#do i know her desk is a vanity? yes... but I somehow liked the idea of using it as a normal desk

[moonwoodhollow]

Claudias room back in the early 90s

[love-is-a-pearl]

Hair styling

Word count: 840 Ao3 mirror: Hair styling Warnings: none Pairings: AshDawn (pearlshipping)

“Ughh” complained Dawn as the very lopsided braid she had just finished came undone. Why was french braiding so difficult?

She hits her forehead on the vanity desk before looking back at the mirror, wondering if she should just scrap the braid idea and go for another hairstyle when she sees Ash reflecting in the mirror. He has been waiting for her to fix her hair for half an hour now. She feels guilty for it.

“You know I could help you, right?” He asks, trying to hold a laugh. Dawn could be so dramatic at times.

“Do you even know how to braid?” She asks, her voice muffled cause she still has her face planted on the desk.

“Yeah, actually.” He gets up from his spot on the bed and moves to stand behind her chair. “I asked Brock to teach me a while ago.” He pats her head and she sits back up. Might as well let him try to do what she can’t.

“Really? Why?”

“Remember how in the last meeting you needed both Serena and May to somehow get the hairstyle you wanted done?” She shrinks in her seat as he starts pulling her hair in 4 separate strands plus the pretty glittery ribbon that was the kickstarter for Dawn’s need for a braid at all. She always chooses the most complicated hairstyles doesn’t she? “I thought that if I learned one thing or two I could help you with it. So I asked Brock to teach me some stuff.”

“How Brock knows how to braid though? Can’t imagine him having long hair.” Ash laughs as he remember his older friend rocked a mullet once.

“I think having 4 younger sisters gets you to learn some stuff.” He finishes the braiding, and ties the end of the french braid in a not so perfect bow. “There you go!” he looks at her expectantly through the mirror. He tried his best but he had just done this on the fur of Lycanroc until now, so he know he is nowhere near Dawn’s level. “What do you think?”

Dawn moves her head to look at the hairstyle from as many angles as she can. “It’s amazing! Way better than when I try to do it by myself! It looks so cute.” She grabs the braid in her hands to inspect the job. “It’s crazy how good you are at learning new things. Now I just need to think of which outfit to wear!”

“You… hadn’t thought of anything yet?”

“I… had only the hairstyle figured out..”

✦ ✧✧✧✧

“You’re staring.” Dawn says to her boyfriend that had stopped their pokemon training to look at her, instead of drinking the water he was holding. “Like, more than usual.” She jokes. It was not unusual for him to just stare at her, but mid training? Almost worrisome if she’s being honest.

“I am?” He finally takes a sip from the bottle. “It’s just… That hairstyle really looks good on you.” His expression softens as he appreciates how the pulled hair makes the pretty earrings she's wearing shine against her face.

“Are you just appreciating it more because you’re the one who did it?” He thinks about it. His stomach does feels funny when he remembers that he helped her achieve this look.

“Maybe.”

“Then I guess I should ask you to do my hair more often.”

“Yes!” He exclaims. Then stops, thinking about it. “But Brock didn’t really taught me much more than braiding.” Won’t doing the same thing over and over make it less appealing?

“Well, maybe I can teach you other styles.” She also grabs a bottle of water and sits next to Ash in the bench. “There’s always the internet too. There’s this youtube channel that teaches how to do the coolest hairstyles! But I couldn’t ever do it on myself because they’re too complicated. Maybe you could get them done for me?”

“That sounds fun! What stuff do they teach?” He asks, clearly interested in learning more than just braiding.

“All sorts of stuff! Here, let me show you.” She grabs her phone and start to look for the channel she just mentioned.

✦ ✧✧✧✧

“Ash please. Turn off the phone.” Dawn complains. It’s 11:20pm and she got to wake up early the next day and her boyfriend is tapping the next hairstyling video in a row. It’s cute how interested in it he is but she wants to sleep.

“Right after this one, I promise.” He says as the audio plays, it says something about pompadours.

“You know there’s no way in hell you are styling my hair into a pompadour, right?”

“Yup. I’m not watching for you.” He says. They stay in silence for a few minutes before her sleep deprived brain connects the dots.

“If you give yourself a pompadour I’m breaking up with you.” She threatens, not really meaning it but also… maybe? Just a little.

“It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.” He jokes back.

“GIVE ME THAT PHONE!”

[pen-observing]

Hi! If you will have any inspiration about this

What do you think would be little things that brothers would bring you as courting you? As like birds or penguins with rocks and sticks?

Thank you 💜

sjdaj this was fun! i did have an image of lucifer bringing feathers as a meme in my mind for a sec

what the brothers bring you while courting you/wanting to impress you:

Lucifer:

He is what many would consider to be a classic idea of a man. Tall, dark, handsome with refined taste. Because of this he tries to be refined in what he brings you as well. Why should you two not share such traits?

Lucifer because of this relies on the extravagant, classic choices. Most of all – jewelry.

Rings, necklaces, bracelets – everything he sees while out on an errand that catches his eye.

He also tries to match some items with you. He has a golden pen, why shouldn’t you have one as well?

However, one thing that gets in his way is that: no matter how strong his impulse to buy or obtain rare jewels is – he cannot always give them to you.

He overthinks it.

‘if I give them two rings two weeks in a row, would that be too much? Would they then spend money to buy an outfit that matches it? Would the gifts lose their meaning if I don’t space them out? If I continue to give them so many gifts, they would feel responsible to return them so they would spend more money on me and we both know that I am the one who has more money so--’

All these thoughts come to him. Sometimes Lucifer even thinks that your pride would be hurt if he gives you jewels so often.

He tries not to go overboard but he knows that there is a whole desk drawer of little boxes just waiting for the right time to go to you.

Mammon:

No matter how much Mammon may chase gold and sparkles – he is no Lucifer and there is no way that he can just rely on jewels.

Sure, on very special occasions he manages to surprise you with them and that does make it more meaningful.

Mammon puts aside everything else and actually gets a job whenever your birthday is close.

So what else could be bring you?

He is well aware of how birds bring branches or rocks – how sometimes they even spend so much time flying high above and continuously dropping walnuts for others on the road until they crack. His approach is similar.

When you have issues or need to open something – he always offers himself.

It is a bit silly but being there for someone counts.

Besides this – every trinket that he sees somehow ends up in your room

Plushies, fun masks, nail polish that matches his, a leaf that fell in his hair while he was sleeping under a tree and dreamt of you.

He also brings postcards, magazines, photos you might enjoy.

Once he brought you a heart shaped stone and bragged about how his keen eye managed to observe it in the clean river!

Something in every corner of your room will be adjacent to him.

“What if I brought you branches?” “What?” “Nothing!”

He just wanted to ask!

Leviathan:

Lucifer is impulsive in buying just one thing, Levi, however, is impulsive all around.

And that impulsivity goes in many directions.

He is able to use and calculate all his Akuzon points to make sure that you get 10 products instead of just 1.

He takes it very, very seriously.

Sometimes he buys you way too many snacks, other times he orders 5 costumes

Often his courting relies on the thought; what if we shared this!

His mind says that the more you have in common the better match you are.

This is why he brings matching keychains or slippers or even computer backgrounds and mousepads.

He still knows that ‘matching’ does not fully count but it really warms his heart when he sees that you are willing to share and indulge in those small things that would not really matter to others.

It gives him a confidence boost and reassures him that you are in fact open to him.

However, something still has to be yours alone.

Yours alone, from his hands and he needs to make sure of that.

Levi does bring you pearls like penguins do.

And he did in fact spend a long time underwater making sure he brings the best ones.

Just... never show him the video that trended of a female penguin cheating on her partner in the human world.

Satan:

Satan, no matter how much he tries to deny it, is in many ways similar to Lucifer.

He might dress the way he does but he tries to be a classic gentleman in this regard.

He does bring jewelry too – however he never brings it without a deeper, more profound reason.

‘so what if this ring is rare? What does it matter to them? Nothing.’

He has to hear you say it is very pretty to give it to you.

The necklace needs to remind him of your eyes or he is not buying it at all.

Because of this – he is very picky so few gifts are of this nature.

What else does he bring?

Satan writes you notes all the time.

Sometimes they are there to remind you of water or meals, other times they are short quotes.

In fact, he brings you annotated books; lines that remind him of you; quotes of feelings he knows thanks to you.

He brings you parts of himself and looks for parts of you in everything.

This is his idea of courting.

And don’t be surprised to get letters (wax made by him) under your door even if you live close by.

Asmodeus:

Unlike the others, Asmo has no problems with giving you whatever his own impulse says to.

Why should he hide these 2 perfumes that he bought thinking of you and wait for 3 weeks to present them to you?

No, do it right then and there because your heart felt the love or do not do it at all!

Because of this, his impulse costs a lot. Only second to Lucifer.

Asmo wants to give you luxurious things but he knows that jewelry alone can get boring rather fast and is limited by time and fashion and practicality etc.

So he gives you luxury in everything.

New lines of fragrance are yours as well as his, new skin care products that few humans can buy just show up at your door.

Does he also give you framed photos of him? Yes

Does he give you best silk? Also yes.

Why should the two of you not enjoy these things? You deserve it after all.

Still, Asmo is very sentimental too.

He gifts you photo albums of things that make him feel so. Memories of trips and walks; of sleepovers and quiet nights as well.

Yes, luxury is there but this small pretty pen is cheap and has hearts on it! He simply has to give it to you!

Beelzebub:

Beelzebub knows the ‘proper’, ‘correct’ or expected ways to court someone.

He knows what gifts others give and why.

But, all of that seems slightly...like vanity or showing off to him.

It just wouldn’t feel right to give you a framed work of art or color stones that glimmer if it does not really awake something.

His gifts are as gentle as him.

Yes, food is the most obvious choice but he really does worry if you are eating well because humans are fragile.

Flowers that he sees in shops or on walks.

While once walking with Luke he saw some and said how pretty they would look on you. Luke taught him to make flower crowns for that reason.

Most of his gifts are handmade.

He wants to help you on his own no matter what.

The most consistent gifts however are those that you said you needed.

Doesn’t matter when you said it or how, maybe it was just a passing thought, but he remembers and he gets them for you.

Belphegor:

it wouldn’t be wrong to say that he manages to mix up all of these ways and refuses to settle down on just one type.

This is because he is similar to Beel.

Beel gives you thinks you said you needed; Belphie gives you those you did not even notice.

He is constantly observing you and being as smart as he is – nothing escapes him.

You don’t have to complain how you grew bored of your boots or how annoying those headphones are.

He just notices it and gives you new ones.

Sometimes he looks at you during a party in Diavolo’s castle and things that a necklace is missing and would actually be useful in the future as well; so, he buys it.

Books for assignments you are not aware you will need next year find their way to your table. Yes, it is a year but he is a published Devildom scholar so trust him with this.

Paintings, matching rings with stars, a keychain of some small alien from a human TV show etc.

He treads the lines of outlandish with luxury and simple.

Seeing you surprised no matter what because you never mentioned these things always brings him joy.

a/n: how tf do you spell jewelry is it this or jewellery or i hate his word pls

[lubdubsworld]

物の哀れ ( ‘the sadness of things’.)

Alpha Jungkook x Omega Oc!

Genre : Angst , Hurt/ Comfort.

    Chapter 1  ⋆  Chapter 2  ⋆  Chapter 3     Chapter 4  ⋆  Chapter 5   ⋆   

    Chapter 6   Chapter 7     Chapter 8

Summary : Nine months after her marriage ends, Kim Heejin is a reclusive artist, who works out of a renovated warehouse in Busan, her days and nights spent with canvas and paint. Its exactly what she’s ever wanted, to be left alone. And yet, that nagging feeling of incompletion keeps her on her toes. And perhaps, it is that longing for something substantial, something real that pushes her to give her flawed but lovable ex-husband another chance.

Chapter 9

 “I… No. Just… please tell him I’ll be down…I’ll come down to the lobby to meet him.” I said quickly, panicking at the idea of having him here. I’d barely been here a day but this was still my space. And if I had him here then his scent would just seep into every nook and corner. 

The room would smell like him then… And what would I do after he left?

God, what was I even thinking? Head swimming, I crawled to the edge of the bed and breathed shakily. 

It felt surreal, climbing out of the bed and moving to the vanity . I stared at myself in the mirror as I grabbed the makeup bag I kept with me all the time. Wide eyes and parted lips, creamy gold skin turning lily white because of how the blood had just drained after that phone call. 

I looked petrified .

Jungkook… I thought numbly. Jungkook’s waiting downstairs and I’m going to see him. 

What is he thinking.... What is he feeling... why is he even here? 

You’re not responsible for his emotions, Taehyung’s soothing voice in my head helped a bit but not a whole lot. What about my emotions, I though desperately, grabbing the tube of gloss and slowly uncapping it. I ran the end of it over my lips and felt my fingers tremble because I didn’t know why I felt this need …to look beautiful.

I didn’t need to, I though miserably. Everyone knew omegas were beautiful. Beta supermodels were beautiful yes but they couldn’t hold a candle to me, at least for someone like  Jungkook. He was an alpha, his brain was built to find me attractive. I had evolutionary genetics on my side, which mean that if I ever actually wanted to seduce Jungkook , he wouldn’t really stand a chance .

But I didn’t want that.

I had had enough of that. Enough of seeing handsome, rich alphas being reluctantly attracted to me. They made it obvious too. Most of the hate mail I got stemmed from angry wives or girlfriends accusing me of seducing their men , even though  I’d never so much as laid my eyes on them. It was so unfair. 

I didn’t enjoy watching them lose their minds at the sight and scent of me, because i knew that deep down,  they thought that all omegas were scum. 

Manipulative, sex driven , greedy and selfish . Those were the labels I got plastered with , on the media and on the streets. 

And Jungkook wasn’t different, I reminded myself firmly, pulling away from the mirror and grabbing the loose powder and dusting down some of it on the apple of my cheeks and down the length of my nose. 

He didn’t think any different than the others. Jungkook’s views on omegas were just as archaic and bigoted as everyone else’s .

He just didn’t act on them .

Sighing, I dropped the lipgloss back in the back and brushed my hair off my face. On a whim , I pulled off the hair tie holding the thick strands together, letting the wavy tresses fall over my shoulder. I hadn’t cut my hair in a long time and it felt to my hips now. My stylist was adamant that it added to my aesthetic.

  A primal siren, she had said staring at me in awe, like something eternal and beautifully dangerous. We’re lucky you seem incapable of hate, Heejin ...because I think you could bring grown men to their knees with that body and that face. 

I felt nauseous at the thought of it.   

Walking to the elevator felt like walking the plank and I had stop a couple of times, just to breathe deeply. I had to be smart about this. I was in therapy. Taehyung had taught me how to handle situations like this and while my heart was pounding too hard and my brain was too scrambled to use any of his therapy techniques, I still had some of my cognitive abilities intact. 

He came here, i thought desperately. 

He came looking for you and that means he isn’t nervous or worried or overthinking this because he doesn’t have feelings for you. If you want to come out of this  unscathed, you need to get your head on straight. You need to pretend that you didn’t just have a minor mental breakdown at the thought of him dating someone else. 

I took a deep breath, exhaling sharply before stepping into the elevator. The ride down to the lobby was barely a few seconds and when I stepped out, I realized the place was way too crowded for such an exclusive Hotel. And then I remembered that people were here for the Art Festival. I glanced at the reception desk, covertly, noting a conspicuous lack of Jeon Jungkook. The lady behind the desk held her hand up when she spotted me .

“Ms. Kim? Mr. Jeon just went to get you a drink...He’s over by the breakfast counter over there.” She pointed out the dining space where people were walking about getting breakfast and I swallowed, feeling hot and cold as I cautiously stepped into the crowd, trying to find a that familiar head of thick dark hair. 

I felt the apprehension build as I tugged on my bottom lip between my teeth, trying to reign in the chaos in my mind but it was impossible, everything too loud and too messy. I looked around and then, it hit me. 

His scent. 

I felt my lips part in surprise, and it felt like someone had turned the volume down , noises fading into a dull hum at the back of my mind as I stared at him. He hadn’t spotted me yet and I took a second to just....look.

He looked incredible.

There was really no other word for it. Incredibly handsome, Incredibly beautiful and so incredibly perfect as the late morning sun lit up the room, picking out the shine on his white silk shirt. I breathed in deep, my mindeasily picking out the musky pine scent of him and I stepped closer, moving straight towards him and I caught the exact moment my scent his senses.

He jerked a bit, nostrils flaring and eyes going wide before he turned, lips parted and gaze a bit unfocused as he looked around.

When he caught sight of me, he just blinked. 

I smiled weakly, body going limp with relief because.... because this was Jungkook. Not some monster I had to run from. This was Jungkook....even at his worst he had been better than some of the other people I’d met in life. 

I looked down at the drink in his hand and smiled a bit as he made his way over. 

“ This isn’t the same as buying me a coffee.” I said shakily as he finally stepped upto me.

His eyes danced with warmth. 

“What makes you think I can afford one? Besides, aren’t you the hotshot artist? Shouldn’t you be the one buying me stuff?” He said softly. 

“Just saw you on the front cover of a magazine. We both know you’re far from destitute..” Even through the smile, I felt the tug of emotion as I stared at him, felt the difference in him like night and day, the light and joy and ...contentment that seemed to radiate off him .

He smiled and held the drink out to me gently.

“ Heejin-ah.” He whispered. 

And somehow it was the sound of his voice, wrapping around the syllables of my name that finally did it. 

I felt the tears brim over, my lips parting in choked laughter as I stepped close and wrapped both my arms around him, burying my face in his neck and breathing him in. I felt him hold me, infinitely gentle and I exhaled sharply.

“I didn’t miss you,  at all.” I said shakily. He laughed lightly. 

“I missed you , too.” He stroked the back of my head gently and I sighed, fingers curling on the silk of his shirt. The fabric felt like liquid in my fingers and I played with it for a second, intensely aware that people were starting to stare. That this embrace had gone on for longer than social norms dictated but I couldn’t bring myself to care, letting my chin rest against his shoulder blades. 

And it was almost frightening.....how easy it was to pretend we weren’t broken at all. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“She was so small when I last held her... I can’t believe she’s running around.” I said, awed, listening to Jungkook tell me about how Mina liked to climb everywhere. He laughed, shaking his head. 

"She’s growing bigger everyday. I can barely keep up.” Jungkook smiled, holding a hand out for me to step over the wooden slats that lined the tiny archway that led to the door to his building. I hesitated before lightly gripping his hand in mine, the gesture somehow feeling more intimate that it was. 

“You’re not staying at the Firenze?” I asked curiously, resisting the urge to reach for his hand again when he let go.

it was such a ridiculous thing but I’d never held hands with him. And It felt ridiculously nice, to slot my fingers with his, feel them in between mine. His palm against mine, calloused but somehow so comforting. 

 I’d forgotten how warm he was.

 Don’t. Don’t fall down this rabbit hole again, Heejin. We talked about this. He doesn’t think of you that way. He doesn’t. And neither should you. its unfair to him. He doesn’t deserve that. 

“No... As you can see my apartment is barely ten minutes away and Soeun has her exams so its easier for her to watch over Mina here at the apartment.

“Soeun?” I asked curiously.

“Park Soeun? She’s a University student who lives with me. She’s doing a correspondence course in fashion . So she’s home all the time and she helps out with Mina. And she speaks Italian so that’s a huge plus... ” He smiled. “ you’ll like her. She’s a good kid.” 

 Don’t make that face. Don’t fucking make that face, Heejin.

I struggled to keep my face straight , like I wasn’t feeling the weight of a dozen bricks at the base of my stomach. 

“A roommate...then..?” I asked quietly and he shrugged.

“Something like that. But mostly she helps take care of Mina when I’m out on an assignment.” He smiled and led me past two flight of stairs up to the studio apartment. 

I wrapped my arms around myself as he stopped in front of a wrought iron grill, gripping one end and sliding it open with ease. And then he rang the small bell n the side. I shuffled back and forth on my foot, heart racing. 

The door opened and I blinked because of how young the girl who opened the door was. A second later she was beaming, moving forward and wrapping both her arms around me.

“Unnie!” She squealed, hugging me so close that I almost choked. Completely thrown I could only gape at Jungkook who was laughing . 

“Oh, I forgot to mention..she’s a bit of a fan. “ He teased lightly and I smiled awkwardly, watching as she pulled back to stare at me, her gaze trained on my face unblinkingly. 

“Whoa...” She reached out and lightly touched my cheek with her forefinger making me jump. She flinched as well, flushing red.

“Shit..sorry...I just... I’ve never... I’ve never met an omega before.” She said softly. “ You’re absolutely breathtaking.”

I felt my heart pound, steeping back instinctively, an overwhelming urge to hide , anxiety pooling in my stomach as she continued to stare at me. I hated the attention and I wrapped my arms around myself. 

“Soeun, enough. Don’t make it weird.” Jungkook said sternly, voice hard and the girl immediately flushed, bowing apologetically. 

“Sorry...I.. sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable ... You’re pretty.” She said again before turning to Jungkook.

“I have to get some stuff for my exhibit, Jungkook oppa... Mina’s asleep. i’ll be staying over at Vince’s place for the night though. Is that okay?”

“Sure..have fun.” Jungkook smiled, “ Vince is her boyfriend.” He explained and Soeun nodded happily. 

“Italian men are absolutely amazing unnie...you should try some.” She winked and I laughed despite myself.

“I just might...” I said with a grin, watching as she walked over to slip on a pair of sneakers from the small shoe closet near the door. She waved enthusiastically all but bouncing away and I blinked at him , shaking my head.

“I feel a hundred years old right now.” I said softly, still stunned by the girl’s exorbitant energy. Jungkook laughed at that

“She definitely has that effect on people... Come on, I’ll show you around.” He held his hand out and I smiled , taking his fingers mine and letting him tug me further into the studio apartment. 

I looked around, taking in the full blown prints of Mina and Jungkook , caught in adorable poses in front of different tourist spots in Florence. I saw how much she looked like Jungkook now, and how openly affectionate they looked together, the love evident even in the still photos. 

And then my eyes fell on a familiar painting , my stomach lurching. 

“You... “ i turned to him in a rush and he was staring at me with a small smile.

“I had to bring that. It pretty much saved me, that painting.” He said casually, stepping close and running his fingers all over the print. 

“When you told me this is how Sooah saw me...” He traced the picture carefully before glancing at me,” it made me realize that Sooah didn’t just want a baby.....she wanted a baby with  me. She saw me as a father. As someone who could raise and nurture a tiny human  and that... that’s amazing isn’t it?” He sighed, staring at me.  

He looked beautiful, I thought with an ache deep inside me. The most beautiful man I’d ever seen in my life and it seemed almost too good to be true. That he was here, at reach. So close. I wondered if this was it. This had to be a sign. A sign that we’d come full circle. That it was over. That we could finally break free from all that we’d been through, and look back at Jungkook’s past with fondness instead of pain.

And perhaps, just perhaps I could reach out and touch him with something more than just the love you have for a friend. . Perhaps I could reach out and touch him, without feeling guilt and foreboding.

I exhaled shakily stepping up and running my fingers over the canvas. It was nothing fancy... Just a painting a painting of Jungkook holding Mina up by her waist, high over his head, staring up into her face with all the love and adoration in the world, The child in the painting doesn’t look exactly like Mina, of course, but I’d had no idea , seeing as Sooah had commissioned the painting when she was pregnant. But Jungkook.... Jungkook looked exactly like he did now : Happy and at peace. 

“You’re alright, then?” I asked quietly , a wealth of meaning behind the words and he smiled , nodding gently. 

“I’m fine…” He whispered , “ And I’m so glad I can tell you that, like this. Thank you for coming , Heejin-ah . I know you owe me nothing but.. I wanted to show you that… it wasn’t all bad you know. What we went through… Something good did come out of it.” He whispered.

I choked out a sob.

“I lied.” I whispered. “ I did miss you. Even when I knew I shouldn’t.”

Jungkook’s gaze softened.

“I have a lot to be sorry for. But I don’t want to remind you of those things. I just want you to know that… I understand what you went through…those six months. I understand that it was difficult and painful and i… I’m grateful that you didn’t give up on me. And I’m grateful that you stayed in my life.  Because I know I didn’t deserve that.”

“You deserve to be loved Jungkook.” I said quietly. “ Its not wrong to move on. You deserve to… find happiness again.”

He stared at me, his gaze soft and gentle.

“I can almost believe it, when you say it that way.” He laughed. “ And… you know… I’m not sure if its love. But there’s someone I’ve been…. Well, I can sort of see myself with her. .” He grinned a little, smile boyish as he ran his fingers through his hair. He glanced at me and I felt my heart skip a beat.

Wait… was he going to?....

“ I met her at Taehyung’s practice, a year ago. Her name is Lee Hyorin.” Jungkook looked at me, doe eyes shining with excitement.

And just like that the world ended.

Or so it felt.

It was like being dipped in icy cold water, the shock of it rendering me speechless, lips parted and breath catching in lungs.

Blood rushed through my ears, so fast that I felt lightheaded, my legs nearly giving out. White noise filled my skull, pain lancing sharp through my heart like a thousand paper cuts, and I couldn’t really breathe. It took a few seconds…. For my heart to catch up with what my mind had just processed. And when it finally did, the pain was so excruciating, I had to clench my fists, nails digging into the flesh of my palm to ground myself.

“She’s an alpha…and she lost her husband around the same time Sooah passed..” Jungkook gave me a soft smile. “ She’s actually a curator at one of the museums here. She’s the one who made all the arrangements for me to move here to Florence. ”

“Wow… That’s…” devastating,. “ That’s good news. Jungkook.. I.. How long…” My voice cracked, and I had to swallow. “ How long have you guys been dating?”

“About three months now. We’re taking it very slow, because we aren’t really ready. She has a son too. He’s three years old. Mina loves him so that’s a plus.” He laughed.

My lungs constricted, breathing difficult and my head swam because ….. what. Realization set in so quickly, I was left reeling. I was in love with this bastard, I thought miserably. So in love with him that it felt like he was shredding my heart into ribbons. Every word of his mouth felt like a sharp deep stab, straight through the center of my heart and the pulsing, beating organ was on the verge of giving out.

“She’s going to be there at the dinner tonight at the Festival. She’s one of the organizers by the way. She’s kind of the reason I got in, I think.” He laughed , looking abashed and what a load of bull that was. Jungkook was successful and well known. Superbly talented at his chosen field. She was lucky to have him.

How can she have him when I’m the one who fixed him? How is that fucking fair?

“She really understands the things I’ve been going through, the past few months and because we both still attend therapy with Taehyung, we’re able to talk about a lot of stuff. Stuff I can’t share with others…” Jungkook was saying and I tuned him out, not wanting to hear another word.

I swallowed, choking on bile. I could feel sweat gathering on my scalp, my skin clammy and damp , the air between us shifting into something poisonous and filled with so much dismay, it was a miracle he hadn’t picked up on it.

Couldn’t he sense how distressed I was? Couldn’t he see how his words were hurting? Couldn’t he fucking see that I couldn’t live without him? Why on earth couldn’t he see me the way he apparently saw every other woman on the damn planet…..

Because he’s a shitty Alpha, I thought miserably, willing myself not to burst into tears. He was a shitty excuse for an alpha back then and he’s the same now.

A low, distressed cry began somewhere behind him and he jumped.

“Oh, shit she’s up… come on, Heejin.” He said with a bright smile, turning around and rushing down a small hallway and I willed myself to breathe in deeply, reminding myself that this wasn’t the end of the world. I could get through this. Besides, it was Mina.

Beautiful, perfect Mina who had been there for me. She would see me and she would give me that sweet gummy smile of hers, does eyes twinkling and I would get through this. Because her smile was what was important. Her smile and her joy and her happiness.

The sobbing had slowed down to small hiccups and I stepped past the threshold cautiously, watching as Jungkook bent over the large crib, carefully lifting her out and into his arms. She looked breathtaking, an absolutely gorgeous little girl . I stared, mesmerized as I stepped closer. My arms ached, and my chest tightened. Lips wobbling, I exhaled sharply, moving to reach for her.

She turned to glance at me and just as my fingers brushed her cheek, she recoiled.

Hard.

A loud wail tore through her tiny body and I felt my eyes go wide. Her casual little cry had turned into a sobbing , loud wail and I could smell the distress in her , the fear and distrust as she curled away from me.  Jungkook looked stunned as well, instinctively drawing her close and embracing her, moving away from me because….

Because I was the reason, she was distressed.  

My skin went ice cold at the revelation and I stumbled back, stunned.

“I… I’m sorry.” I choked out, confused and disoriented. Jungkook looked stricken, gently rocking her back and forth and she clung to him, gripping his shirt and I bit my lips, moving further back and I glanced at him, my heart shattering.

“She’s …She’s still sleepy… She doesn’t do well with strangers…” He said softly, looking upset, “ Maybe you could…wait outside…”

Stranger…. Was that what I was?

“I… I’ll go. I’ll just go.” I turned on my heel, rushing out of the door and struggling to breathe in air, my heart clenching so hard I was sure I was going to pass out. I felt my knees give out when I reached the couch, dropping down and drawing my knees up , wrapping my arms around my legs . I didn’t know how long I sat there, fighting sobs and choking on air…and when I finally came to myself, the sobs from the room had died out.

“She’s fallen asleep again.” Jungkook’s voice cut through the silence and I couldn’t bring myself to look up. I felt him move closer, felt his scent hit me as he stepped right up to me, kneeling on the floor in front of me.

I looked up at him, lips wobbling as I took in his handsome face.  A face that was so deeply carved into my heart and my soul, I couldn’t imagine living without it. Without him. The tears came then, helpless and endless and so painful.

He pressed in closer, cupping my face in his palms, thumb brushing the tears that spilled over so relentlessly.

“Heejin…” He whispered and I let my fingers curl around his wrist as his thumb kept brushing the curve of my cheeks. I took a deep , shaky breath .

“She doesn’t remember me….  “ I whispered, “ She doesn’t recognize me at all…She hates me……” I choked out , despair filling every last crevice of my insides, gut twisting as I remembered how Mina had twisted away from me, how her scent had soured in distress at the sight of me, at the touch of my fingers.

 And I wondered if it was different with this other woman..Hyorin, wasn’t it? Did Mina climb into her arms with ease? Did she curl into her chest and sleep? The way she used to with me,  when she was a month old and missing the warmth of a mother.. ….

All those nights spent in that tiny nursery, lying on the cold unforgiving floor, watching the rise and fall of Mina’s chest through the dark room…telling myself it was worth it… it was worth being touched against my will, worth being treated like filth by a man driven mad with grief and anger….all because of this baby…this tiny little baby who had needed me….

And now…she didn’t even know who I was…..worse…she was repulsed by the very sight of me… I couldn’t cope.

“Look at me…” Jungkook rasped, voice raw and cracking. “she doesn’t hate you, Heejin… she just … you feel new to her… different…” 

I shook my head, unable to think about anything beyond the sheer devastation that filled me, the way his daughter had pulled away and run, had refused to come anywhere near me. I realized with lancing pain that I’d wanted to see her, way more than I’d wanted to see Jungkook .

Because she was the reason I’d hung on for so long in that marriage which had been the biggest fucking mistake of my life…. the only reason I’d stuck around . Mina …Having her in my arms, her scent against my face, that had been the only genuine happiness I’d experienced  in a marriage filled with sheer , unending misery. 

“I… she… Why doesn’t she remember? “ I breathed, sagging into his arms, tears soaking his shoulders and his palm ran up and down my back.

“Because she was a baby. Heejin…. I left when she was a baby…”

“Why did you?” I snapped. “ Did it hurt you so much? The thought of living under the same sky as me ? Why you did you go?” I demanded.

Jungkook pulled back, hands coming up to grip my shoulder, holding me at arms length.

“Look at me.” He whispered. “ I had to … You know I had to go….I was hurting you. I was… I was draining you of life. Destroying you… “

Jungkook’s words reminded me of who he was. Of who I was… Of who I was to him.

I choked out, sobbing.

“I hate you. You treated me like scum. Like a crutch….. Like some sort of tool to get better and you just left… you…”

You found someone better. You broke me down and now you’ve gone and found someone better….because I was never good enough for you… I was never someone you could love….

“I had to let you go. I had to end that relationship because it was tainted with so much grief and anger and selfishness and greed. I knew that anything I did afterwards would be tainted by my actions… I… I had to make amends, Heejin. And do you think for a second, that it wasn’t the hardest thing I ever did? That walking out on you wasn’t one of the most devastating things I’ve ever experienced? But I did it for us… for this…” 

I stared at him.

“And what is this?” I asked brokenly.

“This is me, being able to touch you like this.” Jungkook pressed a palm to my cheek, “ And not feeling guilt or sadness or grief or loss.  I did it so we could have this…this… This thing where I can look at you and hold you and see that you’re healing. That you’re doing better… That you’re living the life you want…. That you’re happy. This is me standing here , in front of you and smiling because I’m happy too. Happy that you’re here.  ” He exhaled, “ I’m happy that despite all the hurt we’ve been through for and because of each other, I can look at you now and tell you, honestly, that I’m glad to see you.” 

What a joke.. What a fucking joke.

I smiled shakily.

“Well… “ I said softly, my stomach churning because I was done. Done with him and mostly with myself. “ Isn’t that absolutely wonderful.”

His gaze softened and he smiled.

“I want us to be friends, Heejinah. Even though we don’t see or talk to each other, I think of you often. And when Mina’s old enough to understand , I’ll tell her all about you… I want you in our lives. You’re a friend. ”

I stared at him , feeling the words echo in my skull . It left an acrid taste on my senses, the way he put me into this neat little box, friend. So ….insignificant. Everyone had hundreds of friends. There was nothing even remotely special about being someone’s friend.

Friend just meant replaceable and forgettable. And just like Mina didn’t remember me…. Someday Jungkook wouldn’t either. The knowledge filled my veins spreading all over my body and leaving a fierce, heavy ache in my chest.

It was my fault, I thought despondently. My fault because I had been an idiot.

Jungkook was the sane one here , I thought miserably. These nine months, while I’d been dwelling on him and worrying for him…he had done the healthy thing , by moving on with someone he could actually envision a future with….

What had I done, these past nine months? Dreamt up a fantasy world where somehow we found our way back to each other and built a life together… It seemed so foolish now, in the light of Jungkook’s words and his confession….

Jungkook had done all of this, not for me…but for himself. For his daughter whom he loved and for his wife , whose memory he wanted to honor. And perhaps it was my own delusion that made me think that I’d played some stellar role in his healing…. Maybe if I hadn’t been there, he would have gotten better just the same…. Maybe I hadn’t been a tool …as much as a hindrance …to his healing.

I shook my head, bitterness coating my tongue.

“I should get going.” I whispered , voice shaking.

This is it, I told myself. This is the last time you look at him with that heaviness in your heart. You deserve better. You deserve… a lot of things. And just because people don’t give it to you doesn’t mean you have to settle for less……

“So soon? Hyorin will be back in a couple of hours… I could show you some of my work, and we could get lunch ….”

I shook my head quickly. I didn’t want to meet her in his home. Didn’t want to see him being domestic and affectionate and …normal with her when all I’d ever seen was Jungkook in his anger and grief, either yelling abuses or gripping me with a lust that was tainted with violence and rage. I stared at his hands, the ones I’d liked holding….

How did I forget? That those were the same hands that had held me down and done things that should, rightfully have landed him in prison?

I shook my head, to clear the images out of my head. Looking at him now,  Jungkook looked eager, happy and healed. And I realized that he’d just pushed all of his own actions out of his mind. Forgotten all about it. And that was fair. He probably didn’t even remember any of it. He had been drunk out of his mind, lost in his head and surely, forgetting must’ve been easy… A relief.

I didn’t begrudge him that.

But…

I hadn’t been drunk. I’d been stone cold sober under him on that bed and so, maybe forgetting didn’t come that easily for me. And I was glad that Jungkook could move on and be happy but….

But I couldn’t stay here and pretend that it was the same for me. I wasn’t happy or healed, I thought miserably. And maybe , maybe the sight of him moving on was a sign that I had to stop thinking that healing meant going back to him and his daughter.

“Heejin… What’s wrong? Is it because of Mina.. she’s just not used to…” He began but I quickly pressed a palm to his chest, smiling.

“Strangers.” I said softly. “ I know. That’s not it… You know I have to introduce my exhibit at dinner tonight. I don’t know what the itinerary is or what I’m supposed to say…. None of it.. I need to meet my agent and prep myself a bit. Its alright…I’ll see you tonight.” I said softly.

“I’m sorry… I can’t walk you back because Mina-“

“Of course. Don’t worry about it…. I’ll just…”

The doorbell rang, startling me.

“Jungkook!” A strong voice called out and I went still.

“Hyorin?” Jungkook’s face lit up and I felt my stomach churn. God, the universe really was against me wasn’t it? Sighing in defeat, I wrapped my arms around myself, sitting back down on the couch and waiting.

Behind me , I could hear hushed whispers, soft laughter and shuffling feet. My mouth went dry.

“Ms. Kim….”

I turned around, greeted by the sight of a tall, strapping young woman, pretty by any standards. She was dressed in a pant suit , her hair long and straight, hitting the top of her shoulders. She looked smart… Important.

“Ms. Lee… Its nice to meet you.”

She held her hand out and I shook it gently.  Jungkook smiled at her fondly and his phone rang from somewhere inside the studio.

“Hang on that’s probably Soeun…” He smiled at me and moved away and I watched him leave before shifting my gaze to Hyorin, who was staring down at me with a small smile.

“Are you here in Italy by yourself? Or with one of your many …uh… patrons ?” She smirked.

I blinked.

“Patrons?” I asked softly. “ Excuse me?”

“Jungkook and I’ve been following all the stories about you, back in Korea. You get around quite a lot… don’t you? Every alpha within a 100 mile radius wants a piece of the lovely Kim Heejin… And honestly, could anyone blame them? You look exquisite.”

I stared at her, stunned. The implication was so obvious that I would be an idiot not to realize what she was hinting at. So this was the woman , Jungkook chose? Yet another prejudiced bigot?

I laughed a bit, feeling my heart sink.

“I’m not seeing anyone. If that’s what you’re asking.” I said quietly.

Hyorin smirked at that.

“Of course you aren’t… We all know that isn’t really something your kind does… monogamy, right?”

“Do you have a problem with me Hyorin ssi?” I asked roughly and she laughed.

“Oh come on.. we’re all adults, here. And Heejin, you  agreed to be a part of this festival, knowing full well, that’s what we think . Its because deep down you know I’m right….. Omegas can’t stay with one alpha. They need sex to survive and they are usually open to it with anyone. Not that I’m blaming you or judging you for it. It’s just how you’re built.”

I smiled wide, ignoring the urge to claw at her face. .

“Well, you’ve definitely got me all figured out haven’t you? “ I shook my head, glancing at Jungkook who was making his way over.

“What are you talking about?” He asked curiously and I smiled, glancing at her.

“ Hyorin ssi was just telling me how my sub gender makes it impossible for me to not go around whoring with every alpha I see…….” I glanced at him and Jungkook straightened, looking stunned, “ Well, I hope you two enjoy your beautiful monogamous relationship with each other something an omega like me can only fantasize about…. Right Jungkook?” I smiled and he looked completely lost.

“Wait…What? Hyorin what did you say?” He demanded and she was glaring at me now.

“Please don’t take it personally, I was only talking about omegas in general. “ Hyorin frowned, before bowing and moving away to stalk off in the direction of the bedrooms and I watched her, feeling dirty and terrible.

“Heejin, ignore her.. she’s just old fashioned and-“

“Is that what you’re going to call it?” I snapped and Jungkook froze.

“Heejin…”

I shook my head in disbelief.

“I’m not upset about what she said. I’m upset that she feels comfortable enough, spouting that bullshit to me , in your house. Makes me wonder what else she’s told you about omegas, and how much of it you probably agreed with.”

Jungkook stared at me , lips parted.

“I… I don’t feel that way. You know that.” He said stiltedly.

“Do I? All I know is that she knows about me, about who I am and apparently, she can call me a slut…. In front of you, without worrying about it upsetting you. And that tells me you’re as much of a bigot as she is.”

“Heejin… You know that’s not it. We all grow up being fed certain things and –“

“But you did grow up right?” I snapped. “ you grew up and you can think and act for yourself. As can she. Once you’re an adult, you don’t have a single fucking excuse for being racist or homophobic or bigoted because being an adult means having the ability to unlearn the toxic things you’ve been taught and relearn how to be a decent fucking human.”

I shook my head as he stared at me.

“And you know what…please just… just don’t call me or consider me as a friend.” I laughed. “ Because I don’t think I can consider you one. Not anymore. You can’t…...You can’t just love certain parts of me and be disgusted by others you know? I don’t need a friend who can care about me and love me and help me as long as he can forget that I’m an omega….. I need a friend who can love every jagged, broken , part of me. Who can call out people who talk bullshit at me , who can look someone in the eye and tell them they’re wrong when they’re calling me names  and that’s not who you are……. You’re not it.” I snapped.

Jungkook looked stricken, reaching out to hold me and I stepped away, annoyed.

“I’m sorry, Heejin, you’re right … I’ll talk to her… I’ll…” He began but I shook my head.

“Whatever.  Just don’t call me a friend. We can’t be friends. Let’s just be what we always were , yeah? A big fucking mistake that never should have happened.”

I stormed out of the door, shaking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What do you mean, there are no flights available for today?” I snapped. “Tell them money isn’t an issue. I need to get out of this place right now.”

Minho looked incredibly stricken, hair messy from how often he’d run his fingers through.

“ We just arrived seven hours ago, Hee. Of course there’s no flight yet…. We can stay another day…attend the dinner and-“

“No.” I snapped. “ Absolutely not. I’m not here because they find my art good  or worth putting up. I’m here because they know the alphas around here will want to pay more , to pour in more cash for a chance with me.” I held the embossed booklet up, waving it in his face.

“Heejin…” He protested but I shook my head.

“ Did you see the cost to get into my pane ?. Extra ….for alphas? And yet…apparently they had to pre book it and its filled? You think any of the lecherous bastards who paid money to see me , gives a shit about my art?  And apparently, there’s a meet and greet, for alphas only if they purchase seven or more paintings worth over 10000 Euros. Do you think, that’s what I’m worth?”

Minho looked down at his shoes, ashamed.

“I .. I’m sorry, Hee. You’re right. Its offensive . And an insult to your art and talent. We shouldn’t have come here, you’re right. And I regret it… But just… give me a few hours, yeah? I’ll find a way to get us out of here….”

I exhaled sharply, exhaustion weighing heavy on my head. I felt like I’d taken a pounding, physically and mentally and I wondered how a day that had started so well, could go so wrong, so fast…

Shaking my head, I trudged wearily to the elevator, knocking on the buttons before sagging against the wall, letting my eyes flutter shut.

Jungkook was dating.

Jungkook was dating. His girlfriend thought I was a slut and here I was about to prove her right.

I wanted to slit someone’s throat.

Sighing, I watched the door slide open, grabbing my keys out of my bag,  and moving to the suite. I opened the door before making a beeline for the bed. I collapsed on the soft duvet, groaning. I was torn between wanting to call Taehyung to yell at him about Jungkook and calling Minho to demand an update on the flights.

I was spared the dilemma when the phone in the room rang. Groaning, I moved to swat at the phone, turning on the speaker.

“Ms. Kim? There’s a Mr. Jeon here to see you?”

I blinked, feeling disbelief swell inside me. Did he not get the hint?

Annoyed, I sat up.

“Send him up.” I said, in no mood to go all the way down to see him.

“Up?” She sounded surprised, “ To your room?”

“Yes. To my room. Is that a fucking problem?” I growled, annoyed.

“Not at all Ms. Kim. He’ll be right up.”

I got out of bed, shrugging off my jacket and taking off my dress as well. It was a little damp because I’d sweated through the fabric. I grabbed one of my oversized t shirts , slipping it on and moving to open the door before retreating back to the inner room. Feeling annoyed, I walked up to the vanity and grabbed the hair brush, running the bristles through my locks. I heard his footsteps outside and stiffened.

“If you’re here to defend your shitty girlfriend, you can just leave Jungkook. I swear to God, I’ve had enough of this.” I shouted. He didn’t reply and my hackles rose.

“Listen, I’m sorry if I said something harsh-“ I froze when I reached the doorway, staring at the man in front of me. He had a large , almost humongous bouquet of wild orchids and roses in his hand and I stared at his face.  

This was definitely not Jungkook.

“Umm… hi.” The man bowed awkwardly, his gaze going straight to my legs, where my t shirt ended, just a couple of inches past my waist. I felt the blood rush to my face.

“Who are you…Get out !!!” I shouted, horrified, diving for my jacket and holding it up against my bare thighs. The man held both his hands up, eyes wide..

“I’m sorry… I… you said I could come up to your room….” He protested and I scowled, confused.

“What? “ I stared, stunned… “ Who…what?”

“I’m Wonwoo. Jeon Wonwoo. I’m uh….one of the sponsors for this festival. And a fan. Huge fan.” He was staring at me beseechingly and I felt my head begin to throb.

The sheer relentlessness of this day…..

“I… Mr. Jeon…” So weird, God, “ There’s been a misunderstanding. I’m not…. I thought you were someone else.”

“Jungkook yes…your ex husband, right? You were married to him for six months after he lost his wife….. He’s also one of the artists exhibiting their work here.” He nodded quickly, running long fingers through thick glossy hair, lips parting in a hesitant smile and I stared at him.

“How do you know all that? ” I demanded, heart pounding. He immediately held his hands up again.

“I’m sorry… I sound like a stalker, shit. But Trust me I’m not. I just am a huge fan.. I looked up some stuff about you….before.” He shuffled a bit awkwardly, finally looking up at me.

I tried to catch his scent. No scent to speak of. A beta then. Relaxing just a bit, I swallowed. At least I wasn’t in any immediate danger. But still, I had no intention of letting him see me in nothing but a t shirt. Embarrassed, I gripped the jacket tighter.

“Why are you here?” I demanded angrily, taking in his appearance. He didn’t look like a hoodlum or someone dangerous. He was good looking, dressed in a white t shirt and black Jacket over plain black slacks. His shoes looked expensive and I didn’t miss the shiny Rolex on his wrist either,.

“Well, for one thing I own the Hotel.” He chuckled and that made my stomach turn. “And also like I said, I’m one of the main sponsors for the Festival itself.”

“Right.” I was too disoriented to process this, head throbbing. “Of course. Is there a reason why you wanted to see me?”

“I was downstairs…just now… I couldn’t help but overhear you with your agent. You wanted to leave as soon as possible. To pull out of the event and I’m just here to try and change your mind, Ms. Kim.” He smiled earnestly and I realized he was really quite young.

I sighed.

“Could you… Could you wait outside? I want to put some clothes on before we talk any further.” I said tiredly and he bowed quickly.

“Uh… These…I’ll just leave these here.” He placed the large bunch of flowers on the table before quickly leaving the room and I swore, racing to the suitcase in the corner. I quickly grabbed a pair of jeans, slipping them on hastily and zipping myself up before glancing at the mirror again. This would have to do.

I moved to the door and opened it, finding him right there, looking lost.

“I… come in, please.” I said hesitantly and he bowed again, moving in and waiting for me to close the door and take a seat on the couch, before sinking into an arm chair across from me.

“Did you see the itinerary? It doesn’t get more sexualized than this.” I waved the booklet and he flushed.

“I understand you’re upset about … certain things. I’m sorry that you feel objectified , in the festival. It wasn’t the intention I had when I first told Hyorin and the others that I wanted them to invite you. But , I’ve been busy the past month, and I didn’t go over the complete agenda. If I did, I definitely would have made sure that you were treated with just as much respect as the others. Unfortunately, there’s not much I can do now, but I’ve had a word with all of the panelists and also the hosts. We won’t entertain any question or comments of a sexual nature and if anyone tries to insinuate anything , I’ll have them removed from the panel myself. “ He said firmly.

“I’m only here because you told me you would exhibit my mother’s works too.” I said sharply and he bowed.

“ Your mother’s works are just as exquisite and I’ve arranged for them to be displayed right at the center of the arena, with a running slide show of her childhood , her art technique and the great love she had for her daughter.” He said firmly.

I could only stare. He sounded incredibly sincere and there was no mistaking the earnestness in his tone.

“I’m….” I bit my lips, “  Listen, Mr. Jeon, I’m flattered but honestly, I never wanted to be here. I… there was … something else that made me want to come and well, that turned out to be a huge mistake. To be honest, I’m not sure if I have it in me to suffer through days of people treating me like I’m some kind of sex crazed bimbo.” I shook my head.

“how about this.? You let me be your date for tonight and you let me display your work, today at the dinner itself. I’ll be right by your side. And then, I’ll have my private jet on standby and we can fly back to Korea. You deserve the spotlight, Heejin and I want people to see how good you are at what you do. I don’t care if I lose money over this… As long as you’re comfortable. ”

I gawked at him, stunned.

“Private Jet?” I choked out. “ Okay, now I’m genuinely concerned.”

He laughed.

“I’m a Hotelier, and I have properties all over the world and I like to inspect them personally most of the time. Its more practical to have a private jet than to try and align my schedules with everyone else.” He smiled.

“Right. Convenient.” I shook my head. “ I’m no stranger to excessive wealth, Mr. Jeon and trust me, it’s always left a  sour taste in my mouth.”

“I don’t flaunt my wealth, Ms. Kim. These clothes? Got them on the streets of Florence. I drive a Mazda. Wealth has no meaning to me. People do. People like you, who bring beauty into the world with their craft. You’ve made my world beautiful and I just want to repay , in some way.” He smiled,  “ Also,  You’re very  beautiful.” He added and then immediately looked away. “ I’m sorry. That was… dumb . I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable.”

Endeared against my own wishes, I found myself fighting a small smile.

“Just tonight’s dinner?” I asked quietly.

“Just the dinner party.” He assured me quickly.

“Alright. But I’m not getting into any private Jet. My agent will book me tickets and I’ll find my way back to Korea.”

“As you wish. I’ll pick you up at seven. What color is your dress?” He asked casually and I blinked.

“Uh… Wine red? I guess? Why?”

He grinned, looking boyishly handsome.

“I’ll see you at seven, Ms. Kim.”

He bowed, before pausing by the bouquet. He grabbed a couple of  flowers, holding them up for me to see.  

“Daffodils and Lilacs.” He grinned, “ To finding something new to love. And to new beginnings.”

Wow.

Subtle.

I shook my head, momentarily forgetting all about Jungkook as I grinned all the way back to the bedroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I told you… coming with me will earn you major points.” Wonwoo smirked as he pulled me in by my waist , holding my dress up for me as I stared at the sleek black limousine at the Hotel entrance. I watched as he held my wrist gently, latching a string of sterling silver and red rubies around the delicate curve of it.

“This is too lavish…I don’t want this…Who are you?” I demanded, flushing because of the way the flashes went off in every direction, reporters scrambling when they caught sight of him. He was clearly popular, if the number of photos being clicked were any indication. I regretted everything.

Wonwoo pressed a kiss to my wrists, right near the bracelet and gently placed my palm on the curve of his elbow, leading me over to the car and I watched the chauffeur open the door for us.  

“ Someone who can get anyone here fired. Be careful , sweetheart.” I watched in mute horror as he bent low, picking up the hem of my skirt so I wouldn’t trip, while climbing into the limousine. The reporters began whispering excitedly and more flashes went off . My face completely red, I hastened to climb in.

“These people look at you like you’re some kind of King.” I stared out of the tinted windows seeing the sheer multitude of people and Wonwoo chuckled.

“ That’s because I am. At least for tonight. And that’s why I’m the perfect guy to protect you Heejin. They’re all terrified of me.” He winked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jungkook found me, fifteen minutes into the event. I hung by the large archway, near an alcove, sipping champagne and nibbling on some hors d’oeuvre as people threw glances at me. I noticed the conspicuous lack of a date on his arm and straightened, sighing and bracing myself for more unpleasantness as he picked his way through the crowd, eyes trained on me.

“Can we talk?” He said, the minute he was at hearing distance and I exhaled.

“No.” I said casually and he made a noise of impatience.

“Fucking, hell Heejin..just…” He swore again, looking upset. “ Why are you doing this to me? What do you want from me huh?”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“What do I want from you? Oh, fuck off Jungkook. I want nothing from you.” I snapped, turning on my heel, ready to leave but his hand shot out, gripping me right above my elbow, fingers curling in hard.

“Fuck.. listen. I don’t know what she said to you. I .. I’m sorry if she offended you…. Alright? She’s an alpha… I can’t change the way she thinks…”

“I didn’t ask you to. I merely said that if you associate yourself with people who think I’m scum, I won’t let you into my life. Because I respect myself too much for that.” I said firmly.

“She doesn’t think you’re scum, Heejin come on. She just has some misconceptions about certain things.”

“God, Jungkook…just stop. Alright? Stop. Because I’m not asking you do anything. I’m leaving on a flight tomorrow morning and you’ll never see me again. That’s all there is to it.”

He froze at that, fingers curling harder around my arm and it hurt, the skin turning red. Stupid fucker, never knew his own strength.

“Ow, Jungkook let go.” I whispered, and he did, albeit reluctantly.

I rubbed at the bruised skin, furious. I watched as the redness healed over, the pain fading to a throb and then into a pleasant heat and I hated it. Hated that being an omega meant that Jungkook’s rough touch turned to pleasure on my skin.

“What do you mean you’re leaving tomorrow? The Festival is for two weeks.”

I sighed.

“I didn’t come here for the festival. I came here to see you. To see if you were as hung up on me as I was on you…but apparently not.” I snapped.

Jungkook went perfectly still at that.

“What the fuck does that mean?” He said softly and I laughed, shaking my head.

“Wow. You really never even considered it huh? Us? Together.?” It wasn’t funny at all, but I could only laugh. Probably because I’d been so sure.. So certain that there was something there.

He opened his mouth to answer but I felt a warm solidness behind me, an arm wrapping around my waist and a second later, Wonwoo was there pressing up against me.

“Jungkook-ssi… Such a pleasure to meet you.” He held his hand out, and Jungkook frowned, his eyes trained on where wonwoo’s fingers curled around my waist.

“Get your hands off her.” He said shortly and Wonwoo blinked, pulling away from me and stepping back .

“What the-? No. Fuck you.” I snapped, glaring at Jungkook before grabbing Wonwoo’s hand and bringing it back around me. “Don’t you fucking dare take your hands off.” I held my finger up at his face and Wonwoo looked momentarily stunned.

“Really, Heejin? You’re doing this?” Jungkook glared at me. “ We need to talk.”

“So talk.” I snapped. “ Tell me why you think a bigoted bitch is the best you can do in terms of dating. Tell me why she’s the only one who can ‘ understand’ “ I made air quotes, shaking my head, “ You think you and your shitty have monopoly on grief Jungkook? I’ve lost people too. Just because I haven’t screwed other people over because of it, doesn’t make my grief invalid….yeah.”

Ringing silence followed and I regretted everything.

“Fuck.” I whispered, shaking my head. “ I .. Shit. I need to get out of here.”

I pulled away from Wonwoo, moving out of the huge ballroom and Jungkook was right behind me, of course he was.

“Heejin…fuck. Wait. You’re right. I didn’t mean to imply that you didn’t understand me. Of course you did. Its why you stuck around… I know that. And you’re right, she had no business talking about you like that. I’ll have a word with her… But…”

I sped up, wanting to get away but he grabbed me again, tugging me closer out of the hall way and into a darkened alcove and I flinched when he pushed me up against the wall, caging me in, as he pressed in closer.

“What did you mean by that?” He demanded, hands coming up to grip my waist, curling gently and my chest heaved at the touch of him, the enclosed space making his scent turn potent, strong and impossible to avoid. My nostril flared as I breathed him in, familiar and yet so foreign, comforting and yet so fucking dangerous.

“By what?” I snapped and his hands moved up, shaping the curves of my body , thumb grazing the tip of my breast and making me jump, before moving up, gripping my face, gently. He pressed his thumb into my lower lip, rubbing back and forth, face impossibly close and I swallowed, throat sandpaper dry.

“About us? Together….” He breathed and I exhaled shakily.

“You know what I meant.” I whispered. “ If you don’t then I can’t explain it.” I whispered and he swore, head dropping against mine, forehead resting against mine, and lips less than a hairsbreadth away.

We’ve never kissed, I thought suddenly. I licked my lips, turning my face away but his fingers gripped my chin at once, yanking me around to stare at him again.

“Look at me, baby. Tell me… You thought about us together?” He whispered .

I breathed shakily.

“Of course I did…. “ I snapped.

“Then clearly therapy isn’t working for you.” He snapped right back and I flinched.

“What-“

Jungkook pulled away staring at me.

“ Do you even remember all the shit I did to you?” He asked quietly. My stomach dropped.

“Jungkook.”

“I broke your ribs.” He said calmly. I swallowed.

“That.. That was an accident. You didn’t mean to.” I protested. “ And we’re past all that… I don’t… I don’t blame you for it.” I said, which was honest enough.

“And what about the nights I got drunk, Heejin….” He said softly and my skin went cold.

“That… That was just… It was just an outlet for your grief… “ I looked away and he scoffed.

“You’re calling it an outlet for grief. I believe the world calls it rape.”

I felt my entire body shiver at the word , moving up to wrap my arms around his neck, trying to pull him close but he was stiff as a board.

“ Don’t” I snapped. “ Don’t …. Its over…it’s in the past.”

“It was still me. I was the one who did it and I can’t… I can’t pretend it didn’t happen.”

I pulled away to glare at him.

“So , what? You won’t give us a chance because of something I’ve already forgiven you for?”

“Yes.” He said shortly. “ Because you may have forgiven me, but I haven’t forgiven myself.”

I felt my body sag in disbelief.

“Jungkook that’s-“

“You deserve better. You always have. I’m not… I don’t deserve someone like you Heejin. You’re kind and breathtaking and I’m just… a broken mess of a man who’s barely getting by.”

“Oh, right… So broken.” I scoffed. “ You’re on the front page of magazines, you have a successful career and a beautiful girlfriend,,,,forgive me if I’m not breaking my heart over your failures.”

Jungkook exhaled shakily before looking up at me.

“  You wanna know the truth about me, Heejin-ah?” He swallowed. “ I just got out of rehab last week.”

I went still.

“What?” I was sure I’d misheard.

“I… I came here and about a month or so in…I started drinking again…” He glanced away and my heart turned over inside me.

“Jungkook, what?” I demanded, horrified.

“I got drunk and got into an argument with a cop. I hit him. They found out I was a single father and-“ He shook his head, “ I got arrested for disorderly conduct , Public intoxication and assault.”

I stared at him in disbelief, unable to keep the disappointment out of my tone.

“ Arrested for assault... Jungkook why?” I breathed and he flushed.

“I know…. It was stupid.. I… I was stupid.” He said softly.  “Soeun isn’t a baby sitter. She’s a social worker. She’s here to keep an eye on me because they want to make sure I’m not a threat to Mina. If I slip up, they’ll deport me back home and then the state will likely take her away from me. Soeun likes me….so she agreed to lie to you ……And as for the girlfriend…” He laughed, shaking his head, “ Hyorin broke up with me after I got arrested. We’re not… We’re not dating. She was only there to get some prints for the panel tomorrow.” He finished shakily.

I stared at him.

“Why?” I demanded . “ Why would you lie to me… Jungkook ….”

“Because I didn’t want you to think I was a screw up.” He said shakily. “ I know I’m supposed to be getting better and I have but… But sometimes I just…I miss…. I miss home. “ He shuddered. “ And you.”  He looked up at me. “ I miss you a lot, Heejin and it hurts and I feel like the only way I can forget about you…about us together is if I drink. And I’m sorry. I know I don’t have the right to miss you, not after everything I put you through but I… it’s how I feel. ” He glanced away, trembling a little.

I wrapped my arms around myself, stepping away, feeling myself go cold.

We stayed quiet for a few seconds, both of us staring at the floor lost in our own thoughts. I felt drained. Miserably so. Like someone had sucked all the strength out of me. I realized how badly I had wanted Jungkook to be okay. To heal and be himself again. And I’d spent the last nine months, fully convinced that he was. That he was doing what he loved, bonding with his daughter building a life for himself.

But apparently, he was also spiraling back into addiction as well.

It was like we were back in that apartment, both of us miserable  but desperate to be something we clearly were not : Okay.

“Does Taehyung know?” I asked finally and Jungkook hesitated before nodding.

“He was at my court hearing three weeks ago. He’s the reason I haven’t already lost her.” Jungkook whispered.

“What did he say?”

“He thinks I should come back to Korea.” Jungkook said quietly. “ He wants me to start therapy again with him. Every week. “

I nodded.

“Fair enough. And what do you think?”

“I think I will. My probation ends in three days. I’ll… I’ll start making arrangements afterwards. I’ll probably be back in a few weeks time. ”

I stared at him, finally seeing the things I hadn’t noticed this morning. The shadows beneath his eyes, the worry lines on his brow. I wondered if he would have ever told me the truth, if not for this little confrontation between us.

Silence descended again and I bit my lips, a million thoughts running through my head. I felt the pull of his scent through it all, an instinctive urge to reach out and touch and draw him close and I wondered if this was it. That for the rest of our lives we would just be drawn to each other, reluctant and hurt but unable to stay away.

“You’re leaving tomorrow then?” He asked quietly breaking through the fog in my head.  

“Well obviously not.” I snapped. “ I’m not leaving you. I’ll tell Minho, we’ll be staying here for a few weeks. Do you actually have a possible job back home? If you don’t I can ask my agent to find one for you….”

Jungkook was staring at me like I’d grown an extra head.

“ What?” I asked roughly.

He swallowed.

“No.. I .. I don’t have a job there.”

“We’ll get you one. And my apartment is big enough so you can stay with me till we find you a place of your own. And I think it’ll actually be good for you, because there’s a Fine Art photographer, pretty well know guy who stays just a few blocks away and e can probably- “

“You haven’t really changed have you?” Jungkook cut me off in the middle of my rambling .

I flushed, looking away.

“What do you mean?”

“Back when we were married… it was just like this.. I’d fuck up and do something awful and you’d just take it all in stride, get ready to help me out of it….”

“I don’t know what you mean…” I said quickly, “ Let’s go back to the party we’ll talk later-“

He grabbed both my arms, pulling me back to face him when I tried to get past him and I yelped, staring up at him in surprise.

“What?” I demanded. “ What is it now?”

“How do you do this thing, Heejin ?” He asked roughly. “ How do you just get ready to clean up every fucking mess I make like it doesn’t hurt you? Like I don’t hurt you?”

“What are you talking about?” I tried to wriggle out of his hold but he tugged me closer.

“How do you just…” He shook his head, “ accept me so unconditionally? Like… Its like no matter what I do, you’re just willing to look past it and I don’t fucking understand Heejin… why do you put up with me, damn it?”

I stared right at him. Caught his gaze and held it, refusing to look away.

“You know why.” I whispered, licking my lips, throat dry,  “ And if you don’t…. I’m not going to tell you.”

His eyes widened , lips parting and he exhaled sharply, before letting me go and stepping away.

He looked away, shaking a little and I sighed.

“Let’s just get this night over with, yeah?” I said quietly. “ and then we’ll talk.”

He didn’t reply, merely standing aside and motioning for me to leave first.

I shook my head, moving to grip his arm instead.

“Together.” I said firmly. “ We’ll get this night over with, together.”

 Author’s Note : i love these two. i’ve never wanted two people to be together so much. 

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[ofhumanvoice-a]

And Baby Makes Four (1/1?)

**PLEASE DON’T REBLOG**

Soon after becoming headmistress, Farah makes an unexpected discovery.

Farah sat on the floor in her bathroom, leaning back against the vanity, staring at the two pink lines showing boldly on the test in her hands. Three times she had done it, just to make sure, and each one came out the same.

She was pregnant.

Her head fell back against the cabinets and eyes closed tight. This wasn’t happening. She was just starting to settle into her new position at Alfea and now this? Even though times were more progressive, she still imagined there would be some backlash from the parents regarding an unwed pregnant woman presiding over their children’s education. What a marvelous role model she was. She could hear Luna’s voice chiding her now: Really, Farah, you needed to be more careful.

They had been careful. “But obviously not careful enough,” Farah muttered to herself dryly, running a hand over her face.

Of course, she didn’t actually have to have the baby…but something inside her cringed at the idea of aborting the pregnancy after Aster Dell. The idea of ending a life that hadn’t even begun was an anathema after all those that had been lost already.

A sigh escaped her as another realization hit: she would have to tell Saul. Saul, who already had his hands full with Andreas’ son. She’d be putting yet another burden on him, but the man deserved to know. Besides, it’s not like she could hide her condition for longer than a few more months-and he had already caught her throwing up more than once…

She reached for her phone where she had left it on the sink, pulling up his contact information and sending a simple text: I need to see you. That done, she let the phone drop back into her lap and closed her eyes again, trying to relish the last few shreds left of what had been a relatively uncomplicated life. Once she told Saul, once she actually said the words out loud, everything would change in an instant and never be the same again.

God help her.

                                                            ~

“You’re pregnant?”

Saul stared at her, stunned, clearly not having expected this any more than she had. This is even more emphasized by his next remark: “You’re not joking, right?”

Farah fixed him with a look, arms folded across her chest. “Do you honestly think I would joke about something like this?”

“No,” he sighed, rubbing his neck. “No, you wouldn’t…Jesus, Farah.”

“I know.”

He hesitated before broaching what he knew was a sensitive question. “And you are keeping it?”

It was her turn to sigh. “Yes, I’m keeping it.”  She paused, tucking a loose strand of dark blonde hair behind her ear. “I had considered doing otherwise for a moment…but I can’t.”

Saul nodded, understanding. “So, what does this mean for us?”

Farah leaned back against her desk, dropping her gaze and biting her lower lip. “That depends on whether or not you want to take on the responsibility of another child.” She looked back up at him. “I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t, Saul. I can manage on my own if it comes to that.” Somehow.

It was his turn to give her a look. “You know I’m not going to do that to you. As…surprising as it is, I’m partially responsible for…” He gestured to Farah’s abdomen. “This. And that means I’m going to step up and do my part.”

She didn’t even try to hide her relief. “You’re a good man, Saul Silva, you know that?”

Stepping closer, he reached out to cup her face in his hand, caressing her cheek. “I have to be to deserve you.”

Farah smiled softly, leaning in to kiss him. Maybe they could make this work after all.

[oreoambitions]

Part 10 of ???

Parts 1-3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // Part 5.5 // Part 6 // Part 7 // Part 8 // Part 9 // Ao3 "There are only three things in this world that make money on any reasonable scale: sex, drugs, and violence. And you've gone and written violence out of the Luthor Corp equation." Lena purses her lips. Only Lilian could make L-Corp's turn away from military and weapons tech sound like the financial misstep of a fresh business graduate, and only Lena could somehow feel chastised in spite of all that she's accomplished. "L-Corp," she corrects, but Lilian either doesn't realize she's called the company by its old moniker or she doesn't care. In either case she brushes past Lena's words without acknowledgement. "The medical advancements you've made in the last few months are promising, but the simple fact of the matter is that saving lives won't save our bottom line. If you want to be National City's guardian angel, you're going to have to figure out how to pay for it. I don't think you have the stomach for drugs and it could be a risky gambit under Supergirl's nose. So it's sex.”

Lena swirls the bourbon in her glass absently, her eyes on anything but Lilian. "Somehow I don't think I'm stripper material," she comments, "but I'm sure I could find an online class, if you've really got your heart set on the idea." Of course that isn't want Lilian is talking about, but the dry quip falls from her lips almost without her say so. "Please," Lilian scoffs. "You're supposed to be a married woman now; you'll have to grow out of riding on the coat tails of your own sex appeal. I have something better in mind." Lena's hand stills. "Yes," she says, "Because all married women are demure and modest and never capitalize on their bodies for political or financial gain. I grew up in your house; I know how L-Corp's alliances were forged." Lilian's mouth forms a stiff line as she turns away to stand at the window, her own bourbon forgotten on Lena's desk. "It's different for you," she says. "The public breathing down your neck at every minute trying to catch you in a lie. I could almost pity you if you hadn't been the one to drag the Luthor name through the mud in the first place." "That was Lex," Lena mutters. She takes a quick swallow of the bourbon and prays the warmth of it will wash away her temper. "We were a respectable family. That comes with certain freedoms. And now this media stunt with Supergirl of all people-" Lena throws back the rest of her glass. "Not a media stunt, mother, but don't expect her for Christmas dinner; she's allergic to backstabbing and manipulation." "Then it's no wonder she's never seen with you."Lena puts her glass down with a distinct snap. She'd like another pour but too much bourbon is dangerous around Lilian and she's feeling that danger particularly acutely tonight. There can be a third glass, maybe even a fourth, when Lena is safe at home in her apartment. "Supergirl is away handling an urgent family matter," Lena says. It's a rehearsed explanation and she's sure Lilian sees right through it, but she depends on the easy oft repeated words to cover up the fact that her mother has struck too close to home. It's true that Kara hasn't been seen with her. It's true that Kara hasn't been seen anywhere for a month and a half. And it's true that it's Lena's fault. "And I suppose your upcoming court date doesn't qualify as an 'urgent family matter' in her eyes," Lilian sneers. She steps away from the window at last to retrieve her drink. "If you really did marry her, she's shaping up to be quite the negligent wife." Lena reaches for her wedding bracelet instead of the bourbon, rubs her thumb over it back and forth for a long moment feeling the weight of Kara's absence like a vice around her chest. Clark's words echo softly in the back of her mind. She loves you, you know. And of course she does. They're best friends, after all. This day and all days to follow. Isn't that what they swore to one another? So Kara will be there when it matters most, and Lena will be patient and steadfast while Kara is away. "She'll be here when I need her," Lena says aloud, as much to reassure herself as to put Lilian off. "But you didn't come here to lecture me about my marriage." "No," Lilian agrees, her eyebrows raised. "I came here to lecture you about sex. Specifically about William Dey." The name is familiar. Lena can't place it but she's heard it somewhere before in that vague way that she's heard the names of celebrities and political figures thrown about in conversation such that everyone is expected to already know them and so no context is ever provided. Lilian, blessedly, does not wait for an answer. "He'll be accompanying you to the gala, since your so-called spouse remains unavailable. I'll need-" "Supergirl will be there," Lena says, the words more forceful than they might have been if she were actually sure. "She'll want the press to see us together." "For your sake I wish that were true. I'll need access to your schedule so that we can arrange a get-together in advance, let the two of you find your rhythm. We'll want to coordinate your outfits, of course, but subtly. We can't sell him if he's wrapped around your finger; it's important that he seem desirable but not spoken for, you understand? I don't want you to tarnish his reputation." "Be seen with him but don't let him be seen with me, and appear to desire him but not so much that the public questions the validity of my marriage. Got it. Any other impossible demands?" "Yes: you could try speaking to me with a little respect while I try to put your name and your family back together in the wake of your foolishness and the absence of your restraint." Lena looks away. Supergirl will be at the gala. She'll be there and it won't matter what Lilian wants because everything will be okay. Six weeks of silence pound in Lena's head and she can't summon Clark's words or Sam's reassurances. All she can hear is Lilian. Your supposed spouse. Quite the negligent wife. "I'll have Jess get in touch to set up the meeting," Lena says. Her fingers fall from her wedding bracelet. "What is it we're using him to sell?" "Nothing yet," Lilian says. She pours herself another glass of bourbon and perches on the edge of Lena's desk. Lena considers a quip about respect but finds she doesn't have it in her. "If the gala goes well, we'll announce a line of William Dey smart watches by the end of the year." "We manufacture vanity accessories now? Shall we also put out a line of William Dey sneakers?" Maybe she does have a quip or two left in her after all. "The neural lace you're developing downstairs will never move on the market. The public struggles with the concept of vaccination; they'll never trust an implant, and especially not from you. But from a beloved Country star, an attractive young man with all the right press? Perhaps. If they're led to it." "You want to use sex to sell medicine." Lilian raises her glass as if in a toast. "Medicine and smart watches. But Lena? All the money in the world can't buy back your reputation. Do be careful." "I'll win the perjury case," Lena says. "The paperwork is in order. Argo is sending a representative to act as a witness." "There is the court," Lilian replies and then there is the court of public opinion. "Lena finally takes her place at the window, gazing out across the city as Lilian throws back another finger of bourbon and sees herself out. Unspoken words linger heavy in the room. "Where are you?" Lena whispers. She puts a hand to the glass and then, feeling foolish, snatches it back. Too much bourbon, or not enough. Kara will be here when it matters. She will. She made promises, said vows. She'll be there. And Lena has nothing to fear.

[deaththesyd]

Safe Return

Y'all, I am back with another late submission for @kisameweek-2021

I went hiking and camping earlier this week, and then work got in the way, and to top it off my brain decided that it was gonna be difficult and refused to write what I had first imagined, so now we have this. Hopefully, it still fits the prompt loosely enough! Also! Warning: It gets a little suggestive, nothing explicit tho!

Day5 Coming Home

Summary:

“Dude, gross! Shower first!” She groaned, pushing away from him. Of course, he ignored her and craned his neck down to nuzzle his face against hers, making her complain even louder as she could feel his rough stubble grating against her skin. He only released her once Itachi joined them and shamed them for their disruptive behaviour with his perfected judgemental stare.

In comparison to the energetic townspeople bustling around them, Kisame and Itachi felt dead on their feet. They had traveled far, tracking down intel and following dead lead after dead lead for months in between missions, and this last tip was as worthless as the others. The hidden villages kept their secrets locked up tight, and tracking down Jinchuriki was proving to be a challenging task. Both physically exhausted and frustrated with their lack of luck, they forced themselves towards the inn that they would be staying in for the night. On top of all the false leads, bandits, and enemy ninja, Kisame had another persistent worry.

Ignoring the desk clerks' greeting, leaving Itachi to deal with them, he lumbered up the stairs, feeling his cloak pockets for the room key. Locating the correct room took only a second, but his large fingers fumbled with the tiny key as he pressed it into the keyhole, making him mutter under his breath. Whether she was alerted by the noise of the key missing its mark one too many times, or if it was his voice, he didn’t know, but the door unlocked and swung open, ending his agitated struggle and allowing him to finally know that she was safe. His strong arms wrapped around her, lifting her up easily into a tight hug right there in the hallway. Her protests were immediate.

“Dude, gross! Shower first!” She groaned, pushing away from him. Of course, he ignored her and craned his neck down to nuzzle his face against hers, making her complain even louder as she could feel his rough stubble grating against her skin. He only released her once Itachi joined them and shamed them for their disruptive behaviour with his perfected judgemental stare. Once they had shut the door behind them, he was tugging her close again, laughing as she put on an act of pinching her nose as she struggled against his affection. Itachi sighed as he forced his way past them, making his way to the bed that was still neatly made from when he and Kisame had left over a week ago.

Watching his young partner quietly place his equipment down next to his bed, Kisame knew to give him some quiet. It was difficult for Itachi to sleep even in the perfect conditions, having the two loudly playing wasn’t going to make it any easier for him to catch up on some greatly needed sleep.

“Why don’t you join me in the shower if I stink so much?” He teased lowly in her ear, causing her to stiffen as the tickle of his breath sent shivers up her spine, and she appeared to consider his offer for a moment, no doubt taking Itachi’s tired presence into account. It didn’t take her long to answer, refusing to give up her disgusted act.

“Only if it’ll get your sweaty ass clean faster,” She muttered, but even her insulting words held no real bite as she pulled him towards the small bathroom. Sparing Itachi a last glance, he could see him settling into his bed, trying to ignore the loud flirting, yet to only a man as close to Itachi as Kisame could tell, the usual poker face was the slightest quirk to his lips. The one and only sign the Uchiha ever let slip that he truly wasn’t bothered by their shenanigans. Of course, he could never let his snooty, superior attitude slip entirely. He had a reputation to uphold.

The door shut behind them, giving them some privacy, and a buffer for the noise they made. Unzipping his cloak and shrugging hit off, he looked down at her, questionable when she made no move to undress with him. “Need some help there, Guppy?” He said, reaching to do just that, but she dodged him and pressed back against the vanity in the cramped space. Giggling at the confused expression her avoidance caused.

“As much as I’ve missed you,” she spoke sweetly, “I know that if I let you have your way, poor Itachi won’t be getting any rest.” She was right, the two of them, no matter the scenario, always managed to be loud and disruptive, and if they allowed themselves to indulge as they usually would, the thin walls and flimsy door would act as a poor barrier for the third occupant of their shared room. Kisame still moved closer, caging her against the counter ledge, leaning down for just a taste of what he had missed on his investigation. Again she pushed away, leaning further from him while she used one hand to press firmly against his chest. The cringe on her face and scrunched nose made him chuckle lightly as he backed away, returning to shedding his clothes. He really must stink.

Even with her disgust with his less than clean state, her eyes roamed his exposed flesh, admiring the toned muscles that made up the entirety of his form. His looks had always bothered him, but even he knew his life of brutal fighting had sculpted him into something muscle-heads across dimensions would be jealous of. Shark-like features be damned, he had a body that made the woman he wanted oggle him like a piece of meat, and it was hard to care about the face he saw in the mirror when in her eyes he saw reflected back at him only admiration and lust.

Stepping into the tiny shower, he pulled the curtain closed and turned on the water, gritting his teeth through the ice-cold temperature before it ran warm. He was taller than the showerhead, and the cheap place had supplied one that was non-adjustable much to his frustration. Looking over the rod holding the plastic curtain, he could see the woman barely holding in her laughter at his predicament. He took it back, he hated being himself. Grumbling to himself he began washing himself as best as he could, cursing his height and the rest of the world for catering to those of average size. “Glad I didn’t join you after all?” She said as she sat herself on the floor facing the shower.

Admittedly, yes, he thought. Pushing down his built-up need from the length of the fruitless mission, he was very glad that she hadn’t. The occupancy limit was pushed with even just him, never mind the two of them. Of course, she had probably known that, having spent the time the two ninjas were away sheltered in the cheap unit. Still, he argued, lacking any real persuasion, “We could make it work, I am pretty used to being in tight places,” he said with a wink. Caught by surprise, she rushed to cover her mouth after she gasped loudly, looking over her shoulder at the door guiltily.

Ducking under the showerhead to rinse the crappy, complimentary shampoo from his hair, he nearly missed the stern glare she shot him. Water fell into his mouth as he laughed and he sputtered and coughed under the stream, somehow managing to get the suds in his eyes, making his pain worse. He swore he heard a mumbled “Karma” come from behind the curtain, but when his head cleared the shower rod, his bleary eyes couldn’t quite make out the look on her face. Damn this cheap inn and their painful shampoos.

A final rinse later and he emerged from the tiny torture chamber, rolling his eyes playfully when he noticed her watching him practically entranced, following the residual droplets that ran down his body. Snapping back into focus when he secured a towel around his waist, she flushed in embarrassment. Something he hadn’t seen her do in a long time. Chuckling quietly, he bent down to pick up his cloak, locating the scroll he used to pack away his things, and expertly summoned his travel bag. From where she still sat on the hard tile, she watched as he pulled out his razor, and had to shuffle out of his way for him to get to work. Unusually quiet, she observed as he made short work of the unruly stubble that had managed to grow in between his last shave. “What are you thinking about?” He asked, used to her constant chatter, and then going so long without it, he felt unsettled when she stayed silent. Silence with her meant she was scheming.

“I kinda wonder what you would look like with a proper beard,” she answered musingly.

Looking down at her, he raised a brow, “Thought you hated the feeling of a beard,” he tested. Kisame had never really tried growing out his facial hair, always deciding that keeping a clean face was easier. Secretly he had hoped being well-groomed would keep others' opinions of him higher as well. Sometime around their first few makeout sessions, she had told him how much she appreciated the lack of stubble he allowed. That had settled his decision firmly then, so why was she thinking of that now?

She hummed quietly in thought, “I do, but the look of a beard isn’t always bad.” Her expression wasn’t the normal barely restrained smirk she normally wore when she was teasing him, instead, she appeared thoughtful.

“If you wanted me to grow a beard you could have mentioned it before I shaved,” he pointed out, rinsing the blade and packing it away with the rest of his things.

She giggled and leaned against his bare leg, playfully nuzzling him, “Awe, you were willing to grow a beard for me?”

How that made him flustered, he had no idea, but he felt his face flush as he carefully shook her off. In an attempt to hide his blush, he dug around in his bag for clean clothes. “I’ve never really tried before, sharks have rough enough skin as is,” he joked.

She snorted at that, he wasn’t looking at her but the smirk on her face was audible in her tone. “With you, rough isn’t something I mind,” she replied, no doubt watching him as he dropped his towel and started to dress. Easily distracted by his nakedness, she changed topics. “Such a shame you need to wear clothes,” she pouted as he slipped on a pair of pants. The way she so casually said such things never failed to catch him off guard. Turning to face her he was met with hungry eyes that took in every flexing muscle still visible before they settled on the darkened expression he wore.

“Someone really needs to give that dirty mind of yours a good cleansing,” he warned, feeling the effects of her forwardness already. Something he should have known was that anything other than obvious refusal or a joke meant to brush her off would only encourage her more.

“You can go ahead and try,” she challenged, gazing up at him through her lashes. Her attempt to lure him in was almost working, yet the fact that Itachi was most likely privy to their noise kept him from giving in.

Shaking his head, he reached for his shirt, “Weren’t we just talking about me growing a beard?” He recalled, feeling a bit bad at the quick look of dejection he caused before she latched onto the topic again.

“A bearded shark would be an interesting sight,” she said, building up her case.

An easy grin spread across his face as the light-hearted conversation started once again.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Itachi turned to lie on his side, thankful that he wouldn’t have to listen to them become intimate. As much as he appreciated their attempt at giving him some quiet, he was sure that even if they had been situated on separate ends of the building they would have made enough noise to keep him awake. Whether that be with their constant laughing banter or ‘other noises’ it didn’t seem to matter. Listening to Kisame’s low chuckles and her excited list of reasons for his partner to grow a beard was comforting though. Even if his tired eyes weren't enough to chain him to sleep. A week of throwing their investigation off course was a tiring task when Kisame was so efficient at his job, but even when his head pounded from a sleep-deprived headache, he could handle it knowing that he had again succeeded in delaying his bosses plans.

Listening to his friend's muffled chatter he decided the danger of overhearing something he’d regret was over and allowed himself to settle once again. For now, he was content to rest his eyes. It may not be everything he wanted, there was much more he would have to do before his end, but for now, he felt as though he was safely at home.

[oohnoniall]

The Lantsov Emerald [Kaz Brekker x OC] - Chapter Three (Anastasia)

 Warnings: cursing, fantasy violence, family drama

Chapter One

Chapter Two

       Her head pounded from the night before. Vasily had been too drunk to stop her from getting into the spirits. Nikolai would have given her small sips from his glass throughout the night. She wouldn't have gotten nearly so messed up had that been the case. He was irresponsible but somehow, he knew what he was doing. At least, that's what Anastasia had been certain of for the majority of her life.

        Her head felt as though it were filled with pounding hammers and Nikolai's favorite revolvers. Every bump of her spoon in her porridge bowl made her want to wince. The only reason she wasn't was the fact that both of her parents were at breakfast. It was such a rare occurrence that she knew something was bound to be wrong.

        She and Vasily had stayed silent for a majority of the meal. Waiting for their father to say something. Anything. Anastasia thought about screaming in order to cause something to happen.

        "The Fjerdan's will be sending an emissary in less than a week," her father's voice was strong, not showing a sign of last night having any effect on him.

        Anastasia clutched her spoon slightly tighter. 

        "I suppose they're anxious to see what our Sun Summoner can do," Vasily drawled, his voice raking against her ears and making her feel sick.

        The whole thing made her feel sick. She was being sold like cattle. There was nothing anyone could do to stop it either. Not even Nikolai would have been able to save her from this fate.

        "Yes," Pytor nodded his head once. "They'll want to make sure your sister is a proper lady as well."

        He spoke as though she was not sitting just on Vasily's left. She understood that she didn't mean nearly as much as either of the princes and yet, it still managed to hurt. She wasn't seen as anything but a hassle. Something he needed to sell off in order to rid Ravka of debt or hopefully bring more peace. Even if his own marriage had done nothing.

        She tried to bite down on her anger as she focused on her breakfast. Her head was pounding too hard for her to make up some sort of melody. She was too angry to turn the beating of her heart into one of the waltzes that she adored. Her life was a game and she was not the player. That much was clear.

        The side door opened nearly silently. She would not have normally heard it. The hangover had made her far too sensitive to sounds. She doubted that she would ever again drink as much as she had the night before. She had not thought it was a lot. Apparently, Anastasia had no idea how much liquor she could actually hold.

        A messenger slipped into the room, rushing toward the long table as quickly as he could. Anastasia straightened in her chair, her eyes following the messenger as he made his way towards the table. Her parents had not noticed him yet. She doubted they would unless the message was for them.

        The man made his way over to her. She felt as though he was moving slowly, as though his legs were encased in molasses. It was just her hope for Nikolai's letter that made her want time to move faster. For him to run forward and drop whatever note might be in his hand. She was almost angry at how long it was taking.

        "Your Highness," he murmured softly to her, a slight smile gracing his lips. The smile made him look younger, the lines by his eyes seemed to disappear. "A message from your brother."

        The letter seemed smaller than others she had received but she would not complain. It held his pale blue double eagle, it held that scent of sea breeze and salt. She thanked the messenger before quickly excusing herself from the meal.

        Vasily said nothing, but she noticed how his grip had tightened just slightly on his butter knife. Anastasia would not pretend to know what was wrong with him, but she assumed it was jealousy. She was allowed to leave when she pleased. He wasn't. Crown Prince was a blessing and a curse it seemed. 

        She hurried to her rooms, nearly running down the corridors. The guards would say nothing. No one would reprimand her for not acting like a lady. Not when most of the other ladies who resided in the Great Palace were nursing hangovers or worrying about what mood the Queen would be in. She was free to run about the castle, chasing the eight-sixteenths rhythm of her heartbeat.

        A guard opened the door to her chambers for her, not bothering to smile at her. She nodded her head once at him before she slipped inside.

        Her rooms were the smallest of the three siblings. A large four-poster bed set in the middle of the room, a small nightstand beside it of imported cherry wood, and a matching desk on the left side of the room. Her vanity sat at the right, next to her balcony. The large window made the glass and crystals bottles sparkle and created small rainbows in the height of summer. The walls were painted a pale pink color, with Ravkan blue along the borders of the walls. She felt as though she lived in the middle of a summer day. 

        Anastasia did not bother to note any of her furnishings as she slid into the plush leather chair that sat at her desk. She tore open the letter, using the golden letter opener that Nikolai had given her. He had told her she needed some form of protection in her room.

        He wasn't fond of trusting her safety to people he didn't know. They'd only had each other for so long that Nikolai had become a protector as much as he had been a brother. He'd kept her out of trouble while he spent his days getting into it. He kept her away from their parents as much as he could. If only to have her avoid their disappointment.

        She hadn't realized how much she had needed him until he was gone.

        My dearest Stacie. Her heart ached at the nickname. It had been so long since she had heard it from anyone. She could hear the low timbre of his voice, drawing out the 'sta' and ending it with the soft sound of the 'sea'. She was going to murder Nikolai when he returned. How dare he leave her to miss him.

        Ketterdam is dull, the university life is not one for me. Daily, my classmates are tempted by the Barrel and I alone must stop them from giving in to the temptation. Tell mother that at the very least. She worries enough about me being gone, although I'm certain that you're having a rougher go of it. I apologize for my letters being irregular. Life has become a hassle. It seems as though fate wishes for me to suffer greatly. I wonder if I could tempt fate into giving me a break?

        Anastasia rolled her eyes. Nikolai was ridiculous in front of most people. She was certain that he was at his absolute worst around her. But that had been what she needed as a child. Someone to protect her, to make her laugh. He'd always been a good big brother. He deserved more credit for it.

        Giving you updates on my courtship with fate is sadly not the reason for this letter. I've heard that we have a new Saint in our home. One that summons the sun? Stacie, send word if this is true. I'd love to see the birth of a Saint with my own eyes. I've come to realize it's a remarkable affair. 

        Of course, that was why he had written to her. The Sun Summoner. She did not blame the girl. Nor did she even blame Nikolai. It just hurt to realize it had not been because he had missed her. Maybe the ache that she felt was not the same to him. They did not have the same bond as the Shu's kebben, but she had always thought they would at least always be together. Until she was sold off.

        I'll be home soon. Vasily will have someone else to throw his anger at. We'll speak about your training too. Some of the guards have told me your aim is remarkably horrible. Really, Ana, you would embarrass me like that? 

        I love you, little sister, 

        Nikolai Lantsov.

        She traced his name with her pointer finger. It had been three years since she had seen her brother. Three years of wondering if he was alright, of hoping that he would come home soon. She hated to admit that she missed him. She hated to admit she was beginning to forget what he looked like. She doubted he'd ever come home. She didn't trust the letters, didn't trust that he would find it within himself to come back.

        Anastasia knew how easy it would be to leave Ravka and never return. She dreamed of it sometimes. Though it was not something she'd ever truly do. When she left Ravka, it would be to wed a man that she did not know. A man she didn't want to know.

        She wiped her eyes once, the burn of fresh tears blurring her sight, before stuffing the letter into her desk. She wouldn't dare try to write a reply until her hangover had vanished. Until she was certain that she would not embarrass herself by leaving tear stains on the parchment. As far as Nikolai was aware, Anastasia had taken his absence well. She refused to tell him how alone she felt. How it seemed as though she were floating alone, in the middle of an island in the depths of the True Sea. He would have called her dramatic and then pretended that he was the only one who had any right to dramatics.

        A knock on her door quickly cleared her of her thoughts while making the pounding in her head worsen. She wouldn't call for a tonic, it would only make things worse in the long run.

        "Come in," her voice was soft as she fumbled for a piece of parchment and a pen. Pretending to work on her correspondence would at least give her a reason for sitting aimlessly.

        Vasily strolled into her bedroom as though he was already the king of Ravka. She wondered how he could be so self-assured. It wasn't exactly something that she would ask him about. She watched as he perched on her bed, his arms casually crossed across his chest as he stared at her.

        "Did our brother have anything interesting to say?" She swore venom was in his tone. 

        "He's curious about the Sun Summoner," Anastasia stated as she looked up at him. "And he says he'll be home soon."

        "He's been telling you that for three years, Annie."

        Anastasia glared at him. He knew just how much she hated that name. It made her feel as though she were a child. Someone who was reprimanded easily. "Vasily, I'd rather not talk about what Nikolai plans on doing or when he plans on returning home."

        The corner of his lips twitched, as though he were about to smile but had thought better of it. Vasily often hid his smiles, unless it served a purpose. Her brother had been raised to be a man who wore many masks. It was one of the reasons why he liked cards so much. Vasily did not think Anastasia knew about his vice, but she did. She had followed him once. 

        Nikolai had only been gone three months at that point. She had been bored and lonely. She had seen Vasily sneaking across the grounds as though he had something scandalous to hide. She had thought that it would be worth it to share a secret with him. Maybe then they could become nearly as close as she and Nikolai.

        Had it just been a girl, she would have left instantly. But no. Vasily had slipped into a Lordling's home, she had watched him from behind bushes as he played a game of cards in front of the large dining room windows. She had assumed he would go after a game, but she had given up long before he had.

        Vasily had lost more money than she had ever dreamed he would that night. He had been red-faced the next morning at breakfast. Anastasia had thought it best not to tell him that she had watched him. She didn't wish to bring more shame to her oldest brother. 

        She'd allow him to think he kept this secret to himself. Even if she knew that others must be well aware.

        "There seems to be an issue with our Sun Summoner," he admitted to her, falling back on her bed. His hands covered his face, she did not ignore how they were as soft and smooth as her own. "Not that anyone save Kirigin knows about it."

        "What is it, Vas?" Anastasia hated knowing that he knew more than she did. Even if it was a common occurrence.

        "Don't let father find out," it wasn't the pleading tone of a boy. It was the exasperation of a man who was tired of living in shadows. "But our Saint has disappeared. I heard two of Kirigin's men speaking about it on the way to your room. It seems last night's party brought a tracker to our midst."

        She instantly thought of the guard she had not known. Nikolai Vanzin. It had felt like a false name that night. He hadn't noticed her at first. Not to mention he looked both too hard to be a guard and far too pretty. None of her father's men had looked as though they could cut a diamond with their stare nor their cheekbones. She left that to the Grisha of the Second Army.

        "There was a guard last night," she spoke softly, fingers tapping on her desk as though she was gently tapping the keys of a piano. "I had never seen him before."

        "How many of the guards do you know?" Vasily did not look at her as he spoke.

        "All of them."

        Vasily was not aware of Anastasia's training. Nikolai had told her it was a secret between the two of them and the guards. He had made damn sure those men knew what it would mean to betray their trust. It would mean losing his friendship. Nikolai was definitely the nicest of the royal family when it came to things of that nature. Not even Anastasia would have been that kind.

        "You're not doing what I think, are you Annie?" Vasily pushed himself up on his elbows, his eyes boring into her.

        "Of course not," she gave him an annoyed glare. "I wouldn't put my marriage at risk like that. I just needed someone to talk to with Nikki gone. He likes being updated on them."

        Vasily continued to stare at her, though the look was less annoyed, less ready to pounce if she was doing something she shouldn't. He looked tired. He looked hurt. She did not know why he would be. She had never been close enough to Vasily to be able to tell the reasons behind his moods. She had enough trouble figuring out Nikolai's.

        "You could've talked to me," his voice was tense, his knuckles white as he clenched his fists. "I'm your brother too, Annie."

        "You've had more pressing matters at hand," she knew the words were not enough. She felt guilty almost. Had he been just as lonely as she and Nikolai? Had he craved a companion? He had been raised to be the King of Ravka since they were children. While she and Nikolai were running about the grounds with wooden swords, he was trapped in meetings that he did not care about. 

        She felt as though she should have noticed. Should have tried to bring him in on their games. Nikolai had always wanted Vasily's attention as a child. She had thought one brother was enough. Anastasia could not help but to blame herself for whatever he had gone through. She knew she wasn't at fault but that did not assuage her guilt.

        "That doesn't matter," Vasily moved to stand then, wiping his palms on his pants. "Tell me about this guard you didn't know."

        "He said his name was Nikolai Vanzin," she was glad for the change in topic. "He had these eyes that were like diamonds. They could kill you if he looked at you too long. Beautiful really."

        She felt the flush on her cheeks before she noted the look in Vasily's eye. She couldn't tell if he was amused or if he was pissed about her description of the man. It didn't matter. She had to press on.

        "Sharp features, it was very noticeable. His accent though ... It was strange. He spoke Ravkan as though he wasn't quite used to it. But I couldn't place the accent. It wasn't rough enough for Fjerda, he didn't have the complexion for Fjerda either. I don't think he was from Ravka at the very least."

        "Is there anything beyond pretty eyes and a pretty face, Annie?" His eyebrow rose, watching her closely enough to cause her to grow somewhat embarrassed. She didn't know why. It wasn't like he hadn't had his own dalliances.

        "I think he'd been injured at some point in time," she said, thinking back to the guard that had so amused her the night before. She wondered if he had thought of her at all that morning. Considering he was probably on the run with their Sun Summoner by now, she highly doubted it. "He walked with a limp. Otherwise, he was perfectly normal. I just ... I had assumed he'd been hired before the fete."

        "I would have been told if there had been any additional security hired," he almost spat out the words. She could see that there was something brewing in his mind. A plan taking form.

        She highly doubted it would be anything good.

        "Did you make any sort of connection with this man?" Vasily asked as he began to pace the room. "Did he say where he was going or what he was doing there?"

        "No," she sighed as she shook her head. "Vasily, I spoke with him for about two minutes before the presentation. I got his name, that was it. He said his mother thought he'd had luck being named after a prince."

        "Probably a lie." Vasily stared at the same spot on the floor as he paced. She worried he would create a rut in her rug. 

        "I'm sure of it," she worried her lip as she began to think. Straining her memory for anything that might help. "I told him I would see him today. You could check in on the training field. Ask if anyone's seen him?" 

        Vasily nodded his head once as he began to leave her bedroom, his head once again up and his focus back on the world around him. He paused in her doorway, his left hand resting on the oak wood of her door frame. He lightly tapped the wood with his index finger, hesitating for a moment before turning his head to look at her.

        "Stay here," he told her, his eyes searching her face. "I ... I don't want to see you getting hurt. I don't trust anything that's going on here."

        It was the most brotherly he had ever seemed in her entire life. Her heart wanted to sing a ballad of sorrow at the lateness of it. She knew that nothing he said or did would stop her. Nikolai Vanzin had lied to her. He had given her a false story and had a false narrative. He could have been stopped that night. She could have been the one to stop him.

        She'd been blinded by pretty eyes. A dangerous smile. She wouldn't let that happen ever again. She would find Nikolai Vanzin and discover the truth. She was unsure how she would end up finding him. She couldn't exactly use the resources at hand without alerting her brother or her parents. She had to have permission to leave the Grand Palace. She was too precious a commodity to let leave without a guard. But she would find a way.

        If Nikolai had taught her one thing it was to be resourceful. She knew that finding things out would be difficult while trapped in the walls of the Grand Palace but she also knew that she had access to certain documents. She could at least find out how false the name was. How many laws this asshole had broken.

         She buried down these thoughts, buried down and locked behind iron bars that would only open upon her soul singing a soft melody. Or if Nikolai showed up and just looked at her once. She had a very hard time not telling her brother anything. At least with Vasily, it was easier for her to lie.

        Anastasia looked him in the eye, the portrait of a serene young woman. "I'll stay right here, Vasily," she gave him a gentle smile. "I promise."

[baku-no-alt]

sriracha sauce | 3

bakugou x reader; in which Bakugou and some other students from UA are doing a work -study abroad in NYC. also Bakugou is nice to you for once

cw: like, so many swears; sexual references

You’re sitting in a circle with Bakugou and all of his friends - whose real names you’ve learned by now. Kirishima passes out drinks to everyone, and you gladly take a bottle of beer. 

It’s a comfortable house party. No loud music, no insane partying. Just a group of friends sat in a circle, with maybe a few playing beer pong in another room. You smile and laugh at their jokes and stories, and part of you is jealous of Bakugou for having such an interesting group of friends. He barely joins in on the conversation, but you can tell the others enjoy having him around, even if it’s just to mess with him sometimes.

You drink your beer slowly, wary of the fact that you shouldn’t have alcohol during such an emotional time. It takes the edge off a little bit, but that’s all you wanted. You picked something relatively light - a Heineken - to play it safe. 

Midoriya picks at your brain for a little bit; asking about your Quirk and how exactly it works. You humor him, partly because he’s very sweet and genuine, and partly because you can feel the annoyance radiating off of Bakugou in the background while you talk to him.

“Something wrong, Kacchan?” you tease him, and Bakugou sucks his teeth and turns away from you. Smiling, you return to your conversation with Midoriya. 

After you’re done explaining your Quirk (along with nearly your entire life story), Mina catches your attention. 

“We’re having a quick hang out in my room!” she calls, “Girls only!” 

You grin and wave goodbye to Midoriya, following her into a bedroom down the hallway. Mina grabs your hand and drags you the rest of the way, and you look back to steal a glance at Bakugou as you laugh. 

He’s staring right at you, and your heart jumps into your throat. 

Mina pulls you into her room and shuts the door behind both of you. The rest of the girls - Yaoyorozu, Uraraka, Jirou, and Tsu are already there. It’s immediately obvious that the room belongs to Mina. Everything is pink and girly and gaudy and yet, somehow, she makes it all work. A few of the girls sit on the bed, while Tsu sits on the floor with her back resting against the bed frame. Mina grabs her desk chair and a fuzzy pink pouf from her vanity and instructs you to sit down. You choose the desk chair and she sits on the pouf, tucking her legs under her butt. 

“So,” Mina says, practically buzzing with excitement, “what’s the deal between you and Bakugou?” 

“Me and Bakugou? We’re just roommates,” you reply. 

“Bullshit,” Jirou chimes in, “Bakugou never shows up to these things, much less with a friend. Who’s a girl.” 

“It’s not like that!” you protest, your hands coming up in front of you, “I think he just feels sorry for me. I, uh... broke up with my boyfriend a few hours ago.” 

“That’s awful!” Uraraka gasps.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Mina asks. 

“Mina!” Jirou hisses in response, “Don’t be so invasive.” 

“No, it’s okay,” you say, “I... think I do want to talk about it. A little. If that’s okay.”

“Hold on, I’m getting you another drink,” Mina says, and while she’s rummaging in the kitchen, you and the other girls get comfortable with pillows and blankets. Mina returns with a few more beers and bags of chips and pretzels in hand. 

“Okay,” she says, arranging them on the floor in front of everybody for easy access, “let it all out, girl.” 

“Well, spoiler alert, we broke up because he cheated on me,” you begin, shoving some pretzels into your mouth. 

“Oh, so like, good riddance then,” Jirou says. 

“It must still be hard though,” Tsu adds. 

You crack open your beer and continue, “Yeah it sucks, but I guess I should have seen it coming after I found Tinder installed on his phone a few weeks ago.” 

“What?” Yaoyorozu gasps. 

“Oh yeah,” you smile sarcastically, “This man downloaded Tinder on his phone and when I found it, he told me he was using it to check if one of his friend’s girlfriend had a Tinder.” 

“And you believed him?” Jirou quirks a brow. 

“Now that I’m thinking back on it... no? But I took the excuse because I didn’t wanna deal with a breakup. And I didn’t wanna seem like a crazy girlfriend. I wanted to be the cool girl, I guess.” 

“That makes sense,” Uraraka says reassuringly. 

“Anyways...” you glance at the other girls, “...do you guys wanna know how I caught him?” 

“Oh my god yes” Mina practically begs.

You laugh. “She told me. The other girl he was fucking, I mean. She had no idea he had a girlfriend.”

“Oh, shit,” Jirou breathes. 

“Yeah... she texted me screenshots of their conversations on Tinder. When I confronted him, he actually had the nerve to tell me she was lying. That she made it all up.” 

The room is silent for a moment. 

“But I didn’t believe him this time,” you continue, staring into space, “I told him he was full of shit.” 

You let out a long sigh. “He told her that his feelings for her were the realest he ever had. That she was the most amazing woman he’d ever met. Like I was nothing.” Like you didn’t even exist.  

“Well, guess what?” Mina says, taking your hand and squeezing it. 

You meet her gaze. 

“He’s nothing now,” she says while nodding her head.

“Yeah!” Uraraka says, “Good riddance!”

You feel 1000 pounds lighter, and butterflies erupt in your stomach at the thought of new, genuine friendships forming. 

“Thanks for listening,” you say sheepishly, slightly embarrassed that you opened up so much to a group of girls you barely knew.

“Anytime,” Yaoyorozu replies, smiling.

A sudden knock on the door distracts you, and you reach behind you to open it. You find Kirishima standing there, controllers in hand. 

“Bakugou says you’re good at Smash,” he says, looking at you. 

“I bet he does,” Mina whispers to Jirou behind you, and you step backwards with one foot, aiming to crush her toes. 

“I’ve been known to kick some ass every now and then,” you tell Kirishima. 

“Yeah, unless you’re playing against me!” Bakugou calls from the living room. 

You get up and push past Kirishima into the hallway. You can see Bakugou at the end of the hall, a devilish smirk on his face. 

“Eat my shit,” you taunt him, “I bet I could beat you in my sleep.” 

“Prove it,” Bakugou sneers at you.

“Fine,” you say confidently, “But when you lose, you have to buy me dinner.” 

“No,” he replies, moving closer to you, “when you lose, you have to eat an entire bowl of my spicy ramen.” He punctuates each you with a finger jabbing your chest. 

“Deal,” you smirk and hold your hand out towards Kirishima, who hands you a Joy-Con while glancing back and forth between you and Bakugou. 

“Prepare to eat your words, princess.” 

---

masterlist 

@shareyourfandomfaves, @awkward-tamaki, @ha-tep, @reyna-avila-ramirez-alreanaldo, @ayeputita, @lookslikeleese, @alinakaisato

[debbiechanclub]

Best Two Out of Three, Part 17

SURPRISE! So I didn’t think this was gonna be done until sometime next week, but @what-does-mine-say sent me a whole bunch and then I became a woman possessed.

Just FYI, the setting for this jumps back and forth between Philly and Virginia, and I sincerely hope it’s not too hard to follow.

Oh, also... there’s a little bit of smut in this. Enjoy.

Best Two Out of Three

Part: 17/26

Pairing: Kenny Omega x OFC x Cash Wheeler and Adam Page x OFC

Warnings: Language; angst; explicit sexual descriptions.

Word count: 7.4k

Catch up on previous parts here.

Alex stepped off the elevator, her vision blurry with tears. She took a left, realized it was the wrong way, and turned around, trudging down the hall. Their room was a little more than halfway down. Her arm felt weak as she raised her hand to knock.

It was only a few seconds before the door opened. Chuck’s face instantly creased with worry when he saw her. “Alex? Why are you crying?” He didn’t wait for an answer before he pulled her into the room. He led her over to one of the beds. She sank down onto the mattress and folded into him, her shoulders shaking.

Chuck didn’t ask any more questions. He just hugged her and let her quietly cry, soaking his t-shirt with tears. The adjoining door to Trent and James’s room was open, and they both came in—first curious, and then just as concerned and confused as Chuck.

“Can—can I stay here tonight?” Alex eventually choked.

“Of course,” Chuck returned. He pulled back so he could look at her. “What happened? Did he hurt you? Because I swear to God—”

She shook her head. “Cash and K-Kenny got in ano-other fight.”

“What?” Trent moved across the room and sat down on her other side. “When? Just now?”

She nodded.

“Why?” Chuck asked.

A second wave of guilt and sadness overtook her, and Chuck pulled her back into him. She clutched his shirt and said, “Because I kissed Kenny.”

None of them said a word. Chuck squeezed her tighter. Alex could only imagine what they thought of her. Cheater. She wished she could curl up into a ball and disappear.

“Did you tell Cash?” Chuck asked.

She nodded into his chest. “Of course. I had to. And he—he ran to Kenny’s room and pu-punched him as soon as he o-opened the door. The B-Bucks had to come pull him off of him.” She let out a pained sob. “I’m a fu-fucking cheater.”

“No,” Chuck firmly returned. “You made a mistake and you copped to it.” He pulled back again and looked her in the eye. “You hear me?”

Alex’s face screwed up. She couldn’t even nod that time. She didn’t know what she’d done to deserve such good friends.

Trent put a comforting hand on her back. “Did Cash say anything to you?”

She sat up and wiped her cheeks with her t-shirt. “He gave me an ultimatum. And then he told me to—to sleep somewhere else tonight.” Her lip quivered. “All my sh-shit is still back there. I just grabbed my phone and came straight here.”

Trent shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll get it for you.”

“I’ll go get it in full gimmick,” James added. “I don’t care.”

When she heard that, a fresh surge of sobs rose up Alex’s chest and she started crying all over again. “I don’t de-deserve friends like you…”

“What?” Chuck pulled her back into him before she’d even finished her statement. “Shut the fuck up. Yes you do. And you know what? You’re coming to Philly.”

“What?” she asked.

“You heard me. You’re coming to Philly, and we’re all gonna get drunk and stupid like the good ol’ days. I have a bottle of The Rock’s tequila with your name on it.”

Alex didn’t say anything for a few seconds. And then she asked, “And Sour Patch Kids?”

“I’ll buy out the fucking factory,” Trent said.

“Shit; Sour Patch Kids-infused tequila,” James suggested.

Chuck grimaced. “Vodka.”

James pointed a finger at him. “Yes.”

Alex fought back another surge of emotion. “You guys would do that?”

“Duh,” Chuck returned. “We love you, Alex. And we miss you, too. It’s been way too long since you’ve gotten into shenanigans with us.”

That gave Alex pause. It had been a while since she’d hung out with them, she realized. She’d been so wrapped up in her own chaos-filled bubble that’d she’d forgotten what it was like to just have fun. She thought back to that night when they’d had the get-together in their hotel room, when she’d made Chuck and James compete in those ridiculous challenges for her accompaniment to the ring. Just over two months had passed since that night, but it felt like a lifetime ago. That version of herself felt like a lifetime ago. She missed that version of herself. She needed to get back to that version of herself.

She sat up and mustered a smile. “I would like that. I miss you guys, too.”

Chuck squeezed her shoulder. “Go get cleaned up and take a minute. I’ll find something stupid for us to watch.”

Alex nodded. She stood and moved into the bathroom, shutting the door with a gentle click behind her, and walked over to the sink to turn on the faucet. She actively avoided looking at herself in the mirror as she washed her face. She didn’t want to see what she looked like right now. She knew how she felt, and that was bad enough.

She reached for a fresh towel from under the sink, and her phone pinged from where she’d set it screen-down on the vanity. Somehow, she knew it was Kenny before she flipped the phone over and saw the message.

Where are you? Are you alright?

Alex stared at the text, emotion stinging her nose again. Somehow, she was both angry and touched that he’d asked. And either way, she couldn’t leave it unanswered.

I’m in Chuck’s room, she typed. Cash kicked me out. She hit “send,” set the phone back down, and waited. Kenny’s response was both quick and unsurprising.

What? Come stay with me.

Even though she’d expected the offer, it still made her stomach flip. She chewed her lip as she typed back. I don’t think that’s a good idea.

Again, his response was near-instant. Why? Cash made his bed. He doesn’t deserve you.

Alex bit down on her jaw. No, she’d made her bed. But before she could say as much, another text came through.

I’m worried about you, baby. I want to hold you.

She let out a breath and leaned back against the vanity. Why did he keep calling her that? He knew she wasn’t his baby. He knew it tugged at her heart. Her fingers flew over the digital keys of her keyboard, gently clicking through the silence of the bathroom. It’s not a good idea, Kenny, she returned. And then, after a second’s hesitation, she added, Are you alright?

He took a little longer to respond that time. Yeah. Just a busted lip. Same thing I gave him last week.

Alex frowned down at the screen. Part of her wanted nothing more than to go to Kenny. Cash had ambushed him; she could only imagine how he felt right now. But she couldn’t go to him. Not without choosing him.

I had to tell him, she sent back. She waited, staring at the screen until his response popped up.

I know. I’m glad you did. I can’t hide the way I feel about you, Alex. Not anymore.

She let out another sigh. She didn’t know what she was supposed to say to that. But then he started typing again.

If you change your mind, you know where I am.

She bit her lip again. I know, she sent back.

She backed out of their conversation and looked at the rest of her messages. Her text chain with Cash was third from the top, after Kenny and Adam. She stared at it, debating whether or not to at least tell him where she was. If anything, she just wanted him to know she wasn’t with Kenny. But then she thought: if Cash assumed she’d gone running straight back to Kenny, then he didn’t know her at all.

So she didn’t text him. Instead, she switched her phone to silent and stepped out of the bathroom to rejoin her best friends, trying to ignore just how badly she was hurting.

* * * * * * * * * *

The next morning, Adam and Callie packed up to leave earlier than they usually did. They were both feeling out of sorts and just wanted to get back home—especially Adam. He’d replayed last night’s match in his head over and over again, wondering if he’d made a mistake leaving with Cash and Dax; if their team would have won if he’d just stayed; if Kenny, Matt, and Nick resented him for it. He hadn’t spoken to any of them since leaving the arena; he had no idea if they still expected him to join them for breakfast like usual. He pulled out his phone as he and Callie stepped off the elevator into the hotel lobby, intending to send a text in the group chat letting them know that they were leaving—but it turned out he wouldn’t need to send it. Kenny, Matt, and Nick were checking out, as well.

“Hey,” he nodded at them as they stood huddled in a circle just to the left of the reception desk. They stopped talking as soon as they saw him. It gave the distinct impression that they’d been talking about him. But he swallowed the suspicion down as best he could. “You guys heading out early, too?”

Nick nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready to get back home,” he commented. “I think we all are.”

“Tell me about it,” Adam breathed—but then Callie let out a gasp.

“What happened, Kenny?”

Adam’s brow furrowed in confusion. But then he looked at his tag team partner and his eyes widened. The left side of Kenny’s bottom lip was bruised and scabbed, like he’d been punched in the mouth. Adam’s stomach dropped. He had a horrible feeling he knew exactly what had happened.

Kenny shrugged. “Oh, you know. Someone’s jealous boyfriend ambushed me in my hotel room last night, no big deal.”

“What?” Callie and Adam simultaneously gaped. “Cash ambushed you?” Callie added.

He gave her a sarcastic look. “No, Callie, Kip Sabian did.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Why?” Adam asked. “What happened?”

A corner of Kenny’s mouth quirked up. “Alex told him that we kissed. He didn’t like it.”

“What?” They both repeated. Adam looked to Matt and Nick, expecting some sort of reaction; but their faces remained stoic. They’d obviously already been downloaded on everything that had happened. Adam was the only odd man out. Again. “You mean you and Alex recently kissed?” he asked.

Kenny nodded, all too casual. “Yeah. Last week. And yesterday.”

Adam gaped back at him, his eyes wide and stunned. He was halfway unwilling to believe him. But before he could grill Kenny about it, Alex appeared in the lobby. She was flanked by Chuck, Trent, and James. Cash was nowhere in sight.

“Speak of the devil,” Matt muttered. Kenny shot him a glare.

Alex caught sight of them. She stuttered, her sneakers squeaking against the lobby floor and her eyes wide with surprise. And then she started walking faster toward the exit. 

Adam hurried after her. “Alex, wait!”

“She doesn’t want to talk, Page,” Chuck said as they all went out the automatic doors. Adam’s brow lowered.

“Why don’t you let her speak for herself?”

“I don’t want to talk,” Alex confirmed with a look over her shoulder. It made Adam stop for a second. But then he kept walking after her.

“Are you alright? I just found out what happened last night.”

“No, I’m not,” she answered, not breaking stride.

“Where’s Cash?”

“I don’t know.” She stopped then, turned around to face him. “He gave me an ultimatum last night and kicked me out, so we’re not exactly on speaking terms right now.”

Adam frowned down at her. He didn’t need to ask her what the ultimatum had been; he could fill in the blanks well enough on his own. At this point, all he wanted was to reassure her as best he could. “I’m sure he—”

But she didn’t want to hear it. “Save it,” she breathed. “I just want to go home.”

She looked up at him with glassy eyes. There were dark circles underneath them like she hadn’t slept all night. Her voice was weary. He recognized the distraught on her face all too well. It broke his heart.

“I’ll talk to you later, alright?” she said. And with a final sad look she turned and started off again, Chuck leading her to the car.

* * * * * * * * * *

Friday evening, music streamed through the speakers in Chuck’s apartment in Philadelphia. Alex had made the near six-hour trip from Roanoke earlier that day, and she felt like Chuck, Trent, and James had been falling over themselves to make sure she was happy ever since she’d arrived. Chuck had ordered in cheesesteaks for dinner from her favorite local spot. Trent had bought her not one, but two two-pound bags of Sour Patch Kids. And James was watching her drink like a hawk, waiting to fill it back up as soon as she was done. It was kind of unnerving, especially since he was wearing his sunglasses and she couldn’t see his eyes.

Not that she needed another drink at the moment. She and Chuck were playing beer pong against Trent and James—and they were getting their asses kicked.

Alex closed one eye and poked her tongue out of the corner of her mouth, aiming for a cup in the center of the triangle on the other end of the table. She shot; and it bounced off the rim.

“Come on,” Chuck breathed. “You’re the only one of us who went to college, you should be good at this!”

“You’ve only made one!” Alex returned with a motion to James and Trent’s nearly intact triangle of cups. “That’s just one more than none!”

While they were arguing, Trent took the opportunity to sink his ping pong ball into their last remaining cup.

“GREG!” Chuck shouted.

He smirked. “Drink up, buttercup.”

“No!” Alex proclaimed. “We get to shoot until we miss.”

“Why bother?” James remarked.

“Oh, you’re dead.” Chuck said. He picked up a ping pong ball and tossed it. It landed in the cup on the right bottom corner of the triangle. He threw his arms into the air. “YES! DRINK, YOU LITTLE BITCH!”

James just smirked and took a sip of his alcohol.

Trent rubbed his hands together. “Alright, Alex. It’s all on you.”

Alex got in her shooting stance. She wasn’t sure if closing one eye was helping or hurting at this point; she’d already had a few and was starting to feel it. She aimed and fired. It started to go in a cup in the middle—but Trent used his finger to flick it back out.

Alex’s eyes widened as she let out a gasp. “Oh, you’re never gonna get to see my tits now.”

Chuck choked on his drink. Trent’s eyebrows arched. “Were you gonna show them to me?!”

She gave a nonchalant shrug. “I don’t know, maybe. I know you’re jealous that Chuck and James got to see them when they walked in on me that one time.”

“He totally is,” James said.

Trent sucked his teeth. “Man…”

Alex just smirked and took a sip of her drink.

“And on that note,” Chuck said. “It’s time for shots.” He walked over to the kitchen and pulled out four shot glasses. “What flavor does everyone want?”

That was another thing Chuck had done: he actually had made the Sour Patch Kids-infused Vodka. And from what Alex understood, it had been a pain in the ass.

“Blue raspberry,” James answered.

“I’ll try cherry,” Trent said.

Chuck filled one shot glass with blue-colored vodka and another with red-colored vodka. “Alex?” he asked. But she wasn’t paying attention.

“Where’s my phone?” she asked. She looked around the room. She thought she’d left it on the arm of the couch, but it wasn’t there. She patted her pockets, making sure she hadn’t picked it up and forgotten like a dunce; but they were empty. She started to search the cushions of the couch—but Trent walked over to her.

“Your phone? Yeah, I hid it.”

She whirled around to look at him. “What?”

He smirked. “You shouldn’t have left it just sitting out in the open when you went to the bathroom.”

“Trent,” she sighed and rolled her eyes. “Give me my phone.”

He shook his head. “No.”

She put her hands on her hips. “I’ll show them to you.”

His eyes flicked down to her chest. He seemed to consider it; but then he looked back up. “No.”

“Trent…” she whined.

“Alex…” he mimicked.

She pouted. “Why’d you hide it?”

“Because.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “One, it’ll keep you from spending all night glued to your phone waiting for whoever to text. And two, it’ll keep you from drunk texting whoever, which I’m guessing you’re about one and a half drinks away from wanting to do.”

Alex fidgeted under his gaze. He wasn’t wrong. She’d been incessantly checking her phone ever since she’d arrived, each time hoping to see a text from Cash—and each time being disappointed. They hadn’t talked since that night at the hotel, and each hour that went by without hearing from him seemed longer than the last. She knew he was hurt; she didn’t blame him for not wanting to talk to her. But she just wanted to know if he was even thinking about her. And each time she looked at her phone and didn’t see his name, it was like another papercut on her heart.

“He’s right,” Chuck said. “Forget about your phone, and anything else going on outside this apartment, just for tonight. Alright?”

He offered her a shot glass full of bright green vodka. Lime. She thought back to two nights ago, remembered how she’d missed the person she was two months ago. Tonight was a chance to be that person again, even if just for a night.

She took the shot glass from Chuck’s hand. “Cheers,” she said, and she kicked it back.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ever since their fight the week before, Callie had wanted to do something special for Adam. She wanted to show him how much she loved him, how much she appreciated him, to prove to him that he would never have any doubt that she’d always be there for him. But now that it was time to enact her plan, she couldn’t have been more nervous.

“I don’t know; I’m starting to chicken out,” Callie frowned at Britt over FaceTime. She’d tried to get in touch with Alex first, but her messages had gone completely unread. So, in desperate need of some encouragement from a friend, she’d turned to Britt instead. “What if he doesn’t like it?”

“Are you kidding me?” Britt shot. “You looked hot in that picture you sent me. I’d  do you”

“What?” Adam Cole called from somewhere off-screen.

Britt rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry about it!” She looked back at Callie. “I hope that stuff wasn’t expensive because Hangman’s gonna destroy it.”

Callie smoothed her hand over the silky black robe that covered the lacy red lingerie set she’d bought. She wanted to believe Britt, but what she didn’t know was that Adam hadn’t touched her in weeks. And if he didn’t respond to this… Callie honestly didn’t know what she would do.

Britt must have seen her anxiety written all over her face, because she said, “Just take a deep breath. You’re going out of your comfort zone, but he’ll appreciate it. Trust me.”

Callie’s brow furrowed. But she nodded. “Alright. I’m gonna go hunt him down before I completely lose my nerve. Wish me luck!”

“You don’t need it. Go get him!” Britt waved as she ended the call. Callie set down her phone on the bathroom vanity and checked her reflection in the mirror, making sure her blonde waves were perfectly placed. She grabbed the glass of wine she’d poured herself earlier, took a deep, calming breath, and slipped out the bedroom toward the backyard.

* * * * * * * * * *

Adam sat in front of the fire in the backyard, a whiskey glass in one hand and his phone in the other. He wanted to talk to Alex, but she wasn’t answering his texts. So, he texted Cash instead.

Hey man, how are you? Just wanted to check in.

He took a sip of his drink and set his phone on the cushion next to him, gazing into the flames in front of him. Admittedly, he wasn’t just “checking in.” He’d gotten Cash’s side of the story after he’d tried to talk to Alex at the hotel yesterday morning, and he wanted to know if his thoughts had changed at all over the last twenty-four-plus hours. In other words, he wanted to fix it. He wasn’t sure why Alex had kissed Kenny, but he was sure it had been a mistake—he’d seen the guilt and hurt in her eyes as she’d left yesterday. And if he could mend things between her and Cash, maybe it would make up for everything else.

His phone chirped and he picked it up. Cash’s response was surprisingly vulnerable. Hey, man. Honestly, not great. I haven’t heard from Alex and it’s driving me insane.

Adam’s brow furrowed as he typed back. Not since the night at the hotel?

Cash’s reply was quick. No. Not once.

Adam frowned. Honestly, it surprised him that Alex hadn’t reached out to Cash yet. But if Cash cared about her so much, then he should just swallow his pride and text her. And he told him exactly that. Just text her, man. She’s so broken up about this.

He took another sip of whiskey as he went back to his texts with Alex. The messages he’d sent were still unread. It was starting to worry him. But then Cash responded.

Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do. But SHE kissed Kenny. I can’t get that out of my head. And as much as I want to talk to her, she needs to figure out what she wants on her own.

Adam sighed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He saw Cash’s point. But he also couldn’t help but think that, if it were him, he’d be doing whatever he could to get Alex back.

The sliding glass door to the backyard suddenly opened. Adam set his phone aside and kicked back the rest of his liquor as Callie walked outside. He expected her to come sit next to him, but instead she walked around behind him. She ran her hand down his chest as she leaned over and pressed her lips to his cheek.

“Hey,” she purred.

“Hey,” he returned.

She hugged him, leaning her head against his. “What’re you doing out here all by yourself?”

Adam tensed. He knew she wasn’t just asking out of curiosity. He could hear the need in her voice, feel it in her touch. But he wasn’t in the mood. “Nothing. Just talking to Cash,” he answered.

She pressed another kiss to his cheek. “About Alex?”

He nodded, slowly. “Yeah. Have you heard from her?”

Callie pulled back from him and stood back up. “No.”

A frown pulled at the corners of his lips, his worry increasing. But before he could dwell on it, Callie walked around in front of him. His brow furrowed. She’d done her hair, and she was wearing a short, slinky black robe he’d never seen before.

He watched as she set the wine glass in her hand on the table. “She probably just needs some time to herself,” she said. “I think we could use some time to ourselves too.”

She tugged at the sash on the robe, undoing the tie, and the fabric slipped from her body to the ground, revealing a lacy red bra and panties that he’d definitely never seen before. She looked amazing. But he didn’t feel aroused. He just felt… confused.

She moved to perch herself next to him on the couch. She ran one hand up his shoulder and the other over his thigh. “We haven’t been close in a while, so I wanted to surprise you.” She leaned in and whispered into his ear, “I thought maybe you could take out some of your frustrations on me.”

He whipped his head around to look at her, taken aback by the suggestion. “What?”

Callie blinked. That obviously hadn’t been the reaction she’d expected. “I just thought it would be nice to try something new.”

Adam was at a loss of what to say. He didn’t know how he felt about what it sounded like she had in mind. And, right now, he didn’t want to think about it. “I need another drink,” he said, and he stood and grabbed his whiskey glass and went back into the house.

He walked over to the bar in the den and poured himself another glass. He took a sip just as Callie appeared. The robe was secured tightly around her body again.

“I’m trying here, Adam,” she shot. “It’d be nice if you tried, too.”

He let out a sigh. “Cal, I’m just not up to it, alright?”

She folded her arms across her chest. “Trust me, I’ve noticed. You haven’t been up to it in weeks.”

Adam set his glass down on the bar. That was a low blow, but she wasn’t wrong. It had been a while since they’d been intimate. But, admittedly, he hadn’t really thought about it. He’d been too stressed to think about it. He still was.

Callie scoffed and shook her head. “No answer for that one, huh? You know, it’s really starting to seem like you’re more interested in fixing Alex’s relationships than you are in fixing ours.”

A sadness crept up Adam’s chest when she said that. Guilt twisted his stomach. It was a heavier sadness and a sharper guilt than he’d felt this whole time, and he needed to say something. “I just don’t want you to see me like this.”

Callie’s brow creased with confusion and hurt. “What?”

He sighed. “Don’t make me explain myself.”

Anger flashed in her eyes. “You don’t need to explain yourself. But you need to let me in, Adam. Don’t you understand that? Shutting yourself down and pushing me away isn’t how a relationship is supposed to work.”

She was getting upset—physically upset. He could see it on her face and hear it in her voice. But before he could even think of anything else to say in return, she added, “I know opening up is difficult for you. But we’ve been together long enough that you should be able to open up to me. And right now, it feels like you don’t even care to try.”

She turned and walked away, disappearing back through the house. And Adam stood there alone, left with his whiskey and sadness and guilt.

* * * * * * * * * *

Alex woke up with Trent’s arm draped over her waist atop the blanket they shared. He must have rolled over in his sleep and flung it across her. She gently grabbed his wrist and picked it up, trying to place his arm down on the air mattress in between them; but he pulled it back and snuggled with his pillow, dead asleep. She smirked to herself. She’d always been jealous of how he could sleep like a fucking rock.

She twisted on her back and strained to see the time on the cable box. It was after 2 a.m. What time had they gone to bed? She wasn’t sure. She’d been drunk and half asleep as Chuck had inflated the air mattress for her and Trent; James had already claimed the couch. She couldn’t have been out long; she still felt woozy from all the alcohol she’d consumed. Her mouth was dry. She needed water.

She pushed herself up from as gently as she could, trying not to disturb Trent as she stood from the air mattress and padded over to the kitchen. She opened a cupboard and pulled out a cup—and, lo and behold, revealed her phone.

She snatched her hand out to grab it but bumped her funny bone in the process and let out a silent yelp. She nursed her elbow, looking over to the living room to make sure James or Trent hadn’t moved. With the coast clear, she reached for the phone again more carefully, pulled it out and unlocked it. She had several texts from both Adam and Callie, as well as one from Trent that said, If you’re reading this give me your phone. But none from the one person she’d hoped would text.

There was, however, a text from Kenny.

I’ve been thinking about you, baby. How are you?

Alex couldn’t help but laugh to herself. His choice of words couldn’t have been more ironic. All she’d wanted to know all night was if Cash was thinking of her—and here was Kenny, telling her that he was. She looked at the time stamp. He’d sent it a couple of hours ago, but she was willing to bet he was still up.

She moved across the apartment to the balcony. She kept her eyes trained on James, fast asleep the couch, and pulled open the sliding glass door as quietly as she could. And then she slipped out into the dark, closing the door behind her.

Chuck didn’t have any patio furniture, so she sat down on the concrete with her back against the brick wall. She typed back to Kenny. Are you still up?

She sat staring at the screen. Half a minute passed; and then those three dots popped up.

Yeah. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you.

Her fingers flew over the keyboard. Wanna talk?

She wasn’t sure what she wanted to talk about. She just knew that she wanted to. A few minutes passed, and she started to get anxious. But then her phone rang. He was calling her through FaceTime.

Her heart pounded in her chest. She scooted closer to the railing, trying to find some light, and she took her hair down out of its messy bun, combing it out with her fingers, hoping it looked halfway decent. And then he answered. Kenny popped up on the screen. He was sitting in his gaming chair. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. He grinned.

“Hey, baby.”

She let out a little sigh, not intending to. “Hey.”

His brows knit together. “Where are you?”

“Chuck’s,” she answered. “The boys wanted to take my mind off things, so they threw me a little party. Trent hid my phone so I wouldn’t drunk text anyone. I only just found it.”

Kenny smirked. “I thought you looked a little buzzed.”

She gave him a surprised look. “What?”

His grin widened. “Whenever you drink you get this sort of lazy look of contentment on your face, like everything in the world is perfect. It’s cute.”

Alex’s stomach fluttered. She wondered if Cash had noticed that about her. “Well, what are you doing up so late?” she asked, trying to change her train of thought.

“Playing video games,” he sighed. “Thinking about you. Wishing you were here.”

Alex chewed the inside of her lip as she studied his image. His curls were unkempt and loose, like he’d been raking his hands through them in frustration, and his beard was scruffier than usual. Maybe it was the alcohol still running through her veins, maybe it was the moonlight in the humid late summer air, maybe it was some combination of both, but she wanted to run her fingers through his hair, over his broad shoulders and down his bare chest, lower. And before she knew it, she curiously asked, “What would you do if I was there?”

He gave her that crooked grin of his. “Oh, so this one of those calls?”

Alex’s cheeks burned at the husk in his voice, and she was suddenly grateful for how dark it was on the balcony. She hadn’t intended for this to be one of those calls. She’d never even had one of those calls before. But, suddenly, she wanted it to be one of those calls.

“What would you want me to do?” Kenny asked.

“Everything,” Alex said. The immediacy of her answer took her by surprise and there was a sudden surge between her thighs. She rubbed them together, squirming against the brick wall. Her eyes darted toward the door, praying Trent and James were still asleep.

“Be specific, baby,” he gently urged.

She let out a sigh as her eyes fell closed, tilting her head back. Her mind was dirtier than her mouth, and she was too shy to say what she wanted. But it wasn’t anything Kenny wasn’t used to. He knew how to coax her out of her shell. He was good at it.

“Would you want me to go down on you?” he asked.

She let out a little whine and nodded, imagining it. His tongue was magic. “I’d sit on your face so you could eat me out until I couldn’t take it anymore.”

“Mm,” Kenny groaned. “What else?”

She pulled up her knees and arched her back, looking for some sort of friction. “I’d want you to fuck me.”

“How?”

“Hard,” she breathed. “I’d want you to pin my hands over my head while you made me scream. Give me bruises.”

“Fuck.”

She opened her eyes and looked back at the screen. He’d moved to somewhere else in his house. His eyes were clouded with desire. The muscles in his arm not holding the phone flexed, slowly pumping. She couldn’t see it, but it was obvious what he was doing.

“Touch yourself for me, baby,” he ordered.

Alex hesitated again, suddenly all too aware that she was having phone sex in the middle of the night on her best friend’s balcony. But then Kenny let out a sharp breath and there was no possible way she could ignore the flood between her legs. She slid her hand inside the waistband of her pajama shorts, underneath her cotton underwear, and slipped two fingers inside her wet flesh. Her head fell back, eyes closing again. She bit back a moan as she stroked in and out. It felt so good already.

“Are you wet for me?” Kenny asked.

She just nodded, her lips parted in pleasure.

“What’re you thinking about?”

“Your dick,” she breathed. She slid her fingers up and pressed her clit, gently messaging the bundle of nerves. A cry escaped her throat. “Fuck. I want it so bad right now, Kenny.”

He growled. “Have you missed my dick, baby?”

“Yes.” She sunk her fingers back inside and stroked faster. She couldn’t stop herself from saying what she said next. “You’re bigger than him.”

She opened her eyes to see his reaction. He flashed a cocky smirk. “I know.”

She let out a moan, louder than intended. Something about him knowing just how fucking big he was damn near finished her. She curled and uncurled her fingers inside herself, rubbing her knees together, writhing against the wall. Her breathing grew shallow.

“Are you gonna cum for me?” Kenny breathed. She could tell by the neediness his voice that he was getting close.

“Yes,” she moaned again. She spread her feet wider, gently rocking her hips as she pumped her fingers in and out. She circled her clit again and bit back a cry; if she wasn’t careful, she might alert all of Philadelphia to exactly what she was doing. And that only made it more arousing.

She plunged her fingers back in as deep as they could go—right as Kenny let out a groan and breathed, “I love you so much, Alex.”

That pushed her over the edge. “Oh, fuck, Kenny.” She arched her back and curled her fingers as every muscle in her body contracted, an electric shock of pleasure shooting through her—and then sweet release. She cried as she spilled out into her underwear, whimpered as she came down from the high. She heard Kenny let out a curse and a moan, and Alex shuddered as the sound of him finishing sent an aftershock of pleasure through her core; and then she collapsed against the wall, spent.

Kenny could barely speak. “Fuck, baby,” he breathed. “That was… fuck.”

She breathed out a laugh as she pulled her hand from her shorts, still trying to collect herself. “I’ve never done that before.”

“Yeah?” he grinned. “I’m glad you wanted to.”

She bit her lip. She had wanted to. And the way she’d felt when he’d told her he loved her, the way her body had reacted… it had to mean something. But she couldn’t think about that now. Her brain was far too fogged with sex and alcohol. “I should probably go to sleep,” she said. “The last thing I need is for any of them to find me out here and ask what I’m doing.”

Kenny smirked. “Fair enough. I can’t wait to see you again. The next few days are gonna be torture.”

She bit back a smile, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, baby,” he returned.

They ended the call, and Alex sat on the balcony for a few minutes longer, still flush with what they’d just done. And as she came down and sobered up, she felt more confused than she ever had before.

* * * * * * * * * *

Callie didn’t want to get out of bed the next morning. She just wanted to sleep and stay unconscious for as long as she could. That way, she wouldn’t have to think about how her relationship with Adam was falling apart at the seams. But by the third or fourth time she woke up to see light streaming through the window, she rolled over and grabbed her phone. It was after 9 a.m., and she had a text from Britt.

How’d it go? I’ve been dying to ask all morning but wanted to let you sleep because I’m sure you’re exhausted.

Callie pursed her lips at the winky face emoji Britt had added to the end of the text. It seemed to mock her as she typed back. It didn’t go as expected. I’ll just put it that way.

She rolled over onto her back and looked at Adam’s side of the bed. It was empty. She wasn’t sure when he��d gotten up; but before her thoughts could get away from her, Britt texted back.

What happened?

Callie let out a sigh. As much as she appreciated Britt’s concern, she wasn’t up to talking about what had happened just yet. She needed to wake up first, collect her thoughts. Figure out what she was even thinking at all. So she texted back: Can I call you later? I just woke up and need coffee.

The dots indicating that Britt was typing back appeared instantly. Yeah, of course.

She didn’t bother with a response. She climbed out of bed and moved toward the door when she got another text. She assumed it was Britt again; but when she looked at the screen it was Alex.

I’m SO sorry! I’m with the boys in Philly and Trent hid my phone last night. Is everything okay? Did you surprise Adam like you wanted?

Callie stared at the message. And, slowly but surely, a familiar feeling took root in her gut. Jealousy. Adam’s words from the night before replayed in her head. I just don’t want you to see me like this. But she was sure he would have opened up to Alex. He’d proven he would. She opened the message but didn’t respond, purposefully leaving it on read.

She padded down to the kitchen, hoping she’d find Adam there, sitting with a cup of coffee and a warm smile when he saw her—but he wasn’t. She checked the living room, the den, the backyard. He was nowhere to be found. Worry gripped her as she moved back to the front of the house and looked out the window into the driveway. His truck was gone. A weight dropped into her stomach as she texted him.

Where are you? I woke up and you were gone.

She set her phone on the kitchen island and busied herself with brewing a cup of coffee. Sooner than later, her phone chirped. She nearly jumped to pick it up and read the text.

I went for a drive.

That was it. No apology for leaving, no explanation, no “don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.” He’d just gone. Callie let her phone drop to the island with a hard thud. She felt abandoned. And, for the first time, she understood why Adam drank.

* * * * * * * * * *

Adam had just wanted to clear his head. Driving had always been good for that, going down the back country roads with the windows down and the music turned up. He hadn’t had a destination in mind. But he’d been driving for almost thirty minutes when he realized he was on the route to Alex’s house. And instead of turning around, he pushed the gas pedal harder.

He needed to see her, to know she was okay. It wasn’t like her to not return calls or texts, to not even read them at all. He tried not to let his thoughts go to a dark place as he drove down the road, picking up speed. She probably just decided to unplug for a few days, he reasoned. She’s okay.

He was nearly halfway there when his phone rang through his truck’s speakers, interrupting the music. He looked at the center console display and let out a relieved breath at the name on the screen. Alex Hawthorne.

He pressed the button on his steering wheel to answer the call. He didn’t bother with a hello. “Jesus Christ, Alex, do you know how worried I’ve been about you?”

She didn’t immediately answer. Her shock was evident in her silence. “No?” she returned, blindsided.

He let out another breath. “I’m literally driving to your house right now.”

He felt somewhat vulnerable, admitting that. He wanted to add that he hadn’t intended to drive to her house, but then she’d probably ask what he had been doing and he’d have to explain what had happened with Callie last night and he really didn’t want to get into all that right now. But then Alex let out an apologetic sigh.

“God, I’m sorry. I’m in Philly.”

That confused him. “Philly?”

“Yeah. The boys wanted me to come up to get my mind off things,” she explained. “Trent hid my phone last night so I wouldn’t drunk text anyone.”

Adam gave a small laugh when he heard that. “Seriously?”

“Yeah,” she laughed in return. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you.”

He let his head fall back against the headrest, suddenly feeling stupid for being so concerned. “No, it’s not your fault,” he said. “Did it work, at least? I mean, did they get your mind off things.”

She let out another sigh. “Not really,” she admitted. But before Adam could ask if she wanted to talk about it, she changed the subject. “How are you, besides worrying about me? Callie sent me a text asking for advice about something she wanted to surprise you with last night. Obviously I didn’t talk to her but… how’d that go? I asked her before calling you, but she hasn’t responded.”

Adam’s hands tensed on the steering wheel. He didn’t want to talk about this. But it wasn’t Alex’s fault she’d asked. She was just being a good friend; trying to dodge her own uncomfortable subjects. “It… didn’t go as she’d planned,” he returned, hoping she’d get the hint from his tone that he didn’t want to discuss it any further.

“Oh,” she said. Hint taken.

The silence dragged on for a few beats until Adam asked, “When will you be back?”

“Probably tomorrow,” she answered. “Why?”

“Just wondering.”

More silence. And then Alex asked, “You aren’t almost to my place, are you?”

“About halfway,” he admitted.

Another breath. “I’m s—”

“No,” he cut her off. “Stop. I needed the drive, trust me.”

She didn’t say anything in response, and Adam wondered what she was thinking; worried she would try to get him to talk about why he needed the drive. But, mercifully, she didn’t. “Well, I’m gonna go. My head is killing me and Chuck ordered greasy breakfast burritos to try to help.”

A corner of his mouth quirked up. Even if Chuck and co. hadn’t managed to get her mind off things, he was glad Alex was in Philly with them rather than sitting at home by herself. Stewing in her thoughts. Like he had been. “Okay,” he said. “Feel better.”

“Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yeah. Later.” He hung up, and the country song he’d been listening to picked up where it had left off before Alex had called. And as he turned his truck around and started back home, he wondered if worry was the only reason he’d been on his way to Alex.

[cranehusbands]

glory, to olympus

loba andrade/crypto | park tae joon; established relationship; hurt/comfort; post broken ghost; apex rarepair week; 1883 words

a/n: first thought is why the fuck did ao3 butcher crypto’s name so bad.. that’s not how his name is said. taejoon is one word. crypto im so sorry

secondly, this has been my agenda this whole time. welcome to cryptloba hell, population me. i absolutely adore these two with all my heart, i was so excited for finally write for them, and will be doing so later this week, as it’s apex rarepair week! the prompt i went for for this one was meet the parents and well... you get the idea. angst time baby

@apex-rarepairweek thank you for hosting this wonderful week!

likes < reblogs, any comments in the tags are appreciated

ao3 mirror in the reblogs!

Preview: The thief’s mouth hung open in her rambles, before she looked up to Crypto, still standing in the rain with his hands in his pockets, hair flat against his face. The shadow over her eyes fell now, mascara running down her cheeks as she wiped the nose with the back of her hand in an uncharacteristically sloppy way. “...Am I doing them wrong, Park? Have I done bad by them?”

The gentle sound of the radio was enough to not make the room sound so deafening in its silence, raindrops hitting the window like tears from the clouds, as if knowing the day to the date, and mourning on her behalf. The song was a lighthearted one, one about running away to the big city - an older one, from more than many years ago, somehow still prevalent on the radio stations that she tended to be drawn towards. Was it because this music was a comfort to her? Her father always cared a lot for songs like those, and he would whisk herself and her mother around the living room while some lovelorn fool sang about a Caroline or an Eileen. 

  Loba was gentle in the way she did her makeup, having mastered her technique in the past few years - her philosophy had always been to not get caught, but if she were to be, she had to look her best. She closed one eye, gently placing a synthetic eyelash over the smokey eye makeup she’d carefully painted on already, pulling away and staring at herself in the vanity mirror in her room, and hand running through one of the shorter braids, the ends of her hair no longer stark red and now simply a subdued blonde. Her eyes fell on a small polaroid in the corner of the vanity, moving to run two fingers of the faces of the two adults - a suited man and a smiling woman - staring at the young child with a wide smile and a small tooth gap. The thief smiled a little, at the way the girl was so oblivious to her future, her happiness at that moment forever caught, to be cherished and longed for. She stared for a moment or two more, hand pulling away to catch a glance of the two parents by the girl’s shoulders, just as happy as she, before she stood to her feet, grabbing the leather-gloved form the edge of the desk before she opened the door, and began heading out of the dropship, passing by the kitchen and listening to the clicking of her boots against the floor-

  “You’re awake early.”

She jumped at the sudden voice, shooting a glare over to the table in the dropship’s kitchen, where a pair of eyes stared back at her from over the back of a laptop. “For god's sake, Crypto, make yourself known. Don’t scare me like that.”

“Sorry.” He almost looked sheepish for a moment, pulling down his laptop screen so she could see his face, the clear bags under his eyes from behind his glasses and the weak smile he gave. “You’re looking very… monotone.”

Loba hummed, doing a little half-hearted spin. “I have places to be. Quite in demand, don’t you know?”

“Hm. Visiting death, are we?”

“I guess you could say that.”

He frowned at her for a moment, brow furrowing before he closed the lid of his laptop and stood to his feet.

“What are you doing?”

“Grabbing my coat.”

“What- no, you’re not coming with me.”

He didn’t respond, shoving his hands into his pockets as he made his way back to his room.

“Crypto!” The thief called out to him, but again he didn’t respond, not even so much with a turn. And though she gave an exasperated sigh and folded her arms across her chest, she didn’t try to leave him behind in this momentary blindspot. Deep down, she was almost glad for the company. Especially his.

  The hacker soon returned, now donning a fuzzy black coat, somewhat more professional and warmer than his normal attire, though still jarring to see him in something that wasn’t white or green… though, hints of his usual accent still came through, in the formal shirt and tie he still wore underneath. Hands were shoved into his pockets, clearly fiddling with the cube he always carried with him, more for comfort than out of function. Crypto shot her a small nod as she turned to look at him, quickening his pace a little to join her at her side. “So-”

Before he could finish, he was cut off as she ran a hand down his chest, feeling the soft material of his coat under her fingertips with a soft expression. It wasn’t often they shared moments like this - the two were discrete about their relationship, especially since their mission had led to both… complications and rifts in the group, but also new bonds being formed, including their own. Interactions between the two were kept strictly professional when eyes were on them… but now Loba fixed his coat collar, a sad smile on her face, perhaps getting a bit closer than what she would have normally. But it was the early morning, and the open kitchen was silent. It was just them. What did they have to hide?

Crypto’s smile was weak, and embarrassed, perhaps still not used to the shift between professionalism and PDA. His voice cracked a little as he continued with his train of thought. “S-so, where are we going?”

Loba pulled her hands away from him, tucking her arm into his with a solemn nod, as if to hype herself up. “The closest thing I remember being a home to me. ...To Olympus.”

  The ride was quiet, but they both were tense. Loba knew that Crypto never liked crowds, not much - it was bad enough that a handful of the legends knew who he really was, but being so visible was a threat, even if these people had never heard of Taejoon Park before. She reached a hand over to him without looking to make it obvious, feeling for his hand to hold onto for comfort, as she knew the way his eyes fell on her and his face softened in a way that only she knew. The thief gave him a glance, and a small smile, running a thumb over the back of his knuckles, to comfort him, but also perhaps to comfort herself, as through the window the overview of the city so foggy in her memories became clearer. It was so different, and yet... not at all. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but it kept coming back, enough to make it hard for her to breathe as they left the landing zone and headed down a familiar road, being dropped off at the front of an extravagant building, where pedestrians entered through lavish double doors. She exited the taxi they had shared, a hand holding onto the door for a moment before she quietly shut it.

“Damn rain,” she grumbled, though it was certainly half-hearted, pulling out her cane and extending it to lean against it, in the way she usually did, her other hand over her eyes to avoid damage to her makeup.

Behind her, the taxi started up again, driving away as the hacker now joined her at her side, hands in his pockets. He hummed. 

“What?”

“You haven’t told me everything about yourself. If I knew any better, I would make a joke that this was your second home… the gaudiness is fitting. But…” He looked over to her, and the way she stared back at him.

Loba swallowed. “Yes, well I… the loss of my family to that… demon… meant I have lost my home, my heritage. I have no grave to return my good wishes to, so I…” With her cane, she gestured towards the building in front of them - to the restaurant where all but one little girl had lost her life over twenty years before.

  There was a long, drawn-out silence, the only sound being the sound of rain that his the pavement leading up to the glowing restaurant doors. 

“I feel my papa would have liked you.”

“Hm?” He glanced down to her, how the rain fell down the sides of her face and how the gloomy sunlight cast a dark shadow over her eyes.

“He would have liked you. From… what I remember, anyway. He was a kind man, a family man. ...Yes, he would have liked you.” Her voice quivered as she repeated herself.

“...Loba, I-”

“-And mama would have too. Oh, the things she would say, I can almost hear them, in a distant sort of way. ‘Mi yerno es un ángel.’, I think is the phrase she’d say… I-I’m sure she would call us married already, she was a housewife type despite her… her profession-”

“Loba.”

The thief’s mouth hung open in her rambles, before she looked up to Crypto, still standing in the rain with his hands in his pockets, hair flat against his face. The shadow over her eyes fell now, mascara running down her cheeks as she wiped the nose with the back of her hand in an uncharacteristically sloppy way. “...Am I doing them wrong, Park? Have I done bad by them?”

He didn’t know what to say. He’d never had this issue before, not for himself - what was done with him was done, and he had no one to mourn… no parents, and no sister. He quickly swallowed before he could ride down that thought path. Reaching a hand out of his pocket, he took hers and gently squeezed. “You… are an amazing woman. They know that, surely, from where they reside. Regardless of what you have done, or will do, you are still theirs. Be proud.”

That’s when her face, that had tried so hard to remain like stone despite her tears, wrinkled, and her grip on his hand grew tighter with a squeeze, before she burst into sobs and practically threw herself onto him, burying her face into his shoulder, as if to hide her dignity, her hands moving to claw onto his back and hold it as if he would leave her at a moments notice.

  He didn’t move, unsure if she would shatter in his arms like fragile glasswork, so perfect and delicate as she shook in the cold and the pressure of containing herself, but soon Crypto held her back, and brought her close, the warmth still foreign to him, even after all the times that had done this behind closed doors. No… it was never like this. Loba was strong, she held her cards close to her chest, and only let herself be vulnerable when she knew she had nothing to lose - and to her, she still had everything to lose. Losing her legacy, her revenge on the simulacrum that took her life away from her. The hacker held her close, holding the back of her head with a hand, quietly shushing her muffled sobs as he ran a hand through her hair, now knotted and wavy with the rain.

“Te amo,” she whispered into his neck, before pulling away and looking up to him, smiling despite herself as she wiped her eye, now red, though not like her usual makeup attire, with the back of her finger, smiling despite herself as she moved a hand to brush at his shoulder.  “Sorry about the makeup all over your coat.”

He couldn’t help but laugh, moving to cup her face with one hand and brush his thumb under her other eye, still wet from tears.  “Don’t worry. It’ll be fine. You will be fine. Saranghae.”

[artificialqueens]

Stupid For You, Chapter 3 (Crygi, Jankie, Jaida x Nicky) - Metaluna

Summary: What better way to celebrate a successful opening day than a party? tw: underage drinking//drinking in general

On the way back home, Gigi turned onto the dirt road that would take her back the quickest. A road that was the exact opposite direction of Crystal’s house.

Crystal gasped. “You’re a liar.”

“Excuse me?”

“You said your house was on the way to mine. Clearly it’s not. Why’d you say it was?”

“Because I knew that you would say no if I told you it wasn’t on the way, and I like driving you. I like our conversations. And coffee. And of course, singing terribly together.”

“You’re absolutely right. I wouldn’t have let you. But I love talking to you, Gigi.” She smiled. “And I have no idea what you’re talking about. I am a great singer and you know it.”

Once they made it back to Gigi’s, she led Crystal up the stairs into her room. Gigi’s room was exactly what Crystal had imagined. It was decorated with an orange and aqua color scheme. It was a lot cleaner than Crystal’s room. There were posters of musicians that Crystal didn’t know. Above the bed, there were fairy lights with Polaroids. One corner of the room had a vanity with a large backlit mirror, and the other had a desk with plants perched on top.

“I guess you can do makeup at the desk? I think I have an extra mirror…” Gigi rifled through her vanity drawer. “Here we go.”

“Thanks!” Crystal took out a plethora of hair pins that kept perfectly messy space buns intact. She was left with a frizzy mess. “As much as I love looking like a lion, do you have a straightener I can borrow?”

“Are you sure?Lion King is one of the best movies.”

“I’m more partial to Hercules. ”

“If you say so. Let me go get it from the bathroom.”

Crystal examined the Polaroids. There were six in total. The first photo was taken with a girl who looked to be a few years older than Gigi that had striking similarities. Both girls had the same upturned nose and blonde hair. Immediately, Crystal recognized that they were on The Boardwalk at the park, the large Ferris wheel visible in the background. The second photo was Gigi with a woman that Crystal could only assume to be her mother, and was taken at the beach. Gigi and the woman were both relaxing on colorful towels under a large umbrella. The last Polaroid Crystal looked at was of the three women skating at Rockefeller Center during Christmastime.

“Having fun?”

Crystal jumped. “Is this your mom and sister?”

Gigi nodded. “I love them so much. Honestly they’re my best friends”

“It’s nice that you guys are so close.” Crystal felt a pang of jealousy. As an only child, she would never know the bond of a sibling, and while she and her parents were on good terms, she would hardly consider her parents friends, let alone best friends.

“Honestly me and Nora, my sister, weren’t close until our dad left our mom a few years back. I think it’s because we really only had each other to lean on.”

“Oh, Gigi, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. He’s an asshole, and honestly, we’re better off without him.” Gigi forgot she was holding the straightener. “Oops, sorry. Here go you.”

After Gigi sat at her vanity and began brushing her perfect blonde hair, Crystal called, “I’m changing. Don’t look!”

Gigi could only imagine what Crystal looked like in her underwear. As soon as she found her mind wandering, she forced herself to stop and focused harder on getting ready.

After finishing a perfectly blended smokey eye, Gigi puckered her lips after putting on a layer of red gloss, and realized Crystal was standing behind her. It was hard for Gigi not to audibly gasp. She hadn’t seen Crystal’s hair straightened before, and while her curls were beautiful, she looked incredible with straight hair too. She was wearing a black and white striped crop top that hugged just the right places paired with a black skater skirt that had suspenders. Gigi was impressed at how clean Crystal’s makeup was. She opted for a blue cut crease and a matte red lip, a combination Gigi would never even think about trying. To finish the look, she had on necklaces, earrings, and bracelets that didn’t match each other, but somehow Crystal pulled off perfectly.  

“You look beautiful,” Gigi finally said.

“Thanks,” Crystal curtseyed. “You too. Oh shit!”

“What?”

“We match.” Gigi looked at her reflection, and realized she was right. Her black and white jumpsuit perfectly complemented Crystal’s top.

Crystal grabbed Gigi’s hand. “Come here!” She pulled her to the full length mirror.

“What are we doing?”

“We have zero pictures together, which needs to change.” Crystal pulled out her phone and started taking mirror selfies. After posing for a few, Crystal went through her camera roll, taking time to look at each of them.

“Wow, you are so gorgeous. You could literally be a model. You’re so good at posing.”

Gigi smiled. “I used to practice when I was little.”

“Well, it paid off.”

Crystal sent the best one in the groupchat. It was already abuzz talking about the night’s festivities. The photo was met with high praises from everyone.

After she checked the time on her phone, Gigi said, “If we’re gonna get some alcohol, we should probably leave now.”

  Crystal bit her lip. “How are we going to get any?”

Wordlessly, Gigi pulled an ID out of her wallet and handed it to Crystal, which stated that she was born in 1996. “I’ve had this since I was 16.”

“Oh wow, you rebel.”

Once inside the liquor store, Crystal was surprised at how many types of alcohol there were. She had no idea where to begin. There were shelves and shelves of bottles of all different shapes, sizes, and colors. She wondered how anyone picked which one to buy. If it was up to her, she would have bought the purple sparkly alcohol. She wasn’t even sure what it was, but it was pretty.

Gigi looked at her. “Any requests?”

“Gigi I have no idea what any of this is. Just something fruity and delicious.”

“Got it.”

Gigi settled on a fifth of coconut rum and some pineapple juice to mix. While walking past the cooler, she grabbed a six pack of hard black cherry lemonade for good measure.

Once they made it to Heidi’s apartment, the party was already in full swing. Music was playing so loud that its loud bass line echoed through the parking lot. Earlier that night, Heidi had told everyone to let themselves in. Heidi’s apartment was filled with people. It was much larger than Gigi anticipated. It was nicely decorated with a large living room, with plenty of space. At first, Gigi didn’t recognize any of her fellow partygoers. She heard Brita, but didn’t see her. As they made it further into the house, they found Heidi, right in front of the sound system the music was coming from. Gigi felt her chest vibrating.

 “Hey, bitches!” Heidi hugged them the best she could while double fisting Whiteclaws.

“Do you have any cups?” Gigi tried to shout over the music.

“What?”

“Cups?”

“ What?”

Gigi pantomimed drinking.  

“Oh! Kitchen.”

Once they made it into the kitchen, a voice screamed, “Oh my god!”

Brita pulled Gigi and Crystal into a hug. Gigi could only think about how nice Crystal smelled. Crystal looked slightly taken aback, since she didn’t know Brita well. But, let it go since Brita was probably on at least drink number three of the night.

“You’re both so hot!” Brita looked both of them up and down. “Maybe I do like girls! Wow, wow, I’m drunk.”

“Yes, yes you are,” Gigi said as Brita left the kitchen, going on about finding a girl to makeout with .

 Gigi grabbed a red Solo cup and began pouring a drink. Because Crystal hadn’t drank before she barely poured a shot’s worth of alcohol in her cup. This was a contrast to her own cup, which was half rum and half pineapple juice. Gigi spotted a marker next to the cups. On hers, she wrote her name with some stars after it. After some thought, she decided to draw hearts on Crystal’s cup.

Gigi handed Crystal the cup, making sure that she would see the hearts. “Here, drink this.”

Crystal dramatically gasped. “You’re such a talented artist.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

As she took a drink, Crystal’s face contorted to a slight look of disgust. “It’s um. Strong.”

“You don’t have to drink it if you don’t like it.” Gigi held her hand out to take the cup.

Crystal took another drink. “The more I drink it, the more I like it.”

“That’s usually how alcohol works, babe.”

After walking around Heidi’s apartment, Crystal and Gigi eventually found their friends. They were all sitting on a large sectional in a corner of the living apartment where the music wasn’t blaring. Gigi was glad to be able to hear herself think. Jaida and Nicky were looking quite comfortable next to each other. Nicky whispered something in Jaida’s ear before grabbing her hand and leading her out of the room.

“Shit,” Jackie groaned. “Shit, shit, shit.”

“What is it?” Jan’s eyes were full of concern.

“Every single summer, Jaida meets one of the new girls, they hook up, and she gets way too invested. Every single summer she breaks her own heart, and I end up picking up the pieces. Every. Single. Time,“ Jackie lamented, taking a swig of vodka. 

“Maybe it won’t be like that. Nicky seems like a nice girl,” Crystal said while taking a seat.

“That may be so, but I don’t think that Nicky has the same intentions that Jaida does. I love the girl but she’s an idiot.”

“Well,” Jan began. “Jaida’s a big girl, I think she can handle it herself. Let’s go check out the beer pong table.”

The kitchen table was pushed into the hallway where an intense game of beer pong was taking place. It was Widow and Heidi vs. Gigi’s coworkers, Dahlia and Rock.

There was one cup left, and it was Widow’s turn. Carefully, she aimed and threw the ball and landed it perfectly in the cup.

“Drink up, bitches!” Dahlia chugged the beer in the cup.

“Who’s next?” Heidi asked. “We’ve won the last three rounds.”

Crystal looked at Gigi, who at some point finished her drink and moved onto a lemonade. “Wanna?”

Gigi raised her and Crystal’s hands.

“Step on up, ladies!” Heidi said as she refilled the cups.

Widow went first. “Y’all are going down!”

“You wish.” Gigi’s expression was determined. She was awful at beer pong, but wasn’t about to let Crystal know that.

Widow’s ball landed in one of the cups with a plop right in front of Crystal. It was clear Crystal wasn’t well versed in the rules of beer pong, so Widow instructed, “Crystal, drink.”

Crystal nervously fished the ball out of the cup. She raised it to her nose and made a face.

“It’s not going to be good,” Gigi said. “Just warning you. Thankfully there’s not much in there. Don’t let it sit on your tongue. Drink it down.”

Crystal did as she was instructed. “My turn?” Gigi nodded.

Even though she tried to aim, Crystal was feeling the effects of the alcohol. The ball veered to the left, nearly hitting Jan. “Oops.”

“Good one,” Heidi teased as she sank a ball right in front of Gigi. “Drink up.”

Gigi also made a face when she drank the beer. “You’re out here getting the cheap shit, huh?”

“You try buying boujee shit when we barely make about minimum wage.”

Gigi couldn’t argue with that logic. She surprised herself by making a shot.

“I’m impressed,” Widow said while finishing her cup.

After a close game, each team had one cup left. Crystal failed to score anything. Thankfully, Gigi was having a good game for once and carried them to the end. Gigi’s shot was just wide.

“Get ready to lose, hookers,” Widow said confidently. She was so confident, she barely aimed and missed.

“It’s all you, Crys,” Gigi said. “You can do it.”

“I can do it.”

Crystal stood aiming her ball for at least thirty seconds.

“Today, Crystal,” Heidi said dramatically looking at her nails.

“Hold on!”

She took a few more seconds before tossing the ball. It landed in the cup with a plop. Jan, Jackie, and a few other spectators cheered.

“I did it!” Crystal slurred hugging Gigi.

“You did!”

“I wanna dance. Let’s go dance!” By this point, Crystal was extremely drunk. Gigi found it absolutely adorable, the way she slurred her words and thought very hard before speaking.

The group made their way into the living room. Another song that Gigi didn’t recognize was playing over the speakers. Jan began to grind against Jackie. Jackie was taken aback, but pulled her closer. Crystal looked at Gigi and raised an eyebrow. Gigi shrugged in return. A song that Gigi had heard a few times on the radio started.

“Oh my god, I love this song!” Crystal squealed, standing in front of Gigi starting to grind on her.

Gigi was shocked as Crystal’s hips rocked back and forth in front of her. Gigi grabbed onto Crystal’s waist, pulling her closer. As Crystal rubbed against her, Gigi could feel herself being turned on. When Crystal bent at the waist and started shaking her ass, the blonde thought she would drop dead on the dancefloor. Crystal turned her head at Gigi and smiled.

Do I kiss her? Is she just looking at me? What’s going on?!

Before she could think any further, Crystal turned back around as the song ended and pulled Gigi into a hug.

“I’m having so much fun!” Crystal exclaimed.

“How many drinks have you had tonight, Crys?”

“Umm,” She counted on her fingers. “One, two, three… Four. I think I’m done!”

“I think that’s a good idea.”

Crystal gasped and pointed at Jan and Jackie. They were in the middle of the makeshift dance floor with their lips intertwined. Jackie had a fistful of Jan’s ass while Jan’s hands were running up and down Jackie’s back.

“Holy shit!” Gigi was thinking about earlier when Jaida said that Jackie was straight.

Just then, Jaida and Nicky found Crystal and Gigi. They both looked disheveled, as if they had gotten dressed in a hurry. Jaida was pulling up her tube top, and Nicky was fixing her hair.

“Where have you two been?” Gigi raised an eyebrow.

“Mind your business,” Jaida warned.

The four girls watched Jan and Jackie, who had stopped kissing and were just looking into each other’s eyes. After noticing her friends, Jackie ran into the bathroom. 

“Shit,” Jaida said, running after Jackie.

“Did I do something wrong?” Jan asked, tears welling her eyes.

“No, you didn’t do anything,” Gigi took her hand. “Let’s go outside.”

–

“Jackie, what the hell?” Jaida slammed the bathroom door behind her.

“I don’t know! Jaida, I’m drunk, she’s drunk… She just looked really pretty, and I don’t know what happened! Next thing I knew, my hands were on her ass and her tongue was down my throat!” Jackie slurred. “I’m straight! I don’t like girls!”

“Listen. I’ve seen you. You’ve been checking out Miss Jan every single day you’ve seen her. I don’t think that’s just gals being pals.”

“I’m not gay.”

“Jackie. We don’t have to talk about that right now but I really think you should–”

“Jaida, stop. I can’t do this right now.”

With that, Jackie stormed off in a hurry.

–

Gigi, Nicky, and Crystal managed to calm down Jan, who was near hysterics.

“Does she hate me?” Jan slurred. “She kissed me first!“

“No, Jan. I think that maybe Jackie doesn’t know how to process whatever it is that she is feeling,” Nicky reassured.

Gigi’s phone buzzed. It was Jaida.

Jackie’s freaking out. I’m taking her home. She doesn’t live too far away. I’ll be back.

They all sat with a crying Jan until Jaida showed up.

“Oh, chile,” Jaida began wrapped Jan in a hug. “It’s not you. I promise it isn’t. Jackie doesn’t know how to act when it comes to her emotions. I promise it’s not you.”

“Really?” Jan wiped her eyes. “How fucked is my makeup right now?”

“Pretty fucked. But let me fix it.” Nicky said, pulling a wipe from her purse.

“I’m not letting her ruin my night. Ladies, let’s go do shots!” Jan pulled a bottle of tequila out of her bag.

There were already slices of lime and a salt shaker set up in the kitchen. Because she was the only one sober enough to do so, Gigi poured the shots.

“Crystal,” Jan slurred. “Whatcha gotta do is you lick your hand and shake the salt on it. Then, ya lick the salt, then ya take the shot. It tastes bad, don’t let it sit in your mouth. Then ya suck the lime.”

“Act like it’s cough syrup,” Jaida recommended.

The four girls toasted their glasses, set them on the table, shot the tequila back, and sucked on the lime. Gigi didn’t think she was good at very many things, but she was good at shots. Everyone else made the universal face when doing shots, except for her.

“Crystal, you look like you went through all the stages of grief at once,” Nicky teased.

“That was gross.”

“You don’t drink it because it’s good,” Jaida said.

The rest of the night was filled with selfies, dancing, and for everyone but Gigi, more drinking. She didn’t remember the last time she had this much fun at a party, even if she did spend a good chunk of the night holding Jan’s hair back in the bathroom.

At about two AM, the party started to unwind.

“Ready to go babe?” Gigi asked an extremely drunk Crystal.

“Yeah I’m ready to go home.”

“It’s late, do you want to just spend the night at my house?”

“We’re gonna have a sleepover?”

“Yes, Crystal, we’re going to have a sleepover.”

After thanking Heidi for a great party, she managed to single handedly get Crystal into her Jeep. Gigi looked over at Crystal who at some point had fallen asleep. Once they made it back to her house, Gigi gently tapped Crystal’s shoulder.

“Okay, babe, we’re back.”

“Sleepover?”

After much protesting, Gigi managed to get Crystal to drink some water. She brought a bottle up to her room for good measure. Because she was a good friend, she removed Crystal’s makeup.

After rifling through her dresser, she gave Crystal an old cheerleading shirt and some shorts. “The bathrooms right over down–”

Crystal began stripping in Gigi’s bedroom. As much as she tried to look away, she couldn’t. Crystal’s body was much curvier than her own, but Gigi couldn’t help but stare at how beautiful she was… How beautiful her breasts were… After changing, Crystal plopped onto Gigi’s bed and fell asleep. Because she had a queen sized bed, Gigi decided she could share and it wouldn’t be weird.

The next day, Crystal woke up cuddling Gigi. She didn’t remember parts of the night. She remembered beer pong, dancing, Jan crying, Jackie running away, and shots. Her head was pounding, and everything felt too bright. She got up and found the bottle of water. She pulled out her phone to text her ride. She couldn’t let Gigi give her another ride home.

Gigi must have heard her, as she woke up. “Morning, sunshine. How are you feeling?”

“Not good. My head’s pounding.”

“Awe, baby’s first hangover,” Gigi teased. “Are you hungry?”

“No, eating is pretty much the last thing I want to do right now. I have someone coming to get me soon. Also, did you check the group chat?”

“No, why?”

Gigi sat on her bed with Crystal as they went through all the photos that were sent that night. The blurry photos said it all. Gigi’s favorite was a group photo right before shots.

Crystal’s phone buzzed. “My ride’s here!”

“I’ll walk you down.”

A truck was in Gigi’s driveway. A blonde boy with a shaggy beard came out.

“Ryan!” Crystal exclaimed, running to hug the boy. “Gigi, this is my boyfriend Ryan. Ryan, this is my coworker, Gigi.”

Boyfriend.

Gigi’s stomach dropped.

“I’ve heard so much about you!”

“Nice to meet you,” she mumbled.

“Thanks for taking care of her.” Ryan kissed Crystal on the cheek.

“No problem. I’ll see you tomorrow, Crystal.”

Gigi closed the door without waiting for a response.

[saiilorstars]

Falling in Temptation

Previous chapters • Sequel to Stars Dance •  Fairy Tale Memoirs (Companion story)

Ch. 20: Happily Ever Now

Fandom: Doctor Who // Pairing: 11th Doctor x Female OC

Chapter summary: Avalon and the Doctor finally go out on their first date. As happy as they are to be together, they both can't help but think of the future that's coming for them both.

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel​ [If you’d like to be added to this specific OC’s stories/edits, send me a message!]

Avalon had just emerged from her bathroom wrapped in a towel after a long, relaxing bath. She could still smell the lavender scented bath bomb she'd used. She just loved the scent so much! She made it to her closet when she heard a small noise from her door. She peered around the closet door and saw a folded, old looking, paper on the floor.

"What?" she crinkled her nose and walked over to pick it up. In doing so, she found a second smaller paper under it.

At first glance she knew the first paper was made to look old. There was a laced purple bow keeping the paper folded and, as beautiful as it was, Avalon pulled it off and opened up the paper that turned out to be a letter.

My dearest Ava,

It has come to my attention that we have not had a first date. It's frankly ridiculous that I have the most amazing woman at my side and I haven't taken her out on date! I would love to spend one whole day with you and no one else . If you agree, then I shall await for you in the console room in one hour.

Yours truly,

The Doctor.

Avalon felt her entire face warm up after reading the letter. She checked the second smaller paper and found it was a P.S. She had to laugh.

P.S. If you accept, dress for heat. Literally. It's going to be like summer.

She looked up at the ceiling with a dreamy smile. "Did you see him write this for me?" It was silent for a few seconds but then Avalon heard a light hum. "Well, my Fairy Tale Man just wins for today." She folded the letter again and brought it to her vanity desk and checked herself in the mirror. "I have a lot of work today, don't I?"

The TARDIS hummed and Avalon would dare to say it was an outraged hum.

She giggled and looked up at the ceiling. "You are far too kind to me, you know? I still don't understand why but I'm happy about it. Now," she turned away from the vanity desk and brought her hands together, "I have one hour to make myself look gorgeous. No wet curls-" she wrapped a stark wet curl around her finger, "-and towels! And I absolutely need stunning clothes! Can we do it!?"

The TARDIS hummed loudly, making Avalon laugh again.

"I'm taking that as a yes! Let's do it!" Avalon determinedly marched for her closet to start searching for those out-of-this-world clothes!

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was making endless rounds at the console trying to wait like he promised. He was sure the TARDIS was laughing at him with all the humming she was doing. "Very lovely dear, absolutely lovely," he scowled at the rotor. "I know you can't help favorite Avalon but do remember I have known you for centuries. I deserve a little encouragement from you." And right now he could use all the encouragement and support he could get. He was about to go on a date with Avalon, their first date, and he had no idea if she would like what he set up for them. He'd covered his basis and made sure that Amy and Rory were nonethewisers about it. They and the Sapling were off at a beach to enjoy their day. Today was going to be all about him and Avalon, just them.

It was nerve-wrecking.

"You are 909 years old, get a hold of yourself," the Doctor berated himself. He would try not to think about the insane age gap between him and Avalon but right now he needed to remember his age. He couldn't be this nervous over a date - he'd done a lot more than just date in the past so why was this one date different?

Because it's Avalon you idiot. The Doctor came to a stop and deeply exhaled. It was Avalon. The girl he was head over heels for. The girl he was in love with and who had no idea about it.

Somebody cleared their throat and since the only people in the TARDIS was him and Avalon, the Doctor quickly spun around to find his ginger.

Don't spin so fast! That's not cool! It was then that the Doctor panicked as he realized that he needed to learn how to be cool, desperately. He always said that he was cool but Avalon tore that to pieces each time she came into a room looking all...well...the way she looked right now.

She really took his suggestion of wearing something for summer. She'd chosen a khaki, tie-front, peekaboo dress with thin spaghetti straps. Its skirt was just a bit flared so it wasn't tight, although the bodice seemed to be just right.

Once the Doctor felt his face heat up he knew it was time to look away, literally anywhere else...but his eyes drifted back to her each time. He caught sight of her legs and suddenly the heat was there to stay.

She'd paired her dress with pink, suede lace up sandals with just a hint of a heel. Her hair was left in its natural curly state with one jeweled rose clip at the back of her hair holding the bump on top of her head. Her curly hair was sometimes her worst enemy.

Avalon slowly made her way up the glass stairs to the console and nervously stopped a few feet from the Doctor. "I got your letter..."

The Doctor took one deep breath in and smelled her lavender scented perfume. Amazing. He was also aware of her soft pink lips were enhanced with a shade of lipstick that...that made him want to forget everything and just kiss her all day. "Yeah..." When he realized that wasn't at all cool, much less suave, he shook his head and started again. "I meant yes, that-that was...that was me."

Dammit. He wasn't getting it right, was he?

Avalon blushed when she remembered the letter's words. "I've never been asked out on a date through a letter..."

"Is that...is that not cool?" the Doctor blinked, panicking all over again. He intended on being different when it came to their relationship and he thought, since Avalon loved everything classical, that an old-fashion letter might be better than him stammering out the question. At the very least it could be more memorable.

Avalon sweetly smiled and leaned forwards to kiss him on the lips. "That was very sweet," she tapped his lips afterwards. "Very romantic."

"That...is what I was going for," the Doctor nodded, slowly finding his voice again. "I will always try to be like that, my princess."

Whether she wanted to or not, Avalon blushed again. It was ridiculous, she knew, to get all these butterflies in her stomach at a word that almost anyone would use on their partner. But, when the Doctor used it, she could almost believe that she was a princess. It didn't sound cliche at all. It had meaning.

He has saved you plenty of times, she reminded herself.

She stepped closer to him and drew her hand over his chest. "And what shall I call you? My knight in shining armor? My prince?"

"I like the first one, makes me sound cool." The Doctor grinned smugly, especially when he remembered that's how Avalon had dreamed of him. "Yeah, I'm your Knight in shining armor."

Avalon chuckled. "Not like you haven't been one in my dreams..."

"Was I? I totally forgot," the Doctor feigned surprise. "Didn't cross my mind one bit..."

"You're too modest but I'm not going to get into that right because somebody, I'm not pointing at anyone..." Except Avalon did just that with her excitement sparkling in her eyes. "But somebody promised me an entire day that'd be all about me."

"W-well that wasn't...I said to us..." the Doctor pointed at himself and Avalon, and though she seemed to nod that she understood...

"Right, about me," she slowly went around the console, brushing her hands over the controls.

The Doctor playfully rolled his eyes at her, figuring he wasn't going to get anywhere with her and honestly...who cared? He wanted to spend the entire day with her so maybe it was just about her. "I've found the perfect place for you, my dear Ava," he went the opposite way around the console, soon meeting her halfway. "And the best part of it is that we won't have any interruptions."

"Oh, and why wouldn't we want any interruptions?" Avalon played innocent so nicely that the Doctor almost believed her, almost. "Are you planning on doing something...?"

The Doctor truly hated how quickly the heat returned to his face but he'd taken one look at her dress again, specifically at the exposed shot he got of her midriff, and it was all downhill from there. She was teasing him so subtly and yet so obviously, he absolutely hated it. So why was his body almost on fire?

"Fairy Tale Man?" Avalon stepped closer to him and brought her hand up his arm 'till it came to rest on his shoulder. "You were saying?"

"R-right, uh...I meant to say..." the Doctor did his best to look only at her eyes but she still somehow made her innocent gaze so flirty. "I want a proper date with you where there's no danger, no aliens...except for me," she chuckled, "And especially, no interruptions from beloved Pond 1, Pond 2 and our dear Sapling."

Avalon swayed her head in agreement. It sounded very nice. "It has been a bit constant, huh?"

"YES!" the Doctor nearly shouted, "I love them, I really love them but every time we're in our little moments...they come in and interrupt us. Like, last night, when we were watching a movie and...we got...distracted," Avalon blushed but remain silent as he continued, "They almost walked in!" the Doctor frowned, "Or how about when we were in the archery room and we were having a little moment...and they almost caught us! Every time I want to kiss you or just be alone with you for a while they come in and I'm tired of it! And the Sapling! He's too innocent to figure out that sometimes we just want to be alone."

Avalon laughed when she remembered the time the Doctor had tried to explain to the Sapling that his Mother and Father wanted to watch a movie by themselves and the Sapling had asked 'why?' which then led to a very comical stammering from the Doctor. But as funny as it had been, Avalon felt like the Doctor was right. Of course it brought out another issue they hadn't yet come up with a solution for.

"We could just decide to tell them, you know," she said and immediately felt the Doctor stiffen under her hand. "What?" she laughed. "Too scared to face Amy and Rory?"

"Well...yes...honestly..."

And she didn't even know the half of it. The Doctor knew that Rory had expressed his support for a relationship between Avalon and him if it ever arose, but it didn't stop the Doctor from being scared that there would still be a part of Rory that would reject the relationship. After all, Avalon was no longer a friend, she was his granddaughter. Of course Rory would want his granddaughter - his only grandchild - to be with somebody safe. And he...was not safe. Which also brought the idea that maybe even Amy would disagree now that she knew Avalon was her granddaughter. It wasn't just them, it also went back to Avalon's father - now uncle - who they would eventually have to tell. How would Ryland react to his only brother's daughter having a relationship with the man who was surely responsible for Oliver's death? He would have every right to be against it. Only River Song would, seemingly, be in his corner but that didn't stop the Doctor from feeling the guilt. River wholeheartedly agreed with it, even pushed him towards her daughter, but he was the reason River was far away from Avalon in the first place. He'd done so much to the Ponds and of course he would choose to go and fall for one of them.

Of course.

"Doctor?" Avalon gently called since he'd fallen deep into his thoughts. "Hey," she noticed his face had gone pale and that couldn't be right, at least not over facing Amy and Rory. "So what if Amy and Rory don't agree? Even if they didn't agree, which I highly doubt to be honest, why would it matter? It's not their relationship, it's ours."

"I know," the Doctor lowered his gaze with a weary sigh. It was all so jumbled up.

"Are you sure it's just about them?" Avalon decided to ask what she'd been suspecting for a few days now. "Or is it that you're not quite sure about me yet? Because...because I'm not like you? A...what did you call it? A Time Lady?"

The Doctor's eyes snapped up to meet her nervous pair. "That is never it, Avalon. Don't you...don't ever think that, alright?" He cupped her face and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips, only parting enough to talk. "You are perfect the way you are. I would never think any less of you because you're different. Hell, I like you more because you're not like me. My people...they weren't the best, least not in the end. You're not a Time Lady, you are better."

"Alright, you don't have to kiss up," Avalon playfully rolled her eyes in an attempt to be casual but the truth was she was close to tearing up. "Actually, you could kiss up if you'd like. Kiss here-" she tapped her lips, "-and here-" she moved her finger to her nose, "-and then over here..." She tapped both of her cheeks.

"As tempting as that sounds - and it's really tempting - I would much rather go on our date. What do you think?"

Avalon nodded her head. "Take me away, Fairy Tale Man!"

"Gladly!" the Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled her to his side.

~ 0 ~

"If I trip, I'm going to kill you," Avalon so romantically warned as the Doctor guided her with his hands over her eyes.

"Don't you trust me?" he planted a kiss on her cheek for good measure.

"Of course but I also trust that you're very clumsy and frankly I'd rather not trip because my idiot of a boyfriend - I mean our relationship that's still yet to be labeled - tripped over his own feet."

"I'm still looking for the right label, don't you worry," he promised and finally stopped them right where he needed her. "Now are you ready?"

"Yes! You're lucky I haven't bitten you!"

"Well, to be honest, biting me isn't really much of a punishment anymore," the Doctor cleared his throat and thanked the stars that Avalon's eyes were closed so she couldn't see his blush.

Avalon smirked. "Duly noted. Now please take your hands off my eyes so I can see!"

"Right, I really hope you like this place." The Doctor took in a deep breath then finally pulled his hands from her eyes.

Avalon was quick to open her eyes but she was initially blinded by the sun. She shielded her eyes until her vision could adjust and when it did, she was mesmerized.

She was standing on a marbleized ground, the 'backyard' of the building behind her. She didn't waste time studying that because what truly took her breath away were the botanical gardens in front of them. She stepped forwards, her eyes landing on the large squared pool - that couldn't be deeper than five feet - in front of them with an aisle down the middle leading to what she imagined were the other gardens. She could see two sets of staircases on either side after crossing the aisle. The green gardens, as well as smaller lakes and pools, seemed like they stretched on forever.

"Where are we?" She turned to the Doctor, her eyes dazzling with excitement at the prospect of everything else she'd yet to see.

"This is the Gardenia Style," the Doctor extended his arms to his side. "A relaxation retreat for anybody who needs it. It's the best one in the Andromeda galaxy."

"A retreat? I don't...I don't really see anyone," Avalon said after taking another scan of the place but it seemed pretty empty.

"That's cos there's nobody here. They owe me one."

Avalon snapped her head in the Doctor's direction, eyes wide. "So they just...they just let you close down the place? What...because you asked?"

"The head of the place is an old friend of mine. I explained the situation and I asked her if it was possible to give me a day."

"And she said 'yes of course I can shut down my very profitable business just for you!'," Avalon folded her arms, her lips curving into a smile that threatened to laugh. "Doctor, you can just get people to do that!?"

"Well, I...yes?" the Doctor scratched the top of his head. It was something that he did get to do at times but he never took advantage of it either. "I helped her a long time ago when she was having an, uh, infestation problem..."

"Oh, so you saved her ass and now she owes you? Typical," Avalon turned away from him to gaze at the beautiful scenery. "My Fairy Tale Man just saves so many people, huh?"

"So do you like it?" the Doctor moved to stand behind her, his arms cautiously slipping around her waist. He thought it was the perfect place for Avalon because of its fairy tale nature. He was anxious to show her a few special places the gardens had to offer, but he wouldn't do any of it if Avalon didn't like it.

"I love it!" Avalon exclaimed and leaned her head against his chest, tilting it up to show him her grin. "You chose perfectly."

"Anything for my Ava," he kissed her on the lips. "My princess."

Avalon felt the dozen butterflies fluttering in her stomach at his new name for her. Yeah, he could keep calling her that for as long as he liked.

"C'mon!" the Doctor unwrapped his arms around her to take her hand.

"What are we going to do?" Avalon laughed as he led them down the small steps towards the pool aisle.

"Anything we want! We have the whole day!"

Indeed they did.

~ 0 ~

Avalon was eager to see everything, but the Doctor was right in that they should start with lunch. And as if to prove her point, her stomach decided to grumble only seconds after the Doctor proposed the idea. So he led her towards the spot where lunch had already been served for them.

Avalon keeled over at the chosen spot. They would be having lunch in a gazebo right in the middle of a beautiful lake. The Doctor led her down the boarded bridge up to the stone gazebo decorated with red poppies, her favorite flower.

"This is amazing," she couldn't keep her mouth from falling each time she looked. She gazed over the lake where flowers lazily floated down their direction. She then turned her attention to the table that was truly set with everything they could possibly eat.

"I'm glad to see you like it," the Doctor's voice pulled her eyes off an odd blue slushy-like content inside a bowl.

She turned around with a wide, soft smile. She walked up to him and looped her arms around his neck then kissed him. "You are wonderful. This entire place, the parts that I've seen is all wonderful. But you know...just because I love fairy tales and I call you my Fairy Tale Man doesn't mean you have to do all this for me. I really would've been just as happy with a picnic or a date in the TARDIS."

The Doctor could see her genuine honesty in her eyes. His hearts swelled knowing that she would be satisfied with something simple so long as they were together, but it didn't mean he could stop himself from enchanting her with everything he could get his hands on. "I just really like impressing you," he said, bringing one of his hands to stroke her cheek. "And I think you deserve only the best."

"You gave me the best thing that happened to my life nearly two years ago when you came back for me. Although, one could say that you only came back for me because Lena asked you to." Avalon casually played with his bowtie while she oh-so-innocently asked her question, "Would you have come back for me if Lena hadn't said anything?"

"Without a doubt," the Doctor had the answer within the second she asked it.

She raised her eyes, dropping her hand from her bowtie. "Really?" There were no more innocent games when she asked again. She had been the last one the Doctor came to pick up after the Atraxi incident, who's to say he wouldn't have changed his mind about her if Lena hadn't needed her. "I was in jail the last the time you saw me. You helped me because Lena asked you to. If she hadn't said anything, would you have still helped me? Would you have come back for me like you came for Amy?"

"Of course I would have," the Doctor once again answered her as soon as she asked. He thought these were rhetorical questions, but River's warning came back to mind. Avalon was a strong girl but every now and then she needed reassurance from people around her. "You helped me when you were seven and you did impress me, Avalon. I have never met another child like you and most certainly another woman like you."

A bright pink blush bloomed across Avalon's face, nothing stopping the big grin on her lips though. "I can say with the utmost certainty that I have never met another man like you."

That was music to the Doctor's ears. He leaned down to kiss her, practically meshing their lips together. Avalon's arms around his neck unwinded slightly to touch his hair. She'd learned fast that the Doctor loved getting his hair touched, stroked and tugged on. Who was she to deny him his bit of pleasure when he was so attentive to her likes? She kissed him fervently and let her fingers stroke through his hair for as long as he wanted because really...who would interrupt them? The flowers in the lake? Nobody. That was the best part of this place. They could kiss for as long as they liked, wherever they'd like.

~0~

"Okay, what is that?" Avalon laughed as the Doctor picked up the odd blue gushy stuff in a bowl.

The Doctor seemed to like it judging by his grin. "Oh, you'll love it!" He scooted his chair closer to hers with the bowl in hand. "Try it."

"Right, but you haven't told me what it is," Avalon pointed out, "And I'd rather not be poisoned."

"Oi, you think I'm poisoning you?" the Doctor made a face.

"Payback for what I did."

Even if it was a joke, the Doctor didn't like it. "I would never," he whispered earnestly. "Because you know I forgive you for everything, not like I had to though." He reached over to her and gently tucked a curl behind her ear, though it kept sticking back out. He smiled at her so kindly that Avalon teared up.

"Oh God I will never forgive myself for it," she shook her head.

"Ava, don't think about that stuff. You're here now and you're okay. I won't let anything happen to you, never again."

Avalon smiled through her tears. "Okay, let's try that gushy stuff then." She tried her best to eat it without letting it spill on her dress. They collectively laughed when she slurped it up. "That's ladylike for sure!"

"What'd you think?" the Doctor handed her a napkin.

"I love it! Kind of like blueberry!"

"Excellent, then I know you'll love Akhaten!"

Avalon shot him a confused smile. "Aka-what?"

"Akhaten, you'll love it! It's a planet with a big ole market place and a beautiful sun."

"I'd love to go there," Avalon's smile widened with excitement.

The Doctor chuckled, "I'll take you one day, I promise."

Avalon beamed. Something about making plans for the future made butterflies appear in her stomach. It also made her want to push away all thoughts about Lake Silencio even harder. She couldn't let that future happen. In fact, now she was thinking about the moment a lot clearer. A lot of the Doctor's behavior was beginning to make sense. He'd been a lot nicer to her than what their relationship back then entailed. He didn't even get mad at her for stealing a Milan fashion dress! That should've been her first clue that he'd been a future Doctor. My Doctor wouldn't get so mad at me right now...

"Hey Doctor, what would you think of going back to Milan again for fashion week?"

"I think I would die of boredom 2 seconds after we get there," the Doctor answered with an honest-to-God straight face.

"Well, how about if I nicked something kind of pretty for me?" she arched an eyebrow. "Maybe something kind of sexy?"

That definitely got his attention. "Uh, well..." He cleared his throat, obviously finding nothing to do with himself in the moment. "I-I would think...they...they probably wouldn't miss one silly little dress..."

Avalon smiled widely. The Lake Silencio Doctor was truly a future version. He'd been this Doctor she had in front of him, the one who cared for her so much that he couldn't find a label to describe just how much he felt for her.

"Ava, what's wrong?" the Doctor reached to clear off a tear rolling down her cheek.

She quickly blinked the rest away. She had teared up without noticing. "N-nothing. I'm happy, I'm very happy right now." She took his hand from her face and held it tightly in hers. "You have no idea how much I care for you, Doctor. I'm almost upset that you haven't come up with a good label for us just so I can use it right now."

"I am trying," he assured her. "I might just have to create a new word for us. That is how much I care for you." Avalon chuckled but there were still tears welling in her eyes. It puzzled the Doctor deeply. "Why are you crying, Ava?"

"These are happy tears," she tried to argue but he had come to know her that well now.

"No," he cleared more tears off her face with his free hand. "They're sad tears. What is making my Ava so sad?"

Avalon felt so stupid for ruining their date, but she couldn't stop the tears. He was right, they were sad tears but they were also fearful tears, and even happy tears. She was an outright mess. "I just..." She sniffed and let go of his hand to dry her face completely.

The Doctor pushed his chair back to stand up but Avalon beat him to it. She got up from her chair and easily slipped onto his lap. She pressed her lips to his for a sweet, long kiss. The Doctor truly had no idea what was going on but he would never refuse the chance to kiss her.

A few minutes later, Avalon pulled away but only slightly. She smiled at him but the Doctor could still see that same sadness in her eyes. He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.

"Tell me what's wrong, Ava, and I'll make it better. I'll always try to make everything better for you."

"Really? Anything?"

"Anything."

Don't be stupid. Avalon took his hand stroking her face and gave it a kiss. "Can you promise me something?"

"Anything." The Doctor was willing and ready which did, admittedly, give Avalon a teeny-tiny bit of hope that maybe this time they could change the future.

"Promise me that we won't end. Promise me that you'll try to stay at my side...at least until you get tired of me."

The Doctor thought it was silly that she'd want to hear this but...if she needed reassurance he'd give it to her. "I promise. I promise to stay at your side..." Until Time would say otherwise and Time had already spoken, he was just too much of a coward to tell her the truth. He made it a routine to check his biography from the Teselecta every day, reminding himself of what was to come in 200 years. Perhaps he was ridiculous for thinking that he could change the future, but having Avalon with him right now, asking him to stay at her side...it created a powerful drive to make it so.

He couldn't fathom not being with her.

She was still holding onto his hand when he maneuvered his fingers to stroke her skin. "I promise that I will be at your side until I die." That was a promise he could keep.

Avalon took in a shaky breath. 'Until I die'. She had been at his side when he died.

"Why don't we finish lunch and then I can show you the rest of this place, hm?" the Doctor asked. He wanted to rid her of those tears ruining her usual clear blue eyes. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed each of her fingers. He was glad to see her smiling by the time he kissed her pinky.

Avalon ultimately nodded her head. She shouldn't waste such a beautiful day on horrid thoughts. "Okay, but one more thing...do I have to get off?"

The Doctor hook his head, grinning almost immediately. "Not at all. But you might have to help me eat..."

Avalon swayed her head then reached for a few grapes on a nearby bowl. She held one to his mouth and watched him take it off swift and easily. She then dropped one into her own mouth and smirked at him.

How the hell can she make that look so seductive? The Doctor figured he wouldn't get that answer, so the least he could do was take advantage of every moment it happened.

~ 0 ~

After lunch, the Doctor got to lead Avalon through the gardens. He had shown her the smaller pools which, unfortunately, he did not allow her to dip her toes in. She rolled her eyes at his excuse that, while being true, was still annoying.

"So I get a cold, what's the big deal?" she was only letting him hold her hand because if not, there was a good chance she'd get lost in the maze they'd entered.

"The big deal is I don't know how aggressive that cold might get and I don't feel like seeing you get a cold. I am the Doctor, remember? My patient is not getting sick on my watch."

"Patient?" she shot him a side-glance. "Is that all I am?"

"Still working on a label my love."

Avalon's head turned in the opposite direction when she felt a blush cross her face. Whenever the Doctor would say 'my love' to her, her face automatically went all warm. She was choosing to ignore the tingle - as best as she could - that was going down her back.

"Not upset are you?" the Doctor noticed her gaze had become stuck on the bright green bush walls.

"No, course not," Avalon finally gave him a well needed look a few seconds later. "I have to say, I love this maze...one could get lost in it forever, huh?"

"No, not really," the Doctor shook his head. "It's not that big."

"Still, a maze? Gardens? Lakes? Doctor, I really love this place," Avalon turned to him with a smile to match what she felt. "I'm curious to see where you might take me tomorrow, on a normal day?"

"Well, 'normal' isn't exactly the word I'd use for us. But to answer your question, I'd take you anywhere you'd like."

"Really? Anywhere?"

"Anywhere. My only rule is that it has to be exceptional for my Ava." The Doctor took her hands into his, intertwining their fingers together.

"Even if it's outrageous?" Avalon bit her lower lip with anticipation. "Could I ask to see something outrageously exceptional, then?"

"Of course. Name something, I dare you."

Avalon hummed while she thought about such an outrageous place that even he couldn't make it happen. "I got it. Can you take me to, I don't know, Neverland?" That had to be impossible for him to reach.

"I'd make it so," the Doctor gently tugged Avalon to him, smiling at her soft laughter. "I would!"

"It's from a movie, Doctor!"

"Doesn't mean I can't find a piece of it somewhere up there," he tilted her chin up to the sky. "Cos that's the best thing about traveling in the TARDIS, Ava. Somewhere in the galaxies, in one small corner, there might be two little stars and we'd only have to go to the second star on the right."

Avalon stared at him with twinkling eyes. "You would make it so even if you couldn't," she said quietly. The Doctor only gave a light shrug, but it was done almost automatic, like an instinct. He didn't know if he could ever find the place but he would try to find it for her. "Second star to the right," she whispered.

"Those are our plans for tomorrow then," the Doctor swooped down to give her a kiss. "Can't wait to see what we come up with for the day after."

Avalon laughed and allowed him to pull her down the maze. "You're going to get us lost!"

"I will not!" he huffed. He stopped them at an intersection and Avalon swore he looked at each path more than what a person who knew what they were doing had to. "I've been here a bunch of times!"

"Oh, who with?" Avalon raised an eyebrow at him, genuinely curious who had had the privilege of seeing this beautiful place.

"What?" the Doctor registered the question a few seconds after choosing to turn to the left. "Who did I...? Oh! I, uh, I think I showed Donna!"

"You don't remember?" Avalon made a face at him, almost looking offended on behalf of Donna.

"Well, it was such a long time ago!"

"But you said Donna used to be your best friend, how could you forget that you came here with her?"

The Doctor came to a slow stop and looked at her. "I do have 900 years worth of memories, Ava. My head's not that big, despite what you all say. Plus, a good chunk of my memories are with the Sapling."

Avalon rolled her eyes and allowed him to finish their way out of the maze. She gave him his credit for finding the way out in five minutes, although she suspected that Donna had played a huge part in finding the way out because Avalon swore that the Doctor had mumbled some type of mnemonic to help him find the way in the end.

"What a beautiful sight," she remarked once they were on the other side. The maze had led them out on a new grassy terrain with a cliff ledge.

The Doctor brought Avalon towards the edge so she could see the waterfall gushing below into a river. Where that ended, Avalon had no clue, but it all looked amazing. The sun was making the water shine a golden shade that Avalon didn't want to look away anytime soon.

"C'mon Ava," the Doctor had to eventually drag her away from the edge. He was a bit afraid that in her attempt to look further below, she might fall. He'd love to make a dive himself but Avalon didn't know how to swim. That would probably be a problem.

"But I want to keep looking," Avalon complained with an arm gesturing at the scenery.

"We can do that, just not right at the edge!" The Doctor brought them back a decent amount from the cliff and then sat down on the grass. He patted the spot beside him and flashed her a smile. With a roll of her eyes, she sat down. As soon as she'd gotten comfortable, the Doctor moved again.

"Doctor, what are you...?" Avalon laughed when he made himself comfortable with his head over her lap. He shifted far too much, making it a show until he finally found his spot. "Are you good now?" Avalon looked down at him with another laugh.

"Oh yeah," he nodded but a few seconds later Avalon noticed the quick dart his eyes did to the opposite direction.

"What is it?"

"Um, your, uh..." he coughed in an obvious manner of awkwardness. "It is a beautiful dress you're wearing, Ava."

Avalon blushed when she realized he'd gotten a little glimpse through the hole of her dress below her chest. She pressed her dress and cleared her throat. "Sorry. You can look now."

The Doctor suspected she wasn't very sorry, and if he was going to admit silently then he wasn't sorry either. You are way ahead of yourself, Doctor. Calm down.

"I bet your mind just rushed with new thoughts, didn't it?" Avalon smirked.

"Oh, shut up!"

"Alright, alright, I'll let it go because you're doing so good today."

"I am?"

"Mhm," Avalon started stroking his hair, much to his delight.

The Doctor was sure that she had the most gentle fingers. She was a writer so maybe that had to do with it. But there's no explanation for the way she makes me feel when she touches my hair. Several times the Doctor had to swallow a moan. He wasn't sure if Avalon knew what she caused, but either way he couldn't ask her to stop. It felt too good.

"Don't fall asleep on me, Fairy Tale Man," Avalon chuckled when a few minutes had passed by and the Doctor hadn't opened his eyes.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" the Doctor cracked one eye open. "I heard from Amy about your little tricks at your sleepovers. You drew all over her face and you had the audacity to scribble a little 'sincerely Ava' under." If he had, had the slightest doubt that his Ava could pull off something like that, the confirmation was all in Avalon's smirk. "You are one bad girl."

"And yet you don't sound the least bit upset about it," Avalon bopped her nose over his roguish lips.

"I do like myself a bad girl, especially the gingers. They're the feistiest!"

"Are you speaking from experience? Have you dated another ginger like me?" Avalon scrunched her face as soon as she realized what she asked. She placed her finger over his lips before he could answer her. "I'm not sure I can handle the long list you have of significant others." She raised her finger from his lips and sighed. "That doesn't mean I would want you to forget about them, though. I mean...I'm not gonna be one of those people demanding you forget every other relationship you've ever had."

"I thank you for that, and it's the same for you, you know," the Doctor reached up to her face and stroked her plump pink lips. "But that doesn't mean I'd like to hear who else had the privilege of kissing these lips."

Avalon rolled her eyes. "Many have had the fortune but none will have it now but you. I hope you extend me the same courtesy."

"You know it."

"I hope so because I know your track record, mister. Almost every companion has had a piece of you!"

"That was...that's...I didn't do anything!"

"Oh, I'm sure!" Avalon would've bantered more with him if he wasn't reacting so serious. He should know by now that this was just her way of being. "Calm down, Fairy Tale Man. I'm just pulling your leg."

"Well, can you pull my hair instead?" the Doctor didn't hesitate to respond with. He short her a smirk and pointed to his unkempt hair.

"You are so..." Avalon wouldn't be able to find the right word to describe him and she wasn't going to spend all day thinking of one. She let her fingers once again run through his hair and smiled when he saw the satisfaction on the Doctor's face. "Can I ask you something?"

"Always."

"I, uh...you know that I know about your past, perhaps not all of it but a good amount. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, I would really get it..."

"You're rambling, Ava," the Doctor opened his eyes to see her struggling face. "What is it?"

"I know about your last love, your most recent last love." Soon as she started with those words, she felt the Doctor's body stiffen. "There's no resentment, Doctor. Never. I'm only curious about her. Rose Tyler was her name. Kovarian mentioned her a lot. She said that Rose unintentionally helped the Daleks break through the walls of the universe."

"She had no idea what she was doing," the Doctor said quietly. "She wanted to come back to this world..."

"...to find you?" Avalon smiled softly at him, truly bearing no type of anger or resentment like she said. "I can admire that. She broke through parallel walls just to find you. Must have been one hell of a love story."

"It was," the Doctor said after a minute of struggle. He wasn't used to talking about his past with anyone, much less to think about people like Rose, people that had meant a lot to him.

"You can always talk to me, Fairy Tale Man," Avalon whispered and the Doctor wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose or subconsciously, but her fingers found a gentler way of stroking his hair. "Is there something you want to tell me about Rose Tyler? Let somebody new in on her memory?"

The Doctor smiled. My Ava. "She was sweet, she was young - she was your age when we first met. Nineteen. She worked at a shop and...she didn't really know what she was doing with her life."

"I felt that," Avalon chuckled. She never knew what she was going to do with her life before the Doctor returned to Leadworth.

"Travelling helped her find her way. But then she got pulled into a parallel world. She almost died but she was saved. Being stuck in that parallel world was better than for her to have died in the Void with the Daleks and Cybermen."

Avalon fingers stopped between the Doctor's hair. "The Daleks and Cybermen..." she whispered. She closed her eyes when the memories tried coming back. "Kovarian showed me so many pictures of that battle...I can't...I can't believe it..."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said, feeling guilty he was bringing back the things she wanted to clearly forget.

"No, no, you're good. I...I wasn't even there, I mean...I wasn't in the eye of the storm where it happened. But you were...you were there when your friend got lost. I'm so sorry it happened."

"It started a lot of things," the Doctor said with a saddened smile. Losing Rose had been one of the most terrible days of his life, but it truly did start different stories afterwards. "I met Martha soon after - actually, I met Donna before and then Martha but then I found Donna again."

"Lucky her," Avalon resumed with her gentle fingers gliding through his hair.

"Yeah...no...no, she wasn't. It was fate. I met her to lose her as well."

"You always say that I remind you of Donna," Avalon said, unable to keep her curiosity hidden. "Why's that? Besides the ginger thing of course. That doesn't automatically make us twins or something."

The Doctor chuckled. "I know. You two shout at me the same way, the only difference is now I can kiss you to shut you up. If I did that with Donna she'd kill me. She made it very clear to on her first day in the TARDIS that she did not want anything to do with me beyond friendship."

"Did she shout it?"

"A possibility."

"Alright Donna," Avalon smiled.

"I wish you could have met her, Avalon. I think out of everyone I met before you and the Ponds, you would've gotten along with Donna the best. She could be reckless and fun when she wanted to be. She grew to become confident, to love who she was. She was brave as hell and so sympathetic to others. She had some very good snaps and comebacks too. She even gave me my own nickname like you did. Spaceman." Just remembering the many times Donna would call him 'spaceman' made him long for the times with his best friend. He'd love to have Donna around so she could meet Avalon and no doubt make fun of him for taking so long to open up about his feelings.

Avalon tilted her head in thought. "Spaceman...I like it. Not as much as Fairy Tale Man but...she had taste." She looked down at him to find him lost in thoughts, no doubt about Donna. "You really miss her, huh?"

"Yeah. If I hadn't had to wipe her memories, I'm sure she would still be here. She would be making endless jokes about the fact we had a cosmic tree child."

Avalon laughed. "You think so?"

"I know so!"

"She sounds great, Doctor, really. She and Rose do. I'm so sorry that you lost them."

The Doctor sobered from his own laugh but when he smiled, it was no longer sad. He gazed up at her and met her lovable sea-blue eyes. He finally sat up and shifted to sit beside her, facing her, with one arm going over her lap to rest on her other side. "I lost them but I have you now. I did love Rose, I won't lie - not that I could - but I lost her a long time ago. And I understood why. She wasn't for me. She wasn't...mine. You are. And Donna's gone, my best friend, but I found new friends. I have Amy, Rory, and my sweet baby sister Lena. I have all of you now."

Avalon's eyes glistened with tears. "Why do you always make me tear up dammit?"

"I'm sorry, dear," the Doctor rubbed his thumb over her cheek.

"They're happy tears, trust me," Avalon said, this time genuinely truthful. "I'm happy that you're happy. Let's me know that I'm doing a good job here."

"Of course you are. No matter what you do I'm happy, so long as you're by my side." He leaned closer to her, purposely pausing just in front of her lips to give her a heads up of what was coming. "Are you happy?"

Avalon felt like that was a ridiculous question to ask, but she humored him. "Very. I wish I could thank Rose and Donna, and everyone else who came before me, for saving your ass so you could be here with me."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "You just couldn't help yourself, huh?"

"No..." Avalon giggled. "I'm really bad."

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed before kissing her. God knows what else she might say.

~ 0 ~

"Hey Doctor, I just realized, how come you didn't tell me about your other friend, Martha Jones?" Avalon asked once the pair were out of the maze and cliff altogether. They were in front of a rectangle-shaped, 2ft pool. Avalon noticed the stone flower statues lining the middle of the pool.

"Oh, uh, cos I'm saving her for a better moment," the Doctor said, flashing her a mischievous smile.

"What are you up to Fairy Tale Man?"

The Doctor turned to her, letting his mischievous smile widen even more. "Confession time?"

"Always!"

"Back when I was looking for you, I actually had some help from my old friend Martha. I thought we might pop back to see her and you can meet her."

Avalon nodded excitedly. "I'd love that! You think she'd like me?"

"Of course she would," the Doctor said, preferring not to think about how Martha had implied this relationship was coming. He'd just have to suck it up and admit she was right sooner or later. "And, I guess...we could get our mutual old friend...Jack..."

Avalon had heard the name perfectly despite how low the Doctor had muttered it. "Jack!? Oh my God, I'd love to see him again! I haven't seem him in such a long time!"

"Please...try to look excited..." the Doctor's face was completely flat while Avalon practically bounced at the idea of seeing the old immortal man.

"I am!" Avalon laughed, not noticing his expression yet. "I love Jack! He just gets me and my weaponry interests!"

"Oh, well...so long as you're happy, I guess..."

Avalon rolled her eyes when she finally got his disdain. "Oh Fairy Tale Man. He's my friend! I"m allowed to have friends that are men!"

"Yeah, but Jack just loves to flirt with everyone and so do you! I dread to think of what it's gonna be like seeing you flirt with him!"

"Jealous?" a sly smile took Avalon's face. The Doctor huffed and looked away. "I guess I should keep my mouth shut about my actual previous boyfriends, then?"

"Yeah!"

"Did you say no? I heard 'no'!" Avalon turned away with her hands clapped together. "Let's see, oh! How about my very first boyfriend? Ah, Leo. I liked Leo a lot. You know he took me on a date to the ice cream parlor!"

"Gah," the Doctor waved her off. "Pales in comparison to all this!" He flapped his arms to his sides, gesturing to the beautiful gardens around them.

Avalon kept her back to him but was smirking. She was getting a rile out of him and it was the most hilarious thing ever! "I had my first kiss with him too! I was fifteen but, eh, nothing wrong with a late bloomer! Then there was Benjamin. He was such a sweetheart," Avalon brought a hand over her chest. "He wrote poems for me!"

The Doctor let his arms fall to his sides. He was about to shoot her a comeback but he could tell, even when she wasn't facing him, that she'd started to truly reminisce about her past, just like he had. He couldn't be mad at that. "Did he write them well?" he asked suddenly.

Avalon turned sideways and nodded silently. "He uh...he actually asked me if I..." she chuckled, "He asked me to our school dance in a poem. It was such a cheesy poem but I was so excited cos it was my first school dance." She didn't exactly make the best reputation for herself in school so having a guy actually write her a poem just to ask her out to a dance was beyond her. It still warmed her heart. "Mum took me out shopping for a dress, she tried her best to make this-" she grabbed one of her curls, "-decent, and she let me wear her special lip gloss. Benjy...he was one of the sweet guys."

"Benjy..." the Doctor repeated though there was a light laugh that slipped through his lips. "Then I like him for being thoughtful."

"Really?" Avalon set a hand on her hip. "Cos a minute ago you looked ready to yell."

"Well...you deserve some good memories too, and if 'Benjy'-" the Doctor brought his fingers to the air for quotation marks, "-made you happy then I'm happy too."

"He did," Avalon nodded. "And then a year later he had to move to Scotland. I hated Amy so much..." There, the Doctor laughed. "Her stupid country took away my Benjy!"

"Oh, Ava!"

Avalon sighed, waving him off. "That was my first real break up. I was so sad. Took me forever to get over him. But then I dated again, met Jordan. He was a bad guy..." She smirked and the Doctor had to keep himself refrained from moving when she started biting her lip. "He had the black leather jacket...oh! I had some good times with him."

"Really?"

"Mhm. He was a good kisser."

"So what happened to him, then?"

"Dumped me for some other girl," Avalon scowled.

"Oh," the Doctor wasn't expecting that answer, least not yet. "I'm sorry..."

Avalon shrugged. "Wasn't my first, wasn't my last. I had a couple more boyfriends after that but I don't think they were very meaningful."

"No more 'Benjy's'?" the Doctor asked her, a tiny smile quirking across his lips.

"A few but...I don't know, some of the guys were just boring and others wanted things I didn't want. I think only ever liked Benjy. We dated for a year until he moved. My last boyfriend, the one that dumped me the night you came back for me, remember?"

The Doctor nodded. He remembered her face full of tears. Now that guy deserved all his hatred. No one should make his Ava cry.

"He was fine. We were fine but...I wanted to find Lena and he thought I was getting obsessed. He couldn't handle it so he broke up with me." Avalon exhaled deeply, letting her shoulders once again awkwardly shrug. "I didn't have epic love stories like you did..."

"But they're your stories," the Doctor moved up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Mm, and I wouldn't change them," Avalon pecked his lips and turned around to watch the pool, resting her back against his chest.

The Doctor couldn't help think about her words for a moment. They were the same ones River had told him back when Avalon had escaped the TARDIS to visit her in Stormcage.

His thoughts were interrupted when the sprinklers of the pool turned on. Avalon yelped when the drizzle of water and mist fell over them. She turned around and buried her face in his chest. "Not my make up!"

The Doctor laughed and hurried them away from the sight. "C'mon, Ava!"

They ran down the gardens, only stopping here and there to admire. One part of the gardens had a field dedicated to statues. There was no pattern nor order, just statues meant to be admired by the guests. They were gorgeous...only Avalon found one that reminded her too much of the Silence, so the Doctor quickly changed venues. But funny thing was, after they left the statues, they forgot all about it.

"Is the sun setting already?" Avalon asked as they began nearing the building where the TARDIS was. The sun was getting covered by clouds and actually...there seemed to be a lot of clouds suddenly.

"I'm afraid so," the Doctor lamented like her that their day was coming to an end.

"Still, our day together was rather nice..." Avalon side-glanced him. "Right?"

"Truly." The Doctor brought her hand to his lips for a kiss. "The first of many." Avalon beamed. She would love to see what else he could come up with. "C'mon," he led her down the pool aisle to return to the front, but Avalon let go of his hand midway. He turned back to see her gazing at the two pools. "Ava?"

"Are these like...sacred pools or something?"

"What? No, no, they're purely here for aesthetic reasons."

"Ah..."

"Why?"

Avalon smirked at the water, giving the Doctor about a second to realize what she was thinking before she actually did it.

"Avalon-"

Avalon hopped into the water, splashing the water around her. The water only reached to her ankles but it was enough for her to have fun wiggling her way through it while splashing.

"Avalon! Get out of there! You'll get sick!" the Doctor called to her in vain.

"Don't be a spoilsport!" She called and kicked some water his way. "I can't swim so this is as close to a pool as I'll ever get! C'mon!" She walked towards him, ignoring his refusals, and splashed some water his way.

"You are childish!" He stepped his boots hard on the ground to get rid of the water they now had.

"And yet you're smiling! C'mon!" She reached down and pushed more water in his way. "We're about to leave anyways! One more shenanigan!"

The Doctor exhaled and finally looked at her. Shenanigans. That was literally what they did most and it was always so much fun and...spontaneous. He couldn't plan around Avalon because even when he did - like this entire place - she always did something out of his plans. And he loved it. She brought him the thrill he didn't know he needed.

"Coming, Fairy Tale Man?" Avalon backed away and twirled about in the water.

The Doctor thought she looked beautiful. She looked happy. It was nothing compared to Berlin, or after. His Ava was happy...and she was calling him to her side, right where he once told River he'd love to be. Almost like he was in a trance, the Doctor hopped into the pool. Avalon was still twirling when the Doctor reached her. He picked her up midspin from behind and heard her laugh as he gave her another spin.

"Gotcha my dear!" He planted her feet back on the ground but kept his arms locked around her waist, only offering her space so she could turn to face him.

"Couldn't resist, could you?" Avalon cheekily smiled at him.

"I could never resist you."

"Smooth," she rolled her eyes. She danced her fingers along his chest until they came to rest over his shoulders. "Is this the end, then? Has our date come to an end?"

"Not quite, there's one more thing we have to do."

"What is i-"

The Doctor swooped down for a surprise kiss then hurried out of the pool. His feet splashed the water all around until he made it to the cement ground. "But you'll need to get out of that pool!" He called back to the ginger still in the pool.

Avalon laughed. "Why? What are you doing?" She watched him dash for the TARDIS and because she was overly curious, she listened to his words and walked out of the pool.

She raised her head to the sky and saw the clouds getting darker. Maybe it was a good thing their date was ending because it looked like there was rain coming. Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft tune that started from the TARDIS. It only took Avalon a few seconds to recognize it. He'd chosen to play Once Upon A Dream for her.

She laughed just as the Doctor came out of the TARDIS. She wouldn't even bother with his smug face - he deserved it this time. "That's my song, our song..."

"Our first dance," the Doctor hurriedly hopped down the steps to join her by the pool.

"How could I forget?" Avalon sighed in content. It'd been the first day she felt genuinely happy with him. He'd taken her to meet Mary Costa and she'd become a singer to the very song now playing.

"Would you like to dance, princess?" the Doctor held a hand out for her.

"There's nothing else I'd like to do, my knight in shining armor," Avalon did the familiar bow of a princess then took his hand.

The Doctor gently pulled her up to him and set his free hand on her waist. Avalon gripped his other hand that held hers and rested her free hand on his shoulder. The two descended into a slow dance. They were so into their moment that they completely ignored - or perhaps they didn't even hear - the thunder cracking in the sky.

"Now it's a perfect date," the Doctor murmured beside Avalon's ear.

She slightly tilted her head in the opposite direction, smiling so widely it could possibly crack her face. "It was a perfect date from the start. I have never had somebody go through this much trouble just for me."

"You deserve everything, Avalon," he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

She doubted that she did. There was no denying that her background involved a lot of running from the law. She liked the running too, the adrenaline. She made some bad choices in the past and it seemed like she would continue doing the same. There was a part of her that feared her bad choices would lead her to Lake Silencio. What if I'm the one in the astronaut suit? What if the Silence weren't done with me? Avalon screwed her eyes shut in terrible fear. She couldn't let that happen. She would rather die than ever become a weapon for them.

"Ava?" the Doctor gently called her name. He didn't know what was running through her head but he figured it couldn't be good if it had her squeezing her eyes shut. "Are you okay?"

Avalon opened her eyes and smiled lightly. "With you? Always."

This time they heard the thunder roar but Avalon gripped the Doctor to their spot. She wasn't ready to leave yet. "I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream. I know you! The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam..."

The Doctor smiled. Of course. They couldn't leave until the princess sang her song. And he loved this princess' voice as much as he loved when she stroked his hair. They danced together as Avalon's melodic voice filled the air.

"Yet I know it's true the visions are seldom all they seem. But if I know you, I know what you'll do..." she laughed when the Doctor dipped her, keeping their faces close together. "You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream..."

The Doctor brought her back up but kissed her midway, unable to help himself even if it caught her song off. Avalon didn't seem to mind. She moved her lips with his for as long as she could, or they could...

Thunder cracked one more time before the rain started. They parted from their kiss only slightly to look at each other.

"But if I know you, I know what you'll do. You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream..." Avalon finished with the biggest smile on her face.

The water was thinning her curls, flattening them to her face and body. She watched the droplets of water drip from the Doctor's strands of hair over his forehead. She reached her hand over and gently moved his hair to the side.

"Singing and dancing in the rain, now we have the perfect ending to the perfect date," she said, laughing when the Doctor gave them another sway of a dance. "I will never forget this day, Fairy Tale Man." She leaned over and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck the more they kissed.

A kiss under the rain was truly the last bit they needed before they could leave such an enchanting place.

When the Doctor heard actual lightning strike, he knew it was time to go. Still, he reluctantly pulled away from Avalon but she wasn't letting him go. "Time to go home, princess."

Avalon smiled and nodded. She had dressed for heat, not rain. "Okay." She unwinded her arms from his neck and let the Doctor guide them towards the TARDIS. Neither of them noticed a small, truly minuscule, device had been placed on one of its sides. When the TARDIS dematerialized, the bug device flashed to life.

"The time has come to collect the rest of my memoriesssss." The Scream emerged from the building's back door. He raised a handheld device in his hand, a tracker of his own unique kind, and watched it. "I will follow youuuu Doctor. I know exactly how to take what's miiiiine."

[bunnybunnyangel]

1-Knitting

“Where’s Red Hood?” Nightwing asked as he landed on the roof of the building and looked over at the rest of the batfam.

    “He’s not coming.” Batman said as he crossed his arms and looked at Nightwing,

    “You’re late by the way.”

    “I know. I ran into some guys robbing a gas station.”

    “Hn”

    “Good talk B.” Nightwing chuckled and walked towards his brothers.

    “Good afternoon baby birdies.”

    “Hey, Dick.

    “Do you know where Jason is?”

    “He said he was taking the night off and that Bruce can fuck off.”

    “That gives me an idea!” Nightwing beamed at his siblings and then ran over to Bruce,

    “Hey! B! If Red Hood can take the night off then we should go visit him!”

    “No.”

    “Come on Bruce. You know how Jason gets when he’s alone.” Tim said as he leaned on his bo staff,

    “No. We have patrol.”

    “Father. We should go see Todd.”

    “Yeah B!” Stephanie said as she bounced up and down. Cass smiled and stood silently behind Steph. Bruce looked at each of his kids and sighed. He knew when he was outnumbered and when he lost. Because when it comes to his kids he really couldn’t tell them no. So away they went to Jason’s apartment. Somehow halfway there Dick and Steph turned it into a race, Dick won of course.

    “Soooo front door or window?”

    “The front door is for normal people.” Dick said with a smile.

    “Window it is.” Tim said as he pried the window to Jason’s apartment.

    “....Do you hear music?”

    “Jason’s listening to music.”

The family slowly crept into the apartment. Only one light was on and that was to the living room. They walked towards the living room and they each froze. Jason was sitting in a rocking chair humming along to the soft music that was playing through the radio with knitting needles. Was he knitting a sweater, oh my god he was. Dick put his hand on the wall but ended up knocking something off the wall. Jason jumped off of the rocking chair and looked behind him. Damian and Tim both covered their mouths to not laugh. Jason was wearing a fluffy pink sweater with a cartoonish red bat. 

Jason’s face turned a very bright red,

    “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!”

    “We came to visit you. Oh my god, you’re adorable in that!”

    “Please stop.” Jason sighed and looked away. Stephanie squealed as she grabbed something out of a basket.

    “It has my name on it!” Jason looked over to Stephanie and sighed.

    “I made it for you. I uh..made everyone something.” As soon as those words left his mouth Steph grabbed the basket and dumped everything on the floor,

    “Oh come on Steph!” She gave everyone whatever had their names on it. Dick had a pair of black and blue gloves, Damian had a green scarf that had the Wayne family crest, Tim had a red and black hat, Cass had a hat with tiny bat ears.

    “Aww, Jay! Where did you learn how to knit anyway?”

    “When I was in France with the league I met an old woman who didn’t have any family willing to visit her. So I stayed with her when I was able too. We talked and she should me how to knit. She said I was the best grandson she knew. She uh..died shortly after. So whenever I’m missing her I knit.”

    “I’m sorry Jason.”

    “Jaylad…”

    “I-It’s ok. I swear it is.” He was tackled by all of his family in a giant hug.

    “Guys...can’t...breath..” They let go of him slowly.

    “So. Got any stories about the lady?”

    “Cecile Bisset. She was the sweetest old lady.”  That whole night was full of Jason telling stories about Cecile and knitting a sweater. Once the sweater was done he handed it to Bruce.

    “There you are.” Bruce stared at the sweater and smiled. It was black with pink cuffs and had “Best Bat Dad” on it.

    “Happy early father’s day.”Bruce sat the sweater to the side and hugged Jason.

    “I love you son.”

    “Love you too dad.”

   

2-Horse Back riding

    “Soo. Jason ran off.” Bruce sighed loudly as he turned the chair to look at his kids.

    “Why?” Dick shrugged at Bruce’s response.

    “I don’t know. He said he needed to leave Gotham for a bit.” Bruce sighed again and grabbed his phone. He went into his contacts and called Clark.

    “Clark. Is Jason either over at your place or coming over?.... We’ll come by in about an hour.” Bruce sat his phone on the batcomputers desk.

    “He’s at Clark’s?” Tim asked as he sat down in his swivel office chair and spun himself around

    “He’s at the Kent’s place in Smallville.” Tim stopped spinning in the chair and looked at Bruce,

    “Why’s he at the Kent’s?”

    “I don’t know. But we are going to go see.”

    “Cool. Let’s follow the Red Hood and see what he does on the weekend.” Damian said as he looked over at Stephanie who was standing on the t-rex’s head as she played with the stuffed knitted bear that Jason made for her.

    “He knits on the weekends Dami!” She said with a smile.

    “Steph get off the t-rex.”

    “Sure B.”

    “So...shall we go get our wayward birdy?” Dick smiled as he looked around at his family, Tim sighed loudly and got off his chair.

    “Fine.” Dick rolled his eyes while Bruce tried not to smack his face with his palm.

    It took them twenty minutes to get on the road and towards Smallville. Bruce really needed to talk to Jason about running off without telling them. They worry about Jason, they’re scared he’ll get hurt while they aren’t there with him. When they reach the Kent’s farm, Clark was waiting for them outside the farmhouse. He smiled at the Wayne’s.

    “Hey, guys! How was the drive over?”

    “Where’s Jason?” Bruce ignored the question, he only wanted to see his son. Clark smiled,

    “He’s in the back with Ma and Pa. Come on.” He seemed eager to show them something. And when they got to the back they realized why. Jason was riding in a circle with a beautiful black horse. They could see a bright smile on his face. Ma Kent walked over to them and offered them some lemonade.

    “Good to see you boys again.” She smiled at them.

    “I didn’t know Jason could ride horses.”

    “He’s really good at it. Cause he can’t really take the horses to Gotham he keeps them here. Thanks, Ma.” Clark said as he took a glass of lemonade from his mom. Jason noticed them and smiled at them, he pulled on the horse’s reins making the horse stop. He got off the horse and handed the reins to Pa Kent who gladly took it. Jason walked over to them and crossed his arms with a playful smile.

    “What’s going on guys?”

    “You can ride horses too?”

    “Yep.”

    “Let me guess, someone taught you when you were traveling?”

    “Oh yeah. I stayed with a nice family in Mongolia. They taught me how to ride horses. They also showed me how to shear sheep.”

    “Jesus Jason. Anything else you can do that we don’t know?”

    “Eh probably. But I’ll let you figure it out later.” Jason said as he put his hands in his pocket. Damian was staring at the horse with wide eyes,

    “What’s his name?”

    “Shade.”

    “I love him.”

    “I know you do Dami.”

    “Father-”

    “No Damian.”

    “TT.”

The Waynes joined the Kent’s for dinner that night, when they finished dinner the Waynes headed to the car.

    “How did you get here Jay?” Tim asked as he opened the car door.

    “My bike.”

    “You wanna come with us? It’s late.”

    “I’ll be fine dad. I’ll see you guys at the manor?” Bruce nodded

    “Oh yeah. We still gotta do movie tonight.”

    “Damn. I forgot about that.”

    3-Hair Braiding

    “Ow! Dick be careful!” Stephanie winced as Dick pulled her hair.

    “Sorry, Steph! I’m not really good at braiding.”

    “You don’t say.”

Jason watched them from the doorway fixing his tie.

    “Move out of the way Dickie.” Jason all but pushed Dick away from Steph,

    “What are you doing Jay?” Stephanie asked Jason as he gathered the middle of her hair,

    “Your hair has bee brushed right?”

    “Of course.”

    “Good.”  Jason split the hair into three sections and crossed the right section under the middle one. He took a thin section of her hair and added it to the right section before crossing it under the middle one. He did the same thing with the left side and kept doing it until he reached the nape of Steph’s neck, when he got to her nape he did a standard braid and loosened the outer strands of the braid to make it seem fuller.

    “There.” Jason took a step back and looked at his work with a proud smile.

    “Oh my god! I love it!” Steph squealed happily as she turned and wrapped her arms around Jason in a hug.

    “Let me guess...traveling?” Dick said with a smirk. Jason laughed

    “Oh yeah. I stayed with a woman in the Netherlands who really liked to braid hair, she should me how to do it.”

    “Thank you so much, Jay!”

    “I’m glad you do Steph. I gotta finish getting ready for the Gala.” He turned around and walked out of the room leaving Steph and Dick to talk about her hairstyle.

    4-Makeup

Jason headed to his room after he left Steph and Dick when he overheard Tim and Cass,

    “I’m sorry Cass, I’m not really good at makeup that’s not...cover up.” Jason looked in Cass’s room. Cass was sitting in front of her vanity mirror while Tim was brushing her hair. Cass pouted a bit.

    “Need help with some make-up Cassy?” Tim and Cass looked over at Jason,

    “Yes.”

    “What look were you hoping for?” She pointed to a picture in a magazine. Red and yellow mixed eyeshadow, butterfly looking hairclips, and matte pink lipstick. Jason nodded and got to work. He blended the red and yellow eyeshadow in the middle to make it orange, he used eyeliner and mascara. Once he finished her eye makeup he put her matte pink lipstick,

    “And you’re done.” Cass smiled at the reflection and then hugged Jason,

    “Thank you.”

    “No problem Cassy.”

    “I’m not even gonna ask where you picked that up.”

    “Believe it or not. Talia showed me how to do makeup.”

    “I don’t believe it.” Tim said as he grabbed his suit jacket off of Cass’s dresser,

    “So, you ready for the Gala Jay?”

    “I guess.” With that, the three siblings walked downstairs to meet their dad for the Gala.

    5-Belly Dancing

Dick really never expected to find Jason in the dance studio as an instructor. A Belly Dancing instructor. Dick, Cass, Steph, Tim, and Damian watched from the class door watching as Jason told the class what they were going to do.

    “Firstly we are going to make a big outer hip circle.” He said as he moved his hips in a big circle,

    “Our pelvic region is gonna stay in neutral, as we push and shift our weight from toes, heels, and the edges of our feet. As you can see I’m pushing my hips in a nice big counter-clockwise circle and making sure I keep it all equal. How far I go forward is how far I go backward. It probably won’t come naturally to any of you, but why not give it a try.” Jason watched the class as they tried to copy Jason.

    “Heather, don’t sway your hips like that. Keep it natural not club dancing. Good job Keira. A tip is to try and keep your pant line even with the floor. Don’t tip a hip up. Keep your spine straight guys. Don’t bend and don’t go so big you lose your balance.” He said as he kept making his hips go in a circle.

    “....I think we should leave Jason to his class.”

    “...I’m having him teach me this.”

    “Dick no.”

    “Dick yes.” Tim grabbed Dicks’s ear and the siblings walked out of the dance studio and away from Jason. Tim needed bleach in his eyes to get rid of the image of Jason moving his hips like that. It was not something he ever wanted to see. From Damian’s reaction, he agrees with Tim.

+1-The family surprises him

Jason yawned as he made his way up to the main door to the manor, he didn’t bother to knock. He just pushed opened the door, he took one step in and saw his family all trying to belly dance.

    “What in the..”

    “Ah, Master Jason. Would you like some tea?” Alfred walked up to him with a tray of tea

    “W..what’s going on?” Jason asked as he looked in horror as Bruce tried to sway his hips,

    “It seems Master Dick wanted the family night to be used to learn Belly Dancing.”

    “...Can I go to the kitchen...I don’t need to see Bruce swaying his hips anymore…”

    “Of course.” Jason walked into the kitchen, for the second time that night he froze. Talia and Selina were sitting at the table drinking coffee and talking. Like friends.

    “He came from nowhere and said ‘I’m Batman.’ Like it was supposed to mean something to me at the time.” Selina said as she took a sip of her coffee. Talia laughed and looked over at Jason.

    “Habibi, come sit with us.” Jason smiled and walked over to the table and sat with the two women.

    “So, we’re talking shit about Bruce?”

    “Of course we are.”

[clive-owen-and-the-knick]

The Knick - Fan Fiction “Inconsolable” Part 1

"Laudanum."

Bertie, disheveled and disconsolate, cast a quick glance past Nurse Pell, who was solemnly packing away Mrs. Alford's belonging in the private room on the patient wing of the Knickbocker hospital.

"What?"

"Laudanum," Dr. Algernon Edwards repeated, holding up a small glass vial and dropper which had been tucked neatly away on the small tabletop next to the patient's bed, ominously close to a nearly empty glass of water. Algernon picked up the glass and swirled the water, sniffing it closely.

"She must have ingested this before the surgery. It's the only explanation."

Bertie, who was leaning against the back wall to support his exhausted, compact frame, seemed to gain a little energy back, "That would explain it perhaps. The laudanum would certainly have depressed and slowed down her functions, most critically her breathing. And then when I applied the chloroform –"

"It was too much for her system to handle. A standstill," Algernon was glum as he fingered the laudanum container, "She must have been taking this for anxiety or insomnia perhaps. We didn't know about it, so we couldn't have predicted the outcome."

Nurse Pell hurriedly picked up as many items as she could, her natural inclination to eavesdrop tempting her to linger a little longer.

"Thackery needs to know it wasn't necessarily the anesthesia which caused the problem, Bertie. As a man it might hurt but as a doctor, I think he would want to know the reason why."

"I'm afraid he blames me. He's inconsolable. He hasn't left his office since we had to move Mrs. Alford down to the morgue."

"It wasn't your fault Bertie, you know that. It was a calculated risk which Thackery himself took for the surgery, just like any procedure, yet with very tragic results," Algernon explained. "Let me try to talk to him."

*********

"Dr. Thackery?" Nurse Lucy Elkins inquired firmly, knocking on the Thackery's polished office door with a determined wrap of her knuckles, "Dr. Thackery?"

"Any luck?" Dr. Algernon Edwards approached.

Lucy Elkins tried to erase the fear in her voice, the display of too much concern which she could feel pulsing in her veins. She already suspected that Algernon knew everything about her and Dr. Thackery, so being here with Dr. Edwards made her flush.

"No, I need to be sure he's alright. He didn't speak a word when he left the surgery room. I'm afraid he might do something to himself. "

Dr. Edwards nodded solemnly and moved the young nurse aside, as if stepping back into the shoes of the hospital's leading surgeon once again.

"Dr. Thackery, we're coming inside now, "Algernon knocked one more time and opened the door. His eyes had to adjust to the darkness as all the curtains had been drawn with the minimal light of dusk barely seeping into the room.

Lucy came around the side of Edwards and they both looked around the office, which seemed completely deserted. Lucy's heart did a double turn as she scanned the floor, her worst fear being to find the prone body of Dr. John Thackery sprawled beneath his desk. She hurried over to his chair and pulled it back, looking beneath it. Edwards walked over to the leather chaise longe and scanned the bookshelves, shrugging his shoulders.

"He isn't here, obviously. Do you have any idea where he could be? Did he go home maybe?"

"I don't think he's been home since he came back from the Cromartie hospital."

Edwards gave Lucy a quizzical look.

"How do you know?"

Lucy bite her lip worriedly, "I just know. I think he's mostly been sleeping here or at Mrs. Alford's townhome."

Algernon sighed, discouraged, "We'd better find him. This is not a night he should be spending alone."

Lucy mused sadly, "It sure isn't."

**********

Most of the orderlies and nurses had gone home for the evening. Word had spread like wildfire around the hospital about Dr. Thackery's personal tragedy. The syphilitic women with the patched nose and the beautiful hair who had wanted to look better for her renewed sweetheart, Dr. Thackery himself. The irony of this thoughtless vanity had been death. And at the very hands of the man she was wanting to please the most.

The hallways were deserted by 8pm and Dr. Thackery edged with staggering steps along the corridor wall, having consumed alcohol in his office for several hours before sneaking out and hiding in various empty rooms and hallways until he knew he get about without being seen. His head was pounding and his heart was broken. The entire day now seemed like a distant nightmare which couldn't really have happened.

The panic in the surgery room, the sudden shock of Abigail's dead stillness, the tubes to try to revive her breathe, the hopelessness of a lost cause. Fittingly, the two people to witness his failure were the two he had disappointed the most in their short careers at the Knick. He felt like some sort of King Lear losing control of his kingdom. It was as if his surrogate son, Bertie, had dealt the unwitting deathblow to his Queen while his surrogate daughter, Lucy, had stood by as a helpless witness to the death of her rival. Lucy certainly thought of him as some sort of father figure. However he looked at it, this strange trio has made something of an Oedipal deathtrap out of their intertwining destinies.

"'Give me an ounce of civet, good apothecary, to sweeten my imagination'," Thackery heard himself mutter.

Shuddering in his mind, Thackery started to feel the tears coming again. He wanted to see her one last time so he made his way to the morgue. That cold, gray, hideous room of failure which so many patients ended up in when all the doctors and nurses' efforts – those heroic efforts! – went sideways.

Switching on the light of the morgue room, Thackery stood for a while, his arms limply at his sides. Which one of these dreadful boxes which lined the wall should he open first? It seemed a pointless and dreary choice. On his shaky knees, Thackery moved forward to weakly opened the first one. He heaved it open with a long motion of his arm.

He instantly stepped back with a gasp. He was staring down at the face of a girl dressed in white who looked alive. It was Sonia, the young anemic girl who had died at his hands a few months prior during a blood transfusion gone terribly wrong. But she was dead and buried with a new gravestone, surely? Why was she still here, haunting him? Hadn't he made amends?

Thackery slammed the morgue box back in place with an angry snarl, briefly holding his aching head in his hands. After a long moment he tried another box. He saw the very same body in it. Sonia, asleep and in the pink of her health. Not dead. Not buried.

Determined to banish this drunken hallucinations, Thackery continued to open the heavy, metal morgue boxes along the wall, and each time the same result. Abigail was not here! Sonia was in her place. He could not look at Abigail's sweet but scarred face one last time. All he kept seeing was this girl he thought he had put to rest finally. It wasn't even someone he knew very well at all. It was a haunting vision of failure and madness and presumption of skill. It was his own arrogance mocking him.

Finally discouraged and lost in remorse, Thackery stumbled out of the morgue.

*****************

"He isn't here either," Lucy said, climbing back into the passenger side of Henry Robertson's electric automobile. Across the street was the darkened windows of Mrs. Abigail Alford's home.

"So, am I missing something here? I have a fondness for Thack too – he's an amazing if temperamental genius. But how on earth do you know all of these places he goes?" Henry asked, a little exasperated. He had spent the last couple hours touring some of the more interesting places of Manhattan with Lucy Elkins in search of the missing doctor.

"I don't think that's really any of your business, Henry, " Lucy answered curtly, folding her dainty hands calming in her lap and turning her face away ,"I know more about him than you could possibly imagine."

Henry sighed, shaking his head. He was thoroughly charmed by this daring and sensual young nurse, so he felt himself willing to continue on this ridiculous hunt.

"Where to next?"

Lucy furrowed her brow, her eyes darkening, "We need to go to Chinatown next."

Henry nearly fell out of the car he jerked upright so quickly, "Where? Did you say Chinatown?"

"Yes. I did," Lucy answered quickly, "Do you know how to get there?"

Henry's mouth hung open with disbelief, "I think I can find my way there."

"Then hurry, please, we don't have time to lose," Lucy answered sternly.

Henry rolled his eyes and started up the electric car which took off into the cool evening, following the mixture of electric and gas lights on Broadway and turned south.

****************

Opal Edwards had waited impatiently for Algernon to come home and took a hansom cab to The Knick when her patience ran out. Algie was late often enough, but tonight Opal felt like getting out in the fresh air and dressing up in one of her favorite burgundy dresses. She matched this with one of her most flattering veiled hats and pair of velvet gloves. With a dash of tuberose perfume on her throat she was ready to head out into the night. And why not surprise her husband at his infamous place of work? She was still furious about the Robertson's treatment of her husband. They had simply shuffled him off to the side with the intention of not fulfilling their promises for a position at the new Knick! Hypocritical cowards, she thought to herself bitterly. Algernon would have to forge a new path himself somewhere new – somehow.

When Opal arrived at the Knick, she was thankful that the main door was still unlocked despite the sparseness of the staff. One lone nurse was at the front desk and glared at her with hostile surprise. To see a smartly dressed black woman at this time of night must have surprised her, Opal thought, giving the woman a wide smile.

"I'm here to see my husband, Dr. Algernon Edwards, " Opal stated proudly, locking eyes with the nurse.

"His office is that way," the woman indicated the hallway to her left coldly.

"Thank you," Opal answered in her most haughty London accent and marched down the empty corridor with a swish of her skirts, her arm laced elegantly around the strap of her purse.

Her footsteps echoed smartly as she continued down the lonely hall. She could hear the electric buzz of the lights around her. Her steps slowed as the silence continued to grow. Did that woman send her in the wrong direction? Opal sniffed and smelled something unpleasant, something chemical mixed with a stench of sickness and decay. Suddenly the shadows of these rooms filled her with foreboding. So many grisly things happened in these rooms. She stopped and listened. She heard the shuffle of feet.

Around the corner a crumpled lanky figure appeared in a dark suit, his jet-black hair falling across his forehead. He braced the wall shakily and looked up at her with eyes full of misery and pain, his hand clutching at his gut.

"Hello, Doctor Thackery, " Opal spoke first, taken aback.

Thackery's face was startled, "What are you doing here?"

"Maybe you don't recognize me," Opal said curtly, “I know we all look the same to you.”

"Opal, like the fields in Australia," Thackery answered with warm recognition.

Softening, Opal took a step towards him now, noticing his pained stance, "What happened here today?"

Thackery couldn't answer her as he fell into a swoon of agony, clutching at her shoulders for support. Opal quickly braced Thackery around the waist. Beneath her gloved hands she could feel his ribs.

"Help me!" Opal looked around desperately for another soul to assist. Her voice carried down the corridor and reached no ears. They were completely alone here.

Struggling, Opal let Thackery lean on her closely as she hoisted him upright.

"Dr. Thackery, where do you want me to take you?" Opal asked.

Thackery, blurry-eyed with pain, depression and alcohol, raised his arm and started to guide them both, "Down here to my office."

[lia-jones]

Growing Pains - Chapter Fourteen - Pretty Ladies Shouldn’t Drink Wine

“Victor wants me to go to Paris?” I asked, the volume of my voice higher than what I was aiming for. “What for?”

“I honestly don’t know. You know how he is, he didn’t explain himself to me. Only that you need to get in the company’s jet and fly to Paris in two hours.”

“No, I’m going to call him.” I said, reaching for my phone.

“Good luck reaching him. He's busy with meetings, his phone is off.”

I stared at Goldman in disbelief, not knowing what to say. There was a brief awkward silence.

“So… maybe you should go home and start packing.” Goldman suggested.

“But how do I prepare?” I started panicking. “It’s impossible to prepare for work if I don’t know what I will be doing there!”

“Don’t worry. If you need anything I will be here, at the base. I will help you in everything you need.”

“Come on, it’s Paris.” Diane chimed in. “Maybe you have some time to go sightseeing, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. Oh, and I want a miniature Eiffel tower.”

I had no idea how to avoid this trip. I had to go.

“Do you want something from Paris too?” I asked Goldman, still annoyed with the whole situation.

“At this point, I want you to pack and get in that plane on time so I don’t get shout at. Bon voyage?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah… Have a nice weekend, guys. Enjoy the break while I spend my weekend working…”

“In Paris. Shut up.” Diane interrupted me, smiling.

I ran home and started packing. Got some dresses, some suits, high heels and sensible shoes. I checked the weather and learned it would be raining in Paris. Not nice for sightseeing. I could already forecast endless days in conference rooms and hotel rooms, chained to my laptop, watching the Eiffel Tower from afar, through a window.

I went straight to the airport and arrived at the spot the jet was landed. Waiting for me was one of the flight attendants of the jet, talking on the phone.

“She just arrived, Sir, wait a minute.” He turned to me, handing me the phone. “Mr. Lee would like to have a word.”

I took the phone from him, slightly annoyed. He could have just called me.

“Yes, Victor.”

“Your phone is off.”

I went to my purse to check my phone. It went off somehow.

“Ha. So it is. Sorry for that.”

“You better not lose it like last time. I’m too far away to return it to you now.” I felt like he was scolding me.

“Could please tell me why am I going to France at such short notice?” I asked, changing the subject.

“The French companies you work with required a meeting. You’ll be ending your internship in the near future, so they want to renegotiate the terms.”

“I see.” I said, handing my bag to the flight attendant. “And why do you need me for that?”

“You already know them. It’ll be easier to approach them with you there. Besides, don’t you want to meet in person the people you’ve been working with for your thesis?”

The idea of seeing how their businesses evolved with my ideas, the ones I was going to defend in my thesis, was extremely alluring. I felt very giddy all of a sudden, the stress I had been feeling for being summoned on such short notice subsided.

“Yes! Of course, it’s a great idea! Thank you for the opportunity!”

“Just come prepared. Enjoy your flight.”

I gave the flight attendant his phone back and boarded in the jet. As expected, the jet was luxurious, all decorated in neutral colors, the extremely comfortable seats in leather. I let myself sink on my seat and sighed, smiling. I wasn’t much of a fan of the idea of having so much money while others could barely get by, but this was amazing.

Everything moved pretty fast after we landed. I was taken to show my documents, then taken to a car, that drove me to the hotel. By the time I got there, it was raining heavily, and someone was already at the hotel door holding an umbrella.

“Mr. Lee apologizes for not greeting you. He got delayed in a meeting and will be coming shortly. I will lead you to your room where you can freshen up and get ready for dinner. Mr. Lee will be waiting for you at the lobby at 8:30.”

I got in my room, admiring the decoration. The room was in soothing earthy tones, soft fabrics on the bed, a desk and a vanity table, large windows with a view to the Eiffel Tower. The private bathroom was huge, with a wooden floor and a huge frosted glass shower and an infinity tub, orchids everywhere. Next to the door to the bathroom, there were two more doors. One that led to a small but finely decorated walking closet, the other one was locked. Maybe it led to some kind of maintenance room for the suite.

I started unpacking the dresses, deciding which one I would wear for dinner. I had no idea where I was going, but I knew I was going to meet partners, so a more professional one would be the best choice. Not too revealing, not too shiny, simple and elegant, that’s what I needed. I decided to wear my short round neck black cocktail dress with flowers embroidered in silver in the A-line skirt from the hem up.  I would wear my black high heels and my black woolen coat and I was good to go. Despite the moisture in the air, my curls were having a good day, so I let my hair down, applying just some light make up to hide the effects of traveling for 11 hours.

I was grabbing my purse to leave when my I heard the sound of an incoming message. It was Victor.

Meet me in the lobby.

I walked to the lobby and found Victor right away, impeccably dressed in a charcoal suit, black shirt and silver tie, sitting on one of the chairs, busy with his phone. He looked tired and tense, his shoulders not quite relaxed, his eyebrows in a knot.

He didn’t even let me greet him, getting up and going straight to the car, expecting me to follow him.

“Did you have a good flight?” He asked in his icy tone.

“Yes, thank you.” I said, my tone matching his. I didn’t miss Mr. Icy CEO at all.

And that’s all we spoke for the entire ride.

When we entered the restaurant, we were told that Monsieur Xavier Breton was already waiting for us at the table.

Xavier Breton was a well-built bald man with piercing green eyes and a stubble. He was probably already in his 70’s, but he exuded confidence and sophistication. Adding to the package, he had this bad boy voice and a perfect smile, which made him extremely attractive, despite his age.

“Miss Jones! So happy to finally meet you! You are even more beautiful in person.” Xavier stood up, taking my hand and kissing it.

“Thank you.” I blushed slightly at the sudden attention. “Nice to meet you too.”

“Now that everybody is properly introduced, let’s cut to the chase and discuss our contracts.” Victor said, his tone moody.

“Oh, Victor, always business, business!” Xavier jested. “But you’re right, let’s discuss business and then just enjoy the good food and the good wine.”

It turns out, there wasn’t much to discuss anyway, and my role in the whole interaction was less than minimal. Victor never asked for my assistance, so I was quiet listening to them the whole time. By the time the food came, they were already finishing. Xavier turned to me.

“So, Miss Jones, I heard your father is an oenologist. Your father is not Jeremy Jones, is he?”

“Yes, exactly. It’s my father.”

“Her father wrote for many years for the Michelin Guide.” Xavier turned to Victor, who nodded, seemingly impressed. “What is he doing now? I haven’t seen his work in years.”

“Well, he was tired of all the traveling, so he decided to find something closer to home. He now works for some Portuguese wineries. One of them is Quinta do Valado.”

“Oh, I know that wine. Prized wine, very good.” Turning to Victor. “Portugal has excellent wine, Victor, you should try it. This producer makes the very best wines in the region.”

“I’ll make sure to order a few bottles as soon as I get to Loveland. They will look nice in my collection.”

“And will taste even better on your tongue!” Xavier exclaimed, laughing loudly.

The waiter came to our table and announced the soufflé would be served soon, and that the chef would join us shortly for dessert.

Victor and Xavier continued their conversation about wine, and I just sat there, wondering why the hell had I been summoned to Paris. Victor didn’t need me at all.

The chocolate soufflés arrived, and the chef Guy Sauvant came and greeted Victor and Xavier. Victor introduced me to the chef.

“Chef Sauvant, this is Miss Andrea Jones. Andrea, this is Chef Guy Sauvant.”

“Oh to see the face of the lovely voice I spoke to so many times! Miss Jones, it is a pleasure to finally know you. Did you enjoy your food?” The chef spoke, extending his hand my way. I shook it, smiling.

“Everything was delicious, chef. And I love your restaurant, it’s beautiful.”

“I don’t know if Victor told you, but I know this gamin for a while know, taught him everything I know! Including the recipe for this soufflé! Eat it, before it gets cold.”

We all buried our spoons in the soft and chocolatey soufflé. It was extremely light, immediately melting in my mouth and developing a strong chocolate flavor. I hummed in satisfaction.

“Oh, that sound is the best of compliments for a chef! Merci, belle Andrea! Now, let me get a good bottle of wine for us to toast." Chef Sauvant said, going for the kitchen.

The chef returned with another bottle of wine, and promptly filled my glass. I thought about refusing, since Victor was watching my glass like a hawk, but it would seem crass to refuse wine brought specially by the chef. I wasn’t feeling the effects of the wine, so I decided another glass wouldn’t mean any harm.

“So Victor learned how to cook from you?” I asked the chef.

“Oh this gamin is pretty smart, you know. He understands that the quickest way to a woman’s heart is the stomach! Give a woman jewelry and she’ll give you her body, but cook her a five-course meal and she will give you her heart!”

“I’ll drink to that!” Xavier chimed in, raising his glass.

We all raised our glasses and drank. Xavier quickly grabbed the bottle of wine to fill my glass again.

“I think Andrea has had enough already.” Victor said, covering my glass with his hand.

“Oh, nonsense, beautiful women are happier with good wine. Besides, she’s an adult, she can decide for herself.”

I looked at Victor, whispering to him “I’m ok.” Victor released my glass, and Xavier filled it.

Xavier and Guy resumed the conversation about women and Victor took that moment of distraction to swap his empty glass with mine, drinking it immediately. Xavier turned to Victor, not noticing anything, still excited about the current topic:

“I’m surprised, Victor, you, of all people, having to cook to seduce women? A man with your fortune and your physique shouldn’t need to resort to that! You must have them at your feet!”

I looked at Victor from the corner of my eye. Victor caught my gaze and suppressed a smile, speaking calmly.

“You’ll give the wrong impression to Andrea. Cooking is a hobby, not a scheme. And I have no intention of having anyone at my feet. Not even my competitors.”

The men agreed and started a new topic in their idle discussion, the honor in business. After a while, Victor announced that we were leaving, since we were traveling the following morning.

When I got up, however, all the wine I drank went straight to my head, making the room spin for a second. Victor either noticed it or was already expecting it, because I felt his hand on my shoulder, supporting me.

As we left the restaurant, he leaned close to my ear, whispering softly:

“Do you want to walk it off, take a little stroll?”

The rain had stopped and the city lights looked beautiful at night. I didn’t know how long I would be in Paris to get another chance to see it, so I nodded.

“Good wine has that effect. You won’t feel the alcohol until you get up. Do you feel nauseous?” Victor asked as we walked, still supporting me with his body.

“No, I’m fine. I didn’t drink that much. I just wasn’t expecting it to go to my head like that.”

“Dinner went well.” Victor said, in approval.

“Yeah, about that…” It was nice to meet them, but I still was confused as to what I was doing in Paris.

“I have to give you some advice about Xavier, though.” Victor continued. “You probably noticed he is a ladies’ man, and you clearly caught his eye.”

I released myself from Victor’s grip and faced him, offended he would think I would get even slightly involved in such situations.

“Who the hell do you take me for? I’m not the one taking cooking lessons to get laid!”

He stared at me, confused. I continued my tirade.

“You really are something else! You demand that I come all the way from Loveland to Paris with a two-hour notice, saying I was needed to help you in a negotiation I barely had any time to prepare for and that basically didn’t happen at all, and now because the guy was friendly, you go all self-righteous on me telling me I shouldn’t get involved? Do you really think I’m that naïve that I can’t say no to a man?”

“Andrea, you’re drunk.” He stated in a gentle voice.

“I am not! I may have had a few glasses of wine, but I am certainly able to speak my mind clearly, so listen!” I noticed I was raising my voice at that point, so I lowered my tone. “I am grateful for all you’ve done for me, I really am. But just because I had a traumatic experience with a guy, it doesn’t mean you have to protect me like I’m some silly girl that can’t help herself. I don’t need your protection, do you understand?”

At that precise moment, fate made me shut up real fast. My heel got caught in a crack on the pavement and broke, making me lose my balance. I felt myself falling backward, and I mentally braced myself for the impact. Victor moved fast in my direction, grabbing me before I could reach the ground, panic in his eyes. We stood like that for a moment, my body supported in his arms, and Victor, bent forward, his face close to mine, his eyes looking deep into mine. His scent, returning to my nostrils, brought back the image of our moment in my kitchen. My anger and frustration, all gone, replaced with a warm feeling and a hint of shame. His stone-cold expression replaced by one of affection.

I closed my arms around his neck to support myself and placed my other foot firmly on the ground, standing up. Victor also straightened himself, eyes now on my broken heel.

“Your heel broke.” He stated.

“I know.” I replied, a bit flustered.

“Are you hurt?”

I moved my foot, it seemed fine.

Victor suddenly swept me off my feet, and cradled me in his arms, walking towards the car. My body stiffened.

“I can walk, Victor. You can let me go.”

“With a broken heel? I don’t think so.”

“I said, you don’t need to carry me. Put me down.” 

Victor ignored me.

“I mean it, Victor, put me down.” I said, trying to wiggle myself out of his grip. Victor led me down, holding me strongly by the waist without letting my feet touch the ground, and looked me in the eye.

“Let’s make something very clear. There is no way I’m going to let you walk barefoot on the cold, wet ground. It seems like you have two options: I either carry you gracefully in my arms, or I just carry you over my shoulder, with your behind facing up.” He paused, his face dead serious, letting his words sink in. “How is it going to be?”

“I’ll show you how it’s going to be.” I said, trying to free myself from his grip and put both my feet on the ground. Without letting me go, Victor motioned to swing me over his shoulder, and I quickly held on tight to his neck. “Ok, ok, I got it! You win!”

Victor chuckled, holding me tight in his arms and carrying me bridal style. He did it like it was nothing, like it wasn’t a hindrance, like it was a natural thing, just looking forward as he walked. When we got to the car, the driver, who was waiting for us outside, smiled mischievously at Victor.

“Les belles femmes ne devraient pas boire de vin! (Pretty ladies shouldn’t drink wine!)” The driver said, opening the passenger back door. I could feel the blood rising in my cheeks.

“Vraiment. (True.)” Victor answered, sitting me in the back seat and tightening my seatbelt.

“I speak French, you know!” I whispered at Victor, when he sat next to me. He gave me a cocky smile.

As we arrived to the hotel, I opened the car door, decided to walk on my own to my room. But the minute I put my bare foot down, the cold from the floor made me lift it haphazardly and lose my balance, and the only reason I didn’t fall with my face first on the floor was Victor, who hurried to support me. Without a word, he scooped me up again, and walked towards the hotel. The doorman gave us a sly smile.

“French wine is not good for ze ladies, n’est-ce pas?”

I sighed heavily and buried my face in Victor’s shoulder, begging for the ground to open and swallow me whole. I heard the rumble of a heartfelt chuckle on Victor’s chest, who was clearly having fun with my misfortune. Crétin.