#but I went to school with her son and her husband is a super nice guy

[woundedheartwithin]

Tied up in a sordid love affair with the neighbor’s filly (read: they’ve got the cutest little red roan filly on earth and she’s the sweetest thing and I love all over her at our shared fence line which she’s started to anticipate because she’s there waiting for me every morning)

[sunshineting]

Just a lil drabble 😚

Dad!Gojo

Fluff w mention of sex

Imagine you and Gojo have a baby 😭

-Y’all’s daughter is the cutest little thing; inheriting your brown skin tone with his white hair and blue eyes.

-When Koyo was an infant, you would constantly wake up to her just staring at you with those big blue eyes. It was a bit jarring at first, you had to get used to it just like you did with Gojo. The creepiest, though, was once when you checked the baby monitor in the middle of the night and she was staring directly into the camera.

-Gojo loves that Koyo inherited your curls, they’re one of his favorite things about you. He tries his hardest to do styles on her, but they never turn out quite right. Plenty of times when he’d tried to do something as simple as pigtails they ended up crooked. He leaves most of the styles to you, letting you do all types of braids and twists on your baby.

-Potty training is hell; your daughter HATES pooping on the potty.

“Koyo, do you need to potty?” You ask. It’s been about two hours since she last went, and you’re trying to keep up a schedule. She shakes her head and continues playing with her blocks. Just to be sure, you walk over to her to check her pull-up. You smell it before you see it. Koyo catches onto you, so she starts running away.

“Satoru, come get your child!” You yell. And just like that, your husband appears with Koyo upside down in his hand. She’s just giggling like it’s the funniest thing in the world.

-Gojo spoils his baby. Oh, she’s spoiled rotten, but you wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Daddy, I want this!” Your three year old points at an expensive toy kitchen set.

“How do you ask nicely, Koyo?” Satoru asks.

“May I have this toy please?”

“I say yes, but we gotta ask the boss. Well, mama, whaddya think?” He picks Koyo up in his arms and holds her at his level. The two of them stare at you expectantly, waiting on your response.

“Alright, alright. What color do you want?” You give in. Your daughter squeals and laughs with delight.

-When y’all sign her up for daycare, Gojo is more upset than you are. And that’s saying a lot. On her first day, you have tears brimming in your eyes. It hurts seeing your baby walk away happily into her new class.

“What if she needs me? What if something happens? She can’t go to school yet, she’s just a baby!” Gojo laments in the car. Your three year old is very smart and mature for her age, so realistically you don’t have much to worry about. Unfortunately, though, she has two very dramatic parents who love her dearly.

“Let’s go back and get her. We can go get her and she can start over tomorrow. I’ll be ready then,” he begs.

-To be honest, Gojo kinda eats as a dad. He’s super fun, but he can get serious. He’s so go-with-the-flow that anytime a hiccup happens in your meticulous plans, he calms you into believing everything will be ok. Eventually though, he wants another kid. Koyo is four already and he misses having a little baby.

“Cmonnnn let’s have one more. Koyo needs someone to play with and I miss the baby stage. Plus, you look so sexy pregnant. I love seeing you round with my babies. You know I love breeding your tight little cunt,” the last of his words are nothing more than a whisper in your ear. You end up folding for him that same night.

-Satoru definitely makes Megumi watch the kids when y’all need a night out. Megumi doesn’t mind too much because both kids are well behaved. All three of his students love your kids; Yuuji likes playing a little rough with your son, Kawa, and Nobara loves dressing Koyo up

[amazingmaeve]

learning to fight | chapter one

Daryl Dixon x Hannah Rhee (oc)

series summary: hannah rhee never expected for the whole world to go to shit. i mean she was still learning in life she was still growing and trying to get through art school (something that it took years for her to decide to do), then the dead started to rise and hannah truly sees how hard she has to fight to survive. while trying to keep her little brother, glenn, and herself alive she comes across people that she will soon to see as her own family, one will worm it’s way into her fractured heart.

chapter summary: it’s been a few weeks since the outbreak happened and Hannah and Glenn have found themselves a group of survivors. The two sisters, Amy and Andrea, Theodore Douglas (T-Dog), the Morales family, Dale, Jacqui and Jim, Lori Carl and Shane, Carol and her husband Ed alongside their daughter. Glenn has made a few runs into the two while Hannah was weary of letting him go alone but he convinced her. On this run she wants to go with him to their old apartment to see if she could find something she forgot, with some convincing she’s able to go.

warnings: canon typical violence, some alcohol, swearing, little angst

word count: 3.7k

authors note: this will follow canon to some extent and it will begin shortly these are just some introductory chapters and some filler ones as well. also don’t worry Merle and Daryl will be making an appearance in the next chapter.

series masterlist

For the next few weeks for Hannah it wasn’t as rough as she thought it was going to be. I mean sleeping in a tent wasn’t the best thing to happen but with her being a Girl Scout when she was younger she was actually familiar with it. They were by a river where if someone felt the need to bathe they could and with Glenn making supply runs into town food wasn’t as bad as it could be. But she could see it getting worse and worse as the days went by.

Hannah and Glenn found themselves with their own group. Almost all of them were a bunch of nice people. Dale owned the R.V and was super helpful to Glenn which Hannah appreciated. Amy and Andrea were sisters that Dale had helped out and Hannah became friends with both of them but she had the most in common with Andrea. T-Dog she didn’t know much about but what she did know was that he was a really nice man, he offered to go out on runs with Glenn but was turned down. The Morales family was hard to watch since Hannah knew what happened to her sisters and parents, deep down she knew they were dead and though it was good to see a happy family it still cut deep. Carol is the one she felt really bad for, she knew that her husband was an absolute piece of shit that hit her and with her past Hannah felt the need to get close to her, to try and protect her if something happened to her or her daughter (Sophia). Jacqui was someone who she got along with as well since they were in the same age bracket. She didn’t know much about Jim, he usually kept to himself and she never wanted to intrude on his privacy.

The first people she met were Lori and Shane, while talking with Lori she knew that her husband died and Shane was his best friend. Hannah felt bad for the Grimes family, especially Carl, who was Lori and Rick's son. But she did notice Lori and Shane start to get closer but she kept it to herself, she didn’t want to judge, so she stuck to her own lane.

One thing Hannah hated was the horrid gender roles that were placed on her and all the women. They were expected to just sit and do laundry and cook (though sometimes Dale helped with that). Hannah knew one thing about her, and that was she just fucking sucked at doing laundry. Glenn would always complain about it before the world went to shit, she’d always just end up ruining her and Glenn’s clothes.

She wanted to do more. She wanted to go with Glenn on supply runs but someone was against it.

“I can go with you into town, two is better than one,” Hannah offered as she talked with the group and how Glenn was about to go into town and get some things.

“No, it's best if you stay here,” Shane interrupted while shaking his head. Hannah turned her head so she was facing him giving him a weird look.

“Why not, we can get more stuff if there’s an extra person going,” Hannah says, crossing her arms over her chest.

“It would be smart if two people went,” Dale interjects.

“No this is non-negotiable, you’re not goin’,” Shane snapped. Hannah rolled her eyes at that.

Shane had been the presumed leader since he was a cop but all Hannah thought was that he was a sexist asshole who didn’t want anyone’s opinion unless it alights with his views. But she decided she didn’t want to start an argument at the time so she just hugged Glenn goodbye and wished him luck on his journey. When he was gone her heart was starting to race and the thought of him not coming back.

Glenn was her best friend, even though she knew that was kind of loserish, he was the last person she knew and was the only one who knew what she was going through. But she had a feeling that Glenn would be back and she just tried to think happy thoughts as talked with Carol who was a bit closed off (which Hannah understandably understood) but eventually she began to talk more and more with Hannah.

Sophia, who was talking with Carl, came over and leaned into her mothers arms as Hannah gave her a soft smile.

“What did you do before all this happened,” Carol asked as Hannah rubbed the tight muscle in her shoulder, due to sleeping in a sleeping bag on the ground.

“Oh I didn’t really do much, I was a bartender but I wasn’t going to do that forever, I was only trying to support myself and Glenn while I was in art school,” Hannah explained.

“Aren’t you a little too old to be in school,” Sophia questioned with an inquisitive tone.

“Sophia,” Carol chastised while Hannah let out a little chuckle.

“It’s fine, I do know that 29 is a little too old to be in college but it took me forever to find something I was really passionate about and really wanted to do and what I wanted to be was an artist. And trust me it was weird seeing all the younger students there while I’m basically 30 and just figuring my life out,” Hannah says as a small smile graced her lips.

“Wow that’s so cool, I didn’t know you did art,” Sophia says with an awed look on her face.

“I just don’t usually do it a lot in front of people its usually when I’m alone,” Hannah explains. “So what’d you do before,” She questioned, looking at Carol.

“Oh I-I was just a stay at home mom and wife, just looking after my family,” Carol explains quietly as she runs her fingers through Sophia's hair.

“That’s still a job in my book, even though people don’t get paid for it,” Hannah says as she scrunches up her nose a bit.

“Yeah it’s amazing helping this one grow up,” Carol says, kissing Sophia’s head.

“You’re hair’s so long,” Sophia says looking at Hannah's head, specifically her.

“Thanks, I haven’t had a hair cut in some time and I think I was due for one but there’s no hair salons or whatever still around,” Hannah says with a tiny chuckle.

“Can I braid it,” Sophia questions with eagerness.

“Sophia you can’t just ask people that,” Carol chastises Sophia again before turning to Hannah. “You don’t have to say yes,” She says as her shoulders slouch.

“Do you really want to do it,” Hannah questions Sophia who began to eagerly nod. “Fine go ahead, just don’t cut any of it off,” She jokes and Sophia is eager to get up and run behind her. It was easy since they were sitting on a log.

“Uh,” Carol says and Hannah's head flies up and notices Ed standing near the R.V and beckons Carol to come over. Hannah swallows as her throat becomes dry. “Can you watch Sophia I-I have to talk to Ed,” She stuttered as her breathing got a bit faster.

“Yeah sure, take as long as you need, I’ll keep an eye on her,” Hannah reassures her as she feels Sophia's hands working up her hair.

Carol rushes to Ed who ushered her to their shared tent. An uneasy feeling stirs in her stomach as she watches that unfold. Before she even realized it Sophia was done and was standing in front of her with a smile.

“How’d it turn out,” She questions reaching behind to pull the braid so that it was over her shoulder.

“I think it turned out great but I’m not that good at that stuff, I hope I didn’t ruin your hair because it’s so pretty,” Sophia rambled sitting besides Hannah on the log. Making sure it was at least okay and she was relieved when it felt like a braid with some strands of hair poking out.

“It feels like an amazing braid, no knots and no hair loss,” Hannah jokes, making Sophia laugh. “You know I reckon when your hair gets a bit longer it’ll be able to be braided,” She says, making Sophia smile.

“It is really boring here,” Sophia groans, making Hannah nod in agreement.

“It is, but hey at least we’re still here,” Hannah reassures her, making Sophia nod. “Okay I know I said don’t do art in front of people, if you want I can try to do a portrait of you,” She offered, making Sophia's eyes widen and she began to nod fast.

“Yes that would be so cool,” Sophia exclaims.

“Before I go and get the stuff I need you’re gonna have to stay still for some time. I'm offering you an out,” Hannah warns Sophia as she stands up.

“I can stay still,” Sophia says confidently, straightening her shoulders.

“Okay, stay here I’ll be back in a sec,” Hannah says rushing to the tent she shared with Glenn. It was a pretty big one with some space. She got the stuff she needed out of her bag and rushed back to Sophia, knowing she reassured Carol she’d keep an eye on the young girl.

Luckily for her Sophia stayed put and they got to business.

During this time, Hannah was shocked that Sophia managed to stay still since she remembered being rambunctious when she was younger. Hannah asked questions about her life before and she knew her life was rough due to how she talked about her father. It was pretty obvious that he was abusive to Carol and maybe Sophia so Hannah didn’t want to make her uncomfortable by bringing up past fights, even though she felt the urge to strike the asshole.

A couple minutes have passed when Carol emerged from her tent, her eyes a bit red from crying and a bruise on her arm. Hannah diverted her eyes as some memories came back to her. She felt something burning inside of her, a fiery protective nature she felt over Carol and Sophia. If Ed was anything like her ex he was horrible, and she knew that the two didn’t deserve this whatsoever.

“Hey what’re you guys doing,” Carol questions with a quiver to her voice as she sat down besides Sophia. Hannah gave her a reassuring smile.

“She’s drawing me,” Sophia says with a smile, still staying still.

“I think we’re going to have to continue this tomorrow it’s almost night time,” Hannah gives Sophia a sympathetic smile. Sophia nods and they look to where the sun was still up but almost set.

“Why don’t you go and see what we're having for dinner,” Carol offers Sophia who nods and runs over to the rest of the group who was trying to decide what to eat. “Thanks for doing that,” She says quietly.

“It’s no problem really, she’s a sweet kid,” Hannah says, closing up her sketchbook. Carol nods as a bittersweet smile comes onto her face. “I hope Glenns okay, it’s going to be dark soon,” She says, and there was that worryness, it felt like something was squeezing her heart and her stomach was starting to turn.

“I’m sure he will, he seems like a very capable young man,” Carol tries to reassure Hannah and she gives her a smile.

“He is,” Hannah quietly says.

Glenn did make it back and with a lot of stuff, specifically food. Which everyone was grateful for.

In the next upcoming few weeks Glenn kept going on supply runs while Hannah did manage to get the portrait done and it warmed her heart to see Sophia smile so brightly in a world like this. But during those few weeks she’s been sneaking off into the woods to try and find some berries she knew had to be in there.

She still had the girl scouts engraved in her head so she knew when some were poisonous and some were not. She also managed to try and use the bow and arrow she had but it didn’t end up so well, she never ended up hitting the target and luckily it wasn’t a geek. It was usually an animal she was trying to bring home to the others so they could eat something. She wanted to help and provide for the group. Hannah had never felt more useless.

But Hannah felt like she was getting more and more comfortable with the bow, she felt like she was learning at least something with this.

Carol was usually a comfort for her, she felt like she was getting to know her better. Every time they talked though, she saw Ed lurking around and she felt that protectiveness flare in her stomach but she knew she couldn’t do anything about it.

Andrea was someone she started to see as a friend, as they both wanted to be more of a use to the camp. Instead they were just used for doing laundry which Hannah did, just so the other woman didn’t have to do it without her. She didn’t want to opt out and leave them with the responsibility.

Glenn made more and more runs and the more times he came back she felt more and more comfortable with it.

But this time he was going and she wanted to go with him. She wanted to go to their old apartment and get something. She wanted to get a family photo album. Hannah knew it wasn’t a need but she needed to keep those memories. She needed that.

“It’s not a discussion Shane I’m going and you’re not going to stop me,” Hannah snapped at Shane who just scoffed.

“Fine you wanna get yourself killed, go right ahead,” Shane snapped before storming off to his tent and Hannah's eyes narrowed as she saw Lori following him.

“You don’t need to come and protect me, I can do that myself now,” Glenn reassured her and snapped Hannah out of her trance. Hannah shook her head and led her to a more closed off area.

“I just wanted to go to our old apartment and get some stuff,” Hannah says looking down at the ground as she fidgets with her hands.

“What’d you need,” Glenn questioned.

“It’s gonna sound stupid,” Hannah says, shaking her head.

“Just tell me I’m not gonna judge you,” Glenn says, giving her a small smile.

“I wanted to get the family photo album,” Hannah quietly responds. Glenn makes an oh face. “I know I just need something to remember everyone by,” She says as she feels her chest tighten. “I also wanted to see if there's a place that has a book or something on making arrows from wood,” She says and Glenn shakes his head and chuckles.

“I knew that was part of the reason, you and that stupid arrow,” Glenn chuckles, making Hannah let out a tiny laugh. “Fine, just be careful and follow my rules,” He sternly says.

“What are these rules,” Hannah questions with a humorous tone in her voice.

“Uh I guess I’ve never really thought about it,” Glenn nervously chuckled while rubbing the back of his neck making Hannah let out a tiny laugh. “I guess it’s just one rule, try not to make any noises, I can’t lose you, I don’t know what I’d do if that happens,” He says earnestly.

“You got it boss,” Hannah gives him a salute and a soft smile as the two make their way out of the camp and into the city, Hannah remembers oh so well.

Going into the city was weird, just straight up weird for Hannah. The two of them had to be quiet due to the dead being everywhere so she followed Glenns rule and stayed quiet. It was like the walkers were sleeping and as she walked passed some in a car she felt her throat getting dry.

Glenn told her they should get stuff for the group first (food, medical supplies/medicine, feminine hygiene products, and some things that weren’t necessary but they could use like some blankets and pillows), then go to the apartment they once shared together.

Hannah helped Glenn put cans of food into multiple bags, the food consisted of fruits, vegetables and hell there was even spaghettios. Spotting a red jar she leaned down and examined it and her face broke out into a smile. It was red bell peppers. She knows it’s not some people’s favorite but it was a snack she loved to eat.

Hearing a pstt Glenn turned to Hannah who was holding the jar with a wide grin on her face. He shook his head and let out a quiet laugh.

‘Of course she’d take those’ Glenn thought.

Shrugging Hannah put the jar into the bag, alongside the other canned/jarred items they found for the whole group.

Finally after getting all the supplies they made their way to their apartment and Hannah froze as she stood in front of the building. Flashes of all dead walking passed the door as she put the chair up against the door knob to keep them out. The one who tried to take a bite out of her came to her memories like it was a movie.

“Hannah, we have to be quick, let’s go,” Glenn touched Hannah’s arm trying to snap her out of it. He was worried, she just stood there, her face slightly traumatized from the events they had faced the last time they were there. He wanted to comfort but they had to get this done before things got bad or the sun set.

Swallowing the saliva trying to clear her dry throat. She nodded and followed Glenn closely up to their apartment, trying to remain as quiet as possible. Dead carcasses laid on the stairs and it turned out they were actually dead and they wouldn't be coming back. That didn’t quench her fears though, there could be some more and she prepared herself for that and grabbed the hunting knife Glenn had found for her while on a run. She was willing to do anything to protect her brother.

Finally making their way to the door, Glenn slowly opened it and he actually had to push it harder due to the fact that the chair was still there. The door moving made a little noise and Hannah's face clenched in worry. But standing there for a few moments the two made their way into the old apartment.

It was like looking at a time capsule.

There was dust covering the counter top and the furniture, as Hannah dragged her finger on the couch she brought her hand up and saw that there was a large layer of dust.

“C’mon we have to get the stuff before it gets dark,” Glenn says, breaking Hannah out of her trance. Clearing her throat she nodded and made her way into her bedroom and entered her closet.

Kneeling down, she scoured through the leftover clothing trying to find the old photo album and she was starting to get a bit frustrated when she couldn’t. She swore it was there, it had to be there. She let out a sigh of relief when she found it and opened the old book and let a side smile across her face as she saw a photo of her and Glenn with her mom and dad.

Glenn knelt down beside her and noticed the picture he gave her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder.

“They’re not gone you know that right, they’ll always be in our memories,” Glenn wisely says, letting out a shuddered sigh and before any tears came out she closed the book.

“Yeah I know that,” She whispers. “It’s just sinking in that they’re probably not around anymore, all those stupid family arguments just feel so stupid now,” She lets out a bitter laugh.

“I know, but they wouldn't want us to feel bad for all of this, they would want us to try and survive,” Glenn says, making Hannah nod.

Hannah moves something around and finds a book that she had gotten at Girl Scouts. It was a book/tutorial on how to whittle arrows and make them from scratch. It was pretty old and it may not even work, but hey trying wouldn’t hurt her. “Looks like we don’t have to find those arrows, we got the instruction manual right here,” she says.

“Knowing how stubborn you are, you’ll do anything to make one of those stupid arrows, even if you fail a thousand times,” Glenn chuckles quietly.

“Hey! I’m not the only one who’s stubborn,” Hannah defends herself while standing up and grabbing the bags she was carrying and putting both of the books in them as well.

“It’s like comparing apples to oranges, when you have your mind set on something you’ll do it while me, I like to think that I’ll give up shortly after,” Glenn explains.

“Sure you do,” Hannah playfully rolls her eyes while the two of them walk out of the room and Glenn gets his bags.

As Hannah steps out into the hall a walker suddenly grabs her by her shoulders, making her let out a tiny shriek. Dropping the bags and her knife the monster pushes her to the ground and crawls on top of her, trying to eat her. It was like deja vu but this time Hannah felt herself freeze as the monster tried to bite her and she put her hands on its shoulder.

Before she could even do anything something was stabbed through its head and blood was splashed all over her face. The walker fell on her finally dead and she saw Glenn standing over her with a crowbar in his hand, the end bloody.

Letting out a shuddered breath she pushes it off her and stands up and grabs her bags and knife.

“Let’s get out of here before more come,” Hannah says as she feels herself shaking a bit.

“Don’t you want to clean yourself up a bit,” Glenn says, wiping some of the blood off of her worry written all over his face.

“No, who knows how many more there are, we have to go before things get worse,” Hannah explains and Glenn nods and they both quietly walk down the stairs.

On the way back to the camp neither of them knew that there were some newcomers that Shane had decided to let in due to the fact that they could hunt.

[grandeoatmilklatte]

Undying Love 💍 (Part 2 - In-Laws)

Time for Part 2! This part gets super angsty at the end, so get ready!

Undying Love - Part 2: In-Laws - Ominis Gaunt x Female MC

Summary: Phase 1 of the trio's plan to fake Ominis's death is working so far, Sebastian and MC playing their role as a couple well, until a family member becomes suspicious.

2.4k words - it's a long one sorry!

Tagging @myrachondria cause you wanted an update! 💕

Warnings: No smut in this part, but there is some suggestive wordings and mentions of arousal. Also, The Gaunts are present.

Smut/NSFW/18+!! Part 1 contains smut! Characters are aged up and out of school. Do not read if you're under 18!!

Part 1, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5!

-------

MC woke to the feeling of her husband stroking her cheek. It was a comforting feeling, and she savored it, wishing they didn’t have to get out of bed. “Darling, you need to wake up, Sebastian will be here soon.” Ominis’s voice was soft and gentle. MC fulfilled his request and got herself up, planting a long, sweet kiss on his lips before heading to the bathroom to get herself washed up and dressed. 

When MC finally entered the living room, she found Sebastian already there, sitting across from Ominis, who was on the couch. The boys had a look of worry on their faces, and it broke her heart knowing that she was the cause of their worry. While both Ominis and Sebastian were purebloods, she was not, therefore she was the one most in danger if this plan went wrong. The group sat together discussing their plan once more. After some time they gathered themselves up to leave, MC removing her wedding rings and placing them on the table.

Their carriage pulled up to a large, dark mansion surrounded by lush dark green trees. MC hadn’t even stepped foot inside yet and could feel a negative energy around the home. Ominis was across from her, and Sebastian was next to her, their illusion of being a couple officially having started. 

The three of them had discussed at length what this arrangement would entail. Ominis had set several boundaries - Sebastian could hold MC’s hand, hug her, call her pet names, kiss her on the cheek or forehead, and touch her in any way necessary to make their story believable, (outside of just straight up shoving his hands in her underwear). But Sebastian could not, under any circumstances, kiss MC on the lips. MC and Sebastian had a brief romantic history back in 5th year, at the same time Ominis and Sebastian’s friendship went through a rough patch. While all had been resolved and forgiven at this point, Ominis’s trust in Sebastian never returned to what it once was. Ominis reminded Sebastian once again of what he was and wasn’t allowed to do to MC. 

“Oh, and Sebastian, please don’t stare at my wife’s breasts! I’m well aware she has nice ones, but don’t even think about it!”

“I won’t Ominis! I’ll be respectful. Isn’t that right, darling?” Sebastian took MC’s hand as he opened the carriage door, leading her out. Ominis exited last, but led the way. The family house elves had already shown up to retrieve their belongings.

MC squeezed Sebastian’s hand as they walked, the fear setting in. He squeezed back in an attempt to reassure her. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest as they entered the enormous mansion. Upon looking around, it seemed like everything in the house had a dark green and black color palette to it. It was actually quite beautiful, all things considered. Hand in hand, Sebastian and MC followed Ominis to one of the several living rooms the place had, where his parents were reading. 

The Gaunts greeted Ominis well enough, likely putting on a show for their son’s guests. Ominis had informed her that his family was obsessed with their public perception, eager to seem like wonderful people, not the monsters they actually were. His father was tall and stocky, with dark brown hair and eyes and his mother was petite and thin with blonde hair and blue eyes like Ominis. “Mother, Father, you remember Sebastian of course.” Ominis turned his parents’ attention toward them. “And this is his girlfriend, MC.” MC held out her hand, praying that it wasn’t noticeable how hard it was shaking. She shook both of their hands, and his mother commented on how beautiful MC was. MC was the only one who caught the small smile that formed on Ominis’s face for half a second before his mother began her questioning: How long had her and Sebastian been together? (Since Christmas, the day her and Ominis got engaged), what was her house? (Slytherin - not actually a lie, this earned her a nod from both parents) and of course, what her blood status was? 

“Pure blood.” She replied nonchalantly on the outside, screaming on the inside. The three of them had prepped for this moment, but no amount of prep could have prepared her for the utter fear she felt being interrogated by her in-laws. Ominis’s mother was about to inquire further when another member of the family appeared in the doorway. “Ah, Marvolo, we have guests! You remember Sebastian, right? And this is Sebastian’s girlfriend, MC!” Mrs. Gaunt exclaimed.

Marvolo - Ominis’s older brother by several years. She had heard horrible things about him. He took great joy in physically hurting his younger, disabled brother when they were kids. MC couldn’t decide if she hated him or his parents more. He was tall and thin, and looked as if he were just an evil, inverted version of Ominis. Instead of blond hair and blue eyes, he had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, but he still shared many of the same facial features as Ominis. He was also less put together than Ominis, his messy hair a contrast to Ominis’s combed back, maintained hair. “Pleasure to meet you!” MC greeted, realizing that he was staring her down. He simply looked her over, his face expressionless, before turning and leaving. 

“Well, off with the lot of you! Get yourselves situated. Ominis will show you to his room. One of the elves will fetch you for dinner!” Mr Gaunt exclaimed as he brought his attention back to the book he had been reading.

----

At dinner, MC sat in between Sebastian and Ominis, while the other three members of the family sat across from them. MC wasn’t questioned any further about her fake blood status, the conversation instead turning to Sebastian and what his plans were for the future. At one point, while Mr. and Mrs. Gaunt were in deep conversation with Sebastian, Ominis’s hand bumped MC’s while he was reaching for a napkin on the table. MC handed him the napkin and smiled, taking a moment to gaze at her perfect husband. Her gaze must have lingered longer than it should have, because when she turned her head forward, Marvolo’s eyes were locked on her. He was expressionless once again, but she saw his eyes squint ever so slightly as he studied her. Feeling uneasy, she leaned in towards Sebastian, giving his hand a squeeze and giggling in his ear. 

When it was time for bed, the three of them headed to Ominis’s room, locking the door and placing a silencing charm on it. MC brought up to Ominis the weird stares she had received from his brother, but Ominis brushed it off. “It’s just Marvolo being Marvolo, but let’s limit the staring, just in case.”

The trio climbed into Ominis’s bed, the bed being big enough that the three of them could fit comfortably. MC figured she wouldn’t be able to sleep, but as soon as she felt Ominis’s arms around her, she nuzzled into him and dozed off immediately. 

----

The next day, the trio spent their afternoon in one of the small libraries located in the home. MC and Sebastian were on the couch, and Ominis was in one of the chairs across from them. They were sitting in peaceful silence when someone approached the library and entered. It was Marvolo, walking in and sitting down in the chair directly across from the couch and right next to Ominis. Sebastian gave him a friendly nod and a smile, but MC refused to look up from her book, fed up with his unsettling glares at her. 

“Is that you, Marvolo?” Ominis asked, breaking his concentration on the dictation spell he had been using to read. “Mhmmm.” Marvolo replied, his eyes once again glued to MC. She was still refusing to look up at him, but she could feel his eyes on her. She was starting to wonder if he could speak at all considering he hadn’t uttered a word the entire time they had been here so far. Almost as if he could read her mind, Marvolo finally spoke.

“Are you two dating?” He asked, eyes now locked on Sebastian. Sebastian, ever so confident and afraid of almost nothing, replied instantly. “Oh yes!” He chuckled. “Feisty little thing, this one! But I adore her!” Sebastian pulled MC in close, planting a kiss on the side of her head, which made MC finally look up. For once, Marvolo wasn’t glaring at her, but he did have a wicked smile on his face as he continued to stare at Sebastian.

“I don’t believe you. I think she’s fucking my brother.” His eyes switched over to MC, his smile getting even wider. 

A sense of total panic washed over the trio, none of them being able to properly react. But somehow, the combination of the panic and her being fed up with Marvolo’s bullshit gave MC confidence, as she looked Marvolo in the eyes and spoke. 

“Ominis is one of my best friends and I love him dearly, but he couldn’t handle me.” she smirked. “This one can barely handle me!” she giggled as she rested her elbow on Sebastian’s shoulder. “Oh, you!” Sebastian shouted as he grabbed MC and pulled her in, nuzzling into her neck as she giggled. 

“Prove it.” Marvolo’s voice rang above MC’s giggles. Sebastian and MC broke away from each other. “What?” Sebstian asked with a chuckle, trying to hide his nervousness. “Prove it.” He repeated, a malicious tone to his voice. “Kiss her.” Sebastian and MC felt their hearts start racing, neither of them dared to look in Ominis’s direction. MC decided she had enough, hoping that maybe if she yelled at him, he’d bug off.

“Listen, I’m sure you’re not used to seeing a pretty girl here, since I imagine no girls come here for you, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to give you a free show so you can have something to wank off to later!” There was a bite in her voice, but this only brought on another smile from Marvolo. 

“Hmm what a shame. I wouldn’t think kissing your boyfriend would be so difficult, unless he’s not actually your boyfriend. I’m sure mother and father will be thrilled to hear Ominis is actually the one fucking the halfblooded little bitch running around our home.”

“Enough!” Ominis shouted. Sebastian and MC finally dared to look over at him, he was surprisingly calm, the only look on his face was that of annoyance. “I had to hear these two snogging plenty when we were still in school. I’d prefer not to hear them snogging in my own home as well.” 

“DO IT. Now.” Marvolo growled at Sebastian before turning his attention back towards Ominis. “Or I’ll be happy to have a little chat with our parents about why they should vet any of the vermin you bring into our home, you absolute disgrace to our family!” 

MC had heard enough and sighed before she grabbed Sebastian’s face and gave him a quick and gentle peck on his lips. “Happy?” she spat out. “Nope.” Marvolo sported another wicked smile. “Really kiss him.”. 

Her heart sank. She knew Ominis was already going to be upset, now things were only going to get worse. She remembered how they agreed to make it believable. She thought about the commitment she made to Ominis. That she would do anything for him. “I’m sorry, Ominis.” She thought to herself before she turned her body to face Sebastian, pulling him in for another kiss. 

Her kiss was full of passion, and it only took a second for Sebastian to return the same passion. His lips parted for her immediately, their tongues touching. MC had her hands in his hair, running her fingers through it as they kissed. Sebastian felt guilt wash over him, but that guilt was immediately overpowered by arousal at the taste of her lips. Sebastian let out a groan against them. Though their time together had been brief, Sebastian had really fallen for MC. When it ended, Sebastian made peace with it, knowing he was the one who ruined it. But there was no denying that kissing MC again made him feel something. Sebastian had his hands on MC’s waist when the kissing started, but he moved one of his hands down to her knee. His hand then began to trail up her thigh, hiking her skirt up with it. MC moaned in surprise at the feeling of his hand on her thigh, immediately regretting how audible her moan was. 

Sebastian removed his lips from MC’s to bring them down to her neck. MC whispered Sebastian’s name, confused about what was happening. On the one hand, she knew this was necessary. The more passionate this seemed, the less suspicious they seemed. While she knew that this wasn’t real, she didn’t actually hate it. She had also noticed the fervor in Sebastian’s kiss. Was he enjoying this too? Sebastian resumed kissing her lips, his hand halfway up her thigh as his fingers began to slip underneath her hiked up skirt. This was when MC snapped out of it, as feelings of arousal were starting to creep up on her. She gently pulled away from Sebastian’s lips. At this, he removed his hand from her thigh. 

They both looked at Ominis across from them, grateful he couldn’t see anything, but the sounds were enough. He sat expressionless, but was fuming inside. Marvolo on the other hand had the biggest smile on his face. “I stand corrected. You two make a lovely couple.” MC made the mistake of glancing down as Marvolo stood from his chair, an erection growing in his pants. MC shuddered as she looked away. “I must be off now.” he said with a wink as he left the room, the door closing behind him. 

The three of them sat in silence for several minutes, Ominis finally reacting as he began to hyperventilate. “Ominis…” MC whispered, her voice laced with guilt. The sound of MC’s voice broke him as he began to sob. MC felt her heart shatter at his tears, but she felt like she didn’t deserve to feel sad, knowing she shared some of the blame for his sobs. 

“Mate, we did what we had to do. You know that wasn’t real.” Sebastian said, refusing to look at Ominis. MC shot Sebastian a questioning look, unsure if he was being truthful when he said it wasn’t real. 

“I know.” Ominis choked out, his voice laced with anger. MC got off the couch and kneeled where Ominis was sitting, about to take his hand in hers when he jerked away from her. MC gasped at his reaction as he got up and stormed off, leaving MC and Sebastian behind.

----end of part 2----

[pamsimmerstories]

fran told j and summer about the new visitor

summer is not happy at all

transcription

[j]: how was your class today, sweetpea?

[frances]: it was so cool! you know cassie? the pianist? her husband went there today. he’s really nice and suuuuuper rich. he was looking for someone to sponsor. he chose me!!

[j]: really? but you don’t want to be a ballerina. why did he choose you?

[frances]: he said it doesn’t need to be the ballet career! he could pay for my college, as long as i do well at school and ballet. super cool, right?

[summer]: that’s nice, sweetie. but who is he? we need to meet him first.

[frances]: his name is malcolm... hmmm lastname is landmap? i don’t remember. wait! no! it’s landgraab, like my school!

[summer]: LANDGRAAB?

[frances]: yes!!

[summer]: are you sure? he said anything else?

[frances]: no

[frances]: why are you acting weird, mom?

[summer]: it looks like a great oportunity, but i think it’s better if we don’t accept it. they aren’t good people, fran.

[frances]: how do you know? he seems pretty nice to me! and he treat cassie pretty well. he even played piano for us today

[summer]: i promise it’s for your own good, fran

[frances]: this is not fair! it’s a huge opportunity, mom. you and dad would only have to pay for winnie’s college!

[j]: fraaan, don’t talk to your mom like that.

[frances]: like what?

[j]: fran!

[frances]: it’s unfair!

[j]: i know. your mother and i, we’re going to talk, okay? go take a shower and go to bed. we’ll talk another time.

[frances]: *ugh* fine. goodnight.

[summer]: night sweetie

[summer]: who they think they are? nancy signed a contract! why is her son looking for her? i mean, he must know, right? why right now? is it because she’s gonna be a teen soon and they want her back?

[j]: sums, breathe. calm down. i think it’s time for us to tell her.

[summer]: over my dead body. she’s mine!

[j]: she’ll always be yours, sums. it doesn’t matter. but it’s better if we tell her. what if this guy shows up again?

[summer]: they can’t do this.

[j]: *sighs* nancy is in san myshuno now. i ran into her another day at the gym... i’ll talk to her, okay?

[summer]: do you think she’s behind this?

[j]: i don’t know. maybe? that’s what i’m gonna find out.

[summer]: thank you, j

[marsrize]

Like Cat & Bird [Part 1 of 4]

Part 2: Here. | AO3: Here.

Summary : After the end of the battle against Gabriel Agreste. Adrien was taken in by his aunt Amélie. To protect him from the media that harassed him, his aunt decided to move him to Gotham where her deceased husband had possessions. She decides to enroll Adrien in a middle school in Gotham. He will meet Damian there. The two get to know each other and gradually develop romantic feelings.

Pairing: Adrien Agreste x Damian Wayne.

Chapter 1 : First meeting

Adrien had just started at a new school in the middle of the school year, and he was feeling lost and out of place. He didn't know anyone and didn't really know how to make friends. As he walked through the hallway, he accidentally bumped into a boy who was taller than him and had a scowl on his face. He had black hair and green eyes.

"Watch where you're going," the boy said sharply.

"I'm sorry," Adrien said, feeling embarrassed.

"Who are you?" the boy asked, eyeing Adrien suspiciously.

"I'm Adrien" he said. "I just started here."

The boy snorted. "Figures. You look like a lost puppy."

The boy left. Adrien watched him go and sighed. His first day of school was starting badly.

The days passed. He still had no friends but, on the other hand, nobody bothered him either. That could count as good news, right?

Then, one day, Adrien was walking home from school when he saw a group of boys bullying a guy in an alley. He didn't like bullies and decided to intervene.

"Hey, stop that!" Adrien shouted, running towards the group.

One of the boys turned around and sneered at him. "What are you gonna do about it, pretty boy?"

Adrien stood his ground, determined not to back down. Suddenly, a shadowy figure appeared behind the bullies and kicked one of them in the back. The bullies scattered, and the figure stepped forward. He realized that it was the same boy who was being attacked.

This boy was about Adrien's age, with dark hair and piercing green eyes. He wore a stern expression and didn't seem to be in the mood for small talk.

"Thanks for your help, but I had it under control," he said gruffly.

Adrien was taken aback by the boy's abruptness. Then, at that moment he realized that he knew this boy. It was the same guy he had met on his first day of school.

"I'm Adrien," he said, extending his hand.

The boy hesitated for a moment before reluctantly shaking Adrien's hand. "Damian," he muttered.

Adrien sensed that Damian wasn't in the mood for conversation, so he bid him farewell and went on his way.

***************

Adrien had seen Damian around school. He knew that Damian was known to be unfriendly and even hostile towards others. He had no trouble believing these rumors, since the little interaction he had with the boy was cold, to say the least. So, when Adrien found himself in the middle of a hostage situation at the supermarket, the last person he expected to see was Damian.

Damian, dressed in normal clothes, and not in his school uniform, was one of the hostages. Adrien was genuinely surprised. What was Damian doing in this supermarket? He knew that Damian Wayne was super rich. Being the son of a former billionaire, he knew that the staff usually did the grocery shopping. Well, this guy wasn't nice. However, he couldn't turn his back on the situation. He was out of miraculous, but he had once been a superhero. Acting was his duty.

So, Adrien took stock of the situation and quickly realized that he needed to act quickly. As one of the criminals approached, Adrien swiftly knocked him out with a roundhouse kick. The other criminals were caught off guard, and Adrien took advantage of their momentary confusion to grab a nearby broomstick and use it as a weapon. As the last of the criminals fell to the ground, a silence fell.

Damian finally spoke up. "Well done," he said, nodding at Adrien.

Adrien nodded back, still breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush.

"Thanks, I've had some training."

Damian raised an eyebrow. "I can tell."

Damian's words were like a release for the other hostages. Some of them woke up from their stupor and started to tie up the criminals with a rope. Other people approached Adrien to congratulate him.

However, when the police arrived, Adrien was severely reprimanded by the officers.

"This could have turned out very badly young man, you were lucky!"

He ended up going home very late because he had to give his statement to the police.

Once home, Adrien sighed. He felt quite alone in this big apartment. He took a shower, prepared some food and went to bed.

The next day, when it was lunch time and he was eating alone at his table as usual, someone sat across from him with his lunch tray.

Adrien blinked in surprise.

It was Damian.

They ate in silence. When Damian finished his meal, he got up and left, still without saying a word. This little ritual continued for the next few days. Adrien wanted to talk but didn't dare interrupt the silence for fear of scaring the boy away.

At least he didn't feel so lonely at lunch time anymore.

*****************

As the days passed, Adrien and Damian continued their silent lunchtime ritual. Adrien started to feel more comfortable around Damian and would occasionally smile at him or nod in greeting. To his surprise, Damian started to reciprocate these small gestures, and even initiated a few of his own.

In parallel, he started to develop his own hobbies.

Adrien was getting more and more into manga. He found himself stopping by the local comic bookstore frequently to browse the shelves and pick out a new title to read during his lunch break. His apartment was slowly starting to fill up with stacks of manga volumes, but he didn't mind. It was a welcome distraction from the stresses of school and life in general.

One day, as Adrien settled into his usual table in the school cafeteria, he pulled out the latest volume he had picked up - a popular shojo series that he had heard good things about. He started reading, engrossed in the story and the detailed artwork. As usual, Damian sat with him. Adrien was so absorbed in his reading that he didn't realize Damian was watching him. Finally, a voice brought him out of his bubble.

"I've read this before. It's not bad, but it's not the best."

Damian looked at him skeptically. Adrien was extremely surprised to hear the voice of his comrade. He smiled but answered in a hesitant voice.

"To each their own, I guess."

They fell into a comfortable silence.

The next day, to his surprise, Damian was already settled. When he settled down, Damian handed him a bag. Adrien blinked several times and took the bag. Looking inside there was a series of manga that he didn't know.

"Read this."

Damian continued to eat in silence. Adrien couldn't help but smile. Was this Damian's way of trying to share his interests?

"Thanks!"

Adrien read the books that evening and brought them back to Damian at lunch time. He commented on what he thought of the reading. Damian listened in silence. Then finally at the end of lunch, as Damian was about to leave, he handed him a bag also with a series he had read and enjoyed.

"You let me know what you thought of it!"

This became their new routine. Adrien realized that he was enjoying having someone to share his hobby with, even if they didn't exactly see eye-to-eye on everything.

Over the next few weeks, Adrien and Damian started to chat more during lunch breaks. They talked about the latest manga releases, debated which series had the best fight scenes, and even recommended titles to each other.

Adrien found himself looking forward to their daily conversations, and he started to feel like he had finally found a friend.

[vancilocs]

lore dump

so yeah the royal family life wasnt super wonderful, gandr fenrir and helle’s dad the former king spent most of his youth being more involved in overseeing his lands, politics, diplomatics and doing swordplay and horseplay than have a family,

guy had multiple wives and it pretty much always ended in “my husband is always away, i have found a better husband in some noble/knight/bard/random nice townsfella” and then her and her new boo being ousted from the court and banished to live their lives in a whole another country.

then when he got to like 40 he kinda went oh shit, i need a legitimate heir (idk if he has illegitimate ones around) and started looking for a new wife but he had a bit of a reputation as a shit husband so he didn’t really find one UNTIL he came across that one woman

he beat her in a sword duel and she agreed to marry him (”i can fix him”), she was really brash and headstrong, the marriage began pretty okay even if her family was absolutely against their mid-20s daughter marrying a guy in his like 60s and it was a whole scandal to them, her side of the family always hated her husband and they never met her children

she never ended up fitting in the court, never liked the strict etiquette, didnt really appreciate the manners and how people ended up talking behind her back, she wanted more power in politics and he didnt give her that, so she ended up just mainly sitting and drinking wine and giving him three kids

gandr was welcomed well bc healthy son, cool, you’ll be king one day. he was absolutely dad’s favorite since he even resembled him more with his hair and eye colour, he could dote on the boy all he liked and taught him to be a political powerhouse, gandr was the golden boy bc he knew politics and maths and languages and manners, all the tutors for him

fenrir was at first an okay addition, definitely not dads favorite since he had moms hair and eye colour and turned out to be a difficult child in general, bad at school, had bad manners, rebellious and prone to tantrums and growing up he had to be dragged into social situations which would make him cry so he got thrown out with the bathwater especially when helle was born. never was taught good coping mechanisms so he ended up repressing/exploding, hitting things with sticks, later on drinking and disassociating

helle resembled mom more with her dark hair and she was overjoyed (as much as she could be) to have a daughter, she figured that it was enough kids and she could then devote all her time and affection to the girl, she wasnt expected to be the heir like gandr so she didnt need all the tutors, she could do basically whatever she wanted and thus spent most of her time around mom and her handmaidens doing crafts and swinging swords

so with gandr busy being tutored by dad all day and helle being doted on by mom all day fenrir was basically left to his own devices, just followed around by hood when he wasnt being rigorously trained to be gandr’s bodyguard one day. fenrirs reputation as a naughty child wasnt helped by his anxiety making him destructive and angry and running away on occasion, sneaking out to bars and getting drunk at 15 and being brought home by gandr because big bro didnt want him to get in more trouble, it wasnt a huge surprise (nor a huge loss to his parents) when he ran off to be a mercenary at like 17

gandr was his biggest supporter and defense, always making excuses for him and soothing his dad like heyyy he’s just a little birthday boyyy don’t be so hard on him, let’s go see the ledgers again for the fifth time today, he may not have understood what fenrir was dealing with but he was a solid support to him and listened and even let the kid cry which mom and dad wouldnt have let him do

the king was around 80 and on deaths door and mom was nearing 50 when fenrir got dragged back to the castle, and from him being brought in the king understood that gandr wasn’t going to recover, so he just basically opted to give up and die rather than see his other son become king, and with his death mom took it as her cue to leave the castle too to return to her homeland, she wasn’t at fenrir’s coronation and neither was she at his wedding, hasn’t met her grandchildren

dad set everything up for gandr, even picked hassaleh for him as a bride, but gandr did go the long way with courting her and if dad did one thing well, it was picking a good wife for her son because those two were madly in love and she was accepted by the people too

fenrir kinda has gandr to thank for him being more balanced because if he had just had his parents as examples he wouldnt have believed in love like that, sure with merope he didnt immediately feel that instant connection and the deep adoration hassaleh and gandr had for each other, but he knew it was possible and that he would be the best husband he could (hassaleh still being around and a tremendous support for them both helped), so they did grow into that love even if it took a looooooong time and he put in real and true effort to make her happy even if he still struggled with his own issues

(though his dad is in a weird way kinda to thank for fenrir’s successful marriage - if dad had cared about fenrir in any way, he would have picked him a wife already and would have chosen some random woman who would have gotten the kingdom some benefits, but since he didnt, fenrir was able to choose for himself and could pick a woman he already liked and grew to truly and deeply adore)

but being a dad he had to figure out for himself, he didnt know how to show affection to babies in general, much less his own (and the births being fairly traumatic for merope didn’t help, he did blame the kids for the pain she went through), and hassaleh couldn’t help with that, but in that case it was merope’s parents who aided him as much as they could, he kinda melted into showing love to the kiddos, something like holding them and kissing their head was a thing he didn’t know about but he figured it out, and now he does it even when the kiddos are adults

but it definitely shows in the way that their first one, ylva, is much more a mama’s girl, by the time aleksandros was born fenrir knew better how to show affection. also alex’s whole birth was so convoluted and dangerous (for merope too, almost goddamn died) it caused some long-term damage and he didn’t really learn how to walk until later and had some balance issues into his youth, so he did get more attention as a kid in general than ylva had, especially from dad who knew well enough what it was like to grow up with a disability, in his case pretty troublesome dyslexia (he never wanted him to feel like he was any less worthy like he had been constantly berated bc it took him a long time to learn how to read)

thankfully nepheli’s birth was remarkably easy and quick and fenrir had dealt with his issues well enough so she can be as adored from all sides as she deserves

fenrir regrets thinking about marriage and children solely as responsibilities (he HATES responsibilities) rather than things to do out of love, he understands he approached them wrong and because of that people have been hurt, but he’s talked that through with merope and these days he lets all of his children know how much he adores them

their parents are also a big reason why helle doesn’t have children, all that time with her mom made her kinda view pregnancies as punishment and she heard her mom often say how they ruined her own body, maybe mom didnt mean it that way but helle took it to say that she ruined her mom’s body, she doesnt have a massively negative view on love or relationships but she’s for sure glad she wasnt expected to find a partner like gandr and later fenrir, and definitely has never planned on having children

[nella09archive]

Marriage. 40

Chapter 40: ship mates

“Dad! Stop laughing at me!” I just couldn’t help it. My son looks ridiculous. Is he going to space or to school? I couldn’t stop. Damn it! My ribs.

“Honey, stop it. I think he looks adorable.”

“But, Chichi. Please don’t tell me, this was the outfit you were going to send him to school in.” Now she was giggling. “I knew it!” Now both of us were chuckling and Gohan face kept turning red. “Ok, ok. I’ll stop. Come here little man, and give daddy one more hug.” He hop on my lap, and gave me a hug.

“You two are embarrassing. But I rather have you no other way.” My little man is really growing up.

“Now remember, listen to Krillin and be very careful. And one more thing.” He looked up at me, while I singled Chichi to come closer. Chichi then joined the hug, and we kissed his cheeks. “Me and mommy love you very much, and are always proud of you.”

“I love you and mommy, too. Now, can you both stop kissing me.” I tickled him one more time. “Come on, please. I’m going to be late.” Awe, he was doing the angry puffy face Chichi does.

“Ok little man. You be a big boy on this trip, and come back safely.” He nodded and went off to wait with his grandpa. Now alone with Chichi, I could finally ask. “Is everything ok at home?” She nodded. “Are you ok?” She shook her head. “Come here.” I held her in my arms and rubbed her back. “It’ll be ok. I’ll be on my way soon, after I heal. I’m going to make sure he comes home to you.” She nods against my shoulder, and then she gives me one more kiss before she leaves.

…

Why did mom had to pack so much? You would think, she packed the whole house in there. I really do love my mom. Once me and everyone else were in space, I come to the impression of certain things. One, don’t ever mess with Ms. Bulma; she’s scary. Also, she so over herself, almost spoiled. Two, Krillin is pretty chill, but a nervous wreck. And the way dad told me about them, I don’t know what to believe. Well, I can believe the warning of being careful around Bulma. The thing with Krillin is, I don’t know, up to debate.

The way dad talks about him, and what I’ve seen so far, it’s almost like they’re brothers. And Krillin been nothing but nice to me, and defined me. Plus, he’s helping me a lot with my training. So, does that mean he’s almost like my uncle or something? That would be super cool. I couldn’t help giggle to myself. I have a meanie uncle Raditz, a meanie uncle and first teacher Piccolo, and now nice uncle Krillin. Wow! It’s amazing how fast my family is growing, since I just met everyone one year ago. So, does that make Ms. Bulma my aunt? Um, that’s up for debate.

…

Not even a week out of that metal bed, and he’s already escaping. My silly husband. What really upsets me is that I worked so hard on his sweater. He could have least taken it with him. But when I woke this morning, I was surprised that I had his sheets over my shoulders. So, I’ll give him points for at least making sure I was ok first. So, mister you have one more hour. Ok Chichi, and I’m on an island off to the north of the hospital. Did you take your medicine before leaving? No. In that case, you’re down to 30 minutes. Meanie. 25. One more word and I’m going over now. Actually, can you. I’m kind of… Ow!

…

Chichi is so going to kill me. I shouldn’t have left the hospital. But be damn, did I need the exercise. Ok, if I didn’t take too much at once, I would have been able to last longer. Damn my spine! She found out, and was giving me extra time. I really don’t deserve her. Great, now she’s shortening it, due to me not taking those stupid pills. Meanie. 25. One more word and I’m going over now. Actually, can you. I’m kind of… Ow!

As I prepared myself for the long speech, she was going to give me, I enjoyed watching the clouds. My beautiful wife is going to skin me alive. And the worst part is, I can’t even do anything about it. Every single time she gets mad, I always get her back that night. Hey, it’s not my fault she’s so damn irresistible when she’s angry. Just thinking about how angry she must be right now is getting me worked up. I hope she comes alone. I would at least like some time with her before going back to that sicken place.

And there goes my hopes and dreams when I saw Master Roshi. Why didn’t you come alone? No mister. No kissy for misbehaved husbands. Plus, you forgot your sweater. Not my fault I didn’t want to wake you up. You need all the rest you can get. Looks who’s talking. Your lovable husband that only cares for your happiness. By the way thank you. Yeah, yeah. Don’t think I’m doing that again. This was your one freebie. My wife is just so perfect.

As Master Roshi drove the airship, Chichi was next to me. She was holding my hand, while poking my face. No more escaping. You have to rest up. But you know how I am. I can’t sit still for the life of me. She looked up, at Master Roshi’s direction, then back at me. What are you— She kissed me. I tried to follow her, as she left, but I couldn’t. She then had an evil grin on her face. What if I told you if Master Roshi didn’t insist on coming, we might have done something? WHAT! So, why you let him? I wanted so badly to be alone with my wife. This sucks! Deal with it. You being a naughty husband. And you’re being a good wife, but I still wish for another kissy.

…

Bulma is just so messy. After Krillin first showed me how to mentally train, we did it everyday on this trip. We also had to clean up after Bulma. Krillin would even talk about how spoil she is. Then a thought occurred to me. “Ms. Bulma, Krillin, how did you guys meet my dad?” Daddy never told me how he met his friends.

“Well, for me I was on the hunt for the dragon balls. Your dad just so happen to have the four-star ball. Then we started traveling together. Simple as that.”

“From what I’ve heard you hit Goku with your car and then shot him. Then after that you found out he had the ball, and convinced him to travel with you.”

“Shut up Krillin.” They’re weird. Dad did mention about Bulma hitting him a lot when he was younger. “Besides your dad was one strong kid. So strong in fact, he made for a decent bodyguard.” Why would Bulma do that?

“How were two when you met?” Dad really doesn’t talk about his past much, so this would be fun. Maybe I could learn more about dad.

“I was 16 at the time, and if I remember correctly, Goku was 12. I actually thought he was older at the time. But then we found out he couldn’t count past 10.”

“Launch helped with that. Thank goodness.” What did dad do before he met Bulma? Now I just have more questions.

“After he met me, we met Master Roshi, Oolong, Puar, Yamcha, then Ox King, Chichi. After we collected the dragon balls, your dad went to train with Master Roshi. Wait. Isn’t that when he met you, Krillin?”

“Yeah. At first, I thought your dad as my rival, and a weirdo. Jumping off cliffs like it was nothing, and saying how he found Master Roshi’s rock because it smelled like him. I also thought he was extremely stupid.”

“Oh please, he still is.”

“HEY! MY DAD ISN’T STUPID!” Why they have to say that about my dad? What’s their problem? Mom does say dad doesn’t know much about books, doesn’t mean he’s dumb. His mind just works different, and he’s way smarter than people think. Well that what mom says, and I agree with her.

“Sorry kid. But face it, your dad is slow.” Bulma isn’t nice at all.

“To be honest, he has his moments. Heck, sometimes I question if he just acts dumb.” Krillin is way nicer. “Besides kid, why did you want to know how we met your dad?”

“Dad doesn’t talk much about his past. So, I was just curious.”

Krillin ruffles my hair. “Aw kid. How bout after this is all done, we can tell you stories about your dad’s adventures with us.”

I couldn’t stop the smile that grew on my face. “Really?”

“Wow, you really are his son. You got his smile and everything. Creepy.” Why did Bulma say that? Well, break was over, and Krill and I got back to training.

…

Master Roshi finally left, and Chichi was putting a new bunch of flowers away. I was debating on if I should try to escape or ask her to join me on the roof. Both options were good. One hand, if I escape, I’ll just be on the roof anyway. I don’t plan to go far. On the other hand, having Chichi with me would be nice. Heck she won’t let me train, but having her with me would be nice regardless. “Whatever you’re thinking, forget it. You move one muscle from that bed, and you’re in trouble mister.” Aw man. Not even for a little fresh air? “Your definition of ‘fresh air’ means training, so no. And don’t pout at me.” I couldn’t help lick my lips at how angry she looked. It even made her blush.

I wish I didn’t have to share a room, maybe we could have done something. Now Chichi face, even her neck, turned red. “Shut up.” So, take me to the roof. That was a one time. “Stop pouting!” She walked over to me, arms crossed and her angry puffy face. Now I felt my face burning. I can’t even look at her right now, when she does that. It’s so unfair. I want alone time with my pretty wife! Especially with her angry at me. “Goku!” CRAP! Don’t look! It’s a trap. She grabbed my face, and forced me to look at her. CRAP! My wife is looking like a goddess right now. This sucks! I can’t do anything to her! “Suck it up mister, and get some rest.”

I have to think of something quick. “Feed me?” Why the hell that was the only thing I could think of? But heck, it stunned even her. Even to the point of blushing again.

…

“Feed me?” Is my husband serious right now? The way he’s been looking me this whole time, and what he’s been mentally saying, makes me question what he’s actually asking. Does he mean actual food? Because I can easily do that. But if he means the other thing, no way. With his cast arm, he pulls me closer and licks my neck. “Feed me.” He even goes and gives me a light suck. I could feel my whole face burning. Goku! Stop that! We’re in a hospital room, with other people! “The curtains are in the way. Feed me. Please.” He then trailed licks and kisses down my neck. Once he reaches the bitemark, does he licks and nip there.

Damn it Goku! How about an apple? He pokes my right breast. “These apples?” No. Actually apples. “But I want these.” He pokes again. I can’t believe he’s actually doing this. It feels like my whole body is on fire from both being shamefully aroused, and mortified that he’s doing this in a hospital. Dear kami, give me the strength to survive this. “Huff.” Uh? Goku had let me go and is looking anyway. Are you mad? “Yes.” Why? He didn’t even reply. What in the world did I do to make you mad? Am I really doing anything wrong by giving my wife attention? Besides, you started it. Uh? Oh! I poked his face. Stop being a baby. “Then stop teasing me, if you don’t want it happening back to you.”

I just sat at the edge of the bed, and brought his head to rest of my chest. He smiled at that; he even kissed my breast. “Can you please take it easy, and rest up. You’re going to worry me sick if you don’t.” I gently scratched the top of his head, and rubbed his back. He purred his content into my chest. “You’re such a big softy.” And you’re too good to me. Can you hum? I really miss it. Sure. Before long I had hummed my dear Goku to sleep.

This kind of reminds me of the first time Goku couldn’t figure out how to calm down a crying Gohan. He tried everything I showed him, and it still didn’t work. It got so bad that not even him rocking back and forth and trying to hum work. On top of that I was way to exhausted myself. Goku was just trying to give me a break. That was the day we found out about the tail thing, but Goku didn’t like that he had to do that. On top of that, he didn’t want put Gohan in his room. Goku ended up working out, while holding Gohan the whole time. At some point he woke up, but neither of realized. If it wasn’t for the baby sounds, Goku wouldn’t have stopped to see an awake Gohan. The moment Goku stopped did Gohan start crying again. Then Goku did sit-ups with Gohan, and the crying stopped. And now we found a nicer way to keep Gohan calm. Well, when he’s with Goku. That thought always make me laugh. But it was nice, knowing Gohan enjoyed his father.

…

Me and Krillin are starting to get tired of cleaning after Bulma. Plus, I’m super hungry but I don’t want to say anything. Mom did pack me a ton of snacks, but I been trying to save as much as possible. Then again, mom did pack a ton of meals in capsule form for me. Saying how I need to eat healthy. But when I first took one the capsules Bulma and Krillin gave me a weird look as I ate. Commenting that I really was dad son, and they still couldn’t get over how much he ate. I always knew me and dad ate a lot, and mom ate so little. But mom never said anything. Actually, she would be super happy whenever we asked for another helping. Or super mad, when we didn’t finish.

The few times mom did eat a little more than usual dad always couldn’t stop smiling at mom. But I don’t get Krillin’s and Bulma’s reactions. Maybe this whole thing of eating a lot is an alien thing. What did uncle Raditz and that Vegeta guy say we were again? Saiyan? Is that how you even say it? After the whole reaction, I tried to eat slower, and even at least half and save the rest for later.

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah, Krillin.”

“So, why aren’t you eating?” I didn’t even realize I wasn’t eating. I must look sad or something. He ruffled my hair. “Come on kid. You got to keep up your strength for Namek. Speaking of Namek, how long we got Bulma?”

“Just another 2, maybe even 3, days or so.” Wow, the months were going by fast. I better finish and train again, with Krillin.

[dollmoth-productions]

hiiii i was wondering can i request platonic yandere metal family just general headcanons on what its like living with everyone and what are the lengths they go to protect the reader.thank you and i hope you have a good day

I have been waiting to do metal family so this is going to be exciting

⚠️OBSESSIVE BEHAVIOR STALKING POSSESSIVE BEHAVIOR STOCKHOLM SYNDROME MANIPULATION ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR ⚠️

Before kidnapping

🙃Glam🙂

🙂 you were one Dee's friends that actually could get over the fact that he was kind of a jerk you are very sweet but you did not know their language pretty well being that you were a foreign exchange student being from America he would ask questions about it and you would try to answer it for the best of your ability

🙃 he would attempts to teach you some guitar Evan though you weren't really good at it he still appreciated your attempts unlike with his son but he treated you like his own child

🙂 his unhealthy Behavior came up when you would talk to your parents you too seem to have a okay relationship but too similar to his father whenever you would be on video call with them he would always talk to you and see if you were okay of course you always answered and he always got to worried and "accidentally" cut off the Wi-Fi

🙃 of course you were pretty angry that the Wi-Fi cut off but whatever you would question him about it he would deny it saying that sometimes a Wi-Fi just goes out your friend never told you about this you just have to get used to it here forever obviously he couldn't let you go back to that house he was too worried

🙂 when you are getting ready to go back home to your family you are having a big is going away party with only the family and when you were enjoying the party drinking up some delicious tea soda whatever you were drinking it was exciting to see you this happy but after a while feeling tired you went to bed

"Sleep now my Muse"

🔥Victoria 🔥

🔥 when you first came here from America Vicky terrified you you were scared of what she might do to you but she was nice to you really nice you didn't really expect this so it's so weird but you soon got used to her rough and tough Behavior it was just a part of her personality

🔥 she would be the one to bring you to school and bring you back from school not trusting the town at all especially with you being you to the country you were only two years younger than Dee but they baby you more heavy but this was normal ideas

🔥 unlike her husband she would go much farther than anyone would expect if anyone tries to hurt you do end up with I'm severe bruising or their body might end up on a doorstep including if your friend is just slightly make fun of you she sees this as rude

🔥 she knew the killing would be bad for your health being that you would be all alone and only have them but we're the only need the family it shouldn't matter you'll be better with them anyway

🔥 during a going-away party she's the one who thought of the idea it was surprisingly a very good idea and everyone agreed she tried to help gram with the cooking and they are super special ingredient to make sure you'll never forget them

💙Dee💙

💙 when you two first met you were basically just an annoyance to him but after he saw you defending his brother even though he was an idiot it was shocking you had a heart of gold and a heart of gold could not be taken advantage of

💙 he started defending you no matter what even if your ideas were little stupid it felt nice to actually help someone that was smart to him at least you are more artistic but it was amazing he never felt this way before and he wanted more of it

💙 it was strange but it felt nice to be with someone who actually treated him like he was human and not like a smart jackass you treat him like he was human like he was genuinely trying it's not nice to be treated so sweetly so when he realized you were staying with him at his house he felt excited

💙 whenever he would see someone with romantic interest for you he was swiftly get rid of them and hand them over to his mother saying that they would bullying you so she would get rid of them

💙 that you're going away party he drugged your drink and food so it would no doubt put you to sleep pretty fast you would be thinking that you were partying too hard and you would fall asleep and once that happened he let heavy help with his plan what she would never do but it felt right it was a pretty smart idea to let him help with his knowledge

🐱Heavy🖤

🐱 heavy love hanging out with you you were really good at video games and it showed and you wanted to help so you would help him with that whatever level you were on so it was good that you were helping him more often than not he would sometimes fail the easiest level just to hang out with you of course he knew this time would be gone once you would leave but he enjoyed it for the time being

🐱 once he heard the plan of the going-away party he agreed he would sneak into the science room and get the drugs he was a small kid so he can easily hide away Dee would take the cover for him if anything bad happened with the sedative in his hand he started planning to help

🐱 he would help by getting rid of anyone that was in his way luckily that didn't involve killing but rumors most likely he was pretty good at spreading them around he would most likely try his best to ruin any reputation you have with this person

🐱 it felt wrong ruining people's reputation but for you he would do it he would make sure no one would get in his way of his new sibling no matter what he would be the best little brother that you'll ever have and the only little brother

🐱 once you passed out after having your food and drink drugs the plan commenced and you had to have a lock on your room of course the being a pretty good mechanic because of his mother she knew how to install locks pretty well and only the family had keys to let you out of the room so you couldn't get out without the family's permission

AFTER KIDNAPPING

🙂 Glam would never even think of harming you but he would comfort you after the kidnapping you were definitely a little more scared of them if you ever try to lash out he would easily overpower you despite being so skinny he was pretty strong

🔥 Victoria would be a little more tough but still on the Southside being that you are not used to being so alone at the moment you missed your real family and you would often try to contact them but yet again the Wi-Fi would mysteriously go Alton they would make comments saying that they were your family now

💙 do you would make sure no one would harm you and no suspicion would come up acting concerned if they were ever brought up about your disappearance he wasn't a good actor but it fooled them

🐱 heavy would keep you entertained by playing video games so you wouldn't get bored he would always be by your side then the rest of the family would help you no matter what

No matter what you would still be a part of this family whether you would like it or not Glam would be your dad Victoria would be your mom heavy and D would be your brothers and you would be the favorite sibling.

[dreamsister81]

But on the night of the Greetings gig, Fields had a more important task to fulfill than passing judgement on Jeff Buckley's character: he'd been delegated by close friend Linda McCartney, who was in town with her Beatle husband Paul but unable to attend, to personally deliver a note to Buckley. There was one catch-Fields had no idea who he should be looking out for. As he recalled, "I said to the woman in front of me, 'I'm so embarrassed. His father was one of my best friends-he lived with me-so what if he comes out and says hello? I don't know who he is.' She said that she'd never seen him either. Linda wrote a note that was delivered to my office, saying she loved his father so much, so sorry she couldn't be there, blah, blah blah; it was very nice. This gave me an excuse to go backstage and seek him out.

"So the lights went out and it was dark and then a single super spotlight fell on the stage and hit this ray of light on this guy-I saw the cheekbones and the profile and went 'AHHH!' It was loud enough to attract attention, i kid you not. Why did I ever wonder? This was him. Later I gave him the letter and he told me that Linda's picture of his father was his favorite, and that he always kept it with him."-from A Pure Drop

.

.

.

Pic of Tim in 1968: Tim Buckley was a poet who played a twelve-string guitar. He was one of those artists who was well reviewed, and was admired by other artists for his unique vocal style, but who was never a commercial success. None of his albums ever made the top fifty. Nevertheless I loved his songs. I met him in New York when he was nineteen years old. I took photos in Central Park where we would walk together and he would mess about climbing trees. The picture on the left was taken near the water tower in Central Park and he was talking to me as I pointed my camera at him. I think it captures his personality perfectly because it shows his vulnerability. A lot of musicians are easily destroyed because they are so innocent. Tim died in 1975 of an accidental drug overdose. A friend of mine told me that Tim's son, who was born while he was in high school, has a copy of this photo hanging in his bedroom, and that it is his favorite image of his father.-Linda McCartney from Linda McCartney's Sixties (📷 Linda McCartney/David Gahr)

[ikleesfiction]

Miss Americana

Fandom : Crossover Hawaii Five-0 x Chicago PD TV Word count : 5,610 words Pairing : Steve McGarrett x Danny Williams; Jay Halstead x reader

Summary :  You met Williams-McGarrett family in Los Angeles and they introduced you to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Your boyfriend, Jay Halstead, doesn't know anything about this. Yet.

Author's note :

This is the fourth one shot of "Will you follow through if I fall for you" fic continuation. It would be better if you read it first. But if you don't, here's the quick summary.

This happened after I listened to a few podcasts (1  🞂  2  🞂 3) of Scott Caan and Alex O'Loughlin, passionately talking about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. 

This fic does not comply to the canon of Hawaii Five-0 or Chicago PD. So if you don't follow one of the other, it should not be a hindrance, I think. Here's hoping that I'm right.

Disclaimer

◢◤

"Would you like another cup of coffee?

You look up from the book in your hand to the waiter addressing you.

"Oh, I would love to. But it's already my fourth cup of the day," You grimace at him. "Maybe I'll take a bottle of water, please? Cold, if you have one."

The waiter grins at you, "Sure thing," then leave with your empty cup of coffee.

You are supposed to meet your friend, Tim, at his house on The Bird Streets to work on a song. However, he got a sudden appointment and asked you to wait for his call to reschedule. So here you are, sitting at a Cafe/Bistro somewhere in Los Angeles, drinking too much coffee.

You check your watch and your phone. It's almost lunchtime, but your phone is still showing nothing. Alright then, you thought to yourself, back to the book. Your eyes immediately find the last paragraph you read on Astrophysics for People in a Hurry.

Five pages later, the waiter puts a bottle of water on your table, "Here it is. You sure you don't want another cup of coffee?" He jokes with you.

You laugh in response, "No, really, thank you."

The waiter leaves with a smile and turns to the table across from yours. That's when you notice somebody's sitting there.

"Good afternoon. Only for two?" The waiter lays two menu cards on the table.

"Four. My husband and daughter are parking the car." The man answers him with a smile. He has a little boy sitting next to him. His son, you guess, since both of them have blond hair. Their noses look similar too.

"Danno, can I have ice cream for lunch?" The boy begs his father, pointing at one of the delightful pictures on the card.

"Hmm, maybe." The father hums his reply. He exchanges a knowing glance with the waiter.

"Do you want anything to drink while you're waiting?"

"Soda!" The boy yells from his chair, who laughs at his father's glare.

"How about two glasses of orange juice?" The father checks to his son before confirming it with the waitress.

"Okay, be right back with your drinks."

After the waiter leaves, the boy begins to prattle about everything to his father. About giraffes at the zoo ("They are so tall like Dad!"), about his favorite ice cream flavors ("Cookie Dough. But I like Kame's shave ice better, Danno"), about swimming at Venice Beach ("There's a lot of people there, Danno. I like our beach more")

The boy doesn't even look like he needs to breathe. You can't help but let out a chuckle. His father looks up at you and shares a grin. "That's great, Charlie," He comments to his son.

You let their conversation become a white noise while you read your book.

At your periphery, you see someone passes by. However, you don't expect a hand to suddenly sneak your phone from the table. Your hand instantly grabs that wrist, trying to stop it from stealing your phone. But the thief forcefully pulls his hand out of your reach and moves away.

Unfortunately for the thief, he runs straight to the father at your neighboring table. The man has no problem flipping the thief over and pushes him to their table. When the thief squirms away from his clutch, the man lifts the thief's elbow high up and turns it behind his back in a very painful lock. The unpleasant sound coming out of the thief's mouth proves how excruciating it is.

The man's eyes wander. Many shocked faces are staring at him, including yours. "It's okay, I'm a cop," He explains.

In contrast to the crowd, the boy looks at his father in awe, gleefully clapping his hands.

"Charlie, why are you clapping? You're not supposed to clap at this. Oh my god, you are just like your father! Happy to see any aggression," The man rants as he takes out a cable tie from his trousers' pocket. You don't even know why he got cable ties in his pocket. He efficiently ties the perp's hands behind his back and forces him to sit.

Only then, the man addresses the crowd again, "Has anyone called 9-1-1?"

"I did. The police are on the way," One of the cafe's staff squeaks from the door, with a phone still in her hand.

"Excellent! Did you hear that? Your ride would be here soon," The man tightly squeezes the thief's shoulders. The thief could only reply with an agonized grunt.

Everybody else resumes their activities with a sporadic look to their table.

The boy picks up the stolen phone from the floor. It fell near his foot during the short scuffle. "Danno," He hands your phone over to his father.

"Ah, thanks, Charlie," The man ruffles the kid's hair and kisses the top of his head.

"I believe this is yours?" The man returns the phone to you. "Hope it's still working?" He cringes at the spiderweb marks on the phone screen.

"Thanks. Probably not. But it's alright." You smile at the man and offer to shake his hand, "Y/N Y/LN, thanks again for helping me,"

The man takes your hand, "Hey, no big deal. Danny Williams. And this is my son, Charlie," Danny brings Charlie in front of him. You extend your hand to Charlie as well.

All of a sudden, you hear voices yelling from behind you. "Danno! Charlie!"

You look back to see a tall, dark, imposing man and a beautiful teenage girl rushing in your direction. Charlie shouts back at them, "Daddy! Gracie!"

So you guess they must be Danny's husband and daughter.

This new man drops down to Charlie's level and checks on him, trying to see if he's injured. "Are you okay? Charlie?"

"Dad! Dad! Danno was soooo cool! He pushing and then flipping and then that man went aaargh!" Charlie re-tells the scene to his father, holding his elbow behind his back to show him.

Couldn't really understand his son's story, the man asks his husband to elaborate, "Danny, what's happening here? Why are you arresting this man?"

"I'm not arresting anybody, Steve. We don't have jurisdiction to make an arrest, you know? Since we are in LA, not Hawaii? I'm just holding this man until LAPD shows up," Danny clarifies to his husband, Steve.

"But why?" Steve is still confused.

"This guy here, what's your name?" Danny barks at the thief. But his mouth stays glued. "Really? Would you prefer my ex-SEAL here asking you the question?" Danny gestures in Steve's direction.

Steve stands tall. His hands are folded in front of his chest. His biceps bulge in his tight t-shirt. The thief's face turns green, looking fearful. Steve's scowl was probably not helping either.

"Danny?? What's going on here?" Steve begins to lose his patience.

"What?? It's no big deal, babe!" Danny yells back at Steve. "This guy here tried to nick this woman's phone. I'm just helping her," Danny motions in your direction.

"Y/N, here's my husband, Steve McGarrett, and our daughter, Grace," Danny continues to introduce you to his family. You shake their hands and exchanging simple pleasantries.

"As I said, I just helped Y/N to get her phone back. Now we are waiting for LAPD," Danny ends his explanation.

Shortly a police car comes, and two officers quickly take their statements. Initially, the police officers are bemused to find the thief already sat with his hands tied behind his back. After Danny explains that he is a Detective from Honolulu PD and how he prevented the attempted theft, the police officers understand the situation. They ask if you'd like to press charges on Tom Norris, that's the thief's name according to his ID. Considering you're not hurt, you decline on pressing charges. The police are gone with the thief sooner than you expected.

"Can I treat you lunch for your trouble? Shoot! A super late lunch?" You corrected after checking your watch.

"Hey, don't worry, it's no trouble at all," Danny says to you with a big smile.

"No, no, seriously. You guys were on holiday, I guess. But still bothered to help me. Lunch is the least I can do."

Before long, they arrange to get a table for five and talk a lot during the meal.

◢◤

"So you guys are from Hawaii? That's nice!" You tell the family.

"See, Danno? That's what you're supposed to say about Hawaii. You're the only one who describes Hawaii as a pineapple-infested hell hole," laments Steve to his husband.

"I'm just telling the truth, babe. How about you, Y/N? Where are you from?" Danny tries to find out.

"Originally from The Netherlands, Amsterdam. But I moved to Chicago last year," You reply.

"Now that, Steve, is a city that would appreciate seasonal changes," Danny nods his approval of Chicago.

"Only you, Danno, who whines about constant sunshine." Steve grumbles.

Grace and Charlie don't react much to their parents' bickering. Too used to their silliness. But you still find it quite funny.

"So you guys are here for vacation?" You ask the family.

"Kind of. We are on holiday. Also, we are visiting the colleges here for Grace, who will graduate high school next year," Steve throws his right arm around Grace's shoulder.

"Yes, we are on an excursion to prove to Grace that LA universities are not better than the University of Hawaii," Danny quips from Steve's left.

Grace whines at his father, "Danno..."

"Danny here doesn't want his children to be far away from him," Steve enlightens you. "But I think going to school in LA would be better than The Netherlands. Wouldn't it, babe?" Steve winks at Grace.

"Do not joke about that, Steven!" Danny elbows his husband hard.

Grace looks thoughtful for a moment, "Y/N, did you go to college in the Netherlands? What do you think my chance to study there?"

"Gracie, can I come with you to This Otherlands?" Charlie innocently chirps to his sister.

Steve is laughing so loud, even after Danny punches his arm.

"What about you, Y/N? What are you doing in LA? Are you on vacation too?" Danny questions you after the laughter receded.

"I'm here for work. Most of the time, I'd do it remotely from Chicago. But sometimes I have to make the trip here or to Amsterdam," You tell them.

"What do you do?"

"I'm a music producer," You give a simple answer.

"What instruments do you play?" Steve is curious. "Guitar?"

"Mostly piano and synthesizer. I do play guitar, but I'm just an okay guitar player. I wish I could play better,"

"Dad plays guitar too!" Charlie happily declares as he points at Steve.

You cheer at Charlie's enthusiasm, "Does he? That's great!"

"Yeah, he plays very well. Maybe Dad can teach you to play better," Charlie directs you.

"Oh, yes, that would be awesome," You wholeheartedly agree with Charlie, as the rest of the table laughing at the idea of Steve teaches music.

◢◤

"Danny, I was wondering if you could explain something to me," You turn to the man.

"Shoot," Danny nods as he puts down his juice glass.

"The arm lock that you did to the thief. Where did you learn that? Did Steve teach you that?" You ask him, genuinely want to know.

"Well, even though Steve here was the Navy SEAL," Danny glares at his husband, who replies with a smirk, "I have been working as a cop for more than 20 years now. I know some moves too,"

"But that's not a cop's move," You contradict him.

"How do you know any cop's moves?" Danny confronts you back.

"My boyfriend is a cop in Chicago," You give Danny a sheepish smile.

"Ah, I see. Did your boyfriend teach you self-defense?"

"He did. I'm nowhere near good as Jay. But it's a start," You answer Danny.

"Of course. If he's not good at it, then he's not a good cop," Danny comments without sounding too arrogant.

"Jay also taught me about guns. Personally, I don't like it, but he needs me to know about it, especially gun safety. So..." You shrug.

Danny nods his understanding, "Yeah. Be glad that he doesn't bring home grenades or other explosives," Danny gives Steve a stink eye. "Unlike some Super!SEAL here,"

Steve is immune to that look. It doesn't seem to affect him anymore.

You smile at their interaction, "Jay was an Army Ranger. After he came back, he went to Police Academy,"

"Really?" Steve looks interested.

"Oh, here we go," Danny sighs at his husband.

Steve grins but decides not to comment on it any further. He goes praising Danny instead.

"But Danny is being too modest here. He is a great fighter. Sometimes he's even better than me. Which lots of people find it surprising, considering I was a SEAL,"

"and don't you forget it, babe," Danny smirks at Steve, who returns it with a chaste kiss.

You sigh internally. Looking at the lovely couple made you miss your boyfriend, Jay.

"In all seriousness," Danny begins, "I practiced Jiu-Jitsu since high school. That's where the moves come from," He pauses to sip on his drink.

"I got my Blue Belt when I entered The Police Academy. For me, I think, I learned how to fight better in Jiu-Jitsu than what they taught us there," Danny continues.

"Do you also teach it to Grace and Charlie?" You ask the parents.

"Yeah. Danny taught them both as early as possible. Grace already got her Yellow Belt when we first met. Now she is working for her Purple Belt," Steve brags. Danny also looks so proud. Grace, though, tries so hard not to roll her eyes at her parents.

"Me too! I will get my Yellow Belt soon! Right, Danno?" Charlie exclaims.

"Of course you are kiddo. After that, you surely can beat your Dad here," Danny ruffles Charlie's hair. Steve offers his palm for a high five, but Charlie punches it instead. He giggles when Steve is faking to be hurt by Charlie's tiny fist.

"Do you think I could learn it too?" You inquire to Danny.

Danny and Steve look at each other. You're waiting for their answer, hoping that they will agree.

Before they decide anything, Grace interrupts, "We can go check out the place that Sensei Egan told us, Danno."

"Yeah, that's a great idea," Steve agrees to his daughter's suggestion. "We can check that dojo for Grace, meeting the instructor. Maybe could show some moves too for y/n,"

"Okay then. Grace, share the dojo address with y/n. We can meet you there tomorrow morning, what do you say, y/n?" Danny asks you.

You're supposed to fly back to Chicago next afternoon, but what the hell, you are very interested in this offer. "Yes, sure. If you don't mind me crashing your holiday plan again?"

"No, not at all. We need to check out that place anyway." Steve waves off your worry.

Grace passes her phone to you. "You can puy your number there. I will forward you the address,"

You tap your number to Grace's phone before groaning when you remember that your phone is dead. "Could you e-mail me instead? I don't think I could replace my phone soon,"

Danny doesn't even try to hold his laugh at your poor luck.

◢◤

The next day, you take an Uber to the gym. No, it's The Dojo. You correct yourself. When you step in, Charlie is shouting at you from across the room. "Y/N!" Standing next to his sister, Charlie crazily waves at you, worried that you could not see him.

You remove your shoes, placed them accordingly at the remarked spot. Walking towards Charlie and Grace, you see the Williams-McGarrett clan wear similar outfits with other people in The Dojo. The only differences between them are their belts. Danny wears a Black Belt with a red stripe, while Steve wears a Brown Belt. Grace has Blue Belt, and Charlie has a White one. Knowing that you will do some workout, you wear a black t-shirt and training pants. Definitely a contrast in a room full of jiu-jitsu outfits.

Danny and Steve are talking to a guy on the other side of the room. This guy has a Black Belt with more stripes than Danny's, indicating that he is the instructor here.

"Hey, guys. Good morning," You greet Grace and Charlie. They reply with a big smile.

"Just out of interest, do you guys always bring your uniform on your holiday?" You gesture to Grace's clothes.

Grace laughs at your question, "It is called Gi. Yes, we are always bringing them along on holiday," She laughs again at your shocked face. "No, I'm joking. It's because we know we will visit this dojo, so we have our Gi with us,"

Soon Danny and Steve come over to your side. "Hi, y/n. So I talked to Sensei Marcus there," Danny gestures to the guy he spoke to. "We are going to follow their training for today. You can watch from the side if you're not sure you want to do it. The first hour would be the class for Kids and Teens,"

You see Grace and Charlie lining up in the center of the room with other children. They seem to be divided by belts instead of age.

"The next hour would be the adult class," Danny pauses for a moment. "If you want my suggestion, I encourage you to join the Teens class. I hope you don't feel insulted by that."

You chuckle at his words, "Not at all. I understand,"

"If it's too much, don't hesitate to stop and move aside. Everyone will understand," Steve adds.

You exhale softly, readying yourself, "Okay," before joining the line.

The first fifteen minutes, they start with stretching. So far, you have no problems with it. You practice Yoga for the last few years. You know how to stretch.

The next one, they teach you how to fall correctly. Which turns out to be a hard thing to do. At first, an instructor's assistant helps you. After a few moments, she moves away to help others. But you're still not doing it right. So Danny pulls you aside and teaches you privately for the rest of the hour.

You fall so many times until it tired you out. You cannot even get up from the mat. Your shoulders would have been bruised with so many times you landed incorrectly.

"Still interested to learn this?" Danny grabs your hand to help you get up.

Even though the lesson exhausts you, you feel great. You learn a lot, even from doing the same thing over and over again. "Hell yeah!" You grin at Danny.

"Crazy woman!" Danny pats your shoulders. Right where it hurts the most. You can't help but flinch away.

"Hurt, wasn't it? Why don't you go sit down on the outside of the mat with Charlie?"

Charlie sits on one side of the mat, a bottle of water in his hand. He is watching Grace, who has her hands on Steve's Gi, trying to throw Steve down.

Danny silently pays attention to his husband and daughter on the mat. But you can see his hands slightly move as if he's the one sparring.

Shortly, Grace has a chance to push Steve. Steve lost his balance for a moment before countering her attack. Grace would've fallen down hard if Steve didn't hanging to Grace's Gi so tight to slow her fall.

"That's great, Grace," Steve says to his daughter as he helps her up. They bow to each other to end the spar. Danny is clapping from outside the mat, "Good job, Monkey,"

Of course, you and Charlie follow Danny's example to cheer for Grace.

You still sit on the side of the mat, now also accompanied by Grace. You watch the next class practice, where Danny and Steve spar with other students for about an hour.

After the class is done, Steve taps on Danny's shoulder, "Danny, could you help me with this move?" He nods in the direction of the mat.

Danny responds with rolling eyes at his husband's antics.

Grace runs commentary in the background, "Dad didn't actually need help from Danno. However, you're not allowed to ask a higher belt to spar with. It's a sign of disrespect. But Dad and Danno often work differently between each other,"

You see Danny and Steve taking place at a ready position. It takes time before anybody falls, or one locks each other. They move fluidly. When one throws the other, they quickly bring them down along then keep them in a lock. The locks are soon countered, and they back up again. The great thing is they look like they enjoy sparring with each other. They share a laugh whenever someone throws the other or someone holds the other in a lock. You find that very interesting.

The sparring ends when Danny makes a grappling move that Steve cannot counter, so he has to tap out.

After the sparring, Steve sits back with you and his kids while Danny goes over to Sensei Marcus. Steve asks your opinion about Jiu-Jitsu, whether you're still interested to learn it.

"Very much, yeah. The first thing I will do once I'm back in Chicago is to find a Dojo," You excitedly tell Steve.

"Well, lucky for you, Sensei Marcus here knows a lot of Jiu-Jitsu instructors," All of a sudden, Danny joins your conversation. Sensei Marcus stands beside him.

"Sure, if you want to keep learning Jiu-Jitsu, I will give you some references of my fellows in Chicago," Marcus informs you.

"That would be awesome!"

Marcus shakes your hand, "Good luck!" and moves to shake hands with the rest of the Williams-McGarrett family. "Thanks for visiting our dojo. Please come again whenever you're in LA,"

They all look tired, but their smiles beam as bright as Hawaiian sunshine.

◢◤

Two weeks later, in Chicago,

You see your boyfriend's truck parked in front of your house as you walk home from the bus stop. You walk much slower than you used to. Your body is hurting all over the place, but you feel elated.

The day after you came home from Los Angeles, Jay was caught in a hard case. He had to fly out to New York and liaised with NYPD SVU to solve it.

You missed him a lot, for sure. Jay called you whenever he could for these past two weeks. Texted you every day too. But you have not got the chance to tell Jay about your new interest in Jiu-Jitsu.

After your last trip to LA, you promptly checked out the Dojo that Sensei Marcus referred to you. You were thrilled to find out that it's only fifteen minutes bus ride from your house.

You met with one of the instructors there and asked for a private class. Because that's what Danny advised you to do. "After you have a better understanding of the lessons, then I want you to go train with other people at the dojo. But for the first five or six months, you might've been better with one-on-one lessons,"

The instructor, Professor Louisa, is delighted to provide. You work on a schedule three to four times a week. The professor initially suggested only two meets in a week. But considering your occasional trip abroad for work, you prefer to do more lessons when you're in town.

This is the third week you've been learning jiu-jitsu in Chicago. Scraps and bruises are inevitable. Jay would freak out if he saw them before you could explain to him.

Jay's flight back from New York landed about two hours ago. He must've been coming directly to your place from the O'Hare. The house smells amazing when you enter the room. Following your nose leads you to the kitchen. You find your boyfriend pulling out what seems to be garlic bread from the oven, "Hey, babe. You're back!"

"Hey, you! Perfect timing!" Jay secures the tray aside before stepping closer to you. He puts one hand on your waist, the other one on your back. Moving even closer to kiss you.

His passion makes you forget your bruises for a moment. When Jay pushes you playfully, your shoulder hits the nearest wall. You instantly cry out in pain. "Argh!"

"What's wrong?" Jay stops everything he's doing to you right away.

"Nothing, I just got some bruises," You rub the pain from your shoulder.

"How come?" Jay begins to take off your t-shirt to check on the bruises, but you move away from his grasp.

"Hold on. Let me take a shower. I must've been rank from sweat. Then I'll tell you everything," You kiss Jay one more time before going to the bedroom.

As you eat the pasta primavera that Jay made, you ask him about his case in New York, "How was it?"

"It's done. We did what we have to do,"

Not interested in talking about his case, Jay interrogates you instead, "So, where did you get the bruise? I swear, I only left the city for two weeks, and you're already in trouble," Jay shakes his head.

"I'm not! I just joined this gym. Dojo, I meant. I'm taking Jiu-Jitsu lessons!" You cheerfully tell Jay.

"You what?" Jay pauses from drinking his wine.

So you told Jay the whole story. About how someone tried to snatch your phone when you're in LA. How you met the Williams-McGarrett family from Hawaii. How they got you into jiu-jitsu.

"It's so fun, Jay. Yeah, sure, I got bruises and scraps. But whenever I got stuck with my work, I go have a practice at the dojo, and then I come home feeling energized," You confess to your boyfriend.

"Really?" Jay looks at you, disbelieving.

"Uhuh," You nod as you swallow your spaghetti. "You know what, you should come and see the dojo. It might interest you too,"

"I know about martial arts, babe. I taught you how to punch, remember?" Jay reminds you.

"Yes, you did," You say in giggles, "Professor Louisa said she won't teach me how to punch,"

"Of course, Jiu-jitsu has a different approach than other martial art, say karate. Or boxing," Jay puts down his fork on the empty plate. "You sure you enjoy it?"

You hold Jay's hand and look into his eyes, "I am. This is something I want to do seriously, Jay. I admit part of it comes from you and your job. Like you always said, I need to be able to defend myself. Because you think I could get drag into your case one day,"

Jay puts his other hand on top of yours, looking somehow regretful, "Babe..."

"No, no. But I also do this for myself. Even though my body hurts, I feel great about myself. I feel more confident. It's really inspiring,"

Jay brings your hand to his lips, "Okay then, as long as you're happy with it. But I'm still going to take you to the gun range,"

You roll your eyes in response, "Of course, you will,"

◢◤

A week later, Jay walks up to The Dojo on the second floor. Someone greets him at the entrance, "Hey, man. Can I help you?"

"I suppose to pick up my girlfriend. She is training with..." Jay tries to remember the instructor's name. "Louisa?"

"Ah, yes, Professor Louisa. You must be y/n's boyfriend. I'm Professor Andy, the head of this dojo," The man offers his hand.

"Jay Halstead," Jay shakes Andy's hand.

"I think she will finish in ten minutes. You wanna see her practice?"

"Sure. If it would not be disturbing?" Jay hesitates.

"Not at all. Y/n is the only one in there right now," Andy directs Jay inside the dojo. He asks Jay to remove his shoes before stepping into the room.

Jay watches his girlfriend silently. He winces a couple times when you fall down. But he is amazed to see you immediately stand up again.

"She's resilient, your woman is,"

Jay chuckles at Andy's remark, "Yes, she is,"

Shortly after you bow to your instructor, you see Jay standing on the side with Professor Andy.

You walk towards them with a smile, "I see you met my boyfriend, Prof,"

"I did, yeah," Andy nods. "I don't think Jay would be interested in jiu-jitsu, though," He comments.

"Correction, I'm not interested to see you got thrown down repeatedly," Jay points out.

"Hey!" You hit Jay's arms as both Professors laugh at you.

"But that's how we are supposed to learn. If you don't know how to fall, you won't get back up again," Louisa says serenely.

Andy hums his agreement before ushering you out. "Alright, get out of here, you lovebird,"

When you're in the locker room, changing your Gi, Jay approaches Andy again. But before Jay could say anything, Andy hands a leaflet to him.

"Y/N told me you're a police officer. You might be interested in these classes,"

Jay takes it with a laugh, "Thanks, man. I'll check it out," He puts the leaflet on his jacket pocket and pulls out his card.

"If anything happens when Y/N is here. Or if you need anything I can help with, please give me a call," Jay sounds solemn.

Andy takes the card, "Don't worry, man. We take good care of our students here,"

"I know," Jay nods.

Soon you come out with a gym bag on your shoulder. "See you next week, Prof!"

Andy waves to the couple, "Bye, y/n. See you again, Jay!"

◢◤

Two years later,

You step out of the record store in Pilsen empty-handed, failing to find the vinyl you're looking for. You start walking west to the bus stop when you hear a commotion ahead.

You see a guy pushing people out of his way. He keeps looking behind his back like he's running from something.

"Police! Get out of the way!" You hear other voices shouting.

So this guy seems to be running from the police, you thought to yourself.

The man tries to shove you aside, but your reflex is much better. Your hands instantly grab the front of his shirt. When he tries to push you away, your right foot finds his inner left calf and sweeps him down.

When he tries to move away from your grasp, you lean down and grip his right wrist tightly with your right hand. You put your right elbow beside his right ear while your left elbow is placed underneath his elbow. Your left-hand moves to hold your right wrist from below his right hand. His arm is essentially locked when your left bicep snugs against his right tricep. You raise your elbow slightly from the surface. The more he wiggles his way out, the higher you raise his elbow from the surface, the more painful the lock is.

You hear an impressed whistle from above. When you look up, you find Jay and Hailey standing in front of you. Jay gets a huge grin on his face while Hailey is sporting a shocked look.

"Nice takedown, babe," Jay compliments you.

"Thanks. You might wanna take over from here, though," You say to your boyfriend as you hear few more steps rushing towards you.

You loosen the lock after you are sure Jay gets his hand on the perp. He grabs the suspect up from the floor and pushes him towards the wall.

You find a hand extends in front of your face, offering to help you stand up. You look up to see it was Hailey. You take her hand with a soft thanks.

Once you're back on your feet, you look around to see the other members of the Intelligence Unit staring at you. Adam, Kim, and Kevin are mirroring Hailey's initial look of surprise. Jay's boss, Hank Voight, looks impassive as always. But you catch an amused twitch at one corner of his lips.

"Man, at least give me time to feel my hand again! That bitch could break my arm, you know!" you hear the perp complaining when Jay prepares to cuff him.

Without saying anything in response, Jay folds the perp's wrist inside. The perp yells even louder because of the wristlock.

Kevin moves to take the man away from Jay before any further damage could happen. He ushers the perp right away to a nearby cop car.

Jay turns to check on his girlfriend, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good." You nod back at him.

"I didn't know you could do that, Y/N," Hailey tells you. "You never tell me that your girlfriend practiced any martial arts," She continues to slap Jay's shoulder.

You answer with a sheepish smile, "It's kinda new,"

"Blue Belt in Jiu-Jitsu is not "kinda new" babe," Jay elbows you playfully.

The team boss pats your shoulder once before walking back to his car, "Good job, Y/LN,"

Kim, who's partnered up with Voight today, quickly follows. But not before inviting you for drinks, "You have to tell me all about this over drinks!"

"See? Even Voight agrees. We'll make a cop-out of you soon, Y/N," Adam offers his fistbump to you.

You meet his with your fistbump but shake your head, laughing, "Not in a million years, Ruzek,"

He only replies with his laugh and walks towards Kevin and the perp.

Jay puts his arm around your shoulders with a huge smile, "C'mon, Kev and Ruz can take care of the perp for a while. Hailey and I will drop you home."

[hillnerd]

For the ship and word game: Harry/Ginny, snitch ♥️

Thanks for the prompt! Hinny as parents - James is twelve. :)

SNITCH

It was December and so it was a cold grey day. There was no other kind of day in Scotland in December.

Despite the rather miserable weather, Ginny was jubilant as she trudged through the snow towards the familiar Quidditch pitch, red sweater on under her thick winter coat.

James had sent a letter late in the night. It was barely legible, and mentioned something about Quidditch. The follow-up letter from Teddy helped clarify things. James was in the reserves for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and was getting to fly his first game thanks to a chaser getting a bad case of Fwooper Flu.

No one had ever come to her games at Hogwarts as her mother had never been comfortable Apparating and couldn’t spare the Floo powder, while their father was always busy at work. It wasn’t something she particularly resented, but looking back she would have liked them to see her and cheer her on for her games.

Harry was off on a mission, but Ginny could spare the time, and was happy to get a chance to see James playing his first ever game. It was strange being back at Hogwarts after so many years. She’d been back a few times for memorials back in the early 2000’s, but it had been over a decade since then, and much had changed. In some ways it was the same- the Quidditch pitch didn’t look all that different, but the pathways to it had changed, the seating, and she was having trouble finding the locker room.

“Ginny!” she heard a voice call, and saw Neville waving in the crowd. She enthusiastically waved and jogged over.

“Hey Nev!” She smiled and gave a hug.

“Here to see James?”

“Yes! Though, I’ve not clue where the locker rooms are! Where’d they move them to?”

“Ah! Those are on the South side now. The old ones had a lot of old spell damage and got torn out, oh, five year ago now?” he explained, leading the way to the locker room.

She could hear the sounds of teens excitedly gearing up for the game.

The team were mostly students Teddy and Victoire’s ages, if she had to guess by the look of them. James, by comparison, looked tiny and pale. He was bouncing both his legs as he sat at his bench, hands running through his hair. He was already with uniform and pads on, while the rest of the team were more languorous in getting their pads in place.

She’d been exactly the same her first match as a Harpie.

“Knock knock,” she said, fully entering the room. The teens quieted down seeing there was an adult in the room, while James shot to his feet.

“Mum!” James cried out with a smile, before carefully schooling it to a much cooler nonchalant look. “Erm, what are you doing here?”

“Came to see your first big game, of course,” she laughed.

“Oh wait- that’s Ginny Potter!” cried out an eastern asian girl. One of the tall teenage whipped around, a furious blush on his face, before shutting his locker that had an old poster of hers. She remembered the row she’d had with her mum over the poster and how she wasn’t ‘fully in her uniform’ for the shot. Another kid, Oliver Wood’s daughter she’d met a few times over the years, gave a quick wave.

“Yup,” she said with a winning smile. “Best of luck, to all of you. Go Gryffindor!”

She caught James’s eye and was surprised to find him looking rather cross. She gave a quick gesture with her head to the door and he joined her just outside.

“Excited for your match?”

“Well I was…”

Oh dear. She could feel the tween angst rolling off of him.

“Everything alright?”

“Why’d you have to come into the locker room? No one else’s parents did that.”

“You sure about that? Because I know for a fact Oliver Wood was there for the first few years of your Keeper’s games.”

James bit his lip, adjusting his rectangular glasses.

“You sure?”

“Oh yes. And he wore full regalia and painted his face, so you’re old mum isn’t too much of an embarrassment by comparison.” She had no idea if Oliver Wood had done this, but it was the first embarrassing thing she could imagine to make her look a bit less bad by comparison.

“It’s not that you’re embarrassing…” he said, digging the toe of his shoe into the ground.

“Oh?”

“I just… I want them to be thinking about how I’m good on my own. Not because of you.”

Oh. She’d not considered that as being a thing, but completely understood the sentiment.

“Hey, I can leave if—”

“No… No, I want you here. I’m glad you came,” he said, before furtively looking around him then leaning in to hug her.

“You’re going to crush it, James,” she whispered in his ear. “Remember to really tuck in your heels and arms when you’re doing any hard sprints. And look farther down the field so you can get a big picture of the whole game and really slow things down. Oh, and ‘give to get’ on your tight turns so that—”

“I know, I know!” James said, putting a hand through his messy auburn hair. It wasn’t as messy as Harry’s, but she had a feeling he’d been running hands through it more than usual.

“Best of luck, darling,” she said with a kiss to his forehead.

He gave her one of his most confident smiles, flashing his straight teeth, and for a moment she could just picture what he’d be like when he was quite grown up, a thought that terrified her.

“See you after the game,” she said, giving his hair a ruffle as she went to find her seat.

She looked for Neville amongst the stands, but spotted a familiar head of dark hair beside him.

“Harry?” she called out. He turned and grinned at her, wearing a Gryffindor scarf and facepaint on his cheeks.

“Go Gryffindor,” he said with a grin.

She smiled back, loving that he’d somehow made it to the game. She also loved how mortified James would be later. She was the cool parent; today at least.

“Nice to see you in your old colors,” she said, taking a seat beside her husband. “Thought you had a mission today?”

“The great thing about being Head Auror is you can push those off on other people,” he said, taking hold of her hand. “Plus it’s his first game. I couldn’t miss it. It’s nice to have someone in the stands rooting for you when you’re taking on something daunting.”

She gave his hand a squeeze.

“Yell super loud when James flies out. He’ll love it!”

James might act embarrassed, but she was sure he actually would love having his father there cheering him on.

When James flew out Harry gave a giant whoop, which made James show off with some loop-de-loops instead of going red faced like Albus would have.

The match was a good one, and James was keeping up very well with players years older than he. She glowed as he followed her advice to ‘give to get’- slowing down on turns so he could gain more smooth speed on the long runs.

He was a natural chaser and she couldn’t be more proud.

James was in a perfect tail slide transition with his Quaffle when a bludger was his his direction. Too intent on looking down the field, and with all the cheers, he missed her and Harry’s scream as their son took a Bludger to the back of his head and went tumbling from his broom.

There were a number of spells on the field to prevent a student from making impact with the ground (something they could have used back in her and Harry’s day). It did nothing to prevent the terror scraping at her insides seeing her little boy put on a stretcher with blood running down his temple, glasses smashed and laid on his chest. Harry’s jaw was set and he made an incongruous sight looking so grim while adorned in the bright face paint.

James was rushed to the hospital wing, and she and Harry stayed by his side the whole way there. All his cousins and Teddy came to visit, but they dispersed once they knew James would be alright, with the exception of Teddy who opted to stay.

James was healed and bandaged up by Hannah Longbottom. Despite knowing James was fully healed, they opted to stay until he woke up. Teddy nodded off in a nearby chair, his hair subconsciously turning the same color as James’s as he slept.

Ginny stood looking at James’s sleeping face until her vision blurred. She could picture him when he was just a tiny baby, his look of mischief on his face as he padded along the halls on pudgy legs, toddling after Teddy and Harry, wanting to be so grown up.

Harry took her hand and squeezed it.

“He’s alright, love.”

“I know,” she replied, swiping at her eyes. “I can’t stop thinking of him as a baby, for some reason.”

Harry gave a dry laugh. “I’ve been thinking the same thing. Is it just me, or is being a parent a bit like having a time turner? In the blink of an eye you can see your twelve year old as a baby or when he first walked.”

“Especially when they’re asleep,” she said, stroking James’s lightly freckled cheek. “I’m glad you came today.”

“Me too. He flies just like you, you know,” said Harry before standing beside her.

“I was thinking some of those loop-de-loops looked like you at that age.”

“Naw, all his brilliance is from his Mum,” he said, leaning in to gently kiss her.

“Eurgh…” James gave a grunt, squinting at them. “What happened?”

“You got a bludger to the back of your head. Same injury your dad had in his sixth year.”

“Wicked…” said James, before his eye went wide. “Who won the game?”

“Gryffindor, even though they didn’t catch the Snitch. You Chasers were that good!” said Harry, sitting beside James.

Ginny could picture James’s first broom ride, with Harry excitedly following beside him so he wouldn’t slip off the tiny broom.

[amythedvdhoarder]

Storm in a Teacup

Pairing: Bucky x Divorced Reader

Word Count: ~2K

Warnings: Fluff, a monster of an ex-mother-in-law

Summary: You’re on your first date after your divorce. Who should you run into? Your ex-mother-in-law.

A/N: This comes from a request sent in by a lovely nonnie, who wanted a fic based around a divorced reader who runs into her ex-mother-in-law whilst on a date with Bucky. Before that point, Bucky didn’t know about her divorce. Embarrassment ensues and Bucky has to make up his mind about what to do next. I hope I have done your idea justice. Sorry it took me so long.

Thank you to the wonderful @drabblewithfrannybarnes​ for beta reading for me. Ily hun 😘

It had taken a long time for you to get to this position, to feel comfortable enough to be dating again. But you had been separated from your now ex-husband for two and a half years, your divorce finalised 6 months ago. It was time to try and have some semblance of a life. You felt guilty about not revealing your divorce to Bucky, but when you moved to New York you really wanted a fresh start, so you didn’t tell anyone about your past. Of course, if there came a time when Bucky needed to know then you would tell him, but this was just a coffee.

Bucky and you had begun talking a few months ago. It started when he was dropping off mission reports with small smiles, progressing to hello’s and then to you making him coffee whenever he stopped by during your lunch break, which he always seemed to arrive in time for. He had realised quickly that you weren’t a New York native, so traded your museum recommendations for tv, film and music recommendations. Each time you met you discussed your latest weekend museum trip and he told you his thoughts on the latest thing he had watched or listened to.

It was clear that you two had a connection. Your co-workers had even commented on how well you and the notoriously silent super-soldier seemed to get along. They were surprised that you hadn’t been on a date already. But you had reservations; perhaps it was too soon. Plus, there was no way Bucky would be interested in you. He was just polite and maybe enjoyed having someone who wasn’t a superhero to talk to. It was a shock when he asked you out for coffee the next time you saw him. You were even more shocked that you had agreed without any hesitation.  

You were nervous. In fact, nervous was an understatement. Sick to your stomach was a more accurate description. It wasn’t the fact that it was a date with Bucky Barnes, it was the fact it was a date. Your first, first date in nearly 10 years.  

Bucky was leaning against a lamppost, outside your apartment waiting for you. When you saw him you felt yourself instantly relax. He gave you his signature lopsided grin that you had come to crave and ambled over to you.

“You look great,” he said as he stood back and admired you.

“Thanks, you don’t look too bad yourself for an old man,” you teased. That was the understatement of the century. He looked like a model in his dark wash jeans, dark blue henley layered over a black t-shirt and a leather jacket in his hand.

He shook his head and chuckled to himself. “Theoretically we’re about the same age you know.”

You raised an eyebrow at him. “Hmmm well I don’t know about that, but we better get going otherwise we’ll be out past your bedtime.”

“What happened to respecting your elders?” Bucky winked.

“Maybe elders that don’t act like teenage boys, but you and Sam are like high-school kids.”

Bucky looked confused for a second and then remembered that you had caught him and Sam hiding Steve’s shield under your desk the other week.

Bucky threw his hands up in surrender. “Alright, you win.”

The coffee shop was only a couple of streets away, on a corner opposite one of your favourite parks. Bucky and you ordered together and found a table near the window.

Both of you were chatting away about an art gallery you had visited the day before when you were suddenly interrupted.

“You,” that was a voice you would recognise anywhere, a voice which still haunted you. One of constant criticism, one that drove a wedge between you and the person you thought you would spend the rest of your life with.

“Hello Eliza,” you said through a forced smile.

Bucky stood and politely offered his hand to Eliza, but she ignored it leaving Bucky to sit down awkwardly.

“What brings you to New York?” you asked curtly.

“Well Leon and I are visiting my sister,” you balked, glancing quickly around the room, checking for any sign of him.

“He’s not here so you can stop looking. My son had a lucky escape by all accounts,” she sent a sneering look towards Bucky and then back to you. “Barely divorced and already moving on. I always suspected you were a whore; this just confirms it.”

Tears sprang to your eyes; she was publicly humiliating you. Calling you out for being a whore, when you had done nothing but be faithful to her son throughout your marriage and in fact whilst going through the long and bitter divorce. It was her son who couldn’t keep it in his pants. Anger took over and just as you were about to respond Bucky stood up and moved in front of you.

“Sorry I don’t know who you are, but you have no right to speak to anyone like that,” his voice low and urgent, his metal hand clenching and unclenching quickly by his side.

Eliza smirked, eyes flicking up and down at the man standing in front of her. “Ah I recognise you off the news, you two make the perfect match. Both damaged goods that no normal person could want.”

You stood up and went to stand by Bucky’s side, gently taking his arm in your hands. “That’s enough Eliza, we aren’t family anymore, you have made it evidently clear you want nothing to do with me. The feeling is very much mutual. We have nothing more to say to each other so goodbye.”

She let out a little exclamation of shock, but she quickly recovered her sharp exterior. Without saying another word, she just turned on her heels and left the coffee shop.

Bucky gently led you back to your seat, ignoring the people staring at both of you. You looked like you were in shock.

“Hey…” his thumb caught the tears that had begun to roll down your cheeks, “she’s not worth your tears.”

This seemed to finally snap you out of your daze. You look at Bucky and everything just seemed so overwhelming. He was being too kind. Eliza had been right, you were damaged, Bucky deserved more than you, someone who could at least be honest about themselves.

‘I’m sorry Bucky…” you grabbed your bag and tore yourself away from him, running out the café and onto the busy street.

He didn’t follow you immediately like he wanted to, he knew you needed some space. Bucky didn’t know you well but wanted to, he was going to be there for you if you let him. Besides he had an inkling about where you were.

You were exactly where he thought you would be, sat on a bench in the park, covered by a weeping willow.

“Mind if I sit,” you jumped at the intrusion. Bucky stood in front of you, holding two take-out cups from the coffee shop and what looked like a very chocolatey cookie.

All of you could do was nod, the shame of Eliza’s words and your own dishonesty still coursing through you.

“Here,” Bucky offered you the cup and you numbly accepted. “Do you want to split this?” he held up the bag and you rolled your eyes at him. “I mean, I’m quite happy to eat it all,” he sent you a lopsided grin.

You couldn’t help the little snort that escaped you. “We’ll split it, would hate for you to have to spend an extra hour in the gym burning off a whole cookie.”

“You’re too kind,” he teased, opening the bag and poking out the cookie for you to snap off half of it.

Both of you sat and ate without uttering a word to one another. You couldn’t believe he was being so nice to you; you certainly didn’t deserve it.

“I can see why you like it here so much,” Bucky commented, breaking the silence.

“Bucky, how did you know I’d be here?” You turned to face him and took a sip of your coffee.

“I’ve seen you here before. But before you think I’ve been stalking you let me explain. I grew up around here, a couple of blocks away actually. I like to come here for a walk sometimes to remember the happier more carefree times. I spotted you one day but you looked so content in your own little world, I didn’t want to interrupt.” His cheeks flushed slightly with his admission.

He cleared his throat and looked at the coffee cup in his hands before continuing. “Then I started coming here more regularly, hoping I would see you, but I never plucked up the courage to come and talk to you.”

“I’m sorry Bucky” you said quietly.

“That’s the second time you’ve apologised to me today and I still don’t know what you’ve got to be sorry about. It’s not your fault that woman was way out of line. You don’t owe me an apology for anything,” His brows knitted together with concern and it made you feel even more guilty.

“I should’ve told you about the divorce,” smiling ruefully, placing your empty coffee cup between you on the bench.

“I already knew,” he shrugged.

“What? How? I hadn’t told anyone at work,” you spluttered in shock.

“That’s how,” he nodded to where your thumb and forefinger were twisting around where your wedding ring used to be.

You let go immediately and shook your head. “Why did you ask me out for coffee if you knew about my divorce?”

It was perplexing to you that anyone would want to come anywhere near you after your divorce. You had just assumed you would be alone forever. No one had two people out there meant for them. Well, maybe Leon hadn’t been your one.

“We can’t help our past,” Bucky flexed his metal hand, “I know that better than most. All we can do is make the most of our future. I like you, have since I met you. In fact, Sam got so fed up of me talking about you, that he threatened to ask you out himself if I didn’t hurry up and get on with it. Not that I didn’t want to, it’s just thought you could do so much better that an ex-brainwashed assassin.”

“You’re a good man Bucky, anyone would be lucky to have you” you whispered.  

Bucky leant over and wiped away the tears you hadn’t realised had begun to roll down your cheeks. “I don’t just want anyone though,” His deep blue eyes peered into yours trying to get across his meaning.

“I like you too Bucky, but we’ve got to take this slow.” His face lit up at your words and he took your hand and pressed it to his lips.

“I’m over 100 years old, slow suits me. But seeing as our first date was hijacked would you like to get some dinner with me? I know a diner around the corner has the best burger in the city.”

“Sounds perfect, but only if you let me get it this time. I owe you for the coffee and the cookie.” You offered.

“I think I just about agree to terms of that deal,” Bucky laughed, scooped up the rubbish and got to his feet. “Shall we?” he asked, offering you his free hand.

You put your hand in his and got to your feet. “Let’s go.”

Gif not mine, credit to the creator

Divider made by the talented @firefly-graphics​

Taglists are open. Let me know if you want in or out

Everything:

@stargazingfangirl18 ,  @silentcoyotesong, @queenofstarliqht, @buckys-henley, @lonelyheartsm @alexa-lightwood-blog, @angrythingstarlight, @drabblewithfrannybarnes, @rogueheretic555, @rebekahdawkins, @chrissquares, @pumpkin-and-pine, @hereforbuckyandsteve, @drakelover78, @baddie-barnes, @cas25214, @pandaxnienke, @thehumanistsdiary, @saiyanprincessswanie, @ladyacrasia, @sweeterthanthis, @joannie95, @lennon-knox, @navybrat817

Bucky:

@its-izzys, @archy3001

[katatty]

Recap: Pleasantview Round 5 (Summer)

The romance of Spring certainly went to a few heads in Pleasantview - the suburb is in the midst of quite the baby boom. But now Summer is here, and school is out! Parents are scrambling to sort out childcare, teenagers are reveling in their freedom, and with the sun shining, the mood in the neighbourhood is pretty great.

But are the families as happy as they seem? Or are some on the brink of collapse? What secrets lurk in their hearts?

The round began with newcomers Tiffany Sampson and Kevin Beare getting settled in. They adopted a puppy, got new jobs, and got to know the neighbours.

Then as Tiffany finished her first day of work in the Education career, she learned she was already pregnant!

They had a quick, slightly rushed wedding before the baby arrived.

Baby Harvey was born, but it already looks like she might be expecting again.

The round ended on a happy note, with the couple already nicely established as a family in town with a few friends!

The Dreamer family started out just as well, but things quickly started to deteriorate.

Due to a combination of bad mental health, recurring nightmares and possible haunting, Brandi Broke isn’t in a good place. Her relationship with Darren suffers for it, too.

Meanwhile Cassandra’s marriage with Don is falling apart, and Darren can’t help being sympathetic. Perhaps a little too much so.

Mia Broke, obsessed with the paranormal, gets herself abducted by aliens, much to her mom’s dismay.

She’s also eager to discuss her theories about the spooky sounds in their yard, but Brandi shuts it down.

Mia goes on a date with Benedick Monty, but it’s kind of a mixed bag.

Back home, Mia and Darren eventually talk about the possible hauntings at home. He admits to her seeing Darleen’s ghost, from time to time.

Brandi also opens up to Mia about her father, Skip.

And Mia is vindicated to finally some ghosts herself!

I played the Lotharios next since I was interested in what was going on with Cassandra.

Cassandra and Don’s relationship has had its ups and downs - neither of them has been 100% faithful, but they’re dealing with it. Maybe? Between raising the twins and focusing on their careers there hasn’t been a ton of time for marriage counselling.

Don’s been feeling a bit isolated, recently. Outside of his family and his coworkers, he doesn’t really have a lot of friends. That’s been deliberate, to an extent. The fewer people around him, the fewer temptations to stray outside of the marriage.

For the most part, it’s been working. But a chance meeting with Nina Caliente has him feeling… confused.

The kids are doing fine, the parents not so much.

She’s always in low aspiration, lately, ever since her Dad passed away. It’s been hard getting on her feet since then, and Don going on about needing “me time” doesn’t help. She needs his support right now more than ever! Why doesn’t he get that?

They don’t talk about it, but both of them are feeling very alone, and starting to lose faith in each other...

Meanwhile, the boys age up. Bernado’s a popularity sim and Cassimiro’s knowledge.

Eventually, things in the marriage finally explode and Cassandra tells Don about Darren, trying to get a rise out of him.

Don immediately retaliates by woohooing with Sharon Wirth on a grocery-run.

After a cool-off day, they agree to break things off, and Don moves out.

He moves in, temporarily, with Bella. Who is insistant that he and Cassie try and patch things up!

He’s more interested in exploring new options, though.

Bella is devestated to lose her job as a party guest.

Meanwhile Oliver Goth (Dina and Mortimer’s son) gets his first kiss with Ariel Capp! Later he goes on a date with Tommy Ottomas, too.

At one of Bella’s parties, Cassandra and Don keep things civil, but Cassandra evidently isn’t doing well.

Bella goes on a date with Gilbert Jacquet. It’s not really all that serious between them, and Bella still misses Mortimer dreadfully, but Gilbert is charming and handsome enough to take her mind of her worries.

Things with Bella and Don also seem to be getting a little heavy, and Don concludes he needs to move out before things cross a line. Bella reluctantly agrees, it’s obvious her plan to get him and Cassie back together hasn’t worked

Don moves to Strangetown!

Next up are the Ramaswami family, a nice breath of fresh air after all the drama.

Priya befriends some of the other mothers in town, becoming especially close to Kaylynn.

And baby Ravi gows into maybe the coolest toddler ever?

Sanjay survives a near death experience.

And Priya finds out she’s expecting again!

Divorced once and with the girls having just graduated college, Daniel Pleasant didn’t expect to be engaged again with a kid on the way as he approached retirement age, doing it all over again. He’s far from unhappy about it, though. Mary Sue always had an independent streak, but Kaylynn adores him. Maybe it’s a bit selfish, but it feels so good to be needed.

Kaylynn knows some people in the neighbourhood look down on her, think her naive, call her a homewrecker… that’s fine. If they worked as a cleaner for years and years maybe they’d consider packing it in and settling into an easy life, too. What’s wrong with wanting to be taken care of?

Notably (and much to my horror) during the Pleasant round, Brandi and John start up their affair again.

Kaylynn finally gives birth, to a baby boy they call Jeffery Pleasant, after Daniel’s father. Daniel’s really pleased!

Jennifer’s eager to meet her new nephew. She and Kaylynn get off to a rocky start, but eventually start to bond.

She’s closest friends with Brandi Broke, though. The two have become inseperable, with Brandi visiting all the time.

Daniel invites both of the girls over to meet their little brother, but Angela is the only twin who shows. Whether that’s because they have a better relationship, or because Lilith was just busy is anyone’s guess.

Then it turns out Kaylynn’s pregnant again already?

Kaylynn and Daniel tie the knot!

Nina and Don also reconcile at the wedding.

Kaylynn gives birth to another baby boy, Luke!

And Jeff ages upp!

Daniel ages up, too. It’s finally time for him to retire, soon...

Daniel’s definitely a bit of a dirty old man, but Kaylynn doesn’t seem entirely oblivious to that side of him, and figures as long as she keeps his needs met they should be fine. We’ll see if that holds up.

Then it was time to catch up with the Shoreharts, who moved here form Widespot for a fresh start.

A retired chef, Sandy’s enjoying her retirement a lot more than she ever enjoyed being a stay at home mom. Granted, all this free time has her a little restless, but it’s nothing a bit of time outdoors and excercise can’t fix. She hopes.

They were honestly pretty chill! Rhett’s taken to the whole marriage thing suprisingly well, for a romance sim. Turns out, as long as he’s getting lovin’ on a regular basis he doesn’t really care if it’s with one woman or several. It’s never boring with Sandy, and he intends to keep her as happy as he can for the rest of her days. That’ll show her shit-heel of an ex-husband.

Mostly they just spend a lot of time with family.

Sandy’s very generious with the backrubs, but nothing goes too far.

Mimi is definitely at least a little anxious about her parents’ marriage though, because she spends some of the round reading up on Couple’s Councelling.

Then it’s time for her to age up! She grows into a rather cute romance sim.

Then at the party the house of cards starts to crumble, as Sandy gives her ex-husband Hamilton a kiss, right in front of Mimi and Rocky.

Mimi agrees not to tell her Dad, but isn’t happy. She spends a lot of time out of the house.

With Sandy keeping her indescretion quiet, I’m not sure what they have in store in the future!

Regardless, next are the Ramirez family.

Tessa’s spent a lot of time looking afte rthe baby and she’s sick of it! So she spends some time Downtown with friends.

She later takes Bernardo on a date, although he’s not sure if he likes her as more than a friend. Bernardo likes the idea of falling in love with Tessa, who he’s always admired! But he’s a little hesitant at the same time, especially with his parents’ divorce still being so recent.

Checo has a bit of a wandering eye, but mostly he keeps himself in check.

Checo might be a bit of a flirt, but at least he’s not a hypocrite. When Lisa was dancing with Skye he didn’t even bat an eye. Or maybe he just doesn’t see an old man as much of a threat…

Ugh, God, I forgot this happened

Baby Sofia grew up super cute!

Anyway, that’s all from them!

The Oldies weren’t too eventful, mostly just focused on hobbies!

They did finally meet Mary’Sue’s new partner, which went... poorly.

But they did have a nice meeting with their grandaughter later, and a fun night out!

Then it was the Burbs! John’s recent indescretions with Brandi aside, things seemed to be going well.

At least, until he made out with Coral Oldie :/

Oblivious to thins, Jennifer was starting to trust John again.

They had dinner with Jen’s brother Dan and his new wife...

And Jennifer discovered she was pregnant again!

Lucy headed away for college...

And baby James grew up, leaving the Burb round complete and Pleasantview all done & dusted!

[petersasteria]

The Life of A Mobster's Wife || Arvin Russell

Russell || Main || Taglist

Mob!Arvin x Reader (Modern AU) Requested? Nah 9,818 words (pls send feedback bc this is the longest mob fic i've done and i want to know if it's alright or if i should just leave the mob au alone sksk) W: asshole!arvin, doesn't follow canon, curse words, killing, cheating, so many fucked up shit

* * * *

Being married to a mobster wasn’t easy. Everything has to be kept under wraps whilst having a lavish lifestyle. But when you’re young, you’re naive and you think that everything will work out and you’ll live happily ever after like some Disney fairytale. Everyone seems to forget that Disney princess stories were adapted from the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen. You didn’t know that your life would take such a dark turn the moment you met Arvin. The second he smiled at you, you were a goner. You were hooked on him; addicted. Everything should’ve been a red flag and the people around you told you that something about him seemed off. That should have alarmed you, but you took what they said personally. One by one, they all left you and only Arvin was left by your side. That should have been a sign too.

You told yourself that you’d be happy and you were. You were together for six months and then you got married. Now, six years later, you have a son who just turned six and a husband who doesn’t even sleep in the same bed as you anymore. You didn’t know what went wrong, but everything suddenly changed.

Arvin made sure you and your son were away from him, so he bought a big apartment in the Upper East Side for both of you. Arvin would stay there sometimes, but most of the time, he was working; killing, kidnapping people for ransom, selling weapons, selling drugs, etc. He wanted you away from those especially, Hayden; your son.

You wanted for things to change because Hayden hardly ever sees Arvin and they don’t have a connection. You also wanted another baby and you felt like Arvin was too busy for that. Wanting to focus on your husband, you decided it was best to hire a nanny to attend to your son’s needs. However, it was difficult to look for a nanny when you’re keeping everything a secret. You were lucky enough to hire a personal doctor.

Amelia Avery Hudson is a trauma surgeon, but you hired her as your personal doctor to treat your husband and his men if they have wounds. The other doctors you asked turned down your offer. When you asked Amelia, she immediately agreed. Amelia didn’t really have a choice. She applied because she needed to pay her student loans back. Plus, she needed to keep a roof over her head and rent was expensive in New York. She’s a fresh graduate and she had trouble finding a job that fitted her career path. Your offer was perfect and she saw it just in time. She hoped that no one took the job yet and luck was on her side because she’s been your personal doctor ever since.

Amelia’s only there during the evening from 7PM until 12 midnight. Having signed an NDA, she had no one to tell about the things she’s seen. She knew that if she even tried, Arvin would somehow find out and kill her with no mercy. She didn’t want to risk it.

Amelia’s feisty, but she was nice. The poor girl had a terrible life. She kept moving from one foster home to another when she was younger. Because of that, she grew up strong. She’s a remarkable woman and you were glad that you met her. You weren’t close, but you had a good relationship with her. Sometimes, she’d entertain Hayden which meant a lot to you.

You put up a poster for the nanny position and a few applicants were interested. You looked through their resumes and interviewed them one by one. Out of everyone, only one person stood out. Her name was Celeste.

“Tell me more about yourself, Celeste.” You smiled at her. You didn’t feel comfortable interviewing people in your apartment, so you always made sure the interviewees met you in your favorite restaurant in the upper east side.

“I-I’m Celeste Regina Dela Cruz. Eighteen years old. Um-”

“I know those things.” You laughed. “It’s on your resume. Just loosen up and tell me about yourself. Would it make you more comfortable if I went first?”

Celeste nodded, clearly intimidated. You smiled and said, “I’m Y/N Russell and I never finished college because I got married. I dropped out and left everything behind to be with my husband. I was also pregnant when we got married, so we never really had a decent alone time. I volunteer a lot for my son’s school and I make sure that my son has everything. Right now, he’s on a waiting list for multiple colleges.”

“Wait, how old is he?”

“He’s 6 years old.” You said before taking a sip of water. “It’s nice to be prepared, though. At least we know that he has a slot when the time comes.”

Celeste nodded and you motioned for her to start talking about herself. She widened her eyes and opened her mouth to talk, but the waiter arrived with your food. You both thanked the waiter and began eating.

“Please continue, Celeste.” You said as you took a bite of your food.

“I’m Celeste and I’m from the Philippines.” She said. “No wonder your accent is thick.” You pointed out and nodded for her to continue.

“I was able to come here because my tita- ay sorry- aunt; my aunt brought me here a year ago. I graduated high school, but I can’t go to college yet because my aunt is sick and she’s the one who pays for my schooling. College is very expensive and we can’t afford it anymore because of my aunt’s medicines.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” You frowned. You felt bad, truly. Here you were, a college dropout but you’re living a luxurious lifestyle. Of course, that’s all thanks to Arvin. You were just lucky that you married a rich man. But as you sat in front of Celeste, you felt the need to do something nice for her. After all, in your mind, she was hired already.

“Oh, it’s okay.” Celeste smiled. “We’re getting by. My friend told me to apply to you and that’s why I’m here.”

“I understand.” You said as you folded your hands on the table. “When can you start?”

“Ha? What?” Celeste furrowed her eyebrows.

“You’re hired, Celeste.” You chuckled. “When can you start?”

“Um… as soon as possible!” Celeste exclaimed and you nodded.

“Pack your things and I’ll send for Pemberley to pick you up at your home address. I’d just like to confirm that your address on your resume is still your home, yes?” You asked and she nodded quickly.

“Okay. I’ll give it to Pemberley. He’ll pick you up at 9:30AM sharp.” You grinned. You both shook hands and continued eating.

The next day, you welcomed Celeste in your apartment and gave her a tour. She looked amazed at everything and it was entertaining to see. You told her that she wasn’t allowed in the master bedroom unless told and she wasn’t allowed in Arvin’s office.

You looked at your watch and gasped, “Oh, my! I’m late for a meeting. Make yourself at home and don’t forget to pick up Hayden from pre-school at 2:15. I have a note for you in your room. Please read it.” You quickly grabbed your bag and coat and left.

Celeste stood there and made her way to her room. After roaming around for 2 minutes, she finally saw her room and read the note.

Hello, Celeste! These are the rules:

Hayden can’t eat seafood. He is allergic.

No sugar-y or chocolate-y drinks before bed. Only one glass of milk with no sugar.

Sandwiches are not allowed to be eaten in his room because of crumbs.

If Hayden has no classes, you may take him to the park or the museum. As long as there are only a few people.

Stay away from crowded places. I beg.

Give Hayden a bath before bed.

Call me only when severe emergencies happen.

Your laundry schedule is the same as Hayden’s; TTh.

Always bring a small first aid kit in your bag and make sure you have a full container of hand sanitizer AT ALL TIMES.

Keep an eye on Hayden. He is your main priority.

P.S. Have fun! Eat whatever you want and if you need anything, please give Jose your own list before he goes grocery shopping.

Celeste taped the note on the wall next to her bed and started unpacking her things. She looked at her watch and realized that it was time to pick up Hayden from school. She quickly grabbed her small bag and ran to the front door.

Hayden’s school was just around the corner, so it was easy for Celeste to pick him up. There were many nannies waiting for kids to be picked up and Celeste was a bit overwhelmed that her job was actually starting. She never had training or anything.

A few more minutes of waiting, the door opened and out came a plethora of running and screaming children. During the apartment tour you gave her from hours before, she remembered you showing her a family picture that was recently taken. With that in mind, Celeste was able to remember what Hayden looked like.

Celeste looked around and saw a young boy by the steps, looking around. “Hayden!” Celeste shouted, causing the boy to look at her. Celeste walked over and said, “Hayden Russell?”

The boy nodded. She smiled, “I’m your new nanny. My name is Celeste.”

Using his manners, Hayden shook Celeste’s hand. Celeste grinned and took Hayden’s bag from him. She held his hand and they walked home. The walk home was short and quiet, but it was comfortable. When they walked into the fancy apartment building and into the elevator, Hayden spoke up.

“Can I call you ‘Celie’, instead? Like a super agent secret name? It’ll be cool.” Hayden said, causing Celeste to smile at him.

“Sure!” Celeste said.

When they arrived in the apartment unit, you were already home. Hayden ran up to you and you bent down to pick him up and hug him.

“How was school?” You asked as you kissed his forehead.

“It was fun! We learned so many things and we had arts and crafts and we-”

“That’s great, sweetie!” You smiled before putting him down. “You can play sudoku in the living room.”

Hayden made a face, “But I hate sudoku.”

“Yes, but it’ll help you stimulate your brain. Think of it as a mental exercise.” You grinned before softly nudging him to the living room where his sudoku book was waiting for him on the coffee table. Hayden begrudgingly walked to the living room and you turned to Celeste, “We need to talk.”

You turned around and walked to your husband’s office. He wasn’t there anyway and you had the freedom to speak business there. “Follow me.” You said without looking behind you. Celeste was scared shitless. She did the sign of the cross and prayed on her way to Arvin’s office.

“Aba Ginoong Maria, napupuno ka ng grasya, Ang Panginoong Diyos ay sumasaiyo. Bukod kang pinagpala sa babaeng lahat at pinagpala rin naman ang anak mong si Hesus. Santa Maria, Ina ng Diyos, ipanalangin mo kaming makasalanan ngayon at kung kami’y mamamatay. Amen. (Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you amongst women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.)” Celeste muttered under her breath. You opened the door to Arvin’s office and was immediately met with the darkness due to the closed curtains and lights that were not switched on. The only light present was the sun’s light peeping through the spaces between the curtains. You walked in and Celeste followed suit and closed the door behind her.

You sat on Arvin’s chair and read the papers that you previously laid there on the table. “Please, sit.” You motioned for her to sit in front of you and she did.

“I told you that I had a meeting earlier. I met with important people and we went through your records.” You told Celeste. Celeste knew that she didn’t do anything wrong and that she had a clean record, but that didn’t stop her from worrying.

Was she in trouble for declining her father’s call from the Philippines? Or perhaps she was in trouble for cursing her cousin. She wasn’t sure.

“And I’d like to applaud you for having remarkable and outstanding grades. Straight A’s?! I didn’t know you were smart. You didn’t put in your resume that you were a valedictorian.” You smiled sweetly. You were impressed.

“I didn’t put it because I don’t want to be hired because I’m a valedictorian. I want to be hired because you want me for the job.” Celeste said and you nodded in understanding.

“That’s very humble of you.” You smiled. “Anyway, I submitted your records to multiple colleges and they immediately got back to me.”

You opened the drawer and took out at least ten envelopes from well known universities. You handed the envelopes to her and motioned for her to read each one.

Yale University

Stanford University

Harvard University

New York University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cornell University

Brown University

University of California, Los Angeles

University of Pennsylvania

Columbia University

“I want you to look through those and read each one. You also have the freedom to check each university’s website to see what they look and what they offer and if what they’re offering is what you want, tell me.” You told her.

“That’s very nice of you, ma’am.” Celeste said, clearly overwhelmed with what you just told her. “I can’t afford it. It’s too- mahal. Ang mahal po kasi.(expensive. It’s too expensive.)”

You stared at her as she spoke to you in a foreign language. Not just any foreign language, her native language. She quickly realized what she said and said, “The tuition fee is too expensive.”

“You know, for a valedictorian, you’re kind of slow.” You joked. “Sweetie, you don’t have to worry about it because we’ll pay for your tuition fee.”

She gasped and squealed, “Thank you!”. She jumped out of her chair, did a small dance, and went up to hug you which took you by surprise. You smiled brightly and patted her arm as a sign of affection. It felt nice to do something good for once even though your husband does a lot of bad things. Sometimes you think that all the good things you’ve done are payback for all the bad things Arvin has done.

Celeste quickly let go of you and went back to her seat. She cleared her throat and apologized and you waved your hand and said that it was nothing. You debated with yourself on whether you should tell Celeste about your husband’s mob or not. You decided against it and told yourself that you’ll tell her when she asks.

“I’ll enroll you in any university you pick and I’ll make an arrangement that your tasks during the day until you pick up Hayden, are done face to face. Meaning, you’ll physically attend classes at the university of choice. Of course, that only applies here in New York.” You explained.

“Should you choose a university that isn't in New York, you'll be enrolled in online classes." You told her and she nodded.

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you so much!" Celeste said sincerely which made you smile.

"You're welcome. Study well and you can join Hayden in the living room now. I'm sure he's done with his sudoku. He should be reading his French book now." You said as you looked at the time on your phone before standing up. Celeste stood up too and held the letters close to her chest.

"I think my husband is coming home tonight, so we'll eat dinner at his favorite restaurant. Get ready at 6PM. Knowing him, he'll be late." You said and left the office with Celeste following behind. She closed the door and quickly went to the living room to check out the letters.

You went straight to your shared bedroom with Arvin and quickly went to your walk in closet that Arvin built for you. You scanned through the rack for dresses and scanned through multiple shoes to match your dress. You knew it was still 3:30PM, but you liked being prepared.

Your phone rang and you immediately answered it without looking to see who it was. “Hello?” You answered while grabbing a cerulean colored cocktail dress from the rack and holding it against you and checking it in front of a mirror.

“Y/N, honey, it’s me.” Arvin said. His voice was raspy and there’s no doubt that it’s because of his smoking habit. He’s trying to lessen it because according to him, he didn’t want to have cancer and he didn’t want his life cut short. Despite that, he still smoked… less than before. He was really trying. Key word: trying.

“You’re smoking right now, huh?” You asked, already tired of his shit. You loved him so much, but you didn’t have the energy of being his wife anymore. Probably because he doesn’t treat you like one.

“Mind your own business, woman!” Arvin hissed. You knew he didn’t mean it, but it still kind of hurt. “I’m just worried about you and you said that you’ll lessen the smoking.” You said calmly. You didn’t want to fight with him; it’s useless.

“I am. This is my third stick today and it’s late in the afternoon.” Arvin said, pushing his hair back. “Anyway, I called to tell you that I’ll be coming home tonight and I’m sleeping there.”

“Wow, it’s been a while. How long will you stay here?” You asked, hiding your excitement.

“I’m taking 7 days off. Starting tomorrow.” Arvin said. He gathered his things, got up from his seat and walked out of his office. “I’m leaving The Hamptons as we speak.”

“Alright. I’ll be waiting for you.” You said.

“What’re you up to right now, darling?” He asked, exiting the mansion and went straight to the limo. The door was being held open by Jeeves, the chauffeur. Arvin got inside and Jeeves closed the door before quickly getting in and driving.

“I’m picking a dress for tonight. I made reservations because you’re coming home.” You told him and he smiled.

“That’s sweet of you, darling. I’ll text you when I’m almost home, okay?” Arvin said.

“Oh, ok-”

Arvin hung up the phone and you sighed. You put the phone on top of the small chair before picking another dress.

Hours later, you received a text from Arvin saying that he was already around the corner and that he’ll just wait for you in the limo. You quickly finished getting ready and walked out of your room wearing a steel blue dress that you knew Arvin loved. You wore heels that matched it and wore dangling earrings that you wore on your wedding anniversary.

Celeste was wearing a polka-dotted blouse and a skirt that ran until her knees. She was wearing an old pair of Mary Jane’s and her hair was neatly combed. She had a hairpin to clip it back and on her shoulder, was a ‘nanny bag’ that you gave her. Hayden was wearing black pants and a button up that you bought last year. He was wearing black sneakers to match his outfit.

All three of you left the apartment and quickly made your way to the elevator. The elevator ride was short and before you knew it, you were in the lobby. Seeing the limo from afar, Hayden ran towards it causing Celeste to run after him. You walked quickly knowing that Arvin hated waiting.

Hayden opened the limo’s door and went inside to give his father a hug. “I missed you, daddy!” Hayden said with a smile and kissed his cheek. Arvin hugged back tightly and kissed the top of his head.

Arvin loved Hayden. The boy was like a copy of him and Hayden was Arvin’s most prized possession. He was the reason that Arvin worked hard and he was the reason that Arvin is sane. Although he doesn’t mind having more kids, Hayden was more than enough for him and he was content with that.

“I missed you too, buddy!” Arvin smiled widely and sat Hayden on his lap. Hayden started talking about what happened while he was away and Arvin was listening. Celeste went inside the limo and sat across from Arvin causing him to glance at Celeste up and down with furrowed eyebrows. You quickly got in the limo next to Arvin and closed the door. Jeeves asked if everyone was ready and you said yes. Jeeves started driving and he turned the music down a bit.

This caught your attention and you internally groaned. You looked at Arvin and quietly said, “Really? You’re playing this music again?”

Not leaving his gaze on Celeste, he said, “My limo, my music.”

You rolled your eyes and looked out the window. Arvin’s music played through the speakers and you decided to help yourself with a glass of champagne just to get through the night.

“Are you washed? (Are you washed?) In the blood (In the blood) In the soul cleansing blood of the lamb?”

The music filled the quiet limo, Hayden stopped talking a minute ago, finding the scenery more amusing than his own stories. Arvin nudged you and whispered, “Who the hell is the chick?”

“Hayden’s new nanny.” You whispered. “I hired her yesterday. She’s from the Philippines and-”

“You know what? I’ll interview her during dinner.” Arvin cut you off. “I already interviewed her and she’s qualified.” You hissed.

“Really? Doesn’t seem like it.” Arvin said. “I’ll do the talking. You already got to know her and it’s my turn now. I want the best for my son.”

“She’s very intelligent, you know.”

“I don’t give a shit, Y/N.”

“Daddy said a no-no word.” Hayden said, his eyes not leaving the window. “Also, can I get a puppy? Jason’s daddy bought him a new puppy and I want one too.”

“Tomorrow.” Arvin answered. “I’ll pick you up after school and we’ll buy a puppy.”

“Arvin, babe, he’s not responsible enough for a puppy yet.” You told him, but Arvin shrugged you off. He didn’t care what you thought. If his son wants a puppy, he’s getting a puppy.

You arrived at the restaurant and immediately got out of the car. You went down first and Hayden followed after. Arvin glanced at Celeste and motioned for her to get out first and she did. Arvin was last and he closed the door behind him. “Buy yourself some food, Jeeves.” Arvin said as he handed $200 to Jeeves through the driver’s side. “Pick us up when I text you. Don’t be too far, alright?”

“Yes, sir.” Jeeves said before driving off.

You all waited for Arvin and all four of you entered the fancy restaurant. The hostess led you to your table that had a small card that said: ‘Reserved for Mrs. Russell’ in cursive. All four of you sat down and the hostess provided menus for you, Arvin, and Celeste. A kids’ menu was handed to Hayden and he smiled and thanked the hostess. Holding a menu made Hayden feel like a real man. He wanted to be just like his father and that scared you because Hayden doesn’t know about Arvin’s job. Neither did Celeste and you felt sick to your stomach knowing that you brought two innocent people in danger. If things get worse, you’ll fire Celeste and let her go back to her family while you make sure that traces of her are gone. After all, if they find Celeste, she might get killed. Chances are, her family gets killed too. It’s all connected.

Anyway, all Hayden knew was that his father takes down bad guys. To him, Arvin’s a hero. But you knew better. Hayden will find out when he’s older. One day, he’ll understand that not all people who take down bad guys are heroes.

You all ordered and handed the hostess back the menus. Arvin took a sip of his water and cleared his throat before turning his attention to Celeste. “What’s your name, and where are you from?” Arvin asked.

Celeste stared at him in shock, “A-Are you talking to me, sir?”

“Who else would I be talking to? Of course, I’m talking to you.” He scoffed which made you slap his arm lightly. “Introduce yourself to me. We haven’t met and if my wife thinks you’re qualified for this job, it is also my right to see if you’re qualified as well.”

“U-Um, okay. My name is Celeste Regina Dela Cruz and I’m from the Philippines. My aunt brought me here last year. I only graduated high school and-”

“Alright. How did you find out about this job?” Arvin asked.

“My friend told me about it, so I applied.” Celeste said. A waiter came by and poured champagne on yours and Arvin’s glasses while he poured water on Celeste’s and Hayden’s.

Arvin nodded, “Alright. Were you a nanny before this?”

“No, sir.” Celeste answered.

“So, what makes you qualified for this job? Why are you here?” Arvin questioned.

“I’m here because… I want to work and I think that being a nanny is the only way.” Celeste answered and Arvin nodded before turning to you.

“Have you discussed her salary?” He asked and you shook your head. He nodded and turned to Celeste, “Will $100 a day be enough?”

“Yes, sir.” Celeste nodded furiously.

“Alright, then. $100, it is. I’ll give you extra if you’re good.” He said before taking out his phone and kept himself busy. You gave Celeste a tight lipped smile and did the same.

What Arvin said struck a nerve on you. You knew of his affairs and ladies, that’s why you never visited your mansion in The Hamptons. You knew there’d be a plethora of girls who are throwing themselves at your husband. You also knew that he wasn’t faithful and you knew that because he smelled like women’s perfume and sometimes he’d have a smudge of foundation on his white shirt. You stayed with him anyway.

“Thank you, sir.” Celeste said with a small smile. She turned her attention to Hayden and entertained him with stories from back home.

“How was work?” You asked Arvin and he shrugged.

“Nothing special. Rodriguez finally paid back what he owes, so that’s that. Also, dad visited me this morning. He said that he wanted to see Hayden. I told him I’ll think about it.” Arvin said with no emotion.

Arvin’s relationship with his dad, Willard, was rocky. It was no secret that Arvin preferred the company of his mom rather than his dad. Charlotte, Arvin’s mom, was the sweetest lady you’ve ever met. She helped you with your pregnancy and she’s the one who told Arvin to keep you away from the mob things. She didn’t want Hayden to grow up in such a bloody environment. Besides, it wasn’t safe. She’d occasionally visit you and Hayden when she’s not busy.

“How were things while I was gone?” Arvin asked.

“Same old. The only new thing was hiring Celeste.” You told him and he nodded. He moved closer to you and asked in a low voice, “Does she know?”

You shook your head and he nodded, “Good. It should be kept that way.”

“We’ll be paying for her college education.” You said quietly and Arvin’s head quickly turned to you as he glared daggers at you. You paid him no mind as you took a sip of your champagne. “We’ll talk later.” Arvin said sternly.

The waiter arrived with your orders and all four of you began eating in silence. Celeste was too awkward to start a conversation, Hayden didn’t know what to say, Arvin will talk to you later in his office, and you didn’t want to engage in a conversation nor start it.

After that, you ordered desserts. You initially didn’t plan to order any, but Hayden wanted the strawberry cake that he saw at the other table. Therefore, Arvin ordered four slices of that. As Arvin took bites of it, he chuckled which made you look at him through your peripheral vision.

“What’s so funny?” You asked, before eating the cake that was on your fork and chewing it. Arvin shook his head, “Nothing. I just remembered our wedding cake. It was similar to this.”

You smiled at the thought and nodded, “Yeah, they are similar.”

Your complicated marriage with Arvin made you stressed. You didn’t know how to act around him, but he was a great actor. He acted like he wasn’t cheating on you, he acted like he wanted the domesticated life, he acted like everything about his family was normal, and above all, he acted like he was still in love with you.

The truth is, Arvin isn’t in love with you anymore. But he loved you; he still does. He will never stop loving and caring about you. He just doesn’t get the same feelings as he used to. Before, one look at you gave him butterflies in his stomach and the world turned into slow motion. Now, he looks at you and he feels nothing. In his mind, you’re just his wife and the mother of his child. He didn’t know what to do anymore, but he knew he couldn’t leave you. Leaving you would ruin him because he knew you’d take Hayden away from him.

Being unfaithful wasn’t part of his plan, but it just happened. Then it kept happening with different girls and he hated himself every time. He knew that you knew. After all, he wasn’t discreet about it either. Both of you just pretend that nothing’s happening, it’s all swept under the rug and it’s killing you.

After dessert, Arvin texted Jeeves to pick you up as you called a waiter for your bill. After paying, Jeeves was already outside. Celeste got up from her seat and carried Hayden, who was falling asleep already. You and Arvin followed.

The ride home was shorter and quicker. When you arrived in the apartment, Celeste went straight to Hayden’s room with him fast asleep in her arms. Arvin cleared his throat which caught your attention. You looked at him and he nodded his head towards his office. He went there and you trailed behind him.

When he opened the door, he switched on the lights and went straight to his desk. You entered and closed the door. You sat in front of him and waited for him to talk.

“Since when were we paying for someone else’s education?” Arvin asked.

“Since now.” You answered boldly. He bit the inside of his cheek and nodded, “Why?”

“I’ve seen her records. She’s a valedictorian and she deserves to go to college. Her aunt can’t pay for it and I volunteered. It’s a little ‘thank you’ for taking care of Hayden. Taking care of a child isn’t easy.” You explained.

“That’s her job. Her little ‘thank you’ is her salary.” Arvin said with his thick accent.

“She deserves more than that.” You told him. “We have so much money, anyway. Paying for her college education won’t even cause a dent in our bank account. Besides, you told her that if she’s good, you’ll give her extra cash. Now, what do you mean by that?”

You and Arvin stared at each other in silence. The tension was thick. It was obvious that you both have problems that you refused to bring up.

“Let’s go to bed.” Arvin said after a minute. He stood up and you stood up too. Both of you left his office and he turned the lights off. He went straight to your shared bedroom and you went to Hayden’s bedroom. When you peeked inside, Hayden was already asleep and wearing his pajamas. You took off your shoes and walked to his bed. You laid down next to him and hugged him as tears streamed down your face.

Being Arvin’s wife wasn’t easy and it wasn’t like the fantasy you had initially thought. You wanted a happy family, but Arvin doesn’t even lay with you anymore. Your day was tiring and chaotic with a mix of high and low emotions. You knew that it would repeat the next day and you already dreaded it. For now, you’ll just cuddle your 6-year-old son and try to get some sleep.

The next few days consisted of doing your daily tasks. The only difference is, Arvin was home and he joined in various tasks. He accompanied Celeste in picking up Hayden at school and true to his word, Arvin bought Hayden a puppy.

Now, the puppy is part of your daily tasks too. Hayden named his puppy 'Jack' and he loved it. Part of his new daily life, Hayden always made sure that Jack was nearby whenever he did anything whether it be sudoku or reading his French picture books.

Arvin loved Jack too. He even swore to Jack that he'd come home often. You rolled your eyes at that, but chose not to say anything. While you thought that nothing in your marriage will surprise you, you thought wrong. After his 7 days off, Arvin came home every night solely because of Jack and Hayden.

'Perfect.' You thought. 'At least he's coming home every night.'

It was now Sunday which meant that Hayden had horseback riding lessons at the back of your mansion in The Hamptons. Celeste was watching over Hayden with her cheap sunglasses on. The skirt of her dress was slightly lifting up due to the wind. You offered your hat to her, but she declined. She said that she was used to the sun because of the weather in the Philippines.

You and Arvin were in his office looking over Celeste’s university of choice. You were making calls and Arvin was checking out the university’s website on his laptop. You were currently on hold and you grabbed Celeste’s acceptance letter from Arvin’s desk. The envelope was open and you sat down on Arvin’s desk as you took out the letter from the envelope and read it.

Cornell University

Celeste Regina Dela Cruz 2264 Oak Street Manhattan, New York 10021

Dear Celeste Regina:

Congratulations on your acceptance into the College of Engineering at Cornell University! We are very pleased to be welcoming you to this coming academic year.

Very soon, you will receive your official letter of acceptance from us in the mail. We are excited that you will be joining the Cornell community and know that you will make a very positive contribution to the university.

Best regards,

Amanda K. Bishop Associate Vice Provost for Enrollment Cornell University

ENROLL AND DEPOSIT ONLINE: Please retain the URL and PIN provided in the notification email you received, as well as the password you created to view this letter. You will need all three in order to log in again to complete the Enrollment Response Form and submit your enrollment deposit.

You finished reading and before you knew it, you weren’t on hold anymore. You began talking to the person in charge and Arvin glanced at you from time to time while scrolling through Cornell’s website.

“I think she’ll enjoy Cornell, darling.” Arvin said, exiting Cornell’s site and you glanced at him and gave him a thumbs up before turning your attention to the call again. After an hour, you end the call and turn to Arvin.

“They agreed to let her do online classes and occasionally attend classes physically.” You informed him and he nodded.

“Do you think Hayden will get into Cornell? It’s a nice university.” Arvin asked. “I don’t really care where he gets in. I’ll be proud regardless.”

You gave him a small smile and said, “That’s wonderful. Speaking of Hayden, his horseback riding lessons should be done by now. Let’s go.”

You left Arvin’s office and he quickly followed behind you. “Is there something wrong?” He asked and you shook your head, not saying anything.

Days went on that way. You talked to Arvin less and less and he was starting to catch on to that. He also noticed that you don’t sleep next to him anymore and that you always made sure that you weren’t home when he comes home from the mob business.

-

The party was in full swing and the children were having so much fun. Arvin wasn’t a fan of parties, but he decided that it would be nice to have other children around the apartment. Hayden’s friends and classmates played around and the nannies were all huddled in one corner as they watched the children. Some of them even played with Jack.

You were with the parents and you couldn’t find Arvin. It was time for Hayden to blow the candles and you wanted you and Arvin to be there beside him. You looked for him everywhere and you forgot to check his home office. ‘He’s most likely in there.’ You told yourself.

Without knocking, you walked in and gasped when you saw the sight in front of you. The back of Arvin’s chair was facing you, but you didn’t need the chair to fully face you to know what they’re doing. A young woman, in her early 20s, was sitting on Arvin’s lap and you could see her bouncing up and down. Arvin wasn’t even hiding the fact that he was enjoying it. You quickly left and closed the door.

You knew he was cheating on you, but seeing him in action made it so real. You told yourself that you weren’t going to cry, but the tears you held back were freely streaming down your face. You quickly wiped them away and Celeste saw you.

“Ma’am, are you okay?” She asked. She was worried about you. You faked a smile and nodded, “Yeah, I’m alright. I just can’t believe that Hayden is 7 already! Time flies by so fast.”

Celeste nodded and smiled, “Okay. Hayden wants to blow his cake now.”

“Okay. Tell him to get ready.” You told her and she nodded, quickly leaving you alone. You glanced at the door of Arvin’s office and debated on calling Arvin’s attention or not. You decided that you weren’t going to call for him. If he cared about the little family you made, he would have the decency to not cheat on you on your son’s birthday. With that in mind, you held your head high and walked to the kitchen where everyone was waiting. Hayden was sitting on the bar stool while his cake was placed in front of him, on top of the countertop.

You smiled brightly at him and stood next to him. You kissed his cheek and gave him a side hug. “Where’s daddy?” Hayden asked you, looking up at you with innocent eyes.

“He’s busy cheating on mommy, sweetheart.” You wanted to say so bad, but you held back. It wasn’t nice to bring personal problems to parties. Especially your 7-year-old son’s party.

“He’s answering an important call for work, buddy. He’ll catch up later.” You lied. Hayden frowned, but his mood changed when everyone started singing ‘Happy Birthday’ while some took pictures of you two. Celeste lit the candle that was shaped like the number 7. After the song, Hayden closed his eyes and made a wish before blowing his candle. Everyone clapped and you gave everyone a slice of cake.

When everyone was eating, Arvin finally walked out of his office with the young woman with him. He gave her $100 and whispered, “This is for not telling anyone and for spending time with me.” He winked at her and she blushed before quickly walking off to the kid she was watching.

Unbeknownst to them, Celeste saw the whole thing. She looked at you, Hayden, and Arvin and she looked torn. She wanted to tell you, but she was scared of Arvin. She thought that he was sketchy and she didn’t fully trust him. If she doesn't tell you, she’ll feel bad. So she quickly went to her room, called her sister and sat on her bed.

Toni, her sister, answered, “Oh, bakit ka napatawag? (Why did you call?)”

“May chika ako! Tangina, ‘di ko alam kung ano gagawin ko. (I have tea! Fuck, I don’t know what to do.)” Celeste said. She was panicking in her room and she truly didn’t know what to do.

“Ano ‘yon? (What is it?)” Toni asked.

“‘Di ako sigurado pero parang nambababae itong tatay ng alaga ko. Sabihin ko kaya sa asawa niya? (I’m not sure, but I think the dad of the kid I’m taking care of is cheating on his wife. What if I tell his wife?)” Celeste bit her nails nervously. Toni was quiet and said, “Ikaw bahala. Kung sa tingin mong kakainin ka ng konsensya mo, sabihin mo na. Kung kaya mong magkunwari na wala kang alam, edi ‘wag mo sabihin. (It’s up to you. If you think that your conscience will eat you alive, tell her. If you can pretend that you don’t know anything, then don’t say anything.)”

“Kung ikaw nasa pwesto ko, ano gagawin mo? (If you were in my place, what would you do?)”

“Wala. Kunwari wala akong alam. Saka ko na lang sasabihin pag tinanong ako. (Nothing. I’ll pretend that I don’t know anything. I’ll just tell her if she asks me.)” Toni answered.

“Sige. Chat nalang kita mamaya. Kailangan na ako sa labas. (Okay. I’ll chat with you later. I think they need me outside.)”

“Okay, bye!” Toni said before hanging up. Celeste took a deep breath and walked out of her room.

Some people were already leaving and Celeste immediately grabbed a big garbage bag to pick up the paper plates and paper cups that were left behind.

“Where have you been?” You asked Celeste sweetly. She jumped at the sound of your voice which was weird because she wasn’t jumpy.

“I-I went to my room to talk to my sister.” Celeste said. It was true, but she didn’t tell you why. You nodded and said, “Send her my regards.”

Celeste nodded and proceeded to clean up. You walked away and thanked your guests for coming to Hayden’s party. You’ve been avoiding Arvin for hours now and it was like he wanted to talk to you alone. You didn’t want to.

When everything was clean, it was already time for Hayden’s nighttime yoga routine. He quickly went to his room and started getting dressed in his yoga outfit. Celeste went to her room to grab her books, so that she could read while Hayden did his yoga. Jack went with them and Celeste was more than happy to know that the dog was joining them.

It was only you and Arvin in the living room. The tension was thick. You closed the door after the last guest left and Arvin started talking, “Why didn’t you call me when Hayden blew out his candle?”

“Was I supposed to?” You snapped and gave him a death glare which he seemed to return.

“Of course you were supposed to! I’m his dad and I should be there for him!”

“Why weren’t you present for most of the day, then? Where were you when I needed you? Where were you when I needed help with Hayden’s gifts? When I needed someone to give drinks to the adults, where were you? You weren’t around, Arvin. You were busy with God knows what!” You raised your voice.

“What are you saying?!” Arvin shouted.

“I’m saying that you’re not there for me and you haven’t been for a long fucking time!” You shouted back. This started a screaming match between the two of you. You didn’t even notice how loud you were shouting.

Hayden stopped doing yoga and looked at Celeste, “What’s going on?” Celeste looked at Hayden while listening closely. She sighed and told him, “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Celeste walked out of Hayden’s room not knowing that Hayden followed her out. She only realized that Hayden followed her when she heard Hayden shout, “Stop fighting!”

You and Arvin stopped to turn your heads to Hayden who was already crying at the sight of his angry parents. The sight of Hayden crying made you cry too. You walked towards him, but he ran away to hide in his room. He locked the door and Celeste was just standing there awkwardly.

You wiped away your tears and to your surprise, Celeste spoke up. “Ma’am, sir, um, please don’t fight anymore because Hayden will not like it. If you can’t stop fighting each other, do it for Hayden.” Celeste said softly as she looked at both of you.

“Hayden is a very nice kid and he’s very smart and he’s very obedient. He does everything you tell him to do even if he doesn’t like it because he knows that it will make you happy. He doesn’t deserve to have parents that are fighting all the time and he doesn’t deserve a family that has problems. If you have problems, just talk about it. Don’t yell.” Celeste told both of you. She was trying to be a peacemaker and both of you commended her for it. It wasn’t her job to be a peacemaker, but she’s being one right now.

“Sir, I saw you a while ago at the party with a girl and you gave her money. Being unfaithful is not nice. You should be faithful to your wife because she’s doing her best. If you don’t love her anymore, why are you here?” Celeste said. You knew she didn’t mean anything wrong, but Arvin took it the wrong way.

“Excuse me?” Arvin asked, offended. “I’m offended that you had to ask me why I’m here. I’m here because I live here. It’s my money, it’s my apartment, and everything here is from me! So don’t ask me why I’m-”

“She’s right, Arvin.” You said and turned to look at him. “I’m tired of all this fighting and all this pretending. From now on, I’ll sleep in Hayden’s room. If you enjoy sleeping with different women, you’re surely going to enjoy sleeping alone.” You snapped before leaving the living room to go to the bathroom to wash up.

Arvin glared at Celeste angrily and she said, “Sir, I understand if you fire me. It’s fine. I’m sorry for disrespecting you in your house. But before you fire me, think about what I said, sir. Also, think about your son. You can’t take care of him because of your job and your wife can’t take care of him because she’s busy with different things. If you fire me, no one else will look out for Hayden. Thank you for listening, sir.”

Celeste looked down and went to Hayden’s room in hopes that she could coax him into unlocking the door and letting her in.

Arvin sighed in distress and rubbed his face with his hands before going to the master’s bedroom and slamming the door.

-

Arvin didn’t know what happened. All he remembered was going to an event that was attended by his mob allies when all of a sudden, his rival mob attacked them all. A lot of shooting happened and he was sure that his mob friends were killed. He hoped they weren’t.

People were screaming and he heard someone crying at some point. His people were scattered everywhere and he didn’t know if they were alright. He didn’t get out scott-free, though. He got shot on his side and he was shooting his rivals all while trying to get out of the venue to get in the car and go back to his mansion.

When he arrived, Amelia was already on her feet and doing her tasks. She was the only doctor, but she pushed through and it amazed Arvin how Amelia could help them. He admired her and thought that she was strong. Her job isn’t easy, after all.

A few hours of taking out bullets from bodies and declaring one person dead on arrival, Amelia was finally finished with her job. She was in Arvin’s office to get her paycheck while Arvin wrote her salary on a check.

“$20,000” Arvin wrote before handing it to her with a tight-lipped smile. Amelia took the check gratefully.

“Thank you, Mr. Russell.” Amelia smiled before grabbing her bag and leaving. Arvin sighed and leaned back on his chair. He hasn’t been home for a while and Hayden didn’t want to speak with him whenever he called you to talk to Hayden. It broke his heart.

He put a hand on his gun wound and closed his eyes to rest for a while to think about his life. He never really thought that his life would turn out like this, but he knew that someday he’d have to take over the mob. When he took over, that’s when he met you.

In truth, he didn’t know how or what to feel when it comes to you. He’s confused. His thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing which made him groan. He opened his eyes, grabbed his phone, and answered it without looking at the caller ID.

“Hello?” He answered.

“Hello, Russell.” His rival, George, said. Arvin could almost imagine the smug look on George’s face. Arvin gripped his phone tighter, “What do you want? You killed one of my men. Isn’t that enough?”

“Quite frankly, no. I would send my condolences to the deceased family, but I don’t really give a shit. Besides, it would teach you a lesson from stealing from me!”

“For the last time, I didn’t steal from you!” Arvin shouted.

“Your men joined my mob and stole from me!”

“It’s not stealing if they’re getting what’s rightfully ours.” Arvin hissed. “If anything, you stole from me!”

George scoffed, “If you really think that way, fine. Just know that you’ll pay for it.”

“I’m not paying for anything, George.” Arvin chuckled bitterly before pouring himself some scotch with one hand.

“Not even for your family?” George asked. “Wow, that shit’s cold.”

“What’re you talking about?” Arvin asked with furrowed eyebrows as he took a sip of his drink.

“Oh, you’re not informed?” George said sarcastically. “Your wife and son are here with me. If you don’t give me back what you stole from me, I’ll kill them. You know where to find me, Russell.”

George hung up and Arvin yelled in frustration. He sat up and winced because of his wound. He ran a hand through his hair and thought about how he’ll save you and Hayden. Him and his men talked about plans and when they were able to finalize, they wasted no time in going to George’s place.

The plan was going to George and giving him a duffel bag filled with rocks, so that he’ll think it’s the thing he was looking for; the thing he claimed Arvin’s men stole. Arvin decided that it’d be best for his men to ‘give it back’ to George while he and a few guys would look for you and Hayden.

Arvin heard George shouting about everything being fake and he heard gunshots. In a span of a few hours, his mob was shooting people again. He heard Hayden’s familiar cries and followed it while being covered by Javier, one of his men.

When Arvin found the room where George kept you and Hayden, he gasped when he saw you lying in your own blood, unconscious next to a weeping Hayden.

“Daddy!” Hayden cried and it made Arvin’s heart break. He had so many questions running through his mind. How long have you been unconscious? Why are you unconscious? Did they hurt both of you? Where’s Celeste?

Arvin quickly untied Hayden and he didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around him. “It’s okay, buddy. Everything’ll be okay.” Arvin whispered and kissed the top of Hayden’s head. He lets go of Hayden and knelt beside your body. He untied you and panicked when he saw multiple gun wounds on you. He knew that if you stayed longer, you’d die.

Arvin turned to Hayden and said, “Listen to me, okay? Take care of mommy and don’t go anywhere. Got it?”

Hayden nodded and wiped his tears. “Are you coming back?”

“Of course, I’m coming back.” Arvin reassured him. He stood up and quickly left the room and shot every person from his rival mob. When he saw George, all Arvin saw was red and started beating the shit out of his rival.

George didn’t get a chance to defend himself because Arvin just kept throwing punches and hits. Arvin wanted George dead for bringing his family into their problems. Arvin didn’t care about George’s bloody and bruised state. Arvin pushed George to the ground and whipped out his gun.

“This is for my family.” Arvin panted. He looked at George in the eye and shot his head mercilessly. He looked at his surroundings and saw that almost everyone in George’s mob was dead and the few that were alive, are either unconscious or terribly bruised.

Arvin ran back to the room and picked up Hayden. “I told you I’d be back.” He said as Hayden rested his head on the crook of Arvin’s neck.

Arvin ordered one of his men to carry you and immediately drove to the mansion. Arvin called Amelia and said that he needed her ASAP.

“Mr. Russell, it’s late and it’s not my schedule.” Amelia said groggily. She was already deeply sleeping and Arvin disturbed her greatly.

“I know, I know and I’m sorry. I need you ASAP, Amelia. It’s my wife this time.” Arvin said frantically. They arrived at the mansion and rushed you to the medical room where Amelia was hours before.

Hayden was asleep in Arvin’s arms and he went to his room to let Hayden sleep there comfortably. He hears shuffling around on Amelia’s end as he did his best to tuck Hayden in.

“I’m on my way.” Amelia said.

“Okay, please hurry.” Arvin pleaded before hanging up. He looked at Hayden and smiled a bit at the sight of his son fast asleep. He quietly left the room and rushed to the medical room where you were being kept. He wasn’t a doctor and he didn’t know what to do. Time was running out and for the first time in years, he finally saw you.

He finally realized how important you are in his life. He finally realized that it would hurt him deeply if you were gone. He couldn’t imagine going on with life without you by his side. He didn’t notice Amelia walking in the medical room and he only acknowledged her presence when he was being escorted out of the room by her.

“Wait, no! I want to say, Am-”

“You know you can’t.” Amelia said sternly. “It’s protocol. You can’t be here. Just wait outside.” Amelia pushed the mobster out the room and locked it. The whole time he waited, Arvin was pacing back and forth. He was restless. Who wouldn’t be? If your spouse is undergoing a procedure, you’d want to know about them, right? Arvin had no clue how you were doing.

Three hours later, the door opened and Amelia stepped out of the room. She was clearly tired. Arvin stopped pacing and stared at Amelia who only said, “She’s okay.”

“Thank you.” Arvin sighed in relief as he walked towards the room.

“You don’t need to pay me. Consider it a freebie. I know what it’s like to grow up without a mom at a young age and I don’t want that to happen to Hayden. Take care, sir.” Amelia smiled softly before leaving.

Arvin went into the room and pulled up a chair to sit next to your bed. He held your hand and stared at you. It’s been a long time since he’s seen your face. You were beautiful. You always have been and always will. Seeing you unconscious scared him greatly and it made him realize how much he still loves and cares about you.

“Y/N, I’m sorry this happened to you. I mean it.” Arvin said softly. “I love you. I’m sorry it took me almost losing you to realize that. You don’t know how sorry I am, sweetheart.”

“I can’t imagine the pain you must have felt when Celeste came clean about seeing me and some other girl on Hayden’s birthday. But I know you, Y/N. I know that you’ve always had a feeling that I was unfaithful and I can’t imagine your heartbreak when you found out about it being true.”

“When we first got together, I promised I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. I’m sorry for breaking that promise. I’ll be better for you, Y/N. I’ll come home and I’ll stay with you whenever you need me. I’ll be present for Hayden and I don’t want to argue with you anymore. I want us to go back to normal and I know it’ll be hard for you, but I’m willing to try.” Arvin said with hope in his eyes.

“I also know that you’re awake and that you can hear me clearly.” He added as he looked at you. You slowly opened your eyes and looked at him, “I hate that you know me well.”

“I actually love it. It makes me feel like I’m still in touch with you. Lord knows I’d be heartbroken if I can’t read you anymore.” He chuckled lightly before pressing a light kiss on your hand.

“Did you mean what you said? Trying again?” You asked and he nodded. “Then, I’ll try too.”

Being married to a mobster wasn’t easy. Everything has to be kept under wraps whilst having a lavish lifestyle. But when you’re young, you’re naive and you think that everything will work out and you’ll live happily ever after like some Disney fairytale. Everyone seems to forget that Disney princess stories were adapted from the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen.

However, some relationships work out and your marriage turns into something better than before. It happened to you and Arvin. He kept his promises and soon, you were blessed with a second child. Celeste was alright and you treated her like a sister you never had. In return for sending her to college, she did well in her studies and made sure to show you her grades which made you proud.

Everything was coming together and you were thankful that things took a nice turn. Your life as a mobster's wife wasn’t so bad, after all.

* * * *

𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐀𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐍 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: @cocoamoonmalfoy @parkerpeter24 @slutforsr @rumplebutterbaby @dummiesshort @quxxnxfhxll @bora-world @supred12 @more-like-reyna

𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: @holland-styles @trustfundparker @calltothewild @felicityparkers @hufflepuffprincess24 @tommysparker @justasmisunderstoodasloki @quaksonhehe @call-me-baby-gir1 @itstaskeen @theonly1outof-a-billion @lost-in-the-stars03 @justafangirlduh @piscesparker @speedymaximoff @miraclesoflove @lexirv @blairscott @getbywithasmile @pqrkerr @lavender-writer @blackbat2020 @hoodpankow @bi-lmg @emmastarz

[alreadyblondenow]

Jeno saves the world | Lee Jeno (TEASER)

Lee Jeno x Female!Reader

▸ Smut, Fluff, Angst, Hero au ▸ Part of no capes. collaboration hosted by @kabira​ ▸ High school sweet hearts, strangers to lovers?, lovers to enemies, enemies to lovers. HAHAHA  Summary: The Lee Jeno has always been head over heels for you ever since you missed the bus and he had to fly you home. With maximum effort and incredible patience, Jeno finally won your heart and did not care even though you don’t have superpowers yet. But because of social pressure and your constant want to be worthy for Jeno, you made a deal with a super villain but ended up being the villain of the story and Jeno is the only superhero that can stop you.   Warnings: Smut, self doubt, swearing, protected sex, unplanned rough sex because Jeno has super strength, fingering, making out, mentions of bruises, using sex to forget problems, oral sex, discrimination between strong and weak powers, mentions of other idols (more warnings when the fic is posted)  A/N: Pure fiction. Inspired by my all time favorite super hero movie, Sky High. I swear that movie is a masterpiece. If you love my Lee Jeno fic, Vampire Play, you’re gonna love this too. I hope my readers don’t mind that I’m trying and writing something new. Yay for new things!

Release date: March 2021

‘Effort comes a long way’

And tonight, you do a different kind of effort for yourself and your boyfriend. Although you’ve been nervous since this morning and have been thinking of different scenarios upon meeting Jeno’s superhero parents. You hope with all your heart that they’re okay with letting their son date a late bloomer. It may be humiliating to admit that you don’t have your superpowers yet, but you’re not planning to lie or fool Jeno’s parents just because you have your own imperfections.

“Still nervous? Stop fidgeting you look lovely” Jeno stopped your hands from fixing your dress and hold them tightly, giving your knuckles a few kisses before he opens the front door and introduce you to his parents.

“Jeno-“ you stopped him from opening the door and brought out your birthday gift to him. You see your boyfriend’s eyes sparkle when he saw that red bow wrapped around that oblong-shaped gift and wonder what’s inside. “To the second guy that accepted me for who I am- well, my dad is the first one obviously. Happy birthday,” you giggle hand the gift to him with shaky hands. He smiled sincerely at you, grabbed the gift, and gave you a very tight hug.

“I was so busy getting nervous today that I forgot to greet you. I’m sorry,”

“No no, it’s okay. I forgot that it’s my birthday too because I’m excited to introduce you to my parents” he kissed you on the lips one last time, told you that you’re beautiful and that his parents will definitely love you and finally opened the door. It’s not your first time in his house, but it is your first time being in his house while his parents are home.

Hand in hand you walked towards the dining area with a nervous heart. His mother greeted you first and gave you a hug, followed by his dad who did the same and invited you to take a sit. It’s Jeno’s birthday but you feel like you’re the start of the night rather than your boyfriend.

The dinner started wonderfully, giggles here and there, stories kept on coming, not to mention the food was incredibly delicious. For a second there, all the happy scenarios that ran through your mind earlier today were happening and you felt stupid for even thinking that something wrong will happen.

Everything was fine.

But not until his father brought up school and asked about your power placement.

“Dad, let’s not talk about school on my birthday, please. You know I hate school,” Jeno tried his best to avoid the ‘powers’ topic because he knew it will make you uncomfortable. But his dad was very eager to know more about you.

And that’s the part where everything went downhill.

You cleared your throat before answering the question will all honesty and bravery. And of course, your boyfriend was quick to hold your hand under the table just so you know that he’s right beside you. “Uhm, I don’t have any powers. Yet,” and right then and there you see their genuine smiles fade and were replaced by fake ones.

Your heart broke. But you can’t blame them, of course, they want Jeno to be in a relationship with someone amazing, someone who can match his greatness.

“How're your parents dear? Are they okay with it? Are they superheroes too?”

“Mom-“

“They are very much patient with me, Mrs. Lee. Thank you for asking. Actually, Jeno is patient with me too. I'm starting to think that being patient has become one is his superpowers now” you tried so much to avoid talking about your parents but Mrs. Lee repeated the question again.

“Are your parents superheroes too?” you can see it in her eyes. You can see that she’s starting to hate you and she will hate you even more if you say that your parents are human, but good thing they’re not.

“They are both superheroes” you answer quietly, like your confidence is slowly fading and you feel very small even though Jeno is holding your hand.

“I have a friend that has a son, he’s a late bloomer like you too” she explains with fake giggles, it’s annoying but you have to stay nice. “She and her husband decided to throw their son into a vat of toxic waste and now he has powers”

“Mom!” Jeno shouted but you stopped him.

“I’m sorry Mrs. Lee but, how can your friend do that to her own son?”

“Y/n, darling I don’t know. That’s something I will never understand because as you can see my son here has powers. Multiple powers”

“Alright, that’s enough” Jeno exclaimed and got up from his seat and told them you guys are leaving. You didn’t want any problem between you and his parents so you thanked them still for a wonderful night and delicious dinner even though they’re not looking into your eyes directly anymore.

If only you could be someone worthy for Jeno this shitty dinner wouldn’t have happened in the first place.