#did I just have to lie my ass off to not get in serious trouble for getting a 90 on my English test?

[sweaty-toothed-mad-woman]

Neil is a damn good liar

we see it a few times. the most noteable is when he tells Mr Keating that his father was gonna let him do the play, but another time that I think is important is when his father spawns in his room and Neil lies immediately

it’s kind of heartbreaking, really. his dad shows up, and Neil’s immediate reaction is to lie. he withheld the truth from his father and got caught, so the only way he could explain himself was to try and tell a lie. it’s literally the first thing he does. he says “I was gonna surprise you” even though he knew damn well he was hoping his father wouldn’t figure out he was doing the play. Neil is good at lying on his feet. he does it right here: now maybe he had that excuse planned out for in case Mr Perry did find out, but he obviously wasn’t expecting it, you can see it in his face when he first walks into the room and Mr Perry is there. so either he had a lie planned—which is a whole other thing that nobody should have to do, especially with their parents—or he was able to come up with a relatively believable lie on the spot. in my opinion it’s the latter, bc I feel like he grew up in a household where that skill is necessary in order to stay out of serious trouble.

in the scene where Neil is talking to Mr Keating, he lies and says that his father is letting him do the play. now he knows that if he says that his father is super excited then Mr Keating won’t believe him. so instead he backs it up with believable evidence, facts that are twisted to support what he is saying. at some point in his life, Mr Perry DID tell Neil to keep up his grades. Mr Perry is NOT happy with the fact that Neil is in the play. these are all facts that Neil says to make the lie—that Mr Perry is letting him do the play—more believable. this kinda shit comes from experience believe me. he has been having to lie his entire life for various reasons, whether it’s coming up with excuses for why he was out later than he should’ve been or why he didn’t do well on a test or why a vase is broken in the living room or anything in between, so that he doesn’t experience SEVERE consequences. he’s had to lie to his parents for so long that it’s practically a second nature, and nobody should have to deal with that.

in conclusion, Neil needs a hug.

[hopesworlld]

౨ৎ i want you to cry, cry for me

౨ৎ 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 — jealous!anakin x fem!reader

౨ৎ 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 — anakin's jealousy gets the best of him once again and you have no choice but to punish him

౨ৎ 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 — 2k

౨ৎ 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 — swearing, toxic!ani, smut ( sub!ani, degradation, reader calling ani a slut, hair pulling, ani crying for 90% of the fic, cock stepping, nipple play, biting, bondage, begging, dry humping, hand jobs, edging, dacryphilia, oral f receiving, face sitting, cuming untouched, panties as a gag, overstilmulation, face slapping, cock slapping, cum as lube ) holy fuck that's a lot

౨ৎ 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘀 ! — i never usually write subby male characters so i had some fun with this, hope you enjoy !

part one part two masterlist

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“you are in so much trouble,” you spat the moment you enter your and anakin’s shared apartment, anakin trailed behind you, head cast downwards, “seriously, anakin, i talk to my coworker for two seconds and you come over throwing a hissy fit? try grabbing my ass in front of my boss and his husband?” you growled and anakin whimpered, wrapping his arms around himself, “what do you have to say for yourself?” you demanded. 

“i’m so sorry,” he whispered, voice thick but he refused to look up, eyes remaining fixed on his shoes, a frustrated groan fell from your lips as you walked over to him, grabbing his hair and yanking his head up to face you, his pretty blue eyes were glassy, tears dripping down his cheeks and onto his white shirt, glasses hazy from condensation. he hissed at the sensation of his hair being pulled, lips trembling. 

“i’m so sorry,” you imitated with a scowl and anakin let out a sob, “that’s all you have to say?” you questioned, “god, anakin, you are fucking pathetic,” you tell him, letting go of his hair and storming through the apartment. still, anakin is quick to follow you, stumbling over his own feet as you walk into the living room, tossing your coat and bag down, massaging your temples. 

“no, no,” anakin cried, “please, i mean it, i didn’t want to upset you,” he told you, “i was just, he was so close to you and…” 

“oh my god,” you screamed, whirling around to face him and anakin looked stricken, not expecting your outburst and more sobs came tumbling from his lips, he brought his hands up, wiping away the sticky tear tracks but they were quickly replaced with new ones. “we shook hands, that was it, and you come over acting like a bitch in heat,” you grind out, “do you want to embarrass me in front of everyone? is that your goal, want to make me look stupid with my boyfriend who can’t control his needy cock?” 

“that’s not it!” anakin cried, dropping onto his knees before you and wrapping his arms around your legs, clinging to you desperately, “please, i’ll be good, don’t leave me,” he begged, burying his face into your thigh. 

“you haven’t been a very good boy though have you, ani?” you asked him coldly, “i warned you, and you promised you would stop, why did you lie to me, huh? speak up, angel,” anakin’s head snapped back, eyes wide and lips parted, his tongue darted out wetting his lips as he took a shuddering breath. 

“i… um… i, i didn’t…” words seemed to escape him, his pupils blown wide beneath his glasses, his mouth opened and closed multiple times, only gasps escaping. 

“what got nothing to say now? that’s a shame, baby boy, guess i’m just gonna have to punish you,” you shrugged, leaning down and grasping his shoulders pushing him off of you, anakin hadn’t been expecting this, his body falling backward and colliding with the floor with a thud while you watched in disinterest. “pathetic,” you said with a roll of your eyes before your gaze fell, seeing the bulge in his slacks, a small laugh escaped your lips, “are you hard right now?” you asked him with wide eyes, “are you serious?” you giggled and anakin whined, crimson staining his sticky cheeks. 

“god you are such a slut, getting off on me telling you off,” you said, stepping closer and placing your foot on his chest, holding him in place. 

“didn’t… didn’t mean to,” anakin hiccuped, but he looked up at you with that look in his eyes, so full of desperation and longing.

“what did i say about lying, angel?” you asked him sternly, cocking a sharp brown. 

“no, no, i really didn’t mean it you just look so pretty when you’re angry, and you called me… called me a slut and i, i couldn’t help it,” he babbled head shaking frantically. 

“i forgot you were such a whore for degradation, gets your cock all excited even when you’re in trouble,” you scoffed, “do you think you deserve to cum after how you acted, ani?” you asked him with a raised brow. 

“yes, yes, wanna make you feel good, let me come, let me fuck you,” he begged from where he lay on the floor, you pursed your lips, slowly dragging your foot down anakin’s chest, tracing along the plains of his ab’s before finally reaching his crotch, pressing down lightly on the bulge there, anakin gasped, rocking his hips upwards. 

“stop,” you told him harshly, pressing down harder and anakin cried out. “you fucking like this? you like me stepping on your cock, god, ani,” you said, watching as he writhed beneath you. 

“i’m sorry,” anakin cried out, hands coming up and clutching the carpet, his face was still flushed and tears continued to flow, you decided to have mercy on him, pressing your foot down one more time making him screech before pulling back. 

“get up,” you commanded him, anakin scrambled upwards, stumbling slightly as he rose on shaky legs, almost falling into you but you grabbed his shoulders, “good boy,” you cooed and anakin’s face lit up. “now go into the bedroom and get on the bed,” you told him and he indeed quickly, rushing from the room. you followed him, watching as he kicked his shoes off and tumbled onto the bed. you climbed onto the bed after him, straddling his hips. 

“baby?” anakin whispered. 

“hush, now,” you told him, hands coming up and trailing over his shirt-clad chest, hovering over his nipples and tweaking them slightly, grinning when anakin whimpered. you carried on, pinching harder, rolling the nubs between your fingertips, anakin’s mouth fell agape, his hands coming up to grasp your hips. “did i say you could touch?” you asked him with a raised brow. 

“i… no but i,” you didn’t listen to his excuses, simply shaking your head, moving to untie his tie, unlooping it from around his neck. 

“keep thinking you are gonna be a good boy and then you just don’t listen,” you sighed sadly, “guess you can’t be trusted right now,” you tell him, grabbing his arms and pulling them up so they are above his head, you then loop his tie around them before securing them to the headboard. “that’s better,” you said with a satisfied smile, leaning back on your heels. 

“oh…” anakin said, titling his head to look at his now secured hands, he pulled his arms slightly but they remained in their holding, when he turned back to face you, his pupils were completely blown, you could hardly see his irises beneath the darkness. you then began to unbutton his shirt, leaving it open so that you could see his nipples, they were hard and rosy making you smile, leaning down and captured one between your teeth and bit down, anakin hissed. “fuck, baby, what…” 

“shh,” you crooned as you switched to his other nipple giving it the same treatment before pulling away satisfied. you took your own clothes off, tugging your top over your head and unclasping your bra, then shimmying your skirt down your hips leaving you in only your panties, anakin leaned up, trying to hold you but his arms jolted against the restraints, he looked up at you with large pleading eyes. “you really think that's gonna work on me, angel?” you asked him. 

“just wanna feel you,” he pleaded but you shook your head. 

“you don’t deserve to touch me, been so naughty today, anakin,” you scolded, dragging your hips along his groin, “wanna tell me why?”

“i’m… i,” he tried to say but his voice fell short. 

“tell me,” you pressed, rocking harder against him, hand coming up to his throat, holding it tightly, forcing him to look at you. 

“i… i embarrassed you in front of your boss,” he gasped out. 

“and,” you continued with a nod of your head. 

“and, i lied, didn’t listen to you, i… i got turned on when you were telling me off, please, i’m sorry, fuck,” he begged, rocking his hips. 

“good boy,” you smiled, releasing his neck and patting his cheek. you climbed off of him and unbuckled his belt before tugging his slacks down, his cock sprang free, bright red and weeping as it lay against his stomach. “oh, angel, looks sore,” you cooed, reaching out and stroking it gently, circling your thumb around the tip. 

“yes, yes,” anakin gasped. 

“feel good?” you asked him sweetly. 

“so good,” anakin nodded, and you smiled, jerking your hand up and down, using his precum as lube, he sighed in relief, head falling back against the pillow, and you giggled, continuing to play with his cock until he was squirming and crying, crystalline tears dripping down his cheeks. you felt him pulsing in your hand, so you pulled away and stared at him, waiting for him to react. 

“what?” he gaped, “no, please, i was so close,” he sobbed. 

“poor baby,” you snickered, “but you don’t get to come yet,” you shrugged, “haven’t proved how sorry you are have you, darling,” 

“what can i do? please, i’ll do anything,” he pleaded with you, sitting up against his restraints, his shoulders tensing, muscles rippling, you bit down on your lip appreciatively, you could feel the wetness staining your panties and an idea sprung in your mind so you tugged your panties down and dropped them on the bed.

“lay back,” you instructed, grabbing his shoulders and guiding him back down, crawling up his body and balancing over his chest, “you are gonna eat me out, okay?” you prompted and anakin nodded eagerly and you were balancing over his face, core pressing against anakin’s plush lips. instantly anakin dove in, burying his face against your sopping head, tongue burying into your gummy walls. he was relentless, slick dripping down his chin as he consumed you. “yes, angel,” you gasped, hands gripping the headboard as you sank deeper onto him, thighs pressing around his face, holding him in place. you could feel his arms pressing against you, but he couldn’t use them to hold your hips as he loved to, instead, you were fully in control. 

“so good,” you murmured, rocking your hips against his mouth, sinking into the feeling of his tongue inside of you, trailing up your slit, and suckling on your clit. anakin whimpered against your core sending vibrations through you. “fuck,” you gasped, “i’m gonna cum soon,” you say, grinding harder against anakin’s mouth, your words seemed to prompt him to burry deeper inside of you, tongue probing at your walls, curling upwards against you, your head fell backwards as you drew closer. “yes, yes, oh my god,” you screamed as you came all over anakin’s face, chest heaving as you came around and pulled back only to meet anakin’s guilty look. 

“what?” you say curiously, turning around and seeing anakin’s spent cock laying against his stomach, streams of sticky white cum staining his stomach. “anakin?” you asked him lowly. 

“i’m sorry!” anakin sobbed, “i couldn’t help it,” you shook your head at him, settling on his chest. 

“can’t do anything right,” you spat, raising your hand and slapping his harshly, he whined at the sensation, looking at you with wide eyes. “i tell you, you can’t cum yet and you do it while i’m not looking, fucking pathetic,” you slap him again and this time anakin moaned. “shut up, i don’t wanna hear you,” you hissed, “you know what, i’m not giving you a choice,” you tell him, grabbing your panties from the bed and shoving them in his mouth, he choked slightly around the fabric but other than that he stayed silent, simply watching you. you moved down the bed so that you were between his legs, grasping his cock and holding it tightly, his whimper came out muffled as you let it drop down into his stomach, already chubbing up once again. 

“getting hard already, angel?” you asked, landing a slap on his cock, the scream he let out ripped through his gag and you smirked, “hurt?” you asked him curiously and he nodded furiously, tears leaking down his face and onto his neck, nose running as he kicked his legs helplessly. “that’s a shame isn’t it,” you said, slowly beginning to pump his cock, once he was fully hard you stopped and slapped him once again. anakin babbled against the panties in his mouth, begging, pleading maybe, you weren’t sure as you slapped him once again, watching as a small burst of cum spurted from his tip. you rose your brow at him and he shook his head quickly, drool dripping down the side of his mouth. 

“good boy,” you murmured, looking at his cock still straining harshly, “stay like this for me okay, angel,” you said before standing up from the bed and heading to the door, “i’ll be back later,” you hummed, leaving anakin alone in the bedroom voice muffled by your panties, hands tied to the headboard and cock throbbing and weeping as he waited for you to return.

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this shit was wild lmao

tags: @johnbassplayercutie @st4rfckerz @titaniasfairy

[zombiec]

Crush | Toji Fushiguro

(Reader Gender not specified but reader has male genitalia)

(Sukuna and itadori are twins) (Megumi, Sukuna, and itadori are in kindergarten)

Synopsis ☆: You may have a small crush on your sons friends dad and he may have a crush on you back

Warnings: Breeding kink, choking , degradation , ass eating , nipple play (a little bit)

“Sukuna please get off that!!!” ”no!” You sighed. You haven’t even stepped inside the class yet and one of your kids was already causing problems. Atleast you know your other demon child wasn’t acting out. “Yuuji don’t climb up there too. I just told your brother to get down ” you dead panned. They’re both trouble makers. It was pick up time at their kindergarten and you were honestly kind of early. You love your sons with all your heart but they’re so much trouble, especially when put together. You told the school to put them in different classes but they didn’t listen. Whose fault is that? Not yours, you warned them.

You felt bad for their teacher though. Ms.Russell, She was really sweet. She has long, black, wavy hair and is chubby. She’s also really short, like 5’4. You honestly find her really adorable. On teacher appreciation day and holidays you always bring her gift cards because you feel bad she got stuck with your kids.

You walked inside the class filled with little children running around. You spotted the twins, standing on top of a book shelf that’s atleast 4 feet tall. ‘Oh my fucking god.’ You see Ms.Russel infront of sukuna and yuuji looking worried, and trying to coax them into coming down. Sukuna is just laughing in her face, while you saw yuuji jump down from the shelf and run off to his friend. You let out a huff and walk towards them. “Sukuna” he flinches at the stern tone in your voice. He immediately stops laughing at the teacher and jumps off the shelf. Ms.Russel looks at you and sighs in relief.

“Oh Mr.itadori! I’m so glad you’re here, he just wouldn’t listen to me today” you smiled at her relief but then frowned after realizing Sukuna was causing her trouble all day “Hi Ms.Russell, I’m sorry about him I’m sure he would like to apologize” you said nudging Sukuna who was standing beside you looking at the floor with a frown, fidgeting with his fingers. “I’m sorry Ms Russell,this will not happen again ” he reluctantly said. He’s had to apologize so many times he knows exactly what to say. “Now go get your things so we can leave” Sukuna walked away with a little frown on his face. He knows once you 3 get home that he’s gonna be in trouble.

“DADDYYYY” you heard your other hard headed child yell running towards you. He jumped and you caught him. Yuuji giggled and you laughed poking his nose. You looked to Ms.Russell and asked “was this one good today?” Yuuji took a little offense to that. “Hey! I’m always good” you looked at him with a ‘are you serious’ look. He just hugged you to hide his face in your neck out of embarrassment.

“Yes he was good today, I didn’t have to tell him multiple times to listen like usual” you silently cheered. “Good job yuuji” he giggled and signaled for you to put him down. You put him down and he went to get his things. Ms.Russel walked away from you seeing other parents start to enter. Both Sukuna and yuuji come over with their things on. “You ready to go boys” you said ready to dip. “Wait can we stay till megumis dad comes” yuuji yelled out. You don’t know why he’s always so loud but oh well. “Pleaseeeee” both twins said in unison. You looked at them with your eyebrow raised ‘Did they plan that?’ “Fine” you said and sat in one of the really short chairs that were for kindergarteners. Sukuna and yuuji dropped their bags off by your leg and went to play with megumi.

You knew megumi and his father. They literally live right across from you. You can’t even lie you think his dad is so sexy. He’s got muscular arms but a slim waist, his thighs look so thick and soft you just want him to lock them around your head and never let go. His hooded eyes that look almost seductive, and that scar on his lip made him look alluring. How could you even forget about his big fat titties. The way they bulge through his shirts, you just be wanting to rip his shirt off and take him whenever you see him.

Pulling you out of your thoughts about the spikey haired boys father Sukuna, Megumi, and Yuuji came over. “Daddy can we have a sleepover with Megumi?” Sukuna asked you. “You can’t you two are going to uncle Gojos house this weekend” “aw man I forgot about that” yuuji said and walked away sadly with megumi and a sulking Sukuna.

You heard the door open and looked towards it. In walked the one and only Toji fushiguro. You almost started drooling. He was wearing a blue, black, and white windbreaker jacket with grey sweat shorts. His sexy tan muscular legs on display. You watched him walk towards megumi and talk to him. The way his lips moved was so attractive his plump pink lips, they look so juicy and cute you just wanted to kiss him breathless. You were so mesmerized you didn’t even realize he was walking towards you.

“You just gonna keep staring?” He had a slight smirk on his face that you wanted to wipe off. You stood up “what’s gonna happen if I don’t” he chuckled. “I’d say you have a little crush on me” his gorgeous eyes held a playful and teasing gaze, you were hypnotized “he does” you both jumped a little and looked to your left. Your son yuuji was standing there staring up at you and Toji with an innocent look.”he does have a crush on you” Your kids knew you liked Toji. They seen the way you looked at him when he’s doing yard work or doing literally anything. You weren’t embarrassed at all. You’ve been meaning to ask out Toji but your schedule got in the way.

“Really?” Toji asked yuuji who nodded. “Yea he said you’re really handsome especially while doing yard work” alright now he was embarrassing you. You nervously chuckled and told yuuji to go stand by the door with Sukuna and megumi. Toji looked at you and grinned “so you have a crush on me?” You stepped a little closer towards him “I guess you could say that.” Before anything else could be said you were yelled at “DADDY LETS GO” you smirked looking at Toji your gaze lingering on him until you reached your children. “Sukuna and yuuji let’s go” you 3 walked out to your car.

The Next day after that was Saturday and your kids were at their uncle Gojos house. You missed your babies because now you have nothing to do. Suddenly the bell rang. You stood up from your comfortable spot on the couch and walked to the door. Opening it you were surprised to see Toji there. “Oh! What’re you doing here” “Megumi is with his mother” you didn’t understand where he was going with this till he pushed you inside your house and closed the door behind you. “What’re you doi-“ “shut up” Toji said as he pulled you by your shirt and kissed you.

You immediately kissed him back and pushed him up against the door. Toji groaned and pulled you closer by the back of your neck. You pick him up and brought him to the couch. You sat on the couch while you placed Toji on your lap . You groaned and pressed his ass on your buldge. He moaned and rubbed his ass on it “I want it” you smirked and wrapped your hand around his throat “beg for it ” you put light pressure on the hand that was wrapped around tojis neck and you felt his breath hitch

“Please~ please I need it so bad” you flipped Toji on the couch and spread his legs open. You kissed down his neck and left hickies on his skin. When you sat back up and looked down at him you were mesmerized. His eyes looked dazed and his lips were pink and puffy from the kiss. His neck littered with purple hickies and his legs wide open. You pulled your shirt off and slipped off your shorts. You then leaned down to Toji and nudged at his shirt “this is in the way” you said then ripped off his white wife beater. Toji gasped and lightly hit your arm “why’d you do that i could’ve just taken it off.” You shrugged and said “too much work” before Toji could respond he got cut off with a high pitch moan when you licked at one of his nipples. “Ah~ s-stop” you ignored his words and grabbed at his other titty to flick and pinch at his pink puffy nipple.

You moved to his other nipple to do the same and his back arched into you. You kissed down to his waist line and pulled down his sweatpants. He was NOT wearing any underwear. You chuckled and slapped his thigh. “You really came over here with no underwear on? You wanted it that bad?” “S-shut up.” You took his pants all the way off and spread his legs wide open to see his pink hole.

You leaned down to his hole and stuck your tongue inside. “Ah~ w-what’re you doing sto~” he tried to push your head away but you slapped his hand away and gripped his thighs. Pulling him closer so your tongue can hit deeper into his ass. You wriggled your tongue around in his hole and he squeezed his thighs around your head. You felt a bump which you believed was his prostate by the way he immediately snapped his legs shut around your head and squealed. “FUCK RIGHT THERE RIGHT THERE PLEASE~” he was grinding back on your tongue and you started eating him out more aggressively.

You could tell he was about to cum by the way his body started to shake. “Fuck k-keep going I-I’m going to cum” his head snapped back but right before he could cum you pulled away. “No no no no What’re you doing please….” He begged he looked so fucked out and he hadn’t even had your dick burried in him yet.

You ignored his pleas and turned him around so he’s on his hands and knees on the couch. “What’re you-“ you slapped his ass so he could shut up. He let out a loud moan at the action. You smirked “you liked that slut?” He let out a little whimper and you grabbed him by his hair. You spread his ass cheeks open and guided your dick in his hole. He moaned so loud. “I only put the tip in and you’re already moaning like a little bitch” tojis eyes widened. What do you mean you only put the tip in? He already felt like you were stretching him so much. You pushed the rest of yourself in him and he felt himself start tearing up. Your dick is so big and is stretching him so wide.

You didn’t move for a few to let Toji adjust to your size. You didn’t think you were that big you were like 7 or 8 inches, it was slightly thick and you were circumcised. You were pretty confident in your dick size. Pulling you out of your thoughts you felt Toji move back a little on your dick signaling for you to start. You moved your hand from his hair and wrapped it around his neck once again. You started to fuck into him causing him to arch his back and push back into you.

“F-Fuck Toji your hole is so tight” you’ve had enough. You get up and grab him by his hips fucking into him. Toji is loving this by the way he moans and practically screams. He just loves how your big cock is destroying his ass he needs you to breed him. He wants to bear your children. He knows he can’t get pregnant but he can’t help but imagine having your kids in addition to the kids you both have now. He’s close to cumming and he’s going to get you to cum inside him. “SHIT IM GONNA CUM IM GONNA CUM” you pull him up still having your hand wrapped around his neck, gripping hard enough he can hardly breathe but he’s loving it.

“Me too, Come on baby cum for me” you bring your hand down to his dick and stroke if in a fast pace. Driving Toji insane he tries to move your hand away because he’s feeling too overstimulated “I-I can’t stop~” you slap his hand away “don’t move my hand you can take it” you used his pre cum to spread it around his head and use it as a type of lube. You rubbed up and down his dick and you could tell by the way he was twitching he was about to cum “come on baby let’s cum together” “yes yes cum in me fill me up” ‘Jesus Christ he was such a whore for your cock’ “you want me to fill this hole and give you my kids” “FUCK YESSSSSS~” you both came simultaneously. You filled him up to the brim a little slipped out.

Toji fell on the couch and was breathing heavily. “You okay?” You said kind of worried. “I’m great.” He said smiling a little “Come on let’s wash you up.”

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This is my first time posting I hope y’all enjoyed >.<

I had to re edit bc apparently a whole 2 paragraphs got deleted 😭😭but you guys still ate it up

@xozombiee

[joelmillerisapunk]

Beach Daddy IV. Got Me Feeling Vertigo

Rich bfd!Joel Miller x f!reader

Series Masterlist • Masterlist

Wordcount: 11,847

Summary: The weight of your secrets and the impending danger from Todd threaten to tear you apart. Will you find the courage to confess your feelings to Joel, or will you let fear and deceit ruin your chance at love?

Warnings: 18+, this ones just back on its drama - boo Todd 👿 yay Joel 😘, tis fluffy, we meet Marnie (Sarah's mom), more on Blaine. Just Joel being the hard-headed but southern gentleman he is.

Notes: hiiiii! I hope you enjoy! Happy May 💐 Comments and reblogs and thoughts are always appreciated ilysm for reading these mammoth chapters and sticking it out. Ty @saradika-graphics for the divider

“Get your ass to bed before I throw you off my ship."

You fumble for the doorknob at your back, and the door swings open behind you, almost causing you to trip backward inside. Joel follows you into the room a few seconds later, leaving Todd out in the hall. You think it's probably for the best because Joel looks like he really might throw Todd over the side of the ship.

Joel locks the door behind him. You make your way to the bed and sit down, trying to catch your breath. You feel safer with Joel here. He comes over to you and places his hands on each side of your face looking into your eyes. Worry swims in his, and you nearly pull his mouth to yours.

“Did he hurt you? You have to tell me if he hurt you."

“I'm fine, really. I'm just a little shaken up, but I’ll be okay."

He continues to hold your face in his hands as if he's inspecting it to reassure himself that you're not hurt. You have to keep your eyes focused on him so they don't drift down to his perfect lips. Joel leans in closer, and you close your eyes, waiting - 

Cool air hits your cheeks, replacing the warmth where Joel's hands had been. Your eyes burst open, and Joel's back is to you as he makes his way to the sofa. Heat burns through your entire body, and you wish Joel  hadn't pulled away. 

“I need you to tell me the truth."

“What do you mean?" You ask, still breathless.

“I saw your face when that piece of cheesecake with the engagement ring was set in front of you. You weren't surprised; you looked almost heartbroken. Then at dinner tonight, Todd said something that made it sound like he’s known you for a lot longer than just this week. Then, I came up here to check on you, and he has you cornered."

“Joel, he was just drunk. I don't think he knew what he was doing," you say, looking down at your feet.

“Is he the reason you wanted to leave?" Joel asks bluntly. You can't  understand his anger. Is it possible that he's jealous of Todd?

“Not him specifically," you say, quickly bending the truth. “A lot of the group makes me feel like I don't belong. I don't come from money like the rest of them, and it's very obvious to me that I don't fit in with them."

In all actuality, you do feel like the odd one out a lot of the time. You imagine it feels similar to following an older sibling and their friends around. No one really wants you to come, but they put up with you so they won't get in trouble. It is, however, still a lie about the reason you wanted to leave.

Joel looks at you with a hint of sympathy in his eyes. “I didn't know you felt that way."

“I don't feel that way when I'm with you. Sometimes it feels like you’re the only one who wants me on this ship." You make your way across the room to sit on the sofa opposite him.

“I do want you here," Joel says softly.

You think back to the maid, Charlotte, talking about how Marnie had run off all of the women that ever got serious with Joel. You realise that he isn’t the playboy Sarah always makes him out to be. It isn't his intention that none of the women he's ever dated have not stayed around for long.

“I came up here to make sure you were feeling alright."

“I’m feeling a lot better," you say, feeling guilty about getting out of dinner with an excuse of being seasick. It felt like the best option, though, since you were apparently a topic of conversation at dinner. You wonder what Todd said about you to Joel but know it's best not to ask, or he’ll start asking questions you don't want to answer.

“Did you get anything to eat?"

“No, I didn't want to bug anyone."

You think back to the few handfuls of popcorn you ate while playing cards. You could definitely use something more substantial. Joel stands and walks to the intercom on the wall of your room.

“Can you please send some dinner up and a whiskey for me?"

—

“Is there anything else I can get you, sir?" Brenna says as she sets down the tray on the coffee table between Joel and you. She turns and winks at you, and you try your best to hide a smile.

“No, that's everything. Thank you, Brenna; I know it's late."

“I was up anyway, sir, and the night chef was in the kitchen making preparations for tomorrow, so it was really no trouble." Brenna turns and walks out the door, clicking it closed behind her. 

“I like that you call all of your staff by name," you say, impressed that he cares so much about his staff despite his wealth.

“One of the few valuable things I learned from my father was to respect the people who work for you. Without them, I wouldn't be able to do the work that I do or enjoy my limited free time. My father always made it a point to call each employee by their name. In that way alone, I followed in his footsteps."

Joel takes the cover off of your plate for you. It's a bowl of chicken pesto pasta and a side of garlic bread. The smell of the garlic hits your nose instantly, and you can feel your stomach urging you to grab the plate.

“Your father sounds like he was a very harsh man?" You ask, hoping you're not overstepping. You grab the bowl of pasta off the tray and take a bite. The cheese melts in your mouth perfectly, complemented by the pesto.

“He was very harsh, and strict. He had high expectations for me, and he made it known when I disappointed him."

“That must have been hard."

“It was, but it made me who I am today. I don't take the wealth, or the work it takes to maintain it, for granted. But I do try to be a kinder man than he was."

You stay quiet and work on the rest of your pasta, slowly savoring each bite. You know Joel will probably leave as soon as you're done, so you take your time.

“I forgot to tell you I got in contact with a law firm I've worked with in the past. They would like to bring you in for an interview for a secretary position."

You nearly drop your fork. “Are you serious?"

Joel smiles at your response. He nods  and takes a swig from his whiskey glass. “I'll get you their information. They're ready to bring you in as soon as you get settled."

“I can't thank you enough, Joel. You don't understand how life-changing this is for me," you say, setting down the bowl of pasta on the table. You wish you could stand up and hug him.

“I'm just glad you decided to stay. You are the only one making this trip bearable," Joel says, meeting your eyes. The look in his eyes makes your heart flutter.

A loud vibration against the leather of the sofa breaks the moment, and Joel pulls out his phone. His face falls as soon as he reads the notification on his home screen. “I’m so sorry but I have something I have to deal with. I'm glad to see that you’re feeling better, darlin. If you need anything, let me know."

You stand. “Thank you for everything, Joel, truly everything."

He smiles and quickly makes his way to the door without looking back and closes the door behind him. The room suddenly feels empty with Joel gone. You slump back onto the leather sofa and grab the garlic bread off the plate, dipping it in the remaining pesto at the bottom of your bowl. 

Your phone screen illuminates the dark corner where your bed sits, so you hesitantly get up to check your notifications. At the top are a few messages in the group text between your friends, and just below that is a friend request from Joel. You smile to yourself and accept it, then open your group chat.

Lin: What amazing thing did you get to do today? I am bored of packing for the move. I need to live vicariously through you.

Aubrey: Lin, keep packing you only have a few more weeks. 

Lin: Don't sound too sad to have us go, lol!

Aubrey: You know I am going to miss you two like crazy, but I know you will panic pack at the last minute and forget half your underwear drawer. I am not shipping your panties to you, Lin!

Lin: You know me too well, Aubs.

You: I love that every time I check my phone, I have messages like these! Nothing exciting today. We have been at sea all day on our way to Sarah's dad's mansion in the Bahamas. I went down to the employee's quarters and played cards and got a lot of dirt on Sarah’s mom.

Lin: Okay, I'm going to need pictures of this Bahama's Mansion and details on her mom!

You: Sarah's mom left her dad for another man because she thought it would help her climb the social ladder. Turned out he wasn't as rich or well off socially as she thought, and when he died, she did a paternity test, and here we are.

You: We are going to her dad's mansion for Sarah and Todd's engagement party…

Lin: It sounds like Sarah is the spitting image of her mother.

Aubrey: Not only did you have to witness their engagement, but now you have to go to their engagement party too?

Lin: I swear, you have the absolute worst luck on the planet.

You: You don't even know the half of my bad luck on this trip.

Lin: What do you mean? What else has happened?

You: Well, I don't really fit in with the rest of the group.

Aubrey: But I thought you said you were making other friends? Joel right?

You: I am.

Lin: So, what do you mean by bad luck?

You: Joel is Sarah's dad.

Aubrey: Why is that a problem? I have a lot of friends in my classes who are like double my age.

You: It's a problem because I'm falling for him. Absolutely head over heels falling for him.

—

Once in the hall, Joel opens the text message that interrupted his conversations with you

Lucille: Do you know someone named Blaine?

That simple sentence makes his stomach drop. He was now contacting family members. Joel makes his way back to the privacy of his office for the second time in the same night. He closes the door behind him before dialing his cousin Lucille's number.

“Joel, I am so glad you called me. I just had the strangest conversation with someone named Blaine. I was just getting out of the bath when I got a call from an unknown number. Now, usually I don't answer the phone if I don't know the number, but I gave my information to this adorable man at the coffee shop earlier today, so I figured it was him."

“Lucille, this is important; I need you to tell me exactly what Blaine said to you." He has to keep Lucille focused on the topic, she's always been a talker, but at this moment, he can't politely listen to all of her stories in their excruciating detail.

“Oh, right, the call from Blaine! He told me I needed to meet his demands or else."

“What were his demands?"

“He wants me to send half a million dollars in a box to an address in New Jersey. I'm sure it's just one of those scam callers that has nothing better to do with their life."

“Lucille, if you thought it was a scam, then why did you ask me if I knew him?"

“Well, that's what I found so strange. He knew all about our family tree and how we are related. I just thought it was a little more information than scammers normally have. However, who knows? With the Internet, I'm sure people can find out all kinds of information about our family. We aren't exactly flying under the radar - Oh! Did you see that latest news article in the paper? Apparently, you are about to agree to an arranged marriage to the Princess of Thailand."

“Lucille, I'm afraid this isn't a scam. But the arranged marriage definitely isn't true. Have you left your house since you got this call?"

“No, why? Joel, you're making me nervous."

“Okay, don't leave your house. I'm sending some of my security team over there now. Do not open the door for anyone else."

“What should I do about Blaine's demands?"

“Just ignore it."

“Joel, who is it we’re dealing with?" Lucille asks. She’s clearly nervous now.

“You don't have to deal with anyone, Lucille, I promise. I will take care of everything. Don't answer any unknown numbers, and do not go anywhere without one of my men with you. I will get this figured out."

“Okay, Joel. Just be careful."

“I will be. Call me if you need anything."

He hangs up the phone and slams his palm against his desk, even though he wants to punch something instead. He allows himself a few seconds of anger before picking up his phone again and calling his head of security.

“Hello?" a burly voice sounds on the other end of the phone call.

“Bruce, I need you to send two men over to my cousin Lucille's home in the West Village. Her address should be listed in her file."

“Of course, sir. Has there been an incident?"

“A man named Blaine Blake. He’s blackmailing Lucille at the moment. I’m not sure what he’s capable of, but he is a threat to the entire family. I need your best men on this."

“Two men are already on their way to your cousin's, sir. Do I need to send a team to you?"

He knew he hired Bruce for a reason. He’s extremely efficient and always one step ahead of everyone else. He’s exactly who he needs to help him take care of Blaine.

“No need quite yet, but I'll keep you posted. Oh, and Bruce?"

“Yes, sir?"

“Keep your ear to the ground, and let me know anything you find out about this Blaine Blake. Any information that you find needs to be kept under wraps."

“On it, sir. Everything will be done with the utmost secrecy."

“Thank you, Bruce. Have a good evening."

Joel hangs up the phone and sets it on his large oak desk. Unconsciously, he's been pacing around his office while on the phone. He slumps himself down into his leather armchair and swivels it around so he can watch the ocean. It's so dark, it's hard to differentiate the water from the sky.

He should have known he would hear from Blaine eventually. He first found out about his existence after his parents' death when he was seventeen. His father's will had very bluntly stated that Blaine was to receive nothing. Joel had no idea that he had a half-brother out there in the world until after his dad was gone and couldn't explain the situation for himself. Joel was left spending the rest of his early adult life piecing the clues together. His parents' constant fighting and lack of affection for each other made complete sense as soon as he knew that his father's infidelity was likely the cause. He ripped apart his father's office, trying to find any clues about his hidden life. The only thing he found was a check register, showing he had paid a woman named Anne Blake - one hundred thousand dollars. He had no illusions about his father, he knew exactly what he'd done. 

His father kept detailed records of every dime he ever spent; the lack of information on the check register told him everything he needed. The hundred thousand dollars was hush money, and the woman, Anne Blake, had to be his father's mistress. He searched for years to find Anne Blake, but her name was so common, it was impossible to narrow down his search enough to find the right woman. He had no other information to go off of, and was left with a million unanswered questions. It wasn't until he found out he was Sarah's father that he had a hope of finding his brother. Sarah had taken a DNA test that linked her to other Miller's who had their DNA in the same database. Joel took the same DNA test and waited for a notification that he had a sibling match in the database. Last year, that notification finally came, but after some digging into his brother Blaine Blake's history, he wished he'd never known about him. More importantly, he wished he didn't know at all. Blaine's criminal record was far from clean, with multiple charges of petty theft and blackmail. It wasn't long after that, that the threats started coming in. At first, it was easy to shake the threats off, and Joel simply ignored all of them. In the last month, Blaine must have gotten desperate because his attempts at blackmail were getting increasingly threatening.

So far, he even avoided telling his security team about the threats, but now he's threatening Joel's family. He knows Bruce will get to the bottom of the problem, but he'll likely find out about all of his family's dirty laundry in the process.

Joel runs his hands up his face and through his hair. Leaning back, he stares at the ceiling. He knows he’ll never be able to sleep after the events of the last few hours, so he turns back around to his desk and opens his laptop. Might as well get some work done if he's going to be up anyway.

A notification greets him as the screen flashes to life. You accepted his friend request. At that, he can't help but smile, just a little. There's something about you that makes it impossible for Joel to get you out of his head. He's immediately distracted by the memory of you riding on the back of the jet ski to find the dolphins. Thinking of that day, he can almost feel your body pressed against his back and how your face lit up when the dolphins swam into the cove. That night when you walked out of the salon in the dress he mentioned would look good on you; you nearly knocked him senseless. You felt beautiful and he could see it on your face.

He realises sitting there alone in his office, he would give anything to make you feel that way all the time. There's no point in denying it any further, he's falling for you. If you were anyone other than Sarah's friend, he'd pursue you without a second thought. But, the last thing he needs is to complicate his relationship with his daughter even more. It doesn't help that his daughter is so clueless as to be cruel to the one person she invites that could actually help her grow into a decent person.

The screen of his phone alerts him to another incoming text message.

Marnie: I need a plane ticket to the Bahamas. It was bad enough that I had to hear about my daughter's engagement over the phone. I refuse to miss her engagement party too. So we will also need to push the party back so I can be there.

A few seconds later, another message follows the first.

Marnie: Also, we need to start discussing the wedding plans. Sarah's wedding needs to be absolutely perfect. We can talk about the details later. Send the flight information as soon as possible.

Joel opens the drawer of his desk and slides his phone inside. He is not in the mood to deal with Marnie and her demands. He knows deep down that Sarah is becoming more and more like her mother each and every day. A part of him is excited about Sarah's wedding for the simple fact that she’ll be another man's problem. He immediately feels bad for thinking that of his own daughter, but it seems she only cares about his money. Thinking about Sarah's upcoming wedding brings a new wave of memories rushing in. Embarrassment floods his veins as he thinks about the conversation he had with his daughter over dinner. She said that you didn't fit the aesthetic of her wedding, so she wouldn't ask you to be a bridesmaid. He couldn't understand that. But if Sarah won't have you at the wedding as a bridesmaid, maybe he'll just bring you as his date.

—

The last thing you want to do is run into Todd, especially after his actions the night before; you think it would be wise to avoid him completely. Book in hand, you head to the secret deck off of the dining room balcony, where you had shared a few quiet moments with Joel. You figure it would be the best place for you to hide out and also possibly run into Joel again. He left in such a rush the night before, you’re curious to find out what happened. You check down the hallway before speed walking to the dining room. As soon as your hand hits the doorknob, Sarah's voice sounds behind you.

"I have been looking for you everywhere!"

You turn around quickly, and you’re relieved to see that Sarah is alone. She’s wearing a one-piece swimming suit in navy blue with the bust line cutting down to her belly button. She has a white sun hat and a pair of Chanel sunglasses to complete her beachwear.

"Sarah," you say with a smile.

"Come with me down to the beach. I am so bored, and I can't stand being on this boat for another second," she says with an overly dramatic sigh.

"I thought we were heading to your dad's place and wouldn't get there until tonight." You turn and look out the dining room windows. You’re surprised you hadn't noticed earlier that you aren't moving.

"Daddy said we had to stop to refuel. He is also giving some of the crew their half-day break so they can go on land and contact family or something stupid like that," Sarah says with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh," you say, slightly irritated at Sarah's insensitivity. "Well, a half-day isn't that bad."

"It is when you have an engagement party to plan. Plus, daddy told me that my mom is flying out for the party. She is going to be waiting at the house while we sit here all day."

The thought of meeting Marnie makes you slightly nervous. Maybe because you’re worried she’ll be able to tell you have feelings for Joel. You can't let Sarah catch you in a daydream about her dad, so you shift the conversation as quickly as possible.

"Where is everyone else?"

"Everyone has a hangover. Todd started a drinking game last night, and everyone had a little too much."

Well, that makes a lot of the previous night make more sense. Todd is never one to handle his alcohol very well, and he’s even worse at games. You’re curious as to just how many drinks made Todd forget himself the way he did last night. He was not waiting long into the engagement to show his true colors.

"How are you not hung over?" you ask, looking her up and down. She doesn't look like she was drinking the night before at all. As always, she looks absolutely flawless.

"The bartenders know to give me water instead of an actual shot. I hate the way I get bags under my eyes when I drink too much. It’ss much better to stay hydrated than look hungover."

"Right. Well, I was just going to go find somewhere quiet to read, but reading on the beach sounds a lot more fun."

"Great! I can wait for you to go get ready," Sarah says, looking at your outfit.

"I am ready, Sarah."

"Oh, you look…cute. Anyway, let's go!"

You follow Sarah out on the dock and quickly realize it will not be a simple morning on the beach.

A few members of staff have set up a large tan beach canopy surrounded by white gauzy curtains. In the center is a pair of chaise lounge chairs made of rattan and topped with matching white cushions. It looks like a photoshoot.

"Do you think you could take a few pictures of me? I haven't posted anything in a few days, and my followers are getting antsy."

The true purpose of Sarah inviting you to spend time with her this morning becomes very obvious. She needs a photographer, not a friend.

"Sure, I can take a few. I really want to read this book, though, so if we could be fast…"

"Oh, that is an awesome idea!"

Sarah grabs the book out of your hand and flips it from the front cover to the back. You must look confused because she quickly explains.

"We could take a few shots of me reading on the beach. I haven't done that before. Is this one of those books that will make me look smart?"

"Yeah, I guess we could. It's just a romance novel, I don't know if your followers will think it makes you smart, but it might make you a little more relatable to some people."

"Smart people read. You, of all people, should know that. Maybe I’ll stop getting all those mean comments about being stupid. I can caption it 'steamy reading on the beach.'" 

Sarah takes her place on the lounge in a very photogenic pose that makes her look graceful while still artfully showing off her cleavage. She opens the book and drapes it over herself, careful not to block her best assets. After a few pictures, she will check your work and find the smallest thing she doesn't like and will make you take more.

"Make sure you get the lighting just right and hold the camera up higher for a better angle. Oh, and make sure to get a good view of the ring. I'm hoping someone will notice it, and then my comment section will blow up."

"Don't you want to wait until the actual announcement?" you ask.

"Oh, no! I am going to pretend like it is a mistake that I posted a picture with the ring on; that way, it will attract more attention."

"It's always about the attention with you," you say under your breath.

"What was that?"

"Tilt your head up higher, so you don't have a double chin."

Sarah gasps and asks to see the pictures you had taken, so she can search for the nonexistent double chin. You feel bad as soon as you say it, you don't need to stoop to her level. After finding out so much about Sarah's past, you understand why she can be so hard to be around at times. If you had found out your father wasn't really your father after he passed away, you would have been devastated too.

"I think it was just a shadow, Sarah you don't have a double chin in any of these pictures. I don't think it is even possible for you to have a double chin," you say, trying to make up for your moment of weakness.

"Of course, you're right," Sarah says as she hands her phone back to you. Apparently, you aren't done taking pictures.

"Maybe we could get a few shots of me in the sand. Those always get a ton of likes."

Sarah begins to position herself on her stomach in the sand with the book open in front of her. She bends her knees, so her legs are in the air, and she bites the end of her sunglasses while she pretends to read. The pictures look like they belong on the cover of a magazine. Sarah looks so natural, even though she's strategically posing herself.

“Sarah, do you ever get tired of this?"

“Of taking pictures? No, not really."

“Not just of the pictures, but of constantly worrying about what others are thinking of you."

“That is why I take so many pictures; if you put your best picture out there, the only ones who comment mean things are the people who are jealous."

“It just seems like so much work to paint yourself as perfect all the time. I guess that's why I stopped using social media so long ago for the most part."

“For once, things actually are perfect. I have the perfect fiance, and soon I'll have the perfect wedding too. If you ever want to get back onto social media, I could help you.”

 "I'm good for now, but thanks," you say, resuming taking pictures. You realize that Sarah likely doesn't know about your past relationship with Todd because you never posted anything about it on social media. If you don't tell her, she likely wouldn't ever know, and you don't want to be the one to break that news to her. So you keep your mouth shut and keep taking every picture Sarah asks for.

"I think I should have something I can work with from these. Thanks, for helping me out. It was so much fun to spend some time with you," Sarah says, making her way back to the ship without looking back.

It isn't exactly your idea of fun to take pictures all afternoon, but you are finally alone, and you can enjoy your book. You take Sarah's chaise lounge under the shade of the canopy. Even with the breeze gently fluttering the sheer curtains hanging off the canopy, you are still dripping sweat. You had to stand directly in the sun to get all of the shots until your wet tank top clung to your body.

You check the beach to make sure it’s empty before slipping your shirt off and setting it next to you on the empty lounge chair. You feel so much cooler as the breeze snakes through the gaps of your lacy bralette. You open your book and are so thankful for the silence. You get sucked into the story on the pages, so much so that you don’t hear the voices approaching until they are only a few feet from you.

"Can you call and make sure the interest rate we discussed earlier is set in stone?"

"Of course, sir."

You don't have time to slip back into your shirt, so you press the open book to your chest, taking advantage of the little coverage it offers you. You look up to find Joel and Reggie staring at you. Reggie quickly averts his eyes. Joel stares openly at your body, and when his eyes meet yours, you know he wants you as much as you want him.

Reggie apologizes, "We didn't realize you were out here. We will give you some privacy." He keeps his head down and shuffles through the sand back to the dock.

"We aren't leaving for a few more hours." Joel holds your gaze as tightly as you’re holding the open book to your chest. "Take your time and enjoy yourself. I'll make sure no one comes down and bothers you if you'd like to resume reading," Joel offers. He winks at you and then follows Reggie back to the dock.

You watch Joel as he walks away, his neatly pressed linen button-up fluttering gently in the breeze. Once he and Reggie are at a safe distance, you grab your shirt off of the lounge chair next to you and slip it over your head. You let yourself fall backward on the plush cushions and close your eyes, imagining Joel undressing you the way he had done with his eyes when he realized you were wearing nothing but your bralette.

A wave of heat rushes through you at the thought until you remember where you are. You sit up so quickly that you make your head spin. After waiting a few seconds to regain your balance, you place your book under your arm, and with your head down, you race back to your room. As soon as your door clicks closed behind you, you head for the shower, throwing your clothes to the floor on your way there. You stand for a long time under the cool water. Eventually, you feel the embarrassment wash down the drain. It takes even longer for the heat Joel made you feel to wash away.

Wrapping yourself in a towel, you make your way out of the bathroom. You would love to sit on the balcony and let the breeze help extinguish what you’re feeling, but you figure you've already taken too much risk for one day. Instinctively, you grab your phone off of the bed to text your friends an update.

You: If I could die of embarrassment, you two would be making funeral arrangements as we speak.

Lin: Oooo, is there some daddy drama we need to know about?

You: Unfortunately, yes. I was just lying on the beach in my bralette, and I had no idea Joel was walking by until it was too late.

Aubrey: I'm sure he didn't mind. If it is that one you bought on our last shopping trip, I know he didn't mind!

Lin: So what did you do? Let him stand there in awe?

You: So not funny, you two! I covered myself with the book I was reading… but we definitely shared a moment.

Lin: Sounds steamier than those romance novels you read!

You: I think I am in way over my head. What do I do? We are staying at his house in the Bahamas for the next few days. We should get there later tonight.

Lin: Let it happen!

Aubrey: Just see where it goes, but if you want to leave, I will find you a plane out of there.

You: It might not be a bad idea to get that flight information. Would you mind Aubrey?

Aubrey: Of course, I will send you the details; that way, you have them if you need them.

You: Thank you. I will keep you both updated!

You close your phone and sigh. You don't want to leave, but it might be for the best, so you don't do something stupid. The thought of leaving this vacation is a weighted decision. If you don't see Todd again for the rest of your life, you'll be overjoyed. However, the thought of possibly never seeing Joel again, of never finding out if you could be more, is painful to think about. Your head is spinning over what the best decision is. So, instead of making any big decisions, you get yourself dressed, fully expecting another quiet day at sea. Exhausted from the heat of the morning and Sarah's impromptu photo shoot, you throw yourself on the bed and close your eyes for what feels like a few minutes.

A light knocking on your door wakes you up, and your eyes take a moment to adjust to the lighting in the room. A quick look out your balcony window, and you know you've slept way longer than you had intended. The golden glow of sunset is streaming through the windows, dusting everything in a light pink hue.

"Brenna! Hey, what's going on?" you ask as you open the door, happy to see a familiar face.

"I was sent up to help you with your luggage. We should be arriving at the Miller's vacation home in about an hour," Brenna explains.

"Oh, wow. I slept a lot longer than I meant to," you say and hold the door open for Brenna to enter your room. You try to rub the sleep from your eyes as she walks into your room.

"No worries, the only thing you missed was the 'Richies' showing off in the pool all day," Brenna reports.

"Then it sounds like I made the right decision. How were they showing off?" you ask.

"Oh, you know the usual 'I'm so annoyed my parents bought me the wrong color convertible,' 'I can't believe he really thought that I drank anything but sparkling water,' 'the sheets in my room are so uncomfortable–the ones on my dad's yacht are Egyptian cotton.'"

You laugh and shake your head. Brenna does a great impression of the things you have heard from different members of the group all week. You head to the closet, Brenna right behind you. "I don't think it will actually take me an hour to get everything packed up. Most of my stuff can just be thrown back in my suitcase, and my new clothes are all still in the garment bags," you say.

"It must be my lucky day. I was in that girl Megan's room earlier, and it looked like she tried on an entire store's worth of clothes and threw them on the floor when they weren't what she was looking for. I feel horrible for whoever got assigned to her room," Brenna comments.

"I would pity anyone who had to work for Megan. I avoid her at all costs. When she glares at you, it feels like you're going to start burning right on the spot," you say.

"I know, right? She's the worst of all of Sarah's friends, but her dad owns some luxury watch company, so she has been a regular on the guest lists for a long time," Brenna explains.

"Brenna, what is the vacation house like?" you ask.

"It's more than someone like you or me could ever believe one person could afford," Brenna replies.

—

As the yacht pulls up to the private dock of the Miller's Bahama vacation home, the size of the mansion is on full display. The white colonial-style mansion is three stories tall, with cantilever balconies off of the second floor. An illuminated infinity pool rests at the top of the white sanded private beach. A small runway off to the side of the property ends at a white stone gazebo that juts out into the ocean. Full palm trees edge the beach, making it feel secluded from the rest of the island. Music plays from the large deck, and shadows of people dot the beach and poolside.

Sarah rushes down to the dock, where a group of very rich women wait for you. Sarah squeals and thrusts her hand forward to show off her engagement ring. This is followed by echoed squeals from the group. You hesitate as your feet hit the dock, not wanting to get in the middle of the model-like women.

"Oh, sweetie, the maid's entrance is around to the side," one of the women says.

You stop in your tracks, not knowing how to respond to the assumption. You feel a warm palm on your lower back push you gently forward past the woman. Joel.

He leans down close to your ear and whispers, "Don't let them intimidate you. You're twice the woman any of them could ever be." His breath tickles your neck, and goosebumps prickle the skin down your arms. You look up at him and give him a weak smile. "Let me show you where you’ll be staying," he says quietly as he lets the corner of his mouth brush your earlobe.

"Thank you," you nearly moan.

Joel keeps his hand on your lower back as you walk to the mansion. He leads you through the back doors and into a living room with a giant chandelier hanging in the middle of the room. Two fish tanks containing every color of tropical fish rest on either side of the large staircase you take to the second floor.

"This is one of my favorite rooms in the entire house," Joel says. He leads you into an elegant bedroom with white double doors exiting onto one of the balconies you had seen from the yacht. Palm fronds are a recurring theme in the decorations throughout the room in a pale green color.

"It's so beautiful; I wouldn't dare touch anything," you say.

"Nonsense. Make yourself comfortable. It's one of three master bedrooms, so you have your own ensuite just through that door there," Joel says, gesturing to an open door on the other side of the room.

"I don't know if I belong in one of the master suites. I would really be okay with one of the smaller rooms," you say.

"This is where you belong. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.”

— 

Waking up in the enormous master suite, you find yourself bathed in the soft glow of morning coming through the windows. The tranquillity is broken by screams of irritation from the floor below. 

Wrapping the robe Joel had given you around yourself, you open the door to your room and hurry down the stairs to see what's going on. "You have got to be kidding me! This is completely unacceptable!" A woman with hair matching Sarah's is yelling at Max, the staff member you'd played cards with on the yacht.

"Ma'am, I don't know what to tell you. Mr. Miller has already assigned the rooms; I cannot go against his direct orders. There is already another guest staying in that room, and I am sure Mr. Miller would not approve of me kicking them out of the room," Max replies, clearly exasperated.

"We will see about that. You will be lucky if you still have a job by the time I'm through with you," the woman retorts and spots you on the stairs. Her face is devoid of emotion, probably from the excessive and very obvious botox treatments. "Come to enjoy the show, did we?" she asks, but you can't tell if she's trying to glare at you or not. You turn around, deciding it's best not to get involved. 

A few hours later, you dare to leave your room again but are met with more yelling coming from the lower floor. Your empty stomach protests the idea of going back through there, so you hope you can make it to the kitchen without anyone seeing you.

"So you are the one that took my room," Marnie says immediately, and you know it's her.

You turn to find not only Marnie but Sarah, Todd, and Megan too. Megan has a small smirk on her mouth that she tries and fails to hide.

"What are you talking about?" you ask, pretending you have no idea what she means.

"I just found out that one of the master bedrooms went to you. I am stuck on the bottom floor in one of the guest rooms like some commoner," Marnie complains.

"I don't see the problem. I was told which room had been assigned to me. I didn't ask for it."

"Oh, you must be the poor one. It makes sense why you can't understand something so simple," Marnie says with a pointed look at your simple clothes.

Megan laughs at Marnie's comment, and Sarah playfully slaps her arm to get her to stop. You can't bring yourself to look at Todd's face, but you figure he's getting a laugh out of this interaction as well.

"Do you know who I am?" Marnie asks.

You internally cringe. You've always hated customers who tried the 'do you know who I am' card at the bar. "I'm guessing that you’re Sarah's mother," you say as calmly as you can.

"Exactly. So you need to pack up your things and get out of my room."

"I'm not moving my stuff. I was assigned that room, and I'm going to stay in it."

Marnie starts stammering an explanation, but Joel walks into the room without her noticing. Relief floods your entire body, knowing Joel is here. He has an angry burning look in his eyes that makes Marnie nervous.

"This whole thing was just a misunderstanding. I just figured, with our history, I would have one of the bigger rooms. I just remembered, though, that I love the view of the ocean from the room I'm in, that’s  probably why you picked it for me," Marnie explains.

Joel doesn't say anything in response, and Marnie tries her best to make an escape. Sarah and Todd follow Marnie out of the kitchen, and you feel heat on your lower back. Joel has placed his hand there and leans close to you.

"Are you okay?" he asks quietly.

You nod and step away from him, grabbing an apple out of the fruit bowl on the counter.

—

The rest of the morning is spent carefully avoiding Marnie, but it seems like everywhere you go, Todd shows up a few minutes later. He's always talking very loudly about what needs to be done before the engagement party. Not wanting to talk to him, you give up and go back to your room. You go out to the balcony and lean over the railing to watch the ocean. A few men are surfing, and you can make out Joel sitting on his surfboard bobbing in the water.

"Baby cakes?"

You look over to see Todd leaning over the railing of the adjacent balcony, straining to see you on yours. You shake your head at him.

"Please, I just need to talk to you."

"You have nothing to say that I would be interested in hearing," you say and go back into your room, shutting the door behind you a little more forcefully than you intended. Your heart is pounding, and you know you need to get control of your anger, but you can't do that knowing Todd is in the next room over. So you grab your book and a beach towel out of the bathroom before heading down to the beach. You walk through the living area of the mansion and nearly run into two giant ice sculptures as they are being brought through to the kitchen.

"Oh, careful!" Sarah says, rushing over to inspect the ice sculpture. You quickly step back to avoid a life-size rendition of Sarah and Todd embracing.

"Oh wow…" is the only thing you can say, looking at the ice sculpture.

"I know, right? It is absolutely perfect," Sarah beams.

"It sure is something."

"Mom commissioned it as soon as she found out about the engagement party."

"Well, I want the best for my little girl," Marnie's voice flows down the stairs as she makes her way toward you with Todd on her arm.

"It really is the perfect embodiment of us both," Todd says with a smile in your direction.

"It matches your heart, Todd. Ice cold," you mutter under your breath.

You make a hasty exit out the back door and nearly run towards the beach, needing to get away from both versions of Todd.

You spread your towel out in the sand and lounge on the ground, hoping to continue the book you had been trying to read the day before. Sarah's demanding voice carries all the way down to the private beach.

You need a better distraction. You throw your head back and look up at the bright blue sky. You don't think you can make it through this engagement party. Your phone vibrates with a text message from Aubrey, containing flight information for a flight leaving the next day. It would cost the rest of your savings, but maybe it would be for the best if you left.

"Every time I've seen you lately, you've had that book with you, but you never seem to be reading it."

You sit up to find Joel standing in front of you, shirtless, soaking wet, and holding a surfboard. Beads of water are sliding down his naked torso, and you can't help but watch them caress his skin, slowly sneaking lower. You look back up at Joel's teasing smile.

"Do you need a towel? You're dripping on me," you say with a playful smile.

"Would you share yours? Unless you'd like to join me for one more wave."

"I have never been surfing," you admit.

"I would be happy to teach you, as long as you don't send us both flying into the water again," Joel says with a wink and a charming smile.

“I can't make any promises about that," you say with a laugh.

“Then it might be best for you to stay on dry land. The engagement party is supposed to start in a few hours."

You sigh quietly and look down at your toes; you buried them under the sand. You pull them out and brush off the sand.

“Well then, I'm going to head back up to shower and get ready." Joel offers you his hand and helps you off the ground.

“I'll see you there." You hand Joel the towel you had been sitting on.

“In the shower?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.

“I'll see you at the party Joel," you reply with a seductive glance over your shoulder as you walk back toward the mansion, leaving him behind you. You can feel his eyes on you as you walk away.

—

The soft fabric of your chiffon cocktail dress swishes against your thighs as you make your way downstairs. The music is already thumping through the house from the back patio, making the windows rattle slightly. The infinity pool is illuminated, giving the entire party a slight glow. The first place you head is to the bartender, knowing it's going to take a lot to get through this night and needing all the help you can get.

"Would you like a Sarah Lemon Drop or a Todd Tequila Shot?"

"Are these the only two things on the menu?" you ask. You shouldn't be surprised that they have signature drinks named after themselves.

The bartender gives you a sympathetic smile, "Or we have the Marry Me Margarita."

This is going to be a very long night.

"A margarita then…"

You walk away with your margarita in hand and join a small group of people surrounding the life-size ice sculpture of Sarah and Todd. A woman turns to you and asks, "So how do you know the couple?"

"Oh, I went to school with Sarah at NYU." You figure it's best to leave out how you know Todd.

"I didn't realize that Sarah went to college. She never mentioned it at our photo shoot in Greece last year. That's how we met," she says with an air of superiority.

"What did you study at NYU?" a man says, entering the conversation.

"Oh, I got my Bachelor's in history and I just graduated with my Master's in political science. I'm going to Harvard for Law school in the fall."

"That sounds absolutely terrible. I went for the first week of college and dropped out. They wanted me to show up for classes before, like ten in the morning," the woman says.

"Yeah, some of the classes can be pretty early," you say, not knowing how to respond.

"So, are your parents making you go to law school or something? Does your dad own a law firm? I have a friend whose dad is making him become a lawyer so he can take over the law firm someday," the man asks you.

"No, I'm not being forced, I just have always wanted to be a lawyer. No one in my family owns a law firm, although I wish they did. That would make finding a job after I graduate a lot easier," you answer with a nervous laugh.

The two give you a strange look as though they had never met someone who willingly went to college to pursue a career simply because it was what they wanted.

"So you're, like, smart," the woman says in a patronizing tone. They turn to each other and actually laugh at you while you’re still standing next to them. 

"Don't tell me you are putting yourself through school too. Let me guess, you're a waitress or something," the man says with a mean smile.

"I'm a bartender," you say quietly.

This answer sends them both over the edge with giggles. They move forward, effectively cutting you out of the group with their bodies. You realize that you have nothing in common with these people and turn to leave. 

Tears sting the corners of your eyes, and you need to get away from the thumping beat of the DJ's speakers. You refuse to cry in front of these people. You walk down the runway to the gazebo that juts out into the ocean, so the waves crash against all sides, drowning out the music and laughter from the party. You brace yourself on the backrest of an iron bench, wiping away an escaping tear from your face. You know you don't belong here, and you can't stand staying another day. You pull your phone out of the clutch you're carrying and send a quick text to Aubrey and Lin.

You: I just got laughed at for wanting to become a lawyer. I need to get away from these people.

Aubrey: Do you want me to book you that flight?

You: Yes, I'm ready to come home.

Aubrey: Bad news. The flight tomorrow is booked.

You: When is the next flight out of here?

Aubrey: In two days.

You: Book it. I will just find a way to hide out for one more day.

Lin: You can get through this! I will be waiting at the airport to pick you up.

You: I can't thank you two enough. What would I do without you? I miss you both, and I can't wait to see you.

Aubrey: Your flight has been changed. We will see you in two days. Hang in there! We love you!

Lin: What Aubrey said. Just two more days!

You: Love you girls too!

A hand grips the top of yours on the bench and gives it a small squeeze.

"I have been trying to talk to you all day. Why have you been avoiding me?"

You look down and are disappointed that it's not Joel's tanned hand on top of yours. You rip your hand out from under Todd's and give him an icy glare. "What do you need?"

"I need to talk to you in private."

"This is private enough," you say, looking back at the party. You know someone would hear you if you screamed loud enough.

"Just come back to my room with me." Todd leans in close and whispers, "I miss you."

"You can talk to me here or not at all," you say and take a large step back and away from him.

"You look amazing, baby cakes. I have never seen you wear a dress like that. It looks good on you and would look even better off," he says with a sleazy smile.

"Do not call me that! Don't think about me like that! Does your fiance know where you are?" you hiss.

"Of course, she doesn't, and she doesn't have to."

"Does she know anything, Todd? Does she know about our past? Does she know that you dated me for years and how you were still dating me when you two met?" Your breaths are coming in ragged gasps now. You have never been so angry at Todd before. You can't stand the fact that he has not only thrown you over for someone else after you had wasted years of your life on him, but now he has the nerve to try and win you back at his engagement party.

"Of course, she knows," he says quickly while looking away.

"You are such a liar!" Your voice echoes against the pillars of the gazebo. Angry tears burn your eyes, but you refuse to let them fall.

"Are you sure I'm the liar and not Sarah? What if she just invited you here to make you watch her get engaged to your ex? It sounds like just the kind of game that she and her rich friends would find so entertaining. They have been laughing at you behind your back this entire trip."

"You've always been the liar, Todd. I wish I had seen that from the very beginning. You obviously don't know Sarah. There is no way she would be that cruel. I never mentioned you by name to her when we were dating because she never seemed to care about my personal life. And if they've been laughing at me this entire time, why didn't you tell me sooner? You're just lying to save yourself." You hope the words you say are true. Spending this much time with Sarah is a rare occurrence, and she seems different. However, you can't fathom that she would intentionally cause you pain.

"We have the chance to get back at her for humiliating you," Todd whispers.

"What are you talking about?" you ask, puzzled by the sudden change in topic.

"Take me back. She never has to know that we made up. Everything could go back to how it was."

"Back to how it was? Really, Todd? How do you think that would ever work? You expect me to be fine with the fact that you are marrying Sarah? Do you really think Sarah would be okay with her husband having a girlfriend on the side?" you ask, taken aback by his request.

"I would still marry Sarah, and we would have more money than we would even know what to do with. As soon as my dad makes me a partner, I will have to go on business trips all the time, and you could come with me. Sarah will never know that we are back together."

"You're ridiculous, Todd. It's all about the money, isn't it? You want everything that you can't have, and you are only marrying Sarah for her money."

"Well, she's not bad to look at either," Todd says as if you are the one being unreasonable.

"I can't believe I ever loved you. You are a terrible person. Just leave me alone, Todd," you say, turning away from him and crossing your arms. You are drained from your conversation and realize that there is no way to make him see how wrong he is being.

"Take me back, please," Todd says, reaching out and grabbing your arm.

"Don't touch me," you say, pulling away from him.

Someone clears their throat at the entrance of the gazebo. Todd drops his arm and takes a step back. "Todd, Sarah is looking for you. I think it would be best if you went and found her."

Todd doesn't respond and quickly leaves. You watch as he stops in front of Joel, waiting for him to move so that he can leave. Joel remains where he is standing, so Todd has to awkwardly squeeze past him. If you weren't so angry and trying to hold back the tears still hot in your eyes, you would have laughed.

You let out a frustrated sigh that turns into a small sob. Joel is by your side in seconds. "Are you okay?" Joel asks, putting a hand on each of your arms and rubbing them comfortingly.

"I'm fine," you lie, trying to hide the few tears that have fallen down your face.

"You're shaking. You are not okay. Come with me," Joel says, holding out his hand, and you take it.

"I don't want to go back to the party," you say.

"We don't have to go back to the party.” 

"Then where are we going?" you ask, your voice cracking.

"To my room.”

Joel holds your hand as he leads you through a side door of the mansion, avoiding the large crowd of the engagement party. When the door closes behind you, the music and noise of the group become muffled. All you can hear is the low rumble of the bass as it vibrates through the walls.

Joel and you walk in silence, and he never lets go of your hand as he leads you back to his room. Joel's room is decorated in soft grays and silvers. The massive bed stands alone in the center of the room with a crystal chandelier hanging over the center.

Your feet are sore, so you slip your heels off and set them by the double door entrance of the room. Joel clicks the lock on the door, walks across the room, and sits down in an armchair on the other side of the room. You follow, your bare feet cold on the tile floors.

The room's soft coldness makes you feel like you're surrounded by a cloud, comfortable and warm but still in a storm. You nearly sink into the plush armchair that matches Joel's. You would love to be enveloped by the chair and not have the conversation you know is coming. Unfortunately, the truth will likely bring on a storm of its own.

"I need to know the truth."

"I know you do," you say. You let the silence fall between you, not knowing how to start. So you wait for Joel to ask a question first.

"You've known Todd for longer than just this week, haven't you?"

"I met him at NYU in one of my general classes," you admit.

"So you've known him for years?"

"Almost four years," you say barely above a whisper. "We dated for three."

You hear Joel take a deep breath at your confession.

"Why didn't you tell me or Sarah?"

"Honestly, I didn't know what to do. When I got here, I had no idea that Todd would be on board too. Sarah introduced me to him as her new boyfriend, and he acted as though we had never met before.The situation was so uncomfortable. I was still in shock and so hurt." 

"So you just decided to say nothing instead?" his eyebrows cinch together. All you can manage is a nod as the tears blur the edges of your vision. "You said you were hurt seeing him again. How long ago was this break up?"

"He officially broke up with me the day before I walked to receive my Master's degree. We had been fighting for weeks before that, though, when I found out he had been cheating on me for months."

"Shit. With my daughter?"

"Yes…they met at my birthday party."

"Did she know?"

"I honestly don't think she knew. Or at least if she did, she didn't know I was the girlfriend."

"I'm so sorry. But how did you expect to spend an entire vacation keeping this all a secret?"

"By the time I came to my senses, the yacht had already departed. I figured I would avoid Todd, and at the end of this vacation, I would go back to my normal life. I would never see him again after I moved, and I honestly didn't think that Sarah and Todd would last. Sarah never dates anyone for longer than a few months. I never imagined that Sarah would get engaged to him."

"Why has he been following you around?" Joel says sternly.

"I don't know why he can't just let our relationship go…" you say.

You hear Joel sigh, and when he speaks again, his tone is softer. "What did he have to say to you tonight in the gazebo? You looked like he had you cornered."

"He was lying to me...." you attempt to avoid his question, not wanting to go into the awful details of your conversation with Todd.

"About what?" Joel asks, he was clearly going to keep pressing until you told him everything.

"He told me Sarah knew and that she invited me on purpose as some kind of joke for her and all her rich friends."

"I know my daughter can be thoughtless at times, but I don't believe she would purposely be so cruel," he says, rubbing his hands on his face.

"I don't believe him," you assure Joel, seeing the worried look on his face.

"Why would he outright lie like that?"

It takes you a few minutes to respond, trying to find the best way to word your answer. You sigh and look down at your feet. "He was trying to convince me to sleep with him again… to get back at Sarah." 

Anger heats Joel's gaze as his eyes bore into yours. "Do you want him again?"

"What are you talking about? No! Of course, not. I don't want him in any way ever again. He completely betrayed me," you say, completely shocked by his question. You'd figured his anger would be towards Todd, not you. Joel's eyes remain dark, and he doesn't respond. Instead, he gets up from his chair and starts pacing the room. "Aren't you worried that this is the man that your daughter has picked to marry?" you ask, exasperated that he is questioning you about wanting to sleep with your ex. As if you are so weak that you can't possibly say no to a man who has utterly betrayed your trust.

"If I go and tell Sarah what's going on and try to convince her to end the engagement, then he would be free to come back to you. Is that what you want?" Joel asks through clenched teeth.

Joel's words sting.

"Why are you twisting everything I say?"

"How can I trust anything you say after you've lied to everyone this entire time?"

The tears truly start falling then. You quickly stand from your chair and make your way to the door. Before you even reach your shoes next to the door, Joel grabs your wrist, making you pause.

"Stop. I'm sorry. I didn't mean that," he says softly as he runs his thumb in circles on your wrist. Normally, that would have made your heart flutter, but at that moment, the only thing you want is to be alone on a flight headed for home.

"I don't need this from you." You use the back of your free hand to wipe the tears streaming down your cheeks.

"I just hate imagining you with him," he says quietly.

You let the unsaid meaning of his words float between you. Neither of you acknowledges the implications of his words.

"I just have to know. Do you love him?"

"Will you believe what I tell you?" you ask, finally turning around to look at him again. 

He lets your wrist fall from his fingers. "Yes. I promise," he says with a note of fear in his eyes. Is he truly afraid that you are still in love with a man who treated you so poorly? He reaches up to your face and wipes away another stray tear.

"No. I do not love him," you say pointedly, your voice steady.

"Did you love him?" Joel asked softly.

"I was with him for three years, Joel," you say with a sigh

"That's not what I asked. Did you love him?" he asks again, more forcefully.

"I did love him, but after everything that's happened, how could I still love him? I was wrong about so many things in our relationship," you respond.

"What if you change your mind?" Joel resumes pacing the room.

"I won't. I don't take betrayal lightly," you say firmly.

"I just wish you would have said something from the very beginning."

Anger surges through you. Anger because Joel doesn't seem to understand that everything between you and Todd is over. You don't want anything to do with Todd because the only person you want is Joel. You only want Joel. "You don't get it though, do you?" you say, stepping up to him, blocking his path.

"What am I not getting? Tell me why you lied to me for so long. I would have understood."

"Would you really have understood? Don't you get it? If I had told the truth from the very beginning, I would have been on the first flight home. I would have left as soon as we made the first port," you say, raising your voice.

Joel stares at you, still not understanding. You take another step closer to him, so close that your bodies almost touch. You take a deep breath to calm yourself down before continuing.

"If I had told the truth, I would have never gotten to know you!"

Joel looks at you intensely. He knows you're right.

"I wanted to tell you first thing, but I was just scared. I don't fit in here, remember? The last thing I needed was to make Sarah mad. And who even knows if Todd would've owned up to it? He could've pretended I was lying to cover for himself," you explain, turning away from him.

He gently grabs your arm, making you face him. He looks down at your hand and then interlaces his fingers with yours.

"So, you're glad we've gotten to know each other then?" he asks with a sly smile.

You can't help but smile back. "Of course, I am. Isn't it obvious? I spend most of my time with you."

He nods. "That's true." He lets go of your hand, but your fingertips still touch.

"Todd wanted you to have sex with him to make Sarah mad? He seems to be pretty hung up on you,” Joel says, looking at you.

You raise your eyebrows slightly at that. "Are you trying to ask me about our sex life?"

Joel looks at you. "Honestly, I'm just jealous he knows what sex with you is like."

Your cheeks grow warm, and your heartbeat quickens.

"Why would you be jealous of that? I'm sure you've been with plenty of women," you say.

"Yes, I've been with women, but none as beautiful as you–inside and out," Joel replies, looking into your eyes.

You stare at each other, your fingertips brushing against each other. He moves closer to you and lifts your chin up. You gaze up at him, and he brushes a strand of hair out of your face with a smile and then ever so slowly, he leans down and kisses you.

Taglist:

@lizzie-cakes @ashhlsstuff @puduvallee

[frvnkcastles]

hi I love your writing!! let the days pass has gotten me through a lot. If you’re still taking requests, would you think about doing something for a reader with functional depression? Like can make it through a full day of work/school, seems fine when out and about… but then once she’s home she can’t get herself to eat, or clean, or reply to her friends’ texts or get out of bed on the weekend. And Frank just kind of soothing/supporting her through it and getting her out of bed and finding fun things to do together so she can’t just stay stuck in her little depression apartment and her terrible thoughts. No worries of this doesn’t spark anything for you; thank you so much!!!!

BREATHE ME BACK TO LIFE ➵ F. CASTLE

Summary: You’ve got a bad case of depression, and Frank does everything he can to help you through the difficult days.

Warnings: High-functioning depression, just a small nod towards suicide ideation, fluff, feminine nicknames

Word count: 2k

Author’s note: Thank you for the support!! I completely understand this struggle and it often makes me feel like a fraud and like my depression isn’t ”serious enough” and so many other people have it worse than me, but the reality is, everyone’s struggles are valid and no less important than someone else’s. Anon, I promise it can get better, don’t give up!! I know it can feel like an endless uphill for a long time, but hang onto the good days and know that you’ve got what it takes to get through the bad ones <3

When you first got to know Frank, you were careful about letting him in, simply because the effort of maintaining a relationship terrified you and you knew you wouldn’t be able to handle it. Not to mention, you were kind of embarrassed — revealing your struggle to keep up with chores and to take care of yourself hardly seemed like the way to sweep someone off of their feet. Then there was the fact that Frank seemed so put-together and diligent himself. He didn’t strike you as the type to judge other people, but you knew you couldn’t meet his military level of routine and tidiness, and it made you nervous to open up to him.

Little did you know, he knew depression all too well from personal experience. After losing his wife and kids, he had been shoved into a dark place and it had taken him a long time to dig himself out of there. He understood the lack of motivation to look after yourself or your home, and he, too, struggled with getting out of bed and staying in contact with people.

And that was exactly what he told you when you allowed him to get a glimpse of your reality.

”Hey, I feel ya, sweetheart. I’ve been there. It ain’t easy, that’s for fuckin’ sure, but you’re doin’ amazing”, he praised you, finding your perseverance admirable. ”It can be a real pain in the ass. I struggled for a long time, I won’t lie. Still do, some days. But it’s gotten better, even after I didn’t think it would”, he opened up, trying his very best to instill hope in you. It sort of worked, but it also made you feel guilty — if a man who had lost his entirely family could pull through, why were you having such a hard time? In fact, while you felt glad Frank hadn’t judged you for sharing with him, you felt even more embarrassed and like you were a burden, one he would regret getting involved with.

But he didn’t give up on you. He kept showing up for you, participating in your day as often as he could, whether that meant pushing you to watch a movie he heard so much about and thought you might like, or surprising you during work to take you out to lunch.

By weaving himself into your everyday life, he quickly realized your troubles with depression were more complex than he had initially realized. Whereas he had been completely devoid of energy and hope throughout the day and it had been obvious to everyone around him, you could mask it. He found it sort of impressive, actually, the way you managed to be efficient at work and the way you socialized, smiled and laughed on a night out. To an outsider, it wasn’t obvious that you were struggling, and while he felt fortunate to be in your inner circle, he also grew worried. He couldn’t imagine the toll it must have taken on you, to always put up a brave front and go about your day like nothing was going on.

So, he started visiting your apartment more.

”Have you eaten yet, sweetheart?” he probed gently while collecting various garbage from around the place, shoving it into a trash bag. You were grateful, but you were also entirely drained, the effort of the day catching up to you and leaving you paralyzed on the couch, buried under the heavy blanket.

”No. Didn’t feel like it”, you shrugged, much too casual about it for Frank’s liking. He finished filling up the bag and left it by your front door, making a mental note to take it with him before he stepped into the living room where you were. He crouched down in front of you, gingerly swiping your hair away from your face and eyeing you up with a mix of sympathy and worry. He knew it could be hard to accept help — he certainly had done a good job of pushing Curtis away, but he was determined to give you a hand, whether you liked it or not.

”I make a mean pasta. Would ya eat a lil bit f’me if I made you some?” he asked softly, his voice so patient and calm with you, and if you only had the energy for it, you probably would have teared up. You felt bad just watching Frank do all these things for you, but you suspected, correctly, that even if you told him to stop, he wouldn’t have.

”Sure”, you gave him a weak attempt at a smile. He mirrored it back at you, and leaned in to kiss your forehead before standing up and striding into the kitchen.

He rummaged through your cabinets and fridge, finding what he needed but not exactly pleased with the lack of food. ”I’mma take you grocery shoppin’ tomorrow, aight? We’ll get whatever you need, on me”, he called out from the kitchen, not really offering it as an option but a simple fact. He did that a lot, made promises that to him seemed obvious and like the bare minimum but that meant the world to you.

He made a habit of stopping by on weekends, especially. He knew those were the hardest for you — during weekdays, you had work to keep you busy and distracted, but during the weekend, you sank deep into your dark thoughts. He tried his best to be a lifeline, to keep you afloat, just because he knew what it was like to get stuck in that vicious cycle of hateful, ruminating thoughts and that gloomy mood that didn’t seem to loosen its grip. And he certainly didn’t want that for you.

”Hey, darlin’. How you feelin’ today?” he asked as he made his way into your bedroom on another Saturday, his gaze gentle and caring even when you felt like you looked horrible. You had meant to change your sheets and your PJs for the longest time, and your hair was unkempt in a way that made you feel insecure. But Frank was not bothered, at least not in the manner you expected him to. It unsettled him because he wanted to see you happy and thriving, but he wasn’t scared of a little mess.

You gave him a shrug from the midst of the covers where you had been mindlessly scrolling your phone, only for the damn device to make you feel horrible guilt about all the unanswered texts that seemed to keep piling on. Frank nodded in understanding and sat on the edge of the bed, next to your legs, and he thought about the right way to get you out of that hole. He knew he could be pushy sometimes, but it originated from a place of love, and most times, you responded well. Coddling wasn’t going to help, he knew that, so sometimes he took a firmer approach, but the affection never left his tone or eyes.

”C’mere, sweetheart. Thought I’d take you out for a walk. That okay?” he suggested, and as much as you wanted to agree to his idea, you didn’t think you had it in you.

”I dunno, Frankie…”, you trailed off, and reaching for your hand to squeeze it tightly, he gave you a look that in its simplicity had the power of convincing you.

”I know, sweet girl. But I really want you to get some fresh air with me, yeah? Just around the block, don’t gotta be out for long”, he pleaded, ”I know what you’re thinkin’ in here and I don’t want to lose ya to it.”

You couldn’t argue on that. You knew you weren’t doing yourself any favors, and your thoughts tended to tip over to self-deprecating and hopeless, surrounding you in darkness that only Frank could bring light into. So, you nodded at him, and he gave you an attagirl before winding an arm around you and helping you out of the bed, well-aware that even if you wanted to go, you couldn’t always get your body on board.

He brushed your hair with as much care as possible, enjoying the process more than he wanted to admit, and after that he dug out the hoodie he had left behind a few weeks ago and zipped you up in it. He tied your shoes and made sure you had your keys with you, and after he had taken care of almost everything for you, you were finally ready to go.

The sun was already going down when you stepped outside, and the sight got a faint smile from you, which in turn made Frank grin. ”Pretty, huh?” he noted while taking your hand and interlocking your fingers. He acted so much like a boyfriend even if you had never actually labelled your relationship in any way. It made you wonder, because he took such good care of you and he didn’t really even get anything out of it. It was an equation you simply didn’t understand.

You walked for a while, but finally, you had to ask. ”Why do you keep showing up?” you questioned, not meaning it to come out so accusatory, but Frank was immediately alerted to the thought of crossing a boundary. He didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, he just wanted to help.

”You want me to stop? All you gotta do is say the word”, he promised, and you hastily shook your head to reassure that that wasn’t what you wanted.

”No, I like it. I just… don’t really get why you do it. I can’t repay the favor. I’m not getting any better. So, it just seems like you’re running a fool’s errand, I guess”, you explained, and licking his lips, he gave it some thought. But really, there was no doubt about why he did it.

”You’re important to me, sweetheart. And like I’ve told you, I’ve been there. I know it gets lonely and brutal and I just don’t want ya doing it by yourself”, he answered, and quickly continued, ”and the part about you not bein’ able to repay the favor, bullshit. You do it every time you give me a smile or give me a call or agree to my stupid ass ideas to get you outta the house. I know it may be hard to see, but you got a lotta good moments and I feel damn privileged to get to see them.”

You were speechless, looking at Frank with wide eyes as you kept walking. His stare was focused on your surroundings, hyper-aware of every car that passed you by and every pedestrian with their hood pulled over their eyes too suspiciously. Whether you were in your apartment or out and about, he just wanted to look after you.

”Aren’t I kind of a burden?” you stated what felt like the obvious, and your words got him to instantly face you, a frown etched onto his forehead.

”Never. I ain’t ever gettin’ sick of you”, he swore, stopping you just so he could look into your eyes with solemnity and determination. ”I know you think you’re not gettin’ better, but you will. I’m not lettin’ you give up. Some day, you won’t need my help anymore, but until then, I ain’t goin’ nowhere”, Frank emphasized, dedicated to showing you his loyalty and confidence in you. He had so much hope for you, way more than you had yourself, but he didn’t mind carrying you.

”Thank you”, you whispered, hugging him with a tight grip, and he responded with his own arms curling around your figure. He shielded you from the dark cloud over your head, hoping that his embrace would offer the comfort he so badly tried to be for you.

”Just so you know, when that day comes when I won’t need your help… I’ll still want you around”, you pointed out, and chuckling, Frank kissed the top of your head.

”Well, I didn’t wanna be a selfish asshole, but I was hopin’ you’d feel that way”, he admitted. He may not have been very good at speaking up about it, but you had completely stolen his heart, and he wasn’t sure he was ever getting it back. ”You mean a lot to me, sweetheart”, he added quietly, and holding onto him a bit tighter, you sighed.

”You mean a lot to me too, Frank.”

[jordisblogg]

shuri x spidergirl!reader hcs

warnings: fluff, tchalla and ramonda are alive.. for a little, major character deaths, flirty!reader

it was weird how you and shuri first met. she was on a mission in new york, encountering a villain, when suddenly a string of web came into view snatching her up before she could get pounded by the giant fist that was coming down and smashing into the pavement.

“aren’t you supposed to have some kind of danger sense? you ain’t see that big ass fist coming?”

shuri looked up and saw what was keeping her from falling 15ft from the air. you.

you looked so beautiful, mask bunched up at your forehead, showing off your gorgeous brown eyes and long curly lashes. the setting sun gleaming so perfectly off your caramel brown skin. and your curls not being able to be covered by the mask so they stayed down on your shoulders.

“no, but thank bast you caught me before it did”

you smiled.

“..nice accent.”

shuri let her helmet disintegrate, revealing a small smirk that was held on her lips.

“thank you”

and from that moment on it was nothing but bliss for the two of you.

it was awhile after you and shuri started dating and the public was starting to catch on rather quickly.

it would be during interviews after you had just caught a criminal. paparazzi were left and right of you, sticking microphones in your face trying to get you to answer questions.

“spider-girl, are you currently in a relationship with the black panther?”

“spider-girl, over here!”

“we’ve seen you and the princess of wakanda hanging out around the city, are you both dating?”

you would never give them a straight forward answer. simply shrugging your shoulders, pulling your mask over you face and leaving the scene.

you can’t say that you blame them with all the constant back and forth flirting between you two. what may have started the rumors is that you’ve started to develop a new nickname for your girlfriend. kitty.

shuri will never tell you, but she likes the nickname.

“easy kitty, wouldn’t want you to hurt that pretty face, would we?”

“aw, you care about me kitty?”

“like i’d ever let them come near you, kitty”

when you both did eventually go public, nobody was surprised but they were ecstatic! you both were trending all over social media.

you smiled in amusement as you scrolled down the comment section.

user37292: “not both my wives getting tg😮‍💨”

user2904: “yea we knew y’all wasn’t slick with alla that flirting😒!”

user01607: “AHHH cuties!!!”

shuri would always send you reassuring texts if she knows you’re about to go on a mission. doesn’t matter how big it is. she always makes you put your safety as a priority, knowing your desire to save and protect surpasses your need to save yourself.

“be safe my love, please don’t get yourself into any trouble and don’t get yourself killed.”

“no promises🤭! love uuuuu💗💗”

“i love you too❤️”

…

“y/n i’m serious!!!”

you love to bug shuri. it’s your favorite pass time. even though she lives all the way in wakanda. you make sure you call her at least 8 times a day. yes.. 8. not that she minds. she loves talking to you.

“hi baby!!”

“hi my love”

“whatchu doin?”

“in the lab, are you alright?”

“yea.. you wanna see my challenge?”

“..what?”

shuri loves to say your the light of her life. you constantly make her smile with your crazy antics even thought some of them make her genuinely worry for you. but she learned that was just how you were.

“y/n?! what the hell happened to your face?!”

“this guy rocked my shit!”

“..are you okay?”

“yea.. i think it makes me look bad ass not gonna lie”

you and shuri give each other pet names like most couples do. hers for you are: my love, usana, sithandwa sam, and princess. and yours for her are: kitty (JOKINGLY), mami, baby, and when you had finally learned some xhosa, you started calling her wam yedwa (my one and only)

once shuri had decided you both were deep enough in your relationship for you to meet her family, she called you to tell you to pack a bag and that a talon fighter was coming to get you in the morning.

you made sure you dressed appropriately, seeming as you were going to be in front of royalty. you didn’t feel like you would make a bad impression, but that didn’t stop you from being nervous, shuri having to constantly reassure you during the flight.

“i’m royalty? it’s the same as talking to me”

“girl you don’t count”

“ah.”

they both loved you though! tchalla was the most pleased, constantly picking on shuri.

“it’s about time my baby sister found herself a person!”

“please be quiet”

during your stay, she had took you into her lab to show you some of the new inventions she was working on. most of them were for you. you loved the way she talked about her work, the way her face would light up or how she would stay on one topic for hours. god she was so cute.

shuri would always love taking you to events as her plus one, and vis versa. the way the slick black dress would compliment your curves just right and have you showing a bit of cleavage would leave her drooling.

and you loved to see her in a suit, you’ve told her that. seeing her in a suit matching with you always brought “unholy thoughts” as shuri would say. seeing her gold adornment piece underneath the blazer and with the gold grills to match! wheww.. that combo would leave you a mess.

despite you making a lot of money from your hero work. shuri still spends a whole lot on you. constantly sending shit tons of flowers to your doorstep, buying you everything that you look at for longer than 2 seconds, taking you to expensive restaurants. it did not matter. there was no limit to what she would get or do for you.

“shuri, baby, i think i’ve got enough”

“just this necklace and then we’ll leave”

you love taking shuri on nightly outings after a mission. you both could be chilling at your apartment and you’ll look down at her laying in your lap, tinkering with her kemoyo beads, and just stare.

“..what?

“you wanna to go web-slinging with me?”

you would have her hold onto you extra tight as you both were standing on top of a very high building.. a little too high for shuri. the entire time you swung all that could be heard in the air were shuri’s high-pitched screams or her fussing that you nearly hit a building but wouldn’t have time to finish once you would start swinging again. we’ll say that was the night that started shuri’s fear of heights.

i like to think it’s canon that shuri had started to have panic attacks after the death of her brother and mother so you would always help her when she was having one or if she was and you weren’t there she would call you. the soothing sound of your voice, the constant kisses on her forehead and your soft hand rubbing circles on her back helped calm her down.

“it’s okay baby, i’m right here. deep breaths”

you were a cuddle bug and shuri loved it. she loved when you ran your fingers through her curls or traced the tattoo down her shoulder while she laid her face in the crook of your neck .when she would always ask you why you liked to spoon her so much you would say:

“you already top me in bed, shit- i can’t have this?!”

shuri stays touching you 25/8. whether it’s holding your hand or having an arm around your waist. it keeps her calm when she’s around you. she feels safe. it’s gotten so bad that she’s started to follow you around like a lost puppy sometimes and she doesn’t even notice it.

you could be in the kitchen making you both lunch and she’s right behind you, both arms wrapped around your waist as she nuzzles her face in your hair.

“i think i’ve spoiled you too much..”

shuri spends so much time around you that she’s started picking up on your lingo. you find it funny but adorable when she uses it.

“then the bitch threw me into a building!”

“into a building is wild”

when she’s not fighting for her country, shuri loves to take you out on dates. there will be things that she had asked you wayyy before you two were even a thing.

“what would be your ideal date?”

“fair or arcade date!”

and she would still remember after all this time. she had asked because she knew she was going to end up with you and she wanted to you to be happy. she had never been in a relationship before you so she wanted to make this one count. to make sure you were the one.

when shuri had finally gifted you your own custom set of kemoyo beads you finally felt like you two were official. she had waited because she knew you did a lot of crime fighting and didn’t want them to break but once she modified them she knew it was time.

“I GOT MY OWN PAIR?!??!”

“yes, i wanted to make sure you were ready first.”

you love giving shuri spidey kisses.

“why do you always hang upside down to give me kisses?”

“it’s like a reward”

you love to ask shuri stupid questions in the middle of the night just to piss her off.

“baby?”

“hm”

“when did you realize you were gay?”

“since i was born. go to sleep”

shuri’s tender headed. so when it was wash day for her you’ll need to prepare yourself for her whining.

“ow! usana, stop tugging!”

“i barely even pulled..”

you love buying your merch for her to keep when your away on missions. so her room is basically filled with a bunch of spider-girl plushies, cards and action figures.

“..really?”

“can’t help it that i’m famous baby”

shuri loves to say that your powers get on her nerves when you aren’t using them for hero purposes. when your with her in her lab and she hasn’t given you that much attention you’ll use your webs to pull her backwards having her set right between your legs while you sit on the table.

“will you stop that? i have to finish!”

“can i get a kiss first?”

people know that you and shuri are dating and they’re full aware of who you are. but that doesn’t mean they won’t try anything. girls will constantly come up to her, giving her compliments and asking her questions. one was even so brave as to trace one of her hand tattoos (she snatched her hand away quickly) . she says nothing and glances at you giving her the deadliest look, daring her to say something back to them. not wanting challenge you authority she stays quiet.

it doesn’t matter when or where shuri calls you, you always answer.

“sithandwa sam, are you busy?”

*literally in the middle of fighting a monster*: of course not, what’s up mami?”

a/n: ok going to bed. bye

[chronic-ghost]

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

rating: M (just for language)

pairing: javier peña x f!reader

word count: 5619

summary: you're a human lie detector-- so you tell the handsome man at the Jim Bo’s Burger Barn at 3AM. Too bad you're too drunk to catch up to his lies.

warnings: language, references to drugs/cartels, drinking, smoking, this one is pretty tame, no use of y/n

a/n: this is my Poker Face adjacent fic and inspired by the scene where Javi so innocently flirts with that american wife in the lounge. might become a series but not quite sure yet. lemme know which direction I should take this, if I should take it anywhere at all!

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You attract trouble.

You attract trouble like you put on your nicest dress, did your hair, fixed up your tits, and doused yourself in trouble-pheromones. Like you found trouble curled up on the side of the road, sad and alone like a lost dog, and you gave it a cookie and now it swings around your ankles, always moments away from knocking you on your ass. Except it’s not a dog, it’s a chimpanzee that’s finally snapped and it’s pissed–  it’s beating on the bars of its cage, it’s yowling, howling, it’s coming after you to eat off your goddamn face and–

Okay, back up a bit. 

You have a thing that gets you into trouble. No, not like a self-destructive habit or a weird twitch. It’s not drugs or alcohol or even a dumbass ex. It’s this thing you’ve always been able to do, always known, and because of your big mouth, it’s always gotten you into hot water with the wrong people.

You know when someone is lying. Don’t ask how. It’s a thing. But you know, without a shadow of a doubt, if what’s coming out of someone’s mouth is the God’s honest truth or total and utter bullshit.

You know when someone is lying and generally, folks don’t really appreciate it when you a) catch them on a lie and b) call them out on it. You and your big mouth.

Okay, that’s two things that get you into trouble, but it’s primarily the lying thing and the mouth thing is more or less a fun bonus. Used for good or evil, or whatever. 

The point – the point is – you know when someone is lying. Every single time. So, sure, the audience may say, it’s a weird quirk, kinda bizarre, may or may not be difficult to prove, but trouble? Real actual trouble? How could you possibly get into chimpanzee-face-eating trouble with just this little thing?

Well, rather easy actually. If you don’t have any particular skills, that is. If you barely finished high school, and street smarts was the only kind of smarts they were selling the day your mom smacked you on the ass and told you to find your way in the world. It was hard keeping a job too. Minimum wage living is terrible, especially when the customers lie to you, or to each other, or to their children. Even worse when management lies about why there’s no cash payout this month or why they’re late with this month’s checks. Getting by is fucking hard as shit, but when you know there’s something wrong being done and you’ve got this big fucking mouth, well, you’ve never been one to not court trouble. 

Maybe trouble is easier to find because you like to wave and flirt with it when you drive by. Give a little wink.

You work here, you work there. Nothing serious. Always temporary. And then, one day, during your shift as a maid at the Economy 99 on route 10, the elderly night guard asks if you’ve ever played poker. 

Nah, you say. Go Fish, that’s really your game. 

So he offers to teach you, along with a few of the other maids and staff waiting around for someone to blow chunks in the swimming pool because you always managed to find the really classy places. 

Okay, so you barely finished high school, you don’t have real marketable skills, you’ve got a big mouth and you’re not afraid to use it and –

– and –

You’re really fucking good at poker. 

And who here would like to venture a guess as to why?

You always know when someone is lying and what is poker if not Advance Bullshit for Adults? Fuckin’ Astronomical Physics for Liars and Dumbasses. Hell, you gotta fuckin’ PhD in Bovine Excrement and it’s time you graduated to the big leagues. Sayonara community college, hello Stanford for Assholes.

Okay, maybe that’s just regular Stanford. 

You learn to hustle too. Lose a few rounds so they don’t catch onto you and can’t accuse you of anything as you wipe their clocks clean. You change your name too, in different towns, in different back alley poker halls, because unfortunately the poker and casino community in this place is too small.

This place being all of the United States. 

You can’t exactly go online and work your literal magic– you gotta at least see or hear the person to know if they’re lying. Bluffing over pixels just isn’t the same. Isn’t sexy enough. 

So, with your big mouth and exceptional poker skills, you go hunting off the coast. It was an invite only poker tournament in Florida. You hadn’t managed to burn your ‘Marlene Green’ identify just yet and she was fucking crushing it up and down the east coast. You barely blinked at the ten grand buy-in– baby money, suckers ducks, little Tikes casino royale.

This was also the last one, you told yourself. One for all the marbles. 

Because the thing about disreputable poker halls, they tend to be filled with unpleasant, disreputable, very angry characters that, like a chimpanzee, will rip your face off and eat it if they think they’ve been cheated. 

Exit strategy. Mama always said you gotta have an exit strategy. Well, Mama said a lot of things and the actual literal exit strategy was Monterey Marina with a gorgeous trawler for sale. Older than shit, but damn that baby could purr. You were gonna take the money, offer up stone-cold cash (no questions asked), and sail off into the sunset. Or, well, sunrise because you were definitely getting the fuck out of Florida. 

But here it comes, the real kick in the goddamn teeth, the real screw in the rack. This is where your mouth and your talent– gift, power, is this a fucking superhero movie?– whatever– tended to get all mishmashed with one other thing that always– and you mean always– got you in the hot seat. Got you in Trouble, with a capital T, that rhymes with P and stands for pool hall – breathing down your neck. 

You alway had shitdumb, bad, fucking luck. 

So it’s not some lowtime, grumpy townies you piss off when you win the pot, it turns out its members of a goddamn drug cartel! And they are PISSED.

P-I-S-S-E-D

You don’t wanna ask the barrel of their guns if they’re going to kill you because you don’t actually want to be sure of their answer, so you’ve got your hands up, thinking this is definitely it– I’ve played my last hand, I’ve sunk my last boat, I’ve cursed my last fuck– when police sirens go off. It’s not a relief, but a distraction.

You’ve got a big mouth, wacky abilities, and reflexes like someone who’s been running their whole life. You smash a bottle against the back of the head of the blonde one closest to you, flip the table– chips and bullets go flying– and with the case holding the winnings still in your hands, you sprint out the back door. 

To your lovely Chevy Camaro waiting for you. 

And you drive.

“And I drive and I drive and I drive, all the way down to this lovely little diner in . . .” 

You swivel on the red seat, nearly knocking over the five little plastic bottles of Crown Royal on the counter that is making your head thick and puffy. You squint at the sign that boasts the best burgers in – “Texas, yes, thank you, Texas! Lone Star State. The most hated state, of all fifty of them, for Wile E Coyote. His nemesis. His haunting. His apocalypse now . . .” 

The man seated next to you, the same man who’s been there for an hour, quietly listening to you drunkenly ramble at the counter of Jim Bo’s Burger Barn, smirks. His mustache twitches.

“Why is it the Wile E Coyote’s least favorite state?”

Your mouth drops at him. You slouch as though indignant about his very question. “Roadrunner, duh, state bird of the Lone Star State. That and blue bonnets. I mean, the flower. Blue bonnets are the state bird and the road runner is the state flower of the Looney Star State . . . wait . . .”

He laughs, softly, his elbows under him as he leans forward on the counter, his brown jacket looking like it smells amazing. Drunker than you meant to be, you eye him from his classic cowboy boots, up his hips, and to the edges of that lovely brown jacket as it hangs around his waist. He has the prettiest eyes. 

“You were saying something about driving here?” He asks, very much aware of your shameless staring. “Do you still have that money?”

“Sure, sure,” you mutter and turn back to your chocolate milkshake that’s pretty much just chocolate soup at this point. You snatch up a remaining fry from your long gone burger and swirl it in the soup. “Got the keys and the money locked up tight. I worry more about someone fucking with my baby more than the money, you know. Lots of sentimental value in that car. ‘Is where I lost my virginity.”

At that, the man sputters on his coffee, his third of the night. Black, almost as dark as his hair. 

You sigh, frowning into your lumpy, ice-creamy soup. “So hard to get laid when you’re running for your life.” 

You swivel back to him as he’s patting his jacket dry of coffee. “Wait. You.”

“Me what?” You think his cheeks warm pink for a moment.

“What the hell are you doing out here at 3AM, listening to me babble endlessly? You don’t look shifty, but maybe you are.” 

He smirks again and tosses his napkins into the now empty coffee mug. 

“I’m Javi,” he says in a deep, soothing voice as he extends his hand across to you. You take it, with the proper amount of trepidation. “And I’m on my way to see my niece in Flagstaff.” 

You click your tongue and withdraw your hand, disappointed. “Bullshit.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“I mean, your name is definitely Javi.” You pick up your own coffee mug and see that it’s unfortunately empty. You pick out some fleck that’s fallen into it. “Well, almost – is that short for something? – but you are definitely not on your way to see your niece in Flagstaff. Does she not live in Flagstaff or . . . do you not even have a niece?” You gasp, mouth agape. He has the decency to look uneasy. His eyes narrow at you. You scoff. “That is fucked up, hombre. Starting off a conversation with a lie is not a good way to make a friend.” 

“Why do you think I’m lying?” 

You roll your eyes, the coffee cup dangling loosely in your fingers. “We’ve been over this, my dude. See the court documents. Jeez, how hard is it to order a refill at three in the morning? Paragraph B, Subsection I’m really fucking good at poker. I don’t think, I know. I have this thing, always had, and when people lie to me, I . . . wriggle. Squirm. Not exactly ‘spoiled lunch meat’ but not ‘just clocked a hottie from across the bar and I like their vibes’ either.” 

He watches as the waitress, glaring, comes over and refills your mug. You immediately dive into five packets of sugar, shredding them like a racoon with a bag of popcorn. 

“But I don’t take it too personally,” you continue, flicking the sugar packet to make sure every single crystal falls into the cup. “People lie all the time. About stupid shit too. I don’t think they even mean to do it. It just happens.”

“Does it bother you? That people lie?” 

“Eh. Once upon a time. But fuck, if you could hear the bullshit firehose that comes outta people’s mouths on the daily, you’d stop shaking it off too, if you know what I mean.” Satisfied that you’d be able to see through both time and space with your sugar high, you take a sip. Needs milk. You reach across his plate, wobbling on the edge of the seat, his chest inches from your forearm, and snag the little tin milk pitcher. Your cup becomes more milk than coffee. “People lie for the best of reasons, mostly. Or at least, best for them. Either to save hurting someone else's feelings or their own. We humans don’t like pain, generally, as a rule. But rules are meant to be broken, I suppose.”

Javi, or as close to his real name as you’re going to get, is quiet. That tends to be more of his natural state, given that he had barely said two words while you recounted the past few weeks to him whether he wanted it or not. You sip your coffee again, delighted to have found the right balance of sugar, milk, and burnt coffee, when he taps the rim of his mug with his nail. 

 “I do have a niece, but she lives in Austin. Haven’t seen her in a while, actually, but I want to.” 

“Oh, yeah?” That was all true. You bend forward, eyes trying to watch him as you sip the delicate, hovering brown line that threatens to spill over the edge of the cup. “What’s stopping you from seeing her?” 

“Work.” 

Well, that was fucking ominous. 

“Wait. Fuck. What do you do for a living?” 

Javi slides off the seat and turns those slim hips towards you and, like a fucking idiot, you just now register the bulk at his waist. 

You whimper. Of course the one nice person who wanted to spare you a second glance was from the cartel. They found you. Somehow they tracked you down to the middle of nowhere, which was exactly what you wanted when you still had your life ahead of you. But now it seemed like a terrible fucking idea because there was no one around to at least make sure Baby Girl Camaro went to a good home. 

“Ah, fuck. Fuck! That’s a gun. Fuck, you’re gonna kill me right here in this goddamn diner,” you whine and put your head on the counter, hands covering the back as if you were preparing for a tornado. 

He sighs. “I’m not going to kill you.” 

Truth. 

“Then what do you want with me?” You glare at him, bleary-eyed. “Because the whole cover as a kindly stranger with baby cow eyes is officially fucking blown, my guy.” 

“Let’s go outside and – wait, what? Baby cow eyes? What the hell does that mean?” 

“What? You’ve never watched Dr. Pole? TV veterinarian?” You unwind from your prone position and frown at him. “He takes care of those little baby cows, lookin’ up at their mama with those big, sweet, gentle, loving brown eyes. Cutest thing in the world. Almost made me wanna give up beef for a whole two minutes. But seriously, dude, there’s this hamburger joint in Miami that makes you just wanna lick the juices right off your fingers– hey!” 

He grabs you by the upper arms and, as casually as a kidnapping can go, hauls you out of the diner. The bell above the door rings joyfully as he pulls you through. 

The reality of your situation hits you like a sixteen-wheeler truck and tears spring up in your eyes as panic bites into your spine. His grip is like iron around your bicep. 

“Dude, I’m so sorry I rambled on like that but I swear I didn’t know who you were. Please, please don’t kill me – o-o-or hurt me. Please don’t take me back to the cartel. You can have the money, I swear, j-j-just take it–,”

His eyes widen and immediately lets you go. The neon sign and lights of the diner behind him blur his face in shadow. You wipe at your eyes. 

“Lady, look, if you’re gonna survive on the run from the Cali Cartel, you can’t be telling your whole life story to anyone who asks.” He’s got his hands on his hips as if disappointed with you. You pout with your bottom lip out.

“Wasn’t telling just anyone. Was telling you.” You cross your arms and sniff, suddenly rather embarrassed to be crying in front of a man so genuinely hot it makes you go a little cross-eyed. Well, it was either him or the whiskey. TBD. “Not that I’m encouraging you or anything, but if you don’t kill me, aren’t your cartel bosses gonna be pissed?” 

“I don’t work for the cartel. I work for the DEA.” 

If crying was embarrassing, you are going to be fucking traumatized if you puked all over his cowboy boots.

“Aw shit. Shitshitshitshitshit.” You press your knuckles into your eyes, groaning. You wander backwards. Your head starts to spin and so do you. “The fucking government is after me? Holy shit, this is not good.” 

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”

You frown and spin back around. He looks exasperated. 

“Well, how many words does it take to read me my Miranda rights?” You tick off the words on your fingers as you speak them aloud. “You. Have. The. Right. To. Remain. Silent. Anything – is that one word or two? – You. Say–,”

“Jesus Christ–,” He claps his wide hand over yours, squishing your tally between his palms. “Are you always like this or just because you’re drunk?” 

“I’m a delight, pal, okay?” You scowl up at him. “I am a barrel full of monkeys at all times. I am a waterslide with chocolate and whipped cream, okay? I am a–,”

His hands leap to your shoulders. His touch is gentle like he knows he shouldn’t scare you but he’s considering throwing you into oncoming traffic. 

“Just . . . show me the case of money you stole,” he begs with his baby cow eyes, “alright? Let’s start there.”

Your eyes narrow at him. “If I do, what’s to keep you from knocking me out and throwing me in the trunk?” 

“I’m not going to do that.”

No tingle. You purse your lips and wiggle out from under his palms. “Say it. Say, I’m not going to knock you out and throw you in the trunk and steal all of your money.” 

“It’s not exactly your money, is it?”

“Say it!”

“Fine!” He says, throwing his hands in the air. “I’m not going to knock you out and throw you in the trunk and steal all of your money.” 

Still nothing. No tingle. Well, no tingle about him lying anyway. 

“You passed the test. Now come here.” 

Hesitantly, he nudges towards you, those thick eyebrows dipping down as if expecting you to pull a bazooka out of your bra.

“C’mere, c’mere. Good.” You clap a hand on his shoulder and lean into him. You shift your weight onto one leg and wiggle off your other boot. You get a whiff of his cologne – dark, woodsy, a little too much, as if to cover for a lack of deodorant. “Now, as you so annoyingly identified earlier, I have had a little, insy-tintsy bit to drink, and if I tried to take off my shoe by myself, I would, as the kids say, eat shit. And once you’ve fallen on your ass in front of one cop, you’ve fallen on your ass in front of them all.”

His warm hands find your waist, steadying you, just as you pop your heel out of your boot. “I’m not a cop,” he grumbles.

“And I’m not a walking lie detector.” You shake your boot and your car keys tinkle as they hit the dirt. “Ah, ha! Got ‘em.”

You shake them in front of his baby cow eyes, grinning, before spinning back to your car and popping the trunk, hopping as you went to slide your boot back on. 

“Do you work out?” You ask as he rounds the edge. Half of you is buried in the trunk, feet in the air. 

“Uh, yeah, when I can. Why?”

“What do you bench?”

“256. Why?” 

“Oh, then this should be easy for you.”

You groan, struggling with something and he dives to help you – and his knees buckle. 

“Why the hell do you have a tire for a sixteen wheeler in your trunk?”

“Same reason you’re sweating, toots. Heavy as fuck and hard to move. But now that we have . . .”

You pull out a slim silver case. You pop the handles and sigh.

You haven’t moved a single bill since that night. You haven’t even breathed on it, as if doing so would set off a series of alarms, bells, and whistles.

“So small for so much trouble,” you whisper as he crowds in next to you. “Fifty thousand dollars. Make or break a life. Well, at least, a life like mine.” 

Javi makes a face. “Should be one hundred, but those fuckers switched it out.” 

“Wait, how do you know that?” 

He sighs and slams the lid of the trunk shut. You snatch up the case before he does and hold it tight to your chest. Javi stands there for a moment, with his hand on Baby’s trunk, head down, thinking.

“Look, I want to help you . . . and I can. But you’ve gotta start being honest with me. How did you really get into that poker game?”

“What do you mean?”

He crosses his arms, frowning. “That little party trick you do. The human lie detector thing. What is it? How did you know Veracruz had that shit hand?”

“Uh, because I asked him and he said he didn’t have a shit hand, and I knew he was lying.” 

“Yeah, that. How did you know he was lying?”

“I just did.”

“Bullshit.” 

“That’s my line!” You glare up at him, very much aware of his height and very much aware how hot he is. “I’m not lying to you. I just know when people are lying. If you believe it, I’ll know.” 

Javi rolls his eyes. “That’s not a real thing people can do. Have you done forensic work before? Studied body language somewhere?” 

You scoff and step back, showing off your black fringe vest, dirty jeans, and combat boots. “Do I look like I’ve studied anything anywhere ever? Where would I even have gotten the money to go study somewhere? Oh right, the forensic fairy, just beating the shit outta people with a bag of cash.” 

He puts his hands on his hips and you match him because you can do the scary cop thing too. It’s not that hard. 

“I broke my arm when I was seven on a bike ride.” 

“True.” 

“I had a dog named Benji.” 

“Dog’s right, but not named Benji.” You grin, rubbing your hands together, then putting them on your thighs. “C’mon, gimme something you’ve never told anyone. This is exciting. Your mustache does this little twitch thing when I’m right.” 

“When I was twelve, I cheated off my friend’s math test.” 

You frown, dropping your shoulders. “That’s your big secret? Whoof, buddy, and here I thought the big scary man gunning for me was mean and lean, when he’s actually just an All-American—,”

“I need your help to arrest the men who are trying to kill you.” 

Your mouth snaps shut so fast your teeth click.

“That’s what all of this is about.” He crosses his arms and leans against Baby. “Aren’t you curious how I found you so fast? Faster than the cartel who's been on your ass for two weeks now?” 

“I’d like to think it was just kismet that we found each other,” you grumble. “Serendipity. Movie magic. Lady Luck doing me a fuckin’ solid for once.”

“That case has a tracker in it. We had a plant in that game who was supposed to win, but not before he could distribute the cash out in the pot. We’d be able to follow them back to their stashes and track their movements.” He bit his lip, disapprovingly. “And then you showed up. Cleaned their fucking clocks like it was nothing. Had their goddamn numbers from minute one and none of us could figure it out. Steve was probably relieved when you knocked him out with that bottle.”

“Oh, shit, the blonde was your partner?” You grimace. “My bad, dude, my bad. Is he, uh, okay?”

Javi nods, eyes distant, as if subtly trying to work something out in his brain. Like testing to see if you could read minds or something. “He’ll be fine. His wife Connie is thrilled to have him home for a few weeks.” 

“Ah. And that means you pulled the shit straw to go after the girl who ran off with all your government money . . .” It was finally all coming together. “Shit, should I add your wife to the list of people I’ve pissed off? I can’t imagine she’s thrilled about any of this.”

His jaw works, as if he was chewing on something, eyes dark, before he pulls a packet of cigarettes out of the pocket of his jacket. He holds one out to you.

You stay where you are, hesitant. 

“C’mon, don’t tell me you’re not a smoker.” He spins an unlit cigarette between his fingers. “I don’t bite.”

You scowl and trudge forward. You snatch the cigarette from his thick fingers and wait your turn for the lighter.

“What gave it away? I haven’t had a smoke in hours.” 

The shadow of the flame flickered in his palm as he held out the lighter close to your lips, his hand blocking the wind. His brown eyes looked black in the absence of light. 

“Chain-smoking and playing poker with idiots is a combo deal. Two vices for the price of one.”

“Ha. Ha.”

You match his lean against Baby’s trunk, the pair of you watching the occasional car or truck go by on the interstate in the distance. The paper crinkles when you suck in the smoke. God, there really is nothing like the first bite of a cigarette. 

“So, what’s the play here?” You ask, after a moment. “You have the money. Why do you need me?” 

“You won’t have to worry about kindly strangers with baby cow eyes for starters.” You scowl at him. Maybe it’s the orange light of the flame, but you swear you see a twinkle in his eyes. “But you tell me. You seem smart. What would the government want with you?”

He likes a chase, you realize. He likes to play, to tease. He likes to be in control. Something inside you knots up, threatening goosebumps on your skin, but you shake it back. Down, girl. 

You take a sip from your cigarette, thinking. 

There is nothing else around except the highway and this diner. Seemed like such a good idea at the time. Who’d ever find your ass all the way out here? You lick the bottom of your lip before pulling it between your teeth.

“I’m your only witness to the mountains of coke being produced out in the open when they brought us in. Everyone else at that table was cartel or DEA. You want me to testify. 

He nods slowly. If he was impressed, he didn’t show it.

“We didn’t know who the hell you were when you showed up and planned to arrest you before everything went tits up.” He taps the ash onto the gray dirt and you watch his fingers. “If you do this, you’re out from under the cartel. We can give you a new identity, and you can start grifting again across America. All of this’ll be a bad dream.”

He flicks the butt of his cigarette into the dark, just at the edge of the light from the neon sign. You follow suit a second later. The keys to Baby are still in your pocket. 

“And if I don’t? If I don’t do this, then what?” 

His answer is a single arched eyebrow.

You dart to the left, trying to get around him, but he’s there first, arms outstretched like he’s guarding a goal. He frowns at you. Seriously? 

You lunge again, this time to the right, and he’s again in front. 

Your brow sweating, you hook your foot onto Baby’s trunk, desperately trying to scramble over the top. You get about halfway up before those annoyingly large hands snatch you around the waist and haul you off the car.

“Would you stop it?” He plops you down between his solid chest and the car door. This close to him, air temporarily leaves your lungs. “I’m being honest when I say I’m here to help you.” 

“I don’t believe you.” 

“Am I lying?” Again, that beautiful eyebrow of disapproval. 

“No, but I’ve officially decided you’re shifty.” 

He shakes his head and steps back, allowing blood flow to return to your brain. 

“Is this what you want for your life? Driving from small town to small town, picking up bullshit jobs, sleeping in shit beds, when there’s so much more you could do? You’re smart, resourceful, funny, weirdly agile . . . but you wanna spend your life hiding from the world.” 

There’s something hot and sharp in your throat.

“It’s what I’m good at,” you croak. 

His expression softens. The gravel crackles beneath his boots as he comes closer. Javi, the DEA officer, has temporarily left the building. In his place, this Javi is smoothed out, dulled, not all jagged edges and razor burns. Maybe tastes sweeter than day-old coffee and stale cigarettes. You want to tell him there’s nothing wrong with either– you happily take both– but seeing him unguarded, even for a moment, threatens to topple you over. There’s a light in his eyes when he takes in your face. Your eyes. Your nose. Your mouth. 

He looks . . . hopeful. 

One hesitant finger brushes away a stray strand of hair from your forehead.

Do not tremble. Do not tremble. Do not do it, I swear, ladies, keep it together!

“I bet you are,” he says softly. Jesus Christ, his hands are so big up close. “I bet you are good at a lot of things. You seem like the type who could genuinely surprise me. And I think you might surprise yourself one day.” 

You grimace, deeply, deeply regretful. 

“Yeah,” you mutter glumly. “I do surprise people a lot, actually. Unfortunately, you didn’t seem to be listening.”

“Wha–,”

From your other pocket in your vest, you yank out a one-time-use stun gun and stab his thigh through his jeans. Fifty-thousand volts lights up his entire body, arched, and tensed, before the grown man collapses at your feet. 

Unconscious, Javi hits the ground so hard you squeal, landing on his face and no doubt earning a nasty bruise. 

“Exit strategy, dude! Always gotta have an exit strategy. But I’m so, so sorry!” Grabbing his deadweight shoulder, you roll him onto his back and try to get him in a comfortable position. There’s dust in his mustache. .You fold his hands onto his chest like he was casually napping. 

Then because you were in fact the nicest or stupidest person on the planet, you dig your arms under his and pull him out of the parking lot. It would be a true sin if he got run over and anything happened to that beautiful face. Huffing, you drop him off by the bike rack. “I’m sorry. You are so gorgeous but I gotta get outta here and I can’t have you following me. This hurts me way more than it hurts you.”

You bend down and rifle through his jacket. You find what you’re looking for and take his phone out of his pocket. Old, probably a burner. With a shake, you crack off the battery and throw it on the ground. The crunch is loud beneath your heel. That should give you some more time. Can’t haul you back to HeadQuarters if he can’t call them.

This close to him, you can see the bags beneath his eyes. You remember he didn’t eat the entire time he sat with you in the diner. He didn’t respond to your question about a wife. Guilt clangs into your ribs. Slowly, you loosely brush your fingers through his hair. It’s soft, curls around his neck and ears. He looks like he needs sleep. 

You had been blasting across state lines, hardly eating, barely sleeping, restless and fearful. Maybe he had been too.  

“God, I am such a fucking idiot.” You grimace as you see a ripe purple bump growing on his cheek. “I am so sorry and I am so going to hell for this.”

Over the road to the highway, the dawn rises, purple and pink and heavy.

Baby purrs, when you start the engine, welcoming and warm. Where to today, Mama?

Jim Croce’s twang eases out of the radio as you adjust your mirror and see his long legs still out by the concrete. Somebody would find him soon enough.

Uptown got its hustlers

The bowery got it's bums

42nd street got big Jim Walker

He's a pool shootin' son of a gun

Yeah, he big and dumb as a man can come

But he stronger than a country hoss

You shake your head, guilt gnawing at your gut. Baby roars as you pull out onto the road and up onto the highway. Into the burning dawn.

What was it that he said? 

And when the bad folks all get together at night

You know they all call big Jim boss, just because

He called you funny. Resourceful. Full of potential. And smart. He thought you were smart.

Liar, liar. 

And they say

You don't tug on superman's cape

You don't spit into the wind

You don't pull the mask off that old lone ranger

And you don't mess around with Jim

[catslvrr]

heaven sent — 08. the apartment

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It was raining again the next day, but there was no Danielle. You sat there, for an hour or so, hoping that she would eventually show up. You soon gave up and went back to sleep so you wouldn’t have to feel the dull ache in your heart.

It was six in the evening when you woke up again, thanks to Minji.

“Bro,” she knocked on the door. “You alive?”

“Yeah,” you answered groggily.

“I made some noodles for you.”

“I’ll be out in a sec.” You groaned as you rolled out of bed, ruffling your hair as you made your way to the bathroom to brush your teeth.

Despite your constant bickering, you were grateful for Minji’s presence in your life. You had grown somewhat fond of her, as much as you hated to admit it, and you both found yourselves confiding in each other late at night after opening a few bottles of soju.

“You look like shit,” was what Minji said when you plopped yourself on the couch. You chose to ignore the comment, stuffing your mouth with noodles instead.

She scrolled on Twitter as you ate, glancing at you in concern every now and then.

“You good?”

You wiped your mouth with a tissue. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“How long have we been roommates, bro? You only sleep in this late when…” She trailed off.

Again, you didn’t respond, just continuing to eat.

She pressed on. “Did you fail that essay? Or did your dad call? Is it girl problems?”

Your hand holding the chopsticks twitched for half a second, but that’s all it took for her to realize.

“So it’s girl problems!” Minji threw an arm over your shoulder, to which you cringed in disgust. “Bro, talk to me. I’m practically the love expert around here.”

You peeled her arm off you. “Love expert my ass. You’ve been single your whole life.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but you quickly shut her down. “That one online situationship on Twitter doesn’t count.”

“Okay,” she huffed. “I might not have much experience, but sometimes it might help to get a different perspective.”

“Wow,” you said dryly. “You actually said something that made sense for once.”

“Enough about me. Tell me what’s troubling my favorite couple.”

Well, she’s actually not my girlfriend. She’s a messenger of God. And we kissed. But she kinda just disappeared after that.

“Um,” you cleared your throat awkwardly, trying to think of a believable lie. “I want her to move in with me, but she says she can’t leave, um, Australia.”

Nice.

“Damn,” she whistled. “So it’s serious serious. I thought it was like a petty little argument.”

You rubbed your face tiredly. “Yeah, no.”

“I get it, bro. Long distance relationships are hard. But you guys are both still young.” She slapped your back.

“She’s already made an effort to fly all the way here to spend these few weeks with you. I think you should just make the most of your time together, and consider the serious stuff when you’re both more financially stable.”

“Wow,” was all you could say. “I didn’t know you had that in you.”

Minji puffed her chest in pride. “Love expert, baby!”

You rolled your eyes, but let her advice sink in. 

When, or if, she comes back, I apologize and hope things go back to normal. Surely we can still have a fun time and ignore the tension.

“Thanks, bro,” you mumbled.

“You can thank me by making it up to her.” Minji snatched your chopsticks and proceeded to finish off your noodles, which was your form of payment for her advice.

“I don’t even know how to do that.”

She pursed her lips in thought. “What about finishing that song?”

“What song?”

“The song that you had on repeat in your sleep. I literally had to barge into your room and turn it off.”

“Oh. That song.”

She paused. “It’s been a while since I saw you making music, bro. I’m glad that you’re back.”

You managed out a small smile. “Thanks.”

“It’s just an instrumental right? Why don’t you write some lyrics and a melody for it? You’re literally Shakespeare’s daughter. Just write down cheesy shit and sweep her off her feet.”

“Sure,” you deadpanned. “Like it’s that easy.”

“Everything is easy when it comes to love,” she teased, to which you punched her arm.

“I’ve heard enough,” you said, going to your room.

You sat in your chair, uncapping a pen and twirling it as you listened to your old voice notes. Most of them were only about two to four bars long, melodies that randomly popped into your head and resonated with you enough to keep them. Once you found one you liked enough, you knew you could start.

Music composition was a repetitive process. You would play the instrumental for a few bars, freestyle a melody with random words, and keep it if worked. If it worked, you’d polish the lyrics for it, and move on to the next bar. If it didn’t, you would just click play again and try a completely different melody. If you were lucky, sometimes the melody and lyrics would come rolling off your tongue for a whole verse.

You weren’t a singer by any means, but you had created a few demos here and there. As you listened to your first draft, you sank back in your seat and frowned. It felt so empty with just your voice.

You thought about Danielle, and you thought about her stupidly singing to Frozen. You wondered how she would sound singing the song. And so, you spent the rest of the night layering the melody with harmonies with her at the forefront of your mind.

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[dominimoonbeam]

To The Edge - 25

This work is mine and I do not give consent for my works to be used, copied, published, or posted without my permission. I am sharing chapters as I work on this story but it is copyrighted material that I plan to rework and publish when completed.

story tags: scifi romance, hijinks in space, rogues learning to trust, violence, blood, guns, death, explicit language, so much kidnapping,

Works organized and easily found over on the patreon. <3

TO THE EDGE - CHAPTER 25.

Rory tore his eyes off of them. He needed to get some space. He needed to wash off the blood and paint and the memory of them putting their body between his and danger.

Stardust caught his arm before he could walk out. “Are you really going to pretend we’re not good at this? We get along. We—”

“Yeah, we get along great, that’s the problem. You’re going to get me killed or I’m—” He choked back the words because he couldn’t say it out loud. Either they were going to get him killed or… Or he was going to get them killed. Either way, this was going to end badly.

They didn’t let go of his arm and when he looked, he had been bracing for disappointment, anger, maybe even a little heartbreak. Instead, Stardust was staring him dead in the eye. “You’re scared because you care.”

He stepped back, hissing through his teeth like he’d been burned. “Stop. I don’t… I don’t care about you.” He forced a smile and a thin laugh, shaking his head. “And if I did, I wouldn’t be hauling your ass toward danger, would I? What sort of asshole would that make me? What sort of person would that make me…” A bad one. He was a bad person. Dragging a deep breath, Rory cut a hand through the air between them—like he could swipe this away. “Okay. We’re only a week away from the goal. We’ll make it. We’ll get the loot, hopefully get your cousins off your tail, and then we’ll go our separate ways, just like I said. If it’s the sort of stash you think it is, it’ll be plenty for you to get your own jet and hightail it wherever you want to go.”

“What if I want to go with you?”

Rory took another step back, into the hallway. His heart physically ached. “That’s not funny. Knock it off.” He had to find a way to end this before he couldn’t—before he wouldn’t.

They took a step to follow him, suddenly looking very much like the descendant of a mob throne. “I’m serious. I want to go with you,” Stardust said.

His heart pounded a little faster and a smile pulled loose from the corner of his mouth. They were trouble incarnate. “No, you don’t.”

“We’re partners,” Stardust pressed.

“No. I meant what I said, Stardust. You’re a bounty. I shouldn’t have let you think otherwise. This…you and me…that’s not a thing.” Oh, but he wanted it to be a thing. And so did they. So, why was he trying so hard to put the brakes on? Since when had he ever been honorable?

“Don’t you want to be friends?” they pressed.

A laugh burst from his chest, his fingers pressing against his temple. “Friends…” he repeated, like it was the worst joke they’d told yet. “No. I don’t want to be your friend. Look at the shit you stir up.” He didn’t want to be friends. He wanted more. He wanted everything.

“We’re the same, Cosmic. You said I was a magnet for trouble…and you’re trouble, remember?”

He took another step back, to press his back to the wall and feel the grounding cold of the metal against his spine. “Yeah, I said that, but you’re more trouble than you’re worth.”

“I’m worth a fortune.”

Rory laughed. “Shit, that’s a hell of an ego. I guess I should have expected that from a primer. Of course, you’d think you’re worth it…”

“Just admit it,” they urged, grinning with mischief. “Admit you like me.”

He shook his head and didn’t look at them. “No, I don’t.” It wasn’t hard to lie when they missed the mark. “The only thing I care about is my payday and my skin. I don’t need a partner or a friend or…” He flicked his gaze to them, trying to drive his lie home. “I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone.”

Stardust stared right back at him. “Liar.”

“You’re going to leave either way!” he snapped and then cringed because he didn’t want to talk about this. He shook his head and started down the hall toward his quarters. “You don’t belong out here. You’re not a mercenary or a bounty hunter. You’re just a spoiled rich kid playing at crime past the edge for thrills. You’ll get over it and go home to the prime eventually.”

Their boots trailed his. “You’re so full of shit, you’re not even making sense. I was raised in crime, farm boy. If anyone is being a prick here, it’s me. If one of us is putting the other in danger, it’s me.”

He stopped at his door, resisting the urge to rush inside and close it before they could follow. He was sometimes a cheat, sometimes a thief, but never a coward. “That’s not the same. Your family is a completely different sort of criminal element, and you know it.”

“You mean more successful?” they teased.

Rory turned to look at them but they continued before he could get a word in—as soon as they had this gaze.

“I like you.”

“What?”

“You’re a smug, reckless, jerk, but I like you. I like traveling with you and working with you. I think we’re good at it. And I think you like me too. I want to stay.”

“You…”

“I want to be more than partners.”

“Stop it. You don’t mean that.” He couldn’t take his eyes off them. They weren’t grinning anymore. Nothing about this sounded like a joke.

Stardust took a step closer, the toes of their boots touching. He could smell the paint and sweat and blood on their skin when they leaned in.

“Stardust…”

They watched him. “Just admit you got scared when you thought I might die…”

He sighed. He should back up, should push them away, but he didn’t. “I wasn’t scared…”

The corner of their mouth twitched. “Liar.”

“I’m not lying…” he lied.

Stardust closed that scant distance between them. Cosmic had never been kissed so softly in his life. He closed his eyes, feeling what little attempts at doing the right thing he’d been clinging to shredded. “Why did you do that?”

“I like you. I want you.”

“Don’t say that… Don’t. You can’t.” Hooking up would have been one thing when they’d both flirted with it weeks ago but now? This? This was more than hooking up.

Stardust kissed him again, one of their hands on his arm and the other finding his hip.

“Damn it…” he sighed. Who had he been kidding? This was going to end terribly but he couldn’t avoid it. He didn’t even want to. He curled a hand around the back of their neck to draw them in for another kiss, this one deeper. He didn’t want feather-soft kisses. He wanted them to bruise him, so he’d remember this when it was all over. “You make bad choices, Stardust…”

They smiled against his lips. “You really think this is one of those?”

“Yeah, this is one of those bad choices. I’m a bad choice.”

[roseonthewindow]

pomio (or whatever im honestly not careing about that) we need to have a Semi serious disscusion about Accountability.

When I first got here and created this character The original intention was a blackhole via lack of Roleplayers the key figure in Isabellas motovation. I had a full small story and everything. I just got stalled due to a family matter and did not have any real time to adress the astetics. lets face it Tumblr's defaults are not the most astetically pleasing thing.

It was one of your shippers that started shit as nausium and since than your punks have been hideing behind you while using mob style tatics to try and get their way...

Here is the bad news. I AM FRENCH itallian Blueblood...if you want to play mob boss... it comes highly unrecomended.

This is a warning to the bad actors in your spesfic corner. (Put under keep reading to spair the ones not causeng issues.) If your not being a little jerk about it most if this you are already aware of, the rest does not pretain to you.

If you are not causing a stink or drama bassed off the vain stupidity of one of your bad actors you have an invested instrest to just ignore me. I am fine with this, you do not have to interact or talk.

Intentionaly attacking me than flat out denying it when it can not be glarringly more obvious is stupid at best. To the bad actors keep in mind I don't accept your "Skunk butt rug" of an excusse. As for the rest I am not putting this in shipping tags as a courtsy to the shippers who are not causing issues.

Xbox gamepass is NOT Neowiz. (Wasn't there a settlement involving that thou I will have to look into it but I think microsoft got in trouble for putting games on gamepass whos developers opted out of that feature but I don't think Lies of P is in that group of affected games.)

Mods are not canon. (This should be obvious to be fair)

The next DLC will destroy most of your conxept of the protagonists name. (And I know the creator will never be sorry about it.)

This comes as no suprise to anyone fimillar with why Ginago started refering to Gepettos puppet as "brother" you know that thing you get when you see the true ending in lies of P.

There is no offical Ship, this is by design, and if there was it would be a straight ship, because, again, by design.

Your treating what the creator designed as an art piece an your personal playgound. He can and will troll you all. As someone that kmows of his pryor works I will laugh at you all leaving when you never get your way. "Keep fucking around, I will make you find out." Is his exact mentality to forced naratives.

To spite this I do NOT hate your ship, I hate your bad behavior and narsistoc desire to look clean while being a dirty bitch. And that is not a refrence to what you ship but the piss ass bullshit attude your retarded asses have taken towards me from day one.

Some of you did this because of one losers spurging and ghastlughting. If my view on this upsets you keep in mind my beef is not with the ship but a few of the shippers who are literaly being loser cry bully baby fucks.

Again if you are not doing this you do not have to worry; I could care less what you do with your ship but when you try to literaly lie to me, bully me, and make attempts to intimidate me with a hate mob, you just pissed me off to a point where I literaly salavate at getting to rip your revisionist ass a new hole.

I do NOT take kindly to people STUPID enough to try and threaten me; but I am going to be generious because most of you were not alive long enough to know what my family is like. Calling me all the progressive slurs will just be taken and SLAMMED back at you full force with reciepts.

Come at me at your own risk, I can and will destroy you... again if you are here because just curious this does not apply to you. But if you are one of the little fuckers starting shit know that yes you ARE an open target for criticisim for your bad attude alone.

Do not get me started on the activisim that never brlongs in a fucking FANDOM. I will tear you and your shit orgnizations down. Again I am not a nice person to anyone STUPID enough to THREATEN me.

[taliskermortem]

i have lots to say about this episode appartently so we're gonna stick it in one post under the cut

okay five minutes into episode 8 and i already want to cry; 'you might even be happier' like you both know thats a lie right, look at their faces; 'let me go already' sand why do you have to hurt me

no no no jennie must be happy at all times what is this take it back i dont want it

straight up not the first time mew has tried a cigarette i dont care what he wants everyone else to believe; its quite nice my ass

is this fucker really trying to get sand to do his community service; wow really you're gonna pull out the orphan card what is wrong with you; sand for the love of all that is holy please grow a backbone if ray says naaaa one more time im gonna flip a table

cheum my girl, firstly fascinated by the fact that at the beginning she was only worried about mew, like does anyone actually like anyone else in that friend group, because if i knew one of my friends had been in love with another one for years and then they got together because the other one was very obviously having a bit of a spiral i would sure as hell be worried about both of them - like it's so obvious that ray is being used and is going to have his heart crushed and just straight up no one seems to care

okay now she's shitting on her other supposed friend; i love her girlfriend but she was definitely lying when she said people were lucky to have cheum as their friend i see very little evidence of that

GUMPA

wow we're really talking about licking ass

but glad to see nick hasn't totally fallen apart and is going after opportunities yadda yadda even if the trailer shows us that this will probably also get messy, at least my boy's trying

boston what the fuck dont make me cry my poor lonley boy why is no one, literally no one in his corner i know he's a shit but being that alone breaks my heart, everyone else is a shit too and they all at least got someone

quite frankly mew, i am also bored of you

im sorry but why would you invite boston and top? okay maybe boston i get because he's part of the hostel they're hosting it at maybe but top? that's just asking for trouble. unless it's like an open invite? but then why did they get notifications? (edit: so apparently cheum invited him but still, what the hell)

i feel like this was a missed opportunity to put mew in some sluttier clothing tbh

alrighty we're doing coke off the table lads

he didn't pick you ray, you idiot, you are literally the definition of a rebound; someone i should love wow what a dick

i love you mew... awkward silence

there are too many lights on at this party

the drink in the face i did not see that coming im cackling, top if i were you i would run from this train wreck

oh wow you really rejected his attempt at a kiss in private but you're literally straight up using him in front of top boy i dont care how broken your heart is dont use other people that way; ray you're an idiot if you dont pick up on this

cheum there is a time and a place and this probably aint it; my mother is dead - jerk, wow what a lovely friendship they have

oh dear i hope this isn't going to turn into a controlling situation for nick but i wont hold my breath, just give the kid nice things for once

didnt we agree to moving on together why is this a conversation i didnt witness, i need this you dont understand

moving on in a circle why is he so funny

boston my guy you have some serious balls turning up to this party but i kinda love you for it

who are you to judge me you know what this is a very valid point, boston being the voice of reason on this show they've all done shitty things to each other and i really cant blame him for being cold to nick, that shit was pretty fucked up

freddie's bi, you're bi, i'm bi, let's make out - honestly most iconic part of the whole episode i think

why didnt you come to me ray im gonna hit you, he's not your property, he's not accountable to you

I WANT TO SLEEP WITH YOU RAY YOU WERE LITERALLY JUST SUCKING FACE WITH THE SUPPOSED LOVE OF YOUR LIFE WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL

ray threesome agenda continues i see

fake freddie the only one with any brains what so ever

thank you sand. finally.

ray that was fucked up. like manipulative, controlling, red flag fucked up.

oh shit its cheum's little brother so my god boston you absolutely wrecking ball of a human being

top buddy why dont you just go home, you are clearly not having a good time

honestly boston, walking away is most definitely the right option

how is it that top has pouty eyebrows

oh shit police

top going for the bribery route i see, this will either make him look like a right idiot or make him look like the hero

cheum what the fuck is wrong with you; you're right they dont care about you but quite frankly do you actually care about them? mew yes but the other two you have always treated a bit like shit tbh

this groups needs to fall apart

okay the taking care of the passed out guy is nice but the stroking of the pass out guy is getting a little weird top

so the bribe worked? alright top there to save the day that's going to make things nice and awkward isnt it, at least ray can pay him back so he doesn't have a financial hold over him i guess

sand going through all that shit and he's still the one doing the comforting for nick, their friendship is so good, even after what sand did they're still there for each other

boston my boy, my lonely boy

too much drama he says so i'll sleep with my friends little brother he thinks, god i love this absolute disaster of a human, he tried for a split second there, he really did

PREVIEW

DADDY DAD WHAT THE FUCK

slutty boston is back im so glad he didn't get any dick in this episode and that just seemed wrong tbh

mew flirting with randomer in a bar? what about ray? for real - yeah he's taken top, but not currently by you

ooh involving the family (or at least i assume those are mew's mums), personally not a fan, leave families alone dont use them for manipulation

again ray, he's not your property fuck off

i've never been so yielding to anyone in my life well at least you're self aware i guess

yaaa that shot of boston at the end there? lonley and leaning on the bar? breaking my heart right now

[amazingmsme]

Lesson Learned

AN: This one’s late ‘cause I’m a bit busy with school right now, but I got it done nonetheless! The “punishment” prompt just screamed Eiffel to me. He’s rotten & deserves to get wrecked. Enjoy!

Minkowski should've known something was up just by the way Eiffel was looking at her. He was more smug than usual, he kept glancing at her, and to make him look all the more incriminating, he would occasionally giggle to himself. She poured herself a steaming cup of the hot seaweed water that replaced their coffee months ago. She was still getting used to it.

She grabbed a few creamer packets, ripping them open with her teeth. After dumping them in, she added a few dashes of sugar. She saw the way Eiffel turned away and fucking snickered to himself and she snapped.

"Mind telling me what's so damn funny?" she asked, stirring her drink with vigor.

"Oh nothing. My mind's just wandering, and I crack myself up," he answered smoothly. She was still skeptical.

"Mmhmmm," he hummed with a glare, taking a sip from her mug. She froze.

It was far worse than usual. In fact, it was downright God awful. She stifled a sputtering cough, holding a fist up to her mouth. Eiffel was grinning like the cat that ate the canary.

She had to pretend everything was fine.

"When you're done with your daily log can you meet me in the engine room? Just need some help with minor repairs," she said nonchalantly. Eiffel seemed slightly taken aback by her lack of reaction but quickly recovered to maintain appearances.

"Uh yeah, sure thing."

Minkowski nodded and left the room, taking another sip of her ruined coffee substitute, gagging as soon as she was out of earshot.

Eiffel was perplexed. Did his trick fall flat? Did she have no tastebuds? Did she just really enjoy salt? He shrugged it off, going about his work normally. By the time he made it to the engine room, Minkowski was already waiting for him.

He clapped his hands together as he walked up. He slapped the engine's hull and leaned against it casually.

"Alright, what's wrong with her this time?" he asked, breathing out a heavy sigh.

"Oh nothing, that was a lie to get you to come down here."

"Wha-?"

"Hera, lock the doors."

"Sure thing Commander!" came the AI's chipper voice followed by the ominous click of the locks.

"Uuuh... Is everything alright?" he chanced asking that dreaded questions. Minkowski shook her head and chuckled evilly.

"I thought it was. But then you decided to try and pull a fast one on me," she said in a cool, calculating tone. He gulped.

"So you did notice. Wasn't sure with the way you actually drank it," he sassed, feeling himself become more relaxed. "You didn't really mind though, so how's about we call it even?"

She couldn't believe her ears. He couldn't actually be serious right now, could he?

"Oh we can call it even. As soon as I have my revenge," she said evenly. Eiffel gave a nervous chuckle, shifting back and forth on his feet.

"Is that really necessary? I-I mean, it was just a joke. No harm, no fowl."

She shook her head. "Sorry Eiffel, but I can't let you keep getting away with pulling stunts like this. I'm gonna have to punish you." He winced at her cold tone.

"You really don't have to do that," he said, sounding deflated.

"Oh but I want to. See, I don't know if you know this Eiffel, but you're too cocky for your own good. And I don't want it to come back to bite you in the ass when it matters, so I'm gonna do it for you."

"I'm not following," he deadpanned. She rolled her eyes.

"What else is new. Just- get over here," she motioned  for him to come closer, and again when he didn't listen. She gave him a once over and sighed. He was completely stiff.

"God, just relax. You're not in trouble-"

"Whew, that's a relief."

"But I am pissed off. Damnit Eiffel, you know how nasty that stuff is on its own, did you really feel the need to swap the sugar for the salt?" she asked exasperated. He had to hide behind his hand to muffle his giggles.

"You think that's funny?" she asked, crossing her arms. He gave a shy nod, a rather proud grin on his face as his shoulders shook with silent laughter.

"In that case, let me give you something to really laugh about," she growled. Before Eiffel could know what hit him, Minkowski rammed into him and immediately began scribbling her fingers over his ribs.

"Ahahaha whahahat thehe hehehell?" he cried, doubled over in laughter.

"You love pulling pranks and being such a jokester, so I just thought I'd help you get a few laughs," she said, fake sweetness dripping from her voice.

"Whahahat dohoho you wahahant from mehehe?" he screeched, glueing his arms to his sides as a feeble attempt at protection.

"Oh nothing, just revenge for making my life a three ring circus," she teased, and even he chuckled harder at that. Encouraged, she crawled her fingers up to his armpits, earning a loud shriek of laughter. He stumbled back and she followed, hands raised with wiggling fingers.

Nervous giggles bubbled up his throat before she could even touch him again, but once she did, he was in hysterics.

Eiffel learned an important lesson that day. And he intended to learn it again.

[bernraccnt]

little red and the wolf (wolf x afab! reader)

dm requested:  HI!! can i request a NSFW/smut mr. Wolf x fem reader if thats ok and thanks!! 😁😁

i literally had the hardest time writing this but I DID IT

before u read: smut (+18), switch wolf and switch reader, reader and wolf are brat coded i don’t make the rules, still using they/them 4 reader, 2nd person pov, i really enjoy this reader’s characterization if you can’t tell, i also tried not to take it super seriously bc im not a big fan of serious sexy times, i suck at describing things my b

you once heard someone say that nightclubs bring out the most primal instincts in people. and sitting here, at the bar and being blinded by the lighting in the dark, crowded space, you felt inclined to agree with that.

when you were dragged out to the club by an old friend of yours, you wanted nothing more than to drink yourself into a coma and force them to drag your drunk ass home. hell, you were planning on throwing up on their shoes just to make them reconsider ever asking you to do this again.

but, when your eyes trailed along the partygoers, sweat and musk heavy on your nose, and you saw a slim figure already staring back at you, you decided to stop thinking about your future victim and take in how fucking attractive this man was.

even in the shadows of drunk people and a shitty remix of lady gaga’s telephone and shakira’s hips don’t lie blurring your senses, you could tell this guy was a wolf. long grey snout, golden eyes, and a row of teeth-- oh my fucking god, you were nearly salivating over those teeth.

you darted your eyes away before you could be considered a creeper, frantically bringing your glass of whatever bitter drink your friend forced you to order to your lips and chugging. god damn, either you are really thirsty or that man is really fucking hot.

you buried your head into your arms, trying to hold yourself together. even with liquid courage, you could never build up the balls to go over there and lay it thick on him. hell, even if your life depended on it, you’d probably still coward out.

“your outfit’s really nice.” the four words were spoken from a deep voice, one you didn’t recognize. picking your head up, you turned to your right and blanched upon seeing the wolf man leaning against the bar, now a foot away from you. he gave you an almost knowing smirk, “i’m digging the red.”

oh, of course you’re wearing red and talking to a wolf. next thing you know, you’re gonna watch him swallow your grandma. “eh, just threw on the first thing i saw.” you played off, swirling your drink and reeling back your panic. “though, it’s quite ironic that you’re talking to someone in red, ain’t it?”

he seemed to like this connection, let out a chuckle that you found attractive as well. god damn it, why couldn’t he have an ugly laugh? “what can i say? i seem to like the trouble that comes with the color.” fuck, why was that attractive? or were you just drunk? “my name’s wolf. it’s my first time comin’ here and honestly this place is a little too rowdy for me, but if you’re a regular, i feel like i’d reconsider.”

“shit, you think i come here regularly?” you guffawed in his face, smiling far wider than was probably socially acceptable for strangers. you then told him your name, “my friend dragged me here tonight, i don’t go clubbing.”

he mirrored your grin, showcasing a grin full of sharp teeth as he slid into the barstool next to you. “more of a homebody, eh? yeah, i get it.” wow, this guy was speaking your language. “i used to not go out much either. not many people are a big fan of me, y’know how it is.”

the dangerous glint in his eyes made you flustered, but also nagged at the back of your brain. somehow, you knew this guy from somewhere. the mannerisms, the ego, all of it was familiar to your tipsy brain.

but, you chose not to address it, only kept smiling. “that’s surprising! you seem pretty alright to me.” you took another sip of your drink. “what brings you here? i hope you’re not a poor soul like me.”

“eh, wanted to see what all the hype was.” he shrugged, resting both arms on the bar. he waved over the bartender and ordered some fancy drink, something you didn’t care for. “my friends would never drag me anywhere, i do all the dragging.”

“ah, a leader type.” you hummed before you could even stop yourself. “hot.” fuck, why do you say the things you do?

wolf took it in stride, in fact, he even seemed to be elated in your blatant attraction. “glad you think so. you’re not too bad yourself.” he leaned in, as if he was about to tell you a secret. “though, i’d prefer seeing the full masterpiece you are, without clothes that is.”

if this was any piece of shit in this club, you would’ve socked the living hell out of them. but wolf wasn’t exactly ordinary in your standards, so instead, you felt your stomach clench in excitement and had to school your expression.

“we’ll see where the night goes, wolfy.” you teased with a playful wink.

the next few hours of your night was spent sitting right on your spot on that barstool and laughing it up with your newest stranger turned acquaintance. you were so entranced by the charming wolf that when your friend came over and said they wanted to go home, you did a double take.

“ay yo? what time is it?” you fumbled for your phone, eyes widening when it showed you it was nearly four in the morning. “oh shit, we gotta go get an uber.” you grunted under your breath, turning to wolf with an apologetic smile. “hey, man, i’m sorry to cut this short but this dumbass behind me can’t even walk straight.”

“fuck you.” your friend muttered, slurring and swaying as they stood to your left.

wolf let out a hearty laugh, waving you both off. “it’s alright, i’m just sad it couldn’t have been longer.” you physically perked up when he pulled out his phone and tapped on the contacts app, creating a new one before your eyes. “is it alright if i get your number?”

“fuck YES it is.” your mouth spoke before your mind could come up with an actually alright response to his question and you snatched up that phone like it was the last piece of candy on halloween. wolf had trouble hiding his snickers as you frantically typed out your number, made your contact name “hottie at the club”, and took a blurry selfie with flash as your contact photo. that made you giggle so hard it hurt your stomach.

wolf watched with the widest grin as you left the bar, dragging your friend by the back of their hood. never before had he been treated so nonchalantly, so nicely, by a stranger. it was odd that you didn’t recognize him, but he chalked it up to your own drunkenness getting in the way of the fear that consumed most people.

and despite all the signs that he probably shouldn’t shoot you a text, lest you become a suspect by the m.p.d. or if you report him to the m.p.d., he did so anyways, only less than two days after your first meeting.

xxx-xxx-xxxx: hey! it’s wolf, the guy from the club on friday, i hope you were successful in throwing up on your friends shoes

while he was mulling over his decision with mild anxiety, you were sitting on your couch, rewatching your favorite movie for the day. when you saw the text, your eyes popped open, and you choked on the chips you were munching on. your fingers rapidly pressed against your phone, movie forgotten.

hottie at the club: OH FUCK I TOLD YOU ABOUT THAT???

wolf let out a loud cackle that startled the other bad guys at the kitchen table around him. if he tried hard enough, he felt like he could hear you shrieking that with a panicked expression.

you added xxx-xxx-xxxx as furry!

furry: sure did. all the way down to which alcohol you were planning on chugging to get the grossest effect

hottie at the club: i am so sorry you listened to me scheme against my friend

you let out a long groan, burying your head into the couch cushions and screaming as hard as you could. you even threw a few punches in there for good measure. god, you were such an idiot.

furry: dont be it was funny

furry: anyways i was wondering if you wanted to do something sometime soon? 

him. you wanted to do him.

furry: like a movie?

hottie at the club: sure! i don’t really like movie theaters but we could do something at one of our places if you want!!

oh fuck, wolf thought, it’s like you were made for him. he breathed a sigh of relief, as he was dreading being seen in public. he didn’t want to scare you away now, not when he’s just started getting to know you.

furry: yours might be better. my roommates are kinda nosy lol

and speaking of nosy, webs peeked over wolf’s shoulder with a huge grin. “oohhhhhh” she drawled, laughing at the glare she got from the bad guys’ leader. “who’s the ‘hottie at the club’?”

“mind your fucking business, that’s who.”

hottie at the club: how about this friday at 8?? i can pick u up if needed :)!

aw, he mentally cooed at your use of emoticon. that was kinda cute.

“oh, wolf’s gotta partner now?” and now shark had joined in peering over wolf’s shoulder, eyes wide with curiosity. “oh, is that a date?” meanwhile, webs had looked at the number listed next to the contact and was now looking up the person wolf was texting discreetly.

furry: works for me! i’ll text you my address then

furry: excuse me for a second i have some heads to bash in

wolf had sent that last message and quickly pocketed his phone before webs and shark could relay any more information to the others. “not a word--”

“WOLFY’S GOT A DATE!” shark gushed like a teenager, balling his hands against his face. “are they cute? when did you meet them? do we know them?”

“pfft, as if.” snake sneered, but wolf didn’t take it seriously. it was his way of joking. “you think wolf can reel in any person?”

“like you could, boomer.” webs retorted before wolf could. he was mildly thankful for her interjection and gave her a small smile of gratitude.

which quickly fell when webs turned the computer around and showed your citizenship file and everything else related to you, ranging from social media to past jobs.

“what-- webs!” he was utterly scandalized when he saw a glimpse of what looked to be a private twitter account, with many retweets of porn related things. “knock it off!”

“oh, and they’re freaky.” piranha was impressed, reaching forward and clicking on the tab with your twitter, scrolling through it. “lots and lots of sex stuff here, chico.”

“eugh, don’t turn the computer this way.” snake gagged, hiding the computer screen from his eyes. “i don’t wanna see this.”

“piranha! snake!”

“they seem to be a keeper.” shark took over the trackpad from piranha and clicked open your instagram, looking through the far and few photos of yourself on there. “really good looking. good job, wolf.”

“shaaark.” this one came out as a groan.

the group of four snickered at the puddle their boss was melting into. it was oddly hilarious to see the typically cool and calm wolf was dying at the sight of his friends discovering his future date.

“so, what? you hoping to fuck or...?” snake decided to ask the question of the hour, quirking an eyebrow over at his friend as he buried his face into his hands. “because, no judgement here, man.”

“shut up, for the love of god.” his deadpan tone caused a domino effect of laughter at his expense.

unfortunately, wolf didn’t stop getting teased all the way up to the actual date, where he took the car and drove it to a nicer part of town, partially to escape his friends and partially to not give away where his homebase was. he let his fingers drum against the light pole he was leaning against, waiting patiently for your “bunk ass car” (your words, not his) to make its appearance.

he was surprised to see that your car, was in fact, a bunk ass vehicle. not exactly the best condition and there were dents here and there, but he couldn’t complain. not when you had that adorably large grin from your spot in the driver’s seat.

“what’s up, wolf?” you hummed, happily bobbing to a song on the radio. wolf recognized it as something webs enjoyed listening to. “you ready for this sick ass movie date?”

he buckled himself, trying his hardest not to sniff aggressively. the car had a uniquely you smell, it made his mood brighten instantly. “depends. what’re we watching, red?”

you gave him a sideways glance. “red?”

“like the thing you were wearing when we met?” he explained, glancing over. his eyes caught onto your shoe against the gas pedal and smirked. “and apparently the same color as the crocs you own.”

to your credit, you didn’t immediately crash your car as you leaned down and frantically ripped off the red shoe wear, throwing them over your shoulder and into the backseat. “fuck you, i’m just gonna stop wearing clothes around you at this point.”

wolf’s grin turned evil. “i wouldn’t mind that.”

“of course you wouldn’t, you pervert.” you scoffed, but your grin was an exact mirror to his.

wolf turned so his upper body was fully facing you and leaned over the center console. “you can call me a pervert, but i think you’d probably enjoy it too.”

you had stopped at a red light, giving you the opportunity to reached over and tug him by his plain shirt’s collar, now inches apart. “fuck around and find out.” all the breath in wolf’s lungs escaped him as he saw the power trip you currently were taking.

shit, you were his equal in every single way. he laughed, your lips brushing against one another. “i have a feeling we’re not gonna be watching anything when we get to your place.”

the only thing that stopped you from making out with him right there was the light flashing green. you released your grip on his shirt and returned to being a safe driver. “like i said, fuck around and find out.”

when you were about five minutes from your place, wolf reached over and set his hand on your thigh. everything but that part of your body tensed up and you had to fight the urge to pull over in a random parking lot and fuck him right there.

needless to say, as soon as you walked inside your apartment, you snatched wolf by the shirt and shoved him up against the wall next to your door. he gave you an equally eager grin, grabbing the back of your head and smashing your lips against one another.

it was a clumsy kiss, teeth bumping and with way too much tongue, but neither of you really cared. your hands wrapped around his neck, entangling your fingers into the fur on the back of his head, while his own hands shoved themselves up your hoodie.

his nails lightly scraped your stomach, dull enough not to scratch you, but also sharp enough to hurt if he grabbed you too hard. he leaned back against the wall and moved his hands down to your ass, giving it a quick squeeze.

you could feel him smile into the kiss as you jumped, then shivered at this motion. “asshole.” you muttered against his mouth, still jumping when he prompted you to. his hands caught the underside of your thighs and he pulled back, panting. you both looked equally roughed up.

“where’s your bedroom?”

“furthest door down the hall.” you instantly responded, moving to press kisses against his neck. wolf wasted no time, speed walking across your messy apartment and all but kicking your door in when he reached it.

one moment, you’re mouthing at his neck, and the next, you’re flying through the air and onto the bed. you let out a loud shriek-laugh, smiling widely when wolf dove to land on top of you. you both still were smiling at one another.

once again, you guys found yourselves kissing, your crotch moving to slot against his and you grinded as hard as you could. the reaction was instant, a groan coming from his throat as his hips jerked.

he pulled back, giving you a playful glare. “hey, now.” he grunted, even though he was returning your motions with his own. you both sighed in pleasure when his dick rubbed you in just the right way, your head falling back. “fuck.” he whined.

“that’s what we’re doing.” you cheekily replied, still smiling the entire time. wolf, in retaliation, leaned down and started pressing his teeth into your neck, leaving bite marks. you sucked in a deep breath of air in response a rough bite, arching your back and gripping at the hair right underneath his ears.

“shit, you’re gonna be the death of me.” he said under his breath, pulling back far enough to start tugging your hoodie off. “take this off.” he demanded.

thankfully, you didn’t have a smart comment waiting for him, instantly sitting up and ripping off the article of clothing.

wolf’s jaw dropped when he realized that you weren’t wearing anything else underneath it, eyes zeroing in on your boobs. “you-- where’s your shirt?” he ears tilted back and he swore if he was capable of blushing, he would be neon red.

you shrugged with no explanation, tilting your head. “you were gonna see them eventually, might as well give you easier access.” you could’ve burst out laughing at how flabbergasted the poor guy was. one pair of boobs and he’s gone.

then you suddenly stopped smiling and looked at him with wide, fearful eyes. “wait, are you a virgin?”

he immediately started shaking his head frantically. “nononononono! i would’ve said something if i was.” he reassured you.

“oh.” was all you said.

and then wolf leaned forward, hands outstretched to your chest. you laughed at the mood shift and suddenly, you were back on track.

he gave an experimental squeeze and planted a kiss on your boobs before pulling back and taking off his shirt himself. he instantly was back to hovering over you and hand his fingers wrapped around the waistband of your pants and underwear. “normally, i’d take it slow, but i just wanna see you, red.”

“go for it, mr. big and bad.” you gave your consent, picking up your hips and allowing him the proper space to pull off the clothing. he gave you no time to adjust to the sudden naked state you were in, already tugging your thighs over his shoulder. his eyes zeroed in on your pussy, your slick glinting in the light of your bedside lamp.

you could’ve disintegrated when he started placing small nips and bites on your inner thigh, the pad of his thumb coming up and resting on your clit. you sucked in a hard breath as he stared at you, maw closing over the plush fat on your thigh.

he pulled back to tell you, “i can’t finger you with these,” he wiggled his fingers, more specifically motioning at his nails, “so you’re gonna have to do the hard work for me, sweetheart.”

you groaned as if he asked you to go do the dishes. “damn it, i was gonna have you do all the hard work--” you let out a choked moan, cutting yourself off as wolf pressed his finger back against your swollen clit. “alright, i’ll do it, shit--!”

you propped yourself up on your left elbow and shoved a few of your pillows under your shoulder to make it a little easier for you. lying back against them, you slowly dragged your fingers down your stomach, eyeing the way wolf’s eyes were locked onto them.

trying to hide your growing smirk, you traced the outside of your pussy with a finger, entertaining yourself with the way his eyes just wouldn’t look away. he did snap out of it when he heard you hide a snicker and glared up at you.

“sorry.” you muttered, pushing one finger inside of you and arching your back at how good it felt. “give me a sec, i’ll have it all figured out in no time.” from the way you were talking so casually, one might expect you to be doing literally any other activity.

wolf gave you a look you couldn’t quite discern. “no, go slow.” he demanded.

“what the fuck-- do you wanna fuck me or not?” you retorted, glaring as you pushed the finger in and out.

“i do, but i also wanna see this.”

“...fucking weirdo.” you grumble and flopped back, trying to move at a steady pace. wolf hummed in accomplishment, pulling one of his own hands away and using it to take off his boxers as he watched you with eager eyes.

when you pushed in a second a finger with the first was when it started feeling really good. curling them like the expert you were, you let out soft moans. wolf’s eyes took in how your hips rose to meet your fingers and how carried away you were getting as you tried to prepare yourself for him.

“yeah, just like that, baby.” he murmured, pushing your hips down and holding you to the bed. his thumb returned to your clit, with slow circles, and you let out a long whine, head falling against your pillow. “oh, you’re so pretty like this.” he beamed when you let out an embarrassed huff that melted into a groan.

“please just fuck me.” you whimpered, eyes squeezing shut from the mixture of yours and wolf’s motions. your fingers rubbed against a specific part inside of you and your vision went white for a second. “please, please, please!”

“alright, alright.” he spoke as if he was being inconvenienced, but you saw the way he moved to sit up immediately. he took his thumb off and then paused, leaning down and pressing a kiss to your clit, making you jolt from the sudden pressure. “sorry, just giving you a good luck kiss before i destroy your guts, little red.”

“yeah, yeah, whatever, loser.” you chortled, pulling your fingers out and pushing the pillows underneath you away. when you laid back down, flat on your back, you brought your legs up and presented yourself to him with a wicked smile. “now come over here and fuck me with your big bad cock.”

wolf didn’t even get the chance to fully comprehend what you had just said to him before he burst out into hysterical cackles, falling face first into your chest as he laughed and laughed. you were no better, tears streaming down your face as you let out a long wheeze.

“my WHA-HA-HAT?”

“BUAHAHA!” you both were losing your minds, clinging to one another like you were going to disappear if you didn’t.

and when you had cooled down and wiped your face dry, you and wolf stared at one another, trying to catch your breaths. you then snorted and that’s what started another laughing fit, with wolf’s laugh going super high pitched.

then, after recovering from that, wolf had picked out a condom from his pants and tore it open, rolling it onto himself with a chuckle. he looked like he wanted to laugh more about your comment, but the throbbing of his dick reminded him of the task at hand.

“you’re so ridiculous.” he muttered, returning to his position above you. both of his hands moved to hook your thighs over his and you could feel the tip of his dick pressed against your pussy.

your heart thumped with anticipation. “don’t go easy on me, wolf. i can handle a little pain.” you teased, making him roll his eyes.

“after all the shit you just pulled, i don’t think i even have it in me to consider going gentle on you.” and then he pushed in. both of your jaws dropped as he moved at a semi-slow but steady pace until his hips had met your own. the hands that held your thighs open were now gripping hard enough to hurt.

“oh fuck.” you moaned.

“ditto.” he agreed, eyes fluttering shut. “shit, this might become a regular occurrence.”

“fuck, if your dick feels like this every time, i might make it a daily one.” you spoke in a breathy tone. your back arched and you shimmied your hips up, attempting to set a pace.

wolf met your motions with his own and soon, you both fell into a steady movement. every time you fell down and the tip of his dick rubbed against your sweet spot, you felt like you were going to pass out. he wasn’t like anything you ever had before, his dick shape unique enough to make just enough of a difference.

wolf, meanwhile, felt like he was in heaven. every clench and every sound that left you made him reach the edge far faster than he’d like to admit it. he was holding back with all of his might at every thrust, snarling to himself. fuck, he was about to start paying to be around him all day if it meant he got to do this whenever and wherever.

he leaned down, still thrusting at a consistent pace, and started marking up your body, wherever he could. one hickey on your stomach, another few on your boobs, and more littering your neck. he couldn’t get enough, he needed to be smothered in you.

so, he stopped thrusting and held you close to him, chest to chest. “what, why’d you stop--” you let out a surprised shriek when he flipped you both over, with him now at the edge of your bed and you straddling him.

“ride me.” he gasped, looking up at you with such desperation. “god, fuck, ride me.”

you didn’t even bother trying to act smart, using your knees as leverage and bouncing up and down on his cock. from this new angle, you felt him even better, his tip rubbing against your gummy walls at just the right pace. fuck, now you were embarrassingly close.

“shit.” you two cursed in unison, making you both snicker through the moans.

“i’m-- fuck-- i’m already close, red.” wolf murmured in disbelief, returning to his task at marking you up.

“glad to know it’s mutual.” you sighed, eyes squeezed shut and thighs beginning to tense uncontrollably.

it was like a wave of static crashed over you after a particularly good thrust, your entire body losing feeling except for in your pussy. you squeezed harshly and that’s what made wolf let out a broken moan before he came as well. he fell back, grabbing your back and dragging you with him.

you moaned into a rather clumsy kiss, riding out the waves of pleasure that felt like they would never end. eventually, you both had to pull back and while panting, you calmed down from the sensitive high.

wolf stared up at you like you were a god, smiling when you swiped the sweat off of your forehead. “pretty good, right?” he asked, both joking, but also making sure you enjoyed yourself.

you nodded rapidly, dispelling whatever worry he had. “oh yeah, i enjoyed that.” your voice was now gravelly, over-exertion from all the moaning and groaning ruining it.

you then moved to sit up, hands planted against his chest. “pretty good fuck for a criminal, i gotta admit.”

wolf blanched, eyes popping wide. you let out a half shriek, half laugh at his reaction, covering your mouth and leaning away.

though he probably should be shitting his pants, wolf just let out a long groan, wiping at his face. 

fuck, you were lucky your pussy was talented, or he would’ve ran out the room.

[topgunafterdark]

Is Bob the type to smack your ass in public? I bet he is and with a straight face.

You’re at the beach with him. Again. It’s available, it’s free, and both of you have reasons to be in the area, so why not? You’re trying not to overthink this whole thing before he leaves, because he will leave, and then where will that leave you, exactly?

He’s here with the other pilots, not alone, and you aren’t working, so you people watch. Or, more accurately, Bob people-watches his coworkers and you listen with barely-concealed glee. The things people say and do around this man because they assume it’ll go over his head are wild.

“And they just kept talking about it with you right there?”

“Just kept talking away. To be honest with you, my bewildered expression at the time was genuine. I have no idea what sounding is, and I have no intention of finding out what Harvard has to do with it. I’m assuming it’s something kinky, but why he was waxing eloquent about it to Yale is beyond me.”

“Well, I do know what sounding is, and you don’t want to know.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Bob says, letting the matter go. It’s for his own good.

You point out one pilot in particular as they file out onto the sand--the tall one you think is obnoxious, good hair aside.

“What do you know about him?”

“Who, Jake?”

“Yeah.” You just want some dirt on this guy. Something you can hold in your head the next time he doesn’t tip. You won’t say anything (at least not until his last day here), but you like to feel petty sometimes. Especially when it comes to Certain Customers.

“I know a lot about Jake,” Bob says. “A whole lot.”

He’s trying to keep a straight face, but you can see the smile poking out when he raises a hand to cover his mouth, and the jig is up.

“Did you fuck him, too?” You are astounded. Flabbergasted. And your guess is right on the money.

“Hey, he came to me. Guys like him, they talk a big game, but they all want someone they think is soft and lovable in the end.”

“Are you soft and lovable?”

“The softest,” Bob says. He keeps the serious look steady this time.

“Sure,” you say. “Well, I have an idea.”

“What’s your idea?”

“You should go up and slap his ass. I want to see what he does.”

“Well, that’s not nice. And also sexual harassment.”

“I wasn’t finished,” you say, clearing your throat. “I want you to get him to ask you for the ass slap. Like, maybe he wants his ass claimed in public.”

Bob tilts his head back and laughs. “You’re nuts,” he says. “I like that about you.”

“Are you going to do it?”

“Out here in broad daylight? Why, I’m but a simple, wholesome man.”

You give Bob a Look. “That’s a goddamn lie. Come on, he always struts around the Hard Deck like he’s god’s gift to humanity. I’d love to see him getting taken down a peg.”

“He’s probably into that.”

“Bob.”

“All right, all right,” Bob says. He stands, brushes the sand off of his uniform, and prepares for battle. “It’ll take me a bit. I won’t do it if he’s drunk. That’s messed up.”

“Deal.”

It takes a few minutes. The Bob you know is careful, even if he’s a lot more friendly than he appears on the surface. Meeting new people is always hard on him; he’s admitted as much to you. Get on his level, and he’s fun. But nobody gets Full Bob on day one. Jake seems to have already gotten to know Bob on many, many levels; he watches Bob approach with a guarded expression, but he waves away the man he’s with to give Bob the time of day, which is something incredible all on its own. You wonder if Jake got the business just like you did, or if Bob was someone entirely different in bed with his peers.

Bob whispers something in Jake’s ear. Immediately, Jake reels back, an expression of utter scandal on his face. But he doesn’t back away. You think he’s probably the sort who doesn’t back away from a challenge. Probably, it gets him into trouble sometimes. Right now, all you’re hoping for is an ass slap.

And you get one. Jake appears deep in thought, and then he looks at Bob and nods, who nods back. Jake asks a question. Bob responds. A deal has been made. But then Bob turns away, walking back towards you. Jake now appears miffed, as though he’s been scorned like a regency woman whose dance card remains unfilled. Jake’s friend shrugs, and Jake himself turns away. That’s when Bob sneaks back up and lands a slap right on the money. Jake spits his drink out all over the sand. His friend bends in half laughing something that sounds a lot like, “I fucking knew it, Seresin.”

A triumphant hero returning to his part-time queen, Bob gives you a bow. “See? All bark. No bite.”

“He into that too?”

Bob laughs again, but this time, he doesn’t answer. Some things are better kept as secrets.

[duskamethyst]

broken reverie.

a/n: he’s not wearing glasses in this one.

word count: 3.9k

genre: smut, nsfw, college AU

warnings: taboo rs, slapping, spanking, choking, face fucking, brat taming (kind of), slight degradation, creampie, age gap (nanami reaching 40)

pairing: professor!nanami x f!reader

summary: professor nanami calls you to his office to ‘talk’ about your terrible performance in his class.

maybe you went too far.

or else you wouldn’t have ended up in his office. 

but is this the outcome you coveted? yes.

the door creaks behind you before it closes again as you sit and wait in front of the big wooden desk. you were kind of excited when he told you to come and see him at his office earlier but now you’re having a whirlwind of emotions making your stomach churn and you don’t dare to look around to face him– even though he’s going to be sitting in front of you in a moment.

his shoes clack against the floor as he strides and sits on his chair. the air in the room feels dense when the male doesn’t say anything; as if you’re not in his presence to begin with.

he looks exasperated. a long, deep breath is emitted through his nostrils as he loosens up his tie from the collar. you only gawk at him in awe as he does so, but quickly snap out when he finally shifts his gaze at you. 

“so, are you going to tell me what’s going on?” he finally breaks the silence. the deep, husky tone of his voice fills your ear and you hope he doesn’t notice your thighs press against each other almost immediately.

“tell you.. what?” you mentally slap yourself. you’re clearly aware of what he’s insinuating but you’re suddenly lost for words. there’s a huge difference between seeing him in class and being alone together with him. it’s even more nerve wrecking than you imagined and oh god, is his ac broken? because it suddenly feels hot.

nanami raises a brow, evidently unamused. “i had the courtesy to make time for you when i should be having brunch now so i don’t appreciate you playing coy.” 

you gulp audibly, “i’m sorry, sir.”

“if it’s not clear to you yet, i’m talking about your grades.” he opens the drawer under his desk and pulls out a pile of paper before slamming it in front of you. you blink in surprise and flip through the pages, though you know you don’t need to see it when you already know what lies on them. there are a lot of red circles on the papers, namely yours, with huge unpleasant numbers on the corner ranging from 12% to 25%. 

then he takes out another file which you realize as your student record throughout your semester and the subjects you currently take. 

“i find it odd that you scored well for your other courses.” he skims through the pages. “you certainly didn’t cheat, i can tell.”

“no, of course not.”

“then, what’s the problem here?” his tired eyes bore into you as he waits for you to answer or come up with whatever excuse.

“well, i–” 

“you’re doing it on purpose.” he snaps.

it’s as if time comes to a stop. your cheeks heat up with humiliation and you can’t bring yourself to continue to look at him in the eyes. although you’re aware that your silence means compliance, you’re still jumbling up words in your head to deny his assumption. 

“are you going to tell me i’m wrong?” 

“yes– i-i mean–” you stammer.

“then enlighten me.” he glances at the branded watch donned on his left wrist. “we have time.”

you shake your head, “i have another class soon.”

“skip it.” he quickly retorts. “i’m sure you have no problems with that. your grades are doing well for that one, but certainly not mine.”

sweat starts to form on your palms as you look down on your thighs, purposely avoiding his eyes that hold nothing but so much intensity. you’re weighing between two options; to keep on bluffing or come clean. you don’t think that nanami would let you get off the hook if you keep on lying and you’d definitely be bombarded with more questions, yet the outcome of the latter would be so embarrassing and you don’t know if you can live it down for the rest of the semester.

you’ve fantasized about being alone with him but.. not particularly this way. 

gathering courage and taking a deep breath, you decide it’s best to just tell him the truth.

“you’re right,” you feel your ears burning, hands clammy. “i purposely failed your class.”

lifting up your head, you see the male grinning lopsidedly in his seat. maybe he’s pleased that you’re not wasting his time anymore, you’re not sure, he’s not easy to read.

“wasn’t that easy?” he folds his arms in front of his chest. “i have my own speculation but i wanna hear why you did it.”

“um,” you look down to your hands again, also half wondering what kind of bold assumption he has in mind. “i was dared by my friend.”

“wrong,” he scoffs. “and look at me while you’re talking.”

you sigh defeatedly and nervously fix your gaze. if you’ve learned one thing now, it’s that your professor doesn’t have tolerance for bullshit and he knows one when he hears one.

“i-i did it for.. attention.” 

“my attention?” he emphasizes, maintaining his stoic persona to mask his amusement of finding out that his speculation turns out to be indeed true.

you purse your lips in a thin line, nodding your head quietly. nanami remains to stare at you as he ponders in silence. you can hear your heart beating rapidly in your ears and you want to break eye contact so badly but you’re certain it wouldn’t be wise. 

“all that, just for a crumb of my attention?” he spits with a hint of venom in his voice. “are you happy with what you did?”

well, you’ve imagined him punishing you on his desk, fuck you raw or spank you with his belt until your ass turns red– not some serious interrogation.

“no, sir.” 

nanami props his elbows on the table, hands clasped under his chin to keep his head up. the air around him becomes even more threatening but it somehow manages you to feel even more aroused, making your toes curl in your shoes. you definitely need to get out soon.

“you know, if i have even one student failing my class, i could get into trouble and be questioned for my performance.” he starts. “to have you doing that for your own selfish incentive is unacceptable, don’t you think?”

“i’m sorry.” you mumble with meek.

“besides that, you might have to retake this course again for your next semester and it’ll waste your time– or..?”

you stay silent to let him continue.

“or you were intending to be in my class again so you can see me?” 

“y-yes.” you bashfully admit after one silent moment, knowing that lying will take you nowhere. “i’m sorry, sir.”

nanami chuckles, finding your naivety to be rather entertaining. never has he ever met a student like you, outwardly expressing their interest in him by failing their paper. he’s not too sure what you’re trying to get out of him but maybe he can put one and one together. it’s pretty common that younger women have an attraction to older men like him and your classmates are.. well, not exactly the best looking either. 

“are you?” he smirks cynically. “do you have any idea how many students i have to monitor? how tiring my job can be?”

“yes. it was inconsiderate of me. i’m sor–”

“show me.” nanami cuts you off and leans back on his chair. maybe he can push you a little bit, he thinks. you owe him this anyway.

you blink, perplexed. “what?”

“you kept saying sorry.” he undoes two of the buttons on his blue dress shirt and spreads his legs apart. “talk is cheap. show me.” 

you do a double take as he taps his thigh and waits for you to come over. you have the faintest idea of what he’s implying but your body freezes and your brain short-circuits as if paralyzed.

“you chose to lie again? you’re not really sorry, are you?” 

“no, no! that’s not it. i just..” 

an ongoing battle takes place in your mind– sure that this is a part of your deepest, darkest fantasy yet you’re just baffled over how quick nanami catches on to it. now that your debaucherous dream has become a vivid reality, you don’t know which is the right step to take. 

“but if not now, when?” a soft voice in your head whispers. if desire could embody a voice, you think this is it. gentle, yet seductive as if it attempts to give you a push to pluck and have a taste of the forbidden fruit. 

“how much longer do you have to touch yourself to the thoughts of your professor before you go to bed?”

“although this could be a one time thing, at least you’d know how it feels like.” 

you slowly get up from your seat and make your way towards him. nanami’s eyes trail up at you, down to the floor then back up at you; gesturing you to get on your knees.

you settle between his thick thighs and look up at him timidly through your lashes before you bring your hands to undo his belt.

“no hands.” he quickly demands. 

you lick your lips as you figure the structure of the belt and how you’re going to take it off without the aid of your hands. the taste of cold metal and leather instantly invades your palate as you feebly use your teeth to tug the front loop of his belt. your head shifts awkwardly side to side until you finally get to catch the buckle between your teeth, pulling it hard before the belt soon unfastens.

nanami only observes you indifferently from above, yet the large tent in front of you doesn’t conceal the excitement he currently possesses. 

you take a deep breath before you continue on succeeding your quest. you twist your neck as you find and tug on the fabric loop that holds the button.

“i know you’re a smart girl.” he praises as he rests his hand on top of your head while you struggle to lift up the zipper with your tongue and grasp it between your teeth. the simple praise inflates your confidence and you become more eager to complete your task so you can claim your awaiting prize.

with valiantness, you finally lock eyes with him as you pull down his zipper completely to reveal the huge bulge pressing against the fabric of his briefs and the tip slightly poking out from the top. 

“hm? you still have to take it out, no?” he smirks as he notices you gape at the outline of his cock. 

you quickly pull yourself together and lean back up to the stretchy band on his waist. he hisses when he feels your tongue purposely graze against the flushed tip before you pull down the briefs by force to reveal the one thing you’ve been desiring for so long. 

you press your thighs together as a dull ache forms in your core from the sight of his thick cock standing proudly in front of you. it’s nothing like you’ve ever imagined– it’s better and you’ve finally found it worth going through all that trouble of failing his class (and using your mouth to take off his pants).

“this is what you want, isn’t it?” he sneers, titling up your chin with his fingers, brushing your lips with his thumb and pulling the bottom lip apart so he can see a row of teeth.

“y-yes, sir.” you gulp and breathe as you wait for his next command. 

nanami’s lips tug into a conceited smirk, “suck.” 

leaning down your head to the base, you flatten your tongue underneath the shaft and slowly drag upwards in favor of reveling the veins on his hard cock. nanami lets out a sigh of content when he feels your tongue licking his tip and his hand tugs on your locks by reflex. you look at him as you wrap your lips around the tip, slobbering the tip with your saliva and his precum.

“fuck.” he curses under his breath and his head falls back when the warmth of your mouth finally engulfs his throbbing cock as you take most of the length inside your mouth.

you hollow your cheeks together, head bobbing up and down as you struggle to take more of his cock that you nearly choke whenever the tip hits the back of your throat, but the hand on top of your head grabs a fistful of your hair and he pushes your head down to sink all his length inside your mouth deeper. when you want to pull away, he only holds you in place and remains his cock down your throat. 

“through your nose.” he mutters. tears start to well in your eyes while your saliva just trickles down to his balls as he screws his eyes shut and relishes in the pleasure that washes throughout his body. “i needed this so bad, you know?” 

your whines only give him more stimulation and his hips jerk in response, “just wouldn’t think that a student– fuck– out of all people would choke on my dick.” he lets out a sardonic chuckle as if something just crossed his mind. “it’s wrong, but that’s what makes it feel so good, isn’t it?” 

nanami keeps you in the position as he ruts his hips slowly into your throat. his eyes are closed in concentration and his lips part slightly in fast and short pants. you work on your gag reflex as you let him fuck your mouth, enduring the sharp sting on your scalp when he tugs your hair harder– at least you know you’re making him feel good.

“if i cum in your mouth, you’d gladly swallow, won’t you?” 

you can feel his cock twitching when you let out a choke of assent from your throat but you splutter as soon as nanami abruptly pulls away his cock because of a sudden knock on the door that startles the both of you.

“get under the desk.” he urges and you quickly crawl to hide while he coughs and inches closer to his desk. “come in.”

you hear the door open followed by echoes of footsteps before it comes to a halt in front of his desk.

“didn’t i tell you to contact me before seeing me?” his voice is laced with irritation yet collected as he speaks. you can imagine the agitated look on his face, thinking it would be only natural for anyone to assume that he’s already having a bad day. and to them, interrupting the peak of his orgasm is most definitely not it. 

without a second thought, you take back his dick inside your mouth. a spur of triumph swells in your chest when you feel his body jolts in surprise. you think it’s only fair since he has choked you with his cock and what perfect timing to carry out your petty vengeance when the man is busy advising his student. 

however, nanami shifts on his seat to give you more access to take more length of his cock. he tries to stay composed as he feels your tongue gliding up and down his shaft but once the wet muscle prods against the slit, he emits an oddly sharp exhale. you can hear him almost stammering as he speaks and the way his tone changes to conceal the squelching sounds you elicit from underneath the table as you please his cock with zeal.

“so, i want you to fix the mistake and hmm..,” his hands ball into fists on the table as he takes a deep breath. “show me in class tomorrow.”

“sure. uh, are you okay, sir?” you hear the voice say. “you don’t look well.”

his eye twitches when your tongue wraps around his balls, taking one inside your mouth to suck harshly.

“yeah, fine.” he clears his throat. “thanks for asking.”

nanami only watches as his student turns to walk towards the door until the door closes behind him. once he’s sure that the student has left the door, he finally leans back on his chair in relief. 

“fuck.” he groans, glancing down at you as you look up at him innocently with doe eyes and your swollen lips wrapped prettily around his balls. yet, he looks dissatisfied more than anything. 

nanami grabs your arm and drags you out from under his desk until you’re on your feet, “i never took you as a fucking brat.” he lifts up your skirt and bites back a groan once he sees the damp patch on your panties. “did you touch yourself?”

you hum a ‘mhm’, feigning guiltlessness as he grazes his fingers on your inner thighs. 

“you’re just asking for me to touch you here, hm?” shivers run up your spine when his thumb ghosts over your wet slit and up to your clit.

“y-yes.” your breath hitches.

“begging for me to push your head on the table and ram my cock inside you?” he muses, pressing on your clit as he watches you squirm. “is that what you want?”

“please–” you roll your hips slightly to soothe the ache on his thumb but a hand comes down harshly on your ass, gesturing for you to stop in a fierce manner.

nanami chuckles mockingly, “well, that’s what exactly you’re not going to get.”

a whine elicits from your lips when he draws back his hands to his thighs and you glance at his dick; still throbbing and leaking precum from the florid tip. well, at least he hasn’t put it back inside his pants, so you still have a chance.

“come on. you haven’t shown me how much you’re sorry.”

with your inhibitions already flew out of the window, you stand in between his thighs, hoist the skirt to your waist and tug your panties to the side before squatting down to smear your slick on his dick. sparks of arousal swim through you as you grind your clit on the tip before you sink down, gasping as his thick cock stretches your cunt and down until you’re filled to the brim.

you glance at the male expectantly, waiting for him to move but he raises a questioning brow at you, “if you want something, work for it.”

not exactly what you sought for, but it should suffice. you begin to gyrate your hips slowly, adjusting to his size before you can pick up the pace. you fight the urge to hold onto him for leverage, in fear he wouldn’t appreciate the crumple on his expensive dress shirt later.

as you become more delirious, you start to hump his cock vigorously, whining like a bitch in heat as you feel every vein and ridges on his cock brushing deliciously against your walls. nanami lifts the hem of your shirt and brings it up to your mouth and you quickly catch it between your teeth. 

“the door isn’t locked, you know.” he muses, staring at your bouncing tits with half lidded eyes; mesmerized and thick with lust. “what’s going to happen if someone comes in and sees you bouncing on her professor’s cock like a little whore?”

a low, guttural sound rips from his throat when he feels your walls clenching around him in response.

“you’d like that, don’t you?” he smirks, tugging your bra down slightly and brushes his thumb against the erected nipple, making you mewl through the fabric in your mouth.

“you know you’re not supposed to do this but,” he brings up his thumb to caress your cheek. “you’re just so eager to please me, aren’t you?”

you sniffle in response, hands clutching on his solid thighs as you melt into his soft gaze before it’s gone in an instant.

“but i don’t like brats.” he sneers, drawing his hand away to slap your breast. “i don’t like people making my job harder. are you a brat?”

you shake your head, he slaps again.

“you act like one. stop lying.”

nanami tugs down the shirt from your mouth, a part of the fabric already drenched with your drool. his large hand circles around your throat while the other grips your hip firmly to roll your hip even faster on his dick. 

“oh– feels good–!” you moan wantonly, eyes rolling back as you let him control your body and assert his dominance over you.

“fuck it does.” he presses your throat tighter on the sides, restricting air from entering your lungs but your walls squeeze harder in retaliation. 

“bratty little bitch. clamping down on me like that.” he grits out and slaps across your face. what seems to be a rather harsh form of treatment, the pleasure filled sting and the lack of oxygen only fuel your arousal that you don’t even notice the way you hump on his cock has become more rapturous.

“getting off to this?” nanami slaps your other cheek before he lets go of his grip around your neck and you’re finally able to breathe air again. yet, he doesn’t spare you time to gather yourself before he promptly lifts up your hips and starts to pound inside your cunt relentlessly. 

the position causes you to tip to the front and you immediately hold on to him; face burying on the crook of his neck while his cologne fills your senses and sends you into a state of frenzy. 

“you like me using your tight cunt like that?” nanami grabs your ass for leverage, the angle allows him to fuck you so deep that you’re able to feel his cockhead kissing your cervix with each thrust. 

“y-yes–!” you cry, the pressure in your stomach building up as you inch closer to an orgasm.

“like it when i use you to take out my frustrations?” he spanks the meaty flesh; walls clenching tighter on his fat cock and more slick dripping down his balls. “you just want to be my little cocksleeve, don’t you?”

“yesyesyes– please–!” your body starts to tremble above him. ��w-wanna cum–”

“then fucking cum.” nanami rams into your cunny faster, abusing the spongy walls until the pressure snaps and tips you over the edge. you moan breathlessly into his neck, while your pussy gushes and creams around his cock. 

“that’s a good girl,” he fucks you through your high, grunting and panting as he pushes through the pulsing walls in order to chase his high. “and good girls get rewarded, right?”

you hum in agreement, still dazed and swimming in ecstasy as you gawk at him with heavy lidded eyes; the sweat glistening his forehead and sharp eyes focusing on where your bodies join. 

“then you’re gonna get some huge load in this pretty pussy.” his pace begins to stutter, nails digging deeper into your skin before his cock twitches and his hips freeze as he paints your insides white with cum.

both exhausted bodies rest against each other, chests heaving as you and nanami take time to regain composure and come down from your highs. he lifts you up slightly to take out his spent cock and he tugs back your panties in place, not minding the cum that dribbles from your quivering hole. 

your legs tremble once you get off of him that you have to force yourself to find your footing as you fix your skirt while the older male pulls back his pants in place. 

“do your best for your next papers, no more of that bullshit.” he fastens his buttons and straightens his tie before raising his hands to brush against his sleek, light brown hair that’s mixed with a few strands of grey. “but if you have any problems, just come and see me in my office.”

nanami falls quiet for a brief second to contemplate and you straighten your back when you once again meet his icy gaze, “after hours.”

enjoyed this piece? wanna buy me coffee? :)

duskamethyst © 2020 • do not modify, translate or repost anywhere.

[twilight-orchid]

How The Demon Brothers React After Fighting With Their SO

tw: some angst with resolution at the end, mentions of past arguments, insecurity.

Lucifer:

This man is petty as hell.

He doesn’t do the silent treatment, but he acts like you aren’t dating.

If you need to work on something together, you’re a co-worker.

At RAD you’re a classmate.

Around the house you’re just a housemate.

His poker face is immaculate and it will not crack when you’re around.

If someone didn’t know what was happening, they’d probably think you two barely knew each other.

However, you won’t notice, but as soon as you look the other way his eyes are on you.

He’s used to arguing with his brothers and is no stranger to explosive fights that end with he and the other person not being on speaking terms.

But you’re different.

He tries to go on with business as usual, but he can’t think about anything other than how much he misses you.

Yet, he lets it continue because he just can’t put his pride aside and apologize.

If you decide to sleep in your old room it’ll both hurt his feelings and royally piss him off.

He thinks you’re being childish and will be pretty rude about it, but that’s because internally his blood just ran cold.

It adds a degree of seriousness to the argument that he’s uncomfortable with.

Yes he’s mad, but he can’t lose you.

If you still sleep in his bed, he makes sure to scoot over to the very edge so he doesn’t cuddle you in his sleep.

In fact, the first night after the argument he’d probably put a pillow between you just to really punctuate the fact that he’s still upset.

I’d say it could go 4 days to a week tops without you making up.

After a point though, he just can’t function until the issue is resolved. He can’t sleep, he’s falling behind on his work, and he’s just generally not doing well.

You get called to his office one night and find him at his desk surrounded by piles of paper, disheveled and exhausted.

“MC, come sit down. I’d like to talk this through. Please.”

Mammon:

He’s so dramatic.

You dare defy him? The Great Mammon can’t believe this tiny fragile human would have the audacity.

The theatrics are just a front though.

His ‘The Great Mammon’ act is a mask for his insecurity, one he hasn’t had to use with you in awhile.

Even as the words leave his mouth he regrets them.

He’s going to be very uncomfortable with everything until the argument is resolved, but most of all himself.

He’s learned not to take his brothers too seriously when they toss insults his way, but words have a way of morphing to belief over time.

Internally he is going to be super hard on himself. 

Regardless of if the fight was his fault or not, he’s going to kick himself constantly for making yet another mistake.

He’s over the argument pretty fast. The anger quickly melts into anxiety.

Are you going to leave him? Do you hate him? Did he hurt your feelings? 

That being said, he doesn’t know if you’re still mad and he doesn’t know how to ask. 

As a defense mechanism, he defaults to how he treated you when you first arrived in the devildom.

Calls you human, disregards you, stuff like that.

If you decide to sleep in another room, before midnight expect him to be knocking on the door.

“Oi, MC. You awake? I just - I can’t - *sigh* Can we talk about this?”

If you sleep in his bed, he makes a point of sleeping with his back to you.

Less because he’s actually mad and more because he doesn’t want his image of you as he drifts to sleep to be a look of anger.

Though as soon as he passes out he’ll roll over and tuck you into his arms on instinct.

I’d say any after effects of an argument with Mammon would be resolved in a day, maybe two tops.

Leviathan:

Arguing activates his trolling the forums mode.

Goes back to calling you a normie and contradicts everything you say.

He’s less mad about the argument and more using the bitterness to cope with how upset he is.

He feels like a break up is less of an if and more of a when.

Why would someone as amazing as you settle for weird otaku like him?

Honestly doesn’t understand why you’re with him in the first place, so when there’s a serious argument he assumes its over.

Tbh don’t know how you and Levi would sleep together being that I doubt two could fit in a tub, but any deviation to your routine sends him into a panic.

It’s his reality check that the situation is serious and he needs to fix it NOW.

He’d have trouble apologizing in person. He can’t think of what to say, he stumbles over his words, and he feels like he’s on the verge of a panic attack.

Instead, expect a long ass text message.

He says how sorry he is, how much he misses and loves you, and legit begs you to forgive him.

If you sleep with him like normal, he’ll probably try to make up after laying there for awhile. His mind is going a million miles an hour and there’s no way he can sleep.

Still really has trouble verbalizing how he feels, so give the poor boy a break and take over the conversation.

He hasn’t had a serious relationship before and he doesn’t know what he should do to make it better.

So the after effects will last however long it takes him to read several mangas, watch some anime, and play a few games to see how the characters get over arguments in the story.

Satan:

Satan makes sure not to fight with you over minor issues.

He’s worked tirelessly to tame his wrath and he refuses to feed into it over a minor issue.

Thus, if you fight with Satan it’s a major argument and it’s explosive.

The aftermath isn’t much better.

He doesn’t want to risk blowing up again, so he’s frighteningly calm.

He’s an absolute master of the silent treatment.

He won’t say a word to you until he’s certain he’s calmed down enough.

For the first few days he’ll straight up leave a room if you enter.

For a good while the only way you can expect to communicate with him is through his body language and the expression in his eyes.

Satan’s biggest fear is losing control and lashing out at you. 

He couldn’t live with himself if he hurt you and he can’t stand the thought of you being afraid of him. 

He’s a whirlwind of emotions, so he isolates himself until he can figure out how to deal with it.

Not just from you, but from everyone else too. 

Satan will not share a bed with you for at least the first night.

If he got worked up enough to actually fight, it’s gonna take him time to simmer down.

And he’d rather not risk doing or saying something he regrets in the meantime.

Once he’s ready, he’ll approach you when he’s completely calmed down and has thoroughly analyzed the situation.

He’s considered both of your sides, tried to pinpoint what caused the disagreement to turn into a fight, and made a plan of action to prevent it from happening again.

“MC? I’ve been thinking quite a bit about what happened. Would you please talk it through with me?”

He won’t apologize for the argument if he feels like he was right, but he will apologize for letting the disagreement escalate into a fight.

Satan could go weeks without making up if necessary, but he tries to resolve it within a couple of days.

Asmodeus:

Wants to give you the silent treatment, but is physically incapable.

He can’t stand to have you ignore him.

He’s the type to go back to normal then suddenly remembers you guys had a fight.

“Wait, no! I’m not talking to you! I’m mad at you!”

His biggest downfall is that he’s so stubborn.

If he thinks he was right, he will die on that hill.

There are arguments with his brothers that happened a thousand years ago and he could still tell you exactly why he was right.

But with you, he realizes that doesn’t matter too him nearly as much as it usually does.

If it means going back to normal, he’ll forget who’s right or wrong.

If you sleep in another room, he’s beyond offended.

“What?! Well fine! I don’t want you in my bed anyway!”

Laying in bed alone is a different story though.

He can’t sleep. All he can think about is you. Your face when you sleep next to him, your smell, the feeling of his arms around you.

He 100% cries.

Finally goes and knocks on your door with wet, glossy eyes.

“MC? Can we talk about this? I can’t get my beauty sleep and my tears are wiping off all of my skin care lotion!”

Will throw himself into your arms before you can answer.

If you sleep next to him still, he rolls over and watches you sleep.

It puts him at peace and he decides seeing your sweet, resting face every morning is worth more to him than the argument.

He’ll initiate the conversation the next morning.

I think Asmo could make it a few days if it was a really serious argument, but he will not function well until you make up.

Beelzebub:

Wants to make up immediately.

He doesn’t like to argue, even less so with you.

Whether he was right or wrong, he blames himself. He’ll take all the blame in the world if it makes you happy.

He’ll go make you your favorite food and bring it to you.

If he thinks you don’t want to talk to him, he’ll leave it outside your door and text you to let you know it’s there.

He’s honestly devastated if you decide to sleep in another room.

You guys migrate to your old room when you want privacy from Belphie, but you almost never sleep separately.

Seeing you grab your pillows and march out of the room nearly stops his heart.

He goes completely numb and silent as he just stares at the space you had just occupied.

Like Levi, he thinks this means the relationship is over and he genuinely does not know what to do with himself.

He can’t even bring himself to eat, he just wants to lie there, lost and trying to grapple with his emotions. 

He’s another one who will absolutely cry, but unlike Asmo he will make sure no one knows it.

If you still sleep in his bed, he’s very nervous about it.

He doesn’t know if it’s okay to touch you, what he can or can’t say, stuff like that.

He just lays there stiff as a board not even able to close his eyes.

Honestly the fight would probably have to be resolved before bed. His anxiety just can’t take it.

I don’t think he’d initiate the apology. Not because he doesn’t want to make up but because his confidence is rock bottom in these situations.

He catastophizes and honestly thinks you hate him.

If you don’t initiate the apology soon, Belphie will. He can feel what his twin won’t say, and he knows Beel won’t approach you about it for fear of making it worse.

Belphie will lock you two in a room if that’s what it takes for you to make up.

Belphegor:

The embodiment of if looks could kill.

He won’t talk to you, won’t look at you, basically pretends you aren’t there.

If he must interact with you he’ll roll his eyes and sigh the whole time.

Tries to sleep through any interaction so he doesn’t have to deal with it.

He feels almost betrayed by the fight.

He thought the relationship was stronger than to have such a huge divide, so he’s really insecure about it.

After the first day, the anger has melted away to guilt.

He ‘s not guilty that you fought, but he is guilty about how he treated you after.

Guilt and self-blame have become unwelcome friends at this point. Guilt over Lilith, over his plans to destroy the human world, everything.

But more than anything else, the guilt for the fact that he attacked you weighs on him every day.

He moved past it quickly after, essentially pretending he hadn’t killed you, but that’s because he just couldn’t confront what he’d done. 

He feels like the luckiest demon alive that you forgave him, let alone  opened you heart enough to love him, and now it’s all in tatters.

Another thing to regret.

If you decide to sleep separately, it’ll hit him like a bag of bricks.

“You - what? Where are you going?” 

It’ll take him a second to process what you were doing, but then he’ll roll over and let you leave.

“Fine. Don’t let the door hit you.”

No one will see him for awhile. 

Belphie sleeps all the time anyway, but he just can’t make himself get out of bed.

If you don’t approach him to apologize, Beel will tell you that he’s been nauseous and randomly emotional which must mean his twin is coping very badly. 

Will beg you to go make Belphie happy again. 

If you sleep in his bed still, the argument will be resolved by morning.

He can’t keep himself from embracing you in his sleep, and it’s hard to say you’re mad at someone when you wake up in their loving arms.

It’s hard to pinpoint how long it could last with Belphie. If you don’t apologize first, he won’t let himself be conscious long enough to approach you.

This is both my first hc post as well as my first obey me post so I’m sorry if le boys are ooc. I just got this idea and couldn’t stop thinking about it so here we are.  Especially Belphie, he was hard to me for some reason. Let me know if you guys agree or disagree and if you want to send a request or ask, my box is open!