#finally clocking outta work and it's 3 am

[benetnvsch]

*burger king foot lettuce voice* that dog is looking awfully like my coworker- someone turned my coworker into a dog

(he gets good pats anyway-)

Does Kunikida even like dogs? for a show with the word dog in the title I feel like there's a fair amount of ppl who just hate dogs in it- anyway drew this during work so it's shit quality apologies KFJHK

[icarusdescending7]

Aquamarine - Chapter 3

Ao3 | First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Your fiancé died seven years ago, and you joined the military in his wake to fill the void his death put on you. Now, you work with the 141 for an assignment, hunting associates of their enemies.

Their Lieutenant, however, given you an uneasy feeling. You have a vague sense of familiarity with him, but from where?

-☆-☆-☆-☆-☆-☆-

You sighed as you stared up at the ceiling, replaying the day's events over and over. What a… stressful first day. First, the other Lieutenant doesn’t like you, then the gift your fiancé gave you breaks, and you get the shards in your hand and have to have Soap help you pull them out. What a mess. You clenched your hand a little, sighing at the feeling of the wounds splitting open. These are the days you wish he were still- you need to stop thinking about him. He’s dead and gone. In the past. If only it were that simple. But it is that simple. It really isn’t. It is. It’s not.

You rolled over, glancing at the clock, and sighed— 1 am. You buried your face into the pillows and immediately relaxed. Your brow furrowed for only a moment before you fell asleep. The smell of citrus and cedar lulled you away to the best sleep you’d known in years.

~~

You were lying on the ground, a thick dust clouding up around you as you struggled to regain your senses, the sound of thundering boots approaching you, grabbing you by your vest, and attempting to pull you up. Keyword: attempting. You were quickly dropped as a red mist hit your cheek, the hulking man before you with a newfound hole in his head. He collapsed on top of you, and you were quick to shove his corpse off, the drop shaking you back to reality.

“Too close, Ghost.” You grumbled into your earpiece, wiping the blood off your face with the back of your hand. You recovered your rifle and shouldered it, moving to take cover.

“You’re getting sloppy. Did you eat when we told you to?” He asked, another gunshot coming over his mic. “I have a feeling you didn’t. I can see it, in the way you’re shaking.” He said, a hint of annoyance in his voice— which wasn’t lost on you.

“I meant that you almost got me too with that shot. Did you eat?” You asked, annoyed, “Why do you care? Christ, you sound like my fiancé. Always on my ass about eating…” You mumbled, turning to move forward, finally hitting the door you were trying to get to and shooting the lock off. You swapped to your sidearm, dropping low as you entered, waiting for Soap to catch up.

“What, we can’t be concerned for our teammate's health?” Soap’s voice came in over the comms, breathless like he’d been running. “We cannae do a ton with you operatin’ at fifty percent, can we?” He slipped in through the door, giving Ghost an indirect thumbs-up as he did.

“Right, because me being a little hungry is so much worse than you dodging bullets at every opportunity you get.” You rolled your eyes, looking at him. “Look at you, you’re covered in scrapes and gashes… Ghost, you got our six while we’re in here?” You asked, poking your head out and looking for the glint of his scope.

It takes him a minute to respond, then a raspy “Yeah, got an eye out.” rung in your ears.

~

“Soap! You done planting those C4 yet? We got to get the fuck outta here!” You shouted, ripping the hard drives and USB sticks from the computers you found, hoping something might be useful beyond what you were sent after. You quickly shoved it all in your pack, running down the hall and dipping into the room he sat in.

“Yeah, lass! Let’s go!” He said, grabbing your arm and dragging you along as fast as possible to get out. At some point, you ended up in a fireman carry over his shoulder, being shaken about as he ran like a bat out of hell. You let it happen, not trying to run when you could barely see straight.

He dropped you on the ground face down, a puff of dirt kicking up around you. You got up on your knees, shrugging your pack off your shoulders, and flopped onto your back, trying to cool your pulse. You were shaking like a leaf. No, you didn’t eat. Before you could fully recover, your pack was snatched off the ground by Soap and you were quickly picked up by Ghost, who carried you much more delicately if not a bit tight— bridal style. The three of you booked it, the sound of trucks rumbling on the dirt path, getting closer with each second.

After an hour of running, the three of you finally settled in a dense patch of woods, taking a moment to breathe. Before you could think, they both shoved energy bars in your face, their expressions mildly annoyed.

“Eat.” Ghost nearly demanded, opening the bar and shoving it in your mouth when you went to protest. “I’m done carryin’ your ass around.” He huffed, leaning back against a tree and closing his eyes.

Soap closed his eyes, also leaning against a tree. “Where are we, now? We must’ve missed evac by a mile by now.” He sighed, pulling a satellite GPS out of his bag. “Sorry, two miles.”

You finished eating the bar that Ghost gave you, swallowing the last bite. You took Soaps GPS, fiddling with it for a moment before locking it on a clearing about 4 miles north of you. “We could make our way there, send the coords to Watcher?” You offered, handing it over to him and plucking the other energy bar from his hand.

He showed Ghost the suggested route, shrugging. “Could work.” Ghost only nodded, sighing a bit.

~

The car ride was quiet except for the grumble of the vehicle and the occasional bump making stuff roll across the steel floors. Soap had fallen asleep at some point and was snoring loudly, and you were fighting to stay awake.

“You should sleep.” Ghost's voice broke through the silence, making you jump a little.

“Don’t want to.” You said, looking at what you could see of him. It was dark in the cabin, so all but that creepy mask of his was in shadows. “You’re creepy.”

“So I’ve heard. You gonna fight sleep the whole way or…?” He questioned, turning to look at you. “If you don’t sleep now you won't get any until we get back to base.”

“I’ll sleep when I want to. Are you gonna sleep, or do you have the whole ‘I don’t sleep mehmehmeh’ vibe going on?” You asked, your joke making him huff in amusement.

“I don’t sleep. Not when I’m in the field.” He said, “Just sleep. You’re clearly fighting it, there's no use.” His hand came up to make you lean back to rest. You could only grumble before succumbing to sleep, your head lolling from the back of the seat over to his shoulder, despite the awkward distance between you two.

~~

He watched you as you raked the leaves from your yard into a pile, your focus waning slightly as you hit the same spot for the third time now. Simon went out, taking the rake from your hands and making you take a break.

“Did you eat, sweetheart? You look dizzy.” He asked, making you look up at him. Your eyes were unconcentrated, making him frown. “That’s a no. Go inside, love. I’ll finish up.” He kissed your forehead, sending you on your way.

“Was gonna finish this then do that, but sure, okay.” You grumbled, gently touching the spot where he kissed you. “Are there leftovers from breakfast?”

“Yeah. Go eat those. I’ll be in after a bit.” He called over his shoulder.

You went in and heated up the breakfast you made, taking the plate to the couch and watching him from the window. He’s so kind that you find it hard to believe that he’s a soldier. But then again, it was easy to believe he was a soldier. The scars across his arms and neck and face told all kinds of stories. Not ones you knew, of course, he would never in a million years tell you his tales of war. You were too precious to him, and he feared that you’d fear him instead of love him if you knew the horrors he witnessed and contributed to. But you knew. Even if they were vague hints and words of the ghosts that haunt him. You’d had to ground him from PTSD flashbacks on more than one occasion, and they were never pretty. After each and every one, he’d apologize, hold you close, call you his “pretty girl” and “love of my life”. He’d worry about making you go through that with him, even though you never minded.

You broke out of your trance when he sat his hand on your shoulder, making you turn up to look at him. His cheeks were rosy from the chill of the autumn air, and his hair was messy from his stocking cap. You sat up on the couch, pulling him to eye level and examining his face. You ran your fingers over scars you’d memorized, then found a new one.

“You have a new scar. How’d you get this one?” You asked, knowing you wouldn’t get a straight answer. You ran your fingers over it, bringing him closer to kiss it.

“A battle. Like most of the other scars. Nothin’ you need to worry about” He answered quietly. He leaned in, pressing his forehead to yours. “You don’t have to fuss over every new scar, you know.”

“Maybe not, but is that going to stop me? No. I need you to know that I love you, even with all your battle wounds.” You hummed, closing your eyes.

[vintagelacerosette]

Tag game catch up ✨

I was tagged by these magnificent sweet peas Macy @celestialmickey Evie @energievie Ling @lingy910y Laurel @lupeloto Deena @suzy-queued Vey @look-i-love-u Emmet @grossmickey Deanna @deedala Ajax @transmickey Cross @crossmydna Melodie @sirrudo Nosho @creepkinginc Jay @surviving-maybe Harvey @mikhailoisbaby Paola @mishervellous Sisi @sisitrip Donna @sleepyfacetoughguy Kat @milkmaidovich Lyds @ardent-fox Lemon @depressedstressedlemonzest Carolie @shinygalaxyperson Ri @tanktopgallavich Jade @jademickian Michelle @mmmichyyy Arrow @arrowflier Meagan @softmick @solaq Anna @rereadanon Julia @juliakayyy Cherry @too-schoolforcool

Thanks yall 🥰

This weeks Tag game Tuesday

Name: Shermyn

Whereabouts in the world are you? Sydneeeey

Do you have any pets? My Roxy pup

What do you do for work? DMV but we actually help y'all lol

Favourite fruit? Rock melon or as mericans like to say cantaloupe 🍈

A pet peeve of yours: Music or vid in public places like doctor waiting room or in trains

Are you a fast walker or a slow walker? As many have said, bc of short legs it looks fast, but I'm just tryna catch up 😅

How do you usually wear your hair? Down & flowing & I try to make it fun with hair bows or fun clips 💕

Sunny days or rainy days? Sunny days ☀️

What time do you usually go to bed? 11pm-1am

What time do you usually wake up? Sunrise clock is at 6am but I go back to sleep depending on how late i sleep lol so 7am-8am. 9am-10am on days off lol

if you were a cartoon character, what would be your everyday outfit? My birthday dress but in the cartoon my outfit is magic so it can turn whatever I want it to be depending on the occasion but keeping them colours 🩷🩵💜 for example if I needed a business outfit it would turn into a dashing 3 piece suit 💖

Something you'd like to learn: How to write fic & to crochet

and finally, tell me something that made you happy recently: All the birthday messages from y'all (thank you) & seeing my friends for my birthday 🎂💕

Last week's tag game Tuesday✨️

Name: Myn

Age: 27

Pronouns: she/they

Your sun sign, MBTI type, and enneagram type (google them if you’re not sure!): Leo, & Nines (ok screaming bc this was the first time i did thay & can i say accuracy wtf 😭)

How tall are you? 151cm/4"11 aka cute sized by

What colour are your eyes? Dark brown

The last time you saw a movie in theaters (bonus: what was it?): Barbie movie!! It was terrific & hilarious (if i did this one time the answer wouda been Birds of Prey haha great Margot films)

Favourite dessert: Love all dessert rn I'm craving for crepes 😋

Outer space or the ocean? Now I woulda said ocean before but just Good Omens season 2 means me want outta space 🚀

You’re in a McDonald’s drive thru, what are you ordering? 10 pack nugget meal with medium strawberry milkshake & sweet & sour sauce for the nugs

Are you good with plants? Probs not bought some basil & my dad ended up take care of it idk if they still alive 🥲

Would your current self and high school self get along? Sure but she'd berate me asking wth girl thought you'd be an animater 😅

A food you can’t stand:

Something you’d do if money were no object: Have an lavish retreat trip somewhere exciting to meet all the you amazing gallabitches in the fandom, where we can have fanfic writing sessions, craft sessions & even have a meet & greet with Cam & Noel. Oh my! Am I making a dashcon for gallavich? 😆

The last app you opened on your phone: Amazon prime bc of Good Omens s2

and finally, compliment yourself! You are incredibly resilient, creative & full of light. 💖

Picrew

Concert ABC

Five comfort characters

1. Mickey Milkovich from Shameless

2. Lacus Clyne from Gundam Seed

3. Kaylee Frye from Firefly

4. Wylan Hendricks from Shadow & Bone

5. Brooke Davis from One Tree Hill

List five songs that someone else introduced me to that have made their way into my regular rotation

Last line written of fic

“Ok! Small Gallaghers, it's time to get moving and into the car, or I'll be getting chatty kathy up my as again” A familiar voice cuts through the tender moment and causes Ian to shoot up like he’s been electrocuted with Liam still in his arms.

(Ngl i haven't touched my fics in forever 😅)

Fanfic trope tier list

[tsuki-sennin]

Back from the dead once more! Ohsama Sentai Kingohger! Episodes 20-23! I uh... intended to demote this thread of watch-throughs to a monthly basis, but uh... well, I've definitely missed that one!

Anywho, when we last left off, Yanma and Jeremy accidentally made Racules unable to be prosecuted, so all that remains is for Gira to knock his ass out.

Spoilers, I guess...

-Marriage~!

-Imagine getting hitched in the name of a giant beetle.

-Shio... Shiobara? No, Shibari! Shiokawa! Shiokara, fuck.

-Well, at least this royal wedding was short.

-"You done fucked up, Gira."

-Rita's equally unamused with you as they are.

-Family :))))

-"...I am not doing that."

-"If you wish to see your sister with all her fingernails still in her hands, then you will give me my lance back. ...Big... Brugther..."

-Hello, Jeremy.

-"And then the opposite happened." jokes. My favorite.

-Jeremy, that ain't even subtext.

-"Pweeeeeeease don't hurt me, desu!"

-Oh I see how this'll end. A big ol' kerfuffle.

-A threat in a cruel joke.

-Effective.

-Hello, Dezzy

-I see Slippin' Jimmy's harebrained schemes have finally reached their limit.

-Dethrone!

-Goddamn Ohgercalibur Zero's design is still so elegant...

-Ohgai Busou!

-"Hiiiiiii~! :3"

-Himeno looks like she's about to commit the worst crime you could ever commit to an author.

-"Oh, I didn't see this coming."

-"Kick his ass, Gira!"

-#NotMyKing

-This is how the War of the Roses went down, right?

-Ohger Slash~!

-Decrowned!

-"Cruel! Cowardly! Creepy, even!"

-Gira...

-Always a man of the people, huh?

-Even Racules felt that way, once upon a time.

-Too bad that day has long sinced past.

-Her comes Boshimar!

-:O

-BANG!?

-"Oh~! Who'da thunk~?"

-JIMMY

-Played like a goddamn fiddle.

-"You... vermin."

-No more transformation from the brothers this duel, eh?

-"A kingdom is like an enormous clock. It only works if all the little cogs mesh together. A clock must be clean, well lubricated, and wound tight."

-Oh, you finally get it~! Good for you~!

-"Do you hear the voices of the people?"

-Thanks, Kaguragi.

-Long live the king!

-Off he goes~!

-This is the hypest shit ever, I swear.

-Gira wins. Fatality.

-...definitely not a fatality, let's be real, that motherfucker's coming back.

-Long live the King.

-Well, considering how huge it is, it's only natural that Shugoddam's king be challenged.

-Oh that's adorable, this one starts with the dance

-Definitely a lot more simple in choreography than Ore Koso Only One or

-Oh for fuck's sake, Geats does the dance too?

-Man... I can't escape that guy, can I?

-Waaaait... oh fuck me, it's a recap episode.

-Well, at least this post is gonna be regular unreasonably long.

-Ryneor...

-So, you want Gira to establish dominance.

-"I'll do whatever you want if I lose!"

-DOUGA YOU FUCK

-Quiz~!

-Tonbokkuri~!

-Weh

-This is an excuse for Yanma to flex, huh?

-Well at least N'Kosopa's IT isn't worse than ours.

-I wish I had the confidence Douga has in bullshitting my way through job interviews.

-"Your turn :3"

-Thank you Himeno.

-Now this is a job far beyond my abilities.

-Let's get fucking cooking.

-Hire me, Kuroda-san! I can wear a bag on my head and cook decently well-ish.

-KAGURAGI CHEATED

-...goddamn, that looks so good though...

-Arrest him, Morphonia~!

-Oh

-A staring contest

-Of course, naturally.

-"This place sucks, shut your mouth."

-At last! A job!

-Outta my way old man, I'm getting that job!

-Oh, it's Duuga

-Or Duga, maybe.

-"You're hired :)"

-Back at square one with him.

-"So yeah, I lost all of these."

-So... Yanma's planning a coup, Himeno's gunning for a monopoly, Kaguragi's forcing farmland onto foreign soil... and Rita demands region locking.

-Op, no time to think about that, it's the Bugnarak!

-Thank you, King Gira~!

-Good luck, Douga.

-Anyways, next episode~!

-Oh shit, Daigorg.

-Oh fuck, he ate the bugs

-OH THAT'S A BIG BOY

-BIG BOY

-Extreme KingOhger~!

-He ATE them!

-Holy shit his pick is a MOAB.

-Okay

-This seems fair.

-Hello, Jimmy.

-"Insects" seems like it'd be a slur for the Bognarok, kinda weird hearing it from Kamejim.

-Yanma does not say robot rights, good to know.

-Good point.

-Thanks, Jeremy.

-Well, we're fucked.

-OH?

-A secret lies within the castle.

-"Extenuating circumstances~!"

-"Like how juicy this secret is?"

-Ohhhhhhh

-Kamejim

-Oh hey Suzume.

-GIANT ROBOT

-"Ding ding ding~!"

-"...okay, please stop."

-Of course, you wouldn't have an easy time turning your castle into a giant robot. Why wouldn't you?

-Here they come!

-Electrodrunk!

-Oh, this is some serious shit we're into.

-Kuwagon...

-No soul...

-:O

-Of course...

-Always evolving technology. Your giant bug robots feel fear.

-Time for us to fucking go.

-So, Kuwagon's very soul is in the crown, is it?

-Thanks, Yanma :)

-Friends :)

-Plant the lance.

-"Ohhhhh this ain't good."

-King Caucasus Kabuto...

-Once again, we perform maintenance!

-Ah, this is the place.

-First Vedalia, now Kofuki.

-HIMENO????

-Okay, thanks.

-Racules is dead, buddy.

-No chance.

-"Our technology sucks."

-2000 years will do that.

-"Hold up."

-Gira's off to ask his bug friends.

-That's a start~!

-...that's a terrible start!

-Jesus Christ, that number makes my head spin.

-Called him by name...

-"Listen close, my minions!"

-Holy shit, this is horrifying

-"Either die to the King or die to me! It makes no difference."

-Sitting back the way a king does just ain't Gira's style.

-One gear left.

-Boone...

-Run lad!

-Kamejim Jumpscare

-Spiders Jeremy strikes once again!

-"Do it, you big lumbering oaf!"

-King! King! King! King!

-"MOVE IT, MOVE IT, MOVE IT-"

-Sit your ass down on that throne, boy.

-It's beautiful! King Caucasus Kabuto!

-Launch!

-Blocked

-"Hercules Axe! Come forth!"

-Daigorg is on the chopping block.

-Complete and utter bisection.

-The guys are here :)

-"Goddammit not again..."

-A true man of the people, that Gira...

-OH FUCK KOFUKI

-Coronation~!

-There's a whole movie about that, I hear.

-And I can't watch it~!

-MATSURI DA!?

-Dethnarak falls soon.

-...not right now though, I need a break.

-Maybe later tonight~!

[fushiguroll]

"WHY ARE YOU STILL UP?”

⇢ oikawa toru, sugawara koshi, miya atsumu, kageyama tobio

synopsis: the one in which he reacts to you sleeping late 

ʚɞ OIKAWA Toru | the light peeking from the living room landed perfectly on oikawa toru’s sleeping face. “y/n,” he mumbles with the slightest of groans, “the light, the light, its in my eyes.” even in his sleep, oikawa can’t quite escape the dramatics. “y/n?” at your lack of reply, the sleepy brunette finally opens his eyes to find the empty space where your body should’ve been. he sighs and crawls out of bed, arms crossed, leaning against the frame of the bedroom door, watching you bite your lips in anticipation at the screen in front. “princess.” the sudden intrusion of his exasperated voice had you jumping slightly. “toru! why are you standing there at 2 am?” oikawa walks in front of the TV, hands placed on his hips like an angry mother. “me?! what about you?! what are you doing up at 2 am? I woke up because of you!” you look at him with confusion, “why? the volume is turned down so low...” oikawa shakes his head angrily. he’s always been so stingy about getting at least eight hours of uninterrupted beauty sleep. “the lights, y/n! now, can you please get your butt to bed?” “but, I got one more epi-” “no.” he strolls over and in one swift motion, turns off the tv. “I need my beauty sleep,” he glances towards you,  “and evidently, you need some too.” “hey! that’s mean!” he ignores your pouts, walking back into the bedroom leaving behind a thinly veiled threat, “you better hurry, or no cuddles and I mean it.” “fine, I'm coming.”

ʚɞ SUGAWARA Koshi | suga is a classified class A clinger when he sleeps. and after two years of marriage, he’s grown accustomed to cuddling you, holding you close long after he’s fallen asleep. so when you replace yourself with a body pillow, suga immediately wakes up. “where are you going?” he asks. “I’m just gonna go check my emails real quick, see if there’s any emergency from work. I'll be right back, babe.” “okay,” he murmurs before closing his eyes. an hour later, suga wakes up again to an empty bed and glances at the clock flashing 3:14 am. “y/n?” “I'll be right in.” he rolls out of bed, not believing your words. you said you’ll be right back an hour ago. he might just be a little dramatic, but he’d rather not sleep than to spend another hour without you. he plops down right next to you, arms circling your waist as he rests his chin on your shoulder. “ko, I said I'll be right in.” “okay,” he murmurs sleepily. “go in first.” “no, if you’re gonna stay up late, then I'm gonna stay up with you.” you smile as suga tightens his grip on you, head feeling heavier as he drifts back to sleep, still tightly clinging to you. The two of you eventually fall asleep on the couch and when the morning sunlight pour through the blinds a few hours later, your husband stayed in the same position, cuddling you like usual. 

ʚɞ MIYA Atsumu | he is oddly very warm tonight. in fact, a little too warm before he realizes the blanket is draped across his body. what a rare circumstance to be in. where were you, his little blanket hogger? it’s not every night atsumu can stay warm, having grown accustomed to fighting you for the blanket at least twice every night. The faux blonde goes out looking for you, only to find you scrolling through your phone, laughing silently to yourself.“ya gotta stop watching TikTok til the wee hours of the morning.” he rolls his eyes when you dramatically clutch the phone to your chest, “tsumu, you scared me!” he walks over to you, asking you to scoot over with his butt. “get your big butt outta my face,” you complain as he forces you to move closer to the armrest. “let me rephrase, ya gotta stop watching TikTok til the wee hours of the morning without me.” you laugh as he grabs your phone from you. “what’s got you laughing like that earlier?” atsumu smiles when you excitedly point to the dog on screen. truth be told, miya atsumu loves his sleep, but he's come to learn, love sometimes comes in the form of TikTok at 4 am on a Monday morning.

ʚɞ KAGEYAMA Tobio | kageyama is a deep sleeper, once he’s asleep, he’s out like a light. The only exception to stir him from his deep slumber is his alarm clock or the need to use the restroom. tonight, it was the latter. Kageyama wakes up annoyed, having to go use the toilet when he made sure to go before he went to bed. guess he drank too much water earlier. as quietly as possible, Kageyama tries to get out of the bed only to find you missing from his side.“y/n?” he walks out into the living room, letting out a little yelp when he sees you sitting in the dark. “tobio? what are you doing up?” “me? I need to use the bathroom. what about you? why are you just sitting there in the dark?” “I'm not, I'm watching anime.” you point to the bright screen of your laptop, “see?” your husband shields his eyes from the sudden brightness, “okay, okay, turn it off, you’re blinding me.” “you’re so dramatic.” he glares at you before heading to the restroom, “you better be in bed when I come out.” “fine, I was gonna go sleep anyways.” “sure, you were.” A few minutes later, he joins you in bed, an arm automatically finding its way around your waist. “don't stay up so late,” he murmurs against your hair. “no promises, but I’ve always known you cared about me.” “why’d you think I married you?” “my charms?” “please go to sleep.”

reblogs are wildly appreciated <3

main masterlist | haikyū masterlist

[xoxo-teddybear]

Oh, The Lies You Tell - Bakugou Katsuki - pt. 2

Bakugou x f!reader

Warnings: angst, trauma, abuse, betrayal, fluff, slice of life, smut, cursing, manipulation, possible spoilers, physical harm, 18+

BAKUGOU’S MASTERLIST

Ep. Warnings: fluff, childhood trauma, cursing, Bakugou kinda OOC, DADZAWA

Summary: More Bakugou x reader interaction! And Y/N’s first time training with the students and showing off her “quirk.” How will the students react?

Pt.1 Pt.2 Pt.3 Pt.4 Pt.5 Pt.6 Pt.7 Pt.8 Pt.9

Once you saw the familiar blonde, you smiled. “.....hey back, cutie.” You said with confidence. Bakugou only blushed at the comment and sucked his teeth as he rolled his eyes.

“Soo...you’re my escort?” You flirtatiously asked. You can’t help it, it’s just your personality. Plus, after years of villainous work, you had to learn how to speak with a calm and seductive voice to get your way with your victims.

“Yeah, that means I’m stuck with your dumbass for the next few months. So try to keep up and don’t you dare hold me back.” He ferociously said. You just giggled and went to mess with his unbuttoned shirt collar.

“Whatever you say, Fiesty,” as you examined his clothes, you just had to speak up again. “Whattup with the clothes? No tie, no tuck, no....prestigiousness?” Bakugou scoffed at your question.

“Oh yea? Like you’re one to talk. You completely changed your uniform. You realize the girls in UA don’t dress this-“ you cut him off.

“What? Rebellious?”

“I was gonna say hot.”

“That works too.”

“Suits you real well.”

“Oh, I bet it does,” you smirked. During your time throwing spitfire replies to one another, you realized how close both your faces have gotten. You saw ruby eyes, perfect porcelain skin with the perfect amount of tan, soft but fluffy, spiky, blonde hair, and a smirk that copied your own. As Bakugou was too busy admiring your looks, you gently placed two fingers under his chin.....and flicked his head upwards at the sky.

“Hehe...let’s go, Cutie. You gotta show me my dorm, remember? Cant stand here forever staring at me.” You chuckled to yourself.

“I was not doing any of that shitty woman!” Bakugou yelled. As Bakugou did that, Rumor ran right across him making his balance go all outta wack.

“Heh..yeah, sure.” You said as you walked off with Rumor, petting his head. Oh, this is gonna be fun.

——————————————————————————

On the walk to the dorms, you and Bakugou got to know each other quite well. Just the basics though. Favorite music, favorite foods, personality types, likes and dislikes, all that good stuff. You also both shared a little flirtatious banter, not that you minded, however it threw Bakugou off. When the fuck does he ever talk like that? As you both walked up to the entrance you realized something.

“Hey, you never asked me about my quirk. How come?” You asked as you both continued to walk to the doors.

“Don’t need to. I’ll see all I have to see tomorrow during training.” Bakugou said.

“Makes sense.” You replied.

“Of course it does,” He said as he opened the doors to give you a tour. You were in awe. Growing up, you never really had a home before the league. You slept in benches, jail cells, or straight on the ground outside in the rain. But this? Basically luxury to you, but of course you kept up a chill persona.

“This is the common area, kitchens over there, everyone gets their own bathrooms, the showers are that way, and I’ll show you to your dorm,” Bakugou said, giving you the “grand” tour. As you walked up to your room, you saw how already filled it was...but this wasn’t any of your stuff.

“Didn’t realize you were into music like that.” Bakugou said. When you turned to look at your desk, you saw how large it was and how there was a control panel they used at recording studios on it. Set up with it was a microphone that artist used when recording their songs and there was a mini keyboard and acoustic guitar set up on the side. Then it hit you. You had gone over your interest with Mr. Aizawa, guess he filled up the room to make you more comfortable OR to make it seem like you were a normal kid who actually had stuff. In reality, you had nothing but your villain costume (which you demanded to be kept) and Rumor.

“Umm...not really. I just sing a little and enjoy writing little songs. Nothing special really,” you replied to him. “Uh, could you give me a sec? I wanna change out of this uniform and relax a little.” You said to him.

“Yeah, sure. Dinner starts at 6 so be down by then and come meet the rest of the morons.” He said as he backed out the room and walked on to wherever. You began to explore the room. Rumor took comfort on the soft bed, and you looked at the recording area. It was amazing. You strummed the guitar, taking in it’s beautiful sound and dabbled on the keyboard. You then realized.

“Rumor! What am I gonna change in to?! I literally have nothing!” You said as you ran to your closet, astound when you saw the large amount of clothes, along with a little sticky note.

Enjoy the gift, Y/N! Cant wait to have you in class!

- Ms. Midnight

“Midnight, huh? Then these clothes must be hot as fuck!” You excitedly said. Safe to say you put on a little fashion show for yourself and Rumor. As you put on the clothes and made new outfits, you noticed how she had gone for the typical “baddie style.” Lots of ripped jeans, plenty of casual heels, thigh high boots, leather jackets, bomber jackets, crop tops, tube tops, and of course booty shorts. You also noticed the massive amount of jewelry given to you. Plenty of necklaces and anklets. Very pretty.

Once done with your little show, you and Rumor looked at the clock. 5:30.

“I think we should stay in here. Who needs dinner anyways?” Rumor only growled at you. He knew better. You both needed food and you should go down there and make some friends.

“Oh c’mon! We’ve gone days without food before, why not now?” You saw how Rumor gave you this look of ‘because it wasn’t available then’ and you rolled your eyes knowing your friend was right.

“Fineeeeeee,” you reluctantly said as Rumor gave a happy bark and wagged his tail. You changed into some comfortable clothes and went to the common area.

When walking down there, you saw a spikey read head, a tall black haired boy, a girl with long greenish hair, and then you saw Deku, Kaminari, Uraraka, Todoroki, and Bakugou. While they were talking, the red head took notice of yours and Rumor’s presence.

“Oh! Hey L/N! Rumor! Come join us!” How sweet of him to include Rumor. As you both walked towards a single open seat on a solo couch seat, you saw how everyone had their eyes set on you with a smile.

“Umm....hey.” You nervously let out with a small laugh. As you tried to settle, Rumor placed his head on your lap to calm you down and Bakugou took notice of this.

“Would you idiots stop staring at her like that? She’s obviously kinda nervous.” Bakugou said with his head thrown back on the couch. The red head then spoke up to agree.

“Oh right! Sorry about that L/N!” He said kindly.

“No, it’s no trouble. And you guys can quit the formalities and just call me Y/N. I don’t mind!” You sweetly said.

“Alright then, nice to meet you Y/N! I’m Eijirou Kirishima, this is Hanta Sero, and Tsuyu Asui. I’ve heard you already met these guys, and I’ve also heard you got Bakugou as your escort!” Bakugou growled at Kirishima for mentioning that.

“Yeah! He’s kinda.....bratty?” You teased. Bakugou only looked at you with wide angry eyes and a small blush.

“Ha, yeah. Bakubro can be a brute, but when you get to know the guy, you find out he’s just a big ole softie with rough ways.” He joked.

“I AIN’T SOFT SHITTY HAIR!” Bakugou screamed. The group just giggled and watch the interaction go on. You guys talked and laughed and they got to know about you and Rumor a little better. Finally, a girl with a black ponytail came in.

“Hey guys! Dinner’s ready! Oh! And L/N, we made 2 steaks for Rumor. I hope you don’t mind.” She said.

“Oh not at all! Thanks you guys, that was really sweet of you.” Rumor understood what was going on just by the scent in the air and he was excited. As you all walked to the table and took ur seats, everyone got to talking again. Dinner went on and Rumor was enjoying his steaks.

“Man..what a lucky dog. Steak for dinner.” Kirishima spoke. Everyone chuckled and continued on. The girl with the pony tail, who you learned was nicknamed Momo, walked in with a final pot.

“Okay you guys! This is the final dish! Just some Miso soup to peck on. Kaminari, can you go and grab the ladel?” As the blonde walked away, everyone was excited for the dish.

“Sorry guys, the soup is a little too hot. You should wait for it to cool down before digging in,” Momo said apologetically.

“Oh hey, no worries, I have a solution!” You said as you made a tiny little tornado with you air bending and sent it to the pot of soup on the table to cool it down. The massive amount of steam was clearly decreased and everyone thanked you.

“So your quirk is tiny tornadoes?” Bakugou whispered to you as he was the one sitting next to you.

“No, you dummy.” You giggled until you heard a crack. Everyone looked over and saw Kaminari broke the one and only ladel. Everyone booed and sighed at the loss of miso soup and the poor blonde just apologized with a nervous smile.

“It’s fine you guys, we don’t need a ladel. Who wants some miso?” You asked and everyone raised their hands. So, you used your water bending to pick up the soup give some to all your classmates. Everyone was confused but impressed.

“Okay, what the hell is your quirk?” Bakugou asked in confusion.

“You’ll find out soon, Cutie.”

“Whatever you say, Princess.” He replied back.

It was safe to say the new nickname left you in shock with some blush and you noticed everyone stopped eating to look at you both.

“........huh?!” The group simultaneously said with blank and confused faces as Bakugou yelled at them saying they heard nothing.

——————————————————————————

The next day the students met up with Mr. Aizawa wearing any comfortable gym/fighting attire. Instead of meeting at Gym Gamma, the teacher took his students out to the Sports Festival Areana. The students all buzzed with excitement, most only wanting to know the new student’s quirk and fight style.

“Okay, today we’ll be doing sparring matches. We’ve paired you all up based on skill level and experience. One battle at a time. Whoever makes it to the top 3, those students are excused from classes tomorrow. Get warmed up, take your seats, and I’ll call up the first two fighters.” Mr. Aizawa spoke.

The students were ready. Everyone was, but no one was prepared for you. They never saw your fight style, never saw you use your quirk for battle, never even saw you pick a fight. This’ll be interesting.

“Okay bud, since it’s a 1v1, you’re benched.” You spoke to Rumor. He whined at the fact that he wouldn’t be getting any action but nonetheless, listened to his best friend. “Oh don’t give me that sass, why don’t you go talk to Kirishima or Bakugou while I’m in battle. Fair?” Rumor huffed at you, but you took it as compliance.

“Hey, Princess.”

You turned to who called you and saw Bakugou and what appeared to be his little posse following him. It consisted of Kirishima, Sero, Kaminari, and Mina.

“Oh hey guys. What’s up?” You asked.

“We’re all pumped up to see your quirk! Those tricks you did during dinner last night had us all coming up with ideas on what it could be.” Mina squealed. “I guessed substance manipulation.”

“Telekinesis,” Kirishima said

“Weather powers,” Sero guessed

“Food control!” Kaminari answered. Oh what a piece of work that one is. Everyone looked at the fool with raised brows.

“Heh...guess not.” The goofy boy said with a scratch to his head. You all laughed and you looked towards Bakugou waiting for him to answer.

“Well..what’s your guess, Cutie?” You looked towards Bakugou as he just stared at you.

“Elements,” he said calmly. That shocked you. Who knew someone was gonna guess. Well, he was still wrong considering it wasn’t really a quirk but yeah.

“Just a guess. I’ll figure it out once I see you fight.” He added on.

“Oh yeah! Mr. Aizawa pairs us up based on skill level and experience! We’ll get to know more about how you fight based on your partner.” Mina said.

As the group continued talking, Mr. Aizawa finally came to speak up.

“Okay, listen up. I’m sure you’re all curious as to what L/N is able to do, so our first match we’ll be L/N vs. Todoroki.” Everyone had their jaws drop. Shoto Todoroki?!? He was one of the top students in the class in both intelligence and physical skill. He is an excellent fight with a powerful quirk. How the hell are you supposed to win. You only smirked and walked up to the fighting area. As you walked, a pair of red eyes followed you.

‘What the hell can this chick do?’ Bakugou thought to himself.

As you and Todoroki met in the middle facing each other with Mr. Aizawa in between you both, he spoke up.

“Okay, here are the rules......there are none. The match will begin when you hear the buzzer go off. You’ll hear 3 beeps then a ring, then you can spar. You can use your quirk at any level, do whatever you may please, do whatever it takes to win. The match stops when one of you falls off the square or is knocked out and unable to continue fighting. Understand?” He said while looking at both of you and speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. You both nodded your heads but Mr. Aizawa looked at you with a more stern stare.

“Do you understand, Y/N?” He asked once more. You nodded your head and waited for him to start the match. He walked off the field and went to sit with the class. They all stared in anticipation. Bakugou focused his eyes on you.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Ring!

At the first second, Todoroki used his left side to throw some fire your way. At the sight of the burning flames you only smirked and extended your hand. Everyone watched you do, what they thought was, nothing. They only saw you stand there.

“Y/N DO SOMETHING!” Bakugou screamed in fear of you getting hurt.

When the flames came close enough, you used your fire bending to move them around your body and attack Todoroki. The boy had a quick reaction and sent an ice wall towards you. Perfect. You ran to the ice coming your way and turned it into water, which you used to push back Todoroki, closer to the edge. You sent fire his way and he ran at you, dodging it and attempting to strike you. You flipped away from him. Everyone saw how acrobatic you were. When he came closer once more to punch you, you turned to you side and struck his right shoulder, paralyzing his arm.

Todoroki screamed in shock and pain as he realized he couldn’t feel his arm. He sent more fire to you, in which you used your air bending to put the flames out. You used your earth bending to lift the area that Todoroki was standing on into the air, as he flew through the air, you blasted fire from your feet to get up in the air and blasted him with a gust of wind that knocked him out the area of the square. When he fell to the ground, he hit the field instead of the square, meaning he lost. You fell closer to the concrete but used your fire to slow down before you could crash. Once you landed you looked around for Aizawa.

Beeeeeeeepppppp!!

“That’s the match. L/N wins.” You looked around and everyone still sat in shock. Nobody even clapped. They just looked so....impressed? Kaminari was in the middle of petting Rumor and when he stopped, Rumor noticed the match was over and saw you standing. He howled to cheer for you as everyone ran down to say something. As the crowd came up to you, you were hit with compliments.

As the class continued to hype you up, you saw how Bakugou still just stared at you. You walked over to him.

“Impressed?” You asked.

“......you’re good.” Bakugou still said in slight shock. You only laughed at his answer. You knew he thought more, but you weren’t gonna push him. Every one saw Todoroki get up and limp towards you.

“L/N....that was a great fight. You’re incredibly skilled.” He complimented.

“Thank you Todoroki. And please, I told you to call me Y/N.” You kindly said

“Right, of course...ah.” He hissed in pain. You felt bad for how hard you went on him.

“Here..let me just,” you took the moisture in the air and took water out of it. You used it to heal up Todoroki’s injuries and soothe his pain. “Feel better?”

“Very much, yes. Thank you.” He said.

“No problem, but your arm is a different story. I temporarily paralyzed it with my dim mak fighting style. It’ll take some minutes for it to come back fully.” You explained.

“Okay. That was really impressive. I had no idea there was a fighter like you.” He said once again.

“Whats dim mak?” Kirishima asked.

“It’s the fighting style I use. It’s attacks a person’s pressure points with quick and sharp jabs. It paralyzes a person or just a limb for a good hour depending on how hard I hit.” You replied.

“Pressure points?” Kaminari asked.

“They’re the parts in your body where you’re sensitive and can be detained when they’re hit. With that, it means I know the human body like the back of my hand. Thanks to that I’ve come up with a skill called Chi Blocking.” You explained.

“What’s that?” Mina asked.

“Something you’ll all find out about the next time Y/N fights. Until then, let’s have Todoroki get to recovery girl and let’s continue the matches.” Aizawa said. As everyone went to their seat and Aizawa called up Iida and Aoyama, Bakugou asked you a few questions.

“What the fuck was that?!” He asked.

“What?” You giggled.

“The fucking fire, and the wind, and you moved rocks and you turned his ice into water!!” He spasmed out.

“Uh huh...” you said with a smile and raised brow.

“A-and the flips! You flip and did a bunch of acrobatic tricks, and the jabs, the “dim mak,” it was- I was- it was-.......HUH” he exclaimed.

“Not like Bakugou to freak out over a fight like that. What happened to Mr. Cool Guy?” Denki said.

“You shut your mouth, Sparky!” Bakugou threatened. “Look, all I’m tryna ask is..how and when did you learn all of this? Your quirk is crazy OP, and your fighter skill is insane! Appreciate that bullshit cuz I don’t say shit like that often.”

You just laughed and sighed. You weren’t sure how to answer his question. “Umm,” you started “I don’t really know...I just-“ you were cut off by a mouse. Principle Nezu, you remembered him.

“Mr. Aizawa?” The peppy mouse asked.

“Yes?” Aizawa replied.

“May I speak with you? Concerning your new student and her transfers. There’s been a few complications with her paperwork that need to be solved.” He politely asked.

“Yes, I understand sir. Class, free day. Head back to your dorms but be sure to get in an hour and a half of training today. That’ll be all. Dismissed.” The pro said as he followed the principle. As students gathered to leave and head back to the dormitory, Bakugou stopped you.

“Hey, wait. You still gotta tell me how you learned all this, Princess.” He said.

“What’s there to say?” You awkwardly laughed out. “Uh..I discovered my...quirk.. while doing some work-“

“Work as a child?” Bakugou asked.

“Sorta. I discovered it there and then..I met someone who trained me how to fight like that.” You explained.

“Your parents must be really proud.” Bakugou slightly smiled.

“Umm..yeah, I bet they are.” You said kind of skiddish.

“I can imagine the look on their faces when they saw the pretty impressive quirk you got. My parents were pretty shocked too with mine.” He added on.

“Oh really? You can imagine their faces?” You laughed out nervously. ‘I sure can’t,’ you thought to yourself.

“I mean yeah. Parents usually....” you drowned him out. Parents...parents...parents...PARENTS. You snapped.

“Bakugou!” You said with tone. “I don’t have or know my parents....” you said as he stopped talking and dropped his jaw to the ground. Before he could say anything, you bit your lips, called Rumor to go, and left, leaving Bakugou in regret.

As you ran with slight tears in your eyes, you told Rumor to change into a giant wolf. He shifted and you hopped on him.

“Let’s go to the spot, Rumor.” You said as he took off.

——————————————————————————

When Rumor arrived at ‘The Spot’ you settled. The spot was beautiful. Tall trees, beautiful plants, plenty of adorable creatures, and a gorgeous pond right in the middle of it all. You layed against a tree as Rumor placed you down so you could stop your tears and he transformed back into his wolf-dog form and cuddled up against you.

“No parents...” you said aloud. Although sad you never really got to experience or meet your parents or what it’s like to have them or a family, you were conflicted. Yes it was sad not having parents or a family, but you never had one so it’s hard to tell how you feel about the topic. As the thoughts ran through your mind, your eyes glowed a bright white and when you opened them, you weren’t at the spot anymore.

“Hello....?” You said as you looked around. “Helloooo...?? Anyone there?”

“Welcome back to the spirit world, Y/N.” When you turned to your side, you were in awe.

“Avatar Korra!” You bowed to show respect but then went to hug your spiritual mentor. She embraced you with wide arms. She’s always been the friendly, open, optimistic type. “What am I doing here, Korra?”

“Why do you think you’re here, Y/N?” She said with a sly smile and hands on her hips, but beaming eyes.

“My parents?” You questioned but she only shook her head.

“Your path.” Korra stated.

“My path?” You asked.

“Yes. Or more so, the path you choose.” She corrected.

“I don’t understand.” You said.

As Korra continued to smile at you, you both stood still as the world shifted. You looked around and saw the LOV hideout.

“The league? I don’t understand, what does my path have to do with them?” You questioned, but before she said anything, the world shifted once more and you were infront of UA’s building.

“The school?....Oh, this isn’t some typa light and dark thing, is it?” You asked Korra.

“It is.” She replied back.

“Ugghhhh, we’ve been through this. I’m a bad person. I could never fit in with those goodie two shoes! I’m a member of the league of villains! Not heroes. My path is the darkness.” You stated.

“Is it? You weren’t born into darkness.” Korra said.

“What?....”

“Y/N, you’re not a bad person. Your a villain because of survival. That’s the life that you know. That’s the life that you were kidnapped into.” Korra began.

“Yeah but-“

“But nothing. You know in your heart you would much rather be a hero than some low life villain!” Korra exclaimed.

“No I couldn’t. They’re too good. I could never be that great. Hell, I’m on a plan to take down UA right now!” You said.

“And are you doing that because you want to? Or is it because you think the league is gonna torture you any less if you succeed......you don’t wanna take down the heroes. You wanna be like them.”

“I don’t.”

“You do.”

“I can’t!”

“But you can. You can be all these amazing things, but you’re just on the wrong path with the wrong people. All you have to do is make the choice to leave them. You want to be good, Y/N. It’s in your nature. You’re the avatar after all. It’s your destiny to bring peace to the world.”

Once Korra had said that, a flash came and you were back in the spot. You gasped as you returned and shook your head. You saw it had gotten dark now and figured it was best if you headed back. You woke up Rumor and asked him to become a giant wolf again. He shifted and brought you back to UA. Along the walk, you couldn’t help but think back to what Korra said.

“My path......light or dark...” you looked down at your palms and squeezed them shut in frustration. You huffed and looked ahead, and saw you arrived at the front of the dorms. Standing there, waiting for you, Mr. Aizawa.

“Welcome back.” He said to you.

“Hi...” you blankly said as you attempted to get past him. However, he stopped you from going in.

“Not so fast, we need to speak first before anything else.” He stated

“What about? Because I’ve had a really long and kinda frustrating day, and I don’t need some bullshit to fuck it up even more. I mean, I’m so aggravated that I-“ a piece of paper dangling in your face shut you up.

“What are those?” You asked the hero.

“Adoption papers. I’m now your legal guardian.” Aizawa stated.

“.........HUHHHHH?!?!???” There was no way this was happening. It couldn’t be. You??? Adopted??? By a pro hero??? One that you almost killed???

“Okay, I’m sorry but I don’t need a guardian. I’ve been by myself, on my own, the second I was born. No family raised me, no motherly figure, no nothing. It’s just been me, the spirits, and the villain who took care of me till I was, what, 5? And then kicked me out and left me stranded. I’ve been surviving on my own for over a decade, I don’t need you to look out for me.” You exclaimed.

“Yeah, don’t worry. I won’t be an annoying parent, I’m just your legal guardian. You’re still underage, meaning you’ll need permission for certain things to continue to move forward.” He explained to you. You thought about it, and damn it, he was right. If you wanted to go about this whole thing the legal way, you’d need this.

“.....Fine. Just don’t tell me what to do dAD,” you sarcastically said.

“I’m your guardian and teacher now, I can tell you whatever I want, brat. Now get inside, you’re past curfew.” He said but you only squinted your eyes at him in disbelief. Did he really give you a curfew?

“Student curfew. You live in the dorms, all students have to be in this building by 10:30,” he explained. You just scoffed and went inside with Rumor.

“Guess I have a dad now, Rumor.” You sighed. You never had a father before. It warmed your heart a little, but then you remembered he wasn’t really your dad. Just a guardian. As you walked into the common area, you saw the lights were out. The students must’ve been in their dorms. You walked to the kitchen to grab a snack before heading to bed but you saw Bakugou sitting there with a water bottle in hand. He seemed kinda bummed out. You cleared your voice to get his attention and when he looked up at you, you told Rumor to head to the room.

“Y-Y/N! Hey!..” he said to you.

“Heh..hi Bakugou...Umm..I’m sorry about the whole..running away thing. I just needed to clear my head a little.” You said as you took the seat next to him.

“No, don’t apologize. I’m.....i-.....I’m sorry for pushing you about the whole parent thing. I didn’t know.” He apologized. You only shook your head and stared at your hands before speaking up.

“It’s fine. How could you know? After all, I’ve only been here for 2 days. Besides, you didn’t really upset me, it’s just..I feel kinda outta place when the parent topic comes up. Guess I just freaked out,” you saw the look on his face. Disappointment. Is he that upset that hurt you? Or at least thought he did? “B-but don’t worry! I’m fine! For real! I’ve been parent-less for almost my entire life so it doesn’t sting like that. Hehe..wow Umm. Depressing. You know I feel like I’m rambling, am I rambling? Should I stop? I think I should shut up, or maybe I’m just gonna go now that I-“ Bakugou placed his hand on yours which shut you up real quick. You looked up at his face as he stared into your eyes.

“You can talk to me about it you know. It’s clear you wanna get some things off your chest and I’m really interested in you.” You raised your brow at that last sentence. He realized what he said and quickly tried to correct himself.

“I mean- uh- not like that, or um it could be like that! It could be, if you’re cool with that. But it’s not, or maybe, i don’t know, it’s not it’s, I was, it was, I- yeah I’m gonna stop talking now.” He cleared his throat at the end of that, settling down. You giggled and reassured him.

“No, no it’s fine. I really don’t mind. Umm, what do you wanna know. I’m fine with sharing anything.” You said.

“Okay, let’s just continue with this parent topic then....how were you raised?” He asked. This scared you. You had to be real careful with your choice of words or else your cover would be blown.

“Okay, let’s see. I was born in a place-“

“Oh really?” He teased.

“Shuddup,” you laughed and playfully hit his shoulder.

“And that place was..very private. Very unknown, but my parents Umm, i don’t really know what happened to them. The earliest thing I can remember is that..someone found me and told me my parents were gone, they weren’t my real family, they just took me in because they couldn’t let a baby die, and raised me till I was 5.” You said.

“And then?” He asked.

“You sure? It just goes down hill from here.” You warned. But he only nodded and asked for you to continue. You looked at your hands in your lap before continuing.

“I was kicked out. Left on the streets. I slept on park benches, in alleyway tunnels, on rooftops of buildings. I pawned for food and..” you didn’t know if you should admit the next part. But Bakugou held onto your hand and asked for more.

“And then?” He questioned.

“.....I did what I had to do to survive. I committed crimes, but I had to live. I was just a child and didn’t know what to do. If you look at me any different for what I did though, I won’t judge you.” You said. He squeezed your hand almost as if he was telling you he understood. He nodded and pleaded for more.

“After 2 years on the streets, a cult found me. An evil and dark cult. They used their quirks to torture people they kidnapped and made them slaves to create weapons. They kept us in cells and chains, working 24/7. It was there that I learned of my abilities. I found out I could control the 4 elements and their sub-elements. There, I also met a master. He was old and couldn’t fight anymore, but he saw the potential in me and taught me dim mak in the shadows. After a year of being enslaved there and secretly training, these people (the LOV) came in and killed the cult members and stole some of their weapons and destroyed the rest. Once I saw them taking down those horrible people, I used my abilities and they saw. I guess I impressed them and they recruited me to join their little family. I’ve been with them ever since. But then I met Mr. Aizawa and he asked me to join UA. Since the group I joined wasn’t really family, I didn’t need their permission. They were more like friends and they were even the ones who pushed me to come here.” You finished up your little story and saw Bakugou looked at you with worry in his eyes.

“And now I’m here! Sitting in a dim kitchen at UA with a cute boy at 11:00 p.m.” you said trying to cheer up the mood. “Bakugou...”

“You’re not..affected? By everything you’ve been through?”

“You don’t have to feel bad!”

“But I do! You’re here! You’re not...”

“Dead?” You teased.

“Basically!” You laughed at that.

“Y/N, I’m serious!” Bakugou tried to say.

“And so am I! You don’t have to be upset. I value everything I went through, all the good and bad.” You explained.

“Why?” He asked.

“Because it made me the kickass baddie that I am today!” You said flipping your hair and laughing. “Seriously though! Everything I went through made me who I am. It’s made me stronger, more independent. It lets me know I can handle myself. So I’m good, you don’t have to worry.” You said grabbing onto his hand again and reassuring him. He used his thumb to rub at your hand and enjoy the feeling.

“You are...probably the strongest person I’ve ever met.” He said calmly with a small SMALL smile on his face as he looked at you.

“I’ll also bet that I’m also the only “criminal” that you look like you wanna kiss.” You playfully said.

“Maybe I do...” he said with a smirk and soft voice as he leaned in closer.

“And maybe I’ll let you..” you said as you leaned in. As you two got closer and closer, your eyes filled with daze and the world around you two fell apart. It was just you and him in that moment. Until it was ruined. Just as your lips were about to touch, Mr. Aizawa came in.

“Hey!” He shouted

“GAH!” You both screamed and jumped away from each other with a blush adoring both your faces. Aizawa walked up to both of you, shoving the adoption papers in bakugou’s face.

“No smooching with my newly adopted daughter!” He said with a stern voice.

“I’m not your daughter! You’re just my guardian and it only happened like a few hours ago!” You stated.

“You can’t tell me who I can and can’t kiss, old man.” Bakugou said.

“Listen you little punk! I outta...” then Bakugou and your teacher were now going at it, yelling over each other and saying whatever, completely leaving you outta the conversation. You let out a little gust of wind to shut them up and get their attention.

“Okay, it’s late, tomorrow is Saturday, so you two won’t have to see each other, MAYBE, for 2 days. Can we just let this whole thing cool over?” You asked.

“We can, I’m just annoyed at the fact that this dynamite stick was gonna steal my daughter away from me!” Aizawa complained.

“I wasn’t stealing her, I was-“

“STOLEEEEEEE” Aizawa corrected and Bakugou just sucked his teeth and looked around.

“Whatever, can we just let it go?” You asked again. They nodded and you all went your separate way. Except for the fact that once Aizawa was outta sight, Bakugou went running right back to you and walked you to your dorm.

“Sooo..about that kiss.” Bakugou said. You just giggled and opened the door to your room.

“Goodnight, Bakugou,” you said but as you were about to walk in, he said something else.

“Katsuki.”

“Huh?” You said looking back at him.

“Katsuki. It’s my name. You can call me Katsuki.” He explained.

“Wow, trust me that much?” You teased.

“You trusted me enough to open up, this is the least I could do.” He said. You smiled and corrected yourself.

“Okay then...goodnight, Katsuki.” You said smiling. He pulled you in by your waists and held you close as he placed a soft kiss to your cheek.

“Goodnight, Princess.” He said and walked off.

A/N: Ok Cubs! That was the second part and in here we got to see the spirit world! We’re intorduced to Avatar Korra and we’ve discovered Y/N is the present avatar! How do we feel about this? Good? Bad? Let me know!!! I hope your enjoying the story so far. I know it’s kinda weird and all outta disorder but this is my personal day dream that I wanna bring to life that I’m hoping some of you enjoy. It’s just a jumble of avatar elements with a BNHA/MHA base. Please be patient with me! I know this is a Bakugou x Reader fic but it is also a story. It’s gonna grow and build and once we establish the basics, more Bakugou x Reader issues will show up along the way! I hope you’ve liked it so far! See you next time! 💗🧸

[restforthe-burdenedsoul]

august 4

I initially woke up with really good intentions for the day. Today was gonna be a better day (and it still has that potential since it’s only 9).

I overslept and had nightmare after nightmare about the dog peeing on the carpet or escaping her crate and peeing on the carpet (can you tell this stresses me out?)

I finally pull myself outta bed and clock in but I still have to take the dog outside. But it’s trash day. So she comes out of her crate and immediately runs under my desk so I have to drag her out to put her harness on. She’s literally shivering from fear and won’t cooperate. I finally get it on and she won’t move. She’s only 15 pounds so it’s not like I can’t physically move her but she’s fucking traumatized and then I feel like a monster trying to move her small shaking and panting body.

Then I get this total overwhelm feeling because I’m so.tired. of dealing with her day in and day out. I’m so tired of being stuck in my house all the time with this dog who is afraid of everything and makes going outside with her so hard. I’m so tired of being alone in this house and having to handle her on my own.

I took her out last evening, M was already home and showering and was gonna take her out but she was sitting at the door (her non verbal sign for “I have to pee RIGHT now take me out or I will pee on your carpet this is an emergency) so I take her out. She literally gives no other signal and that is the last train to outside potty.

The neighbor dogs come out ( a golden and some kind of medium fluffy white dog) I didn’t notice. Next thing I know the leash is giving me leash burn. I always have a tight grip on the end of it so she didn’t go far, but was FULL ON CHARGING at these dogs.

And I can’t do it anymore. And we can’t afford training right now. But I can’t do this on my own.

M is only home from like 9pm and we go to bed at 11 so he can’t really do much. It’s dark outside. And she is perfectly fine inside with the exception of peeing when we miss her silent potty alarm. Which I admit is happening more often because I’m so overwhelmed with the thought of taking her outside every 4 hours.

Work didn’t approve M’s requested schedule for the quarterly schedule change. He requested Monday-Friday 8-5 so he can actually be home with me now, but they put him Wednesday-Thursday 8-5, Friday 10-7, Saturday 8-5, Sunday 8-5. So now we can’t go to church together and he works the weekends when I am off. His mom is off weekends, so he’ll still have to be at their house to take care of his grandmom on mondays and Tuesdays, so I still won’t really see him.

And I still have no fucking friends in the area and he’s the only person I get to do stuff with now. I have one other friend in Florida and she won’t drive to me because I’m 2 hours away. I admittedly stopped making the effort because I got tired of being the only one making the trip. My other friend moved to NY and my other one just disappeared after the ex came back.

I wanted today to be a better day but it’s 9am and I’m already sobbing on my couch because I am tired of this. Im tired of feeling so lonely.

—-

One more week until the summer is over and I will at least be at schools 3 days a week. And I hope that helps. It’s still really only talking to children but it’s better than talking to the dog all day. Who spends most of her day hiding under the bed anyway.

—-

M said he was open to moving, and that his mom would probably follow, I know my parents wouldn’t but we barely talk now anyway and they want literally nothing to do with M.

The idea of moving back to Jersey is floating around in my head. I wanna be by my friends again. Because I know we always make time for each other. Even if we’re too busy, we just go grocery shopping together or whatever mundane task you have to do. Because it’s important to us to see each other often. And then I’d only be a weekend trip away from my best friend again. We saw each other every other month and alternated who drove to who. So yah, I can’t get a friend here to drive two hours to me but my best friend and I coordinated 8 hour drives to each other 6 times a year. So. I just don’t believe the excuses here.

[lysmune]

demon’s kiss

24/7

(OM! Demons/Reader)

i: Satan -  5:35AM

      Satan’s kisses are sunbursts, rimmed sweet from morning precipitation as he guides, goads, without a breath of hesitation. Nipping, skimming your bottom lip, he engulfs wholly, utterly, and you’re always left a little mesmerised, a little giddy.

     Fingers running up your side and down, and you giggle into his mouth, into the quiet evaporating gasps when he pulls away and he pecks the tip of your nose with emerald-flecked mischief.

     “Wide-awake, are we?”

ii: Diavolo - 6:30 AM

     Diavolo’s kisses are open-mouthed, hopping from your lips to your jaw, to the dip of your neck and your clavicle. His body wash lingers, warm, faintly musky as you ball the fabric of his shirt, tugging him a little closer.

     Laughter shivering your skin, biting at you playfully, nuzzling into you, his hair tickling before he reaches up to your lips once again. It’s a little rushed, a little sloppy, but you find that it suits him just as well, and he cradles you when he pulls away, even if it’s brief.

     “I have to get up,” is his soft, chuckling plea and, as much as you’d like him to stay, you surrender him to his work. Brushing your hair to the side, he whispers the promise of his return, a dinner together and a reward you’d very much like to sink your teeth into.

iii: Beelzebub - 12:00 PM

     Despite his intimidating build, Beelzebub’s kisses are tender, mellow, bitter caramel and pudding between his teeth. He handles you with a delicate touch and you’re precious in his arms, your hands up against his chest, the strong beat of his heart thrumming under your palm.

     Never pushing, never forcing, he always seems to back away just before you do, your name tumbling in honeyed dulcet tones. An endearing smile smoothed by affection, warmed by the kitchen heat, you raise your hand to cup his cheek and he gladly presses into you.

     “You taste sweet,” he confesses, thumbing a peck into your palm, and you chuckle at how unabashed, how honest he always is.

     “Thank you.”

iv: Asmodeus - 2:00 PM

     Coloured in rose perfume, Asmodeus’ kisses flatter you, coiling in an intoxicating swirl of indigo and peach as he pins you down against his bed, his knee between your legs and his hands flitting across your figure. You shudder into his caress, back arching when he traces the length of your abdomen, the swell of your hip, the curve of your thighs.

     Giggles spill into your mouth, the shell of your ear, unsparing in his touches as he bares warm flesh to cool air, to warmer palms, relishing in the way you’re sighing his name in praise. He adores you with sugared compliments, his lips grazing every inch of you in fluttering pecks, a topaz gaze transfixed by the blush of your body.

     He always stops, just as you’re at the precipice of it all, coyly slinking back, taking you into an embrace while he smooths you out.

     “Sorry,” he winks, grinning, knowing. “I got a little too carried away.”

v: Belphegor - 5:45 PM

     Taking all the time in the world, Belphegor’s kisses are, oddly, patient. He nips at your bottom lip as his thumb strokes your cheek, humming your name, brushing your hair back. Through violet eyes, he admires.

     When he finally presses his lips against yours, everything around you seems to flicker ablur, quelling into a silence as you ease in his arms. Mint peppery on your tongue, tart with raspberries and dewed in stardust, holding you tighter still. He’s gentle, if not unyielding.

     No matter how many times he breaks away, gives you space, he’s never really distant, his lips hovering yours for a few heartbeats before he captures you again. Languorously, he showers you with quiet affection, fingers running across your arms, resting at your waist, and you always feel ethereal in his touch, as though you’re floating, as though you’re in a dream.

     Pulling away for the last time, you watch him in a daze as he thumbs a light kiss to your eyelid, the crescent of smile etching itself before he chuckles at the sight of you.

     “Again?” he asks and you nod. Wordlessly, without any hesitation, he lulls you back in.

vi: Barbatos - 7:00 PM

     Earl grey and rose petals, and crème Chantilly; that’s the only indication of Barbatos’ kiss today. You swear you feel him soft against your lips, the ever slight hand on the small of your back, his hair tickling your eyelids when he bends, but when light floods your vision, he’s a good few spaces away.

     You’re not sure if you’re to believe it happened or not, your fingers skimming your  bottom lip as though it would jolt the process of a recollection. You hear him chuckle quietly and you look up to meet the serpentine gleam of his gaze.

     Pressing a finger to his mouth, a smile curling at the edges, he sends a small hush that makes you warm with blush, the thrill of your intimacies being kept under wraps tingling across skin.

     “Later,” and with that, he assures you that this isn’t the last you’ll be seeing of him today.

vii: Mammon - 10:25 PM

     Under the flickering fluorescence of a dying street lamp, the aftermath of a sudden shower, the slight bittersweet tang of Demonus, Mammon’s kisses are uncharacteristically bold.

     Hands clinging, wandering, roaming the side of your thighs, your waist, your face as he pulls you flush against him with his other. Balling his shirt in your fists, you tug and he deepens the entwinement, teeth skimming your lip before his tongue tangles yours, brash as he always is, though the way he strokes your cheek is as kind as ever.

     Hovering, lingering, when you break for air, he shies his gaze away and you’re met with the sight of him, blushed twice over to the tips of his ears. You laugh, wondering where all his bluster’s gone, pressing a peck onto his cheek that stiffens him straight as he looks at you, wide-eyed and nothing short of surprised.

     “Y-ya can’t jus’ do tha’ outta nowhere!” he stumbles, frowning as he does, though the soft look he fixes on you betrays it. Without so much of a warning, he hoists you up and you yelp, your arms finding purchase on the strong line of his shoulder while your legs wrap around his waist, his hand slipping under your thigh to support you.

     “Mammon!” you yell and he lets out a giddy, unrestrained chortle.

     Kissing the top of your cheekbone, he smirks. “Payback,” and he captures your lips once again, rapturous.

viii: Leviathan - 12:00 AM

     Leviathan’s kisses tremble in your mouth, quivering ever just when you return his affections in earnest, hugging you tighter as you lean back against his chest. He’s awkward, unsure, but he holds you with a tenderness that makes your heart melt.

     He leaves the ocean on your lips, mellowly sweet and herbaceous, and you shift in his lap to bury your head into the crook of his neck, the scent of brine and saltwater clinging to him like second skin.

     “D-don’t do that,” he stutters out. You peek out from below and raise a brow in question, and he seems to slump, the sunset across his blue eyes dulling. “I smell; I’m a yucky otaku after all.”

     Pressing your hand to his chest as you rise up to peck the edge of his lips, and he stumbles at the suddenness. “You’re not,” is your answer and he bites the inside of his cheek, looking away, flustering and fumbling before you raise your hand to his cheek to focus on you.

     He holds his breath for a moment then, before his shoulders relax. He doesn’t ask for any confirmation, he just simply allows himself to trust your words, to hold you tighter with a little more confidence. Tugging the blanket that swaddles the both of you closer, you can only sigh as he starts to hum, soft and melodic, and not nearly as often as you’d like him to.

     With the waves crashing frail at the shell of your ear, you rest yourself flush against him, clutching his shirt, eyes fluttering close. A featherlight kiss onto the top of your head and the sea swallows you into a fitful slumber.

ix: Lucifer - 3:30 AM

     Incandescence rims him gold, the smell of juniper spiced and woody, grating the metallic tang of fresh ink as his fingers brush your cheek. Underscored by bitter coffee, Lucifer’s kisses are the aftermath of countless sleepless nights.

     His lips are harsh against yours, clashing, bruising, the hand on the back of your neck pushing your forward as his teeth skim your mouth. Breaking away, your fingers twine his hair, tugging him closer when he trails kisses down your jaw, shuddering as he bites and suckles on a particularly sensitive spot on your neck, your hand coming up to his chest, the other gripping the chair’s arm.

     With one last peck to your newly formed love mark, he pulls apart, drinking in his handiwork with a proud gleam. “Beautiful,” he hums and you flush, clicking your tongue at him; he raises a brow. “No?”

     “Somewhere less obvious would’ve been better,” you huff out. Chuckling, he brings your hand from his chest to his lips and a shiver runs through you when he levels a devilish gaze at you.

     “That would’ve completely missed the point,” he answers and you roll your eyes, shaking your head, but he’s unperturbed, thumbing a kiss to your wrist. “Besides, red suits you.”

     As if to prove him right, warmth floods your cheeks and he laughs once more, a little freer this time, with less of an arrogance. You lean forward, just slightly, before you glance at the clock on his table. He appears to have followed your line of sight, because he clears his throat and straightens his back.

     “You can go ahead and sleep first,” he encourages, assures; you shake your head.

     “Not unless you are,” you assert and his mouth opens in protest, yet you shush him by continuing. “Paperwork can wait, your sorry excuse of a sleep schedule can’t.”

     He frowns at that. “I have a sleep schedule.”

     “Last I checked, three hours isn’t a sleep schedule,” you retort.

     “It’s still sleep.”

     “Lucifer.”

     At that, he complies, allowing you to disentangle yourself from him as he stands. He’s still reluctant, you can tell, so you reach up to cup his face in your hands and pull him down to meet your eyes.

     “Please, get some rest.”

     He tenses for a moment, though it doesn’t last long. His stare softens as his mouth curls into a small smile, his hand taking yours before he nods.

     “Alright.”

     Tenderly, gently, he leads you to the bed and takes you into his arms in a rare display of intimacy. Fingers carding through your hair, his chest falling and rising in rhythm, you drift off with his heartbeat in your ears.

[kamilah-the-bloodqueen]

The Cafe Pt.I (Rewritten Barista)

As promised, I’m working through finishing my unfinished series - and that includes the Barista AU I had written long ago. I decided it was best to rewrite it considering the first part was originally published 200+ days ago. I’m aiming for 3 parts for this “one-shot AU” but we’ll see where it goes. Please be patient with me - my academic course load is extremely heavy and finding time to write is difficult but I will finish everything I said I would. I’m actually pretty proud of this but if it flops I never wrote it :) 

Pairing: Kamilah x MC (Amy)

Word Count: 4505 words I’m shocked (I usually get to about 1600-2000 words) 

Taglist: I’m not tagging anyone until I know people want to be tagged for this because I’m nervous and I hate being annoying!!!! If you want to be tagged for a specific pairing please let me know - I’ll try to keep track and remember to actually tag because I’m a forgetful dumbass!

Amy groggily rolled over in her bed, the amount of sleep she was getting had become oddly suspicious because she would never be able to get up before 7 on her own. She rubbed her face gently, her sheets warm and smooth against her skin. She grabbed her phone from the nightstand, her eyes widening in shock as she read the time on the screen.  

Monday March 30 5:40 am

“Fucking hell I thought I set an alarm!” Amy groaned as she threw the sheets to the side, huffing as she opened the clock app to see, she in fact, did not set an alarm. She sighed, shaking her head as she rushed to the bathroom. 

“Damn it Amy...you need this job…” 

She texted Zig, a mutual friend of Emily Day who introduced them their freshman year of college at Hartfeld before Amy had transferred to Belviore University in New York. Zig graduated and moved to New York and opened a small cafe, only a few years later. 

Zig, I’m going to be late. I missed my alarm this morning. I swear I’ll stay for closing and I won’t be late tomorrow. 

LMAO, Amy if you didn’t set an alarm just say that, I had a feeling this would happen so I told you we opened an hour before we actually do. We don’t open until 7 on Mondays, just Tuesdays-Fridays. 

I am literally going to murder you 0_0. You should prepare to be launched into outer space for this crime. 

Lol I look forward to it - see you at 7. 

Amy turned on the shower, as she grabbed a towel and her shower products from the cabinet, placing them beside the shower door. She discarded her clothes, put her shower playlist on, hopped into the shower and felt a wave of relief that she didn’t blow her first day. After Amy had performed her world tour, she stepped out of the shower with a shiver, the cool air a contrast to her very hot skin. She wrapped herself in the fuzzy towel, briefly glancing at the time, 6:02. She walked out of the bathroom, dropping the towel onto the floor as she opened her closet while she scanned her options for a “casual” outfit that would suffice. She put on her favorite bra and underwear, something about the red lingerie made her feel confident, before she slipped into a pair of dark blue denim skinny jeans. She paired the pants with a black t-shirt as she smiled at herself in the mirror. 

“Not bad Amy, not bad at all.” 

She walked over to her small vanity, one she had built with her father as a teenager over the summer before she left for college. It was one of her most prized possessions, one of the only things she had to remind her of him before he disappeared without a trace. She closed her eyes, recalling the memory fondly before she began to apply a small amount of makeup, just enough to hide her tiredness from the public. She stood from the desk, pleased with her appearance as she made her way to the small apartment kitchen. The empty beer bottles and ps4 controllers cluttered the kitchen as Amy smiled, having remembered celebrating the job with her suitemate Lily. She threw the bottles away and plugged the remotes in for a charge, Lily would thank her for that later. She opened the freezer, making herself two premade waffles as she checked her social media. It might have partially been the exhaustion but those waffles were the best Amy ever had, she wiped her mouth clean and grabbed her bag from the nearby chair. She shot a brief text to Lily, to let her know she hadn’t been kidnapped.

Morning Lily! I went to the cafe for work, just so you don’t end up thinking I got myself kidnapped. Love you, see you tonight! Try not to drink all of the alcohol. 

Amy followed Zig’s text directions through the streets of the city, the bustle of traffic, the mass of pedestrians and the loud construction noises distracting Amy from her path. Amy had never really been in New York’s financial district before, the other civilians' appearances shifting from “Naked Cowboy of Times Square” to “Businessman” only a few streets apart. She glanced at her phone as it instructed her to take a right.

“Oof-” 

Amy jolted at the scalding hot coffee that was hot on her skin, her head turning to meet a woman’s irritated gaze, taking note of the coffee cup that was in her hands. She was dressed like all the other businessmen and women who passed by - her maroon suit now covered in coffee as she huffed in annoyance. Amy met her deep brown eyes that burned right through her, her whole body freezing up as she watched the woman’s lips move. Amy stood in a daze, only coming back to herself when the woman waved her hand in front of her, her face filled with exasperation. 

“I’m so sorry. It’s my first day and I’m kind of lost-”

“Watch where you’re going, this suit is probably worth more than you.” Her voice was silky and satisfying, and oddly soothing given the fact she had probably just stained a $2,000 suit. Amy rushed to open her wallet, holding out a wet 50$ to the woman. The business woman scoffed as she walked away, leaving Amy in a confused state outside of the cafe. 

“Fuck.” Amy sighed, moving to collect her bag as she walked through the cafe door, Zig raised his eyebrows at her as she made her way behind the counter. 

“Well that’s a look.” He jested, Amy turning her head and giving him a death glare as he tossed an apron to her. “Nobody will notice, you can cover it with this. There’s paper towels in the back.” Amy dropped her bag in the break room, gently wiping the coffee away and putting the surprisingly fashionable apron on. When she walked out from the back her jaw dropped as she spotted the woman from earlier standing on the other side of the counter. Their eyes met and the woman’s gaze quickly changed from annoyed to very annoyed at the sight of Amy. 

“Kamilah, you’re back. Wanted to pick up some date-nut pinwheels?” 

“No, I need another black coffee.” She turned back to Zig with a smile, he gave a small nod as Amy began to brew the coffee for her. She placed the lid carefully onto the fresh cup and handed it out to the woman, their fingers brushing for a moment, a blush creeping onto Amy’s cheeks. 

“Thank you.” Her tone was less aggressive than it had been in their first encounter, Amy finally calm enough to take note of the woman’s features. Her brown silky hair that looked like it belonged in a conditioner commercial, her defined jawline and subtle eyeshadow that accentuated her eyes. She watched the way her lips moved as she talked to Zig, Amy feeling her heart jump at the sound of her laugh - light and golden. Amy watched her leave, every step she took she took with such confidence that Amy found herself wanting to follow her out the door. 

“You could be less obvious, you know?” Zig playfully nudged Amy, nearly knocking her over as she shook her head in denial.

“No! I wasn’t!” Amy sighed as she rubbed her temples, Zig’s infectious laugh filling the empty cafe. Amy playfully punched his shoulder as a group of well dressed men stepped through the threshold, Amy moving behind the register to take their orders. The day passed, Amy learning how oddly specific some people like their coffee, and learning all of Zig’s secrets to the perfect iced coffee. Amy looked at the clock as Zig walked to lock the front door - finally closing time. 

“Some of these orders...like ‘I’ll have the grande iced mocha no foam soy hexagon vortex hypotenuse’” Amy waved her hands around as Zig tried to contain a laugh, wiping down the counter as Amy hung her apron up.

“Amy you’re horrible.” Zig made a good attempt at seriousness, their eyes meeting before they continued to laugh which made closing pass by much faster. Zig grabbed the mass of leftover desserts from their respective containers, hovering them over the garbage before Amy stopped him.

“Oh, did you want these?” 

“No, but I can find a better place for them than the trash.” 

“Where? Your stomach?”

“No, the food bank is on the route back to my apartment. We shouldn’t be wasteful, and besides - who wouldn’t love a raspberry crown?” 

“You’ve got a point. I’ll bag these for you then, if you could sweep the floor and put the chairs on the tables that’d be great.” 

When all the cleaning and closing procedures were done Amy headed for the door with her bag in hand, Zig gently tapping her shoulder and holding out an envelope, a key to the cafe and the bag of desserts.

“Okay so I know what’s in here but what is this? A resignation letter?” Amy pouted her bottom lip as Zig rolled his eyes so far back Amy wasn’t sure if they’d come back.

“It’s your share of the tips from today, and the wrapped pastries. Thanks for that suggestion by the way, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that myself.” Zig rubbed the back of his neck as he looked around the pristine cafe, the windows reflecting the moonlight and the tile shimmering as if it were just installed. “Bloody hell, the place looks good...no great. Thank you Amy. Come on let's get outta here, go home - I’ll see you tomorrow at 6. Actually, let me make sure you set 3 different alarms, give me your phone.” Zig held out his hand after he locked the front door, Amy reluctantly handing her iphone over as he set 3 different alarms, all 5 minutes apart. He looked up at her for a moment, smirking before handing her phone back to her and walking off into the city. Amy rolled her eyes, he probably took a selfie on her camera but when she went to check, there was nothing but memes and occasional group photos -what did Zig smirk at then? Amy was too tired to think of it, she made a swift beeline to the food bank, opening the doors and dropping the brown bag of desserts off before making her trip back to the apartment. 

The door opened with a creak, all of the lights turned off as Amy carefully navigated to her room. She switched her lamp on, letting it provide a dim light that didn’t blind Amy because of its intensity. She tossed her bag onto the bed, as she pulled her shirt over her head in one rapid motion. She desperately stripped, throwing her dirty clothes into the laundry basket as she changed into clean lingerie. She slipped into her favorite pair of pajama shorts and pulling her favorite hoodie over her bra - shirts were overrated anyways. Amy crawled onto her bed, crossing her legs while she put her headphones on, pulling up her favorite late-night playlist and letting the slowed music soothe her. She caught a glance at the envelope Zig had given her, she reached over for it and opened it carefully - baffled at the amount of cash laying inside. She slowly laid each bill out, counting the total twice to make sure she hadn’t miscalculated. Working at a cafe in New York’s financial district was definitely going to help her and Lily catch up on their rent and not get evicted. She smiled, tucking away 25% for herself, taking enough for her share of the rent and putting the rest into her locked safe - she’d been saving for a trip to Hawaii since she graduated. She stifled a yawn, closing the safe and tucking herself back into her warm sheets, taking her headphones off and closing her eyes for the night. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The alarm woke Amy up with it’s loud and very obnoxious beeping, Amy wanting nothing more than to throw the phone into the thermosphere. She drowsily stood from her bed, gently tucking the sheets neatly back into place as she turned off the following alarms. She sighed, rubbing her head as she changed into a simple outfit and left out the door to the cafe.

Amy arrived at the cafe, unlocked the front door and turned the lights on, relocking the door behind her because she didn’t need anyone startling her. She moved behind the counter, dropping her bag in the lounge and putting an apron on. She checked the coffee filters, gave the blenders a good washing, set out creamer, sugar and other coffee essentials on the counter and filled supplies back up. Zig suddenly walked through the door, a smile on his face as Amy finished supplying the countertop and putting the pastries out on display, letting Zig prepare himself for opening. 

“You’re early. I’m shocked. College Amy is having a stroke right now.” Amy knocked him in the side, Zig falling back a few steps as he shook his head and put his hands in the air in surrender. “Alright alright no need for violence, come on, let’s open.” Zig turned the “open” sign on and only a minute later did Kamilah appear in the cafe, her suit perfectly fitted, her hair smoothly cascading around her head and down her shoulders and her face relaxed and composed. 

“Good morning Kamilah, what can I get for you?” Zig gestured to the display of desserts and the variety of coffee combinations on the menu above their heads. Kamilah smiling as Zig waved his hands back and forth, Kamilah letting out a soft chuckle. 

“Just a large black coffee and maybe a date-nut pinwheel.” Kamilah spoke to Zig in almost a tender way, as if they were siblings or long-term friends. Amy selected a pinwheel, gently placing it into a small bag and sliding it over the counter towards Kamilah as she began to brew the coffee. 

“How’s Ahmanet Financial?” Zig leaned over the counter, his defined arms nearly breaking through the sleeves of his white shirt. Kamilah tucked the pinwheel bag into a hidden pocket on the inside of her blazer before she turned back to face Zig.

“It’s very successful, our stocks are soaring and we just secured a new business partner.” Kamilah looked proud and for good reason - Ahmanet financial was one of the most powerful corporations out there. Amy topped her coffee off with a lid and handed it to her, their eyes meeting for a moment before Amy turned away, feeling her cheeks turning hot. Kamilah checked her watch, a movado 47 rose gold watch that cost way more than anything Amy had ever come close to owning. “Zig I’d love to chat some other day but I’m afraid I’ll be late if I don’t leave now.”

She quickly made her way out the door, the bell ringing softly as Kamilah strided away. Amy leaned over the counter with a sigh, Zig nudging her softly. 

“You could be less obvious Amy,” his annoying face smirking at Amy as she rolled her eyes, “you used to be so slick back in college.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Amy threw an empty coffee cup at him as a blonde girl walked into the cafe, her eyes glued to her phone as she recited her order at a rate that nobody could understand. Amy sighed, Zig giving her a pained glance as she went to mix the complicated coffee order. Amy fought back a laugh as Zig found a way to run away to the back when the girl asked for his phone number. Once Amy finished mixing her coffee and sent her out the cafe doors Zig poked his head out of the lounge - his eyes scanning for her.

“Is she gone?” Amy snorted as Zig stepped out from the doorway, his hands running through his hair as he let his shoulders relax. “My god I hate teenagers - they turn eighteen and all of a sudden think they can fuck anyone. I’m like 5 years older than her at least!” 

“Relax buddy, let’s just get through the rest of the day. I’ll handle all the teenage brats and you can handle all the nasty men.” Amy gave him a cheeky grin as they teamwork-ed their way through the rest of the day.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Finally.” Amy rested the broom on the wall, taking in the pristine cafe as Zig finished wiping down the counters. “What a day.” 

“Thank god it’s over.” 

“Zig?”

“Yeah?”

“Does Kamilah always come by the cafe right when we open?”

Zig perked his head up, his brows raised to the top of his head as Amy felt a blush creep up her cheeks, her hands growing sweaty as Zig remained silent. 

“She always comes as soon as we open, she has to be at work early since she is the CEO. Although she never rests, despite everything I’ve told her.” Zig’s head shot to his phone as it buzzed, a text from Emily appearing on the screen and Zig hastily typed away.

“Everything okay Zig?” Amy had a worried expression on her face as Zig let out a long sigh. 

“There’s a road trip for Kaitlyn’s band that leaves in two days that lasts for a week that our group is going on and I can’t go because I need to run the cafe-”

“I can handle it for a week.” Amy spoke firmly, Zig’s eyes widening before he let out a chuckle.

“What if you burn it down?”

“I won’t but then I guess you just have to trust me. Come on Zig - you need a break and you damn well know it. Get out of here for a week.”

“I hate that you’re right. Fine, but if the cafe isn’t standing when I get back, you’re toast.” They both laughed and finished up closing. 

Amy walked towards the food bank, a brisk breeze prompting her to make it one speedy trip so she could bask in her heated apartment. A shriek came from the alley as Amy turned her gaze to see where the yell had come from, a red pair of eyes looking right at her in the darkness. She felt her heart beating out of her chest as she forced her feet to a run, her heart pounding like a drum and ringing in her ears as she huffed through the front doors of the bank - placing the bag on the counter and racing back to her apartment without turning back. 

“Hey girl how was-” Lily sat on the couch with a coke in her hand and the television remote in the other, her smile fading as she met Amy’s eyes. “Amy, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost…”

“I think I’m just hallucinating from exhaustion,” Amy dropped her bag on the floor and took a seat on the couch beside Lily, “anyways tell me about you. We haven’t really had time since we both started working more.”

“Well you should sleep soon but I think we’ll be able to hold the rent for the next few months - with all the money you’re bringing in now in addition to the money my app has started to bring in - I think we’ll be more than fine.” Lily nudged her shoulder, offering Amy a can of coke with a smile as The Vampire Diaries played on the TV. 

“Vampires are so overrated.” Amy groaned as she watched Lily’s eyes become glued to the screen.

“Some of us have taste you know.”

“No, it’s because they’re not real Lily, and the fact that no vampire would ever be attracted to me.” 

Lily rolled her eyes as Amy sipped on her coke, both of them laughing late into the night and being good friends in what had felt like a long time. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amy unlocked the cafe doors and shuffled inside, locking the door behind her and leaving her bag on the counter. She hit the light switch as the lights slowly came flickering on as she tied the apron around the back of her neck. She quickly started and finished the morning set-up, the routine becoming second nature since Amy had always been a fast learner. She checked her phone, 6:49 am April 1, 2020. 

“April fools day.” Amy smiled as she contemplated setting up a whipped cream prank on Zig, but decided not to against her deepest desire to see his shocked face. While thinking of ways to mess with Zig through the day, her mind came to test a theory - she began preparing two black coffees - before adding her own twists to one of them. Amy finished and admired her handiwork - the cups looked identical and Kamilah wouldn’t notice until she tasted it. 

Kamilah walked in, her eyes scanning the cafe for Zig as she took a cautious step towards Amy who had a cute little grin on her face.

“Good morning Kamilah, here’s your coffee.” Amy handed her a black coffee, the one she had adjusted ever so slightly. She watched as Kamilah brought the cup to her lips, almost taking a sip, before she lowered the cup and leaned her face closer to Amy. 

“What did you do to it? It smells different, and where’s Zig?” Kamilah arched a brow as Amy silently wondered how Kamilah could smell the difference.

“I took a twist with it, I made you your regular too in case you hate it...I just thought you should broaden your horizons…and Zig is coming. He just needs to pack, he’ll be gone after today for a week and I’ll be running the cafe.” Amy smiled softly at the woman who was now leaning dangerously close. 

“I see. And if I hate it?”

“Then I’ll pay for both and I’ll never try to broaden your horizons again…” Amy frowned slightly as Kamilah finally sipped on the drink - her brown eyes widening as she took another, and another.

“It’s...actually pretty good...what did you do to it?” Kamilah took another sip as Amy bounced on her heels, a wide childish grin written across her face. 

“I added a bit of cream and sugar and a bit of caramel! It’s how I like mine!” Amy took her hands behind her back and fiddled with them nervously as Kamilah smiled. Zig walked in just as the clock read 8:05 am and Kamilah left, turning at the door to smile at Amy one last time, lifting the cup up with a smile before entering her car. 

“What’s that smile about Amy?” Zig wagged his fingers at Amy with a classic smirk as he prepared for the shift, Amy resting her head on both of her hands while she leaned over the counter - her legs kicking out behind her. 

“Nothing.” Amy sighed and went back to brewing coffee, her hands aimlessly performing while her mind sat on nothing but the thought of Kamilah - and her damned perfect smile. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amy tossed her shoes off as she made her way through the apartment door, one shoe nearly knocking Lily’s head off as she pulled freshly fried chicken from the air fryer. 

“Lily that smells AMAZING!” Amy squealed and made her way over to her, Lily slapping her hand away as she finished the two plates of waffles off with a chicken breast and syrup. “I swear I’ve got the best best friend…” Lily smiled as they both dug into the food, chatting away about their day until Amy let it slip out.

“And there’s this really hot customer-”

“Oh! Spill!” Lily wiggled in her seat like a child, eagerly waiting for Amy to elaborate as Amy stuffed her face with the rest of her waffles. “I’ll wait for you to finish.” Lily smirked and held Amy in an uncomfortable eye contact until Amy finally caved in. 

“She comes in at opening time every single day, and always orders a black coffee. Although I got her to try something new today which I’m really proud of.” The subtle smile that crept up Amy’s face gave it all away to Lily as she let her ramble on, whilst she gave Amy the smirk she hated. “I’m simping aren’t I?”

“There’s nothing wrong with simping. But you have a chance here because Zig won’t be there so you can actually like...take your shot without him ever having to know,” Lily winked and whispered, “and you could totally fuck her in the back-”

“NOPE!” Amy stood up frantically, Lily holding her sides for support and nearly falling out of her chair as Amy rushed to clear her plate. “I hate you! Ohmygoddddddd.” Amy groaned as Lily fell to the floor, her eyes wet with tears at Amy’s reaction more than anything else.

“I’m going to bed!!” 

“Goodnight! Love you Ames!!!”

“Love you too….annoying ass!” 

Amy snorted as she changed into her sleepwear, her body becoming exhausted as she hit the mattress, falling asleep ridiculously fast. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Kamilah came through the door, right on time as Amy had come to expect. Amy gazed up from her phone, those dark brown eyes looking right at her as she handed Kamilah her usual black coffee, Kamilah holding it closely before clearing her throat. 

“Can I have the one from yesterday as well?” Amy smiled at her as she began to mix her favorite coffee - Kamilah leaning over the counter to observe. 

“I didn’t think you’d want it again.” Amy said as she added creamer to the mix, the coffee turning golden as she mixed it. 

“A woman can’t appreciate a little variety in her life?” Kamilah leaned against the counter, her hair smoothly gliding over her maroon blazer as she tossed it back - taking a sip from her cup.

“No I just-” Amy topped the cup off with a bit of caramel before enclosing it with the lid, her hands sweaty as she handed it to Kamilah. 

“You just?”

“Thought you’d always like your coffee like your personality.” 

“Whatever do you mean by that?”

The way Kamilah was looking at Amy, she knew she had to choose her next words carefully. 

“Dark, intimidating, a bit bitter at first sip,” Amy hesitated as Kamilah raised a brow, “an...acquired taste.”

“You’re intimidated by me?” 

“Just a little…”

“Hmm, I suppose your coffee is like you if you want to expand your little analogy.” Kamilah glanced at her watch, her expression shifting from playful to work-oriented. Amy felt her heart drop a little as she recomposed herself - back to her refined and disciplined self. Kamilah made her way to the door, the two cups of coffee in her hands as she paused, turning back and looking at Amy - something different about it.

“It’s...sweet and comforting,” her voice was soft as she spoke, Amy’s cheeks turning very red, “like you.” 

[samcrobae]

A lot on my Plate, 2

Gif credit to the original creators! Let me know if I should do a part 3.

A/N: this hasn’t been proof read but if you haven’t read part one, find that here:

https://samcrobae.tumblr.com/post/632551950161969152/neighbors

—————————————���——————

“Y/N who the fuck is this?” Manny now approached you from behind, his hand coming up to push the door open further.

Angel, now standing very confidently brings a hand to his chest, “Angel. I was just coming to see if Y/N was ready for our date”. Manny’s eyes flash back to you, glaring daggers at Angel.

“Dulce, why aren’t you ready yet? I told you I would be picking you up at 6. I mean I live right next door, it don’t take me long to get here.” He emphasized that part, before chuckling to himself then looked back over at Manny, “you know how our girl can be.. stubborn as ever huh.” Manny popped his jaw then turned to pick Sebastian up and grabbed his bag, before looking you up and down, then looked back at Angel, “nah homie she ain’t our girl.” And he quickly descended down your stairs.

Angel pushed past the threshold and entered your apartment. “What’s up his ass? Anyway get dressed you’re coming to the clubhouse to chill.” He plopped himself down on the couch, “wear anything other than leggings please.”

“Angel I told you I’m not going. I don’t want to and you can’t just show up here like that. Look I have-"

“A lot on your plate, I know. Just get out of the house for a little while and if you hate it you won’t have to hang out with us ever again, alright? I want you to let loose for a little.”

You rolled your eyes and nodded in agreement, turning toward your bedroom. He was right you did need to get out for a few, but you didn’t really know the rest of the guys that well. Anytime you asked about them Angel always gave you the same reply , “nah dulce we’re just a couple of mechanics and motorcycle enthusiasts”, whatever that meant. You threw on some jeans and a crop top then ran a curling iron through your hair, tousling it a bit before walking back out into the living room.

“You see!! You look incredible dulce, come on.”

———————————-

Drinks were pouring and you were feeling good, Angel had a hold on you all night, never letting you out of his sight, and even the other men were surprised to see he brought someone to a party. Not just anyone. You.

You finished your beer and offered to grab another round and walked toward the bar. Bishop and Angel were sat at a table.

“So what’s that about son?” Motioning to you, “big deal getting involved with her, she has a son, Angel. She seems like a good girl. She know who you are?”

Angel put a cigarette between his lips and lit it, slowly exhaling before answering. “Not really. Hasn’t come up. I care about her. I like her a lot Bish. I’ll tell her... when the time is right.”

BIshop gave Angel two pats on the shoulder before leaving the table to start a game of pool. That’s when you heard it—the sound of screeching tires on the pavement and shots ringing out and into the clubhouse, everything after that a blur that seemed to happen in slow motion. All you remembered was Angel calling your name and tackling you to the ground, then dragging you behind the bar. The shots continued to ring out for what felt like an eternity but was really only a minute before they stopped and the tires screeched once more.

Angel had laid himself on top of you, the both of you breathless and hearts racing as you tried to calm yourself. “Dulce...” he slowly moved himself to look you over, moving your hair and shirt to make sure you were okay, before helping you sit up. Your backs pressed against the bar, still panting as you looked over at him. “Motorcycle enthusiasts......noted.” He looked at you with an apologetic look in his eyes but before he could speak he was cut off by the sound of glass crunching.

“Everyone alright ?!” Bishop called out into the open as everyone started to slowly get up, maneuvering around broken beer bottles and shattered windows, checking on each other. “Bish..” Angel walked over to Bishop but Bishop held his hand up, “I know, get her outta here.”

——————————————————-

The drive home was silent up until you made your way to your front door.

“Y/N... talk to me.”

You shook your head in defeat, “Angel what the fuck was that!!! Oh we’re just guys who like motorcycles dulce, don’t worry dulce, come hang out with us... and Angel I don’t need you to be a fucking hero! Throwing yourself on top of me like that! You could have gotten shot. Killed....even! Are you fucking insane?!”

Angel stood before you, leaned against the stair railing, hands in his pockets, head hung low. “I wanted to tell you, I was going to tell you.. this is why I didn’t... you’re too good for this..”

“For what?”

“For All of it Y/N. Everything that happened tonight, the people I know, too good for me. And I know you are—and I don’t want to feel this way but fuck...it’s like the first thing I do when I wake up is think of you. What you’re doing that day, how’s your morning been, learning how you like your eggs and coffe so I can bring you food, learning everything about you. I don’t want to fucking like you but I do. From the moment I saw you step into the yard, I had to have you. In anyway I can. And I can’t have you be mine, because of who I am, so I am okay with us being friends and inviting you out with me, but I can’t even have that now because if something happened to you on my fuckin watch I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself”.

You stood in silence and stared back at him. “Okay. So. Tell me.”

His head shot up and looked at you, “what?”

You unlocked your door and stepped inside, moving the door further allowing him space to come in. “Tell me everything.”

———————————————-

The two of you sat at your kitchen table and you listened intently for 3 hours as he told you everything. The rebels, the cartel, Adelita, about his mom, EZ, his dad. When he was finished he sat silently, trying to read your expression but it was no use as your power face was strong.

After about 5 minutes he slowly stood, and stepped out of your kitchen and began walking towards the door. “I know it was a lot-" he began, putting his kutte back over his shoulders, “but I’ll be home if you wanna talk about it.” He reached for his phone when you called his name. He turned to face you when you caught him off guard and crashed your lips into his.

You didn’t know where your emotions were at and you hadn’t even began to process what he had told you, and you weren’t sure what you were doing.. Maybe it was the danger that followed him, or the way he smiled at you when he said your name, or maybe it was his scent— musk and leather with a dash of kush, or maybe- just maybe-it was because the man before you threw you to the ground just hours before to shield you from bullets that rang out around you, but you were turned on.

His hands came up to cup your face and you ran your tongue along his bottom lip before taking it between your teeth and tugging, which earned you a slight moan from him. You pushed his kutte down his shoulders and he spun you so that you were pinned between him and your front door, his mouth leaving wet kisses down your neck. When he reached your collar bone he stopped to look at you, lips swollen, out of breath with a look of urgency in your eyes.

“You sure?”

You were more than sure, it had been forever since you had any physical contact with the opposite sex and Angel was gorgeous. You bit your bottom lip and nodded your head yes.

“Yeah just not against the door, bedrooms over there.”

You led Angel to your room and before you could step inside his hands were around your waist, turning you to face him. He placed gentle kisses on your lips this time, slowly backing you into the bed and laid you down when your legs hit the edge. He hovered over you causing you to lay backwards on your bed and he began his assault on your neck, leaving his mark on your skin and finally sliding your shirt over your head. His kisses continued and your breathing picked up as he kissed your padded tummy just above your button on your jeans.

Before you knew it, your jeans and panties were off and Angels face was between your thighs, biting and sucking on your most sensitive parts and you felt euphoria in ways you never knew possible.it was almost as if he been here with you hundreds of times before, tears stinging your eyes as you cried out his name.

When he slid inside you, you had to catch your breath as bright colors danced behind your eyes. The sounds of his skin slapping against yours with every thrust and your moans were the only sounds in the room.

When you were done, you laid there, wrapped in each other’s arms, your fingers tracing the lines of his tattoos as his breathing evened out and you both fell into a deep sleep.

You woke to the sound of your phone ringing. Looking at the clock, you groaned out and saw it was 8:15AM. You had missed 3 calls and 2 texts from Manny.

“Hello?”

“Y/N what the fuck I been calling you all morning , I got called in last minute to work . I’m outside, I have to drop Sebastian off with you.”

Fuck. You looked to your left, Angel was fast asleep, he probably wouldn’t notice if you slipped out of bed.. you slowly crept out of your room and threw on your robe and head to the front door. You unlocked it and let manny inside to set Sebastian down when you heard the toilet flush. You jumped at the sound and turned toward the bathroom door.

“It’s a little early to have company Y/N... oh shit well aint this cozy.. ain’t he your neighbor mama?”

Angel flashes Manny a cocky grin, “Angel”.

Angel places a kiss on the top of your head. “Ima go make some coffee.”

———————————————

@ifoundmyhappythought @starrynite7114 @everyhowlmarksthedead @angelreyesgirl @gemini0410 @sadeyesgf @sesamepancakes @wrcn9fvlcver @dazzledamazon

[drxwsyni]

Petrified (pt.3)

Yandere Erasermic x f!Reader

SERIES MASTERLIST

a/n: is this what they call a slow burn?? i promise the intense yandere stuff goes down soon...-ish. i’d like to have a new part out every week or so, give or take a few days. we’ll see how it goes, but for now enjoy the new chapter!!!

ALSO WE REACHED 200 FOLLOWERS LAST NIGHT THANKS Y’ALL, YOU’RE AMAZING

(5.8k words)

Warnings: reader experiences mild anxiety

If there was ever a time in your life when you felt like you could finally take some well needed rest, it was now.

It wasn’t like you had a choice though, your nurse making it very clear that you weren’t cleared for discharge yet. Therefore another long bout of unconsciousness was the only option you had whilst in the dreary hospital room, and waking from it felt much more pleasant than you anticipated.

Your sleep schedule appeared to be unaffected by the recent events, something you were grateful for. It had you up on this fine Sunday morning at precisely 8:12 am, according to the time on your phone. Unfortunately, you neglected to bring a charger with you to work on Friday. So when your abandoned belongings were retrieved from that dreaded alleyway, you were still left with relatively nothing to keep you occupied. The phone was running on a steadily declining 14% battery life, leaving its use to be minimized to an expensive clock.

With nothing to pass the time in that regard, you simply observed the world coming to life outside your window. It left you the chance to go over the past 48 hours in peace, and you specifically regarded the strange development from last night.

It wasn’t something you hadn’t already been over multiple times in your head, but you still couldn’t manage to wrap your mind around the motivation that was fuelling Shouta and Hizashi to propose such a request. Concern over your health did explain some of it, but the extent of the actions caused by this concern was not at all equal to the reasoning.

Regardless, you’d already accepted to fulfill their strange request, so there wasn’t much that overthinking the situation would do to benefit you at this point.

_____

Breakfast came at around 8:30 am, effectively pulling you out of your wandering thoughts. It was simple enough: eggs, sausage, toast, a side of bland oatmeal and a tall glass of water.

The nurse left you to your own devices after that, telling you that for now it was a matter of continuing the same treatment before any more judgments could be made.

This wouldn’t be a problem if you weren’t growing increasingly bored by the minute due to the lack of distractions. So when the sound of a certain voice hero’s conversation could be heard on the other side of your door not long after breakfast, it served as a great relief to the mind numbing atmosphere.

Not a moment later and you heard the familiar rapping on the wooden frame, before the blond pushed it open and entered.

“How’s my sunshine doin’ this morning? Ya feelin’ any better?” Hizashi was dressed in casual clothing with his hair down. In addition, he appeared to be holding some sort of shopping bag in his right hand.

You watched as he made his way towards the right side of your bed, responding to his worries. “Well, the rest definitely hasn’t gone unnoticed. My head still hurts but they’re giving me some pretty powerful meds for that thankfully.”

You figured he would sit down in the armchair, but instead he opted for settling on the edge of your bed again. “Ya sure you got enough shut eye? I can come back if ya need to snooze a lil’ longer.”

His open compassion for your health was comforting, albeit a little insistent, but it made for a relaxing atmosphere for now.

“I don’t think I could sleep anymore no matter how hard I tried, thanks for the concern though.” You gave a warm smile, sensing that he was almost stressed over your wellbeing, unnecessarily much in your opinion.

The blond brought the bag up to rest on your lap, and vaguely you could make out the contents for a brief second.

“Well, Shou’ and I figured you didn’t have all that much to live off of since being admitted, so I went and grabbed ya some essentials on the way here.” He gestured to the bag, to which you hesitantly reached for.

He continued, “I wasn’t quite sure what my favorite listener needed, so I just bought a lil’ bit of everything.”

You peered into the opening, seeing quite the assortment of toiletries. Picking up the packet of cleansing facial wipes, something you desperately needed, you continued to peruse through the items. Smaller things like high quality travel sized tissue packets and floral scented lotions were settled aimlessly at the bottom.

One thing that did catch your eye was a small stuffed black cat, wearing a white frilly dress. You took the plushie out of the bag for further inspection, also singling it out for just being cute.

“Shou’ picked that out. Sent him some photos from the gift shop downstairs since he’s not a mornin’ person. Thought it’d keep you company until ya get outta here.” You looked up at Hizashi, seeing him smiling warmly at the thought of something so wholesome, and you couldn’t help but do the same.

“It’s adorable, thanks…” For a moment you sat in the feeling of being cared for so well, something that you didn’t have much time to receive given your lifestyle. However, that sentiment was quickly overshadowed by the circumstances you were in, particularly with this man.

Once again, your body became riddled with grief over the fact that they’d spent not only their time, but now their money on you. Not that you didn’t understand that Hizashi was genuinely concerned for you―nobody could miss that. It’s just there was no reason for it as far as you were concerned.

The two had done more than enough as it is, and the overkill only made you feel worse. “...I just―I can’t help but feel bad that you spent so much on me. I’ll pay you back completely, it’s the least I could do for how much you and Shouta have invested in me so far.”

That’s what you said, and you meant it completely. But you knew that the voice hero wouldn’t stand for it, so you could only hold onto a string of hope that he’d at least let you compensate for half of the valuables.

He almost let out an amused laugh at your worry for the state of his finances. “Look, I know ya mean well, baby. But this stuff costed no more than pocket change. After all, can’t have you bein’ neglected in this place after going through all that trouble to get ya here.”

“Can I at least pay back half, just for some peace of mind.” He was more stubborn than you initially thought, just another trait of his you were growing used to.

“Not gonna happen, sunshine! But there is one thing ya can do…”

The blond pulled out his phone from his jacket pocket, unlocking it swiftly. He handed it to you, the screen appearing to show a page for new contact information. “Go on and type in those digits of yours. We’re gonna need a way to contact you if some new info pops up about the case from Friday night.”

You glanced at his awaiting expression before silently agreeing, typing in your phone number.

“Also, we gotta work out when that dinner night is happening. Can’t have you runnin’ off on us before then.”

He was right, the only way they were letting you make up for their generosity was oddly by letting them provide you more of the manner. It was your only option, so you settled with the new belongings and finished typing in your contact information.

As if to make sure you didn’t give him the wrong number, Hizashi sent you a quick text of a sun emoticon. You took the opportunity to save his information to your phone.

Just as you did, the screen turned black and wouldn’t come back to life no matter how many times you pressed the power button.

“Outta juice?”

Your eyes darted to Hizashi, who moved to rummage through the bag. He pulled out an object you somehow managed to completely miss: a phone charger.

He began unwrapping the cord from its casing, getting off the bed to find an outlet.

“The police ended up havin’ to go through your bag to file everything as evidence. Shou’ was there when it happened, told me to grab a charger cause you were missing one before I left this morning.”

Just another expensive item you wouldn’t be able to compensate for. It’s like he wants you to feel bad for being so helpless.

“Thanks…I’d be pretty screwed without you I guess.” You didn’t want to keep going on about the regrettable feeling that was all too persisting, seeming as it didn’t matter much anymore.

He handed you the end of the now plugged in charger, letting you hook your phone up to it. “No worries, actually I―”

The same nurse as last night had interrupted his train of thought, making her presence known before entering.

“Good morning Yamada sir, checking up on my patient I see?” She didn’t let him respond,  “Well, I hate to break it to you but I’m going to have to steal her for a while.”

He regarded the nurse with a smile. “‘Course, I’ll talk to you later, songbird.”

The blond gestured some finger guns in your direction as he spoke, walking out of your room.

Regardless of the circumstances, you thought, at least I have someone coming to see me. That’s what I get for throwing myself into work and not making friends I guess.

You let the nurse close the door all the way, silently awaiting the slew of information about to be sent your way.

_____

It would seem at this point the only stimulation outside of examinations was in the form of boring phone games, and your newly acquired, and insistent, hero companions.

One of which was currently posted in the armchair, waiting for you to finish eating dinner before you told him about the exciting day you had. Shouta, reserved as ever, kept on his phone until then.

You finished up as soon as possible, the silence eating away at your psyche due to its growing awkwardness.

“How was your day?” Simple, the only thing you could think of asking, great for breaking the silence.

The erasure hero looked up from the screen immediately. “Good, actually. Still haven’t heard anything from the station.”

Remembering that fateful night wasn’t something you particularly wanted to do, but for now it had to be dealt with. “I doubt much will come of it, not exactly like what was going down wasn’t obvious, so no need for an investigation, right?.”

“Probably...any changes with yourself?”

You knew well enough that like his partner, Shouta seemed genuinely interested in your health. The difference was that his way of conveying this was much more...intimidating.

The look he gave you demanded a response, even if the question was harmless enough.

“Ah―not really I guess. I’m here until tomorrow morning for sure, but that’s about all they’ve said.” You wouldn’t know if he was pleased with the response if you didn’t catch the slight nod he gave.

“Well, it’s not a bad thing. You could certainly use the rest.”

Now that’s something you could agree to, but you’d still rather do so in the comfort of your own bedroom.

“Listen, as much as I want to keep you company, my students are expecting graded essays back tomorrow morning. I’m afraid I can’t stay any longer.”

While you did appreciate his presence as a change of routine for a short while, it was only to an extent. You’d be lying if you said the atmosphere didn’t feel heavy while he was around, even if just a little in times like these.

“That’s no problem, I’d hate to keep you from your work.”

He slowly stood up from the armchair, “Hizashi will probably visit tomorrow morning. He’s got the day off so he’ll likely stick around as much as possible. Just tell him to leave if he’s annoying you.”

You watched as his eyes drifted to the stuffed cat resting on the bedside table next to the bouquet, the sight influencing a tired smile.

“You should try and get to sleep early―oh, one more thing.”

Like his partner had done earlier today, he reached for his phone, handing the unlocked device to you. Having done so already, something he was also aware of, you silently typed in your information.

“Don’t be afraid to send one of us a message if you need anything.”

You returned the phone to him, “Right, thanks for stopping by Shouta.”

As he exited the room, you were left with feelings of confliction over the whole ordeal. It was strange―having someone being concerned about your wellbeing was nice, but something, you couldn’t quite place what, was getting in the way of your gratitude.

The two men were clearly busy people. Hero work, on top of being teachers, would more than suffice as something to occupy most of their time. When it comes to dealing with victims, you’d assume that for the sake of efficiency a hero would just drop you off at the nearest hospital and then be on their way.

And yet, for reasons still incomprehensible, the presence of the strange duo was something you couldn’t shake off. Perhaps it wasn’t intentional, but the reality left a peculiar underlying feeling of...suspicion?

It was too soon to say, and frankly it’d be rude to judge them after they’d been so kind to you. However you’d always been someone who falls on the more overstrung side, and neglecting the situation by simply ignoring it was not something you could do.

_____

It was just as his partner had foretold―the next morning you had once again been graced with the presence of Hizashi.

You noted how he was awfully chipper for being up at 8:20 am on a Monday, but like the couple other odd traits of his, you chose to disregard it.

Especially since this person also came bearing quite the appetizing breakfast.

“The nurse said ya didn’t have to eat the hospital food if someone brought you a meal instead. Thought you’d appreciate somethin’ homemade so I whipped it up before leaving.” This time he was seated in the armchair, likely because there wasn’t enough room on the bed with the table that was positioned over it so you could eat.

The meal consisted of―somehow still warm―scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, fruit, and a side of blueberry pancakes. All in all, it was delicious, and you didn’t quite think it was something he could just ‘whip up,’ but you’d let that slide. You thanked him profusely for it before regarding just how little you’d been informed of things since coming to the hospital.

“I didn’t even know that was allowed to be honest. They don’t tell me much aside from whether or not my condition has changed.” You tried to talk in between bites, not wanting to let the warmth dissipate by waiting to have a full conversation.

“Funny you say that cause she also told me you’d be cleared to leave by the end of the day. Looks like the hit you took wasn’t too serious.”

Well, you would’ve appreciated being the first to receive this news. Isn’t there like a doctor-patient confidentiality thing to keep others from knowing stuff like that?

Regardless, it was still good news. The hospital room was starting to drive you a bit crazy.

“That’s good to hear, thanks for letting me know.” You quietly continued your meal while Hizashi went on about similar things―cases that were like yours, his opinions of the hospital staff.

If there was anything he was good at it was filling the silence, and you supposed this was where his relationship with Shouta came in handy. Not that his partner didn’t seem to mind talking, it was just he wasn’t the most energetic when he did so, whether he knew that or not.

In general, the two of you quickly realized that there wasn’t much to discuss, given how you’d been holed up in the tiny room for the last few days―it didn’t really allow for the most exciting news.

He asked you about a few work details of your own occupation―how long you’d worked there, if you liked your coworkers―menial stuff mostly. By then you had long finished breakfast, and it would seem that the blond had no intention of leaving, much like his partner warned you of.

So, you listened patiently while he went on about this and that. Sometimes trailing off into hero stories, other times bringing up his work as a teacher.

In general, you had no problem listening to him go on. You’d speak up here and there, but not for long as he’d quickly resume with whatever topic he’d fixated on for the moment.

One would think it’d be annoying, and perhaps this was just a result of some form of exposure therapy that made it bearable, but it was enjoyable hearing him ramble.

Yet, good things only last for so long.

It’s not that you eventually found the endless discussion boring, rather the developing behaviour was due to you still recovering―even just in the slightest―from recent events. You didn’t even notice it, but gradually your eyes were becoming heavy, and the sound of Hizashi’s voice was becoming more and more distant.

Embarrassingly, he was the first to pick up on it.

He was mid sentence when he caught you nodding off. Rather than being offended, the blond actually found it endearing.

Instead of alerting you just yet that he’d taken notice of your behaviour, Hizashi silently stood up out of the chair, walking over to the windows of your room.

Your half-lidded eyes just barely picked up on the movement, vaguely seeing him pull the blinds closed before coming back to your senses.

“Oh god, I didn’t mean to―you weren’t boring me I promise. I just-”

“Relax, songbird. It’s my fault, ya must still be a lil’ done in, no worries.”

Naturally, you felt terrible. He was acting like he didn’t care, anyone would be offended at this point.

It was excruciatingly awkward, and you desperately tried to collect your thoughts. “No, no it really was interesting, you can keep going if―”

“Stop it, sunshine.” He started towards your bed, which you instinctively shrunk into. You always defaulted this way, panicking immediately in the face of little to no danger. But Hizashi wasn’t dangerous, you told yourself. He continued, “I should’ve known you weren’t better yet. Still not sure how but you really managed to wear yourself out, didn’t ya?”

He pushed you back down into bed by your shoulders while he spoke, continuing to pull up the blankets you discarded earlier.

“I’m gonna head out so you can get some more shut eye, yeah?”

“Um...o-okay. Yeah, I guess…” You inwardly cringed at how small your voice sounded, but to be fair it wasn’t like you could exactly help it.

It was confusing, how he acted so indifferent to the unspoken insult that you gave him by nearly falling asleep. Was he acting?

Hizashi moved away, heading towards the door, leaving you somewhat comfortably tucked into the hospital bed.

“Get some rest, ‘kay sweetheart?”

“Y-yeah, thanks.”

You heard the door click shut as he left, the room falling into silence amidst the now dim lighting.

Okay...what the fuck.

Devoid of any distractions in your proximity, the hard thumping in your chest was more than clear. At times like these you didn’t even realize any growing anxiety―not until the ordeal was over and you were left with the aftereffects.

The attention to it was only drawn more when you processed the increased rate of beeping coming from your heart monitor.

The last thing you wanted to do was bother the poor nurse taking care of you. Steeling yourself, you took deep breaths, focusing your attention on calming down. It worked soon enough, leaving no need for medical intervention.

You noted that getting like this always drained you of energy―mentally and physically. Heeding Hizashi’s orders, it was easiest now to try and sleep off the anxiety.

You can think about whatever just happened later, maybe when your not still hospitalized.

_____

You were stirred awake by a gentle hand on your shoulder, lightly shaking your resting form. Eyes fluttering open, you observed the dedicated nurse you’ve seen time and time again leaning slightly over you.

“Miss (l/n), I have an update on your condition.”

That was more than enough to give you motivation to pull yourself from the jaws of sleep. You sat up slowly, although it was your best attempt at doing so quickly.

The nurse continued, “Well, it’s good news. You’ve been cleared for discharge. Your condition has improved considerably, so you can continue the rest of your recovery at home safely.”

You needed to hear no more, immediately looking around to find your bag that had been delivered to you from Friday night. Still, you figured that this deserved a response.

“That’s really great to hear, thank you for taking care of me...also, where are the clothes that I came here in?”

“Oh yes, they’re in your bag.” You watched as she reached underneath your bed―no wonder you couldn’t find the damn thing.

The nurse settled the bag next to you before continuing. “Here you go, miss. I’ve prescribed some pain medication for your head injury. Directions for consumption are on the label...and I believe that’s it.”

You rifled through the bag, retrieving your clothing from the bottom.

“Oh, one last thing actually. Now, this is only a recommendation, but given your health it would be beneficial if you were to remain home for the rest of the week. You can go to work if you’d wish, but it may slow your remaining recovery process.”

“I’ll have to think about that one, but thank you for letting me know.”

She turned off the heart monitor before removing the clip on your finger. The IV had been removed yesterday, so there was no need for attention in that department.

“Perfect, you can get dressed and gather your belongings. Please speak to the receptionist at the end of the hall―right before the elevator―so you can pick up the prescription before you leave.”

“Sounds good.” You offered a warm smile to her, and she politely excused herself from the room.

You got changed, clothing appearing to have been washed at some point while you were asleep. Somehow you managed to pile all the things Hizashi brought you the morning before into your backpack, and you threw the shopping bag into the garbage.

It was nice to finally stretch your legs for longer than a few minutes to use the washroom, although your muscles did feel somewhat weaker now.

Slipping on your jacket and bag, you exited the room, closing the door behind you. The receptionist’s desk had been exactly where the nurse said it would be, and you handed over your information to the man behind the counter. He left for a moment before returning with a paper, your prescription printed on it with an illegible doctor’s signature. You thanked the man before heading to the elevator and stepping in.

Nothing was more enticing at this point than returning to the comfort of your own home. The thought of your bed waiting for you was enough to have you drooling, being so done with the unfamiliar setting of the hospital.

The elevator chimed, signalling it had reached its destination of the ground floor. The doors slid open and you stepped out, heading straight for the front entrance.

At least you were, until you collided into some poor unsuspecting human standing in your path.

How many times are you going to embarrass yourself before the day is up?

The person had caught you by the shoulders, stabling the both of you. You were quietly trying to apologize while, painfully so, you lifted your head to assess the damage.

You weren’t sure to be thankful or not, but you were met with a familiar gaze.

“You really shouldn't keep your head down like that all the time. Are you okay?”

Shouta looked down at you with a stern yet concerned look. He didn’t exactly back away, rather he continued his hold on your shoulders as if you were going to fall over any second. Hizashi also stood close by his side, and therefore close to you.

The sudden proximity had your head spinning, blood quickly rushing to your face.

“Ah―yeah. I’m fine.” Your response was pitifully sputtered out, and gently you moved back, out of his grasp.

“You headin’ out? Shou’ and I were just comin’ to check up on ya.”

The blond regarded his partner, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“We’ll drive you home, have you eaten yet?” The erasure hero didn’t seem to be asking permission over the matter, but you still forced yourself to give them your take on it.

“You don’t have to do that, I was just about to call a cab. And I have stuff at home for dinner, so I honestly can’t impose on you two anymore.”

“Aw, but we're already here sunshine. It’s no problem, c’mon.” The blond flashed a warm smile before moving to place a hand just beneath the nape of your neck, guiding you to the front entrance alongside his partner.

You were beginning to grow frustrated with the way the two acted, disregarding your wishes so casually. Sure, they weren’t doing anything inherently wrong―just helping a poor civilian get home―but that wasn’t what irked you.

They were too insistent, and it was making you uncomfortable. Clearly they either didn’t notice, or simply didn’t care.

Heroes or not, you couldn’t just let them do whatever they want.

But...would they be offended if you got mad? They’re just trying to help, so what’s the big deal? It’s not like you would have to deal with it much longer, surely you could put up with a bit more of their pushiness.

...Just endure it a little more, you’ve already done enough damage anyways.

It was growing dark out, the sun having just set over the horizon. The crisp air hit you hard as the automatic doors slid open, being equally refreshing and shocking to your system.

An involuntary shiver wracked your body, and you felt Hizashi’s hand slip to your shoulder, gently pulling you closer to him.

It made your stomach churn ever so slightly, but you pushed the feeling down.

Shouta walked in front of you two, presumably leading you to their car in the parking lot. Approaching it, you weren’t surprised to see the expensive looking exterior, and were even less surprised to find an equally luxurious interior as the erasure hero opened the backseat door for you.

You offered a quiet ‘thanks’, removing your backpack and slipping in. The door shut with a heavy thud, and you waited for the two men to enter the vehicle while putting on your seatbelt. It smelled of pine inside, likely due to an air freshener somewhere that you couldn’t see.

They stepped inside, immediately turning on the heat. Shouta was given the responsibility of driving tonight.

“We can grab you something to eat on the way home, I know a couple good joints around your area.” Hizashi seemed quite invested on the topic of good food, but you had to turn him down at least once today.

“Oh, no thank you. I’ve actually got a frozen dinner that I made last week that I was gonna heat up.” You felt the car start to move, grateful to be getting home faster than you would’ve by cab.

For the first time in a while, the blond actually acknowledged and accepted your opinion. “Alright then. Hey, did the nurse lady have anything new to say ‘bout the whole passing out thing?”

“Surprisingly not, guess it wasn’t as bad as it looked.”

Yeah, because they didn’t know why you were so tired, or how getting the crap scared out of you was the final driving force that night.

“That’s good to hear. I take it you’ll be staying home for the rest of the week to rest?”

Once again, you noted the tone in Shouta’s voice that was a little off-putting. He was asking a question, one that you had the freedom to answer however you see fit. But the lowness, sounding like a warning rather than a simple inquiry about your future actions was all too present.

It made you nervous.

“Well...I’m definitely going to take Tuesday and Wednesday off. But I’m already feeling good so I won’t bother to cancel for the rest of the week after that.”

You could only anticipate the disagreement in silence. And disagree they did.

“I’m not too sure that’s a good idea, sunshine. You went through a lot, its best ya hold off for a while.” You could hear the passionate concern in Hizashi’s voice, but it did little to deter you.

You briefly glanced outside, thankful that your apartment wasn’t too far from the hospital. “Maybe, but the end of the week is always really busy, and I usually handle evening shifts anyways. It wouldn't really be fair on my coworkers to bail for that long.”

Without skipping a beat, Shouta replied. “It’s not fair on yourself to put unnecessary strain on your body.”

Well, he’s not wrong, but that’s not the point.

“I can handle it just fine, besides it’s still a few da―”

“‘Zashi told me you fell asleep while he was there today. That doesn’t sound like handling it to me.”

Confrontation had never been your strong suit, even less so when it was directed at you. His words made you want to disappear into thin air, or have the backseat swallow you whole―anything would do at this point. You felt the shame from earlier today resurfacing, despite the internal fight you put up to contain it.

You were a little over halfway home.

“I was just a bit tired. Nothing a nap c-couldn’t solve.”

This time the blonde spoke up. “We’re just thinking ‘bout what’s best for you right now. And with the way things have been...maybe working so soon ain’t the greatest idea.”

The atmosphere was weighing down on you, thick with tension likely only you could feel. “The nurse said that it was okay to work if I wanted, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Is that all she said?” Your eyes flickered up to the rearview mirror, Shouta’s hard gaze meeting yours for a moment before you shied away.

God, this man is relentless.

You could lie, it might make this easier. But something told you that they would know if you did. They were pro heroes after all―didn’t they train to detect stuff like that?

“She said working might slow the recovery process, but I think two more days is more than enough time to get better.”

The two men exchanged looks mixed with annoyance and doubt, which you would’ve seen if you hadn’t had your head down, incessantly picking at your nails to distract from the bubbling anxiety you felt.

“Songbird, if the nurse said to stay home then you should listen to her. Going back to work ain’t gonna do ya any good.”

What could you say to prevent this from getting worse?

“She recommended staying home, I don’t have to listen to her.”

“Even though you should?” There was that tone again.

There was a silence in the car that felt like it lasted for an eternity. Clearly both of them were thinking the same thing, Shouta was just more insistent over it, much more insistent.

“What I should do is take responsibility as an employee. I’ll be okay by the time I have to go back.” Somehow you managed a response, despite feeling yourself physically shrinking back into the seat with every passing second.

Judging the surroundings, you were about one minute away from your apartment. One minute away from freedom.

You heard the blond sigh, “We know you wanna work, just promise you’ll think about staying home this week, give us some peace of mind?”

If that’s what will get them to stop hounding you over the matter, then whatever.

“Okay, I’ll think about it.”

The car pulled into the parking lot of your apartment complex. You would’ve jumped out at full speed and ran into the building to escape the tension at this point. But that would be rude, and you didn’t want to look like a lunatic. And even if you didn’t care about that, the car doors were locked.

“We better not have to bring your unconscious body to the hospital again, especially if it happens because you thought going back to work was a good idea. If you think we’re worried about you now...well, this would be nothing compared to what would happen if you pass out again. Understand?” Shouta glared at you in the rearview mirror as he spoke, creating more than a lasting impression of his warnings.

You swallowed dryly, “Of course, thanks for the ride.”

Another moment of silence, then the click of the car doors unlocking sounded.

You opened the door, grabbing your bag while stepping out, trying not to trip over yourself in the rushed panic you were in.

Rounding the vehicle, you started towards the entrance to the complex.

“We’ll catch ya later, sweetheart!” Hizashi’s voice boomed after you, having the car window rolled down.

Out of courtesy, you turned back around, giving a small wave and a smile before stepping through the doors.

In a haze, you shuffled back to your apartment, pulling the keys out of your jacket pocket. You locked the door as soon as you stepped inside, chucking your bag on the floor in the entryway.

You didn’t even bother to heat up dinner, knowing the nauseating feeling in your stomach wouldn’t allow for sustenance at this time. Instead you showered, taking the time to massage your scalp in an attempt to relax.

Sliding into your pyjamas, you found that eating still wasn’t an option, but drinking likely was.

Not alcohol, but herbal tea―it always seemed to do the trick.

The exhaustion set in quickly after you’d gotten only halfway through the cup, so you retreated to the comfort of your bed. You knew the feeling was a mixture of coming down from a stress induced high, the tea, and your still recovering system.

It served as plenty of foundation to knock you out the second your head hit the pillow. This time, you welcomed the inevitable unconsciousness with open arms.

End of Part 3

_____

taglist: @tjhonoluluprezstitch626 @shinsous-eye-bags @roseloverofpastels

[layce2015]

The Last of Us Bonus Chapter 3 (Joel Miller x Reader)

When Joel Realized He Was Gonna Marry (y/n)

The Last of Us Masterlist

The Last of Us Part 2 Masterlist

"Finally!" I groaned as I look at the clock and see that it was time for me to clock out. "Lucky!" Kelsey exclaimed at me and I chuckle. "Hey, we still up for girl's night tomorrow, right?" She asked me. "Of course!" I said. "Awesome! By the way, how's it been since you moved in with Joel?" Kelsey asked and I blush

It had been almost two years since Joel and I started dating and just a couple of months ago, he asked me to move in with him. And to say I was happy is an understatement. I feel like I'm on cloud 9!

Joel has been nothing but kind and loving towards me. I mean, sure we do get into some arguments here and there but nothing that was really bad. Usually, we would give each other space and within a few hours we say sorry and start to move on.

Sometimes I wonder what I did in my life to deserve him.

"It's been great!" I said to Kelsey as I go over to the clock and start to clock out. "See? You two have said I love you then you've moved in together and now the next step..." Kelsey said, smiling, then she starts to sing the Here Comes The Bride song and I chuckle.

"Is he coming to pick you up?" She asked me. "Yeah, he said he was getting off early today and Sarah's at a friend's house, so we're going to have the house to ourselves." I said, feeling my face warming up. "Oh I know what that means. Bow chika bow wow." Kelsey said, as she does a little dance, and I face palm at this.

"Dear God, Kelsey!" Our co-worker and friend, Nolan, said, exasperated. "Oh don't be such a prude, Nolan." Kelsey said. Nolan was a guy that was a couple years older than us and he's a pretty chill guy, until Kelsey makes comments like she just did.

"I'm not being a prude, it's just we're at work and people could walk in and hear you." Nolan said. "Hey, nobody's in here. Everyone's already left, it's just the three of us." Kelsey said as I grab my bag and sling it across my shoulder. 

"You sure you don't want to stay alittle longer, (y/n)? I don't want to be left alone with Kel for another couple hours." Nolan said, sarcasm dripping in his voice. Kelsey scoffs at this while I laugh. "Oh don't lie, Nolan! You love me!" She exclaims. "Love is such a strong word. How bout....I tolerate you." He said and he smirks and winks at me while I continue to giggle.

Kelsey places a hand over her out, pretending that broke her heart. "Oh Nolan! How could you? You're breaking my heart!" She said, dramatically, and I shake my head. "Okay you drama queens, before this gets too melodramatic, I'm heading out." I said and Nolan waves, vaguely, at me. "Get outta here you crazy thing!" He said and I nod at him then I look over at Kelsey, only to realize she had a shock look of horror.

"Kel? Everything okay?" I asked her, worriedly. She seemed too shock to say anything so I turn to see where she was looking and I gasped. Walking through the front doors was a familiar face with a mop of curly blonde hair atop of his head. His green eyes shined with happiness once he laid his sights on me.

"(Y/n)!" He said, happily. 

"Markus?" I said, shocked and confused.

"How are you?" He asked me, smiling. "I-I'm fine. Wh-what are y-you doing here?" I asked him, nervously. "I came to see you. I...I need to talk to you." Markus said and I raise an eyebrow at this. "Markus, she doesn't want to talk to you. So can you kindly fuck off!" Kelsey said and I turn to her and shake my head at her. "Kelsey." I said, warningly, and she looks at me with worry before she steps back.

"Yeah, Kelsey, this is nothing that concerns you. This is between me and (y/n)." Markus said and I sighed as I turn to him. "Markus, there's nothing to talk about. We're done." I said, firmly, just as I saw a familiar truck come up to the parking lot. 

"Please, (y/n), hear me out! I just...I just miss you!" Markus said as he walks closer to me. "I've been a mess since you've left me." He said. "Guess who's fault is that?" I said as I kept glancing out the window towards Joel's truck. "I know, I know...but I wanted to come to you and say...I'm sorry and I want for us to go back to the way things were. I want us to work again." He said and I groan at this.

"No, Markus. It's too late. I'm done with you." I said. "Now if you'll excuse me...." I said as I start to walk towards the front door but he steps in front of me. "Markus!" I said, exasperated. "I'm not giving up on you! Please, I missed you so much." He said as he tries to grab my hands but I back away from him. 

"Markus, please, I have to go. My boyfriend is here..." I said and Markus' eyes widen at this. "What? What did you say?" He asked me, shocked. "My boyfriend is here to pick me up and take me home." I said and he still looks at me, shocked. "What? Did you expect me to stay single forever?" I scoffed and I start to walk past him again but then he grabs my arm.

"Hey!" Kelsey exclaimed but Markus glares at her, making her stop, before he looks at me. "Markus, let go of me!" I said as I try to pull my arm out of his grip but he held onto it tighter. "You have a boyfriend?" He asked, still shocked but I could hear the underlying anger in his voice. "Markus, please! You're hurting me!" I said just as I hear the door open.

"Hey!" Joel's voice said as he walks in and shoves Markus away from me, making him let go of my arm, and stands in front of me, protectively. "Get away from her!" Joel said to him, firmly. "Who the hell are you?" Markus asked him, angrily. "Joel." Joel said. "Well, Joel...can you fuck off? I need to talk my girl." Markus said as he tries to walk towards me but Joel stays in front of me.

"She don't want to talk to. So leave her alone." Joel said, firmly. "Why the hell do you care?" Markus asked, angrily. "She's my girlfriend." Joel replied, as he stands like he's getting ready to fight, and Markus' eyes widen a bit as I grab Joel's arm. "Joel, please. He's not worth it." I said then Joel and Markus have a stare down before Markus scoffs. "Whatever."

Joel glares at him as he wraps his arm around my shoulder and begins to lead me out to the door. "That bitch ain’t worth my time anyways." Markus yells and Joel and I stopped in our tracks. Joel then turns as soon as he heard those words from Markus.

"What’d you say?!" Joel asked, angrily, as I pull him back. "Joel!" I said, warningly, but Markus decides to open his mouth. "I mean I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s been whoring around town and found someone like you. How much did you pay her? Or better yet, how is she—" Markus started to say and Joel punches him across the face.

"JOEL!" I shouted, fearfully, as I go to stand in front of Joel and place my hands on his chest while Nolan goes over to Markus and holds him back as it seemed he was about to fight back. "Stop, please!" I pleaded to Joel, who was glaring at Markus, before he looks down at me.

His eyes soften a bit but let's me lead him out of the shop and into his truck. Once I get in his truck, I fold my arms across my chest and look away from him as Joel gets into the driver's seat. "Honey, you okay?" He asked me, worriedly. "Fine." I said, flatly, as I look out the window. 

I hear Joel sigh and he drives the truck back to our house.

It was a quiet drive back to our newly shared home but I could feel the tension in the air between us. I was just so mad at Joel for attacking Markus after I told him not to.

Finally, we pulled up to the driveway and I un-buckle my seat belt and walk out of the truck without saying anything. "(Y/n), please don't act like this!" Joel called out to me as he comes up to me. I sighed and turned to him. "You didn't have to punch him, Joel." I said to him and he gives me a confused look.

"He called you a bitch and a whore. I couldn't let him get away with that!" Joel said. "And I told you that he wasn't worth it!" I said, my voice rising a bit. "Well, you're worth it." Joel said and I bite back a smile. "Joel...as grateful as I am for you standing up for me, you still shouldn't have hit Markus. I am definitely not worth all of the trouble." I said. "I mean, what if it got worse? How do you think Sarah would feel hearing that her father was sent to jail because he got into a fight?"

He stops then looks down as I shake my head again and walk towards the inside of the house. I go up into our shared bedroom and slam the door shut behind me, sit down on the edge and placed my hands over my face.

I know Joel was just being protective of me but...I was just angry and afraid that if he got into that fight with Markus, he would've gotten into worse trouble....and it would've been my fault.

So many things ran through my head of what ifs, like what if the cops were called and Joel got arrested. Or what if the fight got so bad one of them were seriously hurt or killed?!

I sat in our room for a few hours, just thinking over what happened until I decided to go down stairs. I walk into the living room to see Joel was nowhere around. Puzzled, I walk towards the kitchen and look over to my left and see Joel sitting in his study room just working on something.

I sighed then walk towards the kitchen and go to my little radio on the counter and flip it on. I look through the fridge to find something to cook for me and Joel. A few catchy songs came on and I ended up humming along as I started to cook.

As I started chopping up the vegetables, I feel a strong pair of arms wrap around my waist. I smirk a bit as I relax, realizing this was Joel. "I'm sorry. I-I should've listened to you when you told me to follow you. I was just...so angry when he called you those words. You deserve every good thing that comes your way, (y/n). And I didn't want him to come in and make you feel like you don't deserve the good things in life." He said as he leans his chin on my shoulder.

I sigh and set the knife down and placed my hands over his. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten angry at you. I guess my anger towards you was more fearing at what could've happen to you more than anything. I mean...if Markus was okay to slap me across the face when we were dating, I couldn't imagine what he'd try to do to you." I said and Joel holds me tighter against him. "Plus seeing him again just....really freaked me out." I said and Joel hums a bit at this.

"How about both of us say sorry and we move on from this stupid fight." Joel said and I chuckled. "I'd like that." I said and he kisses my neck, slowly, and I lean my head back against his shoulder, relishing in the feeling of his lips on my skin.

Both of us sway from side to side to the music until a different song comes on. Joel removes his arms around me then takes my hand and guides me to turn and face him. I smiled at him as he takes my left hand in his right and wrapped his left arm around me. Then we began to dance slowly as the song plays.

Wise men say

Only fools rush in

But I can't help falling in love with you

Shall I stay?

Would it be a sin

If I can't help falling in love with you?

I then start to wrap my arms around his neck and he places his hands on my waist, both of us smiling at each other, lovingly.

*3rd Person POV*

As (y/n) smiles at him, Joel couldn't help but feel this wave of emotion towards the woman before him. It's an emotion he thought he'd never experience. Course he did have the same feeling towards his ex-wife way back when, but this....this felt different. This felt deeper and more personal.

Like a river flows

Surely to the sea

Darling, so it goes

Some things are meant to be

Take my hand

Take my whole life too

For I can't help falling in love with you

And there it is.

That was the answer!

He was in love with (y/n) and he couldn't help but fall deeper in love with her as the days go on. He loved her smile, her kindness, her patience, how she was able to turn a bad situation into a good one. He also loved how she would also make him laugh and smile when he felt angry or upset. And one of the biggest thing was how she and Sarah bonded so quickly.

So right here, right now, he knew that she was the one that he was gonna marry. She is the love of his life, and he was grateful to God that he had a special woman like her in his life.

He knew they were going to be a happy family together...and who knows, maybe later in the future, they might add a new addition to the family.

The woman before him, he would love and cherish her until the day he dies. He can see the future with her...nothing can ever change that.

Like a river flows

Surely to the sea

Darling, so it goes

Some things are meant to be

Take my hand

Take my whole life too

For I can't help falling in love with you

(Y/n) leaned her head against his chest and unwraps her arms off of his neck and moves them to hug him around his middle. He moves his arms up and wraps around her shoulders and hugs her too, his left hand caresses the back of her head then he ran his fingers through her hair.

He kissed the top of her head before she moves her head up to look at him, smiling that warm smile Joel always loved. He smiles back at her before he leans into her, she moves forward a bit til their lips touched. The two kiss, sweetly, before Joel pulls back and stares at her as she slowly opens her eyes, her (e/c) orbs shining with love.

"I love you." Joel whispers to her. Saying these words were still new to him as they just started saying the I love yous months ago, but he still liked the way his heart fluttered whenever he said them to her or vice versa.

"I love you too." She whispers back as she places a hand on his right cheek, her thumb stroke through his beard. He smiles as he cups her face in his hands and kisses her once again. But this time, the kiss was different. He was conveying all the love he felt towards her into this kiss, showing her that the words he said were true.

(Y/n) kissed him back and moves her hands into his short black hair and runs her fingers through them. He moves his hands off of her face and placed them in her waist as he starts to hold her against him. Then he moves his lips away from hers and starts to kiss her jawline then her neck.

"Joel..." she said, in a shaky whisper, but then she gasps when he found that sweet spot on her neck. She leans her head back, giving him better access, and closes her eyes as she loses herself to the feeling of him kissing and lightly biting her neck.

He kisses up her neck and jaw before he goes back to her lips. The two make-out, furiously, for a few moments before they stop to catch their breathes. Joel and (y/n) look at each other before he takes her hands in his and starts to lead her to their bedroom and she obliges. The two head up to the bedroom, smiling and laughing, acting like two teenagers in love.

They make it into the bedroom and (y/n) pulls Joel towards her and kisses him again as he starts to shut the bedroom door, the chopped up vegetables long forgotten.

@fangirl-inthe-us

@sleepylunarwolf

@randomly-musing

[hongism]

Dude today has been crazy at work. I work at a factory and today I was in one of the hot departments which just means there's no a/c so it's usually between 80-120° F depending on the temp outside. But the department I was in tonight has a lot of oil for the food product and there was a super bad storm that took out the power and FIRST OF ALL. I am TERRIFIED of the dark and I was between some machines and completely secluded from everybody when it happened but since the machines are so hot I couldn't even move cause it was pitch black and I couldn't risk running into one. Then finally the backup generators came on so I could KIND of see and I rushed to the other employees (They're on a set team since they're through the actual factory but I'm part of a temp agency so I do the bitch work which means more work and also I get moved around constantly so I don't really know them) and my partner found me and even we don't really know each other that well yet lmao but everyone was buzzing cause power outages are wild in huge factories and SUDDENLY. PEOPLE WERE YELLING TO GET OUT BECAUSE THERE WSS A FUCKING FIRE. THERE WAS A FIRE. and we had to walk BACK between the machines where I couldn't fucking see anything and I was leading the line I was on and we had to walk right by the fire TWICE. WHAT THE FUCK. and the machines have been down for almost 6 hours now so we've all just been sitting around (but my jeans got ripped and there's a giant hole which is a safety hazard so even when the machines are back up I'm not allowed back in so I'm basically on a 6 hour break 😭)

Bro I had so many other things I was going to send you the passed week but got too busy or whatever but this just. WHEW. oh and then the 30-something of us in that department went to the break room and had a lil "party". Idk why one of them had a Bluetooth speaker but he did. honestly the more I type out of this night the more this feels like a scene from a wattpad fic (strangely makes sense, I have a LOT of "y/n" moments)

--rolypoly(also holy shit i got almost no sleep before work because my dream involved my deceased friend spending a little bit of time with me before telling me again that it was time for us to move on and the way I had to initiate it was by painting this picture I'd been working on of him and I together and smiling at each other and happy, and I had to do it on a suitcase? Anyway, woke up and when I checked the time it was his clock birthday and I just decided it was going to be a rough day and then all that shit happened. Although since nobody was hurt thankfully I don't consider that a bad day... I like the excitement)(and technically free money since we can't work when the power is out, machines are down, or ya know a fire) sorry this is a messy ask as usual, I just am like. WHOA. Wild

okay HOT DAMN this was a trip from start to finish ?!?!?!? omg but honestly pls rolypoly im so glad that you're safe and that the crisis was averted and that no one got hurt that's very good im so glad that you're safe!!! secondly! i hope that work is much less eventful in the future pls be safe and safe <3 that sounds so terrifying tho oml that’s a nightmare and a horror story to me i can’t believe that happened i would’ve just dipped outta there so fast 😭😭

THIRDLY pls rest up oml you had such a busy and eventful and crazy week from start to finish i hope you can take care of yourself and look after yourself as best you can <3 and im sorry to hear about that dream that sounds so harsh and hard to dream so im sorry you had to go through that :(( i hope you dont have more dreams like that in the futures :( ILY BESTIE

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Finding out the truth about Freddie; Queen x reader

*Author’s note*

Here we go with the next chapter, now I hope you got your tissues ready cause I swear people, these next few chapters are gonna be heavy. Now in this one there is an insane amount of fluff first but then as the story goes on, YEESH! I’ll say this I HATED writing a portion of this chapter cause I was CRYING!!!

Also in the near future I may do a sorta HC type thing because there is one additional surprise that’s in this chapter (it’s nothing bad trust me) but I may just do that instead of making another fic of it. But I hope you all enjoy this part as much as you enjoyed the previous. And look out for the next and final update coming in just a few.

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural​

@ixchel-9275​

@simonedk​

@platawnic​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@queensdivas​

@queendeakyy​

@geek-and-proud​

@kairosfreddie​

@onebigfangirlworld​

@naturalswifty89​

@starswin​

@bohemiansweede​

@5sos-wdw​

@labessieisallama​

@isabella-bby​

@dj-lowkey​

_______________________________________________________________

*December 15th, 1990*

It was like any other day in holiday home of Montreux.  I was getting the place ready for the boys to stay while they got some work done. Brian wouldn’t tell me much but just the fact that the press were really hounding on Freddie lately. Now I have heard that there had been rumors that Freddie was sick but of what I had no idea.

The boys refused to tell me every time I asked. The last time I had seen Freddie and the guys in the public view was when they won the award for best band of the 1980’s.  

And I’ll definitely say that something did look wrong with him, he was so thin and pale it was like I wasn’t even looking at the same person.  But a walking corpse.  I checked the clock really quick and said to myself.

“Okay Jack should be back with them any minute. Their flight was supposed to have come in a half hour ago. That is if there had been no delay. But there shouldn’t have been otherwise he’d call me. Okay bedrooms have been assigned, dinner’s just about done, and the twins are upstairs napping. Susan will drop Kelly back home after the playdate with Amy, okay I think that’s everything.”

Soon I heard two separate barks from upstairs on the balcony.  I knew that it was Sammy our 3 year old golden retriever and Bucky our 6 year old German Shepherd, sounding the alarm that company had arrived.  I smiled and raced towards the door and opened it to reveal the guys coming out of the cars.

I smiled widely and raced towards them not helping myself to an ecstatic squeal that came out of my mouth.

“Ahh her royal majesties have finally arrived!” As the first person I tackled in a hug was Brian.  Seeing me coming at him, he immediately was ready as he picked me up and spun me around making me laugh as I said.

“Oh you guys look at you all!” He set me down as I brought Deacy in for the next hug.  He pecked my cheek and embraced me back and as I hugged Roger and Fred at the same time I said, “Oh it’s been too long, I’ve missed my boys soo much. Oi,” I separated from them and gathered them together so that I could scold them like the mother I was, “Just because you four are now some hotshot band of the 80’s doesn’t mean you can forget about the people who most love you four. I worry about you guys I expect a call every now and then.”

“You know we check in on you love.” Said Roger. I grinned at him and said.

“Yeah I know but still. I don’t want you four to forget about little ol me.”

“Darling it’s impossible to forget about you.” Said Freddie.

“Hey you guys hungry? I’ve made cornbread and chilly.” I asked.

“Wait did I just hear cornbread and chilly?” Jack suddenly came into the group circle making us laugh and I said.

“Yes darling, it’s in the stove, should be done about now.” I took the guys inside the house and as they got a good view of the house from the inside Deacy said.

“Wow (y/n), your home is beautiful.”

“Thanks Deacy, the perfect vacation home for three kids. But oh lord the sleepovers that will happen in the future. It’ll fit an entire classroom.” I teased the last part.

“Speaking of which where are the little ankle biters at?” asked Roger.

“Well the twins are upstairs taking their afternoon nap, and Kelly is at a friend’s place. Should be back around 5-10 minutes or so.”

“How have they been doing?” asked Brian.

“Well the twins just had their 18month checkup about a month ago. Everything’s all healthy, Jack Jr. grew another 3inches. And Georgie gained 3 extra pounds.” Deacy whistled and said.

“Seems you’ve got a weed on your hands with Jack.”

“Tell me about it, by the time the boy’s in junior high, he’ll probably be as tall as an NBA player.” They looked at me confused and that’s when I stated, “Basketball player.” To which they nodded in understandment.

“And how’s the little nightingale?” asked Freddie.

“She’s been good. Really liking her kindergarten class, her teacher says she’s the smartest little girl she’s ever seen.”

“And we wouldn’t expect nothing less, she’s like her mother in every sense, shape and form.” Roger praised as he gave me a fatherly peck on the temple.  I playfully shoved him and said.

“But I know she’ll be excited to see you all. She doesn’t even know you guys are coming.”

“My, my you are a sneaky mother lion aren’t yah dear?” teased Freddie.

“I do my best Fred. Okay so let me show you all to your rooms so you can set your stuff down and then we can have dinner.” I then led the boys up the stairs.

But as I reached the top I began to notice that Fred seemed to be struggling immensely.  

I walked back down towards him and took his luggage and he looked at me and I smiled softly, hoping that I wasn’t crossing any boundaries.

“Thank you darling.” He said with a nod and I nodded back to him and tried to help him up the stairs but he refused telling me that he got it under control.

“Okay Freddie this room is yours,”

“Thank you darling.” He said as he set himself down on the bed and for the first time since arriving I saw him truly become relaxed. I set his stuff down at his bedside and said to him.

“I’ll let you know when dinner’s finally ready.” He thanked me once more and that’s when we all heard barking coming down the hall.

Bucky had entered Freddie’s room and trotted right up towards him.

“Hi Bucky!” Freddie said trying to sound enthusiastically but that’s when Bucky started to bark at him and not in the happy way.  He almost sounded alarmed or defensive.  I walked up towards him telling him as I ruffled his fur.

“What is wrong with you yah rotter? It’s just Freddie.”

“Oh I think my outfit just smells like Delilah that’s all.”

“I am so sorry Freddie he’s never acted this way before to anyone.” I apologized.

“No apologizes necessary darling.” He assured me. I knelt down to Bucky’s height and he sniffed under my chin whimpering and grunting as I scowled him.

“What’s the matter with you huh? It’s like you smelled something bad on him.” Bucky let out a couple more barks before a whistle was heard and Bucky went trotting over to Roger who began to pet him.  “Again Fred I’m so sorry about this, hopefully Sammy will be nicer for the both of them. You just get yourself situated and I’ll come check on you in a bit.”

“No need to hover over me like a mama bear darling, I’ll be fine.” I just grinned at him and left his room and took the rest of band members of Queen to their rooms.

Deacy and Roger had rooms that were next door to each other’s while Brian’s room was just across from the master bedroom.

Once the guys got settled in, Jack had gotten the table set up and now everyone was gathered around the table ready to eat. I set the food down and I heard Roger say.

“Ahh about time, at least this will be better than airplane food.”

“Oh (y/n) this smells absolutely delicious.” Complimented Brian.

“Thank you boys, and please help yourselves to as much as you want.”  We all then dug into our dinner.

“So how far did you say the studio was from here?” asked Freddie.

“It’s literally 20 minutes from here. Can’t miss it, it’s a beautiful building. I’m actually about to do some recording myself there tomorrow for my next album.”

“Mind telling us about it?” asked Roger.

“Oh no, no, no, no, no you cheeky devils. You’ll have to wait till it hits the shelves. I’m not spilling a single detail.”

“Ahh come on love, we tell each other everything in regard to work.” Said Brian.

“Nope, not gonna get anything outta me.” I said as I took a spoonful of chilly into my mouth.  The front door soon opened and shut as we all heard a tiny little girl’s voice call out.

“Hi mummy!”

“There she is.” Proclaimed Deacy.  Soon coming around the corner at 5 years old now with my (h/c) locks that went past her shoulders and (e/c) eyes that shined like little gems was my dear little Kelly.

“Uncle Deacy!” She raced over to Deacy who picked her up and gave her a kiss on the cheek as he said.

“How’s my favorite niece doing? Ohh you’re getting so big.”

“I see how it is Kelly, you go to Deacy but ignore the rest of us.” Freddie taunted.

“No Uncle Freddie, I never forget about you!” Kelly whined.  Freddie grinned at her and said.

“I know you wouldn’t. Now come give your uncle Freddie a kiss my little nightingale.” Kelly got out of Deacy’s lap and went over to Freddie who picked her up and kissed both her cheeks.  I noticed that Freddie was straining to pick her up, he tried to hide it but I could see it in his face as he picked her up.

“And what of my hug and kiss Kelly?” Brian asked. She giggled and Freddie passed her over to Brian.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed Brian’s cheek.  I picked up Jack Jr. from his booster seat while Jack took Daniel.  Brian gave Kelly her Eskimo kiss before kissing her forehead which made her giggle.

“Where’s papa Roger?” she asked innocently.  I turned to Roger who went to grab another beer can to see his goddaughter being held in Brian’s arms.  I grinned at him as he said as he set his beer down.

“Why don’t you turn around and find out.” Kelly immediately turned around and raced towards Roger who got down to her height and picked her up under her arms holding her close to his chest which caused the whole room to erupt with soft laughs.

Just like me, Kelly’s always favored Roger out of the guys.  Thankfully Roger took the role of godfather to a whole new level.  Anytime I needed advice with Kelly, he was always there day or night.  He adored Kelly with all his heart and like he did with me, he treated Kelly like his own child and gave her the entire world.

“You happy to see your uncles and your god papa sweetie?” asked Jack.

“I’m very happy.” Roger hugged her close to him and repeatedly kissed Kelly’s cheek making her giggle and squirm in his arms.

“And get this poppet, your uncles and godfather will be staying here with us for a while whilst they get some work done.” I told her.  Her eyes lit up and she turned to Roger and asked him.

“Really?”

“That’s right love, hope you won’t get too sick of us like your mother does.” Roger teased.

“No I miss you guys!” She said as she hugged Roger’s neck and buried her face into it which made all of us laugh.  Roger kissed her head and set back down in his seat while I got a bowl ready for Kelly.  Once I set it down, she whined out, “Aww mummy, I don’t like chilly though!”

“Sorry darling but you’re gonna have to expand your eating habits. Just try a couple of bites.” I told her.  She huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest pouting.

“Ahh come on now lovey, listen to your mummy and try at least a spoonful.” Said Roger as he gave her the puppy dog eyes but Kelly still refused.

“Okay then, I guess that means I’ll have to give the extra ice cream sandwiches to one of the guys then.” I started off.  It was then Kelly perked up and said.

“Wait! Wait! I want an ice cream sandwich!” I smirked knowing that I had her right where I wanted her.  I knelt down in front of her and said to her.

“Then you’ve got to eat your chilly.” She whined as she looked between her bowl and me.  “It’s either that or not dessert monkey.” She then finally gave in and reached for her spoon and took a bite of the chilly.  “That’s my girl.” I kissed the top of her head as Roger said.

“You’re so bad with her.”

“Well I did learn from the best,” I pecked his cheek and went to grab the ice cream sandwiches from the freezer.

The rest of the night was spent catching up with the guys and eating our dessert.  Kelly was coloring in her coloring book while the boys were playing with their blocks at the center of the living room.

“So how have you two adjusted to dealing with 3 kids now?” asked Brian.

“It’s a struggle at times, but we’re happy to have our boys.” I said.

“Jack Jr. is an angel from heaven, Georgie however is a little devil in disguise. Jack Jr. clears his plate like a gentleman, Georgie on the other hand will just scatter his food down to the floor. Like the other day they were eating cheerios and he goes shoving the cheerios onto the ground, but what he does next is that he just looks at me like this,” Jack then made a ‘stare-down’ face as he said, “Like he’s saying, ‘I know you’re gonna pick that up’.” Which got the guys laughing.

“Trust me Jack, I went through the same thing with Robert when he was first born. But eventually he grew out of it, hopefully it’ll be the same with Georgie.” Said Deacy.

“Let’s hope so, I don’t think I can raise a mini-Jensen.” Jack groaned which made us laugh again.

As the night drew darker, Kelly who was now leaning against her godfather yawned and that’s when Roger said.

“Seems like someone had a long day today.” I stood up to take her upstairs but he stopped me and said, “It’s fine love, I’ll take her up. You take care of those boys of yours.”

“You sure?” I asked.

“Yeah it’ll be fine.” Roger then slowly picked Kelly up without trying to wake her up and took her up to her room.  

God she looked so cute leaning up against Roger like that, reminds me of me at that age when my real father would take me up to bed after I had fallen asleep doing something.

“It is getting rather late. I think we should all be in bed by now, we want to get as early of a start recording as we can.” Stated Freddie.

“Agreed.” Brian spoke up.  It was then decided that we all turned in for the night.  Jack and I put the twins in their nursery jointed right next door to the master bedroom and I said goodnight to the three queens and they bid us a goodnight back.  Jack and I unfolded the sheets and got into bed.

“How long do you think you’ll be staying in the studio for?”

“I’m hoping to plan just 9 hours, but I can’t make any promises. Plus with the guys here, they may need me. Hope that isn’t any trouble for you.”

“No, no it’s fine. It’s been awhile since you’ve got to work with the boys, they might need you back with them.”

“Yeah they are lost without me.” We kissed each other and then snuggled up for the night.

*3rd Person POV*

While everyone was getting situated into bed, Roger finally arrived at Kelly’s room and walked over to her bed.  He gently set her down and just before he could cover her up, she moaned and opened her eyes and said.

“Papa Roger?” Roger looked up at her and smiled and said.

“Hey you, I thought you’d gone to dreamland by now.”

“I couldn’t with you and uncle Deacy, uncle Brian and uncle Freddie here. I’m too excited to sleep now.”

“Oh really?” She nodded but then Roger took notice that she had the same sad look that she inherited from her mother. “What is it lovey?” he asked.

“I don’t think I can say it.” She responded solemnly as she looked down away from Roger.  Roger looked at his goddaughter as said.

“Kelly, you know that if something’s bothering you, you know you can always tell me anything, right?” She nodded hesitantly and that’s when Roger lifted her chin up and said as he sat down at her bedside and extended his arm out, “C’mere darling.” Kelly crawled up onto Roger’s lap and gripped onto his shirt and fiddled with it.

Roger adjusted her so that she was fully sitting on his lap and wrapped his arms around her back keeping her steady as he allowed her head to rest against his chest over his heart, much like he did with her mother.

“Talking about it will help you feel better, so come on little lioness, what’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” Kelly fiddled with Roger’s shirt a bit more before finally saying as she looked up at Roger with this (e/c) eyes that she got from her mother.

“Is uncle Freddie okay?”

At this point Roger didn’t even know what to tell her.  He had hoped that Kelly wouldn’t notice the change in Freddie due to his AIDS but he knew he had been fooling himself.  

She was after all the daughter of (Y/n) Kline, the cleverest girl he had ever met.

“I—didn’t want to say anything to mummy at dinner because I was afraid she’d get sad. I didn’t want her to be sad.” Roger stroked Kelly’s hair and said to her.

“You definitely have your mother’s cleverness thank god for that.” He first teased which made both him and even Kelly laugh. “Listen darling; your uncle Freddie he’s—he’s just trying out a new look. He hopes that it will help him look younger to fit in with the new ongoing crowd of fans. That’s all.”

“Well I don’t like it. He looks sick, can’t mummy help him feel better? I want the old uncle Freddie back.” Roger brushed some strands of her long hair out of her face and said.

“Maybe, if your mum will allow it.”

“She always helps me whenever I feel sick.” She said softly.

“She is a good nurse isn’t she?” Roger asked remembering all the times that she’s helped him and the guys whenever they partied too hard and were completely shitfaced by morning when they were forced to record.  After teasing them, mainly him of course, she’d then have medicine, water and crackers to help settle their stomachs.

Kelly nodded but still looked sad.  If there was one thing Roger knew when it came to his best girls, whether it was the Kline girls or even his own daughter, it was to never let them go to bed sad.  With a mischievous gleam appearing in his eyes and a cunning grin coming across his face, Roger proceeded to try and get Kelly to laugh.  First he playfully pinched her nose as he said.

“I’ve got you nose.” Which made Kelly giggle as she tried to escape her godfather’s embrace.  As she now fell back onto her bed, it allowed Roger to grab her ankle and lift her foot in the air as he said, “Got your toes!”

“Papa Roger, stop! I’m too big for nose and toes!” She laughed.  This was a playful game that Roger not only played with his own daughter but with Kelly as well to get them to be happy again.

“Uh-oh, you’re missing a toe. Alright you little ankle bitter, where’s that missing toe?”

“I’m not missing a toe.” Kelly cried out.

“Oh yes you are, see. One, two, three, four.” He said counting her toes skipping over her middle toe.  “Now where you keeping that toe at young lady?”

“I don’t have it anywhere.”

“Ah-ah better tell the truth, or I’m gonna tickle it out of yah.” He then dived down and began tickling Kelly’s stomach.  The two of them laughing as Roger kept Kelly close to him as he tickled her, not allowing her to escape an inch away from him. Kelly tried as best as she could to roll away from him but Roger always brought her back close to him, she tried to push his hand away but it wouldn’t budge.

When she was nothing but pure smiles and no more trace of sadness was in her eyes, Roger ceased his tickle attack and scooted her up so that her head was now resting on her pillow.

“Okay lovey, time for bed.” He tucked her in and stroked the top of her head, brushing away the bangs that fell down over her eyes.  “Now don’t you worry about your uncle Freddie okay? He always bounces back up, and I know he will from this.” Roger lied.

He hated to lie to Kelly but he had no choice. She was too young to understand and he didn’t want this to affect her badly by telling her that her uncle was going to die soon.

He refused to allow Kelly to be told that right away, especially if it was from him and not from her own parents.

Plus he knew Freddie would never forgive him had his favorite niece been told he was so sick.

“Okay.” Kelly said softly.

“That’s my girl.” Roger kissed her forehead and whispered, “Goodnight my love.”

“G’night.” Kelly whispered before finally closing her eyes and went back to sleep.  Roger stayed by her bedside for a few moments stroking her head gingerly before finally decided to head to his own room and went to sleep himself.

As he lay down on his bed, a single tear fell down his face.

*My POV*

As the next year came around; the boys continued to stay at the house, balancing work and spending time with their niece and nephews.  I’ve really began to notice the signs of Freddie not doing so well.

Some nights he would lose his appetite and not want anything to eat.  There was also the signs of him struggling to get out of bed in the mornings and even walk up and down the stairs.  One day there was even an accident where he fell and broke his ankle.  Also both Sammy and Bucky would just bark at Freddie anytime he would pass them, they even went as much as to avoid him at all times which they had never done before since we had gotten them.

I was really starting to get scared for Freddie’s sake because Kelly was starting to ask questions.  She told me that she and Rog had a talk about it but he told her not to worry about it.  So I would go up to either Brian or Rog since anytime Freddie was brought up, Deacy wouldn’t even speak and the two of them would tell me not to worry and that Fred was just trying something out, or he went to the gym after their rehearsals.

I was currently sitting on one of my chairs by the back entrance going over a new song for my upcoming album.  Doing some rewrites and trying to make the song work better when I heard Freddie’s voice coming down the hallway.

I put my feet up and lowered myself further down the chair hiding myself from view as I heard Freddie say.

“Just tell the press to bugger off and not say a word that I am here with (Y/n) and Jack. I refuse to let the Klines get involve with this Jim darling. If they ask, just tell them I’m in Japan recording…..I know, I miss you too my husband. I’ll call you later tonight, bye-bye my love.” I then heard Fred sigh heavily and heard him enter the living room as he said to himself. “God this is fucking ridiculous. Now they’ve got to pull my beloved Rock Angel into this, she doesn’t deserve this torture either.”

Finally I had had enough, I poked out from behind the chair which caused Freddie to jump backward as I said to him.

“Care to confess your sins there, Mr. Mercury?”

“Bloody hell (Y/n) don’t scare me like that.” He said as he rubbed his chest.  I set my notebook down and stood before him saying.

“Well that’s rich coming from you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You Fred. If anyone’s scaring anybody here is you that’s scaring me. Are you sure there isn’t anything you want to talk to me about?” He remained silent and just stared at me with wide eyes.  I raised my brow at him and proceeded to say as I circled around him, “Like; why Bucky and Sammy won’t come near you without barking up a storm? Or why your appetites changed? Not to mention this weight loss, the fact that you can barely walk some days without help, not to mention the phone conversation I just heard about me getting involved with something you don’t want me a part of. Fred I’m really worried about you.”

I now stood face to face with him by the end of my rant and that’s when Freddie told me.

“(Y/n) I—I’m just going through some personal things that’s all my dear.” I looked at him suspiciously and said.

“Okay,” I sighed heavily as I dragged my hands through my hair as I said, “God if I didn’t know any better I’d say it’s almost as if you—” I stopped as I looked at him.  I then shook my head and said, “No. No way. I’m going straight to the worst case scenario.” I turned around and walked away.

“What scenario would that be darling?” Freddie asked me.  I turned back around toward him and said to him trying to play it off.

“Nothing, nothing Fred forget I even said anything.” As I turned back around to walk away it was then Freddie dropped the bombshell.

“Because only a clever girl like you could decipher….when one has AIDS.”

I froze in my spot.

I slowly turned around and looked at Freddie. I have heard about the AIDS crisis that had been breaking out worldwide.  It was unlike anything I had ever heard of, and it was strongly affected the gay community.  Already Jack had lost some old friends from this disease but never did I—oh my god.

I slowly walked towards Fred finally putting two and two together as I choked out his name.  He looked at me with solemn eyes and said the four most gravest and heartbreaking words I will ever hear in my entire life.

“I’m afraid so darling.”

My eyes grew wide, my heart sunk and I almost collapsed to the ground in tears.  I held my hands to my mouth trying to hide my shocked expression but tears quickly filled my eyes.

“Oi Fred!” Roger’s voice called out.  He came up from the back entrance and stood beside Freddie and said to him, “Fred, Brian and Deacy managed to figure out the problem for the song, we want to run it by you.” It was then Roger turned to look at me.  I sniffled and couldn’t help as a tear fell down my face.  “(Y/n) what’s wrong?”

Even in his weak and frail state, Freddie still had that strength in his eyes that told me to not cry and be strong.  I snapped out of my state and choked out as I tried to do what Freddie was telling me to do.

“Wha? No, nothing’s wrong dad. I’m only just picturing Freddie the way he’d want me to right now. The day I first met him…..Me sitting at the piano and him trying to get me to sing another song…..” I couldn’t help a sob that came out as I choked out again as I held my arms out, “Can I please hug him?”

I walked up towards Fred and gave him a hug as I wept hysterically.  Crying into his shoulder while he rocked me back and forth rubbing my back trying to comfort me as I wept.

“Oh god no! Not you…..” I felt him kiss my temple and that’s when I felt his embrace and backed away as I choked out. “Okay I’m going to go calm down, then tonight. You and me. Garden. Because we need to have a serious talk about this okay? Okay?” I wiped my tears away before rushing out of the living room and upstairs to my bedroom.

*3rd Person POV*

Roger who was completely baffled by what he just saw turned to Freddie who turned to him solemnly and he confessed.

“I told her.” Roger sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger.

“How did she find out?”

“She’s clever that lion cub of yours. She put two and two together without even having to say it. Plus she was hiding when I was on the phone with Jim. Already the press back home are spilling rumors that our beloved Rock Angel is aware of my AIDS and is keeping me in hiding.”

“Those fucking wankers.” Roger sneered.  He then looked toward the direction where (y/n) had gone and tried to go after her but Freddie stopped him and said.

“Leave her be Rog. Give her time to calm down, and like she said I will talk with her. This has to be between me and her.” Roger nodded and the two men went back to work.

As agreed, the sun set and (y/n) was currently out in the gardens sitting on the pergola swing set with a vodka bottle in her hands. It was a full size bottle but the content inside was almost empty.

*My POV*

My mind maybe fuzzy from dousing vodka most of the afternoon, but I was still sober enough to go to the garden and get on the pergola waiting for Freddie to get here.  

I can’t believe this is happening. It’s—it’s like a bad dream or something.  Please God don’t let this be real.

“Knock, knock.” I looked up and there stood Freddie. I gestured for him to sit down and he did as I said.  I refused to look up at him because I knew I would break down, shitfaced or not. “Never did take you for drinking so early darling.” Freddie tried to lighten up the mood.

I spoke not a word.  Everything was dead silent except for the crickets chirping.

“How long has everyone known?” my tone was completely broken.  I heard him sigh and he confessed.

“I told Miami shortly after I was diagnoses in ’86. The boys didn’t find out three years after Miami found out.”  I shut my eyes as tears fell down my face not believing this.

“So this whole time you all knew about this? And you didn’t bother to let me in on it?!” I snapped as I finally turned towards him.  Tears stinging my eyes and threatening to come down.

“Darling I just wanted to keep this to myself. I wanted to protect the ones I loved most closest to me from being told this illness. Not even my family knows about this yet.” I looked at him, seeing the strength in his eyes behind his frail face.  “I thought by not telling you, I would be sparing you this heartache. But I should’ve guessed I couldn’t hide anything from you this long. You’re just too clever my darling.” He gently stroked my cheek with his index finger wiping away the tearstains from my face.

I turned away from him and just looked down at my feet as I muttered brokenly.

“I did this to you.”

“What?” I sniffled and said.

“I did this to you Fred.” He looked at me confused and said.

“My rock angel that’s ridiculous, how could you have done any of this?” Finally setting the vodka down, I wiped my tears away from both my eyes and sniffled as I confessed and looked directly at him.

“Do you remember a few months before my wedding? Shortly after you and the boys shot the ‘I want to break free’ video?” Freddie looked at me solemnly and said.

“You mean the day I said those horrible, nasty things about you? I wish I could forget that day but it happened.”

“I told you that I wished that you were struck down in the worst possible way……and now here you are with the worst thing anyone could ever have!” I sobbed out.  Covering my eyes with my hand, shutting them trying to keep any more tears from spilling out.  “I did this to you Fred…..I did this…..”

“That’s bullshit darling!” he exclaimed.  I felt him take my hand that was at my side as he said, “(Y/n), my rock angel look at me,” I was hesitant but I turned towards him, looking like a sad, pathetic drunken woman but Freddie didn’t care.

He stroked some of my hair out of my face tucking it behind my ear as he said.

“Now you listen to me darling; no one is to blame here. You are not to blame for this, the one person responsible for this is me. I was reckless, stupid, and gave too shits about what I was doing. I might’ve known the risks but I didn’t give a fuck about it. My moto was ‘I’m doing everything with everyone’ and not once considered what the result would be. But never, ever think that this was your fault, because it wasn’t. I don’t blame you; the boys don’t blame you; no one blames you.” I looked at Freddie with teary eyes and choked out in a faint voice that it almost appeared like a whisper.

“But why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“As I said I wanted to protect you darling. You were finally booming in your career just as we were. I didn’t want anything to drag you down. You didn’t deserve to be distracted by an old aging queen like me.” That managed to get a laugh out of me.  “See, there’s my darling rock angel.” He wiped the tears away and I fully turned towards him.

He cupped my face into his hands and he looked straight into my eyes as he said in a more serious tone.

“Now I’m going to tell you exactly what you told the lads and I when we first found out about your parents; I don’t want you to fuss about it or frown about it, but above all don’t bore me with any sympathy. Because that’s just seconds wasted, seconds that can be used making music, which is all what I want to do with the time I have left. And you need to do the same, can you promise me that darling?” I sniffled and croaked out.

“I’ll try.”

“No dear, you either will or you won’t. Now give me the right answer.” His voice stern which made me flinch a bit but I knew it wasn’t out of anger at me directly.

“I promise.” I vowed to him.  He nodded softly and said.

“That’s my Rock Angel, now no more tears darling, okay?” I nodded and that’s when he brought me into his embrace and I hugged him back as tightly as I could but kept it gentle so that I wouldn’t cause him any pain.

I remained in his arms for the rest of the night.

The next morning, Fred invited me along to the recording studio.  Since I had completed my album, he thought it would be best for me to come over and see him record this one song that he had been working on with the guys.

He wouldn’t tell me much about it, just to come along and even bring Kelly along so that she could see it too.  

Once we had arrived at the studio, I held Kelly’s hand in mine and that’s when she asked me.

“Do you think you and uncle Freddie could sing the pressure song after they’re done?”

“Maybe, but don’t count on anything okay Kelly? Your Uncle needs to rest his voice.” I entered the studio and was greeted by some of the technicians and office workers who pointed me in the direction of where the boys were.

When we reached the room, I saw Freddie put down a vodka bottle as he proclaimed to Brian who was sitting right beside him.

“I’ll fucking do it, darling!”

“Language Freddie, there is a child present in the room.” I exclaimed as I covered Kelly’s ears.  The boys all turned toward me and that’s when Freddie said.

“So sorry dear.” I just shook my head at him as I grinned and that’s when Kelly raced up towards Freddie.  He picked her up and set him on his lap and she asked him.

“You going to do a new song uncle Freddie?”

“Indeed I am my little nightingale, care to watch?” She nodded enthusiastically and that’s when Brian took a hold of Kelly and set her in is lap while Fred slowly got up from his chair and walked into the recording booth.  I took Freddie’s seat and Roger came over and stood over me while Deacy was in the back isolated but still kept his eyes on Fred.

“Okay this is ‘the Show must go on’ take 1.” Brian spoke into the mic. “You ready Fred?”

“Yes Brian dear, let’s do it.” I then heard the track beginning to start.  It was a powerful beat that already struck a chord in me and as it decrescendo, Freddie began to sing.

Play video

Even with as frail and ill that he looked, a man that was practically a walking corpse right before my eyes, his voice still held such power.  Sure not as much as he once had, but Fred didn’t allow his AIDS to stop him from working, he kept at it.

Once the first chorus hit and his voice hit that falsetto I couldn’t help but have my breath literally be taken out from my body as I just stared at him.  The lyrics were truly about Freddie and his struggles with this illness but he still knew and kept up with his famed phrase ‘The Show must go on’ no matter what.

And he sure as hell proved that on that day to me.

I could only stare at him in pure awe throughout the whole recording.  To nail the notes he needed on just the first take, only someone like Freddie Mercury could do that.  And I was damn proud to not only call him my idol, but my family.

At the very last note he hit with such raw power, I felt a shiver run up my spine as my eyes refused to leave him and I may or may not have been aware of it, but a few tears had fallen down my face.

By the end of the song, I heard Kelly say.

“Mummy you’re crying.” I turned to her and felt my cheek and could feel the wetness of the tears in my face.

“They’re happy tears my love.” I assured her as I wiped them away and saw Fred looking right at me.  I pressed the mic button and said.  “Killed it as always Fred.”

“Good, because I don’t think I can do it again.” Which caused me and the guys to choke out a laugh.

The following day at just before dawn, we were all at the airport and the guys were waiting for their private jet to take them back to London after doing a successful recording.

“You sure we can’t tempt you all to stay for a few more days?” asked Jack.

“No Jack darling we’ve taken up too much of your time. It’s time we were headed home.” Said Freddie. Jack nodded and that’s when Deacy spoke up.

“Thank you both for allowing us to stay in your lovely home.”

“Anytime Deacy, beats having to stay at a hotel or some rundown home the studio sometimes provides.” I said.

“Must you guys really leave?” Kelly asked as she leaned against her father’s shoulder looking toward her uncles and godfather sadly.

“Afraid so love, but don’t worry. You’ll be coming to see us soon.” Roger assured her as he lightly bopped her nose.

“How soon?” she asked.

“Faster than you think little one.” Brian answered her as he stroked down her hair before leaned down and giving her a kiss goodbye.  The rest of the guys soon followed and we all hugged and kissed each other goodbye as their jet soon landed.

The boys grabbed their luggage and they left to get on the plane.  They waved bye to us one final time and we waved back before they finally disappeared.

“I hope next time we see Freddie this fall he at least gets better. He looked so frail and ill; do you know what’s wrong with him (Y/n)?” I didn’t turn to face Jack but I immediately responded.

“I have no idea; they wouldn’t tell me anything.” I hated to lie but I made a promise to Fred.  He made me swear to him that Jack and Kelly didn’t need to know about his illness because he didn’t want anyone else besides me to know now.

So I vowed to him that I’d keep his secret, and I did. From mid-February till late November I kept Freddie’s secret.

[buckyscrystalqueen]

Fresh Start: Part 3

Pairings: Bucky x Reader, Cop!Bucky x Reader

Warnings: Swearing.

Word Count: 4,168

A/N: Got the idea for this one while watching ‘The Town’.

Part 1 / Part 2

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

You walked into court for the second time from a heavily guarded back room, ten times more terrified than the last time. This time, you had large, dark sunglasses on your face in a vane attempt to cover the bruise and patched up cuts on the right side of your face and a scarf over your head to cover what the sunglasses couldn’t. You knew you wouldn’t be able to keep them on in the court room, but you were still going to hold as much of your dignity as you could.

“Ms. Odinson. How are you today?” Nick Fury, who had been Thor… and at one point, your lawyer, asked after you had been sworn in again.

“I’m fine.” You said with a nod over the judge asking you to remove your glasses and scarf. You took a deep breath and kept your eyes strictly on Tony this time as a woman in the jury box gasped at the sight of your cheek. You could almost see your brother’s smirk out of the corner of your eye as he sat back in his chair, causing the chains of the shackles he was being forced to wear for attacking you to rattle. So you simply sat up a little straighter and looked up at Nick.

“I just have a few questions for you today.” Nick started in as he purposely moved directly between you and Tony to mess with your mind. “What time did Jack show up at your place for dinner?”

“It wasn’t my place.” You said with a shake of your head. “I lived in a small apartment with no real kitchen at that time in my life. We were at my broth’a’s house. I serve supp’a at 6:30 every Sunday. I would say he arrived five minutes before that.”

“And what time did my client allegedly shoot one of his dearest friends?”

“I didn’t look at a clock, suh… but I would guess it would have been about seven…”

“What else did you talk about that night?” He asked quickly. “Besides the alleged bank robberies you claimed he orchestrated and the supposed drug deals. What did you talk about?” You startled the slightest bit and actually looked over your brother since you had never been asked that question before.

“Well it started with my sauce recipe. See, I use ground sausage in the sauce when I cook it and then more sausage in the lasagne. Can’t use too much extra seasonings either; get enough of it in the sausage. It’s all about practice and timing…”

“What else?” Fury asked, almost cutting you off in an attempt to trip you up.

“Well, we talked about a painting that I had put up over the stove. Ain’t nothing special. It was just something I found at a thrift store for a nickel. He told me his sister painted and I asked…”

“What else?” Fury interrupted again. You huffed but took a deep breath immediately after, not appreciating the way this man was speaking to you but knowing he was doing just to get you riled up.

“That’s all.” You said shortly as you wrapped your scarf around your hand. “Thor got aggravated and started talking business so I shut up.”

“When you originally spoke to the police.” Fury said as he walked back over to his table to grab your original statement. “You told them that Jack stayed for dinner, and after dinner, you cleaned up, and went home. Is that right?”

“That is what I said, yes. But…”

“You also said the last time we saw you that you supposedly lied out of fear, correct?”

“Rightfully so.” You said as you gestured to your face.

“Your honor, can you instruct the witness to answer yes or no only, please?” You took another deep breath as the judge repeated the instructions to you. You looked straight forward and found Bucky, who had slipped into the back of the gallery. He gave you a short nod and pulled his leather jacket to the side to show a screen printed black shirt with Jessica’s photo on it, making a small smile pull at the corner of your lips. 

“Yes.” You said to the repeated question as you looked back over at Nick.

“Were you arrested in 2013 for possession of narcotics?”

“Objection!”

“Goes to character.” Fury said as he pretended to study the papers in his hand as if they were the most important documents in the history of the world.

“Overruled.” The judge sighed.

“Yes, I was.” You said with a nod as you finally glanced at your brother, who looked so smug it was almost disgusting. It was the look he used to give you when he knew he was winning at any games you played.

“And you plead not guilty?”

“Correct.”

“So you lied again there, correct?” You felt your teeth grind together as you tightened your grip on your scarf.

“Situationally…”

“Your honor!”

“Yes!” You said a little loudly before swallowing your aggravation down. You looked away from him and looked at the small glimpse of Jessica’s face that you could see. “Yes, I lied.”

“So, why should we believe that you’re not lying here today?” He asked a little loudly as he dropped the papers on the table.

“Because you have to believe that people are capable of changing for the ones they love.” You looked over at him with zero emotion on your face but your eyes continued on to your brother and you shook your head. “Because you have to believe that at the end of the day, I am just a moth’a that would do anything for her daught’a’s safety. And if that means I have to turn my back on my broth’a because he is a dang’a to her well being, and he is asking me be a dang’a to her well being as well, I will. I am doing this for Jessica. Not because I don’t love my broth’a. But because I love my daught’a more.” You looked back up at Fury before turning to look straight forward at the photo once more. It took Fury a second before he shook his head.

“I’ve got nothing more.” He said as he sat down.

“Cross.” Tony said quickly as he shot up from his chair. You looked over at him as he moved just to the edge of the table. “Ms. Odinson, did you or did you not see the defendant shoot Jack?”

“I did.” You said with a nod.

“And did you, or did you not originally lie about it under your brother’s instruction?”

“I did.”

“Last one. Did you or did you not decide on your own that coming clean about what you saw was the right thing to do no matter what the consequences could have been?”

“I did.” You stated one final time.

“Thank you, (Y/N). That’s all I have for you today.”

“You may go, Ms. Odinson.” The judge said quietly. You nodded your head and looked over at your brother for the last time before quickly putting your sunglasses back on. You walked out of the witness box, and disappeared through the side door where there were two Marshalls waiting for you to take you back to the WITSEC holding center so you could get ready for your new life.

——

“This is a house.” You said a little slowly as you worked hard on turning your Boston accent into a slightly New York/ slightly accent less sounding one, much to your displeasure.

“This is our house.” Bucky said as he pulled your new to you Hyundai Santa Fe into the driveway of a three bedroom, three bathroom Las Vegas, Nevada home. “New house for the new (Y/L/N) family.”

“I’ve ne-ver lived in’a house before.” You said as you leaned forward to look at the fake grass covered front yard. “This isn’t real.” You said as you sat back and looked at your fiancé with your eyebrows raised. “No, you’re just teasin’ me.”

“I’m really not.” He chuckled as he pulled into the two car garage and shut off the engine.

“James.”

“(Y/N).” He said with a smile as he put the car in park and turned off the engine. He looked over at you and gestured vaguely with his hand. “Go on. Go Townie…”

“This is faackin’ ridiculous!” You nearly screeched in the accent you been hiding for weeks as he sat in the car, and waited for you to get it out. “Ain’t no one in the Town lives this nice. Like we’re damn royals ‘er some shit. You know, houses like this means ya got shit ta rob. I’d’a robbed a house like this.”

“Well it’s a good thing you threatened to cut off someone’s dick so we could keep Dakota then.” He said with a nod as he looked back at the dog that was laying across the back seat, fast asleep. 

“Even still. Catch chaages ‘ere, boy, I tell ya. This bitch… this bitch’s ours? No shit?”

“No shit.” Bucky laughed.

“Babe. Baaaabe. Stop.”

“Do you even wanna see inside?” He asked as he gestured to the door leading into the house. “You picked out all that furniture last week, you gotta have somewhere to put it…”

“Oh moth’a fuckin’ right I’mma go inside. Tha’s my moth’a fuckin’ house. Gotta find places for the damn guns!”

“You can take the girl outta the Town.” He chuckled behind you as you let Dakota out of the back while he got a still waking up Jessie out of her car seat.

“Ooo, no more quarters!” You said as you pointed to the washer and dryer in the little laundry room. “No more scrubs chattin’ me up at the mat.”

“I love how it’s always the little things with you.” He teased as he followed you into the kitchen while Dakota ran into the house to investigate and make sure everything was OK.

“Bucky!” You hissed as you dead stopped in front of him, nearly forcing him to run into you as you turned around and whacked his arm. “A dishwash’a!”

“And counter space for me to cook.” He said as he gestured with his elbow to the white marble countertops that ran the length of three of the four walls of the medium kitchen except for the places left open for new appliances the WITSEC people would be helping you finance until you both found jobs. 

“Yea, cause we all know I cain’t cook for shit.” You said as you looked in the small pantry built into the fourth wall beside the door to the laundry room. You turned to look at the massive living room (that had very questionable grey tile like the entire first floor) and stopped again at the sight of water. “Wait. That ain’t what I think it is.”

“I don’t know what you think it is.” Your fiancé said with a smile as he put the diaper bag on the counter and moved Jess to his other hip. “So you might as well go look for yourself.” You shot him a glare over your shoulder as you walked quickly across the room toward a sliding glass door that had a cage like screen door fitted over it.

“Fuck off.” You said as you stepped out into your decent sized, walled in back yard, and looked at the pool with a cute little rock waterfall in the deep end to your right that actually belonged to you. “This is a dream.”

“Here, why don’t you take Jessica.” Bucky said as the movers rang the door bell to drop off the boxes of the belongings you brought from Boston and all of the new furniture you had picked out for your house. “And see how she feels about being in a swimming pool. I’ll help the movers out. That way you don’t have to practice New York in your excitement.”

“James.” You whispered as you took your suddenly super talkative daughter from your fiancé with a smile and a hint of tears. “Thank you. I never would have done this without you.”

“Anything for the woman I love and our little girl.” He said softly as he gave you a chaste kiss. “Please don’t be naked when I come back out here.”

“That ain’t happening.” You replied honestly as you kicked off your flip flops and walked over to the shallow, beach entry. “You ain’t never been in a pool before, Jessie. This’ll be fun for you. And you are gunna have to get naked just like Mommy…”

“I heard that!” Bucky said over Jessie’s babbles and the few miscellaneous words she knew as he pushed the sliding glass doors open all the way for the grill, and the small fire pit and couple rocking chairs you just had to have.

“Nak-ee baby!” You said as New Yorker as possible as you pulled off the dress you had on your daughter, and tossed it to the side. “Nak-ee Mommy!”

“Mama! Ball!”

“Don’t you do it!” He chuckled as you stepped out of your jeans, choosing to placate him by leaving your thong on.

“Tan lines.” You said with a glare at him as you sat down on the edge to take off your shirt, which caused one of the younger movers to put down your rocking chair roughly and bee line it back into the house.

“Modesty.” He said as he watched you stand up and pull the strap of your panties up a bit on your hips to slightly cover the ‘Boston Strong’ Massachusetts state shaped tattoo on your hip, which according to your new “official” life story was a memorial to your dead mother who was born and raised in Boston and the location of your birth and the first couple years of your life before you “moved to New York”. You hated that it no longer could stand for your love of your hometown. “Damn, baby. The things I would do to you…”

“That’s how we got this one.” You said as you walked out into the sun warmed water. “Want another?”

“Oh, hell yea.” He said as he turned away to help direct the movers with your belongings.

“Yea, Daddy’s crazy if he thinks I’m puttin’ this body through another baby. You were bad enough on me, you little punkin’. Weren’t you?” You smiled at your baby girl infectious laugh as you carefully walked down the two steps to lower you both into the three feet of water. “What’s that?” You asked playfully as you took a couple steps away from the shelf so she could start to figure out the concept of the pool. “We swimming? It’s like a giant bathtub.” You pulled off her diaper since it swelled nearly instantly and stuck it on the side of the pool as you continued to slowly walk deeper into the pool.

“We never had a swimmin’ pool growing up.” You said at nearly a whisper as you moved to stand just in the shade created by the long pergola so your daughter didn’t get burned with this much stronger sun and so that you could watch the guys moving things into your new home. “That ain’t true. When we were kids, your grand pop bought a plastic above ground pool. Just a round circle with a cheap as fuck ladder. We had it for a whole week until your uncle busted the side open with his skateboard. Faackin’ idiot.” Jess laughed as you pat your hand on the water. 

“Yea, baby girl. Us Townies ain’t never seen nothin’ this nice, though. Had ta have money for them in ground fucks. But you, my little meatball, get a beautiful pool in a nice, safe neighborhood. You don’t gotta worry ‘bout walking down to the spa for groceries. Ain’t gotta worry ‘bout the crazies or drugs or bank robberies every other day. None of it. And you know why? Because you, little girl, have the best damn daddy in the whole damn world.”

“Dada.” 

“Yea, Dada.” You said with a nod as you cupped some water in your hand and poured it over the back of her head to keep her cool. “He’s a wicked good man, baby girl. Way better than your Ma deserves.”

“Baf.” Jess said as she tried, unsuccessfully to get water in her little hands to put on her head to ‘help’, only succeeding in splashing you both with water.

“Sure, punkin’. This can be your bath.” You giggled as you sunk down in the water a little more. “We’ll stay out here all day for your bath while the boys do the hard work inside. How about that?” Jessie simply giggled and splashed more water on both of you, trying to give herself a bath like you did every night. “God, you’re such a meatball” You laughed as you helped her put more water on her head like she apparently wanted. “You are so my kid.”

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

“So I think we should redo this back yard.” Bucky said as he looked out the far set of sliding glass doors, which lead to the other side of your back yard. “I don’t like that metal fence separating the pool. Bars are too far apart. She could just slip right through…”

“Babe, we just fuckin’ moved in.” You sighed as you unloaded boxes of toys into baskets along the back wall beside the new, very comfortable, grey, ‘u’ shaped couch while keeping an eye on Jessica as she pulled the toys right back out of the baskets and scattered them across the floor in what you were temporarily deeming as ‘her spot’. “Can you maybe finish setting up the TV first?”

“That’d be easy to rip out. Same with this dumb brick.” He said more to himself as he gestured vaguely in that direction. “Grass this whole area in with that fake grass shit…”

“Bucky.” You said in a sing song voice as you broke down the empty box and added it to the growing pile by the front door so you could go put all the toys back into their baskets again. “TV, please.”

“Little swing set for Jess. This live oak is nice for shade… hammock between those two palms…

“James! Put my damn TV together so your kid can stop ripping apart my living room!” Your fiancé turned around with a huff and a smirk as he watched Jess grab the toy you had literally just put away and throw it on the pink, flower carpet with a laugh.

“OK!” He said as he raised his hands in surrender. “TV.”

“Why you gotta be a damn pain in my ass?” You asked both him and Jessica as you scooped her up, grabbed the toy from her hand, and put it back in the basket. “What’r you doin’, punk, huh? You just pissin off your Ma just ‘cause you can?” You blew a loud raspberry on her cheek and pretended to drop her by moving her to straddle your stomach, holding her head and body to your chest, and dipping both of you down toward the ground. She squealed loudly and took off running when you put her down, making Dakota jump up from where he was watching near the half bathroom to follow her.

“How long have you had him?” Bucky asked as you walked over and started to push a box of his books toward the entertainment center he was setting the TV up on.

“Who, Dakota?” You asked as you pulled open the box. “‘Bout two months after Thor got locked up. Couple days after I found out I was pregnant. I just wanted to know that my kid was safe. So I bought the most vicious looking puppy I could find and had a guy from the block teach me how to train him to be a guard dog that was good with kids. And damn did I get a good one. He’s taken a beating from Jess. She climbs all over him, she’ll even just lay on him and yell at me about bed time right by his ear and he just takes it. She’s his baby.” Bucky nodded his head slowly as he hooked up the cable box that the cable company had dropped off that morning.

“I tried finding you.” He said as you walked over to grab your box of DVD’s. “After, I mean. I tried so damn hard. It was about six months after. I went back to your old apartment but the lady next door said you’d just left one night. She’d no idea where you went…”

“I moved into one of Thor’s places.” You sighed. “Rent was paid up for a whole year, bills were all paid for with money he kept stashed there. It wasn’t even a debate in my head. I cleaned out my cash stash, moved out, and sold all my furniture to some guy few blocks over who was moving in to the section 8 housing for wicked cheap. Got rid of my main car to pay for Jessie’s doctor visits.”

“That’s why I couldn’t find anything in your name.” He said, sadly as you both turned around to look at your daughter as she rattled the baby gate that prevented her from going upstairs. “Jessica!” Your daughter whipped around so quickly she stumbled and landed on her butt. “Leave it alone. No.” Her bottom lip trembled for only a moment before Dakota came over to give her a kiss and nudge her until she stood up again to keep playing.

“I know you didn’t want to leave.” You said softly as you watched Jess put her butt in the air to get her feet under her before grabbing on to her four legged best friend so she didn’t topple over. “I’d like to think I knew you well enough to know that. But we both have to accept that our… relationship is wicked fuckin’ complicated. I have to accept that I don’t know what’s true and what was a lie about what you told me about yourself. And you have to accept that me and your daughter were unfortunately collateral damage because of your job. It sucks, we both hate it. 

But we are also here together; just you and me. Not that I mind that at all because have you seen you naked? And have you cried on your shoulder? And for fucks sake, have you ever, ever met another poor fuck that can sit and listen to me for any fucking stretch of time? Do you think anyone else can put up with sleeping with me? No, because you’re the fucking saint to my satan. But you need to remember something. We are actually, legally new people here. I’m a fucking secretary for fucks sake. And you’re a fucking mechanic. So now, we get to develop those people together. Like… I think, I spent a spring break in Miami Beach and I was on some spring break pool party music video show on MTV. And you could be an army vet…”

“I am an army vet.” He interrupted.

“Then you can still be an army vet, jerk face.” You laughed as you gently pushed his shoulder. “Are you even hearing what I’m saying or is New James a shit listener?”

“I hear you.” He chuckled as he grabbed your wrist and pulled you over to him. “I hate that you’re the rational one of us and I’m the emotional one.”

“That’s what you get when you’re raised on the streets of Charlestown. Rationality.” You both looked over at a single bark, a large bang, and Jessica’s sudden scream cry, and you had no idea which one of you ran into the kitchen faster to get to her. She had somehow managed to pull the oven open, and it must have knocked her down when gravity took over.

“Oh, my poor baby.” Bucky cooed as he picked her up.

“Oh, she’s fine.” You said as you shut the oven with your heel and pointed at him. “Shoulda had the TV set up. She’d be watching Mickey Mouse right now.”

“You know what… fuck you.” He laughed as he cuddled his daughter closer. “Go be rational somewhere else.”

“I’m tellin’ you now, that baby may not be raised in the Town but she sure as fuck ain’t gunna be no pussy ass bitch baby, you hear me?” You called out as you grabbed the next DVD box. “She’s got Townie blood…”

“She’s got sweet New York blood, too.” He said as grabbed the two remotes and sat down with his little love to coddle her. “Tell your Mommy that you’re going to be a sweet little angel, aren’t you.”

“Oh, God help us all!” You groaned playfully as you unloaded the next box while Bucky set up the TV and cable under the watchful eyes of Jessie and Dakota.

Part 4

[ificanthaveu]

Holiday Cups || Shawn Mendes

Description: Holiday working at a Starbucks could quite possibly be the worst thing to ever happen to you, especially when you’re tasked with decorating the store with the shift manager who couldn’t get enough of annoying you: Shawn.

Description per my notes (aka jumped, also this is my fave I love myself for this one): STARBUCKS HOLIDAY AU YES BABY YES

A/N: hi it’s me Dani your local former Starbucks barista aka the worst 3 months of my life aha anyway this idea came outta nowhere but I've never seen anyone do it and we all know I'm a hoe for Starbucks and holidays so enjoy :)

Word Count: 2.4k

12 Days of Ficmas

If you could describe your personal hell in one sentence, it’d be easy: working at Starbuck’s during the holiday season.

You loved your job, and it’s what got the bills paid while you went to school. So, for now, you’d deal with the 4:00 am opening shifts, people complaining about their drinks and cleaning until your hands burned (which, let’s be honest, they were probably burned from something you spilled earlier anyway).

It was a few weeks before Christmas and the biggest store change of the year. The typical green menu signs got switched to cheerful red ones, and the white cups were switched out for the ones adorned with red and green. 

Out of the few years you worked here, you never had to work the closing shift of the day this all had to be changed.

Until now.

When your schedule was sent to you, you felt your heart drop to your feet. You had an 8:00 am class that next day, and you knew that you wouldn’t get out of work until well after midnight. 

And to make it even worse, you were scheduled with the shift manager that seemed to want to make your life a living hell. 

Shawn.

So, when you arrived that day, you plastered a smile on your face and dealt with it. It’d be over before you knew it. 

“[Y/N], nice of you to finally show up. Go find the boxes we’ll need for tonight,” Shawn barked as he slid a croissant into the oven.

“Hello to you too, Shawn. I’m not late, in fact, I’m five minutes early,” you said with a sickeningly sweet voice. 

You glared at you and was about to say something rude when his headset beeped. He swiveled the mouthpiece and turned on his charm as his retail voice came booming through the headset. 

“Welcome to Starbucks, what can I get started for you on this beautiful day?” He said with a cheery tone and a frown still plastered on his face.

You shook your head as you walked past him to gather the multiple boxes full of decorations and supplies that they had sent over for the store change. You stacked them all neatly by the back door in order of what you had to get done first. You triple checked the list and tried not to groan out loud when you saw all the things you had to get done. This place had to look like a winter wonderland before 5:00 am tomorrow morning. 

You took a deep breath and went to the sink to start working on dishes because the sooner those were done, the sooner you could close down the store and start the changes. 

Shawn whisked in and out of the back, piling up more and more dishes. You breathed slowly and continued washing as quickly and thoroughly as you could. Eventually, the pile dwindled down, and the clock struck 10:00.

You dried your hands as you walked out to the front of the store while Shawn locked the front doors. 

“Bring the boxes out. I’m going to close down the register,” he said quickly.

You nodded and walked back to start bringing the boxes into the lobby of the store while you heard the clinking of the change as Shawn counted it. 

You set the last box down and leaned against the wall, waiting for Shawn to finish. He looked up at you for a moment before typing a few things in the register and shutting the drawer. 

“Alright, I’ll change out the cups while you switch the signs,” Shawn said as he rounded the counter to look through the boxes. “What’s in what box?” He asked with a raised eyebrow, expecting you to not know.

“I labeled them all on top,” you said with a smile as you tapped a finger on top of the nearest box where you had written what was inside. 

“Oh,” Shawn said as he looked at the writing on top, letting him know ornaments were in this one. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

“Never heard you say that before,” you said almost under your breath as you grabbed the tall box that contained the signs.

He turned around and watched you walk around the corner before you climbed onto the counter to pull out the old signs. 

“I say thanks all the time,” he said defensively. 

You scoffed, “Yeah, right.”

He crossed his arms across his chest with a displeased look written on his face.

You glanced back at him as you set the sign down. 

“Are you just going sit there and stare at me or start actually doing something?” You said. “I don’t want to be here all night.”

He didn’t say another word as he hauled the box of cups onto the counter and started pulling out the old cups, throwing them in bags and putting in the new ones. 

Silence settles between you two as all you could hear was the shuffling of cups and signs. You hopped off the counter, collected the old signs and put them in the box before bringing it in the back where all the other signs were kept. By the time you got back, Shawn was looking at the list and writing things in the margins. 

“Ok, let’s get this place looking like a winter wonderland,” he grumbled as he opened up the box that contained the fake Christmas tree.

“Cheer up, Scrooge,” you said as you held the box down and Shawn tugged the tree out. 

“No offense, but this is the last place I want to be right now,” Shawn said as he positioned the tree into its stand. 

“That makes two of us,” you responded. “I have an 8:00 am class tomorrow.”

“I was supposed to be singing at that art thing they’re having downtown,” Shawn said quietly. 

“You sing?” You asked as you handed him the lights to wrap the tree. 

He nodded his head, “Yeah, but here I am. Living the dream at Starbucks.”

“Is that what you want to do?” You asked him. 

“Work at Starbucks for the rest of my life? Hell no,” he responded quickly. 

“I meant the singing,” you clarified with an eye roll. 

“Oh, yeah, but it’s pretty unrealistic,” he said. 

“But you were going to perform at that art thing? That’s pretty hard to get into.”

He shrugged his shoulder as a soft blush spread across his cheeks. 

“What about you? Starbucks forever?” He turned the question back at you. 

“Hell no,” you responded the same way he did as he smiled for the first time that night. “I’m actually finishing up my last year in pre-med, and then next year is medical school.”

“You’re pre-med? I had no idea,” Shawn paused and looked up at you from his spot on the ground. 

“Well, you don’t really listen much,” you said slowly, not wanting to break the bond you were slowly building with him. 

“Neither do you,” he said back.

“That’s not true.”

“Really? Do you even know my last name?” He asked with his eyebrows raised. “Because Greg only calls me by it, so everyone should know it.”

You stopped hanging ornaments for a second as you looked over at him, trying to figure out what it was. 

“Does it start with a P?” You asked cautiously.

“Nope,” he said as he continued to wrap the lights. 

“Can you give me a hint?” 

“It’s Mendes,” he said as he shook his head. 

“Well, you just gave it away,” you said defensively. “What’s my last name?” You tested.

“[Y/L/N], I help make the schedule,” he said with an eye roll. 

“Ok, not fair,” you said with a slight laugh, and Shawn returned it. 

Silence fell again as the two of you finished the tree. You both stood back and looked at it side by side. 

“Not bad,” Shawn said.

“Looks good enough to me,” you said as you looked at the list. “So, we just have to hang the garlands and switch out the merchandise.”

“The merchandise is what’s going to suck,” Shawn groaned as he dragged two of the boxes to the shelf. “You can start hanging the garlands and wreaths while I start this.”

You grabbed miscellaneous decorations and started hanging them where the guide directed you to. You carefully hung a garland around the counter and around the menu, ending with a wreath on the front door. 

You break down the boxes, put them away and wander over to Shawn as he fills the merchandise, only being halfway done. 

You sit on the floor next to him and grab the sheet he’s working off of. 

“This doesn’t seem right,” you said carefully as you looked at the sheet and back up at the shelves. “I think you did it backward.”

“No, I didn’t,” Shawn said without even looking at you. 

“Yes, you did. The coffee is supposed to be closest to the door, and you put it the farthest away. You’re supposed to mirror what flip what this sheet shows based on our store design,” you said as you pointed at where it said that on the instructions. 

Shawn leaned against the shelves and sighed as he stared down at the sheet. 

“You sure you’ve never done this before? Because you’re doing a great job at proving me wrong,” he said with just the right amount of sass.

“I worked at other places before this one, and I was a supervisor. I know my way around floorset sheets. But it’s totally fine that you don’t get it yet,” you said with a sympathetic look. 

He rolled his eyes at you, and you couldn’t miss the blush that crept up on his cheeks, which caused yours to do the same. 

You helped him move the items in the correct positions before looking back down at the sheet and finding the new items among the boxes to put on the shelf. 

Shawn moved to put one in the wrong spot again, but you slowly pushed his arm until it was in the right spot. He looked down at you with a small smile.

“I don’t know why they put me in charge of this,” he whispered. 

“Neither do I,” you whispered back. 

He bumped his shoulder into yours as he leaned down to grab more mugs. 

“Why do you hate me?” You asked out of nowhere as you folded your arms across your chest. 

Shawn turns around, mimicking your stance with a confused look on his face. 

“I don’t hate you,” he said bluntly.

“You’ve never said one nice thing to me, and you’re always yelling at me for things I can’t control,” you said carefully.

Shawn paused for a moment, not meeting your gaze. 

“I can’t risk losing this job,” he started. “It’s all I have right now, and I know you can handle it and that you’ll fix whatever the problem is. I can’t say that about anyone else here.”

You stayed quiet for a moment, watching him straighten a row of to-go mugs. 

“If I never call you guys out when something goes wrong, Katie’s eventually going to yell at me about it. But she loves you, and you do everything right. You do everything beyond what’s ‘right.’ And I’m sorry if I came off as anything else other than admiration. You’re amazing at your job,” he said, not looking at you. 

“Really?” You said. 

He simply nodded his head before reaching down to grab the sheet and check his work. 

“If you wanted to work at Starbucks for the rest of your life, you totally could,” he said as he looked back at you with a smirk. 

You rolled your eyes and plucked the sheet out of his hand. 

“What a tough decision. Starbucks or medical school?” You questioned. 

“I think it’s a clear choice. Starbucks,” Shawn teased. 

You grabbed the last few items and put them into the last remaining places as Shawn grabbed a broom to sweep up scraps of cardboard and other paper. 

After that, the two of you stood in the far corner of the store, scanning it carefully to make sure nothing was out of place. Katie would have your heads on a silver platter if it wasn’t perfect. 

“I think it looks good,” you finally said after a minute of silence.

“Yeah, I agree,” Shawn paused. “You did good, [Y/L/N].”

“Wow, the first nice thing you’ve said to me. Thank you, Mendes,” you retaliated. 

“And she remembered my last name,” he said out into the store a little louder than necessary. 

“Alright, let’s get out of here,” you said as you walked away with a skip in your step to grab your bag. 

Shawn followed behind you and grabbed his coat. You followed him towards the back door. 

“What are you up to for the rest of the night?” Shawn asked as he opened the door and held it for you. 

“Sleeping,” you said with a smile as you turned around to look at him. 

“I may not have been able to sing at it, but there are fireworks at the art thing I was telling you about,” he paused and glanced at the time. “They don’t start for another thirty minutes.”

“Are you asking me on a date? Because I’m positive I’m not allowed to date a supervisor,” you said with a smirk.

He rolled his eyes at you. “Fine, then it’s not a date.”

“Ok, not a date. Am I driving or you?”

“You. If I drove, that would be too close to a date, and your car has remote start and is already warm,” he pointed out with a smile.

“Alright, Mendes. Let’s go to see some fireworks,” you said as you began walking him to your car. 

“Can we get hot chocolate?” You asked as you started your car and Christmas music started playing softly through your speakers. 

“Hot chocolate? That’s not Starbucks?” Shawn with his hand to his chest. 

“Guess you’re going to have to fire me,” you said as you threw your hands up. 

“Ok, you’re fired,” he said with a smirk.

You caught on to what he was doing. 

“Fine, let’s go on a date then.”

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