#but jacob finds a shirt/sweatshirt of his in his clean clothes the next time he goes to get dressed

[barbiewritesstuff]

Church encounters : Chapter 6 (part1)

-- Guys, we are celebrating tonight because not only has our google doc containing this fic reached 40.000 words, it has also passed the 100 pages mark which makes this a novel! Y'all are reading literature now!! No I'm joking but barely.

This fic is written with @Igg5989 , she is posting this on her blog and on AO3 and she made the moodboard!

Also sorry for the Italian, it was done via Google Translate.

Previous part

Taglist: @acarboni21 @unsurebuttrying @dempy @peaches-1998 @bbooks-and-teas

"I think that's the last of the bags?" Jake asked, having heaved every single thing you had prepared into the back of his truck. You had both meant to travel light, but soon after Jake had reported your acceptance to their invitation, an email had come through your inbox. Jake's sister had apparently scoured the internet to find you and introduce herself. Clearly, shyness didn't run in the family, as Jake's sister sported the same boldness when she asked you to please, pretty please, bring back an item she had forgotten at Jake's months ago and never gotten back. Jake had warned you, and you hadn't listened but once one demand was accepted, a million other ones would follow.

Jake had decided to take the first leg of the staggering sixteen hour drive, allowing you to sleep a little longer before stopping at the most convenient coffee chain and getting you the largest drink he could order. You were not, and had never been, a morning person. Your ideal wakeup time lay somewhere in the mid afternoon but waking up for work had always been easy, it was any other time that was the problem. Once caffeine entered your system, you were good to go, taking over from Jake for the next 2 hour leg. Once you stopped for a quick lunch of homemade sandwiches, Jake took over again. 

You switched over every four hours until you got to the motel. The room you got was fairly spacious, counting two single beds, a medium sized bathroom with a bath and shower combo, two sinks and a practically see-through shower curtain. The only luxuries in the room were a broken kettle and a working coffee machine. All in all, the room left much to be desired, but it was clean and only for one night.

Jake offered to take the bed closest to the door, for protection purposes and you just laughed at his manliness. You placed your toiletries in the bathroom and put your suitcase on a chair, the top open and ready for you to rustle through all the things you had packed. 

It was approaching ten and the sun had long since set. The two of you decided to go to bed since Jake wanted to get an early start on the road in the morning. Your nightly routine didn’t usually include taking a shower, but since you would be leaving early you decided to follow your cardinal rule: whatever got you more sleep in the morning needed done the night before. With that in mind, you made your way into the bathroom, closing the door behind you and pressing the little button for the lock.

You turned the shower on and quickly stripped out of your travelling clothes, a pair of old leggings and one of Jake’s Navy sweatshirts, you always got cold in the car. As the bathroom filled with steam, you stepped under the water’s warm spray. You soaped up your hair, some bubbles landing on the shower curtain, and rinsed it out. You left your conditioner to soak in for a moment while you spread body wash on a washcloth. You thought that you heard a noise in the bathroom, but when you looked out the curtain, there was nothing there. 

Lathering up with body wash, you screamed when the door to the bathroom burst open, Jake walked in unbothered. He had on running shorts and his ripped up t-shirt was tucked into his waistband.  

“Jacob Thomas Seresin, get out!” you screeched at him, trying for the life of you to keep yourself covered. You could feel a blush spreading up your cheeks and down your neck. 

He made a show of keeping his eyes closed as he felt his way to the toilet, “Sorry babe, it was warmer than I thought, just need a towel.” 

You watched as he grabbed a hand towel from the rack mounted on the wall, now using it to cover his eyes as he felt his way back out of the bathroom. You let out a sigh, at least he had the decency to cover his eyes. As you turned back to the hot water, rinsing the body wash off, you had to admit to yourself that he did look damn good after a run. 

You stepped out of the shower and dried off with one of the towels, noting in dismay that the towel's aggressive green colour seemed to match the rest of the room's decor. You scrunched your hair dry and patted your face clean before slipping on your nightgown and starting on your skincare routine. Once that was done, you finally stepped into the bedroom to find a sheepish Jake flicking through the channels of the elderly block tv the motel managers had installed there some thirty years ago.

"I'm sorry, I should have waited," He said, looking at his feet, "I did knock…" He added quietly. 

"It's okay…" You replied, making your way to him, "It's a shame there are no sofas, I really wish I could snuggle into you." 

Jake lifted an arm up so you could squeeze into his side, "You can snuggle, I'll just have to 

hold on to you so you don't fall off the bed," He smiled.

You scrunched your nose up at him, “As nice as that sounds, you need a shower Lieutenant.” 

He sighed, “You’re probably right,” he said, rolling off his bed and walking towards the still steamy bathroom. Before he closed the door he stuck his upper body out, pointing a finger at you, “No peeking!” he said with a laugh. 

You laughed at his antics, “Very funny Jake, now go shower so you can go to bed. You’re the one driving early tomorrow.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said, closing the door. A minute later you heard the shower start running again. You weren’t sure how you felt about kneeling on the motel room floor, so you settled for kneeling in your bed, saying a quick prayer. 

“Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 

God, please watch over Jake and I on this trip, and keep our families safe and happy in this holiday season. 

Amen.”

You heard the water turn off shortly after you had finished your prayer, and soon Jake was out of the bathroom. He was dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt and had a towel thrown over his head as he rubbed his hair dry. 

“All ready for bed?” he asked you. 

You gave him a smile, pulling the quilt up to your chin, “I think so!” 

“Alright, I just need to brush my teeth and I’ll be ready,” he said, walking back into the bathroom. 

When he was done, you watched as he prayed to himself quietly before climbing into bed. He rolled to face you as he turned out the light. You had shared a room with girls in college but never with a man. Your sisters would be beside themselves if they knew. But Jake had been a perfect gentleman, well besides the incident earlier. As you fell asleep you smiled, Jake was letting out soft snores. 

Jake woke you up at dawn. The sun had not yet risen in the sky. He gently shook you awake then left. A minute later, the coffee machine came alive and the aroma of coffee wafted through the room. Clearly Jake had been up for a while, he had even managed to find the only bakery in town open at this hour and scored two pastries with which he lured you out of bed. 

Too self-conscious to eat like that, you groggily stepped into the harsh light of the bathroom to brush your teeth before sitting by his side. You closed your eyes as you prayed, half hoping you could just go back to sleep, but you made it through. The influx of sugar in your system worked wonders on you.

You were startled when Jake touched your face, his thumb gently brushing against the corner of your mouth. 

Opening your eyes in surprise, he took in your expression, “Sorry, you had some glaze on the corner of your mouth.” 

You smiled at him, “S’alright, just got a little tired,” your voice was still rough from sleep. 

“That’s okay, you can sleep in the truck baby,” he said, smiling warmly at your sleepy face, “You ready to get on the road?” he asked. 

“I think so, let me just make sure I didn’t forget anything,” you said, rising to check the room one last time. Satisfied that you hadn’t left anything in the bathroom, you met Jake at the truck. He was holding the door open for you, ready to help you into the cab. Taking his hand, you climbed in, immediately buckling up and resting your head against the headrest, your eyes already closing. 

When you finally opened your eyes what felt like a few minutes later, you were surprised to discover that Jake had driven almost the whole way home. There were only six hours remaining in your trip and he had just kept driving, not wanting to wake you up for anything. 

“Jake, you should have woken me up,” you said, feeling a bit bad about sleeping through the rest of the drive. 

He let out a sigh, grabbing your hand, “It’s alright, I didn’t want to interrupt your sleep,” he smiled over at you as he continued to steer the truck down the highway. 

The GPS chose that moment to speak up, telling him that his exit was coming up. After he got off the highway, there was another hour of driving on country back roads to get to his family’s ranch. 

As you slowly woke up, you looked out the window at the scenery. Fields of cattle, wildflowers and produce spanned miles around the road. You offered to take over, but Jake refused citing the fact that the GPS would guide you only so far, and he’d need to take over anyway. You fiddled with the radio, he had turned it off to let you sleep but now you were awake, you were determined not to answer the call of sleep again. You hopped through channels until you landed on something you liked. The melody of an old Jonas Brothers’ song played through the car, much to the dismay of Jake, who groaned almost as soon as he heard the first note.

“I’m going to ban you from the aux, you know that?” he said with an attitude, looking over at you.

You gave him a grin before shooting back, “And yet, my darling, you recognised the song. So, you can’t hate it that much.”

Jake laughed, “Maria went through a Jonas Brothers’ phase. We were all glad when it stopped.”

You looked at him with an amused look on your phase, mouthing the chorus and dramatically moving your head to match the rhythm of the song.

“Oh, this is an SOS, don’t wanna second guess. This is the bottom line, it’s true. I gave my all for you, now my heart’s in two And I can’t find the other half, it’s like I’m walking on broken glass. Better believe I bled. It’s a call I’ll never get,” you sang out, your voice cracking on a few of the notes.  

Jake rolled his eyes at your antics, and yet when the next part started, he mouthed right along with you, matching your dramatic dancing with his own while keeping one hand on the wheel.

The two of you continued singing, “So this is where the story end, A conversation on IM, Well I’m done with texting, sorry for the miscommunication” 

He flicked his blinker to turn left and exited the road. The barren wasteland you had just been driving through became more populated by the minute as houses sprung up left and right. Soon, you were driving through a town and ten minutes after that, Jake turned into a dirt track and passed underneath a large metal gate adorned with a large ‘S’. Tall trees lined the way to the house, blocking your view of anything.

“Almost there,” he said with a smile, his voice sounding giddy. He sped up the track. Suddenly, the trees cleared and you arrived at Jake’s family home. You had never seen something quite like this before. 

The Seresin house was large and impressive, standing tall over trees and fields, you wondered how you hadn’t been able to see it from the road. The house’s walls were white, seemingly reflecting the gentle yellow light of the front porch’s lamps directly onto a wicker porch swing onto which a large white dog was sleeping. Its roof a dark colour, possibly blue or black, that matched both the window sills and the front door and tied the whole look of the house together. 

Jake started unloading your bags almost immediately, allowing you a few more minutes to gaze at the house and its grounds before wrapping an arm around your shoulders and dragging you behind the truck to steal a moment of privacy.

“I just remembered, I forgot something important”

You braced yourself. You had prepared almost all of the bags, making sure to pack everything you would need, there was no way he could have forgotten only one item.

“I forgot to kiss my pretty girlfriend this morning,” he smiled, bending down to capture your lips into a gentle kiss. You blushed at the compliment, eventually breaking the kiss to come up for air. 

Jake finished unloading the truck, taking care of all the heavy bags and leaving you to hold the small things. He was on his last back and forth when the door swung open, scaring the dog awake, when a stampede of children flew out of the house. Jake dropped the bags just in time to be tackled to the ground. They lay there giggling as the adults began streaming out of the house. A tall man sporting a dark cowboy hat made his way to you.

“And you must be Y/n, lovely to meet ya. My name is Giovanni Junior, John for friends and family,” he says.

You take his outstretched hand expecting to shake it, but John kisses it instead. 

Jake comes up behind you, his voice holding a bit of brotherly teasing, “You stay away from my girl, Gio.”

John winked at you before looking at Jake, “You stop calling me that.”

“Alright boys, no need to argue. He’s only just gotten here. John, stop picking on him,” an older woman said, gently separating the two men with a hand on their shoulder, “My name is Isabella, I’m Jake’s mother. It is lovely to meet you after all this time. He hasn’t stopped talking about you since he ran into you in church,” She spoke, a heavy accent in her voice

She embraced you in a warm hug. Isabella Seresin was, like the rest of the Seresin family, beautiful. Her blonde hair, green eyes and flawless golden skin matched that of her children, the only hint that Jake’s father had been at all involved in the making of her sons and daughter was that all of them were at least a foot taller than their mother. 

“Come inside, darling,” she guided you away, holding your arm. You looked back at Jake, who smiled encouragingly, “Don’t worry, he is strong, he will carry the bags. Let me introduce you to the rest of the family.”

She stopped by a man bearing uncanny resemblance to John, but taller and slightly thinner, “This is Antonio.” 

“Tony,” He corrected, rolling his eyes playfully at his mom. 

Isabella moved you away again to meet two women huddled in a corner. One of the two was heavily pregnant and the other held a toddler.

“Alessandra is married to Gio,” She pointed towards the pregnant woman. She gave you a warm smile which you returned and a small wave. Isabella then pointed towards the other woman, “This is Sofia. And this little lady is Catalina. They are Tony’s little family,” she explained. 

Then she turned towards John and Tony and fired off something in rapid Italian which you did not understand. When she received no answer, Isabella turned back to you, “My husband and daughter are around somewhere. They are probably inside. We should see if we can find them.”

The inside of the house was as impressive as the outside. The floor was wooden and freshly polished, the walls an attractive cream colour and the furniture an elegant mix of creams, greys and navy blue. It looked like something out of a catalogue. 

Isabella led you through the hallway and into the living room, searching for the missing Seresin family members. You were as nervous as could be, under Jake’s mother’s grip you felt yourself shake a little. She was quick to put you at ease however, asking you questions about yourself in a way that almost made you forget that this felt strangely like an interrogation. 

Finally, you walked into the kitchen where a man, a woman about your age, and an elderly lady were huddled around cups of coffee. You felt a warm hand on your arm, and when you looked you saw that Jake had caught up with you. He quickly kissed the back of your head before waving at the people. 

“Beh, non hai intenzione di baciare tua nonna?” The elderly woman asked Jake, he smiled a little sheepishly before crossing the kitchen in two strides and loudly kissing his grandmother on the cheek. She swatted him away with a laugh.

“Good to see you, Boy,” Said the man. He lifted the cowboy hat an inch. Jake stared back at his own, older face. His father engulfed him in a side hug with a chuckle.

The woman looked you up and down with an air of recognition. Although you had never met her, you could guess who she would be. She looked almost identical to her mother but when she spoke, you found her voice to be harsher and deeper, Jake had warned you she was a smoker, “È questo Y/n, allora?”

“Yes, Maria, this is Y/n,” Jake replied, knocking her hat off of her head and making his way back to you with a smirk. 

“Lei parla italiano?” Nonna asked, looking right at you.

Jake replied, “No,” right as you replied “Sì, un po. Mia zia vive a Roma”, your accent was by no means perfect, but you had picked up enough Italian to at least be able to answer this question with some confidence during the summer vacations you had spent annoying your aunt during your childhood. Nonna nodded, as though you had passed a test. 

----

“You could have warned me about the Italian,” Jake said as soon as he found a minute to spend alone with you. He had climbed up to the second floor with you to his bedroom. You had expected a typical boy’s room but teenage Jake had apparently been quite sparse in his decorating. The only discernible sign of this room belonging to a young man being the football jersey framed onto the wall. 

You turned to face him, with an amused smile,“Says the man who failed to mention his family didn’t speak English.”

“They do, they just… choose not to,” He laughed, “I’m impressed though, that accent wasn’t bad.” 

You laughed back, “Don’t get excited, I know three sentences to very specific questions, nothing else.”

“Oh yeah?” He asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

You nodded, raising an eyebrow in turn before answering, “Yeah. I know how to say ‘Sì, un po. Mia zia vive a Roma’, ‘No grazie, mi piace solo il formaggio francese’ and ‘Preferisco ballare il balletto russo’ and that’s it.” 

“I would LOVE to know the context of you learning that,” Jake said, laughing. 

“Well, my aunt lived in Rome and she would take us to visit in the summer. Her neighbour made his own cheese and wouldn’t stop trying to get me to eat some, and I used to do ballet. I did a few auditions in Italy over the summers and it’s a frequently asked question,” you said, smiling. 

Someone knocked on Jake’s bedroom door. It opened a second later, John looked at the both of you for a moment, “There’s an open door policy for all unmarried couples. Also, La mamma dice che sta dormendo nella stanza di Maria,” He added, his eyes flicking to you for a moment, then he shot you both a wink and left. 

“Apparently you’re bunking with Maria for our stay,” Jake said, pouting a little, “Shame, you were so cute this morning when you slept. So peaceful and adorable.”

“How long were you staring at me for?” You asked, smiling slightly.

“I was not staring. I was lovingly gazing at my beautiful girlfriend…” He replied, “For ten minutes straight, unblinkingly,” He added as he caught you in his arms and gently tickled your sides before peppering kisses all over your face.

“Apparently you’re my roomie,” Said a voice by the door. Jake let go of you with an embarrassed cough, but still winked at you before Maria continued, “Come with me I’ll show you where you’re sleeping.” 

Maria led you to her room. Like the rest of the house, it was impeccably decorated, but with a more feminine colour scheme. Pink, purple and pastel colours as far as the eyes could see. Maria saw you looking with a smile, 

“Much better than Jacob’s room, isn’t it? I’m sleeping on the pink bed. You can sleep on the purple one,” She pointed towards the bed closest to the door, “The bathroom is right there,” She added, showing you a door on the other side of the bedroom, “There are towels and everything on your bed.” 

You moved towards the bed, suddenly strangely nervous and a little distressed. You had known you wouldn’t be sharing a room with Jake, but meeting Jake’s family was feeling more and more overwhelming. Just as you wished Jake could appear, you heard him by the door, 

“No. No boys,” Maria said, as she blocked her brother’s way into the room.

“It’s for the bags,” Jake replied, sounding a little exasperated. You turned around, hoping your face wouldn’t betray your emotions. Unfortunately, Jake caught your eye and frowned.

“She’s a big girl, she can carry them herself,” Maria argued back, still blocking Jake’s path. 

“Yeah and you’re a pain in the ass,” Jake said as he pushed her to the side. He dropped off the bags and made himself comfortable on the bed. He stared at Maria, daring her to say anything. She huffed and walked out of the room, making sure to leave the door wide open. 

You sat down next to Jake and curled into his chest. The arm that rested behind you came up to rub circles into your arm as he held you tightly. He leaned against you and kissed your forehead

“You okay?” He asked, his voice muffled against your skin. You nodded lightly and nuzzled further into his chest.

You felt him sigh, “What’s wrong?” he tried asking again. 

“Just feeling a little overwhelmed, your family is big, and you all have big personalities. Also, everyone seems so perfect. What if they don’t like me?” you say quietly, face still buried in his chest. 

He laughed a little at that, “They are going to love you. We can be a little overwhelming. I’m sorry that you are feeling that way, what can I do?” he asked, his mouth pressing into the top of your head in a kiss. 

“Just hold me for a minute,” you said, burrowing closer to him. 

Jake wrapped his arms around you, squeezing you to his chest, he seemed content to sit there as long as you needed. As his breathing started to lull you into falling asleep, there was a sound by the doorway. Moving your head to glance at the door, you saw Catalina standing there looking at you. 

Jake spoke to her, the timber of his voice calming your fraying nerves further, “Hey sweetie, who are you looking for?” he asked. 

“Uncle ‘akey!” she said, giving him a big smile. 

You felt Jake laugh at her name for him, the little thing probably couldn’t say her Js yet. Moving you a little in his arms, Jake made room for her, beckoning her into the room, “I think I can fit two of my favourite girls in for snuggles,” he said, a smile on his face. 

Catalina ran into the room, when she got to Jake he scooped her up like she weighed nothing with one hand. He pulled her little frame into his other side, setting her on his thigh, “How’s that munchkin?” he asked, looking down at her. 

She just smiled shyly, burrowing her face into Jake’s neck. You smiled at them, Jake really was good with kids. He would make a great father, and the thought of your own baby made you blush. Maybe next year you would come back here with a ‘munchkin’ of your own to share with the family. 

At that moment, Jake looked at you, “Feeling better?” he asked. 

“Yeah, I’m feeling a bit better,” you said, before adding in an exasperated tone, “Hopefully I’ll stay that way, we haven’t even made it to Thanksgiving dinner yet.” 

He moved his arm to lift your chin up a little, then bent down to kiss your lips. 

"EWWWWWWW," Jake's niece exclaimed, wriggling free of her uncle's arms and running out of the room.

You laughed at her reaction, the tension and nerves you were feeling from before almost forgotten, Jake turned to you and asked, “Are you ready to go back out there?”

“I think so,” you said, standing up from the bed and taking his hand. He led you back to the kitchen where the whole family was gathered. You watched as they all helped to prepare dinner, even the little ones had jobs setting the table. 

"Can I help with anything?" You asked, feeling a little out of your element. You were used to lending a hand whenever you were in the kitchen and standing by without a job was not something you had ever done. 

After you asked, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at you. Suddenly your nerves were back in full force and you felt like you wanted to melt into the wall behind you. Isabella tutted at you, "Absolutely not. You are a guest. Jake has never brought a girl home before, I do not want to spoil the occasion."

You could feel everyone’s eyes on you as you stood there, like they were waiting for your reaction to Isabella's statement, like it was a test. 

Jake broke the silence, "Take a picture, it'll last longer, guys." 

You gave him a look that said you had it, and turned to Isabella, “That’s really not necessary. You have been so kind as to invite me to your home, at least let me help with the cooking, or baking. Jake can attest that I am a great baker.”

At that moment, you felt every eye in the whole kitchen leave your body. It felt like maybe you had passed one of their tests. Isabella turned back to you and smiled, “Alright dear, I think we have everything covered for tonight, but Jake has told us so much about your delicious cinnamon rolls. Perhaps you can prepare those for the morning?” 

Smiling, you nodded at her, “I would be happy to do that.” 

You stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do with yourself. If you couldn’t help in the kitchen, was it appropriate for you to stay? Would they talk about you if you left? Jake was no help as he just stood next to you unmoving. 

At that moment, you felt a little hand tap your leg, looking down you found a little boy. Crouching down to his level you asked, “What’s your name?” 

He blushed before whispering out, “Agostino.” 

“Agostino?” you said, your voice soft, and low, comforting, “I think that's a lovely name.” 

Agostino smiled at you, “Would you like to play? Mom said we needed an adult to go outside,” he finished bashfully, like he was nervous you would say no. 

“Of course I would love to go outside!” you said enthusiastically. 

With that, you felt all eyes on you again as you allowed him to pull you through the kitchen and out the back door. As soon as you stepped outside, you heard all of them start talking at once in rapid Italian. Deciding not to let it get to you, you closed the door gently behind you and followed Agostino to a play set that was in the yard. 

He took a seat on one of the swings and asked you to push him. You walked around behind him and gave him a few gentle pushes to start, not wanting to send him too high into the air.  From this spot you were facing the house, and you could see into the kitchen through a few large windows. Jake was standing on one side of the huge kitchen island and you could tell that he didn’t look happy. 

You looked away, not wanting to intrude on whatever was happening. Jake would tell you later, he seemed embarrassed by what had gone on in the house. A door slamming caught your attention. Jake was walking towards you, Catalina in his arms and another little boy was following behind him, trying to keep up with his large steps. 

“Uncle Jake slow down, I can’t keep up with you,” he said, calling after Jake. 

“I’m sorry buddy,” Jake said, stopping and turning to wait for him to catch up. 

“It’s okay,” he said as he caught up, taking Jake’s free hand, “Why are you mad?” 

You laughed as Jake let out a loud sigh, “I’m not mad, sometimes our family is just a little too much at times.”

“What do you mean?” he asked again, this one was quite inquisitive. 

Jake laughed, “Sometimes they judge people before they really know them is all,” he said, looking at you. 

As they got to the swingset, Jake introduced the boy to you, “Luca this is Y/N, she is my girlfriend.” 

“Hi!” he said, waving at you, “Can you push me on the swing too?” 

“Of course!” you said, setting a hand on his back and giving him a gentle push at the same time as his brother. 

Jake tossed Catalina in the air, her sharp squeal piercing the quiet plains around you. He set her down and watched as she ran towards the monkey bars, hanging from the short ones that she could reach. He turned to you, his expression softening, “I’m sorry about them, apparently they haven’t met anyone new in their entire lives.” 

You laughed at him, he really wasn’t good with emotional conversations, “It’s okay. I’ll just have to win them over with my cinnamon rolls tomorrow morning.” 

Jake took over pushing Luca’s swing, keeping a close eye on Catalina, “I’m sure you will honey,” he said, pressing a quick kiss to your head before Luca jumped off the swing in front of him. 

“Did you see that uncle Jake? I went almost as high as you do in your plane!” he said, turning around looking so proud of himself. 

Jake laughed, “You went so high Luca! Do you know who else flies planes?” 

“Who?” he asked, eyes wide.

“Y/N, she sits in the back and tells her pilot what to look for,” Jake said proudly. 

“Really??” Luca asked, looking at you. 

You nodded, “Yes, I do! I am a Weapons Systems Officer or a WSO.” 

“That’s so cool!” he yelled, “One day I am going to be a pilot like uncle Jake!” 

“I’m sure you will be buddy,” Jake said, rubbing the top of his nephew’s head, “Who’s up for a game of tag?” he asked, a devious smile on his face. 

“Me! Me! Me!” three little voices sang out. With that an epic game of tag started, with all of you running around the grass. Catalina had a hard time keeping up, so you scooped her up into your arms and kept running, laughing as she squealed as Jake got closer to the two of you. 

You jumped when the game was interrupted, John was standing at the door, his voice carrying to all of you in the yard, “Dinner’s done!” 

The kids all ran inside, you and Jake following behind them, Catalina still in your arms. As you made it inside Isabella took the little girl from you, taking her over to her high chair. The only two seats left at the table were between Tony and the woman you assumed was Jake’s grandmother. 

Deciding between the lesser of two evils, you sat down next to Tony. Hopefully if nothing else, his wife would keep him in check. You all joined hands, waiting as Giovanni blessed the food. Everyone said Amen and you dug into the spread, all of the dishes were being passed around and the house was loud with all of the conversation. Jake pressed his leg against yours under the table, a silent reminder that he was next to you and it would be alright. 

Jake leaned towards you, "Do you want my peas?" He asked, whispering into your ear. You nodded but before you could switch the plates Luca screamed.

"UNCLE JAKE'S NOT HAVING PEAS," He shouted, pointing straight at Jake's plate where the tiny green vegetables were corralled into a corner.

Nonna and Isabella looked straight at him. They both narrowed their eyes suspiciously, Jake stood tall again, "No, Luca. Uncle Jake is having his peas. Look." 

Jake looked into his mothers eyes for a brief second with a look of such disdain it would have shocked you if you hadn't known about his hatred of peas. He scooped some onto his fork and raised them up to his mouth. You tried hard to hold in your laughter when Jake forced them into his mouth and stifled a gag.

"See, Luca. He eats his peas. Now you do too," Isabella said. You would have managed to stay composed for the rest of the dinner if you hadn't crossed John's eyes. Both of you snorted, desperately trying to hide it into your food but without success.

Miraculously, it felt as though the mood had been lifted over the table. You had expected Jake to be a little crabby, but when you looked over at him you saw him already looking, a genuinely happy smile etched over his features. He winked.

----

You were up early. Well, earlier than anyone else in the house. After dinner the night before you had helped to clear the table and wash the dishes, even with Isabella’s protests that you were a guest. However, you had forgotten about their request for cinnamon rolls until you were laying in bed. Not wanting to bother anyone, you set an alarm for your military wake up time, 0400. 

You had forced yourself out of bed and into the bathroom, running through your usual routine before pulling on a house dress. You made your way down the stairs quietly, your socks helping to dampen your steps on the wood floor. When you got to the kitchen, you were surprised to find Jake’s grandma, Nonna as he told you they called her, was sitting at the counter, a bible laid out in front of her. You hesitated, wondering if she would be happy to have you interrupting her time with God. 

Deciding that keeping your promise of cinnamon rolls was more important, you silently made your way into the kitchen, hoping not to startle her. As you walked into her line of sight, her eyes shifted up to you. 

“Good morning,” you said quietly, “I’m just going to make those cinnamon rolls now, don’t let me disturb you.” 

She gave you a nod before going back to her scripture. You found the coffee machine ready to go and hit brew. You found a cup in the cabinet above it, and waited for the pot to fill. Pouring yourself a cup, you took a sip. Even black, it was some of the best coffee you had ever had. You were going to have to figure out where Isabella had gotten it from, if Jake insisted on eating toast and coffee for breakfast, he could at least have something that tasted good. 

You made your way to the pantry, finding all of the ingredients that you needed for the cinnamon rolls. You made the dough by hand, mixing the ingredients together in a bowl with a wooden spoon. You could feel Jake’s grandma watching you from time to time, but for the most part, the woman seemed devoted to her readings. 

While you waited for the dough to proof, you got your own bible as well as your rosary out from your purse. Nonna briefly looked up from her own page, shooting you an appreciative look. She took your cup and twirled the contents at the bottom, it wasn't much so she stood from her chair with both of your mugs and made enough coffee for you both. Then, she sat back down and you both returned to your reading. You gratefully thanked her before taking a sip of your coffee. How did it taste better when she made it?

As the sun started to shine through the windows, the timer you set on your phone went off. Closing your bible, you stood from the barstool. Turning the dough out on the counter, you kneaded it a few times before rolling it out, you spread the cinnamon sugar filling on the dough before rolling it up. You picked a knife out of the block on the counter and cut it into twelve rolls. Placing them on the baking sheet you prepared, you covered them once more allowing them to rise. 

You cleaned up the counter and washed the dishes you had made, putting them back in their rightful spots. By the time you had finished, the rolls were ready to bake. You popped them in the oven and drained the last of your coffee. You picked up Nonna’s cup, pouring both of you another. 

Placing it back in front of her, she looked up at you as she closed her bible, “So, you are religious?” she asked. 

You nodded, “Yes ma’am, raised Catholic.” 

Gesturing to your rosary pouch, she asked, “How often do you pray the rosary?” 

"Every day, ma'am, and whenever is needed," you said quietly. 

"Do you pray for my Jacob?" She asked, looking you in the eyes.

"Every morning and evening, ma'am, and whenever he does something stupid," You say with a smile. She laughed and you took that as a good sign.

"Poor girl, you never stop!" She roars, pulling you into a hug.

"I heard him pray for you last night. Saying 'Our Father' and asking for your protection and acceptance in the family. He didn't pray for anyone else, just you," She said into your ear before patting your back and leaving the kitchen altogether. 

You stood there for a minute, entirely uncertain of what to do with yourself. You prayed for Jake and hoped he did the same, but having it confirmed filled you with so much love that you didn't really know what to do. Unable to decide, you opted to get on with the job, smiling widely to yourself and mentally picking the best looking cinnamon roll to later give to Jake.

As the rolls baked, their sweet smell filled the house. You were whisking the icing for them when the sound of little feet reached your ears. Looking up, you saw Luca standing in the doorway of the kitchen. 

“What are you making?” he asked, walking towards you. 

You gave him a smile, “Cinnamon rolls! They are your uncle Jake’s favourite.” 

“Then they are my favourite too,” he said, climbing up on one of the barstools. 

Chuckling, your conversation was interrupted when your timer went off. You placed the bowl down on the counter before turning to pull the cinnamon rolls out of the oven. You placed them on top of the cutting board you had set out earlier. Looking up, you caught Luca sticking his finger in the icing. Laughing, you pretended to smack his little hand, only barely tapping him, “If you eat it all now, there won’t be any left for the rolls!” you exclaimed. 

He gave you a smile, “But it tastes so good! I don’t know if I can wait.”

Searching the cabinets for a plate, you pulled one out, “Okay, let's get you a roll then,” you said, using a fork to pull one from the centre of the pan.  

He gave you a toothy grin as you held the plate for him while he spread an unholy amount of icing on top of the roll. You were interrupted by a cough from the doorway, looking up, you found Jake staring at you wide eyed. 

“Good morning,” you said to him, a smile on your face. 

“Mornin’,” he said back, his eyes fixed on you helping Luca with his cinnamon roll. Suddenly Jake stumbled forwards as Alessandra pushed her way into the kitchen. 

“Pregnant lady,” she said pointing to herself, “Sweet food,” she said now pointing to the rolls. She shot Jake a wink as she laughed at his shocked face. Dropping a kiss to Luca’s head she turned to you, “Thank you for helping him, he is like me. Nothing sweet ever gets by him.”

Feeling like the family was finally accepting you, you smiled at her, “It’s no problem, I love kids,” you said.

As you plated her and Jake both cinnamon rolls, Jake was pouring himself a cup of coffee. 

Alessandra laughed, “You’ll love them even more when they are your own, trust me.” 

With that comment, you heard Jake splutter, he was suddenly coughing, choking on the sip of coffee he had just taken a moment before. 

You patted him on the back, “You good babe?” you asked. 

“I’m good,” he coughed out, “Wrong pipe.” 

Alessandra sent him a knowing look, taking her cinnamon roll and sitting down next to Luca at the counter. You gave Jake his plate, planting a kiss on his cheek. He pulled you into a hug, “What time did you get up this morning darlin’?” he asked, his voice still rough with sleep. 

“O’four hundred, lieutenant,” you said into his chest. 

He hummed, “So you will be taking a nap later then?” 

“Perhaps,” you said, “We will have to see.” 

Just then, the rest of the Seresin clan seemed to make their way into the kitchen. At only 7 AM you hadn’t expected them all to be up. 

Isabella practically floated into the kitchen, already dressed in a beautiful t-shirt and a flowy pair of white pants, “What is the delicious smell?” she asked the room. 

Luca turned to her, “Nonnina, Y/N made cinnamon rolls,” he said, his mouth covered in icing. 

She laughed at him, “It appears she did Lu. Did you help?"

Winking at Luca, you said, "He supervised." 

Isabella laughed again, “I’m sure they are going to be as good as Jake said then.” 

Tony stuck his head into the kitchen, he had been one of the first to grab a roll earlier, “Hey, we have all finally gotten up in time to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade,” he called out. 

Everyone grabbed some breakfast before making their way into the living room. You found Jake saving you a seat on the leather couch beside him. Dropping down onto the couch, he covered you up in the blanket he had thrown across his lap. He wrapped his arm around your shoulders, pulling you to lean against his shoulder. 

Whispering into your hair, “Thank you for being you,” he said. 

You felt yourself blush, “That’s the only me I know how to be,” you said back. He kissed your head before turning to face the TV. The parade had just started and the celebrities that they had announcing each massive balloon were talking about different Thanksgiving dishes that were their favourites. 

The lull of the TV and the goings on of the room around you made your eyes feel heavy and soon, you found yourself falling asleep on Jake’s shoulder. Jake looked at your dozing form with a smile. He briefly looked over at the tv before finding himself growing more and more tired. His eyes closed and his head dropped to rest on yours. 

"Look, look, Nonnina, '' Agostino whispered, pulling on his grandmother's arm and directing her attention to her youngest son. A smile formed on her lips as she took in the sweet scene before her. 

"Should we wake them up?" John asked, earning himself a sharp slap on the arm courtesy of his sister.

She looked at him reproachfully, as if asking him where his manners had gone, "She makes you breakfast and you want to wake her up? Ungrateful man, I hope you treat Alessa better than that."

Eventually you stirred. When Jake and you fully awoke you found that you had both moved so that you were laying down on the sofa, your legs entangled and Jake holding you tight. 

"Mamma, sono svegli," You hear a woman whisper from the kitchen. 

Jake groans in answer, "Sei una bugiarda, Maria." 

Despite having heard his entire family speak Italian before and knowing he could too, this was the first time you had heard him speak it. It was strange how much more wonderful the language sounded falling from his lips. When he spoke, you understood why it was called a Romance Language.

[lgg5989]

Church Encounters Chapter 6 Pt1

Guys, we are celebrating tonight because not only has our google doc containing this fic reached 40.000 words, it has also passed the 100 pages mark which makes this a novel! Y'all are reading literature now!! No I'm joking but barely.

This fic is written with @barbiewritesstuff​ , she is posting this on her blog and it is also posted on my Ao3!

I hope you enjoy my little moodboard! | Check out my Masterlist for more chapters.

Also sorry for the Italian, it was done via Google Translate.

---

"I think that's the last of the bags?" Jake asked, having heaved every single thing you had prepared into the back of his truck. You had both meant to travel light, but soon after Jake had reported your acceptance to their invitation, an email had come through your inbox. Jake's sister had apparently scoured the internet to find you and introduce herself. Clearly, shyness didn't run in the family, as Jake's sister sported the same boldness when she asked you to please, pretty please, bring back an item she had forgotten at Jake's months ago and never gotten back. Jake had warned you, and you hadn't listened but once one demand was accepted, a million other ones would follow.

Jake had decided to take the first leg of the staggering sixteen hour drive, allowing you to sleep a little longer before stopping at the most convenient coffee chain and getting you the largest drink he could order. You were not, and had never been, a morning person. Your ideal wakeup time lay somewhere in the mid afternoon but waking up for work had always been easy, it was any other time that was the problem. Once caffeine entered your system, you were good to go, taking over from Jake for the next 2 hour leg. Once you stopped for a quick lunch of homemade sandwiches, Jake took over again. 

You switched over every four hours until you got to the motel. The room you got was fairly spacious, counting two single beds, a medium sized bathroom with a bath and shower combo, two sinks and a practically see-through shower curtain. The only luxuries in the room were a broken kettle and a working coffee machine. All in all, the room left much to be desired, but it was clean and only for one night.

Jake offered to take the bed closest to the door, for protection purposes and you just laughed at his manliness. You placed your toiletries in the bathroom and put your suitcase on a chair, the top open and ready for you to rustle through all the things you had packed. 

It was approaching ten and the sun had long since set. The two of you decided to go to bed since Jake wanted to get an early start on the road in the morning. Your nightly routine didn’t usually include taking a shower, but since you would be leaving early you decided to follow your cardinal rule: whatever got you more sleep in the morning needed done the night before. With that in mind, you made your way into the bathroom, closing the door behind you and pressing the little button for the lock.

You turned the shower on and quickly stripped out of your travelling clothes, a pair of old leggings and one of Jake’s Navy sweatshirts, you always got cold in the car. As the bathroom filled with steam, you stepped under the water’s warm spray. You soaped up your hair, some bubbles landing on the shower curtain, and rinsed it out. You left your conditioner to soak in for a moment while you spread body wash on a washcloth. You thought that you heard a noise in the bathroom, but when you looked out the curtain, there was nothing there. 

Lathering up with body wash, you screamed when the door to the bathroom burst open, Jake walked in unbothered. He had on running shorts and his ripped up t-shirt was tucked into his waistband.  

“Jacob Thomas Seresin, get out!” you screeched at him, trying for the life of you to keep yourself covered. You could feel a blush spreading up your cheeks and down your neck. 

He made a show of keeping his eyes closed as he felt his way to the toilet, “Sorry babe, it was warmer than I thought, just need a towel.” 

You watched as he grabbed a hand towel from the rack mounted on the wall, now using it to cover his eyes as he felt his way back out of the bathroom. You let out a sigh, at least he had the decency to cover his eyes. As you turned back to the hot water, rinsing the body wash off, you had to admit to yourself that he did look damn good after a run. 

You stepped out of the shower and dried off with one of the towels, noting in dismay that the towel's aggressive green colour seemed to match the rest of the room's decor. You scrunched your hair dry and patted your face clean before slipping on your nightgown and starting on your skincare routine. Once that was done, you finally stepped into the bedroom to find a sheepish Jake flicking through the channels of the elderly block tv the motel managers had installed there some thirty years ago.

"I'm sorry, I should have waited," He said, looking at his feet, "I did knock…" He added quietly. 

"It's okay…" You replied, making your way to him, "It's a shame there are no sofas, I really wish I could snuggle into you." 

Jake lifted an arm up so you could squeeze into his side, "You can snuggle, I'll just have to 

hold on to you so you don't fall off the bed," He smiled.

You scrunched your nose up at him, “As nice as that sounds, you need a shower Lieutenant.” 

He sighed, “You’re probably right,” he said, rolling off his bed and walking towards the still steamy bathroom. Before he closed the door he stuck his upper body out, pointing a finger at you, “No peeking!” he said with a laugh. 

You laughed at his antics, “Very funny Jake, now go shower so you can go to bed. You’re the one driving early tomorrow.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said, closing the door. A minute later you heard the shower start running again. You weren’t sure how you felt about kneeling on the motel room floor, so you settled for kneeling in your bed, saying a quick prayer. 

“Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 

God, please watch over Jake and I on this trip, and keep our families safe and happy in this holiday season. 

Amen.”

You heard the water turn off shortly after you had finished your prayer, and soon Jake was out of the bathroom. He was dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt and had a towel thrown over his head as he rubbed his hair dry. 

“All ready for bed?” he asked you. 

You gave him a smile, pulling the quilt up to your chin, “I think so!” 

“Alright, I just need to brush my teeth and I’ll be ready,” he said, walking back into the bathroom. 

When he was done, you watched as he prayed to himself quietly before climbing into bed. He rolled to face you as he turned out the light. You had shared a room with girls in college but never with a man. Your sisters would be beside themselves if they knew. But Jake had been a perfect gentleman, well besides the incident earlier. As you fell asleep you smiled, Jake was letting out soft snores. 

Jake woke you up at dawn. The sun had not yet risen in the sky. He gently shook you awake then left. A minute later, the coffee machine came alive and the aroma of coffee wafted through the room. Clearly Jake had been up for a while, he had even managed to find the only bakery in town open at this hour and scored two pastries with which he lured you out of bed. 

Too self-conscious to eat like that, you groggily stepped into the harsh light of the bathroom to brush your teeth before sitting by his side. You closed your eyes as you prayed, half hoping you could just go back to sleep, but you made it through. The influx of sugar in your system worked wonders on you.

You were startled when Jake touched your face, his thumb gently brushing against the corner of your mouth. 

Opening your eyes in surprise, he took in your expression, “Sorry, you had some glaze on the corner of your mouth.” 

You smiled at him, “S’alright, just got a little tired,” your voice was still rough from sleep. 

“That’s okay, you can sleep in the truck baby,” he said, smiling warmly at your sleepy face, “You ready to get on the road?” he asked. 

“I think so, let me just make sure I didn’t forget anything,” you said, rising to check the room one last time. Satisfied that you hadn’t left anything in the bathroom, you met Jake at the truck. He was holding the door open for you, ready to help you into the cab. Taking his hand, you climbed in, immediately buckling up and resting your head against the headrest, your eyes already closing. 

When you finally opened your eyes what felt like a few minutes later, you were surprised to discover that Jake had driven almost the whole way home. There were only six hours remaining in your trip and he had just kept driving, not wanting to wake you up for anything. 

“Jake, you should have woken me up,” you said, feeling a bit bad about sleeping through the rest of the drive. 

He let out a sigh, grabbing your hand, “It’s alright, I didn’t want to interrupt your sleep,” he smiled over at you as he continued to steer the truck down the highway. 

The GPS chose that moment to speak up, telling him that his exit was coming up. After he got off the highway, there was another hour of driving on country back roads to get to his family’s ranch. 

As you slowly woke up, you looked out the window at the scenery. Fields of cattle, wildflowers and produce spanned miles around the road. You offered to take over, but Jake refused citing the fact that the GPS would guide you only so far, and he’d need to take over anyway. You fiddled with the radio, he had turned it off to let you sleep but now you were awake, you were determined not to answer the call of sleep again. You hopped through channels until you landed on something you liked. The melody of an old Jonas Brothers’ song played through the car, much to the dismay of Jake, who groaned almost as soon as he heard the first note.

“I’m going to ban you from the aux, you know that?” he said with an attitude, looking over at you.

You gave him a grin before shooting back, “And yet, my darling, you recognised the song. So, you can’t hate it that much.”

Jake laughed, “Maria went through a Jonas Brothers’ phase. We were all glad when it stopped.”

You looked at him with an amused look on your phase, mouthing the chorus and dramatically moving your head to match the rhythm of the song.

“Oh, this is an SOS, don’t wanna second guess. This is the bottom line, it’s true. I gave my all for you, now my heart’s in two And I can’t find the other half, it’s like I’m walking on broken glass. Better believe I bled. It’s a call I’ll never get,” you sang out, your voice cracking on a few of the notes.  

Jake rolled his eyes at your antics, and yet when the next part started, he mouthed right along with you, matching your dramatic dancing with his own while keeping one hand on the wheel.

The two of you continued singing, “So this is where the story end, A conversation on IM, Well I’m done with texting, sorry for the miscommunication” 

He flicked his blinker to turn left and exited the road. The barren wasteland you had just been driving through became more populated by the minute as houses sprung up left and right. Soon, you were driving through a town and ten minutes after that, Jake turned into a dirt track and passed underneath a large metal gate adorned with a large ‘S’. Tall trees lined the way to the house, blocking your view of anything.

“Almost there,” he said with a smile, his voice sounding giddy. He sped up the track. Suddenly, the trees cleared and you arrived at Jake’s family home. You had never seen something quite like this before. 

The Seresin house was large and impressive, standing tall over trees and fields, you wondered how you hadn’t been able to see it from the road. The house’s walls were white, seemingly reflecting the gentle yellow light of the front porch’s lamps directly onto a wicker porch swing onto which a large white dog was sleeping. Its roof a dark colour, possibly blue or black, that matched both the window sills and the front door and tied the whole look of the house together. 

Jake started unloading your bags almost immediately, allowing you a few more minutes to gaze at the house and its grounds before wrapping an arm around your shoulders and dragging you behind the truck to steal a moment of privacy.

“I just remembered, I forgot something important”

You braced yourself. You had prepared almost all of the bags, making sure to pack everything you would need, there was no way he could have forgotten only one item.

“I forgot to kiss my pretty girlfriend this morning,” he smiled, bending down to capture your lips into a gentle kiss. You blushed at the compliment, eventually breaking the kiss to come up for air. 

Jake finished unloading the truck, taking care of all the heavy bags and leaving you to hold the small things. He was on his last back and forth when the door swung open, scaring the dog awake, when a stampede of children flew out of the house. Jake dropped the bags just in time to be tackled to the ground. They lay there giggling as the adults began streaming out of the house. A tall man sporting a dark cowboy hat made his way to you.

“And you must be Y/n, lovely to meet ya. My name is Giovanni Junior, John for friends and family,” he says.

You take his outstretched hand expecting to shake it, but John kisses it instead. 

Jake comes up behind you, his voice holding a bit of brotherly teasing, “You stay away from my girl, Gio.”

John winked at you before looking at Jake, “You stop calling me that.”

“Alright boys, no need to argue. He’s only just gotten here. John, stop picking on him,” an older woman said, gently separating the two men with a hand on their shoulder, “My name is Isabella, I’m Jake’s mother. It is lovely to meet you after all this time. He hasn’t stopped talking about you since he ran into you in church,” She spoke, a heavy accent in her voice

She embraced you in a warm hug. Isabella Seresin was, like the rest of the Seresin family, beautiful. Her blonde hair, green eyes and flawless golden skin matched that of her children, the only hint that Jake’s father had been at all involved in the making of her sons and daughter was that all of them were at least a foot taller than their mother. 

“Come inside, darling,” she guided you away, holding your arm. You looked back at Jake, who smiled encouragingly, “Don’t worry, he is strong, he will carry the bags. Let me introduce you to the rest of the family.”

She stopped by a man bearing uncanny resemblance to John, but taller and slightly thinner, “This is Antonio.” 

“Tony,” He corrected, rolling his eyes playfully at his mom. 

Isabella moved you away again to meet two women huddled in a corner. One of the two was heavily pregnant and the other held a toddler.

“Alessandra is married to Gio,” She pointed towards the pregnant woman. She gave you a warm smile which you returned and a small wave. Isabella then pointed towards the other woman, “This is Sofia. And this little lady is Catalina. They are Tony’s little family,” she explained. 

Then she turned towards John and Tony and fired off something in rapid Italian which you did not understand. When she received no answer, Isabella turned back to you, “My husband and daughter are around somewhere. They are probably inside. We should see if we can find them.”

The inside of the house was as impressive as the outside. The floor was wooden and freshly polished, the walls an attractive cream colour and the furniture an elegant mix of creams, greys and navy blue. It looked like something out of a catalogue. 

Isabella led you through the hallway and into the living room, searching for the missing Seresin family members. You were as nervous as could be, under Jake’s mother’s grip you felt yourself shake a little. She was quick to put you at ease however, asking you questions about yourself in a way that almost made you forget that this felt strangely like an interrogation. 

Finally, you walked into the kitchen where a man, a woman about your age, and an elderly lady were huddled around cups of coffee. You felt a warm hand on your arm, and when you looked you saw that Jake had caught up with you. He quickly kissed the back of your head before waving at the people. 

“Beh, non hai intenzione di baciare tua nonna?” The elderly woman asked Jake, he smiled a little sheepishly before crossing the kitchen in two strides and loudly kissing his grandmother on the cheek. She swatted him away with a laugh.

“Good to see you, Boy,” Said the man. He lifted the cowboy hat an inch. Jake stared back at his own, older face. His father engulfed him in a side hug with a chuckle.

The woman looked you up and down with an air of recognition. Although you had never met her, you could guess who she would be. She looked almost identical to her mother but when she spoke, you found her voice to be harsher and deeper, Jake had warned you she was a smoker, “È questo Y/n, allora?”

“Yes, Maria, this is Y/n,” Jake replied, knocking her hat off of her head and making his way back to you with a smirk. 

“Lei parla italiano?” Nonna asked, looking right at you.

Jake replied, “No,” right as you replied “Sì, un po. Mia zia vive a Roma”, your accent was by no means perfect, but you had picked up enough Italian to at least be able to answer this question with some confidence during the summer vacations you had spent annoying your aunt during your childhood. Nonna nodded, as though you had passed a test. 

----

“You could have warned me about the Italian,” Jake said as soon as he found a minute to spend alone with you. He had climbed up to the second floor with you to his bedroom. You had expected a typical boy’s room but teenage Jake had apparently been quite sparse in his decorating. The only discernible sign of this room belonging to a young man being the football jersey framed onto the wall. 

You turned to face him, with an amused smile,“Says the man who failed to mention his family didn’t speak English.”

“They do, they just… choose not to,” He laughed, “I’m impressed though, that accent wasn’t bad.” 

You laughed back, “Don’t get excited, I know three sentences to very specific questions, nothing else.”

“Oh yeah?” He asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

You nodded, raising an eyebrow in turn before answering, “Yeah. I know how to say ‘Sì, un po. Mia zia vive a Roma’, ‘No grazie, mi piace solo il formaggio francese’ and ‘Preferisco ballare il balletto russo’ and that’s it.” 

“I would LOVE to know the context of you learning that,” Jake said, laughing. 

“Well, my aunt lived in Rome and she would take us to visit in the summer. Her neighbour made his own cheese and wouldn’t stop trying to get me to eat some, and I used to do ballet. I did a few auditions in Italy over the summers and it’s a frequently asked question,” you said, smiling. 

Someone knocked on Jake’s bedroom door. It opened a second later, John looked at the both of you for a moment, “There’s an open door policy for all unmarried couples. Also, La mamma dice che sta dormendo nella stanza di Maria,” He added, his eyes flicking to you for a moment, then he shot you both a wink and left. 

“Apparently you’re bunking with Maria for our stay,” Jake said, pouting a little, “Shame, you were so cute this morning when you slept. So peaceful and adorable.”

“How long were you staring at me for?” You asked, smiling slightly.

“I was not staring. I was lovingly gazing at my beautiful girlfriend…” He replied, “For ten minutes straight, unblinkingly,” He added as he caught you in his arms and gently tickled your sides before peppering kisses all over your face.

“Apparently you’re my roomie,” Said a voice by the door. Jake let go of you with an embarrassed cough, but still winked at you before Maria continued, “Come with me I’ll show you where you’re sleeping.” 

Maria led you to her room. Like the rest of the house, it was impeccably decorated, but with a more feminine colour scheme. Pink, purple and pastel colours as far as the eyes could see. Maria saw you looking with a smile, 

“Much better than Jacob’s room, isn’t it? I’m sleeping on the pink bed. You can sleep on the purple one,” She pointed towards the bed closest to the door, “The bathroom is right there,” She added, showing you a door on the other side of the bedroom, “There are towels and everything on your bed.” 

You moved towards the bed, suddenly strangely nervous and a little distressed. You had known you wouldn’t be sharing a room with Jake, but meeting Jake’s family was feeling more and more overwhelming. Just as you wished Jake could appear, you heard him by the door, 

“No. No boys,” Maria said, as she blocked her brother’s way into the room.

“It’s for the bags,” Jake replied, sounding a little exasperated. You turned around, hoping your face wouldn’t betray your emotions. Unfortunately, Jake caught your eye and frowned.

“She’s a big girl, she can carry them herself,” Maria argued back, still blocking Jake’s path. 

“Yeah and you’re a pain in the ass,” Jake said as he pushed her to the side. He dropped off the bags and made himself comfortable on the bed. He stared at Maria, daring her to say anything. She huffed and walked out of the room, making sure to leave the door wide open. 

You sat down next to Jake and curled into his chest. The arm that rested behind you came up to rub circles into your arm as he held you tightly. He leaned against you and kissed your forehead

“You okay?” He asked, his voice muffled against your skin. You nodded lightly and nuzzled further into his chest.

You felt him sigh, “What’s wrong?” he tried asking again. 

“Just feeling a little overwhelmed, your family is big, and you all have big personalities. Also, everyone seems so perfect. What if they don’t like me?” you say quietly, face still buried in his chest. 

He laughed a little at that, “They are going to love you. We can be a little overwhelming. I’m sorry that you are feeling that way, what can I do?” he asked, his mouth pressing into the top of your head in a kiss. 

“Just hold me for a minute,” you said, burrowing closer to him. 

Jake wrapped his arms around you, squeezing you to his chest, he seemed content to sit there as long as you needed. As his breathing started to lull you into falling asleep, there was a sound by the doorway. Moving your head to glance at the door, you saw Catalina standing there looking at you. 

Jake spoke to her, the timber of his voice calming your fraying nerves further, “Hey sweetie, who are you looking for?” he asked. 

“Uncle ‘akey!” she said, giving him a big smile. 

You felt Jake laugh at her name for him, the little thing probably couldn’t say her Js yet. Moving you a little in his arms, Jake made room for her, beckoning her into the room, “I think I can fit two of my favourite girls in for snuggles,” he said, a smile on his face. 

Catalina ran into the room, when she got to Jake he scooped her up like she weighed nothing with one hand. He pulled her little frame into his other side, setting her on his thigh, “How’s that munchkin?” he asked, looking down at her. 

She just smiled shyly, burrowing her face into Jake’s neck. You smiled at them, Jake really was good with kids. He would make a great father, and the thought of your own baby made you blush. Maybe next year you would come back here with a ‘munchkin’ of your own to share with the family. 

At that moment, Jake looked at you, “Feeling better?” he asked. 

“Yeah, I’m feeling a bit better,” you said, before adding in an exasperated tone, “Hopefully I’ll stay that way, we haven’t even made it to Thanksgiving dinner yet.” 

He moved his arm to lift your chin up a little, then bent down to kiss your lips. 

"EWWWWWWW," Jake's niece exclaimed, wriggling free of her uncle's arms and running out of the room.

You laughed at her reaction, the tension and nerves you were feeling from before almost forgotten, Jake turned to you and asked, “Are you ready to go back out there?”

“I think so,” you said, standing up from the bed and taking his hand. He led you back to the kitchen where the whole family was gathered. You watched as they all helped to prepare dinner, even the little ones had jobs setting the table. 

"Can I help with anything?" You asked, feeling a little out of your element. You were used to lending a hand whenever you were in the kitchen and standing by without a job was not something you had ever done. 

After you asked, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at you. Suddenly your nerves were back in full force and you felt like you wanted to melt into the wall behind you. Isabella tutted at you, "Absolutely not. You are a guest. Jake has never brought a girl home before, I do not want to spoil the occasion."

You could feel everyone’s eyes on you as you stood there, like they were waiting for your reaction to Isabella's statement, like it was a test. 

Jake broke the silence, "Take a picture, it'll last longer, guys." 

You gave him a look that said you had it, and turned to Isabella, “That’s really not necessary. You have been so kind as to invite me to your home, at least let me help with the cooking, or baking. Jake can attest that I am a great baker.”

At that moment, you felt every eye in the whole kitchen leave your body. It felt like maybe you had passed one of their tests. Isabella turned back to you and smiled, “Alright dear, I think we have everything covered for tonight, but Jake has told us so much about your delicious cinnamon rolls. Perhaps you can prepare those for the morning?” 

Smiling, you nodded at her, “I would be happy to do that.” 

You stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do with yourself. If you couldn’t help in the kitchen, was it appropriate for you to stay? Would they talk about you if you left? Jake was no help as he just stood next to you unmoving. 

At that moment, you felt a little hand tap your leg, looking down you found a little boy. Crouching down to his level you asked, “What’s your name?” 

He blushed before whispering out, “Agostino.” 

“Agostino?” you said, your voice soft, and low, comforting, “I think that's a lovely name.” 

Agostino smiled at you, “Would you like to play? Mom said we needed an adult to go outside,” he finished bashfully, like he was nervous you would say no. 

“Of course I would love to go outside!” you said enthusiastically. 

With that, you felt all eyes on you again as you allowed him to pull you through the kitchen and out the back door. As soon as you stepped outside, you heard all of them start talking at once in rapid Italian. Deciding not to let it get to you, you closed the door gently behind you and followed Agostino to a play set that was in the yard. 

He took a seat on one of the swings and asked you to push him. You walked around behind him and gave him a few gentle pushes to start, not wanting to send him too high into the air.  From this spot you were facing the house, and you could see into the kitchen through a few large windows. Jake was standing on one side of the huge kitchen island and you could tell that he didn’t look happy. 

You looked away, not wanting to intrude on whatever was happening. Jake would tell you later, he seemed embarrassed by what had gone on in the house. A door slamming caught your attention. Jake was walking towards you, Catalina in his arms and another little boy was following behind him, trying to keep up with his large steps. 

“Uncle Jake slow down, I can’t keep up with you,” he said, calling after Jake. 

“I’m sorry buddy,” Jake said, stopping and turning to wait for him to catch up. 

“It’s okay,” he said as he caught up, taking Jake’s free hand, “Why are you mad?” 

You laughed as Jake let out a loud sigh, “I’m not mad, sometimes our family is just a little too much at times.”

“What do you mean?” he asked again, this one was quite inquisitive. 

Jake laughed, “Sometimes they judge people before they really know them is all,” he said, looking at you. 

As they got to the swingset, Jake introduced the boy to you, “Luca this is Y/N, she is my girlfriend.” 

“Hi!” he said, waving at you, “Can you push me on the swing too?” 

“Of course!” you said, setting a hand on his back and giving him a gentle push at the same time as his brother. 

Jake tossed Catalina in the air, her sharp squeal piercing the quiet plains around you. He set her down and watched as she ran towards the monkey bars, hanging from the short ones that she could reach. He turned to you, his expression softening, “I’m sorry about them, apparently they haven’t met anyone new in their entire lives.” 

You laughed at him, he really wasn’t good with emotional conversations, “It’s okay. I’ll just have to win them over with my cinnamon rolls tomorrow morning.” 

Jake took over pushing Luca’s swing, keeping a close eye on Catalina, “I’m sure you will honey,” he said, pressing a quick kiss to your head before Luca jumped off the swing in front of him. 

“Did you see that uncle Jake? I went almost as high as you do in your plane!” he said, turning around looking so proud of himself. 

Jake laughed, “You went so high Luca! Do you know who else flies planes?” 

“Who?” he asked, eyes wide.

“Y/N, she sits in the back and tells her pilot what to look for,” Jake said proudly. 

“Really??” Luca asked, looking at you. 

You nodded, “Yes, I do! I am a Weapons Systems Officer or a WSO.” 

“That’s so cool!” he yelled, “One day I am going to be a pilot like uncle Jake!” 

“I’m sure you will be buddy,” Jake said, rubbing the top of his nephew’s head, “Who’s up for a game of tag?” he asked, a devious smile on his face. 

“Me! Me! Me!” three little voices sang out. With that an epic game of tag started, with all of you running around the grass. Catalina had a hard time keeping up, so you scooped her up into your arms and kept running, laughing as she squealed as Jake got closer to the two of you. 

You jumped when the game was interrupted, John was standing at the door, his voice carrying to all of you in the yard, “Dinner’s done!” 

The kids all ran inside, you and Jake following behind them, Catalina still in your arms. As you made it inside Isabella took the little girl from you, taking her over to her high chair. The only two seats left at the table were between Tony and the woman you assumed was Jake’s grandmother. 

Deciding between the lesser of two evils, you sat down next to Tony. Hopefully if nothing else, his wife would keep him in check. You all joined hands, waiting as Giovanni blessed the food. Everyone said Amen and you dug into the spread, all of the dishes were being passed around and the house was loud with all of the conversation. Jake pressed his leg against yours under the table, a silent reminder that he was next to you and it would be alright. 

Jake leaned towards you, "Do you want my peas?" He asked, whispering into your ear. You nodded but before you could switch the plates Luca screamed.

"UNCLE JAKE'S NOT HAVING PEAS," He shouted, pointing straight at Jake's plate where the tiny green vegetables were corralled into a corner.

Nonna and Isabella looked straight at him. They both narrowed their eyes suspiciously, Jake stood tall again, "No, Luca. Uncle Jake is having his peas. Look." 

Jake looked into his mothers eyes for a brief second with a look of such disdain it would have shocked you if you hadn't known about his hatred of peas. He scooped some onto his fork and raised them up to his mouth. You tried hard to hold in your laughter when Jake forced them into his mouth and stifled a gag.

"See, Luca. He eats his peas. Now you do too," Isabella said. You would have managed to stay composed for the rest of the dinner if you hadn't crossed John's eyes. Both of you snorted, desperately trying to hide it into your food but without success.

Miraculously, it felt as though the mood had been lifted over the table. You had expected Jake to be a little crabby, but when you looked over at him you saw him already looking, a genuinely happy smile etched over his features. He winked.

----

You were up early. Well, earlier than anyone else in the house. After dinner the night before you had helped to clear the table and wash the dishes, even with Isabella’s protests that you were a guest. However, you had forgotten about their request for cinnamon rolls until you were laying in bed. Not wanting to bother anyone, you set an alarm for your military wake up time, 0400. 

You had forced yourself out of bed and into the bathroom, running through your usual routine before pulling on a house dress. You made your way down the stairs quietly, your socks helping to dampen your steps on the wood floor. When you got to the kitchen, you were surprised to find Jake’s grandma, Nonna as he told you they called her, was sitting at the counter, a bible laid out in front of her. You hesitated, wondering if she would be happy to have you interrupting her time with God. 

Deciding that keeping your promise of cinnamon rolls was more important, you silently made your way into the kitchen, hoping not to startle her. As you walked into her line of sight, her eyes shifted up to you. 

“Good morning,” you said quietly, “I’m just going to make those cinnamon rolls now, don’t let me disturb you.” 

She gave you a nod before going back to her scripture. You found the coffee machine ready to go and hit brew. You found a cup in the cabinet above it, and waited for the pot to fill. Pouring yourself a cup, you took a sip. Even black, it was some of the best coffee you had ever had. You were going to have to figure out where Isabella had gotten it from, if Jake insisted on eating toast and coffee for breakfast, he could at least have something that tasted good. 

You made your way to the pantry, finding all of the ingredients that you needed for the cinnamon rolls. You made the dough by hand, mixing the ingredients together in a bowl with a wooden spoon. You could feel Jake’s grandma watching you from time to time, but for the most part, the woman seemed devoted to her readings. 

While you waited for the dough to proof, you got your own bible as well as your rosary out from your purse. Nonna briefly looked up from her own page, shooting you an appreciative look. She took your cup and twirled the contents at the bottom, it wasn't much so she stood from her chair with both of your mugs and made enough coffee for you both. Then, she sat back down and you both returned to your reading. You gratefully thanked her before taking a sip of your coffee. How did it taste better when she made it?

As the sun started to shine through the windows, the timer you set on your phone went off. Closing your bible, you stood from the barstool. Turning the dough out on the counter, you kneaded it a few times before rolling it out, you spread the cinnamon sugar filling on the dough before rolling it up. You picked a knife out of the block on the counter and cut it into twelve rolls. Placing them on the baking sheet you prepared, you covered them once more allowing them to rise. 

You cleaned up the counter and washed the dishes you had made, putting them back in their rightful spots. By the time you had finished, the rolls were ready to bake. You popped them in the oven and drained the last of your coffee. You picked up Nonna’s cup, pouring both of you another. 

Placing it back in front of her, she looked up at you as she closed her bible, “So, you are religious?” she asked. 

You nodded, “Yes ma’am, raised Catholic.” 

Gesturing to your rosary pouch, she asked, “How often do you pray the rosary?” 

"Every day, ma'am, and whenever is needed," you said quietly. 

"Do you pray for my Jacob?" She asked, looking you in the eyes.

"Every morning and evening, ma'am, and whenever he does something stupid," You say with a smile. She laughed and you took that as a good sign.

"Poor girl, you never stop!" She roars, pulling you into a hug.

"I heard him pray for you last night. Saying 'Our Father' and asking for your protection and acceptance in the family. He didn't pray for anyone else, just you," She said into your ear before patting your back and leaving the kitchen altogether. 

You stood there for a minute, entirely uncertain of what to do with yourself. You prayed for Jake and hoped he did the same, but having it confirmed filled you with so much love that you didn't really know what to do. Unable to decide, you opted to get on with the job, smiling widely to yourself and mentally picking the best looking cinnamon roll to later give to Jake.

As the rolls baked, their sweet smell filled the house. You were whisking the icing for them when the sound of little feet reached your ears. Looking up, you saw Luca standing in the doorway of the kitchen. 

“What are you making?” he asked, walking towards you. 

You gave him a smile, “Cinnamon rolls! They are your uncle Jake’s favourite.” 

“Then they are my favourite too,” he said, climbing up on one of the barstools. 

Chuckling, your conversation was interrupted when your timer went off. You placed the bowl down on the counter before turning to pull the cinnamon rolls out of the oven. You placed them on top of the cutting board you had set out earlier. Looking up, you caught Luca sticking his finger in the icing. Laughing, you pretended to smack his little hand, only barely tapping him, “If you eat it all now, there won’t be any left for the rolls!” you exclaimed. 

He gave you a smile, “But it tastes so good! I don’t know if I can wait.”

Searching the cabinets for a plate, you pulled one out, “Okay, let's get you a roll then,” you said, using a fork to pull one from the centre of the pan.  

He gave you a toothy grin as you held the plate for him while he spread an unholy amount of icing on top of the roll. You were interrupted by a cough from the doorway, looking up, you found Jake staring at you wide eyed. 

“Good morning,” you said to him, a smile on your face. 

“Mornin’,” he said back, his eyes fixed on you helping Luca with his cinnamon roll. Suddenly Jake stumbled forwards as Alessandra pushed her way into the kitchen. 

“Pregnant lady,” she said pointing to herself, “Sweet food,” she said now pointing to the rolls. She shot Jake a wink as she laughed at his shocked face. Dropping a kiss to Luca’s head she turned to you, “Thank you for helping him, he is like me. Nothing sweet ever gets by him.”

Feeling like the family was finally accepting you, you smiled at her, “It’s no problem, I love kids,” you said.

As you plated her and Jake both cinnamon rolls, Jake was pouring himself a cup of coffee. 

Alessandra laughed, “You’ll love them even more when they are your own, trust me.” 

With that comment, you heard Jake splutter, he was suddenly coughing, choking on the sip of coffee he had just taken a moment before. 

You patted him on the back, “You good babe?” you asked. 

“I’m good,” he coughed out, “Wrong pipe.” 

Alessandra sent him a knowing look, taking her cinnamon roll and sitting down next to Luca at the counter. You gave Jake his plate, planting a kiss on his cheek. He pulled you into a hug, “What time did you get up this morning darlin’?” he asked, his voice still rough with sleep. 

“O’four hundred, lieutenant,” you said into his chest. 

He hummed, “So you will be taking a nap later then?” 

“Perhaps,” you said, “We will have to see.” 

Just then, the rest of the Seresin clan seemed to make their way into the kitchen. At only 7 AM you hadn’t expected them all to be up. 

Isabella practically floated into the kitchen, already dressed in a beautiful t-shirt and a flowy pair of white pants, “What is the delicious smell?” she asked the room. 

Luca turned to her, “Nonnina, Y/N made cinnamon rolls,” he said, his mouth covered in icing. 

She laughed at him, “It appears she did Lu. Did you help?"

Winking at Luca, you said, "He supervised." 

Isabella laughed again, “I’m sure they are going to be as good as Jake said then.” 

Tony stuck his head into the kitchen, he had been one of the first to grab a roll earlier, “Hey, we have all finally gotten up in time to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade,” he called out. 

Everyone grabbed some breakfast before making their way into the living room. You found Jake saving you a seat on the leather couch beside him. Dropping down onto the couch, he covered you up in the blanket he had thrown across his lap. He wrapped his arm around your shoulders, pulling you to lean against his shoulder. 

Whispering into your hair, “Thank you for being you,” he said. 

You felt yourself blush, “That’s the only me I know how to be,” you said back. He kissed your head before turning to face the TV. The parade had just started and the celebrities that they had announcing each massive balloon were talking about different Thanksgiving dishes that were their favourites. 

The lull of the TV and the goings on of the room around you made your eyes feel heavy and soon, you found yourself falling asleep on Jake’s shoulder. Jake looked at your dozing form with a smile. He briefly looked over at the tv before finding himself growing more and more tired. His eyes closed and his head dropped to rest on yours. 

"Look, look, Nonnina, '' Agostino whispered, pulling on his grandmother's arm and directing her attention to her youngest son. A smile formed on her lips as she took in the sweet scene before her. 

"Should we wake them up?" John asked, earning himself a sharp slap on the arm courtesy of his sister.

She looked at him reproachfully, as if asking him where his manners had gone, "She makes you breakfast and you want to wake her up? Ungrateful man, I hope you treat Alessa better than that."

Eventually you stirred. When Jake and you fully awoke you found that you had both moved so that you were laying down on the sofa, your legs entangled and Jake holding you tight. 

"Mamma, sono svegli," You hear a woman whisper from the kitchen. 

Jake groans in answer, "Sei una bugiarda, Maria." 

Despite having heard his entire family speak Italian before and knowing he could too, this was the first time you had heard him speak it. It was strange how much more wonderful the language sounded falling from his lips. When he spoke, you understood why it was called a Romance Language.

[tobesoalive]

r u mine? (Jake Kiszka x reader)

hey guys...so this was fun to write, thank you to the kind anon who requested it! I currently have some fun (and steamy) Josh stuff in the works right now, but still feel free to send in requests! I might slow down a little with posting since my classes started, but I promise to get to every request! Enjoy my first Jake piece!

Warnings: SMUT(oral f-recieving, fingering, penetrative sex)

Adrenaline pumped through your veins as you headed down the hallway backstage, about to go out and face the crowd of thousands of fans. No you weren't a huge famous musician or anything, just their photographer. Basically the same thing right?

For the past three weeks you had been enjoying life on the road, it had always been your dream to be a concert photographer, and your work had caught the attention of a little band called Greta Van Fleet. Well, not exactly little. Their fan base grew everyday and now they were doing yet another headlining tour that they asked you to document. Over the past few months you had been in contact with the guys and their management, and you guys hit it off instantly, they brought you under their wing as if you were part of the family.

You basically were all one big family, you had gotten extremely close to the boys. Josh, Sam and Danny were like your brothers, and Jake...he was a little different.

Brother would be an odd way to describe him, seeing as you had a bit of a crush on him. Nothing super serious, you just thought he was a cool guy who also happened to be really fucking hot. You thought he might have a little something for you too, he was always asking you how you liked the show, and when he’d catch you editing the photos you took he’d sit himself right next to you and ask if you’d show him what you were working on. He was constantly complimenting your work, but that would mostly be in private, when he’d seek you out if he couldn’t sleep. You surely weren’t complaining, you enjoyed his company. You just wish he would say something, or even better, make a move. You could be taking his actions the wrong way, he does have tons of women who want him all around the country, maybe he does just think of you as a sister. Whatever thoughts you had about Jake you’d just push to the back of your mind, you had a job to do, and your work was more important than getting laid.

You went in front of the barricade and took some photos of the crowd and talked to fans. They liked to ask you questions about the guys and what it was like touring with them. You always tried to make them feel special by saying how thankful the guys were, which wasn’t a lie, to have such amazing fans.

All of a sudden you heard some of the fans start screaming wildly. They were chanting Jake’s name, and you turned your head only to briefly meet his eyes from the side of the stage where he was standing. Within a second he was gone, most likely rushing backstage to avoid any further commotion from the audience.

What was that all about? You thought to yourself. Did he sneak over there to just look at me? Maybe he wanted to talk or something. That can happen later, it was only a few minutes until the show started, so you wanted to snap a few more shots of the crowd before running all over during the show to catch the right angles.

During the show you had a great time, as per usual. You loved being right up front, taking photos of the guys doing what they loved. You went backstage to get some photos from the wings. Jake was about to do his signature move, playing his guitar behind his head, and you were ready to capture the moment. Right as you snapped the photo, Jake turned and winked at you, arms thrown behind his head, somehow managing to play the notes of “Highway Tune” whilst flirting with you.

Butterflies erupted in your stomach, and you felt an intense need for him. Quickly you ran back out to the front of the stage to capture a few more moments before the show was over.

“God fucking dammit, I’m in deep” you muttered to yourself, before heading to the green room to congratulate the guys on the awesome show. You slipped through the crew heading on stage to clean up the equipment, turning a corner and bumping directly into Jake.

“Oh sorry! Great job out there tonight!” you say, trying your best not to blush. What was wrong with you, it was like you were a school girl or something.

“Thanks y/n! Did you get some good shots?”

“No, I made sure to get really shitty photos, especially of you”

“Are you being sarcastic?! Now that is something new!” he teased you.

“I just know how much you enjoy my sense of humor! I like to give back to the fans y’know” you quip back, causing him to break out into a smile.

“Hey the guys and quite a bit of the crew is gonna head out and probably find a bar or something once we’re done cleaning up. You wanna join?”

“Thanks for the offer, but I might just keep it lowkey tonight, I’d prefer to edit the photos tonight so I can explore whatever city we’re going to tomorrow.”

“Totally understandable, well I’ll catch you later!”

“Yeah for sure!” you say as you go off to find the rest of the guys.

After about a half hour of chatting and checking in with the rest of your tour mates, you decided it was time to change into your pajamas and spend the rest of the night staring at your computer screen, trying to edit as many photos as you can before inevitably passing out.

Getting onto the bus you shared with some other crew members, you kicked your Vans off before checking to see if anyone else was around. Seems like they all were opting to go out after the show, which meant you got the whole place to yourself. You traded out your concert outfit for a pair of shorts and a hoodie, getting prepared for your lengthy editing session.

You made yourself at home on the couch towards the front of the bus, turning on your speaker and playing music as loud as you wanted, getting straight to work.

It had felt like only a minute when you heard a knock on the door, but after checking your clock you realized an hour had already gone by. You peeked out the window only to see Jake’s figure standing there.

“Jacob! What’s up? I thought you were going to the bar?” you said as you opened the door to let him in.

“That show wore me out”

“Yeah you did amazing, I mean like you usually do” you say, stumbling over your words and internally punching yourself. God you were not smooth at all.

“Seems like we are some of the very few who decided to stay back, I was getting lonely in that tour bus.”

“Well you’re always welcome here, I was just doing some editing.”

“Wow you’re a pretty big nerd aren’t you? You know you should take a break every once and a while, I feel like you’re constantly working.”

“Well it’s not that hard when you love your job” you tell him.

“I guess that's true, can I see what you’re working on?”

“Yeah of course” you say while making your way back to the couch, Jake plopping down next to you.

“Damn that’s fucking awesome” he remarks, looking at the image on your screen. It’s the one of him playing the guitar behind his head, and winking right at you.

“I know! Thanks for being such a good model” you tell him with a small laugh.

“The guys and management are really impressed with your work. We’ve already been talking about having you come on the European leg of the tour with us.”

“Are you for real?!” you ask in awe, giddy with excitement. You absolutely loved this job and the people, and the thought that you could travel the world to do it was a dream come true.

“Yeah, don’t tell anyone though, I don’t want to get my ass beat for it.”

“Oh my god Jake I could literally kiss you!” you exclaimed, before you had even realized what you said.

You tried your best to play it off before your thoughts were interrupted by Jake’s voice.

“I wish you would”

“Huh” you stop for a second before turning to face him.

“Listen y/n, I think you’re really cool, and you also happen to be really hot. Sorry, maybe I was interpreting things wrong. I just thought if you felt the same it might be fun. It doesn’t have to be anything serious, I just get lonely on the road and -”

Before he could say another word, you took it upon yourself to answer his question, leaning in to capture his lips in a soft kiss. You pull back and look him in the eyes, closing your laptop and setting it on the counter.

“God I’m glad you finally said something, I think everyone was starting to sense the sexual tension” you grin at him.

“Well all I could think about on stage was fucking your brains out, so sorry if I’m not too great at hiding it” he says before grabbing the back of your neck and pulling you in for another kiss, to which you open your mouth to let his tongue slip in.

You move yourself so that you’re straddling his lap, your lips moving perfectly in rhythm as Arctic Monkeys played softly in the background.

“Wow it seems like you were almost expecting this to happen” he teases you.

“Shut up and fuck me Kiszka” you say before he flips you so you’re now beneath him.  

His fingers find their way under your shirt, reaching up to cup your breast. He pinched your nipple before quickly tugging at the hem of your sweatshirt.

“Can this come off?” he breathed into your mouth.

“Yes please” you said before he pulled it off you, exposing your bare chest to him. You felt very self conscious, it had been a little while since you had gotten naked with anyone.

“Hey don’t be shy, you’re gorgeous” he said before connecting your lips once more before he stood up to remove his shirt and shorts, leaving him in a pair of boxer briefs. You tried your best to not look at his growing bulge, but it was hard to resist.

Suddenly he was kneeling on the ground, body in between your spread legs.

“Jake you really don’t have to” “Oh trust me, I want to, '' he says before running his fingers up and down over your clothed core, moving his fingers to the waistband of your shorts, pulling your panties down with them.

“God you’re so fucking sexy” he mutters before expertly pressing the pad of his thumb onto your clit, his other hand pushing on your thigh to keep your legs spread.

“Fuck, Jake, I need more” you groan, your arousal now dripping between your folds.

“Don’t worry baby girl, I’ve got you”

Those words alone probably could have made you cum, but then Jake entered a finger into you, causing your hands to tangle in his long hair, slightly pulling.

“Goddamn babe you’re tight” he said, looking at you in awe before adding another finger and leaning down to toy your clit with the tip of his tongue. His fingers were pumping in and out of you at a steady rhythm, and every so often he’d curl them to perfectly hit your g-spot.

“Jake you need to stop or else I’m gonna cum” you say as you pull his head back, looking him in the eyes.

“That’s okay” he reassures you.

“No, when I cum I want it to be around you” you say.

“Fucking hell y/n” he groans out in a raspy voice.

You get up and kiss him before pushing him down on the couch, his erection straining against the fabric of his boxers. You tug at the waistband, and he lifts his hips up to assist you. You took a moment to admire his length before wrapping your hand around it. He was a couple inches above average, with a nice girth to him. His head tipped back in bliss as you continued to give him a few more strokes before positioning yourself above him, running his tip back and forth across your slit. Slowly, you sank yourself down onto him, taking as much of him in as you could.

“Fuck fuck fuck Jake, you’re really fucking big” you breath out, only able to fit about half of him in you at this angle.

“Just do what you can baby” he says before softly pressing a kiss on your forehead, telling you that it was okay.

You started moving yourself up and down on him as best you could, starting to adjust more to his size. The stretch burned but slowly started turning more pleasurable.

After a few minutes your legs were starting to hurt and his length slipped out of you.

“Will you fuck me from behind?” you blurt out, sweat running between the valley of your breasts.

“I’d be honored” Jake responds, offering a smile before getting up.

He moves you so that your hands are on the back of the couch, holding you steady and your knees rest on the edge of the sofa, sticking your ass out towards Jake. You can hear him move behind you, hands finding their way to your ass, before you feel him run his tip up and down your slit once again.

“Ready?” he asks.

You nod in response and instantly feel him push his way into you, letting you adjust for a second before pushing the rest of his length in you.

“Oh my fucking god Jake” you say as you bury your head in the couch cushions, his dick hitting a spot in you that you didn’t even know was there.

“Oh god you’re doing so good baby girl, taking all of my cock.” he says as he begins to pump in and out of you, starting off slow but gradually picking up the pace.

It feels amazing, better than you had imagined. You wanted him to stay in you forever, make you see stars all the time. Within a minute you were contracting around him, nearing your edge.

“Jake I’m almost there, please faster”

“Me too baby, me too” he says as he starts thrusting even faster than before, wrapping his arm around you to toy with your clit.

All it takes is a few more pumps and you can feel him explode inside you, groaning your name loudly and leaning over your back, but still circling your clit with his fingers. It’s enough to bring you to your peak, walls contracting around him, burying your head in your arms. Once you’ve both come down you stay in that position for a minute, before he pulls out of you and collapses on the couch, pulling you into his chest.

“That was way better than I imagined” he breathes out, hand stroking your hair.

“Oh so you’ve thought about this before? That's embarrassing” you say in a sarcastic tone.

“Hey I’m sure you aren’t so innocent yourself” he says smiling down at you.

“We should probably get dressed, I’m sure your brothers and the other goons will be stumbling in anytime now.” you tell him as you get up and search for your clothes.

“You’re probably right. Hey, let's do this again sometime” he says, cheeks going red.

“Hmm...I’ll see if I can fit you into my schedule” you respond, giving him a quick wink.

These next few months surely were going to be an adventure, and you didn’t want to miss a second.

[sukifans]

May I request a Zuko x Reader with prompt number 2 from the 50 cliché prompts? I'm desperate for some fluff

SWEATSHIRT // zuko

WC: 1.8k

PROMPT: “your shirt/jumper was in the laundry pile and i couldn’t help but steal it”

WARNINGS: none

A/N: if you want fluff you came to the right place—tooth rotting fluff is my specialty. the title may or may not be a jacob sartorius reference. yall remember when tik tok was music.ly?

⇦ 𝘔𝘈𝘚𝘛𝘌𝘙𝘓𝘐𝘚𝘛

Living with Sokka certainly had its ups and downs. On the one hand, he always kept things interesting—you never knew what you might come home to find, and he often made you laugh so hard you had tears streaming down your cheeks. He could also MacGyver just about anything that broke in your apartment (usually broken by him, however). You’d only had to call maintenance once, when you’d found him stuck under the kitchen sink, absolutely drenched, and shouting for help as water viciously sprayed from the pipes and the garbage disposal made some sort of ear-splitting shriek.

On the other hand, his mind moved a hundred miles a minute and he often forgot little things, like closing the kitchen cabinets or starting the dishwasher. One such thing he tended to forget was to finish his laundry. Often you’d find his still-wet clothes in the washer or his clean clothes in the dryer, having finished several hours ago. The two of you had worked out a deal: if Sokka did the dinner dishes and bought the snacks for Movie Fridays, you’d make sure the apartment ran smoothly despite his forgetfulness.

That’s how you found yourself dumping a load of his clothes onto his bed after finding them in the dryer while trying to do your own chores. You picked through the shirts and boxer briefs before settling on stealing a deep burgundy sweatshirt—an unspoken part of your deal was that if you found his clothes, you were allowed to steal a t-shirt or sweatshirt of your choosing because he knew you liked to wear the oversized tops on lazy days.

He came back later that night to find you standing in the kitchen, scrolling on your phone while you waited for your tea to steep. Your wet hair hung around your face and you wore the red hoodie with sleep shorts and thick, fuzzy socks.

“Hey,” he said, dropping his backpack on the ground by the door and kicking off his shoes.

“Hey.” You looked up at him as he bustled around the kitchen, tossing something into the microwave. “How was work?”

“Annoying,” he sighed in irritation, making you grin. He turned to you and frowned, reaching out to tug at the sleeve of your sweatshirt. “Where did you find that?”

“I stole it from your laundry, stupid. You left your stuff in the dryer again. I’ve never seen this one before, did you just get it?”

“Uh... yeah. Thanks for doing that for me.”

“Mhm.” You slipped your phone into the front pocket and cradled your mug. “Why do you ask? Do you want it back?”

“Nah, it’s okay. In fact, keep it. Red doesn’t suit me, I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought it.” He had a smirk on his face that made you very suspicious.

You raised an eyebrow while you slowly sipped your tea. “If you say so, Snoozles.” You flicked his arm as you passed him to retreat into your bedroom for the night. “Don’t forget to pick up your bag. And snacks for Friday night!”

“Yeah, yeah,” he responded through a mouthful of noodles.

You and your friends were gathered in the living room like every other Friday, this week to watch Jurassic Park (yet another classic that neither Aang nor Zuko had seen, much to everybody’s disbelief). Katara and Aang sat together on the armchair, Zuko sat between you and Sokka on the couch, and Toph sat on the floor with her back against the sofa next to her service dog, Badger. You had your legs thrown across the guys’ laps and all eyes (except Toph’s) in the room were glued to the screen. Well, for the most part—Zuko kept looking over at you all night. You tried to keep your attention on the dinosaurs, but you could feel him staring at you. Eventually you caught his eye and raised your eyebrows expectantly. He simply flushed and looked away. You furrowed your brow and turned back to the movie, pulling your hands inside the sleeves of Sokka’s red sweatshirt and sticking them in the pocket.

“Did you guys know that Spielberg wanted the raptors to be taller for the movie and then a few months after they wrapped shooting, paleontologists found a new species of raptor that actually fit the movie portrayal really well? They almost named it after him,” Sokka said with his mouth full of popcorn.

“That’s nice, Sokka,” Katara responded absently, obviously not listening.

“Yeah, and they made the T. Rex sounds with an alligat—oof!” He wheezed when you jabbed your foot into his stomach. “Asshole!”

“Pack it up, IMDB,” you huffed.

“I just thought it was interes—ouch, Toph!” he yelped when Toph punched his shin.

“Stop talking, I can’t hear anything!”

“Just watch it!”

“I can’t!” Toph barked. Sokka crossed his arms and slumped down, grumbling to himself. You and Zuko glanced over at each other and broke out in grins, pursing your lips to hold back your laughter.

As the movie progressed, you noticed the tension in Zuko’s shoulders. He had his jaw clenched throughout the whole scene with the kids trapped in the car with the T. Rex attacking. You nudged him with your knee and he turned to look at you.

“You scared, Zu?” you teased in a low voice, leaning forward to squeeze his bicep. “You want me to protect you from the dinos?”

He rolled his eyes but still lifted his arm, inviting you sit up and tuck yourself into his side. As you leaned against him he seemed to loosen up, settling into his seat and resting his head against yours. Sokka noticed this and looked around Zuko to waggle his eyebrows suggestively and very conspicuously, making your face heat up in embarrassment. Unfortunately, the idiot had caught wind of your crush on his best friend and had been relentlessly tormenting you about it ever since. You glared at him until he sat back, looking disgustingly smug.

After the movie finished, everyone got up to stretch and refill their drinks before the next one started. While talking with Toph in the kitchen, you noticed Zuko standing outside on the balcony by himself. You excused yourself from the conversation and made your way out to him while all your friends hooted in the background. It seemed everyone knew about your attraction to the boy, except for the boy himself.

“Hey,” you said softly, stepping outside. He looked around at you and gave you a small smile that made your head spin. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” he sighed, “just getting some air. It’s getting hot in there with everyone in the room.”

You nodded and stood next to him to lean against the railing. After a few beats of silence, you could feel his stare on you again. You met his gaze curiously. “What’s up, Zu? You’ve been looking at me all night.”

“Nothing, it’s just—“ he narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side as if inspecting you “—is that my sweatshirt?”

You frowned. “No, I took it from Sokka.”

“Lying bastard.” His eyes widened at your offended look when you rounded on him. “Not you! I—um, it is mine. I gave it to Sokka the other day and when I asked for it he insisted he already gave it back to me. The fucker gaslit me over a sweatshirt.”

“Sounds about right,” you giggled. “I’m sorry. I’ll give it back before you leave.”

He pulled at one of the drawstrings. “You can keep it, if you want. It’s, uh—“ he cleared his throat “—it looks better on you.”

You stood facing each other now, barely a breath away from being chest-to-chest. “I can’t take your sweatshirt.”

“You take Sokka’s all the time.”

“Yeah, because he always forgets his laundry in the machine. He owes me.” Zuko laughed a little at that, still fiddling with the string. You could feel your heart racing at his proximity. He sucked in a breath and seemed to brace himself for his next words.

“I kind of like how you look in my clothes, though. Might have to start leaving my stuff around here so you stop wearing Sokka’s.” The confidence in his voice was betrayed by the rising blush on his face that surely rivaled your own as you stared up at him with wide eyes.

Your lips parted to speak, but no words came out. All you could squeak out was a soft, “Zuko,” when he raised his hand to brush a loose piece of hair back behind your ear. You felt frozen, rooted to the spot, when his fingertips grazed your cheekbone. His hand lingered there, palm radiating heat into your already flushed cheeks.

“I—“ he pulled his hand back and chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly “—sorry.”

“For what?” you asked.

“I don’t know.” You grinned at each other and in that moment it could’ve been just you and Zuko left on the planet and it wouldn’t’ve mattered; everything you wanted and needed was right there in front of you, if you were bold enough to take that final step toward it.

“Zuko—“

“Hey, we—oh!“ Both of you whipped your heads around when the door slid open to reveal Aang standing there. His whole face went red and he laughed in embarrassment. “Sorry! Just wanted to tell you guys we were gonna start the movie, but no rush! Take your time!” He started to back away and you felt yourself release from Zuko’s magnetic pull now that your small bubble had been invaded.

“It’s okay, Aang.” You smiled gently at your friend and started to make your way back inside. “We were about to head in anyways.”

Aang shot Zuko an apologetic look before nodding and hurrying away. Zuko couldn’t find it in himself to be bitter about the ruined moment when you reached out towards him and gazed up at him with those warm, bright eyes. “You coming, Zu?”

“Yeah, right behind you.” He took your outstretched hand and laced your fingers together, squeezing his palm against yours.

Maybe you weren’t the last people on Earth, and maybe you hadn’t taken that leap just yet, but something between you two shifted and finally clicked into place out there on that balcony. Everything would work out just fine—he knew it in the way you kept your fingers slotted perfectly between his as Jaws played on the television, and in the way you quickly rose onto your toes to press a kiss to his cheek in the hallway before he left. He couldn’t wipe the dreamy little smile off his face for the rest of the night, even as he laid awake in bed thinking about you.

Yeah; everything would be just fine.

ATLA TAGS: @hotgirlazula @octophopi @simpinforsukka @protect-remus @akiris @sunflowerazula

ZUKO TAGS: @fiantomartell @avatarayeaye @hypercakeiii @sher-lockedmarvel @emeraldpotato @september-ctd