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bettys-redwinesupernova · 18 hours ago

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FEAR OF WATER

rafe cameron x fem!reader

SUMMARY: after an abusive past, y/n struggles with toxic communication in her relationship with rafe. when fear pushes her away, love teaches her to stay.

based on this ask !! this was a really angsty and emotional one to write and i LOVED it anon, so thank you, and apologies it’s taken a while <3

(check out my other rafe cameron & drew starkey works here !!)

WARNINGS: angst w/ a comforting ending, slightly toxic!reader (unintentional), emotional abuse (by readers ex), trauma responses, arguing, crying, cursing, soft!rafe, fear of letting people in, flinching, detailed descriptions of emotional abuse & manipulation. (lmk if i missed anything !!)

WORD COUNT: 2.8k

THIRD PERSON +

The slam of the front door rattled the picture frames on the walls, the weight of Y/N’s footsteps heavy against the wooden floor as she stormed into the kitchen. Her hands were shaking—she hated that they always did when she was this upset. It made her feel weak, even when the anger inside her burned so hot she thought it might consume her entirely.

Rafe followed behind, slower, guarded. He had that look in his eyes again—the one that made her stomach twist with guilt before she could even process why. The look of someone who was tired, not from the fight itself, but from the exhaustion of never knowing how the next argument would go.

“I don’t get why you’re acting like this,” she spat, her voice sharper than she intended. “You know exactly what you did.”

Rafe exhaled, rubbing a hand down his face. “Y/N, I don’t—what did I do? Just tell me.”

His calmness made her angrier. It made her feel unheard, like he wasn’t taking this seriously. Her brain was wired to expect resistance, to expect gaslighting, to prepare for the fight that had always followed in her past relationship.

“You said you’d call, and you didn’t. You do this all the time, Rafe. You make promises, and then you break them, like it doesn’t even matter.”

“That’s not fair,” he said carefully. “I got caught up at work. I should’ve called, I’m sorry, but it’s not like I did it on purpose.”

She scoffed. “Yeah, right. There’s always an excuse.”

He frowned, stepping closer, but she took a step back, arms folding over her chest like she was shielding herself from an attack that wasn’t coming. He sighed, something pained flickering across his face.

“Do you hear how you’re talking to me right now?” His voice was quiet, not angry, not defensive—just… tired.

And that was when it hit her.

She wasn’t even really arguing with him. Not Rafe. Not the boy who held her when she had nightmares, who traced circles on her back when she was overwhelmed, who had never once raised his voice at her even when she threw words like daggers. She was arguing with the ghost of the man who had hurt her before, who had made her feel like she had to fight to be heard, to be understood.

Her chest tightened, shame creeping up her spine.

She was training him.

She was teaching Rafe—patient, loving Rafe—that no matter how hard he tried, it would never be good enough for her. That he’d always be walking on eggshells, waiting for the next time he slipped up and she lashed out.

She was turning him into someone who feared her.

The realisation knocked the air from her lungs, and before she could stop herself, her feet were already moving, carrying her toward the door.

“Y/N, wait,” Rafe called, but she couldn’t—she couldn’t.

If she let him say something kind, if she let him look at her with that soft, exhausted sadness in his eyes, she’d break down right in front of him.

She barely registered getting into her car, barely noticed the shaking of her hands as she fumbled with the keys.

And then she was driving.

Her vision blurred with tears, and she blinked them away furiously, but they just kept coming, spilling down her cheeks in hot, silent streams.

She had pushed him too far this time.

She knew it—knew, in the deepest part of her heart, that there was only so much someone could take.

She wanted to be better. She needed to be better. But how could she, when she didn’t even know what that looked like? When she had spent so long being told that love was a battlefield, that the only way to be heard was to yell louder, fight harder?

She should’ve let Rafe in. She should’ve told him why she reacted the way she did, why she felt like she had to accuse before she could be accused, hurt before she could be hurt.

But it was too late.

She had to leave before he could do it to her.

Because that’s what she had been taught—that love never stayed, that sooner or later, they always left.

And she’d rather be the one walking away than the one being abandoned.

The thought shattered something inside her, and for the first time in a long time, she let herself sob.

—

Rafe had never felt this kind of exhaustion before.

It wasn’t the kind that came after a long day working in the heat or the kind that settled in his bones after a sleepless night. No, this was different. It was the weight of not knowing—the crushing uncertainty of whether or not he had just lost the best thing that had ever happened to him.

He hadn’t stopped calling since the moment Y/N ran out of his house. The first few went straight to voicemail. Then, after what felt like an eternity, a text finally came through.

I’m safe. I just need some space.

The relief had been instant—so strong that his knees nearly buckled. But it didn’t last long. Because the truth was, she might be safe, but she wasn’t okay.

And the worst part? He didn’t know how to fix it.

Rafe sat on the edge of his bed, phone still clutched in his hands, staring at the screen like it might give him the answers he needed. But there were no answers—just the hollow ache in his chest and the endless loop of their fight playing over and over again in his head.

It wasn’t the argument itself that unsettled him. Couples fought—it was normal. He and Y/N had had disagreements before, sure, but never like this.

The way she’d looked at him tonight wasn’t how someone looked at the person they loved. It was how someone looked at a threat.

And that… that was what haunted him the most.

Rafe never wanted to be something Y/N had to defend herself against.

His thoughts raced, trying to piece together why she had reacted the way she did. It wasn’t like he’d done anything that bad—he’d forgotten to call. That was all. It wasn’t like he lied, or cheated, or intentionally hurt her. And yet, the second he tried to explain, she had shut down, turned on him, twisted it into something it wasn’t.

It was almost like… she expected him to hurt her.

The realisation hit him hard.

Y/N had mentioned her ex before, offhandedly. Just a couple of times. She never said much, just that he was shitty, that he messed her up.

But this… this was more than just the baggage of a bad breakup. This was damage.

And if there was anyone who might have more answers, it was Sarah.

—

Sarah wasn’t surprised when she opened the door to find Rafe standing there, disheveled and tense, like he’d been pacing for hours.

She sighed, leaning against the frame. “I figured you’d show up eventually.”

Rafe ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply. “Did she tell you?”

Sarah nodded her head. “She sent me a short text. It was reallt vague, but I gathered it wasn’t good.”

Rafe swallowed hard, his throat dry. “I just… I don’t understand. She got so defensive. It was like—like she thought I was trying to hurt her. And when I tried to calm things down, it just made her angrier.”

Sarah’s expression softened. “Rafe…” She hesitated, choosing her words carefully. “You know her last relationship wasn’t good, right?”

“She said it was shitty, but—” He broke off, shaking his head. “I don’t know. I guess I didn’t realise how bad.”

Sarah sighed, crossing her arms. “Her ex was emotionally abusive. Manipulative. The kind of guy who’d twist things until she thought she was the problem. He made her question everything. Gaslit her, isolated her. It took her forever to get out.”

Rafe’s stomach twisted.

Y/N had never told him any of that.

Sarah continued, her voice quieter now. “She’s not like this because she wants to be, Rafe. It’s a trauma response. She learned to survive by being defensive. By fighting back first before she could be blamed. And now, even when she’s with someone who actually loves her, it’s hard to unlearn that.”

Rafe nodded slowly, his jaw tight. He could see it now, see how it all fit together.

How the moment something felt like it could go wrong, Y/N would push him away. How she always needed control over the situation, how she sometimes twisted his words—not because she wanted to hurt him, but because that’s how she had survived before.

She wasn’t fighting him. She was fighting the past.

Sarah sighed. “I don’t want to say more—it’s not my story to tell. But if you really care about her, you’ll be patient. She needs to learn how to trust that you’re not him.”

Rafe nodded, rubbing a hand over his face.

“I do care,” he muttered. “More than I probably should.”

Sarah gave him a small, sad smile. “Then don’t give up on her yet.”

—

Rafe sat in his truck, staring at the dark road ahead, his mind still reeling from everything Sarah had told him.

It all made sense now.

It wasn’t that Y/N didn’t love him. It wasn’t even that she wanted to hurt him. It was that she didn’t know any different.

And that broke his fucking heart.

He thought about the way she looked at him when they weren’t fighting—when she was curled up in his arms, or when she laughed at something stupid he said, or when she kissed him like he was the only thing keeping her steady.

That was her.

Not the girl who lashed out. Not the girl who pushed and twisted things in an attempt to stay in control.

He couldn’t let this be the thing that ended them.

Because if there was one thing he knew, it was that Y/N deserved to be loved the right way. She deserved someone who wouldn’t run just because loving her required patience.

She deserved someone who would stay.

And if that meant showing up even when she didn’t know how to ask him to—if that meant proving to her that he wasn’t like the man who hurt her—then he’d do it.

He threw the truck into drive, determination settling in his chest.

He needed to see her.

He needed to talk to her.

So Rafe headed towards his place to grab his phone before heading to Y/N’s to fix things.

He had barely stepped into his house when the knock echoed through the quiet space.

He frowned, glancing toward the door. He hadn’t been expecting anyone, and after the night he’d had, he wasn’t exactly in the mood for surprises. But when he pulled it open, his breath caught in his throat.

Y/N stood there, her frame swallowed by an oversized hoodie, sleeves pulled over her hands as she twisted the fabric between trembling fingers. Her eyes—blood-shot and swollen from crying—met his with a hesitance that made his chest ache.

She looked afraid.

Not of him.

But of what came next.

“Y/N—”

“I’m sorry.”

Her voice was hoarse, like she’d been crying for hours. Maybe she had. The weight of everything unsaid hung between them, thick and suffocating. Rafe wanted to say something, anything, but she beat him to it.

And when she spoke, the words tumbled out in a frantic, shaky rush.

“I—God, I don’t even know where to start,” she admitted, sniffing as she swiped a sleeve under her nose. “I just—I need to say this before I lose my nerve.”

Rafe nodded slowly, heart pounding. “Okay.”

She took a deep breath, and then, like a dam breaking, everything spilled out.

“My ex—he wasn’t just shitty, Rafe. He was toxic. He—he manipulated me, controlled me, made me think I was losing my mind. Every time we fought, he’d twist my words until I couldn’t even tell what was real anymore. And when I got upset, that became the problem. I was the problem. He convinced me I was crazy. That I was too much, too sensitive, too difficult to love.”

Her voice cracked, and Rafe’s hands clenched into fists at his sides.

He had felt it before—the anger, the quiet rage that settled deep in his bones whenever he thought about the way Y/N’s past had left its mark on her. But now, hearing her say it aloud, it burned white-hot in his veins.

“I spent so much time walking on eggshells, just waiting for the next thing he’d use against me,” she continued, voice thick with emotion. “So eventually, I just… I learned to fight back first. Before he could get the upper hand. Before he could make me feel small again.”

Rafe swallowed hard, feeling something inside him break at the way she spoke—like she still carried the weight of it all, like she still believed she was the problem.

“Y/N,” he started, but she shook her head.

“I need to finish,” she whispered. “Please.”

He nodded, his throat tight.

She exhaled shakily. “I didn’t mean to treat you like him. I swear I didn’t. But I don’t know how else to be. Every time we fight, I feel like I have to defend myself before you can hurt me. But you never do. You’re nothing like him, Rafe. You’ve never made me feel small, never made me question myself. You’re the only person I’m actually terrified of losing, so tonight—” Her voice wavered. “Tonight, I left before you could.”

Rafe felt his heart shatter.

She had run because she thought he’d leave her. That he’d get tired of her, of the way she struggled to let go of the past.

She didn’t realise he never would.

Tears slipped down her cheeks, but she barely seemed to notice, too lost in her own confession.

“I don’t want to be like this,” she whispered, voice raw with desperation. “I don’t want to push you away. I don’t want to hurt you just because I don’t know what healthy love is supposed to look like.”

“Y/N…” Rafe’s voice broke, and suddenly, he was moving—closing the space between them, cupping her face in his hands with a gentleness that made her shudder.

Her eyes fluttered shut, and for a moment, she just leaned into his touch, like she was memorising the feeling of him still being there.

“I’m sorry,” she choked out. “I’m so fucking sorry, Rafe. I know I’ve been difficult, I know I’ve been hard to love, but please—please don’t go anywhere.”

He felt his own tears spill over at that—at the sheer, heartbreaking fear in her voice.

She thought he was going to leave.

She truly believed that he’d wake up one day and decide she wasn’t worth it.

He pressed his forehead to hers, his grip tightening like he was afraid she might slip away again.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he murmured, voice thick with emotion. “Ever.”

Her breath hitched, and her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt, like she was trying to anchor herself to him.

“I promise,” he continued, his thumbs brushing away her tears. “You are not too much. You are not difficult to love. I don’t care how long it takes for you to believe that, I’m not going anywhere.”

A sob wracked through her body, but this time, it wasn’t just pain—it was relief.

And then, in the quietest voice, she whispered, “I’ll get help.”

Rafe pulled back slightly, searching her eyes.

“I mean it,” she insisted. “I want to get better. I want to be better. For us.”

She let out a shaky breath, looking up at him with a mixture of fear and determination.

“Now I’m not afraid of the water,” she whispered. “I’ll dive right in. And I can be brave, so I’m gonna give it a try.” Her lip trembled. “Because I know you’ll be on the other side.”

Rafe’s heart clenched.

Because for the first time since she had come into his life, Y/N wasn’t running.

She was staying.

And so was he.

Rafe cradled her face, pressing a lingering kiss to her forehead, his own tears still slipping down his cheeks.

“I’m right here,” he murmured. “I’ll always be right here.”

She exhaled shakily, nodding as she let herself fall into his embrace, arms wrapping tightly around his waist.

And as they stood there, wrapped up in each other, Rafe knew—this was what love was supposed to be.

Messy. Imperfect. But real.

And this time, neither of them were afraid of stepping into unknown waters.

(divider by @kodaswrld !!)

betty’s notes ౨ৎ ⋆｡˚

thank you so much for this request anon, i love me some angst !! pls keep requesting everyone, i am working my way through them and i have like four in my drafts rn to be edited so stay tuned !!

as always, likes, comments and reblogs are always appreciated <3

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zenyyyluvyuu · 1 day ago

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Depth of the ocean {1}

[Yandere romantic jason todd x mermaid reader + platonic yandere batfam]

There's a tw (trigger warning) so be aware!

You saw it. You saw the human fall from the bridge. The human with a red helmet on his head.

You dive forward to where he falls. And there he is, body limp and suffocating. you hold his body, you hold it tight. You struggled to take his body to the shore. His body is big but you manage to take him to the land.

You gaze at his red helmet. Still no movement, is he really dead? You webbed hands touch his helmet. You don't know how to free him from the helmet, you saw a button on his helmet and you press it thinking it was the button to open his helmet.

It really does open his helmet, revealing the human face. You frowned. His face is drenched with water but there are so many scars on his face even the j mark on his cheek. You stroke his face.

You remember that you saw a bunch of kids trying to save their friend from the water. You saw how they press his chest up and down, and give an air to his mouth. With that their friends woke up and threw up a bunch of water from their mouth.

You press his chest, you don't know if you do it right, Up and down. You repeat it. But nothing comes out and there's no movement from the man. You frown.

It didn't work? Then maybe you switch to the mouth. Your webbed hands hold his face. Your gaze meets his close one. With that you pinch his nose and your mouth is connected with him. You gently blow an air into it.

With that his hands shake. You saw it. It worked! You tried to put more air into his mouth. The color on his face is coming back. He trembled. You back off from his body.

The man opened his eyes. He turned to the side to throw up the remaining water inside him. You gaze at him. Not knowing what to do. He coughed. His eyes are bloodshot. He frantically looked around trying to find who saved him. And then he saw you. The mermaid.

You tilt your head as his mouth drops. Your long hair is Slightly drying. He saw you like you're a ghost. He manages to utter a few words. "W-who" his voice was slightly hoarse.

You don't know how to say human words but know what they're saying. You let out a voice "hungh" barely audible. Then your ear fins perked up. You hear a voice. You look at the dark around you both. You look back at the man still trying to gather his thoughts. You swim back to the ocean. Your tail flipping.

"wait-!" with that you manage to swim back to the depth. The man you have been saving tried to call you back but you has vanished to the ocean. His expression is blank. Not until someone called for him from behind.

"jason!" A deep voice echoes to the man that called jason. His shoulder tenses. He looks back at the source of the sound calling him.

The batman beside him was Nightwing. Nightwing's expression was full of concern as he came closer to the man that named jason. "Are you alright? Is that a mermaid??..did she just save you?.." Nightwing holds his shoulder.

"yeah..i didn't know mermaids existed.." his voice was rough. He looks at batman who stands tall at him. He can't read the expression behind his mask.

"did she hurt you?.." the batman voice came out deep. He observes the water that you dive in. Taking a metal note to check later, now he has to take jason to the batcave to check him if you got any injury. Batman comes closer to jason as Nightwing helps him stand up by putting his hand on his shoulder.

"no.. but she saved me.." jason also looked at the water. The face of you was still fresh in his mind. Your long wet hair. Your ear fins. Your eyes. Your webbed hand that held him. Your skin texture. And your beautiful tails.

He still remembers the feeling of your webbed hands on his face. Stroking his scarred face. His mind wandered as Nightwing helped him to the batmobile for him to be checked at the medbay.

________

You swim further to the depth of the ocean. Your tails move faster. Your heart is beating fast. Your face is warm, you didn't believe it. You just kiss him, his lips and yours are connected.

But that's actually saving him. Your mind wandered as you swam further. He's handsome, but how could he have so many scars? Did someone do that to him.

Finally you are back in your cave, you jumped into your makeshift bed. Snuggling in it, you look at the ceiling. Your face is still warm. Your pet fish swims to you, happy to have you back. You pet your fish.

Your mind is still fresh about that man. His chopped lips. His scar. His thick eyebrows. His rough skin. It's completely different from you. Humans were so fascinating.

But you also didn't forget to check his body too. He kinda big. You wonder if you have legs, how tall you would be? You huff as you play with your fish.

________

Meanwhile the condition in the wayne manor. The batcave was like a Shipwreck. The bat family is trying to find information about you and your species. The more focused one was Bruce, jason and dick, the rest was not too focused.

They still didn't believe the story Jason told them even dick or bruce. Tim thought they were hallucinating. Damian thought it was a joke. Barbara was between believing or not believing them. Steph laughing. Cassandra was silent. Duke was still confused and also thought they were hallucinating too.

The night ends with you cuddling with your pet fish. And the batfamilly sleepless night.

Ehehe i make another series... It also rot in my brain 😁😁 i hope you like my new series, and I'm sorry for the short chapter. I'm sorry for the cringe or broken English. And I'm sorry if the method of saving drowning people was wrong, I'm really sorry.

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deliciousangelfestival · 3 days ago

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Change Of Heart - 5 (Edited ver.)

Character: Bucky x Female! Reader

Theme: Angst, tragedy, romance.

Summary: The interviewer asked her a provocative question:

“If you were offered a million dollars, would you leave your partner?”

Without hesitation, she replied with a smirk, “Give me one dollar, and I’ll leave him this second.”

True to her word, she walked away, leaving the man stunned and searching for answers. Now, he’s desperately trying to find her, grappling with the haunting question—why would she leave him so easily?

And is there more to her departure than a single dollar could ever explain?

Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5.

Main Masterlist || If you enjoy my work, please consider buying me a coffee on Ko-fi 🙏🏻

By the way, I publish my book Arrogant Ex-Husband and Dad, I Can't Let You Go by Alina C. Bing on Kindle.

Thank you to everyone who has read this chapter. Leave a comment and Reblog, please. I'd love to hear your thoughts. ❤️

Bucky stood near the dock, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his coat. The waves lapped gently against the wooden posts, a rhythmic sound that did little to soothe the restlessness inside him. The sky had begun to darken, shades of deep blue swallowing the last traces of daylight.

"Sir, it's getting dark," his secretary reminded him softly, standing a few steps behind.

Bucky didn't respond immediately. Instead, he exhaled, his breath visible in the cold air. Then, out of nowhere, he asked, "Did your parents divorce?"

The secretary blinked at the sudden question. "No, sir. But my sister did. She divorced her first husband."

Bucky hummed, his gaze fixed on the horizon where the ocean stretched endlessly. "Was it the right choice?"

"I think so," the secretary admitted. "She smiles more with her second husband. He was divorced too. Somehow, they complete each other. It’s like they both learned from their past mistakes."

Bucky finally turned to look at him. "How long have they been together now?"

"Five years."

Silence settled between them. Bucky lowered his gaze, staring at the ground as if lost in thought. His parents divorced when he was young. His father changed wives like the seasons, to where Bucky had lost count of how many stepmothers he'd had. And his mother—she had become a well-known rich cougar, the kind who made headlines.

When two broken people come together, they begin to heal. But what happened between him and you... something still hurts deep down. Though both of you completed each other, seeing you leave felt like it wasn’t enough.

Bucky had spent years running from his past, avoiding the feelings he buried deep within himself. He'd been afraid of truly connecting, terrified that giving in to love would mean vulnerability—and he’d never allowed himself to be vulnerable. But with you, something changed.

He started to open up, piece by piece. He had found solace in your presence, a kind of comfort he never thought he’d experience. You made him feel like maybe it was okay to be human.

But even as the wounds began to heal, a part of him remained fractured. The scars weren’t completely gone. And as he watched you walk away, that deep-seated fear—of losing someone, of being left behind—came rushing back. He realized he wasn’t as whole as he thought he was.

Without another word, Bucky pulled out his phone. His fingers hovered over the screen momentarily before he made the call. He held the device to his ear and started walking, his steps slow and aimless as he paced along the dimly lit dock. A few streetlights flickered, casting long shadows over the worn planks beneath his feet.

The therapist answered after a few rings.

"My advice?" The voice on the other end was calm. "Let her go. Don't stop her. If she wants to come back, she will."

Bucky’s jaw clenched. His grip on the phone tightened. He didn’t agree.

"Do you have any sexual desire toward her?"

"No," he answered without hesitation.

"Do you feel safe when you're around her?"

"...Yes."

"Do you want to come home faster when you know she's waiting there?"

Bucky exhaled through his nose. "Yes."

The therapist paused before asking the last question.

"Do you have feelings for her?"

This time, Bucky hesitated. His lips parted, but the words didn't come as easily. "...No." But his voice lacked conviction.

The therapist remained silent for a beat before finally speaking.

"It will grow on you. Just wait and see."

Bucky lowered the phone, staring at the dark waters ahead. The wind picked up, tousling his hair, but he barely noticed. His chest felt tight, the answer lingering in his mind.

Had he really meant it?

The Next Day

Bucky followed you.

He shouldn’t have, but he did.

He was already waiting by the dock when you returned from your scuba diving lesson. You looked different—lighter, freer. The usual quiet presence he was familiar with had been replaced by someone more expressive, more alive. You laughed while talking to strangers, engaging with them in a way he had never seen before. When you were with him, you spoke to his colleagues, sure, but never like this. With them, it was polite conversation, surface-level. But now? You were glowing.

And Bucky didn't know how to feel about that.

You spotted him standing near the railing, and your smile faltered for just a second before returning. Surprise flickered in your eyes, but there was something else too—relief, maybe.

"You're still here," you said, your voice carrying a mix of disbelief and quiet gladness.

Bucky was about to respond, but then his gaze caught on you peeling off your wetsuit.

He froze.

It wasn’t like you were undressing provocatively—you were simply taking off your gear. But in the two years you'd been together, neither of you had ever seen the other completely bare. You had shared a home, a bed even, but always with an unspoken distance.

His throat went dry, and he forced himself to turn away, his jaw tightening.

Bucky had seen countless women undress before, but this—this was different. This was you. And it was as if some part of his brain refused to process it. He waited in silence, staring at the dark water until he heard your footsteps approaching.

You had changed into dry clothes and now stood beside him, leaning against the dock railing.

“I guess Grandpa won’t allow you to come home,” you said.

Bucky let out a dry chuckle. “How did you know?”

“Just a hunch.”

He exhaled sharply, shoving his hands into his pockets. “You’re right. But I guess… I failed. You don’t want to come back.”

“Not yet.”

Silence. The waves rolled in and out, filling the space between you.

You looked out at the sea, your expression unreadable. Then, as if speaking more to yourself than to him, you asked, “Do you ever wonder why we’re compatible?”

It was a good question. Because in truth, on paper, you shouldn’t be.

Most marriage contracts like yours didn’t last. Some couples couldn’t even stand each other for the duration of their agreement. They broke it off before the ink had dried.

You exhaled through your nose, then said with a smirk, “Because both of us are ambitious as fuck.”

Bucky scoffed. He almost laughed, but he held it in, shaking his head instead.

Then, in a quieter voice, he asked, “If you love me, why are you leaving?”

You turned your head to look at him. Your eyes were softer now, but firm, steady.

“Bucky, I know you’re not ready for this. And I won’t push you. You need to figure it out yourself.”

His chest tightened.

He had spent years figuring himself out. Years battling the demons that kept him tethered to his past. But had he actually moved forward?

“I used this marriage contract to get money,” you admitted. “To have a higher status than my father. Feeling superior to him gave me satisfaction.”

Bucky swallowed hard. He understood that. He understood it too well.

He had never wanted to be in a relationship—not out of fear, but as an act of rebellion. His parents' marriage had been a disaster, a revolving door of broken vows and replacements. His father cycled through wives like a man cycling through business investments. His mother had responded by becoming one of the most infamous rich cougars in town, collecting younger lovers as if to prove something to the world.

Love, as far as Bucky had seen, was nothing more than a transaction.

He had despised it.

But now, standing here, he wasn’t so sure.

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “So this is goodbye, then?”

“For now,” you said, your voice gentle. “I just want to do what I’ve been holding back. I want to grow up.”

Bucky raised an eyebrow at that. “What do you mean? We’re already in our thirties.”

You smiled, but it wasn’t a happy smile. It was knowing, understanding.

“I mean growing up from the trauma.” Your voice softened. “Bucky, both of us were stuck as kids because of what happened to us. Our pasts kept us frozen in time. But I don’t want to stay stuck anymore. I want to move forward. I want to leave the trauma behind.”

Bucky didn’t say anything. He couldn't.

“The reason I didn’t come back,” you continued, “is because I still love you. And that terrifies me. I’m running away because I can’t be near you without feeling everything too much.”

Bucky sucked in a slow breath.

This was the first time anyone had ever said those words to him like this—with honesty, with vulnerability. It was the first time he had ever received a love confession that wasn’t transactional, that wasn’t tied to expectations.

And he didn’t know what to do with it.

You stepped back. “I hope that the next time we meet, everything will be different.”

Bucky watched as you walked away, disappearing into the crowd. He didn’t move, didn’t breathe for a long moment. Then, slowly, he let out a shaky exhale.

Something was shifting inside him, something he didn’t have a name for. It wasn’t just loss. It wasn’t just regret.

It was something deeper.

A few moments later, he pulled out his phone and dialed his therapist.

When the call connected, his voice came out rough, almost reluctant.

“I think I’m starting to have… sexual desires toward her.”

There was silence on the other end.

Then, finally, his therapist sighed.

“Well, Bucky,” they said, “it looks like you’re finally catching up to your emotions.”

He decided to leave you alone, but that didn’t mean he stopped caring. No matter what, you had been there for him for two years. Marriage contract or not, you left a lasting impression on his life.

When he returned, his grandfather was waiting for him, clearly hoping you would step off the plane with Bucky.

When he saw Bucky coming down alone, Tom clicked his tongue. “You’re an idiot.”

Bucky sighed. “Give her time. She’ll be back.” Even though he's not sure when you'll be back.

🌸🌸🌸🌸

One Year Later

The café inside the park was quiet, tucked away between tall trees and winding pathways. The morning sun filtered through the leaves, casting dappled light onto the wooden tables.

Bucky sat alone, a tablet in one hand, a coffee cup in the other. He scrolled through reports, half-reading, half-listening to the sounds around him—the soft chatter of other patrons, the occasional bark of a dog, the rustling of leaves in the breeze.

Then, a voice behind him made him nearly drop his tablet.

“I see you’re still a workaholic.”

His heart clenched. He knew that voice.

Slowly, he turned around—and there you were.

You stood before him, looking different yet familiar. Your skin was sun-kissed, your hair slightly lighter, and your presence felt… freer. There was an ease in your posture, a confidence in your stance that hadn’t been there before.

For a moment, Bucky just stared, as if making sure you were real. Then, a small smile tugged at his lips.

“I don’t work as much as I used to,” he admitted.

You raised an eyebrow, smirking as you pulled out a chair and sat across from him. “Really? Who’s been keeping up with all your work, then?”

“My parents.”

That made you pause. “Your parents?”

He nodded, setting down his tablet. “Yeah. I finally faced it. The whole mess.”

And it had been a mess. For years, he had avoided confronting the real cause of his fears—his childhood. He thought that refusing to engage in relationships was an act of defiance, proof that he had broken free from his parents' toxic cycle. But in reality, he had been trapped just like them. Stuck in the same story, just playing a different role.

It wasn’t fair.

They had lived their lives—moving on, getting remarried, collecting younger lovers, burning through money—while he had been the one frozen in time, afraid to take a single step forward.

So he had done something drastic.

He had cut them off.

No more allowances, no more endless funds. Their luxurious lifestyles had been fueled by company profits, and Bucky had put an end to it.

“This company is not a charity,” he had told them. “You’ve used its assets to fund your lifestyles for too long. If I let this continue, we’ll go down in history as the first corporation to bankrupt itself paying alimony.”

His father had been furious. His mother had scoffed. But in the end, they had no choice. They had to start working.

They had been terrible parents. But, ironically, they turned out to be decent employees.

"Both of them have stopped acting childish," he said. His parents had also stopped playing the roles of sugar daddy and cougar. It turned out money was the solution.

Now, here he was, sitting across from the one person he had waited a year to see again.

"I fixed my relationship with my parents, especially my dad," you replied.

"That's good to hear," he responded.

After spending some time with your dad, you realized that without the rivalry, he's an easygoing person. You started contacting him daily.

“Why did you come back?” he asked, his voice quieter now. “Does this mean you don’t love me anymore?”

Your gaze softened. “No. I never stopped loving you.” You smiled, almost shyly. “I just had a feeling this time would be different.”

Bucky exhaled slowly, leaning back in his chair. “I see. So you’ve completed your self-discovery?”

You nodded. “Yeah.”

The conversation between you flowed effortlessly, lighter than it had ever been. You talked about your travels, the people you had met, and the experiences that had changed you. Bucky listened, occasionally throwing in a sarcastic remark or a teasing comment, making you laugh. It felt easy—natural.

Then, as if it were nothing, you casually said, “I broke my leg climbing down a mountain.”

“What?!” His eyes widened, panic flashing through them.

You laughed, waving a hand dismissively. “I’m fine. Some nuns from a nearby chapel helped me. They took care of me for a month.”

Bucky frowned, his mind racing. So that’s why you didn’t post an update for a month.

You nodded. “Yeah. They prayed for me.” Then, after a pause, you admitted, “I’ve never prayed before. But I started to. Admitting my anger, my sins… it made the weight feel lighter. I guess I’m sharing my burdens with God now.” You studied his reaction carefully. “Do you think I’ve turned into a religious freak?”

Bucky shook his head. “No. As long as you found peace.”

Silence settled between you, but it was a comfortable one.

Eventually, he cleared his throat. “Do you want something to drink?”

You grinned. “Yes.”

“Caramel Macchiato, hot, less sugar… right?”

You blinked, then gave him a thumbs-up. He smirked before getting up and heading toward the cashier.

When he returned, he placed the coffee in front of you, watching as you took a small sip.

Then you said, “On my way here, I passed by a cinema playing Interstellar.”

Bucky’s eyes flickered with interest. That was his favorite movie—the one he always watched when he had time alone.

“Really?”

“You interested?” You pulled out two tickets and held them up.

Bucky chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. “Let’s go.”

As you both walked side by side, he glanced at you.

“You know,” he said, “you could share your burdens with me too.”

You turned to him, your expression unreadable.

Was that… a proposal?

Bucky continued, his tone calm but firm. “We’ve known each other for two years. You left for one. And yet, you came back with the same feelings. And I waited a year for you to come back.”

Your heart pounded.

This time, it wasn’t just a contract. It wasn’t a transaction.

It was something real. Something earned.

And for the first time, you weren’t afraid of it.

This time, there was a difference between them.

Before, they had been trapped—chained to the past, repeating old patterns, clinging to wounds that refused to heal. They had mistaken their pain for identity, their fears for inevitability.

But now, they had changed.

Not because time had passed, but because they had made the choice to move forward.

They had faced their demons, made peace with their scars, and learned to let go. Bucky was no longer a man protesting love out of spite. And you were no longer someone running away to find yourself.

You had both found your own way—separately.

And yet, in the end, that path had led you back to each other.

-The End-

Epilogue:

Bucky suddenly remembered something. “I should call Grandpa to let him know you’re back.”

You chuckled. “Oh, I already met him when I landed. That’s how I knew where to find you.”

Bucky smiled and shook his head. Even after a year, you still cared about Tom.

After watching the movie, he will take you to meet Tom. His grandpa will welcome you with open arms and finally stop calling him an "idiot."

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khaire-traveler · 16 hours ago

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The silliest and most terrifying thing happened to me while I was doing my final ritual for Anthesteria (the one where you ask The Dead to leave and give thanks to Hermes Psychopompos). It was as follows:

It was snowing outside. When you step out there, you can hear nothing but the sound of the wind blowing. It was an ominous sound, but there was some unnerving peace to it.

I stepped outside and walked to my ritual spot just a few feet from my house. As I gave my first offering, I realized I forgot the second offering inside. I stopped for a moment, trying to decide if it was worth it to run inside and grab it, and although some part of me said I could continue without it, I decided to get it. I found a good place to pause in my speaking and ran inside without looking behind me (key thing here is to not look behind you, as to not invite any spirits to follow).

I snatched a mug from my cupboard and filled it with fresh water then headed back outside, accidentally spilling some on myself, naturally. Right as I'm about to begin again, I hear a man's voice calling out to me from a short distance away. I didn't recognize the voice and debated whether or not I should look where it was coming from, considering I was in the process of trying to ask the spirits of Anthesteria to leave. I pause in silence for a moment, then hear the voice again, actually able to make out the words this time.

"Look over here."

Freezing in place, I looked just ahead of me and saw no one. I scanned the area where I heard the voice (it was a very open area, so I would've easily seen someone), even looking in my neighbor's yard, but not a soul seemed to be around. In a split second decision, my brain felt that the wisest course of action was to turn around, yelling quite literally "AAAAHHHHHH!!!!", and not look behind me out of respect for the ritual. I slammed my door behind me and calmed down before deciding to have someone watch the door (for my safety), grab some more water, and head back outside.

I was goddamn determined to finish this ritual.

I go out there, do what I need to do, and don't hear the man again. As I throw some pomegranate seeds over my shoulder and command the spirits to leave, a nearby bush started shaking out snow suddenly, but I continued speaking and went inside, closing the door behind me and not looking back.

So yeah, it was probably just my neighbor, and the bush was probably a squirrel or bird hopping around (there are lots of those near here), but that shit scared the fuck out of me, especially since I had listened to a ton of horror stories last night (with Hermes, mind you, so I have my suspicions that I was low-key being pranked). The fact that my actual scream of fear was "AH" is also insanely hilarious to me; I hope the spirits and Hermes got a kick out of that lmfao. XD

#helpol #hellenic polytheism #hellenic pagan #hermes deity #hermes psychopompos #anthesteria #happy Anthesteria everyone lol

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somuchbetterthanthat · 2 days ago

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Sam actually tells her over coffee, big soft brown eyes all but pleading her to come to his wedding, and well, of course Alice is like "sure. So happy for you. That's great. I mean, I'll even dress super lowkey so you don't feel like running away with me at your own wedding and all-" and Sam smiles that smile that means "I know you're only half joking and i'm sorry and it's awkward but i also love you too much not to invite you" which tears Alice apart a little and he's like "that's so nice of you, thank you. Tell Luke he can come too as well? If he wants?"

and Alice is like "wow dude. get him his own invite. i'm definitely getting a plus one. You're getting married in, what? 8 months? I'll have met my own love of my life at this point"

Cue Alice, eight months later, begging - begging Colin at work: "you have to come. C'mon. Aren't we friends. We'd make SUCH a good couple. It's just an evening." and Colin is like "Alice. Y'know i would if i could but i CAn'T because of that Stupid Computer-" and then she turns to Teddy and he's like "I already told you i was away on that day, I'm sorry Alice" actually kindly and she's groans and falls on her desk dramatically going "Well I can't possibly go and invite LENA." then "Do you think Lena might-" and then, from behind her computer, comes Gwen's voice: "Oh my god, Alice. I'll come. Can we PLEASE go back to focusing on WORK, please?"

There's silence. Teddy and Colin raise their eyebrows at Alice. She raises her eyebrows back at them. Colin snickers. Alice glares at him. She rolls her chair over to Gwen. "Seriously?" she says. Gwen glares at her. "Seriously. Anything to stop hearing about this." "Gwen," says Alice. "If you actually seriously help me, you ARE going to hear about this LOTS MORE. We'll need undercover stories. We'll need -"

Gwen just looks exasperated: "We met at work. We didn't like each other at first because we're both vastly different but the attraction and chemistry was indeniable. You won me over by treating me decently and I taught you SOME responsability. We realized we're stronger together than separate. You're the love of my life and I enjoy it when you stick it to the man because it makes me feel rebellious compared to my own upbringing. There. Satisfied?"

Alice just stares at her.

Gwen starts to feel her cheeks go very pink.

"We'll need to practice kissing, was what i was gonna say." alice finishes.

"I don't like PDA," Gwen says back.

"Then what the fuck is this right now," Colin mutters to Teddy.

#i forgot how to write alice and gwen's ship again #alice dyer #gwendolyn bouchard #dyhard #i think #alice x gwen #the magnus protocol #does this count as fic or just rambling. you decide

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g3tinl0ser · 1 day ago

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Masterlist

🦇

im not really sure how i feel about this chapter. i feel like I just rambled on but maybe its good? i kept getting discombobulated. LMK

<<<Previous

The warehouse was dimly lit, the flickering overhead bulbs casting long, jagged shadows along the cracked concrete floor. The air was thick with the scent of oil, blood, and something distinctly rotten. And at the center of it all was you, on your knees, the Joker’s arm curled around your shoulders like a twisted embrace, his knife pressed cold and sharp against your throat.

Batman stood a few yards away, every muscle in his body coiled like a wire stretched too tight. Nightwing and Robin flanked him, their usual unwavering confidence shaken. This wasn’t just another hostage situation—this was you.

The Joker cackled, the sound grating and wild as he leaned closer, his breath hot against your ear. “Oh, Batsy,” he cooed, twisting the knife just enough to make you inhale sharply. “I can feel how mad you are. This is delicious.”

Batman didn’t move. He didn’t flinch. But under the cowl, behind the cold steel of his voice, he was afraid.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

You were never supposed to be caught in this world.

“Let. Her. Go.” His voice was a razor’s edge, controlled but deadly.

The Joker sighed dramatically, tilting his head. “Oh, come on, you don’t even wanna hear my big reveal? I mean, I worked so hard to put this little puzzle together. Had to do so much digging.” His grip on you tightened, making you wince. “But I know, Batsy. And so does she.”

Robin—Jason—shifted beside him, his fists clenching at his sides. His father’s tension was infectious, sinking into his bones.

“Ohh, Little Bird,” the Joker grinned, eyes flicking to Robin. “Don’t look so tense! This must be fun for you, right? Seeing Bats all desperate for once?”

Nightwing took a slow step forward. “Joker,” his voice was smooth, steady—practiced, “if you know who he is, then you know you’re not walking out of here tonight.”

The Joker grinned wider, his grip tightening on the knife. “Ohhh, I know that,” he purred. “But the real question is… what’s he willing to do to stop me from spilling?”

Batman didn’t react. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t.

Because the moment he gave anything away, it was over.

Joker laughed again, shaking his head. “See, that’s the thing. You can keep playing pretend all you want, but she—” he yanked you closer, your hair in his tight grip, making you suck in a sharp breath, “—she already knows. She’s seen the man under the mask.” He turned his head slightly, whispering against your cheek, “And tell me, sweetheart… is he as good as everyone thinks?”

The knife pressed just a little harder, a single drop beading at your skin and Batman moved.

It was a blur, faster than the Joker expected—faster than anyone expected. His hand shot forward, grabbing the Joker’s wrist in an iron grip, twisting it back at a sickening angle until something cracked and the knife clattered to the floor.

Joker howled in pain, but his laughter bubbled up beneath it, delighted and manic.

“Touched a nerve, did I?” he wheezed.

Batman didn’t answer. He tore you away from the Joker’s grip, pulling you behind him with a gentleness that betrayed the rage boiling just beneath his surface.

The moment you were safe, the boys moved.

Robin struck first, his blade flashing as he kicked the Joker’s legs out from under him. Nightwing followed up in perfect tandem, slamming a fist into his jaw with enough force to send him sprawling.

Even as he lay there, groaning in pain, the Joker laughed.

“You know I’m right,” he cackled, looking up at Batman with bloodied teeth. “This changes everything.”

Batman loomed over him, fists clenching at his sides.

Then, slowly, he crouched down, his voice dropping to something only the Joker could hear.

“You have no idea what you’ve just done.”

The Joker’s grin faltered for just a second before it was wiped away by Robin’s boot slamming into his ribs.

The fight was over. The GCPD would be here soon.

But as Batman turned to look at you—shaking, gripping the place on your neck where the knife had been—he knew the damage was already done.

This was the first time his two worlds had truly collided.

And it terrified him.

The room was silent as the video ended. The grainy security footage of that hellish warehouse flickered off the screen, leaving only the tense air that settled over the Avengers like a heavy weight.

Natasha’s jaw was tight, arms crossed over her chest as she processed what they had just seen. Steve exhaled slowly, running a hand down his face, while Sam and Bucky shared a look. Thor’s grip on Mjolnir tightened.

And then, of course, Tony broke the silence.

“Well. That was interesting.” He turned away from the screen, pacing slightly before spinning on his heel and pointing at the blank monitor. “She knows who Batman is.”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “That’s what you got from that?”

Tony scoffed. “It’s not just that she knows, Red. It’s that she’s obviously close to him. Very close. And let’s not forget who she’s married to.”

Steve frowned. “You think she betrayed Bruce Wayne?”

Tony threw his hands up. “I’m saying it’s convenient, don’t you think? Wayne’s wife gets taken hostage, and Batman just happens to show up? He’s willing to work with us because of her? Maybe Batman has a little soft spot for Mrs. Wayne, huh?”

Natasha’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Watch it, Stark.”

Tony let out a humorless laugh, turning back to her. “Oh, come on, Natasha. Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it! She clearly knows exactly who’s under that mask, and you’re telling me that doesn’t strike you as suspicious? She gets taken, Joker hints at knowing Batman’s big secret, and suddenly the League is playing nice with us?” He tilted his head. “You sure your friend isn’t playing both sides?”

The slap of Natasha’s hands hitting the table echoed through the room. “You really wanna test me right now, Tony?”

Tony arched a brow, unbothered. “I’m just saying—”

“You’re just talking out of your ass,” Natasha snapped, stepping closer. “You don’t know a damn thing about her.”

“She’s married to Bruce Wayne!” Tony shot back. “You know—the guy funding half the League? The billionaire playboy who’s never been tied down? And yet she’s got some deep connection to Batman? That doesn’t scream a conflict of interest to you. Its not like it would be out of her wheelhouse to sleep above her job station.”

“You are so damn arrogant,” Natasha seethed. “You think you can just say whatever you want and not deal with the consequences? She has been my friend for years. She’s a good person, Tony. Better than you on your best day.”

Tony’s jaw clenched. “All I’m saying is, if she knows, then she’s keeping secrets from her husband. And if she’s keeping secrets from him, then what’s stopping her from keeping secrets from us?”

Natasha’s hands curled into fists, and for a moment, it looked like she was going to lunge at him.

Steve finally stepped between them, holding up a hand. “Enough.” His voice was firm, cutting through the tension. He turned to Tony. “We’re not jumping to conclusions. We don’t have the full picture, and assuming the worst is only going to make things worse.”

Tony shook his head, muttering under his breath as he turned away.

Natasha wasn’t done, though. She stepped forward, her voice lower but no less venomous. “You don’t get to talk about betrayal, Stark. Not after the way you treat people. Not after the way you treated HER! If she’s keeping a secret, it’s for a damn good reason. And I trust her a hell of a lot more than I trust you.”

Tony didn’t reply. He just stared at the blank screen, his mind turning.

Because no matter what anyone said, one thing was crystal clear—

You knew who Batman was.

And Tony Stark was going to figure out why.

You sighed, rubbing your temples as you stood in front of the gathered Avengers, all geared up like they were about to storm an enemy stronghold. Well—except Bruce. At least one of them had some sense.

Still, the sight of Tony Stark standing there, smug as ever in his suit, made your blood boil. If it weren’t for your duty to Bruce, you wouldn’t be here, playing glorified chauffeur to people you could barely tolerate. But this was part of the deal. Part of your responsibility.

Didn’t mean you had to like it.

Rolling your eyes, you crossed your arms. “Alright, children, listen up. Everybody grab a hand and hold on tight. No letting go, no wandering off, and maybe hold your breath unless you want to find out what interdimensional travel feels like in your lungs.”

Sam frowned. “Wait, what?”

But before anyone could protest further, you activated the transport. The bright flash of light engulfed you all, and a second later.

You landed in the Watchtower, you had to plant your feet firmly on the ground to keep from swaying. You’d done this jump enough times that the nausea barely registered, but some of the Avengers weren’t as lucky.

Bucky gripped the wall like it was the only thing keeping him upright, Sam muttered something about “never getting used to this damn space magic,” and even Steve looked like he was recalibrating his balance. Thor adjusted quickly—because of course he did—but Tony, ever the loudest in the room, groaned dramatically.

“Jesus, remind me why we couldn’t have taken a nice, normal Quinjet?”

"Sorry," you said lightly. "I'd say you get used to it, but… sometimes you don't."

Once everyone had straightened up, you turned to lead them toward the meeting room. They tried to take in as much as they could, their heads turning as they walked, but the Watchtower wasn’t designed for easy prying eyes. The halls were clean and sleek, giving away nothing, which clearly frustrated Stark.

“So,” Tony said, falling into step beside you, voice laced with faux curiosity. “Where’s your husband, Mrs. Wayne?”

You knew that tone. He wasn’t just asking where Bruce was—he was implying something. You could feel the weight of everyone’s attention shifting toward you.

You didn’t flinch. Didn’t hesitate.

"Why?" you asked, raising an eyebrow. "Jealous?"

Tony smirked, but his eyes were calculating. “Just wondering how much Mr. Wayne knows about how close you and Batman seem to be.”

There it was.

Bucky’s gaze snapped toward Stark, his expression darkening. Natasha inhaled sharply through her nose, already bracing for your reaction. Sam muttered something under his breath, shaking his head. Even Steve looked uncomfortable.

You, however, just smiled.

"You mean the Batman who’s saved my life more times than I can count? The one I work closely with because my husband is a major financial backer of the League?” You tilted your head, voice calm but sharp as glass. “Tell me, Tony, do you get this weird about Pepper working with superheroes, or is it just me?"

Tony’s smirk faltered for half a second before he recovered. “Hey, I just call it like I see it.”

"And I call it like I see it," a deep voice rumbled from up ahead.

Arthur Curry—Aquaman—stepped into the hall, golden eyes locked onto Stark with clear disapproval.

“Is he bothering you?” Arthur asked, voice casual, but his glare anything but.

Tony rolled his eyes. “Relax, Fish King, just having a friendly chat.”

Arthur’s gaze didn’t waver. “Should I toss him in a tank or out an airlock?”

You smiled sweetly. “As fun as that sounds, let’s save it for later.”

Arthur grunted but didn’t back down, still staring at Stark like he was weighing whether or not he was worth the effort.

You patted Arthur’s arm before turning back toward the meeting room. “Come on. The faster we get this over with, the sooner you all stop testing my patience.”

Tony scoffed but didn’t push his luck further.

Natasha, however, smirked as she followed you. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

The doors slid open, and you strode into the meeting room ahead of the Avengers, your patience already thin from the trip up here. The Justice League members were already gathered around the large circular table, the Watchtower’s vast windows making the space feel both open and imposing.

You made a beeline for Black Canary, who was standing near Green Arrow, arms crossed and looking only mildly interested in whatever was about to happen. This was only her second time here, and you could tell she was still adjusting. You gave her a quick smirk.

“Welcome to the madness,” you murmured. “You should have seen them when they landed. Half of them nearly lost their breakfast.”

She huffed a soft laugh. “I’ve been in fights that were quieter than this.” her arms crossed, expression amused as she took in the sight of the Avengers in full battle gear.

Before you could say anything else, a rich, melodic laugh echoed through the room.

Diana.

She leaned against the table, arms folded, wearing a simple fitted sweater and dark jeans—practical, casual, comfortable. Like many of the League members in attendance, she was dressed as a civilian. Only those who protected secret identities were in full gear.

Her gaze swept over the Avengers before settling on Steve, her lips twitching. “Tell me,” she said, tilting her head, “why are you all in battle armor when the world already knows who you are?”

She, like many of the League members, was dressed down—jeans and a soft sweater, looking entirely at ease. Only those who had secret identities—Batman, Robin, and a few others—were in uniform.

The Avengers hesitated.

Sam shifted uncomfortably. Bucky just sighed. Steve looked vaguely embarrassed but stood tall.

Tony, of course, had to open his mouth. “Well, excuse us, Princess—”

“I’d advise against finishing that sentence,” you muttered under your breath, but he ignored you.

“—but we actually like to be prepared. Unlike you guys, some of us don’t have fancy alien muscles or magical lasso tricks to back us up.”

Diana raised a single brow, entirely unimpressed.

Diana arched a brow, utterly unimpressed. “The world knows who we are. There’s no need for theatrics.”

Arthur snorted. “Yeah, because Iron Man is completely defenseless.”

Before the conversation could spiral, a deep voice cut through the chatter like a blade.

Batman, standing at the head of the table, didn’t so much as flinch at the growing tension. He merely leaned forward slightly, his voice cutting through the room like a blade.

“Enough.”

The single word carried weight, and the room silenced.

Bruce’s eyes locked onto Tony’s. “You wanted a meeting, Stark. Get to the point.”

Steve looked frustrated, arms crossed over his chest as he turned to glare at Tony. “You told us Batman called this meeting.” His voice was tight, barely restrained. “That he had stipulations to wanting to work with us.”

Tony shrugged, looking completely unbothered. “Yeah, well, I might’ve embellished a little. But come on, Cap, you think Gotham’s very own cryptid would willingly reach out first?”

Steve’s jaw tensed, but before he could argue, Tony continued, his tone shifting to something far too casual. “Honestly, while we’re on the subject, I don’t think there should be secret identities. We’re all supposed to be on the same side, right? We fight for the same things, so why the hell are some of us still playing hide-and-seek?”

A few murmurs spread through the room, some from the League, some from the Avengers. Diana sighed, Oliver muttered something under his breath, and J’onn simply observed.

You, however, were already shaking your head. “No.”

Tony turned to you, brows lifting in mock surprise. “Oh, here we go.”

You took a step forward, arms crossed tightly over your chest. “I didn’t help broker this agreement between the League and the Avengers just for you to come here and stir up drama, Tony. You agreed to this alliance, so act like it.”

He scoffed, throwing a hand in the air. “Oh, please, don’t act like I’m the bad guy for saying what everyone else is thinking. If we’re really working together, then we should all be honest with each other. No masks. No secrets rendezvous`. No—”

CRACK.

The sharp sound of Batman’s gloved hand slamming against the table echoed through the room, cutting Tony off mid-sentence.

Tony froze. Everyone did.

Then, slowly, Batman stood.

The room seemed smaller with him standing. His cape barely shifted, but his presence alone felt heavier, darker. He wasn’t raising his voice, wasn’t even looking at Tony directly—just through him.

“You don’t get to make demands here,” Batman said, voice low and cold. “You don’t get to dictate how the League operates.”

Tony, for all his bravado, hesitated.

Batman leaned forward slightly, placing both hands on the table, his cowl casting shadows over the lower half of his face. “If you have an issue with how we do things, then you’re free to leave.”

Silence.

Tension crackled like a live wire.

Tony opened his mouth. Closed it.

No one moved.

And then, finally, he scoffed, looking away with an eye roll. “Jesus. Fine.” He threw himself back into his chair, arms crossing. “No need to get all batty about it.”

Batman didn’t sit. He didn’t even acknowledge the attempt at humor. He just stayed exactly where he was—looming, unyielding.

And just like that, Tony didn’t have another word to say.

As the meeting wrapped up, patrols were assigned, and territories marked for joint operations. The League made it clear—there were other heroes, other forces at play—but trust had to be built before the Avengers would be privy to anything beyond this initial partnership.

Batman sat motionless, absorbing every word, yet his gaze never wavered from Tony. He processed the strategies, the schedules, but underneath it all, he was planning. Scheming.

Because Batman couldn’t deal with this right now. Not like this. Not in this setting.

But soon, Bruce Wayne would handle it.

The Avengers began to break into their own conversations as the tension in the room dissipated. Natasha and Bucky had drawn you into a quiet conversation about their wedding—Nat smirking, Bucky shaking his head as you laughed.

Across the room, Diana’s melodic laughter echoed as Thor animatedly spoke with her, likely attempting to make amends for the battle gear comments earlier.

Meanwhile, Steve hesitated for a moment before finally making his way toward Batman.

��I shouldn’t have let it get to that point,” Steve admitted, standing beside the chair Tony had vacated. “Tony’s…” He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “He’s Tony. He thinks he’s helping, even when he’s making things worse.”

Batman didn’t move.

Steve continued, keeping his voice low. “I just wanted to say—I appreciate you hearing us out. And I get it. Trust takes time.” His eyes flicked over to where you stood, listening intently as Natasha showed you something on her phone. “But… I hope this alliance can work. That we can work.”

Batman finally turned his head, just enough to glance at Steve. “That depends on Stark.”

Steve let out a quiet breath, nodding. “Yeah. I figured.”

Batman gave nothing else. No reassurance, no confirmation—just an unreadable stare before shifting his gaze back to the room.

Steve didn’t push for more. He’d done what he came to do.

As the Avengers prepared to leave, Batman remained exactly where he was, unmoving. His mind was already elsewhere, already planning the next step.

Because this wasn’t over.

Not even close.

Leading the Avengers back into the hall, you kept your head high, ignoring Tony’s grumbling and Wanda’s amused side-eye. You just wanted to get this over with.

But then you made the mistake of glancing back.

Bruce was still at the table, leaned back in his chair, manspreading like he had no care in the world. His thick, delicious thighs were tense beneath his suits, one hand gripping the armrest tightly, the other lazily propping up his head as he watched you.

Heat curled up your spine.

You should care. You should worry about what the others were going to say, about the way they’d been side-eyeing you both throughout the meeting. But you didn’t.

Because you saw it.

You saw the way Nat smirked knowingly, the way Wanda’s eyes flickered between you and Bruce, the way Bucky and even Steve had stolen glances at your man.

And Bruce? He didn’t even pretend to hide it—his sharp, burning gaze locked onto you like you were the only thing in the room that mattered.

“See ya later,” you said sweetly, watching his lips twitch and his eyes soften just a fraction.

The doors shut behind you, and as soon as they did, Nat and Wanda pounced.

“Oh, you are in trouble,” Wanda teased, linking her arm through yours.

“Did you see the way he was looking at you?” Nat smirked. “Like he was starving.”

You giggled, warmth still lingering in your chest as you led them away, already knowing this was going to be a very long conversation home.

As soon as the doors slid shut behind the Avengers, the room was silent for a beat. Then, Arthur let out a low chuckle, shaking his head.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” he mused, arms crossed over his broad chest. “Out of all of us, you were the biggest worry, Bats.”

A few others murmured their agreement, smirks and knowing glances passed around the table. Even J’onn, normally unreadable, looked faintly amused.

Bruce exhaled through his nose, unimpressed but unsurprised. He slowly stood, “I’ll be fine,” he said simply, his voice calm and measured. “As long as Stark is respectful of the League… and respectful of my wife.”

The weight of that word settled over the room. His wife.

Diana smiled knowingly, her arms crossed as she watched him. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you say it like that in the suit.”

Bruce didn’t acknowledge it. He just pushed his chair in.

“If we’re done here,” he said smoothly, “I have somewhere to be.”

Barry snorted. “Yeah, yeah. Go home to your wife, Bats.”

Bruce didn’t dignify that with a response. But as he turned to leave, there was a slight curve to his lips, the closest thing to a smirk they’d seen from him in years.

The Batcave was dimly lit, the glow from the monitors casting sharp shadows across the space. Bruce sat in his chair, dressed down in sweats and a fitted black shirt, his socked feet resting on the edge of the console as he watched the feeds from patrol. Jason and Dick were out, their voices crackling through the comms as they bantered back and forth. It was a quiet night.

Still, you could tell he was wound tight. His jaw was clenched, his fingers tapping against the armrest in agitation.

Without a word, you climbed into his lap, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and pressing a kiss to the crease in his forehead. He groaned, exhaling heavily as his arms instinctively curled around your waist.

“I hate him,” Bruce muttered, tilting his head back against the chair.

You giggled, fingers brushing through his hair. “You hate a lot of people, babe.”

“This is different,” he grumbled. “He’s obnoxious.”

You hummed in agreement, but as you thought back to what Tony had implied earlier, your amusement faded. Your fingers traced the seam of his shirt absentmindedly before you finally sighed and fully sat on his thighs.

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

Bruce’s grip on your thighs tightened slightly, his thumbs moving in slow, soothing circles. “What is it?”

You swallowed, hating the way your chest tightened. “Tony was insinuating that I was cheating on you.”

Bruce’s brows furrowed. “What?”

“With Batman,” you clarified, voice thick with frustration.

His hands stilled. “He—”

“He doesn’t know, I know..” you cut in quickly. “But he thinks I’m sneaking around behind Bruce Wayne’s back with Batman, and that’s why the League is willing to work with them.”

Bruce inhaled sharply through his nose, trying to stay calm, but you could feel the tension rolling through his body.

You shook your head, voice cracking slightly. “Like I’m just— Like I knew he was engaged when I got pregnant.” You clenched your fists against his chest, willing the burn in your eyes to go away. “I didn’t know. I didn’t do anything wrong, and yet somehow I’m still the one who—”

Your voice broke, and Bruce was quick to reach up, gently wiping your tears away with the pad of his thumb.

“I know,” he murmured. “I know you didn’t.”

You leaned into his touch, exhaling shakily.

Neither of you noticed the small figure standing just a few feet away, listening.

Damian had come down quietly, drawn by the sound of your voice. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but as he stood in the shadows, hearing your pain—he felt something in his chest tighten.

He’d always known the facts about his biological father. But hearing you like this? Hearing the weight of it in your voice?

He turned on his heel and left as quietly as he had come, fists clenched at his sides.

Tim barely had time to react. One second, he was hunched over the open hood of the car, adjusting a few components. The next, a weighted ball came hurtling through the air straight for the windshield he had just replaced.

“Shit!” he yelped, diving to the side, barely catching it before it made impact. He landed on the concrete floor with a grunt, holding the ball against his chest as he blinked up at the ceiling in disbelief.

Stephanie, who had chased Damian out to the garage, winced. “Okay… that was a bit of an overreaction.”

Tim pushed himself up onto his elbows, narrowing his eyes at Damian. “Dude, I just replaced that.”

Damian stood a few feet away, his chest heaving, fists clenched at his sides. His face was flushed from the effort of his throw, but more than that, he looked angry—his eyes wild, his lips pressed together in a thin line.

Tim sat up fully, tossing the ball to the side before he slowly dusted himself off. “Alright,” he muttered. “What’s your problem?”

Damian didn’t answer.

Stephanie crossed her arms, taking a slow step closer. “Come on, Dami. Talk to us.”

“Why?” Damian snapped, voice sharp and bitter. His hands clenched even tighter, nails digging into his palms. “Why should I? It doesn’t change anything.”

Tim sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He’d seen Damian upset plenty of times before—but this? This wasn’t just anger. This was something deeper. He kinda wished Jason was here.

“What happened?” Tim asked, this time gentler.

Damian exhaled sharply through his nose. He turned away, gripping the edge of the nearest workbench so tightly his knuckles turned white.

“I heard her,” he muttered.

Stephanie and Tim exchanged a look.

“Heard who?” she pressed.

Damian’s jaw tensed. “Mother.”

Realization dawned on Tim’s face, he must had overheard you talking about something private, that wasnt meant for him for a reason. His expression softened as he carefully placed the wrench he was holding onto the table.

Damian swallowed hard, his fingers tightening around the wood. “I heard her talking to Father about him.” His voice dropped, but they could still hear the anger simmering beneath it. “About how Stark is spreading lies. About how he’s making it seem like she did something wrong—like she knew about his engagement. Like she’s cheating on dad—” He cut himself off with a sharp shake of his head. “She didn’t even do anything, and she’s the one being judged for it.”

Stephanie frowned, stepping closer. “And that’s what’s bothering you?”

Damian whirled on her, eyes burning. “Of course it is!” he shouted, his voice cracking slightly. “Why does MY MOTHER have to justify herself when he was the one who abandoned us? Why does she have to suffer for a mistake that wasn’t hers?”

Stephanie’s heart ached for him.

Tim was quiet for a long moment before finally sighing and stepping forward. He reached out, gripping Damian’s shoulder firmly.

“For what it’s worth, you’re not wrong,” he said. “And I know it doesn’t fix anything, but you’re allowed to be upset.”

Damian’s jaw tightened, his breathing still heavy.

Stephanie gave him a small, reassuring smile. “For what it’s worth, I like your mom. She’s probably one of the best things to ever happen to me. And I don’t think anyone who actually matters would believe anything Stark has to say about her.”

Damian swallowed, looking down.

Tim gave his shoulder a small squeeze before stepping back. “Come on, Demon Spawn. Wanna help me with the car? I could use an extra set of hands.”

Damian hesitated before nodding stiffly. “Fine.”

Stephanie grinned. “And then after, we can make cookies. That always helps when I want to punch something.”

Damian let out a small huff—almost a laugh. Almost. But that was good enough.

The morning was unusually quiet. Too quiet.

The Wayne family was rarely loud—years of training and vigilant habits ensured that—but there was always something filling the air. Jason grumbling about being up too early, Tim sleepily stirring sugar into his already over-caffeinated coffee, Stephanie trying to prank Damian. Even Bruce, when he was home, had a way of filling a room just by existing.

But this morning, the silence was heavy.

You stood at the stove, your back to them, flipping pancakes with careful precision. The sleeves of Bruce’s oversized sweatshirt hung past your fingertips, and your hair was hastily tied back, as if you hadn’t had the energy to do more than shove it away. The boys could see it—the pinkness in your eyes, the exhaustion in your movements.

Jason’s grip tightened around his fork as he shot a glance at Damian. The younger boy was unusually still, his hands resting on the table rather than reaching for his utensils. He wasn’t eating. Wasn’t speaking. Just watching.

Bruce, on the other hand, was attached to you. He hadn’t stopped touching you since he came downstairs. A hand on your waist, fingers ghosting over your wrist when you passed him a plate, pressing a slow kiss against your temple as he reached for his coffee. His voice was soft, murmuring something just for you, his eyes darker than usual with unspoken concern.

When you finally turned to the boys, your smile was small but genuine. “I’m staying home today,” you said gently. “Just wanted to see you all off and wish you a good day.”

Tim hummed around his coffee mug, pretending not to stare too hard.

Jason frowned, his stomach twisting. Like hell he was leaving you alone today. He was already cycling through excuses in his head, trying to find the perfect way to get himself out of school. Fake a fever? No, Alfred had thermometers everywhere. Stomach bug? No way they’d buy that with his appetite.

Damian, however, was watching him.

Jason didn’t say it out loud, but they all knew—Jason hated leaving when you were upset. His separation anxiety was quieter these days, but it still lingered, clawing at him whenever something felt off.

And Damian? Well, Damian wasn’t one to let things sit.

By the time breakfast was over and Jason was still fumbling for a plan, Damian had already made his decision. Jason was wicked smart.. But Damian is genius level theres nothing he cant plan out.

So it really shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone when, hours later, a taxi pulled up outside of Stark Tower.

And out stepped Damian Wayne

Tony let out a low whistle, setting his drink down on the glass table beside him as Damian Wayne stepped into his office. “Confidence. I like it. Arrogance? Even better. You must be a real hit at school.”

Damian didn’t so much as blink. “I’m not here for pleasantries, Stark.”

Tony leaned back, lacing his fingers together behind his head. “Yeah, I figured. You look about five seconds away from either throwing a tantrum or throwing a punch. I gotta warn you, though—throwing punches usually doesn’t end well for people in this lounge.”

Damian ignored the jab. He stepped closer, placing both hands on the table between them and leaning in slightly. “I heard what youve said about my mother.” His voice was low, controlled—but there was a storm brewing underneath it.

Tony had seen the kid before—at the gala, hovering near Wayne, sharp brown eyes taking in everything. There had been something familiar about him even then, something Tony had pushed to the back of his mind, locking it away behind sarcasm and ego.

But now? Now the kid was standing in front of him, fists trembling, voice steady but furious, and Tony couldn't ignore it anymore.

“You’re a coward.”

Tony raised an eyebrow, forcing himself to lean back in his chair, forcing himself to be unbothered. “Oh? Do tell.”

Damian’s eyes burned. “You abandoned us.”

Us.

There it was.

Tony felt his stomach drop, but his face didn’t change. He had spent a lifetime perfecting that. So instead of letting the words settle, instead of acknowledging what they meant, he scoffed. “Look, kid—”

Damian took a step closer. “You didn’t know she kept it. Fine. But instead of facing that truth, you’d rather paint her as some kind of liar. As if she knew about you, as if she chose to interfere in your life. You insinuated she betrayed Bruce, that she was unfaithful. You tried to drag her through the mud just to protect your own ego.”

Tony exhaled sharply, rubbing his temple. His fingers itched for a drink, but he curled them into a fist instead. “Okay, first of all—”

“Don’t.”

The command was sharp, almost authoritative, and Tony shut his mouth before he could stop himself.

The kid’s hands were clenched so tightly his nails dug into his palms, his breathing controlled but measured, like he was fighting to keep himself still. “You will listen to me,” Damian said, his voice deadly quiet. “You don’t get to talk your way out of this. You don’t get to charm your way out of being a coward not to my mother.”

Tony wanted to snap back, to deflect, to turn this into something he could handle.

But all he could hear was that single word, us, rattling in his skull.

Damian took a slow breath, grounding himself. “My mother raised me. She didn’t ask for anything from you. She never came looking for you. And now that you know the truth, she still hasn’t asked for anything. But you?” His lip curled slightly, his next words dripping with quiet disgust. “You’d rather slander her than face what you did. That isn’t just weak, Stark. It’s pathetic.”

For the first time in a long time, Tony didn’t have a comeback.

He just… stared. He swore his father was standing in front of him.

Because no matter how much he wanted to deny it, no matter how much he wanted to bury the thought, there was no ignoring the way the kid’s brown eyes burned with the same fire he had seen in the mirror.

And for one, stupid second, he wondered.

Tony blinked, the words catching him off guard. For a moment, his mask slipped, but he quickly covered it with a dry laugh. “Oh, I get it now. You’re one of those kids with a chip on their shoulder, huh? Daddy issues? Sorry, not my department. Bruce Wayne’s the one with the orphan trauma kit, isn’t he?”

Damian’s expression didn’t waver. He simply took a step closer, his sharp green eyes cutting through Tony like a scalpel. “Bruce doesn’t know I’m here,” he said, voice steady, deliberate. “This isn’t about him. This is about you.”

Tony’s grip tightened around his glass, but he forced himself to keep his face neutral.

Damian tilted his head slightly, watching him. Calculating. “You had doubts,” he said, quieter now, almost like he was speaking to himself. “At the gala. I saw it in your face when you looked at me.”

Tony scoffed. “Kid, you’ve got a hell of an imagination.”

But Damian didn’t stop. “You saw it, didn’t you? The resemblance.”

Tony’s heart skipped a beat, but he kept his expression locked down, kept the smirk in place, even as something uneasy settled in his gut.

“Whatever fantasy you’re spinning, it’s—”

“I did, too.” Damian cut him off effortlessly.” He stopped himself, exhaling sharply through his nose. His hands curled into fists. “I see it now. I see it in the way you deflect instead of confronting me because you realize that im just as intellegent as you, I do the same with my father. In the way you’d rather joke your way out of something than feel it.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Well, congratulations, kid, you just described half of Manhattan.”

Damian didn’t laugh. “I don’t need anything from you.” His voice was cold, precise. “Not your name. Not your wealth. Not your approval. But you will stop.”

Tony leaned back, rubbing his temple, frustration bubbling just beneath the surface. “And what, exactly, do you expect me to do?”

Damian straightened, adjusting his posture with the kind of poise Tony had only ever seen in people who had been raised to command a room.

“Be better.”

For a second—just a second—Tony felt something crack. But then the walls slammed back up, and he forced out another laugh, waving a dismissive hand. “Cute speech, really. You practicing for debate team? Because I gotta say, the dramatics are a little over the top.”

Damian stared at him for a long moment, then shook his head, a quiet sort of disappointment in his gaze.

“I expected as much,” he murmured, more to himself than Tony. “I hope you can grow up.. For your daughter.” Damian nodded to a picture on the wall as Tony froze.

As the elevator doors slid open, the hairs on the back of Tony's neck stood up. There, standing in the doorway, was Bruce Wayne. His gaze immediately locked onto his son, and Tony could practically feel the weight of the moment shift in the air.

Damian stiffened for a moment but didn’t say anything. Bruce’s eyes softened when they met his son’s, but there was a sharpness there—an edge that made Tony pause. Bruce stepped forward, and without a word, he knelt down in front of Damian, his movements controlled, as always.

“I understand why you did this, Damian,” Bruce said quietly, his voice low and steady. “But I’m disappointed you disregarded your safety so easily.”

Damian said nothing, his jaw tight, but the flicker of emotion in his eyes was enough. Bruce reached out, pulling him into a hug. A firm, strong embrace. There was no hesitation, no anger—just a quiet understanding between father and son.

Tony stood frozen, unable to look away from the scene. The sight of Bruce holding his son in such a rare, intimate moment hit him harder than expected. He hadn't seen that kind of tenderness in a father before, and it struck him with a wave of realization.

For a moment, it was like he wasn’t even there.

“I want you to wait in the car,” Bruce said softly, pulling back just enough to meet his son’s gaze. Damian didn’t protest, simply nodding, his expression unreadable as he turned toward the elevator.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Bruce’s expression shifted, his face morphing into something darker—fury burning in his eyes. The calm, composed facade he'd worn for so long, especially in front of Tony, crumbled in an instant. The tension in the room thickened, and Tony could practically feel the weight of it settle over him like a storm cloud.

Without a word, Bruce pulled out his phone, his fingers flying across the screen as he sent a text. His jaw clenched, his gaze flickering to Tony only briefly before he started walking toward him. Every step was deliberate, every movement a reminder of the man he was—calculated, precise, and more dangerous than anyone realized.

Tony straightened slightly in his chair, trying to project an air of confidence, but it was clear the mere presence of Bruce in full boss-mode’ rattled him. He wasn’t used to being on the receiving end of that look—the one that could tear apart the bravado of even the most powerful people. He usually is on the receiving end of the god I hate that Im breathing the same air as you, you annoying fuck look. And yet, as much as he wanted to push back, he could feel the knot tightening in his chest.

Bruce stopped just a few feet away, his posture rigid, eyes locked onto Tony’s. There was nothing friendly in his gaze.

Tony's frustration reached its peak, as he desperately tried to manage the chaos unfolding around him. The noise from his phone ringing, the continuous alerts flooding in, and the endless barrage of messages, all grew louder. He could feel the weight of the situation pressing down on him as panic began to take root. He swiped through his devices, trying to make sense of what was happening, but nothing made sense. All of his stocks were plummeting, people were demanding answers, and the door to his office was being hammered with urgent knocks.

"What the fuck... WHAT THE FUCK?!" Tony cursed, his voice rising with each new blow to his empire. His fingers moved frantically over his phone and tablet, trying to figure out what the hell was going on, but the more he tried, the worse it got. The magnitude of the crisis unfolding before him was suffocating, and he couldn’t understand how it all came crashing down in an instant.

And then, through the whirlwind of chaos, he looked up. His eyes locked onto Bruce, who was sitting across from him, a smug, almost amused expression on his face. Bruce wasn’t even fazed by the whirlwind surrounding them. He wasn’t scrambling or flustered. Instead, he just sat back in the chair, completely calm, and it drove Tony crazy.

Tony’s jaw tightened, irritation flashing in his eyes. "What the hell do you want, Bruce?" he spat, his voice strained from the pressure.

Bruce's lips curled into a knowing smile. He didn’t say anything for a moment, just watching Tony squirm as his world fell apart. And then, with a casual flick of his wrist, he raised his phone and held it up in front of Tony.

"Want to fix it?" Bruce asked, his voice smooth, confident.

Tony's eyes narrowed, disbelief mixing with rage. His gaze dropped to the phone in Bruce’s hand, and for the first time, he saw what was really happening. There, on the screen, was evidence that Bruce had orchestrated this entire mess. It was a simple text—one that Bruce had sent to the right people at the right time, carefully and strategically—and it was enough to collapse everything Tony had spent years building.

The realization hit Tony like a ton of bricks. He was in no position to fight this.

The frantic phone calls, the screaming, the utter chaos—Bruce had planned this. He knew exactly what he was doing.

Tony opened his mouth to protest, to somehow deny what was happening, but Bruce’s smirk deepened, and the glint in his eyes told Tony all he needed to know.

"You want me to fix this, Tony? Then maybe it's time you start acting like you actually have something to protect," Bruce said quietly, each word deliberate. "But don’t worry... I’m sure we can work something out. After all, you wouldn’t want to disappoint your fans."

Tony clenched his fists, his teeth grinding as the situation dawned on him. The tables had turned in a way he never saw coming, and now he had to decide either to play by Bruce’s rules or watch his empire crumble further.

He exhaled sharply, hands running through his hair as he tried to steady himself. But deep down, he knew the real question wasn’t about fixing it—it was about whether he could ever get out from under Bruce’s thumb.

The tension in the room was thick, the power dynamic shifting irreparably. And Bruce? Bruce just waited, a calm presence amidst the storm, as if he already knew exactly how this would play out.

The air in the room thickened, a suffocating weight pressing down as Bruce finally leaned forward, planting his hands firmly on Tony’s sleek, high-tech desk. His shadow stretched across the space between them, swallowing Tony whole. The easy smirk Tony usually wore was gone now, replaced by something tight, something wary.

Bruce’s voice was low, almost gentle—but there was nothing soft about the words that followed.

“You’re arrogant. Careless. A man who never learned the difference between power and responsibility.” His eyes, cold as steel, locked onto Tony’s, pinning him to his chair like prey caught in a trap. “You think your money, your tech, your goddamn wit can keep you untouchable. That you can say whatever you want, do whatever you want, and walk away without consequence.”

Bruce tilted his head slightly, studying Tony as if he were something small. Insignificant. “You know what the real difference between us is, Stark?” he continued, his voice still disturbingly calm. “You play at being untouchable. I am.”

Tony swallowed, shifting in his seat, but Bruce didn’t give him a chance to speak.

“If I ever find out that you so much as whisper my wife’s name, if you so much as breathe about my son —” His voice dropped lower, turning into something darker, something lethal. His fingers curled slightly against the desk, the tension in his arms coiled like a predator waiting to strike.

“I will dismantle you. Piece by piece. You think this is bad?” He gestured vaguely at Tony’s still-vibrating phone, the frantic pounding outside the door. “This was me being polite.”

Bruce leaned in even further, his presence swallowing every inch of the room, and for the first time in a long time, Tony felt truly small.

“You won’t even see it coming,” Bruce murmured, his voice now barely above a whisper. “No headlines. No explosions. No grandstanding. Just one day, you’ll wake up and everything will be gone. Your company. Your empire. Your reputation. And you’ll know it was me. But you won’t be able to prove it.”

Bruce let the words settle, let the silence stretch between them until it became unbearable. Then, as if a switch had flipped, he smiled.

A perfect, dazzling, Wayne Enterprises CEO smile. The kind that graced magazine covers. The kind that fooled entire boardrooms into thinking he was nothing more than a polished businessman.

“So,” he said pleasantly, straightening his suit jacket as if he hadn’t just promised to rip Tony’s life apart at the seams. “Do we have an understanding?”

Tony exhaled sharply, barely aware he’d been holding his breath. His heart pounded in his chest, adrenaline surging through his veins.

Bruce watched him expectantly, waiting.

Tony forced himself to nod. Just once.

Bruce’s smile widened just a fraction, a glint of something dangerous flickering behind his eyes.

“Good.”

And with that, Bruce turned, adjusting his cufflinks as he walked toward the elevator. He didn’t spare Tony another glance as he pressed the button, the doors sliding open in eerie silence.

But just before he stepped inside, Bruce hesitated. Just for a second. And then, without turning around, he delivered his final warning.

“Oh, and Stark?”

Tony barely managed to lift his gaze.

“Be a coward all you want. I got it.”

The elevator doors slid shut, sealing Bruce and his smirk away, leaving Tony sitting there—pulse pounding, body rigid, and for the first time in a long, long time... utterly speechless.

#batman #batman x you #bruce wayne #batman x reader #bruce wayne x you #bruce wayne x reader #batmom #bruce wayne imagine #bruce wayne x fem!reader #bruce wayne x y/n #bruce wayne headcanon #dc batman

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zablife · 21 hours ago

Text

Focus (Part 2)

Johnny Davis x female reader

Summary: After Johnny urges you to leave the dangerous life of the Vandals, you return home to concentrate on your studies. However, a call from Kathy draws your attention back to the man you swore to forget.

A/N: This was requested by the lovely @solomons-finest-rum who also provided Kathy's dialogue. It was the perfect inspo for part 2 of my Johnny fic Focus!

Warnings: mention of fighting

Read Part 1 here.

You hardly noticed the trills echoing down the hall, engrossed in your textbook. You’d fallen behind in your classes since the trip with Danny and now you were working hard to catch up. It wasn’t until your roommate called, “Y/n, phone’s for you!” that you registered the noise.

With chattering girls lining the hallway of your dorm, you held the receiver to your ear in an attempt to hear the caller. Your grip tightened for a moment as you spoke, wondering if Johnny might be checking up on you. However, your hopes were dashed the moment you heard Kathy’s honeyed voice with that unmistakable accent.

“Hey hun, how are ya?” she asked, a note of hesitancy in her greeting.

“I’m okay, I guess. How bout you?” you countered, waiting for the formality of it all to end and have her tell you what was really going on. When Kathy remained silent, you prodded, “What’s this all about, Kathy? I haven’t heard from you in months.”

“I know and I’m sorry about that, I really am,” she rushed out in uneven breath, conveying there was something more important on her mind. “Just thought you would want to know.”

“Know what?” you asked, a feeling of dread pooling in your stomach.

“It’s Johnny,” she admitted and you could hear the anxiety peaking in her voice as though you were the last hope.

You swallowed harshly as you reminded yourself to do as he said and stay out of his life. “I don’t have anything to say to him," you stated effecting a cool indifference.

“Please, you gotta talk to him. Nothin’ is the same since you left. The man is a mess for God’s sake!” she pleaded.

“He was always a mess, Kathy,” you reminded her softly, fingers tangling in the phone cord as you turned away from prying eyes.

“Listen, he stabbed a guy last night for giving him a look. A look!” she emphasized.

Without thinking of your promise to remain indifferent, you sputtered, “Is h-he…alright?”

"Yeah, he ain't hurt, but he needs you," Kathy insisted.

"I don't know about that," you whispered, thinking of his swift departure from your hospital bed the moment he decided he was finished with you.

"That's where you're wrong," she countered, adding quickly, "I'm coming thru town tomorrow at noon and if you want to come with me, I'd be glad to take you to see him."

Your heart raced at the prospect, hand flying to your hair as you wondered when you'd last had it set. Biting your lip in anxious indecision, you finally nodded into the receiver slowly.

"Well, honey?" Kathy finally asked, unable to read your pensive silence.

"I-I'll come," you decided, affecting a firm tone that belied the sense of fear blooming in the pit of your stomach.

"I'm real glad to hear you say that," Kathy admitted, her relieved sigh crossing the line in a hiss of static.

"See you tomorrow," you ended the call with a small grin.

"Tomorrow," she agreed. "You're doin' the right thing," she rushed out before you hung up.

————————-

You'd been in town for two hours and your heart still hadn't stopped racing at the prospect of running into Johnny. He was probably working, you reasoned. No sense upsetting yourself when he wasn't even around. However, Kathy's retelling of recent events had set you on edge, unsure what to expect from the man you'd once trusted implicitly. It sounded as though he was losing his mind.

"Is it true he pulled a knife on somebody?" you asked Brucie when you ran into him at the garage.

Brucie averted his eyes, before hanging his head. You could tell from his posture he didn't want to give Johnny away and yet, you also sensed a desperation in him.

"He hasn't been the same since you left, Y/n," Brucie eventually confided. "I wanted to tell ya...honesty, I did, but he kept sayin' everything was fine."

You nodded sympathetically. "Is it a mistake to show up at the bar tonight?" you asked with trepidation.

Brucie let out a long sigh before admitting, "I think that's what he's been waitin' for."

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

You changed your clothes a few times before settling on a denim mini skirt and patterned top. It was sweet and demure, leaving just enough to the imagination. When Kathy came into your room, she agreed you looked stunning.

"Oh, honey, he's gonna love that!" she exclaimed with her signature optimism.

"I'm not trying to get him back," you clarified in a stern voice.

Kathy nodded back at you, knowing it was best to bite her tongue.

She took your hand in hers, giving your sweaty palm a squeeze before leading you toward her waiting car.

"Don't be nervous," she advised.

"M not nervous," you insisted, gulping as you fixed her with a long stare.

"Okay," she agreed, opening the door for you.

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

The bar was crowded, more than you remembered for a Friday night and Kathy informed you a few new motorcycle gangs were in town. You quickly noted that Johnny was holding court in the back with an impressive amount of men surrounding him. It made you nervous to approach while he was doing business so you hung back, fingers wandering over the jukebox buttons as you tried to remain inconspicuous.

As the strains of "Lonely Room" played you couldn't help but gaze across the room at Johnny.

He recognized the song instantly, his chin jerking up in response to the first strains of music. When he caught your eye, he excused himself from the cloud of smoke and conversation to make his way toward you.

"Y/n," he exclaimed drinking you in with a hungry gaze and you found yourself hoping he hadn't had the same appetite since you'd been away.

"Hi Johnny," you replied on a low breath, somehow unable to manage anything more when faced with his imposing form.

"Can I get you a drink?" he asked, a note of hope in his voice as he waited to see if you wanted anything more to do with him.

"I'd like that," you agreed with a nervous smile as you claimed a chair far from the pool tables and the raucous noise.

Johnny soon returned from the bar with two cold bottles of beer, sliding one across the table to you.

"What brings you back to town?" he asked, cocking his head to the side as he studied your nervous expression.

"Kathy asked me," you answered vaguely.

"So you're in town to see...Kathy?" he asked, eyes boring a hole into you as he waited for some sign of the affectionate girl he once knew.

You nodded quickly in reply, placing the bottle to your lips in an attempt to appear casual.

Johnny leaned forward, the pad of his thumb resting over his chin as he asked, "You sure it ain't cause you're still in love with me?"

You nearly choked on the mouthful of now warm beer pooling in your mouth, unsure how to reply. Swallowing it down, you placed the bottle down with a thud, gaze fixed on Johnny. “Love's never meant much to me,” you confessed breathlessly, fingers tracing the beads of condensation sliding down your beer bottle.

“You ain’t a very good liar, sweetheart,” Johnny chuckled, watching your hand clench suddenly as irrefutable proof.

Your eyes locked with his for a moment, ready to protest before pushing away from the table. Deciding not to give in, you simply shrugged as you rose from the table. “I made it this far without it.”

Johnny jumped from his spot across from you, capturing your elbow in a tight hold. You could practically feel his body vibrating with energy as he stood face to face with you in some sort of challenge.

“What do you want from me, Johnny?” you demanded, eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Nothin," he replied too quickly for your liking, dropping your arm as a shadow of despair crossed his brow.

"That's not true is it?" you asked, watching his features contort in pain.

Johnny's blue green eyes fixed on your grief stricken face, holding you hostage as he took one long, deep breath.

"I ain't learned to live without you," he admitted sorrowfully.

Taking a step closer to him, you ran your hands against his stubbled cheeks, staring into his eyes with purpose. "You asked me to go, Johnny, remember?"

"I know I did," he nodded gently, relishing the feeling of your hands against his skin. "And I'm so sorry. It was a mistake. I was only tryin' to keep you safe cause I never loved anyone like I love you."

You inhaled sharply at his admission, lower lip trembling and fat tears escaping down your cheeks as you he spoke the words you'd longed to hear.

"Don't cry, darlin'," he begged, swiping the pad of his thumb over your cheek. "I want to make it up to you, I swear."

You stood frozen to the spot, emotions overwhelming you. Kathy stared intently from across the room, waiting to see if you needed her, but you gave her a soft shake of your head to indicate you were alright. Everything seemed right with the world now that you had Johnny.

Looking up at him, you beamed with happiness. "I'm ready to start fresh," you told him confidently.

With a whoop of excitement, he picked you up and spun you around, eager to embark on this second chance with you.

"You wanna go for a ride?" he asked, eyes shimmering in the dim light.

"Thought you'd never ask," you grinned with a giggle. And he pulled you from the bar toward his waiting bike, a new adventure on the horizon.

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

Tag List:

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@mollybegger-blog

@xxanaduwrites

@gardens-light

@mrs-hardy-hunnam-butler-pascal

@dreamlandcreations

@potter-solomons

@kmc1989

@mayfieldss

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@semperamans

@pacifymebby

@saraliss

@lyralu91

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@confessionbrain-writings

@greenparadiseperry

@rosaliedepp

@kind-wolf

@sharp-cheekbones-locked

@lyralu91

@darklydeliciousdesires

@leenieweenie12

#the bikeriders #the bikeriders fanfiction #Johnny Davis #Johnny Davis fanfiction #Johnny Davis x you #Johnny Davis x reader #Johnny Davis x y/n

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cetoddle · 22 days ago

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it never fails to blow my mind that men will quietly come up behind you and whisper excuse me and then say they were trying to not scare you. fucking! don’t sneak up behind me like that then!

#idk who needs to hear this but #especially if you are a tall/large man. you have to make your presence know before you get to close to someone #like i appreciate that you are trying to not like be loud and scare me #but if i hear a man’s voice coming from right behind me and i turn around and there’s just some guy standing inches away from me #my first reaction will be one of fear and panic it does not matter what your intentions are #snow.txt

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wcnderlnds · 2 months ago

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battlefield | choi su-bong (thanos)

・❥・ summary: running into your ex boyfriend during the squid games was the last thing you expected ・❥・word count: 719 ・❥・warnings: uh... usual squid game stuff. ・❥・ authors note: this is a short one just to test the waters but im obsessed with this man after watching squid game 2 <333

There he was. The last person you’d ever expected to see in this place. Player 230. Choi Su-Bong or, as the world knew him as, Thanos. The bright purple hair had been easy to spot. The last few months had been spent avoiding him so why did fate want to throw you together in this place? Wherever the hell this place was. You still weren’t even sure but as you walked up the stairs to the first game, you didn’t really care. All you wanted to do was lay low and make sure that Thanos didn’t see you. A conversation with your ex boyfriend was the last thing you wanted.

Things had ended badly between the two of you when he’d lost all his money thanks to the crypto scam. It had changed him, turned him into someone you didn’t recognise anymore so when the arguments started and his behaviour became erratic, you knew you had to get out of there. So, you did. You left and had never looked back. All you wanted was enough money to get out of the city and far, far away. There was nothing here for you anymore. If you could win the games then you could finally start fresh somewhere.

Walking through the doors onto a floor of sand and brightly coloured walls, you heard the voice of Thanos talking to his friend. Instantly, you looked down at the ground, hoping he didn’t see you. Unfortunately for you, he had stood next to you. His eyes scanned your face before recognition lit his eyes up.

“Senorita!” He said in a sing-song voice, wide grin on his face as he outstretched his arms. “What are you doing here? Come on, give me a hug.”

“None of your business and no thanks,” you rolled your eyes.

“I’m hurt,” he splayed his hand on his chest over his heart. As much as he was using his confident swagger to irritate you, deep inside he couldn’t be more glad to see you. “Not even going to give me a chance to talk, huh? That’s stone cold.”

As the rules of the game echoed through the speakers, he couldn’t take his eyes off you. His hand had raised to his friend to stop him from talking to him so he could get a proper look at you. When you had left, that had been the breaking point for him. Everything had gone downhill from there. For so long he’d been trying to seek you out, to apologise but he knew you’d been avoiding him. Your friends wouldn’t tell him where you were, your family had chewed him out the second he had showed up on their doorstep so, eventually, he’d given up. But, here you were.

As Player 456 shouted out about the game being a lie and that you were going to die, your head shot up. Surely he couldn’t be telling the truth, right? Red Light, Green Light was a children’s game. At most you were probably going to be out of the running for the cash if you were caught moving.

“He’s crazy,” Thanos said. It was his way of trying to comfort you. He had instantly noticed the slight panic in your eyes, the way you were rubbing your hands against your thighs. “Don’t listen to him.”

All you could do was nod but there was a gut feeling inside you telling you that maybe it wasn’t entirely all crazy talk. Something about this whole thing felt off. Your eyes caught some girl talking, her hands waving around then suddenly she was on the ground. Instantly, fear gripped you, your stomach dropping. The room around you started to spin – you were really going to die here.

“Hey, hey,” Thanos had reached out, his hand gripping yours as he stood in front of you, back to you. “Stay behind me. I won’t let anything happen to you. You hear me? Stay behind me.”

“But… what if…” The sheer panic in your voice made his heart clench.

“No. We’re both getting out of here alive, okay? Now, stay behind me.” His protective instinct had kicked in. Right now, he didn’t care if you hated him. All he cared about was making sure you survived this so maybe, just maybe, he could finally make things right.

#thanos x reader #choi su-bong x reader #choi seunghyun #squid game x reader #t.o.p #squid game #thanos #choi su bong

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bi-writes · 6 months ago

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ghost doesn't think he hears you correctly, not at first. there's a ringing that's still in his ears from the bullet he nearly ate earlier. (cw: dubcon, 18+)

"wot?"

"can you please please please--pretend to be my boyfriend--just for one minute--!"

"heyyy, sunshine," a nasty little voice sings. you spin around, cowering by the bar, just as someone a little too drunk and a little too big comes into your space. you scoot away from him, but he's coming closer, leaning over you, and ghost tilts his head to the side as he watches the way you flinch at the stink of his breath.

ghost fits into the space at your back quite easily. your back arches a little as his big hand finds the bend of your waist, and you squeak a little when he forces you back, pressing your ass against his pelvis as he tucks you into his shadow.

"who's this fuckin' nitwit?" ghost mutters, clicking his tongue under his mask. you swallow, blinking up at the man, shrugging as you try and press yourself a little closer against his heat.

"i-i dunno," you whisper, and it's shaky, afraid. "h-he won't stop...following me."

"tha' right?" ghost hums, and you're so afraid of the man in front of you that you don't really register the way ghost's big hand is slipping lower, over the curve of your denim jeans and squeezing the fat of your ass that fills the palm of his hand all too nicely. "ya botherin' 'er?"

the man swallows a little, hiccuping. he stands up straighter, a little more sober, and he just shrugs as he takes another swig of his beer.

"just...she's so pretty, ya know--agh!"

ghost reaches over and grips him by the fat of his neck. he squeezes hard, drawing him closer, would be spitting in his face if he wasn't wearing the balaclava over his head.

"'f i see ya around 'er again, i'll paint the fuckin' walls with y'r teeth, mate, yeah? now get outta my fuckin' sight before i do it just for fun."

when ghost lets him go, he struggles to breathe, holding onto the bar and coughing as he scrambles to put distance between you. you shake a little, turning towards the bar, picking up what you assume is his drink and sipping it slowly to try and calm the nerves. you close your eyes gently, shaking your head.

"thank you," you say softly. "i-i couldn't shake him off, he was following me everywhere, i..." you turn your head and meet his eyes, smiling up at him. "that was really nice of you. i'm...sorry if i caused you any trouble."

ghost tilts his head to the side, fitting himself back behind you. he reaches over, putting both arms on either side of you and leaning over one shoulder, breathing hot against your neck.

"wot you mean?" he murmurs, and you blink, not understanding.

"for pretending to..." you laugh a little, looking into his eyes. "just...it was nice of you to do that. to pretend like that, i--"

"dunno wot y'r talkin' about," ghost chuckles, and you seize when he reaches down between you, cupping you between the legs as he palms at your pussy over your jeans. you keen a little, leaning into his touch, nasty brute pressing two fingers against where you're most sensitive and forcing your ass back against him, where he's hard, chubbed up since he first saw you, leaking into his cargos.

"i-i--" your eyes are wide, but you don't pull away, don't push him back--why am i not running? why can't i leave? what's happening to me--

"i wasn't pretending. were you?"

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lostalioth · 4 months ago

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𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡

→ premise: logan was obsessed, he was from the moment he met you. he didn’t get crushes, but you’ve turned the big bad wolverine into a depraved puppy and he’s had enough.

→ pairing: logan howlett x fem!reader

→ warnings: 2k words, smut | 18+, obsession [not dark, just like a big crush, idk how to actually write obsession well], belly bulge, unprotected sex, nicknames [baby, princess, pretty girl], creampie, I visualized like x1-3 logan when writing but you can imagine whichever logan era.

→ a/n: kinktober 09

Logan was utterly obsessed, entranced by your entire being. If he didn’t already know what your mutation was, he'd swear you were a witch that cast a love spell on him so he goes starry eyed and dulcet when you walk in a room. He wasn't the kind of man to get crushes, he did one night stands to satiate his needs and yet now he can't bring himself to want anybody but you.

You and your pretty eyes that sparkle when you look at him and flutter your eyelashes to get what you want. You and your tendency to brush against him or run your hand down his arm when you walk around him making his brain go fuzzy and getting him all flustered. The whole team could see how smitten and enthralled he was with you, mocking him and calling him a love sick puppy especially when you go away on mission and he mopes around the mansion. He’s had enough of the little flirting back and forth and nothing coming of it, he was desperate for you and his crush was only getting stronger as the months went on.

You had just gotten back from a short mission with Storm and Jean when before you could even say hi to everybody Logan is grabbing your hand and pulling you away down the hall. “eh- hey! Lo slow down” you squeal out as he drags you along behind him, heart racing at the feeling of his fingers intertwined with your own. The nickname you've resorted to calling him as the two of you have gotten closer makes his ears ring. He loved when you called him Lo you were the only one allowed to, anybody else who tired got glared at.

“Need to talk to ya’ now, right now” he grumbled out, his signature, you swore permanent grumpy scowl plastered on his face. He continues to tug you down the long hall towards your bedroom. Your eyebrows knit together in confusion at where he's taking you. Pushing open your door, he turns around and yanks you inside. Shutting the door, his body now facing you. His grip on your hand is still tight, he didnt wanna let go especially not when you haven't said anything about the fact he’s practically holding your hand.

“What is it? Is everything okay Lo?” You question in that sweet concerned voice you give him when he tells you he didn't sleep well because of another nightmare. “Do you want me?” He blurts out so fast the words practically blend together. You think you hear his question and it makes your head spin in more confusion but you needed him to repeat it. “What’d you say” you question as your gaze stays fixed on Logan, his own glued to your face watching for reactions. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves he starts again “Do you want me?” He questions in a slower softer tone.

Now your head really was spinning and slick settled in your core at his wording, he wasn't asking if you liked him, no he was asking if you WANTED him. your eyes that were on him are now darting around the room like it's the most fascinating thing. Through the fogginess of your brain all you can manage to eat out is a “What..?”

Pushing forward Logan backs your body up against your shut bedroom door, his frame looming over you and blocking you in. The hand that is not entangled with yours comes up to your chin to grab it and make you look at him. “Do. You. Want. Me? I'm not repeatin’ myself again pretty girl” he growls out, punching out each word of his question. He was losing his patience especially after the sweet scent of your arousal fills his nostrils and makes his cock twitch. “Cause i want you princess, have wanted you for fuckin’ months. And it's killing me, you’re killin’ me pretty girl” he groans out in frustration.

“Do you even know what you do to me? What my crush on you is doin’ to me princess? All our flirting and lingering looks, everybody always mocking me for how I act round you” he continues to ramble on, pulling your face closer to his as he waits on an answer to at least one of his questions.

“Yes..i want you Lo” you mumble out breathlessly and low. A big lopsided smirk spreads on Logan’s face as your words register in his head. “What was that baby?” He teases, needing you to repeat it just so he can hear it again.

“I want you Logan, really fucking bad” you whine out as your core aches for attention, your hips gravitate towards his to push against him. “Shit- fuck it” he groans out and grabs ahold of your waist and crashes his lips agaisnt yours, he knew the two of you should’ve gone back to the team. You needed to give Charles a debrief of the mission but Logan could care less at the moment. You kiss him with the same amount of passion and fever as your arms wrap around his neck pressing your chest to his. You hum and moan into the kiss sending vibrations through Logan’s body and straight to his confined cock that was begging to be released. “Jump and wrap ya’ legs around me baby” he instructed, his words mumbled against your lips but clear enough for you to understand. Jumping up a bit, Logan catches you by grabbing onto your ass as your legs wrapped around his waist. “Atta girl princess” you smile against his lips at the praise while he walks the two of you over to your plush bed.

Laying you down on your back, he keeps his body between your spread thighs as his mouth pulls away from yours and drifts down to kiss at your neck. His hard cock pressed right up against your leaking cunt in this position, his large hands rubbing and groping all over your body. Running over your hips and waist, palming over your tits and grabbing at your ass, anywhere his hands can reach, indulging in the fact you're allowing him to touch you like this. “Mhmm Lo, baby please i need you” you whine out and buck your hips against his, grinding your core against his bulge. “Yeah? Whatcha need baby? Huh princess? Use your words” he doesnt pull away from your neck, continuously kissing it and along your collarbones and chest as you were wearing a low cut top, even sucking and biting at your skin to form hickeys.

”Need you, need you to fuck me Lo please” you whimper out and tug at the wasit band of his jeans as well as push up at his white tank top. “Yeah i can do that baby fuck” he grunts out and sucks in a breath, a shiver going down his back when you strach at his lower stomach and happy trail. The feeling of your hands on his bare skin makes his body tingle and skin feel on fire.

His movements are frantic as he is quick to strip off his shirt and yours. Pulling your pants down and off your legs alongside your panties, leaving your bare pussy exposed to the cool air. “Oh fuck~ shes so pretty” he mumbled out under his breath seemingly to himself, you werent sure if it was aimed at your cunt or you. in his haste he just barely pushes his jeans and boxers down enough to free his cock. His throbbing cock springs free, making you gasp at his size, he didn't feel nearly as big when it was hidden as he looks now. His cock long and so deliciously thick that it has your mouth watering wanting a taste. You knew your jaw would burn to accommodate his size; you couldn't imagine your cunt fitting him. “Lo i don't know if it’ll fit” you whine out, looking into his lust blown eyes with concern.

“Pretty girl if you’re as wet as ya’ smell i’ll slip right in” he chuckles softly, grabbing himself at the base and nudging his mushroom tip to open your slit and rub it through your soaked folds. Your slick collects and mixes with the precum leaking from his cock lubing up his shaft and tip. Your hole clenches around nothing everytime he brushes over it making your hips twitch and thrust up trying to get him to push inside already.

“Mmm Lo..please just fuck me already” you whine out and squirm. His brows furrowed in concentration, gaze locked on where your bodies meet, trying his hardest not to already blow his load as he lines his tip up at your entrance. Just rubbing over your pussy with his cock was causing his balls to tighten, your pussy felt heavenly and addicting. This moment was 10 times better than any of the hundreds of wet dreams he had late at night where he’d wake up with a wet spot forming in his sweats.

He lets out a broken gasp that morphs into a string of curses when he finally slowly pushes into the wet heat of your cunt. “Oh fuck~ shes already squeezin’ me so tight baby” he grunts as he finally bottoms out buried to the hilt, his hips wasting no time in finding a rymth and thrusting deep inside you. the sting of your pussy stretching to take his cock makes your head go hazy, eyes screwing shut in bliss.

You clench around him and Logan cant stop himself from thrusting harder and faster, a slurred pussy-drunk mess of sentences fall from his mouth.

“Fuck youre so hot princess, s’good for me” “Cant believe ya’ letting me do this to you, fuckin’ you like this” “Dreamt’ bout’ this for so long, been fuckin’ obsessed with ya’ for forever” he whines out in a long run on setenace as his hips slam against yours, the filthy squelching sound of your cunt and your moans and whimpers fill the air in your room. You didn't care that you were being loud enough that anyone who walked past your door would definitely hear you and know what was going on. the knowledge of that seemed to be spurring both you and Logan on more.

His eyes are locked at where your bodies are connected, his cock creating a bulge in your lower stomach every time he thrusts all the way in. “Fuck baby, look at that, my cock s’big its making a bulge when im buried inside” he groans out and presses down on your lower stomach making your cunt clench down harder on him, your body trying to milk his release out of him. Tipping your head down you open your eyes to watch as his cock thrusts in and out of your throbbing pussy, his tip driving right into that spot deep inside you making you see stars. That spongy spot that your toys could never reach just right when Logan would get you all worked up with his flirting, not like his cock currently is.

“M’gonna cum Lo- baby, Fuck- mhm~ wanna cum with you please” you moan out, your sentence coming out broken up as your climax was teetering on the edge. “Im gonna cum too baby don’t worry pretty girl” he hissed out as his fingers dig into your hips, his own flattering in there thrusting as his cock twitches inside you. “Cum on my cock princess, gonna fill this pretty up makin’ it all mine-” you cut off his sentence by grabbing ahold of the back of his neck, pulling his face down to kiss him desperately.

“Already all yours Lo, i been yours the whole time” you whine against his lips as your high washes over you, cumming on his cock as his thrusts speed up one last time.

Your cream coating his cock acts to further lube up his thick cock as it jackhammers into you, before your cunt milks Logan’s cum out of him in thick ropes that fill you. “Ya’ 100 percent all mine now baby” he hums into your mouth, lazily kissing you while he catches his breath, your hips grinding on his cock as you both ride out your highs.

→ a/n: fully meant to post this yesterday but i barely had anything written for it then and couldnt bring myself to write more. Im doing better than I’ve done the past 3 years with kinktober tho, gotten further than any other times.

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nighttimealone · 5 months ago

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Cw: Nsfw (Dilf!Simon, your next door neighbor, reader’s around early 20s, Simon’s around late 30s~early 40s) pt.2

Just retired and move into a new flat, Simon doesn’t expect someone to knock on his door when he’s unpacking his belongings. With slight annoyance, he opens the door and try to dismiss whoever is out there.

His annoyance vanishes quickly when he lays eyes on you, young, gorgeous, gazing up at him with a baggy shirts barely cover the sweat-shorts. The simple apron on the outside looks incredible on you, the fabric of it rises and taut around your chest. Greeting him with a grin and hand him a plate of biscuits. A welcome gift for the new neighbor, you explain to him before leaving with a wave, hips swaying tantalizingly as you saunter back to your flat and close the door behind you.

He becomes closer to you each day, helping you without a word when one day he hears noises from the staircase outside, swings open the door of his flat and discovers you struggling with the heavy groceries bags. When you sheepishly knock on his door again, holding a screwdriver and fidgeting it, telling him you have some issues with assembling the new bookshelf you bought, he already starts his steps and walks into your flat, finish the work in minutes while you circling around cutely and trying to help like a desperate puppy.

To express your thankfulness to him, you invite him to have dinner with you, become a habit of yours when he shoots you a glance with a ‘Not bad.” but devours your home cooked meal like a man starved for days.

Sweet, beautiful girl, a year before graduating from college, expressing your insecurity about your future when he hinted that you can share your worries with him—a person who has much more experience than you— a while ago, he provides some insight and rational advice, swallowing back the words he’s been thought about for months now: Slide the silver ring on your ring finger with his name name engraved on it, makes you his missus and away from all shites the society is boiling everyday. A man alone for years and has low material desires, he has the money to take care of and spoil you without any hesitation.

He’s been fisting his cock whenever he hears your moans coming from the other aide of the wall. Hell, you don’t know how shitty and thin the walls are, the soundproof ability of them is imperceptible when it comes to louder sounds. Simon listens closely to the sounds, closing his eyes, head leans back on the armchair, trying to imagine how you must be right now. Hands in sync of the squelchy sounds of you pumping your fingers in and out of that soaked pussy. His cock’s so huge, even his own palms are just big enough wrapped around the girth, and an obscene growl left his lips as your whimpers and moans turn higher and sultrier, definitely look like a goddess when you’re weeping tears, stuffing your cunny full and craving for the release. But when you finally tumble over the edge, he snaps his eyes open and groans the second his name comes out of your mouth with such honeyed tone, crying his name in need and suppressed desire.

Simon jumps up from the armchair, heavy cock forming an obvious tent when he shoves open his door and knocks on yours impatiently. “Wait-Wait me a second…!” your voice hits his ears with trembles that can’t be left unnoticed.

“ 'S what you want, love? getting bent over by a man older than you and fucked stupid? Is that so, princess?” He squeezes himself through the crack of your door, kicking it close and pinning your upper body on the shoe cabinet beside the door, your legs dangling in the air as he drives the fat tip into your entrance ferociously, tight cunt still spasming from your orgasm and makes him grunts out a curse, “Fucking screaming my name when you touch yourself, hmm? you know you can come to me anytime you need something, like I told you before.”

He gets you cry out in pleasure without any concern of receiving complaints from other neighbors, wrapping your legs back and standing between your wide-spread thighs, leaning his weight on your back while his hips rocks unrelentingly. “No more, no more…Simon!” You clenching down on his shaft so nice and hot, milking him loads after loads, the angry tip of his cock abusing every spots inside you, and your legs are shaking uncontrollably when he finally comes one last time, satiated both your needs for now, and you the last thing you feel before succumbing to slumber is a gentle kiss pressing on your twitching, overstimulated clit as his seeds flood out of your swollen pussy.

The relationship between you and him deepens since that night,and he doesn’t stop you or protest when you wear the low-cut top and cute skirt, semi-transparent thigh high stockings keeps attracting his attention to stare at the bare skin of your thighs between them and the skirt, and wave goodbye at him with an apologetic expression before heading off to a party with your college friends. He knows the importance of these social activities between youngsters, so he didn’t get mad or upset, just kiss your temple, reminded you to stay safe and call him whenever you need, then he’d be there in no time.

You sure will turn heads wherever you go tonight, and though there might be some troublesome wankers trying their luck on you, but he knows you won’t even spare them anything beside a polite nod of rejection. You’re all his, you won’t feel the same bliss and love from those young blokes of your age. No one can make you feel as good as he does, they can’t make you squirt all over the floor when he eats you out at the countertop, no one knows how to lower and disperse all your concerns and thoughts like him, with his tongue lapping your perked buds and that long cock massaging your cervix, coaxing countless orgasms out of you before you fall asleep in his embrace contently.

So when you ring him just about 2 hours later, asking if he can come pick you up at the club, he immediately hops in to his truck, pulls up at the location you texted him. He doubts how your breasts haven’t spilled out your low cut tops, but he’s definitely enjoying the view, your cheeks burning from the alcohol, pawing at his shirt and whining about how you missed him, how boring the party was and you just wanted to go home and bounce on his dick through your tipsy state.

Good that Simon parked his truck at a secluded spot, so you don’t need to wait any longer, let him bend you over the hood and kneel down behind you, tongue shoving deep inside, occasionally pulls out and prodding at your pussy to calm you down from keep pleading him to just fuck you already and rubbing his bulge when he just wants to drive you home first. “Will give you the cock you’ve been thinking all night when we’re home, sweetheart.” He speaks against your slick pussy lips before diving back to lick every drop of your sugary juices again.

#ghost x reader #ghost x you #simon riley x reader #simon riley x you #simon ghost x you #simon riley smut #cod x reader #cod x you #simon ghost riley x reader #simon ghost riley x you #simon ghost riley smut #simon ghost x reader #female reader #nighttimealone

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synvil · 2 months ago

Text

Recording.. // Pornstar! Rafe Cameron x Pornstar! Fem! Reader

a/n: welp, this will be interesting. there’s so many ways this can go but let’s see which one i came up with.

synopsis : getting to work with the famous, most current top rated star in the porn industry was a dream. Let’s see how it turns out for you. pornstar! au!

warnings : explicit content! penetration, choking, cunnilingus, afab!, multiple orgasms, roughness, squirt, etc.

“[Name], thank you for coming. Did you get the email regarding today’s content?”

Shaking hands with the producer, you share a smile and nod, pulling away. “Yes, I read through it. I’m alright with it all.”

“Great, and I take it you’ve already showered and cleaned up before coming? Any questions?”

You nod again to the first part before thinking for a moment and parting your lips to speak. “Actually, I just wasn’t sure who I would be working with today. That wasn’t clear in the email.”

The producer exhales in understanding and hears the door opening, “Actually, we needed confirmation that he was willing to come in today,” and a tall, muscular and toned male steps out, a towel around his neck and in nothing but boxers and some gym shorts. “And there he is. Cameron!”

“Cameron..?”

The male who steps out looks up as he ruffles one end of the towel against his head of hair. “Yeah?” Almost immediately, he locks eyes with you.

Holy shit.

THE Rafe Cameron. The highest rated star in the industry, where every man and woman alike would kill to meet the handsome stud, much more, to work with him.

Must be a fever dream.

When you first auditioned to be part of this industry, Rafe was only beginning to take off.

And now that you were one of the top stars alongside him, Rafe was the highest rated one, and every woman who ever had the chance to work with him, could never be the same.

Thing is, you had no idea what he was like. Was he rude? The pompous kind of asshole? Or was he charismatic and sweet? But if he was, was it just for show?

Many thoughts begin to flood your head until you realize the producer and Rafe have been talking, and now he’s coming over to you, hand extended out.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Y-Yeah, same.” You mentally curse yourself out for your anxiety and shake his hand but even more for the fact that you have yet to make eye contact, still glazing over his dripping wet bare body.

Rafe follows your gaze and gives a small chuckle, a charming smirk following it as he pulls away. “Sorry, thought I’d get a quick shower in before we start our filming.” He explains but you just manage a small nod. “R-right.”

The producer comes over and pats both of your shoulders. “Alright, now that we’ve done introductions, we’ll go over the scene once more with both of you and we’ll get started. Rafe, why don’t you go get dressed and I’ll get [Name] prepped?”

Rafe nods and gives you one more glance, his smirk still shining at you. With a wink, he turns away and takes his leave.

That smirk.. it sends a certain thrilling feel of desire in your stomach and you swallow thickly before attempting to focus your gaze on the producer, who begins to instruct the scenes.

Here you are..

“I can’t believe you!”

You shout as you slam the front door behind you, just for it to open a second later and Rafe coming in. “God, you’re insufferable!”

The current scene was you and Rafe coming home from the bar, celebrating a night of a special occasion, you had gotten a promotion at work.

And now you were rushing inside, having caught your on and off boyfriend of two years, openly flirting with another woman right next to you, once again.

At least that what it looked like to you, but your boyfriend has cheated before, and you weren’t going through it again.

“Would you just listen to me for one second?!”

Rafe’s voice follows after you while you take off your heels and throw it his way. “Don’t fucking talk to me!”

He narrowly dodges the heels thrown at his face before the expensive bag in your hand is also aimed for his head.

“What are you doing?” He asks, catching the bag with a scoff as you retreat to the kitchen.

“Take it back. I don’t want it anymore, we’re done.”

“Done? So you’re just giving all the things i bought you, back?” Rafe looks at you in disbelief as you begin to take off the jewelry on your person and drop it on the counter with a clink.

“I’m done with second chances, you asshole. You can’t just do one nice thing for me, one night.” I curse, slamming my hands down on the countertop as I turn to face him.

Rafe calmly sets the bag down as he stands opposite of you of the counter and sighs softly. “Baby, you’re not thinking straight, just let me explain before you-“

“Before I what? Break up with you for the final time?” You pull off the bracelets until you’re finally free of any jewelry and slide it towards him. “Take it all back.”

This time, Rafe can’t help but curl his lips into an amused smile, as he watches you return everything on you that he had bought for you.

“All of it?”

You tsk and point to the doorway. “The heels are back there.” You remind him though he was obviously aware.

“Alright, everything.. then the dress is included, right?”

. . .

“W-What?-“ Clearly taken back, Rafe’s lips forms a smirk at your clear surprise.

“Last I checked, I bought that stunning black gown you’re wearing tonight.. to celebrate.. remember?”

His words cause you to purse your lips and you’re aware of his slow advances towards you as he rounds the island counter in the kitchen. Rafe doesn’t break eye contact, keeping his eyes trained on you as he does this.

Tensions are high and you know he’s right, but you also know what will happen if you take off the dress.

However, behind the facade, behind the cameras rolling, your inner self is ready to burst. Your cheeks are beginning to flush and you can feel the intensity of his gaze on your body, trailing up and down your figure. Whether or not he was in character was unclear but it still made you wet with arousal at the sight.

Reluctantly, you bring your hands up to the straps, pulling it to the side of your shoulders and down slowly.

Rafe’s eyes hungrily takes in your fully naked form, you weren’t even wearing panties.

Your lack of undergarments weren't part of the script, which you can tell catches Rafe by real surprise momentarily, but it quickly dissipates into a smirk instead.

“No underwear?.. How naughty of you..” he murmurs as he finally makes it to your side and you fight the blush that’s threatening to spread and darken further.

“Shut up-“

Rafe just chuckles at your reaction as his hands sneaks around your bare waist. He looks down from his height with a certain glint in his eyes. “Hey, i’m not complaining..” He says as his head moves to your neck, kissing your collarbone softly. “it's kinda sexy..”

What the hell, I can’t respond.

He’s so hot.. i need to talk.. but im speechless..

My heart is pounding so hard— Relax, [Name], this is all just acting- Rafe Cameron is just acting.

You’re overthinking, stay professional!

But the next thing you knew, Rafe Cameron’s lips were smashing against yours in an intense, heated kiss.

And the faint whimper that escaped your lips wasn’t fake.

Needy hands roam your body everywhere, his lips planted on your neck and kissing every inch of your skin. He raises his head up to your ear and whispers, his breath hot. “You good?” It was quiet and subtle, not loud enough to pick up on the microphone hanging near us.

You nod faintly, and he grins, not waste another second ravishing you.

All the prior anxiety and worries you had faded and you found yourself melting into the kiss, Rafe’s muscular arms lifting you up by the waist and placing you on the counter, the cold touch making you gasp.

That gasp was enough time for him to allow his tongue to slip in, the muscle exploring inside your mouth, making you moan lightly.

Every movement was full of passion, Rafe fondling your breasts, giving each mound a full squeeze. His fingertips pinch your buds, a gentle twist causing you to send a breathy sigh. Your hands find their way to his hair and tangle your fingers in the locks of his dirty blonde locks.

Rafe's low chuckles reaches your ears again as he travels up to nip at your earlobes. His right hand goes down to dip between your thighs, his index finger planting itself right at your clit. He rubs it a few times before whispering, "So wet.. I can't wait to taste your pretty pussy.."

It's almost a growl when he says it, sending rushes of adrenaline through your body and the boost of arousal grows further in you.

The Rafe Cameron gives you one last kiss on the lips before he slowly slides down to his knees, muscular hands grabbing a hold of your thighs tight and firm, and being face to face with your already glistening pussy.

He licks his lips and doesn't hesitate to dive face first, tongue taking a long lick to your folds before going down on you. "O-oh, fuck-" Your eyes flutter shut at the wet sensation, a sharp inhale slipping out.

Holy shit, it felt incredible.

Rafe's tongue moves in circles around your clit a few times before continuously slurping up your juices that leaked from your folds, devouring your pussy like he was starved.

Your hands prop up your body by placing it firmly on the surface under you, but you can't help the hand that goes to tug on his hair and push his face deeper in, which causes him to chuckle deeply, the action creating vibrations through you.

"Oh god, Rafe." You breathily pant, his grip forcing your thighs to remain spread while his tongue prods at your entrance, pushing in and out. "Shit.. you taste incredible.." He mutters as his nose buries itself against your clit. The feeling is enough to send you into overdrive, your head tossing back and a tightening in your stomach makes you cry out.

"R-Rafe, I'm so close-"

Grinding your hips against his face, you illicit a loud mewl of pleasure, your body sending shocks throughout as you tremble from a hard orgasm.

Despite your fluids gushing down his chin, he continues to delve deeper in, overstimulating you, causing your thighs to shake as you cry out again, making him laugh.

“Aw, was it too much for you, sweetheart?” He grins mischievously and you flush, ignoring the way your heart flutters at the nickname as you attempt to catch your breath, watching as he licks his lips and stands up straight, ripping off his button up.

You can feel your mouth going dry at the sight of his toned, chiseled abs, the sweat glistening on his skin but what widened your eyes was the sight of his hardened bulge through his trousers, and you reach for the hem of his pants and pull him close, wrapping your legs around his torso.

Remembering you’re still on camera, you speak, “This doesn’t mean I forgive you.” You mutter, staring into his eyes while your hands palm him softly, working to unzip his zipper. But your words only cause him to flash a smirk as he helps you undo his trousers. “Oh don’t worry, sweetheart, by the time i’m done with you, you’ll forget about tonight.”

Crashing his lips with yours, you grunt but let him pull you even more towards the edge before pulling you down to the ground, his hands pulling the waistband of his pants and boxers down.

He strokes himself a few times, your eyes unable to help itself to the sight and you swallow thickly.

“Something wrong, baby?” He hums in amusement and you turn away a bit bashfully. “Not at all.”

Turning you around so you faced away from him, he breaks into a smirk as he wraps his arm around to give you a hand necklace, your throat firm in his grasp. Lining himself up at your entrance, he leans in close and speaks lowly. “Good, because I don’t intend to stop.”

Without warning, he inserts his length inside and you cry out a noise of pleasure. Your back at arches and he tightens his grip on your throat, but not enough to hurt you. “Heh, shit, you’re so fucking tight..” It almost seemed like it was actually Rafe saying this to you, instead of his character, but you didn’t have much time to think about it after as he begins to thrust into you from behind.

“F-Fuck-!”

One hand goes up to grab ahold of his arm that was holding your neck, and the other holds onto the counter for support. Every hard thrust causes your breasts to bounce as you two move in sync, Rafe doing deep but slow thrusts. His other hand is firming holding your waist but it travels up to grope your right breast, squeezing it hard.

Strings of moans are filling the room, and you momentarily forget the audience and cameras on you as all you can focus on is Rafe’s cock penetrating you hard.

He’s so deep.. i-i can’t think straight- it’s too much..

i’m so close- no wonder he’s so popular..

Rafe pulls away from your neck to use both hands to hold your hips firmly, his own picking up the pace as he begins to fuck you fast, the wet juices squelching each time your skin makes contact.

His hand goes down and his finger flicks your clit and it’s starting to send you over the edge. “Rafe..” Whimpers escape you as you dip your head down, clenching your fists on the countertop tightly.

“R-Rafe, fuck, you’re so deep.. i-i’m gonna cum-“

Rafe just smirks as he rubs your clit further, continuously thrusting you harder and faster until he feels a gush over your release and he pulls out, watching as your pretty glistening pussy squirts all over the floor.

“Fuck.” He bites his lip at the sight as he feels his own building up, and he spins you around while you’re panting. “Get on your knees,”

You fall to your knees to his command, and watch as he strokes himself fast and seconds later, his cum spurts its white salty liquid over your face, painting it like a canvas.

He pants heavily, catching his breath while you do the same, eyes fluttered shut at the warm liquid drips down.

“And cut! That was great, now get cleaned up you two!”

“You alright, [Name]?”

Still on the ground, you barely register a voice is talking to you while you appear dazed and confused.

Rafe has some skin-sensitive wipes in his hands, gently rubbing your face to wipe off any of his fluids before carefully helping you to your feet. “Did I go too rough on you?”

“I’m alright, thanks..” You whisper, feeling the exhaustion take over you. You lean onto Rafe, who holds you securely against his chest. “If it’s any consolation, today was fuckin’ amazing..” He chuckles lightly as he presses a tender kiss to your temple before guiding you to the couch where you can rest for a bit.

“Yeah?.. I think i understand why so many women gush over you after working with you.” You giggle weakly, sending an appreciative look when he sets you down gently, placing a blanket over you. He also chuckles lightly. “Yeah, but I think i’d like to work with you again, sometime soon. Maybe we can talk about our next filming together over dinner?”

Your stomach feels as though butterflies are doing flips inside you at the assumption of his words. “Are you asking me out, Rafe Cameron?”

Rafe merely shares a wink before pecking your forehead and getting up. “I’ll let you figure that out. Meanwhile, I’ll head to your room and draw you a bath to clean up.”

He takes your hand to press a soft kiss to the back of it before smiling your way and then turning to leave. Maybe he wasn’t acting the whole time.

“.. Rafe Cameron just asked me out..”

Best filming job ever.

a/n: hello all, hope you enjoyed! :) merry christmas. i shall have the first post of my camgirl series out soon!! <3

i’m sorry if this seems like such a rushed abrupt ending but i wanted to finish this in time for christmas :)

pt. 2 with JJ Maybank !!

#rafe cameron #rafe cameron x reader #obx rafe #outer banks rafe #rafe x reader #rafe obx #rafe outer banks #obx x reader #obx #outer banks smut #obx smut #outer banks x reader #outerbanks rafe #outer banks rafe cameron #outerbanks #outerbanks rafe cameron #outer banks #rafe cameron smut #rafe cameron x you

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moody-alcoholic · 2 months ago

Text

CW: stalking behaviour, over protective 141, fluff.

“See her coming out now.” Ghost says over the radio.

“Afirm.” Soap’s voice comes back almost instantly. Ghost watches as you stumble over the pavement, pulling your jacket over your shoulders. It’s almost 3am, and most clubs are closing. The friend you came out with left an hour ago. Now you’re alone, drunk, swaying through the streets of London on a busy Saturday night.

“Watch your distance Soap, no need to spook her.” Price says.

“Copy.” Soap says as he weaves his way through the crowd of clubbers spilling out of the various nightclubs and bars. He keeps his head low, making sure to keep a safe distance from you. They’re not going to lose sight of you though. That’s what Ghost is for.

He slips between the crowds on the other side of the street, slipping into the shadows every opportunity he gets.

“She’ll take the next right. Don’t lose her.” Price says as you pick up your pace slightly. He’ll be driving to the next location, ready to pick you up at a moment's notice. You pull your phone out, typing while you struggle to keep your balance. Ghost lost track of how many drinks you had.

It was a celebration after all, your friend getting a big promotion, she took you to one of the fanciest bars in the city. Even though she left early you still seemed to be having fun, helping yourself to another drink before finally deciding to call it a night.

The streets off the main road are darker, quieter. Less room for error.

Suddenly you make a sharp turn, almost throwing your body down a dark alleyway. Ghost’s lost visual, he speeds up his strides, he has no idea if the alley is a dead end or not.

“Soap, don’t lose her.” Ghost orders panic building in his chest. There’s no reply, now Ghost can’t even see Soap. “Soap, confirm visual on the target.”

Ghost jogs to the next street over, nothing but shuttered buildings and the odd person heading home.

“Stand-by.” The seconds feel like they’re ticking on for hours. “Eyes on target, she’s-”

The line goes silent.

“She’s just throwing up, seems like she’s had a few too many.” Soap says. Ghost can almost hear the collective sigh as he slips back into the darkness waiting for you to emerge from the alley. When you do you seem even more unsteady on your feet.

“Keep it tight, she’s got another main strip to cross.” Price says. He’ll be moving on already. The amount of times you’ve walked this route. The amount of times they’ve practiced this route, it’s almost like a rehearsed play they could do in their sleep.

You move on weaving through the growing crowds of the next cluster of clubs. They seem busier than the last. You work through them quickly, Soap keeping his distance, pushing through people without a care. He has one motive, one mission; never lose sight of you.

As you make it to the quieter end of the street a group of lads cat-call you. You brush it off waving at them as you skip over to the next turn. Almost home.

“ETA 10 minutes.” Ghost says hugging the shadows on the opposite side of the street.

“Copy,” Price says, he will be in his final position. For the next few minutes the walk goes smoothly, you’re almost home, almost safe.

“Got a guy on her six, just overtook me.” Soap says. Ghost’s eyes flick over in an instant.

“I see.” Ghost says, watching as the man’s pace slows. “Hang back Soap. I got eyes.”

Ghost doesn’t even hear a reply, his eyes digging into the man now following a few steps behind you. You seem to notice too, quickly taking a peak over your shoulder, pulling your jacket around you tighter. You’re almost there, almost home.

“Want me to grab him?” Soap asks. As he says it you pick up your speed, your body straightens up.

“Negative.”

You turn into the front garden of the house, shutting the gate behind you. The hairs rise on the back of your neck as you fumble with the key pressing it into the lock and opening the door. The feeling of being followed suddenly fades as you make it inside, locking the door behind you.

“Hey, welcome home.” Kyle says, sticking his head out the kitchen. You smile walking over to him and wrapping your hands around his neck.

“It’s late, you didn’t have to wait up.” you say pressing your lips on his. He kisses you back, his hands gripping your waist.

“Needed to make sure you got home safe.” You hear John say. You break from the kiss looking over at him sitting at the kitchen island with a cup of tea in front of him. You walk over wrapping your arms around him from behind squeezing him.

The smell of tea fills your nose and makes you thirsty.

“Cuppa? Or bed?” Kyle asks, walking over, placing his hand on the small of your back. You hum looking round the kitchen.

“Where’s Johnny and Simon?” You ask.

“Sleeping, they’re not used to staying up as late as you are.” John chuckles. You smile looking up at Kyle.

“Bed.” You say. He smiles back at you kissing the top of your head.

“C’mon, I’ll give you a hand.” Kyle says pulling on your waist turning you to the stairs. John hears you giggling as you stumble up the steps to the first floor. A few seconds later the back door slowly opens, Johnny and Simon slipping in. John raises an eyebrow, quickly checking behind him to make sure you’re definitely gone.

“You better hurry up, I’m pretty sure she’s looking to climb into your bed tonight.” John says as Simon and Johnny look at eachother. Johnny's smiles, taking his coat off and leaving his radio on the kitchen island.

“Get some rest cap, you look exhausted.” Johnny says, patting him on the shoulder as he passes him. John sighs looking up at Simon.

“Another successful night.” John says as Simon puts his radio down.

“Always.” Simon smiles.

_______

👏zero👏self👏control👏

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flowersforbucky · 2 months ago

Text

for always and ever is always for you

old man!logan x healer!reader

word count: 15.2k

summary: logan is getting sicker by the day, and charles' seizures are occurring more and more frequently. logan didn't think he'd ever see you again - but desperate times call for desperate measures.

warnings/tags: 18+ only mdni, smut, descriptions of blood and illness, angst, logan's pov, reader is afab, language, slow burn as far as one-shots go, no use of y/n, caliban being sassy, mutual pining, friends to lovers, unprotected p in v, oral (m&f receiving), face sitting, cream pie, some dirty talk and pet names

author's note: thank you @embbarnes for reading this and letting me rant about it and assuring me that it's worth posting 🫶🏻 this took me an embarrassing amount of time and i have to say i am pretty proud of it. flashbacks are in italics

divider by @saradika-graphics!

“This is the third time in the last week, you know.”

Logan stares down at the deep red splatters of blood that creep towards the drain. The skin of his knuckles begin to turn white from how harshly he grips the edges of the sink – he’s surprised the ceramic doesn’t shatter. He turns the faucet on, lowering his lips to the weak stream to collect enough water to rinse the taste of iron from his mouth.

“I know that,” Logan spits the now pink tinged water into the bowl and then wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “You don’t think I fuckin’ know that? I’m the one hacking my lungs up here.” He shoves past Caliban, exiting the small bathroom.

Logan doesn’t want to snap at him – hates that it happens as often as it does. But right now he’s late for work and the last thing he needs is to hear Caliban harping on about this again while he scrambles to find his car keys.

“You know I hate to keep bringing this up,” Caliban continues as he follows Logan into the makeshift kitchen of the abandoned smelting plant.

“I find that hard to believe,” Logan mumbles under his breath. He finds his keys hidden under some junk mail and shoves them in his coat pocket before pouring himself some coffee to take with him to work. It’s day old and not as strong as he’d like for it to be, but he’ll be glad that he has it when midnight rolls around.

“Charles,” Caliban continues. “The medications are doing very little to help him anymore. We’re having to give him twice as much as we were a month ago, which means we are running out twice as fast. He’s getting worse. You both are. We need to find a… specialist that can help with both of our problems.”

Logan snorts in response, practically able to feel Caliban’s eyes burning holes in the back of his head.

“There ain’t a thing that any doctor can do for me and you know it.”

Maybe Logan hasn’t had the flu, or strep throat, or even the common cold in two hundred odd years, but he knows there’s no prescription that any physician can write that would stop his very bones from poisoning him.

“Let me rephrase that, then. Not a doctor. You need to see a healer.”

Logan freezes, his posture going rigid.

“If you’re about to say what I think you’re going to say, I suggest shutting the fuck up.”

“He’s had a record number of seizures so far this week,” Caliban implores. “You’re barely standing upright. There’s a chance that she could help you both.”

“She’s out of the question,” Logan spits before storming past him. He yanks the door open and slams it closed behind him as he steps into the late evening Mexico sun.

How does Caliban even know about you? Some of Charles’ rambling in his rare moments of lucidity, no doubt.

It doesn’t matter if you can help or not.

For a lot of reasons, it doesn’t matter.

The most obvious one being he hasn’t talked to you in over a year and doesn’t know where the fuck you’re at.

••••••

“You don’t have to stay back there, you know. You can come closer. You’re not in my way.”

There’s no hint of condescension in your voice. Only patience, and reassurance. Still, Logan doesn’t budge from his position in the corner of the mansion’s infirmary.

You don’t press him any further.

He had lost track of how long he’d been standing here, just watching in complete silence as you tend to the young mutant’s injuries.

Logan doesn’t even know the kid’s name. He doesn’t know any of their names. But he’d been the one to find all five of them in a locked cell on today’s mission, and he isn’t going to leave this room until he knows that they are all okay.

You’d already taken care of four out of the five. They now rest peacefully in individual beds, no doubt the warmest and safest they’ve been in God knows how long.

Your hands hover a few inches above a young boy’s chest, emitting a pale purple glow as you wave them over his torso, letting your powers radiate from your palms into his body.

Logan notices the color of your power isn’t as vibrant as it was when you’d healed the first child’s injuries, or the second, or third. Originally a bright violet, it’s now a lackluster lavender.

He also doesn't miss the way that you suddenly close your eyes with furrowed brows, but he remains in the corner, watching you carefully. You dig your teeth into the flesh of your bottom lip in concentration, causing Logan to take an involuntary step forward at the pained expression on your face.

Your hands drop down to the railing of the bed that the boy lays in, clutching the bars to keep you from falling over as the energy you’d been emitting fades away.

“Shit,” you huff, out of breath. A thin layer of perspiration glistens on your forehead.

“What’s wrong?” Logan asks as he moves closer to you. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” you grunt, nodding as you look up at him. You give him a forced smile that does very little to reassure him. “I’m fine. It’s just been a while since I’ve had to use so much of my powers in such a short amount of time.”

“Maybe you should sit down for a minute, yeah?” Logan looks around the infirmary, walking a few feet away to grab a chair for you. He places it next to the bed that you’re still using for support.

“I’ll be as good as new soon,” you assure him as you take a seat. “This happens occasionally.”

Logan stands beside you, awkwardly leaning against the edge of an empty bed next to the boy’s. He watches as you lean forward, taking the kid’s small hand in your own. There’s no resurgence of purple – you’re simply holding it. The boy is sound asleep, so the act makes Logan wonder if it’s for his comfort or your own.

“If I exert too much energy at once, I feel the effects of it. Not enough to really hurt me, just.. leave me feeling like I need to sleep for a week,” you explain with a weak chuckle. Logan’s eyes are fixated on the way that your thumb soothes over the skin of the boy’s hand.

“A gift that comes with a price,” Logan murmurs. “I know how that feels. Though it sometimes feels more like a curse in my case.” He instinctively glances down at his knuckles, his claws sheathed away.

“I can see how it would feel that way,” you agree, glancing up at him with a soft expression. “But it’s not what your power is that determines whether it’s a curse or a gift. It’s what you do with it. And these kids are alive because of you. A lot of people are, because you choose to use it for good. I’d say that makes it a gift.”

“I guess I should try to look at it that way more often,” he hums.

“Plus, having the ability to heal yourself has gotta be pretty neat. I think you’re the only person here who would never have to ask me for my help.” You glance back up at him, a hint of a smirk ghosting your lips.

They’re pretty, he thinks – your lips. He mentally scolds himself, knowing now isn’t the time or place to be thinking about your lips.

“You can count on that, bub.”

When Logan wakes, he doesn’t have the chance to mourn the memory he’d found himself reliving in his sleep.

He does find himself on the floor by his bed with the breath knocked from his lungs. His hands come to shield his ears, attempting to block out the high-pitched shrieking that makes his ear canals feel as if they are filling with blood.

Judging by the sunlight streaming into his room through the thin, tattered curtains covering his windows, he guesses that it’s mid-afternoon. He couldn’t have been asleep for more than a few hours – meaning it also couldn’t have been more than a few hours since he had given Charles his most recent dose of medicine.

With the world shaking around him, a half empty bottle of liquor and an old coffee mug both shatter as they fall off of his bedside table and hit the ground.

Logan and Caliban had recently cleared off all shelves in the smelting plant, moving anything that could potentially fall and break during one of Charles’ episodes closer to the ground, but after a long night of driving around drunk assholes, it’s easy to forget that even a ceramic cup on a small table is a hazard.

He can tell by the way that the air around him feels as if it weighs ten tons that Charles has to be close by. He musters all of his strength to force himself to his feet. Each movement feels as if he’s in slow motion as he fights against the psionic energy that works to keep him frozen in place.

As slow as if he has hundred pound weights attached to each of his feet, he makes his way from his bedroom and to the common area. When he turns the corner, he first sees Caliban, still as a statue with his facial features contorted in agony and his typically alabaster skin turning redder by the second from the pain. He’s less than a foot away from where Charles sits in his wheelchair, where he appears to have been watching a movie.

Logan frantically looks around the room, searching for where he had placed the bag of injections and pills when he’d forced Charles into swallowing his last dose just a few hours ago.

He finds it on what is used as a dining room table. It’s sheer good luck that Logan had thought to prepare an emergency dose of the injection earlier that day, most likely thanks to Caliban’s lecture from yesterday evening still looming in the back of his mind.

After what feels like hours, Logan finally reaches Charles with the injection and plunges the needle into his chest. The second that the medication enters his system, the seizure ceases.

Caliban and Logan both collapse to the ground in relief. Logan clutches his chest, trying to steady his heartbeat and regulate his breathing.

“You dream of her just as she dreams of you,” Charles whimpers through labored breaths.

“What?” Logan snaps, glaring at Charles from his position on the dirty floor. His ears must still be ringing from the effects of the seizure, because he can’t have heard him right. “Quit reading my mind.”

“Your thoughts are always loud when you think of her,” Charles murmurs, turning his attention back to the movie on the screen in front of him as if nothing had happened.

It's the first time, Logan realizes, that Charles has mentioned you since the day of his first seizure. Even without specifically saying your name, Logan knows exactly who he’s referring to.

“Make that four incidents this week,” Caliban grumbles as he jerks the plastic bag filled with medication out of Logan’s hand. He digs through it, pulling out a pill bottle and dumping two into his palm. “He’s averaging an episode per day, and each one feels stronger than the last. It’s only a matter of time before he kills–”

“Do you know where she’s at? Can you track her?” Logan interrupts him. Caliban pauses to look at him, visibly annoyed.

“Oh, so it’s a good idea now that he–” he jabs a finger in Charles’ direction, “mentions her once, is it?” He stomps over to where Charles watches the television, seemingly oblivious to the conversation happening right beside him.

“Take these. Both of them.” He shoves them into Charles’ palm and then storms past Logan.

“Didn’t say anything about it being a good idea,” Logan grunts, following him into the kitchen. “But you seem to think it is and I don’t know what else to do. So can you find her or not?”

“Of course I can,” Caliban retorts defensively. “As long as you have something with her scent on it.”

Logan throws his hands up in frustration, and then rakes one hand down his face, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

“I haven’t seen her in over a year. Why would I have anything that smells like her?”

“It doesn’t have to be dosed in her favorite perfume,” Caliban huffs. “But I can’t track anyone without some amount of their scent to go off of.”

“Goddammit,” Logan groans between gritted teeth. He turns in the opposite direction, heading back to his bedroom.

He thinks back to the last time that he saw you – the last time that his life had any sense of normalcy. The day of Charles’ first seizure, the day that he saw seven of his friends die, you weren’t there. By some miracle, you had been out of town.

But a few days before that – it had been snowing. It was the first snow of winter and you had taken a group of younger students to play outside in the middle of class.

Logan was called over by a few of the kids who begged him to help make a snowman. You kept to the sidelines, watching him with the students, your arms wrapped tightly around yourself to keep your cardigan pulled securely around your chest.

He remembers pausing what he was doing to run over to you and insist that you take his jacket until you were all back inside. He remembers how much he liked seeing you wear it, and how silly he felt when he didn’t like that you remembered to give it back.

He remembers being enveloped in the smell of honey and cream when he shrugged the jacket back onto his own shoulders. Less than a week later, he found himself in Mexico with no need to wear such a heavy leather jacket.

It's now been over a year since he’s so much as touched it.

Logan begins rifling through the drawers of the dresser that looks to be as old as he is, containing all of the clothing that he owns. It doesn’t take but a few seconds until he recognizes the feeling of the worn leather against his fingertips.

He brings the jacket up to his nose, inhaling where your skin and hair had rest against the collar. He breathes in deep, concentrating on the scent that transports him back to before his life was completely uprooted and turned upside down. With his eyes closed, it’s easy for him to let himself believe he’s standing in the kitchen of the mansion with your arms around his neck.

It's faint. If he didn’t have enhanced senses, he may not have been able to detect it at all. But it’s there – familiar and nostalgic and unmistakably you.

••••••

It takes Caliban all of sixty seconds to pinpoint your location.

Logan doesn’t quite know how to feel about learning that there’s only one state in-between the two of you. He wasn’t sure where he expected you to be, really – it doesn’t surprise him that you didn’t stay in the state of New York, and he didn’t think you would return to your hometown, but knowing that you’ve possibly been just a half day’s drive away from him this entire time makes a lot of emotions surface that he’s been trying to push down for the last year.

He begins the drive just after six in the morning. By the time the sun starts to set that evening, he enters the city limits of Silverton, Colorado.

Nestled in the snow-capped Rockies, the small town couldn’t be more polar opposite of where he has resided for the last thirteen months. The stark differences nearly cause him to turn his limousine around and head back to the smelting plant without even bothering you – if you’d chosen somewhere like this to live, there’s no way you’d be content with the brutal, dry heat of northern Mexico.

But this is the closest he’s been to you in nearly four hundred days, and despite the fact that he’s spent the last ten hours of this car ride thinking about what he’s going to say to you and still doesn’t fucking know, he can’t bring himself to go back to Mexico without trying.

Without at least seeing your face. Without at least seeing for himself that you’re doing okay.

He knows it’s selfish. He knows he made his choice when he took Charles to Mexico without even letting you know that they were alive. It doesn’t matter that he had his reasons for doing so, it doesn’t matter how much it killed him inside – he made his choice and he should have to live with it, without disturbing your peace and asking any of this of you.

He justifies it by telling himself that it’s for Charles, and Caliban. Maybe it’s his pride, but he refuses to make his ailing health your responsibility. Asking you to help with Charles is already asking too much.

He turns down a dirt road, following the approximate – not exact – instructions that Caliban had provided. Thankfully, it’s a small town in both size and population, so it doesn’t take him too long to find the neighborhood that Caliban had described.

He knows he has found the right house when he sees your car. He recognizes it instantly due to the cracked rear bumper that you still have yet to have replaced and its unique sage green color that peaks through the light dusting of snow.

He pulls into your driveway, parking his limousine next to your vehicle and turns off the engine. He takes in the appearance of your home – a small, cozy cabin with smoke erupting from the chimney. All of your curtains are pulled closed but there’s enough light peaking through them for him to know that you’re inside.

The thought occurs to him that he might not find you alone. It’s been over a year – you could have found someone to build a life with. They could pull into this very driveway at any moment. Hell, you could have a baby for all he knows. He might be seconds away from learning that you have a whole family of your own–

His thoughts only stop spiraling when he sees your front door swing open, your face peeking around the frame a second later. Confusion is etched across your features as you notice the limousine parked in front of your porch.

You don’t yet know that it’s him due to the limousine’s tinted windows, he realizes.

You exit the house, stepping onto your front porch with your arms crossed over your chest as you wait for the driver of the vehicle to make themselves known.

You haven’t aged a day. Your hair being longer than the last time he saw you is the only physical proof that any time has passed at all.

Logan attempts to clear his face of all of the emotions coursing through him and opens the driver’s side door, stepping out of the vehicle.

Thanks to the adamantium poisoning his body, his eyesight has started to decline over the last few months. But Logan doesn’t need to have his glasses on to know that you look like you’re seeing a ghost.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he greets you in a cautious voice. He stays planted where he’s at, waiting for you to respond before coming any closer to the front porch steps.

He swears he watches you go through all five stages of grief in under a minute. Confusion fades to shock, shock turns to denial, and denial morphs into anger before you’re left with a blank expression.

“I know I’ve got a lotta explaining to do,” Logan starts. “If you’ll let me, I’ll answer every question you have. I’m just asking you to hear me out.”

It takes every ounce of self-restraint that he possesses to not walk up the steps of your porch and wrap you in his arms. He may be standing just a few feet away from you, but it doesn’t feel real. He’s convinced that at any moment, he’ll wake up back in his pathetic excuse of a bedroom in the smelting plant.

You take a few small, tentative steps forward. Your eyes never leave his, an unreadable expression on your face. Logan can’t tell if you’re trying to decide if he’s real, if you’re about to jump into his arms, or if you’re about to yell at him to get the fuck out of here.

You come to a stop on the bottom porch step.

“What’s the deal with the limousine?” You nod towards the vehicle behind him.

“I’m uh – I’m a limousine driver,” he answers lamely.

“A limousine driver,” you repeat with raised brows, though it doesn’t sound like a question. “You know, there have been a lot of nights that I’ve laid awake wondering where you’re at and what you’re doing. Of all the possibilities, I never considered limo driver.”

Logan opens his mouth to respond, but quickly shuts it again when you turn on your heel, walking back up the steps and to the front door. You pause before you cross the entryway, looking back at him over your shoulder.

“Take your shoes off at the door. Don’t be tracking snow into my house.”

Logan watches you retreat into the house, his body frozen in place. As far as initial reactions go, he supposes that could have been significantly worse – but he knows he isn’t out of the woods yet.

He follows you inside, kicking his boots off at the door and closing it behind him.

The inside of your house is warm, thanks to the gentle fire going in the fireplace in your den. It’s cozy – you’ve decorated for the approaching holidays. Garland and twinkling lights adorn your mantle, and in the corner of the living room is an elaborately decorated tree. The whole place smells like a mixture of the candle burning on your coffee table and whatever you have cooking in the kitchen.

It's not just cozy, he thinks. It’s homey. And he’s about to ask you to leave it all for a dirty, grimy, old smelting plant.

He follows you into the small kitchen, where you stir something in a giant pot on your stove.

“Do I even want to know how you found me?”

He can tell that you’re trying to maintain a level tone, but he doesn’t miss the way that your voice shakes and rises an octave on the last word.

He clears his throat, pulling out a chair for himself at your dining room table.

“His name is Caliban. He’s a mutant who can track other mutants. I asked him to find you.”

You hum in response, continuing to tend to the food in the pot with your back turned to him. Logan knows that telling you he asked Caliban to track you down is just the tip of the iceberg here, but he doesn’t want to throw too much at you at once. So he watches as you grab a variety of seasonings from the cabinet above you, and lets you take your time with questioning him further.

“And why did you ask him to find me?”

“For Charles,” Logan answers. “I didn’t want to disturb you after all this time. I know you’re probably angry and you have every right to be but.. his seizures. They’re getting worse. The medications that I give him aren’t helping like they used to.”

You cover the pot with a lid, and turn the dial on the stove down to low before turning to face him. You lean up against the counter, your arms once again crossed over your chest – a telltale sign that you’re on edge, Logan remembers well.

“You mean the seizures that killed a bunch of our friends and have caused the United States government to classify his brain as a weapon of mass destruction?”

Logan gives you a curt nod. “Yeah. Those seizures. We’ve been living in an abandoned smelting plant just south of the border in Mexico. He mostly stays inside an old water tower. The metal it's made from helps keep the seizures contained to the immediate area around us, but.. they’re getting stronger. Happening more frequently.”

You chew on your lower lip, a passive expression on your face as you take in Logan’s words. You don’t meet his gaze, your stare fixated on something on the other side of the room.

“And what about you?”

“What about me?” Logan counters.

You turn away from him again, reaching into a cabinet to grab two bowls. Logan watches as you ladle some kind of soup or stew into the bowls and pull two spoons from a drawer.

You place one bowl in front of him, and the other at a chair across from him before retrieving a bottle of dark colored wine and two glasses.

“It’s only been a year since I last saw you but you look about ten years older,” you finally answer as you uncork the bottle and fill the two glasses. You push one across the small table. “Sorry. I haven’t had much of a reason to keep any whiskey on hand.”

Logan’s not surprised by the observation – you’re not wrong. He knows the adamantium poisoning his body has taken a toll on his physical appearance. His hair and beard have started to gray, his skin appears more leathered, his under eyes more crinkled.

After barely aging a day in decades, the difference between a year ago and today must look drastic to you.

But that isn’t why he’s here. He can handle some aches and pains, some coughing fits, and all of the other ailments that come with typical aging. He can hide it all from you – he won’t make that your burden to bear in addition to asking you to help with Charles.

“Yeah, well,” Logan starts, staring down at the stew in front of him to avoid your gaze. “That’s what working night shifts and taking care of a ninety-seven year old disabled psychic with Alzheimer’s induced mega seizures does to a person.”

“No one asked you to do that, Logan. I would have helped you if you had given me the chance. I would have followed you any–”

“I know,” Logan cuts you off. “I know you would have. But I had just watched almost everyone that I love die. I couldn’t risk it, letting you get hurt too. Staying away from you for the last year, it’s.. it’s been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But I did it because I knew it would mean you’re safe.”

You’re silent. Your lips quiver, and Logan loses his appetite at the way your eyes begin to gloss over with unshed tears.

“Did you at least think about reaching out?”

If your watery eyes make Logan lose his appetite, the brokenness in your voice makes him feel sick with himself.

“Every single day.”

He doesn’t tell you that you frequent his dreams, or that he thinks of you every time a Pink Floyd song comes on the radio, or that he hears your voice in the back of his mind telling him to drink more water when all he’s had that day is coffee and bourbon.

He wants to. But he doesn’t.

You give a small nod to his answer, but otherwise say nothing. You pick up your spoon and take a small, unenthusiastic bite of the food in front of you. Logan forces his attention to his own stew, not really wanting to eat but knowing that he needs to – he had only stopped for gas and a bathroom break once during the drive here. He hasn’t eaten anything since he choked down a stale granola bar before leaving Mexico early this morning.

The two of you sit in a loaded silence. Despite how heavy it feels, he can’t help but feel more relaxed in your presence than he has in a long, long time.

Your spoon clinks against the empty bowl when you finish eating. Logan looks up to see you gulping down the last of your wine.

You sigh. A long, exaggerated sigh.

“Why couldn’t you have shown up yesterday, before I put up all of my Christmas decorations?”

••••••

Logan thinks that the interior of his limousine will smell like a Christmas tree threw up in it for the next few months.

Not that he’s complaining. The sickeningly sweet scent of balsam is a small price to pay for you agreeing to come to Mexico.

He knows he probably shouldn’t feel as relieved as he does – he doesn’t even know if your powers will be effective in helping with Charles’ seizures.

But he can't lie to himself. The entire time he spent the better part of the night helping you pack your things into totes to load into your car and his limousine, he was on edge – afraid that you'd change your mind at any moment.

Of course he felt relieved when he watched your car pull out of your driveway after typing the smelting plant’s address into your GPS early this morning.

Approximately eleven hours later, he doesn’t think he’s ever been so glad to be in Mexico. The drive to Colorado, packing for hours into the night and then getting a few hours of shut eye on your couch, and then the drive back to the smelting plant has taken a toll on him.

His hips ache from sitting for so long and he’s experiencing what has to be a pinched nerve in his lower back.

That’s a first for him.

When he arrives back home, he’s relieved to find that he got here before you. Maybe he’ll have enough time to take a long, hot shower and let some max strength ibuprofen go into effect before you can notice the way that he hobbles inside.

“Oh, thank God,” Caliban exhales when he sees the door open and Logan limps inside. “You haven’t answered any of my calls or texts. Did you even think to check if I was alive? He could have had a seiz—”

“Sorry,” Logan grunts, walking past him to retrieve the bottle of painkillers from a cupboard in the kitchen. “I’ve been a bit preoccupied, trying to get back here as soon as possible and what not.”

He tosses back four pills dry and then turns to face him again. “And I knew you weren’t dead. You blew up my phone enough to assure me of that.”

“Well, a reply or two keeping me updated would have been nice. Tracking you only tells me so much.”

Logan rolls his eyes. He doesn’t have the energy for this right now.

“She’s on her way here now. How’s that for an update?” He pushes past Caliban, just wanting to go stand under a painfully hot stream of water.

“You actually managed to get her to agree to come here?”

“I’m as surprised as you are.” Logan grabs a bottle of whiskey from the kitchen counter and starts walking towards his room. “And get the spare room cleaned up for her.”

••••••

“I know it isn’t much, but I’m gonna get you a better mattress tomorrow.”

A few hours later, long after Caliban and Charles have retired to the old water tower for the night, Logan stands in front of where you perch on the edge of the twin sized cot in your bedroom – if it can even be called that right now.

Aside from the sad excuse of a bed, the only other things in the room are a small bedside table with a lamp, and several storage totes containing your belongings that Caliban had brought in from Logan’s limousine.

If he’d had more time to prepare, he would’ve done more, but just forty-eight hours ago he never would have guessed that you would actually be sitting here in front of him.

“It’s okay,” you shrug. “It’ll be better once I have some of my things unpacked.”

“Right,” Logan nods. “Well, I'll leave you to that then. Just.. let me know if you need anything.”

He turns to exit the room, but freezes when he grabs the doorknob. He turns back around, and finds you looking at him expectantly – almost hopeful.

“I appreciate it. You coming here. You don’t owe me anything after the way I just ran off without any explanation. But I'm really glad that you’re here.”

His heart swells when he sees the way that your expression softens. You’re too good, too forgiving and understanding. The fact that you let him into your home, served him dinner, and packed up your entire life into a few boxes and came here after a year of no contact proves it.

He takes a step closer to you, trying his hardest to ignore the sharp burn that radiates from his lower back as he forces his body forward. Despite how hard he tries to hide the discomfort, you seem to notice that something is bothering him – he can tell by the way your brows furrow together and your mouth sets in a harsh line. You scoot back a few inches on the cot mattress, making room for him to take a seat next to you.

“And I just want you to know that I’m sorry,” he continues, cutting you off before you can even ask if he’s okay.

“You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted you to hear me say it. I’m sorry for the way I handled things. It wasn’t fair to you. I was just scared shitless and wanted to do what I could to keep you safe. Getting as far away from you as possible seemed like the best way to do that at the time.”

Logan internally curses his rambling. Typically a man of few words, he can’t help but feel silly at the sentiment. You’d always had a way of drawing a level of vulnerability from him that no one else ever had. He still feels that effect today.

“I understand why you did what you did, Logan,” you start. You look at him with such understanding that he feels himself physically relax at your words.

“It just… hurt.” You give a small shrug, bringing your hands together to dig your nails into your palms. “I lost my friends too, you know? You and Charles included. I know that you and I, we were never…” you trail off, but he knows what you mean without saying it.

Together. Never truly together.

A million almosts that never amounted to what he truly wanted run through his mind. He’d long ago accepted that you and him would never be more than an unspoken thing but the reminder of it still stings, coming from your lips.

“Anyway,” you shake your head. He wonders if you’re thinking of the same memories that he is – the seemingly small ones.

The ones that he wouldn’t have expected to stick with him, but ended up haunting him. Having a drink in the mansion’s courtyard together after particularly exhausting missions – or even just particularly exhausting days of teaching children. Walking into the kitchen to find you making lunch – and you just so happened to have made enough for him, too. You, on the back of his motorcycle with your arms secured around his stomach, your bodies pressed as close together as they ever had been.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still hurt over it. But the truth is, I was too relieved to find you standing in my driveway to tell you to leave. And I missed you too much to not come back here with you.”

Your voice is barely a whisper by the time you finish speaking. A singular tear leaks from the corner of your eye, which you hastily wipe away.

“Just don't fucking do that again, okay? I definitely wouldn’t be as forgiving if it happened a second time.”

“I wouldn't forgive myself if it happened a second time,” Logan tells you – and he means it. He still doesn’t know if he can forgive himself as is. But you seem to forgive him, and that's enough for him for the time being. “I promise. M’not going anywhere.”

“Good,” you murmur with a small smile, seemingly content with his reassurance. “So, about Charles… I was thinking, if the seizures are as bad as you've told me, I probably won't be much use if he's actively having one. I was thinking that starting tomorrow, I could try to work with him using my powers little bits throughout the day. Not too much at once so he doesn't get frustrated.”

You're right. There’s nothing that anyone can do once one of Charles’ seizures begins, except for Logan. It’s solely due to his healing factor that Logan is able to muster enough strength to administer one of Charles’ injections during a seizure. Humans – as well as mutants like you and Caliban – are rendered incapacitated.

“I’ll let him know that you’re here in the morning,” Logan nods in agreement. “I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you.”

“I hope so,” you sigh. “I’ve missed him.”

As content as he’d be to sit here and talk to you all night, you’ve both had long days of driving and tomorrow brings a lot of uncertainty, so he knows that he should let you get some rest.

“We should probably try to get some sleep,” he says reluctantly. He starts to push himself off of the cot when the nerve in his lower back catches and causes him to hiss in pain. He tries to play it off, hoping you didn’t notice the way he visibly grimaced at the sudden sharp pain.

“Logan? What's wrong?” You ask, concern etched in your voice. He refuses to meet your gaze, knowing it'll be harder to lie to you if he looks you in the eyes. Instead he forces one foot in front of the other, and takes a slow step forward.

“It’s nothin’. Just stiff from driving so much is all.”

He feels your hand wrap around his wrist as he starts to take another step, stopping him in place. He hangs his head, still refusing to look at you. He doesn't think he can handle the concern and worry that is undoubtedly written on your face.

“If you were anyone else on the planet, I might believe that.” You stand up next to him, and your grip on his wrist only tightens. His face heats up; a side effect of your questioning stare and close proximity.

“But I’ve seen you get impaled with a crow bar before. It healed before I even had time to fret over you. So what’s really going on?”

It hits him how naïve he was to ever believe that he’d be able to easily conceal what’s been happening inside his body from you. The effects of the adamantium poisoning have been becoming more physically apparent for a while now, and you of all people – someone so familiar with not only illness and injury, but also him – were bound to pick up on the fact that something is very different than the last time you saw him.

He finally looks at you, your face every bit as concerned as expected.

“My healing factor has started to slow down,” he says delicately, trying to keep his tone even. The last thing he wants to do is freak you out even more.

“Slow down? How?”

“The shit my bones are made of seems to finally be aging me.” He chooses to forgo using the word poison, but still answers as honestly as he can bring himself to.

“But you don’t need to worry yourself with that, ‘kay? That’s not why you’re here. Some back pain isn’t anything that I can’t handle,” he quickly adds when distress distorts your features.

You purse your lips, leaving him wondering how you’re going to respond.

There’s a sudden sensation radiate from where the skin of your palm and fingers are wrapped around his wrist – it’s a soft vibration, soothing and serene. It starts at his hand and travels up his arm before expanding through his chest, back, and eventually down to the soles of his feet.

For a few moments, he feels like he’s floating. The weight of the adamantium bones disappear for the first time in decades, leaving him feeling feather light. The feeling fades away as gradually as it appeared, and with it subsides the pinching in his lower back.

He realizes that he’s looking at you as if you grew a second head. He doesn’t know why he’s so taken off guard – he’s seen your powers first hand before. He just never imagined there would be a time that he’d actually learn how it feels to be on the receiving end of them.

He glances down at where you finally release your hold on his hand. When you pull away, he sees the remnants of a purple glow emanating from your palm.

“I figured you would have said no if I had asked beforehand. Am I wrong?”

“No,” he admits in a gruff tone. “Guess not.”

“Well? How does your back feel now?” You look at him with raised brows, as if you don’t already know the answer.

“Better. But don’t make a habit out of that. I want you saving your energy for Charles.”

Truthfully, he physically feels the best that he has in months. In addition to his back being free of the sharp pinching sensation, the chronic stiffness that has plagued his body is gone. Even his eyesight seems clearer.

But he thinks back to one of his earliest memories of you – the one that had presented itself in his most recent dream. He remembers the vibrancy of your power gradually dimming as you grew more tired and the way that your forehead glistened with sweat when you were worn out from excessive use of your powers.

You roll your eyes and plop back down on the edge of your cot.

“I’m more than capable of helping you and Charles both. Do you think I’d really let you suffer, knowing you’re in discomfort?”

He knows that trying to fight you on this is as about as useful as arguing with a brick wall.

“I don't doubt your capability,” he tells you gently as he eases towards the door to your room. “But I'm not the priority here. Now get some rest, alright?”

Your response is a brief nod that tells him he hasn’t heard the last of this conversation.

“Goodnight, Logan.”

Just down the hallway, he traces the tips of his fingers over where your hand had been wrapped around his until he falls into the most peaceful and comfortable sleep he’s had in over a year.

••••••

“She’s a healer. She worked at the school as a nurse and teacher. You remember her, yeah? She’s here to see if she can help us out some.”

Logan hands Charles a double dose of pills and watches until he’s swallowed them. They are already running low on the seizure suppressants as is, but he makes him double up anyway. He’d rather be on the safe side, since you are going to be working with Charles this morning.

“Of course I remember her,” Charles retorts after he’s taken the pills. “As if I could ever forget with how often I see her face appear in your mind.”

“Could you do me a favor and not mention that, maybe?” Logan grumbles. He doesn’t doubt that it’s true, but he’d prefer Charles to not mention it within the first five minutes of seeing you.

The door to the old water tower creaks open, allowing midday sun to infiltrate the dim space as you come inside. Caliban enters behind you.

“Hi, Charles,” you greet him cheerfully “It's so nice to see you.”

Your voice doesn’t give it away, but Logan notices the nervousness in your gait – in the way that your posture is rigid and your footsteps are shorter and quicker than normal as you walk over to them.

Charles gives you a smile – the first genuine smile that Logan has seen from him in as long as he can remember.

“Hello, my dear,” he beams at you. “We’ve missed you.”

You return his smile with a bashful one of your own, and wring your hands together in front of you.

“I’ve missed you guys, too,” you say, your eyes flickering between him and Logan. “I’m glad to be here. I’m going to be using my powers to try to get your seizures under control. Is that okay with you?”

“Anything sounds better than these two cramming pills down my throat like clockwork,” he grunts with a glare at Logan and Caliban.

“It’s not exactly fun for us either, you know,” Caliban scoffs.

“Enough, you two,” Logan interjects when Charles opens his mouth to respond. “We—” he motions to himself and Caliban, “are going to give them some privacy.”

He'd be lying if he said the thought of leaving you alone with Charles during what will undoubtedly be a vulnerable time didn’t make him nervous. But he doesn’t want to overcrowd and overwhelm him, either.

Though a large majority of Charles’ seizures are random, many have been brought on by a state of a emotional distress, too.

He knows that he doesn’t exactly possess a natural aura of peace like you do.

A hint of anxiety flashes across your features before you quickly compose yourself. Logan starts to follow Caliban’s lead to the door, but stops when he's directly in front of you.

He reaches out and almost puts a hand on your waist before he thinks twice of it. His fingers linger awkwardly at your hip for a moment before he drops the hand back down to his side.

“I'll be close by, okay? If you need anything,” he says to you lowly. He glances over his shoulder to see Charles now tending to his bonsai tree, not paying attention to anyone around him.

“I know,” you assure him with a smile and nod of your head. “Don’t worry. I won’t push him. If he starts to get agitated, frustrated, bored… I’ll stop immediately.”

Logan gives you one final, short nod before reluctantly following Caliban outside and back into the smelting plant.

“You sure do seem to be getting around well for someone who could barely walk yesterday,” Caliban says in a faux casual voice as he tugs the balaclava style mask off of his head as soon as he is out of the sunlight.

Logan sighs and curses under his breath, already knowing the direction that this conversation is headed.

“Now that I'm thinking about it, I also didn't hear you having any nightmares all the way from the water tower last night. Must have had a good night’s sleep.”

“What's your point?” Logan snaps. He yanks the fridge open, scanning the scarce shelves for something to eat.

He really needs to go to the grocery store once you've finished up with Charles. And buy you an actual bed. And stock back up on Charles’ medications –

“No point,” Caliban continues, “Just glad to see that you changed your mind about telling her about your condition is all. Even if you did threaten me within an inch of my life to not tell her right before you left for Colorado.”

“What can I say,” Logan grunts. “She isn't blind. She clocked it within an hour of being here.”

Logan spends the next hour alternating between pacing the floor of the smelting plant and smoking cigars outside of the water tower. He reminds himself repeatedly that everything must be going okay, because if it wasn't, he would know by now.

He also reminds himself of the intense feeling of tranquility that came over him when he felt the effects of your powers. He can’t imagine anyone not finding it euphoric – even Charles, in all of his stubbornness.

He's finishing up a cigar when you exit the water tower after what feels like an eternity. He immediately stubs it out, remembering how you used to tease him about getting cancer if he didn’t stop smoking.

It wouldn’t surprise him if that was an actual possibility for him these days.

“How’d it go?” he greets you. He tries to keep his voice neutral – doesn’t want to make it obvious how anxious he’s been for the last hour. “Did he do okay?”

“I guess we won’t really know until he either has a seizure or… doesn’t,” you sigh. “He did surprisingly well. But the damage that the Alzheimer’s has done to his brain is widespread. I doubt there’s much reversing it. My goals are to reduce the severity and frequency of the seizures and to stop the damage from progressing any further.”

The two of you walk side by side back to the smelting plant, where Logan opens the door for you.

“So that means that I might be staying here for quite some time.”

You ease past him through the small doorframe, your chest grazing against him ever so slightly. The familiar light scent of vanilla and honey lingers after you’re walking away.

Were you just smirking at him or is he hallucinating?

Scratch that, were you just flirting with him?

“I think I can find a way to be okay with that.”

He didn’t expect you to go back to Colorado anytime too soon, given how much you packed – and the fact that your fucking Christmas tree sits in the common area – but he can't ignore that hearing you imply that you have no intention of leaving in the immediate future brings him more comfort than it probably should.

With your back turned to him as you open the refrigerator, he’s unable to see your expression, but he hears you hum in response – a sound somewhere between amusement and contentment.

“But if I'm going to be staying here for any amount of time, the food situation is going to have to improve. How do you live like this?”

He sighs, remembering the current state of the fridge and cabinets. He ended up settling on an overripe banana for breakfast. He normally reserves grocery shopping for his off days – Mondays or Tuesdays – but those days had been occupied with traveling to and from Colorado this week.

“I’ve got some errands to run today,” he starts, feeling an inkling of nervousness settle in the pit of his stomach. “Get some groceries and refills on Charles’ medications… if you wanted to come with me.”

He tells himself that he invites you because it just makes sense – of course you need to familiarize yourself with the area that you're going to be living in, even if it's just temporary. It's important to know where the closest grocery store, and gas station, and pharmacy is.

And it also just makes sense that he would be the one who to show you around. Charles can't even go to the bathroom by himself and Caliban is allergic to the sun.

That's what he tells himself, anyway.

“I could be persuaded to go with you,” you drawl. “If…” You trail off, leaving Logan to look at you with a cocked brow.

“If you let me ride in the backseat of your limousine?”

••••••

“Well? Was it everything you thought it would be?”

Logan sits directly across from you in a small booth at a mom-and-pop diner. It’s nearly noon and you had yet to eat today, so Logan made the last minute decision to pull into the restaurant’s parking lot after acquiring Charles’ medications.

“What?” you question as you swallow a mouthful of chocolate chip pancakes. It may not be breakfast time anymore, but he knew you would appreciate the fact that this place serves all day breakfast.

“Being chauffeured around in a limousine.”

“For some reason the limo smelled like a Christmas tree farm exploded in it,” you say nonchalantly. “But the driver insisted on taking me out for all you can eat pancakes so I’m still going to leave him a good review.”

“I’m sure he had a perfectly good reason for his limo smelling like that,” he retorts in mock defense. “But he probably should try to take care of that before he goes back to work tonight,” he adds, making a mental note to pick up some air freshener at the store.

A cheeky grin spreads across your face. You look like you’re about give him some kind of smart remark when the waitress walks over to the booth with a steaming pot of coffee.

“Good to see you in here with someone for a change,” the older woman, who Logan knows is named Lucille without having to look at her name tag, remarks as she tops off both of your mugs. “Did you finally take my advice?” She asks Logan.

“Every time he comes in here I tell him that he needs to get on one of those dating apps,” she says to you before he can answer.

You immediately cover your mouth to keep from spewing your coffee across the table.

Logan’s face heats up by ten degrees. He should have known better than to trust Lucille to be able to read the room.

“No,” he snaps. “I have not downloaded Tinder. Or Bumble, or Hinge. Maybe you should give them a try and stop worrying about my love life.”

He shoos her away, but she just cackles and slaps him on the shoulder.

“Honey, I’ve been married for forty-five years.”

“Oh yeah? Where’s your ring?” He asks, nodding towards her naked ring finger.

“We’re not allowed to wear jewelry on the clock, Nosey Nelly,” she jabs back. You sit silently, watching the interaction with pursed lips to keep from laughing.

“Nosey Nelly,” Logan grumbles under his breath as he fishes his wallet out of his pants pocket. He pulls out his debit card and slaps it into her palm.

You finally release a snort of laughter when Lucille waddles away.

“I take it that’s your best friend?”

“Believe it or not, she’s an improvement from Caliban.”

The two of you finish your meal with easy flowing conversation. You tell him what led you to Colorado, and about how you worked part time at a veterinarian’s office and part time at a bookstore. He tells you about some of the drunk, unhinged customers that he's had in his limousine lately.

It’s easy for him to forget that less than forty-eight hours ago, he hadn’t seen you in over a year.

Before your lives were irrevocably altered, you had been one of the closest friends he had ever had. One of the most important people in his life. Sitting across from you now, it’s too easy for him to remember why that was.

••••••

Logan’s reluctant to go to work tonight.

And it’s not just because he fucking hates his job and isn’t in the mood to tolerate the bachelor party currently occupying his backseat.

To an extent, he’s always nervous to go to work. He works night shifts because Charles sleeps at night, and is therefore less likely to be triggered into a seizure during the nighttime hours. It’s the safest time for Logan to be away.

It hasn’t happened before, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t. And with you now at the smelting plant, he worries about it happening while he’s away even more than he typically would.

He arrives at the strip club that the groom had requested he drive to and parks. They all drunkenly stagger out of the back of the vehicle, leaving Logan to relish in the silence after the door slams shut.

He pulls his phone from his coat pocket and sees that he has no messages.

He’d told you to text him if you needed anything, so it’s a good thing that you haven’t, right?

It’s just before midnight, so you're most likely asleep. The lack of a text is probably not anything as drastic as the conclusions that his brain is jumping to.

Still, he can't stop his fingers as he types out a message and hits send.

How’s the new bed?

After your brunch date – Lucille's words, not his – the two of you bought enough groceries to feed four people for a week and then went to the only furniture store in town to find you an upgrade from the fold out cot that they'd happened to have on hand when you arrived.

His phone dings just a minute later. He releases the breath he’d been holding before even reading your response.

It’s a major improvement. You were right - not too soft, not too firm. Though it feels a whole lot bigger than it did in the store.

He reads over the text at least five times and thinks back to your time in the mattress store earlier that day.

The first couple mattresses you tested out were too soft, the next few too firm. Logan didn’t mind that you were being indecisive – really. He was secretly relieved to have an excuse to spend more time with you, away from Caliban and Charles.

He laid down on a mattress that you hadn’t checked out yet and instantly thought that it was significantly better than his personal mattress at the smelting plant.

“What about this one?” He asks, patting the empty space next to him on the queen sized bed. You walk over to the opposite side of the bed and crawl in beside him. With your arms down at your sides, one rests against his. The mattress is more than big enough for you, but with him next to you, it’s a cozy fit.

He types: Is that a good thing or a bad thing? and presses send before he can overthink it. His screen shows that you read the message right away, and he can’t help but imagine the smirk on your face as you lay tucked beneath the covers.

The words ‘What do you think?’ appear on his screen.

He thinks he feels like a fucking teenager with the way that a few harmless, borderline flirtatious text messages from you has him imagining what it would be like to really share the bed with you.

His jeans begin to feel uncomfortably tight. He clicks the phone off and tosses it in the empty passenger seat beside him, before he says something that crosses a line that he can’t uncross.

••••••

The relief that your powers had provided Logan had been blissful but short-lived.

By the time he gets home from work at around four in the morning, his back pain has returned with a vengeance.

Everyone is asleep when he gets in, of course. He hobbles to his room as quietly as he can. Caliban and Charles are in the water tower, but he doesn’t want to wake you up. He hopes that by the time that you’re both awake later today, the pain will have subsided in his sleep.

Two hours after he lies down, he realizes that sleeping it off is an impossibility with the amount of discomfort he’s in. He’s done nothing but toss and turn in a futile attempt to find a comfortable sleeping position, the extra strength ibuprofen and his heating pad only doing so much to ease the stabbing sensation at the base of his spine.

He knows the answer to his problem is just down the hallway.

But it's early – the sun is just now starting to rise and he has yet to hear you stir from your room. He can't bring himself to wake you up over some back pain, knowing that you'll need to use your powers to help Charles soon.

He sits up with a deep groan, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. If he already can't sleep, he may as well make something to eat and settle the rumbling in his stomach.

Taking slow, short strides, he walks back down the hallway to the kitchen as quietly as he can manage.

He comes to a halt when he sees your door open, your head popping out from around the frame.

“Can’t sleep?” You ask, your voice huskier than normal with sleep.

“How’d you guess?”

You step into the hallway, still in a pair of plaid sleep pants and an oversized crewneck.

“Your bed creaks every time you move.” You cross your arms over your chest, standing less than half a foot away from him. There’s evident concern on your face when you take in his stiff posture. “This place has thin walls.”

“Sorry to keep you awake.” He looks down at the ground, embarrassed. “I’ll stay in the living roo—”

“Don’t be silly,” you stop him. You grab his hand in yours and begin to pull him back in the direction of his bedroom.

He thinks about protesting – part of him wants to tell you that you shouldn’t bother. He thinks he should tell you that he appreciates it, but he’s a lost cause, and the relief will only be temporary.

But your hand is too warm and your skin is too soft and in the end, he isn’t strong enough to deny himself the feeling of your touch, so he let’s you lead the way to his bed.

You drop his hand to position yourself on one side of the bed. You don’t get underneath the comforter, but you do pull it back on his side so that he can crawl beneath it.

His isn’t quite as big as your new bed – it’s only a full size mattress, so it’s even more cramped than when the two of you laid on the mattress in the store yesterday, but he isn’t complaining.

It's unchartered territory for you two, this type of intimacy. He doesn’t remember the last time he shared a bed with anyone, but if there’s one person on the planet that he trusts enough to allow next to him in such a vulnerable state, it’s you.

“Lay however is most comfortable for you,” you instruct him gently.

He maneuvers onto his side, facing you. You copy his position, your faces inches away from each other’s on a shared pillow.

“Now close your eyes,” you whisper.

He does as you ask, and then feels your palm rest against the thick stubble of his jaw. Your thumb grazes across the skin of his cheekbone. He melts into your touch before you’ve even started using your powers.

“Is this okay?” you murmur.

“Mm-hmm,” he sighs against your hand. “Could just lay like this for a while and I’d probably fall asleep. Don’t even need to use your powers.”

You snort and run the tips of your fingers through his beard.

“How about I do both? That okay?”

He nods, too tired to think about stopping you.

He falls asleep to the soft hum of your powers within minutes, and dreams of the color purple.

••••••

Over the next few weeks, everyone falls into a comfortable routine.

You continue to work with Charles for an hour in the mornings and then again in the evenings. Your powers help him more than Logan ever could have hoped for. Not only is this the longest he’s gone without having a seizure in months, but he’s also increasingly lucid and alert, and more like his old, spunky self than ever.

Most weeknights you cook dinner for everyone, and Tuesdays become the day that you join Logan in going to town for a weekly grocery restock and brunch at the same diner that he first took you to a few weeks ago.

He tries not to make it too obvious, but it quickly becomes one of the best parts of his week – even with Lucille’s relentless teasing about how there’s “no way you’re just friends” and Logan would be “the biggest idiot on the planet to not lock you down”.

Neither of you ever put much energy into disagreeing with her.

The other best parts of his week occur early in the mornings, before daylight breaks and Charles and Caliban are still sound asleep. He gets home from work and you move from your bed and into his, relieving him of any physical discomfort he could be experiencing from hours of driving around and lulling him to sleep.

The first few nights, he’d wake hours later to find that you had escaped back to your own room after he’d fallen asleep. Then, one morning, when he woke up, he opened his eyes to find your face resting against his shoulder.

You stopped bothering to go back to your own room after that.

This evening – Christmas eve – Logan sits on his bed and stares at the gift that he’d gotten you while you finish preparing the dinner that you’d been working on for the last few hours.

He feels silly. There hadn’t been any discussion on getting each other gifts and he worries that it’ll make you feel weird.

It’s an espresso machine – nothing too fancy, but it’ll get the job done. You had recently mentioned how much you miss the espresso machine that you had in Colorado. The house you had been renting came furnished, which included an espresso machine that you were unable to bring with you to Mexico.

He stopped by a Target before work a couple nights ago and picked it out. To top off how silly he feels, he’d completely forgotten to buy wrapping paper or even a gift bag, so he’ll just be handing it to you as is.

“Dinner is almost ready!” He hears your voice call from the kitchen.

The smell of honey glazed ham and fresh rolls wafts down the hallway. He places the box containing the espresso machine on the floor beside his bed, planning to give it to you after Charles and Caliban go to bed in a few hours.

When he rejoins everyone in the common area, Charles is watching Home Alone and Caliban is gathering plates and silverware for everyone while you remove a large dish of baked mac and cheese from the oven.

“Smells great,” Logan compliments as he grabs a beer out of the fridge. “Anything I can help with?” he asks, as if you hadn’t all but shooed him out of the kitchen just an hour ago.

You place the casserole dish on a trivet before grabbing one of the plates that Caliban had set out.

“Yes, actually,” you say, surprising him. You hand him the plate with a small smirk. “You can make Charles a plate.”

“Oh, can I?” He takes a step closer to you, taking the plate and grinning down at you. “Are you sure you trust me to do that?”

“Hey, it’s not my fault that you’ve been alive two hundred years and haven’t taken the time to learn to cook.”

“Well, I guess I'll just have to have you teach me-"

“Would you two stop flirting and get me some ham?” Charles voice booms over the television and silences you both.

Logan notices you purse your lips to keep from smiling as you turn your attention back to the spread of food across the dining room table.

Soon, you’re all four sat around the dining room table with plates piled high with traditional holiday dishes. Logan is halfway through clearing his plate when Charles clears his throat to speak.

“This is wonderful,” he directs at you. “Thank you very much. You know, this all feels very familiar to me…” he trails off, glancing between you and Logan from across the table. The smile on his face fades, and in it’s place appears an expression of confusion.

From the corner of his eye, Logan sees your grip on your fork tighten.

“Thank you, Charles,” you tell him. You try to sound cheerful, but Logan doesn’t miss the nervous edge to your voice. He knows that you’re noticing the same thing as him. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”

“Yes, these candied sweet potatoes are delicious,” Caliban interjects in an obvious attempt to maintain easy conversation. “You'll have to give me your rec—”

“This feels so familiar,” Charles repeats and all three of you go silent.

In his gut, Logan fears that he knows what is coming. It always starts this way. One minute, everything will be perfect. The next, something triggers a memory, or a feeling, and Charles is hit with the weight of the past – with the weight of the trauma that his brain normally blocks out.

“This feels like… how Christmas used to feel. When we’d have dinner at the.. at the mansion. With all of our friends before I.. before I killed them—”

“Charles,” Logan says firmly, but Charles continues to stare into space. “It wasn't your fault. Okay? Let's enjoy this nice dinner. Do you want some more green beans—”

But he’s unable to finish his sentence before it begins. The exact thing he’s been the most terrified of since you arrived here weeks ago.

Across from him, Caliban's face is frozen in agony. Beside him, your mouth is open as if to scream, but no sound comes out. Every one around him is still, and his body suddenly feels a few hundred pounds heavier.

It's been weeks since Charles’ last seizure, but Logan knew it was too good to be true – knew that it was bound to happen again eventually. He'd planned for this, knowing the effects of the psionic energy would hurt you as they do Caliban.

Logan forces himself into a standing position by pushing off of the dining room table, and then takes as big of steps as he possibly can to get to the opposite side, where Caliban and Charles sit.

He ignores the blinding nerve pain all over his body, he ignores the intense ringing in his ears, he ignores the way it feels as if all of the air has been ripped from his lungs and reaches down to grab the bag of medication from the compartment beneath Charles’ wheelchair – where he's made sure to keep it, in case of this exact scenario.

Despite his shaking hands, he manages to retrieve an injection and uncap it. He jabs the tip of the needle into the flesh of Charles’ shoulder with as much force as he can muster, then collapses to the floor beside him.

Charles releases a grief stricken groan, realizing what had happened. Logan hears both you and Caliban gasping for air.

“I'm sorry,” Charles cries. “I'm so sorry..”

Logan pulls himself off of the ground using the edge of the table and instantly turns his attention to you. Your eyes are wide and your hands are visibly shaking in your lap, but you exhale the breath you'd been holding when your eyes meet Logan's.

You push your chair back, standing and closing the distance between the two of you. Your hands grip the tops of Logan's biceps. He instinctively rests his on the sides of your stomach.

“Are you okay?” You ask, your voice wobbly and several octaves higher than normal.

“I'm fine,” he assures you delicately. “Are you okay?”

You nod, hesitantly at first and then more confidently as you take him in and seem to realize that he really is alright.

“I'm fine too,” Caliban grunts from across the table. “Don’t worry yourselves with me.”

Logan and you both quickly retract your hands, breaking the embrace. You turn your attention to Charles, who seems to be in another world.

“Charles? Are you alright?” You ask him softly.

“Hm?” He hums as he glances up at you. “Oh, yes. I’m alright. I think.. I think I’d like to go to bed now,” he murmurs. Logan, you, and Caliban all exchange glances before Logan tosses the bag of medication to Caliban.

“Give him a double dose of the suppressants and some sleep medicine,” Logan instructs him. Caliban nods wordlessly and wheels Charles away from the dining room table, towards the smelting plant’s door.

Once they’ve left the building, Logan turns to you. You look visibly shaken, and he can’t blame you. He remembers all too well how frightening the effects of the seizure was the first time he experienced it. Even with this one being relatively short lived, he knows it had to have been more painful and scary for you than it was for him.

“I’ll clean all of this up, okay?” He says, gesturing towards the half eaten dinners and the pile of dirty dishes in the sink. “You go relax. Take a shower, lay down for a while—”

“Really, Logan. I'm okay, I prom—”

“Will you do that for me?”

To his surprise, you don't object any further. You give him a small nod, and a comforting squeeze to his hand as you walk past him.

He doesn't release the sigh of both relief and frustration that he’d been holding in until he hears the shower turn on a few moments later.

••••••

As soon as Logan finishes tidying up from dinner, he cuts two small slices of an apple pie you had baked and puts them on a plate for the two of you to share.

Your door is slightly cracked, the soft orange light from your table lamp spilling into the hallway. He knocks quietly and waits for you to tell him to come in.

You’re in your pajamas, tucked under a blanket with a book partially obscuring your face. You do little to acknowledge his presence, so he takes a seat on the edge of your bed and places the plate of pie beside him.

The room looks significantly different than it did just a few weeks ago. In addition to the new bed, you'd also acquired a vintage dresser and an area rug that you’d found for cheap at a thrift store. You have books in piles throughout the room, one of the things that you were most adamant about bringing with you from Colorado.

“Charles is alright,” he tells you gently. “He must have just been really tired. He didn’t nap much today. Caliban said he fell asleep really quickly after taking his medicine.”

“Except that wasn’t why he had a seizure,” you sigh, closing your book. Logan now has a better view of your face, and the first thing he notices is that your eyes look red-rimmed and watery. You sit up straight, and he inches closer to you on the bed.

“Hey, what’s going—”

“It was definitely my fault that he had a seizure,” you sniffle, looking at him with defeat.

“What? No,” Logan shakes his head. You have a blanket draped across your lap, but Logan places his hand on your knee over top of it. “What makes you say that?”

“I always work with Charles for an hour in the mornings and an hour in the afternoons,” you start, frustration evident in your voice. “But this afternoon, I cut our session short because he wasn’t really in the best mood and I wanted to get started on prep for dinner.”

You wipe underneath your eye with the sleeve of your shirt and look away from Logan’s gaze.

“Sweetheart, you can’t blame yourself for this,” he assures you as he rubs slow circles on your knee with his thumb. “He was having seizures almost every single day before you got here. You’re not the reason he had a seizure today. But you are the reason he’s been able to go weeks without having one.”

“Okay?” He prompts when you don’t respond. You finally look him in the eye again, and offer a small nod of agreement.

He hands you the plate of apple pie, earning a small smile from you.

“Wait here. I’ve got something for you,” he tells you as he stands up and begins walking towards your door.

“Something for me?” you question, but he’s already halfway down the hallway.

He grabs the espresso machine from beside his bed and heads back to your room. He still feels nervous to give it to you, but right now he’s just hoping that it will help cheer you up.

When he re-enters your room, you’re forking a bite of pie into your mouth and freeze when you see what he’s carrying. He sits back down on the edge of the bed, still holding the box. You sit the plate of pie on your bedside table and scoot closer to him.

“Logan, you didn’t have to,” you murmur. He hands you the box and you hug it to your chest, but only look at him. He thinks your eyes are starting to look watery again. “I feel so bad. I didn’t get you anything—”

He waves his hand in dismissal, not surprised at all by your reaction.

“I know I didn’t have to. Just wanted to. Is that okay?”

You inspect the espresso machine with a bashful grin. “Thank you. I love it,” you assure him with a gentle squeeze to his hand. “I just wish I had gotten you something, too.”

“That’s not necessary,” he says, staring down at where your hand holds his. “You give me everything I need just by being here.”

You go still at his words with a look he can’t quite read on your face. You pull your hand away from his before placing the espresso box on the floor next to your bed. The hand that previously held his comes to cradle his face, your thumb grazing along his cheekbone. He turns his head ever so slightly to the side so that his lips graze against your palm. He kisses the skin once, then twice, and your eyes flutter closed.

His heightened senses don’t miss the way your heart rate picks up, or the way that you hold your breath as his lips linger on your skin.

“What are you thinking about?” He murmurs into the side of your hand. You open your eyes, your pupils dilated.

“Same thing I’ve been thinking about for years now,” you whisper as you lean forward, pulling his face to you.

You capture his lips in yours, opening up for him without hesitation. He slips his tongue into your mouth, the sensation simultaneously feeling brand new and like you’ve done this dance a hundred times before.

He scoots further back onto the mattress, away from the edge. He pulls you with him, guiding you onto his lap. You straddle him, his hands resting on your lower back. You fist your hands around the fabric of his flannel, pulling him flush against you.

It's years of pent up desire and longing that you pour into each other. You drag your teeth along the swell of his bottom lip and he groans into your mouth, resisting the urge to buck his hips up against your center.

He knew you looked sweet, smelled sweet – but never would he have guessed that you’d taste even sweeter. Even if it weren’t for the faint hint of cinnamon and apples from the pie you’d nibbled on, he’d think you were the sweetest thing he’s ever tasted.

You grind down against the uncomfortable bulge contained by his jeans and whimper – the prettiest sound he’s ever fucking heard and he hasn’t even touched you yet. You pull back, your chest heaving from lack of air.

“Why didn’t we do that years ago?” you ask breathlessly. He reaches up to your face, tucking some stray hairs behind your ear.

“Because I’m a fucking idiot,” he answers quickly. His eyes lock on your kiss swollen lips and he thinks you’ve never looked prettier than you do right now – staring down at him with puffy lips wet with his kiss. “But now that I’ve kissed you, I’m not gonna stop. Gonna kiss you for as long as you’ll let me.”

And to prove his point, he starts trailing wet, open mouth kisses along your jaw and down your throat. You throw your head back, giving him unhindered access to the skin of your neck. He alternates between kissing and nipping the tender flesh, leaving a damp trail across your skin.

You grab at the hem of your shirt and Logan pulls away to allow you to tug it over your head. You’re left naked from the waist up and Logan is left feeling like his cock is going to break through the zipper of his jeans.

With your tits directly in front of his face, he latches his mouth to one nipple and palms the other in his hand. You rock yourself against his erection, chasing the relief that the friction provides you.

“Logan,” you pant from above him. “Please—”

He pulls his mouth away from you with a wet pop, leaving your nipple glistening and taut.

“Tell me what you want, honey.”

You let out a low whimper at the pet name and drag your fingers through his hair. He toys with the waistband of your pajamas pants, popping the elastic band lightly against your skin.

“Your mouth,” you say, the words somewhere between a whine and a plea. “I wanna feel your mouth on me.”

He groans at the bluntness of your words. Hearing you say that you want his mouth on you has his cock throbbing in his pants.

“Yeah?” He taunts as he maneuvers you off of his lap. He quickly tugs his own shirt over his head and tosses it somewhere behind him. Your eyes trail down the expanse of his chest, your mouth slightly agape.

He tilts your head so that you’re looking at his face again and tugs at your bottom lip with the pad of his thumb.

In that moment, he hopes you never stop looking at him like that.

“You gonna sit on my face?”

You nod, eagerly. You push your pajama pants down past your ass and thighs, and Logan helps pull them the rest of the way over your calves and ankles. You lean forward, reaching for the waistline of his jeans and fumbling with the button until it pops open.

He sees you completely naked before him and his brain goes momentarily blank. He can’t believe he actually gets to see you like this – bare for him and more perfect than he ever could have envisioned.

And believe him, he had tried. Nothing could have prepared him for how it actually feels to see you, touch you, taste you after years of yearning for you.

“Lay down for me?” You ask with a small laugh, snapping him out of his trance. He does as you ask, placing his head on one of your pillows.

You straddle his chest, your back to his face. He helps you inch backwards until your pussy hovers directly over his mouth. He pauses for a moment, spreading your thighs apart with his hands to give him a clear view of your already dripping cunt before yanking you the rest of the way down to his mouth.

You moan as soon as his tongue slides through your wet folds, bracing your hands on the defined planes of his chest. The sweet and salty tang of you fills his mouth and he has to resist moaning goddamn, I love you into your cunt.

He could get drunk off of the flavor of you.

You grind yourself against his face, your juices coating his beard and your inner thighs. He’s so focused on working you with his lips and tongue that he doesn’t even notice you pushing his jeans and boxers down until he feels his cock spring back and slap his lower belly.

“Fuck,” you moan at the sight of him. You pump him in your hand, smearing the pre-cum from his slit down his shaft. “You're so big. I don’t know how you’ll fit inside me.”

He hears you spit, then feels it drip across his tip. You smear the warm wetness down his length and press a kiss to the side of his cock before taking him in your mouth. The head nudges against the back of his throat before you pull back, then ease back in, slow and deep.

He’s always loved your lips, but right now he’s doesn’t think he could ever love them more. He wants to watch as you hollow your cheeks and bob your head along his length, but that’s going to have to wait for another time.

Right now, he’s right where he wants to be. He has your swollen clit locked between his lips, sucking on it to the point that your legs quiver around his head. You lean forward, pressing your chest against his stomach as you run your tongue down the entirety of his cock and stroke him in your hand.

“I’ve waited so long to taste you,” he grunts from beneath you. The vibrations of his voice making your pussy clench around the finger that he teases your hole. “This cunt’s so fuckin’ sweet.”

He eases his index finger past your entrance, your walls constricting around the digit. “And so fuckin’ tight,” he adds, pumping in and out of you as you begin to move forwards, then backwards, up, and then down – grinding against his finger.

“Logan, I'm gonna cum,” you cry and it makes his balls tighten. He feels it – the way you gush around his finger and the way your legs clench around his head.

You ride out your orgasm above him, and then collapses against his chest. Your skin is sticky with sweat against his, despite the fact that the current cold front has the smelting plant colder than normal tonight.

You roll off of him, falling onto the mattress next to him. Your slick glistens on your thighs in the soft glow of your lamplight. It's one of the most beautiful things he's ever seen, he thinks. You fucked out and delirious from your climax.

But he thinks he might fucking die if he has to spend one more second of his abnormally long life not knowing how it feels to be buried inside you.

He helps pull you into a sitting position, and then lays you down in his place. Your tits heave as you try to regain control of your breathing. He's on his knees, fisting himself in his hand as he nudges your knees open. Your eyes are locked on his cock, a look of half excitement and half terror.

“You can take it, honey. I know you can,” he coos.

He slaps the tip against your clit, then glides it up and down your wet length. Not entering you quite yet, but coating himself in your slick. He looks down at himself next to your pretty, wet cunt and imagines how it’ll be to see it sliding in and out of you.

“Just been a while, that’s all,” you say, pulling him down to the by the back of the neck. He lines himself up at your entrance, nudging just the tip in. Even that’s a stretch for you, he can tell by the way your mouth forms an O shape.

He goes still for a moment – for your sake, but for his own, as well. He has to adjust to the warm tightness of your pussy before he trusts himself to go any deeper.

“I know, baby. Been a while for me too. Been waiting for you for a long time.”

He slates his lips over yours, kissing you messy and deep as he slowly sheaths himself inside you. He stills again once he’s buried to the hilt, and breaks the kiss to look down at you.

“You okay?” He murmurs. He props himself up on one forearm by your head, and brings his free hand to roll one of your nipples between his thumb and forefinger.

You give him another eager nod, and wrap your legs securely around his hips, hooking your ankles together just below his ass.

“Mm-hmm,” you sigh. “Need you to move now, Logan.”

With his cock throbbing inside you, he doesn’t make you tell him twice. His length drags along the soft, spongy interior of your walls as he pulls out and eases back in. He gives you a few languid, slow strokes to accommodate the newfound stretch before it's hard for him to hold back.

He gets lost in it all – in the wet, tight heat of your cunt, in the sounds that your bodies make as he repeatedly snaps into you, in every expression on your face and every noise that slips past your lips.

You snake your arms around his abdomen, your hands coming to rest on his lower back.

“H-how’s your back?” You stammer out as he continues to piston his hips forward.

“I've never been better,” Logan grunts, resting his sweat slicked forehead against yours.

It's the truth. He’s never felt better than he does right now, between your legs – even if he is feeling this in his back. He'll deal with any and all repercussions later, once he's felt you cum around his cock while you cry his name.

You smile up at him as if to say wanna bet?

You flatten your hands across his skin at the base of his spine, and he doesn’t have to be able to see it to know what you're doing. He's experienced the effects of your powers enough by now to recognize them instantly – the low vibration they emit and the immediate warmth that spreads throughout his body.

“Gonna make me cum, honey,” he warns you. “Feels too good.” He feels your walls constrict around him when he calls you honey.

“Kiss me and I’ll cum with you,” you tell him in a breathy voice that he could listen to talk in all fucking night.

He kisses you again, this time more hurried than anytime before as he chases both of your releases. He spills into you with a deep groan as your cunt spasms around him. You moan his name into his mouth until he stills inside you, the last ropes of his cum filling you up.

He isn’t sure how long the two of you stay like that – with him still tucked inside you, laying pressed against you with his face nuzzling the crook of your neck. You trail your fingers up and down his spine, the sensation the only thing grounding him to reality in his post orgasm haze.

Finally, he pulls back enough to look down at you.

“Stay here,” he says earnestly. “Stay with me. Don't go back to Colorado. One day, we’ll go anywhere you want to. Just the two of us. But right now, please stay—”

“Logan,” you shush him gently. “I wasn’t planning on going back to Colorado. Or anywhere without you.”

He exhales, and kisses you on the forehead before finally pulling out of you and plopping down beside you. He tucks you between his chest and his arm, your head resting just above his heart.

“You know, this new bed of yours is a whole lot comfier than mine,” he comments casually.

“Hmm,” you hum and tilt your head to look up at him. “You should probably sleep here tonight. For your back, of course.”

He laughs, sleep threatening to overtake him at any second. He presses a lazy kiss to your forehead.

“I'm not going anywhere without you, honey.”

••••••

some of my other logan works

diet pepsi - old man logan x reader limousine sex

by the end of the night - worst variant logan has nightmares and mutant reader with emotional regulation abilities helps him sleep better

claw kink drabble

thank you so much for reading 🫶🏻

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