#but i would implode if i found out that the plan went slightly off the rails

[moonlight-jellie]

Chapter 70 spoilers, it's the dinner time scam!! And I'll just say Jesse/Yeseo is a master at gaslighting himself if he truly thinks they are in love /lhj

Omg Mommy? Sorry, Mommy? Sorry-

God this dinner is so funny, they really couldn't care less about each other, Cedy is not even talking about her thinking only of his moon. Meanwhile Christelle is struggling so hard not to implode

They are so silly

[riridontneedya]

IMPERIUM✨

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Any house Reader, Harry Potter x

Wordcount: 4,210

Warnings: SMUT, ANGST dom ,sub, daddy ,oral, teasing ,praise, spitting , chocking etc run of the mill smut.

A/N : Well the time has come I've finally given in.. I say finally didn't take much conviction lol. Anyway in this universe Dumbledore is still very much alive and no-one tried to kill one another so all is well. As always enjoy and let me know what you think xx

Summary: Draco and y/n battle it out for the new position as headmaster but what happens when they are made to work alongside one another

“Ladies and gentlemen, if I may have your attention please” spoke Dumbledore. He arose from his chair gently tapping his knife against his chalice in order to garner the crowds attention . Shortly everyones eyes were fixated on him. He cleared his throat and began. “I would like to thank each and everyone one of you for coming out tonight … as we all know its been a tough decision for me to step down, however! .I have no fear as I know the school will be in the safest of hands. I hand picked these two myself and in-fact trust them with my life. I know they have been working tirelessly day in and out to ensure not only my trust .. but all members of committee and most importantly our students. So with that being said when it is revealed in tomorrows assembly who the new headmaster and deputy are I want you both to know ,no matter the outcome I am so proud of you both, so let us raise a toast to our candidates . Y/N Y/M/N Y/L/N and Draco Lucius Malfoy”. With that Dumbledore rose his chalice high in the air smiling warmly at the pair. Everybody followed suit and raised their glasses high in celebration.

Draco and Y/N graciously thanked everyone as they showered them with words of praise and encouragement . Just then Y/n went to speak however her words were abruptly cut short by Astoria. As if an eager child unable to contain her excitement she blurted out. “ Draco and I are so grateful for all the support, so as a thank you after this we will be having refreshments and canapés at the Malfoy manor to celebrate his new position as headmaster .. all are welcome to join”. ‘Headmaster .. oh my how incredibly presumptuous” Y/N chuckled into her drink. “Excuse me” squeaked Astoria, she spun around rapidly locking eyes with Y/n. Y/n folded her arms across her chest and began “I do believe you heard me Astoria .. you said headmaster and thats yet to be revealed so for you to address Draco as said headmaster is well.. presumptuous”. Astorias tongue prodded the inside of her cheek, you could tell by the hue of red in her face she was infuriated but trying to find the words without imploding.

“Well , I just know he will ok so yeah just know that”, spat Astoria in a feeble attempt to shake off Y/ns rightful observation’. ‘Oh I see” snapped y/n “why didn't you say it was you sooner, Sybil , Sybil Trelawney teacher of divination . What are you doing here under the guise of Polyjuice potion? I mean you could’ve just come with your crystal ball and tea leaves and said he was the winner that way instead of this elaborate scheme don’t you think?” The laughter of fellow by standers suddenly erupted around the women. Astoria who now sup parsed hues of red was the shade of a beetroot , completely enraged prepared to snap she was interrupted by Dumbledore. “ NOW now girls quell your fiery natures, this is to be a peaceful night of celebrations”. The woman smiled coyly at Dumbledore. ‘My apologies Dumbledore” y/n chimed up. “We speak no more of it ok” Dumbledore smiled and gently patted the crown of y/ns head and proceeded to make his way back to his chair. Y/N turned and smiled gloatingly at Astoria. In response Astoria screwed her face up mockingly and fled no doubt to chastise Draco for not swooping in and defending her.

“Pwoarh Nice one mate” chuckled Fred as he held out his fist waiting for Y/n to bump it. Hahah stop it you she giggled. ‘Here , should we go to the manor after this for a laugh” sniggered George appearing alongside them. “Ha, I'm sure she’s revoked my invitation effective immediately” said Y/n, as she peered over to Astoria , she could see her flailing her arms around whilst Draco made no attempt to conceal his look of boredom in the conversation. “You know what lets .. Ive been dying to get a peek of the manor anyway what harm can it do”. ‘Cracking’ the twins harmonised in unison. The trio linked arms and jollied along.

Once arrived at the manor they soon found it to be every bit luxurious as they envisioned. The floors were marble and reflected the light of the enormous crystal chandeliers suspended from the ceiling. Each stair of the grand staircase was illuminated by candle light creating an auburn strip propelling up the length of the stairs. Every inch of the manor oozed with decadence. “Wow , its rather impressive” mused y/n . “You can say that again” chimed Fred as he helped himself to a glass of champagne , handing one over to y/n. They began to mingle and drink with the rest of the party guests it was an overall pleasant evening that was until Astoria appeared before Y/n. “Glad to see you could make it y/n” said Astoria with a constipated smile. She had made little to no effort to conceal her sarcastic tone.

Y/n had no interest in rehashing todays mini confrontation. Instead she pulled a sickly sweet smile and said “ Wouldn’t miss it for the world, thank you for your generous hospitality Ms Green grass.” Astorias face dropped “green green .. she muttered, haha don’t be silly you must get use to calling me Mrs Malfoy”. Now despite y/ns fondness to antagonise Astoria at any given opportunity she couldn’t help but see she was visibly hurt. She immediately began to fumble her words in a bid to preserve her feelings “honestly , Astoria I'm sorry I didn't know the extent of your relationship .. I apologise”. Astoria still hadn’t reacted she stood stationary bottom lip protruding sad and helpless like a lost puppy. Y/n gently squeezed Astorias forearm and began to say “ look you mustn't pay it any mind, Draco wouldn’t dare indulge in any small talk with me about family life .. so don’t stress it congratulations by the way”. Astoria looked up at her with eyes softened . Relief washed over Y/n as she could tell she was receptive to her. Y/n couldn’t help but wonder to herself why he hadn’t mentioned news as big as that , they had worked so closely over these months . To be fair on a good day if you hadn’t known Draco you wouldn’t even know he had a girlfriend let alone fiancé .. or wife ?

Astoria went to talk but just then none other than Draco emerged behind her . His hand came down onto her shoulder. sharply. “ thats enough now sweetheart , I think Daphne was looking for you actually”. There was a weird exchange of eye contact Astoria weakly smiled and left. It was now just y/n and Draco stood before one another. Draco broke the silence by clearing his throat “ Y/L/N, may I interest you in a nightcap in my office ,there are things Id appreciate to discuss before we venture into our new working relationship”. Although slightly bewildered she agreed as after all they were to work alongside one another and she’d rather it be somewhat harmonious than turbulent.

Y/n followed Draco across the length of the great hall and into a pair of grand double doors. The room was vast , books littered the walls as far as the eye could see and in the corner a fireplace roared. Draco stood behind his desk and motioned for y/n to take a seat opposite him. She smoothed the back of her dress and proceeded to make herself comfortable. Draco started pouring whiskey from the crystal decanter into a couple of whiskey tumblers. The burn of the fire whisky ignited as it glided down her throat. The combination of whiskey and champagne left Y/N beginning to feel somewhat merry, she hadn’t really noticed during the quiet sobering conversation with Astoria. ‘So what is it you have in mind Draco?”. His stormy grey eyes peered over at her from behind his glass. ‘Very well” he remarked and manoeuvred himself to Y/NS side of the desk .He perched himself on the edge legs akimbo and both his large veiny hands clasped around his whiskey glass. Y/n inhaled sharply as she averted her gaze from his legs splayed before her. Continuing he said “ As you're aware I have my plans about how Hogwarts should be run , I have a detailed strategy and I plan to implement it as soon as possible .. so what I'm really asking is are you with me or against me because I have no intention of being held back”.

Y/n blinked rapidly .. she was unable to process what he was saying , how could he be so smug thinking he had headmaster place secured already. “ Fuck sake Draco, ok first that wasn’t really posed as an option now was it ?, also enough with belief that its your divine right to just be appointed as headmaster! What makes you think that if you somehow are the headmaster I will just bend at your will? Pathetic!” She scoffed into her drink. Draco began to stifle a laugh “ Ah you do amuse me y/n”, look I'm willing to let you have some creative control … only if you prove to me how badly you so desire it”. His suggestive smile sent shivers up y/n. “Fuck you Malfoy” she hissed and jolted from her seat, once she reached the door she rattled the doorknob but to no avail the door wouldn’t budge. “Open it now” she demanded . Draco slowly sauntered towards her and leant across the door “hmm I thought you liked a challenge .. guess I was wrong this will be no fun after all ” Draco was indeed correct Y/n did enjoy a challenge and he’d be gravely mistaken if he thought she would let him get away without putting up a fight”.

Something switched in Y/n she turned to face Draco who was only inches away. He towered over her with his svelte frame encased in an all black suit. ‘Is this what you want Draco hmm” she said in a sultry tone whilst hooking her finger into his belt loop pulling him closer. You want me to beg ..or would you rather me on my knees .. better yet I could be a good girl and just bend over that desk right now and let you have your way if thats what you want” . Draco's breathing was now laboured within seconds he had pulled y/n in by the waist flipped her round having her pressed against the door, his body weight up against her and his hand holding her arms in place on the door. Y/n could feel the stiffness of his impressive length against her derrière. With a shallow gasp he breathed dangerously close to her ear “ be careful what you wish for ms Y/L/N , I don’t take too kindly to false promises as I always get what I want” . With that he tossed her around to face him .Y/n was now panting her body was burning in desire she wanted nothing more than to drop to her knees there and then. No wonder Astoria was attached to his hip.. if this was anything to go off.

Y/n bit her lip she felt dizzy with emotions . Draco stood before her with a devious smile , his hands soon intertwining at her waist and face buried in her décolleté littering it with kisses making his way down to her ample bosom. Y/n couldn’t help but throw her head back in delight eliciting a small moan. That only became fuel for Draco as he hoisted her leg from the floor and wrapped it around him. It was then Y/n felt a vibration from the opposite side of the door., as if someone had knocked from the outside . It was then followed by a mousy ‘ Dray , are you in there’. Draco paused for a moment grip still tight on y/n. “What is it I'm having a business meeting , i'll be out shortly don’t hover ”. It was clear who it was… the pair unraveled themselves from one another quickly smoothing out clothing and rejigging themselves. ‘Ok let us” let me stop you Draco, Y/n interrupted pressing her finger against his lips to audibly shush him. “ As if you think id let this happen you think you get to fuck me then you do as you please and I a dutiful little lap dog . Pfffft what a joke like it or not I'm going to be your boss so the only way I'm fucking you is in the more figurative sense , now you better hurry up don’t want to keep your fiancé waiting or Is it wife hmmm”. With a quick flick from her wand she sent the door swinging open and promptly stormed out.

The day had finally arrived the great hall of Hogwarts was alive with the buzz of chatter. The sizeable table at the forefront of the hall hosted all the teachers and most importantly both Draco and y/n. Dumbledore made his way to the podium, he produced his wand and placed it at the base of his neck it acted as a megaphone propelling his voice across the hall. “Everybody if I may have your attention please.” The chatter soon died down and everyone eagerly cast their eyes on him. “ Right, I shan’t keep you in suspense anymore , it is time to announce your new headmaster & deputy ’. Both Draco and y/n fidgeted in their seats after all these months of rivalry it had boiled down to this. “ Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Ms y/n y/l/n your new headmaster !” Boomed Dumbledore. .Y/N shrieked she was giddy with excitement she couldn’t believe she had actually done it. Everyone around her broke out into wild applause there were whistles and jeers laughter overall excitement. She was being ushered by the surrounding teachers to get up to the podium to make a speech. As she was making her way she cast eyes on Draco, there he stood paler than usual and unresponsive he was there physically but not mentally his carcass stood stationary unable to ingest the news he had just been fed.

The days rolled into weeks weeks rolled into months and y/n had almost completed a whole term at Hogwarts. All was going swimmingly and albeit begrudgingly Draco was in-fact a great support on her journey. It was the last night of term and y/n sat a her desk pondering over a mountain of papers. Y/n sighed and cradled her head in her hands , she was exhausted she spent all her time dedicated to the role that she forgot to take time out for herself. There was a knock at the door “Come in” she yelled out. Draco's head emerged around the door. ‘

Oh hey you , come in come in” ushering him to the desk. ‘Oh dear , sucks to be you , regretting the position of power now?” Draco chuckled menacingly. “Ha ha very funny” she uttered dryly. “Anyway , some of the other teachers are going out for drinks but I can see you are busy” said Draco eyeballing the mountains of paper. “Yeah.. I afraid I am , but you enjoy yourself Draco have a drink for me and i'll see you next term” she smiled warmly at him. Draco locked eyes on her , hands stuffed in his pocket he began to fidget. “In all honesty I'm not the fondest of all the people going .. also Id much rather not be at home ..before you laugh or probe why just don’t because I won’t go into it but I can’t bare to spend another moment longer with …her .. so umm yeah , I can help you out here then say you make it up to me buying me a drink later?”

Y/n smirked “You’re quite then enigma aren’t you Draco ..? He raised his eyebrows at her in acknowledgement. “Fine , id appreciate that very much but I am rather tired so if it's not beneath you I can offer you a drink at mine ..”. His eyes flickered up to meet hers , stifling a smile . “Id like that ..”he said softly , ‘well then , let's get to work” y/n smiled. Draco and y/n worked through the night it was filled with chatter and laughter they felt at ease with one another. Once they finished up the momentum continued on at y/ns house. Copious amounts of fire whiskey later they found themselves delving into deeper topics having more in-depth conversations and discovering more about one another. Draco's whole demeanour was very relaxed and this was foreign to y/n. His shirt sleeves were rolled up and tie loosened. ‘You know .. you're an alright person not that much of a pain in my arse surprisingly” Draco chuckled swigging another mouthful of whiskey. “Well thats rich” laughed y/n.

“Right well I've really enjoyed this but its getting late , I can barley keep my eyes open … earlier you mentioned you didn't want to go back so .. you're more than welcome to stay …. Only if you want”. Rattled by the kind gesture he smiled affectionately. Stumbling over his words “umm yeah , thank you y/n you’ve exceeded your generosity let me at least grab us coffee for the morning then. “Sounds like a plan , hopefully you won’t find me a pain in the arse again come morning ”. With a cackle Y/n got up from the couch and showed Draco to the spare room. Once at the door she began to wish him a goodnight. As he went to hug y/n his lips grazed her cheek. Y/n suddenly recoiled , a silence loomed over them as they gazed at one another the emotions of that night in Draco's office flooding back. Y/n could feel the heat surging in her cheeks so she hastily wished him a good night and scurried to her room. Once in the shelter of her room she let out a sigh of relief. She knew it was the right thing to do but my how she craved him.

Draco burst through the door making a beeline for Y/N. He took her into his arms and kissed her with an insatiable hunger. Backing her into the wall he began to rid her of her clothing . Y/n hands clambered at his chest to do same however he abruptly stopped her “ Oh no you don’t , you think I forgot about that little stint in my office huh ? Well I didn't and I've been awaiting the day I get to fuck you senseless Ms y/n … you control me all day and now its y turn to control you .. you will do everything I say do you understand” . Enthralled by his dominance Y/n nodded enthusiastically. “Sorry I didn't hear you “ roared Draco grabbing her face towards his. “Yes who”. “Yes Draco” she moaned . “You can do better than that dear yes who, i'll only ask you one more time or i'll have bent over my knee.. so what will it be?” . “Yes … daddy “ she muttered bashfully. “Thats my girl” he bellowed. He grabbed her and thrust her onto the bed , he unfastened his tie and instructed her to lift her hands above her head. Y/n did as commanded. He bound her wrists up and hooped them over the bed post. “Now, I'm going to have my way with you and you don’t get to touch me understood!” ‘Yes daddy y/n whimpered” “ahh what a good girl you are, ugh the things I'm going to do to you”. Y/ns eyes winded in desire, Draco shimmied y/ns shirt up and instructed her to bite down using it as a makeshift gag. He suddenly began to kiss her lower abdomen slowly sliding off her trousers.

Y/n titled her hips aiding him in taking them off. Draco's eyes lit up upon the discovery of her not wearing any undergarments “oh so you were anticipating me you filthy slut” Draco chuckled darkly’. He teased and taunted kissing her inner thighs only grazing her sex, this drove y/n crazy her body craved him inside her. Draco finally delicately licked a strip against her folds causing her body to crumble at the slightest of his touch. His warm moist tongue began frantically massaging her causing her to rive in ecstasy . His tongue began to vibrate excitedly against her clitoris sending shock waves through her entire body , she bucked her hips in excitement unable to keep her composure as Draco's tongue fixated on lapping up the one spot that drove her insane. Y/n was close he was relentless with his tongue against her swollen bud , just as she was about to finish Draco withdrew. Y/ns face fell in disgust just as she was about complain he plunged his fingers deep inside her ..pumping rhythmically y/ns juices coated his fingers . His other hand sloped around her neck , eventually this caused her to release all over his hand. Draco's pupils now engulfed his eyes …he was enthralled in pleasure watching her crumble for him . “ Aren’t you a good girl , snarled Draco “squirting for daddy , whilst I love it I don’t recall giving you permission to” .y/n squirmed overcome with pleasure unable to respond.

He unhooked her and brought her to her knees. He ripped her shirt from her mouth and produced his veiny throbbing cock dripping with pre cum. Y/n gasped in astonishment and eagerly attempted to take him all in her mouth bobbing her head enthusiastically until her jaw ached and eyes began to stream. He hurled his head back in pleasure as her tongue gently caressed his pulsating tip. “Ugh yeah just like that baby “ he muttered .

Without warning y/n sucked on the tip with vigour. Draco let out a ferocious moan whilst grabbing y/ns hair fashioning it into a ponytail attempting to make her glide her tongue down the rest of his shaft. He couldn’t have her do that for too long as he surely would finish in her mouth. “You filthy filthy girl “ he beamed as he pulled her off his cock . Rocking her head back spiting in her mouth. He brought yn to her feet and began kissing her deeply interlocking his tongue with hers , she yearned so badly to touch him to feel her skin against his. “ Get over here , I want you leant over this bed frame whilst I fuck you .. I'm going to cum on that pretty pussy then I'm going to put it back in understand!” Firmly instructed Draco . “Yes daddy” that’s my girl he cooed. Draco teasingly stroked his member against her entrance this sent shock waves through y/n causing her to gyrate in hopes he would slip in. Draco caught onto this and his hand came down harshly on her derrière .y/n let out a gasp. “Don’t be greedy now” he laughed tightening his makeshift restraints on her wrists. Relentless with his teasing it was a shock to y/n when Draco abruptly pushed into her. Y/n was in euphoria as was Draco as the warmth of her walls swaddled his manhood.

Draco slammed into y/n her body rattling with pleasure, just then Draco felt himself out to release .. so true to his word he instructed y/n to lay on her back so he could empty his contents onto her. He threw his head back in jubilation upon release. As he went to enter her again this time her was slower much more gentle taking y/n into his arms. “How do you want me to finish you off baby?,like this or I could use my fingers?” Y/n shuddered remembering the bliss she was in from his lengthy fingers so it would be a no brainer to opt for them “Fingers please daddy” she uttered softly.

He untangled himself from her stood up and offered his hand . Taking her across the room he sat down in-front of the floor length mirror instructing y/n to sit in between his legs. “If its fingers you was then its fingers you’ll get but your gonna have to watch me”. His large hand sloped up her neck tenderly chocking her whilst his other massaged at her slit . Y/n was still dripping from earlier so it was light work for him to imbed his fingers into her. Y/n couldn’t take it the combination of Draco's fierce unwavering gaze in the mirror and the sheer bliss she felt with her legs quaking she soon released decorating the mirror in-front her. “Ugh your amazing baby” he beamed kissing her forehead gracefully. “Here let's get you cleaned up and we can cuddle in bed”. “Oh my … I didn't peg you as a cuddling type Draco” y/n laughed gingerly attempting to get up her legs still trembling beneath her. “Shut up you” he scolded “when will you learn there’s a lot you still don’t know about me y/n”.

[sunshineandaisies]

What’s in the Box, Peter?

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader 

Words: ~1.7k

Warnings: fluff, mentions of pregnancy

Note: Happy Mother’s Day to all the baby mommas, the fur mommas, the plant mommas, and all the momma’s in between! 

Ever since you started dating Peter during your freshman year of college, you always spent Mother’s Day with him and May. 

Of course, you always had the customary FaceTime call with your own mother but with the prices of plane tickets constantly increasing, going home to spend the day with your family just wasn’t possible when all your money went towards rent and school expenses. 

So spending the day with Peter and May became tradition, and quite frankly, you wouldn’t have it any other way.

May Parker had practically inducted you into the family after only a few months of dating her nephew, and she was the very definition of what you thought motherhood was all about. She was understanding whenever Peter found himself in trouble - whether it be as Peter Parker or his masked superhero alter ego - and she was always willing to lend an ear whenever you or Peter needed to rant about something (even if it was about each other). She worried about Peter - of course she did - but she let him have his space to make his own mistakes and learn from them. 

She may not have been Peter’s actual mother, but damn did that woman deserve the best Mother’s Day that you and Peter could muster.

You’d stayed at May’s apartment the night before rather than at yours and Peter’s apartment on the other side of the city to save yourself the commute in the morning, and you were infinitely glad that you’d done so. An extra hour of sleep was definitely worth you and Peter squeezing into the small bed in his old bedroom. 

Peter still woke up early, though.

He always did, unable to really sleep in the days leading up to Mother’s Day. He grew restless and quiet, and you didn’t need to ask to know why. 

He pressed his lips to your cheek before he left for his visit to his mother’s grave that morning, his jacket tugged on to protect himself from the early morning chill and a bouquet of flowers in his hand. He whispered a promise of coffee when he returned, and your appreciation for him doubled in an instant.

By the time he returned, you were busy making pancakes and humming along to the song on the radio while May tittered around the kitchen despite your insistence that she let you take care of making breakfast.

It was her day, after all.

“Good morning,” Peter greeted, pressing a styrofoam cup into your hand. He pressed his lips to your temple before greeting May with a hug and wishing her a happy Mother’s Day. He set a small, wrapped box down on the counter, making you cock your head in curiosity.

“What’s that?” you asked, pointing at the box in question with the spatula. You were sure that you had already gotten May a Mother’s Day gift. In fact, you had wrapped her gift yourself the night before. Had you forgotten something? 

“Just a Mother’s Day gift,” he replied vaguely, a smile curling his lips. “You’ll see after breakfast.”

Your gaze kept flitting back to that mysterious little box as you finished stacking pancakes onto a large plate, as you filled three glasses of juice and set the table, and as you and Peter caught May up on all of things that you had accomplished over the course of the last semester. You were just barely managing to contain your curiosity enough to actively keep up the conversation and not be rude, and Peter wasn’t helping any. 

The way that he seemed extra fidgety and the way that his gaze kept flitting to you more than usual while he talked to May about his plans once you were both finally done with grad school had you wondering if you did something wrong or even worse- if he was planning something that you didn’t know about.

Oh, God. Was he going to propose?

Outwardly, you were smiling brightly and nodding in agreement to what Peter was saying about your plans for the summer, but inwardly, you were panicking.

You loved Peter, you really did, and you’d be happy to marry him. Just not now. You’d had the discussion about marriage over a year ago, knowing that you both wanted it at some point, but you and he had both agreed that marriage was off the table until you were both done with school. You both had at least one year of grad school left, and that was only if you - ever the academic - decided to not continue your education with further certification. A proposal was at least a year away, so long as Peter adhered to the agreement you had made nearly two years ago.

You cleared the table with lightning speed once everyone had finished with their breakfast, wanting nothing more than to know what Peter was hiding. You retrieved May’s gift from Peter’s bedroom and placed it in front of her while Peter held onto the small mystery box, his fingers flexing and unflexing nervously. 

Jesus Christ, you were about to implode from impatience and anxiety and-

“This is so cute!” May exclaimed, holding up the small succulent in a pot shaped like a dinosaur. “Did you find this at that shop on 47th?”

“I think so?” Peter looked to you for confirmation, but you only shrugged in response. “Y/N picked out most of the stuff in there. She has a better eye for things than I do.”

“Peter did pick out the wine, though,” you pointed out, nodding towards the fancy bottle of white wine that had cost more than your electrical bill last month. “I will, however, take credit for the plant and the memory foam slippers.”

You shared a small smile with Peter as May looked over her gifts happily. “This is so sweet. Thank you.” She leaned across the table and pulled your both into as tight a hug as she could manage with a table in the way.

“Happy Mother’s Day, May,” Peter told her, and the few happy tears she swiftly brushed away with her thumbs didn’t escape your attention.

“Happy Mother’s Day, May,” you repeated, feeling so incredibly grateful to have May in your life. “You literally deserve the best Mother’s Day for putting up with this guy for most of his life.” You gently nudged Peter in the side with your elbow as you teased, chuckling as he rolled his eyes at you while struggling to fight back an amused smile.

“Whatever,” he scoffed, and it only made you and May laugh harder. “You both love me.”

And suddenly your laughter died as your attention was dragged back to that mysterious little box, now pushed in front of you by Peter. “What’s this?”

“It’s for you,” he answered as if it wasn’t already blatantly obvious.

“I get that, but why?” You observed the small gift nervously. “It’s Mother’s Day, Pete, and I’m very much not a mother. Not unless you count being a plant mother. You didn’t need to get me anything.”

“What?” His face twisted in confusion, brows knit together and lips slightly parted. “You don’t know? I thought you knew.”

What the hell? Your brows knit together as you looked from Peter to May, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. “Know what? I think I would know if I was a mom, Peter.” You let out a breath and started to pull at the wrapping paper. “I mean, thank you for the gift, but this was really unneces-” Your words died on the tip of your tongue as you saw what was tucked neatly into the small box.

You lifted the mug from the box, staring at the words written across the front in pretty pink script. 

‘Happy (Expectant) Mother’s Day’

You blinked, too confused to speak.

“I thought you said she knew,” you heard May whisper to Peter.

“I thought she did!” your boyfriend whispered in return. “I thought she was waiting for today to tell me!”

You finally snapped out of your trance, placing the mug down on the table and turning to Peter. “Can you please explain what’s happening?”

After a beat of silence, he answered, “You’re pregnant.”

You snorted in disbelief. “I think I’d know if I was pregnant, Peter.” You took a second to mentally count the days, and your heart began to beat erratically once you realized you had been so busy with final papers and projects to remember when your last period had been. Well, shit.

“You are,” he said confidently. He draped an arm around the back of your chair before taking your hand in his. “Some nights, when it’s really quiet, I can hear the baby’s heartbeat. Scared the hell out of me when I first heard it.” Instinctively, your hands dropped to your stomach, cradling it tenderly. Leave it to your boyfriend to find out you were pregnant before you did thanks to his hyper-senses. “I thought you knew and you were planning to tell me today, you know, because it’s Mother’s Day.” He scratched the back of his neck and laughed nervously, his gaze flitting to May before he met your eyes again. “I, uh, realize now that you didn’t know.”

“We’re gonna have a baby?” He nodded, lips curling into a smile. “I’m gonna be a mom?” Another nod. “I thought you were gonna propose! I was so nervous!”

“I mean, I can still do that if you want,” he offered, a mischievous twinkle in his chocolate eyes.

“No!” you exclaimed. “I think one big life change is enough for today.”

You shared a soft, sweet kiss with Peter before turning your attention back to the mug on the table. Your fingers curled around it, holding it gently in your hands as you stared at the words again and a smile tugged at your lips.

A gentle hand on yours called your attention away from the mug and to May. The older woman was smiling widely at you and her nephew, i she’d tears glittering in her eyes. “Happy Mother’s Day, Y/N.”

[caker-baker]

The Fall Guy

Ah, hell. Maybe the hero didn’t think this through. This was more of a myth than anything, if myth was the right word.

Or maybe it was just a pizza place and the hero was overthinking things.

Regardless, it wouldn’t hurt to try.

“Uh, hi.” The hero greeted the lanky cashier. “Can I get the hero’s special? I’m willing to pay extra.”

The cashier regarded this with a blink, then another, then finally, to finish off his grand display of emotion, he sighed.

“With or without the ‘save the day’ toppings?”

The hero scrambled to remember what to say. “With, please.”

Now with mild interest, the cashier leaned over. “Down that way, second door on your left.”

“Thank you.” The hero said with narrowed eyes.

Holy hell, that whole interaction felt like a strange dream that was a little too realistic. And that cashier was a bit too intrigued.

Jesus, their heart was beating in their ears at this point.

It could all be a lie, all of it, this could all be an intricate and carefully crafted lie told by a villain, made to lure in unsuspecting heroes to their deaths.

Too late now, their hand was already turning the handle.

Where the hero was expecting some small room that fit logistically with the rest of the joint, there were stairs.

No, they didn’t like this at all. But what was the choice, go down there, or go back outside?

Downstairs it was.

Surprisingly, it got lighter, and larger, a hard contrast to the ominous setting. And with the light came music. Something very upbeat, lots of drums and guitars, and loud.

With their final step, the hero was able to see the cause of the music, two large speakers attached to a phone.

They also got to see the apparent villain, sitting and humming along to the beat.

“Hello?”

The villain, who’s head snapped up, reached to turn down the music before turning around.

If the hero was unsure before, they definitely were unsure now. They couldn’t help being nervous as an oil stained face looked them up and down.

“I know you.” The villain finally said.

“You do?”

The villain hummed in thought. “You were the one involved in the bridge incident two weeks ago, yeah?”

A strange bout of pain overcame the hero.

“Yeah, that was me.”

“Well, no need to look all guilty about it.” The villain stood from their stool, still shielding whatever caused the oil on their face. “Everyone screws up. Is that why you want to leave?”

“No! I’m not running away from that, I’m running away from-”

“You’re getting away from the heroing part. I get it.” The villain reached behind them, grabbing measuring tape. “Mind if I get your measurements?”

“What for?”

“The decoy. Did whoever told you about this not tell you about how it works?” The villain spoke while they untangled the tape.

“No. I didn’t even know if this was real. I thought the cashier was just annoyed by me.”

“Yeah, Paul, he’s just judgy.” The villain stepped closer. “Step on this.”

The hero put a foot on one end of the measuring tape while the villain pulled the rest of it up to the top of the hero’s head.

“Thanks.”

The villain seemed fine in silence, the hero, however, felt like their whole being was vibrating with questions.

When the villain moved away, the hero felt themself breathe out heavily.

“You alright there?” The villain asked, turning away to write something down. “Don’t tell me you’re nervous.”

The hero chuckled awkwardly. “It wouldn’t be very heroic if I was, would it?”

Turning around again, the villain spoke. “Well, considering you won’t be a hero much longer, I won’t hold it against you.”

It all seemed to fall out of the hero at once, words carefully hidden away now in full sight.

“I didn’t even want to be a hero, then one day I was drafted. I don’t know how they found out what I could do, I never registered. All I wanted was to keep my head down, but suddenly I was out with the big leagues.”

Several creases had formed on the hero’s head.

“And then the tracking, oh, God, the tracking. I went out for fast food once without telling anyone, just for a moment of peace, and it was like the world imploded.”

The villain rested their chin in their hand, nodding emphatically every once in a while.

“You know there’s three days of training before they shove you into the world. They don’t care what you run into, as long as you defeat it. ‘Real heroes don’t run’ type bullshit. Ironically, that’s the most freedom we get, going up against something or someone three times our sizes.”

The villain turned their head to the side.

“And there’s a seminar on meeting foreign dignitaries! Meetings on how to address the general public, correct customs for different world leaders. Jesus, I don’t even get a choice on where I stay! I could be shipped off to Japan tomorrow.”

The hero stopped, their eyes glazing over with a strange numbness.

“Then I messed up, put on house arrest. God, that’s the happiest I’ve been in a while. Of course, I did have to beg to go and get ‘pizza’, even after the house arrest. That was the only downside, I guess.”

A beat.

“Are you finished?” The villain asked.

A brilliant scarlet color bloomed across the hero’s face. “Sorry. I got carried away.”

The villain waved them off. “Happens to nearly every one of my customers, sometimes the best therapy is just venting to the fall guy.”

“Fall guy?” The hero echoed, eyebrows furrowing.

That made the villain pause. “Yes? If this was all found out, who do you think would take the fall? Paul?” They laughed.

“Are you never, I don’t know, worried about being caught?”

The villain shrugged half heartedly. “Well, last time it happened, I just packed it up and moved. This time I had to make it pizza. Used to be donuts.” Their lips pursed. “I miss the donuts.”

The hero opened their mouth, then closed it again, trying to figure something out.

“What if-” Those weren’t quite the right words. “What happens if one of your, ah, customers gets loose lips, talks to the wrong person?”

“That, my dear hero, is a matter of trust. And it helps I am financially gifted, powerful. It’s a matter of who would last longer, and it will always be me.”

“I see.”

The villain leaned against their work table. “Hey, do me a favor.”

“Sure.”

“Can you portal something?”

The hero blinked, not expecting that. “Depends on what and how far.”

“Yourself, to a rendezvous point, say, oh, twenty six miles from here.”

The villain was grinning, waiting patiently for the hero to realize their plan.

“You use the heroes who come here, their powers to help them.” They concluded.

“While my decoys certainly do last quite a while, it’s not forever, and heroes often don’t realize the assets they have available. Speaking of, how come you haven’t tried it?”

The hero swallowed. “Portalling a living person is complicated.”

At that, the villain motioned with their hand, urging the hero to tell them what they weren’t saying.

“And,” the hero began. “my portals don’t like technology. The tracker in me could malfunction, electrocuting me before I get all the way through.”

“How did you learn that?” The villain asked, turning to scribble something down.

“The bridge incident was my first mistake as a hero, not a person.”

The villain let out a laugh. “Seems you’re just as morally gray as me.”

“It’s why I can’t be a hero.”

The villain smirked at the self righteousness of the hero, who probably didn’t even realize they were being self righteous.

“And the tracker,” the villain switched subjects. “standard GIM-14U?”

Wait, something wasn’t adding up here. There was something too certain, too familiar about the way it rolled off the villain’s tongue.

“How’d you know?”

The villain tensed, as if they hadn’t expected anyone to pick up in their certainty.

“My clientele often times have the same one.”

“And?” The hero prodded.

They could hear the villain mumble a curse under their breath.

“I used to have one. First prototype, in fact.”

Something else didn’t add up. The first GIM-14U came out several years ago, when the hero was a kid. The villain was barely older than the hero, maybe the same age. Why did the villain have one when it just came out?

It took a moment too long to realize. “You were the child prodigy, the one who vanished.”

The villain did a mock bow, their muscles relaxing slightly. “In the flesh, although technically, I’m M.I.A.”

“Oh, God. Now you-now you get other heroes out.” The hero almost laughed. “That’s genius, it’s the perfect payback, it’s-”

“What makes you think it’s payback? Maybe I just like helping people.” The villain had a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, oh, gosh. I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed-”

The villain held up a hand. “It’s a little bit payback.”

A familiar shade of scarlet crept across the hero’s face, and the former prodigy decided they liked that.

“Now this part is the part most of my customers don’t like - waiting. Your decoy will most likely only take two months. In that time, you need to work on your portalling.” The villain made sure to hold the hero in their gaze. “I will contact you when and where to meet and set up the decoy. I already have your information.”

“How do you-”

“Door frame. Like a metal detector, but more precise. If you are registered on any system anywhere, I’ll know you.”

The hero had relief coming off them in waves. Two months, and all they had to do was practice some portals. And do some heroing, but they could manage.

“You know, you interrupt people a lot.” The tone was joking, and the hero was far too busy trying to contain a smile, there was no time for chiding.

“So I’ve been told.” The villain did smile. “Now, about my payment.”

“Right.” For a second, the hero fumbled around in their pockets, before pulling out a wad of cash.

The villain took it, and began counting the bills, their eyes getting wider.

“‘I’m willing to pay extra’ is just part of the code. You know that, don’t you?”

The hero shrugged. “Do you not want it?”

In the blink of an eye, the money was pocketed by the villain. “I didn’t say that. Pleasure doing business with you.”

The hero nodded, and turned on their heel, then stopped suddenly to ask one final question.

“If you know everyone from the door frame, why bother with the measuring ordeal?”

“Gets people to open up, relax a bit.”

Oh. That was sweet.

“You aren’t a bad person, are you?” Asked the hero.

“Hey now, don’t go telling everybody. My scary reputation could be ruined.”

The hero, a ghost of a smile on their lips, left, back up the stairs, through the pizza place.

Two months.

[yourbuerokrat2]

So this is just to make the writing and the reading easier.

@teeth-go-clink s ask:

I have a scenario you could write about if you’d like? I think with dark Q, as long as it’s still kinda canon Q, he would not let Picard see his dark moments. With him around he would just be soft and dorky and playfully egocentric, but as soon as Picard would leave the room he would go all evil abstract horror ob people who slightly inconvenienced, or were treating him without the respect he deserved. And they probably wouldn’t ever tell Picard about it (even if Q didn’t threaten them) because they’d be too afraid of what that monster would do if the relationship didn’t work and he didn’t have to play the sweet boyfriend anymore

5 times someone didn’t tell Picard the truth about his boyfriend and one time someone (nearly) did

Warning for body horror is mostly for the first one

1. A bureaucratic Admiral

It has been a a rather long and tiring diplomatic mission for the Captain. Especially since one of the conflicting sides did not need to sleep and demanded constant entertainment.

And they refused to have Commander Data for company since he did not have a high enough rank to be worthy of interacting with them.

As soon as the door closed behind him, he felt a presence rather close behind him.

“My, mon capitaine, we have been rather busy dealing with imbeciles lately. And all that built up tension and stress.”

“Hello, Q.”, it comes out more fond than he would have ever imagined when they first began this affaire that grew into a relationship.

“Lucky for you, your charming and overall perfect boyfriend has already planned an emergency vacation. Two weeks on a planet created for just this purpose and you’ll be back in about two seconds.

What do you say?”

If Q had not been on his best behaviour and if Picard had not found out the last few times he gave Q the benefit of the doubt that he really stuck to his words, he would have said no.

But before Picard could reply that as long as Q kept his absence to two seconds  they are free to go, his badge went off.

“Riker to Picard.”

“Picard speaking. What is it, Number One?”

“I am sorry, captain, but Admiral Johnson requests to have a call with you immediatly.”

Time froze. Or to be more specific, time on the Enterprise froze.

And a certain Admiral found himself in front of a very frustrated Q.

“I was this” and the Admiral was suddenly squished between two fingers that started to slowly press against each other, nearly crushing him to deah as a loud voice continued “close to a romantic getaway I have created an entire planet for while having to watch my dear boyfriend work himself to the brink of exhaustion without being allowed to interfere.”

Without so much as a warning Johnson found himself face to face with this dangerous entity that now seemed to consist of the universe itself with black holes and imploding stars scathered across their skin He felt nauseaus and a tad bit mad just trying to look in what appeared to be their eyes.

“And you have the audacity to call upon him after this rather meaningless errand just to”

and the Admiral could feel his mind being invaded by the entity who made sure to let him know about it and about their anger once Q found out the reason behind the Admirals call.

“tell him you need the entire paperwork filled out  and a personal report as soon as possible.”

He not so much heard it as felt it in his head, the being erasing any other thought he might have, leaving behind a pain in his head that was about to drive him to insanity.

When Q finally decided to leave his head alone, he was able to think again.

He wanted to speak or to let Q know, that he now sees the error of his ways and that he will not bother the captain any longer. But he found himself unable to form out a single coherent sound.

Q on the other hand did not seem to care about his opinion on the matter, having already made up his own mind as  Johnson saw what the Admiral guessed to be a wicked grin, it was really hard to tell with Q losing more and more of his human features.

“But I am willing to give you the ‘benefit of the doubt’ as mon capitaine always says. Perhaps the reason for your insistence on the bureaucrat procedure without giving a thought about how tired Picard must be feeling was less out of malice and more because you have no idea what exhaustion feels like.

Let me help you with that.”

And Q snapped his fingers and suddenly the Admiral was on a running track. Sweating profusely under a scorching sun.

“Go on. Run. I promise, as soon as you have reached the finish point I will send you right back on your way.”, came a voice from above.

Still unable to defend himself vocally nor seeing any other way out, the Admiral started running. Really, it did not seem to be a particularly long run, sine he was already able to see the finish line after a while.

Now, if only his back wouldn’t feel so heavy.

The more he ran the heavier his back got, until he had to resort to go on all fours.

And was he… shrinking? The grass around him seemed to get bigger and bigger and the finishing point further away than it should be.

His sweat was feeling less like sweat and more like a sticky strange liquid that was covering his body and his eyes too started to feel rather weird. Like they wanted to stretch out of his eye sockets.

“A rather funny thing about some of you organics is that each one of you can develop a sort of fear or disgust to something much smaller than yourselves. For Jean-Luc it’s spiders, for Klingons it’s Tribbles and when I got a look into your rather pathetic mind, guess what I found?”

Laughter filled the entire space around him, as realization began to hit him.

But what was he supposed to do? The only thing he could hope for, was that he would be able to cross the finish line in time before it was too late.

When he could feel his legs and arms disappear, his mind followed.

All that was left of him when he finished the race was a small snail that was not capable of any thought other than that it needed to move forward.

Picking the snail up, Q smiled at it. “You know, the french have some rather nice recipies for things like you.

But I am a god of my word.”

Q snapped his fingers and they were once again in the Admirals office with a now terrified Admiral and an amused looking Q, who were both back in their human forms.

“I do believe, that our little misunderstanding has been solved and that you will tell your collegues that should they do the same mistake as you were about to make, then I shall treat them like the insects they are.”

Still unable to talk, the Admiral only nodded franticly.

“Good, now I am going to have to eradicate your fear for a while. Wouldn’t want you to have a panic attack while talking to my dear Jean-Luc.

Because there are certain things he does not have to know about. Do you understand?”

In this situation Admiral Johnson, was willing to understand just about anything, if only to make the entity leave.

And just as Q disappeared, so did his fear and as he looked at the screen to see a clearly tired captain Picard with a smiling Q in the background. He managed to excuse himself by saying how good of a job Picard did and that he wanted to cancel his next visit to the Enterprise out of private reasons.

Needless to say, a warning was issued to most Admirals that would have to deal with the Enterprise in the future.

Up next, because I am really liking this prompt, but don’t have the time to write everything down just yet:

2 Riker

3. Deanna Troi

4. Beverly Crusher

5. The Continuum

+ Guinan

[storytellerofuntoldlegends]

an icarus and his sun: chapter 3

A/N: seablings headcanon? seablings headcanon. (i adore jimmy and lizzie's dynamic, they're siblings ur honor. and joel makes a pretty great in-law tbh)

Warnings: arguing, flirting, teasing/banter

AO3 Link - Tumblr Masterpost 

-

Katherine was extremely serious about the “no weapons” thing. Not a single tool was allowed, not even shovels or hoes. She had everyone place their weapons and tools in specifically marked chests, assuring each of them that they could get them back after the meeting, and that her iron golems would protect them from any threats if they were to arise. Besides, the chests were just at the entrance of her castle, visible from the meeting table. They could easily rush to their weapons if need be. It didn’t mean anyone was less jumpy about it, though. And Jimmy was particularly antsy- Fwhip was practically glowering at the table, and while Sausage looked outwardly cheerful, there was an edge to every word he spoke. Jimmy couldn’t fight the paranoia that one or both of them had snuck weapons to the meeting, and was just waiting for the right moment to strike.

And then there was Scott. There wasn’t anything outwardly shifty about the winged elf, but… there was definitely… something. Jimmy wasn’t sure what it was, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off Scott. He was perfectly poised, as always, every hair in place and wings mantled. There was something elegant and serene about Scott as he listened to Katherine speak with a gentle smile. His gaze was focused on her, and Jimmy tried to search those icy blue eyes for any hint of malice. He found nothing but kindness, and that was what worried him. Surely Scott should be up to something… right? He had seemed so hostile the other day, but then they both apologized to each other… maybe he had nothing to worry about. But then there was that strange, soft yet calculating look he had given Jimmy, like he could finally start seeing the complete picture a puzzle would make. Was that something bad?

Jimmy’s thoughts were interrupted by Scott’s eyes suddenly meeting his, one eyebrow raised. Jimmy tried his best not to jump as he quickly looked away, focusing on Katherine. He could still feel Scott’s eyes on him, and absurdly, Jimmy felt like he was melting. Figures that Scott would have secret laser eyes or something. He wouldn’t even need a weapon, that was his plan all along. Surely that’s why Jimmy felt like he was going to implode, he definitely wasn’t embarrassed. Definitely. Thankfully, Scott’s eyes shifted away as Katherine spoke again.

“Now, there is one very important thing I wanted to discuss at this meeting. I don’t know if any of you have heard, but there are some new empires rising up. I think we should do our best to welcome the new rulers,” Katherine said. For the first time in the whole meeting, Fwhip looked interested. Somehow that scared Jimmy more than when he was grumpy and despondent.

“What would you suggest?” Fwhip asked, voice smooth and suspiciously charming. Jimmy didn’t like his tone one bit, but Katherine seemed to fall for it, beaming at Fwhip’s sudden interest.

“I would like to hold the first ever House Blossom Ball. All rulers will be invited, and it will be held in honor of the two new empires in our lands,” she explained.

“Oh that sounds wonderful!” Gem exclaimed, and excited murmurs of agreement circled through the room. But Jimmy felt uneasy. He did like the idea of a ball, dancing and dressing up fancy with friends sounded fun! But Fwhip’s excitement didn’t sit quite right with him, and there was the other issue of the two new empires. How did they know they could really trust them? Establishing a good relationship was important, yes, but was inviting them in so openly the best idea? Jimmy had tried being so open before, but look where that got him. A war over a disc, and a ravine on the outskirts of his empire. And now whatever was happening between him and Scott. Then suddenly, as if just thinking of him prompted him to speak, Scott brought up one of the very things that Jimmy was worried about.

“What do we know about these empires? Do you think we can trust them?” he asked. The excited murmurs stopped, something uneasy settling in the air instead. Katherine faltered for a moment, but kept her head high.

“The House Blossom Ball will hold the same rule as our meetings now do: no weapons. So unwarranted attacks will not be an issue. And not a lot is known about the other empires… they are just starting out, after all. One of them is in the jungle, and his empire can only be found if you are lost. The other empire seems to have sprouted up from nowhere, but its ruler has come a long way to settle here. In a way, both are lost. As the ten ruling powers in this land, I think it is our duty to welcome them so that they won’t have to be lost anymore,” Katherine said firmly.

“Poetic,” Fwhip said, voice a little overly saccharine for Jimmy’s liking. Katherine seemed a little put off by his tone as well, but didn’t comment on it. A determined frown came to Jimmy’s face. His skepticism be damned, he was going to support Katherine. He turned to her and smiled, reaching out to gently clasp Katherine’s hand, not unlike how she had after the last meeting.

“I agree with you, Katherine. Let’s help them be found,” Jimmy said softly, giving her hand a light squeeze before letting go. Katherine smiled at the touch, seeming grateful that Jimmy backed her up.

“Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Jimmy,” Scott said dryly. Jimmy looked to Scott in surprise, expecting more of a fight, some clever retort or thought-out reason for why the ball couldn’t happen.

“Thank you, Scott,” Jimmy said, unable to keep a small smile off of his face. Scott’s nose scrunched up in irritation- and yup, there was the Scott he knew. Always looking at Jimmy with disdain or irritation.

“I was more supporting Katherine here than anything else,” Scott pointed out with a huff.

“But you specifically mentioned me…” Jimmy trailed off with a teasing grin. Scott’s cheeks tinted pink, just ever so slightly- but he still glared at Jimmy in frustration.

“Shut up,” he muttered. Jimmy grinned wider.

“Make me,” he teased, parroting Scott’s words from the last meeting. Sausage gasped, excitedly tapping Pearl’s arm as she shushed him and muttered something about how we had talked about this, Sausage.

“Well… we definitely have two supporters of the ball, any other thoughts?” Katherine asked, not-so-subtly changing the subject.

“I am absolutely in support, it sounds fun!” Gem replied, elbowing Fwhip. He jumped, and nodded in agreement.

“If Scott and Jimmy are going to be there, I definitely want to see what goes down,” Sausage chimed in with a grin. Scott and Jimmy both made an offended sound, but Pearl spoke up before either of them could say anything.

“And it’s a good diplomatic foot forward with the two new empires, Sausage. I think the ball is a lovely idea, Katherine,” Pearl said, offering an apologetic smile to both Scott and Jimmy for Sausage’s comment.

“I’m in too! I’d love a chance to dress all fancy and dance with Joel,” Lizzie added, linking arms with Joel and gazing up at him with a charming smile. Joel blushed a bit, and nodded his agreement as well.

“Well, since it seems like everyone else is going to this dance, guess I’d better show up too,” Pixl said with a nonchalant shrug and a grin. Katherine clapped her hands in excitement.

“Oh wonderful! I think I’ll cut this meeting short then, I have a lot of preparations to take care of, and I will send out the invitations soon!” Katherine said, rising from the table. The other rulers followed her lead, each of them bidding her goodbye before they went to their respective chests to retrieve their weapons and tools.

“I look forward to the ball, Katherine. I’m sure it’ll be a blast,” Fwhip said with a bow of his head and a cocky grin. Katherine beamed in response.

“Thank you! I’m glad to see you’re excited!” she replied, bowing her head to Fwhip as well. Jimmy still wasn’t sure how he felt about Fwhip’s sudden interest at the meeting… but then again Fwhip was only really Jimmy’s enemy. He and Katherine were on good terms, after all. He should trust Katherine’s judgement, even if he didn’t like Fwhip. He did, however, wait until Fwhip left to walk up to Katherine and bid her goodbye.

“See you later, Katherine! I’m excited for the ball, I’m sure with you in charge it will go great!” he said with a grin. Katherine laughed, blushing slightly.

“Aw, thanks Jimmy! And who knows, maybe the ball will not only forge new alliances with the new empires, but will strengthen or fix the bonds of the current ones,” Katherine said, glancing pointedly at Scott, whose back was to them as he looked over his weapons, before she looked back at Jimmy. She smiled not-so-innocently, and Jimmy’s face flushed in embarrassment.

“I- well, I dunno about that. But… maybe. Today’s meeting didn’t go too bad, right?” Jimmy asked with a hopeful smile. Katherine giggled.

“Right! You guys are really turning a corner here, I can feel it!” she chirped. Jimmy laughed, shaking his head.

“Whatever you say, Katherine. I’ll be off now,” Jimmy said, bowing his head.

“Bye!” Katherine replied, bowing her head too and offering a little wave as Jimmy left. He waved back, and was still smiling to himself as he met Joel and Lizzie outside. The two of them had their elytra on, and there was a smug grin on Lizzie’s face that Jimmy didn’t like one bit.

“What’s that smile for?” Jimmy asked with a laugh as he equipped his elytra.

“Oh, I was just thinking about how you couldn’t contribute anything to the first half of the meeting because you were making eyes at a certain elf,” Lizzie said with a teasing lilt.

“I wasn’t ‘making eyes,’ I was making sure that he wasn’t up to anything!” Jimmy spluttered.

“Sure you were,” Lizzie crooned, taking off before Jimmy got a chance to respond. Joel sighed, smiling sympathetically at him before following after Lizzie. Jimmy took off too, the conversation far from over, in his opinion.

-

Jimmy wasn’t quite fast enough to keep up with Lizzie, but she and Joel waited for him on the dock outside of his house. The three of them had often hung out and chatted on the dock, long before Joel and Lizzie had gotten married or even began courting. Their empires had been much smaller then, but the bond between the three of them hadn’t changed. Which was why Jimmy was (affectionately) furious with Lizzie for implying something about himself and Scott. He sat down beside her, feet dangling over the water.

“Explain yourself, right now,” Jimmy huffed, trying to put on an angry act but couldn’t really keep it up with Lizzie. She smiled far too innocently at him, and okay. Maybe he could manage a frustrated expression pointed at her.

“I mean, she’s got a point. Plus I heard about that uh- scuffle, you two had,” Joel said, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he leaned forward to look past Lizzie at Jimmy.

“Ooh yeah, Katherine did tell us about that. You’d better watch out for those land boys, Jimmy. They’re trouble,” Lizzie said with a mock-concerned tone, but her playful grin gave her away. Joel shifted to look at Lizzie with an offended noise.

“Babe, I’m right here,” he said, near pouting.

“I know what I said. You’re trouble, King of Mezalea,” Lizzie teased.

“Like you’re any better, Ocean Queen,” Joel replied with a laugh. Lizzie giggled, playfully swatting at Joel's arm.

"You may be right, but this is about Jimmy’s troublesome land boy," Lizzie pointed out as she turned back to Jimmy.

"He's not my land boy!" he protested, face heating up slightly.

"Aww, that blush says otherwise!" Lizzie teased.

“He could be your land boy if you weren’t so busy trying to kill each other,” Joel chimed in.

“That’s exactly why he’s never gonna be ‘mine,’ he hates me, and I hate him! There’s nothing else going on!” Jimmy protested.

“Are you sure you two hate each other? You seemed pretty friendly at the meeting today,” Joel pointed out, voice a bit more gentle than the teasing tone it had been before. Jimmy sighed.

“That’s only cause Katherine insisted on us apologizing to each other when we uh. Fought. We’re only playing nice for Katherine’s sake,” Jimmy said sheepishly.

“Uh huh. Or you’re playing nice because you think Scott is pretty,” Lizzie teased, elbowing Jimmy playfully.

“I don’t think he’s pretty! I- I mean objectively he looks nice I guess but it’s more irritating than anything! How can a guy be so perfectly poised and elegant all the time, it’s annoying!” Jimmy spluttered. Joel and Lizzie exchanged amused, bewildered looks before looking back at Jimmy.

“Wow, you really do have it bad for him, huh,” Joel commented with a disbelieving laugh. Jimmy made an offended sound, opening his mouth to retort but was halted by Lizzie patting his arm comfortingly.

“It’s okay Jimmy, I’m sure Scott will come around and see what a sweet swamp boy you are,” she crooned, Jimmy flushing at the childhood nickname Lizzie always used for him.

“You two are impossible, nothing’s going to happen between us! And I’d prefer it that way!” Jimmy shot back with a frown.

“Methinks the cod boy protests too much,” Joel said dryly.

“I’m the Codfather, thank you very much,” Jimmy huffed.

“Hey, maybe if things work out really well, you’ll be a Codhusband,” Lizzie replied with a sly grin. Jimmy buried his face in his hands, trying to hide how bright red he was.

“Stop iiiit,” he whined. Lizzie only laughed, but threw an arm around his shoulders to give a small hug in apology. Joel reached around Lizzie to pat Jimmy’s back, and despite the teasing he had endured from them, Jimmy felt pleasantly warm and comforted all the same. Although to be fair, Joel and Lizzie always playfully teased him. But it would often end like this, the three of them nestled close together on the edge of the dock, watching the sun set over the water.

-

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[infernalrevenge]

Lady D confronting Y/N who is going to College and has a lot of anxiety and fear(Weird request,lol)

This isn't weird at all! I think everyone who went to college, especially those who had to move far away, would have liked a bit of comfort from someone about going into a new environment. I don't know if this was what you felt, anon, but I hope the comfort of Tall Pseudo-Vampire Lady would suffice.

Side note: I wrote part of this while drinking wine soooooo yeah. Maybe I made some parts to be a little too emotional.

Placed under read more for length (yes I definitely got carried away with this one, again.)

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

Alcina had been keeping a close eye on you the past few weeks, especially since she was aware of your eventual departure.

You were frazzled and a bundle of nerves, to put it lightly. You constantly went over your flight details, checked the school website whenever you had internet access with a mix of wistfulness and dread on your face, you visited the Duke often for supplies you "might need, just in case" -- plenty of things that might have set off the alarm that you weren't doing so hot mentally.

The Lady was feeling similarly, though she wasn't sure if it was because your energy had rubbed off on her or that these thoughts had always been there but they were coming to light now that the inevitable was going to happen.

She was as excited as you were when you got your letter of acceptance, and even threw a little celebration for you with her daughters. She knew how hard you had been working toward this goal, and to see things finally unfold after months of anticipation and anxiety made it all worth it.

She was already aware that you had to move away from them for a while, she had accepted this. Or at least, she thought she had. Because as much as she trusted that you would do well for yourself there, wherever you may end up, she was still worried.

Mostly for your safety and well-being, but also (rather selfishly) for herself. She couldn't be with you while you went through with this new chapter in your life, and for some reason that didn't sit right with her.

At first, she did try to talk to you and convince you to go somewhere a little closer to home. She wanted to be able to visit you and check up on you instantly. She was going to miss you, and she didn't want to miss out too much on this part of your life.

She had the comnections anyway, she could pull strings to get you anywhere you wanted within the area. But you were put off by it -- you worked hard to get to where you wanted to go, not only would it feel like a waste to put it off but also disingenious to take up her offer of networking to get somewhere where others had to work for too.

Surely Alcina, a woman of her own making, could understand that, right?

If you're adamant and insist on going to your choice of college, then she might relent. She'll be petty about it for a few weeks but she will eventually accept that this was your wish.

But seeing you now, barely able to sleep weeks before your trip to the new area and campus, it didn't help quell her fears.

Part of her thinks this will pass; after all, if you were stubborn enough to stick to your guns about going to your college of choice, then she should trust your judgement... right?

She watches you in silence for a few days, seeing how you deal with this new stressor. She listens when you start to rant lightheartedly about how many classes you're going to have to take, which electives you want to take up, how big the school is and how you hope you won't get lost.

She also offers a comforting gesture every now and then when you start to ramble, perhaps a hand to cup your cheek or one placed on your knee, just to ground you. And it helps. Sometimes.

Three nights before you were going to leave, you found yourself staring at your acceptance letter and registration details, when you were already supposed to be asleep. It was nearly three in the morning, but your mind was more awake than ever.

It brought forth all your insecurities and fears about going to some place new -- what if you don't make friends? What if you flunk out on your first year? What if this letter wasn't even meant for you and it was all a mistake and your planning would have been all for nothing once you got there? Why did you even bother?

All of them came crashing down on you and finally... you sob. You crumple the letter in your hands and cry into it, soaking the paper with snot and tears. The voice in your head telling you you shouldn't go was ringing louder than ever before. This was a mistake, this was a mista--

Alcina placed a gentle hand on your back, crouching next to you on the chair you sat on. You feebly rubbed at your tear-stained cheeks and inhaled loudly, your vision slightly blurred as you tried to stop the corners of your lips from pulling down any further.

"Darling, come to bed. Let's talk." Her tone didn't leave much room for argument, but you were also too tired to anyway. Feeling like a child, you let her take your hand to make the short trip to your shared chambers.

Once you got in, you barely had to be prompted before you started voicing out what had been tormenting you the past days -- or at least ypu tried to. Apparently, all Alcina understood in between your sobs and sniffles was "shouldn't go", "mistake", and "lost". It was enough to confirm her suspicions of your second thoughts.

If this had happened weeks ago, she would have taken the chance to convince you again of going somewhere nearby instead. But she hated seeing you like this, not after you spent so long fighting for what you wanted.

She knew you still wanted to go, it wasn't like you to back out so last minute when it was already within your reach. She made sure to tell you this once you had calmed down enough so you would understand her. The stress was getting to you and it was doing a terrible number on your mental health.

All the while, she kept physical contact with you. Suddenly being so small wasn't so bad with your hand completely enveloped by hers.

You took deep breaths, eyes puffy and red, drowsy and barely able to think anymore. You think you got what Alcina was trying to say, but you didn't have it in you to process it all yet.

She quietly settled beside you and wrapped an arm around you, pulling you close as you drifted off.

The morning after, you two talked about it again over breakfast in her private study. Her daughters were a bit confused as to why you two didn't join them but Alcina only explained it was a private matter.

She reiterated what she said last night, about your hard work and the mental toll of the new burdens you may have to face. You talk, she listens, and vice versa. It feels very... productive somehow, despite the fatigue from last night still being fresh in your mind.

She mentioned that she was always there for you. You knew that. Sometimes it was hard for you to believe (through no fault of her own) bit hearing it from her helped alleviate that, even for just a moment.

You spent the rest of the day not doing anything related to your departure at Alcina's behest. She saw you were extremely meticulous in the week leading up to it so she was sure you were more than prepared. You needed to relax and let your mind think of something else, lest you implode. Wouldn't want our future college student burning out before the semester even starts, right?

The day you were going to leave, Alcina and the girls unfortunately couldn't leave the village. However, they still bade you goodbye and gave some parting gifts. Daniela was sure to remind you of your promise to return during the holidays, especially since they may not be able to reach you.

You turned to your lover, a small smile on your face as you thanked her for everything. The talk from a few days ago helped. It didn't completely ease your worries, but it was enough to calm you and help you think clearly again. You thanked her for reminding you of your ambitions and dreams.

"You built those dreams all on your own, who would I be if I didn't support the person I love on their pursuits? Even in times you don't believe in yourself, just know that I do. I believe in you always, my love."

Alcina was quite teary-eyed herself, giving you one more tight hug and a kiss to remember her by. It was only going to be a few months, but still a few months too long.

But it was comforting to know you had a family back home waiting for you.

[scxrsgxrd]

A Roman request I received through my DMs: Could you do a smut that’s like really dirty and absolutely rough with a blood kink then with a little bit of sweet aftercare. I hope you enjoy! :)

This piece is 18+ and contains a period/blood kink.

(Time for some nasty Roman.)

“Get fucking dressed.” Roman hissed for the sixth time that evening, rubbing at his temples as you frowned and shook your head once more, pulling the blanket up to your chin as you lay flat on your back on the couch.

You had started your period the previous morning, and as ever, it happened to come at the most inconvenient time. Roman had some function at Godfrey Industries in around an hours time, and your cramps were debilitating. You had spent most of the day with a tub of chocolate ice cream and a hot water bottle pressed against your lower half, while Roman growled and muttered a different insult each time he walked past you.

“I mean it, sweetheart.” Roman leaned his head forward, almost showing his teeth like an aggressive dog as his voice lowered. You knew you were in for it, but you just could not bring yourself to put on a fancy gown and heels while Roman paraded you around in front of a large group of posh, old snobs.

“Ro, I told you. Go without me.” You mumbled, trying to shoo him away as you craned your head to the television screen to browse through Netflix once more. A loud gasp left you as Roman snatched the remote out of your hand and launched it across the room, cocking his brow.

“Yeah? Now what? Looks like you’re gonna have to come with me.” He folded his arms defiantly, nodding his head toward the stairs to indicate for you to get dressed.

You rolled your eyes and glared at him for a few seconds, but you knew there was no way of bargaining with him. You dramatically swung your legs off the couch and stood up, dragging the blanket with you. But Roman’s attention had been lost on you. His eyes were fixed on the couch. It wasn’t the couch itself he was glaring down at, rather a stain on the cushion, a red stain.

“Shit.” You muttered, your cheeks flushing as looked downwards to see that your sweatpants had an identical stain on them. Roman’s gaze flickered between your crotch and the sofa, his pupils beginning to dilate as he swiped his tongue over his bottom lip.

“I’m sorry, Roman. I’ll go get something to clean it with.” You were about to rush into the kitchen when Roman sidestepped in front of you.

“Lie down.” His voice was low again, but not like before. This time his tone wasn’t laced with anger.

Now you were the defiant one. You cocked your brow in the same way Roman had done just a few minutes earlier. “I thought I needed to get dressed.”

“Lie. Down.”

The look on his face made you gulp. You lay down on the sofa, your chest rising and falling at a rapid pace, the anticipation began to make your lower half tingle. Sex with Roman was feral, but sex with Roman while on your period went so far beyond this that there was no accurate way to describe it.

Roman stood still, his eyes resting on the stain covering the front of your sweatpants as his nostrils flared slightly. The scent was intoxicating to him, and he could feel his self control begin to dwindle as he stepped over to the couch.

But Roman was careful, as he knelt on the edge of the sofa he reached over and rested his fore and middle fingers under your chin.

“You don’t mind me doing this?” He murmured, taking a deep breath as he gripped onto his thigh with his other hand, he was desperate to taste you, to feel your warmth against his tongue.

“No, Roman. I don’t mind.” You smiled at him, helping him to pull down your sweatpants and panties.

A low groan left Roman when he saw the tampon still inside you, curling the string around his finger as he gave it a gentle tug, his whole body tensing as he watched it exit you, a small pool of blood leaking onto the couch as he pulled slowly and carefully.

“Roman.” You hissed, feeling your cheeks flush. He flashed you his trademark wicked smirk, tossing the tampon over his shoulder and setting his gaze on his ultimate prize.

Roman was never one to hold back; and administering oral sex was no different. His tongue immediately delved into your folds, his eyes rolling to the back of his head when the taste of you hit his tongue. For Roman, there was nothing more sexy than giving you head during your time of the month. Not only were you more sensitive but he derived pleasure from it too, his animalistic nature revelling in the sight before him.

You felt your back arch off the couch when Roman attached his lips onto your clit, sucking and licking the most sensitive part of you while his middle finger teased at your entrance, easing itself in as Roman shoved both of your legs over his shoulders to allow him better access. It didn’t take long for you to get close, you began to squirm as your walls squeezed Roman’s finger, indicating to him that you were just seconds away from release; but that didn’t fit his plan.

“Not just yet, honey, You’re gonna cum while I’m fucking you.” Roman’s voice was gruff, and when he pulled backwards you could see the red coating on his lips and chin. When Roman removed his finger from you he looked into your eyes as he brought the finger up to his lips, and you let out a small gasp when he slid it between his lips. A growl left him as he licked and sucked his finger clean, the small taster of you only left him wanting more.

He began to unbuckle his belt, nimble fingers moving as quickly as they could. You sat up slightly and pulled at his dress pants until they were round his ankles, rubbing your palm over the growing bulge in his boxers while Roman’s teeth sunk into his bottom lip.

“Daddy’s gonna fuck you, and he’s gonna fuck you real hard, m’kay?” 

All you could do was nod as Roman began to position himself above you, he knelt between your thighs and hooked his large hands behind your knees, sliding your legs back over his shoulders, almost mimicking the position he had you in just minutes ago. When he rose up on his knees you winced slightly at the stretch, but before you could register this pain Roman slammed into you with all his mite, a loud squeak escaping from you as your jaw went slack.

Roman kept this impressive pace, one hand gripping at a cushion while the other rested on your thigh to keep you in position. Every few seconds he’d glance down at where you were both connected, marvelling at the sight of his crimson coated cock. This was the sight that Roman got off on. This was the time when his godforsaken monster-half could take over him, and though he had little control over his upir nature, he knew he would never allow himself to hurt you. No matter how caught up he became during this time, no part of him would inflict harm on the person he loved most in the fucked up world he apart of.

You could tell that Roman was stuck inside his head, so you reached your hand up and cupped the left side of his jaw, snapping him out of whatever trance he was in. He gave you a small smile in return, and released his grip on the cushion to put his fingers to better use. His thumb began to trace harsh circles on your clit, and you could feel the tension begin to build up inside of you, only made more intense by Roman’s relentless thrusts as he rolled his hips into you at a slower pace. He knew this would make you feel every movement, and in the second where you thought you were going to implode Roman found your sweet spot, the spot that made your face contort and your whole body freeze.

“Mmm, that’s right sweetheart. Let it all out for daddy.” Roman cooed as he angled his hips to hit that spot over and over. This combined with the feeling of his thumb pressed against your clit was enough for you to let go of the orgasm that had been brewing up inside you. Your arms flailed, hands trying to grab whatever they could as you felt the rush of pleasure course through your body, incoherent babblings leaving your lips as your whole body convulsed.

Witnessing you let go because of his own ministrations made Roman’s cock twitch, and his thrusting became sloppier as his shoulders stooped. He turned his head to one side, pressing his lips against the soft skin of your inner thigh before sinking his teeth into it, grunting and growling as you felt hot spurts of his cum fill you.

You lay there panting while Roman pulled out of you, gazing down at the blood covering his cock as you kicked his thigh gently and ordered him to clean himself up.

After a few minutes he sauntered back over to you, a wet towel in one hand and a tampon in the other. You watched as he spread your legs, wiping over your thighs with the towel before ghosting it up and down your pussy, cocking his brow as you jolted slightly. He chuckled as you frowned at him and unwrapped the tampon, sliding a cushion underneath your ass to allow him a better view for his task. Roman managed to expertly insert the tampon inside you and planted a kiss on your clit, murmuring softly to you about how much of a good girl you had been for him. You knew that while he was in one of his softer moods you could try to push your luck with him.

“Do this mean we can stay in tonight?”

[nicknellie]

Anonymous requested: Can I request a one bed trope for willex?

Oh, you absolutely can request that! I’m a sucker for this trope and I think this is my second time ever writing it (first for this fandom) so this was a lot of fun to get into. Thank you for the request, anon!

Champagne and Roses

Alex was never trusting Luke to book a hotel again. There was a reason Flynn handled admin for the band despite not being in it, and that reason was that all the actual bandmates were useless at it. Still, Luke had found a hotel that he had described as “super insane, like bro, it’ll be awesome, I promise” and had insisted on being the one to book it so nobody had the surprise of what was so good about it ruined for them. But it looked like Alex was set to reap the consequences.

Technically, Julie and the Phantoms were on tour, but what they were really using the opportunity for was something more akin to a road trip with just their nearest and dearest. Alex, Luke, Julie, and Reggie were there to attend their shows and meet-and-greets, Flynn had come along as their manager, but Carrie and Willie were also tagging along for the fun of it. So far they had stopped off at six different venues around North America, and they were on their way to the seventh, namely the hotel Luke was so pumped about.

He hadn’t stopped talking about it since they’d got in the tour bus the previous night, and it was starting to drive Alex a little insane. He was sat on one of the bus’s plush sofas with a cushion clamped over his ears as he tried to drown Luke’s voice out, but it wasn’t working all too well. Sat next to him, Willie was clearly trying not to laugh at him.

“I know I said I wouldn’t tell you guys anything about the hotel,” Luke was saying, the biggest grin plastered across his face, “but just wait until you see the pool. It’s gigantic, and there’s like a thousand slides. And Reggie, bro, you’re gonna love the breakfast buffet they set out, from the photos on their website it looks like they’ve got literally everything.”

“It sounds expensive,” Flynn called from the front seat, sat between Julie (who was taking her turn at driving the bus) and Carrie, who was somehow managing to paint her nails immaculately in a moving vehicle on the highway. “If you’ve blown the band’s budget on a hotel, Luke Patterson, I’m going to hop back there and murder you.”

“It wasn’t that expensive,” Luke said, looking sheepish. Still, Flynn’s threat shut him up a little – Alex decided it was probably better not to ask how much Luke had spent on the booking. “Besides, I saved money by booking shared rooms instead of individual ones.”

That grabbed Alex’s attention. If ever they were away as a band they shared rooms – Alex would buddy up with Luke and Reggie, and Julie and Flynn would be together – but this time there were two extra people in the mix, and Alex didn’t really see how it would work having Willie and Carrie share a room when they hardly spoke to each other outside of this kind of setting.

“Who’s with who?” Alex asked, removing the cushion from his ears and setting it down next to him. A moment later, Willie reached across Alex’s midriff, plucked the pillow from the sofa, and put it behind his own head, laying back comfortably. Alex’s pretended that he wasn’t blushing profusely at the brief touch.

“Well, we can probably change it if we want to once we get there, but I’m with Julie, Flynn and Carrie are together, Reggie’s got a room to himself, and you’re with Willie.”

Alex had no idea how to react. The moment Luke had spoken, his mind had imploded. At every other hotel they’d stayed at so far, everyone had got their own room, purely to give themselves some alone time because they were spending every minute of every day together on the tour and it could get a little suffocating. To go from that to sharing a room with Willie of all people?

Luke had to have known what he was doing. He knew how Alex felt about Willie, so this plan had to have been formed in the deep dark corner of his brain that was designated for doomed matchmaking. It wasn’t like Alex had never shared a room with Willie before, but they had always chosen to, it had never been forced upon them like this. He couldn’t help but wonder what Willie made of it, if his heart was hammering the same way Alex’s was, if the thought of sharing a room made him giddy and nauseous all at the same time too.

He cast a quick, careful glance in Willie’s direction, only to see that his expression had remained completely unchanged, which was unhelpful. Complete neutrality could mean anything. Still, Alex supposed it was better than Willie looking annoyed or disgusted or downright angry at the thought of sharing a room together.

This was silly, Alex told himself. He had shared a room with Willie before, they’d had the occasional sleepover and it had always been lovely. There was no reason that this time should be any different. He tried to calm himself, school his features into something resembling nonchalance.

“Alex,” Reggie said, sounding concerned, “are you feeling travel-sick again? You look like you’re about to vomit all over Willie.”

Apparently nonchalance hadn’t worked.

Alex seized the opportunity. “A little bit of fresh air might be nice,” he said.

Julie pulled over a minute or so later and Alex hopped out of the tour bus. They had pulled off the highway a while back and were now on a much smaller road lined with tall hedges and completely deserted except for their bus. Alex let a gentle wind wash over his flushed face, closed his eyes, and let himself calm down a bit.

It would be fine.

“Hey,” came a voice behind him, startling him. Alex jumped and looked to see Willie stood beside him, his hair blowing elegantly behind him. Not for the first time, Alex wondered how he managed to look like an angel constantly. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Alex replied, trying to smile. “The roads were getting a little twisty. I’ll just take a minute to cool off. I’m fine, though.”

He leaned back against the cool metal of the tour bus and felt Willie do the same. He could feel Willie’s side pressed against his and his heart starting beating faster at the slight contact. Their fingers brushed gently together and Alex felt a smile tugging at his lips.

“If you don’t want to share a room with me, that’s fine,” Willie said. He rushed the words out as if he didn’t really want to say them, avoiding eye contact until he’d finished speaking. Then he turned to look at Alex – Alex was bad at reading expressions at the best of times, and all he could make out of Willie’s right then was something close to nervousness. He just couldn’t pinpoint why.

“No,” he assured Willie quickly, “I don’t mind. I do. I do want to share with you, I mean. It’s cool. We’re cool.”

“You sure?” Willie asked, sounding unconvinced. “Because the moment Luke mentioned it you freaked.”

Alex felt himself blush faintly. “No, I told you, it was just the roads getting too twisty. I’m not worried about sharing with you, if that’s what you think.”

“So we’re okay?”

“Of course.”

“Great,” Willie said. He beamed, and Alex couldn’t help but smile back. It was impossible not to smile when Willie did. “I’m going to head back onto the bus. Take as long as you need – I don’t think any of us want to clean up after you again.”

“That was one time and it was four years ago,” Alex protested, though he couldn’t help but smile at Willie’s teasing. At that, any nerves he’d had were gone; how could he be worried about being with Willie when doing just that was so easy? “I’ll come back in a minute.”

As Willie disappeared back onto the bus, Alex closed his eyes and leaned his head back again. His panic was replaced with butterflies in his stomach, silly with excitement at the thought of what the night might hold. Not much, he reminded himself, it was just sharing a room with a friend. Still, he suddenly couldn’t wait.

To Luke’s credit, the hotel was amazing. They arrived there in the late afternoon, checked in, and had their luggage taken up to their rooms for them, leaving them free to explore the hotel. The pool looked bigger than the actual building, with six different slides, people zooming out of them gleefully every few moments. They found the restaurant, which was currently preparing for dinner, and the smells wafting from the kitchen were to die for. There were bikes to hire (Julie suggested a group bike ride which led to mixed responses from the others, ranging from Reggie’s immediate enthusiasm to Carrie stating monotonously that she’d rather do literally anything else), an enormous duck pond nearby, and a small cinema which that night was showing some generic action film Alex had never heard of. Overall, Luke had really outdone himself with the booking.

They busied themselves for the rest of the evening, splashing about in the pool (or, in the case of Alex, Willie, and Carrie, relaxing by the side of the pool on the sun-loungers) and spending far too long in the mini arcade that Reggie had stumbled across. Luke hadn’t been wrong about the food either – the staff set out an enormous buffet that had every food Alex could think of. Alex tried to stick to a regular meal because mixing so many different foods felt strange, but Luke’s plate was piled with pizza, curry, and a slab of chocolate cake.

The evening had been so hectic and jam-packed that by the time Alex and Willie bade farewell to the others, he had almost forgotten all his whirring thoughts surrounding the shared room. But by then he was too full and tired to be too bothered anyway. It was just sharing a room with Willie – what could go wrong?

Willie pushed open the door to room seventy-three and entered ahead of Alex, flicking the lights on as he went. Alex was exhausted and his vision slightly blurred as his eyes kept closing, but he could still make out that this room was nothing short of luxurious. There were chocolates on the pillow, complementary tea and biscuits, a bottle of champagne cooling in a bucket of ice, a vase of roses, a flat-screen TV so big it looked as if it would fall off the wall, and a gorgeous king-size bed with rich red satin sheets.

It took Alex far too long to realise that there was something a little off.

He looked around again. Chocolate pillows, tea, biscuits – that was fine, that was normal. Flat-screen TV – expensive, but every hotel room he’d ever stayed at had a television. But champagne, roses, only one bed… Alex felt the pieces click in his mind.

“This is a couples room,” he said.

He was never letting Luke book a hotel ever again.

Willie looked just as bewildered as Alex felt. They had both frozen in the doorway when they saw the room, but now Willie headed in cautiously, picking up the champagne and one rose as if trying to work out whether they were real. He smoothed down the bedsheets, not that they were rumpled, and then turned back to Alex. His expression was infuriatingly neutral and hard to read again.

“Yep,” he agreed, “definitely.”

Alex carefully followed him into the room and looked around. Those old nerves about sharing a room with Willie came back – if they had to share this space then surely it was going to be incredibly awkward. Especially since they weren’t even dating.

“Do you think there’s been some sort of mix-up?” he asked, eyeing the singular bed. It looked invitingly comfortable, and Alex was knackered. He wanted nothing more than to just crawl in and sleep beside Willie as the room was clearly telling them to do. But he couldn’t do that, not if Willie wasn’t comfortable with it, not if there had been a mistake.

“I don’t know,” Willie said, shrugging. “It’s definitely the right room, otherwise the key wouldn’t have worked. I could go and ask at reception if there’s a different room, if you like? With two beds?”

There was something in the way Willie said it that caught Alex’s attention, but he couldn’t identify what it was. But he could see that Willie was watching him carefully, looking for all the world like all he wanted was to make sure the night went well. He thought, Alex realised with a start, that Alex wouldn’t want to share a bed with him. It nearly made Alex laugh, but his nerves stopped him.

He did want to share the bed, but the idea terrified him.

He shrugged, trying to seem indifferent. “If you want. It’s up to you, I don’t mind.”

“You sound like you mind,” Willie countered.

“I don’t.”

They stared at each other for a minute or two, sizing one another up. Alex didn’t want to seem like the idea of sharing a bed with Willie made him uncomfortable, but equally he didn’t want to seem too eager. He wasn’t sure what the middle ground was – indifference maybe? But if he seemed like he didn’t care at all then it could look like he simply didn’t feel one way or the other about Willie.

He decided he was reading too much into it, worrying about it too much. So he was the one to break the silence.

“I don’t mind sharing a bed with you, Willie,” he said. “It’s late and I’m exhausted, I could sleep anywhere right now. And I’m sure you don’t really want to go all the way back downstairs just to ask if they have another room. It won’t make any difference. We can share a bed – we’ll be fine.”

Willie blinked, seeming surprised, but then he smiled lightly. Alex felt his heart flutter despite his exhaustion – it was incredible how Willie could have that effect on him no matter what.

“Okay, hotdog,” Willie agreed, nodding resolutely. Just with the use of the nickname, any tension in the room dissipated. Suddenly they were just two guys about to share a bed and it was completely fine. “You’re right. Let’s get some sleep.”

They took turns getting ready for bed in the bathroom (which was far bigger than a bathroom had any business being, Alex thought) and eventually settled down into the bed, side by side, plenty of room between the two of them. Though the day had been hot, the night had turned cold, and the satin sheets were doing very little to keep them warm. Alex burrowed further into the covers, pulling them up to his chin and trying to settle himself. He was still a little nervous, it would have been impossible to be completely chilled out about the whole situation, but he was too tired to really notice.

There was total silence for a few minutes before Willie quietly said, “You talk in your sleep sometimes.”

Alex turned to his right to face him. Willie was laying on his side, facing Alex, one hand under his head on the pillow and the other hidden by the duvet. The top he wore was oversized and revealed most of his collarbone, his hair was mussed as it spilled out over the pillow, and he had the sweetest little smile on his tired face. Alex, heart hammering, mirrored his position without realising he was doing it, but he did register that his movement brought them much closer together.

“Do I?” he asked, voice low and hushed.

Willie giggled gently, nodding. “Yeah. I’ve heard you on some of our sleepovers.”

“What do I say?”

“Nonsense, mainly,” Willie told him. “But sometimes you talk about the band, that’s always sweet. It’s a change from you calling Luke and Reggie annoying so often. And it’s nice to know you love them really.”

Alex grinned. “Of course I love them. They’re my brothers and Julie’s my sister. Although I am still annoyed at Luke for this whole thing.”

Willie’s expression changed abruptly, from amused to… what was that? Hurt? Had Alex said something wrong without realising it? Oh god, had he just changed the tone of the situation back to awkward?

“I thought you were okay with this,” Willie said. His voice was a different kind of quiet. Small now in a way it hadn’t been before.

“I am,” Alex said quickly. “I’m more than okay with this.”

“Then why are you still angry at Luke?”

“Because he knows how I–”

He stopped himself abruptly. He knows how I feel about you. That had been what he was about to say. The late hour had loosened his tongue and he had almost ruined everything. He stopped, changed course, started again.

“He knows how I get nervous about this kind of thing. If I’d been sharing a room with him and Reg like normal then there wouldn’t have been this whole problem.”

“Why is sharing with me a problem?” Willie asked, brow furrowed in confusion. “Would you have been like this if we were just sharing a room, not a bed?”

Alex opened his mouth but couldn’t think of anything to reply with that wouldn’t prompt further questions. He couldn’t see this night ending well for him at all. It was barely midnight and already he had offended Willie by saying the wrong thing. How was he meant to carry on from this?

“I wouldn’t have been so worried if there were two beds,” he admitted slowly. Willie deflated, nodded, curled into himself slightly. It broke Alex’s heart. “But it’s not because I don’t want to share a bed with you.”

“Then what is it?” Willie asked pleadingly. “Just tell me, Alex – whatever the reason is, it won’t change anything between us. I won’t hate you or anything like that. Just tell me what’s on your mind.”

Alex couldn’t help wondering from that if Willie had already guessed. And if he had then there was no point in pretending anymore. Perhaps he wouldn’t have done it if he hadn’t been so tired, his brain working so slowly, but he made his decision then and didn’t back down.

Willie’s hand had come out from beneath the covers and was now resting in the space between them on the mattress. Alex placed his hand over it and linked their fingers. He heard Willie gasp quietly and didn’t stop to think whether that was a good or bad sign.

“Luke knows how I feel about you,” Alex said. His voice wavered nervously and he couldn’t look Willie in the eye, but he still felt a thrill knowing that he was finally saying this, taking an enormous weight off his shoulders. “He knows that I’ve liked you for as long as I’ve known you. He knows how much this could mean to me, but also how nervous I’d be. I don’t know if you feel the same way, Willie. If this is weird or I’m out of order or anything like that then you can tell me to stop talking. I was just nervous because Luke did this, got me this close, without telling me about it and it threw me off. You threw me off. I’m sorry if I’ve upset you or made you uncomfortable. But that’s what’s on my mind.”

Alex finally took his eyes of his and Willie’s interlinked fingers to look Willie in the eye. Willie’s eyes were sparkling, an incredulous half-smile on his face. Alex took that as a good sign.

“Really?” Willie asked.

Alex swallowed heavily and nodded once. “Really.”

Willie said nothing. He just used their intertwined hands to pull himself closer to Alex and rest his head on his chest. Alex was glad his heart was on the other side of his chest, otherwise Willie would have been able to hear how fast it was beating. Willie had thrown an arm over Alex’s waist, holding him close, so Alex’s wrapped his around Willie’s back. He felt Willie sigh contentedly, and on a burst of confidence he pressed the lightest kiss possible to the top of Willie’s head.

“Does this mean you like me too?” Alex asked. He was fairly certain, but it was always good to double check.

Willie chuckled and Alex felt his heart swell with love. “Yeah. I like you too, hotdog.”

“So the couples room worked out after all, I guess,” he joked.

Willie tilted his head to look up at Alex, looking for all the world like an angel on Earth.

“Definitely,” he agreed. “But I think we finally use this bed for its real purpose and get some sleep.”

“Goodnight, Willie.” Alex reached over and flicked off the little bedside lamp, plunging them into total darkness.

“Goodnight, Alex.”

*

Taglist (if you want to be added or removed just let me know): @ace-bookworm @williexmercer @willex-owns-my-heart @itstiger720 @the-reckless-and-the-brave @that-one-newsie @bluedarkness @lookingthroughmirrors @tmp-jatp @salty-star @julieandthequeers @lmaohuh @sunnysbright @sylphrenas

[wreckofawriter]

Minnie's Daughter

Pairing: James Potter x McGonagall's Daughter!Reader

Word Count: 3,984

Warnings: Swearing? None? Fluffy

Summary: When James finds out his favorite proffesser has a daughter he can't seem to keep her from his head

A/n: I fuckin loved writing this, I wrote it all today and I'm now finishing it at 12:46 at night. This is #12 from the fanfic vote and got the second highest number of votes, hope y'all enjoy! Look at me posting twice in one week

“Potter!” 

James flinched slightly before turning around a large grin plastered onto his visage, “Minnie! So good to see you!” He cheered 

The older woman rolled her eyes on instinct, “I told you not to call me that James. I am your professor you shall treat me accordingly.” she spoke sharply.

“Jeez, Minnie you seem more angry than usual.” The boy shuddered in his usual fashion; dramatically. 

She sighed rubbing her temple with one hand, “Just come with me, Potter.” 

“Yes, ma’am!” He saluted smile not faltering despite the nerves which now slowly consumed him. 

The two slowly made their way towards McGonagle’s office, something James knew a bit too familiarly. As they walked everything he had ever done flashed through his memory, the thousands of school rules he had abandoned, the laws he had broken, pranks he had pulled. What was he in for this time? It seemed there were far too many possibilities. 

The second that the door shut behind him he opened his mouth. 

“Minnie if this is about the Grindylows in the prefects’ bath, I had nothing to do with it, I swear on my life. That prank was simply untasteful and you know I would never do something so dull.” He defended putting on his most innocent mask. 

“Potter you aren’t in trouble, I simply- wait, what Grindylows are you talking about?” She asked brows furrowed.

The boy’s eyes widened, “Oh, um, i-it’s nothing you need to worry about.” He spoke his voice gaining false confidence. 

Another exasperated sigh left the professor’s lips but she didn’t address what she was sure to become a problem, “I simply wanted to talk to you about your plans for the quidditch team now that you are the captain.” 

“Ooohhh,” The boy nodded in understanding, a wave of relief washing over him. Excitement built in his stomach as quidditch was mentioned and he bounced happily on his heels a shimmer appearing in his dark eyes. “I can show you my workouts and plays and stuff if you want.” He offered eagerly, “I have some written in my bag.” 

“That sounds perfect James.” She grinned, “Bring them to my desk.”

He nodded walking forward while rummaging for the notebook he had spent the summer scribbling in. He found it and placed it on his professor’s desk before opening it’s worn cover and flipping through the pages. 

Both individuals quickly became immersed in the plans as the captain explained his workouts, strategies and more. In fact, they became so engrossed they didn’t notice a third figure enter the room.

You rolled your eyes as you heard your mother jabber about the sport she loved so much. You sighed walking up towards the pair being purposefully quieter than needed. You suppressed a giggle as you neared the duo. You stood just to the right of the boy who was crouched over his notes, you then leaned your head so your chin was resting just above his shoulder, you could smell the cologne he wore but ignored its sweetness. Your lips centimeters from his ear you spoke, “Whatcha guys talkin’ about?” 

The dark-haired boy let out a shrill shriek as your mother gasped in surprise.

You burst into a wave of laughter doubling over as the quidditch star glared at you, clearly offended.

“You scream like a four-year-old girl Potter.” You cackled blinking back tears. 

James opened his mouth to shoot back an insult but something stopped him. You looked oddly familiar, your eyes gleamed in a recognizable fashion, your smile all too common to his view. Despite this, he had no clue who you were. 

“Merlin y/n!” the professor gasped, “That was uncalled for.”

“Sorry, mum.” You giggled, “I couldn’t help it.”

In that exact moment, James’ bain imploded. His jaw dropped, eyes growing to the size of saucers as if he had just been slapped. 

“Minnie! You have a daughter!” he gasped, completely appalled by this new information. 

“James! You have a brain!” You mimicked him, false surprise emerging on your face. 

“Y/n, be polite.” Your mother scolded although it was hard to miss the smirk on her lips. 

James wasn’t even bothered by the jeer, he was far too preoccupied with attempting to figure out what the hell was happening. 

“It’s nice to formally meet you, James.” You grinned sticking out your hand for him to take, “I’m y/n y/l/n. Minnie’s daughter” 

He shook his head quickly his hair bouncing slightly before he took your hand, which he found surprisingly soft and slightly cold, “James Potter.” He mumbled before turning to the woman who had returned to the notebook. 

“Minnie!” He shouted.

You giggled at the nickname biting your lip lightly.

McGonagall’s eyes snapped upward dangerously but at this point, James was too shocked to care. 

“Why didn’t you tell me that you had a daughter!?” He asked in complete dismay, “I thought we were friends!”

The witch simply rolled her eyes, “If you had paid any attention to those around you, you would have noticed I had a daughter years ago.” She spoke, seemingly unfazed. 

“Minniiieeee. That’s not fair.” He pouted.

McGonagall shrugged. 

“Oooo, are those quidditch notes?” You asked peering over James’ shoulder like an excited puppy. “Mind if I take a look?”

“Yeah sur-” 

“No way.” your mother interrupted eyebrows raised as she peered over her glasses at you. 

Now it was your turn to pout, “But mum.” You attempted to reason.

James choked in a breath as you widen your eyes and jutted out your bottom lip. Did you always look this adorable?

“Nu-uh.” She shook her head.

“Why not?” You whined placing your hands on the desk and leaning over it attempting to catch a glimpse of the ink-stained pages. 

“Because last time I made the mistake of letting you ‘look through’ my quidditch notes, you charmed it and gave a copy to the Ravenclaw Captain.” She huffed, closing the notebook from your prying eyes. 

James gasped again, “That was you!” 

You nodded, smirking proudly.

“We lost the quidditch cup because of that!” He heaved. 

You just shrugged, “Yeah well, we won because of it.”

He glared back at you, tucking the notebook protectively under his arm. 

“Shit!” You swore glancing at the clock behind your mother’s desk. 

“Language y/n!” 

“Sorry, mum,” You yelled over your shoulder scrambling from the room, the door thudding against its frame as it closed behind you. 

James opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by you dashing back into the room. 

“I forgot what I came here for.” You groaned, “Where is my herbology textbook?” 

McGonagall opened a drawer in her desk handing it to you.

“Thanks, mum.” You rushed as you snatched it from her and sprinted back towards the door. 

“I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me you had a daughter.” James sulked, his eyes glued to where you had resided moments before. 

McGonagal was met with a hell storm when James spread the news of his new discovery. That hell storm’s name was Sirius Black. He had crashed into her classroom while she was in the middle of a class and began his tearful act. He whined and gasped and pouted, stating his betrayal and his loss of trust. 

The professor tiredly massaged her closed eyelids as his antics continued.

    Thankfully the other marauders were surprised but lacked the same gusto Black held, although James seemed to have a sudden problem on his hands. For some reason he couldn’t seem to pull you from his head, it was like you were cemented there, your giggle rinning in his ears as your voice echoed through his head. You were strangely captivating. 

He wondered if that’s how his professor had been in her youth, although he refused to picture McGonagall as beautiful. You were simply alluring, your entire aura drawing him towards you. He wasn’t quite sure what it was but he found himself needing to be near you. He foolishly allowed himself to wonder if you thought the same of him.

Your heart pounded lightly as you snuck to the owlery, you fought a wide smile as you climbed the seemingly endless steps, taking them two at a time out of excitement.  When you finally reached the top you let out a slight squeal noticing your large barn owl perched near the door. 

You whistled once and let it land lightly on your outstretched arm. You then carefully untied the thread from his leg taking the note in your hand and dropping your arm as your owl departed. You unthreaded the scroll and began slowly down the stairs as you read it. By the second line of words, your throat went dry. You could feel your heart beginning to throb painfully as the back of your eyes began to sting. 

You sped through the remainder of the letter a sob ripping from your throat as the words sunk into your skin. Your vision blurred and you grasped at the stone wall to your right. The wind tore overhead, suddenly the pleasant breeze felt threatening. You crashed downwards, the stone step you sat on causing shivers to conquer your body. You let tears drip down your cheeks and slide off your chin as you raked your hands through your hair. Another cry unlodged itself from your throat and echoed around you. You pulled one of your hands from your hair slamming it over your mouth as you squeeze your eyes shut in mental agony. You bit your lip harshly bringing your shaking hands to your cheeks and wiping them dry. You gasped in a sharp breath blinking furiously to keep the tears at bay. Finally, you shoved the letter into your robe pocket and stood continuing down the stairs as if nothing had happened. 

You saw this coming, you thought, you knew it would, why are you so surprised?

You shake your head blinking rapidly again. You slipped into the castle feeling emptier than usual, your heart still aching, your head starting to. You ran your tongue over your lips, feeling just how dry they were. Water rose to your eyes again and you swore, leaning your head back and squeezing them shut. 

“Y/n?” 

You snapped your head forward, eyes opening wide.

“Are you okay?” James asked walking towards you, concern etched into his sharp features. 

“Uh, hey James.” You spoke attempting to sound normal and failing miserably as your voice came out in a croak. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

He didn’t believe you, he narrowed his eyes, “Are you sure?”

You coughed attempting to clear your suddenly clogged throat, “Yeah seriously, I’m fine.” 

“You don’t look like it.” He responded eyebrows still furrowed. 

“Thanks.” You muttered sarcastically attempting a small smile. 

James felt his ears grow hot, hoping you didn’t notice in the dull light of his wand, “I-I didn’t mean it like that.” he spoke quickly, “I mean you look pretty today, umm I mean you always look pretty and uhh you just look a little worn out...But like not in a bad way! Just you uhh-”

Your giggle cut his rambles short, you bite your lip looking down at your feet, “You’re fine James, I was only joking.” You mumbled.

“Oh.” He replied sheepishly his cheeks flaming. 

The hallway fell into an awkward silence, tension feeling thick, like the air on a humid day. 

James coughed uncomfortably, “Do you want me to walk you to your common room?” he asked ruffling his hair, something you had the sudden urge to do. 

“Yeah, that would be nice.” You smiled sticking your hands in your pockets. You felt the letter you stowed away in your hand and you swallowed another sob. 

The two of you walked in silence, the only noise being your shoes on the floors of the castle. 

Your mind reeled, the words replaying, still raw in your head. 

You’re always gone at that boarding school. I never even see you anymore… I don’t know y/n/n we just lost something.  

You could feel tears begin to well again, your world falling blurry.  

 I just don’t love you anymore. I’m sorry.

You couldn’t hold it back anymore. You let out a strangled whimper halting where you stood and burying your head in your hands as your body shook. 

James turned toward you in alarm, his heart throbbed as you cried into your hands attempting to muffle the sound. He stood there for a second before taking a step towards you and wrapping his arms around you shaking form. 

You leaned into his touch, your head thumping as you wailed into the boy’s chest, your hands still pressed to your face. 

“Hey, you’re okay.” James cooed as he gently ran his hand down your back, “You’re gonna be okay.” 

He continued whispering sweet nothings in your ears, until you calmed a considerable amount, your sobs turning into shaky breaths and small sniffles. 

Your face felt hot, embarrassment took you over as your head began to clear. You pushed yourself from James’ hold.

“I’m sorry,” You chocked out, “I must look pathetic right now and I barely know you and I’m a fucking mess, I’m so sorry James.” you gushed attempting to wipe your face clean. 

James looked confused, “Y/n you have nothing to apologize for.” he spoke so softly you almost swooned. 

You stood quietly shifting back and forth on your feet, unsure what you were supposed to do now.

“What happened?” James asked, “If someone hurt you y/n I will beat-”

You laughed lightly, “No one hurt me, James, I just um.” You took a large breath release it slowly, “I just got dumped.” 

James's eyes widened, “Oh.”

“Yeah,” You huffed picking at your lips, “I mean it wasn't like I didn't see it coming, we had barely seen each other at all for the past year and honestly I don't think I have loved him since then, but we were together for so long, it just hurts. And I guess I’m just scared to be alone again.” You laughed bitterly at your own self-pitying rant.

“Did he just break up with you tonight?” James asked he seemed to hold a mixture of anger and concern in his dark eyes. 

“Well umm, he’s a muggle.” You spoke awkwardly, “I just received the letter.” 

“Oh.” James mentally slapped himself for repeating that word so many times. 

You chuckled stiffly, “It really shouldn’t be that big of a deal, I mean I saw it coming, I just didn’t think it would happen this soon.” 

“Obviously it’s a big deal y/n, you can be sad after a breakup.” He smiled down at you a certain shine in his eyes telling you there was more. “Do you still have the letter by any chance?”

You tilted your head in confusion, “I do.” You answered hesitantly, “Why?” 

“Wanna burn it?” 

You never wanted to do anything more. 

The two of you sat shoulder to shoulder in the astronomy tower watching as the letter your ex-boyfriend had sent burned. You felt a sense of relief as it turned to ash, its words and meaning disintegrating before your eyes. You sighed suddenly feeling exhausted as if someone had flipped a switch and drained you of all your energy. Your eyelids became heavy, breaths became longer and soon you felt yourself drifting into a dreamless sleep. 

James felt a light pressure on his shoulder and turned to see your head resting on it. Your y/h/c hair gleamed in the light of the small fire you had created. He smiled softly carefully brushing the loose strands of y/h/c from your face. He then leaned forward and pressed a kiss to your forehead, his heart thumping as his cheeks flushed red. 

He softly shook his head, what was he doing?

You and James grew surprisingly close, surprisingly quickly. It was frightening how well you got along. Whispers coated the halls of some secret relationship that blossomed between you. You always laughed it off as James grew pink and denied it entirely. 

The head boy had come to terms with his feelings for you the moment you fell asleep on his shoulder and he had been forced to carry you back to your common room solve an impossible riddle and get you in bed.  

He wasn't as smooth as he thought he was when it came to you. When he had liked other girls it was easy, he would just make a few flirtatious remarks ad then ask them out, but with you, it was complicated. 

First, there was the fact that you just got out of a two and a half year relationship. Then the fact that your mother was McGonagall. And of course, the fact that every time he tried to confess to you his words would get lodged in his throat and refuse to move. 

Day after day he told himself he would tell you, he would share the feelings that lodged themselves into his brain and heart. But as cliche, as it sounded days, turned into weeks and weeks turned into months and soon he was sitting across from you in the library thinking about how badly he wanted to push your hair from your face and decorate your neck with hickeys. 

But he kept his mouth closed cursing himself for every moment he let tick by which he didn't hold you in his arms. 

When he hit month four Sirius said he was hopeless and Remus agreed. James had become completely intoxicated by you. The dreams he had of you becoming lewd, looking you in the eyes became difficult as he could only think of how your lips would taste. 

Month five rolled around and James had decided he was hopeless, he had tried desperately to convey the message he kept bottled to you, but for being so smart you were extremely oblivious. Then the unthinkable happened. 

“James, can you stay after class please,” McGonagal asked, her voice sharp, but her eyes soft. 

James nodded numbly his mind wandering back to you, wondering if you had eaten enough for breakfast, you had slept in and only gotten there for the last five minutes. Maybe he would grab you a snack from the kitchens on his way to his next class and drop it off for you. Slughorn wouldn't mind if he was a bit late to potions.  

The class was dismissed and he stood from his seat absentmindedly standing to leave.

“James!” McGonagall called and he snapped back to attention. 

He walked up to her desk and stared at the women, deja vu making him blink rapidly. 

“I'm not going to beat around the bush Potter, I know you like my daughter,” McGonagall spoke peering at the now blushing boy over her glasses. 

James sputtered desperately for an answer, looking for a sentence to deny such a claim but he was cut off.

“James, I’m not here to hear your denial, I am here to beg you to ask her out.” 

And his brain exploded again. 

“She talks about you constantly, she cannot get out a sentence without your name being in it, it is simply ridiculous. Even worse you are getting spacey not only in the classroom but on the field. We almost lost our last game because you couldn't keep your head in the game. So please for both of your sakes, just ask her out.” McGonagall stared at the boy, looking desperate.

After a moment of silence, James spoke: “You aren’t mad that I like her?”  He chose his words carefully, not sure if he was on thin ice or not.

“No James.” The professor sighed, “If any of the boys in this school were to date her I would hope it to be you, I know you, you’re a good kid.” She admitted painfully. 

“You actually want me to ask her out?” James asked hesitantly, unsure if it was a type of test or if he was going crazy.

“Yes, James.” She huffed, “Please just do it so I don't have to hear about how adorable you look in hoodies ever again.” 

James flushed again, “Y/n said I look cute in hoodies?” 

“Oh, Merlin.” She muttered under her breath, “Just do it James.” 

And with that, he ushered him out the door. 

You hummed quietly, music blasting far too loudly through your walkman, you lay on your back a book held above your head as you thumbed through it. 

You didn't take notice of your roommate busting into the room, a giggle on her lips as she smiled brightly. 

She called out your name twice, groaning and rolling her eyes before walking over to you and plucking the headphones from your ears. 

You sent her a glare. 

“Don’t glare at me,” She huffed, “I'm just here to tell you that James Potter is waiting outside the common room for you.”

“He is?” You asked. You were pretty sure you didn't have plans with him today. 

“No, I’m making it up.” She scowled rolling her eyes. 

“Okay, okay, I'm going.” You exhaled loudly pushing yourself from the bed. 

You wandered down the spiral stairs waving to a couple of people who seemed to be staring. You noticed a few girls whispering something to each other before catching your gaze, almost looking… jealous?

You frowned before exiting the common room.

“Hey James, what’s up…”  Your voice died in your throat at the sight in front of you. There stood a blushing mess of a boy, a bouquet of bright yellow roses and daisies grasped in his hands. He was adorned in his school pants and dress shirt, a yellow hoodie thrown over it, his dark curly hair springing from underneath its hood making him look positively adorable. 

He refused to meet your eye, his cheeks so red you swear they must have been on fire.

You felt your own cheeks heat as you stared up at him, his glasses perched lazily at the end of his nose as he stared at his feet. 

He finally raised his gaze meeting your own and instantly regretted it. Your head was tilted slightly in confusion, your cheeks dusted pink, your eyes wide, shining with a doe-like innocence. You were simply stunning. 

He pushed his glasses up his nose nervously and he spoke. He spoke the words he had wanted to say for five months. 

“I think I’m in love with you.”

Your heart stopped, jaw-dropping eyes growing wider, you were left completely speechless as your mind reeled with the words he just spoke.  

James’ throat went dry and he nervously fiddled with his glasses again, “I totally get it if you don't feel the same way, I just I can't stop thinking about you, and honestly I just couldn't keep it bottled up anymore.”

You just stood there. So stunned your mouth forgot how to move. 

“Say something,” James spoke his voice practically a whimper. 

You still didn't speak, you weren't sure you trusted your words at that moment, so instead, you took two steps forward and wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling his lips onto yours. 

The kiss was messy at first, your noses collided at the speed you pulled James towards you, his arms soon reached around you, bouquet still secured in one hand as he straightened you and plunged his tongue into your mouth. He tasted like honey and cinnamon. His scent surrounded you, the soft odor of expensive cologne and the tinge of sweat. 

You pulled away slowly lips still touching a moment after the kiss broke, breath mingling as you looked up into his deep eyes, you could feel yourself begin to fall into them, your heart pounding at an inhuman rate. 

“I love you too James.” You whispered and the smile he wore was brighter than anything you could ever imagine. 

Taglist:

@accio-rogers

@roslea

@k3nz-doodl3

@theseuscmander

Masterlist

[emy-loves-you]

Snakey Days

This was written for the Sanders Sides Unpopular Ships Challenge, Day 3: DLAMP!

(yes, I know it’s late, but I’m posting it anyways)

Summary: When Janus gets exhausted, he turns into a tiny snake. Luckily he has 4 wonderful boyfriends to take care of him.

Pairing: DLAMP

Word Count: 1859

Thomas was a very busy man.

This was just a fact of life. He had a lot on his plate, between video production, supporting his friends and family, and so much more. Sometimes it wasn’t even the big things that overwhelmed him. The small things that he did, like sending Nico a “good morning <3” text every day or cleaning up the apartment, would sometimes pile up when he didn’t expect it and quickly overwhelm him. Those were the times when Janus was forced to step in and force Thomas to take a break, to spend some time taking care of himself, mentally and physically. And while those breaks were important, the fact that Thomas tended to wait until he was ready to implode before listening to Janus had a few negative consequences. One of them was that it took all of Janus’ energy, leaving him for a few days in a far simpler, but less functional, form.

Such as today, when one of his boyfriends had found him curled up under the blankets in his snake form.

Janus hadn’t even realized that he was in his serpent form until that moment, too exhausted to realize that the feeling of scales on cool sheets wasn’t just on his face anymore. Janus had practically melted at the feeling of warm fingers on his cold scales, before groaning as he realized what that meant. He would be stuck in this form for at least a day before he could change back, maybe even longer since Thomas was so stressed yesterday. Luckily they weren’t planning any videos soon, so Janus had nothing on his schedule that he couldn’t do in snake form. And if he did, his lovely boyfriends would gladly do the tasks for him.

Speaking of boyfriends, Janus lazily flicked his tongue out, trying to figure out who was currently rubbing the back of his head. He picked up the familiar scent of paper and ink and inwardly smiled, letting out a quiet hiss. Logan chuckled, “I had assumed this would happen. Would you like to eat today?” Since they were in Thomas’ head, they didn’t technically need to eat and sleep, but they still ate meals together and slept in their own rooms. Sometimes Janus would want to eat as a snake and they would summon him a nice juicy rat to have. But Janus didn’t want that awkwardly full feeling today, so he flicked his tongue out twice, his little code for ‘no.’

Logan nodded and loosened his tie before picking Janus up, guiding him up to his now exposed collarbone. Janus wasn’t a very big snake, barely big enough to wrap himself once around his boyfriend’s neck, but he sleepily managed to settle himself on the warm skin. He loved being able to feel his boyfriend’s body heat against his cold scales, and he let out a small hiss as a ‘thank you.’ Logan chuckled, the movement causing Janus to practically melt against his skin. “I hope you won’t get too upset at being moved around today. We’ve all got some personal projects to do today, so you’ll be moving around between the four of us.” Janus just hissed in response, already expecting it. One day he would convince his boyfriends to all take a self-care day together.

Janus stiffened slightly when Logan stood up and started moving, but he relaxed immediately afterward. Logan wouldn’t let him fall, Janus was sure of it. It had taken a long time to trust the Logical Side like that, just like it took a long time to trust the rest of his boyfriends. But Janus was glad that he did. Before he admitted his little problem about being stuck as a snake sometimes, he would spend these times stuck on his bed, freezing cold and unable to get up. Now he was always nice and warm, lazily draped over one of his boyfriends.

Logan stepped into the kitchen, where their other 3 boyfriends were already serving breakfast. Patton was the first one to notice the Logical Side standing in the doorway, and ran over to pull him into a hug. Janus let out a weak hiss before he got too close and Patton stopped, just then noticing the tiny snake hiding under Logan’s shirt. He smiled softly, his voice now dropping to a quiet murmur. “Oh baby… lazy day today?” Janus just flicked his tongue out in response. That was the main issue he had with this form; he couldn’t communicate or show any facial expressions. He could tell them that he was annoyed, or happy, or whatever else he could be feeling. He also was so tired in this form, so even if he could communicate, Janus wasn’t too sure that he would.

Patton giggled softly before reaching up to kiss Logan. He also gave Janus a little boop, making him hiss again. The Moral Side spun back to the kitchen, speaking in a much softer tone than he had before Logan showed up. “Janus is having a snakey day today, so we won’t need another plate.” Roman and Virgil both looked up at Logan, staring at Janus hanging off his neck. Roman gave a soft smile and Virgil nodded, but they didn’t speak as they finished setting the table. Janus tended to get really big headaches when in snake form, so they always made sure to speak softly as they went throughout their day.

Breakfast was quiet, with Janus hanging off of the Logical Side’s neck while everyone else ate. They were quietly planning their schedule for the day, while Janus started to doze off. He didn’t startle when Logan got up, hissing softly as the Logical Side went to the living room to watch a documentary.

Logan didn’t touch Janus much when he was in this form, worried that he would accidentally harm him. But Janus didn’t mind, happy to snuggle up against his boyfriend. He hissed indignantly when they started watching a snake documentary. The Logical Side chuckled, rubbing the back of Janus’ head in a placating manner. He hissed again, relaxing fully. This was one of the few times where he wished he was a different animal. Maybe he could be a cat, so he could purr and stretch himself out on their laps. Oh, to be a cat…

Janus didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until he woke up later, now resting on a heat rock. He poked his head up from where he was laying, watching as Roman and Patton built a currently unidentifiable Lego structure, the tie-wearing side nowhere in sight. Janus let out a weak hissed and felt a flash of irritation when neither of his boyfriends looked up. Maybe he should ask them to put a bell on his tail. Then at least he’d make some noise.

It took several hisses for Roman to look up, smiling brightly. “It looks like our Sassy Serpentine is awake!” Janus hissed in response, trying to convey his irritation at being ignored. The creative side chuckled, apparently picking up on Janus’ mood. “Logan had to go plan this week’s schedule, and we didn’t want you to be jostled around on us.”

Patton held his hand out and Janus slithered onto it, wrapping himself around the father figment’s wrist. Patton chuckled and used his other hand to gesture towards the Legos. “Hey Ro, why don’t you keep building this while Janus and I watch. I’m better for moral support anyways.” Janus hissed and nudged his boyfriend’s wrist with his head, upset that he was talking bad about himself. Patton didn’t seem to understand (or maybe he did but was ignoring the subject. They’ll need to talk about that later) and giggled. “What? That was a good pun!”

Roman rolled his eyes fondly and went back to building the Lego structure, which was soon revealed to be the same Disney Castle Lego set that Thomas had. He was telling little stories every few minutes, fueled by Patton’s giggles and Janus’ hisses. Patton would occasionally move the snake up to eye level and kiss the top of his head or rub his nose against his snout. Janus would respond by tickling the Moral Side’s face with his tongue or nudging him with his head.

Eventually, Roman and Patton had to leave, and Janus was escorted to Virgil’s room. Virgil was about to take a nap before dinner, and Janus was glad to join him. He loved sleepy cuddles in either form, but he couldn’t cuddle with most of the others in this form because they tended to roll around in their sleep. Virgil, however, didn’t, so Janus could cuddle with him whenever he wanted.

Janus didn’t like to pick favorites, but Virgil was definitely up there in terms of cuddling. He was warmer than either of the glasses-wearing sides, and barely cooler than the absolute inferno that was the Creative Side. And his hoodie was so soft, it was amazing to feel the fabric against his scales. He loved to nuzzle his snake-half against Virgil’s shoulder in his human form, and right now he easily fell asleep on Virgil’s chest, underneath his hoodie.

A few hours later, he woke up to people whispering. He stayed still and listened.

“C’mon my dark and stormy night, dinner’s ready.”

“I can’t.”

Roman huffed impatiently. “Why not? And where’s our scaly beloved?”

The fabric around him shifted, and Janus assumed that Virgil was pointing at him. “He’s sleeping on my chest. There’s no way to get up without waking him. I can’t leave.”

Roman chuckled. “Yeah, you’re screwed.” There was a smooching sound, and Janus assumed that Roman had kissed Virgil’s forehead. “I shall tell our beloveds of your unfortunate predicament. You are our noble sacrifice, and I will never forget you.”

Virgil started sputtering and Janus would’ve been chuckling if he could. Instead, he slithered up to the Anxious Side’s neck, nudging his chin. Virgil froze, looking guilty. “Sorry J, did we wake you?” Janus hissed, sticking his tongue out twice. No, he lied. Virgil relaxed, smiling softly.

Roman made grabby-hands and Virgil rolled his eyes, handing Janus over. Roman wrapped the snake side around his neck and Janus let out a long drawn out hiss, the closest thing he could get to a sigh in this form. Roman’s hot skin felt like bliss to the cold-blooded serpent, and Janus was almost asleep again by the time the Creative Side sat down to eat.

Dinner was a short affair and soon they were all sitting on the couch, watching Disney movies. Janus forced himself to stay awake for a few minutes, committing the image to memory as he always did. Eventually, his tiredness and the warmth of Roman’s skin won out and he slipped into a peaceful slumber.

A few hours later, Janus shifted back into his human form, still asleep. He was laying in Roman’s lap with his arms around his neck, murmuring softly. His four boyfriends smiled softly, each one giving him a kiss on the forehead before turning back to the movie. They all ended up falling asleep on the couch, cuddling together around their favorite snake.

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Taglist: @bisexualdisaster106 @self-taught-mess @arodynamic-enby @sanderssides-angst @whatishappeningrightnow @idont-freaking-know @cute-and-angsty-princess @artsy-enby09 @girl-who-reads @drarrymalecsolangelo @count-woe-laf

[leafs-lover]

Because Two People Got Drunk: 42

Chapter 42

Series Masterlist

Authors Note: Here is some photo’s to go along with this chapter to help you get a feel for some of the idea’s I was going for if you’re interested. 

Warning: Swearing, a little drinking, smut, angst, cold feet

Word Count: 9800

“Hey babe” you hear Fred call out looking for you.

“In here” you call out from the kitchen. You hear his shoes get kicked against the wall followed by heavy steps on the wood floor as you pour some steaming water into your mug. A pair of large arms wrap around your stomach. You feel his sweat drenched t-shirt and catch a wiff of the stench radiating off him.

“Couldn’t take a day off eh” you laugh pulling away mixing your tea.

“Well I’m about to have almost two weeks off so I figured I should get something in now” he grabs a glass and pours himself some water while you lean back against the counter. You see his damp shirt clinging to his stomach and your eyes gently rake over his body. Glass hitting the counter echoes as you lose yourself watching while he grasps the hem of the shirt.

He slowly drags the fabric up his stomach exposing his chest before discarding it on the floor. A ball catches in your throat when Fred clears his throat; your eyes instantly snap up to his face. A few beads of sweats roll over his flushed skin, his red curls clinging to his forehead.

“You can have this babe” he smirks taking a few steps closer placing a hand on either side of you, his weight leaning against the counter.

You decided that once you arrived in Denmark you would wait to have sex until after the wedding, a decision Fred wasn’t particularly fond of. It’s only seven days from your arrival to the wedding which you didn’t think would be that long. Fred has road trips longer than that and you thought you would be super busy with the wedding and the kids.

But since arriving in Denmark all you have had is people offering to take your kids from you, people wanting to spend time with them during their visit. That kid free time has led to many lingering glances, playful winks and the occasional pinches of your ass when Fred thinks nobody is looking. Even with sorting out the finishing details you still have had a lot of free time the last couple days.

Only thing you didn’t consider was Fred was going to do anything to convince you otherwise. He always gets you to a point of wanting more. He may not agree with waiting but he respects your wishes. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t try to sway you. He is always coming up beside you trailing his fingers across your warm skin, his lips grazing the shell of your ear. Doing anything and everything he can think of to make you weak in the knees.

His mouth is centimetres from your neck, lips ghosting over the skin. His mustache tickles you pulling some goosebumps to the surface. “All you have to do is ask” he whispers before gently sucking on your neck.

Your hands find his hips as he leans in teeth softly biting your flesh. “Fred” you groan pushing him away slightly “you can’t leave a mark.”

The edges of his lips curl upwards while he softly sucks on your skin again. “That’s why you want me to stop” he mumbles pulling your shirt down sucking on your collarbone. “Because you’ll have to hide a hickey on your wedding day” he hums. “Thought it would be because you don’t want sex until the wedding.”

Before you can respond he steps back and grips the waist of his shorts. He quickly pulls them along with his boxers off leaving him completely exposed. It takes so much willpower to not drop your gaze, willpower you don’t have and your eyes trail down his chest. They land on his member, hard and thick, the tip oozing with precum.

He presses his lips briefly to your cheek drawing your gaze before shooting you a playful wink and walking away toward the bathroom. Taking a few minutes to gather yourself you finally gather his clothes left littered around the kitchen and take them to the bedroom, placing them in the hamper. Sitting on the bed you notice Fred is taking longer than normal and you slowly open the door a crack. His back is to you, leaning against the tile wall while his other hand is wrapped around his cock as he strokes himself.

A low groan falls from you, the sound muffled by the stream of water. Watching his shoulder and bicep flex, large hand stroking over his hard member has your knees almost giving out. You immediately look away because if not you will pull your shirt over your head and join him in the glass enclosure.

Instead you walk out of the bathroom and change out of your sweats into a pair of denim shorts and a loose off the shoulder t-shirt. Climbing on the bed you rest with your back against the headboard, ankles crossed scrolling through your phone. You try to occupy yourself, distract your mind. Forget about the fact that your fiancé, your incredibly sculpted gorgeous fiancé, is in the bathroom with his large hand wrapped around his cock.

The hand that wraps around your throat; the hand that massages your breasts and pinches your nipples, the hand that can bring you to multiple orgasms in a matter of minutes is instead doing that himself. You are tempted to pop your short button and slide a finger inside your slick heat; but you know that you it won’t be as good as Fred.

You also know you don’t have the time. Fred has been in the shower longer than normal, but you know he will be out soon. If he walks out and see’s you knuckles deep thrusting your fingers in and out of your throbbing pussy he won’t let you hear the end of it. You also know you could step into that shower and that hand that is currently bringing Fred to his climax will be on you instantly.

He would pin you against the tile wall within seconds. Mouth in your ear mumbling how it was a stupid idea to wait, how you wasted the last five days. Every deep thrust into your pussy accompanied by him mumbling how he was right.

You are so lost in your thoughts you don’t notice your screen has timed out and is now black, or that the shower has turned off. It’s not until the door creaks open that you are pulled from your trance. A towel hangs low on his hips, droplets of water across his chest. He runs his hands through his red lock, messily pulling them aside while he smirks seeing your legs rub together in search of some friction.

“See something you like?” he grins dropping the towel.

Mumbling a light fuck you shake your head watching as he pulls a pair of boxers up his thighs. Slowly he approaches the bed and grabs your feet pulling you from the headboard before he climbs over you. Hands resting beside your shoulders you giggle and pull his face closer to yours so you can smell his body wash and shampoo.

“Where are the kids?” his brown eyes piercing into your sole, his entire weight pressing against you.

“Out” you reply running your hands through his beard bending one of your knees.

“Out eh” he mumbles into your neck as his large hand finds the back side of your knee.

“Mhm” you laugh as his beard tickles your neck. He slowly pulls your shirt exposing some more skin, his mouth peppering kisses on your warm skin. “Your mom and aunts have the boys. Allie and Carlee are having a girl day with E” you explain.

His hand strokes up your thigh and gently plays with the hem of your shirt. “They are actually gone for the night” you explain your hands finding his hips. He mumbles lowly under his breath and tries to press his weight down onto you.

“Fred” you dig your nails in pushing him up slightly. “We can’t.”

“We can” he smirks his lips finding your collarbone. “We have many times before.”

“We gotta go" you groan hands on his hips playfully trying to push him off. 

“We have no kids, we can literally do anything we want and you want to run errands” he teases 

“Errands” you laugh. We have to get the suits, and the rings…” you trail off slightly as his warm breath fans over your neck. “We are getting married in 48 hours we have things to do.”

His lips continue to ghost over you and one hand dips under the hem of your shirt cupping your breast over your bra. You dig your nails into his skin harshly causing him to groan and pull away “fine" he huffs. “Let me just get a shirt.” 

You feel cold without his warm body pinned against you, left feeling empty. Closing your eyes and taking a few deep breaths you hear Fred alert you he is ready.

**

“Why can’t I see my ring” you whine as he puts the car in park. He leans over the console and places a soft kiss on your cheek and wordlessly exits the car. Throughout the planning process there have been very few things Fred has taken complete control over. He wanted to pick the song for your first dance and plan the honeymoon in its entirety.

Giving up input on the first dance was hard for you, but the honeymoon was easy. Through the years Fred has planned multiple trips for you; Greece, San Diego and even that trip away in Pittsburgh. It was an amazing trip until the morning you imploded everything.

But still, not seeing the wedding band has been difficult and frustrating. The two of you went out a couple months ago and looked at wedding bands. Within five minutes of walking in you both saw the black titanium band and new it was the ring for him; the only thing that remained was the engraving for you to do yourself.

Once his was picked out you dragged him to the other display, but before you could begin browsing he pulled you out of the store telling you he already had that under control. You have repeatedly asked him about the ring but he has always shut you down. You found it a little frustrating that he wanted to be a part of his ring selection but you don’t even get any input on yours.

But for the last three months Fred has refused to divulge any details, just that “you’ll love it.”

A few minutes later Fred returns to the car, placing the small brown bag on the floor of the backseat. Putting the car in drive his hand quickly finds your thigh giving you a soft squeeze and setting off to collect the suits and Elise’s dress.

“Are we done” Fred groans leaving the seamstress garment bag in hand. He opens the back seat and hangs Elise’s dress from the hanger beside the suits, carefully closing the door.

“Yes” you laugh “all done.”

“Good” he presses his lips to your cheek “I have a surprise for you.”

He reaches around you to open the door but you don’t move quirking an eye brow to him. “Get in babe” he prompts gently closing the door after you. Getting in the car he can see the confused on your face and he just smirks pressing the on button and setting it to drive.

Over the next half hour you repeatedly ask where you are going, like a child too impatient to wait. He ignores all of your questions taking you outside of the city and on some back remote roads. Not that you have any idea where you are or where you are going, unfamiliar with the streets of Denmark.

“You’re worse than Oliver” he groans every time you ask if you’re almost there. You just huff in response, a slight smirk tugging on his lips as his one hand squeezes your thigh. Finally you pull into a brick driveway, leading to white house with red shutters, red clay tiles on the roof and a rounded red door.

Once the car is in park you jump out not waiting for Fred. You hear his shoes on the gravel driveway and you turn around to face him, his hands landing on your hips.

“Why are we here?” you ask wrapping your hands around his neck.

“I wanted to show you your wedding present” he smiles pressing his lips to your forehead

“What?” you shriek eyes going wide. “You bought me a house?!”

“Let’s just go inside and talk kay?” he hums as you eagerly nod.

“Come on” he grabs you by the wrist tugging you towards the front porch and opening the door. Once inside you look through to the living room, floor to ceiling windows showcasing the beautiful backyard. A swing set is off to one side, a large outdoor eating area on the other. Beyond the grass there is sand which leads out to a beach, a private beach.

Fred stops at the island letting you walk in and further exploring the space. Walking by him you set your purse on the large twelve person table one of the windows is open allowing the warm salty breeze to blow through your hair. The walls are painted a simple white, a blank canvas for you to decorate how to see fit. Sitting down on the couch you hear his footsteps before he finally sinks into the fabric beside you.

“My wedding present” you ask turning to face him on the couch.

“Well it’s not ours yet. Still have to sign the papers.”

“And why would we buy a house in Denmark when we have a house in Pittsburgh?” you chuckle.

“We always talked about moving to Denmark once I was done playing hockey” he shrugs. “Coming here I realized how hard it to not have any of the stuff they normally need. The rental is great but we had to get a bunch of furniture into storage so we can fit cribs, high chairs and their toys. And we have to get everything switched once we leave and next year when we visit we have to find a new place and do it again.

We also struggled to find a place large enough for all of us, we only have three bedrooms which is fine now. But next year Elise will be one she shouldn’t be sleeping in our room then. It might be nice to have our own place here where we can stay, something we can decorate. Hang pictures of the kids and make it feel like home. Even if we don’t move here when I retire it’s still our place to stay in for the summers. Something to come back to every year.”

You sit there for a few minutes processing everything he is saying. It all makes sense. You were the one who suggested a while ago raising your family in Denmark once his career ends. Having their cousins and aunts around all the time, family dinners on Sunday, Christmas mornings together. Climbing into his lap, you gently rake your fingers through his beard pulling his lips closer to yours. His soft lips press against yours, groaning while you smile into it.

“We should do it” you grin. “I always wanted to move here when you’re done hockey, have them grow up around their family and Danish culture. I didn’t have aunts and cousins around growing up but they have so many here it would be good for them to grow up around them. For the next few years we can use it for our summer visits so the seven of us have somewhere to stay.”

“Seven? Are you pregnant?!” his face goes white as fear washes over him thinking of having another kid so soon after Elise, and so soon after the twins.

“No” you laugh “but we’re going to have a puppy in a couple years. And he will love the backyard and chasing the geese off the beach.”

He sighs in relief shaking his head as you have been relentless in your quest for a dog. It’s not that Fred doesn’t want one, he just wants to wait until the kids are a little older so it will be slightly less chaotic. But you want the kids to grow up with a dog, and you also recognize that with four kids your lives will likely always have a little chaos.

His hands grip the back of your legs and pull you closer until you land with a knee on either side of his thighs. His hands on the back of your legs have always been one of your favourite feelings. Him giving you a gentle squeeze pulling your body closer to him as his thumb caressing your skin as he slowly edges the hem of your shorts up.

“And maybe it will help get rid of your terrible accent” he teases as you roll your eyes.

You have spent the last couple years trying to learn Danish, but you still have some ways to go. When people speak to fast you often get confused, and you have been told you have an obvious accent, something you have been working on. But living in Denmark, surrounded by the language all the time you know you will only get better.

“Besides if we aren’t happy we can move back to Pittsburgh, or to Toronto, Calgary, LA; anywhere really” he pulls you closer crashing his lips against yours. You taste the chap stick on his lips before you slide your tongue inside swiping across the inside of his cheek. “Home is wherever you are” he mumbles.

He quickly flips you so you land on your back, pulling the air from your lungs while he hovers over you. A large smile is pressed on your face as one of your knees subconsciously hooks around his back. The air is pulled from your lungs but before you can gather it his lips are on yours. It starts soft until a quiet involuntary groan slips from your lips. You briefly feel his lips curl upwards and he pushes down.

Your hands tangle into his shirt; the hem slowly lifting to expose some skin. His mouth quickly finds your neck and begins peppering soft kisses on your collarbone. You want more, you want to pull the shirt from his chest so badly but you know if you do you won’t be able to stop.

“Fred” you try to warn but it comes out as more of a whimper. Fred takes that as permission and one of his large hands slides under your shirt and begins massaging your breast.

“Babe” you whine as he pulls your bra down, calloused fingers rubbing over your skin and rolling your nipple through his fingers. You have a tight grip on his hips and try to find the strength to push him off when you hear the front door click shut and heels clicking on the warm light hardwood. Fred must have heard the noise because he quickly jumps off you almost falling when he tries to find his footing.

“Hej du må være Fred” a woman says entering the room. His cheeks are pink, hot with embarrassment and he clears his throat walking towards her. You push yourself off the couch adjusting your shirt “Jeg er agent Sophia” she continues oblivious to scene that was unfolding mere seconds ago.

“Hej” Fred sticks a hand out to greet her

“Hej jer er (Y/N)” you interject walking over to them.

“Oh right the Canadian” she remarks at the thick accent laced in your words. Fred chuckles and shoots you a smirk before she continues “what do you guys think of the place?”

“Oh we just got here, haven’t been upstairs yet but we love this space" Fred says eyeing around the main floor.

Sophia begins explaining the history of the property. Originally the property was a small two bedroom cottage built in 1933, in 1980 a family bought it and added on a major addition. That included enlarging the original floorplan and adding the second story to include 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. They wanted to keep some of the original charm of the house and that included some of the original beams and fireplace in the living room.

There is a games room currently with a foosball and air hockey table and some built in shelves for toys and games. The rooms are smaller than your place in Pittsburgh, but it feels more homey. You can see your family crowded around the table playing board games on a Friday night, or curled up on the couch while Fred works on the fire for a family movie night.

“So 4 bedrooms” Fred reaches over the console to lace his fingers with yours “a little smaller than our current place. Think we can manage?”

“Yeah the twins can share” you lean back in the seat turning your head to look at him.

“What about when people visit where do they stay?”

“At a hotel” you laugh. “No there is the office on the main floor. We can get some kind of convertible bed or something for there.”

“It’s a lot smaller than our current place are you sure?”

“Well for now it will just be the place we stay at in the summers. We can see how it works as they grow. If we need more space for the kids, or for friends and family then we can look for somewhere else. But I think we’ll be fine. Besides you saw the view, we can sit on our balcony watching the kids play on the beach, watching the sunset every night once the kids are asleep…” you trail off thinking of the two of you curled on the outdoor couch. Half empty wine glasses resting on the table the warm salty breeze blowing through your hair. Fred’s large hands roaming over your body, sweat dripping down your chest as you ride him.

He brings your hand up to his lips pressing a soft kiss on the back. A low sigh leaves your lips; you aren’t sure if it’s from the contact or the aching between your legs, but either way you are unsure if you can make it until your wedding night which is still two days away.

**

“Hey smuk” Fred mumbles peppering soft kisses to your collarbone. The morning sun has begun to filter through the blinds, shining off his bare back.

“Morning” you sigh squirming under his touch. Somehow you managed to get through the night without having sex. The two of you reviewed the papers for the house and signed in an offer, and when you tried to go over your speech for the reception he pried the pages from you and locked them in the safe to try and get you to turn your brain off.

He drew you a warm bath, lavender scent and steam filling the room. Stepping into the tub water spills over the top splashing onto the tile but you don’t care as your back rests against his chest. A glass of wine in hand the two of you basked in the warmth of each other long after the water turned cold. Once climbing out of the water and lying on your stomach he had one knee on either side of your hips. His hands gently rubbing your back, slowly working the knots and tension you didn’t realize you had been holding onto.

Just as you were about to give in Fred fell onto his back pulling you onto his warm chest. Your hand gently resting on his abs you heard his breathing slow as he fell asleep.

“What time is it?” you murmur with a raspy voice.

“Almost 11 I made breakfast” he explains pulling you out of bed. Once in the kitchen you realize he didn’t just make a simple breakfast he went all out. Bacon, eggs, hash browns and french toast with fresh fruit.

“Smells amazing” you smile not sure if it’s the maple syrup or the hazelnut coffee filling the air.

“Mommy” you hear a little voice squeal and you set your empty plate down on the counter. Turning around you pick up Oliver wrapping your arms around him.

“Yum” he says looking around you. Laughing you send him to the table and Fred grabs another plate for him just as Noah stumbles in.

“Dadda” his eyes light up as he opens and closes his fists making an up motion to Fred.

“Hey” he quickly picks him up throwing him above his head slightly before kissing him on the cheek. You start scooping some food on a plate for Oliver when Lucas walks into the room wrapping his arm around Fred’s large leg. After handing Oliver his food you look over to Fred who is holding the twins laughing with them, he looks over at you to see the large smile on your face admiring how similar they all are.

All three of your sons are spitting images of Fred. Dark brown eyes, curly red hair on their heads and dimples beside their mouths. You could stand there for hours just basking in their laughter that fills the room; Fred with the kids is your absolute favourite thing to watch.

“Hey dad” Fred says as Noah reaches out towards the food making a come here motion with his hand. “Grandpa not feed you guys” he laughs passing Noah to you while you both strap them in a highchair.

“They all woke hungry up at 6 am” Ernst explains grabbing one of the mugs of coffee from the counter “probably looking for lunch now.”

You laugh slightly seeing the bags under his eyes, but thankful it wasn’t you being woken up that early. Ernst stays for a few minutes while Oliver tells you all about his sleepover and the fort he built with Sebastian and Amalie. The twins babble along giving random “mmm’s” when Fred hands them pieces of food.

“I’m gonna go get ready” you kiss Fred’s cheek after Ernst leaves.

“Wow I make you breakfast and you’re going to leave the dishes and three sticky kids” he whines with a grin on his lips.

“This is literally my life when you’re on the road” you kiss his lips briefly. “Only difference is I dip the food in the syrup. Otherwise the boys end up just putting their hands in it and then touching their face.”

Before he can respond you walk away to the bedrooms and finish packing up the bags for the kids. Your venue has rooms for everyone so you are spending tonight after the rehearsal and then you and your bridesmaids will be getting ready, and the boys all in another room on the other side of the property. Everyone is staying overnight after the wedding, and then you and Fred will be leaving for your honeymoon.

His parents are watching all the kids for the honeymoon so you need to make sure they have everything they need for the next 10 days. Once everyone is packed you begin getting yourself ready, you hear laughter and some random cries and whining from the living room, knowing it’s likely the twins fighting over the same toy.

**

“Hey babe" you walk up to Fred who is holding Elise looking out at ducks on the pond. Once arriving at the venue you went to your room to hang your dress and ensure everything is ready before dropping the boys suits off in Fred’s room. At some point he found Carlee and Allie who brought Elise with them to the venue earlier in the day and dressed her in a pink floral dress with a matching hat.

“Hey" he smiles looking out at the boys who are trying to learn how to skip rocks with Mitch. Oliver has had a few attempts that slightly resemble the form required but Lucas has just been throwing rocks over his head and Noah has mostly been sitting picking grass.

It is a surprisingly warm day for Denmark, temperatures hovering at almost 30°C throughout the day. There is a warm breeze blowing through the trees slightly ruffling the leaves on the trees. Your arm wraps around his lower back and his over your shoulder as his lips gently press into your hair. He holds Elise close, using his body heat to keep her warm, her tiny body looks so small pressed against Fred’s large chest. But she also is perfectly at ease wrapped in her daddy’s arms.

“Ready for tonight?” he laughs watching Lucas fall onto the ground almost directly on his face.

“Geez" you groan when he pushes himself up a minute later mud staining his blue t-shirt and overalls.

“Kids get dirty" his hand grabs a ball of your shirt holding you against him stopping you from taking him to change his clothes.

“I know but…”

“Hey it’s not his suit” his lips press into your hair. “Let them have their fun tonight, tomorrow I won’t let them play with Mitch.”

“Or Auston" you add. “Just until after pictures.”

“Deal" he finally turns to look at you. His eyes immediately drop to your chest and you swear you feel his dick twitch slightly against your hip. “You changed” he states through gritted teeth.

“Couldn’t wear my jeans" you retort as his eyes lock on your breasts. The low cut of your white summer dress accentuating them. The top is tight and hugs your curves and it flairs out at your waist, gently blowing in the wind.

“It’s just a rehearsal” he groans his tongue pressing to the back of his teeth.

“You don’t like it” you bat your lashes up at him innocently.

“You are such a tease” he mumbles turning his gaze back to Elise who is cooing in his arms.

“You’ll be fine, it’s not even that much longer”

“It’s only 20 hours and 17 minutes but who’s counting” he smiles his hand sliding further down the small of your back causing you to giggle in response.

“Someone’s excited” you wink.

“That’s not the sex countdown. That’s the countdown for you to be my wife” he replies pressing his lips to your head. Before you can respond you hear Steph shriek and Noah crying. You turn and see he had stepped towards the water; he had barely got his feet wet before a wave knocked him over.

“Should we help them” you laugh as Mitch picks up a screaming Noah and tries to comfort him. He isn’t hurt, he fell backwards landing on his bum; it was just the shock of the cool water that lead to his tears.

“Nah he needs the practice” Fred’s hand gives your waist a light squeeze “for when theirs gets here.”

“Wait! What?” you ask in disbelief. Fred’s eyes go wide, his lips curls upward and he shifts uncomfortably on his feet.

“Don’t say anything” he finally says smirking down at you. “Mitch got drunk last night and let it slip. She isn’t very far along and they aren’t telling people so you can’t say anything.”

“I won’t” you smile up at him “that is so exciting for them.”

“Mhm” Fred smirks. “He was going on last summer about how raising a baby will be similar to raising Zeus, so I’m excited for him to realize just how wrong he is.”

He turns his attention to Elise who is tightly pressed against his chest, eyes wide as she looks towards you. “You little lady are super easy” he bounces your tiny daughter and she smiles slightly. “Yeah you eat, you sleep, you smile sometimes even laugh, and it’s a good time. Your brothers on the other hand are mayhem, running into tables fighting over toys. And you just sit there staring at them, loving every minute.”

She has no idea what Fred is saying but she smiles up at her dad who she currently looks nothing alike. She has a few strands of hair similar to yours on top of her head, and big eyes identical in colour to yours. Fred says she looks exactly like you as a baby, he even put your baby picture beside hers for comparison, and he isn’t wrong she even has the little dimples on her chin.

But she also is very young, and you know her hair and eyes could change. Your three sons all have red wavy hair and dark brown eyes and you assume that she will also end up with his hair and eyes. Not that you mind, your three sons are pretty cute.

He pulls Elise in front of himself, lifting her so she is in front of his face. He brings her stomach to his mouth blowing raspberries against her dress. Her legs kick out in response and she laughs making Fred press harder. You begin laughing along with her, her laughter lighting up your heart.

“I love her little baby laugh” you finally say when Fred pulls her back against his hip.

“Same” Fred brushes his lips against yours briefly.

“Almost makes you want another eh” he teases pressing his lips back to yours preventing you from countering back. But before you allow yourself to fully sink into it you recognize that Noah is still screaming as Mitch tries to calm him.

“I should change him into some dry clothes so we can get started” you say pulling away and walking over to help Mitch.

**

“Okay so after everyone walks in you will stand here” the officiant says to you before turning to Fred “and you there.”

He turns to the groomsmen and begins to shift them getting them into position, angling them slightly before doing the same with the bridesmaids. He begins to breeze through what to expect tomorrow, the brief version of the wedding ceremony.

“Then we do rings” he turns to Auston “that’s you’re cue, then you kiss.”

Fred steps forward placing his hand behind your head and pulls your face to his. Your lips connect in a soft but passionate kiss. There is some light chuckling from people around the room as you open your lips allowing him further entrance not caring that everyone is staring. Your hands snake up to grip his tongue swiping the inside of his mouth.

You groan involuntarily into the kiss causing someone to loudly clear their throat which causes you to pull back slightly. There is heat in your cheeks and a dampness in your underwear as Fred presses a final soft kiss to you before taking a step back.

“Yes, just like that” the officiant says while Fred shoots you a devilish smirk with a wink. “Then you will walk out followed by the wedding party.”

“And we’ll be married” you say smiling at Fred who has a large smile on his face.

“Any questions” he asks. Your eyes are still glued to Fred and you pull your lower lip through your bottom teeth both of you shaking your head.

“Alright, well guess we’ll do it all again tomorrow” he says.

“Daddy you married now” Ollie asks running away from Sebastian and to Fred who bends down to pick him up.

“We get married tomorrow Ollie” Fred laughs

You can see some confusion on his face as he processes what just happened. “That was just a practice” Fred further explains.

“Oh”

“You ready for some food” you ask grabbing Fred’s hand and heading down the aisle with them.

“Yes mommy, Uncle ‘bastian said they have ice cream, cookies and cake” his eyes lighting up like a Christmas tree.

“I’ll have to talk with your uncle” Fred mumbles.

“Cookies and cake!” Mitch exclaims running up beside Fred and pulling Oliver from his grip. The two of them take off running, a loud squeal escaping from your child’s lips. You can tell Fred wants to take off after them but you squeeze his hand holding him back. Partially because you know Mitch will make him eat some food, albeit grilled cheese or chicken nuggets before getting dessert, but also because the boys aren’t staying with you tonight so you don’t have to worry too much about their sugar high.

**

“Want to go for a walk skat?” Fred hums in your ear. Elise is resting gently in your arms, eyes getting heavy as her bed time approaches “help get her to sleep.”

You nod and stand up, Fred grabbing your phone putting it in his pocket since your dress doesn’t have any. The two of you casually slip away from the group. Everyone is a few drinks in, food long gone laughing and chatting. He grips your hand and passes you a plush blanket to wrap Elise in to help keep her warm. The sun is beginning to fall and the temperature has dipped down a few degrees.

Warm red and orange hues reflect off the pond back at you as you slowly walk around it. Fred slows his pace and the two of you fall into an easy conversation, his arm quickly wrapping over your shoulder pulling you in tight. He leads you over to a bench by the water where you can hear some gentle waves as you look over the water to the castle, the venue for tomorrow.

You fall beside him throwing your legs over his broad thighs, his hand landing on yours giving you a light squeeze. Bouncing Elise a few times you hear her coo softly, Fred pulls the blanket back to reveal her wide eyes wrapped tightly in her blanket, you can see the heaviness behind them and know she will fall asleep soon. Your conversation falls silent, but not an awkward silence, a comfortable silence where you stare at the other person, taking in some final moments before you get married.

He stares into your eyes softly, gently running his finger up and down your thigh causing you to shudder at the touch. His touch burning a trail along your skin. He smirks knowing the effect he has on you and before you can tilt your head to look away hit thumb gently lifts your face.

Like a moth to a flame, his lips find yours. Your tongue swipes along his bottom lip before licking the inside of his mouth. Your tongues dance in each other’s mouths as you pull a loud groan from him. Finally with puffy lips he pulls back resting his forehead on yours, the two of you capturing your breaths.

“Jeg elsker dig så meget skat” (I love you so much honey) he whispers, his deep brown eyes flicking open to meet yours. A wide grin plastered on your face as you repeat the words back to him, bringing your head to his shoulder. Glancing out at the water his arm wraps around your body, a light breeze blowing the few stray hairs from your face.

The two of you sit silently watching as the sun continues to set behind the rolling hills. You hear some light chirping of birds and the beating of Fred’s heart through his chest. His thumb gently ghosting over your arms; pulling some goosebumps to the surface.

“It was built in the 1500’s” he nods to the castle. “Frederick the 2nd had it built, him and his wife Sophie were supposed to move in with their seven kids.”

“Seven?” you laugh “that’s insane.”

“Mhm” his lips brush against your forehead. “Well the castle was finished in 1588 but he died a few months before, and his 11 year old son Christian became next in line for the throne but he had to wait until he became 18. They made a council to help lead the country during those years and the family moved into this castle during the mean time.

They set a date for the coronation for when he was 19 and his younger brother, Frederick the third, was jealous he wouldn’t be king, so a month before the date he lured him to the basement. Back then they used medieval torture devices and dungeons; and his younger brother used one of the items to bludgeon him to death. He left his older brothers body and changed his clothes, after a few hours they noticed Christian was missing and set out after him.

After finding his body they found the bloody clothes and then he was also sentenced to death in this castle. They thought that Frederick’s wife knew and the killed her also. And those three were the first of many people to be killed in the basement here. They weren’t the best record keepers but the number is believed to be over 60 people killed and buried around the grounds.”

“Are you serious?” you ask wide eyes pulling your head from his shoulder to stare at him. “We’re getting married at a place where numerous people were killed. I’m going to walk down the aisle and marry you while murdered dead people lie underneath my feet?!”

You can feel your heart beating rapidly, your body gets hot and your palms are sweaty. “How could you not tell me this?! How could you let us get married here!?” you whisper sternly trying to not disturb Elise.

His facial expression remains the same as he stares back at you. You try to push off of him to rise to your feet when he bursts out laughing “no babe.” He pulls you back into him tightly, you landing in his lap sighing in relief.

“This wasn’t a royal castle, no royal families ever lived here. And King Christian lived a long and happy life with lots of kids. But he was responsible for burning almost twenty witches.”

“Oh my god” you sigh. “What is wrong with you” you laugh the edges of your lips curling upwards as you lean back in his grasp.

He is still laughing when he pulls you closer, lips brushing against yours gently. “Seriously can’t believe you bought it” he smirks pulling away as you just shake your head in response.

“I’m happy I’m finally going to marry you” he says. “Pretty little gullible you.”

“We should get her inside” you say noticing Elise has finally fallen asleep in your arms. Once inside Fred tells you he wants to get something and he’ll met you in your room for a couple minutes. He knows that the bridal party will be spending the night in the room and they will be making their way upstairs shortly, but he said he has to do this tonight.

After putting Elise to sleep in her bassinette in the bedroom you change into your pyjamas and wait on the couch for him. You hear the door softly close and light footsteps while Fred makes his way to you,

“You haven’t played for me in a while” you rest your elbow on the back of the couch turning to face him as he rests the guitar on his thigh.

“Well I’ve been working on something I was hoping would be ready for the wedding but it isn’t unfortunately. But I still want to show you, just you.”

Turning his attention to the guitar he does a few practice strokes and begins to play the chords from a romantic melody. It takes you a few seconds but you quickly recognise it as Thinking Out Loud. A smile spreads on your face as he continues through the song.

A few of his red locks have fallen onto his forehead while he looks down with concentration. He struggles a couple times changing the chords, albeit very briefly. In all actuality you wouldn’t have even noticed if it wasn’t for the slight frown that crosses his face and his nose scrunching up before he finally completes the transition and continues on with the song.

“Wow babe” you sigh “that was amazing.”

He sets his guitar on the table before shifting closer to you “still needs some work.”

“Hey” you brush the hair from his forehead “it was amazing. You are amazing, I loved it.”

“You recognize it?” he pulls your legs over your broad thighs.

“I’m pretty sure everyone knows that song babe, it’s Ed Sheeran” you tease over your glass of water.

“Mhm” he hums taking the glass from your hands setting it on the table. “It is a very popular song” you continue.

“You don’t remember eh” he runs his thumb gently over the skin of your thigh.

Taking a minute you try to think back to some of the moments of your relationship, trying to remember a time this song was playing. While you are sure it has played multiple times, there isn’t a moment that sticks out. No momentous occasion in which this was playing in the background.

“Four and a half years ago I was having a terrible day so I decided to go out. It was snowing lightly when I stumbled into a Toronto bar that was mostly empty. A few couples in the booths and one absolutely breathtaking woman sitting at the bar.”

You chuckle slightly as heat hits your cheeks. “Well I walked up and sat beside her and this song pretty much started as soon as I sat down.”

“No it didn’t” you say in disbelief.

“Swear to you it did” he puts one hand in the air and the other over his heart. “I remember it as if it was yesterday. I don’t know why but this has stuck with me through the years, every time I hear it I think of you. You in that navy blue shirt, straight hair framing your face. The lipstick gone from your lips, but it stained the rim of your glass. I think about how I considered not going for a drink and how happy I am I did. I passed like 3 bars on my walk, no idea what drew me in to that one but I’m so happy I did.”

“That’s what you think of when you hear this” you smile.

“Sometimes. Sometimes I think of that time I first felt Ollie kick, or that morning when we were in bed and you told me you would come spend your maternity leave. Or that feeling I had when he was finally born and I became a dad, the first time I held him. But mostly I think of you in that blue shirt sitting in that bar half drank glass of whiskey in your hand.”

His thumb comes to your face and wipes away the tears that have pricked the corners of your eyes. “I love you so much” you whisper as more tears fall from your eyes. You can’t believe that Fred remembers this detail from the night he met you, that night you were just a random girl he never knew if he’d see again. But he remembers every minute detail, something that still surprises you but it shouldn’t after all this time.

“I can’t wait to marry you” he whispers eyes glossed over with tears and your chest tightens slightly. He leans in cautiously pressing his lips to yours. His mustache tickles your upper lip and your hands gently stroke his beard.

Pulling away his forehead presses against yours, his nose resting beside yours. “I should go” he whispers softly after a few minutes of holding each other. He carefully swings your legs off him and rises to his feet. Leaning down he presses a final soft kiss to your lips and turns around toward the door.

“Freddie” you croak out stopping him in his tracks, he turns around eyes finding you.

“Fuck me” you say voice drenched in desperations. Trailing a finger over your calf, cheeks still stained from the tears that fell moments ago.

“What?” he asks.

“Do I really have to ask twice” you smirk.

“N..No” he stammers out popping the button on his pants and quickly unzipping the button. He presses his pants and boxers down his legs, and trips over the fabric in his rush.

“You okay babe” you laugh as he kicks the pants off his legs and quickly peels his shirt off tossing it aside.

“I’m so fucking good babe” he mumbles sinking to his knees, pulling your legs to the side. His warm lips press to the inside of your thigh. He gently bites you causing you to gasp out. His hands find the elastic of your pyjama shorts and he hooks his fingers under pulling them down your legs.

“Thought you wanted to wait baby” he hums spreading your legs staring at your glistening cunt. The edge of his lips curls up seeing the slick that has built up for him; from him.

“That was a stupid idea” you groan as his tongue licks a stripe up your folds. He flicks his tongue against you before he draws the number eight around your throbbing clit.

“Such a stupid idea” he mumbles his beard rubbing against your skin, lightly grazing your throbbing heat.

“Fuck” your back arches and your hips lift pressing yourself further into his mouth. He curls his tongue sliding it inside your walls and your hands grasp the roots of his red locks. His tongue fucks in and out of you, each one pulling a louder moan than the last. His arms wrap around your thighs to grip your hips.

He digs his fingers into you rolling your hips closer to him. You feel a slight bubbling in the pit of your stomach, your entire body getting hot as your orgasm begins to build.

“Baby I need you to fuck me” you tug his hair lifting his head from your core. His lips are glistening with your juices, eyes lit with fire.

“You taste so good though baby” he counters turning his gaze back to your dripping core.

“Freddie” you whine. “I need you” his brown eyes peer up to yours “please.”

He shakes his head at your plead but crawls up your body, pulling your satin tank from your chest. “So needy” he smiles pressing his lips against yours allowing you to taste yourself on his tongue.

“For you” you lean back against the pillows pulling him down against you. His swollen tip presses against your entrance, a leg hooking around his broad back.

His mouth is on yours as he slowly sinks inside your heat swallowing your moans. He stretches you out your dripping core easily welcoming him. Once fully inside he pulls back, forehead resting against yours as you pull your lower lip through your teeth.

You become acutely aware that your friends can wander in at any moment; the two of you are right in the middle of the living room. But you also know that neither of you will last that long. The build up from the past week has had you both on the edge.

His pace is slow and your moans are swallowed by his lips as he pulls back and presses back inside you. “God I love you so much” he mumbles increasing his pace slightly. It’s still slow, but every time he presses forward he hits deep inside your walls. Every thrust hits your G-spot, your nails digging harshly into his broad shoulders.

His hips press into yours, your nails leaving marks all over his back and shoulders. His head ducks down and sucks on your breast a thumb finding your clit, adding to the pleasure rapidly building inside you. You gasp at the feeling, his thick cock stretching you out hitting your cervix with every thrust. Your heel digs into his back to hold him closer.

“Fuck Freddie” you groan feeling your orgasm building. He smirks against your breast dragging his teeth against your nipple. One of your hands find his hair tangling into his roots, gripping it for dear life as you are seconds away from your release.

He gasps sharply at the feeling but doesn’t let up, groaning when he feels your walls flutter around him. You chant his name between your heavy pants. The feeling of euphoria fills your body, toes curling as pleasure erupts inside you and you spill around his cock. He groans at the warmth dripping down him but he continues to work you through your high.

After a few more sloppy thrusts and he grunts. You are met by Danish curse words being mumbled in your ear while a familiar warmth spills inside you, painting your walls white as he collapses on you. Breathless the two of you lie there for a few more minutes, sticky skin all that separates you.

“If I had of known playing my guitar would have gotten you in bed I would have done it days ago” he teases; his warm breathe against your neck. You laugh lightly gently running your fingers over his back “who was I kidding, I’ve never been able to stay away from you.”

After a few minutes Fred pulls out causing you to whine at the emptiness, his cum leaking out of you. He returns a couple seconds later with a damp cloth gently cleaning you before he starts throwing articles of clothing in your direction.

“You should go, before my friends show up” you say as he steps into his boxers.

“Oh I text them a while ago on your phone telling them not to come for a bit” he explains finding his shirt. “I didn’t want them to come in when I was playing for you.”

“Right” you tease pulling your shorts up.

“I had no intention of sleeping with you when I came here” he smiles. “You practically begged me.”

“Good night babe” you walk over to him with a smirk pressing a soft kiss on his lips before ushering him out the door.

**

“Mommy you look beautiful” you hear your son call. Turning around you see the three of them in matching navy tuxedo’s complete with black bow ties. Fred took you and the kids out a couple months ago to the tailors to pick out the looks for the groomsmen and the boys but you never imagined they would look this adorable.

The dark fabric against his light skin, matching suspenders and hair combed to the side just tugs on your heart strings. A white boutonniere pinned to the outside of his jacket. You wipe away a stray tear quickly picking him up for a big hug.

“Oh my goodness look at you” you coo pressing a kiss to his cheek. “You are just the most handsome best little man.”

A smile tugs on the edge of his lips “thanks mommy.”

“How is daddy doing?” you ask giving him another kiss tickling his side.

“He said I can’t tell you” he giggles making you laugh. You hoped Oliver would divulge some details into how Fred was handling today. If his nerved were getting to him, or if he was calm like when he is in net on game day. But it appears Fred beat you to the punch, telling your child to stay tight lipped.

You wish he hadn’t told him though, you wish Oliver would tell you he is anxious. That he had to pour himself a glass of whiskey to calm down, his leg was tapping anxiously against the wood floor.

“Oh and look at your brothers” you say as Mitch walks in, holding each of the twins hands. They have on identical suits to Oliver, hair combed over to the side. “All of you are just so handsome.”

You walk over completely bypassing Mitch and scooping them for a big hug. You press your lips to their foreheads holding your three boys tight. Oliver begins to groan about it being too tight and you release him standing up to be met with Mitch.

“Hey Mitch” you say straightening his bow tie before he wraps his arms around you for a tight hug.

“You look beautiful momma” he says into your ear.

“You look nice too” you smile.

“I look better than nice” he smirks. “Is the little lady ready?” he asks looking over to Elise. Wide eyes and smiling in her bassinet dressed in a white dress. It has a lace top and tulle bottom, a large bow tied around it, a white floral headband on her head.

While planning the wedding you tried to find a way to include all of the kids in the day. When you thought you were having a boy you planned on one of the bridesmaids pulling him down the aisle in a wagon. With the surprise of having a girl you switched to a groomsman pulling her down the aisle, and Mitch immediately volunteered to pull her down the aisle. During the ceremony she will be with Charlotte in the first row but you still wanted to have her be a part of it.

“Yeah we just have to get her in the wagon” you smile as he walks over picking her up. He grabs a blanket placing it over his crisp suit to protect himself from the potential baby vomit, before pressing her against it. She coos in his arms reaching out to grab his thick brown locks giving them a tight yank.

“Okay” the planner comes into the room scanning around at everyone “Fred is ready and waiting for you.”

You feel yourself tense at the words, fists clenching firmly. Your nails dig harshly into your palms and you take a few uneasy breaths.

“Ready” Carlee comes up wrapping her arms around you for a tight squeeze.

Pulling away she sees some tears in your eyes, your bottom lip beginning to quiver. “Hey don’t cry” she wipes away the tears with her thumbs. Immediately recognizing these aren’t happy tears, they are the tears that often come before a collapse of emotions “what’s going on?”

She pulls you in tight and an involuntary sob slips from you before you breakdown against her. The room goes quiet only your sobs echoing as her hand tangles into your curls holding you close.

“(Y/N)” she whispers running her other hand up and down your back.

Your chest heaves and you fall apart in her arms “I don’t know if I can do this” you whisper through a deep shuddering breath as Allie comes up to you wrapping her arms around the two of you. Your chest tightens and your breathing gets erratic the room feeling like its crumbling around you. You feel like you are outside your body watching everything unfold. Stuck in a glass box and no matter how hard you pound your fists against it, it won’t break.

“What do you mean (Y/N)” she ushers you over to the couch your head falling onto Allie’s shoulder, Carlee crouching down in front of you. The silence that fills the air is deafening. You can feel the tension in the room as everyone watches on, waiting to see how everything unfolds.

“You don’t want to marry Fred?” Carlee asks softly squeezing your hands, your body stiffening at her words. 

Next Chapter

[cpcoulter-official]

Recoil

Tap.

Tap tap.

taptaptaptaptaptaptaptap—

“Logan,” Derek growled, opening his eyes from where he was sitting. “Stop.”

With a frustrated huff, the blond boy rose to his feet, obviously restless as he began pacing. And to be honest, Derek was sick of it. The flight’s been delayed for a full two hours and Logan had begun getting impatient in the first fifteen, getting testy after twenty, and downright annoying in under an hour.

And all because Julian had gone and been a total idiot. But what would Derek and Logan know, right? Neither of them knew how Hollywood worked or what its reasons were, they just knew that they weren’t quite ready to give Julian up as another young sacrifice to their cinematic altars.

But Julian had gone off on a mission, he was determined to prove to his father that he could do this, that this was the role for him, and nothing, not even the threat of them being accused of nepotism, could stop him.

(“Hollywood is the last place on earth that oughto be pointing fingers when it comes nepotism,” Julian had said. “The place runs on it.”)

And it would’ve all been okay, had the role not been what it was, and had Julian not dropped contact during prep and filming, leaving them in the dark as to what had become of him. The role of a young chain-smoking junkie, the epitome of wasted youth, struggling to stay alive was no joke--and nothing that someone of Julian’s age should be doing.

Logan stood grimly, arms akimbo, as the flight finally arrived. In spite of himself, Derek also rose to his feet, a little anxious, scanning the disembarking passengers for any sign of their friend.

(Can you guys come get me at the airport when I land? the first text message from Julian in a long while had said, surprising the both of them. I need a ride back to school, I’m really tired out.

Logan snarled and didn’t look at all pleased, asking why Julian couldn’t just get a cab or a car service, but when the time came, he had been at the car before Derek was.)

What they had expected, maybe, was to get Julian, make note of his diminished appearance—as he always was following a long filming stint—say their “I told you so”s, snark and be snarked at back, and then take him back to the school. Life goes on, and at least he was back with them.

But when Julian appeared at the gate, towing a small rolling suitcase with him, Logan’s arms dropped as though even his icy countenance was no match for what he saw.

Diminished fell away from Derek’s vocabulary--that wasn’t enough for this. Julian was emaciated. When he said he was tired, they didn’t expect the bloodless face, pale lips, red-rimmed eyes with deep dark circles. He had lost weight dramatically, so much that his custom-tailored clothes now hung limply off him. He didn’t saunter forward as he usually did, he shuffled as though it was taking all his energy to tow his luggage and keep the pack on his back. And his glazed eyes blew past them without actually focusing on anything. He didn’t even see them.

At some point, Logan had left Derek’s side, heading straight for Julian, who only realized who was approaching when Logan was nearly right in front of him. The young actor gave him a ghastly half-smile. “Hi…”

Logan didn’t answer. On the way to the airport, Derek knew Logan had a million and one things to say--he had been livid, just as Derek was, about this whole thing--but now he didn’t say a word. Instead, he took the pack away from where it was dragging Julian’s shoulder down, and hooked it onto his own shoulders.

“The flight was late…” Julian murmured in a hushed, wrecked voice. Derek resisted grimacing at the smell of cigarette smoke that still clung to him. It appeared Julian noticed that, because he said, “Sorry about the...smell. Took two showers, but it wouldn’t come out yet. I think it’s in my clothes.”

“Stop talking right now,” Derek commanded, taking the suitcase from him, ushering him on. He found Julian’s sunglasses and put it on him. He can’t be seen like this. “Come on...let’s go.”

Logan still wouldn’t say a word. Even when Julian looked to him as though asking for confirmation of the command. All Logan did was keep his mouth in that grim line, green eyes blazing, as he helped take Julian out of the airport.

The car service was waiting, and as Derek set the suitcase into the trunk, Logan made to put the pack in the car. Julian suddenly grasped onto his sleeve. “Don’t,” he murmured. His eyes looked too big for his face with how thin he’d become. “...I don’t...it’s got the smell.”

Logan stared at him for a moment, not even brushing away the spidery fingers from his sleeve as he normally would, and then handed the pack to Derek. He wordlessly brought Julian into the car.

“Thanks,” Julian murmured, still in that subdued state. “...I can’t stand that smell anymore.”

Again, Logan did not respond. He had so much to say and Derek had heard nearly all of them, but he just wouldn’t say them. Maybe he was waiting for the right time, or maybe he just couldn’t.

The car ride back to Dalton was much the same. Logan sitting stiff and cold and so angry--Derek could see it in his eyes how mercilessly angry he was--as Julian slumped into his seat, staring at the scenes in the window passing by.

“Go on.”

Derek looked up when he heard Julian’s ruined voice. Julian kept staring out the window with those horrible too-big bloodshot eyes. “...go on, let it out. I know you guys are dying to.”

“You look like you’re dying.” Logan snarled through his teeth and god, he was so angry. It was finally leaking out. When Julian didn’t answer, Logan went on. “Have you even seen yourself?! What did you even do all of this for?! Proving what?! That you absolutely do not give a shit what happens to you just as long as you get what you want?!”

“What did you do to yourself, Jules?” Derek asked, trying to stem the flow of Logan’s rage before he stopped being so still and decided to implode altogether. “How did this get so bad?”

Julian only shook his head slightly, a limp rag doll of his formerly brilliant self. “It was the role. ...the smoking, ...just did what I had to do.”

“You didn’t have to anything,” Logan snapped.

“Had to prove I could do this. That I can deliver this.”

“Well congratu-fucking-lations, Jules.”

“Logan,” Derek finally glared at him. Logan’s hands were shaking and he was balling and releasing his fists like he was trying to keep himself from bursting. He turned his attention back to the actor. “Jules...how much weight have you lost? Have you been eating? And how many smokes did you have to go through.”

Julian didn’t answer immediately. His eyes glazed over again. After a few moments, he murmured, “...god I hate that smell...I can’t stand it anymore.”

Derek shook his head. Julian was practically delirious, there’s no talking to him right now. “You’re going to the Clinic wing the minute we get back to—”

“I want to go back to Stuart House,” Julian replied in a tone that suggested this wasn’t up for negotiation. “...I want to go back and...just sleep. When I get there you can...” he waved his hand limply. “You can yell all you want. I know you guys are going to. Let it out.”

Logan shook his head, completely furious, and added nothing more to the conversation.

It only took twenty minutes to get from the airport and back to Dalton Academy, but Julian somehow managed to fall asleep in that time after their conversation. Pulling up in front of Stuart House, Logan looked to Derek and said, “Go to the clinic wing. Ask Summers what we’re supposed to...do with him.”

Derek stepped out, a little doubtful, “What about you? What’ll you do? Look, maybe go easy on him a little, I think he knows what he’s done to himself—”

“He has no idea what he does to himself and he doesn’t care, that’s the problem,” Logan retorted. “When he’s set himself to something, he’ll manage it or die trying and one of these days, it will get him killed.”

“At least he’s here now,” Derek sighed as Logan reached in and pulled Julian out of the car with more care than he’d expected given his disposition. “He’ll be alright once he recovers.”

“This can’t happen again, D,” Logan told him as he slung Julian’s arm over his shoulder, the groggy actor waking up and still too slow to realize what was happening. “This can’t happen again, I don’t care how right he thinks he is.”

“Well, tell him that,” Derek nodded.

“I plan to.”

[yourbuerokrat2]

I have a scenario you could write about if you’d like? I think with dark Q, as long as it’s still kinda canon Q, he would not let Picard see his dark moments. With him around he would just be soft and dorky and playfully egocentric, but as soon as Picard would leave the room he would go all evil abstract horror ob people who slightly inconvenienced, or were treating him without the respect he deserved. And they probably wouldn’t ever tell Picard about it (even if Q didn’t threaten them) because they’d be too afraid of what that monster would do if the relationship didn’t work and he didn’t have to play the sweet boyfriend anymore

5 times someone didn't tell Picard the truth about his boyfriend and one time someone (nearly) did

Warning for body horror is mostly for the first one

1. A bureaucratic Admiral

It has been a a rather long and tiring diplomatic mission for the Captain. Especially since one of the conflicting sides did not need to sleep and demanded constant entertainment.

And they refused to have Commander Data for company since he did not have a high enough rank to be worthy of interacting with them.

As soon as the door closed behind him, he felt a presence rather close behind him.

"My, mon capitaine, we have been rather busy dealing with imbeciles lately. And all that built up tension and stress."

"Hello, Q.", it comes out more fond than he would have ever imagined when they first began this affaire that grew into a relationship.

"Lucky for you, your charming and overall perfect boyfriend has already planned an emergency vacation. Two weeks on a planet created for just this purpose and you'll be back in about two seconds.

What do you say?"

If Q had not been on his best behaviour and if Picard had not found out the last few times he gave Q the benefit of the doubt that he really stuck to his words, he would have said no.

But before Picard could reply that as long as Q kept his absence to two seconds  they are free to go, his badge went off.

"Riker to Picard."

"Picard speaking. What is it, Number One?"

"I am sorry, captain, but Admiral Johnson requests to have a call with you immediatly."

Time froze. Or to be more specific, time on the Enterprise froze.

And a certain Admiral found himself in front of a very frustrated Q.

“I was this” and the Admiral found himself squished between two fingers that started to slowly press against each other, nearly crushing him to deah as a loud voice continued “close to a romantic getaway I have created an entire planet for while having to watch my dear boyfriend work himself to the brink of exhaustion without being allowed to interfere.”

Without so much as a warning Johnson found himself face to face with this dangerous entity that now seemed to consist of the universe itself with black holes and imploding stars scathered across their skin He felt nauseaus and a tad bit mad just trying to look in what appeared to be their eyes. 

“And you have the audacity to call upon him after this rather meaningless errand just to” 

and the Admiral could feel his mind being invaded the entity making sure to let him know about it and about their anger once Q found out the reason behind the Admirals call.

“tell him you need the entire paperwork filled out  and a personal report as soon as possible.”

He not so much heard it as felt it in his head, the being erasing any other thought he might have, leaving behind a pain in his head that was about to drive him to insanity. 

When Q finally decided to leave his head alone, he was able to think again. 

He wanted to speak or to let Q know, that he now sees the error of his ways and that he will not bother the captain any longer. But he found himself unable to form out a single coherent sound. 

Q on the other hand did not seem to care about his opinion on the matter, having already made up his own mind as  he saw what the Admiral guessed to be a wicked grin, it was really hard to tell with Q losing more and more of his human features.

“But I am willing to give you the ‘benefit of the doubt’ as mon capitaine always says. Perhaps the reason for your insistence on the bureaucrat procedure without giving a thought about how tired Picard must be feeling was less out of malice and more because you have no idea what exhaustion feels like.

Let me help you with that.”

And Q snapped his fingers and suddenly the Admiral was on a running track. Sweating profusely under a scorching sun. 

“Go on. Run. I promise, as soon as you have reached the finish point I will send you right back on your way.”, came a voice from above.

Still unable to defend himself vocally nor seeing any other way out, the Admiral started running. Really, it did not seem to be a particularly long run, sine he was already able to see the finish line after a while. 

Now, if only his back wouldn’t feel so heavy. 

The more he ran the heavier his back got, until he had to resort to go on all fours.

And was he... shrinking? The grass around him seemed to get bigger and bigger and the finishing point further away than it should be. 

His sweat was feeling less like sweat and more like a sticky strange liquid that was covering his body and his eyes too started to feel rather weird. Like they wanted to stretch out of his eye sockets. 

“A rather funny thing about some of you organics is that each one of you can develop a sort of fear or disgust to something much smaller than you. For Jean-Luc it’s spiders, for Klingons it’s Tribbles and when I got a look into your rather pathetic mind, guess what I found?”

Laughter filled the entire space around him, as realization began to hit him. 

But what was he supposed to do? The only thing he could hope for, was that he would be able to cross the finish line in time before it was too late. 

When he could feel his legs and arms disappear, his mind followed. 

All that was left of him when he finished the race was a small snail that was not capable of any thought other than that it needed to move forward.

Picking the snail up, Q smiled at it. “You know, the french have some rather nice recipies for things like you.

But I am a god of my word.”

Q snapped his fingers and they were once again in the Admirals office with a now terrified Admiral and an amused looking Q, who were both back in their human forms. 

“I do believe, that our little misunderstanding has been solved and that you will tell your collegues that should they do the same mistake as you were about to make, then I shall treat them like the insects they are.”

Still unable to talk, the Admiral only nodded franticly. 

“Good, now I am going to have to eradicate your fear for a while. Wouldn’t want you to have a panic attack while talking to my dear Jean-Luc. 

Because there are certain things he does not have to know about. Do you understand?”

In this situation Admiral Johnson, was willing to understand just about anything, if only to make the entity leave. 

And just as Q disappeared, so did his fear and as he looked at the screen to see a clearly tired captain Picard with a smiling Q in the background. He managed to excuse himself by saying how good of a job Picard did and that he wanted to cancel his next visit to the Enterprise out of private reasons. 

Needless to say, a warning was issued to most Admirals that would have to deal with the Enterprise in the future.

Up next, because I am really liking this prompt, but don’t have the time to write everything down just yet:

2 Riker

3. Deanna Troi

4. Beverly Crusher

5. The Continuum

+ Guinan

[evandearest]

The Garden of Eden | Part III: Hidden Darkness

Pairing: James March x reader (you) | ~Part: (3/4)~

Summary (Part Three): Sometimes, even when things seem to be at their best, hidden truths can seep through the cracks. Sometimes, it can ruin relationships, but other times, it can make them. What will happen when you and James find that everything is not what it seems? They say opposites attract, but how far can that really go? The truth is a magnet, but the question still remains: will it bring you together, or force you apart?

Warnings (in this part): drunk person (briefly), anxiety, twisted morals / religion bending, murder / blood, lying, sexual scenes (no real smut)

Word Count: 4,723 (OMG lol)

Notes: Can we just pretend I didn’t mess up the location of the backstory? I just have no idea how to change it in the story now. I didn’t remember that James was from New York until just recently as I’ve been re-watching Hotel. Let’s just say that for the sake of this story, James moved from New York to L.A. at a much younger age for some reason lol. I’m so sorry for messing that up, it bothers me so much! Ugh. In this part, I decided to give a peek into James’ point of view a little bit. :) Also, the sections in italics are flashbacks if you are ever confused. This one gets pretty twisted as far as morals go. lol. Also, this is the longest part so far... and I’m impatient to get this posted because I’m so excited, so I apologize if there are any errors. Without further a-do... let the show begin. :) Enjoy!

(p.s. let me know if you ever have any questions/comments about the story, I love feedback!)

Tag List:  @etoile-writings @haileyybird @ietss​

Something had been going on with James. As much as it might not seem to some, you were smarter than you looked. You were attentive; you watched the people around you. You cared about those kinds of things. Some would call it trust issues, but you call it surviving. Through all you’d been through, being vigilant was the one thing that had seemed to keep you going.

It’d been the best month you’d ever had. Everything had seemed to fall into place; you and James’ relationship had been stronger than ever. Everyone had seemingly accepted it, too, which surprised you greatly. You had figured that many people would criticize you, but if there was one thing you had learned, it would be that people didn’t question James. You loved that. Not having to answer people’s critiques and being respected was a feeling you’d never known, and it was a feeling that you definitely got used to quickly. You didn’t even have to worry about people questioning you, because if they did, James was quick to take care of it. However, you had noticed an odd pattern: any person that said something rude to you seemed to vanish.

For example, today. You had been sitting at the bar, minding your own business while sipping a fruity cocktail, when a man with whiskey breath approached you. He was stumbling, slurring, spitting, and frankly you had quickly become uncomfortable. So you’d politely and discreetly moved seats in an attempt to get away from him, which ended up failing. Plan B had been to excuse yourself to the bathroom. When you returned merely five minutes later, the man had vanished. While it wasn’t strange for drunk men to wander off, it was strange for drunk men to get very far within a few minutes. You’d walked around the main hallways of the hotel in search for him, but he was nowhere to be found. And this hadn’t been the first time this had happened. You were beginning to get suspicious.

You wouldn’t have suspected him in the first place if it hadn’t been for the fact that you’d caught him in some peculiar situations.

It was late. The clock on the side table read 2:00 A.M. when you heard the door to the room open and close. Even in your sleepy haze, you’d managed to catch sight of a black figure. You’d slipped out of bed not soon after, your silk robe dragging on the floor behind you as you made your way out of your room. You gently closed the door behind you, quietly padding down the hall. As you rounded the corner, you caught sight of a familiar suit-clad back at the end of the hall. Just as you were about to call out, you heard a faint moaning in pain, silencing you. You swerved around, on a mission to hide your body behind the corner so as to just observe, when that familiar voice called out to you.

“Y/N?”

You turned around slowly, smiling softly at James from across the hall. You yawned, furrowing your eyebrows together in confusion.

“James?” you asked, your voice cracking from having just woken up. He smiled, although you could read the nervousness all over him. What was he doing? He slowly crossed the hallway down to you, his hands reaching forward to grab both of yours.

“Why are you awake, darling? It’s nearing two,” he asked worriedly, reaching up to gently brush your cheek with his knuckles. You paused, staring at him in confusion.

“Just having some strange dreams,” you said, averting your eyes to look over his shoulder for a second. “Did you hear that noise?”

“W-what noise, dear?” he tried to recover from his stutter quickly, but you didn’t fail to notice it. You paused once again, studying his handsome features. He wasn’t lying to you, was he?

“Nothing...” you trailed off, lost in thought, before letting out a breathy laugh. “I must just be tired, darling. Are you alright?” James shoulders dropped visibly, a toothy grin forming on his face.

“Of course,” he said, before placing a kiss onto your forehead. “You need rest up, dear. We wouldn’t want anything happening to your pretty little head.” You genuinely smiled at that. He was very sweet; although you did have a strange feeling about his behavior. You couldn’t describe it, it was more intuitive than certain, but you just couldn’t deny or brush it off.

“What about you?” you asked him, reaching over to squeeze his hand in a loving manner. “Aren't you coming to bed?” James raised his eyebrows, quickly shaking his head.

“No, no, dear, I’m afraid not,” he sighed, smiling at you sadly. “I have quite a lot of paperwork to catch up on, and I’m afraid I won’t rest until it’s done.”

“Okay, just don’t overwork yourself darling,” you said and sighed while looking at him pointedly. You then leaned up to place a chaste kiss against his lips.  “Goodnight, James.”

“Goodnight dearest,” he whispered, and you turned and made your way to your room. You opened the door and stepped inside, turning to place your ear against the door for a moment. You swore that you could hear a faint groaning again. You shook your head at yourself, telling yourself it was all in your mind before settling back into bed.

Ever since that night, a week ago, you’d been suspicious. You just had an innate feeling that you certainly were not just hearing things that night. And based on the way James was acting, he knew you weren’t either. He’d been distant, staying up late every single night. He’d go to bed with you at first, only to get up and leave in the middle of the night at such unearthly hours you could hardly believe the clock. You tried to dismiss it the best you could, but it was getting harder to ignore.

So as soon as you had woken up today, you decided to talk with him about it. You’d thought a lot about just asking him, spouse to spouse. It was James, after all. You knew he wouldn’t get mad at you, by all means, but you just felt like he didn’t want to tell you for whatever reason. It was driving you mad.

-🤍-

“James?” your soft voice called out, startling James from his paperwork. He glanced up, his eyes landing on your frame as you stood in the doorway of his office. You were clad only in your silky robe and slippers, your hair still slightly disheveled from having just gotten out of bed. He was surprised, for it wasn’t often that he would see you in such a state. You would normally make yourself up before coming to see him in the mornings, as he generally got up earlier than you. It wasn’t a problem to him, though. In fact, he would never admit it, but he secretly adored you like this. You looked even more vulnerably pure than normal. That’s what James admired about you the most: your ability to remain such a source of light and hope; your maintaining of innocence when surrounded by darkness. No matter what you went through, you always seemed to find a way to come out shining. His beacon of hope.

He stared at your figure, taking a mental picture to forever remember this moment. He never wanted this to end. Even the thought that he was the only one that would ever get to see you in such a state excited him. Just the sight of you lit up his entire being in a way he didn’t even know was possible until he met you. He couldn’t help but think back to the time when he first realized how much you had impacted his life; how you’d made him fall apart in the best way imaginable. A particular day flooded his thoughts.

You stared at him with your doe eyes as he looked away from you. Even from his peripheral vision, he felt it. Just the thought of you sent a jolt to his heart. When he’d seen his father above you, he’d felt a rage so accumulative it felt as if he might implode on himself. But then all you’d asked him was a simple question, and yet he had no idea how to respond. How was he supposed to tell you that he thought his own abusive father was right? He couldn’t even swallow the fact that he agreed with his father, let alone tell you, the one who always managed to keep him from succumbing to the darkness. If it weren’t for you, he didn’t think he would have a real purpose to strive for.

He simply couldn’t tell you that everyone with whom you’d ever spoken to was probably using you for something other than a nice conversation. He’d met your family; and although they seemed picture-perfect, he knew their true intentions behind closed doors. He’d met the people of Los Angeles; he knew how they worked. It was all money and entitlement. They had planned to ship you off to a rich husband since you had been born.

He wanted to tear them apart. He wanted to do unspeakable things for the simple pleasure and satisfaction he’d get from it. You were the one who separated him from this unspeakably dark craving for blood that he felt. He’d known it even then; if you had somehow gotten taken from him, he wouldn’t stop himself any longer. He’d be lost in his darkness forever, and he would never find the light again.

“James?” you spoke again, and James snapped back to reality at the sound of your voice. He smiled at you, setting his pen down to give you his full attention.

“My my,” he said cheekily, “to what do I owe the pleasure?” You stood in your tracks for a moment, a slight pink coloring your cheeks as you pulled your robe tighter around you.

“I’ve come to ask you a question,” you said, deciding to just put it out there. James smile fell from his face at your serious demeanor, concerned curiosity clouding his features.

“Yes?” he asked, his accent drawing out the word in a way that sent shivers down your spine. You sighed, gathering your thoughts for a moment.

“Well, I’ve just been wondering recently,” you said, slowly making your way over to sit in the chair in front of his desk. “It’s not an extremely important thing, I just...” You trailed off, your words getting caught in your throat, lost in translation from your head as you stared at James.

“Darling, you can tell me anything,” James reassured, resting his hands together on the desk in front of him as he leaned forward slightly. You sighed once more, averting your eyes from his. You took a deep breath before continuing.

“I’d like to know where you’ve been going these last few nights, James,” you said, your voice filled with unintentional shakiness. You didn’t mean for all of your emotions to come out that way.

James faltered, the small smile on his face wiped away at your question. He didn’t know how to respond at first, his mind going through all of the possible excuses he could make. There was no way that he could ever tell you what he was actually doing. He feared your reaction too much.

“Darling,” James said, putting as much charm in his tone as he could. “I’ve already told you how behind I’ve been on paperwork.” You met his eyes once more, disbelief clear in your orbs. His own eyes widened slightly at your clear observance of his dishonesties. He didn’t anticipate that you wouldn’t believe him. Perhaps he’d underestimated your perceptive ability to catch liars.

He knew then that he’d have to tread carefully from here; he’d have to weigh his options. He couldn’t tell you the truth--for he feared the result. But genuinely lying to you? He knew, then, that that would only push you away. Lies were like bricks; they built and built and built until eventually a wedge formed. He didn’t want a wall with you. He didn’t want to ruin the only true connection he’d ever had.

It was ironic, how just moments before you’d asked, he’d been consumed with memories of the one other instance in which you forced him to answer to something he couldn’t. He never expected he’d be in this situation again. Yet here you were, once again, presenting to him a question in which he could not answer truthfully.

He didn’t want to take that look in your eyes away. He couldn’t. He couldn’t imagine what would happen to those eyes. Those eyes that had been his source of comfort for so long. He’d seen your shock when he killed your husband, but he’d gotten lucky. That was someone who had directly affected you; the man who had ruined your life. You had already wanted him gone. He didn’t want to imagine what you would think about him participating in a hobby in which taking life was the sport. He didn’t want to steal your light away by consuming you in his darkness. He feared the imbalance would destroy the life you’d just rebuilt together. What if he was too different now? What if his embrace of darkness repelled your light away?

“James,” you said softly, suddenly much closer to him. Your hands gently cupped his jaw as you stood directly in front of him. He blinked in confusion at his failure to notice your movement from one side of the desk to the other. He looked up at you questioningly.

James had been so lost in thought that it had frightened you slightly. You couldn’t help but notice how tired he looked. You shamed yourself for not thinking that he could just be stressed. James had a very hard job; he managed a new Los Angeles hotel that was constantly bustling with people of all kinds. You were obviously reading too much into it, and you realized that now. Sometimes you just couldn’t stop your anxieties caused by your last marriage, as much as you tried to. You cursed yourself for not thinking of him in all of this. You quickly enveloped the man into your arms, holding him in a comforting embrace.

“I understand,” you whispered softly. “I get that work can be overwhelming. I just wish you’d let me help rather than overworking yourself.” James sighed, his shoulders relaxing instantly. You smiled; your comfort was working.

“You are completely correct as always, darling,” James replied, pulling you to sit in his lap comfortably. “And I am terribly sorry for not spending the nights with you. My wish is not to make you feel lonely.” You smiled, wrapping your arms around his neck. You laid your head on his shoulder, cuddling into him.

“It’s okay, James,” you said sweetly. “I know how hard you work. It’s one of the things I love most about you.” James gently brushed your hair away from your face.

“You truly are the most accommodating, dear,” James said lovingly. “What would I do without you?” Your grin felt splitting. Talking to James was the best decision you’d ever made.

You spent a few minutes just sitting there cuddled into James as he continued his work, basking in the warmth and love you felt from him. Your moment was interrupted when the door to his office opened abruptly.

“Mr. March,” a voice called, in which you recognized as Miss Evers. “Sorry to interrupt-” She paused when her eyes landed on you and James, her expression falling slightly. “I’m sorry, are you busy?” She asked, her eyes seeming to burn holes through you. You tightened your grip around James’ neck slightly. You didn’t like the way that she was looking at you.

“What does it look like?” James barked in response, visibly annoyed. Your eyes widened at his harsh tone as his hand gripped your waist tighter. Miss Evers grimaced.

“Well, you see,” she started hesitantly, “you have a delivery for floor seven.” James’ grip loosened at her words, his expression changing to one of understanding. You sat up, pulling away from James slightly.

“I see,” he said to her before looking to you. “Darling, I’m afraid that I have some business to attend to.” You nodded and stood from his lap, walking with him as you both made your way out of the room and to the elevator.

“Well, I am going to get freshened up,” you smiled at James, planting a kiss on his cheek before you got off onto your floor. He grabbed your hand and kissed the back of it in return, smiling at you charmingly. You briefly glanced at Miss Evers again, your mood faltering once again at her steely glare. You didn’t understand why she was glaring at you, but it was beginning to worry you. You looked back at James, catching one last glance at his charming grin before the elevator doors closed.

-🤍-

Many hours had passed and you hadn’t seen James since the morning. It was half past five o’clock when you began to worry about his absence. You’d expected him to be kept busy with his work for most of the day, but it was unusual to have not heard from him by five P.M. It’s not that you were always worried about him, it’s just that you knew him. He was very adamant about your nightly dinners at six.

Usually he always sent Miss Evers to remind you around five, but you hadn’t heard a peep the entire day, aside from the morning. You had a sneaking suspicion that the woman held some type of grudge against you. She always spoke to you in curt language, and occasionally she’d give rudely blunt comments, but it was only when you were one on one. You had noticed how her behavior changed around James. It was like she was constantly trying to impress the man. It made sense, as he was her boss, but sometimes it really got under your skin in a way you didn’t like. You didn’t want to hold a grudge against the woman; truly, she seemed quite lovely. You just didn’t understand what she held against you to treat you in such a way.

So, needless to say, despite not hearing from the maid, you’d prepared yourself like normal anyway. You knew James wouldn’t forget dinner, it just wasn’t like him. After you made yourself up, you headed out to your normal dining room to meet James. You were surprised to arrive to an empty table, however. You had been wrong. James did forget. You were genuinely surprised. You stood in your tracks, wracking your brain to figure out where he may be. You decided the best place to start would probably be the most obvious place, his office.

Upon arriving at the floor, you immediately felt that something was off. The entire floor seemed vacant. You walked timidly down the dark hallway, your eyes scanning around you warily. It had seemed like a maze of dark passages, leading on and on in silence, until finally you heard a semblance of life. It sounded like a shuffling at first, until you were close enough to the door of his office that you could hear a noise that almost sounded like sawing. Your curiosity spiraled, and ultimately, it won over the wariness you felt.

When the door opened wide enough for you to see, your eyes first landed on James’ back, taking in his rapid movement. His arm pumped backward and forward, his body driving the force to drive a saw through bone. Dark red coated his shirt, as well as the floor and area surrounding, and at first glance you could’ve sworn that the carpet was just regularly that color. You only briefly got to watch his movement, because it was as if he sensed your presence unconsciously, even as quiet as you had been. James eyes met yours, and he seemed to have frozen in space and time. He simply stared for a few seconds, before he dropped the saw and faced you.

“Darling, I--,” he started, choking over his words in shock. Your eyes took in the scene once more, the bloody corpse hard to ignore. A few moments of silence passed between you.

“James,” you said breathily. Your feet shuffled forward until you were standing only a few feet in front of him. Your smaller hand grabbed his larger one, feeling his rough callouses against your soft palm. “Is this what you’ve been keeping from me?” His eyes met yours and you saw the answer in them. You were right.

It all made sense to you now. All that time he’d been gone, he’d been here. It was obvious to you now why he didn’t want to tell you what he had been doing.

“You’re not...” he trailed off for a moment, his eyebrows raised uncertainly. “Afraid of me?” he finished. Your mouth opened in shock at the fact that you hadn’t realized what he had presumed your reaction to this would be. He thought this would scare you off.  He thought that you would see this as a negative thing. He thought you’d think he was a crazy murderer just like all other common people would.

He couldn’t have been more wrong.

You stared at him in disbelief. He expected you to fear him, to run away from the violence simply for it being violence; to hide from real reason. Did he not think that you would see the truth behind this? The truth being that he’d built an empire from the ground off of ash and dust. He’d climbed up the chain of players until he was at the very top, crowned king. Not to mention that all while doing so, he’d profited majorly, but not only that... he’d became a true god.

You understood now. Being a god wasn’t about riches or the simple power of being respected... it was a service. A service of repenting sin in the truest way possible: punishment. James had been chosen; picked out from the crowd for his vision of truth, for his undying ability to see men for what they were: sinners. Men were first placed on Earth just for the simplest sin of knowledge--and any act after knowledge might as well be considered evil. From then the men of the world raised generation after generation of sinners: users, abusers, liars. You and James had been included in that crowd. You’d both been raised to sin, but you knew now that you were special, for you had been enlightened. You were not ignorant like the most. You saw the true darkness in the world, and understood that it needed to be handled. You were chosen.

You stared at James, a newfound admiration for him arising. He really was special, and yet he couldn’t even completely see it. You didn’t understand how anyone could be so blind so as to not see the utter power he withheld in the palm of his hands. His hands, in which were the epitome of jurisdiction. They were judge, jury, and executioner, and every life they took served a god’s purpose. They offered utter release of darkness for all those chosen by him, freeing them from their evil natures. Other people might see danger in James, but all you saw was glory. That, you thought, was the misconception of death. Many viewed it as a robbery, but it wasn’t that. It was a true freedom, a release of all sins, and those who did not see that were clouded by their selfish desires and greediness. It was an act of nature. An act of God.

You smiled at James, squeezing his hand, before leaning forward to place your forehead against his.

“No,” you whispered, your breath hot against his lips. “No, I’m not afraid. There’s nothing to fear... murder isn’t always evil like most think, especially if it’s a service. James, you aren’t a sinner for releasing others from their sins... James, you are a god...”

James froze in his place, a shiver running up his spine. Usually, he resented religion. But the way you had explained it sparked something entirely different within him. He felt an electricity run through his entire body, igniting his veins in a way no drug ever could. His arms wrapped around you, quickly pulling you flush against him.

No one had ever said something so logical to him. He’d run into many people who preached religion and he despised every one of them. His thoughts were like yours: they were all sinners anyway, so how could they support a holy God? It was hypocritic, and James hated every one of them for it. It was the entire reason that he’d started his new project to mimic on the Bible’s Ten Commandments. However he’d never talked to you about religion, for he knew you’d grown up in a church and generally avoided the enraging subject. But you’d given him a new perspective with your words. He was a god. He held all the power that men reserved just for their one and only God in his hands. He could take any life if he wanted to, with nothing stopping him. He’d realized his power before, but he’d never thought of himself in that way. All those men praying to their god while at his knees might as well be praying to him. When he took a life, he released that person from evil. He held the true power.

He couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it before. He and you had always seemed like polar opposites. That’s part of what he thought was so attractive about you. But it was much more than that. Of course it was. He and you were more similar than he’d ever thought. You completed his image, and he expanded off of yours. Your perspective put a whole new sense to the world that he’d never known. You were light, and he was dark, but together... you were something entirely different. He’d thought that he had had everything figured out perfectly, but oh how wrong he had been. You explained it in a way that he never could have thought of himself. His Y/N...  you were so much more than he had ever really known. That mystery excited him undeniably.

His hands gripped your waist tightly as his lips crashed into yours. You gasped into the kiss, for you’d never, in all your time together, received such passion from James. He kissed you almost bruisingly, pouring every ounce of his being into it. His arms left your sides and before you knew it, he was hoisting you up into his arms, your legs wrapped around his waist. You clung to him tightly, kissing back just as fiercely as you felt the tension between the two of you build. Your cheeks were flushed from the heat as he carried you across the room, too caught up in him to see where you were going.

He set you down and pinned you against the wall, rattling the table next to you. His arms were like a cage around you. A loud shattering was the only thing to interrupt you, breaking your kiss as you both turned to see the vase that was on the table now on the floor. The glass was scattered everywhere, the white roses it withheld strewn out across the floor as the water spread. You both stood staring at the vase for a few moments before you wrapped your arms around James’ neck again.

“Leave it,” you whispered, pressing your fingers into his back as you tugged him close once more. Your lips met again, just as intense as before, before he began his journey to kissing your neck. You panted, a sheen of sweat already glistening on your skin and he’d barely done anything. “James,” you pleaded, “I need you.”

James pulled away smirking, his hands traveling down your sides slowly.

“Oh darling, you have a long night ahead of you.”

A long night it was indeed, eventually moved from that spot and into the bedroom, the vase and roses left broken but undisturbed.

---

Series Masterlist: The Garden of Eden Series

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[saintqueer]

On Being 13

by saintqueer

Date Written: July 2019

CW: brief mention of an eating disorder

I will be posting a series of old creative nonfiction essays I wrote in 2019-20 every Friday and tagging them #a saintqueer original. Some might be a little outdated but I'm getting my feet wet in the experience of sharing my own writing again. Hope you enjoy! My inbox is always open.

Your name is Jordan. It is 2006 and you just turned 13. You are officially a teenager. Not a preteen. Nor god-forbid a tween. You’re in eighth grade at middle school in the Bay Area suburbs and you just got your first cell phone. It’s a silver LG flip phone without a camera. Modern social media has been born but is not yet widespread. Myspace and AIM are still the name of the game. And your friend’s Top 8s are literally worth crying over. You buy songs you like on iTunes for 99 cents. Songs like Far Away by Nickelback and Jesus, Take the Wheel by Carrie Underwood. That is, until you wizen up and start using LimeWire in 2007. By that time, you’ll think your tastes much improved. You’ll illegally download songs like Buy U a Drank by T-Pain, Wait For You by Elliott Yamin, and everything Chris Brown puts out. Every single feeling you have is so large it’s like it has the potential to kill you. Weird shit is happening to your body. You started puberty early but it shows absolutely no sign of stopping. Things just seem to be getting weirder and more emotional. You cut your own side bangs and they look hella cool.

Ok, let’s pause there. I’m gonna go ahead and break the fourth wall here. Reader, I was planning on doing this entire piece as a kind of immersive second person experience. But. I. Just. Can’t. It’s too hard and writing about being 13 is difficult enough. I think that intro was enough to get you in the right head space of Jordan circa 2006-2007.

Over the last year, there has been more truthful explorations of the adolescent experience in media than ever before. With shows like Pen15 and Big Mouth and films like Eighth Grade, I feel like for the first time I’m starting to come to terms with my own adolescence. Being 13 is really fucking hard. And 13-year-olds get such a bad rap when, honestly, they’re just trying to do the best they can with all the shit they’ve been thrown.

I first felt compelled to write this piece when reading a section of a book from my favorite podcaster, Karen Kilgariff. Karen describes a lecture series she went to in which one of the presenters made a case in defense of 13 year olds. Karen writes that being 13 “is the hardest age you ever have to be because of all the chemicals and hormones constantly raging through your body. It’s like you’re being drugged and then woken up with speed on a daily basis. All social structure implodes and resets itself in a totally unfamiliar way. You’re simultaneously the oldest version of a child and the youngest version of an adult, so you don’t belong anywhere. You don’t get babied, and you don’t get respect.” Basically, it fucking sucks!!!

At 13, my eating disorder was already in full swing and my body-dysmorphia-riddled brain had no shortage of reasons for why my life would be so much better if I weighed 25 pounds less. They would weigh us in gym class, one by one, and assign us our BMI classification (mine was “overweight”). I was constantly dieting, with resounding approval from family and peers; starving my growing body of whole food groups and then binging. My school used to sell these pizza hot pocket things in plastic wrapping called pizza sticks (they were so DELICIOUS). One time, I found an unopened and still-warm pizza stick on the floor next to a garbage can. Wildly hungry from my meager carb-less lunch I picked it up off the floor and shoved it into my mouth, facing the wall, in as few bites as possible so no one would see. OFF THE FLOOR…OUTSIDE. I think it was on a pile of leaves and other trash (though unopened, it was slightly flattened on one side so it might have been stepped on?). This is actually the first time I’ve told anyone that I did that. Blogging is fun.

I was truly beginning to understand that my body was a commodity in society. I couldn’t take up space as a girl and to be beautiful was to be frail. My body was a sexual thing but I was not allowed to be a sexual being. Boys were the horny ones, not girls. But boy, was I! The thing was I couldn’t tell anyone, only the bathtub faucet could know. This was heightened all the more by my church and my faith. Youth group taught me the importance of dressing modestly and how we had to do everything within our power to help easily tempted boys remain sexually pure. I had so much shame that I had any kind of sexuality at all.

A majority of us wanted to fit in when we were 13. And I wanted it desperately. It’s not necessarily that I wanted to be cool, it’s more like I just wanted to belong. I wanted to have best friends. I wanted boys to have crushes on me. I wanted to be wanted. And it never happened for me. I didn’t develop deep lasting friendships until my late teens. I didn’t have my first kiss until I was 21, for god’s sake. My friends at 13 were changeable and excluding. I felt like I was constantly vying for their approval and as I entered high school in 2007, my social life became the center of my world.

Admittedly, high school felt much more enjoyable than middle school. I had established my place in the cool crowd and shirked academics. I stopped listening to Christian Rock and started listening to Lil Wayne and learning how to twerk. I cut class with a friend to straighten my hair with my hot pink straightener in Starbucks. I got in trouble with the cops for underage drinking. I got better at actually starving myself for a few days at a time instead of just dieting. I was significantly better at swearing. However, every single thing still felt like the biggest deal ever and it felt like it would always be that way.

Now, over a dozen years later, I hardly ever think about how it felt to be 13. I always forget that I “fell in love” with a boy named Alex at church summer camp who I saw from afar five times and talked to once for two minutes. It’s hard to believe now that I wrote his name in sharpie on my converse sneakers and sang I Drive Myself Crazy by *Nsync while crying and staring directly back at myself in the mirror.

This might seem unforgiving but I feel like the one redeemable thing about being 13 is that it doesn’t last forever. It ends. You grow and you change and you work through your trauma. If you’re lucky, you get better friends and you go to therapy and do some healing over ten years later by watching tv shows and movies that remind you of every painful feeling. Then you look back and laugh. You laugh at that school dance where Peter said he’d never, ever slow dance with you. You laugh at the school dance less than a year later where you grind provocatively on a dude you don’t know to Get Low by Lil Jon and the Ying Yang Twins. You laugh (hysterically, I might add) at eating that pizza stick off the floor. You laugh at smoking weed for the first time using a plastic water bottle your friend somehow turned into a shitty bong. You laugh at shoplifting your first thong from Ross. You laugh at your self-cut side bangs. You laugh and you laugh and you laugh and then you, finally, move on.