#before instantly surrounding you with people again so you don't have enough time to question if he just made a pass at you

[my-thoughts-and-junk]

thinking about dream daddy again and god brian makes me so mad

[winwintea]

Secure that Once Upon a Time! - Zhong Chenle

PAIRING ↬ rich socialite! zhong chenle x fem! reader

GENRES ↬ idk if this counts as a foot fetish, cinderella core!, chenle takes her to a ball, rich x poor trope, people bully y/n for being poor, but also very fluffy and romantic

WARNINGS ↬ slight suggestive, no smut written out but implied !??

SUMMARY ↬ inspired by one of your favorite fairytales, chenle makes you feel just like cinderella for the night. but can you live up to society's expectations as the girlfriend of one of shanghai's most elite? an enchanting night with your prince may answer all your questions.

WORD COUNT ↬ 4.3k

AUTHOR’S NOTE ↬ yo so funny story! for reasons explained here i decided to take down a smau of mine called secure that card! however i felt bad about how the smau abruptly ended, and i didn't really give chen/n a happy ending?? SO HERE'S A VERY FLUFFY(?) fic i wrote as like an apology and compensation. you don't have to have read stc to understand this fic, it can be just read on it's own! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT <33 i appreciate you all.

For a moment, Chenle’s brows lowered, his frown casting a shadow across his whole face. He stopped with his fork halfway to his mouth, staring down at the mille-feuille piled high on it. He looked like he was thinking really hard about something, but what was it?

"Hey, Chenle.-"

Chenle suddenly broke into laughter

"What the-- why are you suddenly laughing like that?"

"Oh, nothing. I remembered one of our earlier conversations about the story of Cinderella and I was just thinking Cinderella sounds a lot like you."

"How so?"

Chenle snickered, "I can totally imagine you carelessly losing a glass slipper, panicking, and running away right before the prince's eyes, one shoe off, one shoe on."

"I wouldn't do that! I mean... I probably wouldn't." Okay, you could kind of see yourself panicking and doing something rash, but did he really have to point it out?

Chenle and you were currently engaged in a small feast of afternoon tea in Shanghai. There was an upcoming party he needed to attend as the successor to Zhong Enterprises and you decided to accompany him.

His beautiful smile had a suggestive edge to it, and you pouted, dropping your gaze. You reached for your teacup to distract yourself, but before you could pick it up, his long, elegant fingers wrapped around yours. "Well, if I was the prince, I wouldn't be stupid enough to let Cinderella get away from me like that.”

"Chenle." His smile was smug and sure as he squeezed your fingers, and you couldn't stop staring at him. He was just so sure of himself in everything. Although knowing him, you bet he’d probably succeed, too.

You started giggling, and Chenle’s smile instantly dissolved into a dissatisfied pout. "Hey. What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing. I was just imagining what you'd be like if you really were the prince.”

"Me?"

"If a prince as amazing as you were to appear at the ball.. I bet even Cinderella wouldn't care if the magic wore off at midnight, so long as she could stay with you." To be honest, if you were Cinderella you know you’d feel that way. Even if the magic wore off and you went back to your cinder-covered self, so long as you could stay with your prince–

The fingers holding tightly to yours let go, all of a sudden. You looked up in surprise, and found yourself staring at cheeks as red as fresh strawberries. As soon as your eyes met, he looked away quickly, refusing to meet your gaze again. Is he blushing? Geez, so adorable.

"Did you like being referred to as a prince?"

"Like-- would I- as if l'd-- not a chance! Although if you mean that I have all the fine qualities of a prince, then I can understand where you're coming from. But the only other person suited to being a prince besides me would be Renjun, you know." You couldn’t disagree with that. Renjun definitely had a princely aura that surrounded him.

You couldn't help but grin as you watched the conflicting expressions flitting across Chenle’s face. Being with him makes it so easy for you to forget all about being nervous.

You’re going to be just fine at the party, because Chenle will be there with you. Time seemed to fly by as the two of you relaxed and enjoyed your afternoon tea together. We were both smiling and happy as we stepped out of the cafe again.

"Ahh, those delicious cakes always give me back my energy! But I guess..." You turned to Chenle with a smile, about to suggest we head home, but you stopped mid-sentence as you saw how strained his

expression was.

"I just remembered something I need to do. You wait here."

"What? Right here?"

"Yes. Got it? Don't move so much as a single step until I come back." Chenle turned and began to stride away, casting one last dubious look over his shoulder as he walked off into the distance.

He worries too much. Where would you go, anyway? And what's so important that he suddenly has to rush off like that? You smiled to yourself, shaking your head as you turned to look in the windows of the nearby shops while you waited.

"Hey, did you hear? Chenle’s going to be attending the next formal party!"

You glanced in the direction of the voice, and saw several stylish young women sitting at one of the cafe's outdoor tables, chatting over tea. I couldn't help being curious, and You sidled a little closer, pretending to stare in another shop window as you listened.

"He sometimes attends parties in his position as ‘Zhong Chenle’, but--"

"It's rare for him to attend as the Zhong Enterprises heir, isn't it?"

"It is. Which means this is our chance to audition for the role of the future Mrs. Zhong!"

You're after Chenle? All of you?! From the little mandarin Chenle had taught you, you could kind of put together what they were saying. You pressed your lips together, your heart pounding uneasily in your chest.

"But I heard that Chenle’s got a girlfriend, and she came here from Stanford just for him."

"Who cares? The magic of love doesn't last forever, you know."

"That's right. She'll get bored soon enough and go back to America. She was never good enough for him to begin with."

Your whole body went cold as they all burst out laughing, and you barely heard their next words as the conversation moved on to clothes shopping. You’ll never get bored of Chenle, not in a million years, and you know he feels the same way. You can hold your head high and say that with pride. But... Right now you’re already so nervous just from the idea of wearing a pretty dress and attending a formal party. You and Chenle are from different worlds, and… you don't have the confidence yet to say that they're wrong, and that you ARE good enough for him.

The women's words filled your heart with an aching doubt that stayed with you over the next few days.

— 

At last the day of the party arrived.

You were wearing the most beautiful dress you’d ever owned, and yet you couldn't bring yourself to smile at your reflection in the mirror. You bet half the young noblewomen in Shanghai are vying for the spot of Mrs. Zhong. They all want to push you aside so they can stand at his side.

You know you love Chenle more than all of them combined, but--

"Y/N? I'm coming in.” There was a knock at the door, and you turned quickly as Chenle stepped into the room carrying a small box. "It looks like you're read...y." Chenle set the box down as he spoke, but as soon as he looked at you, he froze.

He just stood there, staring at you, and you couldn't make sense of his expression, but the longer the silence dragged out, the more nervous you felt. "Do I look weird, or."

"Did I say that?! No! No, I didn't! Really! Are you trying to cast doubt on all my careful efforts to choose the right dress for you? It really, really suits you! You're better dressed than anyone else in the whole world!" Chenle’s smile was proud and pleased as he looked you up and down, and the blush that crept up his cheeks made his words more real somehow.

Okay, phew. From the way he was staring– "Thanks, Chenle." not sure you really have it in you to smile right now. But if you stand here looking worried and nervous, you’re just going to make him worried, too. You managed to school your features into what you hoped was a believable smile.

"Really, Y/N. We're about to go to a party, so why are you looking so glum again?”

Well, that smile was a dismal failure, then."I'm not...?"

"Yes, you are.” Chenle strode over to where you stood, stopping right in front of you, and you blinked at him in surprise. He cupped your cheek with his hand, staring so intently into your eyes that you felt as if he were seeing straight into your soul. "Is something worrying you?" His voice was suddenly soft with concern, his expression gentle, and you felt a bittersweet ache in my chest

He really does care so much about me, and he wants to be sure you’re okay… But what can you say? ‘There's a bunch of noblewomen who want to marry you and they make me feel like an ungainly clod’? I mean, seriously? "I'm okay, Chenle. I'm just nervous, that's all." you reached up and placed your hand over his where it rested against your cheek, and this time you managed to smile properly.

His brow furrowed a little at your words, his eyes dropping to one side, and his long lashes fluttered against his cheeks. "Well, I suppose it's not really a surprise. You're not used to parties like this yet. But I bet this will chase all your nervousness away." Chenle turned slightly, pointing to the box he'd set down as he entered the room.

"What is it?"

Chenle smiled at your question, looking oddly triumphant. "I think you already look sufficiently charming, but… The look isn't quite perfect yet, is it? Now stop fussing and sit over there."

"Okay…” Chenle took you by the hand and led you over to the sofa, and you sat down, still wondering what was going on. A moment later he went down on one knee before you, the whole movement elegant and graceful. "Chenle? What are you doing?!"

"I'm casting the finest magic spell on you, Y/N." you were still staring at Chenle in surprise as he opened the box. Nestled inside the box were the most beautiful shoes you’d ever seen, decorated all over with tiny, elegant gemstones. "Once you put these on, you'll be perfect.”

Chenle lifted your right foot onto his knee, and slipped off the shoe you were wearing. You watched in quiet awe as he put one of the new shoes on your foot in its place. 

It's beautiful! You loved the way it sparkled! It almost looks like a glass slipper, just like Cinderella had! "They're gorgeous, Chenle! But what brought this on?"

"I came up with the idea when we were talking about the story of Cinderella.” Chenle carefully slipped your shoe off your left foot, and put on your new shoe, before moving to sit on the sofa next to you. "I thought the prince ought to give Cinderella the gift of shoes that were perfect for her. I couldn't get my hands on actual glass slippers, so I chose the shoes I thought would suit you best."

"Oh, Chenle…” This is why he suddenly went running off right after we left the cafe that day, isn't it? He was finding the perfect shoes for you! You felt warmed right through by his kindness, and for a moment you felt the pinprick of grateful tears in the corners of your eyes. 

"Now you've transformed into the perfect princess. So from here on, I'm not going to let you wear that gloomy expression when you stand at my side. Are you ready to be escorted by your prince?" 

"I definitely am! Thanks, Chenle!" You squeezed his hand gently, so happy that there was no need to fake your beaming smile, not anymore. He wasn’t kidding about casting a magic spell on you-- You almost feel like you dreamed all that worry and doubt from before! Suddenly you’re actually excited about going to this party! We're going to have a great time!

You walked proudly at your prince's side as he escorted you to the party in your Cinderella shoes.

— 

Everything seemed so perfect you found yourself wondering if you were dreaming the whole thing.

"You're not too bad at this dancing thing, you know." There was admiration in Chenle’s voice as we moved across the dancefloor in time to the elegant music. As soon as we'd finished greeting all the other guests, Chenle had led you straight out onto the dancefloor, and you were surprised by how much fun you were having.

"Only because you're leading me so well. I should've known you'd be a great dancer.”

"Well, naturally. I mean, just who do you think I am?" Chenle tightened his grip on you, pulling you closer until you were almost touching. "You weren't half bad when we went around greeting the other guests, either."

"Really?"

"Do you really think I'd lie to you?" 

You arched a brow at him, “Yes. Chenle. I do.” 

“Apart from the green card thing I mean…” He quickly added. 

He was greeting people as the heir to the Zhong family Enterprises, and you felt so nervous standing at his side, but– If he thinks you did a good job, then that's all that matters.

"You were elegant and dignified. I was proud to call you my partner. If you're going to stand at my side, then you certainly have to show at least that level of impudence."

"Impudence? Is that meant to be praise?"

"Of course it is."

It doesn't sound like praise, but– He look so happy about it that you’re just going to accept it as if it is. “Hehe! Thanks, Chenle.”

"You're welcome.”

You felt warm and giddy inside as we grinned at each other.

Hmm? You had the sudden sense that someone was watching you, and you glanced around surreptitiously. Wait, I know you… Several young women were standing off to the side of the dancefloor, staring very pointedly in your direction. There was no mistaking them-- they were the same young women you’d been eavesdropping on in the City a few days earlier. Even from a distance, you could clearly see the displeasure and annoyance on their faces.

"Y/N? Why are you looking away from me?"

"No reason! Sorry!" You quickly turned my gaze back to Chenle and gave him a bright smile, but you could still feel the women's glares. Ugh, it's like they were all throwing daggers at you with their eyes. You get that they all want to take your place, but-- ahh, you hoped none of them tried anything underhanded.

You were trying to focus on the dance again, but it was hard to lose yourself in the pleasure of it like you had before, not with those piercing stares.

At last the music ended, and the sound of chatting voices soon filled the room again. "Chenle, why don't I go get us something to drink? Do you want champagne?"

"Okay, but i'll come with-“

“Chenle!” The second you took a step away from Chenle, the young women came rushing in to surround him.

"Please, dance with me next!"

"No, with me!"

Whoa, whoa, whoa! The women pushed you somewhat forcefully out of the way as they crowded around him, and you stumbled, still not used to wearing such high heels. As you tried to regain your balance, you bumped into a waiter carrying a tray of glasses, and there was a sudden crash as they all hit the floor and shattered. You lost my balance for real this time and plonked down straight onto your butt, one shoe slipping off your foot and tumbling to the side. Could you have been any more dramatically clumsy?! Why can't you fall over quietly, just for once in your life?!

"Isn't that Chenle’s partner? How disgraceful, sitting on the floor like that."

Your cheeks were burning, you could feel them all staring, and all you wanted was for the ground to open up and swallow you whole. But as you stared down at the floor, frozen in confusion, an elegant hand suddenly appeared in front of you. 

"Give me your hand, Princess."

"Chenle..”

Your heart throbbed and ached at the tenderness in his eyes, and for a moment you forgot your shame. You gazed at that elegant, graceful hand, and reached out to place yours in it.

"Really, she's so disgraceful.”

"I can't believe she'd cause so much trouble for Chenle." 

Their voices intruded, bringing you back to reality, and you froze. You promised yourself you’d do everything right, so that you could be worthy of being Chenle’s partner. But here you were, causing him trouble--bringing shame to his good name, and– Your hand hovered just shy of Chenle’s, but you drew it back again

“Y/N”

Before you could pull my hand away completely, Chenle caught it firmly in his. "Chenle... I can stand up on my own. Let go.”

"No, I won't let go.” Chenle pulled you to your feet, and almost without thinking, you buried your face in his chest. You could feel his breath tickling your ear, and your heart began to pound again. "I can't believe you're making that face."

"What? Hey-I" Chenle scooped up your shoe from the floor, and a moment later he slid one arm around your back and the other under your knees. Before you could react, he lifted you into his arms, cradling you against his chest, and the buzz of whispers around you two rose to a roar. 

Chenle, were you seriously going to carry me in your arms across the dancefloor?! "Chenle! Everyone's staring.”

"Be quiet and stop wriggling, will you? We've done this dozens of times before. Why are you suddenly fussing about it now?"

He might be fine with this, but you’ve never been so embarrassed in your whole life.The young women who'd knocked you over were all staring at us as well, looking aghast and dismayed.

"You there, waiter. Are you all right?"

"Yes, sir! I'm perfectly fine! Please, don't worry about it. We'll get everything cleaned up right away."

"Then we'll leave you to it. My partner seems to be feeling unwell, so if you'll all excuse us." Ugh, is this ever going to end?! you just wanted to crawl into a hole and hide forever…

You  wrapped your arms around Chenle’s neck and buried your face in his chest so you wouldn't have to see all the people staring at you as you two walked past them. But Chenle seemed completely calm and unbothered as he sauntered out of the room, letting the mutterings of the crowd fade away behind us. A cool breeze ruffled your hair, and when you lifted your head, you found that he'd carried you out to the balcony, which was blissfully empty of other people. Chenle set you down in one of the chairs, and sat down next to you.

"Chenle, why are we out here?”

"I'm the one who should be asking you that."

"What do you mean?" you blinked at him as he leaned closer, his beautiful porcelain skin glowing in the moonlight. 

"Have you forgotten what I said before we came? I told you I wouldn't let you wear that gloomy expression at my side."

"Oh���. well..” you remembered him saying that, but-

"Are those women the reason you looked so unhappy? You weren’t sure if you should just open up and tell him why you’ve been feeling so down. If you did, it was just going to worry him more, and after all he’s done for you, that doesn't feel right. You gazed uncertainly up at him, trying to make up your mind about what to do. Something flickered in his eyes, and to your surprise, you saw a hint of doubt lurking there. "You were looking depressed even before we came here, weren't you? If there's something worrying you, stop hiding it and just tell me."

He knew all along, didn't he? He knew this was more than just you feeling nervous. And He’s already been worrying about you, all this time. "I can't help worrying that maybe I'm not really worthy of being your partner." If you’re not honest with him, if you keep hiding it-- that's only going to make him worry more. You need to tell him everything that's been bothering you. "I'm not used to parties like this. I'm not used to high society. To the way you socialites interact with each other. I've lived my whole life in another world, and I started to doubt if people would ever accept me as your partner. And right when I was worrying about that, I accidentally overheard some people talking about me. They said that the magic of love doesn't last forever, and that I was never good enough for you to begin with. And those words stayed with me. I couldn't stop thinking about them."

"I see.” To be honest, you don’t really believe that. you know the magic of your love isn't going to end. You know that he’s the only one for you, forever and always. But– 

"I love you so much, and I want to be worthy of standing at your side." 

Chenle’s eyes widened a little at your words, his expression startled. But a moment later you sighed softly, sounding almost exasperated somehow. "I can't believe you were really worrying about something so trivial."

"What do you mean, trivial?!"

"Worries like that are about as meaningful to me as a single grain of sugar." Chenle stood up from his chair, and before you could react, he knelt gracefully in front of you. He lifted your bare foot, and you shivered at the feel of his fingers against your skin. Without warning he pressed a gentle kiss against your ankle.

"Chenle--I" The warmth of his lips sent a shiver of delight running through you. If he kept doing things like that-

"I told you, didn't I? I'm never letting go of the impertinent woman who ran into my heart. And even if the magic spell I cast on you breaks, I'll always be here to cast another spell on you." He sounded so regal and dignified you could almost believe he really was a prince, and you watched in wonder as he gently slipped your shoe back on your foot.

He really means that, doesn’t he? And it doesn't bother him in the slightest that his spell was broken. His love for you was so pure and earnest, and it lit a gentle flame in your heart, a flickering glow that filled you with warmth. Ahh, I love that you're like this.

"Really. You're normally so brash and shameless, and yet you get hung up on the strangest little details." 

"Brash and shameless? Seriously?!"

"Well, it's the truth." There had to have been a way to say it that sounded less insulting! You pouted at Chenle, and he laughed suddenly, his expression brightening. "When we went to look at dresses, I told you to hurry up and get used to this. But it's fine if you take your time getting used to things-- to dresses, to parties, to everything.”

"Oh-- okay." For a moment you didn't know what to think or say, and you simply gazed at his sweet smile as he smoothed your hair back from your face and sat down beside you again. He’s more stubborn and frank than anyone you’ve ever met, and sometimes he’s a real tease and a bully, but-- he is so incredibly kind at heart. And that's why--

Everything you were feeling was flooding through you, and the only way you could express it was to reach out and wrap your arms around Chenlein a fierce hug. "Y/N?!"

"I love you, Chenle. I love you so much." You clung to him, letting his warmth seep into you and wishing you never had to let go. He’s the only one for you-- the only one who'll ever matter. You can't imagine being anywhere but right here at his side. You buried your face in his chest and whispered the words there, as if you could deliver them directly to his heart.

A moment later he spoke, his voice sugary-sweet, yet with a husky edge that set your heart racing. "It's very clear to me just how much you adore me.” He caressed your cheek gently, and you lifted your head, looking up at him. The stars in the sky seemed to dance in his eyes, captivating you with their ethereal glow.

You weren’t even sure which of you moved first, but suddenly we were kissing. His lips were warm, and he tasted so sweet that you wanted more. One kiss wasn't enough to tell him how you felt, and you kissed him a 2nd time, and a 3rd, desperate to share all my love and desire with him. 

"That's enough." Our lips parted suddenly as Chenle caught you by the shoulders and pushed you back. You were still trying to make sense of what was happening when he took you by the hand and stood up. "We're going home. Right now."

"What? Are you sure?" I mean… you could still hear music, so the party's not over yet.

"I've already greeted everyone in my position as the Zhong heir. The rest is the same old same old, and it will be over soon enough. And more importantly, right now I want you."

"Chenle--"

His voice had a sultry edge to it that promised you a lot more than just kisses, and a thrill of anticipation ran through you. "And I'm not planning on letting you go, not even when the clock strikes midnight. So I hope you're ready." He gave you a smile, and then turned and began to walk away, and you practically tripped over your own feet again in your eagerness to catch up with him.

You don't want him to let you go, not at midnight, not ever. This is no simple spell cast by some fairy godmother. He cast his spell on you the moment we first met, and you know it's going to last forever.

The air around us seemed to sizzle with passion and the promise of what was to come, and the trip home felt more like torture. But you knew that when we got there, he'd more than make up for it, as he cast his magic spell on you again and made you love him even more...

SUMMARY ↬ @marvelahsobx @lyvhie @odxrilove @jkslvsnella @aquaphoenixz @wonnieluv @acidwon @syatchy @sleepyvic @grassbutneo @chcnlcs @taeeflwrr @hibernatinghamster @jaeimjaemin @gukuwii @slayhaechan @yyangj3lly @onlyhyunjin @clean-soap @bath1lda @lostinneocity @defzcl @ckline35 @multifandomania @meltinghershey @foxy-kitsune @jising-jisang-jisung @minkyuncutie @zuzu-the-simp @dojaejunging @leehanascent @nosungluv @sunflowerbebe07 @h-aecat @layuhsblog @fae-renjun @w3bqrl @hyuckies18 @wonbin-truther @bugcattie @wony1e @lazysmushi @binniebunii @nctrawberries @galacticnct (tagged y’all cause i just wanted to say thank you for the support <33 IT REALLY MEANT SO MUCH TO ME 😭😭)

[vxmpjules]

˚ · • . ° ꫝ🇪 𝔞Ⓡ︎𝘁ᗷℯ𝕒꓄

⋆·˚ ༘ * " i don't believe in consistency"

C; Hobie brown ~ Spiderpunk x SpiderPerson!reader

Prns; Gender neutral, feminine traits.

Warnings; Mentions of hookups, no actual smut

As everyone knew Hobie wasn't consistent in anything, in his bands, friends, most stuff. Only consistent thing was his position as spider-punk, and surprisingly you, you two have been best friends since you met each other, you both instantly clicked.

You both where inseparable, both chaos in your own ways. You loved his opinion and care free style, and he loved well... Everything about you really.

One day things got heated and you both found warmth in each other. Which you knew was one of the worst mistakes you could've ever done, you should've never hooked up, it was wrong. You had told hobie to just keep things normal after that, no talking about it, nothing. You didn't want to ruin your friendship and turn it into something difficult, you couldn't fall in love with someone at this time, not with Hobie.

Until... You came crying, your canon event finally happened to you, and you found comfort in Hobies arms. It was something other than just some lazy hookup, this actually sparked something, and you regretted it again, Hobie started being kinda-ish different, he seemed more protective of you, or got cold when you mentioned you going on dates or finding other people attractive.

You thought to yourself that was just a normal friendship thing, but you couldn't deny those feelings either. But you ignored them and became more distant to Hobie, it was wrong and you felt horrible, you cared and loved Hobie, but it couldn't pass more of the best friends line.

This confused Hobie, he didn't know how to feel, he wasn't good with this whole romantic thing, sure he had his girlfriends before, but feeling something for someone so close to him, wasn't on his list. He felt frustrated because of you, you weren't helping, distancing yourself for no reason and being distant, he felt lost, he needed to do something quick.

You had a little boyfriend, which was a stupid decision, knowing that deep down the only boy you wanted was Hobie and you knew he want too. You just didn't know how to handle it, you ruined your relationships quickly, you where always with people you didn't like so it be easier to discard them, you never tried anything with Hobie because you didn't want to loose him, one wrong move and you could loose him forever, you where lucky enough he stayed by your side all this time.

Your boyfriend was making breakfast, as you walked around in one of Hobies shirts, not that your boyfriend would know so you didn't care. You had put your phone next to your boyfriend, being easy to see any notification or message that popped on your screen as you grabbed some orange juice to drink.

Just as you where drinking the juice a text from Hobie appeared on your screen, it wasn't anything bad really just a simple "When can i see you" but that could be misunderstood quickly, before you could grab your phone your boyfriend had already saw the message, with a furrowed brows he questioned "Who's Hobie?" With a sigh you say "Just a friend of mine" as you jump off the counter and take your phone with you.

Your boyfriend finished with the breakfast and served your plate before going up to you and kissing you before he left for work, Eating the breakfast you heard a soft knock on your window.

You raised your brown and went over to check the window, seeing hobie hanging upside down, with a sigh you open the window for him to enter, your heart beating faster at his presence. These times anything could happen with you both, but you knew that whatever happened you would distance yourself again.

"Hi" he greets, with his British accent as he makes himself at home and sits on your couch. "Hi 'bee" you greet back, using the nickname you gave him the first time you met, you eyed him, watching him scan the surroundings. Noticing someone else's shoes and jackets, from the last time he was here the only things that weren't your's were his. "Got someone here?" He innocently asks looking up to you, his heart beat faster at one of the polaroids taped on the wall.

Seeing you and another boy in the photo, both smiling happily. He kept looking at you waiting for an answer as his heartached, "That's my... Uhm my boyfriend" you respond as you look down, avoiding his gaze. "So that's what you've been doing all this time, eh?" He noted with a cold tone, he couldn't handle this, you stopped talking, hanging out with him for this idiot? He knew that deep down it should be him, the one in the picture with you, the one leaving his stuff in your house, the one making you breakfast, the one holding you tight all nights as you sleep, not some idiot.

You fidgeted with your fingers nervously, you couldn't look at him, at the only person you care about, the one that runs your mind 24/7. You felt guilty choosing some prick over him, you didn't want your boyfriend, you only wanted Hobie.

Hobie stood up the sofa, seeing you still gazing at the floor, walking over to you, he lifted you chin up for you to look at him. Your eyes where watery you didn't know what to do, your heart ached as you wrapped your hands around his neck. This was wrong, you where gonna hurt yourself and him.

Hobie took your chin and kissed you on the lips, giving you a soft and tender kiss, you leaned in his touch before he pulled away, he wiped one of your tears with his thumb before he said something that he shouldn't have said.

"I love you" he whispered with a small smile, before more tears left your eyes, you couldn't do this, "You shouldn't be here." You commented as you got away from him, nodding over at the window.

Hobie frowned at your words, he could almost feel some tears run down his own cheeks before leaving silently.

There's gonna b a part 2 lmao

[phantom-of-the-501st]

Let's Talk About Tech (Or Not)

Tags for people who I feel like would have some interesting thoughts about this: @eriexplosion @nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius @inkstainedhandswithrings @saturn-sends-hugs @the-bi-space-ace

One of the most frequent comments I see about season 3 so far is the lack of discussion surrounding Tech and what happened, and I want to look at this from two angles: the personal aspect and the context within its position in the show. Because while we're all getting frustrated about it, I think it's something that definitely deserves a closer look.

The Personal Side

One of the biggest questions people have so far is why are the Batch not talking about Tech? Losing a brother is very significant for them and it seems like it would be something that they would talk about more. They discussed the issues they were having following Echo's departure from the group, so why are they not talking about Tech?

I think one of the key things to consider here is time. When we see the Batch talking about Echo, it is only a matter of hours if not days after he went. It would make sense for them to be getting to grips with the situation because they haven't really had time to process it. On the flip side, at the point when we see Wrecker and Hunter, it has been at least 150 rotations from Omega's capture and therefore around 3 months from Tech's fall. A lot of the discussions that they would probably be having about it have likely already happened.

3 months isn't really that long, but in the context of losing someone, and in the context of the lives of these characters specifically, it can be enough time to start moving on. Not to forget it, or to not have it affect them, but to not really discuss it anymore. While I've never lost a sibling, I have lost family members on more than one occasion, and it surprises me how little time it can take for things to go back to "normal". Not to not be thinking about it, or to be 100% okay, but to be able to live life without ever discussing it. This happens particularly when something else significant is going on.

When you have another goal to focus on (in this case, rescuing Omega), you can't always focus on the loss. It sounds stupidly harsh and very much like an arsehole thing to say, but realistically, that is what happens. When you lose someone, you want life to stop, you want everything to pause so that you have time to grieve before you go back to living again. But life doesn't work like that. Things keep moving and sometimes the only thing you can do is focus on the events happening now, not the ones that you have no control over.

I don't think the Batch are ignoring it, or have forgotten about it. I think they've simply started focusing on what they need to be doing: rescuing the people who are still here. They can't get Tech back (as far as they are aware), they can't change anything and so at some point they just have to accept it. They probably did talk about it, did cry about it, but we're 3 months along at this point and they've probably said all they can. And Wrecker and Hunter have only just reunited with Crosshair and Omega. They're not going to instantly jump on that discussion again.

And we don't necessarily need to see the discussions to see how it's affecting them either. Tech's death and Omega's capture have made Hunter more impulsive and reckless. He isn't thinking as clearly as he should and now Wrecker is having to step in as the mediator. Wrecker, who was always the one to jump into a mission and ignore the plan, is having to hold Hunter back from running headfirst into things without thinking. The situation has affected them and is still having lasting effects. Even if they aren't talking about it, it isn't like it's just been totally ignored in the show. Of course we'll have to see if this changes now that most of the Batch are together again, but this is already more than we got with a lot of the other clones (Fives never seeming any different following Echo's "death" for example).

And then there's the matter of Crosshair never questioning why Omega only talks about Wrecker and Hunter. This may be because he already knows about Tech. If Omega has been talking to him on Tantiss, he may already know that his brother is gone. But once again, we are watching the events happening 3 months on at this point. He may have had to compartmentalise that fact the same way that everyone else has. We're saw him and Omega briefly discussing Tech and how he made sure Omega memorised all of the plans. Sure, there was more softness there than sadness, but that's what happens sometimes. Sometimes reminiscing about someone that you lost doesn't make you cry, it makes you smile, because you're remembering the little quirks about them that you love. So no, Omega and Cross haven't been shown talking about Tech's death, but I wouldn't be surprised if he already knows.

In the Context of TV

And now onto the other matter. The fact that all of this is happening as part of a narrative.

I think this is where the lack of conversation about it becomes frustrating: not because it doesn't make sense in the context of the characters themselves, but the fact that we are watching this as part of a show. It doesn't feel right to have something that significant happen only for it to never be mentioned again. We can't really ignore the fact that that happened and move on because while the characters have had time to process things, we haven't seen that. That chunk of the story is missing to us and so it feels unfulfilling to have that turn of events not have enough closure.

Imagine if you lost someone in your life and then you automatically skipped to the point where you were starting to feel somewhat okay again, while removing the entire chunk in the middle where you actually processed things. That is effectively what has happened to us as an audience. Yes, we've had months between seasons, but we have this gap of narrative nothingness between the season 2 finale and the beginning of season 3 where the actual processing would have happened.

So our frustration is justified. Not because it doesn't make sense narratively, or that it doesn't seem right for the characters to be acting the way they are, but because we haven't been able to process the events in the same way that the characters have. The characters aren't discussing it because they don't necessarily need to at this point in time. But we need them to discuss it because that part is missing for us. We haven't seen that bit so we can't fully compute the events.

Yes, it's annoying. Not because it doesn't make sense in the story, but because it doesn't make sense to us. Because as an audience the context is different to that of the characters within the story we are watching.

[allthingsfangirl101]

Cupid's Little Helper - Keys

I walked into the office, unfazed by the hearts and the cupids everywhere. Valentine's Day at a company like Soonami was a lot like Valentine's Day at an elementary school. Everyone wore pink and red and brought little valentines for everyone. There was also a huge party that started at 2 and didn't end until people went home.

Soonami takes holidays very seriously.

I laughed when I saw the look on Keys' face. I walked over and leaned on his cubicle.

"Why is my favorite coder so pouty?" I teased. I was one of the only people at our company who knew what Keys was actually good at. I often went to him for help fixing a coding issue.

"I'm fine," he said shifting in his seat.

"Keys," I elongated as I pulled a chair over and sat next to him. "Spill it."

"There's nothing to spill," he said very unsuccessfully. He turned back to his computer to look distracted.

"Is it Valentine's Day?" I suggested. "It's just a stupid holiday."

"A holiday that makes you feel like shit for not having anyone," he mumbled.

"You know," I started carefully, "it could also be seen as a great day for you to confess your feelings."

"My feelings?" He asked as his head snapped toward me.

"Yeah," I shrugged. "It's kinda obvious."

"Is it?" He asked, his voice dropping.

"Little bit," I teased. "You come into work already distracted. And every time you get a text, you jump. Is it that one girl? Your old partner?"

"Millie? You think she's the one. . ."

"Of course. I mean, who else could it be?"

I didn't give him a chance to answer me. I turned on my heels and headed to my desk. I sat down and instantly started going through the complaints Keys went through yesterday.

Before I knew it, the Valentine's Day party was in full swing. I ignored it and continued fixing the problem I'd spent the last three hours trying to get rid of. I continued ignoring my surroundings when someone knocked on my desk.

"Come on, Y/N," Keys chuckled. "The party started an hour ago."

"I'm aware," I said with little to no emotion.

"Y/N," he sighed. I pouted when my chair was dragged away from my desk.

"Keys!" I pouted. I spun around and crossed my arms over my chest. "I was still working on that complaint that you sent me. . ."

"I know. I know. I know," he chuckled. "You never stop working, but it's the Valentine's Day party."

"I thought you hated Valentine's Day," I chuckled as I stood up and walked over to the drink table.

"I do," Keys said as he followed me. "Doesn't mean I can't appreciate a party."

A little while later, I wasn't sure where Keys had disappeared. I made myself not care and focused on talking to some of the girls from the graphic design department.

I was in the middle of getting myself a drink when someone walked up to me. My heart felt weird when I turned around and realized it was Mouser instead of Keys.

"You know," he said, overly confident, "your nickname should be Smooth. . ."

"Don't finish that sentence," I cut him off. "Mouser, how many times have you asked me out?"

He opened his mouth to say something, but I didn't give him the chance. "And how many times have I rejected you? So add up those and use that number to help you figure out whether or not you should continue to ask me out."

I started to walk away but he grabbed my wrist. "Come on, Y/N," Mouser scoffed. "All I'm asking you for is one dance."

"I don't really feel like having you grope me to a Rhianna song," I said, trying to tear my hand out of his hold.

"But Y/N. . ."

"Hey, baby," I gasped when Keys wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed my cheek.

"Are you guys. . ." Mouser didn't finish his question.

"Yeah," Keys cut him off. "And you are still holding onto her."

Mouser jumped when Keys ripped his hand off my wrist. My heart felt weird again as Keys let go of me and slowly moved me behind him.

"You really need to work on understanding the word, 'no', Mouser. You hear it enough," Keys said.

"I didn't know. . ." Mouser stuttered.

"Walk away, Mouser. Now."

I held my breath, not letting out a sigh of relief until Mouser walked away. The second he was gone, Keys turned toward me.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah," I said, my voice weirdly quiet. "Thank you, Keys. You didn't. . . You didn't have to do that."

"Of course I did," he shrugged. "What kind of guy would I be if I let Mouser hit on you?"

Awkward tension suddenly fell between us. I nervously started ringing my neck as Keys opened and closed his mouth.

"I should. . ." I started.

"I'm sorry," Keys laughed awkwardly. "I shouldn't have kissed you. I just. . . I saw Mouser not leaving you alone and then he grabbed you. . . I just thought. . . Maybe kissing you wasn't the right route."

"I think it was," I cut him off. That tension thickened even more between us.

"You do?" He stuttered.

"Yeah," I said, my voice dropping. "I mean. . . It worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah," Keys chuckled. "It worked."

I cleared my throat as I added, "You better stay by my side the rest of the party. Just in case, you know, in case Mouser sees me."

"He should think that we're together," Keys said, catching on.

After that, we hung out the rest of the night. The more we did, the harder it was to get rid of the weird feeling in my heart. Around nine o'clock, the party was finally starting to wind down.

"Well," I sighed. "I think I'm gonna head home. We still have work tomorrow."

We stared at each other for a minute before I finally broke the contest. I looked away and pretended to check my watch.

"Thanks again, Keys," I whispered. I sent him a smile before beginning to walk away. I didn't get very far away. I gasped when my elbow was grabbed and I was quickly spun around.

The second I was facing whoever grabbed me, they leaned down and smashed their lips onto mine. When I realized it was Keys, I closed my eyes and started kissing him back. The second I kissed him back, neither one of us held back anymore.

"Keys," I gasped when we broke the kiss.

"I'm sorry," he quickly started to explain. "The truth is, I have a really big crush on you, Y/N. I have for a really long time. And when I saw Mouser hitting on you. . . It was stupid. I know that. I guess you could say I got swept up in all the hearts and cupids and the party and. . ."

I cut him off by grabbing his face and pressing my lips back to his. He let out a small chuckle as he instantly started kissing me back. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer.

This time, Keys broke the kiss. When he did, he leaned back and looked deeply into my eyes.

"I know it's Valentine's Day and kinda late," he said, his voice soft, "but would you like to get a drink? Or maybe go to dinner sometime?"

"I'd love to," I said, my face burning. Keys smiled as he reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, his hand lingering on my face.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Y/N."

"Happy Valentine's Day, Keys."

[slipperylittleturtle]

more thoughts on branching storylines:

-

xavier

the backtrackers have been split into opposing factions, with xavier fighting for your safety. many have lost themselves, becoming wanderers, eliminated by xavier over the years.

when your path diverges from his, does he keep up the fight? does he continue to protect you from his people? does he realize he needs to get back to the future instance of you, needing your heart to do so? or is his loss of you too much? does he succumb and become the strongest wanderer anyone's ever had to face?

when you choose him, he is fully devoted to you. the two of you, together, to take down anything seeking to hurt you. though you are both deepspace hunters, you are the priority, and perhaps your alliances will change as you reveal the truths in the status quo. xavier has joined the hunters association because, until now, their goals have aligned with his. but that would change instantly if you were no longer safe.

-

rafayel

he has lost everything, always forgotten and left behind, desperately seeking your bond yet always trying to protect himself from the inevitable pain.

when your path diverges from his, what is left to keep him in check? is another loss the last straw? we know he has a duality, a dark past to rival his petulance. he's someone who has already embraced that darkness for what he wants, and it's clear he's at a tipping point. you are his only potential guiding light, and without you, where does his focus turn? does his anger consume him, does he fight against everything ever fated for him?

when you choose him, when your devotion is his, he gives you his everything. is this the moment in time he comes into his fated role as the god of the sea? what is the immeasurable power he wields with your heart surrounded to him? your heart in his hand is nothing compared to your heart in full devotion. imagine what the two of you can achieve, no ultimatums, no tantalizing promises, only pure devotion.

-

zayne

the poor guy is tearing himself apart, seeking answers to questions we don't know anything about. he's so fiercely protective and struggles with finding the appropriate distance to keep from you.

when your path diverges from his, how does he interpret the correct distance to keep you at? is your history and friendship enough to keep him in your life, even if at a distance? how much distance can he put between you before his tether to reality snaps? did he fight something bigger in the arctic, or was he always the cause of the chaos? when the connection crumbles, who prevents him from going berserk?

when you choose him, you devote yourselves to each other. both of you have unresolved trauma, unknowns that demand answers. you finally move forward together, each giving up your stubborn independence and martyrdom, combining your strengths to seek out the truth. is this finally the moment the two of you can break the cycle that's keeping you apart in every lifetime before?

-

sylus

when we meet him, do we fight against evil, or do we finally find clarity?

when your path diverges from his, what does he release on the world? is it in his control? or is he facing demons of his own, desperate to take you down to protect himself?

when you choose him, how does your worldview change? is there a truth that's been hidden from you by the ones in power this whole time? or do you side with him because there is no correct side? is it the two of you against the world, both good and evil?

-

caleb

there's no way he's truly gone. but what has he been doing in all the time you've mourned him?

when your path diverges from his, does your choice determine whether you ever see him again? when he steps back into your life, is it as the puppeteer pulling all the strings behind your back? or has he been kept away to keep you from finding your full potential? when you move on, does he lose the fight to get back to you?

when you choose him, is it to face all those who took from you? or do you choose to avenge him before you even know he's still within your reach?

-

each choice you make changes more than your own fate. do these branches eventually find their way back together? will those branches eventually split themselves? the potential is infinite and so exciting.

[mllemaenad]

The Magnus Protocol: Running on Empty

While I have nothing but sympathy for the poor tutor who had to mark that essay, I must admit I enjoy the return to stories where a survivor recounts a bizarre supernatural experience.

It's not that I can't take an episode where the monster wins – those can be very effective. But, well, while I enjoyed the overarching plot in the fifth season of The Magnus Archives, I must admit I enjoyed the individual stories significantly less than the ones in the previous seasons. Mostly because they weren't stories so much as descriptions of suffering. Because the victims generally had little sense of a time before or after their torment, you missed out on all the bits about how they got themselves into this mess, how they got themselves out of it, and what they thought the whole thing meant. The personalities, the individual characters who came and went after their one weird thing, were part of the fun. And they were largely absent.

The cases in The Magnus Protocol aren't exactly like that, of course: you can glean a bunch of background, at least, by reading between the lines. But still. There's something immensely cheering about getting a couple of stories where someone essentially rolls in to declare "So that was weird, right?" and then wander off again.

Also, apparently Norris doesn't like the night shift.

It's interesting how similar the last two cases are. Dianne didn't seem like the type to use terms like "liminal spaces", but Hilltop Road has very literally been a threshold between worlds:

Martin/Annabelle Once there was a house, a building that, for all it might have looked like those around it, was not the same. Stop, no. It didn’t start with the house. It was here long before any might have thought of it as a home. Once, there was a patch of land, not quite as firm in this reality as that which surrounded it. Stop, no. It’s not about the land. Mud and soil has no part in what is there. Once, there was a point in space that did not quite obey all those petty rules that decide what can be allowed to happen in a world. Stop, no. It’s not a point in space. The Earth spins and hurtles through the darkness, but it still carries it along. Let us simply say that once there was a place. A place where the universe had… cracked. – The Magnus Archives: This Old House

And if you don't know that, then you do know that Hilltop Centre's status as a charity shop makes it a way station for objects of all kinds. And this place let those almost-human people in, and let them bring their weird objects with them.

The people in Running on Empty put me in mind of the gibbering crowd in Lost in the Crowd, whereas the volunteers in Give and Take reminded me of the students in Anatomy Class, but that's more a question of degree than kind. The latter put on a good enough show that it took weeks to really confirm there was something wrong with them; the former could be spotted almost instantly. Both are stories of the uncanny valley: the thing that is almost but not quite human. And in both cases the victim is very nearly overwhelmed by the crowd: objects crushing, or "people" biting, sure, but both instances of being isolated, outnumbered and then assaulted.

Poor Terrance is a perfect victim, as well: he already has a nervous breakdown on record, which will mark him as an unreliable witness, he is isolated enough that nobody reported him missing after his incident, and his job requires him to spend a great deal of time alone.

Norris is describing the situation in the OIAR perfectly. They are a small number of people working a night shift in an old building clearly intended to contain more staff:

Celia Sure, no worries. I’ll be honest, I thought there’d be more people working here given the size of the building? Sam Yeah, no we’re, uh… Alice Streamlined? – The Magnus Protocol: Introductions

The point of their work is deeply obscure to them:

Sam Where does it go? Alice If I were a betting woman, I'd say some long dead database that no-one will ever look at or care about. Sam So why do it? Alice Because that's what they're paying us to do. – The Magnus Protocol: First Shift

Their odd hours put them out of step with normal social conventions:

Gertrude To what do we owe this early morning… pleasure. Sam Oh yeah, sorry we work nights so… Gertrude So? – The Magnus Protocol: Running on Empty

And the place has high turnover and burn out rates. Colin is clearly not coping – he is absolutely right about the electronics being weird, but he isn't dealing with that information very well – Sam is struggling with the sleep schedule, Gwen is stressed enough that she's about to commit a murder over an empty kettle and Alice ... unflappable Alice is worried:

Alice Just been a lot of changes round here recently. I don’t love it. Teddy, Sam, Celia, and did you hear Lena put Colin on “mental health leave”? – The Magnus Protocol: Running on Empty

It's not clear whether the computer voices are aware of each other, so calling it coordinated is probably overstepping the available evidence at this point: but Chester and Norris do seem to have delivered almost exactly the same warning. What might the staff of the OIAR be in danger of letting in?

The story also continues its thread of visual communication, with Gerry's painting. Gerard Keay has always been a painter, of course. But if The Magnus Archives needed to give you a visual, it simply did:

Archivist/Dominic Swain Instead, my attention was fixed on a picture attached to the one small area of wall not covered by bookshelves. It was a painting of an eye. Very detailed, and at first I almost would have said almost photorealistic, but the more I looked at it, the more I saw the patterns and symmetries that formed into a single image, until I was so focused on them that I started to have difficulty seeing the eye itself. Written below it were three lines, in fine green calligraphy: “Grant us the sight that we may not know. Grant us the scent that we may not catch. Grant us the sound that we may not call.” – The Magnus Archives: Pageturner

But here there is:

The video you could not watch

The alert that was not read out by a text-to-speech program

The email you could not read

The painting you could not see

The painting might not be anything, of course. But if you knew something could hear you but not see you, a person might resort to communicating purely through a visual medium. "John" apparently sent Sam Gertrude and Gerry's address. But nobody knew that until they got there, and so they travelled unmolested.

It's hard to say for sure what this universe's Gertrude knows – although I'm going to assume she knows something of significance, or she wouldn't be here – but it makes an interesting contrast to The Magnus Archives. There, the primary concern was being seen, and Gertrude was paranoid enough on that front to cut out the eyes from the illustrations in all her books. So one might expect equally paranoid behaviour if the concern was being heard.

The actual arrival of Gertrude and Gerry is fun: I enjoyed both characters, so I'm happy to see more (although if I get to wish to see an existing character, it's Adelard Dekker; I was always a little sad that we never got to properly meet him). It is suggestive of the way the world works that they're together, though.

I mean – I know this isn't the kind of alternate universe story where the Roman Empire never fell. It's recognisable modern day Britain, so I assume just about everybody still hates Margaret Thatcher and it's customary to drive on the left hand side of the road.

But it's a different world, and the history relevant to the story has not played out the same way. And yet, Gertrude and Gerard Keay are still a duo. Are there some things that are always true, then, no matter the world? I'd be interested to learn how it came about, though. That Sam was personally traumatised by The Magnus Institute isn't exactly surprising: he hardly hid his interest, after all. But Gerard Keay? Signing her kid up for a "gifted" program at The Magnus Institute doesn't sound like Mary Keay's style at all: she valued her independence too much. So what happened there?

And what is Georgie doing? It does make one wonder what life would have been like for her and Melanie – the first ones, I mean – when the world was put back together. Everyone clearly remembered what had happened, or they wouldn't have bothered to murder Simon Fairchild. So they would always be set apart.

My general thoughts on the plan are that it is reasonable to pass the entities along. Sure, it's a trolley problem. Nobody likes a trolley problem. But you are setting a risk of harm to the denizens of other worlds against the certain deaths of everyone in yours. So – sure, have at it.

But if you do that, you have now made yourself responsible for those worlds. You know what these things are, and you know how they operate. The people in other worlds likely do not, and won't know how to defend themselves.

So maybe, now, you have a responsibility to do something about that. Ha. Like make a really good podcast about it.

[beonyour-way]

Haven

“… so I’ll stay half away, and i’ll guess that it’ll do.” (Novo Amor- Haven)

[Cedric is eager to put himself in danger and there is a need to save him, whatever it means.

Dumbledore's announcement of the Triwizard Tournament is taken from the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I took the last name Scamander for the character knowing very well it comes from Fantastic Beasts.

Also English is not my native language so if there is something wrong I apologize. Don't hesitate to let me know how I can improve myself!]

7600 words.

The weirdest dreams are always the one that stay in mind for a long time. I always had much trouble to wake up. The comfort of my bed and the sheets are a torture to leave. Instead, I turned around, trying to hide my face from the light that was shining bright. Usually, the curtains are always closed. I was forced to open my eyes when I heard noises from other people. How are there people in my bedroom? I opened my eyes instantly, straightened myself up and looked around. The look on my face must have betrayed my feelings when two pairs of eyes looked at me in dismay. 

“What’s happening? Why aren’t you awake and ready to go! There is an announcement today, hurry up!” 

I must admit that my first reaction would have been to scream at the girl if I was not astonished by the fashion of the surroundings. The walls, made up from stone, gave to the room a cold atmosphere that made it even less possible for me to get up from my bed. My fingers tightened around the sheets as I sighed. I have been pretty much awake and trying to fall back asleep seemed impossible as someone had thrown an outfit directly at my face. I wasn't in the mood of fighting back and so I went to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. I put the skirt reluctantly as I usually preferred to go with a jogging… but I didn't even know what I was doing there and didn't want to raise suspicions. I went with the shirt and there I was, ready. I followed the group of girls that was talking to each other. Their pace was pretty slow which was an advantage as I was tired and still trying to understand what was happening. I forced myself to mind their conversation as I looked around to see, with amazement, how beautiful the room was. There were green garments everywhere, with snakes around them. This, was the moment where I understood where I was: in a dream, at Hogwarts. It could have been a nightmare, but it would depend on what would happen next. 

I pinched myself to wake up but felt nothing but a painful darting. I sighed once again as I understood that there was nothing much to do except following the girls. The main mission was not to figure it all out but to not lose myself. The corridors were numerous and there were way too many doors for me to dare leaving the girls from more than an inch. I struggled to recognize anything. I had to admit that I had the most disastrous sense of direction in the world. It didn't matter much which world we were in.

When we arrived at the common room, I recognized it without much trouble. The four tables aligned with beautiful china and plenty of food made me forget the harsh morning I had had. I was quite surprised to see that I was not much traumatized with my not being in my own world. I could do with it as long as the food was good enough. My only question was to know why my dream was starting with me being a Slytherin and not having the opportunity to have the Sorting Hat in my head having a debate with itself to know whether I was a good or bad girl. I guessed that there was not much to say about that. However, no one was eating and I allowed myself to look around me. I could see Draco Malfoy speaking with his “friends”, if one could call this friendship, and I realized that I was now in a world where I knew what had happened before and what could - or would - happen next. I could not prevent myself from opening my mouth as the realization came through my brain. I wanted to scream and run away to warn people but I didn’t really want to look like a crazy woman that could go next in the psychiatric ward next to Neville’s parents.

How could I think such things? That is horrible and I was not supposed to know about that! Maybe I really am a Slytherin after all…

As I turned my head to look around me and catch a glimpse of Potter, my eyes fell on my best friend who was there - I was not at all surprised, she was almost always present in all my dreams or nightmares. I tried to wave my hand at her but I saw her busy with Fred and George. I didn't know which one exactly but I knew that she could tell the difference. After all, she had studied them very well in reality, so it wasn't surprising to see that even in my dreams she seemed quite fond of them. She seemed to see me too and waved at me, so I smiled at her. I knew from the look she gave me that she had understood what I wanted to say.

The meal had not started yet but Dumbledore was coming to talk to all the students. I didn't really know why but I straightened up and looked at him with attention. There were people who were very impressive just because of the way they looked and behaved. I can tell you that it applied to Dumbledore as well as… Severus Snape that was sitting and looking pissed off at everyone. Now that I knew what I knew about him I couldn't help but understand him. 

“Attention, please. This year Hogwarts will host a legendary event: the Triwizard Tournament. During which time a single student gets to represent his or her school in a series of magical contests.”

I guessed that the schools had been introduced before because I could see the students already sitting at a table and I did not regret having missed their little play of introduction. I was very glad, in fact, to not have witnessed the stupid dance and fight moves of them. When I come to think of it, I was really being judgemental that day, I should have shut my mind.

“One last thing: Eternal glory… is what awaits the student who wins The Triwizard Tournament. But to earn it, that student must survive three tasks. Three, extremely dangerous tasks.”

I looked around and met the eyes of Cedric Diggory -which I had hated by the way-, his death had been so stupid that I had never been able to recover. Sordid -or courageous- was his death that I had never been able to ease the anger that had risen in me as Dumbledore continued to speak about the three tasks. To see the stupid smile of his starting to spread across his lips, my blood had started to run though my veins at such a high speed that I had wanted nothing more but to hit him with the glass that was in front of me. That’s only when the meal had started that I realized I could do something about it.

Indeed, I was here and I knew everything that would happen. I could use that in my advantage to save his life. That would be a sort of bonus…

…

 I definitely am a Slytherin. 

The meal had been done and to my own surprise, I didn't even remember what I had just eaten. I was just profoundly excited - as well as afraid - so I ran up to my best friend. I grabbed her hand and took her with me to… somewhere in the castle not too far from the common room so that we would not be lost.

“Okay, first of all, how? How are we here, how I am able to feel you touch me like in real life?” 

Okay…This question from her was not what I was expecting but I guess I could do with it. 

For now. 

“I was never the clever one when it comes to paranormal or weird experiences to begin with. I didn’t even know where we were until I was in the dining room or whatever the name of this room is. However, bro, are we really here? Are we really in this story? Are we not dreaming? I pinched myself earlier and I didn’t wake up. And what are you doing as a Gryffindor? I though you were Ravenclaw?” 

“I am! I am a Ravenclaw! At least I believe I am…” I laughed, saying that she looked like Ron Weasley. 

“My main mission is not to get out of here, not before we save Cedric’s arse. Don’t ask me why Dana, I want to answer that it will ease the rage I feel every time we watch the movie… you know… the one where he dies.” I struggled to remember the title every time but I can’t even think more than a few seconds before Dana answered back. 

“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Laisa.” She corrected me. “The movie’s title is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” 

I smiled at her. “Great, I am so happy to hear the title that I will forget in about two minutes. However, help me.” 

She rolled her eyes at me before sighing. “I don’t think we can. Think about it calmly. We do not have many options.” She sighed. “We cannot tell anyone. What if they don’t believe us? Then, we will never be able to do anything. But if we tried to change something, what would be the consequences?” 

She was right. She was always right. I rolled my eyes as I looked around and witnessed Cedric being surrounded by a lot of people, asking his opinions about the tournament. Hearing him getting excited about it made me forget about Dana’s speech. 

“Think about it… We cannot let him die that stupidly. I’m sorry but I can’t and I don’t even know why. But my main mission is to make him change his mind. I don’t have to say that I know the future. I just have to be… persuasive.” 

Dana looked at me with a smile she couldn’t hide. “I don’t understand your obsession with him. He’s a Hufflepuff.” She marked a pause as I look at her for a long time, waiting for her to say what she wanted to say. “Be kind, and maybe it could work.”

“I was thinking more of threatening him but I will make an effort. Just for you my dear Gryffindor.” 

I hadn't done much the first day. First of all because how was I supposed to approach Golden Boy if he was always surrounded by groupies? And even if I was in this world, truth was I didn't have a wand. Or I hadn't exactly searched after it to be honest. I didn't know about magic and I wasn't in the mood of learning it for one reason: I didn't want to blow up this castle. The classes weren't exactly my cup of tea as I just listened. I thought I would like Potion classes since Severus Snape was my favourite character but it appeared that Potion was like cooking classes and I still hated everything that had to do with cooking. We didn't have access to DADA classes as well but I didn't really mind it, as long as I wasn't missing Remus Lupin's boggarts class. (One could argue that I had Daddy issues but I wouldn't engage in this conversation, nice try.)

The previous day was smoother than the one before. First, I wasn't startled of waking up in an unknown place. Second of all, I went to eat breakfast and on my way I met with Cedric. Who was quite surprised of me talking to him. I could understand : I had appeared yesterday and no one seemed to care about it but he did. Asking me questions about my name and my grade. Thank God, Dana was there with me to answer the last one because I didn't even know. However, "however" was - and still is - my favorite word.

Real however this time, we talked about spells and his position as prefect. Which I completely forgot and don’t really care about if I have to be honest. My main preoccupation at that time was the tournament and I stopped their conversation. 

“Do you want to take part in the tournament? I heard it’s very dangerous.” 

His smile said everything and I rolled my eyes before he could even answer. 

“That is such a bad decision… especially for a Hufflepuff. I don’t mean that to be mean. I mean… you guys are supposed to be like, sane and take decisions that make sense.”

“I am not sure, but I am eager to take on a challenge and prove myself for once. »

I scoffed at him and Dana put her hands on my arm. “She doesn’t mean no harm but we don’t really understand this passion that you have about doing something that is so dangerous.” 

“It is not about fame or being recognized by others; it is more about a personal challenge that I want to achieve by my own efforts alone.”

“Bro you will need Pot-” Dana’s hand ended up on my mouth and Cedric looked at us terribly confused.

“She thinks you don’t need to do that, you already proved yourself with your grades, your position as a Prefect and how perfect you are.” I took off her hand. 

“I would never say that but let’s pretend I did.” 

He laughed, not at us, with us. Minus me because I was not in the mood of laughing. I already knew he wouldn’t change his mind with this brief exchange with two unknown girls. 

“It is very kind of you to worry about me but… I really need to do that.” And with that, he left. 

“I can swear to God, you won’t.” 

The next days were very boring in terms of my mission. I didn’t get to talk to him, I didn’t really want to to be honest. I heard he put his name in the Goblet and everyone was cheering and for a short amount of time, I thought that maybe dying for this dream was worthy for him. And then I remembered that he only died because his stupid ass wanted to be courageous and, to be honest, he shouldn’t have to be. I think I was growing fond of him and the image he wanted to show off. This act is already brave enough. But was it really worthy of disappearing from everyone’s life? 

I didn’t have to mind much longer since Diggory was in front of me with a big smile. 

“I put my name in the Goblet. Now, I just have to let fate acts in my favour… or not.” 

“I heard about that. Everyone’s happy about it which makes it quite sad if you want my opinion.” His furrowed brows made me continue. “No one seems to care about the danger that you are taking to prove yourself. I am not sure one needs to do all that to prove something. It just screams insecurity to me.” 

“I do not really understand what you want to say. We do not know each other.” 

“I know we don’t. That’s not really the point of this conversation isn’t it? You want everyone to be happy about your participation? For what? Fame? Sorry I’m not buying it. I don’t even believe that someone as thoughtful as you would do something that stupid.” 

“You don’t have to be despising at people who wants to achieve something.” 

I smiled, on the verge of laughing. “I don’t have to achieve anything. Existing is enough already. You should think about that. I am not risking my life for something stupid such as “eternal glory” that won’t be helpful in times of crisis. What is glory in a world as dangerous as the one you’re living in? You should take off your name as long as it’s still possible.” 

“We can’t. The only way for me to not participate is to be disqualified.”

And at this, I rise and got closer to him. 

“Good luck, then.” 

If I can be honest. This piece of information he gave at the end was what I wanted. I didn’t know how to cast a spell and I didn’t even know where my wand was. Or if had a wand at all. But now, I just needed to disqualify him. The main question was how? And for that, I needed Dana. In front of the Gryffindor’s door I was waiting for someone to come out or in so they could tell Dana that I needed here because apparently we didn’t have phones in this beautifully scary world. 

“Are you looking for Dana?” 

I turned around and looked high up to see a ginger head, and my smile became wider. I was going to play it cool - for Dana’s sake. He didn’t need to know that we were crazy human blood people who knew the future. 

“Were you with her?” I winked at him and his smile widened as well. 

“Nop, Fred is, but I don’t know where they could be.” 

“Shoot.”

“Just kiddin’. She is in there, I’ll look for her. If you see George, tell him I’m waitin’ for him, I need his brain.”

“Bro aren’t you Geor- ok nevermind I will. I guess this is another thing I’ll never know.” 

Two minutes later Dana was out and we went to the library to discuss, which was not my best idea. How are we supposed to whisper while talking about saving a life that didn’t wanted to be saved? 

“Is there something in the books or the movies about disqualification for the Triwizard tournament?” 

“Not that I can remember of, and I do remember very well.”

“Bro he didn’t lie to me, he’s a Hufflepuff. Whatever that means.”

“I’m not saying he did but that you will have to find out. And you can’t ask him more about it because he’s not stupid at all. He may already have suspicions.” 

I looked at her with an inquiring look. 

“No… I don’t really think so, I just wanted to put us in the mood for the next step of the mission.”

“Okay, however suspicious or not, he doesn’t deserve to die.” 

She looked at me with a smile I didn’t quite like. “That stupidly I mean.” 

“Yeah, of course.” 

The thing was, I thought I had time to put up with a plan to know more about the disqualification thing that Cedric brought up to me but, he came to us with a huge smile, announcing that the names would be given to us in two days and it made me instantly forget about Fred and George looking like my grandpa. He must have noticed because his smile started to fade away as well. Not a minute later, we found ourselves in the corridor, speaking for him, arguing for me. 

“You don’t really have to be upset, it’s not you that is endangered.” 

“Yeah I know that because I use my brain before taking any decisions. Of course I wouldn’t put my name in the Goblet because there are so many things more important than a stupid tournament which gives you nothing but “eternal glory” from people who already wished they were you. ” 

“But my father is very happy about my participation and it is something I wanted to do for as long as I can remember.” 

“Don’t talk about family pressure will you? Dead, there is no pressure left at all.” For once it seems that perfect Diggory was breaking as he eyebrows frowned not from incomprehension or disbelief but anger. And that, my friends, is very attractive, even though it’s not the moment to focus on that. 

“I won’t die! I know what I am doing, I’m not stupid! I know-” I stopped him putting my hand on his mouth.

“Diggory you must breathe before getting angry. This is not something you can do by yourself only. These three tasks are dangerous and if Dumbledore insisted on that part it means that they are, indeed, dangerous. And what I understand from this kind of danger is that it’s deadly.” 

“It won’t be.” 

“I think that you don’t know about that. I’m quite sure of it, it will. I can’t say much more about that, but I wouldn’t be that worried if it was something that could be done as a team.”

“No, you can’t do that either, if you put your name with someone else’s name it means that you’re disqualified.”

Do you know how hard it is not to smile and scream from excitement when the piece of information that was missing is offered to you on a silver platter? Because I don’t know how I was still able to control myself and not to laugh at his face. I wanted to hug him for how helpful he was without even knowing it. 

“Yo that’s… a shame, really.” 

I felt his discomfort in this conversation and decided to cut it short. I had better things to do. For both of us.

“I have to go by the way, hm… Let’s say, that we’ll see each other after the name’s announcement. Whether it will be to celebrate or grieve.”

He smiled. “I don’t think we will react the same to news.”

“No, we won’t.” 

Few hours passed before I was in the corridors, at night, lost. Completely, okay, in my defence I don’t understand this castle. The stairs are moving and you have to think about balance and the place you want to go. That’s not easy to do both at the same time. And then, the corridors, you have to be careful of not getting noticed by the professors. I wouldn’t mind having the Marauder’s Map. I didn’t think of asking about it because we have to be careful not betraying our knowledge about the future. And who am I to know about this map? Except being the best friend of George’s future girlfriend? 

In front of the Goblet, I felt quite uneasy. There was so many names in it and so many lives put in danger for what seems to be futile. I cannot explain how angry it made me, to know that there were people who couldn’t be saved. I cannot explain how angry I was to save Cedric’s life and condemned another one to die. But I didn’t know that for sure. 

And what needs to be done, needs to be done. 

So I did. I went in front of the Goblet and wrote my last name next to Cedric’s and put it in the Goblet. I didn’t think it would react that way. I should think before doing things. I’m not much better than Cedric on this one. There was a terrible shaking coming from inside the Goblet and in the air, a dashboard with my name and Cedric’s being written and crossed, in red. I guessed that my plan was taking a turn that would put me in a terrible position. 

The next morning I spent hours thinking about whether I should say to Cedric what I did or wait like the coward I was for Dumbledore to reveal his disqualification. Mine was not very important for this tournament was absolutely nothing to me. Nothing. 

Time was passing very slowly, as if the torture should continue. The price to pay is nothing, but it will not be just it. Tomorrow, I would taste the most disagreeable feelings that I could imagine. Cedric’s smile and certitude seem to bragged at me like I was destroying his trust - that I didn’t earn yet - and his future. This would be what everyone will think, but I will make him avoid his death. I didn’t know what would await him from now but this was how it should be anyway. 

I don’t want to say I’m regretting my choices. But the fear which was growing in me was destructive. And maybe it was not fear but… culpability. 

 I didn’t follow anyone and wasn’t paying more attention to class. The only thing I could focus on was the little voice inside my head trying to find solutions while I was not even able to move a finger. My breath was very short and I was frantic. I looked everywhere around me and it seemed like everyone knew already. 

That’s when I realized I didn’t know anything except the future. I was not even in the present that I was already trying to compromise the future. Maybe Dana was right and changing the future was anything but a bad move. I didn’t take time to make acquaintance with anyone. I didn’t even take time to know Cedric. I didn’t appreciate my surroundings, the castle was full of beautiful places that I only glanced at in a hurry. There was nothing that could be done and time was a valuable thing that couldn’t be brought back. I winced at these thoughts and took my head between my hands. The few hours that were left before the dinner should be used to make up for these regrets but I couldn’t move. I felt someone sitting next to myself and I couldn’t find the strength to look at him. Because I already knew it was him and how could I looked at him in the eyes and pretend I didn’t do anything? How could I do that when I know that tomorrow my mistakes will be exposed to everyone? 

“Are you okay? I tried to come talk to you today but you avoided everyone. Is everything fine?” 

I winced a second time. 

“I’m fine.”

He laughed a little before getting back to his senses. 

“Usually, when you’re fine you’re using your time to lecture myself about how stupidly dangerous I am. I must admit this is the first time I encounter this type of reproaches.” 

“Did you change your mind?” 

“Not at all. I just want to make sure you’re okay before heading to my dorm. And to reassure you about how determinate I am to enjoy this adventure whether it is meant to be or not. I would gladly participate but I will also enjoy being a spectator. If the last option is what happen, I would be happy to go with you.” He smiled at me, and I could swear on my own life that it was the most sincere and beautiful smile I have ever seen. I looked at him and didn’t know what I was feeling anymore. 

While looking at him I could surrender myself to whatever fate was awaiting me, if it meant that he could live. I was at fault, but was it that bad to save a life? Wouldn’t I be able to explain myself later? 

“I don’t think you will but maybe we could spend some time together before going to dinner? You will have plenty of time to appreciate your dorm, even though I doubt it being better that my dorm.” 

“Slytherins, when will you stop being so proud?”

“I guess it’s in our nature.”

The hours were spent walking around the castle, admitting to him that I had never visited the castle alone. He laughed at me, in his own kind way, before making me a personal visit. And the more the minutes passed, the more the regrets were aching my pounding heart. I tried to convince myself that I did what was best. 

“We shouldn’t be late for dinner tonight Laisa, I heard that Dumbledore will announce the name of the participants tonight. I don’t know what happened but my curiosity is awake.”

And all of the good memories that I was trying to make to bear with my mischievous actions disappeared in seconds. Cedric must have noticed it because he looked worried and got closer to my face. 

“Are you okay? I can take you to the infirmary if you need it. I don’t mind being late after all.”

“I’m…” My voice was shaking and I had to take a deep breath to speak again. “I think you should go, I will follow you okay? I need to breathe one second. Not from you, but I feel like…”

No time to explain myself, that his hand took mine and he took me to the dining room and I could already feel all the looks on me. They must already know, Dumbledore’s look is very harsh - I can sense it. 

“Okay, keep your fingers crossed for me!”

His smile was so bright and while he started to get away I was only able to whisper to him how sorry I was before heading to my place. I was looking at my feet while everyone was waiting for Dumbledore to start his speech. The only thing I could hear was my beating heart which was trying to get out of my chest. My throat was so tight that I couldn’t even swallow anything. I lost track of time but I could hear the impatience of my comrades intensify as Dumbledore was asking - then screaming - for complete silence. How horrendous I felt, my thoughts were going so fast I couldn’t follow them all. I could hear myself insulting myself for what I did. I was a bad person, a traitor, mean, horrible, hopeless and I disregarded the feeling of the only person that was concerned. 

“… I must admit that this is not how I imagined starting the annunciation of the participants for the Triwizard Tournament… It is not the first time it happened, but the second, and I am very disappointed to say that there was an attempt of treachery.”

I could hear the dramatic breathtaking gasps of the classmates. I rolled my eyes. No need to add on the drama that was taking place. 

“Yesterday night, there was a paper with two names written on it. Which makes two disqualified people that are out of this Tournament before the selection. Cedric Diggory and Laisa Scamander. I want you to come to my office after dinner to explain yourselves. The punishment for disregarding the rules will be decided upon the explanations you will be able to give.”

I couldn’t even manage to look up at Cedric for I could feel all the gazes at me. But his gaze was piercing through my heart. The selection was done and Potter’s name was called. It was enough to distract others from my person. But not all of them. I decided to leave the place to join Dumbledore’s office entrance. I sat there for long minutes before I heard footsteps coming my way. Cedric’s face was red with anger and I have never seen him like that. I must admit that I had never imagined him this way. And this time… it was not sexy but very impressive.  

“So this is why you acted weird all day right? Was it fun to destroy the dream I have? Why did you do that? And do not pretend it was for my safety! You’re just like the others, you were not ambitious enough to let people do it and you took your revenge on me! That is so filthy and so low, even for someone like you.”

All his speech about how bad I was, I completely dozed off as I was so tired of this day which was long enough already. I knew he would say all this stuff. We didn’t really  know each other and I couldn’t say the truth. He would think of me as a crazy girl. I would rather be the bad one.  

“I will explain myself to Dumbledore. Only to him.”

His frustration seemed to reach its maximal level as he looked at me with disgust. 

“You’re a manipulative person, pretending to care to ruin the person. Not important enough to make your own choices.”

“I still don’t give a damn about this tournament Cedric and-”

I was stopped by Dumbledore’s look as he activates the entrance of his office. I must admit I would have been very happy to witness this beautiful entrance if it was under other circumstances. Both of us followed the headmaster silently. I was looking at my feet while Cedric was looking ahead. 

“Would you explain to me how this happened? Who wrote the paper with the two names on it? And why?”

Cedric stayed silent, but not me. I wanted to hide under my sheets as soon as possible. 

“I did. I was scared for his safety so I decided to put him out of qualification to be sure he would be safe and sound. I can say more things, but not in front of him.”

“I don’t really knew you miss… Scavander. But for a Slytherin you seem more than willing to prove yourself tonight. Why didn’t you come sooner before breaking the rules that are established for so long that it can be remembered?”

I winced. “I didn’t think of that. It may be the pride of doing something by myself for once.” At least I knew well about the Slytherins and I might be able to use that for my advantage.

Cedric stayed silence the whole meeting. He was excused after some time. At least, he wouldn’t have any punishment. It was a miserable way or repaying for my action, but for now I couldn’t do more. Once he was gone, I got closer to Dumbledore and explained to him the whole situation. How I knew about Potter and for what would happen next. He seemed reluctant to hear for my explanations but he asked for it. He called for Mrs Trewlaney and she arrived very quickly. I had to explain myself all over again and I couldn’t prevent myself from thinking how cute and kind she looked while hearing my stories very quietly. She seemed rather excited in the end and she asked me to sit and think about all I said. She only touched my arms for a few seconds before gasping and talking very quickly. Even Dumbledore couldn’t comprehend everything she said, but the look in his eyes made me realized that he started to believe everything I said. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell anything sooner but I don’t know what the consequences of all this could be. If I tell you and we change things, what can happen?”

“My dear student, changing the future is not a good thing at all I must say. It will be devastating. It must not be done.” 

“But we absolutely can’t let Cedric participate at this Tournament! Knowing the ending would be the same as killing him, I can’t let that happen! Not everything must be done around Potter! I don’t say that because I’m a Slytherin and Draco Malfoy always despise Potter’s presence. I’m just saying that Cedric doesn’t deserve to die. He’s very kind, there must something we can do to save his life without impacting the future too much.”

Mrs Trewlaney’s voice took over, very slowly. “I think that Cedric’s life would be impacted by such a change of plan. Won’t you mind taking care of him knowing that the future won’t be a walk in the park?”

“I won’t!” 

I must say that this answer left my mouth before I could even proceed all the pieces of information that I had gathered these last few minutes. 

“I almost risked everything to make sure he won’t be able to take part in this tournament. I won’t mind having to look after him even though I doubt he will let me do that.”

Dumbledore didn’t say anything during the whole time, but I was ready to face him if he was thinking about letting Cedric having his heroic moment later on. He wouldn’t let Potter do that if he was aware he would die. 

“We cannot change the future. But as miss Scamander said it, we cannot let Cedric participate in this tournament. I must discuss it with the other professors. As for now, I won’t tell anyone what you said to me. Mrs Trewlaney will do the same. But for this to stay a secret, I need to put a punishment in place. Therefore, I want you to listen to me carefully. I will take 200 points from Slytherin. And you will have to undergo the Sorting Hat again. I do not think you fit in Slytherin, there must have been a mistake. For now, you can dismiss.”

I left the office completely defeated. Two. Hundred. Points. That will be the death of me.  

I had to go back to the common room where dinner was done but most of the students were still there. At Dumbledore’s announcement of the Slytherin’s loss of 200 points, Draco Malfoy almost passed out from his anger, but only after screaming “My father will hear about this” about two hundred times. I thought it would be harder than that but most of the students were mostly interested in going back to their dorms. I looked at the Hufflepuff’s table but couldn’t find Cedric who must have been wandering around the castle as his Prefect’s duty was not done yet. I sighed and sat at a chair and let Dumbledore put the Sorting Hat on my head. I can say one thing for sure : having a thing speaking at you and judging your personality is not very agreeable. 

“I do believe that your place at Slytherin must be very convenient. It seems you’re sly enough and you do not care about breaking rules as long as you get your own way. But the reasons of doing so are benevolent. Too benevolent as you are ready to sacrifice yourself for the well-being of others… Should I put you in Gryffindors? You seem to show qualities such as bravery and strength. But you could also find your way in the Hufflepuffs…”

“Bro at this point I am everything and everyone.”

“… But quite indelicate when it comes to following the rules. Your rebellious behaviour can make you achieve great things… but it can make you become destructive if it does not follow your wishes…”

I rolled my eyes at this - way too long - speech. I just wanted to get away from here to find Cedric and apologise to him. I should be able to explain myself but as long as Dumbledore’s approval is not given to me, I won’t do such a thing. I have to find another way to make it up to him. 

“But you are also able to show remorse… This have to be a quite harsh decision… but you should be moved to Gryffindor.”

I was thinking about so many possibilities to redeem myself but hearing the name of Gryffindor made me forget about all of it. I looked angry at the hat in my head as if it could see my face. 

“I would rather die a Hufflepuff than being a Gryffindor!” As I bursted it all out, I’ve noticed many pairs of eyes looking at me. “No offense to the Hufflepuffs…”

“Hufflepuff it will be.”

I let out a cry of relief as I didn’t hear Gryffindor but realised my fate as Dumbledore took the hat off my head, much to his satisfaction. My eyes were wide opened as I tried to explain to him that it was so unnecessary to change me from the Slytherins as I did what was best. But the look on his face made me realise I shouldn’t get too comfortable in here, people were still there and I had to be discreet if I wanted our plan to go well. Cedric’s sake should come first. 

The next hour was the worst as I had to take all my things to adventure myself to the Hufflepuff dorm. I must admit that their dorm is the best, very cosy and warm, a huge contrast with the first dorm I had known. Moving my things was the easiest thing as I didn’t have much. 

“Welcome here, we’re glad to have you around… as long as you don’t cause us to lose 200 points!”

I felt quite tensed until the blond girl laughed at my face in this weirdly kind way. I let a smile makes its way across my lips before heading to the room my bed was. I left it right away, hoping to find Cedric somewhere. I thought I had my chances because he was unaware of my fate after he left Dumbledore’s office. I didn’t find him in the Hufflepuff’s room but as I was making my way out I caught sight of him and made my way towards him, very quietly so that he wouldn’t be able to avoid me. But he must have had a sixth sense because he started walking away from me before I could even say something. The only thing I could be proud of was how stubborn I was. 

“I really need to talk to you Cedric. It’s very important.”

“I have nothing to say and no will to listen to your nonsense. Dumbledore and the others must have felt compassion towards you but I am not ready to hear anything from you… yet.”

The fact that he was still able, in his fierce anger, to envisage a possibility of letting me explain myself was enough to make my heart melt at such benevolence. Was this humanly possible? In his weakness, I was able to see his strength taking over the rest. 

“I am so sorry. I thought of saving you and I ignored how it would impact you. But I did it with the best intentions I could have!”

He turned around and looked at me with feelings that were mixed between anger and disappointment. How harsh this look was knowing that he had all the rights to feel that way towards me. I had to accept that he needed space and time. As long as he wasn’t putting himself in danger, I had nothing else to do other than waiting for him to be ready to hear what I had to say. 

I left and two weeks passed before I would caught him looking at me. At first I thought he was looking at something behind or next to me. But the more it happened and the more I thought about how it could be his way to letting me know he was ready for me to make the first move. And I was craving for that, waiting was not - and still isn’t - the best thing I do. One night, I joined him before he could go to his dorm. He didn’t walk faster but didn’t talk to me either. I looked at him and caught his gaze. 

“Are you ready to listen to what I have to say?”

“I have questions before we talk about what you did to me.”

“Go ahead. I am willing to answer all the questions you can have in mind.”

“Rather being a Hufflepuff than dying a Gryffindor huh? I didn’t think you were that dramatic.” He laughed and I surprised myself thinking how I missed it. “I was very surprised with my friends when they told me that you would become part of our House. Is this the real punishment?”

“I have all the Slytherins ready to catch a spell against me at anytime for having them losing 200 points. Draco Malfoy is surely ranting about me to his father, and planing on getting rid of me as soon as he will see me wandering around all alone. I don’t really think that the Hufflepuff is a bad thing, next to all that.”

“It seems that you need protection. I guess you know better than me about danger now.” I sighed at this indirect attack. He was very clever, I couldn’t deny it, and he was also very blunt. Too bad for him, it was also my cup of tea.  

“I learned very well from you.”

“Touché.” He stopped himself to look at me. “What happened?”

“The Sorting Hat had troubles finding my real house and then I got-” 

He stopped me, shaking his head as I looked at him wondering what was his problem. 

“I was thinking more about you explaining to me why you did what you did. Other than the protection scheme.”

“I have not much more to say to be honest. It started with you being infatuated with putting your life in danger and me getting worried as the days passed. I thought about making you change your mind but you’re so stubborn it made me crazy.. I did a bad thing but I have to be honest: I don’t regret it. I feel like I saved your life and if you want to be mad at me for that, then so be it.”

“I am mad because you disregarded my wishes. I thought you were too concerned with me. We barely knew each other. We still don’t.” I winced at this fact being spoken out loud. But he was right. “But I guess I understand. I thought a lot about it and I know that you didn’t do it for your own sake. I tried thinking in reverse and if someone I liked was putting themselves in danger, I would probably risk everything in order to save them.” 

“Because when you put yourself in my position your only thought was : she must like me?”

“Is this all you remembered from all I said?”

“I don’t understand if you’re still willing to be mad at me or if you’re willing to let me learn more about you. Just so I can figure it all out.”

“What do you mean?” 

“I want to know if I made the right choice.”

He laughed and started to walk again. “You really like me do you?”

I couldn’t answer to this question. Not because I didn’t know about how I felt, but because my pride didn’t disappear the night I was made a Hufflepuff. 

[the-bau-quinjet]

Six Years

Summary: Y/N forgets her life with Steve, but it's not as simple as just remembering.

Warnings: uh angst maybe?, migraines, nothing that bad I think

Word Count: 12,901

a/n: look I am and always will be a Steve girly. Chris finally winning Sexiest Man may have inspired me to finish this

Masterlist

If you had to choose one word for how you felt in this exact moment, it would be tired. Granted, that’s not an uncommon occurrence, but it just felt… more this time. Your eyelids felt like paperweights, far too heavy to even consider opening. Your entire body was fighting your consciousness, begging you for more sleep. Who were you to say no to another five minutes?

You let out a low groan, rolling over to find a more comfortable position. Your body protested the move, but if you were going to fall back to sleep you absolutely had to roll over.

"Y/N?" You were too tired to really pay attention to the voice, simply responding with your current plan of action.

"Five more minutes," you grumbled inaudibly, barely able to form the words. Your throat was too dry. It felt as though you hadn't used your voice for weeks.

"What?" The voice was closer this time. You managed to clear your throat, doing nothing to hide your annoyance at being disturbed.

"I said, five more minutes," your throat scratched as you spoke louder, only resulting in another groan from you.

Of all the things you expected in response to that statement, laughter was pretty low on the list. Maybe if they were laughing because you were supposed to be up an hour ago and you were going to be late for work, but that wasn't what you heard.

No, this laughter was shocked, maybe a bit disbelieving, but overall happy. As if the person laughing was pleased to hear your early morning grumbling. Well, at least you assumed it was morning.

You rolled toward the voice, still fighting with your eyelids to open, When you finally managed it, your eyes burned from the harsh light. It didn't even feel overly bright, but it seems you'd grown used to the dark and weren't ready to face daylight again.

"Why are you laughing at me?" you groaned, finally accepting the fact that you were now awake. Although, you regretted that almost instantly. Being awake enough to open your eyes meant being awake enough to feel how sore and worn out your body felt. "And what the hell did I drink last night?"

The last thing you remember, you were coming home from your last final, ready to party it up with your roommate. You don't even remember opening the drinks, let alone any partying that came after.

"I'm sorry..." You refocused on the voice, rubbing your eyes in an attempt to get used to the lights. "It's not funny. Just, only you would ask for five more minutes after waking up from a coma. Steve's gonna be so pissed he wasn't here."

A coma? Steve? Your thoughts were suddenly racing. You finally managed to open your eyes well enough to see, voice failing you as you took in your surroundings. The voice was definitely not your roommate. In fact, it was a brunette man you don't recall ever meeting before. And you were not, in fact, in your bed- or even in your apartment.

The room looked like a hospital, but fancier. Maybe a private facility? You could hear the faintest of beeps indicating your heart was in fact pumping. It wasn't as jarring as the equipment in an actual hospital. You would know. You worked in one.

"Where am I? What happened? Who..." you trailed off when you noticed the mystery man's metal arm. He seemed relieved to see you were okay, although he was ignoring you in favor of texting someone. When he finally looked up, you nearly stopped breathing. Good lord, that man is attractive.

You opened your mouth to ask more questions when the door on the other side of the room flew open. Startled by the sudden noise, you shrieked, turning with wide eyes to stare at the intruder.

It was another mystery man, blonde this time. Also wickedly attractive. What are they feeding these people? His blue eyes were filled with relief, although you had no idea why it would be over you. Yet again, the second you opened your mouth the brunette started talking.

"She just woke up punk, take a deep breath," he chuckled when the blonde glared at him.

"And I would have been here for it if you didn't make me leave, jerk," he huffed in response, only confusing you more. Why was he so pressed to be here when you woke up? You looked between them, mouth agape and eyebrows furrowed. It seemed the movement caught their attention, suddenly two pairs of blue eyes were focused on you.

"How are you feeling? Are you okay?" The blonde one took your hand, holding it with a gentleness you wouldn't expect from such a large person. Your gaze flickered between his eyes and his hand, confusion still fogging up your brain.

"What happened?" you started with the basics. "Where am I?" Something was telling you not to ask about the identity of the men with you. It felt as though they knew who you were, and you wanted answers.

"You're in the med bay. The last mission you were on, it was a setup." The brunette started to answer your questions, but he trailed off when he noticed your confusion only grew with each word he spoke.

"What mission?" you emphasized the word, thrown off by the men acting like you're some sort of spy.

"What's the last thing you remember?" The brunette asked the question. The blonde was beginning to make you nervous with his aggressive staring, even if it seemed to be coming from a good place.

"I... I just finished my last final. It was my last class before graduation, and I was planning to go out with Jess to celebrate being done with school..." The answers to your previous questions did very little to fill you in, so you asked the obvious question you'd been holding back. "Who are you?"

The two men tilted their heads, their confusion clearly evident. It would have been funny how similar they reacted if you weren't so damn confused.

It was their turn to be cut off by the arrival of somebody new. Or in this case, multiple somebodies. The med bay, as the brunette put it, was suddenly full of people, none of whom seemed familiar to you in the least. At least not on a personal level.

"Tony Stark?" you whispered, but it seemed some of them still heard you.

"You really asked for five more minutes after being in a coma for a month?" Tony Stark himself spoke as if he knew you personally, really adding to the headache you've felt growing since you woke up. Although, Tony's presence did do one good thing for you. It suddenly clicked who the two mystery men were.

Realizing you are in the presence of the Avengers, while trying to figure out what the fuck was going on, combined with hearing some sort of mission put you in a coma for a month really took a lot out of a person.

"I kind of wish I just went back to sleep," you muttered, rubbing your head with your free hand since the newly identified Steve Rogers was still holding the other one.

"The last thing you remember is finishing college?" he finally spoke up, earning confused looks from everyone but the other newly identified man, Bucky Barnes.

"Yes? I mean, I think so..." The room grew quiet after your admission, nobody knowing where to go from there. "How long ago was that?"

Suddenly, the pattern of the tiles on the floor grew more interesting than this conversation for nearly everyone in the room. The only one who maintained eye contact was Steve. You could see the hurt in his eyes when he finally admitted just how much of your life you'd forgotten.

"Six years ago," he whispered, just loud enough for you to hear. You squeezed his hand when the new information registered, needing something to anchor you or else you may just pass out again.

"Si-six years? It's been six years? What the fuck happened to me?" Your breathing sped up as you began to panic, the feeling of the medical equipment stuck to you was too much. Everything was too much. Nothing made sense. "No. No that can't be right. No, because I just finished school..."

The room started spinning. Everyone was staring at you, their mouths moving but you couldn't hear any words. Your eyes flickered from one face to another, the panic growing with each second you couldn't make out what they were saying, and then everything went black.

-

You groaned as you woke up, body still aching. For a few blissful seconds, you forgot about the team of heroes who informed you six years of your life had passed. The ignorance didn't last long, resulting in your eyes flying open and your body sitting up.

The first person you saw was none other than your college roommate and best friend, Jess. After scanning the room, you realized it was just the two of you. She was looking at you with clear worry.

"Jess, thank God. I had the weirdest dream..." You shook your head, still trying to make sense of the brief period of time you thought you were in a coma. "I was in a coma and the Avengers were there... What the hell did I drink last night?" you chuckled, smile slowly falling when Jess didn't respond.

When she ran a hand through her hair and sighed, you knew it wasn't a dream. It was her tell. She did it every time she had bad news, like the time she bailed on you to go on a date, and the time you forced her to check your grade on a really hard exam because you were too scared to look.

"I was in a coma?" You took a few deep breaths, trying to make sense of what in the hell was going on. "It's actually been six years?"

"It has," she nodded. "They called me when you woke up, but I didn't get here fast enough." She pulled a chair next to your bed, finally coming close enough for you to see a bandage on her hand.

"What did you do this time?" you joked, finding comfort in her still being as clumsy as you remember. The tears in her eyes were unexpected.

"I cut it when they told me you were awake." She let out a soft chuckle, wiping the few stray tears. "I was so surprised, I stopped paying attention to what I was doing. Pretty ironic you couldn't heal it for me." Her eyes went wide when she realized what she said.

"Heal it?" you asked, confusion still plaguing your thoughts. Suddenly, memories of an explosion flashed through your mind, accompanied by searing pain in your head. "What the fuck!" you practically screamed, your frustration boiling over. You forced your eyes open, trying to stop the pain.

Looking back to Jess, you figured your best chance was to ask what happened. "Was there an explosion at some point?" She glanced at the door, unsure if she she actually tell you anything. "Please, Jess, I need something." You grabbed her hand, gasping when it glowed.

"Okay! Okay, but you need to breath, okay? You can't pass out on me again." You watched as she unwrapped her hand, showing completely healed skin. "After graduation, we both got jobs in research at Oscorp..."

"I can't believe we actually work here." It must have been the seventieth time you've said those words to Jess on your lunch break.

"I know! It's so surreal to be part of... all this." She gestured around the building, her giddy smile matching your own. The two of you started working at Oscorp 3 months ago, her in electrical engineering and you in biomedical.

"I'll see you after work?" You began cleaning up your garbage, preparing to go back to work.

"Actually, I have plans. Liz and I are celebrating our one year," she smiled, a wistful look in her eye.

"How could I forget? I'm so happy for you guys," you smiled cheekily in return. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then... or Monday?" You ran before she could throw something at you. "Bye!"

Shaking your head, you made the trek back up to the biomedical floor. You were in the process of isolating stem cells for regenerative medicine. Ideally, in a few months your 3D printed skin prototype would be ready for trials.

You still marvelled at the equipment as you made it back to your lab bench. Neither college nor your part time position in a hospital really did anything to prepare you for the private sector. It was so much more advanced. You still sometimes felt a bit of imposter syndrome. Shaking off the unpleasant thoughts, you got to work.

Without realizing, you worked later than intended. Typically your friday ends at 4:30, but it was already 7:15. No wonder you were so hungry. Just before you could pack anything up, you felt the building shake. A bright light followed, the force of the blast knocking you and your bench over.

"I really pass out a lot, don't I?" you griped, annoyed with the circumstances of your memory loss. "Is that what happened, I hit my head and forgot six years of my life?"

"Do you want me to finish the story, or not?" Jess rolled her eyes, but she smiled. It felt good to have you back to your sarcastic self. When you nodded, she continued. "I heard about the explosion, and panicked when you didn't answer any of my calls. Liz obviously understood, and we rushed to the hospital where they were sending the survivors..."

The ER was a wreck. Thankfully the majority of the employees had left before the explosion, given that it was a friday. The havoc came from family and friends who couldn't contact their loved ones due to the cell reception issues.

Jess finally made it up to the nurse's station, Liz hot on her heels. "Hi I'm looking for Y/N L/N. Is she here?" She followed up the question with a general description of your appearance.

The nurse looked through their stacks of papers, finding a chart with the right name. "You can follow me." They threw procedure out the window, aiming to just rid the room of people as quickly as possible.

When Jess and Liz rounded the corner toward your room, they could hear you arguing with someone.

"I'm fine! I feel fine, I promise," you paused, waiting for someone's response. "They're keeping me for an hour or so for observation just in case. I promise I'll call you when I'm free to leave." You looked up when the new bodies entered the room. "Jess is here. She'll drive me home, don't worry. It's not worth sitting in the traffic because I'm completely fine. I promise." You shook your head, finally saying "I love you too, bye."

"Your mom?" Jess guessed, smirking when you nodded. Seeing as the two guests did in fact know you, the nurse left, wasting no time in getting back to the ER.

"You know how she worries. Granted, this time feels kind of warranted." You were still trying to wrap your head around everything. "It's crazy I'm not injured. Sorry about your date. You too Liz. I would've called, but as soon as reception came back my mom was calling."

"Don't worry about it!" Liz answered when Jess only surveyed you, eyes roaming your body.

"How are you so okay? The news is saying it was the particle accelerator that exploded. That's that floor below you." Jess inquired.

"I have no idea. Last thing I remember, I was being thrown across the room with my research, then I woke up here and felt fine," you shrugged.

"You don't even have any scrapes or bruises. How is that possible?" Jess shook her head, more so voicing the questions out of disbelief than actually expecting answers. Eventually, the three of you moved on to talking about anything you could to pass the time.

A half hour later, you were being discharged to make room for more emergent cases. They removed your IV, had you sign some papers, and you were in the car on the way to the closest fast food place.

You brought the food back to your apartment, trying to convince Jess and Liz to salvage what was left of the night for their date.

"Seriously, I'm fine. I don't need you to babysit me-" Suddenly, Jess cut you off.

"Y/N! You're arm!" she pointed excitedly, eyes wide. You glanced at your arm, turning it around.

"It seems fine." You looked back at her as if she had lost her mind.

"Yeah, but it shouldn't be! You should have a bruise or at least a mark from the IV," she shot back, watching the moment it hit you.

"What the hell?" you whispered, refocusing on your arm to try and come up with some explanation. Suddenly, you were grabbing the nearest piece of paper, intent on giving yourself a paper cut. You winced when it stung, but watched in amazement as your skin healed itself, a faint glow emanating from the wound. "What the hell?" you repeated.

"And that's it." Jess finished the story, shrugging when you gestured for more.

"What do you mean that's it! That can't be it! How did I figure out I could heal other people? Are there other people with... powers? What's the most dangerous thing I've healed? Will it last forever?" You rambled with every question you could think of, staring in amazement at your own hands. You could still feel the splitting pain that reliving your past seemed to cause, but you ignored the feeling in favor of figuring out as much as possible.

"Well, after the accident we obviously stopped working at Oscorp since the building was practically obliterated. We did what we could, but we didn't really have the tools to test your newfound powers," she smirked. "You moved in here a few years months later."

You bit your lip, eyeing her with a curious gaze. "We still hang out though, right?" you nervously voiced your question, scared to hear that you haven't seen her in years.

"Oh, yeah! All the time. We actually just had lunch before your last mission." She smiled fondly at the memory, but it faded when she remembered the result of the mission. "We didn't know if you were going to wake up," she choked back a sob. "Ever since the explosion, you've never been down for long. A few minutes at most from what I know. Nothing's ever hurt you like this before..."

"That's why we think it was a purposeful attack, designed to knock you out." Suddenly, the two of you weren't alone. Tony Stark waltzed into the med bay, a young man right behind him.

"That's my queue. I'll see you later, okay?" Jess hugged you before she left, leaving you with more questions than she had answered. Your eyes remained on Jess until she turned a corner out of your view, forcing you to look to the two newcomers.

"Is this the part where you tell me how I ended up here?" You questioned, looking between Tony and the younger man you didn't recognize for answers.

"You saved my life," the younger man answered with no hesitation. Your entire body jerked toward him. If you had water, you definitely would have done a spit take.

"I what?" you sputtered, still trying to put together what you remember with the information Jess gave you.

"I'm just going to run some tests while Spidey fills you in. Pretend I'm not even here." Tony started messing with the machines you were connected to, ignoring the increased furrow of your eyebrows.

"Spidey? You're spiderman? You're practically a child!" Your mouth hung agape as you stared at the man. The last you had seen, Spiderman was responsible for capturing weapons dealers who specialized in alien tech. That's definitely not something you'd expect a child to be capable of.

"Hey, I'm twenty-two!" he practically whined, only reinforcing your image of him as a child. "Anyway, this is the story of how you saved my life." Spiderman paused, as if expecting an audience reaction.

"Kid, get on with it." Tony muttered, still focused on the various machines. In fact, now that you've actually had a chance to look around, these are definitely not standard hospital machines. Before you could ask about them, he started his story.

"Well, a little less than six years ago, I was fighting these dudes..."

Peter swung from building to building, looking for anyone or anything out of place. It was his standard patrol route, but something felt off. His spidey sense was definitely tingling.

He was being extra vigilant as he looked down each alley for anything suspicious, but it was of no use. The bad guys weren't trying to hide in an alley. No, they were right in the middle of the street, and they were looking for a fight.

One of them shot some alien tech weapon into the sky, resulting in a loud boom echoing through the block. Instantly people started running, looking for anywhere they could hide if they couldn't get away.

He swung closer to surprise them when someone shouted about his arrival. His graceful landing was rather rudely interrupted when bad guy number two shot his alien gun at Peter's webs, unceremoniously dumping him to the ground.

Despite the rough landing, he jumped right into the fight. Everytime he thought he had them cornered, they'd whip out a new weapon. By the third time, he expected the surprise and easily dodged the blast. Unfortunately, it was enough of a distraction for them to blast him with new weapon number four.

He flew backwards, crushing a dumpster from the sheer force of the blast. Before he could recover, another blast hit him, sending him clear through the brick wall into an adjacent alley. The group of attackers took this as there opportunity, escaping in the waiting getaway car before anyone was apprehended.

Peter groaned, unable to even sit up. Karen was listing his stats, but he couldn't focus on her words enough to do anything with the information. Karen must have alerted Tony to his distress because he could hear Tony's voice. Or maybe he was hallucinating.

"Oh my god, Y/N that's Spiderman!" A voice a few yards from Peter spoke up. "He looks hurt... Are you okay Mr. Man? Mr. Spider? Mr. Spiderman?"

"He's clearly not okay, Jess. Oh my god." You ran toward him, concern clear on your face. Just as you knelt down in front of him, he started talking.

"Mr. Stark? I'm fine." Peter was not fine, but his ever present fear of disappointing Tony inevitably lead to his denial.

"Kid, you're not fine. I can see your vitals." Tony deadpanned. Meanwhile, your concern was growing. From your point of view, there was nobody present for him to be talking to.

"Oh my god, Jess. He's hallucinating." You worriedly looked at your friend, concerned for the man in front of you. He didn't seem to hear your comment, but that only added to your worry. "Spiderman? Can I help you? Maybe we can take you to the hospital?"

Jess nodded in agreement, confirming that was the best plan. Peter vaguely nodded, not really hearing you. You reached for his arm, slowly pulling him up to help him stand. The second you made contact, your hands started glowing. You would've dropped him if he wasn't also holding on to you.

"What the fuck?" Jess called from behind you, watching the mysterious glowing. You nearly shrieked when another voice sounded from behind you.

"Well, that's new." Iron Man himself stood behind you, watching curiously as the glow faded.

"Uhh... yeah. It is," you confirmed, staring wide eyed yourself.

Everyone looked at each other, confusion and concern on their faces. It wasn't until a voice came from Peter's suit that anyone said anything.

"Vitals stable." Karen updated the group, although it seemed to already be known.

"How..." you mumbled, overwhelmed by your newfound ability. It had already taken so much to get used to healing yourself, but you can heal other people too?

"That's what I'd like to know." Tony chimed in, a smirk adorning his features.

"And then you came back to the tower with us!" He finished his story, unphased by the disbelief in your expression. "Dr. Banner ran some tests, and it turns out the particle accelerator altered your DNA."

You nodded silently, thinking about everything you've learned since you woke up. "This is insane." Your headache spiked again, beginning to reduce to a dull throbbing after the story, but still enough to earn a grimace. Tony seemed to notice your discomfort, marking something down with the rest of the test results.

"It seems your vitals are all stable. Nothing seems to be different than the first time we ran all of these tests. Slightly depleted levels of serotonin and estrogen, but nothing noteworthy. I'll have Bruce look it over when he gets back from Cho's lab, but everything seems fine."

"So why can't I remember?" you asked the question, not really expecting an answer, but hoping for at least a working theory. Tony sighed, glancing at the door before giving in.

"We think whatever weapon Hydra hit you with was designed specifically to take you down. They somehow targeted the regeneration of your cells, slowing it down enough to allow you to be injured. The amnesia could be a side effect of whatever process they used, or the result of hitting your head."

Science. You understood science. That was something you could work with. "But everything's back to normal? My cells are regenerating again?"

Tony nodded, showing you the results from your original tests six years ago and the ones he just finished running. "So we don't know if it's temporary..." you mumbled, thoughts running wild.

"Which means we should treat it like retrograde amnesia..." Tony supplied you with the next logical conclusion, knowing you wouldn't appreciate the treatment plan.

"Damnit," you cursed.

"What?" The young one questioned the shift in mood.

"It means no more stories, Pete." Tony sighed.

"Pete..." you repeated the name, closing your eyes in an attempt to remember something new. "Pete... Peter... Peter Parker!" Your eyes flew open. "That's your name right?"

"Um... yeah," he replied, looking at your warily.

"Okay. That's good. I remembered something."

"You mean you didn't know my name the whole time I was telling that story?" Peter guffawed. "Why didn't you say anything! I would've introduced myself.

You shrugged. "I wanted to hear the story."

Tony just shook his head. "Hey, kid. Why don't you take her on a tour? Start with her room."

"My room?" you asked, still trying to wrap your head around everything.

"Well, you don't normally live in the med bay," Tony joked. "See if walking around helps. If you need to rest, you can do it in your room instead of here."

You simply nodded, so thrown off by the information overload. Peter lead you out of the room and down the hall to the elevator. You definitely could've gone back to sleep, but your desire for answers was definitely outweighing your need to rest.

Peter dutifully showed you around the entire tower, starting with your room as Tony directed. You slowly walked around the space, looking at the various pictures and items strewn about.

"It's just like it was before the mission." Peter supplied, hoping to jog your memory. You simply nodded, still trying to digest everything that happened today. Sitting down on the bed, you reached to grab the picture frame from your nightstand.

The photo showed you and Steve Rogers at Coney Island, his arm wrapped around your waist. While you were smiling at the camera, Steve was looking at you. The expression on his face suddenly answered a few of your questions from earlier.

"That's why he cared so much..." you mumbled under your breath, barely even registering Peter's presence in the room. You glanced around again, noticing all the small things you missed before. The men's sweatshirt left at the end of the bed, the drawings that were framed on the walls with the tiniest signature of initials SGR in the corners, even the few candles on your desk that you knew you would never choose for yourself. There was clearly two people living here.

You reached for the sweatshirt, mourning the memories you knew you should have. More than anything, you felt sorry for Steve. Just thinking if the roles were reversed has you ready to cry. You held the sweatshirt to your chest, trying to keep your composure while you're with Peter. Holding the sweatshirt that close, you realized you could smell Steve's cologne on the fabric.

Suddenly, you feel as though you were thrown back in time, remembering the first time you met. "He was there the first time I healed someone after you..." You glanced at Peter, trying to gauge if you were actually remembering something. The more you thought about the memory, the more you could feel another headache coming on.

"I, um, I don't know if I'm allowed to talk about this. Mr. Stark said no more stories..."

"You don't need to tell me. I- I remember it. I mean, I think I do. Just tell me if I'm right?" When Peter nodded, you jumped into the story, paying no mind to the growing pain in your head.

You had just finished your tour of the tower- Peter giving the actual tour while Tony continued to ask you random questions about your powers- when someone ran down the hall to get Tony.

"Stark! We need Cho, it's Barnes." The mystery woman paid you no mind aside from one questioning glance, although you still felt exposed under her gaze.

"She left for South Korea a few hours ago, but I'll make the call. Banner is in the med bay now." Tony replied, already asking the built in AI to redirect the quinjet. He started to follow the woman back towards where they ran your tests, leaving you and Peter with no choice but to follow.

The room was much more chaotic than when you left. Multiple Avengers were in beds around the room with varying injuries. Sam Wilson was being checked for a concussion. Another woman you didn't recognize was having a wound stitched up in the next bed over.

The most people were huddled around a bed in the middle of the room, Steve Rogers' voice shouting over the commotion. "Tony!" He waved him over, Bruce Banner already standing at the bedside. Steve was covered in blood, although from the state of things you could surmise it wasn't his own. Bucky Barnes was laying motionless in the bed, his face growing paler with each second.

You and Peter watched with wide eyes as they discussed what happened. With what you could overhear, it seemed the mission they were on was based on outdated intel. The base was swarming with Hydra agents, leaving the team outnumbered and outgunned.

Bucky took the brunt of it, jumping in front of the gun fire to save some of the others. Although he could deflect some of the bullets with his metal arm, there were too many for him to stop them all. Not too mention, he had already been stabbed in the side before the guns were fired. The only thing keeping him alive was the super soldier serum. If not for his advanced healing, the stab wound would have resulted in blood loss had the gun shot wounds not done it first.

"He's losing too much blood," Bruce muttered, trying his best to help despite not being that kind of doctor.

"Cho left hours ago. Even with the maximum speed, she won't be here for another 30 minutes," Tony informed the group, their expressions growing more and more panicked.

"Y/N!" Peter exclaimed from next to you, startling you into looking away from the horror in front of you. It seems nobody else noticed his outburst, still focused on stopping the bleeding. "You can heal him!"

"What?" you replied in a panicked voice. "No I can't! I don't know if I can heal wounds that serious!"

"You healed me!" Peter replied, trying to encourage you. "Mr. Stark said my vitals were failing. I was probably bleeding internally and you saved my life. You can save him too!"

You shook your head, staring wide eyed at Peter. You had no idea how to control your powers, let alone if they had any limits. Before today, the most you had healed was little scrapes and cuts and they were only on yourself.

"At least try. Please?" he asked, encouraging you to help. Glancing at everyone's distraught expressions, you nodded. "You can do it! I know you can!"

Peter instantly started pulling you through the crowd, getting you right next to Bucky before anyone even noticed you moved. He nodded at you with a supportive smile, encouraging you to try.

"What are you doing?" Steve shouted, his emotions running wild. Just as he asked, your hands started to glow. "Get away from him!"

He started toward you, but Peter held him back. Tony, in turn, held back the others. They watched as a bright, warm light emitted from your hands and encased Bucky's wounds. Before their eyes, the wounds started healing. He was no longer bleeding out and the color was returning to his face. Within 30 seconds, he was completely fine.

Nobody said a word, everyone stunned by the events they witnessed, yourself included. It wasn't until Bucky sat up that anyone spoke.

"What happened?" Bucky croaked, looking around at everyone's faces. He rubbed as his side, expecting to feel sore from the wounds. Instead, he found skin that had completely healed. "How long has it been?"

"About forty minutes," the mystery woman from the hallway answered, her eyes glancing between you and Bucky.

"C'mon Tash. Even I don't heal that fast. Steve?" Bucky asked, looking to his oldest friend for more information.

"Forty three minutes to be exact," he replied. He too glanced at you, although his face betrayed what he was feeling. Despite the utter confusion at how you did it, all Steve could think was you saved his life. Suddenly, Steve Rogers was hugging you. He held you to him tightly. Despite the blood, sweat, and dirt coating his suit, you could still smell his cologne. "Thank you," he whispered.

"You're welcome," you whispered back, unable to even attempt speaking at a higher volume. Seemingly remembering where he was, he let you go, a pink hue blooming on his cheeks.

"Who are you?" Bucky asked, a smirk already appearing on his face after Steve's uncharacteristic display of affection.

"Um, Y/N," you answered, overwhelmed by the number of eyes on you. Luckily for you, Peter was more than willing to explain. He spared no detail in telling the team about your day, starting with swinging through the city and ending with who you've come to know as Natasha interrupting the end of your tower tour.

"So you can heal people?" Bucky asked, being the only one who didn't witness the whole ordeal. "And that's why I'm not dead?" You nodded, still shocked at what you were capable of. Everyone seemed to have questions, but Tony was more than willing to talk about all the tests he and Banner ran earlier.

In the meantime, you healed the others who were hurt. Each time, everyone marveled at the glowing light. Sam's entire head seemed to light up as you healed his concussion. The woman who needed stitches, Wanda, said it felt like a warm hug when you healed the gash on her arm.

When everyone was healed, you stepped back. You didn't want to intrude on the group. Everyone here knows each other. They're like a weird little family. You couldn't just walk in off the street and expect to fit in. It seemed Steve noticed your discomfort, moving to stand by you.

"Thank you again," he started. "I'm Steve Rogers by the way." He held out his hand for you to shake, earning a chuckle from you after his earlier hug.

"Y/N L/N. It's nice to officially meet you," you smiled, feeling more at ease now that you're actually part of a conversation instead of just the topic of discussion.

"And then nothing. That's everything I remember," you finished the story, looking to Peter with a hopeful expression. Your headache only got worse as the story progressed, and it was obvious you were in pain. He narrowed his eyes at you, concerned over how much pain you may be pushing down.

"That's.. yeah. I mean that's what happened," he answered. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," you replied shakily, the headache slowly shifting from shooting pains to a dull throbbing. "I'm fine." The relief you felt was like a weight being lifted. It was only the first step, but remembering the people you apparently live with is a big first step.

"I guess, if you're not too tired, I can show you the rest of the tower now?" Peter offered, unsure if more information was good for you. Although, he knew if you were left alone it could be worse.

You nodded, a small smile on your lips. You had the vaguest idea that you had enjoyed his tour the first time around

-

You were right, Peter's tour was quite amusing. Maybe it was slightly different than 6 years ago, but you still found yourself smiling and laughing as he excitedly showed you all of his favorite parts. However, you had some questions.

"How is it we walked through almost the entire tower, and ran into nobody?" you asked when Peter announced the end of his tour.

"Oh... um," Peter struggled with finding an answer, unsure if this was breaking Tony's rules.

"You can't tell me anything about the time I forgot. You can tell me about now though," you assured him, watching as the tension left his body.

"Okay! Most everyone is training or in their rooms. I didn't show you the gym because you can't use it until your cleared, so I didn't want to tempt you."

"Most?" you questioned, trying to figure out why that word stuck out to you.

"Oh, yeah. Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes left for a mission. They took Wanda with them, mostly because everyone thought it was a bad idea for-" Peter abruptly cut himself off, eyes widening as if he said too much.

"For who? Steve?" you pressed further, trying to figure out why you suddenly felt like there were bricks in your stomach. When Peter didn't reply, realization dawned on you. "He left to get away from me..."

You sat back on the couch behind you, feeling an all encompassing dread. Peter, realizing he'd already given it away, started babbling with hopes of cheering you up.

"It's totally going to be fine! He's gone on missions with less preparation before, and this one isn't even that long. Wanda's there and she knows this mission inside and out-"

Once again, Peter found himself revealing too much. "Why does Wanda know more than him? Was he not supposed to be on this mission? He's just avoiding me?"

Suddenly, another memory popped up, accompanied by another searing pain tearing through your head. You felt woozy, leaning further into the couch to combat the dizziness.

"I can't do this right now, not again. We've already had the same argument over and over," he got up, promptly throwing the door open and speeding down the hall.

"You can't avoid me forever," you screamed after him as he practically ran away. Sighing, you walked through the now open door into the living room.

"Boy problems?" Nat chimed in out of nowhere, reminding you of the very public setting for this latest confrontation. Sighing, you sat down with her and Wanda.

"I just don't get why he's so upset. It's not like I can really be injured," you scoffed at Steve's sometimes overbearing worrisome attitude. "Plus, he puts himself in more danger than I do. Benching me is so unnecessary."

"Y/N, you were shot." Wanda stated the obvious, earning another scoff from you.

"I literally healed on the way home from the mission. I was fine before we even landed!" you started pacing, your frustration with Steve avoiding you boiling over.

"I bet I know why he did it," Nat practically singsonged, a devious smirk adorning her lips. "Someone's following his heart and not his brain."

"What?" you stared, dumbfounded.

"He's got a crush, you moron." Nat spelled it out for you.

"Yeah, I know that's what you meant, but that's not possible. There's no way. It can't-"

"She doth protest too much-" Tony chimed in, having joined your trio just as Nat revealed her theory. You gaped at him, offended. "Let's face it sweetheart, Cap's got it bad for you."

You sputtered an incoherent reply as all three of them simply stared you down. "Really?"

"He's clearly worried about you, even if it seems irrational. You don't think that's coming from somewhere?" Wanda, much more gently than the other two, tried to help you see it.

"Yeah, friendship!" you snarked, not enjoying the feeling of the blush in your cheeks.

"He didn't bench Barnes when he got shot." Once again, Nat was smirking at you.

"I'm leaving now." With that, you abruptly left the room, trying to compose your thoughts. There was no way, right?

-

You later found yourself aimlessly wandering around the city in an attempt to clear your thoughts. To your surprise, you ran into none other than one Steve Rogers in Central Park. The second you made eye contact, you could feel the blush from earlier returning.

"I'm not stalking you!" you abruptly stated as soon as he was within a reasonable distance. It was such a shock to see him in an unofficial capacity. He paused, clearly not expecting that. "I mean, I was just going on a walk." When he still didn't reply, you kept rambling. "Not to find you and argue again. Just to clear my head... and think."

"About what?" Steve finally stepped closer, no longer standing an awkward 5 feet away. Your eyes widened at his question, feeling like a deer in the headlights you blurted a half-truth.

"You," you abruptly threw a hand up to cover your mouth, turning and walking away after 10 seconds of silence.

"What about me?" Steve followed you, walking beside you as you once again aimlessly walked through the city.

"Just something Nat said." He was clearly waiting for more information, but given that this is the first time the two of you have talked without screaming since that mission, you were hesitant to bring it up. "Steve, I-"

"She was right."

You froze, earning a few choice words from the people who had been walking behind you. "What?"

"Nat, she told you I wasn't thinking with my head, didn't she?" Your disbelief only grew as you really registered what he was saying, and the meaning he likely didn't want to imply. "No, not like- dammit. This is not how I wanted this to go." He ran a hand through his hair, seemingly struggling to find the words he was looking for. "I just-"

It was your turn to interrupt him, briefly pressing yours lips to his before backing away just as quickly. He looked starstruck, lips hanging open ever so slightly.

"Are we on the same page?" you asked hesitantly, trying to determine if you now needed to avoid him within the confines of the tower.

"I mean, I have some more I want to say, but overall I think so." Steve stuttered out the reply, clearly still shocked by your actions.

"So, no more avoiding me?" he shook his head. "Promise?"

"Promise."

Your eyelids fluttered as the memory finished replaying in your head, the searing pain coming back with a vengance.

"Y/N?" Peter asked, his voice betraying his worry.

"M'kay" you mumbled. You could barely hear him well enough to stutter out a response, too overwhelmed by the shooting pains causing your vision to blur and the room to spin.

"You're clearly not okay. I'm taking you back to the med bay." Peter reached over to help you up, needing his reflexes to catch you as you slumped over. "Yep, not okay. Not okay!"

He picked you up, fully carrying you to the med bay while your head lolled over his shoulder. "Mr. Stark!" He called as he deposited you onto the bed.

-

"What happened?" you whispered as your eyes fluttered open. This time, you recognized the faces looking back at you. Peter and Tony were now joined by Bruce, each one glaring at a different machine.

"In short, we don't know. You keep passing out." Bruce answered when he finally looked away from the charts he was reviewing. You glanced between him, Peter, and Tony. They each wore a matching expression telling you one thing- they really had no clue.

"This isn't fair," you whined. "I'm just trying to figure out my life."

"Just try to relax, we'll figure it out eventually." Tony rolled his eyes when you just whined some more. "Take a nap then, I can't work while listening to your whining."

You mulled over his words, some vague sense of something coming back to you. Before long, you could fully picture the date at Coney Island- or more accurately the non-date. "Bucky and Sam said we should all go and then ditched us."

"Where are we going?" you asked, still groggy from the surprising wake up call. "Is someone hurt?"

"Nope," Sam answered. "You need a day off. And before you protest, Steve is coming. If he can take a day, so can you."

You were going to protest, but the sound of voices from down the hall cut you off.

"Buck, would you just tell me where we're going? I should really-"

"No," you laughed at Bucky's tone, knowing he was sick of Steve working himself to death. "We're taking a day off. That's all you need to know."

Bucky and Sam nodded at each other in greeting. Together they lead you and Steve out of the tower and into a car, driving away before either of you could come up with a reason to stay behind.

"Any idea what's going on?" Steve asked you, figuring Sam and Bucky were dead set on not telling.

"Unfortunately no," you answered. "Sam woke me up at the crack of dawn and wouldn't even tell me why." As if on queue, you yawned. Steve chuckled at your expression, swiftly apologizing when you glared at him. "I'm not made to be up this early," you pouted.

"Not exactly a relaxing day off if you spend the whole thing tired." Steve muttered just loud enough for the two in the front to hear.

"Take a nap then. I don't want to spend the whole day listening to your whining." Bucky called back, rolling his eyes at Steve's glare.

You decided to take the advice, leaning your head against the window in an attempt to fall asleep. However, with Bucky driving, your head was bouncing up and down off the window, only resulting in more whining.

"Lean on Steve if the window hurts that bad." Bucky mumbled, smirking to Sam. You felt the heat blossom in your cheeks, practically forcing yourself to keep looking forward.

"You can if you want. Lean on me, I mean." Steve murmured, trying to keep Sam and Bucky out of the conversation.

"Thank you," you practicaly squeaked, choosing to just do it rather than stare awkwardly.

Despite the comfort of leaning into Steve, you were too wound up to get any sleep. You simply shut your eyes, allowing your mind to run a mile a minute with what he could be thinking for the entire car ride.

As it turns out, you had plenty of time to spiral. The car didn't come to a stop for nearly an hour. Reluctantly, you drew your head away from Steve's shoulder to better look out the window.

"Coney Island? This is your idea of a relaxing day off?" You glanced at Bucky and Sam in time to see them both roll their eyes.

"Would it kill you to have a little fun? Get out of the car, both of you." You held your hands up in surrender, shrugging at Steve as you followed their directions. To your surprise, neither man followed you out of the car. "We'll be back later. Try to enjoy yourselves."

Before you could protest, Bucky was hitting the gas. The car squealed away from you, too fast for even Steve to try and catch it. You glanced between him and the park eventually pulling your phone out to buy tickets.

"Are you more of a pay-per-ride or full on wristband type of guy?" you questioned, looking up at Steve only when he didn't answer. You found him staring at you, a slight raise of his eyebrow confusing you. "What? You don't want four hours of fun, thrill, and excitement?"

"How ever will we manage it?" he quipped, earning a chuckle from you.

"Sam and Bucky will never believe it." you joked back, smiling when Steve laughed in turn.

And so, the two of you set of to ride as many rides as you could in the four hours before your wristbands expired, fitting in a few breaks for snacks and water. You even managed to convince Steve to end your day on the slingshot arguing about how it was included in the price and he clearly met the height requirements.

"We didn't take a single picture," you lamented as you and Steve walked the boardwalk after eating. "However will we convince them we managed to have fun?"

"I'm pretty sure I saw Redwing following us around at least once... besides, what's stopping us from taking one now?" Steve asked, smiling ear to ear. You grinned up at him, quickly looking around to find someone to take the picture.

"Excuse me, would you take a picture of us?" you asked a teenage girl, knowing she would be able to frame the photo correctly. She nodded, gawking slightly at Steve- but could you blame her?

He pulled you into his side, one arm wrapped around your waist and the other in his pocket. You both laughed as the girl instructed you to move this way and that in order to get the best lighting. Steve glanced between you and the camera, his gaze settling on you almost subconsciously. His smile morphed from one of giddy excitement into a soft, lovestruck grin.

Eventually, the girl seemed happy with the result. You thanked her as you accepted the phone back not realizing Steve still hadn't stopped smiling at you.

"Steve! You're only looking at the camera in like three of the fifty pictures she took!" He snapped out of his state, blushing slightly as you looked through the three photos for which one you should send to Sam and Bucky. "You think they'll come get us anytime soon?"

"Knowing them, they'll milk this day for all it's worth. How about we get some dinner?"

You were nearly screaming as a new round of pain tore through your head, black dots clouding your vision. You could tell someone was talking to you, but you weren't with it enough to understand the words. Before long, the world was once again fading to black.

-

"It doesn't make any sense." Bruce lamented, still going though the various labs and data collected while you were sedated. "The only result even mildly out of the ordinary was such a random drop, it's more likely equipment error than an actual measurement."

You looked over the results in front of you, nodding your agreement. "Even the brain activity?" you questioned, looking through the various results for the correct sheet.

"Unfortunately, yes." Bruce answered, passing you a different tablet with the results you were asking about.

It had been four days since the medical team decided to sedate you after you remembered your trip to Coney Island with Steve, but still nobody could figure out why remembering things made you pass out.

"Maybe it won't happen again?" Your hopeful tone was not lost on the others in the room.

"Hope isn't a very good plan." Bruce spoke up, his expression solemn.

"But for now, it's all I've got." you sighed. "Thank you all for the help. I think I'll just... take a walk." You smiled at Tony, Peter, and Bruce before leaving.

You spent the next few hours wandering the halls of the tower desperately hoping for a new memory while scared of the associated pain. When nothing happened, you decided to take the excursion outside. You sat on the roof, watching the sunset in peaceful silence until the wind started picking up.

It wasn't hard to find the source of the sudden disruption. A quinjet hovered over the landing pad, slowing making its way down. You watched as the wind died down and the door opened, allowing three very tired Avengers to disembark.

You were about to ask how the mission went when you noticed Steve limping down the ramp.

"What happened?" you rushed over to the trio, unsure of how to help once you actually got close enough. Steve just stared at you, unprepared to face you so soon.

"The dumbass got himself shot." Bucky informed you. "Through and through. He'll be fine in a few hours..."

You stopped listening to Bucky after the first sentence. You started acting on instinct, not even second guessing your movements. You knelt in front of the three of them, hovering your hands hovered over the wound. A faint glow emanated from your palms while Steve slowly started leaning less and less on Bucky.

"Why wait a few hours when I can do it in no time." You smiled up at Steve. His small smile pulled at a string in your mind, sending you back in time.

"Stop pacing. He'll be fine." Tony stood to your left, nervously drumming his fingers despite his words.

"Bucky said he got stabbed! With a knife! And it must've been a big knife if it was bad enough for them to have us meet him on the roof!" You would've continued the rant if the quinjet hadn't just come into view.

Tony had to hold you back long enough for the jet to actually land, but the second the door was open you were running onto the jet.

"I told you I should've been on this mission, but no! You said it was just recon! How did he get stabbed doing recon!" you huffed, frantically searching the jet for Steve because you wouldn't stop talking long enough for someone to tell you where he was. Bucky just pointed to the back, not willing to get in the way of your fear induced rampage right now.

You refused to look at his face, knowing the pallid gray tone of his skin would only bring tears to your eyes and prevent you from helping him. Instead, you blindly reached for him, allowing Nat to guide your hands to where hers had just been. You felt the slight warmth from the glow of your hands, still not looking at him.

It wasn't until you heard Steve cough that you reopened your eyes. He still looked like shit, but at least his face had some color to it.

"Where'd all the anger go? He's the one he said it was just recon." Sam mumbled, earning a glare from Bucky and Nat. It did remind you of your fear though.

"I'm mad at you," you pouted. Everyone else took that as their cue to leave, allowing you and Steve the space to talk. "You said it was going to be easy."

Seeing Steve alive and well allowed the fear to dwindle, but the adrenaline rush had to go somewhere. You couldn't stop the tears from rolling down your cheeks.

"Hey, hey, hey. Don't cry. I'm okay. Everything's fine." He wrapped his arms around you, slowly rubbing his hands up and down your back.

"This time!" you screeched, reliving the paralyzing fear of not knowing if he would make it back to you in time. "This is why you should just let me go on missions. If I had been there, then there never would have been any question and you wouldn't-"

"You could've been hurt." Steve argued, albeit weakly.

"I could've been hurt? You were hurt! You nearly died Steve, and-" he cut you off again, this time with a kiss.

"You can come on missions now," he mumbled, lips still touching yours.

"Is that an official offer, Captain?" you smirked. Steve smiled at you, laughing lightly at the sudden change of tone.

"As official as they come. Now let me kiss my girl."

"Y/N? Y/N!" Steve called your name, catching you as once again remembering something incapacitated you. He rushed you to the med bay, Bucky and Wanda hot on his heels. "Tony!"

Tony and Bruce were still in the med bay, going over the test results in hopes of finding something they missed the first seven times. Hearing Steve, they both assumed something had gone wrong on the mission.

"Who is it? What happened?" Tony rushed over, seeing you he relaxed slightly. "Put her on her bed."

"Her bed?" Steve questioned, nonetheless laying you on the bed in the direction Tony gestured.

"This is the sixth time, not including that first one. Every time she remembers something significant, it causes a migraine so bad she faints." Tony sighed, one hand running through his hair and the other looking at vital signs.

"What triggers the memories?" Bucky asked, noticing Steve's inability to process the situation.

"Deja vu basically. Anything with enough power to relate to something from the six years she's forgotten." Tony answered absentmindedly. He was more focused on running the panel of labs as quickly as possible.

"Why?" Steve mumbled, his heart breaking even more at the clear pain you've been in while he was avoiding being here.

"We don't know." Tony answered truthfully, anticipating Steve's anger. He was not anticipating Steve up and leaving the room.

"I never should have let her come on mission." Steve grumbled on his way out.

"Steve, c'mon man-" Bucky called after him, but he wasn't having it.

"I can't be here when she wakes up. What if I trigger another memory? She's clearly in pain. I can't cause more. I won't."

With that, he was gone. Bucky and Wanda turned to Tony, but nobody was sure of what to do. Eventually, Tony noticed the same abnormal drop of serotonin and estrogen.

"Hmm," he murmured. Bucky and Wanda both instantly looked at him. As if he could feel there stares, Tony explained. "We've gotten the same error reading a few times. I wonder if they made it so we wouldn't get accurate results either on the brain function or the labs."

"I wouldn't put it past them. I just don't see what they're trying to gain." Bucky sighed. "Why erase her memories?"

"Maybe they thought they'd be able to use her, but we managed to handle the attack well? They never got a chance to actually capture her." Wanda suggested, cringing as she tried not to directly reference Bucky's past.

"It's definitely possible, but why would they make it painful to recover? It's either there or it's not." Bucky rebutted.

Tony listed in while still going through the results. "Everything still looks normal except for the error... Maybe it's just an effort to get her away from us? With no memories of us, she could've chosen to leave."

"She would never-" Bucky started, but Tony cut him off.

"Stay with strangers who consistently cause her to pass out or go back to living with her best friend?" Tony questioned. "Yeah, before she wouldn't have, and now she probably won't, but it could've happened. Just think about how vulnerable we'd be without her. We haven't exactly been careful since she's joined us on missions."

Bucky and Wanda nodded, finally seeing the point. The conversation would have continued, but all focus shifted to you as you groaned.

"Damnit." You slowly sat up, groaning at the residual ache in your head. You looked around the room, slowly piecing together what it was that you remembered this time. A soft smile grew on your face as you let the memory of your feelings for Steve wash over you. You couldn't help but notice the room was missing a certain super soldier. "Is Steve here? Is he okay?"

The three of them looked at each other, not quite knowing what to say. "He, uh, he's okay. He just didn't want to cause you any more pain." Bucky finally answered you.

"Oh. Well, good that he's okay." You bit your lip, contemplating everything that's been happening. "I think I'll just go to bed for the night. We can regroup in the morning in case there's anything new." You waited for their agreement before you left, slowly untangling yourself from all the machinery. "Thank you for all the help."

-

The next day, you found yourself wanting to give up. You could tell that you had felt something for Steve, and felt it strongly, but it was just out of reach. Despite how badly you wanted it, you couldn't quite get there. Not seeing him at all didn't help. If he even heard you coming down the hall, he high tailed it out of the room.

Wanda found you just after lunch, snuggled under the blankets in your room watching the Reputation Stadium Tour movie on Netflix.

"Hey, can I bother you for a minute?" she asked, hovering in the doorway.

"Sure." You paused the movie, shuffling slightly so she could sit next to you on the bed.

"How are you feeling?" she questioned, easily picking up on your downcast mood.

"I just wish I could remember everything." Your voice broke, tears pooling in your eyes once again. "I wish I knew what could fix it. I wish I could talk to Steve about it because I'm so confused, but I know it's hurting him to not have me remember, but I can't fix it.I just..."

She stroked your hair, trying to comfort you as you cried. When the tears slowed down, she tried to change the subject. "What are you watching?"

"Taylor Swift. Apparently she put out a billion songs in the six years I can't remember, so at least I get to experience those for the first time again," you mumbled. Wanda paused a minute, but then the two of you burst into laughter. "Always look on the bright side, right?"

The two of you laughed and laughed. Everytime you thought you had it under control, one look at each other had you giggling again. Another few minutes, and the laughter died down. You fully sat up, Wanda officially having lightened your mood.

"Did you need something?" you asked, wiping the last few tears away.

"Oh! I was wondering if you'd let me try looking in your head? I thought maybe if Hydra did something to prevent you from accessing the memories like normal then maybe I could see it." She looked nervous as she made the suggestion, but your grin eased her worries.

"Absolutely! I'm willing to do whatever it takes to fix this." You tried not to be too hopeful, but after nearly a week of trying the same thing over and over having Wanda suggest something new was thrilling.

"Okay! Just try thinking about the things you've already remembered and maybe that will trigger something else." Wanda suggested, her hands already glowing red.

You closed your eyes, imaging reliving all of the things you'd already remembered. You pictured waking up in the hospital right after the particle accelerator exploded. You thought about saving Peter and in turn saving Bucky the first day you met the Avengers. Then the memories of Steve floated through your mind. The non-date at Coney Island, the walk in the park when you first kissed him, the feeling of relief when you healed him after that mission. Every single thing you'd remembered.

Throughout it all, you kept trying to calm the hope you were feeling. After each memory, the feeling grew. You couldn't help but think how happy you would be if this worked.

With your eyes closed, you couldn't really tell what Wanda was doing. It wasn't until she cleared her throat that you opened your eyes again. Instantly, you could see the regret on her face.

"Nothing?" you questioned, already knowing the answer.

"I'm sorry. I really thought it could work." You could tell she was genuinely sorry, possibly regretful for even suggesting the idea now that it didn't work.

"It's fine, Wan. I appreciate the help, even if it didn't work. We'll just have to figure something else out."

You smiled at her as she left, genuinely grateful to have friends who care so much. Speaking of friends, you figured it was about time you gave Jess a call. With so much effort going into figuring out your memory issues, you've barely thought about everything that could've happened in her life during the time you forgot.

"Hello?" she answered on the third ring.

"Hi, are you busy?" you asked, realizing she might in fact have a life outside of talking to you. When she replied in the negative, you asked her to meet you for lunch.

"I'd love to! Half an hour?" she suggested.

"Sure! See you soon."

You jumped around the room, getting ready as quick as you could to make it on time. It would've been easier had you already been dressed, but this morning's mood prevented anything productive from occurring. You managed to be ready to leave twelve minutes later, throwing your stuff in a bag and bolting out the door.

"Ah! Sorry!" you yelped when you ran into somebody in the hallway, practically dumping the entire contents of your purse on the floor. "I'm so sorry!" As you repacked your stuff, you glanced up at the person you'd run into. "Steve!"

It was hard to understand the mixture of emotions running through you at the sight of him. To be fair, he seemed to be feeling something similar. You smiled up at him, apologizing again in a softer voice.

"You're still so like you," Steve murmured, his eyes softening. You tilted your head in confusion. "Always in a rush, always smiling for miles."

Your smile faltered, the phrase catching on something in your mind. "Smiling for miles..." you repeated, eyebrows furrowed. Steve caught on a moment later, understanding your confusion.

"It's from a song. One you played for me," he confessed. His words on top of all of your thoughts about hope this morning clued you in.

"But hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have... But I have it. Yeah, I have it." You sang, the song throwing you back in time once more.

"Y/N, this song is sad." Steve argured, but the smile didn't leave his face.

"Yeah, but it's real. It's about life. Plus it's beautifully produced." you argued back, pulling him closer to you. "I'm not saying it's this big love song, but that doesn't mean I can't dance with you while it's playing."

The two of you swayed around the room, simply basking in each other's presence. When the song ended, you continued to hold each other.

"I love you," you whispered, barely audible. Still, you knew Steve would be able to hear it. For a second, you were afraid it was too soon.

"I love you too," he whispered back. "More than I could say."

You could feel the tears, but for once it wasn't from the pain. Sure, your head hurt, but the memory wasn't long enough to incapacitate you.

"Y/N?" Steve questioned. This was exactly why he was avoiding you until he could at least come up with an idea to help you. To his and your surprise, you surged forward and kissed him.

He didn't respond immediately, too caught off guard. It wasn't until his arms wrapped around your back that you realized what you'd done. You pulled back, hands covering your mouth as if you didn't trust yourself.

"Steve, I'm so sorry." Your eyes were wide, expression panicked. Your heart only broke more when his smile faltered. "I have to go. I love- I have to go."

You ran before he could respond. Literally, ran out of the tower and down the street. You knew that he could catch up if he really wanted to, but it didn't matter. The emotions you were feeling after that last memory hurt more than the rest. You could tell that you love Steve, but you had no idea what lead you there. Besides the bits and pieces you'd remembered. It was like you skipped the falling and simply landed in a relationship. You were still cursing yourself for nearly uttering those three words when you made it to the restaurant.

The second Jess saw you, she knew something was up. After convincing her that you wanted to stay for lunch, she finally asked, "what happened?"

You nearly broke down again as you explained everything that happened since you last saw her. You gave her as much detail as you could remember, sighing when you explained how you lost control and kissed him.

"Jess, it was so unfair of me. He spent the last five days avoiding me, and he runs into me one time and it's like I've lost my mind," you complained, wishing for the ground to open up and swallow you.

"Go back a sec, you said there was only one abnormal result?" Jess asked, making you realize something.

"Shit. I wanted to get lunch with you so we could talk about you! You're my best friend and I haven't got a clue what you've been up to for the last six years! Forget my problems for now. Let's talk about you."

"Y/N. What was it?" she asked again. "I haven't lost any of my stubbornness, so you might as well just appease me." You rolled your eyes, but you answered her nonetheless.

"It was an error. It showed a drop in estrogen and serotonin, but there's no way they could actually drop and rise that much that quickly." You expected a response, but when she didn't say anything you tried moving on again. "Can we please talk about you now?"

She shook her head, clearly still thinking about what you said. Slowly, her smile grew and she was taking out money for the food you'd yet to eat. "We have to go."

Despite your protests, she pulled you out of the restaurant. You could tell she was dragging you back to the tower, but you'd yet to figure out why. She refused to stop her train of thought to answer your questions until you were back in the elevator on the way to the med bay.

"Remember how Liz would sometimes get migraines?" she asked you, completely throwing you for a loop. You nodded, vaguely remembering the few times you'd seen it happen. "Well, she was prescribed some meds to regulate some hormones that made them worse."

"Serotonin and estrogen..." you finally caught on to her train of thought. "But how-"

You were cut off by the sound of Steve's voice in the med bay as the elevator doors opened. He was talking to someone else, a voice you didn't immediately recognize.

"Does it make sense?" he asked, a desperate hope coming through in the tone of his voice.

"It's definitely possible. I'll be there in two hours, and I can tell you more then."

You seemed to have caught the tail end of a video call between Steve and the mystery woman. Nobody immediately noticed your presence in the room.

"Serotonin and estrogen are," Jess started, gaining the men's attention.

"Migraine inducing hormones." Steve finished with her, seemingly having already caught up to speed. "I did some digging."

"I can't believe we missed it, but the reading seemed so impossible," Tony lamented, looking more guilty than he should.

"Would someone care to explain what is happening?" you asked, feeling as though they were talking around you. "The result is impossible. What could possible cause my hormones to drop like that?"

"Hydra." The answer came from behind you, Bucky and Sam entering the med bay as well. You merely raised an eyebrow, still not understanding the science behind it.

"They altered your brain chemistry. Accessing your memories involves the hippocampus. They seem to have attached that functionality with a drop in serotonin and estrogen, both linked to migraines."

"Y/N, would you mind?" Tony gestured to 'your bed'. With a sigh, you climbed in and started hooking yourself up to the machinery. You had a million questions, but Bruce kept asking you to stay still. It wasn't long until the lack of movement and the white noise of the other people in the room lulled you to sleep.

"She needs this to work... I need this to work." You could just barely hear Steve as you slowly woke up.

"I don't see why it wouldn't." The mystery woman's voice answered. You glanced in the direction of the noise, trying to understand what was going on.

"Oh good, I was just going to wake you up." The mystery woman walked over to you, a weird tablet in her hands. "I am going to use this to alter your brain functionality." Your eyes widened at her proclamation.

"Okay... and you are?" you questioned, nervous at the idea of annoying messing with your head again.

"Shuri fixed my head after... She deprogrammed Hydra's ability to control me." Bucky jumped into the conversation. "She definitely knows what she's doing even though she's still basically just a kid." Shuri glared at him, but you could tell it was friendly.

"And this is actually going to work?" you asked, still nervous after all the other failed attempts.

"Yes," she answered simply, leaving no room for negotiation.

"Okay, go for it." You laid back down, closing your eyes once again.

"I am going to need you to think of the strongest memory you have from the time you forgot. It will let me target the correct area with much more precision." Shuri instructed. You nodded, eager to get going.

Despite its brevity, you thought of your most recently recovered memory. Dancing with Steve while Lana del Rey sang in the background. You could practically feel his breath in your hair, the smooth fabric of his shirt. You definitely remembered how it felt to say and hear 'I love you' for the first time. It's what lead to your impromptu kiss in the hallway afterall.

You could have stayed in that memory for hours, reliving the simplicity of dancing with somebody you love over and over. In fact, it could have already been hours and you wouldn't have noticed.

"Okay, I'm done." Shuri stepped back, allowing you to sit up.The bright lights made your head spin, but it was nothing compared to the last few days.

"How long has it been?" you asked, still unsure how much time had passed.

"About an hour." Steve answered, his voice causing butterflies in your stomach.

Suddenly, your hand flew to your chest and your jaw dropped. You stared around the room, taking in everything you couldn't believe you forgot. Your eyes sparkled with unshed tears as you looked at all the people surrounding you.

"So, do you remember?" Tony finally asked, but you couldn't take your eyes of Steve once you had located him in the room.

"We got married..." you whispered, too overcome with emotion to speak at a normal volume. "We got married, and I forgot it."

Steve smiled, his own tears pooling in relief. He took the few steps required to reach you, gently taking your hands in his own. "We did."

"Where's my ring?" you questioned, still not quite believing the turn your day took. He silently pulled the ring out of his pocket and slid it onto your finger.

"You don't wear it on missions," he explained, relieved when you nodded in agreement. "I've had it with me since we got back." You laughed through the tears, kissing him quickly but mostly just needing him close.

"Any other major life events I've forgotten? No children running around, right?" you joked. When the room remained silent, you panicked. "If someone runs through that door yelling mommy I'm going to have a heart attack."

Finally, everyone laughed and Steve calmed your fears. "Nope, no children... yet." He whispered the last word just soft enough for only you to hear.

You smiled up at him, more in love than you could've imagined after the last few days.

"You better get on that."

Permanent Taglist: @averyhotchner @jesuswasnotawhiteman @strawberryspence @andrwgxrfield @jswessie187 @ellobruv @alohastitch0626

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[cacoetheswriting]

hi, i hope you're having a good day! i was wondering if you could write an eddie x reader fic based on the songs "endgame" or "delicate" by taylor swift?

i'm currently fixating on the reputation album and can't stop linking it to eddie so i just had to send in a request! please let me know if you are uninterested or uncomfy, thank you so much!

hey there, hope you're having a great day also and thank you for your request! jsksjs i'm literally obsessed with repuation and think it fits eddie perfectly omg! i based this fic more so on 'end game', but also gave it my own spin (hope you don't mind).

-

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader word count: 2.3k warnings: mutual pining, adult language, jealousy, eddie being a dingus, use of pet names (sweetheart), slight emotional hurt, mentions of alcohol consumption - unedited - pls let me know if i missed anything!

-

This date has gone from bad to worse. 

A casual walk around town and a trip to the arcade, (because boys in Hawkins can’t ever come up with anything original), didn’t sound like a bad plan at first. In hindsight, it’s probably because you were angry at the person you actually wanted to be going out with. At that point, anything would have been a good idea, simply out of spite.

You regretted saying yes now. You would rather be at home nursing your memories than entertaining this pity date. Especially because the extremely awkward conversation dotted throughout the evening made you want to bang your head against a wall. Jesus Christ, was this man boring. Your mom always warned you about people that peaked in high school, you should have listened.

Finally at The Hideout there is quiet — well, no, it’s just too noisy to hear what your companion is saying. You’ve never met anyone that liked talking more than your current date, as if air was running out sometime soon and he wanted to make the most of it. But, and you hated to admit it, he was pretty cute, which is one the main reasons you agreed to tonight — as bad as that is to say.

Not as cute as Eddie, you think and quickly scan your surroundings in hopes you would see his brown locks and this whole charade could end. 

The bar is filled with buzz of drunken talk, loud and incoherent music, glass clatter, and a fog of smoke. Typical Tuesday night at The Hideout. Yet unfortunately, no sight of your metalhead.

“Passing requires accuracy,” your date switches to the topic of football tricks, you simply nod along. Partially because you can barely hear him over the electric guitar of the current song, primarily because you just don’t care. 

“Because you know the player you are throwing to might have opposing players near him trying to block or intercept the ball…”

The rest of your date's words fade into the distance as he steps through the doors. Time stops.

Eddie ignores the people greeting him, instead his eyes instantly find yours like a magnet and he sizes you up from the other side of the room, sending a chill down your spine.

“Would you like another drink?”

The question brings you back from your short-lived trance. You look back at your date and smile sweetly before shaking your head, declining his offer. He nods and proceeds to order something for himself before beginning another ‘guess what’ story.

If you couldn’t focus before, you sure as hell were fucked now.

Swallowing thickly, you glance at the entrance once again. Eddie’s gaze is still burning into you, his eyes narrow. Your stomach churns and you feel your skin turn clammy. Fuck.

Not even a minute ago you wanted this. Now all of a sudden you feel sheepish about this whole situation. Foolish even. Foolish for thinking bringing some random guy from your community college to a place your ex-fling frequented would make said ex jealous. Jealous enough to admit he’s wrong.

Unbeknown to you, Eddie did feel jealousy coursing through his veins. His heart beating fast, eyes not leaving your frame for a second as he pushes through the crowd towards the side of the small stage.

“Hey, guys, how long has she been sitting there?” Eddie questions his fellow bandmates without averting his eyes from the bar. 

The group exchanges knowing glances. Gareth clears his throat. “The last thirty minutes, I’d say.”

“Yeah,” Jeff chimes in, “about that.”

Eddie nods, then proceeds to ask, “And she’s been with him the entire time?”

“Eddie, come on—”

“Answer me.”

“Yes,” the band says simultaneously.

His jaw clenches.

You continue to feel his piercing eyes on you. Your leg starts to bounce and you’re thankful your date is good at being the oblivious jock, making a comment about the song playing as opposed to the overall aura of nervousness you were no doubt displaying.

And you feel terrible. Twisted. It’s horrible to admit you only saw your date as a means to an end. He definitely deserves better. Although, a certain part of you thinks it's his own fault for even asking you out in the first place considering your reputation.

All of Hawkins knew you were chasing after Eddie Munson ever since freshman year of high school. Always almost there, but thanks to the metalheads own insecurities, never quite enough.

“Can you excuse me for a minute? I need to use the bathroom,” you state and point to the toilet sign, just in case he didn’t hear you properly. “All this beer isn’t good for my small bladder.”

“Sure thing,” he replies and reaches for the plastic cup of peanuts, “but don’t be too long cause I think the band is about to start.”

You glance at the stage. More accurately at Eddie who, it appears, took a break from eyeing you to tune his guitar. (Or so you thought).

Chewing down on the inside of your cheek, and without saying anything else to your date, you make your way to the bathroom. Unfortunately, the minimal solitude you were hoping to experience falls through when you try to close the door behind you and a ring-clad hand appears, pushing it open.

Startled, you stumble backwards, allowing Eddie to step inside. He locks the two of you within and proceeds to smile. The grin is cheeky, annoying even, borderline smug.

“Don’t you think you should quit playing with other people’s feelings, sweetheart.” 

His voice sends a tremble down your spine.

“Fuck off, Eddie.”

The metalhead chuckles under his nose. He runs a hand through his brown locks before reaching for your arm and pulling you towards him — unsurprisingly, there is little to no resistance from you. 

Standing toe to toe, he slips one arm around your waist, his hand making home underneath your armpit, over the side of your rib cage. Just like that, your heart stops and your breath gets stuck in your throat.

Faking confidence, you manage to blurt out: “What do you want, Eddie?”

“I’ll be honest—”

“That’s a first,” you let the words slip out of your mouth, interrupting him.

Eddie doesn’t appreciate your comment. His eyes go dark and suddenly your back is pressed against the cold tile wall. No escape. 

“As I was saying,” he continues casually, “I’m feeling quite jealous seeing you here with… whoever that guy is.”

(Aha. One step closer to victory.)

“Good. Serves you right.”

Eddie arches a brow. His eyes travel down to your lips and he can’t help but lick his own just thinking about how it would feel to kiss you right now. Phenomenal, no doubt. Things with you were always phenomenal.

“Look, sweetheart, that fight we had, that’s nothing,” he begins in a smooth tone, “Just a small tiff between two people that care deeply for one another. We can’t let it get in the way of what we have.”

You scoff. “And what exactly do we have, Eddie? Hmm?”, you challenge while huffing up your chest. The action, albeit small, causes Eddie to freeze momentarily because, Jesus — and he hated himself for even focusing on this right now — were your nipples hard?

“If I remember correctly, you said I needed to get a life and quit following you around like a lost puppy,” you continue, the anger in your tone causes the metalhead to loosen his hold on you as in all the time he’s known you, he’s never seen you this upset.

“So I did what you told me, Eddie. I found myself a date who thinks I’m hot, smart, funny, and not just there for his entertainment. Maybe if you weren’t such a fucking asshole all the damn time, you’d also find someone.”

“I do have someone like that,” he states quite harshly and you roll your eyes. Was he for real right now?

“Then what the fuck are we doing here, Eddie? Go be with that person and leave me the fuck alone,” your voice brakes meekly during at the end and you are fighting every fibre of your being not to cry. “I really don’t need this bullshit right now.”

Before Eddie can react or respond, you free yourself from his grasp and exit the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind you.

“Fuck,” he groans.

He runs a hand through his hair, frustrated. He then follows you outside, although because of his delayed reaction, you’re back at the bar with your date and his heart sinks. He’s such a fucking idiot.

He returns to his bandmates who, judging by the displeased look on his face, knew better than to ask what just happened. They scramble onto the small stage and even though the last thing Eddie wants to do now was perform, he picks up his guitar and approaches the mic.

The second his voice booms throughout the venue, you tense and hastily order another drink. With the cold beverage in hand, you adjust in your seat to face the stage, although you refuse to look at him because it would only hurt that much more.

It was stupid to think coming here tonight was close to being a good idea. You may have made him a little bit jealous but it didn’t matter. Not when he had someone in his life that was everything you ever hoped to be.

“Shit, they're so good,” your date exclaims and all you can do is nod.

The set drags — at least for you. When it finally ends, the crowd erupts in a roar of cheers, including the guy you were with. You clap slowly while standing up on your feet, eager to get out of here.

Sliding a hand down your date’s arm to grab his attention, you can feel someone else’s gaze burning into you and your stomach flips. So you muster a smile as your date looks at you, pushing any agitating feelings down.

“Think I’m ready to call it a night,” you say honestly.

“Sure thing, darling.”

He follows you out obediently and you’re grateful, he really is such a nice guy. Maybe this evening wasn’t so bad. Maybe something good came out of it.

The cool air is soothing. For a brief moment, you’re able to relax.

“I had a really good time tonight,” your date exclaims, sliding his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

“Me too,” you respond. A small white lie.

“Maybe I can call you tomorrow? We can do this again sometime?”

“Sure thing.” 

He chuckles. “That’s my catchphrase.” 

You crack a genuine smile. “Well, it’s a good catchphrase.”

There is a brief moment of silence. People are slowly starting to trickle out of the bar and you’re back to feeling nervous. You didn’t want to see Eddie again. Not tonight.

“I’m only down the road so I can walk, are you okay to get home?”

“Yeah, but will you be okay by yourself? Wouldn’t want some creep following you or something.”

(No we wouldn’t.)

“I’ll be okay. I promise.”

He’s hesitant but nods eventually.

“Goodnight then, darling.”

“Goodnight.”

You like that he’s respectful and doesn’t try to hug or kiss you. Instead, he waves and you watch him walk away. The second he’s out of sight, you rummage through your handbag to retrieve a packet of cigarettes. Smoking relaxed you. And fuck did you need it right now.

Exhaling, you begin to walk in the direction of your home. Though, once again, your solitude is short lived.

“It’s not fucking bullshit!” 

A voice you recognise as Eddie’s bellows and you turn on your heel to face him. In the space of a single heartbeat, the metalhead is standing in front of you. He takes the cigarette from your hand, throwing it to the ground.

“I was enjoying that,” you mutter unimpressed.

Eddie ignores you, taking your hands in his before repeating, “It’s not fucking bullshit, okay?”

The curious glimmer in your eyes mixed with the sadness he no doubt caused is all the encouragement he needs to utter this next part.

“You’re that someone, okay? You are it for me. There’s no one else.”

His words ring in your ears. But he doesn’t give you enough time to process because he continues, “Fuck, sweetheart, it really pains me to see you with someone that is not me. And I know what I said that night, I remember every horrendous detail, but you gotta believe when I say I didn't mean it. I just fucking panicked when you told me how you really felt about me.”

Eddie sighs. You’re frozen as his hands move to cup your face.

“If anything, these last few days away from you made me realise that even though I told you to move on, I can’t let you go. It’s like your hand is printed on my fucking soul or something.”

“Eddie,” you’re not sure what you’re about to utter next. Which is why you feel quite grateful he places his thumb across your mouth, stopping you.

“I fucking…” Eddie takes a deep breath and presses his forehead to yours, “...I fucking love you.” 

Eddie’s gaze travels to your lips. It’s an unspoken plea which you answer by grabbing onto the collar of his t-shirt. Within a split-second, he closes the gap between you.

The kiss does not feel the same as any of the previous ones you shared. This kiss is passionate. It further ignites a certain spark with every breathing moment your lips are connected. It feels like a promise, that he really does love you. It’s real. He’s real. This is real.

Slowly, and quite reluctantly, Eddie pulls away. There is a smile spread across his face from cheek to cheek, an expression you can’t help but return.

“I fucking love you too, Eddie.”

-

eddie munson masterlist | main masterlist

[animeyanderelover]

Could you write headcanons of yandere Light Yagami with a darling who doesnt support Kira and isnt easily manipulated?

I love your writing btw and im so happy your requests are open again!

I'm on the last season of Fruits Basket!

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessive behavior, obsession, stalking, manipulation, gaslighting, sabotage, isolation, use of the death note, death

No supporter nor easily manipulated

✍️Light is careful to mask the shock and irritation he feels when he finds out that his darling is no supporter of Kira, no supporter of him. He has a god complex and wants to be worshipped, especially from his darling. He's already envisioned it, you know? How the whole world will kneel down before him and how you will be directly by his side. Too twisted to ever see his actions as wrong, he's honestly a bit flabbergasted and even mad that you don't seem to realize the bigger picture. Kira intends to create a safe world where good people can live a perfect life.

✍️​You most likely never see how he really feels when he meets you in school since you're still unaware that Light and Kira are the same person. So even if you are as of now no supporter of Kira, Light uses your unawareness to his advantage to at least get closer to you. He wants to know what exactly makes you go against Kira's vision without being too obvious so you don't get suspicious. He most likely brings it up casually in chats you two have or when yet another criminal has died via a heart attack since Kira is instantly talked about. It's hard to go through the day without hearing about Kira at least once, be that in school, radio or TV. Light pretends to have a neutral opinion for now so you don't end up avoiding him, occasionally agreeing with you about your opinions about Kira so he gains your trust at least a bit.

✍️​He can't risk to ask you too much though so he resorts to stalking you to find out more. Mixes himself under your friend circle every once in a while where he casually throws in questions about what you told them about Kira before changing the topic. Light gets closer to you over the course of months, often engages you in conversations he knows you feel compassionate about and starts hanging out more around you by befriending a few of your friends. Any struggles you have in certain subjects end often with him inviting you over to give you a small private lesson which he insists is free since you two are friends. He keeps you around him as often as he can without appearing too clingy for now.

✍️​You find yourself gradually surrounded by media and people who worships Kira or point out facts that make him appear in a more positive light. Victims who thank him for finally killing culprits and how the crime rate sinks drastically for example. Surely you must see that Kira only acts in the interest of the innocent citizens worldwide yet it doesn't do anything to brighten up your opinion. You hold onto your opinion that someone like Kira, someone with the power to kill, shouldn't exist and that you stand by that opinion. Light's mood worsens together with your insistence to not support someone who kills and is celebrated as the hero by many people. There is a dark glint in his eyes when he's alone at home and sits in front of his Death Note whilst Ryuk has the time of his life laughing over his demise.

✍️​Light's methods turn more ruthless as he starts kicking out people from your closer surroundings who share your opinion as they are labeled as a bad influence. If you don't have anyone to talk about with your opinion, you'll surely end up feeling at one point alone. Other friends of yours are gradually manipulated into sharing Kira's ideals if some of them aren't already in secret. The male will end up causing a rift between even his supporters and you, an argument involving Kira as your opinion and those of your friends heavily crash if the knowledge that they support a murderer isn't enough for you. In the end only Light will stay then and be there to comfort you after everything that happened to you.

✍️​He continues to play the role as the one who supports your opinion about Kira, ends up lacing his words with poison that end as doubt in your mind and heart around others. Who knows what they really think about Kira? After the most recent events you become more unwilling to interact with others as you stay rather close to Light since you and your friends still hold a grudge against each other and others simply don't seem to have as much time anymore. Your loneliness is shamelessly explored in order to get even closer to you.

✍️​If everything else fails, Light will without a doubt resort to using the Death Note to change your mind as he uses a petty criminal to attack you or someone you hold close to your heart. Only for the culprit to die moments before they can harm your loved one, the cause of death being a heart attack. When he sees you the next time, shaken up over what recently happened, he plays instantly the role of the worried friend as he seemingly fusses over you. Surely you can't think of Kira as plainly a common killer anymore, not if you know deep down that it was most likely him who saved your loved one from dying. He probably enjoys your exasperation and despair as you can't help but wonder what could have happened if Kira wouldn't have been there. You would have lost someone you cherish and that frightens you.

✍️​Light is sure to not let you forget that event after, though he does it in a way subtle enough for you to not get angry at him. Just enough to torment you a bit that you have to be grateful to Kira for saving someone you love so much. When he visits your family, he's eager to observe their reactions as well and he will definitely end up manipulating them into viewing Kira in a better life after this accident. If your own family is thankful for what Kira has done, you'll surely have even more pressure on your shoulders if even your own parents and siblings you might have see Kira as not as horrible anymore. Light might even be as cruel and put you personally into the victim situation, chased down by someone and terrified for your life only for the person to collapse, only injuring you mildly but leaving you traumatized nevertheless.

✍️​If you start cracking Light will be ruthless as your inner conflict grows. On the one hand you are against Kira but with the knowledge that he saved you personally, there is a sense of gratitude you can't erase. He stays by your side and offers you support during your hard times whilst only feeding you more with his sweet and venomous lies manipulation. If your resolve starts to waver, he'll jump at the chance to break your wallk completely before you have the time to emotionally recover. If you manage to stay true to your opinion, despite being shaken by every storm caused by him, Light grows more and more irritated as well as angered.

✍️​As long as he stays close to you as Light Yagami, everything seems on the surface normal though. The very minimum he can do for now is at least guaranteeing that you gain feelings for him since he has already succeeded in isolating you more from your friends. He'll solve the problem sooner or later though since he expects you to follow along with his principles and his belief. The latest you will be forced to support and obey him is when he reveals himself as Kira to you and threatens you to kill everyone you ever loved if you plan to run away from him, even threatening your own life.

[cjjohansson]

YOU'RE IT FOR ME

SUMMARY ; you and Natasha argue over your mission gone wrong.

supersolider!reader x natasha romanoff

angst/fluff.

fighting/blood/injury/swearing word count;3.4k - this is my first ever attempt at writing anything. im so sorry if its terrible.

As always Steve woke you up at stupid oclock in the morning to brief you on a quick unexpected intel mission. He told you the base you were being sent to has not long been abandoned and if anyone was there, to eliminate the threat like you always do. Lucky for you, you had super-solider serum running through your veins so this mission was simple and easy for you to complete alone. You only had to retrieve some files on HYDRA creating another super-solider serum.

However Natasha wasn’t too happy about you being woken up so early meaning she had to wake up to a cold bed and you were nowhere to be seen throughout the whole compound. She looked around for you everywhere only to end up running quite literally into Steve, he obviously knew who she was looking for and finally spoke up, “Oh, if you're looking for Y/N, they went on a quick mission.”

“What do you mean a ‘quick mission’, they would have come to say bye?” Natasha responded suspiciously due to the fact that you would never leave without saying bye or giving her a quick peck on her lips regardless of how long the mission would take.

“A quick intel mission, the only person I could see who had potential in succeeding was them. Woke them up 3 hours ago, they should be back within 2. They’re fine Natasha, you don't need to worry.” Steve thought to quickly remind her that you were more than capable than going on a mission alone and that you certainly didn't need to be worried about, you’re a super-solider for god sake.

“OK, just next time notify me too when they’re going so I'm not walking around looking.” Natasha walked away straight after that proceeding to the training room to blow off some steam about the fact that you didn’t say bye.

Meanwhile

you had got to the base a little over 2 hours ago, and when Steve told you this base was abandoned you had no idea why you actually decided to believe him. The base was in fact NOT abandoned and within the first 10 minutes of you slowly making your way to the base from the quinjet you was swarmed with at least 10 HYDRA agents. You worked as quickly as you could taking out the threats left right and centre with your guns and some quite literally being thrown straight into some trees. You managed to get the agents down in record time, you was quite impressed with yourself to say the least but you knew you should call for backup, you reached for your comms only to be met with a sickening buzzing sound surrounding your ear drums, you threw your ear piece onto the floor and just continued towards the base. At the end of the day you still had a mission to complete after all.

You finally made your way into the base to see that maybe Steve was right about one thing: the base itself was abandoned but the surroundings were not. “Idiot” you thought to yourself about Steve sending you on a mission with not all accurate information.

You’re making your way through the base using your enhanced hearing for anything that doesn't sound right, guess it's somewhat of your lucky day when you hear nothing so you continue your path down the long narrow corridor to finally reach the head scientists room to gather the files about HYDRAs own knowledge on developing a new form of super-solider serum. You always wondered why people had an obsession with powered and enhanced people but at the same time you understood why. You just wished yours wasn't forced on to you and that you were given a choice but you were soon to be one of HYDRAs secret weapons, but when the Avengers found you, you had just been injected with the serum. The Avengers were infiltrating HYDRA bases when Lokis scepter had been stolen, they found you just in time and took you in straight away.

Plugging in the usb drive to transfer all data, the transfer popping up onto the screen telling you that it would take 10 minutes, “Easy enough.” that's what you had thought until you could hear footsteps coming from down the corridor. Quite heavy, long strides, possibly over 6ft tall, only one person, even better. You made your way to hide behind the door so when it opened you could attack right away, but that never came. Instead a metal arm came crashing through the wall you were standing up against grabbing you by the throat and throwing you half way down the corridor, it took you a moment for you to try and stand up but by the time you was about to stand a fist was already being swung towards your face, keeping you locked on the floor below him. You knew this soldier was like you, you could feel it but you also knew that you might not get out of this fight easily, they were much stronger. That face looked familiar, the blurring of your vision from the hits making it harder to properly see but you knew it was familiar. The beating continued with left and right hooks being thrown against your face, the blood rushing out of new cuts across your face, your busted lip and most likely broken nose. You couldn't give up. You knew that for sure. You managed to find the strength to start dodging the punches coming right at you but you knew you needed to get that drive and get going quickly. Rolling out from underneath the soldier as they went to drive their metal arm straight into your face you grabbed your gun and shot the soldier in the stomach and sprinted  back to the room to collect the usb and get going, you knew it was the only way to run rather than end up dying here alone. You finally reached the doors of the base to continue your sprint when you heard that sound of a bullet coming straight out of a gun, it buried itself right into the back of your left leg but you had to keep moving, the blood gushing from your face and now from your leg reminded you to definitely tell Steve to “fuck off” when he comes into your room before the suns even up again. Continuing the sprint, you started to only imagine one thing. That Natasha was going to have your head when you got back to the compound.

You could see the quinjet right in front of you and you had never been so happy to see one so much in your life but just as you was to step one foot onto the jet another two shots were heard behind you, you KNEW this soldier wasn't going to give up and you definitely knew they would keep up with you. The bullets finally lodged themselves into your body, one straight into your right leg and the other straight into your lower back coming out through your stomach. This wasn't good. You were just about on the jet pulling yourself up as the option to stand wasn't even an option anymore, telling FRIDAY to close the hatch and get in the air and back to the compound as quickly as it could and make sure to have medical on stand by as you land. Moving yourself to try and sit in one of the chairs holding pressure to your gunshot wound in your stomach, you heard a familiar voice ring through the speakers of the jet.

“Y/N come in, do you copy?” Natasha. Just as you go to open your mouth to reply your vision starts to blur and all that you manage to croke out are inaudible slurs, until your vision completely goes black.

To say Natasha was pissed off at Steve and you was an understatement. Oh if looks could kill Steve would already be 6 foot under. They stood on the landing pad waiting for the quinjet to arrive back at the compound but what they were expecting was not what they finally saw when the door to the quinjet opened. There you laid on the floor, choking on the air and laying in a puddle of your own blood, paler than anything they had ever seen. Before Steve and Natasha could even make it to the quinjet fully, the medical team were rushing in and putting you on a stretcher taking you straight into surgery. Natasha didn’t even make a move she stood there completely lost with that imagine in her head, but as soon as a doctor shouted you had no pulse it was like she was snapped back into reality her body was on flight mode, she made the move to try and run to you as quickly as possible but Steve had already grabbed her round the waist and was holding back against her vicious punches and kicks shouting at him to ‘let her go or he will regret it’. The sounds of Natashas shouting soon caught the ears of some of the other Avengers, running outside one by one came Wanda, Bucky and Sam. Confused by the commotion until they finally heard the sobs of Natasha in Steve's arms and the puddle of blood in the quinjet, they instantly knew this was about you.

Natasha had been pacing around the waiting room for 2 hours now, everyone telling her, you're ok and the surgery will be over with soon. But they didn't know if you were ok and when the surgery would be over they just wanted Natasha to sit down and stop pacing. Just as Natasha finally took a seat a doctor walked straight in front of them staring at Natasha.

“Are they alive?” Natashas voice coming out weak filled the waiting room, the anxiety from the question entering everyone's mind to know the truth.

“Yes”

They all finally let out a breath none of them knew they were holding. Natasha finally looks down and letting some more silent tears roll down her cheeks, she looks up at the doctor.

“Can I see them?” no one has ever heard Natasha sound so weak and vulnerable, they all knew yous were together, yous never kept it a secret openly flirting in front of everyone and you making it very clear who Natasha was to you at parties when you'd go up to her at the bar and put your arms around her waist and start slowly kissing her neck no matter who she was involved in a conversation with. But no one had ever seen this side of your relationship, the hard side of worrying and panicking when one of you was injured or on a mission. The vulnerable side and lets just say you and Natasha were not ones to let people see you both so small and fragile.

Following the doctor into another room there you laid on the bed your stomach wrapped tightly and also your legs, the bruising on your face a nice bright purple. Your skin had slowly started to have more colour in and Natasha had never been so relieved. She made her way over slowly towards your bed afraid any type of sound would wake you up. She wanted you to rest, but part of her wanted to shout and scream at you for not calling for backup or even just turning around and coming back home. Turns out she wasn't as quiet as the sound of the chair moving wakes you up from your sleep.

The bright lights make you hiss and groan. You make your way to sit up thinking it was all a dream, that is until you feel two sets of hands on each side of your body pushing you down.

“Lay back down y/n, you're hurt.” Natasha, there it is again that sweet voice you've spent months waking up too, but it's different. It sounds broken like she has been crying and is about too again at any given moment. Opening your eyes was a struggle but you finally got there. In the room stood Steve, Wanda, Sam and Bucky and sat next to you ever so gently holding your hand is your Natasha. You go to turn towards Natasha but Bucky catches your eye, everyone sees the hesitance in whether or not you want to finally speak.

“He looked like you.” that's all you manage to choke out before Nat is passing you a cup of water to drink slowly. Everyone starts to look around confused straight from you back to Bucky. Until you finally speak up again.

“The guy that attacked me at the base, thanks Steve by the way maybe next time send two people instead of one into an ‘abandoned’ base, yeah abandoned my arse.” Everyone smiles at your sarcasm but quickly pushes that to the side to ask the question everyone is so desperate to know.

“Babe,what do you mean by he looked like Bucky?” ah, Natashas voice, you simply turned and smiled at her squeezing her hand.

“Well like I said Talia, he looked exactly like Buck. Metal arm, red star. Long black hair. All the facial features are the same but not the eyes, they just looked black. Was hard to know for definite with the amount of punches I was receiving but if no one was to know Bucky like we do, then people would be sure that the Winter Soldier is alive and well.”

Bucky stood there dumbfounded not even knowing what to say or even think, everyone just looks confused at what you’re saying it makes no sense but then again yous are all in a room with three super-soliders, a witch, a highly trained ex-assassin and a guy that has robotic wings for christ sake.

“Ok i think we should all take a break give Nat and y/n some space ok? Come on guys, we can debrief you later y/n/n yeah?” Steves the one to speak up this time probably too confused and tired to have this conversation.

“I know what you're gonna say Tasha, and i'm not in the mood to hear it so can we leave the telling off until tomorrow? Ok, thanks means a lot.”

“No. we are talking about this now so it can be over with and we can move forward. Its simple really y/n/n youre a fucking idiot!” her voice starts to get louder as she continues her rant.

“You call for backup no matter the excuse you call for it or you get back on that jet and come back home no mission is worth more than your life you know that! Ugh, i’m so fucking angry at you for being so fucking reckless! You could have died? Why can't you see that? Just because you have that serum it doesn't make you invincible you know that but you've acted it! All of this for some files? How can you expect me to not be upset or angry? You’re my partner, and i love you more than anything but when you act like this it makes me think if you are even thinking about me when youre risking your life for some stupid usb.” she looks away as she continues to cry, your brain now trying to process all of these words but also all of these emotions. Wait, did she just say she loves you? You have been together for nearly a year now and neither of you had even said that yet, you both knew it but never dared to say it.

“You love me?” it's your turn to choke out now, you know you love her but one minute she is calling you reckless and an idiot then she is telling you she loves you?

“Of course i love you, you fucking idiot!”

“Ok, ok, still mad i got it” she slowly turns to glare at you this time but she sees your tears slowly rolling down your face and she instantly softens her glare. You take her hands into yours and you know you have to say it back because if you don't she is going to be even more mad than what she already is and one thing you don't want to deal with right now is a mad girlfriend because she is so scary.

“Hey Talia, listen ok? I love you too. I do, I really do. I'm sorry i was reckless, i should have come back but it was like my body was on auto mode and yes like you said that isn't an excuse i know that ok. I thought i'd be ok on my own and well clearly i wasn't as i’m in a hospital bed but i’m here. I know we both worry when we go on separate missions and I know you probably worried more because I didn't come and say goodbye but I was hoping to be back by the time you woke up. Steve said it was abandoned and when I got off the jet and started walking no one was there and then I was ambushed by some guards but I took them down with ease and there was no one else in sight, my comms went off and they were buzzing and I just carried on. I needed to do this mission baby, I needed to get this information about the serum so we can try and stop HYDRA creating more soldiers and putting them through pain. I’m sorry I've hurt you, I didn't mean to do that, I was just doing my job but I'll tell Steve for next time that if i’m to go on a solo mission that you need to be with me ok? No more solo missions, not just for me but for everyone. We need to be safe. Especially with another Winter Soldier walking around like he owns the place ok? I love you Natalia, I’m sorry.” you've already lowered your head at this point too embarrassed by telling her we all need to be safe and that you love her.

You feel one of her hands move from yours, you think she is gonna walk out but instead you feel the softness of her fingertips tracing the bruising on your cheekbones before you even have the chance to hiss at the tender touch her lips are pressed so intensely against yours. You've kissed many times before but this kiss, it's just so different it's as if she is trying to tell you exactly how much she loves you and how much she is happy you're here just by this kiss. You move your hand up to her face and slowly move it round to play with the hairs at the back of her neck, she hums and slowly stops kissing you. You didn't want that kiss to end and you groan in frustration and she chuckles at your little outburst, Nat leans her forehead against yours and finally lets out a breath. You're ok, she knows it now.

You both sit in comfortable silence for a while forehead to forehead until you feel a shooting pain in your stomach, you hiss in pain and move away to lie back down on your back. Natasha is up in an instant thinking she has hurt you but you're quick to calm her nerves.

“Baby it's ok, just some pain. Come and lay with me, please?” you pull your puppy dog face, a face you know she cannot resist. She simply smiles and makes her way back over to the bed as you shuffle over to make room for her. The next minute you're both lying and she is snuggled into your side, your hand drawing patterns on her back and her arm ever so carefully laying above your wrapped stomach.

You understood why she was mad at you, you put your life on the line and didn't think twice about how she would feel with the consequences. You hated yourself for that, you knew you'd feel the same if it was her laying here injured and not you but it wasn't.

The room was silent, a comfortable silence. One you and Natasha both could just relax too.

“When I said I love you y/n, I truly meant it. You're it for me” she moved her head off your chest to look into your eyes, her eyes held so much emotion and you knew right then and there again like you had known for the past year that you were going to marry this woman.

“And you're it for me Natalia Alianovna Romanoff. I love you Talia, forever and always.”

[gucciwins]

Are you Angel?

Harry gets hurt while on the job and Y/N gets a phone call she was not prepared for.

Word count: 7413

A/N: hello friends, it's been a while :) this is a continuation to my story Trouble Follows. You don't have to read but it will give you an insight of how Y/N and Harry met. I am thrilled to share more of firefighter harry with you. I adore him and I hope you do as well.

please do let me know what you thought of the story and please reblog! <333

Warnings: angst, breakups, hospitals

A firefighter will always run into a burning building with not a hint of hesitation. All their focus is on saving the people stuck inside.

Running towards trouble is second nature to them.

She knew that.

She also knew what it meant to date a firefighter.

The unreliable hours, the non-frequent communication, the many failed dinner dates. The twenty-four hours shifts when he would then arrive home to just sleep.

Harry had begun to give her a constant comfort that he would eventually come home and climb into bed behind her. He would then gently nuzzle his face in her neck, taking in her sweet honey scent. In contrast, she took in the woody ashy smell that seems to be permanently stained on him.

So trust her when she said she knew what she was in for when Harry asked her to be his girlfriend.

Four months in, she knew she would be here for a long time, maybe forever, if life would allow it.

She was sure; she knew what to expect.

But she didn't, not until she got the call.

The call that would shatter her heart.

The call that would lead her to be sitting in this uncomfortable, ugly brown hospital chair, holding tightly onto his ashy hand. As she prayed on and on to a God, she no longer held close but wished for Harry they were real and would bring Harry back to her.

Y/N prayed for Harry to finally open his eyes and give her a reassuring smile that he would be okay.

That they would be okay.

Until then, she'll wait.

Harry being Lieutenant allowed him to have a consistent schedule. That did not mean there weren't days where he had to pull a double shift or stay back to finish paperwork; he let it pile up.

The one day that was Y/N's was Sunday.

She got him an entire day to lay in bed together and eat all the baked goods she baked for him to try. It was becoming their day. Everyone at the station knew Harry could not be disturbed on Sundays unless it was the end of the world, and even then, they'd have to pry him away from Y/N.

He feels safe in her arms. Harry had never felt that before. Sure, he was surrounded by his firehouse family, but he had never felt so loved in two arms as if she could take all his problems and stresses away. Still, she did exactly that when she would flash him her gorgeous smile and hold her arms open for him to fall into at the end of every day.

Harry knows he's never felt this way, and he won't ever take it for granted.

This Sunday will be different, and she feels it as soon as she wakes up because, in her queen-sized bed, she's alone. No arms wrapped around her waist; no head tucked into her necks as he places soft open kisses to wake her from her sleep gently.

Already, she knows this is going to be a bad day. She feels it in her bones. Having been around trouble for so long, she knows the difference between good and bad. The feelings she has made her want to find Harry and pull him back into bed where she can keep him safe.

Y/N gets out of bed, throwing the warm sheets off her body going to the bathroom to do her morning skin routine, wanting to feel refreshed for when Harry breaks the news; he's going to leave her alone on their day. She knows him well enough; he's cooking her breakfast to make up for leaving her so early in the morning.

She walks out of her bathroom, going straight to her closet and taking out the first sweater she saw. It's a baby blue color and stitched on the left side on top of her heart is: "love me please?" It's Harry's favorite sweater of hers because it's an oversized sweater that fits him well. The only reason she has it back is that he wanted her to wash it and wear it until it got her smell again. Y/N kissed him silly when he told her that, plus she loves that it smells like him now.

Y/N takes one look at her unmade bed and walks away, knowing she's going to crawl back in after Harry leaves her. She walks out and, from the hallway, can hear Harry humming away. If she's honest, she doesn't recognize the song. As she has come to learn, Harry has an interesting taste in music; he has basically heard every song ever to exist. It's a reason they are so good at Four Clovers Thursday Trivia night. She dominates pop culture and films, and Harry takes on music. She's also better at history than him. Their friends love trivia night because their winning always gets them free drinks. It's something she looks forward to each week.

"Morning, H," Y/N says as she approaches him from behind and wraps her arms around his waist. Harry smiles, instantly feeling warm with her arms around him.

"Morning, firebug. Sleep well?"

She mumbles a no, causing Harry to laugh, and she feels it vibrate through her.

"Awe, upset I wasn't wrapped around you." He teases. "I'm making up to you by making breakfast."

She pulls away, spotting blackberries on the counter. "Sure, Jan."

Harry can hear the change in her tone and knows she's still goofing off with him but knows she's upset.

"Angel, come sit. Coffee is ready."

She shakes her head but makes her way over to the chair he pulled out for her. "No coffee. I'll be going back to bed soon." Y/N waits to see if he'll correct her, but he doesn't.

"I'm sorry." He begins.

"No apologies."

"Please let me. I'm leaving you on our day." He pouts.

"As much as I don't want you to go, I'm sure they need you more than I do."

Harry frowns, "I hope you'll never stop needing me." He whispers against her lips before closing the gap. Y/N hums against his soft lips allowing herself to get lost in the moment; she loves his kisses, soft and gentle just as he is despite what his sharp eyes might have one believe.

Harry pulls away after pressing one final kiss on her pouted lips. "I'm sorry I have to go to work, but I know for certain that I can meet you for a late lunch."

"Lunch?" She repeats, arms wrapped around his waist, hoping he was serious with his offer.

He hums. "Yes, 2:30, that bistro with that avocado dressing you like for your sandwich."

"It's a date." She grins, laying her head on his chest letting him hold her tight. He unwraps his arms, letting her go.

"I've got to get going, firebug, but I'll see you later."

"Stay safe, Styles." She tells him as she does every time he leaves.

"Try my best, angel."

With that, he slips his beat-up white Vans with lilac laces and walks out the door; it shuts it behind him. Just as Y/N steps towards it to lock up, it opens back up, startling her. Harry steps back in, and before she can question him, he places both faces on the side of her face and kisses her breathless. Y/N is quick to react, allowing their lips to move in perfect harmony, not as smooth but perfect, nonetheless.

"I--" Harry begins before he clears his throat. "I'll miss you, angel."

Y/N feels the heat rush to her cheeks because, for a moment, she thought he'd say another three words. "And I'll miss you, H. Now get out of here; I don't need you showing up late to our lunch date."

Harry smiles, dimples on full display, hugging her before walking out a skip in his step. She peaks her head out, making sure he gets in the car safely before he drives off. He sits there for a moment, and she knows he is letting his Bluetooth connect as he waits for his drive-to-work playlist titled "it's time" to start playing. He takes a look at his mirrors before backing out and driving. That's when Y/N closes and locks the door.

Time to go back to bed for a few more hours; what else is there to do on a Sunday when she's left alone.

Harry genuinely did not want to go to work today, but it's not like he could say no to his Chief. His Chief was never one to call in favor unless it was an emergency. He didn't ask, knowing he'd get the full story Monday, but for now, he gets on his pants, t-shirt, and boots and hopes there are no fires today.

The only thing is that Harry isn't used to working with the B-shift, sure he knows everyone's name and a little of their lives, but they aren't his usual team. He shakes that off because he knows he would do anything to help a team member and knows they would do the same in return.

Harry is lost in thought, wondering what Y/N was going to do today. He knows she planned to take him to a butterfly pavilion today even told him the outfit she had planned out for it. A pair of jeans that had flowers embroidered all over something she added, saying she thought they looked a bit plain, pairing it with a pastel pink top. Harry was surprised with her style after meeting her various times in different outfits. He was surprised at how soft she dressed in pastels. She may have a bold personality, but her fashion was delicate and warm. It was a nice balance.

He nearly runs into Carols as he made his way to his office, too busy thinking of the girl he left at home. "Sorry, bud."

"No problem, Harry. Surprised to see you here," Carols tells him, everyone knowing Sunday was Harry's day off.

"Chief had something come up and asked me to come in. I should be out of here by eight tonight if we're lucky."

Carlos smiles, "with you around, we usually are."

Harry chuckles, telling him he'll be in his office if he needs anything. He looks around his desk and sighs at how much has piled up already.

Might as well get ahead.

It's a few hours when Harry realizes the house is quiet. He peaks around the window and figures they are all in the common room. It's only one, and thankfully there have been no calls, and if it continues, then he will make it to lunch with his angel.

He shoots her a text.

Angel

13:24 PM

I miss you. Counting down the minutes until I get to see you xxx

Harry clicks send and smiles down at his phone. 2:30 couldn't come fast enough.

As he gets up to stretch and go for a snack in the kitchen, he takes a deep breath because as confident as he may seem, he isn't around the second shift. They don't know him so well, and Harry ultimately is shy. He may be able to hide it, but he has small quicks that others pick up on. Something he knows Y/N spotted quickly, like when he toes his foot into the ground or when he begins to chip at his nails, and Y/N's favorite is when he moves his hands behind his back and sways side to side. She finds it endearing, but others might not think it's leadership material.

He walks into the lounge to cross to the kitchen when a few heads turn to him, but before they can say a word, the alarm rings, and Harry is literally saved by the bell.

Not a second to waste, everyone heads over to the rig and quickly suits up. Harry is Lieutenant meaning he's in charge of the scene today, seeing as their captain and Chief aren't here today. Harry respects all the firefighters and knows this will go well if everyone carries out their job.

It's a factory fire, and as soon as they arrive, Harry can see it's burning fast. He's not sure how many people are there, but he calls in for reinforcements knowing they will need all the manpower they can get.

"This is House 102; please send more units available. The factory fire is burning at a faster rate than we can control. My team is going in now. There are five people unaccounted for; the left side of the building is clear." Harry speaks into his two-way radio.

"Carlos," the young firefighter jogs over, eyes on Harry, no longer staring at the roaring fire. "You're going in with Baz. Stay close and don't go up the second floor; you need to be quick in and out."

"Who's going with you, Lieutenant?" Carlos asks, clearly worried.

"Jameson and Rey are coming with me; stay safe, and if anything happens, just radio in."

"You got it!" Harry pats his shoulder and walks off towards the two waiting men.

Harry knows the men well, he trained them when they came into the house, but they preferred B-shift instead of being with him. One spot was available, and he knew they didn't want to be separated. Rey and Jameson have been dating for two years, but that's a secret only very few know. It's not prohibited, but if it gets more serious, one will have to relocate to a new station. They simply aren't ready for that, and indeed Harry would be sad not to have them around the house or hearing their stories. It just adds a more considerable risk because, at the end of the day, the job is first.

Rey walks towards the entrance with Harry following right behind. Jameson, a few feet back, calling out for anyone in there that needs help.

"Fire department, call out." Echoes out as much as it can as the fire begins to roar louder.

The heat gets worse the further they walk in; they turn right at the edge of a desk labeled "Torres."

"H, there!" Rey shouts, rushing over to a man knocked unconscious and had heavy storage struck over his legs, pinning him down. Harry and Jameson run over, assessing the man before making any sudden moves.

Jameson finds a pulse, weak but there. He gets the extra mask over the man's face hoping it'll wake him up soon.

"On the count of three, we lift," Harry tells the two men standing to a stand as the others do the same.

They nod. "One, two, three." They grunt in unison, pushing the container to a standing position. Harry looks over the man's legs and is thankful there is no blood, but there will be swelling and bruises. "Right, Rey, take him out. We'll keep searching."

Rey nods, lifting the man over his shoulder as he was trained to do, and rushes out of the burning building. Harry and Jameson have just learned a new area when the radio comes on. "Lieutenant Styles, it's Carlos. We found two men; only one remains unaccounted for."

Harry nods. "Got it, no one comes back in. We'll be out soon."

He now leads the way, making his way towards a stairway. There's no fire here, but it's moving faster, and smoke is thick. Whoever is in here might not last much longer without oxygen.

"Fire department, call out," Harry shouts, voice firm.

"Here.." a whisper is heard, both Harry and Jameson freeze. Once more, "here" is yelled but sounds muffled.

Harry looks around, not seeing anything but fire, and fears the structure will collapse soon. Just as he was about to yell again, he sees a can knocked, and a man hidden under a black rag is seen. Jameson rushes over, helping the man sit up. He's older, well into his sixties. He doesn't look too well; he has a few scapes.

"Right, we need to head out," Jameson tells Harry, helping the man stand up who is fighting consciousness.

"This is Lieutenant Styles; on our way out found the last man. Have paramedics on standby."

"Got it, Styles. Get out quick."

Jameson and Harry get the man up and head to exit. Harry can see the light of day and knows he will be late for lunch, but thankful Y/N is understanding and very forgiving. He'll make it up to her by buying dessert.

Just as they almost reach the door, a piece of dry wood comes falling down, separating Harry and Jameson; luckily, it did not hit them, but now Harry has to find a new way out. It's not looking good.

"Harry," Jameson looks panicked, but Harry stays calm.

"Get him out, now," Harry tells him, looking in every direction for what to do.

"No, I won't-" Harry cuts him off.

"Jameson, get this man out. He needs medical attention. That's an order." Voice full of authority with no room to argue.

Jameson nods and heads out. "I'm coming back for you."

Harry chuckles. He sees a small path, but it'd be a more extended way out. He debates what to do. He could wait, but the longer he stays, the quicker this building is beginning to collapse.

It takes him two seconds to decide to go right and find a new route out instead of staying put. He walks and only gets hotter as the fire begins to surround him. He's good at not panicking, always thinks better under pressure, but this is getting intense. Harry climbs over a crate and bends low to go through this tight space. He sees the exit, it's still a bit away, but he knows he is in the clear.

That's when he hears a big explosion knocking him forward. His oxygen masks flys off, landing a few feet away. As Harry reaches his hand out to get it, he's pulled back. He looks behind and sees he's stuck. There are crates stacked on top of him. The air is thick of smoke, and with no oxygen, it seems like the fire will soon enough engulf him.

Shit.

He's really in trouble now.

Harry presses his radio, holding it, hoping it's still working. "This is Harry," He coughs. "I'm trapped under a few crates. I can't reach my ask. I'm west of the building."

"Harry, hold on. We're going in." Harry hears Jameson reply, but he's fading quickly.

He shakes his head. "Can't go to sleep, but this smoke is too thick to actually see anything, let alone for his team to find him.

"Tell…" He coughs again, and this time doesn't stop for what feels like five minutes but is only a few seconds. "Tell angel, I'm sorry."

A voice comes over the speaker, but Harry's eyelids are fluttering shut, the weight of the crates is too much, and the smoke only gets deeper in his lungs if he keeps speaking.

Harry welcomes the darkness as he sees the one person he was supposed to meet for lunch. She's holding an outstretched hand for him to take and who is he to ever say no to her.

Real or not, he goes to her, and soon enough, he falls unconscious, not feeling when his team lifts him out and puts him in the back of an ambulance.

Y/N decided to show up a bit earlier for their lunch date, putting in their order early, wanting to maximize all their time together. She wouldn't see him until late that night, and honestly, she wasn't a fan of being separated on her favorite day of the week.

She sits on a bench right outside, both sandwiches wrapped tucked away in a brown paper bag and a lemonade sitting next to her untouched. It was his favorite, too sweet in her opinion. Still, Harry loved it, especially since he wasn't one to indulge in sweets unless they were hers.

Knowing Harry could be running late, she pulls out a book from her orange tote bag that Harry gifted to her. The book was Beach Read, Frankie recommended it to her then gave her the book saying she needed to read more romance books and not just poetry and nonfiction books. She actually enjoyed it, which surprised her, but even if she didn't, she's too invested to not find out the ending.

She was just starting chapter five when she feels too much time has passed and glances down at her phone.

2:55

25 minutes late isn't bad or unusual even; she decides to put the book away and keep an eye out for him. Usually, when he keeps her waiting, he makes up for it with a long kiss that never fails to take her breath away; she's excited about it now.

Time seems to go slower when she just sits waiting. She debates beginning to eat her sandwich when her stomach starts to growl. It's low, but she would feel bad if she began to eat, and that's when he shows up. She settles for waiting and instead takes a drink of the sweet lemonade.

As Y/N sits waiting for Harry, her phone begins to ring and displays an unknown number but the city's area code. Every bone in her body tells her to prepare for the worst but hopes she's paranoid.

She takes a deep breath before answering and bringing the phone up to her ear.

"Hello, are you angel?" A deep voice man asks.

"It's Y/N. Actually, can I ask who's calling?" She's holding her breath; only one person calls her angel.

"I'm calling on behalf of Lieutenant Harry Styles. Harry has been in an accident and was taken to the hospital. He asked us to call an angel on his way to the hospital. We assumed you were one of his emergency contacts."

Y/N feels her hands begin to shake. "What hospital?"

The man on the phone rattles the information, and she lets it all sink in. He hangs up, and she sits there waiting on the bench for her date that will not be showing up.

Her phone rings again, she answers without looking at the caller.

"Y/N," she recognized the voice; it's Mitch, and if he's calling, then it must be true.

"Mitch," she whispers, not recognizing her own voice. It's shaky, tears beginning to well up.

"Where are you?"

"At the bistro a street down from the station." She replies, hoping he's coming for her.

"I'm close; we'll pick you up and go see him, darling." She nods but remembers he can't see her.

Y/N isn't sure why she's not crying. She feels the tears, but it's like they are stuck; her heart hurts, and she knows that says enough. "We were supposed to meet for lunch. I got worried when he didn't show up, but I didn't think--" he interrupts her.

"Harry is going to be fine, trust me. He's okay, and he needs us there."

Y/N doesn't reply because she sees him pulling in. Mitch is in the passenger seat, Sarah is driving. She doesn't say a word as she swings open the door and settles in the back.

She sets her hands in her lap; she can feel herself trembling. She can feel herself breaking because she won't know if he's okay until she sees him. Mitch can say he's fine, but she needs to see for herself.

Sarah and Mitch share a concerned look; Y/N doesn't notice her eyes looking out the window.

"Y/N?" Mitch begins, voice full of concern. "Do you- are you okay to go see him?"

"Of course." She replies quickly. "He needs me; well, I hope he does."

"Course he needs you. Needs his angel by his side." Sarah tells her calmly, wanting to see her smile, but it doesn't work because only Harry should be calling her that. She shouldn't be on her way to see him in a hospital bed. She should have seen him next to her on that bench as he ate his sandwich and gave her kiss and kiss as she told him stories.

They are silent the rest of the way. Sarah pulls into an empty parking space, and she rushes after Mitch, who seems to know exactly where Harry is as he rushes past the front desk. The only thing that slows them down is waiting for the elevator; she gladly would have taken the stairs if Mitch didn't tell her that he's on the sixth floor. Instead, she waits impatiently for the old elevator that will take her to see her love.

He is going to be okay. He has to be okay. Y/N keeps those thoughts running through her head as Mitch and Sarah guide her to room 613.

Mitch walks in first, holding the door open, Sarah places a comforting hand on her back, and Y/N feels supported and loved, but nothing prepares her for what she is about to walk into.

The constant beep of Harry's heart monitor is the only thing that can be heard in his private room. The beep is steady; it makes her let out a deep breath. The monitor already calming her down, she approaches slowly as if he'd wake if she'd walk any faster.

She sits in the uncomfortable chair next to his bed and pulls it as close as she can.

Y/N just stares at him, taking it all in. He looks like he's resting peacefully like he should originally have been when they started this day together. His curls are disheveled, his face dirty with smoke stains and a few gauzes wrapped around his arms. She can't see much else but knows he's got a road of recovery still ahead of him.

"Hi, Harry," she whispers, her hand slowly reaching under the white sheet to grab hold of his right hand. "I'm right here, okay. Take your time waking up; there's no rush. Just know that I'm not going anywhere."

She pauses, hoping for a reply even though she knows she won't get one. "We can also discuss how I'm sort of one of your emergency contacts."

Y/N presses her lips to his hand. "Need you to wake up, want to see those Rapunzal eyes." She sits back, not removing her hand from his. Sarah has not taken her eyes off of her, Sarah might feel like she might blow up soon, but being at his side, she has begun to feel better.

"Harry, we're here for you. The whole team is outside in the lobby, probably why they sent us to the floor with the biggest waiting area. Even young Carlos is out there, saying you gave them a scare but really hopes you never pick up another B-shift again." Mitch sniffles before stepping out of the room. Sarah walks over to where he was standing.

"Hey Harold, it's trivia night in a few days, and kind of counting on you to get us those free drinks." Sarah chuckles. "It's been a while since we've been in the hospital. I think it was when I made you all donate blood for that ambulance competition. Fun times, now you rest and get better. The good thing is you have the best nurse looking out for you." Sarah glances at Y/N, sending her a small smile.

Y/N sits back in her chair as Sarah sits in one by the window. She knows she's in for a long afternoon and an even longer night.

Harry's head is throbbing.

He's not sure why. The last he remembers is leaving Y/N's house to go for his shift at the station.

They were meeting for lunch; he's sure she wouldn't let him drink any alcohol on the job.

Harry slowly opens his eyes and is blinded by the bright light. He sees a photo of the sunset right in front of him, and a tv hung up; if he's not mistaken, he's in a hospital room, primarily due to being in an uncomfortable bed. The oxygen mask over his face is also a dead giveaway he was in an accident.

He looks around, and he sees he is not alone. His angel is sleeping, a tight grip on his right hand; she looks exhausted. Mitch walks in just as Harry was about to wake her. Y/N mumbles and sits up, pulling her hand away from his to rub the sleep away. Harry wants to tell her to stop knowing how much it actually irritates her eyes, especially when she tubs a little harsher than usual.

"Were you able to find tea, Mitch?" Y/N asks, looking over at him.

"Sarah's bringing it over." Mitch's gaze never turns to her staying on Harry; this confuses Y/N and turns back around in her seat to look at a resting Harry but instead finds his eyes on her.

"Harry!" Y/N scoots forward, grasps his hand in hers. "You're awake. Mitch, the nurse, please."

Harry raises his free hand to take off the mask. He wants to speak, but this won't allow him. "No, love. Got to keep it on."

Harry's eyes close, then flutter open. He stares at Y/N, his eyes kind but defiant. He takes the mask off, coughing a bit; it makes Y/N feel nauseous, knowing he's not doing so well.

"I think you need to keep it on, Harry." She says, "the nurse needs to see it when she comes in soon."

"Hey, angel," he says in a raspy voice. It sounds like he's in pain when he talks.

"Yes?" She asks.

"I'm sorry for scaring you."

Y/N shrugs, "no big deal. I wasn't even scared."

Harry smiles, showering her his dimples since she last saw him this morning. He begins to laugh but stops when it causes him to cough. Y/N lets him settle down before bending down to gently kiss him.

"Now, let that hold you over, and put the mask pack on."

Harry nods. "Anything for you, my angel."

It's a half-hour before the doctor comes in, and by that time, Harry had fallen back asleep, only just waking up a few minutes before the man walked through the door. Mitch alerted everyone outside he was awake and doing good.

Dr. Vazquez walked white coat open, displaying a purple button-up and a bright yellow tie. It puts a smile on Y/N's face.

"Hello, Mr. Styles. Glad you're awake."

"Me too, Doc. Nice tie."

Dr. Vaquez smiles, looking down at himself, "Thank you, my wife picks out my tie every morning before she heads off to work."

"Lucky man," Harry tells him.

"That I am." Dr. Vazquez replies. "You've got a mild concussion, nothing serious, but you are allowed to sleep while you're here. We've got a good team looking out for you. You've got a few burns, but those will heal nicely if properly cared for. A few deep bruises on your leg and one on your rib cage, no blood clots. It will hurt to walk for a few days."

"Nothing too bad, then," Harry sighs, relaxing in bed.

"I've looked at your charts, and it looks like you will be making a full recovery and should be back on the job in three or four weeks. In the meantime, you will need to stay overnight and keep taking in oxygen. I see the nurse changed your mask. Please don't remove this one." Harry nods. "Any questions?"

Harry shakes his head no, "Not at the moment."

"Alright, I'll be off then. I'll come to see you tomorrow midday, and we'll talk about going home. I hear you have a waiting room full of people dying to see; just be aware that visiting hours end at nine, but if you're kind to Nurse Lucy, she'll be lenient to ten."

"Thank you, Dr. Vazquez." Mitch and Y/N say in unison as the man exits the room.

"That's the quietest I've ever seen you, firebug." Harry teases.

"You hush." She lightly pats his arm.

Mitch laughs, "going to go tell them you're allowed, visitors."

Y/N and Harry sit in silence. He can tell she has something on her mind, a slight frown on her face. He wonders if it's about him if she won't be able to handle dating someone who can be hurt by the job. Harry honestly does not want to lose her.

"I'm going to step out," Y/N tells him, looking down at their joined hands, not wanting to meet his eyes.

"Y/N," Harry sighs.

"You've got lots of people waiting to see you and roughly have an hour to see them all. I'll be close by." She leans down, presses a kiss to his cheek, and walks out before he can reach out to stop her.

She steps out while a few members of his team come in to see him offering her a smile as she passes them. As much as she didn't want to leave him, she needed a moment away, and he needed a moment with his family.

God, Y/N has never felt so scared, and now a minute alone, everything is beginning to set in. She has no idea where the restroom is, and the next thing she knows, she's running into someone, but it seems they recognize her because they say her name, and the next thing she knows, she's crying, sinking to the floor. She feels arms wrap around her.

Shushes in her ear, brushing the ends of her hair. It's calming, but she needs to let all the tears she's been holding in.

"Y/N," she can now recognize the voice as Sarah's, "I'm going to help you stand and sit you in the chair.

Y/N feels herself nod.

She begins taking deep breaths, never letting Sarah pull her hand away. It is the only thing keeping her grounded.

"I got her some water." Y/N hears Frankie whisper handing it to Sarah before taking the seat to the left of her.

"I'm okay," she repeats. "I'm okay."

"Y/N," Sarah begins.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, sweetie." Frankie brushes her hair back.

"I'm supposed to be strong; I have to be strong to do this to stand by his side," Y/N tells them, beginning to let her emotions out.

"No one is expecting you not to cry."

"Bu-" Sarah interrupts her.

"No. stop. Accidents happen, and so do injuries. It's okay to be scared and hurt."

"I want to be strong for him." She whispers.

"You are. You never left his side; you talked to him. You're crying now because you care."

She wipes her eyes with her sweater sleeves. "I love him, and I was so scared that when I got the call, I'd never get to tell Harry."

"Then you tell him as soon as you walk back into his room."

"Thank you."

"Nothing to thank, I care about you, and I know Harry would be grateful to know you're not alone. You've always got us. Now let's grab something to eat, and we'll come back in an hour once all of them go home."

She chuckles. "Alright."

"Text me where you're sitting. I'll pop in to see Harry, then meet you."

"You don't have to," Y/N tells Frankie because she knows she is just as concerned about her friend.

"Are you kidding me? You're my friend first, always."

Sarah and Y/N walk down to the cafeteria. She knows she isn't okay but is feeling better, finally letting emotion out. It was only a matter of time before she let the dam break; she's just happy it was not in front of Harry.

The girls sit in the cafeteria munching on snacks for well over an hour. Mitch sends them a message letting them know all the crew has left and it's time to say goodbye for the night. Frankie wishes her goodnight downstairs with promises to come to see her tomorrow and bring her a change of clothes.

"Let's walk you back," Sarah tells her, linking their arms together.

"Do you think he'll know?" Sarah takes a good look at her and grimaces. "I'll just say I tripped, and it made me cry." Y/N jokes.

"I don't think he'll believe that."

"Yeah, me either." The girls walk out of the elevator as their laughter dies down.

They settle in silence as they make their way to his room, Sarah holding her hand leading the way. Mitch is in the chair she was in for so many hours before waiting for him to wake up. Mitch hears their footsteps and turns his head, but Harry is frowning, looking out the window at the dark sky.

Y/N doesn't know what to say, but one look at him has her heart filling up with relief; he's okay.

He's fine, and he gets to go home soon, and she gets to love him all she wants.

Harry turns his head as she steps forward. "Angel," he breathes out.

It makes her eyes well up with tears again. "I love you," she just lets it out, as if she's told Harry this every day as if she never went a moment not saying it.

"Oh my angel," Harry begins to cry, feeling overwhelmed and incredibly happy. His angel loves him, and although this isn't a perfect day, the moment is.

Mitch and Sarah sneak out quietly, shutting the door behind them to give them their privacy.

"I love you so much. Please come here." Harry replies, voice shaky.

In the next second, she's moving forward, pulling the chair as close as she can as he grabs her hands, squeezing them tightly. She leans down and presses her lips to his chapped pink lips. They move gently, pouring all their love and fears into the kiss. Telling each other that the worst is over and they are together, and they are fine. Y/N pulls back, knowing she can't kiss him as long as she'd like due to his sensitive lungs.

"Harry, I love you, and I was so scared I'd never get to say it."

"I'm sorry, angel; I never wanted you to get a call like this, at least not before talking about it."

"Me either," She sniffles, no longer able to control her tears, "but it happened, and I'm just happy you're okay."

"I'm okay," he repeats. She smiles, taking one of her hands out of his hold to wipe his tears away; Harry can't help but lean his head into her gentle touch. "I'm okay because my angel is always looking after me.

"Harry."

"It's true. I've never been luckier and safer since you came into my life." She smiles. "But there's something we have to talk about." He continues, and by the tone of his voice, it's going to be serious.

"Are you okay?"

"What? I'm fine. You're the one in a hospital bed." Her tone is defensive.

"There's something wrong. I can see it."

Y/n sighs, taking a deep breath. She takes her hand out of his hold.

Harry is quick to mask his hurt.

"I don't like that you're hurt. I hate that we aren't at home in the kitchen dancing around to your Sunday playlist as I bake you a new treat." She says in a rush.

"Hey, love, relax," he says and gestures for her to move in closer. She does so, allowing him to take hold of her hands with a firm grip this time.

"You're upset because I got hurt?" She nods in reply to his question. It's stupid because, of course, he's going to get hurt; it'd be naive to think he wouldn't in his job.

"It's part of the job." He says simply. It's something he wants her to accept and remember. She thinks back to a month into dating when he told her about his ex-girlfriend and how she couldn't handle the unknown of the job each day he left her. Y/N thought she'd be fine, but she loves him, and losing him would be something she could never recover from.

"I know. It's just not easy to see." Her voice was quiet and defeated.

"What do we do?" Harry asks, and Y/N freezes; she can feel her heart beating in her ears.

What do we do?

"What do you mean?" She can feel her hands begin to shake.

"This can happen again." He gestures to him in the hospital bed.

"I know." She says softly.

"Is this something you can handle or not?" He asks very direct. She knows this might not be the first time he's had the conversation, but she just told him she loved him, and he's questioning her. She's allowed to feel this way, but it doesn't mean she can't handle it.

"Y/N," he begins, "I'm incredibly happy with you. I see you and me together for a long time. You're it for me, but this job is my life."

"I know," she repeats. "I would never ask you to give up your job."

Harry stares at her; heartbreak passes through his eyes. "Are you asking me to give you up?

She shakes her and begs for the tears not to fall, but it's no use. She feels them falling and can't wipe them as Harry has a hold of her hands.

"Harry, I love you." He frowns as if fearing the worst. "I love you, and I'd rather love you every moment I have you than let you go now and never know what could have been."

"Oh, thank god." Harry lets out a deep breath. She giggles. "I'm sorry we couldn't have this conversation earlier; honestly, I feared if I brought it up, you could possibly break up with me, and I selfishly wanted to have you longer."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere, not if it's up to me. Seeing you laid up is hard but knowing I get to be there for you makes up for it. Also helps that I'm a nurse."

"That it does."

Y/n grins at Harry, leaning in to kiss him, short and sweet for now. Each kiss never fails to make her heart race, and due to Harry's heart monitor, she knows it does the same to him. They sit in silence, staring at each other as Harry traces small shapes against Y/N's cheeks, loving the feeling of her in his hand. Especially when she lets out a soft giggle when he hits a sensitive spot.

"Move in with me," Y/N blurts out after a while of silence.

It shocks Harry. "What?"

"Until you're better. That way, I can be your in-home nurse."

"Only until I'm better?" She nods. "So, you'll give me the boot after." Harry teases.

Y/N can feel her cheeks warming up but pushes through, "Only if you're a bad patient."

Harry smiles, dimples on full display for her, always for her. "Okay, I can be good and naughty only when you ask."

"Harry!" She gasps.

He throws his head back, laughing.

"God, I'm so lucky to love you." His words warm her heart, and she promises to tell him every day from now on.

"Now get up here and cuddle me. I got Mitch to cue up Netflix."

"Are you sure?" She stands slipping her shoes off, knowing he won't be taking no for an answer.

"Going to deprive an injured man of what he wants most?"

"Guess not."

"Good."

Y/N crawls on and lays on his side, carefully resting her head on his chest. Harry presses kiss after kiss for his comfort, knowing he will be okay and has his favorite person by his side. She chooses Legally Blonde knowing it's Harry's comfort movie as much as he tries to deny it.

For an unusual start to their Sunday, it ends right; together in bed, a hospital bed but nonetheless a bed, together arms wrapped tight around each other.

Y/N might not have liked that Harry got hurt, but he's okay, and he will recover.

That's all she could ever ask for.

thank you so much for reading!

please send me a message of what you thought or if you'd like to see more firefighter harry

I adore you. take care xx

[picklepie888]

Disney Crossover AU where Snow White is adopted by the Madrigals (Part 1)

(Disclaimer: I don't care that it doesn't make sense geologically or time period-wise that a medival German fairy tale character interacts with Colombians from the 1950s. Disney themselves had made crossovers before that made less sense, so I don't wanna hear it.)

Some time between fleeing her evil stepmother and being awakened by the Prince, Snow White stumbles upon the Encanto and manages to make her way around the mountains.

The villagers are all shocked to see an outsider in the Encanto and many are divided on whether to welcome her or drive her out. In any case, they alert Alma immediately about the stranger.

Before Alma makes her way into the village however, Snow White runs into Mirabel while she's playing with the village kids again. Feeling as though she can trust Mirabel, Snow White explains her situation and asks for help. The empathetic Mirabel agrees to take Snow to her family so that they may all figure a way to help Snow.

Mirabel brings Snow to the Casita, and she is marveled by the beautiful living house. The Casita takes a liking to Snow White instantly.

Mirabel first brings Snow to her mother, Julieta, and explains Snow's situation to her. Seeing how tired and hungry the poor girl was after her long journey, she offers her something to eat. To her amazement, all fatigue and injuries Snow had obtained during her escape had vanished after one bite. When she questioned this, Mirabel explained that everyone in her family had magical talents.

"Do you have magic too?" Snow White asked innocently. When Mirabel hesitated to answer, Snow realized she had said something she shouldn't have and apologized.

"It's fine though. I'm part of an amazing family, and that's enough for me", Mira assured her.

"It must be nice to be surrounded by so many people who love you," Snow responded solemnly. Upon this statement, Julieta makes the suggestion that Snow White stay in the Casita until it is safe for her to leave the Encanto if she wishes.

Snow White and Mirabel got excited by the suggestion, but Julieta reminded the two that ultimately, Abuela Alma would have to make the decision. Until Alma returns from the village, Mirabel offers Snow a tour of the Casita and to meet each of her family members.

Snow became immediate besties with Antonio due to their shared love of animals. Antonio was enthralled by Snow's kind and gentle nature, and his animal friends became just as easily attached to her. Snow was amazed by Antonio's room and would've spent all day in there with Tonito and his animals if Mira hadn't talked her into moving the tour along.

Isabela wasn't sure what to think of Snow at first. At first glance, Snow just seemed to be a pretty perfect princess to her, which reminded her unfavorably of the perfect image she once tried to maintain. However, once Snow White revealed that she likes to let loose and have fun too, Isa warms up to her. Snow revealed that she loves wild flowers too, which became a bonding point for hwr and Isa.

Camilo's first instinct when he meets someone new is to shapeshift in an effort to make them smile. However, Snow was notably weary of Camilo's shapeshifting ability, because its an ability her stepmother also has. Seeing that he's made her uncomfortable, Camilo apologizes and promises he won't use his ability to decieve her. Snow does eventually warm up to Camilo because of his fun and energetic nature.

Dolores finds Snow easy to talk to because her voice is so soft and quiet. Snow makes sure to compliment Dolores's pretty red bow, which causes her to blush, as she's not used to being seen as the 'pretty one' amongst her family. Dolores also appreciates how innocent and honest Snow White is, as she's become accustomed to learning that everyone has a dark secret. But something about this strange new girl is just so honest and pure that Dolores couldn't help but get attached.

I'm gonna write more on this soon. Stay tuned for part 2.

[postalenha]

11. special

not really knowing what to wear, you decided to put on a beige sundress that goes below your knee, wishing that jay wouldn't bring you in a wall climbing type of place.

checking your reflection in the mirror, you fix a strand of hair that's sticking out and iron the dress with your hand, "perfect."

you smiled before hearing one to two honks of car. you decided to leave your apartment. outside, you see jay in his car, waving at you. you went straight to him saying, “good afternoon.”

he unbuckled his seatbelt and went out of his car, opening the car door to greet you, “good afternoon, lovely.” you smile before going inside.

his car smells like fresh flowers, which helps you calm down and not worry throughout the ride. once you've had enough courage to speak, you ask him “may i ask where we’re headed to?”

"i'm taking you to my favorite restaurant." he answered, "don't worry, i won't disappoint you."

you softly chuckle, "i'm looking forward to it."

the drive was smooth and quiet. you think if this was even a good idea because you remember telling yourself to never meet him again, let alone involve him in your life.

but you decided to give him a chance. it's not like you would lose anything. you would just hang out, that's all.

he stopped his car in front of a fancy building. he got out of his car and opened the door for you. he then offered his arm where you can cling your hand into. giving his car keys to the valet guy and you went straight inside.

immediately after a staff member had a glance of jay, she knew right away where to lead us. the two of you are now sitting at a table for two before the waitress hands you your menu.

you look over at jay, trying to get a recommendation from him while he's preoccupied, searching at his menu.

the waitress laughs a little before she pokes jay and points at you, jay widens his eyes. "oh no worries, i'll order for us." he smiled, "but you can order what you want too."

shaking your head no you tell him, "it's okay. you can order for us." he took that as a green light, so he ordered everything in the menu that he wanted you to have a taste of.

you weren't really listening to what he's saying, all you feel right now is admiration. you admired how well he can handle himself. he seems to know what he's doing, and looks like he's an expert with these types of situations.

waiting for the food to arrive, "i hope i lived upto your expectations." jay scratches the back of his nape, "i didn't tell you where we're going to keep the thrill."

you laughed at what he just said, "you made me anxious the whole ride just for you to experience some thrill?" you questioned him, he just smiled at you.

"the cold sweats were worth it. this place is magnificent." you commented, looking around and analyzing the place.

"it's elegant, very. yet cozy." you added, the structural design of the place was finely furnished. there are aerial plants hanging but the sight doesn't really make you suffocate, instead, they help make the surrounding more earthy.

"i know, that's why it's my favorite." he happily said, "and i'm glad you're liking it so far."

not long after, your food arrived. you couldn't tell if jay was very hungry or he just genuinely wanted you to try the food. seeing the number of plates on your table right now, it's enough to feed a whole six person family.

overwhelmed, you don't know where to start so you just stared at the food as they stare right back at you. jay sees your reaction and actually thinks it was cute.

while you're busy getting lost in your own thoughts, he started cutting the steak for you. it just went unnoticed until he switched your plate to his.

"why did you steal mine?" you asked him with full confusion painted on your face, he smirks. pointing at the plate in front of you, "they are the same thing. the only difference is; i already cut that for you."

after cutting his steak, he handed you a small cup with some kind of sauce inside. "try that with the flat bread like this." he showed you how to do it, and you just followed him, "then eat."

you both eat in usion before you hum in surprise, jay smiles for the nth time seeing you nod your head in approval. "that was actually good!" you said.

"it is. it makes a good appetizer." he told you, you both moved on and continued eating the main course. “i’m glad you agreed to see me.” he said.

you look at him, “i’m also glad you brought me to such a good place.” you said a while before taking a bite into your steak. tasting the savor of the meat as you chew it.

silence was the sound of the afternoon as you both ate in peace. he sometimes offers to help you with things like pouring your glass of wine, wiping the sauce from your lips but other than that, you both really didn’t interact that much.

jay had been thinking of what he should say, but he couldn't seem to find the right words or construct a good sentence to initiate a conversation. he only smiles at you whenever your eyes meet his.

but when dessert came, you grew tired of the silence that had been hurting your ears. so you decided to ask him, “how are your butterflies?” it’s funny to ask how his butterflies are.

because if he would ask you the same question, you would answer that yours are in your stomach as you speak. “they’re doing good.” he said, “i’m actually planning if i should free them or not.”

“why?” you ask him, jay looked at you. seeing your face, he knew that you actually cared because it is painted right all over your face. “i just think that i’m holding them back from the freedom that they deserve.”

“but what if their freedom is you?” you blurt out. “i mean- what if they feel like they have all the freedom in the world as long as you’re there by their side?” you panic while you blabber out the words without processing them in your head first.

“sorry, i wasn’t making sense.” you’re talking about butterflies for god’s sake. why would his butterflies even feel that way about him- well they can, but not certain.

jay thinks that it was fascinating that you said that. “no, you are making sense.” he reassured. he never once thought of how his butterflies would feel if he let go of them, he was busy thinking about what they feel in his perspective and never theirs.

instantly after you’re finished eating, you go out and wait for the valet driver to get the car. “we can sit there while we wait.” he pointed at the bench, you shake your head. “it’s fine, we can wait here.” you said, “unless you want to sit.”

he shook his head too and was also about to say something, “jongseong!” a woman shouts as she approaches you. you’re confused, there is no jongseong here. unless your name wasn’t y/n after all.

the woman stops in front of jay, “i didn’t expect to see you here!” she greets him with a hug. he’s jongseong?

you just stood there, quiet. even distanced yourself to give them some space. of course, just the right distance to hear what they’re talking about. “i most certainly didn't expect to see you either.” he said, the woman laughed and slaps his shoulder.

“we’re going to a pub, do you want to come?” she invited him. that is when jay- or jongseong- or whoever the hell he says he is; looks your way so you avoid his eyes, but on your peripheral vision you can see him walk to you.

feeling an arm on you shoulder, you look at his hand while you hear him say, “sorry. i’m with someone.” he said. you expected the girl to go with what he said but she just smiles. “come on! there would be a lot of people.”

she inserts herself in the middle of you two and clings her arm into yours, “she can find more friends there too!” you look away because you don’t know how to respond to her invitation, you barely even know her.

but that was hypocritical for you to say, because it wasn’t that much of a problem when you and jay spent the night at the pub. you were about to agree when something drawn on her arm caught your attention.

it’s the butterfly jay had drew on your arm when you two met at the bar, the same one. the only difference is that yours is already faded while hers is new and visible. you slowly remove her hand that was clinging on your arm.

“sorry, i’m really tired. i’ll be heading home, but jay can come if he wants to.” you told them. the girl lost her verbal ability and just looked at jay, “i’m going wherever she goes.. so, i’ll see you around.” he said.

the valet driver came right on time, jay was about to open the door for you but you opened it for yourself and just went inside his car not saying anything. jay doesn't really know what the big deal is, he certainly doesn’t get why you’re suddenly mad when you were so smiley earlier.

the car ride was silent too, it was awkward but you think that it’s better this way. but jay didn’t. he wanted the talkative y/n he met at the pub, you’re the same girl but why are you acting so cold all of a sudden?

once his car was parked in front of your apartment, you got out of his car and said “thank you.” and rushed inside. not letting him say any word. you throw yourself onto your bed, screaming.

you thought you were special. turns out jay’s just good at making individuals feel like they are, when in reality you are just like everyone else. a person who seeks the love they think they deserve and need.

PREV, MASTERLIST, NEXT,

TAGLIST, open @yourlocalhotgf @neptuniees @ddeonuism @witheeseung @sunghoonify @one800127 @jaemimpulsive @rikibae @ncityy04 @ryu-naa @curryramyeon @hyuckworld @enhacolor @xoxojayd3n @mishtidoie @jungw8ns @n1k1tty @primorange @sprngfeverr @youreverydayzebra @bayoleta @nikisjpg @jaycenzo @heeslut @she-is-dreaming @kyleeanne

[moistmailman]

SCP AU part 2

*Jaune is pushed into a room with a bag over his face before the door shuts on him*

Jaune, slightly muffled: H-HEY! I SAID LET ME GO DAMNIT! *cautiously reaches for bag and touches it before ripping it off*

Jaune, immediately turning to the door and banging on it: I SWEAR TO GOD YOU GUYS BETTER LET ME OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW! WHAT KINDA FUCKED SOCIAL EXPERIMENT IS THIS?! *continue banging*

Jaune, continuing his assault on the door: MY MOM’S A LAWYER BY THE WAY! SHE’LL SUE YOUR ASSES, I SWEAR IT! SHE’LL SUE YOUR ASS SO HARD THAT WE’LL GET FINANCIAL CONPENSATION FROM YOUR DAMN GRAND KIDS! *bangs louder* YOU HEAR ME! HELLO.....IM SERIOUS.....nobody can hear me, can they?

Pyrrha: I can hear you.

*Jaune squeaks loudly before getting in a karate stance while turning to see a tall redhead girl around his age with vivid green eyes sitting on a bed*

Jaune, internally: What the fuck?! How long has she been here?!

Pyrrha, awkwardly waving: Hello.

Jaune, awkwardly waving back: Uh..hi.

*an awkward silence fall on the two, with the blonde slightly blushing and the redhead staring at him with interest*

Jaune, internally: Holy shit, she’s pretty. My god, she absolutely stunning. She has got to be the prettiest girl I’ve seen in my li— Wait Wait, Jauney-Boy, you're getting side tracked. What the fuck is going on in here, and why did those guys put me in a room with a very hot girl with really long and smooth legs— GAH, HORMONES THERE ARE MORE IMPORTANT MATTERS TO ATTEND TO!

Pyrrha: *giggles while slightly blushing*

Jaune, terrified:......w-was I t-talking out loud?

Pyrrha: Hmm? Oh no. *smiles teasingly* Why? What were you thinking about?

Jaune, voice cracking: N-nothing. Nothing at— *clears throat* H-hey, I’m Jaune.

Pyrrha, smiling: Pyrrha, charmed.

Jaune, internally: Wow, even her name is pretty.

Pyrrha: *snickers cutely*

*Jaune looks around to see what she’s snickering at to see nothing*

Jaune, shrugging it off: So uhm....they tricked you with the social experiment, huh?

*Pyrrha thinks for a moment, before a coy smile gets plastered on her lips*

Pyrrha: Yeah, you can say something like that.

Jaune: Damn. Who the hell are these people, and you have any idea what they even want from us?

Pyrrha, shaking her head: Your guess is as good as mine.

Jaune, sighing: Great. Isn’t today just wonderful. Should’ve known that offer was too good to be true. *slide his back against the wall until he’s sitting* Teach me not to read documents people tell me to sign.

*MEANWHILE, SOMETIME LATER*

Cinder, sighing: Wow, great plan, Roman. We are learning things about her so fast.

Roman: This takes patience, Cinder.

Cinder, frustrated: The boy haven’t even said anything to her for the past 5 minutes! He’s just sitting his ass on the floor. The boy is socially handicapped!

Roman: That’s not my fault! You're the one who pick him!

Cinder: Well you were the one to make this stupid plan in the first place! How will the boy even ask her about her powers in the first place if he doesn't even know that he needs to ask?!

Roman: Geez, I don't know! How did I know about you being an only child?

Cinder: Be—

Roman: Because I asked you as a curious person who wants to know about my friend! Now believe it or but if I got under the assumption that you started reading my mind, you bet your ass I would ask you about it, especially if I was trapped in a small room with you!

Cinder: But why would SCP-312 answer the question if she knows what we're trying to—

Roman, urgently: Hush! Something's happening!

*MEANWHILE*

Jaune: *has been moving uncomfortably on the floor for the past 5 minutes*

Pyrrha, scooting in her bed: Hey, you wanna sit next to me? The floor looks pretty uncomfortable.

Jaune: Really? You're alright with that?

Pyrrha, smiling warmly: Of course. The bed's large enough. *Pat beside her* Here.

Jaune, slightly blushing: O-oh, Uh, sure then. Thanks.

*Jaune walks over to the bed before sitting down, his cheeks crimsoning*

Pyrrha: There, is that better?

Jaune: Y-yeah. T-thanks.

Pyrrha: Youre welcome:

*Once again the room fall to silence as the boy looks everywhere but at the very attractive girl he's shoulder to shoulder with*

Jaune, internally: God, what's wrong with me?! I just got kidnnapped yet I'm more worried about this super hot girl sitting next to me! I can barely form coherent sentences around her! Damn, my hands are all sweaty too! She's so close! I can feel her body warmth! Just calm down, Jauney. Calm down already. Take a deep breath, and try to strike up a conversation with her. This silence is deafening.

Jaune, taking a deep breath: So, what—

Pyrrha: *Facing Jaune with a warm smile*

Jaune, voice wavering: —y-y-your.......*turns away in embarrassment*

Jaune, internally: For god sake! I can’t get used to that smile! It’s like beautiful personified. God damnit. I need to keep a conversation going, at least until those guys come back! Okay think! What did mom tell me about talking to girls?

A memory starts playing inside Jaune’s head with his mother’s voice: Remember Sweetie, women love wedding rings, but they love babies more.

Jaune, internally:.....is...is that it?! Really?! That’s literally the only advice my mother has ever given more for girls. How the hell is baby propaganda supposed to help me in this situation?! What kinda— okay, calm down. I have another parent. What did dad tell me?

Another memory starts playing in Jaune’s head, this time with his father’s voice: Son, I have absolutely no idea how I managed to make your mother fall for me. I am not the man you should be asking. You’ll probably have a better shot asking the stars that question.

Jaune, internally:.........I’m going to die alone, aren’t I? My parents managed to make the opposite sex so completely alien to me, despite me having 7 sisters! What he actual fuck?! This is an absolute disaster! This can’t get any worst!

*Jaune then remembers one crucial detail of the predicament he’s in*

Jaune, internally: OH GOD! I FORGOT I WAS ALSO KIDNAPPED! WHAT THE FUCK EVEN IS TODAY?! I’M PROBABLY GOING TO DIE IN HERE AND I CANT EVEN STRIKE UP A CONVERSATION WITH THE GIRL WHO WILL POSSIBLY DIE WITH ME! I AM A DISGRACE TO EVERY ARC TO EVER LIVE! I CAN FEEL MY ANCESTORS LOOKING AT ME WITH DISGUST! OH GOD! WHAT THE—

*Suddenly Jaune’s nerves instantly drop and a calm aura surrounds him, almost like it just completely disappeared and got replace with an warm and inviting energy*

Jaune, confused: Huh?

*The weight on Jaune’s hand then became evident, as he looked down and found Pyrrha’s hand gently lying on his, almost reassuringly*

Jaune, slightly blushing:.........

Pyrrha, in soothing tone: So, tell me about yourself.

Jaune, no longer feeling nervous for a reason he doesn’t know why:...........well, I just graduated from college.

*MEANWHILE*

Cinder, frantically: WRITE THAT DOEN, WRITE THAT DOWN!

Roman, equally as frantic: I AM! I AM!