#but i still stayed out after dinner to make a gingerbread house w her like she wanted in her text

[donghun-s]

so how do i tell my sister that since the last time she saw me i've become chronically ill and have had to change how i live my day to day life and i am no longer functionally the same sister she has known her entire life and that will impact how i can participate in the weeklong trip we have planned in seven days. any tips.

[adenei]

A Granger Weasley Christmas

Some tooth rotting fluff! I’m not sure I could have fit in any additional tropes if I tried, but for those anon requests, here it is in it’s full glory!

The bonus smut chapter I wrote that ties into this fic can be found here, should you wish to read it 

I hope everyone who celebrates has a very Merry Christmas! 🎄

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

Hermione stepped in through the front door of her home as she placed her bag by the door and hung her coat in the closet. She shook off the snowflakes that had fallen onto her hair as she chose to apparate home and walk up the lane, relishing in the peaceful, quiet Christmas Eve night. Her work at the Ministry had finally been finished, and now she could enjoy the next week off with her family. 

“I’m home!” she called as she finished putting her things away. She heard laughter and smelled something rather sweet coming from the kitchen. Hermione walked in to find Ron, Rose and Hugo working at the kitchen counter. Gingerbread pieces were piled high with white frosting acting as glue, and there were colored candies all over the kitchen counter. 

“What’s this?” she asked as she walked further into the kitchen.

“The school sent home a gingerbread house kit for families to do over Christmas hols. The kids have been begging to start working on it, and I could only hold them off for so long. I thought you’d be home an hour ago,” Ron explained while giving Hermione a look.

“I know, I’m sorry! I just needed to make sure things were wrapped up at the Ministry, and now I don’t have to think about work for the next week.” Hermione smiled as she kissed each of the kids on the tops of their heads. She ignored Ron’s eyeroll at her ‘not thinking about work’ comment. “I’m going to go change and then I’ll be back down to help, alright?”

“Okay, Mummy!” Hugo said as Rose nodded. She was far too focused to speak as she was placing a gingerbread square just right so that it stuck to the frosting and layered the way she wanted it to.

By the time Hermione had returned, Rose and Hugo had constructed a towering structure that was slightly lopsided, but amazingly held together. She had a feeling Ron may have slipped a bit of magic in to keep it sturdy to avoid disappointing the kids. 

‘Look, Mum, look!” said Hugo in an overly excited voice. 

“Can you tell what it is? Can you?” Rose added.

Hermione took another look at the tall gingerbread structure, but before she could guess, Hugo spluttered, “It’s the Burrow!”

“Hugo!” Rose sounded upset.

“Oh, my goodness! It is, isn’t it? How clever!” she said quickly, to avoid a meltdown.

“It was my idea!” Rose said.

“And I helped make it lopsided, like the Burrow is,” Hugo added proudly.

Hermione couldn’t help but laugh as she listened to the two of them explain which parts were theirs, and which parts they worked together on. She sat next to her husband as the kids set to work adding details with the frosting and the various candies. She wasn’t sure if more ended up on the display or in their mouths.

“I don’t suppose you had anything to do with enchanting the gingerbread house so that it hasn’t crumbled, hmm?” Hermione whispered into Ron’s ear.

“What they don’t know, won’t hurt them. Besides, we’ll take a picture of their masterpiece, and the magic should hold for a few days anyway.”

“Brilliant thinking. I take it I missed dinner?” Hermione asked.

“Yes, but I’ve left your plate in the microwave. You just need to heat it up,” Ron said as he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

Hermione watched the kids finish their Gingerbread Burrow as she ate her meal, and then noticed the clock. “Oh my, it’s almost eight. You know what that means!”

“Christmas Eve presents?!” Rose and Hugo shouted excitedly.

Hermione and Ron laughed. “Yes, Christmas Eve presents, but only after you clean up this mess. We’ll make sure the Burrow is displayed properly on the hutch, how’s that?” Hermione said as she carefully moved the kid’s creation.

The kids nodded as they began picking up their mess. Ron had moved the garbage can closer so they would make less of a mess transferring the piping bags of frosting and cookie crumbles. Soon enough, the counter was rid of the remaining sweets, and Ron was scourgifying it clean.

 “Alright, kids. To the living room!” Ron said in an energetic tone as he and Hermione followed them.

“Oh, no!” Rose said. “Dad, the lights went out!”

“Ah, so they have. Must be one loose bulb somewhere. Well, maybe we can all work together to fix the lights if it’s not too late.”

“Before we set out cookies for Father Christmas?” Rose asked hopefully.

“Only if it’s not too late,” Hermione chimed in. “Now, here go ahead and open these.” She handed Rose and Hugo identically wrapped packages.

“Yay! This is my favorite part about Christmas Eve!” Hugo said enthusiastically. Nothing could ruin the holidays for their youngest child.

Both Rose and Hugo excitedly unwrapped their presents to find matching Christmas pajamas. The shirts had cute reindeer on them and the bottoms were a checkered red, white and black pattern.

“Thanks, Mum and Dad! Should we wear them to bed tonight?” Rose asked. 

“That’s the plan, Rosie,” Ron said as he reached out his arms to accept a hug from his little girl. “Now, what do you say we get you two cleaned up in the bath so you don’t get any frosting or gingerbread crumbs on those new pajamas?”

~~~~~~

Ron led them up to the bathroom as Hermione picked up the wrappings and joined them soon enough. For once, bath time did not take as long as expected because the kids were too excited to help fix the tree and get the cookies they’d baked earlier that day set out for Father Christmas. He quickly found himself chasing two kids in matching pajamas down the stairs and into the living room where Hermione was waiting for them. 

“Do we still have time to help with the lights, Dad?” Rose asked. Hugo was showing off his best puppy dog eyes and pouty lip to help convince their parents to say yes. 

“I think if we all take a different section of the tree, then we may be able to solve the Christmas tree mystery. Hmmm, now who should take the top section? Hugo, you’re tall enough, right?” Ron joked as he tickled his son. 

“No, Dad, that’s your job! Rose and I can work on the bottom!” 

“Alright, alright, I suppose you’re right. Mum can take the middle section, yeah?” Ron asked as Hermione nodded and the family of four set to work. 

Hermione half suspected the kids to grow tired of the task fairly quickly, and honestly, if it wasn’t the night before Christmas, she’d have just suggested going out to purchase another string of lights to replace it with. Unfortunately, it was too late for that. Surely if they couldn’t figure it out, they could use magic to fix it, right?

As if on cue, Hugo asked worriedly, “Dad? What if we can’t fix it? Will Father Christmas not be able to find our house?” 

“Hugo, that wouldn’t make Father Christmas skip our house! Some of my friend’s families don’t even keep their lights on all night.” Rose argued with her brother.

“W-what? But he needs the light to see! How else would he know where to put the presents and which stockings to fill?” Hugo questioned.

Hermione gave Ron a quick look. They were too young to be having these questioning conversations about Father Christmas, but Hugo was so intuitive about everything that she shouldn’t be surprised. Ron returned her worried look with a reassuring one of his own. Hopefully he had a plan.

“You see, Hugo, Father Christmas is magical, too. I can tell you that he appreciates when the lights are on, but he won’t skip the house if they’re off or broken. Don’t worry, as long as you’ve been good this year, you have nothing to worry about!”

Hugo stopped checking the lights as he bit his lip. He was clearly worried that maybe he hadn’t been as good as he thought. 

“Hugo, don’t overthink it, honey, I’m sure Father Christmas won’t forget you. Remember, as long as you believe, you shall receive.” Hermione smiled at her son, who looked a bit relieved as he went back to trying his lights. 

They worked in silence for a little while, and all of a sudden the middle section lit up brightly again.

“I found it, I found it!” exclaimed Rose.

“Great job, sweetheart! And great teamwork everyone,” Ron said quickly when he noticed Hugo’s disappointment that it wasn’t him to fix the tree. “Should we go set the cookies out and then get ready for bed?”

This helped take Hugo’s mind off the tree as he jumped up and ran to the kitchen. “Mum, look! I made this one especially for Father Christmas!” They’d made classic sugar cookie cut outs that were caked with a heavy layer of icing. Hugo’s was a green Christmas tree with little globs that she assumed were ornaments.

“Wow, Hugo, you worked very hard on that! I’m sure he’ll love it!”

“Mine’s an angel, but I decorated his face to look like a gnome,” said Rose with a triumphant smile. “I got the idea because Dad told us about when Uncle George and Uncle Fred put a gnome on top of the tree at the Burrow when they were growing up.”

Hermione couldn’t help but laugh at the memory as Ron grinned, clearly happy that the kids had enjoyed his story. As they were arranging the cookies on the plate, Hugo asked, “What was your first Christmas together like, Mum?”

Hermione looked at her son. “Do you mean our first Christmas when we were together? Or..”

“No, your first Christmas after you met!” Hugo said excitedly.

“Why don’t we make that your bedtime story?” Ron suggested. “Rose, do you want to hear the story, too? We’ll tell it in Hugo’s room. Go brush your teeth and we’ll meet you up there in a few minutes.”

“What are we going to tell them?” Hermione asked Ron as they heard the kids running up the stairs.

“I reckon we should probably tell them the truth..” Ron said cheekily, earning a playful swat from his wife.

“You know what I mean,” Hermione said. 

“Well, we can explain that you went home, and Harry and I stayed at Hogwarts. Pretty uneventful, honestly.”

“Better than telling them we spent second year together at Hogwarts so we could use polyjuice potion to spy on Draco,” Hermione reasoned.

Ron burst into laughter. “Can you imagine the kid’s reactions if we told them you polyjuiced into a cat?”

“We are never telling them that story! Some things are better left in the past.”

“There’s a lot that they probably shouldn’t know about our Hogwarts years,” Ron said.

“Yes, and hopefully Neville won’t give too much away, either.” Hermione said.

“It’s not Neville I’m worried about,” Ron muttered as he motioned for them to head up the stairs.

They walked into Hugo’s room and sat on the edge of the bed. “So you want to hear about our first Christmas, eh?” Ron said as Rose and Hugo nodded. “Well, I’m afraid it’s not a very interesting story.”

“Why not?” Rose asked.

“Well, it was our first year at Hogwarts, and I went home to spend Christmas with my family, and your dad stayed at Hogwarts to spend Christmas with Harry since he wasn’t going home,” Hermione explained.

“You didn’t get any presents for each other?” Rose asked with a disappointed look on her face.

“Oh, I got your father some chocolates from Honeydukes,” Hermione said.

“And I got your Mum a quill from Scrivenshaft’s. It wasn’t much, but we were eleven,” Ron added.

“Twelve,” Hermione corrected him.

“Well, what about the story of how you met, then?” Hugo asked.

“Now, that’s a story!” Ron said with a chuckle.

“Ohh, tell us, tell us!” Rose begged.

“Please?” added Hugo.

“Alright, alright, settle down,” Hermione told them. “Well, we met on the train at Hogwarts. I was helping Neville find his toad, and I stumbled upon the compartment that Uncle Harry and Dad were in. He was quite rude to me, actually,” Hermione said playfully. “Tried to do a bit of magic, but it didn’t quite work as intended.”

“Yes, and then your Mum decided to tell me I had dirt on my nose and left,” Ron continued. “We didn’t get on very well in the beginning. A couple months in, she tried to help me cast wingardium leviosa, and I called her a nightmare.”

Rose gasped. “You didn’t!” 

“Did you apologize? You never let Rose or me call each other names!” Hugo seemed appalled.

“He did apologize eventually,” Hermione said. “I was so upset that I went to hide in a bathroom and missed the Halloween feast.”

“So she missed the announcement that there was a troll roaming the castle,” Ron said nonchalantly.

Both kid’s mouths dropped open. “A troll was roaming the castle? Aren’t they dangerous?” asked Hugo.

“Do they let trolls loose every Halloween?” Rose asked excitedly. Merlin, they had a Gryffindor on their hands if Ron had ever seen one.

“No, no! It wasn’t planned. All the kids were sent back to their common rooms and the teachers went to go find it. Well, Uncle Harry and I remembered that someone said Hermione was crying in the bathroom, and we figured we should go tell her. It was a good thing we did because the troll went right into that bathroom,” Ron went on.

“And you locked him in there with me!” Hermione interrupted.

“Yeah, but we went in after you when we heard you scream!” Ron defended.

“Yes, just before he was about to get me!”

“What happened?” Rose asked.

“What did you do?” Hugo said with wide eyes.

“Well, Harry jumped on the troll’s back to try and stop him, and ended up getting his wand stuck up the troll’s nose. I tried to throw a pipe at it, and then I managed to cast wingardium leviosa and levitated the club out of the troll’s hand.” Ron paused to make sure he had the kid’s full attention. “And then, the club knocked the troll on the head, and he passed out.”

“We were just about to get out of there when the professors found us and asked what happened. I covered for them, telling Professor McGonagall I thought I could take the troll on by myself, but they wouldn’t let me.”

“You did what? Rose asked.

“After that, your Uncle Harry and I decided to keep her around. She turned out to be a really great friend when she wasn’t nagging us to do our homework,” Ron said with a smile as he put his arm around Hermione and kissed her temple.

“Ewww,” Rose said.

Hermione laughed as she said, “I think it’s time for bed now. If you stay up too late, Father Christmas may not make it. You’ve got to be asleep for him to make his rounds.”

They kissed Hugo goodnight, and repeated the routine with Rose in her room before shutting their doors.

“I’m exhausted,” Hermione said.

“And yet, our night is just beginning,” Ron said with glee.

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

“No, Ron, the bikes should be in the back by the window! Not in the front. Bigger presents in the back, smaller presents in the front,” Hermione chided.

“I still don’t see why Hugo and Rose are getting bikes to begin with. They’re magical, they should have brooms!” Ron shot back.

“They have brooms already!” 

“Yeah, but Hugo’s is a toy broomstick and Rose has got my old Cleansweep from school.”

“Next year that will be Rose’s big present, but this year it’s a bicycle for each of them. They have muggle friends at school, and they need to be able to play with them like muggles. Besides, learning to ride a bike is much like learning to fly a broom, and it will be a good skill for the kids to have.”

“If you say so..” Ron watched as Hermione finished rearranging all of the presents under the tree. He folded his arms and shook his head as he chuckled to himself. “You’re barmy, you know that, right? The kids aren’t going to remember the layout, you know.”

“Yes, but I will. And you secretly love it. You’re not fooling anyone,” Hermione said as she brushed her hands together indicating she was done, and walked over to him.

Ron wrapped her in his arms and leaned in to kiss her. Even after fifteen years together, his heart still skipped a beat every time their lips touched. Hermione seemed to melt into him, probably from a mixture of exhaustion and an eagerness for his affection. With two kids running around the house, it was a struggle to find time to be intimate with each other.

“Shall we head to bed, then?” he whispered against her lips.

“I thought you’d never ask,” Hermione responded in kind.

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

Hermione woke with a start at 4:30 in the morning, and tugged at Ron’s arm. “Ron!” she hissed. “The cookies! We forgot to eat the cookies!”

“Wha-?” Ron said in his still drowsy state. 

“The cookies are sitting on the counter,” she repeated as she hopped out of bed and pulled her bathrobe on. She let out a grunt of frustration as she saw Ron’s head hit the pillow again. “Honestly…” 

Hermione checked both the kid’s rooms to ensure they were still sound asleep before she tiptoed to the kitchen. The cookie eating was always Ron’s job. The kids had a knack for layering the frosting a little too thick, and Hermione couldn’t stomach all that sugar. She took a deep breath and picked up Hugo’s cookie first, and took the biggest bite she could muster so it would look like it was eaten. 

Hermione placed one half back on the plate and took the other out of her mouth, nibbling on a tiny corner before making her way over to the bin. She opened it and stuffed the cookie as far down as she could, strategically placing some discarded wrapping paper over it so the kids wouldn’t see. 

Then,she went back to the plate of cookies and panicked. What do I do, what do I do? She thought. Hermione spotted a piece of parchment on the counter and had an idea. She grabbed it and began scribbling in the messiest scrawl she could manage:

Rose and Hugo,

Happy Christmas! You’ve been so good this year. I hope you enjoy your gifts! Thank you for the cookies. They were delicious! The angel gnome was too creative to eat - I’ve never seen anything like it. Be good for your Mum and Dad and I can’t wait to receive your letters next year.

Father Christmas

There! Crisis averted. Hermione took a deep breath as she quietly made her way back up the stairs, and was hoping for a few more hours of rest before the kids woke up. Ron was already back to snoring.

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

“Rosie, look! Look! A bicycle! Wow!” Hugo gushed as he skidded to a halt in front of the tree, Rose hot on his heels.

Ron and Hermione were cuddled up on the couch, mugs of coffee in hand as they watched the kids open up their presents. Both kids received a few books that Hermione knew the kids would enjoy, but aside from that, their presents couldn’t have differed more. 

In addition to the books and bicycle, Rose received a quaffle, broom care kit, and the furby she was begging for because everyone at school was asking for them. Ron had no idea why it was the hit gift of the year. They looked so creepy, and if an owl was what Rose wanted, he’d have gotten her one, but Hermione had insisted.

Hugo’s gifts included a small magnetic chess set, the latest lego set, and a playstation console. It was a used one, but would do well for Hugo who only liked a few certain games. Rose’s temper had caused an uncontrolled magic accident where their former console had shorted out and wasn’t playable anymore. Hugo was especially excited to have another gently used version to replace the other one. 

The kids received socks and a board game from Father Christmas, and their stockings were filled to the brim with both Muggle and Magical sweets. They thanked their parents profusely, and grabbed their own gifts that they’d created for their parent’s gift. Hugo had made an ornament with painted puzzle pieces glued together, encircling his school picture. Ron and Hermione both gushed over how creative it was.

Rose had made a Christmas tree out of string that was wrapped around small nails protruding from a small slab of wood, with the words “Merry and Bright” scribbled in her handwriting underneath. Aunt Audrey had helped her make it apparently, and Rose was very proud of the finished work. Hermione got up to put it on the mantle and Ron hung Hugo’s ornament on the tree. 

The kids hugged their parents. “Can we ride our bikes?” Hugo asked hopefully. 

Ron laughed. “No, Hugo, there’s too much snow on the ground. We’ll put the bikes in the shed, but I promise on the first nice day, we’ll get right out there. Why don’t you bring some of your presents up to your room and play while Mum and I make breakfast. You too, Rose.”

Rose nodded and began gathering as much as she could carry towards the stairs. Hugo followed her as Ron summoned his gift for Hermione from under the tree. “You didn’t think I’d forget your gift, now, did you?” he said with a smile. 

He handed her a small box, which she opened gently. It was a small jewelry box, which she opened to reveal a small silver bracelet with four stones. The two in the middle were sapphire and aquamarine. Next to the sapphire was a blue topaz stone, and next to the aquamarine, an alexandrite stone. It was stunning, and Hermione knew without explanation that it was their family represented by their birthstones.

“It’s beautiful, Ron, I love it,” she said as she clasped the bracelet around her wrist and then leaned in for a kiss.

She summoned his gift next and handed it to him. It was a simple envelope, and didn’t seem like much. He opened the envelope to reveal a weekend getaway for just the two of them next month in Egypt. It was the one place Ron had been that Hermione had not, and he’d always wanted to take her there. Once they’d started their family, opportunities for travel had all but vanished, so this was her way of helping him make good on his promise.

“Wicked!” Ron said. “I finally get to show you around Egypt, and it’s a holiday for just the two of us? I hope things are still the same as when I was twelve,” he said with a laugh. “This is brilliant, love, thank you.”

“You’re very welcome. Shall we get on with breakfast, then?” Hermione asked. “I’m sure the gifts won’t keep them occupied forever.”

“Right you are,” Ron agreed as he led her into the kitchen.

“I still stand by my statement from last night. This is still the best Christmas ever,” Hermione told him as she leaned against the counter, watching him get ingredients out.

“I’d expect nothing less.”

[crookswithbooks]

More Than Just A Friend

Day Four - Kris is feeling uncertain doing the holidays without Asriel, and Susie discovers hidden feelings within herself. 

Susie shifted on the bed, shooting nervous glances over at Kris every once in a while, who sat reading a book, some comic or another, completely oblivious to Susie’s inner turmoil.

When Kris had asked her to stay for the holidays, as she had no one else to stay with, she had accepted immediately, feeling grateful and a little bashful that Kris thought of her at all. But now that she was here, in Kris’s room filled with things that made him Kris, she began to think about the long night (nights? They hadn’t quiet discussed how long this was lasting) ahead of them. Where would she sleep? Where would she get changed? Where would he get changed? Would they stay in the same bed? The questions swirled around in her head, making her more and more nervous as time went on, and Kris sitting there as if everything was completely normal was not helping.

Susie’s feelings for Kris were a recent development, one that had crept up on her quietly and quite unwillingly. She had noticed it one day when he had accidentally bumped her arm and her heart did backflips in her chest. She had tried to shove it down and keep her from accidentally ruining things with the only friend she had.

Though technically not only friend, if you counted Ralsei and Lancer; but that was still up for debate, whether they were even real or just figments of her imagination, all of which was all kinds of messed up if you though about it.

She had thought she had been dealing with these new feelings pretty well thus far, but being suddenly thrust into the same house as Kris for a week (weeks? Seriously she had no idea how long she was staying) was not doing any favors to her already raging crush.

“Sooo…” Susie started, after a minute of unbearable silence had passed. “What, uh, what have you been up to?”

Kris looked up at the sound of her voice, putting down his comic. “Nothing much. Hanging out with you, I guess.” He picked at a hole in his jeans that she hadn’t noticed before. “I got a letter from Asriel.”

“Yeah?” The subject of Kris’s brother was not one that came up often, and it was a rare moment when Kris himself brought him up. “What’d he have to say?”

Kris shrugged, ripping the whole wider. “Nothing much. Wished me a merry Christmas. He said things in college were going well, that he’d started to make a bunch of new friends.”

“That’s good,” Susie said, offering an encouraging smile, a rare gesture for her. “Right?”

Kris nodded, but his expression was vacant and closed-off, a look Susie was starting to get more and more familiar with. “Yeah, I guess.”

He picked back up his book and she realized with horror that the silence was going to begin again, but he paused, turning to look at her. “Hey, have you ever been kissed before?”

Her heart just about exploded in her chest at his words. “Uh… what?” she stuttered as he stared at her with innocent eyes. Two seconds ago they were talking about his brother and now he suddenly bombarded her with this? Where the hell was this going and how did they get here?

Kris scooched forward, which did not help. “A couple of the kids at school were talking about their first kisses and it got me thinking.” He crossed his legs, peering up at her. “So, have you?”

Susie could feel the burning on her cheeks and she only hoped that Kris didn’t notice. “Uh, yeah, of course I have.”

This was a lie. She had spent so long pushing people out of her life and cutting herself off from any potential friends, that she had never gotten close enough with someone for kissing to even be a possibility.

“I haven’t,” he confessed honestly, sitting back which she was both grateful of and disappointed by. “I’ve always wondered what it’s like, but I’ve never found someone who likes me in that way.”

Susie snorted at the irony of the sentence. “Really? You?”

Kris narrowed his eyes at that, frowning in confusion. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Susie was spared having to answer, as at that moment the door swung open and Toriel stuck her head in, smiling when she saw the two of them. The minute she opened the door the smell of fresh-baked gingerbread wafted through the room, and Susie could feel her mouth watering.

“I just wanted to tell you two that dinner’s ready.” The goat was staring between them with a knowing smile that made Susie flush, avoiding her gaze. The idea that even Kris’s mom knew about her feelings made her wonder how obvious she had been. Did Kris know? The thought made her stomach squirm uncomfortably, like there was a giant, nervous worm trapped inside.

“Make sure you wash your hands first, and for goodness sake’s Kris, clean up the mess on your floor.” Toriel gave him a stern look before disappearing back out into the hall, closing the door gently behind her.

Kris reluctantly slid off her bed, picking up the various comics and clothes spread about the room, spilling a pile of colored pencils into an emptied out pickle jar. Susie watched him do this, still jittery from the earlier question, not sure if she should bring it back up or let it go.

She still couldn’t believe that Kris hadn’t been kissed before. When they had travelled to the Darkworld he had been so kind to everyone, sometimes even being a little too nice, though she hadn’t known why it bothered her at the time. Surely he must have dated someone before.

“You coming?”

Kris was standing by the doorway staring expectantly at her, and she realized that he had finished while she was lost in thought.

“Yeah, I’m coming.” She shoved past him, ruffling his hair as she went.

“Susie,” he complained, ducking under her and glaring up at her. Despite his annoyance, she couldn’t help but find it cute when he tried to be angry. That was her thing, not his.

Dinner was spent in quiet silence as Susie shoveled food into her mouth, feeling a part of her soul die and go to heaven with every bite. It was a beautiful roast turkey with thick gravy drizzled generously over it, and combined with the mashed potatoes Susie might as well have been eating like a king. Kris picked quietly at his food, his mind seemingly elsewhere. Susie paused in her inhales, wondering if she should ask him about it.

Toriel beat her to it, however, turning her kind eyes towards Kris. “So honey, how have things been in school?”

Kris shrugged, the same noncommittal answer as earlier when Susie had asked him. “It’s been fine. Mr. Papyrus taught us how to make spaghetti in class today, for the third time in a row. We keep telling him we want to learn other stuff, but he insists that pasta is, quote, the greatest food item in the world and the most important foundation for learning to cook. I’m not so convinced. I’m not sure how many more ways we can learn to make pasta.”

Toriel smiled graciously, shaking her head. “Just the same as when we were kids. And you, Susie?”

Susie snapped her head up, surprised to be addressed. Gravy dripped down her chin and she wiped it off quickly. “What?”

“How are things going in school with you?” she repeated promptingly.

“Oh. Uh… nothing much, I guess. Haven’t been getting as much detention recently, as you probably already know.”

Toriel smiled wryly. “Yes, I’ve noticed, and I’ve been glad for it. I wouldn’t want Kris hanging out with someone who’s a bad influence.”

Susie nodded humbly, going back to her food, but Kris stood up from the table. Toriel and Susie both looked at him in surprise. “I’d like to be excused, please.” He whirled around, rushing out of the room suddenly.

Toriel stared after him in shock. “He barely even touched his food.”

Susie felt worry blossom in her chest. “I’ll go check on him, make sure he’s okay.”

Toriel smiled gratefully. “Would you? Thank you, honey.”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Susie said, blushing at the nickname and hurrying off.

She found Kris in the living room, curled up on the couch. He had a book in his hands but his eyes scanned the pages dully, not taking in the words. She sat down next to him, feeling awkward and bulky next to his tiny frame. The sheer amount of awkwardness she felt around Kris nowadays days was wholly unfair.

She coughed to announce her presence and Kris glanced up. “Oh. Hey.”

“Hey,” she agreed. “So, uh, what was all that about?”

“Oh, that.” Kris looked back down at his book, flipping a page. “That was nothing. I just wasn’t hungry.”

“Kris.” Susie raised an eyebrow.

“It’s nothing, really.”

“Kris.”

Kris sighed, leaning his head back. “Fine.” He crossed his arms, not looking at her. “I just don’t like the way mom talks about you sometimes. Like you’re some kind of miscreant that’s leading me off the path of good, whatever the hell that means.”

Susie raised an eyebrow at the curse, but inside she was touched that Kris cared about her that much. She nudged his arm, grinning. “Aw, dude.”

Kris blushed, shoving her away. “Shut up. It’s just… I care about you, you know? You’re my only friend, and I hate that mom disapproves.”

Although the sentiment touched her, the word friend echoed around in her head, reminding her that that’s all they were. Friends.

“I’m sure she doesn’t mean it like that,” Susie reassured him. “She just doesn’t want you to do poorly in school on my account. I think she was just teasing, anyway.” She frowned, raising an eyebrow. “That’s not all this is about, is it?”

“No,” Kris sighed, looking away. “It’s also my first Christmas without Asriel here. It’s just weird not having him around the house, singing Christmas songs and helping to decorate the tree. I guess I just got used to things being a certain way and now they’re…”

“Not?” Susie finished.

“Yeah,” Kris agreed.

They sat in silence for a moment, both of them unsure what to say next. Finally Kris leaned over, resting his head on her shoulder. Susie froze, her body tingling with sudden electricity. “Thanks for being here,” Kris said, fiddling with his hands. “I really do mean it. Thanks for coming and spending the holidays with us when you didn’t have to.”

Slowly Susie relaxed, her expression settling into a smile. “Of course, man. If anything I should be thanking you for giving me somewhere to be for the holidays.”

Kris nuzzled closer and Susie relaxed against him, glancing up at the twirling paper snowflakes above them. That was when she noticed it. Mistletoe, hanging right above the two of them.

Susie snapped her gaze down to Kris, who noticed the sudden tension in his friend. “What is it?” he asked, sitting up much to her disappointment.

She pointed up, hoping he wouldn’t notice the furious blush on her face. Kris saw the mistletoe and his eyes widened in understanding. “Oh. Mistletoe.”

Susie was already making up excuses, blustering and gesturing wildly. “We don’t have to or anything. It’s a stupid tradition anyway and I wouldn’t want to make things weird, so it’s totally cool if you don’t want to—”

Kris cut her off, leaning in and pressing his lips to hers. Her eyes widened as she felt his soft lips, softer than you would think a boy’s lips would be. He pulled away, staring at her, his eyes just as wide as hers as though he hadn’t quite realized what he was doing.

Susie jerked back instinctively and Kris’s face fell immediately. “I’m sorry,” he said, holding up his hands apologetically. “I didn’t mean to, it just kinda—”

The rest of his sentence broke off as she grabbed him, kissing him again. A part of her didn’t believe what she was doing, but another part of her felt completely clam, as if kissing your best friend wasn’t a weird thing to do. They stayed like that for a minute, their lips locked together, and when they finally pulled apart both of them were panting for breath.

“Um, excuse me?”

They jerked around to look at Toriel, staring with a smirk between the two teens. “I was just gonna ask if you wanted some cookies, but maybe I should leave you two alone…?”

“Mom!” Kris exclaimed, his face going bright red. Susie would have been embarrassed as well but the sight of his blushing face was so uncharacteristically adorable that she couldn’t take her eyes off it.

“Right, right, of course,” Toriel said, winking subtly as she left the room. “I’ll just leave you two alone then to... continue your business. 

“Mom,” Kris groaned again as she left, burying his face in Susie’s shoulder. Susie glanced down at him, grinning a little. He glared up at her, but there was no venom in his gaze. “Oh shut up you.”

“Gladly,” she responded, pulling him in for another kiss.

Maybe the holidays weren’t going to be so bad after all…

[www-neverlandsweirdo]

Newt X Sick!Reader AU

"Where do you think your going?"Newt asked,looking up from the comic book he was reading. "Nowhere."Sonya answered innocently.Newt looked at his sister,she was wearing a lavendar colored hat,winter boots,jeans,a winter coat and had a lather backpack on her back. "Going to see a boy?"He asked suspiciously. "No!Im just going to see my friend."She answered.Newt grinned. "Ill drive you then."He said,standing up.Sonya rolled her eyes.Every Wednesday and Saturday she would dissapear for hours before coming home and pretended like she had been there the whole time. "Come on,im driving you."Newt said putting on his jacket.

Sonya groaned before opening the door and stomping outside. "Where does this friend of your's live?"Newt asked as they walked to the car,Sonya got in,sitting in the passenger seat.Newt unlocked his door before sitting down and starting the car. "Where does this friend of yours live?"Newt asked as he put on his seat belt. "The hospital."Sonya answered casually,scrolling through the photos on her phone.Newt looked at her. "Are you serious?"He asked skeptically. "Yes im serious,she has no family to visit her so I do,"Sonya stated before showing him her phone. "that's a picture of her."Sonya told him.He looked at the photo.It was a teenage girl the age of 16 or 17,she had soft looking (Y/H/L) (Y/H/C) hair,bright and beautiful (Y/E/C) eyes that were looking directly at the camera,her (Y/S/C) skin was extremely pale,an oxygen tube on her nose and an I.V in her hand. He didnt want to admit it but she was gorgeous.Absolutely gorgeous. 

"What's her name?"He asked. "(Y/N)"Sonya answered,pulling her phone away from him. "Can I meet her?"Newt asked as he pulled out of the driveway. "Yeah I guess."Sonya sighed. "Which hospital?"He asked as he reached the beginning of their street. "Gladeville childrens."Sonya answered. "How long has she been there?"Newt asked,turning off of there street in the direction of the hospital. "Since she was thirteen."Sonya replied.That hit Newt like a punch in the face.That meant (Y/N) had been in the hospital for four years. "W-What's wrong with her?"Newt asked. "Uh...Bad lung,bad kidney and now she has two broken ribs."Sonya sighed. "But...she's okay?"Newt asked. "Yeah...she's just on a lot of medication."Sonya sighed again.Newt felt awful.Poor (Y/N),he could only imagine how terrible it must be to be stuck in a hospital all day. He parked in a parking lot that was close to the entrance.They got out of the car and walked into the hospital in silence.Sonya approached the front desk. 

"Here to see (Y/N)?"The woman asked.She nodded. "Who's this?"The woman asked,looking at Newt's tall figure. "My brother Newt."Sonya explained. "Well i'm sure (Y/N) would love to have a new visitor."The woman smiled.Newt and Sonya walked to the elevator and got off at the third floor.Newt followed Sonya as she walked down to the last room and knocked on the door,waiting a moment before opening the door.She walked in. "Hey (Y/N)!"She greeted the (Y/H/C) girl. (Y/N) smiled weakly at her. "Hey Sony."She said quietly. "Um,my brother wanted to meet you."Sonya said,gesturing for Newt to come into the room. "Hello Love."He waved,smiling slightly. (Y/N) blushed slightly at his nickname for her. "Hi."She smiled. "My names Newt."He introduced. "(Y/N)"she grinned.She was a bit skinnier then she had seemed in the picture and had a oxygen tube around her nose and an IV in her hand.

 "How are you feeling?"Sonya asked. "Well,Nemo was on today so that was great and the new medication is TERRIBLE!"She groaned.Sonya chuckled. "Well,its almost lunch time...What do you want to eat?"Sonya asked. "Well,I cant eat anything to heavy so.... (Y/F/T) pancakes." (Y/N) answered. "Alright,do you want some water to?"She asked. (Y/N) nodded. "And Newt,just stay here and dont break anything."Sonya stated before leaving the room. "Its awfully dark in here,do you want me to open the curtains?"Newt asked. (Y/N) nodded.He limped over to the window and opened the curtains,allowing the light of the December afternoon into the room.He smirked,leaning against the wall as (Y/N) gazed in awe at the snowflakes that slowly fell from the sky. "You like snow?"He asked. (Y/N) smiled. "Yeah,I havent been outside in a long time though."She mumbled. "Why not?"He asked. "I cant really get up."She giggled slightly. "Oh...I-im sorry i didnt know."Newt said apologetically. "Its fine,its been around thirteen years."She mumbled. 

"I thought you've been in this hospital for four years..."He mumbled. "I came here after the boston hospital."She explained. He began feeling awkward. "So...Nemo huh?"He asked awkwardly. (Y/N) giggled. "I like disney movies."She smiled. “I’ve been in the hospital all my life so I have to grow up fast.”She sighed. “I really like the lion king...have you ever seen it?” Newt Asked. “No,can say I have.”She mumbled. “Who’s your favorite Disney character?”Newt Asked. “Hmmm....” (Y/N) thought. “I like (Y/F/D/C).”She smiled. Newt chuckled. “Yeah, He/She is pretty cool.”He agreed.A loud beeping noise came out of something that was on one of the machines. “What was that?”He panicked. “Don’t worry,that just means the nurse is coming to check my vitals.”she giggled. “Oh...I thought I killed you.” Newt chuckled,causing (Y/N) to grin. “You’re funny.”She mumbled. “Thankyou.”He blushed slightly.There was a knock at the door before a short woman with red hair that was wearing a nurses out fit walked in. “How are we doing today sweetheart?”She Asked. 

“Eh...Could be better.” (Y/N) mumbled. “Better how?”The nurse asked,checking her clip board. “I could not be in a hospital and my mom could still love me.” (Y/N) said sarcastically. “But medical wise I’m sort of okay...” (Y/N) smiled. The nurse put a clip on her finger before writing down the numbers on her clipboard.The nurse then walked over to the counter and pulled out a syringe and filling it with a clear liquid. (Y/N) held out her forearm,being careful of the IV.The needle was about an inch long and the nurse walked over to her. “Alright,you may feel just a tiny little pinch,it will only sting for a moment.”She smiled, (Y/N) looked at Newt, rolling her eyes,causing him to nearly chuckle.The nurse took out the needle. “I’ll be back around dinner time to check on you again.”The nurse smiled before leaving the room. 

“I’m guessing you don’t like her very much.” He chuckled. “It’s not really that I don’t like her,it’s just she is so condescending.” (Y/N) sighed.Newt chuckled. “I’m sorry,I feel bad...”He Said quietly. “Dont Be.” (Y/N) smiled.Sonya then walked in carrying a plate. “I got the pancakes.”She smiled,putting the plate on the tray table. “It’s almost Christmas.” Newt Said loudly. Sonya and (Y/N) looked at him.There was a moment of silence before bursting into laughter. “What about it?”Sonya Asked. “Well maybe we can see if we can get a decoration or two for this room.”Newt Said looking around at the yellow walls that had a couple of blue and purple polka dots on it. “I don’t like Christmas that much...A lot of fundraisers go on in the hospital and they make us decorate cookies and gingerbread houses.” (Y/N) sighed,pouring some maple syrup on her pancakes. 

“Well that doesn’t sound too bad.”Newt grinned. “Everyone else gets visitors except me,it’s embarrassing.”She mumbled. “We can visit you.” Newt and Sonya said at the same time. “JINX!”they said again. “JINX AGAIN!”they almost shouted. (Y/N) laughed. She began eating her pancakes. “You guys have family to celebrate Christmas with,you don’t have to visit me.”She smiled.

[hardforbenhardy]

the perfect christmas | rogerxreader

summary: you had your first christmas as a family all planned out. that was until roger had some bad news

warnings: fluff, sexual implications but no smut

word count: 3.4k

this was supposed to be cute, but it turned a little away from the christmas topic, but it’s still fluffy and set at christmas time :)

“I’m really sorry, I promise I’ll make it up to you and Rosie but there’s no chance of us making it back in time for Christmas day; all the flights are cancelled”

You were still pondering over Rogers words from your earlier call. This was supposed to be your first christmas as a family where you would be home and together; just you, Roger and Rosalie. None of your parents, none of Rogers parents, none of the band mates; it was a day to yourselves. And now Roger, along with Freddie Brian and John, is stuck somewhere across the world on Christmas Eve. With no chance of making it back. Of course it didn’t really matter, you could still spend the day with your 4 year old daughter; opening presents; building snowmen; making snow angels; building gingerbread houses and eating takeaway (considering Roger was meant to be cooking Christmas dinner for the three of you). You just knew it wouldn’t be the same without Roger. And you knew it was almost Rosalie's bedtime, so you would have to break the news to her in roughly 5 minutes.

“Rosie, come and brush your teeth! Then we can put out the snacks for Santa!” You shouted into the living room, where you knew you would find the small girl nestled up on the sofa, cuddling her teddy bear with a blanket wrapped around her fragile frame, watching her father’s favourite Christmas movie ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. You heard the patters of her tiny feet against the hardwood floors as she paced to catch up to you, her blanket trailing against the floor behind her.

“Mumma, when will dadda be home?” she asked, her soft voice making your heart break as you knew you would have to break the news to her. You lifted her up onto the counter beside the sink, and kissed her lightly on the cheek, making her chuckle lightly from the tickling sensation.

“Hun, I’m afraid daddy won’t be home until after new years; all the flights over have been cancelled and he can’t get back in time. But I promise we can call him on the telephone tomorrow and speak to him?” you gently suggested, watching your daughters face fall from a wide smile to a heartbroken frown in the matter of a second. She nodded somberly, agreeing with the best option of contacting Roger on the day. “I’m really sorry darling, I miss him a lot too but you know he would be straight home as soon as he could be if it were possible. Now, let’s get your teeth brushed, into your jammies and you can settle down so that Santa can come and bring your presents?”

Rosalie was surprisingly difficult to settle down compared to how she usually behaved. She refused to open her mouth when you went to brush her teeth; kicked you away when you tried to pull her pajamas onto her body; screaming whenever you tried to even touch her hair with a hairbrush; spilling the milk on the counter on purpose when she went to pour a glass to leave for Santa, and pushing away the mince pie you offered for her to add to the plate; and finally jumping around on her bed instead of laying down no matter how many times you told her to. You were completely certain she had obtained her defiancy and rebelling nature from her father, learning to only get the way she wanted. When she had finally worn herself out, falling asleep on the bed after you had to somehow compromise to wake up super early, you were able to admire the fact she had also obtained his appearance completely; she had his piercing blue eyes, which always glistened in the light; she had his scraggly blonde locks, though hers were slightly more curled; even his mischievous grin for when she wanted to get her way. She was the female-version of your husband, which you found rather funny as you wondered if she even got any of your DNA at all or whether you had just carried her for 9 months to then pop out a clone of your husband. That did not stop you from loving her though, in fact it made you love her even more. Parenting was not as easy as people made it out to be, but you had managed with Roger by your side the whole way, as he was surprisingly talented at it; the young girl absolutely loved him. You pinned her bad behaviour on the fact that she hadn’t seen her father for 3 weeks straight and now had to wait another whole week before she could see him again. This was the longest time she had to go without seeing him, and now she had to miss Christmas with him also so she was not happy.

After dealing with the whole present situation, setting them out and eating the food Rosalie had left out for ‘santa’, you lay yourself down in bed; absolutely exhausted. The young girl had a capability to wear you out that you didn’t even knew was possible, and you were certain you could nod off in the next 5 minutes if you weren’t still mulling over the phone call. Not seeing your husband for 3 weeks was taking a toll on both your emotional and physical needs; and now you had to wait even longer, so you were admittedly getting just as impatient as your daughter right now, in every sense of the word. So, of course, you found yourself lay there unable to fall asleep for the next few hours. You preoccupied yourself with reading a book on astrophysics that Brian had lent you after you took up an interest in it, much to Roger’s distaste; that was before your daughter ran into your room and pounced onto your stomach like a tiger, causing you to let out a loud groan from the sudden contact. You grew rather irritated rather quickly that your daughter was now wide awake, crawling on your body, whisper-yelling “Mumma” over and over.

“Rosie, what are you doing? Go and get back in bed now, otherwise Santa isn’t going to visit, is he?” you sternly whispered, pointing to the exit from your bedroom, and yawning loudly. You saw excitement on the girls face, when you expected to see sadness to the fact you were telling her off; meaning you became very confused at the wide smile plastered on your daughters face. She was really getting on your nerves.

“But mumma, Santa’s alweady here! I heard him downstairs!” she gushed, though you couldn’t feel happy at all. Your eyes shot open at her words, finding yourself rather speechless as you tried to comprehend what she was saying. Was someone in your living room?

“Right, you stay here hunny and don’t move; mummy is going to speak to Santa and make sure he has got all your presents!” you cheered, hoping the 4 year old would believe you; which, of course, she did. She nodded excitedly, wrapping herself under your covers and resting her head on Rogers pillow; a position she found herself in quite often over the last 3 weeks with him gone. You pulled your bedroom door shut (as a way of keeping your daughter safe from the potential murderer that could be anywhere in your house) and also grabbed the baseball bat that was rested at the top of the stairs; you were never really sure why that was there, but at this point in time, you certainly were not complaining. As you slowly walked down the stairs, one step at a time, your heart began to race as your mind flashed over every possible explanation; were you being robbed? Was there a murderer in your house? Had someone broke into your house? Was it an animal? You shouted loudly into the corridor “Hello?” hoping that the person would either show themselves or retreat out your backdoor.

“I-I have a weapon a-and I’m not afraid to use it!” you added, knowing how unthreatening and rather ridiculous you actually sounded, but at this point you just wanted your daughter to be safe and alive. You heard a low chuckle coming from the living room, which you presumed was a response to your sad attempt of intimidation, and you jumped at the sudden noise; but investigated further. As you got closer into the room, you noticed the figure of a man sitting on the couch, looking your way, yet you could not see anything other than the outline of his body. You began panicking even more, feeling yourself hyperventilating and unable to focus properly; there was a man, sat right in front of you, in your living room. What the fuck was happening? You felt your hand’s grip loosen around the handle of the bat that you completely even forgot was in your grasp until the heard the thundering sound of the heavy wood against the hard floors. There was a deafening silence looming in the air, the only sounds detectable being your heavy breathing; that was until he shot up off the sofa and began to stroll towards you. That was when you let out ear-splitting shriek, louder than you expected but you didn’t care. The next thing you knew, the man was now holding you tightly in his arms as his hand rubbed up and down on your back; he placed small kisses to the top of the head as he attempted to calm you from your immense panic just moments before. You were completely and utterly confused at what the fuck was happening, prior to the man speaking.

“Shh,shh I’m so sorry for scaring you love. It was meant to be a surprise, I thought you’d recognize it was me!” the low voice soothed, and you instantly recognised who it was.

Roger?

You threw your body back away from him to see him now looking very worried that he had done something wrong, which he technically had but he didn’t exactly mean to. You looked at him in unmitigated shock as you confusion only grew over this time period. “Roger? W-what are you doing here? Why aren’t you on tour?” you stumbled, pinching both yourself and him to see if this was actually real, and not that you had actually found the ability to fall asleep and that this was all just a crazy dream.

“When I called you earlier, I lied about there being no flights so that I could surprise you and Rosie in the morning; I thought we would arrive much later than I did. I tried making as little noise as I could but I suppose that didn’t work. I am so so so sorry for scaring you before, I was stupid to think you’d find a random man in the living room completely normal” he chuckled, pulling you in for another hug and rubbing his hand through your hair. God, you’d missed his touch. You were extremely close to pulling Roger up that staircase into your bedroom and fucking him senseless, until you realised that the slightly less frightening intruder that had warned you was still up in your bed tucked under the covers. You were admittedly a little miffed about the fact that Roger had lied to you, considering it had led to your daughter acting out and behaving badly, and also you gaining a lack of sleep; but in the end, you didn’t care. Because it meant that you would get to spend Christmas with your family like you wanted.

“Rog, hunny, it’s fine. Just please, never do that again! Not only was I scared completely shitless that I or Rosalie was going to get brutally murdered, but since I told her you wouldn’t be home for Christmas, she was acting out so badly I thought I wasn’t going to be able to cope”

“What do you mean acted out?” Roger questioned, furrowing his brows in disbelief that his baby girl would ever act in such an unacceptable manner.

“She refused to brush her teeth, she was kicking and screaming when I tried to get her dressed, she purposefully spilt Santa’s milk on the floor and wouldn’t stop jumping on the bed when she had to settle down. She has never behaved so dreadfully.” You explained, sighing as you began to think to yourself if this wasn’t anything to do with the fact that she missed her father, but rather you were just a really shit mum who couldn’t handle being a single mother. Roger noticed this immediately, and rubbed your shoulder to try and comfort you because you were right; she had never ever behaved like she had that night.

“Definitely got her anger issues from her daddy then” he grinned, trying to lighten the dampened mood.

“Certainly; as well as her looks. I was thinking earlier, she is the spitting image of you. You know, I’m starting to think I’m not even her mother; I don’t know exactly how it would work, but I don’t believe she has any of my DNA whatsoever”

“Now that is definitely not true; she may have my beautiful looks, but she certainly got your beautiful personality. She’s polite, kind and extremely considerate of how other people feel; and that’s exceptionally important, okay?” he encouraged, brushing his thumb against your cheek as his hand cupped your face. “Is she up in bed asleep? I’ve missed you in more than one way love and I’d love to make up for some lost time”

His voice was still the same volume as before, but it created a completely different feeling when he was saying words with such vulgar sentiment behind them. As much as you had to urge to follow his suggestions, you couldn’t.

“You have no idea how much I’d love to take up that offer, but we can’t. Rosie was the one who heard you down here, she’s currently up in our bed excited about the fact that ‘Santa’s here’” you sadly smiled, but were a little alleviated when Roger chuckled at your words. He knew you hated when Rosalie woke you up in the middle of the night, because you and Roger always needed extra sleep than more couples, having quite involved careers which took up a lot of energy. Not to mention, it wasn’t healthy for Rosalie to get such a short amount of sleep. “She’ll be even more excited when she finds out Santa was actually daddy!”

“Don’t use that word when I’m feeling like this, Y/N, unless you want me to take you on this table right here right now” Roger growled, now standing so close that you could feel his warm breath on your neck. His arms were wrapped tightly around your waist, and he began slowly backing you up until your legs were pressed flush against the wooden countertop. You chuckled loudly at his sentiment, placing a small kiss on his lips, before sliding out of his grasp and patting him on the back.

“As much as I’d love to take you up on such an inviting offer, we have a child to tend to, daddy” you smirked, before racing up the stairs only for him to race behind you in an attempt to catch you in your tracks. When you reached the bedroom door, you shushed Roger to indicate that Rosalie may be asleep so he should wait outside before you give him the ‘good to go’. As you opened the door, you couldn’t see Rosalie, but rather just a lump underneath your duvet covers. “Rosalie, hunny?”

“Mumma! You’re okay?!” she shouted, her head popping up out the covers of the duvet to reveal her face which was covered in stale tears. Her cheeks were bright red and it was extremely obvious she had been crying; she was still sniffling, using her sleeve to wipe her nose. Your heart broke at the sight; your daughter, who only 10 minutes ago was bubbly and beaming, was now weeping.

“Rosie, darling, what’s wrong?” you gasped, rushing over to her to hold her against your chest and stroke her hair gently. You felt her tears seeping into the material of your shirt, and you couldn’t help but tear up yourself.

“I-I heard you scweam, and... a-and I thought something bad had happened to you, and I was scawed!” she blubbered, her heartbroken voice and sniffles providing sound in the otherwise silence. Roger wanted to, needed to, come in and comfort his daughter as he heard it all, but he didn’t know if he could bring himself to face his daughter after scaring her so. You tried to soothe her cries, and you felt her breathing rare get much calmer and revert to normal.

“Oh, hunny, I’m perfectly fine I promise! Look, I’m right here with you and I’m not going to leave you. In fact, I only screamed because I was so excited to see who Santa dropped off when he visited; do you want to know who?”

“Yeah! Who?” she cheered, immediately jumping up to run over to the door in hopes someone would be stood there. The door swung open to reveal your husband crouched down so that he would be on your daughters level, holding his arms out in an inviting position so that he could pull her into the tighter hug. “Dadda!!!!”

“Hiya sweetheart, gosh I missed you so much!”

“I missed you too! I was scawed that you wouldn’t be home for Chwistmas after Mumma told a big wie!” she giggled, looking back at you shaking your head. You knew how much she had missed her father over the last few months, so the fact that he was now standing in front of her, on Christmas Eve, made her heart almost explode from joy. Your heart, on the other hand, simply melted at the sight of your husband lifting Rosie into the air, and carrying her over to the bed to lay her next to you before getting changed quickly and climbing in beside her. You were basically a sandwich, you and Roger as the bread and Rosie as the filling. “Dadda, why did you tell mumma that you wouldn’t be home for Chwistmas?”

“Well, daddy and your uncles were stuck at the airport because all the flights home were cancelled because of the snow, so we thought we wouldn’t be home in time. But then Santa stopped by and saw us, and he gave me a lift home after I told him that I really needed to spend Christmas with my two favourite girls!”

“Does that mean you got to wide on Santa’s sleigh? with the weindeer?”

“Yep! Also, Santa gave me this to give to you as a little thank you for being such a good girl this year!” he whispered, pulling out a medium sized box wrapped to perfection with a ribbon to tie it off. Rosalie took the box out of his hands and ripped it apart, to reveal a small teddy bear wearing a bobble hat and scarf; “He said that she’s called Rosie too so he thought she would make a good friend for you!”

“Wow! I love her so much, Santa is my favouwite person ever!” Rosie cheered, hugging the bear tight into her chest, swaying back and forth as if it were to enhance the embrace. You and Roger both raised your eyebrows in disbelief, which Rosie noticed; “Other than mumma and dadda of couwrse!”

You both chuckled at the sentiment of her words, before laying down properly so that you could settle; “Rosie, let’s settle down to sleep now so that we can wake up nice and early to open more presents” and she nodded gently, a long yawn escaping her lips. She pressed her head against Rogers chest in comfort, and had dozed off after only two minutes of having her eyes closed.

“Love, I just wanted to say I really am sorry for lying; I wanted it to be a surprised but it didn’t turn out exactly the way I wanted” Roger mumbled, a sadness to his tone that wasn’t prevalent earlier on.

“Roger, hunny, I don’t care. All that matters is that you are home and we can have our perfect christmas we once hoped for” you grinned, leaning forward to place a small peck on his forehead, but he pulled you down so the contact was made with his lips; pulling you into a kiss of ultimate passion and affection. Oh, how you had missed this feeling.

You and Roger fell asleep soon after, and you would all awake the next day to have the perfect christmas you had planned all along.

[crimson-mage-02]

Kallura Secret Santa: Summer Christmas

Summary: Keith and Allura wanted to make their first Christmas with their children special to spend with family and friends. They wanted everything to be perfect. Just way they had planned it. Well, almost everything.

A/N: Merry Christmas and have a wonderful New Year!! Here’s my @kallurasecretsanta gift for @myshippyfanart!! 

The prompt you have given me was a bit confusing to me so i came up with this. I hope you like what I have written. This is a family Summer Christmas fic. I hope you like it. I added my OC, Kaela, younger sister of Keith, just to clear the confusion. And sorry for the delay! Merry Christmas! 

It was a lovely day in Earth with everyone were preparing for Christmas. It was a nice and warm summer Christmas. Everyone was excited to spend their time with family and friends. Keith had taken his family to his old shack, now turned into a bigger house in the desert for the Christmas holiday to spend the holiday with their family and friends. Speaking of which, he had finally finished decorating the Christmas tree with his kids, Kiara and Alfor the second.

“Papa, this looks amazing!” Kiara exclaimed excitedly as she twirled in her little purple summer dress that her aunt had made for her.

“But it is missing something.” Alfor said as he looked at the tree.

“It’s missing a star. Kids, why don’t you go to the attic and look for it? I am sure my baby sister needs help with the cooking.” Keith smiled and watched his children making their way to the attic to find the Christmas star for their tree.

Keith went to the kitchen and saw his younger sister was singing a song while cooking their meals for their Christmas party. He looked over the table and saw a turkey and chicken on the table. They were brilliantly cooked. “Oh, Keith. Hi, I am just gonna start with the dessert.” Kaela said as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.

“Maybe you should rest up. I can take over. Allura is just outside with James.” Keith smiled.

“Nope. You said that I should do the cooking. Can you get James in here? He will be helping me with the cooking. Take this opportunity to spend time with Allura.” Kaela said as she stopped her older brother from going into the kitchen.

“But… the kids...” Keith said as he was being pushed by his sister.

“No buts and get your wife and have fun!” Kaela grunted as she tried to push him towards the door but Keith was leaning on her. “Can’t you go any faster?”

“Oh no! Gravity is increasing on me!” Keith said dramatically as he kept on leaning on his sister.

“No, it’s not!” Kaela exclaimed as she gritted her teeth.

“What are you guys doing?” The two siblings looked at the two children behind them. Kaela let Keith fall backwards, making Keith have a sore back and he glared at her. Kaela just put up a wide grin at him before she turned to the children.

“Oh, just trying to get your father to spend the time with your mother. You guys are going to help me and Uncle James with cooking all of the Christmas food.” Kaela said with a smile.

“Ooh, can we make a cake?” Kiara asked in excitement.

“Can we make a Christmas tree cake? Or gingerbread house?” Alfor asked as he saw Allura and James coming inside.

“What’s going on?” James asked.

“Babe, we are going to stay with the kids cooking our Christmas dinner and the cakes. Meanwhile Allura and Keith are going to spend their time alone.” Kaela winked at him.

“Oh, of course, I’ll help you, honey.” James smiled, agreeing to what Kaela is referring to. Keith could have sworn that his younger sister was planning on something with making Keith go on a Christmas date with Allura. Which he would love to go.

(~)

Allura got all dressed up with the kids were with James, Kaela and Keith outside of the house. Kosmo was watching over the kids on high alert. “You sure you guys can handle things here with the meals and everything?” Keith asked the new couple.

“I’m sure we can handle it. You two just go and have a date. Have fun as your sister was saying.” James said as he had his arm around Kaela’s waist.

“Alright. I am just making sure. And just to let you all know that the others will be here later tonight. So we’ll be back by 5pm. Got it?” Keith asked as he eyed his sister.

“Okay, clear as crystal. Now go and get your um, well, uh, butt out there.” Kaela said as she saw the kids coming over and hugging their father’s leg.

“Papa, have fun with Mama.” Alfor smiled.

“And be back soon.” Kiara smiled as Keith hugged both of his children with James and Kaela watching as they looked at the wonderful family in front of them.

“Okay, darling, I’m ready.” Allura called out to her husband as she wore a red and gold summer dress.

“W-Wow, you look beautiful.” Keith complimented with a loving smile as Allura smiled fondly at her husband. Allura said her goodbyes to the children as they prepared to go to the mall in the car.

As the husband and wife were gone. Kaela grinned and the two kids grinned as well. “Let’s get cooking!” Alfor exclaimed excitedly.

(~)

Keith drove all the way to the city and parked the car in the parking. Allura could see all kinds of Christmas decorations all over the place. Her face lit up every time she sees a sparkly decorative on the walls and on the windows.

“Oh, this place is magical! What do you call this place again?” Allura asked as she held onto Keith’s hand tightly.

“It’s called a shopping mall or market. It’s a place where you buy stuff you’d like to buy for Christmas.” Keith explained. “Or basically anything on any day.”

“Oh, I see. It is something familiar to Altea. And also in Zelza.” Allura said. “Maybe next Christmas we all should being the kids to her home planet.”

“Maybe, but she’s always busy for Christmas over there.” Keith reminded her.

“That’s right. Maybe next time.” Allura said with a warm smile. “Then we must not waste our time here. Let’s go!” She pulled Keith along the mall as they walked past shops.

They all went into the shops, thinking they could get something for their family and friends. Keith was thinking to give something to the kids while Allura was looking at the shiny figurines in a shop which Keith had to explain about the expensive breakable vases and jewellery.

Keith and Allura came across a gift shop for kids. Keith had found some books that he might read to his kids as well as Allura who had seen many toys they could play with, but as they gotten older, they are more leaning into reading more books, just like their Aunt Kaela.

Last Christmas, they all had a Christmas inside the house since everyone were busy during those times. It was just four of them celebrating for the summer holidays.

(~)

Kaela was finishing up cooking the delicious pasta with James helping the kids to bake the cake. She looked over at James who was seemingly having fun with the kids. He was a natural with them. She loved seeing the soft side from him.

She was wondering if she could have kids of her own. She wanted to have kids for so long, but she doesn’t even know if James would want to have kids. Maybe he isn’t ready yet? Or maybe he doesn’t want to have a family of his own?

“Auntie Kae-Kae, the pasta!” Alfor cried out to her. Kaela panicked as she turned off the stove before the pasta can be burnt. She checked it and it was saved in time.

“Babe, you okay?” James asked as he took over to cook.

“I’m fine. Just thinking of my brother and Allura. They should be getting here soon since the others are going to be here. And Hunk will be cooking more meals with me tonight for the Christmas dinner.” Kaela replied as she set up the table with her niece and nephew.

(~)

“Darling, you think this suits her? Kaela would love this.” Allura said to Keith who was looking at the item.

“I’m not really sure, Lu. I mean, she has lots of jewellery back in Zelza.” Keith said to his wife.

“Well, she should at least have a gift from the both of us along with the kids. She must have a gift.” Allura said. Keith smiled fondly and let her buy a Christmas gift for Kaela. Keith had already bought a Christmas gift for Allura, but he wants to give it to her after the Christmas dinner. After Kaela and James can take the kids with them to their apartment in the city.

Keith looked at the new fitted crown that was in the large black velvet box in his shopping bag. He looked over at Allura who was still looking for a gift for her new sister-in-law. She was looking at the necklace section and earring section.

She has been searching for the perfect present for Kaela for almost half an hour. “Allura, how about we take a break? Let’s go eat somewhere together then we can find a gift for Kaela.” Keith suggested as he held her hand.

“I suppose that is a good plan.” Allura smiled. “Let’s go!”

They both entered into a nice and quiet café with Keith ordering some food as Allura looked at the Christmas decorations all over the place. “This places looks wonderful darling.”

“Yes, it is. It’s Kaela’s suggestion for us to go to.” Keith said with a smile.

“Oh, well we have to thank her for that. This place looks beautiful. I love the chandelier and the candles.” Allura smiled cheerfully as she held her hands. “Oh it has been a while since we have been in such nice places.”

Keith smiled and held her hands tightly across the table with nice tea coming along on the table. “It is nice. I should let Kaela pick out some great places for us to spend time together.”

Allura giggled. “Yes, she should. Ironic that Kaela doesn’t live here, she managed to find great places for us for a perfect summer Christmas date.”

“Speaking of which, we should get home in an hour.” Keith said as he looked at the clock.

“Yes, the others will be there soon.” Allura said as she bite a piece of a cheesecake on the plate. “Should we check on them? Just to make sure?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.” Keith agreed as he got his phone out.

(~)

Kaela finished cooking the main meal and James let Hunk and Shay come inside the house with extra food. Lance was trying to help out in cooking some food until he had burnt the second batch of the cookies.

“LANCE! YOU IDIOT! YOU ARE DESTROYING THEIR KITCHEN!” Kaela shouted at Lance and punched him on the head.

“S-Sorry, I was trying to help!” Lance exclaimed as he rubbed his head.

“Oh, Keith is gonna kill me for this.” Kaela said as she saw the mess in the kitchen.

“And the cookies are burnt. You can cook pancakes well, Lance but not bake cookies well.” Pidge said as she patted him on the back. “You tried your best, honey.”

Hunk came in the rescue with the kids helping him and James said to Kaela that Keith is calling. She reluctantly take the phone and went upstairs in the spare room. “H-Hey, Keith, how’s your Christmas date?” Kaela asked.

“It’s going great. How’s everything over there?” Keith asked.

“It’s…. going great.” Kaela replied as she remembered that Lance tried to help with the cooking and spilled some sauce all over the floor. Then got the cookies all burnt that was meant for everyone to eat for dessert.

“You don’t seem very sure about it.” Keith said with Allura raising an eyebrow in confusion as she stopped sipping some cold chocolate shake. She gestured Keith to give her the phone.

“Kaela, are the kids alright?” Allura asked.

“Yup, they are alright. They are helping Hunk with the food. Hunk, Shay, Lance and Pidge are all here now.” Kaela replied.

“Oh that’s lovely. Is Krolia there?” Allura asked.

“Not yet. She says she might come late tonight.” Kaela replied as she went down stairs and saw that disaster broke loose with James trying to calm Lance down. Her eyes twitched as well as Pidge. “Uh, Lu, I’m gonna have to call you back, bye!”

(~)

Allura frowned and looked at Keith concernedly. “That was strange.”

“I’m sure everything’s fine.” Keith assured her. “Now we can enjoy our date before our Christmas dinner with the others.”

Allura smiled affectionately. “You’re right. I should be overly worried about this. She is Kaela. She can take care of things.” She put down the phone down and enjoyed her time with Keith in the café.

“She’d make a great mother someday.” Keith said with a smile.

“Hmm, judging by how she handle the kids, she would to.” Allura giggled.

Keith joined her as they both laughed. “When we were kids, Dad would tease her about being a mother one time in Christmas.”

“Oh, did you celebrate Christmas like how we are doing right now?” Allura asked in curiosity.

“No, not really. But one time it was hot, we played outside with the water hose to keep us cool from the heat. Pop would just bring some treats for us at the end of the day. Maybe, I can do that with the kids.” Keith smiled.

“Oh, Keith, they’ll have lots of fun!” Allura chimed as she clasped her hands together.

“Also, James had found a place where we all could have a double date for New Year’s.” Keith chuckled.

“Well, I am looking forward to that.” Allura said as she held his hand.

“Don’t you ever think we all could, well, next summer Christmas, we all could go to either Altea or Zelza to celebrate Christmas? I know that Kaela is busy during those times, but still, I would want our kids to have the most fun and adventurous Christmas every year.” Allura said.

Keith smiled lovingly and leaned over the table to kiss her on the lips passionately. “Of course. That sounds great.” Allura smiled as her eyes sparkled with love and blushed a little as they chatted more before going back home.

(~)

“That was an eventual Christmas cooking.” James grinned. Kaela smiled at him and shook her head. She must admit, it was fun to be with the Paladins during Christmas during the summer. It was nice for a change. And she finally got the family she always wanted to have after being captured by the Galra. And she was reunited with her best friend.

“Uh, here. I know you liked our old lockets broken. But I uh, kinda fixed it.” James as he gave her the purple and blue box to Kaela.

Kaela put the cloth down and opened the lid of the box, seeing their two lockets were shiny, brand new and fixed. “Wow, they are beautiful, Jim. Thank you.” Kaela thanked him with James putting his hands on her waist and he kissed her passionately on the lips. Kaela put the box down on the table and wrapped her arms around him.

“Auntie Kae-Kae and Uncle Jimmy sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.” Kiara and Alfor sang as they giggled, making the couple broke apart from their moment.

“Okay, okay, now go to Grandma Krolia. We’ll be getting for dinner.” Kaela said as she got the food out. James grabbed the doors and saw Keith and Allura had returned from their Christmas date.

Keith looked over to the side and dropped the gifts on the floor seeing the mess in the kitchen. He turned to Lance and Kaela as they pointed at each other. Keith crossed his arms and scolded Lance and his younger sister for making a mess. But nonetheless, still helped cleaned.

Everyone cheered and laughed and sang Christmas songs. Keith and Allura opened their presents with their kids as they played with their new toys and read their new books. Kaela had spent the time to make an album for them. She painted the album book for them and added elemental runes on the cover of the book. Lance put some seashells on it along with handmade puppets of the Voltron Lions.

They all had their dinner outside of the Kogane house with the night sky shining and sparkling. Hunk was setting up the fireworks with Lance. The kids were watching in curiosity with Kaela keeping an eye on them.

Then up in the air, fireworks popped in the night sky with the spirits glowing in the sky. Keith wrapped his arms around Allura’s shoulders, and they kissed under the night sky. Their kids were cheering as they saw many colours in the sky. It was their best Christmas, spending time with their family for the Summer holidays.

“Best Summer Christmas?” Keith whispered to his wife as he kissed her temple.

“Mm, the very best, darling.” Allura replied with a loving kiss on the lips and watched the fireworks together with their kids.

[sojourner-between-worlds]

Burn the Ships, Chapter Seven

A/N: Sorry for the delay; holidays are rough for me, so I didn’t even start writing this chapter until New Year’s Eve. XP

As a disclaimer, I know pretty much nothing about how the foster system works, but I just go back to Danny’s very true words to Lou: “He always gets what he wants.” I have no doubt that would also be true here. :P

Also, shout out to SilverLightRaita and their fic Crashing and Saving on AO3 because that was 100% the fic that opened my eyes to the possibilities. So if you liked this and want more after this concludes next chapter, be sure to check it out!

. . . . .

Chapter Seven

“Hey, Danny. I don’t think we’re going to make it tonight after all.”

Alex couldn’t help but eavesdrop from where he lay on the sofa, guilt settling in his gut. Commander McGarrett had been upstairs for a while, but now it sounded like he was out in the kitchen. He didn’t remember hearing the man come down, so he must have dozed off; Alex wished he could actually fall asleep like he longed to do.

“Yeah, he’s asleep on the couch. Can’t really blame him for crashing; it’s been quite a day.”

He had no idea how long he’d been laying there, but it had been long enough, apparently. The numbing agent they’d given him while getting stitched up had worn off, leaving behind a dull, burning ache. It didn’t really hurt, per se, but it was uncomfortable.

“It wasn’t hard. I just told them he’s a witness in a case and offered to keep him in protective custody. It’s Christmas Eve -- you really think they’d argue? Someone’s gonna swing by on the twenty-sixth, but with any luck…”

Alex frowned. McGarrett had said he wasn’t going to abandon him, but now that Alex thought about it, he didn’t actually know what that was going to look like. The future had never seemed so uncertain.

“Yeah, we’ll try to swing by sometime tomorrow, but I can’t make any promises. I’d better let you go, though -- get back to the party. Wish everyone a merry Christmas for me.”

The guilt swirling in his gut rose in his throat at the realization that McGarrett was missing out because of him. Would he ever stop ruining people’s lives by simply existing?

The couch cushion dipped near his hip, and a moment later calloused but gentle fingers combed through his hair. He couldn’t help but lean into it a little.

“Hey, buddy. Food’s ready. Think you can wake up long enough to eat?”

Instead of answering, and without bothering to open his eyes, Alex murmured, “‘m sorry.”

“What for?”

“You’re missing the party because of me.”

A soft laugh. “Yeah, well… I know I said this morning that this is an annual thing, but the truth is, it’s really not. We plan it every year, but you’d be surprised how many times we’ve ended up working so it just didn’t happen. And that’s okay. Sometimes other things are more important -- like the teenager asleep on your couch after getting shot. You know, the usual.”

Alex finally cracked his eyes open to find that the only light in the room now was what streamed out of the kitchen. But even in the dim light, he could tell McGarrett was smiling. He huffed, sparing a grin of his own. “Yeah, I’m sure today was a totally normal day at the office.”

“You might be surprised. Crazy things happen a lot around here.” McGarrett stood up. “So anyway, I’ve got homemade pizza out in the kitchen. What do you say we get some before it gets cold and put on a movie or something?”

Alex nodded as he pushed himself up with his good arm; even keeping his weight on his right, he couldn’t help but wince at the unwelcome pressure on his left. “Okay.”

Commander McGarrett’s smile turned sympathetic. “And maybe get you something for your arm.”

Now that he was sitting up, the injury was throbbing a good bit more than it had been. “Yeah, that definitely sounds good, too. Thank you.”

For everything, he wanted to add, but judging by the look on the commander’s face, he already knew. . . .

Steve was pulled from his slumber by the incessant vibrating of his phone against a hard surface, and he couldn’t help but pray to every known deity that it wasn’t work-related. Eyes still closed, he fumbled around the top of the table beside him and finally picked up the device just as it went to voicemail.

Peeling back his eyelids, he discovered he was still in the living room, late morning sunlight streaming through the windows, with his feet kicked up on the coffee table and one teenaged boy curled up under his arm, face smushed into his hip bone.

That cannot be comfortable, he thought as he brought his phone to life.

One missed call -- Danny Williams

No doubt wondering if they were coming over since a glance at the time told Steve it was after nine already. Rather than risk waking Alex, he shot his partner a text, complete with photo evidence of why he was choosing not to call.

A moment later, Danny responded: That cannot be comfortable. Poor kid must really be out of it. Dinner’s at 1. We won’t wait unless you tell me otherwise then.

Steve tipped his head back against the couch, gaze wandering down to where Alex lay, still peacefully oblivious. The kid had made it all the way through It’s a Wonderful Life and the Santa Clause before losing the fight halfway through the Polar Express. Steve had been surprised he’d made it that long with how exhausted he’d seemed. He knew he’d have to wake Alex eventually, but a little longer wouldn’t hurt anything.

The peaceful silence only lasted a few minutes longer before Alex stirred, slowly blinking his eyes open, brow furrowed slightly like he wasn’t quite sure where he was yet.

“Morning, Alex. You slept a long time.”

He slowly rolled onto his back with a grunt and a yawn, his eyes sliding shut again.

Not completely awake then. That was fine, though; there really wasn’t any rush, so Steve would let him wake up when he was ready.

The silence settled comfortably around them again, and Steve thought maybe Alex had dozed off, but after a moment, Alex muttered into the quiet, “I haven’t slept that well in a long time.”

That was… concerning to say the least. But Alex had copped to having nightmares already; maybe that was all he meant. “You usually don’t sleep well, huh?”

Alex shrugged. “Bad insomnia mostly, and when I do sleep it’s always...disturbed, so.”

Steve winced; he knew exactly how that felt. For the longest time, he had pushed down everything that had happened with the Hess brothers, but when he couldn’t anymore, he’d been subjected to the same sleep patterns. It wasn’t fun.

Alex finally sat up, scrubbing the grit from his eyes. “I -- uhm, I overheard you on the phone with Detective Williams last night. I’m sorry for eavesdropping, but you should go. Don’t let me keep you here.”

He hadn’t been expecting that to be the second topic of conversation for the morning, but he asked the question he’d been planning to, anyway. “Do you feel up to going?”

Alex looked up, clearly startled. “What?”

“Do you feel up to going?” Steve repeated. “Because I’m not going without you.”

“Why not?”

“Well,” he sighed, “we’ve always kind of had this thing between us -- Danny and I. As you already know, Danny is divorced, which means he only gets his kids for Christmas every other year. Since I don’t have any family on the island, it kind of became this unspoken thing -- that no one should have to spend Christmas alone. And Danny -- he’s got Grace and Charlie this year, so… It’s entirely up to you if you want to go over there or not, but I’m not leaving you here alone, either.”

“I’d be intruding…”

“No, you wouldn’t. In fact, Grace would probably be thrilled to have someone else her own age around.”

Alex studied him intently for a moment before turning away with a nod. “Okay. Then, let’s go.”

“You’re sure?”

“I want to.”

“Okay.” Steve smiled. “I know they’ll be happy to see you.” . . .

Steve fell into bed that night tired but content. He honestly hadn’t been sure how Alex would do, but he needn’t have worried at all.

“Hey, Charlie! Merry Christmas, buddy!” Steve stooped over to pick up the boy, and Charlie instantly clung to him like a koala.

“Merry Christmas, Uncle Steve! Who’s that?”

Steve turned to smile at the teen still standing awkwardly by the door. “That is Alex. He’s going to be spending Christmas with us. Is that okay?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” Steve chuckled as Charlie squirmed back out of his arms and marched up to Alex, completely unafraid.

“Do you like Legos?”

Alex floundered for only a second before he replied, “Uhm, yeah. Yeah, I guess.”

“Come on.” Charlie reached up and grabbed his hand. “Grace was building with me, but now she’s helping Danno, so you can help me instead.”

And that had been that. Steve had watched them for a moment, but almost as soon as they’d started, the tension had drained from Alex’s shoulders, and Steve had headed for the kitchen, confident they’d be okay by themselves for a bit.

As it turned out, they had been more than okay. Within the hour, it was apparent that Charlie had dubbed Alex his best friend for the day. He had insisted on sitting next to the teen at dinner, and when they’d made gingerbread houses that afternoon, Alex was the only one allowed to help him.

Neither Steve nor Danny could figure out exactly how that had happened, so later that evening, as they were settling in to watch a movie, Danny had asked.

“You seem to be pretty good friends with Alex already, huh, buddy?”

Charlie nodded. “Yes. He needed a friend.”

Danny smiled. “You think so?”

Charlie nodded again, his face completely serious. “Yes. So I thought I could be his friend.”

Steve chuckled. “I think you made a good choice, buddy -- a very good choice.”

Charlie nodded a third time. “I think so too.”

As soon as Alex had come back from the bathroom and sat down, Charlie had plopped down in his lap as the opening credits of How the Grinch Stole Christmas rolled. It wasn’t a long movie, but by the end, Steve could tell Alex was starting to drift so they hadn’t stayed long after Charlie was put to bed.

As soon as they’d gotten home, Alex had headed to bed as well; his arm had started to bother him again though he’d been fine most of the day, so Steve had quickly checked it, rewrapped it, and had given him ibuprofen before he crashed.

It had been a good day, and Steve hoped it would be another good night as well. . . .

Alex woke to bright sunlight streaming in through the gaps in the blinds, feeling surprisingly well-rested. He had startled awake around three o’clock but had obviously managed to fall back asleep. Frowning, he stared up at the ceiling for several moments before rolling out of bed. He hadn’t slept this well since before his uncle’s death; why was it suddenly so easy now?

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he found Commander McGarrett sitting at the dining table, sipping at a cup of coffee with his work tablet in front of him. If he was working, Alex didn’t want to interrupt, but he also knew he would feel awkward rooting around in the man’s kitchen to find something to eat; he didn’t live here, after all. Debating his next move, he stood there, one hand still on the railing, for who knew how long before the commander looked up and saw him.

“Morning, Alex. Sleep alright?”

Finding his feet again, he moved towards the table. “Yeah, thanks. Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”

“You’re not. Besides, it’s paperwork; you can interrupt that any time you want, and I will thank you for it.” McGarrett stood up. “Let’s get you some breakfast.”

“No, no!” Alex was quick to protest, holding his hands up in front of him. “You don’t need to do that.”

“Do what? Feed you? Because I’m gonna have to disagree with you there.”

“No -- just -- I can do it myself. You don’t have to get up.”

McGarrett took a sip from his mug before speaking again. “Is that why you were standing there for a solid minute not moving? Because you didn’t want to bother me?”

Dang it. He’d been made from the start. But the commander had been nothing short of hospitable -- more than, honestly -- up until this point, and Alex didn’t want to put him to extra work. “There’s still pizza in the fridge, right? I’ll just eat that.”

The commander raised an eyebrow. “You’re going to eat pizza for breakfast? You’d really prefer that to -- I don’t know -- scrambled eggs?”

Alex had to admit that sounded good, but… “I mean, it has Canadian bacon on it -- that’s technically a breakfast food.”

McGarrett snorted, sitting back down in his chair. “Alright, have it your way. I’ll just go back to my exceptionally boring paperwork.”

Sighing in relief, Alex stepped around the corner into the kitchen, grabbed a couple of slices from the fridge and dropped them on a plate, then returned to the table and sat across from McGarrett. “So, when do you suppose CPS is going to show up?” he asked, taking a bite from the first slice.

“Hm?” McGarrett glanced up, pausing in his typing. “Oh, the lady was already here -- eight o’clock on the dot, as a matter of fact.”

Alex’s brain stuttered. “Then why am I still here? I thought…”

The commander folded the screen over the attached keyboard, giving Alex his full attention. “You thought you were gonna be shuffled off to another foster home?”

“I assumed -- I mean --.” Alex cut himself off as the realization hit him. He was staying here?

“I’m petitioning for your custody. It didn’t work in California to be shuffled around, so why would it work any better out here? At least, that was my reasoning. You need to be someplace where you’ll have time to settle and, Alex, I won’t lie: that can take months -- especially given what you’ve been through. And if no one is willing to give you longer than a week, then you’ll just end up right back where you started. I can’t promise I’ll even be a good guardian, but if there’s one thing I can give you, it’s time.”

He sighed. “Look, I’m not going to force you to stay with me if you don’t want to, but you should know that if you choose to leave, I’ll still be here for you, okay? You can always come to me if you need something or if you have a problem. I told you I wasn’t going to leave you on your own, and I meant it. Okay?”

Alex steeled himself, heart in his throat, to ask the question he was most afraid to hear the answer to. “What about Agent Branning? He could contest this, couldn’t he?”

McGarrett nodded. “Yeah, he could, but I don’t think he will. Even if he does fight it, I’ll fight back twice as hard, and I’ll keep fighting until it happens.”

Alex let out a shuddering breath. He had so many questions he wanted to ask. “Don’t you have to be, like, certified to foster though?”

“Also yes, but you let me worry about that, alright? You don’t need to worry about a thing; just leave it all to me.”

Alex swallowed harshly. He was not going to start crying again, dang it. But there was one last thing he had to know. “Why are you doing this? It’s just… it’s a lot, and you barely know me.”

“Honestly? It was the best way I could think of to get you out. I told you it’s time to burn some ships of your own, right? The idea behind that phrase is to move forward with no chance of going back to where you were. So if you don’t want to be a part of that work any longer, then I’m going to do everything I can to make sure you don’t feel like you have to be.”

Alex let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Okay.” His voice was shaky, but he was holding back the tears so he considered that an accomplishment, at least. What had he done to deserve this kindness? Absolutely nothing. He had lied and broken his promises and run away. Yet Commander McGarrett was giving of himself so freely anyway.

After a pause, McGarrett asked, “So, I take it this arrangement is good, then? You’re good? We’re good?”

Alex smiled and let out a breathy laugh. “Yeah. Yeah, we’re good.”

“Good.” He flipped the tablet screen back up again. “Eat your very strange breakfast, then we’ll talk more, alright?”

In response, Alex picked his slice back up and took a bite out of it, feeling like maybe he would finally be able to rest for the first time since his uncle’s death.

Maybe there was hope for the future after all.

. . . . .

Tag List: @diekatimitdemhutohnehut @ghostly-homo @grungeweasel @just-add-butter

[thecleverdame]

Sam x Reader

Summary: Sam meets Y/N at her brother's funeral and finds a life he didn't know he could fit into.

Warnings: Death of a sibling, death of a child, smut, fluff

Beta:  @ilikaicalie

-

They roll into town just as fall is turning the forest bronze on the east coast. It’s a picturesque New England town, charming stores along the main street and townsfolk preparing for the last tourist invasion of the year. All while the trees fight to keep their tresses in the nippy autumn sky.

171 W. Bluebell Lane

The Kingston house looks like a brick castle that should be made of gingerbread and gumdrops. It’s a three-story colonial house, framed by a white picket fence and moated by way of a well-manicured lawn.

“Places like this always freak me out.” Dean laments, pulling at the knot of his tie.

Sam just chuckles.

Sam dreamed of growing up in a home like this. As a boy he imagined stable, safe families eating well-balanced meals together in ghoul-free dining rooms across America. Those dreams faded quickly as his dad tossed him a box of hostess cupcakes into the back seat of the Impala.

They have to park a couple blocks away. There’s a steady stream of black-clad mourners making their way up the front walk. Sam’s glad they wore the suits, Dean fought for something more casual but this seems more appropriate.

Sam wishes they would have brought a casserole or flowers. Anything to help him feel more reverent. They’ve been to plenty of wakes before, but the ones for children are always the worst - they make his gut ache.

There’s a larger-than-life picture of the kid set up in the living room. A cheerful five-year-old boy smiling wide and full of life.

He doesn’t want to be there. It’s been months of close quarters and hard motel mattresses. He and Dean are brothers, nothing will break that bond, but they both need to get the fuck away from each other. Sam’s had a dull headache for a week now, a tender throb in his temple he thinks he might be able to sooth if he could just get a moment to himself, just an elusive moment of silence.

Dean wanders off into the sea of somber faces and Sam makes his way into the backyard to check things out. It’s a cold blustery day, the wind is rattling the chains on the empty swing set, making a metal on metal clank that strikes a chord, like a tolling bell for mortality.

Sam shakes off the chill and sits down on the picnic table, taking a moment for himself. It’s a delicious second of peace he typically doesn’t snag, that is until she bursts out the back door. She almost trips down the steps, sniffling and dabbing at her nose with a kleenex as she steadies herself on the iron railing.

She’s wearing a frilly little dress, something that a younger girl might wear for a birthday party, except this one is all black.

By the time she notices Sam, she’s already barreling in his direction. She looks hesitant but sits down beside him anyway. He thinks she’s probably a knock out when her nose isn’t leaking like a sieve and red-raw from crying. She rubs bloodshot eyes with her thumb and index finger before wiping at her nose.

“Hey,” she whispers, giving him a good once-over as she tugs at the hem of her dress. The skirt is too short, doing a less than adequate job of covering her legs. She’s tall and her long legs are bare and he can see the tiny goosebumps on her thighs. He forces himself to look her in the face.

“I’m Sam.” He offers gingerly.

“Y/N.” She forces a smile that quickly breaks as she bursts into tears.

“Are you okay?” Sam frowns, instantly regretting the question. He’s nervous, that hasn’t happened in a while.

“No, I’m not okay. I’m a fucking mess.” She stops to wipe tears off her rosy cheeks. It hits Sam like a ton of bricks; she’s the older sister, the person they came to talk to.

She’s the one who was there when the kid, her brother, died.

Dean showed him a photo of her yesterday but it must have been old because he wasn’t prepared for this breathtaking woman who’s falling apart in front of him.

“I don’t want to go back in there,” she hiccups, looking at the house. Shaking her head, rogue tears slide from the corner of her eye.

“I wouldn’t either,” he confides.

“It’s so damn cold out here, move a little closer.” She commands and Sam doesn’t know what to make of her when she raises his arm up and wriggles against his side, laughing through tears. “I’m usually not this confident, you must think I’m a nut job.”

“It’s fine, it is cold out…you’re dealing with a lot. I think you get a free pass for this one.” He shrugs, letting his armrest gently on her shoulders.

“I’m gonna miss him so much.” She wrings her hands, her face crumpling in that nasty way when there’s too much pain as her cheeks blush even rosier. “This hurts so bad,” she whispers as if it stings to talk and then sobs into her hands so relentlessly that eventually, she doubles over.

One of her legs is pressed against his thigh, a naked soft leg that he wants to reach out to touch.

She sniffles.

He feels like a tactless pervert.

Sam stays with her until the tips of his ears go numb. He thinks about how much it hurt when he lost Dean. That raw throbbing in his chest he was convinced would kill him (for a while he wished it had). He wants to help her but it’s better to not get involved. They won't be around that long.

Sam tells her he’s a private investigator. She nods but he can see she doesn’t give two shits about anything other than her own nauseating grief.

The wind picks up and Sam’s so cold he shakes, teeth chattering his skull. She pulls away and he assumes she’s about to apologize for keeping him outside. Instead her eyes narrow and she groans. “I’m gonna puke.”

Jogging towards the house she offers one final glance back at him as she opens the back door. “Thanks, Sam!”

--

She’s not at the funeral. Dean stays there and Sam goes to find her.

Sam wanders on the front lawn of her parent's house for a half hour, stomping dead leaves and trying to determine exactly what’s wrong with him that he can’t bring himself to knock on the door like a normal person.

He’s done this a thousand times before.

After watching him pace back and forth through fallen leaves like a lumbering giant Y/N opens up the front door and calls out to him. “What are you doing?”

He tells her the truth. Tells her he came back to check on her, that he can’t stop thinking about her pain. She looks significantly better than the day before, but her eyes are still red and lips chapped. And she’s still holding onto a box of  Kleenex like it might save her life.

--

Sam sits next to her on jack-o-lantern sheets in Wes’ bedroom. She explains that he loved Halloween. He watches her as she traces one of the pumpkins on his child size pillow. Dragging the pillow into her lap she presses her face into it.

“It still smells like him,” she whispers.

“Y/N...what exactly happened?”

She doesn’t hesitate.

“He wanted me to read to him in the pile of leaves we raked in the front yard. Wes was nuts about this one book, The House of Boo, his favorite. So he sat in my lap and we read and then he just kinda, slumped back into me. I thought he was cuddling at first or maybe he fell asleep. They told me his heart just…stopped”

“Oh, God.” Sam murmurs. “I’m so sorry.”

“I never thought I’d have a little brother, no one did. I mean, I’m almost twenty years older…”

Sam could tell her, but it’s better than she never knows what actually happened to Wes. There’s no reason to tear her world apart.

When he leaves that day he’s prepared to say his goodbyes and walk away for good. But she calls to him down the driveway.

“Can I see you again?”

-

Sam sees Y/N more or less every night for a month. After a couple of days she starts crying less and talking more. They go to dinner, to the movies, to the bookstore. It’s boring and normal and Sam loves every second of it.

She’s charming and delicate and witty. She makes him laugh. She’s holding his hand while she dances and sings in the isle at the midnight viewing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

She’s a terrible choice for his life, she’s afraid of everything; spiders, big dogs, horror movies, meteorites hitting the earth. He can’t help but feel a thrill run up his spine when she walks closer to him at night, finding a warm, safe place at his side, under his arm.

--

When she works up the nerve to sleep in her own house for the first time since her brother died, Sam stays with her. They spend most of the night in the kitchen talking about tv shows from their childhood and where they’d travel if they could go anywhere in the world.

“My grandmother left me this house,” she smiles softly sitting next to him at the dining room table. “When I first moved in it felt like coming home.”

“It doesn’t anymore?”

Sam’s ears perk up when she tells him she thinks it’s haunted.

“It’s strange, Wes loved it here, he’d spend every Friday night with me. Sam...I still see him sometimes, I know it sounds crazy but when I was here yesterday it’s like I could feel him. And I have these dreams, vivid fucking dreams that I swear are real. “You probably think I’m nuts, huh?”

“You never know.” He nods. “But I don’t think you’re nuts.”

She’s got this happy, tired grin on her face when Sam kisses her for the first time. Just the press of his lips, unobtrusive and sweet.

She laughs against his mouth, pulls away and laughs out loud.

“I’m sorry,” shaking her head she reaches for his hand. “You just make me really happy Sam, that’s all. I haven’t felt like it was ok to be happy for a long time.”

“I know what you mean.” He leans in to kiss her again and this time he laughs too.

--

It’s late, they’d been to a movie and had a few drinks and end up making out on her front porch like teenagers. Sam unceremoniously dry humps her, the two of them fully clothed as he grinds the bulge in his pants between her legs.

“Take me inside.” She pants, his mouth sealing over hers before she can even finish.

“You sure you want me to stay?” He double checks, big, warm thumbs rubbing over both her cheeks.

“I’m sure.”

They make it as far as the living room couch.

Sam paws at her jeans, yanking her panties off right along with them. She’s still standing when he drops to his knees and buries his head between her legs.  

She makes these little sounds, moaning his name with a fist full of his hair as he tongues her clit.

“Sam,” she tugs at his hair, bringing him back up to kiss her.

She’s breathless and the sound of his name coming from her mouth is something he’s imagined for a while. He slides his tongue into her mouth, swallowing whimpers as she tastes herself on his mouth.

Sitting him on the couch, she takes a condom and rolls it on his swollen erection before crawling into his lap. Sam just watches, making little grunts of approval when she reaches for his cock, wrapping her hand around the shaft as she presses the throbbing head of his cock against her hot, wet little pussy. She screws her eyes shut, soft hands grasping at his shoulders as she sinks down on him so slowly, inch by inch until her resolve falters and she sinks down, taking him all the way into her belly.

Her whole body moves up and down as she fucks herself on his cock, kissing him desperately.

“Oh God, Sam,” she moans as he pulls at her hips, holding her place. Sam can feel her stretched wide open, the most delicate part of her shivering on his cock. All he has to do is look down to get an eye full of her slick cunt stuffed full. They both start to move, Sam fucking up into her with the soft slap of their bodies coming together.

Between kisses, she says his name again and again, like a mantra while her curvy little hips work back and forth on his dick. Sam fucks her faster, watching her tits bounce, nipples grazing his chest as her pussy takes every inch.

Without a second of hesitation, he lifts her off his cock, ignoring her protest as he spreads her open underneath him and eases his cock back inside. His rhythm grows faster, skin smacking skin with every stroke. He doesn’t say a word that first time, just listens to his own grunts, her pants and the pornographic sounds of sex that seem obscenely loud. It takes everything in him to stay on task, every ounce of self-control not to come like a kid on prom night before she’s satisfied.

She comes around him, shaking like a one-woman earthquake under the weight of his body. Sam follows right behind her, coming with his face pressed into her neck, making embarrassing desperate sounds.

Sam holds her, soft nude thighs laying over his hips. He whispers things he knows he shouldn’t say, he tells her that he hasn’t wanted anyone as much as he wants her.

He almost tells her about Jess.

When he wakes up the next morning they’re still on the couch. The absurdly thin quilt he pulled off the armchair is barely covering her ass but her sleep-warm body is pressed into his side, calm in the lull of sleep.

Sam thinks he could be happy here in this house with her.

The time comes, as it always does, for he and Dean to move on. Sam is standing on her porch with a backpack slung over his shoulder, trying to find the right words for goodbye when she takes his hand between hers and says the magic word.

“Stay.”

--

This drabble was available on Patreon on 1/28. For early access to my fics and Patreon exclusive content, subscribe for $2 a month CLICK HERE

Tags:  @smallgirlbigpersonality @mereka18 @gryffindorable713 @trainlikeawinchester @winchesterprincessbride @bamby0304 @saxxxology @notyourtypicalrose @mariekoukie6661 @little-big-mac2 @emoryhemsworth @mystriee @atc74 @holyfuckloueh @bunnybaby121115 @mogaruke @darkmystress00 @jaspesangriento @kazuha159 @mirandaaustin93 @crispychrissy @schilj79 @wilde-abandon @hennessy0274-blog @bojabee @miss-samantha-winchester @impalaimagining-mainblog @andkatiethings @astephez @ladycynthia @mrswhozeewhatsis @lenawiinchester @feelmyroarrrr @mrs-meghan-winchester @har-rystyles @mistressofallthingsgeeky @theamuz @maui137 @stars-and-seas @vale0413 @impala67trenchcoat @curly-haired-disaster @ericaprice2008 @livelikeawinchester @althehufflepuff @itsthesamegametoday @bohowitch @spnwoman @just-a-normal-eccentric @gallifreyansass @StoneyGGirl @lonely-skys @81mysteriouslyme @missrandomista @soupornatural @stars-and-seas @natura1phenomenon @jarpadandjensenaremyheroes @81mysteriouslyme @likhelbentin @mrooks0205 @zombiewerewolfqueen @winchesterprincessbride @squirrel-moose-winchester @fortisetgloriosusinarduis @closetspngirl @dominodoll @rainflowermoon @cleighwrites @camelotandastronauts @imarockstar45 @thebeastinside19 @courtney-padalecki @itsthesamegametoday @virtualgirlfriendsan @daisymoder72 @fandom-is-my-middle-name @mysticmcu @luciferseclipse @malinda1997

[willgayers]

uhhhh i need a reddie as parents hc

oh my god yes!!!!!

planned together w @remushlupin again

its also long again. do i even need to say this anymore??? all my hc’s are long i cant write them short sue me

lets assume they have a boy and a girl (*cough* neil patrick harris & david burtka *cough*)

so ever since the kids first arrived at the shared household of tozier and kaspbrak,,, richie would not put the polaroid camera out of his hands

he’d be taking pictures of the kids CONSTANTLY in every situation ever. bath time? absolutely. messy spaghetti for lunch? you bet your ass. play time on the floor? DEFINITELY. eddie changing the diapers? even then.  

“RICHIE ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS RN?”

“well what! we gotta memorize everything!”

“nOT EVERYTHING”

richie’s also constantly emailing the photos to the rest of the losers because he’s such a proud dad

“this is rhiana eating. this is rhiana outside playing in the leafs. this is rhiana taking a bath. this is rhiana sleeping. this is rhiana —”

“okay richie great pics!!” (please no more)

“thanks! now here’s liam watching tv. here’s liam with the neighbor dog. here’s liam in his favorite overalls isn’t he just so CUTE—”

so many shopping for baby clothes!!! beverly’s also bought so many like every time she sees a cute baby overall or something she buys it immediately

they basically have so many colors like all the colors of rainbow

(obviously)

once the kids get a little older like around 4-6 all they wanna do is watch disney movies!!! and eddie and richie are down with it of course

just imagine reddie + kids movie night???? all of them cuddled up on the couch??? with a bowl of popcorn??? under a blanket????

mulan is rhiana’s favorite and little mermaid is liam’s favorite

richie of course learns how to do the voices to all the funny disney characters, his best ones are sebastian and mushu though and the kids LOVE them!!!! they love them so much and it just drives richie to do the voices even more so eventually eddie has to forbid him from doing them around bedtime because the kids will never stop giggling and every time they giggle richie’s heart expands like a trillion times so he will just continue with the impressions and it’s a CYCLE

in case you were wondering, richie’s the stay at home dad. i repeat, richie’s the stay at home dad!!!!!

he definitely does the laundry and dishes wearing a baby blue apron

eddie’s working 9 to 5 as an accountant and he fucking hates the job

richie and the kids decide to cheer him up and call him facetime calls and eddie’s immediately feelin better :“)

also. whenever eddie has to work a long day he comes back home to a ready bubble bath,, a warm prepped meal and a glass of red wine

eddie knows it’s gonna happen every time he’s coming home late but somehow he always forgets? so whenever he comes home and opens the door to see the dim lighted kitchen with a candle on the table next to his foil-covered plate and the wine glass he nearly bursts out in tears

richie’s a very caring husband™

but not that great with dressing up the kids

*one night when richie’s taking liam to the movies*

“honey … what is liam wearing???”

“he’s wearing fashion.”

“is that a… baby hawaiian shirt???”

“LIAM RUN TO THE CAR!!!!!”

anyway,,, how cute would christmas times be too?? like baking gingerbread cookies all of them around the kitchen counter together while listening to christmas songs ,,, richie and eddie forgetting about the kids for a moment when richie accidentally gets some red sugar frosting on eddie’s nose and eddie’s like “omg what did you do!!!” and richie says “you’re rudolph now” and boops his nose,,, and eddie just swoons and oh WOW they’re in LOVE and some disgustingly cute heart eyes to each other are exchanged before richie leans to kiss him and the kids go “EWWWWWWWW!!!”

imagining this just added 10 years to my life

richie literally spoils them SO MUCH

*reddie shopping for christmas presents*

“richie what is that?”

“it’s the doll house rhiana asked for”

“uhh yes and it’s also 200 dollars”

“,,, it’s the DOLL HOUSE ,, RHIANA ASKED FOR”

richie would fetch them the moon from the sky if they asked for it

also imagine the christmas mornings ,,, richie and eddie on the couch snuggled next to each other with cups of coffee/tea,, with smiles on their faces watching as the kids open the presents and it’s literally just the photo of a perfect family on a snowy xmas morning 

well lets fast forward a little again, the kids are like 8-10 now

rhiana has the prettiest dark, curly hair and her eyes are brown and beautiful

liam has light hair, it’s kind of like dirty blonde and he’s got blue eyes

rhiana has a lot of friends over all the time and eddie’s always making food and/or snacks and bringing them to the kids 

liam has like three good friends and they’re also constantly over but they’re mainly inside liam’s room playing video games. (or secretly listening to britney spears)

rhiana does karate and liam plays soccer

richie always drives them to school and practices ,, eddie always picks them up

they’re definitely at every competition/game cheering

“THATS RIGHT! KICK HIS ASS! KICK HIS ASS RHIANNA!”

that’s not richie by the way. that’s eddie

and at liam’s soccer games they definitely have the big foam thumbs and self-made cheer sheets

whenever liam scores richie’s gonna tap the person next to him on the shoulder and be like “tHATS MY SON!!”

and that one time when liam did the winning score,,, oh my god eddie screamed and richie accidentally threw his nachos to the air

at one karate competition, rhiana got kicked a little too hard and she fell on top of her shoulder, dislocating it

eddie and richie had sort of an argument after this,, whether or not they’re gonna let rhiana continue

eddie doesn’t want his daughter anywhere NEAR the karate ring anymore and richie thinks that if rhiana wants to continue she should

however she doesn’t want to do it anymore and richie notices she’s super sad all the time, so he suggests a new hobby and rhiana is like “like what?”

richie’s like well how about i teach you how to play guitar!!

rhiana learns acoustic guitar in like a freaking week and she gets so excited about musical instruments so she learns how to play piano and fipple flute and ukulele and wow richie’s so proud

liam gets interested in instruments too now that he has to listen to his sister practice in her room 24/7 (because of course richie bought her her own piano too), so liam learns how to play the bass

“kids, i think we should start a garage band!”

eddie cutting in between with slightly nervous laughter

“i think NOT, richie!”

lord knows eddie couldnt take it

times of horror ahead at the age of 12-13

so many “I HATE YOU!!! I HATE YOU BOTH!!!!“s

…because they weren’t allowed to play video games after 11pm anymore or go to slovenia with their best friend’s family or buy the shoes that cost 150$

(even richie’s getting a little strict now because eddie keeps on telling him this is your fault you spoiled them too much and now they walk around thinking im gonna buy them a fucking 2000$ smartphone)

richie’s hurt because his imitation voices aren’t funny to the kids anymore, instead they say he’s stupid and childish

wait did i say richie’s hurt? i meant richie’s heartbroken

because his kids his babies his best friends don’t want him around anymore they push richie away and rhiana even told him to ”get a fucking life, dad!!!!“

they definitely won’t let richie take any photos to the "baby photo” books that turned into a little longer than expected

so one night eddie walks upstairs to find richie crying in the bedroom with his head in his hands

“honey what’s wrong???”

“they hate me”

“richie they adore you. they’re just teenagers it’ll go away you know it”

and it does go away thankfully,,, and at the age of 15-16 they’re almost back to normal again. but now they’re just so teenagers

richie’s the good cop and eddie’s the bad cop 

one time liam comes home high

fun little fact; they’re looking after their neighbor susan’s cat for a week because she’s traveling and richie is stroking the cat on his lap as he speaks

(you know how bad guys turn around on the chair)

“well well well,,, look who decided to come home”

eddie has one leg thrown over the other and hands resting on top of his other knee with such a strict look on his face

liam goes pale as he turns around, his eyes are so red and he’s just. definitely not there

richie tilts his head

“are you… are you high?”

liam just looks at him before shaking his head slowly. like. way too slowly

“shit you got any left?”

eddie gasps and slaps richie’s arm who immediately then blurts out

“i MEAN— sHAME ON YOU, LIAM, THAT IS AWFUL AND THAT IS WRONG!”

later that night richie tries to get some sexy times but eddie’s still mad at him

“oh come on eddie it wasn’t that bad”

“yOU ASKeD yOUR SiXTEeN YEAR OLd SON IF HE HaD ANY WEED LEFt fOR yOU!!!!”

“…okay i guess it was a little bad but-”

next week rhiana wants to go to a party

surprisingly tho, richie won’t let her

she asks this over dinner and she on purpose asks this from richie directly because she’s sure he’s gonna say yes

“so dad there’s this party on friday and-”

“no.”

eddies eyes widen, rhianas jaw drops and liam raises his brows but he’s lowkey gloat that his sister gets told no for a chance

“what???”

“you heard me” richie just guides a piece of the steak to his mouth

“this steak is very good honey” he just speaks like he just didnt forbid something from his daughter

“thank… you”

“excuse me but why am i not getting to go to the party??????” rhiana is like uHhh WTF dad

“because i said so”

liam snorts

“OH MY GOD!!!”

“:)” richie

“but EVERYONE is going!!!!!”

“i don’t care you are not”

“LIAM WENT TO A PARTY LAST WEEKEND!!!”

“liam’s sixteen”

“I AM FIFTEEN”

“yes so wait one more year”

“!!!!UGH!!!”

liam decides to take advantage of this

“hey so uh, johnny invited me to this-”

“no.”

“???huh???”

“i said no”

“BUT YOU JUST SAID I COULD GO BECAUSE IM SIXTEEN”

“yes, and last weekend you got home high”

“BUT-”

“no buts. liam, you are… what do you call it…”

silence

“ah, right. grounded”

“GROUNDED???”

“really?” even eddie asks, confused

“YOU CANT GROUND ME A WEEK LATER, DAD”

“says who?”

liam is just gaping

“thats what i thought”

eddie’s lowkey turned on and needs to take a sip of some ice cold water in his glass

at the age of 17-18 liam starts dating some girl from his high school and both richie and eddie love her she’s a very sweet girl!!

she’s at the house constantly and now both eddie and richie realize that rhiana’s never once mentioned having a boyfriend?? and now they’re confused because she’s gorgeous and smart and funny and everything

richie thinks he’s such a scary dad that no guy would even dare to approach her

eddie just snorts and mumbles a "sure…”

one time eddie and rhiana are having some quality time together at the mall and eddie brings up the relationship subject even though him and richie agreed not to bring it up but hE CANT HELP IT

“so… any cute guys at your class?”

rhiana gets so pissed off and storms out of the restaurant and won’t talk to eddie for the rest of the day and eddies so confused like what did i do wrong??? honey i’m so sorry???? but rhiana won’t answer she just sulks for the whole car ride

when they get home she locks herself in the room and won’t come out and eddie has to tell richie that he asked her and richie’s like why would you do that and blah blah blah

anyway then richie goes up to knock on rhiana’s door

“GO AWAY!!!”

“it’s me”

silence

the door opens

rhiana’s eyes are all teary and her lower lip is shaking and richie’s heart drops at the sight

“,,,baby what’s wrong??”

rhiana bursts out in sobs and richie steps in to her room,,, pulling her to a hug and she just cries and cries

richie then asks again what’s wrong and suggests sitting down and talking about it

“i… the reason why i… haven’t… brought a boyfriend home is… because…”

“yes???” richie asks, his voice soft

rhiana sniffs

“honey you can tell me anything okay???”

“its because im gay, dad”

richie doesn’t say anything for a moment

it’s not because he’d be shocked but because why would his daughter feel awful about telling this to him??? to eddie?? her parents are gay,, she shouldn’t feel like this,,, but clearly something or someone has made her feel like it’s wrong and now richie feels so sad

“okay.” he just says

rhiana blinks

“o-okay?”

“okay. so you’re gay. lovely!”

rhiana lets out a stuffed-nose laugh

“really? that’s it?”

“well we can throw a parade if you want to”

rhiana just hugs richie and murmurs a “i love you dad”

she then gets the courage to tell eddie too and eddie tries not to cry because he’s actually so happy??? that his daughter is so brave to tell both him and richie ?? like he never would’ve had the guts and he never even did tell his mom he’s dating richie before they were 19 and richie pROPOSED but here his daughter is at the age of 17 ,,, and he tells her she should never be ashamed of herself and honestly the two of them have a long heart-to-heart conversation that really just,,, brings them so much closer than they ever were

liam,,, in his hetero relationship however…

“YOU BROUGHT A GIRL IN TO THIS HOUSE TO HAVE SEX????”

“eddie calm down. they’re eighteen-”

“SEX??? INSIDE THIS HOUSE??!!”

richie just ignores eddie and asks liam,,,

“just tell me you were at least using a condom?”

“yeah”

“a cONdOM??? YOU— oh MY GOD YOU KNOW WHAT A CONDOM IS!”

“baby isn’t that a good thing? the kids are being safe!”

“A CONDOM, RICHIE!!! SEX!! LIAM IS HAVING SEX!”

“okay can we PLEASE stop saying sex?!?!!,”

“THATS WHAT YOU’RE DOING! IF YOU’RE NOT OLD ENOUGH TO SAY IT YOU’RE NOT OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE IT!!!!”

“oh come on babe we were like sixteen when we first-”

liam gags and eddie gasps

that was a long, long night and a conversation for all of them. also painful

for poor liam especially

anyway overall they’re just the greatest family ever

ikea shopping together

painting the kitchen walls together and eating chinese takeaway food on the floor

disney land trips

family vacations 

movie nights

watching the ball drop from the tv at new years and shooting some fireworks from the backyard

(richie nearly set the house on fire once or twice tho)

when the kids were younger and it was date night and babysitters were needed…. losers club to the rescue!

stan and bill as godfathers,,, they always take the kids to museum tours or great restaurants

mike is their favorite because sheep,,, cows,,, chickens!!!! also he shows them pretty places and photos from when richie and eddie were teens which is funny because what the fuck is richie wearing and why does eddie have two fanny packs?????

ben and beverly always take them to cute ice cream shops or play board games with them

and when richie and eddie come back home/pick the kids up they’ve literally just missed them so much

PARENTS!REDDIE FOR LIFE

@superbyersbros @xbell22 @donthateonk8 @stenbroughbros@reddiebrekmyheart@itsgreywaterrichie @donvex @blueeyespurpleskies@ageorgymi@oh-youre-the-worst@eddiekaaspbraak @whipashwhipash @rissyq @richietoaster@edskasqbrak@urtury@bukiminajimu @kcutieeesblog @stansmansuris @adorefack @reddieaddict@icyeyes102@denbroughbill @graveyardshipper @taletellingsir@anxiety-freak-yuuri@rheddie@queertrashmouth @richiefreakingtozier@castletozier @tohzier @80soleff @lonewolfhard@low-key-dying @sad-synth @richietoaster @badboyharrington @beepbeep-losers@temptedtozier@kaspbraccs@kylieee827-blog @sad-synth @low-key-dying@officiallyreddie@reddietofall @stanleyboii @eternitynurarms@remushlupin@turtleneckrichie@rosegoldrichie @80srichie@asteroidbill@lonewolfhard @trashmouthgazebos @littlepointman 

[seventeen-scenarios-blog]

To Admin Hoshit: Santa’s Helper (G)

Pairing: Admin Hoshit x Soonyoung Request: “tbh write anything as long as it ends well and no one dies” + “longish fic?? if possible???” Word Count: 2,843 Genre: Crack Warnings: Don’t do drugs, kids

A/N: Lmao I had a lot of fun writing this for you. Sorry it took so long. But Merry Christmas Hoshit, hope you enjoy this piece of nonsense lolololol I think it’s pretty obvious who I am at this point tbh, but have fun guessing, lovelies!

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I can do this anymore… I’m leaving you.”

“W-what? But we were doing fine all along! Why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?”

“I don’t know, I’m just not feeling it anymore, okay? Look, it was really fun and exciting when we first started out, but right now, the feeling’s fizzed out. I’m hella tired of this. We have to go our separate ways from now on.”

“You can’t just leave me alone after all that we’ve been through together! There’s still so much we’ve not done!” You stand up, rage filling every vein of your body. “NAKAMOTO YUTA, GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!”

“THIS IS SO NOT WORTH SIX DOLLARS AN HOUR!” The man snaps his head around towards you. He slams the roll of tape down on the table, throwing his hands towards the pile of neatly gift-wrapped boxes. “I’ve been at it for ages now, and I’m already considered a saint for staying back a whole hour past my shift to help you! Let me go home to rest, damn it!”

“We’ve agreed to sign up for this winter job together!” you yell back, “You can’t ditch me now!”

“You’re the dumb one who signed your entire life away to this job so that you can buy your dumb merchandise,” Yuta remarks snarkily, ignoring the offended scoff you send his way. “Anyway, I’m out. Girl, I love you, but there’s only so much gift-wrapping I can handle before I turn completely insane.”

“The moment you walk out of this gingerbread house, you’re dead to me, Nakamoto.”

“Been dead since Day 1, babe.” And Yuta leaves with a sassy final wave goodbye, whipping off his reindeer headband and tossing it into the bin. “Have fun dealing with the kids.”

You let out a resigned puff of air to blow your bangs out of your face. Your only friend on this job is gone, and now you have to spend the rest of your 10 hour shift with either a total stranger or… that guy.

You stand up, stumbling a little after being seated on a god-forsaken kiddy stool, and made your way towards the record sheet containing the names of the part-timers pinned on the wall. The way your name occupied a large area of the excel sheet made you wince.

It had sounded so easy on the advertising site: wear a silly costume, give out complimentary gifts to children that attend the Santa Meet-&-Greet event at the mall. You sold your soul to the devil without thinking twice. But no, this job has taken a significant chunk of your sanity. Between the Meet-&-Greet intervals, you had to wrap an endless pile of gifts for the endless number of children. On more than one occasion, you had to stay behind to hit your quota, returning home when it’s almost midnight.

But then again, with the exorbitant amount of albums and merchandise of your favourite band you have yet to get your hands on, overtime pay is good.

Your name was under the ‘Santa’s Helpers’ list; every ‘Santa’s Helper’ would be paired up with a ‘Reindeer’ for each shift. You had thought it was a lot less embarrassing walking around in public in an elf’s costume compared to a reindeer’s -- you thought wrong. It’s tight, it’s itchy, the ringing of the silver bell adorning the tip of your hat had annoyed you two hours into your first day you snipped it off without hesitation. All the “reindeers” had to do is wear a damn onesie with cute reindeer horn headbands to match.

Anyway.

Your eyes scan through the ‘Reindeer’ list for the partner you’d be tied down to for the rest of the day. Yuta’s name is aligned with yours up till 5PM, and the person underneath Yuta is… Kwon S-- Jesus Christ.

You tilt your head back with a sardonic, almost maniacal grin. Your day is just going splendidly, isn’t it?

“The kids will be coming in 10 minutes, please be on standby…” the manager’s voice trails off as she only registers one other presence in the gingerbread house. “Where’s the reindeer?”

“HERE!”

A breathless wheeze, followed by a series of thundering footsteps cause the both of you to jump as Devil’s Spawn himself bursts through the fragile styrofoam doors. “Sorry, there was a line at the washroom, I couldn’t change until just about a minute ago…”

Both you and your manager scanned the boy’s bedraggled appearance simultaneously: his purple hair was frizzled and stuck out in all directions imaginable, his cheeks are shining with a sheen of perspiration, and apparently he hadn’t learnt how to button his clothes properly as a child.

Your manager tuts and waves him away, “Elf, you have 10 minutes to make this reindeer remotely presentable to the public. I have other matters to attend to.” With that, she whisks herself out of sight.

Soonyoung tilts his head, confused, until he lays his eyes on you. Then, his already small eyes narrow into hostile slits. “Oh, hello brat.”

“Tool,” you retort cooly, stepping up to fix Soonyoung’s mismatched buttons. “I thought you’re supposed to be a reindeer, not the grandma that got run over by one.”

“Hohoho, you’re hilarious,” he drawls mockingly in a high tone, slapping your hands away. “I can fix those buttons myself, thanks. And pass me one of the headbands from the bin, I left mine at home.” Rolling your eyes in disbelief, you proceed to fish out Yuta’s abandoned reindeer headband and throw it to the male.

“It’s Yuta’s, so I’m not sure it’ll go over that fat head of yours. I reckon you give it a try.”

“Meanie,” he mutters, grabbing it and fastening it over his head.

“Album wrecker.”

“Salty brat!”

“Son of a--”

“Mommy, look! A reindeer and a gremlin!” You both instantaneously abandon your banter to slap grins on your faces as a chubby kid waddles into the gingerbread house. Looks like your evening shift started early. Soonyoung bursts into a fit of laughter at the boy’s words. You curl your hands into fists in chagrin, forcing yourself to maintain the smile.

“The last time I checked, reindeers. Can’t. Laugh.” You discreetly but painfully jab him in the ribs before approaching the child, ignoring the pained yelp he lets out in response. “You’re done meeting Santa, kid? I’m one of Santa’s elves and I live here in this gingerbread house! Can I interest you in a free toy from under the tree?”

Against all odds, you manage to upkeep your professionalism throughout your shift, though you can’t help but let out a crotchety remark or two.

“Don’t go too close to that reindeer over there,” you’d say, one hand cupping your mouth while the other made pointed gestures over to Soonyoung, “I heard it eats children for breakfast.” Looking back, you wished you reserved that comment for someone more impressionable. The bespectacled twelve-year-old had stared back at you with an eyebrow raised, completely unimpressed.

Completely spent, you abandon your uncomfortable post on the kiddy stool to crashland on the carpeted floor with a satisfied groan. That’s 11 out of 12 days of Christmas down. Only one more day in this stinking job and you’re free for the rest of the holidays.

“God…” Soonyoung sighs, shedding off his thick reindeer onesie to reveal a white tank top that has been turned translucent with his sweat. “If I had to sing Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer one more damn time, I would have ran myself over with a sleigh.”

Normally this would result in a comment about him being weak from you, but this time, you are distracted by how his muscles stand out from under the thin material of his clothes. As insufferable as this guy can be, he sure does know how to have a good body-- wait, snap out of it, damn it!

“Oh, good! You are still here!” a sing-song voice cuts through your unholy thoughts as your manager enters the gingerbread house with paper bags lined with grease. “I got the both of you dinner. It’s a job well done today as usual!”

Both you and Soonyoung exchange suspicious glances. Free food and a chirpy attitude to boot? Those are two things you’d never associate with your boss.

“What do you want us to do?” Thankfully, Soonyoung lacked the tact and asked the question you were afraid of. At once, your manager drops her cheery facade with a nervous laugh. “I’m afraid I’ll have to buy a couple more hours of your time… See, an orphanage just called in to say that they will be dropping their kids down tomorrow at 8AM to visit Santa so that’s a hundred children’s worth of gifts to wrap and prepare by then…”

“A HUNDRED?!”

“But you don’t mind, do you?” She blinks sweetly at your direction. “I know this is last minute, but I’m sure the overtime pay will be enough to cover the costs of your guinea pig’s operation, right? That’s what you mentioned during our job interview?”

Behind you, Soonyoung can barely retain his snort of disbelief. “Guinea pig, huh? Is that what they call K-pop albums nowadays?” he guffaws just loud enough for you to hear, and you reward him with a merciless stomp on his big toe while never letting go of that faux angelic smile of yours.

“Sure, ma'am… But uh, my overtime pay will still be one-and-a-half times that of my average, right?”

“But of course! And you’ll have Reindeer over here to help you, so I’m sure you’d be done in no time!”

“I’ll be what now?” Soonyoung gapes dumbly.

“Great, I knew that I can count on you two! See you tomorrow~!” she merrily waves in farewell, making way for two toy store clerks lugging sacks-full of toys. The thin material of the sack rips, and a mountain of toys barrel out, leaving you and Soonyoung stunned.

But in retrospect, the sack is still holding on better compared to your little tether of sanity.

Soonyoung exasperatedly rubs his nape, carefully dragging the sack towards your work table. “Well, let’s just get this over and done with.”

He reaches over to the roll of wrapping paper, but stops short with a jump when you slam your hands atop of his. “Nuh-uh, there’s absolutely no way I’m trusting you with these.”

“What? Why not?”

“You’re going to ruin them with your sub-par fine motor skills and subsequently crush the dreams of a hundred little kids.” You let out a feral hiss, scrabbling at the wrapping papers, scissors and tape towards your bosom protectively. Soonyoung looks beyond peeved.

“I will not!” he cries. “My fine motor skills are, as they call it, FINE!”

He hazards an attempt to slide a pair of scissors out from under your arm, but you lunge out, snapping your teeth at his fingers and he withdraws, visibly intimidated. “What’s wrong with you, woman?” he yelps, obviously offended.

“YOU STEPPED ON MY ALBUM AND TORE IT WITH YOUR STINKING FEET FIRST DAY ON THE FIRST DAY WE MET, AND TRIED FIXING IT WITH POORLY CUT DUCT TAPE. THAT’S WHAT’S WRONG!” you screech. “HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO BE ALL CHUMMY WITH YOU AFTER THAT?! HOW DO PEOPLE TRUST YOU TO GO OUTSIDE UNSUPERVISED, YOU MONSTER?!”

“Look, that was just that one time!” he cries in defense, ignoring a woman’s concerned glance into the gingerbread house. “And don’t you have like, twenty of the same damn album? If I’d known you’d still be this hung up about it after 2 months I could have just bought you a new one!”

“How dare you, every single one of my albums are unique and precious and--” your eyes snap wide open when you register his previous words. “Did you say you’d buy me a new album?”

To your surprise and delight, Soonyoung shrugs. “I mean why not, these things can’t be that expensive, right?”

You beg to differ, but then you consider the fact that Soonyoung (lord knows how) is a lot more well off than you are as a freelance dancer. You abandon the lingering doubt to slap on what you hope is a face of a pleading puppy dog at the purple-haired male.

He audibly blanches. “Alright, let’s get to work now, can we? Good thing there isn’t anything in my stomach to hurl out, yeesh...” He tries once again to snatch the pair of scissors from your possession, but the icy glare you shoot at him makes his actions falter.

“You’re still hopeless at crafts, by the way,” you inform him, the image of your ruined album, hastily patched together with silver strips of adhesive with dog-eared pages here and there, surfacing in your mind. You can’t help but laugh at that ridiculous scenario. “Duct tape, really?”

“Oh shush, I panicked. At least let me feed you while you wrap, okay?”

You both reached an efficient compromise whereby you handle the wrapping while ever so often opening your mouth such that Soonyoung could slip a french fry between your lips, him munching on his own burger as well.

“Eat!” Soonyoung snaps when you refused the tenth fry. He’s realised by now that you had an awful habit of not eating whenever you’re too absorbed in something. “How are you going to wrap the presents for the kids well on an empty stomach?”

“Who cares about the kids,” you drone, your words coming out as more of a statement than a question.

Letting out a puff of air at his dark violet fringe, Soonyoung tries again. “How are you going to get your paycheck to buy more merchandise if you’re working on an empty stomach?”

“Ah,” you part your jaws and Soonyoung feeds you again with a resigned sigh. “Who knew you’d be this whipped for your favourite artiste?”

“Who didn’t?” you point out, throwing aside the finished toy car with reckless abandon.

“Yuta was complaining the other day that you barely have the time to hang out with him because you’ve chained yourself to this job. And for what, money for more merchandise and concert tickets?”

You hear the incredulity in his voice and you purse your lips. “Look, think whatever you want, but they make me happy. This world sucks and their music is a form of escapism for me. I’ll be willing to work day and night for the boys that make my life just that much brighter. Like it or not, they will pretty much occupy the majority of the space in my heart.”

You both fall silent while you catch your breath from that revelation. From the corner of your eye, you see Soonyoung shifting his eyes nervously. “Then… is there at least space for one more person in your life?”

The scissors in your hand slip and clatter onto the table noisily.

“I mean--” Soonyoung stutters, knowing how his words must have sounded like. “I want to make it up to you, you know. We started off on a bad note because of me, and I’d like it if we can have a do-over. Let’s go out for lunch or dinner sometime after this stinking job ends.”

Surprisingly, that sounded good to you, but there’s no way you’re letting him get the impression that you’re warming up to him this quickly. “Fine, I’ll see if I can squeeze you in.”

“Great!” His eyes, already tiny like the that of a hamster’s, light up like a child’s on a Christmas morning. “We’ll head on out for dinner after our shift tomorrow, then we’ll head on to the shop to get your new album, sounds good?”

Dammit, I like this kid already.

You nod, and you both resume work. At some point, you turned on your Spotify playlist to let Soonyoung get to know the kind of music you’re listening to, and he actually enjoys them. In return, he lets you listen to his favourite bands and musicians.

You even let him try his hand at wrapping a relatively simple box-shaped gift, only to grab it back in utter horror when he sticks the wrapping paper inside out.

You don’t know how long you’ve been going at it, but Soonyoung stiffens in fear when you both hear a resounding metallic click from a few metres away.

“W-was that the mall custodian locking up?” he whimpers, but he turns befuddled when he sees you looking completely nonchalant.

“Yeah, the mall closes at eleven, the doors will open again at seven in the morning.”

At this point, Soonyoung can’t even begin to feel surprise anymore. “How many times have you been locked in here because of work?”

“Eh, thrice counting this.”

“God, you’re hopeless.”

“But this means we’ll be first in line to grab some drinks at Starbucks tomorrow. We can have our date then. You in, kid?”

And Soonyoung actually laughs, whether it is out of amusement or of sheer despair, you can’t really tell.

“Oh geez, what have I gotten myself into…”