#but it was my dads voice over the phone sounding super normal and I’ve never been so relieved in my life

[boomerang109]

my dad survived brain surgery number one!!

[mostlycompetentwriter]

Wow, he’s hot

“Pairing: Fem!Reader x Seo Changbin (SKZ)

Word Count: 8K

Genre: Neighbors to Lovers? Lol

Warnings: Aged up characters (Changbin is ten years older than the reader), explicit sexual content, language, drinking

Summary: You were a fresh college graduate, returning home for the summer before starting a bright, shiny new position in the city, but you certainly weren’t expecting to fall hard for your neighbor. 

A/N: I hope at least one person gets my reference/pun at the end....But seriously? Oh, what have I done...

Your roommate was hungover again, dressed to the nines in a purple bathrobe and pink fluffy slippers as she attempted to move huge boxes of random shit between her bedroom and the foyer of your shared apartment. 

It was priceless entertainment, at least in your opinion, especially after witnessing your roommate in rare form the previous night dancing from one frat boy to the next, draining entire bottles of alcohol like she needed the liquid encouragement. 

From what you had observed, she was determined to embarrass you at all costs, and under normal circumstances, you could’ve avoided her rather inappropriate behavior in exchange for your regular hook-up, Joshua. But he decided to remain mysteriously absent for the entire evening, which meant that you had been stuck watching over your roommate, hoping that she wouldn’t get you kicked out again....

“I know what you’re thinking, Y/N,” Laura huffed, pausing next to the counter-top where you sat. “What did you expect? It was my last night of freedom before going back home.”

“Yeah,” you snorted. “It was mine too, but I wasn’t plastered face-down in the shower last night.”

“Whatever,” Laura grimaced. “Did you sign off on the lease yet?”

“I did it earlier,” you replied. 

“Our bitchy landlord’s been complaining all week,” Laura said. “I’m tired of her late-night phone calls, plus my mom’s been really annoying about the move.”

“Oh?” you questioned. “When is she coming?”

“In like an hour,” Laura huffed. “Why do you think I’m busting my ass to pack everything?”

“I don’t know,” you said. “Maybe you needed a distraction from thinking about puking in the bushes behind the frat house last night.”

“Oh, shut up about that!” Laura hissed, slapping your arm as you kept laughing. “Isn’t you brother coming tomorrow?”

“Ugh, yeah,” you groaned. “He said he has to come super early because of work, but my ass doesn’t start functioning until at least 8:00.”

“Well, at least tell Chan ‘hi’ for me,” Laura said, giggling like a love-struck teenager because she had been infatuated with your older brother for years.

“If I remember to tell him,” you grumbled, stretching out your arms and deciding that it might be useful for you to start packing as well, especially since the most you would be able to accomplish tomorrow morning at the ass crack of dawn is following Chan around the apartment in a zombie-like state as the two of you loaded your belongings into his car.

“Don’t forget that I’m coming to visit next week,” Laura said, and you perked up a little at the idea of having your friend come around, especially since the two of you had just graduated together and those long days and nights of being glued together at the hip were coming to a bittersweet end.

“Sounds good,” you agreed, checking your phone one last time to see a weird gif from Chan (as you had come to expect from him) before joining your roommate in packing up the remainder of your former college life.

Chan had always been prompt when it came to his familial obligations, and the two of you spent two hours loading all of your stuff into his car before starting the long drive to your old childhood home. A place that you hadn’t ventured to since leaving four years ago to start undergraduate school.

“Looks the same,” you remarked, sunglasses perched low on your nose as you allowed the window to roll down to take in some fresh air.

“What did you expect?” Chan asked, humming away to whatever shitty metal song he had playing over the radio.

In a totally random and last-minute decision, you had decided that for the next three summer months while you were stuck in an in-between phase, you were returning home for a while before you were set to move into a new apartment in the city close to where you would be working full-time. It seemed logical to save money, and there was a small part of you that did miss your family and old friends. 

Of course, despite Chan’s dismissal of your earlier nonchalant comment about the unchanging surroundings of your hometown, you were startled when you realized that the old house next door, which used to be occupied by an elderly couple until they moved away during your senior year of high school, was missing it’s familiar ‘for sale’ sign in the front yard, and there was a black Mustang in the driveway.

“Home sweet home,” Chan sighed when he stopped in the carport attached to your former two-story staccato, opening the door with a grumble. 

You frowned, following him around to the back of his car. “Someone bought the house next door?” you asked, dragging your eyes away from the sleek, shiny sports car to look at your brother.

Chan grunted as he heaved your suitcase from the trunk. “Yeah, they moved in last month. I think the owner is a lawyer and he lives there with his daughter.”

“Huh,” you remarked. “That house has been vacant for years.”

Chan shrugged. “Yeah, well, the guy who lives there now is really nice. Mom and dad babysit for him a lot when he’s working.”

“Great,” I muttered. “They’ll rope me into helping.”

“S’ not so bad,” Chan said, growling in frustration when your suitcase fell over to the side with an unpleasant crash. “Can you help or what?”

You laughed at your brother’s outrage, reaching back to pull your hair into a messy bun. 

Meanwhile, you noticed the front door of your house opening from the corner of your eye, smiling when your mother shrieked and rushed down the sidewalk to meet you halfway in a long-winded embrace. “Y/N!! I’m so glad to see you.”

“You’re crushing me,” you heaved through constricted lungs, accepting your mother’s open arms even if it was a little over-eager.

“Oh! I’m sorry, dear,” she said, pulling back just enough to allow oxygen to circulate once again, but not enough to pull you away from her mushy kisses. “You look so healthy and beautiful!”

“Yeah, thanks mom,” you said, slowly beginning the untangling process of removing her arms from around you while Chan struggled in the background to carry your suitcase up the front steps. “I should help.”

“Of course!” your mom agreed, but a distant tug of curiosity had you turning back to look at the house next door once again.

“Hey? Do you know anything about the new neighbor?”

“You mean Changbin? He’s wonderful, darling. So polite, and his daughter is so funny.”

You wrinkled your nose, never having been a huge fan of kids. “Chan said you babysit for him sometimes.”

“It’s always nice to help someone out,” your mother tsked, and you could recognize her patronizing tone from anywhere. “Such a shame that he divorced his wife. Heard it was kinda nasty.”

“It’s not any of our business,” you reminded her.

“Oh, I didn’t say it was!” your mother sighed. “He doesn’t talk about it much.”

“Jeez, how much do you guys talk?”

Because from the sound of it, Changbin had to be as old as your mom to make this much of an impression. You grinned as you briefly imagined the two of them on the front porch drinking tea together and gossiping about the rest of the neighborhood.

“He’s far more friendly than Mrs. Jones was,” your mother remarked. “I think you’d like him, Y/N.”

“I don’t know about that...”

“Well, you’ll get the chance to meet him tonight,” your mother said, smile full and wide. “I’ve invited him over for dinner!”

Oh, great.

“Can’t wait,” you forced out between clenched teeth, rolling your eyes when your mom clapped her hands together before grabbing your hand to drag you inside, feeling only a distant shiver roll across your spine as you walked onto the porch as if someone was looking at you from afar....

Your mother was hardly the type to run out of conversation, and you eventually were forced to leave her downstairs to argue with Chan over some menial thing that he forgot to do for tonight’s big dinner while you trudged upstairs to find some peace.

Unsurprisingly, your childhood bedroom remained untouched, and you circled around the perimeter, studying old pictures of yourself playing sports and hanging out with friends. Fingers dusting over your collection of old trophies and high-school yearbooks that recalled long-ago days of feeling carefree - with the future wide-open in front of you for the taking.

But you were well off in the present, allowing yourself to indulge in the nostalgia of looking through old diaries and journals before your mother’s voice called you downstairs for dinner later that evening. “Coming!” you called back, pausing next to your mirror to check your reflection.

The smell of your mother’s cooking had your stomach rumbling from the hunger of only stopping once on the way home to eat cheap fast-food with Chan, and you forced yourself to walk like a normal person even though every instinct was screaming at you to find the source of that delicious odor.

You were nearly salivating at the idea of your mother’s homemade cooking, and your hand caught the rail of the bannister to turn the final corner, but the sounds of voices from below forced you to pause at the top of the stairs, eyes growing wide as you took in the sight of the unfamiliar man standing in your foyer, talking to your mother like they had known each other for years. “Oh, Y/N,” your mother said, and you shivered when the man turned to look at you. “Come meet our neighbor, Changbin. I think you’ll really like him.”

You held back a snort at the ironic comment because it only took you a few seconds to come to the conclusion that Changbin epitomized the phrase “just my type.”

He was on the shorter side, built like he had literally spent his entire life working out, arms bulging beneath his t-shirt and chest straining the material tight to his front. So much so that you could practically see his nipples through the fabric. 

His hair was jet-black, ruffled from the wind outside, and his eyes were equally as dark, lips contorted into a self-satisfied smirk that you found exceedingly hot.

“Hi,” you mustered without much thought, nearly tripping over your own two feet on the way down the stairs.

“This is my daughter, Y/N,” your mother said, inviting you closer so that you were standing directly in front of Changbin.

“Nice to meet you,” he said in a deep voice that was slightly rough around the edges.

“Y/N just graduate from college,” your mother gushed. “We’re so excited to have her back.”

“I’m home for the summer,” you explained, shivering at the dark look in Changbin’s gaze. “I’m starting an internship in the Fall.”

“Y/N will be working in publishing,” your mother explained, jumping in while you and Changbin continued to stare each other down - something intense and provocative.

“Really?” Changbin asked, eyes making a leisurely stroll of looking you up and in down in a way that had you feeling extremely self-conscious. 

“Oh! Give me one second to check something in the kitchen,” your mother said, excusing herself with a smile before leaving the two of you alone in the foyer.

You inwardly cursed your mother for leaving you both in an awkward silence. Say something!! You screamed to yourself.

“So,” you started, clearing your throat and forcing yourself to stop swaying back and forth. “Chan told me you practice law.”

“Yeah,” Changbin agreed, and you swooned at his crooked smile. “It doesn’t sound as interesting as your work.”

“I don’t know about that,” you countered politely, but Changbin was unrelenting.

“You looked surprised to see me earlier,” he remarked.

You swallowed hard. “Oh, well when Chan mentioned a neighbor with a kid, I just wasn’t expecting someone so....”

“Yes?” Changbin prodded, encouraging you to continue.

Someone so fucking hot, you thought to yourself, someone who was literally made inside my best fantasies, but those explicit thoughts belonged exclusively inside your head. “Young,” you eventually finished, and Changbin seemed disappointed for some reason.

“I’m 32,” he said, and your eyes widened perceptibly, realizing that he was ten years older than you.

“I would’ve never guessed,” you said. “I mean, not that it’s a bad thing-”

“It’s alright,” Changbin interrupted, and you were relieved to hear him chuckle. “I know what you mean.”

“I’m sorry,” you said. “I can be a little awkward.”

“No,” he shook his head, coming to stand a little closer. “I think it’s nice.”

Oh? What was that supposed to mean?

“I used to have a boyfriend who looked a lot like you,” you went on, freezing when you comprehended what you had just blathered without thinking.

But Changbin didn’t seem bothered at all. “I bet he wasn’t as old as me.”

“He was my age,” you said. “But I kinda like older men...”

Fuck. Did those words really just come out of your mouth?!

“Y/N,” Changbin said, and you trembled at the huskiness of his tone. “You should be more careful.” He leaned in then as if trying to keep whatever he was about to say a secret for just the two of you. “I can be a very dangerous man.”

“O-oh,” you stuttered, finding yourself two seconds away from literally melting at his feet when your mother suddenly re-entered the foyer with a dusting of flour across her chin. 

“Dinner’s ready!” she announced, and you were fleeing behind her without a second thought, escaping the intoxicating hold of Changbin’s presence before you did something you might regret.

For whatever reason, you found yourself sitting next to Changbin in the dining room for dinner that night. 

“I made chicken,” your mother said, gesturing to each dish sitting in a line down the center of the table as she explained tonight’s menu. But you were barely cognizant of what your mother was saying because the close proximity to Changbin was doing very strange things to your head.

“So, Y/N,” your father started when everyone had been served. “I hope your brother was helpful with the move.”

Chan rolled his eyes, but you grinned at your father’s words. “Yeah, I was a little out of it though because of the time.”

“Like I said,” Chan huffed. “I couldn’t get there any later.”

“Let the bickering commence,” your mother said. “Changbin, you wouldn’t believe the fights these two had when they were young.”

“I can only imagine,” Changbin said, and you were wondering how someone could be even more attractive by the sound of their voice alone.

“Do you still need us to babysit for you tomorrow night?” your mother asked. “We would be more than accommodating.”

“That would be great,” Changbin said. “I’ve got a late conference call.”

“It’s no problem,” your mother continued. “Your daughter is just the loveliest.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” Changbin replied.

“Y/N,” your mother said, catching you with a mouthful of chicken. “Changbin’s daughter is such a peach.”

You quickly forced down the food in your mouth when you felt Changbin’s gaze rest on you. “Oh? How hold is she, Mr. Seo?”

“She’s six,” Changbin said, and he shifted in his chair, causing your knees to brush together in a move that you knew wasn’t intentional, even if it didn’t stop your legs from wrapping together. “And you don’t have to be so formal with me, Y/N. Only my clients call me Mr. Seo.”

“O-oh,” you exhaled, reacting to the brief contact under the table, hoping that nobody else was noticing your strange behavior.

“Maybe Y/N could help watch Lucy when you’re gone,” your mother suggested, always the first to rope you into these things.

“Sure,” you agreed, even though the idea of pulling babysitting duty was less than appealing, and you could hear Chan snickering from across the table. He knew perfectly well your attitude when it came to kids. 

“I think Lucy would like that,” Changbin agreed, and you started to nod along until you felt Changbin’s hand move to your thigh.

Just that single move had your entire form frozen in place. 

While your mother continued talking about whatever subject caught her attention, you were left wondering how you should react to the very obvious posturing of Changbin’s hand moving decidedly against your bare skin.

“I’ll probably head back into town tomorrow morning,” Chan said. “I wasn’t able to get much work done.”

You knew it was a playful jab at you, but at that moment you were incapable of coherent speech.

“How is work, Channie?” your mother asked, just as ignorant as the rest of them to the situation unfolding beneath her table. “Anything interesting?”

“Not really,” Chan replied, and you nearly choked on the food you were swallowing when you felt Changbin squeezing your thigh. 

“Try to chew it first, Y/N,” your father chuckled, and you forced a smile which you hoped wasn’t as strained as it felt.

“What about you, Changbin?” your mother politely queried. “Anything interesting happening lately?”

“Maybe,” he said with a tone that was far too knowing.

“Hmmm?” your mother smiled. “You aren’t seeing anyone, are you?”

You knew the question was invasive, but Changbin handled it in stride. “I think it depends.”

“Sounds scandalous,” your mother joked, and you couldn’t have possibly been imagining it, feeling his fingers reach so high under the opening of your shorts that his fingertips touched the outline of your panties. 

You reached down to cover his hand with your own, bringing awareness to the fact that you weren’t ignoring what was happening, and he had every opportunity to pull back.

But he didn’t. In fact, Changbin’s light, playful touches only continued, and you were left reeling for what the intention could possibly mean.

Early the next morning, you were supposed to be cleaning the pool as a favor to your mother, but how could you be blamed for sneaking peaks at your neighbor working out in his backyard? 

“Holy shit,” you cursed under your breath, failing to do a very good job of pretending to be occupied with your current task while ogling the man across the lawn who was in the middle of another round of push-ups, biceps flexing while the rest of his body practically glowed under the sun. 

You knew it wasn’t a crime to permit the occasional glance, but your hardcore staring could certainly be qualified as spying at this point (especially in the direction of a lawyer) - making it blatantly obvious that you were very appreciative of the male form at the peak of performance.

Was Changbin seriously 32? And a father?

The questions boggled your mind, and in your distracted state, you clearly forgot to keep a firm hold on the handle of the pool’s leaf skimmer, huffing in annoyance when it splashed beneath the water.

It was enough to attract Changbin’s attention, and you were sure that your face was just as red as the towel draped over the back of your mother’s patio furniture when he stood to his full height before walking in your direction.

“Were you watching me?” Changbin asked, sauntering over to you with black mesh shorts hanging tantalizingly low on his hips, shirt foregone in exchange for a delightful sheen of sweat coating the skin of his thick upper torso in dripping rivulets. 

“Uh...” you trailed off anxiously, realizing that Changbin wouldn’t be stupid enough to fall for your half-assed excuses, especially after what had happened between the two of you last night. 

“You’re not planning on lying to me, Y/N?” he asked, raising one eyebrow in question.

“N-no, Mr. Seo,” you said, shaking your head quickly, barely keeping a firm grasp of your bearings as he abruptly leaned in closer, musk hanging heavy in the air between the two of you. 

“I told you not to call me that,” he said, lips lingering far too close to your ear for a simple neighborly exchange, and you could feel the body heat emanating from him in waves, holding you completely hostage as you briefly entertained the idea of falling to your knees right then and there. 

“What should I call you?” you asked instead, fisting your shirt between your hands because you were desperate for something to ground you in that moment. 

You could practically feel his smirk, holding in a gasp when his hand settled at the low dip in your spine, fitting into the space there as he pulled you tight against his front. “You can always call me daddy instead.”

Your heart skipped several beats at the scandalous words. Either that or you had just entered cardiac arrest.

But before you could muster a response, you found yourself leaping out of Changbin’s hold when the backdoor opened, and your mother was screaming out your name while waving like a maniac. “Oh!” she said when she realized that you weren’t alone. “I didn’t mean to interrupt!”

“We were just talking,” you quickly inserted, glancing at Changbin from the corner of your eye to see him smirking. 

For a while, the very strange flirtation between you and Changbin simmered down, and you tried your best to avoid him when you could, even if he made that very hard to do since he insisted on doing his morning workouts outside in direct line of your bedroom.

It was during the following week that you brought the divine glory of Changbin to your friend, Laura’s, attention, ushering her into your house when she parked on the side of street. “What the hell, Y/N?” she complained when you started practically dragging her up the stairs. “I’ve been driving for hours.”

“Oh, hush,” you said. “You’ll thank me later.”

“Thank you for what, exactly?” Laura questioned, but your response was to simply push her toward the window, standing side by side as you looked through the blinds.

“My new neighbor.”

“Holy fuck!” Laura gasped when she finally joined you, and you could only nod your agreement as the two of you continued to watch Changbin through two narrow breaks in your blinds, wondering how the image of your sexy neighbor simply mowing his grass could make you so wet. “That man is huge!”

“I think he does it on purpose,” you remarked, feeling your heart palpitate inside your chest when Changbin took a moment to pause his chore, reaching down to remove his shirt and tuck it into the waistband of his shorts.

Laura’s gasp was almost outlandishly laughable. “He’s ripped! Like, Sports Illustrated model worthy.”

“I would buy every last copy of that edition.”

“I’d even go a step further and tape the pictures to my wall.”

You both stopped to look at one another, nodding in your collective agreement. “Not here, though, my mom would freak.”

“Yeah, but how can your mom expect you to just ignore...that!” Laura exclaimed, gesturing wildly to Changbin. 

“She thinks he’s a fucking Saint, but I swear to god, Laura, he’s provoking me on purpose! The other night at dinner? He came over and put. his. hand. on. my. leg,” you said, emphasizing the last line with what probably looked like a comical widening of your eyes. “And he works out every morning in front of my bedroom? What the hell am I supposed to think?”

“No think,” Laura sighed dreamily. “Just enjoy the view.”

“Do you think I’m not?” you snorted. “I’m serious about him doing those things!”

“So what?” Laura grumbled. “Why are you actually worried that your fucking super model neighbor wants to make a few moves on you? I would be honored.”

“I’m not worried,” you huffed. “It just feels like he wants something from me.”

“Well, if it’s a good fuck, then send him all the signals you can, girl.”

“Really?” you muttered. “You know I suck with flirting. That’s why I only hooked up with Joshua at those stupid frat parties. He didn’t care that I was an awkward mess.”

“Well, neither will your neighbor,” Laura said. “Especially if he’s as interested as you say.”

You pursed your lips, considering her comment, but the sudden and unexpected sound of your door opening sent both you and Laura jumping nearly ten feet into the air as you hurried away from the blinds as fast as humanely possible to take up some form of normalcy.

No, mom, of course we weren’t staring at Mr. Seo.

“Girls,” your mother inquired as she walked inside, and you prayed that your mother hadn’t caught the two of you taking sly peaks at Changbin outside, but she seemed completely ignorant. “I have a question for you.”

“Hmmm?” you inquired, innocently enough, trying to act like the position that you had forced yourself into on the bed was totally not uncomfortable.

“Changbin needs someone to watch Lucy tomorrow night, but your father and I already made plans,” she said. “But I told him you would be more than happy to come over and help him out.”

You winced when Laura elbowed you in the side, giving you one of those looks that you knew quite well from countless nights of barhopping as sophomores. “Yeah, I don’t mind.”

“I’m sure you don’t,” Laura snickered, but you payed her no attention as you hurried to close the door behind your mother’s retreating form, breathing a sigh of relief to hear her walk back down the stairs.

In all of your years of existence, never had you questioned the appropriateness of an outfit to wear to someone’s place to babysit.

“Fuck it,” you eventually decided, settling on regular, well-worn jeans and a college t-shirt.

After all, it wasn’t like Changbin was staying for very long. He claimed he had something to do at the office, and you would be all alone inside his house with only his kid for companionship.

Still, after your conversation with Laura from the previous afternoon, you couldn’t help but feel more mindful about how he might look at you, and you forced yourself to wear your most professional smile when you rang the doorbell to his house, counting slowly from one until he opened the door.

“Hi, Y/N,” Changbin said, and you tried not to blatantly check him out; although, you couldn’t help but linger on the tight fit of his shirt across his pecs.

“Hello,” you nearly whispered, cursing your hormones as you followed Changbin inside.

“I actually have something to tell you,” Changbin said, leading you into the living room so that you could sit down while entered the adjoining kitchen.

“Oh?” you queried, as politely as you could, waiting for him to return.

It didn’t take him long, and you found yourself sitting up a little straighter from where you had made yourself comfortable on the couch. “So, I actually found someone else to watch Lucy,” Changbin explained, coming around to land next to you on the couch with two glasses of wine. 

“You did?” you asked, surprised and taken-aback. 

Why were you here then?

As if he could read your thoughts, Changbin smirked. “Thirsty?”

“Sure,” you agreed, taking one of the glasses and bringing the rim up to your lips. “I’m sorry, I just thought you wanted me to watch her.”

“I did,” Changbin said, and he seemed contemplative as he sipped his own drink. “But then I kinda wanted you for something else.”

“Something else?” you repeated because your mind was spinning those simple words in a thousand different directions, and you were only able to settle on one likely outcome when Changbin’s hand dropped to your thigh, reminiscent of your first dinner together from several evenings ago. 

He suddenly moved in closer to you, allowing you to smell the subtle cologne that he was wearing. “You’ve been watching me,” he said, and you shivered, feeling both hot and cold at the same time as you looked at him.

“S-sir?”

“Don’t play coy,” Changbin continued, and you found yourself observing the way his throat bobbed as he drank. “I don’t mind the attention.”

“You don’t?” you replied, a rather useless question considering the circumstances, and Changbin took your glass and sat both alcoholic selections onto the side table.

“Why wouldn’t I like it?” he asked, tracing little nonsensical patterns on the covered part of your thigh. “You’re a very beautiful girl.”

What. The. Hell?!!

“Mr. Seo, I don’t think-”

“Y/N,” Changbin interrupted, and you were so frazzled and disjointed by the sharp grip he took on your chin, forcing eye-contact that was so intimate, you could feel yourself grow a little bit wetter. “I told you not to call me that.”

It was the only precursor you got before Changbin was delving in, gripping your chin firmly as he connected your lips in a deep, sensuous exchange that had you reeling from the sudden 180 degree turn that the night had taken. 

In one word: everything was rough. Teeth meeting teeth, and tongues rolling in a messy glide against one another. Wet and warm. Silky and smooth. It was everything you needed in a kiss to get your gears turning, feeling your pussy positively throbbing in response.

“That’s right,” Changbin eventually said when he pulled the two of you apart - very much still in control. “We shouldn’t ignore this tension between us.”

“No,” you eagerly agreed, diving in once more for another earth-shattering kiss that rocked you to your very bones, taking the initiative to crawl into his lap, grinding yourself shamelessly against the tight bulge in his jeans while your fingers dug their way into his thick, dark hair. 

“Eager,” Changbin whispered between feverish kisses, keeping your mouths locked together at all costs, even if that meant growing a little bit light-headed from losing too much oxygen.

But you couldn’t get enough of him, not after all this teasing and tension. 

You didn’t care anymore, consequences be damned, and there wasn’t a single part of you opposing his intentional touches, giving him enough space to unbutton your jeans before sliding one hand beneath the waistband of your panties. In response, you moaned into his mouth, bracing your hands against his shoulders as he found the delicate folds of your pussy.

“Do you want me to touch you here?” Changbin asked, and you were feverishly nodding, sweat forming at the top of your forehead, trying your best to hold back your loudest moans when he slid right in with little resistance, moving his fingers around the inside of your cunt, stretching and filling you in a way that you imagined was nothing compared to what the thick cock beneath you could do.

But you would take anything from him, savoring the glide of his fingers since you were practically drenching him in sticky arousal, jerking forward every so often when his thumb pressed down a little too hard against your clit.

All the while, you could feel yourself start to break apart from the heated contact between the two of you, aching and wanting for the release that the look in his eyes told you he had every intention of providing.

And you were enjoying every bit of the journey to get there, bathing in his attention, groaning when his fingers curled up just right to tease your g-spot, and grinding down against the erection confined tightly in his jeans. 

Everything was suddenly so much louder, the sounds of his palm smacking against your cunt, fingers gliding through wetness, and the joined harmony of your combined moans and grunts. 

It was a rapid uphill ascent into the clouds, and you could feel him start to move even faster, pulling against the fabric of your jeans, and there was hardly any time for your mind to truly comprehend what was happening. Lost in a sinful haze of lust and divine rapture, wanting nothing more than to just lose yourself in Changbin.

Except he wasn’t letting you simply drown in the pleasure he was giving you, tugging at your hair to bring you back to the present, to the final string keeping your orgasm just out of reach. “You don’t think I haven’t noticed,” Changbin growled into your ear, keeping one hand tight around your waist to stop your squirming as he continued plunging his thick fingers between the tight walls of your pussy. “I see you looking at me because I want you to look.”

You moaned at the explicit expression of his desires, closing your eyes and returning your head against his shoulder, hips titillating according to the way he moved his fingers inside of you. 

“Cum for me,” he said, and you were more than willing to let go of everything, including the moans you had been trying to hold back, filling the house with the loud raucous of your screams as your orgasm snapped and unleashed a molten hot thrill along your spine.

You were gasping for breath, returning from the highest peak of satisfaction, but Changbin hardly gave you anytime to recover before he was removing his hand from your jeans and forcing you into the floor.

“My turn,” he grunted, and the sound of his belt unbuckling triggered some semblance of rationale, and you were practically salivating over Changbin’s cock, eyeing the red bulbous mushroom head and wondering how deep you could take him. “Well?” Changbin prodded, grabbing the base of his thick erection to brush it across the pout of your lips. “Open wide.”

You whimpered, but obeyed, allowing your tongue to stick out just enough to taste the drop of precum leaking from the tip. It was bitter and unappealing, but since it was from Changbin, you couldn’t resist trying more of him, going further and further down until you felt him at the back of your throat.

Your jaw was already aching from the extension, and a distant thought had you thinking, damn, you were gonna be sore in the morning. But it was completely worth it to hear him moan from above you, fingers tightening in your hair as you allowed him to set the pace, rolling you up and down his cock, tongue sweeping the sides and tip and digging into the little slit where you discovered he was the most sensitive. 

At the same time, you were all but humping his leg, desperate to get off again as he used your mouth for his own personal cocksleeve, hitting the back of your throat repeatedly, sending you gagging around his impossible length.

“You take cock like you were made for it,” he remarked, eyes glossing over in a way that had you feeling rather proud of your skills. 

It only lasted for a moment, and he abruptly held himself all the way down for one, two, three seconds until you were whining for him to let you free just long enough to take in another deep breath. 

“Finish me off,” he groaned, and you were working overtime to bring him to the edge, bobbing your head up and down the full expanse of his length, all gorgeous and velvety smooth skin. And you braced your hands against his knees, an anchor to reality, when he finally released down your throat, heavy and warm, causing you to nearly choke as you struggled to swallow every last drop.

“Good girl,” he whispered, petting your head softly as you whined and continued to rub yourself against him, jumping off the brink of orgasmic bliss right after him, allowing your head to fall down between his spread legs.

It was a quiet for a while as you both fought to catch your breath, but then he was moving again, rising from his position on the couch. 

You sat back on your heels at the jostling, whimpering when he stood over you with a menacing sneer, grabbing your face between his hands, forcing your gazes to meet somewhere in the middle even though you still couldn’t completely concentrate. But you were cognizant to at least understand his next words: “Lucy won’t be here tomorrow night, either.”

“Changbin,” you gasped, understanding the implications of his request and shivering at the effect they could still have on your worn-out body. 

“I’ll leave the door unlocked,” he whispered into your ear, keeping eye-contact as he brought his fingers still coated with your arousal into his mouth, sucking while you grew faint at the sight. Then, he pulled them free and knelt down to sear your lips together so that you could taste the riveting combination of your releases on his wicked tongue. 

You returned home that night in a daze, immediately heading for your room after assuring your mother that everything was totally fine with the babysitting, even if you probably appeared a little out of sorts. 

In the meantime, you landed on top of your bed with a sigh, opening your phone contacts to pull up Laura’s name, placing the call without any mind to the late hour.

She answered on the third ring with a curt grunt. “This better be good, Y/N.”

“Oh?” you replied with a nonchalant tone. “I thought you might be interested in hearing about my latest dick appointment.”

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end. “You didn’t.”

“I did!”

“With your neighbor?”

You laughed at Laura’s shrill tone, rolling over onto your stomach with your feet dancing in the air behind you. “I totally sucked him off.” 

“Shit! How big is his cock?” Laura whispered over the phone as if anybody could possibly overhear your conversation. 

“Let’s just say he’s well-endowed.”

“You absolute slut!” Laura exclaimed. “Did he at least return the favor?”

“Oh, he’s a gentleman,” you explained. “He took care of me first.”

“Details!”

“He just fingered me,” you said, even as your mind sprinted with images and sensations; Changbin’s sultry gaze, defined muscles, and the burning desire he had planted deep in your core. 

“That’s hot though,” Laura said. “I can’t believe you actually did anything with him.”

“What? I told you he was sending me signals!”

“Yeah, but I was only halfway assuming that those signals might lead to his fingers in you!”

You couldn’t help yourself, laughing at Laura’s incredulous tone, and spending the next several minutes doing your absolute best to provide a heavily detailed play-by-play of your evening tryst with Changbin. 

“Lucky bitch,” Laura scoffed at the end of your long-winded tale. “I’d kill for someone to fuck me.”

“Well, we haven’t gotten there yet...”

“Yet? Are you planning to go back to him?”

“Obviously,” you said. “There’s unfinished business that I need to take care of.”

“You think he wants to fuck you?”

“I think he wants to do a lot to me,” you purred, smirking at the sounds of Laura’s outlandish squeals from the other end.

Still, you didn’t think those explicit fantasies would come to fruition so soon. But the next night when you returned to Changbin’s house under the guise of babysitting his kid, there were no formalities between the two of you because you both wanted each other in a way that should be considered improper. 

Fortunately, you were tired of caring about other people’s opinions, and it only took Changbin a moment to pull you into his house before his lips were crushing against yours, holding you around the waist as he started working at your clothes.

If whiplash was a thing in moments like these, then you had it bad, trying to follow the taste of him as he backed you both into the bedroom, closing the door and enveloping you both in the gentle glow from the lamp.

“Get on the bed,” Changbin growled when he finally pulled away, reaching down for the hem of his t-shirt. You swallowed hard at the sight of his broad, toned upper form, stumbling backward along the floor, hopping on one leg to finish removing your jeans for him, leaving you completely naked as you lowered yourself onto the mattress. “Good girl,” Changbin cooed, and you shivered at the huskiness of his voice, rubbing your thighs together in anticipation as he blatantly traced the outline of his cock through his jeans.

“Changbin, please,” you panted, already so worked up from just kissing and feeling his hands all over your body that you were desperate for something more.

“What do you want, gorgeous?” he asked, walking slowly around to the front of the bed as you watched him with eager eyes.

“Want you to fuck me,” you said, heart thundering against your chest when he started working apart his belt, pulling down his jeans and boxers and allowing his thick cock to slap up against his abdomen, already so hard for you even though you had just started.

“Hands and knees,” Changbin ordered, and you were surprised by your quick compliance, supporting yourself on shaky limbs as you felt him climb on the bed behind you, tensing when the head of his cock grazed your wet opening. “Look at you,” Changbin rumbled, teasing you even more by running his fingers down your spine, allowing his other hand to reach around to grope your breast.

“Hurry,” you practically begged him, and it was like the metaphorical band had finally snapped, and you moaned when Changbin took a firm hold of your hips, manhandling you back into position. 

“Good girls say please,” he snarled, and your entire form light up at the abrupt command.

“P-please,” you stuttered, and there was an unholy line of curses that left your lips when he directed his cock inside, penetrating you so slowly that you could feel every inch of him until he was snug against your ass.

“Since you asked nicely,” Changbin chuckled, and you had never been so turned on before in your entire life, heart racing and blood pumping, bracing yourself against the mattress when he started thrusting, gentle at first, but then faster and faster as you egged him on, wanting him to go so hard that he split you in half around his cock. 

“Oh, fuck,” you gasped, struggling to maintain any sort of grip on the headboard. 

“You’ve been holding out on me,” Changbin purred into your ear, sounding perfectly put-together despite the fact that he was literally drilling his cock into you. “All those guys you’ve fucked before, I would think your pussy wouldn’t be this tight.”

“You’re just too big,” you managed, crying out when he grazed a sensitive spot. 

“Oh? Is that why this little pussy is leaking so much?” Changbin asked, and you had no response for him, clearly fucked out of all rational thought as his hips slapped against yours in a bruising meeting of skin-on-skin. 

It was undeniable: you had never felt this full before...like Changbin’s cock was somehow reaching all the way to your guts, and you reached down to place a hand over your stomach, imagining feeling the bulge of his cock against the distended skin.

“How does daddy feel?” Changbin whispered into your ear, and if it was possible for him to literally destroy you, then it would be from that heavily suggestive question.

“So good,” you sniffled, tears falling inhibited, leaving your face just as wet as the place where he was crushing himself into you, repeating the same motion of leaving just the tip before re-entering you with added urgency, cock forcing its way between the slick walls of your cunt. 

It was a beautiful melodic song after that (or, perhaps, hard metal would be a much better genre), the rhythm of his hips rolling against your own, hard and then softer, bruising and fleeting, stuffing your pussy on every upstroke, holding you in place by his pure strength. 

You could feel that strength everywhere, the force of his cock squelching between your pulsating walls, the way you moved up and down the bed by his control, and, when you reached back with one hand to feel his arm, the flex of his biceps as his arms worked to move you however he pleased.

“What will your mother say, Y/N?” Changbin asked. “When she finds out that her daughter fucked the man next door?”

Your mother would absolutely lose her shit if she found out that you were willingly spreading your legs for a divorced 32-year old man who had a daughter you were meant to be babysitting. She would be even more taken aback to discover that you loved and craved every second of Changbin’s cock tearing you to pieces, stretching you so good that you imagined that you would still be gaping in the morning, desperate to have him fill you again. 

“Her little girl screaming like a slut for me,” Changbin hissed. “Say my name, Y/N.”

“C-Changbin,” you whimpered, feeling him roll to a slower pace, merely grinding his hips in circles as if teasing you for the answer.

You flinched and nearly cried when he smacked the fleshy part of your ass, trying to look back over your shoulder to see what you had done wrong. “Try again,” he said, giving you a meaningful look that your poor, fucked-out brain still managed to decipher; although, you were burning in your own skin at the thought of saying it out loud....

“Daddy!” you moaned, and Changbin suddenly reached down to catch a fistful of your hair, pulling your head back and forcing your back into an even deeper arch. 

“That’s right,” he sneered. “And Daddy’s about to ruin this pussy, fuck it so full of my cum that you’ll still be feeling it when you go back home tonight to your parents and lie about what you’ve done.”

Your next moan was the loudest of the night, overwhelmed by the nasty things he was saying to you, feeling your orgasm gaining speed and traction the longer he kept fucking you, cock moving at a neck-break pace, and fingers wet and hurried over your clit.

The combined friction of his cock and fingers had you reeling, struggling to keep yourself up as he pummeled you into the mattress. Taking great liberties in the screams he was forcing out of you, realizing that if he angled his hips with one of your legs stretched higher around his hip, then he could somehow reach even deeper, kissing your cervix and threatening to steal the breath from your lungs. 

More and More. Faster and Faster. Until the breaking point was right under your nose...

The next thing you remember is a release that was so intense, you managed to black-out when it was all over, pussy fluttering around the distinct waves of pleasure, barely coherent as Changbin continued chasing his own release until he fulfilled his obscene promise to you. 

Three Weeks Later

You had gotten awfully good at keeping Changbin a secret - a dirty and scandalous whisper at that. 

For a while, your mother questioned your insistence on going over to your neighbor’s house to babysit, especially considering your history of being less than willing to interact with children.

“She’s not like most kids,” you lied, waiting for your mother to relent before grabbing whatever bag you needed consisting of your overnight clothes, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible when you walked over to Changbin’s house.

Your mother watched you, at first, standing on the porch as if ensuring that you made it the dozen or so feet separating your yard from that of your neighbor’s. Eventually, she gave up on trying to catch you doing something you weren’t supposed to, but you still kept up appearances, ringing the doorbell and taking a few steps to the side to leave enough room for the screen to rotate on its hinges, offering you the irresistible view of Changbin standing there in all his glory. 

“You’re early,” he remarked; although he seemed to take great pleasure in seeing you as early as possible.

“Is that okay?” you asked with a knowing look, and Changbin chuckled while giving you his most arrogant smirk. 

In return, you smiled back at Changbin, watching him open the door just a little bit wider in invitation.

It was all you needed before surrendering yourself to whatever delicious and mind-blowing ecstasy awaited on you the other side.  

Summer of 69 indeed.

[princecameronlovedacommoner]

all i can think of right now is topper finding out about rafe and barry being fuck buddies and him getting all protective and rafe trying to convince him barry’s chill

Okay so this turned out pretty fluffy hehe Or at least it’s a super fluffy ending. I hope you like it and thank you for your prompt!!! :)

(Warnings: Mentions of suicidal thoughts, hospitalization, and rehab for an addiction)

A few tough topics in the characters’ pasts but I swear it’s a nice happy ending for everyone!

“Sooo, this is the new place, huh?” Topper eyed each corner of the screened in patio carefully, as if he were expecting a terrible surprise if he sat down in the wrong place.

Rafe couldn’t exactly blame him for that. He had found a few needles in the couch cushions once upon a time, before he’d moved in permanently and cleaned the place up. But Barry didn’t deal with the hardcore shit anymore and customers weren’t always lingering all over the place now that there was a legal storefront where they could pick up their weed then take it home to smoke.

“Home sweet home.” Rafe confirmed, tossing Topper a beer when he finally settled on a place to sit down. “Like what I did with the furniture out here? Now these couches match the one in the living room.”

Topper nodded with a thoughtful hum. “Sugar Daddy let you splurge a little on the remodeling?” He questioned and Rafe rolled his eyes.

“Shut up. He’s not my sugar daddy. We’re getting married.”

Topper hadn’t opened his drink yet, even as Rafe was downing his own, perched contently on the armrest next to his best friend and just looking like he was at ease with the world.

That was a look Topper had never seen on Rafe, but still, he wasn’t going to just give this guy his blessing without making him work a little first. He’d heard some troubling stories about Rafe’s knight in not so shiny armor, and he felt it was his responsibility to look out for his buddy, since Ward Cameron obviously wouldn’t.

“You look…happy?” Topper tried to sound convincing, like he actually bought the idea already that Rafe was making the right call with this guy.

“You sound surprised.” Rafe raised a brow, setting his beer aside and wiping a line of foam from his mouth. “Look, man, I know it’s not figure eight worthy or anything but it’ll grow on you.”

“Rafe.” Topper ran his hands over his face.

“It’s not the scum on the siding is it?” Rafe asked. “Barry’s uncle’s supposed to come and power wash that before the wedding.”

“No, no, the house isn’t the problem, man.” Topper met Rafe’s eyes again, gathering the courage to ask him some harder questions. “I’m worried about you being with this dude.” He confessed. “I know he sells pot in town now, but he used to be a coke dealer right?”

Rafe scrunched up his nose. “Used to be doesn’t mean he is now.” He huffed defensively. “I used to be an addict. Now I’m not. And Barry changed a lot for me…”

“Didn’t he get you addicted in the first place?”

“So fucking what?” Rafe growled, doing his best to remember the breathing techniques that were supposed to help him settle in moments of frustration and anger. “He got clean when I did.” He told Topper, fists slowly beginning to unclench at his sides. “And if it wasn’t for him, I’d still be a mess in the head. You know he was the one who finally took me to talk to somebody, right? Ward didn’t do shit besides throw a few checks to the rehab place…Barry was there for me, man. When I went in, when I got home. He really got me through everything. Even now he always keeps up with my appointments, reminds me to take my pills and all that.”

Topper felt a bit guilty now. He’d just assumed that it had been Ward who finally caved and started paying attention to Rafe’s problems.

That is what a father would do, after all. Eventually. Hopefully. But in Rafe’s case, apparently his “father” hadn’t come through. His fiancé had.

“Did he uh…Did he take you to the hospital that one night?” Topper inquired. He tried to keep the memories of that particular evening to a minimum. It scared him even now, thinking of Rafe in the worst state he’d ever been in, storming out of his house with a gun and shouting about putting himself out of his own misery. He’d claimed it would be the best thing for them all.

It wouldn’t have been and Topper knew it even then, but while his words hadn’t been enough to stop Rafe that night, this new guy’s supposedly had.

Topper called Rafe’s phone a million times after he��d left and finally the next morning he’d gotten a text back.

“Rafe’s fine. Took him to ER. They keepin him for a few days.”

Topper had this confirmed himself, hurrying to the hospital and asking after his best friend, almost sobbing and tears ready to pour down his face as he panicked to the nurse at the front desk of the psychiatric ward.

“Mr. Cameron is safe and that is all I can tell you for now.”

Normally Topper would argue for more information but the knowledge alone that Rafe was still breathing was plenty to put his mind at ease.

At least it was until Rafe disappeared for a long time after that.

Topper had gotten one phone call and this time it was Rafe himself, just after getting out of the hospital three days after the incident.

“Listen, I’m going away for a bit.” He’d told Topper. “If Dad asks, tell him I’m fine. I’ve got a um…a friend…with me. He’s gonna take me to Dallas. There’s a rehab program there that’s supposed to be good.”

Topper remembers feeling relieved and fearful at the same time, happy for his friend that he was finally getting some help but wondering who on earth he’d gotten mixed up with that was taking him all the way to Texas.

“Tell your friend to take care of you, alright, man?” He’d pleaded with Rafe. “Stay safe, bud. We’ll celebrate when you come back.”

“For sure.” Rafe hadn’t sounded very hopeful then but now, Topper saw a completely different person when he looked at his best friend.

He was happy, peaceful, finally able to live his life without fear of Ward’s tyranny…and he was getting married soon. To a guy that Topper still hadn’t met, but that had done a lot for Rafe.

When the front door to the trailer opened and shut and footsteps could be heard walking through the living room, Topper wasn’t sure whether he wanted to try to be as thankful or as intimidating as possible.

“Yo, baby!” A thickly accented voice called once the man it belonged to reached the kitchen to grab a drink for himself out of the fridge. “You home? Where’s your little friend, huh? Thought we was grabbin’ somethin’ to eat!”

“Out here!” Rafe answered, smiling even before his fiancé came to stand in the doorway of the patio.

He looked like quite a rough character, and in fact…Topper recognized him.

“You!?” He let the demand for an explanation fall straight from his dropped jaw.

“Yeah, me.” Barry snorted, setting the beer he was carrying aside and holding his arms out for Rafe. “Where’s my welcome home kisses, sweet thang. Come here and let me squeeze you a little.” He pulled Rafe into his arms and held him tight, kissing against his neck and then pressing one gentle peck to his lips. “Thought I told you not to go gettin any prettier while I was gone.” He grinned, and Rafe just looked so…in love? Topper couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Hey tone it down in front of Top, babe. Alright?” Rafe was blushing and unable to hide the fond little grin he wore once Barry sat him back down. “He’s a little squirmy about this kinda thing.”

Barry turned to look at Topper, eyes scanning the younger man up and down before he nodded his approval. “You the one that calls in to check on Country Club all the time, ain’t ya?” He asked.

Topper nodded. “He’s my best friend.” He confirmed to Barry. “Just wanna be sure he’s doing alright still.”

Barry gave Topper a friendly smile then and whacked him on the back in a brotherly manner. “You alright, man. We’ll get along just fine…Baby Cakes? You take your medicine this mornin’ after I left?” His full attention was back on Rafe, sitting back on the nearest couch and pulling his fiancé down onto his lap to hug on him.

Alright. This was good. Topper was convinced that he could be friends with Barry.

Maybe Rafe had better taste in men than he’d once thought.

[study-coffee-chicago]

Three Strikes (A Halstead Brothers + Halstead Sister! Imagine

When you moved in with Jay and Will after your dad had died, they had devised a three-strike system for punishments. Seeing as you were only fifteen and had lost both parents, they knew that they'd be dealing with some teenage angst. So, they had decided on this...and it would help them not be super overprotective, while still allowing you to be a teenager. But, make no mistake, Jay could turn what you saw as one strike into three strikes with a snap of his fingers. Much like his day job as a cop, he could find another thing or two to charge you with that you hadn't thought of before. And, well, bad luck comes in threes. If you thought your first three strikes of this week were going to be bad, you were in for a ride when another two came along.

***

Strike One

"How's it going, kid?" Hermann asked as you walked through the back entrance of Molly's.

"Good, school's normal," you answered, setting your backpack down and then going over to the sink to wash your hands. You brought your backpack in case it was slow because then you could get some reading or studying in.

"How close are you to getting those tickets?" he asked, grabbing a crate of glasses.

"I've got $350 so far, so halfway there. Mind if I listen to music back here?"

"Knock yourself out. But, you know the rules, one headphone so if I need you out there--which I shouldn't and can't because you're too young, but you know what I mean-- if we're slow and I need you to clean tables, you'll be able to hear me."

"Copy that, boss," you joked.

Hermann left with his crate of glasses and went to the front of the house, while you put in a headphone and shuffled one of your favorite playlists to work to. Then, you turned your attention to the dirty glasses and snack plates on the counter that needed to be washed.

***

You were hurrying to put some glasses away on a shelf behind the bar when you heard a voice you knew all too well.

"One of your finest IPAs, Hermann."

Shit. If he was done for the day, then that meant...

"Sure thing, officer," Hermann joked as you quickly pushed through the door and into the back, nearly knocking into Stella.

"Whoa there, Y/N, slow down. What's got you all in a hurry?"

"I just remembered I have a geometry test tomorrow," you lied. "You mind if I slip out now so I have a bit more time to study?"

"Yeah, no problem. I'll let Hermann know. Good luck on the test and don't study too late!"

"I would never!"

Then, you quickly slipped on your jacket and hat, grabbed your backpack, and walked out the backdoor.

All you could think on your three-block walk home was that Jay better not be home, because if he was,  you were so dead.

Jay typically got home around 11pm, and your shift at Molly's ended around 10:30...and your curfew was 10pm. And, because you were only fifteen and couldn't drive yet, it took you about fifteen minutes to walk home, so you'd get home around 10:45 and get all situated to make it looked like you had been studying for at least an hour before Jay got home.

You slowly turned the doorknob to go into the house, hoping that he'd be at the gym or out with Hailey. When you got inside and saw that all the lights were off, you breathed a sigh of relief and started up the stairs to your bedroom.

"I don't know where she is, Will! If I knew where she was I wouldn't be calling you now would I?" you heard Jay yell into his phone from his room.

Shit, shit, shit.

You were starting to walk back down the hallway and go back downstairs, maybe walk to the 24-hour coffee shop near your house and call him and tell him that you had lost track of time studying when you heard a door being forcefully flung open.

Run outside or freeze? Run outside or freeze? He'd see me either way and if I ran it would just make me look guilty, but maybe--

"Where have you been?" You were snapped out of your thoughts by Jay's loud voice booming down the hallway. He marched closer to you as you just stared at him with wide eyes. He crossed his arms across his chest. "Well?"

"I was at the library." But, it came out sounding more like a question.

"Wanna try again? Tell me the truth this time."

"I..." You sighed. Here goes your perfect plan of surprising your brothers with hockey tickets. "I was working at Molly's."

"If you're gonna lie, at least put some effort into it, for me," Jay groaned, throwing his head back.

"I'm telling the truth!"

Jay snorted. "Yeah right. Phone now."

"I'm telling you the truth, Jay! I was there because..."

"Because, why?"

"Uh, forget it." At least, this way you wouldn't have to ruin the surprise.

"Yeah, I knew you were out somewhere you shouldn't have been."

You held your phone in your hand. "I only have one strike. I get to keep it." You raised your eyebrow, daring your brother to challenge your logic.

Jay shook his head and looked down and laughed.

"What's so funny?" you demanded.

"That you think you're right." You opened your mouth to reply, but Jay stopped you. "Strike number one, breaking curfew. But, you knew that. Strike number two, lying to me about where you were because you told me two different places, so at least one, if not both places, were lies. And strike three--care to turn on your phone?"

"Why?"

"You hand me your phone and it turns off or is dead because you ran out of battery, you can keep it. If not, and you turned it off so I wouldn't know where you were, then I get to keep it for a while. Now, hand it over."

You sighed and handed it to Jay. He pressed the home button and when it didn't turn on, he looked at you. "Anything you wanna say?"

"No."

He held down on the power button and the screen became illuminated. When it turned on, he saw the battery percentage. "61%. Guess this is mine for the time being."

"Jay," you whined.

"Don't Jay me. You brought this on yourself. Now, you might wanna get to bed since you have school tomorrow."

"When will I get my phone back?"

"When I say you can have it back."

You groaned and turned around to go to your room and get ready for bed.

"Goodnight to you, too!" Jay yelled at your retreating back.

***

"Grounded, huh?" Will asked when you walked inside after school the next day.

"Jesus, Will!" You jumped. "You scared me." Will chuckled. "What are you doing here?"

"I am babysitting you."

"Jay put you up to this?"

"Yup."

"God, I'm 15," you whined. "He can't trust me for a few hours until he gets home?"

"He did trust you. But, then you snuck off and broke curfew and turned your phone off so he couldn't track you, so you needing a babysitter is warranted."

"Really? You're supposed to agree with me here!"

"No can do. I'm with Jay on this one. Where did you go anyway?"

"I was working under the table at Molly's."

Will scoffed. "Yeah right. If it's so bad that you have to pretend to be working, maybe I don't wanna know. But, Jay's a cop. He'll find out eventually."

"There's nothing to find out. I didn't do anything wrong!" You turned on your heel and started up the stairs. "I'm going to my room to do homework...since I obviously can't do anything else because I'm grounded."

An hour later, Will told you that he had gotten called in to work since there was a multi-vehicle crash and he was needed at Med ASAP. So, he left you home. And, since it was only 5:00, you figured you could get a few hours of work in at Molly's. After all, Hermann didn't know you were grounded.

***

Strike Two

You started your walk home around 10:30 as you normally did. You hadn't seen anyone from Intelligence (or Med) at Molly's when you left, so you hoped Jay wasn't home and that Will was so busy that he hadn't had time to come back and check on you. It's not like Will could call you because Jay had your phone. And, he had it at work with him. He wasn't that stupid that he'd leave it at home because he knew you'd tear the place apart in search of it.

Everything was going fine, except for the fact that you were checking over your shoulder every minute because it was dark and you didn't have your phone. Everything was fine...until you got halfway home.

You started to climb up a snowbank like you had when you were little when you, Jay, and Will would play king of the mountain and push each other off. (Well, they pushed each other off. If they so much as tried to push you, your mom would drag them in by their ear.) Everything was fine...until you got to the top of it.

Whoever had plowed the past few days had done a really shitty job of making sure all the snow was there because, before you knew it, your foot sunk into the top of the snowbank, which was two times your height, and then you fell. When you tried to use your hands to push yourself up, all the snow came falling down around you and you plummeted to the bottom of the snowbank, the sides of it wrapped around you.

You tried to grab on to mounds of snow and use them as leverage to pull yourself out, but it didn't work. The minute you thought you were getting somewhere, it would just fall down and you'd be back where you started. You tried to carve out spots to put your hands and feet, like a rock-climbing wall, but the minute you'd get your foot in, it'd break because of the weight and more snow would fall. You thought that if enough fell from the sides, that eventually it'd get shallower and you'd be able to get out, but then a plow came. It pushed more snow on the pile, making it so that you were standing up straight and barely had room to turn around now.

You took off one of your gloves and threw it out and onto the pile. Hopefully, someone would find you by seeing your glove and looking there. But, you knew it was a long shot as neither Will nor Jay knew you had been at Molly's. And, no one at Molly's knew the route you used to walk home.

"Help!" you yelled.

God, it was so cold.

***

Jay entered the house fully expecting you to run up to him and beg for your phone back...not that he'd give it to you anyway. But, when he got there, all the lights were off. He ventured upstairs and into your room, which was dark as well. It was 11:30, an hour and a half past curfew even if you weren't grounded.

Will had texted him earlier that evening to tell him that he had to go into work because there was a big car accident, and since Jay was suiting up to go into the field, it's not like he could just call someone else to watch you or go home himself. So, he decided to trust that you wouldn't leave the house. Apparently, he was wrong.

Jay pulled out his phone and quickly dialed Will's number. "Will!" he yelled into the phone. "Do you know where Y/N went? She's not here!"

"Shit," he muttered. "I have no idea. Track her-- oh yeah, you took her phone."

Jay rubbed a hand over his face. "Did she at least tell you where she went last night?"

"She told me that she was working under the table at Molly's. So, I assumed that she was doing something really bad if she had to lie that she was working. I shouldn't have come to Med. I'm sorry, man."

"No, it's your job. I should've found someone to stay with her that wasn't on call. I'm gonna go look for her."

"I'll keep my phone on me. Call if you have any updates."

Jay clipped his badge back onto his belt and reholstered his gun. Then, he walked out to his car and got in, intent on finding you.

As he was driving, he called another person who he knew would calm him down in times of stress: Hailey.

"Hey, Jay. What's up?" she asked as she answered the phone. After all, they hadn't been apart for half an hour at this point.

"Hails, can you call the team for me?"

"What? Why? What's going on, Jay?"

"Y/N. I told you that she was grounded and Will was watching her and then he got called into work. So, he left her at home and when I got home, she- she was gone."

"Okay, I'll call everyone. Did she give you any hint of where she went? Maybe mentioned it to you last night or Will today?"

"Yesterday she told me she was at the library and then she told me she was working at Molly's...which I'm pretty sure are both lies. But, then today she told Will she had been working under the table at Molly's. So, I honestly really don't know where to start."

"I know it's a long shot, but start at Molly's. If you don't get anything from there, we'll regroup at the district."

"Okay, thanks, Hails. If I get anything at Molly's, I'll call you or send a text to the group chat."

"No problem. We'll find her."

Ten minutes later, a very determined Jay Halstead walked into Molly's.

"Hey, Jay," Stella said. "What can I get for you? Adam just left if that's who you were looking for."

"No, I'm actually wondering if you've seen Y/N? She told me and Will this BS that she was working under the table here, so it's the first place I thought I'd check."

"She didn't tell you?" Stella asked, sliding a beer down the bar to Kelly.

"Tell me what?"

"She was working here, Jay. She'd work until about 10:30 and then she'd go home."

"What? You can't be serious."

"I've seen her around a few times," Kelly supplied. "Thought you guys knew about it. Good way for her to make some extra cash and since it's under the table, no taxes."

"So she did tell me the truth last night. God, I'm such a jerk."

"Why are you looking for her?" Kelly asked. "She not at home?"

"No, I got home and she wasn't there. And, I grounded her because she broke curfew and I thought she was lying about where she was last night, so I took her phone. Any chance either of you has seen her tonight?"

"She just left around an hour ago," Stella said.

"She did? You know where she went?"

"I think she just went home like she normally does. You need help looking? We can help. I can close since there's not many people here and we can help you."

"No, no, it's okay. My team's on it. Don't want Hermann to chew me out over lost business."

"I'll help," Kelly volunteered. "I'll also call Casey and Brett so if something happened and we need a medic, Brett's there."

God, Jay hadn't even thought about the fact that you might be hurt. He just assumed you had gone out partying.

"Okay, thanks. I'm gonna give Hailey a call and we'll go from there."

"Hailey," Jay started after walking to a secluded part of the bar. "Stella and Kelly both said that they had seen Y/N working at Molly's. And, that she got off work tonight at 10:30 and they assumed she just went home."

"Okay, the team's here. I'm putting you on speaker."

"Kelly said he'd call Brett and Casey to start looking for her, so I guess we just look for her. I don't know where she would've gone." He sighed. If he would've just believed you, this wouldn't have happened. If he would've just let you keep your phone this wouldn't have happened. It was all his fault that he couldn't find you.

"We can't put out a missing persons report yet since it's only been a little over an hour since someone last seen her. We'll meet you there. Start searching. One of us will find you and give you a vest. She couldn't have gotten far."

"Thanks, Sarge."

"Hey, Casey and Brett are on their way. They're stopping by the firehouse to grab jump bags just in case," Kelly said, finding Jay in a secluded corner.

Jay nodded.

"I've got some flashlights in my car," he supplied. "They should help us until your unit and Casey show up with more." He clapped Jay on the back. "We'll find her, man. If she was heading home, she couldn't have gotten far."

"Yeah, yeah, thanks, Kelly."

The two walked to his car and grabbed the flashlights. "We'll just start towards the right I guess. That's the quickest way to get home from here if she was walking."

***

"Jay!" Jay turned when he heard Hailey calling his name, running up to him with a vest in her hand.

"Hailey," Jay breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his girlfriend. At least she'd be here with him.

"Here." She handed him the vest. "You have your gun?"

"Yeah. And Severide gave me the flashlight."

"Brett! Casey!" Kelly yelled as he saw two more figures coming toward them, Brett carrying the two jump bags and Casey carrying more flashlights...which weren't needed now that Intelligence was here.

"How are we doing this?" Casey asked.

He looked to Jay, but this wasn't Jay's decision. It was Voight's. And Jay was glad his sergeant had recognized that because there was no way his head was clear enough to put together tactical plans.

"Hailey, Jay, and Severide take the way that you two were previously going. Take a jump bag. Adam, Kim, and Brett start going slightly to the right in a diagonal off of Jay and Hailey. Take a jump bag. Me, Kevin, and Casey will go to the left off of Jay and Hailey. Since there are only two jump bags, if we find her, we'll radio you for it."

"Copy."

The three groups started walking, all their attention on finding you. Jay put his hands in his vest, trying to keep them warm on this cold night. He didn't think he'd be out in the freezing cold searching for you, so he didn't have gloves or a hat with him.

"I, um, I should call Will," Jay said, breaking the silence. "Just to let him know that we're looking for her and that she wasn't lying to us."

"Hey, any sign of her?" Will asked as he picked up his phone on the second ring.

"No. Um, she wasn't lying to us. She was working at Molly's and she went there tonight when you left to go to work."

"And?"

"Stella said that she usually just goes straight home. So, we're looking with some help from Severide, Casey, and Brett."

"We?"

"Intelligence."

"Need me to come help? I'm sure they can find somebody to cover for me."

"No, no. I think we've got it under control. But, if we need more bodies to find her, I'll call you."

"Okay. Find her, Jay. You have to find her."

Jay hung up his phone with those words echoing in his mind. You have to find her. You have to find her.

"What's that?" Hailey asked as they approached a snowbank five minutes later.

"Looks like a glove," Kelly said as he walked closer.

He and Hailey started to slowly climb the snowbank, being careful not to fall through while Jay just stood there. He knew that glove. You had one just like it. But, it had to be a coincidence, right?

"Oh my God," Kelly said as he looked into the small hole in the snowbank, seeing you squished up against the edges, the hand that didn't have a glove blue. Your eyes were closed and your lips were a shade of blue.

"What?" Jay yelled, rushing up the snowbank.

Hailey was quick to stop him. "Jay, I need you to take a step back, okay? We have to get her out of here and we need to be rational about this."

"Get her out of this? Out of the snowbank?" She nodded. "You're telling me she fell into a fucking snowbank and she's stuck, half-frozen to death?"

Hailey nodded. Jay just stood there, staring at the hole you must've been in. Severide laid on his belly and started to reach in when Hailey stopped him.

"No sudden movements. We've gotta get her out slow with minimal movement."

"I know, I'm on squad. But, can you radio Brett for me? We might need her here so that she can take a look at her."

Severide reached in and slowly placed his hands under your armpits. Then, with slow movements, he pulled you out, careful not to jostle your body and pull you straight up and out.

"Jay, can you come and grab her legs? Help me lay her down?"

"Uh, yeah," he replied, snapping out of his trance.

He crouched down and grabbed your legs just as Brett, Adam, and Kim came running over.

"Keep her steady," Brett ordered. "No sudden movements." The two boys started to lower you to the ground when Sylvie stopped them. "She can't be in direct contact with the ground. I need something warm on the ground first. A jacket or something."

As soon as Sylvie said that, Adam ripped off his vest and took off his coat. "Will this work?"

"Yeah, that should work. Just set it down and then they can carefully lower her."

They did as the PIC told them.

"I've got a pulse. It's slow but it's there," Sylvie said after she had pressed her fingers to your neck.

Jay crouched down and put his hands over his mouth to stop a sob from tearing through his body.

Somehow though, he found enough of his voice to speak into his radio, "This is 50-21 George. I need you to roll an ambo to my current location. We have a fifteen-year-old female hypothermia victim."

"Okay, whoever can brave the cold and take off your jacket, I need you to do it now. We need to keep her covered until an ambo gets here. Kelly, pass me the warm, dry compress from the jump bag."

While Jay shed his coat and Hailey radioed the rest of the team to let them know that you had been found, Kelly helped Sylvie with the compress. "I'm going to lift her head and then I need you to put the compress under her neck," Sylvie instructed.

"Okay," Kelly said. Sylvie gently lifted your head and Kelly slid the warm compress underneath. Then, he laid your head back down.

She turned to see Jay rummaging through his jump bag, activating two more compresses.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, stepping away from you and to your very worried brother.

"Putting more on her. What does it look like I'm doing?"

She was taken aback by his tone, but didn't take it personally because she'd probably do the same thing if it was her sibling in this situation...and he also wasn't a trained paramedic.

"If you're gonna put one on her, just place it on her chest."

"What about the rest of her body? Her arms? Legs?"

"Jay, I know you're worried about her. But if you put them on her arms or legs, the cold blood will go back towards her heart and lungs, lowering her core temperature even more. We need to try and increase her core temperature, not decrease it."

"Here." He handed her a compress. "For her chest."

"Thank you."

Then, they heard sirens in the distance. Jay just hoped this was enough for now.

***

"Incoming!" Maggie yelled to the already overrun ED. "Fifteen-year-old female, hypothermia. Fell into a snowbank. Used dry, warm compresses in the field, and paramedics put warming blankets on her in the ambo, but they said they need something more than that with how low her core temperature was."

Will ran towards the doors as they opened and revealed the paramedics, followed by none other than his little brother. And, on the gurney, there you were, eyes closed, breathing slowly, a nasal cannula underneath your nose.

"Get her into treatment two," Will said.

"Will, you can't treat her," Maggie said.

"You see another doctor that's free, Maggie?" She raised her eyebrows at him. "I didn't think so. It's not like I'm performing surgery. Hopefully, this will be standard rewarming and shouldn't take that long."

"Fine."

Will entered treatment two just as they moved you from the gurney to the bed. He listened to your heart and determined that that was fine, as were your lung sounds. Then, he moved on to taking your temperature.

"Ninety-three degrees Fahrenheit," Will declared. "Monique, start an IV of one unit of warm saline and we'll get more re-warming blankets."

"Yes, Dr. Halstead."

"Jay," Will said and motioned for him to follow him out of the treatment room. "What happened?" he asked once the two were out of the room.

"We found her in a snowbank. She must've climbed it on the way home and fell in. She couldn't get out. Kelly pulled her out and then Brett came and-- Oh God. If she wasn't there, I could've killed her, Will. I could've killed our little sister."

"Jay, take a breath. She's okay now. She's in good hands. What do you mean you could've killed her?"

"Brett started to get those compress things out and I thought I was helping, so I started getting more. And- and, I almost put them on her legs and arms. If Brett wasn't there to stop me, I could've stopped her heart. God, I could've killed her, Will. It would've been all my fault."

"Jay, listen to me. You didn't do that. So, stop thinking about it. She's fine." He looked up and saw all of Intelligence coming into the ED waiting room along with Brett, Casey, and Severide. "Now, I think you should go tell them that she's gonna be okay. Tell Brett good job for me, too."

Jay nodded and walked away from his older brother, trying to will the tears in his eyes to go away.

"How is she?" Kelly asked when Jay entered the waiting room.

"Her temp is 93, so she's still got a ways to go. But, Will just mentioned standard rewarming, so hopefully, that's a good sign. Brett, he said to tell you good job."

Sylvie nodded and Jay took a seat next to Kelly. He put his head in his hands.

Kelly placed a hand on Jay's shoulder. "Hey, it's gonna be okay. Sounds like it's not anything too serious."

"Yeah, but if I wouldn't have taken her phone or I would've just believed her, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"It's not your fault. She was trying to keep it a secret from you anyway. Wanted to surprise you."

This piqued Jay's interest. "Surprise me? What do you mean?"

"She was saving up money to buy you guys opening night tickets to the Blackhawks next season, that's why she didn't want to tell you because she wanted to surprise you and Will with them."

"God, she was trying to do something nice and I grounded her for it."

"Jay," Hailey started, walking up to him with two cups of coffee, "you did what you were supposed to do with the information you had at the time. This isn't your fault. It was a freak accident. It could've happened to anyone who climbed that snowbank. Hell, it could've happened to us when we climbed it tonight."

"I guess you're right. Thanks for the coffee, babe."

"Wait. Are you two...?" Kelly trailed off.

"Yes, it's no big deal. We signed the HR forms and everything," Hailey answered as Jay sipped his coffee and tried to stop blaming himself for what happened.

***

You slowly opened your eyes and your first thought was I'm cold. Why am I so cold? You pulled the blankets closer to you, but then you realized that they weren't the blankets from your bed, but thick, heated blankets.

"W-What?" You started to talk, but your teeth chattered while doing so.

"You gave us quite the scare earlier," Will said as he walked over with a thermometer. "Now open."

"Why am-am I--"

"Jay can explain all that while this thermometer takes your temperature. Now open and lift up your tongue."

You did as your doctor brother told you and opened your mouth and he placed the thermometer in. You looked at Jay expectantly.

"God, you scared me so much. When I found you in that snowbank..."

"I'm s-sorry," you said with the thermometer still in your mouth. Will gave you a pointed look and you clamped your mouth shut until it beeped.

"Ninety-five. That's the cut-off for me letting you go against medical advice...but lucky for me, you're minor, so me and Jay get to decide when you can go home," Will started after he removed the thermometer. "And, I think we're keeping you here until you reach at least 97."

"Will," you whined.

"Sorry, Y/N. Will's the doctor here, so what he says goes," Jay said.

"Please remember that next time you inevitably end up in here," Will retorted.

"Not a chance." Then, Jay turned back to you. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I know you were just trying to surprise us."

"I was scared," you said. "I thought I was gonna die there."

"I wasn't gonna let that happen. You want me to get you something warm to drink while you tell Will why you were working at Molly's?" You nodded. "Decaf caramel macchiato? No way are you getting caffeine."

"Yes please."

Jay left and Will turned to you. "What were you trying to surprise us with, Short Stack?" he asked, using your nickname.

"I was trying to save up money to get us tickets to the Blackhawks home opener in October." You shivered. "Can I have another blanket. I'm still c-cold." Your teeth chattered once more.

"Of course." He retrieved another heated blanket and wrapped it around you. "Why didn't you tell us you were working at Molly's under the table?"

"I thought you g-guys would be m-mad because it would get in the way of school. So, I d-didn't tell you. I didn't want t-to wreck the surprise. I was-wasn't lying to you when you asked me where I was."

"I know that now. I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier. You just have to see it from my and Jay's perspective though. You working was the last thing on our minds, so we just assumed the worst."

Jay came back with your large decaf caramel macchiato. "I got it extra hot."

He went to hand it to you, but you yawned. "I'm t-tired."

"I know you are. It's past one in the morning," Will replied, looking at his watch. "But, I want you to drink at least half of this before you go back to sleep, help you get your core temperature back up."

"Okay." You took the coffee from Jay and set it on the tray in front of you.

"Thank you. I'm sorry for everyth-thing."

"I know. It's okay. I'm just glad you're safe." He pulled your phone from his pocket. "I believe this belongs to you."

You took it from his outstretched hand. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. It'll give you something to pass the time while drinking half of that."

***

"You called in reinforcements?" you hissed at Jay when you, him, and Will walked into the house around 8 am the next morning...well, the same morning, but you considered 1 am to be nighttime.

"Hey!" Jay protested. "They just wanted to see how you were doing. Kelly was the one who actually got you out of the snowbank and Stella was about ready to shut down Molly's to help us look for you."

"I bet Hermann would've been thrilled about that," you said sarcastically.

"That's what I said! And, Hailey's just here because, well, she's Hailey."

"And they love each other," Will chirped, earning himself a smack on the back of the head from Jay and a glare from Hailey. "You guys are no fun!"

"My house, my rules," Jay remarked.

"I thought that only applied to Y/N."

"Nope, applies to you, too. Speaking of Y/N..." Jay trailed off and turned to you. "Go park it on the couch."

"Fine. Just let me go get changed first."

You walked into your room and changed into your favorite pair of joggers and a hoodie along with some kitty cat slippers. You then grabbed your favorite blanket and wrapped it around you and grabbed your phone charger, too. Your temperature was still about one degree below average, but Will and Jay had agreed to let you come home on the condition that you'd just stay on the couch and drink warm beverages and relax.

"Do they meow, too?" Severide asked as you sat on the couch.

"Do what meow?"

"Your slippers. Do they meow?"

"No, no they do not, Kelly. They're just comfy."

"And for a four-year-old," Will chirped.

"Honestly, at this point, I wish you guys would've just left me in that snowbank. Then I wouldn't have to deal with your annoying asses."

"Jay!" Will yelled.

"What?" he hollered back from the kitchen where he and Hailey were busy concocting your mom's famous chicken soup recipe.

"Y/N swore! She needs to put money in the swear jar!"

"The swear jar?" Kelly laughed. "Jay actually does one of those? Because if you could've heard him last night, he'd be putting at least twenty bucks in there."

You smiled at Kelly and made your way into the kitchen, the aroma of chicken soup hitting you immediately.

"Smells good in here," you remarked, causing Jay to turn around from where he was stirring the soup at the stove. Then he moved a few feet and reached up on top of the fridge where the swear jar was located and held it out to you. You shook your head. "No."

"Did you or did you not swear?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. Hailey just stood next to him with a small smile on her face and it was clear that she was trying to stop herself from laughing.

"I did, but--"

"No buts. You either did or you didn't."

"Jay, be nice," Hailey scolded. "She just got hypothermia from falling in a snowbank. The least you could do is let her off the hook for swearing."

"Yeah, listen to Hailey. And, Kelly said you swore a lot last night when you were trying to find me, so if I have to put a dollar in there, he said that you should have to put twenty dollars in there."

"That's not how this works. The rule is if you swear around us or we swear around you. And, if I recall correctly, you weren't there because we were freezing our as- our butts off looking for you."

"Ooooh, good catch, Halstead," Hailey laughed. "You almost had to put even more money in the swear jar."

"Even more money? What are you talking about?"

"I'm with Y/N on this one. If you make her put money in, you have to put at least a twenty in for all the swearing you did last night."

"Fine," Jay whined. "You don't have to put any money in, but just this once. Now, would you please let me finish making the soup? And, you need to go lay on the couch."

"I love how Will didn't yell at me for getting up, but you, the non-doctor of the family, are."

"Technically, I didn't yell. Yelling was what I did when I took your phone away."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going, going." You waved him off and headed back to the couch.

"You really suck, Will. Do you know that? At least Kelly and Hailey have my back because if Hailey wasn't in there, he would've made me put money in there."

"Hey, don't blame me. You were the one who said it. I just ratted you out."

"Snitches get stitches."

"I'm the one who actually knows how to perform stitches, you, on the other hand, do not."

"My God," Stella laughed. "It's like watching a reality show seeing you three all in the same room."

"Child," Jay said as he handed you a bowl of chicken soup along with a spoon.

"Good Lord, Jay. I'm fifteen."

"I know. You're still a child though since you're a minor."

"You're a minor," you mocked. "And you both are annoying, so I say we play a game."

"See? Like I said, reality show," Stella reiterated. "What game?"

"Never have I ever." Everyone groaned when you said that. "Hey, I'm the one who was stuck in the hospital, so I think you can all put up with this game."

"Fine," Kelly agreed, and then the others did, too.

"We'll go youngest to oldest," Will stated. "So, you start, Y/N."

You smirked. "Never have I ever gotten married in Vegas."

"Low blow, Y/N!" Jay yelled as both he and Kelly put a finger down and Kelly threw his head back and laughed.

***

Strike Three

That night, you quickly fell asleep. It felt like you had been asleep for hours when in reality it had only been two. You hugged your blankets tighter around your body as you started to shiver. You laid there and tried to fall asleep for who knows how long as a cold sweat started to break out on your forehead, back, and chest. God, you didn't want to get up, but you felt like something was wrong, so you slowly got up--still wrapped in a blanket--and made your way over to the guest bedroom where you knew Will would be sleeping.

"Will," you whispered as you walked into the guest room. He didn't stir. "Will." You tried again, this time louder, and you stepped closer and shook his shoulder.

"Hmmm," he groaned as he rolled over and fluttered his eyelids open. But, the minute he saw it was you, he knew he needed to be awake. "Short Stack?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"Are you okay? You don't usually wake me up at night." He sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. Then, he saw your sweaty face. "Are you feeling sick?"

You nodded. "I feel really cold, but I'm sweating."

Will reached over and put the back of his hand to your forehead. "You feel a little warm. C'mon, let's go take your temperature. Your legs hurt?"

That was one of the tell-tale signs of you having a fever, your legs hurting.

"Not yet," you answered.

Then, you went to the kitchen--as Will had left the thermometer and his medical bag at the kitchen table--and sat down. You took the thermometer from Will and put it under your tongue.

When it beeped, you took it out and handed it to him. "100.5," he read.

You groaned. "What is going on? First, my temperature was too low and then it stabilized and now it's too high. I just wanna sleep, Will. I'm so tired."

Will shushed you. "The lovebirds are sleeping."

"You know, if Jay heard you say that, he'd hit you, right?"

"Well, good thing he's sleeping. Now, go back to bed and I'll check on you in a few hours. Come get me if your legs start hurting, though."

You nodded and went back to bed. You tossed and turned and tried to get comfortable. You stuck one leg out from under the covers, but then you were too cold, despite half your body still being covered, so you settled on just letting your foot stick out. But, after forty-five minutes of that, you got super cold again and got up to retrieve the extra blanket you had set of the chair of your desk.

The first thing that you noticed when you stood up was how much your legs ached.

"Shit," you muttered.

You grabbed a blanket from your bed and wrapped it around you and grabbed the one from your desk chair and did the same thing. Then, you walked down the hall and to the guest bedroom.

"Will," you whispered as you poked your head in the room.

"Yeah?" he asked as he rolled over and turned on the lamp. He must not've fallen back to sleep after you had woken him up the first time.

"My legs hurt."

"Okay, let's go back to the kitchen and re-take your temperature, see if it went up."

You nodded tiredly as he got out of bed.

"You gonna fall over? Need me to help you get to the kitchen?" he asked as he approached you still standing in the doorway.

"No, I think I can walk," you answered.

You made it to the kitchen without falling over and then took a seat at the spot you had been just an hour ago. You stuck the thermometer in your mouth once more and waited for it to beep.

Will was rummaging around through the cupboard--and making a lot of noise, so he'd probably be the one who ended up waking the lovebirds up as he liked to call them--so you read the reading on the thermometer to him. "101.1 Went up point six degrees."

"Ah, found it." He grabbed the bottle of Tylenol and filled a glass of water and handed the two things to you. "Here's what you're gonna do. You're gonna take this, drink the entire glass of water and I mean the entire glass, and then you're gonna take a lukewarm bath. Hopefully, that'll lower your temperature."

You nodded, your eyelids heavy. You did as you were told and then handed him the pill bottle. When he closed the cupboard, his hand slipped, resulting in the door of it slamming shut and it echoing throughout the house.

"Fuck," he muttered.

"Swear jar," you whispered.

"Yeah, yeah," Will replied with a way of his hand. "I don't keep money in my pajamas, so I'll put a dollar in, in the morning."

"The hell was that?" Jay asked loudly, rushing into the kitchen with his gun raised.

Will threw his hands up in a sign of surrender. "Whoa, man! Don't point that thing at me! What do you think I'm trying to do? Rob you?"

Jay set his gun on the counter. "Sorry about that. What are you two doing up? It's--" He checked the time on the microwave. "--2:11 in the morning." Will motioned towards you. "Did her temperature drop or something?"

"It didn't drop, it increased."

"Well, that's good, right?"

"It was good when she hit the average temperature, but now she's got a fever of 101.1."

"Shit."

"Swear jar...for both of you."

Jay groaned and Hailey entered the kitchen. After explaining to her what was going on, she offered to help you into the bath because your legs were so achy.

But, you knew that Will would want to periodically check on you even if Hailey was in there, so you changed into a pair of spandex, a sports bra, and a crappy tank top while Will started the bath.

"Have her stay in here for about twenty minutes and then I'll be back in to check her temperature," Will told Hailey and then he retreated back to the kitchen to talk to his brother.

Hailey knocked on your bedroom door and you said she could come in. "How do you want to do this?" she asked. "Want me to keep you steady on the way to the bathroom, or do you just need help getting the tub?"

"Just need help getting in," you told her. But, as you walked out of your room, down the hall, and into the bathroom, she stayed right next to you in case she needed to catch or steady you.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Jay was feeling like an idiot with all the medical talk Will was doing.

"So, how'd she get a fever if she was just in the hospital with hypothermia less than 24 hours ago?" Jay asked.

"It's the rebound effect. It's rare, but it's a pathophysiological thing where some people get pyrexia after hypothermia especially if ischemia occurs."

Jay blinked rapidly. "English please?"

Will sighed, he sometimes forgot that people around him didn't know all the medical terminology like the back of their hand like he did. "It's a rebound effect, which is rare. And, it's when there's a disordered process in the body after a disease or injury. In Y/N's case, it's a disordered process that's happening in her body after her temperature had regulated after the hypothermia. So, some people get a fever--which in the medical world is called pyrexia--when ischemia happens, which is a fancy for an organ not getting enough blood supply. Didn't you say that Y/N had a faint pulse when you found her?"

"Yeah," Jay answered. "Brett took her pulse once we pulled her out and she said it was slow."

"Okay, so because the heart was pumping slower, it meant that less blood was circulating, which could mean there was less blood to her other organs, so we could be looking at ischemia."

"Could?"

"That, or she could have a mild case of pneumonia. That happens more with patients who are treated for hypothermia. Ischemia happens more in patients whose hypothermia went untreated for a longer amount of time."

"But, I didn't hear her cough at all."

"You can have pneumonia without a cough. It's not common, but it can still happen. We just have to wait and see if she starts hacking up a lung or if her fever gets up to 103, then we'll bring her in."

"Hey guys," Hailey said as she walked into the kitchen. "We have a problem."

Jay's eyes widened and he sprinted to the bathroom, ever the overprotective brother. Will retrieved his medical bag and followed him.

"You have got to be kidding me," Jay whispered. "It takes her like half an hour on average to fall asleep each night, but she falls asleep in ten minutes here? In the bathtub of all places? What do we do?"

"We have no choice but to wake her up," Will said.

"But she's been saying she's so tired."

"I know, but we can't let her sleep in the bathtub."

"You said what, twenty minutes before you have to take her temperature again?" Hailey asked and Will nodded. She checked the timer on her phone. "She's got a bit more than seven minutes left. How about we just let her sleep until the timer goes off and then we wake her up, take her temperature, and get her back to bed?"

"That is actually a good plan. And, not getting her out of the tub until the timer goes off could help her fever go down a bit more."

"I'm full of good ideas," Hailey joked.

Seven minutes later, you squeezed your eyes tightly shut and then opened them when you heard the sound of an alarm go off. "Hmmm. What happened?" you mumbled, rubbing your eyes with your wet hands.

"You fell asleep is what happened," Will answered. "Now open."

"But I'm in the bathtub. How did I..." you trailed off. "Oh."

"And I thought Jay was terrible at remembering things," Will chirped.

"Shut up. My body's fighting something. My energy isn't going to my memory or common sense at the moment."

You put the thermometer in your mouth and waited until it beeped for the third time tonight. Then, you handed it to Will.

"101.1 still," he read. "No change. Are you feeling any better worse? Legs hurt more or less?"

"I feel the same. I don't know about my legs because I'm sitting down."

"Here," Hailey said holding an arm out. "Grab on to me and I'll help you. Can one of you grab a towel?"

Jay went to the closet to grab a towel and you grabbed on to Hailey's arm. As you stood up, your legs ached a bit, but not more or less than before. But, you were only standing up. You hadn't taken a step yet.

You placed a foot on the ground and walked a few steps to where Jay was standing, holding a towel out to you. As you took those steps, you felt the familiar ache in your calves. It was stronger than it had been when you had gotten in bath.

God, it was like someone was rolling a rolling pin up and down your calves and pressing it into your muscles.

"Will," you whined once you had successfully wrapped the towel around your wet body. "It hurts. My legs hurt so bad."

Will all but shoved Jay out of the way and crouched down a bit. "Tilt your head back for me." You did as he said and Will moved his fingers to feel around your neck, specifically in the area of your lymph nodes. "Quite a bit more swollen than I would've liked to see them, but we'll check back in the morning. Any sore throat, coughing?"

"No, I just feel hot and cold and--" you stifled a yawn "--tired."

"Lean on me and then Hailey can help you get changed. If that's okay with you?" Will asked, turning his attention from you to Hailey.

"It's no problem."

"And then you can go right back to bed."

"Okay," you mumbled. And then, slowly but surely, you got down the hallway and into your bedroom.

Once you were changed, both of your brothers came in, Will bearing the disgusting "bubblegum" flavored liquid Benadryl and a small cup with blue liquid. Jay held a water bottle and a bowl.

"I know I gave you Tylenol about an hour and a half ago," Will started, "but, it was a low dose and since your fever didn't drop at all in the bath, I'm going to need you to take this."

He held the tube that contained the thick pink liquid out to you. "No," you whined. "Just give me more Tylenol."

"Y/N, this will make you tired so that you're able to sleep. And, Jay's out of Nyquil, so this was the only option I had. Please, just take it. You can chase it with this blue Gatorade I stole from Jay."

"You didn't steal it...this time. I let you have some," Jay clarified.

"Whatever. Point is, just please take the medicine."

"Fine," you mumbled and took the tube from him. You downed the medicine and made a face, immediately reaching for the Gatorade to wash the nasty taste out of your mouth. "That was gross."

"Sorry," Will apologized.

"Here's some water and a bowl in case you have to throw up," Jay told you as he set them on your bedside table.

"I don't feel nauseous."

"It's just a precaution. Now, we're gonna go back to bed. Need anything else?"

"No. Goodnight guys. 'Night Hailey. Thanks for helping me change. Probably would've fallen over if you weren't here to help."

***

"It's 10 am," Will said as he stood up from the couch the next morning. "I'm gonna go wake her up."

"Shouldn't we just let her sleep if she's sick?" Jay asked. "Thought you'd know that much since you're the doctor."

"Shut up. I have to take her temperature again. That Benadryl must've really knocked her out."

"It'll do that to you. Why do you think Mom would give it to us the night before school started? So we could sleep."

"Aww, did you guys get nervous?" Hailey joked.

"No. You know how most parents have their kids start to go to bed earlier about a week to two weeks before school starts back up?" Hailey nodded. "Yeah, our parents didn't do that. We just took some Benadryl and then we slept like babies and were well-rested for school," Jay explained.

"Well, I'm gonna go check on Y/N. Be back in a bit."

Will walked into your room to see you still fast asleep with your arm hanging off the bed. As he got closer, he noticed some discoloration on it...right where the IV had been.

"Shit," he muttered. He lightly touched your shoulder, causing you to stir a little. "Short Stack." You groaned. "Short Stack, you gotta wake up. It's past ten and I need to take your temperature."

You rubbed your eyes and sat up in bed. Then, you pulled your right arm close to you. Without looking at it, you started to scratch it.

"No!" Will grabbed your arm.

"Why? It's itchy." Then you looked down at it and saw that it was all red and had little bumps on it. It looked a little bit swollen, too. "Why's it look like that?" You shivered and pulled the blankets up around you.

"Still cold?" You nodded. "Legs still hurt?" You nodded once more. "But, to answer your question, it could be an infection from the IV. Or you could be having an allergic reaction to the meds...but we only gave you warm saline, so that wouldn't happen."

"Is that bad? And, can you take my temp--" Your teeth chattered from shivering. "--temperature so I can go back to sleep?"

"Yeah, don't know if you're gonna be able to go back to sleep." You reached for your arm to start itching the IV site, when Will clamped his hand around the spot. "No. You can't itch it. Because, if there's an infection in it, I don't want you tearing the skin and getting it even more infected."

"Then put some anti-itch cream on it from your medical bag. I'm sure you have some in there."

"I have some, but I don't know what you have, so I don't know how it will react. But, I can put some medical tape on it."

You rubbed your eyes and threw your blanket off of you. "Why am I so hot? I was just super cold two seconds ago."

"Because you have a fever. I know it sucks, but I need you to hold your arm out to me so I can tape it up."

You held your arm out and reluctantly allowed him to tape it.

"Are you hungry?" he asked. "I can make you something cold like a smoothie?" You shook your head. You didn't want anything cold. "Please? I'll make you a small one and I won't put any spinach in it. I know Jay puts spinach in them and it's huge and you have to drink the whole thing."

"Fine," you sighed. "Can you put mango chunks in it?"

"I can do that. No itching."

You sat on your bed and tried to go back to sleep, but you were stopped when Will came back in. He didn't lie. The smoothie was small and from the color you could tell he put mango chunks in it. He also held a thermometer.

"Before you drink this, I need to take your temperature."

You took the thermometer from him and waited for it to beep. And, you made the mistake of looking at the numbers when you took it out of your mouth. "Is this bad?" you asked as you held it to your oldest brother, your eyes going wide. "Am I gonna die?"

Will looked at the thermometer. "102.7 is high, but you aren't going to die. But, since your arm is itchy and it broke out in a rash at the IV site, I'm bringing you in. Drink your smoothie and then Hailey will be in to help you change." You opened your mouth to protest, but Will held up a hand to stop you. "And, yes, Hailey's going to help you because I don't want you falling over."

You nodded and picked up the smoothie. And, Will went back to tell your brother and Hailey what was going on.

"She getting better?" Jay asked as he poured himself another cup of coffee.

"Worse."

"Worse?" He set his coffee cup down and turned his full attention to Will. Hailey, who had been sitting at the table eating a banana, turned her attention to him as well.

"I think she has an infection at her IV site, which could be what is causing her fever. Her fever's 102.7 right now. I gave her a smoothie and I told her after she finishes that, that Hailey can help her change, and then she can get ready and we can go."

"Shouldn't we go now?" Jay asked.

"She's still fully conscious, not delirious, so I think that we can let her wash her face and brush her teeth before we leave. If she starts acting that way, we'll leave earlier. For now, I think it's okay as long as someone's with her when she's doing these things just because of how sore her legs are so she doesn't fall over."

"Alright. Second hospital visit in 36 hours? Med needs to give us Halsteads a frequent flyer card."

***

"Jay, do remember anyone else who gave Y/N an IV other than Monique? Monique's the short blond nurse, looks younger than she actually is." Will asked as he, Jay, and Hailey were sitting in the waiting area while you got your blood drawn.

Jay looked up at the ceiling and scrunched up his face. "Uh, I know there was someone else. I just don't remember the name or what they looked like." He closed his eyes and thought for a few more seconds, trying to conjure up an image. "Oh! It was a kid."

"A kid?" Will asked. "Man, I don't think you slept enough last night."

"Kid as in he was younger than us. He said he was a med student."

"Any more details? Know what he looked like?"

"Jeez, Jay. I think we might have another Halstead detective on our hands. He might even be better than you," Hailey joked.

"Babe, you're supposed to stroke my ego, not crush it," Jay replied with a fake pouty face. "But, to answer your question, second detective Halstead, the kid was white, kinda scrawny."

"Okay, I'm gonna go check with Earl, see if I can get him to pull up the security footage from two nights ago. You remember what time the med student came in?"

"Two, three in the morning maybe? I was in and out at that point."

"Okay, thanks. Be right back. And, Y/N should be coming out soon. I got Mags to draw her blood just to know it would be done right. And, according to Monique, she's got really small veins."

"And this matters because...?" Jay probed.

"She might have to draw her blood from the big vein in her forearm, not one in the crook of her arm. But, Mags is good at this, so hopefully, she won't have to. Be back soon. Text me if they put her in a room."

"Got it." Jay turned back to Hailey. "How was she this morning? You know, when you helped her change?"

"She said her legs were sore. I had to help her get into her jeans and even help her get out of her t-shirt and into the shirt she's wearing now because, when she put her arms up, she said that they hurt to stay up...especially the right one, which is the one Will taped because she kept trying to itch it."

"So, her entire body is sore basically?"

"Essentially."

***

"Hey, Earl," Will greeted as he walked into the security office.

"Doctor Halstead, what can I do for you? And, why are you in your street clothes? Heading out early?" Earl asked, spinning around in his chair to face Will.

"No, I actually had to bring my little sister in because I think she got an infection from her IV. I was wondering if you could pull up the security footage of the ED two nights ago around two, three in the morning? My little brother, Jay, said that a med student changed her IV around that time and I need to find out who it was."

"So you can fire him?"

Will chuckled. "I don't have the kind of authority, Earl, and you know this. Only Ms. Goodwin can fire someone. I just need to know who it was so I can tell her what happened."

"If you say so." Earl started pressing buttons on his computer until he got to the ED and the specific timeframe Will mentioned. "Any specific room?"

"She was in treatment two I think."

Earl nodded and continued pressing a few buttons. Then, he played it in fast forward and told Will to tell him when to stop.

"There." Will pointed at the screen when he saw a med student, whom he didn't even know the name of, changing your IV. "Can you back up a few minutes? Just so I can watch and see what actually happened?"

Earl did and Will started to watch the footage. "You've got to be kidding me," he mumbled as he pieced together what happened.

This med student had came from a room where he had given another IV and had missed the vein. He wiped some of the blood away with his gloved fingers and then patted the blood dry on the patient's IV site and then bandaged it. But, he walked into your treatment room without changing his gloves. Then, he went right on to changing your IV. And, since you had small veins, he missed the first time, causing a tiny bit of blood to come out of your vein. He wiped it away with the same finger he had wiped the previous patient's blood with, with the same glove which contained a smear of said previous patient's blood.

Whatever that patient had, Will was fairly certain that you now had it, too.

***

"What's the verdict?" Will asked when he got back into the waiting room and saw you, Maggie, Hailey, and Jay.

"She has Mono," Maggie said.

You yawned and turned to Will. "And can you please tell him--" you thumbed towards Jay "--that I haven't been--" You yawned again. "--making out with a bunch of boys because he keeps asking for names."

Will let out a small laugh. "Well, it is caused by swapping spit mostly, but Y/N got it because that dumbass med student didn't change his gloves when he came in to change her IV."

"Wow, she must really be tired," Jay remarked. "She didn't even mention the swear jar."

"Just get me a snack on the way out and we'll be even." You put your arm on the armrest of the chair and laid your head on your hand.

"I don't know if you'll be awake to get that snack, Short Stack."

"How long until I'm not tired?"

"Symptoms should clear up in two weeks at the earliest, a month at the latest," Maggie answered. She turned her attention to Jay. "I know Will will probably tell you this too, but I'll tell you now. Even though it came from an IV, it's still technically a viral infection, so there's no antibiotics for it. The best course of treatment is just rest and fluids. And, if she's achy or her throat gets sore or the rash persists, ibuprofen will do just fine."

"Can I put itch cream on this?" you mumbled, motioning to your bandage on your right arm. Maggie had to draw blood from your left arm since the right one was bandaged up. Hopefully, you wouldn't get a rash on this one, too. But, you trusted Maggie and knew that she was the best nurse in all of Chicago Med, probably all of Chicago even.

"Yes, you can do that."

"Thank God."

"You know this med student's name, Will?" Maggie asked.

"No, but I had Earl pull up the security footage so I could figure out what happened. I'm sure he could go back so you could take a look at him and tell him off. Or talk to Goodwin."

"You want him fired?"

"I wouldn't go that far. But, he needs to be held accountable. And, Mags, don't take this the wrong way, but you're scary when you're angry."

"So is Jay," you mumbled, cracking your eyes open for a few seconds.

"Okay, Short Stack the Secret Spiller," Jay joked, "let's get you home before you tell Maggie everybody's business in this family."

***

2 and a half weeks later:

"God, I forgot how nice it is to not have to take a nap," you said as you sat on the couch reading a book for your English class.

"I will say, it was nice to have some peace and quiet around here," Jay said as he handed you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"Thank you. And, I'm am not that loud!"

He snorted. "Yeah right."

"At least I don't have PDA with my girlfriend when my little sister's in the room."

"In my defense, I thought you were taking a nap."

"So, you and Hailey decided to have a full-on makeout session--which probably would've progressed into something more had I not come out of my room to get a glass of water--on the couch instead of in your bedroom where you can lock the door. Sounds a little suspicious to me."

"We would've--you know what, never mind. You don't need to know."

You were about to try and get him to tell you when you figured it was probably about sex. "Yeah, I don't need to know. You two are nasty."

"Keep thinking that way until you're thirty." You rolled your eyes and took a bite of your sandwich. "How much more you have to read?"

"Five pages. Why?"

"We have to be at Molly's in an hour."

"Why?"

"We just have to be there, okay? And, wear your Hawks jersey."

Technically, it was Jay's old Brent Seabrook jersey, but he got a new one with Toews' name on the back, so he gave it to you. It was in good condition. The only caveat was that the jersey went down to your knees; you practically drowned in that thing. But, you didn't have to pay for it, so you'd take it.

"Why?"

"Just do it. And, no more questions. This is starting to sound like an interrogation."

***

"Why are you wearing your Hawks jersey?" you asked Jay as you walked into the living room forty-five minutes later.

"What did I just tell you? No more questions, kid. No more questions."

Then, there was a knock on the door and Will entered, sporting a Duncan Keith jersey. "Okay, so we're going to Molly's...in Hawks jerseys...but there's no game on tonight. I'm thoroughly confused."

"And that's how we want you," Will joked.

You rolled your eyes. "I just want to know what I'm walking into."

"And you will," Jay started, "...when we walk into Molly's. Now, c'mon, let's go."

When you got to Molly's it looked like any normal day from the outside. But, then you opened the door.

"Surprise!"

Inside the bar was all of firehouse 51, some people from Med, and all of Intelligence plus Trudy. But, the stars of the show were Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, stars of the Chicago Blackhawks, who stood in the middle of the bar.

"How did you-- What-- How?" you stammered, trying to piece together everything with a gigantic smile growing on your face.

"Kelly's pretty great," Jay supplied. "He knew that you were saving up for tickets. So, he called Clarke, who just so happens to be really good friends with these guys."

"And he explained everything," Seabrook walked up to you and volunteered. "I gotta say, going behind your cop brother's back to save up for tickets takes some guts."

"Yeah," you agreed. You were talking to a famous NHL player? What did you even say?

"You excited for the game tomorrow?" Duncan Keith asked.

"It's a rivalry game? Who wouldn't be excited?"

"Well, lucky for you, I just happen to have three center-ice lower bowl seats for tomorrow's game. And a season ticket holder package for you and your brothers to meet the team."

"For-For me? Are you being serious?"

"Hey, someone who falls into a snowbank and then gets sick just from trying to get tickets, well, that's the least you deserve."

"You know, if my cop brother would've just believed me when I told him I was here, I wouldn't have fallen in that snowbank."

"Hey, I would've been worried, too."

"See, Y/N? Even Duncan Keith agrees with me!"

You smiled and rolled your eyes at Jay. "You have a sharpie?" you asked him. "I need to get this jersey signed."

And, while Jay had a good reason for implementing the three strikes rule, after that whole fiasco he was reluctant to take your phone away. Because this could've all been avoided if Jay believed you and hadn't taken your phone away. But, you got Blackhawks tickets out of it...and you got to meet the whole team, so it wasn't all bad.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Sorry, I haven't updated in a while, school has been very hectic. But, the good news is I'm done in two weeks and then have a six-week break, so hopefully, I'll be able to crank out a bunch of Seasons of PD/Med then. Anyway, thanks for reading! I did a ton of medical research for this imagine, so if anything's inaccurate, I blame google or the research articles I read. Also, please like/reblog and comment! I love hearing what you guys think! As always, if you want to be added to my tag list, just tell me and I’d be happy to add you!

Taglist:

@theambracer88 @virtualreader @kelelas-life @celyndavies @brookerz122493 @musicismyescape27 @anotherfan07 @thexplosivegirl @dreamingwithlens @xoxmariaxox @onechicago18 @iamasimpingh0e 

[boldlyvoid]

Amoreena | chapter four

Chapter Four

summary: Heaven is a real place and it's located exactly 14.6 miles away from the FBI, Quantico Headquarters. Off behind a small park, under a fantastical willow tree surrounded by wildflowers, in every colour young minds can imagine.

Don't forget, heaven also comes with angels.

Warnings: fluff, hurt/comfort, depressed spencer, reader has a daughter, falling in love, strangers to lovers, library smut, oral (female receiving) lots and lots of fluff

word count: 3.9k

from the beginning <3

Everyone at work was very understanding. Almost all of them saw it coming, he was taking more sick days than normal and he wasn’t putting up a fight anymore when the 30 days was required to take rolled around. They were profilers after all.

He arrives on Thursday morning to pack his desk. The team is finally home and all together to wish him well on his future journey, giving him hugs and kisses as they each visited his desk.

They had already replaced him, Will LaMontagne was giving the FBI a shot, finally. Spending more time with JJ, the kids were old enough now to accept both of them working. And Kate Callahan was back, now that her baby wasn’t a baby anymore either.

Even Penelope and Derek showed up, bringing a cake that said ‘happy retirement’ written across the frosting. They were happy for him, they shared the same excitement he had. There was a thrill in his eyes again as they asked him about his plans.

“Tell us about this Y/N you met,” Emily cut into the laughter to get to the serious topics.

“I’ve been going to the park a lot recently and I found this little reading nook by a pond. She was there with her daughter and they invited me over to their picnic,” he realized how fake it all sounded as he continued to speak. “Her daughter is wonderful and super smart, I took them to the Smithsonian on Sunday and I’m completely smitten.”

Everyone swooned, happy to see him finally finding someone that makes him gush like this. It had been a very, very long time since Spencer has told any of them about a person, let alone someone he was in love with.

“She is wonderful,” Penelope added, “she makes the best tea and she lives in a literal Disney movie.”

Spencer laughed, “yeah she does. They probably read more books than I have, they make so many references all the time and they even dress up for what they’re reading, it’s amazing.”

They were amazed by how giddy he was, unable to stop smiling at him, “here we dressed up for the museum, I was milo from Atlantis and she was the old man in Tarzan,” he pulled his phone from his pocket to show them the photo.

It was his background now, Y/N sent it to him when he finally went back to his place Monday night, knowing he’d miss them. Not wanting him to be alone.

He was beyond proud to show them the photo, beaming from ear to ear as they all complimented his attire.

“She looks like you,” Kate added, “must be the genius gene,” she added, making awkward eye contact with JJ as they both clocked it.

“She’s exactly like me, that’s why Y/N likes having me around, it’s good for Amoreena to feel normal with the way our brains work,” he spoke about her like she was his own. Forever grateful to have her in his life.

“So when are you proposing?” Matt teased him. Knowing the feeling of love like this all too well with his perfect wife and a handful of children.

“I’m not trying to jinx anything,” Spencer admitted. “I actually have a job interview at the Library she works at later, so I’ll be around here a lot more.”

“He’ll be moved in by the end of the month,” Tara smiled, proud of him and the courage it takes to follow your heart.

“I’m going to miss you guys,” he presses his lips together softly, nodding as he avoids eye contact with them. “But you can call me whenever you need my brain, I guess.”

Hugs were exchanged as Spencer had to leave, Derek even offered to drive him back to his apartment to help with 4 boxes of books from his desk, and to have a bit of a talk like they always do.

“It’s surprisingly easy to be a dad, all you have to do is be there and love them,” Derek shared a tidbit of advice

“She told me she doesn’t mind me being like Amoreena’s dad, but I don’t think I can yet. I want her to decide when she wants me in that role.”

Spencer explains his feelings the easiest to Derek. Like he was already in his mind and knew the thoughts before he said them, Derek was never mad or disappointed in him. He loved him fully, and Spencer loved him right back.

“Like when you chose Gideon?”

Spencer can only nod, it’s still too sad to think about him being gone. “You know what it’s like, you love your father but there are other people in your life who fit the role better.”

“Yeah,” Derek agreed. “You’re going to be great, regardless of the name she uses when she thinks of you.”

“Thank you,” Spencer smiled as they pulled up to his apartment, “you should bring Hank to meet the animals this weekend sometime.”

“He’d love that,” Derek smiled back at him, patting his shoulder lightly. “I’m really proud of you.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it if you didn’t first,” he admits. “You’re a strong man who decided to put his happiness first, I can be too.”

“You sure as hell can,” Derek wrapped him up in one last hug before sending him off to live that best life he was talking about.

The only person who didn’t know yet was his mother. He wasn’t sure how to tell her, he knew she’d be proud of him regardless but that anxiety of disappointing her never went away even now that he was 40.

“Spencer!”

“Hey mom,” he smiled when she picked up. “How are you?”

“I’m fantastic, Marge and I are going on a walk later to see some ducks that were born, I really love it here Spencer,” he could hear it in her voice. She was much more joyful when she was surrounded by friends.

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“you sound happy, what’s going on?”

She was his mother, after all, she could know exactly how he’s feeling from just hearing him breathe or being in the same room as him. It was like a superpower, she always knew what was going on.

“I met someone,” he can’t help but smile. “And I quit the FBI to have a family.”

“You’re kidding?” He couldn’t read her tone, not sure if she was surprised or disappointed.

“Her name is Y/N, she has a 7-year-old daughter named Amoreena who is exactly like how I was as a child, you’d really like them,” he explains and he can hear his mother's smile from his end of the phone.

“I would love to meet them, you can bring them to visiting hours next Tuesday?” Diana offered, genuinely happy for him in a way that made his heart burst.

“I’ll see if they’re free and I’ll let you know.”

“I love you, Spencer,” she reminded him. “It’s nice to hear you’re happy, that’s all I’ve ever wanted for you.”

“I love you too, thank you, mom, for everything.”

She hangs up before they can get too emotional, leaving Spencer inside his sad little apartment all by himself. Taking the opportunity to pack his overnight bag for Y/N and pick out some books from his collection to show Amoreena.

There’s an envelope sticking out of one of his books that manages to catch his attention, taking it out to see his name written on it in Gideon’s handwriting. He almost forgot he had this, how important the words were.

Spencer,

I knew it would be you who came to the cabin to check on me. I’m sorry the explanation couldn’t be better, Spencer. I’m sorry it doesn’t make more sense, but I’ve already told you. I just don’t understand any of it anymore.

I guess I’m just looking for it again, for the belief I had in college, the belief I had when I first met Sara and it all seemed so right.

The belief in happy endings. When you find that, never let it go, Spencer.

Don’t let this job do to you what it did to me, get out and get a life when you can. I have faith in you, till I see you again, take care, son.

Gideon

He walked over to the window then, seeing a beautiful red and brown bird perched on his fire escape. He couldn’t help but smile, “I found my Sara, thank you,” he whispers to the bird who turns its head to the side before flying off.

Gideon always did have the best timing and the best advice.

—

“Y/N, your one o’clock is here to see you,” the receptionist at the Library said over the phone, hanging up and returning her attention to Spencer, “she’ll be with you in a moment.”

“Doctor Reid,” he hears her voice as she rounds the corner, appearing behind a stack of books in the most beautiful blue dress he’s ever seen. “Lovely to see you again.”

“You too,” he smiles.

“Right this way,” she can’t help but smile as she escorts him to her office.

“I don’t normally consider people who don’t send in a resume, but I have a feeling you’re going to be good at this,” she teased him as he sat at her desk.

“Allison is going on maternity leave in a few weeks, so you won’t start until she has the baby. If you’re serious about wanting this position, it’s only Monday through Thursday, 9 to 2:30.”

“You’re not going to ask me anything?”

“I don’t know if you know this, but the literary historian and I get to spend a lot of time together, I’d rather hire someone I know I already like,” she smiled again. “And it would be nice to see you every day without a 7-year-old taking all your attention away from me.”

“You just want to live out the fantasy of kissing someone in the encyclopedia section, don’t you?” He teased her right back, making her blush. “I knew it.”

“Sue me!” She laughed, and he finally understood what tinker bell meant when she said farries are born from the purest laughter.

He was in love with her right then and there, he was sure of it.

It had been under a week and yet as he stared at her, hearing her wonderful laughter and seeing her beautiful smile, knowing she wanted to spend time with him, that she genuinely liked him and none of this was one-sided, it made him fall harder than he thought he could.

“Come on then,” he stands abruptly, taking her hand and pulling her out the door.

She tries to giggle quietly as she follows him all the way back to the quietest section of the library. Most of the books on the shelves didn’t even have bar codes because they haven’t been checked out since the 60’s, no one needs them but they can’t seem to part with them.

She backs up against the shelf and pulls him into her space, he drops her hands and holds her face instead, looking at her beautiful eyes as they sparkled in the fluorescent lighting.

“I was expecting this to be hungrier than this when I imagined it all for all these years,” she whispers, biting her lip to force her smile back.

“You’re just so fucking beautiful,” is all he can say, brushing her cheeks with his thumbs lightly a few times before finally placing his lips against hers, ever so gently.

Her hands stretched around his back, pulling him in closer till their bodies are pressed together and then she’s kissing him deeper. Breathing in through her nose like she’s trying to keep him there forever, her fingernails dig into his shirt and he knows she wants more.

He slid his thigh between hers, opening his mouth to give her all the access she wanted and letting her take control of the speed. She wasn’t kidding when she said she expected it to be hungrier. She was kissing him like it was the first time she has had contact with another human being in years, and it just might have been. She said she was single for a while before Amoreena, probably the whole time since as well.

“Spencer,” she took a moment to gasp for air, breathing against his lips as he did the same. “Can we?”

He kisses along her jaw then, moving towards her ear to whisper, “do what? Use your words.”

“Anything, just touch me please, god it’s been 12 years,” she begged as quietly as possible, tugging at his hair as he nibbled on her earlobe.

He kissed down her neck making his way towards her chest. Holding her by the hips now, she arched her back into the shelf as he kissed all the way to where her dress started to cover her breasts but he didn’t stop. Kissing over her clothes as he dropped down to his knees in front of her.

He undid his tie, slipping it off his neck and handing it to her, “in case you need to scream into something.”

She held it in her hand for a second, registering what he just said and moaning softly in response as she held it closer to her lips, he took that as a yes and slipped under her dress.

She was wearing just a pair of regular cut pink underwear, not expecting this in the slightest when she got ready this morning. He kissed her over top of the fabric, spreading her legs so that he could kiss the insides of her thighs as she tried to desperately grind into his face. grazing his teeth against her skin as she shivers, thighs shaking in anticipation.

He kisses right where her clit should be under the fabric, knowing he’s correct when she whimpers around the tie he handed her. It's muffled and adorable as he kisses her again and again, knowing she wants more and teasing her gently.

He pulls her panties to the side, mesmerized by how perfect she is for only a second before returning to the task at hand. Being the first person to pleasure her in years, wanting her to have the best time possible.

With one hand he holds her panties back, using his other to slowly swipe a single finger through her folds to see just how wet she was. Smirking against her thigh as he’s able to slip right in.

“Please,” he hears her whisper, lifting the dress up so she could look at what he’s doing.

“Such a good girl for me,” he pressed the words against her skin.

He spreads her legs even further, resting one of them on his shoulder as he dives in, sucking her clit into his mouth abruptly as he pumps his single finger in and out. She jerks her hips at the sudden contact, stuffing the tie in her mouth and biting down as she whimpers.

He knows what he’s doing, where all the pleasure spots are and what feels the best on most women. Searching around and trying different tongue movements, memorizing the sounds she makes and attempting to hear them again and again, knowing it means she’s enjoying herself.

That’s all he wanted, to please her. Not even realizing how hard he was as he continues to eat her out furiously in the back corner of the DC Public Library. He forgets they’re even in public entirely as he moans against her clit, sending shockwaves through her body.

She’s quaking then, holding onto the top of his head with one hand as the other grips a shelf. She’s panting into the material of the tie, the hot breath making its way through the fabric and stopping the whorish moans he knew she’d make. It had been too long since someone treated her right.

He added a second finger then, wanting to push her over the edge as he curled them, finding her g spot and caressing it with every thrust of his fingers. She clenched around him then, a high-pitched noise left her mouth as she finished around him.

He couldn’t help but smirk, re-moving his fingers and cleaning them off in his mouth. Releasing them with a pop before dragging his tongue along her one last time. Gathering up everything she released and placing her panties back over her nicely.

He kissed over her underwear one last time before fixing her dress and standing up, “did I manage to fulfill the dream?”

She couldn’t help but laugh, looking like she was coming down from a real high, not just an orgasm. She pulled him in close and held onto him for dear life as she continued to catch her breath, and then her hand started to wander.

“Nope,” Spencer whispered, moving her hand away from his aching cock. “As much as I want to, I’d rather fuck you at home.”

“Home huh?” She teased him, kissing his cheek softly as she pulled back.

"I love you," he whispers against her ear, without a fear in the world that she didn't feel the same way.

"I love you too, Spencer."

They couldn’t stop smiling at each other, it felt surreal to be this happy. He kissed her a few more times, staying hidden in the back corner until the blood in his body let this dick and went back to where it was supposed to be.

She just held him in her arms, leaning back against the shelves as they kissed softly, running her hands through his hair gently, over and over. She whispered a few thank you’s to him, letting him know it was everything she waited for.

It was truly perfect.

—

Amoreena was so happy to see him back at the farm when she got off the bus, she missed him during the few days he wasn’t there.

She asked him to help with her homework, her teacher assigning them an “all about me” project to showcase their growth at the end of the year ceremony. It was almost June, she only had a few weeks left before she was off for the summer and free to show him around the whole kingdom.

Y/N brought out a box of craft supplies and a collection of photos. Showing Spencer every single moment of her and Amoreena’s life.

From her first sonogram to the first bump photo, she had and every maternity shot on the farm you could think of, to the day she was born, her first bath, first steps, chocolate cake shoved on her nose at her first birthday, everything. He felt like he watched her grow up in the blink of an eye, staring at all the photos while Y/N and Amoreena made a plan for her project.

She did look a lot like him, in some instances, she even looked like his mom. There was a look Diana would get when she was intrigued with something, or when she was trying to figure something out. She’d bite her tongue and tilt her head, and it was exactly what Amoreena did.

He never thought he’d see a child-like himself this early, he always expected someone to contact him at 18 and surprise him like Rossi. He really never, ever thought he'd have a child in his life who he was blessed with watching grow up. He never believed someone would have a kid so much like him and allow him to see the world through their eyes. He was amazed by how lucky he got, to be brought into an already happy family that wanted him, they didn’t just need him.

There was no need for a father in Amoreena’s life, she was happily living her life with her grandparents and her mother, explaining to him that she had a bunch of aunts and uncles, plus 15 cousins and they all lived close too. Her life was full of people to love her, and yet she wanted Spencer to love her too.

“Can I put the photo of us at the museum on here too?” She asked Y/N, looking at Spencer to see if he was okay with it too. “I already told my friends that you’re my dad.”

He felt like he couldn’t breathe, he didn’t want to cry in front of her so instead he just stopped all movement inside of his body and held it in. Looking at Y/N who was also a little emotional as Amoreena went back to looking through the photos.

Amoreena didn’t even notice how their expressions changed, she didn’t understand the weight of the words as she said them. She was oblivious to the hole in Spencer’s heart that she was filling with glitter glue, making him feel like he was whole again.

“Yeah,” he finally managed to speak. “I’d love to be on your project.”

“I know you said we don’t need dads but I kinda want one,” Amoreena’s soft expression made his heart melt even more. He was putty in her hands, willing to be whatever she wanted from him as long as he could.

“When did you say that?” Y/N asked softly, confused as to where she was when they had a conversation.

“The other morning at breakfast, um, my father left when I was little. It was just me and my wonderful mother until I was 21, then I found someone to call Dad. His name was Jason Gideon, he was my mentor and he made he feel like I was smart and loved,” he smiled, letting her know he genuinely meant it. “There’s a big difference between being a father and being someone's dad.”

“What’s that?” Amoreena’s innocent mind running wild as she tried to figure out his meaning.

“Anyone can be a father when two adults make a baby,” he said softly, making eye contact with Y/N as she blushed. Knowing where he was going with this. “But dads are special, they’re the people who are supposed to make you feel safe and loved. A person who you can turn to for advice and know he’ll love you no matter what you have to say. Dad’s are supposed to love you forever, regardless of what happens in life. Just like your mom does already.”

Amoreena leaned into his chest, pressing her head against him softly. He wrapped his arms around her gently, giving her the tiniest hug he’s ever given. “I pick you then, you’re the best guy I know and I think that means you’d be a good dad.”

Y/N silently cried, getting up from the table and walking into the kitchen so Amoreena wouldn’t see her sob. Spencer tried to widen his eyes so the tears he was generating would slip back into his tear ducts. Not wanting to cry as she held him.

“I’d love to be your dad,” he whispered, kissing her head softly as she held him tighter. “But first I’ve gotta check on your mom,” he whispered into her hair. Watching her pull away and look for where she was.

“Okay,” Amoreena shrugged, returning to her project as he wandered into the kitchen.

She was leaning against the counter when he walked in, her dress pulled up over her face as she cried into the material. Wiping her face as Spencer walked in and looking at him with the happiest smile.

She was laughing into her tears then, shaking her head as she sobbed, “why am I crying?”

He laughed then too, pulling her into a hug and spinning her around gently as she kept laughing. Her face buried into his neck as she smiled, he set her down gently so he could pull her into a kiss.

Her cheeks were all wet as he held her face, peppering kisses to her lips as they both tried to stop smiling.

“I’m going to miss hearing her call you Spencer,” Y/N whispered.

“Me too,” he giggled again. “But dad does have a good ring to it.”

tag list:

@shemarmooresfedora

@spencers-dria

@spookyspence

@reidsfish

@manuosorioh

[fruitcoops]

OMG CAN YOU WRITE ABOUT COOPS SURPRISING JULIAN ON HIS BIRTHDAY? LIKE TELLING HIM THAT THEY ARE SORRY THAY CANT MAKE IT TO HIS PARTY CAUSE THEYRE SUPER BUSY BUT ACTUALLY FLYING TO WISCONSIN WITHOUT HIM KNOWING?? AND ALL OF JULIANS FRIENDS TOTALLY FANGIRLING OVER THEM??

This highkey might be one of my favorite fics I’ve ever written. I adore Julian (as you could probably tell from my header) and it’s always wonderful when I can fit him in! SW credit goes to @lumosinlove <3

It was his birthday, and Jules was…well, honestly, kind of bummed. The string of his party hat itched the underside of his chin and he picked at his cake—his mother had made it the night before, and he had been looking forward to it all day. Now, though, it just tasted bitter.

His friends skated around with bright smiles and loud laughter, racing each other around the ice with reckless abandon in some weird version of tag that looked pretty lame. Jules had really tried to have fun, but the disappointment was crushing him.

Sorry, buddy, but we’ve got a game, Remus had said over the phone three days prior. We’ll come and see you as soon as we can, though, okay?

And Jules had said ‘okay, love you’ even though he wanted to cry a little, because he was eleven and that made him a grownup. Remus had never missed his birthday before.

A heavy hand squeezed his shoulder and he looked up from his paper plate. “Hey, kiddo, why aren’t you out on the ice?” his dad asked. He was smiling, but Jules could see the concern on his face.

He shrugged and pulled his hat off. “Takin’ a break. My legs were getting tired.”

It was a lie, and a poor one, but the bummer clouds were getting thicker and his birthday cake was tacky in his mouth. “Eleven’s a big one,” his dad tried again, sitting next to him on the bench.

“Yeah.”

“And all your friends are here.”

“Yeah. I don’t want to kill their mood, but…” He pressed his lips together and licked more frosting off his fork. It was chocolate; Remus would have loved it.

“Tell you what: I’ll tell people we’re having a second round of cake, and you can help me cut it instead of sitting here all by yourself, okay? That way nobody will get bummed out.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Jules pulled his feet out of his skates and wandered over to the table with his plate, sniffling a little.

“Hey, baby,” his mom said, giving him a quick side hug. “Are you okay?”

“I miss Re.” His voice wobbled and he cleared his throat. “But he’s got a game, so—”

“He sounds like a real loser, actually,” a new voice said drily behind him. Jules froze. “I mean, not showing up to his little brother’s birthday party? Yikes.”

“Next time you see him, you should kick him in the shin,” someone else added. There was a light smacking sound and a quiet laugh.

Jules slowly turned around.

Remus’ skates hung loose from his hand as he leaned against the wall, casual as you please; next to him, Sirius was barely hiding a smile. He raised an eyebrow when Jules looked at him. “Oh, hey, Jules. Fancy seeing you here.”

“Remus,” his mother scolded, though she didn’t sound very upset at all. “You could’ve said hello like a normal person.”

“You came,” Jules blurted, still in shock. Whispers were starting to spread out on the ice. “But—but you—you came out for my birthday?”

Remus gave him his most annoying big-brother look. “Duh.”

Jules was running before his brain even caught up and he flung himself at Remus, who dropped his skates and hoisted him into the air for a tight hug. “You came,” he repeated, suddenly close to tears as he wrapped all his limbs around his brother.

“Of course I came,” Remus said quietly, holding him just as close. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“I thought you had a game,” Jules sniffled, pulling back to get a good look at his face. It didn’t seem real.

“I had to make it a surprise somehow, right?” Jules punched him in the arm. “Ow!”

“I was upset!”

“Surprise?”

“Sirius, will you be my new brother?”

Sirius snorted. “Sure, Jules, that sounds great.”

“We came all the way out here just for you to replace me?” Remus asked with fake indignance, tickling Jules’ sides. “You little rat!”

“I hate you!” Jules laughed, wiggling out of his hold. Most of his friends had gathered at the boards in a clump of shock and awe—he puffed his chest out a little. Hell yeah, that’s my older brother. “Everyone, this is my brother Remus and his fiancé.”

“That’s Sirius Black,” Devin whispered, his voice cracking. Sirius waved and his jaw dropped. “Jules, that’s the Sirius Black.”

“Cool, right?” Remus flicked his ear lightly, and he stepped on his foot. “Oh, and there’s more cake if anyone wants it.”

The rest of the cake remained untouched as ten kids mobbed the newcomers; Jules perched on his bench and laced up again, grabbing his stick and sliding onto the ice once more with a smile so wide it made his cheeks hurt. Remus ditched Sirius to get his own skates on and quickly joined him, passing a spare puck over with ease.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” Jules said after a minute of short passes.

Remus’ face fell a little, all previous teasing gone. “I’ve never missed your birthday, buddy.”

“Well, yeah, but you said you had a game.” He shrugged with one shoulder and poked Remus in the thigh as he passed. “Your job kinda needs you there—”

“Jules.” He stopped short as something tugged his jersey; Remus pulled him around gently, already crouching down to his level. He looked serious in a way Jules didn’t see very often. “Hockey is never going to be more important than you, okay?”

“Okay.”

Remus gave him a look. “I need you to believe me on this one.”

“It’s your job, Re.”

“I don’t give a shit—” He wrinkled his nose in instant regret. “Don’t tell mom I said that. My job takes second priority over family. Your birthday is important to me. You are way more important to me.”

Jules’ lower lip trembled. “Okay.”

“C’mere.” Remus pulled him in for another hug and Jules scooted as close as he could. “I love you so much, Jules.”

“Love you, too, Re.”

“I’m really, really sorry for making you think I wouldn’t be here.”

“It’s alright, I’m over it. The surprise was cool as f—ow!”

Remus rolled his eyes as Jules rubbed his wounded ear. “Watch your language.”

“Fine, mom.” They pulled apart and Jules pretended not to see the dampness of Remus’ cheek that he quickly swiped away. Sirius was looking a little distressed under the onslaught of questions and gave Remus a pleading look from the bench. “I think he needs help.”

“Nah, he’s fine.” Remus grinned and blew him a kiss. Sirius pointed to something across the rink, then flipped him off as soon as Jules’ friends looked away.

Jules doubled over in laughter until a puck hit the back of his skates and nearly toppled him. He whipped around, but Remus was already skating backwards with an irritating little smile on his face. “What was that for?”

“Rule number one of hockey: don’t get distracted.”

“You little—” Jules suppressed a scream as Remus took off in the other direction, laughing at his frustration. “You can’t be mean to me on my birthday!”

“If you catch me, I’ll play goalie!” Remus called back.

Being a smart and innovative eleven-year-old, Jules found a loophole. It only took five minutes of all his friends—plus Sirius—getting in Remus’ way for him to catch up and hit the back of his knees with his stick. “I hope you brought your mouthguard,” Jules panted as they laid side-by-side on the ice, both out of breath.

Remus dissolved into laughter, and Jules wasn’t far behind. Best birthday ever, he thought as Remus clambered to his feet and headed toward the goal posts.

[softyoongiionly]

Fear and Dumplings: Chapter Seventeen

Confronting your fears for a final grade sounds unappealing but, with Yoongi as your partner, things might not be so bad.

Summary: You’re in your final semester at University when your Abnormal Psychology professor assigns you a partnered project surrounding your greatest fears. Lucky for you, your partner just so happens to be a cute boy named Min Yoongi.

Pairing: Min Yoongi x Reader

Genre: Underground Rapper! Yoongi, Soft!!! Yoongi, Fluff!!!, College! Yoongi, Sub! Yoongi

Word Count: 9.1k

A/N: Hi friends! Here is a new chapter for you. I know it’s been a super duper long time since I’ve updated this series but, I plan on wrapping up the current timeline (wink wink) within the first half of the year! Special shoutout to my amazing friend @bulletproofbirdy​ who I love so so much. Without her big genius brain, I would literally not be able to get through any of my wip. Another huge shoutout to @gldnrecs​ @kithtaehyung​ @yoonia​ and @randombtsprincessa​ for being my lil hype team. I love you! Also, thank you to everyone over at @bangtansorciere​. I am so grateful to have met so many lovely new friends this year! okiii bye. I hope you like it!

NOTE: all bolded words indicate when characters are speaking Korean

Warnings for this Chapter: ok here we go…(TRIGGER WARNING)

moderate angst, drug use (marijuana), mentions of anxiety, brief allusions to physical abuse, very brief allusions to drug addiction, alcohol 

Chapter Seventeen: Daegu and Dirty Laundry

No thoughts, head empty (and in Yoongi’s lap)

The two of you are in his living room, bags packed by the front door, awaiting the cab to take you to the airport.  

In a few short hours, you were leaving on a plane to Daegu to visit Yoongi’s older brother and, you can tell by the way he’s shuffled around all morning that he’s anxious.  

Thankfully, Hoseok and Namjoon woke up with him, knowing that emotions would be high and well- offered to get him high.

“This is a really good indica strain hyung,” Hoseok assures him as he hands over a zip-lock bag, “I rolled a joint with this last night and passed out in like 30 minutes.”

Yoongi, dressed in an all-black sweat outfit, accepts the bag into the palm of his hand, before grabbing the pipe that’s resting on the couch cushion beside him.

“Did you get it from that same guy?” Yoongi asks, his voice heavy beneath the obvious tension he’s feeling.

Despite his attempts to remain casual, you know him well enough to feel how nervous he is. He’s practically vibrating beneath you but, you know that pointing this out will only make it worse so instead, you merely rub the outside of his thigh whilst he packs his pipe. 

“Yeah, Jin’s friend-” Hoseok responds before nodding to Namjoon, “He’s honestly killing it right now. Jin told me he’s made like 5 grand already.”

Namjoon raises his brows, “Really? Damn, that’s impressive, I’ve never heard of anyone taking off that fast.”

“Jin has a lot of contacts-” Yoongi offers, adjusting the bud once more before grabbing his lighter, “it probably helped him get started. Plus, I think a lot of people around here have been looking for a good plug. Whatever he’s doing is working though, the high from last night was pretty good.”

At Yoongi’s comment, Hoseok’s lip melt into a salacious smirk as he raises his brows and jerks his chin towards you, “Are you sure it had nothing to do with that one over there?” He teases, “Yah, what are you so quiet for? You haven’t given me shit all morning...”

His comment makes you giggle but Yoongi cuts in before you’re able to respond.

“She’s tired, leave her alone.” He scolds but his lips twitch at the sound of your laughter.

Hoseok snickers as you finally decide to sit up. You can feel Yoongi’s eyes on you even as he lifts the pipe to his mouth. Tucking yourself into the side of the couch, you finally decide to add to the conversation.

“Is the guy you pick up named Yugyeom by chance?” The sleepiness in your tone is more obvious than you were expecting and, it makes Yoongi smile to himself whilst he lights his pipe.

Namjoon nods, “Yeah, it is. Do you know him?”

Yoongi’s attention is on you even as he inhales his first hit, the nerves in his body standing at attention, waiting to be soothed.  

“He was in my human sexuality class.” You remember, with a grin on your lips, “That’s actually where I met Jin too. I just had a feeling that it was him because, he literally always came to class high. Plus, him and Jin were like inseparable.”

Namjoon winces, “Of all the people to get stuck learning about sex with. I’m sorry...”

This makes you laugh, as your mind journey’s back to all the days you spent trying not to make a scene as Jin made sexual puns in the middle of a serious lecture.  

“It definitely kept things interesting...” You offer, “I’m glad to hear that Yugyeom is thriving on his own. He mentioned his dad wanted him to join the family business but, I could never picture that man in a suit.”

Hoseok chuckles before his face tightens with intrigue, “Oof that makes one of us. He would look fine as hell in a suit.”

Namjoon grins, nudging Hoseok with his foot, “You got a thing for him?”

For the first time, you see a hint of shyness overcoming Hoseok’s demeanor but he shrugs it off, trying to appear casual, “I mean- I don’t know about all that. I’m just saying that he would look good in a suit.”

“You’d both look good in suits- together...” You offer, grinning at him, “Maybe in a private venue somewhere...”

Hoseok rolls his eyes but the smile creeping onto his lips is unmistakable, “Shut up- you guys are fucking wild. All I said is that he was hot...”

Giggling, you shrug your shoulders before nodding over to Yoongi, “Yeah well that’s how it starts-” You warn, “Then the next thing you know, you’re sitting on the subway, simping over a selfie he sends you.”

Yoongi’s soft lips immediately turn up in a small smile, the shy boy in him peeking out. At first, he says nothing as he merely passes the pipe to Namjoon, who mirrors a similar expression.

Hoseok is back to his normal mischief, feeling relieved that the heat is off him for the time being.  

“Are you saying you’d marry Yoongi then?”

He expects you to be flustered by this question but, the answer is simple.  

“This man?” You raise your brows as you point to Yoongi, “You’re asking me if I would marry this man right here? Hoseok- I would wife this man up so quickly, it would give you whiplash.”

Your comment causes the three of them to laugh and, to add to the shifting vibe of the room, you feel Yoongi wrap his arm around you in an effort to pull you into his side.

“You can’t say shit like that right in front of them, they don’t need to see me soft...” He mumbles shyly in your ear before kissing your cheek, his heart singing with validation.

“Hyung, you act like we don’t already know who whipped you are for this girl.” Hoseok laughs, eagerly accepting the pipe from a coughing Namjoon.

Yoongi ignores him with his arm still around you, checking his phone with the other hand, “The cab should be here soon, do you need anything before we go?”

“Hyung, you’re gonna leave your piece here right? Cause we kinda need it-”  

Namjoon eyes him suspiciously, “What happened to your bong?”

Hoseok cringes, “I may have accidentally dropped it off the rooftop...”

Namjoon’s eyes blow wide open, “What the fuck were you doing on the rooftop to begin with?”

“I wanted to vibe! The bud was good and, I wanted to listen to the J. Cole album and get in my feelings hyung, get off my dick-” He laughs, playfully defensive.

“Hey that’s J Cole song-” You point out giggling at the double meaning, the exhaustion from earlier finding you once again.

“Exactly, I’m glad you caught that-” Hoseok winks at you before Yoongi finally responds.

“I’m not going to take my pipe through international security. Pot isn’t legal in Korea so, I wouldn’t be smoking while we were there anyway.”  

“Oh shit that’s right-” Namjoon remembers, “I really need to keep up with what’s been going on back home, I heard they were opening the discussion about it recently but, I haven’t kept up with it.”

Hoseok interjects, “What about your brother? He probably has connections.”

Yoongi shrugs, “He might but, I'm not going to worry about it.” He glances at his phone again before turning it towards you, “Our car is here, you ready to go?”

You offer him a small smile as you nod, your cheek tingling still as he places another kiss to it.

He stands up first before holding his hand out to you. Eagerly, you lace your fingers with his and, hoist yourself off the couch.

“Alright you two-” Namjoon stands too, brushing his hands over the front of his hoodie, “Try and send us updates when you can yeah?” He shoots a look towards Yoongi that is filled with an emotion that breaches casual concern.  

Yoongi understands perfectly, offering Namjoon a solemn nod in return as he pats his shoulder, “Yeah I will. I’ll text you when we land...”

Moments later, the two of you are in the back of the cab. Yoongi takes the middle seat so he can be close to you, his fingers are interlaced tightly with your own despite the fact that his hand is already sweating.  

He’s anxious.  

You can feel it and, you’re faced with two options.

Address it

Distract him  

It’s not an easy choice but, you figure this weekend will already be filled with heightened emotions so, you’re not sure if you should breach this topic so early. At the same time though, you don’t want to act like nothing’s wrong and dismiss what he’s clearly feeling.  

So, you land somewhere in the middle.  

Yoongi’s jaw is loaded with tension as you reach over and turn his face towards yours. He doesn’t register what you’re doing at first but he is in tune with your touch as always so, he doesn’t question it.    

Leaning in, you tuck your lips between his own, whilst your free hand comes up to encase the side of his face. You feel him relax beneath your kiss, a sigh leaving his nose as he kisses you back slowly.  

You pull away, pecking at his lips a few times, your thumb rubbing over his cheek.

“It’s going to be ok.” You murmur softly for the sake of his privacy, “We’re going to get through this.”

Yoongi’s eyes open just enough to show you the sheer amount of trust present in them.  

He believes everything that comes out of your mouth and, despite the anxiety that’s raging inside of him, he knows you’re right.  

Pressing his cheek against your hand, a soft smirk graces his lips as he resists the urge to pour his heart out to you for the millionth time.

“I wish it was socially acceptable for you to kiss me like that every time I feel like this...”

You giggle, pecking his lips again for good measure, “It would make our psych presentation really interesting that’s for sure.”

He chuckles, his face adorably smushed against your hand, “I keep forgetting that we have to do that. I don’t even remember the last time we worked on it...”

“Me neither.” You say at first before your eyes light up with realization, “Oh my god wait- the last time was when we watched that horrible spider movie at my apartment! Ugh no wonder I couldn’t remember, I’m pretty sure I've blocked those images from my mind as a coping mechanism.”

Yoongi’s face lights up along with you, “Oh shit, that’s right-” He laughs, “Did we even finish our lists?”

The two of you share another round of laughter, caught up in the ridiculous realization that you had lowkey abandoned your final project.  

You lean over to pull your phone out of your purse, “Here let me check-” Scrolling through your notes app, you find the project tab before allowing your eyes to wander over it, “It looks like I still have deep water and you technically still have night clubs and horror movies. But I mean- you did perform in a night club recently so I feel like that should count.”  

He nods thoughtfully before his face lights up with realization once more, “Oh yeah, I already wrote about that in the research journal, I forget to tell you. That was definitely more of a direct confrontation than I was planning.” He chuckles, “We did sit on the beach and read terrifying facts about the depth of the ocean for mine, would that be enough for you to write about?”  

The two of you have maneuvered so that you’re tucked into Yoongi’s side again, his arm draping comfortably around your shoulders.

“You still have horror movies left though so, I feel like I should maybe confront one more directly too. Besides, I have a feeling that I’ll be able to distract myself in the water if you’re there-” You mumble suggestively, which causes him to smirk as he leans his head back against the seat.

“Oh yeah?” He jerks his head towards you “How so?”

Resting your face on his chest, you smile to yourself and think of a response that’s appropriate for a perfect stranger aka your cab driver, to hear.

“Cause if something touches my feet in the water, I could simply latch myself to your back for safety purposes.” You explain matter of factly.

“If something touched your foot while we were in the water, I’d swim away so fucking fast- I don’t think you’d have time to latch on.” He explains through his laughter

Scoffing, you smack your hand against his chest as you sit up fully, wiggling out of his grip, “So you’d just leave me to die???” You accuse, “Also, last time I checked- you weren’t an Olympic swimmer, what makes you think you’d just zoom out of there???”

Yoongi’s cackling at this point, his hand on his stomach, his previously tense features now smoothed out beneath his amusement, “I’m not saying I would leave you necessarily-”

“Necessarily!” You point out, laughter erupting from your lips as you pinch his side, “After everything we’ve been through, you’re really just gonna let a sea monster eat me!?”

His eyes widen, as his laughter increases, “A sea monster?! Who said anything about a sea monster? Where did they come in????”

“I said something touched my foot???? Obviously that means there is a sea monster, lurking in the depths, trying to eat me and you-” You poke his sternum, “You just said you would leave me to die!”

Yoongi’s face is reddened with the force of his own laughter, his hand subconsciously coming up to cover your own. With his eyes tearing up and his mouth parted to make way for his giggling, you can’t help but admire how beautiful he is.  

Especially when he’s laughing...

He wipes his eyes with his free hand, still chuckling lightly to himself even as he brings your hand to his mouth, “Alright, alright- let's be clear- I would never leave you to die.” He promises, still smirking as he kisses the back of your hand, “Realistically, I’d probably panic and jump on YOUR back.”

With narrowed eyes, you wiggle the fingers he has pressed to his lips, “Well I don’t know how that would work out because, I’d probably you know- swim away so fucking fast that I don’t know if you’d have time to latch on...”

Yoongi snickers as you imitate his voice but, rather than retaliate he simply tugs you by the hand his currently holding and, kisses you.  

It’s soft and sweet- lasting only for a few seconds until he’s pulling away.

“Thank you for coming with me.” He says suddenly, the volume of his voice decreasing significantly.

And as usual, you know that he wants to say way more than he does. But you’re perfectly fine with that.

Yoongi’s subtly is a specific brand and, you’ve grown to love how the little things he does allows him to pack so much emotion into a simple phrase.  

You feel lucky to love such a special person.  

“Of course.” You return his simplicity, pecking his lips once more before settling back in your original position.  

The airport was a blur.  

You’re thankful it passes quickly because, the process of getting through security makes you anxious.  

Yoongi ushers you into your seat before taking both of your bags and, storing them in the overhead compartment. You can’t help but smile as he turns to help an older woman with her luggage as well.

He smiles ( :] ) at her, bowing his head slightly as she thanks him. Yoongi offers her a tiny wave and takes his seat beside you, not noticing the way you smile fondly at him.  

When he takes his seat beside you, the two of you settle into a comfortable silence. Once the flight crew permits it, Yoongi takes his laptop out and begins toying around with one of his songs. You pull your headphones out as well and find one of your favorite playlists. Leaning back against the seat, your eyes eventually begin to droop until you can no longer keep them open.  

The next thing you know, you’re being woken up by someone gently patting your thigh.  

“Sleepy girl...” Yoongi croons in Korean, the sound of his voice alone making you smile, “We’re landing soon.”

Slightly disoriented, you blink your eyes a few times before you’re finally able to focus on your boyfriend’s face.  

You slump against him, rubbing your cheek against the material of his hoodie. He chuckles softly, his arm sliding out from underneath you in order to drape across your shoulders.  

“I’m sorry I fell asleep.” You mumble

He chuckles again, nodding with a false sense of consideration, “Ah yes, you missed so much. Two hours ago, the flight attendant came by and asked if we wanted anything to drink. It was a wild ride...”

Giggling sleepily, you shake your head at his sarcasm before pointing at his laptop.  

“Were you working on your composition project?”

He bites his bottom lip and shakes his head, a bashful expression on his face “No, it was just a song I’ve been working on for a while now.”  

He leaves it at that and, due to the signal from the flight crew, Yoongi begins putting his stuff away as the rest of the cabin prepares for landing.  

“Are we taking the train?” You mumble, still fighting off the remnants of your nap.

Yoongi purses his lips, his eyes narrowed in concentration whilst he scrolls through his phone.

“No, I have a cab waiting for us.” He responds, “It says it’s already here. So, when you get out of customs, just meet me right outside. It should just be a straight shot from immigration.”

You nod and rest your head back against his shoulder, “Okay.”

He puts his phone away, allowing his hand to find yours. Intertwining your fingers, he takes a deep breath- his mind clearly elsewhere. You squeeze his hand to acknowledge this but, the two of you don’t comment on it.  

There is no need.  

With the tightening of your grip, so much has already been said.  

Less than a half hour later, the two of you are once again seated in the back of the cab.  

“It’s probably going to rain a lot while we’re here.” Yoongi explains, his voice low and slow, “This is Daegu’s rainy season. I’ve been checking the weather periodically and it looks like there might be a storm coming but, it doesn’t look too severe.”

You look at the window after his comment, noticing that the sky is overflowing with heavy clouds, swollen and gray with the promise of rain.  

“We’re approaching monsoon season, we call it uh- jangma.” He tells you and his explanation makes you smile.  

Despite the circumstances, you’re very honored and excited to be in Yoongi’s hometown. You know the memories he associates with this place are complex but, there is a shift in his tone now and, he sounds eager to teach you about this place: the place he called home for so long.  

And you’d gladly listen for hours.

“Jangma-” You repeat, trying to get the pronunciation right, causing him to refocus his attention back on you. He smiles softly and nods,

“Good job.”  

Your heart skips a beat at his approval as you return his smile, “Is there gonna be thunder?”  

Yoongi chuckles, “Do you want there to be thunder?”

You nod eagerly, “I love storms. When I was little, I would just sit at the window and watch them go by. I’m pretty sure our neighbors thought I was crazy. But I don’t know- I've always had a thing for bad weather...”

He smirks, glancing out the window and then back at you, “That explains a lot.”

Giggling, you cock your head, “What do you mean?”

Yoongi gestures to himself, his now playful gaze looking at you expectantly. You laugh at his insinuation,

“I see the resemblance.” You concede, gently patting his cheek, “You’re not nearly as gloomy as you think you are though.”

“To you-” He retorts, “You always forget that...”

“Pleaaaase.” You disagree, “You’re soft for other people too, don’t lie. I’ve seen the way you deal with Namjoon and Hobi...”

He shakes his head, “Yeah but things are still different with you, I don’t think you realize that.”

You nudge yourself underneath his arm once more, cuddling up with him as best as you can in the back of a cab.

“I know you’re especially-” You emphasize the word, “soft for me. I’m just saying that you come across more approachable than you think you do.”

Yoongi smirks to himself, seemingly understanding something that you don’t.  

“Soft is an understatement.” He retorts, turning to kiss the top of your head.

“Whateverrrr.” You tease him, your eyes trailing down to focus on his hands, “I’m still right.”

He chuckles, his figure shaking lightly beneath you, “You usually are.”

The cab pulls off of the highway, and it’s then that you begin to notice the way the scenery around you shifts from a middle class/ metropolitan vibe to something much much...fancier.  

Through the winding streets, the cab begins taking the two of you up a pretty steep hill before turning onto a street full of ridiculously nice houses.  

White marble, giant glass windows, and driveways filled to the brim with luxury vehicles zip by as the car turns down another street. Similar in theme but greater in size, the new street had much larger houses on more sizeable plots of land- likely designed to give the owners privacy amongst their neighbors.  

You can feel Yoongi’s eyes on you then and, you know very well that he’s observing your reaction.

He knows that even though he told you his brother was wealthy that, that phrase alone wouldn’t be enough to properly convey what that entailed.  

“This neighborhood is really beautiful,” You observe softly, eyes still glued to the window, “The architecture is so different than anything I’ve ever seen.”

And of course, this makes Yoongi smile.  

Because of course, you aren’t making a fuss about the degree of luxury before you. You’re finding the beauty in what otherwise is a very stressful situation.  

Finally, the cab pulls into a driveway right behind a black Tesla before putting the car in park.  

He and Yoongi exchange a few words in Korean as Yoongi hands him a small wad of money.  

“Thank you.” You murmur to the cab driver with a slight bow of your head to which he responds with a tight smile and a similar bow.  

You and Yoongi unload your bags from the trunk and as he is reaching for your hand, the front door of the house swings open.  

A man a few inches taller than Yoongi steps out. His black hair is neatly arranged in a middle part and he’s dressed in a beige turtleneck and white slacks. As he comes closer, the resemblance between the two of them is staggering.  

“Hello!” He calls with a warm smile, his voice bright, “Welcome! Come on in, the rain is supposed to pick back up soon.”

His expression only glows as he spots his younger brother. He looks excited to see him but, his movements are apprehensive.  

The unspoken tension is already present and, you can feel Yoongi almost freeze up as he draws near. Subtly, you coax him along offering his brother a warm smile as the two of you approach the landing just in front of his door.  

Normally, you don’t get nervous when meeting new people but, this situation is laced with so much complexity- you aren’t sure how to act.

Thankfully Yoongi finally speaks, “Good to see you hyung. Thank you for having us on such short notice.” His tone is almost unrecognizable as he gestures to you, “This is my girlfriend Y/N. Y/N-” He gestures back to his brother, “This is my older brother Geum-jae hyung.”

Bowing your head slightly, you smile once more, “It’s very nice to meet you, thank you for having me.”

Geum-jae nods, eyeing you softly as his lips press into a tight line, “It’s so nice to meet you Y/N. I promise you, the pleasure is all mine.”

Yoongi motions for you to step in front of him so, you follow his lead and trail behind his brother through the doorway.  

Geum-jae's home resembles a marble statue. It’s clean, beautiful and, elegant- but lifeless. Geum-jae has artwork of various styles all over his walls, crisp white couches, sleek granite countertops and, stainless-steel appliances however, there is not one bit of evidence that anyone even lives here. The house feels empty despite the amount of effort put into its appearance.  

It makes you sad.  

“You have a beautiful home.”  

Your voice echoes off the dead weight of the walls, the paintings themselves seeming to arch a brow at your comment. Geum-jae however, smiles and nods graciously,

“Thank you. I just moved in not too long ago so, there is a lot I want to do. I definitely could have used this one’s expertise-” He nods to Yoongi, “He was always really good at that kind of stuff...”

Your boyfriend smirks, his eyes taking in his surroundings but failing to really focus on anything; he was too wound up, “You could have. I would have charged you though...”

Geum-jae chuckles and you see him glance at Yoongi fondly for a split second before he quickly reverts to his casual demeanor.  

“I put you guys on the second floor facing the skyline-” He gestures to the ivory staircase, “I’m sure you want some time to freshen up and relax so, please take all the time you need. I’m having BBQ brought over tonight but, if you’re hungry- feel free to help yourself to whatever is in the kitchen.”

Yoongi allows you to step in front of him whilst taking the suitcase from your hands. The two men follow behind you as Geum-jae continues laying out the plans for the evening,  

“I have a few virtual meetings to attend that I wasn’t able to move around but, I will be free as of 7 this evening. Until then, please make yourselves at home. I am really-” He seems to take a deep breath for emphasis, “really happy to have you here.”

“Thank you hyung.” Yoongi smiles slightly once the three of you reach the outside of the guest room, “Good luck with your meetings. Let me know if you need help with dinner.”

Geum-jae responds with a tight nod, “Will do. I’ll be in my office so, feel free to explore.” As he pushes open the door for you, he allows his own pained expression to meet yours, “I’m honored to meet you Y/N. Thank you for coming all this way with my brother.”

“Well-” You squeeze Yoongi’s hand gently, “He’s lucky I like him so much...”

Cheeks flushed, Yoongi rolls his eyes and shakes his head, but his lips are practically puckered against the smile he’s trying to stifle.  

“That’s fair.” Geum-jae chuckles, “Let me know if you two need anything. I’ll just be downstairs...”

With that, Yoongi pushes open the door and allows you to step inside before following behind you.

“Wow.” You whisper to yourself as you take in the scene before you.

The walls are painted a soft gray and surrounding only three sides of the bedroom. The fourth wall is made entirely of glass and given that the house rests upon a hill, you’re able to make out the skyline of the inner city. A giant four poster bed sits in the middle of the room, covered completely in a white duvet and three rows of pillows. Dark gray curtains sit on either side of the massive window as various muted colors accent the room in the form of a dresser, two nightstands and, a set of couches at the end of the bed.  

Yoongi is silent behind you as he sets the bags down at the entrance of the room. He pushes the door shut and allows his eyes to move over the space for a moment.  

It's nice, he thinks, but he can’t find himself to be very impressed.  

He knows where this money comes from and, even though his brother is out of the crime sector now, it still feels strange to acknowledge his wealth.  

Noticing his silence, you turn towards him, eyes tracing over the features of his face to assess his mood.

With a slight and subconscious pout, he looks at you, his body seemingly full of a breath he wants to take.  

“Do you want to lay down for a bit? I know you didn’t sleep on the plane.”  

At your offer, he seems to deflate slightly, lips turning up at the corners, “I think I want to shower first...”

Immediately, you nod with an encouraging smile, “Yeah go shower babe, I’ll just-”

He interrupts you, sticking his hand out and flexing his fingers in a grabbing motion, “Come with me.”

His offer makes you giggle, “You want me to shower with you?”

Yoongi closes the distance between you, using his grabby hands to lock onto your hips, “No, I meant like come with me as in come watch me...yes I want you to shower with me.”

Your laughter heightens as you pinch his side, causing him to recoil before chuckling.

“You’re such a punk today...” You scold.

Yoongi simply chuckles warmly as he kisses the side of your head, the tone of his voice lowering significantly, “That usually means something to you doesn’t it?”

It does.  

It usually means he’s having trouble vocalizing his needs and, he’s in need of attention. And the type of attention is usually a specific brand.  

And it usually comes with a little bit of pain.  

However, you don’t think it’s a good idea to indulge that side of Yoongi’s desires at the moment because, his emotions aren’t fully organized. You know the talk with his brother is causing him a lot of stress and, as much as you liked to wreck his body right now- you know it’s best to wait until later.  

That doesn’t mean you can’t take care of him though...

“Come on-” You urge him, grabbing his hand and practically running towards the bathroom, “Let's get you clean, king.”

He laughs, stumbling into the bathroom which is just as nice and similarly colored as the room.

“I’m a king now?”

His question goes over your head as you notice the ridiculously oversized bathtub in the center of the room. Biting your lip, you turn towards him and point at it.

“Do you want to take a bath instead? The shower looks amazing and all but- this thing literally looks like a jacuzzi.”

Yoongi eyes it curiously, his teeth finding his bottom lip, looking a little apprehensive, “How would you want to sit in it though? I kinda uh- I kinda thought maybe we could stand under the water for a bit together, like last time...”

He wants you to hold him.

He’s not going to say it but, he needs it.  

Like really bad.

You can see his nerves creeping into his posture so, you decide to act quickly before he somehow convinces himself that he’s being too needy.  

Looking around the room, you spot a few things that could aid in his relaxation: candles, bubble bath, a neatly folded pile of fluffy gray towels...

“I’ll show you.” You assure him, “Close your eyes really quick- no peeking. I have a plan...”

Yoongi looks at you, suspicious all over his face, “I’m scared.”

Giggling, you raise your brows for emphasize, “Oh you should be-”

He can’t help but smirk at your tone despite the anticipation swimming in his gut. He trusts you though so, instead of arguing- he shuts his eyes.  

Shuffling around the bathroom, you set things up in record time, turning the water on, pouring the rose scented bubble bath beneath the stream, and lighting a few candles along the ivory counter. Yoongi maintains his smirk the entire time, folding his arms across his chest, stifling his desire to make a snarky comment.  

“Alright,” You sigh, dusting your hands off, “Ta daaaaa.”

Yoongi opens his eyes, blinking a few times before taking in the scene in front of him. It changes his smirk into a grin really quickly as his cat-like eyes flit over to you.

“Are you planning on sacrificing me?” He quips, nodding to the candles.

Snorting, you roll your eyes, “If you keep talking shit, I just might-” You threaten, laughter forming on the tail end of your sentence, “Get naked...”

Yoongi snickers, his face full of satisfaction as his finger tuck beneath his hoodie to tug it over his head. The two of you undress in a small bout of silence and attempt to sneak glances at one another’s naked form.  

“I’m going to get in first and then you’re going to sit in front of me, between my legs...” You explain, trying not to shiver as the cool air of the bathroom begins to grow uncomfortable.

His brows raise, “Between your legs?” He confirms, “Say no more...”

Once again, your eyes are rolling but this time, there is a smile on your lips as you move to take your spot beneath the warmth of the water. Yoongi has to take a deep breath as he watches you, his emotions brewing dangerously beneath the surface at the sight of the woman he loves.  

He still doesn’t fully understand it.  

He is still meet with endless confusion when he starts to think about why you’ve chosen to be with him but, he knows better now than to question it.  

You have your reasons, he thinks, and he has a million of his own.  

Looking up from beneath the mountain of bubbles, you pat the top of them, looking at him expectantly, “Come here.”

He grabs the hand that you extend towards him, balancing himself on it whilst he steps into the tub. Modestly, he turns his body away from you for a second so he’s able to bend down before pivoting beneath the water and settling against your chest. The bathtub is big enough for the water to go past his shoulders and, he feels his entire body relax once he feels your body against his.  

“Comfy?” You check, draping your arms across his chest.  

Yoongi nods, his head leaning back and resting against your left shoulder. Once it lands there, you turn and kiss his temple which then prompts one of his hands to reach up rest on yours. Silently, you place a few more kisses against his hairline, allowing him to decompress however he wants to, not wanting to pressure him into talking about anything.  

And he doesn’t, at least not for a while.  

The only sounds between the two of you are the dribbling of water from the faucet and the low whisper of breathing. Every so often, you kiss his temple, just so he knows that he isn’t alone.

“Seeing my brother is really difficult.” He mumbles, eyes still closed, hand still on top of yours, “Even just seeing his face- it brings back a lot of memories.”

You nod, “I can imagine- especially since it’s been so long.”

Yoongi sighs, his eyes fluttering open and honing in on the ceiling, “I haven’t seen him since I was 18. He came to Sejin’s place just before I moved in with Namjoon. He tried to talk to me to let me know that he was leaving the business but, I barely said anything. I was too angry at him.”

Using your free hand, you rub softly at his chest under the water, silently encouraging him to continue.  

“He never helped me when my father would-” He takes a deep breath through his nose, his throat bobbing as he swallows on the exhale, “the time I told you about, when my father hit me...that wasn’t the only time. It happened often towards the end.”

Your eyes shut momentarily, the pain of Yoongi being harmed stinging your heart like a shot.  

“I’m so sorry.” You whisper, kissing his temple again.

Yoongi’s face turns slightly into your lips, his hand squeezing over yours, “Don’t be. It was a long time ago. I held onto my disappointment in him for a while until I realized something: the only reason my father every laid his hands on me and not Geum-jae hyung was because, I stood up to him.”

“Geum-jae hyung never did and, I think he still carries that regret to this day. I can see it all over his face...” His voice is so low now that it barely makes it above a whisper, his eyes seemingly elsewhere. “Is it wrong that I feel like- like I didn’t just come here to save Sejin’s studio?”

You shake your head, “Not at all...”

He swallows again and takes another deep breath through his nose, “It’s hard you know- during winter break especially; everyone would leave campus and go home for the holidays...and I never knew where to go. For the first two years at school, I spent Christmas alone until Namjoon’s mom finally called me and told me that if I didn’t come back with him, that she was going to make him sleep outside.” He chuckles, smirking slightly at the memory.

Your heart fills with despair then. You didn’t piece it together that Yoongi would have stayed behind during the holiday season. There was so much to unpack from the tragedy that he’s endured; it didn’t even cross your mind.  

“Namjoon’s mom was right to threaten you-” You affirm but then you shake your head, “I don’t think there could be a wrong reason to come here. You deserve to have whatever kind of closure or healing that you need.”  

“I wish I knew what I needed...” He admits, licking his lips before turning towards you, his brown eyes holding all the emotions he can’t vocalize, “I wish everything was as easy as this.”

Following suit, you turn your head so that you’re facing him, “So do I. But I’ll always be here through all the not-so-easy stuff.”

Yoongi smiles then, soft and sweet, delivering a kiss to match. He relaxes into you, brushing his tongue along the inside of your lip just for a moment before pulling away.

“I love you Y/N.”  

“I love you too Yoongi.”  

Eventually, you both got out of the bathtub and into the shower so, that you were able to get clean properly. After a few hours of catching up on missed calls/texts and relaxing, Yoongi gets a text from his brother saying that dinner would be ready in 15 minutes.  

Geum-jae had the finest BBQ in the city delivered and prepared right in his dining room. Banchan lined the center of the table, slabs of meat were grilled one right after the other until the three of you tapped out.  

It passed easier than you thought it would. Yoongi and Geum-jae relaxed in the face of a meal, the conversation flowing effortlessly between them as if no time had passed. It was a touching sight to see and, you hoped that it meant their discussion would come out easier.  

You take your leave after you help clean up, thanking Geum-jae for the incredible food and, letting Yoongi know that you’d be up in the room checking on something for school if he needed anything.  

Which was a total lie but, you needed an excuse to leave them alone for a bit.  

Yoongi feels his heartbeat pick up a bit as he watches you leave the room, the realization of what was coming finally hitting him.  

“Hyung-” He wants to rip the band aid off. “Is it alright if we talk for a moment?”

Geum-jae raises his brows at the switch in languages and nods immediately, gesturing to the table, “Of course. Can we sit here? Or would you rather talk in the living room?”

Yoongi shakes his head, “Here is fine.” He sits back down in his original seat and, rubs his palms against his jeans.

Geum-jae takes a seat across from him, gazing expectantly at his younger brother, “What did you want to talk about?”

Despite Yoongi’s anxiety, he understands that being to the point would be the most effective way to communicate. He wasn’t sure if any past issues would come up but, right now his concern was on Sejin.  

“I know that I told you I needed your help with something but-” Yoongi begins, “It isn’t me who needs your help exactly...it’s Sejin.”

Geum-jae purses his lips, his hands coming out to clasp rest on the table, “Is he alright?”

“The landlord for the studio he runs is increasing his rent again and, he doesn’t have the money to keep it open...” Yoongi’s explanation gets a little rushed as he gets more and more nervous, “I have some money in savings to help out with rent for the next few months but, it’s not enough to keep it open long term and-”

Geum-jae cuts him off, “Tell Sejin to call me. I will send a team to his location to sort everything out. It wouldn’t be a bad building to purchase but if Sejin is willing- then maybe he can look at other properties and I’ll have the money wired over to him.”

Yoongi can’t hide the shock on his face, “Wait- are you serious?”

“Of course. Sejin is one of my dearest friends. I owe him a lot for what he’s done over the years.”

In this moment, regret washes over Geum-jae's face, his eyes reaching out to Yoongi’s in hopes that he understands what he’s alluding to.  

And obviously, he does.  

“Why didn’t you just call me?” Geum-jae continues, tilting his head to get a better look at Yoongi’s expression, trying to read him, “I’ve always told you that if you ever needed anything-”

“I haven’t talked to you in 8 years hyung, I wasn’t just going to call and ask you for a favor.”  

Geum-jae nods, his face tightening with solemnity, “I understand.” A brief moment of silence passes between the two of them before a sigh comes from Geum-jae, “There is so much I want to say to you Yoongi, I don’t even know where to begin...”

Yoongi stays quiet.  

He doesn’t know either.  

He just knows that the only way to get rid of the heaviness in his chest is to talk about it.  

“I suppose I could start with an apology.” Geum-jae concludes, shaking his head as a light scoff leaves his lips, “I could never find the words to express how much regret and shame I feel inside. I could never explain how sorry I am for not protecting you, for not being a better example, for not having a backbone, for being selfish...I was blinded by greed. I couldn’t see what was in front of me.”

Yoongi swallows back his emotion, dreading the way his eyes begin to sting.  

Geum-jae continues, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment, “I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I just want to apologize and tell you that, even though I played no part in the man you’ve become, I am incredibly honored to call you my brother.”

It isn’t easy but, Yoongi manages to contain the tears that desperately want to fall from his eyes. His chest tightens as he hears his brother’s words. He wades through all the bitterness he feels towards him, allowing himself to feel the full force of his approval.  

“I forgave you a long time ago.” Yoongi swallows, avoiding direct eye contact with him, “I just wish I understood your actions. You were my hyung, I thought you would have protected me and-” Yoongi blinks away the tears as quickly as he can, “and I still haven’t been able to accept the fact that you didn’t...”

Geum-jae shakes his head, “I wanted to protect you. I just didn’t know how- I was scared of him too. You had more courage than I did. It doesn’t excuse my actions but, it’s the truth.”

Suddenly, he reaches out and places his hand overtop of Yoongi’s, a pleading expression on his face, “That’s why you got out. That’s why you have a life. You have friends, you’re about to graduate university and, you have Y/N...” Geum-jae's voice breaks at the end, “Because of your strength, you finally found happiness.”

Yoongi looks at his hand, observing the evidence of his life present on his skin. Scars, burns, callouses, needle marks...

“Are you saying that you haven’t?” He asks, still not meeting his brother’s eyes.

“I’m not even close.”

Finally, the two meet each other's gaze. For a moment, they just stare, glistening eyes to glistening eyes. Overcome with years of repressed emotions, fueled by the desperate need to try and break the cycle, they wordlessly convey an unspoken emptiness.  

They have missed each other so much.  

“I am here now.” Geum-jae promises, the first tear dangerously close to falling, “Hyung is here if you’ll have him. I want to be in your life but, I understand if you want nothing to do with me.”

Yoongi blinks now, and the tears land upon his cheeks, “You’re my hyung...” And it really is a desperate proclamation, “...you’ll always be my hyung...”

The chair screeches against the tile, causing Yoongi to jump in his seat until he realizes what his brother is doing. Rounding the table, stands to the side of Yoongi with open arms and his own tears atop his cheeks.

He eyes him for only a few seconds before standing up suddenly and accepting Geum-jae into his arms. The two of them seem to collapse against one another. Yoongi breaks down and sobs in the arms of his older brother.  

Just as he would have when they were young.

When times were hard and he could take shelter behind the one person who made him feel safe, the first person who ever showed him love.  

“I’m so sorry Yoongi-ah.”  

His words cause Yoongi to squeeze his eyes shut as he nods against the expensive fabric of his brother’s dress shirt, “I know.” He sniffles and pats his back, “I know you are.”

Meanwhile...

You’ve been upstairs, straightening up the bedroom and trying to pass the time without worrying excessively about your boyfriend’s well-being.  

Which turns out to be impossible...

Cleaning around the room/bathroom only takes you about 20 minutes before your flopping onto the massive bed and, pulling out your phone. Scrolling through Tik Tok, you hope for a substantial distraction and, lucky for you- one arrives.  

But, it isn’t on Tik Tok...

Jungkook: So you know Jimin right...  

The text from Jungkook confuses you as you’re pretty sure it's like the middle of the night back home and, it’s not like him to text you outside of the group chat.

You: I have heard of him yes

You: Isn’t he like your boyfriend or something?

Jungkook: ha ha

Jungkook: about that

Jungkook: what if he wasn’t my boyfriend anymore?

Your eyes widen and, you immediately sit up in bed and hover anxiously over your phone.

You: !!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN

Jungkook: shhhhhh don’t yell

Jungkook: my future fiance is sleeping...

You’re about ready to get on a flight back home to kick his ass before your vision focuses on the word he’s just sent.

You: excuse me  

You: YOU’RE WHAT ???????????

Jungkook: …

Jungkook: What did I just tell you smh

You: *whispers* WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT JUNGKOOK

Jungkook: -____-

Jungkook: can I call  

You: ?????? Obviously!!!!

Seconds later, Jungkook’s name illuminates your screen.

“Good evening,” He begins calmly, “I’m having a panic attack...”

You giggle, “What’s going on????”

“Well you see- I am in love with Park Jimin and I fear it may be terminal.”

“Terminal huh? Is that how you describe a lifelong partnership with your one true love?”

“...yes.”

“Jungkook,” You urge him through your laughter, “What is going on?”

You hear him sigh, “I think I’m going to ask Jimin to marry me.”

Squealing, you jump up on your knees, “Wait seriously?! Jungkook!”

“Yah! Don’t yell at me! This is all your fault!”  

“My fault??? How is this my fault?”

“Well technically I guess- it's Yoongi’s fault because, he’s the one that convinced me to get in touch with my feelings or whatever- either way, I am STILL the victim. And now I want to be with him forever and it’s disgusting...”

You flop back against the pillows and laugh again, “If Jimin knew this was how you were telling people you were proposing, he would kill you.”

He doesn’t hesitate, “He’s going to kill me either way Y/N...it’s bad- the other day, he sent me a selfie and, I had heart palpitations for like 15 minutes.”

“If your man doesn’t give you heart palpitations then, that isn’t your man.” You conclude.

“Y/N...” Jungkook whines now, sounding very much like the boy you met back in middle school.

“Jungkook...” You whine back causing him to finally chuckle on the other end of the line.

“I’m scared...”

“I know but, you and Jimin are so perfect for each other, there is no way that this wouldn’t work out.”

“More perfect than you and Yoongi?” He teases, reverting back to being a little shit.

And his question makes you scoff, “Oh sweetheart- obviously not. But second place isn’t bad!”

He laughs now and it’s the full bellied sound that you love hearing.  

“You really think we’re perfect together?”

Despite his inability to see you, you smile at his need for validation,

“Duh. You two are literally soulmates.”

Jungkook is quiet on the other line but when he speaks again, you can hear the giddiness in his voice, “Ok so...will you help me then???”

Back downstairs, Yoongi and Geum-jae are sat at the bar in front of the window that faces his backyard. As he predicted, the rain came back in full force and is now propelling itself against the clean glass. After their emotional encounter in the dining room, Geum-jae suggested that they have a drink together and relax for a moment.  

He had poured each of them a glass of wine, ensuring not to fill his glass up too much.  

“Your girlfriend is a wonderful woman; you made a good choice.”

At the mention of you, Yoongi’s lips twitch, his eyes watching the droplets of water chaotically race down the window, “Thank you. But, it was her who chose me, I’m still working out exactly why.”  

Geum-jae chuckles, “I see you’re still selling yourself short ah? Did you two meet at school?”

Yoongi smirks, “Yeah, we met 6 months ago in my psychology class. She was my partner on our final project.”

“Ah.” He nods, “Things blossomed that way then?”

Yoongi’s heart throbs a bit as his brain begins its recollection of his time with you.  

So much has happened during your relationship, he forgets that he hasn’t known you all his life.

It certainly feels like he has.  

“Yeah.”

Geum-jae chuckles, “You’re so reserved about her.”

Yoongi knows what he means. In the Min family, you always say things as they are. You don’t sugarcoat your sentiments and you definitely don’t play coy.  

“I can’t help it-” He admits, and he can feel the heat on his cheeks now, “I find it difficult to talk about her...”

His brother bites his bottom lip, unable to help how endeared he is, “Can I ask why?”

Yoongi leans his cheek against the palm of his hand, still focusing on the rain, “It’s overwhelming.”

Geum-jae seems to understand but he chuckles anyway, “Do you plan on marrying her?”

His question hangs in the air for a moment. Yoongi’s brain once again travels elsewhere, and he is bombarded with images of you walking down the aisle. He has to take a deep breath as he forces the thoughts out of his head; he’s cried enough this evening.

“I would marry her tomorrow.”  

Geum-jae's laughter increases now but now it bubbles over his lips in an excited fashion.

“Yahhhh! Look at that eh?” He congratulates him, “It’s safe to say you’re off the market for good then? Because I have a few of my friends who have been asking about you.”

This finally makes Yoongi laugh as he turns towards him, “That’s flattering.” He means it too but, he speaks the next set of words with all of the conviction he can muster, “There is no one else for me though.”  

Geum-jae grins proudly and with a raise to his brows, he lifts his glass, “Well, let’s drink to that then.”

The clinking of crystal signifies so much. For now though, Yoongi allows it to represent the future and, all of the possibilities it may bring.  

[sickofthistoxicshit]

So this is a way Way overdue prompt that I got ages ago, but didn't have the time or muse-cooperation to write.

But I finally managed to write it!!

The prompt was given to me by the lovely @coffeeflavoredcookies : Chris all snuggled up to Buck as he tells him bedtime stories with Eddie standing at the door looking at them fondly.

This is fluff all the way, hope you like it ❣

-

The house was dimly lit when he got back, at this point Christopher would have usually already been in bed - post bedtime story.

But Buck has been staying the last few days with them after getting hurt on a call. Nothing too bad, mild concussion, some bruised ribs and a now relocated shoulder still stuck in a sling, so things aren't exactly on the normal side.

Buck had trouble understanding Eddie’s insistence that he stays with them, not wanting to be a burden (earning him an eye-roll from Eddie) and reminded him that he shouldn’t have to look after a grown-ass man while having an actual child of his own to take care of, (which resulted in Eddie calling Christopher and asking him, on speaker, what he thought of Buck staying with them for the next few days. Christopher cheered and Buck glared at Eddie, mouthing ‘traitor’ at him.)

The thing is, Buck seems to be unable to understand that whenever he’s hurt, physically or emotionally or just generally off-balance, Eddie is thrown to a loop right with him. Eddie would rather have him near and safe than wonder how he is, if he’s sleeping, eating - taking care of himself.

Back when his leg was crushed, so close to losing Shannon, Eddie was very close to saying to hell with Ali and then Maddie and just take him over to their place.

But Buck wasn't his to keep back then, and to be honest he's not his now, but Ali is long gone and Maddie is super pregnant, giving Eddie the best excuse to bundle him into his truck and take him home.

Sore and tired, Buck mostly slept, crashing on the couch, no matter how many times Eddie tried to get him to crash in the master bedroom, at least during the day.

Eddie got used to returning home from work to find Christopher sitting in the living room either doing his homework or playing or watching TV while Buck slept on the couch. Sometimes Christopher could be found nestled to Buck's side as they both nodded off watching some nature documentary.

Eddie has an album in his phone containing multiple pictures of his boys together. He will never get tired of snapping pictures of them, moments frozen in time, forever.

Eddie took his shoes off at the door and dropped his bag next to them. He showered at the station so he wouldn't waste time with Christopher in favor of washing the day off, he quickly rinsed his hands with soup, a habit left from crazed Covid days, then went in search of his boys.

The house was quiet, and the normally occupied couch was empty. Eddie made his way to Christopher’s room, already recognizing Buck’s low gravel voice, reading what sounded like “I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew”, Buck got Christopher the book a couple of weeks prior to his injury.

He told Christopher that Maddie used to read it to him when he was younger. They read it so many times, that both of them knew it by heart at one point. This is the first time he got to read it to him, if Eddie is not mistaken.

Eddie quietly made his way to the bedroom and stopped to lean on the door frame, taking in the sight in front of him. Christopher was lying in bed snuggled up against Buck’s uninjured side, he was already fast asleep, but Buck kept reading quietly leaning against the headboard.

“Then I dreamed I was sleeping on billowy billows

Of soft silk and satin marshmallow-stuffed pillows.

I dreamed I was sleeping in Solla Sollew,

On the banks of the beautiful River Wah-Hoo,

Where they never have troubles. At least very few.”

Eddie was so caught up in the cute picture presented before him, that he hadn't noticed Buck’s stopped reading and turned welcoming eyes on him, “Hey Eds.” he greeted with a soft smile.

“Hey Buck.” Eddie greeted back with a smile, slowly making his way inside, gently detangling Christopher from Buck to lay him properly on the pillow, and freeing Buck to rise and stretch carefully.

The blonde nodded gratefully at his friend, with a last look down at Christopher, he smiled and left Eddie to tuck Christopher in safely and say goodnight. Eddie’s eyes followed Buck as he left the room, making sure he’s steady on his feet and also because he couldn’t really look away.

When Buck was out and on his way to the living room Eddie turned around, pressed a kiss to Christopher’s forehead, turned on the nightlight and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Eddie noted Buck’s absence in the living room and followed the sounds to the kitchen, standing at the door, he inquired “Should you be without your sling?”

"Honestly, no." Buck admitted with a sheepish smile, "But my neck is killing me and doing everything one handed is driving me crazy." He complained, handing Eddie a beer and leaned back against the counter while drinking the Gatorade he started earlier.

“At least you’re not drinking beer.” Eddie rolled his eyes. Buck scoffed “I wanted to, Christopher said no.” he smiled at Eddie’s laugh.

“Sounds about right.” Eddie nodded. “Did Carla make dinner?”

Buck shook his head, “No, she had to leave early, I told her I got this.”

“Tell me you ordered dinner.” Eddie demanded.

“There are waffles and Eggs in the microwave for you.” Was Buck’s sole reply.

“You’re supposed to be resting.” Eddie protested with an exasperated look.

“I have been resting, Edmundo!” Buck rolled his eyes, “And I’ll go back to resting now that your kid is fed, ready for his day tomorrow and has fallen asleep in his own bed for a change.” Buck retorted and was about to move past Eddie when the latter grabbed the wrist of his good arm and turned him around, bringing him flush against Eddie’s body.

Faces a hairbreadth away from each other, Buck met Eddie’s eyes with a curious look, “You gonna teach me to dance Eds?”

“I thought you already knew how to dance, Ev.” Eddie replied with a soft smirk, voice barely beyond a murmur.

“Hmm.. So wha..” Buck didn’t finish the rest of the sentence because Eddie’s lips were on his, and the finally in his head was so loud, it took him a second to sigh contentedly and kiss back.

Eddie’s hands strayed to Buck’s waist bringing him even closer as he maneuvered them carefully out of the kitchen and into the living room, stopping when the back of his knees hit the couch, his palms framing Buck’s face with one last kiss before breaking apart, chuckling at Buck’s protesting whine.

“What was that for?” Buck asked as Eddie rearranged the pillows on the couch before situating himself with his back to one side and reached to gently pull Buck down so he could lie back on Eddie’s broad chest, framed between his stretched forward legs.

Buck went pretty easily, not even questioning Eddie’s tactile display, it’s been known to happen, it just didn’t usually start with a kiss. Buck turned his head to one side looking up to meet Eddie’s eyes, Eddie’s brown eyes were soft and fond, Buck couldn’t help but smile back at him when Eddie offered him a grin.

Before Buck could open his mouth and ask again what’s going on, Eddie wrapped a long arm across Buck’s broad chest and threaded the fingers of his other hand with Buck’s, resting them on Buck’s stomach. “I’m done overlooking the pink elephant in the room.”

“Is that a veiled reference of your dislike for that shirt?” Buck quipped, squeezing Eddie’s hand reassuringly.

“That too.” Eddie played along, he really did hate that shirt, but Buck kept insisting it defined his muscles, which it did, but literally most of his size-down shirts already did that. “But also because coming home to the sight of you and Christopher every night, was pretty much wearing me down.”

Buck’s face broke into a smile that was a complicated mix of self-consciousness and contentedness, which Eddie found adorable, “So what broke you tonight?” Buck asked, bringing Eddie out of his reverie “I mean, it was a pretty standard evening in the Diaz household.” He pointed out with a teasing smile.

“You made sure Christopher fell asleep in his own bed.” Eddie said, chin resting on the top of Buck’s head gently.

“Well, It felt like some normalcy was needed.” Buck replied, his voice soft. “Both of us injured and out of commission in the short span of five months seemed to be taking a toll.”

“And the fact that you’re the one who managed to find a way to stir him back into the right direction is what broke me, I guess.” Eddie admired quietly, “That, and the cute picture you two presented when I got into the room.” He smiled, pressing a kiss to Buck’s temple who was blushing endearingly.

The moment was broken by an exhausted yawn from Buck, “Sorry, been a long day, and you’re too comfortable.” he accused jokingly.

“Bed?” Eddie suggested.

“You sure?” Buck asked, it’s not like they haven’t shared a bed before but this was semi-new territory. “I've already bonded with the couch, I’m good sleeping out here until we figure this out.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, “Bed.” he determined with a growl.

Buck chuckled amusedly as he rose carefully to his feet along with Eddie, “Caveman.” he teased.

Eddie shook his head with a laugh, “brat.” he retorted, pecking Buck’s lips before taking his hand and leading him to the master-bedroom.

***

That's it :) I hope you like it!! 💖💖

ps. That book Buck is reading to Christopher is a story my dad used to read to me and my sisters when we were youngers, we all know it by heart, to this very day. 🤗💕

[yamithediaperdork]

My little brothers revenge, Part 2

Alex woke up Sunday morning and rubbed his eyes, trying to get the sleep out of his eyes and hearing the heavy snoring of his asshole big brother.

'Man, can't believe I conked out so bad!' He thought, now rubbing his arm across his chin and mouth to take care of any left over drool. 'I guess I must of been more tired then I thought..Ugh.. and Justin's been stinking up the room again in his sleep.'

Alex put his fingers to his nose, glaring over at his brother who was a well know toxic hazard in his sleep and as such normally got his own tent when the family went out camping.

Tossing his blanket back Alex froze as the smell not only got worse in the room, but it became clear WHAT the source of the stink was as he looked down and the shot swelled diaper around his waist.

'No way..no.freaking.way!' Alex thought as he blushed beet red.

he quickly glanced over at Justin who was thankfully still asleep and then slowly got up onto his hand sand knees and crawled backwards to get out of his bed, trying not to squish the mess around any worse and fighting back whimpers that might of woken Justin up.

There was NO way if Justin saw him in a shitty diaper that he'd ever let Alex live it down, and he could easily picture Justin 'accidentally' bringing it up around his friends or even at school.

getting his feet on the floor Alex found himself forced to do a cowboy walk of sorts from the bulk of his filled diaper and as quietly as he could he made his way to the door and out into the hall, praying to every deity he could think of that he was the first one awake since it was only 8:34 am and mom and dad liked to sleep in on Sundays.

Fate was not on his side however as he made his way towards the bathroom and saw that the door was closed. before he could even think of turning around and waddling back to his room the door opened and out stepped mom.

She appeared to of smelled Alex before spotting him from the way her nose wrinkled, then she looked eyes on him and her mouth twitched as if she was fighting the urge to smirk.

"Did somebody have a stinky accident?" She asked, sounding amused but coming over.

"I..I didn't mean to.." Alex whimpered and looked down, all sorts of shame flooding though his body and he was fighting back tears.

Instantly she went from amused to trying to comfort him, even if she winced as she knelt down in front of him and cupping his chin.

"Alex it's ok, accidents happen. this this goes to prove that you're not feeling so well. Maybe I'll let you stay home while I go and get you some more diapers later." She said in a soothing voice.

"I..Yeah Ok mommy." Alex said, feeling very much like a big baby as she then picked him up, hands under his armpits and carried him to the bathroom.

"I think maybe it's for the best you're gonna be in diapers all day today too. you wouldn't wanna have a poopie accident in your Captain America briefs right?" She asked.

This was NOT helping Alex feel better but he just nodded his head, kicking his legs a little.

"Uh..Uh..Mommy? I-I can clean myself up." he said as she carried him into the bathroom and stood him in the tub.

"I'm sure you could, but it'll go faster with my help and I don't think you want Justin seeing you like this." She said with a warm smile.

"I-I guess you got a point." Alex whimpered.

Oh yeah, he was gonna get revenge on his brother and prove who was the big baby in the house alright. right after his mom changed his dirty diaper.

'God, what have I done to piss you off so much?' he silently asked as his mom started to open his diaper.

One humiliating clean up and shower later and Alex was in a clean diaper and downstairs at the kitchen table, having some toast and tea. Normally Sunday's were a sausage and bacon filled feast if you waited long enough for Mom to get up but she had been wary about putting too much into Alex's system and asked him to go simple. Alex wasn't happy about it, but since Mom had put the plastic bag with his stinky diaper in the trunk of the car and promised to get rid of it away from the house he decided to humor her.

He was in just one of his Spider-man diapers and a loose Iron man t-shirt and kicking his legs softly at the table when Justin came down stair's with a grossed out look on his face, spotting Alex before he saw mom.

"Geez Alexandra, did you crap yourself or something? Our room friggen reeks!" He complained and then fully walked into the Kitchen and saw their mother standing there, NOT looking happy.

"Excuse me, but I thought your father and I talked about you calling Alex that name." She said in a less then amused tone.

"Er..well..See, Alex likes the nick name! Yeahhh, He said it just didn't feel right if I wasn't teasing him." Justin lied, Looking to Alex for back up.

"Alex is that true?" Mom asked.

"Yeah, Not at all. I've told him to quit it." Alex said smirking big time.

"i see. Justin, How would you like it if I called Justine or Jessica all day?" Mom asked, smirking now.

"..I wouldn't like it very much." Justin muttered and looked down at the floor now.

"Mmmhmm..So keep that in mind next time you get the urge to brat..I can always go and get you a adorable pretty princess lunch box and put Justine on the front of it and make you take it to school. Your father isn't the only one who can get creative with punishments."

Threat made Anne turned back to the kitchen counter and started on making Justin some breakfast.

"Y-You wouldn't!" Justin whined.

"Wanna try me? I'm already going to the store in a bit for more diapers for Alex." She said and smirked. "As is, I think you can have a nice toast and tea breakfast like your little brother. He's not feeling so good so you'll be watching him today."

"Ahhh moooom, I was gonna go hang out with Grizz and Rayne today!" Justin whined."I'm Sure Alex is a big enough boy he can look after himself! Or Dad can watch him!"

"Your father is going and helping Mr.Nilson build his deck today, But if you stay here I'll lift the TV ban so you two can play video games. Co-op only, I don't wanna come back to you both all mad at each other like what happens every single time you play a versus game."

Her point made the brothers both sulked as neither really wanted to be stuck with the others company.

Justin huffed his way though breakfast. between having to have buttered toast and tea instead of a meat explosion and being stuck with Alex all day he knew this was gonna suck all the balls, at least till he recalled his evil plan from last night and brightened up.

'Wait, no mom..no dad..and just me and the pamper butt. Oh yes yes yes yes yes! this is gonna work out great!' Justin thought and got a big silly grin on his face.

"Well, Somebody's cheered up after his tea." Mom teased.

"Oh yeah, I just had to wake up some more you know? I think I can have LOTS of fun with Alex today mom, so don't worry if you wanna take a bit." Justin said then added. "I know you like to drive around and it'll be nice for you not to have dad bugging you to hurry up or listening to me and Alex fighting."

"Well that's nice of you, though Alex is on his last two clean diapers so I really should hurry back." Mom said, giving Justin a half hug.

"oh nonsense! Alex is just gonna wear the diapers, It's not like he needs them mom, Right little bro?" Justin asked and smirked.

With Justin was being happy and helpful alarm bells were going off in Alex's head but there was nothing he could really say in argument of mom coming back sooner without tipping off he'd pooped himself earlier or making it sound like he needed his day time huggies. It was a catch 22 and Justin's look told Alex he knew it.

"yeah mom, I'll be ok..I'm sure me and Justin will have lots of fun." Alex said, trying to sound cheery.

Aside from not wanting to sound like he needed his diapers, he knew if he tried to whine to go with her or have her come back fast he'd also sound like a whinny little mama's boy.

"Well ok, If you boys are sure. I'll be heading out in a bit then, why don't you two leave the dishes for me and go and play some video games. And since you're both being good little guys for mommy." Anne smirked as both boys made a face at that. "You can both have 3 cans of soda each. Just try and spread them out."

the ugh faces turned into surprised smiles as mom was usually a stickler on the boys sticking to juice or water and she was always careful to keep a count on the can's of pop in the fridge.

Finishing up their light breakfast, the boys put their dishes in the sink and washed up a little then each one grabbed a can of cola out of the fridge and got a Blanket set out over the floor, well Alex got the blanket over the floor while Justin made sure the curtains were drawn shut.

Naturally normally Justin would of loved to of had the curtains wide open to show off his BABY brother but with mom still home he had to play nice.

Sides he wanted to try and draw Alex into a sense of relaxation before springing his super genius evil plan on him.

Alex wasn't falling for it for a second but went and fired up one of their rare co-op two player games (Since Justin wasn't a fan of retro games) and the boy's started to play, pausing only to wave bye to mom as she headed out, telling them that she'd be back in a hour or so, and to make sure dad woke up soon as he'd promised to be over helping with the deck bright and early.

They played in peace for about half a hour, with only cries of booya, eat it and the like coming out of their mouths and Justin giving Alex tips and for the most part they actually got along for a change.

That being said, all good things have to end and Justin never put his plan out of his mind, so when it was time to go and wake they're dad up he volunteered to do it while Alex took a much needed potty break.

Stopping by their room to grab Alex's phone Justin made a quick little call.

"Ngggh.. Yello?" came the groggy voice of Max.

"Heyyy max. how's it going?" Justin asked, keeping his voice down.

"Ngggh..Justin? what are you doing calling me?" the sleepy boy asked.

"Well Alex is kinda been missing you, and I was trying to set up a little surprise for him but getting you to come over and hang out with him." Justin said, grinning ear to ear.

"...OK who are you and what have you done with Justin?" Max asked, sounding suspicious.

"Hey, I can be a nice guy every now and then. but if you don't wanna come over finnnne." Justin huffed, mentally cursing just how well Max knew him.

"...Give me like 20 minutes or so to wake up and get some food in me." Max sighed on his end of the line.

"Ok the front door will be unlocked so just come in." Justin said and hung up.

with operation:show my brother baby butt off underway, Justin went off to go and wake up dad.

With dad being his normal cheery morning self (read: grumpy as fuck) Alex did his best to stay out of his way while he made himself a bacon and egg sandwich then grabbed his tool box and was out the door.

"I wonder he even offered to help if he was just gonna be this grumpy?" Alex asked Justin.

"Because there's free beer involved after the deck is built and you know mom won't let him bring any booze into the house." Justin said, oddly keeping a eye on the time.

"heh, you missing mom already or something?" Alex teased.

"Oh no, Just arranged a little surprise for you." Justin said and smirked.

As he smirked Alex felt a pang of fear go though him, the old Justin was back and he went to scramble up to his feet to get get away.

"ah ah ah, come here huggie butt." Justin taunted and grabbed onto Alex, tugging him down and into Justin's lap, pressing on his tummy.

Which had the effect of making Alex let out a massive fart.

"Dude! really? what are you, part skunk?" Justin asked, shoving Alex back out of his lap.

"M-Maybe!" Alex said, his tummy gurgling now and as he went to get up he ended up hunching over, anther fart coming out of him.

"Heh, Uh-oh, is widdle Alex gonna go poopie in his diapies?" Justin asked, smirking and getting up to block the path to the bathroom.

"J-Justin Nooo! I don't wanna poop my diapers again!" Alex whimper, hunched over and making his way over, yet anther fart coming out and that one was totally a wet one.

"Wait..ANTHER poopie diaper?" Justin asked, then it clicked. "Oh my god, you shit yourself in your sleep! Ahahaha! You really ARE a baby!"

"J-Justin Please! I'm begging you! Let me use the pot-" Alex started but then there was the sound of the front door opening and Alex was cut off by Max's voice.

"Allo allo! whats going..uh..on.." Max said, walking into view and looking at Alex in shock. "Uhhh.."

"M-Max!?! what are you doing here?!? I Uh..Oh god, Max don't loook!" Alex wailed.

Max was too shocked to look away though as Alex lost the battle with his bowels and the back of his diaper ballooned out as wave as wave of mush filled it, making the spider-man designs fade away and the formally white parts of the diaper go a ugly shade of brown.

With the back of the diaper being destroyed the front didn't get off easy either as Alex's bladder apparently didn't wanna be left out and he soaked the diaper even as he sank to his knees.

Balls up fists coming to his eyes and rubbing them as he started to bawl, Alex almost but not quite drowned out Max's million dollar question.

"Uhhh..what's going on here?"

The living room was filled with Alex's stink, but it was the smell of victory to Justin as he took in the scene with a sick joy. Alex was too busy bawling like the big baby he was to try and defend himself so Justin spoke up.

"Sorry about this Max, I tried to get baby Alex to cover up his diapers but he said he wanted you to see what a big baby he is an-" Justin started, but was cut off.

"Yeah, Bullshit. What's really going on here, Alex, did Justin make you wear a diaper?" Max asked, wincing as he moved over to comfort his friend.

'damn it! was hoping he'd fall for that. ah well, can't win'em all.' Justin thought.

Alex was still full on bawling though, and was just finishing up his dump and the diaper had amazingly held up.

"Alex..Alex buddy it's ok.. everyone has accidents." Max was saying and Justin rolled his eyes at that.

'just my luck, most boys his age would of started tormenting the fuck out of a pamper packer and I get the kind and understanding one.' Justin fumed.

"He's in all day diapers today because he went to sleep without putting one of his bed wetter pants on yesterday and wet the bed." Justin sighed. "And apparently if he's to believed he woke up stinky too."

"...Alex is this true?" Max asked.

Alex hiccuped and sniffled, calming down slightly now but he nodded.

"So..you knew his diapers were gonna be on display and invited me over..dude, your a asshole." Max said and glared at Justin.

"eh, Guilty as charged. but if you care soooo much about widdle Alex then you can get him cleaned up. Otherwise I'm gonna leave him to sit and stink." Justin said and shrugged, turning to leave.

"Sheesh.. brother of the year aren't you.. Where's his diapers?" Max asked helping Alex stand up and rubbing the poor guys back.

"In our room, I'll toss out what's left of them." Justin said then walked off leaving the stinky diaper boy and his little buddy to clean up.

For the second time this morning, Alex found himself doing a dirty diaper cowboy walk and heading for the bathroom, whimpering and saying sorry to Max over and over again.

"Hey, it's OK dude.. I should of known your brother was planning something when he invited me over. But Uh, I've known about your bed wetting for awhile." Max said, giving a sheepish grin.

"N-No you didn't, I'm super careful!" Alex whimpered.

they made it to the bathroom and Max had Alex stand with his legs spread and the trash bin in the bathroom under him as he undid the tapes and let the diaper plop down into the trashcan.

"yeahhh well about that.. you remember three weeks ago when we were playing Avengers in your room? you pack of Iron man diapers was sticking out from under your bed. When you weren't looking i pushed them back under with my foot." Max admitted, even as his face wrinkled in disgust.

"I..but..Noooo!" Alex whined babyishly.

Somehow this didn't change facts though.

"Look, we'll talk about it in a bit, you go and get in the shower, I'll go and get rid of the 'treasure'" Max said.

With no real choice in the matter, Alex nodded and made his way into the shower to go and get cleaned up.

'Pretty sad my best friend is more mature about this then my own brother..and Justin..your gonna pay!' Alex swore as he started the water.

After taking the plastic bag and putting it in the trash can outside, Max came back in and after opening some windows to air out the living room he made his way upstairs.Hearing the shower still running and found a pack of diaper with only two in it out front of the bathroom door.

the door to Justin and Alex's room was closed but since it didn't have a lock Max barged in anyways, finding Justin laying on his bed and reading a comic book.

"Can i help you?" Justin asked, a smirk on his face.

"That was a really shitty thing you just did to Alex, you know that right?" Max asked, hands on his hips.

"Cute choice of words there, and yeah, I'm a asshole and proud of it." Justin said.

"Yeah, well I'm gonna tell your parents what you did when they get back." Max shot back.

"Oh, cute idea. Let's tell them how Alex went and crapped his diapers when he has potty privileges and make it so he has to wear to school tomorrow. Of course I'll get grounded for inviting you over and showing off his diapers but who's really gonna come out on the short end of the deal here?" Justin asked.

Max blinked and tried to come up for a counter to that but just huffed and pouted.

"That's what I thought. If Mom asks when she gets back, Alex invited you over. I'll keep hush about the poopie diaper if you two little dweebs keep me out of trouble, deal?" Justin asked, going back to his comic book, clearly knowing he had the upper hand.

"..God your SUCH a asshole!" Max huffed and then stormed out.

Alex got out of the shower on his own and got himself diapered, then went and got a t-shirt (Hulk this time for the little avengers obsessed nerd) and a pair of black short's on over it before retreating down to the living room with Max, whining as Max told him about the deal Justin had offered.

"I don't know..he was suppose to shut up about the wet bed yesterday too and went back on it..and uh.. where did you put the..you know.." Alex asked huffing and squirming.

"Uh, out in the trash can on the side of the house. why?" Max asked.

"Because it's gonna be stinking up the block in no time and I'll get busted again for sure!" Alex whined.

"Well uh.. It's not like we can just go and ditch it in someone else's trash can you know." Max pointed out, rubbing the back of his head.

"Hmmm.." Alex said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully then snapped his fingers. "Hey! you know that old nature trail by here? the one that's hardly used anymore?"

"..Yesssss though I don't think I like where this is going." Max said.

"We'll take the stinky diaper and shovel out there, and bury it! by the time the trails popular again in the summer, no one will be able to smell it!" Alex said, beaming at his brilliant idea.

So excited with his 'brilliant plan' was he, that Alex actually started out of the room to head for the back yard to go and get the shovel.

"Alex, one second. You mighttttt wanna change into something baggier and with longer legs on it, those short's aren't really hiding your diaper butt." Max said with a small smirk.

Looking down and then looking at himself in a mirror Alex could see Max was right and gave a sheepish smile.

"Oh..yeah.. good call!" He said and then went to his dresser to find something a little more concealing.

Justin had of course by this time headed down stairs, not wanting to deal with Alex's 'toddler whining' ad he put it, and was playing a video game and drinking one of Alex's can's of soda since he had gone though his three.

Looking over as the pair went to go and get their shoes on he raised a eyebrow.

"And where are you two dweebs heading off too?" He asked then chuckled. "Awww, Is Max taking widdle Alex to da park ta pway?"

Alex growled but before he could speak up Max cut him off.

"Actually we're just gonna go and play on the old trail, go and dig some holes and the like. I figured that way if Alex has anther accident you won't have to smell it right away."

"Pffftt good thinking! did you pack a diaper bag for him then, hence the book bag?" Justin chuckled.

of course he couldn't of known that the pack pack was for holding the stinky diaper once they got it out of the trash, though he really didn't care anyways.

Alex meanwhile was blushing big time and huffing like a pouty toddler.

"Ayup, though hopefully it'll just be a wet diaper." Max said.

"pffft, ok. just be back soonish, Mom will wanna know where you are." Justin said and went back to his game.

Once they were outside Alex gave max a semi hard punch to the arm.

"what the heck was that all about! you sounded like you were on his side!" Alex huffed and glared.

"Uh, OW! and we didn't want him to know what we're really doing did we?" Max asked and then swatted Alex's padded backside, making a whumping sound.

"...You didn't have to be so believable." Alex huffed.

"oh I'm sorry, did you want him following us? knowing him he'd of tugged your pants off once you were on the trail and tossed them in a tree!" Max shot back.

the thought of being trapped in public with his diaper exposed made Alex blush and squirm, and let out a muffled fart of fear.

"Ah.. do you need, to go back inside and sit on the potty?" Max asked.

"NO!" Alex growled, then paused, and looked thoughtful and wiggled his butt a little, making Max have to bite his lip to keep from laughing.

"Yeah no, I'm good." Alex confirmed a few seconds later.

The adventure out to bury the treasure so to speak was uneventful, much as Alex had predicted the trail was dead this time of the year and the only hard part was digging into the semi solid earth, the shovel being almost too big for the either shorty to really use it so they had to take turns.

Coming back they were greeted in the driveway by Anne who was less then pleased to see Alex not only outside when she was still concerned he was sick, but that he was all dirty from playing in the dirt.

At least it worked out that she'd been home for about five minutes by that time so she'd already taken his new pack of diapers (Avengers print this time) to his room but still she gave Alex a mild scolding and sent Max home.

After that it was a day of just lazing around the house but Anne had also insisted on keeping a close eye on Alex so he hadn't been able to get enough alone time to e-mail Ben.

[deanandthephantoms]

We're a Perfect Harmony PT.5 - Reader x Charlie

Summary: In the last chapter we saw Charlie run off. Why? What happened there? and what will this whole thing mean for Charlie and Emma? And even more important? What will it do for Charlie and Y/N? read this chapter to find out :).

Wordcount: 6997 - it's a long one oopsss.

Other Chapters: 1 / 2 / 3/ 4

It’s gonna be okay..

Our entire group just looked at each other. What just happened? Whatever Charlie’s phone call had been about.. it could not have been good. I wonder if I should go after him.. Then again, Emma is here too shouldn’t she go after him to make sure if he’s okay? Or should we just leave him alone for a second? No one really says anything and I’m guessing we’re all wondering the same thing.. “So.. eh. Should someone go check on him or..?” I then ask. They all just look at me. “What? Was that dumb question or something?” Emma speaks up “No Y/N, it isn’t.. I think we all think you should go check on him..” “Are you sure? I don’t..” I begin but Emma cuts me off “Yeah I’m sure. For some reason I think I would only make things worse right now.” “Right.. and he’ll accept a whole lot more from you than from the rest of us.” Madi then adds “ehh okay..” I say while sharing a look with Emma just to make sure it is really okay if I go. When she gives me a quick nod I get up and walk in the direction Charlie stormed of too..

I try giving him a call to maybe see if he’ll pick up and tell me where he is but he doesn’t answer. I go to check his bedroom but there’s no sign of him there, after checking the entire campground without any success I’m suddenly remembered of the lake Jeremy brought us to last year maybe he went there? When I make my way out of the tiny forest I see Charlie sitting there looking out over the water. I stop in my tracks for a second, debating whether I should go up to him or not. My heart tells me I should go up to him to at least give him a good hug and I decide to listen to that. I silently make my way over to him. “Just leave me alone. please..” he says, the sad sound of his voice breaking my heart. I turn around to walk away but something is stopping me, I can’t walk away from him not when he’s feeling like this.. so even though I know I may regret it, I turn back around and sit down next to him. As soon as I sit down I notice the fact that tears had been rolling over his cheeks, making my heart break even more for him and I instantly pull him into a very tight hug. “Sorry Charlie. I can’t..” I just tell him softly. The fact that he puts his arms around me and hugs me back so tight I can barely breath tells me it’s okay that I’m there. I can feel Charlie begin to shake and as he buries his face into my neck I soon feel my neck and shoulder getting wet with tears. “hey , hey .. it’s okay.. I don’t know what’s going but it’s gonna be okay.. I got you.” I calmly talk to him slowly running one hand up and down his back to comfort him while the other arm holds him tight. We just sit there like that for what seems to be hours and that’s completely fine I’ll sit here with him, like this, until he calms down enough to get back to camp with me. I don’t care if it take days, I’m not letting him go. After a while he seems to calm down and I slowly try to move back a bit to look at him but Charlie tightens his grip on me and just mumble whispers a: “no.” without any hesitation i just hug him tightly again “I’m not going anywhere Charlie don’t worry.. We can stay here as long as you want okay?”

What has gotten this boy so upset? Who had called him and what did they say? I was so used to Charlie always being happy, cheerful and positive through everything. I never even imagined I would ever see him like this.. I found myself getting sad just by how sad he was and the fact that I desperately wanted to make him feel better but I had no clue how was making me feel frustrated.. Charlie must have felt me tense up cause now it’s him running his hand up and down my back to calm me down. “It’s okay y/n” he whispers. “No it isn’t Charlie.. What’s wrong? What just happened..” I say softly while still sitting there hugging each other tightly. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about me nugget.” I can tell he tries his best to make me believe it. I let out a deep sigh “Charlie please just talk to me..” I feel him shake his head in the crook of my neck. “Charlie, please.” I say more firm this time. “You can’t keep this all to yourself.. let me be there for you..” I then say in the same soft tone as before.

Another long silence and just sitting there holding each other follows before eventually Charlie speaks up. “It’s my parents..” I wait for him to continue but he doesn’t. “What about them? Are they okay?” I ask him. He sighs and then let’s go of me so he can look at me, the look on his face breaks my heart all over again. “They uh.. they haven’t had the best relationship over the last few years.. me and my siblings were well aware of that you know but every fight always got made up again and then things would be okay for a little while before it got bad again.. but like I said it has been like that for years.. we we’re used to it. In a strange way it was all sort of okay? but now..” He falls silent as I see a few more tears forming in his eyes, I reach out to touch his arm in a sort of comforting manner and give him an empathetic look. “Now that’s all gonna change.. they’re getting a divorce.. and I.. I’m gonna have to live with my mom.. cause you know my dad is gone for work a lot.. but my mom wants to find a completely new place somewhere else .. And I just..” his voice breaks as during all that the tears started falling again. I pull him close to me just hugging him not sure what to say, I felt so bad for him. His entire life had changed in the span of one phone call.. “I’m so sorry.. I.. I don’t really know what to say.. thank you for telling me though, you shouldn’t go trough things like this alone Chewie. I mean obviously you have your siblings but you gotta let people in sometimes.. it’s okay to not be okay and share that..” he lets out the smallest laugh “Did you just call me Chewie?” “yeah.. I’ve been nugget for a year now and I’ve been thinking about a nickname for you.. this one just came out? Sorry?” I can feel myself starting to blush, but the fact it gave him a reason to let out a small laugh makes me happy. He slowly makes his way out of my arms and looks at me with a serious face “No don’t apologize, Chewie Charlie.. it has a nice ring to it. And thank you for making me tell you Nugget.. I really tend to keep things for myself, I don’t want to bother anyone else with my struggles or sadness I’d rather be happy and positive you know. but it’s gonna be nice to have someone to talk to about this..” “Please know you can always talk to me.. You’re not bothering me by telling me you’re not feeling okay. We’re friends, right Char? to me that means having fun but also and maybe even more so being there when things aren’t so fun..” “Yeah no. to me too. And I am that friend to others, I just..” he sighs and falls silent. “You just don’t want to use that part of friendship from others?” I finish his sentence for him. “yeah exactly..” I nod at that “I get that you know.. I feel the same way.. Shall we make a deal? A deal to use each other’s part of that friendship?” “Yeah.. I like that deal.. I’ll make that deal with you Nugget.” I smile at him “Good. It’s settled then Chewie.” He laughs at that. “There’s that laugh I know and love. Hey do you think you’re ready to get back to the rest? Or do you want to stay here a little longer?” I ask him.

“Well.. as much as I love sitting here with you. We should probably get back I bet they’re wondering where we are.. Oh god I bet Emma is freaking out about us sneaking off..” he let’s out a sigh at that realization. “Uhm. Yeah, about that.. I don’t think so.. It was actually her idea that I would go after you and the others agreed so.. We’re not being sneaky if that’s what you think.” He seems surprised about that. “She what? Really? I did not expect that.. still we should go back though I don’t want them to get worried.. but can we keep this whole thing between us for now?” I grab his hand and stand up “Of course. I’m not gonna tell anyone. Come on Chewie.” He gets up and still holding my hand we walk back to the campground it’s only when we get there that I realize we’re still holding hands and I quickly let go of it. Not that it meant anything but that’s obviously not what others would think. Once we get back to our group Emma is the first one to fly over to Charlie to embrace him in a hug and kiss his cheek. I pick up on a quick are you okay from her side and a yeah thank you from Charlie’s side. The others then soon stand up to give Charlie a big hug as well. It turns into a group hug with Charlie in the middle and I just stand there taking it all in, that is until I get pulled into that hug as well by Owen. “You should be a part of this too” he just simply states. The rest of the day goes by somewhat normally. Charlie went back to his ‘I’m-always-happy-self’ which I know isn’t how he’s actually feeling but maybe the him just going along with everything is actually a nice distraction of the whole situation.

Later that night I’m chilling with the boys while Charlie and Emma are spending some time together she was now getting the news of what’s going on.. “soo.. Is Charlie okay?” Jeremy asks me. “He seemed to be okay when you two came back” Owen says. “Well.. I think he will be okay. you know what he’s like.. finding a way to turn everything into something positive..” I tell them. “yeah you’re right.. You we’re gone for quite a while though? Was it that bad? Was he mad at you for coming after him?” Owen asks. I sigh, I’m glad they’re not asking super specific questions Charlies story isn’t mine to tell at all “Well.. He wasn’t mad although he told me to leave him alone at first. In the end it was all good though. We talked and laughed and that’s how he got ready to come back to the group.” “Did he tell you what was going on?” Jer then asks me. “Yeah he did..” I simply state not going any further into detail. I see Owen and Jeremy share a look before looking at me with a smile. “What?” I ask. “You, really are something special aren’t you?” Owen states. When I just give then a confused look Owen explains “Charlie is not a talker. I mean he is a talker, but when it’s very personal, when It’s something that comes close to his own feelings? He doesn’t talk. He’ll pretend everything is fine. We’ve been his friend for like 7 years but he always refused to talk. And then you come in and suddenly he’s a real talker..” for some reason that makes me blush.. “Well .. I don’t know. I may have pushed him a bit, I don’t think.. “ Jer interrupts me “You don’t think we’ve tried pushing him? This is all you Y/N. You apparently have this thing Charlie needs to really truly open up.” “Well. IF that’s true. Then I’m glad. No one should walk around keeping everything to themselves. Anyway.. I’m actually pretty tired so I’m gonna go to bed okay? Wish Emma and Charlie a goodnight for me?” I say while getting up and hugging Jer and Owen goodnight. “We will! Goodnight Y/N!”

When I’m in bed I hear my phone buzz shortly, I pick it up and see Charlie messaged me. “Are you okay Nugget? Going to bed that early doesn’t seem very youuu.” Reading that makes me smile “Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry I was really tired, it was a bit of an intense day I guess? Are you okay?” “Yeah I’m pretty tired too actually.” That answers my question.. Him not answering my question tells me enough. “Are you still up?” I ask him. “ “Yeah, I’m on my way to our sleeping building though. why?” I don’t even hesitate for a second and silently get out of my bed again I make my way out of our room to the entrance of the building we sleep in. When I spot Charlie I literally run towards him he opens his arms for me and I run into them pulling him into a hug. “What are you doing up, you dork?” “You didn’t answer my question Charlie. Which told me you needed a hug.” He lets out a small laugh “Wow. You’re getting good at this whole REALLY knowing me thing.” He says while letting go of me a smile growing on his face when he notices my Rush t-shirt. “Weeeell, SOMEONE decided to let me in today. The thing is Charlie, once you let me in it’s very hard to get rid of me and very hard to hide things from me. “ “Good. Cause I don’t want you to go anywhere Nugget.” I smile at him. “So do you want to talk about it or?” “Nahh not now anyway, we should go to bed. Thanks for coming out to hug me though. I did need that.” “You’re very welcome Chewie, going to bed without a hug felt wrong anyway. Now we’re all good.” I say jokingly while actually being totally serious. That hug before bed did genuinely make a difference it made me feel safe and peaceful before going to bed. I loved it. But he didn’t need to know that though.

The next day everything seems to be back to normal. Well.. Emma isn’t sitting next to Charlie that’s different.. but I’m sure that means nothing right? they don’t have to be stuck together all the time.. plus they both seem to be in pretty okay moods so I’m guessing everything is fine. I can’t let my thoughts dive into that situation too much though because the head camp councilors are trying to get our attention. They tell us that today we’ll be cycling through the neighborhood playing some games and at the end will be doing a survival run. I’m not gonna lie, the survival run gets me nervous.. I’m not the best at sports. Now that in itself has never been a problem at least not with this group.. but at school, sports was basically the time where I felt most insecure, I would always get picked last, people we’re annoyed if I had to be on their team and for some reason I was afraid that would happen today. That I would hold my group back big time, that I would be clumsy and not be able to do half of the things afraid that I would feel like I was dying after one obstacle.. and through all that afraid I would just annoy my group of friends. I find myself starting to think about different excuses as to why I would not be able to do the survival run. Maybe I’ll just pretend to fall and hurt my ankle? My mind keeps running in full speed panic mode for a while until Charlie snaps me out of it.

“Hey, you okay?” he asks me sort of quietly “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Why?” That obviously was a total lie and Charlie knew that too. He gives me a really? Kind of look and just says “Remember our deal?.” I sigh he wasn’t gonna give this up and I knew that. “I remember. Trust me, I’m okay. I’ll tell you what’s up later okay?” He agrees and as soon as we’re on our bikes I find Charlie and tell him honestly about the thoughts I had that morning and about where those thoughts are coming from. He never says a word and just hums every now and then to let me know he’s listening and understands what I’m saying. When I fall silent Charlie speaks up “You do realize we would never do that you right? I would never let anyone do that to you.” “yeah I know that. But it still get’s me nervous. Not that I think you’ll be mean but maybe just that I can’t do it. And that you’ll all fly through it super easily.. “ Charlie just shakes his head “Y/N! stop that. Stop thinking like that. You can totally do it! and we’re supposed to be a team so that means helping each other out! It’s gonna be fun. Trust me. Get out of that pretty head of yours and just enjoy today. “ Totally missing the fact that he called me pretty I instantly have my defense ready “but..” that’s all I can say before he cuts me off again “No. no buts. We’re gonna enjoy this, you can do this. I’m happy to have you on my team and I promise to not leave you behind I’m gonna help you out if that’s needed okay? Just calm down.. Please.” I let out a deep sigh, “Fine. Trusting you on this one Gillespie.” He let’s out a laugh. “That’s better.”

So far the whole day actually is fun but when the obstacle run comes up I noticeably take a deep breath. Charlie comes up to me, looks me in my eyes and just says ; “ You got this Nugget.” Some obstacles end up being insanely high and while Charlie basically flies over them he always comes back for me, the entire group is ready to help me out and we actually end up having a lot of fun. I felt like I was dying, I was totally out of breath, I felt incredibly clumsy but it was good. All my fears had been for nothing, sure I wasn’t good at this but the way my friends dealt with this , the way Charlie dealt with this made it all okay. When we get to the finish I just fall down in the grass, totally feeling dead after giving it my all. My entire group just follows my lead, Charlie falling down next to me. “see. Told you, you could do it. You gave it your all and did so good! You can be proud of yourself.” Madison picks up on that and adds “Yessss. You totally killed it! Well doneee Y/N!” I cant help but smile “Thanks guys. Really. I would not have gotten here if it wasn’t for you.” And I wasn’t just talking about making it to this finish. Those people had each in their own way had such a positive impact on my life, I would not be where I am now if it wasn’t for them.. On the way back to camp I find myself next to Sacha we’re just talking about what he thinks of the camp so far and end up playing a weird game whoever can get the most people to say hi back to them. The fact that we’re riding next to each other and with that greeting the same people and with that getting the same Hi’s doesn’t seem to matter. We’re having a bit of fun and having some bonding time which maybe helps others sort of believe that I’m actually liking Sacha even though I’ve been spending a crazy amount of time with Charlie.. I was just 100% lost in Charlies world and basically forgot about the fact I was supposed to not be doing that, almost forgot I had planned on hiding my feelings from everyone somewhere way down deep. But how could I if he was being so cute and sweet and supporting and incredibly good looking? He was just not making it THAT easy..

When it became late in the evening me and the girls were just chilling on our beds all pretty tired from the long and active day we had. “Soo.. You and Sacha seem to be getting along pretty well.” Sav hints at me. “I mean.. Yeah he’s nice, talented and just overall an easy going person. What’s there not to like or not to get along with?” “Yeah I can see that. He’s a cool guy!” Jadah agrees with me. “Sooo, will you be asking him out on a date then?” Emma asks me. I for some reason did not see that one coming. “I ehh.. I.. I don’t know? I mean I’m just getting to know him I don’t think I should ask him something like that just yet you know?” Mads who also sleeps in a top bunkbed just gives me a look not buying this whole ‘I like Sacha-thing’ for one bit. “Really? I think you should give it a try, seems to me like he’s having a good time with you!” Emma encourages me. “I don’t know Em.. I really don’t think we’re quite ready for that yet.” “No I think Emma is right y/n! Maybe just ask him to hang out at the end of the week!” Jadah says. “I think you should go for it Y/N” Savannah adds to that. “I mean yeah, maybe at the end of the week I’ll ask him to just hang out. I can do that.” Just that earns me a few cheers from the girls. It’s lovely that they’re rooting for me and encouraging me to go for it especially since they think I like him, and I do as a friend but I don’t want to go out dating him.. that would not be fair to Sacha at all. Thankfully the topic of boys is dropped pretty quickly only to move on to talking about our celebrity crushes.. I was missing my late nights with Charlie.. but I wasn’t gonna lie just a night like this with the girls was actually very fun as well. I fell asleep as a very happy girl that night.

Waking up the next morning I’m actually well rested and in a good mood, instead of my sort of grumpy still half dead morning self. It’s quite early and everyone still seems to be asleep, I get out of my bed, freshen up and make my way outside. The sun is shining and I’m greeted by birds singing their morning songs, while taking a deep breath I just sit down and take in the peaceful scene. Not long after I hear some footsteps behind me which is soon followed by two arms being thrown around me from behind. Without even actually seeing who it was I just know it’s him.. “Good morning Charlie.” “Morning Nugget! You sound incredibly awake for this hour of day.” he jokes in his morning voice as he sits down next to me. “Right?! A certain someone did not keep me up till 4 am last night. look at the difference that makes!” I tease him right back. his face now showing an over acted offended look “Hey! No need to get all mean about it. I thought you loved those Late nights with Gillespie.” I let out a laugh “Late nights with Gillespie? You’re gonna have to work on that name dude..” “Oof. You really have it out for me today ey?” “Sorry. In all seriousness though. you are gonna have to work on that name, it sounds..questionable. But I do love those late nights yeah and I may or may not have missed spending that time with you..” I softly bump into him after saying that. “Sooo…. Late nights with Gillespie is on again for tonight?” he asks in a playful tone. I just look at him for a second “IF you stop calling it that. Then yes.” I laugh. “ Coool. Team no sleep is back! but first, join me for breakfast?” He says as he gets up and holds out his hand for me. I had not noticed the fact that now the entire camp had woken up and were all making their way to breakfast.. I smile up at Charlie and take his hand to let him help me up.

When we get to breakfast our group is already there as Charlie makes his way over to Emma to give her a good morning kiss Emma quickly turns her head so the kiss lands on her cheek. They share a quick look but don’t say anything. Something wasn’t right between them I was sure about that now, there’s a hint of pain and confusion in Charlie’s eyes and sadness in Emma’s.. I know it’s their problem, I know I should stay out of it, I know it’s none of my business but I couldn’t help feeling like I should fix it. Feeling like I should help them out in some way.. so after breakfast I go up to Emma, not sure of what I actually want to do or say..

“Hey Em.. Can we talk for a second?” I just ask her and she agrees following me to the spot where we had been talking earlier that week. “What’s up Y/N?” she asks as soon as we sat down. “I eh.. I guess I just wanted to make sure you we’re doing okay?” She sighs and is silent for a second , it looks as if she’s debating on what to say so I just give her the time and space to think. “Well.. I was gonna say yes but I have the feeling you know that is not true so.. no not really.” I nod “Yeah I uhh couldn’t help pick up on a few signs.. Want to talk to me about what’s wrong?” “I don’t even really know..” she sounds sad when saying that. “What is it that you don’t know? would I be wrong if I said there might be something going on with you and Charlie?” she lets out a small laugh “of course you picked up on that..” I decide to ignore that comment and stay silent in hopes that she will continue and luckily she does “listen before I get into this. I know I’m handling it all wrong okay? So you know the whole situation Charlie is dealing with right? I knew his parents were fighting every now and then but not as much as they apparently were he never talked to me about those things and that kind of annoys me? Why is he keeping all those things from me? I’m his girlfriend shouldn’t I know everything? I just want to be there for him.. but it’s like he won’t let me? And the fact he’s gonna move and neither of us know where makes me scared I will end up losing him and I think that fear is making me push him away already? And I don’t want to do that but I do? But he’s also just letting that happen?” I take a deep breath trying to collect my thoughts. I can see why she’s scared of losing him and I can understand that she wants to know what he’s going through but at the same time I want to yell at her all angry for only making Charlie hurt more than he already is in his current situation.. I try to calmly get my point across “Have you tried just talking to him about everything yet? You can’t expect him to understand what you want and need if you don’t tell him.. just denying some kisses is not gonna tell him anything ems.. and yes. You’re his girlfriend so even though you may be scared, he’s the one that needs your support right now. Give that to him. Don’t make this harder on him than it already is..” I see her swallow “I don’t.. “ she begins but I stop her. “You do know how. Talk to him. TODAY.” She shakes her head “I’m leaving later today and I still have to pack and..” I once again interrupt her. “Stop that. You’re talking to him now. I’m gonna go look for Charlie. I will send him here, and you will talk to him.” I see a glance of panic in her eyes. “Calm down you got this. Just be honest with him.” I walk off and quickly find Charlie “Hey nugget..” before saying anything I pull him in for a quick hug. “Hey, uhh you should go talk to Emma..” I see his eyes widen a bit, making me realize he’s probably expecting the worst now.. “No don’t worry. It’s gonna be okay. she just has to let you in on a few things.. You’ll be okay I promise.” I give him one last hug before sending him off in Emma’s direction. I just hoped this conversation would go well and Charlie would feel a bit better soon..

There’s no sign of either of them for several hours and even though I wanted to go look for Charlie, making sure he’s okay I didn’t. They needed this time together and I had to give it to them. To distract myself from it all I found the rest of the group that were just playing some games and jamming out to some music and that helped. They really were the best kind of distraction. Late in the afternoon Charlie and Emma find us again both looking a lot happier, they’re holding hands and Charlie is holding some of Emma’s bags in his other hand. When they reach us Charlie tells Emma he’ll bring her bags to the car giving Emma some space to say goodbye to all of us. As soon as I stand up she pulls me in for a hug. “Thank you Y/N. Thank you so much. You have no idea how much you’ve just helped me. You’re a good friend. I’ll be missing you. “ I smile at the big difference between this moment now and this moment last year. “No problem ems. I’m glad we got to know each other and actually became friends. And hey, I’m only a face time call away!” I let go of her and she says goodbye to the rest of the group too. Then I see her and Charlie sharing a good goodbye kiss. That view makes me smile, it’s not that I liked seeing him kiss her, not at all.. but I loved seeing him more happy. That’s all I wanted, I wanted him to be happy.

Once it became ‘late night with Gillespie’ o’clock, Charlie and me found ourselves in the middle of that same field as a few nights before. At first we just sit there but Charlie soon decides to lie down. “Come here?” he asks holding his hand out for me, I take it and he pulls me closer to him into a hug. “I don’t know what you did today. I don’t know what you did to Emma, but thank you. You’re a lifesaver Nugget.” He says softly. “I didn’t do anything Charlie.. I just kind of pushed her into talking to you.. I hated seeing you both be sad..” I just lie there Charlie’s arm around me, my head on his chest hearing his steady heartbeat. Usually that sound creeps me out, but now it’s the most calming thing in the world. Out of nowhere I feel a quick and soft kiss on the top of my head. “I wouldn’t call that nothing. Thank you, just please accept me being thankful.” I’m speechless for a second, overwhelmed by the amount of butterflies in my stomach. Suddenly I’m very aware of how we’re laying there and suddenly I feel like we shouldn’t be.. I wiggle my way out of his grip only to lie my head back down on his stomach. That for some reason feels less wrong and still gives me the chance to be close to him. “Fine then. You’re welcome.” I say. He let’s out a laugh and starts to, what feels like braid my hair. After a comfortable silence Charlie speaks up again “Soo, how are things with you and Sacha?” Well I’m here trying to get as close to you as possible without it being wrong.. how do you think it’s going? Is what I would like to say to him but instead I say: “Oh eh, I don’t know? He’s nice, we’re able to have fun he’s incredibly talented..” “But you don’t like him like that?” that answer makes me choke on my own breath. “What? What makes you say that?” he laughs “You okay there nugget? I just think you deserve better than someone who’s nice and talented and I think you would sound a whole lot different if you really liked him like that. I’ve heard you fangirl, I know what you sound like when you love someone..” “oh. Right. well I think you may have a point there. The girls were all telling me I should ask him out on a date but I feel like that wouldn’t be fair to him.” “If you don’t like him don’t do it. You deserve the absolute best in this world Y/N. Don’t ever go for anything that wouldn’t make you a 100% happy.” “Thanks Chewie. That’s actually some good advice.” He gasps “Actually some good advice?! You make me sound like I’m the worst.” I laugh “You know that’s not what I meant! You know I think you’re far from that..” “oh? I don’t know nugget I think you need to remind me again” He teases. “You sure about that? We could be here a while you know.” “I mean I would like to be here a while but you don’t have to remind me. I know.” “Well. Actually. I do still have to thank you for that whole survival thing. You literally got me through that Charlie. You’ve been getting me through a whole lot.. I actually may have to admit that I think you’re the best..” “Ahh thanks Nugget. I don’t want to ruin this braid I’m making but I would have hugged you otherwise..” I laugh “You enjoying braiding my hair Gillespie?” “Actually yes, there’s something strangely calming about it. I can’t promise you it will look good though..” “That’s fine by me.” We lie there a little longer just talking about all kinds of things until Charlie runs out of hair to braid and we agree on calling it a night.

After a short 3 hours of sleep the last full day of camp has arrived. I was not gonna lie that realization made me a bit sad, I was not ready to let go of all those people again. I just lie in my bed smiling at the sight of Mads, Sav and Jadah waking up. “What are you smiling about Y/L/N?” Jadah asks me. “I’m guessing it’s Charlie.” Mads just blurts out. This girl really had been waiting for the second Emma left so she could be real with me again huh? “Nooooo. Actually it’s not. Not Charlie or Sacha either. I just was enjoying the not waking up alone for that last time.” As I get up the girls burst out in laughter. “Oof your hair.. Looking gooood Y/N” Sav jokes. I’m confused for a second only to then remember what Charlie had done.. “Oooh. Yes.. Right forgot about that..” “See. Called it. It was Charlie.” Mads teases. I groan at her while taking the braids out of my hair not that doing that made my hair look any better. I guess today I was gonna go for lion mane instead normal human hair.. When arriving to breakfast I sit down next to Charlie. “Morning Y/N. I like your hair today.” He jokes “Oh shut up Gillespie. This is all your fault.” That fact only makes him laugh. I try to keep a straight face but how can I when he’s laughing like that? I can’t help but smile with him and just embrace the hair.

The rest of the day was mainly focused on playing games that would decide who the best group on camp was that week but since our group had no chance of winning that title anyway we just chilled. We watched the other groups play their games while we we’re singing them random songs. At some point Charlie sat down behind me and told me to lean back against his legs once I did that I felt his hands on my shoulders and the back of neck, this boy casually decided on giving me a massage. I don’t know why he did it. He didn’t say anything and neither did I. We just sat there like that for a good while still singing some songs as I felt myself relax more and more under Charlie’s touch, I apparently had been super tense without even realizing it.. When i locked eyes with Madison for a second she just shoots me a ‘I KNEW IT!” kind of look. I smile at her, deciding to ignore it and close my eyes purely focusing on the things Charlie was doing and let me tell you, I fully enjoyed all those things and I found myself thinking about how he could totally do this more often if he wanted to..

But then Charlie’s phone rings, he gently pushes me forward a tiny bit so he can get up and take this call. Not long after he returns, his face tells me it wasn’t the best phone call he had ever gotten. “You alright?” I ask when he’s sat down beside me. “Yeah.. eh the moving thing is just happening a lot sooner than I thought.. I’ll be on your bus tomorrow we’re staying with my grandma for a while and she lives somewhat close to you..” “oh.. That’s unexpected.. I’m sorry it’s all happening so fast now Charlie..” he sighs “yeah me too..” from that moment on we all silently agreed on basically just ignoring that fact for now. Charlie and Sacha spent some more time jamming Owen joins them drumming on random things, Jer joins in on me and the girls conversation and this how we spend our time until dinner.

After dinner the tradition of staying up all night begins. We end up playing 30 seconds again this time though we’re playing with mixed teams I’m in a team with Madi, Savannah and Charlie playing against Jadah, Sacha , Owen and Jeremy. I, already being tired, am cuddled up against Charlie which he seems to be fine with and no one else seems to question either. Owen and Savannah are once again screaming at each other over every little thing and the rest of us are just having fun with it. The night flies by like that until it’s time to go and watch the sunrise we agreed to make that our own little group tradition. The entire night I never left Charlie’s side and now sitting here on by the little lake that does not change he actually just hugs me closer to him and when he feels me shiver from the cold he takes of his hoodie and offers it to me. “are you sure?” I ask him. “Yes nugget. you’re cold. put it on.” I gladly obey to that order, as soon as I’m wearing the hoodie he pulls me close again. “You know what. It looks good on you nugget.” By the way he whispers that to me I can tell he’s incredibly tired as well. And I can’t blame him for that he’s had a crazy week.. “Might be keeping it then Gillespie.” I tease him. “Ha. In your dreams Y/L/N. It’s my favorite. I’ll make sure to pack it again next year though. I promise.” We then fall silent again just enjoying each other’s company in this beautiful piece of nature watching the world slowly come to life again.

We then quickly pack our bags and say our goodbyes, we agree on figuring out a way to all meet up some time during the year so we won’t have to miss everyone for THAT long. After giving everyone a last hug and wave Charlie and me get on the bus. “I guess this is one positive to me living with my grandma.. maybe we can now actually hang out sometime instead of always face timing?” He sounds hopeful. “Yeah I would like that. I promised you everything would be okay.. I’ll do what I can to make that come true. The occasional real life hug might help?” “Thanks nugget. You’re the best.” without even thinking about it I rest my head on his shoulder. “Anytime.” I tell him while closing my eyes. I feel him resting his head on top of mine and within minutes we both fall asleep like that..

Continue reading part six here :)

[thelastspeecher]

Yesterday, I saw this writing prompt post, and it made me think of my Superhero/villain AU.  So, here.  Enjoy.

——————————————————————————————

             Stan walked down the hall of the villain hideout, a ball of flame flickering above his open palm.  Normally, he tried to avoid getting assigned missions that led him into villain territory.  He had a bit of a conflict of interest, after all, what with dating a villainess and having two children with her.  But his girlfriend was still on maternity leave, so he didn’t argue too hard against going on this mission.

             I’m not gonna run into her and have to pretend to fight her to protect both of our secret identities.  Stan came to a door.  He opened it cautiously, revealing a room that, unlike the rest of the lair, was lit.  The reason for the lights being on was quickly obvious: someone stood in the middle of the room.  Not just someone.  Stan stared silently at his girlfriend Angie.  Is she doing villain work?  She’s supposed to be resting at home!  He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Angie burst into tears.

             “Shit!”  Stan put out the fire and sprinted over to Angie.  He put his hands on Angie’s shoulders.  “Angie, are you all right?”  Angie sobbed. “C’mon, babe, talk to me.  What’s wrong?”

             “Babe?” a voice said behind him.  Stan froze.

             Right.  I’m not the only hero who got assigned to check out the hideout.

             “Flamethrower, is this that girlfriend you’ve told us about?” asked Wild Woman, walking over to join Stan and Angie.  Stan found out a little while back that Wild Woman’s secret identity was Angie’s favorite coworker, Bethany, so she was definitely just as worried about Angie as Stan was.

             “…Yeah,” Stan mumbled quietly.  “Yeah, this is my girlfriend, Angie.”  Angie flung her arms around Stan’s neck, burying her face into his shoulder, continuing to cry.  “Ang, what’s wrong?”

             “Why are you here?” Wild Woman asked.

             “I- I- someone in a mask took- took me,” Angie wailed.  “I stepped outside fer a breath of fresh air after I put the babies down fer a nap and- and the next thing I knew someone grabbed me and-”  She broke into fresh sobs.

             Okay.  That’s bullshit.  Angie wouldn’t let some villain take her.  Now that Stan thought about it, Angie’s crying sounded a bit fake.  He felt some tension leave his shoulders.  Thank Moses she’s fine. The rest of the heroes joined them.

             “How long have you been here?” asked one of Stan’s other coworkers.  Angie lifted her head, sniffling.

             “Hours,” she whispered.  The other heroes let out distressed murmurs.  “I just want to get home to my lil girls.  They’re- they’re only six weeks old!”

             “The nerve of some villains, kidnapping a new mother for no damn reason,” muttered Wild Woman.  She shook her head.  “Hopefully, we’ll find the people that took you, Angie, and bring them to justice.”

             “How’d ya know my name?” Angie asked tearfully. Wild Woman froze for a split second before smiling.

             “I heard Flamethrower say your name.”

             “O-oh.”  Angie rubbed her eyes.  “Darlin’, I- I want to go home.”

             “Take her home,” Wild Woman said to Stan.

             “Are you sure?” Stan asked.  “Maybe she should just wait outside while we look through the rest of the place.  You guys probably want me to help-”

             “Nuh-uh,” Wild Woman said firmly.  “Civilians come first, remember?”

             “Yeah, but-”

             “Why are you arguing?  She’s your girlfriend!  And, apparently, the mother of your children, too.”  Wild Woman put her hands on her hips.  “When were you planning on telling us you were a dad?”

             “I-”

             “No, please, finish whatever you were doin’,” Angie said.  “I already feel much better knowin’ my darlin’ is here.”  Stan felt himself turn red.

             “If you’re sure…” Wild Woman said slowly. She chewed on her lip.  “Well, I’ll sit to the side with you while the rest of the squad searches the place then, miss.  It wouldn’t be right to leave you on your own.”  Wild Woman led Angie off to the side and sat down with her. Glancing back briefly, Stan left the room to continue searching the hideout.

             When Stan and the rest of the heroes came back, Angie was showing Wild Woman something on her phone.  Stan walked over.

             “Geez, Flamethrower, you can’t hold out on us like this,” Wild Woman said.

             “Huh?” Stan asked.

             “Your kids are adorable, but you haven’t brought them to HQ!” Wild Woman said, punching Stan playfully.  Angie froze.  “I mean, you didn’t even tell us they existed!”

             “I value my privacy,” Stan mumbled.

             “Well, we know now, so you’ve gotta bring them by sometime, okay?”

             “…I’ll have to talk to Angie about it.”  Stan held out a hand.  “Ready to go home, babe?”  Angie took the hand.  Stan pulled her to her feet.

             “Yes.”  Angie smiled at Wild Woman.  “Thank you fer sittin’ with me.  I was awful scared.”  Wild Woman smiled back.

             “I don’t blame you.  But don’t worry, we’ll make those villains pay for kidnapping you,” she said firmly.  Angie nodded silently.  “You take care.”  Wild Woman pointed at Stan.  “More importantly, you take care of her.”

             “You got it.”  Stan kissed Angie on the cheek.  “C’mon.”

             Stan led Angie out of the hideout.  Once they were far enough away that not even super-senses could hear, Stan turned to Angie.

             “Okay, explain,” he hissed quietly.  Angie sighed.

             “I stepped out to run a quick errand, and the errand took me ‘round here.  I remembered that Lute forgot somethin’ last time he was here, so I decided to pop in and grab it.  I weren’t expectin’ yer whole squad to show up.”

             “Good thing you were out of costume.”

             “Clearly.”  Angie smirked.  “By the by, don’t think I didn’t notice how worried ya got when I started cryin’.”

             “You were crying, of course I was worried!”

             “So?”

             “I found you in a villain hideout, six weeks after you gave birth, and I’ve never heard you cry like that before.”

             “Hmm.”  Angie cocked her head.  “Fair point.” She kissed Stan on the cheek.  “Now, are ya goin’ to take me home, dashin’ hero?” Stan scooped her into his arms. Angie giggled.

             “Wanna take the scenic route?” he asked, bursting into flames, but preventing the fire from spreading to his arms, to protect Angie.  Angie leaned her head back to smile fondly at him.

             “Whattaya think?” she asked.  Stan took flight.

             “Scenic route it is.”

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

Baby Brothers

Summary: Dean shows up at the reader’s doorstep injured and looking for help. Little does he know, the reader is going to do more than fix up a few cuts for him...

Pairing: Dean x sister!reader

Word Count: 3,100ish

Warnings: language, injury

A/N: In this fic, the reader is 27, Dean 25 and Sam is 21...

______

“Hey, Y/N,” said Dean when you picked up the phone. It was rare for him to call. After Sam went off to college, you had left too. He had been more than angry and you were sick and tired of being the one that had everything put on them. But you still could hear the little brother in his voice. The ‘please help me’ he was quietly asking for.

“Where are you,” you asked, grabbing your purse and keys. 

“Your driveway,” he said. You walked to the front door and opened it up, Dean standing by Baby and forcing a smile. He was bruised and a little bloody and you sighed, waving him over. You ditched the keys and purse on the front table, Dean wincing when he stepped into the foyer.

“I got your floor all dirty,” he said quietly, lifting up his boots. “I’m sorry.”

“De, it’s fine,” you said, taking off his jacket, spotting the blood on his shirt. “Dean, you need a hospital.”

“I’m not going to a hospital,” he said.

“Were you shot?” you asked.

“Vamp slashed me a bit. Dad wasn’t happy,” said Dean. 

“Did he hit you?” you asked, looking at his bruised left cheek. Dean rolled his eyes and you snapped your fingers. “Did he hit you?”

“It was an accident. He got drunk and I pushed his buttons and I fucked up,” he said.

“No. I fucked up. When I left, I should have dragged your ass with me,” you said, picking up the purse and keys again.

“Y/N. I need a stitch job is all. I-”

“No, Dean. You are here because you need my help and I’m giving it to you whether you like it or not.”

Four Hours Later

“I’m gonna leave your medicine on the kitchen counter,” you said, Dean wearily taking a seat at the table. “When’s the last time you ate something?”

“I don’t know,” he mumbled.

“De,” you sighed, catching him wincing in his seat. “Come on. Let’s get you on something soft.”

You put an arm around him and helped him up, Dean pushing you away. 

“Lay off, Y/N. I’m fine,” he said. You grabbed his hair and he whined. “Sis. Stop. I’m not a little kid anymore.”

“This isn’t a scrape on the knee. Don’t be a baby and I won’t treat you like one,” you said, running your hand over his head. “Dean.”

“Shut up,” he said, going to the counter and grabbing his medicine. “Thanks but I’m gone.”

You watched him head for the door when you grabbed his shirt collar gently.

“Deanie,” you said. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Y/N,” he said.

“Deanie.”

“I’m not a little kid.”

“Deanie.”

He went lax and turned around, resting his head on your shoulder. 

“It hurts. Everything fucking hurts and I’m so tired of fucking up,” he said, reaching his arms around you. You hugged him gently, not entirely sure he’d had one in the three years since you’d last seen each other.

“It’s okay. We’ll fix it. I always fix it, don’t I?” you said, rubbing his back. You gingerly walked with him upstairs and into the guest room, helping get him out of his dirty clothes and into the bathroom. You cleaned him off in there, leaving him wrapped in a towel for a moment before you were back inside with his duffel bag. You found a clean pair of boxers and a fresh shirt for him. You left while he changed, helping him with the shirt when you returned. 

He seemed better when you got him tucked into bed with a blanket, promising to bring him up a late dinner in a few minutes.

By the time you came back with some water though, he was fast asleep.

“You’re okay, Dean. I promise.”

“Good morning,” you said when you saw Dean slowly make his way into the kitchen. “I was going to bring you breakfast in bed. How about we eat on the couch instead? I’m sure there’s some cartoons on.”

“Yeah,” he said and you noticed he still had a blanket wrapped around himself. 

Ten minutes later you carried in two plates of eggs and bacon and some orange juice.

“I made your favorite,” you said, handing him a fork.

“You put the maple syrup in with the bacon,” he said with a tiny smile.

“Best way to cook it,” you said. He was quiet as you ate, Dean pushing his plate onto the coffee table when he finished. You set your own down and felt him lean into you, resting his head on your shoulder.

“I’m sorry I called you a bitch,” he said, glancing up at you. 

“Let’s not go down that road. We both said a lot that night I walked away,” you said. 

“I should have stood up to dad for you after Sammy left,” he said.

“It was one week between when he left and I did. Dad, you don’t have to worry about me and dad. Besides, I’m the oldest,” you said.

“I’ve been bigger than you since I was 17,” said Dean as he sat up, fixing his blanket around himself. “He was so angry at you. I was afraid he might hurt you.”

“Dad’s never hurt me a day in his life. I was the girl,” you said, wrapping your arms around Dean. “I love you, De. I’m sorry I never did a better job of protecting you.”

“Y/N. You and Sam were the smart ones. I was always going to be a hunter,” said Dean. You frowned and he pulled back. “Y/N, I chose to be a hunter.”

“No, you didn’t. I didn’t chose to stick around after high school because I wanted to be one, Dean. No kid wants that,” you said.

“You hunted for six more years,” he said.

“I stuck around for my little brothers,” you said. “I was so angry at you when you dropped out of school. You are so fucking smart and you listened to dad and quit.”

“I got my GED,” said Dean.

“After I yelled at you to,” you said, moving your hands away, rubbing your face. “If I had pushed you to do homework more like Sam-”

“Sammy’s younger than us, both of us. I’m only two years younger than you, not even. You had no chance of me listening to you,” said Dean. “Not when Dad was around.”

“When I left, I should have took you with me,” you said.

“If I recall, you never wanted to see my face again,” said Dean, giving you half a smile.

“You were mean...and I was mean. I’m sorry,” you said.

“Me too.”

“Stay here, with me,” you said. He tilted his head and scrunched up his face. “You’re a grown man, Dean.”

“I’ll stick around a few days while I recover but I gotta tag up with dad and see if there’s any new hunts,” he said.

“No. You don’t. I’m putting my foot down. I want you to try this out for a little while. A normal life,” you said. He scoffed and stood up, heading for the stairs. You followed him and grabbed his arm, Dean pushing you back against the nearest wall. You glared up at him and he closed his eyes. 

“I’m sorry. I’ve tried. I had a normal girlfriend for a few weeks. I even told her I hunted and she was cool with it. But that fell to shit and I don’t fit in with normal people or a normal life anymore. What am I gonna do with my GED? How am I ever going to afford a house like this? I have a juvie record. A real record. I will never be like you. You were strong. You never got caught shoplifting. You stood up to dad. I’ve never been able to do that. I will stay a few days and then I’m gone, okay? I’ll try to visit you sometimes, I promise,” he said.

“You still sound like the scared four year old that would hide in my bed except now, you sound just like dad too.”

You stormed up to your room and slammed the door shut. You could hear Dean come up slowly, pattering around in his room before you heard the thud of his duffel hit the floor. Immediately you left, catching Dean in the hall with it.

“I’m going,” he said quietly, dragging it towards the landing.

“Don’t worry about all of that shit or dad. Please. Stay a little while. Take a break from hunting. Please. Can we compromise on that?” you asked as you grabbed the bag. 

“I’ll give you two weeks,” he said.

“Thank you,” you said, picking up the bag and carrying it back. “Come on, get back in your pajamas. You need to have a lazy day.”

“Y/N, what is all this stuff?” he asked as you dropped off a laundry basket full of new clothes to his room that night.

“New undies, socks, shirts, flannels...a bunch of new clothes since a majority of yours have holes. I picked up some different stuff at the grocery store so whatever you want for dinner we can make and all that. If you want something just jot it down on the list and I’ll pick it up tomorrow,” you said.

“Y/N, that’s like super expensive,” he said.

“Dean. I have this thing called a job. It’s all good,” you said. “You need anything else right now?”

“No. Thanks,” he said. You hummed and turned to go, Dean clearing his throat behind you. “Y/N?”

“Mhm?” you said.

“You ever hear from Sam?”

“When’s the last time you two talked?” you asked.

“Two years. I send him a birthday card every year but never heard anything back,” said Dean. 

“Yeah, we talk,” you said, leaning against the doorframe.

“Is he happy?”

You closed your eyes and nodded.

“Yes, he’s very happy. School’s good. He’s got a great girlfriend. She’s in the nursing program,” you said. “Sammy’s good.”

“Good for him,” said Dean, forcing a smile.

“You want to watch a movie?” you asked.

“I’m tired if that’s okay.”

“Yeah. No problem. Get some rest, De.”

One Week Later

“Y/N, what’s this?” asked Dean as he brought in your mail for you. You poked your head out from the kitchen.

“Local community college course offerings. I get one every few months,” you said, going back to the kitchen.

“This is the community college? It looks like some university,” he said.

“I went to school there,” you said.

“You did?” asked Dean.

“Mhm. I was able to work at a bar and take classes and then once I got my two year done, I finished up my four year online while I worked,” you said.

“What exactly do you do? You’ve kinda been home all week,” said Dean as he took a seat at the kitchen table with the catalogue.

“I work for a small firm. We do online investments. It’s a work from home gig which is cool,” you said.

“Wait, so you’re like rich?” he asked.

“I’m not rich, De,” you laughed. “But I do okay on my own.”

“Cool,” he said, flipping through the course offerings.

“You know, most of the classes are pretty reasonable. It’s like 3 grand for a whole year. If you want to take some, I’d pay,” you said. 

“I’ll never be able to get a real job, sis,” he said.

“Can I take a look at that?” you asked, sliding a BLT in front of him. He nodded and swapped with you, starting to eat his afternoon snack as you looked through the book. “There’s mechanical classes. Trade work. Accounting.”

“No accounting,” said Dean with a mouthful.

“There’s stuff in here I think you’d enjoy,” you said. “Hey, you know contractors can make a hell of a lot of money and run their own business and you’d be your own boss.”

“I can’t do that stuff.”

“You killed a ghoul when I was twelve. By yourself. You can totally go to school and start your own business. Big sis knows some good investment areas, just saying,” you said.

“What about the demon that killed mom?” asked Dean.

“Dad will keep going until it is dead. I don’t doubt that and that is his right. You have the right to live your own life too, Dean. You don’t have to hunt. You don’t have to give it up either. I know a part of you enjoys it. You’re so good, way better than I ever was. If you owned your own business...you could slip out on a hunt from time to time. I’d prefer if you never hunted again but you can have both,” you said. 

He finished eating and took back the catalogue, looking through it some more.

“Dad will kill me,” he said.

“No, he won’t. You’re a man. You don’t have to do what he says. You don’t have to do what anyone says. I want you to make your own choices is all.”

“I’d need a place to stay,” he said.

“I got the space. You can even park Baby in the garage…” you said.

“Can you help me fill out an application later?” he asked.

“Of course, De,” you said, ruffling his hair. 

One Month Later

“Yo, I brought home pizza and wings and aced my test today,” said Dean as he walked through the front door. “I hope you don’t got company cause I saw the car in the driveway and…”

He paused when he saw Sam sitting on the couch.

“Hey,” said Sam.

“Hey.”

You stood and took the food from Dean, watching as he slipped off his backpack. 

“I didn’t realize you were stopping by,” said Dean.

“Jess had a thing this weekend and I wanted to come see, Y/N. You too,” he said.

“I’ll give you guys a minute,” you said, excusing yourself to the kitchen. You tried to give them their privacy but only lasted about a minute before you looked around the corner. You smiled when you saw them hugging, Dean looking a bit bashful as they said something to one another. “Food, boys.”

They exchanged a few more words before they came in and loaded up a few plates, the three of you wandering back to the family room. You swore you’d never seen either of them smile like that. They were like little boys again, teasing one another and you smiled, Dean so proud of himself to talk about his classes and his future plans with Sam.

Until you heard a truck pull up outside and you saw them both glance towards the front door.

“Boys. Stay put,” you said, going outside without looking back.

“Hi, sweetie,” said your dad, walking up the driveway. “You got company?”

“Yes. What do you want?” you asked.

“Your brother’s gone awol on me. He says he’s okay but he’s not grabbing new hunts from Bobby. I’m worried,” he said.

“Dean’s perfectly fine,” you said.

“He’s here, isn’t he,” he said, looking at the other car in the driveway and catching the Stanford sticker on the back. “Shit, both of them are?”

“Yes,” you said, holding out a hand when he went to walk past you. “I didn’t invite you into my house.”

“Y/N.”

“Last I checked, I was an ungrateful stuck up little girl that thought she was too good for hunting and didn’t care about my dead mother or my family,” you said, crossing your arms. “Yet I’m the one that raised my brothers. Dean and I raised Sam together while you were off hunting. I am still cleaning up your messes and you know what? Both of them are happy, a lot happier away from you and hunting and it’s going to stay that way.”

“I was fine with Dean taking a short break, get his head on straight so he doesn’t screw up like he did on that hunt but we both know he is a hunter through and through. You and Sam, you’re different. You’re good hunters but you don’t have the bite for it like Dean. He is good at it. He’s talented. Don’t you take him away from that.”

“He is a not a solider,” you growled. “He is a man that is afraid of you. I know you hit him for apparently ‘screwing up’ your stupid hunt. He’s not going near you again.”

“When you have kids, you make your own parenting choices,” he said. “But this-”

“I had kids when I was a fucking kid,” you snapped. “They misbehaved and you know what I did? Timeout. No TV. I didn’t spank them. I didn’t hit them and I would certainly not hit my grown child. So you can either leave and maybe someday when you finally get that demon, you can come back and attempt a relationship with your children or you can stay out for good.”

“You don’t get to make that choice for Dean.”

“I’m his big sister. I sure as hell get to make that choice for him, for both of them, when it comes to you.”

“Y/N,” said Dean as he stepped onto the front step. “Give us a minute.”

“A minute,” you said, sliding past him and into the house. You waited by the front window, Dean inside again more quickly than you expected. 

“Y/N, I’m sorry,” he said. You were about to go off on him when he smirked. “Oh, I can’t believe you fell for that.”

“You little shithead,” you said, hearing the truck pull out. “I’m gonna kill you.”

“I told him if he gets a lock on the demon that killed mom, I’ll come help but until then, I’m sticking around here,” said Dean. It wasn’t exactly the answer you’d been hoping for but it was good enough. 

“I can live with that,” you said, giving him a hug. 

“Me too. Hey after dinner, you guys want to catch a movie?” asked Dean. “Y/N’s treat.”

“Well if Y/N’s paying then obviously,” teased Sam.

“Yeah, yeah. I missed you dorks.”

_____

[romeoandjulietyouwish]

I’ve Been Looking for the Sunshine

For @baloobird (@friendly-neighborhood-exchange)

Rating: G

Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, May Parker, Ben Parker

Summary: Eleven years after the death of his parents and two years after the death of his uncle, Peter finds comfort in Tony Stark.

Prompt: Peter has a rough day at school so Tony picks him up early and finds a way to cheer him up.

Tag List: @justrepostandlove @gasplaughgasp @canonismybitch @shadedrose01 @baloobird @whatisawilltolive @a-liddell-alice @you-know-i-larb-you-3000 @hold-our-destiny @lyssismagical @spideygirl2003 @make-the-stars-stay @pj-hermes-tonystark-obsessed @iron-loyalty Read on ao3

Richard Parker was twenty four years old when his wife handed him a pregnancy test with a pink plus sign on it. He felt his face break into a wide grin and he scooped her into his arms with a laugh.

He was twenty five years old when he held his baby boy for the first time and he fell instantly in love. Up until he held his son in his arms, he had been nervous that he would be a terrible father and that he had no idea what he was doing. But looking down at little Peter, Richard knew that he’s mess up a thousand times, he would never be the perfect father, but as long as Peter knew he was safe and loved, it didn’t matter.

When a baby is born, there’s a few days before it really seems like they’ve gained consciousness. Richard got to witness that moment. He leaned over Peter’s crib and saw his boy looking back up at him. Peter’s face broke into a wide, gummy smile and blinked happily up at his dad. Richard was honest enough to say he cried and immediately called Mary into the room.

“Mom and I will just be gone for a few days, okay?” Richard asked. Peter nodded. “Remember to be good for Uncle Ben and Aunt May.” Another nod. “Good boy,” Richard patted Peter’s cheek affectionately. “We’ll be back before you know it.” 

Peter frowned, “Promise?” 

Richard smiled, “I promise.” He pulled Peter into a hug, pressing a kiss to his son’s curly mess of hair. When Peter pulled back, Richard did as well. He pressed another kiss to Peter’s forehead. “I love you, buddy. I’ll see you on Tuesday.” 

Ben Parker was twenty six years old when he got a phone call telling him his brother and his sister-in-law had died in a plane crash. He was twenty six when he became the legal guardian of his nephew, Peter. 

It was no surprise to May or Ben that Richard and Mary’s death hit Peter hard. But with a child suddenly being put into their care, they couldn’t afford to put Peter through any sort of grief counseling. Many nights a week, Ben would sit with Peter in his bed, trying desperately to get the kid to fall asleep. Often times only for Peter to wake up in the middle of the night asking for his parents through thick curtains of tears.

When Ben was thirty three, Peter turned thirteen and Ben realized that he had now been Peter’s guardian longer than Richard had been his dad. 

When Peter was fifteen years old, he watched his uncle die. He watched rain spread the blood down the pavement, making the wound almost look clean. But Peter knew better. He held his uncle’s hand while he died, ambulance sirens roaring from blocks away. 

With his last moments, Ben reached a hand up to Peter’s cheek and said painfully, “You’re going to be okay, kid.” 

Peter clutched Ben’s hand to his cheek. He wanted so desperately to apologize, to thank him, to say anything, but Peter couldn’t find the will in him to make more than a strangled sound as he desperately hugged his uncle. 

Ben was gone before the ambulance even reached them. 

Peter is seventeen years old and he doesn’t know if he can manage to pull himself out of his bed. 

But he hears May moving in the kitchen and if she can do it, so can he. She was the one that really knew them, not Peter. So with a heavy sigh, Peter sits up and pulls open his blinds. The sky is covered with a thick layer of clouds. Good, Peter thinks, he doesn’t know if he could have handled sunshine today. Peter takes his time getting ready for school, fog weighing heavily on his mind. 

When he makes his way into the kitchen for some breakfast, May stops where she’s pouring herself a glass of water and envelops Peter into a hug. On days like today, Peter wishes he hadn’t had his growth spurt so he would fit perfectly into her arms. But he settles for just putting his head on her shoulder. When they pull apart, May gives him a sad look. 

“You sure you want to go to school today?” May asks. 

“Yeah,” Peter shrugs her worries off. “It’ll be good to get out of the apartment.” 

“Okay, baby.” 

Peter walks slowly to school, barely making it to first period in time. Both Ned and MJ give him supportive smiles as he sits down. The first part of the day passes like a blur, Peter couldn’t say a single thing that happened to him. He knew that Ned was constantly a pillar at his side, squeezing his hand occasionally. And for all her snark, MJ was taking care of him too. It didn’t escape his notice that she was taking notes for him in all of their classes. 

That is until Peter finds himself alone in the hallway, Ned and MJ having split off to their respective classes, leaving Peter to find his on his own. He just ducks his head and keeps walking, muscle memory taking him to his next class. Out of nowhere, someone shoves him and slams him up against the lockers, keeping him there with their forearm. 

Flash looks at him with a smirk, “What’s wrong with you, Penis?” 

Peter sighs, “You ask me that every day. What do you want to make fun of me for this time?” Peter asks, his voice almost dead pan. “I’m scrawny? I’m smart? I’m ace? Pick your poison.” 

Flash looks at him in confusion, but before the bully can say anything, Peter shoves Flash off of him, using just enough of his super strength to make him stumble. With that Peter walks down the now empty hall. But before he can get very far, someone grabs on to his backpack, yanking him backwards. 

Peter lets out a noise of surprise as suddenly a fist collides with his cheek. Normally, Peter’s spider-sense would warn him of something like that, but not in this moment. The punch impacts Peter more than he expected and he goes crashing back into the lockers. Some sick part of Peter’s mind tells him that he deserves it. 

Peter sees the second punch coming and dodges out of the way. At this point, Peter is far too mentally exhausted to deal with any more of Flash’s shit so he jumps to his feet and runs straight out the front doors of the school. 

He thinks about calling May, but Peter decides against it and instead plops down on the cold stairs. The sting of the punch is already fading back into the dull numbness he’s been feeling all day. Peter doesn’t know how long he sits on the steps of the school. No one approaches him and no one passing on the street spares him a passing glance. 

The cloud breaks after a little bit, allowing the sun to pass over the city. Peter sags a bit further, of course the sky is taunting him. But he is pulled from his thoughts only moments later when a sleek black car rolls up in front of Midtown and from the driver’s side steps out Tony Stark. He gives Peter a wave and beckons him over. 

Peter goes eagerly and sits in the passenger seat, shoving his backpack by his feet. “What are you doing here?” Peter asks once Tony is sitting back down. 

“May called, said you were probably having a rough day and she wanted me to pick you up early.” 

“Oh.” Peter pulls his feet up onto the seat and tucks his knees to his chest. He glances over at Tony and sees an expression of pity and concern on his face. “She told you what today is, didn’t she?” 

“Yeah, kid.” Tony reaches over and squeezes Peter’s shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?” 

Peter shakes his head and looks out the window, “All I want to do is not exist.” 

Tony sighs, “I understand the feeling, kiddo. But I’m afraid that’s not possible with our current technology. Would you settle for some ice cream and maybe a movie or two?” 

“Cookie dough?” Peter asks quietly, glancing back at Tony.

Tony smiles, “What other flavor is there?” A faint smile crossed Peter’s lips. 

Once they get to the tower and up to the living room, Tony lovingly forces Peter to sit on the couch while he goes and gets the ice cream from the freezer. Peter immediately tugs the softest blanket into his lap and toes off his shoes. When Tony sits down beside Peter, the boy instantly curls into his mentor’s side, resting his head on Tony’s shoulder and his knees against Tony’s stomach. Six months ago Peter never would have fathomed being this openly affectionate with Tony, but now Peter couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Tony wraps his arms around the boy’s shoulders and hugs him closer. 

As Peter takes his first bite of ice cream, he suddenly feels just a little bit better. The cold ice cream starts to clear some of the fog from his mind. 

While Peter eats, Tony picks a movie. It’s something animated, light and not too deep. Perfect. It doesn’t escape Peter’s notice that Tony has the volume just low enough that if Peter wanted to say something he could. 

While the opening credits roll, Tony reaches up and begins to run his fingers through Peter’s hair. Peter preens into the touch and sags further into Tony’s side. Peter says nothing for a while, but it’s clear that he’s clearly thinking deeply about something.

“Tony?” Peter asks softly when the movie’s almost over. 

“Mmhm?” 

“Do you think my parents are mad at me?” 

Tony frowns and rubs his arm, “Why would you think that, buddy?” 

Peter shugs, “Because I don’t remember them. They died eleven years ago and all I could do today was try to remember them. I only know what they look like because May shows me pictures sometimes, but I don’t remember the sounds of their voices and I don’t remember anything we did together, I-I don’t even remember the last thing they said to me. I-” 

Peter cuts himself off with a sob that tears Tony’s heart in two. Tony immediately sits up and crushes Peter to his chest. Peter clings to his mentor just as tightly, sobbing into his shirt. “I’ve got you, bambino.” Tony gently runs his fingers through Peter’s hair, rocking him slightly back and forth. Tony whispers words of comfort to the boy. 

After a few minutes, Peter lifts his head, wipes his nose on his sleeve and murmurs, “Sorry.” 

“Hey,” Tony squeezes his shoulder, “you never need to be sorry for crying, okay?” Peter nods shakily and wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. “Can I tell you something?” Peter nods. “I don’t remember much about my mother either. I have a few memories, but I know that my mother would never be upset with me for not remembering. I think she’d be happy that I’m moving on with my life. I didn’t know your parents, or your uncle, but I know that if I were to die, I wouldn’t be upset about people forgetting me. I’d be happy that they kept living.” Tony gives Peter a sad smile. 

“Listen, kid, when someone passes, the last thing they want is for the people who love them to stay in their sadness forever. I bet that your parents and your uncle are so proud of the person you’ve become.” Tony squeezes Peter’s shoulder. “It’s okay to be sad and it’s okay to still feel grief over their deaths, but it’s also okay to keep living. Because the people who’re gone aren’t really ever gone, right?” Peter nods tearfully and tucks himself back into Tony’s arms. 

Tony leans back, pulling the kid to rest more on his chest. “It’s going to be okay, bambino, even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.” 

Richard, Mary, and Ben are gone. They’re gone but they’ve never stopped loving their son and their nephew. They’ve watched Peter grow up and start to change the world around him. And though they wish they could be there with him to hug him and tell him it’ll be alright, they know that in time they’ll all be together again. And while they wait for him, they’re content to know that Tony Stark is taking good care of him. 

[ot3-watch]

Episode 1: The Nigerian Job Rewatch

Nate is so far beyond done at this point it’s hilarious. “I want to hire you” “FUCK OFF MAN I’M BUSY DRINKING MYSELF TO AN EARLY GRAVE”

“I need you to steal them back…” WTF DID YOU THINK WAS GOING TO HAPPEN VICTOR? WHAT, DID YOU THINK THE BEST INSURANCE INVESTIGATOR WASN’T GOING TO FIGURE OUT YOU WERE GOING TO DOUBLE CROSS HIM? He’s so stupid I can’t. 

“Parker is insane.” No. She just has a little trouble. Don’t DO THIS to her Nate.

“They work alone,” not for looong.

And… there it is! IYS. The most overused villains and this coming from a doctor who fan who sat through the daleks coming back EVERY SINGLE SEASON after being destroyed

Why do they all sound so weird? Like the dialogue does NOT sound normal

How tf did Eliot win in that scene tho? We see how long it takes him to fight later on like I just do not get it. ANd the tea isn’t even scathed? How? Everyone talks about The Big Bang Job’s shootout scene as being super unrealistic, but honestly, it barely registers compared to this one.

“You’re precisely why I work alone.” Yeah, because you’re at risk of falling in love otherwise Mr. Heart Eyes.

I’m remembering how much I did NOT like Parker in the beginning and I don’t like that. I love Parker but early Parker was eh.

PARKER YOU CAN’T JUST THROW THE GLASS. THAT’S EVIDENCE PARKER. YOU COULD KILL SOMEONE PARKER. SOMEONE’S GOING TO KNOW PARKER. 

You expect me to believe that Parker is a world class thief who wouldn’t think to count the haircuts? They keep making everyone else look dumber to make Nate look smarter which makes NO SENSE because honestly, it makes it hard to believe that the other three survived on their own without Nate to guide them. WHICH THEY DID! AND THEY WERE THE BEST IN THE WORLD AT WHAT THEY DID. WTF

“That’s what I do.” AKA THE MOMENT ALEC HARDISON BECOMES AN ELIOT STAN

JENNY 8675309????

 “I know you children don’t play well with others” He’s already a dad i can’t.

If they knew about this plan and had the materials to pull it off, why did no one think of it? 

ALSO HOW TF DO THEY GET THE MAKE UP ON SO QUICKLY IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE

How did the burn scam even work? Like i get it, make him uncomfortable so he won’t ask questions but like… they thought no one was in the building? The elevators were shut down? Why did he not question it? How stupid????

The black king/white knight metaphor was honestly the worst part of the first episode like it bothers me so much and I cannot effectively come close to explaining why

Where does Nate live? Why is his place so fancy? HE’S UNEMPLOYED RIGHT NOW AND BANKRUPTED HIMSELF TRYING TO HELP SAM. “It’s a hotel,” my sister says. IN WHAT WORLD DOES THAT LOOK LIKE A HOTEL ROOM? ANd that doesn’t explain how he affords a hotel room that nice.

….Why didn’t Eliot just disarm Hardison? We know he can. I don’t get it.

If you knew the place was gonna blow, why didn’t you run Nate? WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS NATE

Eliot’s already putting himself in danger to help Hardison up. YOUR HONOR THEY’RE IN LOVE. THEY’VE KNOWN EACH OTHER LESS THAN 24 HOURS AND THEY’RE IN LOVE.

“Do you trust me?” NO. NO NATE. NO I FUCKING DON’T.

I feel like passing that phone through the grate should not have worked.

YEAH HARDISON. MUG IT FOR THE CAMERA

Eliot’s accent I LOVE HIM “Can you hold, son?” FOREVER FOR YOU.

How are the state police so fucking stupid i can’t

They literally… they just dumb everyone down to make Nate look smarter and it SUCKS

Ah, the first Hardison safe house. 

“You won’t get within 100 yards” HE’S ELIOT FUCKING SPENCER I BET YOU ANYTHING HE CAN

“He didn’t pay us… I take that personally.” I-- Parker if you’re dead you can’t make more money. Parker? It’s important to me that you know this, Parker.

The websites they’re looking at are so obviously fake. 

Nate? Nate it’s just a picture. DUbenich can’t hear you, Nate.

“He used my son” I cannot explain how much overexposure has made me NOT CARE ABOUT FUCKING SAM

“What the hecks a Sophie” That, Eliot. That’s a Sophie. 

Honestly? My favorite character introduction in this episode. 

WHY DO THEY ALL TALK SO WEIRD IN THIS EPISODE? THEIR VOICES ARE SO OFF WHAT THE FUCK?

“I’m a citizen now. Honest.” YEAH FUCKING RIGHT IN WHAT WORLD

Eliot with the snacks, he’s always bringing food to his fam it’s amazing

“That’s an odd thing for you to know” “That’s an odd place for you to be” ...why am i reading a sexy sort of tension in there???

And Nate’s SMILING at it

Ok but how does Nate know about plane schematics? 

Sophie’s accent… none of them are that accurate but this one felt especially weird

Eliot playing the IT tech is everything

Also the reference to the IT Crowd by Parker is *chef’s kiss*

HE’S SO CUTE THOUGH

I’m just a simp for Eliot Spencer okay?

“I know you’re manipulating me, Anna.” Yeah but you’re still gonna fall for it, aren’t you? You stupid, stupid man.

Eliot’s so sweet though. He’s just trying to make friends. 

Like really though, he’s so standoffish and stoic, but the second he has the chance, he tries to bond and he’s so gregarious. Like, it makes so much sense that he has so many friends all over he place. 

“Eliot, we’re not friends,” STOP BEING AN ASSHOLE NATE. I HATE YOU NATE. HE’S JUST TRYING TO BE YOUR FRIEND NATE. 

Hardison gliding by in the wheelie chair… he’s such a goof and a mood and i love him.

...Hardison… Hardison you can hack anything… Hardison why didn’t you put them in the building directory? IT’S A DIGITAL DIRECTORY YOU COULD HAVE DONE IT THIS WAS SO UNNECESSARY

Nate, EVERYONE CAN SEE YOU!! hoW DOES HE NOT GET ARRESTED???

THERE”S A COP CAR RIGHT THERE HOW THE FUCK DID THAT WORK

...is there anyone Sophie doesn’t have sexual chemistry with in this episode? Like, seriously, i think it’s just Hardison. She and Nate are obvious, and she and Eliot have that moment, and then… did they not put them in the directory just to have Parker and Sophie make heart eyes at each other for a few seconds?

HOW DID ANYONE WATCH THIS SHOW AND EVER THINK SOPHIE AND PARKER WERE STRAIGHT THO

Dubenich sounds like Wallace Shawn and looks like Stephen Moffat and I HATE HIM. Wallace Shawn is great, and i love him but DUBENICH CAN DIE

This looks like such a boring party why would anyone want to be there. THERE’S DAY DRINKING FOR GOODNESS SAKE EWWW WHY (okay maybe i just hate alcohol. I hate it more in professional settings.)

“Sir, I can take your underpants.” OKAY HIGGINS. WEIRD FLEX BUT OKAY.

Parker and Hardison look so smug walking out of the building i love it. 

...why don’t you want the money Nate? YOU COULD GET A LOT MORE MONEY NATE. TAKE THE GODDAMNED MONEY NATE

And today on “I Will Never Understand the Way the Stock Market Works…” Like i get the basic idea but like… how do you make money if it’s gonna fall that much? HOw.. how does this work?

NO THAT IS NOT AN INVITATION TO EXPLAIN ECONOMICS TO ME I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE STOCK MARKET

“Somebody kiss this man so I don’t have to” you will. One day, Eliot, you will. 

So, fun fact. Supposedly, their score was $32,761,349.05 each. Which doesn’t really seem like a lot of money to me? Like, at least definitely not enough for Nate to do with it what he does? Like, maybe I just have a really difficult time fathoming that much money? Like, don’t get me wrong, I’d love just a taste of that but like, also? It really seems like not so much? … And further on “This blogger does not understand budgeting.”

ELIOT JUST ADMIT YOU WANT PART OF A TEAM

WHY DOES SOPHIE SOUND SO WEIRD??? WHAT THE FUCK

Okay, also, i have a question. These people, at the end, this is their first client, right? So why does it look like they haven’t seen each other since they took down Dubenich in the homecoming job? WHAT?

The SUITS THO

OKAY FINAL THOUGHTS: 6/10. Not the best Leverage episode, and certainly not the best character episode. There were a LOT of kinks to work out. Things got sorted too well. And I REALLY HATE NATE THIS EARLY ON. I’ve also never loved the “this guy is an asshole but he’s smarter than everyone else and really good at what he does so it’s fine” trope that you see in so many shows like Leverage. And they really really dumb people down early on to make him seem smarter. But like… there’s a reason I kept watching, you know? Also... I remember why it took me a while to warm up to Parker and Sophie. LIke, they’re badass but I still took a while and I remember why. 

[thirstyandbeautiful]

LVL Ever After: The Final Part -or- it’s time Hoe Fairy ends this hot mess.

PART NINE: NEW MISTAKES, NEW OPPORTUNITIES

With the big (not so) bad of the series finally revealed, everyone begins to actually live their lives with some sense for once. Or this is how you manage your expectations after finding out you’re going to be having a child, and how the other two manage themselves after finding out they’re not going to be having a child. 

part 1 ~ part 2 ~ part 3 ~ part 4 ~ part 5 ~ part 6 ~ part 7 ~ part 8 ~ part 10

Lance leaned back in his bed, shaking his shoulders against the pile of pillows behind him. He was holding his phone to his ear, where it just kept ringing and ringing. He closed his eyes and waited for the answer, sighing when he heard a sharp beep between rings. 

Pulling his phone back to look at the screen, he saw Lando’s name come up. Lance quickly tapped the red button to decline his call. Putting his phone on speaker as it kept ringing, Lance dropped it on to his chest so he could cross his arms over his eyes. 

“Hello, little brother.” Chloe’s voice came through way too chipper for someone who left him ringing on the line for so long. 

Normally, Lance found calling his sister one of the most relaxing parts of the day. But today, like most days lately, he’s woken up with a thorn in his side, and every time he thought he’d gotten his hands on it, it just sunk deeper and deeper, making him feel more and more irritated. 

“Hello?”

“Hi.” He bit out.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes, why?”

“Well,” his sister dragged out, “you called me and you sound pretty grumpy. Wanna talk about it?” 

Yes, Chloe, my ex-girlfriend who fucked two other drivers turned up pregnant, and left us all in suspense as she figured out who fucked a baby in her. And now I know it’s not mine and I don’t know how the fuck to feel.

“No.” Lance answered, finally paying attention to the edge in his voice, “I don’t know, Chloe, I just woke up in a shitty mood.”

“Did something happen recently?” 

I became friends with my rival, who was one of the drivers she was fucking, by the way, and now Lando and I are super cool and get trashed together on race weekends, but now we also hang out during the day, like we got breakfast together- that was after I went to a clinic to get my blood taken for a paternity test with him. 

“No.” He sighed.

“Did someone say something that upset you?”

Nope. Absolutely nothing, cause I never opened up my mouth to ask. I didn’t ask who the father was and I’ve been too chicken shit to ask Lando if it’s him, so instead I’m just not talking to him. What if it is Lando? I don’t know if I can stand to look at him if he’s knocked her up.

“No.”

“Are you mad with anyone?” She pushed.

Mostly myself, both cause I’m going about this wrong, and because I felt like I couldn’t ask. Like I would feel guilty asking. She didn’t offer the information, and really, what claim did I have to it aside from the fact that it wasn’t me? And, fuck, Lando-

“No.” He sighed again.

“Lance, if you keep sighing, you’re gonna turn your hair white like Dad.”

Lance huffed out a laugh, “I know, I know, M’just stressed.”

The past few months have made me realize a lot about myself, and now things are changing so quickly and the way I feel about things is changing and it’s scary, and right now it’s fun scary because I haven’t done anything about it and its exciting thinking of doing something about it, but it’s also super stressful. 

Chloe put on a bright tone, she was always trying to cheer her brother up and usually it worked, “Well, work it out. And when you’re ready to actually tell me what’s eating at you, will you call me, please?”

When I figure out how to make myself not sound like a complete idiot, I’ll call you, Lance thought as he made a sound of agreement, not trusting himself to speak.

“Alright, I love you.” She always ended their calls this way.

“Love you too.”

-

You walked down your steps and pushed your door open, waving to Daniel before turning around and locking up.

You weren’t nervous, but you did feel sick. Little waves of lightheadedness and nausea washed over you for the past few hours. You knew it wasn’t your baby, she only made you sick in the morning. You were pretty sure it was just the fact that you were seeing Daniel. He was taking you to your appointment today.

You rubbed your hands against your baby blue peacoat, smoothing down the suede material as you stared down at your light grey booties. Your black jeans were a little light washed, but they were the only ones that were comfortable. You weren’t quite at the point of needing maternity clothes, but the discomfort you felt every time you tried to button any other pair of pants was beginning to feel threatening.

“Hello,” Daniel’s happy tone washed over you and made you smile big at him as you settled into the passenger seat, “how are the two of you today?”

You giggled at the now familiar greeting. Ever since you’d told him two weeks ago that the baby was his, he was always asking how ‘the both of you’ were. It was cute and endearing.

“We’re good.” You scrunched your nose, “A little nervous.”

“Why?”

“First time I’ve brought someone with me to one of these.”

Daniel’s jaw went a little slack as he came to a stop at a red light, “Seriously? You’ve been going to all these doctor’s appointments alone?”

You nodded nonchalantly, “Well, yeah.”

You watched as his jaw clenched before he took a glance at you, “Well, not anymore.”

Daniel turned up the music, his soft melodic alternative tunes filling the car’s silence as he drove.

Peeking at him with your peripheral vision, you took in how Daniel’s jaw was still clenched, and how his lips kept twitching. In the past two weeks, you’d met up with Daniel for dinners, went for walks together, drives, you name it. You’d been really trying to build a friendship.

Which had been a bit of surprise when you’d come out of your room two weeks ago after telling Lando and Lance that they weren’t the father of your baby, more than ready to jump Daniel, and you two didn’t have sex. 

Instead, he talked to you all night long on that couch in your living room. He had been respectful, kind, charming and seemed adamant on getting to know you better and better.

It made you feel special.

And it gave you a closer look as to who he was. And the one thing you’d noticed straight away was that Daniel was an emotional man, and his emotions were always worn on his face. When he was happy, or trying to feign happiness, the big smile was on his face, but his jaw and his eyes always gave him away. You’d learned that his eyes would crinkle when he meant his smile, and he’d clench his jaw when he was mad.

Daniel was mad right now.

But you knew it wasn’t at you. You both had made strict communication rules the night you told him he was the baby’s father, and so far, Daniel had been good at making sure to stick to them. He had even pushed you more than once to talk through the things you felt when you were around him. You’d joke and tell him that he owed Michael Italiano more than just for his body, but the truth was that you felt lighter, you felt let mentally heavy being with Daniel.

Some things were still in the air, but for now, this was enough. This was working.

You reached forward and turned down the bluetooth speakers. “What’re you upset at?”

Daniel exhaled through his nose and kept his eyes on the road as he answered you, “I don’t like that you’ve been stuck doing this alone. That those two jerks knew way before me and still had you doing it alone. It annoys me.”

You reached for his elbow and pulled one of his arms away from where it gripped the steering wheel. Pulling it over the center console, you intertwined your fingers and squeezed gently.

“I’m not doing it alone anymore.”

Daniel pulled into a parking spot one handed and kept his foot on the break as he looked right at you, “No, you’re not.”

He kept your gaze as he lifted your hand to his mouth and kissed it, before winking at you and putting the car in park.

Even though he let go of your hand to get out of the car, it didn’t stay lonely for long. True to his word and his intentions, Daniel held your hand in his across the parking lot and into the doctor’s office. You didn’t so much as glance at him the whole walk and wait inside, because you didn’t want him to see how hard you were smiling. You normally felt nauseous coming here alone, but now your stomach was settled. 

Our daughter knows her dad’s here, you thought wistfully, your eyes filling with tears. 

“Fuck,” you muttered, rubbing your eyes. 

“Don’t worry,” Daniel mumbled back to you, lifting your hand to kiss your knuckles, “we’ll be alright.”

Your head turned away from him as you tried to get a hold of yourself, your oblivious companion had no idea what he was saying to you and how it completely melted your hormonally fried brain. 

-

The doctor’s appointment had gone well, and both you and Daniel were in a bit of a haze leaving. You drove home in silence too.

The ultrasound had been turned towards the both of you, and witnessing Daniel see her for the first time had been overwhelming. The way he seemed to lock his eyes on the screen, and the way he stroked your knuckles as you both listened to her little heartbeat. 

It was finally starting to feel like she was something worth celebrating. There were no more bad feelings, no more sour moods, everything was beautiful and light and you had this amazing man next to you getting choked up at this weird sonar sounding heartbeat. 

It was perfect.

You wordlessly walked up the stairs, Daniel trailing behind you. You could feel the folded up layers of the various ultrasound pictures the doctor had allowed you to print, it almost felt as heavy as the ever growing, tugging sensation in the pit of your stomach. 

This is our daughter, you thought for the thousandth time. 

You shrugged off your coat, throwing it on a loveseat before standing in front of the couch that Daniel had practically collapsed on to. He wore one of his hoodies, the material soft and warm, and flashes of you wearing the mint material and being able to fill it out and maybe even stretch it filled your mind.

“What are you thinking?” You asked.

Daniel looked at you, not quite smiling, still in the trance you’d both been in together, “How lucky I am.” He murmured back. 

Like magnets finally being let go of on opposite planes, you walked towards Daniel with a purpose, crossing the room in time as he leaned back against the couch. Throwing your leg quickly over him, you settled in his lap and cupped his face in your hands. Looking into his eyes for any sort of stop and not finding one, you leaned in and kissed Daniel. 

He instantly moaned into your mouth, his arm wrapping around you waist while the other hand came up to cup your cheek. You hungrily licked into his mouth and drank in his encouraging sounds as you pressed your chest to his, suddenly unable to focus on anything aside from getting closer. It was like a few weeks ago all over again, the unmistakable pull between you both.

You pulled away from Daniel for air, “We said,” you leaned in to kiss him again before turning your jaw, whining as his beard scratched against your jawline, “we said slow.”

“Uh huh.” Daniel grumbled against your neck, his lips like fire across your skin.

His large hands gripped your waist and shoved the white t-shirt you had on over your head. You moaned as his lips pressed to your sternum, just below where your bra fit as his fingers brushed behind you and unclasped it. You could barely pull it off your arms before his lips closed around a swollen nipple and tugged. You let out a broken yelp as ecstasy shocked your system. Your breasts had been especially sensitive, but now- you were dry humping Daniel as he sucked on your nipple. 

“You’re amazing.” He told you as his hands came between your bodies and unbuttoned your pants.

His hands went no further and while his mouth paid attention to your chest, his fingers gently rubbed against your tummy. 

“Daniel,” you murmured, “come here.” 

You put your hand on his cheek, hooking your thumb under his jaw so he’d pull off of you and look at you. You looked at him for a moment, the two of you just in the moment.

Connecting, you thought with a small smile.

A matching smile bloomed on Daniel’s face before he lifted you and let you fall on your back on the cushions. He pulled on the belt loops of your pants, pulling them off your hips and around your thighs.

“Off.” Daniel commanded with a smile, sitting up to work his own bottoms off. 

By the time you’d kicked off your booties and pulled your panties and jeans to your ankles, Daniel’s hands were there peeling them the rest of the way off and sliding them across the floor. He leaned over you and kissed your cheek.

“You’re so beautiful.” He whispered in your ear before his arm was around his waist. 

The weight of his hardened length slapped against your hip before the room spun, making you giggle as he pulled you back up on top of him, back into the position you were in before. And when we first did this. 

“M’starting to think you like a woman on top.” You playfully said against Daniel’s lips while rubbing your lower ones against him. 

“No,” Daniel said, making you look down at him as you reached between you to line him up with your entrance, “just you.” 

He kissed your chin, chuckling at your frozen state. Pinching your face at him, you resumed what you were trying to do before he spoke so sweetly. 

“Ohhhhh.” your eyes rolled back in your head as the sweet stretch of Daniel inside you grew as you sunk down on him. 

He was barely completely inside you before you were working your hips to drag back off of him, your thighs burning as you pushing yourself up and over his hips, dragging him out of you before sinking him back into you over and over. The wet squelch of your pussy sucking on his cock filled the room with your breathless moans. 

Daniel wrapped his arms around your waist, pressing his face between your breasts as you squeezed his shoulders in your hands. Even with his face buried in his skin, you could still hear what he was saying. 

“Thank you, thank you.”

-

When the race weekend came, Lance had been on the first plane out. Anxious to get back to some resemblance of normal, he’d arrived two days earlier than he had to and anxiously awaited the hours until he could actually go to the track. 

The weekend couldn’t have come soon enough. 

Lance dragged his feet through the paddock, sucking on the ridiculously long straw he was used to but still found hilarious to look at. 

The paddock was usually his place of serenity, most of the time. It was the one place he knew he was in control. His anxiety had been high in the paddock for the past months, but now, he felt like he could finally let it all go. He could walk down the paddock walk way without feeling like he had to speed walk, like he had to stick close to the motorhomes in case he had to duck into one or behind one.

In case he saw you. 

You were nothing but another face to him, and while it sounded cruel, it was true. He didn’t fear running into you anymore. The past two weeks of knowing that the baby wasn’t his gave him real clarity, real finality in the mess that had been your relationship. He’d taken responsibility for his part, he’d unpacked it, he’d worked on himself. 

Lance knew he had to talk to Lando, but decided he’d wait. This wasn’t the conversation to have on a race weekend. He cursed himself for not doing it earlier. Lance knew himself well enough to know that if he found out you were pregnant with Lando’s baby through social media, he’d be upset. He had to face it. 

And while he was still a little anxious, it was bone crushing pressure that you used to make him feel. This feeling he felt, it was a rush of adrenaline and it was really all Lando’s fault. He felt like he had to still be on his toes.

He felt new. 

No more running from things that upset him. No more hiding.

At least, until he saw two familiar orange hats. 

Lance ducked beside one of the hospitality set ups, and behind a tire stack. He was pretty sure no one had saw him. But then again, if Lance had quick enough reflexes to recognize you all, Daniel and Lando definitely did to recognize him. Embarrassingly, Lance found himself peeking over the tires, watching as the three of you passed by. 

You were walking down the cement with Daniel and Lando, strolling along the paddock. He tried to gauge your body language, tried to see how close Daniel or Lando were walking next to you. Just anything he could to understand what was going on. 

He was really regretting not reaching out to Lando. 

So he sat squatted behind the tire stack, watching for anything that would tell him what he wanted to know, and coming up with nothing. He wasn’t hiding from you, and seeing Daniel reminded him of the nice apology he had accepted from him a week ago. No one could stay mad at the honey badger. 

I’ll apologize to her, someday.

He was kind of relieved he spent the two weeks off having his little existential crisis about who he was and how he was feeling to finally capture the whole point. He didn’t want to be the father, but he didn’t want Lando to be the father either. Best case scenario to him was Daniel.

Seems fair that we both would be rid of this whole mess, he thought. 

Lance felt a little bit of hope bloom in his chest as his mind reasoned that Lando would’ve definitely called him if he was the father. But then again, maybe not. If Lando was still looking to ‘win’ against Lance, he might have enjoyed stringing him along just to get the last laugh.

But a baby would never be a last laugh to Lando.

Lando and him had a history, a long standing rivalry that got out of hand. The invisible barrier between on and off track had been blown to smithereens and the fault fell on both of them. Lando and him had been in this from the start, had weaved this intricate web that he now recognized they trapped you in. They made you feel like you had no one else but the two of them, and that couldn’t have felt nice.

Lando was a pain in the ass, sure. He was dry, and bratty, but he also had an air of confidence that Lance admired. All in all, he was good for Lance. He pushed the Canadian to stand up for himself, to change himself, to be more flexible to those around him. He pushed him to be better, and he hadn’t had a friend like that since before karting.

But now, Lando and him had warped their relationship, forged it into something healthier for the both of them. A friendship that made him feel better on track, and off it.

And he really didn’t want to fuck it up, and he got the feeling from the Brit that he didn’t either. 

He stayed squatted there until he couldn’t see the orange hats anymore, and even then he stayed for another few moments. 

“Hey, mate. You good?” 

Lance popped up just to catch a Haas mechanic looking at him. Glancing at the tire stack, he finally noticed the team logo on it.

“Ah, yeah!” He squeaked a little too fast, “Just tying my shoes.” 

-

“Alright, I’m gonna leave Mom and Dad now.” Lando sighed, looking at you and Daniel before branching off in the other direction. 

You choked on a laugh, reaching to shove Lando but he was already too far away, “Where are you off to?” You called after him.

“Gotta take care of something.” He screamed back.

Daniel nudged your shoulder, “Bet he forgot his pass or something in his motorhome.” 

You both walked in the other direction, your backs turned to the motorhome section that Lando was headed towards. 

“I can’t believe he’s calling us Mom and Dad.” You mumbled to Daniel, your shoulders brushing as you ducked into the McLaren garage. 

Daniel laughed like he did when Lando first said it, obviously way too high on the fact of being a father than Lando’s jabs. You followed him silently into his driver’s room, collapsing on the couch and slinking down in it so you were slouching comfortably. 

“Feeling heavy today?” Daniel asked, rummaging through his gear bag. 

“Yeah,” you sighed, rubbing your hands on your lower tummy, “I’m waiting for the day I wake up and she’s just...” you held your hands out curved in front of you.

Your bump may not have been noticeable quite yet, but recently, you’d been able to feel it under your palms. Your little girl. I understand why all the pregnant women I’ve seen have always had their hands on their tummies, you thought. 

“Me too.” 

You looked up at the dreamy expression on Daniel’s face, dubbed ‘Baby’s Face’ in your head. Daniel was obsessed with your little girl already, and it was so sweet, and so endearing, and so, so, hot. Things had been good between the two of you, and you were forced to look away from him when you felt yourself getting physically hot, flashes from a few days ago going through your mind. 

Slow and steady, you reminded yourself.

“Have you, uh,” Daniel looked away from you, and sat at the table across from the couch, “have you thought anymore about what we talked about the other day?”

Oh for fuck’s sake, your mood soured, which made you more grumpy since you’d really been enjoying your day.

“Daniel,” you started, trying to keep your tone neutral, “we have so much time to figure it out.”

“I just want to know what we’re doing,” Daniel repeated himself for the hundredth time, “what you want to do.”

You nodded, looking down at your sneaker laced feet. 

“Cause the end of the season is coming, my mom has been asking for more than just a FaceTime meet, and you know, eventually you won’t be able to fly, so we kinda have to-”

“Daniel,” you interrupted, “I really can’t have this conversation today, there’s just so much going on. Can we talk about this on a non-race weekend?”

“Why don’t you want to go to Australia?” 

You sighed, finally giving in and expressing what you were feeling inside. “I do want to go to Australia, Daniel, I’m just not sure if I want to have our baby there.” 

“We’d have my family, and the farm, and the seclusion, it’s not like London.” Daniel argued, “And there’s no way you’re having the baby in Monaco.”

“Fuck that.” You muttered in agreement, getting a smirk from Dan.

“So it’s London or Perth.” 

“What about LA?” You asked, laughing out loud when Daniel’s face went blank and his eyes glazed over for a moment, “I’m kidding, babe, relax.” 

“We have to decide.” Daniel pushed.

“And clearly you’ve casted your vote.” 

“I do want to be in Perth.” Daniel insisted, “I want to be with my family, on my farm, in my house, with our baby. You said it yourself, you’re not close with family, you only have friends in London-”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean it’s not home for me.” 

“But it’s not home for me.” Daniel countered.

You raised your voice and counted off all of Daniel’s points on your fingers, “So let’s go to your country, to your family, to your farm, to your house so I can have your baby.” You held your palm out and tilted your head, “That’s a lot of yours.”

“I want it to be yours too! And hers.” 

“But you don’t get it. I don’t know anyone there, I don’t know Australia, aside from Melbourne I’ve never even really been there.”

“Isn’t that how it was when you got to London?” 

“Yes, but-”

“But what?” Daniel countered, “I’d really like my family to know my baby, and I’d really like for my home to be our daughter’s home. You really think we’re going to be comfortable in your flat with no help?” 

“Do you think I’m going to be comfortable having a baby in a brand new place with people I don’t know?”

He looked at you and bit his lip, collecting his thoughts before responding to you, “It would be easier and you know it as well as I do. I have a home just waiting for us, every part of you coming to Australia makes perfect sense.”

“So my opinion doesn’t matter?” 

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to!” 

A knock at the door broke the intensity around you, and the door shoved open. Michael peeked his head around the doorway before ducking into the room, “Uh, two of you are getting kinda loud.” 

Daniel cursed under his breath.

“Yeah, sorry, I’m leaving.” 

Without a single glance at Daniel, you pushed yourself up off the couch, walked around Michael and out the door. 

“What the fuck was that?” Michael asked as he took your spot across from Daniel.

Daniel leaned back against the wall, turning sideways so his narrow body fit between the back of his chair and the table top, “She won’t give in to going to Perth, it’s driving me crazy.”

“She’ll come around, mate.” 

“Nah,” Dan huffed, “she’s mad cause she doesn’t know Perth, or my family or the farm, but doesn’t get that this isn’t just about where our daughter’s born, but where I want our family to be, the three of us.”

“Did you tell her that?” Daniel looked away and shook his head, making Michael laugh, “Well that’s just peachy.”

“Go ahead, tell me how I’m being an idiot.”

“You’re not being an idiot, mate, you’re just not seeing the full picture.” Michael leaned his elbows forward on his knees, “She’s used to being on her own, and now you’re telling her to come be a part of a family, a big family, in a new place, you’re pulling her into your world.”

“Isn’t that the point of us being together? So we can make it our world?”

“Not when you ain’t made anything real yet.”

“We made a baby.” Daniel joked.

Michael got up and clapped his friend on the shoulder, “Just don’t push, and try to see this from her point of view. That’s a lot of change she’s going through, and you’re asking her to free fall into your world head first, I reckon I’d be scared too.”

-

Lance had scurried off to his motorhome after the awkward Haas encounter. He wasn’t needed for a few hours so he had time to kill. It was the perfect opportunity to take a power nap and Lance never wasted those on a race weekend. 

He was practically skipping as his motorhome came into view. He chuckled as he saw the Canadian flag hanging off the overhead of the sun shade thing. The team was always finding a way to tease his nationality, namely his accent. Which was funny in and of itself, because to him, the whole team had accents, but he was really the lone Canadian. 

Lance pulled his door open and took the few steps two at a time, almost falling back down them as he took in Lando on the couch. 

“Jesus Christ, Lando,” he picked his water bottle up from where he’d dropped it, still one hand clutching his chest, “what are you doing in here?”

“Oh, you know, just making sure you’re alive.”

Oh.

“Yeah, I’m sorry mate, I...” his train of thought floated away as Lando’s eyes narrowed at him. 

“What are you sorry for, mate?” He hissed out ‘mate’, the gritting of his teeth making the smile he forced on his face pretty sinister. 

“Lando, I wanted to talk to you but I just-”

“You were too busy partying over not being a daddy?” He bit out.

“No, not at all!” Lance countered, feeling his temper rise, “Lando, I was-”

“You were busy for three weeks while you were posting online about being at home on your couch?”

That shut Lance right up. He couldn’t believe Lando was taking his silence so personally. He had seen Lando petty before, but never like this. It kinda made him giggle, the thought that Lando was upset about being ignored by him. 

“Oh, Lando.” Lance huffed out, his smile erupting with giggles. 

“What exactly is so funny?” Lando yelled, leaning forward in his seat and holding out his arms, “I could’ve been dead and you wouldn’t have known.”

“I know now!” Lance joked.

“Unbelievable, you are.” Lando drawled as he stood and walked towards Lance, “You just pretend to give a shit cause you wanted to see who would end up fucked in the end?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m sure.” Lance’s smile dropped as he felt insulted by the insinuation, “I don’t pretend to give a shit about people, that’s more your forte.” 

“Yes, Lance, cause I’m here cause I don’t give a shit.”

“Well?” He held his arms out, “Let’s get this over with.” 

Lando gave him the most disgusted what the fuck face as he stood a mere two feet from the taller driver. 

“Are you,” his voice getting softer with each word, “are you the father?”

Lando scoffed, “Are you serious? She didn’t tell you?”

“Lando!” Lance’s fists squeezed at his sides. 

Both men stared each other down in the center of the room. Standing a foot from each other, Lando stared up at Lance like he was the taller one, a smirk playing on his smug face. Lance felt a buzzing in his body, like all the anticipation was mounting to this moment, here, now. 

“S’Daniel’s.” Lando muttered, the only phrase he’d said in the motorhome that wasn’t dipped in poison.

“Thank fuck.”

Lance grabbed Lando by the face and pulled the Brit to him, placing his lips on Lando’s and throwing caution to the wind. And he wasn’t disappointed. 

Cause Lando made a noise, but then he was pulling Lance closer, and when Lance reached for his waist, Lando flinched, moving away from his mouth for a moment before pushing back on his toes to kiss him. Lance smiled against his mouth smugly as he stepped chest to chest with Lando, his arms wrapping around Lando’s small waist as his his head leaned down to meet Lando’s lips. 

His victory was short lived, cause just as quickly as he felt in charge, he lost it. 

Lando pulled on his shoulders, manhandling Lance until he turned him. When Lando’s tongue rubbed against his, Lando held Lance’s face in his hands as he pushed the taller man back, pushing him down the hallway as their teeth, lips and tongues clashed. 

Everything was sloppy, but good. The two of them fell in sync even with the height difference as Lance backed up as Lando pushed him. When the back of his knees hit the plush surface of his bed, he dropped back, looking up at Lando expectedly. 

Lando looked at him, mouth swollen but smirking as he pulled his hoodie over his head.

“About fucking time.” Lando muttered before climbing on top of him. 

[rinkunokoisuru]

I don’t normally write fan fics, not to mention actually share them, so I’m super nervous, but whatever, here we go This is based on the comic by @horrendoushag because I saw @lexosaurus‘s tags. Also some inspiration from some other fics seeing as I’ve read a lot of them.

Danny paused his game of Doomed and slid his over-sized set of headphones to his neck with a sigh at the knock on the door. He wasn't expecting Sam or Tucker to come over, and he knew that Jazz was at the library working on her thesis, so that really only left one or both of his parents as the one responsible. He swung his chair slightly towards the door as the knocking continued. "Yeah?" Danny called, voice raised. "Danny, can we come in? We need to talk with you." As suspected, it was his parents. Yes he'd forgotten to clean the lab again, and yes he'd only barely passed most of his classes, but this wasn't anything new for him. Besides, classes had only just ended for the semester, so it was unlikely that that was what they wanted to talk about since report cards hadn't even been sent home yet. Mentally preparing himself, he decided that he'd just have to let them come in and talk his way out of whatever it was they had to say or just accept the in-coming grounding. "Uh. Yeah, I guess." His mother opened the door and stepped to the side to allow his father space to enter the room.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Danny asked nervously. Maddie's lips were pulled tight and if the hood of her hazmat suit had been pulled back, Danny was sure the fire in her eyes would have been enough to make him shrink even further into his seat. Glancing towards his dad's more expressive face in hopes that he had just misinterpreted, Danny could see that he was just upset as his mother, though with a hint of confusion mixed in as well. "Would you care to explain this, young man?" She held up her phone for Danny to see the screen. From where he was sitting, he couldn't really see what the fuss was about. "It's, uh, twitter?" he shrugged before crossing his arms. "Danny-boy," his father stated sternly. "Alright, alright. Let me see," he grabbed for the phone. As he browsed through what his mother had passed to him, Danny felt his stomach flop in a mix of fear and embarrassment. "Well, Danny?" she tapped her foot impatiently. "What's all this about you dating that menace, Phantom?" Danny winced and sunk further into his chair. He never expected his parents would go on twitter in the first place, let alone find his profile. Phantom had had his own twitter profile for only a week before he'd been assaulted by people claiming ghosts weren't real, that they were his biggest fans, that he was scum that needed to be eradicated, people asking if he would date them, and other uncomfortable comments. Danny had learned to either ignore them or play along and quickly became known for his shitposts. The fact that he was dating himself had started as just a joke with Sam and Tucker to try to aggravate Wes, it had been inconceivable at the time that his parents would ever find those tweets. Yet here they were. "I can explain?" He could not explain. "Well let's hear it then, Danny," his mom replied, raising an eyebrow. The impatient foot tapping continued as he stared at the bedroom floor. He brought his hand up to rub at his neck, a nervous habit of his, as he wracked his brain for an excuse. The uncomfortable silence dragged on for what felt like hours to Danny, though was only about a minute before his dad broke it. "Danny," Jack soothed, placing his sizable hand on his son's significantly smaller shoulder, "we understand that you're getting older and starting to make a lot of your own decisions, but your mother and I are worried about you. It just isn't safe to spend so much time around such a dangerous ghost." "Phantom isn't dangerous." "I know Phantom is very popular with kids your age, but he is dangerous. He pretends to protect the town, but who knows what he could do if he decided to stop faking it," Maddie added. Danny jerked away from his father's hold and jumped out of his chair, only barely able to stop his eyes from glowing an unnatural ectoplasmic green. "No! Jazz and I keep telling you! Phantom doesn't pose a threat to humans." Jack narrowed his eyes with skepticism, and Danny was sure his mother was doing the same beneath her goggles. Letting out an exasperated huff, Danny continued, "You guys are too caught up in your 'research' to even consider that a ghost could be good. When was the last time you even talked with a ghost?" "Danny..." his mother started. Both of his parents had heard this same argument from Jazz plenty of times by now. "No, listen. You never listen. Phantom isn't going to hurt me!" "You can't know that." "Yes! I can!" "And how is that!" Maddie's lips impossibly pressed even thinner, her whole stance becoming more aggressive. "Because I'm Phantom!" His parents seemed to deflate at this outburst. As soon as he realized what he'd said, his hands flew to his mouth and he allowed the cold rush of invisibility to run over him. ---- It had been two weeks now since Danny had accidentally revealed to his parents that he and Phantom were one and the same. While the experience had been less than pleasant at the time, in hindsight it had been a pretty stupid way for his secret alter ego to come out. Jazz had come home not long after the confrontation. When she found out what had happened, she had some words of her own and stormed out to find Danny. As soon he returned safely, the whole family sat down to have a civil discussion about the news that Danny had been half ghost for almost two full years before they found out. To Danny's relief, his parent's had instantly accepted him, though that didn't stop them from feeling like they were at fault for what happened to him. Most of those two weeks since the outburst had been spent assuring his parents he was okay and that he didn't blame them. In fact he liked being part ghost. All things considered, things went much better than he thought they ever would have. Though that didn't stop things from being a little awkward when it came to Danny using his powers. ---- Danny and his friends slid into their usual booth at the Nasty Burger, Sam making sure to sit as far from the trays with meat as she could lest her stomach turn at the smell. Tucker lifted his Nasty burger and took a large whiff before shoving it into his mouth. "Sho how are your parentsh adjushting to you being Phantom?" "Please swallow your food before talking, Tucker," Sam rolled her eyes. Danny picked up one of his french fries and mindlessly dipped it into his ketchup. "I think they're doing alright. I'm still kind of hesitant to transform in front of them though." "I understand that. You basically lied to them for the past two years. It's going to take time for them to be completely comfortable with your ghost half," Sam said, picking at her slightly wilted salad. "Ugh, you sound like Jazz," Danny groaned, tossing his uneaten fry back onto the tray. "I know it's going to take time for them to get used to it." "They did say they want to support you, dude," Tucker gulped down the rest of the greasy burger. "Maybe you just need to expose them to a little more of your ghostly side," he wiggled his fingers for emphasis before pilfering some of Danny's fries, "Just use your powers around the house more often, man. Think of all the things you can do without worrying about getting caught now!" Danny glared briefly at the fry thief before turning back to his food with a sigh. "Maybe you have a point, Tuck." "Of course I do." "Maybe talk to Jazz about this plan first, just in case." "Better point," Danny replied before smacking Tucker's wandering hand away from his food once again. "Ouch! You weren't even eating those!" "They're still my fries." For the rest of their lunch, the group of teens mostly chatted about what movies they were looking forward to, which ghosts had been most annoying lately, and what other plans they had for their summer vacation. Eventually though, the trio had to go their separate ways. Sam's mother had plans to drag her daughter to some sort of benefit for the umpteenth time and Tucker had promised a group of his online friends that he'd help them out in some new game they were playing, so Danny waved goodbye and headed home by himself. It wasn't long before he'd arrived at his own doorstep and made his way upstairs. Danny considered dropping into bed and taking a nap before some ghost inevitably dropped in, but found himself wandering over to Jazz's room instead. Seeing the door was ajar, he quietly rapped on the door frame until his sister looked up from whatever she was working on. "What's up, Danny?" Jazz asked, a small smile on her face as she scooted her chair away from her desk so she could look at her brother while they spoke. He shuffled into the room and leaned against the wall. It took hardly any time for Danny to explain what he had discussed with Sam and Tucker, leaving Jazz looking pensive. "It actually seems like a pretty good idea to me," she finally said. "I think it might be good for all three of you. Especially since Mom and Dad aren't trying to shoot you anymore," she smirked. Danny let go of the tension he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Thanks, Jazz." "No problem, little brother," she smiled gently. Danny sent back a small smile of his own and left the room, allowing Jazz to return to her work. --- "Danny?" "Yeah, Mom?" he called from the living room. "Can you help me with dinner, sweetie?" Rather than gather the energy to stand from his relaxed position on the couch, Danny tucked his phone into his pocket and allowed the cold feeling at his core to overtake him. There was a bright flash of light and suddenly where there had sat the blue-eyed, black-haired Fenton, was instead the blindingly bright white hair and toxic green eyes of his Phantom form. Now was as good a time as any to start using his powers around his parents more often. He let the weightlessness that came more naturally in his ghost form take over and lazily floated into the kitchen. "What did you need help with?" his voice echoed ominously. His mother jolted in surprise before once again composing herself. "I was just hoping you could reheat the leftover mashed potatoes to go with dinner," she started hesitantly. "I'm not interrupting a fight with a ghost, am I?" "Hm? Nah," he replied.    "A-alright then." Danny hovered on over to the refrigerator and stuck the entire front half of his body inside. He soon emerged with the cold bowl of potatoes and popped them into the microwave. At least they were less likely to come to life since they'd only been in there a day or so. Maddie watched her son flit about the kitchen like this was the most normal thing in the world. She absent-mindedly cleaned up the mess from preparing the night's meatloaf and supposed that for Danny, it probably was the norm. If he'd been half-ghost for nearly two years, then it would be sillier to expect him not to use his powers from time to time. "So how long until the meatloaf is done?" Danny questioned. The microwave was still running, but rather than continue to float in various places around the room, he had instead elected to change back into his human form and play around on his phone. "Just a few more minutes." "Awesome." They settled into a comfortable silence, Danny tapping away at a game on his phone and Maddie putting the finishing touches on the sides for their dinner. The quiet was only interrupted when the shrieking of the microwave alerted them that the potatoes were hopefully done reheating. "Danny, go get your father for dinner," Maddie said as she went to take the meatloaf out of the oven. "Okay," Danny replied without even looking up from his phone. In an instant, Danny Fenton had once again been replaced by Danny Phantom. Maddie stared in wide-eyed confusion as her son bent down onto the kitchen floor and stuck his head into the basement below. Jack happened to be looking up at the clock when he saw a shock of glowing, white hair sink through the ceiling. He felt his jaw drop as his the rest of Danny's head followed. There was a moment where they stared at each other, neither saying anything. "Dinner's ready," Danny finally relayed. Jack managed to shake himself out of his stupor. "Great! Thanks, Danny-boy!" The ghostly head of his son retreated back through the ceiling. It was going to be a while before Jack and Maddie could be completely comfortable around their son in ghost form, but at least Danny got to be a little shit in the process.