#cause dinner is planned for the week so that means nearly everything in fridge has specific purpose

[ratvich]

contwnt warning for weight loss/talk & disordered(?) eating under cut

uauauaaghhgaghhh ive lost 3 pounds in the past week which like. i guess would be fine for the majority of people? however i am already underweight so it just. is nawt good. and its my fault cause i havent been eating lunch properly the past week cause we usually only have breakfast & dinner at home and im either too tired or too lazy to make myself lunch -_- i know i should just make myself food but urghtgrghhh bleh . surely replacing a meal with the "app" will be fine. bleh

[lilyofthesword-writes]

Sorceress (Loki Oneshot)

Summary: Loki comes to stay at the Avengers Tower while you are away on a mission. He becomes quite interested in you when he learns you wield magic similar to him and Doctor Strange.

Pairing: Loki x F!Reader

Word Count: 5,260

Warnings/Disclaimers: Anxiety issues, brief mentions of blood loss and injury, Wanda being an awesome friend

Masterlist

You wound your way into the kitchen and flipped on the electric kettle. Gathering your mug, you pulled out your calming tea blend. Today was the first day of the semester, and it always made you anxious. You felt like you had not rested one bit over the summer break. It probably didn’t help that Fury had sent you on a mission for most of it and you just returned yesterday, but there wasn’t much you could do about it. Just keep moving. This was your life now.

You went over the mental checklist in your head. Syllabus, notes, handouts...

“And who might you be?”

The low, charming voice ripped you from your thoughts, causing you to jump and almost knock over your mug. Swinging around to face the intruder, you found Loki the God of Mischief hovering closely behind you. You had forgotten about Thor contacting you on your mission to tell you Loki would be kept at the Tower for his punishment. Tony made him call you, something he did when he was afraid of you being angry. You had heard Tony coaching Thor in the background of the call.

“Don’t do that!”

He chuckled, taking a step back. “My sincerest apologies.”

“Riiiight.”

You folded your arms and took in his appearance. He definitely did not look the same as he did on the news when he tried to take New York. From the images you had seen, his eyes were wild and sunken and his face gave off a sense of malnourishment. The god standing before you now looked healthy with bright not quite blue but not quite green eyes that held a sprinkle of boyish mischief. Maybe Thor had it right about the possible mind control.

“Shall we start anew?” He bowed lightly, delicately taking the fingers of your right hand in his, forcing you to uncross your arms. “I am Prince Loki of Asgard.”

Oh no... Boyo was laying it on thick.

Nervously clearing your throat, you introduced yourself.

“A lovely name, my lady. May I ask why I have not seen you here before?”

He was still holding your hand. You could feel his energy pushing against yours. Was he trying to test your abilities?

“I was on a mission overseas. Just got back last night.”

“That is a shame. I would have preferred your presence here when I first arrived.”

You heard the click of the kettle and pulled your hand away to pour the hot water in your mug. He seemed almost disappointed by the loss of contact.

“I heard from Wanda that it was pure chaos for a while. She practically begged me to abandon the mission and come home,” you chuckled. “Don’t know if that would have done any good though.”

Taking a sip of your still brewing tea, you realized Loki had retaken the step back from earlier and was nearly looming over you. You regained that space, heading for the door.

“Well, it was nice to meet you, but if you’ll excuse me, I need to finish preparing for class.”

You rocketed out the door before he had a chance to respond.

You flopped on your bed after taking a portal home. Your closest friend Wanda was there to greet you.

“So how are all the magic newbies you ditched me for?” she teased.

You huffed a laugh. “Same old, same old. College freshmen who think they already know everything. They’ll be in a world of hurt in the coming weeks.”

“At least being an adjunct professor has its perks, right?”

“Yeah. I have some semblance of a life.”

You both started giggling at that.

“Are you still going to eat with everyone for dinner tonight?”

“I don’t see why not. Today was only day one of classes. Nothing to grade yet.”

“Maybe Loki will chill out then.”

You casted Wanda a concerned look. “What do you mean?”

She rolled her eyes and sat up on the bed. “Ever since Thor mentioned you could wield magic, Loki kept asking when you would be back.”

“Huh,” you mulled. “Guess that would explain this morning.”

“This morning?”

You nodded and hummed. “Yeah. I was in the kitchen making tea when he showed up.”

“You talked to him before me?!” She shoved you playfully, feigning hurt feelings.

“Because I totally planned it,” you laughed.

“So what did you think?”

“You mean other than tall, dark and handsome?” You paused as she snickered. “He’s alright, I guess. He was being overly nice.”

Wanda scoffed. “That little... Okay. So, when he wasn’t holed up in his room or the library being all nice and quiet, he kept making all these snarky comments to everyone. Then, there was the pranking... He saved that mostly for Tony though.”

“So what you’re saying is to keep my guard up because he could go bipolar on me.”

“Yup.”

“Great... This is going to be fun... How long is he staying?”

“Indefinitely.”

All you could do was groan and hide your head in your pillow.

Dinner was suffocating to say the least. Loki joined the team in the dining area, apparently a rarity for him, and they were not happy about it. Well, it was mostly the original team members, the ones who fought against Loki in the Battle of New York. The newer members like you and Wanda, while not fond of him either, couldn’t care less. Thor seemed to be the only who was content, shoveling food down his throat, unable to read the room with a silence so palpable and deafening.

This is... awkward. Wanda spoke to you through her mind, something she usually did when she was uncomfortable but still needed to express herself.

No kidding. I’m thinking about ditching.

Aren’t you hungry though?

Starving! But I can’t eat like this. I’ll come back down in a couple of hours for something. Maybe I’ll watch a movie til then.

Room for one more?

Always!

With half your plate empty, you excused yourself and disposed of the scraps in the kitchen. Steve, who usually fussed at you about your not so great eating habits, did not say a word. Sneaking some snacks for the movie from the kitchen, you went back to your room to wait for Wanda who popped by about ten minutes later.

You woke with a start, stomach growling and gurgling. You blinked away the sleep from your eyes and looked around. Wanda was long gone. You guessed she went back to her room after you fell asleep at some point. She was at least nice enough to turn off the TV before disappearing.

Your belly rumbled, again. Reluctantly leaving behind the warmth of your blankets, you stumbled to your feet and hobbled to the kitchen. You reached for the light switch, the kitchen being too dim in the low lighting left on at night. The lights turned on before you could find it.

“I was wondering when you would arrive.” Your name slid off Loki’s tongue like silk.

Letting out a breath, you tempered your scowl. “What made you think I was coming down here?”

“Aside from the dinner you barely touched?” he chuckled as he traced a finger across the counter. “Well, it can be considered rude to hold a private conversation from such a small group of people.”

You shouldn’t have been surprised by a magic wielder being able to see what other magic wielders are doing.

You folded your arms. “It’s definitely considered rude to eavesdrop.”

“That is quite true.” His signature smirk graced his face. “Although, is it really eavesdropping when I did not listen to what was being said? I merely sensed the exchange of energies.”

“Sure...” You didn’t believe him, but you would let it go for now. It’s not like you two had said anything damning. You just needed to be a bit more careful moving forward. “Now would you be so kind as to stand aside? I would like something to eat, and you’re blocking the fridge.”

“My apologies, but perhaps I may be of better service to you with,” he snapped his fingers, “this.”

The leftovers from dinner instantly appeared piping hot on a plate.

“How did you-”

“Come now. I thought you were a sorceress,” he smirked teasingly.

There was the ego you were expecting.

“I can manage the same end result,” you pouted. “But... the steps leading to it would be different...”

“I could always show you how.”

That grin and those alluring aventurine eyes would be the death of you. You wanted so badly to say yes. While you had the schooling and moved on to helping others, there was still so much more to learn. To say you were eager would be an understatement. The problem was you just met this Trickster God. How could you trust him so soon?

“I... I appreciate the offer, but maybe another time.”

You tucked some of your hair behind your ear. Why did you feel guilty for turning him down?

“Of course. The offer remains standing. Enjoy your dinner, Sorceress,” he replied, his disappointed voice betraying his stoic demeanor.

With that, he swiftly left the room. Yeah. You felt bad. Maybe you would find a way to make it up to him.

Weeks later, and you were frustrated beyond belief. The last lesson you attempted to teach was going nowhere. You needed help, and you needed it now.

You sprung from your room with your notes and textbook and practically sprinted to the library where Loki could usually be found. You were right. There he was lounging with his back to you on one of the couches amongst the books, reading Dante’s Divine Comedy.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Sorceress?” He didn’t even look up from the text. Not a good sign.

Taking a breath, you answered, “I was hoping I could get your help with something.”

That got his attention. “Oh? Would you not rather ask that Strange fellow the others prefer to associate with.” he scowled.

Great. Of course, he had to be in one of those moods today. His mood swings were to be expected but the timing was difficult to predict.

“Pff. The last time I asked him for help, he was a total ass. Just because he trained with a master overseas for a short period of time and has a photographic memory does not mean he fully understands every magical concept.” You brought your rant to a halt. You could say so much more but doubted anyone wanted to listen.

“Well, someone who sees that charlatan for what he truly is,” he snorted, snapping his book shut. “Now, pray tell, why would I assist you when your magic is so similar to his?”

Adding fuel to the fire. The rant was back on. With a huff, you came around to the front of the sofa and dropped your supplies on the coffee table, taking a seat next to him.

“You really want to get me started, don’t you? Look, I have been practicing and studying magic since I was child before I even knew what I was even doing. Hell, I’m still learning. That will never stop. I have worked my ass off to get this far. That’s why I get frustrated with Strange. He never believed in magic until it could help him in some fashion, and then he’s deemed a ‘master’ so soon after starting. Admittedly, yes, I am a bit jealous. However, I would not change how I have learned because it has allowed me to dig deeper and understand more.”

You inhaled deeply, signaling the end of your monologue. You had not really meant to go that far with it, but it was too late now. Your words hung in the air as Loki studied you.

“What do you need assistance with?” He flashed you a grin.

You silently screamed with relief. “Okay, so there was a theory I was trying to teach yesterday.” Flipping open the textbook to the right page, you brought your notebook and pen to your lap. “The students just aren’t getting it.”

Loki leaned over the table to read the book. “Magical Exchange: The Equal Exchange Theory...” His eyebrows could have rocketed off his forehead with how surprised he was. “This is an elementary subject.”

“It is a 101 course,” you shrugged. “I just don’t know how to explain it better. I’ve not taught a class that had issues with this before. This particular group has proven... Difficult.”

“Have you attempted a more... Oh what do you mortals call it,” he hummed. “A more ‘hands on’ approach?”

You sighed and unconsciously tapped your pen on your notebook. “Yeah. I tried to improvise like that when the text did nothing. It just made things worse.”

“I see...” His lips drooped into a frown. “Perhaps a new perspective is required.”

“You read my mind,” you teased, winking at him. You still had not forgotten that first day. “So if you were teaching this, how would you go about it?”

Clearing his throat, he picked up the text book and lounged back on the couch. An anxious silence droned on before he finally spoke again.

“This text describes the various classifications of what is considered Equal Exchange, yet there is little on what does not qualify.”

Loki proceeded on his own mini-lecture about the experiments performed by both mortals and Asgardians, many of which ended in failure due to the lack of Equal Exchange. One ended up being about the Philosopher’s Stone, a topic you had already learned quite a bit about. You scribbled notes as fast as you could, filling up a good quarter of your notebook when he had finished.

You chewed on the end of your pen while looking over your notes. “This could work. Between these explanations and showing some examples, they might grasp what all it means.” Letting out a tired sigh, you looked up at him with full sincerity. “Thank you, Loki. I owe you one.”

He chuckled deeply, sending shivers down your spine. What was he up to?

“There is one favor I wish to ask of you in exchange.”

You blinked deftly. “And what might that be?”

Taking your free hand in his, he gently swiped his thumb across your knuckles. “I merely ask for a dance.”

“A. Dance?” That was not what you had expected.

“Yes. Stark is holding one of his... illustrious parties next Saturday.”

Oh crap. You had purposely forgotten about that. Parties were not normally your thing.

“R-right! I forgot...” you mumbled, swiping your hair behind your ear.

“All I ask is one dance. Would that be acceptable?”

You gazed into his eyes where a dabble of insecure hope hid. “I... Yes. That would be nice.”

Your face felt like it was on fire when he kissed your knuckles, whispering, “Excellent,” before he helped you to your feet and gathered your belongings.

Saturday seemed to arrive all too quickly. Anxiety pulsated through your veins most of the day. Why were you so nervous? It was just one dance.

You sucked in a breath as you took in your appearance in the mirror. The off-the-shoulder, malachite dress hugged your form just right until it flowed gracefully from your hips to your knees. A silver pendant and heels tied off the look. You looked... Good. Better than you had anticipated. Now if you could just calm yourself down.

All those people, people you did not know for the most part would be there, too. Tony always invited so many guests no one else knew. But you also wouldn’t be alone. The whole team was going to be there. You would not be alone. One party should be manageable.

A knock at your door tore you from your spiraling thoughts. With a half-hearted sigh, you meandered to the door and open it to find Wanda and Vision. Wanda must have sensed your distress. She took one look at you, told Vision she would meet him downstairs, gave him a chaste kiss and stepped into your room, closing the door behind her.

“I-I don’t know if I can do this, Wanda.” You sat on the edge of your bed, thoughts of nausea swimming in your head.

She said your name with such resolution, your gaze snapped up to hers. “You can do this.”

“I don’t-”

“Don’t start. One, you look gorgeous. Two, you’re a professor AND Avenger. You teach in auditoriums and fight bad guys for a living. This party should not be a problem.”

“Small auditoriums...” you mumbled, earning you a look.

“Three, Vision and I will stay nearby. If any weirdo tries anything with you again, we’ll be there.”

Because you needed to remember the one party where some drunk rando was getting too handsy, the one where you had trouble controlling your abilities because you did not and do not like crowds. Tony, Steve and Wanda had to extract you after kicking out the drunk moron. That was your last party.

“I don’t want to be the third whe-”

“Shush. I’m not done.” She waved you off. “And four, once you have your dance, you can get the hell out of there. Okay?” She smiled sympathetically.

You nodded and looked at the floor. Wanda took you by the shoulders and forced you to stand.

“Alright, now breathe with me. Ground and center. Breathe. Raise your shields. Breathe.”

Doing what you were told, you started to feel better, the deep breaths helping the most.

“Better?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Let’s get going. Remember, you can do this.” She guided you towards the door.

“Right... I can do this...”

I can’t do this...

You leaned on a wall out of the way, sipping on a light cocktail that you had hoped would keep you calm. It didn’t. Between the flashing lights, pounding music and the chaotic array of energies emanating off the guests just made you want to crawl in a hole and bury yourself.

Wanda and Vision were out of your sight but you could still sense them nearby. They’d be there in a blink of an eye if you needed them, but you didn’t want to ruin their fun. It also did not help that Loki was nowhere to be seen. At first, you thought he and Thor were getting ready, but that thought was thrown out when Thor arrived fashionably late alone. Maybe Loki decided the whole thing was a waste of time and backed out of coming. Yeah. That had to be it which meant you could bug out of here early.

“There you are, Sorceress.”

Never mind. Just as you had moved to the bar to set your glass down, Loki showed up behind you. You spun around, dress flowing out as you did. He looked taken aback with his cheeks slightly flushed. He muttered something under his breath but the music and chatter drowned him out.

“I’m sorry? I didn’t catch that.”

He just shook his head, smiling as he reached out a hand for you. “Would you care to join me on the balcony?”

Balcony?! Why didn’t you think about going out there? It would be so much quieter.

“I would like that very much.” You took his hand and let him lead you outside.

The balcony was so much better. The doors muffled the incessant beat of the club music along with the yelling guests. You took in a deep breath, taking the chance to glance at Loki and appreciate his look.

Yup. Still attractive in Midgardian clothing. His designer suit looked as though it was made only for him, the black color matching his curling hair that brushed past his shoulders. The green tie brought out his eyes and made them seem more saturated like an emerald. You definitely appreciated the new style.

“You’re staring, Darling,” he chuckled.

“Sorry. I’m so used to seeing you in your Asgardian garb,” you flushed. “T-the change is not unwelcome though. You look great!”

Great. Where were your words when you needed them most? And did he call you “Darling”?

“Thank you, my dear. Now, about that dance...”

That’s when you realized he was still holding your hand.

“What about the music?”

“I have something better planned than the noise Stark has chosen.”

He pulled you close, one hand encased yours while the other placed your free hand on his shoulder before snapping his fingers and keeping you close by the small of your back. A record player appeared playing Merry-Go-Round of Life.

“Shall we?”

You smiled and nodded, “Yes.”

Loki swayed with you along the length of the balcony, leading you into spins in time with the music. Neither of you had said a word since you started moving, but you did not need to. Everything was perfect. You felt like you were dancing on clouds amongst the stars. All of your anxiety had melted away. Needless to say, you were disappointed when the song ended.

“I do not suppose I would be able to convince you for another dance?”

Loki held your hands in his as he pulled back. He seemed just as disappointed as you.

“Well,” you mocked contemplation, “That wasn’t part of the original agreement.”

The soft grip on your hands loosened even more.

“But, I don’t see why I can’t make an exception, especially seeing how your explanations went over so well with the students. I haven’t thanked you for that part,” you smirked and with a golden flourish of your hand, changed the music on the record player.

Loki’s grin put the starlight to shame as he brought you back to him. As one song ended, one of you would switch it out to keep the music going.

Neither of you knew how long you were out there for. It had to have been more than a couple of hours since Tony was the one to break up your private party.

“Reindeer Games, Magic Hands! Pack it up! Party guests have already left!”

Both of you grimaced, hating your nicknames. Regardless, Loki led you back inside. Wanda and Vision had stayed throughout the party while you were on the balcony, and gave both of you these little knowing looks as you passed them. Ignoring them, Loki walked you to your room.

“Thank you, Loki. You made the night much more enjoyable,” you smiled brightly.

He smiled back, playing with the fingers of your hands. “I am happy to be of assistance, Sorceress.”

A moment of silence and you stepped forward, thinking of something a touch bold. “You know, if this were to become a regular occurrence, I might be persuaded to show up at Stark’s parties more often.”

A low chuckle reverberated in his chest. “That could be arranged.”

“I hope so.” You leaned on your toes, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, again.”

You slipped past your door so quickly you didn’t notice the lightly dusted blush on Loki’s face.

Today was not a good day. Scratch that. It was a terrible day. Some senior in Advanced Summoning got cocky and accidentally summoned a few large, irate creatures from the Fae Realm. With you being an Avenger and working for the school, it was no surprise you were chosen to handle the situation. Killing would have been easier, but you could not bring yourself to do it. It’s not their fault they were ripped from their home and dropped in an unfamiliar world. You were able to open a portal and send them back but not without sustaining a critical injury. You were barely able to close the portal before passing out from blood loss.

You woke up in the medical wing of the campus, a fog clouding your brain. You felt the dull pain in your side where one of the creatures had swiped its claws whenever you tried to move.

“Oh! Please lie still!” A healer came rushing over. “You don’t want to reopen the wound. We’ve done all we can to heal you without overloading your body.”

You just nodded and rested your head on the pillow. Looking at the window, you noticed how dark it was.

“What time is it?”

The healer looked at you nervously. “A little after 10PM.”

Groaning, you sank into the pillow more. “Do you know where my phone is? I need to make a call.”

The team knew your schedule, and they were going to flip, especially Loki. You two had grown attached to each other since the start of your balcony dances (there had been at least six so far). The status of your relationship was in limbo, somewhere between friends and romantic partners. Neither of you seemed to know which way to go.

The healer left the room momentarily before rushing back in. Handing you your phone, she warned, “Now, your phone started going off non-stop since about six this evening. We had to answer just to see if it was important and if they could wait until you called back. Th-the man on the other end. He was.. Not. Pleased. He started demanding to know where you were...”

“I understand,” you cut her off softly. “If I could get some privacy please, I will call him.”

She nodded and headed to the door.

“And whatever else he said, don’t worry about it. I’ll make sure he behaves.”

The healer pursed her lips and closed the door behind her. What the hell did he say to her?

You picked Loki’s contact in your phone. He answered in barely one ring, calling out your name. “Norns, are you alright?! Where are you? What happened?”

“Loki, I’m fine. I’m still on campus. There was a little mishap that I had to take care of. Got a little banged up in the process, but everything is okay.” You added that last part quickly.

“A little mishap? You should have returned hours ago. Please, allow me to bring you home.”

“Loki, the school only allows faculty members and students on campus. The wards make sure of that. And despite the constant demands, even Fury and Strange have not been granted access. They don’t even know where to look. Besides, you’re on lockdown. Remember?” You tried to reason with him, but knew he would not give up so easily.

He pleaded your name. Lately, he almost always stuck to pet names for you, only using your name when he was truly upset. “Please... I need to know that you are in good health.”

“I am, Loki. I will more than likely be back at the Tower in the morning.”

“Not tonight?” His pout was clear even over the phone.

“It’s late and I doubt the healers would let me check myself out at this hour.”

“I- Alright.” The defeated tone in his voice made your heart break.

“I’ll call you in the morning, okay?”

“Please...”

“Goodnight, Loki.”

“Goodnight.”

As you pulled the phone away to hang up, you heard him call your name.

“Yes?”

“I... I will see you tomorrow.”

You hummed with a smile. “See you tomorrow.”

It was early morning when you finally left the campus. Loki didn’t answer his phone, so you left him a voicemail instead, fairly sure he knew how to access it. Cell phones still were not his strong suit, but he was getting better.

Stepping through the Tower doors, you were greeted by Happy who gave you the world’s most gentle bear hug. He had Friday let the others know you were headed up.

“By the way,” he yelled to you as you stepped in the elevator. “Loki was up all night worrying about you. You should go talk to him.” He winked at you.

You just shook your head as the elevator doors. When they reopened at the common room floor, you were greeted with Wanda tackling you before she dragged you out.

“Loki told us something went down at the University. What happened?!”

She pulled you into the common room to one of the sofas.

“Some moron was trying to impress a girl in Advanced Summoning. Brought in some undocumented creatures from the Fae Realm.”

“Of course... Now you were hurt? Where?” She started looking you over.

You lifted your shirt just enough to show the heavy bruising on your side. “The healers did a decent patch up. Just have to deal with this for a couple days, and then I’m good.”

“I wish I could help, but healing is not my forte.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine,” you smiled reassuringly, letting your shirt fall.

“Fine is not how you would have been classified yesterday,” a low voice came from behind the couch, startling you.

“L-Loki! I thought I had told you not to do that!” You clutched your chest, taking a deep breath.

“Darling, may I speak with you? Alone.” Loki gestured for you to follow him.

You squeezed Wanda’s hand apologetically. “I’ll come find you later.”

Loki led you out, down the hall and into the library. He didn’t say a word until he sat you down on the couch next to him, gaze on his lap.

“Loki... I-”

“Dove, what were you thinking taking on those beasts on your own?” He clutched your hands tightly.

“I didn’t have much of a choice. I’m one of the few stateside who is trained in battle magic,” you pleaded.

He was upset. It was obvious. Your heart shattered with how he looked at you, fear and worry melded into one.

“You could have called for assistance.”

“Loki, we’ve been over this-”

“Would they not have made an exception with their students in danger.” It was a statement. He was right about that.

“If there were time, yes. They needed to be dealt with immediately.” You tore your hands from his grasp and cupped his face for him to really look you in the eyes. “Loki. Everything turned out alright. I’m still here, and I’m okay.”

“And yet you almost were not.” His voice was so quiet, you barely heard him. “I... I do not...”

You stroked his cheeks with your thumbs, encouraging him to go on. He pulled one hand away to hold while leaning into the other.

“Just be more careful from now on. Please.”

“Of course.”

“Promise me.” He squeezed your hand.

“I will. But first.” You took your hand from his face. “Finish what you were saying.”

He froze. “I am not sure what you mean.”

“You cut yourself off three times within twenty-four hours. You always finish your sentences. Now. What were you going to say?”

He still was not used to being caught, his initial confusion evident in his eyes which then darted about the room nervously. You sighed, and with a golden flourish of your hand, the library doors shut and locked.

“There. No one to walk in and disturb us or overhear.”

Loki was silent. He stared at your hand that was intertwined with his, then met your eyes.

“I do not know what I would do without you,” he whispered, bringing you into his arms in one fluid motion, your head tucked under his chin.

The scent of cedar and sage filled your senses as you returned the embrace and carded your fingers through his hair.

“Well, that’s not something you need to think about. I’m not going anywhere,” you responded softly. “Promise.”

He hugged you close, pulling you into his lap. His chest rose with a deep breath before he kissed the top of your head.

[brywrites]

Blindsided

Reid x Reader. In which Reid is an expert in human behavior, but misses the signs when it comes to the person who matters most. @imagining-in-the-margins had a decliend request a little while ago that was up for grabs in which the Reader has an eating disorder, and I thought I’d give it a try. CW, of course, for descriptions of disordered eating.

-------

There are signs. Small and subtle, often imperceptible to the untrained eye. The trouble is, his eyes are quite trained. He’s spent a lifetime learning how to look carefully, consider all the possibilities, profile the most minute behavior. But Spencer Reid is still somehow blindsided by this.

Maybe it was her strength. She has always seemed so perfectly balanced, never too thrown off by a hard day at work or an unforeseen circumstance. She seems to excel at her job with ease, she makes friends everywhere they go, and she always knows just what to say when he’s having a bad day. Like a lighthouse, she has always shined so bright, a beacon even when his mind is a hurricane. Maybe that’s why he never stopped to question anything, because she was the steadiest thing he knew.

Maybe it was his job. The months went by in a blur, an endless carousel of cases, a carnival wheel of horrors. There are weeks where he’s only home for a few days at a time before he’s calling her to tell her he has to fly somewhere again. Being away from home means being away from her. He doesn’t see her as consistently, and when he does he’s so exhausted that he loses his train of thought far too often for a genius with an eidetic memory.

Maybe because she didn’t want him to see. Maybe because he didn’t want to see what was right in front of him all along.

It starts with dinner dates. Rather than relishing a night out, she starts making plans for coffee shops or walks in the park. He supposes it’s nice to change things up and doesn’t say a word about it. Besides, it’s much easier to kiss her in a park than it is from across a restaurant table. But then she starts to shy away from his touch. She’ll let him kiss her and often reaches for his hand, but she dodges his hugs. Where she used to gently push things forward in their physical relationship, trying to encourage him to feel more comfortable, she’s suddenly become the reluctant one. Her clothes become loose and baggy and he wonders if she simply isn’t attracted to him anymore. He takes comfort in the fact that her words and actions say otherwise. She still looks at him like a sunrise, her smile is still so bright.

But even that begins to dim. She looks tired sometimes – when he isn’t looking right at her, he swears he catches her reflection or a glimpse of her from the corner of his eye frowning at the floor or staring off blankly into space. Every time he adjusts his focus back on her though, she’s looking at him with a smile. She’s more irritable than usual, that’s for sure. A disagreement will cause her to snap at him or withdraw into herself. One day he goes to meet her at her apartment after work at her request. He lets himself in and waits for her to arrive, biding his time by reading a book and eating a snack. To his disappointment, he finds no sweets – she’s never been big on junk food, but her pantries seem a bit more sparse than usual – but settles down with a yogurt cup that will at least stave off his appetite long enough for them to walk around a museum before dinner.

She comes home smiling, already asking him about his day and telling him about this new exhibit she can’t wait to see with him. She just needs to get a snack and then she’ll be ready, she assures him. But when she opens the fridge, her face falls.

The sound of frantic rummaging startles him. “Is everything okay?” he asks.

“There was yogurt in here, I swear I had a strawberry yogurt left,” she says, more so to herself than to him.

“Oh. I’m sorry, Y/N. I just ate it – I didn’t get the chance to eat lunch today.”

Her eyes narrow. “What? Why would you do that?” The sound of her voice is unusually sharp.

“I – I just, I knew we were going to be out for a while and I just – well–” He stumbles over his words. This is what they always do. His apartment may as well be hers, and she has always told him to make himself at home here. They borrow books and grab snacks from each other, coming and going and forgetting a sweater or a pair of shoes here and there.

“You couldn’t have waited for me to get home? Why didn’t you ask me? I can’t believe you did that!”

He stares back at her, utterly confused. “It’s – it’s just yogurt,” he says.

She presses her lips into a fine line and for a moment he fears she might cry. But then she disappears into her bedroom and comes out ten minutes later in clothes more suited for a walk. He reminds her that she was going to get a snack. She says she’s not that hungry. And he’s too flustered to notice the sign staring him in the face.

As though she’s pulling away from the world, she stops making as many plans with friends. She spends more time at home. Her weekend jogs go for hours while he waits with coffee that is almost always cold by the time she arrives at the bakery to have breakfast with him. One day he bumps into Rina, one of her friends from work. She asks him, offhandedly, if he has any good restaurant recommendations since her parents are coming to visit this weekend. Reid responds with puzzled surprise.

“Sorry,” Rina says, “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I just figured you must have a few in mind since you and Y/N have been trying all those new places.” He tilts his head and she winces in apology. “I don’t mean to pry! But you know we started doing an office happy hour on Thursdays, and she hasn’t been able to come since you two always have dinner reservations at that time. Of course, based on the places she said you’ve been, it seems well worth it.”

He just smiles through the confusion and offers up the name of a nice Indian place he’s been before. He makes a note to ask Y/N about this, but the BAU gets called away in the middle of the night and all is forgotten in favor of solving the case. It takes five days before they finally do, and Rossi invites everyone and their partners over to his mansion to celebrate. Y/N is delighted to see his team, and for a moment everything feels normal. She’s chatting away with Emily and Morgan, asking Garcia about the community theatre production she’s starring in. It’s all normal. It’s all her.

Then Rossi calls them to the dining room, where there’s more than enough food and libations to go around. Everyone’s plates have already been piled with sautéed zucchini, tortellini alfredo, and garlic bread courtesy of their host, who insists presentation is just as important as taste when it comes to fine dining.

The meal is divine and the company is wonderful and there’s whispers of tiramisu for dessert. Reid doesn’t have a care in the world, all too happy to be eating more than his fill of garlic bread surrounded by his favorite people. But then midway through dinner, Rossi points a fork at Y/N. “You’ve hardly touched the pasta, kid,” he says. “Come on, I slaved over a hot stove for two hours to make that. Do you not like it?”

She looks like a deer caught in the headlights, her eyes wide as everyone turns to look at her and the food that has been artfully rearranged but hardly touched on her plate. “Um,” she says. “No, no it’s great – I’ve just been having such a good time talking to everyone I’m forgetting to eat.” She puts a spoonful of it to her lips, covering her mouth as she chews. “Really, really good,” she insists.

Dinner comes to a close, and he glances over at Y/N, whose plate is now two-thirds empty. Her previously chipper conversation has fallen flat, and she’s staring into space once again. But this time, his gaze on her doesn’t seem to bring her back down to earth. Rossi and Garcia briefly slip into the kitchen and return with a massive sheet of tiramisu. It looks like heaven. He’s beginning to worry that he might have to loosen his belt a notch or two at this rate.

Abruptly, Y/N stands from her seat. “Sorry, I’m not feeling well,” she says, her voice strained. “I’m gonna go get some air.” She flees the room before he can even get up. As fast as his legs will carry him, he runs to the back door to join her outside. She’s sitting on the patio, arms curled around her legs. For just a second he’s afraid the food has made her sick, but then he hears it. Sobbing. She’s crying.

And suddenly it all makes sense.

The weight of the realization nearly knocks him over. How could he not see? How could he have missed this? There were so many cases to keep on top of, so many people to profile, but none of them matter the way this does. The way she does.

Reid walks over and sits down on the ground beside her. When he puts his arm around her shaking shoulders, she doesn’t pull away. “Y/N,” he says softly. She looks up at him, her cheeks wet with tears. “It’s okay. You don’t have to hide this from me. I know.” And then her arms are around him and her face is buried in his chest and he’s holding her as tight as he can. When he feels the sharpness of her shoulderblades, his heart sinks. It’s bad. It’s been bad for a while now, and all this time he couldn’t see it. She was struggling alone with an eating disorder all this time, and he missed the most basic clues. How can he call himself a profiler? How can he call himself her boyfriend?

“I’m sorry,” he tells her. “I’m sorry it took me so long. Please, tell me what’s going on. Tell me how I can help.”

When she finally catches her breath, she has a hard time meeting his eyes. “When I was fourteen, I spent two months in the hospital for anorexia. I was in and out of treatment through high school, but I finally got things under control in college. And they stayed that way for a long time. But five months ago, things starting getting bad again. I don’t really even know what triggered it. Work was getting so stressful, and you had that close call in the field, and my mom visited and spent all this time picking things about my life apart in that passive aggressive way she does and I just… I don’t know. A missed one meal because I was working late. And it was so easy to just miss another. I told myself I should get back in shape, so I tried to eat cleaner and ran more. But then I felt like I was taking up too much space and I didn’t deserve to and I needed to stop. And everything just fell back into place – counting calories, skipping meals, restricting… I knew what I was doing, I knew, but I couldn’t stop.”

“It’s okay,” he says. “I’m not mad. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s okay.”

“It’s like I can’t turn that voice off telling me that I’m too much or I’m eating too much and… I didn’t want you think I was stupid or shallow and I didn’t want you to see me the way I saw myself.” Her voice breaks and the sound wounds him. She’s been hurting alone all this time because she was afraid of what he’d think of her. He reminds himself that it’s not a reflection of their relationship, it’s the disorder talking – she’s ashamed and afraid.

“I would never think that. And you’re not stupid. I mean, with an eating disorder, it’s not about the food, not really – it’s a coping mechanism, right?” Albeit a deadly one.

She nods, then sighs, “When everything else is out of control I feel like… like if I can just control my weight, if I can be perfect at this, then it’s okay that everything else is a mess. I know that’s stupid.”

“It’s not,” he assures her. “Y/N, I don’t understand everything you’re feeling. But I do know that eating disorders are like an addiction. And I do understand that. And I understand how hard it is to ask for help.”

“Sometimes,” she says, “I’m not sure I want to get help. And maybe I don’t need to. I mean it’s not that bad, I’m not really that sick. I’ve been worse.”

“Sweetheart.” He smooths her hair back. “You’re crying over a plate of pasta. Now I don’t think that’s silly,” he adds quickly. “But it’s serious. Carbohydrates shouldn’t reduce you to tears. Dinner should have to feel like a battle. You don’t deserve to feel that way.”

“What if I do?” she cries. “I’m such a mess anyways. You shouldn’t have to deal with all of this. With me. You have to fight literal monsters and I’m so weak. I hate that I’m this way. I hate myself.”

Reid places a hand under her chin and gently turns her towards him so he can look into her eyes. They’re wide and teary and so afraid. She’s never looked more fragile. “But I love you. I love you so much. And if you can’t, I’ll love you enough for the both of us. I’ll do anything I can to help you through this. But please let me help you through this.”

“I don’t know.”

He sighs. “I’m going to tell you some things you already know, okay? Eating disorders are the deadliest of all mental illnesses. One in five people will die from their disorder. The complications include heart failure, osteoporosis, gastroparesis, fainting, and kidney failure. Many of them can’t be reversed. This illness is deadly, sweetheart. It’s dangerous. Even if you don’t think it’s that bad, I don’t want it to get worse. I can’t lose you, Y/N. I can’t.”

It’s quiet there in the yard, the sun dipping below the trees, Rossi’s garden lights twinkling on. There’s nothing but the sound of her sniffles and his pounding heart.

“I’ll tell Hotch I’m taking two months off. I’ll be home all the time. You can come over any time it’s getting bad. Or I can stay with you. We can cook together. I’ll go with you to therapy. Whatever you need. You won’t have to do this alone.”

“You have work,” she says. “The team needs you. There are cases.”

“They can solve them without me,” he replies, not missing a beat. “They’ve done it before. I have eighty-four vacation days saved up, they can’t stop me. Look, I love my job, and the BAU will always save lives. But the most important life to me is yours. I missed enough because of work. I’m not going to make that same mistake twice. I love you. Everything else can wait. Okay?”

A long moment passes. “Okay,” she says. “Okay.” He pulls her into another hug and her whole body trembles as she cries. He fights back tears because what she needs is for him to be strong. For him to be here. And he isn’t going anywhere.

When she’s regained her composure, slips his suit jacket off and puts it over her shoulders, like a shock blanket. They walk back inside where he quickly explains that she’s not feeling well and they’re going to head out early. Nobody asks any questions, and for that he’s thankful. Garcia wishes for her to feel better and JJ promises they’ll see her soon.

She asks him to stay with her that night, and he does. He holds her close beneath the blankets as she falls asleep, hoping that she can feel just how much he loves her. If that was all it took to help her heal, she would have recovered in that very moment. But it isn’t that simple. True to his word, he takes time off. He sits with her and helps her find a specialist to see. He drives her to and from the clinic for her extensive outpatient therapy, and when she gets to come home he’s there to offer a distraction while helping her stick to her prescribed meal plan.

It isn’t always easy. She takes hours to finish a meal, going bite by bite and pushing the food into patterns on the plate. He prefers that to the times she yells at him or sobs and he knows it’s not her fault. It’s the disorder. It’s the voice of the demon that has such a strong grip on the love of his life. He lets her yell. He lets her cry. And he lets her hold him tight when she needs some way to anchor herself in the moment, to hold on to something other than her own body and her own fears.

The day she comes home from the outpatient program and says, “I’m missing so much, aren’t I?” is the day he knows things are looking up. “I pushed away my friends and work and I stopped going places because I was afraid there would be food and I stopped seeing you so I could run more and that’s not living, and – and I want to live so badly,” she cries. “I don’t want counting calories and weighing myself to be all that there is.”

“And it won’t be,” he promises her. “You’re fighting so hard to live.”

“What if I do this, all the therapy and all the meal plans and all the work, what if I gain back the weight and everything but I’m still miserable?” she asks. “What if it doesn’t get better?”

Reid rubs circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. “It will. You know it will because you’ve done this before. I thought the same thing when I started going to NA, but you know what I realized? I was afraid that nothing would ever feel better but I was more afraid that it would be better. That I’d feel happy and I wouldn’t know what to do because I wasn’t sure who I would be without the dilaudid anymore.” The vicious cycle of getting high and coming down had been familiar at least, and he was afraid to lose anything else, even the habit. “But I was so much better without it. It was hard at first – but after I was so much happier. You’re not this disease. You’re so much more than that, and I will be right here to remind you of that any time you need me to.”

He pulls her into his lap and then lies back against the couch, her head on his chest as he holds her close to him. If only an embrace were enough to keep her safe. If only he could fight off the voices in her head with his own vocal affirmations. It doesn’t hurt to try, so he lists off a litany of things he loves about her. Detailing everything from the easy way she makes friends to the softness of her smile to the way he feels better just seeing her. He praises her generous spirit and her work ethic and the excellent way she kisses him.

“You’re the bravest person I know,” he tells her. “And you always make me feel so brave. Maybe that’s why I missed it. You’ve always been so strong. But you don’t have to be, okay? I know my job is hard, but I can be strong too. I know I can’t break down a door like Morgan,” Reid jokes, earning a half-laugh from her. “And I couldn’t bench press ten pounds to save my life, but you can lean on me. I’m not going to break. Nothing you need is ever going to be too much.” He places a kiss on the top of her head. “Never. Not when you’re everything to me.”

As the final month of his vacation time draws to a close, her smile comes a little easier. She graduates from the intensive outpatient program into regular therapy. And when she comes home that day, he sees it. That smile of hers his back. The light has returned to her eyes, and he can feel how much brighter the world is. His lighthouse his back, but he knows know that she needs him to guide her safe to shore sometimes, too. He’ll be the one to make sure her light doesn’t burn out.

There are signs, small and subtle as she comes back to him. Nearly imperceptible to the untrained eye. But her clothes aren’t quite so baggy. She doesn’t bury herself under sweaters three sizes too big. Her kitchen becomes more than vegetables and protein bars. She goes out with her friends from work. He kisses her on a park bench and she pulls him in deeper.

And Reid knows it’s not over yet, that recovery is long and it is not linear, but his heart lifts when she asks to get dinner with him and he wants to cry when she steals some of the dessert he orders, smiling at him like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

“Thank you,” she tells him. “For loving me even when I couldn’t.”

“You did all the hard work,” he says. “Loving you is the easiest thing in the world. And I’m never going to stop.” It’s a promise he intends to keep. Because he knows it isn’t true what they say – you don’t have to love yourself before you can love somebody else. For the longest time he couldn’t stand himself – but her loved her so much. And in loving her, he found himself. He never liked himself quite so much as when he could love her right. He would love her in all the moments she couldn’t love herself, just as she had for him. And until the end of his days, if she’d let him.  

[supercorpkid]

A week without Lena.

Supercorp, Kara Danvers x Daughter!Reader, Lena Luthor x Daughter!Reader, Alex Danvers x Niece!Reader.

Word count: 1382.

“Uh.” You complain as soon as you walk in the front door. Kara has left her shoes, purse and laptop on the floor and you almost tripped over it. You kick all of it aside, and throw your backpack close to them. “Momma, are you home?”

There’s no answer. You know she’s probably on another Supergirl call. Lena went on a business trip the day before, and you two promised you could go a whole week without her. Now you’re looking around and you don’t know how she believed you guys. It’s day one without her and the house already looks this clutter.

You shoot Kara a text saying she needs to pick up some food on her way back. She texts back “🔥🔥🔥🌬💨🍕👍🏻”. Great, she’ll put out some fire and get pizza.

In the meantime you decide to organize the house. Less than two minutes later you give up. What’s the point, anyway? It’ll be a mess tomorrow, and your mom’s only coming back in a few days.

It doesn’t take too long before Kara flies through the window with some bags and four pizza boxes.

“There’s nothing in here but ice cream, candy bars, cookie dough and canned frosting.” You say looking inside the bags. “Have you ever shopped before?”

“Hey! I thought you would like only eating sweets while your mom is out.” She shoves everything inside the fridge not looking at it, and definitely not organizing them inside. “But if you want, I can go out and buy some kale.”

“Ok, no need to be mean.” You open one pizza box and start eating right away. She helps herself with some slices too. You’ll never get tired of seeing her inhaling the food.

“Should I also make some tater tots?” She asks, picking the package on the fridge. Four boxes of pizza should be enough, but you know she was on some Supergirl call and that means she always comes back home starving.

“’Is that a real question?”

“No.” She says putting them on the fryer. She looks back at you on the other side of the counter. “So, do you want to watch a movie tonight?”

“Can’t. I have a French test tomorrow I haven’t studied for.”

“BOOOO.” Kara puts her hands in front of the mouth to echo the sound and you roll your eyes while laughing.

“Why are you booing me? Thought you would want me to study.”

“Not at the expense of watching a movie with your dear momma.” She eats another three slices while you think about an answer.

“Man, you’re really lonely without mom, aren’t you?” You laugh at her, and she furrows her brows in response.

“BOOOO.” She does it again. “Go ahead, leave me too. I don’t care.”

It’s day four. You’ve basically been living on pizza and sweets. You can’t really blame it on Kara because there was a crisis with an alien, and the past two days she was barely home, which means you were kind of living alone.

Then you come home from school, and you hear a loud noise in the laundry room, so you run there with your super speed.

“Oh my god, what have you done?” You look around and the place is exploding in bubbles and water and your momma is in the middle pressing every button she can see to make it stop.

“Oh Rao, kid. Make it stop.” She asks desperately and you make your way inside to reach the washing machine.

“Aren’t you supposed to be the grown up here?” You ask, pulling the cable out of the plug. Everything stops, but the whole room is still full of soap.

“You be the grown up!” She throws soap at your face and you nearly swallow it. You’re shocked.

“No!” You pick up some bubbles on the floor and throw at her too. “You be the grown up!”

“You know what would be fun?” Kara holds your hands to make you stop. She has the craziest smile on her face. “If we looked into each other’s eyes and wished to be each other at the same time, and we could totally pull a Freaky Friday.”

“Mhm. You just want an excuse to go around acting really immature.” You roll your eyes.

“So?”

“So, we don’t have to pull a Freaky Friday for that, do we?” You say pointing at your situation at that moment and Kara laughs.

“KARA? What’s with all the mess?” You hear Alex's voice coming from the front door and you both get a little desperate.

“Clean it up.” She says almost leaving through the door and you pull her back inside.

“No, it’s your mess. You clean it up.” You complain.

“It was your clothes I was trying to wash.” She says and you both look at the door to see Alex there. She shoots a disappointed look at you both.

“Honestly, I expected more from you.” She sighs turning on her heels. You and Kara both follow her to the kitchen.

“I’m trying my best, but there’s always an emergency and…” Kara starts.

“I didn’t mean you. I obviously meant your daughter, who is much more mature.” Alex puts a casserole on top of the counter. “Kelly made you guys some homemade dinner. We figured you’ve been surviving on pizza and potstickers.”

“Potstickers!” Kara yells. “I knew I was forgetting something.”

“You know, kid, you can always come stay with us these next few days.” Alex looks at you in pity, and you try to hide a laugh.

“I’m ok, aunt Alex.” Kara is pouting behind Alex and you smile. “It’s not that bad, we just had a little incident.”

“Ok, ok.” Alex looks around. The house is a mess, it does not look like just a little incident, but she doesn’t push further. “The offer stands in case you change your mind. And Kara, please, you’re the mom here. Could you, please, just… Just please be the mom. Ok? Just… Please.”

“In my defense we are Freaking Friday right now, so she is actually the mom.” Kara says making you laugh, but that makes Alex roll her eyes.

“Just don’t kill the kid or Lena will kill you, ok?” She turns on her heels and leaves. You look at Kara.

“You clean up the laundry room.”

“You meme the meme room.” It’s her answer and the only thing you can do is laugh again. You end up helping her clean the laundry room, and then the house. It’s not that bad ‘cause you’re using your super speed and flying around the house for the first time and blasting loud music with your momma.

“See.” Kara looks around very proud when you two are finished. “I knew we could do this.” She hugs you sideways. “We’re both very mature young women.”

“Young women?” You laugh. “Really? I mean, how old are you now? 70?”

“I don’t look a day over 35.” She laughs and you agree.

“You’re right. You don’t.”

When Lena comes back from her trip, you and Kara have finally figured out a way to live without destroying the entire house. As for food, you’re still mainly living on tater tots and potstickers, but it’s ok because you know Lena is going to make you eat vegetables as soon as she is back in the kitchen.

“Oh wow, look at this house!” Lena says putting her bags down. You and Kara run to the front door to welcome her. “I’m so very proud of you two.”

“Aw thanks, love. But it was all me.” Kara says running to hug your mom and you roll your eyes.

“Come here, babygirl.” Lena opens her free arm and you hug her too. She kisses your head, then Kara’s mouth. “I’m so glad you guys could do this. I have so many more trips planned.”

“Oh Rao, please no. You can never leave us again!” You say hugging her with a little more strength that you planned.

“Please don’t make me be the responsible adult again.” Kara asks on your side.

“Please don’t make me make her be the responsible adult!” You pout and Lena laughs at your reaction.

“Feels good to be home.”

[ilooklikeaburntchickenugget]

Hi, I love your writing. I really want to make a request where the readers have eating disorder but works in the modeling industries. She is like dating Gerard, but they were in a super big fight because of her eating disorder, as well as her constant traveling for fashion weeks, and at the end, they make up, and Gerard is helping her getting better, and stuff like that. I really love your writing, can you please write one? THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!

Title: Poisons A/N: I actually got two requests for something like these. The endings for both requests were slightly different, but here’s the first one. I didn’t really edit it, just because I haven’t updated much content in forever, but here you go! Pairing: Gerard Way (probably late Black Parade era) x Model!F!Reader Word count: 3,170 Warnings: Eating disorder, swearing, angst, drama, there’s just a lot.

Okay, so this was not what Gerard expected to come home to.

The man expected to go back to his New York apartment, shared with his gorgeous girlfriend, and for everything to be perfect. Well maybe not perfect, but perfect in Gerard’s mind.

He wanted nothing more than to just eat some chips, not having eaten in 16 hours due to his flight and partial distaste to airplane food, and curl up with his girlfriend, hugging every inch of her curves.

Instead he came home to a house that was nearly empty of any food, only a few protein shakes resided in the large fridge. This was already a huge warning sign Gerard looked out for. His mind attempted to justify itself, thinking that maybe he was jumping to the worst of the worst conclusions. No, you were probably just traveling so much that you weren’t at home enough to actually buy food.

He sighed, moving to one of the cabinets he knew the take out menus were hidden in. Opening it up, he picked up one of the cheap paper menus covered in dust, shaking it with his hand to get it off. Great, these hadn’t been touched in months.

After debating mentally between Chinese and Italian, he moved to your bedroom, in hopes to finally see the love of his life after months of being absent on tour. There you were, peacefully sleeping in bed. Jetlag, he knew.

He carefully removed his shoes, moving to his closet to change his airplane clothes to more comfortable ones. Climbing into the warm bed beside you, he placed his hands on your hips as he always had. His initial smile soon turned into a frown.

Even under the large hoodie you were wearing he could feel the painful outlines of your ribs. Grimacing to himself, he heard a small sigh fall from your lips. “Gee?” You coarsely called out.

“Mhm,” He hummed back, kissing the top of your head despite the pure disappointment towards you that coarse through his veins.

“What’re you doing? Weren’t you supposed to be gone for another week?” You asked again, still half asleep.

“The guys and I decided to cancel the last week where we were just supposed to travel, I missed you too much.” He smiled lightly, moving your hair to the side to kiss your neck.

“Mmm,” You hummed quietly, your consciousness growing back. Within seconds realization hit you, your eyes internally going wide, not wanting to show anything to Gerard, and you pulled away from him slightly.

“Babe,” He sighed, “We’re not doing this again.” “Doing what again?” You tried to pretend to not understand what he was saying.

“You’re a gorgeous, talented model,” He began with a soft smile, “But don’t go into acting, you’re not good at it.” “Gee, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You fired back.

“Take off your hoodie,” He insisted, “Now.” “Gerard, what the fuck?” You scoffed, “Take off my hoodie?” “You heard me,” He stated, “Take it off.” “Why would I take it off?” You scrowled.

“So I can confirm that you haven’t been eating like you’re supposed to.”

“Gerard, please-” You begged, now falling off your pedestal of lies. He sighed heavily, rolling his eyes.

“Why haven’t you?” He asked, looking at you, “What has caused you not to eat again? I thought we were over this.”

“I don’t think that’s your problem.” You snapped. You rarely if ever did so, but this was only further confirmation that you hadn’t eaten in a couple of days. You were cranky.

“Damn right it is my problem.” He sat up next to you, his face had gone completely serious. There were traces of anger in his eyes, his pulsing veins along his muscular arms told you all you needed to know. He wasn’t only infuriated with your habit, he was disappointed.

A word you hated. You absolutely hated. The way it sounded, the meaning, how it made you feel. “Please,” You begged him, your once bright eyes gray from the torture you had put yourself through. “Please what?” He asked, his tone still somewhat harsh.

“Just don’t be mad.” You pleaded. You could see his eyes scan over your face, looking for any signs that you were lying. He found none.

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes to clear his head he nodded lightly. “Alright,” He said barely letting out a breath, “But you need to tell me everything.”

And you did. Most of it at least. You explained how your insecurities resettled themselves in your mind, starting the moment he left for Tour. You talked about how you were getting more gigs and all due to your tinier size. You explained how skin and bones was basically the new trend.

He sat and listened to you. And he believed it, because he knew it was true. But naturally, he also was a human lie detector. Especially with you.

“Okay,” He began, “And what else?” So maybe that one small part your left out was something that you really didn’t want to admit. Gerard had this strong distaste for most of your model “friends”, ya know, the ones who are naturally tiny and eat salads 24/7, never genuinely enjoying a single meal. The one’s who flashed their designer shit everywhere they went, who posted bikini photos every other day and managed to somehow photoshop themselves into complete Barbie dolls. It made Gerard’s blood boil, he never liked you hanging out with them. Because are them you were not Y/N, you couldn’t be. And that made you even more secure.

“There’s nothing else.” You lied. He looked you in the eyes, waiting another moment.

“I’m gonna give you one more chance to tell me the truth,” He sighed, “What else?” “I said nothing.” Your tone was adamant. He rolled his eyes in disbelief.

“You lied to me,” He began, “You just fucking lied to me. We’ve been over this how many times?” “I didn’t fucking lie to you,” You stuck up for yourself, moving further away from him.

“Another lie, damn Y/N.” He sighed, “We’ve been dating for three years, and you still can’t trust me.” “I do trust you, Gerard.” “Then why are you lying to me?” He asked, his tone going to a much harsher pitch.

“Ya know what?” You said, grabbing your pillow violently, getting up from the bed, Gerard looking at you with no emotion. “Fuck you.” You stated.

“Are you seriously gonna leave?” He asked, rolling his eyes, “Immature.” “No, I’m going to the fucking couch where I don’t have to sleep next to a complete dick.” You fired back, going into your closet and grabbing a spare blanket. “You didn’t mean that.” He scoffed.

“Then why the fuck did I say it?” You marched out of the bedroom, flipping him off to which you heard a sarcastic laugh.

This was far from how you had planned his return. You were gonna stock the fridge and pantry, ya know, not give him a chance to think you weren’t eating, and probably have dinner made. You would eat a small portion, making the excuse you had a big lunch with your friends, and bam! Everything would be okay.

But naturally, shit didn’t work out and after numerous insults thrown at each other you found yourself on the couch silently sobbing. You and Gerard had never gone that far, ever. This fight was beyond messy, it was a complete dumpster fire.

You wanted no more than to apologize to him, but you also wanted an apology from him. You should’ve told him everything, that was on you. But he pushed your buttons and he knew what he was doing. It only took 15 minutes, before you heard his soft footsteps coming from the bedroom, and his warm arms wrapping around you, to which his shoulder became one to cry on. His slow and soft coos calming you down, as he began apologizing over and over again, clearly more mad at himself at this point. “Sugar, I’m so so sorry,” He apologized, “I was just really upset.” “I know,” You sniffled, “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have called you a dick.” You looked up at him. “Well, I was kinda being one.” He lightly smiled, to which you giggled in his chest. “Just promise me, you’ll start eating again.” “Gee-” You were about to make an excuse when you were interrupted.

“Babe, you have to.” He began, “Remember what your manager said last time?” You sighed, remembering. Yep, they would place you right in a psych ward. “So here’s what’s gonna happen. We’re not gonna tell anyone, but I need you to start eating, okay? We’ll go gradually, start small and build up. Together, okay?” You nodded, placing you head on his shoulder.

“I love you,” You smiled, looking up at him. “I love you too.” He smiled right back down.

-Six months later-

"Gee, that’s too much salt!” You scolded as he put a tablespoon of salt not a teaspoon into the cookie dough you were making.

“Oops.” He looked down to which you smiled lightly. You took a chunk of it placing it into your mouth, and he did the same. You couldn’t help but gag at how much salt was in it. “Salty.” He admitted, and you lightly nudged him.

“Yeah, ya dork.” You smiled. “That’s what happens when you add too much salt.” He lightly laughed, wrapping his hands around your waist from behind and placing his head on your shoulder.

“So what’re we gonna do to fix it.” “Nothing,” You said, “We could like, triple the batch, but that would be way too much.”

“Don’t forget we’re seeing the guys tonight,” He smiled, “They’re gonna eat this shit up.” You sighed, nodding.

“Maybe it isn’t such a bad idea after all.” The two of you spent the next half hour adding more of every ingredient, thankful that your apartment was stocked with food to use.

Carefully, you placed as many trays as you could into the oven, closing it and setting the timer. Giving Gerard a quick peck on the lips, he went off to review some emails as you checked your phone. Of course, the group chat was buzzing.

You sighed as you open the text chain reluctantly, scrolling through only to see your name pop up numerous times. “Y/N, where have you been?” “Yeah, fr, we have been out to lunch with you in forever.” “Why are you ignoring us?” “Really? Now you’re being a fake friend.” “Guys, I’m okay.” You simply responded, “Just really busy.”

“Uh huh, you’ve been doing boutique stuff for months.” “Literally nothing even big.” “Not since that Prada show.” “It’s Gerard, isn’t it.”

And just like that, you were about to light these girls up. Gerard was the only one willing, and quite frankly able, to get you out of the huge hole you had dug yourself into. And damn, now these bitches (I hate misogynistic terms against women, but I think it may fit here) were really gonna act like the good guys. “Don’t bring Gerard into this.” You simply responded. “It has to be him.” “He’s not even worth it.” “You could have any guy in the world, and you chose him.” “He’s way out of your league, and you’re still on your knees for him. Smh.” You knew damn well they were trying to get to you. None of these girls had had any true romance, only summer flings with football players, actors, and singers. Granted, Gerard was a singer, but he made good music. He was an artist at his core, singing was just apart of that art. It didn’t take you more than a moment to remove yourself from the group chat, and block all those girls. The real fake friends. The timer went off, which startled you a bit, but placing your phone down with a heavy sigh, you turned it off, to check out the cookies. The top row was done, which you were going to take out. Naturally, the tsunami of inappropriate texts from who you would once call your “girlfriends” was still flooded in your mind, and like a complete idiot, you reached in, touching and grabbing the sheet. With you bare hands.

“Shit!” You yelped, dropping the pan on the open oven and rushing to put your hand under cold water.

“Y/N?” You heard Gerard rush in. You looked up at him, and judging your hand under water, and the cookie sheet which had clearly gone through it, he took a slight sigh, first going to examine your hand. “You alright?” You nodded despite the tears forming in your eyes.

It wasn’t even the burn that hurt. It was the fact that you knew you let those girls get to you so easily, and the just embarrassed yourself in front of Gerard. You knew he didn’t find it embarrassing at all, it was an honest mistake. But still, it embarrassed the shit out of you. “Baby,” He cooed, moving your head up with his fingers under your chin to see the tears that were now slowly cascading down your red cheeks, “It’s okay.” He said lightly. You nodded, placing your head into his chest and sniffling a bit. “What happened.” “I was just distracted,” You admitted, “Forgot the oven mitt.” He nodded, holding you for a moment longer before he knew you were okay, and going to pick up the mess. “Gee, I can clean it up, I made it-” “No, no, please, just worry about your hand, okay, sugar?” You nodded, attending back to it.

The bright red mark across your hand didn’t want to budge, which you were fine with, considering it didn’t hurt as much, just stung a bit. He managed to clean up all the cookies pretty fast, putting them on the stove top to cool, and quickly going back to you. Giving you a kiss on the top of your head, it was his way of messaging he didn’t want to push the topic. But if you wanted to talk he’d be there to listen. It wasn’t but a few hours later that the guys came over. The mistake from earlier was long forgotten, other than the mark on your hand.

The guys were honestly some of your best friends, just like they were Gerard’s. They truly cared about you, just as much if not more than you cared about them. All of them knew about your struggles, and they were honestly your number one cheerleaders.

So the looks on their faces when they saw you healthy again was one that you could not pay for. It was definitely a lot of pride in you for doing it, and it made you feel even better about your decision to get healthy again.

Honestly, you loved the relaxes atmosphere of just hanging out. Sitting next to Gerard with some water, as he drank a Diet Coke, and some of the guys had beers, some opted otherwise. You could theoretically drink as well, but you didn’t want your boyfriend to ever feel alone or strange not drinking alcohol, considering his rough past with it. So you typically opted for a non alcoholic beverage.

It wasn’t until after the guys were gone and you were in the shower that Gerard figured out what was wrong. Your phone kept buzzing, going off constantly. He had never once checked your phone without your permission. There was a huge element of trust in your relationship, and he never felt that there was a reason to. He knew your passcode, you two had openly shared each others in the case one of you needed to use the others phone, but when he picked up yours and saw all those girls name pop up he scoffed.

He knew he probably shouldn’t have done it, but he opened your phone, scrolling through the messages. Some of them you had yet to block, and they were obnoxious. He went into the group chat where the messages were flooding, reading from the beginning of the day until now.

Pissed was an absolute understatement. If it wasn’t for the sound of the shower you were in keeping him aware of his surrounding, he probably would have smashed your phone. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, he placed it face down on the counter right where it was, resorting back to your bedroom in some hope of calming down before you got out, not making anything too obvious.

Everything was fine, completely normal. The two of you laying in bed together, doing your typical night time routine of reading a bit, maybe watching something, it really depended. You could feel how tense Gerard was, even by your head just leaning on his shoulder. His muscles flexed together, twisted into tight knots. You weren’t sure what had him so stressed, there wasn’t a need for him to be, right? “Babe?” You asked, to which he quietly hummed, “Are you alright?” You had caught on quickly, like you always had. And now he had cursed himself for looking at those messages. Transparency, he remembered, transparency.

“Honestly,” He sighed putting his book down, “I- I- I saw those messages.” He stumbled on his own words. You gave him a confused look, “The ones the girls sent.” You let out a sigh. Oh shit, he thought, thinking the worst of the worst. “Please don’t listen to them,” You insisted, “You know you’re not the reason for any problem in my life?” “Of course not,” He scoffed, “You’re totally fine. It’s just, how they treated you that bothered me.” “Gee-” “Y/N, we’ve talked about this.” He turned to you, “I’m not a controlling person, I try my hardest not to be. But damn, those girls are complete poisons. They’re hurting you, they’re doing far more harm than good. And I hope that doesn’t make me sound like a manipulator or anything, but even you’ve admitted you’re a lot different around them.” You sighed and nodded.

“I know, I just-” You began, “I’ve spent so many years of my life surrounding myself with people like them that it’s hard for me to know what to do without that, ya know?” He nodded.

“You don’t need a bunch of model friends thought to still be a great model.” You nodded.

“I’ll cut everything off with them in the morning, okay?” “Babe, you don’t need to rush it,” He said, “I mean, sure, the sooner the better, but this is your timing okay?” You nodded.

“Do you think everything will be okay?” You asked him next.

“Well, after they very possibly blame you for everything over text and try to put you down a psychological spiral, because that’s what they do, then yes, everything should be okay.” He smiled to which you nudged him. “You’re making this so much easier.” You sarcastically said, “I don’t even know why I ask you.” “Because you love me.”

[harrywritingsbyme]

2, 26, and 27 ;)

The one where Harrys being a mad and horny devil and younger!y/n is being a tease

Based off of this ask

Prompt List

2. “You wanna say that again?”

26. “Are you sure you wanna do this?”

27. “Watch your mouth.”

A/N: Little bit of Dom!Harry, some Younger!Y/N, and it hasn’t been proofread🙃. Enjoy😋

Harry had been invited to dinner with Jeff and a few higher ups from his label. So naturally he insisted that you went with him. You absolutely hated these dinners just as much as Harry did, but you sucked it up and decided to go for Harry. The only thing that made it slightly better was the fact that there was food, and even then, it wasn’t enough to make you enjoy yourself. Not to mention the fact that you had only one thing in common with everyone at the table, that being Harry. Besides that, you had zero common ground. On top of that, you were the youngest person at the table. You were even younger than Harry by a few years.

Now it wasn’t so crazy where it would be completely wrong on every possible level, but just enough to make Harry feel the need to protect you and scowl at every male or female who looked at you in a way that made him uncomfortable; even more than a boyfriend normally would. Even though you were also in your 20’s and were very much capable of taking care of yourself. Despite this fact, Harry never failed to bring the slight age gap up in every activity of your daily lives. Never in a demeaning way, but more of a joking/‘I’m older and wiser, and you should listen to me’ type of way.

Somehow this control Harry took at times also translated into the bedroom. And it worked, very well.

You absolutely loved it when Harry took control and just ravished you any way he wanted (of course establishing boundaries and limits way beforehand). Now this didn’t at all mean that you didn’t love it when he took his time and practically worshiped your body. You could practically burst just thinking about those moments. It also didn’t mean that you haven’t taken control in the bedroom either. You have and you throughly enjoyed watching Harry beg for you to let him cum, it gave him a taste of his own medicine. Plus, it was so hot to see him beg for you. You loved the rush it gave you to have Harry restrained against the bed, waiting for your next move, hoping you’d let him release. But if you had to choose between being in control or being under his control, you choose the latter any day. It was just something about calling him daddy and following his orders that sent you off the rails.

It not only made you go crazy, but it also made Harry almost lose his mind in some cases. He loved watching you follow his orders, getting on your knees in front of him just from a single look. Or simply bending over the arm of the couch without him having to tell you when you know you misbehaved. He couldn’t get enough of you. He loved how you were down for almost anything (some things were just too much for you, even for Harry). How you were filthy when it’s just the two of you, but when you were with other people, you switched to your sweet, innocent self. Even when you were with others, how you still managed to bring out that side of you that only he had the privilege of seeing could make him crazy. And it did. You riled him up so much that that there were numerous times where he had to drag you both to the bathroom and take care of his swollen cock.

Whether it was you calling him daddy in his ear, or your soft hand undoing his pants underneath the table. Even you giving him a soft kiss on the cheek every once in a while at different functions got him worked up. Just like tonight. Except this time he was a bit more frustrated than usual. Thanks to you of course.

Now there were many reasons to his frustration. The first being that the nonstop sex you guys were having was brought to an abrupt end. See, you had just gotten back home from a business trip that took you away for about a week. So you and Harry were in a sense trying to make up for lost time, and then some. So you decided to take two days off to spend with Harry. But as the time went on, two turned into three and now four. The two of you didn’t leave the house for almost four days.

Your routine turned into this:

Wake up, have a good first round of morning sex, get in the shower, have another round of sex in the shower, cuddle up in the bed or on the couch and watch whatever you could find on Netflix, have sex again on the couch or in bed, cook dinner together, eat dinner, then end the night off with a ‘final’ round of sex.

“We’re running low on supplies” you mumble bending over to look into the nearly empty fridge. Out of the blue, Harry strolls into the kitchen and finds you bent over the fridge. He seized the opportunity and he delivers a heavy swat to your ass. “Harry!!” You screech, coming up from your previous position to face him. “That hurt” you pout, rubbing over the stinging spot on your backside.

“Need daddy t’make yeh feel better?” He rasps, pulling your into his chest. His arms wrap around you and his hands go straight to your ass, kneading the supple flesh in his large hands.

“No, I need food” you huff, deciding to not indulge him any further. Harry has other plans though. He guides you over to the kitchen island and before you have a chance to rebuke him, you’re already being hoisted onto the counter.

“I already have something I want to eat” he spreads your legs and attaches his lips to your neck.

“No” you close your legs, trying to stop Harry from continuing. You do this only for him to spread your legs again. Which leads you to snap your legs shut. The both of you continue in this pattern for a little longer until you push him away completely.

“Baby” he slumps, pouting in your direction.

“We can have sex when I get back home.” You keep your hands on his shoulders and you hop off of the counter. You make your way to the front door with a now mopey Harry training behind you.

“Not even a taste. Y’not going to let daddy have a taste?” He tries to coax you into letting him have his way

“I’m not going to be long” you chuckle at his eagerness. You shrug on your coat and you slip on your worn out sneakers. “I have no idea how you survive on tour. Your like a horny teenager” you tease grabbing your purse and keys.

“Well first of all, I’m a grown man. Older than you to be exact. Second, it’s easier on tour because you’re not around.” He states matter of factly. You roll your eyes at his comments and you make your way out of the door.

“So you’re blaming your horniness on me now?”

“Yes, yes I am.” He reply’s curtly. You turn around and you press a quick peck to his pillow soft lips.

“Love you” you mumble against his lips.

“Love you too” he sighs giving your hips a slight squeeze. Before he can even try to deepen the kiss, you pull away from him and you make your way to your car. You hop in and you back out of your parking space, leaving Harry leaning against the door looking soft and cute, yet utterly fuckable. During your entire ride to the grocery store, the image of a needy Harry lingered in your head.

When you make it to the store, you dash inside, wanting to get in and get out so you could go home. As you’re walking into the next aisle, you feel your phone vibrate in your pocket. You pull it out to see that it’s a text from Harry.

Harry: A few people from the label invited us out to dinner. Want to go?

You thought it would be good to get out of the house for the night instead of watching Netflix in bed.

Y/N: Sure! I’ll be home soon.

You throw your phone into your bag and you zoom around the store grabbing the last items you had on your list. You surprisingly make it through checkout fairly quickly and you make your way back home. With the help of Harry you manage to get everything put away in enough time for you to get ready.

“Y’want me to hop in with you. Save time and water?” Harry rations. But you don’t fall for it at all.

“If we get in this shower together, we won’t make it out of the house.” you shoot down his proposal, leaving him alone in the bedroom. You take a quick shower and you rummage through your closet for something to wear.

“Y’should wear this” Harry leans against the door to your closet with a hanger dangling from his finger. The dress on the hanger was in no way appropriate for the event what so ever. It was the dress that never failed to make Harry want to drag you away from any party.

“Absolutely not.” You grab the hanger from him and you put it back where it belonged. You eventually settle on a simple dress that you could just throw on. You’re surprisingly able to finish getting ready with a few minuets to spare; mainly due to the fact that you made Harry go downstairs and wait for you. When you come down the stairs, you see Harry sitting on the couch mindlessly looking at his phone. The clicking of your heels against the floor, causes his attention to shift over to you.

“Now if you don’t let me bend you over the arm of this couch, it would be so cruel” he pleads with you.

“As soon as we get home I’m all yours.” you wrap your arms around his neck and his circle around your waist.

“You better be. Gimme a kiss” he puckers his lips and you give him a few kisses.

“Let’s go, don’t want to be late” you smooth your hands over the lapels of his jacket. You give him one last kiss on the cheek and you pull away from him. You grab your jacket from it’s hook by the door and the two of you make your way out to dinner.

The dinner goes the way it always does. You sitting next to Harry, not talking much while he talks to everyone else about his upcoming projects. The dinner surprisingly goes by faster than usual. You and Harry having your own little conversations away from everyone else at the table helped when it came to passing the time. You were impressed at how Harry was able to contain all of the pent up sexual frustration from the day. Well, you were impressed at first.

Now to add onto his sexual frustration, you were starting to frustrate Harry. While everyone was ordering desert, Harry decided to settle on a cup of tea. This opened up a big can of worms that you were going to have to pay for.

“How do you deal with an old man like him?” One of his colleagues jokes, directing the question at you. You thought it was the perfect Opportunity tease Harry a little, and get in on the conversation.

“Well, I wouldn’t say it’s that hard dealing with old man styles over here” you begin turning towards him with a smirk across your face. You look over at him and you see an unamused expression spread across his face. “Aww, is my old man mad” you laugh and you lean over to kiss the corner of his mouth, but he pulls away from you. Causing you and the entire table to erupt with laughter.

“You’re a grumpy old guy” You turn your attention from the conversation over to Harry who’s sitting quietly next to you.

“You wanna say that again?” He grits through his teeth, planting a firm grip onto your exposed thigh under the table.

“Say what, that you’re a grumpy old man” you continue to tease, deciding to let Harry see how it felt.

“Are you sure you want to do this? Because I suggest that you watch your mouth” he leans closer to your face. You roll your eyes at him and you see his eyes darken. Not only was he rock hard from the entire day, but he was also irritated by you. It wasn’t what you said that frustrated him, it was the fact that you weren’t listening to him at all.

“I’m not a little girl, and you can’t tell me what to do” you decide to stand your ground.

“Your mine, and I’d shut up if I were you, you’re already in hot water.” Harry growls lowly at you.

“Make me” and that’s what completely threw Harry over the edge. He takes a deep breath and he leans over to you, his breath fanning over your skin.

“I want you to go into the bathroom and wait for me. Right now.” You freeze in place and you realize that you were in some trouble. You excuse yourself from the table and you do as Harry told you. You wait for about five minuets, which seems like forever when you are awaiting a punishment. Harry bursts through the door and locks it behind him. He strolls over to you and traps your body between his and the counter behind you.

“Y’think you could just talk t’me like that and not get punished?” He asks you, gripping onto your chin go look at him. You shake your head no through his grip. “Use your words” he says sharply.

“No” you whisper through your shaky breath.

“Get on your knees” he instructs. You follow his orders and you kneel in front of him. He begins to undo his pants. He pushes his pants down his legs and his cock springs to life. It looks like he could just burst. His cock was an angry reddish purple color. You could see a bead of precum coming from his engorged head. He grips his cock and he jerks himself a few times before pulling your head back. He lines his cock up with your mouth and he maintains eye contact with you. Keeping his eyes on you, he pushes his cock past your lips.

“Fuck” he growls down at you. He gains a firm grip onto the back of your head and he wastes no time in thrusting into your mouth. You feel his cock going all the way down your throat. The head of him going so deep that you gag around him. “Old man? Couldn’t fuck this pretty mouth if it was baby” he pants, continuing to thrust into you. Your hand moves up to his thigh, squeezing him so that you could stay in place. All you could hear were the wet sounds of Harrys cock pistoning into your mouth and the pants leaving his mouth. You swallow around him, causing your throat to tighten up, resulting in you squeezing his cock. “M’gonna cum” Harry growls, continuing to thrust into your mouth. You move your hand from his thigh to his balls and go squeeze them in your hand. All of a sudden, Harry presses your head into him, stilling his hips, feeling his release coming. Then you feel spurts if his cum pouring into your mouth. He shoots rope after rope of his cum down your throat, finally getting the release he’d been in need of all day. He catches his breath and pulls out of your mouth. He looks down at your kneeling figure and a big smirk spreads across his face when he sees your smeared lipstick and watery eyes. He tucks himself back onto his pants and fixes his appearance in the mirror above you.

“Maybe that’ll make you think twice before talking back” he whispers, looking into your watery eyes. He notices a drop of his cum gathering in the corner of your mouth, and he swipes his thumb across the area, collecting it onto his finger. You part your lips for him, but he pushes it past his own instead. Your face falls, causing him to chuckle at your reaction before opening the door. “Don’t take too long in here” he says walking out of the bathroom as if nothing ever happened, leaving you alone on your knees on the floor.

Masterlist

[atths--twice]

Chapter Four 

Mid June 1996

Fox took off his suit jacket and tossed it, not caring where it landed. His tie was next and he dropped it as he unbuttoned the top buttons on his shirt. Walking into the kitchen, he paused as he saw a note on the dining room table.

Fox,

There are some casseroles in the fridge. Mrs. Puckett made you one of her famous apple pies and insisted I buy some vanilla ice cream when I brought it over, so there’s some in the freezer. I hope your day wasn’t too stressful, although I know it most likely was.

Love, Dana

It was the love that kept him rooted to the spot, ignoring the growling of his stomach. He stared at the word and despite the horrible day he had, he could not help but smile.

Two weeks after Samantha had let her in, he had waited outside the shop until everyone left the knitting group. Knocking on the door, she had silently allowed him inside, her hand grazing his arm. As they drank their tea, he had pushed a key with a teal ribbon looped through it, across the table to her.

“What is this?” she had asked, staring at him.

“I… I know it’s forward-”

“Incredibly so. Two months we’ve known each other. We’re not… we don’t…” She had shaken her head and he had sighed with a nod.

“I know. And I’m not asking anything from you. I just…” He had sighed again and ran a hand across his mouth. “I’m not usually a trusting person, but I trust you.” He had stared at her, trying to tell her so much, but the words getting caught in his throat. “I can’t explain it, but I trust you.” She had stared at him and slowly nodded, her hand covering his and he had grasped her fingers like a lifeline.

So, for the past few months she had come into his apartment like a fairy ninja- small but mighty. She had left him encouraging notes, items she had knitted- her mind obviously needing to shut off for a while, and food. So much food, that sometimes he had to take it to his neighbors as he would never eat it all before it spoiled.

As the preparation for the trial began to consume him, she had become his saving grace, showing up when even he had not known he needed her.

Bringing over a movie, popcorn, and candy one night, they had sat silently in the dark, her hand in his, her thumb stroking in slow circles.

One afternoon, after a long night of insomnia, he had woken to find a small bouquet of daffodils in a vase on his dining room table.

To brighten even the darkest day, the accompanying note had said and he had smiled, his fingers tracing over her words. 

One night he had gotten up, once more unable to sleep and intended to take a drive to help clear his head. When he opened the door however, he had found a brown paper bag. Inside there had been two boxes of tea and a black tea kettle in a box. One box of tea had been flavored and the other only chamomile.

To help you sleep, she had written on the box and he had shaken his head as he brought the items inside, wondering when she had been there and why she had not brought it inside.

He had unboxed and washed the tea kettle, filled it with water and took two bags of chamomile from the box. Pacing as he waited for the water to boil, he had thought about calling her, but decided to wait until morning.

He drank his tea slowly after it had cooled slightly. Taking out the needles and yarn, hoping the combination of the two would help, he had knitted a few rows before his eyes had begun to grow heavy. Drinking the last swallow of tea, he had set his knitting down and put the mug in the sink. He made his way to the bedroom and fell into bed with a sigh, finally able to sleep.

During all of the stress and worry, she had been there, helping to keep him sane.

Shaking his head as he set her note down, he walked into the kitchen to get a piece of the apple pie Mrs. Puckett had made. She was an amazing cook and when he had the time again, he wanted to ask her for some recipes.

Opening the fridge, it sat front and center, causing his mouth to water. Taking it out, he placed it on the counter and took out a knife, setting it on the counter to grab a plate, foregoing dinner for a slice of something sweet.

“Really? Without me?”

“Jesus Christ!” he yelled, not having heard the door opening.

“Sorry,” Dana said with a smirk and he shook his head, his heart pounding.

“I didn’t hear you come in. Maybe I should rethink that key I gave you.” He narrowed his eyes at her and she hummed.

“I don’t think you really mean that.” She opened the freezer and took out the vanilla bean ice cream, placing it beside the pie. He smiled at her choice, as she always chose the most decadent of brands, insisting that ice cream was not the place where one should save money.

“I don’t mean it. You’ve got me there.” She hummed again as she took out the silverware and ice cream scooper.

“Come on, I’ve been waiting for you to come home so I could have some of this pie.”

“Oh… you’ve been waiting for me?” She stared at him and he knew she had, knowing what today had been. “Right.”

He nodded and lightly rubbed her back before he took down two bowls and cut the pie. She added two scoops of ice cream for each of them, placed spoons inside the bowls, and took them to the table. He poured them each a glass of milk, put the ice cream back in the freezer, and joined her.

They ate and drank in silence, aside from their occasional hums of pleasure. When it was down to the last bit of ice cream, she looked at him and he sighed. Setting his spoon down, he nodded.

“It was hard,” he said quietly. “Hearing my partner talk about that day, hearing her version of events… Even though we were both there, what we saw and experienced was similar, but also different. Our stories line up, but what I remember is slightly altered from hers.”

“What did she say? You can talk about it now as she’s already had her time in the stand?”

“Yeah. I’m up tomorrow. So…”

“I understand.”

“She told them that that day we had been called out, following a lead on a case. We didn’t know there was anyone in the empty building, weren’t sure anyway.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “We had our weapons out, just in case, sweeping the rooms as we cleared them. I didn’t see him. Didn’t…”

And then suddenly he was back there, in that room, hearing the sound of footsteps as everything seemed to slow down. The kid walked in front of him and stopped, a gun in his hand.

Yelling for him to drop it, his partner Eve Lansing, appeared beside him. They both yelled for him to put the gun down but he did not, holding it on them, his eyes scared. His arm swung towards Eve and Fox saw his finger squeezing the trigger.

He stepped in front of her, shielding her and aiming his weapon at the kid. They shot at the same time, the kid’s shot hitting his shoulder and his own hitting the kid’s chest, dropping him to the ground.

“After that moment… it’s a bit hazy. I remember hearing Eve screaming my name, heard her calling in our location, and then the pressure of her hands on me. I don’t remember anything after that until I woke up the next day.” He opened his eyes and looked at her.

Tears were running down her cheeks and her hands were covering her mouth. His leg began to bounce nervously, not knowing what to say. She wiped her eyes and reached for his hand. He grasped it and she shook her head.

“I had no idea,” she whispered. “Why… why did you step in front of her? You… you nearly died.”

“Eve has a husband and a little girl, not even two years old. I couldn’t… she couldn’t grow up without her mom.”

“Oh, Fox.” She reached forward and wrapped her arms around his neck and he held her, closing his eyes once again. “I’m so sorry that happened. So sorry.”

“I didn’t mean to kill him. I would never want that.” He shook his head, tears pricking at his eyes. “But I had to protect her and her family.”

He felt her nod and he held her tighter as they sat in silence, finding comfort in being held.

____________________

He stood on the large porch of his family’s lake house, the September air warm, and took a deep breath as he looked out at the water.

“So... how long are you planning on staying out here?” Samantha asked, setting down a bag of groceries. He turned around and smiled at her.

“I don’t know. Maybe a month?”

“Or as long as you can stand being away from Dana,” she teased and he shrugged, knowing she was right.

“The trial is over and even though it went as I had thought it would, I quit my job. I just couldn’t go back there. These past few months have been hard, despite the positive aspects of it-”

“Like Dana?” She grinned and he nodded with a smile.

“Especially Dana.”

“Ooooo, Fox and Dana sitting in a tree,” she sang and he tried to grab her. She escaped his grasp, laughing as she did.

“How old are you?” he asked and she stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed.

“So when is she coming up?” She started to empty the bags of groceries and he joined her.

“What makes you think she is?” She gave him a look and he laughed.

“Wine, chocolates, these cookies which I know Dana likes… yeah you’re not the only detective. Oh... you know what I mean.” She shook her head and he nodded, taking the cookies from her.

“Friday after work and she’s staying for the weekend.”

“Reeeeeeally?” she drawled with a grin and he shook his head.

“Nothing like that. Stop.”

“What? Really?”

“We’re taking things slow. It’s what I need right now. I don’t want to mess this up. She means a lot to me.”

“I know she does. I can see it.” She smiled and patted his face. “You deserve a woman like her.” He smiled and they continued putting away the groceries.

__________________

“I can’t believe you made this yourself. It’s so good,” Dana said, dipping her bread in the remaining tomato sauce on her plate and putting it in her mouth.

“Are you suggesting I can’t make a meal?” he teased and she smiled.

“I wasn’t directly, but…” He laughed and picked up their plates, taking them to the kitchen. She followed with the other dishes and they quickly cleaned the kitchen.

“How about a glass of wine on the porch?” he asked and she smiled.

“That sounds great. I’m just gonna use the bathroom real quick.”

Pouring them each another glass of wine, he brought them onto the porch and went back inside for a couple of blankets. It was warm during the day, but the nights were sometimes chilly.

When she came out, she was wearing the gray cardigan he knew she loved. The pockets were deep and she had often expressed how all clothes should have similar pockets.

He handed her her glass and a blanket as they sat in the porch chairs. They were quiet as they listened to the water lapping against the dock and the crickets singing around them.

“Dana?”

“Hmm?”

“I wanted to thank you for these past few months.”

“Fox-”

“No. Please let me say this,” he said, setting his glass down and turning towards her. “I didn’t… I knew I was angry and I knew I was taking it out on people who didn’t deserve it, but it’s as if I didn’t know how much until we spoke. Until you shared your story and it seemed okay that I was feeling the way I had been. My therapist told me, but…” He smiled at her and she reached out her hand to him. He took it and stared at her fingers as he ran his thumb over them.

“You saved me, as corny as you may think that sounds, you did. Your kindness and acceptance when others had judged me for what happened, it meant everything to me. You didn’t have to do that, you could have asked me to leave and I would have understood.” He shook his head as he raised her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles as he stared at her. “Thank you, Dana. For seeing me. For saving me.”

“Fox…” She pushed up from the chair and sat on his knee, her arms around his neck. He held her, his heart beginning to repair as she whispered his name, her fingers rubbing his neck.

The first time he kissed her, a bullfrog croaked very close and extremely loud, causing him to jump, and she laughed against his lips.

_______________________

“So you think I can do this?” he asked Mrs. Scully quietly as they stood at the food table decorated with witches and ghosts. They were taking a break from the usual knitting and he was adding his latest baking endeavor- peanut butter and marshmallow squares.

“Yum!” Emilia said, grabbing one and running away. He laughed and looked at Mrs. Scully.

“Seriously? You think I can.”

“I do. And I’ll help with anything you need.”

“Thank you.”

And so a secret project began, one that was incredibly difficult to hide from Dana as she was always with him, but he would not have it any other way.

He took two weeks away from her, telling her he had a vacation planned with his mom and sister. But, there was no vacation planned and instead he went to Mrs. Scully’s home and she showed him how to knit and purl, use different needles, and knit in the round. He was overwhelmed at first, but as he became more sure of himself, he found he could do it.

He knitted until late in the night, finally finding his insomnia good for something. It was not a perfect job, but for his first attempt, he was quite proud of how well he did. Mrs. Scully did have to step in sometimes when he simply could not figure it out. The needles fairly flew, as though enchanted, when they were held in her capable fingers.

He smiled as he watched it taking shape, excited for the moment when he would be able to show Dana what he had accomplished.

He had asked what her favorite color was, which yarn she would pick if she were to give a gift to someone she really cared about. She had smiled and walked to the wall of yarn, taking down the periwinkle.

“This one. I always think I’d like to make something for myself in this color, but…”

“Why haven’t you?”

“I don’t know. It seems too… nice to use on me. Like it should be a special occasion or I don’t know. But I would definitely make someone else a gift with it.” She had smiled and he nodded, touching the soft yarn.

Someone had called to her and when Mrs. Scully had walked by, he asked her to get as many as he would need to make Dana a sweater, because she deserved to have something made for her with that yarn.

It was finished just before Christmas and he was nervous with excitement on Christmas Eve when she came over to spend the evening with him.  

Snow covered her gray knitted cap and her coat when he opened the door, surprised she had not let herself in.

“I couldn’t get to my keys,” she laughed, her hands full of bags of gifts. He took them from her, but still she stood in the doorway.

“Have you become a vampire? Do I need to invite you in?” he teased and she laughed, shaking her head. “Then what…” She pulled something from her pocket and he laughed when she handed it to him.

“No bullfrogs tonight,” he whispered as he held the mistletoe over her head and leaned in to kiss her. She laughed, grabbing handfuls of his shirt, and kissed him back.

Lifting her slightly, he brought her inside, spinning her around and setting her back down. She giggled as she took off her hat and unbuttoned her coat.

“God, it smells good in here,” she said as she took off her coat and he smiled at her dark green sensible sweater.

“I’m glad you think so, I’ve made everything from scratch.”

“Have you really? You’re becoming quite the chef.” He smiled and she kissed him again before walking into the kitchen and sniffing loudly.

They had a delicious meal of ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, and rolls he had made that were nearly lighter than air. She ate three of them and had two helpings of ham before she groaned and leaned back, rubbing at her stomach.

“Seriously, that was delicious.”

“Thank you.” He smiled and she grinned. “Should we open gifts?”

“Yes!” She jumped up and he laughed, watching her take out the gifts from her bags.

Soon there was a little pile before him where he sat cross legged on the floor. A stocking was laid on top and his eyes widened.

“I uh… I wasn’t expecting this.”

“You’re dealing with the Scully women now. You’re lucky I didn’t show up with a tree and decorations. Next year that might be different, so be prepared.”

“Next year?” he asked hopefully and she stared at him.

“I hope so,” she whispered and he nodded happily. “Okay! Stocking first!”

“Then you should get yours too,” he said, nodding to the green stocking hanging from the fireplace. She jumped up excitedly and he laughed. Coming back to join him, they sat staring at each other as they held their stockings.

“Same time?”

“Okay!” She smiled and they dumped out their stockings.

He laughed at the things she had placed inside. A little magnet shaped like a ball of yarn, chocolate kisses, a Rubik’s cube, and two spatulas. She laughed at hers: a bullfrog figurine at full croak, dark chocolate bars, a pack of sticky notes for all the notes she liked to leave, and a lapel pin that said You keep me in stitches with a ball of yarn in the background.

“Thank you,” she said, putting on her pin with a smile.

“And thank you!” He pretended to mix stuff with the spatulas and she laughed.

The other gifts were from her and her mother. Mrs. Scully gave him a cookbook and new plastic mixing bowls. Dana had made him a dark gray scarf and a cap to match. He put them on right away, pulling her close for a kiss when she adjusted the scarf.

“Thank you,” he whispered, kissing her again. She hummed and kissed him before pulling back.

Standing up, he left the room to get her gift, his heart racing. Sitting down in front of her, he handed her the square package wrapped in snowman paper and tied with a green ribbon.

She smiled as she untied the ribbon and slid it off the package. Ripping the paper, he let out a breath, swallowing hard. She lifted the lid and set it down beside her. Peeling back the red tissue paper, she gasped, her eyes lifting to his.

“What? Oh, Fox.” She took the sweater out of the box, shaking her head as she looked at it. “You made this?”

“I did.” He swallowed again and she looked at him with tears in her eyes.

“It’s beautiful.”

“It’s not exactly perfect.”

“It is.”

“You haven’t even seen it all.” He laughed and she shook her head.

“You made it. And it has pockets. I love it.” She stood up and he did too, watching her taking off her sweater, and putting the new one on over her camisole. “You’re sneaky, asking me which yarn I would use for someone else and getting it for me.”

“Hmm,” he hummed, looking at the way it fit her perfectly. “Turn around, let me see.” She did and when she turned back around, her hands were in the pockets and she smiled happily.

“This is so beautiful. I can’t believe you did this.”

“Your mom helped.”

“Sneaky, the both of you.” She smiled and took her hands from her pockets and placed them on his face. “I love it. I… I love you.” He grinned and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“God, Dana. I love you too. So much.”

_____________________

2010

“Hey! What did I tell you about using the wooden spoons?”

“To use the scorched ones.”

“Right! Let’s switch!”

“Dad! Where’s the chocolate sauce?”

“Top shelf, love! The stepstool is in the pantry if you need it.”

“I can reach it, I’m tall enough!”

“Daddy!”

“My love!”

“Whose idea was it to have this many children?” Fox laughed as he turned to look at his wife and she shook her head with a smile.

“I believe it was you, my dear,” he said, pulling her close and kissing her as their oldest daughter made a disgusted sound.

“I don’t remember the last one being part of the deal,” she teased quietly and he remembered how the last one had come to be.

“Blame the bottles of wine and the fact that your mother volunteered to give us a weekend away.” He grinned and she smiled, tracing a heart with her finger, right over the one tattooed on his chest.

“You wear your heart on your sleeve,” Dana had said to him the night after he had asked her to marry him, her fingers tracing the scar from the bullet wound that had led them to one another. “Or outside your chest. I love that about you so much.”

The next day, they had gone to a tattoo shop at her insistence, and he had a heart tattooed over his old scar, asking for it to be teal, like the walls in the yarn shop.

“The color of happiness,” he had said and she had smiled as she watched the teal heart cover the puckered skin.

Every one of their children had asked why he had a blue heart instead of a red one, their small fingers tracing it as they were held in his arms.

“Blue doesn’t always mean sadness, my loves, sometimes blue can be the happiest color in the world.”

“Like Mommy’s part of the shop?” they had asked and he had nodded with a smile.

The little shop had grown over the years as they bought the building next door and turned it into a cafe. The name had changed as well, and was now known as Knit Knacks and Snacks. People came in to eat and then join in on a knitting lesson, taught by Dana’s mother, Dana, or their oldest daughter.

And every night, when the shops were closed, the little family would turn on music and get the Knacks side of the shops ready for the next day. The Snacks side… Well, many new recipes were created after hours with many willing tasters ready to try anything with chocolate.

“Dad! The biscuits!”

“Oof!” He stepped away from Dana and ran to the oven, opening it to find they were the perfect color. “Crisis averted!”

“Hooray!”

He took the biscuits out and everyone came together to the counter. Six plates were laid down, a biscuit placed on each one and cut in half. Cut strawberries in a sugary liquid were scooped onto the biscuits, soaking it in deliciousness. Freshly made whipped cream was placed on top and the plates were distributed.

They all sat down and ate their special Friday night treat, the youngest getting it all over his shirt, his grin red and happy.

Fox looked at all of them, this family of his and he shook his head. Dana took a tissue from the pocket of her periwinkle sweater and wiped their son’s face, with a shake of her head.

“See how handy these pockets have been?” she asked with a smile and he laughed.

His heart was full and he felt happier than he ever imagined was possible. "I love you, Mulder clan." 

"Wuv you too, Bab.” Came their responses, all of their mouths full of strawberry shortcake, and he laughed once more.

[irwen-s]

08

wenrene / hybrid au (bunny!joohyun)

given prompt: in the first few weeks of bringing joohyun home, seungwan has to step out real quick to run an errand while joohyun was sleeping. when she wakes up to an empty house, she hesitantly tries to explore her surroundings, becoming a little more brave with each step bc she has the house to herself. When she spots something that piques her interest, she gets excited, but in her excitement she actually knocks something over and breaks it. Seungwan comes home to a broken item with joohyun nowhere to be seen. When she finds her, joohyun is anxious af. Seungwan is patient and joohyun eventually (but timidly) goes to seungwan and nudges her forehead against Seungwan’s bc this is how bunnies apologize to each other. She doesn’t say a word, her tears are enough for  seungwan to understand

—

trigger warning: mentions of blood, but not explicit.

when joohyun wakes up, the first thing she becomes aware of is that she’s alone.

cold fear washes over her for a few heavy seconds as she stiffens up in anxiety, but the tension slowly leaves her body once she begins to take notice of her surroundings.

for one, the tv in her room is on and playing at a low volume when she knows it hadn’t been when she’d dozed off. and the blankets she’d gone to bed with tucked loosely over herself are now swaddling her up warmly. 

it makes it a little difficult for joohyun to completely disentangle herself from the blankets wrapped around her, even with her small frame wriggling around. she eventually gives up, instead sitting up from the bed with a small, sleepy huff. 

her eyes immediately land on a familiar stuffed animal squirrel perched on her nightstand, and the sight makes her smile for the first time since waking. that definitely hadn’t been there when she’d gone to sleep. it makes it obvious who placed it there.

there’s a sheet of paper in the squirrel’s arms with a picture of something. joohyun has to lean back in order for the image to become less blurry for her, but once she does, she sees that it’s a very neatly done sketch of the telephone in the living room. a red circle is drawn around one of the buttons. 

slowly, joohyun crawls out of bed, dragging along with her one of the blankets still wrapped around her frame. she takes the paper and the squirrel with her too, hugging the latter to her chest and absentmindedly nosing into its fur, breathing in its soothingly familiar scent as she carefully steps out of her room.

the wooden floors for once feel cold beneath her feet, and joohyun’s ears twitch from under the blanket at how silent the hallway is. she darts her eyes over the rest of the doors near her, notes how they’re all closed. her grip on the stuffed animal tightens.

slowly, hesitantly, joohyun pads down the hallway. the house is eerily silent save for the sounds of her footsteps echoing against the floor. 

emerging into the living room, joohyun sighs quietly in relief; the open space is much more preferable, much more homely and inviting even when devoid of people. when she glances toward the corner of the room, the corner of her lips twitch upward upon spotting yet another familiar stuffed animal seated next to the telephone.

there is also a piece of paper in the toy bunny’s arms: a simple, red arrow points down at the same button the first paper has circled. joohyun adds both items to her armload of papers and stuffed animals, nose buried in the bunny’s pelt, before tentatively pressing down on it.

a few beeps from the telephone cause her to startle back a step, but then suddenly a voice is speaking up, and joohyun’s ears perk up in instant recognition. 

“hey, hyunnie, this is wannie speaking! if you’re hearing this message it probably means you woke up and followed all the clues into the living room. sorry about that if i scared you, by the way! i just didn’t know how else to tell you this without waking you up. i didn’t want to leave a note either since i wasn’t sure it would be easy to read. 

“did you have a nice nap, hyun? you were sleeping so peacefully, i hope you were dreaming about something good. did you know your nose twitches in your sleep? it’s really cute to see, hyunnie.”

at this, joohyun feels her cheeks pinkening. she buries her face further into the stuffed animals in her arms.

“okay, i’m getting too sidetracked. i think you might have noticed already, but mom and dad aren’t home right now, so you’re the only one left in the house at the moment. i had to leave to go buy some stuff for dinner since mom texted me saying she forgot a few things.

“i don’t know what she’s planning on making, but i’m gonna buy some tteokbokki for her to make as an apology for having us all leave you alone at home. but you can get something from the kitchen if you’re hungry, hyunnie. and you know how to call any of us if there’s an emergency. 

“i think that’s it. i swear i’ll be back soon, okay? i left around two o’clock, i should be back in about an hour. just sit tight for now. i’ll be home in a bit, hyun.”

the message ends with a click, leaving joohyun standing in the silence of the living room. for a few moments she doesn’t move, breathing absentmindedly into the toy bunny’s fur. her own ears twitch atop her head, peeking out from beneath her blanket and listening for any telltale signs of life in the house. but there’s nothing. she truly is alone. 

a weird sort of tingling excitement shoots through her, prickling the tips of her fingers and toes. on the balls of her feet, she slowly swivels around in a circle, taking in her surroundings once again. 

the thing is, it’s only been a few weeks since seungwan brought her home here. even as the house has become completely familiar to her, there’s an entirely different feeling in the walls now that there is no one else around. she’s a little scared, but her curiosity to explore is quickly overpowering that. 

besides, she thinks, clutching the bunny and squirrel closer to her. she’s not actually that alone after all. 

with a little gleeful hop in her step, joohyun begins to pad deeper into the house.

—

the front door swings open as seungwan steps inside, bags of groceries gripped in one hand. “hyun, i’m home,” seungwan sings, toeing her shoes off in the doorway. its only after she’s tucked them neatly in the shoe rack and locked the door behind her that she realizes the house is dead silent, and there is no bunny hybrid in sight.

a concerned frown adorns seungwan’s face, but she moves into the kitchen to sort the groceries into the fridge. “maybe she’s still asleep,” seungwan mumbles to herself. 

once she’s finished, seungwan steps back into the living room, only to freeze once she spots the mess of broken shards scattered across the floor. she immediately recognizes them as the remains of one of her mom’s prized statues she’d brought back from one of her travels. was it of an elephant? seungwan can’t remember, there’s honestly too many. 

her rambling thoughts come to a screeching halt though, once she spots the drops of blood amidst the mess. 

“shit,” seungwan hisses in alarm, immediately surging into motion. “joohyun? joohyun!” 

panic overtakes her for a few seconds as seungwan calls loudly into the hallways for the missing hybrid, worry climbing in her stomach and causing her insides to twist in fear. her heart hammers loudly in her chest, and her ears roar with a whistling noise.

“joohyun!” seungwan calls again, before she’s cut off by a yelp of surprise as she nearly trips. when she looks down, the blank marble eyes of a stuffed bunny gaze back up at her from the ground. a dark smear of red stains its faux white fur. 

all at once, seungwan shudders to a stop, pressing her palms against her thighs to still their trembling. she hadn’t been thinking. she’d forgotten. seungwan swears under her breath, breathing in and out for a few seconds before collecting herself together. 

“hyunnie?” seungwan murmurs in a quieter voice as she steps into the hallway. she doesn’t miss the few drops of red scattered across the floorboards, and it makes her swallow heavily with apprehension. “hyun, it’s wannie. i’m sorry for yelling, and i’m sorry if i scared you. i was panicked, since i’m worried. i swear i’m not mad.” 

some of the doors are open, leading seungwan to venture joohyun must have been exploring on her own while she’d been gone. she takes a peek into each room regardless, door shut or not. but there’s no sign of joohyun in any of them.

the panic she’s been trying to suppress rises with every empty room she comes across, and it’s after checking joohyun’s room to see no signs of life save for the tv still murmuring at low volume that seungwan finds it harder to breathe. 

almost resignedly, seungwan clicks open the door of her own room. “hyun?” she mumbles, voice cracking hopelessly, but then falls silent upon looking at her bed, neatly made and untouched. 

quietly, seungwan steps further into the room. the soft thump of her feet against the floorboards is the only sound as she moves closer, but the air crackles with anticipation. seungwan holds her breath. 

when she rounds the edge of her bed, her eyes automatically land on the bundle of purple-spotted blanket, hunched near her nightstand. 

seungwan lets out a smalls exhale, crouching down nearby. “hyunnie,” she whispers softly, seeing the head of the blanket twitch. “it’s okay, i’m not mad.”

for a moment, everything is still, and seungwan bites her lip nervously. but then she hears a quiet sniffle, before the blanket begins to tremble. 

seungwan’s heart breaks. 

“hyun,” she coaxes again, voice low and gentle. “hyun, i’m right here. it’s okay, baby.” 

slowly, tentatively, the edge of the blanket lifts, and seungwan comes face to face with joohyun’s teary face, her bunny ears drooped and her nose running messily. upon meeting seungwan’s eyes, she begins to cry even harder.

“oh, hyunnie,” seungwan whispers, moving forward to carefully pull joohyun into her arms. joohyun lets out a choked sob but offers no resistance, trembling against seungwan with her face tucked into the side of her neck. seungwan sits down completely, quietly rocking the little bundle in her lap and murmuring soft reassurances, letting joohyun cry it out.

“i’m so sorry for yelling, hyun, i didn’t mean to scare you,” seungwan says softly, rubbing joohyun’s back through the blanket. she hears joohyun hiccup wetly over her shoulder, struggling to breathe, and she reaches a hand up to begin gently rubbing the base of joohyun’s bunny ears where they meet her head. the action immediately causes joohyun to shudder from sensitivity and exhale shakily, slumping bonelessly against seungwan’s chest. 

with each light stroke to joohyun’s delicate ears, a wheezing, stuttered gasp leaves her; seungwan doesn’t stop though, and gradually her breathing begins to calm, body tremors lessening. she can feel the little white hairs beneath her fingers quiver at every touch, joohyun’s ears twitching and so visibly responsive, drooping pliantly under her hand. 

“that’s it, hyunnie, just relax,” seungwan murmurs gently, soothingly, as joohyun shudders and sighs helplessly into her shoulder, hiccuping every few breaths. “i’ve got you, baby, you’re okay.” 

she continues rubbing around the base of joohyun’s ears, occasionally scratching lightly at her head, until joohyun begins to emit a noise between a squeak and a purr, and that’s when seungwan knows she’s reached the state of peak calmness, her frazzled mind now fuzzy with pure sensation. seungwan smiles for the first time since she’s arrived home, relieved.

carefully leaning back, she eases joohyun away from her chest to take a look at her face. her hand falls from joohyun’s ears to cradle her jaw, gently stroking over the tear tracks on her cheek. joohyun’s eyes, half-lidded and glazed over, stare tiredly back at her. 

seungwan gives a small, comforting smile, leaning forward until her nose bumps against joohyun’s. a moment later she feels the hybrid nuzzling back with a breathy sigh, her eyes slipping shut.

when seungwan finally pulls away, joohyun reluctantly following, she moves her gaze down to where joohyun’s hands clutch loosely at the hem of her shirt. there’s dried blood splotched along her fingers as well as her clothes, particularly darker patches of red staining the blanket where joohyun must have clutched onto. 

seungwan sucks in a quiet breath, tenderly cradling joohyun’s hands in her own. there are cuts along the pads of her fingers, some blood still oozing out of them. “you tried to clean them up,” she whispers in realization, her chest twisting painfully. “oh, hyun.” 

joohyun whimpers nervously in response, and seungwan traces her thumb behind the shell of her human ear, cooing softly until her nerves settle down again. gently, seungwan maneuvers the hybrid around in her lap as she continues to inspect joohyun for further injuries. she finds a few cuts along her knees and ankles, which makes her heart ache at the thought of joohyun dragging herself through the house while bleeding and injured. 

seungwan reaches over to her nightstand to grab a few tissues. “lets get you cleaned up, okay?” she murmurs, dabbing at joohyun’s cheeks. joohyun only nods against her hand, meekly avoiding her gaze. 

she’ll have to do something about that later, seungwan thinks absentmindedly with a frown, seeing the way joohyun keeps ducking her head away. but right now she has to focus on treating those wounds. 

“i’m gonna have to pick you up, hyun,” seungwan says apologetically as she cradles joohyun to her chest, still partly bundled up in her blanket. the hybrid reaches for her shirt before quickly yanking her hands back with a small whimper, clutching onto her blanket instead. seungwan gives her a concerned, tender look. “i don’t mind, hyunnie. the bloodstains don’t matter.” 

with one arm supporting joohyun’s back and the other beneath her knees, seungwan carefully gets to her feet, and joohyun reflexively grabs onto her with a squeak of fear. seungwan hums soothingly, taking care to move with slow steps as she carries them to the door.

“does it hurt?” seungwan asks quietly as she pads down the hallway. she feels joohyun shake her head against her chest, and seungwan tightens her grip with a little, wry quirk of her lips. “liar.”

joohyun only responds with a breathy noise. 

when they reach the restroom, seungwan carefully sets joohyun down on the counter, brushing the hair back from her face with a soft smile. “i know you don’t like voicing your pain,” seungwan says understandingly, “but it’s okay if it hurts, all right?” 

joohyun looks back up at her, quiet and seemingly resigned. eventually her gaze shifts to the side with a little nod. seungwan leans in to press a light kiss against her nose. “lets do your legs first.”

she washes her hands, then helps joohyun run her ankles and knees beneath lukewarm water from the sink. joohyun doesn’t make a noise the entire time, but seungwan is pressed close enough against her back to feel her stiffen, hear her breath catching in her throat when seungwan rinses her wounds with soap. 

“it stings, baby, i know,” seungwan murmurs against her temple. joohyun doesn’t show any indication to having heard her.

seungwan finally turns the tap off, grabbing a nearby towel to dab at the cuts as they begin to ooze blood again. she feels joohyun lean her head against her shoulder, nosing along the crook of her neck and breathing quietly against her as she presses down on each injury to stop the bleeding. 

petroleum jelly follows after, applied carefully with a cotton swab, and then seungwan covers the wounds up with bandaids. she considered using purple ones, but then thought against it and just picked out the plain ones.

“done,” seungwan breathes as she straightens her back, rubbing joohyun’s shoulder soothingly. “fingers next. you’re okay, hyunnie?” 

she feels joohyun nod against her neck, but when seungwan tries to pull away to look at her, the hybrid follows her movements to stick close to her. 

seungwan sighs fondly, giving joohyun a light scratch behind the ear. “all right then.”

the whole process repeats for joohyun’s hands, and seungwan remains just as attentive and careful, but she’s realizing something is different when a muffled noise manages to escape from where joohyun’s face is buried against her. the cuts on joohyun’s fingers are deeper, more serious, seungwan knows. she tries to move a little faster.

its just after seungwan finishes washing joohyun’s fingers that she feels wetness against neck, making seungwan still with the towel in her hand. “it’s okay, baby,” she murmurs gently, hugging joohyun closer with her other arm. “i know. let it out, it’s okay.”

joohyun sniffles quietly against her neck, nosing along her skin as seungwan carefully dries her fingers. there’s a small hiss when seungwan has to squeeze her thumb when the cut there bleeds more than the others, and seungwan presses a soothing kiss to the top of joohyun’s head, conveying in it all the sympathy that she can. 

when seungwan is finished, there are bandaids taped around almost all of joohyun’s fingertips. she breathes a sigh of relief before clutching joohyun’s shoulders and gently pushing. reluctantly, joohyun moves back.

there are tears wetting her cheeks again, of course, but seungwan only smiles softly, doesn’t comment as she grabs a nearby tissue to wipe them away. “my hyun,” seungwan coos. “so strong.”

joohyun closes her eyes, a few more tears slipping out as she exhales shakily. seungwan is about to bend away to get another tissue when joohyun leans forward so that her forehead touches seungwan’s. immediately, seungwan stills. 

for a few breaths of silence, the two of them remain pressed against one another, seungwan standing between joohyun’s knees. her eyes are open, gazing with gentle understanding at joohyun’s closed ones, watching another tear slide down her cheek as her lips quiver almost imperceptibly. 

“it’s okay,” seungwan murmurs softly, tucking a stray hair behind joohyun’s ear. “there’s nothing to forgive, darling. accidents happen.”

when joohyun finally pulls away, she won’t meet her eyes. instead, she clutches at seungwan’s hands, neatly bandaged fingertips brushing against her own. “thank you,” she whispers hoarsely, voice scratchy and raw.

seungwan pulls joohyun into her arms again, pressing a light kiss to the side of her head. her heart feels warm, content, at ease. “of course, hyunnie.”

[banashee]

 Second Time is the charm

 "Oh God, who's dead or dying?"

 Tony turns around, spatula in his hand and a confused look on his face.

 "Huh? No one is dead or in the process of getting there. I'm just cooking."

 "Yes you are. Which is why I'm asking."

 "Rude, Pepper." he gestures with the hand holding the spatula, accidentally flicking sauce in her general direction. "Oops, sorry 'bout that."

 Pepper looks at him, unimpressed. She does that a lot. Then, she dips a finger into the drop of sauce on the counter top, and in an spontaneous boost of bravery, tastes it. To her credit, she manages to keep a mostly straight face, even when her insides shrivel up at the sensation - there is a whole lot of salt and little else. Probably a bit of an burned aftertaste, too.

 Tony, however, is well practiced is reading her micro expressions - they've been friends for too long.

 "That bad?" he asks, and Pepper just looks at him, very very flatly and then nods.

 "Who are you planning to feed this to, and what horrible thing did they do to deserve this?" she asks, getting a glass from the cabinet and filling it with water from the fridge dispenser.

 Tony sighs, waving the spatula around as he talks, splattering sauce around the kitchen once again - Pepper tries to side steps the mess.

 “This was supposed to be a test run. You know the wedding anniversary is coming up and I was gonna surprise Clint with a nice dinner at home. He cooks all the time and I wanted to return the favor, but, well.” he waves at the half burned and over salted mess on the stove. Then, Tony dips a spoon into the pan to taste it - his face scrunches up in disgust and he drops the spoon into the sink and nearly dumps the pan after it, making a gagging noise and glares in the general direction of the ruined dinner.

 “Maybe not. Unless giving your partner food poisoning is considered romantic these days. Even then… Okay so this was a shit idea.” he grumbles, clearly annoyed and more than a little disappointed.

 Pepper has been typing on her phone ever since she learned the reason for the cooking attempt, making thoughtful noises. Now, she quickly walks over to stop Tony from making any harsh decisions right now. Gently, she grabs him by the shoulders, stirring him away from the stove. He lets her, and her next words are firm but reassuring.

 “Stop. Don’t move. Help is on the way.”

 As if on cue, footsteps come closer to the kitchen. A familiar voice says,

 “Please tell me nothing caught on fire.”

 And another sighs, “Oh dear.”

 In the doorway stand Bruce and Steve, clearly expecting the worst and prepared for everything. Tony would be offended but as it is, they’re his best hope right now. Pepper may be a good moral support, but she hates cooking, so he is actually happy to see those two.

 “Not yet but I’m working on it.” he quips back, grinning brightly for a few seconds with one of his million dollar showman fake smiles. Then his face falls.

 “Please help, I’m about to throw this whole thing out the window.”

 Pepper leaves them to it, with a small smile and a kiss to his cheek she turns to the door.

 “You got this. Just don’t attempt doing this alone on the day and you’ll be fine.”

 Meanwhile, Bruce inspects the concoction on the stove with a mildly curious expression that he’s often wearing in the lab, mainly when something unexpected and slightly concerning happens and he wants to see how it’ll work out. Steve, in good foresight, pulls out more ingredients from the refrigerator.  

 Both of them taste the sauce, despite Tony’s warning protests. They taste it very, very carefully and it’s a testament to their friendship that they do so - neither of them spits it back out but the cringe is enough.

 “Okay, let’s start neutralizing the salt for one.” Bruce decides, and who would have known that heavy cream and honey help with that - so does the stretching of the liquid. In the end, the three of them manage to salvage the meal, and even more so, are able to enjoy it despite the burned bits they need to pick from their plates.

 A little while later, when they clear the table and get to washing up, Steve says,

 “Let us help on the big day, alright? Just to be safe.”

 “Please do.” says Bruce, and Tony huffs a laugh as he stands in between them.

 “I hate you both.” he claims, but the fact that he’s got one arm wrapped around each of them and the happy smile on his face betray him. Pulling his friends close, he adds, “Really tho, thank you. I would totally screw this up otherwise.”

 “We know, that’s why we’re here.”

 “Oh, fuck you!” he scoffs, but they’re all laughing.

 *+~

 On the morning of the second wedding anniversary, Tony wakes up to a text message from Clint.

     ‘On the way back rn, debrief on base after. Might even make it home on time! :) I Love you’  

 It brings a happy smile to his face, even early in the morning before he’s had coffee. This mission had come up last minute as always, and the possibility of them having to spend this day apart had been quite high. As it looks now, they might at least have a nice and quiet evening together, and it’s more than they could have hoped for.

 Tony types a reply,

     ‘Good morning beloved, that’s great news - you better get your ass over here asap, I miss you ;)’  

 Then he opens up another chat, his ongoing conversation with Natasha which for about 60%, consists of memes and links to obscure YouTube videos.

     ‘Hey-o, can you please let me know when you guys are wrapping up at HQ? Possibly distract Clint if you finish early? Gotta prepare a surprise. Should be done around 7-ish.’  

 Her reply comes almost instantly.

     ‘Sure thing. Happy anniversary :)’  

     ‘Thanks, Itsy-bitsy. You’re the best :)’  

     ‘I know.’  

 The day passes surprisingly fast, then. One moment, Tony is relaxing on the couch, drinking coffee while Lucky sprawls happily over his legs as he scratches the good spot behind his ears and then, his phone alarm goes off that tells him he’s got a cooking date with Steve and Bruce. And because these guys are amazing friends, they show up on the door to the penthouse just in time for the three of them to start preparing a nice three course dinner.

 It’s fun, and with the “adult supervision” Tony finds himself perfectly capable of doing this.

 Once upon a time, this would have been impossible.

 “Tony, you’re one of the smartest people alive and you have many talents - but cooking isn’t one of them.” he’s been told on more than one occasion, and it’s been true for most of his life. But things are different now - he wants to learn. He wants this small part of everyday life.

 Those last few years, he finds himself happier than he can remember being, possibly ever, and it feels simply amazing to have this - this life, this love. This      family    .

 Just as he’s put the main course into a low oven to keep warm, the door opens just in time for him to enter the hallway, and then Tony gets pulled into a embrace and lifted off his feet for a moment.  He holds on tight, then he pulls Clint down for a proper kiss to welcome him home.

 “Hey there.”

 “Hey yourself.”

 The two of them take their time in greeting each other, and despite being apart for only about a week, it feels like they haven’t seen each other in forever. And it’s their anniversary, for fuck’s sake. They’re allowed to be as sappy as they damn well please - at least until Lucky interrupts them because he’s tired of waiting and jumps up on Clint until he’s slobbered all over his face and happily demands cuddles right then and there.

 Dropping his duffle bag to the floor, Clint asks Tony what he would like to eat and it causes him to smile knowingly.

 “Can I cook for you?” he asks, and Clint looks at him, blinking.

 “Right now? I mean… Don’t take this the wrong way Babe but is that… Safe? We can just order something in if you want.”

 “Trick question, I already did. Well, I had help. So it won’t send us into the hospital if that’s what you’re concerned about.”

 “Wait, you-” Clint steps closer to him, gently placing his hands on Tony’s upper arms as he smiles at him. There is something soft in his eyes, and Tony falls in love all over again.

 “You made an effort to cook something for today even though you almost never do?”

 “Yeah, I- I wanted to do something nice for today, and I didn’t know when you’d be home so I didn’t book anything. Besides, you cook and bake all the time for us, for      me    , and well. I appreciate that a lot and I just wanted to do this for you. I had help, but yes. Come on!” He pulls him into the dining room, which he’d actually decorated. Nothing big, just a few candles and a bouquet of flowers but it does look nice.

 On the table, there is a large bottle of Asgardian mead, a gift for them that Thor left before he went to spend the weekend with Jane in New Mexico.  It’s strong, and more than even the two of them can finish in one evening. But it’s good, and they know it.

 The dinner is relaxed as always, and they enjoy each others company and the conversations - anything and everything they can talk about, and while Clint fills him in on the latest SHIELD gossip and rumors, some of which leave Tony laughing hard enough that he almost chokes on his mead, he tells him what has been going on back home, including the first dinner mishap and how their friends had saved his ass.

 In the meantime, Lucky has made himself comfortable under the table, chewing on one of his giant treats.

 They’re just starting on the main course - steaks with garlic potato casserole and roasted asparagus, when Clint says,

 “This is really good, Tony. Thank you. For the effort and for doing this.” He smiles, and reaches over with one hand, which he happily takes and squeezes back.

 “I’m glad you like it. And it makes me think that I should do this more often, since, well, you do it all the time. Seems fair to do my part, you know.”

 “You do other things all the time. It’s just… Both of us do different things, and that’s okay with me. I like to cook, you build and fix stuff.” He shrugs. “Love languages and all that.”

 A while ago, they’d talked about that for a bit, and it’s true. They show their love and affection in different ways sometimes, and that’s okay - they know and recognize these things by now, and it only helps them understand each other better.

 “Well, cooking is kinda fun.” Tony says then, and a big smile spreads all over Clint’s face.

 “We could do that together if you like. I could teach you and we could try new recipes!” He’s clearly excited about that, in this familiar and almost childlike way of his, and it’s all Tony can do to agree. God, he loves this man so much.

 By the time dessert is on the table, they share that and a pot of coffee and have moved their seats even closer together, ankles hooked around each other.

 “Oh hey, I’ve got a surprise for you, too.” Clint says then, as if he just remembered but he pulls and envelope from somewhere on his person which makes it clear he’s been waiting. The envelope is thick and slightly off-white - clearly good quality paper. Curiously, Tony opens it up.

 There is a card, and it looks handmade. Sturdy, structured paper, and two birds on the front - parrots on a tropical island.

 On the inside, there are just a few words written, in Clint’s familiar large scrawl, but it makes him smile widely.

     ‘Voucher for two weeks vacation on Bora Bora. All responsibilities back home are covered’     it says, followed by a time frame,       ‘Happy anniversary. I love you’    and a lopsidedly drawn heart.

 “Aw, that’s great! Thank you. How did you manage that all is covered?” Tony asks, beaming at Clint - it’s been too long since they actually had any time off without being interrupted via The End Of The World. And they’re in desperate need of a break and some alone time.

 Clint just grins. “Magic and good friends.” he says ominously, and leans close to Tony, pulling him into a soft kiss as he runs one hand through his dark hair.

 Once they break apart, Tony takes both of Clint’s hands in this, and despite being happy and content he looks a little bit nervous - there is no need to, he knows, but still. Clint seems to catch on to it, looking at him with his head crooked slightly to the side.

 “So, uh, dinner wasn’t the only surprise I had for tonight.” Tony says, and takes a deep breath.

 “This is kinda ridiculous, given for how long we’ve been together already and especially how that happened, but. I was wondering, would you like to marry me agan? Sober and properly this time?”

 The answer comes almost instantly, in the form of another long kiss and an enthusiastic “Yes, of course!”

 It takes them a while to let go of each other again. But they happily continue drinking coffee and eating chocolate mousse, simply enjoying the time together.

 “Same day?” Clint asks, pragmatic as always - neither of them is great at remembering important dates - two different wedding anniversaries would be too much for people like them who were to forget their own birthdays if it wasn’t for JARVIS and teammates who know them too well.

 “Yes, please. Everything else would just call for a disaster.”

 “It would. And hey, we can avoid Fake Elvis this time!”

 Tony laughs out loud. “I’m sure he will be heartbroken.”

 “Oh well.” Clint shrugs, grinning. “He’ll live.”

 *+~

     Prompt No. 54: “Can I cook for you?”  

[amehanaaa]

How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days

Another round of Nalu! We love that. 

I hope everyone has been having a good week so far! Although the summer has been slow, I’ve been trying to make the most out of it. 

Thank you everyone who has been reading so far! I hope you enjoy this chapter! (Also can be read here.)

Chapter 4 – Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 Words: 3790 Summary: Lucy and Natsu are determined to take the necessary steps to fulfill their lifetime dreams. Little do they know, they have both given themselves 10 days to achieve it. 

                                                  ——————–

Arriving at the fire station, Lucy can physically feel relief scatter across her body as Natsu waves at her on the front lawn. After tipping the driver, she nearly runs to him.

“Hey,” they both say while giving each other a hug.

As they hug, Lucy scans their surroundings behind him. From what she can tell, Natsu is the only one outside. So far, so good.

“What are you looking for?” he asks, catching her gaze while they pull away.

“Nothing!” she exclaims, a little too quickly. She tries to calm her voice down. “I was just looking at the station. And now, I’m looking at you.”

She sends him a sweet smile to distract him. However, she also has to distract herself, so she doesn’t pay too much attention to how his shirt suggestively clings onto his torso. Although the plain shirt clearly has stains on it, there’s something about it that gives him an extra layer of attractiveness.

“Your hair looks pretty in the sun,” he says as he reaches over and twirls a lock in his fingers.

“Thanks,” she responds. She instinctively leans closer to his touch, but after remembering why she came, she stops herself from leaning too close.

“What have you done today?” she asks.

Natsu pulls away, beckoning her to follow him up the driveway. “Not much. I swept the front porch, but that’s all the action I had. I mentioned this to you before, but there’s not a lot for me to do here in central Magnolia.”

“What’s stopping you from going somewhere with more activity?” She remarks, reminding him of the question he asked her when they first met.

He pauses for a second too long. “I just have some plans before I start looking, that’s all. Anyway, want to meet my colleagues?”

Lucy slightly gasps, nodding eagerly. “I want to meet them!”

Natsu chuckles as he leads her into the station. “Hey, guys! I have someone I want you to meet!”

Lucy watches with amusement as men randomly appear in different areas throughout the station. Some appear from the back, others through various doors, and one even rolls out from under the firetruck. Suddenly, she’s surrounded by a handful of firefighters.

“Guys, this is Lucy,” Natsu introduces her. “She has a thing for people with stories.”

Lucy gapes at him. “Hey, that’s not—”

“Oh, I have a good story,” one of the men begin to say. “Natsu’s first time on the truck, he experienced motion—”

“Not stories about me,” Natsu hastily interrupts him. “I mean, stories about yourself. Childhood or coming of age stories. Those are the kind she likes.”

Lucy feels like she has been exposed like an open book. Although none of these men doesn’t seem to look at her strangely, she feels self-conscious. She has the urge to excuse herself, but someone steps up and speaks.

“I got plenty,” he says. “We can sit down and talk for a bit.”

Lucy glances at Natsu as though for approval. When she finds him nodding, she can’t hold back her smile while she follows the man to one of the outdoor tables.

“You’re not allowed to tell her any stories about me, Laxus!” Natsu shouts from behind them.

Although she has never been this close to such a built man, Lucy doesn’t allow for any awkward space between them. Once they sit, she instantly goes into reporter mode.

“What is your biggest motivation for being a firefighter?” she asks.

Laxus cracks his knuckles beneath the table. “My dad was a firefighter, so I basically grew up here. This station used to be my second home. But it was actually my grandpa who raised me when I wasn’t at the station. My dad wasn’t interested into the whole child-raising thing.”

Lucy hums and nods occasionally, making sure that he knows she’s listening to his every word.

“Gramps taught me a lot growing up, but I threw it all in the trash when I was old enough to make my own decisions. Greed is an addiction once you’re convinced that the world revolves around you. I learned the hard way that it doesn’t.

“Since it was in my blood to become a firefighter, I stayed loyal to the station. As I continued to be greedy, I planned to become the chief and lay off anyone who didn’t fit the criteria I created. I thought that as firefighters, we needed to be the strongest men who could take down anything.

“I was this close to being promoted.” Laxus raises his hand, leaving a pinch of air in between his index finger and thumb. “But something happened with Gramps that I never saw coming. He opened up a school. I knew that man loved people, but I never knew he had a soft spot for kids.”

Laxus appears to be reminiscing as he speaks. Lucy can’t help but be mesmerized, but she also has too many questions that can’t go unanswered.

“Is your grandpa Makarov?”

“Yeah. Did Natsu take you to Fairy Tail?”

Lucy nods. “Why did Fairy Tail change your heart?”

“It made me see people for how much they’re worth,” Laxus admits. “I used to see my colleagues as objects that were weakening the station. My perspective completely changed after finding out Gramps’ vision for Fairy Tail.”

“You saw his vision for that side of Magnolia to be redeemed,” Lucy says.

“Gramps’ vision also gave me hope for my redemption,” Laxus responds. “I realized that there was no way this station could stand without some people to stay here and maintain it. Fairy Tail changed me altogether, which is hard for me to say aloud.

“After that, my biggest motivation for being a firefighter was for the inactive members to know that they’re valuable. Even if it’s just sweeping the porch, they’re still needed here. Someone has to make sure everything is under control while we’re gone.”

Lucy glances behind Laxus’s shoulder to watch Natsu juggling three oranges. “How valuable do you think Natsu is?”

“Natsu is another reason why my eyes opened, too,” he mentions. “He said not to tell stories about him, so I won’t. But I think he’s more valuable than the chief wants to recognize. More valuable than sweeping, at least.

“The chief is pretty stubborn, so it won’t matter what I say. I have hope that Natsu will get to a place where he’s the firefighter he wants to be, though.”

Laxus’s voice is steady, causing an unexpected flare of hope to light up in Lucy’s chest. Weirdly enough, Laxus’s words are enough for her to believe that everything will be okay with Natsu. He will get to live his dream job—someday.

“Thank you for sharing me your story,” Lucy tells him, knowing that her words aren’t enough to express her gratitude.

“Take care of Natsu.” Laxus stands up from the table. “He seems to care a whole lot about you.”

Lucy tries to receive the advice as much as she can before it starts to hurt her chest. Once Laxus is inside the station, Natsu approaches her.

“How was it?” he asks while sitting across from her.

“Really good,” she replies. Her lips have permanently formed into a smile. “His story is really special.”

“You think all stories are special,” he remarks. “Hey, why does it look like you’re more into him than me?”

Lucy lets out a laugh, which causes Natsu to frown. She leans over and places an assuring hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I only have eyes for you.”

“You better,” he mutters. “Anyway, are you ready for dinner tonight? I already have the menu.”

“I can’t wait.” She rises from her spot, brushing the dirt off her pants. “I’m going to run some errands before I come. I’ll see you at your place.”

“Alright,” Natsu says as he reaches for her hand to pull her in. He’s about to go in for a kiss, but Lucy moves her cheek just at the right time.

“See you.” She sends him a sly smile.

Feeling Natsu’s eyes focused on her back as she walks away, Lucy waits until she’s in the taxi to let out a sigh of relief. The more time that passes, the more she is convinced that his friend isn’t going to ruin the experiment anytime soon.

With that mindset, Lucy can focus on her plans. As she swings by her apartment, her biggest concern is how troublesome she will be tonight.

                                                  ——————–

Natsu happily hums to himself later that night as he observes his apartment. The veggies are washed, the glazed ham has been in the oven for an hour, the dessert is in the fridge, candles are lit, music is playing—who wouldn’t fall in love with him after all this effort?

He doesn’t hold back his proud smile as Lucy takes in the view once she arrives.

“Natsu, you shouldn’t have done all this!” she gasps. “You even set the table.”

“I’ve been setting up since I left the station,” he reveals, not bothering to attempt being humble. “I even woke up early to prep everything. I made my famous recipe; it’s the most beautiful creation you’ll ever see.”

He brings Lucy to the table, offering her to take a seat.

“I can’t wait to eat it!” she claps her hands excitedly. She watches him go to the kitchen and open the oven. He returns with a ham on a large plate.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Natsu says, hypnotized by his own food. After setting the ham on the table, he delicately slices her a piece. “Let me know how good it is.”

Lucy begins to bite her lip, exchanging a few glances from him to the plate. She makes it obvious that she is hesitating. To make the moment last longer, she takes a long gulp of her water. After setting the cup back down, she slowly opens her mouth.

“Oh, Natsu… I forgot to tell you. I decided I’m not going to eat meat anymore.”

Natsu freezes in his spot. “When did you decide that?”

“I started yesterday,” she replies.

“You can’t just restart tomorrow?” he asks, almost desperately.

“Absolutely not!” Lucy proclaims in disbelief. “It’ll throw off my whole digestion track.”

Natsu has to use every muscle in his body not to sigh in frustration. Instead, he tries to nod in understanding. “Alright. I don’t think the vegetables will fill us up, so it’d be better to go somewhere else then.”

“Let’s go!” Lucy cheers, pushing herself up from the table. “I know the perfect place!”

Natsu thought he would have enough time to at least take a bite of the ham, but he doesn’t get the chance due to Lucy taking him by the hand and out of his place.

Just a short walk from his apartment complex, they enter an Italian restaurant with the words vegetarian only printed on the front door. Never in a million years did Natsu think he would be eating at a place like this.

“I’ve heard good reviews about this place,” Lucy says after they order.

“I’ve never been to a vegetarian place before,” Natsu responds, trying to hide the bias in his voice. “Can it really be that good?”

“You’d be surprised at how great vegetarian plates are,” she points out.

He hums while taking a sip of his water. “So, what made you decide to go vegetarian?”

“I watched a documentary,” she answers, visibly shuddering. “Do you know how awful the meat industry is?”

“I don’t want to know.” He shakes his head. “How long do you plan to be vegetarian?”

“I’m also doing it for health reasons,” she adds. “My dad used to deal with some health issues. Do you know if your parents had any health issues?”

“No idea,” Natsu shrugs half-heartedly. “They didn’t tell me anything about it if they did.”

Lucy notices how vague his tone sounds, but before she gets the chance to press further, their food arrives.

Natsu thought ordering pasta was a safe option, but even the noodles look healthy and unfulfilling. He looks over to see a pile of spinach on Lucy’s plate. Neither of these plates look satisfying.

Taking his first bite of the pasta, he views Lucy pick at her food. They connect gazes as she glances up from her plate.

“Do you think I’m fat?” she asks bluntly.

Natsu frowns at her sudden shift in tone. “What are you—”

“You’re looking at me like I’m fat,” she interrupts him. Her voice raises with each word. “I actually love eating spinach!”

Natsu can’t stop himself from gaping. He scans the area to see if anyone is staring at them.

“I’m not looking at you that way,” he insists with a low voice. “You’re one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen, Lucy.”

She stops picking at her food, a smile appearing on her lips. “Really? Even if I was twenty pounds heavier?”

“Even if you were thirty pounds heavier,” he confirms with a nod.

“Okay, I’ll remember that in the future,” she replies. With that, she takes a bite of her spinach.

The tension between them feels to be sizzling out by each minute, but Natsu decides to escape it altogether by making sure there is always food in his mouth. He is positive their dinner night couldn’t get any worse.

What makes it slightly better is the surprise dessert that the waiters gift them with at the end of their meal. Natsu is sure they must have noticed the tension at their table.

“Ice cream is the best,” Lucy sighs out happily, flipping the spoon upside down in her mouth.

“I could eat it every day,” he replies.

Allowing Lucy to take the final spoonfuls, Natsu is grateful when they leave the restaurant without another round of her outbursts.

“I’m sorry I ruined dinner for us tonight,” Lucy says while they step on the sidewalk.

They pause to stand at a corner and lean against the wall. Since it’s dark, they can only see what the hovering streetlights provide them. One light is above them, causing their skin to appear a tinted yellow.

“You can make it up for me next time,” Natsu assures.

Not giving her any time to react, he leans into her lips. He rests one arm to the left of Lucy to trap her in. Natsu can feel pent up frustration inside of him as she returns the kiss. He drags his lips across her cheek and gently pecks down to her neck.

“Ah,” Lucy nearly yelps. “Yeah, that sounds great.”

Natsu mumbles against her skin. “You feel great.”

Lucy doesn’t have a problem with entertaining him for a while, but she decides to fight against it—she knows this will frustrate him further.

Since she is backed against a wall, she has no choice but to escape his kisses by swiftly squatting down and stepping away. Natsu looks at her dumbfounded, but she makes up for it by giving him a chaste kiss.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” She sends him a hopeful smile.

She turns around in search for a taxi. Only have taken three steps away from him, she stops when he speaks behind her.

“How do you always make me feel like that?” Natsu asks.

She looks at him over her shoulder. “Like what?”

“You always smile after we kiss,” he points out. “It gives me this warm feeling in my chest.”

A giggle leaves Lucy’s lips. She brings her hand up in the air and begins to wave. “That sounds like a you problem!”

Not bothering to look at his facial expression in response, she gets into the nearest taxi. As she rides away, she finally feels something new inside her chest.

After ending every night with Natsu, she similarly has a type of warmth in her chest like he described. It’s a familiar feeling as though they’re actually in a relationship. Although she doesn’t receive it when they kiss, she definitely feels it after they’ve said goodbye each night.

But after tonight, there’s an unfamiliar heaviness. She wonders if these are the side effects to being the person she never wanted to become. She knows that the way she treated Natsu tonight was someone’s worst nightmare.

She recognizes that this heaviness settling in her chest represents that their relationship isn’t going in the right direction—which is exactly what needs to happen after the ten days.

Perhaps everything is going according to plan, after all. That is, if Natsu’s friend doesn’t come and wreck their relationship before then.

Meanwhile, Natsu returns to his apartment and finishes the entire ham by himself.

[27dragons]

Name of Piece: The Bliss of Ignorance Square Filled: R3 - didn’t know they were dating Rating: T Warnings: None Summary: Bucky and Tony are friends. It only makes sense they’d do nice things for each other. But there’s nothing between them. Really. Created For: @tonystarkbingo

Bucky was playing paper football with Clint when Tony pushed into the coffee shop, arms laden with thick books, as usual. Bucky felt a warm little spurt of fondness. Of all the friends Steve had made while Bucky was deployed overseas, Tony was his favorite. Bucky waved, then dragged over a chair from another table.

“That stack must weigh almost as much as you,” he said as Tony dropped the books on the table with a relieved sigh.

“Just about,” Tony agreed. “But they don’t have ebook versions, so...” He shrugged. “It’s okay, I only need them for a few days.”

“Mechanical Engineering and Robotics,” Steve read off the spines. “Fundamentals of Robotics Design. Tony, what the heck? You took Fundamentals three semesters ago.”

“Yeah, but I thought I should brush up.” He grinned and bounced in his seat with barely-suppressed excitement. “I got that internship with Fujikawa!”

“What! Tony, that’s fantastic!” Bucky said, amidst the others’ congratulations. “You’re gonna blow ‘em away.”

“I hope so,” Tony said. “I mean, it’s just an internship, I know I won’t be actually working on design or anything, but--”

“They’ll be lucky to have you,” Bucky promised.

“Thanks.” Tony opened one of the books and took out a small stack of pages held together with a paperclip. “Of course, now I’ve got to fill in all this new hire paperwork. Anyone got a pen I can borrow?”

Natasha had one, because she was prepared for everything, always.

Bucky and Clint went back to their game while Tony muttered over the forms he was filling out and Steve and Nat bickered good-naturedly about whose turn it was to decide where their next date would be.

“Oh, dammit,” Tony sighed. “They want an emergency contact number. There’s no way I’m putting my parents on here.”

Tony’s wealthy father had cut Tony off after they’d fought over what Tony should major in, among other things. In defiance, Tony had gotten loans and was finishing up his degree on his own terms. Bucky was ridiculously proud of him. “Put me down, doll,” Bucky suggested.

“Really?”

“Sure,” Bucky said. “I’m mostly on night shift anyway, so I’ll be around when you blow something up.”

Tony huffed, but wrote Bucky’s name and number on the form. “Robotics doesn’t really involve a lot of explosions,” he said. “More’s the pity.”

“Okay, so when you accidentally create an evil robot that’s bent on destroying the world,” Bucky amended. Tony laughed, and Bucky ruffled his hair.

[’ware the readmore!]

Tony pushed open the door to Bucky’s apartment. Bucky had given him a key when it had come up that Bucky’s apartment was closer to the Fujikawa office than the fourth-floor walkup that Tony split with Clint and Pietro. “That way you’ve got a place to stash your books an’ stuff so you don’t gotta lug ‘em all that way,” Bucky had said.

It was handy; Tony kept a couple of changes of clothes at Bucky’s, too, in case he had to work late and crash on Bucky’s couch. And Bucky had given him space in the fridge, too, so Tony could eat dinner there before taking the subway back to his own apartment. They often ate together, in fact -- Tony’s dinner was Bucky’s breakfast.

Bucky was in the kitchen already when Tony came in, humming tunelessly as he made a mess of the eggs in his frying pan. He looked up with a bright smile when Tony came in. “Heya, dollface! Good day?”

“Yeah, actually,” Tony said. “I found a little flaw in the design I was proofreading, and my boss said I probably saved the company a couple of months on the project and a shit-ton of money.”

“That’s great!” Bucky said. He threw his arm around Tony’s shoulders and squeezed him in a quick hug before going back to his eggs. “We should go out to celebrate.”

“Speaking of celebration,” Tony said, “your birthday is coming up. You going to let me plan a party?”

“What? You don’t gotta go to any trouble for me,” Bucky said.

Tony glared at him. “It’s not trouble if I want to do it. C’mon, it’s the first birthday you’ve had since you came back stateside. Let us take you out and have some fun!”

Bucky made a face like he was going to argue, and Tony turned on the pout. Bucky could never resist Tony’s pout.

“Fine, okay,” Bucky sighed. His mouth twitched like he was trying to suppress a smile. “Nothin’ too crazy, though, okay? It’s just a birthday, don’t really mean nothin’.”

“I promise,” Tony lied cheerfully, and whipped out his phone. “Cancelling the hunky male strippers now.”

Bucky laughed. “Nah, you might as well keep those,” he said. “Makin’ Stevie blush is the best present you could give me, anyway.”

(“Oh my god,” Bucky said, three weeks later. “I thought you were kidding about the strippers!”

“Buck, I never kid about strippers,” Tony said solemnly. He’d had to badger Clint and Bruce and Natasha into helping him pay for it, but it was totally worth it for the way Bucky’s eyes had bugged out and the blush that climbed up out of Bucky’s collar.

“Best birthday ever.”)

Steve and Natasha were completely disgusting together pretty much all the time, but for Valentine’s Day, they took it to new heights. “Ug, get a room,” Bucky complained.

“Or,” Clint suggested with a practiced leer, “put on a show.”

“You have a boyfriend,” Bucky reminded him.

“It’s okay, I’ll film it for him.” Clint thumbed on his phone and turned on the photo app.

“Gross. Stevie, what the hell happened to the evils of the industrial marketing complex, huh?”

Steve managed to tear his gaze away from Natasha. “I guess when you’re this much in love, you’ll take any excuse to show it.”

“Oh gag me,” Bucky whined.

“Kinky,” said Tony in his ear. “We haven’t even gotten to third base yet.”

“Jesus!” Bucky jumped. “Where’d you come from?”

“Just got here.” Tony dragged out a chair and dropped into it, then tossed a package into Bucky’s lap.

“What’s this?” Bucky picked the box up and turned it over.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Tony said. “The bodega on Seventh already has their chocolate on post-holiday markdown.”

“Nice!” If Bucky was going to have to watch his paired-off friends being all sappy and cute with each other all day while Bucky was single, it was nice to have consolation chocolate to go with it. “But don’t think this means I’m putting out.”

“What about this one?”

Bucky leaned over Tony’s shoulder to read the Craigslist ad. “I dunno, this guy sounds like a creeper.”

“They all sound like creepers,” Tony pointed out. “It’s a roommate-wanted ad.”

Bucky chewed on his lip. He could appreciate Tony wanting to move out of Clint and Pietro’s apartment to give the two their privacy, but he didn’t like the idea of Tony living with a stranger. Especially not with the creeps and drug dealers that seemed to be all Tony was finding on Craigslist.

Fuck it. “You could always move in with me,” he said. Bucky’s apartment was small, but he had it to himself.

Tony gave him a wide-eyed look. “I already impose on you enough.”

“Nah. Half your stuff is at my place anyway, you might as well just bring the rest.”

Tony rubbed at the spot on his chest that meant he was considering it. “You’re sure?”

“Yeah,” Bucky said. “I don’t want to go back to night shift, but losing the pay differential kinda sucked. Little help with the rent and bills would be nice, honestly.”

“I’m graduating next semester,” Tony reminded him. “Once I get a real job, I can help out a lot more.”

“Bet Fujikawa’s gonna snap you right up,” Bucky said. “They keep re-upping your internship. They know you’re a keeper.”

“Okay,” Tony said. “Yeah, we can make that work. I bet Clint and Piet will be relieved to have the place to themselves, finally.”

“Everyone wins,” Bucky agreed.

Tony heard the door open, but didn’t look up from his homework. “Welcome home, snugglebug.”

“Hey there, shmoopsie,” Bucky shot back. The ridiculous pet names had started as mockery of Steve and Nat, and then turned into their own private joke. “Anything interesting happen today?”

“Rhodey nearly had a nervous breakdown in the computer lab when the printer ran out of paper and the IT guy said they wouldn’t be around to refill it until tomorrow,” Tony reported. “But I told him I’d print his paper here and drop it off when we meet up for drinks later. That okay?”

“As long as it’s not a hundred-pager,” Bucky agreed.

“Nah, just twelve.”

“No worries, then.”

“Oh, and we got our invitation to Steve and Nat’s wedding in the mail,” Tony said. He pointed at the table that was more of a dumping ground than a useful surface. “Singular invitation. One of them, for both of us.”

Bucky snorted as he picked it up and turned it over. “Fancy,” he commented. “What, no ‘and Guest’ for either of us?”

“Steve did say they were trying to keep it small and intimate,” Tony pointed out. “If either of us were dating anyone, they’d already know about it.”

“They didn’t have to send us an invitation at all,” Bucky said. “Seeing as we’re both in the wedding party.”

“I think that’s just so we can mark our dinner preference,” Tony said. He squinted at his homework, erased a line of math, and reworked it.

“Oh, yeah, here’s the card. Oh, you already filled it out for us. How’d you know I’d want the chicken?”

“Because you only like steak if it’s still bleeding, and there’s no way to get real rare steak from a catering venue.”

“You know me so well.” Bucky messed up Tony’s hair on his way past. “Guess you’ll be an okay date.”

“I hope I catch the bouquet,” Tony quipped. “Then you’ll have to marry me.”

Bucky snared Steve’s elbow and drew him aside. “Stevie. I hate to be a wet blanket at your own rehearsal dinner, but...”

“What’s wrong, Buck?”

“The room you got for me an’ Tony... Look, I’m super grateful to you guys for putting us up, but there was some kind of mix-up with the hotel, an’ they said they can’t change it without your say-so ‘cause it’s on your credit card.”

“Oh.” Steve looked relieved. “Is that all? We can swing by the front desk and do that. What’s wrong with the room?”

“It’s only got one bed.”

Steve hesitated. “That’s... that’s a problem?”

“What do you-- of course it’s a problem!”

“Sorry, Buck,” Steve said, his eyes wide. “I didn’t know. You guys have been together so long, I just assumed--”

“Wait,” Bucky said. “Wait wait wait. What do you mean, together? You mean Tony and me? Like, together, together?”

“Well... yeah?” Steve blinked. “Aren’t you?”

“Of course we’re not!”

“What do you mean, ‘of course’? You an’ Tony have been living in each other’s pockets for like... two years now. He moved in with you!”

“That’s no different than when he was livin’ with Clint and Pietro! It ain’t like we’re suckin’ face everywhere!”

“We just figured you weren’t all that demonstrative in public. Besides, you flirt with each other all the time,” added Steve.

“It’s a joke.”

Steve put his hand on Bucky’s shoulder and looked at him gravely. “Is it?”

Bucky’s mouth fell open, but no protest came out. Over Steve’s shoulder, Bucky could see Tony, laughing as he thumb-wrestled with Pietro over the last slice of bread. Bucky caught himself smiling fondly, and Steve patted his shoulder. “Maybe not as much of a joke as you think, pal,” Steve said. The jerk.

“I’ll... get back to you on that room thing,” Bucky said, unable to tear his eyes away from Tony.

“You do that, Buck.” And Steve was gone.

Shit. Shit. How had he never realized... All their friends thought they were dating? Had been, for... for years.

And sure, they lived together. They went everywhere together, but that was just convenience. It was nice, having company when you were out running errands. It was good sense not to wander the city alone, too, especially when you’d been out having a good time.

And okay, neither of them had gone on any dates in the last couple of years, either, but that was because Tony was focused on his studies and his internship and Bucky was...

Was...

Oh, fuck, was he in love with Tony?

How long had that been going on?

“No dice with the room?” Tony asked when Bucky came back to the table. It was fine, Tony had figured there was a possibility that the hotel’s double bed rooms had already been booked. They could share a bed for two nights; it wouldn’t be that much of an imposition.

“Uh. There’s sort of a... thing,” Bucky said. He looked a little pale.

“Hey, you okay?”

“What? Yeah. Yeah, I’m just...” Bucky looked up and down the table, then took a deep breath, as if steeling himself for something. “Come an’ take a little walk with me?”

“Sure,” Tony said, pushing his chair back. “You sure you’re all right?”

“Yeah,” Bucky said, leading Tony away from the noise and down a side hall. “I just... Um.” When the rehearsal party was out of sight and almost out of earshot, Bucky stopped and leaned against the wall. “So... the reason we got that room,” he said, eyes on the peeling wallpaper, “is ‘cause apparently everyone thinks we’re. Y’know. Together.”

Tony blinked. Then blinked again. “You mean together, together?”

Bucky huffed out a little laugh. “That’s ‘xactly what I said.”

“Oh my god,” Tony said. “Why the hell would they--” Except it made perfect sense, didn’t it, if you were on the outside, looking in. Bucky and Tony spent all their time together. They flirted. They gave each other gifts. They spent their holidays together. They gave each other Valentine’s gifts and planned each other’s birthday parties. They were each other’s emergency contacts, for fuck’s sake. “Huh.”

“Yeah,” Bucky said.

Tony was beginning to understand why Bucky looked so poleaxed. It wasn’t like he’d never thought about it -- Bucky was one damned fine looking man, after all. But he’d never taken it seriously. Bucky was not just gorgeous but smart and brave and funny and kind, and Tony was lucky enough just being Bucky’s friend. But apparently their friends thought there was more there. And he couldn’t help but understand why. “We’ve been dating all this time, and didn’t realize it,” Tony said.

“I guess so.”

Bucky glanced up, and Tony was arrested by the look in Bucky’s eyes. Longing and hungry. Bucky’s eyes dropped, but only to Tony’s mouth and neck, and Bucky licked his lips, let his teeth drag over his bottom lip.

Oh. Oh. Bucky... wanted that?

With Tony?

Tony’s breath hitched and Bucky’s eyes snapped back up to meet Tony’s gaze.

Tony swallowed. “It’s a nice bed,” he said cautiously.

Bucky nodded slowly. “Looked very nice. Big. Comfy. And it’d be a real hassle to make the hotel change our room now. It’s getting late, and all.”

“That’s true,” Tony agreed. “Maybe we should just keep it.”

“We are here together,” Bucky pointed out. “The invitation said.”

“Hang on, I want to try something,” Tony said. Bucky stared at him, and Tony leaned in, felt the soft rush of air as Bucky sucked in a breath. “Yeah?”

Bucky nodded, and Tony leaned in a little closer to brush his lips against Bucky’s once, twice, a third time.

Then Bucky’s hand curled around Tony’s neck, fingers pushing through Tony’s hair, and pulled him in for another, deeper kiss. Tony’s stomach filled with butterflies and a rush of heat flooded Tony’s body. “Oh god,” he croaked.

Bucky reached for Tony’s hand, lacing their fingers together, then glanced at Tony shyly. “Okay? If they see? If they know?”

Tony grinned. “Honey, apparently we’re the only idiots who didn’t know.” He squeezed Bucky’s hand tighter. “Come on, let’s go back to dinner and make everyone sick at how sappy we are.”

“Steve and Nat have it coming,” Bucky agreed. “And then after dinner...”

“After dinner,” Tony said, thrilling at the thought, “we’ll go back to our room and take advantage of that very nice bed.”

~fin.

[kirishii-gay]

as the clock strikes twelve- Kirishima’s Birthday

A short, fluffy work dedicated to my baby Kiri on his birthday, and for Lee, as they share the same birthday as Kirishima. Love you lee xx  Word Count: 3.4k 

Summary: 

Bakugou stood alone in the common room, in shock, his cheeks dusted pink from the sudden kiss. He turned his head away, holding the back of his hand to his mouth, chuckling slightly.

“You idiot.”

His voice was barely a whisper, talking to no one. He knew Kirishima had left, he saw it with his own two eyes The tingling feeling on his lips lingered, the same one that was there every time they kissed, which wasn’t an uncommon feeling but still managed to turn someone like Bakugou into a complete mess.

And honestly? He was fine with that.

READ ON AO3 HERE -> https://archiveofourown.org/works/16314554

Kirishima opened his eyes, a smile immediately presenting itself on his face. He woke up thirty minutes earlier than his alarm, and he woke up happy, a bubbling feeling of joy brewing in his chest. It was his birthday today. Kirishima was always one to be excited about special events — Christmas, Easter, Cherry Blossom Season, New Year’s. This was his first birthday, first at U.A, first with all of his friends...and his first birthday with Bakugou. Kirishima was practically bouncing, overruled by excitement for the upcoming day.

He didn’t expect anything, he wasn’t being selfish. He just genuinely enjoyed the idea of being able to have a special day with special people around him. Every new person he’d met had had an impact on his life and had a special place in his heart. In middle school, Kirishima never would’ve been able to dream of anything anywhere near this. A year later, he was in his dream school, training to do his dream job. He had an amazing group of friends, he was dating the boy he’s in love with, he was more happy and confident in himself than he’d ever been before. It was everything he could have ever asked for and more.

Kirishima got dressed quickly, and made his way to class, as per usual. His chest was filled with the brilliant, radiating excitement, and the scene around him seemed a bit brighter in his eyes. He felt older, he was 16 now! There was an extra bounce to his step, a brighter smile on his face that made him radiate and glow. His happiness was contagious:  a disease that spread like wildfire, because no one could look at that smile and not feel a familiar joy bloom in their chest. As a pleasant surprise for someone who didn’t expect too much, his classmates went above and beyond. Kirishima walked into his homeroom, only for an entire class of eager faces to greet him. Mina immediately knocked him into a hug, and, he could see Kaminari’s bright grin behind him. His desk had been decorated and was drowning in gifts and cards. Kirishima beamed and hugged Mina back with a smile. “You guys, what it this? This is way too much!” Kirishima tried to protest, but he couldn’t for the life of him hide his joy. “We’ve got so much planned for today, man! This is gonna be the best birthday you’ll ever have, I guarantee you.” Kaminari draped his arm around Kirishima’s shoulder and dragged him away. The other students quickly followed, eager to spoil the birthday boy.

Bakugou was in the back of the classroom, and he bit his tongue in annoyance. He’d been planning this day for a while, and was hoping he and Kirishima could have some time alone together. That’s what they did on most days: spent time together, time flying out the window without a care in the world, only them. Bakugou wanted to make this day special. He wanted Kirishima to have an amazing day, one they’d find in movies, not one that had already been seen in every teen romance. One they’d make together. A new scene no one had ever seen before, and no one needed to. It would be just them. Often, Bakugou had a hard time showing it, but he really, really cared about Kirishima. It had taken Bakugou so much to get used to the idea of a relationship in the first place, to push past his pride. Although those battles never ended, Bakugou never fully was able to push past that part of him that controlled him so greatly, his anger, his will to win that blinded his vision. But Kirishima was always there for him. He’d done so much for Bakugou,  with and without knowing it. Bakugou wanted to find a way, for a day in his life, to forget about everything else and give Kirishima everything he deserved. It seemed like everyone else had the same idea, though.

Kirishima was happy to be dragged away. He laughed alongside his friends. His smile made Bakugou’s heart skip a beat, and he wanted to make Kirishima smile like that. Bakugou sighed and watched Kirishima’s friends drag him away. They loved him just as much, after all. Bakugou could wait.

More and more of the day passed. During lunch break a group of nearly twenty people presented Kirishima with a homemade bento, leaving Bakugou alone. In class, he tried to talk to Kirishima, but was told off by the teacher, which was completely and utterly humiliating. It was the last period of the day, and he still wasn’t even able to do so much as wish him a damn happy birthday. Kirishima was distracted by them, too, he was over the moon, and Bakugou didn’t want to be selfish and interrupt that. Kirishima deserved all of this. Bakugou had baked a cake the night before, he’d ordered presents weeks in advance. The presents are still sitting his locker, the cake still in the fridge. He’d changed his attitude from wanting to be able to spend the day them, to wanting just one damn moment with his boyfriend.

---

The bell rings, and students immediately drown the hallways on their way to their lockers, ready to call it a day. The same smile Kirishima wore all morning just seemed to grow brighter. His friends had completely spoiled him to death, and he couldn’t be happier. Almost immediately after class, Sero grabbed him and pulled him into a friendly headlock. “We’re not done yet, man. Come on, we’ve booked out a restaurant! Well, Jirou’s dad did, but it still counts!” Kirishima beamed and nodded, and Sero mirrored the smile while the two walked down the dorm ways. Kirishima’s still walking when he sees Bakugou in the common room, waiting, his phone out. He caught Kirishima’s eyes and sent him a look, and realisation came flooding back. Kirishima quickly apologised to Seo, before running to Bakugou. “Oi, Ei, you’re late. You promised you’d meet me here 15 minutes ago.” Guilt immediately pooled in Kirishima’s stomach. Bakugou studied his expression, and raised an eyebrow. “What’s that look for? ‘S not like you’re in trouble. Jus’ wanted to wish you a happy birthday, dumbass.” Oh no. Oh no. Kirishima bit his lip, even more guilty, now. This whole day, he hadn’t spent time with Bakugou at all. He’d been so busy with his friends, so focused on them, he hadn’t had time with Bakugou at all. Kirishima furrowed his eyebrows. “Katsuki, I’m so-” “Kiri! Come on man, we’re gonna be late! We’re all waiting for ya!” Sero’s voice rang out from the hallway, and Kirishima’s stomach dropped. Bakugou’s expression changed, and he looked up at Kirishima in confusion. “What does he mean by that?” Bakugou’s voice was quieter, and Kirishima felt so bad. “I-..uh, Kami and they wanted to take me out to dinner.” Kirishima rubbed the back of his head, guilty. “I could cancel on them, if you want-” “Don’t.” Kirishima looked up in surprise, and Bakugou crossed his arms over his chest with a sigh. “They..fuck, they planned this all for you. ‘S your birthday, dumbass. Want you to be happy n’ shit. ‘S fine.” Kirishima almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and a huge, grateful grin spread across his face. He took Bakugou’s face in his hands and kissed him, quickly. “I love you, thank you, I’ll come back as soon as I can, promise!” Kirishima called, running back to Sero and waving goodbye to his boyfriend. Bakugou stood alone in the common room, in shock, his cheeks dusted pink from the sudden kiss. He turned his head away, holding the back of his hand to his mouth, chuckling slightly.

“You idiot.”

His voice was barely a whisper, talking to no one. He knew Kirishima had left, he saw it with his own two eyes The tingling feeling on his lips lingered, the same one that was there every time they kissed, which wasn’t an uncommon feeling but still managed to turn someone like Bakugou into a complete mess. And honestly? He was fine with that.

------

The restaurant was really, really nice. Kirishima almost felt out of place. His friends had gathered so many people there, a group of nearly 15 people. Kirishima felt completely and utterly spoiled. His meal had been paid for in advance, and it was an all you can eat buffet, with lots, and lots of meat. Kirishima was in heaven. All of Kirishima’s favourite foods were there, all the people he cared about were there, the fresh smell of tender, rich meat wafted through the air and drew him in, and he was practically drooling. “Happy birthday Kirishima, Tetsutetsu!” Kaminari held up his glass of soft drink as a makeshift toast, causing the others to laugh. Kirishima and Tetsutetsu high fived across the table, grinning. They were ‘birthday buddies’, and this whole gathering was for them. “You guys know us too well, there’s nothing I love more than meat!” Tetsutetsu licked his lips, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. The group got up from the table and started to pick out their meals, Kirishima and Tetsutetsu both grabbing an unordinary amount of meat. To anyone who said otherwise, they responded ‘It’s our birthday, we can do what we want!’. “So, what has your deal old boyfriend spoiled you with, Kiri? I’m excited to see if our favourite blasty boy can actually be romantic!” Mina sent him a cheeky look, and Kirishima’s face immediately burned red, with both embarrassment and guilt. “I..uh, actually haven’t been able to spend much time with him today?” Kirishima admitted, rubbing the back of his head. Kirishima thought back to the flash of disappointment across Bakugou’s eyes when Kirishima cancelled on him. Kirishima still felt bad, usually Bakugou was his top priority, they were practically joined at the hip. Mina’s expression immediately changed, her ‘protective friend’ persona activating. “What do you mean? Hasn’t he given you a gift yet? Taken you out?! I swear, if he forgot-” “No, no, that’s not it!” Kirishima assured, nervously. “He’s been trying to, I just. Have been busy, with you guys! I’d actually promised to spend time with him after class, but I didn’t want to leave you all! When we get back I’ll spend time with him, I swear.” Mina sighed and put down her fork. “You’re telling me, that you haven’t spent time with your boyfriend at all? On your birthday? What’re you doing! Go! Go get your man!” Kaminari overheard the conversation, and shook his head. “No can do, man. We’ve got this place booked till’ seven, and then there’s a party! No school tomorrow, we’re going mad!”  Kaminari lets out a laugh and high fives Tetsutetsu. Kirishima’s stomach drops and he bites down on his bottom lip. “Uh..do I have to go the party? Or can I leave early? I did promise Katsuki-” Before Kirishima can respond, Toru pouts. “Come on Kiriii~!! You have to go, it’ll be so much fun~! You’ll be able to see Bakugou after!” Everyone else nods in return, turning to Kirishima, hopeful. Kirishima lets out a shaky sigh. “I’ll text him then saying I’ll get back late..” The table immediately whoops, and Kirishima should feel happy, but he feels so damn guilty. As much as Kirishima wanted to keep on spending time with his friends, he wanted to go back to Bakugou so bad.

5:45pm

[DM from Katsuki 😘💥❤️️]

let me know when you’ve finished at the dinner. m waiting for you

6:58pm [DM Katsuki 😘💥❤️️]

hey babe!! i’m so sorry for the late reply :(( i’m so sorry but,, they’ve got a small party planned straight after the dinner so i’ll be back really late

i’m sorryyyyyy

7:02pm

[DM from 😘💥❤️️]

oh

s’all good. i’ll stay up

you don’t need to say sorry

7:03pm [DM Katsuki 😘💥❤️]

you’re seriously the best ily

i’ll see you soon!

--------

By the time Kirishima gets back, it’s eleven o’clock, and everyone’s worn out and ready to crash. It definitely wasn’t a fun, small party. There was music booming the entire time, and Kirishima honestly felt awful for Tetsutetsu’s parents, who had to deal with a backyard full of teenagers on a Friday night. The night was fun, it honestly was, Kirishima had a good time and was so grateful to be able to spend his birthday with people he cared about. But, as the night went on, he found himself looking at the time more and more, thinking more about getting back to Bakugou, guilt continuing to grow in his stomach. And now, eleven pm at night, he’s sure he’s ruined it. Bakugou said he’d stay up, but Kirishima knew that Bakugou wasn’t a night owl. Quite the opposite, he’s usually knocked out by 10pm. Which means that he probably fell asleep waiting for Kirishima to come back, and didn’t spend any time together as he’d been trying to. Kirishima felt so, so bad. Kirishima passed Bakugou’s dorm, and knocked on the door, carefully. “Katsuki? Are you awake? I’m sorry I got back so late, we lost track of time..” Kirishima waited, but there was no response. “Katsuki?” He rapped his knuckles against the door again, louder. When he knocked for the third time and there was no answer, he knew Bakugou was asleep, and let out a sigh. Goddamnit. He hadn’t been able to see Bakugou all day. Kirishima promised himself that he’d make it up to Bakugou tomorrow, and went back to his own dorm.  Kirishima took a shower, breaking his spikes and removing the gel from his hair. He tried his hair quickly, and sent Bakugou another message.

11:23pm

[DM Katsuki 😘💥❤️]

hey katsu..you didn’t answer the door so i assume you’re asleep but i’m so sorry

i didn’t know the party would take so long and i’m sorry that i blew you off so many times

i love you

Kirishima shut off his phone with a sigh, placing it beside his pillow as he climbed into his bed. His hair fanned out over his pillow, still wet from the shower. The blankets are warm, but Bakugou’s warmer. It’s eleven pm, the last hour left of his birthday, and he didn’t spend any of it with Bakugou. Kirishima’s eyebrows knot together, and he adjusts himself into the blankets, starting to close his eyes.

Before his screen lights up.

11:28pm

[DM from Katsuki  😘💥❤️]

hey. are you still awake?

Kirishima immediately jumps up in his bed, taking his phone into both of his hands with a huge grin. Bakugou’s still up. There’s still time

11:29pm

[DM Katsuki  😘💥❤️]

!!! yeah, i am! why’re you awake??

11:29pm

[DM from Katsuki  😘💥❤️]

never mind that. meet me in the common room

Kirishima’s slightly confused, but gets up anyway. He stops to the bathroom and washes his face, before as instructed, opens the door and makes his way down to the common room. The hallways are dark, and he has to rely on his flashlight to navigate his way into the common room. Once he gets there, it’s completely dark. Kirishima looks around in confusion, before he spots a small, glowing light, coming from the kitchen area. Kirishima moves his phone and shines a light, revealing Bakugou, holding a small red cake and holding a hand over his eyes. “Ugh, turn off the flash, you moron,” Bakugou’s squinting, and his voice is gravelly, signifying that he’d just woken up. Kirishima feels joy bloom in his chest and runs forward, knocking him into the hug. Bakugou sets the cake down on the bench just in time, laughing into Kirishima’s hair and wrapping his arms around him, pulling him close. “Happy birthday, Ei.” Bakugou whispers, turning his head to kiss Kirishima gently, and Kirishima laughs against his lips, threading his hands into the soft, blond hair. “C’mon, I haven’t been able to fuckin’ talk to you all day. Let’s cut the cake, ‘ll give you the presents n’ shit n’ then we can stay here for a bit. S’ that ok?”

Bakugou lets his hands linger around Kirishima’s waist, and Kirishima nods, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek again.“Of course it’s ok. I can’t believe you stayed up and waited for me, you dork.”

Bakugou’s cheeks flush red and he turns his head away. “Shut up. Don’t make me regret it.” Kirishima lets out a laugh, feels like he could laugh forever, now. Bakugou pulls away to grab the small cake and place it on the coffee table in front of them. There’s already a large 16 candle in the centre, but he starts placing more around the outside and lighting them one by one, each one lighting up the darkness in a small beacon of orange. “Blow out the candles.” Bakugou almost says it like it’s a demand, but Kirishima does so anyway, until all the lights are out and they dark drapes over them again. Kirishima blinks, not being able to see a thing now, and he hears Bakugou grumble behind him, saying things like ‘Fuck wait, I didn’t think of this part-’. Kirishima improvises and uses the flashlight of his phone to light up the room again, and Bakugou lets out a sigh of relief before handing a small cake knife to Kirishima. Kirishima feels like he’s at one of his middle school birthday parties again, and beams, sinking his knife into the soft texture of the cake and cutting himself an off proportionate, messy slice. Bakugou chuckles and shakes his head, before cutting another slice, a neater and smaller one, for himself. Kirishima took a small bite of the cake, the sweet flavour immediately finding itself on his tongue. It tasted amazing. Rich, red velvet, with sweet, sugary icing on top. Kirishima let it melt in his mouth, savouring each bite. “God, Katsuki, that was amazing! You’re such an amazing cook!” Kirishima praised, but Bakugou was looking down at his phone, his eyebrows furrowed. 11:49pm. Bakugou left his slice half eaten, and stood up quickly. Kirishima was slightly confused, before Bakugou grabbed his hand and pulled him up, too. “Katsuki, what’re you doing?” Kirishima whispered, as Bakugou pulled him closer with one hand, while scrolling through his phone with the other. Kirishima stood in confusion for a minute, but then Bakugou inhaled and tapped on his phone again, causing soft music to start to play. The music was gentle, romantic, and the phone was on a low volume, blending in with the other sounds, resting over the peaceful area. It was so unlike Bakugou. Bakugou’s cheeks turned pink, and he looked away as he set his phone down, then took Kirishima’s hand in his. Bakugou’s face was drowning in shadows, caressing his features, the light only allowing his red eyes to break through the dark. Kirishima’s heart started to beat a little faster, and he looked up at Bakugou, before Bakugou started moving, slowly, in time with the music.

Kirishima was in shock for a moment, but didn’t question it. He let Bakugou lead him, moving around the deserted common room slowly, in time with the soothing sway of sound. Every area of contact tingled, from where Bakugou held his waist to the familiar feeling of Bakugou’s hand in his. It was quiet. Really quiet. The one source of light shined through, the wind cascading over them, louder than the music itself. It was a pianissimo of blended music, a kaleidoscope. Shadow and light walked hand in hand, the moonlight danced alongside them. It was late, quiet, no one in the world but them. Neither of the boys knew remotely anything about dancing, but that didn’t matter now. Kirishima leaned up to kiss Bakugou’s cheek, a silent thank you with a kind smile. Bakugou’s cheeks flushed red, but he smirked before bringing their hands to his lips and turning them to graze his lips over Kirishima’s knuckles. It was Kirishima’s turn to blush at that, but he laughed instead, and Bakugou pulled him closer as the next song began to play, pressing their foreheads together. They weren’t even listening to the music, now. All either could focus on was each other, red in the midst of black, shining like rubies over a dark, night sky.

Time ticked on, minutes going by without a word.

11:56, 11:57, 11:58, 11:59...

And the two were still dancing, long after curfew, until the day was over, spending the last moments together as the clock strikes twelve.

[fangirlingtodeath513]

future plans | a continuation of the Coffee Shop Meet-Cute ‘verse

read here on ao3

Dean’s alarm startles them awake, prompting Castiel to whine and roll into his side, hiding his face against Dean’s neck. “Nuh uh.”

Dean laughs softly, brushing his fingers through the man’s hair. “Yeah, I know, I don’t wanna either. But you’ve got lectures and I have to, ya know, run a business.”

Castiel hums as he slides his arm over Dean’s middle, sighing. “I hate it when you’re right. It’s your turn to make breakfast.”

Dean snorts, rubbing his eyes. “I’m pretty sure it’s your turn, but I’ll be nice and make it anyway. What do you want?”

Castiel smiles sheepishly at him, kissing his cheek before sitting up. “Scrambled eggs please. Thank you. Love you.”

Dean chuckles, ruffling Cas’s hair gently. “Yeah, love you too. Go shower.”

While his boyfriend of nearly a year and a half showers, Dean pads quietly to their kitchen and sets about making breakfast. He puts together a pot of coffee before grabbing the eggs from the fridge. He makes a big plate of scrambled eggs for both of them, tapping his thumb on the counter before nodding to himself and frying up some bacon as well. Cas comes downstairs just as he finishes frying the bacon, so he hands his boyfriend a mug and motions for him to get himself coffee. Dean sets the plate of bacon on the table, pouring himself a mug of coffee before sitting across the table from Cas. They settle into their morning routine: Castiel reads the news on his phone since, as a political science professor, he needs to stay current, and Dean browses his social media and (a more recent habit) checks his fairly new Winchester Restores email. Dean showers and gets dressed while Cas cleans up breakfast, and they both head to work.

Their life is finally working out. Castiel had been granted tenure just before the start of the spring term, and Dean had finally been able to open his own restoration shop, after saving for it for three years. Cas’s hours had been reduced, since he wasn’t required to teach as many classes as a tenured professor, and Dean essentially makes his own hours, since he’s his own boss and only works on restorations, rather than working in a garage with customers every day. Not to mention, his business was already doing well for a brand new one. It helped that there were no other restoration garages nearby, though Dean likes to think it’s his skill as a restoration artist that attracts people. Today, though, today he’s heading into town rather than to his garage. They’ve been together for a year and a half, and he knows from previous conversations that Cas is interested in getting married at some point, so why not now? Their lives are finally good, their relationship has never been stronger, and if he’s being honest with himself, he’s more than ready to make the commitment to having Castiel in his life for the extent of it.

So here he is, heading to a jewelry store. He knows Cas is in class until two thirty, so there’s no risk of him being caught. He pulls the door of the jewelry store open, glancing around and shrinking slightly when he sees a few pairs of eyes looking him over. He probably should’ve dressed a bit nicer for this, but he’s headed to the garage after he finds a ring, so it doesn’t exactly make sense to wear nice clothes if he’s just going to get them dirty. He shakes off the overwhelming feeling of not belonging, stepping up to the counter.

Apparently today is his lucky day, because he gets a girl around his age to help him, and she doesn’t automatically look at him like he’s trash. He knows Cas’s ring size, through a very awkward conversation with Cas’s mother, and he can take a guess at what kind of ring he’d like. Still, though, it takes him three hours to find the perfect one. They don’t have it in stock in Cas’s size, so he agrees to come back on Wednesday to pick it up. He leaves the shop satisfied and heads to his garage to get some work done.

He gets a call on Wednesday telling him that Cas’s ring has arrived, so he picks it up on his lunch break and hides it in the Impala’s glove box behind a few of his old tapes. From there it’s just a waiting game. A fancy dinner isn’t really their thing, so he rules that option out from the beginning. He thinks about going back to the coffee shop they met at, but he’s still a little embarrassed by how they met, so he rules that one out too. Eventually, he settles on just asking whenever the time feels right.

He realizes two weeks later that he really, really didn’t think this through. He has to carry the ring box everywhere, just in case the opportunity presents itself, and he’s more than a little paranoid that Cas will realize that it’s a ring box in his pocket and have the whole surprise ruined for him. He doesn’t have to wait much longer, though, because the opportunity presents itself a week later. They have plans to go out for dinner and drinks with their group of friends, and instead of spending their Saturday doing something productive, they’re snuggled under four different blankets on their couch making their way through their backlog of TV shows. It’s comfortable and warm and despite the fact that they’ve been together for a while, Dean’s heart still jumps when Cas turns to look at him and press a kiss to his cheek. The thought’s barely registered in his mind before he’s extricating himself from the blankets and dropping a kiss to Cas’s head on his way upstairs. He grabs the ring box from his nightstand, pausing the show and standing in front of his boyfriend, holding out a hand. Castiel gives him a funny look but takes his hand nonetheless, raising an eyebrow.

“Is everything alright?” He asks, looking Dean over quickly.

Dean smiles and nods, squeezing Cas’s hand gently. “Everything’s great. I know we have to go out later, but, um… now just feels like the right time, I guess?” Castiel looks confused, and he can’t say he blames the man, cause even he isn’t entirely sure how he wants to ask this. He takes a deep breath before continuing. “We’ve been together for a bit and everything’s been so amazing and-”

“Oh god, you’re breaking up with me.” Castiel cuts him off, pulling his hand away with a horrified look on his face. Dean blinks at him, dumbfounded.

“What? Why would you think I was breaking up with you, Cas?”

Castiel squints at him, his head tipping to the side. “You’re not?”

Dean laughs, rubbing the back of his neck. “No, man, of course not. Why would I do that?”

Castiel shrugs, and Dean can see the blush creeping onto his cheeks. He chuckles, taking Cas’s hand again and pressing a gentle kiss to his knuckles. Castiel’s chews his lip for a moment before speaking again. “Then what…?”

Dean smiles gently, keeping Cas’s hand in his as he drops to one knee, flicking the ring box open. “The opposite, actually. I know, in the grand scheme of things, we haven’t known each other that long, but I love you and, if you’ll have me, I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Castiel stares at him, and Dean can feel his excitement dwindling with each second he doesn’t get an answer. “You… you want to marry me? Why? I’m horrendously messy, I always make you make breakfast, I get way too heated about politics, and I’m pretty sure your mom hates me-”

Dean cuts him off with a snort, rubbing his own face as the relief settles over him. “Dude, no she doesn’t. Every time I call her she asks me when one of us is gonna propose. She practically begged me to marry you the first time she met you.”

Cas’s eyes meet his, and he can see genuine surprise in them. “She… she did?”

Dean chuckles and nods. “Yeah, she did. Seriously, Cas, she loves you. I promise. And all that other stuff? You’re really not that messy, and I like making breakfast for you. It makes you smile, and you know I like to cook anyway. And honestly, watching you get heated about something you care about is kinda hot.”

The blush on Cas’s cheeks darkens, but he can see the small smile tugging at the man’s mouth. “Yes.” He says simply, grinning and wiggling his fingers at Dean. Dean laughs, pulling the ring from its pillow and sliding it on Cas’s finger gently. Castiel hums happily, brushing his thumb over it. “Perfect fit.”

Dean smiles and shrugs. “I may have called your mother.”

Castiel’s eyebrows raise in surprise, flicking up to look at Dean once again. “You called my mother? You’re terrified of my mother.”

Dean shrugs, though apparently now it’s his turn to blush. Cas gently tilts his head up with a single finger under his chin, a shy smile on his face. Dean smiles back, surging forward and capturing Castiel’s lips in a gentle kiss. “I love you.”

Castiel grins, nudging Dean’s side with his elbow. “Love you too. Would you wear a ring?”

Dean smiles softly, shifting to sit back on the couch. “Yeah, I would. Why?”

Castiel chuckles, leaning away from him and rifling through the drawer in the end table before leaning back over and holding out a ring box. “Because I’ve been meaning to ask you the same thing.” Dean grins and lets him slide the ring on his finger.

They make it to dinner half an hour late, but they’re quickly forgiven when Charlie spots their rings. They’ve already called both sets of parents, so they spend the night celebrating with their friends. They make it home shortly before two in the morning, all soft touches and warm smiles. Dean honestly can’t say he’s ever been happier.

Tag list: @harleyquinnisbi @unlikelyteller @spn-destiel-enthusiast

[ncstings]

spots to kiss #20: georgia & benjamin a kiss on where the back of the neck turns to shoulder.

“Did you see who they were?” She’s got a bag full of groceries under her arm as she leads out of the elevator, walking down one of their long hallways.

“Only briefly. But they were carrying things, it didn’t seem appropriate to stop them.” Benjamin says mindlessly over the phone. She caught him while he was working and he said he could talk, because how could he say no to her, but it’s clear he’s doing something on top of it.

“Shame, Ben. For shame.” She hisses. “I have to do everything myself. I’ll have to take one of the bottles from the fridge as an impromtu gift. Unless you have a fruit basket laying around.”

“I’m sorry, is that something you think people just... have?” He laughs.

“Don’t joke, you never know when you’re going to need a gift basket. Before moving in with you, I always had supplies for making a spa basket on the fly.” She looks around her, rounding another corner. “How do you think I got to be so successful.”

“I wont question your ways.”

“Oh shit---!” Georgia stops dead in her tracks, seeing a door wide open. “They’re home.” She hisses.

“Why are you acting like they’re outlaws? They’re just new neighbors. They looked perfectly approachable. A little young, but, who am I to question anything.”

“What, like, how could young people afford a place like this?” She pauses. “How young we talking?”

“I don’t question people’s income. But certainly under thirty.”

“Wow, good for them.” She stands up straight. “I should say hi, I hear music playing.”

“Why is their door open?” 

“I don’t know I haven’t talked to them yet.”

“Seems strange is all. You don’t think they’ll cause any problems do you? Have lots of parties or anything?”

“You’re the one that’s met them, Benjamin.”

He hums, then there’s a pause for a second before he finishes. “Well I should go, you go investigate and report back.”

And she did just that. Georgia hung up her call, rushed her groceries back into the apartment, and grabbed a bottle of wine from her fridge before she dipped back out into the hallway.

Music still poured from the open door. Nothing loud, and it was rather slow and sensual rhythm and blues that she couldn’t really complain about the music choice. When she neared the corner, she was shocked to find a baron apartment, with some furniture with tarp over it. There was tarp over pretty much everything in fact, and a small woman standing on a stool, painting the wall a lovely mint color.

She was petite, tan, and Georgia couldn’t see her face but from her rather toned body, she imagined her to be beautiful. He hair was tied back in a bandana and her clothes were splattered with paint.

He knuckles tapped against the door frame, gathering the woman’s attention in the large condo. When she turned, her suspicions were confirmed, she was utterly beautiful. And very young.

Benjamin refuses to question income but in a place like this, she can’t help the questions.

“Hello!” Georgia chimes. “I just wanted to come by and say hello. We’re your neighbors across the hall. I’m Georgia. My fiance Benjamin is at work but he says hello in spirit.” As she speaks, she’s watching the woman get down from her stool, and start to approach her in the doorway, wearing a smile.

“Hi,” She says, her voice light, a bit breathless, but in a way that just sounds like that’s her voice. It’s alluring, no doubt. “I’m sorry if having the door open was bothering you, I just wanted to get this place aired out with all the painting.”

“Oh no, it’s totally okay, it gave me the nudge to come by and say hello, I just got home from work early, went to the store, now I’m here, saying hello.”

The woman laughs politely and nods, then holds out a hand. “I’m Laney, My partner James lives with me but he’s out ... “She pauses, her smile looking the fondest it could. “I’m not sure, sitting at a cafe thinking something whimsical or buying furniture, who knows. He’ll be back later.”

Georgia laughs in return, taking the outstretched hand to shake. “Seems very far from my fiance. I don’t think whimsy is a concept he even comprehends, but we definitely have a friend like that.”

“Yeah, he likes his alone time though. As do I.” She smiles. “I would love to show you around the place but as you can tell, it’s really not ready.”

“Oh no, that’s totally okay. When I moved in with Benjamin I nearly redecorated the whole place. He’s a man with very good taste but you know, not my kind of taste.” She winks playfully.

Laney laughs lightly, and it sounds like clouds and sparkles and she can imagine just about anyone would fall for her. “James is a very fashionable person, though he’s been hanging around all kinds of fashionable people since he was very young.” Her eyes crinkle, and she looks behind her. “He picked out the mint, but we’re doing something a little different. Patterns and stuff.”

“Oh, that’ll be interesting.” Georgia nods. Maybe they’re a little different. She’s not getting the vibe that they’re much like the modern architects that live in the building. People her and Benjamin’s age who work downtown in the finance district. It’ll be a breath of fresh air.

She sighs, and then looks down at the bottle still in her hand. “Oh! I wanted to bring this by to you guys, a little welcoming gift. This is my favorite dessert wine, perfect for a date night.”

She watches as Laney looks at the bottle, her smile turning quaint with her lips in a thin line. For a moment, Georgia considers that she picked the wrong wine. Or maybe it was too cheap? Who knows with these guys, they might be far too out of her pricerange.

“Thanks,” She says softly, looking up to meet her eyes. “We’re actually sober, though.”

Well at least it wasn’t her. “Oh gosh, of course! You know, I was talking to Ben over the phone, told him we should keep an emergency fruit basket around. I’m sorry about that.” She tucks the bottle under her arm, then reaches out to squeeze the other’s arm gently. “You know what, why don’t you guys come over for dinner? Neither of us are that great at cooking but we can make one thing really well so our treat!” 

“That’d be nice, yeah. James and I are free tomorrow night, is that okay?” She lets out a nervous laugh, as if thankful for the interaction.

“Perfect! Just give us a knock okay?”

//--//

Georgia moves around the table to light the candles before rushing back to the kitchen, where Benjamin stands over the stove. “This has to look perfect. Something in my bones just tells me they’re way cooler than any of us and I want to impress them.” She huffs, reaching into the fridge where she’d picked up raspberry soda. Something made in Brooklyn where the guy said it was frequently sold out. “You don’t think they’re too cool for soda, do you? I told you they don’t drink but like... I don’t want to make them drink just water. Oh god, this is why we don’t make new friends. Why did I invite them over, they’ll see what big of losers we are.”

She closes the fridge and bangs her head against the aluminum, only to find a pair of arms sliding around her waist, and a pair of lips kissing the back of her neck. “You do this for a living, love, it’ll be fine.” He continues kissing her skin. “You look beautiful and it was very kind of you to invite them and I’m sure the appreciate the warm welcome.”

Georgia sighs, her head resting against the cool metal. “Tell me what a cool unstoppable sexy babe I am, please.”

“No,” He says plainly, reaching down to give her ass a squeeze. “You don’t need me inflating your ego anymore than I already do.” A final kiss to her neck and he’s back to the stove, cooking the only thing Vincent really taught them to cook. But they like it enough they make it almost once a week.

It’s not long before there’s a knock on their door and Georgia launches to answer. When she does, the door swings open and she nearly gasps.

They’re a little too good looking and she nearly falls over.

When she’d met Laney, she was dressed for painting, which was obviously not her prime. But here, dressed in a tight little crop top and shirt skirt and she looks perfect. Her hair was tied back and yet immaculate.

And then the partner in question was just as perfect. Shining seafoam eyes, covered with tattoos that could mean any number of things. Dressed in some sort of pleated high waisted pant and patterned blouse that looks far more expensive than anything in her closet, yet effortlessly cool and slick. 

“Hey!” Georgia coos, letting them both in as she tries to ground herself in what might be something completely out of her league. She’s never had to plan a wedding for two people that were so absolutely unapologetically cooler than her.

She turns around to find that Benjamin rounds the corner greet them, raising an eyebrow in her direction. It lasts only a second, before he steps forward to introduce herself, and a collection of hands are being exchanged in shaking.

Laney introduces James to her, who is polite and far too sweet to be even real. Then again, it took her over a year to come to the conclusion Vincent was real, so she should be accustomed to this.

Everyone gets situated with dinner. Georgia’s thankful when they say they love raspberry soda. Either she guessed right, or they were painfully polite. Both made her just a little bit more relaxed as they began eating their dinner.

“So where did you guys move from?” Benjamin starts with the simple questions, and she’s thankful for that too. To her, she feels she has to come up with wildly intricate questions to engage the table. She hadn’t even considered the basics.

“Los Angeles. But we both grew up in California.” James responds, poking around his plate. “This is really good, you guys are really good cooks.”

Both Georgia and Benjamin let out a full laugh, but it’s the latter to clarifies. “One of our close friends is a very good cook, he taught us to make this at one point. We like it because it’s easy and tastes good.”

“Carbonara fits that bill, yeah.” Laney nods, picking up more of her’s. “James and I tried to go on a cooking journey a while back. We needed something to do together after we hadn’t been doing anything at all...” Her nose scrunches when she looks to James, who shakes his head fondly.

“Needless to say, that was not the way we needed to bond together. We decided puzzles was a lot better.”

Georgia snorts, looking over the Benjamin. “Can you imagine us doing a puzzle together?”

“Georgia would spent thirty minutes trying to tell me a corner piece belonged in the center.” He grins. “After the first ten, she’d realize she was wrong but she wouldn’t be able to accept it so she’d just fully commit. Most likely to try and make me annoyed.”

Georgia playfully hits him with her napkin and rolls his eyes. The couple across from them laugh, and after a few seconds, she sighs. “I mean he’s not wrong, I would almost certainly do that.”

The table laughs again.

Georgia picks off a piece of her bread, adding onto her statement. “Explains a lot though, being from LA, you guys give off a very coastal cool vibe.”

“Do we?” Laney looks at James, her hand reaching over to, what Georgia presumes, squeeze his thigh. “We don’t feel very cool. In terms of Los Angeles, and where we come from, we are extremely uncool.”

James nods, sucking in his bottom lip as he moves thing around his plate, and then takes another bite.

The air’s a little stiff, so Georgia decides to move on. “So how did you guys meet?”

“Rehab.” James says after swallowing his bite.

The air gets a little more stiff. Georgia’s holding her fork in mid air and she’s not entirely sure what to do with this information. She looks to Benjamin, who’s eyes are glued to the couple, and he’s just continually nodding his head.

“I’m sorry.” Laney laughs nervously, rubbing James’ leg again. “We’re trying this thing we learned in therapy where we’re a lot more open and honest with ourselves and the people around us. Secrets and being closed off didn’t really do us any favors.”

“Okay.” Georgia nods, taking a sip of her soda. “I’m sure we could do some good with that.”

Benjamin snorts, then takes another bite of his food.

“How long have you two been together?” James changes the subject, pushing a smile forward.

Georgia looks to Benjamin, eyebrow raised. “I think... less than two years? Got engaged about six months ago.”

“Congratulations.”  James nods. “Love is a beautiful thing, and an important thing to cherrish and hold onto.”

Georgia nods, reaching out to squeeze Benjamin’s forearm. “Had some rough patches but no one puts up with me quite like this guy.”

He pats her hand before she pulls it away, and the two look to the young couple to find them soft-eyed, looking at them with adoration. “That’s lovely.” Laney says softly.

“We had our own, too.” James says, looking over at Laney. “Though who’s surprised when you come to meet the love of your life while you’re both trying to get clean.” He huffs in amusement, then looks back to the others. “We do a lot of therapy now. We’re kind of at the point where we’re not interested in things failing again, and we want to put in the work. It’s taken a lot of time but it’s good.”

“That’s so nice.” Georgia feels herself sighing, unable to help getting wrapped up in their romance. “And you guys decided to move to the East Coast?”

“Yeah,” Laney adjusts in her seat. “Just needed to get Los Angeles off of us. All the bad reminders and the enablers. Plus, my work is easier to do here, and James is kind of between things now.” She looks to her partner, who nods.

“Oh, what do you guys do?” She’s itching to know, considering how tastefully expensive they both look.

“Laney is the most talented fashion designer on earth.” James grins before she can interject.

“Oh god.” She huffs, sinking lower into her seat.

“Wait, really?” Georgia’s eyes beam.

“Now you’ve done it.” Benjamin shakes his head, digging deeper into his plate.

“Like, what kind of fashion? Couture or like with a store or what?”

Laney shrugs. “I got to show my stuff in Fashion Week for the first time last year but that’s only after James wore my suit to his red carpet.”

Georgia’s eyes gape, and she leans back in her chair, bringing a hand to brush back her hair. “Whoa, hold on a minute, who the fuck are you guys?” She doesn’t mean it to sound so brash, but now there’s mentions of a red carpet and she might faint.

“James makes movies.” Laney says simply.

She looks to see that James’ cheeks are pink, and he’s looking down, “I wrote And End a long time ago, I was a script doctor for a while. Couldn’t really make anything good because I was too busy snorting cocaine. Uhm... and then two years ago I wrote and directed and produced Over Sunset Drive.”

The room is quiet. Georgia slowly looks to Benjamin, whose face has now gone pale. He’s got a single spaghetti noodle hanging from his lip and it takes him a second to realize it before he chews and swallows his bite. 

“He makes me watch And End all the time.”  Georgia points to Benjamin, then looks back to James. “You wrote that?”

“At nineteen, yes.”

“What?” Both Benjamin and Georgia say in unison.

“I am thoroughly impressed.” Benjamin adds. “I don’t want to act inappropriately, but I loved both of those films.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that. It’s no inappropriate, you guys have pretty reasonable reactions. It’s always weird to bring it up. But it’s even weird to not bring it up and then have that come up way down the line.”

“So you’re not going to make any more movies?” Georgia frowns.

“That’s a bold thing to say. I’m not so sure. I write a lot of poetry. Sometimes Laney tells me I should publish all the love notes I write I quite like them being just for her. But I have a lot of personal stuff that could get published. I also like to paint. I’m fortunate enough that I can spend some time, figure it out. I also just want to support Laney on the direction her career has taken.”

“God that’s so sweet.” Georgia pouts. “You two are so adorable, you have to be our friends.”

The couple laugh, and look between each other. “We don’t really have much for friends here since moving, so we can’t really turn that down.”

“You guys would love Maggie and Vinnie, they’re the most sickeningly sweet disgusting couple there ever was.” Georgia leans forward. “And they’re out best friends.”

“That’ll be fun. People used to call us gross.” James laughs.

“Yeah I’d like to see you guys try and compare to them. Though who knows, they could use actual good competition.” Ben adds in.

“You know what though, I know for a fact Zebby is in all the cool New York circles. If you want the art circle, I’ll get you her number too.” Georgia wags a fork at them. “She’s also probably closer to your age.”

“Oh, really, you guys don’t have to do that. We appreciate your warm welcome as it is.”

“No no, Georgia wont stop with this until you have too many friends you don’t know what to do with.” Benjamin looks over to them with an annoyed look, which only lasts seconds until he looks back over to her, sees her with her phone out, and shakes his head with an endearing smile. “Love, why don’t we do dessert, we can do that later.” His hand reaches out, slowly taking the phone form their hand so they can continue their evening.

[lollercakesff]

Time & Again 17

Belated Christmas! AO3

“What do you mean she didn’t show up to class? I dropped her off this morning,” Hopper grumbles, hand rubbing over his face as he listens to Flo on the radio.

“I don’t know, but when you’re done there you should give the school a call.”

“Fine, yeah. Thanks Flo.” Returning the radio handset to the dash a little bit harder than necessary, Hopper looks out the front of his truck windshield at the mess of vehicles and snow before him.

He’d been called out in the snowstorm to the scene of a crash, three cars had slid into one another and now the driver’s were fighting over who was responsible for the insurance claim. He didn’t want to deal with it - not really at all - he just wanted to go home and sit in the lights of Joyce’s Christmas tree…

Home. He’d done it again.

Whenever he thought of home now he thought of Joyce’s place and he wasn’t sure what to think of that. The cabin was nice and it was still where he and El lived, but both of them were starting to gravitate more towards the family atmosphere of the home that Joyce had built. There was something about the comfort of it all - the noise and excitement mixed with the quiet glances and the soft touches in the dead of night - that made him ache to be there more often.

He knew he wasn’t the only one feeling that way - on more than one occasion El had asked to stay over at the Byers’ instead of returning to the cabin to sleep. The funny thing was Hopper knew she wasn’t intent on staying there because of the food - Joyce’s cooking was nothing to write home about - but that she liked being around Will and likely moreso, being around Joyce.

They were both in over their heads when it came to loving Joyce and the realization had made him both giddy and nervous.

“Chief, they’re starting to throw punches,” Powell said through the window, his knuckle tapping on the glass.

“Fuck,” he groaned and reached for the handle.

The response took over an hour to get sorted, the snow starting to drip down his neck as the slush soaked through his boots. Miserable and chilled, Hopper returned to the station and poured himself a cup of coffee before calling the school to follow up.

“Did she register for first period?” He was determined not to go off the deep end on this one. Kids skipped classes all the time - it was expected that she would do it eventually - but he thought she at least would have pretended to be sick or something to blow off school. “Okay. Thanks Theresa, Merry Christmas.” Hanging up the line, he leaned back in his desk chair and fiddled with the tab on his breast pocket.

She hadn’t gone to any of her classes today and nobody had seen her. The whole thing seemed unusual to him, she’d been looking forward to watching movies all day since it was the last day before the break. Hopper pulled out a smoke and tried to focus on the work on his desk, certain that she’d show up eventually after the failure of some half-baked plan with Max or something.

When six o’clock rolled around and she still hadn’t shown up at the cabin, Hopper started calling the families. The answers were all the same - yes, their kid was home, where was his? He tried not to take it personally but he could hear the judgement through the phone and it only frustrated him further.

While El was strongly independent, it was still unlike her to disappear like this. After closing the gate almost a year ago they’d found a common ground that meant better communication and more honesty, even in their arguments. It had been working for them and he couldn’t understand why she would just leave like this without warning.

His mind spun on all the possible things he’d said in the last week that could have caused her to run away like this. They’d disagreed on what to watch on TV, what to have for dinner, but nothing really had caused a strain that would explain why she’d left. Getting to his feet he pulled a beer out of the fridge and sat down heavily at the kitchen table before staring at the can.

He was about to pop the tab when the phone rang.

“Hopper,” Joyce says into the line, her voice stressed. “Has she come home yet? You didn’t call.”

He pushes the beer away with the realization that if he started drinking now, he likely wouldn’t stop and that was not going to help him bring El home if he had to. “No, she’s not here yet. I don’t - Joyce, I have no idea what to do here.” He sighs into the line.

“Should we go look for her? Is that what we should do?” He thinks it over for a moment but then shakes his head as though she could see him.

“No. I mean, maybe after the snow lets up in the morning. But right now I think we just need to wait for her to come back. She’s resourceful and capable, I really just want to think she’s gotten the time mixed up or something,” he adds knowing full well that El has mastered understanding how time works by now. The situation doesn’t make any sense so he grasps at straws to keep his nerves about him.

“Have you called Owens? Maybe he knows - “

“I did. He hasn’t heard from her. This isn’t like her, at all.” Hopper can hear Joyce on the end of the phone picking at the wallpaper, her small frame likely tucked against the wall as she tries to keep it together.

“I know. Do you want us to come over? Keep you company?” She offers weakly.

Hopper pulls in a breath and sits up in the chair. He wanted to be with Joyce - she knew what this was like and he needed that right now. But he also wanted to be with her because she was likely reliving the worst period of her life too. “Yeah, I do. But the weather is looking pretty bad out there.”

“I’ll drive carefully. She’s safe, wherever she is Hop,” she adds, knowing full well that he was thinking about her lost in the snow. He had to push the idea out of his mind - tomorrow was Christmas Eve and she would be here to open her presents on Christmas Day. She had to be.

The evening stretches on forever. It gets to the point, sometime around midnight, that Hopper stops answering the phone and lets Joyce take over. Putting on the record that El always liked to listen to, the sound drowning out the wind from the storm, Hopper sits heavily on the couch and stares at Will asleep against the armrest. It wasn’t long ago that Will was missing, trapped in the Upside Down, and Joyce was in his position. He doesn’t know how she managed to get through it - not as he sits here helplessly, hoping against everything that she was safe.

That she would come back.

“Why don’t you go lay down?” Joyce says from above him, her arm sliding across his chest as she rests her chin on his head.

“She isn’t home yet,” he whispers and her arms tighten around his chest. “What if I drove her away?” The idea that the black hole got her had started to haunt him as the sun went down, his mind focusing on the worst case scenario. Now he was afraid to sleep, certain that if he did the visions of her dead in the snow would come to life and destroy him.

“You didn’t,” she assures him. She sounds so sure that he could almost believe her. Almost, but not really.

Rounding around the edge of the sofa, Joyce sets herself down in his lap and tucks into him. He tries keep it together as her fingers trace his cheekbones, her eyes searching his, but he can’t and has to turn away so she won’t see the fear inside of him. If she saw it, he wasn’t sure he could stop himself from falling apart. Somewhere between this morning when the school first called and now his anger and frustration had dissolved into fear, blatant and suffocating, and he didn’t know how to manage it.

The morning comes with an exhausted dullness as the storm outside subsides and the sun starts to creep out from behind the clouds. Will is the first one to start making breakfast, his awareness of the state of his Mom and Hopper after a night of restless sleep driving him to sort through the fridge until he can find the eggs. Setting the scrambled egg on the table he encourages them to join him, pulling them to their feet and waving toast under their noses.

Halfway through the meal Hopper startles, his gaze whipping to the door as he watches the locks unclick of their own volition. A moment later and he’s on his feet, his hands twisting at the handle and swinging the door open to reveal El standing on the porch, a package under her arm and bags under her eyes.

The shock of seeing her - in one piece and seemingly alright - makes his head go light and he drops to his knees before her. “You came back,” he mumbles, his eyes searching hers.

“I didn’t mean to be gone so long, but the snow... The bus I was taking stopped and we had to stay onboard all night. I couldn’t call or do anything,” she pauses and her demeanor changes, her strength disappears and all at once she’s dropping the box and throwing herself into his arms, her small frame nearly knocking him over with the force of it.

“It’s okay, kid,” he whispers over and over against her hair, his hands holding her tightly to him. The tears he’s been holding back for hours start to prick at the back of his eyes, escaping silently onto her shoulder as he pulls her closer.

“I’m sorry - I didn’t mean to make you worried. I didn’t want you to think something bad happened but I couldn’t fix it and I didn’t know what to do,” she sobs against him.

“I know. It’s okay,” he tries to calm her, his hands rubbing circles against her back.

“El, why didn’t you tell us where you were going?” Will asks from the table, his words breaking into their reunion bubble. Hopper let’s her pull back and notice the other two people in the cabin, their bodies frozen in their seats.

“It was supposed to be a surprise,” she watches Joyce and Will with trepidation, uncertainty flooding her at their reaction. Hopper moves to get back to his feet, ushering El inside as he finally closes the door. The silence in the cabin drags out and he can practically feel the barrage of questions waiting to be asked.

“But you didn’t even tell Mike. You tell him everything!” Will added, getting to his feet and stepping closer to her.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, her shoulders sinking lower as she starts to disappear into her coat. She couldn’t meet his stare, the intensity between them building as Joyce stepped to Hopper’s side curiously.

“Everyone was worried El,” he says quietly and reaches out to her, his arms pulling her in for a hug. She stands stock still, her body unmoving for a moment before she relaxes into his embrace and returns the hug with surprising force. “Next time just tell us where you’re going so we don’t worry. Okay?” He asks as he pulls away and looks towards Hopper and Joyce with a small smile on his face.

“He’s right,” Joyce adds, nodding. El steps towards her and wraps her in a tight hug, the unexpected force catching her off guard.

“I’m sorry guys. I was supposed to be back before school was over. I just wanted to get a good present and I had to go to the city to get it,” El says when she finally pulls away, stepping back to the box and picking it up. She presses it towards Hopper’s hands, her face looking up to him hopefully. “Merry Christmas, Dad,” she adds quietly as he takes it.

“Ellie, having you home safe is the best gift you can give me for Christmas,” Hopper sighs as he takes the box under one arm and pulls her back into his arm for another crushing hug.

[all-sortsa-stuff]

What may come, part 2

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x Reader

Word Count: 3192

Warning: Umm just a little teariness.

 Part 1

Mila wanted to take you some place fun for your first night in L.A.  You did not mind fun, but you really wanted a place that you could talk and catch up.  It had been almost a year since you two had seen each other.  When you pointed that out to her, Mila relented and brought you to a little Italian place not far from her home.  The owners seemed to know her well as they both came to hug her as soon as she walked in.  

Introductions were made and you both were seated at a small table towards the back of the restaurant. It was quiet and you could smell the incredible food coming from the kitchen.  “You are going to love it.  So much better than the places back home.  This is authentic.”  Grinning wide you skimmed over the menu finding a few things that sounded wonderful. Drinks and appetizers were ordered and finally you had the chance to breathe and look at your sister.

“Mila you look so happy here.  I should have known this would be your element.”  Resting your chin on your hand, you just stared at the contentment that was in her face all the time now.

“[Y/N/N] I am so freaking happy it’s disgusting.  This is where I should be.  I can’t believe it has taken you this long to move out here with me.  I promise you won’t want to go back home.”

“That will depend on if I can find a job or at least some steady income. And don’t even think you are going to support me for long.”  You could see Mila stop as she was about to say just that.  She smirked at you as the drinks were brought around.  “So what happened to that girl you were seeing? Valerie?”

“Ugh that turned into a hot mess.  We found out that we are a lot different and have varying views of what we want out of life right now.  She wanted a family right now and thought I should quit doing what I love so I don’t travel so much.  That had to end quickly.”  You gave her a sympathetic smile as you sipped on your wine.

“At least you found out before you got too far into it.”  Mila nodded sipping at her own drink.  

“What about you?  Any cute guys?”  She already knew the answer but asked anyway.  There was a plan in her mind that had been brewing since you had finally said you would come out to California.  Not that she would ever tell you… or him for that matter.

“No, you know I would have told you already.  There is a limited supply at home.”  After a disastrous ending to your last relationship, you had taken a long hiatus from dating.  Changing the subject quickly you told her a few pieces of gossip from back home. That lasted through the rest of dinner and into dessert.  Both of you were hysterically laughing as you walked out of the restaurant.  It felt good to have the time to spend with your sister.  You were so close it was difficult to have so many mile in between you.  The ride home consisted of more laughing and jokes until you pulled up into the driveway of her house.  It was not a huge place but it was pretty, a street over from the beach with a huge front yard that had a ton of greenery around.  It looked so calming.  

“Don’t even ask how much it was.  You will throw up.”  Mila winked at you as you climbed out of her little sports car.  An SUV parked in the other spot on the driveway.  “You can drive that till you figure out life.”

The house inside was of course beautiful too, clean, probably since Mila was rarely home, and had a housekeeper.  With the exception of her office, that was a complete train wreck.  There were papers piled everywhere, including the floor. It was a room that had two clear glass French doors with a sign on it that said in big bold letters, ‘DO NOT TOUCH THIS ROOM, EVER!’

It caused a quiet laugh from you.  You could only imagine what caused that to be placed there.  Probably some woman who had dared to clean up or organize the chaos. “Mi, a little aggressive there don’t ya think?”

“What?  I couldn’t find anything for a week.  Clean my house, not my work.” She kicked off her shoes sending one of them flying across the room.  It used to drive your mother crazy when you were younger.  Now it just felt like home.  “Okay night night.  My ass needs at least five hours of sleep.  The spare room is on this floor down the hall from my office.  Make yourself at home.”

With a wave in the air, she went upstairs to her room.  The spare room was a decent size with a queen size bed and a desk that would be perfect for working on your photos.  You were not all that tired so you unpacked and set up everything you could. After an hour, you figured you should probably try to sleep.  It just felt odd being in a new place, you hoped that the feeling would not last long and you would be able to settle into a routine of sorts here.

 The morning came with a bright light in your face.  Combined with the jet lag, it was difficult to open your eyes.  A few attempts at falling back to sleep were futile, so it was time to just get up and face the new day.  There was a note on the fridge from Mila saying she had left and to come have lunch with her if you were awake.  Rummaging around in the cupboards produced your favorite mint tea.  She must have bought it for you because Mila would take coffee intravenously if it were possible.  It felt nice to have someone here in the strange new place that thought about you enough to have a few of your favorite things around.  It had been a long time since you had had that.

A couple pieces of toast and mug of tea later, you called your mother to let her know you were still alive.  The same laments came from her, begging you to come home.  Another fifteen minutes of explaining that you wanted to be here eventually calmed her down.  However, you had to promise to text daily and call at least every other day as well as get Mila to call more too.  That would be something you would have to tell her at lunch.

Lunch was at one so you still had two hours before you had to leave.  Hopping in for a quick shower gave you the chance to clean off whatever you needed to before starting fresh in L.A.  Once finished you worked on the pictures you had taken the day before of your sister.  Several of them had turned out really well but there was one that once you had converted it to black and white, you fell in love.  She was seated in her chair leaning forward, concentrating hard on the scene.  Everything around her was out of focus and blurred.  One of the set lights was in the background giving just a hint of glow behind her.  It would be one you would add to your portfolio.  Searching for a print shop close by proved easy.  In the area around Mila’s house and the studio, there were several.  Finding the best reviewed and priced one you sent the pictures off for them to have ready when you arrived before meeting her for lunch.

 Picking up the prints and finding your way to the studio had been a breeze thanks to the navigation system in Mila’s SUV.  You were let right in the gate when you arrived as your name had been left with security.  Finding your sister was a little bit more difficult as you could not remember which set they were on.  A nice gardener pointed you in the right direction to set fifteen.  The same security guard from the previous day was standing post at the door as you walked up.  He eyed you warily as you once again had your camera slung over your shoulder.

“Coming to cause trouble again?”  Your back went stick straight as you were about to let loose a tirade, but when you noticed the smirk on his face you relaxed and laughed.

“Only a little this time. I’m [Y/N].  I wasn’t really trying to cause anything yesterday.  I was just doing what I do sometimes and take random pictures.  I swear I wouldn’t have tried to ruin the movie.”  He smiled holding out his hand to shake.

“David, it’s nice to meet you [Y/N].  I believe you; I just have to make sure this place is secure.  It’s my…”  You shook his hand as you smiled up at him.

“I know, it’s your job. I will try not to make it any harder than it already is.”  His deep laugh was infectious.

“I appreciate it.  Go on inside I think they are getting close to a break.”  With a smile, you walked inside.  There was the same bustling about of everyone around the set.  It really was fun to people watch as you walked through towards the main part of the set.  You could hear Mila’s loud mouth over everyone.

“No! I need more than that. You are supposed to be a desperate man. Show me a desperate man.” Standing quietly behind one of the stagehands, you watched as one of the actors sobbed and screamed through the scene. He truly sounded like a desperate man. Getting lost in what was going on before you, you missed someone coming up behind you.

“If I did not know that sound was from a movie, it would break my heart.  He is damn good.”  The unexpected voice in your ear nearly made you yelp, forcing you to cover your mouth. Turning to see Tom standing behind you made your already frantic heart speed further.

“You scared the shit out of me.  Oh my God.” You whispered to him.  A bright grin appeared as he looked down at you.  

“That wasn’t really my intention but I enjoyed the result.”  Taking a long breath to help ease your nerves you turned back to watch the scene.

“If I ruin this and my sister gets mad, I am throwing you under the bus to save myself.”  Whispering over your shoulder as you stood up on your toes to see the rest of the action.

“As a gentleman I would take full responsibility for your inability to keep quiet.”  Your eyes went wide as you looked over your shoulder at him. Unsure if he meant that statement to have a double meaning or not, had you searching over his expression.  All you could see was a friendly smile but you did not know him well enough to determine if he was hiding something.

Before you could reply, you heard Mila end the scene for lunch.   “It was good to see you again Tom.”  Walking off towards your sister, you did not want to say something to make yourself look any more ridiculous than you probably already looked.

Mila waved excitedly when you saw you.  “I’m so glad you could come.  I wasn’t sure you would be able to find it here on your own.”  

“Your car found its way to the print shop and here.”  Her smile lit her face as she pulled you towards the back of the set.  There was an open area that had several tables set up and a buffet of food against the back wall.

“Get whatever you want the food they bring in is amazing.”  Setting your belongings down next to her you followed filling a plate with a sandwich and a pasta salad.  Mila grabbed a couple drinks and before long, you were both happily eating. “So what did you get at the print shop? I’m impressed that you found something already that you liked.  You are always so picky.”

“Hmm picky, me?  I wonder where I get that from?”  Rolling your eyes you pulled out one of the copies of the print of Mila.  Her mouth hung open as you handed it over.

“[Y/N]… it’s me.  I… holy shit it looks amazing.  I want this for my office!”  You had been worried she would not like it, but looking at the joy on her face sent a thrill through you.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“Pfft like it?  I love it.  Hey Tom!  Come see what my talented sister did.”  Tom had gathered a plate for himself and had been walking back to one of the other tables before Mila had gotten his attention.  He decided to take a seat at the table with you.

“What did she do?” Mila handed him the print and you watched as his eyebrows rose in surprise.  “This is lovely.  It really captures Mila’s essence when she works.  [Y/N] it is wonderful.  You should be very proud.”  He handed it back with a beautiful smile, his hand grazing yours causing a warm electric sensation.  Your cheeks flushed quickly as you tried to hide it.  Mila not missing a thing had a knowing smirk on her face, though she said nothing of it.

“Thank you.” You said quietly as you put it back into your portfolio case.  The rest of lunch was spent talking about your job possibilities and what things you should do now that you were in Los Angeles.  Tom had been eyeing your case as it sat on the table next to you for most of the break.

“[Y/N]… may I see what else you have in there?  I am curious to see after that beautiful portrait of Mila.”  It was one thing to have your sister look at your work but someone outside of the photography world, especially a world famous actor, made you nervous.  You nodded anyway though, taking short quick breaths trying to calm your nerves that were trying to eat you alive.  It annoyed you that your anxiety popped up when you least wanted it.

He opened it carefully, as not to damage anything inside.  There was an assortment of prints in there from the past several years. There were some from your earlier days but not many.  Tom was silent as he took in all the different prints.  You picked at the rest of your lunch not wanting to stare at him while he took his time.  Mila was typing away furiously on her phone and not paying attention to what else was happening around her.  Once you had finished your food, you downed the rest of your water bottle just as Tom finished the last page.

“You are… talented does not begin to describe it.  [Y/N] these are absolutely brilliant.  This one here…”  Tom sorted through setting the case on the table in front of you, pointing to a picture of an older man in bed sleeping.  It was another black and white you had done.  “This is heart breaking and breath taking all at the same time.”

Mila leaned forward setting her phone down on the table, shaking her head with tears filling her eyes. “I haven’t seen that one before… When did you…?”

“The day before.  I wanted one last good picture of him.  He did not look so sick in this one.”  Tom canted his head looking at the both of you, seeing the emotion on both of your faces.  

“I won’t ask further. But it is beautiful.”  He rested a hand on yours in comfort.  The warmth of it doing odd things to your heart.

“This is our grandfather right before he passed.  He was always such a strong man.  Then when he got sick, he went very quickly.  This was the last time he actually looked like himself.”  You never told anyone you had made it black and white so no one would remember how pale he had been.  The only reason why you kept it in the case was that your grandmother told you to. She loved the picture because it was how she always saw him first thing in the morning, peaceful.

Mila gave you a hug before kissing your cheek.  Wiping her eyes quickly she stood up, straightening her shirt.  “Okay that was way too heavy for lunch time.  Warn me next time.”  She walked away to give herself time to compose herself and get back into director mode.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to…”  Tom held a hand up to stop you.

“No apologies please. I was the one that brought it up. Thank you for sharing it with me.” Leaning back in the chair you stared down at your hands for a moment.  Letting your own mind absorb what was left of the sorrow and allow lighter thoughts to return.

“I need to return to makeup. It was lovely to have share lunch with you.  I would love to do it again soon.  Perhaps when I don’t have to return so quickly.”  Did he mean?  No, he could not mean… Just being friendly, that is all.  The tone of his voice sounded sincere and quiet as he smiled down at you.

“Umm yeah… I will be here a lot I’m sure if Mila has anything to do with it.”  Your stuttered sentence only made your anxiety grow.

“If Mila has anything to do with what?”  Your sister had perfect timing as always.  Tom answered before you could get a word out.

“I said I hoped to see [Y/N] for lunch another time soon, when we weren’t so rushed.  She said you would make sure she was here often.”  Mila had devious looking smile to her face.

“Oh yes, she will be here a lot.  I am going to speak with the producers and a few of the marketing execs.  I want [Y/N] to take the teaser ad photos of the cast.”  Your jaw dropped as you stared at your sister.

“You can’t be serious. Mila I have never done that type of thing before.  There has got to be someone who you usually work with and who is far more qualified.”  Crossing her arms over her chest, she gazed at you.

“Look through that damn portfolio and tell me you aren’t qualified.”  Your shock had turned into silence.

“I agree with Mila.  I believe you would do a wonderful job.  But I am just the actor.”  Tom grinned as he turned to walk towards the set.  

“You are going to sit and let me show off your talent, [Y/N/N].  I have already called the producers.  One is coming down in a little while to look it over.  Follow me so you can watch and get some ideas.”  A chair had been sat beside hers so you could watch the scene.  Your mind was racing with the fears and excitement of it all.

What would happen if this really worked out?

Part 3

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