#considering they just went on living together without marriage

[ashnnix]

Various JJk men x Male husband reader

Tw: gbang,double pen,buldge,cum inflation, darcyphilia, spanking,forced marriage, dubcon,bj,polysex,cockwarming,almost NTR. Aphrodisiac,squirting

Summary:

As a husband of the famous Gojo who saved japan you always held your head high. Every man from jujutsu society is devastated to hear the news you're happily wed to the honoured one .But they always have a plan to have you in their arms, too. By having a gangbang with you and marry them after

Minors dni

fem align dni

PT.2

"Honey! I'm off to kill bunch of special grades, I might come home late!"

You hurriedly walked to your door to give your husband a good bye kiss. Being Satoru's husband is a blessing

"Leaving me without a kiss? How cruel" you jokingly said, you heard him laugh at your pun. Satoru pulled you from your waist a firm grip that almost made you whimper

"Kiss me" Without hesitation you pulled him by the neck, a quick kiss for him. You dont want to make him late you affectionately held his hands and also gave it a kiss

"Be safe okay? " Gojo gave you a warm smile, he also gave your hands a kiss his warm lips making you shiver

"You know how strong I am honey" Satoru patted your head and left your home. You didn't notice his dark smirk, eyes filled with lust. Gojo bit his lip in arousal

'Oh Y/N...'

After cleaning your home you took a break you sat on your sofa, taking a sip of the tea you made. You heard a knock from the door, you know it wasn't Satoru, it made you worried a little bit

You opened the door, your jaw dropped on the floor

It was all the men you rejected for Gojo

Looking at you with such lusted eyes looking down at you like you are their meal for the whole day

Frustrated you folded your arms glaring at the three Getou, Nanami and Choso

"When are you guys going to give up! Can't you see this ring I'm happily married!" You screamed at them while presenting your ring shining brightly

"Now now Y/N we just want to present you a gift for newly weds. We dont mean harm" Getou said smoothly with his charming smile he only use at you

Lies, its all lies and you can see it

Nanami cleared his throat avoiding eye contact

"We really meant no harm" Nanami blushed of how apron looks cute on you, he can't wait to fuck you already

"Congratulations Y/N" Choso gave you box with a cake inside, written ontop was 'Congratulations on marriage'

You felt slightly bad considering they went this far just to congratulate you. With a sigh you opened the door wider

"Fine fine, come in" you turned your back and walked to the living room you didn't hear how the three men breathed heavily, fighting the urge to pounce at you

The three sat on the couch while you take a seat on the solo sofa. You saw how Choso place the cake gently on the table, you crave something sweet today so you stand up to get a plate to eat the cake after taking off your apron

While you are rummaging to your plates the three men put a lot of aphrodisiac to the cake, enough to fuck you till morning

You grab a piece of cake, you look at the three men before taking a bite

"So how's life? Found someone yet?"

The three men clenched their hands, impatient. Their breath hitched when you finally took a bite of the cake

"We can't move on from you, Y/N"

Your body felt hot and heavy, you dropped the cake and the spoon on the floor

"Ah-ahh... wha-what is hngh! Happening?" Your confused why you suddenly felt too horny you and Satoru just had a morning sex

You tried to stand up with your wobbly legs, your cock wet from the precum its leaking. You pushed your thigh together hiding your erection but the friction from your clothes made you feel good

'nghh~ fe-feels good!more!more♡︎!" You drooled. You gasped when you realized your husband is not home. Your eyes locked in with the three males whos already taking off their clothes. Your body moves on its own, walking closer to them. Your knees went weak and fell on Nanamis chest. The smell of the mans cologne made you crazy and lose yourself

You rub your hard cock with his, Nanami groaned at the friction his dick is also getting hard

"Fuck, you feel so go-good" Nanami groaned also letting out a small whimper.Your bit your lip, Nanami's whimpering does something in your body

Getou and Choso stroke themselves at the scene letting Nanami have the first

"Go on, Kento, you can take him first"

Nanami wasted no time. He bends you over on the couch face down ass up he ripped off your shorts and boxer. His dick went harder when he saw your ass leak from being turned on

You still have your mind back, your mind is still not blank. So with your weak arms you tired to push Nanami away

"N-no you arent m-ngh!♡︎ husband, Ca-call Toru..." Your sentence was broke but they understand it well you saw Getou walked closer and crouch to give your forehead a kiss

"Satoru just buying something from the sex store for this sex we will use a lot of toys♡︎, he'll comeback later..." Choso also walked closer and pull your hair to make you look at him, you wince from the pain

'Toru...did what?'

"Right now, we, your husbands shall take care of your arousal" Your eyes almost rolled back how horny that sentence made you

You felt Nananami rubbing againts your ass, he opened the lube and squirted the liquid all over your ass making it look lewd

"Nooo...Nami haaa....st-sto- ahh!" You felt Nanami spank you leaving red hand prints on your ass

"You tell me that but your ass keeps rubbing on me" you sniffed in embarrassment .Your ass rubs on him not having enough patience

Without a warning Nanami dick plunge inside you, the hot burning sensation and the way it hit your prostate made you roll your eyes back and squirted your cum

"Oohh!!♡︎ cu-cumming!!" Your body arches as your dick continues to let out sperm. Nanami groaned and whimpered how your ass tightens around him. Getou giggled horny and hot at the scene infront of him

"You came just from inserting it? How cute Y/N" Your eyes let out tears as you lay limp on the couch, your drool soaking the sofa

"Ahh! Ahh! Haa! Ngh!"

Nanami thrust inside fast and rough, not forgiving you for rejecting him

Fwop Fwop

"Your so tight ngh!" You whimpered as you tighten up more, hearing Nanami whimper and let out sounds is making you horny

"Ohhh! Ahhh! Ah! ♡︎♡︎♡︎" your moans and whimper made Choso hot, he continued to stroke his dick. He clicked his tounge getting impatient. Choso pulled your head again his dick on your face

Getou continue to stroke his dick not stopping Choso, he understands how horny Choso already is

"Suck" Y/N hesitated and shook his head whining

"No~ do- ahh! Wanna...." Choso scoffed and slap your face hard, you didn't know why your dick twicthed

"Its not a request mmhm!" Choso grabs a hold of your hair, he pushed his dick on your mouth forcing you to deep throat him. You choked and your eyes rolled back. Tears brimming in the corner of your eyes

"Mmhm! Hmm! Ohmm!♡︎" The way Nanami thrust didn't help, it made you take Choso dick deep in your throat. Your hands went to stroke your dick ready to cum again. But Nanami pulled both of your hands taking him a lot more deeper

"Ohm! Hmm!" Your tongue continued to please Choso. Your eyes saw his face, flushed and horny. His whimpers can be heard all over the room

"Mgh...haa ahh your mouth feels good!" Choso groaned he thrust his hips the tip of his mouth hitting the deepest part of your mouth. Your jaw started to hurt already. You closed your eyes as tears flowed down your cheek. Your dick is now leaking precum staining the sofa again, your hands gripped Nanamis hands

Nanami smirked his glasses getting foggy from breathing hot air, his hips stuttered. Hes about to cum deep inside your ass, he can also feel your about to cum too. The way you shake, your ass twicthimg every thrust

Nanami leaned closer to your ear, with his deep voice whispering

"I'm gonna cum inside you" Your eyes widen, your body getting heated up

With one final thrust, both of you three simultaneously came. Your ass filled with Nanamis cum, your mouth choking on Chosos dick his semen also made you choke forcing you to swallow it all

"Mmhm! Ohmm! Mmngh!♡︎" you moaned,whimpered and cried. You kept cumming but your dick is still hard, you needed more...more!!♡︎♡︎

"Ahhh fuck you feel so good, so this is what that damn Gojo had to feel everyday" Nanami pulled his still hard dick watching a strand of cum connecting his tip to your rim

Choso also pulled out from your mouth watching you lay limp on the couch, your ass still up. Choso pulled back his hair already hot and sweaty from the sensation

"Your mouth feels good, I want- no need you everyday"

Your body layed limp shaking uncontrollably, your dick still hard, begging to cum again

Getou smirked of how fucked you looked, but not fucked enough. He will fuck you so hard till you can't speak, move passing out till morning

"Its my turn now darling"

You felt Getou big hands touch your waist, forcing you to lay on your back. He smirked darkly when he saw your dick twicth, hard and swollen stained with cum, your balls also twitching ready to let out bunch of your loads

His eyes moved to Getou catching his breath

"Choso lets double pen♡︎" Choso didn't hesitate he pulled you up from your armpits. Suprised you didn't fight back, he smirked how you just gave up

You felt two hot dick tip touch your rim rubbing it. With your last strength you tried to push Getou away touching his pecs

"Nooo- ahh p-please....Go-toru might see ahhh~ us!"

Choso and Getou suddenly went inside you without a warning, the grith of their cock forcing your ass to take their shape.You squealed loud body twitching from the pain and pleasure all at once. Both men shake and whimpered of how tight your ass felt. Both men groaned their dick touching each other inside you, hitting your deepest parts

"Ohhh! Shoo big! Im gonna cu-cumming!!" You came from the sensation the way they hit your deep parts sends electricity in your brain making you dumb on their dick

"Ooh! Big shoo good!! Ngh!~♡︎" the three men were shocked how hot and lewd your body reacts to double pen

The two men inside you only smirked darkly. They both simultaneously thrusted harshly inside hitting your prostate again and again without any breaks

Your eyes rolled back your pupils turned hearts. Your body arched your head resting on Choso shoulders. You saw his face eyes closed, focusing on pleasing his husband

"Sh-shit Y/N! You haa...ahhh..oh! Feel so good!" Getou moans are so much whinier than the two men

Nanami continued to watch the scene taking a break by drinking water

"Y-Y/N....mhm! Ohh!" Choso moans become much more needier the way his hips stuttered, his eyes almost rolled back of how tight your ass clenched around the both of them

Getou thrust was violent he cannot also forgive you for rejecting him. At your dumb fuck state you must realized now how these men are obsessed with you

Your hands touched the buldge in your stomach, whining of how deep they are inside you

Fwop fwop

The thrust becomes sloppy because of Nanamis' previous orgasm making your ass more wet

"Ahh! Haa! Ah! Choso~ Su!Suguru!" The two men suddenly came, moaning their name made them cum quick. You just had a strong effect on them

The feeling of being full to the brim, hot sweaty men all over you made you cum again. Your dick squirted all over, making a mess on your chest and stomach. Some got in Getou's cheek

Getou wiped it using his fingers, he put it inside his mouth, shaking on how sweet your cum taste

"Haa...n-no more..." But your dick didn't listen. it's still hot and hard

The two men stayed inside you, cockwarming them. Your body continues to be shaking, twicthing. Its your body who begs for more not you

You heard your front door open a familiar voice you heard

"Oh, Y/N! Im back! Look what I bought! Bunch of lube and vibrator!" The voice of Gojo made your heart drop, you saw him enter the living room. Your eyes filled with tears of how shocked he looked

"Toru....I'm sorry I'm such a bad husband..." You sniffled your tears, looking away from him ashamed of how you look. A whore who who just fucked his coworkers and friends

The two men inside you decideds to pull out, bunch of cum leaving your insides a small puddle of cum on the couch

You felt Gojo hands patted your head lovingly

"The others are on their way, Sukuna, Naoya, and Toji...so while we wait want another round?" Your eyes showed confusion. You want to stop, but your dick keeps getting hard . With hesitation, you nodded. After this, you want an explanation

[frickingnerd]

all i ever think about is you

pairing: shoto todoroki x gn!reader

summary: shoto overhears you talk about his crush on him while you're on the phone. he tries to avoid you, but when you cross paths again, things get a little awkward…

tags: roommates to lovers, accidental confession, silly & wholesome fluff, mentions of marriage & kids, reader asking shoto out on a date, very awkward!shoto, lowkey suggestive ending

“we live together! do you know how much i’ll mess things up if he doesn't feel the same?”

those were the words shoto had overheard you say on the phone to your best friend. and no matter how he tried to twist and turn it, there was only one person you could've meant by that: him!

he wasn't even supposed to be home when he had heard you talk to your friend on the phone. and he didn't intend to listen in on your conversation. but after he heard your frustrated sigh, he just wanted to know if everything was alright. he just wanted to quickly hear if there was something he could do to help. and that's when he heard it.

since then, he had locked himself in his room, being as quiet as he could. you hadn't realized yet that he was still home. his class got canceled today and he had only seen it in the morning shortly before he wanted to leave. you probably had heard him get ready and assumed he left. well, he didn't.

you were still talking to your friend on the phone, as shoto sat in silence, those words replaying in his head over and over again.

you were in love with him!

and he had never realized it. you practically had to spell it out for him to start putting together the pieces. why you never brought anyone home. why you always asked him to study together. why you were always there to help him. it suddenly started to make sense!

now that shoto knew how you felt about him, it was time for him to figure out how he felt about you. he had never considered you a romantic option. you were a good friend to him, but could you be more than that?

on the other side of the door, the chatting stopped and shoto figured you must've ended the phone call. instead, he now heard you humming to yourself. he still had some time before he had to leave, but perhaps it would be better to sneak out of the apartment without you noticing him.

he could now barely hear your humming anymore. perhaps you went to your room? either way, this was his chance to leave and pretend he never heard a thing! he grabbed his backpack, pressing down the door knob and was ready to hurry towards the door, when he spotted you across the hall. your eyes met and shoto knew he had messed up.

“shoto… you're still home?”

you laughed nervously as you spotted your roommate. had he been here all this time? and more importantly, did he hear that 20 minutes long vent about how much you were crushing on him? he surely had to, right..?

“yes, i– i was just on my way to leave! classes got canceled for the morning but now i really gotta go!”

he smiled awkwardly, ruffling through his hair. you could feel the tension growing between the two of you with each second you were staring at each other. nobody said a thing, but it became painfully clear to you that shoto was well aware of the things you had said on the phone earlier.

“listen…” you sighed and took a step forward, attempting to close the distance between the two of you. “you probably heard what i said earlier and– i'm really sorry you had to hear that! if i knew you were listening i wouldn't have mentioned our dream wedding or how i want to name our kids and all that…”

shoto's eyes widened as you mentioned marriage and children. it seemed like he had missed that part earlier but now he was very well aware of it. and based on his reaction, you quickly realized that what you had just revealed to him were new information.

“wait, you… you didn't hear that part, right…?”

shoto softly shook his head and you whined quietly.

“this is embarrassing… i– god, please forget that! i should've never said anything…”

for a moment there was silence between the two of you. shoto considered quietly walking towards the door and leaving, while you thought about running into your room and locking yourself inside there for the next few years, hoping shoto had forgotten about this until then. however, shoto was the first one to eventually break the silence.

“i… i'm not really ready for children yet. or marriage”

the tone of red on your cheeks got even darker with each word shoto said. you were quietly cringing at yourself, as shoto took your words from earlier so seriously.

“however… perhaps we could start slow and just– go out and eat something together?”

you immediately looked up at shoto, staring at him surprised. what he just said sounded a lot like a date! after everything you had said, he actually still considered going out with you? he was truly too kind…

“and… you know, maybe we get to the children another time”

[unoislazy]

‘Til The Caged Bird Sings

(Part 1)

Mizu x Mixed! Fem! Reader

Disclaimer; This is less of a chapter and more of a prologue for what’s to come.

I see your requests and I have begun to work on a few of them, but I have a few ideas that I had started previously that I would like to get to first. Thank you for your patience.

————————————————————

Marriage was not something you expected to be a part of your life. You truly believed you would never find someone who completed you enough to be set on sealing the deal. All the men you had met were arrogant and egotistical, so hellbent on fueling their ego that they refused to treat you like a human being. They believed that if they had been seen being paired with an ‘unreal’ like you, they would lose any fortune or honor they might have had, no matter how small. If that was how you would be treated, maybe that wasn't the life for you. Your life was by no means glamorous, if you had married it wouldn’t have been for monetary gain by anysense, for your parents maybe, but you got the short end of the stick no matter what. It more than likely would simply have been just to extend someone else's family lineage, then again who would want to have impure blood mixed with their own. Other than the desperate men who were practically chomping at the bit to get you, likely just to sell you off to someone else.

Not wanting anything like that for yourself, you had given up your life at home in favor of living a peaceful life on your own, far away from anyone who could treat you otherwise. You stayed out of people's way and just went about business as usual.

That was until you had met Mizu.

Your paths had crossed in the most unusual way, almost as if it was fate. You had met her on a day that you had to visit the market, which was peculiar on its own considering you very rarely went into town. You hadn’t seen her get into a fight, but you did witness the very bloody outcome first hand. You knelt down before her bloody body which had been just haphazardly strewn about against a wall. She struggled to keep her eyes open as they shifted to you, you were unsure if she could even see you properly but you could just barely make out the blue hue as her eyelids began to shut.

She was a mess and no one else around her seemed to care. You didn’t have much medicinal knowledge but you thought it right to help with what you could. So, you slung her over the back of your horse along with the supplies you had bought and made your way back to your home.

And that is where she stayed.

She was extremely skeptical at first, extremely jumpy and quite hesitant to even allow you to get near her. It took some convincing but eventually she had learned to trust you, even just the slightest bit. You meant no harm to her and she eventually came to realize that. She didn’t understand why, you owed her nothing, you didn't even know who she was but you still helped. You paid no mind to her skepticism or her ‘flaws’ and continued to treat her just as you saw fit.

Because you knew what it was like to be considered a demon.

You too had mixed blood and because of that you had always been cast away, looked down upon, and pushed to the side without another thought. You had been poked and prodded at like you were some otherworldly being that amounted to nothing more than the mud underneath people's shoes.

Once you both came to the realization that you had this fact in common, your relationship slowly began to build from there.

Because of Mizu’s injured state you both spent a lot of time around each other and while Mizu wasn’t incredibly talkative at first she had begun to open up to you. You two began to share stories with each other, spend late nights together, sometimes just sitting in silence enjoying each other's company. You had never met someone who had so much in common with you and neither had she, you both completed each other in a way that you almost didn’t think to be true. It took a while for you to gain her trust, but once you had you two were inseparable. Every chore you had around the house, Mizu insisted on helping, any place you needed to go, Mizu insisted on coming with. She never left your side and you never truly left hers either.

For once in her life, Mizu had finally begun to feel comfortable around someone, which was something she wasn’t able to say for a long time. She had gotten comfortable enough that she no longer felt the need to wear her glasses or pull her hair so far back, or even wear the baggy clothes she had initially gotten used to wearing. When she was around you, she felt as if she could truly be herself, she could wear whatever she wanted, she could finally let go as if no one was waiting to ridicule her and strike her down.

She felt safe.

She didn’t think she’d ever get to say that about anyone but there she was, standing before you, a few years later. You both were dressed in your best attire as you conducted a very makeshift ceremony. You both knew it wouldn’t be legal for you to get married officially, it was one thing that you both were mixed and it was an entirely new issue that you were both women. So you decided to do it yourself, sure it wouldn’t be legally recognized, but who cares? All that matters is that you both agreed that you loved each other enough to want to vow to protect each other at any cost. If anything, you appreciated it more than what was normally done and said at weddings.

You couldn’t be happier. You lived a quiet life, now with a wonderful wife by your side who was willing to do practically anything for you, and you would do the same for her. One day you had decided to surprise her by going out to buy a horse for her, you figured it would be better than you both just trading your poor old horse. You laughed as you watched Mizu attempt to groom the horse she had picked; with Mizu being Mizu, she chose the most stubborn one anyone could have possibly gone for. You watched on as she cautiously reapproached the rambunctious stallion, surprised she had gotten so far to begin with.

You leaned your head on your hands as you rested your weight on the wooden fence of the field, your eyes not once leaving Mizu as you focused on what you could see of her facial features.

She was probably one of the most beautiful women you had ever seen. How any one could’ve even considered to claim that she was a demon or a monster, you would never know. She might have started off quite rude and abrasive but you couldn’t blame her for that, you would’ve too if one minute you were on the street and the next in some random person's house. But once her personality began to shine through and she began to slowly reveal parts of herself piece by piece, you slowly began to fall for her. You would’ve been a fool not to.

You snapped out of your thoughts, refocusing on Mizu, watching as her eyes squinted ever so slightly as she began to smile, her efforts paid off so she approached the stallion without any added effort. You cheered for her, walking onto the field with her as she continued to ever so gently pet the stallion.

“I told you I could.” She gloated in a joking manner, turning to you with a very proud smile on her face.

“And I never said you couldn’t.” You responded, matching her tone with a smile. She had taken her hand off of the horse and turned to face you as you linked your arm with hers, pulling yourself much closer to her.

“You thought about it.” She teased while sending you a challenging, yet very playful, glare.

“I did not.” You laughed at the childish nature of the conversation. You never would have guessed that stoic woman you had met years before would even think to have a conversation such as this.

You gave the woman a very soft peck on the cheek before telling her,

“I’m going to go back into the house to finish up some things, are you coming with me?” You asked. She thought about it for a second before turning back to her newly befriended horse,

“No, I think I’ll spend a little more time out here with him.” She replied, to which you smiled and nodded.

You made your way back inside, humming a tune that you had heard playing when you had visited the market last. It was light and airy, one that reminded you of something a songbird might sing. The notes were so fluttery it made you feel at peace, as if nothing could harm you.

You walked inside your home, shutting the door behind you as you continued to hum the tune. You grabbed your unfinished embroidery project and some thread and walked towards the spot where you usually sat when you were to complete a very long task. You had been so engrossed in your task you had yet to notice the three other people that also occupied the room.

By the time you had noticed their presence however, it had been too late.

“Hey, I think we need to go out and buy more fruits we don’t-” Mizu paused, Her eyes widening as she looked on at the scene before her. The house you shared, now in complete mess, the table toppled over, bits and pieces of different decorations you both had now torn to shreds and thrown about on the floor. The embroidery that you had been working on had been left, thrown carelessly to the side and still unfinished.

The worst thing Mizu had come across was a few droplets of blood that had been left on the floor.

What if it was your blood? What if they had harmed you?

Luckily though, because of the amount of blood that had been left, it was clear that the wound had not been too deep.

But if it had been your blood, whoever had raised a hand to harm you was going to wish they had never made such a careless mistake

[dumbassunderthemountain]

Terrible Braiding (Revamped) Thorin x Reader

The First fic in My Dumbass Revamp Event, revamping the first fic I ever wrote! 

Summary: Every morning you and Thorin braid each other’s hair, the only problem? You’re absolutely terrible at hair braiding  (Original)

Word Count: 905 

Warnings: none 

Since you and Thorin were married eight months ago the two of you had fallen into a sweet morning routine. The two of you would wake up earlier than any living creature should wake (in your person opinion, Thorin, the traitor, seemed perfectly content with the early hour). Luckily a very large hot cup of coffee and a cup of black tea were delivered by the kitchen and always waited outside the bedroom door. After wiggling out of your arms Thorin would grab the tea and coffee before bringing it to bed. There he set his tea down on his marble nightstand before waving the coffee in front of you, allowing its scent to waft into your nose and eventually bribe your still half-asleep mind into a sitting position. You’d drink your coffee and tea while discussing a bit about the coming day, not so much all the meetings and royal duties, but the enjoyable things. Today for example, you scheduled a meeting with Ori and Balin for some more Dwarvish history lessons, which Ori always made both informative and fun. Thorin on the other hand was simply glad that you would also be attending his first meeting of the day.  

After the much-needed caffeine, you would be barely willing to get out of your warm bed and get dressed. The two of you had decided to forgo dressing servants and instead opted to help each other each day. Considering his comparatively simple outfits this mostly consisted of him helping you with all the laces on your dresses and corsets. Next came the hair. For the dwarves doing each other's hair every morning was traditional amongst married couples, as hair was sacred to them and their identities. Thorin always put in your marriage braid first, then continued to style the rest of your long (h/c) into some elaborate style, that you swore was different every single day. You on the other hand could do a simple three strand braid, and even that sometimes cause you difficulties. Therefore, the complicated Dwarvish marriage braid was a struggle… every morning.  

Keeping each chunk of hair separate always seemed impossible, it would tangle together repeatedly, and once it was untangled, you had completely forgotten which piece crossed over the next. Thorin did his best to help and give you directions as he intently watched your clumsy hands in the mirror, but there was only so much he could do. According to dwarven tradition it was important that each spouse braided the others hair on their own. You were getting better. Thorin’s hair no longer looked like nothing more than a tangled mess, but your skills had not improved enough to be even close to ‘appropriate’ by high dwarven society. Thorin always patted your hands telling you not to worry, but that was impossible when you could see the snide looks of many of the nobles. Nevertheless, every day Thorin went out into the kingdom proudly dawning your terrible marriage braid.  

You pulled back your hands from his hair, “Another day, another terrible braid,” you attempted to laugh, running your hand along the rough braid. 

“I love your braids, ghivashel. The whole kingdom can see that I am clearly yours”, Thorin leaning forward to kiss you. 

“Yes, all the dwarrowdams in the kingdom can clearly see that you ‘married an inept human who cannot even figure out a simple marriage braid.’” Thorin raised his brow, questioning your statement. Looking down you explained, “I’m only quoting what the dwarrowdams tell me.” Putting your hands up in defense. Without looking you could feel the sadness and disappointment in his expression. It was one of the things you fell in love with, the fact that he understood just how different dwarvish and human culture could be and was incredibly patient as you learned. 

Thorin placed his finger under your chin, gently guiding you to meet his eyes. “Well, you should not listen to them. I think your braiding is beautiful, even if it’s not a ‘well done’ marriage braid according to all my people’s technical standards. It is unique to the two of us, making it a great treasure.” He leaned closer, lowering his voice, “And, luckily for you, my dearest, my opinion as the king and your husband is the only one that matters.” Thorin says, smugly smiling and pulling you close. 

“Okay, you just keep telling yourself that Your Majesty,” lightly kissing his nose and slipping away, jokingly scoffing at his loving yet playful smugness as you leave your warm bedroom for the cold vaulted halls of Erebor. 

As two of you walk into the first meeting of the day internally dreading a long boring discussion about grain storage and distribution for the coming winter, you were loudly to be greeted by Dwalin’s exclamation, “Mahal’s balls! Thorin, what is that hideous thing hanging from your face?!”   

“Oh, hush” you tell Dwalin trying to still seem queenly in the midst of this embarrassment, your face turning as red as a ruby. You knew Dwalin was joking but there were so many respectable dwarrow in the room you could not help it.  

“There is nothing ‘hideous’ hanging from my face. There is only my family braid and my beautiful marriage braid that was put in by my wonderful wife and Queen, Master Dwalin.” Thorin responded with a proud smile, giving a majestic hair flip to the counsel and pulling you closer to him. 

💚💚💚💚💚

If you would like to be on the taglist for this short little writing event please let me know, as for now I'll just tag the three people I tagged in my last Thorin fic.

Taglist: @fizzyxcustard @shiinata-library @lathalea

[marleyybluu]

Wherever

Fezco x f!reader

WC: 1.8k

Warnings: Smut, no plot just a quick fuck, semi-public sex (staircase sex but nobody actually walks in on them), unprotected p in v, issa quickie, drunk sex, bigdick!Fez lmao I feel like he at least got girth to him yk?, the word cock was used once whoops sorry

(gif not mine. but just look at how yummy he is here. mhmmm)

The two had gone out for their anniversary. Their friends threw them a little surprise dinner at the restaurant they went to on their first date. They'd knocked out four years of marriage and were happy to celebrate the rest of the years to come. It was a fun little gathering of their loved ones surrounding them and reminiscing on old times, how shy they were when they first met and how cute it was to see how quickly they fell for each other. 

It was a great night with great food and a few drinks. Maybe more than a few. They didn't drink much they mostly smoked but for tonight's occasion, they switched over. Both were pretty lightweight and found themselves stumbling and giggling with each other, though it made great entertainment for their friends and family. 

The party ran late and a few left to return to their own homes but not without congratulating the two on their four years together. By 2 AM it was just Fez, his girl and their two friends Rue and Jules and all four called it a night. Rue and Jules offered to drive the couple back to their apartment considering they were sober enough to drive back. They accepted and sat in the backseat of the car, her head resting on his shoulder as her mind swayed. She was so gone she felt like was in a spaceship zooming through the stars and the planets. 

She loved the ride home after a drunken night, it was so quiet and calming especially with the window down. Fez's head tipped back against the headrest, whispering to himself that he'd never drink again. His hand rubbed small circles on his girl's lower back, his fingers following the curve of her behind when he dropped his hand further he gently squeezed and smiled lazily. He was so lucky to have her.

After what felt like a short ride they were finally in front of the apartment building. "Sure you guys don't want us to come with you?" 

Fez scoffed. "Nah, we're good, text us when you get home." The girls wanted to protest about his slurred sentence and wobbly stance but bit their tongues, they'd at least wait until they got inside the building. They said their goodbyes and waited for them to tap their keycard to get past the second door which they successfully did. Fez and his girl stumbled over to the elevator, pressing the button to go up numerous times but none of the doors would open. Fez squinted once he noticed a piece of paper on the silver door. 

Out of Order.

Well, that was just great. "We gotta take the stairs, baby." He giggled. She groaned and trudged to the door leading to the staircase, silently thankful they lived on the fifth floor but it was still a lot of stairs and she was wearing heels. She held onto the railing for balance and walked up the first step with Fez not too far behind. 

They climbed up as fast as they could to the second floor, she stopped and rolled her eyes, this was not an ideal situation to be intoxicated. Fez, however, seemed to be entertained. Her dress was riding up with every step, no matter how many times she pulled it down it slid back up and at some point almost bunched around her hips, exposing her supple skin under the material. He wanted to bite her, he was quickly growing hard in his pants, temptation in front of him and he was ready to give in. 

He reached out, fingers gently brushing her skin. She turned around and smiled. "Can I help you?" 

"You have no idea." He replied lustfully glaring at her through low-drunken eyelids, his eyes no longer blue due to his dilated pupils. Her eyes widened at him and she turned facing forward to hide her blush. It did make her put an extra sway in her hips. 

Third floor. 

Two more flights of stairs and they'd be home, and he'd have her all to himself, naked and whimpering... moaning... crying for him. "Let's take a break."

She stopped on the platform where the entry to the third floor was. "Tired already?" She joked, she needed a bit of a break herself because these heels were killing her. She rested herself bent over the rail, the bottom of her dress rising once again, her little black panties on display for him. 

She could feel his attentive gaze on her. She pushed back for him, he walked closer to her his calloused hands reaching out for her smooth and soft skin, his fingers coming in contact with her hip squeezing them hard enough to leave little prints. She hissed looking back at him. "Come on, just a little quick one." She whimpered saying aloud what they were both thinking. He smirked dragging his finger along the line of her panty following the trail down to her wet heat. 

He looked up at her through his bushy, but well-trimmed eyebrows. Keeping contact while he moved the material to the side. She swallowed a moan feeling the cool air hitting her clit causing her to clench around nothing. "Always so fucking pretty," He muttered taking his thumb and guiding it between her folds collecting her slick. "And wet, for me." 

"Fez..." Her voice warned. "I don't care if anyone sees us." He admitted with a shrug. She pushed back against him once more feeling the tip of his thumb tease her hole, he angled his thumb and gently thrust it inside her. She softly gasped moving her hair to the side to get a good look at him, so focused on her pretty pussy leaking out for him and he'd barely done anything. 

He used his free hand to undo his belt, the thud of everything falling onto the floor echoed off the empty walls. She moaned at the sight, how hard he was, so stiff the tip of his dick had gone from pink to almost red-- sticky with his own arousal. Her mouth watered, tongue begging to be wrapped around him but they'd get to that once they got home. He removed his thumb sticking it in his mouth for a little taste of her, he hummed in satisfaction. She whined internally begging him to hurry up, he delivered a harsh slap to her ass which earned a squeal from her desperate lips. 

"You keep doing that imma put it away." 

"Sorry." She mumbled tugging on her bottom lip. He chuckled at how quickly she retreated, he positioned himself at her entrance, running his aching tip through her juicy folds, he finally found his way inside-- slowly sliding into her warm and welcoming cunt. She placed her hand over her mouth to squash the upcoming erotic sounds she wanted to make, he stretched her out completely, his faint veins coinciding with her soft walls. Fuck.

Fez pushed the dress up further so it was resting in the middle of her back, he looked down at the tattoo she had recently got done and groaned, one of his favourite things to look at was the artwork displayed on her beautiful body. He could feel her clenching around him already, she always came a lot quicker when she was out of her mind. He buried himself deep inside her earning an audible moan. 

He pulled out and pressed back in. "Ooohh, fuck!" She broke. "That's it. Let everyone hear you, ma." He held on to her hips giving her some deep strokes, she gripped the railing looking down on the first floor in hopes no one would come upstairs. Fez grunted, she was coating him in her creamy goodness, her gummy walls enveloping him in pleasure. His tip repeatedly bumped against a certain spot within her and her body responded positively. 

The sounds of skin-to-skin contact, the slapping and pornographic moans from both parties echoed through the staircase and probably made their way through the walls. But who cares, she was getting dicked down, her arousal dripping down her inner thigh. Her whimpers caress his ears as an encouragement to keep his rhythm. 

"Fuck, fuck, yes Fez! Give me that dick." She egged on feeling her climax getting closer, she moved her left leg onto one step allowing him further access, his heavy balls slapping against her clit was an additional sensation her body couldn't take. Her eyes rolled back as he continued his assault on her, penetrating her every need. 

Fez growled as his hips picked up their pace, snapping into hers in a desperate need to meet his end. "I can feel it, baby, come for me." She playfully giggled stealing his usual line. He pounded into her, reaching under her to toy with her clit. "You cum first, pretty girl." He retaliated, her body shivered, a tingling feeling creeping up in her toes and fingers. Her mouth was agape as her back arched, he leaned forward pressing his chest against her. "Yeah? Yeah, I fuckin' see you, baby. Don't worry." 

"Oh my god! Fez! Fuck... me-" Her body stilled, her eyes squeezed shut while her orgasm took over her body, constant convulsion around his dick pulled him closer to the edge. "Ah, shit." He croaked before succumbing to his own pleasure, squirting his hot cream inside her. They panted slowly letting go of each other. He chuckled pressing a kiss against her neck and another behind her ear. "You good?" 

"Fuck... yes." She sighed in satisfaction. Fez carefully pulled out and looked at the door to see if anyone was standing there watching but they were good. He quickly stuffed his half-hard cock in his pants and re-buckled his belt. He watched as she fixed herself too, pulling back down her dress and turning to him with a pout. "What?" He asked. She looked down at her feet and back up at him. He smiled shaking his head. "Fine." He took off his shoes sliding them over to her, she stepped out of her heels and into his big-ass dress shoes that she bought him. He held her heels in his hand and pressed a kiss on top of her head. "You ready to go?" 

She nodded looking up at him but her eyes widened when she saw past him, there was a camera... a little security camera in the corner above the door. "Oh.. shit." He said seeing it too. "Well, I mean it already happened." She laughed. There wasn't anything they could do about it, at least someone got a free show. 

"Hm, glad to know that after four years you're still down to do it anywhere." He chuckled heading up the stairs. 

She smirked. "We might need another break on the fourth floor." 

"Baby..." 

"Fiiiiine, we'll wait until we get home." 

if you liked this fic feel free to like this fic comments and reblogs are appreciated peace and love see you in the next one🤙🏾

🏷 @darqchilddaydreamz @skyesthebomb

tagging who might be interested: @bigenergy777

[hotchfiles]

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ ❝ lay down with me ❞ ─ a darling, in any life blurb

pairing: aaron hotchner x reader. summary: the red thread between two people destined to be together may stretch and tangle, but those ties will never break. or: they find out maybe bars aren't all the same. content warnings: alcohol, suggestive talk. not proof read. word count: 2.1k

"Were you... Brushing your teeth?" Yeah he was. And yeah they were still on the jet, but as soon as they got back to HQ he would be on his car for the 45min ride to Arlington to see you. He couldn't risk bad breath on your first date.

Before Aaron could even answer Emily's inconvenient question, Derek came in with another one "Hair freshly cut too, anyone noticed it?" Well he cut his own hair, it would be simply rude not to look his best when he so easily could.

He knew JJ was coming in with something too when she passed by him, so he had to cut it out before "Hey, enough. I’m meeting an old friend after work, just trying to use my time wisely here." His eyes scanned the room for the reactions and even though no one replied, he could see all the little smirking around and whispering between Emily and Derek mostly.

So much for a private life.

He's not the hiding type, if he's in a relationship he has no problem letting people know it, as long as that is it, he enjoys keeping the details to himself. And right now that's all he can really say about you, you're an old friend, just an old friend.

For now.

He was running late now, and very stressed about it. Of course it wasn't the greatest of ideas to go from Quantico to Arlington by driving instead of taking the train, but he wanted to have the choice to take you somewhere else if you wanted to and to get you home safe when the date ended. He was also aware that trains didn't run as late as he might be staying.

He planned the haircut, the hotel shower right before leaving, brushing his teeth while in the jet, having his car ready, but God, did he not plan for the traffic he would have to deal with after 6PM.

But he's a gentleman, so he calls from the car system to warn you about it and he's nervous and anxious because not being present enough and being late or not there at all ruined his marriage and he wants to do better, he really really wants to.

"Oh don't worry babe, I’m still enjoying my wine in my living room. Thought it would be better to wait 'til you were in town to leave, yeah?" Aaron hopes the loud sigh of relief he let out isn't so obvious to you, but it is. You find it endearing. You were reading essays still just minutes ago, you understood him.

You weren't very sure how well would you two work considering that. But you sure as hell wasn't going to give up without at least trying it. And definitely not without a fight.

"Send me your location then, I'll pick you up in... Twenty."

"Uuuh, picking me up? Look at us, it's a real date date now, curfew's at 10PM then, don't forget it." You make him laugh easily with that, your father was a strict man, sometimes you both went to the movies or the park nearby and if you got home at 10:03 was enough for him to sit Aaron down in your living room and tell him all about responsibilities and how he was the boy and so he was supposed to protect you and ensure you were home in time.

"I am curious about what the consequences of not following the curfew will be this time though." Oh he's teasing you now, as if this wasn't your first date and the implications of consequences weren't so... Suggestive, to say the least. But he feels comfortable enough for that.

"Guess you'll have to wait and see then, agent Hotchner." Your voice drips like honey and he's pretty sure he just figured out some sort of deep ingrained fetish he didn't know he had until now. "See you soon, airhead!" You laugh innocently before finishing the call and it drives him mad in the most delicious way.

He thinks those are the most torturous 27 minutes he's ever had to go through his life, but the feeling is completely overrun with almost childish glee as he parks in front of your house. He could fit the choice for a house instead of an apartment easily on your own profile but he didn't need too, you liked your space. Apartments have no space. No privacy. He remembers vividly of a conversation you both had after your cousins were forced into an apartment because of your aunt's divorce.

He dries his palms on his pants quickly not sure if he should go to your door, stay where he is or what. He hasn't done this, the whole date ordeal in a while and it just got to him that he has no idea how people do it these days. What's too much or too little?

Aaron finally decides on leaving the car and waiting near by, after sending you a quick text to inform you he was there. It was a middle ground of sorts, he felt confident in it. Kinda.

It doesn't take you long to leave and lock your door and the sight of you immediately takes his breath away, your smile takes him back some years but your thighs remind him quickly that you are both definitely not fifteen anymore. He shakes his head softly, directing his eyes to a more suitable place for a first date: Your hands. You were holding a flower bouquet.

Flowers.

"Fuck." He mutters to himself in frustration, "I forgot to bring you flowers." You don't seem bothered about it, in fact it makes you smile more as you hand him the bouquet in your hands. "You got these... For me?" Aaron grabs the gift softly with both hands, afraid he's going to break it somehow.

"Yeah, wanted to test my theory that you're still a sap." The way his eyes were shining and his lips turned into the sweetest of smiles were enough proof to you. Aaron was always loving, caring, soft. It was interesting seeing him on the news nowdays, stoic, serious, unbothered. You wanted to see how easy it was to break him.

Turns out very easy. At least to you.

"A sap! I’m surprised I got flowers from a beautiful woman, sue me." He opens the passenger door so you can get in, which you quickly do with a cheeky smile on your face, the gift is carefully placed on the backseat before he's back to your side, seat belt on. Nosy as you are, you're already typing some address on the GPS.

"I heard people talking really good things about this place." You muse while he turns the car on, already following the instructions. "Apparently the beer is great and it stays open til late." He doesn't ask for any clarifications, if that's where you want to go, that's where he'll take you.

The food you've both ordered hasn't arrived at your table yet but Aaron has already gulped down two large beers and is trying so very hard to not show how annoyed he is, it makes you laugh, hard. He follows, laughing along and shaking his head.

"Who told you about this place?" He asks accusingly, you take a sip of your own drink and pretend you didn't hear it. "Who?"

"I don't want to tell you."

"Your students then. You trusted a bunch of twenty somethings with our date. Pitiful." You don't reply, instead you just keep laughing to yourself while you drink. The place is loud. Loud music. Loud college students. Loud busy street. You tell him that's exactly the type of place you would hang out with your girl friends to hook up back in London, his experience isn't the same, the lover boy committed since high school.

"How do they even get to know each other over this nooooise?" Laughing at his annoyance only lasts so long and now you're the one not being able to sort through your thoughts, the food is good though, you both agree while munching on the appetizers that accompany the beer.

In retrospect you should've imagined it would be this time of place by the countless mentions of beer whenever a student recommended it.

"Look around, I don't think they're actually trying to." You follow his gaze and notice that as the hours passed, the more couples formed and the less they were actually talking. Exactly as it was in your own college days. "I'm a bit tipsy so I'll let my curiosity win, you never told me why you divorced the second time." It was out of the blue, you told him the first one wasn't that bad, conflicting views on family and you both married too early in the relationship. The second one was... Harsher.

"Bastard cheated on me." You shrugged, but it was obvious it still got to you, Aaron could see it in your eyes, in your voice tone, and that had nothing to do with being a behavior analyst, and everything to do about how he just... Knew you. "His whore also pressed charges against me when I wasn't even trying to hit her, she just got in the way." He chocked on his beer and almost had to spit it out after that tiny little piece of information you hadn't mentioned before.

"You have a record?"

"He made her drop the charges when I left the apartment to him without a fight. That's why I moved back to the states." He blinks once, twice. Maybe he should be worried, but he also knew that could get a bit aggressive when losing control. Just it always happened to terrible people. "I'm obviously joking, airhead." The relief he feels is followed by an annoyed face for believing such a lie, you touch his forehead softy, smoothing the lines so he doesn't look mad anymore. He takes it as a sign, taking your hand in his and kissing your knuckles, then your hand, and pulls you to him, letting go to touch your chin.

If he wasn't drinking the proximity would inebriate him alone, the way your eyes closed and your cheeks blushed in anticipation, he's sweet, lips touching yours with tender patience, much more patient than you, you who lifted your body just a bit from the chair and pulled him by his collar to deepen the kiss, almost causing a disaster if any of you fell over the table with all the glass cups.

You let him go just after hearing some snickering from the table behind yours, not blaming them for it, it probably looked like an awkward kiss from the outside. But it wasn't.

"That was certainly better than our first one..." You smile sheepishly at him, putting your hands on your lap, nervous.

"You blushed and gripped my shirt." He says looking deep into your eyes, making you tilt your head slightly, showing him your confusion. "It's been thirty years, you did the same thing... You blushed and gripped my shirt."

"So you're telling me you make me feel like a school girl."

"I'm telling you you've just acted like one." You take the comment as a challenge, getting up and taking your chair with you to sit closer to him, brushing your lips to his before going to his ear.

"You're drunk and staying over, so why don't we get a taxi and I'll show you the school girl." You can see the way his neck shivers at your little teasing, but he takes advantage of the new found closeness to kiss you again, with much more hunger but also much faster than the first because he's ready to pay the tab and get out of there.

It wasn't really that hard to find a taxi, being a night time neighborhood, they knew to stay around. Aaron had your bag on one of his hands and the other on your thigh. Your arms went around his and your head laid on his shoulder. None of you talked the whole way there, just feeling each other's presence and the alcohol twirling around your minds and your stomachs.

And you did show him you were not a school girl anymore when you both got to your house: You got him your largest t-shirt and pajama pants, your coziest blanket and after you both changed and took aspirins to try and prevent the headache that would inevitably come, you got your pillows and went to the living room and laid on your big couch with Aaron, cuddling with him as some TV show re-run lured you both to sleep.

It was almost 2AM, and while you could take him to your bedroom and take his clothes off like you wanted to, you both knew it was the middle of the week, he had to wake up early to get his car, you would probably pass out under him anyway.

Cuddling was more than enough for a first date. And at least for Aaron, he was sure he wouldn't let go of your embrace anytime soon.

[twdgkidsdeservebetter]

Everything Wrong With Umbrella Academy Season 4 (Characters)

The way it felt like someone who had never seen the show wrote this season????

The characters were AWFUL and were almost entirely new characters with all their previous character development forgotten.

Allison - Honestly, I don't like Allison (after watching THAT scene w Luther), so I really didn't care what happened with her this season. I think it does suck that she wasn't able to be happy with Ray, they were nice together. Also, no rumours? Her power was one of the most interesting out of the family.

Luther - People were commenting about how childish and positive he was being this season and how it was out of character from him being so serious. Honestly? I love silly Luther, he's such a breath of fresh air. I also like to believe that because Luther was assigned the leader of the family (being number 1 and all), he's able to enjoy himself without that pressure. Also, I also love to believe that Luther is using being positive and silly as a coping mechanism as to not be overwhelmed by the sadness of losing Sloane and also his current living situation. Giving him his gorilla body back was so unnecessary and makes no sense cause it wasn't the marigold that gave him the body.

Ben - He sucked. I hate that Sparrow Ben was the one that was dragged with them because it meant that we had to deal with him sulking and being angsty the whole time. Also, the character development we witnessed 1-2 just disappeared instantly cause of Sparrow Ben. Also, his friendship with Klaus was the best thing in the show and I hate that we never get to see that in season 3.

Klaus - I was actually so happy for him being sober, even if he wasn't living the best life because of his paranoia with death and germs. So it really sucked when that immediately went down the drain the second his body got the marigold.

Diego - He deserved better. Yeah, his constant complaining about his "belly" (which wasn't even that big of a difference??) and wanting to go back to his old super spy life did affect his and Lila's marriage, but when he realised that he immediately accepted that he was at fault and was willing to improve their marriage to make Lila happy.

Lila - I liked Lila before season 4. I don't know what they were thinking honestly by changing her entire character. Yes, she and Five were stuck for 7 years together, but seriously? That plot added NOTHING to the story because in the end, Lila chose Diego and then they all DIED like 10 minutes later!!

Viktor - Honestly? Viktor didn't really stand out this season for me. Sure, he got kidnapped by Ian Hawk. I thought the idea of him trying to remove the marigold from Ben was a really cool idea but then it just didn't happen. I thought his interactions with Reginald were decent, since it's interesting to see how this Reginald thinks about Viktor compared to the original timeline Reginald.

Five - It's honestly kind of impressive how the writers were able to make the best character in the show the worst character by the end of it. They completely changed his whole character. First, his personality is duller than a door nail. He's so emotionless and so boring. Where's the excessive facial expressions and movements? Second, changing his motivations. For the past 3 seasons we have watched him with one goal in his mind; "Save the world and his siblings". So why would Five ever possibly consider both giving that up for Lila of all people. Third, giving Five a love interest was so useless and lazy. Why would he choose a girl over his siblings? Especially one literally MARRIED to his BROTHER. Fourth, him being all pouty and jealous over Lila choosing Diego (her husband and father of her kids - no shit she was gonna pick him over Five, literally have no idea why Five even thought he had a chance) to the point where he plans to just ditch his family in the middle of a big fight. Five, him fighting Diego in the middle of said big fight. THEN, Five just gives up??? Yeah, that's probably all he could do but seriously, this is Five we're talking about, the guy who survived in 45 years in the apocalypse to try and get back to his family and save the world. Do you really believe that he would just give up?

BONUS:

Jennifer - They could introduce a new character/love interest for Ben but they didn't do the same for Five so they just gave him the only other woman who wasn't his sister???? LAZY. Also, the amount of plot holes with Jennifer's character makes me queasy.

[theeoriginals]

I’d love to see your take on an arranged marriage with klaus (like medieval times or some period like that). maybe he’s marrying her to get something from her/her family but there’s something a little off about the reader (hint: she does what giulia tofana did - google her if you’re not familiar!! her story is so fascinating) and when he pieces it together he’s smitten with her 💗💗

aqua tofana | klaus mikaelson

author's note; this has been in my inbox for over a month because i was so inspired by it that I decided a 14k oneshot was necessary I hope I did it justice

klaus mikaelson x reader (no y/n) use of nickname in place of y/n

warnings; arranged marriage, strangers to lovers, klaus is a little shit but so is reader so it's okay, no Y/N, mentions of domestic abuse but not in regards to reader, mentions of poison, fluff, shy!klaus (he is real to me), these two mfers are in LOVE, mikael (a warning in itself), minor violence and bloodshed but nothing too bad. if I missed anything let me know!! this is heavily inspired by ACOTAR bc I just binged the entire series in less than a week so thank you sarah j. maas for your service

The Mikaelsons were said to be a noble family. One with loyalty and strength. 

They were coming to stay in their small kingdom, in their castle. Three of them. Elijah, Rebekah, and Niklaus. Looking for a safe haven, to avoid growing conflicts in surrounding areas. Looking for someplace to call home for a little while longer– at least, until they could no longer pass as mortals.

Riverend was perfect for them. 

The way the people of Riverend saw it, their problems were their own, and the larger, outlying kingdoms could fight their nonsensical battles without any help from a small, useless kingdom built downstream from them, carved right out of the flowing water that traveled through their town square by the calloused hands of the families that still lived there today.

As far as anyone was concerned, Riverend had no monetary value, no natural resources to capitalize off of, no armies worth rallying, and no animals to trade. The only thing it had was its people, and to most, that meant nothing. It meant they went overlooked, and were never considered in territory battles and similar crises. But to the right person–a dangerous person– such a thing could mean everything. 

That is why she was so wary to accept this supposedly noble family into their walls. She had to be wary, to think of the danger they could bring along with them should they stay. How much danger it could put her kingdom in. 

It’s why she had further qualms about marrying the man the king had been corresponding with all these months. Said qualms, of course, outside of the fact that she had no real desire to marry, let alone to a stranger. All familiarity aside, she had a duty to her people to maintain their livelihoods and not leave them stranded for her own selfish desires. Even if it meant marrying some man. 

With her mother’s voice in her head telling her to keep her chin up and her shoulders back, she was determined to keep her wits about her. She didn’t complain when she was asked to wear one of her nicer gowns to greet the family when they arrived that brisk, cloudy afternoon. She let her ladies dress her in a midnight blue gown that swept along the ground, with sleeves that draped over her hands, leaving no skin visible, spare for her neck and face. 

She was escorted by the king to the throne room, where she stood at his shoulder, resting a hand on the embroidered fabric along the muscle hidden beneath the layers. A silent, supportive daughter. A perfect royal family, to anyone who might linger too long while looking in their direction. 

Two of their sentries escorted their new houseguests into the throne room, and she did nothing but raise a brow at their humble appearance. The girl, Rebekah, was young. She’d seen better days, and she silently wondered where they had traveled from that had them end up before her and her father with dirt scuffs on their cheeks, and scruffy, unkempt facial hair marring their jaws. 

“Welcome, Lords and Lady, to our home,” Her father spoke genially, a content smile on his face as if he was unaware of the judgmental look his daughter was fixing them with. “We’re honored to have you here, honored to build a bridge between our families for years to come.” 

One of the long-haired men spoke, his hands clasped neatly behind his back, making him look like he was some proper gentleman and not a random man who had shown up on her doorstep. 

“The honor is all ours, Your Majesty. The opportunities that your generosity has given my family have not gone unnoticed. We thank you and the Princess for your kindness.” 

The King shifted slightly like he’d forgotten his daughter was there. He turned to look at her over his shoulder, and she met his gaze, peering down at him over the bridge of her nose. “Yes, my daughter. Nyxia. She’s a woman of few words, I must warn you all. And when she chooses to speak, it’d do you well to listen closely.” 

All of their eyes shifted to her, but the set of icy blue ones had never left. Not to meet the king’s eyes, or look around at his new home for the foreseeable future of their impending marriage. 

“Your Highness,” Blue eyes, suddenly alight with fire. Flame that burns her from the tips of her toes to the base of her scalp that her very hair grows out of. Flame that ravages civilizations, and wipes out bloodlines. She can feel the darkness in him from two simple words. It’d take a fool to not see it. “I look forward to getting to know you before our prospective arrangement takes place.”

He wasn’t lying, she could tell. But his words seemed to hold as much weight as hers did. A hidden meaning tucked behind every spoken syllable. Dangerous. So dangerous. The King was a fool to not see it, but that was neither here nor there. 

Licking her lips, she chose her first words carefully. It was always important to make a lasting first impression, but with this man– with her future husband, she wanted to be honest from the start. She wanted, for once, to reveal her hand before the game started. Just to see what he’d do. Just to see what he had planned. 

But she didn’t. She knew it would just be chaos. And even though such things were in her blood, she couldn’t risk anything this far into everything.

“Lord Niklaus,” She didn’t move a muscle besides the ones it took to make words form on her tongue. “My kingdom rejoices with your arrival. They will be overjoyed with the announcement of our nuptials.” 

And the man, encased in his flames that felt as if they could burn the whole world down should he please, tilted his head and smirked at her. Like he’d heard every thought she’d had in the moments between words. 

Nothing else was said between them, not verbally, at least, and the king interrupted the rising tension that was so obvious between the Princess and the Mikaelson siblings, oblivious to the people he’d surrounded himself with. 

“Lady Rebekah, my daughter can show you to your rooms in the east wing. You’ll have ladies of your own to help you bathe and dress,” He gestures to the blonde, who looks childishly excited at the thought. “The both of you will be in the west wing, my men can take you to your rooms. We can reconvene tonight at dinner, yes?” 

The three siblings bowed at their waist, easily deferring the power back to the King. 

“In the meantime, feel free to explore. Our home is yours, now. Make yourselves comfortable.” 

She stayed in the throne room long after even her father had left, watching the doors the siblings had been escorted through. She lingered at her place beside the throne, nearly behind it, where her mother once stood behind a man who looked like he belonged on a throne more than any woman would. She laid a hand around the back of the embossed silver and thought to herself that it would look better in gold. 

────── 

Klaus watched his wife-to-be dig into the dinner presented before them moments ago, her fork the first one to move, even before her father’s. She didn’t sit at the head of the table, but just to the right of her father, and Klaus had taken the seat across from her. He did not doubt that she could feel his eyes on her, but she was pointedly ignoring it in favor of talking to his sister at her side. 

Rebekah, ever the people pleaser. Even in their centuries on this earth, Rebekah could never resist the desire to cling to the nearest female in their proximity. He hadn’t said anything to her about it, yet. He figured there was no harm in letting her delude herself into thinking that Princess Nyxia wanted anything to do with any of them. 

Elijah wasn’t even pretending to be friendly like he tended to be in this position. He’d been silent for a majority of the day, perhaps tired from their travels, though Klaus doubted it was anything so simple. If Klaus were to look at himself as a King, it would be Elijah as his second, watching everything and everyone, dutifully reporting back to him about usurpers and battles to come. It would be Elijah ripping hearts out, and Klaus taking responsibility for the blood on his brother’s hands. 

There was a reason it was only the three of them. His other siblings just didn’t understand that you did everything for family. 

He supposes that’s why he’s so curious about the two royals before him. They were the only family they had left, and yet there was something unspoken there, something withheld between them that left a tenuous truce. There was such anger behind Nyxia’s eyes, and Klaus had the urge to push and push at it until it finally shattered. Elijah often compared him to a child for this inane urge, and Klaus couldn’t deny it. 

“This food is lovely, Your Majesty,” 

Rebekah looked at Nyxia’s father with a sweet little smile, and Klaus wondered how she managed to maintain such a degree of humanity inside of her after everything.

“Oh, it’s all my sweet Nyx,” He turns his pleasant, kingly smile to his daughter. Looks like he owes her the world. She doesn’t return an ounce of the fondness, but she still smiles, like she knows it’s expected of her. “She has specific tastes, so I prefer her to pick the menu. Our cooks in the kitchen work to make it all come to life and it never disappoints.” 

It works in the way that it makes Rebekah turn adoring eyes onto Nyxia once again, but it doesn’t do as such for the two brothers. There’s something about this place that drew them to it in the first place and they wanted to figure it out, neither of them did very well when it came to venturing into the unknown, so they devised the plan. It’s set in motion, it’s happening as they sit at this table and eat this food, and yet he still feels wrongfooted. He’s missing something, he’s missing the thing that brought him to this small kingdom in the first place. 

He doesn’t like living in the dark. 

Elijah cuts a thin bite of the lamb chop on the plate in front of him. “Do you cook, then, Princess?”

“If I am feeling particularly inspired, yes,” She grabs her silver chalice, swirling the dark red wine in it before she takes a drink. “I prefer vinification.” 

The King’s face lights up like he’d been waiting for another opportunity to brag on his daughter. “Yes, Nyxia made the wine we’re drinking tonight. She tries to make a personal barrel at least once a year, and it’s always the most unique flavor. She goes out and picks fruits from our trees up near the bluffs, where–”

“I’m sure they aren’t interested to know what fruits our land produces, Father.”

“On the contrary,” Her eyes shot to Elijah at his words. “I think it’d be quite ignorant of us to turn down any knowledge of the land we’re to call… home. It seems to be a very special place.” 

She watches him for a moment, eyes narrowing at his unsuspecting tone. “Yes,” She muses quietly, looking away from Elijah to meet Klaus’s gaze like she can tell Elijah’s speaking on his behalf. “Perhaps I’ll show you what makes it so special.”

None of them acknowledged the fact that it wasn’t so much of an offering of camaraderie, but rather a threat. 

────── 

Months go by. Time passes peacefully, but Klaus is growing restless. 

With the announcement of their joining sent out to the few people they intended to invite outside of their kingdom, they had begun preparing the castle for the celebration and the princess found herself preoccupied with menial tasks, like picking out what flower arrangements to line the aisle with and what color banners should hang from the ceilings above them. 

Throughout it, she’d done her best to avoid the Mikaelsons but maintained a close enough distance so they couldn’t claim she was giving them the cold shoulder. She’d grown quite good at falsifying closeness throughout her years. She was designed to have a connection with her people that displayed generosity but not bias. A relatability, but not a weakness. 

She was sure that Rebekah would call them best friends by now, but she also knew the girl could not even tell a person what the princess’s favorite color was if someone ever bothered to ask her. 

She has always been able to exist in a way that makes her entirely extraordinary, but forgettable the moment she’s out of sight. 

She’s been able to use the wedding as an excuse to avoid isolated interactions with Klaus, but she knew he’d catch her without an excuse one of these days. She would’ve preferred to avoid it for a bit longer, but she wasn’t unprepared when it finally happened.

Standing in the aisle of the throne room where the banners of white and gold were hanging above the place they were to stand in front of her people and all of the guests they’d sent invitations out to and declare an undying bond that didn’t exist, she felt a rage bubble inside of her that she was quick to smother into nothing but cinders and ash when she heard the doors creak open behind her and footsteps slow as he stopped beside her. 

“You’re a hard woman to track down, Princess,” 

“You could have sent for me at any time. It is my duty to serve my subjects,” 

She glances at Klaus out of the corner of her eye and sees an amused look grow on his face. “Is that what I am? One of your subjects?” 

“Until we are bound by law, yes, Lord Mikaelson. You are one of my subjects and I your Princess. Soon enough you’ll be Prince, and you will also owe loyalty to my subjects because this place does not exist without them.” 

“You take such pride in this kingdom, in these lands, yet you did not win it in a battle, have not even fought in one, as far as I’m aware. You have no value to other kingdoms, and yet your father brags of orchards and vineyards with bountiful fruits. He tells tales of heroic civilians, always offering a helping hand to those in need. Sparing what they can, to maintain their peace here. It’s an odd thing, considering I’d never seen or heard of Riverend before that time all those months ago when I first met your father.” 

“And yet, here you stand, within the walls of my kingdom, amongst my people. In my home.” 

There’s no humor in her voice. There isn’t any hatred in it, either, and he can tell she’s got that impenetrable mask on again. Even her momentary anger or irritation was different from this nothingness. 

He can hear her father’s words from that very first day, telling them all that her words are important. He remembers thinking it was such an odd thing to point out at that time. It almost rings like a warning, now, and not a twisted compliment for the woman. 

“It’s curious, is all. I wonder if I’ll understand what inspires such devotion once I am Prince, or if it is a feeling only you experience.” 

She turns, finally, to look at him. “You are interested in learning what makes me love my people and my home?” 

He ducks his head in a nod. “Guilty, I suppose.”

“Then I will show you,” She nods once, firmly. Like she’s just decided it then and there because of his earnest words, and he thinks it’s a ridiculous, rash thing, but when he looks into her eyes there is no hesitation or wariness. “Tonight, we will have dinner and I will answer all of your questions. I will show you why I would spill endless blood for this kingdom, and never ask any of my people to do the same for me in return.” 

He raises his brows, letting a sliver of his suspiciousness show in his icy, blue-gray eyes. “You’re offering such honesty to my family after weeks of pretending like we don’t exist? Forgive me if I’m skeptical of your generosity.” 

“Not your family. You. You and I will have dinner alone, and I will tell you everything you want to know,” She corrects him, earning a more genuine look of shock from him. “You are to be my husband. One day you will be my King, and I your Queen. Is honesty not the place to start?” 

Klaus falls silent, watching her, waiting for a slip-up. For any sign of hesitation or scheming behind her endless eyes. Finding nothing, he bites out a wry laugh and nods in agreement, finally tearing his eyes away from her to look around at the decorated throne room. 

The betrotheds stand silent together for a few minutes, and she offers no insight into whatever it is she’s thinking as she stares at the throne front and center in the room. 

“Is my help needed for our wedding?” Klaus says suddenly as if there isn’t a mounting tension building in the room like a shadow of the night. 

“Not unless you are offering,” She says simply. “I’ve told them white and gold, for our colors. My dress is to be fashioned similarly, as are your garments. I’m sure you’ll be summoned for fittings, but our seamstresses have plenty of work to do before then.” 

The man hummed agreeingly. “Then I shall leave you to it. And I’ll see you at dinner tonight.” 

“Before you go, Lord Mikaelson,” 

“I am certain you can call me Niklaus. Just Klaus if you’re feeling particularly agreeable that day, Princess,” 

She raised a brow like one might raise their lips in humor. “Niklaus.” 

He looks at her indulgently. 

“Even after we are married, outside of our duties to this kingdom, I will never ask you for anything,” She says, her words striking something like a warning bell inside him. “But right now, I have a question for you.” 

“Ask me anything, Princess,” 

“Do you know who you are?” 

Klaus’s eyebrows flexed on his forehead. “Pardon?” 

She turns to face him head-on, standing before him like she did that first day they arrived, only this time there was barely a foot of distance between them. He could almost see her pulse move in the long lines of her throat. “I ask you, as your future wife, do you know who you are? Do you feel the shadow that shields your soul? Do you feel the fire that consumes you?” 

She tilts her head at his suspended silence. “You hide from the light that is still inside of you. You hide from someone. But you won’t hide from me. You can’t. It is because of that unfair advantage that I am offering you honesty. Know that I do this for you as an act of trust. Do not underestimate the weight of such a thing, or you will see just what I am willing to do for this place.” 

She side-steps him and walks past him, leaving him in a stunned silence that quickly turns into rage that they both know he can’t take out on anything within the walls of this castle, and the borders of this kingdom. 

She’s established the high ground. And she has made it clear that it is not Klaus standing up there, looking down at her, but rather the other way around. 

She’s offered to even the playing field, though. He’s curious to see just how much honesty she’ll be parting with tonight. He’s curious to see how it will end. 

────── 

The table is set for two. 

It’s different from the dining table they’ve been occupying for the past three weeks. This is a table made for two, and only for two. 

Candlelight casts shadows around the room, and Klaus does a slight double take as he walks towards the table, escorted quietly by one of the sentries from his quarters to this room. He’s loath to admit he was distracted by thinking about all of the possibilities of this dinner to pay attention to the fact that he was being led to the east wing and not the usual central hall where meals were had. 

But it’s too late for him to question it, as the sentry is walking out and a door across the room opens, revealing the princess. 

She’s changed again– always in different gowns throughout the day. This one is similar to the one she was wearing when they first met. A blue so dark it looks black, that holds color like the night sky. Sleeves that drape over her shoulders and cinch down to her wrist, leaving only her hands bare. With the dim lighting of this private dining room, shadows dance around her face, and he thinks to himself that the shadows cling to her. 

She gestures for him to take a seat, already doing so, and she immediately grabs a corked bottle from the side of the table, popping it open and pouring their golden chalices halfway full before she sets it back down. 

Klaus takes the first drink and has to bite back the pleased noise he starts to make, if only out of spite. 

“I’ve been fermenting this wine for three years,” She informs him, seemingly hearing the noise anyway, if the gleam in her eye is anything to go by. “It’s from my private reserves.” 

“Aren’t they all from your private reserves?” 

“No, I give barrels to the tavern in town,” She swirls it around in her cup, quirking a brow at him. 

“Give, or sell?” 

“Aren’t you the one who said I have undying generosity for this kingdom for no good reason?” She takes a small sip of the wine, holding it in her mouth for a moment before she sets it down. “It’s too bitter for my liking.” 

Klaus hums, taking another drink. “Perhaps you’re just your own biggest critic,” 

“Mm, perhaps,” She concedes, fluttering her eyes in a slight roll. It’s as casual as he’s ever seen her, and she’s still sitting stock-straight in her chair, shoulders back and chin high. As royal as ever. “Are you going to start asking your questions?” 

He smirks, tilting his head in a slight nod. “Maybe I was waiting for your permission. I wouldn’t want to be a rude dinner guest, after all. Not after you’ve brought this lovely meal into this secluded space,” 

“It’s mine. I don’t always prefer to eat in the company of others,” She says. “My bedroom is through that door.” 

She points to the door she’d come through upon his arrival, and his eyes follow the curve of her arm through the fabric shifting along it. 

“How lucky I am, then, hm?” 

“Oh, most people would not call it luck, Niklaus. In fact, I think I heard your brother say to your sister once that it feels like you’re all just sheep in a wolf’s den.”

Klaus makes a dry noise of acknowledgment, mentally cursing his brother for saying such things within earshot of anyone, let alone his soon-to-be wife. “My brother’s desire to protect this family often leads him to paranoia, I’m afraid.” 

“I never said he was wrong.” 

Klaus’s hands flex in his lap, out of view of the princess. “Oh, is that so? Then maybe I am ready to start asking questions,”

She beckons him on with a wave of her hand. Neither of them has touched their meals. He doesn’t think they’ve broken eye contact, either. Locked in this stalemate, tension rising and rising and rising. 

“I have traveled far and wide in my days on this planet, and I have come across some very strange places, I must say. But never have I come across a place that simply… doesn’t exist,”

If Klaus knew any better, he’d think she looked excited at the words coming out of his mouth.

“That is not a question, my Lord,” 

He smirks at her correction. “What is it? What is it that hides this place from the map? How do you keep travelers passing through, yet no one has ever had so much as a–a tall tale, or some monster story to tell about this place? You fight in no wars but you have sentries stationed throughout this castle, on guard every night and day. You trade no goods, but these lands are bountiful in fruits and vegetables, crops as big as this castle grow in people’s yards. So, tell me, Princess Nyxia, how do you do it?” 

She shifts in her chair, leaning her arm onto the armrest, and for the first time since he met her all those months ago, she smiles. 

She smiles widely, and it’s not something wicked or cold, but instead, it’s amusement, through and through. Every bit of that coldness stays in her eyes, though. Darkness still clinging to her like a child and its mother.

“There are stories about things– creatures so dangerous that you cannot even utter their name, for fear of inviting them into your home, your mind,” She starts, undoubtedly aware of the anticipation thrumming in his veins. He’s had to be so careful about feeding since they came here, compelling people, and never taking too much, because he can’t risk her catching on. He thinks he feels more human than ever within these walls, and it’s such an odd thing. 

“My real name has not been spoken in decades. Most people in this kingdom, in this castle, do not know me as anything other than Nyxia. It is the name that my mother held when people started to refuse to say her name as well, and in honor of her great life, I now bear it as my own.”

Klaus lets out a slow breath, a feeling like adrenaline coursing through him. “What are you, Nyxia?” 

“I am the shadows that follow you along the walls, I am the very stars in the sky. I am the end to every day, and I will be the end to it all when I am finally called back home. I am the thing you see every time you blink your eyes, Klaus Mikaelson. I am darkness.” 

He shuffles, leaning his elbows onto the table to examine her closely, in a way that he hasn’t had the chance to do since their arrival. “You keep this place hidden so that people don’t find you and hunt you.” 

“Why do you think you and your siblings found this place? Why do you think you could see and remember what so many others could not?” She raised a brow, pulling her cloth napkin from her lap and dropping it atop her untouched plate. “I know what you are, Niklaus Mikaelson. The Original Hybrid. The divide in you is shadowed in darkness. I am, and have been a part of your very being from the day you took your first breath and were declared a bastard.” 

He flinches minutely, but she sees it anyway. “Why me? Why lure me and my family here? To kill us? I have no doubt you have every means to kill creatures such as ourselves if your claims of power are to be taken as truth.” 

“I have no intention to kill you, Klaus,” She pushes her chair back from the table, standing up. Silently, she gestures for him to do the same. “I have not yet told you why I do what I do here.” 

“You haven’t even told me what you do here, let alone why,” 

She chuckles freely and he ignores the chill that travels down his spine at the sound. It’s like she’s been waiting on him to break this dam between them, and now that her secret is out, she’s alive. 

She’d told him earlier to realize the weight that is behind her trust, her honesty. He will admit to himself that he had underestimated it, even in the wake of her precautions.

“Your family is not expecting you tonight, right?” 

He raises his brows but shakes his head. “I told them I’d be having dinner with you and that I’d be out for the night. Why do you ask?” 

“We’ll be taking a trip. I have things to do,”

It’s all she says before she leads him into her bedroom, shutting the door firmly behind them. 

────── 

Draped in cloaks that covered their faces in shadows she had promised him would keep them hidden while they made their way through muddy alleys and thick groves of trees, Klaus couldn’t help but wonder just what he’d gotten himself into. 

He didn’t often admit that he was in over his head– was rarely in such a position at all– but this. This was something he was utterly in the dark about. The irony wasn’t lost on him, either. 

“Where are we going, Princess?” 

“You may call me Nyxia, you know. You did earlier,” 

“I am nothing if not a gentleman, Princess Nyxia,” 

She rolls her eyes, but there’s an unfamiliar degree of humor in the action. He’s still discombobulated at her complete flip of a switch, but he’s trying to familiarize himself with it. He selfishly hopes that she doesn’t slide that cold mask back on when they return to the castle. 

“They’ll be just through here,” Nyxia led them through another tightly packed thicket of trees, and just as Klaus was about to complain, they broke through into a clearing that nearly took his breath away. 

Though they were undoubtedly still surrounded by the forest she’d traipsed them through for the past hour, at least, this ovaloid clearing was shrouded in a different kind of darkness than the night that encased the rest of the area. 

Light up by the stars glimmering just out of reach above their heads, women mingled about, stopping to talk to one another. A few children ran by, laughing as they chased one another barefoot through the trees, disappearing out of sight and earshot as soon as they left the area, only to reappear before him like a bursting bubble. 

Klaus turned slightly to look at Nyxia, watching her pull her cloak down off her head and smile kindly, genuinely, to the people who had stopped and gathered around them. Klaus took the cue and pulled his own hood off, and his presence immediately earned wary looks. 

Glancing at Nyxia, he fought the urge to jump when her hand landed on his arm, her face contorting into an understanding but reassuring look. “No, no, look,” 

She pulled Klaus closer to her, keeping her hand wrapped around his arm as he looked warily at the sea of faces watching him. Feeling entirely caught off guard, he stayed silent, happily letting Nyxia take the reins.

“This is my betrothed,” Her words immediately earn a variety of reactions. From the children, their hesitance turns into immediate adoration. From the older women, teasing laughs are shared between them, and Nyxia bats a hand out to silence them, though it’s not done out of real offense. 

Friends, he realizes. These are her friends. She’s brought him to meet her friends that she has hidden in this patch of woods, further secluding a place that already doesn’t exist outside of its own bubble. 

An unavoidable arrow of fondness shoots down his spine, and he bats it away as quickly as he can. 

“So our lovely princess has finally brought a prince to meet us,” One of the older women grins tauntingly, and Klaus eyes the wrinkles around her mouth that only come from smiling too much, and the strands of gray hair falling out of the braids she’s got piled atop her head. 

“Klaus,” He says, somewhat shocked by the emotion in his voice. “You may call me Klaus.” 

“Klaus, then,” The woman nods, conveying something to Nyxia that is seemingly translated between the two of them, though Klaus couldn’t even begin to guess what went unsaid. 

Nyxia finally removes her hand from his arm to reach into her cloak, pulling three small bottles out and passing them off to the older woman, whose face turns somewhat solemn. 

“I know that one is for Merida,” The woman starts, meeting Nyxia’s gaze from beneath her lashes. “But who are the other two?” 

“Reya and Liesl,” 

The woman curses beneath her breath and apologizes when the children nearby gasp. 

“When am I to bring this to them?”

“Within the week. It has only been getting worse lately,” 

As if she were a soldier being told her life was being offered up on the chopping block, the woman nodded and tucked the vials into the deep pockets of the dress she wore. “I will send word once they are here.” 

“Thank you, Theresé,” She grabs Klaus’s arm gently once more, beginning to steer him towards the path they’d taken, but she stops short, looking over her shoulder with a slight smirk. “You are all invited to the wedding, of course. Next month. I will send someone to escort you to the castle.” 

A bout of excited tittering follows them out, and they walk in silence, heading a bit of the way back towards the castle before she leads them off to the left, walking them across one of the runoff creeks that flow with the river through town.

He remains silent until she leaves his side to push open a gate ahead of them, the metal creaking and groaning beneath her force, but giving way eventually. 

This time, when Klaus steps forward, he instantly knows where he is. “The orchard,” 

“Yes,” Nyxia takes a deep breath in, releasing it quietly. “Come, let’s sit.” 

She leads him to a wooden bench down the main aisle in between the trees full of ripe fruit, all looking ready to be harvested and used. 

“That place,” He starts once they’ve been seated for a moment, Klaus watching Nyxia’s profile as she basks beneath shadows and night of her own making. “What is it?” 

“It has no name,” She informs him, her voice unexpectedly soft.

She’s been so different this entire night, he wonders how long she’s been waiting for someone to just ask her these questions. Every person who’s been close enough to do it has been too scared of what wrath they may face if they did ask her about the oddities of her home, but Klaus did it because he can’t help but push people. 

“It has no name, and no one knows of it besides the ones who live there, and myself. Now, you do, too,” 

“What is the purpose of it? Why is it only women and children?” 

She takes a long moment to think about her words, and he can see the way she struggles to verbalize her thoughts because no one had ever thought to ask her before. “Just because I am darkness does not mean that I can control all that exists in this world. I can’t take away what already exists, no matter how much I wish to. That place is what I call a loophole. I have them hidden all around the world. Because I cannot erase what already exists, I must find a way to work around it. To remove the darkness I wish to see gone without violating the laws of my making.” 

“And what exactly have you been working around?” 

“Humanity,” She says simply. “With every passing decade, they tear themselves apart more and more. My loopholes exist to take people out of that chaos, of the darkness. Sometimes it’s a hungry child or a bastard,” 

Klaus glances away for a moment before forcing his gaze back to hers. 

“Sometimes it is a woman that gets sold to the highest bidder. The woman I spoke to, Theresé, was one of the first women I saved from a nearby village. Her husband was an utter brute and had killed his first wife when she had barely seen sixteen name days. Theresé was strong, but there was only so much she could do before the inevitable. So I stepped in and I proposed a hypothetical situation to her, where all she would have to do is make him dinner and serve him wine, and meet me outside of her home later that night.

“I did not think she would do it, but when the moon was high in the sky, I waited outside of her house and barely breathed until she was standing before me in one piece, with tears in her eyes and bruises on her cheek. So I told her who I was and what I wanted to do, and she said she would help me if I continued to save women who had been in her position. So I have. The girls I mentioned, Reya and Liesl. Young girls, friends since childhood. They were married off to the same man, a prince of some second-rate kingdom a few days north that had already gone through 3 wives. They have just found out they’re both pregnant, and fear raising children in the environment they live in.” 

Realization dawns on him. “You give them poison. The wine you make,” 

She hums in assent and silence falls between them once more, the princess dutifully letting Klaus turn the events of the night over and over in his head, finally slotting pieces together where they’d been misaligned for months. 

“Why?” He breathes out, his tone of disbelief earning her attention once more. “Why did you bring me there when you’ve barely spoken to me all these months? When you have known what I am and who my family is, and you knew I was suspicious from the very start, why have you just now shown me the truth?” 

Sighing, Nyxia looks down at her hands folded neatly in her lap. “I fear that my honesty is about to get me in trouble for the first time tonight.” 

“Just tell me,” He shakes his head pleadingly. “Please.” 

“Death consumes your very soul, Klaus,” Her voice takes on a distant tone, one he recognizes more than any fondness or humor she’s shown throughout the night. It’s the way she’d spoken to him since he first arrived, down to that very morning in the throne room, overlooking preparations for their wedding. “It is a fire that burns you from the inside out. And because of that fire, there is a shadow on you. And in that shadow, I exist. I see parts of you that you likely would not share with me, and for good reason.” 

Klaus can’t help the way he flinches, shifting away from her on the bench. She looks unsurprised at this particular reaction, but her fingers twitch like she’s going to reach out for him again. 

She doesn’t. 

“I have known you much longer than you have known me, and for that, I apologize. When you first arrived, I was still hesitant to believe what I had felt, and I– I am much different in the daylight. I am at my weakest when the sun is out, and that has never changed. But– other things have.” 

“Your father–”

“He is not my father,” She cuts him off, voice reverting to that cold indifference for a split second. “Once upon a time, he was a man. A king. But he was not a kind man, let alone a kind king. So I took the darkness in his mind, and I collapsed it from within. I made him hollow with it, and now he is but a puppet. A face to put on our currency, so that I may do as I please without so much attention. My people remember the cruel man, and they remember what I did for them. That is why I have their respect. Their loyalty. Trust breeds trust.” 

Klaus’s jaw clenches. “And when you decide you’re ready to become Queen one day, and I become a King, will you also make me into a puppet? Will I be nothing but a conduit of political jargon made to distract people from your loopholes?” 

Nyxia’s eyes burn, but they are dark. Almost black. 

“I did not bring you here to make you a puppet, Niklaus,” 

“Then why did you bring me here? Tell me, Nyxia. Tell me the truth.” 

“I brought you here because I want to protect you,” 

Klaus’s lip curls in a snarl and he stands up, cloak billowing around him. He turns at the feeling of a slight breeze and finds himself looking at the castle from a high distance, and he wonders if he’d been in such shock that he hadn’t noticed their uphill hike, or if this was another one of her tricks. 

Clenching his jaw, he turns to look down at her. “I do not need protecting, Princess. I have done nothing but protect myself and my family for hundreds of years.” 

“I know that, Klaus,” She spits out, looking as angry as he feels. Both of them are stubborn to a fatal degree. “But I want you to let me do it anyway!” 

Klaus lets out a harsh breath through his nose, turning to look away from her as his chest heaves with frustrated breaths. An overwhelming sense of exhaustion practically slaps him in the face as it settles over him and he finds his racing thoughts finally slowing down, seeming to process in his mind after the eventful night. 

“I understand that this has all been unexpected,” She starts, voice carefully neutral in the wake of both of their tempers. “And I will not blame you for being upset. But trust me when I say that I have your best interests in heart, for you and your family.” 

“I’m to trust you after you’ve shown me only a fraction of the truth?” 

Her soft look has shuttered away when he looks at her again. “I told you,” She whispers, voice quiet but certainly not weak with how thick it was around the emotion clenching around her windpipe. “That I was putting all of my trust into you the moment I told you what I am. The danger that I have thrust upon you and myself just by sharing all of this with you is endless. I have bared my soul to you in a single night, Klaus Mikaelson, and then you spit in my face by asking me if I am trustworthy.” 

“Nyxia,” 

She stands from the bench abruptly, pulling the hood of her cloak back up over her head. “We should go. I don’t want to run into the guards at the shift change.” 

“Nyxia, just–”

“We’re leaving,” She cuts him off, not looking back to see if he’s following after her as she stalks off towards the gates she’d opened for him, just for him, moments ago. “Either join me, or find your own way back.” 

Klaus pulls his own hood up and is quick to fall into step a few paces behind her because he isn’t nearly stupid enough to think that their easygoing atmosphere from earlier is still lingering. All because he couldn’t stop the traitorous beating of his heart and the way his skin crawled at the thought of entrusting the safety of his family to anyone else. 

She is going to be family soon enough, though. If she’ll still have him, that is. 

────── 

The tension in the castle is thick for a few days before it’s suddenly dampened with something painful. 

Rain begins to pour and does not stop for three days straight. Most foot traffic that is in and out of the castle for wedding planning is put on pause at the King’s order. Not worth risking the safety and integrity of any person or thing for one wedding. 

Klaus doesn’t see or hear from Nyxia for those three days, and on the fourth day of heavy downpours, of him being stuck in the library with his brother or listening to his sister drone on about a particularly handsome guard, he breaks. He walks the path the sentry had taken him down into the East Wing of the castle and knocks on the thick wooden door, tilting his head just to hear the heart beating faintly on the other side of it. It’s the only reason he even knows she’s alive, and he can’t stop the relief that soothes his nerves. 

It doesn’t manage to get rid of the cloud of guilt that’s been hanging above his head since that night in the orchard, nor does it make him want to turn around and leave. 

“Princess?” His voice is low, but he knows she’ll hear it if she’s listening. “I was just…” 

He trails off, unsure of what excuse to offer up for his impromptu visit. A lie, a half-truth. The whole truth. 

It’s the least he could do in return, offer her honesty. Since he threw hers right back in her face four nights ago. 

“May I come in, please?” 

Silence follows his question, but when he pushes on the door slightly, it creaks open, and he steps through as quickly as possible, not willing to take the chance that it was a fluke. He’s greeted with darkness broken up by dim firelight, and his eyes take a moment to adjust, that concern inside of him chipping away at his pride. 

“Princess?” He asks again, voice low in the dim room. His brows twitch on his forehead, pulling together. “Nyxia?” 

There’s a shift of fabric from the four-poster bed a few feet in front of him, and he can see the orange glow in the room the moment she turns to face him. 

Even in the poor lighting, he can see the sunken shadows of her face and the way the stars in her eyes have gone dull. 

“Nyxia?” He nearly gasps her name as he rushes to her bedside, dropping to his knees beside it as he takes in her sickly features. “What’s happened to you?” 

She lets out a shaky breath that sounds like it hurts. “Sometimes… sometimes I let them take too much,” 

Confusion passes over him momentarily before a realization hits him. “The loopholes… this place… it drains you, doesn’t it?” 

She nods where her head is pressed into the pillow. 

He lifts a trembling hand to her cheek, brushing invisible dirt off of her cheek. He can feel the clammy sweat tainting her skin, the fever roaring in her veins. How odd it must be to be an immortal creature taken down by something comparable to a cold. 

“Why?” He shakes his head, genuine disbelief coating the word as he watches his betrothed wheeze out a few more breaths. “Why do you let them do this? Why do you do this?” 

She smiles and there's a tired pull to it, and she leans into his touch, eyes fluttering shut for a moment. “People are so scared of me,” Her voice is impossibly soft, so unfamiliar, and yet he feels that ache in his chest, the desire to hear it more. To hear her more. “They are scared of everything. The least I can do is make my darkness feel safer.” 

He thinks it shatters something in him, to hear her grand reasoning behind everything. To hear that underneath that cold exterior, and the soft one, too, the woman before him just wants people to feel safe in her shadows. She wants them to leave behind lives of unhappiness, to not feel fear when the moon rises in the sky and stars hang over their heads. She doesn’t want them to fear the thought of a monster under their bed but rather feel protected by it. By her. 

She wants to do that for him. For his family. And he’d practically laughed in her face. 

A shame buries itself deep in him, and he finds himself lurching forward slightly, face hovering above hers to keep her attention while she loses her lucidity before his eyes. “What can I do? What can I do to make this better?” 

She reaches a hand up from beneath her blankets and rests it atop his. “Stay. Just stay with me, please,” 

He nods and holds back more words he’s simply not ready to say yet. Reluctantly leaves her side for a moment to bring a chair to her bedside, and once again intertwine their hands together. 

He watches her fall asleep and continues watching her well into the night. It doesn’t feel like a chore, or anything of the sort. He thinks he’d be content to spend a few years of his eternity just sitting here with her. 

────── 

It takes another four days for Nyxia to be able to get out of bed without feeling weak. In those days she regains a bit of that life back into her eyes, and Klaus is there to see every speck of it grow. He sees the shadows get darker again, not as faded and murky as they seemed to be when she was in the worst of it. It makes him happy in a way that he wouldn’t have ever expected it to. 

They spend those four days together in a bubble of their own, with small touches shared between each other. Lingering glances and longing looks are shared from across the dining table while they share meals with his family and the king. 

He doesn’t know if all of it means he’s forgiven for his harsh words in the orchard. He doesn’t let himself hope for anything, because he’s not sure if he deserves it after everything. 

It’s a particular train of thought he hasn’t let come to fruition for his own sanity. Instead, he’s relished in the freshly budding relationship between him and his wife-to-be. The partnership that’s being created. The friendship.

He finds himself in the library that remains hidden behind one, nondescript door that opens up to high ceilings, and endless bookshelves. The first time she’d taken him to see it, he’d spent the entire evening looking through the books, getting lost in the history books she had in her collection. 

As the days go by, he finds himself there more and more, and it seems that Nyxia’s in the same boat. 

Hands skimming against the worn spines of the books, Klaus’s mind travels near and far, and he lets his imagination run wild. It’s a rare occurrence, this vulnerability that he’s found within these walls, beneath Nyxia’s care, so he can’t be faulted for being caught off guard when a book slides out from the shelf on the other side and he snaps his gaze up to meet her amused one. 

There’s no doubt she misses the slight intake of breath he does at her sudden presence, but she gives him the grace of not saying anything about it out loud. Her face is framed between the two shelves and she grins widely, unabashedly, in the shadows of the books. “Hiding in the art history books again, Niklaus?” 

He ducks his head, glancing at the lone book he is holding in his hands, a finger shoved between pages to hold his place while he searches through other titles. Lifting his eyes back up to meet hers once more, he shrugs a shoulder, poorly feigning obliviousness. 

“It’s alright, at least I always know where I can find you,” She quickly dismisses his uncharacteristic shyness, and he’s once again grateful for it, even if he’s not sure if she does it for her own sake or his. “I wanted to ask you a question, actually, about the wedding.” 

He raises a brow, not hiding his surprise. She rarely brings the wedding up to him these days, and with the celebration in just five days, the castle staff was bustling about more than ever. Klaus only ever looked at the gold and white decor lining the throne room in passing, usually hurrying through to track Nyxia down somewhere in the castle, or dodging his brother’s increasingly personal questions about the state of his relationship with the Princess.

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t thinking about the wedding, despite Nyxia rarely saying anything to him about it. He found himself wondering just how the day would transpire as it drew closer, wondered how all of the fittings he did for his garments a while back would look like in the end, and wondered endlessly about just what Nyxia would be walking down the aisle in. 

“It’s about the guest list,”

Her voice pulls him from the frequent thought and he bites the tip of his tongue in silent reprimand. Clearing his throat quietly, he looked at her. “What of it? I thought invitations were sent out months ago,” 

“They were,” She confirms, nodding once. Her voice takes on a hint of that diplomatic lilt she likes to pull out of thin air with him when she feels she’s approaching a difficult subject. It instantly puts his nerves on edge, but he tries not to get defensive. If there’s anything he’s learned with her, it’s that he’ll do nothing but regret his knee-jerk reaction to bare his teeth and snarl at the first feeling of danger coming his way. He knows just as well that Nyxia would never put him in danger on purpose. 

“I was just wondering if there was anyone you wanted to invite,” She continued, glancing away from him. “I know Rebekah and Elijah will be there, of course, but is there anyone else you want to come?” 

He’s quick to respond, barely even thinking about it. “I’ve become familiar enough with your subjects that they’re plenty for me, I think. Especially the women coming from the loophole. I’m looking forward to seeing them,” 

Her face softens with an endless fondness he’s not quite sure what to do with. Any time she offers it up to him, he does his best to just hold it gently in between them, like it was a cloud threatening to seep through his fingers and dissipate into nothingness. 

“I am as well,” She smiles briefly before her face falls back into a placating look. “But you’re sure you don’t have any friends you might not have thought of? Or any more family? I’m sure you’ve… outlived… most of your ancestors, but perhaps there’s a distant cousin that was never turned? Or your… your parents, perhaps?” 

Klaus instantly realizes the true nature of her question, and once again has to fight off the urge to snap at her and make her go away. It’s an easier path to take than explaining just why his parents won’t be in attendance at their wedding or part of their futures at all, and why he wouldn’t want them to in the first place, but he finds himself wanting to try. It’s the least he could do for her.

“No, my– my parents are no longer– an option,” He says carefully, brows furrowing as he revisits centuries-old aches and stabs of pain laced with a childish hurt. “I wouldn’t want them here even if they were.” 

Her face twists with concern before she disappears from the side of the shelf, and Klaus’s eyes widen momentarily before he hears the click of her shoes growing closer. She rounds the corner of the bookshelf swiftly, coming to stand before him with a practiced look of understanding on her face meant to convey her state of heeding. 

“You know by now that I’m a bastard,” She nods. “Even though my father was already unhappy with how I came about, it worsened when he learned my father was the leader of the werewolf pack in our village. I wasn’t just a bastard, but a monster, then, too. I faced abuse from my father my entire life, and my mother always let it happen, or encouraged it, if only to save herself from facing his wrath for her own mistakes.” 

Silently, she reaches out and grabs the book from his hand, setting it flat on the shelf in favor of grabbing his hands in hers. 

“When my youngest brother Henrik was killed by the pack my true father was a part of, my mother was overcome with the grief of losing a child and that’s when she turned us. When she made the spell to make us into these undying creatures who survive off of blood. She and Mikael killed us all and we were forced to transition when we woke.” 

Squeezing his hands, Nyxia shakes her head. “You don’t have to go on, Klaus.” 

He shakes his head, waving off her apology. “It’s alright. I want you to know the truth,” Her already soft face opens more and she takes another minute step towards him, closing the distance between them a bit more. “With everything heightened after my transition, I was so overcome with my anger that I lost control and I– I killed her. I killed my mother.”

“Nik,” 

“I regretted it as soon as I did it. And I buried her body where no one would find it, and I told my family that she was killed by our father. Because in my head, she was. She let him abuse me, she let him turn even a fraction of that hatred onto Rebekah and Elijah, and the rest of them, and I– I truly hated her for it. What good of a mother was she if she could just watch that happen to her children?” 

He clenches his jaw and tilts his head slightly, biting down the bitterness that still swims in his veins all these years later. “Mikael knew what I did, though. I don’t know how, but he always knew. And I– I don’t know what’s happened to him, I don’t know if he’s dead or alive, like us or something else, but I– I do not want him here. I wouldn’t want him here, no matter the situation. I never want someone like Mikael to find this place, because a single touch from him would destroy it all.” 

Nyxia shakes her head immediately, eyes wide and full of something that transcends simple fondness. “He wouldn’t, Niklaus. I wouldn’t let him ruin it. This is my home– this is our home. I won’t let him ruin it for you.” 

Klaus wished he could believe her. And he knows she knows that. And he knows they both know it’s truly got nothing to do with her, and everything to do with the fact that his father has ruined his life at every turn since the day he was born. It’s just what he does. He could so easily take this beautiful thing Klaus has been given and tarnish it with a single touch. 

“I had to inherit these shadows, you know?” She says suddenly, taking him off guard. “I wasn’t born with them, not really. I was born with power, I was made of this power. But in order to have them at the capacity at which they exist now, I had to wait for my mother to die. She was my best friend. But I think that made it all the worse when I had to watch her wither away through each century, until one day, she became nothing more than the night sky we came from. Afterward, I was so overcome with grief that I didn’t even acknowledge the shadows. I wanted no part of it, not without her,” 

She huffs out a small, wry laugh and shakes her head. “But they are very stubborn. They persisted, and one day, they brought me into the shadows and showed me the light that exists within them. And after that day, I started doing things differently. It’s been a long time since then, but I still remember all of those feelings like it was yesterday. And I know that because you have been given the gift and the curse of eternity just as I have, that you understand it like no one else does. So you must believe me when I say this, husband, but it will not be like this forever. And I am making you a promise now that your– that Mikael will not ever make his mark in my kingdom. You and I will live in peace for the rest of our days, with our people and no one can take that from us. Do you hear me? Do you hear me, Niklaus?” 

He nods, clenching his teeth together as he swallows around the concrete lump in his throat. “Of course. Of course I do,” 

“Good,” She nods once. “You can trust me. I swear it on my life.” 

He nods again and she offers him a small smile, like she’s wary to shift the graveness that had settled over them into something else. He jostles their conjoined hands, and her eyebrows tick together, silently coaxing his words out. 

“How did you do it?” He asks quietly. “How did you find the light when you were surrounded by the darkness?” 

Her eyes suddenly burned with ferocity, an ancient thing that had roots buried deep inside of her. A small fraction of her power. “I carved it out of the shadows with my bare hands and I did not stop until my fingers bled. Until my nails were cracked and my body screamed for me to stop. And I would do it again if it meant I kept you and your family safe. Understand that, Klaus. If nothing else, understand that I’ll bleed for you.” 

Klaus isn’t sure what to do in the face of her devotion. He feels as if it should be the other way around– him worshiping her, instead of this blood-promise she’s made to him. He isn’t sure what to do or say, but he is sure of one thing; he loves her. And he would bleed for her just as well. 

────── 

The morning of their wedding, a low hum of activity overtakes the calm of the castle and does not falter, well into the early hours of afternoon. Klaus was summoned from his rooms just minutes after the sun was up and brought to the seamstresses that he’d seen increasingly over the months and put into the intricate suit made specifically for him. 

His trousers were plain, simple, and tucked carefully into shoes that almost felt like armor. His surcoat was donned with intricate, weaving lines of gold that gleamed in the sunlight, woven into the fabric like they were the very veins in his body. Like it was a showcase of the life that flowed through him, scorching like the sun for all eternity. When he was draped with a mantle of white fur and more golden details along the draped fabric, he looked in the lone mirror before him and felt, for the first time, that he was truly a king. And just after that thought, he couldn’t help but wonder what his queen looked like. 

When he is escorted to the throne room, he can hear the dozens of heartbeats waiting on the other side of the doors before him and he only has a moment to breathe before the doors are swung open and the guests are standing, turning to face him. 

His blue eyes immediately shoot to the front of the room, where the king awaits his presence at the end of the aisle, where his brother and sister stand on either side of the large arbor, looking at him with an odd pride gleaming in their eyes. 

Bracing himself, he lifts his chin slightly and walks forward, his hands clasped in front of him as he meets the eyes of strangers, all watching him like they’re waiting for him to show his true colors. When he nears the end of the aisle, he looks over to his left and sees Theresé standing there, with a row of familiar faces lined up beside her, and he can’t stop the small twitch of his lips when she meets his gaze head-on with a smile that radiates pure excitement. 

He tears his gaze away from the women and children of the loophole and meets the king’s eyes, exchanging a nod with the man as he takes his place at the center of the room. He turns his head towards the doors he’d come through moments ago, and finds himself holding his breath as he waits for them to open once more, and reveal his bride. 

He prepares himself for the sight of her, but when the doors swing open, guards standing on either side of her, he thinks himself a fool for ever thinking he’d be prepared for the sight of her dressed in a white gown that trails behind her in a sea of golden embroidery that gleams just as his does. Like the life that burns in him also burns in her, despite the way her shadows carve out the angles of her face, the bridge of her nose. 

He knew her dress would compliment him, of course, but he hadn’t anticipated just how much it would take his breath away, to see himself standing before a kingdom, waiting for her slow, graceful steps to come to a stop as she neared him. 

Her own fur-lined mantle was just as carefully draped over her, and it went down the length of her train, the fabric moving along with her as if it were just water rippling along rocks. Slow, elegant, natural. Like she was born to be this. 

For the first time, her arms are bare before him, and the skin below her jaw is as well. Her unexpected bareness exposes things he hadn’t known were hiding beneath her long sleeves and high collars. The shadows that run in her blood wrap around her arms, weaving like vines up across her chest and down into unknown territory, still hidden from his sight and touch. He swallows roughly at the sight of the image she creates before him, her head tilted back ever so slightly just to maintain his gaze as she steps up before him, her hands immediately reaching to lay in his proffered palms. 

He can’t find his voice in time to tell her that she looks beautiful. To make vows to her before they’ve even started. 

The king clears his throat quietly, raising his hand in a silent gesture that has the guests taking their seats once more. 

“People of Riverend, we gather here to witness the joining of two souls. To celebrate a love that withstands life, death, and everything in between. A love forged in shadows and cradled by the moon, that blossoms beneath the sun. It is my honor to stand before you all and mark the start of our future here in these cherished lands beneath their incoming rule.” 

The king shifts, turning slightly to look at Klaus directly. “Lord Mikaelson, repeat after me: I offer my soul to you in exchange for yours, and vow to love and cherish you long after we return to the stars,” 

Klaus swallows and wets his lips, meeting Nyxia’s gleaming eyes. “I offer my soul to you in exchange for yours,” His voice trembles slightly, and her fingers press into his wrist, squeezing reassuringly. “And vow to love and cherish you long after we return to the stars.” 

Nyxia mirrors his swallow, seemingly biting back her own emotion. “I offer my soul to you in exchange for yours,” Her pulse stutters beneath his fingertips, and his blood burns with it. “And vow to love and cherish you long after we return to the stars.” 

“As witnessed by your people, do you both promise to serve them to the best of your abilities? To bleed with them, or for them, shall it one day be necessary? To feed and clothe them, and wash the dirt off of their feet, should they ever ask you to?” 

They both nod once. “We do,” 

The King mirrors their nod and continues. “May this marriage be protected by the powers that be. May it never bend or break, or waver in even the strongest of storms. May you both know one another’s love like no other. May the darkness protect you as it has protected others since the dawn of time,” 

The king takes in a short breath and shifts, holding his hands up for his palms to face the sunlight gleaming in through the stained glass windows. “By the power entrusted unto me, I bless this marriage for the years to come. I now pronounce you husband and wife. Lord Mikaelson, you may kiss–” 

“Stop this nonsense!” 

Gasps echo throughout the throne room and Klaus’s blood freezes as his head snaps over, his gaze locking onto his father’s immediately. 

The man at the end of the aisle takes a step forward, a mean smirk on his face. “Is it not utter blasphemy to make a king out of a bastard?” 

Klaus breathes out a breath that shudders in his lungs painfully, and he looks past Nyxia to find Rebekah standing frozen in her place, tears bubbling in her eyes at the sight of Mikael. He doesn’t need to look at Elijah to know that the man is likely boiling with barely stifled rage. 

Mikael takes another step forward and Klaus flinches back instinctively, despite the distance that stretches between them. 

The man laughs at the sight, and Klaus finally looks at Nyxia, only to find her glaring at his father like her very gaze could burn him into ash. 

“You have no business being here, Mikael,” Elijah’s voice bites out the words from behind him and he hears his brother take a step down, quick to be a buffer between him and Klaus. “Leave now, and you will not face any consequences.” 

Mikael laughs again. “And from whom would these consequences be dealt? You? Or perhaps Rebekah?” The girl flinches, tears skittering down her flushed cheeks at his ridicule. “Certainly not Klaus. He’s not capable of it.” 

“It will be me,” Nyxia’s voice rings out, firm and cold in a way that Klaus hasn’t heard it before, not even in their worst moments. “You will not speak of my husband in that manner. I’ll have your head for treason if you’re not careful.” 

“You’d take my head for him?” Mikael’s brows raise like he’s actually surprised at the prospect. “I hate to break it to you, girl, but he is nothing. He comes from no high standing, he has no riches and nothing to give you in exchange for all that you give him. Whatever he has told you in those regards is a filthy lie. That’s all he is– a liar.” 

Hot tears burn at the back of Klaus’s eyes and he struggles to find his voice again. 

Nyxia drops his hands and Klaus fronts at the loss of her touch, only to reach for her as she turns and steps towards Mikael, unwavering beneath his hateful glare. “Don’t,” He gets out, pulling her back by her arm. “Do not go near him.” 

She wrenches her arm from his hold, looking at him apologetically before she hardens her gaze once more and faces his father. “You come to my kingdom and interrupt my wedding to spew nonsense. You have the looks of a crazed man, Mikael. I should have my sentries imprison you until I find it worth my time to sentence you.” 

He grins like her words are a challenge. “I’d like to see you try, Princess,” He spits her title out and before anyone can blink, he holds the tip of a dagger beneath her chin. 

Gasps of fear ring out through the room and Klaus stumbles forward, stopped only by Elijah holding him just out of their father’s reach. “Do not touch her!” He growls out the words, black veins crawling beneath his eyes, earning a mocking chuckle from the man. 

“Don’t tell me you actually love her, Niklaus,” 

Klaus says nothing, which is answer enough, and it earns another round of derisive laughter from the man. 

“What a ridiculous thing, love,” He tsks his tongue, shaking his head as if scolding his bastard son. “Nothing but a weakness to someone like you who is already softened by his childish emotions. It’s nice to know that you’re still such a disappointment, Niklaus.” 

Klaus lunges for the man but is once again stopped by his brother. 

“Klaus,” It’s Nyxia who says his name, which calms the racing of his heart in his ears, and he looks at her desperately. “Do you trust me?” 

His brows furrow deeply, lines twisting onto his pale skin. “What?” 

She gives him another look that conveys an apology he doesn’t need, and he feels his stomach swoop with fear. 

“Nyx,” He breathes out, eyes wide as he starts to shake his head. 

She rolls her eyes away from him like it pains her to do so, and looks to his father, uncaring of the tip of the dagger digging into her chin. “I told you I would bleed for you, Klaus. And I shall.” 

She takes one long step forward and latches her hand around the handle of the dagger and digs her nails into Mikael’s skin, earning a grunt of annoyance from the man. In the blink of an eye, a cloud of black consumes them, and the last thing Nyxia hears is Klaus’s yell for her to stop. 

Her hold on Mikael falters and they fall away from each other, thrown into shadows and thrown apart in the same breath. 

It’s been centuries since she’s been here. Encased in nothingness, something that cannot even be considered night because it is so dark it does nothing but swallow the life that enters it. 

She hears Mikael’s breathing through the darkness and hears him struggle to find footing as she does the same. 

“You,” She speaks out, voice echoing into the void. Swarming around them like a crow’s call. “You have tarnished his soul. You are the darkness that exists inside of him, and I am going to rip every inch of life out of you even if it kills me.” 

“Such meaningful threats,” The man speaks back, voice tinged in that smugness that sets her nerves alight with rage. “To think that you have fallen in love with a man like Niklaus. You could have such potential if you weren’t clinging to frivolous emotions.” 

“You underestimate me, Mikael. You mock me, even now, when you are surrounded by something that does not exist without me and my power. It is your arrogance that will kill you, and I will offer your heart on a platter to my husband as a wedding gift.” 

She lunges for the sound of him in the void, grunting as they blindly swing for each other, slamming fists and swinging daggers over and over with no sign of stopping. 

She doesn’t know how long she was in this place the last time. Doesn’t know how long they’ve been here now. It could be mere seconds, it could be years. Nothing exists in this place, especially not time. 

Blood from a cut that is already healed trails down her cheek, she can feel the wetness as she brushes her fingers along her skin. She can hear Mikael’s ragged breaths, her endless onslaught of pain catching up to him. 

“He’s an abomination,” Mikael spits out. “Not just in name, but as a creature. It is not enough that he has no soul as this undead thing, but he has that mutt inside of him, waiting to be unleashed. He doesn’t deserve to live.” 

“You don’t get to decide that,” She bites back, lips curling in a snarl. “But I do. And he will live with me until the Earth takes its last breath. And you will never take anything from him again, so long as I am at his side. You will never hurt your children again. I am taking back the darkness that is inside of you. I am taking the very air from your lungs,”

She tackles him blindly, knees pinning him down as she presses her hands roughly down onto his chest, her fingertips itching with heat as she does exactly that. “You will know pain like you’ve never known before where you are going. And with everything in me, I swear that I will not let there be a day that goes by that you do not suffer.” 

The shadows that warm her skin crawl as she takes his life little by little, and she can feel his breaths begin to shallow with every word she speaks. 

“Let your last thought on this Earth be the knowledge that I love your son, Mikael. And not even you can take that from him.” 

A scream tears from her throat as she lifts her hands off of his chest and slams them back down, his body disappearing beneath her as if it had never existed. A burst of energy explodes from her and she nearly falls onto her face, catching herself on her hands and knees as it blows around her like a gust of wind. 

She grits her teeth, trying to catch her breath as the void grows smaller around her, trying to swallow her whole as it had Mikael. But she had let it have Mikael. She would not let it have her. Not when she had something to go back to. Someone. 

“No,” She bites out, jaw clenched tight enough that her bones creak. “You will let me go back.” 

She digs her nails into the nothingness beneath her hands, skin scraping off at the fight it puts back. She lifts her hands from the void and brings them back down, clawing at it like a rabid animal. 

“Let me out,” She says. Demands. “Let me out!” 

Her voice echoes on a yell and she feels a scream build deep in her chest as she clenches her hands into fists and brings them down onto the ground, and she can feel it begin to crack beneath her force. 

The ache in her hands grows with each hit but she doesn’t stop, doesn’t let up, not even as the first cracks of light bleed through. 

With just that sliver of light, she can see the broken skin of her hands and it’s such a guttural reminder of her past that she raises her hands once more and brings them down onto the shattering void with a strength she did not know she possessed. 

All at once she is thrown out of the darkness and she flinches at the burst of brightness that encases her so suddenly. The sound of startled gasps and fearful noises makes her stumble and she tries and subsequently fails to get to her feet, her bloodied hands smearing along the pristine white aisle she had walked down. 

Arms encase her and she turns her head to meet Klaus’s gaze as he pulls her into his chest, eyes wide in fear at the sight of her blood, no doubt mixed with some of Mikael’s that likely splattered onto her at some point in their tussle. 

“Where did you go? What did you do?” He breathes out, eyes brimming with tears. “Where is Mikael?” 

She lets out a shuddering noise as she clings to him, staining his surcoat with blood. “I took it back,” She grits her teeth, fire burning in her eyes for a split second before her exhaustion wipes it out. “I took my darkness back from him, and I turned him into nothing.” 

Klaus makes a noise of grief that she knows is not for his father, but for the thought of her doing something he knows weakens her. 

“I’m alright,” She assures him, finally looking past him at her kingdom that watches on warily. “I’m alright, I promise.” 

Klaus holds onto her tighter like he’s scared she’ll disappear again, and she lets him as exhaustion weighs her down. 

She smiles suddenly, breathless and hopeful. “We aren’t finished here,” Her eyes shift to the king, who hurries towards them, kneeling slightly. “We were interrupted.” 

Klaus mirrors her smile, much more reserved even as his fear dissolves. “We were, weren’t we?”

“Finish it,” She looks up at the king from her place in Klaus’s lap in the aisle. “Please, finish it.” 

The king barely takes a moment before he lets his voice carry like he had before, unwavering as if nothing had happened at all. “Without further ado, Lord Mikaelson, you may kiss your bride.” 

Klaus barely lets him finish speaking before he kisses her, stealing the breath from her lungs as she gasps into it. Starlight burns in her and she raises her hand to gently cup his cheek, pulling him into her for one hard press of their lips before she pulls away, letting her hand fall from his cheek to rest against his heart. 

She turns her face into his neck and whispers into his skin, her breath making goosebumps grow in its wake. “My name,” She says. “I want you to have it.” 

He echoes it back to her softly, like he’s cradling it in his hands, and she looks up at him with stars in her eyes. 

The king speaks from above them, an excitement laced in his voice as he lifts his hands above his hand. “It is my honor to introduce to you for the first time, the Prince and Princess of Riverend!” 

Cheers burst around them, and Klaus dips his head down to hide his smile in her hair, and she clings to him just a bit tighter, her eyes fluttering. 

“Let us celebrate!” The king exclaims, another round of cheers echoing after his words. 

She pulls back slightly to look at Klaus, smiling. “I love you, Klaus,” 

He lets out a breath like she’s knocked it out of him. “I love you,” He hesitates before saying her name like he’s worried she’ll take it back from him. “I'll love you until the end of time. Never doubt that." 

"I won't." 

[george-weasleys-girl]

Second Chance Soulmate Pt.1

Season of Love Event

George Weasley x fem!reader

Warnings: brief mention of sex

Summary: After his failed marriage, George meets someone new.

*I'm cheating a little with this one, blending this week's trope (meeting soulmate after a failed marriage) and next week's (single dad!George)

~•~

When George put that ring on his finger, he thought it'd be forever.

Turns out, he was wrong.

He learned the hard way that not every love lasts forever.

~•~

"Hey, Daddy," said the little girl with the fiery red hair. "Are you going on a date with Miss Y/L/N while I'm at Mummy's this weekend?"

George raised an eyebrow at his precocious daughter. She doesn't miss a thing, that one. "Did Uncle Fred tell you that?"

"Nope! Figured it out all by myself," she said, jutting her chin out proudly.

"Did you, now?" George grinned and pulled her onto his lap. "And how did you manage that?"

"I saw you talking to her a few days ago, and you looked really happy. And then," she pulled a crumpled piece of parchment out of her pocket. "You left your list of restaurants on the table last night."

"Hey! I've been looking for that - " he started, but his daughter continued on as if he'd said nothing. "These are all nice," she said, matter-of-factly. "But I think you should take her to our favorite pizza place."

"Romano's?" George asked, thinking of the little family run place that they went to once a week. "It's not very fancy."

"So? You should take her anyway. If she likes our favorite restaurant, then she's a keeper."

"You think so, Mira?" He appraised his young daughter.

"I know so," she said, then hopped off his lap and skipped off to her bedroom.

He shook his head as he watched her scamper off, then leaned back with a sigh. It'd been years since he'd gone on a date, and it showed. He'd asked Fred for advice. And Ron. And Bill. And Ginny. And now he was seriously considering his seven year old's well-meant, but terribly naive suggestion.

"If all it took was liking the same pizza place," he mummered to himself.

~•~

George met Carlee at Hogwarts. He knew on their very first date that she was the one.

And she was. Until, one day... she wasn't.

The cracks began to form a couple of years into their marriage. Little quirks that once endeared them to each other now irritated them. They argued a little more. And had sex a little less. George wrote it off as both of them having busy, successful careers. Nothing more.

Then their daughter, Mira, was born. And for a while, their relationship thrived. Everything was like it once was.

For a while anyway. Then, it all fell apart.

Looking back, George realized Mira was the glue that held their marriage together for so long. If she hadn't been born, the divorce would've probably happened years earlier.

"I don't know how everything went so wrong," he'd told Fred over a bottle of firewhiskey one night. "Me and Carlee used to be inseparable. Now, we can barely be in the same room together without one of us starting an argument," he took a swig of whiskey. "Hell, I can't even remember the last time we had sex."

Fred shrugged. "Don't know what to tell you, mate," he said with a sigh. "Sometimes, people just fall out of love with each other."

George fiddled with his wedding band. "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm beginning to think it might be best to go our separate ways." He grew quiet for a moment, his gaze drifting out the window. "I just hate the thought of Mira coming from a broken home."

"I'd say it's already broken," Fred pointed out. "And besides, it's better than her living with parents who are at each other's throats all the time."

George sighed. "Yeah... I suppose you're right," he agreed, pouring himself another round.

~•~

Less than six months later, shortly after Mira's fifth birthday, he and Carlee signed the divorce papers.

And it was all over.

The marriage.

The dream.

Everything.

The only good thing to come out of that relationship, George surmised, was currently in her bedroom singing to herself and playing with her legion of stuffies.

~•~

Two Years After the Divorce

"Once Upon A Story," George read the name of the new bookshop that had opened up two doors down from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Its arrival had caused quite the stir. For nearly six centuries, Flourish and Blotts was the only bookstore on Diagon Alley, managing to quickly snuff out any and all competition.

But this bookshop was different. It wasn't trying to compete with the old stalwart. Quite the opposite, actually. It specialized in the one thing that Flourish and Blotts severely lacked.

Children's books.

"C'mon, Daddy!" Mira tugged at his arm. "Let’s go in!"

George chuckled and opened the door, stepping into pure chaos. "Sure you don't want to come back later?" He teased, taking in the roiling hordes of kids.

Mira ignored him and looked around, then grabbed his hand, pulling him through the crowd. "Look, Daddy! It's Uncle Charlie's dragon book!" She held up the book written by George's older brother. Charlie had originally written it to give as Christmas gifts for his nieces and nephews. But Percy was so impressed with it that he passed a copy on to a publisher friend of his. One thing led to another, and it soon became the definitive dragon guide for children in the magical world.

"Can we get one?" She asked.

"You already have the one Uncle Charlie gave you," George grinned. "It's one of the originals, you know."

"I know that," his daughter huffed. "But I can take this one to mummy's. I won't care if it gets lost."

"Alright, then," George grinned, thumbing through the small tome.

"I see someone likes dragons," a melodious voice piped up behind George. He turned around to find himself standing before the sun in human form.

"I -um... " He stammered, but Mira stepped in front of him. "My uncle wrote it."

"Your uncle?" The sunbeam replied, eyebrows raised.

"My brother," George attempted to clarify. "Charlie. He wrote it."

"Really? Well, how exciting!" The sunbeam extended her hand. "I'm Y/N Y/L/N."

"You're the owner!" Mira hopped up and down. "I saw your name on the sign outside!"

"That would be me," Y/N smiled down at the little girl. "And I presume you are... "

"A Weasley," George said proudly. "This is Mira. And I'm George."

"Pleased to meet you both," the bookseller said, then turned her attention to George. "You own the joke shop, right? With your twin brother?"

"Yep. Fred and I- " the younger twin began but was interrupted by his daughter's giggling.

"Are you two going to hold hands all day?" She asked and pointed at their still clasped hands.

"Oh!" Y/N and George said in unison and quickly pulled their hands apart, both looking down to hide the heat rising in their cheeks.

"Do you have any more books about dragons?" Mira plowed on, completely oblivious.

Y/N, relieved for the distraction, turned her full attention back to George's daughter. "A few," she said and leaned down, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "But none as good as your uncle's."

~•~

~•~

Part Two

@milivanili99 @fancy-pantaloons @turvi @zvummyummy @xmjthewitchx @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @georgie-weasley @samberriejams @nighttimemoonlover @jsjcue @wzrd-wheezes @mrsgweasley @hufflepuffie @morally-grey-obsessed @fredweasleyyyyy @anvaaryn @samshifts @asuperconfusedgirl @hmisa11 @superduckmilkshake @mysticsheepsoul @gemofthenight @1Lellykins @junerprsh @wolfkill16 @kaysau2510 @qmylovexoxo @planetkt @costheticbabe

@smallsweetvanillabean @hanne-montana @greenapplegrass @el-de-phi @lizzytrees @spididerman @yoursarahg @marvelgirlstories @theimpossible-girl-whowaited @ceehance @Havenater1920 @jelloangela @charmedfandomgal @loca4moony @whotfskai @netflix-addict

@moonatician @lunacurlclaw @sierraluvzz @min-aaa @now-that-we-dontalk @lillisummers @lovesanimals0000

[mayxo-hxh]

okay 2 questions....

do you think its more likely that illumi kills hisoka or hisoka kills illumi and how do you think it will go down?

what would you WANT to happen with one of their actual deaths?

You're not really going to like my answer here because it completely negates both questions.

I don't think either of them will die or kill each other.

I think it's natural to think so considering the current setting of the arc and what was revealed and their characters, but how I see it, their relationship has proven to be very nonsituational. As in, they aren't really hanging out and helping each other just because they happen to need each other here and there. They hang out and help each other because they unironically see each other as friends.

Illumi had no reason to help Hisoka out in the hunter exam, yet he did anyways. And they stayed together most of the time. Illumi had no reason to help Hisoka out during the yorknew dilemma, yet he did anyways. It's not even in his area of work to just disguise as people for a few hours before leaving. He's an assassin. Hisoka didn't have to help Illumi out during the election arc, Illumi was more than capable of finishing this entire mission alone. And yet he did anyways.

Goes without saying that Hisoka constantly calls Illumi his friend behind his back and also did so in front of him, and Illumi made no move to correct him.

So I can't really imagine, with all this said and done, that they'd actually have a reason to hunt and kill each other on the black whale. I understand the doubts with the stuff Illumi said in their marriage chapter but im still much more inclined to believe theyre working together against the troupe, as that would make much more sense. They've done nothing but work together against everyone in the entire anime and both Illumi and Kalluto worked against the troupe with Hisoka in yorknew after all.

I also feel like this is a general Hisoka misconception but-- Hisoka doesn't want to die. I feel like people think he hired Illumi to "hunt him down" because he wants Illumi to actually kill him and I have to disagree. Yes, it does speak volumes about what Hisoka thinks of Illumi, as in he truly is capable of killing him because theyre equals. But does Hisoka actually want Illumi to kill him right now? Negative.

Some people even say Hisoka has always wanted to go out in a huge fight or whatever-- I genuinely have no idea where tf they get that from lol. Hisoka brought himself back to life for a reason. He wants to live. He never planned on dying against Chrollo. He never ever plans on dying against people he fights. If Illumi and Hisoka were to ever truly fight, Hisoka would never let Illumi kill him without giving it his all. He WILL fight for his life.

And the same goes for Illumi. Illumi doesn't want to die and has no reason to want to actually die by Hisoka's hand. He has duties and responsibilities as a Zoldyck eldest and he's not going to throw it away in the name of... twisted love? lol

And I think lots of people find all of this hard to believe because theyre very used to villains getting bad endings or getting "what they deserve" in anime which is completely fair but let me, no, ALLOW ME to point you to one of my favorite villain groups in hxh that had a good ending despite being complete pieces of shit that would've deserved worse than death.

Genthru and the bomber team.

Genuine shitty people that scammed lied massacred people. They only cared about each other a lot but saw everyone else around them as lower than useless scum. They would've deserved to be left for dead. And yet, what happened? They were healed and they lived. They went on with their lives. Togashi could've very much made Gon just kill genthru to show how powerful he is and his sense of justice blablabla but that just isn't what the anime is about. Everyone in hxh is morally grey. At the end of the day Gon, Killua, and Bisky just wanted the cards from genthru and his friends and moved on.

A lot of people fail to realize this when it also comes to Hisoka and Illumi. They can just get a good ending like that. Do they deserve it? No. Does it matter whether they deserve it or not? Nope! This is hunter x hunter. And as far as I see it, its an anime about the power of platonic and romantic love. And Hisoillu are a specific type of love that is going to get a happy ending despite not even remotely deserving it. We got the meruem and komugi sad love ending. And we're getting the gay version of it except theyre unredeemable and horrible and they still get to be happy. Those are my thoughts.

Also in general I just genuinely cannot see Togashi continuing the anime without his favorite babygirl Hisoka being alive. Like even when he killed him off he revived him like 2 pages later in the same chapter he can't stand the idea of even letting his death marinate for a single chapter lmfaoooooooooo

[karlachismylife]

I Need My Love To Be Here

Once again I couldn't help but do the second-most voted choice too. Why am I making my own life so much harder?

CW: fem!reader, reader and Price are married and have a daughter, long-distance relationship, my music taste projected once again, the tiniest bit of suggestive teasing, toothrotting fluff.

(Title from The Beatles' "Here, There and Everywhere")

Dealing with an energized six-year old refusing to go to bed was a battle alright, especially when your trusted partner with his commanding presence and a true Captain's voice wasn't there to help. You couldn't blame your little one for behaving herself better when John was around: isn't a natural law that the one parent that's often away and always comes back with gifts is the favourite one? It's not daddy who's forcing you to eat healthy food every day and go to sleep when you want another batch of cartoons.

It's the strict, stern-looking mum with her hands on her hips as she scolds you gently for throwing a fit over putting your toys back like promised.

Still, you'd want a little more appreciation and cooperation from Princess Price, sulking in her frog pjs - everything was frog since recently, you even got daddy a froggy hat for when he comes back from deployment.

He was away for a long time. Not somewhere dangerous, he told you as he called and texted regilarly, but he was constantly held back by one or the other thing that just couldn't be resolved without Captain's expertise.

That's what made his new phone call just the sweeter, since the first words you heard after closing priness's door hastly and moving to the living room, were:

"Guess who's coming home tomorrow, darling."

A relieved, longing sigh escaped you as you leaned onto the couch and stared at the ceiling with a dreamy smile.

"Good. Someone here needs a reminder how to listen to what she's being told."

"Is princess being a bad girl?" John's hearty chuckle warmed you even through the phone. You bit your lip, trying to save your own face from splitting in two with the horribly wide smile - same was gracing Price's face for sure, you could hear it, his plump cheeks all big and round, almost hiding his happily narrowed eyes.

"Not necessarily bad. But we have attitide and no respect for mummy's authority. Maybe I should start calling myself Captain too, just for her to listen to me."

"I'm afraid, impersonating an officer is illegal, love," he huffed and chuckled again, gruff, big, bear-hugging sound. A pause. "Are you being a bad girl?"

You pressed your phone closer you your ear as a warm tingling flooded your cheeks and held your breath.

"I'd like to report I'm being perfectly good, sir," if only you could see the way his kind eyes twinkled in the dim lighting of wherever he was, sitting on a chair with knees wide apart, one hand holding the famous cigar.

"That's good to hear. I have a little something for you. A reward for being so good for me and waiting while I'm in this shithole."

"The only reward I need is you back home, John," you weren't even being coy, just honest. It was so long since you last felt his rough palms slide over your sides and lock together as he pulled you into a tight hug from behind, pressing ticklish kisses into your nape.

"I know, sweetpea. Consider this an apology gift then, for taking so long," he didn't let you argue a single word, clearly set on having you accept whatever he prepared, as if him being alive, well and home wasn't enough. "Got us tickets to that McCartney concert, love. For all three of us. Gotta start teaching our princess what good music is."

You gasped, jumping in your seat - your heart did a little flip, cheeks burning now, butterflies that never went away even after years of marriage flocking to your lungs.

"But it's so close, how did you even- oh, I just wanna kiss all hells out of you, John!" His laughter dripped through the phone like spicy honey, sweetening already increbibly sweet deal.

"Oh, I can tell, love. Hope you feel the same way tomorrow."

"Why is tomorrow so far away?" You allowed yourself to be just as sulky and pouty as your little one snoring softly in the other room. Of course you could wait another day, you've waited for months already. But now every minute felt like a whole month itself.

"That's so you can get enough sleep before I make you forget about it for several nights."

[tommyflanaganfan-blog]

I dont know if this would be considered a one shot or a drabble or if its gonna turn into an actual story but here y'all go. Enjoy.

Cheated

"Tell me who it was."

"No. I already told you what I did and why. It doesn't matter who I was with."

"The fuck it doesn't. I want to know who the asshole is that for some reason decided it would be a good idea to put their hands on my wife. Who are you sleeping with Hayleigh?"

"I'm not your wife. And I'm not going to tell you who it was you'll kill him."

In every way that matters, you are my wife. Wether we have a stupid piece of paper or not."

That piece of paper was currently tucked inside of his kutte. He had went and got a marriage license, wanting to surprise her now that his divorce was final. This was not what Chibs had expected to come home to. Hayleigh had been his everything, his reason for living for the past 4 years. And she had cheated on him while he was in Ireland helping Jax find Able. Granted, he had slept with Fiona but it was the only way she would agree to a divorce. Told him it was a final goodbye. He knew Hayleigh wanted to get married. In a twisted way, he had done it for her. For their future together. And he knew she would never find out, she'd never believe a damn word that came out of Fiona's mouth and nobody else knew about it.

"Are you going to leave me for him now? Do you love him? I don't know what he told you, but I promise you no other man alive will ever love you like I do..."

Chibs sounded heartbroken. He wasn't acting as furious as she had anticipated and it killed her. She felt as though she had just ruined his life.

"Filip...."

I want answers Hayleigh. Now. Did you fall in love with someone else? And who is it?"

No way in hell was she going to tell him it was Kozik she had slept with. She wasn't completely stupid. She knew Chibs would kill him, brother or not. He didnt give a damn about anything else when it came to her. Yes, she loved him. But she loved her scotsman more.

"It was a random guy."

Chibs lit a joint while staring at her menacingly. He dropped his gold colored lighter on the table in front of him and leaned foreward, his tone of voice turning deadly.

"You're a lot of things love, but a whore is not one of them, which means I've met the guy. I know when you're lying. You won't be able to protect him for very long darlin'." As far as Chibs was concerned, Hayleigh was his. She was all the good he had in his life. And she had no idea just how far or to what lengths he would go to protect his family. Chibs Telford was a dangerous man who hid it well and she had so rarely saw that side of him that she had underestimated him. One way or another he was determined to find out it was. And when he did, all hell would break loose. He wasn't going to lose Hayleigh to someone else, not without a fight.

[thesoftboiledegg]

"The Jerrick Trap" was a clever twist on the body-swapping concept. I had trouble following it at first because they both sounded like Rick, to the point that I wondered if Jerry's half went in hiding. A lightbulb went off in my head when they clarified that they're both Rick and Jerry.

I've seen two people merged into one being ("Tuvix" from Star Trek: Voyager) but two consciousnesses sharing half of each person is something I've never watched before. And Rick and Jerry's personalities merged surprisingly well. Rick and Beth struggle to get along because they're so similar, but Jerry complements Rick perfectly--if only Rick would get his head out of his ass and accept it!

I wasn't a fan of the cold open, thinking "...OK, seriously? Rick 'hates' Jerry so much that he kills himself when he's stuck in his mind?" Others pointed out that maybe Rick just couldn't handle being in a brain without his coping mechanisms, which is a better idea. Still, it's hard to shake off your initial interpretation. I hoped that the episode would elaborate on that, but it never did.

And boy, Jerricky almost ruined the episode for me. Rick and Morty is full of silly, stupid humor--"The Old Man and the Seat" is an episode about Rick sitting on a toilet, for one--but that human-centipede creature was too bizarre. I won't say it was objectively bad, but I might skip that part during rewatches.

Back to what I enjoyed. I loved seeing the reappearance of Rick's favorite thing: crystals. The writers gave Rick's crow phase a shoutout, which is MY favorite thing. I'm surprised the comics never explored that period. I don't read the comics, but I would consider buying that issue.

The backgrounds were stunning, too. Rick and Morty's artists create dazzling environments with their color theory expertise. Rick and Jerry's Miami Vice adventures blew me away in every scene, making me want to live in that tropical city.

As for Memory Rick, he was a surprise. I was wondering today if he ever escaped Rick's mind, so I guess that was a premonition. He'll probably have an important role later on.

Anyway, Jerry admitting that Rick is the closest thing he has to a friend surprised me, but it's true when I think about it. Who else does he talk to? Space Beth can't stand him, his marriage is strained and his kids aren't his friends. His parents rarely show up.

Rick's the only person in his life who isn't obligated to hang out with him because they're related. He's also the only fellow adult male. As much as their lives diverge, Rick can relate to him in a way that no one else can.

Morty says at the end "I think it's clear that you both love each other more than you're willing to admit." Of course, Rick denies it, but his and Jerry's bickering at the table is their weird way of saying "I love you." If they didn't, they'd just leave the table instead of frantically overcompensating.

And their minds wouldn't have fused together so well, either. Otherwise, both halves of Rick would've just killed himself again, or grabbed the gun while Jerry's halves tried to fight him off.

"The Jerrick Trap": a visual masterpiece, a feast for the Jerrick shippers and insight into what's really going on in Rick and Jerry's minds when they argue.

[atmajolish]

obey me as fanfiction tropes lucifer - meet the family

you don't know why you have never met his family, just that every time the topic comes up he does his best to avoid it. at this point you think he might be the head of a mafia and simply doesn't want to involve you in the 'family business'. it's a surprise when he suddenly invites you to join a dinner with his family and when you go you realise that you got it all wrong. it's not that his family is all serious and involved in the mafia, it's that they are so chaotic it's hard to keep up. even for lucifer.

mammon - bodyguard au

being famous is only fun when your life and privacy isn't threatened by a stalker, hence why your manager decided to get you a bodyguard. you aren't quite sure how mammon is supposed to protect you, considering he seems to be easily distracted and like he hates spending time with you as he seems to think you are just like any other famous person, ready to abandon your morals the moment it suits you. but when he saves your life you're forced to reevaluate your opinion of him. maybe you can make him rethink his opinion on you as well.

leviathan - friends to lovers

you and levi have known each other since forever. you went to the same elementary school and when you saw that levi seemed to like the same cartoon you did, you just had to befriend him! several years down the line you are now in university while levi is making his main income via streaming. it feels hard to connect the same way you used to with how different your lives are these days, but you refuse to give this friendship up. the fact that you might see levi as more than a friend has nothing to do with that.

satan - coffee shop (cat café)

working as a barista in a cat café sounded like a fun way to work in theory. in practice you don't make a lot of coffee, but spend your time cleaning up after the cats. the fact that this guy keeps coming in without ordering anything and just watches the cats for at least an hour before leaving. you're sure it's against the rules, but you don't want to be the one to confront him. you don't get paid for that after all. however, he must have noticed you staring at him because he is coming over and how did you get to the point where he is telling you cat facts?

asmodeus - fake dating

you're unsure how you ended up owing a favour to mammon out of all people, but he's cashing it in right now. apparently his brother has troubles getting rid of an admirer and you're the only possible person who would agree to fake date him and keep shut about it. which is why you and asmo are now sitting in his living room deciding to come up with a way on how you fell in love. it would be so easy if your traitorous heart would just stop fluttering every time he reaches out to hold your hand in public.

beelzebub - soulmate au

sharing the taste with your soulmate sounds good in theory. of course you had to get unlucky with it as your soulmate seems to eat almost constantly and have no limits as to what exactly they eat. you've tasted multiple inedible things and at this point you're concerned for your soulmates health because there are probably repercussions for eating paper. when you see your lab partner trying to eat some of the chemicals you're working with it doesn't take you long to put two and two together. you can't even be mad for all the things you were forced to taste because beel is just cute enough to get away with it.

belphegor - roommates

you are used to your roommate falling asleep in the weirdest spots and it's a miracle he doesn't wake up with severe neck and back pain every day. however when he starts sleeping in your room because 'he likes the company' you need to start rethinking some of your feelings. when you ask him why he doesn't just sleep in his own bed, you only get a sigh and belphie tells you that it's no use sleeping there, because you aren't there. maybe belphie had already figured his feelings out long before you.

diavolo - arranged marriage

being in an arranged marriage was made out to be a lot worse than it actually was. at least in your case. you've known diavolo since you were kids and the both of you had always known it would come to this at one point. still, the thought of possibly ruling a kingdom at his side was a bit daunting. it's when he reassures you that he will handle it and plans out several shenanigans just to distract you from the pressure, that you think maybe you can fall in love with him.

barbatos - time loop

you've been forced to repeat the same day over and over again every time you die and no matter how hard you try, you just can't seem to figure out who your killer is. you're sure it's always the same person and they should be the only who is also aware of the time loop, but detective work has never been your strength. it's when a friend of a friend mentions something you said several time loops ago that cold horror washes over you. you never expected barbatos, the guy you sorta had a crush on to be your murderer.

simeon - elementary school teacher

teachers aren't supposed to have favorite students, but it's hard to not like luke just a bit more than the rest. if only because he's the one that listens to you most of the time. what you don't expect is that his dad is also exactly your type, so you really can't help but stare for a bit when simeon first walks in for the parent-teacher conference. what you also don't expect is simeon giving you his number since luke will move to a different school soon. when you ask what the number is for, he hides a smile before telling you it's his way of asking you out.

solomon - reincarnation

you don't know how often you have died and been reborn again. it's been a lot of times. the thing is, you have the easy part. the dying and the reincarnating. your lover solomon has the hard part as he is unable to die and has to live without you until your soul has come back to earth. your memories fade a little more each time you come back and you don't know how long you will be able to keep remembering him, nor how long he will keep on waiting for you.

mephistoteles - enemies to lovers

there are many things you could say about mephistoteles, however it would always be that you kinda hate him. he's stuck up, rich, and can't look past his own nose. you know he thinks about you just as badly so every single time you two see each other you only exchange glares and maybe a few insults if either of you is in a particular bad mood. it's when you're forced to work together for a project that you are forced to see him in a new light, no matter how much you hate that there is more to him than the image you have in your head.

raphael - secret agents

working with raphael has always been easy. he listens well and he can easily kill and get out without much issue. it's only problematic that he refuses to accept any help whatsoever from you, insisting it's easier if he just does it alone. normally you should be happy about that, it means less work for you, but something about it just irks you. it's when a mission goes south that the two of you finally have a heart to heart and realise that working together might be easier than it seems.

thirteen - hitman/target

there's been a hitman trailing after you for a while now. there have been too many freak accidents near you for them to be just accidents. it's when you enter your apartment and see said hitman casually lounging on your couch, eating your snacks, watching your tv. you definitely didn't think she'd be this pretty. her complaining about how you keep avoiding her traps and take out all of the fun of job, reminds you that she is sent to kill you though. it sure is a surprise when she decides to take her time and instead pose as your roommate for the time being and with every day it gets just a bit harder to distinguish whether she still wants to kill you or there is actually more to your relationship.

[heavyhitterheaux]

Three Little Loves: The Birth of the Triple Threat Harlows

First Babies of Private Garden Fic

AN: Mature topics ahead. There are mentions of blood, chest compressions, death and other medical terms that I did my best to put in layman's terms so that people would be able to understand. If anything is unclear, all you have to do is ask and I will explain it! I hope you all enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it and we're finally here!

Synopsis: You give birth to your three babies, Ivy, Axel, and Autumn, but not without complications that led Jack to think he would have to be without his wife for the rest of his life.

Pairing: Husband!Jack Harlow x Wife!Reader

First Babies of Private Garden Masterlist

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

The night was clear as a few stars peppered the sky as you were sitting outside in the backyard in a comfortable silence taking it all in. In just a few hours, you and Jack would be able to officially add the title of parents to your lives and the two of you would now be responsible for three little versions of the both of you.

It was a long time coming with the pregnancy and the two of you at first swept things under the rug and put them to the side regarding the both of you and the relationship between the two of you that was considered a marriage if anyone could call it that.

Being petty, lying to each other, going behind each other’s backs, and not being considerate of the other’s feelings was just a tip of the iceberg of what had only occurred in the past year when Jack’s career truly skyrocketed from his success of First Class. You kept it to yourself how it bothered you how he was acting differently and blamed it on him being under pressure to maintain this level of success. However you did warn him right before the two of you moved to Atlanta for him never to lose sight of his humble beginnings and to never forget how he got to where he is.

During the last half of your pregnancy, the two of you did start to go to marriage counseling as well as seeing a therapist together and apart not wanting to bring the triplets into a hot mess express. The two of you still had a long way to go and truth be told, you knew that you never wanted to do this with anyone else despite what the two of you had gone through. You had a lingering thought in your head during the last therapy session wondering if in fact the two of you got married entirely too early even if you knew that it was eventually going to happen anyway. Yes, you loved him and you knew that he was your soulmate, however, it happened when the two of you had turned nineteen not even being able to explore the world around you yet and you had a feeling that had a big part to play in it.

After you had left Jack in your shared condo in California and before you found out you were pregnant, you were thinking long and hard about separating from him for a while. 

Legally. 

You knew in your heart of hearts that you didn’t want to divorce him and would never bring yourself to do it, but you felt that as of lately, you were always getting the short end of the stick when it came to him, when before you would always be his priority. You could admit to yourself that you weren’t innocent either in all of this and Jack was not the only one to be blamed for what went down between the two of you. A lot had to be worked on from both ends and you wanted for your kids to be able to witness a happy and successful marriage.

Right now you couldn’t have either of those labels on it.

Jack stepped up into high gear when you told him that you were in fact pregnant and would do anything that a loving husband would. However, you didn’t feel as though he was hiding something from you, that wasn’t quite the right word, but you knew deep down he was scared shitless and had his concerns about this entire situation. However, he didn’t express his feelings about it to you at all since you originally told him. He gave you pieces here and there, but that was it. 

Another thought was Jack always wanting and needing to be the strong one and not necessarily showing his vulnerable side to you and you didn’t know when that shift happened because the two of you would always be laying in your backyard at night talking about anything and everything and now it seems as if everything is on the surface. 

You honestly didn’t know how your husband was feeling deep down and that bothered you to no end. He would simply brush you off when you mentioned it and you were running out of ideas in order to get him to open up more. 

It was one in the morning and your alarm as well as Jack's was set for five in order to get up and get ready to head to the hospital. You were growing anxious as the clock ticked by and just wanted to be able to hold them.

Yesterday, you cornered Urban in his room and had a long talk with him that led to the both of you being upset. Urban more so than you because of what you had told him.

You softened him up by buying him Ramen before the initial blow.

“Urby? You have to promise me something, okay? Just in case things don’t go well tomorrow.”

“What? What the hell is that even supposed to mean?!”

“Urby, please. Just listen to me because this is already hard enough.” You muttered while sitting next to him on his bed.

“Okay, I’m listening.”

“I… I’ve written letters for Jack, the triplets, you and all of PG, my parents, my sister, Jess, Blanca, Victoria, and Diamonte if anything were to happen to me and you cannot under any circumstance open it unless something does. I wanted to give them to you because… Jack…. I don’t understand where his head is at the moment and I know he’s scared even if he doesn’t admit it. I know he’s putting on a brave face, but he’s scared of losing me and for good reason. I mean…. I couldn’t have this conversation with him without him going off the deep end so I knew that I had to come to you. Now, if it comes down to saving me or them….”

Urban immediately cut you off.

“No. Absolutely not, I can’t…. I don’t want to hear this.” You could see Urban getting visibly upset and you were also doing your best not to cry.

“Urban Henry, please. I know that this is hard to hear, but I have to be realistic. If anything were to happen to me, I know for a fact that you will raise them as if they were your own and help Jack to the best of your ability. We picked you to be their Godfather for a reason. But save them over me. They deserve to have a chance to live.”

“You aren’t… you aren’t going anywhere, okay? You’re not.” Urban quietly said and was trying to do his best not to let the tears fall since you saw that his eyes were watering. 

“Don’t cry because then I’m going to start crying and Jack will then question both of us.”

“How can I not? I don’t want to think of losing one of my best friends in the entire world.”

“I know, but you know that I am always going to look over you and protect you, right? That’s never ever going to change whether I’m physically here or not. So here are the letters and this is between me and you and you cannot tell Jack unless you know… something happens.”

“Now if nothing happens, are you going to tell him?”

“I haven’t decided yet, but it would be smart if I did. I love you so so much and thank you for all that you do for the both of us.” You said while leaning over to hug Urban as much as your stomach would allow.

“Love you too and you better not fucking leave me.”

You heard the sliding glass door open and footsteps which you knew belonged to your husband who came and sat next to you while grabbing your hand in his.

“What are you doing up?” He quietly asked while kissing your cheek as you still had your gaze held onto the sky.

“I can’t sleep, but that isn’t anything new.” You replied while shrugging and Jack started rubbing small circles on the back of your hand that he was holding.

“Everything is going to be okay, baby. We’re almost there.”

“But you don’t know that. I don’t mean to be negative or anything like that but it’s true. There’s not one baby in there, there’s three. Things can go wrong even if there's only one.”

“And you have the best possible team of doctors looking after you and I have made sure of it. You’re going to get the best care and have been getting it this entire time.”

“Promise me something.” You quietly said after a few minutes.

“What is it?”

“And don’t fight me on this. I figured that I needed to tell you this before they cut me open.”

“Baby, you’re making me nervous.” Jack quietly said while looking over at you and from that point you knew that you couldn't tell him about the letters. Not yet anyway.

Now you were hesitant to even say anything about it since you know Jack likes to worry 90% of the time and probably wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep after this.

“Can you make sure you have my favorite pizza and Calypso ready to eat afterwards?”

Jack left out a small laugh before nodding his head and leaning over to kiss your cheek.

“Of course, baby. Your wish is my command. Anything you want or need, you know that I’m going to do it for you. That's not ever going to change."

“I appreciate you for that.”

Jack placed another kiss on your cheek before responding.

“Hey, you want to find our stars? It’s been a while since we looked at them.”

One thing that drew Jack to you was how smart you were and your obsession with all things space related. He was convinced that if you weren’t doing music that you would probably work for NASA.

You eagerly nodded as Jack went to go and get the telescope and you stood up as best you could waiting for him to come back.

Once he did, he set everything up and pulled out the little paper that had both of your stars on it that you gave to each other when he first asked you to be his girlfriend when the two of you were fifteen.

“Can you find it or do you need my help like always?” You playfully asked him and he simply shook his head and laughed at you.

“I got this baby.”

“You sure about that because you are definitely looking in the wrong direction.”

“Oh. Then maybe I do.” Jack quietly said before you laughed at him and quickly pointed the telescope in the right direction and zoomed in on his star.

“There it is.” You said backing away from the telescope in order to give Jack enough room to look through it and see his star.

“We should get the three of them one too.”

You quickly nodded in agreement and rubbed your belly at the thought of being able to teach them all that you knew about space and show them the stars that you and Jack are going to name after them.

Then it was time for you to find yours and all you had to do was move the telescope slightly to your right.

“Still as bright as the first time I saw it.” You quietly said as you felt Jack behind you.

“Still as bright as the love that I have for you when I first came up with the idea to get it for you.”

“And I hope that your love for me never dims.” You muttered in response, not sure if Jack had heard you, but he did.

“Why would you ever think that?”

“Just… this past year neither of us have truly been all in when it came to this marriage and all of a sudden I get pregnant when we weren’t even on the best terms. I feel that we still aren’t, but it’s moving in the right direction.”

"I…. I can admit that what happened shouldn't have happened and I'll be making that up to you for the rest of my life."

"It goes both ways because it wasn't only your fault but mine too."

"From this point forward, that is never going to happen again. I treated you as if you weren't my priority when you are. I promised to always take care of you when I asked you to marry me and I've fallen short of that. I just want us to get back to how we were before."

"As long as we work at it, we will." You quietly answered as Jack leaned down to kiss you.

"I love you. More than anything in this world."

"I love you too." You replied in response as you hugged him tighter. 

"Now let's get some sleep because you know we probably won't get any quality sleep until they're eighteen."

"You mean the rest of our lives as bad as you like to worry and make me worry with you."

"I figured I'd get an early start. And you know I always worry about you and that won't ever change."

"Baby, you already have gray hair so I'm going to need for you to cut it out."

"Ehh, no promises."

—

You were now being prepped in the operating room as Jack was sitting to the left of you and you had to admit that he looked very cute in his little blue bonnet with a few curls sticking out and blue scrubs that the staff had given them to wear.

Your anxiety was at an all time high and you were doing your best to calm your breathing as Jack was holding your hand.

“What if I feel them cutting me?” You asked as your eyes went wide and looked over at your husband who simply shook his head.

“They have done this a million times and know what they are doing.” Jack answered as he leaned down to kiss your forehead and you nodded.

“The only thing you’ll feel Mrs. Harlow is pressure on your stomach and that’s it. We have everything set up for them once they are out and you already know that they will be in the NICU just to give them the little extra help that they need in order for them to be strong enough to come home.”

“Okay.” You quietly said as you held Jack’s hand tighter. 

“Okay! Here we go!”

You glanced at the clock in the room to see that it was 7:19 am and that was when the first incision was made. 

As promised, you didn’t feel anything except pressure as Jack was being the most supportive husband that you could have ever asked for and helped to keep you calm. After the two of you finally went to bed early that morning, he simply laid there staring at the ceiling absolutely scared shitless about what was due to happen in a few hours as he watched you sleep peacefully which he was surprised by seeing as this was probably the most you had gotten in weeks.

“You got this, baby. They’re almost here.”

“First baby is out! It’s a girl! Here mom and dad. Look how gorgeous she is." One of the nurses came to the head of the bed where the two of you were and the two of you couldn’t do anything but smile. You heard her cry and couldn't help but let a few tears slip out.

“Ivy May.” You and Jack said at the exact same time while laughing. It was only right to name her after both of your mothers seeing as how big of an influence that they had on the both of you.

She was then whisked away to get evaluated by the NICU nurse to make sure she was indeed stable as you then became nervous because of what was said. 

“Number two is out. It’s a boy!”

The one thing that you were listening out for was his cry and when you didn’t hear anything you started to panic.

“Why is he not crying?!” You asked while turning towards Jack who then got a terrified look on his face.

“Breathe for me, okay. Take some deep breaths. Slowly in and out.” Jack said and you followed his instructions as best as you could when suddenly you heard Axel's first cry.

“Thank God.”

“He’s not breathing too well on his own so we’re going to intubate him and take him upstairs.”

Neither you or Jack got to see Axel as he was whisked away to the NICU and you were trying your best not to think the absolute worst. Jack could see the absolute fear in your eyes and was trying to put on a brave face for the both of you. 

“And here comes number three! It’s a girl! You did an amazing job mom! Going to close you up and get you to postpartum.”

“I told you everything would be fine, babe. I have one bad ass wife. Three at one time? Your fave could never.” Jack said and you immediately laughed as he leaned over to kiss you.

You weren’t sure how long it would take in order to stitch you back up, but more than a few minutes had passed and you were growing nervous but tried to relax seeing as the hardest part was over.

At least you thought it was. 

Even though you were laying down, you suddenly felt lightheaded and knew that something wasn't right and Jack immediately took notice since you weren’t interacting with him as much as before. 

“Baby? Babe? Y/N? What’s wrong?” He asked suddenly in a panic. You were trying to do your best to talk in order to respond to him, but nothing was coming out but you eventually managed to utter a few words.

"Something isn't right."

"What's not right?!" He immediately asked you, but you didn't say anything else.

“Y/N! Why is she not answering me?!” Jack turned to the nurses and doctors looking for answers as they now shared looks of panic between them even if they were trying to do their best hiding it from Jack. They were professionals and the last thing they would ever want is to cause fear, but their job description required them to be honest. 

"Mrs. Harlow, try to stay awake for me."

“She’s losing a lot of blood, her uterus isn’t contracting as much as we want it to so we’re giving her drugs in order to help speed up the process.”

“Hang O neg now and hang the fluids wide open. Call the blood bank for more units just in case STAT.”

That was the last thing that you remember hearing before your hand went limp in Jack’s.

The heart monitor that you were hooked up to flatlined and Jack’s eyes went wide.

"I LOST HER PULSE!"

“No, no this cannot be happening…. no.” Was all Jack quietly said as he looked at you in disbelief.

“Start compressions."

"Someone get the defibrillator!"

“She’s losing a lot of blood.”

“Mr. Harlow, your wife’s heart has stopped and we’re trying to get her back, now go with Andrew and let us work. We’re going to do all that we can in order for her to be able to see her triplets grow up.” One of the nurses said to Jack and she maneuvered him away from you as he saw them pounding on your chest.

"GET THE EPINEPHRINE READY."

"PULSE CHECK!"

"I DON’T FEEL ANYTHING."

"RESUME COMPRESSIONS."

“INTUBATE HER NOW!”

Once Jack was out in the hallway, he simply had tunnel vision and was trying to keep himself together and not have a panic attack. In that moment, he knew he had to call her thinking the absolute worst.

He was about to be a widow at 25 with newborn triplets. 

“Mom, Y/N’s heart stopped. I don’t… I don’t know if she’s going to make it.”

—

When your eyes fluttered open, you were confused about where you were or what had happened and the fact that you noticed that you couldn’t talk. Your eyes went wide and immediately started to pull at every tube covering your face, but a gentle hand stopped you.

“Hi Y/N. You’re okay sweetie, but I need you to relax for a second. You’re in the intensive care unit because you bled out after they delivered your babies and your heart stopped. They put a breathing tube down your throat in order to protect your airway. I’m your nurse, Lydia and I’ve been taking care of you for the last two days. Your babies are in the NICU and your husband is there with them now. He has only left your side to go and see them and then he’s right back here waiting for you to wake up. I finally convinced him to go home and rest and he finally did yesterday when I had finished my shift. You have an amazing husband and support team that is out of this world. We’ll get you situated and see about taking you to see them.”

When Lydia finished, you couldn’t help but to still have a thousand questions run through your mind and a few tears slip out.

How were the triplets since you only saw them for mere seconds as they were whisked away from you to go straight to the NICU even though your doctor had already told you that would be the case. You were most concerned about if their breathing was okay. You didn’t even get to see Axel since you remembered them saying that they needed to intubate him immediately when he came out. 

You couldn’t even imagine how Jack was for the past few days and that hurt your heart to no end not knowing if his wife was going to live or not. 

“They have one strong mama and your husband has one strong wife. You fought tooth and nail in order to get back to them.” Lydia quietly said as she wiped away your tears.

“I’m going to go get the doctor so we can see about taking the breathing tube out. I will be right back and your husband should be back soon.”

All you could do was nod as she left the room and as promised, less than ten minutes later you had dozed off once again and suddenly heard Jack’s footsteps. You peeked your eyes open to see him carrying a huge bear and setting it in the corner before coming over to you.

As soon as he was within reach, you grabbed his hand and squeezed it as tight as you could startling him.

“Baby! You’re okay… I…..” Jack started to say as he leaned over to kiss the top of your head and give you a hug as best as he could with all the different equipment in the way.

You lost count of how many kisses he placed over your face, but of course you didn’t care.

“I thought that I was going to lose you. Your heart stopped twice." Jack quietly said through his tears and you couldn’t help but to start crying again yourself. 

“One minute you were talking to me and then I don’t even know what happened. Despite everything that has happened in the past year, you know for a damn fact that I don’t want to be in this life without you. I love you more than I can even put into words. And what we made are absolutely beautiful. Ivy is doing okay, but still on oxygen and all three are in the incubator. Axel still has the breathing tube and Autumn is the feisty one that keeps taking the oxygen off. I’ve been going back and forth between you and them since everything happened.”

You saw Lydia come back in the room with who you assumed was the doctor and she was all smiles which indicated to you that you were about to get this tube out of your throat.

“Okay we're going to turn off the ventilator and I'm going to suction your mouth for any mucus or anything. Once we take out the tube, we need you to take a deep breath. It's going to feel weird since now you have to breathe on your own after four days."

You simply looked over at Jack and he nodded his head.

You had missed the first four days of your triplets life and would never be able to get that back. 

Once the tube was out you were finally able to take a deep breath and as Lydia told you it felt weird as if you weren't getting enough air.

"We're going to put you on high flow oxygen and then eventually decrease you down until you don't need it anymore.

"Okay." You quietly said and it came out almost as a whisper, but Jack was just glad to hear your voice. 

They took your vitals and watched you for a few minutes before explaining that they would start you on liquids and you would eventually move up to a regular diet as soon as the speech therapist evaluated you.

When the two of them left the room, it was once again only you and Jack and he didn’t want to leave your sight.

He moved his chair closer to you as you reached over to play in his curls.

"I….read the letter you wrote for me. As soon as I told Urb what had happened, he didn't even hesitate to give it to me, not knowing how everything was going to play out. I’m not sure if he gave anyone else theirs or if he even read his, but he felt that it was important to read mine and for good reason.”

"The thought came to me to do it a few weeks ago."

“It’s almost like you knew.”

“I just thought it was important that I do it. Like I said one baby is dangerous but adding two more to that?”

“He also told me that if it came down to it, you wanted me to save them and not you.”

At that point you looked away from your husband and was now more interested in the pink and blue nail polish that was covering your fingers for your one boy and two girls. 

“I’ve lived already and they haven’t.”

“You’ve barely lived. You’re 24.”

“But still, I knew that as much as Urban didn’t want to hear that, he was going to be strong enough to fulfill my wishes if you weren’t. I knew that making that decision would be impossible for you so I asked him to do it. I know that you wouldn’t want to be without me but, I’ll be damned if you were going to lose another child. That would have broken you.”

“If it went either way it would have broken me. So I’m happy that I didn’t have to make that decision. I couldn’t imagine you going through this entire pregnancy and not even being able to see them grow up.”

“I know.” You quietly answered and immediately sighed. 

“What’s on your mind besides wanting to see them?”

“I’m just extremely overwhelmed. My body just went through a lot and I know it’s not ever going to be the same again. I mean it’s obvious that it never will be, but still.”

“And we’re going to get through this one day at a time. I will be with you every step of the way to help you through this. I love you and nothing is ever going to change that.”

“I love you too and thank you for that.”

“You don’t ever have to thank me for doing my job as your husband.” Jack softly answered you as he leaned over to kiss you and you couldn’t help but to smile. 

You heard a soft knock and in walked Lydia with the biggest smile on her face.

“Are you ready to see your triplets?”

You eagerly nodded as she walked over towards you to unhook you from your IV fluids and help you get in the wheelchair in order to take you over to see them.

You weren’t sure why, but now you had suddenly become nervous. Jack had already warned you that all three of them were in an incubator and Axel still had a breathing tube since he wasn’t able to breathe on his own quite yet. Even with all that he told you, you still didn’t feel ready, however, it was now or never. This was your reality and you had to see it through along with Jack. You felt as if your heart was about to beat out of your chest. 

Lydia grabbed a portable oxygen tank so that you would be able to keep it in your nose to help you get used to breathing on your own again while also giving you pain medicine since she knew your first time up was going to be the hardest. 

Once she was finished setting everything up, she helped you to sit and dangle on the side of the bed and you felt as if someone ripped you in half.

Well, they did.

Literally.

“Shit, this hurts.” You muttered and you weren’t quite sure where to pinpoint the pain, your chest from them doing compressions on you or your actual incision site.

“You did the hard part, mama. It’s going to hurt, no doubt about that but it will get better with the more that you move around. Sit there for a few seconds on the side of the bed before I help you over to the wheelchair.”

You nodded in response and did as you were told before she helped you to stand up and maneuver towards it praying that you wouldn’t suddenly get dizzy or lightheaded. 

Once you were settled, the three of you then made your way to the NICU.

It didn’t take long seeing as it was on the floor right below where you were in the intensive care unit right next to the postpartum unit where you were hoping to be soon once you were able to get a little bit stronger.

“And here we are. I know that they are just as excited to see you as you are to see them. They have the best doctors and nurses taking care of them. 

Upon arriving, Lydia explained the need to do a surgical scrub of your hands and arms before entering not wanting any unnecessary germs causing harm to any of the babies.

Once she wheeled you into the room with Jack following close behind, you immediately knew which three were yours even if you saw them for mere seconds and one of them you hadn’t seen at all.

You were in front of Axel first and saw his tiny body taking small breaths and took in the sight of his curly hair that resembled Jack’s.

So that definitely explained the heartburn that you had throughout the entire time that you were pregnant with them.

You looked to Lydia to see if it was okay if you reached your hand in to touch him and she simply nodded.

Once you did, he immediately grabbed a hold of your finger as if telling you that he was okay.

“You have to admit that we made some cute babies.” Jack said as he leaned down to whisper in your ear and you couldn’t help but laugh.

“True, but looking at Axel, I did most of the work.”

“I-... okay not arguing because I don’t want to end up sleeping on the couch.”

“Smart man.”

When Axel let your finger go, Ivy was next to him while Autumn was next to her on the end and looked over to see exactly what Jack was saying about her taking her oxygen off because she was fiddling with it. A few tears escaped, but you were in no way, shape, or form sad.

You were happy.

You lived to be able to see your triplets grow up and couldn’t wait to see what was in store for them and the amazing things that they would do.

“Babe, you okay?” Jack asked while peering down at you and seeing your face. 

This time there was absolutely no hesitation in your answer. 

“I’m more than okay, I’m happy.”

Taglist:

@harlowsbby

@babyharleezy

@hoodharlow

@stefansalvatoresgf

@jackiehollanderr

@primadxna-girl

@dessmxsworld

@cockslutslurper3000

@raelorns21

@variety-fangirl

@gbaabyyyy

@kamorsstuff

@harlowthot

@sinsandsuccubus

@curlyhairclub

@bootlegroach

@haylexo10

@thinkingaboutjharlow

@fluidsentiment

@charli123456789

@moody4world

@yourstrulymayah

@yana4life

@beanbagbitch

@alinaharlow

@carma-fanficaddict

@minaxcarter

@arination99

@xjup1t3r

@venusvinc

@jackharloww

@midnight-star47

@minkookie95

@inluvwithladybug

@exoticr0ses

@jharlowsangels

@jackierose902109

@knack4harlow

@cmalass

@megawhoree

@softtcurse

@sia2raw

@miniaturehideoutmentality

@hoya122

@nattinatalia

@jackslover12

@skyesthebomb

@jackharlows-world

@louisianalady

@fdl305

@automaticpeachsong

@harlowcomehome

@gassyandsassy1

@babygirlwilly

@amethyst09

@harrycanyonmoonn

@toocriticalharlow

@tattered-tales

@sisiking99

@dessxoxsworld

@gillybear17

@jacksdaycare

@iheartharlow

@disaster-rose

@babyvinnie

@evansxchalamet

@chtkmyharlow​

@itsyagirljaz

@neon-lights-and-glitter

@awhore4moree

@a-moment-captured

@jackmans-poison

@valentinqee

@lightsoutstyles

@j-worlds-blog

@middlechild404

@0elliotswhore

@iknowdatsrightbih

@w1ldthoughts

[seungkwansphd]

room for interpretation - 2

pairing: lawyer!jeonghan x lawyer!YN| word count: 9.1K synopsis: as top of class, you and jeonghan had been many things to each other. enthusiastic rivals, begrudging allies, and…parties to a jokingly written (but legally binding) marriage contingency contract? this piece of paper would’ve been long forgotten had an unexpected merger not thrown you back into each others’ lives. themes: fluff, rivals to coworkers to tentative friends to lovers, “if we’re both single by X age” marriage contract, IDIOTS2lovers, fake dating, miscommunication. this is just a romcom.

“Hey Maja?” you heard Jeonghan’s voice through your door.

“Yes Jeonghan?”

“Can you help me understand how the Law Library is organized?”

“No! I will not help anyone with that!” Maja stood up violently from her desk. “I’ve told Peter a hundred times and I’ll tell him again that we need to digitize that! But nooooo, Mister Romantic likes the aesthetic and mood of having physical references.”

Jeonghan was rightly baffled as Maja stomped off away from him with a stack of papers that would find themselves wrongfully shredded if she didn’t calm down. You held in a laugh. You agreed that digital references would be more efficient, but you also enjoyed the “Law Library”, which was really just an empty office filled with bookshelves of case studies. It was great for when you needed a change of pace as well as one of the best cell reception areas in the office, making it a prime spot for taking phone calls.

“I can help you,” you called to Jeonghan as you got up from your chair.

“She’s…fiery,” Jeonghan commented as you walked.

“Yes, it’s best to stay on her good side,” you chuckled.

Jeonghan followed you in and looked on as you explained Peter’s organization system to him. It didn’t really make sense, but if you understood the logic behind it, you could find things easily enough.

“Do anything interesting this weekend?” you asked as you helped Jeonghan search for a specific reference.

“Went to see my sister.”

“Oh! How is she doing?”

“Good. Her kid is almost five now, which is mind boggling to me!”

“What?!” your eyebrows shot up.

You remembered meeting Jeonghan’s sister briefly during a family orientation event. You knew almost nothing about her, but still it surprised you to hear that his younger sister had a child.

“Are you seeing anyone?” you asked without thought.

“What?”

“No, I mean-,” you winced when you realized what you had asked. “I was wondering whether your parents have thoughts about your younger sister having a kid before you.”

“Ah,” Jeonghan laughed with understanding. “No, they’re so elated to be grandparents, they could care less about me.”

“Got it,” you nodded. “Oh, aha!” you exclaimed when you finally found the document that you were looking for. You pulled it out and handed it to Jeonghan triumphantly.

“Thanks,” he smiled gratefully at you, thumbing through it. “Oh, actually, I did think of you this weekend though.”

“Oh?” you asked. You were surprised to hear that.

“Your little Pokemon.”

You nodded.

“I learned that Eevee has eight evolutions total, but you only have six?”

You nodded again. He was asking a question, but you weren’t totally sure what it was.

“Is there a reason you’re missing two? Are they hard to find or…?”

“Ah,” you nodded, feeling suddenly shy. “I only buy them to celebrate milestones. I have two more major milestones that I’d like to achieve, so I’ll buy the last two evolutions when that happens.”

Jeonghan felt an inexplicable tug in his chest. That was a much more meaningful answer than he’d expected. You waved before returning to your office and he was left wondering what you considered to be the next two major goals in your life. He felt sure that making partner was one of them, but he was at a loss for the other one. Starting your own firm? Becoming a judge?

Harris sat in his office, eyes closed and lips squeezed together in an effort not to burst out laughing. He could hear Maja in Peter’s office next door, giving him the dressing down of a lifetime. He jotted down a note as he eavesdropped. There had to be a relatively painless way of digitizing those files, right?

Maja returned to her desk after, once again, making her case for the files in the Law Library to be converted to digital. Peter could even keep his stupid nook, but she really needed to be able to utilize the ‘Ctrl + F’ function if he wanted to retain her on the team. Her workload had nearly doubled with the addition of supporting Jeonghan since the merger. The only way she was able to manage it was really due to your competencies. You both were organized and dedicated, which made her job easier in many ways.

…

Jeonghan’s brow furrowed when he looked up to see you, once again, absorbed in your phone. Someone had been texting you non-stop when you should have been working with him on the last minute appeal.

“Can you focus please?” he was surprised at how whiny he sounded when he asked.

“Sorry!” your face contorted apologetically as you pulled your attention from your phone.

Jeonghan rubbed his face with his hands. It wasn’t so much that you were on your phone, but rather the fact that you were clearly agitated by whatever you were reading on it.

“It’s-,” you cut yourself off before you could overshare. Flynn was upset that you needed to work late and you were tired of having to defend your career to him again and again.

“What is it?” Jeonghan asked. He would tell himself it was in the interest of getting back on task, but he was personally curious as well.

“Um,” you hemmed as you decided how much you wanted to share.

“It’s clearly upsetting you, whatever it is.”

“This guy I’ve been seeing. He’s upset at all the hours I’ve been working lately.”

Jeonghan’s eyebrows pinched together, clearly unimpressed.

“He’s a dermatologist, so his schedule is very regular. It’s hard for him to understand the demands of law, I guess,” you tried to justify it, but even as you spoke, you knew it was half hearted.

“Hm.”

It was just a single syllable and not even a real word, but it hung in the air with surprising weight before he spoke again.

“He doesn’t need to understand in order to be respectful. You excel at what you do and your career is a priority to you.”

You were taken aback. You’d never really second guessed the importance of your work, despite Flynn’s increasingly frequent episodes of frustration, but the way Jeonghan spoke so easily and surely about the matter gave you pause. For just a moment, you wondered whether you should reconsider Maja’s suggestion of dating a lawyer.

“I don’t see you with someone so insecure anyways,” Jeonghan sniffed. It was a scathing review of Flynn and also felt like a challenge to you to do better.

…

“YN! Jeonghan!” Professor Vance greeted you both with an impossibly wide grin before folding you into a big group hug.

“Hi Professor Vance!” you beamed as you felt yourself be squeezed into Jeonghan’s side. Professor Vance was in her late fifties, but she hugged like a bodybuilder in her late twenties.

“Hi Professor Vance,” Jeonghan laughed over her shoulder.

“Oh look at you two! You’ve grown up so well!” she tittered happily as she led you through the doorway.

You and Jeonghan seated yourself on the crushed velvet sofa in her office. You let out a surprised squeak when you sank into an enormous divot in the center, flush against each other. She’d had this thing since before you were both in law school and its age was starting to show.

“Sorry,” Jeonghan coughed as he struggled up onto his feet. You were so warm and soft against him.

“I’m so happy that you both agreed to mentor for this year’s Mock Trial!” Professor Vance clapped her hands together as she took her seat behind her desk. “The students last time gave such positive feedback. Even as opposing counsel, you two tend to be compatible,” she joked, eyes twinkling.

You and Jeonghan shared a glance.

“What is your availability to prep with the students this year? The date we set for the Mock Trial is in five months. Last time around we asked for bi-weekly meetings with the mentors for three months before the actual mock trial. Can you commit to the same amount of time again this year?”

You did the math quickly in your head. You estimated a total of seven meetings plus the Mock Trial itself, which was reasonable.

“Yes, I can,” Jeonghan answered. “I can probably be available for more, honestly, if needed.”

“Me too,” you nodded. You wanted to be sure that the students on both teams would get an equivalent amount of exposure.

“Wonderful! Would you prefer digital or physical copies of the case materials?”

“Both please,” you both answered at the same time.

Professor Vance nodded, a knowing smile gracing her lips for a mere moment. She still had fond memories of having you both in her class and it was fun for her to be able to interact with you in this way now. While not professional at all, she’d always wondered about your compatibility with each other. She had met her own partner in law school and she’d always seen a healthy competitiveness in your interactions with Jeonghan that mirrored her own relationship in some ways.

“Alright, here you are!” She returned from the printer with two warm stacks of paper. “Any preference for Plaintiff versus Defendant?”

“Flip a coin,” Jeonghan shrugged and you agreed.

“I don’t have any coins,” she laughed before handing you each a packet without checking the contents. “Should we follow up in a month to finalize meeting schedules? We can work around your availability.”

“That sounds good,” you nodded, standing up from the sofa. “It was so great to see you,” you beamed again at the older woman.

“Great to see you,” she agreed before shooing you out of her office.

“Are you hungry?” Jeonghan asked as you walked down the stairs.

“I could eat,” you nodded, amenable to the idea.

“Okay. Any preference? Otherwise I have a place in mind.”

“Go nuts,” you shrugged, itching to start reviewing your packet.

Jeonghan nodded, pulling the car out of the visitor parking lot. It had been a while since you’d been on campus and you couldn’t help but laugh about the unlawful pedestrian behavior, even though you’d both been guilty of the same yourselves.

“No peeking,” you held your hand up jokingly at Jeonghan as you pulled your mock trial packet out of its manila envelope.

“I have integrity,” he sniffed at you even though he had been planning to steal a glance or two.

“Oh and when exactly did you acquire that?” you quipped playfully.

Jeonghan surprised you by looking sheepish.

“Oh come on, I wasn’t that bad in school, was I?” he couldn’t help but ask.

You thought for a moment, trying to bring up an accurate recollection of Jeonghan in college. He had rounded out around the edges significantly, so it was difficult not to conflate the current version of him with the past.

“You were,” you finally sighed, “But I’ll say this. I was too! We were intolerable! It’s no wonder neither of us really had any friends.”

Jeonghan chuckled. This was true. He wouldn’t have considered you friends, but you’d spent a significant amount of time together because you just didn’t have anyone else to spend it with.

“We’re both a little different, huh?”

“A little,” you nodded. “But what hasn’t changed is that I am still intent on whooping your ass in mock trial!”

Jeonghan let out a loud, genuine laugh. Of course you were. Dinner passed quickly with pleasant teasing, fond reminiscing, and good, genuine conversation. It felt good to get to know this Jeonghan. It felt good to let him get to know you too.

“That was yummy! Thanks for picking,” you remarked as you left the restaurant, zipping your coat all the way up to stave off the chill that had set in. “Next time I’ll pick,” you grinned goofily at him.

“Sure, next time,” Jeonghan had to keep himself from tripping over his words at the way you smiled at him.

“It’s chilly!”

Jeonghan nodded, responding with something that you didn’t hear because your eyes noticed something that he definitely couldn’t see. You took him by the wrist and pulled him into a small gap between buildings. You panicked. Maja and Harri had been walking together, heading towards you and so you pressed your hand over Jeonghan’s eyes, backing him against a wall.

“YN, what-,” Jeonghan’s confusion was clear in his voice.

“Hold on, please,” you floundered. There was no way to explain this situation, so you just held yourself impossibly close to him until they passed.

Heat prickled up Jeonghan’s neck as he allowed you to keep him pinned. He couldn’t see you, but he could feel you; feel the heat from your body seeping into him. He succeeded in keeping his breathing even as your smell filled his nostrils. His hands itched to move to your waist, but he was at least able to control that part of his body.

“Okay, s-sorry,” you stammered when you were finally able to pull away.

Jeonghan blinked until his vision returned to normal. In your preoccupation over Maja and Harrison, you hadn’t noticed the flush that had risen in his cheeks nor the way his pulse had quickened at the feel of you pressed against him. As he tried to force his thoughts together, he couldn’t even be bothered to ask what the hell had caused that.

It was a tense and quiet car ride back to the office. Your mind bubbled with questions for Maja about Harris. Jeonghan’s mind was flooded with thoughts of you.

…

“I shall now render my verdict,” Harris cleared his throat. “The court finds this contract legally binding. The defendant and plaintiff shall marry.”

“What?” Jeonghan’s brows furrowed.

“That's wonderful news!” Peter cheered from the witness stand.

Jeonghan looked around frantically as he tried to make sense of the scene. Harris and Peter seemed to melt away when his eyes landed on you, seated at the opposing bench.

“YN?” he was still confused, but a sense of calm had washed over him.

“Hi Jeonghan,” you approached him with a smile. “I suppose we have to get married.”

“What is Harris talking about?”

“Our marriage contingency contract,” you cocked your head at him, as if speaking to a child. “Don't you remember?”

Jeonghan shook his head again. He felt like he did. He felt like he didn’t.

“Here,” a sheet of paper materialized in your hands. “Legally binding, feel free to review.”

His eyes ran across the papers, taking in the words. The memory of this document came flooding back and he turned to you again.

“Aren't you upset about the ruling?”

“Oh? Why would I be upset? I'm the one who brought you to court. This is my desired outcome…”

Jeonghan woke with a start. He could still feel the sensation of your hand in his. In the dream, of course.

“That was fucking weird,” he shook his head furiously.

He got up and hopped in the shower, running it on the cool side in the hopes that it would snap him out of this weird dream funk. He was in the middle of drying his hair when the actual memory of presenting you with that contract snapped back to him.

He chuckled at his former self. He could now recall writing, rewriting, and re-rewriting that contract so that it was truly bulletproof. Why he had put so much effort into a fake document was beyond him. He'd so enjoyed getting a rise out of you back then that it had been more than worth it.

For a moment he wondered whether he still had the document, but then realized that he really needed to finish getting ready. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind for now.

“Morning Maja,” he greeted her on the way in. He had an intake meeting with a client today and needed to finish getting ready.

He had given some thought to the strange interaction he'd had with you the other day. His physical reaction to you had surprised him, but he figured he would've been surprised if anyone else had done that to him too! It was normal and he could be normal about it.

Really it would be weirder if he hadn't been flustered by it!

“Are you okay?” Maja’s voice shook him from his attempt to reassure himself. He’d been standing outside of his office door for five minutes now.

“Yeah sorry,” he coughed before stepping into his office and shutting the door behind himself.

Maja's brow wrinkled. She wasn't sure she'd ever heard Jeonghan apologize for no reason before.

“Morning Maja!” you greeted her sunnily about half an hour later.

“Morning,” she met your gaze with a brief nod before returning to her work.

You stepped into your office and narrowed your eyes at her through the blinds. After you’d seen her out with Harris, you’d waited anxiously for an update that never came. Towards the end of the week and throughout the weekend, you’d even sent occasional, lightly prodding texts and you had nothing to show for it. She was your best friend! You deserved to know the scoop!

You took a second or two longer to be indignant before starting on your work. You’d just been assigned a wrongful termination lawsuit and were eager to get after it! You had a client intake meeting scheduled in the afternoon, so the morning was dedicated to initial document review.

Jeonghan scowled at you through the window. Not that he was keeping tabs on you, but you kept walking up to your window and staring out through the blinds. Most of your face was obscured, so he couldn’t tell whether your eyes were twinkling with mischief or rage. Probably best to assume rage and be pleasantly surprised.

You thought furiously as you watched Harris move across the office. There hadn’t been all that much documentation to go through from the client, and so your mind had returned to the Maja and Harris problem. You’d done some light snooping through shared calendars and noticed a few lunchtime blocks that looked suspect. An idea popped into your head suddenly and you burst through the door into Peter’s office.

“Hey, are you busy?” you asked, even though he was staring into space with a Rubik’s cube in his hand.

“No, what’s up?”

“I was just thinking that I don’t know Harris very well, but I feel like I should get to know him better. Can you tell me maybe some stuff about him so I have some conversation starters?”

“Oh of course!” Peter clapped his hands together, the Rubik’s cube falling onto the carpeted ground. “Oops. What do you want to know?”

“Hm, what are his interests?” you start broadly. Your strategy was to chat with Harris in the hopes that he let something slip, so knowing what you could even talk to him about was a start.

“Oh! Let’s see, he enjoys golfing and skiing.”

You struggled not to roll your eyes. Between him and Jeonghan, you weren’t sure who would win ‘least interesting interests’. What was the draw for Maja? Maybe you should’ve been actively working to split them up.

“Hmm, oh! It’s maybe a little out there, but he makes pet beds for the local shelter?”

“What?” you almost yelled. Now this made sense as a selling point for Maja. “That’s so cute, what the hell?”

“Isn’t it?” Peter gushed. You had always been grateful that Peter knew how to be unserious when the situation called for it.

Jeonghan’s brow furrowed as he overheard you and Peter tittering about something. For a managing partner, Peter could be quite goofy. Jeonghan had a sudden flashback to the day you’d asked him about Harris’ perspective on dating policy. He shook his head. No, there was no way. You’d said you were seeing someone else.

“Oh my gosh, yes. It is so cute, you should definitely ask him about it.”

“Oh I absolutely will,” you nodded excitedly. That was the perfect conversation starter. Fun and personal in a way that could open the door to other, more personal questions. “Anything else?”

“Oh also his hometown! He goes to visit often.”

Of course! You'd overheard Maja and Harris when you'd gone to visit Yiayia. Why hadn't you thought of that sooner? That was a perfect segue to bring Maja into a conversation with Harris.

“You're a genius, I'm obsessed with you,” you thanked Peter before practically bouncing back to your office.

…

Jeonghan’s jaw was tense. He’d been watching you talk to Harris for probably fifteen minutes and he could not, for the life of him, figure out why you were smiling so much. He’d worked with Harris for four years and could barely remember a single time when he had made Jeonghan laugh. Whatever he was sharing with you or you were sharing with him seemed to be endlessly entertaining, though.

Maja failed to hold in a grin as she watched Jeonghan watch you. She’d also noticed you talking to Harris for an atypically long time. Unlike Jeonghan, she could recognize it for what it was: snooping. Maja did feel a little guilty about not updating you on the status of things with Harris, but for now it was something that she just needed to keep to herself.

“You good?” she finally asked.

“Oh, what? Yeah,” Jeonghan sputtered and coughed, completely caught off guard.

“Okay, you looked like you were able to burst a blood vessel,” she couldn’t help but tease.

“I’m fine,” he dusted himself off needlessly, but lingered.

“She’s good, huh?” Maja gestured towards you. Jeonghan made a face, indicating he wasn’t quite sure what she was referring to. “YN. She’s very good at connecting with people.”

“Ah,” Jeonghan nodded, considering this for a moment. “She was like that in college too.”

“Oh I always forget that you two went to school together. How was that?”

“It was…,” Jeonghan struggled to find words that felt adequate. “Frustrating. Hard. Fun.”

Maja’s eyebrows raised. She had looked back at him during his long pause and she was surprised at the way his expression changed and softened as he tried to describe his time with you. She wondered if he realized it. She was sure that you didn’t.

…

You smiled as you watched Jeonghan coach the students. It was interesting to see him outside of his normal comfort zone and it surprised you at how gentle he could be when functioning in a mentor capacity.

“YN? What do you think about this argument?” one of the students asked, pointing to a slew of bullet points in their notebook.

“Let me see!” you smiled, eyes scanning the page. “This is awesome!”

You were so impressed by the students participating in this year’s mock trial. This was only your second meeting with them and they had already developed solid arguments with sufficient supporting articles. You reviewed more of the students' arguments and gave feedback about potential rebuttals. As you were running out of time, you asked the students to think through those in preparation for your next meeting. When you looked back up, Jeonghan’s eyes were on you. 

He was surprised when you met his gaze. Even though he was a lawyer who was paid to keep his cool, it still felt embarrassing to be caught staring. He let himself believe that he didn’t let it show. True to form, you didn’t break eye contact either and the stare grew tense, laden. It sent a thrill through you that surprised you.

“Okay, thank you for your time!” the students piped up, starting to pack their bags. “We’ll see you in two weeks?”

“Yes!” you beamed, standing to gather your things as well. How long had you been looking at him? You hoped it hadn’t been noticeable.

“Those two need to fuck,” one of the students commented once they were outside of the law building and well out of earshot. The rest of the students chuckled in agreement.

…

“Dinner?” Jeonghan suggested as you crossed the quad towards the parking lot. “If you’re free.” he added, remembering that it was a Friday, after all.

“I am free,” you nodded, “But whether I want to have dinner with you is another question,” you shot him a cheeky grin.

Jeonghan’s eyebrow raised, tongue pressing against his cheek as he looked you over. You were so terribly annoying. He smiled at the way you pretended to consider before nodding.

“I could eat. And I said I’d pick this time, right?”

“Yes.” Jeonghan looked down at you. His hair had grown longer in the past month and it was starting to fall into his eyes.

“Hmm,” you went through a mental rolodex of restaurants that you liked. “Have you been to Krazy Bao?”

“No.” 

“Are you a sushi purist?”

“...no? What does that even mean?”

“Great!” you clapped your hands together excitedly. “Oh wait, we drove separately. Want me to text you the address?”

Jeonghan nodded. You had recently exchanged personal phone numbers, but had yet to need them. Between seeing each other nearly every day at the office and these mock trial meetings, everything you had to say to each other could easily be done in person. His phone pinged and he pulled it out before shooting you a thumbs up.

“Okay, beat you there!” you waved over your head as you walked to your car. You were starving.

“So these are like…sushi balls?” Jeonghan tried to make sense of the menu.

“Yes, but they’re also filled. So they’re onigiri inspired as well.”

“Huh,” he nodded. It wasn’t traditional, but they did look pretty tasty. “What’s your favorite?”

“Depends on my mood, but usually the tuna and the krab ones are my favorite.”

He nodded again, zeroing in on the eel, which looked interesting. You waffled about what to choose until the server arrived, forcing you to make a decision.

“So what do you think of your team this year?” you asked after they left.

“Really impressed. You?”

“Me too! I don’t know about your team, but my students are so prepared! I’m not even sure we took it this seriously when we did it?”

Jeonghan laughed, taking a sip of his tea. He disagreed about that. He remembered both of you acting as if mock trials were life or death ordeals.

“But yes, so so impressed. As a mentor, I’m sure I shouldn’t be saying this, but sorry to you and your team and prepare to eat shit.”

“Oh really?” Jeonghan raised an eyebrow at you coolly as your server returned with cocktails. “I’m not sure what set of evidence Professor Vance gave you, but we got this in the bag.”

He leaned back, crossed his arms, and gave you a once over that made you feel tiny and indignant. Your mind raced for a moment, reviewing the evidence in your mind before you realized what was happening. He was playing mind games and he had succeeded in getting under your skin. He chuckled as he watched the realization settle across your brow.

“Ha ha, very funny,” you stuck your tongue out at him. “You always did enjoy annoying me.”

“It’s still fun to get under your skin,” he admitted, taking a sip of his cocktail.

You squinted at him.

“What have you been doing for fun lately?” you asked after a short silence.

Jeonghan paused for a moment. He was really drawing a blank.

“Nothing?” you looked aghast when he wasn’t able to answer.

“Do you have time for fun?” he marveled. You worked just as much as he did.

“I…,” you had managed to give yourself pause.

“See? You're a workaholic too! I’m willing to bet that you don’t have any hobbies.”

“You said you snowboard, right?” you were scrambling for something. Anything. “And I…I bake!”

Jeonghan’s left brow raised in disbelief.

“I know how to bake.” you corrected yourself.

“The demands of an associate trying to make partner are crazy. It’s futile to try and have a life outside of that.”

You furrowed your brows at him. Why did it feel like you’d had this conversation with him before? The server interrupted your thoughts with your food and you were happy to set them aside.

“What did you think?”

“It was good. I would come back here,” Jeonghan nodded and you preened.

You filled the silence with occasional comments as you walked towards the parking lot where you’d left your cars. You were caught off guard when Jeonghan stopped, putting several paces between you before you noticed.

“Oh. I know where we are!” he stated. “There’s a nice bar like a block that way,” he pointed down the crossroad.

“Oh? Wine bar? Cocktails? Whiskey?” you found yourself asking.

“You wanna go?” he asked. He didn’t want the night to end just yet.

“Oh…yes? We might have to pay for more parking though,” you thought out loud.

“I’ll go put more change in the meters. We probably only have to pay for like thirty more minutes. The place is called Bar Argos. Save me a seat,” Jeonghan pointed towards it again before he set off to top off the meters.

You found the place with no trouble, but your jaw dropped when you walked in. Bar Argos was located in a refurbished historic building and the inside was absolutely incredible. The walls were painted a rich, dark green and were teeming with artwork in beautiful frames. The shelves were adorned with books and plants with tendrils that curled towards the ground. Once you had finished gawking, you snagged two stools at the bar where you were presented with a menu.

“Have you been here before?” an unfamiliar voice asked over your shoulder.

“No, I haven’t,” you shook your head, turning to face the speaker.

“Would you care for a recommendation?” the young man smiled at you.

“I would!” you nodded.

He settled in next to you, asking you questions about what you liked to drink. You were still conversing animatedly with him when Jeonghan entered. He scowled immediately at the proximity of this stranger and also saw an opportunity to mess with you.

“Sorry that took so long,” he interrupted the conversation smoothly, positioning himself tightly behind you, resting his arm on the bar. “Hello,” he greeted the other man coolly.

“Oh, hello? Are you-?” the man gestured between you and Jeonghan.

“Yes, she’s taken.”

You balked. You were not!

“Are you?” the man followed up with you directly.

Jeonghan let out a puff of laughter, a derisive scoff, which tickled the hair on your head and zipped down your spine. You coughed at the stranger, allowing him to draw his own conclusion.

“What the hell, Jeonghan?” you demanded as the other man made himself scarce.

“You shouldn’t be flirting with other people,” he tsked at you.

“We’re not together!” you hissed at him. You had wanted to shout, but the bar was too quiet for that.

“You are taken, though,” he looked down at you.

You were quiet. You hadn't shared with Jeonghan that you'd broken up with Flynn weeks ago. Part of it was because it wasn't his business. Part of it was because you didn't want him to presume that it was due to his opinion of Flynn. As if you held his opinion in such high regard!

“What do you want?” he asked, finally moving into the seat next to you. He'd been standing behind you for so long that a shiver ran down your back at the cool of his absence.

“Ah,” you shook yourself to attention. “I thought the absinthe looked interesting. I've never seen it offered anywhere else.”

“For all the times I've been here, I've never tried it,” Jeonghan’s eyebrows raised with interest. “Let's do it!”

You and Jeonghan promptly learned that drinking absinthe was quite a time consuming ordeal. It involved placing a sugar cube on a special spoon and letting water drip, slowly dissolving the sugar into the absinthe.

“Have you ever considered teaching?” you asked as you watched the ripples skip across the surface of the absinthe.

“Law?”

“No, cooking,” you rolled your eyes.

“Why are you asking this? So I'll leave the firm and you’re assured partnership?”

You coughed with surprise. That hadn't even crossed your mind but it was an excellent bonus perk!

“Another pro for the pro column,” you joked. “No, you just seem good at it. Don't get me wrong, you're great in the courtroom for sure, but you're surprisingly constructive and encouraging with the students. I just wondered.”

Jeonghan glanced over at you. The dual-wielded compliment caught him off guard. He had been enjoying mentoring an unexpected amount, but he was surprised that you'd noticed.

“Thanks,” he finally responded. “I have been enjoying it a lot, but I’m not sure I’m cut out to fully teach. I still have a short fuse for nonsense, after all,” he laughed.

You laughed, watching as the last shards of sugar dissolved into the absinthe. What had started out as a bright green liquid had turned a cloudy chartreuse and you regarded it with curiosity.

“Anise,” you wrinkled your nose after catching the scent.

“Very,” Jeonghan nodded.

You tipped your glasses together before taking a sip. Your expression moved into one of pleasant surprise while Jeonghan’s pinched together with displeasure.

“No good?” you asked. “I kind of like it!”

“It's…odd.”

It was odd. Herbal and sweetly spiced, the absinthe warmed you from the inside out. You felt like you were drinking a potion.

“I’m not sure this is for me,” Jeonghan declared, smacking his lips after another taste. He continued to sip on the beverage anyways.

“How's your sister doing?” you asked, recalling your conversation from weeks ago.

“Good!”

His sister and her family had been in town to visit last weekend and he had enjoyed seeing his niece again. Though just over five years old, she was already quite a spitfire with a lot of very interesting opinions. Seeing her again had reminded him of your milestone Pokemon again.

“Can I ask you about your Pokemon again?”

“Oh sure?” you smiled at him.

“What are the last two milestones that you’re hoping to achieve?”

You blinked. The question was personal and direct. You regarded Jeonghan for a moment or two before answering. You two shared some semblance of friendship now, it shouldn't be too weird to share with him, right?

“Making partner and getting married.” Your skin prickled. You’d been wrong, it did feel weird to share this with him.

“Ah,” Jeonghan nodded. He was surprised at the way he felt flustered by your answer. “Well, you're well on your way to both, right?”

You gave him a look of confusion.

“I mean, you're clearly on your way to making partner and you've been seeing…that person.” Jeonghan omitted his opinion that they still didn't deserve you.

“Ah,” the sound you let out was viscerally awkward. “We broke up.”

Jeonghan’s hand stilled over his glass and his eyebrows raised with surprise.

“And on the matter of partner,” you barreled through your strange confession, “We’ll see. I still see you as my number one threat.”

You thought about slapping your hand over your mouth. Absinthe had clearly been a mistake. Or you'd at least tell yourself that.

Jeonghan smirked, fingertips now resting against the rim of his glass. The two revelations back to back felt like a sucker punch. You were single. You'd been flirting with that man earlier because you'd wanted to. You still saw him as an adversary.

“I think that's fair,” he nodded as you watched him carefully, “I am a threat.”

Jeonghan regretted his words immediately. He liked to think he was self aware, knew how to keep a lid on the pettier side of himself, so it did surprise him when it reared, crept up and spoke for him.

You blinked. You were surprised that you were surprised. This was the Jeonghan that you knew, after all, but you'd fallen into a false sense of camaraderie and for that you chided yourself.

…

Jeonghan rubbed his hands over his face as he tossed around in bed later. He’d tried not to dwell on the conversation from earlier and failed. After spending some time kicking himself for his needlessly stupid response his mind turned to the topic of you and marriage. It reminded him, again, of the contract he’d dreamt about. He could remember signing it, but honestly wasn’t sure whether it was just a figment of his own imagination.

He spent the next morning rifling through his home office without success. On his way to work, he wondered whether you remembered it, but after last night he had little confidence that he could ask about it in a way that wasn’t wholly humiliating.

…

Your fingertips tapped against the desk with irritation as you reviewed additional documents from your wrongful termination suit. You’d met with your client a few more times and the more she had shared, the more livid you’d become. This workplace seemed to be mired in racism and classism and you now had a totally professional and not personal vendetta against them. There was a half-formed idea in your brain to pay them a visit, undercover, to see whether you observed the same behaviors yourself, but they were a wedding venue so you probably couldn’t just show up alone.

“Maja,” you stepped out of your office, “I need help.”

“What’s up?”

“Who would make a believable fake fiance for me? I want to visit the defendant in that wrongful termination suit, but I need to show up as a couple so it doesn’t come across as weird.”

“Ah,” Maja nodded, eyebrows raising with surprise.

It had been quite some time since you’d pulled one of your undercover visits. It was usually a good sign for your clients when you were that invested, but it certainly wasn’t without risks.

“What about Kevin?” you wondered aloud. He was a few years your junior and was amiable enough to let you take the lead on most things, which would allow you to steer the visit however you wished.

“Kevin?” Maja’s face wrinkled with disapproval. She counted him among the more feeble minded attorneys. Milquetoast, in fact, and not ever a suitable counterpart to you. “Absolutely not.”

Jeonghan chuckled at Maja’s expression as he walked by. Whatever you were discussing was clearly not up to snuff.

“Jeonghan, what do you think?” Maja surprised you both by roping him into the conversation.

“About?” he paused, turning to face you.

“Who do you think can pass as a fake fiance for YN?” she asked. Maja had a feeling she knew his answer, but she was curious whether he would say it to you out loud.

“Fiance?” Jeonghan echoed. Your mind was a mystery to him.

“It’s for a case,” you clarified. “Wrongful term and I’m curious to observe the environment myself.”

Jeonghan nodded and turned his eyes towards his colleagues. Even though he’d gone through this mental exercise already and knew that no one was suitable, he pretended to consider the other attorneys in relation to you.

“No one seems right,” he shrugged.

“Not even Kevin?” Maja pried.

“Especially not Kevin,” Jeonghan looked at you as if you’d grown a second head.

You frowned, crossing your arms. Maja and Jeonghan taking the same side against you was certainly new.

“What about me?” Jeonghan offered himself up.

“What about you?” you asked as Maja lit up with delight.

“I’ll go with you. We know each other well, I could pull off fake fiance.”

“You did go to school together,” Maja nodded, “And you’re both doing that mock trial thing. You’re probably closer than any of the other attorneys here.”

You considered her points and determined that they were valid. You gave Jeonghan a once over before reluctantly agreeing. It was a pinch, so he would have to do.

…

You let out a small puff of disbelief as your eyes landed on Jeonghan. You had never really seen him in ‘day off’ clothes before and you were surprised at how handsome he looked. His hair was down and fell slightly into his face. Without planning it, you’d both worn oversized cardigans and jeans. A happy accident as it made you look like a coordinated couple.

“Morning,” he blinked at you as if still waking up. “Do you want to drive? Or me?”

“I don’t mind driving,” you shrugged, pointing towards your car. The whole ordeal was your idea to begin with.

“Sounds good,” he nodded, hair falling into his eyes.

“Do you need coffee?” you asked as you buckled your seatbelt.

“Yes, your treat since I’m doing you a favor.”

“You offered! I was going to ask Kevin!”

“You're lucky I did. Do you think anyone would believe that you and Kevin have anything other than a professional relationship?”

You pressed your lips together. While you didn’t disagree with Jeonghan, this also left a dangling implication that you and he shared something that did pass as more than professional. You shook your head. You needed to get along today and coffee was a small price to pay.

“Okay, deal,” you shrugged as you pulled out of the parking lot. There was a coffee shop on the way to the destination, so you’d make a stop there.

“What do you want?” you asked, standing a typical distance from him.

Jeonghan clicked his tongue with disapproval before looping his arm through yours and pulling you against his side.

“Black coffee,” he grinned, smug.

You cleared your throat as you placed your order. It wasn’t unpleasant, just a surprise.

“Oh, before I forget,” Jeonghan dug through his pockets as you waited. “Here.”

He fished out two rings, placing the band on his ring finger before handing the other to you.

“Oh my god, I didn't even think-, thank you,” your eyes widened.

Jeonghan grinned, more than pleased with himself. You slid the ring onto your left hand, surprised that it was a decent fit. Maybe half a size too big, but better than you would've done.

“Kevin would not have remembered rings.”

You rolled your eyes. What would it take for him to let this Kevin thing go?

“So what's our story again? They're a wedding business of some sort?”

You nodded before filling in the details. They were an upscale wedding venue and your client was suing for wrongful termination. She alleged that they had a history of selecting clients based on discriminatory criteria, such as appearance or race.

“Oh. Shitty,” Jeonghan’s nose wrinkled as you returned to the car.

“Very. So we're engaged and checking out the venue, but also snooping.”

“Okay, got it. Do we have a backstory that we're sticking to?”

“I figured we'd just say we met in law school. It's true enough…,” you shrugged. You hadn't actually put that much thought into it.

Jeonghan nodded.

“Hello, good morning!” The receptionist greeted you sunnily as you entered.

“Good morning,” you smiled at the double greeting.

“Mr. and Mrs. Yoon-to-be, I presume?”

“Yes!” you smiled, tucking your arm into Jeonghan’s as he blinked. 

“Wonderful! Congratulations on the pending nuptials. Please follow me,” she gestured down a hallway.

As you followed, Jeonghan wondered why ‘Mr. and Mrs. Yoon’ had thrown him for such a loop.

“Please wait here, Delia will be in shortly to walk you through the property.”

“Thank you!”

“This place is crazy,” Jeonghan remarked as he wandered around the office. You had to agree. It reeked of opulence.

“Would you get married here? I'm not sure it's my style.”

“I don't care about the venue. I'm marrying the person, not the place,” he answered seriously.

“Mr. and Mrs. Yoon!” a woman, presumably Delia, burst into the room shortly after that. “Or do you prefer to be called by your maiden name, still?” she clarified with you.

“Mrs. Yoon is fine,” you smiled at her.

Jeonghan felt warm under his cardigan. Mrs. Yoon this and Mrs. Yoon that.

“Wonderful! Well thank you so much for your patience. Let's get started with our tour!”

You held in a chuckle. She was so bubbly. You snuck a glance at Jeonghan but he was distracted by something or the other. You slipped your hand back into his to catch his attention as you listened to the wide array of amenities the venue had to offer. In-house florists, catering, and music were just a few of the laundry list of items that Delia highlighted.

“So how did you two meet?” she inevitably asked.

“We went to law school together,” you smiled, looking towards Jeonghan for good measure.

“Ah! Was it love at first sight? Did you develop feelings during a partner project? Tell me all about it!”

“It certainly wasn't love at first sight,” Jeonghan laughed.

“No,” you chuckled in agreement.

“We were rivals, you could say,” Jeonghan continued. “She was such a pain in my ass for so many reasons, but at the end of the day those are also the things that make her great.”

Your eyebrows had disappeared into your hairline and you were doing your best to keep your jaw off the ground. You had to commend Jeonghan, he really was good at making shit up.

“At one point we even signed a contract agreeing to marry each other if we were both single at thirty. Luckily we had some realizations before it came to that, though.”

You stopped so suddenly that Jeonghan nearly walked into you. His hands moved around your waist to keep you moving at Delia’s pace. 

“Oh my god!” Delia squealed with delight. “Rivals to lovers, that's like something out of a movie!”

Jeonghan watched you from the corner of his eye. You seemed a little flustered, but he wondered if this was just wishful thinking.

“Did you have feelings for him when you signed the contract? I mean why would you sign it otherwise!”  Delia asked, the tour becoming an afterthought at this point.

“I-um,” you stammered. You struggled to form your thoughts. “I never disliked him, even though it might've seemed that way. Even though he was annoying in many regards, I respected him at least. That’s more than I could’ve said for some of our other classmates.”

Jeonghan looked at you with interest, the corners of his lips curled up into a soft smile.

“I guess…,” your eyebrows furrowed. You were just processing out loud now. “I guess some part of me felt that it would be okay if I did end up with him. We share a lot of values…we have things in common.”

You couldn't bring yourself to look at Jeonghan. You briefly considered jumping off of the second story balcony.

“Oh my god, I am trying not to scream,” Delia’s expression was pinched as she gathered herself to continue the tour. She led you through a set of french doors into the gardens.

Jeonghan was trying to keep a lid on his thoughts. He had wanted to gauge your reaction to the mention of the contract, but now he couldn't tell if you'd just decided to commit really hard to the bit.

“Here are our gardens! As you may know, we specialize in centifolia roses, or cabbage roses.”

“Jeonghan!” you made a beeline for the shrubs, pulling a large bloom towards you. “These are huge!” you remarked, turning to show Jeonghan.

He laughed as he watched you hold the rose up to your head for comparison. You were being so painfully adorable.

Delia watched you two contentedly. She let you and Jeonghan wander around the rose garden until you were satisfied.

“We also have a suite of hotel rooms on premise for the wedding party.”

“Oh that is convenient,” you nodded up at Jeonghan. You were fully immersed.

“Yes,” he smiled at you. He had an errant thought that there wasn’t much he’d say no to when it came to you. The way that cabbage rose had made you smile would’ve made anything else worth whatever the ridiculous cost.

You grinned back up at him. For a moment, you two just held each other’s gaze. A light breeze scattered Jeonghan’s bangs into his eyes. You reached up to push them aside so he could see again. As you pulled your arm back, Jeonghan caught you by the hand and placed a soft, open-mouthed kiss on the inside of your wrist.

You blinked. Your heart raced at the intimate touch.

“Oh you two are so sweet it makes me want to lie down in oncoming traffic!”

“What?!” you let out a laugh that was half cough.

“The way you look at each other. I can tell that you care about each other deeply. We can be somewhat selective about the clients we take on, but safe to say that you meet the expectations.”

“Oh, sorry?” your and Jeonghan’s ears pricked to attention.

“Yes! Weddings here are very coveted and exclusive, so we have to be quite choosy about who makes the cut. We have a reputation to keep up, after all!”

“Oh? Tell us more please!” you smiled, patting Jeonghan’s hand excitedly. He gripped your fingers in response.

“Well…I’m not supposed to share this, but I’m also so obsessed with you two,” Delia’s eyes glanced around conspiratorially. “We are very…considerate of our branding. There are…certain demographics and lifestyles that just aren’t compatible with the brand, so we steer clear. But you two…attractive, beautiful lawyers with a compelling story, we would be honored to work with you on your special day!”

You smiled and nodded in agreement, but there was something about the way Delia said ‘demographics’ and ‘lifestyles’ that seemed…consistent with what your client had shared with you. You decided to play dumb.

“Sorry what does that mean?” you asked. Widening your eyes in a way you hoped looked slightly confused and innocent.

“Well, you know,” Delia tried to clarify gingerly, “Like…lower income. Or, um…same sex, couples. I don’t agree, of course! But that is our kind of unwritten rule.”

“Of course, we understand,” Jeonghan spoke after realizing you were deep in furious thought. “Thank you so much for showing us around! What’s the process for following up and seeing which dates are available?”

“Of course!” Delia smiled brightly at him. She led you back to one of the front offices and assembled a packet of handouts and pamphlets with further instructions before seeing you out.

“Thank you very much!” you waved at her as you left.

“Wow that’s…something,” Jeonghan blinked once you were safely out of earshot.

“I fucking hate the wedding industry,” you grumbled as you let yourself into the car. “Bunch of bullshit.”

“I thought you wanted to get married.”

“I do, but I’m not getting married for the material things. I’d get married because we love each other!”

Jeonghan’s lips curled into a smile. It was irrational, but he allowed himself to enjoy the way you’d said ‘we’.

It was quiet as you drove, which allowed you to think. You’d pushed it aside for a moment, but your mind now returned to the contract Jeonghan had mentioned. Honestly you'd forgotten about it, but as soon as he'd mentioned it the memory had snapped back into clear focus. At the time, the explanation for why you’d signed it had been simple: you’d let yourself be goaded by Jeonghan. He had always been good at getting under your skin. Now when you thought about it, you were surprised to feel that what you’d told Delia felt true. It wouldn’t be the end of the world to end up with Jeonghan.

“Are you hungry?” you turned to Jeonghan, feeling the start of a pang of emptiness in your stomach.

“I could eat,” he shrugged.

“Okay, I’m getting so hungry,” you nodded, “Can you see what’s close? Anything will do.”

Jeonghan nodded, fingertips tapping his phone screen quickly. He gave you directions to what looked like a tin shed.

“It said it was barbeque,” he offered as explanation and you laughed. You had said anything would do.

“I will eat you if we don’t get some food soon,” you muttered under your breath as you got out of the car.

“Howdy, y’all!” a short, curvy hostess greeted you with a smile, “Just the two of you today?”

You nodded before shooting Jeonghan a look. This seemed to be a Hooters style establishment with a southern theme. You struggled to hold in a laugh as you were ushered to a booth.

“Can I get you started with anything to drink?” the hostess asked while making googly eyes at Jeonghan.

“I’ll have a coke and my wife…,” he gestured towards you to order. You pretended not to notice the waitress’ crestfallen look as you asked for a lemonade.

“No ice,” he clarified for you before the server had a chance to leave.

“You’re really leaning into this, huh?” you remarked, surprised that he’d remembered your aversion to ice.

“I prefer not to be solicited by my server,” Jeonghan leaned back. Whether he actually liked pretending to be engaged or married to you was his business for now. “It feels okay to be with you,” his smile was now teasing.

“Oh god,” you groaned, lifting your menu to block his mischievous gaze. He was quoting you.

“If I didn’t know you any better, I might think you liked me.”

“I did like you,” you blurted without thinking, “Wait, no,” you clarified. “I mean that I meant what I said to Delia. Even though you annoyed me, I respected you and admired you.”

Jeonghan wanted to ask whether you’d meant the other part of your statement to Delia too.

“And now?” he asked instead, “That was past tense.”

“I respect and admire you now, too,” you laughed, rolling your eyes. He was fishing, but you were happy to give him the compliment anyways.

Jeonghan grinned at you in an easy way that made your heart flip flop.

“Stop that,” you had to look away.

“Stop what?” he waggled his eyebrows at you playfully, grin still plastered across his face.

You weren't able to meet his gaze for a few more minutes, which pleased him inordinately. Were you losing your mind?

back to index | chapter 3