.” You arched you back as his thumbs circles your nipples, hardening them with ease.

He rested his head in the crook of your neck, still teasing your nipples and grinding into your hips. “God, I just need you to say it. I need you to say, you want me to f*ck you.”

There was something arousing about hearing him sound so needy yet so dominant in your ear that you succumbed.

“Please f*ck me, Mr. Ethan Dolan.” You practically moaned.

Ethan gave your neck a sloppy kiss, followed by a light suck earning a free sighs of pleasure from you. You tugged on his tank top and he leaned back to pull it off. He also took the liberty of raising your shirt to reveal the breasts he had slowly been making the acquaintance.

“God, these are beautiful.” He remarked making your blush. “Shame they belong to such a troublesome woman.”

“Hey--” You started to protest, but soon one of your nipples was between his lips and getting kitten licks from his tongue. You let out a loud moan as put your hand on the back of his head to hold him down. One of his hands was holding your back up while the other slipped past the crotch of your pants to tease your slit through your underwear.

You gasped and Ethan took the opportunity to kiss you again. This kiss was even hungrier than the first, his tongue desperate to taste every bit of you. Meanwhile, his middle finger was doing a great job of adding the right amount of friction to arouse you. Ethan smiled softly as he felt the dampness on his finger, taking it as an invitation to rub your folds without a a barrier.

“Ah, Ethan...” You moaned, as he slipped his middle finger inside of you while letting his thumb play with clit.

His mouth went to your other breast to give it the same attention as the previous one. His other hand tweaking the already hardened nipple to keep it aroused. Ethan relished your pleasure as you squirmed under him, moaning his name like it was the only word you could remember. He rewarded you by inserting his ring finger inside you as well. Your hips bucked and he chuckled at the sudden reaction.

Ethan let go released your nipple from his lips with a pop before commenting. “Someone is eager.”

“Let’s hope your dick doesn’t disappoint.” You said at him, with half open eyes.

“God, it’s like you like riling me up.” Ethan growled. “I can’t stand you.”

He pulled his hand out from inside of you and you couldn’t stop the whimper from leaving your lips. Either Ethan didn’t notice or he didn’t bother teasing you about it, because he didn’t make a remark. He pulled down your shorts and underwear in one motion. He admired your clit for a moment and you spread your legs teasingly.

“Wanna eat it?” You asked, biting down on your lower lip.

“You don’t deserve it.” He teased. “But, I’ll grace you with the pounding of a lifetime.”

Ethan pulled down his pants to his knees and did the same with his underwear. Your eyes widened at the sight of his cock: large, hard and proud, an audible gasp leaving your lips.

“I’m guessing it doesn’t disappoint.” Ethan smirked up at you.

“Just because you got the equipment, doesn’t mean you know how to use it.” You retorted.

Ethan leaned forward to hover directly over you. His eyes were controlled and filled with lust when he said, “We’ll see about that.”

You couldn’t think of a response and even Ethan was surprised he stunned you. He decided to take the opportunity to get you in the right position.

“Get on all fours.” He commanded, and he was shocked again to see you follow him so readily.

There was something alluring about seeing you with cartoon printed night shorts pooled at your knees and your shirt raised up your back to reveal your moist slit and perky butt eagerly waiting for him. He would never be able to look at that outfit the same.

He positioned himself at your entrance, rimming you to get his tip wet.

“Should have put that loud mouth of yours to use and get me all wet.”

“You don’t deserve it.” You retorted.

Ethan smirked, but his smirk turned to a loud moan when you pushed back on to his dick letting him penetrate you. He had to grip on to you to not fall on top of you in pleasure. If he wasn’t already on his knees, he would have dropped to them. You felt heavenly to him, so wet and tight, like you were made for each other.

Ethan snapped out of it quickly. He had to show you how good he was and not that he was only someone blessed with the right equipment. He pulled his hips back before slamming them roughly into you. You moaned out, but it wasn’t the kind of moan he was looking for. So, he did it again from another angle. This moan was a little closer, but not quite. He did it a few more times until he found the spot. The spot that made you scream his name from the top of his lungs.

“E-Ethan, oh Ethan, right there.” You moaned. “Please, Ethan, again...”

He did it again, just to make sure and you gripped the couch arm for balance. He continued to ram into you with the speed and strength to hit the same spot over and over again. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head as you almost started drooling. You did your best to push back against him and he grunted each time you did in response.

“Ah, Ethan...I’m gonna...” You warned.

Ethan could feel you clenching around him. “Damn, already?” Ethan let out a chuckle. “It’s almost like I’m good at this or something.”

“Shut up, Dolan.” You growled.

“What was that?” He asked, slowing the rhythm of his hips.

“God, Mr. Dolan.” You relented pushing against him at the previous speed.

“Hmm” Ethan kept his dangerously slow pace. “I”ll give you what you want, only if you explain why you hate me so much.”

“What....” You whispered harshly.

Ethan’s hand slipped around you waist to massage your clit as he pumped into you even slower. Your head collided with the couch cushion as you groaned loudly.

“Why now?!” You yelled, mostly to yourself. Speaking was hard enough as he stimulated you, and it mostly came out in gasps. “I didn’t like the fact that you made my brother feel small, okay?”

You tried in vain to push back against him, but he was strong and controlled the pace. He did move a bit faster.

“I-I really didn’t mean to...” Ethan said, he also sounded out of breath. “...I guess I was kinda trying to impress you guys. But then you were being such a bitch.”

“Well, you had a shitty way of showing your interest.” You scoffed.

“And you have a bratty way of telling someone to be better.” Ethan retorted.

“Can you please just f*ck me now?” You begged. “Please, Ethan...I need it.”

“I thought you weren’t going to beg me...”

“ETHAN FOR GOD SAKE!” You yelled, making him laugh.

“Fine fine....” He said, as though he was doing a small favor and not plowing you on the couch in the living room.

He grabbed both your hips and slammed into you with an even faster speed. He pulled you down on to him, hitting you from a different angle while still managing to hit your spot each time. You leaned back, your back hitting chest and you bounced on top of him.

“Oh yeah....” Ethan groaned. “That’s it, baby...”

“Baby?” You asked.

Ethan pulled your head back to meet his eyes. “Look at those eyes, you’re mine now, baby girl. Don’t deny it...”

You couldn’t if you wanted to because he instantly bent down to kiss you, slipping his tongue into your mouth. While the action slowed down your ability to bounce on him, Ethan was some how able to continue pushing up into you; driving you to your climax. You weren’t sure if you would say you were his, but you were pretty damn sure this was going to be the best sex you’ve ever had.

As your orgasm rolled over you in waves, you shuddered as you felt Ethan pull out of you. With all the strength you could muster, you turned around and grabbed his dick to hold it steady for your waiting, open mouth. The sight alone made Ethan release and he watched as his seed hit your tongue. He held your head, entangling his fingers in your hair to keep you steady as you took in all of his following spurts. You looked up at him to meet his eyes, and Ethan swore the last spurt of cum was because of that alone.

“That was so freaking hot...” Ethan commented.

“I guess you deserved that.” You grinned, after swallowing the last of his seed while licking the reminisce off your lips.

“Well, now you’ve spoiled your breakfast.” Ethan teased.

“Only fair you spoil yours too.” You teased back. You leaned back on the couch opening your legs making Ethan chuckle before he obliged.

After making you orgasm again, you and Ethan awkwardly laid on your sides as you stared at each other.

“So...” Ethan said, slowly.

“So...” You mimicked, before continuing. “I’ll go first.”

“No, I will...” Ethan argued.

“Can we not argue for once?” You groaned.

“Fine...” Ethan sighed.

“I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions about you and Grayson. To be honest, I think I wanted to hate you a bit.” You admitted. “I was jealous of what you had achieved, not on my behalf, but my brother’s. I didn’t want him to get discouraged or worse, look up to you guys and become douchebags...no offense.”

“Yeah, I understand.” Ethan groaned. He absentmindedly rubbed circles on your cheek with the back of his hand. “I guess, me being rude when you first walked in was just my toxic habit of not being able to stop working. It was something related to the company and I wanted to just get it done. I’m working on improving and focusing less on work. But, the bragging, I didn’t mean to do it. I just become a bit preach-y sometimes.”

“I get it.” You smiled. “To be honest, I was kind of nitpicking these past few days. I never thought I would admit it out loud, but I kind of like it here...with you.”

“Well, I do give killer head...” Ethan teased, making you laugh.

“God, don’t start.” You pushed him lightly.

Ethan leaned in and kissed you softly, no tongue, just enjoying your lips again his. You stayed like that for awhile, giving each other little kissed before slowly sitting up.

“We should get dressed before Grayson and my brother get back.” You said, putting your clothes back on. “I think this would scar him for life.”

Ethan laughed. “You’re right. We should change...”

By the time Grayson and your brother came back in, you thought you covered up everything you both did. You were both in your usual lounge wear and finally eating the breakfast Ethan prepared, though you did have to reheat it.

“How was the surf?” You asked your brother as he washed his hands at the sink behind you.

“Good.” He grinned. He pointed between you and Ethan sitting across from each other. “You two become friends or something? You’re not arguing.”

“Oh, uh...I guess you could say that.” You said, blushing.

Ethan smirked, thinking about the multiple times you begged him earlier not to make any comments about your interaction to your brother. You weren’t sure if you and Ethan were going to be more than friends just yet, and you didn’t want your brother to know you banged guys so readily.

“Judging by the size of the hickey on her neck, I’m guessing they are a little bit more than friends right now...” Grayson remarked, emerging from the right side of the kitchen.

Your eyes went big as you stammered a response. You watched as your brother’s smile from his laughter at Grayson’s “joke” faded into shock as he saw the bruise on your neck. Your hand shot up to cover it, not helping your case at all. You looked at Ethan for help, but he was red as a tomato. For someone who talked a lot of smack he was just as awkward about this as you were.

“Oh my god...Y/N...I can’t believe you slept with one of my idols.” Your brother groaned, covering his face. “You are the absolute worst!”

#dolan twins #dolan twins imagine #dolan twins scenario #dolan twins smut #dolan twins fluff #dolan twins fanfic #ethan dolan #ethan dolan scenario #ethan dolan smut #ethan dolan imagine #ethan dolan x reader #ethan dolan x you #ethan dolan x y/n #r-writes-fic

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calypsoff2 · 3 years

Text

Five. Part 3

The word neurology, it keeps replaying in my mind over and over and over again. I am fearful of what has happened, I haven’t seen any video or anything, but I don’t know what to do or say “I need to sit down” turning away from the reception “I need to sit down” I said again, Rich held my arm as I made my way to the seats just across from the reception desk “I can’t breathe, I really” taking in deep breaths, oh my god. Everything is coming to me; everything we doughy on so hard in getting in better. He was so depressed, suicidal to say the least and he always said to me if that ever happens to him he wouldn’t do it, what if he’s so bad “oh my god” I can’t cope, I really can’t “I want my mom!” Tianna’ voice broke my train of thoughts; I am literally breaking. I can’t do it; I don’t want to hear any words. I feel I am going to break if hear anything else “Ti” Mel spat but it’s too late, Tianna saw me and is with me “mom, I am scared. Can I stay with you?” Mel rushed over “you need the toilet baby” Mel said, but Tianna held me close. My kids know something is wrong, they are hurting like me “he’s in the neurology department” my voice broke, looking up at Mel “oh my god” staring at her clenching my jaw trying to not cry, she knows I want to break “what is it mom?” I got to hold it together, looking up closing my eyes. Just breathe Robyn “nothing, you want the toilet” looking at her “you take me” nodding my head, I have three kids that need me and I am just ready to break “Robyn let me” shaking my head, getting up from the chair “I don’t want to speak” holding Tianna’ hand as I made my way to the toilets, I feel so empty inside and I don’t like this feeling at all because that means I am losing him and here I am just walking but I just can’t face it “here” Rich said, I was walking off but the bathroom is there “yeah” I said, Mel rushed to me. She is trying to give me space but also be there for me, I would do the same for her. Tianna let my hand go “mom stay close” nodding my head, she walked off and did a double take to check I am still stood here but I am, of course I am. Mel is looking at me is making me feel even worse “I can’t do this” I said in a whisper “I can see you are breaking” I am healing but having to be strong for my kids “I rather be dead then be without him” Mel shushed me “stop, I can’t stand to hear that” she’s saying that but I mean it.

I don’t even know what is happening, I’m just numb to it “Mrs Fenty” my eyes bulged out, not a police officer “no” I said, I got up from the seat “we just need to speak to you” I can’t do it, I just ran and Rich chased after me, I don’t want to hear it. Going into the room they have my family in “no, tell him I don’t want to hear it” Rorrey looked in shock and worry as he got up from his seat in shock “who!? Who is it?” My brother said in a shock “there is is police officer, he just wants to speak to her” I can’t do it, I don’t want to hear it “I’ll be back” Rorrey walked off, TJ just stared in shock, he is frozen like me. It’s like we don’t want to hear it, I am so fearful of what I am going to hear. I can’t do it, looking over at my girls. They are scared, because I am the way I am they are concerned “mommy what is happening?” Rylee asked, if something was happening with me I know that Chris would be the same but I think he is stronger than me in this situation, I am really not strong at all “Robyn look you need to speak to them, there is no way I can sis” Rorrey said, I need to be stronger then this but I don’t think I can handle anything bad “they need to speak to you Robyn, nobody else” I stared off into thin air as my heart just dropped, if I lost Chris then I have lost myself. No matter the arguments, disagreements, my annoyance for his silly ways. I take that back, I rather see his goofy little face when he’s trying to annoy me, if I have lost my husband. Then I am going with him, I love him too deeply, that is my soulmate, twin flame “Joyce is coming soon, if you want to speak to her” TJ said, looking at him “we need to speak to the next of kin” I am shaking “she’s not in a real fit state?” I’m not but I have to be “I’ll go, alone” moving Rylee from me as I got up, not to push her but I need to go “mommy” all three of my girls said “mommy will be back, just wait here” Mel said behind me.

Walking behind the officers as we made our way to a room I guess, Rich did come with me because he goes everywhere I go “just here Mrs Fenty” he gestured “call me Rihanna” I said as I made my way into the room “I will be out here for you” Rich said looking suspicious as ever, but I am just not ready, I don’t know what they are going to say to me. All I know is that the police tell you bad news, that is all they do, sitting down on the chair “myself David and my colleague Lei was at the scene, we wanted to speak to you. We were first at the scene of the accident, when was the last time you spoke to your husband? We are treating this as suspicious until we know otherwise, the vehicle was caught on camera speeding towards the Uber” my face softened “Uber?” I repeated “yes ma’am the Uber was hit, the car accelerated once the Uber was in view, it was caught on the CCTV” this is confusing me “erm, I spoke to him just before he left for the Fenty event, so it was just before ten here, that was it. I left him to it, are you saying it was done on purpose?” is that what they want to know “sadly the Uber driver died on impact, we are treating this as a hit and run now the driver of that car was missing” my heart is being squeezed right now “my husband, please tell me about my husband” I asked “when we arrived, he was talking but very much shortness of breath and we didn’t manage to really speak to us particularly because of concussion and he was in and out of it but we wanted to speak to you if your husband had anyone you knew that would want to take revenge on him?” shaking my head “but is my husband ok?” the officer shook his head “I am sorry but you need to speak to the doctors” sighing out, Chris was talking so does that mean he was ok. I am so confused right now “I need to go” getting up from the chair.

I keep running away, I keep running because I don’t want to hear something that will break my heart “Doctor Gianos” the nurse said, nodding my head as I stood “please sit down” he said, I came upstairs without anyone, I just want to be alone “I am working with Chris, I just saw him. Finished examining him, he is settled” that was it, placing my hands over my mouth “is he ok? Oh my god, he is alive yes? My husband is he ok” the doctor smiled “he is with us, we have been giving him lots of tests, very scary tests. He has been asleep for most and we performed a small and quick surgery, he’s asleep again now. He is confused, we were worried, so we had to give CT scan, check any damage to the head but the force is all on the left side, lot of force. Bad bruising all here” he touched his chest, all I can think right now is that he is alive “thank you god” I breathed out, god is testing me but I thank him “yes” the doctor said “he did talk, he asked if his wife was here but we needed to make him better” a sob left my lips and a smile to my lips “he did” I said, he nodded “but we needed to do a small surgery, so he is sleeping. So the impact is on the left side, when the car hit, it was bad and hurt a lot of that side, he has a collapsed lung, we have inserted a tube, this is going to help the lung to expand. We will monitor him, the tube is going to help air drainage and then inflate the lung, it’s just the left side but once he comes around he will be short of breath and a little tired. From hearing what the crash was like, we are shocked there isn’t more damage. Just a lot of bruising on the left side, I think he crouched inwards trying to cover his face and protect himself, but I am happy. He is resting” this is the best news “he doesn’t have head injury? Just that I was told he was at neurology?” I asked “yes we were there, just he was very confused. He may come around and still be confused, but just some days rest, get the lung better he will be ok” I breathed out smiling “thank you, can I see him?” I need to see him “yes of course, right this way” I am so grateful, the heartache I have been going through.

Follow behind the doctor “we have a waiting room here; you can put your family here but here is his room. He will be asleep for a few hours, we put to sleep to put the tube in” nodding my head “that is fine” the doctor stood to the side “you can just go in, I will be around. I have other patients to see” letting out an oh, I am just so nervous to see him now, but I need to see my baby. Walking into the room slowly, I have seen Chris in every position in life. Nothing more heart-breaking then seeing him on a breathing machine, seeing all those machines on him, they will always scar me, so I am ready to see, but the way the doctor explained, he seemed to be shrugging it off like he is ok. I breathed out, seeing Chris on the bed with a tube coming from the side of his chest, and just a breathing mask on. The bed is inclined up but he is asleep, nothing can compare to that day and seeing him near death. I mean this is bad but, I am just happy he is with us. I thought I lost him; I really did. Making my way over to him “sitting up inclined is better for recovery, I just thought I would tell you” looking behind me, I did assume why but the doctor told me before he left again, continuing my walk to Chris’ bed “poppa, oh my baby” I said standing at the side of his bed, he is with me. That is the point, he is with me and that is all I want “we are going to get through this, we will. Like we always do Chris, I feel someone is doing some black magic shit on you. I sound like my mother now” holding his hand, I am just so glad to know he is with me. Like I know I am so relieved that he is like this, but I thought I lost him, it hurts to see him like this but I rather this then he is gone from me. My thumb lightly stroking his hand “you are going to be the death of me Chris, I just know it” god is trying to take my husband but I just know Dolly is protecting family, I know she is.

#Chrianna #Chrianna FF #Fanfic #Fanfiction #Chrianna Fanfic #Chrianna Fanfiction

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shhhlikeme · 4 years

Note

I ALMOST NEVER SEE ANYONE WRITE ABOUT ARAN SO IM JUMPING IN- ;-; Can I ask for his girl helping him relieve some stress, massaging him and his hands then just a nice cuddle session after..? also Ive been shy to hop in but hi you're pretty and Id love to be friends with you ;-;

UMMM A BIG ACCOUNT LIKE YOURS THAT JUST REACHED 1.25K followers (congrats beb!!) peeps my work ?? And compliments me + gave me my first Aran requestttt ?!

*faints*

I feel like this is a proposal and the answer is YES boo 💍🥰 friendssss 🥺🤗

Anyway I hope you like it newest friend💞

————————————

Some Aran Ojiro x Reader Romance 😩🌹

————————————

you and your boyfriend Aran haven’t been able to see eachother much in the past year at all

He just made the Japan National Team which meant he was practicing and travelling all the time

You two keep up with nightly Facetime dates every night which is great but he almost always falls asleep on you in the first 20 minutes

sleepy muffin that we love so much

You don’t blame him considering his training regimen.

When he wakes up he’s literally talking your ear off apologizing because he feels like a shit boyfriend for falling asleep every time

“I did it again and I know you say it’s fine but it’s not. I’m so sorry Y/N. When I get home, I promise I’ll make it up to you baby girl, I promise. Have a great day Queen and remember I’ll be home to spoil you in 10 days. You’re not ready. I love you! Peace!”

As you lay in your empty bed the next morning, you just smile at the video of him apologizing to you while he is running around his hotel room to get ready for morning practice

Your man works so hard but he never fails to make sure he’s the first thing you see when you wake up and the last person you see before you fall asleep. It’s endearing

He is super super busy being a professional athlete but that doesn’t stop him from making you feel special in the little and big ways

Sometimes, he orders you breakfast or dinner from your favourite brunch or sushi spot that you two like to go to so that he can put a smile on your face when he’s travelling

All he asks in return is a cute selfie of you in your pjs and messy bun with the food and that is the only thank you he needs

Seriously send it though or he’ll spam your phone lol

Can I tell you a funny story related to your mans sweet foodie gestures?

Okay so One random night last weekend.....

You heard a knock on the door of your condo and you quickly paused your Netflix movie to dust the popcorn crumbs off Aran’s t-shirt you were wearing

You opened the door excitedly thinking it might be another Uber Eats surprise from your boyfriend but instead you see a grumpy looking Osamu standing in the delivery guys place

“Your boyfriend is annoying.” Osamu deadpanned as he glanced at you once before letting himself in.

“Uh, Nice to see you.....too, Osamu-san.”

Samu murmured something in response grumpily and went over to your kitchen island to place down a large brown paper bag.

“Stupid professional volleyball playing friend and brother,” He muttered under his breath. You watched him take out lots of food from his restaurant from your spot by the door, by the look (and amazing smell) of it the bag was packed with all your favourites. You were thrilled even though the grey haired boy in your kitchen wasn’t.

“Look at me! I’m Aran. My stupid Uber Eats app won’t work from mutant-spider Australia so instead of just chilling like a normal person I call and beg my very handsome and very successful restaurant-owner friend to make my girlfriend all her favourite dishes and drive them over in the middle of a rain storm. A rain storm!”

You held your ground back at the door (knowing good and well not to get in the way of Samu when he was in one of his signature bitchy moods) as a smile crept on your face. It felt like someone was squeezing your heart as you watched Osamu comfortably rummage through your cabinets and find your dishes. He plated your food beautifully like the professional chef he is, all while mumbling angrily under his breath about his quote unquote “Simp of a best friend.”

When he was done with the food, Osamu also pulled out a bottle of your favourite wine from his restaurant that only Aran knows about and poured you a glass perfectly, swaying the liquid around first to make sure it was rich. Satisfied but still annoyed, Osamu cleaned his restaurant’s paper bag contents away and then walked over to your spot on the couch to take a handful of popcorn. Still a grump, he met you back at the door.

Samu looked down at you with the irritated expression you’ve become accustomed to over the years.

“Aran also told me to give you this.” He deadpanned before leaning down to kiss the top off your head then left. You smiled, unable to stop bubbling over in giggles because you knew Aran just added that to annoy his affection-challenged best friend. You poked your head out to the hallway of your condo building, seeing Osamu’s retreating figure you sang:

“Thank you, Samuuuuuu! 🎶”

Effectively adding to his annoyance just like your boyfriend would have wanted you to.

Without looking back, Osamu just lifted up a cool peace sign that your boyfriend and the two brothers were notorious for.

That trio, man.

dinner that night was the best you’ve had in forever

Not only was it delicious but

You realized that very night that your boyfriend was the most remarkable human in the world and you didn’t deserve him

You checked your phone as you sipped your wine because you received several texts from your boy asking where his picture of you eating is and also asking how funny Samu’s reaction was

You giggled as you read the text and then you had an idea! 💡

You put down your phone and quickly changed into some lacy lingerie for the picture:

Your boyfriend always asked for simple ‘rates PG’ pics because he loved to see you bare faced and wearing his big clothes. It was so cute to him.

he would make each new picture you sent his two backgrounds on his phone and he relished in the fact that you were so beautiful when you didn’t try

You knew this, but you also knew that your man deserved a little ‘sumn sumn’ for making tonight so special for you 😉

You put on a little sultry makeup to go with your sexy number and went back to the kitchen to your food and wine

You took a much sexier picture than he would ever expect

Actually you chose to send him a boomerang:

one of your hair slightly disheveled and your tits basically out despite the lacy cover. You pressed the wine glass to your red lips and winked in the boomerang, wiggling your hips ever so seductively

•••

in a luxurious hotel in Australia, your stunning boyfriend just finished his shower in his hotel room

He dried his face with a towel and opened his iMessage app on his phone... effectively ignoring the:

“🖕🏼🖕🏼🖕🏼it’s done.🖕🏼🖕🏼🖕🏼”

text from his best friend Osamu and clicking your name instead

Aran swiped left on his phone hoping to see another cute picture of his girlfriend being sent to him that makes his day the brightest but what he actually sees instead almost makes him drop his phone out of his wet hands

No Deadass he almost dropped it! it slipped out of his hands 4 times

His heart beating because of his phone but mostly because you were the finest woman he’s ever seen, he replays your sexy boomerang 30 times, literally engraving every detail about you into his mind. If his teammates weren’t so nosy he’d love to make what you just sent him his background on his phone......but that wouldn’t work

He really treasured you and what you sent though. For Aran, the next 9 days at this Global Tournament could not go by fast enough.

Aran’s never asked for naughty pictures from you not once because he doesn’t want you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with, but seeing that you did it on your own, of course it made him want to skip his National game tomorrow just to fly back and make love to you all night then rub your back the way you like until you fell asleep

Mans is in LOVE, you feel me?

He wanted to show you just how treasured you are for sticking by his side through all this travelling shit. He wanted you to always know you were his queen even if he was miles away

So, by you sending this sexy Boomerang and treating him like a King even though you didn’t have to, your man fell even harder for you

He had so much planned when he came home like always: spoil you with a shopping trip with your girls, a romantic spa trip for you both and a trip to the amusement park, but it seemed so far away now

Frowning, Aran texted you back a paragraph telling you how beautiful you are and how lucky he was to have you in his life for a plethora of reasons

He Facetime’d you for the expected classic 20 minutes while you wore that lingerie BUT he actually stayed up for 36 minutes because he was fighting sleep like a damn boxer. He wanted to see you... but of course his fatigue got the better of him and he fell asleep with a big smile on his face because you whispered goodnight

•••

the next day, after sleeping in, Aran woke up for his first tournament game and did all of his pre-game rituals which included calling you, and his best friends Kita & the twins.

He proceeded to his 6:00pm game as planned in the grand court of Sydney.

Aran sweetly signed autographs and Jerseys with his name on it that fans and little kids eagerly presented to him before and after the game that they had won.

“Mr. Ran’! Mr. ‘Ran! Volleybwall is my most favouritest sport to pway , too! Can I have hug???” Asked a particularly bouncy little African-Australian girl in the crowd. Aran glances at the dad for permission and upon granting Aran nodded kindly and picked up the toddler so she was propped up on his hip. The girl wrapped her miniature arms around the big volleyball star’s neck and squeezed tightly. Aran chuckled in his deep voice, exclaiming an “Ow! You’re a strong one, aren’t you? A future Ace for sure.” The little girl gasped at her idols words and hugged him harder. The dad had to literally rip her out of Ojiro’s arms because she didn’t want to let go.

“Don’t break the volleyball player, honey. They’re sore.” Said the father to his daughter.

Aran reached in his gym bag to collect a clean tournament shirt from his bag and handed it to the hysterically crying little girl. “Sore is an understatement. But....here, ‘future Ace.’ When you make the National Women’s Team and I’m the one at one of your games, maybe you can give it back to me.”

The little girl’s whole life was made as she immediately stopped crying and smiled widely, hugging the shirt close to her chest as if it might disappear if she let go.

Because he was a teddy bear and wanted to sign as many kids memorabilia as possible, plus give the youth encouraging messages....Aran usually stayed an hour or two later than the other players after their away games. Telling his teammates to go on ahead back to their hotel without him

HE’S PERFECT 😩

Sore as hell and more tired than ever after his big games, he picked up his phone to call you on his way back to the hotel

He loved hearing your voice it was so soothing to him

No answer. He tried 5 times.

Thinking you were probably working hard from home, Ojiro dragged his feet past the hotel concierge and used all of his slumped body weight to push open the door to his hotel room.

He didn’t remember it being this dark in here or even shutting off the lights when he left, but being too tired to care he dropped his huge bag on the floor, gripping his aching shoulder as he took one step to the right to flip on the lights

When he did, he had to rub his sleepy eyes because he couldn’t believe what he saw

“Y-Y/N?!”

Standing in the middle of his hotel room, you smiled brightly and ran to your boyfriend, wrapping your legs around his waist in a koala hug. You wore that lacy number you used in the picture you sent him last night. Your man stumbled back from the impact and overall surprise but once he was stable he hugged you back tightly.

“Oh my God, you look incredible, what-what are you doing here?!” He asked, still in disbelief.

You pecked his lips and jumped down. “After last night I missed you so much. So I just called into work, booked a 9-hour direct flight and now I’m here! I’m staying for the rest of the tournament. Hi, handsome!!!!” You had so much happiness and light in your eyes that it literally woke up your boyfriend by contentment, even though he was just on the verge of collapsing on his bed from fatigue minutes ago.

He grabbed your face softly in his large hands and tilted your head up towards his to give you a proper kiss, letting you know how happy he was through the kiss.

You pulled away. “Whoa! Someone’s happy to see me!” You poked his tummy.

“An understatement—Wait, what is that?” Finally looking away from your face for the first time since he entered his room, Aran looked behind you in awe. There was a rather large massage table set up in the centre of his suite.

“Oh, that old thing?!” You questioned playfully as you jogged over to the big table and showcased it with your hands like a Wheel of Fortune prize girl. “I tried to book a massage for you for tomorrow because I know you always forget, but they were all booked obviously so I just asked the guy downstairs—after name dropping you—if they could bring this up and they had no problem with it!”

Aran looked at you incredulously so you continued. “Lay down, babe. I know you must be sore after your game. I ordered food for you too but they said it will be up here in an hour and a half. So, I’ll get out some of your kinks now, we’ll eat, and then I can massage you more until you fall asleep.”

Aran couldn’t believe this was happening.

“But you just got off a flight, Y/N! You must be tired, too! I couldn’t possibly—“

You gave your boyfriend your best Osamu impression with your seriously annoyed frown. “Aran. You do everything in your power to make sure that I’m feeling more than amazing every single day even when you are halfway across the world. So now since I’m a mere halfway across the room, I want to do this for you. Please. Let me return the favour.”

Feeling too tired to bicker and knowing you meant business, your big man gave in. He removed his shirt when you asked and settled face down on the comfortable table.

You put on some soft r&b and took out the essential oils you bought from the spa and began to give your man a sensual but remarkable rub down, taking immense care in soothing his muscle pain in his legs and back

You listened for his groans when you reached particularly sensitive spots on his back and spent a lot more time in those areas

When you were massaging his shoulders you made sure to lean down every few minutes to kiss the side of his neck and Aran would sigh in delight every time.

“Y/N. I know you want to get all of my kinks out and trust me this feels amazing, but, if you keep kissing me dressed like that I’ll stop this massage to make love to you on this table. Okay?”

You giggled and smacked his booty.

“Kay.” 😇

When the food came, you and Aran opted to sit on the couch and eat, feeding eachother and kissing and just being all cute n shit—🙄

A/N: Can you tell how jealous I am?

After dinner and your night routines, you told your baby to give you his hands in bed.

you lotioned them in between your smaller ones and gave him a long, much desired, kneading hand massage in the pitch black room until he was on the verge of falling asleep.

“I love you, Y/N.” whispered Ojiro, his deep voice slower because he was half asleep. “Please be here when I wake up....” He whispered before succumbing to a deep slumber.

You stopped your massage, kissed both of his hands and cuddled into his warm body.

“I’ll be here when you wake up, Aran.” You closed your eyes too, feeling sleep wash over you as well.... “I’ll always be here.”

#aran ojiro #aran ojiro x reader #aran ojiro x y/n #aran ojiro x you #black anime fans #fluff #hq fluff #haikyu romance #hq romance #haikyu fluff #fluffville #kaylas fluffville #inarizaki #kiba hq #haikyu headcanons #osamu hq #hq atsumu

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lupin72 · 4 years

Text

What could have been

Anon asked for a fic where ‘Lucy figured out that she was about to be drugged and arrests Caleb and comes to work traumatised that she would have been kidnapped or something and Tim noticed that’. I changed the details a bit but I hope you like it!

Lucy sat in her favorite bar, with an attractive man in front of her, conversation flowing well as they waited to be served. And yet she couldn’t relax. It had been a while since she had found herself on a date. Lucy told herself that was why she had a feeling of unease when she regarded the man before her. Caleb was nice, friendly and he seemed to like her. A lot, if him showing up at the precinct was anything to go by. She had no reason for fear or tension, no reason to doubt his intentions at all. And yet she couldn’t get the voice in the back of her mind to shut up.

Even before she was an officer, Lucy had always been careful on nights out. Her parents had experience with enough patients to feel that it was important to drill into Lucy that she should never leave a drink unattended, never drink anything unless she had seen the bar staff pour it and to always let someone know where she was going. They were rules she had followed throughout her life. She didn’t know how many times such choices could have saved her life.

But this was different, Lucy reminded herself. She was on a date. They were supposed to be alone. But she hadn’t told Jackson where she was going.

The thought struck a pang of panic inside her and Lucy reached for her phone. As she did so, she heard Caleb order his drink and ask her what she wanted. Lucy looked up and tried to mask her uncertainty with a smile and ordered a glass of the house red. She wasn’t fussy after a day like she had had.

That was what it was, she told herself. Leftover unease from being around a serial killer all day. There was nothing wrong with Caleb. Lucy noticed the man in question was frowning at her and realized how silly she must have looked urgently trying to dig her phone out of her pocket.

“I’m not doing that bad am I?” Caleb asked, raising an eyebrow in a way that shouldn’t have been as endearing as it was. “Trying to call for help already?”

Lucy laughed, hoping it didn’t sound as forced as it felt, “Not at all. I just realised I never told my flat mate where I was going.”

“Oh,” Caleb paused, “it’s alright, I’m a gentleman, I’ll have you home by ten, promise.”

Lucy frowned. Her hands froze. Was that a red flag?

She shook herself, cursing her overactive mind and placed her hands back on the bar. She was a full grown woman, she didn’t need anyone’s permission and, despite the fact Caleb was obviously joking, she didn’t like the insinuation that she was acting like a child who was out after curfew.

Thankfully, their drinks arrived and prevented any award silence.

But then the world seemed to slow down. Caleb reached out to pay for their drinks and then smoothly grabbed both their glasses, pushing Lucy’s towards her and dragging his towards himself. It had looked causal, and it was all over in a second, but the movement of his hand had caught Lucy’s eye. There had been no need for him to touch her glass, no need for him to slide it toward her when it was already in comfortable reaching distance. And, had she imagined it, or had he spent a bit too long searching for his wallet? Long enough perhaps to lift something else along with it?

The voice, the feeling of unease, was suddenly too much and Lucy felt herself standing.

Caleb looked shocked.

“I’m sorry,” Lucy apologized, grabbing her jacket and moving away. “I’m not feeling too great tonight. I’ve had a bit of a terrible shift and I should have cancelled sooner. This wasn’t fair on you. You seem like a really nice guy, but I don’t think I can do this. I’m sorry-”

She turned to leave when she felt Caleb grab her arm. Tight.

“Wait.” His smile no longer reached his eyes and Lucy detected a hint of anger in his gaze. “Can’t we just have this one drink? I know I’m not the most attractive guy and I think I might have come across a bit strong when I showed up at your work, but I do really like you Lucy.”

Lucy paused, regarding his demeanor. There was something about the desperation in his tone that she didn’t like. Her gaze flicked back to their glasses on the bar behind them.

The date was over anyway. There was nothing more to lose. Lucy squared her shoulders and said, “If I asked you to down my drink would you do it?”

Caleb looked taken aback. “What?”

“If I asked you to drink it, would you do it?”

The anger on his face grew to the point he looked enraged.

“I thought so.” Lucy broke free of his grip and turned for the door.

Thankfully, a group of girls stumbled into the bar just as Lucy reached the entrance. One stopped and pulled the door back open for her, smiling as Lucy passed through. With a sigh of relief Lucy noticed that their uber driver was still waiting by the door and, upon the driver’s request, jumped in their car.

Lucy never got much sleep. She had tossed and turned for hours thinking about what could have happened. She knew in her heart that Caleb had been attempting to spike her. Should she have told the barman? Hell, should she have arrested him? No, she once again reminded herself. Her evidence was based on a hunch, on suspicion and nothing more. Still, pushing herself from the bed, she decided she would call her mother later to thank her for her annoying persistence in reminding her to be safe growing up. For now, she had to get to work.

Lucy bumped into Tim just as she was entering the bullpen. “Told you to unwind last night Chen, not stay up the whole night, you look like you haven’t slept at all.”

It was disguised as a reprimand, but Lucy could tell that it came from a place of concern. “Had a rough night,” she replied. “I’ll tell you about it in the shop if you promise not to boast.”

Lucy knew that promise wouldn’t be kept. Tim had sensed something was wrong with Caleb. He had made all those jibes about the photos and tried to steal Caleb’s number from Lucy’s hand. But even if she did have to listen to him boast, part of her also wanted some reassurance that she had done the right thing. Caleb, after all, might have been innocent. It could all have been in her head.

They were in the shop for two minutes before Tim spoke, “So, Boot what did you want to tell me? I’m ready to gloat.”

Lucy explained what had happened on the date, her words tumbling into each other at such a speed that she wasn’t sure Tim would know what she was saying at all. Thankfully, he seemed to follow well enough and he didn’t interrupt.

“I knew there was something wrong with that guy,” Tim said when she was finished. Lucy rolled her eyes at that predictably being his first take away.

“Are you alright?”

The look of concern on his face took Lucy by surprise.

“Yes sir,” she answered.

“You did the right thing. Even if he was innocent it’s better to be safe than sorry. And with this new serial killer on the lose too, you can never be too sure.”

Lucy hadn’t thought about it that way. What were the odds that the new killer would target her? She knew that the number of men that turned to date rape drugs was scarcely high enough in the city of LA that it was extremely unlikely to be related at all.

Still, the thought was enough to send her head spinning.

“Don’t go there Chen,” Tim interrupted her spiral, bringing her back to the present. “You were switched on enough to notice what he was playing at. Not many would have. It shows you have good instincts.”

Just as Lucy was about to point out that Tim had just given her a compliment, he froze.

“Fire!”

Lucy jumped, her hand automatically going to her weapon, whilst she scanned the horizon.

“That house is on fire, what do we do Officer Chen?”

Lucy quickly looked to the house Tim had gestured to and found no sign of smoke or flames. She realized immediately what he was doing, and her heart swelled in response, even if it had just stopped beating seconds before.

Lucy rattled off the protocol as Tim drove on, her nightmare of a night long forgotten.

An hour later a call came in from Grey directly. A rare occurrence so that they both knew immediately that something was seriously wrong. Tim drove them to the address in a tense silence.

They joined a swarm of vehicles pulling up outside an abandoned farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere. In sync, they climbed out of the car and turned to where Grey stood at the porch, towering over the crowd of officers.

“Rosalind’s partner has struck again,” Grey announced. “A video was sent to the precinct half an hour ago of a woman in a barrel, we presume she is underground. Detectives were able to track the signal here. From the footage we believe this to be a recovery. I want you all to spread out, we’ve got dogs and metal detectors on hand. Let’s bring this girl home to her family and with any luck we will find something to put the bastard who did this behind bars.”

With sharp orders from the detectives, they broke out into their routine search formation: a line forming a grid that seemed far too small to cover the vast desert plane surrounding them. Lucy’s stomach churned as she walked in line next to Tim, a sniffer dog team to her other side. What sort of end the woman must have met? Alone, underground, in a barrel in this heat? It didn’t bare thinking about.

After almost an hour of nothing, the dog to Lucy’s right gave a loud bark and began clawing at the ground. The handler gave a shout and within minutes a flurry of officers began to dig. Dirt flew carelessly around them as they shoveled it clear. The only sound panting and the scraping of the sand. And then they hit metal.

The barrel exposed; they removed the lid. The sight that met them made more than one officer gasp, including Lucy.

They had found her.

Tim pulled the young woman up and laid her body out.

Grey was right. She was already gone.

She looked young, a few years younger than Lucy. Her long dark hair covered half of her face and Tim carefully pulled it back to lay her more peacefully on the sand.

Lucy jumped. The sight of the young woman’s face sent her stumbling backwards. Her hand flew to her mouth to try to stop the feeling of nausea that had overtaken her.

Tim, seemingly the only officer to notice, spun to face Lucy and immediately rose to his feet when he saw the look on her face.

“Chen?” He said, in the same soft tone he had used with her in the shop earlier, a tone she had heard him use so rarely. Lucy felt him reach out and clasp her elbow when she still didn’t respond.

“She was there,” Lucy stammered, forcing the words out between her loud gasping breaths, “She was there, at the bar…last night.” Lucy recognized the victim as the young woman who had held the door open for her.

It was clear the second Tim realized what she was saying. His other hand rose to catch her by the shoulder. “Chen are you telling me that-?”

“It’s Caleb. It has to be.”

They were gathering an audience from their fellow officers, both those who had helped to dig and those that were only now just reaching the scene. Lucy barely noticed them. All she could see was Tim. The fear in his eyes, his strong hands the only reason she hadn’t fallen to the floor.

Lucy choked, unable to hold back her tears any longer, they began to slip down her cheek. The terrible realization hitting them both.

“It should have been me.”

Hope you enjoyed reading this! A reminder that I am still open for prompts!

#chenford #the rookie #tim bradford #lucy chen

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spine-buster · 4 years

Text

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 9

November 14th, 2019

Aberdeen Bloom was looking at herself in the mirror.

She wore a beautiful, shimmery navy blue dress she thought completely colour-appropriate for the occasion and used the same pair of heels she wore to prom to complete the outfit. She’d taken an Uber though the walk would have only been seven minutes (she didn’t want to do that in heels) to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on Wellington Street, where the dinner was taking place in the Wellington Room. Many of the official guests were already there: Kyle and his wife Shannon; Peter, his assistant; Brandon and Laurence and their wives; Cliff Fletcher; Brad Lynn; Leanne Hederson; Hayley Wickenheiser; Mike Babcock and his wife; all of the Leafs community representatives who just happened to be Leafs alumni. Then, all the big wigs from MLSE there: the entire Board of Directors, Larry Tanenbaum included; and the entire “Leaders” team anybody could see on the official website. The people that she didn’t recognize she could only assume were the major donors – the reason they were all there.

John and his wife Aryne thankfully saw her almost immediately and hugged her, keeping her company until Brendan arrived. He had texted her that he was two minutes away, and when he did, she went to meet him at the door. He exited the town car with his wife Catherine, looking absolutely glamourous. Lou waved at her from the front seat.

“Hello Aberdeen,” Brendan smiled as he approached her, his wife’s arm tucked into his.

“Good evening Mr. Shanahan.”

“Brendan,” he quipped. “Aberdeen, I’d like you to meet my wife, Catherine. Catherine this is Aberdeen, my executive assistant.”

“Hi Aberdeen,” she smiled widely, extending her hand to shake. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. Brendan has told me so much about you.”

“Only the good things, I hope,” she joked.

“Brendan can only say good things about Etobicoke girls,” she winked. “You look fabulous, by the way.”

“Oh, thank you!”

The three of them walked through the foyer and up the stairs together, with Catherine almost immediately seeing someone she knew, letting go of Brendan’s arm and going over to say hi. “Do you want me to get you anything? A drink maybe?” Aberdeen asked.

“Not right now. I just need to know where my wife and I are sitting.”

“We’re at table one, just to the right of the stage,” she informed him. “We’re with Kyle and Shannon, Peter, Masai and Ramatu, and Larry and Judy Tanenbaum.”

“Perfect. Thank you. And the prizes are all here?”

“Yes sir. If you go into the Wellington Room they’re all along the wall like you requested.”

“And my speech?”

Aberdeen tapped at her clutch – a borrow from Kasha. “Right here.”

“Good thing I always keep an extra one,” he said, tapping his chest to where his inside pocket was. He let out a breath. “Everybody here?”

“Seems like it, but I know we’re still waiting for a few more people. I haven’t seen some familiar faces.”

“Okay,” he nodded. “Well, feel free to mingle, Aberdeen. This is a good opportunity for you to meet people. When we’re all seated for dinner, I’ll let you know if you need to do anything – if that. Just enjoy your time.”

She was a bit taken aback by that statement. “W…what? But I’m on the clock. You said so yourself.”

Brendan laughed. “I want you to mingle and have fun. Network a bit. I know all of these people. I don’t need to be reminded of who they are,” he explained. “There’s only a hundred or so of them anyway. The Night With the Blue and White in January – that’s much bigger. This is child’s play. So have fun,” he smiled at her. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go find my wife.”

“Okay sir.”

“Brendan,” he looked over his shoulder slightly as he walked away from her, approaching his wife who was chatting with an equally glamourous looking woman.

Aberdeen didn’t know what to do with herself. He wanted her to network? Not work? Really? She tried to find a familiar face in the crowd, but John and Aryne were speaking to another couple, and even Peter, Kyle’s assistant, was engrossed in a conversation with Leanne Hederson. She felt awkward approaching them even though she knew Leanne and spoke with her on multiple occasions. Being in an office was one thing, but in such a formal setting like this, the vibe was much different.

“Girl Friday?” a voice asked from behind her.

She closed her eyes and immediately cringed. Turning around, she saw Ethan Baker standing behind her. She tried not to vomit in her mouth. “You really need to stop calling me that.”

“You got an invite?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” she asked.

“I thought this was only for important people,” he said.

She rolled her eyes. A waitress approached them with some flutes of drinks, and Aberdeen took one, knowing she’d need alcohol to get through whatever conversation she was about to have with Ethan. Ethan took one too, taking a quick sip. “Thanks, Ethan. I can always count on you to bring me back down to earth when my head is getting too big,” she quipped.

“You look good though,” he said.

She furrowed her brows; she didn’t know a compliment was capable of coming out of his mouth. “Uh, thanks?”

He gave her a very obvious up-down, taking her all in. This was getting more awkward by the second. Was he already drunk? He focused in on her arms. “You have tattoos?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Why haven’t I seen them?”

“I guess you weren’t looking.”

Ethan furrowed his brows. “Has Brendan seen them?”

“Of course he has. It’s not like they’re offensive. They’re lines from poems,” she said, almost immediately regretting it. She knew she was going to have to explain them at one point or another, but she wanted to prolong that as much as possible.

“What are they?” he asked, turning his head to the side as if that would give him a better look.

She sighed. “The one below the right elbow is the last line from the poem Ulysses by Alfred, Lord Tennyson – ‘to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield’,” she said, flashing the delicate ink quickly. “And the one below the left elbow is from the Roman philosopher Seneca – ‘we are waves of the same sea’.”

He squinted at them, taking in the information that she was telling him. “They’re a bit dumb, Brendan Girl.”

Aberdeen’s breath hitched in her throat. She didn’t need stupid idiot Ethan Baker to approve of her tattoos by any means, but even unacknowledging them or changing the subject immediately afterwards would have been nicer. He had no idea what they meant to her; no idea about their significance. And now, he even gave her another stupid nickname. Even stupider than the last. “Wow, you really know how to charm a girl, huh?”

“That’s what I’m here for.”

“And all this time I thought you just watched video playback all day.”

“More important than getting coffee, wouldn’t you say?”

“Hey, Aberdeen!” a voice suddenly called out from across the foyer. Both Ethan and Aberdeen looked to see Jason and Jennifer Spezza approaching them. Aberdeen had never been so happy to see his goofy smile in her life. From behind him, she saw William wearing a perfectly tailored three-piece blue suit. God, they fucking matched. Of all colours he had to wear tonight…

“Hey Jason,” Ethan said, trying to take over, even going so far as extending his hand so Jason could shake it.

Jason completely ignored him as he leaned in to give Aberdeen a quick kiss on the cheek. Aberdeen eyed William standing behind him as he did so, who was looking down at Ethan’s hand. “Aberdeen, you’ve met Jen at the SBA,” he said, motioning between her and his wife.

“It’s so nice to see you again, Aberdeen,” Jen smiled as she gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I love your dress.”

“Oh, thanks Jen!” Aberdeen smiled, patting it down slightly, suddenly a bit self-conscious. Much like Aryne Tavares and Catherine Shanahan, Jen looked absolutely glamourous and flawless. Aberdeen, on the other hand, felt like she stuck out like a sore thumb. She was appropriately dressed, but these women just exuded a confidence and elegance she was sure she didn’t have. At least yet. She eyed William patiently waiting for a greeting and decided to indulge him. “Hi William.”

“Hey Aberdeen,” he said, leaning in and giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Do I look good?”

“You look like you should be in an Abba tribute band.”

Jason, Jen, and William laughed at her comment; Ethan did not. He had never been in on the joke. “Well, we match,” William commented, eyeing her body in the dress.

“You know what they say…great minds,” Jason quipped.

***

The dinner was going off without a hitch. She sat in between Brendan and Peter at the table, looking out onto all the guests seated at theirs. Brendan made a nice speech before dinner, as did Larry Tanenbaum. They had a champagne toast and were served a delicious appetizer. Aberdeen was looking forward to the incoming filet. She excused herself from the table to go to the bar, wanting to grab a ginger ale before the main course. She wouldn’t drink in front of Brendan, despite his insistence that it was okay.

As she waited, she saw Ethan approach the bar too, but she tried to ignore him. He ended up standing right next to her, so interaction was inevitable. She truly wondered why he wanted to interact with her so much if all he did was put her down. It was clear he had a sick ego, and that putting people down fed that ego. But why did he pick on her? And did he pick on anyone else? Maybe people in his own department?

She decided not to say hi to him – not to start an interaction at all. Maybe he’d ignore her and be on his merry way. But as with every interaction with Ethan, that would not be the case. “You having a good time at the table with the big boys, Brendan girl?” he asked, leaning one arm against the bar.

“It’s fun,” she nodded her head, trying to say as little as possible.

“I still can’t believe you’re in that position. That he hired you over some of the more qualified people that applied,” he shook his head.

How the hell did he know? How the hell did video analyst Ethan Baker know any of the other candidates who applied to the posi—oh my God. ‘Oh my God’ Aberdeen thought to herself. He applied to the position. He knew who the other candidates were because he applied to the position and didn’t get it. Brendan hired her instead. That’s why he was the way he was with her. “Why is it so unbelievable?” she asked, now having to mask the fact that she knew why he was always being a dick to her.

“Do you even know, or did you even hear of who Larry Tanenbaum was before you worked here?”

“I’m sorry, but did we all not watch him lift the Larry O’Brien in June?” she asked. “Do you honestly think I’m that dumb?”

“I don’t think you’re dumb. I just think you’re unqualified,” he clarified, because that made it so much better. “It’s a great job. I just hope you know how lucky you are.”

“I do,” she said. That was all she heard since she started this job.

“And besides – it’s a good thing that your friends with the guys now, you know,” he said, the jealousy coming back in his voice.

“Why’s that?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “It makes the job easier. Maybe one of them will take pity on you. You’ll never survive Brendan,” he said matter-of-factly.

Her mouth dropped. She’d been surviving so far, albeit with some hiccups along the way…what made him think she would never survive Brendan? “E…Excuse me?”

“You seem nice…smart,” he said. “You can’t do that job.”

The bartender finally placed her ginger ale in front of her – and thank God he did, because she’d had enough. Fuck him. Fuck Ethan Baker. “Gotta go,” she mumbled, turning on her heels to leave.

“Bye Brendan Girl.”

***

“It was so nice to see you, Aberdeen,” Jennifer Spezza hugged her one last time as Jason waved at her from the curb. She was still inside, keeping warm; he was out on the sidewalk, hailing a taxi. “You’re getting an Uber, right?” she asked.

“Yes ma’am,” Aberdeen nodded her head, flashing her phone.

Jen looked towards William. “And you’re staying with her until it comes?”

“Yes ma’am,” he nodded his head.

“Good,” she said definitively. She pushed the door open with William’s help. “I’ll see you soon, Aberdeen. Stay safe!” she called out as she ran as quickly as her heels could let her towards the taxi. Jen sent one final wave as the taxi drove away, leaving Aberdeen and William alone.

Will was, of course, the first to look at her. “How far away is the Uber?” he asked.

“Two minutes according to the app,” Aberdeen said as she glanced at her phone.

“And you don’t…I mean, you don’t want to walk home?” he asked, a glimmer of hope in his voice.

“Not in these heels,” Aberdeen giggled. “My feet are already killing me.”

“I could carry you.”

Aberdeen gave Will a look. “We’re not going to do that to your back.”

“Come on,” he smiled mischievously. “I bet I could do it.”

“Too bad we’re not going to try,” she said, glancing down at her phone again. “We should go outside to wave the car down.”

William opened the door for her, and they walked out together. Aberdeen looked to her left to try to see if the car was coming. William was only looking at her – how she looked between the street and her phone to see if the car was getting any closer. How her hair blew in the wind of the night. “Tomorrow’s going to be the last time I see you for two weeks,” he said, his voice low. He tried to imprint how she looked right now into his mind so he could remember it on the road trip.

“I know.”

“Did Brendan tell you why he wasn’t coming with us?” he asked.

“No. But it’s probably because it’s too long to be away from his family,” Aberdeen said. “His kids are his life. He wouldn’t miss a school function or any of that.”

William watched as she waved down the Uber, who pulled up to the curb. He wanted to get into the car with her. He wanted to go back with her to her building, no matter how short the ride was. Just to be able to stare at her a little bit longer. Just to spend more time with her, since he wasn’t able to spend all the time he wanted to spend with her tonight. “I’m going to miss you,” he said.

He could see her bite her lip. She looked up at him, her hand already on the handle. “Will…”

“Aberdeen? Aberdeen is that you?” a voice rang out suddenly, interrupting the moment.

Aberdeen and William looked to their left. A man was standing in a stylish peacoat, his group of friends continuing to walk ahead of him at a slower pace. He had a bewildered look on his face, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. William looked down at Aberdeen. She looked like she’d just seen a ghost. “Zane. Hi.”

“Oh my God. Didn’t think I’d ever catch you outside the Ritz Carlton,” Zane smiled, approaching closer to them. “How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been good,” she gulped, trying to clear her mind of all the memories that were popping up. She felt William’s hand on her back and it brought her back down to earth. “William, this is Zane. Zane, this is William N—”

“Zane Kennedy,” he interrupted her, shaking William’s hand almost too enthusiastically. “Aberdeen and I dated in university, but we’re friends now.”

Aberdeen wanted to protest. They weren’t friends. They were the furthest thing from being friends. They’d barely spoken since the breakup, since he was such a jackass about it and broke her heart. She hadn’t been with anyone since – well, besides William. That’s how much it affected her. And she was sure William was the only person capable of helping her get over him.

“You don’t say,” Will said, his tone slightly sarcastic. He looked down at Aberdeen and didn’t see any friendliness in her eyes. He only saw contempt for the statement Zane just made, which made William know he was lying.

Zane focused his attention back to Aberdeen. “What are you doing out here?”

“I…I just came from an event,” she said. She felt William’s arm snake around her waist even more, making her shiver.

“An event? With the bank? Or did you finally figure out what you wanted to do?”

Now she was getting angry. She always knew what she wanted to do; he just didn’t think being a writer was a serious career choice. She mustered up all the confidence within her. “No, not with the bank. I work for the Toronto Maple Leafs.”

Zane was taken aback at the news. “The…Toronto Maple Leafs?” he asked. “Like the hockey team?”

“That’s why she was going to introduce you to William Nylander before you interrupted her,” William piped up, smiling slightly.

Zane was smart enough to get the hint William was making. He smiled. “You know, I thought you looked familiar,” he told William.

“You’ve probably seen me on TV once or twice,” Will quipped.

Zane could tell where this was going. There was a lot he could have said to Aberdeen, but with William there, he decided against it. He did have to admit one thing, though. “Well, you look good Aberdeen,” he said, licking his lips quickly.

William could feel a rush of irritation and impatience coursing through his veins at Zane’s comment. “She does, doesn’t she?” he asked rhetorically. “She looked even better inside without her coat on, but only us lucky ones got to see that,” he said, staring directly into Zane’s eyes. “Now if you don’t mind, I have to make sure she gets home safe, or else I’ll have to answer to Brendan Shanahan and to Jennifer Spezza, and, well – between you and I – I’m more scared of Jennifer Spezza.”

“That’s cool,” Zane said, backing up. “Have a good night, Aberdeen.”

William opened the car door behind her as she watched Zane rejoin his friends who had been looking on at the interaction. She shuffled into the backseat, watching as William waved dramatically at Zane before getting into the backseat beside her. “It’s a very quick drive, I know. But I promise I’ll tip you a lot,” she said as the driver signalled to merge onto the road again.

She looked over at William who was still seething slightly at the comments Zane made. She was realizing a lot of things lately, and here was yet another one: no matter how hard she tried to suppress what was happening between them, she would still have feelings for William, and he would still have feeling for her. It was inevitable. Nothing could stop it. She could say anything, do anything – it didn’t matter. William was competitive. William was persistent. William was determined. William was…William. It would be hard, she’d give him that – because absolutely nothing could happen while she was working for Brendan and the Leafs – but she could finally admit to herself, at least, that there was something there. Something that William absolutely refused to hide. And in him refusing to hide it, it just made her own feelings bubble slowly towards the surface, like lava oozing out of a volcano.

But nothing could happen. Not now, if not ever. Regardless of how William felt. Regardless of how she felt.

“You dated that guy?” William asked, his voice breaking her thoughts.

“Yeah. For most of third year university,” she admitted.

“He’s a bit of a dick.”

She laughed. If William could ascertain that after a minute long conversation, she could only imagine what opinion he’d have of Zane after an entire conversation. “You’re telling me.”

“Why’d you guys break up?” William asked.

She gave him a look. He just had to know. He just really had to know. “We outgrew each other. He also didn’t think writing was a serious career path. He told me I should consider a Master’s, or go to law school like him,” she explained. “He was the one who initiated the breakup, saying that he wanted to take the last year of university to, like, be one with himself and figure out if law school was really for him. But a month after we broke up, he was hooking up and dating this girl we knew, Alessia – a total smokeshow but dumb as a rock. Anyways, judging by his pretentious jacket, he got into law school.” She paused, considering the timeline of the events. “I think it was just three weeks, actually.”

“You deserve better than that,” William said after a moment of silence, digesting her words. He wanted to stop the Uber so he could run back to Zane and punch him in the face. He couldn’t believe someone would have the gall to treat her like that. And then to see her in the street and approach her like an old friend? How dare he.

“I know I do,” she said as she looked out the window.

William took a few deep breaths as he looked at her, wanting to say so many things but unable to decide exactly what to say. She still looked so beautiful and he didn’t know how to use his words. He was so desperate; so desperate to touch her even though he knew she’d flinch away; so desperate to kiss her even though he knew it was wrong. He didn’t know how he was going to last two whole weeks without seeing her when she’d become such a staple in his life. He had to physically restrain himself from placing his hand on her arm. “Can we FaceTime when I’m gone?”

Aberdeen whipped her head to look at him. From the look on her face it was as if he just proposed they elope in Las Vegas. “Will, no.”

“Aberdeen, please—please—”

“No way William. No way.”

“It’s not like you’re going to be at the office when we do—”

“Will, that’s…that’s really inappropriate.”

“Aberdeen—”

“William—”

“Can’t you tell by now I don’t care that it’s inappropriate?” he asked. His hand had inched towards hers and was merely centimetres away before he had the wherewithal to pull it back dramatically. Not being able to hold her hand was absolute fucking torture for him and he didn’t know how he was going to survive it.

“Well can’t you tell by now I do care?” she retorted. “It can’t happen Will. There’s no way.”

He admitted defeat. There was no way he would win this, no matter how much he begged. No matter how much he tried to explain himself. “I’m just gonna miss you, Aberdeen. And I’m gonna want to see you.”

“I know you will,” she said. “But it can’t happen Will. I’m sorry.”

The Uber driver pulled up to the curb outside Aberdeen’s building, where William had dropped her off at almost the same time last night. Aberdeen thanked him, getting out of the car. William slid towards where she had just been and rolled down the window. “I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” he asked. They were facing the Bruins tomorrow. She needed to be there.

“I’ll be there,” she said, unable to hold her smile. “Get some sleep, Will. You’ve gotta score tomorrow.”

“Only for you, minskatt.”

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apiratewhopines · 3 years

Text

Chapter 3 - Snow Falls

Summary: In which our heroine forges new paths

“I was just guessing at numbers and figures

Pulling the puzzles apart”

-The Scientist, Coldplay

The sunlight gently lightened the room until Emma woke with a start, her eyes frantically searching for some clue about whose bed she was in. With a groan, memories from the prior night returned and she wished she could go back to sleep.

After the doctor’s unceremonious exit, the tension broke. Liam was going to be fine and the world was right again. Graham’s shoulders relaxed, David looked like he wanted to use the opportunity to pull Mary Margaret into his arms and waltz around the room, Mary Margaret’s smile was so big that it literally brightened the gloomy light of the hospital and Killian’s jaw had unclenched. She had felt cut adrift because she thought the way his muscle twitched in his cheek was about the sexiest thing she had ever seen.

Unfortunately, a more immediate concern instantly renewed her stress. It was obvious that Liam hadn’t informed his brother of his impending arrival, much less that he was bringing company with him and Dr. Whale had pretty much told her she didn’t have to go home but she couldn’t stay there. Unless she wanted to crash in the chair in her partner’s room, she needed a place to sleep. Honestly, the chair was not really an option either since she was sure she would have to fight Killian for it.

She had decided her first priority should be to find her phone. She wasn’t normally one to be tied to an electronic device but with Henry traveling and the rest of her world off kilter, it seemed important to have a lifeline. Once she had it, she had planned to see if this town had Uber or taxi service, a hotel, and a 24 hour store since she was without wheels or any of the comforts of home and for the first time she had noticed that her clothes were bloodstained.

As it turned out, Mary Margaret took charge in a way both unexpected and jarring. Not only did the other woman have her phone, but when Emma revealed her lack of sleeping arrangements for the trip leaving Killian to awkwardly offer his extra bedroom up to her even though he wouldn’t be in residence, she had also smoothly intervened with an excuse of keeping Emma “under observation” in her guest room. Before Emma knew what was happening, she had been bundled into the other woman’s car with a promise from the deputy to drop her personal items off after they had finished processing them for evidence.

It hadn’t escaped her notice that you only needed evidence to investigate crimes, not so much for single vehicle car crashes, but she kept her questions to herself and had allowed the kindness of strangers to wash over her.

By the light of day though, she was extremely uncomfortable with the ease they all rearranged her life, albeit momentarily. Deciding the best thing to do would be to get cleaned up and go back to the hospital to check on Liam, she gingerly got out of bed. She was incredibly sore and as she moved over to the full length mirror in the corner, she lifted up her borrowed pajama top to examine the damage. The angry purple bruise covered several inches of her side and would probably last weeks. However, it was the only outward damage from the wreck other than the dark circles under her eyes from her sleepless night.

Wondering about the time, she was already reaching for her phone when it started to ring, alerting her to an incoming video call.

“Henry!” She answered, a big grin on her face and excitement in her voice.

“What’s up, Mom? Are you sleeping in?”

Her eyes scanned his face and she felt her nerves settle a little. “Yeah kid, Liam and I had an eventful night.”

“Yeah? Did you get to meet his brother? Liam told me he only has one hand, just like Captain Hook, and that he knows how to sword fight.”

The things her little boy found fascinating were a constant source of amusement for her. Although she had to admit that—in this case at least—those sorts of details would probably stick with anyone. She thought her observation of Killian the previous night had been pretty thorough but apparently she had missed some things.

For the obvious reason that ten-year-olds weren’t know for their ability to keep secrets and the likelihood of others overhearing her conversations, she had informed him of the trip nonchalantly on their last call, offering no explanation or reasons for it. And bless him, if Henry thought it was strange for her to be traveling with Liam, he didn’t question her about it. Despite the fact that she was sure Neal had some thoughts on the matter, for Henry nothing could be more natural than a road trip with a friend and Henry assumed his friends would automatically be hers.

“Yes, I did meet the famous Killian Jones,” she teased him, “but I can’t confirm his ability with a sword.” She blushed a little when she thought she heard a snicker from the first floor drift up to the open loft and was grateful that the innuendo would be lost on her son.

“Listen kid, I need to talk to you about something. Is your dad around?” She didn’t want to alarm him and she would feel better knowing Neal was close if the news upset him.

“Yeah, hold on a minute.” The camera moved away from his face as he ran over to wherever Neal was, the bouncy motion of the camera only making her a little sick. “Okay, he’s here.”

Neal’s smile and jaunty wave filled the camera view for a second before he took the phone from Henry and adjusted the angle so she could see them both. “Hey Emma, having a nice trip?”

“Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk about. We were in a little accident last night,” she started, keeping her attention on Henry and watching for his reaction.

“Crap, are you okay?” Neal said as Henry eyes started to cloud over.

“Yes, I’m totally fine,” she rushed to assure them, making sure she kept a big smile on her face. What she wouldn’t give to be there with Henry. For the thousandth time, she regretted her decision to spend a summer apart. “Liam is fine too, Henry. His arm is hurt but he’s going to be back to normal by the time you see him again.”

“Are you sure?” Henry looked hopeful but his voice was small. “He promised he would teach me how to play cricket.”

“Completely sure, kid,” she said. Thankfully he took the news pretty well but she wondered how he had managed to exact that promise from Liam. She knew that they had talks when Henry came to the office after school the one day a week she usually stayed late to do research or complete paperwork. There was only so much homework and video games he could tolerate before he wanted to be up and moving around. Once Liam told her he wasn’t disturbed by the interruption, she let Henry visit next door. She knew he indulged her son’s rampant curiosity but hadn’t realized Liam had taken him under his wing and might actually look forward their interactions. It made her feel a little guilty for giving the man such a hard time, all the time.

Taking her word for the matter, Henry moved on with nary another thought. He told her a little about what they had planned for their day of sightseeing and then announced he had to eat his breakfast and left the frame. Neal shouted a reminder that he was to eat cereal, not his favorite pop tarts, before turning his attention back to her. “Do we need to cut our trip short, Emma? We can come to you if you need us.”

God, she was tempted to tell him that she did need them to come back. She tamped down the selfish urge and said, “No, I really am fine. You guys deserve this time together.”

“Thank you,” he said and she knew he wasn’t only referencing their current situation. “I’ll have him call again tomorrow to check on you if you want.”

“That would be great.”

They said their goodbyes but she didn’t move for several minutes. Sitting on the bed, she tried to reroute her thoughts into some kind of plan for the day. Clothes were a must because while Mary Margaret’s things worked in a pinch, she couldn’t spend all day in them.

“Emma,” came the tentative voice of her host from below, “you have a visitor.”

Popping her head over the bannister, Emma looked down and the mop of dark hair let her know that her visitor was of the Jones variety. With a grimace, she checked out her reflection again. She looked like an overgrown child in the pajama shorts that were covered in bright red flowers and showed a little more leg than was probably appropriate, especially since they were topped off with a matching shirt that had ruffles at the sleeves. Add to that the fact that her hair had taken on a wild, rumpled look since she went to bed with it wet after a hasty shower to rinse off the worst of the night and she considered just carrying on the conversation from the loft. What she wouldn’t give for swipe of mascara and a little concealer for her eyes.

Making her way slowly down the steep steps, her foot barely touched the wooden floor of the living room when he asked, “Alright there, Swan?”

She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting but the cheerful friendliness of his voice and the crooked smile was a definite improvement over the shocked awkwardness and confusion of last night. His eyes still followed her movements with an emotion she couldn’t quite decipher. But that could be because she was shy about meeting his gaze, probably stemming from how gorgeous she found him and not wanting to make a fool of herself.

“He brought breakfast,” Mary Margaret gushed, pushing a box of pastries towards her. “I’m going to get ready while you two catch up.”

They both watched her step into the bathroom. When Emma heard the shower start, knowing that was about as much privacy as they could expect in the open floor plan space, she reached for a bear claw. “Thanks, these are my favorites.”

“Least I could do,” he responded, as much at a loss as she was apparently. He kept staring at her and it was starting to get unnerving.

“How’s Liam this morning?” Glancing over at the clock on the microwave, she amended, “Or afternoon rather.”

“He woke up for a few minutes and was his normal pleasant self,” Killian reported.

As she sat down, she imagined how grumpy her partner would have been having all his carefully laid plans ruined before they had ever been set in motion. It did explain why his brother seemed in a better mood though.

“He was concerned about your welfare, love. Gave me a quite an earful when he found out I had sent you out into the world with only Mary Margaret for protection while I kept vigil at his bedside. He’s sleeping again now so I decided it was time for us to have a little chat.”

Deciding to focus on the least troubling part of his statement, namely the implication that the only hospital volunteer in history who took work home with her wasn’t a force to be reckoned with, she said in a thoughtful tone, “I wouldn’t bet against her.”

When he didn’t pick up the thread of conversation, she reached for another pastry. It felt like he trying to wait her out, letting the silence that stretched between them drive her to reveal all her secrets.

Just when things were getting truly uncomfortable and she started to pray for Mary Margaret to finish her damn shower soon, he caved. “I apologize for last night. I’m afraid I didn’t make the best first impression and maybe I’m not doing much better today since I neglected to ask how you are feeling.”

“Well, your brother deserves some of the blame for the disaster that was our first meeting,” she conceded lightly. “If I had known we were dropping by unannounced in the dead of night, he would have gotten an earful of his own. I should have known better than to think he would have communicated like a normal human being.”

He was looking at her again with that weird far-off expression. Her skin tingled from his nearness and she tried to ignore that his body had leaned closer to hers.

Rushing to steer the conversation away from dangerous areas and wanting to put some distance between them, she jumped up. Walking over to the fridge to see if there was any milk, she called over her shoulder, “I am much better today. Looking forward to getting my stuff back and maybe finding a permanent place to stay. Unless you want to trade out the chair in Liam’s room.”

“Sorry love, brother’s prerogative.” He tensed as if he was expecting her to call on some privilege of her own. Any good will Liam had gained for his treatment of her son was lost as she fumed about his indifference to the feelings of his own brother. When she remained quiet, he added, “You’re welcome to stay at my place though. After all, if Liam brought you home, you must practically be family and you’ll end up there anyway when they release him. You are most welcome. I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear last night.”

She wondered how long they could both dance around the topic without addressing the elephant in the room. She knew he was baffled about her sudden appearance in his brother’s life and out of everyone in this town, he had the most right to ask about it. She wasn’t sure she would be able to make it through the next couple of weeks without lying to him at some point but she wasn’t going to jump in with guns blazing so she would keep circling until he questioned her directly.

“Fine.” She took her time pouring her milk and when he shook his head at her silent offer to get some for him as well, she put the carton back and took up a position across the island from him. “If you don’t mind me staying there without you, I’ll take you up on it.”

Mary Margaret joined them before any other details could be sorted and the other woman’s disappointed face at losing her house guest so soon reminded Emma of when Henry was younger and pleas for more cookies went unheeded. Emma gratefully accepted her freshly laundered jeans that the woman had somehow managed to find time to clean, waving off her apology for not being able to salvage the shirt. Instead, she found a crisp, white linen tank that she was informed was a gift to welcome her to town.

She felt like a new woman coming downstairs in clean clothes and with several hours of sleep. Swearing on her honor to meet up with her hostess for lunch that weekend and awkwardly accepting her hug goodbye, she followed Killian down to his pickup truck without another word. He held her door as she climbed into the passenger side before making his way around the front and taking his own seat.

“I await your orders, Swan. Where to first?”

“If you think Liam will be resting for awhile, can we go by the station and pick up my stuff?” Luckily, Mary Margaret had provided a toothbrush last night but it would be nice to have the rest of her things. She had to suppress a chuckle at the thought that the deputy, David if she remembered correctly, would probably begrudge her the missed opportunity of making a visit to a certain brunette’s apartment.

Even though he kept his eyes on the road, somehow he picked up on her change in mood and asked, “Something tickled your fancy?”

“What’s her story?”

“Mary Margaret?”

“Yeah. Does she always pick up strays and bring them back to her apartment? I could have robbed her blind. It’s not safe to trust people like that,” she rambled as she took in the businesses that lined Main Street.

“I wouldn’t call you a stray and you don’t strike me as a thief,” he commented.

“You don’t know me,” Emma said darkly. She had been called that and far worse too many times and his casual observation caused her to stiffen in her seat. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him stiffen a bit too but she was distracted by the sign for the pawnshop they just passed. The closed sign hung askew in the front window and all the lights were off even though it was the middle of the day.

“I’d like to know you, Swan. In case you didn’t notice—bringing breakfast, my sparkling conversation, the dashing rescue from having to stay another night in Mary Margaret’s loft, which apparently you viewed as a fate worse than death—all my little ways of trying to get to know you.”

His exasperation struck her as funny. He was more dramatic than his brother and as much as she planned to struggle against and deny her attraction to him, she thought she might end up actually liking him. He pulled off the street into a parking lot and faced her. “Furthermore, Miss Swan, you’re the one who went home with her so perhaps you should have followed your own advice. Maybe she’s a serial killer and she lures her victims in with kindness. Or maybe deep down you know there are good people in this world and it’s better to trust, to risk the occasional mistake, than to hide behind walls.”

Well. She wanted to take offense but she was too stunned at the fact that Killian Jones truly saw her. And maybe through her. How he had figured her out so fast, she wasn’t sure. She felt exposed and, even more chilling, she felt understood. It was exciting and dangerous. Eyes wide, she twisted to face him and licked the corner of her mouth nervously. His focus shifted to her lips. It was getting warm, and not only because of this unexpected turn in their discussion. It was summer and they were sitting in direct sun. That was her story and she was sticking to it.

Smirking at her own reaction more than his, she asked, “Are you finished?”

“For now,” he said softly and it sounded like a vow wrapped in a threat. He faced the front again and turned off the truck. The muscle spasm in his cheek was back and she was a little ashamed at how much she had missed it.

“Great. Consider me suitably chastised. Good to know that sanctimonious speeches are a Jones family trait,” she said with a genuine smile before kicking open the door and leaving him behind.

—

It was more of a battle to get her personal belonging than it should have been. Luckily David showed up halfway through her argument with the man on duty and signed off on the release of all but one of their bags. Killian had brooded for a few minutes but eventually followed her into the station and helped carry the bags first to the truck and then into his place when they reached it.

She hadn’t had time to think about what his home would look like but the oceanfront cottage was much nicer than she would have pictured if she had tried. It occurred to her that while she knew he had a affair about a decade ago, that he could sword fight, that he had the most expressive face she had ever encountered, and apparently could read her like a book, she really didn’t know that much about him. Like what he did for a living that allowed him to afford a place like this.

In what she thought was a sage decision, she had backed off after their run-in or she would have given into her interest and asked him. He had been subdued during the ride and as a person who liked to lick her wounds in private she knew when she met a like soul so she kept things light. Complimenting the view and the peaceful color scheme of creams and blues, she took only long enough to drop her bag in the guest room before swiftly exiting his space and walking back to the truck.

He seemed a bit more like his earlier self by the time they reached the hospital. He offered to pick up some coffee from the cafeteria for them, probably thinking she’d want some time alone with Liam.

It was with some surprise that she found that Liam already had a visitor, although it appeared he was asleep and may not be aware of it. Emma heard a sniffle and saw the woman’s shoulders shaking and immediately tried to back out of the room to give them some time. It was a sound plan until she caught her injured side on the door handle with a loud crack and couldn’t stop herself from dancing around a little bit and whispering in hissed pain, “Crap! Crap! That really hurts!”

The woman came to her feet in one fluid motion, wiping at her tears with the back of her hand and looking embarrassed. She was beyond beautiful, her long white blonde hair cascading in loose waves down her back and wearing sky blue scrubs that looked like a ball gown on her. And unlike Emma, she was able to cry without looking like a complete wreck for the rest of the day.

“I’m sorry—“ they said at the exact same moment and then they both chuckled quietly, intent on not disturbing the patient. Emma took a deep breath, trying to work the pain out from the inside. It made her want to punch something because it hurt so bad. Refusing to give into it, she continued drawing air in and out slowly.

Once the stars that had sparked around her faded, she thought it safe to try to introduce herself. “Emma Swan.”

Before the other woman could reply, she heard Killian behind her. “Elsa, I would have brought you a coffee if I had known you were here.”

He moved past her and placed a quick kiss on Elsa’s cheek and offered her his cup. So, clearly a friend of the family Emma gathered. Move along, nothing to see here. Except she was pretty sure that crying at the bedside of an unconscious man was some next level stuff. Internally, she cursed Liam and his sneaky secrets.

“Oh I’m fine, Killian, I had a little break in my day and decided to check up on my newest patient,” she explained nervously, as if she owed Emma a reason for her visit.

Trying to ease some of the woman’s tension, she smiled kindly and guessed, “Are you a doctor here?”

“Physical therapist,” Elsa explained with a grin of her own and Emma was once again struck by how beautiful the woman was as she moved to stand next to her. If the physical therapy thing didn’t work out for her, she could be a model or a queen or a goddess.

“Liam will be in good hands then,” she replied, and then wondered if she said something wrong with the way both Killian and Elsa shuffled uncomfortably. Seriously, what the hell was the story here.

“Yes. Well, I should get going,” Elsa admitted, eyes not quite meeting Emma’s stare. Her smile for Killian was more natural though. She left quickly, a less graceful person than her would have been accused of trotting out of the room.

Blowing out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, Emma looked over at Killian with a raised eyebrow. He was busy scratching behind his ear, a mannerism that made him look like a guilty toddler.

“I guess Liam told you about Elsa.” His gruffness showed he resented the situation his brother had put him in.

You and me both, Emma wanted to say. Considering she was reasonably certain that the ‘difficult circumstance’ Liam had mentioned during the road trip had just walked out the door as if the hounds of hell were at her feet, she didn’t think it was a lie when she said, “Of course.”

Because the fact was, calling what had evidently been a serious relationship a ‘difficult circumstance’ was probably as close as Liam would come to baring his soul anyway.

His shoulders relaxed knowing he wouldn’t be the one to break the news. Assessing her mood, he added in a disbelieving tone, “I assume by your peaceful air that you have no issues with Elsa, the love of his life, taking care of him during his convalescence?”

“Those weren’t quite the words he used when we talked,” she confessed, hating that she felt like she should be the one apologizing about this mess.

“He wouldn’t have with you, would he?” He looked chagrined, as if he suddenly realized that referring to another woman as the love of his brother’s life may have offended her.

“Not sure what you mean but to answer your question, I have no problem with Elsa doing her job.” There. Perhaps not the whole truth but she was getting better at skirting the lies. “We’re all grown-ups here, aren’t we, Jones?”

In a moment of blinding honesty, Killian said with a touch of awe, “I’m not sure what to make of you, Swan.”

“Good,” she laughed, the sound becoming a peace offering between them and allowing the rest of the afternoon to pass without any tension.

#ouat #captain swan #emma swan #killian jones #cs ff

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calypsoff · 4 years

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Fifteen.

I am so glad Robyn didn’t put me in for an early flight, I was busy playing 2K and I ended up going to sleep at four in the morning now I had to rush to pack, I used a suitcase because I am going to be gone for a while, not like it’s a weekend so I had to take the necessary things with me for this, I don’t know what Robyn is up too or what she is doing but I am taking my laptop with me so I can you know, maybe do some work while I am out there, took some of my own clothing line stuff so I can wear but I am ready, I am nervous but ready. I am going to leave my ego here, well try too but I am leaving it here and enjoying myself for whatever is to come, I just made my bed and tidied up my room so it’s going to be clean for when I come back, but I am ready. Grabbing my suitcase and dragging it out, I am so excited. I have never felt like this before about something, the excitement is not for the things to happen but to see Robyn, I really missed her. I can’t wait to see her face, I am going to be in her territory and that alone scares me, but I am going to let her take care of me, as she wants too. I have trimmed my pubes, shaved my beard that was growing and coloured my hair blonde, I think it looks good, according to my barber’s wife I look handsome so I will take that, she called me a model and said I have good cheekbones, I thanked her again so it must look good on me “Sisqo!” TJ spat; TJ is still here. Robyn told me to leave him be, I am. Things are rocky, but I deal with it, TJ was really the nigga to help me escape that shit I guess. We do get a long as we do but he always apologises for what happened which I appreciate because he did fuck up bad, it wasn’t good what he did. Seiko is heartbroken according to TJ, I blocked her on everything, I am done with her now. And he thinks she will get rid of the baby but it’s not my problem, Robyn said mind my business, so I am “y’all are goofy, I look good” they both dumb “you really gone blonde, it’s wild” Barry keeps looking at me crazy.

Barry cooked me lunch, he out here being a chef “salmon? Wow, you upping your game” shuffling my seat in “well we ain’t going to see you for a while, we will miss your birthday so I went all out. I love cooking so here we are, I have dessert too, I made your favourite bro. Cheesecake” my smile grew “y’all mushy as fuck, thank you” this is sweet of them “oh and here, me and TJ put in for this” he pushed the spare dining chair back and grabbed something “gift!? For me?” I am shocked “you missed many birthday’s bro, this is the first one that you’re here, you just missed out on the other one, so here. We put in together for you” he placed a neatly wrapped box and a card “these some love letters in this? You both are being very mushy for me, my mom was saying she wanted to come here for my birthday, I declined and told her why” opening the card first “who cried a little writing in the card?” pulling out the card, they are so sentimental. Looking at the front of the card “yooo, look at us niggas. Man how old were we? This is like thirteen? My jeans were too big bro, oh god. Good memories, we always been down” opening the card “this is weird, to be out and opening gifts, emotional” I sighed out “I know this is TJ’ writing, can’t write for shit” I chuckled “my brother from another mother, the nigga I look up too. I am appreciative of you, I don’t deserve to have a friendship because I do fuck up, I am the Eddy of the gang and I believe that. You protected me a lot and I am happy you are out, happy birthday breezy. Aww, TJ. Did you cry?” He waved me off “Barry, Breezy and Breeze, the three Bs. I am not writing shit else but happy birthday” I laughed at Barry being blunt, putting the card down “you were also crying; you both are emotional for me. Nigga might think you are gay for me” putting the card down “thank you for the card, it’s nice. I am smiling but it’s really hit my heart in a good way” TJ clapped his hands together “gift next” he seems excited.

Ripping open the wrapped gift, I am excited to see what it is “what this, a box!?” I spat, placing the paper on the table. Opening the box to see a gold chain, my eyes widened “jewellery!?” I spat “it wasn’t cheap, like that is real gold bro, no cheap shit. Can you tell how pure it looks; it holds weight. Like it’s slim and stuff but it holds weight, like we put money into it for you and got it you. It was expensive” I am shook, like this is so nice “I seem like a girl getting all excited but wow, I love it. I really do, I never looked for gold like that. I am just me, you know me. I love it. I promise to wear it” getting up from the chair “bring it in” Barry got up from his chair, hugging him “I love you Chris, you know I got you” he patted my back “always, I got your back like you got mine” moving back from the hug “you for real got my ex pregnant” TJ put his head down laughing “something I got to live with, I pray she gets it gone” hugging him either way “don’t fuck up on me, you rode for me when I was down, niggas was talking shit saying that I was a bad name but you was there and that is what means the most, you not here for highs’sbecause I ain’t got that yet. Just think, yeah?” patting his chest as I sat down “TJ is like our little brother even though we the same age, it’s wild. Like he’s a child the way he acts” Barry is right “I believe in us, I want us to win together. You both never turned your backs on me, and I won’t do that to you, so we got this. And this, thank you. I did not expect a gift like this, wow. My first piece of jewellery, real gold too. You can tell it is too, thank you” I am in awe with what they did for me, they didn’t have too.

Robyn has set out rules for me and then told me see you tomorrow, she hasn’t even messaged me but she did say she would be busy today to tie up some loose ends and she will call me when things are set “you think Robyn will like me, like do I look good?” I have to ask, the buzzer went off “I will get it but yes, you look so much better. The hair is wild, in a good way” TJ said as he jogged off, I sighed out feeling nervous but I can’t wait to see her “look at you, you’re like a nervous bride” Barry snorted laughing “nervous bride, nigga fuck you” I chuckled “but did I lie” I feel it “bro it’s for you” TJ said seeing this guy in a suit “Chris?” he said, who the hell is this “uh yeah, who are you?” TJ let’s anyone in “I am your driver to take you to the airport, Robyn sent me to collect” TJ gasped “oh shit! You are being collected! Bro, that is crazy. Have fun, like we are living through you” Robyn really got a driver to pick me up “uh yeah, I am ready. I was about to call an uber” the guy smiled “no need too, I will wait for you outside” Barry and I just looked at each other, we are shook. Robyn really planned all this, no wonder she was upset when I said I wasn’t coming.

The last SUV I rode was in the back of a undercover police, when they caught me and I drove in the back with them, I had two officers at each side of me, like I was a criminal, I mean yes I did bad but that is the last time I rode in one and look at me, I am in the back of a SUV with a driver. This shit is beautiful “is this all paid for?” I have to ask “yes sir, everything is done. I will drop you off at the private charter” this is crazy “thank you” I am so fucking excited; Robyn is about to blow my mind and I know it. I am so thankful, good friends too “do you know who the person that booked this?” I am wondering if he does “I am sure you know who it is sir, I will say Robyn and you know who” I am guessing he does “have you met this person?” I have to ask “yes indeed when they came to Texas, they use the company I drive for all of the time” nodding my head “privacy is key, do you have your passport?” he asked “I do, it’s in my duffle bag” picking it up from the floor of the car “that is fine, you just need to show it when we arrive” I am so excited.

I am mind blown, I mean I have seen a private jet before but that was just me dropping Robyn off, this jet is huge though and it’s only me, she really got me on a jet, shook right now “hey” I said to the driver “my case!?” I spat, he smiled at me “it’s already been taken to be put onto the jet, have a lovely day” letting out an oh, they take my shit they self. I swear I wish my niggas were with me, we would be getting hype together, I can only do this on my own. I need to video this shit, memories. Getting my phone from my pocket, I don’t care if I look crazy, but I need to keep this for myself. Tapping on video, pressing record as I videoed the jet “birthday just started, this is crazy” making my way to the jet still recording “welcome” the pilot smiled at me and got his hand out to me “hey” shaking his hand “welcome aboard” he gestured for me to get on board, this is wild. I am such a tourist “good afternoon Chris” I nearly fell back down the steps “oh yeah, hi” the flight attendant, of course there would one here “take a seat, would you like me to put your bag away” shaking my head, looking down the aisle of empty seats and a whole couch, this is wild. This is how the rich ride; I want it myself.

I sat next to the window seat, all to myself “sir would you like anything to eat?” looking away from the window “uhm” I paused, and the thought came into my mind, Robyn wants me to eat fruit. She said my cum was bad, I don’t know but let me do that “erm, fruit. Just some fruis, I am not bothered the kind” she smiled walking off, I am really on Robyn’ jet like this is her life. She just jumps on this shit and rides off without a care, I like it and I appreciate that she even do this for me, I am being more open to letting her do this because I would actually just make my own way there, I am really going to see the rich, I mean do I look the part. Are my clothes expensive enough for that, least I have a gold chain. Is my gold Casio watch too cheap, I like this watch it’s cool but do I look the part for that, will I even fit in to what she has. I mean the luxury; you can smell money. Like I can ask for anything, they will do it to make me happy. I am not sure if that is a life I want, I mean last time I let money get to me and I don’t want that to happen again, it won’t but I just hope I fit in to Robyn’ life without is being a struggle to settle down.

I haven’t been here before, I mean I have heard about the city of dreams but here I am inside of LAX, I am shook and it’s already how imagined, horribly busy. Robyn called earlier, just checking on me, but we were landing, I am so excited to be here. Dragging my suitcase along seeing a man in a suit with my name on a paper, we locked eyes “Chris?” he rushed over to me “uh yeah, that is me?” he looks relieved “bit land with landing, that is why” he smiled “that is fine, your ride awaits” he pointed at the SUV, another SUV Robyn is really spoiling me already, she has made sure I wasn’t without a ride, I mean if I use my brain she hasn’t told me where her home is, I am so slow. Of course she planned it, where the hell was I going with no address, I am dumb “let me” he took my suitcase from me, wild times ahead of me. Following behind the guy, opening the door myself to get in “sorry I would have opened it for you” he doesn’t need to do much.

I didn’t ask the driver where we are going, it seems like a long ride there. It’s been about fifteen minutes and we been just driving, he put music on for me, but I am sick of riding around now, I am bored of it “hey” I said out loud “yes sir?” he looked at me in the rear-view mirror “where are we going?” I mean I could be getting kidnapped “you don’t know?” he chuckled “uh no, I never really verified who you were, you could be kidnapping me “you are from the country, welcome to California. I am taking you to your destination, which is West Hollywood” oh wow “really? Hollywood?” he keeps laughing at me “yes, our client lives there” nodding my head slowly “been there before?” I asked, I keep asking these drivers if they have driven Robyn before “oh yes, I am always driving her around. The home is beautiful just a new purchase for her, very big. She is very kind too, I would usually drop her off at the apartment but she moved from that” that is Robyn, she is kind “cool, first time I am going there” I laughed nervously “meeting her too?” he asked, it was such a simple question, but it feels like I am meeting her for the first time but it’s like, I am meeting her in her own bubble, so I am seeing that Robyn now “erm, I have met her a few times. Just never come to California before” I mumbled.

Rich folk alert, these homes are for the rich, oh my god this is fucking wild to me. These homes are for the rich and famous, these are mansions, private property shit. I am in awe, she lives around here “we have arrived!” he half shouted before buzzing in, oh shit this is really Robyn’ place but I thought she had no home, this is crazy “I have Chris in the car” that voice isn’t Robyn, what if I have been kidnapped, this is wild “this home is twelve thousand dollars, very beautiful” the driver drove down the drive ever so slowly, a long drive down. As the greenery moved from the eyesight I lay my eyes on the home she is in, the biggest front yard, well I think this is parking space but it’s huge “and here we are” he stopped his car.

Now I am outside this home and she is nowhere to be seen, is she kidding me. What if I have been kidnapped, now I am doubting myself. The left side of the tall door opened, I am just stood here from afar confused, this small Chinese girl appeared “Tina here, come” she waved me over “who are you?” I mean we may have met but I don’t remember “Rihanna’ assistant, come in. She is inside” letting out an oh, maybe we did meet. Dragging my suitcase as she opened the door wide for me to enter “thank you” looking up at the high walls as I entered the home, the door shut behind me “she is coming, and there” looking behind me seeing Robyn, she is running to me. Letting go of my duffle bag and suitcase “you came!” she jumped on me, I caught her, picking her up as she wrapped her legs around my waist “I did! I missed you” I admitted, Robyn squeezed her arms around my neck “I am so fucking happy you are here! And you see this?” she moved back, placing her hands over my face “I have a home now, I been so busy. My poppa is here and your hair!!! Wow baby” she pressed a kiss to my lips “I hope you didn’t go all out for me now?” I grinned “to shut you up yes, god. I am so fucking happy you are here, I been busy Chris, now you’re here” she hugged me again.

#Chrianna FF #Chrianna #Chrianna Fanfiction #Fanfic #Fanfiction

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just-my-sickly-pride · 5 years

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Swansong || Roger Taylor x fem!Reader

summary || sequel to ‘debut’. it’s sixteen years after you and roger first started dating. fourteen years since you graduated university. eight years since you married someone else. three weeks since you realised your husband was cheating on you. what are the chances that you run into roger, after all this time?

rating || family friendly, folks, apart from a few swear words here and there. just angst. pure angst, basically. with a christmassy, festive vibe.

word count || 5.8k (somehow, for fuck’s sake)

author’s notes || so, i’ve had quite a few people ask about a ‘debut’ sequel. surprise! here’s the sequel that i’m sure none of you were after. the idea just popped into my head and, despite the fact that i do not like reading angst (or writing, generally), here i am. also, this is a much older roger than i normally write for (he’s 52 in this), but i still wouldn’t call it pd roger by any means. this video is what i pictured when i was writing him - he was actually 52 years old in 1999, so it works perfectly. roger talks about his kids in this fic, but bc this is an alternate universe, of course, i’ve not used the names of his real kids. (sidenote: there’s an oc in here whose name is naoise - it’s pronounced ‘neesha’!)

masterlist

“I can’t do this anymore. I have to break up with him right now. I have to.”

Justine grabs your wrist, snatching your phone from your hand. “No, are you serious? What are you going to do, break up with him over the phone? Text him?”

Your bottom lip trembles, and you feel tears well in your eyes. “I can’t deal with this anymore, Juss. He hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you.” Justine sets your phone down on the table, and cups your cheeks in her hands, brushing the tears away with her thumbs. “Hey. Hey. It’s okay. Deep breath. In and out. With me.”

You follow her lead – a shaky breath in, a shaky breath out.

“I’m sorry you’re going through this,” she murmurs. “I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone, especially not my best friend. But you have to hold it together until after Christmas, okay? Just two more weeks. For April.”

You nod, and take another steady breath. “For April.” April, your daughter, the love of your life.

“Let’s just go to this stupid party, all right?” Justine said. “Go fix your make-up, I’ll call an Uber.”

You nod, she gives you a warm, sad smile, and you head to the bathroom.

You take a drink of water and sigh heavily, then dig out your make-up to fix your foundation and mascara. Fuck him, you think to yourself. Fuck him for ruining everything. Eight years of marriage. Hope that side piece was worth it.

You’re not sure if he knows that you know about… all of that. But you have your suspicions. He’s not exactly trying to hide it. Coming home late, smelling of another woman’s perfume, having no other excuse other than he’s ‘working late’. He’s been telling you for weeks that he’s just been ‘too tired’ for sex.

But he’s with April tonight, while you and Justine are heading to the Christmas party of an old friend from uni.

You tell yourself it’ll be a fun night. It’ll be nice to get away from home for a few hours, anyway.

The host, Naoise, welcomes the both of you with a glamorous smile and kisses on the cheek, and waves you over with a manicured hand to the drinks table. You recognise a few familiar faces in the room, but you and Justine stick mostly together. Christmas music – mostly Michael Bublé, from what you can hear – croons in the background, just underneath the hum of conversation.

“She was always good at throwing these things, wasn’t she?” Justine murmurs into her glass of champagne.

You nod and hum in agreement, trying to surreptitiously cram an appetiser into your mouth and eat it as quickly as possible. “Nice of her to invite us,” you manage to mumble around the mouthful.

“Yeah,” Justine says. “Naoise was always lovely.”

“Have you met her kids?”

“Yeah. She had them young, didn’t she? Right out of uni? They’re, what, ten and twelve now?”

You finally swallow the food. “Christ.” You pick up your wine and take a gulp to wash it down. “Uh, yeah, I think so. She and Chin got married, like, a month after we graduated or something. Can you imagine April being that old?”

Justine snorts. “I thought I had my kids young. But she seems happy, so I’m happy for her.”

“Mm, yeah.” You take another sip of wine. “Wow. Getting married at, like, twenty-one, twenty-two. Oof.”

“Right?” Justine says lowly. “Like, I would’ve been terrified. I was dating Amanda.”

Your eyes widen. “Holy shit, Amanda. I forgot all about her.”

“I know! I can’t believe we dated for almost three years. Even I forget about her sometimes. Can’t imagine being married to her. Eugh. Plus, if Amanda hadn’t dumped me six months after graduation, then I never would’ve met Jules. I wouldn’t have the kids I have now.”

“Weird.”

“Yeah. Weird.” Justine’s eyes idly meander over the mingling crowd, and then she looks to you. “Out of everyone you dated at uni, who would you have married? If you had to choose.”

You sigh. “Juss, I don’t know if I wanna talk about marriage and stuff right now. Not marriage when it’s got anything to do with me, anyway.”

“Right, of course. Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” You give her a reassuring smile.

The two of you drink in silence. You know you should be mingling with everyone else, making small talk, but it’s been a rough couple of weeks, to put it lightly. And everyone will be asking how’s Will? and all of those casual questions and you’ll feel overwhelmingly uncomfortable and bitter that everyone is prying into your personal life, even if they aren’t, they’re just being polite, and that’s just too much to think about.

So staying by the snacks table it is.

“Roger,” you say softly.

“Hm?”

You chew on the inside of your cheek, and glance at Justine. “I, um– I would’ve married Roger. You remember him? Second year? The older guy?”

Justine gives you a look. “Uh, do I remember him? The guy who was, like, twenty years older than you and you lost your virginity to? He paid you for it? Yes, I remember him.”

“Sixteen years, thanks,” you correct her. “And he didn’t mean to pay me for it, it was a mix-up, his friends set him up, and– oh, whatever, you know the story, I don’t know why I’m telling you again.”

“I’m just saying, hard to forget something like that,” Justine says. “You would’ve married him?”

You nod. “Given time, yeah, I think so. There was just something about him, y’know? I mean, it makes sense why we didn’t work out. He was older, and I had uni, and I’d never really dated before, all of that. I think it was just a matter of wrong place, wrong time. But he’s – well, everyone has their ‘one that got away’, don’t they?”

“I guess,” Justine says. She thinks for a moment, and then says, “I used to think mine was the girl I dated all through high school, Kayla. Then I met Jules.”

“Really?” you say. “You don’t have anyone who you think would have been your perfect match, had things just been a little different?”

Justine shrugs a shoulder. “Maybe at the time. But not now.”

You look away, and finish the rest of your wine. “I’m getting another glass,” you mutter.

“Hey, hey, [Y/N],” Justine says, taking your wrist. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”

You shake your head. “It’s not your fault.” You hesitate, and then say, “Am I a bad wife for– for thinking that? Even after Will and I got married, I– I mean, I never wished I had Roger instead of Will, but I just always knew that, if things had been different, then I know I would’ve ended up with Roger.”

“No,” Justine says firmly. “No. You were never a bad wife. You’re still not. Don’t ever think that.”

You take a moment to drink this in, and then say, “You know, I’m the same age now that Roger was when I first started dating him?” You let out a laugh. “Oh my God, I’m thirty-six. When the fuck did that happen?”

Justine chuckles. “I know. I still feel twenty.”

“I still feel seventeen, sometimes.”

“I don’t think that ever changes.”

“No, maybe not.” You twirl the empty wine glass in your fingers. “I was head-over-heels for that guy.”

“For Roger?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, I could tell,” Justine says with a grin. “I always thought it was just because the sex was really good. And he had the money to buy you nice stuff.”

“All of that helped,” you say lightly, and Justine laughs. “But he was just such a good guy as well. He was such a good listener, and he was so thoughtful and patient and understanding, and, I don’t know if you remember, but he used to do this thing where he’d invite me over if I’d had a hard day at uni, and when I arrived, he’d have a bubble bath all ready for me, and some snacks, and he just…” You trail away. No point in getting too caught up in the memories.

“I always liked him,” Justine says. “After I got over the age gap. For what it’s worth, I think he really liked you, too.”

You nod. “Yeah, I think he did.” You sigh. “Well. No use thinking it over, is there? Doubt I’ll ever see him again.”

Justine freezes, her eyes like dinner plates.

“Juss?” you say. “What, what is it?”

“No fucking way,” she murmurs. Her eyes flick to yours, and she grabs your wrist again, her grip tight. “You’re not going to believe this. I cannot believe this is happening. Turn around.”

“What?” You turn around, and your jaw drops to the floor.

Talk about speak of the Devil.

He’s older, definitely. How old would he be now? Fifty-two.

You wouldn’t have picked it. You would’ve guessed maybe mid-forties. But he always did have a bit of a younger face.

“Am I dreaming?” you say. “Am I actually dreaming?”

“What are the goddamn chances,” Justine says incredulously.

You watch as Roger greets Naoise, and then her husband Chin. By the way Chin beams, you guess Roger was his invite.

“Go say hello,” Justine hisses, nudging you.

You whirl around to look at her. “Are you out of your mind?” you hiss back. “I haven’t seen him for, like, sixteen years!”

“Then you’ll have so much to catch up on.”

“He wouldn’t even remember me. We only dated for less than a year.”

“Don’t be like that. You’re as hard to forget as he is. I’m sure he’ll remember forking over three months’ wages to sleep with y–”

“Jesus Christ, Justine, can you give it a rest already?”

Justine tries to smother a smile. “Sorry.”

You shake your head. “No, it’s too weird. Especially in light of everything, and this whole conversation, it’s… No. Maybe later, but not now.”

“Maybe it’s fate, or something.”

“Don’t,” you say, your voice hard. “I’m gonna get another drink.”

You leave Justine at the snack table.

You’re just deciding whether to stick to wine or to switch to champagne when a shocking familiar voice says behind you, “Good God, [Y/N]?”

Hearing him say your name again really is like something out of a dream – like a memory come to life. You turn to him, and, inexplicably, feel a blush heat your cheeks. You have no idea what to say, so you just say, “Roger?” as if you hadn’t already known he was here.

Up close, you can tell more easily that he’s aged. But he still smells good – different, but good – and he’s dressed nicely.

Still not wearing glasses, though. He never did. You used to pester him all the time about it when you dated.

There’s a moment of awkwardness, but both of you go in for a brief hug. It’s weird. You shouldn’t have gone for the hug.

“My God, it’s been how long?” Roger says with a laugh. “Fifteen years or something?”

“Something like that, yeah,” you say.

“You look great.”

“Thanks. So do you.”

“Oh, don’t,” Roger says, waving a hand dismissively. “I’m actually old now, I know.”

“No, you do,” you insist. “Look good, I mean. Genuinely.”

His outfit is simple, black-and-white, which almost surprises you. He used to dress a little more eclectically; there was always something patterned or brightly coloured in just about every outfit he wore, especially to parties. Maybe it’s something he’s outgrown. The thought makes you quietly sad.

He does have a little reindeer pin on his lapel, though. It looks handmade, like something he would have bought at a market, made out of mini pom-poms and tufts of tinsel. So maybe he hasn’t outgrown that part of him entirely.

He seems a little flustered by your compliment, and, yep, that’s the Roger you remember. “Well, er, thank you. And I meant it too, of course.”

“Thank you.” An unmistakably awkward moment passes, and you blurt out, “You– How are you? What brings you here?”

“Funny story, actually.” Roger ducks forward and grabs a glass of red, and you take the opportunity to take some champagne. “I, uh, decided I hated dentistry, so I went back to uni and studied biology instead. Wanted to become a professor, but I was already thirty-seven when I started, and I would’ve had to retire by the time I got my PhD. I’m a teacher these days, high school teacher. Chin just started working with me earlier this year, and we hit it off, I suppose.”

You blink in surprise. “A biology teacher?”

Roger chuckles. “Yes, I know. My friends were all shocked and appalled when I told them. The salary’s miserable in comparison, but I don’t hate my life when I wake up in the mornings, so I see that as a positive.”

You hesitate, unsure whether to ask, but go for it anyway. “Did you always hate being a dentist? I don’t…” Is this too far? Is this out of line? “I mean, well, I don’t remember you hating it that much.”

Roger drinks this in, and then nods to himself. “Right, yeah,” he says, sounding almost surprised. “I, um, never really told you, actually. I didn’t want to, uh, force you to listen to me whine about a job I hated while you were studying and all of that.”

“Oh,” you say. You look at your champagne. You should’ve stuck to wine.“Well, for what it’s worth, I wouldn’t have minded. At all. As I remember, I used to whine about university all the time.”

“University’s for whining,” Roger says with a shrug. “I’d done my fair share of that already, all through dentistry school. And I got to do it again, as it turned out.”

“Is there, ah, anything else you didn’t tell me while we were dating?” you joke half-heartedly.

Roger’s eyebrows raise. “Oh, I–”

“No, sorry, I was kidding,” you jump in. “Obviously, I don’t expect you to…” You inwardly curse yourself, and pour some champagne down your throat.

Roger opens his mouth, as if to say something, and, in the back of your mind, you recognise that look, but you can’t quite place what it is.

Then someone calls Roger’s name, and the look is gone, and Roger politely excuses himself from the conversation to be swept up in another.

You bolt back to the snack table, as subtly as you can, but Justine is nowhere to be found. You quietly vow to throttle her next time you see her for disappearing on you, and shovel one more appetiser into your mouth, washing it down with champagne, then turn to face the crowd you’ve been immaturely avoiding all night.

It feels like an hour, but must be no more than twenty, maybe twenty-five minutes, before you find a reasonable excuse to slip away again. You’re not having a bad time, per se, and you’re enjoying getting to catch up with old acquaintances, but it’s damn exhausting. You still haven’t seen Justine.

You wish it wasn’t so freezing outside. You could do with some fresh air.

Maybe another drink will help keep you warm. Even though you know you shouldn’t. You’re already tipsy.

You take another flute of champagne and slip outside onto the balcony. The automatic light switches on.

Your fingers and toes immediately feel like they’re about to fall off. “Eugh, this was a mistake,” you mutter to yourself, and bob up and down on the spot. The balcony is dotted with snow, but it’s hardly been the coldest winter you’ve ever lived through. It’s not snowing right now, at least. And it is nice to have some time to yourself.

The back door slides open, and you turn to see who’s joining you, hoping it’s Justine.

It’s Roger. He gives you a smile – a little nervous, a little shy, almost – and holds out your jacket. “You looked cold.”

The first thing that comes out of your mouth is: “How’d you know it was mine?”

“I asked Naoise. Here, let me hold your drink.”

You pass him your champagne, and slip on your jacket, then take the flute back. “Thanks.”

“No worries.” Roger moves closer to you, standing beside you, and squints up at the dark sky. “Not much snow this winter.”

You follow his gaze. The moon is half-full. “No,” you agree.

The sounds of the party are muffled behind you. Beyond the balcony, you can see through the bright yellow windows of Naoise’s neighbours – the silhouettes of family dinners, of other parties, the white light of TVs.

“Sorry,” Roger says, breaking the silence. “You probably came out here to have some alone time. I shouldn’t have intruded. I can go back inside.”

“No, it’s all right,” you say. This is nice, you want to add. But you don’t know if that’s appropriate, and you can’t think of anything to say instead, so you just leave the sentiment hanging in the icy air.

“I realised I never asked what you’re doing with yourself these days,” Roger says.

“Ah, just working,” you reply. “I’m a market research analyst.”

“Oh, right. How long have you been doing that for?”

“Since I finished uni, really. Well, I worked my way up. Started as an intern in web content writing, realised I preferred data analysis, so I wormed my way into market research. But I’ve been an analyst for almost ten years now.”

Roger ponders this. “Do you enjoy it?”

“Yeah,” you say with a nod. “I know it sounds boring. Most people think I’m mad for not only wanting to do my job, but actually enjoying it, but I do.”

Roger smiles, and it’s a fond smile, a smile that you used to see all the time, and you feel a stab in your chest. A voice in the back of your mind whispers, Do you remember what it feels like to be loved like that? When was the last time Will smiled at you like that? When was the last time he smiled at you at all?

You push that voice aside. You’re just lonely, and hurt, and sad. You’re reading far too much into a simple smile.

“I think it’s great that you love it,” Roger says. “How lucky you found something you enjoy doing so early in your career.”

You’re taken a little off-guard, and you duck your head to hide your smile. “Yeah, I guess I am lucky.”

You take a sip of champagne.

“Speaking of lucky – who’s the lucky man?”

You try not to cringe. “Oh. Uh.” You glance down at the wedding ring that caught Roger’s eye. “Yes. Um, his name is Will. We met at a work do, actually. Been married eight years.”

“He couldn’t make it tonight?”

“No.” You don’t elaborate.

Roger says nothing to that, and you wonder if he’s picked up on the bitterness in your tone, as much as you tried to hide it.

“Right,” Roger says eventually. He clears his throat. “Any kids?”

“Yes,” you say, and there’s no pretending now – the love in your voice is real. “April. She’s three.”

“April,” Roger muses. “Lovely name.”

“Thank you.” You grin at him. “Actually, this is going to sound so strange, but I always thought to myself that I wanted to be as good of a parent to my kids as you were to yours.”

Roger blinks at you – his eyes are still big and blue, but you doubted even God himself could change that – and, if you’re not mistaken, you can see his face start to colour in the beam of the balcony light. “Oh,” he says. “That’s… one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me.”

You chuckle. “Well, it’s true. You were such an amazing dad. I’m sure you still are.”

“I try to be.”

“How old are they now? Gosh, they’d all be finished high school now, wouldn’t they?”

“Yeah,” Roger says, shaking his head in disbelief. “Yes, um, my youngest, Sam, she graduated last year. She’s taking a year off this year, working and travelling. Daphne’s the oldest, if you remember, and she’s moving in with her girlfriend soon. She still lives at her mum’s, but her and Asha have been looking for a place for a few months now. She’s an industrial designer. Then there’s Fox, he’s a musician, he’s a bassist, and Sophie’s still at uni, she’s studying theatre, and she wants to do a master’s in artistic directing.”

“Wow,” you say. You never got to know his kids personally too well – you met them a handful of times, but you were far too nervous to spend too much time with them back in the day. The last time you saw them, Daphne hadn’t even started high school. Sam was still learning to talk. “Wow, that’s– they’re so grown-up now.”

“God, you don’t have to tell me,” Roger says with a chuckle.

You shake your head, sighing, and drink some more champagne. “Do you have a lucky lady, then?”

Roger’s face tightens, and he looks down at his left hand, splaying his fingers, but you don’t see a ring. He tucks his hand into his pocket. “I’ve been seeing someone for two months now, almost three,” he says. “Jean. I teach one of her kids. She’s lovely.”

“Jean,” you repeat. “She couldn’t make it tonight?”

Roger shakes his head. “No. She’s a nurse, so she often works nights.” He pauses, and then says quickly, “She’s fifty.”

You can’t help but laugh. “Right.”

“I didn’t want you to think that I always go for younger women,” Roger explains hastily. “You were an outlier. A wonderful outlier, but an outlier nonetheless.”

“‘A wonderful outlier’,” you muse, a touch playfully. “Could be the name of my memoir.”

“It could very well be,” Roger says.

Something doesn’t sit quite right. It seems impossible that someone wouldn’t have married Roger in sixteen years. Surely he’s not just been dating on and off that whole time. Not a guy like him.

Don’t pry, you tell yourself. Don’t pry, don’t pry, don’t pry– “I don’t mean to pry,” you say, and hate yourself for it, “but – did you ever get remarried, or…?”

Roger looks a little taken aback.

“Sorry,” you say. “That’s so rude, I’m sorry.”

“What gave it away?” Roger says.

You bite your lip. “You, um, looked at your left hand. No ring.”

Roger nods. “Hm. Well. Got it in one.” He shoots you a wry smile, but you can see that he’s uncomfortable. “You seem to keep appearing in my life after I’ve gone through a divorce.”

“I’m so sorry,” you say. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s all right,” Roger says. “It was a year ago now, just about.”

“Were you married long?”

“Twelve years.”

“Christ, Roger, I’m sorry.”

Roger just shrugs, and sniffs, staring out at the apartments and houses beyond the balcony. But you can see the tension in his shoulders.

“I’m divorcing my husband,” you blurt out.

Roger looks to you. “I thought so,” he says carefully. “I could see it in your face when I asked about him.”

You chew on the inside of your cheek. “Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.”

You shake your head. “Don’t be. He deserves it.”

Roger grimaces. “Oh.”

“He’s been cheating. But I want to wait until after Christmas to– to do all of that. To tell him I’m leaving him, the lawyers, the paperwork. So April doesn’t have to go through it during Christmas. I don’t want to ruin it for her.”

Roger nods in understanding. He looks for a moment like he wants to reach out and touch you, comfort you, maybe, but he doesn’t. He just nods again and says, “You’re a good mum.”

Your throat tightens, and you have to look away. You don’t dare to try to thank him for the compliment. The last thing you need is to break down at a Christmas party in front of your ex.

“I’m sorry,” Roger says.

You manage a forced laugh, turning to him. “For what?”

“I don’t know,” he says. “I just… felt like I needed to say it.”

You drink him in. The moment feels familiar somehow, and simultaneously foreign altogether.

You sniff, but, luckily, no tears have fallen, and you take a breath to compose yourself.

“Can I get you another drink?” Roger offers, holding out his hand to take your empty flute.

“No, I shouldn’t,” you say. “I’ve had more than enough.” You chuckle. “I don’t remember ever saying that when we dated.”

You expect Roger to laugh along with you, but instead he blinks in shock at you. “Oh, er, I– I also never– I’m glad you…”

“You’re glad what, I enjoyed getting shitfaced?” you tease, not quite understanding his confusion.

His eyes go wide. “Oh, drinking. Yes, well, everyone’s like that at uni a bit, aren’t they?” He chuckles uncomfortably, and then rushes out, “Just getting a drink,” and disappears inside.

You frown to yourself. ‘Oh, drinking’? What else could you have possibly meant?

Unless Roger thought you were referring to–

Surely not.

Referring to the sex?

Your stomach drops to your feet. “Oh, God,” you groan softly, hiding your face behind your hand. You hope Roger doesn’t think you’re flirting with him.

That’d be a story to tell the kids, wouldn’t it? Or to tell Jean. Hey, love, guess what happened last night? Ran into an ex, I dated her almost twenty years ago for a couple months, and we weren’t even chatting for more than half an hour before she was cracking onto me. Even though she’s married. Turns out I still got it!

A shiver rocks through you, and you realise you can’t feel your fingers, but you’re loathe to head back inside. It’s nice out here, in the snow and ice, in a stiff, numb sort of way.

Roger reappears not long after, wine in hand. “Thought you’d have headed back inside by now.”

“I probably should,” you say, and cross your arms to warm up your hands. “But no, I don’t think I will.”

“Do you mind if I stay out here with you?”

You smile. “Not at all.”

You don’t know for how long the two of you stand out there. With each passing minute, more of the awkwardness and discomfort slips away. Maybe it’s the alcohol, but soon the two of you are chatting away like no time has passed at all, laughing and bickering.

He tells you more about the kids, and you tell him about April. He tells you about his second ex-wife – a title that he despises, and, for a while, you let him bemoan the notion that maybe he’s just a terrible husband before you tell him to stop feeling sorry for himself.

Mostly, you both reminisce about the past. About the good times and the bad.

“It was mostly good, though,” you say. “I like to think it was mostly good.”

Roger nods thoughtfully. “I think it was, yeah,” he says.

“I can’t even remember how we broke up.”

Roger snorts. “Are you joking?”

You shake your head, shrugging. “No. I remember going through the break-up period, which took me far longer to get over than I’m willing to admit to you.”

Roger grins. “Oh, yeah?” he teases.

“No, don’t,” you warn him with a laugh. “You’re not getting an ego boost from me.”

“Did you cry every night? Have a photo of me under your pillow? Eat lots of ice cream and watch rom-coms?”

“Shut up, I’m not saying a word.”

Roger laughs, and the sound of it makes your heart sing. “You’re not saying no.”

You roll your eyes. “I was in a lot of pain for a long time,” you say. “There, are you happy?”

Roger’s smile fades, and he looks down at his feet. “No, of course that doesn’t make me happy,” he says. He looks back to you. “For what it’s worth, I probably took even longer to get over you.”

You study his face. It’s a little more weathered, a little more lined, but it’s a face you missed for a very long time. “What happened?” you ask, so softly it’s almost a whisper, like you wouldn’t dare to speak the question any louder. “I… I really liked you, Rog. A lot. Loved you, even, although I– I didn’t know what love felt like at the time. Where did we go wrong?”

Roger swallows, and shakes his head minutely, his eyes drinking in yours. “I don’t know,” he murmurs. “Wrong place, wrong time. But I…” He cuts himself off, and takes a deep breath, looking away.

“But what?”

“Nothing.” Roger gives you a small smile. “I’ve never met Will, but he sounds like the stupidest man alive to hurt you like that.”

You snort a laugh. “Well. I’m sure he doesn’t think so.”

“It’ll be too late by the time he figures it out. Stupid men are like that.”

You don’t know what to say to that, so you don’t say anything at all. All you can think is that Roger really hasn’t changed much at all, and that Jean is a very fortunate woman.

Your phone buzzes, and you pull it out of your pocket to check it. “Ah, shit,” you mutter. It’s Will. April’s come down with a fever, the text says. Need you home.

“Is everything all right?” Roger asks.

You pocket your phone again. “April’s sick,” you say. “Duty calls.”

“Right, of course. Let me walk you inside.”

He opens the sliding door for you, and waves you in. “Age and beauty,” he says, and it catches you unaware, makes you laugh.

“I forgot you say that,” you say. It’s a play on age before beauty – Roger used to say that you bested in him both age and beauty, so the original phrase didn’t fit, and he insisted on saying his version of it every time he opened a door for you. Which was often. He liked that his silly little phrase made you giggle and give him a gentle slap on the arm.

“I haven’t said it in a long time, actually,” Roger says with a grin, closing the door behind him, trapping you both in the warmth, along with the music and conversation. “Not since you.”

You both stand there for a moment, grinning at each other, unsure how to proceed, and you feel a familiar squeeze of your heart. “I need to go,” you say, almost apologetically.

“Yes,” Roger says.

“I…” You hesitate. “Wait for me at the door, I just want to make the rounds, say quick goodbyes to everyone.”

“Sure,” Roger says, and you give his arm a quick squeeze, then track down Naoise and Chin to say your thank-yous and farewells, then Justine, then a couple of other people.

You grab your purse, and meet Roger at the front door. “I had a really nice time tonight,” you tell him. “Thank you.”

“I was just about to say the same thing,” he says.

You’re unsure what to say, but then an idea strikes you. “Do you want my number? It’d be nice to keep in touch.”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Roger says. “That’d be lovely.”

He hands over his phone, and you save your number. “Give me a call whenever,” he says, as you hand his phone back. “If you need someone to talk to, y’know. Or just for a chat. Divorces are… really not fun.”

You chuckle wryly. “Well, I suppose you’re the expert, aren’t you?”

“God, you’re just as rude as I remember,” Roger says with a roll of his eyes, laughing alongside you.

He stops in his tracks, his gaze towards the ceiling.

You tilt your head up. A decorative sprig of mistletoe hangs above the door.

You and Roger look at each other, your faces both pink.

Your heart clenches. Yes, Jean is a very fortunate woman indeed. “Funny,” you say with a nervous chuckle.

“Yeah, weird,” Roger says. “I don’t think I’ve ever even seen mistletoe in real life before.”

“Me, either.”

Another moment passes. “In another lifetime,” you say with a smile.

Roger takes a breath, and there’s something in his eyes, something you haven’t seen for a long time, and he nods, smiling back. “Yeah,” he says. “Right time, right place.”

You nod again, drinking this in, and sigh. “Okay, well, I really do need to go. I’m sure Will is on the verge of panic without me there.”

“Of course,” Roger says. “I hope April’s all right.”

“Thanks, Rog.” On a spur of the moment, you give him a peck on the cheek, and then let yourself out. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” he says. “I might see you soon?”

“You will,” you say. Your ride is almost here, so you give one final wave, and head to the lift.

The door closes.

You take the lift down and climb into the car.

You go home, say hello to your husband, and take care of your daughter.

That night, you sit in the dining room, nursing a hot chocolate, listening to the silence of the house.

Then, and only then, do you allow yourself to cry.

Your wallowing was short-lived, though - swiftly interrupted by a phone call from an unknown number.

You wipe your nose on your sleeve, grimacing, and answer. “Hello?”

“[Y/N]?”

You’re gobsmacked. “Roger?”

“I- I wasn’t expecting you to answer. I was just... going to leave a voice message to say this was my number.”

You let out a pitiful bubble of laughter. “Why didn’t you just text?”

There’s a pause, and then an embarrassed, “Oh, yes. I could’ve done that.”

You sniff. “It’s fine, no harm done. I’ll let you get to bed, it’s late.”

“Right,” Roger says. “Um, how’s- how’s April?”

“She’s good, yeah, thanks for asking. Gave her some painkillers and she went right to sleep.”

“Good, that’s good.”

“Yes.” You sniff again, wetly, and quickly wipe at your nose a second time. “Ah, well, I, um... should probably...”

“Go, yes,” Roger says. “Sorry. I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“No, no, not at all,” you reassure him. “I was just, um, having a hot chocolate.”

“Right, sounds important.”

You laugh. “It’s very important.”

“I’m sure it is. I’ll let you get back to it, then.”

“I appreciate it.”

You realise you’re smiling to yourself like a loon. “Thanks for calling,” you say.

Roger chuckles. “No worries at all. And, um, seriously. If you need someone to talk to, at any time, please just call me. I couldn’t bear the thought of you, I don’t know, sitting alone and crying, or something like that.”

You almost laugh out loud. “Thank you, Rog. I’ll make sure to save your number.”

“Please do, so I don’t have to call you in the middle of the night again.”

You smile. “G’night.”

“Night, [Y/N].”

You hang up.

Your hot chocolate tastes a little sweeter than it did before.

#mine #my writing #roger taylor x reader #queen fanfiction #rpf #angst

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