#flatmate blurbs

[hungharrington]

BABE HOW ARE YOU DOING? HOWS LIFE? 🥹

HI HONEY!! IVE BEEN DOING OKAY!!

i’m sorry i’ve been so quiet!! my little fingers have been tippy tapping away writing don’t u worry!! i recently graduated and i quit my job so homie is job hunting so life is hectic! but it’s summer where i am so also i’m kinda thriving

[pollenallergie]

aimeeeeeeee, why would you hide this in the tags????

this is so hot!! fu-

someone needs to write a perv!flatmate!eddie x reader x slightlyperv!flatmate!billy fic rn!!!

roommate!eddie who offers to do your laundry as a secret ploy to steal your panties

[baddestbittyontheblock]

remus lupin fic recs

you are responsible for the content you consume‼️

✧*:·˚ hi everyone!! here is a list of all the fics that are my favs with tagged writers/authors ✧*:·˚

✧*:·˚ remember to like and reblog the works you enjoy in order to support each writer!! ✧*:·˚

✧*:·˚ however, make sure you read the information on each story themselves such as triggers & warnings ✧*:·˚

✧*:·˚ also, if you'd like me to remove your fic from this list, message me! ✧*:·˚

°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。

𓃭 lovers rock by @cosmal remus lupin x fem!afab!reader | she/her pronouns, modern!au, friends to lovers, absolute idiots in love, mutual pining, oblivious!reader, oblivious!remus, drunk!reader, drunk!remus, alcohol consumption

-you and remus lupin have become really good at stealing each other away from parties.

𓃭 sit down by ^ remus lupin x fem!afab!reader

-remus helps you find an outfit when you're stressed.

𓃭 heatstroke by ^ remus lupin x fem!reader | sick!reader, heatstroke, dizziness, mentions of fainting, mentions of nausea, brief mentions of showering together at the end

-remus is bossy when he’s trying to look after you when you’re ill.

𓃭 size kink with remus lupin by ^ remus lupin x fem!reader | she/her, size kink, piv, rough fucking, 2.1k

-remus lupin is tall. expected, he fucks well too. fucks you into oblivion.

𓃭 blooming blueberry by @letterstotheflre mafia!remus x reader | just a hint of smut at the end, 1.6k

-remus surprises his sweet girlfriend at her bakery

𓃭 dad!remus by @randomoutsiders dad!remus lupin x reader

-what Remus would be like as a dad

𓃭 cute fic by ^ husband!remus x pregnant!reader | fluff, mentions of alcohol

-romantic happy life with remus our family and lily and the marauders

𓃭 poly!marauders by ^ poly!marauders x reader | sub!james x sub!fem!reader x dom!remus x dom!sirius, mention of eating, swearing, mentions of sex, nicknames, subspace, hickies, mention of a punishment, 18+, NSFW, 1.5k

-"we should get going." twitching fingers fasten the third to last button on your blouse, vermillion tie hanging loosely around your bruising jugular.

𓃭 be a good bunny and let me kiss you by @robynlilyblack remus lupin x fem! shy!reader | heated, kissing, mentions of hickeys, smoking weed, drugs, drinking and being tipsy, established relationship, fluff

-as the party dies down and everyone's falling asleep, Remus can't help but pepper his girl in kisses...and hickeys

𓃭 agreement by @lionizingheathen flatmate!remus lupin x fem!reader | smut (smut, oral sex male recieving, face fucking, pet names, cum swallowing)

-giving your flatmate, remus lupin a blowjob to help him relax

𓃭 casual dominance by @luveline remus lupin x fem!reader | fluff, 1k

-just remus being casually domestically dominant

𓃭 remus blurb by ^ remus lupin x reader

-you might have worried that a long separation would make things fall apart. remus would want things you couldn't offer over the phone, or he'd find someone at his university that was more interesting, but one conversation kept you going, one confession

𓃭 band blurb by ^ bassist!remus x roadie!fem!reader | 1k, vague adult theme, mdni , modern au

-"there you are," remus says, as though he's said it a hundred times before, and he'll say it a hundred times again. "i've been looking for you."

𓃭 remus blurb by ^ remus lupin x reader

-you might have worried that a long separation would make things fall apart. remus would want things you couldn't offer over the phone, or he'd find someone at his university that was more interesting, but one conversation kept you going, one confession

𓃭 band blurb by ^ bassist!remus x roadie!fem!reader | 1k, vague adult theme, mdni , modern au

-"there you are," remus says, as though he's said it a hundred times before, and he'll say it a hundred times again. "i've been looking for you."

𓃭 remus looking out for you by ^ remus lupin x reader

-remus casually caring for you when you’re out, always having a hand on your waist when you’re in an unfamiliar group, bundling you up for the cold, etc.

𓃭 rockstar blurb by ^ rockstar!remus lupin x shy!fem!reader

-the key card wakes you up. they always beep in the fancy hotels, and you're more lightly dozing than really truly sleeping. 

𓃭 dealer!remus dealer!remus x innocent!reader | mention of drugs

-you didn't want to go collect the weed. marlene promised she would be on time, but then she got busy at school-no doubt ditched you for a girl, not that you minded- but the dispensary was scary.

𓃭 the gist of it by @yellow-berrys remus lupin x fem!reader

-you’re meeting Remus’ mother for the first time, and it’s overwhelming how lovely the house is. domesticity diaries pt 1

𓃭 if i talk to you that way by @vxntagedior dealer!remus lupin x fem!reader | angst, fluff, grumpy/sunshine, mentions of slapping, 1.0k

-remus is concerned about the reaction you gave to him after he pulled a prank on you

𓃭 will you marry me? by @perpetuallydaydreaming remus lupin x fem!reader | fluff, angst, no mention of the word y/n, childhood friends to lovers, mutual pining, character death

-5 times remus has asked you to marry him and 1 extra.

𓃭 dealer blurb by @remusslove dealer!remus lupin x innocent!reader x dealer!lily evans

-“baby- you think you could pass me that paper over there?” lily asked you politely reaching her hand out. you nodded happily completing the favor the ginger haired girl asked you to do.

𓃭 oh he is by @melodramaschild remus lupin x reader

-remus is always a dom before the full moon and all suby right after.

𓃭 remus being possessive by @theemporium remus lupin x reader

-full moon remus being possesive

𓃭 watch over you by @scvrllet the marauders x platonic!fem!reader | angst

-the marauders may have passed but that doesn’t mean they have left you

𓃭 dealer!remus blurb by @inkdrinkerworld remus lupin x reader

-remus doesn’t even tell you to behave. he just gives you a look and a warning squeeze on your thigh

𓃭 cute dealer!remus by ^ remus lupin x reader

-it's friday, so that means it's your self care night

𓃭 remus blurb by @sinnersami remus lupin x reader | minors dni, smuttiest smut

-big dick remus :P

𓃭 marauders by @moonstruckme poly!marauders x fem!reader | 1.1k

-your teeth chatter as you step out of the fastest shower of your life, barely drying yourself off before starting on your makeup. you’re so dumb.

𓃭 over the influence by @bruisedboys remus lupin x fem!reader | friends to lovers, friends trying really hard to be lovers, fluff, mutual pining, lovesick oblivious remus, drunk!reader, modern!au, rugby!james cw, reader wears a skirt, alcohol consumption, 2.9k

-remus lupin is not your boyfriend, but he sure knows how to act like he is.

𓃭 remus blurb by @sweetiecutie remus lupin x fem!reader | nsfw, reader isn’t medically prescribed to wear a bra

-ever since the beginning of your relationships with Remus you have noticed his special interest in your breasts.

𓃭 casual dominance drabble by @xxhispieceofheavenxx remus lupin x reader

- part 2 , part 3 , part 4

[toomuchracket]

madsss. flatemate!matty and girlie first time showering together and it’s very fluffy and somewhat smutty 🥺

combining with thinking about flatmate first bj (idk if we’ve spoken about it yet??) like he would be sooo so desperate and i cant help but imagine him a little bit subby, not too much just whining and begging because he’s wanted it for so so long and theyre just both so eager and mutually obsessed with each other and just want each other to feel good

the morning after condom-gate! after waking up and snuggling for a bit and having the "bf? gf? yeah" chat (lol), you're like "come on. wanna brush my teeth so i can kiss you again" - matty's like "hello i love you i don't give a shit about morning breath", and you're like "yeah but i also wanna shower. with you, preferably. if you want that". naturally, he's like "are you joking of course i do. never seen you naked in daylight before", and you roll your eyes and stand up (and let him find out you have a back tattoo. there's a blurb about this already somewhere) and walk away (yes you're swinging your hips a bit) and let him run after you like "fuck me you're so hot". teeth brushing happens (like in bring it on teehee), and then - after a bit of debate about how hot the water should be - you pull your boyfriend into the shower to make out with him again, and for a while it's all murmured "i love you" and gentle touches and hands in hair and all that sweet stuff. but then you realise that you're naked in a shower with an equally naked matty, and of course you get Turned On; the kiss gets deeper, and you trail your hand down his stomach to tentatively stroke him and whisper "wanna suck you off", and he CRUMBLES. like you said, he's a bit subby - he whines out a "please", and as you get on your knees he's like "oh my god oh my god", and he gasps when you kiss the we are kings tat (which you've thought about doing for like. years lol) before you take him in your mouth. because it's you doing this for him, it takes a lot for him to keep control for a while, and every time you look up at him he weakens. but he does well, considering, and he's so cute about it; he's got one hand in your hair and the other holding yours (bless), and he's proper babbling like "so fucking good, perfect girl, dreamt about this for so fucking long. fuck, sweetheart, please let me cum, please. love you, love you so much". and you keep him in your mouth until he's totally done, proudly showing him all the cum on your tongue before you swallow and giggle - he actually has to sit down on the shower floor beside you at the sight, before his legs give way, and he kisses you deeply like "thank you for that. definitively the best head i've ever had, darlin. i love you". you're like "i love you. i wanna do that again!", and matty's like "me too, but first - sit down and open your legs for me, sweetheart. your turn to feel good"... hot <3

[3terna15unshin3]

Would you ever consider writing about Matty & Este finding out their pregnant/having a baby?? Would love to read it if you’d be up for writing it!

hiiii thank u for the request, this will just be a rambly run on idea type of blurb!! fun fact - at the beginning of all this i had my heart set on them not having a baby bc este is me and i have never ever wanted kids and honestly don’t even like them very much (lol) … but it’s clearly something important to matty irl so after getting some requests (and also loving like the domestic and fluffy and sensitive ideas that it would bring on) i have reconsidered to satisfy the people🫡🫡🫡

so many authors on here write dad matty very well tho and much better than i ever could, like @yourtouchismidas’s Ruins universe / @toomuchracket's flatmate!matty dad and d word blurbs / @ughgoaway’s teacher au 💌💌💌 and so many more!!!!! i also have a pregnancy scare blurb here if u want to read that too! i hope u enjoy 🌟

tbsg masterlist // more blurbs

it happens after they get married and i think it wouldn’t necessarily be an accident, like este would pose the idea of her going off her contraceptive pill instead of switching to a different one (after her hormones start to have a bit of a hay day) and matty's up for it too. when they find out they’re over the moon. este expects to be scared or full of anxiety but it feels so right that they cry and smile and hold each other all day. it’s such a sacred moment/feeling so they decide to keep the news to themselves for the first couple of months. 

everyone in their life gets suspicious that este stops ordering cocktails at dinner and is always weirdly out of breath after doing anything barely physical but nobody is concerned enough to confront them about it. she wears baggy clothes (like matty's slouchiest band tees) while out and her bump starts to grow, but at home she doesn't bother covering up. a typical 'around the house' outfit of hers is a bralette top and her favorite jeans just with the zipper down and button wide open, tummy fully on display while typing away at a review on her laptop or snuggling up to keiko on the sofa. matty likes it, since he thinks she looks sexy and a certain energy seems to be radiating off of her that he can't seem to break his attention from. este's always catching him steal glances at the bump when he thinks she isn't looking. he sets his hand on it every night and rubs his thumb back and forth at a steady rhythm while talking about whether the baby will have his curly hair or her tan skin or his musical talent or her passion for literature. all of the above, hopefully.

she’s incredibly run down at the start so she spends lots of time in bed, which she hates. she wants nothing more than to go out to the cafe down the street, that they love, and sip on a matcha while he downs a cappuccino, and they share a warm pastry; but the baby makes her unable bear the taste of green tea and the noise of the espresso machine would probably start to drive her crazy. her attention span is suddenly split in half and she gets migraines ferquently so she's trudging behind on the list of books she needs to read.

it's tough, but matty's there to help. he appreciates that she's in bed so often because she has a habit of working herself too hard anyway. because his recent album cycle is over with, he can care for her and brush her hair and learn the order of her skincare routine so he can apply it for her when she’s too tired to do it herself. sometimes matty can tell the sickness is extra bad and that este's just downplaying her pain for the sake of not bothering him so he scolds her and treats her like a princess until she can't help but smile in pure adoration. people begin to notice that she isn’t spotted much in public at all and maybe even breakup rumors swirl around the internet.

the months they spend with their little secret are so precious, but they begin telling family when the baby grows to big to hide. it’s the best news of the year. everyone close to them finding out makes it feel so real. they receive little baby grows as gifts from cate and georgia, este’s dad helps them fix up a nursery in the spare room, and denise begins buying them diapers way too early. matty and este once discuss how lucky they are that their little one will be surrounded by such a village of love and they deliriously sob together at the thought of it. 

i think they’d announce it to the public by posting a cute candid taken by charli or george. it’s from the rare time este feels well enough to go out on a little doggy play date/walk through the park so the four of them do that. the pic shows matty and este sitting cross-legged on the grass with keiko in matty’s lap, her tongue sticking out (like it always does when she’s excited). este’s bump pokes out of the bottom of her jumper and they’re both mid-laugh and looking at each other with squinty eyes. the caption is something cute and casual like ‘healy x 4’ or ‘spot the newest healy’ and fans go absolutely insane. there are plenty of news outlets that use their pregnancy as headlines too but neither of them read any of the many articles written because they couldn’t care less of what journalists had to say.

in my heart matty is a girldad, so when it’s time to find out the sex, the doctor shares it with them right away. the two of them think gender reveals are stupid so they don’t have one. they begin building a little personality for her, like when este would eat something that she usually loves but now makes her sick, matty jokes and says "of course she isn’t a mushroom type of girl. i could’ve guessed that from a mile away," and este rolls her eyes. he’d call out phrases like "my girls! i’m home!" when coming back through the front door after a trip to the shops and este would pull the "you’re really outnumbered now, you know… 3-1…" card whenever they disagree about something. 

they also accumulate tons of storybooks that they like to take turns reading to the bump before bed every night. because they're so pretentious they go for classics like the velveteen rabbit and corduroy and anything by shel silverstein. matty always chooses the longest ones so that he can spend as much time as possible talking to her. he brings his lips all close to make sure the baby can hear him and sometimes does silly voices. when they make este giggle, her tummy vibrates with laughter and sometimes they’ll feel her kick or shift and it’s something they look forward to every day.

throughout the whole pregnancy, every couple of weeks, matty would snap a picture of the two of them (or three, i guess) standing in the full length mirror in their bedroom. they both stand profile to show off este’s growing belly, her in front, matty’s chest pressed against her back. they hold hands and she rests her empty one on her stomach, while he uses his to take the photo with a fancy point and shoot camera. the roll of film he shoots on is full of pictures and he only takes it to get developed after the final one is taken. the last of the roll shows este, now a couple weeks postpartum, with matty still holding her from behind, but this time she cradles baby dorothy in her arms instead of her pregnant belly. 

it becomes their favourite picture ever taken, so even though they’d agree to keep her identity private and barely share anything the first few months, matty and este excitedly post it on social media to at least share that she was born and what her name is. it’s a carousel with the newest picture as the cover and as you swipe you can see a couple of the previous mirror pics where her bump gets bigger and bigger over time. his caption would either be cute like ‘our baby dodes was born on the 25th of jan x’ or ‘my favourite girls in the world (este.manansala and our little dorothy)’ or something really stupid like ‘became a friend to dorothy on the 25th of january (is this a coming out post or is my daughter is named dorothy ?? guess x)’ … get it??? bc ‘friend of dorothy’ means gay man lmfao i feel like matty would be annoying like that.

dorothy florence manansala healy is her full name. it’s a mouthful but they’d love that about it and it’s also a filipino tradition to make the mother’s maiden name a second middle name for the child, so that’s where that comes from. they went through hoards of them before settling on one combination. dorothy florence comes from a hodge podge of meanings like the D initial for denise, matty's early memories of the wizard of oz, their beloved florencia, and just the fact that they found them both on baby name lists and thought they were the prettiest. they call her dodie and dodes and dodiebaby and dot and dotty and doddle and even flossie sometimes (they hope that once she’s a bit older she can pick the nickname she likes the best, so they can just call her that, instead of having to choose between them all).

and frankly, they’re completely obsessed with her. she has big brown eyes and a full head of hair and chubby rosy cheeks. matty loves that she has este’s nose and long lashes and este loves that she has his curls and pointy chin. her eyes light up whenever her mum or dad is in her view and she learns to smile whenever they call her name (or any different iteration of it). 'song for our daughter' by laura marling comes on shuffle once in a while and it makes them weep now that they have one.

being new parents takes them on a million rollercoasters of emotions all at once but they make it through the tough times together. of course their families and the guys help out a bunch, especially hann and carly who then get baby fever and maybe consider having another to give baby hann a sibling and dodie another cousin. i think matty and este would be really great though, gentle most of the time but firm when needed and they work really well as a team. matty def would not be one of those dads who slacks off or thinks it’s babysitting to watch his own kid (ofc, bc ew), like he’d be so helpful and loving and thoughtful about caring for este and any struggles she may have postpartum just as much as caring for the baby. 

they try to split things as evenly as possible and all the love flows so freely and carelessly between the three of them, although i do imagine when dot is a toddler that she’s a bit of a daddy’s girl lol. maybe that’s just me being up matty’s ass but i could just imagine her always wrapping her arms around his leg when they stand together or being really excited to go pick out a birthday gift for him with este or being mesmerized by his singing voice and stuff like that. 

baby dorothy quickly becomes their best friend. she’s everything they could’ve ever dreamed of. 

anyway that’s all i could muster up for now, if you’re wanting more baby manansala-healy blurbs, i’d be open to write them, but i don’t really have anything specific in mind so i probably only will if i get some ideas in my ask box :)))) feel free to send some if you have any!!!

ok bye love u

[heavenhealy]

welcome to my masterlist!

full length fics:

consume ➛ smut, boyfriends best friend!matty x fem!reader, dom!matty x sub!reader

satiate ➛ smut, flatmate!matty x fem!reader, dom!matty x sub!reader

completion ➛ smut, Professor!matty x grad student!reader, dom!matty x sub!reader, fem!reader

blurbs:

cum play ➛ smut, dom!matty x sub!reader, fem!reader

[abiiors]

V do you know any sick fics you can recommend?

yes!! hold on

an encounter - @64yrsold

domesticated - @cowboylor

miserable together - me :D (i really like this one hehe)

nurse matty - @something-bout-the-weather

this flatmate!matty blurb // and also this one // d word, need i say more :D - @toomuchracket

this one (hangover) - me :D

and also this one that i wrote last night and thought it was very sweet

lemme know if any links are broken/don't work and i'll redo them <3

[illfoandillfie]

2023 Advent: Day 11

Another one I've come up with myself. I think I got the idea for this from a reel on insta lmao. But I thot it'd make a nice Gwil blurb, especially because I felt I had to do something where he was nicer than the sugar daddy one lmao.

Warnings: Age Gap (unspecified but reader is in uni), P in V, unprotected sex, facial,

“Fuck Gwil,” you moaned, head dizzy and legs shaking as he made you cum for the second time. Fairly standard for him but vastly different to pretty much all the guys you’d been with before.   Gwilym groaned as your pussy tightened, managing to maintain his rhythm and keep his thumb working over your clit.   You squirmed, not sure if you were trying to get closer or further from his touch, but moaning as the wave of pleasure continued.   It was this sort of treatment that had convinced you to keep seeing him beyond what you'd expected would be a one night stand. You didn’t usually do the older guy thing but fuck he made a good case for switching. His cock alone was reason enough, not to mention his fingers and tongue and the fact that he knew where the clit was. But beyond sex you’d started to see why too. 

He had his own house and more money than guys your age which was nice. He knew how to cook and clean and was more emotionally mature, or mature in general really. The guys you’d previously been with, and the guys at uni you might have considered going out with, all seemed like children compared to Gwil. And he was respectful too. Of your space and your time and your belongings. He’d have happily spent the night with you without having sex at all. In fact, he’d suggested that when he realised his box of condoms was empty. But you’d been thinking about his cock all day and were practically desperate for it so told him you still wanted to. He’d double checked and was very sweet about making sure you didn’t feel pressured or anything like that.   “If it makes you feel better you could pull out and cum on me. That’d be hot,” you’d said as you’d reached into his pants, finding him stiffening already.   “Oh I like that idea,” he’d said, voice all low and rumbly and sexy, “You’d look good covered in my cum.”  “Yeah? Where would you like to see it most? Stomach? Ass?”  “Face.” 

After that there’d been very little room for talk. Mostly it had just been moaning and touching and kissing and fucking. He’d got you to cum very quickly, hitting just right as he pounded into you. And when you did, he moaned about how good your cunt felt, reminding you he was raw which made it all so much hotter. The second orgasm was better somehow but he must have felt the same because he pulled out nearly as soon as you were through it.  You whined at the sudden loss but he was already shuffling over you, his hand gliding over his cock, slick with your cum, as he held himself back while he lined up.   A groaned, “Close your eyes,” was all the warning you got and you hurried to do so before he grunted and you felt his cum spurt over your brow and cheeks and nose and lips seconds later. It went on longer than you’d expected to which just made you horny all over again.   Gwil was vocal throughout his release too, which you appreciated. You liked hearing him. Especially when he panted, “Fuck you’re so hot like this,” after he was done.  You would have opened your eyes and smiled except he’d already scooted back and begun kissing you desperately, pushing his cum onto your tongue with his. 

You were panting by the time he finally let you go, able to feel the cum and sweat drying on your skin even as your arched your body up into his, hoping for another round.   Gwil dropped a soft, much more chaste, kiss to your lips and said, “You must be getting uncomfortable under all my mess. I’ll find you something to clean up, give me a second.”  You nodded, sitting up as soon as his weight was off you. Surprisingly Gwil left the room, still naked which you supposed was a perk of owning your own home and not having flatmates. But, as far as your experience went guys usually handed you a shirt or, if you were lucky, towel from their floor. Once you’d even been handed your own dress to clean yourself up. Gwil’s dirty laundry wasn’t on the floor but he hadn’t stopped at his laundry basket in the corner of his room either, so you weren’t exactly sure what to expect. You sat there wondering if you were meant to follow or if you should just bite the bullet and tidy up as much as possible with your discarded shirt. But Gwil came back before long and knelt beside you on the bed.  “Close eyes again,” he said softly, lifting what appeared to be a damp facewasher up to your cheek.   It was comfortably warm against your skin, his strokes as gentle as possible as he properly took care of you. And once again you found yourself thinking that maybe there were a few goood reasons to date older men.   “Feel better?” he asked when he was through.  All you could do was look up at him and nod, speechless at how well he treated you.   His smile was adorable as he leaned in to give you a small kiss before setting the cloth on his nightstand and rejoining you under the covers.   You snugged into him, still not quite capable of anything more than gazing at him in rapt wonder.   “You’re quiet,” his hand rubbed over your thigh, “everything okay?”  “Perfect,” you nodded, pulling him into another, deeper kiss. 

[soapdish290]

I initially read 'In The Woods' by Tana French in 2013, after seeing a recommendation basically saying that, after reading a Tana French novel, the reader "has to go and hug my dog for a long while", to paraphrase.

Re-reading it over a decade later I wasn't expecting to finish the book feeling just as desolate and affected as I did the first.

I know we here all love the phrase "doomed by the narrative" and let me tell you, there are so many characters here doomed in so many narratives. Sometimes the reader knows the details from minute one. Sometimes you can feel the doom, formless and cloying, and have to read on, aching and helpless, to watch it land.

French is an absolutely stunning writer. She fully leverages the first person perspective to create all the isolated inevitability the format can give. A sad, lonely, nostalgic autopsy of interwoven tragedy. Actually that's my blurb quote, fuck it.

I choose the word "nostalgia" very deliberately. It's a strangely butter feeling, to me. A sort of empty longing. French evokes it frequently and beautifully.

French writes slow and lets the characters and atmosphere breath and grow and move, in fits and starts, to the preordained (but, to the reader, still hidden!) conclusion.

I'm chucking a line break here because below this I'm going to spurt a bunch of spoiler shit I want to talk about and there's a (very faint) possibility that someone might read this and be pushed into reading a novel.

If you are planning to read, however, know this: The narrator is a bit of a prick. He's 100% written that way on purpose. He is what makes everything work.

Embarrassingly, when I first read the book as a 20 year old eejit, I saw Ryan as a likeable, sympathetic protagonist. I do not like who I was as a 20 year old. Luckily, inall subsequent readings, I recognised him as an extremely well drawn example of the casually misogynistic, genuinely thinks he's a good guy, thinks "political correctness has gone mad" prick everybody knew at least one of.

Honestly these days I think it's a testament to French's writing - he's very well drawn, entirely realistic, and completely vital to most of the twists. If he wasn't a fucking arsehole half of it wouldn't work.

One thing I noticed this time, is that it's heavily implied Ryan did to his flatmate Heather what he did to Cass, in part. When he fordt introduces Heather, he says he took the flat in part because he fancied her, but "we both worked out that Harry and Sally were never going to materialise" (page 103 of my kindle copy).

Later, when Heather works out that Ryan slept with and is now shutting out Cassie, Heather says "she doesn't deserve that, [...] any more than I did." (Page 491).

I'll admit this might be really obvious to everyone but my aro/ace arse, but it hit me like a truck this time around.

Another very tenuous thing I noticed and really fucking like is right at the end, when Ryan drunkenly calls Cassie and she leaves the line open and he hears her and Sam. The narrative is unsure whether this was accidental or deliberate. I choose to interpret Cassie's word choice in a way that leans deliberate. She tells Sam it was a wrong number. "He told me he loved me [...] but he turned out to be looking for Britney." (Page 587).

Now it's very likely I'm reading faaaar too much into this, but the phrasing matches Cassie and Ryan joking around about a hypothetical personal ad for Ryan, "male, six foot [...] seeks his very own Britney for..." (Page 188). I love this interpretation. Gives the scene such a delicate, devastating impact. If its a callback its so soft and intimate in its kindness or its cruelty.

There's literally an entire essay topic based on close reading the archaeological dig mirroring Ryan digging up his past, the respective value of one over the other, the effects on the present etc. On the way Ryan goes back at the end and the wood is almost gone, he connects to the people destroying the past, the arrowhead pendant he refuses, etc etc etc. The symbolism be RICH.

Fantastically written novel. I'm rambling.

[piastrinorris]

thanks to @pollenallergie i haven't stopped thinking about older!tom grant for days now, and while any fics i could write about him need to be put on the backburner for now (there's one that's been in the pipeline for a While now), here's some headcanons of my interpretation of what lil tommy g is like as an adult:

(under the cut bc long)

(also as i'm writing this i may or may not be planning fics that happen at each stage of the timeline)

(also x2 before any of u weirdos start hopping into my ask box, this is in no way trying to overshadow cassie's version of him, i'm just throwing my own ideas into the void. i love cassie's tom, and then in a separate universe, i can have my tom, too. also he's p much every guy i've ever pulled except he's way more romantic than any of my exes, so this is more self-catharsis than anything else LMAO)

okay so tom's timeline post-canon:

after his lil summer gigs at the caravan park, he moved back up north to derby and got a job at a construction company that's owned by an old family friend, like his dad's childhood best friend. it was always a given, even when he wanted to pursue a life living down in cornwall, he just couldn't stop associating the whole place with ruth and heartbreak and all manner of things that weighed heavy on his heart. and fuck that, right? he's got his whole life ahead of him!

he spends his first few years as a legal adult the way all british lads do - by spending at least two nights a week at some kind of pub, bar or nightclub. he can pull, of course, but the convenience of still living with his parents gives him an excuse to put off going any further with anyone. cassie's anon who suggested bi tom, i'm kissing you so hard on your forehead rn bc he'd literally spend like almost a year being just shy of his Hoe Phase, making out with anyone who wants to, regardless of their gender, but only while he's at the club, he never lets himself go further.

until that one night when his parents are away and his mates know full well that he's got no excuse and they're very obviously egging him on. (this would probably be the first fic in the series)

he moves out from his parents' place into a flat with a friend he's made outside of work, and that's when his lil slut era truly begins. (maybe a series of blurbs for this?) he lives with a friend he's made outside of work (any gender, it's not relevant bc bi!tom and his flatmate are 100% Best Buds For Life but also if neither of them find anyone worth pulling on a night out, they'll go back to the flat and fool around together anyway)

in his working life, tom absolutely thrives at the construction company. mostly bc he's known the workers his whole life, so he can have plenty of banter with them, but also, more importantly, he knows just enough IT skills to be able to help the owner with digitalising all the admin stuff. this means tom rises the ranks to supervisor pretty quickly, and everyone loves little Boy Wonder himself. he hates being in the office though, he's always out on site wherever the company's got jobs going. he's hands-on, he wants to help, he doesn't want to be a Big Boss Type

okay, from now on, this is the part in tom's life where he meets you, the person who ends up as his endgame. so this is a different character to those i might write about in his hoe phase, probably time skip a few years of tom taking a break from slutting it up and just casually dating until he knows exactly what he wants to give and take from a relationship.

and then he meets you. it's summer, and your work bestie has invited you over to her place to meet her boyfriend and her non-work friends for the first time. you're a little nervous, but you remember that she has a dog, so if all else fails, you can just go full Party Dog mode and switch everyone else off

it's not that you don't like her friends from outside of work, you just have way less in common with them than you do her, and it feels awkward trying to put yourself in conversations without her there, and she's all over this new fella of hers, so you go to your failsafe to find that someone else has had the same idea as you

tom's come along as support for his best friend, who's dating your work bestie. however, since the boyfriend is being walked like a dog around the whole party being introduced to everybody, tom isn't as sociable and was promised there'd be a Party Dog there, so he's gone looking, himself.

you guys bond v quickly over being Party Dog People, spending the night narrating different groups as though you're david attenborough and taking it in turns to let the dog comment in silly voices you both make up for it

stupidly, you don't get his number, or even his last name. one thing you'd learned about him is that he doesn't really use social media, which you can tell from the instagram account you find from several hours of snooping lightly browsing, which was last updated when he'd gone on a lads' holiday to ibiza several years ago, and only features group shots in which he's tiny and his face is mostly obscured with sunglasses. which means you've got to try and convince your work bestie to invite you somewhere that her boyfriend's friends are gonna be, too

thankfully, this is nice n easy, bc tom's been planning the exact same on his end. you guys get so lost in conversation all night that you almost forget to ask for his number, until you're rolling down the window in the back of the Uber you've ordered and he's hanging halfway through it to make sure he studies the screen so that he can make sure that everything he thinks he's saying matches up with what he actually is

the Uber driver gets a little peeved about this and is like "listen mate just get in so i can drive off" and tom sheepishly complies, ending up riding all the way home with you. you'd feel rude if you didn't invite him in, though a little part of you is sad that tom's just probably gonna be another one night stand bc you really liked him. you get another drink for the two of you once you're inside, he suggests the two of you watch something for a bit for some background noise. naturally, you cuddle up, and that leads to kissing - a lot of kissing. but he doesn't try it on any further. you both end up falling asleep on the couch until you wake up to the sight, sound n smell of him making himself home in your kitchen, cooking you breakfast

you guys have this sort of, slightly more than friends, not exactly friends with benefits, relationship that he isn't out here jumping the gun trying to define, so neither are you. you're trying to stay casual with it, to keep up with him, even though your work bestie keeps pushing you for more bc she doesn't believe that that's just what you guys are, but she's not making any hints that tom's suggested taking things further, and so neither will you. (would it be an rj fic if there wasn't a comedy of errors thanks to basic miscommunication? lol)

either a significant amount of months pass, or valentine's day approaches, and tom gets you a gift. it's not any big grand gesture, but it's something that v much pertains to something you really love. a hobby, an interest, some silly little objectification of an inside joke) you feel bad, of course, and he insists that he's just a gift giver by nature, it wasn't done with the intention of getting anything back. but after many minutes of bargaining, he relents and allows you to invite him over for a homecooked meal. this is when you guys talk it all out, explain that both of you have felt a Spark but didn't want to Assume so you'd been dialling it back to protect your friendship with each other. naturally: tom ends up spending the night, but not a lot of sleeping happens, if you catch my drift

now in terms of what the dynamic is with you and older!tom:

he's still the menace he was in his younger days. you head into the office to give him the lunch he forgot to make bc he'd been running late too busy eatin something ELSE amiRIGHT and his coworkers tease you for being so in love that you'll bend over backwards for him and you know as soon as they've said that, that any second tom'll be leaning in once they're looking the other way to mutter in your ear about how you certainly were bent over backwards for him last night

speaking of, remember how he hated being in the office? not once he starts dating you. any excuse he can get to have you in there with him, whether his colleagues know or he's snuck you in, he's there

i also think that. okay i'm also co-opting @mypoisonedvine's idea of tom having a housewife kink, but hear me out. so, you know there's that saying, if you joke about a kink long enough, you'll end up into it? i think something similar-but-not-really happens to tom. where he works with a bunch of older men with "traditional" values, they're always making jokes about being in trouble with the missus, or about whether he can't stay after work bc you've got the dinner on and you're expecting him home. and tom isn't afraid to call them out on it, to tease them right back that it sucks for them that their partners aren't into them, but he's just built different. but the more he vocalises against being into the idea of you being a stay-at-home wife, the more taboo it becomes. which means the sexier that idea becomes. which means soon enough, he's dreaming about you, looking after the house while he makes sure he can look after you. it becomes obvious after a while that he's got a specific fantasy in mind for you, so he eventually tells you, and you're into it, too. especially considering construction pays pretty decently once you're up the ladder like tom is, technically you're one let's do it away from making your fantasy a reality. but there's just something about sensationalising something so easily obtainable, but not giving into it, that makes it all the more exciting for you both

i don't think either of you fully make your minds up about whether you want to start a family or live the dink (double income, no kids) life forevermore and use your money to spoil each other. i think you guys spend most of your twenties and maybe some of your early thirties just enjoying life, travelling the world, indulging yourselves, until eventually you settle down. a lot of yours and tom's friends, especially the ones who have already started families of their own, question why you wouldn't want to start young, grow up with your kids, and then enjoy your later years without the responsibility. but you and tom have talked it through, and his mindset has always been that you don't stop being a parent once the kid hits 18, and that he's always thought life was for living, not for saving up for a future that never ends up coming because you're forever saving up for it

i've written way more than i initially intended to LOL but yeah, i might make this something? i might not? idk. but this is my tommy. <3

[theemporium]

i was gonna do some more blurbs tonight but then one of my flatmates decided to piss me off so that’s fun!🤠love uni halls 

[toomuchracket]

Omg CAN we get a blurb of flatmate Matty FaceTiming Denise and telling her him & girly got together 🥹🥹🥹

you're just chilling on the sofa together watching tv (and sneaking little kisses) the evening after condomgate, and matty smiles against your lips and says "when should we, y'know, tell people about us, by the way? like my mum, and your mum - feel like we should tell them soon, yeah?"; you kiss his nose and shrug like "could tell them now, actually. well, my mum'll still be at work for another couple of hours, but we could at least tell denise", and matty's like "alright, let's go". you snuggle in beside him while he facetimes - before you can even say hi when his mum answers, though, she's like "i'm at the checkout in sainsburys i'll be two minutes!" and presumably shoves the phone in her pocket while she yaps to the person behind the till, at which matty just sighs and shakes his head while you giggle. anyway, denise reappears once she's put her shopping in the car and sat herself in the front seat, beaming like "hello, darlings! oh, you look so cosy. and very like a couple - sorry, sorry, i just had to say it", and matty's like "we do? oh, that's good, given that, y'know, we are, now"; she blinks, and then literally starts cheering lmfao, proper like "do you KNOW how LONG i've been WAITING for this? oh, this is wonderful. how did it happen?", and you can feel matty panic beside you so you cut in like "couldn't hold in the feelings any longer and kissed last night and had a very overdue chat lol". technically not a lie, either! anyway, denise is so excited about it that she actually tears up, bless her - once the call ends, matty's like "she overreacted with that one lol", but then YOUR mum cries when you tell her too and he's like "huh! maybe we really were just that clueless" lmfao yeah no shit matthew. but yes, all very lovely <3

[stmaryslibraryios]

Gillian McAllister

Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister 

Gripping, the blurb said, Well I’m afraid I must be in the minority as I didn’t find it any of the above.  I also got really confused with the plot and skim read some of the desciptive prose that I didn’t think added to the story.

Set around Bristol, present day.  Julia is a detective with the local police.  She is married with a teenage daughter but her and her husband Art are in separate bedrooms as he confessed to her last Christmas that he had had a one night stand.  Julia lets him share the house for their daughter, Genevieve’s sake.

A report of a missing 22yr old girl Olivia, comes in so Julia & her team head up the case.  However, there is something strange about the case.  Olivia was last seen on CCTV heading into an alley but she never came out, there is a dead end & no other means of escape.  The last people who say they saw her were her flatmates when she moved in the day before – only they never saw her only heard her.

As Julie gets in her car to go home after a long day she is aware of a balaclava clad figure hiding & waiting for her in the back of her car.  He wants her to plant evidence in Olivias room otherwise he will disclose the secret Julia & Genevieve are hiding. The incident he is referring to happened last year when Genevieve was mugged.  She lashed out & injured her attacker who several days later died from sepsis.  The incident was never reported as Julia was frightened that her daughter would end up in jail for defending herself.   At the time of the incident Julia was investigating another missing girl – Sophie.  Sophie was never found & Julie wonders if she could have investigated better if she hadn’t been so distracted by Genvieves incident.

The story is told from 3 different people Lewis (the father of missing Sophie), Julia, Emma (the mother of Mathew/Andrew who Lewis thinks killed his daughter).  We also get useless snippets of Instagram/Tweet things from Olivia added in between.  At the end I had to read the blurb to remind myself what had happened in the beginning.  Not impressed.  IMO Wrong Time Wrong Place was better.

Review by Lindy

[fragileruns]

Hey can i request a angsty best friends to lovers fic where steve and eddie are already dating and have been going steady for a while and Reader is both of their best friend and all of them are flatmates. Reader freaks out and tries to distance herself from them bcs she feels like she is breaking up a couple by having a crush on both of them meanwhile steddie are trying to figure out how to let the Reader know they both are in love with her. Maybe all of them realising that they are basically a throuple minus the sex w the reader part with all the domestic bliss. (They are basically married to each other lmao)

I'm not sure if you write poly fics and it's totally cool if this is not something you're interested in.

Thank you xx

hi love i let this sit in my inbox for a while because i really do want to write it, but i’m just not sure i’d be good at writing poly relationships yet since i can hardly write blurbs for one character </3 i just need to get their personalities down better first and then i can focus on how to incorporate poly relationships - i’m just saying this so you can send your fic elsewhere! i’ll hopefully do them in the future after i can write both steve and eddie’s personality better on their own first

[heyyyharry]

Loved the flatmate series!! Can you write some more blurbs pls

I haven't written a flatmate blurb in a while, but enjoy! :)

.

They were here again. Y/N knew it.

Every day she came home after a class, and every time her flatmate's friends were in her living room. At least she had her room to escape to, but she still paid rent every month, so she should be entitled to use the communal areas without the fear of being talked to.

Well, none of them actually talked to her, though, and that made her feel even worse.

"Hello, hello," Harry said when she came in.

He didn't even bother to turn his eyes away from the football game on TV. There might have been a goal, or one of the players did something outrageous, making him and the other boys -- Niall, Liam, and Louis -- scream and bury their faces in their hands.

"Oh, you ferking idiot!" Niall said.

"Should have been a penalty," Harry sighed, shaking his head.

Y/N rolled her eyes. She'd seen him play football, and even though she didn't know much about the sports, she still thought he was pretty shit. But clearly, he would know more than these professional players.

The sound of the front door open and shut caused her to turn around. Layla strutted in like her name was on the lease. "Hello, bitches," she said to the boys and breezed right past Y/N as if Y/Nweres a ghost.

Y/N's jaw was on the floor as she watched Layla head to the kitchen area and open the fridge to grab the milk before moving on to Y/N's mug collection in the cupboard and picking one of her favs.

"Harry, did you get herbal tea like I asked you to?" Layla asked, annoyed when she only saw the English Breakfast in the cupboard.

That's it, Y/N thought, fuming, and cleared her throat. Nobody batted an eye, so she raised her voice when she spoke, "Harry."

"Yeah?"

"A word, please?"

"Sure. Just five more minutes."

"Now."

Harry looked up, lips quivering, puppy dog eyes blinking at her, but she only stared back with a poker face until he dropped that fake expression and got up, sighing.

"Be right back," he said, moving away from the sofa now. "And Layla. Your herbal tea is in that Tesco bag."

"Yay!" Layla said and started digging through the grocery bag on the counter.

Y/N grabbed Harry's wrist and dragged him into his room.

"Hey, if we're gonna have sex, at least give me ten minutes to clear my bed," he said jokingly when she sat down on his bed.

She made a face, disgusted. Clearing your filthy bed would take at least a month." Then she looked around. "You know what? A flamethrower would fix the problem."

"What are you talking about? My room exudes manliness."

She didn't have time to argue with him as he clearly enjoyed the attention. "Let's get straight to the point," she said, squaring her shoulders.

He stood in front of her, arms crossed, back against his wardrobe. "Sure."

"This has to stop. Your friends can't be here 24/7."

"They're only here during the day."

"Yes! The only time they're not here is when we're sleeping. Otherwise I would be so sleep-deprived!" Y/N said. "Look, I have class in the morning and afternoon and my part-time job. I just want to go home to peace and quiet."

"You must be fun at parties."

"I'm really not. I don't go to parties for this very reason." She got up, staring up at him. She hated that he was tall because she never succeeded in trying to look intimidating while confronting him. But to be fair, it was hard to be intimidating when you had crippling anxiety.

"Your friends go or I will."

"What?"

"You heard me. Your friends go or I will move out after this month. This just gives me PTSD about my previous roommate in the student halls, and I don't want to go through it again."

"Alright, alright. I never thought it was this serious," he huffed, shoving his hand into his hair. "What if I tell them to be quieter?"

"That's impossible."

"Hey, my friends are capable of being quiet and respecting other people's boundaries," he said, but she didn't think he believed it himself.

Still, she agreed, "Fine. Talk to them then. Thanks for this efficient discussion."

Before he could say anything else, she pushed back him and went to her room.

***

Something was definitely wrong.

Today, Y/N came home and saw Harry's friends' shoes in the hall, but it was so silent in the flat. She couldn't hear the sound of the telly when she came in, not even Layla's annoying voice talking shit about a different person as she did every week.

"Hi?" she said, stopping in the doorway to the living room/kitchen area.

"Hey," they said at the same time and went back to doing their thing. Niall and Harry were watching football, but the TV was on mute. Layla was on her phone, and so was Louis.

"No way," Louis gasped, and Harry immediately shushed him.

"Sorry," Louis whispered, going back to texting.

It took Y/N a minute to realise he was texting Layla, who was sitting right beside him.

"Why aren't you guys talking?"

Ding. Her phone in her pocket vibrated. She looked up to catch Niall staring at her, phone in his hand. Had he just texted her?

She quickly checked the message.

Niall: Harry forbad us from talking

"Harry, really?" Y/N said. "This is ridiculous. Are you seriously doing this to mock me?"

"No," he whispered, not taking his eyes off the game on the TV.

"And what are you even watching? How do you know what's happening when it's mute?"

"We know how football works."

"Don't sass me with your creepy whispery voice."

"Just go do your thing and let us be, please," he said like he'd just lost his voice.

It was making her very frustrated, so she decided to head back to her room. Before she shut the door, however, she heard Layla speak.

"I kinda agree with her. This is ridiculous. I'm literally texting Louis when he's right next to me."

"I promised her we'd be quiet. So try to act like you guys aren't really here now that she's home."

"We can just go hang somewhere else?" Louis said.

"As if that was an option," Harry said. "You and Niall share a flat with five other people. Layla and Trix live in the student halls and I can barely fit her tiny single bed."

"Ew, you'll never get into my bed."

"The point is," Harry lowered his voice. "I'm showing Y/N that I'll go to the extreme to keep my word."

"Or...you can let her move out and put up an ad for her room. I'm sure there would be a long list of applications for you to choose from," Louis said.

"Hey, Y/N is cool," Harry said, to Y/N's surprise. He thought she was...cool? Her? Cool? "Besides, she...knows me. And I don't think anyone new will tolerate me the way she does. She's given me so many second chances, and I really don't want to fuck it up. So when she's not here, do whatever you want, because I love you guys and I want you to feel comfortable. But when she's home, respect her personal space. And Layla, those mugs are Y/N's so the next time you make tea, use mine. Y/N never says it, but I know she hates people using her stuff."

"Wow," Layla scoffed. "Okay, Ryan Gosling from The Notebook."

"I respect your decision, Harry," Niall said. Then Y/N heard them silently cheering for a goal.

[angeli-marco-writes]

Bucky Barnes - Just You

A/N & WC - I wrote this when it was my time of the month and I couldn't get out of bed. Periods suck :). I do not own the character of Bucky. 2k.

Warnings - roommate!Bucky, fwb, periods and menstruation, cramps and pain, lowkey toxic situation, allusions to sex. 16+

Summary - It's your time of the month and Bucky is clueless and cocky. As a man from the forties you don't expect much, especially not for him to realise his mistake.

Getting Bucky as your flatmate when you advertised in the local post office was a literal dream come true. Handsome, house trained, hot… and he’s useful and sweet as well, but that’s not why you gave him the room.

He paid the rent and wasn’t always around. Perfect.

Everyone says ‘don’t shit where you eat’ which, yes, is a very fair point, but you work on opposing schedules a lot of the time with your varying fields of work, and he’s away a lot.

So you did exactly what you weren’t supposed to do. And you did it a month into his living with you.

“I’ve been waiting for you to do that, doll,” he purred.

You shut him up and showed him who was boss… for all of five minutes.

Still, it’s been almost six months since then, and you’ve got a pretty good, mutually-beneficial, flatmates-with-benefits thing going. It makes more sense: he could hear your vibe through the wall anyway.

However, thus far you’ve been pretty lucky as far as Lucifer's waterfall goes. It’s fallen exactly when you’ve had a busy stint at work (not exactly great but doable) or when he’s been travelling or fighting space mutants or whatever it is he does, or even when you two haven’t really been in the mood.

Today, though, it’s hit you like a tonne of fucking bricks. And it’s a bad one.

Y’know the ones that are worse than most? The ones that feel 1000x worse than a sledgehammer picking away at your uterus? Plus the cravings, the headache, the stomach pain, the nausea, the awful mood swings, the excess grease that makes you feel like you’re drowning, the hormones… Just everything worse.

You texted Bucky with a shopping list and asked him to stop at the convenience store on his way home just to grab a few things you’ve been craving but there are none in the flat.

He’s supposed to be a while, so you crawl under the shower, wash your hair, and then just lie back.

It’s times like these and only times like these that you’re glad the flat has a bath-shower, since you’re able to sprawl yourself out over the entire thing, bending your knees to lie your feet flat against the wall so the water hits on your lower belly, pelvis and upper thighs, easing the pain and flushing away your worries for a little while.

However, being in the bath with the water thundering down means you don’t hear him come home early.

And Bucky being Bucky takes the sound of the shower, and your faint groan as an invitation to traipse through the flat with his clunky boots still on, and join you.

He’s developed a bit of a reputation as a ladies man since he started pleasing you. Not that he wasn’t in the forties, or that he wasn’t aware of his skills, but he hadn’t been with anyone for quite a while before you. And now he knows your reaction, it’s definitely gone to his head more than a little. He wears that signature cocky smirk more than he wears clothes.

He’s done this so many times now that he doesn’t bother knocking. You’ve had words with him about it before, but when he’s horny, all logic evaporates. And usually you’re fine with it. But today?

After kicking the bathroom door open, the last thing he expects to find is you laying there on your back with your legs propped wide open against the tiled wall, the shower jetting down on your lower belly, but as Bucky notices, just there as well.

He’s a man. Don’t expect him to understand.

Though he tries to hide it, he blushes a little, knowing he’s caught you in such a way, small moans spilling from your lips as you lie there, water falling in droplets over your torso.

He also gets an idea.

Swaggering across the room and toeing off his boots, he purrs, “Couldn’t wait for me to get home eh? Well, let me help.”

You scream ferally. A piercing shriek that shoots through him the second his boot lands on the tiled floor and his deep voice penetrates your daydreams.

You sit bolt upright, feeling dizziness swirl around in your head as the bath gapes open beneath you, or so it seems. You crawl up into a ball and force yourself under the showerhead, shivering, your back facing Bucky.

The water bounces off your back as you cover yourself. He managed to scare the living bloody daylights out of you. You hadn’t heard him come home so naturally his presence would cause alarm.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, suddenly scared, stopping dead in his tracks.

Irate, upset, in pain. You tell him what he needs to hear. “Just fucking leave.”

“Christ, y/n,” he grumbles. “What the fuck is up with you? You’ve been in a foul mood for days. I thought you’d wanna have sex to ease the tension but fine.”

“Oh!” you cry out suddenly, your voice hoarse, breaking as all your rage and temper build up, accompanied by your petulance due to menstruation and mood swings. “That’s fucking rich. You’re allowed to act like a butt-hurt prick whenever something goes wrong in your life but the second I’m feeling shit you’re allowed to have a go at me because I don’t want to sleep with you?”

All you hear is silence. Bucky doesn’t even breathe, doesn’t move: nor do you. You zone out so much that you can’t even focus on the steady pounding of the water as another cramp gripes at your lower belly and has you grimacing, barely suppressing a pained groan.

Bucky undergoes an internal debate, you can feel it, and he evidently makes the wrong choice.

“God, sorry,” he snarks. “I just thought I’d finish the job. If you don’t wanna fuck me anymore just tell me. You don’t have to be a bitch about it.” With that he goes a step too far, wincing at his own words.

And that’s when the waterworks begin, before he can apologise or try to take it back.

He starts murmuring incoherently to himself unsure whether to leave or stay as you hesitate, turning your head shyly towards him. “—I wasn’t... yknow.”

“What else could you possibly have been doing then?” He deadpans, but takes one step closer to the bathtub and sees flecks of blood in the water going down the drain.

He catches a glimpse of your pained expression, sees the tears streaming down your cheeks, watches every muscle in your back tense. Fuck, Bucky. You’ve really done it this time.

“It helps with the pain,” you mumble, forcefully swiping the tears away with your thumb, “gonna make fun of me then?”

“Course not, doll,” he tells you, kneeling by the bath with his elbows on the edge, though with his eyes averted. He proceeds to stutter and stumble over his words in a very contradictory and endearing way that almost passes for an apology in your mind. “You want me to do... anything?”

You shrug, murmuring, “I wasn’t done doing anything in here.”

You relax a little and let the shower hit your pelvis, relieving a knot of pain building up to be a killer cramp there.

But while you’re doing that, in what seems to be a blink of the eye, Bucky is naked but for his boxers, and is sliding in behind you in the back of the bath-shower.

Tentatively he wipes your final tears away, your sniffles quietening down, and says, “Women didn’t talk about this in the 40s. It’s all new. Tell me if I do anything wrong. Just tell me what you need tonight.”

“Just you, Bucky.”

Loofah in hand, he slips his arms under yours and lets you fall back against his strong chest, his warmth bleeding into you. He starts to clean you tenderly, rubbing your stomach in gentle circles as he goes, using his flesh hand only to massage.

You could swear you fall half asleep while he does that, finally catching some sleep between the gruelling agony and fits of nausea.

He helps you out of the bath when your skin starts to prune and he wraps you in a plush towel, the ones you insist on tumble drying to keep them fluffy. He then helps you get dry before you offer him a half smile to tell him you’re okay.

When he heads off to prepare dinner, you get into your comfiest pyjamas and slob around. He delivers you a hot water bottle that you cradle close to your stomach.

This is the most intimate Bucky and you have ever been. Yeah, sure, being flatmates and sleeping together means you see the worst parts of each other. Bad habits, no makeup with bedhead, wearing three day old clothes with food on them (Bucky only).

And yeah, sure, you’re friends as far as that measure goes. And you do bicker. And you do treat one another and do cute things sometimes, like watch a film under a blanket together.

But he’s never climbed into the shower with you to help you ease your period cramps.

In all fairness, and however bad it sounds, you expected him to be, well, not good about it. But once he worked it out, you could see the ruefulness flash over his face. He’d never call you a bitch unless something was going on with him as well.

So the fact he sacrificed getting his anger out to sit with you and tenderly massage your stomach, acting like a boyfriend, is a big step. And it could mean a lot of different things.

“Dinner’s ready!”

This domesticity is normal. You take turns cooking and he’s actually really damn good at it. However when you stumble into the kitchen-diner, it’s different somehow.

The table is laid out for two, a mug of milky tea in your space with pain meds and headache relief and miracle oils nearby.

You sit down, stunned, and your jaw drops open a little when this gorgeous man serves you up a plate of—

“Mashed potatoes. I used the internet thingy and it said somewhere they help with cramps.”

“Really?” you croak, overwhelmed with emotion. “You did this for me?”

“Of course. And the nuggets are in the oven, spaghetti hoops on the hob.”

A moment later he dishes it all up and pretends to enjoy eating it, smiling at you, asking if he can do anything to help.

“This is plenty,” you tell him.

He doesn’t believe you.

He helps you to the couch and lets you choose the movie for the night, loading the dishwasher in record time so he can join you. He slips beside you and opens his arms wide, letting you get comfortable and cuddle him whichever way is best for you.

He refills your hot water bottle, keeping the heat. He gives you a massage. He feeds you chocolate and all the junk food your heart desires.

And when you fall asleep on the couch, he doesn’t wake you. He just holds you.

Maybe he can’t make your period go away, and he has no idea how to make it better, but he spends his night the way he aims to continue, and reads articles on menstruation until the early hours.

You stir around then, pleasantly surprised by his arm comfortably around you and the fact he’s thrown a blanket around.

“Buck?” you murmur.

“Hey doll, what do you need?”

“The loo…”

“Of course. Did I wake you?”

“Hmm no. I’ll be back in a minute,” you say, and start to clamber up, wincing at the pain.

Bucky leaps up to attention, steadying you and helping you to the bathroom where he leaves you to refill your hot water bottle once again and fetch some more chocolate and pain meds.

He meets you when you come out, and helps you back to bed, asking tenderly after tucking you in whether you want him to stay.

You nod vehemently, naturally, and fold the corner of your duvet back for him. His smile is soft as he slips in next to you.

“Do you need anything before you sleep?” he asks again, a note of work in his deep voice.

You smile, and tusk his arm around you, savouring his warmth. “Just you, Bucky.”