#contemplating visiting and then just staying forever right now

[ivyues]

A Snowy Promise - Lee Know

With his enlistment approaching, Lee Know contemplates building a deeper commitment with you.

It had been snowing all day, the gentle flakes turning the streets into a quiet, glistening world of white. The snow was the reason you stayed at home today, crushing your plans, instead leaving you cozy and content indoors.

Here, the muffled sound of the snowstorm was replaced by the occasional soft clink of your mugs on the coffee table and the low hum of a playlist you'd chosen. The familiar weight of a shared blanket draped over your legs added to the sense of calm, grounding you in the moment.

Lee Know leaned back against the couch, his arm resting casually around your shoulders, while his other hand laid under the edge of the blanket, his fingers absently tracing gentle, aimless patterns against the fabric. The two of you had spent hours talking, covering everything from small, inconsequential topics – how his new choreography was coming along, the places you wanted to visit one day – to deeper subjects that made the minutes blur into hours.

Now, a lull settled between you, the kind of silence that felt natural, comforting rather than awkward. He turned his head slightly, his gaze meeting yours. There was something unspoken in his eyes, a softness and an intensity all at once, like he was searching for the right words.

He inhaled deeply before saying, "You know things are going to change soon, right? With… everything coming up for me." You nodded, understanding immediately what he meant. His military enlistment had been a quiet but persistent shadow over the horizon, something neither of you spoke about too often but both felt deeply.

"I’ve been trying to picture it," he continued, his voice tinged with a vulnerability he didn’t show often. "Being away for that long, and coming back to… well, I want to come back to you. To us. And I was wondering if… getting married is something you’d want—" He paused, his lips quirking into a soft smile. "As a promise."

The way he said it, so tentative yet hopeful, made your heart ache. He wasn’t rushing, wasn’t asking for a definitive answer. It felt more like he was letting you in on a dream he’d been holding close, a quiet hope he wanted to share with you.

What you didn't know about were all the times he’d found himself looking at jewelry, rings especially, without meaning to. He’d ignored it at first, dismissing it as idle curiosity or just passing ideas, but now he couldn’t help but wonder if it had been more. The thought of choosing something for you, something that could say all the things he couldn’t quite put into words, tugged at the edges of his mind

You looked at him with wide eyes, your hand reaching instinctively for his under the blanket. "I’ve been thinking about it too," you admitted. "Not marriage, exactly, but… how I’d handle you being away. I try to think of it like you’re just on tour for a long time," you said softly, the words coming carefully as you worked through your own emotions. "It’s not forever. And knowing you’re coming back to me, that we could build something—together—would maybe make it less scary."

His lips curved into a faint smile at that, the kind that made his eyes crinkle just slightly at the corners. He glanced at you with an expression that was equal parts affection and relief.

"I’d like that," he murmured. "But I don’t want to rush you, or make this feel like it’s happening just because of the timing. This year’s going to be so busy, and you deserve... more. You deserve me doing this the right way, not something rushed before I leave."

The sincerity in his voice made your chest tighten, and you laced your fingers through his, grounding yourself in the steady warmth of his hand. "You don’t have to do anything perfectly for me," you said, your voice steady despite the emotion welling up inside you. "Just... keep coming back. I’ll wait for you."

And as he sat there, his hand still in yours, a thought struck him – a quiet resolve he didn’t speak aloud. It wasn’t just about serving and fulfilling a duty; it was about the future waiting for him on the other side. Coming back to you, his fiancée by then – or maybe even his wife – was the image that kept him steady. It was the thought of building a life with you, one step at a time, that made the prospect of leaving more bearable.

masterlist

[cherryria]

Of fears and friendships (Ominis Gaunt x Original Female Character)

The much needed conversation after the “Crucio Accident”. English is not my first language therefore I apologise in advance for any mistakes. Marion sat on a cold floor of the Undercroft, leaning against the wall and trying in vain to stop her tired body from shaking like a falling leaf. It was an awfully long day and surely a strange adventure she would not desire to relive again, as the severe pain from the Cruciatus Curse still lingered in her bruised limbs.

The Hufflepuff could not quite comprehend why she was not spending this much needed alone-time in a safety that the Room of Requirement eagerly provided, yet she once again found herself in a familiarity of the Undercroft. Which, to be honest, did not seem that welcoming now. As if it was forever intertwined in her soul with the image of Sebastian that right now could bring only worries and fear to her mind.

Marion attempted to clear her head of all thoughts, rather concentrating on the warm and tingling sensation of ancient magic flowing through her veins. It seemed to numb the physical pain a little bit but unfortunately could not calm the aching of her heart. It simply could not push away the image of hurt on Sebastian’s face when she declined his help, leaning on a rather worried Ominis instead. It was all too much for her little Hufflepuff heart, too suffocating and incomprehensible, and frightening.

As the tears started to cloud her gaze, Marion suddenly heard the footsteps coming down the stairs and reluctantly turned her head to the old staircase. To her utter surprise the girl witnessed Ominis carefully making his way in her direction.

“I can tell that you are here”, he delicately stated, stopping not far from her tired figure, “Your breathing is way too loud”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Ominis”, the Hufflepuff tried to make her voice sound as cheerful as possible, “I did not expect you to visit the Undercroft tonight”, she paused, unsure what to say next, “If you want to be alone, I can go…”

“Actually, I was hoping to find you, that is why I came here after convincing Sebastian to finally have some sleep”, the softness in Gaunt’s voice made Marion smile a bit, “I wanted to make sure that you were in an acceptable condition”.

“I am fine, thank you, Ominis”, she could not tell a greater lie, moreover, the Hufflepuff perfectly understood that the boy would not believe her, but she simply could not find the words to explain every thought and emotion that was running through her mind.

“I may be blind, Marion, but I am not in any way, as you may suspect, stupid”, he chuckled.

The girl took a moment to examine her friend’s tired features, his melancholic gaze, and then she remembered…

“I am truly sorry about your aunt”, she whispered softly, fighting the urge to either hold out her hand to a grief-stricken Ominis or start sobbing from the realization of how awful and lost he might have felt right now.

“I simply cannot believe my ears”, Gaunt sounded almost indifferent, although his voice could not fool her, “You have been struck with a Crucio and somehow still possess the ability to trouble yourself with my feelings”, he smiled sorrowfully, “Oh, what a true Hufflepuff you are!”

“Do not worry about me, Ominis, I can handle my pain”, Marion made a weak attempt to stand, but her body immediately betrayed her, forcing to once more press her back against the wall and painfully exhale.

Her friend stayed silent for a moment, contemplating something, then still without a word sat down beside her, leaving the Undercroft silent for a few moments.

“In fact, I wanted to thank you for protecting me”, the Slytherin boy said, making Marion glance at him with utter confusion, “I understand that it was you who convinced Sebastian not to pressure me any further about casting the Cruciatus Curse”

Marion’s lips formed a shy smile.

“He was just acting irrational and, I dare to say, quite ignorant about the situation. I am sure in his heart he understands how unpleasant that topic must have been for you”

“I am afraid Sebastian thinks that casting Crucio is of the same moral difficulty as opening the locked doors with Alohomora”, pensively admitted Ominis, “His mind is now clouded with finding the way to Anne’s cure, even if it means leaving everything else in ruins”.

“I have heard the rumors of you Slytherins being very determined in achieving your goals”, Marion looked at her friend with a sorrowful expression she was glad he could not see. She knew how deeply the boy despised anyone’s attempts to pity him.

“As you could have witnessed today, my aunt was not an exception to this rule…”

“Ominis…”, she whispered in horror, but he brushed her off.

“I realized a long time ago that something had happened to her”, the boy admitted with a slight tremble in his voice, “Aunt Noctua would not have left me otherwise, as she indeed understood how painful and lonely it was to be different in our family”, it seemed that he was trying to collect his emotions, “To be honest, I have always wondered how her son can be so contrasting to her, so cruelly and maniacally endorsing the family traditions…”

“She has a son?”, Marion repeated weakly, “He might miss her a lot”

“Oh, Marvolo is more than happy with spending time with his father and the pure-blood maniacs I am proud to call my parents”, the venom in Ominis’s voice startled the girl, bringing the desire to soothe her friend’s pain, to make him see he was not alone…

“Ominis, I…”

“Do you think we are going to lose him?”, suddenly asked the Slytherin boy, turning his head to the direction of her quiet voice. He did not have the need to continue his explanation, as Marion immediately understood the root of his worries,  “To be honest, I can barely recognize him lately”

“Sebastian is one of the brightest wizards I have ever met, and I want to believe his mind will not betray him”, it was truly her heart’s desire – to continue believing in Sebastian’s sanity.

“He needs to understand, Marion, that it is Anne’s life, and only she has the right to decide what to do with it”, Ominis sighed and tiredly closed his eyes, “She is my dear friend, I care about her deeply, as she is to me the sister I have never had. Yes, I must admit, Marion, I am very afraid of losing Anne but I realize that we must listen to her desires and not to our troubled minds…”

The Undercroft went silent, the air thickened with sorrow and grief. Marion knew how little Ominis tolerated the unwelcomed touching, and still the Hufflepuff could not stop herself from gently covering his hand with hers.

“You will not lose Sebastian, I promise”, she said, her voice barely a whisper, “We will accompany him on his journey, and we will not let him slip into madness”.

The boy froze, feeling the sudden warmth of Marion’s hand, but did not move away from it. Ominis seemed to have realized the uneasy tone of their conversation, since he awkwardly cleared his throat and turned his silver gaze to her.

“I am so dreadfully sorry you had to listen to my whinings”, he noted, “It looks like this late hour went to my head”

“Well, I must say it is better with you here”, Marion confessed, “I do not feel so strikingly lonely”

“Don’t be a stranger, Hufflepuff”, Ominis chuckled softly and squeezed her hand a little, “I am afraid you will never feel lonely due to the astonishing company of ours”.

[jmagnabo92]

Sailing to Freedom - Ch 13 - The Campaign Distractions

@aroyallybigbangrwrb

Ellen's campaign continues to suffer in the polls, meanwhile Alex and Henry consider what their Liam and Pez plan might do the campaign.

AO3

***

October 4th, 2020

Another day, another set of headlines, and another sink in the polls. 

Ellen can’t believe that all of her hard work to be president and to become president for a second term – the first woman to do it – is about to go up in smoke just because her son fell in love with a prince. 

Why couldn’t he have just stayed in his room?  Why couldn’t he have kept it a secret?  Why couldn’t he have just stayed with Nora or something until she was no longer president?

It’s not like he needs to be in a hurry to find love.

He’s young.  He’s got plenty of time to cool his jets and find his way in the world.  He’s too young to know this is actually forever and he’s risking everything she worked for on a whim. 

On something that might not even last.

It’s not as if she didn’t understand.  Her love for Oscar had been much of the same way, but it ended in a bitter divorce.  Of course that led to Leo, who adores her and supports her, but that was the problem.  Alex and the prince remind her way too much of her and Oscar and she did not want to risk her presidency over a relationship that wouldn’t last. 

“Madam President?” Zahra asks as she knocks and enters Ellen’s office. 

“Yes, Zahra?”

“The PR team wants to know if you want to make an address about the situation with your dumbass kid.”

Normally, Ellen would bristle at Zahra’s comment, ready to defend her son because despite everything, only she’s allowed to complain about him, but that’s not in cards today.

She glances at the calendar.  “With any luck, he should be making landfall sometime today or early tomorrow.  Perhaps it would be better to wait to address it when he can support me?”

Zahra usually doesn’t let her emotions or thoughts show on her face, but the wince at Ellen’s words was plainly obvious.

“What?”

“May I speak candidly?”

“Always.”

Zahra swallows hard.  “I don’t think Alex is going to support you.”

“Why not?  He’s always backed my play.”

“Because I’ve spoken with the Prince’s Equerry, and he’s made it plainly clear that Alex and the Prince are going to ride this out until they get the support they want or until it blows over.  They didn’t make this trip on a complete whim.  When Alex flew there to fight for them, I tried to get the Equerry to send him away without letting him talk to the prince and it didn’t work – the prince interrupted and obviously we know what happened from there.  After that, Alex had joked about just hiding until this relationship was no longer an issue, but the prince has been considering this for a while.  According to the Equerry, the Prince believed that if he could end things with Alex, no matter how it was, that he could be the prince that he was expected to be, but since being with Alex, he’s contemplated doing just this so that he could finally be free.”

Ellen frowns.  Why does Zahra have a direct connection to the Prince’s Equerry to the point of trying to get the Equerry to go against his job and not inform the Prince of Alex’s visit?  Although, if that had worked… she wouldn’t say that she didn’t approve… it doesn’t matter, she’s got bigger concerns.  “So, the Prince – this was really his idea?”

“In a way, yes.  Alex had joked about it, but it’s the prince that had been thinking about it for months,” Zahra explains.  “And I – well, it doesn’t make much sense given the way that he’s fighting us right now and seeing everything that’s happened since the Leak… even before the Leak… I still think it’s the right thing to deny this, and hopefully get the public to think it’s been faked, especially for something that probably won’t last, but Alex isn’t going to see it that way.”

Ellen glances down at the papers on her desk.  A collection of the last week or so’s papers all of which get increasingly worse on her, not that Richards is looking much better, but the fact that Alex’s love life is on blast, which he did not want, is partially on her for denying things and making the public look closer at the issues. 

“So, what do you suggest?”

“Address the public’s concerns on Alex vs June and their relationship with the prince.  Make it clear that if Alex had been interested in the prince and you’d known about it that you would’ve supported him.  Remind them that the emails are a hoax and continue the lies.”

Ellen nods.  She knows she can’t go back on it now.  She’ll have to stick to the story. 

“Set it up.”

***

October 5th, 2020

It’s raining, again.  The storm means that their set landfall date is postponed because the rain and wind affected the boat’s ability to continue on course. 

Alex isn’t terribly sure that he minds.

On one hand, he wants to know if Liam and Pez’ efforts have worked.  On the other hand, he’s convinced that having yet another storm plaguing them is a bad sign.  It’s like the universe is screaming something is wrong and they’ll hit land again and be blown up or something. 

Either way, they’re safe as long as they’re out at sea. 

His mind his whirling around and around, and he wishes that he could shut it down, but instead, he’s sitting by the window of their room while Henry’s writing away on his computer wishing he could go for a run. 

Alternatively, he wouldn’t mind having some fun with Henry.  Henry’s got a way of making it so that his mind goes blank and he loves it.

He glances over at Henry, who seems to be engrossed in his writing.  Alex doesn’t want to ruin that, but he definitely does want something to take his mind off things. 

Alex hums as he glances at the bed.  He hasn’t had to jerk off since he’s been on the boat with Henry.  They’ve been taking very good care of each other, so he doesn’t know if Henry would mind if he took care of himself for once. 

And it’s not as if he would be embarrassed if Henry saw him taking care of himself, right?  So, even though he’s in the room, he could do it and it wouldn’t be a problem.

Decided, Alex moves back from the window to the bed and gets comfortable.  His shirt is already off, so he pulls down his pants and tosses them aside, laughing slightly since he’s not wearing boxers, which both amuses and appalls Henry, and grabs the lube. 

Alex loves that Henry has so much lube on the boat.  He must’ve been very convinced of how lucky he was going to get on this boat (to be honest, Alex figures that with the way they’re always teasing and flirting it makes total sense).  Getting lucky was a total given.

Getting enough lube to coat himself, he closes the lid and closes his eyes, and he starts move his hand up and down.  He tries to imagine that it’s Henry’s hand (although his mouth would be better) and imagines the fun they had that morning before breakfast. 

Henry teasing him endlessly as he whispers in his ear about the naughty things that he loves doing to him.  The way that he wants to bring Alex to the edge again and again until he can’t take it anymore. 

The way he loves that Alex is completely boneless afterward, no words or energy just a pleased and satisfied grin.  Henry adores the fact that he can make Alex so pleased that he can’t even form words (and Alex loves it, too).

Alex accidentally lets out a moan of, “Henry”, which at first, he thinks Henry hasn’t noticed when he doesn’t immediately respond, but after a few minutes, he feels a shuffle on the bed and Henry has moved Alex’s hands to above his head, and breathes, inches from his face, “What do you think you’re doing?”

His eyes snap open and he flushes. 

“Uhhhh, I think that I am… jerking off to thoughts of you,” he whispers, almost embarrassed now that he thinks about it. 

Would Henry find that weird?

Henry searches his eyes for a moment before asking, “instead of with me?”

“You were busy,” Alex says, softly.  “Didn’t want to interrupt your writing time.”

“Then, why are you wanking and moaning my name while I’m in the room with you?”

Henry’s eyes are dancing with amusement and the fact that he’s fully dressed and on top of a naked Alex, makes Alex squirm.  Alex is unbelievably hard and wanting, and now that he’s got Henry’s attention, he wants nothing more than Henry’s playful teasing.

“Well, love?  What’s going through that mind of yours?”

“I – just – I really wanted to be distracted by something and well… it’s pretty obvious by what.”

Henry hums as he kisses and licks at Alex’s neck.  “Tell me more.  What were you fantasizing about specifically?”

Alex swallows hard.  He can tell by the way that Henry’s looking at him that if he admits to wanting to be teased that Henry would follow through and that could be exactly what he needs. 

“Well?”

“Well, I – I was thinking about the teasing and edging earlier.  I – I want to stop thinking about anything and everything and just… you have a way of making that happen.”

“I know,” Henry grins as he pulls back to look in his eyes.  “That first night together – you couldn’t even manage words after I blew you.  It’s a good thing I let you blow me first or I might not have gotten anything.”

Alex laughs.  “I always repay the favor, but yeah… I was glad I went first; all my research had not prepared me for a blow job like that and I would’ve been self-conscious if you’d gone first.”

“It was brilliant, if enthusiastic for a first time,” Henry teases.  “I would’ve been happy no matter what though.”

“Been ‘fantasizing about it for ages’,” Alex teases.  Then he shifts to rub his dick against Henry’s pants covered dick.  He wants more than verbal teasing.

Henry lifts himself away and says, “Well, if you wanna forget and be teased, what about using some toys?”

Alex hums.  Henry had shown him some of the toys he’d brought with him.  The padded cuffs had already been used, and he had shown Alex the vibrator on himself.  Alex had watched, thrilled with the seeming effects of it for Henry, but he’d never had anything in his hole, not even fingers, so, at his request, Henry had been slowly using his fingers more and more and Alex thinks he’s ready for the toy now.

“You wanna tie me up and stick the vibrator in my ass?” Alex questions definitely interested.  “Are you planning on torturing me with kisses or are you going to leave me to my own devices, and you go back to writing until I beg you to join me?”

Henry lifts an eyebrow at him.  “Which would you prefer?  I’d be okay with either.”

Alex bites his lip thoughtfully.  If he’s honest, he wants a little of both.  There’s something delightful about Henry working at his desk while Alex is on the bed withering and moaning with want that only Henry can fix when he feels like it. 

“Both?  The second option until I need your kisses and attention?”

Henry grins.  “As you wish.”

***

“We need to know who these numberonefirstprinceshipper and theprinceandthefirstsonshipper posters are,” Zahra says, as soon as June enters and sits in her normal briefing chair beside Nora. 

Her mother is looking at her expectantly.  When they hadn’t heard anything from Alex all day with his phone still going to voicemail, she clearly decided that she needed to attempt to address some of the problem with their narrative, which is Liam and Pez following through with their directions from Alex and Henry and essentially ruining their attempts to continue denying the emails. 

“I’m not sure why you think I would know,” June offers.  She hadn’t been doing anything with their blog posts besides sharing them on her Instagram, determined that she would at least get the posts out there.  She and Bea both had a following that could help get the blogs noticed.

She hadn’t heard anything yet about her sharing the posts and was hoping things were too chaotic for anyone to notice. 

“Because you’ve been sharing them, and you wouldn’t share them if you didn’t know who was making them and their accuracy.”

Guess not. 

“Maybe I happen to like the theories,” June says.  “They do seem very Alex and Henry, but that doesn’t mean I know who’s writing them.”

“June,” Ellen says, sternly.  “If you think I don’t know you better than that you’re sadly mistaken.”

“You can forgive me for thinking otherwise since you clearly don’t know Alex as well as you think.  After all, you thought he was willingly spending time with his sworn enemy without being told to and were entirely surprised that they’ve been sort-of dating since the New Year.”

The glare on Ellen’s face is telling.  She knows she’s wrong about how well she knows Alex and how she could’ve possibly missed that he was involved with Henry based off of thinking he’d willingly spend time with someone he ‘hated’ on his own.

“Your mother has had a lot going on, she doesn’t have time to worry about the passing interests of your brother…”

“Until you make those interests a problem that they shouldn’t have been,” June says.  “You were perfectly fine using his ‘friendship’, which you thought was fake, until you realized it was more.  I mean, hell, mom, he literally says that he couldn’t believe that he’d been so worried about the Monarchy when you turned out to be the problem.  Locking him up, lying about him, making him leave.  All because he fell in love with a man?”

“It’s an ethical conflict for my son to be involved with a prince of England.”

“But it wasn’t an ethical conflict for me to be involved with him?” June questions.  “How does that work?”

Zahra huffs.  “This isn’t why we called you both here.  We need to know so we can shut the blogs down.  It’s giving out conflicting messages and –”

“They’re conflicting because the blogs are telling the truth and you’re lying uselessly.”

“It doesn’t matter because we don’t know,” Nora lies, plainly.  “Alex and Henry mentioned that they had reached out to others that don’t live in close proximity to the White House or the Palace, so that they wouldn’t be shut down.  They wanted the truth out there, and they knew that they could go to others for support.”

“There aren’t a lot of people that Alex would trust with that kind of plan,” Ellen states.  “And it’s messing with the campaign, it’s a needless distraction, so I need you to tell me who it is, so that we can deal with it.”

“No,” June states.  “We already told that we don’t know and if we did, we still wouldn’t tell you.”

Zahra huffs, but Ellen changes tactics.  “Fine, then I need you to go back out there and re-affirm the narrative that you’re dating the prince while Nora’s dating Alex.”

“No,” June states.  “It was a mistake letting you do that and I’m already in the doghouse with Alex as it is, I’m not letting you ruin our relationship like you ruined yours.”

“Nothing’s ruined.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” June says, getting up.  “Now if that’s all, I’m busy working on my real job, which is not being a prop for your re-election.”

She doesn’t wait as she leaves the room.  She can’t believe the audacity of their mother.  She’ll never understand why being president is more important than their family. 

And she can only hope that this hasn’t torn them about forever.

***

October 6th, 2020

Alex grins as he brings Henry a drink after dinner.  They’d both decided to stop for the day when the weather cleared, partially because while the teasing and fun yesterday had worked to clear Alex’s mind, he could admit that his worries over the rain impacting their trip being some sort of sign made him want to prolong reaching shore. 

He wanted another distraction, one that didn’t make his ass sore, not that he was complaining, it was a pleasant soreness.  Just taking in the sun and enjoying time with Henry is exactly what he needs… even if he knows that they may need to talk about what’s going on out in the world.

Hence the drinks. 

He hands Henry his drink and climbs in the hot tub.  “Looking a little pink there, baby.”

Henry laughs.  “Yes, well, you’re quite distracting and haven’t been as diligent on the sunscreen today.”

“I’ll rub aloe all over you later,” Alex promises as he grabs the sunscreen.  “Want me to rub some sunscreen on you now?”

“I already did it, but I know how much you love it, so go ahead.”

Alex grins as he applies the sunscreen to the areas not in the water, smiling as he does so. 

It takes a couple of minutes before Henry speaks, “I’m going to miss this.”

“I’m never going to stop wanting to touch you, Henry,” Alex assures him.  “So, there will be nothing to miss.”

Henry laughs.  “I meant, if we’re right about the misgivings we have about the situation… I’m going to miss having you with me like this.”

Alex hums.  “The campaign will be over in a month.  Regardless of the outcome, I’m not going to stop wanting to be with you or stop loving you.”

“I know that deep down, but I’ve been thinking about your mother’s platform and what the democratic party has always been about and the fact that defending the rights of LGBTQ+ people has been a part of that and how what she did to you comes across…”

Alex hums.  He’d said it himself… it seems like his mom’s either one of those ‘it’s okay as long as it’s not my kid’ or worse pretending that she’s accepting for votes.  He knows that she’s accepting.  She had barely blinked when he told her was bi and seemed happy for him.

But her actions towards him: firing him, hiding him away in his room, lying about June/Henry and Alex/Nora… they aren’t a good look, and would definitely come across as pretending to be accepting.

“…as homophobic,” Henry finishes.  “I know your mother isn’t, but it’s entirely possible that her… voters will assume the worst.  If they do, then…”

“…she’ll probably lose,” Alex finishes.

The thought had crossed his mind.  Ever since the fight with his mother, he believed that it was entirely possible that she would continue down the path of denial and people would believe the worst in her.  If Richards turned the narrative that way while his mom continues her denial, it’s definitely going to cost her voters.

“And that might… affect things … between us…”

Alex moves Henry so he���s facing him, helped by being done with the sunscreen on his back and shoulders.  “Are you worried that the election is going to somehow affect my feelings for you?”

Henry’s looking down at Alex’s hands running across his chest.  “Well, I can’t say that it hasn’t crossed my mind that losing would potentially ruin your relationship with your mum and if that happened, you might resent me.”

“And break up with you?” Alex asks, scoffing.  “If she loses and our relationship is ruined, I’m not going to blame you, you have been the one person that has actually seen me this year.  You’ve been my saving grace and even if it costs me my relationship with my mother, I wouldn’t dump you because then it would’ve all been for nothing.  At least if I lose her over her job, I’ll still have you.”

Henry hums, sounding unconvinced. 

“Besides, I have a feeling this whole mess will get resolved with my mom realizing her mistakes with the situation and it’ll be fine.”

“I love your optimism.”

Alex grins.  “As long as I’m with you, I just want to believe it’ll all work out.”

Henry lifts his drink, “Well, here’s hoping.”

“Here’s hoping.”

[strawberry-lemonade-kisses]

Note - This is NOT Muichiro X reader, Muichiro sees the reader as a mother figure. Part of the Himejima found family AU

Late nights are when you found the most peace, living with three people who were still regaining their strength from a battle that left them permanently scarred and changed forever had you working around the clock, taking care of everyone but yourself. So when the sun went down and your family went to bed with it you stayed up, taking a few hours to yourself. Tonight was the last night you would have to yourself for a week. The remaining 3 hashira had decided to bring themselves and their family to your home for a week, having a family vacation in your home. It was special tonight, an extra night of pampering before endless work hosting guests and taking care of your family. After an extended amount of time relaxing in the hot springs a little ways away from your estate, you decided to relax in the back gardens. It was a clear night the stars were so bright, adding an ample amount of light to the garden you worked tirelessly on before the fight. Frogs croaked an old tune, one that had consistently lured you into the most peaceful sleep, but tonight it was a song that kept you awake, humming along to the tune. “Mom?” A smaller voice cut through the song, interrupting the melody and throwing you off track. “what are you doing?” Muichiro stepped out of the house, his kimono dragging behind him.

“I’m watching the stars sweetheart, come lay down” You scooted over on the quilt you were resting on. Allowing Muichiro to lay beside you. “what are you doing awake? You are always asleep by now. Are you in pain? Do you want me to make you something to eat? Tea?” You were getting up from the ground when Muichiro made a noise of disapproval, asking you to sit back down. “I just couldn’t sleep, no big deal. I’ve been thinking a lot” he lay on his back, looking at the stars. “Did I ever tell you about my brother? He reminds me of Sanemi sometimes. He was angry and rough on the outside, but he had good reason to be the way he was. He was trying to protect me, wanted to keep me safe. When we lost our parents he was angry at the world for betraying us as it had, but we still had each other.” You smiled at the boy. “You’ve had a very hard life, Mui. Your family did their best for you and each other. The world is a cruel place to the best of us. But you are here now, you’ve made it. Your family's sacrifices weren't for nothing.” The younger boy turned to you. “I’ve been thinking a lot. About what to do now. My father was a woodcutter but I couldn’t do that now, what can I do?” “Mui you can do anything you want now. Get proper sleep, and eat full meals. You don’t have to fight anymore, you can rest now. Be a regular 14-year-old boy. What do you want to do? Not what you think you should do. What do you want?” He sat quietly, contemplating what he truly wanted. He gave up after a few seconds shrugging. “well you got time to figure it out, for now just relax. Everyone is visiting tomorrow including Tanjiro and them for a party and then the Uzui’s, Sanemi, and Giyuu are staying for the rest of the week so just try to enjoy yourself. Also, I was told Kotetsu is coming in a few weeks once things settle down with the moves and everything. Now that they are out of work they’ve been moving out of the mountains and towards Tokyo I guess. It'll be interesting to hear about that. Maybe then they can finally work on Hotaru’s social skills. Find him a nice wife to ease him out” Muichiro giggled at the thought. He had carefully retold the story of Hotaru’s blind date failure. From what he had been told it was going well until the woman had spoken about the fact that swords and swordsmen were unneeded in today's society. Which Hotaru took very personally and subsequently ended the date right there. It was understandable but he threw a fit for days following the date and had worried the village chief.

“Yeah, hopefully, they all can live peacefully now” You nodded, settling further into the quilt as your eyes perused the endless stars in the sky. “Hey Mom” you hummed, turning towards him. “do you think it’s going to be okay now? That everyone will know it's safe?” “Well, I’m not sure. I figure it’ll take some time before everyone knows they don’t have to worry anymore about the demons. Eventually, I think there will be a time when people completely forget demons were a thing and it’s all thanks to you guys. You did this. I’m very proud of you, all of you. I’m so grateful I got all of you back home, I feel spoiled like a light was shined on upon me for being able to wake up with all of you in the house, alive and well.” Muichiro looked away, a watery chuckle coming from him. “Thanks, Mom” He shook his head, moving to get up “I’m going to actually sleep now. Goodnight Mom” he paused after a few steps towards the house, turning around to where you sat watching him leave. “I love you, thank you for everything” With a soft smile the boy turned back towards the house, disappearing into the darkness of the hallways.

[scottsgayroommate]

A Hand To Hold Forever

Summary:

Wallace and Todd have been dating for two weeks now. While on a date in the park Wallace realised they have yet to hold hands; He is going to change that today.

Pairing: Wallace Wells x Todd Ingram

Genre: Fluff

wc: 570

a/n: I have an AO3 account now where I will also be posting my fics- “ScottsGayRoomate”

Wallace and Todd had been dating for two weeks. It's not really that long, if you think about it.

People usually date for months or even years before really getting close and moving on to the next stage.

Even if they were not super close Wallace felt proud of himself and he wanted to share that with Todd any way he could.

As a result, they ended up going on a date- a simple trip to the park to walk and laugh together.

The first half of the trip had gone really well. They visited the rose gardens and shared some ice cream.

After finishing the ice cream, while walking on one of the smaller trails, a thought occurred to Wallace.

He had noticed a couple not far from them holding hands, and almost instantly his hands flickered to Todd’s hand.

What would it feel like in his...? Would it be soft? Rough? Probably rough right? Would he hold Wallace’s hand lightly or squeeze it? Would his hand be hot or cold?

Suddenly, Wallace wanted to find out. He really, really wanted to. He was no longer focused on his surroundings and instead directed his gaze directly to Todd’s hand.

Todd wasn't looking his way, and Wallace slowly reached over.

Just as their fingers were about to touch, he caught his breath and pulled his hand back just as Todd turned, pointing towards a squirrel travelling up a tree.

Wallace awkwardly chuckled, but his thoughts were elsewhere.

What if Todd freaked out when Wallace tried to hold his hand?

What if he became uncomfortable, or got disgusted, or just pulled his hand away ignoring it and dismissing Wallace altogether?

Would he cancel the date and go home early? That would... really hurt.

Two weeks. Wallace repeated those two words a few times in his head, first slowly, then faster.

Was two weeks too soon for hand holding? Or maybe it was too soon for Todd?

Which would be worse? Wallace continued to smile and agree and joke and pout for the next hour, trying to act normal. It was not important, he should just forget about it, right? Easier said than done.

After nearly 20 minutes of contemplation Wallace decided to just suck it up and hold his hand.

Even if it didn't work out and something bad happened, he would just forget about it eventually, right?

It is not like it would stay on his mind forever, slowly eating away at his thoughts, making him worry and freak out over every future thing he ever did with Todd.... riiiight?

Wallace waited until Todd was not looking, he reached - and chickened out again. He just... could not do it.

It freaked him out just too much, he wanted to, he wanted to have the experience, but it was so hard to make the first move!

He tried to continue acting normal, to not let his worry show.

They still had another hour before they would go home so it would be best to just try and enjoy it.

Half an hour later as they re-entered the rose gardens when suddenly Todd reached out and held his hand.

Wallace was in shock as his worries instantly began to melt away.

He looked up to meet Todd’s soft gaze as he smiled supportingly. This instantly snapped Wallace out of his daze.

Flustered, he slowly squeezed Todd’s hand.

It was... warm

[justafoxhound]

Falloutober 2023: 13. Civilization

Follow on from 10. Terminal. Word count ~3000. Thanks @falloutober for the prompts!

Burke’s fingers itched.

He busied them with a captured pawn from his side of the chess board, twirling it back and forth as he tried to contemplate his next move. But he could barely hear himself think for the detonator sat only feet away, practically humming with the energy it was poised to release. He had waited several hours before leaving Megaton to ensure his chosen mark got to work, and several more since arriving himself at Tenpenny Tower. It was hopeful to think someone fresh out of a vault would make such good time on the journey, and yet it wasn’t rocket science was it? You could see the tower from the edge of that pit on a clear day.

He glanced north over the edge of the balcony, at the grey mass on the horizon. The rotting hulk that broke up an otherwise blank slate. To think he had spent so long waiting amongst that pile of rust and its wretched inhabitants. Time he would never get back! And to what end? To what end indeed! Oh, it only pained him to know that they wouldn’t know their fate. To show the self proclaimed Sheriff how this had happened right under his nose... But little joy that would be, that fool was too easy. The bar keeper, now there was an interesting fellow. Burke could have worked with someone as unscrupulous as that. Unfortunately he was wed to the pit. Just like everyone else in that place, he had no vision. Caps was all he could see. He had his methods of making them but what use was that if you were required to live forever in a place like Megaton? Worse, he perpetuated such an offensive attempt at society by contributing business, services, and reasons to visit or stay, however sordid they may be. Yes, it would have been satisfying to let Moriarty know his petty empire was ended by the customer who suddenly left town, who could have offered him so much more if he had been smarter.

“I say, Mr. Burke! Make a move already. I haven’t got all millennium.” Tenpenny rapped on the table with his walking stick, jarring Burke back to the present moment.

“Hm? Oh, of course.” Without flourish he shifted a piece across the board.

“Ha! You’ve really stepped in it now, my boy. Not smart, not smart at all.”

A speck of irritation flared through Burke’s jaw. He was sure he could beat the old man any day of the week, but today there were bigger things on his mind. “Oh, I’ve lost interest, sir. What say we detonate the bomb now?”

Tenpenny frowned. “No, no, nonsense! You’re just a sore loser, Burke. Always were. You keep playing now, and don’t go easy on me. I may be getting old but I’m not stupid. Stay focussed!”

Burke checked his watch. “I’ve given her ample time to get here. To be honest, I think her hired help will have taken her money and left her in a ditch. We’ll be waiting forever. In any case, I don’t want the Sheriff or those religious nutjobs tampering with the device while we sit around wondering. We won’t get another shot like this.”

Tenpenny groaned. “Ugh, you really are quite a bore sometimes, you know? Alright, since you can’t concentrate on our game anyway. Er, fetch me my sunglasses would you. It’s going to be quite the show, isn’t it!”

Burke hopped from his seat and did as asked, anticipation coiled in every one of his muscles. “The show of a lifetime, sir.”

“Quite! And you’re sure it isn’t going to damage this tower, at all?

“Certain,” Burke called back as he approached the metal case containing the detonator. “The experts calculated with the size of that bomb, the blast won’t reach halfway to here. She’ll remaining standing, as she did through the war!”

“Quite so! Alright-- oh, what do you want?”

Burke turned, followed Tenpenny’s gaze to the door, where stood a security guard- Chief Gustavo’s runner, to be precise.

“Sir,” the young man nodded to Tenpenny. “Mr. Burke, sir, there’s a girl at the gate. Says she has business with you.”

Burke rolled his fingers in the air to hurry the boy along. “Name, man, does she have a name?”

“Talia, sir.”

What timing! “Good! Send her up, I’m expecting her.”

“Yes sir. Er- there’s also a man, looks like a merc. Doesn’t look like our sort, sir, but she’s very insistent he comes in too.”

“Oh, of course… Yes, yes, let him in. Keep an eye on him, but he’s nothing we can’t handle.” He sent the runner away and paced the balcony.

“What’s this, Burke?” Tenpenny yelled, turning his head to hear better.

“Oh, nothing to worry about, sir. Now-- oh, I suppose I should collect them and then we can prep the system. Yes.” He pulled himself away from the case containing the key to Megaton’s end, the link to his device which he could assume was now within the casing of the unexploded bomb that rested in the very centre of town. He kept his eyes on it until it disappeared from view as he slipped indoors.

The moment was nigh! He waited in front of the elevators, watching the floor indicator climb to penthouse level, rubbing his hands in excitement. The doors parted, revealing inside the girl from the vault with whom he had spoken in Megaton. The outsider who had crossed his path at just the right time for both of them. Someone with no ties to the town, someone with perspective; From their conversation, he’d surmised that her vault was in its dying days, at least as a society in the form Vault-Tec had imagined. But it had been built by pre-war civilisation, filled its rooms with people from those streets, and that knowledge, those ideals had survived to migrate back out into the surface world. Who more fitting to fulfil this task for Tenpenny and he, than someone who could understand their vision for the future of civilisation?

Beside the girl stood quite a contrasting figure. Wasteland through and through, a rough and capable brute named Jericho whom Burke had seen around Megaton, but who mostly seemed to be mothballing himself in the dank saloon for some unspoken reason. Burke had fully expected him to pose more of a danger to Talia than anything en route to the tower, but apparently here he stood corrected. If it had sped up her arrival then it didn’t matter to him.

“Talia, you made it,” he said without a hint of the surprise he felt, extending a hand. “And so soon.”

Her hand was clammy. “Well, you know, nothing like the great outdoors to make you want to get back indoors real quick, nowadays.”

He smiled at her joke and brusquely addressed Jericho. “I believe we may have met in town.”

“Yeah, think so. Wanted to see if you was for real.” The man only nodded in greeting, which was fine by Burke given he did not seem to have been acquainted with a bar of soap recently, or perhaps ever.

“But of course. A pleasant journey, I trust?” Burke asked generally.

“Oh, just swell,” Talia answered gruffly. “And your people-- real friendly welcome, huh? But, er... I’m sure you aren’t really interested in small talk, are you?”

Burke hummed in appreciation. “The more I talk to you, the more I like you. So tell me- is it done?”

She nodded.

Burke almost leapt into the air such was the release of tension at the news. “Excellent! Then let’s get to business. Come! This way.” He beckoned the pair to follow him out to the balcony.

Talia elaborated as she scurried to keep up. “I did exactly what you said, so if nothing happens it’s down to the parts- and that could be either bit. Trust me, it’s hard to get new things to work with old things, and the age difference in this case is even bigger. And this is custom work, never done before, so. Just so you know. If nothing happens that it could be down to loads of reasons. Because it was simple to install like you said, and I’ve worked on trickier things before. You know, if you ignore the, uh, atomic bomb.”

Burke paused at the door. “You sound very defensive. The pulse charge is rigged, no?”

“Yes, it’s rigged,” his charge assured. “I did all the switches like you said, and it’s connected.”

“Good. That’s all I need to know.” He opened the door and ushered them through. “You had me worried for a second there, Talia.”

“No, no need to worry,” she reiterated quite cheerily.

“He don’t really mean that he is worried, princess,” Jericho muttered over her shoulder, quite wickedly.

“I know, can you just go back to worrying about your money, please?” she hissed back.

Burke closed the door behind him and joined them outside. “People, please, relax. Enjoy yourselves. You are about to witness something incredible: The atom bomb. Power. Raw energy. Perhaps we’ll even understand what it is that turns those Children of Atom into believers. But most importantly, that mass you see jutting up from an otherwise unblemished horizon, ragged and coarse just like the people who founded it and dared to call it civilisation- bah! The gall! Well, for the good of the future of mankind, you are about to see it obliterated.”

He passed around his guests to the detonator case, opened it with care, and began setting the switches to prime it for action.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” drawled Jericho behind him.

Burke smirked to himself. If this knuckle dragger wanted to doubt him, all the more fun when he was proven wrong. These people could never stretch their imagination to bigger things. “Do either of you play chess?”

“The fuck is chess?”

“That’s the one with the horses, right?”

Burke sighed while flipping a few more switches. “Chess is a game as old as civilisation itself. And yet in two generations this ‘town’ had lost all knowledge of it.”

“You’re nukin’ this town over some fuckin’ game?” Jericho interjected.

Burke pinched the bridge of his nose. He thought he’d earned a break from the rabble for a while. “A myriad of reasons, Mr…?”

“Jericho.”

“Well. Jericho, you can count yourself the luckiest person in Megaton today.”

“Right. I still say I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Oh, you’ll see it. Almost ready.”

Burke finished the prep and gestured for the girl to come closer. “Talia, since we are here because of your work, perhaps you should kick this off.” He urged her another step closer with a hand on her shoulder and rather redundantly pointed out the big red button. “When you have finished savouring the moment, just push the button- and then mind your eyes.”

Talia tried to back away. “Oh, no, this is your thing. You should be the one to hit the switch. I mean look at it, it’s practically got your name written all over it. Don’t let me take that moment.”

Burke wafted the idea away. “Nonsense. You rigged the thing, you should have the honours. It’s really very simple.” He steered her back toward the console with firmer hands than before. “It’s perfectly safe for us at our location. Look, there’s no way to mess it up. What are you afraid of?”

She looked round at him, almost a perfect poker face, eyes flitting between Jericho, the ground, the horizon, something in the back of her mind. “Spiders,” she said, turning her face to one side and slamming her hand upon the button.

Burke froze, staring at her white knuckles atop the switch. She gave him no warning! He jerked his gaze up to the north, eager not to miss a moment. His heart leapt to his mouth as silent seconds went by- nothing!

But then- everything. An intense light enveloped the world, emanating from a single point on the horizon and expanding out, only happening in an instant. Instinctively he scrunched his eyes shut and shielded his face with an arm, but it was of little use. Bony shadows danced in the light that still seared his vision behind closed eyelids.

The flash faded just as quickly, though his vision took much longer to settle down. He braced himself for the next stages. There would be a shockwave, a heatwave, noise and wind. He faced it all, soaking up every sensation. It was stranger, more intense than he could have imagined. The immensity of it, even all these miles away and it sounded like the fabric of reality was under strain from the forces involved.

All through this the fireball churned and roiled its way upward, rising on a tower of smoke that billowed out the higher it grew, until finally amid the ensuing silence the infamous mushroom cloud seemed to hang over them even from where they stood .

“My God… What beauty… What purifying light...” It had been brighter than bright. The whole process left no uncertainty. Megaton was annihilated. Such awesome, absolute firepower, it was almost as if unleashing a sentient force. “That, my friend, is beautiful,” he pondered to his right.

When he received no response he turned. Talia was heaving herself up from the ground, bewilderment striking her somewhat doe-eyed. Jericho was looking equally dumbfounded just behind her.

“Holy shit,” she breathed when she’d got her balance.

“Ho-ly shit. He really did it!” exclaimed Jericho.

“Bravo Mr. Burke! What a grand display of fireworks!” Tenpenny cheered from his seat behind them all.

Burke took a deep breath and another lingering look at the result of his efforts of the past months. A beautiful way to wipe the slate clean if there ever was one. Behind him, the avatars of the old and new world stood bonded by the dust and dirt that covered them both, by the shock that had them looking back and forth for some assurance.

“So?” he asked them. He didn’t need to add anything more.

“I, uh, I didn’t really think he was gonna do it,” Jericho reflected.

Talia shot him a concerned look. “Don’t tell me you’re gonna be mad about losing Megaton now? I told you what was up.”

“My friends,” Burke interrupted. “We have not ‘lost’ anything. The Capital Wasteland is a better place now. This is one part of a new future. This very tower is a symbol of the progress we aim to make here. We will rebuild the world the way it was meant to be, not filled with knuckle-draggers like Megaton. You’ve both been a part of that today. You should be proud.”

“Well said, Mr Burke!” Tenpenny called. “I almost wish we had a few more nukes to detonate. You don’t see that very often. It really was quite a show, well done.”

“Thank you, sir. I had help, of course. Speaking of which, I should conclude business with our guests here.”

“Ah, quite right! And, send out some more scotch while you’re at it, would you.”

“Of course. If you’ll come this way...” Burke ushered Talia and Jericho back indoors to arrange her remaining payment.

Tenpenny’s voiced followed as far as the door. “Oh, damn! The bloody shockwave blew the chessboard over. I was winning that game!”

~

Burke closed the door behind Jericho as he left the empty suite, pockets jingling with Talia’s caps. “I’ve never seen someone spend their pay quite so quickly, you know.”

Talia shrugged. “He gets me here, he gets the caps. That was the deal. May as well get it over with.”

“Not the most astute deal,” Burke commented. He noticed she was breathing easier now the unofficial mercenary was somewhere else.

“He’ll probably spend it all here anyway. Then get bored and move on, with any luck.”

“Yes, but you could have spent it all here.”

The girl rolled her eyes a little and began to saunter around the vacant penthouse apartment. “Jeez, you sound just like my old teacher. Look, I had a problem and I solved it. I’m not interested in looking back at problems that don’t exist anymore. My new problem is that I’m broke. I’m hoping you’ve got a few more jobs since we last spoke about work, ‘cause I’m available. Maybe some maintenance around this place? Trust me, a place this big and old needs constant work. The vault did.”

Burke considered her optimism for a moment, then smiled and opened his arms. “Well, then, I suppose it all worked out perfectly.”

Perfect indeed. It wasn’t ideal that Jericho had his money, but she was likely correct that it would all make its way back into the tower coffers. Then if he didn’t move on of his own accord there were ways to remove him from their midst. No matter right now. She had done the job, was already asking for more, and she’d proven herself to be resourceful and forward thinking. Burke could certainly use someone like that. All the better then that Tenpenny wanted to do something with this vacant suite.

“Oh my god!” Talia screamed from somewhere unseen, before poking her head out of the bathroom door. “You have hot running water here?!”

Burke nodded and allowed her to freshen up, waiting by the door until she re-emerged. When she did, her face was freshly washed clean of the blood, dirt and grime collected during her journey to him. “That’s your hot running water, if you’ll accept the deed to this suite. As reward for a job very well done.”

She gawped at him. “Deed? You’re kidding? I… I can live here?”

Burke made a face to say that was correct. “Mr. Tenpenny requested himself that I offer it to you. No one else has done him such a service. So, what do you say?”

She gawped at him a few moments longer, and he thought he saw a slight glistening of moisture in her eyes before she broke the silence. “Is a deathclaw as terrifying as it sounds? Yes, of course I’d like to live here… Wow, fuck… Thank you.”

Burke took her hand and shook on the deal, patting her warmly on the shoulder. “It’s my pleasure. Welcome to civilisation.”

[gnattyplayssims]

1948 Pt1 - A New Home

Hezekiah sat contemplating his move while Stefan watched him anxiously. "Stop stalling and go already."

"Patience son, one can't rush a good strategy. Ah here we are."

"Awe man...I wasn't paying attention."

"See! You can't rush the game or you'll make mistakes."

The phone rang and Kye wheeled to the living room to answer. His heart leapt when a familiar woman's voice spoke. "It's all settled, Kye. We just need you here to close the deal."

"Great and you managed to get the price lowered to what we agreed upon?"

"18k just as you said."

"Lizzie I need to tell you something."

"If it's about Ivy...I already know about the drugs. I'm working on it."

"Uh...no...it's not about that. Our trip to Copperdale next week...Anabelle doesn't know yet but...it's gonna be permenant."

"Oh. You're leaving?"

"Hey you'll be fine. Kailee and Knox are just across the river and I'll be just a phone call away."

"I know... you can't stay forever I just never put much thought into how soon it might be."

"I know it's been hard these last few years, but I'm really proud of you Lizzie."

"Proud of me? Why?"

"You tackled a devistating event and made it something beautiful. Transforming Kailee's old apartment into a homeless shelter, teaching teens life skills that will help them get jobs or raise families. I know you can do anything."

"I'm gonna miss you, Kye."

In Copperdale, the family enjoyed a leisurely day at the carnaval and checking out the sights until they were exhausted. "I'm ready to go to the rental now."

Kye took Sofia's hand, "One last stop...Stefan would you cover your mother's eyes for me."

"Kye, what are you up to?"

Stefan kept her eyes covered as they made their way up the path, Anabelle was starting to get annoyed.

"Just a little further."

"Ok, ok"

"Alright you can let her look now."

For a moment she couldn't comprehend what she was looking at, then a smile came over her face. "Kye."

For a moment the four of them just stood there looking at it. "Is this ours? Is this really our home? But how? I could save another decade and still not be able to afford something this big."

"Look mom, dad already put in some of your plants under the window."

"I see them."

She fell into his arms overcome by emotion. "I don't know how you did it but I love it."

"Well I do have a confession...two actually. I did use the money you were saving to buy this but the rest...well I never told you but as it turns out a handicap pension is pretty hefty."

Kye brushed the tears from her face. "Alright enough of that, you 3 go stand in front of the door so I can get pictures."

"Come here you two." Anabelle pulled them close despite their complaints. Sofia felt awkward when Stefan threw his arm around her neck but smiled anyway.

"Don't think you're gonna get away with no pictures, mister. Get over here and get some pictures with your kids."

Hezekiah chuckled as Anabelle took the camera from him. She'd always wanted a wall filled with photos of a family she'd created and now she could do just that.

A few weeks later the Greenburg's came to visit from Evergreen Harbor. It was a long trip but thankfully travel had become better between the worlds and it was easier for them to come for a shorter amount of time. The family was excited to catch up and show them around the house.

"I could always tell this is what you wanted deep down."

"You always were there to keep me on the right track. I'm glad things worked out that way."

"Well they didn't just work out. Joining The Movement was just an excuse to make sure you weren't alone. You needed the push."

"Is everything alright Kailee, you look a bit pale." "It was just a long trip."

"Uh huh, not an easy one on the stomach I imagine."

"Ok you got me, we're expecting"

"Oh that's so exciting! I know how hard you've been trying."

"It's been a long road, but we're ready now."

After a long evening of catching up and playing card games, Sofia finally had some time to cuddle up with a book. The banter of the family had been exhausting. Even Stefan had joined in while she always struggled to interact. But she was determined to make this family work.

That evening Anabelle woke from a bad dream her eyes scrambling for something familiar but not recognizing her surroundings. She rolled over and saw Kye and everything came into focus. This was their new house. She was in bed...with her husband everything was fine.

She stroked his collarbone gently as if assuring herself he was real and he stirred a bit. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep." S

he kissed him on the cheek and he turned toward her, "Everything alright?"

"Yes, it was just a bad dream. I'm fine now."

"Do you want to talk about it." "It was nothing, really, just fear playing with my head. I dreamt I lost you...and the kids. I was in a forest all alone and the people I love most were gone."

"It was just a dream. You know I'm not going anywhere."

"I know. Just a silly fear."

"I love you, you know. So much! I could never let you go. If anything happened to this family, I would fight like hell to bring us back together again."

"You wouldn't get very far." He gasped in fake offense, "Don't be mean."

"Shut up and kiss me."

"Whatever you want."’

The next morning the Greenburg's headed back to Evergreen. "Thanks so much for having us. We'll send you a letter when the baby arrives and be sure to call once in awhile if you don't have time to write." The two families said their goodbyes and life as a family of four began.

1948 Pt2 - The Butterfly Ring

[tinkerbcll]

"we're not just friends. you know that." 👀

even with peter’s return to neverland, tink’s heart still felt heavy and ached enough that she believed something could be wrong with her. a checkup with one of the nursing-talent fairies told her she was completely fine. but tinkerbell felt anything but fine. it’s been a couple of weeks now since peter had called for her, but she was still keeping her distance from him. it took an enormous amount of willpower to do so when everything inside of her was screaming to be close to him. she wasn’t staying inside hangman’s tree with him, but she hasn’t return to pixie hollow since his return either. instead she stayed in a hollow of a tree outside, close enough where she could keep an eye on peter and make sure nothing happened to him. her reluctance to stay by his side was fear of him abandoning her again. tink knew she wouldn’t be able to handle it and it very well may kill her if he were to decide to leave neverland for good.

it’s been a few days since she’s seen him face to face, so she went inside their hideout to see if he needed anything. she contemplated remaining in her tiny fairy form, it felt safer for her heart that way and made her feel like there was still a barrier between them. but she decided it was time to stop being cowardly, she couldn’t avoid him forever. so she shifted into a human size, she doesn’t even remember the last time peter has seen her like this. it was still strange seeing peter how he is now, even with the visits she paid him on the neverland. but time was drastically different between the two realms and nearly impossible to keep track of. one night he was the boy who didn’t want to grow up, then suddenly when she came to him again he was exactly who he said he didn’t want to be. she was so angry with him, choosing to return to a family that didn’t even love him for who he was instead of staying here with her.

even though she was furious she kept visiting him, getting to know the new older peter and falling so deeply in love with him. she was only hurting herself further, yet she didn’t stop checking in on him. now standing before him her heart beats wildly against her chest and wonders if he could hear it. that thought as well as the tension between them had her avoiding getting closer to him. instead she walked around examining things and went right to where she stored all her belongings. when peter left she kept them all here, not bringing a single thing back to pixie hollow because everything here reminds her of peter and holds a memory. it would have been too painful, but she really missed all her little jewels and trinkets here.

she kept her voice steady and casual even though she was anything but. “you’re still my best friend, so it’s my job to make sure you’re still breathing in here. i’m glad to see the animals here didn’t make this place their new home after it’s been vacant for so long.”

“we’re not just friends. you know that.”

tink’s head whipped towards him, her eyes wide, “well i knew that you silly ass! i just didn’t think you did!” peter had shattered any willpower she had left with his statement. she practically stomped over to him, having to tilt her head to look at him. “peter, i need you to tell me exactly what you mean by that.” it had been so obvious how much tink cares for him, but he had always been so reluctant about relationships and love. and tink always liked that because it meant no one would take him from her. but if his feelings for her are similar to how she feels about him, then that changes everything. tink also knew how peter was and how manipulative he could be, she needed to make sure he wasn’t trying to soften her up into forgiving him so easily.

[pacinosgf]

❝ we were in austria, which is a very depressing country, with all due respect, though i think barbara would have really enjoyed the place if she wasn’t catatonic during our stay there. when she got a bit better, i made her take walks with me all through vienna so she could tire herself out before getting back to the hotel. one day she asked if we could rent bikes for our walks. and then another day she left the room, alone and in her own will, for the first time, without saying anything. i was sleeping and when i woke up, she wasn’t there. i was still hiding any sharp objects from her at that point, mind you. i was almost calling the police, but she came back with a huge map of the countryside, telling me that we should visit it. i thought, well, this has changed her forever. but maybe we can learn how to live after this. ❞

❝ we spent a few months in greece, but ultimately settled down in italy. i didn’t want to come home. coming home meant facing everything again, finding a new way to live. i got an abortion in another country so i could deal with it privately, but somehow it got leaked to the american press. i didn’t want to mope anymore, either. i felt sick of myself. i got tired of jim being all careful around me. i didn’t want to be this fragile little thing for the rest of my life, though i learned to let myself be taken care of after that. i learned how to slow down. i can’t always do and be everything for everyone.

i bought a leather bound notebook so i could write in a brand new diary. many of my first entries were just describing my day. we went to the beach. we ate ice cream. saw a woman dressed like brooke in the street. i cut my hair. in venice, we stayed at the house of a family for a while and i sang for them so i could thank their hospitality. i did my best to have myself back, little by little. now that i’m telling it after so much time it seems it wasn’t that big of a deal, but i know it was. i spent months out of myself. you can recover from that, but there will always be a little part of you that wants to give in to that dark place, those dark thoughts. when i got back home from brooke’s funeral, i found myself lying on the cold floor at this old age of mine, same thoughts as i had back then. see what i mean?

then, after two years, we got back home. i had missed my house, missed my huge garden, missed my instruments. i cried out of relief when i found out i could still play. i found myself trying to get used to this new reality, producing and only producing, but still coming up with random lyrics. still coming up with bass lines. i still loved the music. that part of me hadn’t gone anywhere, but now i had to learn again how to deal with it.

i listened to brooke’s album, of course. someone sent it to us and it was right there, waiting for me when i got home. seeing the words brooke wellington’s first solo album hurt like hell. but it was good. she had always wanted to rely into this heavy rock sound. i felt happy for her. she didn’t seem to be alright, but that’s how brooke is. i didn’t have a say in it anymore. i wanted to kill myself when i heard my bones and dope, but it wasn’t my business.

i lived. i worked. i took care of myself. didn’t get out of the house much. all that fire i had to do things had been lost. i felt a bit of it again when i was organizing contemplations and ramblings, and then i was reminded people would see it and try to find hidden meanings in my lyrics, i was reminded brooke would know that i had been fucking miserable. but it was good to write again. our solo work was so different. most of my songs were ballads, i’ve always loved a folk sound. my voice sounded so much older for some reason, when only two years earlier i thought of it to sound so ingenue. my plan was to release the album as an exorcism, you know? this is the last you will see of me, take good care.

and it worked. people didn’t care much about contemplations, which i still love and feel proud of, but i did. i kept writing and singing many songs, but i kept them all to myself. the spell they had put on me was over. i can’t say much about it, but when we had the reunion, though i felt immensely good for being on stage, i felt immensely good for being able to get back home. salting the wound for one night had been enough.

i had a few girlfriends here and there, but i knew i couldn’t love again. not how i loved brooke. i had more faith than ever in my love for jim after all the drama, but i couldn’t be the same anymore. i felt terrible about him. had damned him to this life. i told him, in the sweetest way i could, baby, if you ever want to, you know, actually have a family, go for it. i won’t blame you. i hoped he did it. i wanted to see him far away, happy with his family, and then brooke far away, not so happy with dash, and be sure that i was the problem of all of us. i would never give jim the divorce, but i could do that for him. we discussed the women he was seeing, i thought it was no big deal.

and then jim did the most stupid thing in the world, because he can think properly when he wants to. i thought he’d find a model, you know? an actress. maybe a normal girl who wanted a good life. he looked nice, and i knew he was loyal like a dog. i remember thinking they’re going to take my husband away from me.

but he went back to venus. i hadn’t gone back there since my failed visit, but he had. he spent months there, talking about how he is so miserable and his wife hates him and he just wanted a bit of love to whoever would listen. and of course, some slut listened to him, because there will always be a woman who will see a failed man, ignore the reasons that he might have been failed for, and think i can be good to him. i had grown up with her, though we weren’t exactly friends. jim stayed at her house, played house with that woman just like he did with me, would occasionally visit me so i would mind my business. he got her pregnant.

i punched him right in the eye when he told me who he got pregnant, how he wanted to be there for her, and that we needed to divorce. he wanted his part of our money so he could raise the child. mind you, jim wouldn’t raise no fucking child. that’s a man who was raised to drink while his children cried. that’s a man who got used to the good tour life, where he could have a different woman every hour and he’d leave soon, no need to think if she had gotten pregnant or what. he humiliated me in front of everyone that once knew me, people who already didn’t like me, by doing that.

i went to venus to see the bitch. didn’t beat her up because she was pregnant, but beat up everyone who tried to take me out of there. called her a whore, a homewrecker, a gold digger, screamed to the point my throat closed down. if she thought she would get that money so easily, she’d have to go to court or kill me.

she went to court, against jim. that was an easy fix, he had to pay for child support anyway. and then jim went to court against me, asking for a divorce and separation of property. can you believe? i made him what he is, and that’s how he thanked me.

it took us years. the little girl was born, i visited her every two months so i could take some things, you know? i loved babies. i love the idea of raising something of my own. i hoped jim would have some with a nice woman, so i could be around and pamper them like they were mine. i got cute dresses and toys for her, but then she would get out of my arms and i’d go back to screaming at her father and her mother, those fucking idiots.

the girl was three or four when jim realized he couldn’t be a father. big fucking surprise. if he was meant to be a father, god would have made me pregnant in a better moment that the one he did, you know? not to to fucking punish me. we didn’t divorce, but we got to a deal about our shared property. he came back home, spent months apologizing. i didn’t mind much. i hired a nanny i could trust and would send the woman to venus so she could come back with the girl every three months. i made him call the baby, sent pictures, would play for her. when she got older, this phase every girl goes through, she didn’t want anything to do with us anymore. couldn’t blame her, but we had nice times together. after the teenage turmoil was over, she slowly came back again. mostly talks to me. i adore her. it’s just a shame her parents are such idiots.

we had some nice, tranquil, boring years after that. jim had girlfriends, another child. this one turned 18 a few years ago. isn’t it weird how men can always have children, don’t matter the age? at least he didn’t have as many as dash.

i had girlfriends too. nowadays i date this beautiful tall woman, she is british, all grace and poise, named adeline. blonde, obviously, that’s my type. she has showed up before, she is the only helping me making those collages since brooke died, so i won’t forget history. i will die soon, so i won’t take much more of her life. she is sweet, but can be very feisty. she was born after the reunion happened, so it’s funny to me to tell her how things were, remember things in the process and see how shocked she is by everything. she’s such a sweetheart. adeline gave me some good last years.

that’s where we end. it was a pleasure to mayhem with you. hopefully, for the last time. ❞

@gllianowens

[painduringsex]

Making Love Having First Time Sex

The Initial Time In spite of the fact that having intercourse is one of the most regular of human impulses, we find it hard to discuss transparently and truly, we get humiliated at the simple notice of the word sex and in spite of the fact that we need to know more, we stay quiet about it because of a paranoid fear of culpable or humiliating others.

ALSO VISIT:-Solution To Dream Sex

For the greater part of us whenever we first really find out a little about sex is in secondary school, either in Science class or in a sexual mindfulness class.

These classes show us as teens the progressions to our bodies during pubescence and the fundamental mechanics of what to do during sex, they additionally show us, how to forestall pregnancy and physically related infection using contraception and diagram the different techniques for contraception.

It is everything these classes don't say to us that interest us most, questions that will stay unanswered until we really experience sex with an accomplice by and by.

After the classes the liars begin to creep from all over, with a wide range of cases about their sexual ability, I've laid down with xxx and it was fabulous we did various stuff and the other, blah, blah, blah.

These are individuals who make us self-conscious with ourselves and our bodies since we really accept their cases, they are having intercourse 1,000 times each week and I couldn't get a young lady to check me out. Individuals enlighten these fanciful stories concerning a pretend sexual coexistence, that cause us to have a deficient and shaky outlook on ourselves.

What's going on with me? For what reason mightn't I at any point get a young lady? What does he have that I haven't?

Do I smell? Am I monstrous? Am I excessively fat? Am I excessively tall? Am I excessively short?

The more cases they cause the more you to accept and the a greater amount of their cases that you hear the more your fearlessness wanes.

Truly the closest these folks have at any point got to a bare lady is through one of their fathers magazines concealed under his bed or in a film, the narratives they tell presumably likewise come from a similar magazine or film.

90% of the not very many secondary school understudies who have really had intercourse with an accomplice won't discuss it with anybody however the accomplice they imparted the second to. Sex is a private and individual experience between the two individuals included and discussing the involvement in others is a major no.

first-time-sex The Initial Time Losing your virginity is much of the time a major let down and it can leave you considering what was going on with all the quarrel, you move past energized and all of a sudden, it is over similarly as it was going to start.

You and your accomplice are both anxious and somewhat terrified, you are scared that you will hurt her and she is terrified of something similar, contemplations race through your head at 1,000 miles an hour and afterward acknowledgment sets in I will make it happen; finally I will engage in sexual relations, right now you lose all control of your mind and you rush everything and the second you lost your virginity is over in a flash.

The initial time is intended to be exceptional however it is frequently ruined, in light of the fact that we are by all accounts in an extraordinary rush we get so energized that we are really going to engage in sexual relations that we overdo it with it.

Make it that extraordinary second you envisioned about To cause the initial time as unique as you to have for practically forever needed it or imagined it to be, you want to gain proficiency with a little poise, begin with delicate kissing and stroking, take as much time as is needed, sex isn't just about intercourse, investigate your accomplices body with your fingers and lips find out where your accomplice likes to be contacted or kissed, take as much time as necessary be delicate and be in no rush, you will both know when it is the ideal opportunity for intercourse to start.

Again I can't pressure sufficient attempt to be loose and take as much time as is needed, hold back your energy and you will have an extraordinary memory of your most memorable time that will last you until the end of your life.

Sex is generally a growth opportunity as well as a pleasurable one the more you find out about your accomplices different preferences previously, during and after sex the better your sexual coexistence will turn into.

Masturbation Masturbation is a characteristic method of self-pleasuring, it shows you where you like being contacted and how much strain you ought to apply for most extreme delight, it likewise shows you how to control discharge, which is a major upside and assists with expanding the joy of a sound sexual relationship.

Safe sex I'm an extraordinary devotee to safe sex, if it's not too much trouble, kindly, if it's not too much trouble, utilize a condom not exclusively will it forestall any little shocks 9 months after the fact, a condom will likewise shield you from physically communicated illnesses and Helps.

Significant Since a young lady likes you doesn't imply that she needs to hop into bed with you in the event that she expresses no whenever, the time has come to stop what you are doing.

On the off chance that she isn't prepared at this point, don't be irate with her and extend her some regard and understanding, don't attempt to pressure her in to it when she is prepared she will tell you.

Remarks Beauty on August 09, 2016:

I genuinely heard ur exhorts and thank you kindly yet iam truly confounded about engaging in sexual relations with him while he will get hitched to another person

LaZeric Freeman from Hammond on April 10, 2014:

Fascinating center point. Gratitude for imparting your insight. Sex is a particularly supernatural, mysterious thing, regardless of how you view it. I suppose that is the reason the youthful grown-ups in my fiction are continuously being overwhelmed with it.

Stand by… on November 15, 2011:

I'm 14 years of age and I found your center very helpful…thanks jimmy. I had moved toward engaging in sexual relations with this genuine pleasant person I know yet presently I relize I shouldn't and that I ought to wait…and that I was thoroughly crazy to try and figure I ought to. it simply isn't worth it…so thanks jimmy. u just gave me that little push to saying…no. :D

magnificent center point.

I feel that this is truly utilize full data for us youngsters. Well im in the eighth grade nd well wat folks for the most part ponder is engaging in sexual relations mind each young lady they see. Nd well we can truly utilize this tips cuz well I realize discussing sex is a major no except for well our folks have the problem for not conversing with us about it.Nd well jimmy extraordinary center.

[o3o-aya]

Kokushibou slowly falling in love with human s/o so he does everything in his power for them to look his way and in the end s/o eventually falls in love with kokushibou and live happily ever after

hiiii Nannaaaa!!! :D

When he first saw you, you were turning the lantern on outside after the sun set.

He didn’t think much of it... You were just a normal human that he couldn’t care less about dealing with.

But everywhere he went he swore he saw your face everywhere.

He didn’t know why some normal human he saw one night was plaguing his thoughts.

He had to see you again...

So he went back and there you were...

You were obviously with your mother, and you were struggling to carry what was in your hands...

You needed help..

He hid four of his eyes before quickly taking it from your hands.

“Please... Allow me...” He said softly.

You paused as you looked at him.

Something was.. Odd about him...

“Oh what a nice young man! Don’t you think so [Name]?” Your mother asked as she looked over at you.

You blinked before you smiled softly. “Thank you..” You said softly as you bowed your head.

Kokushibo took in your features... You looked better up close...

Everything about you was absolutely perfect...

Your [hair type] hair...

Your [eye color] eyes that seem to hold the stars in them...

And he couldn’t stay away...

~~~~~~~

He kept coming over, he was debating if he should eat you... Or take you all for himself...

But you looked so happy here....

He couldn’t bare thinking about the sad face you would make when he took you away.

So he let you be...

But he studied the ways of romancing someone in this world.

He needed you .

Perhaps one day he could turn you into a demon, so that the two of you may be together for eternity.

He gave you flowers, candy, clothes, jewelry, anything he could think of!

But you couldn’t get his hints...

No matter how hard he tried...

And it was annoying.

~~~~~~~

“You should start thinking of marriage.” Your father told you.

“Marriage? How come?” You asked as you tilted your head.

“Well my dear... You’re already twenty...Oh! What about that nice man that visits you!” Your mother said as she clapped her hands.

“Man!? What man?” Your father quickly asked.

“Oh! He’s such a handsome young man, he drops off so many gifts, oh! Even the outfit they have on right now!” Your mother said happily as your father contemplated. 

“Hm...” Your father said as you rolled your eyes and walked away.

~~~~~~~

You wondered when he was showing up.. You wanted to see him... 

Why...?

You thought he was nice before... Why did you just want him to show up?

You shook it off before you smiled softly at the memory of him giving you a flower.

He did it so stoically as well.

You couldn’t help but laugh, yet you blushed.

He was so nice to you....

Why did you feel fuzzy all over?

~~~~~~~

Kokushibo sighed softly as he began to hide his four eyes.

It was starting to began annoying...

He didn’t want to have to hide this forever...

He’d woo you first, then he’d tell you!

That sounded like a plan...

He didn’t want to keep this hidden for long. He looked up as he arrived at your house before he turned his head towards where you were.

Ah... There you were, your meeting place!

He walked over to you before his eyes widened as you hugged him.

You were adorable...

He smiled a bit as he watched you ramble on.

Speaking about your day, what trouble your younger siblings did...

Everything about you was just so perfect...

He placed his hand on your head which stopped your speaking.

“I have... A confession...” Kokushibo said softly.

You tilted your head as you hummed. “Yeah?” You asked.

He stared at you before he cupped your face and kissed you softly.

Your eyes widened a bit before you slowly kissed back.

Huh... Now you knew why you were so excited to see him...

You loved him.

~~~~~~~

Tags: @strangerdangerduh @paradox-the-unimpressed-nun @giornosrightboob @awalkingshame

[potionpeddlerpatchy]

Patchy my love! I am in need of one of your potions for Katsuki Bakugou if you please.

Oh darling Meg, I do hope you did not travel far! I know visiting me is quite the chore all on its own - and I certainly appreciate you taking the do all of this for me.

Please stay awhile, I would love to hear all about what is new and happening with you. And, do not fret, afterwards I can help you deal with your little problem. Now, what kind of tea would you like?

Infatuation had nothing to do with.

At least not at first; that was what you kept telling yourself ever single time your mind started to wander, startled to slip into thinking about the village baker.

It was purely because he was the best around, the best you have ever found; is what you would argue with yourself as you would buy yet another loaf of bread from him; needing it to get through the week. It was purely because you wanted to know the shop was doing well, is what you would reason as you walked along the cobblestone path every morning to purposefully pass his shop. It was because you had a long day and needed some respite, is what your rationale would be whenever you would indulge in some of the rolls and stew he had available for your aching body was too tired to make your own dinner.

It had nothing to do with attraction. Just simply you being provided a service you needed and that was all.

But soon even you couldn’t deny how ridiculous it all was. How many coins you were spending simply due to an infatuation you had over the baker. Though gruff and almost unapproachable, could tell Bakugou had a passion for what he did; never turned a customer away over anything trivial - if they needed bread, he would provide them with it.

And he was handsome, one of the most beautiful men you had ever laid eyes on. And perhaps maybe, possibly, that was the reason you kept coming back over and over again; for you just wanted another peak at him. Wanted another chance to see his smirk, or to hear him thank you for your purchase, or slyly watch him as he kneaded dough

Whatever the case may be, you knew you couldn’t do it forever. Not only was it behaviour that skirted the line of appropriate, you knew one day he would catch on and confront you of it.  And rather waiting for that inevitability to come beating you down, you would rather beat it, and him, to the punch. 

You asked around, to trusted shopkeeps, to see if they had any advice or knew of someone, to help you with your slight predicament and they all pointed you in the direction of a small, almost rundown, little cabin that sat just outside of town; surrounded by overgrown bush.

Though the exterior seemed to waver your confidence, you knew that to judge sole on appearance would be a mistake; and with your resolved renewed you marched over to the little shop ready for a cure to your ‘ailment’

You didn’t even need to knock, the door opening on it’s own when you approached, as if already waiting for you; yet no one was inside. Instead you were greeted with a note, on a large table that sat right in front of you; attached was a vial, of intricate and beautiful design, that contained a dark liquid

Dear Traveler,

I do apologize for not being there to provide you with the proper aide you desire in your time of need; for other matters required my presence promptly - and I could not find it in my heart to say no.

Attached to my note it a potion you can use to help with your predicament; I suggest you mix it into whatever tea, or bake into whatever dessert, you wish to give to the man of your desires. 

You should not worry of any horrid effects befalling onto him or you.

The Peddler.

You read the note again, and then a third time, all while thumbing the vial you were presented; contemplating her words and the subsequent actions that would unfold should you decide to use her potion.

It was a long trek back to your home, followed by a sleepless night, as your mind raced with all the possibilities that could unfold. Fighting between your moralities about whether or not you should trick him into ingesting a potion you yourself have no clue about; the note claims no horrible thing would befall either of you, but what effects did it have?

Though you were only human, and temptation was a mistress that could persuade even the strongest of minds; including your own. And so, you spent the next day within your kitchen, carefully crafting small heart shaped chocolates you would present to him; the best use of the potion that you could come up with - for he only ate one he would not be as effected as if he drank it all within a tea.

You wrapped each one carefully, placing them in a beautifully crafted box, one you meticulously decorated in the colours that adorned his shop, and tied it all together with a bow. The perfect little present, on you, hoped Bakugou would accept.

With unsure steps you made your way down that same cobble stone path, almost as if you had never walked it before, as you slowly made your way to that familiar bakery. The door was open when you arrived, a kind patron holding it open for you with a smile, leaving you no choice to back down and turn away as you took a deep breathe and stepped forward into the shop.

You were the only one there, you could thank the gods for that, as you heard his gruff voice asking you want you wanted; watching dumbfoundedly for a moment as he started to prepare and gather for you the items you normally got.

“A-actually, I didn’t want anything.” You stumbled out, voice a little rushed as you approached the receiving counter “I wanted to give you this instead.”

You carefully placed you present upon the counter, sliding it towards him every so slightly, before taking a step back; hands fidgeting as you waited for him to take it; legs twitching as your tired desperately not to run away.

You could tell he wanted to ask you what it was, the expression on his face clear he was confused by your action, but nonetheless he carefully opened you present; not wanting to tear or break it. Those little gestures made your heart flutter in hope as you anxiously waited for his reaction. His quiet ‘oh’ made you anxiety grow as he started down at your gift; not sure whether or not he liked it

“Can I have one?” He finally mumbled out after the a few agonizing moments of silence; fingers reaching out for a small pink heart that sat in the middle of the box.

“Y-yes of course!” You chimed, a smile small gracing your face “They are yours after all, I just hope you like them.”

You waited with baited breathe as he slowly brought the chocolate to his lips, watching as he chewed on it with a furrowed brows as he assessed your creation; licking his lips once he had finished.

And for a moment you didn’t know what to expect. You weren’t sure if the potion would work, and if so how, or if he would just shrug his shoulders and send you on your merry way. Whatever it was, you were not expecting the small smile to stretch across his face.

“These are really good, thank you” His smile widened at your surprise stare as he popped another chocolate into his mouth. “Uh, wait here, I have something for you too.”

You merely nodded, still stunned in place at the fact he finally smiled at you; and so brightly too. Your own incredulous smile graced your lips as you breathed out an airy laugh, waiting for his return.

“Here.” He mumbled handing you a small booklet for you to take, as blush dusted his face and eyes adverted yours.

“Is this….” You began, eying the contents of the paper, noting it was an invitation to a grand celebration within a weeks time “Are you asking me to go with you to this?”

“Yeah…” he shrugged, doing his best to not seem nervous “Been wanting to for a while now. You don’t have to though, I know these things are lame and whatever, but if you do wan-!”

“I’d love to!’ You interrupted, a giant smile plastered on your face, one he mirrored, as you held the invitation to your chest

“Then it’s a date.”

I should probably let you know now, I think I might have gotten my vials switched up and accidentally gave you merely a small sample of vanilla extract.

Though, lucky for you, things seemed to work out fine ;)

[heizenka]

⚘ Steve Harrington x f!reader

𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

— content warnings: potential spoilers, Y/N being a bit of a bitch, no happy ending, mentions of toxic relationship, use of the word slut, bullying

— word count: 4.1k

School was my least favorite place to be at the moment. Ever since me and Billy Hargrove broke up, everything seemed to go by slower than usual.

I now missed how during lessons Billy would always find a way to leave his class and visit me in mine, whether it be just standing in the doorway, or telling the teacher that I was needed somewhere else.

I just wanted to know when our relationship started to turn bitter, when our conversations would always turn into fights, and our dates would end in one of us leaving the other.

I glanced at the door, hoping that he would be there, that there was a chance for us to make things right with each other.

Hope sparked in my chest when I met a pair of brown eyes in the doorway, he came back! A small smile formed on my lips but quickly fell into a frown after seeing who it was.

Steve Harrington

He stood by the door awkwardly, a small smile pulled up on his face as he looked at me. My brows furrowed, why would he be here? I looked around trying to see if he were here for someone else in the class.

Ah, of course. My eyes now looked at the back of Nancy Wheeler's head. He was here for her.

A slight chuckle escaped my lips, I felt bad for the lovesick boy. It was clear as day that he was still in love with her, and that he never fully grasped the fact that they were no longer together.

I looked back at Steve, only to find that his eyes were still on me? My eyebrows pulled together, 'why are you here?' I mouthed to him, hoping he could understand what I was asking.

He looked confused for a second before replying 'I need to talk to you.'

I contemplated what he said for a moment, should I even bother? I looked at Nancy, who sat in front of me, wondering if it had something to do with her.

I was thinking of saying no, but my curiosity got the best of me, 'okay.' his brows lifted a little before he gave me a small thumbs up and left.

After what seemed like forever the bell rang, luckily it was my lunch period now, so I wouldn't have to make an excuse for the teacher as to why I would have missed class.

I packed all my notes and papers in my bag before I zipped it up and swung it over one shoulder. I made my way through the maze of students and desks till I was finally out of the door.

I looked around for Steve but he was nowhere to be found, and the only problem was; he didn't give me a place to meet him.

I looked around once more, until I shrugged and started to walk to the lunch room. but before I got the chance I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I looked over my shoulder, the first thing I saw were his light brown curls and usual denim jacket. I wanted to ask him what happened to us, I had so many questions for him. But I decided against it, knowing I probably wouldn't like the answer.

"So, you though Harrington would be the best way to get over me." A smirk played on his lips, but his eyes showed otherwise, they looked filled with... regret? Or even anger?

I swallowed, "what do you mean Billy? I barely even talk to him."

He inhaled a sharp breath before speaking once more, "then why was he outside of your class? Why was he doing exactly what I used to do?"

I pulled my eyebrows together, looking down. I didn't know what to say, I could try to tell him that we weren't doing anything, but I knew that he would think I'm lying.

"Hey-" His hand grabbed my chin and made me look at him, his touch was soft, gentle. "Look at me when I talk to you." His voice was just as comforting as his touch.

I felt like melting, "Billy, it wasn't at all what it looked like. He just said he wanted to talk after class." I looked away once more, my chest hurt, I just wanted things to go back to the way they were. I didn't want Steve- I wanted him. I wanted him back

We both stayed quiet for a while, the only sounds came from the students surrounding us in the hallway, reminding me that we weren't alone. I looked up, but this time I didn't look at Billy I looked at the students around us.

Many people looked at us as they passed, suddenly making me feel like all eyes were on us. I quickly took a step away from Billy, not wanting people to look at us any longer.

For a second it felt like Billy's heart had been shot with an arrow, an arrow that they'd shot. The only reason he saw Steve standing outside of your classroom was because he was there to do the same thing, he was hoping that he could pull you out of class like he used to do, and finally talk to you.

Billy wanted you back. And if Steve was going to be in his way, then he needed to know.

"Sorry, but I've gotta go." You walked away from Billy before he got the chance to reply. He turned around, watching you leave, just as he had the day he decided to break things off with you.

When I walked away from Billy I didn't know what to do. I knew that he wanted me to stay away from Steve (even though he hadn't actually said it) but I wanted to know what Steve wanted to talk to me about.

I decided on walking down to the cafeteria to get a drink before my next class, as I walked down the staircase I saw Steve leaning against the wall at the bottom.

Steve looked up once he heard someone coming down the stairs, hoping it was Y/N. And to his surprise it was.

"I was wondering if you would actually show up." He scratched the back of his neck, not knowing how to start the conversation.

"I ran into an old friend in the hall, we talked for a bit." Y/N's answer was short and blunt, only making this more difficult for Steve.

"Cool, cool. So, uh- I have a favor to ask you?" He said, he was obviously nervous about what he was asking for.

"you have a favor to ask? Or you have a favor to ask." I was messing with him. He was silent for a moment, trying to understand what she just said, "look I'm just messing with you. What do you need?"

He let out a breathy laugh before deciding to finally get to the point, "So before I start I just wanna say that you can say no to this, I get it if you think it's weird-" He was rambling, so I decided to try and hurry him up, "just get to the point."

"Will you go out with me?"

I froze. Wasn't he just dating Nancy? Doesn't he know I just recently broke up with Billy?

I must've clearly looked confused and concerned because Steve spoke up once more, "I mean like, fake date? I get that it sounds weird, but it would benefit both of us."

"How exactly would this help either of us" I was incredibly skeptical of this idea, he must have had some sort of ulterior motive, right?

"Well I know you and Billy broke up a while ago, and me and Nance recently did to. So I was thinking we could act like we got together and try to make them jealous." I only blinked in response.

"Wouldn't this only make things worse? I mean Billy hates you, so he would only hate me for getting with you because he knows that I know that he hates you. You know?" Now I was the one rambling, but it was only because I didn't quite know how to respond to him, he wasn't joking when he said this was a weird favor.

"I mean there's only one way to find out." He simply shrugged his shoulders to my question.

I was about to answer, but a student suddenly came charging down the staircase. I moved out of he way, "excuse you!" I shouted after the boy.

"Maybe we should talk about this after school so we have less, interruptions." Steve suggested, I was silent for a moment wondering if this was a good idea.

"Alright, but we're going somewhere where we won't be seen by people from school, okay?"

He smiled as he spoke, "deal."

The chilly wind nipped at my face as I walked towards the empty park, we'd both agreed that this was a good spot to talk considering it was the middle of winter and no one would want to be outside in the cold.

I looked around for a bench that I could sit on while I waited, but I spotted something better, the swing-set. I smiled before I walked over a took a seat on one of the swings, the metal chains holding the swing were cold to the touch as I held on and gently swung back and fourth.

"Having fun?" I looked towards the voice, it was Steve.

"Yeah, didn't you know winter is the best time to come to the playground, because then you don't have to wait." I grinned at the boy. He smiled in response.

"Well, we should get down to business." He spoke as he took a seat on the swing next to mine.

"First off if were going to do this, I need you to agree to one thing."

"Sure, what is it?"

"This ends the second one of us says so, it doesn't matter if it worked or not, if either of us want an out then it over." I spoke, giving him no room to argue.

"Alright, anything else?" He asked.

"That's all for me, do you have anything?"

"Nope, if that's it then I think we're ready to start the mission." He smiled, did he really not have anything to add?

"Okay, but we need to make it believable, we can't just announce we're dating it'll seem too out of the blue."

"Right, well what if we go somewhere where we'll be seen together, then we can let the rumors and such take it from there?" That wasn't a half bad plan, but the only downside was the risk of the wrong idea being spread.

But whats life without a little risk?

"Okay, and how about you give me rides to and from school?" I suggested, knowing this one would mainly benefit me.

"Why? Because you don't have a personal driver anymore?" He was talking about Billy.

"Yup. You cool with that?"

"Works for me."

It became quiet, but it wasn't a weird quiet, it was comfortable. The only sounds surrounding us were the squeaking on the swing chains and the birds in the trees.

Maybe I could get used to this.

"So, what's our story gonna be?" Steve asked before he took a sip of his coffee.

After our meet up in the park we decided it was a good idea to start ass soon as possible, so we came to one of the more popular cafe's in Hawkins.

"What do you mean 'story'?"

"I mean, how did we start talking? Who asked who out, you know, the basics." He stated as if he was used to this.

"Uh, I don't know. How about you decide since you seem to be familiar with this kind of stuff." I joked, Steve stiffened.

A small chuckle left my lips at his nervousness.

"Well how about this; after Nance broke up with me, you saw that I wasn't handling it too well and decided to help me through it, considering you were in a similar situation recently with Billy. One thing led to another, I asked you out, and we start dating." He made that entire story up surprisingly fast, especially considering I out him on the spot.

"Wow, have you been thinking out this for a while?" I laughed at the brunette.

He smiled, "Well it's better to be prepared than risk getting caught," I almost didn't catch what he was saying because I was looking at his smile. It was such a genuine smile, it had caught me off guard.

I stared at him for a moment before catching myself, I couldn't be doing this, I wanted Billy, and Steve wanted Nancy. We could never work, especially if we were in a real relationship.

"Well Harrington, we'll stick to your story, and see where everything goes from there." I gave him a small smile, "I have to go, I gotta catch up on some work for Chemistry."

"Oh, why don't I drive you home." He quickly stood up.

"I'd like that, especially considering it'd be a 4 mile walk to my house."

I grabbed my bag and opened it up, digging for my wallet to pay for the bill. But just as I had found it, Steve was walking up to the register with a 10$ bill in hand.

"Steve-," I started but was interrupted when the woman took his money, simply handing him the change and receipt once she was done.

I stood still for a moment before putting my wallet back in the bag, and walked over to stand by Steve, "You know you didn't have to pay right?"

"Well it's the right thing to do considering you are my girlfriend." He grinned at me before holding the glass door open for me, I rolled my eyes before walking out to the car.

He stuck the key in the car door, unlocking his door than mine. I quickly opened the door, wanting to get out of the cold as soon as possible.

"What's your address?" Steve asked me as he buckled his seat belt and re-adjusted his rear view mirror.

"436 Cornwallis Street." Steve stopped what he was doing and looked at me, "what?" I simply asked, as I buckled my seat belt.

"No way, we live on the same street? And I never noticed you?" He asked, clearly shocked by the new information.

"Yeah?" I furrowed my eyes, it's not like this was a big deal.

"What a small world." He mumbled to himself as he started the car.

The drive was quiet, the one sound was the soft roar of the car engine, and the car radio.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

I groaned, as I slowly opened my eyes to turn my alarm off and get ready for the long day ahead of me.

I first ventured to the bathroom, brushing my teeth and hair before I returned to my room and picked out a pair of jeans and a warm sweater.

"Y/N, there's a boy here for you!" My mother shouted from the kitchen.

A boy? who would bet here this early in the-. I stopped my thought before I could finish. Steve. Of course, how could I forget the deal that I made with his this fast.

I grabbed the backpack and swung it over one shoulder as I walked down the stairs. I was greeted with my mom sitting at the kitchen table chatting with Steve over a cup of coffee.

I coughed, grabbing their attention.

Steve looked over and smiled as he set his coffee on the table, "Hey babe, you look good today."

My body tensed up as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder, he must've noticed this because he turned it into a quick hug rather than holding onto to me for a while.

"Thanks."

Steve furrowed his eyebrows, confused as to why she was acting like this when just yesterday everything seemed fine.

"Y/N, are you going to introduce me to this young man?" My mother asked, leaving me no room to say no.

"This is Steve, my boyfriend." She gave us a bright smile.

"How come I'm only hearing about him now? Oh I have a few questions." I cut he off before she could ask of of them.

"Well we have to get to school, I'll see you later?"

"Sorry hun, I have a late shift, but I'll see you tomorrow," she hugged me and kissed my forehead, "I love you hun, be safe."

I nudged Steve's arm and started to walk out of the door, not waiting to see if he was behind me.

"Hey are you okay? He asked me as he unlocked his door, then mine.

I opened the car door and got in, "Yeah I'm fine. But we should get going before we're late." I added in, hoping to change the topic

"Y/N, what's up with you? You were fine with this yesterday, now your acting all freaked out." He ignored my comment, continuing to push fro an answer.

I sighed, "Steve, we're not actually together so you don't need to know every detail in my life, okay?"

His face fell as he looked at me, I swear I saw hurt flash in his eyes for a moment, but just as soon as it came, it was gone. I turned my head towards the window, hoping that he would finally give up.

He did.

The rest of the car ride was quiet, this time it was am awkward quiet unlike last time at the park.

When finally got to school Steve parked in his usual spot, but neither of us made any attempt to get out of the car.

"So, are you sure you wanna actually do this?" Steve asked, genuinely wondering if she had decided to back out of their deal.

"Yeah, Let's just make sure it's believable, especially for Billy, he has a sense of knowing when I'm lying." I cracked a small smile hoping to lighten the conversation.

He smiled back, "Of course." but something was off, his eyes told a different story, but I decided it was best to just leave it alone.

2 WEEKS LATER - HAWKINS HIGH SCHOOL

As we walked though the hallways, Steve's arm around my shoulders, I heard whispers of our names. But there was only one person that I cared about at the moment, and I was looking right at him.

Billy.

He was leaning against the lockers, talking to Tommy and Carol. I've never particularly liked either of them because for the way they treated others, including their friends.

Their conversation suddenly stopped when Carol's eyes found mine and a big grin pulled onto her face.

"Well well Y/N, you seem to be the only person people have been talking about recently, well, you and Steve." Her voice was loud as she spoke, attracting the attentions of students in the hallway.

"Carol, stop." My voice was low, I truly didn't want to deal with her at the moment, especially when Billy was less then 5 feet away.

"Why?" She taunted me, but then she saw where I was looking, "Oh, well about that."

"Carol-" Steve attempted to get her to stop, but it was useless considering they only seemed to worship Billy now.

"Still not over Billy Y/N? Oh, who am I kidding, you probably don't care, especially with you being the slut you are."

"Carol, what the hell is wrong with you-" Steve started defending me but his voice was drowned out by the students who now surrounding us and whispering to each other.

My body felt cold, what am I supposed to do in this situation? Run? Fight? Or maybe, just stay quiet and walk away.

I looked at Billy, hoping to find an answer, hoping he would help me find a way out.

He had remained in the same spot that he was in when we first walked in, but his fists were clenched, and his jaw looked tight. I just wanted him to come over and pull me into his arms, to hold me tight and hide me from the world.

I was pulled back to a semblance of reality by Steve, he had one hand on my shoulder as he stood in front of me. His face was so close to mine as he spoke to me in a soft voice.

"Hey, let's go. The longer you stay here the worse it gets, trust me." His eyes held sadness, I wasn't sure if it was for me or himself though.

I let him gently guide me through the hallways, and thousands of thoughts were running through my head as Steve held on to my arm and looked for a place where we could get away from the people around us.

I was snapped back in to reality by someone lightly shaking my shoulder. Looking over, I saw Steve, "Are you okay..?" He seemed nervous when he asked the question.

We were in an empty classroom. The teacher must've had lunch this period.

"I'm fine, though I'm a little aggravated because you 'little plan', isn't working. If anything it's making things worse." I was angry.

I was angry at Steve, Carol, Tommy, hell even Billy.

None of this would be happening if he would have just talked to me, but instead of trying to fix us, he destroyed us.

Steve brows furrowed, "You can't pin all of this on me. You agreed to this too." He pointed at me, making sure he point would get through.

"Right, of course. God forbid that the great king Steve does anything wrong." I scoffed and looked away from the boy.

"We're not talking about me. We're talking about you because I can tell that there's something going one, you just need to talk to me." His voice was filled with what seemed like... desperation?

"Of course there's something wrong Steve! I lost the only person that ever gave a fuck about me, and now I have to pretend I'm in love with you to get him back! But it's only making things worse, and I'm never going to get him back." My voice had turned in to sobs the more I talked.

Tears slowly fell down my face at the thought of Billy. I missed the way his arms felt like home, or the way he brought color to my dull world.

Steve's heart broke a little as he watched the girl in front of him fall apart. All he wanted to do was pull her in to his arms, make all of her pain go away. But he knew there was only one person who could help her, and that wasn't him.

For now he would have to watch and hope that as time went on she would forget Billy, and start to look at him. She would see that he was waiting for her with open arms, and he would go to any lengths for her.

But until the time came he'd wait for her, no matter how long it may take.

"Y/N, he's not the only person that cares about you." His voice was gentle, soothing almost.

"He is. So don't talk about me as if you know anything about me, because before this week we never even spoke to each other." I wiped my eyes as I spoke.

He didn't reply, he merely looked down at his feet. I felt bad for him now that I thought about what I've said to him. Even though this was strictly a deal meant to benefit the both of us, he still looked out for me.

Neither of us spoke.

"I think... maybe... it's time for us to end this." Steve's eyes shot up to meet mine.

"Hold on- Y/N think about what you're saying right now." His voice was rushed, as if he thought that if he didn't talk now, then he wouldn't have another chance to.

"I'm sorry Steve, this just isn't working. It's only making things worse between me and Billy, and I haven't seen you talk to Nancy in weeks."

Yeah, but-" He tried to defend his case, but I interrupted him before he got the chance.

"I said no Steve." I looked at him one last time before walking out the the classroom.

copyright 2021 heizenka, all rights reserved. I do not allow my creations to be published of translated anywhere else so please do not repost.

[sharkjana]

Hiii! I was wondering if you could do fluff 44 with a naruto character? Like naruto or kiba. Thanks

🌸 "Can you stay? I don't want to be alone..."🌸

A/N: Your wish is my command! This is actually the first time I'm going to write Fluff. I hope you like it! :> Although I'm not that confidant in my Fluff skills...

Warnings: ...maybe angsty at first? This is my first time trying out Fluff, I am so sorry if I didn't do it right. T.T

Worrying your lower lip between your teeth, you tried to will the harsh beating of your heart back into a more regulated pace. Your fingers tightly clenched into trembling fists as you tried to muster up the strength to enter the hospital room in front of you. You gulped.

It wasn't supposed to be this hard to visit one of your teammates after coming home from a mission and yet here you stood, not knowing what to do with yourself as you turned into a nervous, scared puddle.

(You didn't know what to expect. You just heard that his team was back and got immediately rushed to the hospital.)

And now here you were. Not knowing what to do. Should you enter? Should you stay outside? Why were you even nervous in the first place?

(And although your heart knew the reason, you ignored it. It was forbidden to feel certain emotions towards your ANBU captain, after all.)

(Wow. Look at you. 👀)

"Fuck off..." you hissed at yourself, willing your rigid legs to move. For your fingers to clasp around the metal bar and to push the door open. No one would judge you for paying your dear captain a visit, right? It's not like you-

"Huh? (Y/N)-san?"

You froze the moment the soft and meek voice of none other then Hinata Hyuuga reached your ears, immediately, you straightened yourself and bowed. "H- Hyuuga-sama!"

You cursed at the sudden heat that rose up your face.

The Hyuuga eyed you for a moment, cocking her head to the side as her kind, pale eyes ran up and down your form in a contemplative manner. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on a mission right now? Kiba-kun-"

You blinked up into her awaiting gaze. "Uh, yeah. But-" you cleared your throat and schooled your features into a more natural expression. "I finished up a little early, Hyuuga-sama."

Hinata hummed in response, her lips twitching into a kind and soft smile. "I see, so I guess you're here for...?"

You nodded. "Yes. I heard that Inuzuka-taichou came back and-" you averted your gaze. "I just wanted to see how he's doing."

You didn't see the teasing glint in Hinata's eyes. "Is that so?"

You nodded. "Hai."

"Well then!" Exclaimed the Hyuuga matriarch, far to energetic in your opinion. "Don't let me stop you from checking up on your dear Captain!" She threw you one last, suggestive smirk before moving out of the way and down the white halls of Konoha's hospital.

You waited until her footsteps receded into nothing before taking a deep breath and pushing the door open.

(Finally.)

Only then did you notice the animated voices that greeted you upon entry, and you faltered in your steps as your eyes roamed over the many faces inside the room. You hoped that no one had noticed, but all eyes had turned towards you the moment you swung the door open.

Inwardly, you sighed. A small, selfish part of you hoped to be alone with him.

"A- Ano..." Your hand went up into a wave. " I hope I'm not intruding? I just wanted to see how Taichou's doing..."

Shino, another one of your Captains long-time friends, spoke up after a moment, clearing his throat. "It's fine, (Y/N)-San. You can come in if you want."

You hummed, inclining your head. "Thank you, Aburame-sama."

"What's this? I didn't know you had such devoted students Kiba-kun! May the youth be with you forever, my dear friend!"

You threw him a dry look, which went ignored.

"Wait! You're that girl that Ki-" came the eccentric voice of none other than the Uzumaki himself as he was unceremoniously interrupted by none other than one of his own, old teammates.

"Shut up you idiot! How many times do I need to tell you that this is a hospital! Don't be so loud!" Sakura Haruno turned towards you after a moment, sighing in defeat and throwing you a small, apologetic smile.

"How troublesome..." Muttered another as he let himself lean against the windowsill.

The Uzumaki and the Head-Medic were still bickering around when Lee began to enthusiastically cry about how youthfulness ran through everyone's veins now-a-days. Shino decided to stay silent. Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

But you couldn't care any less about them as your searching orbs roamed through the room until, finally, landing on the one they had wanted to see all day long. And as they did, you couldn't help but frown.

Something was wrong. Something definitely didn't feel right. At first glance, there didn't seem anything wrong with him other then ruffled clothes and some small band-aid's here and there.

(You knew better. There was a reason why you felt the way you did towards him, after all.)

(Although no one seemed to suspect anything at all.)

You ignored the others in an attempt to analyse what seemed to be so wrong and out of place about your beloved Captain.

(He noticed your inquisitive glance immediately, but did nothing to stop it. Although he didn't look like it, he felt like shit.)

It was only after one of your Captain's friends off-handedly mentioned a certain, missing canine and Kiba's slumped shoulders and dejected expression, that you had gotten your anwser.

Akamaru wasn't here.

And if he wasn't, something must have happened. He was the only animal that was allowed inside the hospital wing, after all.

As if reading your thoughts, it was Shikamaru that had decided to tell you what had happened, seeing as this would also be of interest to you and for the rest of your team. "Akamaru got hurt." were his only words, and yet they held so much more meaning...

At least to you.

(And Kiba.)

You moved forwards, hurried and rushed, for a split second forgetting about all the other individuals inside the room, but you caught yourself.

(Sadly, it didn't go unnoticed by one special Nara.)

"Oh..." was your meek reply, unsure of how to continue.

You knew how your Captain must be feeling right now. Akamaru was Kiba's best friend. His life-long companion and his all-or-nothing. You were sure that without Akamaru, there was no Kiba and vice versa.

Not knowing how his other half was doing must be driving him crazy, you thought bitterly. Scared and vulnerable. Was he hurt? Is he going to survive? Is it bad?

The utter helplessness your dear Captain must be feeling right now...

It was visible in the way his broken gaze turned glassy and hazy with stressed and unshed tears. His mind probably wandering back to the moment it had happened. Cursing himself. Blaming himself.

"How about we give the both of them some privacy, hm?" suggested Shikamaru to the others, his knowing eyes jumping between yourself and the Inuzuka heir. "I heard there's this new BBQ place just around the corner..."

He was the first to step towards the door, passing you without any indication of whatsoever, knowing that the others would automatically follow. And they did. Naruto, Lee and Shino were already talking about what that new BBQ place had to offer. Sakura rolled her eyes, bid Kiba a good bye and a, "I'll be back later, okay?", before following short.

And after a moment, it was only you and him. Finally.

"Taichou..." you gulped as you waited another few moments, making sure the air was clear before making your way over towards his side. Kiba on the other hand didn't react to your voice and only stared at the white fabric of his duvet.

"Kiba..." you tried again, this time using his first name out front. "Please, talk to me-"

"It's my fault." His voice was as cold and steely as a newly sharpened Kunai, cutting right through you. "I wasn't looking and before I knew it, they-" he chocked back what would have been a desperate sob. "They had him and-" vigorously shaking his head as if to rid himself of this memory, you watched his fists clenching the white fabric tightly between his fingers. "I couldn't- I couldn't do anything!"

"Oh, Kiba..." you mumbled, ignoring the sudden sting of your eyes as you moved towards him and pulled him into your awaiting arms. As if possessed, his arms wound themselves automatically around you, desperately trying to hold on to something that wasn't the sight of his best friend being impaled by many sharp and lethal weapons.

And as he cried and sobbed and wailed and trembled, you couldn't help but pull him into you further. Your scents moving and mixing with each other. Your heartbeats trying to catch up to each other. Comforting. Giving him a shoulder to cry on. Being there for him.

"It's okay..." you mumbled into his soft locks. "He's home now and he's gonna get better. I promise..." Your hand showing him that he was safe in your arms by stroking through his wild mane.

(Like he always would be. You would make sure of it!)

And although your legs began to ache, your arms began to feel heavy and your back felt uncomfortable in the position you were currently resting in, you couldn't help but to ignore it. Even if it would take you a lifetime to make him feel any better, you would sit right through it.

(For him. Only for him.)

You don't know how many minutes have passed, to you it felt like hours, but soon, his sobbs got softer, his trembling slower and his breathing and heartbeat finally turned intune with your own.

The both of you stayed like this. No one dared to say or do anything. And as his sadness and anguish finally turned into nothing more but whispered sniffles, you could finally relax.

As you tried to move, though, the arms that held you, viciously tightened. You frowned. "Kiba?"

"Please..." he nuzzled deeper into the crook of your neck, right where it met your shoulder, inhaling a deep, shaky breath that shook his whole body.

"Can you stay? I don't want to be alone right now."

And you did.

(Like you always would.)

[tendouluvr]

aizawa calling you clingy - gn reader

- [attempt at] angst to fluff

- warnings: being called clingy, aizawa gets annoyed with reader and berates them, one use of the word ‘shit’

- wc: 1.9k

a/n: this wasnt......as sad as i wanted... i cant tell if im just not so good at writing angst or immune to it T_T

once again, not edited!

#! aizawa!!!! eee

#! hes a levelheaded man so arguments are rare

#! u both trust one another so theres no reason to have doubts in ur relationship

#! being his s/o, he tells u things thats not so easy to tell others over time, and you’re patient enough to let him take however much time he needs to let u in

#! however, years of keeping to himself most of the time doesnt just disappear even if you’re his s/o

#! so aizawa does have this tendency to close off and distance himself from u bc of his stress and insecurities

walking through the spacious halls of ua, you were headed towards your lovely boyfriend. aizawas been pretty busy lately with teaching his class, making sure no one is being left behind progress wise, doing his job as a pro-hero, and then spending his free time training with shinsou.

you knew showing up at school unexpectedly was something aizawa found irky, that’s why you made sure to tell him the night before that you would be coming during lunch time to bring him some yummy homemade food.

humming softly to yourself, you finally reached the door opening to class 1-A and walked in. the classroom was empty, but there at the front was no one other than mr. aizawa shouta. you quickly greeted him with a smile and he turned to look at you.

“what are you doing here?” he slowly asked with a look of confusion.

“i brought you some food! did you eat yet? i hope not, i made-,” you quickly stopped talking once you noticed the look he was giving you.

“why are you here? i already told you, you shouldnt be showing up without letting me know first. our relationship is quiet, if the students see they’ll get noisy and ask questions, i’ll get bombarded by my colleagues, and it’ll put you in danger if words get out. did anyone see you coming here? can you listen to me for once instead of continuing to always be near me? you’re so damn clingy and need to start thinking about the consequences your action will bring. i already ate, just go home before anything happens.”

your jaw dropped a little after hearing what he just said to you. did he not remember what you told him last night?

worst of all, you couldnt believe he just called you clingy. you just wanted to do something nice for him by making his favorite food hoping that it’ll relieve some of the stress thats been building up, but he just thought of you as clingy.

fine, if clingy is what you are then you’ll stop bothering him. you quickly whispered an apology, not sure if he could hear or not, and began making your way back home as fast as possible. the food you made for him was still tightly grasped in your hand.

due to the new dormitories, aizawa stays at ua majority of the time. he comes home to your shared apartment whenever he can to spend time with you. unfortunately, those time aren’t usually much because as soon as he’s free, he’s quick to do something else.

once you’ve made it home, you packed the food away and put it in the fridge. you felt your phone buzzing repeatedly, already guessing who it could possibly be, you took it out to see it was your boyfriend.

shou <3: im sorry

shou <3: honey, im so sorry. pls text me back when u can

shou <3: i know what i said hurted u, but i promise u i dont mean it. pls just call me or text me so we can talk about this

shou <3: i have to go back now. but i love u. so much.

staring at your screen, you contemplated texting him back.

letting out a sigh, you decided not to.

putting your phone to the side, you walked to the bedroom and changed out of your clothes into the comfy pjs you were wearing right before you left.

seeing that there was nothing for you to do other than wallow in your insecurities and let out a few tears, you got into bed and made yourself comfortable for an afternoon nap.

aizawa on the other hand was at school and distracted. his own words kept replaying over and over in his head and all he wants to do is smack himself a few times (after comforting u ofc).

his students could tell he was in a badder mood than usual so they collectively agreed to not worsen it (one particular student does not care. can u guess?). aizawa just wanted the day to pass so he can apologize to you directly and make it up with some cuddling.

despite being distracted with planning his apology and thinking about you, he was still teaching as he should and constantly telling his students to be quiet because he’s intimidating like that.

a few hours passed, the students are back in their dorms and some of the teachers are still in school finishing up some work. the hallways were empty and silent, and the weather outside was nice and calm - not too sunny with just the right amount of wind.

however, if you were to peek your head inside of class 1-A at the moment, the environment is an exact 180. aizawa is quickly trying to grade the remaining stack of papers he has on his desk so he can leave as soon as he can. there’s papers everywhere, he’s not so sure where the answer key went off to but to hell with the answer key. he just needs to go home.

his hair is messily tied up and his lips have probably been gnawed off by now. as soon as school ended, he got out his phone to see if you replied and sadly you didn’t. he doesn’t blame you though, considering all of the shit he said to you earlier. 

finally writing down the fat score in red pen onto the final paper, he gathers everything and put to the side of his desk and packed up his stuff. his stuff being his yellow sleeping bag and that’s it.

he went to his room first to clean himself up a bit, and then grabbed a taxi to go to your shared apartment. arriving at the front door, he takes out his copy of the key and entered.

first thing he noticed while entering and taking off his shoes was that the apartment was dark and quiet. he made his way to the kitchen first and turned on its lights to check the fridge. in the fridge laid the food you made for him earlier today. he took it out to start heating it up in the microwave then he walks away from the food and to your bedroom.

quietly opening the door, he poked his head in to see you laying on your side with your back facing the door. he assumed you were asleep and gently closed the door to not wake you up. he made his way over to the bed and sat on the edge of it. 

you, feeling the bed dip, slowly opened your eyes to be greeted with the sight of your boyfriend gingerly brushing his fingertips across your cheekbones. he notices that you’re awake and looks up to meet your eyes.

making eye contact with him, you quietly grunted and brought the blanket up to cover your face while turning your entire body to the other side to ignore him. aizawa sighed and brought his hand down to rest on your waist as he begins talking.

“yn... i know you’re.. mad at me for the things i said to you earlier, but i’m truly sorry. i know saying i didn’t mean it isn’t good enough for you to forgive me, but i want you to know i’m really really sorry. i’ve been so busy for the past few days, my head is all over the place, seeing you at school just got me overthinking and worried that i ended up saying things about you that’s not true at all. i love you so much, hun. you’re the best thing to happen to me. you don’t have to forgive me now, i understand if you want some space.”

it was silent for some time after he finished his apology. the echoing silence was slowly making aizawa worried that you’ll leave him, but he won’t tell you that. thinking that you wanted space, he lifted his shaky hand off of your waist and moved to get off of the bed when you suddenly grabbed onto his hand to keep him there.

“i...i told you the day before that i was going to be visiting you during lunch time. did you not remember? or even hear me tell you?”

aizawa situated himself back down onto the bed before replying. “if i’m being honest, i don’t really remember much of that day at all. my brain was occupied with work and rest, so i was practically drained by the end of the night. i’m sorry i took it out on you, it’s my fault for overworking when i know you’ve been trying to help.”

letting out a soft sigh, you turned your body back towards him. still holding onto his hand, you carefully slotted your fingers in between his and pulled him down to lay with you. he immediately found comfort in this and placed his head into your neck. you could feel his facial hair against your skin making you let out a quiet giggle.

“i love you. i know you have a habit to overwork since that’s all you did before we dated, but please shou, take care of yourself. im not talking physically, cuz you’re already so damn fine, but mentally. i hate seeing you bury yourself in work and training that it even makes me tired just watching you.”

he grumbled something against your neck - his usual reaction to you complimenting him - and held onto you tighter while putting light kisses on your collarbone.

“i know. i will. please bear with me, i know i’m a pain but i’ll always try to be my best for you. i’m never letting you go, love you too much for that.”

“hmm? who said i’m going? you’re stuck with me forever just so you know,” you laughed and patted his head before rising from the bed.

“i heard you heating up the food earlier. get up and come eat,” you tugged aizawa to get him off the bed.

he grumbled once again because he was being forced to leave the warm comfort of your shared bed, but followed you out anyway holding onto your hand.

“wait. you heard me entering? so you were pretending to sleep when i got here?! not funny, babe. not funny. -also don’t take sleep for granted. i did and look where that got me. stop laughing!”

bonus:

it was the next day and aizawa just finished passing out the grades he rushed grading yesterday. even though it was rushed, he was confident that there wasn’t any mistakes-

“aizawa sensei, you marked this question wrong when it’s right. this one too. and this other one on the last page. are you trying to fail me?!” denki dramatically wailed as he showed aizawa his papers.

guess he did make mistakes after all.

[get-your-fics]

Can I request dark!druig where he mind controls the reader to isolate her from everyone and eventually the reader understands what's happening to her and confronts him?

(I'm new to sending request so idk if I did it the right way, sorry)

warnings for mind control, stalking, possessive behavior

word count: 747

You didn't understand what was wrong with you. Sprite and Sersi had invited you to go out with them that night, and you had been so excited to do so. But the second you were by yourself in your room, your excitement ebbed away. You stopped halfway through pulling on your clothes, your smile slipping from your face.

Did you really want to go? Probably not. Sersi was bringing her new boyfriend Dane, so she'd be focused on him all night, and you really didn't want to be there to listen to Sprite complain when her illusion eventually failed.

You sighed as you sent them a text you wouldn't be able to make it, coming up with some half-assed excuse that you weren't feeling well. You stepped out of the bodycon dress you were going to squeeze yourself into and threw on a pair of sweats and an old, ratty tee instead. You plopped down on the couch, flipping through channels on the TV and contemplating what takeout to order.

A knock on your door made you sit up. You walked over to the door, trying to think who would stop by at such a late hour. Maybe Sersi had decided to forego her plans and take care of you instead. You'd hate to have to tell her why you lied about being sick.

When you opened the door, you were even more confused to see Druig standing on your doorstep, one arm resting on the doorframe. "Um, hi?"

"Hello." He greeted you with a smirk. "I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by."

"Well, that was nice of you, but now isn't such a good time." You tried to sound as polite yet firm as possible. It was a tricky balance.

He raised a brow. "Oh. Are you busy at the moment?"

You scratched the back of your neck. "Not exactly, but-"

"Great. Mind if I come in?" He didn't wait for your response before pushing past you into your apartment.

You watched dumbfounded as he walked in like he owned the place. You had been seeing a lot more of Druig recently: at the coffee shop you regularly visited, on the subway on your way home from work. And now he was showing up at your apartment unannounced and waltzing in uninvited? How did he even know where you lived?

"What do you think you're doing?" you snapped.

He looked over at you innocently. "What? Did you want me to leave?"

You opened your mouth to reply, but before you could get a word out, you were overcome with a wave of emotion. You didn't want him to leave. You wanted him to stay with you forever. In fact, you would lose your mind if he left your sight for even a second.

You squeezed your eyes shut and buried your face in your hands. You shook your head back and forth, like you were trying to shake the thoughts loose. They popped in so suddenly, almost like they had been planted there...

You looked up at Druig through your hands. "What are you doing?" You were on the verge of tears. "What's happening to me?"

He cracked a smirk. "So, you figured it out." He tilted his head. "I'm sorry, dear. I just couldn't wait any longer. I was hoping you would seek out my company on your own once you were alone for long enough."

Your brow furrowed as you tried to make sense of his cryptic words. You stood up straight, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "It was you, wasn't it?" All those times you had turned down your friends. "Have you been watching me?"

He didn't look apologetic in the slightest. "I wasn't going to let you get drunk at some bar with Sersi and Sprite and go home with a random guy who doesn't deserve you." His eyes turned dark, the look on his face menacing. "You're mine."

You slowly backed away from him. "I don't belong to you. You have no right to do that to me." Your back hit the wall, and you eyed the open door.

He laughed. "I wouldn't try running. Now that you know, there's no use in pretending anymore." His lips stretched apart into a grin. "I can do whatever I want with you."

The last thing you saw before you froze with fear was his eyes turning solid gold. It would've been pretty if it didn't mean your certain doom.