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gxccistyless · 4 years ago

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Fine Line: The Divorce Series - part two.

In case you missed part one you can find it here. Feedback always appreciated in any form. Feel free to message me if you have any questions!!

Trigger warnings for this include; mentions of death, drug and alcohol abuse.

It’s ten passed twelve when Eliza opens her eyes for the first time, she hadn’t slept a good nights sleep since Fallon’s diagnosis but last night she didn’t wake not once.They had her funeral yesterday, she doesn’t remember much, she thinks this is probably partially why she was able to sleep so well, knowing that Fallon was finally resting at her forever home. Harry helped to organise the funeral and had been more available to both her and their other two children in the lead up to it and insisted in paying for it in full. But yesterday was too much for him, he left somewhere between the wake and the kids’ bed time and Eliza hadn’t heard from him since. Harry woke up in his apartment for the first time in weeks, he’d be living at Eliza’s in the spare room from the time when things got to be too much for Eliza to handle on her own. He missed his bed and the peace and quiet, but he’d never allow himself to say those words out loud. Right in between losing her and laying her to rest, they celebrated her birthday. Gemma thought it would be a good idea to acknowledge the day instead of pushing it to the side, Harry just kind of wanted to push through and try and get through the day, but Eliza liked the idea of being able to blow out a candle for Fallon and so to appease his ex-wife’s needs and support her through her grief, Harry bit his tongue And they did just that, celebrated her.

elizadoherty 4 years ago you made me a mama sweet angel baby Fallon. I miss you, thanks for changing my life 🕊 Liked by harrystyles, niallhoran and 12,378,346 others,

The funeral came around quicker than he had anticipated, it kind of crept up on him. After today things would go back to the way they were before Fallon got sick snd Harry wasn’t sure if he was ready for that. He wasn’t ready to be away from Koa and Lennon, or even Eliza for that matter. Everyone was so wrapped up in supporting Eliza on the day, they had forgot that Harry had lost a child too. So distracted by Eliza, no one noticed Harry when he slipped out in the middle of her wake, no one but Eliza.

There was no communication between the two in the weeks that followed, he locked himself in the studio with only a select few people and she was trying to get back to somewhat of a normal routine with the twins. He was making good progress with an album, it wasn’t as upbeat as previous albums had been but it just reflected what he was going through and how he was feeling. With no communication and his lack of interest in their other two children Eliza goes ahead and books a court date to finalise their divorce. Harry is leaving the studio when he gets words of the court date being set, he heads straight to the bar. Harry is on his sixth drink when he finally gets a hold of Eliza. I miss you he tells her We just lost — we just — how can you even be thinking about finalising our divorce. She cries and that’s when he knows he’s fucked up. Eliza don’t cry, I’m sorry, I’m such a fuck up, it should have been me, not her... Eliza knows she should hang up the phone, call Gemma let her deal with him and go back to bed. Instead she asks Harry for his location, calls a sitter and by the time she heads to the bar its almost 10pm.

Eliza finds Harry in the corner booth, away from prying eyes and away from windows with his back toward the rest of the people in the pub. By now he’s lost count of how many drinks he’s consumed. She orders herself a scotch on the rocks. The bartender looks between her and Harry and wonders what they must be going through to have lead them here tonight. They sit in silence mostly, Harry throwing back three drinks in the time it tasked Eliza to finish the one she ordered herself when she first got here. The bartender draws a line in the sand and cuts Harry off, he pays for his long bar tab remembering to ask the bartender to include Elizas scotch on the rocks and then he goes to leave.

Harry makes it all the way to his car before realising he cannot find his keys. When he reaches the bar door she’s standing out front her arms crossed over her chest,p. You didn’t think I’d let you drive home in your state did you? My children have already buried their sister this year, I’m not about to let them bury their father too. The words Eliza said to drunk Harry would play on sober minded Harry in the weeks to come. She half carries him to her car and takes him home with her. For the first time since they split, he sleeps in the same bed as her it’s only so I know if you stop breathing and to make sure you don’t choke on your own vomit. Eliza watches Harry breathe for the rest of the night, much like she watched Fallon take breaths in and out until she took her last, the only difference here is that Harry never stops breathing. Somewhere between 4am and 7am she doses off and Harry slips out of her sheets and out her back door before she’s awake. Eliza canceled their court date again, realising that perhaps Harry needed time to grieve before they started to go down this path.

harrystyles ALBUM . IS. COMPLETE, Coming to you soon, happy holidays. All the love, H xx Liked by annetwist, gemmastyles and 20,368,289 others.

Harry finished writing his album just before Christmas, it was literally the fastest album he’s ever been able to write. After all this time and experience, he knew the people he needed in his space to get the job done. A lot of the songs were sad, and Eliza knew that some songs would be about her and she fully expected some songs to be about Fallon, so when he turned up at her place to show her the demo she was surprised to find no songs about their angel daughter. Eliza, that’s sick that you’d think I’d cash in on — no why would I — I can’t believe you would think that. He was angry, didn’t see she was coming from a good place and not trying to attack him. She didn’t think it would be a bad thing if he had written songs about Fallon, she was growing concerned about his abilities to deal with the loss of their daughter... he couldn’t even say her name. He was trying to be more consciences to spend more time with Koa and Lennon. With the album complete it was only a matter of time before his management would undoubtedly have him on the road and all over the globe. Truthfully he was dreading it. He spent most afternoons putting the children to bed before bedding back to his house. He noticed things about her that were different in the Fallon aftermath. She was lonely at night, and when Koa and Lennon were out with him of an afternoon she had not so much to do. She had already organised the bookshelf, and the kitchen. Harry knew what the perfect Christmas gift would be to keep her busy.

Whilst she had redecorated the lounge and her bedroom. Fallon’s room remained untouched, the door closed and the room just the way their almost four year old had left it the day she left for the hospital and never come home. Sometimes when he would finish putting the twins to bed and when Eliza was sleeping on the couch, he would sneak into Fallon’s room and sob. Being in her room was the only time he allowed himself to feel anything.

elizadoherty Happy holidays from the Doherty-Styles household, wrangling two and half year old twins into a photo is hard work and this mama couldn’t get it done. Please enjoy a photo of our delicious cookie “nomies” that are absolutely not store bought. 😝🎅🏻🎄🤶🏻 Liked by harrystyles, annetwist and 2,637,367 others.

harrystyles ELIZA X OLIVE. Merry Christmas. Liked by elizadoherty, olivedogherty and 18,573,663 others,

Harry’s album came out the week of Christmas. With the new year there would be lots of changes coming for both him, Eliza and their two children. He would be off on tour, first to the states then, back home for a UK stint, followed by the rest of Europe, then to South America wrapping up with Australia, New Zealand and a few dates across Asia. He wouldn’t be home for more than two days in the next nine months. This bothered Eliza. Partly because she wanted him to be home so they could finalise the divorce, partly because she wouldn’t have his help with the twins and mostly because he had already lost one child, had he not noticed the importance of having quality time with his children. She had already been annoyed by the fact that he had bought a dog into her home and gifted it to her for Christmas, she didn’t have time for a dog.. she would barely have time for herself and the two kids he was leaving behind to go on tour, and he though a doh would be a good idea?

Her thoughts all come to a head in the middle of an argument on New Years Eve. We need to finalise the divorce, we both deserve to move on. He didn’t want to move on, he liked being able to come by see her, and the kids and still be able to know she was legally still his wife. You don’t care about me and the kids, you’re not even going to see them for the next nine months, don’t tell me you care. He was mad, not because she was right but because he wanted to see them but didn’t know how to ask her to join him on tour with them. I never wanted to divorce you. You’re the one who filed for divorce Eliza. It’s Eliza’s turn to be mad. Well there was no hope for our marriage, we hadn’t had sex in months, you were sleeping on the couch, what the fuck kind of marriage is that. It wasn’t a healthy argument for the tel of them to be having, especially with the twins in the next room. I was a drug addict Eliza, I was also an alcoholic, I couldn’t really walk up the stairs, that’s why I slept on the couch not because I didn’t love you. He had stormed out, the following day he had booked in with his lawyers to come back the last week of February for their court date and two days after that he was back on tour.

harrystyles USA thank you for being the perfect start to this tour, you were all so beautiful! I’ll be back soon. All the love, H xx. Liked by annetwist, gemmastyles and 27,627,855 others.

January rolled by faster than she would like to admit. Harry was back in London briefly to see the twins, Anne picked them up and took them to him as per his request. His birthday was tomorrow, Eliza offered for him to keep them for the weekend whilst he was in town, but he had other plans and declined her offer. She’s trying to give you time with your children. Anne nagged him, but her words fell on deaf ears. He had plans to drink his way through his birthday and not be able to recall any of it. He woke in the morning to a voicemail from her. Harry, happy — well i know it’s not happy really — but happy birthday. I’m sorry about the divorce papers, I was... reaaaaalllyyy dumb. Anyway, see ya. She had been drinking, she could never hold her liquor. He remembers back to a time pre marriage and pre children when she would go out and have a few too many cocktails and call him from the bar, he remembers driving to fetch her, pulling over on the side of the road because his driving would be too much for her stomach to handle. He thinks about the way he used to hold her when she was too tired to walk and then the way he’d hold her in bed as her breath would steady and she’d finally succumb to the effects of the alcohol and sleep. God he loved her.

elizadoherty HBD to my #1 (And only) bb daddy, @harrystyles, you’re a great dad, friend and I’m so glad I get to raise my babies with you. Here’s a throwback to when we were younger and when you had less wrinkles, old man. Liked by harrystyles, annetwist and 18,257,268 others. He made a mental note to return her the favour of nice words on social media when her birthday would roll around come summer. They were younger and happier in that photo. He wouldn’t wish his kids away, but he does wish he could go back to being that happy, young and carefree guy in the photo.

After his birthday, things continued to go downhill for the two of them and their co-parenting endeavour. It started when he was photographed leaving a nightclub with a random girl on his arm the night of his birthday and things escalated when a week before their court date she had been photographed with someone new. This was the first time since the two of them had started dating all those years ago that they had been photographed with someone else.

TMZ

Harry Styles ex-wife, Eliza Doherty, spotted out with new mystery beau shopping over the weekend.

It was the comments left the photo that sent Eliza into a rage. “Where are her kids?” “Spending all of Harry’s alimony I guess” that’s all the end of their marriage was to the public? Just about money? Never mind the emotional turmoil either of them had gone through, the sleepless nights the days where she wouldn’t know if he would make it home. The public didn’t understand, and never would, what it wad to be like Eliza Styles. On top of the public ridicule, Harry of course had to get his two cents worth in. I don’t want you bringing random guys around the twins. It was a harmless comment and something she would surely say to him if she didn’t have manners or any kind of belief that he would be responsible with who he introduced their children to. Focus on yourself, Harry. And less on who I’m bringing home..

TMZ

reports of Harry Styles and ex-wife, Eliza Doherty, heading into court today to finalise their divorce after almost a year snd a half. He wore a black shirt and a cross earring for the occasion.

Harry was trending on twitter and the photo and article from TMZ were attached to every tweet. Most people agreed he didn’t look himself. Everyone agreed it was inappropriate to take the photo and then post it to the masses but here it was for everyone to see. Eliza shook her head and put her phone away, soon enough she’d be in the same room as him for the first time since New Year’s Eve.

She had never been more scared to see him, hadn’t heard from him personally for the entire first leg of his tour, which even when they were having problems was odd. Perhaps he was still angry, she had moved passed the anger stage and into the sad stage pretty quickly, it had been like this throughout their entire relationship. She would get over things quickly whilst he would hold onto things for days and days at one time. Harry knew based off of her voicemail that she had been ready to move passed the argument on New Year’s Eve, and he was almost on the same page as her and then they argued about partners and children and things had again been sour since.

As soon as the time drew closer she began to feel like she couldn’t breathe. Like she might collapse at any second and never wake up again, like someone had taken all the air out of her lungs and out of this building. She used to enjoy the way her heart would skip a beat and the way her lungs would lose all the air when he entered her orbit, but now the feeling made her sick to her stomach. For the first time in a long time she couldn’t stand the thought of being in the same room as him.

Part of him didn’t want to be here. This was partially to do with the fact that last night he had drank his body weight in alcohol, was very hungover and couldn’t think straight, but it was mostly to do with the fact that he couldn’t stand to see her cry and knew there was a good chance with the way they left things off that he might be the reason for her tears.

He reeked of vodka and scotch and tequila and definitely weed, at least that’s all the things that Eliza could smell as he sat across from her. He was using again, or drinking again at the very least. It made her sad, he had worked so hard to get to a good place. Perhaps this was his way of coping, his way of dealing with Fallon dying. His way of forgetting about his problems. It wasn’t healthy, she’d make a note to talk to Gemma and Anne when she got back to the kids later in the afternoon.

He looked as if he hadn’t slept at all since the last time she saw him some five weeks ago now — which would make sense because she hadn’t slept properly in that long either. His shirt was creased and it was a mess, he looked unkempt which was a rare sight. Mismatched socks, untucked shirt, the pants he was wearing just as creased as his shirt was. His hair was longer than usual— he was letting it grow again... was this even any of her business anymore? — It probably wasn’t but she still examined him from head to toe, He’s wearing his shades inside, what an asshole she thinks. He was almost unrecognisable. He was most definitely no longer her Harry. She didn’t care make eye contact with him, and he extended the same courtesy not that he had much of s choice in the matter. Mr Styles is offering Ms Doherty 50% of all his assets, as of this time that part has not changed. Ms. Doherty would be happy to only 25%, your honour. She feels it’s adequate enough to provide for the children, she has a job and doesn’t require 50%. Mr Styles insists in the 50%, even 25% of it were to go into a fund for the children.

Her lawyer looks to her for approval, even though she really doesn’t need Harry’s money, she doesn’t want to argue with him.

Mr Styles would like joint custody of their two children, Koa Everett Styles and Lennon River Styles. Your honour, Mrs Doherty requests that the father of her children submits to drug and alcohol tests and has supervised visitations until he can get himself — uh well... clean. The judge rules in her favour, Harry has to pass three tests in a row for both drugs and alcohol before he can come anywhere near the twins. The rest esd pretty straight forward and not much different to what they had already signed on, she got the house and would receive child support on top of the 50% of the money they made from the time they first got married. Harry doesn’t see his children till two days before their third birthdays, almost three months after the court hearing. It had taken him three months but this time he swore to keep clean.

elizadoherty happy three my miracle babes, there are no words 🥺 Liked by gemmastyles, annetwist and 4,472,378 others.

A month after the twins’ birthday it’s Eliza who changes the agreement for supervision required to him being allowed to do visits at their house. Both the twins and Harry would be much more comfortable and if would give her more of a chance to observe him with them before she lets them stay with him overnight. He’s the one who suggests they go to therapy. He tells her it might help, and that he’s willing to try anything so long as she is too. The first session back in therapy goes well, they haven’t done one together since just after the twins were born. They mostly discuss how to co-parent better and how to communicate with each other, the therapist warns to discuss Fallon and Harry practically has a panic attack at the mention of her name. When he instantly gets up and walks out on the session it’s just you and the therapist and 20 minutes left on the timer. I don’t think he’s ready to talk about her yet. It’s a sensitive topic for him. It hasn’t quite been a year yet since she passed. He won’t even talk about her with me and that was out daughter. When Eliza gets home, Harry is on her doorstep. He’s sober, but crying and hyperventilating. She sits next to him and just hugs him not really knowing what to do. Eliza prays that her boyfriend, Andrew, doesn’t come over today. Her prayers are answered Eliza and Harry are left on their own. He cries for a long period of time before the head inside her house, Eliza is silently grateful that Anne offered to take the kids to Holmes Chapel for the week. Where did we go wrong? We should have been better and communicating. I was depressed when I couldn’t tour straight away and then you let me go and honestly this is going to sound fucking terrible but I didn’t want to come home. So many confessions spill from his lips in a short space of time. Then Eliza starts. I just wanted you to be okay, you were struggling, I know you were depressed. I keep thinking about it, I don’t remember the last time we kissed or had sex, maybe it was before the twins were even born, we should have made more time. When she stops he’s not crying anymore he’s just staring at her with his eyebrows furrowed and then he does the unimaginable he kisses her. Not just a regular peck, his hands on the back of her head and her hands are on his chest and for just a moment they’re back in 2019 and they’re newly engaged and their wold is perfect. And then he pulls away, apologises and leaves and they are back to being divorced, estranged people who happen to share two children together.

#Harry styles #harry styles fanfictions #harry styles fanfic #harry styles oneshot #harry styles imagine #harry styles tpwk #hs2 #fine line #harry styles fine line #harry styles imagines #harry styles x reader

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thehikingnerd · 4 years ago

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Day 139 (10/3).

Today I woke up and was on a mission for 30 miles. These short days kept pushing back our finish date, and it was getting dangerously close to interfering with me getting home before Halloween. After getting packed up and ready a little earlier than Butt'rs, I popped two ibuprofen and made a big pot of very very strong instant coffee... and we were off! It was a beautiful day and we were making good time right from the start. We saw bear prints everywhere in the snow as we made our first climb of the day, along with coyote and deer prints as well. The bright red huckleberries in the valleys were beautiful and we stopped for lunch at the peak of the first big climb in the snow. I cooked two ramen with some textured vegetable protein, olive oil, a few other things and then made more extra strong coffee. I needed entertainment and fuel, like I said I was on a mission and was feeling good, like 30 was possible that day if we pushed and could make up for the last 4 days being sub 20-mile days. Man... that second round of coffee must have done it... I was a hiking machine after that. I was rolling down the backside of the mountain! Butt'rs and I saw another bear and I tried to get around the bend quickly to see if I could find him and watch him run away down the mountain but I lost him. I stopped at a lake for just a minute because it was so pretty and because the water looked so nice and clear blue I wanted to try out filming under water with my phone being waterproof and hadn't tried that out yet. But then the race was back on. We made our way down into a beautiful valley and then a couple of fighter jets spaced out rolled through the valley... one came though just before our next big climb started and was low enough to hurt my hears and was pretty intense. This downhill seemed to go on forever and we could see the switchbacks up the other mountain and it was obvious that this was going to be one of the worst cases of PUDs (pointless ups and downs) on the whole trail and it certainly was! Mile and miles of steep downhill and we were just rolling at near-jogging pace. Finally, after crossing a bridge over a stream at the bottom, the trail went down another half mile or so before turning around and heading straight back up. They really should take you around the mountainside and cut off some of this pointless up and down. Normally I wouldn't complain, but this one is 3000ft down to a random point and then right back up 3000ft. It was just killer and uncalled for. But also, I was so jacked on caffeine and had the 30 mile goal in my head, so I just kept on rolling. I was a fair bit out in front of Butt'rs and I was only just starting the big uphill when I saw a hiker going SOBO. I said hey and stopped to chat for a bit. He said he had run into several NOBO hikers today... Will (the 19yr old from TX we had met at the trail angel's place a couple of days ago) I knew he was way ahead of us... he said he had seen him that morning so I guessed that put Will at least 15 maybe 20 miles out ahead of us and that he had just walked to Butt'rs! I was like Butt'rs?! Butt'rs is behind me I'm about 99% sure, but he insisted he had just talked to Butt'rs and then complained about how cold the last two nights have been. It was possible to have crossed the stream earlier on and taken a short cut that would have saved him more than a mile of down and up. Hmm... so it looked at this point as though one of two things was going on... either there was a second guy with the trailname "Butters" ahead (which was possible) or that Butt'rs had cut a corner and was now out ahead of me. With Butt'rs and I both being purists, however, I didn't think he would cut a big corner like that, and as weird as it sounded the notion of a second Butters seemed like the more likely of these two scenerios. This SOBO guy's name was Savage, and after just a brief chat I was on my way. Now I was really driven to go faster up this climb, which I usually go slower than Butt'rs on the climbs, but I wanted to either catch up to him or catch up to the other Butters. I was in a Butter sandwich, A Tale of Two Butt'rs, I can't believe it's not Butt'rs, lol, we're all silly things that came to mind when thinking of this situation. Unfortunately this side of the hill was facing south and had dried out enough that I couldn't make out any clear shoe prints the whole way up. I would have been able to recognize Butt'rs' New Balances and could have known whether he was really ahead of me or not. I did think it was odd that we had been following a set of tracks for two days or so now from a hiker who had passed us the morning we let the sun dry our tents out and I had been following these Altra prints for a while now and I figured this must be the person savage had just talked to, but I still hoped to catch him and see if his name really was Butters/Butt'rs. Finally, after a grueling 3000 ft climb I made it to the snow line and could see clearly that Butt'rs was indeed still behind me and had not taken the shortcut and gotten out ahead of me. I had told him that I wasn't going to take a break until I reached the top, but since it was snowy I thought I would just go a little further or maybe stop of the opposite side of the flat top area before the final descent of the day. About half way across the top flat part I saw another much smaller bear who was sitting and eating huckleberries on a hillside near a small tree (for some reason I knew I was about to see one before I saw him, had this weird feeling he was there before actually seeing him). He sat there and hesitated for a second but then ran away too; it's wild how these bears just get out of dodge when a human is near. But in looking down I saw tons of nice huckleberries and decided to wait for Butt'rs while eating as many of these berries as I could. I had eaten a good number of these when Butt'rs finally rolled up and we discussed the whole situation with Savage. It was weird, but Butt'rs thinks he was tripping on acid and must have gotten confused hearing me say Butt'rs and just kept saying the wrong name of the guy ahead of us. I wasn't paying that close attention to him personally to notice if he was tripping or not, but anyway it was all figured out that at least Butt'rs was indeed behind me and we took off down the mountain. We had gotten cold sitting up at the high elevation while eating the berries. I was once again feeling driven and got out ahead of Butt'rs and I was hoping to keep pushing even after we reached the bottom and try to make it to a campsite a few miles further away. But while going downhill, I was reading through the Guthooks app and saw that the town of Stehekin had already reduced their shuttle service down to twice a day rather than the normal four times during peak season... thus meaning that even if we pushed on we would really have to haul ass to get there by 3pm on October 4th if I wanted to get into the resort/town in order to call Angie on Mid-Autumn Festival... but we would also have agree to hike into the night tonight and probably wake up at 4am or so to make it, and even still would run the chance of just not making it in time (and to be honest, I knew he had little incentive to push like that personally). I sat down on the trail disappointed knowing we wouldn't be able to make it and that I wouldn't be able to call Angie on this holiday, it would be the first I hadn't been able to swing something from the trail on a special day and the first time to not talk with her on this particular holiday. So I just sat there and waited on Butt'rs while resting and looking at all the comments on the app so I'd know what to expect whenever we would eventually make it into Stehekin. Finally, Butt'rs came and said he was beat. I told him I would have wanted to push on, but since it was impossible to make it by tomorrow night's last shuttle that there was no point in killing ourselves, and we camped at a site beside a silty river after a 24-mile day with an estimated 9,000 ft of elevation gain throughout the day! It had been a rough-@ss day, and we were both beat and hurting all over. So at Mile 2532.6 we set up camp, ate, threw out decoy thrash for mice, and went to sleep.

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dwaynepride · 6 years ago

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Cold Shoulder

Summary: Couples fight. And some fights result in a cold shoulder. But sometimes, it really isn’t worth it.

Words: 2,883

Warnings: beta’d at 4am

Tags: @pageofultron @thegoodlonelydalek @6adb0y @stanathanxoox @theartofeheheh

Notes: I WROTE THIS ONESHOT IN ONE NIGHT?? so it might be bad and rushed but dammit, I did it.

You didn’t even care that the team heard your outcry. Didn’t care that their heads were leaning to peek through the kitchen archway, curious as to why you just swore so loudly.

And then they spotted Pride following you in from the courtyard, his face hard and angry, and they decided it was a better idea to continue their work. It’s not as though they didn’t see this coming; not from the way Pride’s been acting during this case, and how you’ve been reacting to him.

“Why can’t you just back me up on this?” Dwayne’s voice, stern and accusing, spoke up from behind. And when you whipped around to face him, he had that stubborn look. The look that told you that no matter how hard you glared or tried to change his mind, Dwayne was sticking to his opinion.

It was hard to remember why you once loved that about him.

You took a couple steps toward him, and he didn’t flinch at the fiery look in your eyes. “And why can’t you see what’s right in front of you?” You snapped back, motioning toward the courtyard. “Every piece of evidence we have says that he’s guilty. You’re the only one who seems to think otherwise. Have you ever stopped and wondered if you’re wrong on this one?”

His head tilted, eyebrows furrowed, as if Dwayne couldn’t quite believe you just said that. It was hard for him to accept; you always stood by him on everything. Never let anything like evidence stop you from seeking out the truth with him. So hearing you say that momentarily threw him through a loop.

It was temporary, though. “I got a gut feelin’, Y/N-”

“Yeah, well, sometimes your gut gets you into trouble.” You turned away after that, head shaking with a long sigh. “Just because you want something to be true, doesn’t mean it is.”

Dwayne was silent for a second, and you were admittedly a little afraid to look back at him. You both have fought before; any relationship wasn’t without its disagreements. But this was the first time you could think of where you were a little scared to see just how mad he was.

“So you’re not gonna help me prove his innocence?”

“Not when there isn’t anything to prove.”

This time, you heard his harsh exhale. Like he was trying to control his temper, and you couldn’t really blame him. You knew Dwayne well enough; he hated feeling like somebody innocent was about to be punished. But this time, he was wrong. He’ll understand that once the case ends.

When you heard his footsteps approach, however, you finally turned toward him. The heat in his eyes only strengthened yours. “Then I think you should go home.” Dwayne muttered, jaw tightening before he turned and walked out of the kitchen.

He probably should have known you’d follow him. Make a big scene in front of the team, as if they didn’t already know what was happening. “Does this mean you’re taking me off the case?” You demanded more than asked.

Everybody’s heads popped up, watching as Pride whirled back around for his rebuttal. “You heard what I said. Go home. Maybe we can try again tomorrow.”

His voice was stern. Steady. Still angry, but this time, he had that ‘I’m-the-boss’ tone that pissed you off because he was the boss. And if he said you had to go home, he meant it. There was little else you could do except turn around, ignore the gazes of your friends, and walk out the door.

It was hours before Dwayne came home. The house was dark and silent, and he was thankful for it. Maybe it was a little cowardly that he stayed at the office a little longer than he needed to, just to make sure you were already asleep when he got there. He thought about just sleeping there; Dwayne figured you wouldn’t want to see him.

But he didn’t have it in him to just ignore a problem. And if he was being honest, Dwayne felt bad for sending you home, like he did.

He stayed as quiet as he could while changing out of work clothes into something more comfortable for bed. But all the while, Dwayne’s eyes were watching your side of the bed. He caught the rise and fall of your body, and he figured you were asleep. But then your head turned, peeking over your shoulder for a few moments before turning back.

You were awake. And obviously still mad at him.

Dwayne’s lips formed a tight line as he approached the bed, climbing in before he leaned toward you. Light came in through the window, and he could see that you had the blanket tucked up to your chin, eyes screwed shut, probably pretending to sleep.

For a moment, he contemplates moving to his side of the bed. Letting you be mad at him until tomorrow, where Dwayne could actually talk to you and apologize. But he hated going to bed angry, like this. Not without some attempt to mend fences.

He cleared his throat lightly, hoping it’d get your attention. “Baby, I wanted to say that I’m sorry. ‘Bout earlier? I guess the case has been gettin’ to me.” Dwayne tried his best to sound sincere, hoping this olive branch would be enough to curb your anger.

You didn’t move. Didn’t say a word. If anything, you just pushed your face deeper into the pillow.

He let out a silent sigh, resigning himself to trying again tomorrow. But Dwayne still leaned in, wanting at least to give you a kiss on the cheek or something. The guilt was still a little raw in his stomach.

But you must have felt the mattress shift. Because before he could get close, you pulled the blanket up higher, blocking him out.

Dwayne’s head chirped up, surprise at the action, and also a little hurt. But maybe he deserved it. Letting his emotions blind him to what you were trying to say. As Dwayne laid back down, he tried to put himself in your shoes. Could he really be wrong about this one? Was his search for justice misplaced, somehow?

But as hard as he tried, Dwayne just couldn’t accept it. The man he interrogated today was good. He saw it. He felt it in his bones. And as much as he loved you, Dwayne couldn’t just ignore his gut when it was so clear.

So he turned around, faced the other way, and tried willing himself asleep.

You woke up to an empty bed. Usually, that was normal; Dwayne was an ungodly early riser. Normal mornings consisted of breakfast already being cooked and his morning run out of the way.

For a moment, you forgot about being mad at him. Because you smelled coffee in the air and it was almost like one of the rare quiet mornings where you could step into the kitchen and watch Dwayne hum a little song while he prepares breakfast.

But yesterday’s events were still a raw wound. You slid out of bed, reluctant to face him but knowing it was inevitable. The bedroom door opened with a light squeak. Your bare feet made little sound as you approached the kitchen, head peeking out just slightly from behind the corner to scope the place out first.

Dwayne’s back was facing you, his head bowed a little while sipping his coffee. As if everything was normal. He was already dressed for work. And if you knew him well enough, you’d say he was lingering for as long as he could, waiting for you to wake up. To talk everything out.

And maybe you weren’t being very fair, but you didn’t want to talk. This wasn’t some disagreement about house chores or who didn’t fill the car up with gas. Dwayne took you off the case. Your stomach got tight with anger at the memory.

And it only pushed away the reluctance of facing him. Your legs were moving the next second, entering the kitchen and going straight to the coffee pot.

Dwayne’s head bobbed up in surprise, and he quickly moved out of the way. You could feel his eyes on the side of your head, watching silently as you prepared the coffee. Maybe he was waiting for you to make the first move. Or wondering if he should even try.

“I was just about to go.” He said, very conscious of the fact that you wouldn’t be joining him. Dwayne’s weight shifted from one foot to the other, setting his mug down on the counter. “But I wanted to see you before leavin’.”

You didn’t reply. Once the sugar and cream were mixed in, you just took the mug and left. Sitting at the dining room table, as if Dwayne hadn’t spoken, at all.

And he just followed with a sigh. “I see.” He mumbled out, nodding his head. Alright, he can be patient. He wasn’t a stranger to the cold shoulder. This would just give him more time to think of a suitable apology. He’ll be able to wrap up the case and fix everything.

But until then, you weren’t even looking at him. And Dwayne wasn’t going to ignore that light ache in his chest. He just moved on toward the door, pulling his coat on while watching you. “I’ll be back later.” More silence. Dwayne was reluctant to leave, but he wasn’t going to be able to get through to you. So he backed up toward the door, head angling to keep his eyes on you. “I love you.”

The door was shut just a few seconds later, and you were left alone. Though, your eyes did rise up toward the door, to the spot where Dwayne had previously stood. He seemed genuinely guilty about yesterday, and a part of you wanted to forgive him.

It was a small part, though. Maybe you were just being stubborn. Or maybe Dwayne truly did deserve a bit of a cold shoulder.

That’s what you kept telling yourself as the day stretched on. If you thought a whole day of working a case can be long, you obviously haven’t had a day off in a while. Sitting at home and doing nothing was agonizing. You found yourself cursing Dwayne every now and again. You should be out there, proving the guilt of a murderer. Gathering evidence for his sentence. Not sitting at home and staring at a TV show that you couldn’t bring yourself to care about.

When your phone finally rang (and when you saw it wasn’t Dwayne calling), it was probably the greatest sound you could have heard. Chris’ name was a blur as you scrambled to answer it, smiling wide. “Hey! I’m glad you called. What can you tell me about the case-”

“Y/N, somethin’ happened to King.”

His voice was dead serious. You knew LaSalle well enough to recognize that tone. And he wouldn’t be calling unless it was the real deal. The smile immediately faded. And so did the anger you held for Dwayne. “What do you mean?” You asked. “Is he…”

“He’s fine. I just think you should get down here ASAP.” He paused a little, and you could hear voices on the other side. You strained to hear them, which was difficult while also trying to slip on your shoes.

“Chris?”

“Yeah, I’m here. Everythin’s a little chaotic.” Chris let out an exhale. “Listen, I know you and Pride probably aren’t on good terms, right now. But-”

“I’m on my way.” You spouted the words just as the door closed behind you. Chris hung up, probably to help deal with whatever was going on that had him so distracted.

You wouldn’t have been able to talk to him, anyway. It was already hard enough driving, with how worried you were. The knot in your stomach grew and grew, making you grip the steering wheel tight.

Chris said he was fine, but that didn’t stop the negative thoughts. The most prominent being guilt. Because he could have died doing whatever the hell got him stuck in a hospital. And you were giving him the cold shoulder this morning.

You didn’t even respond when he told you he loved you.

That made you drive a little bit over the speed limit.

And when you finally walked into the hospital, you could see what Chris meant by “chaotic.” Cops everywhere. Reporters outside. Nurses bustling around.

While the sight did spark some curiosity, you couldn’t bring yourself to care. Instead, you started seeking out a receptionist. Somebody who would tell you where the hell Dwayne was-

“Y/N! You’re finally here.”

Tammy’s voice was some kind of solace. You turned toward the direction of it, seeing her pad up from behind a couple of uniformed cops. The bruise on her cheek was a little troubling; what did everyone get into? “Where’s Dwayne?”

She knew you would ask that question. Could see the raw worry on your face. And it was good to see, considering Pride’s low mood when he walked into work this morning. But she didn’t comment on it, instead motioning with her head down the hall. “He might be a little out of it, with the pain meds and all-”

Pain meds?

“-but he’s fine. You don’t gotta worry.”

You were worried, anyway. Gregorio let you pass first, nearly jogging past the first few rooms before finding Chris leaning up against the doorway of the fourth one. His head twisted around, smiling despite a black eye, and moved out of the way.

And seeing Dwayne sitting up in the hospital bed, face busted up and a nurse gauging his blood pressure, was a sight that weighed down your chest, making it hard to breathe. His eyes flickered up, seeing you move through the threshold, and he gave a light smile. “It ain’t as bad as it looks.” Dwayne tried to tease, but you didn’t believe him.

Not when it seemed to hurt him to simply look at you.

You didn’t reply to his stupid little comment. The lump in your throat prevented any words. Instead, you just closed the gap in an easy couple strides. The nurse barely got out of the way before you collided with Dwayne, arms around his shoulders, squeezing tight and pushing your face into his neck.

Faintly, you heard the door shut. It was a blessing to have friends who knew when to leave.

“I’m fine.” Dwayne muttered. You felt his hand pat your back a couple times, and it was probably half-meant as a gesture of comfort. But then Dwayne coughed and continued. “But baby, my ribs are hurtin’...”

Your arms immediately slackened, but you didn’t move away. You couldn’t. Not when you were so scared on the ride over. “Sorry.”

He huffed, winced a little, then ran his hand up and down your back. “Don’t worry about it. I’m glad to see you, too.”

“No, not about the hug.” You replied, and despite the hole in your chest, you smirked. It faded fast, though. But leave it to Dwayne to make you smile, even under the worst circumstances. “I was talking about this morning.”

He didn’t reply. Not at first. His hand still continued its light movements, to calm you down. “I wanted to talk about our fight…”

“I know. And I shouldn’t have ignored you.”

There was something different about your voice. And Dwayne recognized it immediately. Ignoring the ache in his muscles, he pulled back to look at your face. And just as he predicted, he found tears shining in your eyes, despite your attempt to hide them. “Baby, it’s okay. I probably deserved it, after takin’ you off the case, like I did.” His voice was soft as a hand reached up, fitting along your jawline.

But your head shook. “It’s not okay. You said you loved me this morning, and I just brushed it off because I was mad. What if you-”

“Stop.” Dwayne knew your line of thinking. And he didn’t like it. Before you could argue, his thumb came out to caress over your cheek, brushing away a tear that managed to escape. “Everything’s okay, understand? Don’t start thinkin’ like that, because this isn’t your fault.”

A sigh rolled out, and your head leaned sideways into his hand. “I’m sorry.” You repeated, just because it felt like the right thing to say.

And Dwayne smiled, so you must have been right. “I’m sorry, too. And you know what else?”

“What?”

“I was right.”

Your eyebrows quirked together, obviously confused. That pushed his smile into a light laugh. “About our supposed murderer? He was innocent. We all raided an old shipyard, lookin’ for the evidence. And it was there.” Dwayne’s little victorious look was interrupted by a little wince. “Along with the bad guys.”

Right now, you were just so happy he was alive, you couldn’t care about the very thing that started all of this. You just pulled Dwayne back in for another hug, selfishly enjoying the feel of his face buried in your neck.

Well, maybe you did care a little. Dwayne let out a small yelp of pain when you squeezed his ribs a little too tight.

#ncis new orleans imagine #ncis nola imagine #dwayne pride x reader #pride x reader #ncis reader insert

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