#done talking about seth

[nyxypoo]

need him.

[ranvwoop]

i so want to talk about my little guys but they are organic Vwoop Originals so I'm like ........ how. how do communicate

[ariquess-arts]

guess whos sitting with a way-too-strong coffee in hand cause it's 2 am but I choose to watch this one live ༎ຶ⁠‿⁠༎ຶ

I'm still not done with speedrunning judgement day (I'm this close to wmania 2023) but it's so hard to do when I get into other segments and/or matches as well lmao, wrestling is so much fun I hate it 😭

[dameronspector]

“Happy New Year, Honey.”

Pairing: Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Summary: Set during the New Year’s party where Joel protects Ellie and Dina from Seth. Aka you comfort Joel and don’t let him spend the new years alone.

Warnings: Angst, Mentions of panic attacks, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Cursing, Joel deserves to be doted on, Reader and Joel are married, Reader is in her late 30s-early 40s, Reader is kind of upset with Ellie for hurting Joel, Reader just wants her family back but is stuck as the mediator (PS: I fucking love ellie, she’s my sister. This is no hate against her. This is just my depiction of a parents-child relationship dynamic.)

AN: i saw the episode and my heart broke for joel and his sad, warm brown eyes :(

It was finally New Year’s Eve and there was a little party being held in Jackson. Maria had assigned you to food service so you were helping the kitchen team with the plating and to set the buffet. You had to leave the house a little early for that. Joel was pouting because he didn’t want to arrive alone to the party. It was difficult enough to convince him to come, and now his big brown eyes were staring at you like he was a kicked puppy. You stalled for a good 10 minutes before parting with a sweet kiss, with a promise of saving him a dance.

Slowly, the community area of the church started filling up with people. There was a quiet murmur of people chatting and laughing. The air was perfectly warm inside the main house and crisp-cold outside. There was no snowfall today, thankfully, which meant everyone could enjoy the bonfire. The food smelt good and the band was playing soothing tunes.

The area was decorated with lovely fairy lights that made it look like the stars had come down. Overall, it was a very cosy scene. You were actually enjoying yourself. You had finished serving the food into containers and were now setting up the buffet. Gradually, the number of people gathered around increased and now you were 4 hours away from ringing in the New Year.

Joel was not still nowhere to be seen but you did spot Ellie with Dina and Jesse. Maria and Tommy were welcoming the newcomers meanwhile Benji was playing with his friends.

You were thinking of going back home and bringing him with you but you knew he just needed his space. You knew how badly the separation with Ellie was affecting him. Everyone could see that. Hell, even he could see that. It got so bad, that he had resorted to seeking therapy. You were so shocked when he admitted that to you but you encouraged him because he was finally willing to open up. You just hoped the therapist-Gail-wouldn’t breach his boundaries and make him isolate from others again.

He was trying so hard. It broke your heart into a thousand pieces to look at his dejected and sad face everytime she ignored him. He asked for Ellie during breakfast, lunch and dinner without missing a beat. He kept aside some food for her everyday. He built her a new chair because her old one had a broken leg. He would find something to gift her on patrol every time and would ask you to give it to her so that she accepts it.

It was heartbreaking.

You tried to talk to Ellie about this but she shot you down quickly. That’s when you decided you wouldn’t get involved because it’s not your place. It’s something that only the two of them should be talking about. And truthfully, you’d never admit to Ellie that you didn’t think he did anything wrong because you would’ve done the exact same thing for her. Any parent who denies this is a hypocrite.

So, you gave him space. You were patient with him. And you could see the gratitude in his eyes and his actions. How he would hug you longer. How he was more open with his affections. How he freely shared his thoughts and feelings. And that was everything that you’d ever want.

He’s all you have and you were all he has. You would do anything to protect him, just as he would for you.

-

The band was playing a cheerful song and everyone was laughing and dancing to the fullest. You were busy serving everyone so you didn’t notice Joel enter the area. You were talking to the town’s beekeper Jude while making her a plate when you felt arms snake around your waist. You jumped.

“Hey, honey”, his low baritone voice murmured in your ear.

Your face broke out in a loving smile.

You excused yourself from Jude who gave you a teasing smile and asked Kat to take over. Joel shifted the two of you slightly away from the table and you turned your neck to look at him. You rested your hands on his left hand and played with his ring.

“Hey, baby. Welcome to the party”, you greeted him softly and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. You broke apart and he turned you around.

He rested his hands on your waist and rubbed it gently. His brown eyes looked like they were sparkling in the fairy lights. He ran his eyes across your face. Like he was reading you.

“You look so beautiful, darlin’”, he complimented you shyly, even though you were wearing a simple sweater that would’ve been considered as a ‘going out top’ with some jeans. He thought you looked good in anything.

You grinned brightly at him.

“Yeah? Well, Mr. Miller, you don’t look too bad yourself”, you replied cheekily and caressed his chest. You saw his cheeks turned into a tinge of pink. Even after being married for 4 years and being together for a decade, he would still get shy whenever you complimented him.

He gave you a meek smile and brought you closer to kiss your forehead. You closed your eyes and let out a content sigh before raising your head to look in his eyes.

“I’ve got to help with the serving, you think you’ll be okay without me for sometime, baby?”, you asked him softly and put your hand on his stubbled, soft cheek.

You could see him deflate a little as he let out a sigh. He leaned his head against your palm and rubbed your lower back with a hand.

“Yeah, okay. But, you’re saving me a dance, remember?”, he smiled.

You smiled at him sweetly and nodded your head.

He drank in your smile before pressing a kiss to your palm and planting a sweet kiss on your lips.

“I’ll see you, wife”, he smirked before pulling away.

You just giggled and waved him off.

God, you’d do anything to see this man happy.

-

An hour to go before you all rang in the New Year. You were almost done with serving desserts and now you could finally dance with Joel. The band was playing softly and while everyone was slow dancing.

You turned away to put away the last container into the kitchen and you came out to see the music was stopped and everyone was huddled around- Ellie and Dina?

Something was wrong. Your maternal instincts kicked in and you immediately pushed your away to the middle. You stood next to Ellie and held her arm gently.

“Ellie? What’s up? What happened?”, you asked her carefully. Her face was red and her eyes were bloodshot with tears. Dina was in the same condition.

“Dina, hey. What’s wrong?”, you asked her gently and put your hands on her shoulders. She sputtered but said nothing. She looked embarrassed and she was drunk, you realised. You turned to look at Ellie again but she looked away from you.

What the hell happened?

“What- hey. What’s going on?”, you raised your voice slightly and looked around. You couldn’t see Maria or Tommy or-

“Where’s Joel?”, you asked out loud, hoping he’d hear you incase he was around. “Ellie, where’s-”

She turned around so quickly that you jumped back from her. She pointed at you.

“Tell your fucking husband to stay the fuck out of my business.”

You froze. Her tone was so harsh. Her body language was aggressive and agitated. You’ve seen her like this before but it was never directed at you. And she never spoke to you like this.

“Ellie!”, Dina’s eyes widened and she pulled Ellie back.

“Hey, relax. I’m just-”

“I don’t need your fucking help, (Name). So don’t tell me to relax and I don’t fucking know where Joel has gone. I don’t care where he is and if you’re so worried then don’t stand here and-”

“That’s enough”, you cut her off firmly and held out your hand to stop her. “I just wanna know what happened.”

Ellie’s mouth fell open and she looked away in shame.

You clenched your jaw. You took a deep breath in to calm down. You registered how everyone was still staring at the three of you.

“Do we not have work to do? Y’all want some popcorn?”, you sternly questioned the crowd.

Everyone averted their gazes before clearing the area and leaving the three of you alone.

You turned to Dina.

“Dina, where’s Joel?”, you asked her with urgency in your tone.

“I-I don’t know. He just left”, Dina stuttered. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her cheeks were red.

Joel went to two places frequently when he was not ready to face the world- either his workshop to work on his projects or he’s in the office looking over the blue prints. But now that you know something happened between him and Ellie, you really didn’t know where he could’ve gone. It was a very fragile situation.

Ellie furiously walked away from the two of you to stand outside the hall. You closed your eyes to compose yourself and to stop the tears from flowing. She was drifting further and further away from you. And not just physically.

You looked at the door tearfully before turning back to Dina. “Don’t let her do anything stupid, okay? Get home safely.”

Dina nodded at you. You patted her shoulder and ran out of the hall to check the office first. He wasn’t there. You felt your stomach hurt at the thought of him being alone and having a panic attack. You needed to get to him now.

You ran all the way from the community hall to your house. The cold, dry wind hit your face and turned it into a bright shade of pink. Your eyes were watery and your breath was uneven but still, you continued to run.

On your way, you passed people wishing a happy new year to each other and lighting fireworks. Your heart twisted painfully. This is the first time in a decade that you and Joel weren’t together for New Year’s Eve.

Your lungs were aching by the time you finally saw your house in the distance and noticed the porch lights were on. And that’s when he came into view.

Joel was sitting on the armchair with his guitar on his lap. You could hear the soft strumming of the guitar along with your loud breathing and the whistling wind.

He looked so small.

Your husband was a hulking man of 6 foot tall height with the broadest shoulders. You didn’t know it was possible for a man of his stature to look so small and dejected.

The sight of him alone on the porch, while listening to the muffled cheers of the other residents, brought tears to your eyes. He didn’t deserve this. You felt guilty for leaving him alone.

You made your way to the porch and he looked up as soon as he heard your footsteps. His eyes shone in the light and he stopped strumming. He furrowed his eyebrows when he looked at the state of you. He quickly set down his guitar and got up from the chair.

“Honey? You okay?”, he approached you and held out his hand for you to join him on the porch. Acting as if his heart wasn’t hurting right now.

Your vision blurred as eyes filled with tears and your face scrunched up before you let out a soft cry. You stepped on the porch and buried your face in his chest while tightly wrapping your arms around his back.

Joel simply encased you in his warm arms and brought you closer. “Baby? What’s wrong? You’re scarin’ me. Did someone say somethin’ to you?”, he rambled worriedly and laid his cheek on your forehead. He winced. “And you’re s’cold. Where’s your jacket? I keep tellin’ you to not go out like this”, he scolded you gruffly before wrapping his jacket around you and hugging you closer. He was fussing over you even when he was the one who needed to be comforted.

You gently pulled away and settled your hands on his bicep. “Where did you go? I’ve been looking for you all this time. I ran all the way from the community hall and I even checked the offi-”

“You ran all the way here?!”, he asked incredulously. He was clearly changing the topic to avoid your questions. He huffed out a scoff and wiped your tears gently. “Now, why’d you do that? Are you crazy-”

“You’re crazy if you think I’m letting you spend the New Years alone”, you furrowed your eyebrows.

He opened his mouth to argue.

“What happened back there?”, you cut him off.

You observed the way he froze and averted his eyes from your intense gaze. He swallowed thickly before clearing his throat. “Nothin’. I just came back home because I was bored. Thought I’d let you have fun. Didn’t wanna ruin it for ya.”

You cupped his cheek and turned his head towards you. His eyes were tearing up. He clenched his jaw tightly to keep the tears at bay.

You scrunched your brows and caressed his cheek gently.

“Joel, I went into the kitchen for a moment and came back to a scene. Everyone was looking at Ellie and Dina. Tommy and Maria weren’t there. You weren’t there. Ellie….”, you trailed off before letting out a sigh. “She seemed disturbed. So was Dina. Ellie didn’t wanna talk to me, either. What happened, Joel?”, you whispered.

You saw how he was trying his best to hold it together. He closed his eyes and let out a weary sigh. A tear slid down his cheek and you wiped it with your thumb. He held your wrist gently and leaned into your palm.

“Ellie and Dina were dancin’ together. Seth was bein’ an asshole. He said this is a family event and called them a slur. I happened to hear it and I pushed him down. Told him to get out”, he murmured. Your eyes widened.

You knew Ellie and Dina liked each other and you were so happy because they’re adorable together and they made each other happy. But you had no idea that even in an apocalyptic world, some people were still a fucking dick about who’s kissing who.

“Oh god”, you murmured in disgust towards Seth. Joel nodded. “Yeah. Pissed me off real bad. But Ellie…”, his voice cracked.

“She..she didn’t like it. Told me she doesn’t need my fucking help”, he choked out.

“Oh, Baby..”, you whispered and held his face in both of your hands. Like he’s something precious.

That did it for him and he broke down. He let out a shaky breath. Your palms were damp with his tears.

“I just…I was just trying to protect her. It hurts so much. No matter what I do…I’ve lost her. I can’t-”, he cut himself off, his breathing uneven.

You quickly removed your hands from his face and helped him sit down on his chair.

His entire body stiffened up and he pressed his hand to his chest-near his heart. He was having a panic attack. You didn’t touch him to avoid startling him and kneeled in front of him instead.

“Hey, Joel. Tell me 5 things you can see?”, you asked him quietly.

He closed his eyes before taking in a deep breath and looked around.

“The…the porch light..the snow..the door…my shoes…you”, he whispered.

“Okay, now 4 things that you can touch?”

“The chair, m-my jacket…my jeans…my watch.”

“Good, now 3 things you can smell?”

“Smoke…wet soil…your shampoo.”

“That’s good, baby. Now 2 things you can hear?”

“The wind….your voice.”

“And now tell me 1 thing that you can feel?”

“My heartbeat”, he responded quietly before taking in a deep breath and letting it out.

“Good job, baby. Do you want some water?”, you asked him gently.

He weakly shook his head no before burying his face in his hands. You got up to get away from the freezing floorboards but he mistook that for you leaving him and snapped up his head. He held your wrist.

“Don’t go, please.”

He looked like he was pained by the idea of you leaving and it broke your heart all over again. You softened and stood closer to him, taking that as a sign to touch him.

“I’m not going anywhere, Joel. I was just bringing you some water”, you whispered to him and rubbed his back soothingly.

He released your wrist and slowly leaned his head against your stomach, wrapping his arms around your waist tightly.

You hugged him back and buried a hand in his beautiful curls and rubbed his back with the other.

“You did the right thing, honey. You protected her. And gave her space when she asked you to. I’m so proud of you. She’s just…she needs time to accept it, yeah? It’s not easy for her either. Plus, she’s growing up now. It’s just how the kids act like when they’re 19, we were probably the same as well”, you chuckled softly.

He let out a shuddering breath and kissed your stomach before propping his chin up on it to look at you. You stared back at his gentle eyes and brushed his curls back before caressing his forehead with your thumb.

“I’m sorry for the way she acted towards you, Joel. I know I said I’m not going to get involved but I will try to talk to her again, okay? I know you hate being away from her and you worry about her every second but you have to respect her boundaries too, Joel. Promise me?”, you asked him gently before cupping his face in your hands.

He swallowed and nodded his head.

“I understand.”

You gave him a smile. “Good. Now, I believe I saved you a dance?”

He smiled weakly. “There’s no music.”

“Who said we needed it anyways?”, you teased him and he let out a chuckle that showed his pretty dimple. You kissed his cheek.

You pulled away and held his hands in yours. He stood up and towered over you before winding an arm around your back, holding your free hand in his. You held the bicep of his arm that was around you and laid your head on his shoulder. He brought you closer and leaned his head on yours before swaying the two of you gently.

After a while, he nudged you to face him and delicately held your face in his hands before leaning in. The two of you share a sweet, loving kiss. Your lips gently massaging each other and your noses nudging against your cheeks.

You came away for air and leaned your forehead against his before circling his neck with your arms. His went around your hips and he pulled you impossibly closer.

“Happy new year, honey. I love you so much”, you whispered to him and nudged his nose with yours.

He flashed you his charming, dimpled smile. His cheeks were flushed.

“Happy New Year, Mrs. Miller. I love you with everything in me.”

The two of you were so intertwined with each other that the world disappeared around you.

Both of you didn’t notice Ellie standing in the darkness, observing and listening to everything with tears in her eyes.

AN: i can’t take their separation anymore please they’re so sad.

[yierrem]

dating headcanons - zzzero men edition pt. 2 ☆〜（ゝ。∂）

ft. gn! reader x asaba harumasa, billy kid, and seth lowell ; a follow up to my previous dating hcs (which can be found here) and a response to a request ( ^ω^ ) first post of the year（≧∇≦）i hope you enjoy reading!!

asaba harumasa

very clingy. when you're not together, he'd be texting you random little updates or beg for your attention just for the sake of talking to you if calling momentarily isn't an option. sometimes he tries to use you as an excuse to get out of work, but after he's done it a couple of times, you've become immune to always bending to his whims and suddenly he's whining about how you don't love him anymore.

["wait i'll look at your texts later brb love u ^3^" "so you hate me."]

an avid quality time enjoyer, if i've ever seen one. he's content with lazing around with you or doing mundane tasks that don't require much physical effort. likes cuddling against you when you're just sitting engrossed in doing something with your hands and reading or watching something together.

even though he usually appears and acts lighthearted, deep down, he's genuinely happy with you and the relationship you share. he cherishes every moment you can spend together and wishes it could go on for as long as he lives. you're the person he refers to as family when on one of his much-dreaded doctor appointments.

alongside the nightmares he already has regarding his sickness, he'd have times when he'd wake up in a cold sweat from dreams of losing or leaving you and the people he cares for. thankfully, on the days you sleep over, he has you; he's comforted by the sight of your sleeping figure and clings to you for the rest of the night.

on a lighter note, sharing a bed with this man is probably a chaotic experience on a dreamless night; initially, you'd both fall into slumber comfortably cuddled against each other, but the following morning, one of you would be seconds away from suffocating in a vice grip.

billy kid

loves playing games with you. he's usually competitive when playing against you but when you're both on a team together, he's suddenly the biggest cheerleader there is. if both of you lose, that's totally fine! you'll get it next time. what matters to him is that you had fun together.

deeply appreciates it and enjoys when you match him nerd-for-nerd, even if you don't share a lot of similar interests. you take turns randomly info-dumping about any piece of media or activity you're into and both of you pay genuine attention to whatever the other is talking about. he loves listening to you passionately talk or share anything about any topic because you do the same for him.

adding on to the previous point: both of you make jokes about liking your favorite fictional characters or celebrities more, just to be playfully petty.

["if you had to choose between me or monica, who would you pick?" "...well, yes!" "..." "alright, then. between me and /insert favorite character/--" "that's unimportant."]

after spending so much time with him, you already know which maintenance products he likes for himself or his guns. kind of like how other people know what shampoo or body wash their partner prefers. when you see he's running out and you buy them without telling him, he'll notice and be weeping tears of joy.

if you take a while to open up to him about certain things, he's alright with that and will tell you to take your time or give you the space you need. he's been the same when it comes to sharing his past with other people and understands that some things do take courage to tell.

seth lowell

despite having been in a relationship for a while, he most likely still gets easily flustered from any vaguely flirty quip and intimate gesture that comes from you. you could use this knowledge to your advantage but do have mercy on the poor guy.

[there was one instance where you gave him a quick peck on the lips without giving much thought to it before leaving and all he could do was stay where he was with his brain buffering for a whole minute.]

even though he's somewhat shy about expressing his admiration or appreciation for you and sometimes stumbles through his words when doing so, he's sincere in everything he says and does for you.

you're one of the very few people he trusts with touching his tail and ears. it's come to the point where when you're both just laying together, he wouldn't mind the feeling of your fingers gently rubbing on a certain spot on his ears while you run your fingers through his hair.

he appreciates that you see him for who he is and acknowledge his efforts to get where he is now. your affirmations, whether spoken or unspoken, mean much to him and he feels like he can truly be comfortable when he's around you.

sometimes, he unknowingly acts or does very attractive things and it just blows your mind. he'd steer you by the waist from bumping into things or, if you're shorter, accidentally pin you against a wall/surface when trying to reach for something from a high place because he just wants to help! you should be more careful, you know. but you've already mentally imploded while your sweet, sweet boyfriend remains clueless.

[wrestlersownmyheart]

Trouble In the Ring (A Short Roman-Reigns One-Shot) Roman Reigns X Female Reader

Title: Trouble In the Ring Pairing: Roman Reigns X Female Reader Summary: When Seth Rollins confronts Y/N in the ring, Roman has none of it. Disclaimers: I own nothing or anyone associated or affiliated with WWE. I own only the original characters. This is just a fictional story that came from my imagination. Content/Trigger Warnings: Some vague violence, and a little blood.

Trouble In the Ring

The time had come to address the rather large elephant in the room.

You stood in the center of the ring, boldly. You brought the microphone to your lips–spoke softly but firmly. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, I want to state a couple of things for the record. So that we can just get it out of the way, and we can move on to Wrestlemania.” You heard a few “What?”s, and fought the urge to roll your eyes at the hecklers. You took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to calm your nerves, “Item number one… I will always, always be loyal to my tribal chief, Roman Reigns.” You took a couple more breaths and then ticked the notes off on your fingers. “Item number two… I will always, always be loyal to my best friend in the world, CM Punk. Just because I am loyal to both of them, does not mean I will ever, in my life, be disloyal to either of them.” You switched the mic to your other hand, “So when it comes to Wrestlemania… Let’s. Get. One. Thing. Perfectly. Clear….”

“BURN IT DOWN!”

You froze as the audience popped, and they immediately began singing to Seth Rollins’ music.

Seth emerged from the gorilla position and strutted and danced his way to the ring, slapping hands as he went.

You glared at him as he went up the stairs and then he was in the ring, motioning to the time keeper that he wanted a mic. Once it was handed to him, his music ended, but the crowd was still singing his song. He took a few moments to bask in it, conducting his own choir.

He smirked as he made eye contact with you through his sunshades, and leered right in your face. You refused to back up, refused to give him the satisfaction.

He held up a finger, as if telling you to hold your horses, and then spun around. 

“MINNEAPOLIS!! WELCOME TO MONDAY! NIGHT! ROLLINS!!” He turned to you again as he said, “In case y’all don’t know, Y/N, let me introduce myself! I AM a visionary! I AM a revolutionary! I AM SETH. FREAKIN’. ROLLINS,” he said, holding the mic out to the audience as they yelled his lines with him.

“But Minneapolis, tonight it’s not about me, man. Tonight, it’s about, Y/N Y/L/N!” There were a few catcalls from the men in the audience and you proceeded to glare at them.

You then looked at Seth and scowled, and said, “Why are you even here?” Even though you knew he couldn’t hear you since your mic was not anywhere near your mouth.

“Y/N, you’re out here talking about loyalty, man. And that’s the reason I wanted to come say hi, because I want to ask you the question that’s been on ALL of our minds for the past few days. Y/N, whose side are you on,” he asked, pointing his finger in your face. 

A “Who?” chant broke out and you could feel your face heating up.

You began to tune Seth out, but still couldn’t help hearing: “Are you going to be the very best friend to CM Punk? Orrrr… Are you going to be the special council–and–” He coughed as if trying to brush over his next words. “--lover, to the OTC–your Tribal Chief?”

You gasped at the same time the audience did. And instantly realized that Seth knew about your feelings for Roman. How he found out, you had no idea, because you’d never, not once, spoken a word of them to anyone.

Not. A. Soul.

“Because I hear you out here, Y/N, right now. You’re trying to convince all of us, including yourself, that you can do both, at the same time. And Y/N, it occurred to me over the past week, you’re neither.”

“Oh, really?” You smirked at him. “Really, Seth? After all I’ve done for the both of them?” You rolled your eyes then as Seth continued his tirade–speaking of how Roman Reigns actually didn’t care about you at all. 

That stung.

Of course, Seth didn’t know what he was talking about. Roman did care about you, as a friend if nothing else. He cared or he wouldn’t be so bothered by Punk cashing in on his favor in the manner that he did.

But still, what Seth was saying made you wonder.

Did Roman care about you at all?

He had left you to eat a Samoan drop from Solo, and hadn’t done anything about it.

It was definitely playing with your head.

Now, you tuned Seth back in and listened as he continued.

“Y/N, CM Punk was NOT the first choice to be on Team Roman in War Games. I was.” 

You nodded. You had to. It was the truth. Sami Zayn had gone to Seth initially and tried to recruit him to Roman’s team before you’d turned and reached out to Punk to join the team. 

“Stop me when I’m telling lies, Y/N. I was.” Seth paused for effect. “I was. CM Punk wasn’t the first choice. He was the last choice. He was the only choice. And did he join Team Roman out of the goodness of his heart? Because he loved his best friend Y/N Y/L/N, no. It’s because he knew he could use it to get a favor out of you!”

Seth paused to let those words sink in for you.

“CM Punk is NOT your best friend. CM Punk loves no one but himself. And I have to be honest with you Y/N, I gotta be honest with all you, Minneapolis… I feel bad for you Y/N Y/L/N.  You are in a very difficult, unenviable position.” “You have no idea,” I said softly, avoiding his eyes. “No idea.”

“You’re between a rock and a hard place,” He went on as if you’d not spoken. “The easiest solution for all of us, for everyone involved, would be if you just removed yourself from the situation entirely, and let me and Punk, and Roman battle it out at Wrestlemania for the soul of this industry!”

Instantly, you shook your head as the crowd reacted to Seth’s words, almost horrified by the notion. “I can’t do that!”

“You can’t? You can’t do that Y/N? You can’t do that, or you won’t do that? I get it. You won’t betray your Tribal Chief. You won’t betray your best friend. I understand that. If only there was a solution, Y/N. If only there was a way… we could remove you…” His hand brushed along your shoulder as he sauntered behind you. “...From the situation.”

You froze again, afraid of where this was headed.

“Y/N, it’s for your own good.”

“Thanks.” You replied sarcastically with a roll of your eyes. “Thanks so much.”

He ignored you and continued, “I would take it as a privilege to remove you from the situation, right here. Right now.”

You stared at him, not comprehending what he meant.

“It’ll be quick, Y/N,” he said, moving in closer, seduction in his tone now. “One long… deep… kiss…” He smirked. “That would finish them off from wanting you on their side, wouldn’t it?” He stepped in even closer to you and ran his fingers down the neckline of your dress, the back of his hand brushing against the skin at your collar bone. “No one’s here to save you. You’d be all mine. Mine. To. Taint.” 

He cupped your cheek in his hand, and leaned forward preparing to kiss you right then and there as the crowds hooted in amazement.

You gaped at Seth, and didn’t hesitate as your hand drew back and slapped him right across the mouth. “DON’T PUT YOUR HANDS ON ME AGAIN!!” No mic was needed to hear you that time.

Seth grinned. And looked down at the canvas before looking you in the eye.

“Thank you.”

With that, he latched his large hand around your throat and backed you into the ring post nearest you, and then his mouth was on yours.

You were only vaguely aware of the crowd’s screams as Seth kissed you. You wouldn’t remember when you stopped fighting him and began kissing him back.

It just happened. And you didn’t know why. You’d always had eyes only for Roman. Where in the world was this coming from??

You heard and felt Seth’s triumphant chuckle as he continued kissing you, squeezing your throat lightly in his hand.

You moaned softly and almost pulled him closer when Seth was ripped away from you.

You opened your eyes and watched helplessly as Roman suplexed Seth in the middle of the ring. Then he proceeded to turn around and began punching him over and over.

“Keep your hands off her!”

Seth looked up at him with a bloody lip and grinned. “It was more than my hands, Chief. And I think she kinda liked it!”

You gasped then as Roman growled, and he went on another spree of punches, kicks, and slaps.

“Ro- Roman,” you stammered, stepping cautiously up to him. “Stop it! You’ve proven your point!”

Roman spun around and glared at you. “Shut up! Get out of the ring and wait for me at the ramp.”

Shocked at his cold tone, you did as he said. You backed out of the ring carefully, watching as Roman hit Seth a few more times. You made your way to the ramp then, afraid to watch any more.

You glanced up and saw that Roman was leaving the ring and heading straight for you. 

His hair was atypically free, and flowing out behind him as he stalked toward you. You couldn’t help but ogle the picture he made. He was wearing a black tanktop and black slacks. He’d never looked better to you.

Suddenly, he was upon you and didn’t even remotely hesitate to scoop you up over his shoulder and began carrying you–albeit caveman style–toward the gorilla position.

“Roman! Put me down, this instant!”

You beat on his back with your fists, not hard enough to actually hurt him, but hard enough that he knew you were serious.

Suddenly a loud smack was resounding in your ears followed by fire blooming across your backside.

“Hush, Y/N.” Roman growled as he walked. Snickers and laughter could be heard throughout the area as you were carried unceremoniously through the arena. Tears burned your eyes through the humiliation. How could Roman treat you in such a way? After all you’d been through together?

He stalked down a series of hallways until you could see he had reached his dressing room. Then he opened the door, stepped inside with you still trapped over his broad shoulder, and slammed the door shut locking it in the process.

He practically stomped over to his large sofa, and none too gently, dumped you onto it. You landed on it, lying down and instantly Roman had straddled you, pinning your arms up above your head with one of his hands. “What was that all about, Y/N?” He demanded, getting right in your face. Much like Seth had done moments before, his free hand went around your throat. “Huh?”

You didn’t have to ask what he meant. 

The kiss. Of course.

But what did he care? Like it or not, Seth had a point. Where was Roman when Solo hurt you? And as much as you hated to admit it…. Where was Punk? Your so-called best friend. No one had come to your rescue.

And that fact hurt.

“I don’t know,” you answered softly.

“What a crock,” Roman growled. “What was that kiss all about, Y/N? Tell me!”

“I don’t know!” You said again, more forcefully. “I’d never been kissed that way before, and it took me by surprise! That’s all!”

“Kissed how?”

You looked away from his intense, black eyes, and tried to pull your wrists free from his grasp.

“No way,” Roman murmured. “I’ve got you right where I want you. You’re not going anywhere. How did he kiss you?”

“What do you care, Roman?” You finally shot back. “It’s not like you cared when Solo Samoan dropped me right onto the announce table! You or Punk either one never even called to see if I was okay!”

“I was planning my return,” Roman said, his voice considerably softer. “I couldn’t do anything at that point or everything would have been ruined.”

“So, your big return meant more to you than I did?” You asked, tears burning your eyes. One spilled from your eye and trickled down your temple to your hairline. “Tell me, why do you think that Punk abandoned me, too?”

“Because he’s scum.”

“And what’s your excuse?”

“Maybe I’m scum too.”

“Let me up, Roman.”

“Not yet. I want to know what the big deal was about that kiss, first.”

You sighed in exasperation. “Fine. It was the first time someone kissed me that felt like…”

“Like what?”

“Like I was beautiful. Wanted. Sexy.”

Roman sighed, and stroked his thumb over your throat. “You are all of those things. All of them, you hear me?”

“Wait… What?”

“You’re beautiful. I want you. And you are sexy,” Roman replied, scanning your face from top to bottom. His face leaned in closer to yours and he spoke in a whisper. “I’m afraid I’m gonna have to kiss you now. Kiss you till you forget who Seth Rollins even is.”

With that, he closed the gap between your faces and his mouth met yours, full of confidence and passion.

His mouth moved over yours, nipping at your lips and teasing them with his own. Finally, he could no longer fight the urge to slip his tongue past your lips and fully taste you. He groaned and thrusted his tongue against yours, almost frantic in his kiss. 

His lips then trailed down over your chin, to your neck. You felt a fairly hard bite at the crook of your neck and you gasped out and then moaned, arching up against him.

“Seth, who?” You thought out loud.

A chuckle reverberated in Roman’s chest. “That’s what I thought,” His bass-pitched voice rumbled near your ear. 

Then he turned serious, and stared into your eyes. “I’m sorry, baby. For everything. I should have said screw my return and came back and saved you. Or better yet, put a stop to any of the Solo business before it had a chance to escalate like it did.”

You smiled softly. You’d already forgiven him. “I love you, Roman. I always have.”

His eyes brightened and he returned your smile. “I love you too, Y/N. I love you too. And later tonight, when we’re settled in our hotel, I’ll show you just how much.” He said, releasing her wrists and helping her to sit up.  “Is that a threat,” you teased.

“It’s a promise,” he said, kissing the tip of your nose.

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[akutasoda]

help! my bangboo is trying match-make me!

synopsis - your bangboo decides that it's time to set you on a date

includes - wise, belle, seth, ellen

warnings - gn!reader, fluff, slight crack, strangers to lovers, friends to lovers, awkward encounters, wc - 1.6k

a/n: shout-out to my friend, she was sat there in the hotel with me and gave me some amazing ideas (and listened to my rambling and even joined in-)

wise ★↷

you stared down at the list in your hand, you needed quite a few items although you reckoned that most could be obtained from the one four one. it was only going to be a simple errand or two but you still thought to bring along your bangboo, the company would be rather nice.

you managed to get most of your things, some extras as well, before deciding that a couple would have to be sought elsewhere. but as you looked up from the list you noticed that your bangboo was nowhere to be seen. slight panic was rising inside of you and then you finally noticed it.

out the corner of your eye you could see your bangboo running down the street, more panic set in as you went after it. luckily it only ran into the video store down the street, not any further but you definitely would have to apologise to whoever the owner was for your bangboo’s poor behaviour - it'd never done this before so you wondered what had gotten into it all of a sudden.

your panic only doubled however when you opened the door to the video store just in time to see your bangboo run into a grey haired guy. fortunately he didn't seem too bothered, more concerned about the bangboo that was now lying on the ground. wise quickly noted how the bangboo must belong to you, based upon how quickly you ran towards it and the look of concern on your face.

you hurriedly helped your bangboo back up before apologising to the unfortunate victim of your bangboo's “rampage”. wise assured you that it wasn't an issue, you were rather relieved that he wasn't so bothered but a small bit of guilt nagged away at you. while you were talking with wise, your bangboo kept observing the two of you before coming to it's own conclusion that neither of you were aware of.

and so as you tried to leave you noticed your bangboo stood rather firmly next to wise. you both tried encouraging it but it refused. eventually it made it's way over only to try and push you back towards wise. you let out a sigh of disbelief as wise held back a small laugh. after a very long while you managed to convince it to leave.

now everytime you visited sixth street your bangboo would end up dragging you to random play, and more specifically wise. and eventually as you started becoming friends with wise, your bangboo never looked so proud of itself - but it certainly wouldn't stop until you two actually got together.

belle ★↷

recently you had heard of a new video tape circulating that you were dying to get ahold of and see, fortunately you knew of a great video store on sixth street. so as soon as you had the time you made your way to random play accompanied by your bangboo.

admittedly you were quite the regular there, it definitely held up to the reputation it had. so you figured that if anyone would have that new video tape, it'd be them. over the times you visited, you'd become quite friendly with the siblings who ran the store and so you're sure that they'd help you find it regardless of whether or not they actually had it themselves.

you arrived eventually and immediately went to ask the bangboo at the counter for some assistance, belle emerged from the staff only rather quickly afterwards. she listened to your request before agreeing to help you find it, she wasn't too sure that they had it, they hadn't exactly updated their stock recently, but she would try to get ahold of it for you.

she promised to return in a few minutes before disappearing to the staff only for a while, and in the meantime you decided to glance through the other video tapes to pass the time. eventually she re-emerged with good news but you'd have to return the next day to collect it. you thanked her before making your way home, except as soon as you left the store, you noticed your bangboo was nowhere to be seen.

immediately, you turned heel and went back into random play and saw belle trying to urge your bangboo out of the staff only. this wasn't exactly the first time your bangboo had tried to stay at the store and you had a bad feeling it wouldn't be the last. belle only laughed when you apologised again as she assured you it's not a big deal - if anything she found it rather cute that your bangboo liked the store so much, unaware of its real reason.

and as soon as you returned the next day, your bangboo did the exact same thing. every single time. it certainly wasn't going to give up, it wanted the two of you to spend more time with each other and you both would soon come to learn that it would stop at nothing.

seth lowell ★↷

you sighed as you stretched out your arms, you looked down at the remaining paperwork on the desk before glancing at the clock. the remaining paperwork would have to wait, it was your break and you certainly weren't going to waste it on leftover files. standing up, you started thinking what to actually do with your free time before you noticed the lack of bangboo's around you.

more specifically your bangboo who usually stayed by your side at all times. only now it wasn't anywhere to be seen, not near your desk or anywhere in sight. panic started setting in as you now had to go search for your bangboo - not exactly how you saw your break going but maybe you could find it quickly enough.

so far, you're bangboo was nowhere to be found. the panic was increasing and you were worried something bad had happened to it. but you were quickly snapped out your worried daze by the sight of seth crouched down in front of something in the hallway. he heard you approaching and stood up to reveal your bangboo behind him.

he explained how he saw it wondering around aimlessly and got rather excited when it spotted him, and since he knew it was yours he figured he could wait with it untill you showed up. you thanked seth for helping return your bangboo, you both knew how much trouble you could land in for letting it run around like it did - even if it wasn't entirely your fault.

he assured you it was no real problem and he was glad that you two were reunited. you and seth bid farewell but your bangboo wasn't so happy about the short encounter and before anybody noticed it ran infront of you as you walked off, causing you to trip.

rather fortunately, seth was just quick enough to catch you before you fell. except now you were both a blushing mess and your bangboo was rather proud of itself - admittedly your bangboo was much more aware of your feelings for eachother than either of you. you and seth quickly parted afterwards, but your bangboo was not going to stop until one of you confessed.

ellen joe ★↷

lumina square was always busy around this time. you knew that but yet you still couldn't help but agree to meet with some of your friends there. idly glancing down at your phone, you became less aware of your surroundings, only noticing anything when you realised the weight of your bangboo leaning on your leg was no longer there.

panic set in almost immediately as you were worried something may have happened to your bangboo or it could get lost. fortunately, you managed to spot it waddling its way over towards the teamilk store and you could only hope to catch up to it before something bad happened - the busy streets didn't exactly fill you with much hope that it wouldn't be hurt if you didn't catch it quick enough.

it had never done something like this before and so you were struggling to think why it would run off all of a sudden, maybe it just really wanted some teamilk? the reasons didn't matter, all that mattered now was catching your bangboo and making sure it didn't cause any trouble.

you paused when you watched it run toward your classmate ellen. you two had talked on occasion, more so recently, but you two were definitely not friendly enough to walk away from this encounter being anything other than embarrassing. as soon as you realised you stopped, you quickly caught up to your bangboo which was now bothering ellen.

luckily, she was currently waiting alone and so you wouldn't run the risk of anyone else seeing the awkward encounter. still, you apologised and explained that you didn't know what had gotten into your bangboo and ellen only muttered something as you tried ushering your bangboo away.

you felt slightly bad and so you offered to buy her a teamilk as an apology, one she didn't turn down. fortunately for you, she agreed but only to share one seeing as she was planning to meet with her friends later. but this simple encounter couldn't of made your bangboo more happy as it new it was helping you two move in the right direction.

[bruhhxiao]

Rebirth

(sfw/nsfw)

Seth x fem!Reader

!Warnings: there might me some sexual scenes but not to much, death and rebirth of reader, (Y/N) rarely used !

Requested by: @lillycore

☥•☥•☥•☥•☥•☥•☥•☥•☥•☥•☥•☥•☥•☥•☥•☥

You and Seth were one thing, always thinking about each others but unfortunately your relationship was secret since you were just a mortal.

He would have left his throne exposed or his temple in silence just to spend a few hours with you. He was the god of violence and desert tempests, but your eyes met for the first time and there was only one tempest and it was in his chest, so he got curious.. visiting you at night watching your body wrapped around the linen sheets, or he would dissolve into sand and follow you around while you were busy with duties, or maybe worry Horus for his less anger towards anything. Because he was in love.

He would burst out of the temple after Nephthys begged him to end this story, she knew he started to get affectionate with you. Until a day he couldn’t take it anymore and shows himself to you. His body building little by little with sand while you holed the heavy container of water, his hand caressing your cheek as he leaned closer. You were completely froze, did you do something wrong to make the god Seth get to you?

When he has gotten closer to you doesn’t take time for you to reply, his lips sweetly touching yours making you drop the container and he realized. But from them moment and after he fully fell in love with you.

Your relationship started to grow time to time, he would visit you at night or take you in his chamber, and he would make it embarrassing because he doesn’t lay a hand on you, he just sits on the bed listening to your journey thinking how boring is to be a god.

But he noticed something, he would have thought that it was just a habit or that your lungs were just weak because you were a mortal, he didn’t mind it, he thought it was normal till your coughing got worse. To the point you had to hold your chest for the pain and find small drops of blood in your hand. You hide it from Seth but he notice your body getting weaker as days pass. And after a few days of absence the day came.

He could find you or even his servants couldn’t find you in the village and he finally decided to go to your house. He came at night when everyone where asleep a part of him regretted to see you but the other made him realize that maybe that was the last time he could hug you.

He knelt next to your shaking figure. Your body was boiling and sweating, your lung taking just the half of air. His arms sliding behind your shoulders and pulling you closer to his. He never felt this way: scared, strengthless, sad.

He kissed your temple and picked you up running to Anubis temple, of cousin the other gods were aware of the situation. There he goes begging on his knees with your body cooling in his arms, so pitiful, begging Anubis to talk to Osiris and make him spare your life.

The god ignored his request but Anubis done something that would have changed Seth life without his knowledge. He kept you as wandering soul till the day he betrayed Osiris and made you reborn.

There were you finally visiting Egypt for the first time in your life. All the studies and stories they told you about ancient Egypt made you more curious day by day. Your mother told you that your first word was a god name. And as you grew up you choose to believe in Egypt gods going against your own religion, but why.

There was something that no one couldn’t explain, how you got so affectionate to them from a very young age.

After a long period of stress you went to a trip with your friends to visit Cairo. You were excited. The next day you went visiting all the places and talked with some people and shared differences of culture and religion.

You packed your bag full of cameras and polaroids since you’re going for a tour of the Nile. It was dark and the only option was to find a place to eat and go to an Hotel around the area.

There you were enjoining the view on the restaurant balcony, the air was hot but the soft wind made it fell better. You were walking down the stairs for the silent garden downstairs, you laid on a bench as the smell of nature relaxed your tense muscles as your heart was beating in peace, you closed your eyes smiling like a dork remembering all the funny things that happened during these days and how this beautiful places made you feel like home.

You opened your eyes as you felt a drop falling down your cheek, you were expecting to find the stars covered by clouds and the moon losing her brightness. But you found two shining eyes hiding under a mask. You jolted by the surprise and sat yourself holding your chest meanwhile the figure also stepped back while the fountain limits the escape distance behind him.

You stood up you had plenty space to run away but you didn’t, you weren’t scared.

“Y/N it’s time to go back to the hotel!! Y/N!” you heard your friend scream from the balcony.

“Y/N…” Seth repeated your name under his breath, your eyes glued on the jackal-shaped mask until your friend called for you once again, Seth noticed and he dissolved himself into send disappearing.

He left you speechless, left you like a sculpted statue. You snapped out of your thought and rushed to the others.

Once you arrived at the hotel you locked yourself in, those eyes, just thinking about them made your heart race.

That mask was familiar, you searched on internet and bingo, that mask was related to a god very dear to you, Seth.

“The doctor warned me, there are too many flus and viruses going around here. I am hallucinating.” You said checking your temperature and turning on the Air Conditioning.

“But weren’t they half animals?..” you kept wondering till the day you had to go back home.

You searched on the internet but there were so many theories that the one you knew from childhood sounded crazy to you in that moment. You kept reading, working day after days neglecting your sleep and hunger. It was around midnight when your headache was getting worse and sometimes you would feel dizzy as well, you lay on the bed. “Just five minutes” sounded like a loop in your head till you fall asleep.

You felt a warm sensation o your left cheek but you thought it was from the sickness, but then you hear pressure one you chest, you heard a mumbling voice and it sounded relieved.

Your head moves to your chest and meets a very familiar but strange texture, you slowly open your eyes and by the soft light from the light stand you see a few red strings of red hair falling out the clothing that was attached to his mask.

You kind felt better but your muscles were too weak push him away. Seth raised his head turning towards your face, you couldn’t see much because of the jackal mask but you saw his trembling lips. It felt like Deja vu…

His hand reached the mask taking it off slowly and when your eyes met you saw a very similar expression but this time he wasn’t crying. You smelled sand, you smelled wheat and some hints of flax for a were short second. His name, hi face, his touch and his voice sounded clearer in your head.

“I thought he was going to take you away from me again…” he said before you could even clear your throat.

As you pronounce his name he holds you hand to his chest while his left hand holds your cheek, he sat closer next to you leaning down slightly. You couldn’t tell if it was a dream or not because you started to remember how the warm sand felt under your feet while you walked next to him talking about the mortals life.

Suddenly you got flashbacks of your last hour of life, he was sitting just like in the past and you felt pain on your chest, you were living a nightmare but the difference was that you’re staying alive. He noticed something was wrong, how your breathing got heavier and how your eye contact was so intense.

Who would have thought that the god of violence, destruction and desert tempest had stopped everything with a simple gesture, a simple kiss, a sweet stamp pressed against your lips. You felt something, you felt free, you felt hundreds chains letting you go and run towards freedom like a curse was broken.

You finally spoke, calling his name. Your hand reached his back pulling him in a hug, he leaned closer and both of his arms hugged you. Kiss sweet as figs while he laid on top of you making everything more passionate. Only he knows how much he wanted to do that before, holding you while making love and not seeing you suffering till your last breath.

His hands traveling under your T-shirt and take it off eventually, his right hand didn’t hesitate and he moved to your shorts. His hand slips inside the clothing serving you of some preparation before taking both shorts and panties off. He breaks the kiss for a few seconds waiting for a reaction from you, but you didn’t, you felt like him.

He toke off the cloth around his waist and position himself against your intimacy, he holds you as he slides into you. He was gentle, how his hands caressed your body made you feel like you were made of thin glass. His hips attached to yours, your back arches making you wrap your arm around his neck. The room was death silent, just your heavy breaths. Your reflection reflected back to you by the mirror next to your closet showing you how his buttocks contracted how he thrusted faster.

Somehow he noticed, his shoulders moved back a little as his hand turned your chin to him and he kissed you as you both reached pleasure. His hip’s grinding against yours and his arms held you tight against him, his lips travelled to your next leaving sweet pecks.

“My sweet baby.. I won’t let anyone anything happen to you again” he said kissing your cheek.

“But you’re a god, I’m a mortal” you said caressing his face.

“I can make you a demigod, but it won’t be easy for Ra” he says.

“but you might lose your memory…” he continued showing a bit of concern and worries in his eyes.

“I won’t never let anyone take you away from my memory.” You said cupping both of his checks kissing him.

Sure the Demi god might have suffered for thousand years and he never expected to hold you again in a healthy body like she always been with him.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Helooo, again sorry for taking so long, I apologize to the one who requested :’)

Hope y’all enjoy<3 btw I have more requests of ennead coming up soon, very soon :p see yaa!!!

[famousstatesmanbearroad]

DISTRACTION PART 4 (WWE CODY RHODES)

Summary: He’s allowed you in his head, allowed you to play mind games, allowed you to make him vulnerable, causing his match against your cousin at WrestleMania 39. Months later and he finally earns another match, just for you to start the distraction all over again, dwelling on the pass

• Parings: Cody Rhodes X Samoan fem reader

Warnings - mentions of sex, smut, oral sex (male receiving), slight degrading kink, profanity, Dirty Talk, 18+ only (Minors DNI), (READ AT YOUR OWN RISK)

Word count: 3.8K

Waffle House, open twenty-four hours, meant you were stuck in the middle of one with Seth, Jey, and Cody at twelve in the morning. The neon lights cast a dim glow over the table, illuminating the way Cody's gaze kept flickering toward you, the way you kept pretending not to notice. But you did. Oh, you did.

As expected, Jey sat beside you, dressed in his merch and sweatpants. Across from him was Seth, a departure from his usual dramatic outfits, wearing just a black shirt and jeans. His eyes kept shifting toward your brother, baffled at how anyone could be this excited about a damn Waffle House.

Then there was Cody, right across from you. The booth was cramped, and the space between your legs and his was practically nonexistent. A slight shift, just the tiniest movement, and your knees would touch. You could feel his eyes on you, stealing glances when he thought you wouldn't notice. But you did. And you weren't any better. You met his glances, challenged them, and let your lips curl in a way that made his jaw tighten.

He hated it. Hated how close you were. He hated how much he wanted to touch you. But here you were, in public, sitting between your brother and his friend. Off-limits. Or at least, he kept telling himself that.

You hadn't changed into something more comfortable like the others. The silk dress still clung to you, a last-minute decision in a rush out the door to commit to this plan that no one knew about. However, you were able to change into some slippers.

And Cody? There is no suit tonight. Just a dark gray shirt and sweatpants. Sweatpants. The bane of your existence. You loathed how good he looked in them, how infuriatingly tempting he was without even trying.

"Mm," Seth's voice as his eyes scanned through the menu brought to him your attention, along with the other two. I don't know what to get."

"I do," Jey exclaimed as he rubbed his hands together. "Man, I'm starving!"

You couldn't help but look at Seth as he looked over at Jey, then at Cody, who wore an amused smile on his face, as if he was used to Jey's excitement whenever it came to Waffle House.

Your eyes went back to Seth as you suddenly wore a smile on your face. "Have you ever been to Waffle House with Jey?"

Seth looks at you with surprise since you haven't said a word since leaving with them. But he answers your question by shaking his head.

Within seconds, the waiter comes. Unbelievably, you and Cody glance at each other. His eyebrows raised in amusement as he was about to enjoy the show, mainly on seeing Seth's reaction to what was about to unfold. And despite what you were feeling right now towards Cody, the smile on your lips showed the same amusement.

"Hello. My name is y/w/n. I am your waiter for today. Can I start off with any drinks?"

Seth was about to speak as his eyes glanced down at the menu. However, Jey spoke first, beating Seth to it.

"Can I order my food as well? I already know what to eat," Jey said, glancing up at the waiter as if he were some little kid who was planning on ordering everything off the menu. The waiter immediately looked over at Jey.

"Okay," Jey starts, immediately cracking a smile to spread between you and Cody. "Can I have triple hashbrowns scattered and covered?"

The waiter immediately writes down Jey's order. Jey wasn't done, however. "Six scrambled eggs with cheese, two waffles with chocolate chip cookies, and then two lemonade drinks."

Your eyes glanced over at Seth, who looked at Jey as if he were crazy. You couldn't help but giggle.

"Six scrambled eggs!?" Seth looks at him. Jey looked over at him and shrugged his shoulders. "Aye, I'll be ordering more later."

Seth shook his head but continued to look at the menu, ordering his food and drink as he followed Jey instead of ordering a lot less.

You and Cody followed the two of them with the order before the waiter left.

Suddenly, it happened one by one. You didn't think you would have to encounter Cody alone, even though you were here as a plan to get to him, as well as Seth and Jey. But Jey quickly gets out of his seat. He looks at you and the two other men at the booth. "I need to use the bathroom real quick,"

He doesn't give time for you to speak before rushing towards the bathroom. Then, as quickly as he left, a phone rang. Seth pulls his phone out of his pocket and looks down at it. "My wife is calling. I'm going to step outside real quick."  

Seth pulls himself out of the booth before stepping outside. You can feel the tensions forming between you and Cody as the two of you sit by yourself at the booth. The events from the pre-kickoff party ran through your mind as Cody shot you a glance. You gently laid back in your seat, glancing at him back. Doing this was a part of your distraction. You knew that Cody would immediately catch on to it if you were to use your usual habit of distractions.

Be innocent. Let him come to you.

You gave a small smile before looking down, purposely yet innocently biting your lips as if it was meant to be unintentional.

And my god, it was working! You felt Cody's glance linger longer on you. You weren't looking at you, but you saw his eyes locked down on your lips, staring. He could feel your legs ever so slightly, accidentally brushing past his legs.

But for someone who instantly caught on to your distraction the first run and took a whole lot for him to fold and have you for that one night, Cody wasn't stupid this time.

"What the hell are you playing?" He blurs out. Your eyes snap in Cody's direction as he watches you. You shook your head. "What are you talking about?"

"Cut the bullshit, y/n," He spoke. "It doesn't take one night, one argument with Roman, for you to suddenly wake up and realize that he uses you to keep his championship."

Fuck. You hated how smart he was. You couldn't help but wonder if Seth had caught on, considering that it was impossible even to distract the guy when all he did was throw the mind games right back at you.

But you didn't back down; you were trying to give Cody at least some sort of mindset that maybe he was wrong this time. You shook your head, giving him confusion through your expression. "I got into an argument with my other two brothers and my cousin earlier. I told Jimmy and Solo to tell Roman to go to hell, and you think this is some game I'm playing."

You looked at Cody, waiting for a reaction, hoping for sympathy or an apology for even thinking that you were doing something up to no good.

And some of Cody thought that maybe he was accusing you of something that was nothing, that perhaps you weren't playing games with him. But then he shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to buy it whatsoever.

"This me you're talking to y/n," He said. "You care about Roman too much to tell him to go to hell out of nowhere. And from what I am guessing, this isn't just about me; this is about Seth as well, considering he was out there earlier defending me against your cousins. And considering that your brothers are at each other, this has something to do with Jey, right? Get our trust, play games without none of us knowing."

Fuck! Cody was more intelligent than you thought. And you knew that this little stunt you were trying to pull at the moment officially failed as you rolled your eyes, sighing.

"Okay, you got me," you said, then purposely yet again, only this time not so innocently, biting your lips as you stared at him, trying to hold back a smile. "I can't even lie; that was very hot of you."

Cody leans back in his seat as he stares at you, ignoring how incredibly sexy you look right now, biting your lips. "So what is this all about, huh? Get all of our trust, know whatever Roman and Dwanye need to know, and go back to inform them. I get me; I have problems with the bloodline, Roman, and even Dwanye. I even get Seth, considering he and Roman were best friends. But Jey? Your brother?"

You remained silent. Not because it was getting you. You knew that what you were planning on doing, betraying Jey's trust, would break him. He cares about you so much, and the fact that you were here tonight brought him joy. But you remained silent because you let Cody rant. After all, you knew that no matter how fucked this was, Cody wasn't going to say a soul. He's too much of a good guy to see Jey hurt.

So, you decide to throw right at him. "Tell him then,"

"What?" Cody looked at you, confused.

"Tell him that his sweet little sister, whom he loves so deeply that he would do anything for, is going behind his back and is distracting him for Roman," You crossed your arms. "Or don't, I don't care. I've done worse, and he knows that."

A laugh comes straight out of Cody's mouth. Not the kind of laugh where he heard something that he found funny. The type of laugh where he knew how evil you can get caused him to be in disbelief. He knew how far you were willing to go to help Roman keep that championship title. My god, you allowed him to fuck you so badly that it mentally left a scar on the both of you.  He knew the kind of reaction Jey would have if he found out, crashing out at his brothers and cousin and hurting his sister for even doing that. The only thing he can do is make sure that it doesn't happen without telling Jey.

"You're sick, you know that!?"

You smile, looking at him. Sliding your foot off your slipper, it creeps up Cody's leg as he stares right back at you. "You know I can't stop thinking about the party," you said. Notice the shiftiness in Cody's expression as you mentioned the event that had taken place last night.

"God, the way you kiss me, Cody, the way you reacted to me pressing ass to you, the way your fingers-"

You suddenly gasp as a large pair of hands wrap around your ankle, tugging it forward, not to where you shifted in your seat but definitely in a way that catches you off guard.

His jaw was clenched as he looked at you. "Stop that," His voice was low. You smirk, tilting your head. "Why don't you like it when I talk about you like that? Touch you like that? Does it bother you?"

That is precisely what bothered Cody. Not because he didn't like it, but because it was bothering him so bad that your foot inched a little closer, you would have felt how hard his dick was for you. He couldn't help but think about the part where he locked you two in the bathroom, how you moaned so delicately as his fingers were burned in you. And by the way, you were talking and how you had this attitude toward you, he wanted to do just that, just to shut you up.

But before he could say something, not that he knew what to say, his eyes spotted Jey walking out of the bathroom. Cody, immediately put your foot down.

"The food is not out yet?" Jey asked as he took his seat right back next to you, clueless about what had happened.

Seth walked in a second later and sat back down next to Cody. You and Cody looked directly at each other, both knowing that this was far from over.

-

This was now the moment you regret coming to the guys tonight to Waffle House. Because WWE decided to book their wrestlers into two different hotels, both Jey and Seth were off to a hotel, which meant you were stuck with Cody. However, you were too regretful. It meant more games to play with Cody.

Watching your brother drive off with Seth. Your eyes glanced over at Cody, who was more regretful than you were. Being alone, with you meant one thing and one thing only. Trouble.

Everything was trouble. After what happened earlier at the restaurant, it was going to continue at this very moment as you sat in his car, sitting in his passenger seat. He got in the driver's seat and wasted no time, speeding out of the parking lot and driving to the hotel like his life depended on it.

"So?" You shrugged your shoulders as you glanced in Cody's direction. Hesitant, Cody looks over at you, then back at the road. "So what?"

"What's your plan?" You asked him. You can see the sigh coming out of his mouth as you couldn't help but smirk.

It was like old times between you two. The way you talked, flirted with Cody, pissed him in ways that you didn't know it was impossible. You might as well do it this way since he already figured out your whole plan.

"I mean, it's best you just go ahead and expose me. It will all backfire on me. I would have to start from all over again, but what's the fun of that, huh?"

"I'm not speaking to you about this," Cody spoke. He was already tired of you, and the fact that after years of avoiding you, the moment he made up his mind and decided he wanted to fight your cousin, it was all back to square one for him with the mind games made him want to go insane.

"Why not, Cody?" you asked him. You caught me, you figured out my plan, and I want to know what you're going to do about it."

"I'm going to stop this car and kick you out if you don't stop?" Cody spoke. Stubbornly, you rolled your eyes, looking away. This catches Cody's attention as he looks over at you.

"You're being a brat right now, you know that?" Cody said. Now it was your turn to be tired of you. You two were fighting like kids right now. You knew that it was like old times, but this? You barely did anything, and now it is causing you to get mad.

"I'm acting like a brat!?" You asked in disbelief. You then shook your head. "Fine, I won't speak about it anymore since I'm a brat."

It was like the roles switched as Cody smirked. "You always enjoyed being one, but now, all of a sudden, I called you out by one, and you get all petty."

"You're an asshole," You tell him.

"And you're a brat." He repeats.

You licked your jaw as he called you a brat once again. As you looked at him. He smirks, knowing that another reaction is coming out of you. But oh, does he think everything is wrong?

For some odd reason, this confirms how fucked the two of you were, as this petty argument was turning you on so much. You can now check off degrading kinks on your list as you unbuckle your seat belt.

Cody glances over at you for a second, confusion on his face. You move inched closer to his face, looking at him as if his eyes were on the road, yet his breathing became unsteady.

"Call me a brat again," You slightly demanded. Your fingers slowly slide up to Cody's head, slightly tugging on his hair, pulling back a bit. A low grunt escapes his mouth, causing you to bite your lips.

Cody knew what game you were currently playing right now. And he knew that, just like last night, he was going to regret this. But by the way, his hard-on was forming, dick twitching in his pants as you asked him to call you a brat again; he couldn't help it.

"You're a fucking brat!" He repeats more harshly. You hum as you suddenly lower your head. Your lips trace over his neck, tasting him. You wanted to show him how much of a brat you were by leaving a hickey on his neck, knowing that he would have to hide it during his following shows.

So you did. First, it was slow kisses, taunting and teasing him. The small groans that failed to stay inside escape his lips. He could feel you then suck on his neck, biting it a bit, as he tried to pull back from it, forming into a hickey, but failed as it felt so good, the car jerked a bit as he tried to contain himself.

"Did you... did you just-"

"Give you a hickey?" You smile at him as you go back on his neck, kissing more harshly than before. You gently tug on his earlobe, causing another low groan to come from him.

"Are you going to do something about that?" You taunt as your other hand now begins to touch him, being placed right on top of the thighs of his sweatpants. "Are you gonna teach this brat a lesson?"

"Jesus Christ, Y/N," Cody struggled to keep his eyes on the road. And it was extremely difficult, considering that your hand slowly rubs his thighs before moving upwards.

You look down at your hand, watching it as it touches the covered erection of Cody's. Both mouths dropped in pleasure. You forgot how big Cody was. And you were going to remember even more as the thought of tasting came across your mind.

Cody didn't stop you. He couldn't stop you even if he wanted to. But he didn't want to stop you. Your eyes never left his as your hand reached just inside his sweatpants. His reaction almost made you moan as you pulled his hardened dick.

"Fuck, you're so big."

And that did it. They did it for Cody. He could see the hotel from a distance. But fuck the hotel right now; he was not going to make it. You felt a harsh serve as Cody pulled up onto the side of the road. With an instant reaction, Cody pulls his seat all the way back. Your mind was foggy, and you didn't realize that you were climbing over to the driver's side and getting on your knees in front of him.

He watches the innocent in your face. The genuine kind, not that fake one you pulled earlier. His dick twitches once again as you look at him, your hand grabbing his cock as you stroke it so gently.

The thumb of his brushes your lips lightly as she parts them.

"You want me to do something?" Cody asked, looking down at her. "You want me to take that brat out of you and teach a lesson."

Your eyes fluttered closed as you moaned, nodding. Cody let out a groan as he leaned back on his seat, pulling his sweatpants and boxers down further.

He lets out a small moan as he watches her stare at his dick, stroking it still as it adds pleasure to him. Like you knew precisely what you were doing, even though you had never sucked his dick before, you slightly sat up over the tip as you allowed saliva to roll down to his shaft before she stroked again.

Fuck, this was meant to be a lesson taught. Cody was enjoying himself too much to punish you. You didn't even have his dick in your mouth, and you were already taking him so well.

But when you did, when you suddenly wrapped your lips around his cock, swirling your tongue around his sensitive nerves, his hips shifted, eyes closing as he leaned his back, letting a low yet loud groan.

"Fuck y/n,"

Moaning, you pulled back slightly before leaning forward again, taking him in your mouth once again. Cody watches her, as if he looks away, even for a second, it will disappear.

An uncontrollable moan leaves Cody as you lean forward again, this time further. His hand went to your hair, grabbing and holding it as his hand was used as a hair-tied

"That's it, take my dick even further, you brat," The degrading kink kicks in you both as you can't help but moan. You looked up at him and maintained eye contact as you did, just as you were told. "My god, just like that."

You bop your head as your hand stroke along with your mouth, sucking on his dick. Cody tried his hardest to control himself. However, you were doing so well, taking him so well. He didn't know how much he could handle.

He tugged your hair back, causing you to release your mouth from him. You whined a bit, sticking your tongue out as you looked at him with lust, with the need to have him back in your mouth, catching him off guard.

"You're so fucking hot, baby," He moans as you grab his dick, bringing it to your mouth as you moan, swirling your tongue around it.

This would have to be the filthiest thing that Cody has ever seen from you as he gets a bit more aggressive, pulling her back down as his hips jerk upward. He lets out a sultry moan as you begin to gag a bit, yet moan, not wanting him to stop.

"I know you like that, baby," Cody groans, looking back down at you. "You take it so easily."

You let out another moan as he was now under no control whatsoever just by that. His eyes rolled back as both his hand was on your head, fucking your mouth. He allows you to pull back a bit, letting you breathe, only to hear another whine from your lips.

"Keep fucking my mouth," You moaned out in desperation. Cody didn't think twice. He pulled right back down on his dick. His hips fucking your mouth, holding it a bit before letting out another moan.

"Fuck, y/n, you're going to make me cum." Cody groans out. And you could see the differences as his moans and groans were short with pauses. You bop his head further, faster, desperate to feel him in his mouth. This was wrong; it was so dirty from both acts. But that was the last thing you cared about right now.

And the way Cody's words stumbled as his eyes shut closed as a hot orgasm shot in your mouth as you pumped him so quickly, harsh as he silently cussed to himself.

If he didn't regret what he did to you last night at the party, he certainly regrets this moment. Not because he didn't want this moment to happen. Some of him dreamt about this moment happening no matter how much he didn't admit that.

But the way you looked at him, so innocent after what you had just done, he knew that no amount of distraction you would pull would make him crack.

Because he was already broken.

Last part | Next part: TBA

TAGGED LIST:

@yolobloggers @reebs-luvs-rhodes-and-wrestling @rhodesusoripleyslut @rickastelybaby @princessesareforsuckers @alyyaanna @mmerraa @littlecat21 @lvisshh @crazy-phan-girl13 @user16702008 @roseydoesypoesy @kingjohnson-69 @siamdunk @kombuchaqueen04

[lostintransist]

Boys' Home - Part 3

Part 1 | AO3

Simon worked the rest of the day with the guys, hauling out as much junk and stripping back walls as much as they could before dark fell. They would be buying a generator and more tools the next time they were in town. The sun had started to dip in the sky. Before Soap and Gaz hopped in the car with Price to head for the hotel for the night he asked them to look into you.

“I’m staying back to observe tonight. I don’t like that a woman that young has four boys.”

Soap put up a hand before Gaz could ask the question clearly in his face.

“You got it. We will bring breakfast for you in the morning. Come on Gaz. Let’s go.”

Soap knew him well enough at this point to know that kids were a hard line for him. He would explain it to Gaz. Simon turned and jogged into the twilight stealing trees and followed the trail to the edge of your yard. He settled in until the darkness left the only light seeping from the windows.

He watched you in the kitchen, windows cracked to let a breeze through the old house.

A boy’s voice followed you around as you shifted and spun around the kitchen, presumably to get dinner ready. The fourth time you ran into the boy you yelled.

“Seth!”

The boy jumped and Simon straightened, ready to get involved. To his surprise, you covered your face with your hands and took three deep breaths. That done you moved your hands to your hips and looked at the boy.

“I am sorry for yelling at you, that wasn’t cool of me. I would love to listen to you but right now I need you out of the kitchen so I can finish getting dinner ready.” Simon is wary of your calm and even tone.

“But why did you have to yell at me?” The boy has tears in his voice.

You let out another breath and glance at the ceiling. “Do you remember how I told you that my parents hit me as a kid?”

“Yeah,” Seth sniffles.

“They also yelled at me. So sometimes when I get overwhelmed my brain does something that it thinks will fix the issue before I can get ahead of it.” You pause looking at the boy. When he nods you continue. “That is sometimes why I ask for space when I am angry because my brain is saying that hitting will make the problem stop but you and I both know that won’t fix it.”

“Right because that is not kind and hitting people makes bigger problems.”

“Correct. Now, can I sit down with you after dinner and listen to you tell me about your Minecraft world?”

“I guess.” Seth sounds dejected even from across the yard.

“Do you want a hug, a wave, or a high five?”

He sighs big, “A hug.”

You pull the boy in instantly, hugging the boy who reaches your shoulder tight. He returns the touch before disappearing further into the house. Simon watches you, narrowed in on the movements he can see from the distance he has.

Pulling your hair tie out of your hair you redo your bun, somehow making it look worse than before. Leaning both hands on the counter you talk to yourself.

“Okay, we only have a few more hours until bedtime. You can do this. You love your children. You will love them more in the morning when everyone has had some sleep.”

Distant plinks have your shoulders drooping in defeat. You turn to face the interior of the house and shout.

“Boys! You clean those marbles up! I told you to stop sending them down the stairs, that can break them!”

A chorus of ‘Sorry Mom’ reaches Simon’s ears. He doesn’t know what to think of you. Every opportunity for compliance via punishment with your children had been met with honesty and empathy. He wanted to walk away now, his skin stretched too tight across his bones.

Simon watched for hours. You bit back more yelling and apologized to more of the children while gently guiding them through their routine. Shower, brush teeth, bed, no you don’t care if you take a tablet to bed they will all turn off at ten, yes even in the summer. When at last the only lights on in the house belonged to the kitchen Simon watched you pour yourself a drink and slid into a chair just beyond the reach of the kitchen light.

You stared into the darkness, eyes sweeping over him again and again. When at last your glass is nearly empty you set it down to the side of your chair. Scrubbing your eyes you talk to yourself again.

“The first week is always the hardest. They will get back into the groove of summer soon. We are going to Costco tomorrow. That will help with their jitters out. We can get a Lego set and the muffins. Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. Hot dog and a drink for them and then they should pass out on the way home and play outside until dark so I can finish pulling the lathe out of the top room.”

You continued to mutter to yourself as you gather up your glass and head inside. Simon watches you drift through the house by the change of lights on the windows. When you finally settle he decides that must be your room.

Seeing no better option Simon turns the chair you had used to stare into the forest to face the house, settling in to doze for a few hours.

He opens his eyes because a light has turned on in the house. Must be a bathroom light, the small window positioned between the two rooms in use. After the light flicks off your shadow against the darkness traces through the house. After placing a basket on the back step you shut the door and head back to bed without turning on any lights.

Curious Simon lets you settle before he creeps up to the step. He smells it more than three steps away. One of the boys had peed the bed.

The only time he had ever felt this discombobulated before had been when as a boy he had been tossed from a horse. His grandfather’s neighbor had a horse in the field next to the house. No one had told Simon the old mare would rather murder than nurture. She sidled up the rock fence and let him climb on her back before taking off like her ass was on fire.

The wind had been knocked out of Simon and he stumbled home. Thinking about it now he is sure he had a concussion from how hard he hit the ground. He cuts off the train of thought before he has to relive the memory of his father coming to drag him and his mother back. That would be the last time she tried to leave her husband.

🍎🍏🍎🍏🍎🍏🍎🍏🍎🍏🍎🍏🍎🍏🍎🍏🍎🍏🍎🍏🍎🍏

Soap delivered on his promise of breakfast. Gaz brought a change of clothes and a pack of wet wipes. Price only delivered him a shake of the head before heading inside.

“What did you find out?” Simon asks as he wipes the back of his neck. He had already removed his shirt and would be cleaning himself up the best he could before starting another day of tearing out walls.

“She’s got a killer playlist,” Gaz offers.

He and Johnny both look at Kyle.

The man catches their stares.

“What? You said check her out, you can learn a lot about a person from their music choices.” He settled the new tool belt on his hips and continued, “She has all the kids legally, is listed as their legal guardian with the state. Can’t figure out how they ended up with her since none of them have original birth certificates, just delayed ones.”

“House was an inheritance, and she is a teacher at the local school like she said. She teaches science and auto shop.” Johnny adds. “What did you learn last night?”

Something in his stillness must alert them. Both men pause their respective tasks to look at him.

“She doesn’t hit them.”

Kyle and Johnny glance at each other before settling back on him.

“She apologizes when she yells. One of the kids wet the bed in the middle of the night. There was no screaming or hitting, took less than ten minutes to get the kid back to bed, and the laundry settled for later.”

Simon stretched his pecs before stretching his shoulder blades, trying to dislodge the pain between them.

“Huh,” Kyle looked at the ground, crossing his arms over his chest. “Didn’t know that was an option.”

Johnny ran a hand over his mohawk, jaw working back and forth.

“If you grannies are done gossiping there is work to be done in here,” John yelled out from the second floor. He effectively filleted the tension that had risen in each man.

They didn’t pick the conversation up again until Price had taken his turn in the shower at the hotel. Every bit of your life that had been recorded in an accessible way had been poured over. They were looking for what witchcraft made you a better single mother to four boys you didn’t birth than any of the biological parents that beat and ruined the three men who ran from their problems with bullets and tactical vests. They didn’t find the answers they were looking for.

Part 1 | Part 4

Masterlist

[onlyangel4]

picking up the broken pieces. seth rollins. roman reigns. part two.

cheater!seth rollins x reader. roman reigns x reader.

synopsis: after your world turns upside down overnight, roman is there to help you put the pieces back together.

faceclaim: eiza gonzález

part one // part two // part three// part four // part five // part six

series taglist: @tinyxrose @daemyratwst

authors note: no hate at all to seth and becky i love them so much this is just for the plot. this is going to be quite a few parts. do comment if you want to be tagged in this series.

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showing up at charlotte flair's house uninvited probably was not the best decision that roman had ever made in his life but he needed to see you. he needed to be there for you. you had been for him before, in the smallest of ways.

he could remember a time after a particularly difficult match you had swung by his dressing room with a bottle of water and a cookie that you had baked at the home you shared with seth. it was a smile action on your behalf but it had pulled roman out of his head and brought him back down to earth. he had been incredibly grateful for you.

he wasn't even sure if you would consider him a friend but he saw you in that light. he cared about you even if you did not talk often. he had always thought that you could do way better than seth but you had been happy with him and that was enough for roman.

when roman arrived at charlotte's house he could see your car parked in the drive and a sigh of relief left his lips. you were here and that meant that you were safe, that was what meant the most to roman. he parked his own car before walking to the front door knocking on it.

a stunned charlotte opened the door looking at him with a furrowed brow, "roman, what are you doing here?", she spoke keeping her voice hushed.

"is she here?"

charlotte didn't even need to ask who he was talking about. she simply stepped out of her front door shutting it behind her before turning to face him, "she is upstairs, asleep. she got here at 6am", charlotte explained, failing to notice you wrapped in a blanket peering out of the window.

"how is she?"

charlotte let out a humourless laugh, "about as good as a girl whose boyfriend cheated on her with her best friend could ever be"

"has he tried to see her?"

"becky and him were calling her so much that she threw her phone at the wall and smashed it, things fucked"

"i just needed to know that she is okay, we don't talk much but i was worried"

"i know, she has this energy, like sunshine and the idea of him ruining that has made me so angry", charlotte spoke and roman nodded in agreement.

roman was about to thank charlotte for looking after you and leave but the faint sound of the doorhandle rattling caused his eyes to shoot to the doorway.

and there you were wrapped up in a blanket, hair a mess, eyes red and puffy from the countless tears that had fallen from them and as soon as he saw you roman felt a deep anger in his soul, how could someone do this to you?

you didn't say anything as you stepped towards him, he instinctively opened his arms and you collided into his chest recieving the tighest hug from the man, more tears fell from your eyes and onto his shirt. his large hand rubbed your back, "i don't know what i did wrong"

"nothing, you did nothing wrong y/n", he whispered softly. he waited for you to pull away from the hug before looking down at you, "you are going to be okay. you have me and charlotte. we will make sure you are okay. we are here for you", he spoke the words like a vow.

y/ninsta

liked by charlottewwe, romanreigns, paulheyman and 682,982 others

tagged: charlotteflair

y/ninsta: the rumours are not true. i am not leaving the wwe and that is all thanks to this woman (and a couple others) who have been my support system at this time. thank you to everyone who has been there for me, especially you charlotte. i don't know what i would've done without you.

comments on this post have been disabled

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y/ninsta posted a story

written: back on raw tonight, missed y'all

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in the middle of everything you did contemplate moving companies, just to get away from it but that felt like a major coward move in your opinion. you would be running away from everything that had happened instead of facing it face on in order to get proper closure.

today was going to be an easy one, cut a promo that you are back and better than ever, get interrupted by liv morgan, have an argument in the middle of the ring, setting up a singles match between the two of you, no actual fighting just a way for you to ease yourself in without pushing yourself too far.

you had been walking backstage of the arena looking for a quiet place to prepare yourself when your eyes landed on a pacing roman.

when his eyes landed on you, his pacing immediately stopped. as he turned his head to give you a smile. you and roman had text and called quite a bit after that day at charlotte's house but with his busy schedule this was your first time seeing him in person.

"you look good", he said, his voice a little lower than usual.

"well i was a mess the last time you saw me so anything is better than that", you said with a small laugh.

"you look good when your crying too", he chuckled and you just shook your head at him with a smile.

he opened his mouth to say something else something about how proud he was, how strong you’d been but he knew you didn’t need to hear that right now. instead, he took a step closer.

"you sure you’re ready for this?"

"i have to be, everyone needs to know i'm not just going to disappear because of what happened" you said quietly, the edge of nerves creeping into your tone.

"then go out there and remind them who the hell you are."

that comment made you smile softly, "thank you for your support roman", you said honestly, "are you sticking about?"

"i'm not missing this"

he ended up walking you right to where you were entering from and when your music hit you gave him a wink and then walked out into the arena, the cheers from the crowd swallowing you whole.

you climbed through the ropes of the ring grabbing the microphone that was handed to you, "you know i've been away for a while", you started and the crowd began chanting 'we missed you'

"i missed you too" you started again, "i just needed sometime to sort some stuff out, and you know at one point there i wasn't sure if i was actually ever going to come back", the crowd went silent.

"but i realised something. when everything felt like it was falling apart, the world crumbling around me, this ring still felt like home. no matter everything life threw at me, i was still dreaming of the day i got to come back here and come back to you lovely people to do what i love the most.", the crowd cheered again.

"so anyone back there that thinks that they can break my soul, you are going to have to try a lot harder because i belong here. in this ring"

you were confused, liv's music should be playing by now that was the plan but instead you felt a strong impact on your back. a chair shot. they were easy to to take when you expected them but this was unexpected and hard. you fell down onto the mat dropping the mic.

a mic the assailant picked up, "you talk too much", becky's voice rang in your ears before she walked out of the ring leaving you there dumbfounded.

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roman was quick to come looking for you after what had happened. you had not told him that the plan was to have becky interrupt you, he could have sworn liv was supposed to be the one to call you out.

his suspicions were confirmed when he heard your voice down the hall and he began to follow it.

"what the fuck happened out there!", you were shouting

and when roman entered the room he realised you were shouting at adam pearce.

"she told me she spoke to you, decided that it was best for business"

"what is best for business?", you spoke not shouting now but still rage in your system.

"she wants a match against you at wrestlemania"

"oh fuck that", you spoke shaking your head. roman gently reached a hand out placing it on your shoulder, in an effort to help calm you down from your heightened emotional state.

"it would have a lot of public interest", adam continued, people love your story.

"it isn't a story it actually happened", you retorted.

"think about it y/n it would be good for the company"

"no i'm not-"

"make it a mixed tag match", roman interrupted and your head whipped round to look at him.

"becky and seth, you and me"

"you want me to go against my ex boyfriend and ex best friend"

"you said you wanted closure"

"there is no way they would let us win", you spoke.

"then we are going to have to win properly, not rely on them to sell moves"

your eyes looked at adam, "could we do that?"

"i'd have to talk to them but it would work"

"oh so you will tell them about that but not me about becky", you spoke still salty from earlier

"wait", roman interrupted, "let me tell seth, next week. i won't play dirty, won't lay a hand on him i just want to be the one to tell him"

adam paused for a moment weighing up his options in his mind.

"you really won't touch him"

"i promise"

"okay you can tell him next week"

and with that adam left the room leaving you and roman alone.

"are we really doing this?"

"not only are we doing this, we are going to win this", roman spoke tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

and you began to believe him.

[fashionteahouse]

Paul x Reader x Embry

Reader is Embry’s best friend and she has a huge crush on Paul and everyone in the wolf pack knows about it and teases her until one day she’s hanging out with the pack at the beach and Rachel shows up and goes to Paul and then kisses him. Reader gets mad and goes to talk to Paul about it and he finally goes off on her saying he never liked her and that Rachel is his soulmate and he says other rude stuff that makes reader upset. The pack hasn’t seen reader in a month until Emily invited her over for a birthday surprise and Embry and Reader lock eyes and he finally imprints on his best friend then they have sex for the first time. Can you make it long if possible please? Thank you

ooo seems juicy ofc ! hope you enjoy :)

i was never there - paul x reader x embry

Embry nudged you as you stared at the muscle bound figure in your view.

“Hello?” he says and waved a hand in your face. You grab his wrist and lean your body over to continue to watch him.

Embry became somewhat annoyed. He looked at what you were looking at.

“Of course.” he thought in his head.

“I guess I will just go ahead and eat without you.” Embry says as he rises. You snap back to reality and rise up with him. He grins as you follow him.

You held your plate as Embry makes you food and you heard a deep “excuse me.”

Butterflies burst into flutters as you move out the way so the hand that you wanted to touch you so much, could grab some napkins.

When it was time to sit at the table over Emily’s, you aim for the chair that was right next to the person you crushed so hard over.

Paul.

Jared smoothly sits down and starts a conversation. Jared looks up and sees that you were still standing there with your plate of steaming food.

“Sorry, maybe next time Y/N.” Jared says humorously. Paul turns his head to look at you, he looks away.

You walk away, feeling someone pleased that he knew that you wanted to sit next to him.

“He looked at me.” you say in your head.

Embry pulls on your arm to have a seat next to him.

“How was patrol for everyone?” Emily asks.

“It was patrol.” Jacob says.

“Not for me..Took a cold one’s head clean off.” Paul boasts with his fork full of food in his hand. You were impressed, wanting to know more of what happened.

“If it wasn’t for me throwing them in your direction, you wouldn’t have done it.” Quil says as he takes a sip of his drink.

“Please. If it wasn’t for me being in the pack, none of you would’ve been able to have kill them like I have.”

The pack groans as they heard this statement time and time again.

“Alright we get it.” we’re circled around the table as Emily tinkered out a little laugh.

“Paul is the best fighter after all.” you add in. Sniggers circle the table as Paul takes a look at you.

“Oh yeah, you do have a #1 fan that will of course side with you.” Jared says as he nudged Paul’s arm. Paul rolled his eyes.

This earns him a few laughs.

“She’s only the reason for his big head.” Jacob says and cackles circle around some more.

“Alright, alright. Lay off.” Embry says calmly. You silently thank him in your head.

“So…This bonfire is public this weekend. Which means girls.” Quil then says.

Seth then talks about how he invited his longtime crush from school to it. He tells the pack that they would love her. She’s so sweet, caring, and is really funny.

“Jeez…You sound worse than Y/N.” Leah says.

“Would you shut up.” you grumble.

Leah grins a bit but then says, “Oh! And guess who’s coming this weekend?”

“Who?” you all collectively ask.

“Rachel.” she says.

You then grin. Jacob was visibly pleased that his sister was coming back home. You remember the good memories of growing up.

You were putting the dried dishes up for Emily after dinner, a spoon clatters to the floor. You go to pick it up but a hand swipes it, and thrusts in your direction.

A shy smile formed on your face, “Thank you.”

Paul hummed out a response before stealing a baked cookie that Emily had made earlier that day. He makes his way into the living room where everyone was.

Even his back was attractive to look at. The water continued to run and Embry shuts the water off.

“Man..Just tell him you like him.” he whispers.

“No. No way.”

“You stare at him like you’re in a trance. You might as well.” he says as he goes for the same baked treat.

“When the time is right, we will find our way to each other.” you say as you rewash the fallen spoon.

The weekend came, you dressed extra nice. So nice that when Embry picked you up, he expresses it.

As he drove he says, “I would’ve thought you were going on a date.”

“It feels like it.” you say. You were looking forward to one person and one person only.

As you lounge and talk with the pack, their heads turn.

Rachel.

“Wow…You all have gotten so…Big.” she says. Jacob hugs his sister. She poked his chest as she looked up at him, “Especially you.”

Paul stared at her. You stare at Paul. She did get pretty, well, she was always pretty. You would’ve been lying if you claimed you weren’t threatened.

“Oh, look. The trouble maker.” Rachel says to Paul. He displays a handsome smirk.

“What about it.” he purrs.

The tone made your stomach flutter with nervousness and he wasn’t even talking to you.

“How many people have you made pull their hair out while I was gone?” she wonders as she sits next to both Leah and Paul. You watch from across the fire.

“I don’t know…I did most of the pulling.” he says and she laughs as she playfully hits his shoulder, “You’re so stupid.” He grins at her.

Embry tried his best to talk to you, invite you to conversations, but you kept looking over to the people who were getting closer and closer.

You had never seen Paul smile so much. Rachel was the star in his eyes. You felt jealous. Thoughts circled in your head.

“Why couldn’t he look at me like that?”

“He knows I’ve been crushing on him since forever.”

“Does he not see me?”

Paul did not in fact see you. His tunnel vision was Rachel. And only Rachel.

They veered off, keeping their conversations going. By her body language, you knew he was flirting and she was just as interested as he was.

It felt like time had stopped. Rachel put an arm around his neck, Paul leans in with a tilt of his head. They kissed.

It felt like your heart was torn out. You blinked back tears. You look elsewhere to try to distract yourself from thinking of the sight you had seen.

“Hey. You ready to go? I’m ready to go lay down.” Embry says as he stretched his arms.

“Yeah”. you say in a small but sad voice.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Just tired too. Let’s go.” you say.

As you and Embry walk, you turn your head back to watch them again. The tongue that slipped in the other’s mouth, felt like a kick to your heart. You put your head down.

You tossed and turned as you replayed today’s events. You became upset after feeling sad. You felt angry. You felt like the thing that you two had, was discarded like trash.

You sat on the porch of Emily’s home.

“What’s up champ?” Paul says to you as you were on her porch swing.

You only look at him. He was surprised to see you upset, especially at him.

You get up and walk.

“What’s up with you? What did Embry do?” he says.

“Embry didn’t do a thing.” you say.

Paul picked it up.

“Well….What did I do then?” he says and puts his hands in his pockets.

You were glad that the pack weren’t around just yet.

“That day….At the beach….You kissed Rachel.”

“Yeah…I did.” he says as he smiled a bit.

“How could you do that?” you ask in a demand with your arms crossed. Paul looked confused at your attitude.

“How…Could..I…What…?” Paul asks slowly to bring understanding.

“You betrayed me and you don’t even feel sorry.” you grit out.

“Betrayed you?” he asks incredulously.

“Yes. Do you want me to spell it for you?!” you say getting frustrated that he’s so smug.

“Um…Wow…I’m really confused.”

“Say you’re sorry…” you demand.

“What? No.”

“Why?”

“Why should I say sorry? We’re not dating.” he says.

Your heart speeds up, “I know…But-”

“But nothing. I was never there to protect your feelings. That’s not my job.” he says.

“You know how much I liked you and you went off and kissed her like I didn’t mean anything to you?”

“Jesus fucking Christ Y/N! You made it known to the entire continent that you liked me. Have you ever wondered how I didn’t take action? Oh, because guess what? I did not like you back. Never have.”

You breathe heavy.

“Take it back.”

“No.”

“Take it back!” you say louder.

“You need to get a grip. Like seriously. Not every crush you have is going to like you back and that’s just reality. Rachel is my soulmate. I looked at her at the beach and I imprinted.”

“There was a mistake.”

“You’re a mistake. How about that? You sat there wishing and hoping I would even look at you. You’re so desperate, stand up. Come on, you’re how old? You couldn’t even look me in the eye before tucking your tail. You’re a big ass kid and you’re acting like one right now. ‘Say you’re sorry’. Puh-lease.” he says after mocking you and laughs bitterly before going into Emily’s home.

You stood outside as his words cut you like a knife.

You let time float by. There was no way you could show your face, you knew for a fact that Paul told the pack what happened.

You even turned down Embry when he would want to hang out.

A phone call surprised you, you answer.

“Hey! How are you doing?”

“Alright. Yourself?”

“Good, good. Okay, I really called because Jake’s birthday is tomorrow and I want to throw him a little surprise and…I’m sure everyone would love to see you, they ask about you. It’s been like what? A month since we last seen you? Anyway, I’m extending an invite to you.”

“That’s nice of you Emily.”

“Yeah, of course.” she says and tells you the time of when to come over.

You had a small gift for Jake, you rapped on the door with your knuckles. Embry opens the door.

You stare at him. He stares at you. You wondered how you didn’t fall for your best friend. He gives you a slow small smile as you both swam in each other’s gaze. It felt like home.

“Would you shut the door? We didn’t invite bugs.” Jared says and motions for you to come in.

“Sorry.” you say and you set your gift on the gift table.

You stayed close to Embry. As the night progresses, Embry asked if he could hold your hand. You nod with a shy smile.

It felt so nice. You weren’t even upset at the presence of Paul and Rachel. You barely even looked at them. You felt happy for them in a small way.

“Wait…So, you had a crush on me?”

“Yeah.” he says sheepishly, “But, you were so into Paul I didn’t want to just drop it on you.”

“I wish you did.” you say.

You both look at the moonlight.

“You wanna come over? My mom is working a double tonight…I don’t want to be bored by myself.”

“Sure.” you say.

You rise up and he leads you to his home. Things were playful as you both stayed up, poking fun at each other. Things turned serious when you both lay close to each other in his bed.

“I wish I didn’t go through…All of that…To get to you.” you whisper to him in the night.

“I’m sorry.” he whispers back.

“It’s nice to know that my soulmate is my best friend.”

“Same. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

You both blink at each other. The currents of love floated through the both of you. You both knew each other inside out.

The kiss was sweet. You didn’t mind that it turned heated. You encourage him by pressing on him to let his hands explore. He hovered over you without detaching his lips, cupping you under your shirt. You both shakily breathe out a sigh.

He rises your shirt up and the air made your nipples point. He captured one in his mouth, swirling his tongue around and you whisper out his name.

He placed kiss on your stomach to your hip bone. His hands never left your skin. You shyly open your legs after he dragged your underwear off. His hot fingers collect your glistened center. You shuddered as he kept going over the most sensitive part.

It was slow. Very slow. But he held you as he pumped in you. His chest was to your chest. His hot hands heated your back as he clutched it. Your legs were around his waist, feeling every inch of him. You whined out as he grunted in your ear.

The next morning, while his mother was asleep. He took you back home. You now stared at him like he was your biggest crush.

He chuckles, “What?” He had caught you staring at him.

“Nothing.” you say shyly.

“It’s something.” he says softly.

“You just…You just make me really happy, Embry.”

“You make me happy, Y/N.” he tells you sincerely.

You smile and take his hand. You were excited for the future of you both. You both knew each other well from being friends, but you both felt there was still so much to learn about being lovers to each other. You both were content. Happy.

[takusan-no-ai]

Well, aren’t you a cutie

PAIRING: Jane x Male Reader (Romantic) (Suggestive)

SUMMARY: (Y/N) meets Jane Doe, and a simple friendship becomes something more.

You’re an officer working at New Eridu Public Security, having been a member for some years now. The top of your class in the training academy, and past roommates with Seth, it’s safe to say you had connections in the industry.

Those connections led to you being entrusted as a “thug” for an undercover operation. Naturally, you were entrusted to work with your new temporary boss, Jane Doe. And boy, she wasn’t anything you were expecting.

For starters, she was a flirt; “Hey there handsome, nice to meet you. Think you can carry my luggage to the car? Your big strong arms can handle it~”. It was never ending with this woman. And the worst part is that after a while it started to work; being complimented just felt good, especially when it came from her.

You’re pretty good at undercover work, so you were effortlessly able to keep up with Jane’s choices and adapt accordingly. It built a nice camaraderie between you two. Fortunately, this didn’t stop after the mission was done.

Letting out a grunt, (Y/N) stretched in his chair, ready for his shift to finally end. Someone knocked on his desk beside him, though he already knew who it was. Jane Doe, who was now leaning over his chair to face him upside down. Her rat tail swaying back and forth.

“I have another mission next week. I was hoping you’d be my underling again.” She said. (Y/N) smirked, seeing an opportunity to get back at Jane for all that teasing last time.

“As much as I enjoy being under you, I don’t like mixing work and pleasure, Jane. You should pick someone who’s more qualified rather than someone you just miss.” He teased. Jane hummed before sitting on his lap and taking a bite out of the apple he was saving for later.

“I can’t help it. A guy with such charisma like you is all the pleasure I need. Work with me, and make me happy~” Jane countered his attempt without even trying. A blush appeared on both of their faces; one anxious, and the other excited.

“I’m starting to think you’re talking about more than work, Jane.” (Y/N) said cautiously. Jane smiled, getting up while her tail wrapped around his waist.

“Nonsense. I simply mix work and pleasure.” She walked off, giggling. (Y/N) chased after her, only to be met with a crumbled piece of paper smacking him on the face.

“Call Me. - JD”

- Fin

[queers-gambit]

Endure and Survive

prompt: ( x4 ? requested ) you need Joel to survive after enduring the unimaginable.

pairing: Joel Miller x female!wife!reader -> only height mentioned: you're shorter than Joel

fandom masterlist: HBO's The Last of Us

word count: 11.7k+

warnings: obvious spoilers, S2E2 reader insert, Fix It Joel, Joel Miller survives / lives, AU timeline, cursing, mentions blood and injury, guns, dead bodies, parentified!reader, wife!reader, found family obviously - Ellie calls you 'mom'. mentions of explicit material: marijuana / weed, the horses have names idc, established relationship, angst, hurt / comfort, drama, depiction of anxiety and panic attacks, not edited, Lord's name in vain, single Spanish word. imagination, caution, and maturity required. happy but abrupt ending, possible (past) morally grey!reader, petnames.

You woke earlier than your husband as usual, humming in the first streaks of morning light; stretching minimally as to not wake the man beside you, whose bare legs were tangled with yours. However, try as you might, the arm coiled around your waist constricted to a bruising strength; which caused your lips to stretch in a bemused grin.

"Sun ain't up," his gruff, gravely voice grated in your ear.

"Mh," you hummed, "but work still needs done."

"C'mon, baby, can wait another hour."

With a sigh, you laid your arm over his, "You know today's not the day for delay." He huffed, knowing you were right. "You know," you turned over in his embrace to greet the lightly tanned face aged with freckles and faint liver spots, decorated with few scars, "should ask Ellie t'go on patrol with you this mornin'."

"Baby."

"Joel."

"She's... Still a bit pissed."

"Okay, but what teenage daughter isn't?" You snickered.

"She ain't mad at you."

"'Cause I let her fight her own battles."

"Oh, so, now it's my fault for wantin' to protect her?"

"I didn't say that," you sighed with a patient smile. "But Ellie's not that vulnerable, green 14-year-old we met in Boston, baby. And... Look, I'm not saying Seth ain't deserve it, but they were walking away. You and I could've gone a different route, you know?"

"As her parents - "

"It's our right to protect our kid," you insisted. "But consider the circumstances, I think you embarrassed her a little."

"How?" You just offered him a knowing look, making Joel groan, "Fine, all right? Fine, I know, it was public - "

"So very public."

"And she was gonna say her own piece... But if not then, when the fuck am I supposed to step in? What he said was homophobic, doll, if we let him get away with it, would've opened the door for him or anyone else to run their mouth."

"We beat the shit outta him in an alley, of course. Or, you know, maaaybe we go out on patrol together and maaaybe they don't come back?"

"Yeah, yeah," he groaned, "but I ain't think."

"That's one thing I love about you - you act first. It's very noble, like you just have this inherent sense of right and wrong. Never really need time to think."

Joel chuckled, "It's too early for the sweet talk."

"It's never too early - especially when you're protectin' our girl. It's hot..."

"You just said - "

"I never said you were wrong, I'm just trying to take Ellie's perspective into account. Look, she's at that age where life feels invincible, where she's been through more than we can truly fathom - so, she feels twice the age she really is. But she's still young, still a trigger-happy-moron and will never stop needing her parents. She just wants to feel like she's a bit of independence, like we trust her to fight her own battles and handle her own shit. I think we're supposed to just... I don't know, keep watch and jump in if she can't handle it. You know? But we gotta give her the opportunity to do it on her own in the first place."

Joel offered you a side-ways glance, "You been talkin' to Gail?"

"Fuck off," you snickered, trying to sit up but being wrangled back into the sheets. "Joel," you laughed, "we gotta get gone. C'mon, you heard what happened last night - "

"Just ten more minutes, baby, please."

"You really wanna risk Maria siccing Benji on us again? I'm pretty sure we traumatized him last time, Maria said he kept asking if that's where babies come from."

You swore his cheeks bloomed brightly, but it was quickly hidden as his face shoved into your neck with a gruff sort of whimper. "Guess not..."

Taking pity, your hands shot into his salty locks to rake your nails over his scalp soothingly. "Ten minutes, handsome, then I gotta get to the stable."

Ten minutes with Joel turned into 30 easily, but it was worth the reprimand from Maria just to be able to get extra time in his arms and peacefully have coffee together before a long day. She asked you to send Ellie to her before she left on patrol, then requested you go with her - if only for your own peace of mind, knowing she's safe. After the previous night's report of a horde of Infected lying in wait under the snow and about 30 other frozen Infected used as insulation, she felt better sending you with the two young adults.

However, during your morning chores in the stables, you were surprised to see Joel, Dina, and Jesse enter together; asking for their usual mounts as the young man leaned on the stall beside you.

You shot Joel an annoyed look, but he just sighed, "I wanted t'go with her, baby, swear; but Ellie had a long night, you know? Should let her sleep a bit."

"Joel."

"It's all right, Dina said she'd go instead."

Your head shook, "Fine, but we're having family dinner tonight - no exceptions. Y'all gotta talk this shit out, okay? The tension's drivin' me insane."

"Me too," Dina quipped with a small smirk.

"Me three," Jesse chimed in, snickering when you and Joel pinned him with looks; only yours was out of amusement and his, out of annoyance.

"Family dinner, kid," he repeated.

You chuckled with Jesse and Dina, asking the young man, "Whatcha need, bud? You goin' with them, too? We sending trios now?"

"Nah, Maria said I'm going with you and Ellie," Jesse informed, and only Dina clocked the way Joel's shoulders released from the perpetual tension they were haunched in.

"Yeah, all right, cool," you agreed with a small sniffle. "Lemme get these two up and out - I'll get our horses after."

"Baby," Joel stepped up, "let Ellie sleep a bit more."

"We'll have her up for 8 o'clock patrol," you nodded, wrapping your arms around his waist to hang off his form and for hands to squeeze your hips. "Now, what're y'all gonna do?"

"Radio in."

"How often?"

"Every 20 minutes, doll."

"And?"

"Stay safe."

"And?"

"Don't be reckless."

"And?"

"Am I forgettin' one of your rules?"

"Mhm, I literally just said it - "

"Oh! I know, I know!" Dina waved her hand in the air, grinning, "Be home in time for family dinner!"

"That's my smart girl," you praised, making the girl preen with pride.

Joel chuckled, "Yeah, sugar, we'll be back in time. Channel 7 for us, right?"

"Exactly," you breathed, sudden nerves spiking to make your face fall as your eyes swept over his face. "Listen to me, don't play hero, Joel, y'all are just scoutin' the area, all right? You get the fuck outta there if something's up, don't try t'fight."

"I know, honey."

"And bring my Dina home in one piece, please. Preferably, fully thawed and unscathed."

Joel smirked, "Always do. You stay safe, too, baby. Hey - keep an eye on my wife, kid," he directed at Jesse.

"She's the one with a quick drawl, usually saves my ass," he mused.

"Then don't need saving," Joel warned in a growl.

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, that's enough," with a chuckle, you patted Joel's waist and released him. In an effort to help you all identify one another when out there, you informed, "Dina, you're on Butterscotch, Joel, I got you on Cooper. Jesse, you're gonna be on Dewey, I'll put Ellie on Bean, and I'm taking Luxor."

Dina smiled as she approached her horse, "Thanks, Y/N. We'll be back soon."

"Yeah, I'll grab Ellie and meet you at the gate," Jesse agreed.

"Oh, uh, Maria wants a word before we go - so, can you make sure Ellie sees her?"

"Yes, ma'am. Where at?"

"Uh, probably the cantina - Tommy's gonna address the people, she'll be there with Benji."

"Right. On it," he offered you his fist to bump before heading out of the stable to do whatever he needed prior to patrol.

"Hey," Joel muttered, earning your attention, "you look worried. You good, baby?"

"Yeah, just... Something in the air, I guess." You glanced at Dina a few stalls up, lowering your voice, "It's remindin' me of KC, you know? Them fuckers lying in wait underground?"

"I know, baby, me too."

"And after Ellie's report, sounds like they're evolvin'. Joel, just... Be careful out there, all right? Don't take any chances, please, and just - look, I know you're not one to run from danger, but things are different now. You don't always gotta be so brave and tough, sometimes it's for the greater good to just run."

"I'll keep Dina safe, we won't take no risks, sweetheart. Promise."

"Good," you sighed. "C'mere, besos, please."

"Lessons with Tommy payin' off, I see," he grinned with pride. "Love hearin' you talk like that, baby, does somethin' t'me."

"I know, that's why I'm learnin'," you whispered, lifting to your toes in order to press a kiss to his lips. "Love you, handsome."

"Hm," he kept you close, stealing another kiss, "love you more, sweetheart. You be careful, too. We got dinner plans."

"Exactly. Now, go on, get gone, the sooner y'all head out, sooner you'll be back, right?"

"In theory."

"Make it in practice," you snipped, smirking into one final kiss. Joel sighed and released you, turning to grab Cooper. You left Luxor on cross ties to walk the pair to the front gate; hand laced tightly with Joel's as the three of you made mindless conversation about whatever you planned for dinner. You gave Dina a leg-up into her saddle, bidding, "Stay safe, kid."

"Always am," she smiled.

"Fuckin' liar, just listen to Joel, please, c'mon," you snorted, making her laugh as you turned for your husband.

"I'll see you soon," he assured, pecking your lips before hauling himself to Cooper's saddle. You frowned and kept pace with his side, calling for the gates to open. "Love you, baby," Joel hushed as he nudged his horse forward.

"Love you," you called, keeping the nerves out of your tone; watching them through the gate as the air turned poignant. You couldn't pin point it, but something felt... Strange. Off. Odd. Unsure and disproportionate. You heard the gate guards announce their departure, watching them for only a few moments before gesturing for the door to close up.

You missed the way Joel turned in the saddle to catch the last fleeting glimpse of you before the wood cut off all sight. Dina smirked, "Dude, you're whipped."

"Got a lady like mine, you would be, too. Now, c'mon."

Ellie pinned you with an unamused glare as she and Jesse approached about an hour later, taking hold of Bean's reins while snipping, "Really? You tell Seth to fucking apologize?"

"What's that?" You blinked.

"You said Maria wanted to talk to me - it was so Seth could apologize or whatever."

"Oh. Hm..."

"You didn't know?"

"Nah, kid, Maria just told me she wanted a word before we left," you informed, letting Jesse take the reins of his horse, Dewey. "I've learned my lesson 'bout askin' stupid questions. Usually, questionin' Maria is stupid."

"Right," she sighed, watching you from her own saddle as you mounted Luxor. The three of you moved together out of Jackson's gates, hearing the guards announce the departure, and venturing into the vast, open nothingness. Ellie eyed the grey skies wearily, asking you, "Are we worrying about that?"

"Nah, should just be up in the mountains," Jesse answered for the both of you - but for an unshakeable reason, you couldn't agree.

"Fucking hope so," Ellie mused. "Ten seconds in, I already can't feel my ass."

"You get some breakfast, babe?" You asked, eyeing Ellie.

"Huh? Oh, uh, no, but I'm all right."

"Fuck that," you sighed, reaching for the saddle bag. "Here, I got, uh... It ain't much, but eggs are good protein."

"Oh..." Ellie accepted the two hard boiled eggs you produced; unwrapping the cling wrap to hand back. Supplies were few and far between, everyone saving whatever material they could for repeat use after cleaning it. "Thanks, Y/N." You nodded, nudging Luxor into a trot. "Hey, uh... You let Joel and Dina go alone?"

"'Let'?" You snorted, "C'mon, honey, you know either of them to do anything I say?"

"Joel, yes... Dina... Not so much."

You and Jesse chuckled, turning off towards Cottonwood as a harsh, bitter wind swept over the three of you. It felt like the hand of Death; doing what you could to ignore your anxiety.

Amy's radio transmission barely reached you as the blizzard had rolled over the town you trotted through. She called for all patrols to return to Jackson, but the wind, snow, and frigid temperatures prevented your escape; already a couple hours from home base. Naturally, you were the decision maker and informed Amy you'd shelter in place until the worst of the storm had passed, leading Jesse and Ellie towards one of the cleared-out garages you knew of in the ghost town.

The horses were left with a supply of hay, knowing they needed rest and fed before attempting to brave the weather back to Jackson. You were familiar with this particular area after clearing and securing it just that past fall with Jesse, the two youngsters following you at a jog for the usual convenience store patrol members had commandeered. You yanked the door open, met with the sweeping smell of stale weed and seeping snow; panting as you slammed the door and dropped your pack almost instantly.

"You good? You all right?" You checked the kids, watching Jesse nod as Ellie was stalking around the rows of growing marijuana plants.

"Am I fucking hallucinating?" She asked gleefully.

"Maybe. Do you see a 7-Eleven full of weed?" Jesse mused, trailing after you towards the radio.

"Yep."

"Then no," he sighed, kneeling before the wood stove. "Hey, Y/N?"

"Yeah, honey?" You asked, turning the radio dial with a single headphone pressed to your ear.

"Whatchu want me to do 'bout this?"

Glancing over, you tried to wrack your memory, "Nothin' viable in there?"

"Some but not much."

"Try to light what you can," you nodded. "There's spare wood in the back. With luck, it's still dry."

"All right, yeah," he panted, the cold blistering as it seeped into all bones and cracked drying skin.

"How'd you know about this place?" Ellie wondered, still admiring the stoner's paradise.

"Eugene," Jesse answered with an undertone of remorse. Ellie's face fell, recognizing the name from the many times Dina had mentioned the old man. "He was my first patrol partner. One day, he showed it to me, said he found it a year earlier when he was on a solo patrol. Swore me to secrecy. Said Maria wouldn't be supportive of his, uh, farming."

"What about you, Y/N?"

You just shrugged, "I know everything, kid. Was a young thing in the '90s, I know what's up."

Jesse snickered as Ellie went quiet; making the lad look up in curiosity only to spy her at a spare table, examining an old medallion similar to a dogtag. He asked, "You okay?"

She paused, then breathing, "Yeah."

"Y/N, you got a lighter?"

"Uh, should be one or eight around here, kid," you answered, still receiving only static over the radio.

"Right," he sniffled, rummaging around to locate one with enough lighter fluid.

He got the fire going at last as Ellie questioned, "Eugene was a Firefly?"

"Yup. Just early on, though."

"Served with Tommy," you piped up, sparing a small glance and a smirk over your shoulder before refocusing.

"He quit back in 2010," Jesse continued.

"How come?"

"He said he was tired of killing people. I think he was in Vietnam."

"Oh."

Jesse grabbed a spare blanket, handing it to Ellie and nodding at you while taking a seat before the stove. She stood from where she'd sat on the side of a cot, unwrapping the wool to drape around your shoulders for you. "Thanks, baby girl," you muttered, barely aware of the added warmth.

"Come sit by the fire," she mumbled, squeezing your shoulders before returning to her seat.

It was quiet, the two sat in contemplation. Jesse spoke with bitterness over the haunting memory, "That was a raw deal. Joel having to put Eugene down..."

"Hey," you snapped, looking at him with a fierce side-eye. "Know y'all were friends, but Joel ain't do nothin' but deliver mercy. Eugene had a fuckin' stroke, wasn't easy for anyone involved."

Jesse nodded in agreement, "Just a fuckin' shame. Guy makes it through a war, end up goin' out like that." He sighed, "What are you gonna do? Like Y/N said, couldn't be saved."

"Yeah," Ellie breathed. "Hey, Y/N? ... Y/N? ... Y/N!"

"I got it, I got it!" You cried, radio clearing for a moment. You grabbed the CB, "Joel? Joel? Come in, Joel!" You waited a moment, sliding the headphones over your ears, readjusting on your knees and trying to dial the signal into anything stronger. "Joel, come in! C'mon, baby, answer the fucking radio!" But you only earned more static. "God fuckin' damnit! Told him to check in with me on channel 7 - right, Jesse?"

"Yeah, right, every 20 minutes, ma'am," he shared a nervous look with Ellie. "Look, I'm sure they're doin' the same - sheltering in place - "

"Joel!" You tried again, growling in frustration, "This fucking storm, man, I can't get through - it's all fucking static. Joel! C'mon, come in! Joel, Dina? Hey! Someone fucking answer me! Please!" But there was no answer. "Fuck!" Your fist banged on the bulky machine.

"Try Jackson, we might be in range," advised Ellie, the cold seeping into her lungs to make her voice quake.

You sighed, changing the channel and trying again, "Jackson, come in, Jackson. This is Cottonwood, come in... Tommy? Hey, come in, Jackson! This is Cottonwood... Amy! Amy, can you hear me? Over."

"Think we're gonna be here a while," Ellie mused to Jesse.

"Yeah. Hey, Y/N. C'mon, come get warm - leave the channel open, they'll radio in when they can."

But you were switching back to channel 7, "Joel? Hey, come in Copper Mine, this is Cottonwood. Someone fucking answer me! Joel! Dina! Come in! C'mon, I need to know y'all are okay! Come in, Copper Mine! This is Cottonwood..." But the static mocked you. "Joel, it's Y/N, please, fucking answer! Come in! Joel, please! Over..." You switched back to Jackson's channel, "Jackson, this is Cottonwood. Please, someone, come in! I-I can't get ahold of Copper Mine, please, come in... Amy, Tommy, I can't get ahold of Joel, come in! This is Cottonwood, we're sheltering in place - please, answer! Over..." This continued for another hour before you were gritting your teeth and leaving the channel open, still dialing, calling over the waves every so often - hoping someone, even another patrol group, would check in. But the wind and snow fucked everyone's radio transmission.

Ellie leaned over to Jesse, muttering, "Should we pack her a bowl? Sounds like she needs it."

Jesse snickered and nudged her shoulder, Ellie grinning as she stood to begin snooping; leaving the lad to stretch out on the cot. He watched you for a little bit before slowly shutting his eyes as the wood stove soon warmed them.

"Jesse," a muffled voice leered.

"What?"

"Check it," Ellie encouraged. When you looked up from your place by the stove, finally taking refuge by the heat, you discovered Ellie wearing a refurbished gas mask with a bong attached to the mouth piece.

You couldn't help the bark of laughter, shaking your head as Jesse scoffed and looked away from the sight.

Ellie giggled, yanking the mask off, "Did he make this?"

"Yeah."

"I'm taking this with me."

"Uh, no, ma'am, you're not," your smile dropped.

"Oh, c'mon," Ellie whined.

"Listen to your mom, kid," Jesse leered in a bored tone. "You're not taking that."

Instead of correcting him that you weren't her mother (by birth), she just sighed, "Yes, I am. And as much weed as I can shove into my pack."

"Ellie," you scolded.

"You said yourself, you did this shit in the '90s."

Your eyes rolled, "It was a different time."

"I'm still taking it, if the apocalypse isn't the time to get high, I don't know when is."

"Nope," Jesse now chimed, "leave it, Ellie."

"Dude, you're gonna be in charge of Jackson one day, we all know - but that day has not yet come."

"Y/N has superiority, she said - "

But Jesse cut himself off when the radio finally fucking came to life, the static clear - but Amy's voice cutting in and out as she tried to reach your party. He watched as you scrambled to your feet, leaving the wool blanket in place on the floor, and rushed to drop before the machine; knees nearly cracking from the impact.

"Repeat, Jackson?" You called over the CB; trying to carefully enhance the signal.

"Copper Mine, do you copy?"

"Hey! Hey! This is Y/N, you're barely there... Amy? Do you copy? This is Cottonwood. Over."

You waited only a moment, finding a sweet spot to hear the distorted reply, "Y/N, have - Joel or Dina?"

"Repeat? Jackson, come in, you're breaking up! Repeat last message!" You turned the dial with tears slowly gathering out of pure nerves and anxiety.

"Have - heard - Joel or Dina?"

You pieced the message together, nervously replying as Ellie slowly approached your shoulder, "No, why?"

"They haven't checked in," Amy answered. "Are - you - Copper Mine?"

"Fuck," Ellie hissed over your shoulder.

"Amy, repeat?" You pleaded. "Amy!" But the static was back. "Amy, come back!" You released the transmission to growl, "Fucking fuck, fuck, fuck!" Trying again, you begged, "Amy!"

But there was no answer, making you climb to your feet. "Woah, hey, Y/N! Y/N, wait!" Jesse yelped as you snatched your pack from the ground and rushed around the hideout. Ellie was on your tail.

"We're not far from Copper Mine, let's fucking go! We can't leave them out there like this! C'mon!" You barked, hearing him sigh and follow swiftly without protest. Ellie and Jesse followed you out the door, sprinting towards the garage and yanking the nearly iced-closed door up.

"Y/N, hang on a second - "

You snarled, "Fuck that! My husband's out there, Jesse, I'm goin' after them! We don't know how far they got, but they're not back home and they're not radioing in!"

"I know," he agreed as you and Ellie reached for your horses. "Look, the route's an oval around the mine. We gotta split up and come at it from both sides. Northwest and northeast. You two go together, we meet up in the middle."

"We'll take northeast," Ellie agreed, trio leading the horses towards the open door. "How much time do you think we have?"

"Go, c'mon," you directed them, Luxor trained enough to stand as you gave Ellie a leg-up. Jesse was mounting on his own as you answered her question, "If the wind holds steady, maybe 20 minutes."

"You gotta get to the mine by then," Jesse picked up, his authority ringing clear, "Ellie, Y/N, whether you find them or not."

"Yeah, you fucking too, Jesse," Ellie snarled, spurring her horse into the blizzard.

"Go! And be careful!" You demanded, smacking Dewey on the flank to send him and Jesse into the storm. You paused only to pull the garage door back down, Luxor already walking forward; making you jog to keep pace and hop to catch the stirrup. He was breaking into a canter by the time you were seated, spurring the ebony mount after Ellie and Bean as Jesse was cutting to the side.

"Y/N!" Ellie hollered over the wind.

"I'm right here, baby!" You cried, eyes squinted in the stinging, whipping, frigid air. "Don't stop, don't stop, I'm here, just go! C'mon! Stay with me, Ellie! C'mon, cut this way!" You directed Luxor, hearing Bean change direction after you. "We don't stop!" After several minutes, you checked, "Baby girl? You still with me?"

"I'm here!" She called from behind you.

"Keep going!"

"Y/N! The fucking snow - it's too thick! I can't see shit!"

"Don't fucking stop, we'll make it! Just stay with me, baby, c'mon, let's go! We're all right, we gotta make it!" By a stroke of pure luck, you heard a chatter over your radio. "HOLD!" You cried to Ellie, Luxor whinnying in protest as you skidded to a slippery halt; wrangling your hand radio from your belt. In time, you heard Joel, "Y/N? Y/N, come in! C'mon, baby, fucking answer me!"

"Joel!?"

"Y/N!"

"Joel, Joel, I-I copy! I copy!"

"Good t'hear your voice, baby."

"Where the fuck are you!?" You cried, Ellie looking relieved for a split moment before light static was heard instead of his deep, Southern accent. Yet... Something told you this wasn't just silence, but something else. Something worrisome. "Joel? Joel! No, no, no, come back! Joel! Answer me! JOEL!"

"The storm!" Ellie reminded.

"It's not the fucking storm," you panted, confusion marring your usually pleasant expression. You tried again, "Joel, come in! Do you copy!? Joel, please! Baby, fucking ANSWER me!"

Unknown to you, Joel heard your desperate pleas but couldn't answer as Abby and her mini militia had taken a frostbitten Dina hostage; gun to her temple, semi-automatic pointed at him in threat.

"Joel, where are you? Where are you, Joel, fucking come in!" You begged, shaking your head at Ellie as the silence was deafening; own automatic rifle suddenly burning into where it was slung over your shoulder. "Fuck! We keep moving - "

"Where?"

"North, c'mon, there's better signal outta the fucking trees. Let's go, baby, keep up!"

"Go! I'm right behind you!"

As a last ditch effort, you held the reins in one hand as the other radioed, "Joel, where the fuck are you!? Please!" You prayed the further north you got, the better signal. "Come in! Baby, please, please, we're fucking worried! Come in, please! JOEL! For fuck's sake!" No response, but you found something in the snow... Tracks. "Ellie! Ellie, follow the tracks - don't lose 'em! They're still fresh!"

You galloped forward, still trying in vain to reach Joel; who was wailing in pain as Abby bludgeoned his blown-out knee to the sounds of your frantic cries of his name. It was almost as if you could sense what was happening, wanting to be there with him in his end Abby promised to bring.

"Y/N, LOOK!" Ellie called, pulling her horse to a rearing-halt, eyes in the distance from mid-hill you climbed. "FUCKING STOP AND LOOK!"

"Ellie, we don't got time! The snow's gonna cover - "

"LOOK!"

You yanked Luxor to another halt, whipping him around towards Ellie - but seeing where she pointed. Through the valley, you could make out the sight of Jackson from miles away, mouth agape to gasp, "Oh, my fucking God."

"What the hell is that?"

You blinked back tears, "J-Jackson. Fuck, the Infected, they must've found 'em."

"Wh-What do we do? What the hell do we do, Y/N?" You had to think fast, fear seizing hold of your heart. "Do we go back? Or move on?"

You sniffled, "Tommy's got Jackson - that's the fire, see? We... We move on! We find Joel and Dina, these have gotta be their tracks, baby, we're so close now. We can't stop."

"Y/N..."

"You go back if you want! Back to the fucking 7-Eleven, but I'm not leaving without Joel! Are you with me?"

"What if they're not alone?"

"Then I fucking pray for those stupid fucking souls," you snarled, both hoods drawn in the thick, blinding flurries. "Now are you with me, baby girl?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fucking with you. Let's go."

You spurred Luxor around and followed the fading-fast tracks left in the blanket of crunchy snow. After several yards, you called, "C'mon, keep pace with me, Ellie - don't tire them out too bad, we gotta make the trip home!"

"I'm right here!"

Up the hill, you let Luxor and Bean canter at their set, desired pace; taking your own advice not to tire them too greatly. As you got up to a semi-even outcrop, you saw something over the treetops. "Ellie? Ellie, you see that?"

"What the fuck? What's up here?"

"Lodges? Ski resorts?" You guessed, encouraging Luxor faster.

"Y/N, there! There, look!" Ellie gasped, horses snorting with exertion when you halted once more. "Is that...?"

"Cooper and Butterscotch," you breathed. "Joel and Dina must've taken shelter - c'mon!"

"Why're they here? Copper Mine's back down - "

"I don't fucking care why, Ellie, they're here!" Realizing your tone and how it made the nervous girl frown, you apologized, "I-I'm sorry, baby girl, I'm just - I don't know what's going on. Okay? Something ain't right. Now, c'mon, please, Ellie, c'mon." You eyed the building, an old ski lodge some richie-rich must've owned before the Outbreak. "Hey, hey," you hushed, coming to another halt behind the tethered horses, hand held up with warning, "you see anythin'? Any movement?"

"No?"

"The windows, Ellie. C'mon, honey, use them young eyes for me."

She squinted in the sideways snow, but the reflective windows didn't show anything inside, no movement; making her head shake. "N-Nothing, I don't see anything."

"That's not exactly a good thing," you noted. "Dismount, we go on foot."

"What's the plan, Y/N?"

Your boots crunched into the snow, quickly binding Luxor's reins to the broken-down privacy fence surrounding the lodge's perimeter. Your breath came out in a puff of air, telling her as she followed your actions, "We go in smart. Check the first floor, we move up," you unlatched your rifle from the saddle. "We don't know what the fuck's inside. Don't shoot any movement on sight, we don't know where Joel and Dina are."

"Should you try the radio again?"

You gazed up at the windows, something sickly bubbling in your gut, "No... No, we go in - what if... What if?"

"There's Infected? Joel's got it - "

"C'mon," you worried, nodding at her after you, "I'm not willing to fucking wait."

"Right," she hurried after you.

"Quiet, quiet, quiet, shhh-hh-hhhh" you hushed, racking your rifle in favor of your handgun; reaching for the still in-tact door. It opened easily as if recently accessed, Ellie stepping silently inside after you and catching the door before it slammed shut. You nodded in praise, side-stepping over yourself as the ground floor appeared as just abandoned construction.

Ellie grabbed your sleeve, your worried eyes turning to her, but she silently pointed up towards the ceiling. You tuned in, hearing muffled thumping and feeling all air deflate from your pinched lungs. Worried that it wasn't the usual erratic sound of a feasting Infected, thinking it sounded too timed and planned, you looked back to Ellie - intent to whisper a plan - but she was surging ahead of you.

"Ellie! Stay together! Ellie! Don't!" You hissed, huffing as she disappeared around a corner as the sounds of distant screaming seeped from the floor above you. "Fuck's sake. I'm gettin' too old for this fuckin' shit." You peaked around the immediate corners, not finding any signs of life - but flinching when a gunshot echoed in the space around you. Taking cover, you realized the sounds were coming from up the stairs, gasping in worry for your adopted daughter, "Ellie!" To yourself, you hissed, "Fuckin' told you to stay together, fuck!"

The sounds of a squabble grew louder, Ellie's snarls ringing clear as you swiped the safety off. You followed her wet footprints, discovering an open door leading into the lodge's expansive living room - or perhaps, just one of them. You ducked when movement rushed in a flurry, catching sight of Ellie being wrangled to the ground; a stranger kneeling on her back. However, the worst sight was just beyond; before the vast windows showcasing Jackson's demise, one of the unknown forms moved aside to reveal your husband limp on the ground... Bloodied face seemingly staring out at you. His finger twitched, breathing staggered - and when his lips tugged, knew he saw you. Knew you'd always come for him. Even in a fucking blizzard, even when so worryingly outnumbered... But Joel wouldn't bet against you, no matter the circumstance.

He was overturned on his chest, blood pooling under him, immobile from his shattered leg, and there were at least four - no, no, five, you counted five - bodies inside. You barely remembered protocol, feeling something white-hot and feral burst in your chest upon hearing Ellie struggling and crying. Eyes cast back over Joel and you lifted your gun...

"JOEL!" Ellie screamed from the floor, whose fingers twitched with minimal recognition. "Joel! Joel! Joel, get up! Joel, FUCKING GET UP!"

However, one man roared at her, "Stupid fucking bitch!"

"No! No!" Two men struggled inside, distracting the others.

"Fuck you!" The man with a thin upper lip mustache shoved his companion aside. "The bitch fucking cut me!" You smirked in fleeting pride, amusement dropping when he stomped up to Ellie and swiftly kicked her in the ribs; causing her to choke on the air stolen from her lungs. You flinched at the sound of her cracking rib; Joel's eyes locked on you. The stranger lifted his foot again as if to stomp on her, but his friend - with sandy locks - intercepted him and shoved him back several feet. "I'll fucking kill her!"

"She ain't who we want!"

They all - minus Joel - missed the way you silently stepped in. A hunter, a solider, a mother and wife dead set on protecting her loved ones. You aimed at the most obvious threat after a handgun flashed in one of the men's hands as if to aim at Ellie.

You were well-aware of the dire situation but took a steadying breath and squeezed the trigger, bullet piercing directly through the back of the dark sandy-blonde head; sending a splatter of blood over the ebony haired man's face. "One," you counted.

There was no time as the man looked up at your voice; barrel aimed at him, trigger sounding in a boom. "Two," you counted.

From the shock of your appearance, Ellie managed to wriggle away from woman pinning her to the ground as your sight turned to the other two women across the room. When one lifted from her seat near the fireplace, eyes wide and a plead on her lips, your gun popped off another bullet despite her hands held in defense; catching her in the chest, sending the young girl to her back, choking on her own blood. "Three," you counted.

"MOM!" Ellie screamed, her having been disarmed as the girl with a bald head proved equal strength. Plus, with her ribs, Ellie wasn't much of a fight anyways.

You didn't need to think, gun turning towards her. "Get the fuck off my daughter, bitch," you snarled, the girl with a septum ring's eyes widening at the sight of your angry threat. Another bullet fired, piercing directly between her eyes. "Four," you counted, turning to the last assailant. She was on her feet, handgun pointed at you; but her hands trembled as Ellie scrambled for her gun then found her feet. You sidestepped in front of her, "No, no, all eyes on me. Joel? Joel? Hey, you alive? C'mon! Fuckin' show us you're alive! JOEL! If you're dead, I swear to God - "

He whimpered; relief flooding your system.

"Who the fuck are you?" The girl in a long-sleeve, grey Henley demanded; trying to step around Joel's legs to get a clear shot of Ellie - but you moved with her.

"Aht, aht! Stay right there, don't move." She narrowed her eyes as you asked, "Ellie? With me, baby girl?"

"I'm - I'm here," she wheezed, laying a single hand to your waist.

"You hurt?"

"Yeah," she whispered.

"Hm," you growled, fingering the trigger.

"I asked, who the fuck are you!?" Abby roared, her desperation making her raw and unpredictable. You didn't want to rock this boat too much, not when the threat to your family was alive and real.

"Lookit, darlin', I don't think you're in the position to ask any questions," you warned. "Now... Step away from him. Nice and slow, please. I'm askin' you nicely - "

"No!" She snarled, gun turning to the back of Joel's head; heart leaping to your throat. "You take one step, either of you make a fucking move, and I'll blow his fucking brains out."

"And I'll blow yours," you warned evenly.

"Doesn't matter," she seethed, "'cause I would've done what I came here to do."

"Oh, yeah? What's that? Kill an old man?"

She chuckled ruefully, "Exactly that."

"You wanna tell me why? C'mon, now. I don't wanna have to shoot you, kid, got a real long life ahead of you." When her hands shook with more definition, you snapped, "Hey! Hey! Eyes on me! Back the fuck away from him right now and maybe I'll let you live."

The room's occupants knew it was a boldfaced lie.

Abby panted, quickly glancing around the dead bodies that fell by your hand; giving you a single moment to note the shattered golf club left to the side of Joel, then to the state of him. It didn't take a rocket scientist to piece together what she'd done. "Y-You killed them," she whispered, glare turned back to you; tears in her eyes, upper lip snarled. "You killed them! Mel wasn't armed and you fucking shot her, you bitch!"

"Bet your ass, I did. Didn't even hesitate, now, did I? Y'all were hurtin' my husband."

"'Husband'?" She repeated, scoffing. "Of fucking course. You're who was on the radio, weren't you?"

"That's right. Now... I'll tell you only one more time. Back. The fuck. Away from him. Now, please, I ain't known for my patience!"

"Just fucking shoot her, Y/N!"

"No, Ellie," you growled, aim narrowing. She sobbed behind you, protected by your body; only able to look between the stranger and her adopted father.

"She did that to Joel! FUCKING LOOK AT HIM!"

"I know, I got eyes t'see, honey, but she's just a kid - like you, Ellie," you didn't shift your gaze from the bitch with a braid; knowing no matter what, she was going to die today. By your hand or Ellie's, you didn't know - nor care. You continued, "Tell me why, darlin'. Why're you doin' this? Huh? The fuck could he've done? Hey? C'mon, now! Answer me!"

"It doesn't fucking matter why, Y/N!"

But you were trying to play for time, well aware of the gun pointed at Joel that would only take a fraction of a second to fire, not a whole lot of pressure needed to trigger the bullet. There was a good chance that if you opened fire, she could easily take Joel out; the exact opposite of what you were trying to accomplish. You needed a fleeting opening, anything; just a single moment - a nanosecond - to make your move without jeopardizing Joel's life. Or Ellie's. Or yours, for that matter.

"It matters, Ellie!" You barked. "She's got a reason, I wanna hear it. C'mon, darlin', tell me why! Why're you doin' this?"

"He's a fucking monster," she trembled.

"All right, good, that's a start. What'd he do? Huh?"

"Does it matter?! You're both coldblooded murderers, you don't need any reason!"

"You got a point, yeah. But you obviously got your own. Tell me what that is."

Abby took an unsteady breath in, shaking her head as tears leaked in pathetic trails down her ruddy cheeks. "He killed him..."

"Who?"

"My father - he killed my father and 18 soldiers!"

You breathed, "Oh, yeah? When?"

"Five years ago," she grit her teeth. "In Salt Lake!"

"The hospital?"

She seethed, "He was an unarmed doctor! Shot dead like a fucking animal!"

Her gun straightened at Joel, making you chant, "Hey, hey, hey, yeah, yeah, I remember that, I remember. But you're negating from the fact that they had our daughter." Abby's eyes shifted over to Ellie behind your shoulder. "Hey, eyes on me! Look, I fucking promise you, kid, it wasn't in cold blood - we had real good reason. You with them? You a Firefly?"

"They're all gone, you dumb bitch! Didn't you hear?"

"You all that's left?"

"No," she seethed, "there's more of us... Many more in Seattle, but your little family won't get a chance to see them."

"Sound real certain of that."

Joel groaned from the bloody floor as if trying to call for you. Abby snarled, "I'm the one with a gun to your husband, remember? You fucking blind!?"

"Oh, I'm aware, darlin'. But I don't think you're gonna kill him."

"Why the fuck not? You just killed my friends!"

"'Cause he ain't who you want."

"Oh, yeah?" She scoffed.

"We left them nurses alive, I bet they're who told you 'bout us. Right? Am I right?" Abby's jaw steeled, only inclining her head in confirmation. "Yeah, that's right. You came all the way here from Seattle on a mission to kill him. But here's the thing, darlin', Joel ain't kill your daddy."

"I know he did!"

"He didn't pull the trigger! Your witnesses got it wrong, but that's okay - happens during fits of panic. They don't see the whole picture."

"He shot my father in the head! Like he was nothing! Stepped over him like he wasn't even there and walked out the fucking door! Why shouldn't I do the same!?"

"No, darlin'," you smirked, seeing the rage building in her eyes. Good. It's what you wanted - needed. "No, see, Joel didn't fire the kill shot. I did."

"You?"

"Me," you agreed, chuckling - hoping to blind her with anger from your amusement. "Yeah, I shot your daddy - and just like your li'l friends, I ain't hesitate then, neither. What? You look shocked... You surprised I had the gull to do it? I'll tell you somethin' else, darlin', I didn't even look at him - " Abby cracked with a sob and it was the opening you needed. "C'mon, darlin', take your best shot. Or would you prefer I just shoot you now? Can reunite you with dearest daddy real easy."

The girl laughed, arm shifting a fraction as if debating turning her gun on you, "Like you could make the fucking shot, you old hag - "

Your gun recoiled slightly from being fired, striking Abby in the head; and you counted, "Five." Quickly, you shoved the weapon into the holster on your hip, sprinting across the room to where Joel was somehow still breathing. "Hey, hey, hey, baby, hey," you slid on your knees, Ellie charging in a limp after you, "you still with us? Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck. C'mon, Joel! Gotta hang on for me, all right? I-I know you endured so much, baby, but hang on a little longer. Please!"

He made a strangled noise in the back of his throat, making you heave a whimper. "Joel? Joel," Ellie sniffled from her knees at your side, "hey, y-you gotta get up. C'mon, get up - "

"No, no, not yet," you prevented, nodding to the shattered golf club. "Took a fuckin' beatin', Ellie, probably has internal bleedin'. We move him, might make it worse."

"Well, what the fuck do we do, Y/N!?"

"We do nothing - you probably got broken ribs, baby. Fuck," you breathed, looking around the room - something catching your attention. "All right, all right - shit, hang on, stay with him."

"Y/N?" Ellie worried as you found your feet; but her eyes drifted to the movement on the floor. The unarmed girl, Mel, was trying to army crawl through her own blood, sobbing when you stood over her.

"Hey!" You barked, flipping her onto her back, demanding, "Y'all brought med supplies? Right? RIGHT!?"

"Fuck you," she spat.

"You tell me true, doll, I'll help yah."

"Y-You - bitch."

"All right, I'll find it myself," you scoffed, gun back in hand, aiming at her forehead, and firing once. "What were you? Four? No, no, three."

"Y/N!" Ellie sobbed, "He's got a fever!"

"Hang on, Ellie, I got it," you rushed, kneeling at one of the packs - noting the embroidered wolf. There was no questioning it, overturning the pack and rummaging through the contents. Not finding what you needed, you did the same to a second pack; then a third, gasping when it was full of medical supplies. You shifted through it before noting another body in the room right next door. "Shit - Ellie!?"

"What?" She sobbed over Joel.

"Got another body!" It was quiet as you stood with your gun in hand again, aimed at the body before dropping it. "Oh, fuck! It's Dina!"

"WHAT?"

You knelt at her side, checking her pulse and sighing with relief. "S-She's alive! Just knocked out. I got her!" Holstering your gun once more, you grunted and took hold of her wrists to tug the girl into the main room. "All right, honey, just - fuck, stay there, be back for yah." You returned to the medical supplies, tears leaking without consent. "Ellie, here - catch!" Using the hardwood floor to your advantage, you slid supplies her way; not bothering to check if she caught them all or not.

"What do I do?" Ellie whimpered.

"Get over here and check Dina, I got Joel," you scampered across the floor; pair of you switching places. "Hey, hey, do me a favor - get on the radio, get ahold of fucking anyone. You hear me? Use channel 7 to try to get Jesse..." You prayed the lad was smart enough to tune in on the private channel you and Joel used after separating. "All right, all right," you sniffled, caressing your husband's bloody cheek, "baby, hey, hey, can you hear me? Just - Just squeeze my hand, honey, c'mon." When his broken hand squeezed yours, making you sigh, "All right, good, hey, you're - you're gonna be all right. I gotcha, baby, just, um, just hang on for me. Okay? Can you do that?" He squeezed again. "Good boy."

Perhaps his lips twitched in amusement, perhaps not. You didn't notice either way, sorting the supplies - discovering a half-used vial of milky white substance.

"Fucking Propofol? The fuck they doin' with this?" You muttered to yourself, finding a clean needle and drawing it into the syringe.

"What're you doing?" Ellie sobbed, "Y/N? What is that?"

"Tryna save him, Ellie! Radio in! C'mon, baby, I know you're scared - I know that was fucking scary. But I need you to be brave for me right now, Ellie, please. Okay? I need fucking help! Get on the airwaves, all right? Radio anybody!"

"Right, okay, yeah," she sniffled, doing as you told from Dina's side. "Jackson? Jackson, come in!" But there was no answer. So, she switched channels, "Jesse!? Jesse, please, it's Ellie - "

"Ellie? Ellie!"

"Jesse!"

"Where are you!?"

"A-At a lodge! Some lodge, halfway up the mountain! We found Joel and Dina, but w-w-we need help! Like, fucking now!"

"I'm five out!"

You whispered, "I'm so sorry, Joel, I gotta turn you over, okay? I gotta see..." Biting your tongue, you braced Joel and turned him over, whimpering when he hollered in unfiltered pain. "Oh, I know, I know, I know, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry, I know, baby, I know, but I gotta see." You quickly shed your outer coat and bundled it under his head, "You're gonna be okay, hear me? You just gotta hang on f'me, I'm gonna fix this. I'm so sorry, I know," you repeated as you were forced to shred his shirt and reveal the blackening marks on his torso; some turning sickly blue, indicating the internal damage. "Fuck! Okay, okay, all right... I-I can fix this, fuck me, how do I fix this?"

"Y-Y-Y/N..."

"I know, Joel, okay? I know - "

"Go," he croaked, "gotta leave me."

"Fat fucking chance," you snarled.

"'M not makin' it," he whispered, "but you still can."

"I'm not leaving you! You're gonna be okay, I'm gonna fix this!"

"Go, baby," he wheezed, delirium setting in, "take... Take care... Of-of our girl..."

"Fuck that, we're both gonna do that. You understand? Joel, you stay alive! El-Ellie? Hey, h-how's Dina?"

"Waking up, I think."

"Good - hey, here, here," you snatched up a canister and slid it across the floor. "Wave that under her nose, babe, it's smelling salts. Might help her come-to faster."

"Okay, yeah," Ellie sniffled, doing as you bid.

"All right, hey, I-I can't do shit for Joel here - we gotta get him back to Jackson!"

"How?"

"Shit," you sniffled, shaking your head, "I-I don't know. His leg, okay, I can - I can splint his leg - oh, fuck me."

"What?"

You examined the wound between tattered bits of denim, "Looks like they blew his fucking knee out with a shotgun, Goddamnit." Ellie whimpered as you scanned the room, movement in the snow through the window catching your attention. "Jesse's here - "

"What do we do?"

"We need help," you nodded, "yeah, yeah, so... We're gonna send Jesse back to Jackson for aid."

"What about us?"

"We stay here - keep Joel warm. Remember? After the university?"

"Yeah," sniffled Ellie. "Y-Y/N, I can't lose him."

"Me neither, baby, so we're gonna help him, right?"

"Do you know how?"

"I'm workin' on it," you whispered, looking around the room.

"Y/N!? ELLIE!?"

"UP HERE!" You bellowed through the open door, stumbling to your feet. With a grunt, you smashed a wooden chair to the ground; shattering it to pieces and collecting viable planks of wood. "Okay, okay, okay," you rambled, returning to Joel's side, "hey, Joel, baby, I-I gotta splint your leg. Okay? Oh, this is gonna fucking hurt, I'm so sorry."

"Y/N," he whispered hoarsely, "don't. Just... Go..."

You glared and shook your head, knowing your next move was a risky one. "Fuck that, you and I go out together. All right, I got an idea. Gonna put you to sleep, honey, but it'll be okay. Hear me?" You hovered over his swollen, bleeding face, "You're gonna be okay, I promise, you'll wake up. Just gotta get you outta pain - then we'll get you home. Okay?"

"Baby," he slurred, "please."

"Oh, I know, sweetheart, I know, but just trust me." Joel's hand twitched and you snatched it in yours, lifting to your lips and pressed a series of kisses to it. "Please, Joel, I need you to fucking survive. You don't get to leave me, I-I need you. Hear me? Okay? Just trust me, I'm gonna get you help. Endure and Survive, right? Remember? Endure and Survive, Joel!"

He nodded as best he could, eyes fluttering as Jesse came sprinting into the room. "Holy... Shit..." He paused to take in the sight of fresh carnage. "What the fuck happened?"

Ellie sobbed over Dina, who was finally waking; and you were pressing the needle to Joel's vein and administering the anesthesia. "You're gonna be okay, baby, I promise, I swear, can't leave me - not like this. You're gonna wake up," you whispered to him, watching as his eyes fully shut and he went slack with slumber. "Jesse! Get over here, man, I need help!"

"What the fuck happened?" He repeated, jogging across the floor while dropping his pack - shoes squeaking in halt when he caught sight of Joel's injuries. "Oh, my fucking God - "

"Help me splint his leg, please! Fuckin' please! C'mon, we don't have time!"

"Right, okay."

Together, you and Jesse constructed a splint out of the chair debris and a torn sheet from the other room. You knotted it where you could, watching Joel's face for signs of pain - but he didn't twitch, only breathed shallowly. Your eyes met the lad's and admitted, "I-I don't know what to do next. How do we get him back to Jackson, Jesse, please?"

"We ride like hell," Jesse answered.

"He shouldn't be upright and bouncing around!"

"We got another choice? I can ride back, but time's workin' against him. We could try to build a sled, but - "

"We search the house first and if there's nothing, he rides with me. Luxor and I are fastest."

"There we go," he agreed, already rocketing to his feet.

"Ellie! Watch them!" You commanded as you and Jesse set out to ransack the lodge for anything that you might use to tote Joel. By stroke of fucking luck, in the basement, you found what the previous owner's kids must've used to skate down the icy hillside; figuring it was good enough to use now. After locating Jesse, the pair of you assembled the shed and tug ropes behind Luxor and used found pillows and blankets to line it; then rushing back inside.

"We can both get him down the stairs," Jesse panted.

"We're gonna have to."

"I can help," Ellie stood, Dina leaning against the wall as she regained her strength.

"Fuck it," you breathed, waving her towards Joel, "let's go!"

It wasn't easy; Joel being a grown man of pure muscle and the three of you with only minimal strength. Yet your adrenaline made you feel like Bruce Banner; letting Ellie support his shattered, shot leg out straight as you and Jesse upheld his torso. Down the stairs and out the door, you drug Joel into the sled and immediately covered him with the blankets as Jesse went back for Dina. It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough - forced to leave Joel to help Ellie into Dewey's saddle.

"Wait, wait, wait - "

"Please, Ellie, don't fucking fight me, you're injured, baby, you ride with Jesse. Dina'll be all right, I promise - but we gotta go. Now, okay? Before the blizzard kicks up again."

Ellie nodded through her tears as the other two finally made it back. You explained to Jesse the plan and helped Dina into Butterscotch's saddle, ensuring her balance before telling them to get going. Leaving everything else behind including five corpses, you checked on Joel to make sure he was still breathing; kissing his forehead and muttering promises and apologies as you took your place at Luxor's side.

With a heavy sniffle, you begged the horse, "Don't fail me now, buddy, we gotta save him. C'mon - nice and easy, right? Together... Let's go."

You navigated the mountain on foot, keeping Luxor at an even pace while simultaneously ensuring Joel didn't slide away or topple over. It was frustrating to go so slow, but necessary; and the moment you were on level ground, doubled back to cover Joel's head before hoisting yourself into the saddle and spurred Luxor forward.

Snow was kicked up over Joel, but you had wrapped him tightly for protection; soon passing Jesse, Ellie, and Dina to gallop for the smoking town in the distance.

With shot nerves, you navigated through the makeshift hospital of Jackson; steaming mug of coffee in hand as your feet shuffled down the hall to the last door on the right. A voice called your name, making you pause and look back to spy Jesse approaching you with three wrapped plates stacked on top of one another.

"What's that?"

"Figured y'all hadn't eaten today," he eased.

"Hm."

"You all right?"

"Yeah, just fucking dandy, honey. You?"

Jesse frowned, "How's Joel?"

"Still asleep."

"You know, it's been two weeks..."

"What's your fucking point?"

"That you need a decent night's sleep - Ellie and Dina, too."

"I'll sleep when I'm dead, kid, thanks."

Jesse frowned, "We're just worried about'cha."

"Yeah? Well, I'm worried I killed my fucking husband 'cause he won't wake up. Guess we're all worried, huh?"

"Y/N," he sighed. "You haven't left his room since we got back. You can't just stop taking care of yourself, Joel's gonna need yah to help him - gotta have your strength."

"I'm fine."

"That why you look like fucking shit?"

"Don't push me, kid."

Jesse sighed, "Fine, but you gotta eat."

"I'm good," you held up your mug.

"Can't sustain yourself on fucking coffee. C'mon, I brought you all a plate."

"That's real nice of yah, thank you," you accepted the balanced to-go plates in your one hand; leaning them to your chest to keep hold.

"Just... Take it easy on yourself, okay? There's no way you could've known this would happen - "

"That's the thing, Jesse," you warbled softly, "I knew. He was beat t'hell, I knew the Propofol might've been too much, that he might not wake up... But the worst part? I promised him he would. I fucking lied to my husband and killed him in the same breath - "

"He's still breathing," Jesse snapped.

"Fine, then I put him in a coma. That better?"

Before he could retort, the last door on the right ripped open and Dina came toppling out, shouting your name. When she saw you just feet away, she sobbed, "He's awake!"

Three full plates and a mug of coffee shattered on the ground as you nearly tripped over yourself to race into the room. Inside, there was a single bed with a plethora of different machines all whirling and beeping obnoxiously; but there was Ellie, sat bedside, sobbing into Joel's tubed chest. "Hey, hey, hey, what's - "

"He's awake! Y/N, he's awake!" She wailed, forcing herself to lift up and reveal Joel's alert face.

"Holy shit," you heaved, eyes wide and chest hollow. "J-Joel?"

"Hey, baby," he croaked, wincing at the dryness of his throat.

In earnest shock, not even noticing Dina and Jesse behind you, your breathing turned choppy, "Oh, my God, Joel! Y-You're awake, Jesus fucking Christ!"

"C'mere," he mumbled, lips sticking together as Ellie removed herself as if to make room for you.

"No, no, uh," you sniffled, gesturing at Ellie, "you stay put, baby girl, I-I-I'll be right back."

"Where're you going?"

"To find Tommy," you backed up two steps; chest heavy and ready to cave in.

"I can do that - "

"I got it, kid, y'all keep him company f'me," you assured Dina, tears streaming as you stumbled out of the room.

"Hey!" Jesse followed you into the hall, door slamming shut. "Hey, Y/N! What the fuck was that?" But Jesse slowed when you collapsed into the wall, using it to keep upright as you tried to keep walking forward; slowly tripping over your feet and crashing to still-bruised knees. "Oh, my God, hey, Y/N. Hey, hey, hey, what's goin' on? You okay?" He worried, lowering to the floor. Noting the way your chest heaved up and down and how your breathing was rapidly shrill, he calmed, "You're okay, Y/N, hey, just breathe. You're panicking, you just - just focus on breathing. Hey, you're okay, you're not alone."

"H-He's alive," you managed breathed gasps. "He's alive, he's alive, he's alive. I-I didn't - he woke up, I ain't kill him."

"No, you didn't," Jesse chuckled in disbelief. "You saved his life, Y/N, just breathe. You're okay."

"I-I - "

"No, I know, but you just need to breathe f'me." You nodded and watched him, following his direction as he breathed with you - in and out, in and out, in and out. "All right, good, that's real good - just breathe with me. Good girl, c'mon, in, two, three, four; and out, two, three, four; in, two, three..."

The door opened again, Dina peaking out to discover the sight; catching Jesse's eye. He nodded with meaning, making the girl double back to grab Ellie; leaving you on the floor with the young man instructing your breathing. When the two girls exited, Ellie worriedly rushed for your side, questioning your name as she knelt, "What's happening? What's wrong? Are you okay? Hey! Oh, my God, talk to me, Ma!"

"She's having a panic attack," Jesse relaid, not commenting on her referal to you as something remotely motherly. "She's all right. Good, Y/N, that's real good - just breathe. Hey, look at me, look at me," he waited until your eyes lifted, "you're okay, I swear to you. Joel's alive, he's okay, he's awake - you didn't kill him, didn't put him in a coma. So, c'mon... You head back in, okay? Go see your husband, I'll get Tommy."

You sniffled and nodded, Ellie remaining in place as Jesse slowly got to his feet. "We got her," Dina assured, finally making him turn to head off. "Y/N? Hey," she squatted before you, "Joel's askin' for yah. Wanna head back in?"

"Yeah, yeah," you rambled, "I-I - yeah, ne-need t'see him. Need t'see him alive. J-Just needed - just needed a second. 'M sorry - "

"No, it's okay, you're good," nodded Ellie, "think you can stand?"

"Mhm."

"C'mon, I gotcha," she hushed, taking up your arm to help you clamber up the wall on trembling legs. "You okay?"

"Mhm."

"Right," she sighed. "Hey, c'mon, let's go in... I'm right here with you, I'm right here. We're all okay... You, me, Joel, Dina, we're okay, Ma, we're all okay - all alive."

But as you reentered the room, Ellie and Dina hung back to allow your reunion to occur in privacy. You didn't notice, preoccupied by the sight before you; Joel awake and seemingly alert, his lips pulled on one side in a smirk. "Hey, baby," he rumbled, making you snap out of it to take up the cup of water on his bedside stand. "Where'd you - "

"No, no, don't," you whimpered, bringing the lip of the cup to him, one hand around the base of his head, "just drink first, honey, please."

Joel's gaze didn't tear from you as he accepted the water, choking minimally from the action he hadn't done by himself in two+ weeks. You determined what was enough, lowering the cup but keeping your one hand on the back of his head; twisting to set the cup aside before quietly turning back to him. "C'mere, baby," he whispered, casted hand twitching to pat his fingers beside him with indication. When your mouth opened to protest, he begged, "Y/N, please." So, you dropped down beside him softly, careful not to jostle his injuries - but forced to take in the sight of his slowly-healing face. "Why'd you run? Not happy t'see me?"

Shaking your head, you admitted, "So Goddamn happy and relieved, I panicked for a second."

"Why?"

You sniffled, the tears cold against your dry cheeks, "Thought you weren't gonna... I mean, you were... Baby, I did this. I-I'm so sorry - "

"The fuck you mean? You saved me, sugar."

"No, you weren't waking up - I-I put you in a fucking coma - "

"That wasn't you."

"I took a risk with the anesthesia. I knew your injuries might've been too much, that too much damage was done and if I put you t'sleep, and you might not wake up, b-but I just - you were in so much pain and we had to get you back if you - "

"Hey, hey, hey," his fingers hooked around yours in an effort to take your hand. "Baby... You saved me. Ellie and Dina told me all what happened."

"They shouldn't've."

"I asked."

You sighed, shaking your head, "Joel, I..."

"Talk to me, baby, please."

Meeting his eyes again, you whimpered, "I didn't think you were gonna make it. That girl - Abby? Gabby? Whatever, she, uh, she... She used a golf club. You were more than fucked up, I thought you weren't gonna wake up - I mean, by all means, you shouldn't've - "

"But I did," he comforted, "because of you."

You sniffled again, "Don't say it like that, please. I just - I'm so fucking relieved you're awake. I'm sorry, Joel, I should've got there sooner."

"You got there just in time."

"Almost didn't."

"From what I remember, saved Ellie and I - again."

You shrugged, "I wasn't gonna lose you, either of you. You two are everything t'me that I just reacted, I didn't have t'think. I was so worried, but she - she had a gun at you, I had to stall for time."

"You did the right thing, Y/N."

"Then why do I feel so fucking guilty?"

"You shouldn't - you're a Goddamn hero."

"Don't feel like one."

"Maybe you will when I get up and movin'. Get us back to normal, right?"

"Joel, that ain't happenin' for a long time, baby," you informed quietly, glancing at his leg. His gaze followed, sighing deeply at the bulging knee the Jackson doctors managed to save under a warm blanket. "She had a shotgun..."

"I remember."

You winced, "You should get some rest - I'll-I'll grab the doctor - "

"Don't you dare leave me," he snapped, fingers lacing tightly with yours. "Just - c'mere, please, lemme feel you."

"Fuck no," you refused, "you're still healing and there's a limited amount of pain meds. She got you pretty good, Joel, you're real fragile."

"Enough that I can't hold my wife?"

"Enough that you can't hold your wife," you chuckled dryly. "But, um... I can sit here. I can stay - I'll stay. I'm sorry I left, I just couldn't believe after these weeks, you're awake. Made my heart feel... I don't even know - "

He sighed gently, just staring at you. "It's okay, baby, I understand. Know, you were the last thing I saw... But you look like hell right now, darlin', the fuck happened?"

"Haven't slept in weeks."

"You fuckin' eat?"

"When I remembered. Dina brings me most meals."

"Y/N Miller."

"I was just so worried," you whimpered, tears drowning you. "I worried you weren't gonna wake up, that I'd lose you at any moment. I wanted t'be here, just in case... I... Joel, I just..."

"I know, baby. Ellie said you haven't left this whole time. Hey," he breathed, earning your red-rimmed attention. "Need to thank you, sugar. F-For savin' us, savin' me."

You nodded, "Saved my ass plenty of times, now we're even."

"I heard you, you know? I heard you the whole time, it was all I could hang onto. But I heard you tell Abby you shot her father...? Risky move."

"I needed her to focus on anything other than you. She could've shot you, I wouldn't've been able to do anything and I needed to - I needed you to-to-to - "

"Endure and Survive?"

"Yeah, exactly. So, I lied, told her what I thought would piss her off enough to, you know, take the heat off yah."

Joel's lips twitched at the side again, "My smart fuckin' girl."

"Selfish girl, more like."

"How's that?"

You shrugged, "Didn't wanna be without you, Joel, I can't do this without yah. I need you, Joel, and I... I couldn't let her kill you. Bad enough I got there too late and she beat the shit outta you."

Joel's voice cracked with emotion, "It's not selfish, Y/N."

"No?"

"Nah, baby. The feelin's so fuckin' mutual, 'cause I need'jah, too, sweetheart, and I'll be damned to do this without you, either. You and I, we're gonna grow old - well, older, together, surrounded by our family, all of Tommy and Maria's kids - Ellie and Dina, too. We ain't gonna go out like that, we get t'die like we lived. Together."

"Yeah?"

"I promise," he swallowed tightly, eyes crinkling as he winced. "Can't get rid of me, baby, not that easily."

"Fuck you," you scoffed, "that wasn't easy, not t'see, not t'watch, not t'fight against. It was so fucking hard - I can't ever go through that kinda shit again. Hear me? Never again, Joel, I can't handle it - "

"Nah, nah, nah, never again, baby. I promise. I-I'll talk to Tommy, we're done with patrols - "

"No, you're fucking done," you snipped. "I'll earn both our keep, but you're done, Joel, I can't fucking go through that shit again."

"What if something like that happens to you - "

"I killed them all. There's nobody left that would come for us."

Joel's eyes flashed, "There's those in Seattle."

Your head shook, "Doubt they'd give enough of a fuck to avenge those bastards."

"We don't know that. So... So why don't we both retire, baby? C'mon, like we always said. You think you can't handle that again? Imagine how it'd fucking feel to learn something happened to you and I wasn't there to protect yah. Please, Y/N, we both retire - we don't run that risk no more."

"All right, deal," you agreed through your tears, leaning over him to hold his cheek and press several kisses to the corner of his mouth. "Fucking deal, all right, yeah - "

"Honey? You missed."

"Nah, you're still healing - "

"A kiss ain't gonna hurt nothing," he grunted. "C'mere, please. Don't make me beg... Besos, besos, besos." With a small, watery chuckle, you obliged and pecked his pouting lips - earning another groan. "That's not what I meant - mh!" You cut him off by pressing a prolonged kiss against him, careful not to press too hard and reopen his split lip. He hummed in content, free hand occupied by only an IV lifting to caress the back of your head in an effort to keep you in place. This time, when you pulled back, he mumbled, "Never again, sweetheart."

"Never again," you agreed softly, gently petting a salted curl from his forehead; hand drifting to gently trace the contours of his healing yellowing-skin. "I love you so fucking much, Joel. Don't do that to me again."

"I love you, too, darlin'. Never again - we're done. I swear, we're fucking done with all that."

"Good," you whimpered, glancing back to the usual seat you'd claimed the past couple weeks as you watched over him. "All right, hey," with a sniffle, you slowly lifted from his bed, "Jesse went to get Tommy, but you get some rest, all right?"

"Fuck that, been resting long enough. Just wanna be here with you, baby."

"Got a helluva long recovery ahead of yah, gonna need your strength."

"Think I'll walk again?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it - but we'll work on it together. You'll be okay... That, I can promise."

Joel nodded with a gentle sigh, watching you maneuver back into the armchair Dina had pushed into his room for you. He didn't let go of your fingers, eyes silently watching you as if to ensure you were there - but you did the same. After seeing him on the brink of death, you feared you couldn't look away from his living, breathing form ever again. Quietly, he garbled, "Don't leave."

"Never, baby. I'm right here, I gotcha."

requesting rules and masterlist

TLOU masterlist

[ellesthots]

Fateful Beginnings

XLVIII. “Bliss”

read on AO3 🦇

parts: previous / next

plot: everyone knows about you and Bruce… except you, and Bruce—though this, among other things, heats up.

pairing: battinson!bruce wayne x fem!reader

cw: 18+, angst, giggling kicking feet

words: 14.2k

a/n: hiiiiiii this is the longest chapter yet!! Luminol, my beloved, you’ve been upstaged (just a lil bit). this was a (fun) beast to write, and thought it needed to be allll one chapter. have fun, lovelies!! also… I definitely didn’t stay up all night finishing this with an ear infection bc I love them and y’all <3 lmaooo

The first half of the meeting went by without a hitch; you figured you’d be snubbed more by the press, but it was quite the opposite—faces that had pinned to the back of your thoughts by the shove of their cold shoulder faced you with smiles and handshakes. Some even pretended they hadn’t seen you before, and if you were of sound mind, you might’ve challenged their niceties. Oz had grabbed you by the neck and rattled your confidence to the bone. 

Why had Bruce known that comment would set him off, and why had it in the first place? Making a comment at Bruce’s expense, the resident billionaire, didn’t make sense for Oz having the bad reaction. Was it based in something traditional, like a distaste for women talking back? Embarrassing their man? Obsessing over it only worked you in circles, teeth tearing at your cheek as you struggled to pay Mr. Convoy any mind.

The budget looked no different than last year’s, though this was in spite of the population actually growing for the first time in a decade. You had no reserves to call out the discrepancy, to stick your neck out for the little guy, too busy worrying about yours getting severed. Every thought was a downward spiral from Oz’s glass in the trash to Bruce’s supposed imagination, making your head spin whenever you lingered there. It was the only thing that pulled you out of your anxious reverie. 

Notions of a universe where Bruce pictured you in the same frame capsized everything you thought you knew about boundaries and guilt. That single taste of him made you want him more, and more, and more, on an endless loop. And, shit, if you didn’t bite back a tremble reminiscing on how his lips felt on your neck… 

Convoy’s voice was grating, at least against the velvet memory of your lips. He knew why you’d done it; if it had been Oz coming in, it would’ve been suspicious to just be talking. Two lovebirds finding the closest private room to make out was smart, quick thinking. Hopefully you thought he was trying to sell it, too; hopefully, you weren’t reading into that imagine, but if roles were reversed, he wouldn’t have a single deviating thought. 

Concentrating on the meeting wasn’t an option. Your skin… it was soft, supple and warm beneath his lips, an absolute dream. He absently traced his lips with his tongue, biting down when he felt himself begin to breathe deeper, harder, faster. Fake or not, it was enough to undo every knot he’d so carefully tied. Bruce gripped his thighs under the table. 

“Mr. Wayne.” 

He blinked to the meeting’s intermission. “Seth.” A gnarly purple bruise glared at him from his temple. 

“Watch out.” Gavenstein pointed to his forehead, face deadset. “See what that bitch d—”

Bruce stood from his chair with a loud scrape, shoving it back into place. “Lucky she didn’t do worse.” He didn’t concern himself with awaiting a reaction, the man’s string of words dulling as he turned to notice you were no longer in the conference room, and nothing else mattered but finding you. 

His breath caught when Oz walked up to you from the front doors, and it took supreme restraint not to sprint across the foyer at lightning speed. It was like slipping a hand into glove when Bruce finally wrapped an arm around your waist. It hadn’t been subtle, and surely, Oz would read it as possessive. He didn’t much care.

“Oz.” He monitored his expression, keeping it neutral to pleasant. Penguin glanced between him and you, wearing a laugh and a brutalized leather jacket; it hadn’t looked that wrinkled at entry. If he didn’t know any better—and how could innocent Bruce Wayne?—he would’ve wrung his neck and checked him for blood splatters. He tightened his abdomen as he fought not to hold his breath. 

“Thought I’d leave over some shit wine?”

Yes. “Surprised not to see you in there.” Bruce hoped you’d stay quiet, not by any fault of your own. One slightly misplaced word, a sideways glance, and you’d be on his hit list. It was too unbearable to think about you being targeted, and what he might do to anyone who hurt you. The flexing of his moral code was almost as disturbing as the black eyes in front of him. He dug his fingers tighter to your waist. 

“Had to take care of some business. You know how it gets.” Penguin put his hands in his greedy pockets, Bruce analyzing his every move like prime prey, every sense heightened by your presence; everything too high stakes. 

Bruce couldn’t manage to get a word out, only a watery grin and nod. Why’d you have to come to Gotham? And why, god why, had he let you get involved in the research? Though he was grateful to meet you, to hold you, you walked a tightrope every second you remained. You were too precious, your mortality as visible to him as a throbbing carotid. 

“Man of few words, huh?” Penguin gestured to you, eyebrow raised, and you tightened against him. You were scared. As you should be with him, as he wished you would’ve understood before getting your hands dirty. He would spiral if he lingered much longer. 

“Trust me, I’ve talked to him about it.” He felt you slap his chest, feigning a laugh that was convincing enough, benign enough, but no—nothing was benign enough with Penguin. Probably spinning a narrative in his head about if you’d talked to Bruce about him, signifying that he didn’t want to talk to him in particular, and this was going to snowball, and his throat went dry, tight, and this was excruciating. 

What once had been anger had melted into pure fear. Penguin had something valuable now, could tell by how he pulled you into him, by how he pulled into the corner of your waist with his fingers, how he tracked every pull of every ligament in Penguin’s face for danger, any inkling he needed to jump in front of you to deflect a bullet. 

“Guy doesn’t need to talk, right? Money does.” He dared nudge your arm, and it felt like a bullet to his chest. He gripped you too tightly already, resisting the impossible urge to pull you closer, tighter, merge your body into his; signal that if Penguin ever touched you, ever even looked at you… his thoughts drew increasingly violent. He glanced at you to melt them away, like sun to snow. 

You laughed, and said something he couldn’t track, too invested in how Penguin sized you up with just a glance, eyes squinting and widening, seeming too interested. Oh, this made him absolutely ill. Fuck. You deserved more than he could give you. Staying here, with his beady eyes on you, was the beginning of a death sentence. 

You jammed your elbow into his rib, and Bruce attended to the words falling out of Penguin’s mouth, only catching the tail-end. Something about just joking, about never too busy for a Wayne, something about it being an honor. He forced himself to agree, play along, because it would make you safer, only for your safekeeping. Fuck. Fuck! This was visceral, tangible fear, capable of snuffing him out. He barely registered when Oz walked away, except that the air was less suffocating. 

“I need to pee.” You pulled him by the wrist down the hallway, and he was so out of it that he really thought you were going to the restroom, and startled when you got close, so close your perfume whacked him, making him dizzy; everything was getting too much, and his hands were clammy, and his lips parted and he wanted to hug you, and hold you, and never let you go, and never see you again. 

“So we’re going to the club tomorrow night?”

“We?” He hadn’t known he was agreeing to we, and the only thing filling his thoughts were expletives. “No, I’m going alone.” 

“You said we were going together.”

“I didn’t say it.” He ran a shaky hand through his hair. 

“But you agreed to it.”

“I didn’t catch that.” He jammed his tongue into his cheek, looking anywhere but at you. He must not have worn his spiral well, because your hands came to his cheeks and straightened him to face you. The mist broke when he met your eyes. 

“We’ll be fine, it would be weird if we didn’t go together. It’ll solidify things.”

Convoy called the meeting to resume, and Bruce very nearly took you back home, but acquiesced to Penguin’s pull. He’d think it strange if he disappeared, give him something to read into, a reason to be more suspicious…

He didn’t have to pull you into his chest this time, you went there. Your hand knocked into his pocket, and you jumped at the small, rectangular box. “What’s that?”

“Benadryl.” He muttered, keeping an eye out for where penguins loitered. 

“I told you, you shouldn’t have it again.” 

He shook his head, responding without thought. “It’s for you. Keep it on me, just in case.”

Bruce was too busy scanning the foyer to notice the way you looked at him. No one had been that thoughtful with you; you’d even forgotten to bring your goddamn epipen back with you after the last visit home. A surge of warmth replaced the chill Oz had left. 

His gaze darted frantically across the room, and even a yank at his wrist—not gentle—wasn’t enough to tug him out of his hyperfocus. You grabbed his forearm and led him back around the corner, just out of view, and put your hands on his shoulders. He carried the weight of the world on them. 

Ocean blue eyes pored over your face with the weight of a truck. You rubbed his shoulders, down his bicep, all the way to his wrists, repeating the motion until his breathing evened. While his stare wasn’t a shred less frantic, it became increasingly focused, almost pinning you to the wall with its intensity. Mr. Convoy announced the closing of the doors, Bruce took a breath, and you both slipped into the conference room as he pulled the door shut behind you. 

Every second of the meeting was pulled teeth, every minute agony. You sat behind him, which was partially ideal with Penguin flush to his shoulder—but that meant Bruce couldn’t see you, either. He tore at his nail beds under the table, something he’d never done before. Scraping nail tips and cuticles distracted him from the intrusive worry that if Penguin looked at him just the right way, like you had, maybe he would deduce the same damn thing, and everything would be gone: forever. 

Bruce felt chained at the meeting’s end as he refused his instinct to make a quick getaway. He bid goodbye with a plastic grin and empty words of how thrilled he was to see the lounge, and what time was it again? Got it, great, awesome, excited to see you, and wrapped his arm around your shoulder as his thoughts flew him. Pulling you down the wet stairs past the paparazzi caused a slip, but he caught you, and you smiled, and he laughed, and it was hollow, but also not, and the paps got lots of photos of that, and he let you into the front seat, and you were in the car now, it was okay, but was the car fucked with, had Penguin cut the brakes? 

“What was that about a storm?”

His grip clenched around the wheel. Rain spattered the windshield, side streets already struggling to drain the excess water as the car zipped past. “There’s a bad storm that runs through every fall. Expected to hit tomorrow night, forgot about it.” 

“How bad does it get?”

He glanced at you before refocusing on the glittering road. Your tentativeness sat like an untrained animal, its gentleness cruel. 

“A few days of staying in.” 

You tapped his shoulder, then gestured down a random alleyway. Confused, but desperate as ever to please, he followed. Your face was stern as he switched off the car, and his chest thrummed with variations of what you might say, about the kiss, or his imagination, or anything else. But all you said was: “I’m okay.”

He rolled his shoulders back. “I know you are.”

“No, you don’t.”

He slumped back into the seat, his head knocking against the leather headrest. His eyes fluttered shut, deep breaths accompanying the affirmative sound you made from the passenger, somewhere close to ‘I told you so’. “Oz. Freaks me out.” 

“Freaks you out?” An edge crept into your voice. 

“I don’t want him hurting you.” 

“So obsessed with me getting hurt.”

Bruce was almost offended. You said it like it was stupid, dismissed it like it wasn’t the most natural thing in the world; like he wasn’t born to worry about you. You didn’t return his stare, instead watching a raindrop drip down the glass. 

Silence stretched the length of the cabin, seeming to inflate with every blink. He startled—a rarity—when you severed it. 

“We could go shopping tomorrow.” 

He side-eyed you. 

“For club outfits. Another outing for people to photograph.” 

Bruce couldn’t say he wasn’t interested in doing another activity with you, or that he wasn’t pleased at you taking Penguin more seriously. However, he ping-ponged this interest against the fear of your heightened visibility. Going to meetings together was one thing, but making a habit of public outings elsewhere? 

He followed your lead, concentrating his nervous energy into raindrops on the glass. Showing up without you would do more harm than showing up with you; this was simply the best course of action for supporting his and your public personas. His gut cinched at your needing one, but there wasn’t much he could do about that at present; it didn’t help his tension knowing the only time he’d get to act like this with you was when things were public, and fake. Penguin had certainly dampened things, but it was still peaceful having you close. 

He nodded at you, and put the car in gear. The remainder of the drive was quiet; it didn’t exactly make you uncomfortable, but you were cued into his anxiety like it was your own body. You knew he didn’t like this arrangement, and wrestled with new guilt about taking him away from his patrols, his research, to do mindless little things in an effort to protect you. Though, you reminded yourself, it was protecting him, too. 

Bruce paused before the final turn to his house. Strange that one of the most notable skyscrapers in the city you’d walked past time and time again with Mar was now a ‘house’. “Can you do something for me?”

The hair that’d been swept behind his ear fell into his eyes with his sigh, and your stomach somersaulted. “Stay at my place. Through the storm.”

“Sure.” 

He was struck by your resolute acceptance, but he wouldn’t push his luck. If you were finally seeing how risky things were, he wasn’t about to change your tune. 

“Can I get some of my stuff, then?”

A pile of chairs stuffed to the side of your apartment door made you cringe as you flicked on the lights, and you hoped he wouldn’t read into it. In your periphery, you noticed him glance over it, and clenched your hands. 

“For future reference,” he picked up one of the chairs after shutting the door, pushing it at a certain angle against the doorknob. “This is most effective.” 

You nodded and walked to your bedroom, Bruce keeping his list of hypotheses to himself. Nightmares, probably. Hell, he still had them twenty years later. He’d ask you about them soon, but not now. Dresser drawers shifted and closed as he roamed the open plan living-dining, analytical gaze inspecting for sign of intruders. His circling landed him at the freezer, where an opened pint of Ben and Jerry’s sat alone in the corner. 

The gentle, cool breeze of it closing locked him to his mind. Sentimental over ice cream? He distracted by looking out the kitchen window. When he took in the skyline—you had a stellar view from here—it was difficult to justify the inevitable time that he would spend talking with you, looking at you, and thinking about you that could be given to the city. You tied him down like an anchor. 

“How many days will it last?” You shouted, and the sound of your voice was an immediate balm. 

“Sunday evening.” 

A selfish smile snuck up on him as he stared at the kitchen tile; true, he wasn’t helping the city, but he was with you. No matter how illogical it was, his feelings remained unshakeable, and refused not to be indulged. 

Sweats and baggy tees sat in the bottom of your backpack, slowly being crushed by the toiletries you stuffed on top. You doubled-back to your dresser to find something worth being papped in, but nothing was sufficient. You drew increasingly worried as you faced the reality of one dress, one pair of trousers, and a couple fine-knit sweaters. Maybe that would work, but…

You stopped yourself with a fistful of sweater, bringing yourself back to your body. There was no use starting this cycle; you were okay showing up exactly as you were. You grabbed a sweater, an extra tee and jeans, and avoided the lingerie you meant to throw away—and extra avoided how your mind connected them to the condoms in your nightstand. 

You moved to leave the bedroom, but stalled. Really, no? Wasn’t it best practice to have them regardless? What if… you felt a bit dizzied. Surely there was no world where that would occur, and… but… every day you spent with him brought you closer to that fantasy, at least in your thoughts. Locked in over the weekend through a storm would provide ample opportunity, and maybe you’d get cabin fever and he would too, and maybe you both would try it out since you were faking things in public anyway…

Through sheer force of will, you blocked the thought, turned off the light, and stepped into the kitchen, letting Bruce know you were ready to head back out. 

You were both stiff and silent as you walked down the hall toward the elevator. Bruce interrupted it once to ask if he could carry your bag, but tightening your hands on the straps was the only thing keeping intrusive thoughts from spilling out, so you refused. The ding! of its arrival exposed a cluster of friends who gasped as they looked behind you. They pressed themselves to the corners of the elevator to make room, their faces varying shades of pink. 

Bruce grabbed your hand, softly, every touch from him was like a whisper; almost like he was afraid to touch you. You’d thought you were better than the people who fell all over him, but here you were, fighting goosebumps at a choreographed touch of his fingers. A giggle erupted behind you, but neither you nor Bruce brought attention to it. Your focus was entirely taken by the heat of his skin on yours. 

Cameras flashed through the lobby windows, the paparazzi’s shouting echoing coolly off the walls. His grip tightened, nearly too much. They knew where you lived, now. Would they camp out indefinitely? Bruce had done a good job of losing the cars that followed from the meeting, tucking into the parking garage seamlessly, but it was as if he’d posted his location. 

He tucked you closer to his chest as you walked, the backpack bumping against his side with each step. Men shouted, fawned for attention, peppered questions you couldn’t quite make out through the glass, though you swore the word ‘scandal’ and ‘relationship’ popped through a handful of times. If it already spread this much throughout Gotham, why hadn’t Dr. Crane mentioned it? Did he not pay attention to that sort of thing? 

“Sorry.” Bruce spoke quietly into your ear as you descended the second elevator, and thankfully, the parking garage was empty. You hadn’t realized until he gave your hand a reassuring squeeze that your breathing had become dysregulated, or that spots had entered your vision. He made efficient work of leaving the garage, and you pulled a grin as the doors lifted. Am I smiling too much? Not enough? What are people going to say about this? Intrusive images of your face plastered across tabloids in checkout aisles made you shiver. 

Paparazzi didn’t lessen when you arrived at Wayne Tower; hiding in the back had been necessary before. They snapped photos on the sidewalk, waved, yelled, and some even moved so close to the car you jumped, worried that Bruce might accidentally run someone over. When his garage doors slid shut you felt your body deflate. Holy shit. That single interaction had made this whole thing real. 

Bruce sensed how much it affected you; you weren’t exactly keeping your nerves hidden. And how could you on your first run-in with these vultures? He unbuckled, hesitating before stepping out. “I…” his head shook, just a little, words failing him. Your eyes cast down and away, and his gut cinched. “I’m sorry.” 

You played with your fingernails again and, though he knew how ridiculous it was, he wanted to die. He shifted toward you, caring less how the words came out and more just that they did. “Don’t worry about catering to them.” 

Rage tensed his muscles as you gnawed at your lip with your teeth. There wasn’t a damn thing he could do for either of you but stay trapped; the options were to waste his family’s legacy for all the public knew, or be poked, prodded, and analyzed by them until the day he died. “You look fine.” 

You shoved your hands into your pockets when a hangnail began to bleed and sting, following his lead to yet another elevator. Bruce pressed for the top floors, and everything became routine. You walked up the stairs first, after saying a drive-by hello to Alfred, found your way to your room, and shut the door behind you. 

The room felt bigger and emptier than it had last night. Would he talk to you about that new apartment now that you did find a lead? Would he ask you to move in here? You admired the high ceilings and thought of the echoey halls in the night. Would you want to? 

Marble flooring was cool beneath you, the short length of the dress dropping the temperature a few degrees. You peeled it off, kicked your heels across the room, and threw on pajamas. You sat in a huff at the edge of the bed, lost in vague, blurry thoughts, letting emotion wash through you as you rocked back and forth. 

Eventually, you rattled yourself out of it by remembering your purpose: you were doing a good thing. For Gotham, and for Bruce. You wiped under your eyes to make sure no wetness remained, and smoothed your fingers over your hair to catch any flyaways that might’ve cropped up from changing. There was a reason you were doing this, and you needed to take advantage of it. 

You padded down to the kitchen, finding Bruce and Alfred speaking in hushed tones by the sink. Alfred smiled when you entered, and all conversation ceased. “What’s going on?”

“Wanted to know if you were okay after the ordeal on the way, Miss.” Alfred wrung his hands on a dish towel, a ray of comfort breaking through his evident fretting. Could be the accent.

“I’m okay. Thanks.” You clasped your hands together and followed Bruce as he walked to another elevator. Your head spun. 

“If you need anything, let me know. Our house is yours.” 

You nodded over your shoulder gratefully, settling in flush to Bruce’s shoulder. He didn’t say a word until it had descended, you’d both stepped out, and he’d logged into his computers. Your stool was still in its place, and you wondered if he’d made any headway on the research since Monday night. 

He hadn’t. The monitor opened to the same screen you’d left it on before he clicked away. It only took a short glance to see that something ate at him. He pulled up the camera software and cursed under his breath, making some command and stepping back from the desk. You squinted at the monitor, noting a name you barely recognized as the Times reporter, with his headshot.

Approx. ten minutes remaining.

You felt slow, foggy. Fighting with things to break the silence, you questioned the giant tunnel leading to the basement before broaching the elephant of research, which you hadn’t a clue how to approach.

“Has anyone found you down here?” It was just… open. 

He spoke with curious conviction. “People don’t think about what’s underground.” 

You drummed your fingers on the edge of the stool, and bit the bullet. “Did you find anything else about Morrison?”

Bruce shook his head, running his fingers through his hair with an air of delicious frustration. Oh, how a movement like that used to set you on edge; now you wanted to soothe it out of him, barely restraining yourself from thinking up ways to. 

He ripped off a sticky note and began writing bullet points. You steeled yourself and scooted until you could read it. He glanced at you from the corner of his eye, pausing with his pen above a scrawled M. 

Gary Morrison, GU head of journalism. ‘Deceased’, ‘river accident’ in March 2014. 

Wife reported she ‘wanted body to rest’

Last seen via cam August 7, 2024

Rimmel building

Clifford Marks, Times interviewer. ‘Retired’. Age 35.

Interviewed Morrison’s wife

‘Retired’ from Times month later

Approx. eight minutes remaining.

“So Morrison was only there? Didn’t come or go from anywhere?”

“Nowhere the cameras caught.” Bruce set his pen down and stuck the note to the side of the monitor. The stool creaked beneath him. “By his stride pattern, he approached from the west. All we have.” 

“Can you confirm if he was that victim?”

“Caught on too late.” He leaned over the desk, pinching his nose bridge. This was where the frustration came from. 

“So… where do we go from here? If he could be the dead guy, or,” you snapped your fingers, feeling excited. “or maybe he was the killer!”

Bruce cast a blank sort of look your direction. Your shoulders dropped. “Your evidence for that?” 

Your eyes narrowed. “And your evidence against it?” 

“He never left the building.” 

“At least not in a way the cameras recognized him.” 

He rolled his eyes, and your stomach curdled. “This isn’t ‘true crime’.”

You pressed on, despite how much that hurt. “Was he that mutilated you couldn’t tell it was him?” 

“Look, I’ve got it covered.” He pulled off the note from the monitor and grabbed his pen, fixing his stare pointedly at the screen, which had jumped to one minute left. 

“I’m trying.” You cleared your throat when it came out whiny, fiddling with a hole in the side of the seat’s leather. “I want to help.”

He tapped the pen’s tip on the corner of the note, placing small dots at random. “You being here helps.” 

“Don’t placate me.”

“I get distracted when you’re a–way.” His pen dropped as his sentence fizzled out. There had been two sightings: one at Arkham a month post-the interview, then the airport that same day. 

Two blurry videos loaded from each; Bruce played the Arkham footage first, where Marks was seen shouting, pointing his finger at the security guard who shoved him out. He shouted from the ground, but there was no audio, and there was no way to make out the words on a lipread from such low quality footage. 

“Wait,” you squinted, squishing closer. You pointed to the ground by his foot. He rewound the footage, and a shimmer crossed the camera’s lens by his leg. 

“A knife.” Bruce scrawled something else on the note, then pulled up another software you’d never seen him use before. GCA. Airport records. 

“How the hell do you have access to all this?”

He clicked to another tab, writing something else down. 

“What? Tell me what you’re finding.”

“He was headed to LA.” Keystrokes. “Stopped in Denver.”

“And?”

You waited what felt like an hour for him to respond, watching him pull up that camera software, other programs, notate more, moving at such rapid speed you wondered how he even caught what was on the first screen before moving to the next. 

“He left the Denver airport, never came back.” 

“Why would he do that?”

“Didn’t want to be tracked. Most flights are direct.”

“So we look into Arkham.” You swallowed hard, knowing this would end terribly, but knowing too many signs pointed there to ignore any longer. Maybe you could keep him specifically to that time frame, and he wouldn’t have to find out about things happening now. Namely, you.

“We find out where he went in Denver, and talk to him.” 

“For all you know he paid cash for a random car and could be anywhere in the country.” 

“It’s a lead.” 

“There’s so much shit that points to Arkham.” 

“Thought you said I shouldn’t look there yet.” He’d paused his incessant typing and scrolling, eyes dipped to the screen’s bezel. 

“I think we won’t get anywhere until we look into it. Too much to avoid now.” If he hated you, at least people would be safer for it. At least you were trying to do something good for him and them, even if he might not see it that way when he got there.

“We need to talk to Marks.”

“Arkham is right here. You said yourself he hasn’t been spotted elsewhere.” 

Bruce was well aware why he worked alone, but he became more certain he’d continue with every ‘helpful’ comment by you.  

“What, are you going to tap into every security camera in the US and hope it caught the right angle?”

“I’m following the lead.”

“Arkham is also a lead.”

“We don’t even know what to look for there.” His shoulders turned toward each other, feeling squeezed. Anger sat at the tip of his tongue, snide comments creeping along the walls of his skull. “I’m used to doing this alone.”

“I can tell.”

“I’m sorry. I’m getting frustrated.”

He said it so plainly it was almost funny, if you weren’t so insecure about your incompetence. You shifted in your seat as you looked around the basement, noting his giant Batcar jacked up to get serviced, and put a pin in it, wanting to redirect. 

“We’re meeting Oz tomorrow. What do we want to look for down there?”

His brow furrowed. “We’re going there to be allied.”

“We can’t double-task?”

Guilt warming his conscience, he gave you an inch of the reigns. “Have anything in mind?”

“You said he’s a dealer, right?”

“Drops. Already know everything about that.”

You sat in thought for a moment while he organized his desk space. The click of his pen brought Arkham to the front of your thoughts again. “The mayor, Bella. She had that task force thing. The journalist talked about it.”

“Yeah?” Bruce looked increasingly interested, his shoulders shifting square to yours. 

“We don’t know why she was put in there. Maybe they found a new drug or something.”

He mused on that, and by the very second you internalized being a complete idiot, he grabbed another note and scribbled things down. He was always in a hurry, and you kind of understood it now. He had competence and power to make an impact, and he was caring and kind, wanting to help as many people as possible. It was valiant, almost like he was some sort of hero.

You blinked away the thought; idolizing him would do no good, especially with the inevitable end you hurtled towards with this research. If you kept adorning him with a halo, you’d never recover. 

Could you recover at this point? When just packing your bags had you wondering about condoms and lingerie and perfume? You hadn’t needed to pack things like body wash, you knew he had that here, but you wanted him to know you, to smell you, like how you smelled him every time he got close; in case he memorized you like you did him. Juicy papaya, guava, surely that would make an impression… 

Suddenly the air between you popped like it held a charge. Being alone with him threatened the firmest of your resolve against the backdrop of the kiss. You bit the inside of your lip and abruptly stood, refusing that rabbit hole. The car caught your eye for the second time, and you followed it, asking him to show you what needed fixing.

A few hours later, you tucked a towel into the rack as the shower warmed; your hands and arms were covered in grease because apparently, giant cars had millions of parts that needed constant tweaking. You shut the glass door as you stepped inside, feeling sleepy and full to bursting. The shower was pleasant. Everything was. 

You tugged clothes onto damp skin and wrapped the towel atop your shoulders so as to not leave a trail to your room. Bruce waited at the top of the stairs, his hair only slightly drier than your own. You wondered why he stood there, he’d already thanked you on the elevator up, but didn’t complain. He was a vision in his quintessential black, emphasizing the softness of his eyes. 

“What do you like for breakfast?”

“I don’t wanna interrupt Alfred’s plan.”

“Thought I’d make it tomorrow.” 

“Those burnt pancakes were pretty good.” You grinned. “Lot of personality.” 

The timbre of his laugh made your face heat. “Will-do.” 

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” 

You paused before turning to the door. “I’ll let you know if I need anything.” 

He nodded, putting a hand on the railing. “Good.” 

Breakfast had been nice; the food was noticeably less charred, and there was an actually full jug of orange juice. You’d been so excited when he woke you up in the morning that you hadn’t checked your phone until you were finding parking at Saks. 

Bruce looked concerned when you groaned, skimming the curb of the parking garage before correcting. “What?”

“I was supposed to go home this weekend.” You’d missed a call from your mom, received a text updating about the shot. Everything went well, and she commented on how delightfully busy you must be. 

Let me know you’re safe, honey. 

The garage had no signal, so you put it in your trouser pocket. You could practically feel how close she was to assuming you were busy with Bruce; last night before you’d gone to sleep, you’d decided to scroll through your unread messages. Aunts, uncles, and cousins just ‘checking in’, acquaintances from high school coming out of the woodwork. It was beginning to feel impossible not to reckon with what this meant, bleeding past what you could mute notifications on.

Walking into a luxury store made your gaze heavy, focusing on the floor. Bruce let go of you to shake a worker’s hand as they welcomed him in, and you startled when he introduced you. He didn’t give you a title, no girlfriend or partner, but he didn’t need to. Your hand was cold on the shake, ears booming with the shouting and cameras banging on the windows behind you. 

First was the men’s section, and you didn’t expect otherwise. You coming along was an afterthought to them, starry-eyed by the presence of Bruce Wayne. They walked him right past brands like Eton, Canali, and Ralph Lauren, motioning towards names like Garavani, Prada, Saint Laurent, and Givenchy. You nearly felt bad for even breathing on any of the items. 

Bruce was overtaken by the man who was apparently his personal shopper for the day, and you thought the staff had completely forgotten your existence until you pulled out an enticing black dress shirt, and he plucked it from you with a pearly smile. “Impeccable taste, ma’am.” He left you to your own devices with an armful of items already taken to the back. You stifled a laugh at how overwhelmed Bruce looked the next rack over. 

Taking advantage of the shopper’s absence, you moved to the pants, and gasped at the prices. 

“Find anything?”

You shook your head, thumbing through strange cuts, textures, and colors. “Only the ugliest shit I’ve ever seen.” 

He chuckled. “Don’t want me in…” he held up tan, ribbed joggers that looked like long johns. “Four thousand dollar sweats at the club?”

Sometimes you forgot he wasn’t as old as Alfred, and knew terms like ‘ghosting’ and basic club etiquette. You averted your eyes to the rack, swooning over this dynamic. It felt effortless. “Your closet’s probably full of them, just in black.” 

You moved to a rack of black dress pants, shivering to think someone would willingly wear the others in public. Flipping through hangers ran your pinky across smooth, silky fabric, and you paused, pulling out pleated Saint Laurent with a thin, flat waistband. Saint Laurent. You’d only heard the name in songs. 

“Will that be all for now, Mr. Wayne?” The shopper had arrived, holding out his arm to take the trousers. 

Bruce looked at you as you handed it over. “Up to you.” 

You’d picked one shirt and one pair of pants, but followed Eric (his nametag was small), and Bruce to his dressing room; it was enormous. Full-length couch plus loveseat, plush throw carpets, and rows of shoes, handbags, and jewelry in addition to the racks of clothing already chosen. He said he’d be back in a few minutes, leaving you and Bruce standing in the hallway. 

He gestured for you to come in. You crossed your arms tight to your chest and sat yourself on the couch. He grabbed the outfit you chose, and hesitated long enough you noticed. You covered your face with your palms and heard buttons and zippers, clenching your teeth when his pants plopped softly on the ground. 

“This?” 

“You sound confused.”

“I’ve just… never worn anything like it.”

You peeked, seeing the back of him as he faced the mirror. The fabric was a thin silk—no, satin; which was more matte?—looking like a normal dress shirt at first glance. At the points where the light hit, the sheer was especially obvious, highlighting the curve of his shoulderblades. The pants hugged his frame like they’d been crafted with him in mind, tight and flowy in a way that elevated the simple silhouettes. He looked over his shoulder, and you snagged on the turn of his waist. Shit. 

He caught your sharp inhale, and quickly turned away. He fiddled with the cuffs, then undid an extra button at the top of the shirt when he began to sweat. “I, uh, think he picked things for you.” 

And Eric had. Bruce faced the opposite wall while you shimmied on a silver mini dress, trying on shoes and watches. 

Metallic mesh with thin straps connected by hardware accents. You grabbed a pair of silver heels he’d left, and checked yourself in the floor mirror, then stopped, half your foot in the heel. 

It looked… gorgeous. You never figured silver would complement you so well. If Mar were here, she might’ve started squealing.

“Like anything?”

“Um, mhm,” you stammered as you shoved your feet in the heels and smoothed out your hair. In an instant you felt vulnerable, consumed by the fact Bruce would see you like this. Why’d it feel so fucking intimate?

“Can I see?”

“Yeah,” you said, weakly. 

Bruce took a step back, his breathing taking a hit. “Whoa.” You fussed with the dress’s edge in the mirror, and he was grateful for the extra seconds to pull his expression together, hoping he’d said it so quietly you hadn’t heard. 

Your eyes narrowed as you took yourself in, and he couldn’t fathom why. “What do you think?”

He needed a cold glass of water, that’s what he thought. He felt himself turn red. “Looks like it was made for you.” 

Has all the air been removed in here? Can Eric show up? Please? Your heart raced, and you were certain he could see goosebumps with this much exposed skin. Your gaze betrayed you and you checked his outfit in the mirror to your left, heartbeat rushing to your throat seeing both of you together. 

Your phone buzzed, twice. An email had never been such a saving grace. Thankfully, Bruce went back to whatever he was doing in the corner, and you read the message from Dr. Vry. 

“Can we stop at GU on the way? Since I’m not leaving, Dr. Vry says she has something for me.” 

“Sure.” He kicked off the shoes he just tried on, reaching down to grab them. They looked nice, and shiny. 

You both changed facing opposite walls, heads buzzing. 

Eric checked you both out, and you winced at the five-thousand dollar price tag on just your dress. Bruce carried the bags out, and you actually felt happy seeing the paparazzi, knowing that… his hand slipped into yours, and you grinned. 

Bridgit met you at Dr. Vry’s office, holding a spiffy black handbag. The hallways seemed smaller now. “Hey, she told me to—”

She beamed, handing the purse to you. “Janay told me.” Janay? Since when? “She wants you to bring this to events from now on. Represents the prestige of the university.”

Prestige of a public university? In Gotham? You took it, confused. It felt sturdy, like thick, unyielding leather, with gold accents. You thanked her, and left. 

Bruce’s eyes flashed when you entered with it, and he informed you on the short drive to his house that it was a Birkin bag. “If you thought the dress was expensive…”

Thirty-two thousand dollars was the price that came up on Google, and you carried it gingerly up to your room to change, petrified of leaving a fingerprint. You set it on the spare dresser, just enough out of reach it couldn’t be bothered if you tried. What the fuck was Dr. Vry thinking? You pulled on your dress and strapped on your heels, threw on some makeup from the bottom of your purse, and headed downstairs.

You struggled to avoid looking at Bruce as you headed to the elevator. Alfred appeared, the clip of this cane comforting you. You thought it might be easier to look at him than Bruce, but he was positively beaming; did he know this was fake, or was he leading him on, too?  

“Have fun.”

Bruce handed you a pair of contacts when you got to the garage. He said he had three pairs to be able to rotate through, in case they tore. He grabbed a contact case and plopped his in no problem, and you struggled until you swore your mascara would bleed. 

Bruce’s hand was warm and reassuring as you walked into the Iceberg Lounge. Mar had visited a few times, and you recognized some booths and light fixtures from half-drunk selfies she’d sent over the years. 

If you thought eyes had been on you at City Hall, you were the goddamn Mona Lisa here. Bruce tucked you under his arm as the hallway narrowed, and you swallowed spoonfuls of saliva at the contact. Possibility electrified your limbs, rendering them half-numb and hypersensitive. To think that anything went here… that getting handsy, or a kiss, or stuffing him into a corner booth to have your way with him would only help the cause. Tasting his tongue against yours, running fingers down his thighs—playing the part. It left such wonderful deniability; for all he knew, you were a dedicated actress. 

The man in front waved a keycard to security, but Bruce made it through without a hitch. He held you tighter as a drunk group of men swaggered past, bumping you against his dense, muscled body. 

It was a perfectly normal club; downstairs was noticeably less noisy, but it still boomed, tickling your eardrums. A quick scan of the room didn’t show Oz anywhere, which was upsetting and relieving; Bruce’s brief on the way about what set the guy off had been unsettling—anything that could be read as pandering, insulting, or condescending would get you clipped. 

The bartender nodded as you both settled into seats at the counter. They quickly saddled you with a water glass, and you ran your fingers on the lip, trying to calm your nerves. Red and blue reflections of the club lights glinted through it, projecting a kaleidoscope on the countertop. The low lighting also illuminated the curves and valleys of Bruce’s muscles.

Every night pounding the pavement in that heavy suit had formed his build into a fucking menace; so different than how you might’ve imagined Batman would look, bringing butterflies to your stomach. You took a swig of water, avoiding further analyzing. You kept forgetting he was fucking Batman, even that he was a Wayne, but you felt the presence of both now. It dizzied you. 

But could you blame yourself? Was there anyone who wouldn’t want him? Anyone who would sit in your position looking into those ocean blue eyes with those long lashes, feel the comfort and strength in his touch, the sultry invitation of his breath wafting across your cheeks, and not fall head over heels? 

“What do you want to do?”

You wanted to take him to the back rooms you kept seeing the dancers take men to, that’s what you really wanted. Unbutton his pants and pull his shirt over his head, trail kisses everywhere usually hidden, hear whatever sounds that pulled from him, damn. You toyed with the glass again, the only thing you could.

You rushed to fill the space with something other than erotic thoughts, and landed on what you and Mar always pulled out once it passed eleven, and all catch-up conversations had been positively exhausted. “Truth or dare?”

Pulling up questions on your phone from some random generator sites, you placed it between you. One red button for DARE and a blue button for TRUTH sat there, ready to roll the dice. “You first.”

Bruce hit truth, and you mused the politics of his decision. Too shy to pick dare? Also, having him touching your things? Exhilarating. Having his undivided attention? Fucking addicting.

What’s your favorite curse word?

“Damn, starting tame.”

Bruce rested his chin in his hand, thinking way too hard about this. A crease appeared between his brows, and after about thirty seconds, you had to nudge him. Maybe he wanted that closer contact. Seeming like you were in the grips of intense, loving conversation, making eyes. He knew what moves to make, he knew how to manipulate. His eyes flicked to yours. “Fuck.”

That felt intimate. Too intimate, and your body rattled. You managed to a nod, clicking on your request.

“Ooh.” Bruce hummed when you clicked dare, and the screen spun. When had he started that humming thing? Since when did he make small little comments like this?

Eat a teaspoon of hot sauce.

You thought Bruce was moving toward letting you off the hook, so you waved down the bartender and requested a shot of it. You felt a strange desire to impress him, like a kid at recess trying to impress a crush. They asked how spicy, and you said medium. The bartender brought back a half-filled shot glass, and you slammed it back without a wasted second.

“Shit.”

A swell of pride speared through you at making an impression. The heat hadn’t hit in full yet, percolating on the roof of your mouth. His eyes widened, and he sat up from his slump.

“Not spicy?”

As if on cue, it attacked your tastebuds, screaming to be heard. Your face contorted, and you chugged the rest of your water; Bruce passed you his, and in a second that was finished, too. Your eyes watered, your stomach turned into a knot. 

“What the fuck sauce do they have here?!” You flapped your hands at your sides as if that would make a single dent—and noticed how happy he seemed. You wanted to tease, how dare he like when you were in pain, but the crinkle by his eyes always felled you. The bartender must’ve been watching, because they brought you a jug of water, and you drank it like you never would again. Bruce smiled, and you fought to join him.

“Since you were so brave.” He clicked dare, and you tried not to feel ecstatic at being called brave by Batman himself. Somehow, it wasn’t at all condescending. You hoped you could get a few more rounds in, seeing as your phone was at a measly five percent.

Show your most recent Google search.

Bruce’s lashes fluttered, and your face scrunched. “Such an easy one, this game’s rigged.”

Pink spread across his cheeks, and his voice became softer. “There’s no ‘skip’?” He laughed, halfheartedly, and you cocked your head at him. He eyed you. “Since you got such a big one,”

“No, no.” You were curious now. “Show me.”

Bruce gingerly pulled out his cell, and when he opened it, you saw he didn’t have a password. Surely he knew better than that, right? Or did he have a hack for that too, some sort of bomb that would go off in the battery if he ever had an inkling it was lost?

He opened Safari, and your eyes flit between his increasingly red face and the loading screen. He shifted in his seat and glanced at the table underneath. You could tell when it loaded, because his face flushed the darkest you’d seen it.

An article, titled: Romantic Conversation Starters (+ Tips to Set the Mood).

You chanced a look at him as you tucked your lip under your teeth, barely abating a laugh. You felt yourself turning warmer, and tempted the increasingly tense silence; you could feel he was about to combust. You called it out before your anticipation got the better of you and you zeroed in on things you shouldn’t. “You’re blushing.”

“Wanted to make it believable.”

Your laugh escaped you, unable to be contained. “By going on WikiHow?”

It was so endearing; he navigated these rooms so seamlessly, had people falling all over him, desperate for his attention, practically on their hands and knees to whatever the hell he had to say, including yourself, but he was just… awkward. Unsure. It was written all over his face. And fuck, it only made him more attractive.

“You got a better idea?” His defensiveness was creeping in, as expected. You might’ve fallen into the floor in his position. You mirrored his earlier posture, resting your chin in your hand.

“Be yourself.”

He clicked the phone off, slipping the evidence back in his pocket. The movement pulled at the fabric across his bicep deliciously. “‘Myself’ doesn’t want to be here.”

“What would make it more tolerable, Mr. Wayne?” You sipped at the remainder of the water from the jug like it was a delicate glass. His blush flushed deeper, which you didn’t think possible. Teasing him was fucking adorable; how could you not?

“Thought I was baby.”

You struggled not to show how that affected you, because it affected you. “Thought you were shy.”

“Sometimes.”

Another imperceptible cock of his brow and that deep, penetrating eye contact. The rise and fall of your shoulders was tighter, higher. You thought of pushing it further, teasing more, being a bit more forward, but your tongue tied, and he wasn’t breaking eye contact, and your hand was going numb under the weight of your body pressing toward the counter for balance, and—

Out of the corner of your vision, you watched Oz enter, pulling some pills out of a bin to his side. When he distributed them to the table, they stuck their tongues out at each other, showing a bright red bloom from the drug. They laughed and handed over cash. So bright and bloody… Mar did something like that once. She’d told you about it. Showed you the tongue stain a year ago. 

Oz pulled out two more pills, then locked eyes with you. You smiled, but it felt like ice water thrown down your neck. Bruce tensed as he approached. 

“Welcome, welcome! Got a coupla drinks, yeah? How ‘bout we keep the good vibes going? On the house.” He held out the pills, and you hesitated; Bruce began a deflection, but you grabbed one. His attention shot to your mouth, and he started stuttering something out, eyes wide, but you swallowed.

Oz chuckled, pushing his hand closer. “C’mon, don’t let your lady outdo ya.” 

“He’s the designated driver, I’ll have my fun tonight.” You winked at the man, and he grinned, but it faltered for a second before he righted it. Bruce needed to be careful, shooting daggers at you with Oz right there. 

“Hey baby, yeah yeah.” Oz apologized, saying he’d bring you both back to ‘his section’ soon. The second he was out of earshot, Bruce leaned in, whispering heatedly. 

“What the hell was that?”

“You want to know what this does, right? This isn’t Drops, this is newer.”

Bruce glared at your red tongue. “We could’ve asked any druggie here.” He slammed his palm just hard enough against the table to make you stiffen. “For all you know he could’ve laced it.” 

“He pulled it out of the same thing he gave everyone else, I watched him.”

He softened when you jumped, moving his hand down to his pocket. There were better ways to get his point across than scaring you. He faced you with apologetic, worried eyes. His chest felt heavy, breathing more labored. “I’m scared it’s dangerous.”

“Well then,” you scrambled not to look like a total airhead, knowing you had your reasons, but struggling to articulate them. “I’m the perfect control either way. We know I haven’t drank anything, I’m not on other drugs,”

He sighed. “Wish you would’ve consulted me.” 

“He was about to get suspicious. Now you have an out.” You sipped some water to try to abate the rising anxiety; it didn’t work. “Rich guy who doesn’t want to total his favorite car, I don’t know. Get his ditzy girlfriend all wasted.”

He turned to you, waiting for you to look at him. You didn’t. He brought his hand to your chin, and you thought it would be harsh and rough, but it was gentle as he tilted you to face him—always gentle. He looked a bit like he had at City Hall the day before. Frazzled, concerned. “You can’t leave my side, okay?” 

You swallowed hard, immobilized by the pull of him. “Didn’t plan on it.” 

His hand left you, but his stare didn’t. “How are you feeling now? We need a baseline.”

You remembered at this point that he was wearing the contacts, and you were, too, when he didn’t take out his phone to notate. Oz’s big hand gestures from a table across the way signified it wouldn’t be long. “Uh,”

“Fatigue? One to ten.”

“Uh, two.”

He pressured his speech, likely feeling Oz’s inevitability as much as you. “Brain fog?”

“I don’t know, one? Zero?”

“How does your body feel?”

“I don’t know, my feet hurt from the heels,”

“Hot? Cold?”

“Flushed, warm, I don’t know, a tiny bit warm? The hot sauce?” And conversation.

“What’s your mood?”

“Uh,”

“Apathetic? Euthymic?”

He was moving at lightning speed. “I don’t, a little anxious? Kinda sad, I don’t, I can’t quantify it right now,”

“Sad, scale of one to ten.”

You picked at your nails. “Four?”

“Anxiety?”

“Like a five?”

“Do you feel weak at all?”

“No.”

“Unsteady?”

You only had time to shake your head before him.

“Hey, VIPs!” Oz shouted from the corner, waving you and Bruce toward the back of the bar. “Follow me.”

It only took a few steps for things to shift. The world blurred out, and you were suddenly gone; all worries about what Oz was doing, all anxiety about the night: disappeared. The lights went increasingly hazy, and then it snapped into a mist; you couldn’t help but laugh. 

You leaned harder into Bruce, your knees weakened. Every brush against his arm was so electric, sensual, like foreplay. It was blissful. 

Oz said something about the party finally starting, and you thought he looked at you, but you were lost in the strength of Bruce’s hand and how much of his skin you could touch. A bright smile peaked the apples of your cheeks as you felt genuinely, stunningly happy. The music settled into the background in a dull pulse. Your thoughts rolled into a mess of ferns and twigs and pine needles that amounted to one singular need: Bruce.

Bruce tightened his grip on you, feeling you begin to drag; he wanted to make sure you were okay, but Penguin was showing him towards a back room, refusing him space to avoid eye contact. 

Stepping behind the bar revealed a moderately large lounge, close enough to 44 Below’s main stage to be involved, far enough to be private. The space was moderately large, with a glowing green EXIT sign to the left, and a long hallway to the right. No one else was back here. 

“When I’m not upstairs, you know, doing business? This is my zone, my asilo. Make yourselves at home, go on.” He moved for him to take a booth, and you clomped down next to him with a delighted huff. Bruce looked at your half-lidded eyes and enormous grin when you rustled the table, desperate to know what was going through your head. 

Penguin pointed at you, and launched into a speech about how business shifted since the flood. Bruce couldn’t make sense of why he started shifting to talking about drugs with him; was he this confident now of not catching consequences? 

“Needed to find something to help the people here. Lost lives, families, homes. Who wants to go to the club when their lives are falling apart, huh?” Penguin held his arms like he was bragging, like he was selling something. Did he want him to go in? 

You shifted and giggled beside him. God, he needed to talk to you. 

“Those eye things,” Bruce pretended not to recall, snapping his fingers in thought. 

“Ah, Drops.” He made a disappointed, dismissive sound and waved his hand, as if one of the most dangerous and widespread drugs in all of Gotham was nothing more than a passing project. “Nah, nah. That brings people down, makes ‘em nostalgic. You’ve tried it, right?”

“Makes things slower, yeah.” Was Penguin observant enough to catch the non-answer? Bold enough to call it out?

“Right, right. So this, this is something beautiful. Brings people up, keeps them excited, partying.” He straightened, gesturing every which way with his hands, his tone moving in and out as it only did with him. “And the best part is, thing’s all natural. Straight from the soil.”

Mushrooms. Why was he saying all this?

“Sure you don’t want any, boss man?”

Bruce barely contained a disgust response. With no other way to see out of it besides throwing the relationship under the bus, that’s exactly what he did. 

“Paps have been fucking ruthless since they got those photos.” He shook out his arms and set his face to look annoyed. “If they catch me with anything for a while, whew.” A tight shake of his head would finish it, and a pursed lip. “Gonna have to stay sober tonight.” 

“Prince of Gotham, alright.” The man held his hands up like he was being accused, though his demeanor remained agreeable. “Ain’t wanna be responsible for corrupting that.” 

Bruce played along, deepening this faux rapport. “People already try to discredit,” he recycled your earlier attacks on him. “Nepotism, all that bullshit.”

“Right, right. Lotta rumors.”

“Exactly, Oz.” Bruce blew a heavy breath from the bottom of his chest, making himself look as frazzled as possible. He performed musing on something, then moved like he might get up to the bar. “You know, I might get a whiskey,”

“Nah, not in this section.” Penguin, almost angry, motioned for him to sit back down with a shoo. Bruce stifled a grin; like hell he would leave you. “I’ll send one of the girls to get something for you.” 

You slumped against him as Penguin turned the corner. He didn’t waste a second. “How are you feeling?”

Your hands crawled up his arm and shoulder, and your grin got louder, and louder, which he didn’t know a grin could do. He reflexively smiled at your supposed euphoria, never seeing you so content. Your smirk went straight to his chest. 

Bruce measured his breathing when you moved your hands to his hair, twirling it between fingers. He bit his cheek when your hand slid lower; down his neck, past his abs… he gulped and moved your hand away, his body lighting up. You pouted, making a pitiful noise that went straight through him. 

“Please.” You slid nearer, whining, closing the space; your pupils were so wide your eyes were almost entirely black, your shoulders squeezed inward, like every muscle in your body was tense, needy. Your fingers moved to his thighs, rubbing the top in smooth, languid strokes. 

That please echoed through him like a fucking gong. He shook it from his thoughts the second it ricocheted. Shallow and quick, his breathing hitched, and he shifted away with another swallow. 

Heat spread across his face as he darted a look at yours. You bit your lip, and he averted his eyes to under the table. No chance you would’ve taken it if you knew it would increase your libido this sharply. With his awareness cast down, he noticed you press your thighs together, crossing your ankles. 

“I want you.”

He caught your hand as it traveled to his waistband. His fingertips were freezing, head turning staticky at your touch. You pouted again, and he looked at you with increased resolve. 

“No. You’re not sober.” Gentle, yet firm. Your eyes went glossy, almost with tears. He took your hand to bridge the distance, rubbing what he hoped was a relaxing circle along your palm. 

Your eyes pleaded with him. “It’d be so fun like this.” 

“We can talk.” 

“Can we talk about it?” You rested your head in your hands, fluttering your lashes to frame your doe eyes. 

He didn’t hesitate shaking his head. You thought long and hard, and he theorized you were mining for a loophole. “Can I look at you?”

His expression eased. “You can look.” 

You were so thrilled it was like the past conversation hadn’t happened. You analyzed every pore of his face, admiring it like some great statue or famous painting. When he felt himself start to wonder what you were imagining, he pivoted. “Tell me. How are you feeling?”

“Could be better.”

He paid the insinuation no mind. “One to ten?”

“You’re funny.”

Huh? “How am I funny?”

“Soo serious.” You pressed your finger between his brows, uncreasing them. He let his shoulders relax. “There you go.” 

You sat back, gazing dreamily. “You should talk more. I love hearing you talk.” 

Should he… stop talking? Was it making it worse for you? Were you lucid? “Do you know why we’re here?”

“Talk, baby. Come on.” 

Like he was zigzagging his car through Gotham, but unable to lose them. “What do you want to talk about?”

“I just wanna watch you.” 

He regretted the question as it passed his lips, loathed how he couldn’t help but blush under your focused attention, but he’d endure it. If he needed to dodge your advances for the next ten hours, the whole weekend, so be it. 

“You’re so cute!”

You looked pained, a growl edging out your sentence. “Is that a bad thing?”

“UGH.” You slammed back into the chair, giving him barely enough time to place his hand behind your head; his knuckles knocked into the wood, and he winced. 

Was this because he wouldn’t let you touch him? Tentatively, he removed his hand. “If you still feel this way when you’re sober, we can talk about—”

“Whiskey for Mr. Wayne?”

“Thanks.” His fingers wrapped around the drink, leaving visible prints against the smooth siding. You still faced forward, looking upset. 

He worried his hands along the lip of the glass, needing to make himself perfectly clear. “I don’t want you feeling rejected,” he took a deep breath. “but there’s no way anything is happening while you’re like this.” 

“Not that.” You scoffed, like you hadn’t just begged him to let you. 

“What then?”

“The storm.” Your expression twisted, and you really looked like you might cry. “All the animals, and birds,”

“What about them?” 

“They hate getting wet.” Tears slipped down your cheeks. Mood swings. “Walter hates getting wet. What if he was here?” 

He pressed his lips into a thin line to keep a laugh at bay, reminding himself you were obviously wrecked over it. It was no small feat evicting humor from his tone. “I’m sure animals here are used to rain.”

You sat in thought. The booming sounds from the dance hall upstairs filled the silence, and the sharp click of a dancer’s heels as they pulled a customer to the back went along with the beat. “Can we go dance?”

“I don’t dance.”

He’d tried to convince you on the stairs to ditch this idea, but you’d quite literally yanked him to the dance floor. Admittedly, he liked this possessiveness, but under different circumstances. 

The crowd was tight, and only got tighter as word spread. Anxious thoughts circled like a shark, threatening to drown, but not you. Fully invested in whatever song was blasting through the speakers, you held your hands high, swaying side to side, grabbing his hips at every switch in the beat. You mouthed the words—you knew this one, had you gone clubbing with your friend much?—and he tried to mirror your movements, though subtly, feeling embarrassed. 

He shut his eyes for just a second at the overstimulation; he needed to be firmly rooted here to keep you safe. He wanted to help you have fun, too, and he wanted to enjoy this, or at the very least tolerate it. What kind of person would he be if he interrupted your joy, no matter what caused it? 

When he opened his eyes, a flurry of people were pressed against him, fighting to claim his attention, touching him in ways that made him want to jump out of his skin. He only panicked for a moment at your disappearance, easily looking over shoulders to find you just behind. You stared at the back of their heads with amusement; somehow, he thought you’d be angry. 

You laughed, so loud he could hear it over the bass, and jammed your way through them limb by limb, shoving your body flush to his. He caught you, feeling a profound sense of home when you pressed into him, your perfume and shampoo and whatever else made up you filling his senses in a way that shot him straight to heaven. He felt you rumble against him, hearing your laugh even closer now. He moved his mouth to your ear as you tightened around him. “What’s so funny?”

“They think you’re not mine.” You rolled your eyes so casually, like he hadn’t burned to tell you so for weeks. 

His lips curled into a small grin. “You think I’m yours?” 

Those half-lidded eyes met him again, spearing him. “Of course you are.” 

You didn’t wait for him to respond, and that was good, because he was full of nothing but looping thoughts of yes, yes he was, he was yours. 

You brought his hands to your waist and he held you carefully, the room shifting to a closed concept as he absently moved in tandem with you, following your lead as his nerves fell away. He wouldn’t ask you how you meant it, not now, possibly never, but he could pretend. Pretend you could feel how much he cared; that somehow, despite his best efforts, you knew with unwavering confidence that he was entirely, deeply yours without ever having to say it. 

As you both danced, he kept a shield around you. When someone got too close, he’d shift you away or pull you in without you even noticing. He caught you the rare times you stumbled, and every time you laughed, he placed the memory in a locket. Your face lit up when he’d dip his shoulders to the beat, rolling his body just enough to feel the rhythm deep in his core. Eventually his movements became smoother, more evocative, encouraged by your enjoyment. When you got too dizzy, he let you catch a breath in his arms. You’d lean in, whispering that you knew he would get into it, that you knew he could let loose. 

You pressed your foreheads together, panting. He realized he’d been working up a sweat, moving more than he had outside of patrol in years. “You don’t dance, huh?”

He laughed, and it didn’t feel strained or hollow. “Didn’t think so.” This wasn’t scary, not at all. 

He guided you off the floor when your eyes shut, rubbing your shoulders to keep you awake. He whispered to you. “Let’s say goodbye to Oz,” and brought you downstairs, already anticipating… Penguin laughed, giving him a wink and a nudge.

“Have fun, kid.” 

Disgusting. 

He snuck you out of a side door, wanting to limit photography, when he felt a punch on his right shoulder. He pushed you against the brick wall as gently as he could, but not as gently as he would’ve liked, as he caught sight of a knife. 

Disarming the assailant was easy; it didn’t take three steps and a few uppercuts for the weapon to clatter to the ground, and him to fall to his ass. Usually, if he were in the suit, the criminal would scoot back wildly, scrambling to escape further punishment; but this guy thought he was dealing with prissy Bruce Wayne.

The man lunged for his ankle—elementary. He had his wrist in one hand, wrenching his elbow until he screamed. Desperate not to escape but to hurt, the stranger lunged forward, teeth bared. Bruce yanked hard on his arm, hearing a crack, and slammed the heel of his shoe against the man’s jaw. He fell on his back, dazed, blood trickling down his nose. 

From the ground, he eyed you with a glare in the second it took Bruce to decide to scuff his shoes. Against thigh, then stomach, then chest. The last hit had the man yelping, dragging himself down the alleyway in as much a limping hurry he could manage. Bruce huffed, feeling the impact on unprotected knuckles. 

“What the fuck…” 

You were disoriented, blinking slowly, out of it. He wrapped you in a hug, shielding you from the rain he hadn’t felt until now, rushing you out front to the valet. He helped you into the passenger seat, buckling you himself so he didn’t worry, and slipped beside you, hurrying past the crowd. 

The weather worsened by the second. Umbrellas swayed and flew out of hands on the sidewalk, and rain pelted the car like bullets. If you’d left any later, he might’ve had to carry you home. After what felt like an eternity, he pulled into the drive. The piss-poor weather had deterred most of the paparazzi. 

Not even six in the evening, Alfred startled at the state of you, eyes struggling to open, slumped into Bruce’s side. “What happened?” 

“She’s fine.” 

“Bruce,”

“Went to meet Penguin, she took some drugs,”

“Drugs?”

“I told you, it’s fine,”

In his haste to get the old man off his back, you tripped on the first stair. Bruce barely caught you before you nose-dived. He helped you upright, whispering for you to jump; it was halfhearted, feet barely an inch off the ground in your exhaustion, but it was enough. He carried you the rest of the way, tenderly setting you in the middle of your bed. 

You grumbled, shifting to your side. Your heel grazed him. Right. He knelt to pull them off, setting them under the bed. He massaged the back of your heel until your grumbles turned to sighs, then hums. When your mouth slacked open against the pillow, he knew you’d passed out. 

Silently, he rose and snuck to the door, careful not to rouse you. He’d keep the door open, check on you every half hour. He grimaced, spiraling on how much could go wrong in that time. Maybe every quarter hour. 

“Don’t leave.” 

His heart cracked when he heard tears. He stepped back into the room, your scrunched, tired face staring at him like he’d committed a cardinal sin. “Okay.” He let go of the doorknob. “I won’t.” 

You patted the bed next to you, and scooted to make room. He laid on the bed’s furthest edge, arms tight to his torso. You shook your head. “Closer.”

He scooted toward you, and you dragged yourself into the crook of his arm. Your body softened and the sniffling stopped. Bruce kept deadly still, scared he’d interrupt your sleepiness with full breaths. 

It was impossible not to follow suit; just as he thought he might nap, you rustled in your sleep. His body jerked in response when you sat up, mumbling about feeling hot, and promptly yanked off your dress. Half awake by that point, he only realized you’d undressed when you threw it to the end of the bed. You thudded into him like nothing happened.

He almost fell asleep again, but you started pawing at his chest, muttering. “Too scratchy, take it off.”

He hesitated, instead pulling the blanket higher to cover it. You fell asleep quickly, and he did the same. 

You heard a thump. 

More thumps. 

You opened your eyes and saw a quilt, and felt a weight draped over your hips. You blinked a few times, groggy, and realized it was a heartbeat that you heard. 

Bruce rustled, and what was apparently his arm moved off your hip to rub at his eyes. You sat up and felt a breeze, becoming aware of your discarded dress, and your stomach shot to the back of your throat. 

You tried to remember what happened. Everything was blank, outside of entering the club and playing some truth or dare. Had you dared to hook up with him? Had he dared you? 

“How are you feeling?” His voice was slightly hoarse, from fatigue or something else. 

Your mouth went dry, posing the question even seeming too intimate. “Did we, uh,” you pulsed with embarrassment, forcing yourself to meet his eyes, “have sex?” 

Suddenly you were quite breathless. A ghost of an ache pulsed between your thighs. Ah, fuck, you’d fucked him for the first time and you couldn’t even relive it. 

“No.” His eyes narrowed. “What do you remember?”

You tried to, but it was like the time hadn't passed. He swung his legs off the bed, moving to stand. His shirt was half-tucked, his hair undone just enough to be sexy. You wished you’d fucked him; but your body, it… it felt like it had. It was needy, and spent. “Nothing.”

“You can watch the recording, then.” Bruce held out his hand, and you stared at it. You placed your hand in his, and a small noise fell from him. You ripped it away, and his brow quirked. You burned. “Contacts.” 

Timid, you peeled the contacts off your dry eyes and handed them over. As he put them in a case, you patted the bed for your phone. He pulled it out of his pocket, apologizing for the oversight as he plugged it in. “It died at the bar, sorry.”

“Why were we in bed together?” You figured you’d find out soon on the tape, but the anticipation was ruining you. Maybe you hadn’t fucked, but you’d made out, or touched him, or he touched you, because your pussy ached like it’d been made sore, and you couldn’t fucking place why or how. You clenched. 

“You cried when I tried to leave.” 

Cried?

“Wanted me to stay while you slept.” 

You believed him, but that felt humiliating to admit. “Then why was I half naked?”

“Said you were too hot.” He shrugged, moving toward the exit. “Glad you’re alright.” 

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You took Oz’s drug.” 

Your face fell, a crumb of memory resurfacing. His worry, his questions, and how bitter the pill was on your tongue. 

“Meet me in the kitchen and we’ll go down together.” 

Bruce pretended to work on his car while you watched the video; he thought you couldn’t tell, but you were excruciatingly aware of his presence and knew you’d be doing the same thing if he’d been behaving this way. It was mortifying.

Every time you gasped or looked away from the monitor—he definitely wasn’t watching you, no—he would attempt to soothe, telling you that ‘everything worked out’, and ‘seemed like you had fun, that’s good’. You did not agree. 

Watching your hands glide over his body, getting dangerously close to his zipper, fuck. The beg in your voice, saying that you wanted him, saying please, oh, you could’ve died. Creeping on him like that… Why hadn’t he let Oz take you out back with a shotgun?

“If you still feel this way when you’re sober, we can talk about—”

You jumped. The basement went quiet, the worn concrete walls choosing now to absorb all sound. You skipped forward, gulping back a scream, as your head pounded at the implication. 

It killed you to type ‘marked increase in libido’ and ‘risky behavior’ into his computer, but externalizing it walked you back from the cliff. A third word: ‘euphoria’. That feeling had been the loudest. You didn’t want to keep watching, but you had to. 

The fucking dancing. This couldn’t be too bad, right? No talking could happen under these circumstances. You unwound watching Bruce blush under the lights, moving stiffly like the concept of rhythm was entirely foreign. 

Bruce took a peek at you as he bolted the last tire on, watching you grin and tuck your lower lip under your teeth. He grabbed the bottled water at his side and swigged it, wishing just a little bit that it was whiskey.

You got pushed aside by a group practically clawing at him. You boiled inside, bruised, but heard yourself laugh. You pushed your way through them, easier than you thought, especially for someone drugged, and suddenly your vision was dark, clouded against his chest. His voice was right in your ear. “What’s so funny?”

“They think you’re not mine.” 

Jesus, how did he react? Just when you thought you might actually die, you watched him grin. Cold flashed through you. 

“You think I’m yours?” and it sounded really rhetorical, really delicate, and what the hell did you say to that? 

“Of course you are.”

Oh, shit.

You paused the footage, feeling caught between worlds. Technically, you’d already told him all the things you were so scared of. A side-eye in Bruce’s direction showed that he wasn’t working on his car anymore, and his empty hands looked inviting. That neediness was back, and you nearly stepped toward him, but stalled. Your heart could’ve beat out of your chest. 

When your breathing caught, you took it and rushed to the elevator, fully aware how fast you were moving, and how suspicious it was. But Mar would want to know what happened, you’d told her you’d gone clubbing, and she did need to know you were safe, and you wanted to know if she’d escaped the storm. But all you told him was you wanted water. 

“Can I go with you?”

You nodded, knocking the hair out of your face with shaky fingers. Every stride between his car to the elevator ratcheted your heart rate up a notch, and you swore it was as visible as the clothes you wanted him to tear off. Your hands clenched into fists as he stepped inside. “Sorry for acting like that.”

“No need.” 

“I overstepped, I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t.” He pressed UP, and you began the ascent.

“Do you mean that?”

You watched his Adam’s apple bob, and started feeling like the question you asked was more intimate than you thought. “We can’t do this right now.”

“Do what?”

“It’s only been a few hours.”

“What do you mean?”

His back pressed against the elevator wall, like he wanted to create distance. “Do you just want water, o-or want me to make you something?”

“Why are you stuttering?”

“Why are you asking?”

The doors opened, and he practically lunged toward the kitchen sink. You watched, breathless. He didn’t think you were fully sober. Maybe you weren’t. 

You cut upstairs, head pounding. ‘Right now’. ‘Imagined’. That grin of his, and how sure you sounded. You struggled to grip the doorknob, palms slick. It wouldn’t turn, and you smacked the wood, spirit weary. You wished you’d never found out about Batman, that you’d never gotten tangled up in this shit so you didn’t have to wonder, and worry, about what was placation and what was real; so that you could break the ice and ask him yourself, or tell him, and not silently read into every glance, holding memories with white knuckles.

The door popped open, and you stumbled inside. Your phone glowed on the nightstand. Thinking nothing of it, you fell into bed and unlocked it.

The glass shattered in the sink as Bruce heard you scream. No thoughts came, only fear, and he traveled the steps four at a time. You flung the door open and slammed into him. He’d never felt someone shake so much, and held you so tight he thought he might break you, but you were squeezing him harder than anyone ever had, and shrieking. His teeth went cold. 

Your limbs tingled, weightless, and you moved and breathed on instinct alone. Bruce’s arms were around you, but you didn’t quite feel them. Presence and dissociation carved out your stomach. 

You pulled away, a dead, empty feeling bloated with adrenaline to keep you moving. A brightness filled your chest, but like a glowing hot poker. Explanation spilled out of you like you couldn’t breathe, like you were hyperventilating, but you weren’t there. 

Bruce cupped your face, but you saw him through gray mist. Alfred popped out and said something, but the waves of shock drowned him out. 

“I should’ve fucking gone, I was supposed, I planned to fucking go,”

Bruce guided you to the edge of the bed through your bursts of anger. He crouched in front of you as you listened to the other voicemails. His hands warmed your knees, his attention unwavering. 

‘Tried to call, but I’m on the way to the hospital now…’

You barely registered what you agreed to until you were halfway down the road; you didn’t react when Bruce fought the car against endless hydroplaning, but jolted back to a portion of the moment with the splatter of hail on the passenger window.

Tears flooded your lap like the monsoon outside. The buildings changing to greenery on the side of the highway choked reality down a bargaining throat. A realization that this was a moment you had to be there for, present for. You sniffed up a wall of tears. You could disappear after, if she didn’t wake up.

His hand moved to your knee. You blinked at how calmly the conversation went. Shaking hands finding delayed flights, and the complete lack of fight when he told Alfred to find the nearest operational jet. A prickle of it found you now in the form of guilt, weighing on you like the weekend bag in your lap. In a blip of lucidity, you’d asked him why he was packing a duffel. He said you were in no state to be alone right now. That if he could help, he would. That he’d leave whenever you asked, but not until you were at the hospital. 

‘fell’, ‘unconscious’, ‘waiting game’. You leaned your head to rest on his shoulder. You squeezed your puffy eyes shut, body wracking with choppy, sobbing gasps. Bruce laced his fingers between yours, giving you a gentle squeeze. He didn’t say it would be okay, or that everything happened for a reason. He let you be sad. He just let you cry.

[wynterstrawberry]

“I’ll quit for you.”

Another day another deadline. You felt like you were drowning in your work but you also didn’t have enough time to think about it. Autopilot had taken over your life getting you from one deadline to the next. Seth was concerned about your stress levels and tried to talk to you about. Which fell on deaf ears as you continued to be absorbed in your work.

As you woke up the feeling of an illness lingered through your body. You sighed and opened your laptop to work from home. Seth walked into your room as you started a coughing fit. He hated seeing you like this. It felt like he was in a relationship with a wall anymore the way work had absorbed you.

He shook his head hearing how sick you were and knowing you were still buried in your work. He admired your work ethic but it annoyed him too. “Baby you need to rest.” He spoke gently as he closed your laptop screen. You continued staring at where your screen used to be as your brain processed what Seth said and done. “Wait I needed that.”

“Honey look at yourself. You’re sick emotionally and physically. This job isn’t good for you. It’s literally making you sick.”

“That’s not true I could’ve got sick from anywhere.” You attempted to counter knowing Seth was right.

He stayed silent and gave you one of his slightly judgmental you can’t be serious looks.

“Okay fine maybe it’s affected me a little.”

He continued silent and his expression cut you to the core.

“Okay my job is making me unhappy and sick and I don’t know how to get away from it. It’s like Stockholm syndrome.”

“Just quit.”

You wanted to but you also didn’t want to be dependent on Seth. And it was as if he could read your mind.

“Hey we’re a freaking couple. Of course I’m going to take care of you and there’s nothing you can do about it. My money is your money and you don’t have another say in it.”

“But-“

“Nuh uh”

“I-“

“No”

Seth interjected everytime you tried to object. You finally sighed and accepted defeat.

“I’m scared to quit.” You spoke quietly accepting defeat as you looked into his eyes.

His expression softened and he held out his hand for your phone.

“Then I’ll quit for you.”

You were a bit worried at how he was going to quit for you but you trusted him and lowkey at this point you didn’t care anymore. As Seth typed on your phone you thought about everything you had endured for the job and realized you should’ve quit a while before.”

“Thank you.” You said as he handed your phone back with a smile.

He kissed your head and smiled back “of course. Anything for my girl. And I placed an order for your favorite restaurant.” He finished with a wink.

Naturally Seth being Seth he also added both of your favorite candies and had a whole movie night planned with a massage for you.