#but also lovesick gun is adorable

[heretherebedork]

Did we not get Pitch's actor to come and film the finale episode? Like, is that why he's missing? What is going on?

[la2yn0va]

Girlfriend Rappa Headcanons

(I’m on 60 pity, I’m pulling for her, trust)

~~~~

Whenever she’d visit you, EVERYONE would know, as she spray paint on a large building ‘I LOVE YOU!!’ or ‘IM BACK BABYGIRL!!’

She definitely walks into your home/presence rapping as a way to great you. Once she’s done you always respond with the most monotone ‘Hello babe’

Rappa would teach you ninjutsu, and how to graffiti as a date. Which is the most laxed date with her.

The high energy date is taking you off planet and making you watch as she takes out bad guys while rapping, doing every dance move to impress you.

Normal dates are going out to a nightclub where she’d somehow be the DJ and get everyone pumped up while keeping you close. Or teaching you how to skateboard.

Rappa definitely puts some of her clothes on you or in your wardrobe, just to see how adorable you’d look.

She gives you multiple Ninja weapons for you to defend yourself with. She won’t allow any other weapon that isn’t given to you by her.

Rappa also gives you a gun or holographic phone to signal for her help if you’re in danger. Along with her hat and her jacket thats your size.

Rappa’s the type to get offended for you.

Rappa leaves at least 26 kisses on you before she leaves.

Rappa makes a whole rap album for you, and just for you.

If you want to stay on your planet, She’d beg you to come travel with her permanently.

She always leaves your planet after graffitiing a picture of her and you making out, which makes you stay inside for a week or two out of embarrassment.

Rappa’s holographic glasses MIIIIGHT have a feature where she sees you shirtless.

You’d try to set up a casual date, but she would always SOMEHOW make it chaotic. Along with coming back a week later with her OWN casual date.

She’d proudly talk Boothill’s head off about how amazing you are, and he’d just listen happy at rappa’s lovesick yet cute childish rambling. He’d also get a little sad because of his own love life situation.

Boothill does come hang out with you and rappa. Boothill would also threaten you. ‘If you break her heart, I’ll break yer fudgin body!’ Before laughing it off.

Rappa ALWAYS carries you, but whenever she’s tired or feeling sad, you’d give her a piggyback ride.

Rappa would be the type to take off her head and put it on your, low enough to block your eyesight when she’s pissed at someone and is about to brutalize them.

-Done-

[asachuu]

Rising from my grave to inform you all that I legitimately do not understand this “Arthur is forcefully, obsessively in love with Paul” claim/trope I’ve seen a couple of times over the years and I quite frankly don’t know where exactly it originated, but it’s just…a bit confusing, at the very least.

I don’t dispute that Arthur may have very well been in love with Paul and quite deeply so, far from, but some people speak of him as if he were this yandere stereotype in canon (AUs are AUs and those I am not talking about here), and I’m not certain of the context behind it? I can only perhaps think of the line in Stormbringer in which he swears to bring Paul back home no matter what, but that’s a stand-alone line he says on a mission during which his most trusted partner betrays him, and all other implied interactions between the two lead me to believe that Arthur is really just this shy, lonely 15-19 year old— see Arthur’s whole memoir claiming he wasn’t allowed to have any personal relationships, his supposed canonical age at the time, Paul’s recollection in the epilogue of Arthur “shyly” handing him over his gift, and speaking of said gift; Arthur’s uncertainty of whether giving it was the right thing to do, plus his worry about it over a decade later in his final moments— not this forceful, deranged maniac so far blinded by love to a point of thinking himself to have some kind of ownership over his partner. I suppose you could point to Arthur’s second death being only for Paul’s sake and nothing else, a self-sacrificial act that doubtlessly paints him as someone who most definitely cares about his partner far more than he should, but get this— he himself claims he’s already dead, and Paul was the only person he’d been allowed to care for, to look after, to stay beside and so on, not to mention he doesn’t see himself as anything of importance anyway— claiming no one will remember him after his death and he’ll only get an unmarked tombstone doesn’t invoke anything else, really— so I don’t think he’d take it as something of the same exact magnitude that it must have had in Paul’s eyes, and besides, he’s never seen it as something for Paul to constantly remember him for after his death to haunt him, for instance; it was only an act of saving his life to make up for a birthday gift he didn’t like, or so Arthur himself claims.

I certainly don’t doubt Arthur’s adoration and evident self-deprecation being horribly unhealthy, it definitely is and I haven’t written an essay on it just to claim otherwise, but there’s nothing pointing to him being anyhow forceful, possessive, completely dismissive of personal boundaries, rather the opposite— the man quite literally, canonically worries whether giving Paul a gift was the right thing to do, considering he wasn’t anyhow appreciated for it, and in not a single sentence is it implied he thinks of himself as having some kind of ownership over Paul beyond having raised him and given him a life— which, might I also add, he says as Paul points a gun at him with the intention of killing him, something which he doesn’t even hold against him a single time. In very simple terms, if I am to summarize it, I’d say Arthur is more of an extreme doormat personality, someone who doubtlessly puts his partner on a pedestal while thinking of himself as nowhere near, and although that’s nowhere close to behavior which should be rooted for, he’s certainly not some lovesick madman who is entirely oblivious to how much he’s overstepping— while it is true that Paul doesn’t appreciate his care for him or his attempts at comforting him whatsoever, that’s just…not a display of obsessive love on Arthur’s part? I’m not entirely certain on how to explain it to get the point across, but there’s a huge difference between wanting to comfort the dearest person to you, even if they despise it like Paul did, and showering them with unwanted affection, being possessive over them and whatnot.

Besides, Arthur has not once expected a thing in return for his actions throughout both novels— he’s never claimed he wants Paul’s gratitude, appreciation, love, anything, or that he’d feel anyhow entitled to it, perhaps even that he’d wind up getting his way someday if he continued, or any other such thing that this trope very often comes with. All of Arthur’s actions have never been to gain anything from Paul, and that’s clear from his memoir alone— if there’s one thing he actually wanted, it was to have someone to care for, someone to matter to, but that wasn’t something he was forcing Paul to show in any way, that was what he’d already felt he achieved from the start, most likely because he couldn’t have had any other frame of reference. There was nothing he ever wanted to force Paul to do, and if anything, what he saw Paul as was a human being of his own, not something which ultimately belonged to him in any way, shape or form, or someone who was indebted to him for all Arthur had done for him.

All that to say, this is just a short post against blatant mischaracterization, not against AUs, as I said. I admit the AU concept itself is very much not my thing either, but my personal opinion is obviously not the opinion of everyone else, and if that’s what you enjoy creating content for, feel free to go for it— just please don’t claim it’s actually canon. That’s all.

[capricornrisingsstuff]

This is a prompt from @oneforthemunny summer game! I’ve never written fanfic before and adore @oneforthemunny ‘s writing, so I asked for a prompt and chose this one :)

Prompt: 👙 mafia!Eddie: you need a new swimsuit and mafia!eddie is more than happy to go shopping with you…

Contains: MDNI, sub/dom reader dynamics/light slapping/female reader/descriptions of female anatomy (reader)/mentions of weapons- please lmk if I’ve missed anything!

You looked across the vast size of an empty Starcourt Mall with utter amusement. The sense of amazement had dissipated, you were so used to perusing empty buildings with Eddie. The amusement would always be present in times like this; you still couldn’t quite believe that your boyfriend had the capacity to shut down whole buildings, restaurants, arcades, you name it; with a simple flick of his Italian leather wallet, a winning smile and a gun on his hip.

Steve had called Eddie on his secret office phone a few days prior, informing you both that he and the “shrimps” were having a pool party at his house and if Eddie was feeling domesticated enough to come. Eddie said yes, with the installation of a new CCT system and an undercover guy on every door of the Harrington household, he gave you the green light to also attend. You were excited at the prospect of being “normal” with your boyfriend for the afternoon (minus the signing of NDA contracts everyone had to succumb to who attended, however there was one small obstacle. You didn’t own a swimsuit. That was thrown away when you were packing up for your move to Hawkins and your sensible bank job. Never in your life did you think you would be running in the same circles as people who did fun things, socialised and had a good time.

This is how you found yourself in Starcourt, with Eddie at your side, pinky fingers entwined as you strolled the stores. The mall music still playing mixed with the smells of your favourite food parlours Eddie paid handsomely to stay open “incase you need a shopping snack”. “I think I’ll go to the new lingerie boutique that’s just opened, they sell cute little one pieces” you turned to Eddie as you dragged him along the concourse. You were trying to be excited and you knew Eddie worshipped you but…you’ve never been so “naked” in front of other people before. No one apart from Eddie has seen your naked thighs or tummy and even then, you convinced him you needed to be naked in the lowest of light or completely in the dark (your personal preference).

As you entered the store, the petite sales assistant, with auburn hair and a porcelain complexion behind the counter gave you a dazzling pink lipsticked smile. Her face was catlike, straight off the runway, with her red talon nails clicking on the keyboard of the computer in front of her. You nervously smiled back, wondering if the store would cater for someone with such an ample cleavage and thighs like yours. As you scanned the racks of string bikinis, thongs, one pieces with barely anything there to cover your ass, your face reddened as you let out a huff of disappointment.

Picking up on your fussiness, Eddie kissed your hairline, standing behind you and wrapping his arms around your waist. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong? Can you not find a colour you like? If they don’t have the shade of purple I know you like, I can have it shipped in for tomorrow”. You smiled as you turned in your boyfriend’s arms, looking up at those lovesick umber eyes of his. “The colours are perfect honey, it’s just…me. I’ve never shown my body even in a one piece before out in public and I know I don’t look like her” as you glanced towards the waif-like looking sales assistant; who was currently strutting around the store putting away stock like she was setting up for the latest runway photo shoot.

Eddie hooked his finger under your chin and turned your face towards his, the fingers of his other hand trailing across the rack of one pieces. “Sweetheart”, he muttered in your ear as he pulled a little red number off of the rack, “if you don’t get into this one piece right now and push up those pretty tits of yours, I’ll spank you into next week; I’ll do it in the middle of the mall if I have to”. Your thighs unconsciously rubbed together at his dominance. He knew exactly how to get you into that confident headspace you never could on your own.

As the mall was totally devoid of customers and the only shop assistants on shift were at Eddie’s discretion (plus his security), Eddie stalked his way into the fitting room behind you, pulling the curtain back with a yank. You wasted no time in stripping from your clothes and stepping into the red Lycra- something highly reminiscent of Pamela Anderson running sexily along a California beach. Before you could even pull up the straps, ringed fingers were under them, smoothing the straps to your shoulders.

Eddie looked over your shoulder at you in the mirror, umber eyes blown black, as those ringed fingers made their way under the material of the swimsuit; grazing your chest and lightly fingering the swell of your ample cleavage.

“See sweetheart, who needs a sales assistant when you have one right here?” Eddie smirked as you let out the small whine that was brewing in the back of your throat. Your boyfriend always had the ability to turn you into a wet, whimpering, mess before he had even touched you. “Gotta make sure it fits in all of the right places princess, you can’t be going around in clothes that don’t fit”. Suddenly, the side of your face met the wall of the fitting room, as Eddie turned you by your hips and pushed you against it; his black leather boots gently pushing your ankles to each side so your legs were spread just right for him. “I don’t want people thinking that I don’t take care of my girl and pay attention to her needs do I?” He whispered in your ear as his mouth made its way to the crook of your neck. “I don’t think they have a tape measure in here sweetheart, so I guess my fingers will have to do” .

All you could feel in that moment was your nipples against the cold wall, hardening at Eddie’s touch as he pulled your swimsuit to the side around your already clenching pussy. “I wonder if this swimsuit is as waterproof as it claims it is” Eddie mused in a mocking tone, his fingers splayed across your cunt, his ring finger dipping into your wetness. “My, my sweetheart, you’re giving the material a test run already; you’re soaked. Is this just for me?” You let out a muffled moan, your eyes rolling back as Eddie playfully slapped your ass “use your words princess, otherwise daddy won’t buy you what you want, my little slut getting all needy and wet for daddy in public”. “Yes daddy”, you whined, breath hitching with each finger added into your dripping cunt, “it’s for you, always for you”.

“I thought so honey…now I’ll strip this suit off of you, put it in my back pocket and you’ll get a new one off the rack okay?” You nodded all wide eyed as your boyfriend talked down to you. “Take my card to the register and be a good girl while I think of ways to punish your fuckin’ bratty attitude. Daddy doesn’t tolerate brats”.

Eddie’s tongue licked your bottom lip as you pulled the suit down your chest; the moans and thumps coming from the fitting room remained unquestioned-the store would remain open all night if necessary.

[itgirlgyu]

Your moots as weapons!! (knives, guns, blades anything) No to violence, just for fun ;)

ALRIGHT LET'S GO!!!

@itz-yerin — death note.

at first i was like only for shits and giggles. but death note actually fits yerin like you'd never guess its ability until you wield it. also can provide you such great power but with a catch.

@full-sunnies — nunchucks.

makes people hella humbled while feeling like someone replaced their spine with electrical eel.

@huen-ingkai — russian roulette gun.

you'll never guess when they will go off.

@gyuletters — a toddler level of blatant honesty and a pepper spray.

star the type to attack you with fact bombs and make you cry to your mom but also pepper spray for the spicy days.

@channoticedmeuwu — laxatives.

often overlooked but kai kinda gives me this vibe that she'd be an unconventional weapon that may look harmless but will fuck you up.

@st4rrykai — those barbed baseball bats with irons pins on it.

and she decorates them with cute stickers!!! so the last thing before you get fucked up you see hello kitty.

@mazeinthemoon — steel fans.

its like so elegant and they get the job done pretty efficiently, feel like it would fit moon a lot.

@beomurang — wooden hammers.

like not very heavy ones but the ones jeonghan carry, like just enough to knock a few teeth out!

@cherrypeaking - poison.

like those fancy sexy women in periodical dramas use to kill nasty men

@1004tyun — one punch man's punch

crystal has this rizz that is undeniable in my hand but can be conveyed by a video of someone getting punched by one punch man.

@ox1-lovesick — medieval wrecking balls.

always swinging and hitting everyone in the face unprovoked.

@banggyu0308 — shurikens.

cute, precise and undeniably cool.

@harufluff—30 hours of hyuka's reverbed laughter in noise cancelling earphone on full volume.

will make you think like hahaha so lame... wait until the 13th hour passes.

@hyewka— wet towels.

rana's fics hit me like a wet towel in the face, and i love every second of it!

@majestyjun- booby traps.

will catch you on their blog and never let you go because holy shit their brain is >

@jisungsdaydreamer— jisung's predebut videos and audios.

let's be honest jisung's predebut content is cringe enough to kill one small adult, or two.

@fairyofshampgyu—electrical saw.

nia reminds me of beomgyu and beomgyu reminds me of his motor mouth which makes a similar sound to electrical saw—yes this correlation makes sense.

@strawberry-kirby—pillows.

suffocates you with her cuteness and kindness!!

@tyunlatte—a curse to sneeze every second of the day.

ive only interacted with them once but they are so nice and exuberant like a sneeze ( as everyone knows it's impossible to say acchoo without looking absolute adorable.)

@pressthehurtbutton — vile of virus that could end the world.

IDK WHY BUR I LIKE GET SCIENTIST VIBES FROM THEM BUT LIKE THINK,, doofensmirtz bajs

THIS TOOK ME SO LONG FOR NO REASON?!?

[bengiyo]

My School President Ep 3 Stray Thoughts

This show is giving me everything I wanted folks to get out of Lovesick the series. Last week we switched to Tinn's perspective and learned that he's just a nerd suffering from benign neglect that fell in love with a pretty boy with a nice voice that was kind to him once. We also learned that Tinn has unsuccessfully attempted to confess his feelings repeatedly for years. I love Tinn.

Now, after spending a whole episode anonymously helping the music club procure replacement instruments, he's committed himself officially to seeing Gun succeed in this competition in the hopes that maybe they'll date.

Gemini and Mark are fun together. Tinn is such a simp and it's endearing.

"When did he get here?" - "A while ago."

I like the scale of the villain of the current principal. She wants to cancel troublesome clubs, and I think demanding that slacker students perform academically isn't necessarily an unreasonable request of students who want permission to represent the school in a public competition.

We should be seriously concerned that the school building has a termite intrusion.

Holy hell they're so dense.

These marble tables are giving me Make It Right flashbacks.

Tinn's fantasies being consistently ruined by reality is actually such an important subversive creative choice. As fun and adorable as this all is, I'm glad young viewers are being subtly reminded that your fantasies will not always align with reality. Tiw reminding Tinn to focus on helping his crush is *chef's kiss*.

I love Tiw with my entire being. We haven't had a wingman this committed in a long time. He might be a winner for the NAMGOONG BEST BOY AWARD for 2022. I'm glad the rest of the music club affirmed that Tinn is a good tutor, but Gun has specific challenges with math.

I also like the fantasy sequences not only because they reveal how ridiculous and adorable Tinn is, it allows Gemini and Fourth to have more fun interactions before they get together.

Okay, but I actually think it's awesome that Tinn's parents still are attracted to each other and can express that in front of Tinn. That Tinn only laughs about it means this is normal for him.

This apartment does seem very nice.

Not sure why they don't just share the bed.

And now we're ballroom dancing. Tinn's going to implode.

Did Tiw suggest he watch Bad Buddy to flirt, and then diss Ohm and Nanon to highlight Mark (his actor) while the Bad Buddy intro theme played? Yes he did, and I am losing it.

Scrubb is actually good, so I totally get the fantasy about "Close."

They always seem to have fun with these Canon ads.

Tinn's dad is the hero we needed when we needed him.

I'm all for baby gays being delusional about their crushes, but not when it comes to knife safety.

I do like the joke about how silly "baby is a messy eater" is as a trope.

They all passed! I wonder if we'll get a side couple out of Tiw?

Fourth is really charming. Gun's appeal is plain in this pool scene.

Hey, Tinn's first attempt at flirtation! He didn't cover it with a "just kidding" either.

One of the benefits of the last episode was showing that Gun isn't totally oblivious if someone is making active choices. So, when Gun suggests that Tinn join him on the bed, I can't help but wonder if that's a bit of curiosity from the poolside hint of a confession and the nervousness about dancing.

I love this dancing fantasy. Really a lovely sequence.

Well well well, looks like Gun is starting to fall, too.

Ahh, it's time for third party complications next week.

[bippot]

The Monarch Hotel - Chapter 3: No More Velvet

Story Summary -> How many times does Vigilante need to get injured before Harcourt finally gives in and hires a medic to help out with the squad's injuries? Far too many times, that's how many.

When it's uncovered that a fancy hotel is linked to, not only what's left of the legion of butterflies, but also a string of weird deaths and missing persons reports, the only two for the job are lovesick Adrian and the newbie.

Will they both make it out of paradise alive?

Chapter 3: No More Velvet Summary -> The mission is begins sooner than anyone would like and the 11th Street Kids must get prepared as soon as they can. That means that Adrian must quit his job at Fennel Fields and learn how to effectively lie.

Tags -> Canon-Typical Violence, Gun Violence, Blood and Injury, Undercover as a Couple, Fluff, Idiots in Love. Fake/Pretend Relationship, Summer Vacation, Butterflies, Alien Invasion, Stitches

Would you prefer to read this on AO3? Click here!

Previous Chapter -> BG3

If the universe was kind, they would've had more time to prepare. In the ideal scenario, the pair would have woken up, had some breakfast then had a very open and casual talk about possibly acting upon the feelings they both were obviously going through.

But that didn't happen.

No, Y/N woke up to the obnoxious wailing of her phone with a crick in her neck since she'd fallen asleep positioned at an awkward angle. She blinked blearily and yawned as she checked the caller ID. "Little early, Meeley," Y/N whined at her sister, rubbing sleep from her eyes with her free hand.

Judging by how paranoid he could be, Y/N would've expected Adrian to be a light sleeper. That was not the case. Maybe because he'd been severely lacking sleep for so long, the moment his body is presented with the opportunity to shut off for four or so hours, it won't let anything disturb it and risk losing the precious sleep it was hanging on for dear life for.

He didn't wake - not even through all of Y/N's movement - but he did turn onto his side and wrap both of his arms around her thigh, hugging the limb like it was a Teddy bear, and ensured that she'd have to stay put for now.

"We've got a problem, squish," Emilia began with a huff of breath over the phone. "John and I have been trying to contact Vigilante, too." A bright square lit up the fabric of the outermost pocket on his tactical belt on the floor. "And - I can't believe I'm saying this - can you drive to his house and bring him to HQ? Your mission has been pushed forward."

"Pushed how far forward?"

"Your flight departs at eight this evening."

Their departure time had decreased by weeks. Weeks which could've easily given them more time to do their planning, let Economos put together new and fancy equipment, and ensure that Adrian was as believable as possible by teaching him how to lie effectively, but alas, they were required to leave by the end of the day.

Something must've seriously fucked up for that kind of acceleration.

"Jesus," Y/N breathed as she ran a hand down her face. "Yeah, I'll get him."

With one last huffed sigh from Emilia over the phone, Y/N hung up. She looked at Adrian, still clinging to her leg, and sighed again before looking at her alarm clock. 04:07. It was going to be a long day, she was sure of it. A really long one. And just because she had a rude awakening, didn't mean that Adrian had to have one. Her palm brushed across his arm as she cooed with a voice that was soft and soothing as honey, "Hey champ, time to get up, sleepyhead."

Adrian gave an adorable little whimper of protest before burrowing himself deeper into Y/N's thighs, which he fully believed was a pillow because what else would he be sleeping on? A person? That was unlikely. Honestly, it was rare that he felt this level of comfort so it was going to be a task to pry him away from this warm bubble, that safe warmth that surrounded him. She couldn't just keep letting him cuddle into her forever despite how much she wanted to.

"Ade, come on, bud, you gotta get up," Y/N urged as she shook his shoulders lightly, but it still didn't work.

The only way she managed to start to wake him was when she announced, albeit she did it playfully, "Vigilante, someone's breaking the law as we speak. There are villains out there that you need to kill," and he opened one eye, looking dazed and confused before blinking and looking around the room.

His gaze then fell on Y/N and the corner of his lips twitched into a smile. "Hi," he yawned while pushing himself into an upright position.

"Sorry for waking you, handsome, but we've got a job to do."

As soon as the complimentary nickname passed her lips, he lit up. He was dopey and tired and moved so slowly to rub the sleep from his eyes with a heavy handed fist, yet he did jump out of bed and immediately began pulling on his suit.

"How's the shoulder holding up?" Y/N asked while she pulled her shirt off and over her head.

He'd had his back to her and turned at the sound of her voice. "Boobs," he blurted out far too loudly, unable to keep his mouth from saying what was on the forefront of his brain - he was just happy he had the chance to see her boobs - then he quickly turned around and diverted his eyes. He wanted to stare. But that's not the gentlemanly thing to do. Yet, Y/N didn't take offence. She laughed as she pulled her shirt on and walked over to where her jeans were.

"My, uh, my shoulder...yeah, it's better," he muttered, his cheeks pink due to what he'd seen and his gaze flicking back and forth between each corner of the ceiling.

Before he'd secured his chestplate on, she tugged at the collar of his undershirt to see how his wound was progressing, and like usual, she was pleasantly surprised by how fast he was healing. The gash hadn't completely disappeared, but it was better than it should've been. Vigilante wasn't normal in that regard, or in any regard really.

"When we're done with the mission, would it be okay if we did some tests on you? I've got a hunch -"

"If you think I've got autism, those tests are a big, fat check in every box. My parents told me not to say anything about it, but I trust you, so... yeah." He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, although there was a hint of uncertainty in his tone. His parents, his father in particular, had been very tight lipped about his condition ever since they became aware of what it was. "I'm not one of those savant types, you know. I'm the type to really like Transformers or, I don't know, hate the feel of velvet."

"I'll make a mental note to refrain from wearing velvet."

Huh? He'd expected a dismissal of his disability and, instead, she'd offered to help him, to make one aspect of his life a little easier. She noticed the puzzled expression on his face, smiled, and said, "Champ, I kind of assumed that. Anyway, the tests would be to see if you had any healing powers because this -" She gestured to the stab wound that had happened last night but looked as if it had been properly taken care of for around a week. "Is so impressive and, with the right research, could do wonders for the medical field."

There was a pause. One that was filled with the sounds of Adrian's deep, flustered breaths.

Then he nodded and smiled, a small, shy smile that was far too vulnerable to ever appear on his face. "Okay," he whispered before clearing his throat. "Should we, uh, should w-we go?" The words were spoken softly, but the tension that emanated from his body was tangible and evident in the way his entire demeanour had changed, even the way he'd stood up straighter when he spoke, as if he was suddenly determined to act 'normally'.

The pair arrived at HQ to find Economos sniffling at his desk as Adebayo and Harcourt were having a screaming match in the centre of the room. The two were yelling profanities at each other in the quiet of the early morning air. Peacemaker couldn't be seen - maybe he hadn't woken up yet - but they knew if Chris was there, he'd only escalate the situation more so his absence was most likely a good thing at the moment.

Y/N strolled in with the masked Vigilante behind her, and stood to the right of John's desk. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, mumbling, "You okay?" loud enough for the men surrounding her to hear.

"Harcourt is a bitch."

"Yeah, she is," Y/N chuckled, giving John a comforting squeeze before sauntering towards the fight. It took no time to close the distance, and even less to diffuse the situation.

Emilia was a tough person, through and through. She was a fighter, she was stubborn and strong, she was a survivor who took everything thrown at her and fought against everything that would try and tear her apart. And sometimes, that made her a little bit scary, yes. Y/N was used to dealing with her attitude, however, as it wasn't unusual for Emilia to lash out at her whenever she got a bit too stressed.

Without announcing her presence to the other women, Y/N ignored the incredibly rude and vitriolic words coming from her older sister's mouth and engulfed her into a hug. In an instant, the squabbling stopped. Emilia froze for a moment before returning the hug with a surprising amount of force, almost knocking the breath out of Y/N, and muttered, "Thank you," in a low tone that only Y/N could catch.

Even though it was hardly audible, the gratitude was there nonetheless. Y/N squeezed the woman in return before whispering into her ear, "Be nice to our friends." A slight nod was given in return. Emilia stepped away from the hug and turned back around as if nothing had ever happened.

"Let's get to work. We have a lot of fucking shit to do."

When Economos calmed down enough that he could work, he was throwing the 'newlyweds' black lycra suits that had ping pong balls all over it and, as soon as they had changed into these new outfits, instructed them to complete seemingly innocent tasks in front of a green screen. It seemed ridiculous at first glance, but when they saw the motion captured footage that had been created of their 'wedding' and other significant parts of their 'relationship', it made perfect sense.

And it looked real. In some instances, John had even de-aged the pair to make it look as if they were college sweethearts. Neither of them had been to college, but these artificial photos begged to differ.

"You look weirdly good in a suit," Adebayo complimented Adrian as they all crowded around John's laptop to observe each image displayed on the screen.

"Oh, stop it," he laughed a bit too quickly. He'd intended it to be a fun little quip, but there was no denying that a smidge more insecurity crept into his tone.

"I'd marry that face in a heartbeat," Y/N complimented with a playful chuck in an effort to take the heat off Adrian and onto her. Adrian's eyes darted down to his shoes and he blocked out all the groaning everyone else was making except the couple.

Chris arrived around 8 in the morning. He staggered through the door, looking as if he had managed to get a nap in and carrying a duffle bag filled with goodies. Not so gracefully, he threw the bag down onto the floor right by Emilia's feet and flopped down on top of the nearest desk, letting out a massive yawn. Emilia rolled her eyes, scoffed, and started rifling through the contents inside the bag, trying to determine exactly what the hell he brought to help them.

While the White Dragon was a racist piece of shit, if there was one thing he was good at, it was making useful tech that was specifically designed to go under the radar. During his time, Auggie had come up with a bunch of gadgets that set out to make the lives of those he found lesser - from gay people to anyone with a shred of melatonin to cops who took the time to try and lock him up - he just wanted to make their experiences a little harder every day.

He'd invented a hand held radio device that emits sound waves that are just high enough to not be able to be heard by humans, but powerful enough to make the affected feel nauseous and disoriented.

There was a smartphone looking thing that scanned for any recording devices in a 20ft radius and communicates the IP address and user information to a central home base (which would be Economos in this case) who could hack in and mess with the feed. Apparently, Peacemaker's dad used to go to pro choice rallies that were being livestreamed and rerouted anyone who watched to a very graphic porno that included genuine incest and gross ageplay, which was shocking to most of the protesters, it's safe to say.

And after sifting through gimmicky bomb after bomb, Emilia found something she would have never expected. In a box labelled 'too gay', she found a bee. At first glance, it looked as if Auggie had killed a bee then placed that dead bee in a box with and written a homophobic statement on the top, but no. It wasn't a real bee. It was fully mechanical, complete with wings and antennae and an infrared camera and radar sensing and facial recognition software that had all been compacted into a teeny tiny realistic looking bee.

Economos didn't think it was appropriate to whine that he was being a little overshadowed by a racist, and a dead racist at that, but he still did grumble and groan. Every now and then he'd be caught mumbling, "I could do better if I had the time," under his breath while tapping away at the keyboard.

Adebayo had been sent to buy the pair's entire summer wardrobe because she had the best idea of what two preppy straight people would look like on their honeymoon - just based on the fact she'd seen the White Lotus while everybody else had it on their watchlist. She soon arrived back at HQ with so many paper bags that they looked like they were filled to bursting.

Harcourt was busy with booking the flights, all the paperwork and the general chaos involved in getting everything organised before the departure. Peacemaker was supposed to be helping her, but she yelled him to "Fuck off and go put a bullet up your ass!" within the first ten minutes.

Instead, he was aiding Y/N. With more time, she'd be able to fully teach Adrian how to seem like he was used to affection. Obviously, he was better at it than when they met, but he still managed to look like an awestruck virgin whenever she was kind to him. Hopefully, they could pass it off as the honeymoon phase - which wouldn't be so hard as they'd technically be on their 'honeymoon'.

It turned out that Chris' help was, once again, more of a hindrance than a help, so Y/N - in a manner that was far more polite than Emilia - asked, "I'm getting a little hungry and I don't know if my 'husband' and I will be able to get a meal in before we fly out, mind getting the squad some lunch, Peace? You'd be my hero."

"Yeah, but I'm going to that burger place opposite the olive garden." Adrian went to say something but was cut off before a single sound passed his lips. "I'm not going to fuckin' Fennel Fields, dude. It tastes like ass there."

At the mention of his workplace, Adrian suddenly remembered, "Oh shit, I forgot to book time off. I can't just go MIA like last time cuz Julian will definitely fire me and that would suck."

"Ade, we'll be gone for, at most, two months - I think you might have to quit anyway," Y/N commented matter of factually.

"What?" An unreadable look flashed across Adrian's face. "Two months without a wage? I don't know - "

His chest was rising and falling at an abnormal speed. His hands, which had previously been fiddling with the hem of his shirt, had stopped, his fingers tightening and relaxing rhythmically, as if they weren't quite sure what to do with themselves. He opened his mouth to speak again, but no words came out.

"Oh champ," Y/N cooed, somehow managing to sound less patronising and more understanding than anyone who'd ever witnessed one of his meltdowns before. "Can I hold your hand to guide you to the file room?"

When he nodded, he was tugged into the privacy of the back room, where nobody could see him crumble to pieces. The room was quiet enough that it seemed to amplify his breathing. Y/N let go of his hand and crouched down before him, taking both of his trembling ones into hers gently.

"You'll be fine," she said reassuringly, giving his knuckles a light squeeze with reassurance. "Just breathe and everything will be alright. Just breathe. You're going to be perfectly okay."

He tried to listen to her encouraging words and follow her orders for what felt like hours until they finally reached a point when his heart rate slowed down and he managed to stop hyperventilating. Once she realised that Adrian's eyes had started to regain focus, she slid his glasses off his nose and gave them a wipe with her sleeve, removing all signs of sweat from the lenses before slipping them back onto his face.

"Are you not getting paid for being on this strike team?" she whispered, concerned that he was stretching himself mentally thin because her sister was too cheap to put him on the books.

"Uh..." Adrian stammered awkwardly before sighing, "No... but... um... Heroes don't need to get paid for what they do, they just do it!"

"Peacemaker gets paid."

That stopped another argument from slipping past his lips. "He does?" he said with disbelief.

"Uh-huh."

"Oh."

Y/N smiled sympathetically, rubbing circles on his palms with her thumbs as she waited for him to put the pieces together. He stared at her for about five seconds before a small smile crossed his lips before he began talking again, his words coming out as a happy chirp.

"Let's go quit my fucking job!"

"Yeah!"

Now it was settled, Y/N stood and held her hands out to pull him up, which he accepted immediately and then, before he knew it, they were on their way out of HQ, but not before he turned towards Harcourt and announced. "I think I should be paid," to the entire room, mostly Harcourt, though. John and Leota stayed dead quiet, both sparing each other a glance, then waiting for whatever insult Emilia was going to throw his way.

There was silence that dragged on for a beat too long.

"Please? Pretty please?"

Emilia sighed, a deep guttural one, and shrugged. "Sure, whatever you want."

Adrian pumped a fist victoriously above his head and ran off towards Y/N's car. He had to wait for Y/N to unlock it, so he stood there, smiling to himself until she joined him. He was giggly the entire drive to Fennel Fields; he couldn't remember the last time he had felt so carefree about anything, especially anything surrounding money. And even if he felt like crying or something equally stupid and irrational, he could do that in front of Y/N and not be ridiculed for it. That alone was a relief.

Fennel Fields had very few customers other than a couple of regulars, including a gaggle of old ladies that waved at Adrian as he entered. One of the kinder ones, Dolores, gestured for him to come talk to her, and Adrian obliged. He walked over to where she sat with her knitting and greeted by getting his cheeks pinched between her wrinkled fingers.

"You get more handsome every time I see you! But you're too skinny! You've got to eat more, young man." The words were accompanied by the gentle patting on his cheek. "Have you been eating properly lately?"

"Trying to, ma'am," he replied sheepishly and chuckled when her expression changed from maternal concern to exasperation.

Dolores huffed, yet someone entirely different infused her being as soon as she noticed Y/N standing next to Adrian. "Well, well," she exclaimed in shock and delight. She grabbed Y/N by the wrist and pulled her closer so she had a better view of the young girl's features. "Your girlfriend is pretty, Adrian. You've got to force him to eat more often and take better care of himself."

"I will, ma'am," Y/N answered, chuckling at Dolores' dramatic antics.

The old lady asked question and after question about the couple's relationship status, which was, honestly, good prep for their mission. The first few startled Adrian a little, and it was only with Y/N's reassuring squeeze of his hand that he decided to go along with the fabrication Y/N was spinning. He remembered an offhanded thing Adebayo said back when she was caught planting that diary on Peacemaker. When Vigilante heard of that, he was quick to ask, "How do you even do something like that? Lie? Lie to your friends?" but unlike his angry peers, he sounded more on the curious side of things.

And she had said, "I bent the truth a little, but I mostly omitted facts about what I did, that's not as ba-" She stopped. "Yeah, it was bad of me, sorry guys."

So whenever Dolores interrogated him about where they met, when they got together, yadaa yadaa yadaa, Adrian told her as many truths as he could and when the truth conflicted with the lie, he looked across at Y/N to take the lead and she did, an it was obvious she was a lot better at the whole ordeal.

"Hey champ, why don't you go talk to your boss while I gossip with Dolores here?" Y/N suggested to Adrian, nodding towards his manager who was looking at him from the kitchens curiously. Adrian agreed happily and practically skipped off in the direction of Julian's office, humming a song to himself.

"Julian, hello. I don't want to work here anymore," Adrian blurted out once he had waved through the doorframe. "I quit."

For a second, Julian froze in surprise at Adrian's sudden outburst. Then he laughed and proceeded to walk straight up to Adrian. "Okay, that's great," he said whilst clapping Adrian on the shoulder. "It's about time!"

"Huh?" Adrian blinked.

"Come on, kid, you've been here for too long. Don't tell me you actually like it here?"

"I mean, I guess not, but-"

Julian nudged Adrian out of his office with a cheery, "Exactly!" and that was it. Quitting a job had never been so easy nor fast. Adrian had expected some sort of resistance from Julian to get him to stay, but apparently not. He was surprised, yes, and maybe disappointed a little - not that he would ever admit to that- but definitely relieved that he wouldn't have to work for a second longer in Fennel Fields.

It had been his job ever since he left school, and as nice as it was to not have to worry about climbing the job ladder, he couldn't help but feel a slight pang inside of him whenever he realised he'd probably never come back here. The food sucked so he'd never willingly get a meal there unless there was some kind of natural disaster and Fennel Fields was literally the only place open.

Other than Julian, who had tried to insert himself into an unwanted cool uncle type of role in Adrian's life, the rest of the staff weren't all that nice to him. They mostly ignored him, except for the times when the coffee machine broke and needed fixing because Adrian was the only one who knew how to deal with it.

Frankly, he should've quit years ago.

Returning to Y/N's side, he found that she was sitting in the booth opposite Dolores and the old woman was teaching her how to knit. By the look of it, Y/N wasn't doing a good job and had jumbled up the wool into a big mess. She glanced up at Adrian, grinned when she saw him watching her and made an exaggerated grimace to emphasise her frustration, earning herself a chuckle from Adrian.

"You're awful," he said playfully, hip bumping her so she'd move over enough to give him space to sit beside her, which Y/N gladly obliged. As soon as he sat down, he untangled some of the yarn and took the needles from her hands. "I'm assuming the casting on was your handiwork, Dolores?"

The old woman nodded.

Then the man who spent most of his nights killing bad guys and shooting people in the dick for fun began knitting with such practised ease that Y/N nearly fell out of her chair in astonishment. After the first row was completed in record time, Adrian placed the needles back into Y/N's hands and guided her into how to continue the process, his eyes following her movements and his mouth curving upwards with pride every time she managed a decent stitch.

"There you go, that's great! You did so good," he cheered when she finished her row, making Y/N flush red with 'something' as she tucked some hair behind her ear. Adrian couldn't help the pleased smile that came over his face, and his attention wandered to her lips for only a moment before he averted his gaze and focused on the knitting again.

Y/N felt her being rise in temperature at the praise coming from Adrian, and she wondered briefly if that blush was obvious on her cheeks, but quickly discarded that thought when she glanced down at her watch. Their quick detour had taken an hour of their precious time and there were still so many things that needed to be done.

Even better, she finally noticed the influx of text messages from Harcourt she'd gotten. The language used in each one had increased in vulgarity as time ticked on.

Human Chihuahua: Where are you?

Human Chihuahua: Seriously?

Human Chihuahua: I will hunt you down and drag you back here

Human Chihuahua: Bring limp dick four eyes with you

Human Chihuahua: Your mother should've aborted you

Human Chihuahua: Dad is proud of only one of his daughters

Human Chihuahua: You wear a neon sign that says ‘raw dog me, I’m a bottom’

Human Chihuahua: You look like you cut your hair with a knife and fork

Human Chihuahua: If you're buying coffee, can you get me one?

Human Chihuahua: Please?

Human Chihuahua: Bribe me and I won't be mad at you

Human Chihuahua: I'll tell Peacemaker that you want to watch Hentai with him before you get on the plane cause it calms you down

Human Chihuahua: I envy the people who haven't met you yet

Human Chihuahua: Remember that one time you peed yourself in the middle of Walmart?

Bootleg Miss Honey: I was five years old.

Human Chihuahua: Get your fucking ass here.

Human Chihuahua: Now!

Obviously, that was their cue to leave. With a quick pat to Adrian's hand, Y/N declared, "I think we should get going, don't you think, champ? We've got some packing to do." He nodded and started to shuffle out of the booth. "It was lovely to meet you, Dolores. I hope your grandson likes his jumper."

Just before the pair were about to step away, Dolores waved Y/N to lean closer to her and whispered, "He's a good boy and he's been through a lot, don't go breaking his heart now. I'm 83 and I'll still kick your ass if I hear such a thing, okay?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, ma'am."

"Good," Dolores smiled. "Now run along, young lady."

Y/N saluted her and left the cafe before Adrian even had a chance to inquire what the little whispering session had been about. He hurried after her and grabbed her by the arm before she could make it to the car, whining, "Can you not tell Peacemaker that I can knit? That's, like, not cool of me to know or whatever."

"I think it's cute."

"It's embarrassing."

"It's sweet. Now get in the car. We've got to stop off at Starbucks so Emilia doesn't kill us."

Adrian rolled his eyes but didn't complain anymore, instead deciding to let himself relax as the car ride went on. They chatted aimlessly until they got back to HQ where everyone seemed so grateful for their coffees that they didn't ask where the pair had disappeared to.

Time ticked and ticked far too fast, and before they knew it, it was time to board. The team had done what they possibly could to plan in such a short time and now it was up to the 'newlyweds' to get the ball rolling.

They had their suitcases filled with the essentials and their phones replaced with dummy ones with their fake lives already downloaded.

For who knows how long, Adrian Chase and Y/N L/N didn't exist. They'd be going under the monikers of Marty and Sidney Bardot, two young socialites that had recently popped onto the scene with their charitable donations and lavish fundraisers. The young couple decided that The Monarch Hotel would be the perfect place for their honeymoon, and who was going to refuse a standout couple such as them? It was perfect.

Next Chapter -> Posh Person Place

*Click here for my Adrian Chase masterlist, or here for the entire masterlist*

Wanna be added to a taglist? Either comment on this post or send me a message!

taglist: @sarahskywalker-amadala

[deadwright]

hey!! sorry to bother but I was wondering if you have read any steddie fics at all or that you enjoyed..... I am very afraid of going into the tag without guidance and wanted to ask if you have any recs (I follow very little people in the fandom) !! :o) thank u anyways hope u have a good day

hello bestie! you're so right tbh i'm fighting for my life in this tag, but here are all the steddie fics that i really like so far (under the cut):

You Children Of Today (Are Children of the Grave) by CaptainHoney (E)

Fall Forever (and Never Look Behind) by CaptainHoney (E)

aka @grandmastattoo: chief steddie understander and purveyor of incredible fics and playlists. this series is my top favourite ever!!!!!

Promethean by CaptainHoney (E)

the tags say dead dove do not eat but boy did i FEAST

Whole Lotta Love by stereobone (E)

one of my favourite writers, all their fics are fantastic. speaking of:

Keep It for Me by stereobone (E)

i'm going to blame the full sobbing wailing breakdown i had over this on the fact that my wedding is also coming up, but who's going to believe me? certainly not me.

Some Things Cosmic by stereobone (E)

this got me in my feelings so bad oh my GOD i would do anything to make this real

Play It Right by stereobone (E)

every little character detail of this is just. i could chefs kiss until my fingers bleed about it all.

You're the Driver, You're the Road by stereobone (E)

Are You Flagging? by soidade (E)

one of the most popular steddie fics on ao3, if not thee most

stereoscope by seraphy (E)

just finished this one and woof! heavy on the delicious steve angst. i love when stranger things fics dive into the endless trauma so this one got me good.

make a deal with god by mcalpines (T)

SO very funny, one of my favourites ever!

Easy, Easy, Easy by judasofsuburbia (E)

what can i say, i adore a deeply comforting happily-ever-after future fic.

misgiven by palmviolet (T)

another good stranger things writer, their current wip has me hooked (more on that later)

Mutual Future by knell (E)

another funny one! i love when men are stupid <3

The Worst Mixtape Ever Made by nbfutureboy (M)

songfics can be so hit or miss, and this is an absolute hit. embarrassing for me that i genuinely love all the songs on the titular mixtape though.

Lovesick in Loch Nora by red0aktree (M)

this is beyond my wildest dreams. i laughed, i sobbed, i screamed myself hoarse with sheer feeling. GOD. IT'S SO GOOD PLEASE I'M A WRECK

A Sign of The Morning by ToEdenandBackAgain (M)

full of delicious steve whump and obliviousness in spades. also the reference letter part made me WAIL with joy

the summer of '85 series by ToEdenandBackAgain (T)

horniest T rated fic i ever did read but steve in that little sailor outfit was truly life-changing. also feeling vindicated as a mint chip appreciator

don't start (too late) by Ark (E)

AIYAAAAAA THEY'RE SO SWEET AND IN LOVE. also absolutely cemented my belief that steve harrington was born to suck and fuck

meet me in the middle of the air by kirkaut (T)

it's a wip with one chapter up as i'm posting this but holy shit i love it so far. everyone sounds like they're supposed to and i canNOT resist steve whump, it's like ambrosia to me

to live my own way by Macellarius (E)

this is exactly how the the rest of the show should've gone. duffers LET HIM GRADUATE GODDAMMIT

STRIKE TEN. by oaseas (T)

me handshake emoji eddie since our shared toxic trait is letting steve get away with anything just because he looks so cute in his little sailor outfit

smoking guns (hot to the touch) by fivecenturiesverse (T)

did not expect to start weeping about the power of friendship at 2pm on a workday but damn this really got my ass. love in all its forms is so good ;-;

Some Cupids Kill With Dice by horrormoviebarbie (T)

this fic makes me want to put on a slutty little outfit and run through the streets screaming about it like a town crier. young dilf steve/teacher eddie MOST concept of all time. all this to say that it made me feral and though it's a wip i'm already rereading it weekly

the most remarkable thing about you standing in the doorway is that it's you by greatunironic (E)

i need you all to known that i actually screamed and cried so hard that i yartzed while reading this. a stunning rollercoaster of emotions, and the perfect end that i will carry with me further than canon could ever hope to go.

We are Stardust, We are Golden by idiopathicsmile (M)

between steve's insistence that simon and garfunkel are in love and him casually knowing the lyrics to a black sabbath song, this fic really is the Try Not To Fall In Love With Steve Challenge (EXTREME MODE)

I Made A Fire by emchant3d (E)

YOWWW 🔥🥵

fear is fading fast by amiparanoidmuch/p1013 (E)

funny, hot, absolutely STELLAR fic that make me yell and squawk into my pillow every few lines. WHERE is robin's milkshake for outstanding wingmanning

Lunge to the Maximum by BoudicaMuse (E)

a truly EXCELLENT pwp feat. the scoops ahoy uniform? hey now hey nooow this is what DREEEEAMS are made of

The Road Goes Ever On by bookscorpion (E)

road trip! wip but it's already lovely, with that slow, nostalgic americana vibe.

The Shire is NOT on Fire by kissesforcas (E)

not since supernatural 8x11 larp and the real girl have i cared this much about a renfaire. steve and robin giving huge dean and charlie energy (deeply affectionate)

Have I Found You, Flightless Bird? by kissmejusttokissme (M)

TWILIGHT AU!!!! BUT BETTER!!!!! AN ABSOLUTE TREAT

Red Eye by alinafewwords (T)

obligatory coffee shop au but make it genuinely good!!! wip as i type this but i'm already so unbelievably excited for the updates

Do You Mind? (will you mind?) by GreenQueenofClubs (E)

absolute concept of all time. this fic was so good it scrambled MY brain and it took me an embarrassingly long time to even type this coherently

Sanctuary by SpicedSage (E)

very very cute, absolutely nailed the eddie voice

throw me one by Adure (E)

men are so stupid uwu

Paper Thin by idiotslantern (E)

oh i YELLED out loud when-

like a heartbeat drives you mad by creature_from_the (E)

deeply hot and so good i wish i could read 100k more of it

We Should Just Kiss (Like Real People Do) by OonionChiver (E)

sweet baby jesus and the grown one too...........it's a LOT but woof what a journey. heed the tags on this one fr

STEVE'S FIRST BRUISE by cairparavels (not rated)

spidey!steve is maybe the best thing to happen to me this year

I've seen your face before, my friend, but I don't know if you know who I am by HMSLusitania (M)

time travel fics in general are always baller and i ADORE the concept of this, i would love to see more of this universe

Not So Bad by outofmygourd (M)

It struck me deep (it brought me to my knees) by Gorgeousgreymatter (E)

don't go wastin your emotions by kissesforcas (M)

Orta Recens Quam Pura Nites (Newly Risen, How Brightly You Shine) by AidaRonan (M)

all i need from you (is all your love) by wearing_tearing (M)

Meet Him On The Main Line by nbfutureboy (T)

ink you up by Adure (E)

nightswimming by heartofwinterfell (T)

hold me now, i need relief by ToEdenandBackAgain (M)

there's a clock in my head (is it wrong? is it right?) by cloverspies (T)

Eddie Munson's Vampire Mixtape by Springandastorm (T)

just so long it don't mess up his hair by lagardère (laurore) & MissAntlers (T)

Dying of love but it's okay by prufrocks (E)

You Can Cook? by Zigster (E)

we're just kids in the dark by FagurFiskur (T)

Skull Rock Era by chattrekisses (E)

the space between by amiparanoidmuch/p1013 (E)

steve harrington's six step guide to getting the guy by oaseas (T)

AND NOW. A collection of fics covering my favourite concept of all time: TIME LOOPS!

the lathe by palmviolet (M)

wip for now but updates pretty quickly. steve pov time loop done SO well i dream about it at night

I can't save us, my Atlantis by kissmejusttokissme (T)

i believe this is the first steddie time loop fic i read, so this one is very dear to me. please check out the next in the series as well, the aftermath is brutal and so so interesting.

pulling your strings by Thorinoakentwig (T)

looooove this one also, another steve pov

and it all comes down to you by heartofwinterfell (M)

finally, an eddie pov! and it's so good too i'm a huge fan

you are going to die in your best friend's arms (but he won't let you leave like that) by oaseas (T)

dustin pov, which is absolutely genius because he's the only one who could've handled it this well. also the family bonding in this is SO sweet, and i love seeing steddie from an outside perspective.

[goldengoddess]

Could I possibly request a Jesper Fahey headcanon of sweet moments with him as your boyfriend inbetween, heists or other jobs? I feel like he’d be the sweetest funniest boyfriend ever tho 🥺🥺 Thanks in advance dear

a/n: my favorite boy jesper!!! this one is short but <3

warnings: knives, heist stuff

heists are always fun with jesper

how couldn't they be

that boy had enough energy to make anything fun

even putting yourself in mortal danger

but heists with jesper were your favorite for a different reason too

he was a total sweetheart before a heist

all lovesick and worried for you

he would linger in your room until you were ready to go

get the right shoes that you needed for that particular job

he’d come up behind you and wrap his arms around your waist

while you were fixing your hair in the mirror

he’d bury his face in your neck

mumbling about something

“what was that jes?”

he could leave a sweet kiss on your sweet spot and then look up at you

making eye contact through the mirror

“you look hot getting ready for a heist, but more importantly be safe tonight.”

you’d blush and leave a quick kiss on his cheek

“always am”

during whatever job, jesper was always the most interesting partner

especially on undercover missions

for example that one time the two of you were dressed as grisha to draw out a grisha hunter

you were wearing a red kefta and jesper, of course, wore a purple one

“you know what babe, i think purple is my colour”

you’d roll your eyes and flick him in the arm

“ouch, fine maybe it isn’t but red is totally yours”

the fast-paced jobs also brought their own excitement

jesper was even more adorable when people were shooting at him

he thrived off danger

one time the both of you were running together, doing your best to outrun the scary man with a bunch of knives chasing you

when jesper grabbed your wrist and pulled you into an ally

he pushed you behind a garbage can and covered your mouth with his hand

when the target ran past the two of you

you both let out a simultaneous sigh of relief

then he grinned at you

way too wide for someone who had just escaped near death

“what” you had asked

he grinned wider (somehow)

“nothing. you just look all pretty.”

jesper was the king of giving compliments when the situation didn’t warrant them

like the “hey baby! your face looks super kissable right now” as you held a knife to a man's throat

or “i like your hair that way” as you climbed up the side of a building behind him

and the best of all “your scheming face looks exactly like kaz’s and im worried that i’m attracted to you right now”

his comments made heists less serious

and that’s not even mentioning his inappropriate comments

sometimes, when there was a moment of peace between the action

he’d grab your hand

and kiss each of your knuckles

before grinning at you

and wiping out his prized guns

running into the action

after the heists

you were always giddy

those were the moments you most matched jesper’s energy

the adrenaline was pumping through you

and you felt like you could run a marathon

“god! jesper! did you see that landing i nailed? or when i snuck up on that one guy with the red scarf? did you see me?”

in those moments jesper was the calm one

he’d laughed and tossed his arm around your shoulder

“yes love, i saw all your moves”

this one time he pulled a scone out of his pocket

as you walked back to the slat after a tiring job

you looked at him suspiciously

he put his hands up in mock surrender

“what! i paid for it”

another sceptical look

“okay i kind of paid for it”

you had rolled your eyes but taken the scone anyways

being a part of the crows wasn’t so bad when you were dating jesper

[goddesswritings]

“Can I slap her for you?” -  Corpse Husband | Part Two

Title: “Can I slap her for you?” – Part Two

Pairing: Corpse Husband x Reader

Summary: Being stuck living with the queen of YouTube drama and partying during the pandemic has seriously worn down your patience. Meeting Pokimane has changed your life for the better, making Among Us a pivotal part of your life.

Word Count: 5.2k

Unedited for now. I was eager to post. I will edit it later.

Corpse Masterlist

********

<< PART ONE

After you left the apartment, you sat in the parking lot of some random store, trying to decide what to do now. Sighing, you opened your phone and went to Instagram. Corpse was probably wondering if it went okay.

Corpse: She left the stream, thank you!

Corpse: What exactly did you do?

Corpse: She’s sending Sean angry DM’s now.

Corpse: Hey, are you okay?

Y/n: Hey sorry, I had to pack. I’m fine, happy to help get her out of the stream. I switched off the power to her office.

Honestly, you wished you could have stood up against her more often than you did. She was four years younger, so you should have been able to have the say in things. But no, Olivia was a control freak and a spoiled brat too. She would no doubt tell your parents you started a fight with her, and she felt unsafe.

Corpse: Wow, you’re badass. Packing for what?

Y/n: Um, she may have kicked me out of the apartment, and I may have left without a fight because I’m tired of her shit. 🤷‍♀️

Corpse: Do you have a place to stay?

Of course you didn’t and you really should have thought about that before just leaving the way you did.

Y/n: Not really but I will find somewhere.

Well you hoped you could. There weren’t many people who were keen in taking in a friend during a pandemic.

Corpse: Poki’s going to call you.

At that message, your phone started to wring and sure enough, it was Poki.

“Hello?” You asked hesitantly.

“So someone let it slip that your sister kicked you out?” Poki said calmly.

“Is that someone, Corpse?”

“Yes, he said it out of shock but I’m glad he did. Knowing you, you would have kept it a secret from me.” She was right. You hated inconveniencing your friends.

“Damn you, Corpse.” You muttered making her laugh. “Yeah so I ruined Olivia’s stream and she started screaming at me before kicking me out. I didn’t fight it because I am tired of her.”

“Understandable. Well do you need somewhere to stay?”

“Yes but I will find some place.”

“Nope, you’re staying with me. Come over now or I am coming out to drag you back to my place.” Her protectiveness made you smile.

“Sure, I’ll be there in a few.” You hung up.

Y/n: Thank you for looking out for my stubborn ass, Corpse. I would have never told her.

Corpse: Stubborn is one word to describe you. Cute is another.

That comment made your face heat up from the sheer adorableness of it. Corpse seriously just called you cute.

Y/n: Can I say you have a genuinely nice hand. It’s marvelous.

Corpse: Hey, don’t make fun of my hand. It takes all the heat for me. That hand is very anxious every time I post him.

Y/n: Awe I bet. Give him hugs from me. Also tell him I’m a big fan!

The easy flow of conversation between the two of you was nice. You got along extremely well and talking outside of the game was nice, since you could focus on what you really wanted to say to him.

Corpse: He’s flattered!

This was great and took your mind off Olivia and the fact she just kicked you to the curb with nowhere to go. But Poki was there for you. You appreciated her more than she knew.

You pulled up in front of her apartment building, parking the car, you got out and grabbed your stuff. Typing in the code Poki had given you a while ago, you were let into the building. Entering the elevator, you made your way to her apartment.

Barely knocking, the door flew open to reveal Poki. She looked mad but also worried. She pulled you into the apartment and hugged you tightly.

“Can I slap her for you?” She asked calmly.

This made you giggle. “I mean I would like to slap her as well.”

“We should make a plan. Hey, the group is still on, come say hi.” She started to lead you to her office.

“Are they still streaming?” You didn’t want to reveal your face to the world, not like this.

“Oh no. We ended our streams when Olivia started talking about you. She completely wasn’t respecting your privacy and we weren’t about to let her spill it to our viewers.” That was so sweet of them to do.

You had left your bags in the other room while you followed her. An idle conversation was going on when you entered.

“Hey guys, I’m back.” Poki took a seat in front of the computer, she pulled up a second chair. “I have someone special here.”

Sitting down, you saw her nod for you to say something. “Hey, did you miss me?”

They went wild.

“Y/n! Oh we missed you!”

“Don’t leave us again.”

“I’m sorry I invited your sister to stream.”

“Hey Y/n.”

The mix of voices was overwhelming in a good way. Sykkuno, Rae, Sean, and Corpse pretty much spoke over each other which made you laugh.

“One at a time, guys. You can’t overload her.” Leslie told them.

“Sorry Y/n. We just really missed having you here. You’ve become one of our favorite friends to play with.” Sykkuno said sounding as sweet as ever. That man was just the best.

“Yes, I can say we agree.” Rae added.

It was nice to hear they missed you. It really helped to lift your mood as well.

“Did your sister really kick you out?” Toast asked

“Yes she did. But it’s not surprising at this point. She’s probably been gunning to kick me out as soon as she could.” Sad truth

“Well she’s the worst player ever. She can’t keep a secret at all. I really should have never agreed to get her into the group.” Sean said sounding sad.

“Hey Sean, please don’t worry about it. She’s always weaseling her way into things. It’s completely not your fault.” One of the things she loved to do was incessantly DM other youtubers for collabs or for free stuff. She really had no morals.

“Well thank you, Y/n. You’re literally the sweetest.” Sean said earning a bunch of ‘I Agrees’ from everyone else. That really was helping make the night better.

“Who’s up for some more Among Us to relax after that shitshow?” Lud asked making everyone laugh hard. It was agreed the group would do it. Luckily, you had your laptop and joined the call and game and stayed in Poki’s living room to play. Honestly, it was so good for you.

**

At the end if gaming, you said goodbye to the group. Then Poki showed you to the extra room that used to be her roommates before she moved out last month.

“Hey, are you looking for a roommate?” You asked as you put the bags on the bed.

Poki sent you a smile. “I am. Are you interested?”

This was good. “Yes, I mean I still have to find another job since my main is still furloughing me until this pandemic gets better but I have some money saved up.”

“Hey, please don’t sweat it. Besides, I know a friend who’s in need of an editor, I may have mentioned your name and she really wants to talk to you about it. Is that okay?”

“Wow, that’s perfect. Thank you, Poki. You’re such a great friend.” It felt good to have someone there for you.

She pulled you into a hug. “Always. I am so glad I met you. You’re one of my best friends.”

This was an honor. “Don’t make me cry.”

“I can’t promise anything. Anyway, I will leave you to rest. It’s been a long night. Tomorrow I will give you my friends details.”

“Sounds good, night Poki.”

“Goodnight, Y/n.” She waved goodbye and closed the door behind herself.

Smiling, you sat on the bed. It was such a good thing that she was here got you. But also Corpse was the catalyst that got you to actually tell Poki was what happening. He was sweet and it seemed he was looking out for you.

After changing into comfy pj’s, you brushed your teeth before climbing into the freshly made bed. Opening Instagram, you saw that Corpse has messaged you.

Corpse: I don’t like being too forward but hey here we go. Can I please have your number so we can talk more easily?

A smile made its way to your face. For a tough man, he surely had a sweet way of getting to you

Y/n: Yes you can. xxx-xxx-xxxx.

The nerves jumped when you sent that message. Less than a minute later, you received a text from an unknown number.

xxx-xxx-xxxx

Hey Y/n, it’s Corpse. Would you mind if I called you so we could talk for a little?

You liked this idea truthfully. It only helped to show how genuine Corpse was being.

Y/n

Not at all. Please go ahead and call me.

Your phone rang, displaying Corpse’s name.

“Hello?” You answered the phone while pushing away the anxiety.

A soft deep laugh filled your ear. “Hey sweet girl. How are you feeling?”

His words made you want to sigh in the most lovesick way. That never happened these days.

“I’m good. Poki had an extra room I could crash in and well I might just be her new roommate.”

“I love that. She’s so much better than your sister I assume.”

“She is. Here I won’t have to deal with the incessant pandemic partying Olivia likes to do.” That selfish bitch.

“Shit, is she stupid? She does know she’s risking a lot of lives, right?” You loved that Corpse had the logic you craved.

“So she is stupid, and her response was always that it’s not her problem and that the vulnerable people should stay home.”

“She sounds like the typical beauty youtuber these days.”

“Yes, she is. She has no morals.”

“Well that’s not good. I guess that’s why her name keeps popping up all over social media. She really needs to be careful, before she becomes the next Tana.” He was right but you personally thought she was past that point already.

“It’s too late. She’s already passed the point of return with all of this.”

“Yikes. It’s good you got out of there when you did.” A soft but deep laugh was heard through the phone. The sound made you giggle. Hearing such a tough guy laugh the way Corpse laughs, made you feel giddy. “So about what I said earlier, I meant it.”

“Huh, what are you talking about?” You truly were a little lost by this.

Corpse laughed again. “When I called you cute earlier. I meant it.”

Heat filled your face and a small smile made its way to your lips. “Thank you, Corpse. That’s really sweet of you. I don’t like to show many people who I am because they will immediately connect me to Olivia, and I don’t want that.”

“I get that. I don’t show my face for fear they won’t like me when I do. All my fans have built up this expectation of what they want me to look like and now I just don’t want to let them down. Plus it’s nice being able to stay anonymous if I go into public, but of course people will hear my voice and know. Shit, it’s hard.”

“Awe, I’m sorry. I saw what the attention has done to some people, but I think not everyone goes into that headspace. Also, I think you should stay faceless if it makes you feel better. There is no rule that says you ever have to show your face. People who push you to do it have no boundaries.”

Corpse was quiet for a while and you thought you had offended him. “I’m sorry if I said the wrong thing, Corpse.” You squeaked.

“No, you said the right thing. I was just thinking. You’re right. A lot of people have been on me to reveal my face, but I never intend to. I want to be able to live my life without being swarmed by fans, or god forbid, them judging me by my appearance.”

“Which is really fucked. When I first appeared in my sister video, the comments were awful. They couldn’t understand how she was related to me, but I never thought I looked bad. But I guess they expected Olivia to be surrounded by people in her genre. It was so hard to see those comments.” Thinking back to it, Olivia had even added to it. Telling you that you should have tried to look more like her for the video. You should have worn something more colorful and put-on way more make up then you liked. But you hated that. That wasn’t you.

“I can’t imagine the things they said. Is that why you deactivated your twitter?” How did he know about that?

“Oh, yeah. How did you know about it?”

“I remembered seeing a story about it on YouTube last year. They didn’t show your face, so of course I didn’t know it was you. But I figured it out when Olivia joined the game tonight and she blabbered on about being your sister. I’m sorry you received that hate. No one deserves that ever.” His voice was calming you now.

“Thank you. Olivia seemed to add to it, as well. Fuck, she’s just the worst person.” Family definitely had the ability to be shitty. “Meeting Poki last year really was the best thing. But also joining this Among Us group has been so good for me. Thank you for accepting me.”

“Of course. You’re a natural in the game but you also fit very well with the group.” Corpse really hoped you believed him because this was true. The group had a whole conversation about it when Olivia finally left

“I’m flattered. The Corpse Husband is telling me I fit in with him and his streamer friends. Wake me up, I must be dreaming.” You knew his words were genuine because it was just easy to tell.

“You better believe it, baby, because it’s true.”

You stopped short when you heard him call you baby. Of course Corpse had used that word before but right now it felt more intimate.

Letting out a yawn you realized it was nearing 4 am. “I appreciate it.” You mumbled, feeling the events from the day seep in.

“You’re tired, aren’t you?” His deep voice was lulling you closer to sleep.

“No.” Another yawn broke through.

“You can’t lie to me, Y/n. Get some sleep and we will talk tomorrow.”

The words made you smile. “That sounds good, Corpsie. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, sweet girl.” Despite wanting to stay on the phone, you hung up. Sleep was quickly coming in to claim you. You can happily say you fell asleep with a huge smile on your face.

**

Waking up was easier than it had been in a long time. Normally you woke up to Olivia screaming at you or someone else. So it was nice to wake up to silence. It allowed you to relax and wake up properly.

Your phone buzzed from beside you. A text from Corpse is what you first saw, so you opened it.

Corpse

Good morning, sweet girl. I hope the night treated you well.

Sweet and to the point. His messages made you think he had a thing for you. Well you hoped he did but he also could just be treating you the way he treats friends.

Y/n

Yes, I slept well and for once I wasn’t awoken by my obnoxious sister.

It would he good not to live with her.

Corpse

I bet. Hey I hate to be the one to show you this, but your sister posted this on her instagram.

He then sent a link to the post. It made your blood boil.

::::

There was a picture of her, she was holding up a ripped picture of you. A huge frown was on her face.

oliviaxoxo It’s a shame when family starts to treat you like you weren’t the one to give them money when they needed it. This is my sister and she’s a bitch. For the last few years, she’s been the one editing my videos. Well I found out she was trying to sabotage me, so I had to fire her and kick her out. What a shame it is when family stabs you in the back. 🙃🙃

1,454,787 people like this

oliviafan23 Is this true? Damn, f*ck fake people.

queenolivia Sueeee herrrrr!

lovinliv Family ain’t shit. Spill her info so we can drag her.

sykkuwu Whoa, why are you spreading lies about your own family?

   |

queenolivia Why would you defend someone like that?

valkyrea You’re such a sad human for doing this. Stop lying.

pokimanelol Let’s see, none of this is true. Your sister has done so much for you and you’ve never appreciated it. Get some help for this.

corpse_husband This is sick. No wonder your name is always blasted everywhere. Do your sister a favor and stop talking about her.

    |

oliviaxoxo I don’t know why you’re defending my stupid sister, but that totally makes you not hot to me anymore. Ugh.

   |

valkyrea Uh, that’s what you got from this. Wow, you’re not worth this.

    |

corpse_husband What can you expect? The covid must have gone to her brain.    |

corpseandlivfan Whyyyyyyy Corpse, why would you stand up for her. Do you not realize how horrible Y/n is? Please tell me this is a joke!?!?

   |

 corpse_husband Well, she’s a good friend of mine and I won’t let people make up lies. So it’s not a joke.

::::::::

You were mad that she’d even say this shit publicly, but you should have known she would. She was nothing without her group of misguided followers.

Y/n

Can’t say I’m not surprised. This is so on brand for her. Thank you for sticking up for me. It means a lot.

Corpse

I would do it any day. She shouldn’t be able to get away with doing that to you.

Sadly, growing up, she did get away with doing the absolute worst shit and you always received the brunt of it.

Y/n

With any luck, she draws negative attention.

You clicked the link to view it again but instead were lead to a page that said the content was unavailable.

Y/n

I believe she just deleted the post.

Corpse

Oh, she did. That’s awesome.

It was. Olivia was never one to swallow her pride and admit any wrongdoings. That means she would never delete a problematic post, but she finally did

Y/n

I didn’t really read any other comments besides you and your friends and the top comments. I can’t imagine what her fans are really saying.

Olivia was completely okay with letting her fans attack people. It was seriously a huge mess. She fell into the category of YouTuber with the worst most entitled attitude.

Corpse

It’s good you didn’t read them, because they were horrible. I can’t believe she would let her fans do that.

Y/n

She’s done a lot of shady stuff. This is even before she blew up on YouTube. There is a lot of issues between us.

There was a lot that could be said about your relationship with Olivia and none of them were good. Forever it seemed, you had tried to make it work and hoped your sister would grow up and change but it never happened.

Corpse

I think she’s a vile human. From what I have seen and her complete lack of human decency, I just can’t help but feel she’s just not a good person and she never will be.

He was right. She would never change.

Y/n

You’re right. Hey, I have to go thank Poki for letting me stay but I also need to go back to that apartment to get the rest of my stuff. Can I call you when I get back?

Corpse

Yes, of course. Good luck heading over there.

Talking to him was pretty natural feeling. It was clear now that you were getting a massive crush on him. You had a crush on a man who’s face you’ve never seen. You couldn’t help it though, his personality just meshed so well with yours. He’d made you feel safe and wanted.

After getting dressed, you found Poki in the kitchen making breakfast. She sent you a sweet smile when you entered the room.

“Thank you for standing up for me against my sister on Instagram.” You were truly honored this group of friends liked you enough to do something like this.

“You’re welcome. I couldn’t just let her say that and get away with it. She’s done a lot to you, that you don’t deserve. Corpse messaged all of us the minute he found it and we all jumped into action. Sean and Felix were getting ready to comment when she deleted it.” She explained as she set a plate in front of you.

“I’m so honored. Thank you!”

“Of course, you’re one of us now and we will never let her get away with this stuff anymore.”

You could just cry with how loved they were making you feel. This is what had been missing in your life. Friends who genuinely cared about you and wanted to protect you from the nasty stuff Olivia was capable of doing.

“Would you come with me to the apartment to get the rest of my stuff?” You asked once the two of you finished eating.

Poki nodded. “Of course I will. You shouldn’t have to go alone.”

**

An hour later, you exited the elevator on the floor where you once resided. Your sister wasn’t home, which would be good but there was a chance she could return while you were packing. But you would deal with that when it came down to it. The two of you quickly got to work, packing your life up into the boxes you’d brought with you. Luckily, you weren’t one to collect a ton of stuff. You mainly just had to make sure your clothes and makeup were packed up.          

You and Poki would fill boxes and pile them by there door, then you would take them down to the car when you acquired a good amount. In the end, you figured you would fill maybe 10 boxes which is actually not too many considering you’ve lived in that apartment for five years.

Poki had left to go take two more boxes to the car while you finished up packing up your last few items. The front door closed, and you assumed it was Poki, but it wasn’t.

“Oh look who’s here? My lovely sister.” Olivia’s voice was flat and emotionless.

You rolled your eyes and turned to find her standing in the doorway, glaring at you. “Hello, Olivia. I’m just packing my stuff and then I’m leaving.”

“Who said you were allowed to come back here?” She grumbled, eyeing the boxes.

“Well, this is my stuff and I have every right to come pick it up.”

“If it’s in my apartment, it clearly belongs to me.” She snarled.

You snapped. “Cut it out, Olivia. This was my apartment too, until you kicked me out last night. You can’t just claim my stuff as your because you’re salty about me having friends.” She was a spoiled brat, and you were done letting her get away with it.

“I’m not the salty one. Everyone can see it’s you.” God she was so annoying. You taped up the last box and turned to her. She held her phone in her hand. “Everyone say hi to my sister. You know, the one I posted about earlier before someone reported my post.”

“Are you live?” You asked, keeping your face expressionless. Olivia would do this.

“I bet some of you remember the few videos I did with her. Well of course that was before she turned against me and decided she was going to try and ruin me. Say hi, Y/n.” A sick smile played on her face.

“I never consented to being in your live, Olivia. Please stop.” You tried to keep your voice calm so that she wouldn’t have any way to make you look like the bad person. But regardless, she was already doing it.

Olivia cackled. “Well I think I’m free to do as I please in my apartment.” You could only imagine what her fans were saying. “You’re right, Andrea, she is an idiot, and I should have her arrested.” She spoke aloud making your blood boil.

“You’re so immature, Olivia.” You grumbled before grabbing the last couple boxes and moving towards the door. Olivia decided to swat the boxes out of your hand, and they fell tumbling to the ground. “What the hell, Olivia. I could have fragile stuff in there.” You growled at her.

Olivia was just laughing. “This is funny. What else should I do, guys?” She asked as she panned the phone around the room.

Her immaturity was giving you a headache. Poki walked in and saw Olivia.

“Oh hey guys, look who’s here. Pokimane.” She panned the camera to Poki who frowned. Olivia just laughed and started talking shit until she was cut off by the stream just ending. “What the hell.”

You gathered the last few boxes, and Poki came to help while Olivia attempted to start another live.

“What the fuck, it won’t let me go live.” She growled while stomping her foot like a child.

“That’s what happens when an influx of people report your live.” Poki spoke as you both had gathered the boxes.

Olivia was frowning. “What did you do, Y/n.” She wanted to pounce at her, but Y/n and Poki were already at the door.

“Y/n did nothing, but I got word of your little livestream and contacted some friends for help. It will be at least 24 hours before you can have another live. But with the amount of people who reported you, well you may be banned for a while.” With that, you and Poki left Olivia standing there is absolute shock.

You and Poki put the last boxes in the car. “Thank you, Poki. How did you get so many people to report it?”

“Well it was actually Corpse. He texted me and informed me that she was doing a live and bothering you. He had his fans go report it, but apparently Sykkuno and Rae also sent their fans. I was going to send mine, but they had it handled. So this was all Corpse.” She explained.

Hearing this made you feel so soft for Corpse. “Awe wow. That’s so sweet of him.”

The two of you entered the car. “Y/n, can I tell you something without you telling him I told you?”

You looked over at her. “Yes, sure.” Your heart rate kind of picked up.

“Well the other day, Corpse admitted he has feelings for you, but he wasn’t completely sure if you felt the same way for him. But I mean I can clearly see you do. Your whole face just lit up when I mentioned him. So do you?”

Heat filled your face and you suddenly felt shy. “I do, yes. Which is ridiculous because I just met the guy, and I don’t even know what he looks like. But gosh, I like him so much. When I talk to him, I feel happy. He’s been so good to me through this crap with Olivia.” You admitted, knowing she already knew.

Poki smiled and squealed in complete happiness. “You two are just the most adorable people! It’s not ridiculous. We pretty much knew from the first time you joined us, that Corpse was into you. But oh my god, you’re into him. You need to tell him!!!!”

You agreed, Corpse deserved to know. “I do. But how? It’s been a really long time since I’ve told someone I liked them. Shit, I feel like I’m in high school again!”

This made Poki giggle. “Calm down, Y/n. I have a plan. Let’s get back to the apartment and we will talk about this. Rae also wants to be involved in this.”

Back at her apartment, you had jumped onto a call with Rae and the three of you talked about what your plan was for you to tell Corpse what you felt for him. Rae and Poki decided to organize an Among Us game strictly for fun and no one would stream, they would also use Proximity chat.

“So we will get him to follow you around until one of us is imposter, then we will lock you into wherever you end up. Do it then” Rae explained sounding so excited.

“Okay, that can work. Let’s do this!” You were nervous but also excited to finally do something good for yourself.

You and Poki set up for the gane and Corpse sent you a text.

Corpse

Are you joining the game tonight?

Seeing a text from him, made you feel giddy.

Y/n

Yep I am. So I will see you in game?

Corpse

Yes you will, angel.

Cue the insane butterflies.

**

The lobby loaded and it was you, Corpse, Poki, Rae, Sykkuno, Karl, Tina, Sean, Toast, and Leslie. All streamers you had grown to like a lot in the time you have been playing with them.

“Y/n, I am so happy you’re playing with us!” Tina gushed as her little character ran around yours.

“I’m happy to be here.” You really were.

“You’re sister is a piece of work, Y/n.” Sykkuno said.

You giggled. “Don’t I know it.”

“What did she do this time?” Sean asked.

“Decided to film a live when we went to get Y/n’s stuff from the apartment.” Poki explained.

“Oh, that’s gross.” Karl commented.

“I have to thank Corpse for helping.” You stated to the group.

“Yeah Corpse was quick to text us.” Sykkuno added.

“You’re welcome, Y/n. I wasn’t going to let her get away with what she was doing. Truth is, I got a bunch of fan DMs that were telling me what Olivia was doing. So a lot of my fans were already reporting it, but the tweet helped.” Corpse’s deep voice soothed you.

“I appreciate it so much. She was just being an immature brat as always.”

The group laughed before deciding to start the game. Poki and Rae agreed to text you when either of them were imposter. Now it was a matter of getting Corpse to follow you.

The group was on the Polus map, which seemed to be a favorite for everyone.

Rae

We should lock them in weapons.

Rae had texted you and Poki through the group text.

Poki

That’s the best place for them.

Y/n

Okay but I still have to get him to follow me.

Rae

He will. Just wait, I have a plan.

You trusted Rae and Poki to help you. Now it was time to admit it all to Corpse and hope he genuinely liked you back.

Y/n

Let’s do this!

PART THREE  >>                                         

[emsylcatac]

A little push

Summary:

Alya asks Chat Noir to record a video of himself encouraging Marinette to confess...to Adrien.

Of course his mouth speaks on its own. Of course he says yes.

Of course his Lady is most likely sure to kill him.

...And of course Marinette feels like she's the one who's about to die.

Read it on AO3

Happy (very late) birthday to @janaikam ♥

I hope you’ll like this post-reveal pre-relationship fic!

A big thank you to Bren, Lisa & Alizeh for beta-reading this you’re all amazing!

* * * * *

“Pound it!”

Adrien looked into Marinette’s eyes as he said it and she did the same, giving him that soft smile of hers that never failed to make him feel better. They lingered a few seconds with their fists touching, searching each other’s eyes knowingly.

Even though it had been months since they’d discovered each other’s identities, they couldn’t help but share a special glance that said, ‘I know who you are now’.

They disconnected their fists and turned towards the victim of the day—a woman in her thirties—who was slowly gathering her bearings. Marinette walked towards her and helped her stand up, offering words of reassurance.

Adrien watched her fondly before joining her and giving the woman a pep talk himself, until she left, thanking them once again.

“Well, Kitty, we did good today, eh?” Marinette said, nudging him with her elbow.

Adrien laughed. “Of course we did, we’re unstoppable! But I think you should go, you’re about to detransform soon,” he winked.

“Olala, I should hurry! Wouldn’t want you to find out my oh-so secret identity super top secret!”

They both giggled, Adrien shaking his head. “I’ll see you in class on Monday,” she whispered, and dropped a kiss on his cheek before flying away.

He touched his cheek and stared at her retreating form. He was about to let yet one of his all too recurrent lovesick sigh when a voice called out to him.

“Pssst, Chat Noir!”

He turned his head, only to be met by Alya’s grinning face and waving hand. He beamed at her, noting that he still had enough time left if she wanted a small interview.

“Well well well, if that isn’t our ever-so always intrepid Ladyblogger!”

Alya took that as a sign that she could come and talk to him, laughing all the way.

“Please, call me Miss Ladyblogger, The Most Intrepid And Greatest Reporter Of All Time, and not to brag, also personal favourite citizen of our local heroes themselves, between you and me.”

“Oh, my bad,” Adrien chuckled. “What do you need of me? An interview? A selfie featuring my best winning smile? Or,” he dropped his voice conspiratorially, a hand around his mouth, “pictures of Ladybug falling in the fountain because she was scared of…a ladybug?”

Alya laughed. “Actually, I had a favour to ask from you, but if these pictures are still on the table… how much would you want for them?”

Adrien winked. “Give me a croissant and I’m your cat, if you don’t tell Ladybug about your sources, of course.”

She smirked. “Of course. It’s a deal. I’ll have your croissant same time, same place tomorrow.”

“Lovely. Now what was it you needed of me, before my time is up?”

“Oh. So this is gonna sound really weird but...Okay. So my best friend is a fan of yours; her name’s Marinette, I don’t know if you’ve heard of her?”

Adrien bit back a laugh and tapped his bell. “Rings a bell, must have met her once or twice. Admirable citizen, just like you!”

“Why, thank you,” she said, falsely flattered. “Well. So Marinette is trying to hype herself up to confess to the boy she loves—”

Oh.

“—but she’s always had troubles, you know? Except now she told me that she really wanted to do it, and I’m so proud of her! She has been in love with our friend Adrien for so long now—”

OH.

Adrien’s brain short-circuited after that, and Alya was talking, and probably saying very interesting things, but what was it about Marinette loving him?!

“—So, could you do that? It would really mean a lot to her! ...Chat Noir?”

He startled, trying to reconnect with reality, and was met with Alya’s confused frown.

“Sorry,” he said—because yes he could still speak, which was great, wasn’t it?—“I didn’t quite catch that last part. Could you repeat, please?”

“Oh! Yes, so I was wondering—since I’ve heard from akuma victims and Ladybug herself that you give the best pep talks and since Marinette holds you high in her esteem— if you would agree to give her a few encouraging words while I record you? I want it to be a little surprise for her.”

Oh. Now that was a funny situation.

...A very, very embarrassing situation he had no idea how to get out from.

Was it true? Was Marinette really in love with him? It made sense, in a way, he reasoned.

It would explain a lot of things.

But what would Marinette think if she saw him, Chat Noir him, making a video for her to confess to him, Adrien him?!

...She would probably hate him forever.

“...Chat Noir?” Alya’s voice brought him back on Earth once again. She was looking at him with what he assumed were the best pleading puppy eyes she could muster, and he’d be lying if he said it wasn’t working. Now he knew why Marinette couldn’t say ‘no’ to Alya and vice-versa.  “Could you do it? Please please please please pleeeaaaase? I’ll bring you another croissant! And Marinette really deserves it, you can’t deny her that—”

“Sure.” He heard his voice speak. Oh no. “I would love to!” Sometimes he wished he hadn’t been gifted with the ability to talk.

Alya let out a happy squeal, pulling out her camera. It almost convinced him that he had made the right decision in agreeing. Almost. “Thank you, Chat Noir, you’re the best! Marinette is going to be so happy after seeing it, no way she won’t nail her confession!”

“Hahaha…yeah...no way…”

Marinette was going to be mad at him. He didn’t know whether he should warn her or not; call her or not.

But one thing he was sure of, he was not at all ready to face her after that.

“So when you’re ready,” he gave an awkward thumbs up, “on the count of three… One...two...three...aaaand action!”

Adrien stared at the red indicator light on Alya’s camera, feeling like a deer caught in headlights. It was a terrible feeling. If a deer miraculous existed, he was sure very glad that he wasn’t its owner.

Alya nodded at him, reminding him that he had to speak.

“So,” he brought a hand to his neck, rubbing it awkwardly, “um, hello, M-Marinette, as you can probably see, this is Chat Noir! I’m here to tell you that...to tell you that...that…” He took a deep breath, trying to summon confidence he wasn’t sure he possessed at the time, and looked straight into the camera. “I’m here to tell you that I believe in you. I know you’re an amazing person and—”

* * * * *

“—you’ve been proving that you were very brave the few times that I met you. What I mean is...trust in yourself, and I’m sure your confession to...to that boy…”

“—Adrien,” Alya’s voice added in a harsh whisper.

“...Right. That boy A-Adrien will be very...very happy to hear it. I mean, you saying it, yeah he’ll be, um. Overjoyed. I think. Probably. So good luck and, uh...be happy.”

Marinette stared at her phone screen as the video ended, stopping on Chat Noir’s awkward finger guns with a face that clearly screamed like he just wanted to drown himself into the Seine, a sentiment she was currently sharing with him.

She couldn’t move for the next few minutes, replaying his words in her head. She didn’t dare to press “play” again and feel the embarrassment she was already feeling more and more a second time.

It was sweet of Alya, really. And well thought out. And Marinette probably would have loved the attention if the person she was planning on confessing to wasn’t the one encouraging her in this stupid video.

“Marinette?” she faintly heard Tikki’s voice calling out to her.

“I’m gonna die. No, wait… I’m already dead.” And with that, she dropped her phone on the floor and threw herself unceremoniously onto her bed, an arm covering her face.

“Marinette, this is great!” Tikki squealed. Marinette violently pulled her arm away to look at her. “Chat Noir said Adrien would be overjoyed to hear your confession!”

“Tikki. He said that ‘Adrien’,” she quoted the name with her fingers, “will probably be overjoyed. Keyword: probably. Keyface: the desperate one he was throwing at the camera screaming ‘please let me die’. How is any of this great, uh?”

Tikki didn’t answer right away. “Well,” she spoke in a timid voice, “if you’re both gonna die, then at least you’ll be together?”

Marinette knew Tikki was always trying to be optimistic, but this was a little much.

Tikki sighed. “Listen, I know it looks embarrassing—”

“—understatement of the century—”

“—but now you have the hardest part of your confession already done! All you have to do is call him or wait for him to call and—”

Marinette gasped and straightened up suddenly. “HIM TO CALL!” she screamed, and grabbed her phone.

When it was clear that no new notifications had appeared, she released a loud sigh to alleviate the pressure and fell back on her bed dramatically.

“Tikki. He hasn’t called. Or left any messages.”

“Maybe he’s waiting for you to do it?”

“Maybe.” Maybe not.

Marinette continued to stare at the ceiling, a thousand thoughts running through her head, all catastrophic.

“Tikki,” she called again. “He’s never gonna love me, isn’t he?”

“You know that’s not true.”

Marinette ignored her kwami. She grabbed her Chat Noir plushie that was snuggled up against her cat pillow, held it in front of her, and caressed the side of its ear and hair with one hand.

“All I want is to get lost in his emerald green eyes,” she almost sniffed, “pet his cute little kitty ears,” she rubbed the doll’s cat ear between her fingers, “and...and kiss his adorable kitty nose,” she bopped its nose, “and hold him close to me,” and she hugged the doll close to her chest.

“Marinette, don’t you think that you’re being a little dramatic here?” Tikki’s voice pulled her out of her reverie.

She glared at her, straightened up and shoved the doll into the kwami’s face.

“Tikki. There is nothing dramatic when it comes to this boy and my feelings for him.” She brought back the plushie close to her and lowered her voice. “I love you Adrien,” she murmured, before dropping a kiss on its forehead with a loud mwah.

Tikki sighed. “Well, now that you just practiced your confession and are ready for next time you see him, off to bed!”

Marinette pouted and gave her a distraught look.

Tikki’s expression turned kinder and more tender. “I’m sure everything is going to be perfect, Marinette. You don’t have to worry.”

“I hope you’re right, Tikki,” she answered while the kwami nuzzled her cheek. “I hope you’re right.”

* * * * *

“Are you finally going to tell me where we’re going?” Marinette asked again.

“Nope,” Alya grinned. “This is going to be fun, I promise.”

Marinette groaned playfully, the bag of croissants her best friend had asked her to bring swinging at the rhythm of her pace. It was a nice morning, and it was sunny for once in Paris. Marinette might not have slept a lot that night, but Alya’s overjoyed mood was lifting up her spirit.

...Until a realisation hit her and she suddenly stopped walking. “You’re not going to bring me to see Adrien, are you? Because you, dragging me on a Sunday morning, with croissants...”

Alya just laughed. “Of course not, silly. That’s you and only you who will have to decide when you meet up with him. I think I’ve done my part already,” she winked.

“Your par—oh. The video.”

“Yes, the video, the last little push you needed to have the most perfect and grand love confession that love history itself has never heard!” Alya dramatically said while making wide gestures with her arms, which would have amused Marinette greatly were it not for the tight knot she could still feel in her stomach from the previous day.

She forced a laugh. “Hahahahahaaa, yes it was very nice of…of Chat Noir to accept and…”

“Oh my god, Marinette,” Alya interrupted her. “Chat Noir was such a sweetheart. I wasn’t expecting him to accept but it was really nice of him.”

“Ooooh, yes yes, veeeery very nice of him, he really shouldn’t have,” Marinette nervously nodded.

“Right?! He probably had tons of other things to do but he still chose to take the time for us,” she kept on gushing.

Marinette thought she must have nodded dumbly after that. Talking about Chat Noir and the video just reminded her that he knew now and that she had no idea about what he thought of it.

That she had yet to officially confess—that she had yet to face him.

And somehow, the fact that he knew that she was in love with him when she hadn’t even told him herself, well… It felt more stressful than any surprise confession she could have planned.

“...and he even said that you were an admirable citizen, by the way,” she heard Alya’s voice talking to her again.

“Who? Me?”

“Yes, you! And me too, but that goes without saying,” she fake-bragged. “But come on, we’re almost there.” She grabbed her hand and pulled her in a small run, eyes glinting, and Marinette had no other choice but laugh at her best friend’s antics.

They passed by a small shop Marinette recognised as one that was destroyed the previous day during the akuma attack. They turned around a corner she knew would leave them were they defeated that akuma and—

“He’s already here!” Alya gasped.

—Chat Noir was casually leaning back against a wall, seemingly lost in thoughts and inspecting his claws.

...And all of Marinette’s panic came back full force in the span of a second. She was not ready. She was so, so not ready to meet him just yet.

She unknowingly gripped the bag of croissants and Alya’s hand tighter, using the latter as an anchor.

“Hoy, Chat Noir!” Alya waved at him.

Adrien turned his head.

Smiled and waved back.

Looked at her.

Dropped his hand and smile, eyes widening in horror.

Clearly, he too hadn’t expected her. She was probably looking at him with the same horrified look on her face and cursed her inability to pretend that everything was perfectly fine on command.

Luckily, Alya didn’t seem to notice the tension between them.

“I’m glad to see you remember our little deal,” she joked.

Adrien, bless him, quickly schooled his expression into a more neutral one and turned to Alya.

“Of course. A promise is a promise.”

“I’ve got your croissants,” she went on. “All warm of today from the one and only Dupain-Cheng bakery!”

“Wooohhh,” Marinette could hear the forced enthusiasm in his voice, “that sounds de-li-cious!”

He quickly glanced at her, and she averted her eyes immediately.

A nudge from Alya reminded her that she was the one with the bag of croissants and that she was supposed to hand it to him.

She all but shoved it into his face.

Great.

“Oops, err, sorry, here,” she apologised, dropping the bag in his hands instead.

“It’s fine, thanks,” he answered quietly.

She didn’t dare to look at him. Maybe he was looking at her, or maybe he was avoiding her, too. It felt awkward.

It felt so wrong.

Wouldn’t he look overjoyed if he was in love with her and just learned she loved him back? Wouldn’t he?

Alya’s voice pulled her out of her spiralling thoughts. “So, do you have my merchandise, hm?”

Marinette looked up to Adrien who seemed to be startled from his own thoughts, too. “Of course,” he zipped down his pocket, “here. It’s all on this USB key.”

He gave Alya a wink for good measure.

“Thank you, you’re the best!”

“What’s on it?” Marinette asked, more to pretend that she was invested in whatever was happening than out of real curiosity.

“Ah-a! That’s for me to know and you to never found out,” Alya wiggled her eyebrows. “Oh by the way,” she gave a small movement of the head in Adrien’s direction, “what did you think of the video?”

Marinette’s eyes widened in horror and she looked into Adrien’s eyes to see him looking back at her absolutely...terrified. She couldn’t find a better word to describe it.

He looked….he looked terrified.

...He really had moved on, hadn’t he? She was too late, and the idea that he would have to reject her terrified him, wasn’t it?

Marinette tried to control her emotion and keep the tears she could already feel prickling her eyes from escaping.

“The...the video?” she said timidly. “The one you sent me yesterday with Chat Noir?”

Alya nodded enthusiastically. Adrien was offering a tentative smile but she could see how much it was costing him to do it.

“Oh yes I hope… I hope it’s gonna help you,” he murmured in a trembling voice.

...She couldn’t do it right now. Internally cursing herself for being a stupid coward or some other name she didn’t even had in mind, she took a deep breath and summoned the cheeriest voice she could muster.

“Ooooh hahahaha, yes it was very nice of you and um, and a good surprise! But pfffeeew, it wasn’t necessary at all, I mean! I loved that you took your time for me but… I’m totally over Adrien, hehe. It wasn’t even a big big crush I had you know, just a tiny tiny little feeling, but now it’s all gone into the wind, wooooshh!”

She could feel Alya’s incredulous eyes on her, and saw the small smile Adrien had been trying to maintain completely disappear.

“But… Marinette, what are you saying? Just yesterday you were telling me on the phone that you were head over heels for Adrie—”

“Exactly,” Marinette cut, nodding, “yesterday is suuuuuch a long time ago, things have totally changed now!”

Her statement was met with silence, so she looked awkwardly from Adrien to Alya, and to Adrien again.

Adrien, who looked like a part of his world had just crumbled in front of his very eyes.

“Well,” he said, voice quivering, and she suddenly felt like she was falling from very, very high, “it’s okay.”

It was not.

“I’m glad to know that you’ve made peace with your feelings,”

Oh god no, please no.

“and that you don’t really need my help to...to confess.”

No, no, no...Everything, but not this.

“Chat Noir…” Alya tried to speak, sounding apologetic.

Adrien gave her a wobbly smile.

“Don’t worry, I’m always happy to help, even if things don’t always work out as we hope they would. And it was fun to spend a little time with you two.”

Marinette wanted to speak, but no words would come. She was sure her tears were visible and she tried to convey what she wanted to say with her eyes instead except...she didn’t even know what exactly she wanted to tell him.

Probably it was why she couldn’t form a sound.

Adrien’s eyes met hers for a split second, and he turned around, his back to them.

“Well, if you’ll excuse-me, I have somewhere else to be. I hope you two have a nice day.”

“Chat Noir, wait—”

But he extended his baton and soon disappeared behind a building.

“Wait…” Marinette whispered again, staring at the spot where he had just vanished.

“...Marinette?” Alya tentatively called out to her.

She turned to her best friend and let her tears free to roll on her cheeks.

“Alya... Why do I keep messing up? Why do I keep messing everything up?”

“Oh, girl… It’s okay.”

Alya pulled her in a hug and Marinette let herself cry.

“No, no it’s not. It’s… It’s not. Why did I say all of this? None of it is even true,” she sobbed.

Alya rubbed circles on her back and let her talk her heart out, listening patiently as always.

“You panicked at the idea of admitting again to someone that you loved Adrien?” she finally asked.

It wasn’t exactly that, but Marinette couldn’t really say why, so she just nodded into her neck.

Alya sighed. “I’m sorry, I probably shouldn’t have asked Chat Noir for this video. I thought it would be a good idea, but…”

Marinette shook her head frantically. “It was a great idea Alya, it’s not your fault.” And she meant it: she would have loved the video had Ladybug and Chat Noir not been her and Adrien. “It’s just me, I don’t know why I’m like this. And now, I hurt Chat Noir,” she whispered.

“Forget about Chat Noir right now,” Alya said. “It’s you who’s hurting. I’m sure he’ll understand, he said he had been happy to help anyway. And if you want, we can make a little video to tell him it was a joke,” she teased.

Marinette managed a giggle through her tears, and broke off the hug. Alya kept her hands on her shoulders.

“But seriously. Are you sure it’s only the Adrien thing that is making you cry? I feel like you’ve been more stressed than usual lately.”

She shrugged; she didn’t even know the answer to that.

“You know what?” Alya said, tone a little less consoling and a little cheerier. “I declare today as a girls day, and a make-Marinette-feel-better-day. So we’re going to have a nice lunch in a nice little restaurant, and then we’ll go to the cinema, how does that sound?”

Marinette finished to wipe her tears. “That sounds great Alya, thank you so much. I couldn’t have asked for a better best friend, you know... You’re always there for me.”

Alya laughed and gave her a side-hug, dropping a kiss on her cheek. “Oh you could. You could have been me and have you as a best friend.”

That made her laugh. She still had to talk to Adrien, but for now she was glad to forget a little about him.

* * * * *

It had taken quite some time for Marinette and Adrien to get used to each other’s identities. They had been fumbling with their words a lot, overthinking each of their moves. It was a sort of out-of-body experience to merge two persons you viewed as two different entities into only one, and it had taken some time to really click in their mind and adjust their newfound dynamic.

So yes, it hadn’t been short, but they had gotten there—they had found a common, safe compromise.

But now, as Marinette anxiously watched Adrien’s back as he was packing his bag before leaving for lunch, it felt as if all this progress had been destroyed and they were not even back to square one, but to square minus ten.

She purposefully took more time than necessary to clean her table, nodding to Alya to let her know to go ahead and that she would join them at the cafeteria in a few.

And soon it was only the both of them left in the classroom.

Starting a conversation with Adrien had finally felt natural, like starting one with Chat Noir before they knew each other’s identities, yet it had never felt harder than now.

Thankfully, he was the one who took the plunge.

“Marinette? Can I… Can I ask about what happened this weekend?”

His tone wasn’t unkind, far from it, but it was also firm.

“This...this weekend?” she stuttered, cursing herself for pretending she didn’t know what he was referring to.

His expression crumpled a little and he sighed. “You know what I’m talking about. Listen, I’m gonna be honest with you—”

The knot she had in her stomach tightened and she could feel her heart beat faster—the kind of beat that wasn’t due to a sudden surge of love, but the one that was fearful of what the turn of events might be.

“—but sometimes, you confuse me. I mean, it got better now that we know, but there are times I don’t know what you think and…” he sighed again, and ruffled his hair.

Marinette kept staring at him; he was right.

“And this weekend, I finally thought I had figured it out, but then you…”

“I’m sorry,” she murmured.

Adrien shook his head, looking like he was the one feeling sorry. He took a step towards her, and brought a hand to her face, gently putting some strands of hair behind her ear. “It feels like you don’t trust me with your feelings, my Lady,” he almost breathed. “I’ve always told you how I felt, or if something was bothering me...even if I’ve been more than clumsy about it at times.”

Marinette said nothing.

“I’m just asking you for the same honesty.”

He dropped his hand from her face but kept maintaining her gaze. His look was intense, expectant, but oh so disheartened.

“I’m sorry,” she finally mumbled again, because words still wouldn’t work.

His expression turned to a resigned one, and her heart broke a little.

“You know that you’re my best friend and that I’ll never think badly of you no matter what?” he said, before turning around.

“Adrien...wait—”

His phone rang.

“It’s the Gorilla. He’s waiting for me. I’ll see you after lunch,” and with that, he exited the classroom, leaving Marinette even more frustrated with herself than she had been before.

* * * * *

It’s precisely because something is important that it’s important to say, no matter what.

She had lost count of how many times she had repeated this in her head ever since Chat Noir had told it to her. She had often been close, so close to follow it and say what was on her heart.

So close... But she had never achieved it.

Marinette took a deep breath. Exhale.

Adrien was in the locker room, alone. All the other students had gone back home now, but a fencing lesson after class had held him up.

She had waited the entire lesson—she knew he would come by the locker room at the end to take some school books.

“Adrien?” she called timidly.

He stopped what he was doing, a hand on the locker door. He didn’t turn around.

How many times had she imagined confessing to him?

How many times had she planned her confession to him?

How many times had it all failed…?

Confessions don’t plan themselves, she figured. They just happen when they happen.

“I know you’re probably still frustrated with me, but...there are things I want to tell you.”

Hello Marinette; as you can probably see, this is Chat Noir.

“First of all...I’m sorry. For yesterday; for being confusing to you. For being a coward,” she whispered the last word.

I’m here to tell you that I believe in you.

“The truth is… I’ve always been afraid to open my heart, and especially to you.”

She couldn’t read his expression, but he hadn’t moved, his back still to her.

She took a step forward.

“Which is stupid, of course, because you’re my partner and there’s probably no one I trust more than you.”

You’re an amazing person—

Another step.

“But I think that’s because you’re so important to me that I’m scared to be honest with you. Because once I tell you…”

—and you’ve been proving that you were very brave.

“Once I tell you, you’ll know everything about me. And that’s terrifying.”

Trust in yourself.

“You told me once that it was because something was important to say that it was important to say it. No Matter what. Well. I have something important to tell you.”

She took another step, so she was standing right behind him now.

I’ll be happy to hear it.

“I love you, Adrien,” she whispered, and hugged him from behind.

You, saying it. I’ll be overjoyed.

“I love you,” she repeated louder into his back.

Good luck and…

She untangled herself from him. “I love you,” she said firmly, confident, one last time.

...Be happy.

Adrien turned around.

And he had the brightest smile she’s ever seen on his face, tears glistening at the corner of his eyes. Just like that, hers that she hadn’t noticed forming ran on her cheek and she let out a choked giggle. She threw herself at him, her arms around his neck.

He caught her easily and hugged her back just as tightly.

“Thank you for being honest with me,” he whispered into her hair. “I love you too. So, so much.”

She hugged him tighter, and put her hand in his hair, massaging it.

They stayed like that a few minutes, gently swaying.

Then, Marinette loosened her grip on him to look into his eyes. She slid her hand from his shoulder to his arm to his hand to link her fingers through it, but kept her other one in his hair.

She could almost feel him shivering.

They nodded at each other, knowing what they wanted.

And then their lips met. Softly, lingering but not pushing.

Marinette was aware of everything that was him, that felt him: his hair, that she was still caressing with her hand. His arm around her, with his hand slowly running up and down her back.

His other hand, still tangled with hers, slightly pressing more and more as the kiss went on. It sent waves of shivers throughout her body.

And his lips and breath on hers.

They broke the kiss, giddy smiles on their faces. Marinette grabbed his face then and kissed his nose.

Adrien laughed. “What was that about?”

“I wanted to kiss your kitty nose.”

He snorted. She giggled, and climbed on her tiptoes once more to kiss his laugh.

Once. Twice.

Three times.

He kissed her back each time.

“I’m sorry about this video. It must have put you in a tight spot,” she said after the third kiss.

Adrien whined. “I am the one who’s sorry. I had no idea what to do and I thought you were going to kill me.”

“I thought I was going to kill myself when I saw it,” Marinette exclaimed. “And then Tikki said that at least we’d be happy and dead together!”

Adrien burst out laughing. “I’d rather be happy and alive with you for now, if that’s okay.”

Marinette nodded frantically. “Oh yes me too. It was a good video though. It did help me in the end.”

“Yeah?” he asked, sounding hopeful.

“Yeah. And from now… I’ll make sure that you know what I feel about you.”

He gave her one of his soft smiles, one of her favourite smiles of his. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

And she sealed it with another kiss.

.

.

.

_____________

Bonus scene:

Adrien watched Marinette out of the corner of his eyes. She was calm, sipping her tea.

But something was wrong. He could feel it.

Maybe it was in the way she was so casually drinking, almost ignoring him. Maybe it was because she still hadn't reacted to the pictures of her, Ladybug her, falling head first in the fountain that Alya had released the previous day—with the bright grand title "Ladybug vs ladybug? It's more likely than you think."

Maybe it was a little bit of both.

Marinette brought her tea one last time to her lips, and put the cup on the desk.

"You feeling good Chaton, uh?" she asked in a calm voice. Calm, but with a tone that either meant "all is good" or "all is wrong".

It was terrifying. He gulped.

"Yes?"

She nodded. "Good."

His right leg was rapidly bouncing up and down in anticipation. Marinette grabbed her phone and tapped a few things on it, before putting it back on the table.

His phone rang.

She was looking at her nails, casually rubbing them with her thumb. Adrien raised a brow and looked at his own phone.

One new message. From Marinette.

A link. And a caption that just said: '😘'

He clicked on it. A tab to the Ladyblog opened.

He felt a wave of dread slowly washing over him as the page loaded.

And suddenly, in bright, grand title was written:

"Five Times Chat Noir Was Scared By A Passing-By Cat, And The One Time He Fell Into The Seine."

[daddygrimes]

Hello! I saw you said you were willing to do matchups, so I was wondering if I may have one for TWD? I’m bisexual, so anyone is open! I’m quite tall and slim, but stronger than I look. I love to garden, read, write, and work with animals. I’m very good with guns, throwing knives, fixed-blade swords, and combat in general. I compete in jiu-jitsu and do very well. I also am also very outspoken, assertive, but gentle. I hope this is enough info! :D

I ship you with Rosita Espinosa!

I imagine you’ve met in Alexandria. Not long after Rick’s group got taken in by Aaron, you stumbled upon ASZ exhausted and starved, looking for shelter. You weren’t supposed to stay there for a long period of time because you didn’t trust these people, but after witnessing how weak they were, you decided to help them. Rosita was glad that you did because otherwise, the love of her life would have slipped through her fingers.

You could handle yourself on the other side of the walls, and she admired you for it. Every time you killed walkers, she couldn’t help but be in awe of your abilities to protect yourself and those around you. And damn, she thought you were extremely hot when you fought or got angry.

She kept taking the same watch shifts as you so that she could spend some alone time with you. It was pretty romantic, sitting next to a person as gorgeous as you, staring at the sky and talking about anything and everything to pass the time. She was never shy, but when it came to you, she couldn’t help but act like a lovesick teenager, blushing and fidgeting every time you were close.

Your first kiss happened during a night shift. The way it happened was pretty funny to Rosita. She still laughs her ass off whenever you mention it.

She was sitting next to you, staring at you like you were the most beautiful sight on Earth. At first, you couldn’t decipher why she kept looking at you like that. Was she thinking about pushing you off or maybe keeping herself from doing just that? 

You glanced at her with an awkward tight-lipped smile on your face, trying to avoid meeting her piercing eyes that seemed to glow under the moonlight.

 Then you noticed that it wasn’t hatred that filled her gaze. It was love and adoration, something you haven’t felt in a while. You couldn’t believe that this stunning woman that could outlive all of the people in the world with her survival instincts and sassy attitude could be in love with you.

You found yourself getting lost in your thoughts, admiring the way her skin glowed, the way she licked her lips and kept staring at you with so much love that it burned.

“I want to kiss you,” she said breathlessly, words tumbling out in a rush of adrenaline. She slid closer, her shoulder bumping into yours.

“What?” you asked surprised, what she said fell on deaf ears. You blinked, confused, shaking your head to empty your mind from all the thoughts that kept clogging it.

Rosita rolled her eyes, annoyed at your lack of attention. She wasn’t about to repeat herself. “I said if you die I won’t miss you.”

A disappointed sigh barely escaped you, and she was already tugging at your shirt, kissing you like there was no tomorrow. Her hands placed on your thighs, clawing at them to pull you even closer.

You’re a badass couple that got so good at fighting back to back that you don’t even remember the last time you killed walkers without her by your side. You always go on runs together, and if you can’t go together, you are wrecks that constantly worry about each other and can’t function like normal human beings.

Rosita never knew she would love being the little spoon, but you always make her feel so safe and comfortable that she started preferring it more than anything else. She might not look like a cuddly person, but when there’s no one else around, she just wants to bury herself between your arms and drown out the rest of the world.

She’s such a softie for you. Her heart melts when she sees you doing ordinary things like gardening or taking care of animals. She can stare at you for hours with a goofy smile on her face.

Rosita knows that you can handle yourself and don’t take any bullshit from anybody. Yet, when someone’s bothering you, she’s there to save the day, glaring at the person until they back off, and if they don’t, they’ll undoubtedly regret ever coming up to you.

A/n: Hope you enjoy it! The second match up I got in my ask box is a lot longer so I need time to write it out. Have a great day/night! <3

[imagining-in-the-margins]

Here to Misbehave (Pt. 5 | S.R.)

Summary: Reader (accidentally) blows off a text from Spencer for another guy. Later, Spencer takes her for a second date.   A/N: By the way, when you get to the adorable dance scene, the two songs that inspired me most were “Stardust” by Lyambiko and “We Might as Well Dance” by Madeleine Peyroux (Try not to read into the lyrics, I dare you). Couple: Spencer Reid/Fem!Reader Category: Smut (NSFW 18+) Content Warning: Unprotected sex, dirty talk, jealousy, degradation, penetrative sex Word Count: 10k

MASTERLIST | Series Masterlist

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I had never envisioned that my life would end up quite like this. That wasn't to say that it was disappointing or regrettable, although in that moment it felt like I had miscalculated a number of things. There was no other way to describe a Saturday night spent laying on the couch, staring at the ceiling of my friend's apartment as if I could manipulate myself into believing it was Spencer's.

It wasn't anyone's fault that it couldn't be his, instead. The stupid, gorgeous bastard wasn't ignoring me; he was just out of town for the weekend.

Truthfully, I should have been a little more considerate. It wasn't his fault he had to work. But I also couldn't help but be disappointed that he was always working. I hadn't seen him in almost two weeks and it was killing me. The last time I'd seen him was the morning after our first 'date,' and it was a brief enough interaction that I had already run out of ways to overthink it.

Spencer had gotten a restful night of sleep that night. Despite his little impromptu confession, he slept as though he'd never been more peaceful in his life. I had not. I'd had the pleasure of staying up for hours, playing his words through my head on loop and trying to figure out what the fuck had happened.

It didn't amount to anything though. The morning came, and he had long forgotten the words half mumbled through a sleepy daze. I'd told him that he had been mumbling in his sleep, and he asked me if he'd said anything embarrassing. I told him no. He hadn't pressed any further, simply stating that he must've been dreaming.

I almost thought it had been a challenge; a way to test if I'd gotten too close. But then I realized that I was probably just an idiot, and I was wanting it to mean more than it actually did.

So much for having run out of ways to overthink it.

Regardless, his aloofness had returned my heart to the broken, hurting mess it had been before he uttered the words that forever altered my universe.

That wasn't his fault, either. I was the one who'd set myself up for failure by ever imagining that we could be something more. I'd known he wasn't the most emotionally available suitor since the moment I met him. At least, not for me. I'd never actually seen him anyone else.

I didn't really want to think about that, though. I really didn't want to think about that.

"Hey, get your lazy ass up so I can sit down."

The order drew me from my reverie  — rather unpleasantly, might I add. Because when I turned to face my friend standing in front of me, I came face to face with his crotch.

"Dude, I don't want any of that in my face," I laughed to the unfortunately familiar sight. "Back up before I punch you in the dick."

Somewhat surprisingly, he obeyed. He took a step back and waited patiently for me to sit up and scoot over to give him room beside me on the couch. Completely unsuprisingly, however, he did not take advantage of any of the space available. He chose to sit close enough to touch me.

"Some women would do anything to have that privilege," he lied through his teeth.

"Who are these women? And how can I help them avoid this tragic fate?"

He smiled back, having already grown used to me rebuffing all of his advances years before. We had known each other for what felt like forever, but he still tried every chance he'd gotten. That moment was no exception, and it took him very little time to stretch his arm behind me on the couch. I leaned forward, glancing back at the arm that I would continue to avoid despite his best efforts.

I narrowed my eyes in a challenge when he did nothing to remedy the situation. He did not take the humble way out, so my only other option was to do the humbling for him.

"There are three whole couches in this room and you pick the seat directly next to me?"

"You're warm and it's 50 degrees in here," he joked while lifting his other hand to poke me on the nose.

I recoiled in disgust, grabbing the pillow beside me and hitting him in the face with it as hard as humanly possible.

"Then turn up the heat or grab a blanket, jackass," I grumbled, "I'm not giving you my precious body heat."

Once again, he conceded immediately. He held his hands in defeat and scooted just a few inches further away from me. I watched him for a second until he got far enough away, and then returned my attention to my phone, which I had been religiously checking for any news about the vastly more interesting man in my life.

"What are you looking at?"

"My friend. He's supposed to have landed a couple hours ago..."

Seeing that I had no new messages, though, I slumped over onto myself and rested my elbow on my knee. Continuing to ignore the boy trying to get my attention, I favored the one that was possibly ignoring me and endlessly scrolled through our previous conversations.

"Is that the cop? Your boyfriend?" he teased.

"He's not a cop," I corrected with a roll of the eyes.

Although not keen about the thought of the two of them meeting, I did wonder what kind of rant Spencer would've gone into to describe the different types of law enforcement agents. He would learn so much about government job descriptions. But that wasn't the part of the sentence that my friend had stressed, and I felt compelled to answer.

Didn't mean I had to be loud or excited about it, though.

"And he's not my boyfriend," I mumbled into my palm. I hated how pathetic it felt; how forlorn I could be over a man not giving me enough attention. He was still just a man.

A very cute, sweet, and drop-dead gorgeous one. But a man, nonetheless. Destined to be disappointing. During my daydreams and hopeful, lovesick thoughts, my friend had come to another, different conclusion about the type of man Spencer was.

"He carries a gun and can arrest people. He's a cop."

"Whatever," I said with a heavy sigh. Wasn't worth it to fight, so I admitted to my childish infatuation with an equally pitiful, "Yeah, it's Spencer. I was hoping he'd want to see me."

I turned the volume on my phone before finally setting it down, but continued to eye the screen until it went dark.

"It's not like you to chase after a dude," he so helpfully commented.

To his credit, he was right. It wasn't like me. But Spencer wasn't like other guys I'd met, and while it was true that Spencer was ten years older than me, I could tell that age wasn't the only thing setting him apart. It wasn't even necessarily something about him in particular, although he certainly was extraordinary.

It was more like... the way he looked at me. The way I never felt like anything even remotely close to lackluster. He looked at me like the stares shone through my eyes, and the blindness was worth witnessing the unfiltered eclipse.

"I'm not chasing him. We just like spending time with each other," I explained before sitting up straighter and placing a gentle hand to my chest in feigned pride. "I'm a very interesting person."

But then he responded with the last question I wanted to hear, or even think about potentially considering in that moment. The one that had been weighing on my mind no matter how hard I tried to suppress it.

"So... why isn't he your boyfriend, then?"

I hadn't wanted to hear it because I didn't have an answer. And no matter how hard I inspected my cuticles, they likewise produced no excuse worth saying.

The man to my right was twisting his body as he settled into the seat. He kept his chest open to me in some display of fragile masculinity that was very easy to ignore.

"Is he like, ashamed of you or something?" he suggested.

That was less easy to ignore.

"No..." I wanted it to sound more certain than it did. As it stood, it was downright pathetic. Especially compared to his much more confident reply of, "Then what's his excuse?"

I sighed again, that time pulling my legs up on the couch in my unending quest to find some semblance of comfort while being interrogated on the most irritating subject of all time.

"He doesn't need an excuse. We both agreed it's better to just be friends."

He moved closer to me again, and I didn't have the energy to tell him to stop. Not like he would have listened, anyway. Egotistical prick with absolutely nothing to substantiate his inflated sense of self.

"You deserve better than that, (y/n)."

While his words were soft in volume, everything else about him remained gruff and uninviting. Nothing at all like the way Spencer could shift and turn into something completely different. My friend could act like his feigned tenderness was meaningful, but I knew that he liked the thought of me more than who I actually was.

"Yeah, right. With who? You?" I droned, wishing that my words could actually be laced with venom. Maybe then he'd have abandoned this foolhardy quest to win my affections.

"I mean I'm not gonna turn you down if you're offering," he joked.

It was that lightness that was his main redeeming feature; the reason I could keep him around even when his fingers tapped against my opposite shoulder. I laughed at both the sensation and suggestion, refusing by lifting his arm off my shoulders before excusing myself from the couch altogether.

"Piss off. I'm running down to the basement. You want anything?"

"Just for you to come back quick," was his immediate, not-at-all charming reply.

"You're a fucking idiot," was mine.

It wasn't until I was already on my way back up after grabbing a blanket and a drink that I had actually managed to forget about my phone for at least a few minutes.

Then, the terror came. The worry that Spencer had called me, and I'd failed to answer. The possibility that he might've hit my number on a list and already moved on to the next. It had only been like five minutes but still. He talked so damn fast, he could've torn through 5 phone calls in that time.

A little faster, I made my way back to the living room, shouting from down the hall, "Hey, did I leave my phone up here?"

He didn't answer immediately, but then eventually slurred, "Uhh. Yep. Sure did."

When I rounded the corner, I found the gremlin going through my phone. As I already started to plan the new pass code now that he'd gone and figured it out, I ran over, half-tackling him on the couch as I screeched, "Give it back, you dick!"

It was no use. He held it just outside my reach, laughing at the way I scrambled over him to try and grab it.

"Not unless you promise not to check it until after the movie."

Sighing with resignation, I plopped down next to him, my arms crossed and eyes rolled as I convinced myself it was unlikely Spencer would text me within the next hour and a half if he hadn't already.

It was pretty late. Maybe he had already gone to bed and just forgotten to let me know he got home. Besides, I owed my friend as much for managing to get me to forget to check it for this long, no?

"Fine. I promise," I groaned.

I tried not to let the thought ruin my night. The next two hours were like they usually were. He kept trying to cuddle with me, and I kept pushing him away until I eventually didn't. I gave into the general familiarity with the guy I'd known for basically half of all my memories, stopping every few seconds to wonder if I should have felt guilty.

Then I felt guilty for having asked myself at all.

Once the credits began to roll, I held my hand out with zero hesitation. I (im)patiently for him to deposit my phone, which he did, to his credit. However, what I found struck me to my core. My hands immediately began to shake hard enough that the LED blurred in my vision.

"Uhhh, what the fuck is this?"

"What?"

I held up my phone, displaying a text message that had been sent from my phone a couple hours earlier. On the screen, clear as day, me and him from earlier in the day. A painfully domestic snapshot of the two of us running errands together.

The picture shown, though, was one that I swore I'd deleted from my phone. It was him with his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his chest while I laughed. It wasn't a bad picture, but the context was entirely absent. For example, the fact that I'd almost bruised his chest hitting him right after the photo was taken.

"Why did you send this picture?!" I yelled, desperately swiping at the time stamp. "Two hours ago?!"

He was much too quiet for what was happening. In my haste, I hadn't even notice the accompanying text above the picture, which read 'Sorry man, she's all mine tonight.' Spencer didn't reply.

"Why didn't you tell me that he texted me?!"

My frustration had peaked, and I stood up, pacing somewhat unproductively as I tried to collect my things.

"Because I knew you'd try to leave, and I haven't seen you in fucking ages," he whined, as if I was overreacting.

But I wasn't. This contrived bullshit was entirely his fault, and entirely fucking ridiculous.

"Are you fucking kidding me, dude?" I shouted, finally finding my bag and shoving my stuff inside of it angrily. I didn't even finish, with a few loose coins angrily clambering to the floor as the soundtrack to my farewell.

"Well, now I'm definitely leaving, so kiss my ass!"

Before I could actually leave, I held up my middle finger in the furthest thing from a joke.

"Wait, (y/n), it was a joke!" he called back but didn't try to follow me.

He'd known it wouldn't work. I was too mad.

"You're not fucking funny!"

I slammed the door to my car loud enough to wake the neighbors, but I couldn't care even a little bit. My hands were shaking so hard, that it was a struggle just to click my phone. But I did, fervently pressing Spencer's name until the stupid, traitorous phone could figure out what I wanted it to do.

It rang for 15 whole seconds before I grieved the reality that he wasn't going to pick up. I sighed, lowering my phone to hang up before he could ignore the call or I was given the choice to leave a voicemail. It had been my own fault, anyway.

But just before I hit the button, I heard a tired, crackly voice coming from the other side of the line.

"(Y/n)?"

Oh my god, he picked up.

Then, all at once, the words poured out of me.

"Spencer? I'm so sorry I didn't text you back! Please ignore my friend. He's a fucking idiot."

I could tell from the silence that Spencer was replaying them in his head to try to make sense of the frantic, slurred speech in his own sleepy state. Once he had gotten the gist of my panic, he started to laugh through a yawn.

"It's fine. You looked like you were having fun."

I couldn't tell if it was jealousy in his voice or something else. Either way, it felt terrible. My insecurities crept through my throat and came out with dramatic overcompensation.

"Yeah right. He held my phone hostage. I was waiting to hear from you and he got jealous or something."

There was an awkward silence on the other side of the phone, and so I continued with only a little tremor in my voice, "I'm glad to see that you got home alright."

Another few seconds of silence followed, but then it was the Spencer I was used to again.

"Yeah. It's less fun without you here, though."

That wasn't supposed to be as romantic as it seemed, I reminded myself. He was just flirting. Typical fuckboy nonsense, uttered to get a rise out of me one way or another. He didn't actually mean to imply that he'd already considered what it might be like for me to have joined him.

Right?

"I can still come if you want," I rushed, looking down at the clock in my car for the first time and grimacing at the revelation that the 'something else' in his tone had, in fact, been exhaustion.

"Although... I'm just now realizing its 2am and I definitely woke you up..."

"Typical," he joked, "you being out late, trying to make me jealous with age-appropriate boys."

My laugh bounced back at me from the walls of the car, and I covered my mouth once I remembered that I was still in a public area.

It was weird to me how whenever I talked to Spencer, it felt like we were the only two people in the world. I'd never felt that way with another person before. Those cheesy romcoms were all starting to make sense, and I hated how powerless that made me feel.

"I was not! Trust me, if I wanted to make you jealous, I could do much better," I humbly stated. It was only a little bit of a threat. "I just don't know why he did that. And of course, that picture, which I had deleted, by the way. He seriously had to get it from another folder. He just likes to torture me, I guess."

Spencer cleared his throat from the other side of the phone, readjusting before he clearly enunciated, "He likes you."

The statement wasn't shocking. Anyone who'd spent more than five minutes with the two of us knew that he probably liked me. I'd even considered exploring it at one point before smacking myself in the face and reminding myself of my standards.

But still, to have Spencer know that felt a little bit weird. After all, most 20-something boys would do anything to torture their friends. Even the girl ones. Especially the girl ones.

Then something else began to brew in my chest; a twisted sort of pleasure derived from the sharpness that had formed on Spencer's tongue. The jealousy creeping through the crackling static and wrapping its talons around my heart.

"... I don't know," I absently said.

He sensed the hesitancy in my voice, and asked back with a strange inflection, "Do you like him?"

I chewed on my bottom lip, closing my eyes as I dropped my head back against the headrest. I didn't want to answer that question honestly. I felt like nothing I said could be right. So, I just chose the closest thing to the truth.

"No, not really."

We were back in one of those awkward silences. The kind where we both wanted to say something, but nothing came out. I turned my car on when the stale, stagnant air became too suffocating. The sound alerted him to enough information for him to speak again.

"Are you heading home?"

I switched my phone to the other hand, trying to delay giving my answer by sounding busy. I didn't really have a reason, I just hadn't wanted to hang up yet.I wanted to stall him and selfishly keep him around just a little bit longer.

"Yeah, I guess."

Super smooth. I could still salvage it though.

"...Unless you've changed your mind and would like a personal space heater in bed with you."

Spencer's laughter would have been offensive if it wasn't so adorable.

"Yeah right, your feet are freezing. I don't even know how you still have toes."

That checked out, and also gave me an escape from the terrifying prospect of ending the call.

"I'll wear socks!" I offered with the utmost enthusiasm, "I actually own thigh highs, you know. If you're into that, Professor."

It had been a few weeks since our tryst, but I had hardly ever stopped thinking about it. Every time I looked at myself in the mirror, I'd traced the marks he'd left behind with an ungodly powerful nostalgia.

His laughter turned to frustrated groans as he mumbled, "Are you trying to torture me?"

Once our ruckus died back down, the silence was more serious than strange. I felt the urge to apologize again. I needed him to hear the sincerity behind what were so often empty words.

"I'm really sorry I missed your message, Spencer."

My voice was quiet, unsure, and scared. I didn't want to lose him, and I knew an extreme on either side of the emotional spectrum would let him slip away so easily.

It was exhausting being emotionally lukewarm, but some part of me wanted to believe that it would be worth it with him. That patience was all it would take to show him why he had nothing to be afraid of.

But where I showed mercy, he showed himself to lack it in any sense of the word.

"It's fine, (y/n). I'm not your boyfriend. If I really want the company, I can find it."

That wasn't why I was sorry, and what he'd said only made it worse. The ugly, resentful part of myself was convinced that was why he'd said it at all.

We both knew I didn't want him to find it with someone else. That was the entire reason I was sorry I missed it. If I missed his call, nothing was stopping him from making another one. I hadn't ever asked if there were other girls in his life, but I definitely didn't want to find out like that.

"I missed you the past couple weeks. I still do."

The genuineness in my voice scared me. I hated being vulnerable; especially when he was already so apprehensive about me. I wished I knew why he was. But at that moment, he was being his usual playful self, not willing to give me any hint of an answer in exchange for my candor.

No, just: "You're so good at whining."

I pouted like he would be able to see it.

"I just want some cuddles. Is that too much to ask?"

"Go ask your boyfriend, I'm sure he would be more than happy to oblige," he quipped.

"He's not as good at it as you are," I deflected, playing off the suddenly obvious jealousy in his tone. Before I could rub my quick wit in his face, however, Spencer raised a white flag that I'd never seen coming.

"Fine. I'll wait up."

That was when I realized that he had been more jealous than I'd thought, and I still had a startling amount of power to play with.

But I was still unable to comprehend it, and with a graceless gasp, I chirped, "Wait really? I can come over?"

An unsure laugh and an almost audible shrug later, he responded, "Sure, I figure it'll get me to bed faster somehow, as opposed to staying on this call."

I didn't hesitate to start to pull my car out of the spot, happily singing into the phone, "Okay! I'm on my way! Bye Spencer!"

"See you soon."

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As I was old enough to be able to tell time, and aware enough to recognize that it was incredibly too late to be knocking on an apartment door, I tried to do so softly. I halfway succeeded, stifling the noise enough that he could still hear it, but his neighbors wouldn't. They would remain unaware of the girl bouncing on her toes outside of his door, squealing the second she heard shuffling feet on the other side.

Jesus Christ, I sound like a teenager, the more sensible side of me noted.

I might've felt shame, had he not opened the door in that very moment to reveal himself, with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and pajamas on that were big enough they his half his hands.

He was... in a word, adorable.

"Hey sleepyhead," I cooed.

Spencer remained silent, but offered his arm in a halfhearted invitation for a hug. The blanket hung like a wing that I very much wanted to wrap myself in, and he was all too happy to allow. I actually giggled as I lunged towards him. I wrapped both arms around him and breathed in the clean scent of laundry detergent and soap.

"I'm sleepy, too," I said with a relieved sigh. The air was quickly replaced with that which smelled of him. So, too, the silence filled with a soft chuckle as he pulled me close to him and rested his chin on the top of my head.

Like a man from a fairy tale, he started to sway, slowly turning us around until we were headed in the right direction. The right one, of course being the one that would lead to us falling in bed together again.

"Alright, little girl, you can come crawl into bed with me tonight."

The words were like music to my ears, and I felt like I was floating. I was glowing, my skin flushed with warmth like a wood fire on a cold Winter night, and my eyes fell half lidded from some mixture of tired and pleased.

"Thank you, sir," I slurred through a smile. It grew wider as he took my hands, prying me away from him to lead me back to his room with more purpose.

Once we finally padded over, I dropped my overnight bag on the floor and began to strip off my shirt. He eyed the bag on the floor with a feeling I could almost place.

"Were you planning on staying with him?"

I felt a pain through my chest as he asked, because I knew the answer. I had been, but only because I'd done it so many times before. Our mutual friend wasn't in the house, so I knew I could use his bed. But saying I was planning on staying there alone sounded even more suspicious.

"Yeah. I've stayed there before. Always in a different room. We've been friends a long time."

There was something about the way he looked at me that made my stomach flip in a delicious way. A feeling that could only be described as dangerous and exhilarating. But then it was gone, replaced by the apathy he usually tried to display. I continued to strip, nonetheless, slowly peeling my leggings down and stepping out of them. I could feel his eyes on me.

I twisted by body in the hope that the movement would distract him from the conversation I hadn't really wanted to have. Jealousy, while a fun tool for the consenting, had a tendency to grow old quickly. It was a beast that did not like to be controlled; especially when taken by surprise.

But he had no reason to be jealous. I had all but begged him to come over, and I was currently naked in his bedroom. I didn't even look up at him before sliding under the covers. I was too scared for what I might find, and opted for enjoying the lingering body heat and smell of Spencer on the sheet, instead.

"I don't want to know how good you are when you're trying," he warned.

I looked up at him with guilty eyes, recognizing this was his gentle way of telling me he was jealous. But he'd said it himself... He wasn't my boyfriend.

"Come here," I pleaded while running my arms along the empty space where he belonged. "I'll show you why you shouldn't be jealous."

Spencer licked his lips as he looked at my exposed chest, pulling off his pajamas and slinking under the covers with me. Facing each other, my hands quickly found his erection, pumping it softly as he immediately rewarded me with a soft moan.

"I missed this," I whispered, closing the gap between our faces.

He responded in kind, taking his time to lay a lazy kiss against my mouth while he groaned, "I missed your hands. Among other parts."

As he spoke, his hand was traveling down my side to my center. My breathing picked up as he got closer, but he diverted, running his fingers up and down my arms that continued to work his length. The soft whimper that escaped my mouth entertained him, and he brought his hand back down.

"Say please, (y/n)."

I couldn't talk though. I was biting down on my lip to stop myself from telling him I fucking hated him for teasing me. With big puppy dog eyes, I watched him while I chewed on my bottom lip.

"Stop biting on that lip or I'll do it for you. I don't care how cute you are."

His hand now ghosted over exactly where I wanted them, and he used the very tip of his finger to collect the wetness forming there. My hands stopped as he made contact, my grip tightening for a second.

"Say please."

He wanted me to beg for him to touch me, but I didn't want his hand. It was almost 3 AM and I was exhausted and needed him. All of him, immediately. Badly enough that

"Fuck me, sir," the words spilled out of my mouth. "Please, fuck me."

A content humming came from him as he brought a hand to my hair. But the pleased sound lulled me into a false sense of security, which was shattered seconds later when he pulled my head back to look him in the eyes.

From there, I could see that look in his eyes again. That dark, possessive stare that made me long for the shadows to consume me if it meant more time with him.

"I p-promise," I stuttered as one of his fingers teased at my folds.

He raised his eyebrows as he waited for me to finish my thought.

With a cruel, sadistic smile, I continued, "I promise I won't think of anyone else."

That playful characteristic snark that has originally driven him to me had returned, and he pretended to be disappointed. He liked it, though. He wouldn't admit it, but the way I read the secret, hidden thoughts in his mind like he could read one of his book clearly drove him insane.

He guided me by his hold on my hair, lifting me off the pillow and not taking a minute to consider the repercussions before growling in my ear, "Turn around."

I obeyed, happily pressing up against his crotch as I settled into my position as his little spoon. I noticed a distinct lack of a pause this time, and gears began to click together as I felt him rub the bare head of his cock in the slickness pooling around my thighs.

"I have some questions for you, little girl."

He was pissed.

"When was the last time you got tested?"

I could hardly think straight as I realized where this was going. I tried to gather my thoughts and enough control to stutter back, "L-last week. I-I haven't... haven't slept with anyone else. Not since you."

My answer earned me a tender kiss on the neck, but it wasn't enough. I was trying to still my hips from knocking back against him. I couldn't completely stop myself, though, and I knew it made him feel even more confident about his decision.

"Good. Me neither," he replied.

I sighed with relief, happy to at least answer that question. I'd barely had any time to recover, though, before he continued, "Is there any way you could get pregnant right now?"

I shook my head no. He stopped my head with one hand on my chin from behind.

"Use your words."

"No!" I half shouted, realizing I just sounded like a brat. "No, no I can't. I'm on birth control. I won't get pregnant. Promise. You can..."

My breath matched pace with my heart, and I swore I was already lightheaded. Still, I forced the last few words through the heavy panting to earn my next, far more enticing prize. The magic words he had been waiting for:

"You can do whatever you want to me."

When he released my hair, my head fell forward just for a second, because soon my entire back arched in response to the way he began to push inside of me.

"Good," was all he'd said.

With that, he fully sheathed himself inside of me, and I cried out as I felt the way he stretched me. His hand swiftly covered my mouth before he began to pound into me from behind. One of my hands tried to keep me in place on the bed, while the other flew up to his hand over my mouth, holding it without trying to remove it.

I was calling his name underneath him, and he responded by making shorter, deeper thrusts.

Through it all, he chuckled in my ear, "It's always funny how fast you stop acting like a brat after I put it in you."

My eyes rolled back at his words, breath shuddering against his hand. He slid all the way out of me, and then applied enough force to push me up in the bed.

"Have you ever had someone finish inside you before?" he asked too sweetly for the provocative words. He moved his hand from my mouth and dragged it to move the hair that had fallen in front of my face.

I went to shake my head but remembered his instruction. Instead, I cried, "N-no."

"Good," he responded again, and my toes curled at the pride he felt in claiming this body as his own. He took my hand in his, pulling it down to feel the small bump forming in my abdomen each time he slammed into me. The next time it appeared, he halted, holding me in position against him. "I'm going to fuck you so hard that the next time anyone even thinks about touching you, all they'll taste on you is me."

He pulled out slowly before pounding into me again. With more violence in his motions and venom on his tongue, he spat, "and if you want them you can explain to them how you begged for me to come inside your tight little cunt."

I was in a state of shock, unable to comprehend how he was capable of making such cruel, licentious words. Each one made my body shake, and he kept himself inside me longer with each motion to extend the feeling. I ached at the way he filled me, desperately clinging to my own stomach where I could feel him.

"Good luck thinking about anyone else while I run down your thighs," he said before punctuating it with a firm, unforgiving, "you fucking bitch."

With that, he finally moved his hand, but it was not a merciful action. His fingers rubbed in the mess of our bodies, then dragged the wetness back to my clit, pressing harder than he ever had before. My head was still swimming from his language, and I thankfully didn't have to use my words. He was very capable of figuring out my body language himself.

I could feel the way the heat coiled in my stomach, the tension building as his mouth ran along my neck. Once he attached himself to one spot, driving into me at a brutal pace, I felt the energy shift and begin to blossom. Feeling the way my muscles quivered around him, he stopped his kisses, groaning loudly in my ear.

"Fuck, little girl," he continued to moan, his thrusts faltering as I tried to coax his orgasm out of him. It seemed to be what he was waiting for. Unable to contain the shrill cry that tore from my chest as his arousal filled me, I tried to pull away from him. But I couldn't, his hands holding me down and his hips rocking as deep as they could possibly move inside of me.

Exhausted, I tried to move away from him once his movements stilled. However, in another surprising move he slid out just to slam back into me again.

I whimpered from the overstimulation, doubling forward as he gave a few more deep, rough thrusts before pulling out entirely.

I had no idea how, but Spencer immediately got out of bed. He left me a sweaty, desperate mess on his bed. Thankfully, he tossed me a towel to help me clean up so I wouldn't have to sleep in the puddle dripping slowly down my legs. Shaky but satisfied, I somehow managed to make it to the bathroom and clean up.

When I returned, he was still awake. He was silent, sitting up in the bed with his eyes closed and contemplative. As I shut the door, he finally noticed my presence. He turned to look at me with an awkward smile until he pat my spot on the bed.

"Come here, little girl."

A little too excited, I shuffled over with a bounce in my step. Not satisfied with simply lying next to him, I curled into his side, wrapping my arm around his waist and nuzzling my face to his chest. From there, I listened to the way his heartbeat seemed to slow down with my touch. How his muscles relaxed under me, like he had been anxiously awaiting my return the same way I had been waiting to return to him.

"You're not really a bitch," he mumbled in a quiet, sleepy voice.

I couldn't help but laugh, tilting my head up to glance at him from my position on his chest.

"I mean, I am a little bit. But I know what you mean."

He wrapped a tight arm around me, using his hand to run softly through my hair. Leaning down, he gave the top of my head a small peck. I smiled against his skin, loving the way it felt to be surrounded by him. To be safe and cared for despite all else.

"Thank you for coming here with me tonight," he said in a low volume, like the words might spook me. "You're a very special girl. I hope you know that."

I didn't know how to respond, so I stayed frozen in place. I waited to hear the rest of what he wanted to say. People have always said we're most honest at night. I wanted it to be true, to give more meaning to loaded words.

"I'm really glad I met you," was what he said.

I closed my eyes, breathing in the words that felt like a balm on my aching soul. Unable to come up with a response that wasn't terrifying, though, I sat up and crawled to him. It was my turn to return a tender kiss, this time to his lips. As we pulled apart, he still looked at me like the answers to the universe were written on my skin.

I went to kiss him again, but he stopped me with a hand on my face.

"Don't..." he instructed, breaking my heart with just one command.

But I saw the fear reflected in our eyes, the kind that was deeper than a simple rejection. It was not the fear that we might not love one another. It was the fear that we very well might one day.

Spencer said none of that, though. He left me to forever wonder if it was just me who felt it. Instead, he surrendered with a simpler, safer explanation.

"If you kiss me like that again, I won't be able to stop myself."

I didn't ask what he was stopping himself from doing. No matter how badly I wanted to. Instead, I ran the back of my fingers against his cheek and whispered in the space between us, "Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again."

My desired outcome came true, but not quite how I wanted. He didn't kiss me deep or passionately. He kissed me soft, like my lips were made of glass. He kissed me like he was protecting me from the terrors of his mind.

"Go to sleep, little girl," he instructed gently, coaxing me back to my position on his chest as we both sunk down to lay flat on the bed. "Picard can wait."

Laying there, next to what I was convinced was an actual human angel, I gave myself permission to drift off into sleep, hoping that my dreams could be half as good as reality.

That didn't happen.

I wasn't sure what time it was when I woke up, but it was still dark outside, so it couldn't have been too long after we'd fallen asleep. Spencer had turned away from me at some point. That wasn't strange or entirely surprising, but I noticed a strange sound from his side of the bed that made my hair stand on edge and my stomach churn.

It was... crying.

"Spencer?" I asked as quiet as I could. When he didn't respond, I placed a gentle hand on his shoulder in the hope that it would be an easier transition to the waking word.

But his body still jerked under my touch, and he sat up much too quickly before grabbing his face in both hands. It wasn't until then that he noticed, drawing his hands back slowly and inspecting the wetness he found on his fingertips.

"Hey, Spencer, are you okay?"

He didn't answer.

Suddenly extremely worried, I brought both of my hands to his arms and pulled him closer to me.

He still didn't answer.

"Were you having a nightmare?"

So many red flags were burning through my brain, and I didn't know what to do with the information in front of me. I just wanted to help him.

"I... I must have been. I'm sorry," he said when he finally spoke. He wiped at his tears like he could erase what I had already seen. Moving his hands away, careful to keep my touch as non-threatening as possible, I wiped his still falling tears away with my thumb.

"Why are you sorry, Spencer?"

"I... don't know."

It was an honest, but terrifying answer. A quickly completed checklist of a horror I was deeply familiar with. A reality that I wouldn't wish it on anyone in the world. Especially not him.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," he replied with a force so strong I thought the word was physically painful for him to say.

"Okay," I reassured him, "We don't have to."

He wasn't laying back down. He wasn't moving at all. It was like he was somewhere else entirely.

I moved closer to him, placing a hand on his back to gently rub circles and another on his lap. I offered the only thing I could think to help him in that moment.

"Do you want me to hold you?"

His eyes were fixated on my hand on his lap, his breathing slowly regulating the longer we sat like this.

Still, he halfway refused, "It's okay."

Raising my hand again, I ran it through his hair before guiding him to look at me with a tentative smile.

"You're not a burden, Spencer. I want to."

The tears were falling again, albeit slower and with his mouth curved ever so slightly. I tried to give him the calmest reassurance I could. A soft glow in my eyes that burned with the affection and comfort I desperately  wanted to provide.

"Come here, love," I said as I motioned to me.

Spencer dutifully followed. Soon his head was on my chest, my hand curling his hair around my fingers. He hugged my waist like I was the only thing keeping him here.

And I laid there with him, trying not to think about the way his tears wet my skin. Hoping that, for now, it would be enough for him to get some sleep.

A mop of curly brown hair was the first thing I saw when I woke up to the shine of the sun through the curtains. I smiled, but only until I remembered why he was on my chest.

It was obvious that he had barely slept, his muscles continuing to persistently twitch in their paranoid state. When I went to pet his head again, he stirred under me, pulling himself closer to me the same way he had before.

I didn't want to think about what had happened, but I knew I had to. Normal people don't wake up crying from a nightmare, and they certainly don't get painfully defensive when it happens.

I hadn't known practically anything about his life before. What he had been through, or whether he'd told anyone at all. I hadn't even known if he'd anyone to tell.

I was painfully reminded that he was not the superhero I made him out to be in my head. He was just a man, trying his hardest to do more good in the world than all the evil combined. That was an impossible task, though. He was doomed to fail.

His ears must have been burning, because the longer I thought about it, the more he woke up. Eventually he was entirely alert, sitting up and removing himself from the position we'd assumed for the past several hours.

I was surprised to remember what it felt like to be able to breathe without the weight of him on top of me. I was even more surprised to feel my chest felt heavier in his absence.

"Good morning," I mumbled, watching as he effortlessly got out of bed and began to get ready.

He seemed embarrassed, but he really shouldn't have been.

"Did you get any sleep?"I asked.

Spencer ran his hands through his hair before he turned back to me, a smile on his face like nothing was wrong.

"No," he sighed, "This brat woke me up at 2 AM and insisted I sleep with her."

It was nice to know he was still capable of joking but concerning to see that he was so good at compartmentalizing. I laughed along with him, nonetheless, sliding out of the bed to join him in getting dressed.

"What a bitch," I said with a smirk.

As hard as it was to pretend like the night before hadn't happened, I knew that he wasn't ready to talk about it. Heaven knew it would have been much worse to burn the bridge then. At least if I built the trust now, he might be willing to talk about it later.

"You know, I wasn't actually going to tell you to come over last night," Spencer announced.

The 360 of the conversation took me by surprise, and I blinked rapidly to try and reorient myself.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I mean, I'm glad you did. But I was actually going to ask you if you're free tonight."

Spencer was nothing if not an emotional rollercoaster demanding passengers before 10AM. Ready to roll bright and fuckin' early.

"Yeah, I am. If you're still wondering," I answered in place of the multitude of questions I hadn't been ready to ask yet. Questions like, why was he wondering? Why did he need to schedule this? Was this another 'not-a-date' date?

"I wanted to take you somewhere," he mentioned casually, finally fully dressed while I still struggled to put on my clothes.

"Where?"

"It's a surprise," he said with raised eyebrows, like he was so very proud of himself.

I'd let him have that one, but only because he was so damn cute.

"Fine. That means I have to go home to get cleaned up first, then."

He seemed only a little disappointed by that, but overall acquiesced. I was a little sad about it, too, but remained confident in the old adage that distance makes the heart grow fonder.

Besides, I wanted to look cute for my surprise.

We hadn't talked much before I left. I could tell he was still struggling with coming to terms with what he'd accidentally revealed to me in the middle of the night.

Honestly, it was a good thing I left. The desire to talk about it was overwhelming, and some things are better left unsaid...

For now, I promised myself. Just for now.

—————————————————

Spencer came to pick me up without a hitch. When I climbed into his car, I fully expected him to not tell me where we were going. I was right; he didn't. Of course, after about 30 minutes I recognized the route we were going. When I'd graciously pointed it out to him with increasingly less subtle suggestions, he still refused to give me a single hint.

That was, until we pulled into Observatory parking lot.

"I've never been here before!" I squeaked. My excitement had been obvious enough with the embarrassing crack, and Spencer's interest in my enthusiasm only grew.

He was looking at me with that soft, slightly saccharine smile.

"I figured. You aren't nerdy enough to go by yourself," he chuckled. The genuineness behind the sound made the already excited butterflies in my stomach begin to swarm.

"Hey, I can be cultured too, you know," I still corrected with the worst posh accent you've ever heard.

With a teasing smile on his face, the stupid man chose to look away rather than to admit his honest reaction to the statement.

Asshole, I thought, only to be proven wrong seconds later.  Forever a gentleman, Spencer joined me on my side of the car and took utmost care and attention to help me out from my seat.

It felt strange, to adorn his arm like something beautiful as we gazed at the stars together. I tried not to think about it, but wondered just how far he was willing to risk being seen with me in an undoubtedly romantic setting.

"Isn't this place usually closed to the public? I know they have limited general admission days," I asked, despite already knowing the answer. I just wanted to see if my hunch was correct.

"Yeah, I might have called in a favor or two."

Fuck, was my first thought. The next twelve thoughts, however, were all reiterations of 'Don't get your hopes up.'

My grip on his arm tightened, but he didn't seem to mind. I'd guessed that his nonchalance was entirely due to the private nature of the excursion, but I wasn't going to ask, and I certainly wouldn't complain. I was happy enough that he'd brought me, even if he wasn't ready to admit why. I could be patient. Sometimes.

Once inside, Spencer knew exactly where to go. I watched in awe at how many people knew who he was, and how much they looked up to him. While I had also always been impressed by him, it'd become easy to forget just how impressive he was when all the time we'd spent together was so far away from the rest of the world.

But Spencer's quiet humility certainly wasn't an issue that night. He spent nearly two hours walking me through what ended up being essentially all the stars in the sky. Much like the museum, it consisted of me adoring both the content of his words and the man himself.

He told me the story of the vain Queen Cassiopeia and her doting husband Cepheus, still holding each other in the stars millennia later. He spoke enthusiastically and with no sense of pacing. Half the time my eyes left the telescope, turning instead to marvel at the way he moved his hands and fidgeted with his hair as his voice tumbled out of him like it couldn't be contained.

It was just the two of us in the room when he finished, the dim lights and quiet ambiance catching up with me as I stared at him with all the reverence in the universe above us. He eventually finished his thoughts on Perseus and Andromeda, and I could tell by the look on his face that their love story meant something to him.

"You're quite the romantic, Dr. Reid."

He seemed surprised by the sentiment, like it was something he'd never heard before, and now he wasn't quite sure what to do with it. So, he simply laughed awkwardly and moved closer to peer into the telescope.

Whether it was because he felt a stronger connection to the extraterrestrial, or because he simply didn't want me to see that he was blushing, I didn't mind either way. A few less seconds under the scrutiny of his gaze would do my heart well.

"Not sure many people would use that word," he said under his breath when he worked up the courage to speak.

"Well, I did," I replied much more confidently.

He was smiling but trying to hide it the same as the pink hue to his cheeks.

"You said you were 14 when you went to college, right?" I said with narrow eyes, trying to read him from under the large machine.

"Yeah," he responded with an equal dose of caution, "... why?"

"Probably didn't go to prom then, huh?"

His answer was obvious from the way his entire body jumped. Knocking his head on the telescope as he rushed to give an answer, all his mouth would produced was a long, dumb, "Uhhh."

I knew he was about to try to run away. Before he could, I stopped him. With both hands on his arm, I kept him close. Eventually, his muscles gave in and accepted my embrace.

"Come on; dance with me," I begged.

He looked around the room for an excuse. There was no one there, just the two of us on arguably the most heartwarming date I've ever been on in my life.

"There's no music," he scrambled, eventually admitting, "aaand I can't dance."

Ignoring the pitter-pattering of a childish, lovesick heart, I laughed.

"I can teach you, Dr. Reid."

We both knew he wasn't getting out of this one. As I hopped down from the stool, I revealed my secret weapon from my pocket. I pulled up a playlist that I knew would suit him and the setting, and I held out my hand in an invitation that couldn't be refused.

"I have all the world of music at my fingertips. Now I just need you. "

Spencer groaned, but behind it all I saw an undeniable happiness. When he put his hand in mine, it too felt like warmth and safety. I took it with an even brighter grin, immediately bringing him closer to sway slowly to the music coming from my phone now seated on the stool.

The acoustics of the room let the music flow through, and within moments we had fallen into a comfortable rhythm. My cheek rested against his chest and I couldn't help but laugh.

"You lied to me, Dr. Reid. You definitely know how to dance."

"Okay, but does it really count if you've only ever done it with your mom?" he asked.

I threw my head back as I laughed, and he joined me. The two of us shamelessly filled the large room with a warmth not entirely unlike a far away star.

"Don't laugh at me!" he pouted, but I think he actually enjoyed the sound.

"I'm sorry," I whined, "you're just so fucking cute I don't know how to handle it."

Finally able to stifle the joyous sounds, I looked up at him with even more fascination than I'd showed the stars. I'm not sure what I had expected, but it wasn't what I'd found. Because Spencer's eyes were like mirrors facing the sun; reflecting the passions I spewed so carelessly right back at me.

"There are over a million words in the English language, and I still can't think of a single combination to explain how I feel about you."

Just like that, he'd stolen my breath and my sense. My smile fell into a look of smitten shock, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't convince my heart to fall back into its rhythm.

"I-I'm surprised you don't know the exact number," I said with an awkward chuckle.

"Well, some estimate that it's 1,025,109, but new words are created constantly, and it would depend on what actually counts as a new word. Not to mention the different dialects, words that have fallen out of common use, or words that may be used for entirely different purposes despite being the same."

I raised my eyebrows, not at all surprised that he had an answer, but excited to hear it, nonetheless.

"But it doesn't matter," he whispered, impervious to just how much he was breaking my heart. "Because no matter the number, I know it won't be enough."

My eyes lit up like the stars we had just spent hours staring at, and I wondered if he could tell. He must have. Because his hand on my hip pulled me closer, and our hands intertwined as our pace slowed to a stop. Our breath was unsteady as he came closer to me, pausing just before our lips touched.

We shared the oxygen between us, daring the other to do what we both know we shouldn't.

So I did, leaning up to kiss him as my hand slid up his arm and around his neck. His hesitation melted into the embrace, our tongues gently sharing space in an entirely new way.

I thought to the millions of stars in the sky, realizing that I shared Spencer's skepticism of an unknown number. Because no matter how many stars there were, I knew there would never be enough to outshine that moment between the two of us.

It was not a hurried or excited kiss. It was an amorous, amazing promise of a kiss. It was the kind of kiss that they wrote about in Corinthians. It was patient and kind. It was not proud nor self-seeking. Spencer's free hand held my face against his; the way they wrote that love always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres.

Did he feel the way he was kissing me? Because I had.

I felt it like a storm, the breeze blowing the air from my lungs and breaking down the walls around me. I held onto him and this moment, scared of what this meant for us. How could I pretend like we were just friends when I shook for days at his touch?

That was why I was the one to end the kiss, looking down away from him as I did. A soft, defeated chuckle as I took a deep breath. When our eyes met again, I lowered my arms to his chest, listening to the soft tunes still floating through the room.

"We should go home now," I whispered.

He was reading my reactions; I could feel it. And in doing so, he had lowered his own walls too far. I could see them behind his eyes.

My voice shook as I continued, "... before you do something else to try and make me fall in love with you."

Spencer didn't look scared as he replied with a cheeky little grin, "Why, is it working?"

I almost passed out at the way his eyes softened at my goofy smile.

"I'm kidding," he immediately followed.

I rolled my eyes at the absolute bullshit of a lie. I tried to play it off like it was nothing, but my heart felt like it would fall out of my chest. I tried not to think about it too hard as we made our way back to the car.

As he helped me in, I realized that we were really going to continue acting like none of that just happened. I tried to think of how that kiss we shared could be written off, but I couldn't. That was not the kind of kiss between friends. It was not the kind of kiss between strangers.

It was a kiss of the kind we both implicitly promised not to talk about.

Once the trip home had begun, I gathered the courage to tread lightly.

"So, what was the fantasy for tonight?" I innocently asked.

A little confused, he glanced over at me, careful not to take his eyes off the road.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've found each time we're together there's some sexual component," I chuckled. "This is pretty far from home, and you seemed very into it. I was just wondering what inspired this trip."

I was trying to avoid obviously ogling his reactions by shifting my eyes from him every few seconds. I had leaned against the door, surprised by just how tired I really was. He was doing that thing where he weighed his words again.

Eventually, he shrugged. That softness returning to his features from before, he began, "To be honest, (y/n)..."

Please, don't break my heart, I begged to that beautiful man.

Actually turning his head entirely to me, he spoke through a delicate smile, "I just wanted to look at the stars with you."

Goddammit.

The stars returned to my eyes, and I could see them reflected in his. My heart sped up to prepare for the panic as I realized that it was definitely too late for us. Because his efforts were working. They had been working all along, and I never tried to stop them.

As I drifted off to sleep in the comfortable silence of our company, I couldn't ignore the obvious:

I think I'm in love with Spencer Reid and I think he's starting to love me, too.

But we couldn't just love each other in isolation, and I wasn't sure he was ready to make that leap with me. In fact, I knew he wasn't. I still knew basically nothing about him, and he knew virtually nothing about me. How could it be then, that our souls felt so at home with each other?

Which would hurt more? Finding out he didn't love me, or that he did... and just wishes he didn't?

—————————————————

| Part 6 |

[daddywanken0bi]

Breaking and Entering

gif is not mine

word count: 2.5k

author: Allie

warnings: smut, slight master kink, female reader, idk it’s sex but it’s pretty mild

a/n: Sorry it’s been so long since we last posted. The beginning of the semester has been insane but don’t worry, we’re cooking up some fun stuff for y’all. Hope you like this one!

Breaking and Entering

You weren’t sneaking in.

Sure, you were entering his room uninvited - never mind that he was off world on a mission. But it wasn’t like you were breaking and entering. He wouldn’t have given you a code if he didn’t want you to use it, right? And you did everything in your power to be discrete about it, too. You waited until the middle of the night, you checked the hallway before you turned the corner, you wore your hood to cover your face. You even brought a journal with you to fortify your alibi in case you ran into anyone.

“I couldn’t sleep,” you’d say, “I thought I’d go for a walk and do some journalling.”

It wasn’t that far from the truth, anyway. It was true you planned to write in your journal eventually. It was true you had been walking. And it was true you couldn’t sleep. Sleep was nearly unattainable every night Obi Wan was away. Every time you closed your eyes, you saw visions of him overrun by droids, or flattened by tankards, or gunned down in his ship. No matter how much he proved his skill and strength, you still feared the worst whenever he left. It was detrimental.

But you’d learned to cope. You found writing down all your thoughts helped release them from your mind. You also found staying active helped distract your brain from these horrible images. Something about rushing adrenaline and aching muscles and shortness of breath eased your worries. Not to mention, it kept you in shape for when Obi Wan needed a sparring partner. Although, sparring with him always lead to love-making in one way or another. It kept you in shape for that, too.

However, when the sun set and ink spilled its way across the Coruscant sky, your coping mechanisms tended to prove obsolete. Curse your creativity because it always conjured new ways for your lover to perish. You trusted your warrior whole-heartedly to come home to you. But your head, well, it had other ideas.

That’s why you found yourself navigating the halls of the Jedi temple in the earliest hours of the morning. You held off almost the entire time he was gone. You told yourself you were strong enough to make it through the night on your own. But on this night, you caved. Your day had been particularly burdensome, with difficult diplomats and insufferable insurgents - life in law enforcement was far from glamorous. When you returned home, you craved the late night conversations over freshly brewed tea that Obi Wan offered on days like this.

So you thought, perhaps spending the night in his bed would soothe your suffering. He wasn’t due back until the following evening. You would go in the middle of the night and leave before he returned. Nobody would have to know.

You opened the door as silently as you could, wincing when the duristeel clamped shut behind you. You surveyed the room as you removed your cloak, leaving you only in your silk shift. It was familiar, yet you’d only been here twice before. You still felt like you might be caught, painfully aware of how criminal it was for you to be here. Partially due to the consequences your affair would have on your careers, but mostly because you were in Obi Wan’s quarters, uninvited. It felt like you were decimating sacred ground.

Nevertheless, your lovesick heart drew you to the circular bed at the back the room, flanked by floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Coruscant traffic. With your cloak draped over the sofa and your journal discarded on the dining table, your tentative feet padded their way to the welcoming mattress. Your knees hit the soft blankets and you crawled up to the plush pillows. You were enveloped by spicy, earthy, sweet, a smell so distinctly Obi Wan, and you allowed yourself to splay out over the comforter.

You dipped your toes into the smooth, cream-colored sheets, tension escaping your pores with every inch you pulled them up your legs. The pillows swallowed your head as you curled up under the covers, and for the first time in days, you were asleep within seconds.

**********

You couldn’t have slept more than a few hours when a ghostly graze tickled across your cheek. Your eyes fluttered, curious to see the sensation that brought you out of the bliss of sleep. Sparkling blue eyes and a halo of golden hair stood over you, and you thought for a moment that you might still be dreaming.

“What are you doing here, little one?” The ethereal being asked.

Then realization hit you.

“Oh, Obi Wan!” You scrambled to your knees to meet him at eye level. “I’m so sorry, please forgive me!”

“Darling, it’s alright-“

“I didn’t think you’d be back for another several hours!”

“We finished up early.” His hands immediately find your lower back. You glance to the window beside him. It was still dark, but the stars were fading. It must have been very early in the morning.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t sleep and I missed you so much, I thought this would help-“

“Shhh, you don’t have to explain, dear one.” He brought his hand up to tuck a stray hair behind your ear, then letting it rest under your jaw. “I planned to see you first thing upon my return, anyway.”

You relaxed your shoulders, relived he wasn’t cross with you. Yet your arms remained at your sides.

“I came uninvited…”

“Darling,” he sighed, humorously exasperated, “I gave you a code, didn’t I?”

“But you were away-“

“You still had a code. Besides,” he fiddled with the minuscule strap of your shift, innocently letting it fall off your shoulder. “I like the idea of you waking up in my bed.”

The hand on your shoulder slowly smoothed its way down your clavicle. Then between your breasts, across your stomach. It twisted, and reluctantly returned to your back. Your breath caught as you watched his eyes follow his hand, it pricked goosebumps into your skin.

“Even when I’m away.” He added, his eyes returning to yours.

“But you’re home now,” You said, snaking your arms up to land behind his head. “And that’s all that matters.”

He smiled warmly, hands still caressing up and down your back. You take this time to study his face. You traced the lines in his forehead, thumbed the crows feet by his eyes and settled your hand at his cheek. Despite the adoration in his eyes, he looked older, weary.

“You must be exhausted.” You murmured, and his eyes closed in agreement. “Come, lie with me, Obi.”

A chuckle puffed through his nose.

“Dearest, I’m filthy.”

“I don’t care,” You cling to him, pressing your chest to his, ghosting your lips. “I like it when you’re filthy.”

A groan emitted from low in his chest and no longer did he stroke his hands over your skin. Instead, his fingertips dug craters into your hips, pulling you impossibly closer.

“I’ve missed you so much, little one.” He hovered over your lips.

You hummed, a thought danced in your mind. You sat back on your heels, leaving Obi Wan wide-eyed, confused. Through your eyelashes, you gazed expectantly at him, wordlessly telling him to undress.

“Show me, then,” You purred, slowly pulling at the silk of your shift to reveal more skin. “Show me how much you missed me.”

His eyes were fire, ablaze with a passion you’d only ever seen on the battlefield. He kept his eyes trained on you as he toed off his boots, watching you drag the sheer fabric over your head, leaving you bare. He raked over your body, swallowing hard. You sat up again and splayed your hands across his broad chest. He watched you intently as your hands circled his shoulders and smoothed down his arms. You took his right hand in both of your own.

“Touch me, Obi Wan,” You brought his hand to your breast. He ran his thumb over your nipple, watching it harden at his touch. You gasped and your head lulled between your shoulder blades. Your response was all the encouragement he needed. He encased you in his other arm, mouth ravenous on your neck, hand still massaging your breast. After days of nothing, his attention to you was almost too much. You tugged at his hair, unsure of what else to do with your hands, too lost in Obi Wan to even think.

His lips carved a path from your neck to your mouth, kissing you with a frivolity that only came from two lovers reunited. He kissed you with everything he had. You felt every moment he thought of you while he was away, every instance he reminded himself to return home to you, every desire he couldn’t quench without you there. And you met his intensity. You poured every worry into his mouth, every doubt, every qualm. But also all of the love you could possibly give to another being - you wanted to give it all to him.

“You’re wearing too many clothes.” You mumbled against his lips. He chuckled.

“I agree.” He kissed you once more before undoing his belt and casting it to the side. He shed his tunic and pulled his undershirt over his head while you worked on the buttons of his trousers. Once undressed, his hands found your waist again, albeit gentler this time. He gingerly drew you close to him, pressed a tender kiss to your swollen lips. You tangled your arms around his shoulders and felt the press of his erection on your stomach. He cherished you, cradled you as he laid you back on the bed. You let your eyes close as you kissed and kissed and kissed him. You were so wrapped up in his mouth that you barely noticed his hand sneak down to the pooling between your legs.

But when his thumb found your clit, you noticed. Your eyes flew open and you gasped, Obi Wan snickered at your surprise. His mouth morphed into a smirk as his thumb started circling, slowly, slowly. You screwed your eyes shut and gnawed on your bottom lip. Your knees constricted your lover’s abdomen as he stared at you with unadulterated admiration. He reveled in your whimpers, astonished that he, of all beings, had the privilege of pleasuring you.

“Obi,” You wined, “I need you-mmph-I need you inside me.”

“Darling, it’s been so long. I won’t last.”

“Neither will I.”

He removed his thumb and the loss of contact provoked a sigh from your lips, but it’s quickly swallowed by two of his fingers curling inside you. Your jaw unhinged, the sensation absolutely overwhelming.

“I forget how wet you are for me.” He breathed into your ear. “And you’re even tighter than I remember. Did you touch yourself at all while I was gone?”

“No,” You moaned, “Not once.”

“Not once?” He smirked, the cocky bastard. “You waited for me?”

“Yes,” You looked him dead in the eyes, “Master.”

You didn’t think his pupils could dilate more, but somehow his sparkling blue eyes blew black with desire. Suddenly, he yanked his fingers from your pussy and shoved them in your mouth.

“Lick them clean for your Master.” He demanded, watching you closely has you hollowed your cheeks and swirled your tongue.

If you knew using his title would elicit such a reaction, then you would have used it a lot sooner. You got the idea from Padme in a conversation about your Jedi boyfriends. You confided in her one night that Obi was gone, asked her how she dealt with being away from Anakin for so long (everybody pretended not to know, but everybody knew). After a few attempts at denying it, she finally caved. It turned into a long dialogue about sexual escapades and romantic gestures.

“You should try calling him by his title,” She suggested after your third kettle of Obi Wan’s favorite tea, “Anakin looses his mind whenever I do.”

It turned out she was right. You would have to thank her later. But for now, you were too preoccupied with Obi Wan’s fingers in your mouth and dick teasing your folds.

“Tell me what you want, little one.” He removed his fingers and planted a sloppy kiss on your mouth. You bit at his bottom lip, encouraging a growl from him.

“Fuck me, Obi Wan,” You pleaded. “I want you to fuck me into the next galaxy.”

The sound that came out of your mouth was nothing short of animalistic. He rammed into you without any warning and didn’t give you any time to adjust.

“That’s right. You take me so well, little one.” He pounded into you.

The force hiked your leg over his shoulder and burned phantom hands into your flesh. Your body ignited, Obi Wan exuded so much energy, it radiated into your pores. You’d lost any and all touch with reality, reduced to a moaning mess. All you see, all you feel, all you taste, all you know is your master, your lover, your Obi Wan.

“You’re so good for me,” He panted above you. “Waiting for me to return, calling me master, taking my cock like it’s made for you.”

“Fucking hell,” You cursed, “I’m so close.”

“Me too, darling, me too.”

The phantom hands focused on your clit, furthering the already tightly-wound coil in your core. The air clicked and sparked with energy, the Force encouraging, applauding your union.

“Together,” Obi Wan breathed, you nodded.

“Together.”

You force your eyes to remain open, despite gravity weighing them down. He pushed into you once, twice, three times more then-

“Oh, Master!-”

“Maker!”

Warmth spread through your body as Obi Wan released inside you. You shook with your own release, pleasure coursing through your veins as he collapsed on top of you (careful not to harm you, of course, ever the gentleman). He remained inside you while his breath returned, his heartbeat slowed. You tangled your fingers in his hair as he nuzzled his nose beneath your ear, whispering sweet nothings as you returned from euphoria. Before long, you felt the adrenaline leave his body and the weight of his exhaustion reappear, a reminder that he still needed to recover from his mission. You pushed gently on his shoulders, a silent request to release you.

“‘M sorry, darling.” He mumbled as he reluctantly pushed himself off of you. You winced as he pulled out, tender and unused to the feeling. He rolled off to your side and snuggled you close, the hot breath of his nose tickling your neck.

“Come on, Master,” You nudged, “Lets get in the shower.”

“Hmmm why?” He groaned.

“You’re filthy, remember?” You teased.

“Right, I’m the filthy one.”

“I’m not the one with a Master kink.”

He growled and nipped at your ear, making you laugh.

“Let’s wash up, Obi” You combed his scalp with your fingers. “Then we can spend the rest of the day in your bed.”

He lifted himself onto his forearm to meet your eyes and tucked a stray hair behind your ear with his free hand.

“You can spend the rest of your life in my bed, dear one,” He was sincere, “if that’s what you so desire.”

[hypermanga]

Choices, choices (Eric x reader)

Requested by: @rachelcarroll1819​

Request: Hi can you do a imagine where the reader is the daughter of Jeanine Matthews and she is divergent and bff with four and in a relationship with Eric please and thank you.

Word Count: 1628

Warnings: Cuss words and perhaps Eric being a little OOC? ~

~~~~~~

Your mother's face was in every Chicago's screen, her scrutinizing gaze that you had gotten to know so well reached to any corner of the city, always looking out for them.

Divergents. 

To her, a threat to the faction system. To you, someone beyond who could guide humanity to a better tomorrow, one where you were not defined by your aptitudes, but the actions of your everyday life. Like it had just been before the war.

It was weird for you to disagree with your mother, but ever since the aptitude test you started to percept the world with another lense, a divergent's one; You had become what your mother despised the most, and you knew about her plans, so you decided to make the most rational decision: transfer to Dauntless. There you could prepare for whatever your mother had prepared for your kind and all the "collateral victims", as she put it. 

For what you didn't prepare was meeting who could possibly be the love of your life: he was caring and well-read in private, but displayed a brash, cold and sometimes sadistic behaviour towards Initiates. You had met him after entering Dauntless, being Max who had greeted you at the roof.

Four, your best friend since two or three when you made the bold choice of sassying Eric after he had told you for an hour long that you were not going to pass the cut "Got some fire in you" The former Abnegation boy had said, patting your back before letting Eric do whatever he was about to do. After all, he was a leader and Four was a subordinate.

As for Eric, you still weren't able to pinpoint the exact moment you fell for him: perhaps it was the time he had gone out of his way to help you improve your position to perfect your punches, or perhaps one night where he caught you doing a stroll in the night and joined you, having a long conversation,...There were so many occasions that had made you fall a little bit more for him, but you considered it more of a crush than anything else. 

As soon as Initiation had finished and you were asked to become a trainer alongside Four you couldn't be happier, but Four outdid himself telling you how he had heard Eric talking to Max about how he felt about you "Today's not April Fools I recall" "That's because it is not. Be careful, he can be dangerous" " I know how to take care of myself. Remember, I was once an Erudite like him, not some lovesick dove" 

But you fell. And hard.

Sadly all hell broke loose, as the alliance between Dauntless and Erudite stepped into the light. Tobias and you decided to escape Dauntless alongside Tris Prior, his girlfriend and Initiation acquaintance for you.  You could still remember the train that had brought you to one place you never expected to be living in. Amity: all that peace serum and smiling all day didn't sit right to you, it felt as if they wanted to evade everything bad thing that was going on around them as an excuse to not intervene. 

Johanna had been really kind (ironically) letting you stay, you would give her that, but working in the fields was not made for you. Nor cooking. Nor being happy all the damn time, which seemed to be the base point of your relationship with Tris. She seemed like a nice girl and really in love with Tobias, so you approved of their relationship. Now, for the other two companions, Peter and Caleb, you were skeptical about the first after he had gotten into a fight during lunchtime with Tris. 

It had been another tranquil morning when Dauntless trucks pulled up the path that lead to Amity, Eric leading them and ready to hunt Divergents for Jeanine. Ever since you'd escaped he had delved into his work, leaving any kind of feelings he had harboured for you during Initiation aside: he had taken interest in you at first because of your sassiness towards him as well as your closeness with Four: he had spent so many nights thinking about your determination to pass Initiation, how you laughed at the things Four said...It made him sick to say the least. But then he'd gotten the chance to become closer to you, and even though he had tried to fool himself that he was doing that to piss off Four, any fool could see he had also fallen just as hard as her.

'Falling for the boss's daughter, great fucking job Eric' He had mutered to himself in between punches 'And someone who has taken the oposite side in this conflict, you just won grand prize Eric' Punch 'She chose Four over you' Punch 'She might now see you as a soulless monster' One last punch before he broke the bag, sand spilling everywhere, making him huff in disdain.

Those same thoughts threatened to cloud his vision now, so he pushed them aside to concentrate on his task: hunting those damned Divergents. His team had gathered everyone in the dining room before he and Max decided to check for anyone hidden,starting with the stables and Johanna's office upstairs.

Just like you, he had a special disdain for Amity: problems had to be tackled,not ignored. Zooming out as Johanna greated them, he just checked her with his device to list her off before moving on to the stables.

As soon as you saw those trucks, Tris, Tobias, Caleb and you made a run for it, the three hiding in Johanna's office and you in the stables "I'll catch up with you!" You said to them, ushering them away. You blended with the shadows as best you could, for you knew if someone checked your divergence percentatge you were done.

It seemed like time was going too slow, before a figure stepped inside the stables. Eric. 'Play hide and seek with a Dauntless leader they said. It will be fun they said' you thought to yourself. Even now as your enemy, you still found him just as handsome as the first day you'd seen him.

You felt your heart stop as he walked up and down the stables, stopping just to pet some horses, which in all honesty you found adorable, before his eyes fixated in your hiding spot "I'm surprised you didn't run with the others" He smirked, grasping your arm "I'm Dauntless, I don't run from things. But I'm damn sure that I will not stay while you and my mother kill Divergents for...What purpose exactly? A system! A fucking system! You're killing innocent people who cannot be just one thing, is that a crime Eric?" He looked at you coldly, unaffected "You are a Dauntless, and an Erudite as well as I was! I'm pretty sure you can understand there's a lack of logic! What has she promised you: Fame? Honor? A high position? Nothing but empty promises bathed in blood Eric!"

As you freed from his grasp, which was lacking force, you balled your fists "Please Eric. I know you can understand...Please, don't do this" Your pleas fell short as Eric brought out the machine that analyzed your divergence percentage. You looked at him defiantly "Go on, Eric" The venom-coated way that his name left your lips made him almost flinch, but what broke his façade was the 'Divergent, 60%' that left his device.

Chuckling lowly "Checkmate" You held your arms in surrender, smiling "Get it over with. I don't want to live in a dictatorship, worse my mum's" You grabbed Eric's gun giving it to him and, slowly and steady, brought it to your heart.

He felt numb, in a crossroad: he had a mission, but there you were in your Amity's clothes as beautiful as ever, looking at him with a dim hope in your more lifeless eyes as the seconds passed.

Dropping his device, he walked past you, punching a wall "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" You knew he had quite the temper, but you knew that in this particular occasion he was not just boosting out, but battling his own demons. He kept punching the wood, blood starting to drool from his fists "Eric stop!Look at me!" He slumped on his knees in defeat"First my family, then Initiation, now this" He sniffed "Why can't anything go the way I want?" Grabbing his face in between your hands, you also dropped to your knees "Because we can't control everything, I wish I could myself..." You shrugged sadly "But our choices and attitudes can change our perspective of things, and even their consequences" "You always know what to say, now do you?" He chuckled "Well, this has brought your attention. Now you decide if it is for better or for worse" You smiled and, as he looked into your eyes, saw his decision made up "I will not give up someone who truly believes that something good can come out of me"

Now it was his turn to grab your face, approaching it to his as your lips connected in a soft kiss. It was not the kind of kiss that you would expect from Eric, all rough edges, but the from the true Eric, that boy who has felt rejected all his life and has hid all his fears behind a tough demeanor.

As you parted Eric stood up, offering you his hand which you accepted gladly "Now where to (Y/N)?"

"To the battlefield"

~~~~~~~

@imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl @beltz2016 @readsalot73 @kenzieam @captstefanbrandt @sserpente @book-boys-are-my-guilty-pleasure

MASTERLIST

REQUESTS ARE OPEN!

[downondilaudid]

Pure Agape

Just a cute little imagine I wrote instead of doing schoolwork 

Warnings: Straight fluff in this one

Your keys made a clink as you lazily tossed them onto the cherry wood table. A deep sigh escaped your chest. Work had been drilling your ass, you were about ready to explode. You longed for a warm soothing bath, you could practically feel it then. The warm water enveloping your body, engulfing you in a blanket of comfort. 

You were unfortunately brought out of your trance by a loud thud, immediately your head snapped straight to the source. You slowly trudged your way into the small home office, and there, low and behold, sat Spencer clad in loose pajama pants that hung ever so deliciously off his hips, a book in his hands. 

“Hey, baby.” You greeted, feeling a small smile grace your face. Even on your worst days, Spencer could always bring a smile to your face. 

It was one of, what you considered to be, his gifts, one of his quirks. Like how he could spout out fact after fact about anything and everything, or how his lack of technology or social cues can lead to some nice comedic relief. It was something you loved about him, it was one of the things that led you to fall in love with him.

Spencer’s head tilted up, his unruly locks falling in his face from the sudden movement. “Hey, love.” His sweet smile lit up his face at the sight of you, his large hands closing his book and gently setting it next to him on the couch. 

His smile immediately dropped, it didn’t take a genius to see how stressed you were. Your shoulders were slouched, you back slightly hunched, and your smile didn’t meet your eyes. “Come here, baby.” His arms opened wide, a look of pity on his face. 

That was it, that was when you let the dam break free, fresh tears flooded your eyes, cascading down your face. You crossed the living room with haste, practically tackling Spencer, burying your head in the crook of  his neck. You straddled Spencer, clinging onto him like he was your only source of life. 

Which he very much was, you practically breathed in Spencer like air, he was your anchor, he kept you going, he kept you motivated. You loved Spencer with every fiber in your body, you kept each other grounded, he was your rock, and you were his. Love was something you used to struggle with, it seemed like every time you finally got completely comfortable trusting someone with your heart, they left. 

But Spencer showed you a new side to love, he showed you agape, he showed you complete and utter adoration. He was infatuated with you, the love you shared is something completely otherworldly and incomprehensible to almost anyone outside of your relationship. 

His large hand danced across your spine, soothingly tracing  spirals and squiggles. “Shhh” he hushed, his other hand combing through your hair, breaking the tangles. Slowly he rocked you like a mother would a child. 

He hated seeing you like this, so defeated and completely exhausted. His heart ached for you, he would go to the ends of the earth to take the despair away, he would get shot a thousand times, he would do anything for you. 

“Come on, baby.” Spencer muttered, situating his hands under your bum, he hoisted you up, carrying you like a child down the hall. He nudged the bathroom door open with a soft creak, setting you gently down on the toilet. He was out of your line of view for a few minutes, turning on the faucet of the bath. 

Soon, the smell of roses wafted through the air, breaking you slightly out of your stupor. You finally raised your head, met with the sight of a naked Spencer, a small smile on his face. His hands met your sides, tentatively grabbing the hem of your shirt, helping you undress.

“Did you know, scientifically, laying horizontal in water can significantly improve your mood as well as your optimism. Warm baths can also help relieve muscle aches, like the equivalent of a full body heating pad. It also kick starts your melatonin production, leading to a better night's sleep” 

By the time Spencer was done with his speech, you were both fully undressed, clambering into the bathtub unceremoniously. It was surprisingly spacious, luckily, the first time you two bathed together you were one-hundred percent sure you both wouldn’t fit. But after some slight maneuvering, you were both able to sit comfortably in the warm water. 

Much like then, you sat peacefully between Spencer’s legs, his warm chest pressed against your back, his arms wrapped loosely around your waist, pulling you into him. Your head rested on his shoulder, your body relaxing into his touch. His arms moved, slowly  drawing back so his hands could find solace on your hips, rubbing soothing circles with his thumbs. 

“Do you want to talk about it, love?” Spencer questioned, usually he would spout off a fact about how talking through your problems or stresses can make them seem more miniscule, but despite his lack of social skills, even he could tell now was not the time. 

“Not necessarily, Spence.” You muttered, grabbing the sides of the tub as leverage to scoot yourself closer to Spencer, longing to feel the comfort of his embrace. 

“I love you so much, sweetheart, I’ll be here to talk if you’d like.”  He pressed a kiss to the top of your head. Despite the circumstances, these were his favorite moments with you. Complete and utter moments of vulnerability, such love, such agape. 

You zoned out for a while, listening to Spencer whisper sweet nothings in your ear, enjoying the pure bliss of the moment. By the time the water began to grow cold, your sour mood was long forgotten, and the weight of your exhaustion weighed heavy on your shoulders. Your body was almost on autopilot, you were sure if someone put a gun to your head, and told you to recall the time in between your bath and getting ready for bed, you would be six feet under. 

The covers engulfed you both, Spencer’s arms were wrapped tightly around you, his chin rested atop your head, his chest rising and falling with each gentle breath. It was these moments that kept you both together. The moments that you shared, the love that you shared. Love in its purest form, the raw affection between the two of you, the verbal solitude that came with each three worded statement. Every “I love you,” every memory you could pinpoint where you were sure that you couldn’t possibly love Spencer anymore, yet he proved you wrong. No one could ever grow tired of the lovesick smiles you two shared upon seeing each other. Your love was raw, it was beautiful, it was a sacred love, something so special you couldn’t imagine sharing with anyone else. It was pure agape.