#but I guess it could also work with headphones

[youchangedmedestiel]

How I see the world since I watched Supernatural:

[emelinstriker]

mmmnnother idea too

[trashbaget]

tell me your failed/embarrassing flirting stories to make me feel better, i’ll go first: today i said “get out of my way” forgot to say “i’m kidding” then immediately said “bye”

[inbabylontheywept]

the house i grew up in was a little bit of a fixer upper. for the first 19 years, my dad just sort of slowly fixed it, but pretty early on in college, he came into a large amount of cash and decided to just do the whole thing at once. so he rented a different house for like, 2 months that was just a block down from us, and then got a bunch of contractors to fix original house ASAP. it was kind of crazy, but it compressed many years of work into like, three months.

the sitting in a new house for three months was actually pretty fun. and i shouldnt really complain at all (staying at home while in college is a sweet deal)

but.

but. my parents are fairly hard of hearing, and their bedroom in the old house was in the furthest possible annex from everyone else. wheras in the rental it was just in the middle of the house. so without going into details, i was extremely aware that my parents were having sex like, eight times a day. my dad had just retired and i guess they were celebrating, which is great i guess, having parents that really like each other is way better than the alternative, but also, it did make me envy their deafness. i kept headphones on for so long that year i got literal ear calluses.

at the same time, the house my buddy from the shoe incident grew up in flooded. turbo flooded. they burst like, two pipes at once and the damage was so severe they had to redo all the flooring and all the drywall. his family actually had homeowners insurance, which is either incredible or suspicious for a family that used the drained pool in their backyard to store rusty scrap metal. so insurance was handling the work, but in the meantime, they were crammed into a very small hotel room space. we did the math on it then, it averaged about 80 square feet a person.

so one day i got home, and i was chilling, and then six rolled around, and apparently six o'clock was sex o'clock because my parents decided to flex their cardio. i grabbed my headphones and prayed that god would do for me what he did for beethoven, but that failed to work, and then seven rolled around and my parents were still at it, which again, very impressive, but was pushing me to swap out judas for mozart in those prayers. there's a definitive point where you stop praying to be deaf and instead pray that god could take you to a nice field and pop you like a gore-balloon.

i was about five minutes away from that point when my friend called me and basically said i have been stuck in a 500 square foot space with 6 people and i didn't have many marbles to start but what few i had are gone. please. if we are friends, if we were ever friends, take me out of here just for a moment.

and i was still pretty mad at him, but i had pity on the poor guy. also helped that i was desperate to leave the house. so i drove the chickenshitmobile to the hotel and i picked him up, and then we did our normal hangout activity, which was go to food city and buy produce. his normal house was, on a good day, nasty, and his backyard was, as i stated before, mostly used to store mosquito larvae and rusty metal, so what we'd always done before was just walk to the grocery store a half block away and leer at vegetables.

so we did that and it was like old times again. they had some radishes that were expired, so i could buy like, literally an entire grocery bag of them for about $5. so i did. i really like radishes. he got a coconut because he liked fruit and beating things with hammers.

which probably would've been great except we didn't have a hammer, so instead we spent about 30 minutes stomping itike it owed us money. when it finally cracked we cheered like we just got the winning touchball at the superdome and then he ate some of the flesh, and i ate some of the radishes, and we admired the black, starless sky of the city before i took him back to his hotel room.

and then we got pulled over.

i forgot to turn my lights on because the street all around the food city was ludicrously well lit. so it went from being pretty bright, to pretty bright and flashy, then i pulled into a parking lot and a cop came to ask us for IDs which is where everything went to shit:

i’d forgotten my license at home. 

the cop was was actually kind of chill about it - he said he could get by with just an address. except i did not know my address. i hadn't memorized the new one yet. so i told the cop, my house is getting remodeled, i don't know my address right now. and then he went to my friend, and my friend said the exact same thing. house getting remodeled, staying somewhere else, no address, sowwwwwwy.

now the cop genuinely didn't know what to do. he went back to his car, and i was stressed that i was about to get into HUGE trouble so i started eating the radishes and my buddy started eating more of his coconut, and we actually managed to eat like a quarter of both before the cop came back. we ate enough produce that he could smell something weird in the air, and he asked what the smell was, and i said radishes, and my buddy said coconut, and the cop said which, and then we produced a large bag of droopy radishes and an absolutely brutalized coconut, and the cop was just like

so my buddy tried explaining how he was sharing a 500 square foot apartment with 6 people and wanted a fruit he could fight with power tools, and i tried explaining how i'd actually tried buying my parents like, board games and puzzles and stuff but nothing worked - the only thing my parents seemed to like doing right now was each other, and we both went on long enough and pathetically enough that the cop eventually went:

ok. stop.

and we stopped.

and he said do you know why i pulled you over?

and i said, because of my headlights, and my friend (who is hispanic) and the cop both looked at me like like i was the dumbest person in the entire world. and then the cop said no. that's why i'm allowed to pull you over. i checked your car because this neighborhood has a terrible sex trafficking problem, and i pull over every car i can to make sure no one is buying or selling sex. and you two are obviously doing neither. now i could give you, like, four tickets right now, but that would do nothing to make this area safer, so just turn your lights on, go home, drive safe, and try to be less stupid in the future.

and i said okay but i was thinking, you know, damn, this is just how i live man, i don't have a hidden third gear i can shift into. people can't just get smarter because it would be convenient. it's always convenient to be smart. i am literally trying my best.

but i didn't say anything because i was, slowly, learning how to filter what i said. instead i nodded and the cop left then i dropped my buddy off, and the last thing he said was said he owed me for responding to his SOS. I said he owed me for a lot of things, and he agreed that was true. then i drove home with my lights on, 5 under the speed limit, and arrived to a peaceful quiet home. I could’ve wept with relief but instead I went to bed.

the relief was short lived. i was woken up at 6 am by my parents. i swore, and then i prayed, and when i did not explode, i swore again. then i got up to make breakfast before my first class.

[superyoshisisland64]

I can't believe my nearly 7 year old pixel 2 that's cracked to hell and back still works while my Pixel 5a that's not even 2 years old is completely fucking dead🙃

[the-travelling-witch]

i thought i could finish/ continue this fic today or maybe play genshin for the first time in two weeks but i’m dog-sitting for my roommate tonight and puppy said no productivity for you

i would tell you what i’m writing but i think the modern au girlies (gn) would go feral…

[marsixm]

i think i get stuck in a kind of box sometimes, in how i think and think and think but i need to do more, i cant think my way out of everything. i can certainly think to plan, what to do, but i really need to get up and Do

[briefinquiries]

Tyler Owens x Reader: Read Between the Lines

Request: anonymous said: "I was wondering maybeeee if you could write some protective bf Tyler ( because i would be swooning ) maybe either someone keeps hitting on her so he steps in or someone maybe in another storm chasing crew is being mean so he steps in and defends her <3 idk"

Word count: 3.9k

Warnings: language, mild fighting i guess?? slight angst

A/N: sorry I haven't been posting as frequently! I started work up again and ya girl has been BUSY. Anyyywayyy, thank you for reading! please keep the comments coming! I love to see all your requests and I promise i'm getting to them as quickly as i can :)

“Need anything?” Tyler asked, leaning against the hood of the truck in a way that shouldn’t be as adorable as it is. 

“I’m good,” you said, offering him a gentle smile before brushing a few loose strands of hair from your sticky forehead. 

“You wanna come in with me then?” 

You shook your head– the idea of sitting in a stale diner with no AC was just about as unbearable as the thought of driving another second. “No, I think I’ll stretch my legs out here.”

“Okay,” he said in a tone that indicated you’d be missing out. He gave the truck a pat before adding, “We won’t be long.”

“Take your time,” you assured him. 

He offered one final nod before turning and following Dani, Boone, and Lily across the parking lot. Dexter also stayed behind. Instead of shitty diner food, he’s opted to take a nap inside the RV accompanied by his noise canceling headphones and a fan blasting right at his face. 

You were exhausted, down to your bones. You and the rest of the team had driven nearly six hours that day tracking a cell that hadn’t ended up amounting to anything. You were stiff and tired and irritable– just like everyone else. But you hoped that some time alone outside might help at least level out your mood.

You extended your arms over your head, groaning when you felt something lightly pop in your back, before craning your neck from side to side. The air was stifling– thick and humid with little to no breeze for any sort of relief. The heat hadn’t broken in nearly a week, and unfortunately for just about everyone, the truck’s AC didn’t work as well as it used to. 

The parking lot to the diner was relatively empty. Aside from the crew’s RV and truck, there was an SUV parked in one of the front spots and a small sports car with a steady cloud of smoke pouring out the cracked window.  

You let your eyes wander past the diner parking lot at the sprawling field across the road. The windmills were agonizingly still in the stale air– like even they were desperate for some reprieve. 

Your eyes fell shut as you took a few deep breaths, trying to get your bearings. 

Your peace lasted for about thirty seconds. And then the sound of blaring music and screeching tires had you turning your pulsing head. Instantly, you rolled your eyes at the sight of the familiar vans pulling into the lot beside you. 

Merrill Anderson and his crew started chasing in the area almost thirteen months ago. You knew because each and every moment that you’d known about their existence had been more painful than the last. 

Anderson was a meteorologist out of Texas that wore a cowboy hat almost as big as his mouth and an inflated ego to match it. He made sure you and everyone else around him knew that he had a PhD, and therefore, in his opinion, was automatically more entitled to chase. Him and Tyler had hated each other from the moment they met while chasing an EF2 in Arkansas– their feud only grew each time their paths crossed. 

Anderson was grinning at you through the window as soon as his van rolled by. You did your best to avert your gaze– hoping that lack of eye contact would avoid any sort of conversation. 

Unfortunately, you weren’t so lucky. 

“There she is,” he announced, boots scuffing against the dirt parking lot as he hopped out from the driver’s seat. 

“Now what're you doin’ out here all by yourself? Your team finally leave you behind? Realized they didn’t need two uni drop outs on their team?” he asked, tone already dripping in sarcasm. 

He was an antagonizer who got off on provoking others. And although you and Anderson had your fair share of unpleasant exchanges, you knew he only ever bothered you to get under Tyler’s skin. 

Tyler’s biggest weakness was that he was endlessly protective of the people he loved. You saw this particular trait as a strength– but you knew that Anderson fed off Tyler's anger, which you could only imagine was his intention now. Thankfully Tyler was in the diner– hopefully gorging on raspberry pancakes as you spoke. Because if he were to see Anderson talking to you– you knew this whole interaction would escalate quickly. 

“Anderson,” you sighed, leaning casually against the hood of Tyler’s truck. The smile you forced on your face was almost painful. “So lovely to see you, as always.”

You hoped if you withheld from his taunting, he might move on quicker. 

Instead, to your despair, he backtracked from his van to stand across from you. “You guys go ahead,” he instructed his crew. “I’m gonna spend some time with my friend here.”

They nodded before heading towards the diner, leaving the two of you alone. 

“You should teach that hillbilly- boyfriend of yours some manners. If I remember correctly, last time I saw him, he drove through a puddle to splash me.”

You bit back a grin as you recalled the moment he was referring to. “I’m sure it wasn’t on purpose,” you lied (it was absolutely on purpose). 

Anderson chuckled. “You know– I don’t know if we’ve ever had a conversation just us, without him lingering around. You’re much more pleasant. Both in conversation and in looks.” 

You felt a chill run down the length of your spine at his words– but the way he was looking at you was infinitely worse. You watched as his eyes flickered from your face to your chest– currently more exposed than you would like in the tanktop you wore in the stifling Oklahoma heat. You wished you had grabbed a shirt to cover up in– but they were all either dirty and packed away somewhere in your duffel. 

Clearing your throat, you stood up straight and crossed your arms, attempting to shield yourself from his lingering gaze. 

“Oh, hey now darlin’, don’t cover up. I’ve been stuck in the van all day with these jokers, this is the most action I’ve gotten all summer.” 

You could feel the blood rushing to your cheeks as you tried desperately to remain level headed. Anderson was a jerk– and he’d definitely make you uncomfortable… but you couldn’t imagine that he’d ever actually do anything to harm you.  

Then again, you’d never interacted with him for longer than a minute or two with Tyler and the rest of the crew at your side. This was uncharted territory that you didn’t care to explore. You felt your earlier determination to handle him on your own fade away with uneasiness.  

You turned your head towards the diner, hoping you might catch Tyler’s gaze through the window or something. Of course you were too far away for that– all you caught was the glare from the sun. 

“You know I’m not used to seeing you in clothes like this, usually you’re all covered up,” Anderson whistled. 

As soon as he took a step closer, you instinctively moved too. Except your legs collided with Tyler’s truck– preventing you from actually going anywhere. For some dumb reason, you felt obligated to hold your ground– to not let him see how uncomfortable he was really making you. But with each passing comment, you grew more and more fearful. 

Anderson now had his body angled towards you with a look that could only be described as predatorial. “God, it’s true you don’t know what you’re missin’ til you see it. We should have these heat waves more often if it means I get to take a look at this every day.”

You tried and failed to remain stoic. You wanted to yell– to tell him to shut the fuck up. But for some reason, your body and brain weren’t connecting. 

“C’mon, where is she?” he taunted. “You know, your sweet side has its perks. But I much prefer ‘em a little spicy.” 

He took another few steps closer to you. It was subtle, but you noticed. Anderson was so obviously getting a kick out of whatever the hell he was doing here, and you were doing a piss-poor job at withholding from it, like you’d originally planned. 

“Why don’t you come on back in my van with me,” he winked. “I’m not sure how your hillbilly does it, but I can show ya a real good time.” 

Get away from me, you wanted to scream. But your mouth wouldn’t move– your voice was lost somewhere inside of you. And all you could get your body to do was lean away from him slightly. 

“Don’t be like that, darlin’,” he cooed. He was so close that you could almost smell his breath. Your brain told you to fight– to shove or kick or do something to get him away from you. But all those previous instincts you had to fight back faded into paralyzing fear. 

Anderson reached across the space between you to move a loose strand of hair from your face as you began to tremble. “And don’t be afraid, baby doll. I don’t bite… too hard. Owens ain’t gotta know–”

“Anderson!” 

Your head snapped at the sound of a familiar voice… Not just any familiar voice– Tyler’s voice. He was currently storming across the parking lot with a look of pure hatred across his face. The second his eyes landed on you– undoubtedly and obviously terrified, that anger only intensified. 

“Get the fuck away from her,” he demanded. His eyes were narrowed and shockingly darker than their normal shade of sage. 

“Here he is!” Anderson taunted. “Her douche bag in shining armor.”

You couldn’t help but notice Anderson didn’t step away. In fact, if anything, he looked like he was about to step closer, just to really test his limits. But then, to your relief, you saw Boone, Dani, and Lily storming out of the diner in Tyler’s wake– all coming to your rescue. 

In an instant, Tyler was there, stepping between you and Anderson– forming the protective barrier you needed to finally feel safe again. Without thinking, you fisted the back of Tyler’s T-shirt for good measure. 

“Easy, Rambo,” Anderson sneered. “I was just tellin’ your sweetheart here how much I enjoy her new look. Who knew she had all this hidin’ under those baggy shirts? That the reason you keep her hangin’ around, Owens? I knew she had to be good for something–”

But Anderson didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence. Because before you knew what was happening, Tyler was lunging forward and connecting his fist with Anderson’s nose. 

The crack as it broke was deafening, you released Tyler’s shirt to cover your mouth in shock. Tyler hit him with enough force that he went staggering back a few steps, his hands instantly moving to cup his face. 

Tyler was still shaking off his hand when Anderson stood up straight, blood pouring out of both nostrils. 

“Damn, that bitch must be as good as she looks if she’s worth all this,” Anderson continued to taunt. Even with a broken nose, he didn’t back down.  

Without even hesitating, Tyler moved to strike again. But as soon as he did, Boone and Dani were both stepping in front of him to break things up. 

“Easy, T–” Boone said. 

“Stay the fuck away from her,” Tyler snarled in warning, pointing his finger over Boone’s shoulder. You’d never quite heard his voice so malicious or threatening before, and even though it was in your defense, it sent shivers down your spine.   

Suddenly, Lily grabbed your hand from the side, causing you to flinch. “It’s okay,” she said, tugging you a few steps away from the chaos– like she knew how badly you needed space from everything. “You alright?”

You nodded, flustered.  

“Next time you want to settle this without your little army of strays, you let me know, Owens. And next time you want a good time, Y/N, you know where to find me,” Anderson said, offering you a wink that churned your stomach. With that, he wiped some blood from his nose and began sauntering back towards his van. 

“I’m gonna fucking kill him,” Tyler snarled, still being physically held back by Dani and Boone. 

“Yeah, and he’d deserve it. But he’s not worth catchin’ a charge,” Boone said. “It’s been a slow season and we don’t got the kind of money to bail you out of jail.”

“Take a breath, T,” Dani said. “He’s walkin’ away. Take a breath.”

You watched Tyler slowly come back to his body. He listened to Dani and took a deep breath– his shoulders visibly relaxing when he exhaled. It seemed to be enough for his friends to finally release him. 

As soon as he was free from their grasp, Tyler turned around– his attention landing on you. “Are you okay?” he asked, his previously menacing voice now laced with so much care and concern. He stood in front of you– his body blocking all views of Anderson and their vans. His hands moved to cup your cheeks gently. 

“I’m fine,” you said, attempting to convince yourself more than anyone else. But even you knew it didn’t sound convincing. Your voice subtly cracked on the final word. 

Tyler stroked his thumb along your skin. The look on his face told you he didn’t quite believe you as his eyes flickered down to your trembling hands. Thankfully he didn’t ask more. 

“I gotta say that was a nasty right hook, T,” Boone said, clapping Tyler on the back as he approached. “I didn’t know you had it in ya.”

“What’d that asshat say to you?” Lily asked. “You looked really shaken up when we saw you out the diner window.”

“Nothing,” you mumbled, too embarrassed to repeat his taunts. You were shocked by how self-conscious you suddenly felt with everyone’s eyes on you. Anderson’s previous words had made you incredibly aware of every inch of yourself– like there was an electrical current humming underneath the surface of your skin. 

“Just the usual shit,” you tried to brush it off.  

You felt grateful when they didn’t push. 

Eventually, the crew disassembled– everyone focused on getting their stuff together to hit the road again. Anderson didn’t reemerge from his van, but as you sat idly in the passenger seat of Tyler’s truck, you didn’t take your eyes off from where it was parked– like you were anticipating some sort of retaliation. 

You remained hidden from the team– feeling so awkward and uncomfortable– like you didn’t want to be perceived or noticed by anyone. And you hated that Anderson’s words were the ones to make you feel that way. You couldn’t find any shirts in your duffel bag that weren’t disgusting. And currently you didn’t have the time or patience to dig through your second bag in the RV. So instead, you wrapped your arms awkwardly over your chest, trying to make yourself as small as possible just as Tyler climbed into the front seat. 

“Everyone else is riding in the RV, it’s just us,” he said, eyes lingering on you. 

“Okay,” you said, trying your best to sound casual. You wondered if he ordered everyone in the RV so that you’d feel more comfortable. You made a mental note to thank him for that later, he was always so good at reading between the lines.  

Tyler instantly noticed your uneasiness. “Baby, what’d he say to you?” 

You shrugged, refusing to meet his gaze out of sheer embarrassment. “I mean, I think you caught the gist of it at the end there… Just a lot of that.”

You heard his loud exhale. “Just say the word and I’ll barge into that stupid van and kill him right now.”

The corner of your lip tugged into a small smile. “I just want you to stay here,” you admitted. 

He nodded solemnly. Without another word, Tyler passed you something he had scrunched up in his fist. It was one of his T-shirts– like he knew you wanted to cover up without even having to say it. You took the shirt– the thanks you wanted to offer him remained stuck in your throat, but Tyler didn’t seem to mind. 

Instead, he pretended to fiddle with the radio while you silently slipped the shirt on. Almost instantly, you felt like you could relax underneath the fabric of his clothes. 

You curled your arms around yourself and tucked your knees to your chest. When Tyler asked if you were ready to head out, you nodded without another word. 

…

It was only seven when you arrived at the motel. Tyler went into the lobby to book the rooms while everyone else hung back. Boone and Lily were going on and on about using the pool later that night, but once you’d grabbed your bags from the truck, you sort of tuned it all out. 

Tyler found you sitting on the curb once he’d passed out everyone else’s room keys. He picked up your duffel from the ground before speaking for the first time in almost an hour. 

“You ready for bed?”

You nodded, offering him your best attempt at a convincing smile.  

“C’mon,” he motioned his head to the left. “We’re upstairs.”

Tyler led the way to your room– and even though this was a dingy motel, you’d never seen anything more perfect. The shades were dark, the AC worked, and there was a single, plush-looking queen bed in the middle of the room just screaming your name. 

Tyler let you shower first. And when you emerged from the bathroom, all the sweat and grime finally washed from your skin, he was gone. But in his place, he’d laid out one of his T-shirts and a pair of his boxers on the bed for you to use. You almost teared up at the sight of just how thoughtful he was… Still reading between the lines. 

You’d spent the entire duration of your shower trying to convince yourself that what had happened earlier wasn’t that big of a deal. Anderson was a jerk– of course he was going to say some jerk-ish things. It shouldn’t have been a surprise– and yet, you couldn’t shake the discomfort you felt. It was like all the words he’d said to you had nestled underneath your skin and made a home for themselves. 

In an attempt to shake the thoughts away, you quickly shrugged on Tyler’s clothes before sitting on the edge of the bed and wrapping your arms around yourself. 

Almost as soon as you sat down, you heard the front door to the motel open up. Tyler stepped into the room carrying his own bag and a couple of water bottles he must’ve grabbed for the two of you. 

“Better?” he asked, handing you one. 

You nodded and cracked it open. “Much.”

Tyler sighed before joining you on the edge of the bed. “Baby, are you sure you’re okay?” 

“I-” you started and then stopped. Your hands were shaking, but you jumped when you felt Tyler’s hand close around yours, steadying them. His touch gave you just an ounce of courage to speak. 

“It wasn’t even anything that bad–” you admitted. “I meant it earlier, you heard the worst of it… I just, I don't know, I can't explain it. But everything he said made me feel so gross… and dirty, and…” And, well, you didn’t quite know what else. Words were hard to come by tonight. 

“Oh, baby,” Tyler exhaled. He released your hand to wind his arm around your shoulders, tugging you to his chest instead.  

It wasn’t until he shushed you that you even realized you were crying, but it came out in a rush. You clung to him, instantly impressed by his ability to just make you feel so much safer. 

“I’m sorry,” you said. 

“You don’t have to be sorry,” he assured you, only squeezing tighter. 

“I don’t know why this bothered me so much–” 

“Because Anderson is an asshole and he intentionally said some gross shit to shake you up,” he answered for you. “You’re allowed to be upset by that.” 

You exhaled against his shirt, and when you licked your lips, you tasted salt. 

“I’m the sorry one,” he said. 

“What?” you shook your head. “You don’t have to be sorry–”

“I should have been there.”

“You were there,” you reminded him. “Unless I blacked out or something and I was really the one who punched him in the nose…”

Tyler chuckled softly, you felt the vibration against your chest– instantly soothing you. 

You sighed after a moment, trying to decide if you wanted to share what was really bothering you. You bit the inside of your cheek. It was so tempting to keep it to yourself, but more tempting than that was the idea of finally feeling a little more at ease again after just telling Tyler the truth. 

“I just–” you paused again. “I–” 

“Hey,” he said. You looked up at him briefly. “It’s just me.” 

That was the problem– it was Tyler. And you didn’t want Tyler thinking less of you because of what had happened. 

“I didn’t fight back,” you said quietly. “I just froze up– it was like I couldn’t even think straight. And he kept going and going, and I just stood there– taking it.”

Tyler ran his hand up and down your arm reassuringly. “What are you talking about?”

“It just felt like…” your voice tapered off. 

Tyler waited a moment before asking gently, “Like what?” 

“It just felt like I didn’t do anything to stop it,” you whispered so quietly you weren’t even sure he’d heard you. “Like I let it happen.”

“Baby,” Tyler sighed. “Baby, no. Anderson is such a jackass, it wouldn’t have mattered what you said–”

“But I could have told him to get the fuck away from me–”

“You were just trying to keep yourself safe. Baby, we can’t control how we react when we’re scared. It’s fight or flight–”

“Or freeze,” you mumbled, embarrassed. 

“Or freeze. I’m pretty sure fawning is one too, now,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter– what matters is you can’t control that you froze. Just like–”

“Just like you couldn’t control punching him in the face?” you asked. 

You glanced up just in time to see Tyler’s lips tug into a smile. “Exactly,” he said. 

“I just wish my fear reaction was a little more effective,” you pouted. “Freezing didn’t do much.”

You let your eyes fall shut when Tyler tugged you closed to his chest. “I guess it’s a good thing you have a douchebag in shining armor to come help whenever you need it,” he smirked. 

“Thanks for protecting me,” you said quietly. 

“I’ll always protect you, you know that,” he said, planting a soft kiss on the top of your head. 

You smiled against his chest. You really did know that. “And thanks for punching him in the nose.”

Tyler snorted. “Anderson’s had that coming for a long time.”

[mantou-rin]

Midnights With You

Prompt: You can't sleep and your boyfriend's lap looks too comfortable

Characters: Kozume Kenma, Reader

Genre: Fluff, comfort?

Word count: 551

A/N: I wrote this at work so please do not expect much, I'm just here to fuel your delusions. Also I didn't proofread this so I'm sorry if there are any errors

Aside from the clicking sounds of a keyboard, the room was otherwise silent. You lay aimlessly on the bed as you scrolled through your phone, your eyes taking in the various contents social media had to offer. 

It was pushing 2am, and you knew very well that you should be going to bed soon, but you couldn’t bring yourself to sleep for some reason. 

Looking up from your phone, you took in the sight of your boyfriend focused on the computer screen, his fingers moving expertly across the keyboard as he played his game. 

Right. He did tell you there was a new update today so that was probably why he was so set on playing it tonight. 

The lights at his table had been dimmed to a comfortable setting, one which he knew you had no problem falling asleep to. He was also a quiet gamer for the most part, so why was it you couldn’t fall asleep? 

Perhaps there was a lingering feeling of you wanting to spend more time with him, but the two of you had already been out the whole day - both of you visited a cat cafe this morning and proceeded to go to a gaming pop-up exhibition that he had been looking forward to for weeks. You acknowledged that he had spent a good chunk of his time with you, and you also understood that he needed his alone time to wind down, which is why you didn't object when he told you he wanted to spend the night gaming. 

So why were you being so needy right now? 

You found your body moving unconsciously, and before you knew it, you were standing by your boyfriend’s side. He sensed your presence and immediately looked up from his game, his eyes meeting yours. Just a quick glance and he could tell you were exhausted, your shoulders were slumped and your eyes were about to close. Given he was smart, so he also concluded that somehow you had problems falling asleep despite the optimal environment he set for you. 

Naturally he removed his headphones and adjusted his position in a way that you had easy access to his lap. He gestured for you to come take a seat and you felt your body falling into his, your head finding a comfortable position on his chest as you wrapped your arms around his waist. 

“Kenma…” you mumbled. 

You felt one of his hands rubbing circles on your back, while the other held your head close to him. You felt so comfortable it was almost therapeutic. 

Kenma went back to his game shortly after, and you could vaguely feel his arms moving, but his body was relaxed. 

“He must be winning right now” you thought to yourself. 

You weren't sure how long more you stayed awake, but you remembered falling asleep soon after - which was unfortunate because Kenma wore the faintest smile on his face and his cheeks were tinted a soft pink, a rare sight which you were not able to witness. 

“I guess the gaming can wait” Kenma softly mumbled to himself before turning off the computer. Gently his hands found themselves in the same position as before - one hugging you tight and the other holding your head close to him.

Very soon he too, fell asleep. 

[going-to-ikea-for-the-fries]

It's a Match! || poly!141 x Reader

[Chapter 29] || [Chapter 31]

Pairing: 141 x gn!Reader Words: 1.4K~ cw: injuries + recovery Summary: While overcoming recent heartbreak, you decide to join Tinder in search of a rebound. Your friends advise to just Swipe Right indiscriminately... What happens when 4 soldiers from the same squad match with you? a/n: johnny is a filthy man :) but also we love him so is that a problem? no, it's not.

Chapter 30: Playing House

It took a while, but, Simon got healthy, and John and Kyle got their soreness’ settled enough to be able to go back to work.

Johnny, however, needed a little extra TLC. Being shot in the shoulder involved a longer period of medical leave, paired with a long while of physical therapy…

And that means that he decided to make himself your problem.

The rest of the lads left on a mission a few days after being cleared and, as such, left Johnny with you. Not because the lad is incapable of looking after himself, but more so because he, himself, decided he didn’t want to be away from you.

And so, whenever you leave for work, Johnny leaves for PT, then, goes to base for a bit, mostly doing work on things that he can feasibly do without straining his left shoulder/arm… Like doing paperwork and reports, going to the gym for cardio, crunches, and leg and hip workouts… Then he comes home to you.

He goes shopping for you, cooks you dinner, cleans after the two of you, despite your insistence that he rest… But, as it turns out, Johnny isn’t good at that.

Nonetheless, the flat is cleaner than ever before, Johnny’s drawing supplies are permanently stationed on the dining room table, next to your laptop, and some of his clothes have taken a permanent spot in your closet.

And, of course, he spends every night in your bed, spooning you from behind and hiding his face in your neck while you watch tiktoks, talk, or he regale you with the most ridiculous of puns.

In a way, it’s like Johnny MacTavish is your live-in boyfriend. Or, rather, that you’re playing house with him.

You wouldn’t say you hate it. In fact, it’s quite nice to have someone staying with you all night… Johnny is a good partner, he’s helpful and chill and provides wonderful cuddles…

Though you’ve jokingly started calling him ‘Johnny Price’, because, since he hasn’t been working for a month now, he’s let his beard grow out. And he looks like Price more often than he does not.

It’s on week three of your new routine with Johnny when you’re at work, that you get a text from him:

Johnny: guess what bonnie. Johnny: [1 Video Attachment]

You definitely should’ve put on some headphones before you watched that video during work… His grunting and groaning was almost pornographic and definitely earned you a few confused/worried looks from your coworkers…

But all you could think of was how he was finally easing back into his arm/shoulder workouts, which meant he finally got cleared by his PT to do as such!

you: did you finally get cleared johnny? 🥺 Johnny: cleared at 50%. Johnny: not there yet. but soon. you: I’M SO PROUD OF YOU! 🫶🫶🫶 Johnny: thank ye bonnie  you: this calls for a celebration! Johnny: i like how ye think bonnie but im not cleared yet to be able to manhandle ye 😏 you: get ur mind out of the gutter johnny price!!!!!!!! Johnny: oof not ye still calling me that! you: ur beard is looking like his what do u expect of me! 🙄 Johnny: yer right idk what i expected. Johnny: so about this celebration. you: i was thinking we go out for dinner? Johnny: are we going to dress up nice? you: i wasn’t thinking we’d go somewhere super fancy because i do not have money johnnyyyy Johnny: oh good because i dont think i can button up a shirt my shoulder is sore 😖 you: okay then! nando’s!!! 🫶  you: and i’ll give you a shoulder rub when we get home Johnny: speaking my language bonnie.

And so that’s what you did. You went home in a hurry to shower and change, and, for once, Johnny wasn’t there, having chosen to shower and change at base.

You met up in front of the Nando’s closest to your flat and you immediately chuckled at the sight of him. Sure, he had changed, but he was still very much wearing a pair of jeans, sneakers and a grey zip-up hoodie… Although you could very obviously tell he was naked beneath the hoodie.

“Mo leannan.” He murmured in an exaggeratedly polite tone as he popped the door open for you with his good arm.

“Thank you, my good sir…” You joked, which caused you both to chuckle and shake your head.

You got inside, ordered your food and, as you talked, you site adjacent to him, right on his left side, so you could gently rub his arm with your hand.

“Do you miss the lads?” You ended up asking him as you caressed his bicep and shoulder with your hand, watching him wince a bit at it, because he felt so sore from his first workout.

“A little.” Johnny admitted as he looked toward you. “Do you miss ‘em?” He returned the question. You found yourself nodding in reply.

“Having you here is wonderful though… I… quite miss you lot when you’re all gone together. Not to mention I worry sick for you.” You admitted and pressed your lips together a bit awkwardly.

“You do?” He asked you, to which you nodded. So, he continued. “Well.. I guess I understand. I imagine my mam and sisters worry about me too… As do the Kyle and the Captain’s families.” He conceded.

“That’s actually…” You found yourself trailing off as the waiter brought you your orders and you thanked him, unboxing your food so you could dig in.

“As I was saying…” You trailed off. “That’s actually an interesting point… I feel like I know very little about you and the guys’ when it comes to your personal lives… Outside of hobbies and what you do with me.” You mused as you glanced at him as he dug into his double chicken burger one-handed.

“I don’t know much about the others myself to be honest with you.” Johnny admitted as he stole one of your chips off your plate.

“Really?” You asked softly as you ate your own sandwich yourself, nodding along as he continued speaking.

“We try to keep our… ‘outside’ lives under wraps. Even being a team… what we talk about is always very superficial.” He trailed off.

“So you don’t know anything about the rest of them, nor them about you?” You cocked a brow in confusion.

“Oh, no, bonnie, I talk about myself a whole lot, I’m a blabber mouth, me.” He joked and winked at you. “But family is one of those topics that’s best kept under wraps in our line of work.” He told you as he leaned in, rubbing his thumb on the corner of your mouth to wipe it clean of peri-peri sauce. Then, he sucked his own thumb clean.

“What about me? Do I get to know about you?” You asked him playfully as you leaned forward, setting your elbow on the table as you lean in to him, eyebrows raised in intrigue.

“Tell ye what, bonnie.” Johnny leaned toward you too, licking his fingers clean and then wiping them on a napkin before he set a hand on your thigh under the table. “Anything I tell ye about my family is not going to do them justice… So how about I take ye up to meet my family over the summer… And ye meet them directly? Could even take the Captain, Simon and Kyle with us.” He offered.

Your eyes widened a bit and you blinked away the surprise, staring at him like he had grown a second head.

“Meeting your family? Really? Isn’t it a bit early for that…?” You chuckled a bit sheepishly.

“Aye, maybe it is…” He trailed off. “But at this point, I’m basically livin’ wit ye and ye’ve looked after me in sickness, haven’t ye?” He joked. “And I’ve fended off yer ex… so I’ve looked after ye in health, haven’t I?”

Rolling your eyes in amusement, you shook your head. You knew he was just joking, the look in his eyes showed it… “Are you implying that we’re married, Johnny?” You teased him playfully.

“I’m just saying…” He trailed off playfully, a playful smirk on his lips. “And, if we were married, not saying that we are,… I’d make sure to take ye home tonight and rearrange yer guts if ye let me, mo leannan.”

Looking away and biting your lip, you couldn’t help but chuckle. “Shut it…” You trailed off. “You need to rest, your shoulder’s bad still.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t use my mouth on ye… and that you can’t be on top.” He added before he grabbed another one of your chips and popped it in his mouth.

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If the video doesn't work: TUMBLR LINK

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taglist (CLOSED! not adding anyone else, sorry!):

@daisychainsinknots , @bunnysdaydreams , @iite-cool , @lahniu , @pagesfalling ,

@tapioca-milktea1978 , @live-love-be-unique , @thelaisydazy , @littleghosthunter , @bossva ,

@emotion-no-hot-yes-hotel-trivago , @chamomiletealeaf , @ghosts-hoe , @kariiiel , @ltbarnes ,

@irregulardongyoung , @spacelia , @hayleybarnesx , @cod-z , @frescoisnotinthemilitary ,

@leeeenistop , @lucienbarkbark , @xxshadowbabexx , @severenswife , @enarien ,

@agoodmoviekiss , @l0lziez , @whos-fran , @greatstormcat , @openup-yourmind ,

@neoarchipelago , @sodavrr , @cutiecusp , @lilliumrorum , @c-nstantine ,

@kneelforloki , @comeonatmebruh , @codsunshine , @waiting-so-long , @captainquake42 ,

@gazspookiebear , @mynameismisty , @reap3erslov3 , @reaper-chan666 , @poohkie90 ,

@kitwithnokat , @stick-the-dumbass , @mothsdrabbles , @justanerd1 , @thesinsoflust ,

@thriving-n-jiving , @blckbrrybasket

[flippinpancakes64]

Hello 👋

If you have time could I request the cullens or just Jasper hale x reader whose really easily startled.

And like when they get scared they start crying not being there upset or anything but that's just there bodies first reaction

I love you work

The Cullens with a Reader who is easily startled

This might be the first story where I’m the reverse of this. I love sneaking up and scaring people lol

And thank you for the kind words!

Thank you for requesting and I hope you enjoy!

Edward:

You’re gonna need to put a bell on him

He thinks it’s funny when you jump

So he sneaks up on you all the time just to mess with you

But one time he scared you so bad that you started crying

He felt so bad

He still sneaks up on you after that

Just not as often

Or at least not after you’ve watched a scary movie

Alice:

She can be sneaky when she wants to be, but she usually announces her presence

So if she ever startles you just know that it’s an accident

One time she walked into your room to show you something

She even knocked and everything

But you were wearing headphones so you didn’t hear her

And you got spooked so bad you started crying

She spent the whole night consoling you after that

Jasper:

He doesn’t mean to scare you

He’s just a quiet person

Everyone else that he’s around are super sensitive and can feel when he enters the room

He forgets that you can’t

So he scares you a lot

He’s started standing at the entrance to the room you’re in and calling your name until you see him

He always uses his ability to make you feel better tho

Rosalie:

She’s also not one who usually sneaks into a room

She’s always wearing heels of some kind, so you can hear her coming most times

But sometimes if you’re distracted you don’t notice her coming

She always feels super bad that she’s the reason you’re crying

So she tries to click her heels more when entering the room

Emmett:

He’s a bit of a dick

He also needs a bell

He can never unintentionally scare you, since his footsteps are super loud

But when he wants to, he can be super quiet

He feels terrible the first time he makes you cry

But after you tell him that it’s just a knee-jerk reaction and not you actually being upset, he keeps sneaking

Sorry you’ll just have to live like that i guess

Esme:

Again, never intentional

And she always feels terrible

Even if you don’t cry, she never intends to scare you

And if you do start crying then she is so upset with herself

She wears tap shoes for a while

Just so that you can always hear her coming

Carlisle:

Another one who never means to catch you off guard

He’s just a very gentle person with very gentle footsteps

He always apologizes

And always consoles you when you start crying

He starts calling your name when he enters a room

Vampire! Bella:

She starts out as a prankster

She loves watching you jump

But the first time she makes you cry, she never does it again

She swears to not do it ever again and she doesn’t

She doesn’t want to be the reason why you’re crying ever

Even if you tell her it’s okay and that it’s not her fault she still blames herself

[canihaveacalmtime]

"Here's your hot cocoa, have a good evening!"

You receive your drink as you bow, thanking the employee and go outside to find a seat. As you sat next to a decorated christmas tree, you look in front of you and see a giant build board printed a familiar face on it.

Should you be proud to know that your memory is very good because you could recognize your highschool bully?

Probably not, haha...

You take a sip of your cocoa, thinking about what had happened in the past between the two of you.

--------------------------

It's like any other highschool bully story that everyone always read, during your first year, you were picked on by the richest and the most handsome guy in school and he forced you to do his homework everyday for 2 years. Tormenting you in the halls, drag you out whenever his mood isn't it, making you a laughing stock for the whole school.

But why only 2 years? Because everything went upside down for him when the last year started.

His parents had enough of him and brutally cut off his bank account, told him that either he learn how to work hard or he'd never get his hands on his father company. When he thought that his long time friends would still be there to support him through this, they quickly turn their backs on him upon knowing that he has no use left to them.

During the time he was at his worst, you stepped in and offer him a helping hand, telling him that you will help him with everything for this last year and in return, he must comply with your one request and can not decline.

He was wary at first when you suddenly did that but he had no other choices as there was no one else except you that would help him anyways.

And he was not disappointed for trusting you, you supported him through every single thing, improved his grades making him in the top 50 of the school, engaged him in participating in that model contest and also fulfil the role of being a friend that he can rely on.

When the school year end came, it was also time he hear your request. You couldn't remember much about anything other than what you said, you can't remember how the scenery looked like, what the principal was saying on stage, even the look on his face because after you said it, you left immediately.

"Let's never cross paths ever again in this life, that is my request."

--------------------------

You realized that your cup is now empty just like how the streets are also beginning to be, so you throw the cup into the trash can and walk home.

You wonder back to the times when you were teaching him the subjects, you would sometime catch him staring in an obsessive way at you but you didn't really care back then because your hatred for him was too much but now that you moved on, you wonder why he was staring at you like that.

"He also said something after I left that day but I couldn't hear what it was.." You mumble as you step out of the elevator to your apartment only to be greeted with a door that is not locked at all.

Your movements were hesitant, slowly, you open the door with cautious as you also carefully step inside your home. Right after you had closed the front door, a sudden sting on your neck send you off balance, fall into someone's arms and fainted immediately.

"Come get me at the apartment now." The tall figure said through a bluetooth headphone device on his ears.

Your bully smile down at you with a creepy smile, inhaling your familiar scent as he hug you close and tightly around his arms.

"You can tell me to do anything, give you anything, to die even. Anything but letting you leave."

--------------------------

After they said those words, my world seemed like crashing down on me in seconds.

I guess I have no other choice but to fulfil a different request from them in the future then.

"I shall have you in my arms when we meet again, love."

--------------------------

(ayy pov change :D)

[hbdttg]

“Hold the elevator!”

The elevator doors are mere inches from closing, but Steve dutifully shoots a hand out to stop them. They slide back open, revealing a flustered-looking man about Steve’s age on the other side.

He’s dressed head to toe in black, decked out in a simple black pullover with a modest V-neck, snug black jeans, and all-black leather Chucks with a messenger bag slung across his chest. The messenger bag is, unsurprisingly, also black, but covered in a collection of tough-looking patches and pins in varying shades of—well, it’s mostly red, dark red, white, and some yellows, but the pops of color still stand out against his otherwise monochrome ensemble.

His dark, curly hair reaches a little past his shoulders and he’s got this frankly outdated fringe that, despite its very 80’s vibe, frames his face perfectly. His eyes are large and expressive, and he’s got this frantic energy about him that reminds Steve of a live wire. He’s nothing like the buttoned-up suits Steve usually shares his elevator rides with each morning, and it’s a refreshing change of pace.

The man gives Steve a thankful look before stepping into the elevator and leaning against the side wall. “Thanks,” he says, a little distractedly. He’s got a pair big of headphones on and Steve realizes he’s in the middle of a phone call when he adds, “No, not you, Gare, I was thanking the guy who held the elevator for me. Yeah, this building’s crazy. There’s a whole-ass sixtieth floor—guess I’m kind of a big deal now.” He lets out a small, self-deprecating chuckle, reaching for the panel beside him.

As the doors close and the elevator starts to slowly ascend, Steve notices the man pressed the button for the floor above his. Both the fifty-second and fifty-third floor buttons are lit in a halo of green.

“You know I didn’t want to leave you guys,” the man continues, a bit more quietly now that he and Steve are sharing the same small space, “but shit, I couldn’t turn down the pay.” He scoffs. “Ugh, listen to me, just another cog in the capitalist machine. Man, if high school me could see me now. High school Eddie used to talk big about forced conformity and rising up against the man, and now here I am—”

Steve tries not to listen to the one-sided conversation going on beside him, but it’s difficult when a moment later, he hears his own name.

“—clocking in for my first day at fuckin’ Harrington Hargrove Hagan. The pretentious bastards can’t even shorten it to an acronym or something. God forbid they have to miss out on the sound of their own names.”

Steve manages to hold in the obnoxious snort that threatens to escape him. He’s starting to think he might like this guy—Eddie, his mind supplies helpfully—but Eddie’s next words have him freezing in place.

“And it’s nepo baby central. Yeah, pretty sure all the H kiddies are hotshot brokers with the company. All the biggest accounts—gee, I wonder why.”

Steve can feel the back of his neck burning hot with a mixture of annoyance and shame as Eddie cracks a caustic joke about silver spoons and trust funds.

“You’re kidding, one of them works at this branch? Damn, I guess I’ll just keep an eye out for the guy who most looks like he’s got a giant stick up his ass.”

This is quickly becoming the longest elevator ride of Steve’s life. He grits his teeth and stares fixedly at the floor display panel above the elevator doors, watching the numbers climb higher and higher. Thirty-seven. Thirty-eight.

“Listen, I should go, but let’s grab a drink at the Hideout later. Cool, see you then. Bye.”

Forty-one. Forty-two.

Eddie removes his headphones and shoves them into his bag, angling slightly toward Steve. “Sorry about that, man.”

“You’re good,” Steve says shortly, not looking away from the changing numbers. They reach the forty-seventh floor, and all the while, he feels Eddie’s gaze on him.

It’s not like he’s openly staring, but there’s a certain weight to his furtive glances that completely counteracts his attempts at subtlety. It’s the type of gaze Steve’s familiar with, one that he’s been on the receiving end of since his sophomore year of high school when he hit a growth spurt and actually learned how to style his hair. Assessing. Appreciative. Interested.

And in any other situation, Steve would gladly engage. He’d turn on the charm, quirk the corner of his lip up in that way Robin always rolls her eyes at but reluctantly acknowledges as ‘passably effective’, and maybe even make up an excuse to sidle a bit closer.

But he’s not giving this guy his A-game.

Instead, Steve waits in stifling silence until the fifty-second floor is announced and the doors slide open. He steps forward to exit, but at the very last moment stops in the doorway.

He initially wasn’t going to say anything—though, a past version of himself would have definitely spat something biting and bitchy to Eddie about his snark, would have snootily told him to take his little assumptions and shove them where the sun don’t shine—but sooner or later Eddie’s going to realize he and Steve are colleagues, and he’s going to remember shit-talking him in an elevator on his first day of work, and it’s going to be awkward and uncomfortable.

Steve’s just speeding up the timeline, pushing for the sooner rather than the later, when he decides to spin around and fully face Eddie.

“I think you pressed the wrong button,” he says, all sweet and helpful like he’s talking to Dustin’s mom over a sink full of soapy dishes. “Couldn’t help but overhear that you work at Harrington Hargrove Hagan. It’s on the fifty-second floor, not the fifty-third.” Then he takes a small step backward, moving out into the carpeted hallway.

“Oh.” Eddie scrambles for his phone, unlocking it and scrolling quickly until he finds something that has him straightening up and smiling gratefully at Steve. “I guess I remembered it wrong. Thank you.” He pushes away from the wall, takes a step forward to follow Steve out, but then stops dead in his tracks.

Steve gleefully notes the line of Eddie’s gaze, how it lingers at the breast pocket of his shirt, where, clipped to a retractable badge reel, his building keycard hangs. Eddie evidently hadn’t noticed it during the elevator ride up, but he’s certainly fixated on it now.

Perhaps on the abstract yet easily recognizable Harrington Hargrove Hagan logo in the top right corner.

But more likely, based on the positively mortified look growing on Eddie’s face, on the name clearly printed underneath Steve’s photo in bold, black lettering: STEVE HARRINGTON.

Slowly, Eddie drags his eyes back up to Steve’s face. He stares in silence, eyes bugging nearly out of his head, face turning a concerning shade of pink, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, and his reaction is extreme enough that a small part of Steve is almost inclined to take pity on the guy and laugh it all off.

Unfortunately for Eddie, a bigger part of Steve thinks Eddie looks kind of cute all red-faced and embarrassed like this. So he glances down at himself thoughtfully before turning his attention back on Eddie. “Wow,” he says with exaggerated astonishment, “now that you mention it, I guess I do look like I’ve got a giant stick up my ass.”

As if on cue, the elevator chimes in warning. The doors begin to close, but Eddie just remains rooted in place with that same wide-eyed, horrified expression.

When it becomes clear he has no intentions of actually exiting the elevator, Steve chuckles and wiggles his fingers in a cheeky little wave. “Welcome to the team,” he says airily, before Eddie’s still-blushing face disappears behind the elevator doors.

/ Now with a Part 2!

[billieshrry]

Every Breath You Take • B.E.

Part 2! Part one here

Summary: idk read part 1 first

Warnings: psycho!billie, murder, violence, no smut but sexual tension

A/n: eh idk how i feel ab this but i might lowkey make this a series cus i love writing psycho!billie its so fun. PLS comment if you would be at all interested in that!!

If nobody is gonna read it I’m not gonna plan out a whole series so either leave a comment or leave an anon or something! Also i like that attention so everyone should comment or leave an anon anyways 😊

It had been 2 weeks after your boyfriend died. 2 weeks of confusion and sadness. 2 weeks of you being horrified of what happened and if you were next. The police found his body in what they said was “the most gruesome and awful” condition. The thought that someone could do this was terrifying to you. You couldn’t wrap your head around the fact that someone could do this to another human. You were grieving.

The only person that seemed to understand was your neighbor, Billie.

When you got the news of his passing, you were outside watering your flowerbed. Immediately you broke down, sobbing loudly in your front lawn. Embarrassing, yes, but you couldn’t help it. Billie happened to be outside working out. It’s like she was always there when you needed her most, you thought. She saw you crumble to the ground and quickly took her headphones off, running across the street to your aid.

“Hey, hey, baby what happened?” You hear her behind you, her hands on your shoulder. Her thumbs rubbed soothing circles into your shoulder blades. You were able to stutter through your cries that the police had contacted you.

You told her your boyfriend had been murdered.

You heard Billie sigh, and then she leaned in to kiss the top of your spine.

“I’m so sorry, angel. Let’s go inside, hm? I’ll make you coffee. You need to relax.”

So you let her bring you inside, let her fix you up a cup of coffee and some snacks, and you both sat on your couch, turning on the news to see if there was anything about the murder. You snuggled up into Billie’s arm, unable to sit alone to watch it.

You couldn’t be alone. You needed her. You needed Billie.

So when the news said there were no leads, and it seemed to be so animalistic that they thought wolves could’ve done it, Billie snuggled you tighter.

She knew she wouldn’t get caught. She’d been pulling this off for years. Why would they get her now? And even if this matched the M.O. from her past murders, she’s in a new state, a new town, and it had been 2 years.

Plus, they always blamed it on the animals in the woods. That’s why she always picked rural places to move to.

So while you used Billie to cope for the next few weeks, you really started to fall for her. She would scratch your back, comforting you when you were sad. You even opened up to her about your personal life. Your family, your job, even how your ex (can you say that now?) boyfriend was abusive.

Of course, Billie knew all of this already. She knew everything about you. But you didn’t need to know that. Instead, she’d hum, stroking your hair and telling you that you can trust her. And you could, because she was really starting to fall for you too. Everything was perfectly falling into place. Finally, she could have you to herself.

“Come over to mine tonight.” Billie said softly, leaving your house one morning after you made her pancakes and hot chocolate. You smiled. You had never been to her house. You didn’t really think anything of it, you didn’t feel like she was hiding anything from you, but you were excited. You finally got to see more of her. It made you happy.

“I’m off work at 6, is that okay?”

She smiles, gently grabbing your face to kiss your forehead.

“I don’t want to wait that long, but I guess I will. Want me to pick you up from work?” You chuckle. How did you get so lucky? The girl was so sweet, she was perfect.

“If you want, but I don’t want you going all tha-”

Billie cuts you off.

“I want. I’ll see you at 6, angel.”

And so you went off to work, and she walked home.

And for the next 7 hours of her day, she did nothing.

She wondered her house way too many times, perfecting each picture frame and candle and dusting off every surface. She wanted you to love it there. She wanted it to be like another home to you. Finally, 5:00 came around. She went to get ready, showering and doing her hair. She changed her clothes, putting on something comfortable but stylish, and got into her car. You texted her the address earlier in the day, but she already knew it.

As she drives towards your work, she stops at a small drive thru coffee shop, getting you a little pick me up. She pulled into your job parking lot at 5:58, parked, and waited patiently. When she sees you come out of the doors, she smiles to herself. Even when you were exhausted, you looked beautiful. As soon as you get in the car, you spot the coffee Billie got you, and you can’t wipe your smile off of your face.

“Thank you Billie, I had a really bad day.”

Billie’s heart clenches.

“Wanna talk while I drive us home? I’m all ears for you.”

And she really was all ears, turning down the music as you rant about some shitty coworker who made your life a living hell. It wasn’t that bad, but after the past few weeks, it was really your final straw. Billie doesn’t say anything, she just listens and nods her head after every few sentences.

“But, it’s okay though, ‘cause now I’m with you!” You say, smiling with your teeth on full display. Billie looks at you, and she feels her heart race.

“I’ll make your day better, sweetheart. Just wait ‘til we get home.”

As soon as you two walk in the door and you set down your purse on her kitchen island, you admire her house. It really is beautiful. It feels so homey; the family photos, pictures of her childhood pets, her and friends on various vacations. You walk around, taking in all of the plants she had scattered around, and all of the color that she used while decorating.

“You like it?” She asks, standing by the table.

“It’s gorgeous. You really have a knack for interior design!”

Billie just chuckles and walks up behind you, gently putting her hands on your waist, resting her chin on your shoulder.

“Wanna get a bit more comfortable?”

You turn around, smiling, and ask for a pair of pajama pants. She comes back with 2 pairs in different colors - one pink and one black - and a tank top for you as well.

“Take your pick. The bathroom to change is down that hallway and to the left.” She points.

You bite your lip, thinking about how she might react if you just changed in front of her. You know it’s not that crazy, I mean friends change in front of each other all the time, but you wanted her to know how you felt. You wanted her to know your body. You wanted her to think you’re sexy.

You wanted her.

As she turned to walk into the kitchen, getting something to drink, you turn your back to her. You start with your shirt, lifting it over your head slowly. You can hear the water coming out of the fridge, so you can’t tell if she’s watching yet. You slide the tank top on, and move to your pants.

You unbutton them, and then lean forward, slowly peeling them down your legs. You hear the water glass hit the counter harshly, making you jump.

“Couldn’t make it to the bathroom?” You hear Billie ask sarcastically.

“Thought you’d wanna see, I’m sorry.” You say shyly, not turning around but instead bending over farther, your ass on plain display in the cutest pair of heart-covered panties.

“Well, I never told you to stop.” She says. You can hear her pull out a barstool, presumably sitting down to watch you.

Billie’s head is spinning. She had no idea how dirty you really were. I mean, she watched you from the window, doing this exact same thing, but now that it was right in front of her? Truly for her? She was going to have an aneurysm.

You pull on the pink pajama pants, slightly jumping to get them over your butt. When you bend back down to pick up your clothes, you feel Billie’s presence behind you. She lightly traces her finger down your spine as you’re bent over in front of her, and you freeze. You feel her crotch connect to your ass. Her finger goes all the way down to the waistband of your underwear, and she toys with it, lifting it so it snaps back down onto your sensitive skin. You jump.

“You’re so pretty.” She whispers. She hears your breath pick up.

“You think so?”

“I know so, baby. Now let’s go watch a movie.” She pats your ass, making you yelp, and you hear her breathe out a laugh at the noise.

If it were up to Billie, she would’ve had you in about 12 positions already. But she wants to take her time with you. She wants to do it right. She needs to.

You both move to the couch, and you snuggle up next to her as she chooses something to watch. When you both decide on a show, you wiggle your head into her neck, and she lightly scratches your back and scalp.

The innocent noises you make from that drive her wild, but she knows you’re not doing it on purpose. Your hand rests on her thigh, rubbing circles with your thumb. Billie can’t think straight.

Well, actually, there’s one thing she can think straight about.

How she’s going to kill that bitch of a coworker that ruined your day.

You sigh in contentment, happy with where your life has taken you. You have a sweet, sweet neighbor, who you might fall in love with. Who gets that lucky? You don’t even think she would hurt a fly. You watch her eyebrows twitch as she focuses on the show.

“I really like you, Billie.” You say softly, almost embarrassed. She turns her head and hums, either from not hearing you or because she wants to hear it again.

“I said, I really like you, Billie.” Your giggles soak into her brain, and she smiles.

“I really like you, too. You have no idea how much I would do for you.”

You giggle a little more and Billie squeezes your hip playfully.

“Well, then do it all for me!”

She looks at you, enamored by the glimmer in your eyes. She leans in, your foreheads touching. She can feel your heart beating out of your chest.

“Don’t worry baby, I will.” She whispers out before leaning in, gently capturing your lips in hers. Your brain turns to mush, her pillowy lips encasing yours. Your tongues mingle for just a second before she pulls away, leaving you breathless.

“Now, watch the show.”

So you do, not knowing that 4 days later, the girl driving you wild with a simple kiss would kidnap and murder your coworker so you didn’t deal with her bullying anymore.

You had no idea that Billie would drag her into the same basement, blasting old rap music this time, and carve the heart right out of that little bitch’s chest. She told you she couldn’t see you that night, she had her own work thing to attend with her brother, something about a studio.

It was hard for you to pay attention when the girl talking to you was so beautiful.

And it was hard for Billie to pay attention to your coworker in front of her, because all she could think about was your pretty little body, your bright eyes, and your smile.

But alas, she thought about the ugly whore in front of her long enough to kill her, hide the body, and clean up before she came over to your house late, telling you that she just got home from the studio and couldn’t go another minute without you.

“You’re really the sweetest, Billie. I mean it.”

She smiles.

“Only for you, sweetheart.”

And when the news blasted the story of the missing girl, Billie was the one you ran to. Billie was the one that held you tight, kissing your head and whispering sweet nothings into your ears, telling you everything would be okay. She promised you that you would be okay.

Billie didn’t have to feign sadness, seeing you this sad was heartbreaking for her. She didn’t kill for you so you could be sad. She killed for you so bad people were out of your life.

She only wanted what was best for you! You knew that, you could tell that Billie really cared about you. She always wanted you to be okay, always asked about how you were feeling and how your day went. She was so caring, so passionate toward you.

You really might be falling in love with her.

A week after your coworker was “found dead in the woods, possibly by animals again,” the town went back to normal. You went back to work, with Billie dropping you off and picking you up every day. You thought you’d have to beg her to agree to doing it, but it was a lot easier than you thought. Not only did you just enjoy spending time with her, but you were scared to be alone. You didn’t want to die, not by the hands of animals or a crazy killer on the loose, whatever it was.

Billie agreed, saying it’s for the best if she keeps a watchful eye on you.

So on you two went with your lives, busy with each other and busy with yourselves. Work kept you occupied, unable to think too much about how two people in your life had vanished. And you kept Billie occupied, as she made mental notes of who you talked to, who you liked, and who you didn’t.

Specifically the last one on that list.

[mazikeenhyde]

Sweat on me...

Wrestler Reader x Rhea Ripley x Jey Uso 

WARNING – Smut, Threesome, Rhea x Jey Use, Rhea x Reader, Jey Use x Reader

Part One

*As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I wear my crown of thorns and pull the knife from my chest, I keep searching for something that I never seem to find, but maybe I wont cause I left it all behind* (Music -Hollywood Undead – HEAR ME NOW)

The music in my headphones blasted through my ear drums, the bass pounding in time with my heartbeat as I entered my third round of sprints on the treadmill. I had just finished on the weights and now my main focus was pushing hard on cardio. Monday night RAW didn’t start for another 6 hours, I got here early to get in a harsh workout. I got the call up from NXT about 4 months ago but If I wasn’t going to better myself, I was never going to escape the mid card section. I needed to be better, to be stronger, to be faster. I needed to be the best. 

I had met many of the superstars on the main roster, I was good acquaintances with most of them, but I had never developed any key relationships or friendships. Whether my past relationships held me back from trying to find love again or I was happier with my solitude and harsh work schedule to keep me busy, my main focus these days was training and performing. 

My legs were aching, my chest tight and I could feel the sweat dripping down my neck. It was so hot in here, the only other person that I was aware of in the gym with me was Damian Priest. He was a really nice guy, acted more like a big brother around most of us younger girls but he kept to himself when he worked out. I preferred it that way, meant I could focus, though if I ever needed any help he would always be there. He had helped me earlier mind you when I was pushing for a personal best when upping the weight on the bench press, Damian had offered to spot me just in case I struggled. But aside from that he had kept to himself, you could hear his loud music blasting through his headphones as he worked hard on his shoulders. 

What I never realized though, was that a couple other wrestlers had also entered the gym too, I guess with my music being so loud, and my focus being locked in I hadn’t paid much notice. I figured aside from Damian, most other top talent arrived for RAW much later. 

If I had of known Rhea Ripley and Jey Uso were also inside the gym, warming up and getting ready to train behind me, seemingly admiring me from a short distance I would have probably tried to control my breathing a little better. Maybe focused on not sounding like an exhausted pigeon gasping for breath! 

“Damn… girls really going for it!” Jey said suggestively, nudging Rheas shoulder as he admired my figure sprinting away. 

“Pretty girl with cute backside and just a touch of innocence…” Rhea grinned as she ran her tounge bar across her teeth, her black lipstick embellished across her perfect lips. 

Everyone at WWE and in the locker, room already knew, that ever since Dominik had been the twat bag he was and had broken Rhea’s heart, choosing dumb barbie over the gothic goddess that is Rhea Ripley, Jey had made his move and those two were now together. A lot of them had seen them hook up at after parties, in bars and return to the same hotel room together, occasionally bringing a third party along. Nearly the whole roster had gotten use to them both being the latest ‘IT’ couple, the life of all the parties and anything scandalous was easily kept under wraps by the WWE management team. Though the pair had been warned to reel it in a bit since their latest trip to Las Vegas, Nevada upon which Hunter had been forced to cover an extortionate bill for multiple trashed hotel rooms, a flooded jacuzzi and several empty mini bars. These top talent stars knew how to party, and they did it well. 

Aside from a couple small gatherings and after show meet ups to local bars, I hadn’t really pushed myself to go out and mingle. I was solely focused on training to further my career, so you could say that as time had gone on, I was missing my wilder days in NXT where being carefree felt so easy. Risk taking was so natural and one of flings, they were like the relief you get from that itch you just can’t scratch… alone. 

“Mami likes?” Jey looked down at Rhea who nodded, locking her eyes onto his, seemingly as if they both knew what the other wanted. 

“Work hard, play harder, right?” Rhea looked up at him and winked, scanning her eyes over my frame. Jey’s eyes scanned over my ass, raising his hand to cover his lips as he bit down on the edge of his thumb. He sucked air through his teeth as he lifted one foot on top of the bench and leant down onto his knee whispering into Rhea’s ear, who in turn smirked.  

The machine sped up again and so did I, fully zoned into my workout, I hadn’t attempted to reach this speed before but the words from the trainers echoed in my head. 

“Y/W/N,  you’ve got to be faster, better! Improve your stamina! You won’t get any further unless you push yourself harder! Get comfortable with being uncomfortable!” 

I was powering on, even if I felt dizzy, the sweat was building as I pressed on, swinging my arms to the pace of the music. But my headphones cut out. 

“Y’all need to take it easy…” Damian’s dark voice came from behind me as I suddenly became aware there were more people in the gym than I had thought, but curiosity got the better of me and I pretended I couldn’t hear them. 

Damian stood, reaching for his towel and wiping the sweat from his face exited the room, shaking his head and laughing at the randy pair who seem to have abandoned their warmup to admire a different potential sweat session instead. 

Rhea gave a half corner smirk as she winked at Damian while he left. It was very obvious her inner sexual demons had taken over and they were now plotting their next steps. Taking her hand and running it along Jey’s thigh she watched the sweat on my lower back glisten in the artificial gym lights. 

“Man, aye uce that girl fine as hell” Jey smirked as he ran his hand down Rheas back, nuzzling his lips against her neck as she squirmed in her seat. Her mini gym shorts  began riding up her tattooed thighs as she grinded softly against the weights bench. 

I won’t deny hearing their words of praise, of lust and of their desires to fuck me in the showers was equally turning me on as it was getting me through this horrendous cardio session. But I really didn’t know how to deal with this situation either, was I prepared to go down this route? I was so new to the main roster, did I really want to go and start adding bumps to an already difficult mountain I was climbing? 

Honestly…. Yeah, I think I did. 

“What you sayin Mami? What you thinking baby…” he continued as his hot breath flushed against Rheas ear. She let out a small moan at the sensation, her stomach tightening into a knot as  

“I think baby girl needs a shower… I think we ALL …need a shower” Rhea winked and stood pushing Jey down to take a seat on the weights bench, his arms latched on as his hands held tightly to her waist. Rhea perched herself on his thigh, continuing to grind her clit against him. His breath was sharp as their lips locked tightly, each others tounges dancing  in unison as Jey let out a few deep primal grows from his chest in desperation to climb on and devour his girlfriend. 

Rhea stood, pulling at Jeys shirt so he would follow her. 

“Come on baby, after all her hard work she deserves a reward, a surprise?” Rhea’s grin grew as Jey bit down on his lip and looked over to me. I was trying to hard to focus on what I was doing, to not fall off the treadmill, to not let them know I could hear them. 

“a hot, wet, soapy surprise” Rheas words planted deep inside Jey’s lust to fuck the pair of us against the shower screen doors and while his legs felt like jelly at the thought, he followed Rhea toward the changing rooms and into the shower block. The pair of them sniggering as they went. 

A short moment later, when I was sure they had gone I pressed the emergency stop button on the treadmill and stood, trying to catch my breath. The sweat dripped down from my forehead to the ground below me as I collected myself. I was physically exhausted, mentally wiped and I needed to shower, sleep and get ready for the show later that evening. 

Turning around I got off the machine and picked my bag up from the floor beside me. It was there it clicked in my head. I had a decision to make. 

I could turn Left, leave the gym and go back to my hotel room. I could shower, nap and get ready for the show. 

OR 

I could turn right, go into the changing rooms and enter the shower block where I knew Rhea and Jey were waiting for me. Lurking in the shadows in hopes of a surprise soaped up, fuck around threesome. 

I paused for a second, my heart still racing. 

Seems like my feet made the decision for me. 

……………

…………….

…………….

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as a deep voice, fueled with hot breath and sexual desire filled my ears. 

“I knew you could hear us…” 

[trippinsorrows]

without you + two

authors note: there's a couple moving parts at play here. some foreshadowing in this one as well. as things get more intense, i'll add appropriate cw/tw's.

do not read this story if you haven’t read ’with me’. it won’t work as a standalone.

warnings: none

song inspo: be without you by mary j. blige

one

words: 6k

Since having a conversation with Callie and reassuring her that nothing and no one could separate her from Y/N and Joe, she’s calmed down a bit with the possessiveness. She’s still very much interested in making him her personal playmate, which he doesn’t necessarily oppose, but she’s also just as interested in playing and spending time with Y/N as well.

It’s balanced out. 

Joe is even able to take Y/N out for date night that includes a hotel room and night spent with just each other while Callie stays the night at Kaylah’s house with Ellie. 

For all intents and purposes, it’s a bit of smooth sailing.

But now, it’s time for meetings.

Because while Joe is on indefinite leave from television and the ring, he still very much has a huge chunk of say in the creative direction of the Bloodline. Thus, scheduled meetings to discuss how that all plays out during his absence are occasional.

Joe is in the middle of listening to Paul and Hunter propose some ideas regarding Joseph, Solo, and his promotion with Joe being off air. He’s about to comment on something when there’s a small knock on the door. 

It’s followed up with the door opening, revealing Callie, her tablet and headphones in hand. Joe hits mute on the mic and computer and turns to her. “What’s up, baby girl?”

Instead of verbally responding, Callie walks over and climbs onto his lap. She hands him the tablet and headphones. “I wanna watch Moana.”

Joe chuckles. “I thought you were taking a nap with mommy.” A planned, scheduled thing because Y/N wanted to give Joe some privacy. Wanted to let him be able to focus and zone in on work without his little twin shadowing him.  

Not that that matters at this moment. There’s no way he’s turning his daughter away.

“I’m not tired.” She replies in the voice of a child who probably is in fact tired but too stubborn to actually sleep.

Joe takes the tablet, putting the passcode in and unlocking it as he gets to work on syncing her headphones.

Callie, meanwhile, looks around and realizes the computer is on, a video conference between the men at play. Curious, she asks in that sing-song voice. “What are you doing?”

Joe matches her tone, answering. “In a meeting.”

Head tilted, Callie follows up with a question he knows is really for something else. “How long is the meeting gonna be?” I.e. how much longer till he can play and spend time with her. 

It brings a smile to his face as she looks over at the screen, waving when she sees Joseph. He quickly hits unmute on both the mic and computer. 

“Hi, cousin Joseph!”

Joseph smiles, “what’s up, Callie?” He then asks. “What you been doing?”

“Playing with daddy!” She answers, leaning over closer to the computer than probably what’s necessary. “How come you and daddy have the same name?”

Joseph laughs, shrugging. “I guess our family really likes the name Joseph.”

Callie suddenly takes a bit of an attitude, correcting almost even though she’s literally the one who said they were the same names. “My daddy’s name is Joe.” 

Joe chuckles. She’s every bit of her mom sometimes. He beckons her to turn around to face him, placing her headphones over her ears. “She’s supposed to be taking a nap with her mama.”

Headphones on but nothing playing yet, Callie turns back to the screen and only then notices Paul and Hunter. She waves enthusiastically. “Hi, Mr. Hunter. Hi, Mr. Paul!”

They laugh and greet her, Hunter asking, “you don’t want to go take a nice nap? I sure wish I could take one.”

She pouts and shakes her head. “Naps are boring.”

“Spoken like a child,” Paul comments, asking Callie, “I bet you could stay up for a very long time, couldn’t you, Callie?”

She nods again, sharing, “one time, I stayed up till midnight.”

The men on the screen do a wonderful job of feigning surprise at her ludicrous admission. Meanwhile, Joe is trying to figure out just when in the hell this child stayed up so late.

But, that’s a conversation for another day.

He opens up Disney Plus, navigating to the Moana splash screen and reaching it to her. He’s not sure if she wants to resume or restart, so he leaves it up to her.

A small part of him thought she’d be on her merry way with her tablet and headphones all synched and ready to go, but he also knew better. Knows his daughter. Cause Callie only proceeds to sit further back against his chest, tablet in hand as her attention is now devoted to the screen in front of her.

He shakes his head, apologizing. “I guess she’s sticking around.” He adds, “her headphones are on, so she can’t hear anything.” His suggestion to buy her the noise canceling ones truly turned out to be the best decision. “Where were we?”

Hunter waves him off. “No worries. We’re all dad’s here.” It’s evident too in the way they interact with Callie and are completely unbothered by her presence, even if unexpected. “I was just running down your potential return timeline.”

Joe quickly checks, looking down to see if Callie is somehow snooping, but she’s completely in the Disney zone. Good. She doesn’t need to overhear any of this. “Alright.”

Hunter jumps right into explaining, “Here’s what we’re thinking. A possible return for Bad Blood which will set the stage for Bloodline Civil War 2 in November. Then from there, start preparation for WrestleMania.”

Joe nods, taking in the timeline, Hunter asking, “whatcha thinking?” A lot. He’s thinking a lot. “You know this is all still up in the air. Just wanna get an idea of when you plan to come back just so we’re ready and doing what we need to do to make that what it needs to be for you.”

And he knows that. Appreciates it. Truth be told, he hasn’t thought a lot about that. His return.  Largely due to the little girl in his lap, the woman upstairs sleeping in his bed as well as the children growing in her stomach.

His family. His family has been his priority. They always will be.

But, he understands that there’s still space to think about his career as well.

“Bad Blood is in October, right?” Y/N is due in September. That’s a month, if that, to be home with the babies. They’ll still be newborns.

“Would he be required to attend all SmackDown tapings following that return?” Paul asks a very valid question, once again proving why he’s such a valuable team member for Joe to have at this point in his career.

Hunter shakes his head. “No. No, of course not. The modified schedule will stay as Joe requested. The SmackDown show immediately following Bad Blood, he’ll need to be at, but we can mess around with specific shows he’s gonna be needed for when we get there.”

Joe nods, appreciative of Hunter willing to accommodate this new part time schedule. There’s no way in hell he could return back to being on the road full time. He couldn’t do that to his family.

Couldn’t do that to Y/N.

“Let me talk to Y/N.” It should be the answer everyone saw coming. “See what she thinks.”

Callie suddenly giggles and shifts on his lap, Joe glancing at the tablet to see it’s a scene with that brainless chicken from the movie. He gestures to her. “And especially this one.”

Hunter laughs a little. “Of course. Take your time. There’s no rush. Joseph’s got this.”

Joe turns his attention to his younger cousin. “You’re doing great already, man.” 

Joseph appears deeply appreciative of the kind words. “Thanks, Uce. That means a lot.” 

Hunter checks the time on his watch. “Well, I’ve got another meeting in a couple of minutes, so Joe just reach out when you have an answer or just to let me know where your head is. Or you can have Paul contact me too.”

“Will do. Thanks again for understanding.”

Hunter lifts his hands. “Hey. You know if anyone gets how important family is, it’s me.” He then suggests, “but a little father to father advice that I’m sure Joseph and Paul would agree with me on….make her take the nap.”

Paul nods almost as enthusiastically as Callie when she was waving. “Absolutely.”

Joseph chimes, shaking his head. “Man, if you don’t, you gon regret it later.”

Joe chuckles, taking it into consideration even though he’s pretty certain it won’t happen. Callie is too hype. Plus, what’s one day without a nap gonna do to her?

———-

Megan fucking hates being paired with Jeremy.

For one, he’s fucking boring.

For two, he’s old and balding.

For three, he’s too nice. And not even in an insincere way. He’s truly a nice, family oriented, God fearing man. All that is fine and shit if not for the fact they’re supposed to be trying to make a sale here. The goal is to end this informal virtual meeting with Roman Reigns at least expressing that he’ll consider the role.

It’s not going to be easy. All that Megan has heard via coworkers and her own deep dive is that the man is extremely family oriented and not interested in doing anything other than spending time with his pregnant fiancé and kid for the next couple months. If not longer.

Still, with the movie primarily filming in Florida and not starting for another month or two, she’s hopeful that their pitch will be enough to win him over.

Well, less she’s more hoping Jeremy will let her handle this.

She can be….very persuasive when it comes to men.

And Roman Reigns is the quintessential definition of what a man is. Because the minute he joins in on the call, all she sees is broad, muscular shoulders, pretty brown eyes and one of the most handsome men she’s ever seen.

Unfortunately, he’s not alone.

No. There’s a kid on his lap. His kid, she’d guess. The little girl has her head down, focused on something else, but even with that angle, it’s hard not to see the similarities.

It definitely kills her mood a little bit. Hard to fanasize about a man fucking you senseless with his kid sitting right there. Still, she does her best to hide the irritation and jumps to introductions before Jeremy can.

“Hi, Roman. It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Megan, and this is my colleague, Jeremy. We’re the reps from Apex that’ll be working with you, hopefully, on your next film.” She flashes him the most charming smile she can muster and nearly moans as he also offers a smile. Not as wide. Just as friendly.

“Nice to meet you both. Please. Call me Joe.” Megan crosses one leg over the other. Joe….it fits him. “I’m also sorry about my daughter being here. She’s really been enjoying me being home.” He ends with a chuckle, kid still not looking up. Good. Hopefully, she’ll stay quiet.

Jeremy’s annoying ass, however, just has to stay true to his gregarious nature. “No worries. I got three at home. I get it. What’s her name?”

Megan has to suppress an eye roll as Joe lightly taps on the little girl’s arm. She lifts her head, and he shifts her headphone so one ear is exposed.

He asks, “can you say hi and tell them your name?”

She pouts a little, voice soft and almost unsure. “Hi. My name is Calista.”

“What a very pretty name, Calista.” Jeremy is quick with the introduction. “My name is Jeremy, and this is my friend, Megan.” 

Megan has to force herself to tap into the truly non-existent kid-interacting skills she has. “Hi there, Lis.”

Her pout deepens as she corrects with a fucking attutude, “my name is Calista. Not Lis.”

“Callie,” Joe lightly chides Calista or Callie or whatever her fucking name is. Little brat shouldn’t be there anyway. “Be nice, baby girl.”

“It’s okay,” Megan smiles. One of the first things on the list will need to be finding the brat a boarding school of some sort. She seems pretty young, but there has to be something out there. “My apologies, Calista.”

Megan is relieved when the kid places the headphone back on, tuning out the adults. And to be fair, she’s not the only one turning out because while she’s partially annoyed Jeremy then takes over the handling of the meeting, it allows her time and space to fawn over the man on screen. 

God, he’s so damn handsome, and his smile is infectious. She finds herself pushing back her own smile whenever Jeremy makes one of his lame ass dad jokes that somehow Joe seems to find funny. 

Must be a father thing.

The request for his real name to be used leads to Megan subtly grabbing her phone and googling him yet again. She can never remember his last name. It’s complicated as fuck.

Anoa’i. 

She doesn’t know how to pronounce it but decides to save that for another conversation. Preferably when his failed Plan B isn’t around. 

She finds herself doodling on her legal pad. 

Megan Anoa’i.

She can’t help the smile this time around. The pronunciation may still be unknown, but it looks damn good on paper.

Way better than Y/N Anoa’i.

But speak of the fucking devil, and she will appear. 

Because Megan watches Joe turn his head to the side and gesture over someone who turns out to be Y/N herself, thanks to Jeremy saying something about wanting to say hi.

God, she hates this man.

Y/N apologizes, and Megan has to hold back her scowl at the woman on screen, her hand on her big ass pregnant stomach. 

“Hi. I’m sorry,” she chuckles, other hand moving to Calista’s shoulder. “I just came to get this one who was supposed to be taking a nap with me.” She leans down, kissing the side of the little girl’s neck, making her giggle.

Good lord. Is this a fucking family reunion?

Jeremy also laughs. “Don’t worry about it. She’s semed real focused on that tablet versus any of our boring conversation.”

Megan forces herself to join in even though it literally kills her to talk to this woman. Like seriously, what the hell does Joe see in her anyway? If they only had one kid, she’d bet it’s because the bitch trapped him with a kid. But now two kids?

Maybe she gives good head or something.

Megan is better though.

“Oh, I bet whatever she’s watching is way cooler.”

Y/N lands her eyes on Megan. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

Megan forces a deeper smile and little laugh. “Megan. I’m sorry, I don’t think I offered it. Sometimes, I space out a bit during these types of things.”

“Don’t even worry about it. I’m a teacher. I get it.” She doesn’t remember asking this bitch what she does for a living but okay. “I’ll just escort this one….” 

Caliope or whatever the fuck her name is starts to whine, and it’s irritating as fuck. “I wanna stay with daddy.”

“Daddy’s gotta work,” Y/N emphasizes, offering a potential compromise Megan hopes the kid goes for. “Come help me make dinner, and you can have ice cream for dessert.”

That does it as the girl gasps, jumps off Joe’s lap, and sprints off, out of view. Good.

Y/N laughs and waves bye. “It was nice meeting both of you.” The feeling isn’t mutual, but Megan musters up another smile and feels utterly relieved when they both leave.

If only Jeremy would do the same that way things could be as they should.

Just Megan and Joe.

—-------------

Mom: Hi, baby. Just got out of evening service, and you fell heavy on my spirit. I just want you to know I’m always here for you, and I know I always raised and told you how strong we as black women are. But, I don’t know if I told you enough how we don’t always have to be strong.

Mom: You’re about to be a mother again to three babies at the same time. That’s a lot on anyone, even with the support you’re gonna have. I guess what I am trying to say is that I hope you know you can always talk to me if you need it. 

Mom: Talk to Joe. Your sister. Someone. Just never think that you’re alone.

Mom: Love you, and I’ll try to call you tomorrow. ♥️

You have to read over your mom’s texts a couple of times before shaking your head and chalking it up to her just being an overtly concerned mom who’s worried about her daughter who just moved away from home. 

Regardless, you appreciate her kind words even if they don’t necessarily seem….well…..necessary.

There was a bittersweet theme to your first pregnancy, the absence of Joe and not having him as your partner noticeable, maybe more than you initially realized. But, that was then, and this is now. He’s back in your life. For good. You’re about to commit yourself to this man until death do you part.

You’re about to welcome three beautiful babies in the fall. The most strength you’ll need to deal with whatever stress or trial your mom believes is coming will probably be limited to the fact that you’ll have to push out three children at the same damn time.

And even then, Joe will be right by your side.

So again, while you forever love your mom and her thoughtfulness, she’s worried for nothing.

The person who should be worried is your future husband who suddenly walks into the bedroom, brushing his hands together. “Okay, kitchen is all clean, Callie Bear is sleep—” You snort, grabbing the remote to pause the episode of Judge Judy you were watching. “What?”

“Didn’t you say you didn’t make her take a nap today?” 

He looks from side to side confused. “Yeah. She said she wasn’t tired.”

Covering your mouth to hold in your laugh, you inform him as kindly as you can, “then that child is not asleep.”

“I put her down for bed. She was falling asleep when I left.”

You sigh. Your poor, handsome future husband is so naive. “Did you take her tablet when you left?”

“No, cause she was sleep.”

“Joe, I bet you any money that lil’ girl is in her room right now on that tablet watching Disney Plus or playing Roblox cause I know you forgot to put the passcode back on it too.” He opens and then closes his mouth. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” You sit back against the pillows, grabbing a couple more pretzels from the bag you were eating out of. “You’re gonna have to go in there and set her lil’ ass straight. Because she’s gonna be irritable as hell too since she didn’t have her nap.”

He sucks his teeth. “I keep telling you she’s sleeping.” You roll your eyes, chewing on the pretzels and sipping some of your sweet tea. “And if she’s not for some reason—”

“She’s not.”

“—I’ll just tell her to go to sleep.”

That makes you almost choke on your food. “That’s funny. You think it’s just gonna be that easy? Joe, you haven’t seen Callie throw a tantrum before. She’s a lil’ nightmare. You can’t be that super sweet daddy. You gotta be stern with her.”

He shakes his head. “I got this, okay?”

You lift your hands in a defensive position. “Okay.” Grabbing the remote to hit play, you start humming the Undertaker music as he walks away. 

“Annoying ass,” he mutters under his breath, exiting the room. 

Joe is more than certain he’s about to prove you wrong and come back with a smug ass disposition that’ll lead into taking advantage of Callie being sleep by fucking you senseless and reminding you why you also call him daddy.

There’s only one problem with his plan.

Callie is very much not sleeping and instead sitting near her play area.

On that damn tablet.

It takes a second for him to take in the scene before him. “Callie, why aren’t you in bed?” 

She ignores him, continuing to play on her tablet. “Calista.”

It’s only then she whines out, “what?”

That takes Joe back for a second. He can’t recall a time where she’s said as such. “Don’t what me. I thought I told you to go to bed.”

She murmurs, mouth pouted. “I don’t want to go to bed.”

Fuck. This is the first time he’s actually had her push back on him. Experienced a side of Callie that isn’t 100% agreeable. “Callie, it’s late, and you need to get in the bed. Now. I’m not gonna—”

“Be quiet,” she whines, cutting him off, turning her back toward him. 

Joe is nearly rendered completely silent. He’s never known Callie to be capable of disrespecting anyone like this. 

“Callie.” Joe tries to make his voice sound stern. Emphasis on try. Because as frustrated as he’s getting, she’s still his little girl. “It’s time for bed.”

She’s unmoved, still sitting in the corner on her tablet as she shouts out, “I don’t want to go to bed!”

Joe has to mentally count backwards from 10 before trying yet again to get his almost 5-year-old daughter to just go to bed. “I understand that, Callie, but you need your sl—“

Again, she cuts him off, hitting the ground as she screams, “I said no!”

Joe closes his eyes and shakes his head. Without another word, he’s down the hall and in the master where you’re still laid comfortably up in the middle of the bed snacking on some pretzels and enjoying the court case on the TV.

You land your eyes on him, head tilted as you ask with an intentional amount of inauthentic sweetness, “how’d it go, Mr. Gentle Parenting?”

He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. “Fine. You win. She’s not listening at all. What should I do?”

You smirk and close up the bag of pretzels, carefully climbing out the bed. “Watch and learn, Daddy.” You clap your hands to get rid of the salt remnants, providing him some context on just how he got here. “Because you didn’t make her take her nap, she’s extra irritable because she’s tired even though her lil’ stubborn ass is too hard headed to realize it. So you gotta be extra bold with her.”

You can tell he’s partially confused or just not in agreement, clearly needing a demonstration. Taking his hand, you lead him out of your shared bedroom and into hers. 

“Calista Manaia Anoa’i, if you don’t get your little ass off that damn tablet and into the bed right now.” His eyes widen a bit at your tone. You’re not yelling, not screaming, but you’re definitely not using the typical tone used with her.

Callie looks up from her tablet with determination that’s a bit wavered. “But, I’m not sleepy!”

You cross your arms over your chest. “I don’t care if you’re sleepy or not. Your daddy and I say it’s time for bed, so it’s time for bed, sis.”

“But—”

You lift a finger to silence her. “Calista. I brought your little butt in this world, and I’ll take you out.” You point to her bed. “Bed. Now.”

Joe watches with slight amazement as Callie stomps over to hand you her tablet and stomps right back over to her bed, climbing in, still pouting. 

“And don’t you ever disrespect your dad like that again, you understand me, lil girl?” She doesn't say anything, but she doesn’t need to because you know she knows you mean business. 

But it’s when her bottom lip starts to tremble and she starts to ‘cry’ that Joe damn near acts like the girl just got her arm broken. 

He starts moving toward her. “Cal—”

You stop him, however, instead telling Callie, “if you wake up in the middle of the night and wanna come sleep with us, you can.”

But Callie is too busy with her tearless crying, shouting again, “I don’t want to go to bed!”

Ignoring her, it literally takes you lightly pushing on Joe’s chest to guide him out of the room as you close the door to her bedroom, partially obscuring the sound of Callie screaming.

“She’s upset. We can’t just leave her.” He seems just about as upset as his unruly four-year-old twin.

You turn around and correct him. “No, she’s throwing a tantrum because she didn’t get her way.” And before he can protest, you point out, “did you see any actual tears coming out her eyes? Exactly.”

“But—“

You wait until the two of you are back in the room before placing your hands on his chest, trying to butter him up a bit before hitting him with the truth. “Baby, I love you so much. You’re such a good dad, but when it comes to this discipline thing, you suck.” He rolls his eyes. “I told you she’s a nightmare when she’s having one of her temper tantrums.”

He really has no need to worry about her. You’ve done this song and dance countless times to know how it works. In less than ten minutes, she’ll be out like a light. 

Joe scoffs. “Yeah, well, she gets all that attitude from you.”

You can only also roll your eyes because he’s not entirely wrong. Joe is legitimately a chill ass person. You’re the one who’s got the smart mouth from time to time. Or maybe more often than not. “Maybe so, but you still love me and all my attitude so….” 

He moves his hands to your ass, pulling you into him. “Damn straight….”

And before he can kiss you, you hit him with the truth you’ve been sitting on since this afternoon. “So are you gonna willingly tell me about that movie they want you to be in or do I have to fuck it out of you? I mean, I’m cool with either.”

“How about we skip the movie talk and just fuck instead?”

“Nice try.” You lean up and kiss the corner of his mouth. “Get to talking, baby.”

“I knew your ass overheard something.”

“I’m a mother, Joe. I hear and see everything.” Moving away to grab your bag of pretzels, you again remind him. “Now start talking.”

He shrugs. “It’s an action movie.”

“Not just any action movie, they’re rebooting Reacher and want you to have a leading role. Baby, that’s huge. You know that’s one of my favorite shows too. The only man I would ever consider leaving you for.” It’s more a joke than anything, even though Alan Ritchson is not hard on the eyes at all. “Seriously, Joe, it’s a great opportunity.”

“I get that, Y/N, but I’m taking a break from work.”

“No, you’re taking a break from wrestling. There’s a difference.” You motion him over to the bed, patting the spot next to you. He comes and plops his body down. “I heard them, Joe. It’s filming here in Florida. Less than what, an hour away?” His silence is the answer. “And you wouldn’t even need to be there all the time. 2 or 3 days out of the week, max.”

Realizing what’s probably got him most hesitant, you close up the pretzels, placing the bag back on the nightstand. Sliding closer to him, you place his hand on your stomach. “Joe, I’ll be fine. The babies will be fine. Callie will be fine not having her best friend around 24/7. It’s not like you’ll be on the road like you are with wrestling. You’ll still be close enough if we need you.”

“I don’t want you feeling like I’m putting my career first.”

“I would never think that, Joe. Ever. With everything you’ve done for us, there’s no question where your focus is.” This man has been too good to you for you to ever even think he’s about anything other than his family. “I just think this would be great for your career, and I know you’re at least a little bit interested or else you wouldn’t have even agreed to hear them out.”

The guy seemed cool. The woman was alright. Just your average looking white woman. Nothing to write home about. But, they represent something much bigger, an amazing opportunity for Joe to further his career, to possibly transition into something else fully when his wrestling days are done.

“Besides, you said it yourself, you didn’t have to go to Hollywood, Hollywood came to you.” You do your best to imitate him from one of his stellar promos. It makes him smile and laugh a bit.

“Yeah….” He then shares. “Met with Hunter today too, and he asked if I would be open to returning around October.”

You shrug, no strong opinion on that. “That sounds reasonable to me.”

He looks at you, an expression of disagreement on his handsome face. “The babies will only be a month or so old.”

“I’m aware.” You move your hand to the hair at the nape of his neck. “But, you’re still gonna transition to the part time schedule once you return, right?” He nods. “So, it’s not like you’ll be gone consistently. My mom will probably still be here. Kaylah’s here. Alexis is here. We have a really great support system, baby. It doesn’t have to be all on you.”

“What about Callie?” He asks, clearly a high priority point for him. You as well, but Joe’s concern is probably a bit deeper than what’s necessary. “She’s already scared I’m going to leave her.”

“And you will sometimes, because that’s the nature of what you do. We’re working with her on that though.” And you are. Gradually getting Callie to a place where she isn’t as anxious about something happening to her parents. “Plus, she’ll be in kindergarten at that point, so it’s not like she’ll be moping around the house all sad. She’ll also have ballet.”

Not wanting to be too pushy, you decide to leave the ball in his court. “It’s completely up to you, Joe. Just know whatever you decide, I support you, baby.” You take his hand in his. “I’ve also been thinking about the wedding.”

He looks down at you. “And?”

“I think we should wait until next summer to have it.” Before he can protest or ask follow-up questions, you explain, “I don’t want to walk down the aisle big and pregnant. Plus, there’s realistically not enough time for us to plan a wedding before the babies get here. Not to mention, trying to coordinate everyone’s schedule so the people we want to attend can do so is virtually impossible with such a short timeframe.” Because you can’t imagine having a dream wedding if the people you love and care about the most can’t be present. “The babies will be almost a year old. It gives everyone time to clear their schedule. I won’t be as big as a house…it’ll just be better that way.”

You know he knows that you’re right. He doesn’t appear to be happy with it though. “I hear you. I just….” He scratches his beard. “I hate the idea of having to wait that long for us to get married.”

Frowning, you agree with him there. “Me too, but—”

“What—” He cuts you off, looking at you. “What if we didn’t?”

For a second, your heart stops. “Didn’t get married?”

He’s quick to shoot that down. “No. No. The opposite. What if….what if we got married now?” And just like you, he jumps straight into explanations. “We can still have a wedding. As big or whatever as you want it to be, because you deserve that. I wanna give you that. But…but what if we just legally got married now and the wedding is just for the social and show aspect of it?”

The more he talks, the better you’re able to follow along. “Like….like we just go to the court house?”

Your voice must unintentionally indicate some level of disagreement. “I know it’s not how you probably imagined it—”

Cutting him off, you place your hand over his that’s still resting peacefully on your stomach. “I would marry you under a bridge if that’s what it took, Leati.” His eyes soften as your lips curve into a small smile. “But, we don’t need a bridge, because we’re going to the court house.”

He seems genuinely surprised. “Yeah?”

It’s not a hard sell. At all. You love this man. He’s your best friend. Your lover. Your soulmate. Being married legally before the actual wedding is actually a brilliant idea. You want more than anything for you all to share the same last name. 

Smirking, you get up and climb onto his lap, your baby bump providing a little bit of a barrier.

“Alexa.” You call out, locking eyes on him as you make your request. “Play Let’s Get Married by Jagged Edge.”

———-

“.....Because I am Wrestlemania!”

Megan’s thin lips turn upwards into a big smile. She likes the video and adds it to her ‘Lover ♥️’ playlist on YouTube. Private, of course. It must be the 50th video she’s added. She quickly clicks the back button to see the result list that has nothing but Roman Reigns videos.

Watching him, watching Joe is such an experience. It’s fascinating to her how he can be such a dominating, narcissistic presence on screen but such a gentle soul behind the scenes. It’s fascinating and impressive as hell how he navigates both roles so seamlessly.

Makes him even more attractive. 

But, it’s when a video with Cody Rhodes from the latest SmackDown show appears in her list that she scowls. Megan still can’t believe Joe actually dropped the belt for her. For Y/N.

She’s read articles, seen the gossip on wrestling blogs. The internet wrestling community seems to be torn on that. Half say it was time anyway and that Cody needed to ‘finish the story’ while the other half say Joe himself asked to be relieved so he could spend more time with his family.

And with that fat bitch pregnant with his second child, the second choice seems more believable to her.

Megan groans and turns on her back. She truly cannot see nor understand why Joe ever settled with the likes of that. This man is a god among men, yet he chose a maggot.

He reproduced with that unworthy bitch. 

She grabs her phone and goes to his profile again, the latest option in her search history. His page is nearly perfect, filled with Roman based posts except for the last three. No. He just had to ruin the algorithm by posting them. The first personal post is a picture of him, Y/N, and the spoiled little brat, Cathy. The caption is long and essentially him defending them. 

From what Megan read online as well as what Paige sent over, Y/N had an ex best friend that leaked a lot of shit online. Some true. Some untrue. Apparently, ever since getting slapped with a slate of lawsuits, one or two of which could include jail time, she’s gone dark.

Unfortunate considering she almost got rid of Y/N for Megan.

The second post is of the bitch. From some date night he took her on or something.

What-fucking-ever. 

And the latest post is of the kid with some sappy caption.

Again, what-fucking-ever.

Humming his theme song, Megan climbs off the bed and opens up her top dresser drawer. She digs around, pulling out her favorite red lingerie set and putting it on. Grabbing her phone, she moves to her bathroom, using the mirror attached to the back of the door to snap a couple photos. 

Settling on her favorite photo, she uploads the photo, smiling at her caption.