#did I get the taglist right please correct me if I didn’t

[miabebe]

Camp Seventeen: Prologue

Seventeen as Greek Demigods Series

Pairing - Reader x ot13 (Yes, you read that right, I am insane and you are allowed to scream at me)

Word count - 2.7k

Genre - Greek Demigod AU! We’ve mainly got crack cause all of them are idiots, and obviously smut because they are thirteen lonely, horny men afterall (aka reverse harem) also throwing in some fluff and angst as well because I gotta let emotions run high for plot sake :)

A/n - Hello hello, this is a new seventeen series I am starting and boy oh boy is it gonna be a wild ride! A special thanks to @okiedokrie @whipped-for-kpop-fics @ourdawnishotterthanourday @multi-kpop-fanfics for all their amazing help and bearing with me through the discussions for this, I’m so grateful to you guys :)

I will have a taglist for this so please comment/ send an ask on this post to be added!

“Over here!”

Wincing, you looked up from the disgusting heap of mud your foot had neatly landed in, ignoring the way your little piglet was ecstatically rolling in the same filth.

The man before you looked equally disturbed as he walked over, pulling out a bottle of water apparently from up his ass because you didn’t remember him holding it a second ago.

Sighing a thank you, you took it, emptying it onto your boots before grabbing your gremlin of a pet from its happy place, resulting in a series of loud, incessant whining.

In all that noise, you heard your shoe savior take your name with a voice that was as pretty as him.

“I’m Jisoo.” He put out his hand. “You can call me Joshua.”

You nodded, unable to shake his hand thanks to the problem trashing in your arms earning Joshua’s amusement.

“And who is this?”

“Natalie.” You muttered as he raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “Natalie Porkman.”

Joshua burst out laughing, looking away as he covered up a snort, shoulders shaking. You smiled, truly taking in his beautiful features for the first time. Cute.

“This way.” He pointed at absolutely nothing yet you followed this complete stranger, survival skills be damned. “We’ve got a half mile trek ahead of us but it gets a little confusing from here so I thought I’d come pick you up.”

Cute and kind.

You filed it away under ‘to-learn-more-about-when-I-fiigure-out-what-the-fuck-is-going-on-in-my-life.’

The two of you walked side by side, footfall softly echoing in the lush green forest around. Though silence was all you had been craving after the last few days you’ve had, that did not seem like an option since one, Natalie hadn’t stopped whimpering in fifteen minutes and two, Joshua kept glancing at you like you were some sort of ancient artifact.

Not the good kinds.

“What is it?” You said finally, starting a conversation you didn’t want to have. “Never seen a mess of a human before?”

“Never such an old one.” Well, at least you got ancient right. Joshua quickly corrected himself. “I mean I’ve never heard of a demigod surviving undetected in the mortal world for this long.”

Oh but you got ‘human’ wrong. You forgot. Normalcy was never your defining factor but at least now you knew exactly what kind of freak you were.

Almost.

“I wouldn’t call it surviving, more like ‘barely made it’.”

“But you made it.”

“At the cost of what?” You sighed. “Everything is much more complicated now.”

“Don’t worry.” He stopped at a large boulder at the base of an abnormally large tree in the middle of seemingly nowhere. “We’ll all help you.”

“All?”

He nodded, looking at you over his shoulder. “All.”

Your eyes followed his hand as he placed it in the middle of the rock, and after all that you’ve learnt in the last few days, you’re not sure why you were so shocked when it rolled away at his touch. You expected it to lead you to a dark, suspicious cave but a bright light poured out, making you momentarily lose both your vision and your pet who jumped out of your arms and ran into the illuminance, squealing in delight.

“Welcome to Camp Seventeen.”

Joshua grinned, pointing at the scene before him and your jaw dropped in awe.

It was a large opening in the middle of a forest that looked very different from the one you were just trudging through. There were hills on one side, a large lake shimmering far away, fire torches lit everywhere, little cottages scattered here and there, strange symbols topping them all off. Looking at everything curiously, you walked down the cobbled path, only just noticing the two men who were standing at the end of it, both incredibly beautiful. The blonde one was playing with Natalie and the redhead was staring at you with his arms crossed, expression smug.

“Would you look at that, the prodigal babygirl is here at last.”

You frowned, taking an almost immediate dislike despite his pretty, pretty face.

“Jeonghan, play nice.” Joshua muttered, walking over to him.

“Don't patronise me Aphrodite's son, she was supposed to be here at 4-”

“It’s 4:10.”

“-yesterday.” He turned back to you. “You’re a day and 10 minutes late.”

“Well you’re not the one who’s relocating your whole life.” You spat back at him. “I had things to take care of - my dorms, my bills-”

“So much that you missed the meeting with your lawyer.”

“I did ask to reschedule. It’s not my fault he’s an unsympathetic prick.”

“Careful sweetheart.” Jeonghan cocked his head at you. “I’m unforgiving too.”

You stared at him for a whole maddening minute, realizing why his voice seemed so familiar. You had heard him on the phone over the last few days.

“You’re my lawyer.”

“And the best in the city.” Joshua interjected, sensing the rising tension. “Children of Athena tend to be big brained.”

“And hot headed apparently.”

“Natalie says ‘not more than you’.”

All three of you turned to the only other presence there, the man who was carrying your pig, silent as a statue all this while.

“Jun, son of demeter.” Joshua introduced, pulling him ahead. “He’s a natural with anything, well... natural? Mostly plants but he also happens to talk to animals.”

“Domestic ones.” Jun mumbled. “Hansol is better with the wild.”

You greeted him awkwardly, half smiling to be polite and half frowning at the way Natalie was looking up at him with literal heart eyes.

“How did you come across a fledgling?”

“A what now?”

Jun picked your pig up by the arms like a little baby. “She says she’s 10 years old, yet is the size of a toddler. Have you never wondered why your pig never grew?”

“I uh….assumed it was just the kind of breed that didn’t?”

“What an intellectual.” Jeonghan looked at you with faux amazement making you roll your eyes.

Jun, however, still hadn’t met your eye. “Fledglings are creatures of Olympus. Time moves differently there so they don’t really grow like the others in the human world. In that sense, technically, she’s still only a few months old-”

“So you’re telling me this thing, which has lived with me for 10 odd years, is….magical?”

Jun shook his head as Joshua spoke up, clarifying.

“Not magical, that’s a whole different branch of powers and abilities. Your pig is just….not a part of the human world.”

“You betrayer.” You narrowed your eyes at what you thought was your loyal companion. “We were friends. How could I not know?”

Natalie whined sadly in response earning a smile from Jun and of course, yet another snarky comment from Jeonghan. “I don’t speak pig and even I know she said you’re not very bright.”

“Understanding your native language is not particularly intelligent, you swine.” You glared at him, receiving a smirk in response.

“Ten minutes in camp and you’ve already made Jun’s ears red and picked a fight with Han.” You turned to see three men walk up to you, the one in the middle with an amused look and a powerful aura. “You’re gonna fit in quite well Newbie.”

“Seungcheol, son of Zeus and leader of the camp.” Joshua whispered as everyone bowed to him. You imitated them quickly.

“This is Seokmin, Son of Poseidon and Minghao, Son of Ares.” Seungcheol added, pulling out his armor as one of them shot you a cheery smile and the other continued to look at you cynically. “They are our training specialists. Seokmin should help you with your overall fitness and Minghao will train you for combat.”

“C-combat?” You stuttered looking around. “You mean like war?”

“The world of demigods is new to you, don’t try to understand everything in one day.” The Son of Ares sheathed his twin blades behind his back. “Take a few days to adjust to the camp first. You can start training next week.”

You nodded, a little thankful that despite his cold exterior, he seemed to be surprisingly sympathetic of your situation.

“He’s right.” Seokmin chimed. “You should settle here first, not to forget, deal with that lawsuit before you focus on everything else.”

You turned to Jeonghan expecting yet another snarky remark but he looked worried, lost in thought.

When you turned back to Seokmin though, you bit back a scream, your face inches away from a man who appeared soundlessly and seemingly from thin air.

He gave you a cheeky grin with a tilt of the head, “I’m Chan aka Dino, Son of Hermes, Camp cutie, camp hottie and camp leader- ow!”

He rubbed the back of his head vigorously when a small rock hit him with a dull thud. You looked over his shoulder to see Seungcheol aim another one with just a flick of the wrist.

This one Dino skillfully dodged, stepping away from you as Joshua laughed, “Chan is the camp messenger. He’s in charge of all sorts of delivery and transportation.”

“You were the one who picked up my things.” The realisation hit you at last as Dino nodded, pointing at a pile of your stacked bags and trunks beside the entrance.

“Guilty as charged.”

“You were supposed to arrive over an hour ago.” Seokmin narrowed his eyes at the younger man.

“I got held up with some uh distractions.” Chan laughed nervously, scratching the back of his ear. “I didn’t know where to keep her things though, considering you know, she doesn’t have a place yet.”

Seungcheol turned to you to clear your confusion. “Everyone on camp has their own residence but you came on too short a notice so we’re yet to build one of you. We could have housed you in the guest cabin except it was recently damaged in a fight,” He glared at all the boys around him. “So that would not be feasible. Until your own place is not ready you can stay at mine - it is the biggest so you should be comfortable.”

You pursed your lips unsure about his offer. Did you think you would be unsafe in his presence? No absolutely not, the opposite in fact.

You wondered how long you could hold yourself back before unsuspectingly jumping this man and his huge biceps and beefy thighs and manly voice-

“She’s thirsty.”

Taken aback you looked around, searching for the owner of the voice who unnecessarily accurately voiced your thoughts. Instead, you heard the snap of a twig and a low growling sound from the area the forest got more dense. You narrowed your eyes, trying to peer through the overgrown wilderness only to meet a pair of menacing red orbs.

Your adrenaline response barely had the time to kick in before ten, no fifteen, wild hounds ran out of their hiding place towards you, making you scream and hide behind Joshua.

The boys laughed as the dogs circled around you and you gripped onto Joshua’s shoulders terrified.

“Stand back lads.” A silver haired man walked over with a golden haired one beside him, both with a bow and quiver strung over their shoulders. The dogs immediately ran over, aligning themselves in an obedient, straight line behind them.

“Hansol, Son of Artemis and Jihoon, Son of Apollo.” Joshua looked at you over his shoulder. “They are in charge of daytime border patrol. There are all sorts of wild animals out here, hence the hounds, for protection.” As you shuddered, Joshua looked around curiously. “The Son of Hades, is in charge of nighttime patrol. He should be somewhere around here…”

Your eyes widened as the water canteen hanging on Jihoon’s belt flew towards you on its own, making you almost claw Joshua’s arm.

“Wonwoo don’t scare her.” Joshua chastised laughing as you literally see a tall, lean man materialize out of thin air, the canteen in his hand and a smirk on his face. “How long have you been here?”

“The whole time.” He mumbled, handing you the water. “Jihoon said you were thirsty.”

“Not for water.” The blonde man whispered in a way only you could hear, looking entertained at how flushed you were. Did he actually read your mind?

Coming out of Joshua’s shadow, you grabbed the canteen before anyone else noticed, thanking Wonwoo with a hard smile. Tilting your head back you drank up, not noticing how all 10 eyes were intently fixed on you and your throat moving with each gulp. They all took a gulp of their own.

As you wiped your mouth with the back of your hand, slowly looking around and noticing everyone’s gaze, the ground below began to shake, fazing no one but you.

Jeonghan pulled you out of the way of what seemed like a large mechanical bull charging towards you with an equally large man perched on top of it. A smaller man arrived right behind, riding a….. A leopard???

“You said you would win.” The muscled man slid off the mechanical creature, patting it. “My baby is faster.”

“I said a cheetah would win. My baby is a tiger.”

“It's a leopard.” You corrected, earning everyone's snickers and the not so threatening stare of its owner.

“It’s a big cat with an identity crisis.” Taking your hand in his, placing a soft kiss at the back of it, the muscle man gave you a fanged smile. “I’m Mingyu, Son of Hephaestus.”

The other man raised his hand. “Soonyoung, Son of Dionysis and that-” He turned to yet another one who was running over, looking frazzled.

“Seungkwan, Son of Hera, owner of a peacock that has yet again disappeared.” He bent over, grabbing his waist, panting and out of breath. “I don’t get why she keeps running away.”

“Maybe because you keep calling him a she.” Minghao nonchalantly glanced at his neatly filed nails.

“I can’t-” Seungkwan ran his fingers through his head, annoyed. “It’s confusing okay, who the fuck named him Patricia then?”

Behind you Jeonghan giggled.

“You coagulation of human evil,” Seungkwan threw his shoe, missing the target. “Now she- He won’t respond to any other name!”

The boys roared with laughter as Seungkwan unsuccessfully chased Jeonghan around, hands flailing everywhere.

Seungcheol walked over to you amidst all the mess, shooting you an understanding smile. “Your life has just undergone a major change, I get that it is intimidating but don’t worry. All thirteen of us are here to help you get through this.”

You nodded slowly, looking around at the boys, doing a quick, confirmatory headcount. “So there’s only thirteen of you?”

And why were all of them so gorgeous??

“Yeah, only.” Seungcheol chuckled, “Trust me thirteen is more than enough, I’ve got to run a very tight ship here.”

“I just assumed there would be seventeen people since, you know, Camp Seventeen.”

“The Oracle apparently told Woozi to name us Camp Seventeen.” He shrugged. “Not sure why.”

You hummed, as all of them gradually stopped behaving like toddlers and turned their attention to you.

“Wait,” The realization slowly dawned upon you. Actually, it hit you like a brick. “You’re all men.”

Seungcheol nodded carefully, like he didn’t know where you were going with this.

“Am I….Am I the only girl in the camp?”

Soft mutters went around as Seungcheol cleared his throat. “Yes and I’m sorry if that makes you uncomfortable but unfortunately, it was not a choice.”

“It’s not common for a girl to be assigned to an all boys camp,” Joshua stepped up. “But I believe since Jeonghan and Wonwoo are working on the lawsuit that landed you here, the authorities of Olympus must have thought it is better for you to be here.”

“But it’s not permanent.” Seungcheol added. “You can choose to change camps after Quest Season if you wish-”

“What is Quest season?”

Jeonghan let out a loud sigh. “You’ve been here for what, ten minutes? Don't overwork your brain. The world of demigods is complex, you’ll learn everything with time.”

“He’s right.” Seokmin leaned against the tree near him. “Why don’t we first move your things to Seungcheol’s cabin? We’ll let you get settled, then Joshua can show you around camp, walk you through the rules and assign a duty-”

“Except.” Soonyoung looked at you from bottom to top, like he was assessing you. “What kind of duty?”

“Exactly.” Mingyu threw his arm around his friend, his expression matching. “Daughter of Hestia, Goddess of Hearth and Home, what would you be good for in this camp?”

Minghao hummed, walking up to you, bending to meet your eyelevel. “Well, what can a woman be good for in a camp of thirteen men?”

A/n - next will be a detailed post about each member, their background and powers so it's less confusing for those who aren't so familiar with Greek mythology and the series will start after that so stay tuned!

[smartkookiee]

Wounds We Never Show // CH.3 - jjk.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・ ❥pairing: Jungkook x Reader (she/they, afab) ❥genre/rating: 18 +explicit content, enemies to lovers, enemies to friends to lovers, enemies with benefits ❥chapter warnings/tags: Medical Talk/Examination (Disclaimer: I am not an expert in medical things and how hospitals run or work, my knowledge is very limited but I did do a LOT of research for this and I did work for a surgeon for a year so if somethings aren't correct, please don't hold it against me.) Lawyer!Jungkook, Nurse!reader, swearing, mutual hating (I think that's it? Let me know if I missed something) ❥word-count: 6.7k ❥Series Masterlist Previous Chapter ||❥|| Next chapter fic is cross posted to ao3 send an ask or comment on post to be added to the taglist! .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・

Five Years Ago.

“Okay, everyone. I’ve posted your group assignments. Please check for your name and your partner, then move to sit together. You’ll be working with them for the rest of the semester, so get acquainted. We’ll start in 15 minutes.”

A wave of groans echoed through the classroom. The final project was looming, and nobody was thrilled about the mandatory paired assignment.

You opened your laptop, already dreading the thought of being stuck with someone you barely knew for the rest of the semester. You scrolled down the list, but when you saw your name next to Jeon Jungkook, your heart dropped.

Of all people... him?

Your fingers hovered over the trackpad as a handful of memories flooded to the front of your mind—You didn’t know him well but you knew Jungkook as your ex’s best friend, David. You felt your stomach churn with bitterness. The guy who probably laughed along when hearing David’s excuses he would use whenever he cheated on you. You had never actually had a chance to meet him since you and David were so on and off but now you couldn’t escape it.

You glanced up, scanning the room. Jungkook was sitting near the front, oblivious, casually scrolling through his phone. He hadn’t noticed you, but then again, why would he? You sank lower in your chair, hoping he wouldn’t find you. Maybe you could just avoid him until the semester ended. But no such luck.

Jungkook stood up, heading to the professor. After a brief conversation, the professor glanced toward the back of the room and pointed at you. Great. Jungkook thanked him and turned, his eyes locking on you.

You didn’t have the chance to escape before he reached you, a friendly smile plastered across his face as he approached. “Hi,” he greeted, extending a hand. “Y/N, right?”

You stared at his hand for a moment, your mind racing with old anger, but you forced yourself to give him a perfunctory shake. “Yeah,” you replied shortly, barely meeting his eyes.

If Jungkook noticed your cold response, he didn’t show it. He sat down next to you, still smiling, as if this was just a regular introduction between classmates. “I don’t know about you, but I have no idea where to start on this project,” he said with a light chuckle, trying to break the ice.

“Yeah,” you muttered, the tension thickening around you. Your voice was tight, your eyes fixed on your laptop screen. You could feel the weight of the past pressing on your chest, making it harder to breathe.

Jungkook leaned back in his chair, frowning slightly. “It’s nice to talk to someone, though. I don’t really know anyone in this class.”

“Well I know you.” You say it so quietly Jungkook almost doesn’t register that you said something. 

“What?” You glance at him and he has wide doe eyes full of confusion. 

“It’s nothing.” You clear your throat and brush him off. Jungkook was still left caught off guard but let it go for just a moment. Pulling his laptop back out of his bag and getting set up next to you. 

The silent anger was radiating off of you next to him and Jungkook felt suddenly anxious that he had said something wrong, “I’m sorry but did I offend you or something?”

“Nope.” You say , dry and short. 

“Seems like I did something.” 

“You didn’t.”

“Are you sure?”

“No.” You say in a more direct tone, looking him in the eyes this time. 

Jungkook just stared at you in silence for a moment, confused as to what was happening. Had he met you before? He couldn’t think of a time or place where he would have. He didn’t even recognize your name when he looked at the class list. Maybe you had met and so you were upset that he didn’t remember you. 

“I’m sorry for whatever it was I did. I really didn’t mean to offend you.” Jungkook keeps talking but you don’t respond to him. “Can we start over maybe?” 

You huffed, “I don’t think so.” 

He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling an unfamiliar knot of anxiety tightening in his chest. "Okay..." he muttered under his breath, unsure of what to do next. There was an awkward pause, the kind that stretched and lingered uncomfortably.

Jungkook cleared his throat, still trying to make sense of your reaction. "Look, I really don’t know what’s going on, but if I did something, I’d like to make it right."

You snapped your head toward him, finally unable to hold it in. “You want to make it right? Really?”

He nodded, his expression open, genuinely confused. “I mean, I don’t even know what I did, but yeah.”

You stared at him for a moment, trying to hold back the wave of anger rising in your chest. He has no idea. Of course, he doesn’t. He doesn’t even know you, doesn’t know the history. You wanted to scream, but instead, you spoke through gritted teeth. “Maybe you can ask David about it? I’m sure you two can have a great laugh about all of it.”

Jungkook blinked, the mention of David clearly throwing him off balance. “How did you know David?”

“Let’s just do this project and never speak again.” You dodge around his question, facing to the front of the room again. Jungkook was going to say something but was abruptly stopped. 

“Okay now that it seems everyone has gotten acquainted, let’s get started.” The voice of your professor is echoing around the room.

。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭

Present Day

It’s been a week since the wedding. 

Melanie and Namjoon were well into their honeymoon and you had been getting pictures the last couple of days. You had been exhausted all week following the wedding. Today was your first day back to work at the hospital though, another twelve hour shift. You were in oncology today and it wasn’t much different than another other hospital floor. It was always a different change of pace, much more difficult emotionally rather than physically.

“Dr. Kim will give you more details about what kind of specifics he likes, you’ve been down here before so I’m sure you will pick it up easily.” Vic, a long time friend and coworker. She was giving some details about Dr. Kim Seokjin and the oncology department. You’d met him before, very funny guy, very goofy which I guess is needed for this specialty. 

“Oh for sure. I just haven’t been stuck to a specialty in some time now.” You followed her around into the nurses station and you both take some chairs. 

You were a float nurse which means you were placed in different specialties where you were needed. The oncology staff lost some of it’s nurses recently so you were going to be here for a few weeks. Especially because you would also have Vic here with you. 

Her full name is Victoria but she has insisted that she never wants to be called that, never stopped you from throwing it out once in a while for funnies. Vic and you were hired at the same time, she used to be a float nurse just like you but eventually took a permanent position up here. She was basically your work wife and you two would always get drinks and hang out outside of work when time allowed, so you were very excited to be with her on shift for the next few weeks. 

Vic led you to the nurses’ station, where you both grabbed seats. "Yeah, but at least Seokjin’s goofy enough to keep the mood light when he can. He’s a walking dad joke at this point."

You laughed. "I’m surprised he hasn’t been banned for his humor."

"Honestly, it's only a matter of time," Vic replied, rolling her eyes playfully. "But, seriously, he’s a great doc, and Yoongi—well, you’ll see. They’re a good team." Just as she said that, a surgical resident walked by, nose buried in a chart. Vic immediately perked up, waving dramatically. "Speaking of which, here's my favorite little duckling—Yoongi!"

“What?” Yoongi’s head snapped up, his eyes darting between the two of you as if he was constantly prepared to flee.

“This is Yoongi. Seokjin’s prodigy.” She swiveled from side to side in her seat. 

Yoongi shot her a side glance before flicking her shoulder. "Dr. Min,” he corrected, though there was no real heat behind it. He then extended a hand to you, his grip firm but brief. "Nice to meet you."

“Hi, I’m Y/N.”

He shook your hand but as soon as he was here he was scurrying away again. Clearly trying to escape Vic’s antics, she probably antagonized him for a long time now.

"Aw, look at him go," Vic cooed, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "He pretends to be all tough, but Seokjin has him wrapped around his finger. Cute, right?”

You snorted. “Does he ever stick around long enough for a conversation, or is that a special kind of greeting?”

"He's shy. It's endearing, in a ‘I have to pull teeth to get a full sentence’ kind of way," she quipped. “Anyway, look at us—back together again.” Vic leaned back in her chair, grinning widely. “Now you can finally help me get Seokjin in line. Between the two of us, we might have a chance.”

You laughed, shaking your head. "You think I can do what an entire medical team can’t? I am excited to be working with you again. Same routine, just like the old days.”

“Until I get sick of you, of course,” Vic teased, giving you a wink.

You shot back with a smirk. “You sure you won’t want to murder me by the end of these few weeks?”

“Oh, probably,” Vic said with an exaggerated sigh. “But you’re my favorite pain in the ass, so I guess it’ll be worth it. Besides, we both know we’d end up getting drinks and complaining about everyone else anyway.”

“Touché.”

Vic showed you around the floor and gave you a better sense of how everyone works day to day and what you would be doing. You weren’t unfamiliar with everything here but being here the next couple of weeks would definitely be different than you were used to. You hadn’t gotten to see Dr. Kim anytime today, only seen him in passing and running from one room to another with Yoongi and another intern in toe. Once you had gotten everything Vic had let you lose to do what you could to help. 

“Actually, how about you take this new one first.” Vic opened up a tablet for you which had a chart ready for you, “She’s going to be here for a while.” 

You head up the wing as you look over her treatment plan. Stage four liver cancer which has metastasized to her bones and skin. She will be undergoing chemotherapy and radiation and some surgeries to help remove the Mets. She also is in need of around the clock pain management with the spread to her bones. You felt bad reading it, the hardest part about being in this wing is seeing how hard some people have to fight. 

You make it to the room and give a light knock before entering. “Good morning.” 

“Oh hello!” A woman sitting on the bed awake and engrossed in some crochet project looked at you. 

“I’m Y/N, and I’ll be doing your workup today,” you said, entering the room and heading over to her monitor to start updating her chart.

“Oh, by all means. I’m ready!” She set aside her yarn and needles, sitting up straighter with an almost infectious energy that threw you off for a moment. Considering her condition, she seemed remarkably vibrant.

“So Mrs—.” You begin but she cuts you off, with her hand held up to you.

“Ji-eun is fine dear. No need for formality since you’ll see me out of my gown today.” She laughed to herself and you smiled. 

“Ji-eun it is.” You give her a soft smile and start getting her vitals and update her chart. “I know you are new with us here but I wanted to start by saying you are in really good hands with Dr. Kim.”

Ji-eun grinned wide, her eyes twinkling. “Can I just say he could totally be a movie star! I couldn’t stop blushing when he walked in this morning. You should’ve seen my poor husband’s face!”

You laughed along, shaking your head. “You’re not the first patient to say that, trust me. Everyone here seems to have a soft spot for Dr. Kim.”

“That younger doctor too. Quiet but so kind.” 

“Dr. Min, I just met him today, but I’ve heard good things.” You continued to type some notes into her chart.

"First day, huh?" Ji-eun asked, her eyes curious but warm.

“Not at all! Just new to the floor. I typically jump from specialty to specialty.” You start to do your physical exam of her as you continue to chat. 

“Well, I guess we’ll figure all of this out together then,” she said kindly, patting your arm as you continued your physical exam. “The doctors remind me of my boys a little.” 

“You have sons?” You ask and continue to examine her. 

“Yes, two. Grown men now, but they come to visit me often, whenever I’m in the hospital. You’ll probably meet them soon enough.” She sighs, adjusting her gown as you need to make sure you weren’t seeing any weird discoloration. The most important thing with her condition is the presentation of new spots or jaundice present in her skin. 

“I look forward to that,” you smiled. “So I am familiar with your status, Is this your first long stay in the hospital?”

Ji-eun’s face grew thoughtful as she tapped her lips. “Oh, no, no. I’ve had more surgeries than I can count, but this is the first time I’ve stayed this long. The pain’s gotten a bit too much lately—especially with this new tumor in my leg. I just needed more help. My poor husband can only do so much at home.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” you said sincerely. “But it sounds like you’ve got a lot of support.”

“Oh, I do,” Ji-eun nodded. “My husband’s been by my side for 33 years now, bless his heart. He and the boys will probably pop in this evening.”

“33 years? That’s incredible. Congratulations.”

“Thank you. It’s quite an adventure, let me tell you.” She sighed, you could see her eyeing your hand, looking for a ring. Probably making a mental note about one not being present. “Like I said, they come by in the evenings so you’ll probably meet the whole pack.”

“Shoot I usually work days not evenings.” 

“I’ll just have to force them to come at lunch time. My boys work so much but sometimes I can convince them to show up during lunch.” 

Ji-eun chatters on for a while while you continue administering her medicine and finish making notes for Dr. Kim. Talking about her husband mostly and some patients she knew at other hospitals. It still surprised you how much energy and how alive she felt compared to others you’ve seen in her condition. You would be surprised if she didn’t beat her cancer in no time with a spirit like that. 

“I think I’m all done here,” you said, tucking your tablet under your arm after you take one last glance over your checklist to make sure you got everything.

“Already?” Ji-eun blinked, chewing on her lip. “Gosh, I must’ve chatted your ear off. I think I’m more nervous than I thought.”

“That’s perfectly normal.” You give her a reassuring smile, “I don’t mind the chatter, I’m usually more chatty but it’s my first day full time up here. We can be nervous together.” 

Her eyes softened at that. “You know what? I’ll crochet something for you as a ‘welcome to the floor’ gift. It’ll keep me busy.”

“Oh, you don’t need to do that.”

“I insist! It’s my new hobby. Keeps my hands moving while I’m sitting here.”

You smiled, touched by the offer. “Well, in that case, I love stars if you know how to make those.”

“Stars it is,” she said with a wink, already picking out a new yarn color.

You left the room feeling lighter, buoyed by Ji-eun’s positivity. She was the kind of patient that reminded you why you loved this job, the strength and spirit some people carried, even in the toughest of circumstances. You made a mental note to start your day with her room as much as possible. It was the perfect way to lift your own spirits too.

“How’d the first one go champ?” Vic caught you walking up the hall and she saddled right up next to you. 

“Easy. She is so wonderful, like a breath of fresh air.” You sigh, “Can I have her as one of mine from now on?” 

“By all means.” Vic saw no reason why not. 

The day had been surprisingly smooth, and it felt good to finally have some time to catch your breath. You’d spent most of the day moving through rooms and getting a feel for the oncology floor. It was a slower pace compared to your usual shifts in the ER, but you welcomed it. With no major emergencies or immediate crises, you had more time to get to know the patients and the staff.

Dr. Kim had been a blur, practically a ghost for the day, absorbed in surgeries. You’d caught glimpses of him, but nothing more than that. You hoped you’d get a chance to speak with him soon, maybe figure out the best way to sync up with his preferences and routines. It was strange how he could command such attention without even being present. Everyone you spoke to—patients, nurses, and even Yoongi—seemed to speak of him with a kind of reverence.

You got to know Yoongi a little bit once he came by to work on some notes. You could tell that he was like any other surgical resident, eager to cut but he did not have the same energy as other residents you had met previously. Stark difference to the energy of Dr. Kim. 

You were sitting for a moment when Vic comes and joins you at the nurses station. It was getting close to the end of your day. 

“How was the wedding?” Vic asked as she settled into a chair next to you, she probably had been dying to ask. You had been talking non stop about this wedding for months now you were surprised she wasn't sick of hearing about it.

“It went great. Few hiccups but otherwise couldn’t have been more perfect. I’ll never be a maid of honor again though.” That was probably true, between this job and the months you spent working on everything with Melanie, you were glad it was over. 

“Did that guy bother you? What was his name?” 

The mention of Jungkook made you pause. Vic was not unfamiliar with the subject of Jungkook, in fact she probably was the next person outside of Melanie and Ash that had gotten an earful about your disdain for him. Except now, you hadn’t really unpacked what had happened between the two of you.

“Yes, Jungkook.” You clear your throat. Swiveling your chair to look at her. 

“Yeah, he’s the guy you’ve had issues with for years right?” 

“He’s the same old Jungkook.” You say but your tone wasn’t convincing enough for Vic. 

She asks. “What no exciting update? No he’s the devil and the next time I see him I’m going to actually rip his throat out? You usually have much more to say than that.” 

“Well, he wasn’t so bad this time. Annoying but we did our best. The weekend wasn’t about us.” 

You hadn’t really had a chance to unpack the events of the weekend. Mostly, just file it away and never speak about it again. Except your awkward demeanor had not been lost on Vic. You glance at her as she is giving you a confused expression. 

“What?” You ask her with an awkward laugh. 

“I’m confused. I’ve seen you draw devil horns on pictures of him and crop him out of group photos.” She scratched her head. 

You hesitated, keeping your focus on the paperwork in front of you. "He was… fine. I guess," you said, voice tight.

Vic stared at you for a long moment, her suspicion growing. “Fine? Since when is this guy ever just fine?” She let out a dry laugh. “You’ve spent years telling me every little thing he does drives you crazy—how is he suddenly fine?”

You shrugged, forcing a smile. "I don’t know. Maybe I’m over it. People grow up."

Vic’s brow shot up, unconvinced. “Over it? You? You once said you'd rather get a root canal with no anesthesia than spend five minutes with him.” 

“He once said I was so annoying that he’d rather listen to nails on a chalkboard for an hour than have a conversation with me. So I think the comparison was justified.”

“Not the point. I mean what happened to make you two reconcile so easily?” 

“I don’t know. It’s a weekend full of love and people we care about?” 

Vic wasn’t letting this go. “Come on. I know you. If nothing happened, you’d be ranting by now, probably calling him a walking disaster or comparing him to a toe fungus again.”

“Well…” You start trying to think of something but coming up short. “We just figured it out.” 

“Okay…” Vic’s eyes were on you like a hawk now, watching every subtle reaction. “Let’s say you did get along. That still doesn’t explain why you’re acting so weird about it.” She raised an eyebrow, her voice dipping lower. “Did you guys talk or something? He confess his undying love for you?”

You snort at the absurdity, Jungkook nor you would never have feelings for the other in a million years. “We had a fight. We almost got kicked out so we had to come to an agreement.”

“You know you aren’t as good of a liar as you think you are.” She pokes you in your side and swat her hand away. She leans back in her chair, arms above her head, thinking. You could feel her eyes on you still as you filled out some information on your tablet. “What did you sleep with the guy?”

You paused. You tried not to show any expression but how did she get that so fast? Your silence did not go unnoticed. 

Vic’s gaze sharpened as she caught your hesitation. “Oh no... Wait. I was just kidding but… No way.” She stared at you, her voice suddenly full of realization. “You didn’t…”

You get up from your seat taking your tablet with you, getting away from her even though you had no set place you were going. Vic followed very close behind you. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Vic let out a disbelieving laugh, her jaw dropping. “This is... I don’t even know what this is. I mean, I knew something was up, but I didn’t expect this.” She paused, leaning in closer, her voice suddenly curious. “So... what happens now? Are you guys, like, cool now?”

You shook your head, pulling her off to the side so you can have this conversation quietly. “No, Vic. It’s not like that. We still—” You stopped, fumbling for the right words. “It didn’t fix anything. We still hate each other.”

Vic blinked, clearly confused. “Then... why did it happen?”

“Honestly, I’m not convinced I hadn’t had a stroke or something. I still don’t really believe it happened.” Which was true, thinking about it felt like it was some insane dream rather than reality.

Vic sat back, still processing what you had just admitted, her expression caught between disbelief and curiosity. “I mean, I knew there was a lot of tension between you two, but… I didn’t think that kind of tension.” She shook her head, still stunned. “So, what? Was it like, some heat-of-the-moment thing? Or was it the alcohol?”

You go ahead and walk her through the events of the night and how you two came to this conclusion. She was completely enraptured in the story. She was laughing at you through most of it. She would never believe something like this would happen to you. 

“I’ve met your friend Taehyung, you should never take his advice.” 

“Well… It was all heat of the moment I guess.” 

Vic shook her head, grinning ear to ear. "Oh, I’m sure! Just a casual weekend of wedding duties, speeches, and—oh, you know—sleeping with your mortal enemy to ‘relieve some tension.’ That’s totally normal."

“Well it’s never happening again.” 

“Oh sure that’s what they all say.” She laughed, throwing an arm around your shoulder and the two of you walk up the hall. Both of you glancing into patient rooms to make sure no one is needing anything. “Until the next time you two are in the same room, glaring daggers at each other, and—boom!”

You gave her a look and then burry your head in your hands. "Stop.”

Vic squinted at you, her grin growing wider. "Come on, YN. It sounds like you two finally found a way to stop biting each other’s heads off. Maybe instead of hating each other, you guys just needed a new... hobby?"

“Vic.” You shove her shoulder.

“I mean, what’s next?” she continued, clearly enjoying herself. “You two going to start a book club together? Go bowling on the weekends?"

“Can we let it go?” You sigh frustrated, dying to move on to something else. “I’ve never given you this hard of a time about your choice of partners.” 

“Mine are not half as interesting as this.” She wiggles her eyebrows at you. 

“I’m getting back to work. It’s still my first day up here after all.” You pretend to be doing something on your tablet. Vic and you both know you were caught up on work but you start walking as quickly as you can ahead of her. 

“I’m just saying! This is like a plot straight out of a steamy rom-com.” She calls after you, you spinning on your heels to look at her.

Lifting your head slightly, you shot her a look. “If this was a rom-com, it’d be the worst one ever made. Trust me, there’s no happy ending here.”

With that she leaves you alone, for now. You know this would not be the last time you would be hearing about it. There will be nothing to tell her though, there is no continuation of any of this in the future for you and Jungkook. You never saw the guy hardly ever so it didn’t matter. 

You weren’t the only one who had pushed it down to a far place of your mind. Jungkook had found himself back at work this week. Jungkook’s week had been relentless. Since coming back to work after the wedding, it felt like he was buried under a mountain of tasks. As an associate at the law firm, he was used to the pressure, but the past few days had been especially grueling. He was juggling meetings with clients, writing complaints, filing motions, and researching for a high-stakes case. It was enough to make his head spin.

Today was no different. He had barely sat down for lunch, only quick bites between phone calls and endless stacks of documents. His current focus was on one of the senior partners, Mr. Kang, who was preparing for a major trial next week. Being chosen to help him was a big deal, considering Kang was known to be a tough and exacting lawyer. Jungkook had been working late nights, hoping his effort would earn him the partner’s respect and maybe a spot on more of these high-profile cases in the future.

Jungkook had just finished organizing the evidence and compiling a detailed witness list. He had also prepped several key points for Kang’s opening and closing statements, which, to his disappointment, the partner had dismissed with a wave of his hand.

“Here is some of the prep I did for your trial, Mr. Kang,” Jungkook said, placing a thick folder of notes on his boss’s desk.

Kang, a no-nonsense kind of guy with sharp, calculating eyes, barely looked up from the file in front of him. “Good work, Jungkook. I’ll handle the opening and closing. But you’ve done well with the prep. You’re dismissed.”

Jungkook blinked in surprise. Usually, when you did a good job in Kang’s eyes, he’d keep you around for more work, even if it meant staying well into the night. But today, he was letting him go. Jungkook felt a mix of relief and pride as he grabbed his bag from his desk, quietly wondering if the partner had finally acknowledged his hard work.

Just as Jungkook was about to leave the office, Jimin, caught sight of Jungkook's rush. 

“You leaving?” Jimin asked, leaning against the doorframe with an eyebrow cocked.

“Yeah, I’ve got plans tonight, and I’m already late,” Jungkook replied, shoving his laptop into his bag with a little more force than necessary. The tension of the day was finally lifting, and the thought of being out of the office and away from the piles of paperwork felt like freedom.

“Mr. Kang actually let you go early?” Jimin raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “Man, he must really like you. That guy doesn’t let anyone out this early, especially not if they’ve got a big case coming up.”

“I’m just as surprised as anyone,” Jungkook said with a half-smile, throwing his bag over his shoulder. “I’ll take it, though. It’s late enough as is.”

Jimin chuckled. “Yeah, it’s a rarity around here. Have a good night, man. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jungkook gave a quick nod and started walking down the hall, eager to leave the stuffy atmosphere of the office behind. But Jimin called out after him, making Jungkook pause for a moment, glancing back.

“Hey, you still coming out next week, right?” Jimin asked. “I already got you a ticket.”

Jungkook hesitated for a split second, then smirked. “Yeah, I’ll be there,” he called back, waving as he walked toward the elevator. “See you.”

As the doors closed behind him and the elevator descended, Jungkook took a deep breath. The tension of the office was still heavy on his shoulders, but the thought of a night out with Jimin and some friends gave him a bit of lightness. He was long overdue for a chance to unwind. After the wedding and the work this last week, he was burnt out.

Stepping outside, the crisp evening air hit his face. It wasn’t too cold, but the cool breeze was a welcome contrast to the stale office air he’d been trapped in all day. The city felt alive around him, the hum of cars and distant chatter of pedestrians making him feel momentarily free from the piles of work waiting for him the next day. Jungkook checked the time, 8:06.

Jungkook took the opportunity to just listen to some music and walk to a convenience store he knew was nearby. His brother was texting about something and he hadn’t had a chance to answer all day. He needed a moment of peace for himself before he needed to get going. He knew exactly what snacks he wanted to get, and maybe a ramen bowl for when he gets home later. Jungkook grabbed some water bottles from the fridge and turned to go to the snacks. Almost slamming into someone else coming around the aisle corner. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” you stammered, stepping back to avoid the near collision. Your eyes darted up, and surprise flooded your face when you saw who it was.

“Y/N?” Jungkook asked, surprised to see you. Especially not in a convenience store he frequented so often. 

“Oh.” You were feeling a similar feeling, this was the convenience store closest to your place. “What are you doing here?” 

He pulled one earbud out, his mind still processing the unexpected run-in. “I, uh, my firm’s just across the street.” He gestured vaguely behind him with the water bottle, realizing how lame that sounded. “I come here sometimes after work.”

You shifted the snacks in your arms, and Jungkook couldn’t help but notice how you seemed just as off-balance as he was. “I live right around the corner.” You said, filling the silence, your voice calm but your eyes wide with surprise.

“Oh.” Jungkook mouth hung in an ‘o’ shape. Jungkook had no idea you lived over here, maybe could have found a different place to go if he had known you come here. “What are the snacks for?”

“Uhh, Ash is coming over.” 

“Cool.” Jungkook paused, he really had no idea what to say. “Tell her I said hi I guess.”

“Yeah.”

You let the awkward silence hang between the both of you for a moment before you decided to brush past him. You had nothing to say to him really so you should just go about your business. It felt strange, you just talked about him today and now here he was. This last week has been the most you had seen him in years. You get a drink from the fridges, you eyes a little too focused on if you spot Jungkook in your peripherals. 

Jungkook just continued on his way and got a few snacks and the ramen bowl he wanted. Making his way to the counter where he lined up behind you. You knew he was behind you but said nothing as you paid for your items. Jungkook felt like maybe he should say something but what was lost of on. He hadn’t really thought about the wedding and what transpired at all but now it was at the front of his mind. Should he bring it up? Leave it alone? Would probably just cause a fight. 

You got the bags with your stuff step outside. A little shaken by the encounter, you fumble with your stuff making sure you get your keys out when Jungkook follows too soon out of the convenience store. You both look at each other simultaneously, both silent.  

You shuffled your stuff in your hands, unsure if you should say anything, but Jungkook beat you to it. “Do you need walked home? It's pretty dark.” His offer caught you off guard.

“Uh, I’m okay,” you said after a pause, glancing down the street. “It’s really close by.” You pointed behind you, in the general direction of your apartment, hoping that would end the conversation.

“I uhh…” He cleared his throat. “I also need to head that way to my car.” 

Of course he does, you thought. 

So you nod and just start walking. Jungkook comes up close to the next of you. He felt weird trailing behind but this also feels just as weird and uncomfortable. He was standing as close as he could to the edge of the sidewalk without stepping into the street. You almost instinctively kept your arms closely tucked to your sides. The walk to your place really wasn’t that far but it felt like an eternity now. 

What were you supposed to say in a situation like this?

“You work at a law firm?” The question erupted out of you.

“Yeah?”

“Huh.”

“What?”

“I just… I don’t know. I never pegged you as a lawyer.” Which was true, you never knew he went to law school. To be fair you didn’t care what Jungkook did at all most of the time.

“I changed my mind I guess.” Jungkook shrugged. He didn’t know what to say to that. The last time you really knew each other, back in college, he hadn’t planned on law school yet.

That was a decision that came later.

Silence fell between the two of you again. It got Jungkook thinking, thinking about what happened between the two of you. He didn’t feel guilty but he felt like maybe it needed to be brought up.

Jungkook sighed, “So, about last week…” 

“We don’t have to talk about it.” You cut him off with a bitter tone, harsher than you had intended. 

“And what if I wanted too?” Jungkook bit back, all too harsh. 

“You do?” You glance at him, and he seems to be genuine. “Oh you do.” You retreat back into yourself and feel somewhat bad now, not realizing that maybe he would like to talk about it.

Something in him did want to talk about it, it wasn’t how he normally acted and he’s been under so much stress lately. Maybe it would feel good to talk it out?

“I was just going to ask if you were okay,” he continued, keeping his tone softer. His thoughts churned, wondering if you’d even believe him, if you’d think this was just some routine apology or him trying to cover his tracks. “And to say, I don’t usually do stuff like that. You might think otherwise, but that’s not who I am.” The words felt heavier than he’d intended, but they were true.

He glanced at you, searching for something in your expression, anything to tell him how you were really feeling. All he found was that guarded look he’d seen so many times before—the one that kept him at a distance. 

“I’m honestly too busy for hookups,” he added, a bitter chuckle escaping him, “so it surprised me more than anyone. So I just wanted to ask if you were okay and get that off my chest I guess.”

You were silent, you actually look at his face now, he seemed to be serious? Sincere? You felt like crawling out of your skin because he was being so real. It was weird, and clearly your face was telling Jungkook the same thing. Your expression looked uncomfortable and confused.

“What?” he asked and raised an eyebrow to you. 

“You’re just being so… considerate,” you said, shivering in your spot. “I’m so uncomfortable right now.” 

Jungkook almost laughed, but it came out as more of a sigh. He wasn’t used to this either, wasn’t used to feeling vulnerable, and certainly not with you. But for some reason, it mattered more to him than it should. “Well, you can think whatever you like, I guess. I just wanted to get that out.” He tried to shrug it off, but the weight of the moment hung between you, making it impossible to dismiss. 

“Well…” You start, “I’m not thinking anything. If I’m being honest it’s not really me either and it felt really weird for me. I’m okay though but I would like to pretend it never happened. Umm… are you okay?”

Jungkook paused, “Yeah this is really weird.” He let out a small laugh, “I am okay and I also want to pretend it never happened.” Jungkook felt like he lifted a small weight he didn’t even know was on his shoulders. 

“Great. Now stop being so nice asshole, it’s freaking me out.” You glance and you had arrived to your building so quickly and you couldn’t be more thankful you couldn't take this awkwardness any longer. “This is me.” You point to the building next to you. 

“Nice.” Jungkook said it but it was more like he had no idea how to respond. Your building was right next to the parking garage he used for his car. “Goodnight.” 

“Yeah, goodnight.” You basically scurried up the steps and let yourself into the front door as fast as you could. You felt like you needed a shower to get Jungkook words out of your head. It felt so wrong, he was so nice and considerate about it. 

It would have been easier if Jungkook was a dick about the whole thing. 

Jungkook made sure you got in okay and then started his way to the parking garage to his car. He felt better but also so strange. Maybe he would have felt better if you two had made a whole scene. It was so weird being so... mature. Before Jungkook could think too much on it, his phone was buzzing in his pocket. 

The words ‘Mom’ were written across the screen, and he answered. 

“Hi Mom.” Jungkook barely got any words out before the other line erupted with sound. 

“Jeon Jungkook I cannot believe you are late! We have been waiting for you to arrive all evening and you are nowhere to be found!”

“I’m coming mom, just barely got off of work. I am on my way now.” he started to scurry because even though she was yelling at him now, he won’t hear the end of it in person. 

Maybe he should have been paying closer attention to his texts. 

。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭ Previous Chapter ||❥|| Next chapter Taglist!: @akkhddhfairys @njcxlewxrld @kooklovee @ericawantstoescape @pitchblack0309 @rpwprpwprpwprw @lanie97 @httpjeonlicious @jollis87 @oopscoop @rinkud @deepikhaprakash @chuuritoz @jkslvsnella @eisthv @bangatanily @smwhrinthehaze @jjkologys @nono13bnd @smoljjks 。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭

a/n: Honestly a touch worried about this chapter (not that it’s bad but just because like it the first step into the main story so the vibe is slightly different?? I hope everyone enjoys it 🩵😭

[pinkcaraz]

obsessed - c. alcaraz

c. alcaraz x f!reader

summary: you really don't want carlos to get a haircut.

wc: 1.3k

tags/warnings: suggestive, fluff, implied oral sex, making out.

a/n: posting this to cope with the fact that we're probs gonna lose fluffy hair pinkcaraz 😔. as you can probably tell, i don't speak spanish, so please feel free to correct me. as always, likes, reblogs, feedback, etc. are always appreciated! if you want to be tagged in any future writing, please lmk. i might make an official taglist form later if enough people want to be tagged. thanks and hope you enjoy!

it’s one of his days off. thankfully, you and carlos have been enjoying a relaxing vacation at home after several long weeks of traveling and tournaments. for the past few days, the two of you have been making the most of his time off by sleeping in and lounging around at home for most of the day. today, however, the absence of your personal heater next to you rouses you from your comfortable sleep early. you blindly pat his side of the bed just to be sure, and when you don’t find him, you lazily crack your eyes open to look for him. sitting up in bed, you find him half dressed, just starting to get ready for the day. 

“lo siento, did i wake you?” he asks apologetically while fondly watching you rub your eyes from sleep. you look so cute with your sleepy expression and wild bed hair, it makes his heart flutter. he stops what he’s doing to sit next to you on the bed and places a soft good morning kiss on your forehead. 

you yawn and shake your head smiling. “it’s okay. what are you doing? where are you going?” you ask, trying to smooth down your unruly hair. carlos laughs softly and brushes back a few strands that fall into your face.

“i thought i would go run some errands, maybe go get a haircu-”

“no!”

“‘no?’ what do you mean ‘no?’”

shit, did you just say that out loud? you’re still a little hazy from sleep, and clearly, your brain-to-mouth filter isn’t working at full capacity yet. 

when you don’t answer him right away, carlos presses on. “do you not want me to get a haircut? do my haircuts not look good?” he asks with his pretty brown puppy-dog eyes and signature pout.

you’ve really dug yourself into a hole here. “no, charlie, you always look good,” you respond quickly. and it’s true, he does always look good to you, even when he comes home with his goofy ass fade and you’re forced to mourn his soft, fluffy hair. at just the mere mention of a haircut, you’re already lamenting the loss of his current look. he’s been overseas for a few weeks now, so it’s been a while since he last went to see his barber. his hair has grown out a bit on the sides and especially in the front, where it curls and falls just above his eyes. he looks so good like this, it drives you insane sometimes. 

you distinctly remember an incident just last week where you couldn’t take it anymore and basically jumped his bones as soon as he wrapped up his post-match press conference. he had played so well that day. watching him absolutely glowing, dashing back and forth on court, had you so incredibly worked up. his hair was also slightly ruffled from a vigorous match and him occasionally brushing it out of his eyes. despite that, it still looked perfectly soft. you didn’t care that he was still sweaty from the match, you had to have him close so you could run your hands through his hair and ruffle it up even more. 

with unwavering determination, the second carlos stepped out of the press room, you were leading him down an empty hallway of the stadium. once the two of you were away from prying eyes, you had pulled him in by the collar for a searing kiss. as much as he was surprised, he knew better than to interrupt you when you were like this, so he played along, backing you up and caging you against the wall. your resulting gasp allowed him to lick past your lips, into your mouth, teasing you. with one hand still clinging to the collar of his shirt, your other hand reached up to tangle itself in carlos’ hair, bringing him impossibly closer to you. completely engrossed in you, he continued licking and nipping at your bottom lip until you were panting hard. when you gently pulled him back by his hair so you could catch your breath, he let out a soft moan, sending a shiver down your spine. your eyes met, both dark with want, and he dove back in, assertively pressing his soft lips to yours before moving to bury his face in your neck. when he tentatively nibbled at your pulse point, you gasped, tightening your grip on his hair ever so slightly. this had him increasing the intensity of his attention to your neck with a satisfied smirk on his face. you were running your fingers through his hair in appreciation when you heard voices down at the end of the hall, forcing you to drag him off of you. 

you were dreamily reminiscing about how you had quickly pulled him somewhere else more private to finish what you started when carlos’ voice interrupted your thoughts, bringing you back to the present. “then, por qué no?” he asks, referring back to you not wanting him to get a haircut.

“um…well…it’s just- uh-,” you stutter in response. you clearly have an answer – you’re a little obsessed with his hair grown out – but you don’t want to tell him that outright. feeling embarrassed from being in this position and also still slightly flustered from the memory, your cheeks burn. you get that look on your face that says you’re thinking unsavory thoughts about him, and ever-observant carlos starts to pick up on how you’re feeling at the moment.

with a mischievous grin and a teasing tone, he keeps pushing you to answer. “dime, amor. you can tell me anything.” at this point, he’s leaning in so close to you, practically crawling up your body, so you’re forced to lay back on the bed while he hovers over you.

“i just, uh, really like your hair like this is all.”

“oh, de verdad? is that really all you were thinking about? you weren’t thinking about yesterday?” he questions deviously while holding himself up on top of you, slotted in between your legs. 

yesterday. yesterday, as in, when the both of you were in the same position in bed. except, then, he was lower down, attentively nipping and sucking a path from your inner thighs upwards. your hands were tangled in his hair, pulling groans from him and directing him closer to the burning ache between your legs. that yesterday. 

uh oh, he’s caught you. he’s probably known this whole time that you’re obsessed – not that you were really trying to hide it or anything – and when you finally realize, you whine and cover your face from embarrassment. 

“well, no i wasn’t thinking about yesterday, but i am now,” you grumble out. thinking back, you subconsciously try to squeeze your thighs together at the memory, but because carlos is still positioned with an evil little smile between your legs, you can’t. you can hear him trying to hold back his laughter, so from behind your arms, you mumble, with no venom behind it, “you’re the worst.”

“ok, well if i’m the worst, then i guess i should get up so i can go get a haircut then,” he teases while moving to get up off of you. 

before he can get anywhere, you pull him back so that he’s plopped on top of you and wrap yourself around him like a koala. “nooooo, don’t go,” you whine into the crook of his neck and snuggle even closer to him. “please.” 

the way you hold him close has him melting. he can’t deny you when you’re this adorable. “ok, fine,” he mumbles endearingly into your hair as he presses a sweet kiss to the top of your head. carlos then wraps his own arms around you in a bear hug and rolls over so that you’re the one laying on top of him. pulling the blankets back up, he settles the both of you back into bed so the two of you can cuddle the rest of the day away. 

taglist: @yungbludz

[drabbles-mc]

Out of Practice

Bucky Barnes x F!Reader

For the Alternate June-iverse prompt: milf/dilf

Warnings: 18+, language, alcohol, steamy things, reader is a mom, bucky hasn't dated in like 70 years

Word Count: 7.7k

A/N: I had no idea what I was going to do for this prompt for the longest time but then tonight this all fell outta me in one sitting lmao. enjoy some cameos from Sam and Tony! And thanks again to @buckybarnesevents and @rookthorne for putting this event together 💖

MCU Taglist: @garbinge @artemiseamoon (If you want to be added to any of my taglists, please let me know!)

Bucky was standing at the bottom of the walkway that led to the main doors of the school. Despite the warmth that came from the late spring weather, he still had on his leather jacket and gloves. He was far from the only person standing out and waiting for the final bell to ring, but he still felt like he stood out. No matter how much time went by that was a feeling he had yet to shake.

He pried his eyes off the cracked concrete beneath his boots when the bell rang, shortly followed by the front doors of the school being pushed open by dozens upon dozens of kids desperate to get out and head home. Many of them were sprinting off towards the buses, but some were making a direct line right where Bucky was standing with the rest of the parents and other family members. He kept his eyes peeled, but he still didn’t see who he was looking for.

A couple minutes ticked by and for a moment he wondered if he had shown up at the wrong place, or on the wrong day. He was about to take his phone out of his pocket when the front door opened up again. He breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw Morgan walking out, jacket tied around her waist and backpack settled on her shoulders. She was looking up at the woman next to her, the two of them talking as the woman balanced a child who looked like she was just barely old enough to be in kindergarten on her hip.

When Morgan looked away, she immediately saw Bucky. A smile broke out across her face as she threw a hand up to wave, an expression and gesture that he returned. He took a few steps so that he met her right where the walkways met. She walked right up to him, holding both hands out in closed fists. Bucky’s grin widened slightly as he held his fists out as well, tapping their knuckles together before the both pulled their hands back, making an exploding sound and gesture as they did.

Once they completed their ritual, Bucky turned his attention to you. You were smiling at the sight of the two of them, but he could see the questioning look still lingering in your eyes. “You must be Uncle Bucky, then?” you asked, although the answer seemed fairly obvious.

He chuckled, looking briefly at Morgan before he returned his attention back to you. “Yeah, but just Bucky is fine.”

He held out his hand for you to shake, and you did so carefully so as not to disturb the sleeping child on your hip as you gave him your name in return. “Hope you don’t mind me bringing her out.” You shifted your weight from one foot to the other. “Just like to make sure that everything’s alright when someone new is picking up one of my students.”

“I tried to tell her you weren’t new,” Morgan interjected, her sarcasm making her sound so much like her father despite only being nine years old.

You shook your head with a knowing smile. “New to me, then,” you corrected.

“It’s fine,” Bucky said with a small shake of his head. “I get it.”

“I appreciate that.” You looked back and forth between the two of them, an odd but fitting pair. “I’ll let you two go. It was nice to meet you, Bucky.” You shifted your gaze to the young girl standing beside him. “And I will see you on Monday, Miss Morgan.”

Morgan was already saying goodbye and turning to head off towards Bucky’s care by the time the words left your mouth. Bucky, however, was still staring at you, looking at the way you were balancing the little girl on one hip while you had her backpack on the opposite shoulder, your own bag hanging in the crook of your arm. He knew that this was probably far from the first time you left the school building with your hands full but he still felt like it was wrong to not at least offer to help.

“Do you need help with—”

“I’ve got it,” you reassured him with a smile, taking a step towards the parking lot, “but thank you.”

He didn’t try to offer again, taking your word for what it was worth. Turning, he easily collapsed the distance between himself and Morgan in one stride, and the two of them started walking off towards his car. You heard the two of them talking as they walked away. Or, rather, you heard Morgan talking about her day and Bucky chiming in with a word of acknowledgment. You cast a couple brief looks at them as you walked over to your car, smiling at the sight of them.

You returned your focus to the task at hand as you tried to get your daughter into her booster seat in the back of your car. You weren’t too worried, since she had luckily been a heavy sleeper ever since she was born, but you still tried to be extra careful. You were clicking her seatbelt into place when you heard Bucky’s car engine rumbling to life.

You caught a glimpse through your own car’s windshield as they drove by, Morgan sitting behind the empty passenger seat of Bucky’s car. They were out of you line of sight as quickly as they’d entered it. When they were gone again you set both your bag and your daughter’s on the floor by her feet.

~*~

“Ew, no,” Morgan said as she shook her head, her and Bucky looking at each other through the rearview mirror, “he’s gross. All the boys in my grade are.”

Bucky laughed, nodding. “Your dad will be happy to hear that.”

“I don’t even want a boyfriend.”

Bucky fought to the urge to give his knee-jerk response which would’ve been, “Well, yeah, you’re fucking nine.” Instead, he asked, “You tell him that?”

“Yeah.” She shrugged. “He went and asked Chrissy instead.”

“Worked out for you,” Bucky said, throwing his directional on before turning onto the main road away from the school. “You don’t need a boyfriend—you’re fine.”

“Dad says that you need a girlfriend.”

Bucky nearly choking on the breath he was pulling in. His eyes drifted from the road and back to the mirror to look at her. “What?”

“What?” she parroted back to him, blissfully unaware of why he reacted that way. “That’s what he said.”

Bucky was shaking his head, gaze fixed back on the road once more. “Yeah? Well your dad’s a—”

“Have you ever had a girlfriend?” she asked.

Bucky chuckled, a genuine sound. “Ever? Yeah.”

“This century?”

His eyebrows raised, surprised but also not. “You gotta stop listening to your dad all the time.”

A wide grin blossomed across her face. “But have you?”

He shook his head. “I thought we were cool,” he said sarcastically.

Morgan laughed hard enough at that to usher them into another topic of conversation with the rest of the drive home. Bucky went the long way, swinging through McDonald’s on the way since he was told that was fine this time around. It killed a little more time anyway, which was really what he needed. The only reason that he has the one enlisted to go and pick Morgan up in the first place was because Tony and Pepper were both running late with work. Not terribly so, but late enough that they didn’t want to ask her teacher to stay and wait.

Even with the extra stop planned in, and the most scenic route as possible taken, it still didn’t take them very long to get home. Before either of them could think much of it Bucky was rolling into Tony and Pepper’s driveway.

Bucky had just put the car in park when Morgan jumped out of the car, backpack strap in one hand and happy meal in the other. Bucky shook his head at her, laughing as he got out of the car much slower than she had. He finally felt comfortable enough to take off his gloves, tucking them into the back pocket of his jeans as he walked towards Tony’s porch.

Morgan had left the door opened behind her, so Bucky walked through and closed it as he did. When he looked around the room he saw that Morgan had already made her way over to her father and gotten swept off the ground in a hug.

As Tony was setting her back down on the floor, he asked, “You got some extra fries for me, right?”

Morgan laughed. “No way.”

Tony faked deep offense at her response. “It’s like I don’t even know you anymore.”

Bucky piped in. “I didn’t get you any either, for the record.”

Tony smirked. “That much I expected.”

Morgan looked around the room a little more, and when she didn’t see Pepper, she asked, “Where’s Mom?”

Tony gestured deeper into the house. “She’s out back.”

Morgan tossed both her backpack and her McDonald’s box of food onto the counter. “I’m gonna go say hi!” She pointed at Tony. “Don’t eat my fries.” She turned and pointed at Bucky. “Don’t let him eat my fries.”

Bucky gave a small salute. “Yes ma’am.”

When Morgan had scampered out of the room, Tony’s full attention shifted to Bucky. “Thanks for picking her up—I know it was short-notice.”

Bucky shrugged. “It’s fine.”

“Went okay?”

He nodded. “Teacher came out to make sure I wasn’t some kidnapper, but yeah, it went okay.”

Tony chuckled as he opened the fridge. “Figured she would.” He grabbed a beer for himself and offered one to Bucky, when he declined he shrugged with a suit yourself expression and let the door fall shut.

“Why’s your nine-year-old telling me I need to get a girlfriend?” Bucky asked as he watched Tony pop the cap off the bottle.

Tony didn’t miss a beat. “My guess is because you need to get a girlfriend.”

“Tony—”

“You met her teacher then, right?” Tony shrugged and took a sip of his beer. “She’s single. And cu—”

Bucky’s tone shifted drastically as he repeated himself. “Tony.”

The hand that wasn’t holding the beer bottle was held up in mock surrender. “I’m just saying.”

“That why you sent me to pick her up? Is Happy even busy?”

Tony laughed. “Like Happy would ever be too busy to get Morgan from school.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Oh my fuc—”

“Watch it.” Tony lifted the hand he was holding the bottle with, pointing accusingly at him. “There are little ears in the house.”

Bucky sucked in a deep breath. “I don’t need you playing matchmaker.” He leaned forward, bracing his forearms against the smooth dark stone-top of the island. “And I definitely don’t need you roping in your nine-year-old to help.”

“I actually didn’t tell her to say anything to you.”

“I don’t need you talking to her about my love life at all.”

“I was talking to Pepper about it. But hey,” he took another sip, “little ears hear everything.”

He watched as Bucky chuckled in disbelief. Tony knew that it wasn’t his place to say or do anything, that out of everyone he was probably close to the bottom of the list when it came to people who had the right to give dating advice. Even with that being the case, though, Tony had been watching Bucky muddle through and get along without ever really learning to get close to anyone since everything happened with Steve. He was gone now, and while Bucky might’ve accepted that, he still hadn’t really made any moves to let new people in. A girlfriend wouldn’t solve all of those issues, as Pepper had swiftly told him. But it probably also wouldn’t hurt, as Tony had told her in response.

“Gonna make me go to parent-teacher night next?” Bucky asked, his tone light enough to let Tony know that it wasn’t going to turn into an argument for the time being.

“Don’t be ridiculous—you’re not ready for anything more than an open house.”

He scoffed out a laugh. “Thanks.”

They both had plenty more comments to make about the topic but they let it drop as Morgan re-entered the room, Pepper in tow right behind her. Bucky and Tony exchanged a knowing look, one that confirmed that their conversation as on hold for now. Pepper caught it, but knew enough to know not to ask. Instead, she started a new conversation by thanking Bucky for picking Morgan up. He stayed long enough to make a little small talk before excusing himself, making sure to give Morgan another double fist-bump before heading for the door.

“I’ll walk you out,” Tony said, leaving his half-empty beer bottle on the counter.

Bucky knew exactly what Tony was doing, but didn’t say anything. The two of them slipped out the door, and Tony followed him down off the porch and all the way to his car.

When he realized that Bucky wasn’t going to say anything about any of it, he spoke up himself. “I could probably get her number for you.”

“Don’t.”

“Why not? You don’t think she’s—”

“That has nothing to do with it and you know it,” Bucky cut him off. “Just leave it alone, Tony.”

“Mmm.” He shook his head. “Don’t think I can do that. Matter of national security at this point—you’re left unattended an awful lot.”

“And you think I need an elementary teacher to keep me company?”

“She knows how to wrangle kids and keep ‘em in line—sounds perfect for you.”

“Don’t say anything to her.”

Tony stared at Bucky for a long, hard minute. “Fine.”

Bucky didn’t believe it for a second but be also knew that continuing to argue about it wasn’t going to fix anything either. “Thanks.”

They exchanged a quick handshake and a brief goodbye, and soon enough, Bucky was on his way. The drive back to his apartment felt longer than usual, his thoughts wandering in the silence of the car since he didn’t make any move to turn the radio on. He thought about you, not that he would ever give Tony the satisfaction of knowing that, the way you smiled as you balanced your daughter on your hip. He thought about the apparent ease there was between you and Morgan. He thought about your dress and the way it fell just above your knees, the way the bright colors looked so nice and seemed so fitting.

Then he shook his head to dispel the thoughts. Tony was just in his head now, having him overthink about a woman he’d met for all of two minutes. The likelihood of him seeing you again wasn’t very high, not unless Tony started asking him to play chauffer for Morgan a lot more often, and somehow he didn’t really see that happening.

When he walked into his apartment, Bucky was immediately greeted by Alpine running up and rubbing against his legs. He chuckled, crouching down so that he could give him a light scratch behind his ears. Part of it was because Alpine was happy to have his owner home, Bucky was sure. But the other part was about the fact that it was definitely past Alpine’s usual dinnertime. Bucky understood all of that.

“I know,” his metal fingers can down Alpine’s spine, causing him to arch and purr, “I’m late.”

The next few minutes was just Bucky hanging up his jacket, giving Alpine his dinner, and then pulling something out of the freezer to cook for his own dinner as well. While he was waiting for the oven to finish pre-heating, the only sound that could be heard was Alpine crunching on his kibble as he stood above his bowl. Bucky watched him for a moment, a small smile on his face at the simplicity of the life he had now. Something that for a long time he didn’t think he would ever have.

It was a good life. It was quieter now than it had been for a long time—he was almost used to it. But maybe Tony was right, not that Bucky would ever tell him as much in so many words, but there might’ve been something to what Tony had been trying to tell him. A truth that was simpler to ignore because continuing on as he had been required far less work than trying to get to know someone, trying to let someone get to know him.

He pulled his phone out, tempted to search your name just to see what would pop up, what he would be able to learn about you. Then he stopped himself, shaking his head to try and dispel the thoughts. What good would it do? Why was he thinking like you were someone he knew already? Or like you were someone that already knew him? For all he knew, you’d forgotten him already. Hell, for all he knew you had no desire to get to know anyone, let alone someone like him. The beeping of his oven saved him from going down that spiral any further.

~*~

Sam was sitting on the stool to Bucky’s left. The music in the bar was loud, but not so much so that they had to shout to talk to each other. But once Bucky processed the sentence that Sam had just spoken to him, he instantly wished that the music was loud enough so that he couldn’t hear the other man at all.

Bucky pulled a long drink from the beer bottle in his hand, gloved fingers wrapped tightly around the neck of it. “Can’t believe he got you in on this shit too.”

Sam shrugged, unfazed by Bucky’s blatant annoyance. “I’m just sayin’, I think the guy might have a point.”

“Since when do you agree with Stark?”

Sam laughed. “I’ll agree with anybody if I think they’re right!” He paused, studied the look on Bucky’s face and then added on with a laugh, “Well, yeah, not you. But other people.”

Bucky tried to keep his annoyed expression but then chuckled. “Fuck you.”

Sam wasn’t going to let the conversation get derailed. “Alright, so you don’t like the girl he was telling you about, so why don’t you—”

“I didn’t say—”

“They got apps for that now. Oh, sorry,” Sam held up his hand in a pausing motion, “Apps are things that you can put on your pho—”

Bucky’s brows knit together. “I know what apps are.”

Sam allowed himself a minute to laugh at his own joke before saying, “So it’s not the girl. Then, what? Afraid you left all your game back in the forties?”

He shook his head, eyes suddenly glued down to his beer bottle. “Sure, yeah. Something like that.”

“Want my advice?”

“No.”

Sam gave it anyway. “Get over it.” He ignored the increasingly annoyed look on Bucky’s face. “Go buy a girl a drink. Ask her for her number. Use whatever corny line you used back in the nineteen hundreds the last time you had to pretend to have some game.”

Bucky didn’t want to laugh but he couldn’t stop himself. Sam might’ve been oversimplifying but Bucky was also vaguely aware of the fact that he was overcomplicating things for himself. “I’ll think about it. But,” he paused to point at Sam accusingly while he grabbed a sip of his beer, “I didn’t have to pretend to have game. I had it—have. I have it.”

Sam raised his eyebrows. “Riiiight.”

The topic dropped, and they moved onto talking about other things. There were frequent pauses in the conversation, both of them turning to look at people coming into the bar. Neither of them ever thought they would fully break that habit, no matter how often they went out into the world as civilians.

The door let out a quiet chime, and Bucky’s head instinctively snapped in the direction to see who was coming in. His eyes widened and he stopped himself in the middle of the sentence that he was saying to Sam. There was no brain to mouth filter as he let out a quiet, “Shit.”

Sam’s face contorted in confusion as he turned to see what it was that had Bucky reacting that way. He looked over, his confusion immediately shifting into a smug grin when he saw you standing in the doorway. Bucky hadn’t even given Sam a description of what you looked like, but he could tell from Bucky’s reaction that there was no way that you could possibly be anyone else.

“Talk about good timing,” Sam joked.

Bucky was still staring at you, not that you’d noticed, as he spoke to Sam. “Shut up.”

“Now’s the time.”

He fought the urge to shove him off the stool. “I said shut up.”

You were only a couple steps inside the bar, you phone clutched tightly in one hand as you looked around the semi-tight space. The focused furrow of your brow said that you were looking for someone. The tight black jeans and lacy grey top you were wearing said that you were probably looking for your date. There were five million reasons Bucky felt his mouth go dry and none of them were doing him any good.

He saw the rise and fall of your shoulders as you let out a sigh. You typed on your phone for a moment before making your way over to the bar, carefully weaving your way through the clusters of other patrons. The closer you got, the more Bucky hoped that the floor would open up and swallow him whole. You were so focused on getting to the bar and snagging a rare empty seat, that you didn’t even notice that the seat was next to him until after you’d ordered your drink. You wouldn’t have looked in his direction at all if you hadn’t heard someone laughing.

When you turned, the first thing you saw was Bucky, the familiar face and leather jacket. The next thing you noticed was the man on the other side of him, the source of said laughter. You tilted your head as your eyes made their way back to Bucky. You allowed yourself a laugh of your own. “Bucky?”

He nodded, clearing his throat. “H-hey. Yeah, hi.”

“So funny seeing you here!” You paused, looking back and forth between him and the man next to him. “How are you?”

He nodded again, pulling the words up one by one. “Good. I’m good. You?”

“I’m, um,” you chuckled awkwardly, “I’m alright, I think? Supposed to be meeting someone here but,” you glanced around, “I don’t see them yet.”

The man on the other side of Bucky leaned across him and held his hand out. “I’m Sam, by the way.” He flashed you a charming grin. “Not the person you were looking for, but figured I’d introduce myself anyway since this guy wasn’t going to.”

You laughed as you told him your name. “Nice to meet you, Sam.”

The three of you chit-chatted, and you tried not to think too much about the way that Bucky was looking at you. You were putting too much thought into it, you were certain. Maybe you were just projecting, taking all the growing disappointment you were feeling about your supposed “date” still not being there and channeling it into the way that Bucky seemed to be so attentively listening to you.

Taking another sip from the straw in your drink, you checked the time on your phone one more time. Letting out a deep sigh, you looked over at Bucky, and Sam too. “I’m glad I ran into you two tonight, because from the looks of it the person that I came out to see is not showing up.” You shoved your phone back into the pocket of your jeans with a shake of your head.

“He’s an idiot,” Sam chimed in without hesitation.

You laughed and nodded. “I appreciate the sentiment.” You finished off your drink and you didn’t try to dissuade the bartender who was grabbing your glass and heading off to make you another. Looking back at the two of them, you said, “My friends were the ones who convinced me to get on those stupid dating apps anyway.” You shook your head. “Lotta good it did, huh?”

Bucky nodded, shooting a pointed look at Sam as he said, “Yeah, I know the feeling.”

Sam was laughing, but Bucky noticed the way that he was moving to throw some cash down on the bar. He gathered up his jacket as he got off the stool. “Well, not to be the bearer of more bad news, but I gotta take off.” He clapped Bucky on the shoulders as he walked by. “But you two crazy kids stay out and have some fun. It was very nice to meet you.” He flashed the two of you another grin. “Call if you need bail money. Not me, but, you know, call somebody.”

You laughed as you and Bucky each said goodbye to him. The two of you watched him as he practically skipped out of the bar and out onto the street. Bucky was caught between wishing he could chase Sam down and tackle him, and wishing he could skip right out the door alongside him. There was no buffer between the two of you anymore, and Bucky felt so strangely exposed.

“Sorry about your date,” Bucky finally offered up.

You smiled good-naturedly. “I’m not that heartbroken over it,” you said honestly as the bartender set your fresh drink down in front of you. “My expectations were pretty low, but, you know,” you took a sip, “not so low that I assumed he wasn’t gonna be here.”

Bucky chuckled. “That’s fair.”

“Honestly, I’m just more pissed off that I wasted one of my few free weekend evenings on some guy who didn’t even bother texting me to cancel.”

“Few?”

You smiled as you said, “My daughter. Every other week she’s with her dad. I miss her when she’s gone, so I try to stay busy. Usually with friends, but every now and then it’s some pipe-dream of a date.” You took another sip. “They usually do show up, though, at the risk of making myself sound horrible desperate,” you joked.

Bucky laughed. “I don’t think you have to worry about that.”

Your smile softened a touch, but it was still there. “Well, thank you for that at least.”

You had every intention of finishing off your drink, paying your tab, and heading right home. You weren’t typically one for staying out all hours in a bar or a club somewhere, even when you were out with your friends. And, as nice as it was that you had a chance run-in with Bucky when everything else seemed to be going wrong, you were still ready to turn it in and go home. Back to your pajamas and fuzzy blankets.

That’s not what happened, however, despite your best intentions. Somewhere along the way you switched from cocktails to soda just for the sake of being able to stay longer without getting too much of a buzz as you talked to Bucky. He wasn’t exactly a chatterbox, per se, and you hadn’t really expected him to be. The two of you managed to keep up a good pace of back and forth regardless of that. He did a little more listening than he did talking but it didn’t seem to bother him. It also made you realize that even though you had your friends, and your fellow teachers at school, there weren’t a whole lot of times when you went out to socialize with other adults. It also didn’t hurt that Bucky was so nice to look at, that he seemed to be just as interested in looking right back at you.

You’d both lost track of time as you sat there, and when you were both finally making your way towards the door of the bar, it was much later than either of you had bargained for. The two of you walked, and Bucky pulled the door open for you. The two of you were mid-conversation when you landed back out on the sidewalk. It was only then that you realized you probably weren’t going to be heading in the same direction.

Bucky watched as you motioned back over your shoulder, the opposite direction from the way he was heading. “I’m parked this way, but, it was really good seeing you. What are the chances, right?” You laughed lightly.

He smiled, nodded. “Yeah. It was, um,” he could feel the words that he wanted to say resting on the tip of his tongue and he was conflicted about whether or not he wanted to actually say them, “it was good to see you again.” He paused, hating every bit of hesitation that he was feeling. “Do you, um, I was wondering,” he was reaching for the pocket of his jacket for his phone as he fumbled his way through the question, “I mean on your next free weekend…”

You felt your face warm as he continued on. You knew where the line of questioning was going, and part of you knew that maybe you should put him out of his misery. But it was sweet, and you were enjoying that. Finally, you nodded. “That’d be nice.”

He let out a sigh of relief as he took his phone out. “Great. Okay, yeah. I’ll…I’ll call you. You know,” he managed a smile with a little more ease, “save you from all the apps.”

You laughed as you typed your name and number in. “You’re a lifesaver.”

In the back of his mind he knew that he should be making some sort of move now. Walk you to your car, give you a hug, something. But if asking for your number was as difficult as it had proven itself to be, he didn’t know what it was going to be like trying to manage anything else. So he took the win, and bid you goodnight.

Over the course of the next couple days, he was caught between wanting to tell both Tony and Sam separately that he’d gotten your number. He thought maybe it would help get them off his back. What he didn’t want, though, was for them to just get on his case about a whole new slew of things. He also didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of knowing that they’d been right.

So, instead of reaching out to either of them, he texted you instead. It was casual at first, just brief messages here and there. Texting wasn’t his favorite way to stay in touch with people, but he at least recognized that it was what people did now.

He called you once, when he wanted to actually try and make plans to see you. That conversation wasn’t one that he wanted to have over text, and he told you as much. You also found that to be sweet as well. It wasn’t a long conversation, one taking place while you made dinner and your daughter was busy with her toys in the living room. But the two of you settled on a date, a time, and that he would come by your place to pick you up. You couldn’t remember the last time you smiled so much while making pasta.

~*~

“Tony is never gonna let you hear the end of this when he finds out,” Sam said as he sat down at Bucky’s kitchen counter.

“Yeah, I know,” Bucky grabbed drinks out of his fridge. “That’s why I haven’t said anything to him about it.”

“Nothing?!”

“No!” Bucky said, breaking down into laughter after a moment. “You gonna tell him?”

“What, you think that we’re texting about you all the time?” Sam shook his head. “Get over yourself.”

Bucky was about to come back with something snarky as per usual when his phone chimed on the counter. Sam looked, too nosey to stop himself. The grin that spread across his face when he saw your name on the screen. At the look on Sam’s face, Bucky’s instinct was to reach and flip the phone over, but he stopped himself. Instead, he grabbed his phone and messaged you back before setting it down.

“You wanna call me while you’re getting ready?” Sam joked. “I’ll help you pick out an outfit. Tell you how to do your hair.”

Bucky chuckled. “Fuck you.”

~*~

He didn’t call Sam before the date. He also hadn’t heard anything from Tony which led him to believe that Sam had been kind enough to keep his mouth shut. That was all well and good, but he wished that it did anything to soothe the nerves that he was feeling as he stood outside your door.

He felt like an awkward sixteen-year-old again as he stood on your front step. He rang the doorbell, flowers clutched tightly in his hand as he waited. He’d spoken to you earlier, and you had seemed excited about it all still. That gave him hope. But again, it still wasn’t enough to eradicate the lingering feelings of anxiety he had.

Another few seconds passed by and then you pulled open the door. You were smiling at him as you were trying to do the latch on your necklace. “Hey! Sorry, I still have to get my shoes on and stuff. Please,” you stepped back and nodded for him to step inside, “come in. I’ll be ready in like, two minutes.”

He smiled as he somewhat nervously followed your instructions, stepping just past the threshold of your house. “Take your time,” he said calmly as he shut the door behind him.

He looked around while you finished putting on your jewelry and went to grab your shoes. He wasn’t sure what he had been picturing your house looking like, but what he saw felt fitting. It was tidy considering how young your daughter was. There were some toys scattered about in patches, framed photos on the walls and drawings tacked onto the fridge by magnets. It was a home in a way that none of Bucky’s places since he came back had ever been.

“Okay,” you said as you reappeared, smoothing out your blouse, “I’m ready. Sor—” you stopped short when you finally noticed the bouquet of flowers in his hand. The smile on your face was wide enough to make your cheeks hurt. “Those are beautiful.”

Bucky’s eyes widened for a moment, like he’d forgotten that he had them. He held them out to you. “Just figured, you know…”

You smiled as you took them, flitting off to the kitchen so that you could put them in a vase with water. “Thank you.”

As the two of you drove, you could feel him slowly starting to relax. The two of you talked, and you could see the way that his grip on the steering wheel started to become less vice-like. There was something refreshing in the way that he opened the car door for you, and the door to the diner that the two of you had agreed on. He sat down across from you in the booth and you noticed the way that he still had his gloves on as he looked through the menu. You wanted to ask but you didn’t—if he wanted to say something about it you had a feeling that he would.

The conversation felt easy, the same way it had been that night at the bar. The only difference now was the feeling in the air. There was a different kind of tension now that hadn’t been there before. Sure, you’d been attracted to him even then, but that hadn’t been a date. Not like this.

Every now and then if one of you shifted in your seat and your feet or legs would brush. Neither of you said anything about it, but you could feel the upward curl of your own lips as it happened, the occasional pink flush of Bucky’s cheeks. Sometimes it’d make him stumble in his sentence and you’d do him the courtesy of not commenting on it.

The two of you were splitting a piece of pie for dessert, something you insisted on because you knew the woman who baked them for the diner. It wasn’t as though Bucky put up any great fight about it. The closer the two of you got to finishing it, the more you engaged in low-stakes warfare, dueling with your forks over the pieces with the best crust-to-filling ratio.

“You can have the last bite,” you conceded with a laugh, leaning back in the booth.

“Oh, come on,” he joked, “it doesn’t feel good to win by forfeit.”

You laughed, warmth blossoming up your neck and across your face. “It’s not forfeit. Think of it as, I don’t know,” you drummed your fingers against the tabletop, “me being nice since it was your first time here.” You paused, studying the amused look on his face. “That better?”

He shrugged, a smirk on his face. “Little bit.”

The two of you walked back out to his car, and you found yourself walking much closer to his side than you had been on the way in. Your arm brushed against his as the two of you walked, and you found yourself about half a step away from leaning into his side.

He reached to open the car door for you, but before he could you leaned back against it so that you were facing him. You let one arm hang by your side, with the other you brought your palm so that it rested against his chest, pads of your fingertips pressing lightly against the leather.

Bucky almost pulled away out of reflex, but he didn’t. “Yes?”

You shook your head, still smiling. “Nothing, nothing.” You let your hand drop, the pads of your fingers dragging for a moment before your arm was back at your side once more. You moved just enough so that he could open the door again for you. “Thank you.”

Bucky walked you up to the door of your house, and he felt like his heart was beating clean up into the back of his throat. He didn’t remember dating being this nerve-wracking before. You seemed perfectly unfazed, though as you sauntered up and slipped your key into the lock.

“You wanna come in?” you offered as you opened the door. “Have a drink?”

It took more effort to swallow than it should have. “Oh. Yeah, sure.”

You chuckled. “If you don’t want to—”

“I do,” he reassured, his voice earnest.

Your smiled grew. “Okay.” You stepped and waved him in with you. “C’mon.” You noticed the way that he still had his jacket and gloves on when you came back out of the kitchen with a bottle in each hand. You handed one over to him. “Nothing fancy, but it’s also usually just me drinking them, so…”

He chuckled and shook his head. “It’s fine.”

There were a few beats of silence, each of you sipping out of your bottles before you said, “You don’t do this a lot, do you?”

His eyes widened for a moment, slight panic. “What?”

Your smile was warm as you gestured with your hand that held the bottle. “This. Dates. Not…not your thing, is it?”

He held the bottle between both his hands. “I’m…out of practice, yeah.” He cleared his throat. “That noticeable?”

You shook your head. “Not really. You just seemed, I don’t know, a little nervous. And I don’t know why a guy who looks like you would have any reason to be nervous on a date other than…”

“Other than I don’t go on them,” he finished with a soft laugh.

Your face heated up as you smiled. “Kinda.”

“How’d I do?” he asked, mostly joking.

You stepped in closer to him, noticing a different kind of tension in his body. “You’re doing great.”

He huffed out a laugh but it was much softer than he intended, betraying more of his real feelings than he bargained for. “This part?” He made a small gesture between you. “This part I’m really,” he forced out a puff of air through his teeth, “yeah.”

There was a flutter of butterflies in your stomach, something you hadn’t felt in a long time. “Want some help?”

He laughed but he didn’t say no, didn’t move away. He swallowed hard as you took the bottle from his hand and set them both on the coffee table in your living room. He was fighting hard to say something—ideally something smooth but at this point he would’ve settled for just about anything. Within seconds you were standing close to him again, bodies a breath away from being pressed flush against each other. Your hands rested on his chest for a moment, and you waited to see if he would change his mind and pull away—you were giving him the chance. But then you felt his hands tentatively land on your hips and you smiled, your body easing against his. You brought one hand up to the side of his face, thumb caressing his cheekbone.

“Not so bad,” you asked softly, “right?”

He shook his head, finally forcing out a quiet, “No, it’s not.”

You smiled and leaned in, lightly pressing your lips to his. It was delicate, fleeting—you were pulling away as quickly as you’d leaned in. The sliver of space left between your lips and his was the silent ask for him to let you know if this was the end of the night or not. He could pull away from you, no harm no foul, or he could lean in and kiss you again and figure it out from there.

It felt like you were both holding your breath for a moment, faces just too close to be able to get a good look in each other’s eyes. You were about to pull back to really look at him when he leaned in and kissed you, more conviction than the quick gesture from before. You readily gave into him, hand sliding from his cheek to the back of his head to keep him pulled to you. As his lips moved against yours, one of his hands slid so that it was resting at the center of the small of your back.

The two of you stayed like that in the middle of your living room, all locking lips and wandering hands. You would’ve let the entire night fall away spent just like that and been more than fine with it. When the two of you finally came back up for air, when Bucky pulled away from you enough to really look into your eyes, you saw that more than anything he was surprised. Maybe it was at you, maybe it was at himself, but regardless it was there. Underneath that, though, you could see that there was something more. His hand that wasn’t on the small of your back came up to cup your chin, the leather of his gloves smooth to the touch against your skin. He tilted your chin just slightly and then your lips were back on his again.

Out of instinct you tugged down the zipper of his jacket. Your hands came up to his shoulders, getting ready to push his jacket down off of them. It was only then that he pulled away from you again, breathless as he desperately searched your face.

“What?” you asked gently, pausing your movements.

“Nothing, nothing. I,” he pressed his lips into a thin line for a moment. “I wasn’t expecting…I just…”

“If it’s too much,” you said, taking a small step back, “we can—”

“No,” he stopped you short, shaking his head. “It’s not that. I just…” He took a breath. “Do you know? Who I am?”

You chuckled. “You’re friends with Iron Man and Falcon. I,” you shrugged, “I connected some dots along the way.”

He laughed, a sound of relief. “A lot of people don’t…you know…”

“A lot of people don’t have people from The Avengers dropping off school snacks once a week.” You paused and let both of you laugh. Allowing your tone to get a little more serious, you said, “I know, Bucky,” you moved once more to push his jacket down off his shoulders, “and it’s okay.”

He allowed you to do it, allowed his jacket to drop to the floor. Even with the long-sleeve shirt that he had on underneath, you could see the difference between his arms. You brought your hands to his, helping him pull the gloves off next. He was holding his breath—you could tell. When his gloves were off you ran your fingers along each of his palms, skin and metal, with equal delicate care.

When you looked into his eyes again you saw the way he was looking at you—bewildered, eager. You brought one hand back to his face again, urging him back towards you. It was a cue that he gladly took, kissing you with fervor. His hands were on your sides, and when he felt the way your other hand was running up his arm, he couldn’t stop himself, from letting his hands slip beneath the fabric of your shirt.

It’d been so long, he realized as his hands roamed your sides and back, since he’d last felt someone like this. When your fingers slid underneath the collar of his shirt, splaying across what they could reach where the nape of his neck turned stretched into his shoulders, he also realized that it’d been a long time since he’d let someone feel him like this too.

All the nerves, the tension of the night, it all started to melt away as he felt you reaching for the bottom hem of his shirt to pull off over his head. He didn’t want to stop you, and he knew that that meant something. Maybe they’d all been right—maybe there was something to letting someone else in again. As he felt the warmth of your palms against his skin, he could only hope that the rest of it felt this good too.

[plathfiles]

You Found Me | BW

pairing: Bale!Bruce Wayne x fem! reader

warnings: angst, character death, mentions of blood, some fluff, sad ending im sorry, the reader being stubborn, sad boi Bruce. Alfred bringing the wisdom. Use of y/n — sorry :( im not sure what possessed me to write this 🤦‍♀️ not proof read

summary: based on the song “you found me” by the fray.

a/n: lmk if you want to join the taglist <3 im also taking requests

☽☽☽

“But losing her, the only one who’s ever known, who I am, who im not and who I want to be,”

Bruce should have know better. Keeping you safe was his first priority, but you slipped through his fingers.

Why did you have to follow him? Why couldn’t you just stay with Alfred. You were so stubborn and as much as he loved you, he couldn’t fathom why you just wouldn’t listen.

“You could die, Bruce. I’m going with you,” you said with urgency.

“No, you can’t come. I need you here with Alfred. I can’t lose you,” Bruce argued back.

“I’ll be fine. You need my help. I’m the only one that can get into Crane’s security wing and you know that,” you huffed, arms crossed stubbornly.

And he agreed. Bruce knew you were right. You were always right. Right now it was aggravating because he was worried about you safety. But usually your good judgment and correctness saved him from being swallowed into the darkness.

You followed along with Bruce. Both getting into the Batmobile. He turned to you, looking at your beautiful features softly. “I love you. Do as I say when we get in there. Please,” Bruce said.

You nodded, but it wouldn’t be enough. When you got there Crane appeared with a bomb. It was a trap and Bruce should have known. Crane wanted to blow up any evidence he had that could get him into more trouble.

When the bomb exploded, you and Bruce were separated from each other.

“Y/n!!” He screamed. He was looking for you everywhere, frantically searching and cursing under his breath.

It was inevitable, you were going to get hurt Bruce didn’t want to face that fact. Once he told you about his secret identity, he knew in the back of his mind it would be too dangerous for you.

But he loved you. Bruce loved you so much that he couldn’t imagine his life without you. And within the next moments, he would have to find a way to live without you.

Crane was on your side of the building. “You are a stupid man, Batman!” He laughed evilly.

“Don’t you dare touch her Crane!” Bruce yelled with all of his anger and fury.

The next thing Bruce heard was a scream and he knew it was you. With adrenaline pumping through his system, he made it his mission to get to you.

“I’ll find you,” Bruce kept whispering to himself. He moved rocks and debris will all his might. Just so he could find you.

Eventually Bruce found an opening into the other side and found you. You were on your back, eyes closed. He rushed to you.

“Darling…Y/n…open your eyes,” Bruce said, holding back small sobs. You looked unconscious and he couldn’t have that. Wouldn’t have that.

“Y/n, open your eyes please. Look at me,” he said, holding your head. But then he saw the blood. And his heart dropped to his stomach. It was over.

Bruce began to cry and he pulled you close to him. His arms wrapped around your waist protectively, your limp body unable to feel a thing. He kissed the top of your head.

He screamed into the darkness. Who would comfort him when he had a nightmare? Who would patch up his cuts and bruises when he came home from a long night patrolling Gotham? You would never do those things again.

You were the one to find him. Bring him back from the dark pit of revenge. Bruce wanted to make you his wife. Share a life with you. One you would know never live.

After your funeral, Bruce let the darkness control him. He went after Crane, knowing he was the one who killed you. Bruce knew that if Crane was dead then he would finally do your death justice.

One night in the Batcave, Bruce was researching the whereabouts of Dr.Crane a.k.a the Scarecrow. He had completely went off the radar after the explosion in his workshop. After he’d — Bruce didn’t want to think about it. Holding your body was something he missed deeply.

He couldn’t sleep and he rarely ate. Alfred was worried.

“I miss her too Master Wayne,” Alfred said, walking into the workshop with a plate of food and some coffee.

“You need to eat something,” Alfred added.

“I’m not hungry, Alfred,” Bruce said, looking at a board of Crane’s whereabouts.

“Finding him and killing him will not bring her back, Master Wayne,” Alfred said in his usual calm and wise manor.

Bruce sighed, running a hand down his face. “I miss her so much Alfred,” he said, defeated. “He needs to be punished for what he did to her,” Bruce added.

“Then when you do find him, place him in Arkham and make sure he never gets out,” Alfred said. “She wouldn’t want you to get revenge like this.”

Bruce knew Alfred was right. You would never want Bruce to kill someone voluntarily. He needed to move on from you and protect the memory of yourself. Bruce shouldn’t tarnish it with killing Crane.

“I’m just not there yet Alfred. The darkness, it’s consumed me. She couldn’t save me just like I couldn’t save her,” Bruce said.

☽☽☽

taglist: @bumblebeesfromvenus

[scoonsalicious]

Unwanted: Chapter 13, Uncomfortable - Pt. 1

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Fem!Reader

Summary: When your FWB relationship with your best friend Bucky Barnes turns into something more, you couldn’t be happier. That is, however, until a new Avenger sets her sights on your super soldier and he inadvertently breaks your heart. You take on a mission you might not be prepared for to put some distance between the two of you and open yourself up to past traumas. Too bad the only one who can help you heal is the one person you can no longer trust.

Warnings: (For this part only; see Story Masterlist for general Warnings) Language, manipulation, broken promises, final straws.

Word Count: 407

Previously On...: Sam reveals his suspicious that Rhodey's injury might not have been the result of bad intel; Bucky promises to take you Upstate to make up for the celebratory dinner that you feel Carthage ruined. But what are his promises really worth anymore.

A/N: I am sorry for this entire chapter.

Banner By: The absolutely amazing @mrsbuckybarnes1917!

Thank you to all those who have been reading; if you like what you've read, likes, comments, and reblogs give me life, and I truly appreciate them, and you!

Taglist: (Please let me know if you’d like to be added!) @jmeelee @cazellen @blackhawkfanatic @les-sel @marcswife21 @buckybarnessimpp @mrsbuckybarnes1917 @erelierraceala @hayjat @capswife @itsteambarnes @jupiter-107 @marygoddessofmischief @sebastians-love @learisa @lethallyprotected @rabbitrabbit12321 @buckybarnesandmarvel @fanfictiongirl77 @calwitch @fantasyfootballchampion @selella @jackiehollanderr @wintercrows @sashaisready @missvelvetsstuff @angelbabyyy99 @keylimebeag @maybefoxysouls @vicmc624 @sashaisready @j23r23 @wintercrows @crist1216 @cjand10 @doublejeon @pattiemac1

Unfortunately, the weekend away didn’t materialize. Bucky got a call in the early hours of the morning— Jade was in the med bay with a panic attack and was asking for him. 

“Bucky,” you begged, literally begged. “Please, don’t go.”

He sighed as he pulled on a pair of sweats. “I’ve got to, baby. She’s got no one else, and she feels like the whole Tower’s against her right now.” Well, that was because the whole Tower was against her, and if Sam was correct in his theory, rightly so. What did he expect?

“If you go,” you said, sitting up and holding the sheets to your bare chest, “I bet you every dollar in my swear jar that she’s just fine when you get there, but the second you try to leave, the ‘panic attack’ will start right up again.” Bucky frowned at you as he pulled a tee shirt over his head.

“Pocket,” he began, but you started talking over him.

“We’re supposed to leave in a few hours. I’m telling you right now that she’s going to suck up your entire day, and this make up celebration you promised me, to make up for her ruining my celebration dinner, mind you, isn’t going to happen.”

“I just can’t, in good conscience, leave her to suffer by herself, Pocket,” he said, and you could see the struggle on his face, hear the conflict in his voice. “You asked me to think of Steve in situations like this, and I’d want you to be there for him if he really needed you.”

“But she doesn’t need you, Bucky,” you said, voice now raised. “It’s a manipulation tactic, and you’re falling for it!”

“Forgive me for wanting to believe people are better than that.” Bucky reached the door, twisting the handle open. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, and we’ll head Upstate. I promise.”

“Every time you walk out that door for her,” you said, your voice sad, “you’re increasing the chances that one day, it’ll be locked to you when you come back.”

“Are you… threatening to break up with me for offering support to a friend?” he asked warily.

“No, Bucky,” you said as you rolled over, turning away from him. “I’m warning you of what’s going to happen if you keep putting her first.”

You heard him sigh, and the door closed. You didn’t need to turn around to know that he’d left.

<- Previous Chapter / Next Part ->

[mp0625]

Pass the Cranberries

Oscar Piastri x reader

Taglist. Masterlist.

A/N: To everyone that voted Oscar you were correct! Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate!!

“So I’m meeting your parents today?” Oscar asked, looking at you from the passenger seat.

“Yes, and my brother and sister, my grandparents on both sides, my aunt and uncle from my mom’s side and my great aunt and uncle will be there Thursday.” You list keeping your eyes on the road watching for deer as you wind down the country road.

“How much farther?” He questions after you hit another pothole.

“We are here!” You said as you pull off the larger dirt road onto a smaller one lane dirt road.

“So this is where you grew up?” He looked over at you questionly.

“Yup, born and raised.”

“When was the last time you were here?”

“Weekend before Vegas, while you were at the factory Zac let me go home early, I was able to do most of the work from home.” You said as you go farther up the driveway, as you pass a barn you mention. “That barn is one my great grandpa built, that we used to house cows. But now my mom wants to fix it up and create an air BnB.” As you pull up to the house you put the car in park, and you pop the trunk. As you are getting your suitcases out of the car you hear the front door open.

“Y/N” “Come hear I missed you!” Your mom is now standing on the front porch.

“You saw me two weeks ago.” You said as you walked over to give her a hug.

“Oh, me and your dad saw you on TV, they showed the analysts on the McLaren pit wall and we recognized you.” Your mom said holding you at arm's length. “Come inside, it’s chilly out here. Can I get y’all a drink?” She said opening the front door. As Oscar comes up the stairs behind you carrying your bag.

“Thank you.” Giving him a kiss on the cheek, you grab your bag from him and head inside.

The next morning, as you are drinking your coffee on the front porch. You hear mom call, “Y/N, can you run up to the gas station and grab a couple bags of ice? Please.”

“Yes ma’am.” You said standing up finishing your last sip of coffee. “Oscar, do you want to go with me? It’s about a 20 minute ride there and back.”

“Sure, let me grab my jumper.” He said heading into the house.

Once y’all were on y’all way back Oscar broke the comfortable silence by saying. “I didn’t realize you grew up this far out of town.”

“Yeah it was a little hard to do sports and stuff, but I loved it and wouldn’t have it any other way.” You said with a smile.

Once you pull in and get the ice unloaded. Your mom asks Oscar. “Can you help me with the mashed potatoes by peeling the potatoes? Please.”

“Sure.” He says coming into the kitchen. After a few minutes he asks. “Hey Y/N, am I doing this right?” Showing you a half peeled potatoe.

“Yeah, it looks perfect.” You said.

Thursday morning Oscar woke up to absolute chaos, you and your mom running around putting pots on the stove and turning crock pots on and firing up the smoker, even though y’all did most of the cooking yesterday. As you were putting the green beans on you heard someone pulling up the gravel driveway. You hear your dad shout from the front porch, “They’re here.” After everyone comes in and says hi and gets hugs, y’all settle on the couch and catch up while your aunt puts her food in the oven to keep warm.

In the middle of dinner You and Oscar were talking about one of the races from earlier this year, to your aunt. You hear your sister start up. “They Shouldn’t have done that, that's what caused him to crash!”

“You're just saying that because he’s your favorite.” Your brother shouted back.

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you are.”

“No I’m not.”

As they continue to get louder you start to call their names but they aren't listening so you have to resort to. “Will you please pass the cranberries?” “Will you please pass the cranberries?” “Please pass the cranberries!” You said hitting your hands on the table after every word.

Taglist: @studioreader @honethatty12 @slafgoalskybaby @swissboyhisch @topguncultleader @wondershells @cixrosie

[and-claudia]

Against All Odds pt. 9 (Joel Miller x fem! reader)

General Warnings for later on: The main story will have an age gap between Joel and the reader (Reader will be 25 once we get to the main storyline), this will also be your warning that it will eventually be an x pregnant reader (if that’s not your jam, I’m sorry) there is also going to be more graphic/trigger parts later on so please always to be sure to read the warnings BEFORE reading. This story will also be 18+ and TO BE ON THE TAGLIST YOU CAN NOT BE AN AGELESS BLOG (i do actually check that) also there first hand full of parts are all prologue so Joel won’t actually be in it for a bit

Warnings for this part: guns, typical cannon violence/themes, mentions of abortions, soft Joel moments!!

word count: 4500+ (Come get yalls juice!!)

Taglist Sign-Up (read my rules carefully before filling it out)

gif not mine

I wasn’t sure how long I was asleep but at some point, my eyes snapped open to the sound of glass crunch under someone’s shoe. 

At first, I thought it may have been Joel or Ellie getting up for some reason, so I laid there quietly, waiting to hear the rustle of fabric on fabric as they laid back down. However, I then realized I could feel Joel asleep behind me. I carefully glanced over and saw Ellie asleep. Maybe I imagined it. 

Wishful thinking. The next thing I knew, two people were in our room. Joel was out, but Ellie had woken up when she heard the door open. Once I saw that each of them had a gun, I put my hands up in surrender, I had no way of defending us. 

“You, on your knees, hands up where I can see them.” The taller of the pair said to Ellie. 

Once she was there, he looked at me. 

“You. Get over here.” He said, gesturing to the spot beside Ellie with a knife. 

I did as he said. Ellie and I were now both on the ground, side by side, her with a gun pointed at her and me with the knife. Then, the smaller of the two people, who I now realized was only a kid, was standing in front of Joel, who was still asleep. 

“Wake him up.” Tallie said, nudging Ellie with the barrel of the gun. 

“Joel! Joel!” Ellie yelled, waking him up. 

The first thing he saw was Ellie and me. Then he turned and saw that he, too, had a weapon pointed at him. 

“Eyes on me. Eyes on me.” The tall one commanded him. 

Joel looked over to him. 

“You don’t have to worry about what to say. We don’t wanna hurt you. We wanna help you.” The tall one said. 

“Okay.” Was Joel’s only response. 

“Okay, um… I don’t know what the next step is with something like this, but if I lower my gun… we didn’t hurt you, so you don’t hurt us… right?” 

“That’s right.” Joel replied, void of any emotion. 

“That’s a weird fucking tone, man.” The tall one was getting nervous, which was, in turn, making me nervous. 

“That’s just the way he sounds.” Ellie said. 

“It is, I promise. I’ve been with him for years, that’s just how he is. But he means it, I swear it. Lower your weapons before you do something you’ll regret.” I said. 

“Seriously, he just has an asshole voice.” Ellie began again, “Joel, tell him he’s okay.” 

“Everything is great.” Joel said in the same voice. 

“Dude!” Ellie said. 

“Fuck!” Tallie was getting more and more antsy and I had to do something soon. 

“Look, dude, you’re dealing with a pregnant lady, a kid, and an older guy. We aren’t going to do shit. I promise. She is right; he just sounds like an asshole. But he won’t risk his daughter and pregnant wife like this. You can trust him.” I tried to reason. 

“Okay…” The man began, “I’m going to trust you. But if either of you guys try anything… yeah?” 

We understood what he meant without him having to say it. 

“Can I sit up?” Joel asked. 

“Yeah.” The older of the pair said. “Slow.” He corrected himself, “Get up slow.” 

Joel kept his hands raised as the kid still had a gun pointed at him as he slowly sat up on the cushions he was lying on. “Who are you?” He finally asked. 

“My name is Henry.” The taller guy said, “That’s my brother, Sam. I’m the most wanted man in Kansas City. Although right now… my guess is you’re running a close second.” 

That definitely wasn’t reassuring for our current situation. He clearly knew that it was us who recked that truck. And he had tracked us here. I began to worry about who else may have been able to do the same. 

“Alright,” I said, “I guess that means we’re working together then.” I made the decision for our group. 

“You two hungry?” Joel asked, with the same tone as before. 

We set up a small lantern on the floor, and all sat around it. I dug into my pack and pulled out a little bit of food for us all to split. It wasn’t much, especially when it was split 5 ways, but it was something. 

“Where’d you get these?” Henry asked. 

Before I could even think of a response, Ellie had already said, “Bill… He’s dead.” 

Silence fell over the group at her blunt response. 

“I noticed you signing to your brother earlier… does he only use sign language?” I asked, trying to change the course of the conversation. 

“No, he’s gotten pretty good at reading lips. He also uses this.” Henry said, pointing a makeshift writing board around Sam’s neck. 

Sam nodded and showed it off to me. It was actually a really smart setup. 

“That’s very cool.” I said with a smile to the boy, causing him to smile back. 

Joel suddenly took the rest of his portion of the food and offered it to Sam, who took it. He looked to his brother and signed something. 

“He says thank you,” Henry relayed for us, “I’m guessing you don’t have much, so… this means a lot.” 

“How old is he?” Ellie asked. 

Henry translated it for his brother who replied back in sign. 

“He’s eight.” 

“Cool.” Ellie nodded, “I’m Ellie.” 

I watched as Henry spelled her name out for his brother, who smiled in response before turning to me. 

“I’m Yn.” I said, once again Henry signed it to his brother. 

Then there was silence before Ellie smacked Joel’s leg clearly trying to give him the hint to introduce himself. 

“I’m Joel. Look you ate, we didn’t kill each other, let’s call this a win-win and move on.” He said. 

I cringed internally. I really thought he could help us out of here. 

“Well, I am betting you came up here to get a view of the city and plan a way out.” Henry began, “And when the suns up, I’ll show you one.” 

Ellie and I both looked to Joel to wait for his response. 

“Fine. But you two sleep somewhere else.” Joel said, still clearly not trusting them. 

Henry agreed, and once they were finished with their food, they left. Ellie layed back down and was falling asleep shortly after, but I wasn’t, and neither was Joel. I knew he would be paranoid about something happening. 

“Want to push some furniture in front of the door?” I asked, laying on my mat beside him as he stared at the door. 

“No. Get some rest. I’m going to stay up, keep watch.” He said. 

I knew there was no point in arguing it, so I just scooted up right against him and closed my eyes. Secretly I was hoping that if I fell asleep cuddled up next to him it would eventually lull him to sleep as well. 

I am not sure if my plan worked because, by the time I was waking up, he was already up off his makeshift bed, packing up our stuff. The sun was just beginning to rise as I stretched. I found my boots and began lacing them up. Eventually, Henery and Sam returned, and it was time to climb up even higher to get a good view of the city. 

“Welcome to Kansas City.” Henry said as he opened the door to a room that had a large window. 

“No FEDRA.” Joel commented. 

He was right, though. There wasn’t a single sign of them anywhere. 

“Not as of 10 days ago, no.” Henry confirmed. 

“We always heard the KC FEDRA was-” Joel began but was cut off by Henery. 

“Monsters? Savages? Yeah, you heard right. Raped, tortured, and murdered people for 20 years. And you know what happens when you do that to people? The moment they get a chance, they do it right back to you.” Henry said. 

I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Ellie wasn’t here to hear any of it. 

“But you’re not FEDRA.” I said to Henry as I looked back to the two men beside me. 

“No, worse. I’m a collaborator.” He said. 

I immediately saw Joel’s face turn as he shook his head, “No. I don’t work with rats.” 

“Yeah, you do… Today, you do.” Henry said casually, “I live here, you don’t. That’s how I followed you here. I know this city. And that’s how I am going to help you and your family get out.” 

“I don’t think we have much of a choice, Joel…” I said, trying to reason with him. 

“Why would you want to help us?” Joel asked. 

“I saw what you did the way you both killed those men. Even you, with your hurt wrist.” He said, nodding to me, “Now, I know where to go, but I don’t know how to make it through alive, not if it’s just me and Sam.” 

“You seem capable enough. You’re armed.” Joel quipped. 

“You’re wrong and wrong. Never killed anyone.” Henry said back, “And pointing an unloaded gun was the closest I’ve ever come to being violent… So that’s the deal. I show the way; you clear the way.” 

Before I could say anything, all of our attention was grabbed by Ellie and Sam. They were sitting at the big table, on the opposite side of the room. Ellie was showing Sam a joke from her book causing them both to laugh. For a second, they seemed like two regular kids. 

“Haven’t heard that in a long time.” Henry said with a small smile of his own. 

Joel sighed as he looked away for a moment before turning back to the other man. “So how are we gettin’ out? And she’s not helping clear the way. She’s injured and pregnant. If I need the help, it’s going to be you.” 

Henry nodded, and we began to discuss the plan. He took a piece of paper and drew a rectangle on it, each side having its own number written beside it as well. By now, Ellie had joined us. 

“Highways,” Henry pointed to the numbers, “Downtown,” He motioned to the area inside the rectangle, “Us.” He pinpointed approximately where we were on his makeshift map, “This whole area belongs to Kathleen.” 

“She’s in charge?” Ellie asked. 

“Leader of the resistance,” Henry explained, “You can see the way we’re bounded by highways. They got people posted all around the inside perimeter. If we get close, we get caught. No question. So how do we get across?” 

He tapped on the table to get Sam’s attention and signed to him the same question. Sam nodded and used to writing pad to respond. When he held it up, it said “TUNNELS.” 

“Boom.” Henry said triumphantly. 

“Kansas City has a subway?” Joel asked, confused. 

“No, but they do have maintenance tunnels. There’s a bunch of buildings all put up by the same developers. And they share these tunnels, including… a bank building here,” He began drawing more on the paper, “So we enter the tunnels here… travel underground and pop up here. Westside North. Residential. There’s an embankment on the other side of the houses. We head down, pedestrian bridge over the river… free as a bird.” He threw down the pencil and clapped his hands once. 

“You’re right. It’s a great plan.” Joel agreed, “So what do you need me for?” 

“You notice anything strange about the city? I mean, other than the strange shit you’ve already seen?” Henry asked. 

I knew where he was going with this. Ever since we left Boston, I had been on high alert of my surroundings. Especially once we rode into the city, and yet I had yet to see, or for that matter hear, a single infected person. 

“There’s no Infected.” I said numbly. There was a not in my stomach as I knew where this was going. 

“Oh, there’s infected. Just not on the surface. FEDRA drove them underground 15 years ago, and never let them come back up. It’s the only good thing those fascist motherfuckers ever did.” 

“No. There has to be another way.” I said, shaking my head. Just the thought of going down there and facing one was making my stomach churn. I pulled out the chair beside me and sat down before running my hands over my face and then looking back at Henry. 

“Look,” Henry began, “Everyone thinks that it’s full of Infected, including Kathleen, which means that we’re not gonna be running into any of her people.” 

“Yeah, only dozens of infected.” I snapped. The more he talked, the more I hated the plan. I was on board earlier but now I was almost completely against it. 

“No, because you see what I know is… it’s empty.” 

“You’ve been down there?” I was thankful that Joel asked it so I wouldn’t bite his head off. 

“No, but,” He began as I rolled my eyes with a scoff, “the FEDRA guy that I worked with told me that it’s clean, completely clean. They cleared it out. All of it.” 

“When?” Ellie asked. 

“Like three years ago.” 

Joel scoffed at the same time I did. 

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” I sassed. 

“Okay, maybe there’s one or two, but you handle it.” Henry said. 

“What if there’s more?” Joel asked. 

“Or one of those blind ones that sees like a bat?” Ellie chimed in. 

“Wait you… you ran into a Clicker?” 

At the mention of that I stood back up abruptly. Our time in the museum flashed in my memories, which brought back memories of my first time in the museum. 

“I’m going to go wait in the hallway.” I said to the group before turning and focussing on Joel, “Come let me know the plan once it’s decided.” I said before leaving. 

I am not sure what came over me. But I felt overwhelmed by everything around me. After a few minutes, Joel came out and found me sitting against the wall, knees tucked to chin. He took a seat next to me. 

“You okay?” He asked. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be a bitch or storm out… I’m just… I don’t know, Joel…” I said, quietly. 

“Try to tell me what’s going on up there.” He nodded to my head.

“I just… it’s like all of a sudden, I was hit by this fear of everything that could go wrong or could have gone wrong in the past… Does that make sense?” I asked, almost embarrassed. 

Joel nodded, “It’s called being a parent, welcome to it.” He teased slightly, trying to lighten my spirits, “I’ll be honest, part of it is because you’re pregnant, hormones make those feelings worse. But a good deal of it is just realizing that it’s not just you anymore that you’re worrying about.” 

I nodded, “I should probably go apologize to him.” I said, moving to stand up as Joel did the same. 

“Does it ever get easier?” I asked quietly once we were both standing.

“I’ll let you know if and when it does.” He said. 

I smiled slightly at his response, he seemed to be warming up more to the pregnancy each day. 

“Thank you, Joel.” I said sincerely. I knew he didn’t like to be soft and vulnerable, and for him to do so now was very touching to me. 

He gave a small nod before leading us back into the room where the others were getting ready to leave. 

“Alright, we’ll head to the bank and access the tunnels there. You ready?” Henry asked as I walked in. 

I nodded, “Yeah, sorry for snapping at you… hormones, I guess.” 

He shrugged it off, “No worries. Besides, I know we’ve all probably seen some shit in our lives, so I get it.” 

“Alright, then, let's get to it.” Ellie said before turning to leave, the rest of us followed her out. 

Once we got to the bottom of the building, Henry took the lead. He knew all the right alley ways to take and which buildings to cut through to get us to the bank building undetected. However, once we got there, I knew we wouldn’t stay undetected long. The sun was now up and the entire building was made of glass, making us easily spotted. 

As if he had read my mind, Joel looked around and said, “We need to get outta sight.” 

We looked to Henry on where to go, “Uh.. I, I-I think it’s this way.” He said, pointing in the opposite direction. 

Well, that was reassuring. Regardless, we followed him that way. We weren’t running, but we definitely weren’t walking either. I was finding myself getting tired but I pushed on. Hopefully, Henry was right, and there aren’t going to be an Infested in the tunnels, and we would be able to stop for a minute. 

He led us down more hallways until, eventually, he took us through a door and down a few stairs. 

“This should be it. You ready?” He asked Joel. 

Joel sighed slightly as he pulled his gun from his waistband, “Get your’s out too.” He told Ellie as he walked down the stairs to open the door first. 

Although I wasn’t told to, and it would be difficult to shoot with my hand wrapped, I took mine out, too, just in case.

As Joel pushed the heavy door open it groaned as it scrapped against the ground. There was water dripping from the ceiling causing a musty smell in the tunnel. But the coast was clear so far. 

“See, it’s empty! The plan is good.” Henry said fairly loudly. 

“Shh.” Joel warned. 

Just because we couldn’t see anything didn’t mean there was nothing here. 

“The plan is good? We’ve been down here two seconds. We don’t know anything.” Joel said, shaking his head. 

“Your husband’s kinda a pessimist,” Henry said. 

I just shrugged. There was no point in telling him the truth now. He trusted us, and if he found out we had been lying since the beginning, that could break that. 

“Just point your light forward…” Joel instructed the other man, “And be ready to run.” He glanced at me to make sure I was good to run in case we had to flee. 

I gave a small nod, telling him that I would be fine. And with that, we began walking. 

We walked in silence, aside from the eerie groaning of the old buildings above us. Eventually, the tunnel got narrower, and the ceiling got lower. This smaller section led to an area that had been painted with a mural that seemed to have been done by children. It was unsetting. 

“Whoa.” Ellie said, looking at the art. 

“We this isn’t creepy at all.” I muttered under my breath as we all glanced around at it. 

Sam suddenly went up to open the door, causing my heart to skip a beat at the thought of him opening it and getting hurt by what could be on the otherside. Luckily though, Joel was ahead of him and stopped him. Henry then guided him to stand behind him with Ellie. On instinct I stepped in front of them and behind Henry. My gun was ready as Joel slowly opened the door. 

It was much brighter in there. When we got in, and I had gotten a good look at it, I was honestly confused. It looked like a makeshift daycare or school. But what the hell was it doing down here, in the tunnels? 

“What is this place?” I asked as we all continued to look around. 

“I heard about places like this,” Joel began, “People went underground after Breakout Day. Built settlements.” 

“What happened to them?” Ellie asked. 

“Maybe they didn’t follow the rules, and they all got infected.” He said nodding to a board that had their “House Rules” on it. 

The board read: 

-Make sure doors are locked 

-Ask for the password if you font know the visitor

-No shouting or noisy play 

-Run to hiding spot when you hear the alarm

The last one sent chills down my spine. Ellie and Sam went over to one of the tables while the three adults looked around. There were still drawings up on the wall. One that stuck out in particular was one of two men with rifles that said “our protectors” below them. We eventually all split off, just observing our surroundings. I could hear Ellie talking to Sam, but I wasn’t retaining anything they were saying. It wasn’t until I heard Joel’s voice that I snapped out of my own thoughts. 

“Hey, keep it down. We’re not out yet.” I glanced over to where Ellie and Sam were sitting. 

“Ah, c’mon. Can we just rest here for a while?” Ellie asked, “There’s like actually shit to do here.” 

“Wouldn’t be so bad to wait the light out a bit. Safer in shadows when we pop back out on the other side.” Henry added, looking at Joel. 

Joel just nodded. I guess we were staying here for a bit. The three of us made our way over to the larger table, and all took a seat while Ellie and Sam found an old ball to kick around at the chalk line goal on the opposite wall. It was nice to see the kids being kids and playing, but that wasn’t enough to distract my racing thoughts. Joel and Henry were having their own conversation by now, but again, I couldn’t focus on it. It wasn’t until the end of their conversation that I actually heard anything Henry was saying.

“But you get it, though. You’re a father.” He said to Joel. 

“Joel,” I said quietly, but enough to catch his attention, “Can we go talk privately?” I asked. 

I could tell he was confused and caught off guard, “Yeah, sure.” he said regardless and stood up. 

I didn’t say anything to Henry as I stood as well and followed Joel away from the table and the kids. 

“If this is about what he did, I can’t blame him. Sam was sick. If it were me… I would’ve done the same.” Joel said once we were out of earshot. 

“What?” I asked, confused.

“Were you not listening to him?” Joel asked, equally confused. 

“No… not really. I’ve been kinda zoned out…” he nodded for me to go on, “I think I made a mistake… I should’ve taken you up on going to get an abortion pill when you offered back in Boston.” I said, biting my lip to keep the tears from falling. 

“We can’t bring a baby into this fucked up excuse of a world. A place where people are forced to hide underground from murderous Infected. What if we get back to Boston and we have to live somewhere like this? This is no life for a kid, Joel… or what if they get bitten? Then what, Joel? We watch them turn into one of them. Burn their body after putting a bullet in their head?” 

I was working myself up to the point of feeling sick, but I had to get it all out of my head. 

“We’ve already lost so much, Joel… what happens if we lose them too? I should’ve just gotten the damn pill and taken care of it. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Joel.” 

I could tell he was shocked by the words coming from my mouth. I had been so admittedly against it, but now it seemed like I was regretting it. After a second, though, he took me into his arms. I didn’t have the mental energy to even cry, so I just held onto him like he was my lifeline. 

“I won’t let anything happen to you or our baby, okay? I promise. I’m glad you didn’t let me talk you into getting that pill. I am happy, okay? Scared shitless but happy. Everything will be okay. Against all odds, I’ll make sure everything will be okay.” 

I nodded against his chest but made no attempts to let go just yet. 

“Hey, I hate to interrupt, but I think we should get going soon.” Henry said cautiously as he approached us. 

I finally, slowly, let go of Joel as he did the same. He nodded, and we walked over to collect our things once again. Soon, we were back to walking through the tunnels. At some point, Ellie fell into step beside me. 

“You okay?” She asked. 

“Yeah. m’fine.” I said with a sigh. 

“What were you and Joel whispering about earlier?” She asked. 

Glancing at her sideways, “Nothing.” The way I said it, made it clear that she shouldn’t pry and try to get me to talk about it. 

She nodded, “So, do you think you’ll have a boy or a girl? One of each?” 

“Don’t put that on me.” I said, shaking my head with a small laugh, “But honestly, I haven’t put much thought into it… I never really thought I’d have a kid, tried my best not to, but shit happens, I guess…” I said with a shrug. 

“Well, you already have an amazing daughter, don’t you?” He teased, referring to the lie I had told about her, Joel, and I being a family. 

“Eh, she’s alright, I guess.” I teased back, it was nice to just talk and not think about everything from earlier. 

We continued having a quiet conversation until we got to the exit of the tunnel. Once again, guns were ready as Joel opened it. 

“Do you know where we are?” Joel asked.

“Yep,” Henry said, “The other side.” 

He was looking at a sign that said where the tunnel we just exited from would lead to. We walked out, and sure enough, there was an old residential area ahead of us. We still kept quiet, though, and weren’t using our lights just as a precaution. However, once we passed a few houses, Henry broke the silence as he spoke to Sam, but clearly wanted us to hear him. 

“No. No one is here. No one’s going to be here because… my plan worked.” He said triumphantly. 

“So much goddamn talkin’.” Joel said from where he was leading our small group. 

“I’m just saying… I delivered. Make this right, go down the street, embankment behind the last house…and we’re out.” He said. 

“Don’t get too cocky yet; we’re not across that river,” I warned. 

“So what happens when we cross the river? Where ya gonna go?” Ellie asked Henry. 

“Don’t know yet.” Henry said. 

“Well, we’re going to Wyoming.” Ellie said, causing both Joel and I to look at her. 

“What? It’s a huge state. It can fit two more people.” She defended. 

“Yeah, maybe we just call this one a success and say our fond farewells.” Henry said. 

“No, he’ll change his mind, trust me. This is how he goes, ‘No, Ellie. Never ever ever happening.’ And I am like I am going to ask you a million more times. And he’s like-” Ellie said. 

And honestly, I couldn’t disagree. Joel did have a rough exterior but I could tell when he was getting warn down. And it was starting to happen here. Slowly, but surly. But before I could voice my agreement, a bullet flew past our group.

Taglist:

@sexyvixen7

@joelmillerslays

@elliaze

@little-lovely-darling

@swimmjacket

@watercolorskyy

@mserynlarsen

@sebby-staan

@beelanie

@fan-g0rl

@paige96

@pedropascalfanclub

@ameliadraws

@mavs101

@azerty29

@rileyferg

@belliedellie

@rhaenyrasgf

@imcreepininyourheartbabe

@nani-kenobi

@lunas-sstuff

@holb32

@reidsgubbler

@cleocat246

@novamidoriya

@katmae1997

@dizzywinterdaydream

@mrswidowjohansson

@abzidabzy

@givemeth

@morgaussy

@kelh27

@ayamenimthiriel

@letmehavemyfictionalmen

@everything-isfucked

@emilyjustemily

@drewharrisonwriter

@littlwitchgoblin

@angel4astraea

@vodkawriter

@taz-97

@angel4astraea

@kodzuvk

@kittenlittle24

@nooneyouknow55

@hehehehannahthings

@keileighr

@shotgun-shelby

@joeldjarin

@catsareawesomek @harriedandharassed @keileighr @summerchicken @letsdisneythings @mrsyixingunicorn10 @theoraekenslover @xmistress-bunny

[eternalbuckley]

I don't regret it. — evan buckley

SUMMARY: They always say that you shouldn’t sleep with your friends, correct? They always warn you about it. But if you do it anyways what should happen? Well it lead to an awkward atmosphere between you two and you‘re scared it will ruin your friendship with Buck.

word count: 3.020

genre: angst? with fluff at the end | gn!reader, queer!reader, bipoc!reader and plus-size!reader friendly

warnings: friends to lovers, reader is a firefighter (works with the 118 together), mention of past with buck, mention of alcohol consumption, mentions of sexual act (no smut), teasing?, mention of reader almost falling down a tree, jealous reader, mention of car accident and giving birth, a lot of tension between reader and Buck, use of Y/N a few times, english is not my first language, not proofread! — if there’s something i forgot please let me know!

a/n: i feel like the end was a bit rushed but i didn’t know how to continue this, i‘m sorry. especially because this is my first proper buck fic. keep in mind that i’m only on s4 of the show, so i tried to get everything right! i hope you can still enjoy it! :)

my requests are open so if you have some, send them in and i‘ll see if i can create something! (look at my rules first)

disclaimer: please do not repost or try and take ownership of my work or post this anywhere without my consent. do not translate my work and post it anywhere — i give you no permission to do that. i only post my stories here, so if you find my work anywhere else please let me know! reblogs, likes and comments are appreciated and welcomed!

navigation | masterlist | taglist

(gif is not mine, credits to the owner!)

"Everything alright, Y/L/N?" Hen asked you after watching you for a few minutes being silent and staring into nothing. Only nibbling at your cup of coffee.

You quickly blinked with your eyes and looked at her. "Hm? Oh yeah. Yeah, everything is alright. 'm just a bit hungover from last night." You smiled and tried to assure her you were telling the truth.

She shouldn’t know that all the things you had on your mind right now were the events of last night. Being out with the team and staying at the bar longer with Buck. The both of you drank more drinks after one another and laughed together. You were dancing together and well. One thing led to another thing and you ended up in Bucks apartment.

Stumbling through the door with shared laughter and holding each other. You went to his kitchen to get yourself a glass of water. Giving him one as well. It was silent between you but there was something unspoken in the room. Your head was spinning but you both looked at each other in a certain way. Buck and you‘ve been friends since he joined the 118. Well after some time you became friends. In the beginning, you didn’t really like each other. You were heavily irritated by him and his behavior. But he felt the same way about you. After all, you can thank a tree and you almost falling that you both became closer. Since he saved you from falling, screaming after you almost fell.

You looked at him. Eyes filled with lust, you tried to ignore it the past months but it was getting harder and harder each day. Seeing him every day at work, needing to resist the urge to shove him against the wall and kiss him. Little did you know it was just as hard for him as well.

He looked you up and down, you did as well. He came closer to you. Very close. Your nerves getting the better of you. He set down his glass right behind you. While he bent down, he brushed against your arm. You followed his action with your eyes, not moving a meter. Not being sure you‘ll be able to hold back. The alcohol still being in both of your systems. Your knees were getting weak after he looked directly into your eyes. Which is the reason you held the counter behind your back.

"I.. Uhm probably should go." You whispered, not trusting your own voice.

"You could stay here. It’s already late." He answered, "You can sleep in my bed."

You shook your head and wanted to pass him but he gently held your arm. Stopping you from moving. "Y/N…" He whispered now and reached up with his other hand to touch your cheek. "I really want to kiss you right now."

Surprise was written on your face. "You.. We‘re drunk we shouldn’t do things we don’t want in that state, Buck."

Both of your eyes met after you looked at him again. You immediately pulled him to you and kissed him. Ignoring the voice in your head that told you to stop. He immediately kissed you back and put his hands on your waist. He gently put you down on the counter and you put your legs around his hips. The kiss was getting more heated. And you indeed ended up in his bed. With him together. Naked. Panting and sweating. Roaming over each other’s bodies and exploring them. You still felt his lips on you and how amazing it felt having him so close to you.

But you will never tell Hen this part of the story. She nodded and eyed you suspiciously but decided to not dig deeper. Her curiosity grew even more after Buck came up and greeted you both. Him looking at you longer but not saying more. And that‘s where things started to be more awkward between you. After you guys woke up in the morning you didn’t really talk with each other. You gathered your clothes and said goodbye very quickly to get home before work. You were nervous and didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t sure what to do as well, either if he should let you go or stop you and talk about the last night. But he let you go.

"I‘ll go and find… Eddie." You quickly got up and went down the stairs. Hen and Buck watching you leave.

Hen looked back to Buck and eyes him suspiciously. "What was that?"

"Uhm I don’t.. know." He tried to ignore the look on her face. She raised her eyebrows and slowly nodded her head.

"Don’t look at me like that, Hen."

She raised her hands as well now. "I‘m not doing anything!"

Chimney joined them now. "What‘s going on?" He chuckled and took one of the snacks that were laying on plates, prepared by you.

"Something’s going on between Buck and Y/N. I just don’t know what."

Buck wanted to defend himself but kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want to give in and out himself. They shouldn’t know what happened between you and him. Before anything would be talked about with them, he wanted to talk to you first. Alone. He didn’t know how to process the fact that you slept together. Buck didn’t mind obviously since he had a soft spot for you but he needed to know what you thought about it. His worst nightmare would be that you wouldn’t talk to him anymore and your friendship would be over. He definitely didn’t want it to happen like that. He never even imagined it would actually happen but he didn’t want it to happen while you’re both drunk. But maybe this was needed to get things rolling between you and to talk about each of your own feelings for one another.

Chimney tried to analyze Bucks body language. Eyeing him very clearly. Buck tried to ignore it but it got harder after Eddie came to join them too. Bucks look was hard to read but Chimney immediately looked in the same direction as Buck and was met with Eddie.

"You know something!" Chimney pointed to Eddie, who shockingly looked at everyone.

He shook his head. "Don’t drag me into this."

Buck cleared his voice. "I‘ll uh.. Leave you guys alone." And quickly went down, trying to find you.

Chimney whispered to Hen. "Ten bucks they’re sleeping with each other."

Eddie looked at him and rolled his eyes.

Chimney read this as an answer. "I knew it!"

"I didn’t even say anything! I have no idea what‘s going on between them." Eddie defended him but Chimney didn’t believe him even though Eddie was kind of telling the truth.

Buck walked around the station and found you outside. Standing in the sun and waiting for the next call. It was a quite peaceful day. There was only one call. Saving a puppy from the roof of a house. It got there through a window but it was nothing you and the team couldn’t handle with ease.

Buck stood next to you. "H-hi."

"Hey." You turned your head to him. "I.. Sorry that I left so quickly in the morning." You didn’t know what you should say. It was the first proper moment you had today to talk with Buck.

"Don’t worry. It was a surprising situation." He held a cup of coffee to you which you happily took. You thanked him with a smile.

You looked back to the sun, he did too. Both of you not noticing the group of your beloved family watching the scene between you and talking about it.

"Yep. They definitely have something going on."

"Chimney!" Hen slightly slapped his arm but chuckled. "It was very weird. Y/N was very absent while we were sitting here and after our sunny boy joined us, they quickly had to leave." She added.

Eddie watched you both but didn’t comment anything and just listened to Hens and Chimneys chatting. He didn’t officially know what was going on between you but he knew you guys fancied each other for some time now. It was hard not to notice the longing looks you gave each other. Internally he hoped you would realize soon what was going on in front of you.

You slightly nudged Bucks arm. "We‘re being watched." You whispered to him.

He chuckled and turned around to see Eddie shoving Chimney and Hen away. Trying to act like he didn’t watch you as well. You joined his chuckling.

Buck looked at his feet, stammering out his words. Nervosity and seriousness suddenly took over his body.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?"

You opened your mouth to answer but that‘s when you were interrupted by getting a call to an accident. You didn’t answer him and immediately ran towards the engine, leaving Buck alone. It took him a second to get his mind focused and he followed your tracks. The rest of the shift went along very easily. You had to help a mother giving birth to a boy at a parking lot. Her car was not working anymore and it was already close to giving birth. And there were another two car accidents with a few injured people but not a big deal. And it continued to be like that for the whole week.

Buck had no chance to talk to you anymore and he thought you were avoiding him. He knew you weren’t but he was anxious about it. Especially after you were no way to be found after your shift. He waited a few more minutes outside for you. And saying his goodbyes to Chimney and Bobby but you were already gone. Buck sighed to himself and got in his car, driving home. He definitely thought about it now that you were avoiding him. And he didn’t know why.

Bucks feeling that you were avoiding were still true. You were avoiding him because you heard how Buck talked with Eddie about someone, he recently had sex with. He mentioned that he wanted to go with them on a proper date. It was a few days ago, two days after you slept together. You thought it was some other girl and you got jealous. It probably didn’t mean anything to him, you thought to yourself. So, you did avoid him.

Seeing this, Chimney and Hen grew more suspicious about the tension between you and Buck. They were seeing that you avoided him each time he was in your near and how you tried not to be too close to him. But there was one thing you didn’t hear when Buck and Eddie were talking. Buck didn’t talk about some random person, in fact, he was only talking about you. Eddie told him he should go for it and officially ask you out but there was no chance to do it.

You were currently sitting on your couch and looked at the couch table. Your head was filled with different thoughts and things you were overthinking about. You didn’t give Buck an answer to his question and left without saying goodbye to him. You didn’t even text him. What if he‘s mad now or thinks you‘re avoiding him on purpose because you were embarrassed that you slept with each other? Your phone was already in your hands, and the chat opened with Buck. You were thinking about texting him and started multiple times but each time you deleted your typed words.

You huffed and got up to get something to drink but your fridge was not helping you. "Damnit!" You looked at the clock. "Fuck it."

You put on your jacket and shoes. You almost forgot to take your keys with you after you were already out of your apartment but you were quick enough to gather it. You quickly walked down and got in your car. You looked at your phone and thought about texting Buck if he was still awake but you decided against it and drove to his apartment. He wouldn’t leave you outside if he would open the door and be faced with you. But if you texted him and he wouldn’t answer it would be even more weird.

When you stood in front of his door anxiety took over your body. You wanted to knock but you weren’t sure if this was a good idea. Right when you were about to knock the door opened and Buck looked at you with a surprised look on his face.

"Y/N?" He still had his hand on his doorknob. "What are you doing here?"

You pushed his arm away and entered his apartment. "I know it‘s already late and it was an exhausting shift but.." You deeply breathed in and looked at him. "We need to talk. And it can’t wait until tomorrow."

He closed the door behind you and that‘s when you noticed he was wearing his jacket as well. What if he was on his way to you as well? No, you were just delusional. He probably wanted to go to a bar or something. He wouldn’t come over to you, right? Right.

He looked at you, waiting for you to continue but you were silent. "Is everything okay?" Buck was hoping you would want to talk about the events of the night that happened a few days ago.

"No. It‘s not."

Buck looked at you, worried but didn’t interrupt you. You started walking up and down. Nervousness built up even more and Buck stood there and watched you.

"I uhm.." You started, "I‘m sorry?"

"For what?" He was confused.

You deeply breathed in and looked at him. You were standing right in front of him. "For avoiding you and basically running away from you." You chuckled but it was your try to light up your own mood. Which in fact didn’t work.

Buck put one of his hands on your arm and squeezed it. "Whatever the reason was, it must have been a reasonable one."

You shook your head and shoved away his hand. You were not ready for any physical contact. His heat was too much for you, all it caused were goosebumps and the want to feel him close to you again. It was intoxicating. He was intoxicating. The way he softly looked at you all the time. No hatred in his eyes. Just pure adoration. You loved that about him. The way how he always tried to be there for you and comfort you whenever you had bad times. And how he showed himself when you guys were alone and you were able to be there to comfort him when he needed it.

"Ironically it‘s not. It‘s stupid." You looked to the floor. "I guess I was just jealous…" You mumbled, he almost didn’t hear it but he did.

Your confession caused him to smirk. You didn’t have to look up, you already knew it. It was Buck after all.

"So…" He took a step closer to you. "Why were you jealous?" He asked you, a teasing tone in his voice.

You huffed. "A few days ago, I overheard you talking with Eddie. About someone you had sex with and I.."

"You really thought I was talking about someone else?" He smirked and got closer to you.

You slowly walked back and nodded your head. "Hm.." You bit into your lower lip. "But you know what it‘s just stupid."

He chuckled and looked to the floor for a second before he looked up again. "What if I tell you that it was just about you? And the night we had?"

You gulped. He was getting closer to you and you tried to get away but at some point, you were cornered by him. Buck stood in front of you. There was no physical touch but you were able to feel his body heat. The more you were in his presence, the hotter it got in the room.

"Uhm.." You chuckled nervously. "That‘s a good point you know? And now that you mention the night, we…"

"I don’t regret it."

You said no word. Just looking at him surprised but happy about him admitting it. Now it was Bucks turn to be nervous. Especially because you said nothing. No reaction.

"Unless it‘s the wrong time." He held up his hands and backed up a bit but you took his hand.

You pulled him to you and kissed him. He kissed you back and put his free hand on your lower back. A few seconds passed by until you ended the kiss. Your foreheads were touching and your eyes were closed. Buck was smiling from ear to ear.

"I don’t regret it as well, Buck. I would never." You whispered and he squeezed your hand.

The both of you ended up staying awake a bit longer and spent the time with talking. Talking about what would happen now especially because you were working together. Buck eventually officially asked you out on a proper date to take things seriously to which you happily said yes. You both fell asleep and the next morning you didn’t run out of his apartment without barely saying anything to him. Instead, you woke up in Bucks arms and tangled legs. You smiled and listened to his heartbeat while he was still sleeping. After a few dates and months of dating in secret and stolen glances while working, you made things official. Telling Maddie and Eddie the news first and then your team.

It was a day on your shift when you and Buck walked in while holding hands.

"I KNEW IT! Hen, Eddie! Give me your money!" Chim yelled once he saw you and he congratulated you both.

Everyone else was in awe, especially Bobby. After Chimney and Hen found out that Eddie was the first one to know about your guy's relationship, they jokingly ignored him but, in the end, everything turned out well.

And well little did you know that Buck had planned many more things for you and your now-shared future. But after all, breaking the rules? It was worth it.

[estrellami-1]

If I Should Stay

Part 1 | . . . | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70

Lmao nice.

Side note- I know I’ve been more active on Tumblr as of recently, though I haven’t been posting more of this fic. I think I needed that hiatus more than I thought I did. Trying to keep up the posting schedule I had was draining me too much, and I was overwhelmed. So I’m going to do things a little different after this fic. For starters, if you’re not following #starambles, please do if you want to keep up with what I’m writing. That’s my writing tag. I also link everything in my masterlist. I’ll have separate fic tags for each multi-chapter fic, but I will no longer be doing taglists. This does not apply to IISS: I will complete this fic with the taglist it’s amassed. However, I will no longer be adhering to my previous schedule. Instead I will post whenever I’m ready to. It may take a while, but I figure if it’s this or no more IISS, the answer would be this. If you would like to be removed from the taglist, that’s completely fine; just let me know! Also someone please confirm this tagged you in the correct way. Thank you for understanding.

Steve takes stock of himself, smiles a little as he says, “I am, yeah.” He’s a little surprised, but only a little. Eddie’s proven himself great at getting Steve out of his head. “Thank you.”

Eddie gently squeezes his hand. “Wanna stay up here a little longer, before we face the circus downstairs?”

Steve hums. “You can go back down, if you want.”

“You do that a lot.”

Steve blinks. “What?”

“You do that a lot. You put everyone else’s comfort before your own.”

Steve shrugs. “I’m good at going without. I don’t need a lot.”

Eddie leans his head back with a sigh. “I’ve got a feeling going back in time will change that. Now you’ve got me and Alli to tell you when you’re being a self-sacrificing idiot.”

Steve winces. Covers it up with a laugh. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Eddie looks at him, brows furrowed. “What?”

Steve shakes his head. “It’s fine.”

“It’s not. Steve.”

Steve tilts his head back, squeezes his eyes shut. “Just. It won’t make sense, in this time, because half of it hasn’t happened yet, but you’ve known Dustin for all of a day and I’m willing to bet you already know how he’d act when I don’t know something he does. And-” he takes a breath. It only stutters a little. “Nancy. It was- she meant it in a sweet way, y’know? But she’d tell me, you’re an idiot, Steve Harrington. And… I know I’m not the smartest. I know there’s obvious things that I miss all the time. And I can only blame so much of it on the concussions, y’know? But at the same time… I’m not actually stupid. Impulsive, maybe, sometimes, but I do have a brain that actually works most of the time. So.” He shrugs. “I dunno. I just don’t like being called an idiot.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. Sorry, Stevie.”

“‘S okay. You didn’t know.”

“No, but I should know better than to call people stupid. Wayne would box my ears for that. In fact, I think I’ll go downstairs right now, ask him to remind me.” He makes to get up, but Steve, laughing, pulls him back down.

“Don’t you dare,” Steve chuckles. “I like your ears un-boxed, thank you.”

“Okay,” Eddie agrees. “I’m not gonna call you that again. How’s asshole sound? Self-sacrificing asshole has a nice ring to it.”

Steve collapses in giggles. “I guess if I deserve it.”

“You do,” Eddie promises him, then grumbles to himself. “Trying to get me to go downstairs, I swear.”

Steve giggles some more. “Okay, I get it,” he swears. “I’d like to stay up here for a few more minutes, then we can go back downstairs.”

“Okay.” Eddie grins at him. “I’ve got a couple ideas on how we could spend a few more minutes.”

“Oh?” Steve asks, leaning closer. “And what would that be?”

“I think you know,” Eddie murmurs, close enough to Steve that he’s practically speaking into Steve’s mouth.

Neither of them mind, clearly, because in the next second they’re kissing, Steve’s hands on Eddie’s shoulders for stability, Eddie’s hands gently stroking Steve’s back, up and down, up and down. He moves out a little and grabs at Steve’s hips, and Steve hums into his mouth. Eddie grins into the kiss, so in retaliation Steve twines a hand into Eddie’s hair.

Eddie gently bites Steve’s tongue, and Steve holds in the noise that wants to come out. He gently pulls back instead. “Eddie,” he murmurs. “We should stop.”

Eddie sighs and rests his forehead on Steve’s collarbone. “Yeah. Sorry.”

Steve snorts. “I’m not. I like what we just did. But I also know we should get back downstairs soon.”

Eddie hums in agreement. “Yeah. Lemme just sit here for a minute and think about, like, grandmas with dentures, or something.”

Steve laughs. “That’s probably a good idea,” he admits. He shifts, rests his back against the bed again, sighs. Smiles when Eddie grabs his hand again. “I’m glad you’re here with me.” He pauses, just long enough for Eddie to start to fidget, before finishing with a smile. “Here at the end of all things, Eds.”

Eddie groans and flops over on top of Steve. “And you know Lord of the Rings? Is there anything you can’t do?”

“Fly?” Steve asks, which causes Eddie to laugh.

“Nah,” he says, rolling so his head is pillowed on Steve’s lap. “I think you could just ask gravity not to work and it would let you fly.”

Steve snorts and cards his fingers through Eddie’s hair. “I think you’re biased.”

“I can be biased and right.”

Steve just hums. “Your hair is surprisingly soft.”

Eddie blinks. “Um. Thanks?”

Steve chuckles. “I just mean it’s surprising because of how frizzy it is.

Eddie snickers. “You want to take care of it, don’t you?”

“So bad,” Steve agrees, also laughing. “Your choice, though.”

Eddie smiles. “Maybe once the chaos has calmed down?”

“Sure.” Steve sighs. “Ready to go downstairs?”

“I’m ready whenever you are.”

Steve smiles. “Then let’s go.”

Eddie rolls off of him so Steve can stand. He then offers Eddie a hand up.

“Wait,” Steve requests, right as Eddie’s reaching for the doorknob.

Eddie pulls back, turns to Steve. “Yeah?”

“Kiss first?”

“Kiss always,” Eddie agrees, and happily leans in.

After they pull apart, there’s a knock at the door, and a tentative voice. “Steve? Eddie?”

It’s Dustin.

Permanent Taglist: @justforthedead89 @ilovecupcakesandtea @madigoround @bookbinderbitch @suddenlyinlove

@nburkhardt @artiststarme @paintsplatteredandimperfect @i-less-than-three-you @alyelf

@quarble @messrs-weasley @littlewildflowerkitten @vankaar @starman-jpg

@bornonthesavage @steddie-there @goodolefashionedloverboi @mischivarien @cinnamon-mushroomabomination

@platinum-sunset @just-ladyme @steddiestains @swimmingbirdrunningrock @imhereforthelolzdontyellatme

@martinskis-lydias @notaqueenakhaleesi @sleepyboosstuff @bestwifehaver @m-owo-n

@thatonebadideapanda @finalmoondragon @velocitytimes2 @callmeanythjing @ajeff855

@ilikeititspretty @knitsforthetrail @sillysparrow @that-one-corvid @ace-is-bored

@inadequatecowboy @harpymoth @weirdandabsurd42

Fic Taglist: @blondlanfear @do-you-want-something-more @str4wb3rry-guy @paperbackribs @ninjapirateunicorns

@bisexualdisastersworld @hiscrimsonangel @lolawonsstuff @xo-r4e @thedragonsaunt

@l0st-strawberry

[jexnkookie]

The Law of Attraction (Lawyer! Jung Kook x Reader) [Part 12]

Story Synopsis: Throughout his life, Jung Kook has only ever loved one girl. Despite her being out of his league and of an elite class that he wasn't born into, he fell hard, keeping his feelings a closely guarded secret. When they parted ways, and Jung Kook pursued his law career, he did so with the intent of moving on. But when she unexpectedly arrives back into his life, Jung Kook finds himself once again face to face with his own insecurities, and the girl of his dreams.

Story Rating: M (18+) [Language, sex, depression, alcoholism]

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Smut

Characters/Pairings: Lawyer! Jung Kook x Reader (feat. Jimin x Reader)

Chapter Word Count: 2.4k

Taglist: @cassies-cookies @crisle19 @dream-cvtcher @jimincrystal @jksusawife @jk-190811 @khadeeeeej @kooklovee @lalataegi @lallataegi @mukeovernetflix @rispwn @shellyyy177 @smoljimjim @taetaecatbo @user-190811 @whoa-jo @11thenightwemet11

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter (Coming Soon)

Series Masterlist

“I think I’ll let you start our conversation today. Whatever you’d like to talk about. I want you to take the reigns.” 

Dr. Moore’s voice was calm and quiet, but it did nothing to soothe the ache in Jimin’s head, and in his heart. He sat in her office chair, like a scolded child, completely embarrassed of his actions. This was a new low, and it was a wake up call when Taehyung held on to him as he stumbled back to the treatment center in the cold rain. Finding the bottom of the bottle didn’t erase his memory of the look on your face. You were so afraid, fear written on every feature of your face, illuminated by the bar’s neon lights, and he did nothing to even attempt to comfort you. Even he was a mess, tripping over himself and slurring his words, you chose to run to Jung Kook and make sure he was ok instead. Jimin knew, in that moment, that he had lost you. He had used up all of your patience, and what he found was his true rock bottom. 

“I don’t know what to do anymore.” Jimin admitted. “I wanted to be sober for Y/N. But, I know she’s not mine anymore. I… I can’t talk about last night. I’m sorry.” 

“You don’t want to talk about it?” Dr. Moore asked, and Jimin nodded his head. 

“I’m afraid.” He said. “I’m scared to tell my father.” 

“Is that your biggest fear right now?” 

Jimin thinks for a moment, and he nods his head. 

“He’s going to be so angry with me, knowing that I lost her. He was very happy about our engagement… Losing her was my biggest fear, but I know there’s nothing I can do about that now.” 

“Why was losing Y/N your biggest fear?” 

“Because,” Jimin started, a bit offended. “She’s the love of my life.” 

“But now that she’s gone… Your fear is placed back on your father.” 

Jimin furrowed his brows and crossed his arms defensively, not understanding her thought process. 

“Please correct me if you think that I’m off base, but have you thought that maybe, you weren’t afraid of Y/N leaving because of the love you have for her, but because if she left, it would mean disappointment from your father?” 

Jimin’s lips parted to protest, but the words were caught in his mouth. He knew that the heart of what Dr. Moore was trying to point out was true. He loved you, undoubtedly, more than he’s ever loved anyone else. But the root of that fear, much like every other fear in his life, is his father’s disappointment. Parks get what they want. But Jimin didn’t get what he wanted, not this time. His father wouldn’t accept that. 

“During our conversations together, Jimin,” Dr. Moore began, leaning in to focus on him. “Something you bring up time and time again, is your fear of your father. It’s an insecurity of displeasing him. It’s what made you angry with your mother’s death, what clings you to Y/N, what began your drinking. You look for ways to escape, or to never be left alone with him. That fear is what we should conquer. Everything else is secondary, and can’t be fixed on their own, without tackling that fear.” 

It clicked. For the first time in Jimin’s life, the puzzle pieces were put into place. He was more terrified, and more heart broken, than he had ever felt in his life, but with it came a new kind of freedom. 

Jimin spoke with her for a few more moments, attempting to articulate those emotions, and Dr. Moore just smiled supportively. As he worked his emotions out verbally, he could begin to untangle the web of connections. He left her office feeling just a bit lighter. The pain of losing you was still burning, fresh and hot in the center of his chest, and the threat of tears was ever present. But being able to lay out exactly what he needed to unravel inside himself, gave him a new pathway to happiness that could be more lasting. He wanted what was best for you, and he knew very clearly now that it wasn’t going to be him. He still had a long, long way to go. 

——————————————————————————————————- 

Jung Kook walked into his apartment after a long day of work, and noticed a sticky note on the kitchen counter. Your handwriting spelled out, “Wanted to go out for a bit. I’ll be back soon! :)” 

He smiled to himself at the little smiley face at the end as he walked towards his bedroom, and changed out of his suit and into something more comfortable. He took the time alone to video call his mother, who he hadn’t been able to speak in length to. 

“Hi, Eomma.” Jung Kook greeted her. 

“Oh, I missed you.” She said with a sad chuckle. “How do you like it there?” 

“I do.” He replied, looking out the window onto the city. “But I do miss home, of course. It’s hard not to.” 

“Home misses you, too.” She said. “But you must be so busy with work, aren't you?” 

“Very much.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Eomma, do you remember… Do you remember Y/N?” 

“The girl you talked so much about?” Jung Kook could practically hear her smile over the phone. “Yes, I remember hearing about her.” 

“You won’t believe what’s happened.” He said, laying back onto his bed. 

As he continued to explain to her everything that’s happened, he was oblivious to your presence in the living room, right outside of his bedroom. You had come home from a solo shopping day, and you placed your bags on the coffee table in front of the sofa. You were excited to show Jung Kook your gift for him, as a thank you for all that he’s done for you. But as you walked towards his bedroom door, and heard him on the phone, you couldn’t help but stop when you overheard what he was saying. 

“She’s the only girl I’ve ever wanted, Eomma.” Jung Kook said. “You know that.” 

“I do.” She smiled sweetly. “I still remember how you came home from Seoul after breaking off your engagement, and you told me you just couldn’t go through with it. You were so upset for hurting her, but you did the right thing by being honest.” 

“I didn’t even think I’d ever see Y/N again.” He admitted. “I just… I couldn’t get married, knowing I had feelings for Y/N. I know those feelings are never going away.” 

You snuck away to your bedroom, with your breath caught in your lungs. You had already known that Jung Kook had left his engagement because of how he felt for you, but hearing him say that those feelings are something that he thinks will never leave, set an indescribable feeling in your chest. Maybe it was just butterflies, or maybe it was a newfound sense of hope, that there was a lasting calm to be found after weathering the storm. You turned your attention to the bouquet of flowers he had given you, somehow still vividly colorful and in bloom by your beside. Red and pinks painted onto the soft petals, somehow still not wilted. It was a reminder that if you take care of something seemingly delicate, it can be strong. 

“Y/N?” Jung Kook asked from the living room, breaking your thoughts. “You home?” 

Home. That word wasn’t lost on you. 

His voice was the same, but it sounded sweeter somehow. It lingered, taking it’s time and resting comfortably in the room. Your feet took over, throwing themselves onto the apartment’s hardwood floor, and rushing over to find him. He stood in the living room, same stars sparkling in his dark eyes that you’ve become so familiar with. You walked over to him, and took him by surprise when you wrapped your arms around him, and rested your head on his chest. His eyes widened, thinking that maybe something else bad had happened, but no tears came. Instead, you just held him, and he rested into your touch, putting his arms around you too. 

“Hi.” He smiled, before placing a kiss to your hair. “Missed you today.” 

“I’m really happy you’re here.” You said, looking up at him without letting go. "Thank you.” 

Jung Kook’s gaze became incredibly soft and gentle. He knew in that instant, that he had become a safe place for you to run to. So, he kept his arms around you, and somehow managed to pull you in closer, before connecting his lips to yours. Every movement was a promise; the smile he felt your lips turn into as he kissed them, the way his hands traced your curves, how your fingers found his hair to pull him in. They were all promises of a better, but undefined future. Jung Kook knew you wouldn’t leave him lonely anymore, and he knew you understood that he was yours. You just had to let him in. 

—————————————————————————————————

A few days passed, and during that time, you worked up the nerve to meet Jimin again. You knew that what you would receive when you met him, was closure. It was the inevitability that you were somehow hoping to avoid. 

Love doesn’t die all at once. It’s an unhurried death, with shallow breaths and the slowing of hearts. And like everything else, no two loves die in exactly the same way, because no two loves are ever the same. You didn’t want to know how your love with Jimin would end, but you knew that in order to start again, this was a step you had to take. 

When you walked in to meet Jimin, as you had done so many times before, you were taken aback. He sat alone, with an aura of peace in his presence that hadn’t been there for as long as you could remember. He looked at you, and he offered a gentle, knowing half-smile. He could feel love’s slow death too, and much like you, he was in the final stage of mourning. Acceptance. 

You sat down in the meeting room, sharing his company on a soft, blue sofa. The air was fragile, and both of you were aware of its unpreventable breaking. Jimin’s knee touched yours, as you sat close together on the edge of the cushions. He wondered silently if that was the last time he would ever touch you. 

“Do you remember,” Jimin spoke up, breaking the silence. “How my mother would watch you whenever you jumped off the diving board into your pool, and then try to convince me to do the same?” 

“Yeah.” You smiled at the memory. “Mrs. Park would always comment to my mother that I was fearless.” 

Jimin laughed with a tinge of sadness, his eyes beginning to water. 

“And there I was, shaking as I climbed the latter.” He said. “She watched me, and when I stood up there, looking back down at her, I was so scared. But Eomma would give me a nod, and a smile, and a thumbs up. It was enough to get me to jump, and once I hit the water… I realized, every time, that I never drown, or sunk to the bottom. I always managed to swim back up.” 

You watched Jimin as he spoke, but his eyes never met yours as he told his story. He looked down at the floor, as though he could visualize the pool below him. Jimin transformed in his mind to that scared kid once again, looking down at his mother, who stood right by the water and knew he could make it. 

“I think what she was teaching me, is that I don’t have to be afraid to jump.” Jimin said. “I think she knew that no matter what, I would always find a way to… swim back up again.” 

“I think so, too.” You smiled, and took his hand in yours. His eyes met yours, and your tears matched his. 

“I want to apologize to you, honey.” Jimin said. “For everything. I’m so sorry for hurting you. You never deserved any of it. I know I haven’t acted like it, but when I told you that you’re the love of my life, I meant it. But I also know that I can’t sit here, after everything, and ask you to stay with me.” 

His hand tightened its grip on yours, and tears that had been lining the waterlines of your eyes were now overflowing. Jimin had droplets of his own, and he smiled a sad smile. He knew you were exhausted, and he understood that to love you, in this moment, would be to let you go. 

“I’m going to miss you, angel.” Jimin said, his voice almost a whisper as he committed your features to memory. “I’m sorry. I hope you know that I’ll always love you, no matter what. And if you ever need anything… If you’re ever lonely… I’ll be there.” 

You nod, unable to speak. 

“I love you, too.” You said with a sad smile of your own. “No matter what.” 

Jimin leaned in, and stole one last kiss from your lips. He knew he’d never forget how your lips tasted, or how they felt on his. It was tattooed onto his memory, and had been since the first time he had ever kissed you that night on the beach. 

You never knew that a kiss could hurt until that moment. It felt like a burning in your chest, like your body was screamingatyou that this is what you need. But you knew it wasn’t. Your heart felt like it was being ripped away from you, leaving your body cold and empty. You were truly saying goodbye to your Jiminie, watching your future together crumble and disintegrate with a few words and a kiss. 

When he finally mustered up the power to let go, you reached into your bag, and took out the engagement ring he had given you in front of your families. Jimin watched as you placed it in his hand, and curled his fingers around it. The metal was cold, indicating just how long it had been since it was on your hand. 

Words failed the both of you. There was nothing else to say. So instead, you looked at his delicate features one last time, before slowly rising from the sofa, and exiting the room. Jimin, who wanted so badly to chase after you, couldn’t bring himself to move. So he sat alone, watching you walk away, as he held the ring meant for you in his hand. 

[cyberball]

glimpse of him

jason grace x reader / no pronouns used / rq

warnings: mentions of death, gratuitous use of the em dash, mentions of haunting (?), jason grace more like jason GRAVE

summary: sometimes you catch a glimpse of him.

genre: not fluffy. pretty angsty, if i'm gonna be honest. i don't know how to write angst, so bear with me.

notes: to whoever has sent the request, i'm so sorry. like for real. i was just going through my asks and i found that one and i was like... wait... because i'm an alive!jason truther as much as the next person but. well. here you have it xox. also sorry for the rushed writing el oh el

15:54 | 541 words

It’s been three weeks since– since…

You can’t even say it. There are no words in any language to describe the pain you feel and have been feeling. Guilt, sure – you could’ve helped – but the most overpowering emotion is hollow hurt. It aches like the depths of Tartarus in the chasm he’s left in you. There used to be anger – how could he have left you like this? – but that sweet, strong soldier of a man? It could never be his fault. Never.

Then there’s fear. What if you forget him? You suddenly have this heartwrenching vision of you in 10 years, moved on and happy with your life. Guilty, guilty. How could you leave him behind like that? You’re suddenly terrified of forgetting him. Your mind reels as you go back over the plethora of memories you’ve created with the blond boy, grasping at fragments, as if committing them to memory, as if they’re not already burned there.

This is how you spend the next few days. Just remembering him. But you only had so much time together. You only had so many chances to make memories. And that’s how you end up staring at the ceiling a month after his– his…

Jason. That boy. Grace was– Grace is the correct name for him. The sweetest boy you know. All composed and strong and regal; blond hair and blue eyes and arms that look like they were sculpted from marble. The kindest soul, the safest arms. Your bed is ice cold where he used to lay. Ice cold like his body was after– 

“You didn’t think you’d be able to get rid of me just yet, did you?”

You jolt. 

“Jas– Jason?” your voice trembles. God, a little pathetic, no? He’s the one who…

Eyes closed. You can almost feel him. “Jason? Sweet?” you ask again, voice steady, a poor imitation of his. You can’t help it, your eyes well up with hot tears.

“I miss you. You’ve been gone a while. When are you coming back?” you ask into the silence. 

”I’m right here,” he coaxes, “right here, love. Can’t you feel me?”

Hollow. Empty, still. Your hands lamely feel around on the bed for that grounding warmth of his, but all you find is fleeting, and all you feel is cold. Your tears run hot streaks down your face, and as you pull up your legs and tuck your chin over your knees, your legs bear the brunt of your sadness too. Your skin pricks, and oh– oh, gods, it hurts. It hurts.

“Jason, Jason– I can’t, I can’t feel you, please,” you plead miserably. He’s gone. Again. “Wait, no, come back, it’s okay, I can just hear you, I don’t have to–” your sobs cut you off. And again. Your heart physically hurts, and you grasp at it, trying to get back to him. Just… just him.

He’ll come back like this often throughout your life. Sometimes during lightning storms, you can smell him. You’ll play his favourite playlist and you’ll hear him singing along. Always lingering, never there. And you’ll be glad to have it; after all, you didn’t think –or want it, for that matter– you’d be able to get rid of him, did you?

tagging: @dreamerball @drvrslcense @quteez (am taking old taglists sorryy)

[angelwings-crossbowstrings]

Series Masterlist

*Click here to be added to taglists.

Chapter 6

Warnings: Allusions to abuse, Reader’s poor mental health

It was nearly dusk when the three of you finally reached the prison gates. You had awoken a few hours earlier but remained quiet, only taking breaks when the men did. You didn’t want to bother them, especially Daryl, with anything trivial. Everything already seemed so fragile. 

Your first experience with a walker had been terrifying. You didn’t know what you had been expecting but seeing a rotting human face beneath the water’s surface just as its slimy fingers had wrapped around your ankle was not it. You had been so scared that you hadn’t had the sense of mind to watch it being handled. 

Now, still cradled in Daryl’s arms, you had a front row seat. There were several of the dead shuffling around the gates, making sounds that had the hairs on the back of your neck standing up. Rick was carefully circling Daryl, making sure none of the corpses managed to get too close while the gate slid open. You assumed the archer didn’t set you down because you were unable to defend yourself. You did feel mighty safe where you were. 

Once the gate was closed and locked, your legs were lowered until your feet touched the ground. There were a few people there, and every eye was on you. Absently, you took a step back and placed yourself just behind Daryl’s shoulder. 

“Who’s this?” A woman with shorn silver hair asked. Her hand was on the handle of a knife on her belt, but her expression was kind. 

“This is Y/N.” Rick supplied, hugging a young boy against his side. The action made the large hat on the kid’s head tilt, and he gave a look of annoyance as he corrected it. “Daryl did some… bargaining at one of the places we visited so she was allowed to leave.”

“Allowed?” The kid asked, watching you with a curious expression. 

“S’a long story.” Daryl huffed, beginning the trek up toward the main building with you right on his heels. There were people in the tower you passed, mere silhouettes in the dimming light, but Daryl waved after a man’s voice called out in greeting. Aside from that, the outside was void of people. 

The archer opened a large metal door and held it, letting you pass through before following. There was no one just inside but you could hear conversations and movement further ahead. You didn’t seem to be heading for that though. You were guided up a small set of stairs to someone’s living area. Considering Daryl pulled off his vest and draped it over the railing, you surmised it was likely his. 

“Wait here. M’a see where Rick wants ta put ya.” 

You sat down on the mattress, pulling your knees to your chest. “Could I… I’d like to stay with you.”

“Ain’t gon’ happen.” He replied instantly. There was no bite but sounded resolute. 

“Please?” You pressed, hugging your legs tighter. “I don’t want to be with strangers.”

“Lady, I am a stranger!” Daryl yelled, jabbing a finger into his own chest. His shoulders fell when you flinched almost violently, reining in his exasperation with a deep breath. 

“Yes, but… you paid for me. Bought me, fair and square.” You wiped angrily at your eyes, cursing yourself for not holding your composure in front of him. This was not what you were taught. Big Jazz would have flogged you. It was clear to you that you continued to push your luck with Daryl. Eventually, his intentions would be made clear. Maybe he just liked to play with his food first. “That means that you’re the closest thing to…family that I have.”

That made something in his chest hurt. “That’s why ya need ta be with them.”

“But—”

“Ain’t nothin’ else ta say. Wait here.” He snapped, turning his back on you before you watched him disappear down the stairs. 

You sat in the corner of the cell assigned to you, knees pulled to your chest, making yourself as small as possible. It reminded you so much of your cage in the back of Big Jazz’s club. This one at least had a bed, but without a customer in it, it felt wrong to use it. 

Even more confounding was that the cell door had been left open and a sheet hanged in the open space. “For privacy” the woman called Carol had told you.  She had brought you fresh clothes, guessing your size and worrying once she saw you again that they might swallow you whole. They laid in a neat, folded pile on the mattress. A bowl of warm stew was offered but you had turned your head, too nauseated from the anxiety clawing at your gut to even think of eating. 

Carol had offered to help you settle in, even suggesting she brush your hair. You had just stared at her, confused at her kindness when you knew she was above you in every way. The girls at the club would never offer such consideration. Some had been nice enough, but given your ‘history,’ they mostly chose to use you as a scapegoat when things would go wrong for them. 

Carol had been fully dressed, from her shirt and camisole to her booted feet. It was a wonder Daryl let her get away with that. That led to the thought that maybe Daryl wasn’t actually the man in charge. You’d have to tread carefully if that was the case. Any of the men could be leading and you couldn’t slip up like you had so many times in front of the archer. 

“Y/N?” Carol called from behind the curtain. “May I come in?” You pulled your legs impossibly closer and didn’t answer. “If you don’t answer, I’m going to assume it’s okay for me to come in.” She added in a no nonsense tone. Fear churned in your belly, so unsure of this new place and its inhabitants. You felt as though you were walking on eggshells already and no one seemed to be giving you any real direction. “Coming in.” The sheet lifted and Carol ducked below it, looking to the bed first before eventually spotting you in the corner. “Now, what on earth are you doing over there?”

She crouched to your level but didn’t advance any closer. “Did you not want to get changed? I only wanted to wash the clothes you have and return them to Daryl but that can wait until tomorrow if you’re more comfortable.”

Your fingernails were digging into the sides of your legs, your face drifting lower and lower behind your knees to hide from her. She seemed kind, but looks could be deceiving in the world you lived in now. 

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Carol shifted to sit on the floor, cross-legged. Her piercing blue eyes seemed to be sweetly picking you apart, analyzing you with a calmness that made you even more uncomfortable. “Alright.” She finally said as she climbed to her feet. “When you’re feeling more settled in, we can talk. I think you might find we have a lot in common.” 

Taking two steps, she paused. She pursed her lips and picked up the pile of clothing. You thought she meant to take items back but she simply placed them on the small table across from the bed. With slow, deliberate movements, she turned down the blanket and fluffed the pillow. “Goodnight.” She smiled that soft smile and lifted the blanket, letting it fall behind her. 

You waited what you thought might have been at least a couple of hours, well after the prison had gone quiet. With practiced silence, you snatched the blanket from the bed and pulled the sheet aside. No one seemed to be awake. Your bare feet hardly made a sound while padding across the ledge and down the stairs. You couldn’t stay in that cell a moment longer. Consequences be damned. 

Daryl opened the door to the cellblock with seasoned care. The sun was barely up. Most everyone would still be asleep. He had caught a couple of hours after Carol had come to collect you, then he took the night watch to have some time outside to just think. His head had been a mess ever since you came tumbling into his life. Well, technically, he had put you there. 

He didn’t regret it. You deserved to be free but you were now in a world where therapy and support groups didn’t exist. He had brought you to a prison full of traumatized people, hoping someone could help you get your head on straight. Hope. Did he really hope for anything anymore? It hadn’t really got him anywhere. 

Still, he hoped you would settle in with the people there. He hoped you had found some sort of comfort with a small meal and an actual bed. He hoped you had slept well your first night. For someone who didn’t dare to hope, he was sure throwing a lot out there for you. 

He didn’t even realize he had stopped to stare down toward the cells during his thoughts of you. Ready to slap himself, he scrubbed a hand over his face and then through his hair. Carol would have come to him if there had been any problems. The archer shook his head and continued toward his perch, ready to forego breakfast and get some actual sleep. If his brain would just shut the fuck up. 

He climbed the stairs as quietly as possible, even as he heard the tell tale sounds of others beginning their day. They could all do without him for a few hours. Maybe if you were informed he was sleeping, you’d feel compelled to stay closer to the cells and not wander into his personal space. 

Once again, hope had failed him. As he brought both boots down onto the metal floor of his perch, his shoulders slumped and he let his head drop back with a sound that could only be described as a frustrated groan. 

You were there, curled up on a blanket below the foot of his mattress. Sound asleep. 

[thisismeracing]

King of my heart | extras | Yn meets Corinna and Gina

― Summary: Yn and Mick are still threading through their feelings, none of them yet aware of how deep it is. Their families are quick to notice, though. ― Word count: 1.3k ― A/n: This can be read as a stand-alone, but it’s better when you’ve read the series. ― Warnings: mention of food; typos - not proofread.

⁕ see my masterlist | my taglist | KOMH Masterlist ⁕ you can support my writing by reblogging, and leaving a comment

Some of the Mercedes crew are getting together for breakfast on Thursday before the non-stop running worsens. That’s how Yn found herself running through her morning routine, a tad late for the original time Lewis scheduled them to meet at the hotel restaurant. She ran for the elevator when she noticed the doors were about to shut.

“Hey, wait, please!”

She sighed in relief when the blonde inside the metal space held the door for her with a smile.

“Thank you so much. The other elevator is closed for repairment, and it would take me forever to get to the restaurant, my brother is blowing my messages pissed because I’m already late,” she ranted, fishing her bag for her room keys just to make sure she didn’t forget it on her room. “I’m ranting, sorry by the way. And thank you again, I’m Yn,” she finally looked up only to find Mick’s carbon copy in front of her. “Oh-” 

Gina chuckled, “It’s no biggie. I’m happy to help. I’m Gina, by the way.” 

They shook hands and Yn bit her lips unsure of what to say or how to act. It was Mick’s sister. She just made a fool of herself in front of Mick’s sister. He mentioned that maybe she would join this racing week, but they haven’t talked about it again, so she thought something had come up. 

“Yeah, you’re Gina. I- mhm. You probably hear this a lot, but you look a lot like Mick,” Yn couldn’t hold back and Gina gave her another smile. “Actually, no wait- HE looks like you, he mentioned he’s the youngest,” she corrects herself and the Schumacher chuckles.

“You look a lot like Lewis too. You’re the youngest like Mick, right?” 

“Oh,-” she seemed surprised.

Gina explained, “Mick mentioned you. And well, you do look a lot like your brother.”

Mick mentioned her.

To his sister.

To his family.

“Yeah, yup, we’re both the younger siblings.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“You too. He talks about you a lot. As much as I talk about Lew, I imagine. Two proud little siblings,” Yn pokes with a smile, finally relaxing a bit. 

“Are you ready for this week’s race?” Gina asks when the elevator pings and the doors slide open. They start to make their way to the restaurant area while chatting about how they think things will go, and when they reach the entrance they’re quick to find four pairs of eyes watching them.

Lewis, Anthony, Corinna, and Mick are sitting all together at a table close to the big windows. The place looks great with all the lightning and their table is starting to get served. Two spots sit empty. 

“Hey,” both girls greet when they get close and Yn’s eyes find Mick’s to share a small smile.

“You two know each other?” Lewis asked, and Gina shook her head, then quickly nodded.

“We just met at the elevator.” 

“Yeah, she held the door for me.” 

“Well, you got in just in time. They’re serving us already.” Corinna smiled after silently watching her son’s reaction when Yn got in. 

Mick was quick to introduce everyone, and he felt all warm and mushy when Yn took one of the empty chairs right by his side. She was between him and her brother, and though it took some minutes for her to finally start comfortably talking, the second she did the whole table engaged on the topic. Gina seemed to love her, taking the way they got here together excitedly talking, and his mom was happily telling Yn and Lewis about a trip she made, while she sipped her coffee.

“It took me some time to get used to all the traveling, but the food and the sightseeing always made up for it,” Corinna stated.

“Oh God, totally! And the people too, most of the time they’re always so warm and excited. A fan gave me a friendship bracelet last GP,” Yn held her wrist up showing the colorful bracelet.

“Awe, this looks cute! I once got a personalized cowboy hat, it blew my mind. Everything was so perfectly made,” it was Gina’s turn to add before biting on her sandwich.

“What’s a friendship bracelet?” Anthony, the Hamilton’s dad, asked curiously and Gina turned to his side to explain.

Mick took the opportunity to rest his arm on the back of Yn’s chair, turning slightly to watch her happily munch her food. She feels his eyes on her, and swallows her food, before stretching her lips into a small smile. Yn doesn’t look at him when she does, but Mick knows the smile is directed at him, and he loves how bigger it gets when his thumb accidentally bumps into the exposed skin of her shoulders. 

Seconds pass before she sips her juice and finally turns her face in his direction the slightest. 

“You didn’t tell me they would be here, I made a fool of myself in front of your sister. I was so embarrassed,” her voice is low, and though she tries to pretend, there’s a hint of amusement on her features. 

Mick looks ahead, bringing his coffee to his lips, “I forgot. I’m sorry. But she liked you, I can tell.” 

“I’m a very likable person, thank goodness.”

“Yes, you are,” his response comes with a long stare between them, and Yn tries to tell herself there’s nothing there. That this is totally the answer a friend would give. They’re good friends. Great friends. They hit it off quickly. Mick was sweet like this with everyone.

She turned her attention back to the table, smiling at something her dad told Gina, and turning to ask about the sugary vegan potions to her brother. 

“I got a slice of their vegan pudding last night, and it was delicious, you should try it. You like chocolate?” Corinna asked and Yn clapped.

“I love chocolate! I’m totally asking for it,” she shared. “You’re vegan too, Mrs. Schumacher?” 

Corinna huffed with fake offense, “I already told you, you can call me Corinna.”

Yn nodded, stealing a piece of strawberry from Lewis's plate, “I’m sorry,” she said to the older woman and Lewis rolled his eyes, flicking his sister’s ear.

“You’re the worst,” he took back from her plate and Corinna chuckled at the siblings’ interaction. 

“So, you’re vegan too, Corinna?” Yn asked again.

“No, but I do love some vegan receipts. I always order one here and there whenever I can.”

“We have a chocolate chip cookie receipt, we’ll share it with you,” Lewis mentioned and Yn nodded. 

“Yeah, we created it. It’s on the family for years,” her deep nod and overly big smile made Mick snicker. 

“What?” Gina asked.

“She’s joking,” he explained.

“We got it from Google when we were fourteen,” Lewis told Corinna, and the Schumacher couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Yeah, but we added our touch to it!” 

“They burnt four batches before getting it right,” Anthony exposed the duo and the table erupted in laughter. 

And so the morning went on with lots of food and smiles. 

When they left, Corinna turned to Mick with a knowing smile.

“You like her,” she stated, clicking the button to their floor and watching the elevator doors close.

Mick scratches his neck, turning into a rosy color, “Mama- she’s- huh. I-.. Don’t you like her too? I haven’t found a person who met her and didn’t like her, she’s so- I don’t know. She’s a great friend, though we don’t know each other for so long.” 

Corinna grinned, “Yes. She’s amazing, and I like her. But you’re about to realize that you like her a lot more than you’re letting on. I saw the glances, saw the interaction. I know my kids,” she states proudly because indeed she knew Gina and Mick like the back of her hand. Sometimes, she was able to notice things about them even before they did. 

“Aweee, Mick, you’re in loveeee!” Gina teases, and Mick can’t help but chuckle and roll his eyes.

“I’m not in love.”

“Yet,” Gina corrected.

“Or you just haven’t realized it.” 

taglist: @sachaa-ff @ferrariloverr @mickslover @fdl305 @lunnnix @saintslewis @mishaandthebrits @iloveyou3000morgan @smiithys @crimeshowjunkie @carojasmin2204 @chaoticevilbakugo @f1kota @wondergirl101ks @shhhchriss @leclercsluv @baby-is-crying @karmabyfernando @crashingwavesofeuphoria @v1naco @cixrosie @elliegrey2803 @he6rtshaker @therealcap @mehrmonga @thatgibbsygirl @the-depressed-fellow @darleneslane @skepvids @goldenalbon @nichmeddar @buckybarnessweetheart @nzygftoji @fastcarsandshit @minkyungseokie @scopeiguess @jamie2305 @balekanemohafe

⁕ my masterlist and my taglist

©thisismeracing do not copy, steal, or translate my work. do not repost on a different media platform.

Don’t forget to reblog and leave me a comment 🩷

[huramuna]

banshee's lament - chapter 5.

aemond targaryen x stark ofc minor jacaerys velaryon x stark ofc masterlist prev | next

a/n: again, a little bit of a slow chapter. shera deserved some happiness and i'm giving it to her, dammit. also i lied, i dropped the chapter on monday oopsies.

wordcount: 4.5k

@huramuna-fics - follow & turn on notifications for just my fic postings! no taglists right now, sorry.

content: smut, angst, fluff, disabled ofc, aemond being delulu & obsessive, major canon divergence, ofc has a service direwolf, i'm taking canon rules and putting them in a blender and taking a shot, arranged marriage, graphic depictions of violence, my terrible, terrible combat writing

story playlist

Shera’s handwriting, in all accounts, was terrible. It was crude and wispy, all blending together like a child’s scrawl. As she sat at her desk, the ink dripping onto the paper from the length of her pauses, she wondered how to sign it. 

Yours,

Shera

No, that was much too personal— she… she wasn’t his. 

Best,

Shera Stark

That felt formal and detached. It simply wouldn’t do.

She went through a myriad of different closing statements, wroughting her brain over like wringing out a rag. She even considered not doing it at all. 

No, no— she… she wanted to. She needed to try, atleast. Sulking and crying would only do so much for her. She needed to be proactive and offer an olive branch of sorts. She settled on a simple drawing of Moongeist— or mayhaps any wolf, but the point was there. He’d know. 

With the note pinned to her cut dress fabric, she snuck from her chambers, flagging down a pageboy. 

“Hello,” she murmured to the young lad, who couldn’t be any older than nine or ten. “May I ask a favor of you, ser?” 

“Yes ma’am… my lady,” he corrected softly, eyes wondering to Moongeist, who was sitting patiently at Shera’s feet. 

“May you take this fabric and note to Prince Aemond’s chambers and leave it upon his desk?” 

“The prince doesn’t like people going through his things while he’s not there, miss,” he responded, blue eyes wide. “I do not wish to be flogged.” 

Shera blinked slowly. Surely Aemond didn’t have servants flogged for an indiscretion. “Has… Prince Aemond had pageboys flogged before?” 

“No, miss— but I delivered him a letter while he was eating his lunch once… he had his eyepatch off on the table and I did not knock,” the young boy looked at his hands. “He said if I didn’t knock next time, he would make me clean up Vhagar’s dung with a wheelbarrow.” 

What the fuck, Aemond? Shera stifled a little laugh, trying not to embarrass the boy. “How about this,” she hummed. “Would you like to pet my wolf? He’s a real direwolf, all the way from the North.” 

The lad eyed Moongeist with a curious gaze. “My mumma had a shaggy dog with a curly tail when I was young. He licked my face n’ smelled horrible but he was my bestest friend,” he said, bashful. “He died a while ago— no one’s got any more pups for me to pet.” 

“He’d love a pet from you, ser,” Shera continued. “Will you deliver this to Prince Aemond’s chambers? If he gets cross with you, tell me and I’ll resolve it and sic my wolf upon him. No harm will befall you.” 

Shyly, the boy smiled, offering his hand to the wolf. Moongeist sniffed his hand and licked his palm, causing the boy to giggle. 

Shera showed him where Moongeist liked to be scratched the most, and the pageboy was quite pleased with himself when he had the giant wolf thumping his foot on the ground like a puppy at the most perfect of scratches. 

He took her note and favor and tottered off. 

— 

Shera knocked on Helaena’s door. “Hela?” she called softly. 

A handmaid opened the door and let her in, wide eyes upon Moongeist. 

The solar was lovely, decorated in blue and purple silks upon the ceiling. There were framed pinnings of various bugs upon the walls, some of them being very rare if she remembered correctly. 

Upon the floor were strewn children’s toys, like wooden dragons that Helaena had when she was little, along with soldier dolls and princess dolls. Some children’s books were left open, some neatly stacked near the settee. 

Shera’s eye landed on Helaena, who was bobbing a toddler on her knee on the couch. A white haired child approached her, his violet eyes wide. He was the spitting image of Aegon as a child. 

“Who’s you?” he asked, not afraid to stare— like all children do. 

“Shera!” Helaena exclaimed, humming as she hoisted the smaller child onto her hip. “Jaehaerys, this is your auntie Shera.” 

“Auntie… Shera…” the little boy echoed. “Is she married to uncle Aemond?” 

Helaena’s face blanched slightly. “No, dearest,” she hummed. “She is very close to me, like a sister. Like Jaehaera is your sister.” 

“Oh,” he murmured. “She doesn’t have white hair. And she has a dog.” 

“He’s a wolf, Jaehaerys,” Shera chimed in. “Has your mumma read to you about direwolves and Winter Kings yet?” 

“A woof,” the smallest child chimed in, bouncing happily upon Helaena’s hip. “A woof, a woof!” 

“Well, I should introduce the children. You have already met Jaehaerys,” Helaena ruffed up his white curls as he continued to stare at Shera unabashedly. “He has a twin sister, Jaehaera. Who is…” Helaena swirled around. “She is hiding behind the settee,” she whispered, leading Shera to look at the pair of violet eyes peeking over the furniture at her. “And this is my youngest, Maelor. He is two years old. The twins are five.” 

“They’re gorgeous Hela,” Shera mused. “Jaehaerys looks just like Aegon, I thought I had stepped into the past when I saw him. Maelor, however,” she added, smiling at the little cherubic face of the youngest prince, who was blushing and giggling, “looks just like his mumma.” 

“Come sit, lovey,” Helaena said as she put Maelor down on the floor near the toys. “Lunch should be here soon. You look darling in that shade. You look like a jeweled beetle,” she hummed, offering her hand to Shera, which she took. Hela’s palm was warm, like a toasty fire, but not sweltering. It felt akin to being swaddled with a blanket. “Can I show you some of my bugs?” 

“Of course,” Shera agreed, feeling genuinely at ease. The solar was lively and lived in, surely because of the children— it felt… homely and not sterile and lifeless like some others’ chambers. 

Off to the far wall, Helaena led her to a bookshelf, carved in draconic designs and various Old Valyrian sigils that she couldn’t quite parse. It was stocked from top to bottom with various books, mostly pertaining to the taxonomy and biology of insects and arachnids— but there were some familiar titles snuck in as well. 

‘The Winter Kings of Yore: An Account of the North’. 

“Hela— you still have this?” Shera asked, her hand thumbing over the positively ancient book, prising it from the shelf. She remembered this was one of her favorite books as a child and would request Helaena to read it when they bathed. 

“Of course! I still have this one, too. ‘Tis Maelor’s favorite.” she pointed to another book, nestled next to the other tome. It was much shorter, but its hard cover was more colorful with streams of blue and purple thread embroidered into a moon and an image of a wolf. 

‘Moonpuppy’. It was a children’s book, the only one Shera had brought with her to King’s Landing when she arrived at age five. 

“Oh Gods,” Shera breathed, her fingertips skimming over the embroidery. It wasn’t the original binding of the book— the book was well loved into bits, to where the inner pages only remained at one point. Shera and Helaena had worked tirelessly for a whole moon trying to prise it back together. The princess embroidered the cover, trying to make it as close to the original as possible. 

Opening the book, she remembered they even made a title page, inked in their silly children’s handwriting. 

‘Moonpuppy, edition II. By Helaena Targaryen and Shera Stark.’

Shera wanted to cry. She sniffed, carefully going through the pages. “Helaena, how have you managed to make me cry twice now?” 

“Tears of happiness, my little wolf spider,” Hela whispered. “You should read it to Maelor. You were always better at the voices than I.”

“Oh, Hela— I… I don’t know if I can,” she whispered, heat coming to her ears. “It… hurts to speak for long and I cannot project… what if he cannot hear me?” 

“Even at two, he is a very good listener. He is nothing like his father in that regard.” 

Shera wiped away her tears and went to sit down. “Maelor, is this your favorite book?” 

“Mwoonpubby!” the toddler exclaimed, jumping to attention right away. 

“Do you know all the words? It’s been quite a while since I’ve read— I may need help remembering.” 

“Mumma reads it every night— can I be the pubby and you be the mwoon?” 

The strength of Shera’s smile almost hurt her face. “Of course.” 

She began her reading, her fingertips buzzing with elation and a strange sense of anxiety.

Once, long ago, there was a puppy. 

He lived in the bitter cold and was very small, but that was okay. He had a large family to keep him warm. 

His mumma and papa talked to the moon each night, encouraging him to do the same. 

‘I don’t know what to say.’ said the little pup. 

‘Whatever is in your heart, dearest. The moon will listen. She will always listen.’ His mumma soothed him, fiddling over his fur with her big tongue. 

One day, it was very dark. Usually, at night, they had the light of the moon. But it was gone this night, smothered in fog and clouds. 

The little pup whined, trudging in the snow. He was lost! He was lost and he couldn’t find his way back to his mumma. 

‘Mumma! Mumma!’ he howled to the sky, to the hidden stars, to the darkened moon. ‘Moon? Moon?’ 

Shera cleared her throat, feeling the pinch of her nerves creeping up on her. She wanted to finish it— she had to.

There was no answer. He was alone. 

He cried and cried for hours, so alone and so cold without his family to warm him. He missed his mumma so badly, he missed the moon. 

‘I don’t talk to you much,’ the pup said, muzzle to the sky. ‘I don’t have much to say usually. I am sorry.’ 

He shuffled his paws as he huddled under a low hanging ledge, out of the snow. It was still wet and he was cold, but it was better than nothing. 

He felt cold still, cold in his bones— 

A light shined down upon him, finally. The moon had broken through the fog. 

Her voice was so hoarse now, that nary a sound came out. Moongeist nuzzled his snout under her hand in a gesture to tell her to take it easy. 

She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t, her voice catching within the brambles of her inflamed vocal cords. 

“S’okay, auntie Shewa,” Maelor said, toddling up onto the couch and snuggling up to Shera without any reservation. “I can finish it, I know all the pawrts. Mumma gets tired too sometimes… so I finish the stowy.” 

He could see, he could see. ‘Oh, thank you, thank you!’ he howled and barked and yipped. 

‘You should talk to me more, little pup,’ the moon cooed, bathing him in her silver light. ‘My sweet little moonpuppy.’ 

His pack found him quickly, all piling near him to keep him warm. He snuggled into their furs, looking up at the sky. 

The moon was full that night, full and bright. 

“Auntie Shewa?” 

“Hm?” 

“Can I pet your woof?” 

Shera looked to Helaena and gave a nod.

“You have to be gentle, like with the bugs.” Helaena stepped in, saving Shera from further talking— to which she was grateful for. 

“Uh huh…” Maelor mumbled, dragging his chubby little hand over Moongeist’s fur in a gentle manner so unlike a toddler. “Soft.” 

Moongeist licked the boy’s head, cowlicking his white curls into one. He giggled with delight.

–

They all lunched together, Helaena insisting that they sit on the floor and eat with the children. They sat in a circle, the kids having their porridge. They each had different toppings, which felt so much like them.

Jaehaerys had cut up ham atop his, accompanied by a smattering of frizzled onions. 

Jaehaera, on the other hand, had pieces of stewed pumpkin atop hers, glazed with cinnamon and maple syrup. It had some roasted pumpkin seeds atop for crunch. She had more of a sweet tooth than her brother, it seemed.

Maelor had a smaller bowl with plain porridge and melted butter– he glanced at Shera’s plate, to which her and Helaena were both eating parboiled quail eggs, dipping their toasted bread in the yolk. 

“Mumma– want egg,” Maelor muttered, swirling his spoon in his porridge. 

“What kind of egg, darling?” Helaena asked.

“I want what Auntie Shewa has,” he continued. “Dippy egg.”

“Maera,” Helaena called to her handmaiden. “Can you please have the cooks whip up some dippy eggs for Maelor– and mayhaps a bone for Moongeist, too?” 

The thumping of a tail was heard as the wolf heard ‘bone’ and ‘Moongeist’ in the same sentence. He stayed near Shera, but also in close proximity to Maelor, who had become quite attached to the wolf very quickly. The toddler offered porridge from his spoon to him, who happily slurped up the food with a wagging tail. 

Soon enough, Maelor was devouring his dippy eggs with toast. Helaena leaned forward now, tracing little circles on the plush rug they sat upon. “It was supposed to be different, you know.” 

Shera blinked. “What was?”

“I was supposed to be betrothed to Jacaerys– before… Aegon,” she started, eyes glazed over and looking towards somewhere far away, somewhere not completely there. “It might have been nice. I don’t know.”

“... really? You and Jacaerys?” she raised a brow. She couldn’t imagine Alicent ever agreeing to such a thing.

“Mother wasn’t pleased. Father pushed and pushed but mother was stronger and pushed back. It was a flash in the pan, so to speak. I wish I knew where we would be now if she had agreed.” 

“You would be upon Dragonstone, Hela– with… Jace’s children, presumably,” Shera cringed inwardly at the thought– that would be her some day.

Helaena wrinkled her nose at the thought, seemingly agreeing with Shera’s sentiment. “For all his faults–” she got up then, tugging Shera to her feet and leading her to the open window. “Aegon is… good with the children. When he is here. I don’t… he isn’t my husband in feeling– but he is my brother. What are we, any of us– but beholden to the mistakes of our families. All of us.”

Shera stayed silent as they sat on the windowsill together, letting Helaena talk. It seemed like something she didn’t talk about much– if ever. 

“He got the worst of mother’s rage. It broke something in him. But I think there is something broken in all of us, even mother,” Helaena reached to the trellis, plucking a beetle that was hiding between two folded leaves. “All of her children are cursed in some way,” she lifted her periwinkle gaze to Shera then. “You are one of her children, too.” 

“... cursed,” she echoed. Yes, that seems about right.

“Will you survive?” the princess turned the conversation then. “Upon Dragonstone?”

“I don’t know.” she answered truthfully, talking in honesty about the betrothal to someone for the first time. She tried before with Cregan, but he didn’t listen. 

“You’ll have to take the reins, you know,” Helaena prattled on, staring at the beetle with her full, rapt attention. It was blue in color, gleaming like a sapphire jewel in the sunlight. “Take them and steer them. You’ll be the only one able to change it– the trees bleed, Shera– cut lip, punctured wood...”

Shera’s brow furrowed further. Helaena was known to descend into her ramblings– but something within her tingled at the words. She didn’t know what they meant, but it made her stomach churn. She felt the whoosh of air from outside the window, a cream colored blur in the edge of her vision. She didn’t hear it, only felt it and saw it, fleeting. It landed upon a spiked point of the keep, across the way from the window– but she couldn’t parse what it was. Shera blinked profusely, bringing her hands to her eyes and rubbing them. When she looked again, it was gone, mayhaps never even there. 

“Hold the beetle, Shera,” Hela hummed, offering the jewel colored insect to her. “You remember how to hold them?”

“Gentle,” she responded, voice so quiet that it was hardly even a whisper. The beetle crawled eagerly onto her palm, roving around slowly. 

“I need to clean up the children for naptime. Maera,” the princess called, hopping off of the window sill. She walked to the handmaiden, who was a head taller than Helaena. Her dark brown hair was braided in one long wisp, a few errant strands sticking to her forehead. She had tanned skin and dark eyes, with a curved nose. The handmaiden smiled to Helaena and they whispered to one another, clearly very familiar, before they disappeared toward the nursery.

Her surroundings blurred as she kept her attention on the beetle. It seemed so simple, so… calm, despite being in the palm of a would-be predator. The light reflected off of its blue colored carapice, the elytra buzzing ever so slightly. It wanted to stretch, the slight unfold of its wings captivating Shera. She wondered what it was like to fly– she had always refused Jacaerys when he asked her to join him atop Vermax. But if… if she were the one flying, she may not be so scared. Her shoulders rolled in tandem with the beetle, feeling a crack of her bones and the ghostly sensation of her own wings clawing out from them. 

The beetle’s antenna wriggled, its little claws digging into her palm, pulling itself along. It wanted to go, it wanted to fly. Leaning towards the window, she saw the great expanse of the sky, littered now with clouds. There was a little breeze now, ruffling the gentle film of the wings as they extended– they looked and felt broken when coming from their sutures, but straightened out quickly. Crawling closer, closer to the breeze, flitting upon it. Hovering now, legs dangling ever expertly. Regarding the indoors one last time– pushing forward into the open air, flight, flight, wisping upon the breeze… was this freedom? 

“Shera! Open your eyes!” 

The breeze died upon her face as she turned to see Helaena at her side, a few maids behind her looking terrified– Moongeist was whining at her feet. 

“Shera?” Helaena whispered now, her periwinkle eyes wide. “Are you alright?”

“... yes– um,” she glanced around nervously at the maids, who were now chittering amongst themselves. 

“Thank you, ladies– you may go now. I will call the maester myself if Shera falls ill again.” 

Ill? She was awake that entire time, she knew it– she was… focusing on the beetle… the beetle…

“Hela– where is the beetle?” 

“The beetle…” she breathed, looking over to the table. 

Shera looked to see an open lightbox, the beetle was in it. It was seized up, not moving. 

“It fell. Its thorax got torn on the windowsill– I will fix it before I pin it,” the princess sighed. “The breeze was too strong.”

“Is it dead?” 

“Yes.” 

Shera felt cold, a chill creeping at her back. “I should… I should get some rest, I think. M-much excitement for me today, I think.”

Helaena nodded.

–

Shera laid in bed, taking her dinner in her chambers. She felt… utterly exhausted. The day had been tumultuous, even without her… disassociating spell in Helaena’s chambers.

Her fingers roved over a book– it was something that was just left in her room for decoration and no real substance. Her eye strained as she tried to focus on the words. It was already hard enough to read with only one working eye, but with the content of this book being so boring, she couldn’t parse any of it at all. 

Knock, knock, knock. Three knocks rapt upon her door.

“I don’t need any tea,” she croaked out, unable to project her voice. She slipped out of her bed, adorned in her nightgown– it was fairly see-through, so she grabbed a blanket and slipped it over her head and body, snugging it close. She hated being caught without her veil on. “Please, come back in the morning.” she muttered as she opened the door, peeking her face out slightly.

“I’m afraid I cannot take no for an answer, Lady Stark,” Aemond hummed, standing before her in all his glory. He wasn’t dressed for bed– she wondered if he wore his riding and sparring leathers to bed, too. “I was tasked with delivering some… reading material to you.” 

Shera perked a brow inquisitively. “Reading material?” She hadn’t requested anything specific from the library.

“Can I come in?” 

Shera bit her lip. “Yes… I suppose…” she opened the door wider for him to come in as she scrambled to find a veil to wear. 

“No need for that. I won’t look if it makes you uncomfortable.” he said, his tone a bit softer than usual. He had two books in his hands as he looked around the room. 

“I don’t wish to make you uncomfortable,” Shera grunted, a bit indignantly. His words from the dinner still echoed in her head. Mayhaps it's a mangled mess under there. She remembered him laughing at her earlier in the day when her veil had slipped slightly. Her cheeks burned as she pulled the blanket taut around her, facing away from him. 

“I’m sure I’ve seen worse,” he said flatly, putting the books down on the side table next to the chaise. “But, out of respect, I won’t look.” 

She was sure he meant it as a way to soothe her worry, but she couldn’t help but feel tears start to form. Hastily, she wiped them away. “What was so important that this… delivery couldn’t wait until morn?” she glanced at him, her eyes stinging. “And why you?” she added, her punctuation of you a bit more harsh than she intended. 

Aemond’s brow knit as he regarded her. He said he wouldn’t look, the liar. 

She whipped in the opposite direction quickly. 

“Helaena asked me to deliver you this… and I had one to give you as well. Think of it as a betrothal gift.” he muttered, beginning to walk the room as if he wasn’t an intruder. Well, she had invited him in. 

Moongeist was snoozing on the bed, belly up. His legs twitched in the air as he whimpered softly from dreaming. Aemond stared at him. “This is your valiant protector? He is sleeping on the job.” 

“He deserves rest— you aren’t a threat to me, Aemond. He senses that,” she replied. Not a threat physically, at least. You’re a predator to my mind. 

“Hm,” he hummed, walking to the table where she still had two honey walnut cakes sitting out. “You enjoyed them, I take it?” 

“What?”

“The cakes. I had a maid bring them to you this morn.” 

“Oh– it was you,” she murmured, the tips of her ears flushing under the implication. “... thank you. It… helped.” 

“You were… distressed– these always used to cheer you up.”

Shera let out a tentative breath. He had thought of her– and remembered her favorite sweet? And… cared enough to have them brought to her. Maybe… maybe he didn’t loathe her so. “They were… very good,” she continued, letting a smile come to her face. It felt strange to smile around Aemond after so long.

“Yes, the cook who made them still works in the kitchens,” he picked up one, taking a bite. He had liked them as well, but his favorite had always been blueberry scones. “She surprisingly hasn’t kicked the bucket yet– still working away down there, at seventy-five. Mother offered her retirement and a nice hole in the wall shack near the wharf. She refused, adamant to work until she died.” he made a noise of surprise at the taste. “Still good.” 

“I’m surprised you remembered, Aemond,” she walked closer then, making sure to snatch the last one off of the plate before he decided to take it, too. She took a bite, the honey sticking to her fingers.

“I remember a lot, Shera,” he pulled out a chair and took a seat. Why was he staying?

 Her heart stopped momentarily as he said her name. She buried herself further into the pastry to hide her red cheeks. “Memories are a plague,” she grumbled, pulling up her legs to her chest after she settled into the chair next to him. 

“That they are, most of them are. A festering, decrepit reminder of… things best left forgotten. However,” he leaned forward then, his thumb cleaning off a drip of errant honey from the corner of her mouth. “I do remember, you were always a messy eater. Some things don’t change, do they?”

She shivered as he touched her with such… gentleness he hadn’t displayed at all since she’s been back. It was a glimpse into the boy he used to be– he was still there, deep down. She almost choked on the rest of her cake, putting it down on the plate as she quietly licked her fingers, trying to distract herself. “... no, some things don’t change.” 

“The book weren’t the only reason I came– Helaena asked me to ask you if you would like to come on a picnic to the Kingswood tomorrow. With Aegon, the children, Helaena and I. She told me that… Maelor required you bring Moongeist.” 

Shera stared at him for a long moment, her eyes wide and owlish. The blanket slipped from her head slightly as she leaned forward, snatching the remainder of Aemond’s honey walnut cake from his fingers. “I suppose– as long as there are more cakes,” she hummed, feeling a slightly giddy sensation tingle down her spine as she devoured the rest. “How on earth did you manage to get Aegon to agree?” 

“I promised that there would be wine,” he watched, his violet eye roving her face unabashedly as she finished the pilfered sweet. 

“And?” 

“And… mayhaps I threatened to pay all the brothels off to not service him any longer if he did not attend.” 

–

Aemond left soon after, bidding her goodnight in a very stiff and still… somewhat cold in manner. But he was trying– she could see that. 

Before tucking back into bed, she looked to see the books he had left for her.

One was the copy of ‘Moonpuppy’ that she had read earlier that day.

The other, the supposed ‘gift’ from Aemond, was a well-worn, well-loved copy of the old folk hero ‘Symeon Star-Eyes’. Upon opening the cover and flitting through the pages, she saw many notes and footnotes on each page– it was Aemond’s handwriting. He had left his thoughts on each page– as she descended through the book, his handwriting changed and evolved. It started off very shaky and tenuous, but as she scanned through the end of the tome, it was confident and sophisticated. He had annotated this copy for years, his handwriting and views on the text changing with each year. Flipping back to the front, she looked at the date.

It was dated five moons after the Driftmark incident. Then, opening the back– it was dated a fortnight ago. He had written, noted, and journaled in this book for ten years.

Why did he give this to her?

[blackypanther9]

Alastor teaches M/n how to hunt – Father!Human!Alastor x Son!Reader

WARNING!: Killing Deer, bathing someone (Don’t you dare make this sexual, eww.), mentions of weapons (rifle to hunt and hunting knife), Angst AND MORE ! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!!

A/N: If any of you make this one bathing scene sexual so HELP ME THE RADIO DEMON !! *Gets out the rolled up newspaper ready to smack your perverted heads* (Pic belongs to rightful owner)

TAGLIST: @l0liamk @dilucragnvindr-my-beloved @moiravim @meg-giry1 @wen01203

Words: 8 792

If Alastor hated one thing dearly, it was being compared to his Father. That’s why he NEVER acted like that vile man did. His Father forced him to learn how to hunt already when he was an 8 year old kid, for example.

M/n, his Son, was 11 years of age now, but he hated thinking about teaching him how to hunt. He knew it is important. Who knows if M/n will have to use that knowledge one day... But he deemed him way too young still. He loved animals.

Why was Alastor even thinking about this ? Because M/n asked him, for 3 months by now, if he could join him and learn how to hunt.

Alastor had to go today, but he didn’t want to drag M/n along. M/n knew that and with that locked all the doors to get outside and then hid Alastor’s house keys. Without them he can’t go, besides he wants to climb out a window and then be locked out by his Son.

“Please, Papa !”, M/n begged with big eyes.

“Mon petit (My little one), you are way too young for that.”, the Radio Host denied again.

“Why am I too young for it, Papa ? I wanna learn !”

“Cher, do you even know what hunting means ?”

“Umm...that you go out with a gun and look around ?”, M/n said in confusion.

Alastor chuckled and ruffled his Son’s hair.

“Almost, mon petit. But not correct !”

M/n pouted.

“Then TEACH me ! YOU are MY teacher and my FATHER !”, M/n reminded his Father.

The Radio Host eyed his Son for a long while. He was very unsure, he doesn’t want to be like his own Father was... He forced Alastor to learn and witness everything at a very young age. He was glad when he finally died.

“Are you absolutely sure about this, Cher ?”, he asked M/n gently.

His Son held pure determination in his eyes. Something the older male admired.

“I am very sure, Papa. I wanna learn everything you know.”

Alastor gave him a confused smile.

“Why ?”, he asked the kid.

M/n gave him a big smile.

“Because I wanna be just like YOU, when I grow up ! I wanna be as funny as you, skilled as you, nice as you, I even wanna do the same job as you when I grow up !”

The Radio Host was shocked, but felt very touched that his own Son wanted to be just like him. At the same time it was silly. He chuckled and ruffled M/n’s hair.

“Mon petit, you don’t have to be just like me. I want you, to be yourself. But...I would lie, if I wouldn’t say that I would love to teach you everything I know.”, the older male gave in.

His Son’s eyes sparkled.

“Does that mean you’ll teach me ?!”

Alastor sighed and then nodded, smile still present. M/n jumped up and down in happiness and the adult chuckled at his adorable display. He was nothing like his Father, his Father never cared to make Alastor happy. He never gave him time, as a child, to develop an interest in what he did, while his Mother did.

“Alright. So, hunting is not something that is taken lightly.”, Alastor started.

M/n instantly sat down on his Father’s bed, next to Alastor, listening intently. The Radio Host was almost amused by that display.

“Yes, hunting takes part in taking a hunting rifle outside with you and walking around, but you don’t do that to waste your time away. You are on the search of something.”

“And what is that, Papa ?”, M/n asked in curiosity.

“Food.”, Alastor answered and looked at his Son.

“Food ?”, the boy asked in confusion.

“Why yes. You know...the meat we consume, like chicken and fish...are animals. Living things. Our food.”, Alastor explained.

M/n looked at his Dad.

“I mean...I knew that, but why hunt it ? They die by themselves and then we eat them, right ? We find them and they are already dead.”

Alastor shook his head and laughed gently.

“No, no, no, Son. We hunt these animals, kill them and then we take the meat from them. We don’t wait for them to die, god knows if they had diseases that ended them. Some diseases can pass onto us as soon as we consume them, so we hunt them instead.”

M/n’s eyes were wide.

“What ? But what about the babies ?!”

Alastor smiled softly.

“There is a season for that. When the time arrives where babies are supposed to come, you are not allowed to hunt and kill animals. After the hunting season is back on track, you have to watch out and be careful that you don’t take away the Mother from a newborn. That does every hunter worth their salt.”

He looked at his Father worried.

“And the Fathers ?”

Alastor chuckled awkwardly.

“Well, most animal species only mate once and they usually don’t care about their newborns. As sad as that sounds, usually the males then leave and can even hurt the newborn. And when the newborn is a male and grows up, they might fight for dominance.”

“Oh...”

“Hey, don’t be so sad, Son. One animal leaves and three new ones are already there. Animals don’t die out that fast.”

He looked at his Dad.

“What are we hunting, Papa ?”

“I was going for a Deer. You want to tag along ?”

M/n nodded. He was sad about the animals, but first...they tasted good and second he wanted to learn.

“Okay then.”

Alastor got up and then left the room, when he came back he had a small hunting outfit in his hands and handed them to his Son. He took them.

“Put these on. They were formerly mine, when I was 12, but I don’t fit into them anymore and they might fit you.”

M/n nodded and left his Father’s bedroom, went to his own and dressed up. The clothes fit him perfectly.

As he showed up, his Father smiled brightly.

“Splendid ! They fit you perfectly !”, Alastor said happily and then grabbed his Winchester 1898 rifle hunting gun.

Then M/n saw, that his Father had a hunting knife in his belt too, sheathed.

“Papa ?”

“Yes, mon petit ?”

He pointed at the sheathed knife.

“What do we need the knife for ?”, he asked his Dad.

“That is a hunting knife. You never leave the house without it, in case you need it.”

“Oh. Okay !”

He smiled at his Son, then put on his coat and they both left.

“Rule number one, Son: You have to know where they might be.”

“Do you know where the Deers are ?”

“Always near the same location, yes. Just follow me.”

He did as told and after a while, which was 2 hours of walking, they arrived at a small river and saw a Stag, eating grass all alone, the birds were chirping very loudly, perfect. They can use that to their advantage. Alastor crouched down, behind a bush and M/n followed his example.

The Radio Host continued in a whisper, so the Stag won’t be alarmed.

“Rule number two and three: Don’t make any loud noises and never let the prey spot you. They hear you, they run away. They see you and they also run away. Deer are very jumpy and fast.”, he taught his Son.

M/n nodded at that. Then he watched his Father, very carefully, grab and pull his rifle, from his back, to his chest. He silently opened his gun and put two bullets inside it. He looked at M/n.

“Do you want to shoot it ?”, he asked his Son in a whisper.

M/n nodded gently. Alastor came closer and carefully handed M/n the rifle, positioned his hands where they had to be and then gently guided his hands and the rifle through the bush. He looked over the edge of the bush and saw the Stag still eating.

“There is a little hole on the top of the gun, you look through it with your right eye. You will have more focus and aim on the Stag then. Aim for the head.”, Alastor instructed, still in a whisper.

M/n did as he was instructed, with the help of his Father. Alastor was behind his Son, had his head next to his Son’s left side of the head, and focused his eyes too, to see if the front of the rifle lined up with its target. He smiled when M/n had it.

“Perfect, mon petit. Before you pull the trigger, I need to warn you. The rifle will have a strong recoil. Keep your arms relaxed, then the gun will recoil in your hands and your arms will be pushed up and you might fall back, but you won’t get hurt.”

“What if I stiffen my arms ?”, M/n whispered his question.

“Then you will seriously hurt yourself.”

“Oh...Okay.”

“I will be here and support you.”

“Okay.”

“Let’s shoot it together, mon petit.”

M/n nodded and then they both checked again. Everything was still perfect, Alastor took the safety off, then M/n and Alastor pulled the trigger together.

BANG !

M/n’s arms were in the air with the rifle, his ears ringing, the recoil made him fall into his Father’s chest and they heard a heavy drop.

“Oof !”, M/n let out as he collided with his Dad’s chest.

“I told you, I will catch you.”, Alastor said smugly.

M/n giggled and then looked over the bush. His eyes widened in happiness.

“I got it ! I got it, Papa !”, M/n cheered.

On the floor, was the Stag, dead. They got it good. The Radio Host chuckled and got up.

“That you did, Son. Good job. Now let us take it home, so I can skin it and store the meat, for us, away.”

“Okay ! Can I help ?!”

Alastor looked at his Son, his smile a bit tighter. He knew that M/n was definitely NOT ready for that.

“No. When you are older, I promise. Skinning and storing the meat away from an animal...is not a nice sight. For that, you really are still too young. Trust me, mon petit.”

M/n lost his smile and looked at his Dad in concern.

“Oh...okay... You’ll be okay ?”

“Cher, I skinned a lot of Deer, way before you even arrived !”, Alastor chuckled out.

He ruffled the boy’s hair.

“I’ll be okay, Cher.”, he said gently.

Then Alastor went to the Stag and heaved it up, then put his head under it and stood up, his right hand held its hind legs, his left hand held its front legs and behind his neck was its belly. With that he started going back home and M/n followed.

“Isn’t the Stag heavy ?”, M/n asked in concern.

“It is, but I carried a lot of animals and other things, so I have enough muscle to carry it. Don’t worry, Cher.”

“Okay...”

Alastor gave his Son a bright, proud smile.

“Hey, Son ?”

“Yes, Papa ?”, M/n replied.

“I know, I said it already, but...you did a spectacular job today. Your first time hunting and you got a Deer ! Normally kids that start hunting won’t even catch anything ! You caught a Stag. Deer are very hard to catch, without them running away before you can get them ! Congratulations.”, Alastor praised highly.

His Son smiled and it went brighter when he continued to praise him for a job well done.

“Thank you, Papa. It means a lot, coming from you.”, he replied with a big smile.

Alastor wanted to reply and had a warm smile on his face, as he suddenly felt something wet hit his nose. He froze up at that, his smile frozen. M/n got a wet drop on his forehead and they looked at each other, then up, into the sky.

More drops hit them and Alastor muttered under his breath.

“Oh, applesauce...”

They were still far away from home, they walked for like two hours.

“We should speed it up a bit, mon petit ! It is raining !”, Alastor said and fastened his steps, which M/n did too.

-Time skip-

It was raining heavily and it felt like buckets of water was poured over them, when they finally arrived at home. Alastor quickly unlocked the door and M/n rushed in, he took his soaked coat, shoes and socks off, then he opened the basement door, for his Dad.

Alastor brought the Stag into the Basement and then came back up, taking off his own soaking coat, boots and socks, then they both rushed upstairs and decided to dry off with towels, then put on comfortable clothes.

M/n was the first one to be in the living room and he decided to light up the chimney, so they will warm up faster. He wore extra clothes under his hunting clothes, while Alastor didn’t. He was soaked to the bone and came down, rubbing his arms, to warm up. As he saw the chimney lit, he sat down on the couch, in front of the chimney, and warmed up there.

His Son in the meantime was in the kitchen and turned on the stove, warming up the leftovers from their Lunch that day. It was enough for Dinner and they both hated food going to waste.

So while M/n was busy in the kitchen, warming up their Dinner, Alastor sat near the chimney and warmed up. Tomorrow he had to go to work again too. It was Sunday and the Radio Host hasn’t taken a day off ever since M/n turned eight years of age. It was pretty good for his record, after all, his NEW Boss was even stricter with him. Worst ? It was a woman...

A woman, M/n HATED. She couldn’t take a fucking hint.

After a few more minutes M/n dressed the table in the dining area and looked at his Dad.

“Dinner is ready, Papa.”

“Thank you, mon petit. I will be there shortly.”, the Father replied softly, voice sounding weak.

‘Did he get sick ?’, M/n thought worried.

He went to the table and poured his Father already the bowl, then his own. They had Gumbo. It didn’t take long and Alastor arrived too, sat down in his seat and they both ate Dinner.

What worried M/n the most though, was that his Dad immediately went to bed after. He never does that. He usually stayed up an hour longer after Dinner, played a game with M/n and then sent him off to bed. He was VERY worried. He cleaned the dishes and the empty pot, where the Gumbo was inside, and then went to bed himself.

-The next day-

M/n woke up and looked at his clock. He saw the time and sighed, getting up. His Dad should be in the kitchen already, making Breakfast. He got dressed and freshened up for the day at his Dad’s studio and then went down the stairs. He was confused as he saw the kitchen spotless and no smell of food was there.

‘Where is he ? Is he still sleeping ?’

He went back up the stairs and knocked gently at his Father’s door. No response. He opened the door and looked inside.

“Papa ?”, he gently called out.

In the bed was movement and a weak groan came from it too. M/n entered the room and stood next to his Father’s bed. He took a closer look at him and saw a red nose, cheeks flushed and his eyelids were red. M/n put his hand on Alastor’s forehead and pulled it back again. He was burning up.

He let his Father sleep and went to the phone. He called the Radio Station.

“Yes, Alastor ?”, a female replied.

‘Great...the pompous Bitch of a Boss...’

“Hello, Miss Ducasse. I am calling for my Father, Alastor Hazbin.”

“Oh...M/n Hazbin...what do you have to tell me, that your Father can’t, hmm ?”, she asked rudely.

“My Father is sick. He has a very high fever and I wanted to ask if I can call him in sick today, so we can get a doctor and get a look at how long and how serious his fever is. His forehead is burning up, but I don’t have a temperature yet. I would send you the testament and sick leave as soon as I have it.”, M/n promised.

It was silent at the other line, then she sighed, annoyed.

“Fine. But you better keep your word, otherwise your Father will be in big trouble and I won’t let this happen again.”, she threatened.

‘Sure you Bitch... You just want to get into my Father’s pants. Whore..’, he thought, rolling his eyes in anger and disgust.

“I will. I promise. Thank you and have a lovely day, Miss !”, M/n said happily.

She hung up, aggressively. M/n looked at his phone and scoffed.

“Rude.”

Then he dialed a doctor’s number. It was almost instantly answered.

“Hello, this is Dr. Thomas Hugo. How can I help you ?”, a man answered.

“Mr. Hugo ! Just who I needed, do you remember me, Sir ?”, M/n asked, glad it was his Father’s house doc.

“M/n ! What do you need, child ?”, the man asked surprised.

“I need you to come to my Dad’s house. I think Papa caught a very high fever and I need someone to check how bad it is and what I need to do, how long it might take. My Papa’s Boss wants a sick leave and testament as fast as possible. Can you make it ?”, M/n asked in an urgent and pleading tone.

The other line was silent for a bit, then he heard rustling.

“I am on my way, Kid. I’ll be there in 15 minutes, okay ?”, Hugo informed.

M/n smiled brightly.

“Okay ! Thank you so much !”, M/n said.

“Always, Kiddo. See ya in a bit.”

“Be careful !”

Then they both hung up and M/n went back to his Father’s room. Alastor was still in bed, sleeping, looking very sick. The boy made sure that his Father was wrapped in his blanket, then he opened his window, letting fresh air inside.

He stayed by his Father’s side, until the door knocked. M/n jumped up and rushed down the stairs. He opened the door and smiled brightly as he saw Dr. Thomas Hugo standing there. He hugged him tightly and then let him inside.

“Thank you for coming here on such a short notice. My Dad is still asleep. I opened the window for fresh air and he is covered by his blanket, so he shouldn’t get worse.”, M/n explained as he led the Doctor up the stairs.

“That was very good thinking, Kid. Fresh air clears the room of the bad and used air, chasing the bacteria and viruses away, cleansing the room.”, Dr. Hugo praised.

M/n smiled brightly, then he opened his Dad’s bedroom door and let the Doctor enter it before him. They both went inside and M/n closed the door behind himself. The Doctor was already approaching Alastor’s bed on the right side and took a look at his face.

“Puffy eyelids, red swollen nose and red cheeks...”, the man muttered.

He put a hand on Alastor’s forehead and pulled it away.

“Burning forehead...”

M/n waited for the diagnosis. Dr. Hugo pulled his bag next to himself and opened it, pulling out a thermometer. He turned it on and then gently opened Alastor’s lips, then put it into his mouth. The sick adult groaned, but didn’t do anything else.

After a few minutes, Dr. Hugo pulled it out and took a sharp inhale.

“That is serious. Deadly serious.”

“Why ? How high is it ?”, M/n asked.

“Before I tell you...How did he get sick ?”

“I think it was from yesterday. We took a walk and we were two hours away from home as it started to rain and it turned into a heavy one. I was dressed with two layers, Papa wasn’t. He only wore one layer and he was soaked through.”, M/n explained.

Hugo nodded.

“Okay, makes sense... Your dad has a very high fever. His temperature is 41°C. A normal one would be between 36, 5°C – 37,4°C.”

M/n stared at Thomas in shock.

“How do I get it to come down ? What do I have to expect ?”, M/n asked worried.

“He will be sluggish. He might have a cough, a cold, scratchy throat, a headache and stomach pains. He could also feel sick to his stomach, so he might not eat much. You need to go to a Pharmacy and get him something against his pains, stomach and cough. I will write you some recipes. Give him much water and tea, don’t leave him out of your sight, help him to the bathroom and everywhere else, air the room a lot and put a cold rag on his forehead. I will give him a sick leave for 7 days and then I will come back, to check on him.”

“Okay. Can I get the sick leave twice ? Papa’s Boss sometimes let the sick leaves of Dad’s disappear.”

Thomas nodded and made him two sick leaves, signed them and then made a testament twice too, then he wrote M/n the recipes for the medications. He also wrote a few tea kinds down and what food Alastor should be able to consume while he is sick. Then he gave it all to M/n.

“If you run out of the medication too fast, give me a call and I will get more and come over, okay ?”, Thomas told the boy.

“Okay. Thank you so much, Dr. Hugo.”

The Doctor smiled and ruffled the boy’s hair.

“No problem, Kiddo. I hope you know what to do from here on. Do you need money ?”

“No, Sir. I know where Dad has some, that I can use.”

“Good, alright. Be careful when you go shopping and don’t get in trouble, yeah ?”

“I will, I promise.”, M/n swore as he led Thomas out of the house again.

“Good. Good luck, Kid. Take good care of your Dad.”

“I will. Be careful on your way back and I hope you will have a lovely day.”

The Doctor smiled and then left. M/n closed the front door, then he dashed to his own room and dressed up, to go out. He then rushed to his desk and wrote a note for his Dad.

‘I’m shopping and giving the annoying Boss your sick leave. You have very high fever and are written sick, I’ll get the medication. Stay in bed ! Love you, Papa !’

He took the piece of paper and put it next to his nightstand, then left a sick leave and testament from the Doctor there, in case his Dad needs to look it over. He also put his glasses there, so he can reach them better and doesn’t have to move too much, then he went to his Father’s black dress pants and pulled out his wallet.

He took out a 50 dollar bill and three 20 dollar bills. He hoped that was enough. He took the second testament and sick leave from Dr. Hugo after that, with the medication recipes and notes, the Doc made. He snatched his Dad’s house keys, and then left, locking the front door, then left for the town.

His first stop was his Father’s Radio Station. He entered it and got greeted instantly by his Dad’s coworkers, warmly.

“Hello, M/n ! Where is Alastor ?”, a friendly fellow asked.

His name was Francisco Zuft. He was a good friend of Alastor’s.

“Hello, Mr. Zuft. My Father is sick. He caught a high fever. I am here to bring the Boss his sick leave.”, M/n replied friendly.

“Oh dear... Wish him well from me.”

“I will, Sir.”

With that they parted ways and M/n knocked on Miss Ducasse’s door.

“Come in !”, she called.

M/n opened it, after an eye roll of annoyance. He peaked his head inside.

“Miss Ducasse ?”, he called out gently.

She looked up.

“Ah, M/n. What have you gotten for updates for me ?”, she asked rudely.

‘I want her so dead...’

“My Father has a high fever of 41°C. He was written sick for a week, for now. Then he will be checked up on again. Here is the testament and the sick leave from his house Doctor.”, M/n said and gave her the papers.

She took them and read through them. She sighed and nodded.

“Alright. This is serious, your Father is excused. Thank you for bringing the papers to me. You may leave.”, she said with distaste.

‘Bitch.’

“Thank you. Have a lovely day, Miss.”, he politely said and then left.

As he was about to leave, a lot of Alastor’s coworkers swarmed M/n and asked him to send him their get well wishes and they wanted M/n to come back tomorrow. They had something planned for Alastor. He agreed and then left, wishing them all a lovely day.

He rushed to the Pharmacy. A kind, young Lady looked at him.

“Can I help you, little boy ?”, she asked gently.

“Yes...umm...”, he answered and nervously fumbled in his coat pockets.

He pulled out the notes and recipes. He handed her the recipes for the medications he needed.

“I need these medications for my Dad. He has a very high fever and I am taking care of him. Do you have any of these or maybe something that comes close ?”, M/n asked, politely.

She took them and read through them. She smiled at the boy and nodded.

“We do have these medications, wait here for a bit.”

Then she left and came back after a few minutes. She had small and big versions of the medications.

“Do you want the big ones or the smaller ones ?”, she asked.

“Depends on the price, Miss. Can we look how much ?”, M/n asked gently.

“Of course.”, she replied kindly.

She scanned the small ones and they made 26.78 Dollars in total. Then she scanned the big ones and they made 40 Dollars in total. M/n took his chance.

“I will take the big ones.”, he chose.

“That would be 40 Dollars. Do you want a bag, Kiddo ?”, the woman asked.

He gave her a smile.

“That would be nice. Yes, please.”, he said politely, while he pulled out two 20 Dollar bills.

She nodded and pulled out a bag, putting the medications inside the bag, then she took his money and she gave him the bag.

“Have a good day, Kiddo and take good care of your Dad.”, she told him with a warm smile.

He smiled back.

“Thank you, Miss. I hope you will have a lovely day.”

Then he left the Pharmacy and rushed to the store. He took a shopping cart and rushed through the aisles, taking what he needed for the food, his dad can consume, looking at the price tags and calculating the price in his head. Some stuff was lowered in the price, which was positive ! He saved up money.

He needed vegetables A LOT of them, some seasonings they ran low on them, then he bought chicken meat, some crackers without salt, Rusk, eggs, milk, a lot of water and some other small things his Dad can snack on.

For all of that stuff, he had to pay 30 Dollars, then he bagged it all, shoved the cart back into its place and rushed home with the bought goods.

-Time skip-

M/n was home and unlocked the door, he carried the food inside the house and into the kitchen, then he stored it away and rushed up the stairs, while opening his coat. He entered his Father’s room and saw that he was NOT in his bed, but a lot of tissues were on the floor. He looked around the room and then heard the flush of the toilet in his bathroom.

The door opened five minutes later and his Father walked out, looking like death warmed all over him. He knocked on the door and it caught Alastor’s attention. He looked at him and gave him a weak smile.

“Hey, mon petit. Did you get everything ? Have you had any trouble ?”, he asked with a hoarse voice, quietly.

“Hey, mon papa malade (My sick papa). I did get everything and I had no trouble. I got the medication and took the big packs. I took 110 Dollars from you and gave out about 70 Dollars. They had a lot of prices reduced, so I saved a lot. The medications were 40 Dollars, but the small packs would have costed more in the long run. They were all together almost 27 Dollars.”, M/n explained gently, minding his voice.

Alastor sat down on his bed, coughed and nodded. He held his head, his head was pounding horribly.

“I gave your sick leave and the testament to your Boss. I asked Dr. Hugo to make us two, in case she makes your sick leave disappear again.”

“That’s good, Cher.”, Alastor weakly said, proud of his Son.

“I will make you some soup now, lay down and try to get some more sleep. After you ate something, you can take the medications.”

“Of course, mon petit. Thank you.”

“No problem, Papa. Leave it all to me. I will take care of you.”

With that he left the room and went back into the kitchen. He took out a bottle of water, he had to stop a few times to continue and carry the heavy package, but he was proud he got it so far, then he brought the bottle of water to his Father’s room, with the remains of the money he took and a cold, wet rag.

His Father was laying down again, under the covers. M/n put the bottle on his side table next to his bed, then he brushed his Father’s hair back and put the cold rag on his forehead and put the remaining 40 Dollars onto his desk in his room.

“Thank you, Fils (Son).”, Alastor rasped out, sighing in relief at the coolness on his head.

“No problem, Papa.”

Then M/n left and entered the kitchen. He searched through the cupboards for his Grandmother’s recipe book. He found it and opened it, looking for a chicken soup recipe, after he found it, M/n read it.

Then he pulled out a cutting board, knife, a pot, the ingredients he needed and two bowls. Then he got to cutting the vegetables first and put them in the first bowl, after that he cut the chicken meat and put it into the second bowl.

He put butter into the pot and turned on the stove, heating up the pot.

-Time skip-

 He loved his Grandma, even though he never got the chance to meet her. Her recipe was perfect, it tasted amazing and he didn’t burn down the kitchen ! The soup was done and he filled a bowl, for his Papa and put a spoon inside it. He brought it to his Father’s room and saw him sleeping.

He seemed to be sleeping better than before. He put the bowl of soup down on the nightstand and then left again, getting the medicine and his own bowl of food. He sat down next to his Dad and took the wet rag off of his forehead.

“Papa...wake up...”, M/n called gently.

“Mmmnnn... Five more minutes...”, Alastor sleepily replied.

The boy giggled.

“Papa, the food is getting cold.”, he informed the adult.

The adult sat up carefully at that, eyes very small from sleep. He yawned.

“Already ?”, he asked his Son.

“Yes, I cooked for a while.”

Alastor put on his glasses and then looked at the clock.

“Huh.”, he said in shock as he saw how late it was.

Then he coughed.

“Barely awake and coughing already.”, M/n said in pity.

Alastor weakly waved it off and then grabbed his own bowl. He smelled it and looked at his Son in shock.

“You...You made Mama’s recipe ?”, he asked with a cough interrupting him.

“I did. I looked through the cabinets and cupboards just to find the cook book of Grandma. She wrote it so detailed, that I had no trouble making it. I hope you will like it. Oh, and your coworkers wish you all a get well soon greeting.”, M/n informed.

Alastor smiled and weakly ruffled his Son’s hair.

“Thank you, mon petit. What would I do without you...”

“Probably be in agony right now.”, M/n replied jokingly.

Alastor let out a raspy chuckle, then a cough.

They dug in together and Alastor had to admit, M/n cooked it exactly like how his Mother used to cook it. Not even Alastor could get the head on the nail, but his Son did it. He remade it and it felt like his Mother made it.

He ate two bowls of it, while M/n ate three, he received his medications after and took them. Cough syrup, something against his cold and stomach and then a painkiller for his head. Then he was back to sleeping, with a new cold rag on his forehead.

As Alastor woke up again, he saw that M/n left him a bag with snacks he should be able to consume. He smiled. His Son knew him too well.

It was nighttime and he needed the bathroom. The sick Radio Host winced as he felt his bladder, almost exploding. His Bedroom door opened and in came his Son, checking on him. He turned the lights on, making Alastor groan and shut his eyes tightly.

“Sorry, Papa. I thought you were still sleeping. I wanted to open your window again, for fresh air. Night air is always the best.”

“It...It’s alright, Cher.”, he replied with a cough.

“Do you need anything ?”, the kid asked.

“Bladder...”, the man got out.

M/n nodded, quickly opened the window and then went over to his Dad. He helped him out of the sheets and the bed, guiding him to the Bathroom door. He could feel how weak his Father was, he could barely hold himself on his own legs...

“Yell if you need my help. I will wait outside of the door and then heat up the soup again, for Dinner, then you get your medications again and then it is back to sleep for you.”, M/n told his Father, like he scheduled it.

Alastor smiled and chuckled weakly in amusement. His Son really was strict with him, so he can recover just fine.

“Alright, Son.”, he agreed and then shut the door into the Bathroom.

While he was in the Bathroom, using the toilet, M/n was worried sick.

‘Am I doing this right until now ? Papa would have been the same with me...The few times I was sick he was very strict, but it helped...Am I cornering him too much ? But he didn’t complain yet...Does this mean that I am doing this right ?’

The boy never had to take care of his Dad, like this, before. Alastor had small colds, small coughs and once or twice a small stomach bug, but he usually could always handle himself and just asked M/n for small things. Like a bucket, new pack of tissues, heating up food, a bottle of water or even paper towels. Alastor never was so weak, that he couldn’t handle himself. This was entirely new to M/n and he was scared that he is fucking it all up...

He was snapped out of his thoughts as he heard his Father retching. The boy instantly opened the door and saw his Dad vomiting into the toilet. It hurt his little heart. He left and started to get the medicine, a bottle of water, a glass and some paper towels, in case he wasn’t fast enough and some was on the floor. When he returned, the toilet was flushed and Alastor leaned against the wall of the Bathroom, looking absolutely miserable.

M/n looked at the toilet and saw that some sick was on the floor and stained his Father’s shirt. He seemed very weak, so he decided to help his Father, as uncomfortable as it was going to be for the both of them...Alastor couldn’t stay in his soiled clothes.

He wiped away the stain on the floor and threw it into the trashcan in the room, then he looked at his Father.

“You need a bath. You look like death warmed all over you, Dad. And that is the nicest way to tell you, how miserable you look. Not even your smile is still there.”

“And who will undress me ? I am far too weak, Son.”

“You are speaking to the answer.”

The man’s eyes widened, in shock and slight worry.

“Absolutely not, M/n.”

“I am supposed to take care of you, Dad. You are my responsibility. You helped me with everything too, when I was sick. Now...it’s my turn to help. This is nothing new to us, just the roles are reversed.”, M/n reasoned with his Father.

He looked at his Son, still not convinced.

“Your body is too weak to handle itself properly. Your shirt is covered in sick, you are sweating terribly too, which causes you to smell bad later. Let me help you wash up and all is well. I won’t be scarred. I admit, it is weird and uncomfortable, but I want to help you feel better. We are both guys. It is nothing we haven’t seen.”

Alastor eyed his Son for a while and then he sighed.

“Alright...BUT, as soon as we feel too uncomfortable, I want us to stop.”, he said with a few coughs in between.

M/n nodded softly, then he let water into the Bathtub and some bath foam, for bubbles. After the water was running he turned to his Father, who still sat on the floor, back leaned against the wall. The boy rolled his own sleeves up and then approached his Father.

“First we get your arms out and then we pull it over your head, so the sick won’t get in your face and you don’t have to hold your arms up for long.”

M/n grabbed his Father’s left arm and maneuvered his arm out of the sleeve, then he did the same with the right arm, then M/n grabbed the front of the shirt, careful to not touch the stain of sick, and pulled the shirt over his Father’s head. After the shirt was off, M/n folded it and put it away, so he can wash it later.

“Now, stretch your legs out and lift your hips, we pull it all off in one go.”, M/n instructed.

Alastor did as told and soon enough he had only socks still on. M/n took them off and then helped his Father up. He guided him to the Bathtub and helped him inside, gently. As he sat in the tub, M/n put the ruined clothes away, while Alastor sighed in comfort at the warm water.

“I’ll be right back. I am going to get you towels and a new set of Night wear.”, M/n informed his Father.

“Alright.”, he replied weakly.

The boy left and started to collect everything, while Alastor relaxed in the bathtub, turning off the faucet. As he returned with the towels, new set of Pyjamas and a measuring cup, for the hair wash, he saw his Father relaxed. That made him happy.

He put everything on the cupboard near the sink and then approached the bathtub again. He took a washing cloth and wettened it. Alastor opened his left eye, lazily.

“Hey, Son.”, he weakly got out.

“Hello again, Papa.”, the kid greeted back.

He took his Father’s favorite soap and gently lifted the parent’s left arm, then he put some soap on it and started to spread it with the cloth, washing him. Alastor felt uncomfortable at first, but he slowly started to relax into it. This was his Son, he wouldn’t do anything perverted to him.

M/n washed his Father everywhere. Arms, back, chest, neck and he washed the armpits twice too. The two of them agreed that Alastor will wash his legs and man parts himself. M/n helped his Father sit up and held his legs up, because his body was too weakened to do that all itself for longer than 10 seconds. He was grateful to have his Son right now.

The Radio Host got cold in the water and M/n turned the hot water on, to fill the tub a bit more, warming up the bath. When Alastor said it was good enough, the kid shut the water off again and he washed his Father’s hair. The grown up would lie, if he said, that he hated having his hair washed.

M/n massaged his head, while he washed his hair. It felt nice and relaxing. He almost fell asleep, but before he could even think about nodding off, M/n washed his hair out and then got the toilet seat ready, for Alastor to sit down on.

“Alright, now you gotta get out, Pa.”, M/n said.

Alastor sighed and carefully got up, then used M/n as support. Even though the child was just 11 years old, he was strong and wise. He carefully got out of the tub and M/n wrapped a towel around his waist, never once looking and seeing his Father’s tool (Quite the achievement), then he guided him to the toilet seat and sat his Father down. He grabbed a smaller towel next and wrapped his Father’s hair in it, then got a bigger one and started to dry his back, chest, neck and arms.

“Do you want to dry the rest ?”, he asked his Dad.

“Yes.”

M/n nodded. He decided to turn his face to the wall next to him and shut his eyes.

“If you need standing support, I am here. I won’t look.”

Alastor did need the support as he got up. He used the towel around his waist and started to dry the rest of himself, always holding onto M/n when he felt unsteady. After he was dry, he held the towel in front of his crotch.

“I’m done, Cher.”

“Okay. I will turn back around and give you, your underwear.”, M/n informed.

“Okay.”

M/n did as he told Alastor and turned away again, letting his Father use him as support, so he can put on his underwear. After that M/n told his Father to sit back down and he put his pants on him and helped him into his shirt, then he put new socks on his Father too. He smiled as they were finished.

“All done now. Look at you. You are sparkling clean, in new clothes and you look way better than you did a few minutes ago, Papa ! Now we need to style your hair.”, M/n said happily.

Alastor smiled and chuckled. M/n instantly got to work, having watched his Dad do his hair multiple times.

-The next day- (Damn is this shot long...)

After M/n helped his Father into the Bathroom and back into his bed, in the morning, made sure he ate, took his medications, had some food in his stomach and a new bottle of water, with a glass, tissues and a bucket filled with water, he decided to leave the house and head back to the Radio Station.

As soon as he arrived, he was swarmed with his Dad’s coworkers. They lead him into a small room and he was confused. He saw nothing changed, so why were they there ?

“Guys...what did you plan on doing ?”, M/n asked them.

“Don’t worry ! We are getting everything ! You’ll love it, M/n ! We hope it will be helpful to you and your Father too.”, Tony said happily.

Tony Justa was another coworker that was close with Alastor. They weren’t friends per say, but they got along very well and acted, most of the times, like Brothers. It was surprising that someone, who was white skinned, liked Alastor so much. But here Tony was, a white skinned man and he had no problems with M/n’s Papa. He found the whole racist stuff absolutely stupid. M/n couldn’t agree more with him.

“Okay then. You better have something good planned for your petit frère platonique (platonic little Brother).”, M/n teased Tony.

Tony chuckled and rubbed his neck with a soft look. No one knew, but Tony was two years older than Alastor and while they never officially called each other Brothers, they behaved like Brothers. There was no term for such a bond yet, so M/n called them platonic Brothers.

Soon enough the other coworkers came inside and all of them had small baskets or bags in their hands. Francisco gave Tony his bag and then he left M/n’s side and stood in – between the small group and M/n, who looked confused.

“We all wanted to help you and Alastor back to health, so we decided to make small gift bags with get well cards !”, Tony announced.

At that M/n’s eyes went wide in surprise. He didn’t expect that. The others just nodded with big smiles.

“Why would you all do that, you saps ?”, M/n asked gently.

Another coworker chuckled, Peter Geraldo.

“Because, silly, you and your Father brighten up the days here and always make us laugh or at least smile. Without you two here...it’s just not the same. You two always gave us something when you were here, so now it’s our turn.”, Peter stated.

The others nodded. M/n smiled at them and chuckled.

“You are such thoughtful good friends and coworkers. Thank you.”, M/n said softly.

The group smiled and then started to give M/n the bags. They always told him what was in them and M/n couldn’t be happier. One of the discs Alastor had his eyes set on for a while, teas, juices, get well cards, fruit in a lunch box, vegetables, teas they made at home themselves, fruit pies, small snacks for Alastor to munch on and more.

Peter, Francisco and Tony were the last ones. They had the biggest bags.

Peter gave M/n his bag first.

“In there are two cards. One is for him and one for you, Kiddo. Some sweets you like and some things your Dad likes. There are two kinds of tea inside too and two big boxes of different juices.”, he told the boy.

He smiled at Peter and hugged him tightly.

“Thank you, Pete.”

“No problem, Kid. You need some appreciation and care too.”, he replied and rubbed the kid’s back.

Peter stepped back and Francisco was next. M/n gently took it from him.

“There are some homemade teas inside, two recipes that Alastor would love to have they will also power up his Immune System, some homemade spices, a small Coupon that holds 30 Dollars, a strong homemade juice, some tissues, a few sweets for you, some cut fruits in a lunchbox and a little something for you to keep around, Kiddo.”, he said, winking at him.

M/n was curious, but decided to wait until he was at home. He smiled brightly and hugged Francisco.

“Thank you, France.”, M/n said.

“No problem, Kiddo. Peter was right, you also need some appreciation and care.”

How did M/n just get so lucky, with Alastor and now his friends and colleagues, become his too ? Just how lucky was he ?

They parted from the hug and Tony was last. He had a big, gentle grin on his face and handed M/n the big bag.

“There are two juices for each of you two. Two are for your Dad and his Immune system and two are for you to just enjoy and stay healthy with, they are all four homemade too. Two of your favorite teas, homemade, are also in there, some sweets and snacks for you and Alastor, I baked you some of your favorite pastries yesterday too, I know how much you love them. Then I bagged two packages of your Dad’s favorite Coffee in there and I gave you, for food shopping, two 50 Dollar Coupons. I also went around and got you and Alastor each a small little surprise. I hope you two will like them.”

M/n had small tears in his eyes with a big smile. He hugged Tony tightly, which he returned.

“Thank you so much, Oncle (Uncle) !”, M/n said happily.

Tony froze for a split second and then tightened his hug, a big, warm smile on his face.

“No problem, Neveu (Nephew).”

They parted and M/n looked at the time, his eyes widened a slight bit.

“Applesauce ! I need to get home, before Papa wakes up ! Whenever he wakes up he needs me to help him around !”, M/n said, cursing. (Yes, he cursed by saying Applesauce, just like Papa.)

“Is he that weakened ?”, Tony asked worried.

M/n sighed and nodded.

“He has a very high fever and it is hard to get it down...His body is not coping very well with it and he can barely move around on his own. He is...pretty weak right now.”, he told the three still in the room.

“He gets his Medicine ?”, Francisco asked.

“Yes, he does. I always give him his medications when he ate something. Even if it was a small piece of bread.”, M/n answered.

Tony hummed in thought, trying to think of something that might help his, platonically claimed, little Brother. Then he came up with a few things.

“You will need Peppermint tea, it will help with his throat and the coughs, it gives him better rest and his body will relax a bit more. Peppermint has also antiviral properties, and can help to relieve pain, reduce inflammation, and clear congestion. It has the trait to warm you from the inside out. Chamomile tea is also good. It reduces cold symptoms, boosts the immune system, and reduces inflammation. Also if his eyes hurt a lot or they even start to fester, just drown a piece of paper towel in the tea and put it over his eyes, it works wonders. I also would recommend Hibiscus Tea. It will give him a lot of Vitamin C, which his body will need.”, Tony listed off.

Francisco, Peter and M/n stared at him in awe at his knowledge.

“What ? I had to take care of my parents a few times and my Sister. I researched where I could.”, Tony defended himself with a small pout.

M/n smiled and hugged him again.

“Can you write it down for me ?”, he asked the adult.

“I will do you one better. After work, I will get it and come visit. I will help you with Alastor. How does that sound ?”, Tony offered.

M/n looked at him with big eyes.

“But I was supposed to take care of him. What if he makes you sick too ?”

“You will still take care of him, but with a bit of help, so you don’t have to stress yourself around, Kiddo. And if I get sick, I have my Family to look after me AND I will get a break from work. It is a win for me.”

M/n put his finger on his chin and hummed in thought, then he looked at him again and nodded. Okay, deal !

Tony smiled brightly.

“Then I’ll see you later. Now rush home, before Al realizes you ran off.”

The boy nodded and then ran off as fast as he could, yelling Goodbye. Tony chuckled.

“This kid is just what Al needed. Now he has someone that will take care of him again.”, he said to Peter and Francisco.

“Yeah. It’s nice to see that Alastor has someone else to care for him now. After all, we all aren’t getting younger.”, Peter replied with a chuckle and a warm smile.

Francisco nodded, smiling brightly. Then they got back to work. While M/n was home in record time, before his Father woke up and even realized he was out.

Masterlist HERE !

A/N: Yes, it is finally out and I am out of the WIP for part two ! ^^ YASSSS !!!