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training4theapocalypse · 2 years ago

Text

Never Been Kissed (Adrian Chase x fem!reader)

Rating: Explicit - 18+ only

Word Count: 7.3k

Warnings: SMUT, Second chance romance, Canon typical descriptions of murder and violence, Oral (fem receiving), P in V, Safe sex (male condom), Multiple orgasms

Summary: You're a PI who joins the 11th Street Kids after a chance meeting with John Economos on the dark web. Unfortunately for you, your ex-friend-with-benefits Vigilante is here too. (Based on this ask by anon)

A/N: This took a hot minute. The M&Ms were originally cigarettes but these days I'm a healthy queen free of nicotine -purr.

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Chapter text:

The dim fire exit sign outside the back of the abandoned video store flickers as you suck a peanut M&M between your tongue and the roof of your mouth anxiously. You hope your contact hurries the fuck up - if he makes you wait any longer you’ll finish an entire party bag from nervousness.

It was stupid, really, even reckless, to meet a stranger from the dark web. But when some guy called TechConomos_11 had responded to you in a chat room where you were discussing the intel you had on some sinister goings-on in Evergreen, you knew you had to meet him and his team.

Because you’ll be damned if anyone catches the escaped gorilla before you.

There’s a clink of a padlock and chain falling to the floor, the sound of a heavy emergency exit bar being pushed down and when the door opens you’re face to face with a large, bearded man wearing glasses.

“Are you the PI?”

If you had to draw a sketch of what you thought a guy you met on the dark web would look like, he would be it. Not a neckbeard, exactly, just someone with the distinct aura of having too much time spent in front of a screen.

You nod. “TechConomos?”

“Call me John. Come inside - the team’s all here.”

You shove the half-empty pack of M&Ms into your bag and he leads you through to the back office.

“This is Murn, Harcourt and Adebayo.” He gestures to his three associates sitting in the office who each acknowledge you in turn. “And these guys-”

“Fuck it! Fuck, fuck fuck!”

The yelling draws your attention to the window separating the office from the rest of the video store and it’s like a knife in your gut when you see him.

Vigilante.

“Ugh, fuck! It hurts to walk!” Vigilante whines as he limps around. He turns to pace some more but stops in his tracks in alarm when he sees you. He immediately dives to the floor, launching himself behind a desk in a futile attempt to hide.

Vigilante is the last person you expected to - or wanted to - see here. It’s not his usual MO - normally he’d be out hunting thugs and drug dealers. What was he doing caught up in this operation with some tech guy and a team who you suspected were either current or former soldiers?

There’s a roaring laugh and your eyes find Peacemaker, doubled over in his chair, laughing like an idiot at Vigilante sprawled on the ground.

That explains Vigilante’s involvement. Looks like his idol, Peacemaker, is finally out of prison and the first thing he does is rope Vigilante into whatever this is. The whole thing stinks. Why is there an entire team with two capes looking for an escaped zoo animal? Any why did one of those capes have to be Vigilante?

You close your eyes and groan. “You didn’t tell me you were working with them.”

“You know each other?” asks Harcourt.

“Just Vigilante.” You sigh and follow them into the video store.

“Hey, asshole,” you say, peering over the desk Vigilante is hidden behind. He looks up at you and props his masked head up on his arm casually as if you didn’t just see him throw himself there a second ago.

“Oh, hey!” he says, feigning pleasant surprise.

“Why are you on the floor?”

“I hurt my pinky toe.”

“Yeah? Which one?” You walk around the desk and stand at his feet to get a better look.

“Nononono! Wait!”

You clock the way his visor-covered eyes dart down to his right foot in panic.

“Woah, did you think I was gonna kick you or something?” Sure, you have beef but you’re kind of offended he’d think that you’d harm him on purpose.

“No…” he mumbles sheepishly.

“Asshole.” You roll your eyes and sit on the hard wooden surface, turning away from him to face the team.

“Who the fuck is this?” Peacemaker asks Murn before looking between you and Vigilante. “Do you two know each other or something?”

You don’t deign to reply.

There’s a squeak of a chair being dragged on linoleum as Vigilante pulls himself up onto a seat next to Peacemaker with a wince.

“Economos says you want to join the team,” says Murn.

“That’s right.”

“Why?”

“I know everything that goes on in Evergreen.”

“And?”

“I have information and skills that I want money for. Obviously.”

“How much?”

You were talking about splitting the reward for the gorilla but Murn’s expectant look makes it clear this is a contract. What’s that saying again? A contract in the hand is worth a gorilla in the bush? … Something like that.

“Well, what are you paying him?” You cast your eyes at Vigilante who shrugs. Unbelievable. “They’re not paying you? Idiot.”

Murn and Harcourt glance at each other awkwardly. “This is strictly off the books,” says Murn.

“So you were just going to take advantage of him? No way. I want my pay backdated for all the intell I’ve found for you. And his too for whatever it is he’s doing for you.”

“How do you guys know each other?” asks John, pulling up a chair behind his laptop.

You look at Vigilante warningly and answer before he can open his fat mouth. “I’ve sent some work his way once or twice. And compensated him fairly for it,” you add pointedly.

“Oh, they’ve definitely fucked,” laughs Peacemaker.

“Shouldn’t you be in Belle Reve?” You glare at him.

Peacemaker ignores the question. “Did he keep the mask on with you too?” He pouts faux-sympathetically.

This catches you off-guard. Not Vigilante and Peacemaker fucking - Vigilante is so obsessed with him that you guessed it was only a matter of time.

But he did keep his mask on.

Vigilante groans and leans forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees and staring determinedly at his injured foot.

“Ha! I knew it!”

“Enough!” Murn gives Peacemaker a severe look before turning his attention back to you. “John says you know the location of what we’re looking for.”

“I’m not telling you until you get me up to speed with what you’ve got so far. John wouldn’t tell me shit online. Call it a show of good faith.”

“And we’re supposed to just take your word that you actually have useful information?” asks Adebayo.

John opens his mouth to reply but Vigilante beats him to the punch.

“She knows,” says Vigilante, finally looking up. “She’s… she’s a good PI. If she says she knows, she knows.”

“Well, we can’t divulge state secrets just because Vigilante vouches for you. Tell us the ‘where’ and if it checks out - you’re in,” says Harcourt.

You look around at this unlikely group. If you want to catch the gorilla you need their help. You need their weapons. You need their money.

“It’s at the Glan Tai bottling plant. You heard of it?”

“Pulling it up now…” John types on his keyboard. “It makes sense, Murn. They’ve got the production, the distribution channels… This is probably it.”

Distribution channels? What’s the gorilla at Glan Tai got to do with distribution?

You keep your face neutral - if there’s one thing you’ve learned from this job, it’s when to sit back, shut up and listen.

You try to piece things together as Murn talks about ‘butterflies’ and their ‘food source’. Economos checks highway CCTV footage and confirms that your intel is correct. This is extremely lucky for you because you’re clearly talking about two entirely different things. You wonder if these ‘butterflies’ are some kind of parasite-induced sleeper agent. And maybe the food source is a drug to release them from their fugue state?

“...And the gorilla?” you ask eventually.

“What about the gorilla?” asks Harcourt.

“The gorilla is at Glan Tai.”

“There’s a Butterfly gorilla?” asks Vigilante excitedly. “That is so cool!”

“Is that even possible?” Harcourt asks Murn who nods.

You’ve seen some shit but a gorilla sleeper agent takes the fucking cake. They all seem totally unfazed so you pretend to be too.

“So, what’s our next move? When do we start killing these aliens?” asks Peacemaker.

Aliens.

You discreetly scan the others. Nobody else bats an eyelid at Peacemaker’s use of that word.

What the hell have you gotten yourself into?

“You two get some rest, come back tonight,” says Murn to Peacemaker and Vigilante. “And you - you’ve got evidence of what we’re doing here?” There’s no point in lying so you nod. “Bring it back here so we can destroy it. All of it.”

You, Peacemaker and Vigilante, leave the video store. You cross the street to get to your car but Vigilante calls your name. You turn around to see him hurriedly limping over while Peacemaker climbs into the Vigilantemobile.

“Hey, I’m glad you’re part of the team now.”

“I can’t return the sentiment.” You scowl at him. Peacemaker beeps the horn of Vigilante’s car. “You’d better hurry up - you don’t want to keep your boyfriend waiting.”

“We’re not in a relationship. You know I only wanted to be with-”

“Don’t you dare.”

“C’mon, can’t you at least tell me why you stopped answering my calls?”

“I already told you - I’m not going to wait around my entire life for a guy who won’t even show me his face. Or tell me his real name.”

“I can’t -”

“Save your excuses for someone who gives a shit.” Peacemaker blasts the horn again. “At least I know you keep the mask on when you fuck him too. It’s not like he’s seen your face.”

Vigilante’s visor-covered eyes avoid contact with yours. His hesitation is like a punch in the gut.

“He’s seen your face?” You don’t mean to whisper it. The words just spill from your lips like you’ve been winded.

“Not like that. That was just a meaningless threesome-”

“But he’s seen it?”

He nods.

You push him aside to throw your car door open and get in. “Fuck you, V.” You slam it shut and drive away, not even bothering to glance at him standing haplessly in your rearview mirror.

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

Later that evening, you and John cross-check your intel. It’s becoming clear that this is way out of your fucking league. But if Vigilante can do it, you can too.

Right?

“You want some peanut M&Ms?”.

He accepts a handful gladly. “Why is so much of this about the fucking gorilla?” John asks with his mouth full, looking over your shoulder at your laptop screen.

The necessity of any quick thinking on your part is interrupted when you hear Murn’s voice ringing from the back office.

“You told Vigilante to kill Peacemaker's father?!”

You and John drop what you’re doing and peer tentatively around the door of the office where Murn is berating Adebayo.

“I didn't tell him to… I just kinda put the idea in his head,” she explains.

“That Peacemaker would be better off without his father?”

Oh no.

“Where’s Vigilante?” you ask suspiciously, joining Murn as he stands with his arms crossed. He looks furious.

“He’s in jail,” mumbles Adebayo. “I might have suggested that if someone were to go in and kill Peacemaker’s dad, all our problems would go away.”

You run your hands through your hair.

“How could you manipulate him like that?” Your combat boots squeak on the floor as you pace across it, catastrophising aloud. “In case you hadn’t noticed, Vigilante is very fucking easy to manipulate. And he has a record. What if he kills someone in prison and gets locked up for life? Or what if he gets himself killed trying?”

“Peacemaker’s gonna see right through this. He’ll know exactly what you tried to do,” says Murn to Adebyo sternly.

They’re fucking crazy.

“Who gives a shit about Peacemaker? Vigilante is locked in jail with the White Dragon!” You plead urgently. Vigilante is in real danger and all they care about is Peacemaker’s feelings.

“Economos, can you get Vigilante out of the system before he screws us worse than we're already screwed?”

John sighs. “I don’t even know this guy’s name.”

The four of them look at you.

You cross your arms. “I can’t tell you his name.”

“Guess he’s gonna die in prison then -”

“Last name Chase. First name Adrian.” You blurt out his secret that you’ve been holding deep in your chest. “But you can’t tell him I told you. He doesn’t know I know.”

You crowd around John’s laptop as he pulls up Adrian’s file.

“We shouldn’t be looking at this,” you say as you stare intently at his mugshot - the mugshot you’re so well acquainted with. You’d rather die than admit how many hours you’ve spent sitting at your desk late at night, looking at his police record on your laptop.

And suddenly, it’s like you’re back in bed with him, as he stares breathlessly at the ceiling and you lie there naked on top of his bare chest, looking into his masked face, picturing that very same mugshot underneath it.

“Guess again,” Vigilante says. You can tell even under the mask that he’s grinning, enjoying your questioning.

“Hmm… are you a doctor? You’ve stitched yourself up a lot.”

“You think I’m a doctor and live here?”

Vigilante watches as you make a show of pursing your lips thoughtfully. The warm afternoon sun streaks through the gaps in his blinds onto his bed. It makes it look like there’s a golden halo around your messy bed hair. He tucks a small strand behind your ear as you walk your index and middle fingers along his chest and down his shoulder.

“Maybe a fireman with these big strong arms?”

He likes you when you let your walls down like this. You’re almost downright playful when he’s satisfied you - a personality trait he still hasn’t extricated from you outside these four walls.

“Man, I am so good at this secret identity thing if I can keep it a secret from a PI.”

You laugh. “I guess so.”

He didn’t know that you had long known his real job. And his real name. Or that you’d trace your fingers over his face on your laptop screen as you tried to reconcile it with the masked killer who was content to let you into his bed but never his real life.

“Wasn’t he our busboy at Fennel Fields?” Adebayo’s question snaps you back to the present.

“Can you pull him out?” You ask John.

“It’s… done.” He says, with a final click of his keyboard. “Let’s just hope he hasn’t done anything stupid. Yet.”

Harcourt shrugs her leather jacket on. “I’ll pick him up.”

Great - first he reveals to Peacemaker who he is and now Harcourt who he’s known for a hot minute is about to see his face too.

You frown. “He’s gonna be really upset we know his identity.”

“You wanna come and soften the blow?”

“I’ll drive.”

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

Harcourt sits in the passenger seat of your car outside of the Evergreen Police Department. You’ve been sitting here quietly in the dark, staring at the front doors for almost an hour.

“So what’s your deal with Vigilante?” She asks, finally breaking the silence.

“I told you - I threw some contract work his way. Used him as a bodyguard from time to time when I needed the extra muscle.”

“And then what? Why did you call him an asshole?”

“Because he can be an asshole.”

“That doesn’t sound right. A psychopath maybe. But an asshole? I don’t buy it.”

You keep your eyes focused on the police station door to hide your face. “He doesn’t mean to be an asshole.” You swallow with difficulty. “He just has a code. Lots of quirky little rules he has to follow that makes it difficult for someone ordinary like me to be - I mean, to work with him.”

“Like not revealing his secret identity.”

It’s not a question but you nod all the same.

“So this is your first time seeing him without his mask?”

“That he knows of.” Your forehead touches the cool glass window. It’s like if you stare hard enough at the door he’ll appear in one piece. “I had to do my background checks.”

The doors open and you see Adrian Chase in his cardigan and jeans walking out into the dark night, illuminated by the fluorescent streetlights.

He’s alive.

You roll down your window and he stops dead. He stares at you in shock with his lips parted slightly - unsure whether you recognise him or not.

Harcourt stretches across your seat and calls to Adrian. “We’re here to take you home. Get in.”

When he climbs into the back seat of your car you both turn in your seats. You breathe a sigh of relief seeing him up close - physically he’s unscathed.

“He’s still alive…” He says. “I’m Adrian.”

“Okay,” Harcourt says simply.

“I’m glad you’re not hurt,” you tell him.

He looks up at both of you sadly over his wire-rimmed glasses. “I think I might have made things worse.”

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

After you drop Harcourt off at her motel, Adrian gets into the passenger seat. You let him give directions to his apartment, even though you already know where he lives.

“This is me,” he says when you pull up to his building and park in the spot you’ve parked in on countless occasions.

“I know.”

“Right. Yeah, you’ve been here.”

“A couple of times, yeah…”

His stupid code. You could know where he lives but never see his face. And now you can’t stop yourself from drinking him in - his slightly stubbly chin from his day spent in prison, the way his curly hair is all messed up. He groans heavily and leans his head back against the headrest. “I’m sorry,” he says quietly.

“The guys know how you ended up in jail - they don’t blame you.” He doesn’t say anything. You search his face as he stares gloomily ahead. “What happened in there, V?” you ask.

“I tried to provoke Peacemaker’s dad into a fight. It worked at first - the Aryans took the bait but his dad saw right through it. I think I’ve fucked up the whole mission.”

So Vigilante went into a viper pit unarmed and provoked a bunch of nazis into fighting him.

Deep down, you know it’s fucked up to be attracted to someone capable of such violence but if you’re honest with yourself, it’s what drew you to him in the first place. You knew about the headlines before you met him. And the idea of him taking on a dangerous prison gang really shouldn’t make your heart pound the way it is right now.

You take a deep, steadying breath. “You don’t have to be sorry about that.”

You’ve never touched his hair before but you want to stroke it and comfort him. Tell him that it wasn’t his fault and it’ll all be okay. But he interrupts your train of thought before you can reach your hand out.

“I meant I’m sorry about us.”

Why is your first instinct to tell him that it’s no big deal that he broke your heart? Stupidly, you want to protect him from it - from the hurt he caused you. Comfort him, put his feelings before your own just because you can tell that right now he needs it.

But it is a big deal.

As soon as you remind yourself he couldn’t trust you enough to let you in, it feels like your heart is shattering all over again, mourning what you could have had.

Trust.

“I told the team your name so they could bail you out,” you admit, desperate to get the fact that you betrayed him off your chest. “I was worried about you locked up in there.”

He turns his head to look at you properly for the first time all night. The streetlights are reflected in his dorky little glasses.

“You knew my name?” He doesn’t look betrayed - he just looks surprised. “How…?”

You lift your finger from the steering wheel to point at his apartment. “Anyone with your address could find out who you are. And your full name appears on my checking account when you cash the checks I write you.”

“So you know… everything?”

“Yup.”

His eyebrows knit together in a plea. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I wanted you to tell me. I wanted you to want me to know.”

“Knowing my secret identity would put you at risk.”

“That bullshit and you know it, V. I don’t need you to protect me.”

“Yeah you do - that’s why you had me come with you on jobs.”

“I can handle myself.”

“Then why did you hire me?”

“I was curious about the man behind the headlines, I guess. Then I nearly went broke trying to spend time with you. Do you honestly think I wanted to give you a cut of my contracts for months? ”

He presses his palms into his eyes, pushing his glasses up out of the way and trying to make sense of it all.

“So those jobs were just you finding a reason to hang out?” He drags his hands down his face.

“Well, not at first. But then we started sleeping together after jobs and I wanted to keep doing that.”

“I would’ve wanted to be with you even without those jobs.”

“Oh yeah? You’d have taken me out on a date as Vigilante?” He opens his mouth to speak but closes it again - as if reconsidering whatever he was about to say. “After all that time you still didn’t trust me enough to take off your mask. The last time we saw each other I practically begged you to show me who you are. Then Peacemaker comes back in town and you - what? Just rip off your mask and spill the beans without a second thought?”

“I was being tortured by Goff-”

“The senator tortured you?”

“Well, the Butterfly who had taken over his body. But yeah. He - I mean she - ripped off my mask and tried to cut off my pinky toe. Peacemaker was just there.”

You feel sick thinking about him being tortured. Then you feel sick about feeling sick. It’s not just normal empathy. You want revenge. But you know you shouldn’t care this much. Not when you’ve been broken up for so long.

“Shit, V. That’s horrible.”

“Besides, if I was gonna show someone my face it would have been you. Not Peacemaker.” He looks at you sadly. “I wish you hadn’t left.”

“And I wish you had given me a reason to stay, V. I deserved someone who could trust me. And you… you deserved someone you could be yourself with. We couldn’t be that for each other.”

The hurt on your face is plain for him to see - there’s no point trying to hide it.

“I do trust you. It’s just…” He hesitates. “You’re the only person I know who thought I was cool.”

“Adrian… that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Adrian.

It’s the first time you’ve ever called him that and it makes Adrian’s heart leap. Like the two sides of him have finally met you. After all this time.

“It’s not. Everyone else who knows me as Adrian knows I’m a loser. And I thought if I told you I was a busboy with no friends, you’d think that too.”

“You have friends.”

“Yeah, right.”

“The guys in the video store? They were so worried about you in jail. They like you a lot.” He allows himself a small smile like he doesn’t really believe it. “And I…” You pause. How do you feel about Adrian? “I still think you’re cool.”

“You do?”

He looks at you like he can’t believe you’re actually saying the words he was afraid you’d never say.

“Of course I do. You’re still the masked Vigilante of Evergreen. And I’m just… ordinary.”

He scoffs in amazement. “You’re not ordinary - you’re like the smartest person I know. And you don’t need to hide behind a mask to do your job.

“I’m not that smart.”

“I mean, you found out more about the butterflies than the US government.”

You bite your lip, trying not to smile. “Can I tell you something? And you won’t tell the rest of the team?”

“You can tell me anything.”

“I didn’t know what butterflies were until today.” He looks extremely confused so you press on. “I met John in a dark web chatroom when I was researching the missing gorilla. And I thought you guys were looking for it too.”

He laughs. A merciless side-splitting laugh that doesn’t take your embarrassment into consideration at all. But it shows off his beautiful smile. And when you see it you can’t stop yourself from joining in too. It’s so ridiculous. You wanted to find the gorilla, and maybe get your PI business mentioned again in the local paper. Now you’ve been roped into saving the world with a black ops team and Vigilante.

You both try to regain your composure and stare at each other, catching your breath. He shakes his head, grinning.

Christ, look at him.

“I sometimes wondered if you wouldn’t remove your mask because you were just a bad kisser. I mean, I saw your mugshot so I already knew you were pretty.” You can’t help but tell him. You know the grainy photo on his record like the back of your hand but in person, he’s frankly gorgeous.

“Thanks, I know.”

You laugh again. “And modest.”

“You think I fund being Vigilante on a busboy salary? I get a lot of tips.”

“It all makes sense now. The only thing that doesn’t make sense is why you don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Because she didn’t want to wait around for an idiot who wouldn’t even kiss her.”

You stare at each other in the shadowy silence for a few moments.

“It’s late, we should both get some rest.”

“Wait, don’t go.” His hand touches your thigh and it feels like there’s an electric current buzzing between his hand and the fabric of your jeans. The atmosphere almost crackles, like lighting about to strike in the middle of a storm. It’s the first time he’s touched you since you walked out on him six months ago and never went back. “It’s super late, you should crash at mine.”

“If I come upstairs we both know what’s going to happen.”

He tilts his head and you watch dimples form as the corners of his mouth turn into a mischievous smile. “That’s kind of the idea.”

“A bad one. We need to work together.”

“When has fucking ever stopped us from completing a job?”

“It hasn’t. But when we stopped seeing each other… I was really cut up. I couldn’t concentrate on work for a while. It’s why I needed the reward for the gorilla so badly.”

“Then we just won’t stop this time.”

“Adrian… I’ve only just pulled myself together again. I’m not sure it’s the right thing to do.”

He removes his hand from your leg to unclip his seatbelt.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” Adrian gives you an apologetic look.

You stare at his lips. They’re just there. His whole face is out in the open. And now his lips, and the rest of him, are about to leave your car and you never know when you’ll see him unmasked again. He opens the car door.

“Wait -”

He turns back around in his seat.

“Let me find out if you’re a bad kisser. At least I can tell myself I’m not missing out on anything if you are.”

“You’re gonna be so mad…” He cups your face and brushes your cheekbone with his thumb. “I’m a really good kisser.”

You smile and his lips meet yours.

It’s nothing like you imagined.

When you had sex it always felt urgent, even dangerous, getting into bed with a masked cape who was wanted for murder. More often than not he fucked you from behind, tugged fistfuls of your hair and slapped your ass.

But his kisses… his kisses are soft and slow. And good.

You’re totally screwed.

He sucks your lip gently and then his tongue traces across yours. You urge yourself forward in the driver’s seat closer to him, bringing your hand up to cradle the nape of his neck and lace your hand in his soft hair.

Warmth spreads in your chest when he deepens the kiss. You secretly hoped he’d be like this when he was unmasked. Your hot and rough encounters were always fun but in your heart you always wanted him to want you like this. Deeply. Reverently.

You break apart and press your forehead against his with your eyes closed, feeling your heart hammering against your chest.

“What’s the verdict?” he asks.

You open your eyes to see his green ones searching yours from behind his glasses. He lets out a long, happy exhale when he hears your seatbelt unclick.

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

Adrian’s bedroom is neat, clean, with framed vintage comic books on his walls and illuminated by a lava lamp on his bedside table. Details you remember from previous visits but barely register this time as you both burst through his bedroom door while he kisses you. Refusing to take his hands from your body, he kicks the door shut behind him forgetting about his injured foot. He regrets it immediately.

“Fuck!” He pulls away and winces.

“Careful,” you soothe, shrugging your jacket off onto the floor and he lifts your shirt off. As soon as your skin is uncovered his mouth finds it. He drags his tongue across your collarbones and between your breasts, nudging the cup of your bra aside so he can find your nipple.

His warm mouth feels almost too good to be true as he sucks on the hard, pebbled skin and moves on to taste every inch of your exposed chest, his deft hands unhooking your bra and tossing it aside quickly.

The entire day could have been a crazy fever dream. You’ve gone from your heart sinking at the very sight of him to it fluttering like crazy as you lie back on his mattress so he can pull your jeans and underwear off.

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful,” he says, sinking to his knees between your legs at the edge of the bed.

Even though you’re completely naked on his bed while he’s still dressed, you somehow feel less on display than he is right now without his mask. It feels taboo watching his jaw muscles tighten as he works his mouth all over your inner thighs. There’s something so controlled about the way he meticulously kisses the sensitive skin at the crux of your thigh that makes your lip quiver.

You’ve spent enough time around his quick reflexes to know Vigilante is going to be skilled at eating you out but sometimes, especially in the depths of your despair during your breakup, there was a niggling inkling at the back of your mind that the mask might just be a convenient excuse not to.

You had suspected, or maybe even hoped, when you hooked up that he had come really, really close to rolling up the bottom half of his mask and tasting you. More than once, you had caught a fleeting glimpse of him at odds with himself, his eyes behind his visor staring at your pussy and his neck muscles contracting as he swallowed thickly, strengthening his resolve and deciding to protect his own identity instead.

But tonight - finally - his tongue slides between your folds and you let out a low whine when the furnace-hot heat of his mouth besets itself over your clit.

Adrian groans when he tastes your arousal flooding his mouth. His hands cup under your ass as he pulls himself closer. You dare yourself to run your hand through his hair again, your fingernails lightly scratching his scalp. It still feels like it shouldn’t be allowed but he doesn’t seem to mind at all as his lips suck on your swollen clit.

“Fuck, Adrian…” His real name still sounds foreign on your lips, like you have to make a conscious effort to say it.

Adrian looks up at you over his glasses, his pupils wide in the dim violet light of the lava-lamp-lit room. He takes in your glowing face and chest as you lie propped up on your elbows, enjoying the sight of him on the floor between your legs.

His fingers knead the soft, pillowy flesh of your ass like he doesn’t want to let you go anywhere ever again. And you don’t want to. Fuck the mission. Can’t you just stay here forever? In Adrian’s bedroom, panting while his tongue runs firm circles over your clit.

When you roll your hips in encouragement, he lets out a soft little moan sending vibrations over the bundle of nerves - it almost makes you dissolve right there and then.

“I can’t believe I let you… fuck - let you get away with not doing this before,” you whimper. “So - s’fucking good, V.”

“Adrian,” he says and the tiniest absence of friction when his tongue leaves your clit makes your fingers tighten in his hair, urging him to return to your aching pussy.

“Adrianadrianadrian,” you babble, scared that his lips will leave you again. No more V. No more Vigilante. Just Adrian. Here. Eating your pussy like it’s you who’d been depriving him of this for months on end. Pleasure rises deep in your core like the tide getting ready to crash against the cliff face.

Your brain becomes fuzzy as increasingly desperate noises escape your throat - something strangled between a whine and his name. You squirm against his tongue as he relentlessly continues, determined to draw from you the orgasm that you’ve been desperate for since he kissed you in the car and you realised his mouth would feel like heaven.

The pressure of his tongue against your soaking wet pussy makes you writhe in exhilaration. You barely notice his fingers digging harder into your skin as you arch your spine and throw your head back.

Your thigh muscles tense and relax, trembling on either side of his face. “Adrian, I’m gonna - gonna cum…”

Instead of responding, he sinks two fingers deep inside your cunt, giving you something to squeeze around as every muscle in your pelvis tightens. He curls his fingers slightly and it’s just enough to push you over the fucking edge.

The purplish glow of the room turns blinding white as waves, hot and wet, break over you and your body floods with ecstasy. Your whole lower body stiffens as your walls clench around his fingers and you grind your pussy against his mouth.

Fuck, you’ve been missing out. You haven’t been with anyone else the entire time you’ve been apart and it’s like your body has been crying for exactly this moment without you realising how much you needed it. Needed his mouth on you.

The room comes into focus again gradually as Adrian gives you a last few slow, gentle kisses before sliding his fingers out of your still-twitching centre.

You breathe heavily and look at him kneeling on the floor.

He looks stupidly pleased with himself, the corner of his wet, glistening mouth upturned in a self-congratulatory smile at the way he’s taken you apart piece by piece. You can’t help but giggle from endorphins buzzing through your body. It makes your abdomen hurt from all the tensing you were doing.

Adrian slaps the side of your ass and gets to his feet, undoing his belt buckle. “C’mon, bend over,” he grins.

You sit up, shake your head and smile. “Nuh-uh, I wanna see your pretty face when you cum.” He blinks a couple of times dazedly. “Did you forget about your mask for a second?”

Adrian clears his throat. “Uh...No?”

He so did.

“C’mere.” You hook your fingers through his belt loops and pull him closer. You kiss the light trail of hair covering his hard abdomen while your fingers work to undo his jeans and pull them down to release him from the confines of his boxers.

God, you missed it. He has a pretty face alright but his cock is fucking perfect.

Your cheeks grow hot feeling him so close. You grip his hard length and draw your tongue across the tip, tasting the salty bead of precum.

“Take your top off,” you say, looking up at him before running your tongue along his shaft, keeping eye contact.

He grips the hem of his t-shirt and pulls it off over his head. Seeing him in the purple glow, every contour of his sculpted abdomen illuminated sends burning heat to your pelvis. You never thought you were into muscular guys, not until you saw Vigilante take his suit off for the first time. Now you’re not sure if you could go back to anything else. Anyone else.

You swirl your tongue around the head of his cock but he interrupts you.

“I need to fuck you. Please.”

At this point, you’re so turned on it’s an offer you can’t refuse. You release him and scoot back on the bed. He goes to crawl on top of you but flinches when his injured foot meets the mattress.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I just need to - ah fuck.”

“It’s okay. Here, lie down. Let me go on top.”

He does so with relief and you swing your leg over his thighs.

“Better?”

“Fuck yeah,” he says, looking at your naked figure sitting on top of him.

You reach into his bedside drawer where you know he keeps his condoms. Your fingers skirt over what you suspect are bags of candy until you find the corrugated square shape you’re looking for. You take it out and roll the condom on him.

“Okay, easy,” you say, positioning the head of his cock at your entrance. He throbs under the grip of your hand in anticipation. “Don’t overexert yourself.”

“You were totally cool with me over-exerting myself on the floor a second ago.”

“I was talking to myself,” you smirk. “It’s been a while.”

You ease yourself down onto his cock, feeling the beautiful stretch as you adjust to his size.

“Shit…” he breathes, clamping his hands down hard on your hips, forcing you to bottom out. His eyebrows knit together and he sighs through parted lips, feeling the way your walls stretch around him. He looks so beautiful - you can’t stop looking at his lips.

You lean forward, planting your hands on either side of his head so you can lean down and kiss him. The taste of your juices registers on your tongue as his enters your mouth. You deepen the kiss and Adrian responds by jerking his hips up needily, pressing into your g-spot.

You moan and suck on his bottom lip, gently rolling it between your teeth as he pushes into the most sensitive part of your centre. Searing heat burns low in your belly, spreading to your thighs. You push yourself back up to ride him and grab his wrists, dragging them from your waist to grope at your chest.

“Fuck, you look so hot riding my dick.”

“Yeah? Rose-tinted visor isn’t all it’s cracked up to be?”

You’re teasing him but it seems to spur him on, as he squeezes your tits and jerks up into your bouncing hips. Every wet slap that meets your ears only increases your neediness for him. It burns brightly in your core, making you wetter and even more desperate for your next orgasm.

Every roll of your body sends his cock plunging into you, pushing against you at the perfect angle. God, he feels incredible. Your walls start to convulse around him, clamping down and gripping his cock as your second climax rears its head.

“Adrian, fuck, I’m close…” you plead, frantically chasing your high, wildly gyrating and bouncing in time with his thrusts.

“Say it again.”

“Fuck, I’m gonna-”

“No, say my name,” he says, through gritted teeth, his neck muscles tightening in the soft light.

His neck.

“Fuck, Adrian.” You lunge forward and bite on his neck. He grabs handfuls of your ass, anchoring himself into you as he thrusts savagely upwards sending pleasure rocketing through you. Fuck he’s deep. So fucking deep.

His name leaves your lips over and over, broken and ragged as every jerk of his hip knocks the air out of your lungs. Bliss ignites and your cry of pleasure is muffled as you moan and run your tongue over his neck, smelling his aftershave mixed with his musky sweat. An explosion, more fierce than any grenade blast bursts through your centre as he pummels his cock with unparalleled force and precision, even as you squirm and shake, unable to keep moving your own hips in time with his.

With every ounce of strength you have you lean up on your arms to look at his face. His eyes are squeezed shut and his facial muscles contort as he sucks through his teeth.

“Cum for me, Adrian,” you murmur sweetly in his ear and he opens his eyes, giving you a terminally helpless look as he slams his hips into your hot, wet cunt and you squeeze around him as tight as you can. With a final thrust, you feel his thighs tighten and his cock pulsing inside you as he cums.

You flatten your body back on top of his - the warm, damp sweat between your chests feels strangely pleasant. His fingers trace circles up your spine, gently tickling your back. Adrian turns his head to kiss you and you both lie for a moment, enjoying the feeling of his lips on yours.

After what feels like a long time of lying in quiet elation, you make yourself climb carefully off of him and roll over, resting back on his pillows.

“Don’t go anywhere,” he says and you lie back watching him dispose of the condom, taking care not to put any pressure on his bandaged toe. He launches himself back on the bed with a thud making you bounce on the mattress. “Good, you’re still here,” he says, leaning on his elbow and looking down at you.

“Where else would I be?” you laugh.

“Well… you usually leave right after. Except that one time I accidentally bought peanut M&Ms.”

You look at him apologetically. In fairness, the mask was hardly an invitation to spend the night - what was he going to do? Sleep in it? “Do you have peanut M&Ms?”

He nods to his bedside drawer and you open it to see that it’s stuffed with the little yellow bags.

“You like peanut M&Ms now?”

He pulls a face. “No way dude, they’re so gross.”

“Then why…?”

“I guess I always hoped you might change your mind and come back. So I bought them whenever I thought about you.”

You look at the drawer - there’s practically enough that Adrian could have made a trail of peanut M&Ms from your apartment across town to his. “You would have made a really sweet boyfriend,” you sigh.

“Well, I mean… I still could,” he says in a would-be nonchalant type of way, pushing up his glasses with his finger and avoiding your gaze.

“Yeah?” You weren’t sure if he’d be open to picking up where you left off. But it feels right when it didn’t before. Now you know him. Really know him.

He pulls his eyes up and meets your gaze with a smile. “If you want me to?”

“I’d like that. A lot.”

“Sweet,” he says with a wide smile, not bothering to hide how giddy he is.

You open the packet. “For the record, I’m not just staying because of the M&Ms this time.”

“I know.”

“And I’m glad you’re on the team.”

He nods happily, watching you pop a few into your mouth. “Hashtag me too.”

#adrian chase x reader #adrian chase #vigilante #vigilante peacemaker #vigilante x reader #adrian chase x female reader #adrian chase x you #vigilante x you #vigilante x female reader #smut #adrian chase smut #vigilante smut #fanfiction #freddie stroma #fanfic #peacemaker

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sandy-the-glader · 1 year ago

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Hi!! If it’s okay, can I please request an Adrian Chase x soft and innocent!fem!reader where they are coworkers at Fennel Fields, him being a busboy, and she is a waitress. The two of them have feelings for each other, Adrian just trying to get the confidence to ask her out. A group of guys come in every week are super loud, rude, and also make Y/n (who is taking their order) very uncomfortable, and when Y/n turns down their advances, they say some very mean things and make her cry. Adrian is absolutely FUMING, literally having to hold himself back from going at them right then and there, instead following her to the kitchen try to calm her down (in his own Adrian way), promising to “take care of it” . She 100% thinks he means kicking them out, but the group of men get a “visit” from Vigilante… the group “disappears” without a trace “, never to bother Y/n again.

Adrian softly kissing a very relieved Y/n when the men don’t return to the restaurant, she doesn’t know about Adrian’s Vigilante side nor does she know the fate of the group of men, but Adrian takes it as a compliment nonetheless

The Protector

Character: Adrian Chase x InnocentFem!Reader

Type: Fluff/Comfort, Angst

Length: 2.7k words

Summary: Request above!

Trope: Best friends to lovers, Co-workers to lovers

A/N: I have not done anything for Adrian in a while and I love him so much aaaaaaa! I bent the request ever so slightly. Also, let me know if I should make a part two of this but it’s Adrian’s POV 😉

"God that group is back." I hissed. "How do they always manage to get seated in my section?" Me and Adrian eyed them from the kitchen.

"I don't know but they never tip well either. I think all the tattoo ink got into their brains or something." Adrian glared at the noisy group. I smiled at his joke. He always lightened the mood and I was forever thankful for that.

"God it's twenty minutes until closing why do they always come in here late?" I grumbled folding my arms.

The group was dreadful and I have no idea how they haven't gotten in any section but mine yet. They've been showing up the past 3 weeks on Saturday nights and past close. Me and Adrian had plans ruined because of those guys. I've been working here for 1 year and a half (Adrian for longer) and I've never had a worse group of customers.

Usually, the worst is an old lady who asks for the manager when the food isn't exactly to her liking. Or a group of teenage boys who don't buy anything they just sit there and be as loud as possible.

Sometimes me and Adrian went to see movies together on Fridays or had plans with friends and I loved it. That's what made me look forward to the end of the week but with this lousy group of 40-year-old biker guys trashing the tables and leaving sometimes a zero-dollar tip was starting to have the opposite effect on me.

"You know I can take the table for you. I know they're pretty shitty guys." He looked at me and I shook my head softly. His green eyes dazzling in the heat lamps made me almost take back rejecting the offer. When he looked at me the way he did it made my heart flutter. They were so careful and easy.

"You take over my shifts all the time Adrian. The least I can do is deal with one unpleasant table. I can do it." I looked back at him with determination. Besides he was only a busboy, not a waiter though I'm sure he could do the job just fine.

It was true though. Every time I was sick he took over no questions asked. Sometimes he even encouraged me to call out sick when all I had was a cough. He was my best friend after all but he always went above and beyond with the way he treated me.

Sure my other co-workers were nice like Taylor treated me nicely but never as nice as Adrian. From the get-go, he was kind to me always guiding me to where things were or making small talk with me to help get me though my shifts. He was never afraid to give me a hand in anything I needed.

He looked very unsure of my decision but he didn't protest as I left to deal with said table. Though I could still feel his eyes glued to my back. I pushed open the door and

I strode over there with a sudden burst of confidence. I could do it. Then when It's all over me and Adrian can go back to his apartment and watch movies all night like usual.

As soon as I reached the table that confidence slowly started to melt away.

They were a group of 5, all big-looking, and they were like I said a biker gang. Sometimes I hate my job.

"Hello I'm Y/n I'll be your server today can I get you any drinks to start with?" My hands trembled as they gripped the sides of my apron. Whistles filled the air as the men's eyes wandered across my body. Some even leaned over to get better looks at me.

"Looking good honey!" I laughed nervously trying to be as polite as I could to them.

I felt so incredibly uncomfortable. I felt my cheeks getting hot. I was even embarrassed to be close to them. I cleared my throat trying to get them to reply to the simple task at hand.

"Waters for all of us." What I was sure the group leader spoke out. "Please, baby." He added. His group let out an array of deep chuckles. I felt sweat start to appear on my skin. I smiled and walked off in the back. As soon as my backs were to them my smile vanished off my face.

Oh god, it's barely been 5 minutes with them and I already want to leave. Once I got back there Adrian was still standing in the same spot looking at me with a pleading look.

"Don't look at me with those eyes." Those pleading begging green eyes.

"You can still take my offer you know." He pressed his lips together. "Because you look like you need that help. It's not like a bad look or anything but you look kind of helpless. In a good way." Adrian rambled. I've known him for so long I could decipher any message he gave me.

"It's fine I can handle it," I said firmly. I wasn't going to let them get the better of me. Just seeing and having Adrian here made it better.

He was a complete nerd and I loved having someone like that. I loved hearing him talk about DND and all of his hobbies. Then I got to start doing it out of work too.

We even set up a DND campaign at one point. It was a little confusing at first but playing with him made me understand. The memories of us together made me way more relaxed.

I poured those glasses of water and put them all onto a tray and held it with one hand. I pushed the door open almost spilling them in the process and walked back to the table.

"There she is!" One of them shouted. I placed all of the glasses on the table without a word trying to keep my cool.

I watched some make extremely disgusting gestures. Just 20 more minutes and you can go home. Just 20 more long excruciating minutes.

"She's a beauty isn't she fellas?" The main one asked. I swallowed thickly not excited for their replies. I did not have the energy for this today.

"Oh definitely would talk her home. You single honey?" One of them eyed me.

"Uhm yes, I am I'm just not looking for anything like that right now." I lied trying to get him to understand the message.

"Nah she's lying they're always in the market." My feet wouldn't move. I felt scared. Uncomfortable. Where's Adrian? I shouldn't have taken this table. "Come give me a chance honey!" He begged. Can't this guy take a hint?

"No, thank you I'm sorry." I tried to stay as polite as possible. "What would you guys like to-" I was instantly cut off.

"It's not like her makeup hides much." They laughed. I felt ashamed to be here.

"And she could smile more. Where's our cute smile sweetie?" I couldn't smile to save my life. I would not give them what they wanted. My lips trembled.

"Nah her smile would be ugly too we can't ask for something she doesn't have." The table erupted in laughter.

"Look at her she's a doll. She could get any guy she wanted."

“Maybe she’s a slut. No wonder she's not in the market she just sleeps around!” Barked another.

I looked up to see Adrian cleaning some dishes from a couple tables in front of them.

He was looking at me because he had clearly heard that nasty remark. His eyebrows were furrowed and he looked red with anger. He was seething and I could see his hand gripping the rag he was holding tightly.

Then the dam in my eyes broke. Tears started to brim my eyes and I stormed back into the kitchen quickly. As I left I heard them start to laugh louder. I shoved open the outside door and sat on the picnic bench we had out there.

I leaned my head in my hands and let the tears spill over my cheeks. I couldn't think about anything other than their words and how humiliated I felt. I felt like screaming at them but I just couldn't. That wasn't how I was.

Who did they think they were? Coming into our restaurant and treating me like shit for what reason? Do they have nothing better to do with their life?

I heard the door swing open and I tried to cover up my sniffling but it was no use. It slammed shut and I heard quick footsteps trot over to the bench. I already knew it was Adrian so I let him sit next to me. As soon as he put his arm around me it all came rushing back out.

"Hey hey, I'm right here." He whispered softly, I wrapped my arms around his back and in that moment he was all that mattered. I just wanted to have Adrian by my side. He awkwardly patted my back.

"Thank you." I wiped my cheeks which now had mascara smeared down them. "I'm a mess," I complained to him. He didn't say anything he just kept holding me. I knew he could struggle with comforting and with words in general sometimes. "You don't have to stay here you know. I'm already in trouble for abandoning my table i don't need you getting into it too." I frowned.

"Oh no, I'm staying." I snuggled myself into his side. "They don't deserve you. They're dicks who don't know how to treat women and that feels like a crime. They had no right to insult you like that." I nodded trying to listen to his words but I still felt shitty. "And that's like so not cool." He said and finally, a small smile spread across my face. He let out a built-up sigh of relief that I was starting to feel a bit better.

"I know. It still hurts though."

"No matter what those guys say they're so wrong." I looked up at him and he was already glancing at me. "You look so beautiful without makeup. I'm not saying you look bad with makeup on I mean like the complete opposite." I started to grin at his ranting.

"Thank you A. It means a lot." He enjoyed the small nickname. He continued to rub small circles into my back relaxing me.

"But those guys will never bother you again." He said still heated by the situation. "I'll make sure of it and because I really like you okay?" He confessed. "And seeing you hurt like that hurt me." he stared at the ground.

The confession threw me off. I always stressed about him liking me but hearing those words fall from his lips felt bewitching. I pulled away from him and looked at him eye to eye.

"Oh fuck I mean!" His cheeks grew pink. "Like I like having you as a friend not like in like I've been crushing on you since I've laid eyes on you and have been dreaming about you or anything because that would be like..." I leaned closer to him and brushed my thumb against his cheek. His face was warm and soft beneath my hand. "crazy." He whispered finishing his sentence.

"Don't lie to me right now Chase." I frowned. He sighed as he realized he'd been caught.

"Okay yeah, maybe I really like you." His eyes never once left me. "And maybe I have been dreaming about you since I first saw you."

"You better not be joking with me right now. Or I will continue to cry ."

"Okay um do not cry again please I already handled the first time poorly. But I am certainly not kidding." I moved my hand from his cheek to his hand which was much larger than mine.

"You better not be because I like you too." He blinked a few times trying to determine if I was the one joking around this time. He moved a stray piece of hair out of my face and tucked it neatly behind my ear. His eyes flickered down towards my lips and back up to my eyes. Was he really about to kiss me right now?

He swiftly closed the gap between us and captured my lips in a phenomenal kiss. Maybe he wasn't all nerdy after all because damn he knew how to kiss. Sure I have barely kissed anyone my whole life but he made it feel so right. He slowly pulled back to look at my face.

"Was that okay? If it wasn't I can totally like stop. I don't mind at all." I squeezed his hand and hugged him.

"It was perfect. Thank you." For having such a shitty night he made me realize the better. Like how the stars seemed to shine just a bit brighter than before and the moon was glowing just a little more than it just had. All because of Adrian

"How about I go deal with them and I also go grab our stuff since it's about time we clock out we have a fun relaxing night tonight?" He proposed.

"I would love nothing more."

"Good. Now you wait here!"

Once I got inside his apartment I immediately collapsed and melted into his couch with a loud dramatic sigh. He had probably the most comfortable apartment imaginable.

"Oh shit." I heard him hiss.

"What's wrong?"

"I was supposed to drop by the store after our shift to grab some things from the store..." He trailed off looking sheepish.

"Go ahead, Adrian. I know it will be all you talk about if you don't." He nodded before muttering a quick 'thank you' and leaving.

I had a really long day in general so as much as I wanted to I did not feel like waiting up for him. I left my work bag on the couch and wandered to his room.

His bookshelf overflowed with books and tabletop games, His bed was slightly messy from the morning, and it felt like him. I dug through his dresser to find this shirt that had a cool-looking dragon and a D20 on it. I took off my apron and work shirt and threw it on. I really hope he doesn't mind.

I threw my shoes somewhere on his floor and crumbled onto his bed. God his blankets were so soft.

It had been an hour before Adrian finally made his way home. He took off his mask and suit and tucked it away in the hall closet once he got home. He'd deal with all the blood later.

He walked through the hall and pushed open the door to see his best friend asleep on his bed in his shirt. He couldn't be happier to come home to this. She finally looked at ease snuggled beneath his covers.

Adrian scooted himself into his bed and joined her. He placed a small gentle kiss on her forehead and spooned her.

"They won't hurt you again." He whispered before allowing himself to drift off to sleep with her in his arms.

I waited afraid week after week to see that group come back but they never did. Nor the week after that or the next. I soon started to get curious about what Adrian meant when he said he'd "deal with them." Did he get the manager involved? Did he really have that strong effect on them? Maybe he even beat them up. He's too soft for that right?

Anyway, I was just happy to be with the one I've crushed on for so long. It felt good. Better than anything has ever been.

Tonight we were staying in on the couch while we waited for the popcorn to finish in the microwave of his apartment. The smell drifted through the room making me even more hungry than I was before.

"I'm glad they're gone." I looked up at him. His glasses glowed from the light of his phone.

"Me too. I hate seeing you upset." I leaned on his shoulder and my eyes wandered quickly over to his phone. Just a quick peek it wouldn't mean anything. He was texting Chris who according to him was his guy best friend. I had met him a few times for drinks after work and he was a pretty alright guy. I scanned the words and...

I finally got to use the chainsaw on those guys :)

What does that mean?

#adrian chase #adrian chase x reader #peacemaker #adrian chase fanfiction #freddie stroma x reader #freddie stroma #vigilante fanfiction #x reader #comfort from vigilante #babygirl fr

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laurenluvss · 9 months ago

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please hear me out on prince friedrich 🤭💕

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yanxidarlings · 10 months ago

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am struggling to find inspiration to write slytherin so here's some nightmare fuel instead 💀 also pls tell me it's not just me the yellow font is gone and i am in despair (gave zs green instead bcos he's pretty much a 🐍)

YANDERE! CORMAC MCLAGGEN VS YANDERE! ZACHARIAS SMITH

• on todays edition of shit no one asked for: the most cursed pair of yanderes. just imagine for a second being stuck with two yanderes, already a situation of itself, but two douchebag yanderes, now that's just comically unlucky.

• cormac and zacharias are pretty much at the bottom of the yandere foodchain — paired up against anyone else and no doubt the other yandere comes out on top, but what if we take other yanderes out of the equation? what if our dear darling / reader doesn't have to deal with groups of snakes and eagles? (cormacias smithlaggen)

• i feel like both cormac and zacharias's obsession would be someone who doesn't have many people around them. because fundamentally neither are smart nor talented enough to come up with an elaborate scheme to trap the darling, the only way to 'get' their darling would be to drag them into a draining and boundless friendship.

• despite being incredibly similar in the way they 'yandere', their biggest difference is how they treat the darling: to zacharias, his darling is the only person who matters in his life, whilst cormac is simply obsessed with the idea of them, whether it be for their looks, intelligence, reputation, they're the person he wants to spend his life with, whether they like it or not.

• whilst their motivations might be different, both are preoccupied with 'keeping' their darling, feelings and emotions be damned. sure, zacharias wants his darling to be happy, but without him? he wants to wipe the smile off their face whenever he see's them with anyone else. they can be miserable, unstable and depressed, he doesn't care and he'll deal with whatever mood swings they throw at him. the one thing he won't deal with is his darling being away from him.

• zacharias might be the 'sweeter' (i use this term loosely) of the two, but that by no means implies he'd be fine with sharing. zach can barely share his darling with themself, and has pretty much attached himself to their hip. he doesn't bother having other close friends or caring about other people, zacharias only needs you and you only need him.

• but what exactly is he going to do when cormac comes onto his darling? the gryffindor just inserts himself into their perfectly content life and acts like their boyfriend, and broke his nose the one time zacharias dared tell him to (looks down) get lost in the forbidden forest and get [redacted] by a centaur-

• cormac? he's worse, he objectifies his darling in every way possible. he might not see exactly see them as an object, but he has trouble taking any of their emotions seriously. you don't want to spend the night with him? sounds like a you problem, love </3. is he happy when they're happy? sure, but does he give a rats arse if they're uncomfortable? mclaggen doesn't even notice.

• despite his less than savoury traits, cormac isn't opposed to sharing, and might even prefer it, as long as he gets his daily darling time, does it really matter if there's another?

• he might even become more tolerable as a yandere sharing, maybe it's the competition being the darlings favourite becomes, or maybe it's just the 'good' influence from watching zacharias bend over backwards to make their darling happy, but he slowly starts to care.

• albeit, still in a himbo, macho way. pricked your finger? cormac happily marches to and from the hospital wing to bring his darling a bandaid. broke a bone? (because cormac didn't catch you in time after throwing you down the stairs) he won't let his dear lift a finger (literally, you tried to get up and he kept pushing you back down).

• one thing they can agree on is that the darling is not allowed any privacy or agency in this relationship, you don't want to kiss? too bad, pucker up love it's time for the 4pm make out session, cormac called first dibs today!. you want to study for the o.w.l's? suck it up, nerd, it's hogsmeade day, zacharias is taking you to the three broomsticks and cormac has a game later that you have to cheer at.

"oh come oon!" zacharias whined as his arm was once again pushed off by m/n, but he did not let up, and once again slung his arm around the others shoulders "how much exposure therapy do i need to put you through, mate" he dragged them along, walking towards the quidditch pitch that was slowly piling up with students, all eagerly waiting for the match to begin.

m/n let out a sigh of relief as zacharias finally removed his arm, instead gripping onto their forearm and guiding them up the stands "we have to get seats at the top, cormac bet me five galleons he could high five me on his broom — there's this new quill at scrivenshafts i'm dying to get"

the match felt like it was never going to end, the screaming of gryffindor and slytherin as each team got a hold of the quaffle was deafening, and his eyes were to stay glued to cormac the entire match, he couldn't gaze at any other player even for a second, especially potter, or else-

"potters got the snitch!"

the sound of lee jordans voice erupted the gryffindor side of the pitch into victorious roars of applause. they knew what came next, it always happened but maybe cormac would be too distracted by his victory to-

"how about a kiss for the star of the match" ah, cormac had already flown over to where they sat "i want my five galleons first!" zacharias pipped up, patting at mclaggens pockets "get off me smith — you can have it tomorrow, i just came here for my kiss" and with that, before m/n could say anything, cormac had grabbed ahold of either side of their face, pulling their lips to his.

• cormac and zacharias don't so much share as they do tolerate each others presence within the darlings life. the bright side is that together, they do stand a chance against another yandere, probably not an intelligent one like anthony goldstein, or a violent one like one of the theo's™, but if the darling were to have also caught to attention of someone like lorenzo berkshire, they probably wouldn't loose custody immediately.

#yandere harry potter #hp writings #yandere cormac mclaggen #yandere zacharias smith #cormac mclaggen #zacharias smith #freddie stroma #miles heizer #yandere harry potter x reader #yandere hp #yandere hufflepuff #yandere gryffindor #harry potter fanfiction

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frankiethedarkangel · 8 months ago

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Peacemaker Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Cum-petition (coming soon) 🔞

Adrian Chase/Vigilante 🔞

I met Vigilante aka Freddie Stroma!!

Not Your Typical Mission

Sinister Secrets

Chris Smith/Peacemaker 🔞

Not So Friendly Visits

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pretendfan · 1 year ago

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

Adrian Chase x F! Reader

{a/n Christmas 2022 this idea was first thought of but shelved because there just wasn’t the time to start it. Until now because the Adrian thirst is once again making me feral for this lil guy, and the need to write something was too strong to ignore. So here it is, a vague idea that I’ve let take the lead so this story goes where it wants to go…you have been warned🤣Merry Christmas!}

*Huge thanks to @powerfultenderness for guiding me through this, you are on the good list♥️*

*Takes place after show, characters all established and in this world Vig still has his parents*

~Three POV’s and a whole lot of secrets are poured into this holiday story, which is clearly spiked with festive cheer and definitely shouldn’t be read whilst driving, this is a tasty Christmas treat that you definitely don’t want to miss!~

{Part 1} {Part 2} {Part 3}

{WARNING: 18 PLUS/ swearing, blatant disregard for the holiday season, lots of smut, p in v, oral sex, doggy style, under a Christmas tree, flirting and teasing, tis the season for cheesiness, ambiguous ending}

#adrian chase x reader #christmas fanfiction #adrian chase #vigilante #freddie stroma #peacemaker #adrian chase is a babe #christopher smith #11th street kids #freddie stroma is too powerful #cheesy and fluffy #smut happens #tis the season #here it is #i’m done

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she-wolf09231982 · 1 year ago

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Vigilante/ Adrian Chase

Vigilante/Adrian Chase & Female Agent

#peacemaker #hbo max #vigilante #adrian chase #freddie stroma #11th street kids #dc #teal #john cena #vigilante x reader #vigilante smut #vigilante fanfiction

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evabellasworld · 1 year ago

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First Meeting at Fennel Fields

AO3 Link ——————————————————————————————

Pairing: Adrian Chase x Agender!OC (Rue Iqbal)

Rating: 13+

Summary:

Rue Iqbal, who recently moved to the town of Evergreen, stopped by at Fennel Fields to enjoy a meal when they made a potential romantic connection with the cute busboy, Adrian Chase.

A/N: This is part 1 of the series, Star Blossom. Stay tuned for part 2

It was a cold, late afternoon, with light gray clouds and a glint of sunlight in the sky. Driving in a silver car, Rue Iqbal admired the quaint town of Evergreen, with rows of mom-and-pop shops attached together and small trees and shrubs planted in every corner of the sidewalks, their light green leaves slowly fading into dark orange, reflecting the beginning of the autumn season. Their face was drenched with sweat and makeup and their ribbons loose from both sides of their curly hair. Wearing a light blue knitted vest with a slightly crumpled shirt and flared midi skirt, their Mary Jane shoes that Rue polished early in the morning had lost its shine, along with their white stockings that turned gray.

Despite their favorite song, La Vie En Rose, playing on the radio, Rue’s head was throbbing with slight pain and their right eye felt heavy, their left eye covered with eyepatch. But with their last meal after their mid-afternoon prayer, Rue’s stomach rumbled for hours, forcing them to drive to a nearby restaurant and eat as much as their heart desired. If they had the option, they craved a large paratha with thick, spicy mutton curry and a side of pakoras, just like how their paternal grandmother made them years ago.

Unfortunately, grandmother isn’t here to cook their favorite food, let alone comfort their heavy heart and dried tears. They’re on their own, in a new place, without anyone by their side.

Parking their car in front of a restaurant called Fennel Fields, Rue stared at their reflection in their rearview and touched up on their makeup and hair, before spraying an ocean-scented perfume on their bare neck. Taking a deep breath, they emerged from their vehicle with their light blue handbag and approached the restaurant their co-workers raved about earlier. The interior of the restaurant was painted with warm yellow that harmonized with the mild lighting and toasty surroundings, and the scent of Bolognese sauce and fresh rosemary welcomed the only customer.

All the seats were vacant, with saucers and a set of forks and knives placed on top of serviettes. Rue noticed that there were only a few staff on duty, and focused their gaze towards the round clock hanging in the middle, which was half-past five. As Rue glanced at the freshly mopped wooden floor, the restaurant hostess approached them with a warm smile on her face and a menu in her hands.

“Welcome to Fennel Fields,” she greeted. “Are you here to dine in or takeout?”

“I’m here to dine-in,” they replied in a cordial manner.

“Alright, miss, right this way,” she said, as she led them to their seat, which was a table with only two chairs and a painting of a willow tree on their right.

“Thank you,” Rue said, as they sat down and hung their handbag behind them.

“You’re welcome, miss,” she responded, handing them the menu. “Feel free to take your time to browse through the menu and ring the bell once you’re ready to order.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” they said, browsing through the menu, hoping the restaurant had options for vegans and vegetarians, just like what their co-workers claimed. They were right‌, because there is a vegan section on the menu, which is completely plant-based. Five minutes later, Rue rang the bell and a waitress approached her table, with a notebook in her hands.

“I’ll have a Caprese salad with a strawberry Italian soda,” Rue stated, as the waitress wrote it down on their notebook.

“Will that be all?” she asked. “A Caprese salad with a strawberry Italian soda?”

“That will be all,” they affirmed, handing her the menu. “Thank you so much.”

“No problem, miss.”

As the waitress left, Rue leaned against their seat and as they listened to the tranquil music in the background and turned to a simple willow tree painting on their right, sinking deep into their thoughts. They couldn’t help noticing the yellowish-greenish colors that were used for the leaves, along with the shadow that casts underneath it with light gray colors. Rue remembered the willow tree in the park one sunny day, where they used to sit whenever they felt like their burdens were too heavy for them to carry on their back and weeped without shame and guilt from people around them. With orange butterflies fluttering and the scent of nectars in the air, it was the perfect way to feel home.

But they weren’t home anymore. They’re in Evergreen, where there’s no sight of enormous skyscrapers and the mysterious green forest loomed at the edge of the town.

Before delving further into the new town, the waitress returned with their Caprese salad and a glass of strawberry Italian soda, bringing them back into the present. Rue thanked the waitress and glanced at their meal, which consists of fresh tomato slices, mozzarella cheese, and basil leaves, drizzled with olive oil and a hint of black pepper. It may not be vegan, but last they checked, mozzarella cheese did not contain rennet, hence, it was safe for them to eat. As they took a bite of their meal, they tasted the tanginess of the tomato and mozzarella slices mixed together with the pungent taste of basil. With the balancing flavor of the olive oil and black pepper, Rue’s eyes widened as they glanced at their meal, taking another bite and stuffing it in their mouth, satisfying their hunger.

They then took a sip of their strawberry Italian soda with a red-striped straw, and sighed in relief at the sweet taste of the fresh strawberries that were mixed with the bubbly club soda and the cooling ice cube that refreshed their body, despite the cold mist fogging the restaurant’s window. Despite the fog, however, Rue pictured the golden leaf that blew towards their bedroom window early in the morning, resembling the ones that were scattered near the willow tree. The street sweeper usually piled them up into a mini mountain, and Rue used to jump towards the pile and let the leaves rain towards their giggling face, until the sweeper showed up and cursed at them.

That was years ago when they were still in high school. As their mind flies towards their past, they did not notice the busboy approaching their table, who had been admiring their beauty since the moment they stepped foot into Fennel Fields.

“Excuse me, miss,” a busboy asked, carrying a jug of strawberry Italian soda. “Do you want a refill of your drink?”

Rue focused their attention towards the busboy who was standing in front of them and traced their eyes from his head to his toned forearms, all the way to his leather black shoes, which looked almost worn out. Wearing a red cap with matching shirt and a beige apron, his bespectacled eyes reminded Rue of a forest at night, which complimented with his porcelain skin and dimpled smile. Rue could only sip their soda as they admired the handsome busboy sitting in front of them, who resembled one of those main leads in a Korean drama, except for the fact that he was clearly a white man whose age they could not guess. But if they had to bet, the busboy looked like he was either in his late 20s or in his early 30s, though not more than 31.

Their eyes then moved towards his name tag on his apron before nodding in response. “I would love that, Adrian, thank you.”

He rapidly blinked at Rue’s response, gripping on the jug’s handle. “How did you know my name?”

“It’s on your name tag,” they pointed out, much to his relief.

“That makes sense,” he chuckled, as he poured their drink into their glass. “Though it feels weird that a customer would refer to a busboy or a busgirl or a busser by their names, since we mostly do the dirty work that the waiters don’t dare.”

“Yeah, bussers have to carry stacks of dirty dishes and refill drinks, which is really tiring. Like, I remember carrying 15 dirty dishes from one table and both my arms and legs were super sore.”

“Wait, you were a busser as well?”

“Yeah, it was my first job back in high school. Whenever school finished, I worked from around 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., and then woke up for school at 6, and then the pattern repeated.”

“I know that feeling,” he empathized with their experience as he leaned closer to their ears to whisper. “Not to mention you’re underpaid, a lot.”

Rue’s eyes widened as Adrian whispered in her ears, though they understood that he could not say it openly at his workplace since it might get him fired, or worse. Speaking of the workplace, Rue realized that they may have been taking loads of Adrian’s time, since he was still on duty right now.

“You should head back to work,” they reminded him. “I don’t think your boss would be happy to see you mingling with a customer.”

“Please, you’re the only one here,” he snorted, as he took a seat and placed the jug on the table, facing Rue. “Besides, I was really bored and there’s nothing much I can do anyway, aside from wiping the table, which I’ve done that for like a hundred times.”

Rue burst into laughter. “You talk to customers when you’re bored?”

“Nah, I usually would be sitting in the back and listening to music, but since you’re here all alone, I thought you could use some company anyway, since you look lonely and all.”

“I appreciate that,” they replied. “So how long have you worked here?”

“Pretty long, I guess,” he shrugged, looking upwards. “Probably around a year or two. Or maybe three. I don’t know. I’m bad at math. Anyway, let’s talk about you. What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a high school chemistry teacher. Today’s my first day of teaching at Evergreen High School. Ever heard of it?”

“Oh my gosh, yes, of course I heard of it. I used to go there, along with my older brother and my best friend, who’s close with my older brother,” his eyes brightened, reminiscing his past to Rue. “If I could remember, Mr. White was my chemistry teacher, until he got killed by a drug lord, which I’m not sure how to feel, since chemistry isn’t my favorite subject and also the fact that I zoned out at every one of his classes.”

“So you and your older brother and your best friend, who’s close with your older brother, were alumni of that school?” they recapped, feeling goosebumps on their skin on Mr. White’s death. “Well, that explains why the superintendent hired me immediately after the interview.”

“I’m not surprised,” he shrugged. “A lot of teachers are leaving the profession, which I don’t blame them, since the pay is low and students can be dickheads sometimes. Are your students a bunch of dickheads?”

“So far, they seemed fine,” they laughed with amusement. “Though it’s too early to judge, since it’s only the first day.”

“That’s totally understandable,” Adrian let out a pleasant laugh, before proceeding to dig through their history. “So if you don’t mind me asking, where are you from, cause I’ve never seen you around town before, so yeah…”

“Well, I was born and raised in Malaysia, but I came to America when I was fourteen,” they explained, releasing a shallow sigh. “I lived in Kane City for eight years, which was famous for their willow trees, until I decided to move to Evergreen, where I’ve only been here for two days.”

“That’s a lot of moving,” he remarked. “So you must be a city girl, right?”

Rue chuckled in response, much to his confusion. “Did I say anything wrong?”

“I’m not sure how to say this, but I’m not a girl,” they clarified, pressing their hands together. “I’m actually agender, which means I don’t identify with any gender at all. Basically, I’m genderless, so yeah…”

“I am so sorry about that,” he babbled, aghast at his own behavior. “I should have asked before assuming your gender, which I did, and now I think I made things awkward between us.”

“No worries about that,” Rue assured him. “I get that a lot.”

“It’s still not an excuse to misgender you, though,” he looked down on the table, avoiding their eyes, before clearing his throat. “Anyway, to make things less awkward, what pronouns do you use?”

“I go by they, them, ze and zir,” they answered. ‘What about you? What pronouns do you go by?”

“I go by he and him pronouns, and I’m also a cis male, just to clear up the confusion between the both of us.”

“Alright, looks like we’ve cleared up the air,” they clapped their hands once. “So, how long did you stay in Evergreen?”

“Since I was born, which was practically my whole life,” he answered, gazing at Rue’s right eye. “I never left Evergreen, and I don’t think I ever will. I mean, I know it can be boring and all, with nothing much happening in this town, except for the fact that we were almost invaded by a bunch of butterflies, which I obviously have nothing to do with, but otherwise, there’s nothing much here except for a few crimes here and there.”

“Honestly, I would rather be almost invaded by a bunch of butterflies than to deal with corrupt cops and some billionaire who tried to poison our rivers,” Rue chortled. “Besides, butterflies are beneficial to the ecosystem since they contribute to our food production.”

“Yeah, of course,” he laughed nervously, wiping the sweat off his forehead. “Those butterflies are definitely beneficial to the ecosystem, alright. Anyway, let’s talk about your home country, Malaysia, since I’ve never heard about it before, so yeah, what’s it like down there?”

“From what I remembered, I would hang out at the esplanade with my friends while admiring the ocean up close, along with the blue sky above. I also remembered the alleyways with artworks of children riding on the bicycle and playing on the swing. I also remembered enjoying swimming in the river near my grandparent’s house and the water would be freezing cold, despite the immense heat outside. Oh, there’s also a rice field nearby as well, and it’s a beautiful sight when it’s being harvested.”

“It sounded like paradise.”

“It did, actually,” they smiled sadly. “If only I could stay there forever.”

“Do you miss your home country?”

“Yeah, I do miss Malaysia a lot,” they sighed. “I could come back there, but I’m not sure whether I would recognize it since everything changed for the past eight years.”

“Well, you know what they say, if you’ve been away from home for too long, you end up becoming a foreigner when you return home.”

Rue nodded as they stared distantly at their drink, contemplating Adrian’s words. Their memories of their eight years old self enjoying a strawberry ice ball replayed in their mind like a rolling film camera. They were sitting all alone in an open-air shop and counted every trishaw that rode past them on the quiet streets. The shopkeeper knew their parents well. Whenever Rue came to his shop, he always smiled and talked to them in their native language. Rue would love to go back to those moments, but they no longer live there anymore, nor speak their native language that their parents and teachers from her old school had taught. Even if they go back, they would no longer be the same little girl that everyone recognized.

“Everything alright, Rue?” Adrian interrupted their thoughts, his brows wrinkled. “You seemed sad.”

“Yeah, I’m alright,” they insisted, grinning from ear-to-ear. “I was just taking a trip down to memory lane, that’s all.”

“Is it something I said, cause if it is, I’m really sorry about that.”

Rue shook their head. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Adrian. It’s just that I realized that I forgot how to speak Malay, which I used to be super fluent along with English, but since coming here, I could only converse in English, Japanese and Korean, which is embarrassing, cause I made an effort to learn Japanese and Korean but somehow I didn’t do the same with Malay, which was the language my parents and my grandparents and the rest of my ancestors have spoken, even during the colonial eras. So yeah, you’re right. If I returned to Malaysia, I’ll feel more like an American tourist instead of a Malaysian who returned home.”

Adrian can’t imagine losing the ability to speak his native tongue, but listening to Rue’s cries on forgetting the language that their ancestors have spoken made his heart ache. They would insist that everything seemed fine, but he noticed their suppression of tears through their right eye, since the other eyes were covered with an eye patch. He wondered how they lost half of their sight in the first place, though it’s not the right time to ask about it.

“It must be painful forgetting a language you used to be fluent in,” he empathized in a softer tone. “And I’m sure it hurts to feel disconnected from your home country and its culture. But I’m confident that it is never too late to re-learn the Malay language and reconnect with your culture. It definitely won’t be easy, but I’m sure it will be a healing journey for you and your family, if you’re still in touch with them, of course. Are you still in touch with your family?.”

“Unfortunately, no, but you’re still right,” they smiled at Adrian. “It’s never too late to re-learn the Malay language and reconnect with my culture. After all, we persevered through the colonial era and the Japanese occupation during World War II, so I don’t think I’ll give up anytime soon.”

“That’s the spirit,” he cheered, as he noticed their blue handbag hanging on the chair. “Is that a Kate Spade you got there?”

“How did you know?” they gasped, grabbing their handbag.

“It’s the leather for me, cause it’s made of crossgrain calf leather, which is the least expensive kind of leather and also more durable than the regular soft leather, perfect for carrying loads of stuff like files and books, since that’s what teachers usually carry all the time.”

Rue raised their eyebrows as they leaned towards him while still clutching on their handbag. “You have such eyes for details. Does anyone ever tell you that?”

“No, people just call me stupid and clueless, which is actually true, since I can’t tell who’s being sarcastic and I also don’t feel emotions like people do.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Adrian shook his head. “No, it’s true. People always tell me that I’m dumb and that I talk too much, which is also true as well.”

Rue blinked at his statement, wondering whether he was pulling their leg. Surely, a man who accurately guessed the brand of their handbag would not be stupid, clueless, and dumb. As for the emotion part, Adrian makes them feel like they’re talking to a close friend that they’ve known for years instead of a stranger they just met an hour ago.

“What makes you think that you’re stupid and clueless?” they asked, tilting their head to their right.

“Well, one time, I noticed my best friend was really occupied with work and all, so I decided to help him do his laundry. Unfortunately, I may have used the wrong detergent, so his clothes pretty much turned pink. Understandably, he got mad and he wouldn’t allow me in his trailer for two weeks, so yeah.”

Rue burst out laughing that they almost choked on their saliva, before clearing their throat and straightening their posture. “I don’t think I can consider you being stupid, since I also accidentally turned one of my white dresses pink. But honestly, at least I could wear that dress, since most of my clothes are blue and white.”

“I threw my best friend's phone out of the car, thinking it was trackable, but his dad found him anyway because of his helmet. I realize now that it was a dumb thing to do.”

“Wait, helmets are trackable?” Rue bit their cheeks in thought.

“Well, my best friend’s helmet was trackable since his dad specially built it, and his dad is a racist nutjob‌, which you shouldn’t worry about, since he’s dead and I definitely have no part in his death, so yeah.”

“Okay then, that’s good to know,” Rue nodded. “So, you mentioned you have an older brother, right?”

“Yeah, I did,” he replied with a grin. “His name is Gut, and he’s like way older than me, like 13 years older, and he was alright. We only see each other during the holidays, since he has his own life and all.”

“Huh, it must be nice having a big brother. How about the rest of your family? Are you close with them as well?”

“Kind of, I mean, I only see them during the holidays, so yeah, it’s all good, I guess.”

Rue hummed in agreement as they stole a quick glance of the time. It was already 6.30 p.m. It dawned on them just how swiftly the past hour and a half had flown by, their conversation flowing seamlessly and effortlessly. Yet, Rue was hit with their most important part of their everyday obligations, which was their daily prayers. In 20 minutes, their next prayer would start, though they can’t bear the weight of leaving Adrian all alone, despite their short but captivating connection they had shared earlier.

Letting out a resigned sigh, Rue took out a piece of a blue memo pad and a Sharpie from their handbag, puzzling Adrian with their unexpected action.

“Everything okay, Rue?”

“I would love to stay and chat with you longer, but I just realized that my next prayer starts in 20 minutes, which I can’t be late to, so will it be okay if I give you my phone number instead?

Adrian’s eyes sparkled as Rue handed him their phone number on a blue memo pad, which had an ocean scent attached to it. It’s not every day a pretty person like Rue would give their phone number to him. He felt like floating in the air as angels surrounded him with their soulful opera.

“Of course you can,” he grinned, folding the piece of paper inside his pocket. “I would definitely call you, after you’re done with your prayers. By the way, what time is your last prayer, cause I don’t want to disturb you while praying, you know.”

“You can call me at 9,” they suggested, getting up from their seat. “I’ll be done by then.”

“Sure thing, I’ll definitely call you at 9,” he got up with them. “I can’t wait to continue our conversations together.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Rue winked, before realizing that they only had one eye, prompting them to turn around and ignore his soft laugh behind them. “Just don’t be late.”

“See you soon, Rue,” Adrian waved as he watched them leave Fennel Fields. Looking down at the phone number that they gave earlier, he paced out of the restaurant through the back door and performed his signature dance move at the empty alleyway, not giving a fuck whether his co-workers were staring at him weirdly.

#adrian chase #adrian chase x oc #freddie stroma #vigilante x oc #peacemaker hbo max #agender oc #dc fanfic #vigilante fanfiction #adrian chase fanfiction #peacemaker #vigilante #adrian chase imagine

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kpopgirlbtssvt · 1 year ago

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This!!!

i feel like with the wait for Peacemaker season 2 people are forgetting all about the lovable “sociopath” Vigilante/Adrian Chase. I feel like I’ve read every Vig fic there is to read and there’s a huge slow down in new ones! I would love any recs on here or any other sites of ppl’s fav vigilante fics or ones they’ve written themselves! Also any creators taking submissions for new vig fics reply too!! tysm <3

#adrian chase #vigilante #peacemaker #vigilante peacemaker #adrian chase imagine #adrian chase x reader #adrian chase fanfiction #vigilante imagine #vigilante x reader #vigilante fanfiction #freddie stroma

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multifandomfanficss · 1 year ago

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Stuck With You

Adrian Chase/Vigilante x Reader

Adrian Chase Masterlist

Prompt: When the team sticks their newest member with Vigilante, everyone feels bad for you, but you’re grateful to have him around when you run into something from your past and lose your cool.

Warnings: panic attacks, human experimentation, referenced child abuse

A/N: I found a couple lines of dialogue in my drafts that I never did anything with and I had the writing bug today so I decided to finally make something with it! I’ll crosspost it on my AO3 adriansglasses as well. Hope you enjoy!

“(L/N), you’re with Vigilante.” Harcourt says, at the beginning of the meeting.

“You’re really gonna stick the newest person with that psycho?” John asks.

“You don’t need to be mean to Adrian just because he’s not here.” Leota starts.

“I would say it to his face too. He’d probably just laugh and call me his 4th best friend.” John retorts.

You hadn’t been with the team for long. This was your first mission with them. After a mission gone too out of control, Waller sent you to the middle of nowhere Evergreen, Washington. You thought she’d sent you here because the environment would be less hectic, but the longer you’re there, the more you realize she probably sent you here because everyone on this team is either highly traumatized or in need of more experience. She was trying to put the training wheels back on. From what you’d been told by the team’s top conspiracy theorist, Christopher Smith, this team was originally supposed to be an expendable scapegoat, but they ended up saving the world. You had no idea what to believe at this point.

“What’s up with Vigilante?” You ask, wondering why this was all such a hot topic. You hadn’t known him for long. He seemed a little odd, but overall fine. If you were being honest you actually kind of liked him. He was sweet and funny, often without trying. There was this comforting air about him and you didn’t really know why. He was a good fighter and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t think he was at least a little bit cute.

“He’s a little…” Chris started moving his finger in a circular motion, trying to insinuate that Adrian was crazy.

“He can’t be that bad.” You smile.

Suddenly Adrian comes running into the old video store tripping over one of his shin guards that wasn’t on properly. He sits down and fastens it.

“Sorry I’m late, guys. They kept me late at the restaurant and then when I was trying to put on my suit in the car I accidentally ran a red light and usually I would kill somebody for that, but I mean I think the more important thing is that I didn’t run over the old lady crossing the street! She was totally fine and I know she’s alive because she screamed at me…I’ve never seen an old lady use to many swear words. It was kind of awesome! Anyway what did I miss?”

“You put on your suit while driving?” Leota asks.

“Yup.” He gives a straight face nod. Adrian often had a way about him, as if what he was thinking should be obvious to other people, when in fact, it was not obvious to most people most of the time.

“You amaze me.” Harcourt says, sarcastically.

“Thank you.” Adrian smiles, not catching her sarcasm.

She rolls her eyes, sighing.

———————————————————————

Later on that night you and Adrian found yourselves walking through a series of tunnels.

“John, I think we might be lost.” You spoke into your coms, hoping he can help you from the van.

“I can’t even hear you in my earpiece and I’m right next to you. I think we lost the signal.” Adrian walks in silence for a few seconds before adding, “I’m sorry you got stuck with me.” He looks at the ground, sad.

“What are you talking about?”

“I know they stuck you with me. Nobody ever really chooses to be my partner.” He lightly kicks a rock, pretending not to be bothered.

“They did pair us up, but that doesn’t mean I was disappointed.” You smile.

“Really? Why would you want me?”

“Well first of all, you’re a great fighter. You were also the first person to attempt to be my friend. I’d trust you in the field over anyone.”

“Really?” You can hear the surprise in his voice.

“Yeah.” You let out a soft giggle. “Why are you so surprised that I like you?”

“Usually everyone just tells me to shut up or fuck off.”

“Well I’m not everyone.” You nudge him playfully as you walk.

Soon you come upon a door. It’s a little rusted, but Adrian shoots the lock off and you’re able to break in.

“What is this place?” He asks.

As soon as you walk inside you see the tubes, the files, the devices, the tables, the symbols. You know exactly what this is. This is an old facility for the for the group that made you leave your old job, the mission that ruined your life. You see files on the table, files no doubt full of details on the children they were experimenting on. The group would take orphaned children or children who were abandoned and unwanted, kids who had no one to protect them, and they would experiment on them. They were human trials to try to find new ways of making superheroes. This must have been one of their old abandoned facilities. Despite the lab being inactive, just the sight of it was still enough to send you into a spiral.

Your heart starts beating rapidly as you grow dizzy. You look down at your shaking hands. You’re starting to lose control of your breathing.

“I- I can’t-“ You walk backwards out of the room, starting to hyperventilate.

“Woah. Hey, what’s going on? Are you having a panic attack?” Adrian slowly puts his hands out towards you. He’s a little unsure of what to do.

“I’ve seen this before!” Your entire world is spinning as your start to cry. You can’t stop thinking about the awful things you saw when you snuck into their active facility earlier this year. Those poor children. Part of you was starting to wonder if Waller put you on this team for a reason. You should have known better than to think she was giving you a break. Waller always had some sort of fucked up motive that only worked for herself hidden up her sleeve. “I can’t fucking breathe!” You sob, sucking in air.

“Tender nice touching.” Adrian slowly approached you, patting your shoulder. You needed pressure on your body. You felt like you were slipping away from earth and you needed to be held down.

“Can I have a hug?” You asked, quietly.

“You want a hug?” He asked, his voice just as quiet. He was speaking softly to not startle you further.

“Yeah…”

“I think I can do that.“ He smiles, slowly bringing you into his arms. A little loose at first, he tightened the hug as you melted into him.

“I’m sorry- I- I just…I know what the did here and- and-“ Adrian shushes you as you begin to stutter, your mind moving much faster than your mouth is able to.

“You’re okay. You’re safe. I’ve got you. Just breathe with me. Don’t focus on anything else, but your breathing okay? Can you feel me breathing?” He rubs your back as you cry into his arms. You nod. “Okay, good. Just…just follow that.” He sighs and then focuses on making his own breathing something you can follow.

“Sometimes it’s hard for me to know what people on the team want because I know Chris doesn’t wanna look weak and Harcourt would kill me if I touched her, so I try to be careful. I just don’t wanna upset you guys more, but if you want me hold you I can keep doing that. Just let me know what you need and I’ll do it.” He says, softly.

“Can you just keep talking?” You ask. The sound of his voice is soothing and grounding.

“You want me to keep talking?” He smiles. “You’re in luck. I’m actually really good at talking. So good, in fact, that people are constantly asking me to shut up. So uh… What can I talk about? Oh! I know. So I have this friend at work. His name is Taylor. Well, he says we’re not friends, but he texts me all time time asking me to help cover his shifts and I would only trust a friend enough to ask them for that, so I think we’re friends. Anyway, so Taylor walked in this morning and…”

The longer Adrian rambles on the better you feel. The pressure of his body on yours and his voice slowly bring you back to earth. Eventually you find yourselves walking back through the tunnels, hand in hand, retracing your steps as he guides you back to the van to regroup. He keeps you distracted with silly stories the entire walk back.

You don’t know what the rest of your team was talking about. Adrian was the best partner you could have had.

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training4theapocalypse · 2 months ago

Text

Sweet (Cormac McLaggen x fem!reader)

Rating: Explicit 18+

Word Count: 15.5k

Warnings: Smut, unprotected sex, friends to lovers, mutual pining, confessions, GOOEY ROMANCE, Christmas 🎄

Summary: You try to ignore your feelings for your best friend, Cormac McLaggen. Reader and Cormac are both 18+.

A/N: A Christmas fic! The Sabrina Carpenter-fication of Gryffindor Common Room. I know everyone hates Cormac but my full-time job is actually fixing him (lets not look into what that says about me okay thanks). I wrote this for @cinderellasmissingshoes but it's been so long she's deactivated (RIP girl). Also, it turns out, anything can be a one-shot if you just post it all at once!!!! And nobody can stop you!!!!!

Masterlist

Chapter text:

The Gryffindor Common Room is a riot of gold and red, as laughter and music fill the room. Even though Quidditch has never been your thing, a team win is always a good excuse to get swept up in the celebration. You’re dressed the part, of course, with a red bow in your hair and wearing a borrowed, oversized Gryffindor training jumper that by a happy coincidence makes the gloss on your lips pop.

The victory has everyone riding high, but as much as you’re enjoying the party, you can't help feeling a little tug of concern for one person. You’re at Katie Bell’s side, amongst the throng of her teammates happily celebrating as the rest of the party-goers chant Ron Weasley’s name but your eyes search the crowd for a certain someone. You excuse yourself - Katie will be fine without you for a few minutes.

Cormac McLaggen hasn’t been at all himself lately. And while Katie is adamant that she considers this to be an improvement, his newfound reservation is just plain weird. Katie told you to stop worrying about Cormac, that he was probably just sulking over not being chosen as Keeper for the Quidditch team this year and that he should just lighten up. And you’d probably agree if the change hadn’t been so drastic - usually so confident, even arrogant at times, he’s been acting almost shy lately.

Cormac’s tall, broad figure and golden halo of curly hair are easy to spot from the other side of the room. He’s half-heartedly chatting with Dean Thomas, who, like Cormac, is still nursing the sting of not making the team.

“Cheer up, boys!” you call. Dean still looks sullen but Cormac's entire demeanour shifts when he grins at you skillfully weaving through the crowd towards them without spilling the two butterbeers in your hands. “Anyone would think we’d lost to Slytherin if they saw your faces,” you joke, slipping into the tight space next to him.

"Well, we wouldn't have let so many in if I'd -" starts Cormac.

"If you'd have been chosen as Keeper," you finish. His many complaints about Harry Potter's chosen team are easy to memorise and rhyme off back to him. "I know. I know. But we won, right?"

“Since when did you refer to the team as ‘we’?” teases Cormac, accepting the bottle you thrust into his hands. “Big Quidditch fan now are you?”

You smooth down the jumper you’re wearing, so oversized that the hem of it sits just above your skirt. “Well, if I’d known I’d look this cute in the team merch, I might have taken an interest sooner.”

“I don’t care how cute you look, I want it back.”

He flashes a smile and you can’t ignore the flurry of butterflies you feel.

“Oh, come on. We both know it looks better on me,” you shoot back, enjoying the fun of prying a compliment from him.

Cormac presses his tongue against the inside of his cheek, considering you, before finally concluding, “Debatable.”

You both laugh and you feel a warm sense of satisfaction that your attempt to take his mind off his exclusion from the team is working.

“Oldest trick in the book, mate. Don’t fall for it,” Dean interjects with a knowing smile, snapping Cormac’s attention away from you. You almost forgot Dean was there.

“What’s the oldest trick in the book?” asks Cormac.

“Everyone knows if you give your girlfriend your clothes, they’re hers for good. You’re never getting them back.”

You and Cormac look at each other awkwardly. The flirtatious banter suddenly feels much more complicated by Dean’s assumption.

Because Cormac is not your boyfriend.

In fact, in the run-up to Yule Ball several years ago, he made it crystal clear that he wasn’t into you like that.

Cormac opens his mouth to reply but you spare him the necessity of correcting Dean and hurting your feelings.

“Oh, we’re not going out,” you blurt before he can. “I was cold when we were watching the game and Cormac was just being nice.” Dean’s sceptical eyebrow rises, flicking between you and Cormac. Attributing the sudden flush in your cheeks to the heat of the room, rather than embarrassment, you say, “Actually, I don’t need this anymore now that we’re inside - here hold this.” You hand Cormac your butterbeer and start pulling off the jumper.

“No, look, you don’t have to -” Cormac starts, but you’re already tugging the woollen fabric off over your head. The scent of him - clean, with just a hint of his woody aftershave - floods your senses, making your heart twist painfully in your chest at its sudden absence.

You toss your hair back and hastily fix yourself.

“Here -” you say, taking the butterbeer back and replacing it with his jumper.

“Thanks,” Cormac mutters, but there’s a hint of annoyance as he does. He takes the jumper before throwing a look at Dean.

“Katie’s probably looking for me,” you announce, needing to put some distance between you and this now-too-complicated situation. You turn on your heel, attempting to slip back into the midst of things with your usual grace, but there’s a slight stumble in your step - barely noticeable, but enough to rattle you.

As you make your way over to Katie, you’re distracted by a sudden onslaught of whooping and cheering. Through a gap in the crowd, you see Ron Weasley and Lavender Brown unreservedly snogging.

That’s odd, you think. You could have sworn he was going out with -

The portrait hole opens and you spot a flash of bushy brown hair exiting the Common Room.

A hand grabs your arm. “Sweet!” The familiar nickname that you’ve never quite been able to shake off - not that you mind it - there are certainly worse things to be called. “There you are!” says Katie, her eyes sparkling with post-victory excitement.

“Did you just see -?”

Katie rolls her eyes. “The giant squid impression in the middle of the room? Yup.”

“Do you think we should see if Hermione is alright?” you ask, looking back over to the portrait hole.

“Harry’s already on it,” Katie says, nodding toward the door where Harry disappears after Hermione. “C’mon, I need another butterbeer.”

As you follow her, it’s not long before Katie brings up her favourite subject of late - Professor Slughorn’s Christmas party in a few weeks. Neither of you made Slughorn’s elite list of attendees so the only way you’ll get invited is if someone asks you. As much as you’d love the opportunity to get dressed to the nines, you could do without the drama. If the Yule Ball taught you anything, school dances inevitably lead to heartbreak.

“I don’t even want to go, anyway,” you insist. “See - this is a party. Slughorn’s will be so dry. I mean, there’ll be more teachers and Ministry bigwigs than students.”

“You know, if Cormac weren’t going, I’d suggest throwing our own party on the same night. But we couldn’t do that to him...” A mischievous smile dawns on her face. “Or could we?”

You hesitate but Katie presses on.

“I bet he’d forget all about Slughorn if you told him we were having a party.”

“You really think Cormac would miss a chance to cosy up to old Sluggy?”

When the two of you make it to the drinks table, she leans in conspiratorially close, lowering her voice just enough to be heard over the noise. “What I mean is, maybe he’d ditch Slughorn’s Party if you asked him to.”

“No, he wouldn’t,” you dismiss the idea quickly, not quite meeting her eyes. “If Cormac was interested in going to a party with me, he’d have asked me to Slughorn’s. I shouldn’t have to plan my own just to - ”

To what?

Go out with him?

You cut yourself off, but Katie’s sharp eyes catch yours. The noise of the party swells around you, enough to disguise her prying.

“What’s going on with you two, anyway?”

The question catches you off guard. Truthfully, nothing is going on between you and Cormac McLaggen.

Well, not nothing on your part.

Even if you disregarded the way your eyes sought out Cormac’s reaction whenever you styled your hair differently, or how you sometimes overanalysed his extra-tight friendly hugs that lingered a bit too long, there was no denying you were - at the very least - best friends.

And that was the problem. You were friends. Nothing more. No matter how much you wanted it to be otherwise.

In the run-up to the Yule Ball two years ago, you overheard Cormac firmly assuring Oliver Wood that he did not find you attractive. Like, at all.

You remember you were waiting on Katie finishing Quidditch practice in the courtyard, sitting behind the fountain in your usual meeting spot when you heard Oliver and Cormac at the other side of the fountain talking about the Gryffindor Team. You didn’t even lift your head from doodling on some parchment - the last thing you wanted to do was be dragged into a conversation about Quidditch.

Then the conversation drifted, from tactics to Quidditch team succession planning when Oliver left Hogwarts the following year and then, your ears pricked up when they started talking about the Yule Ball.

“I can put in a good word with Angelina about making you Keeper next year if you do me a solid,” Oliver said before lowering his voice. “Think you could ask if your mate is interested in going to the Yule Ball with me?” Oliver had asked. Your peacock feather quill paused as you sat up straight and held your breath.

There was a pause.

“Yeah, I’m sure Katie would be up for that,” Cormac said eventually, his voice steady in reply.

“Not Katie. Team dynamics would get messy,” he said seriously. “The other one. Sweetie or something.”

The other one. Cormac had two best friends.

That could only mean you.

“Oh,” Another pause, shorter this time, like Cormac was searching for the right words. “Are you sure you want to go with Sweet?”

The way Cormac said your nickname so incredulously made your stomach drop.

“I’m not stepping on your toes, am I?” laughed Oliver.

You leaned forward discreetly, peering around the side of the fountain to see Cormac shifting uncomfortably as he deliberated on his next words.

“No, nothing like that. She’s… alright, I guess. Decent looking. But, not really my type. She’s kind of annoying, y’know? Pretty full of herself. A bit of an airhead, actually.”

You remember feeling a sting of embarrassment, sharp enough to make your eyes water as Cormac listed off all your supposed shortcomings. But you blinked it away, hurriedly gathering your things and forgetting your plans to meet Katie before they could notice you had been there the whole time.

At the time it hurt so badly. Because back then you had such a thing for him. How couldn’t you? Cormac McLaggen was the quintessential golden boy - tall, handsome, athletic - exactly your type on paper. Even if you weren’t his, apparently. And not only did he not want to date you, but he actually found the idea so repulsive that he was trying to put Oliver off you too.

In the end, Cormac’s disapproval didn’t deter Oliver. Even though Cormac reneged on his promise and never mentioned that Oliver was interested in you, Oliver still asked you to the Yule Ball without Cormac’s intervention. And you said yes, relieved that at least Cormac’s poor recommendation hadn’t dissuaded him. In fact, you got on so well at the Yule Ball, that you dated for a few months. Until he dumped you when he left school. But, you supposed, that was boys for you.

And it affected you. Between Cormac McLaggen’s lukewarm feelings towards you and Oliver Wood dumping you, you swore off the idea of dating anyone.

It was easy to forget about Oliver when he left school. You gradually became friendly with Cormac again - you might even call him your best friend, aside from Katie, of course.

But you always kept your guard up around boys, never quite forgetting the sting of either incident.

“So, you wouldn’t go to Slughorn’s Christmas Party if he asked you?” Katie probes, bringing you back to the present.

Even though you trust Katie more than anyone, you’ve never told her about your feelings for Cormac or the utterly humiliating reason that you’ve never pursued them.

He’s just not into you.

“We’re friends. That’s all. And that’s the end of this conversation.”

Katie sighs. “Okay, okay, I get it.” She spins around to the empty drinks table. “How have we gone through six crates of butterbeer already?” She groans. “Do you wanna come to the kitchens and get more?”

“I’ll go, you stay here,” you say and she immediately begins protesting but you ignore her. “Listen, this is a party for your team. You should stay.”

She hesitates before spotting Cormac across the room.

“Why don’t you go to the kitchens with -”

“If you mention Cormac one more time, I’ll lose my mind,” you warn her. “I can handle a trip to the kitchens alone. I won’t be long.”

Katie laughs, holding her hands up in mock surrender.

“Okay, Sweet. I don’t know what’s got you so sour.”

You roll your eyes and ignore her comment. As you walk towards the portrait hole, you glance at Cormac and realise he’s already looking at you. You pretend not to notice like you’re scanning the room for someone else, before disappearing through the door.

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

Later, as you walk back up towards Gryffindor tower, a few crates of butterbeer (that the house elves were extremely eager to bestow upon you) clink behind as they follow you, levitating in the air.

The cool, empty castle offers little comfort. You left the Common Room to clear your head, but all you’ve found since you left the kitchens are your own thoughts, swirling endlessly as you walk.

If Cormac wanted to ask you to Slughorn’s party, he would have done it by now. You’re not getting your hopes up again. And besides, why would he need to wait for a party to ask you out? If his feelings for you had changed since the Yule Ball, he could have told you at any point.

She’s kind of annoying, y’know? Pretty full of herself. A bit of an airhead, actually.

Harsh criticism. Not entirely untrue. It’s not like you’re clever. And sure, you take pride in your appearance, but until you heard him say that, you didn’t think it bothered anyone. Especially not him. If you had to criticise Cormac, you’d probably say he was full of himself too. And as far as intelligence goes, it’s not like he’s the quickest broom in the shed either.

As you turn it over, replaying scenarios in your head that you haven’t revisited in a long time - most notably, ones where Cormac didn’t talk badly about you behind your back - you walk straight into someone hunched over their knees at the bottom of the spiral staircase.

“Oh, sorry! Wait - Hermione?” you ask. The bushy-haired sixth-year looks up and hastily wipes her eyes. “Are you okay? Where’s Harry?”

Hermione swallows hard and nods, though her red-rimmed eyes betray her. “I told him to go back to the party. There’s no reason for both of us to miss it. I’m fine. Really. It’s silly.”

“You don’t look fine,” you say gently, sitting down beside her on the cold stone steps. After a pause, you add, “I saw Ron and Lavender.”

Hermione’s breath hitches, and she quickly looks away, blinking back tears. “I—I feel so ridiculous. I already asked him to Slughorn’s party, and now he’s… I should have known.”

You scoff, shaking your head. “You’re not the ridiculous one here. Honestly, I think these stupid formal events should be banned.”

Hermione lets out a half-laugh, half-sob - a wet, spluttering sound - but you catch the faintest glimmer of a smile, and you feel a small surge of relief. At least you’ve distracted her for a moment.

“I’m serious,” you insist, leaning back against the wall. “They’re more trouble than they’re worth.”

Hermione sniffles, wiping at her eyes again. “Maybe. But it doesn’t make me feel any less foolish.”

“It’s not foolish,” you say firmly, the butterbeer crates you were levitating now drifting to the ground beside you. “And to tell you the truth, I know exactly how it feels to have your heart broken at one of these things.”

She looks up at you, her eyes wide with surprise. “You do?”

You nod slowly, thinking back to your own past. “Yep. And besides, Hermione, you’ve handled worse than this. You stared down Umbridge, for Merlin’s sake. This? This is nothing compared to her.”

Hermione lets out a dry laugh, shaking her head. “It doesn’t feel like nothing,” she says quietly. “In fact, it feels… it feels worse.”

“I know,” you admit softly. “And I know it probably feels like you’ll never get over it. Like it’ll never stop hurting. But trust me - if I can get through it, you can too.”

She looks at you earnestly, her brow furrowing. “How?” she asks, her voice small but full of curiosity. “How did you get over it?”

The answer isn’t easy, and the truth is harder still. Convincing others - and yourself - that you’re perfectly fine, even when you’re not, is something you unfortunately have experience with.

You push yourself to your feet, brushing off your skirt and forcing a small smile. “By acting completely unbothered,” you say, trying to sound casual, even though the irony stings. After all, here you are, still trying to bury your feelings for Cormac McLaggen.

“We’re gonna go back to the Common Room and make it look like you don’t have a care in the world,” you say as you extend a hand to help her to her feet which she accepts. “And tomorrow we’ll find someone else for you to go to Slughorn’s party with. Someone better than Ron Weasley.”

“Who?”

Perhaps this is your chance to help Hermione and bury your feelings for Cormac in one fell swoop. Maybe, just maybe, if she went to Slughorn’s party with him, it’d help you finally put Cormac - and the lingering ‘what could have been’ - behind you too.

If he was going out with someone else, you could draw a line under all this and move on.

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

The following Monday, Hogwarts students arrive in the Great Hall to find a winter wonderland. A whirlwind of snowflakes dances over the enchanted ceiling past icicle-adorned rafters. Enormous Christmas trees - decked in baubles the size of bludgers - flank the room. The usual breakfast smells of toast, bacon, and pumpkin juice mix with the scent of pine and cinnamon, giving everything a festive buzz.

But Cormac barely notices any of it.

Sitting at the Gryffindor table, Cormac stabs the fried egg on his plate, watching it ooze onto the rest of his breakfast like it might help him decide how to do what he was about to do next. Oliver Wood used to joke that Cormac had the appetite of a Graphorn, but lately, he hasn’t been feeling hungry. His mind is completely elsewhere.

He’s going to ask you. To Slughorn’s Party. Today.

You and Cormac have History of Magic classes together on Monday afternoons, just the two of you away from the rest of your friends. A rare moment alone. You’re always surrounded by people - constantly laughing, flipping your hair in a way that makes his insides flip, and you seem completely oblivious to how nervous he’s become around you lately.

“Can you stop murdering that egg?” asks Katie, jolting him out of his daze and glancing at his half-destroyed breakfast. “It’s making me queasy. That’s the last thing I need before we feed raw meat to Thestrals.”

“Sorry,” mutters Cormac, setting his fork down, though the uneasy knot in his stomach isn’t going anywhere.

Katie studies him for a second. “What’s up with you? You’ve usually asked me if Ron’s playing worse than you at least three times before the bell rings.” She’s grinning, but Cormac just shrugs.

“It’s not that,” he mumbles.

Katie raises an eyebrow. “Then what?”

Before he can answer, you appear, slipping onto the bench beside him with Hermione Granger in tow. You’re wearing a bright red and gold bow with your hair in that half-up, half-down style that he knows takes you forever to do. It’s probably why you’re late - as usual.

“Morning!” you chirp, grabbing a piece of toast off his plate without asking, your fingers brushing his for a second. The contact sends a jolt through him, but you’re completely unaware. “What’s with you two?” you ask, noticing the odd expressions on their faces. “You look like you’ve seen a Dementor.”

“Not Dementors,” blurts Cormac, the excuse coming easily, thanks to Katie’s reminder. “Thestrals.”

“Ugh,” you say, wrinkling your nose. “Rather you than me. Are you doing the N.E.W.T. in Care of Magical Creatures, Hermione?”

Hermione shakes her head. “I’d have loved to but I had too many other subjects this year.”

“Yeah, right. You’re only saying that because you’re friends with Hagrid.” Hermione smiles sheepishly. “It wouldn’t be too bad if we got to learn about nice creatures -” you start but Katie cuts you off.

“Well, life isn’t all Puffskeins and Unicorns,” she says, pointing forked sausage at you. “The creatures we’re dealing with are much more interesting.”

“That’s just another way of saying ‘ugly’,” you laugh, tossing your hair over your shoulder. In the process, the bow at the crown of your head slips off and drops to the floor. You don’t even notice.

Cormac does.

“And it’s dangerous too,” you continue. “Remember when your poor arm was burned by those Blast-Ended Skrewts, Cormac?”

“Sweet, you dropped this,” he says, quickly leaning down to retrieve the bow before anyone else can.

You reach up, feeling the spot where the bow was. “Oh, thanks.”

“Let me,” Cormac offers, his heart pounding as he tries not to mess this up. He leans in close, and the noise of the Great Hall fades into white noise. It’s just the two of you, and all he can think about is how soft your hair feels between his fingers.

“It’s kind of tricky,” you murmur, glancing up at him.

“I’ve got it.”

“You sure?” you ask, looking up at him in a way that makes his stomach lurch again.

“Easy,” he says, more confidently now as he finishes clipping it into place. “Like putting an angel on top of a Christmas Tree.”

You laugh, and the sound makes his heart race all over again. He quickly turns back to the table, trying to pretend that wasn’t at all nerve-wracking. But Katie’s already watching, her shrewd look making it clear she hasn’t missed a thing.

“So,” Cormac says quickly, desperate to change the subject, “What’s everyone doing for the holidays? Assuming no one’s mad enough to stay here?”

“Nope,” says Hermione brightly. “I’m going home to visit my parents.”

“Yeah, same here,” says Katie. “If you ask me it can’t come soon enough.”

“Tell me about it. I can’t wait to go home. My Uncle’s been invited to Minister’s house for Christmas lunch and -”

“You’re going so you can suck up to Rufus Scrimgeor?” asks Katie.

“Well, it has its perks. But mostly it’s because I haven’t seen my Uncle in ages. Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” says Cormac. And, he thinks, maybe his Uncle won’t tease him for being single again this year if he can convince you to go to Slughorn’s party with him.

“We’re getting ahead of ourselves here. We’ve got more pressing things going on before Christmas, Cormac,” you say. “Or have you forgotten about Slughorn’s party?”

The fork he’s holding clatters onto his plate. “I… er, no, I haven’t forgotten,” he stammers, his face burning as he tries to sound casual.

“So… have you asked anyone yet?”

Your voice is light, casual, but Cormac’s pulse quickens. Is this… actually happening? Well, it certainly makes things easier. He swallows, trying to steady himself.

“Not yet,” he starts, the words feel unfamiliarly shaky. He’s normally so self-assured that he hardly recognises his own voice. But you’re already cutting him off, oblivious to his growing panic.

“Well, I was thinking, if you’re not already going with someone…” You shift slightly, glancing between Hermione and Katie before landing back on him. His heart leaps. Are you about to ask him? But when you finish, your words douse his hopes like ice water. “...maybe you and Hermione could go together?”

“Yeah, I’d - wait - what?” Cormac’s voice cracks, the sound of his own disbelief ringing in his ears. He glances at you, searching for any hint of a joke, any sign that you’re teasing him - but you’re smiling, unaware of the storm you’ve just unleashed in his chest. Didn’t you realise how much nerve he had built up, how many times he had rehearsed this in his mind?

You don’t even realise you’re wrecking him - it’s just another Monday morning to you. Meanwhile, he feels like he’s accidentally tumbled down one of the castle’s trick steps.

“Oh,” Hermione says, clearly flustered. “I don’t - er - I mean, that’s really not necessary,” she adds, casting an awkward glance at Cormac, her cheeks reddening slightly.

“No, listen,” you insist in a low voice, glancing at the end of the table where Ron Weasley and Lavender Brown are engaged in some more intense snogging. “It’s perfect. Neither of you is going with anyone, right?”

The bell rings and everyone in the hall starts moving, getting ready to leave for the first class of the day.

“It’s win-win. This would annoy Ron the most,” you say.

“What’s he got to do with this?” asks Cormac.

“Long story short, Ron’s ditched Hermione for Lavender. And since you were so clearly better than him at Quidditch tryouts, I thought if she went with you it would piss him off.”

Cormac pauses, momentarily stunned. “...You thought I was better than him?”

“Well, yeah. Obviously. The only reason you weren’t picked is because of that last penalty. It was like you were confunded or something”

There’s a thud as Hermione unexpectedly knocks her bag from her seat and it spills open.

“Really?” asks Cormac as you both get off the bench to crouch on the floor and help Hermione pick up her things.

“Yeah, everyone knows that you’re much more talented at - wait, Hermione are you okay?”

The two of you look at Hermione when you notice she’s turned white as a sheet.

“I’m fine,” she squeaks.

“You sure?” you ask and reach out to grab a fallen book. You accidentally touch Cormac’s hand as he reaches for it too and the touch sends another jolt through him. “And it works out for you too, Cormac,” you continue. “Maybe if Ron is distracted by the two of you going out, he’ll play badly enough to get kicked off the team.”

Katie tuts but Cormac has to admit that you’ve got a point. But he can’t put his feelings for you aside because of Quidditch. Not again. Not after the Yule Ball fiasco.

You press the book into Hermione’s hands. “Look, just think about it, alright? I’ve got to go - I’m gonna be late for Muggle Studies.”

“I’m going that way too,” says Hermione quickly, stuffing her book into her bag and not looking at Cormac.

And so, with a swish of red and gold, you and Hermione leave Cormac feeling like he’s just been hit by a bludger,

It wasn’t as if Hermione wasn’t good-looking. Everyone knew she was smart, pretty - she even used to date Viktor Krum. But she wasn’t… well, you.

So why couldn’t he just say it?

He walks beside Katie, silently replaying what he should have said in his head, so clearly as if watching it through omnioculars.

“Cormac, do you have a date for Slughorn’s party?”

“Well, actually, I was thinking about asking you.”

He avoids Katie’s gaze, instead busying himself with pulling on a scarf and hat, bracing himself for the freezing cold of the castle grounds.

Feeding Thestrals feels like a much less daunting endeavour than unpicking this mess he’s gotten himself into.

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

Later that night, the Gryffindor Common Room is almost deserted. It’s well past midnight, and the only sounds are the crackling of the fire and the soft rustle of turning pages. As Seventh Year N.E.W.T. students, you, Cormac, and Katie have become accustomed to being the last ones awake, studying long after everyone else has gone to bed. When the clock chimes one, even Hermione bids you all goodnight before heading upstairs to her dormitory.

“So… any thoughts about my idea earlier?” you ask, trying to sound suitably impartial, and not at all conscious of the way you and Cormac keep sinking towards each other on the plush sofa and brushing arms. “You know, going to Slughorn’s with Hermione on Saturday?”

Cormac glances at the staircase leading up to the girl’s dormitory. “I dunno…”

Katie says nothing as the grandfather clock ticks ominously. Instead, she and Cormac exchange a look - one that you can’t quite decipher.

“Well, I think you’d be a good match,” you say, just to break the awkward silence.

“Yeah, well, Hermione’s not really who you want to go with, is she Cormac?”

Your eyes fly up, looking between them.

Cormac shifts in his seat, eyes on his copy of A History of Magic. "She’s nice enough."

"That’s not what I asked," Katie presses.

Cormac looks at her seriously. “Stop.”

Katie shrugs, leans back in her armchair and flips through her book.

So, Cormac has someone else in mind for Slughorn’s Party. And he feels comfortable enough to make Katie privy to it. But not you.

Great.

So not only does he not fancy you, he doesn’t even trust you enough to confide in. And you thought you were best friends.

For some reason, that hurts almost as much as when you overheard him telling Oliver Wood that he wasn’t interested in you.

You don’t know what to say anymore, so you look down at your book again.

It doesn’t take long for the words in A History of Magic to blur together on the page, as you read and reread the same passage, trying to remember the names of the loyalists from the 19th-century goblin rebellion. The plush velvet of the sofa feels impossibly soft and warm, and the heat from the fire seeps into your bones, lulling you into a deep, drowsy comfort. Your eyes droop heavily as you sink deeper into the cushions, your body slowly surrendering to exhaustion.

You lazily glance at Cormac’s open textbook, hoping he’s made better progress. He’s supposed to be reading the same chapter, but instead, he and Katie are talking softly about their holiday plans. Katie is debating asking her parents for a new pair of gloves after snagging hers during Care of Magical Creatures. Cormac is once again trying to brag about his Uncle taking him to the Minister for Magic’s house on Christmas Eve without sounding like he’s bragging.

The sounds of your two best friends in quiet earnestness make you feel safe and comfortable - so comfortable that you don’t even realise you’ve dozed off, leaning on Cormac’s shoulder.

That is until Katie closes her book with a loud snap.

“Right, this is useless. I’m heading to bed,” she declares.

Her voice startles you slightly, but you’re too tired to fully wake. You consider opening your eyes and lifting your head but it feels like too much effort.

Five more minutes, you think. Just five more minutes in this comfortable position and you’ll make the long journey up the winding staircase to bed.

“I’ll go to bed soon,” Cormac says, his voice lower now, quieter. “I’m still reading. And I don’t want to wake Sweet”

You’re not entirely asleep, but not fully awake either - just hovering in that cosy in-between. His voice rumbles softly in his chest and the warmth of his shoulder feels solid, familiar. You could stay like this forever.

Your eyes remain closed, and you feel yourself falling asleep again listening to the sound of the merrily cracking fireplace and Katie’s footsteps retreating up the carpeted stairs.

And then you feel a small shift.

Cormac turns his head, pressing his lips against the top of your head and inhaling deeply, somewhere between kissing you gently and breathing you in.

Your eyes flutter open, the haze of sleep fading as you realise what’s just happened.

Did he just… kiss you?

You look up. Cormac freezes as your tired eyes meet his alarmed, green ones. He opens his mouth - maybe to apologise - but whatever he was about to say disapparates when you look from his eyes, to his parted lips then back to his eyes again.

He just stares at you, his breath held, searching your face for some kind of response.

You don’t say anything.

For a second you’re not sure what to do.

But then you just give the tiniest nod as your heart thuds in your chest.

He leans in, his breath is warm on your face. The clean, woody scent of his aftershave tingles your senses - it’s even better than when it lingered on his borrowed jumper. You close your eyes as he moves tentatively towards you.

Then the thundering of footsteps as Katie runs back downstairs makes the two of you break apart hastily.

“Forgot my quill,” she announces. “Oh, are you coming up to bed, then?”

You swallow, your heart hammering. “Yeah,” you say, fixing your skirt and getting to your feet. “Sorry, must’ve dozed off.” You hastily grab your book,

“Yeah, same,” Cormac says, his voice strained. He clears his throat, gathering his things in a flurry of movement. “I think I must have too. For a couple of seconds.”

You glance at him but he doesn’t look at you as he gathers his things, his focus entirely on shoving them into his bag.

You follow Katie up the stairs, your heart still racing as you try to make sense of what just happened. But did it happen? Or were you (like you’ve done more times than you’d ever admit) dreaming about Cormac?

Soon after, you lie in the dark, staring at the hangings of your four-poster bed.

Cormac said he thought he had fallen asleep. You had been so drowsy that now you couldn’t be sure if he had actually kissed the top of your head. Maybe he just rested his head on yours? Or maybe you dreamt it, woke up and immediately tried to kiss him.

It’s a mortifying thought - that one minute Cormac had been asleep and the next he had woken up to find you practically ready to pounce on him.

No wonder he looked like a deer caught in the wandlight.

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

In the boy’s dormitory, Cormac has similar thoughts.

You were asleep. And you caught him smelling your hair. Kissing the top of your head. Now that he’s removed from the situation, he cringes - hard, realising that it was extremely weird.

Together with Katie’s obnoxious hinting that he really wanted to go to Slughorn’s party with you must have made you uncomfortable. Because you didn’t even look at him. So either your feelings towards him are so platonic that you hadn’t realised he was interested in you or you were choosing to ignore Katie’s comments altogether.

But he swears there had been a moment. A split second downstairs when your eyes met his, and he really thought you wanted him to kiss you. He can still feel your fingers brushing his chest, how you looked at him like you were waiting for him to close the gap between you.

And he almost had.

Almost.

Then Katie had barged in, and you’d jumped away like you couldn’t get far enough, fast enough. Like you’d realised how ridiculous it was - how ridiculous he was.

He clenches his jaw, turning over in bed. You were probably horrified.

He groans, burying his face in his pillow.

There was a moment, wasn’t there?

Maybe he’d imagined how you looked at him. Maybe the exhaustion from studying had gotten to him, and now, his mind was just playing tricks on him.

But then again… maybe it hadn’t.

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

You spent the majority of the rest of the week avoiding Cormac.

You’ve even been staying in the library with Hermione every night just to avoid Katie after she kept asking pointed questions about what happened after she left the Gryffindor Common Room the other night. Hermione is glad of the company - over the past few days, you’ve been talking a lot. Mostly to keep her mind off of Ron Weasley. And without her realising it, it’s been a great help in stopping your mind wandering to Cormac McLaggen.

Being surrounded by dusty books and writing an essay about plug sockets for Muggle Studies, isn’t exactly conducive to imagining yourself back in the Gryffindor Common Room, cuddled up with Cormac, seeing his face inches from yours, wondering whether or not he was about to kiss you.

But now it’s Saturday morning and tonight is the night you’ve been trying not to think about: Slughorn’s Party.

You’re going to go to Hogsmeade to take your mind off of things. It’s one of your favourite places in the world - especially this time of year. Steamy pub windows, cobblestone streets dusted in white, smugly ordering Firewhisky in front of younger pupils.

It’s just what you need to distract you from Cormac.

At least he’s not coming with you. Studying, he said. Although you think he might just be as keen to avoid you as you are to avoid him

But there’s no avoiding Katie forever, you think, as you and Hermione walk into the Great Hall for breakfast. As if reading your mind, Katie, who is already almost finished breakfast, waves you over and you have no choice but to sit with her and a few of the sixth years.

“Wait - are you sure you want to sit here?” you ask Hermione under your breath, spotting Ron and Lavender enthusiastically entwined just a few spaces away.

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’ve got a plan. Just like you said.”

Well, at least your advice is working for someone.

“Morning!” you say brightly, sitting on Katie’s left-hand side, across from Harry Potter and Parvati Patil. At least in front of a group, you should be safe from her interrogations about Cormac.

"Hi, Parvati!" says Hermione, ignoring Ron and Lavender completely. "Are you going to Slughorn's party tonight?"

You help yourself to some cornflakes and as Parvati passes you the milk, she frowns.

"No invite," says Parvati, gloomily. "I'd love to go, though, it sounds like it's going to be really good... You're going, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm meeting Cormac at eight, and we're -"

The jug slips from your hand, milk spilling everywhere. It splashes onto the table, drenching your skirt and soaking your tights. There’s a loud, wet sound as Ron, startled, pulls away from Lavender for a moment.

"- we're going up to the party together."

Throughout all your nights studying together this week, Hermione had not shared that detail with you.

You stare down at the mess, your heart pounding as if someone just pulled the rug out from under you.

"Oh, flipping heck,” you mutter, feeling the cold, wet fabric cling to your legs.

Katie quickly vanishes the milk with a flick of her wand and hands you a napkin.

“No need to start throwing f-bombs - it’s only spilled milk” she jokes, taking the heat off of you but her expression is unusually careful as she watches you. You force a tight smile, but your heart is still thudding too fast, a mix of shock and something else twisting in your chest.

"Cormac?" asks Parvati. "Cormac McLaggen, you mean?"

Even though this was your plan all along, you never expected that just hearing his name would sting.

"That's right," says Hermione happily. "The one who almost” - she puts a great deal of emphasis on the word - "became Gryffindor Keeper."

"Are you going out with him, then?" says Parvati, wide-eyed.

Hermione giggles - a sound that cuts right through you. "Oh - yes - didn't you know?"

A lead weight sinks to the pit of your stomach.

"No!" says Parvati, looking positively agog at this piece of gossip. "Wow, you like your Quidditch players, don't you? First Krum, then McLaggen..."

"I like really good Quidditch players," Hermione corrects her, still smiling.

It’s too much. You think of Cormac and his stupid Quidditch jumper. Hermione wearing it at the game instead of you. Then you feel bad for feeling bad about them being together when it was your idea in the first place. Guilt makes the knot in your stomach tighten painfully, and you push your cereal away, the sight of food suddenly nauseating.

“You alright?” asks Katie quietly, leaning towards you.

You nod stiffly, though your throat feels tight. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’d just better change before we go,” you sigh. “I’ll meet you outside.”

“You’re definitely still coming, right?” Katie asks, her eyes narrowing slightly as if she can sense you’re having second thoughts about going to Hogsmeade.

You hesitate. The idea of going upstairs, burying your face in a pillow, and screaming into it for the next several hours suddenly seems more appealing than pretending you’re okay in Hogsmeade. "I don’t know..."

“No, please, you have to come,” implores Hermione, not realising it’s her declaration that has you wanting to retreat upstairs until the end of term.

“Where are you going?” asks Harry, glancing at Ron and Lavender who have once again resumed their public display of affection, as if he’d rather be anywhere else but in their presence.

“We’re going to Hogsmeade. The three of us. Oh, and Cormac, obviously,” says Hermione loudly and for a split second you see the back of Ron’s head pausing.

Harry gets to his feet quickly. “Do you mind if I join you?”

“The more the merrier,” Katie tells him before adding to you in a low voice, “We’ll wait in the courtyard - I think my breakfast might make another appearance if I stay around Ron and Lavender much longer.”

This is good, you tell yourself, getting up from the table and following them a few steps behind. This is what you wanted. You told yourself you had to get over Cormac. And now he’s going out with Hermione. Just like you suggested. Your plan is working. This is good.

But it doesn’t feel good. It feels awful.

As you trudge up the stairs to the common room, you find yourself repeating the same mantra.

This is good. This is what you wanted.

But the more you repeat it, the hollower it sounds.

By the time you come back downstairs to the courtyard, Harry, Hermione and Katie are having a snowball fight. It’s in full swing. And in the midst of it all, Cormac is there. Of course, Cormac is there. Hermione said he would be, didn’t she? And she should know. She’s his girlfriend, now. Apparently.

Harry fires a well-aimed snowball at Cormac but he dodges it.

“I told you, Potter - lightning quick reflexes!” Cormac shouts, his voice brimming with exhilaration. There’s something about the way his laughter fills the air that stirs something inside you that you’ve been trying to bury all week.

Harry launches another snowball, and Cormac, in an obnoxious display of skill, catches it mid-air and flings it back, hitting Harry squarely in the face.

“And the crowd goes wild!” cheers Cormac before chanting his own name. “McLaggen! McLaggen! McLaggen! McLagg - oh. Hi.”

He stops when he sees you. Like he wasn’t expecting to see you here either.

“Don’t stop on my account,” you say, putting on a brave face.

He grins at you “You joining in for once, then? I’ve never seen you throw a snowball in your life.”

“Well, maybe you’re about to,” you say, more threateningly than you intended, thinking that you’d quite like to smack him in the face for not telling you that he was going out with Hermione.

He takes a step toward you, misreading the challenge in your voice. “I’d love to see that,” he teases, scooping up a handful of snow and launching himself at you.

Before you can react, Cormac’s arm is around your waist, lifting you off the ground in one quick motion. The world spins as snow flurries around you, your shriek of protest escaping in the form of a half-laugh.

“Cormac!” you say, breathless. But your laughter dies almost instantly when reality sets in - Hermione is bent down, scooping up snow just a few feet away. His girlfriend is right there.

“Put me down,” you say, seriously this time, the joy draining from the moment. Your voice is firm, but not loud.

He stops immediately, setting you down gently, his brow furrowing in confusion. “What’s up?”

You step back, brushing the snow off your coat, swallowing the tight feeling in your chest. “I think you know.”

“Oh… sorry,” he says, now embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to cross a line or anything the other night -”

“It’s fine,” you say quickly, trying to keep your voice steady. “Don’t worry about it.” You give him a tight smile as laughter rings behind you, the others clearly not noticing or caring about your hushed conversation as their snowball fight continues. You turn away from him and call out to Katie and the others, “Are we going, then?”

The walk to Hogsmeade feels longer than usual. The others chat happily but the conversation is distant, and you keep your eyes on the snow-covered path. By the time you reach the village, the promise of a hot butterbeer should lift your spirits but it doesn’t. You feel disconnected like you’re watching everything through a fog.

“So,” Katie says, as you approach the The Three Broomsticks. “What made you come along, Cormac? I thought you were studying today?”

Cormac shrugs, but there’s a slight defensiveness in his voice. “Just something I had to do before the holidays.”

You wonder if it’s picking up a gift for Hermione.

Katie raises an eyebrow, a teasing smile playing on her lips as her mind defaults to shopping too. “Determined to impress Scrimgeour, then?”

Cormac stiffens. “It’s not for Scrimgeour, Katie,” he says, his voice edged with frustration. “I just needed to pick something up.”

You don’t say anything, keeping your eyes on the ground as they continue their back-and-forth. All you can think about is how wrong everything feels.

When you reach The Three Broomsticks, Hermione opens the door, letting the warmth and chatter from inside spill out into the cold air as you go to file in behind her, Harry and Katie.

“Wait,” says Cormac, catching your arm before you can go in. “Can I have a word with you first?”

You hesitate, glancing down at his hand on your arm, then up at his face. There’s something in his expression - something hesitant, almost apologetic - that makes you pause. You really don’t want to talk but as usual, Katie butts in.

“We’ll meet you inside,” she says firmly, pulling the door closed in your face with a slam.

You have no choice but to follow him away from the door. Snow crunches beneath your boots as you walk, and the cold air stings your cheeks.

When you stop, Cormac turns to face you, running a hand through his hair, looking unsure of himself. “Look, I… I wanted to see if we were okay. You’ve been avoiding me.”

“You’ve been avoiding me too,” you challenge back.

Your breath fogs up in the cold air as you glance down at the snow, trying to collect yourself. It takes a moment for you to find the words, but they come out before you can stop them.

"I'm just... hurt, Cormac," you say, quieter than you'd planned. "You didn't even tell me you were going out with Hermione."

There’s a beat of silence as Cormac stares at you, his brow furrowing in deep confusion. He blinks, clearly caught off guard. “What? I’m not going out with Hermione.”

You meet his eyes, frowning. “I heard her say it. You're going to Slughorn’s party together.”

“I - yeah, I asked her last night because you told me to. But just as friends.” Cormac runs a hand through his hair again, exasperated. “But I’m not going out with Hermione - are you sure she told you that?”

“She told everyone at breakfast, loud and clear that -”

“Everyone? Including Ron Weasley, you mean?” he asks, trying not to smirk.

Oh.

“She was… trying to make him jealous. Like I told her to.” You blink, trying to process what he's saying. “So… you’re not - I mean - she’s not your girlfriend?”

“No.”

You let out a shaky breath and he steps closer, closing the gap between you. His voice drops to barely a whisper, but it carries with it the force of something that’s been buried far too long.

“Do you really not see it? Do you really not know?” he says, his tone almost desperate now. “I’ll go with Hermione to Slughorn’s if you want me to. Hell, I’d go with Filch if it would make you happy. Because that’s all I want. To make you happy.”

“...Really?” You can hardly believe what you’re hearing.

“Yeah.” He smiles sheepishly. “I thought you’d have worked out that’s why I asked her - since it was your idea.”

“Well… maybe you were right when you said I was an airhead,” you challenge. If you’re getting all of your confessions off of your chest, you might as well tell him you overheard this too.

“When did I ever say that?” Cormac asks, taken aback.

You hesitate, the memory is painful but clear. “You told Oliver that I was an airhead. And full of myself. And annoying. It was right before -”

Cormac groans in realisation and finishes the sentence for you. “- Before the Yule Ball.”

“Yep.” You nod, the hurt still lingering after all this time.

“So he told you all that, did he?”

“No… I overheard you. In the courtyard.”

“I -” he groans, looking so painfully guilty that you almost feel bad for calling him out. “I promise I didn’t mean it.”

“Cormac, you don’t have to make excuses -”

“It’s not an excuse.” He shakes his head. “Wood promised that Angelina would make me Keeper after he left school if I set the two of you up. And I wanted to make the team more than anything. Well - I thought I wanted to make the team more than anything.” He pauses, his green eyes locking onto yours. “But I was already planning on asking you to the Yule Ball. So I tried to have it both ways. I said that horrible stuff about you to put him off. And I never told you he was interested because… I was afraid you’d be interested back.”

“But none of it worked,” he continues, the regret in his voice cutting through the quiet. “He asked you anyway, and you said yes. And I never made the team in the end, so… it was all for nothing.”

You don’t really know what to say. How much time was wasted.

“I’m sorry,” he says softly, his voice steady but filled with regret. “For saying that about you. You didn’t deserve it. I was so focused on trying to have everything - I didn’t stop to think about what was most important.”

“I didn’t know you felt that way,” you say, your heart pounding. “And, for the record, I would have gone with you. To the Yule Ball. To Slughorn’s… any of it.” You look up at him, your gaze meeting his, and for the first time, it feels like you're both finally on the same page.

Gently falling snow lands across your nose and cheeks as you look up at him. The space between you is almost nothing now. His hand reaches up and cups your face, his touch achingly gentle, almost reverent, as he brushes a wet snowflake from your cheekbone -

But then the door to The Three Broomsticks bangs open behind him, and Katie storms out, her face flushed and her hands gripping a package close to her chest.

“Katie?” you say, taken aback by her sudden appearance. “What’s going on?”

The door of the Three Broomsticks bursts open again. Harry and Hermione spill out looking frantic but Katie is already disappearing along the snow-covered street, the package clutched tightly in her arms.

“All she said was that she needs to deliver a package,” says Hermione, looking worried.

You and Cormac look at each other in alarm before you both sprint to catch up with her. You grab her arm. “Katie, what’s wrong?”

“Leave me alone!” she snaps, twisting to wrench herself free from your grip.

“Katie! What’s going on?” asks Cormac, running to her other side.

“Can you both just fuck off?”

“Woah, woah - what’s with you? And what is that? Who gave you it?”

“None of your business!”

You try to grab it. “Give it to me!”

The two of you struggle, you try to take the package from her and Cormac tries to restrain her.

Then all of a sudden, Katie lets out a scream so loud and so high that it almost pierces your eardrums.

Everything turns black as the snow-covered ground rushes up to meet you.

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

You open your eyes a split second later in a sterile but comfortable room. Have you… apparated?

You try to sit up, but the world spins violently, your vision blurring as an antiseptic smell floods your senses.

“Woah - hold on, let me get Madam Pomfrey,” comes a familiar voice, soft but urgent.

Madam Pomfrey?

You’re in the Hospital Wing.

You blink hard, trying to focus, and slowly, Cormac’s face swims into view. He’s sitting at the edge of your bed, worry etched into every line of his features. His eyes, which normally gleam with a casual confidence, are shadowed with exhaustion.

Cormac.

He’s looking down the length of the hospital wing, scanning the empty beds for the matron, but when you touch his hand lightly, he turns back to you, his face softening with relief.

“Cormac, what happened?” You panic as you look at the empty bed next to you. “Where’s Katie? Is she here too? And that package? What was that thing?”

His brow furrows as he tries to find the right way to explain it all. "I promised I’d get Madam Pomfrey when you woke up," he says, glancing toward the door. “It was her only condition -”

“She can wait. Just tell me. Please.”

He studies your face for a moment, clearly weighing whether or not to tell you, but eventually, he sighs and moves closer, his voice low. “Katie... that package she was carrying - it was a cursed necklace. McGonagall thinks she was put under the Imperius Curse when she went to the bathroom. She wasn’t herself. You noticed it too.”

You swallow hard, the memory of Katie’s vacant eyes and her erratic behaviour flashing through your mind. “And when I tried to stop her?”

Cormac’s face darkens, his eyes flickering with something that looks dangerously close to fear. “The package split open. The necklace - it should have killed her. The curse was lethal.”

Your eyes widen, bile rising in your throat. “Lethal…”

He nods grimly. “The only reason she’s still alive is that it touched her through a tiny hole in her glove. Barely made contact with her skin, but even that was enough to put her in a bad way.”

Your blood turns cold, the weight of his words pressing down on you like a heavy stone. “Where is she?” you whisper, dreading the answer. “Is she… is she alright?”

Cormac’s jaw clenches, his voice barely above a whisper. “She’s at St. Mungo’s. They don’t know when she’ll wake up. But she’s alive.”

The room spins, this time from the sickening realisation of how close you were to losing her. Your mind races, fear wrapping its cold fingers around your heart.

“That curse was dark magic - whoever planted it knew exactly what they were doing.”

“Katie…” Your voice cracks as you press your palm to your forehead, struggling to process it. “If I hadn’t tried to take the package -”

“Hey - no.” Cormac’s voice is sharp but softens immediately. He moves closer, his hand squeezing yours. “This isn’t your fault. None of it. If anything it’s my fault -”

“Cormac…”

“No, listen. If I hadn’t asked to speak to you outside - I mean, when do you or Katie ever go to the bathroom alone? The person who put her under the Imperius Curse might not have tried if there were two of you there.”

“It’s not your fault either, Cormac. The only person to blame is whoever gave her that necklace.” You don’t even remember seeing the package split open. “But… I didn’t touch the necklace, did I? How come I’m in here?”

“Katie, er… punched you. Knocked you out cold.”

You hadn’t expected that. You find yourself lost for words, not quite able to believe what you’re hearing.

“She was under the Imperius Curse… not in her right state of mind,” continues Cormac, watching you carefully and you give him a small nod.

Silence stretches between you. The hospital wing feels eerily quiet - no bustling, no holiday cheer, just the faint sound of the fire crackling somewhere in the distance. No usual sounds of excitement of the last night of term.

The last night of term.

You glance at the snowflakes drifting down, a sense of dread creeping over you. “Cormac… what time is it? Shouldn’t you be getting ready for Slughorn’s Party?” you ask, knowing that he’d hate to miss the opportunity to network with all the people Slughorn would want to introduce him to.

Cormac shifts a little closer. “Slughorn’s party was two nights ago.”

“Two?!”

“Yeah,” he says, sounding more casual than you’d have expected.

The realisation hits you like a punch to the gut.

“It’s… it’s Christmas Day, then?” you whisper, your voice hollow, the words barely registering as they leave your mouth. “We’ve missed the train.”

Cormac shrugs again, but the weariness in his eyes betrays him. “Yeah.” His tone is light, but you can see the exhaustion etched into his features, the slight slump of his usually easy posture. He’s trying to downplay it like it’s no big deal.

But then it hits you. You stare at him, your thoughts slowly clicking into place. “Did you end up going to -” You stop yourself, feeling like it’d be incredibly selfish to ask if he and Hermione went after all, considering everything that happened.

He rubs the back of his neck, looking away like he’s embarrassed. “Slughorn’s Party? Yeah… I didn’t go. I’ve been here.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be… I - I don’t know if you remember what we talked about in Hogsmeade but -”

Butterflies erupt in your stomach as soon as you recall what he said to you. “I remember.”

“Well, I didn’t really want to go without you anyway.”

You open your mouth to respond, but no words come. You don’t know what to say. How do you thank someone for missing something like that because of you? For staying here over the holidays, for caring, for... everything.

Just as you’re about to say something - anything - the doors to the Hospital Wing swing open.

Professor McGonagall strides in, her expression as serious as ever, but there’s a flicker of relief in her eyes when she sees you sitting up.

Behind her, Madam Pomfrey hurries in and starts checking you over, pouring a large bottle of bright golden Invigoration Draught into a cup for you. At her instance, you drink it in one gulp - it’s sharp and spicy, and less gruesome than you’d braced yourself for. As the heat spreads through your chest, you feel a bit less confused.

“Well, it’s good to see you awake,” McGonagall says briskly. “Miss Bell is receiving the best care at St. Mungo’s. The Healers are doing everything they can.”

Everything they can. It doesn’t feel like enough.

“Have we missed dinner, Professor?” asks Cormac, hopefully.

“I'm afraid so, Mr McLaggen,” says McGonagall, less sharply than you're used to her addressing him as she looks from his tired demeanour to his hand holding yours. She waves her wand and a tray of sandwiches is summoned on the table beside you. “I’ll notify your parents that you’re awake and both of you can take the Knight Bus home from Hogsmeade tonight.”

“Not tonight,” says Madam Pomfrey. “Another Invigoration Draught tomorrow morning. Then you can go home.”

Your heart twists painfully, the weight of everything pressing down on you. Katie’s in St. Mungo’s, fighting for her life. Christmas has come and gone, and the world outside feels like it’s moving without you.

“Do I have to stay in the Hospital Wing tonight?” you ask, thinking you’d like nothing more than to sink into your four-poster bed upstairs.

Madam Pomfrey hesitates.

“Oh, please, Madam Pomfrey. It’s Christmas,” you pout. “I’ll come back here after breakfast tomorrow.”

“Before breakfast,” she says sternly. And once you agree, she and Professor McGonagall leave.

Cormac is still here, beside you, his hand lingering on yours, his presence steady and comforting despite everything.

“When was the last time you slept?” you ask.

“I -” He pauses. “Not for a few days.”

You insist that he go back to Gryffindor Tower and he eventually agrees. Cormac grabs a couple of sandwiches, flashing you a tired but grateful smile.

“See you at breakfast,” he says softly, and with a quick wave, he slips out of the Hospital Wing, leaving the room quiet and still.

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

The dormitory is dark and eerily silent. Too silent. You’re used to the comforting background noise of sharing a room with four other girls - the soft rustle of sheets, the occasional sleepy murmur, the muffled creak of bedsprings. Tonight, without them, the emptiness feels vast and oppressive, as though the walls themselves are holding their breath.

You had expected Cormac to be in the Gryffindor Common Room when you got dressed and came upstairs. But he wasn’t there. He was in bed - no doubt shattered after sitting by your side in the hospital wing for two days straight. Two long, harrowing days where you were unconscious and he was busy worrying about both you and Katie.

Katie. The thought of her pulls at your chest like a lead weight. She’s at St Mungo’s. Alive but unresponsive. The cursed necklace nearly killed her. And while Madam Pomfrey has done her best to reassure you that she’s receiving the finest care, the image of Katie in St Mungo’s is enough to keep you awake.

It doesn't help that the Invigoration Draught has worked too well. You’re frustratingly alert. You’ve never noticed the grandfather clock much before but its ticking serves as a reminder of how much time is passing without you being able to sleep.

You wonder if Cormac is in the same predicament. He was tired but maybe everything that’s happened is keeping him up too. Cormac - of all people - stayed with you through it all. Missed Slughorn’s Party. Didn’t go home for Christmas -

He didn’t go home for Christmas.

You sit bolt-upright in bed.

That means he didn’t go to the Minister for Magic’s Christmas lunch with his Uncle today. He missed it. It’s all he’s been talking about since November and he missed it.

All so he could stay here at Hogwarts.

With you.

Something swells in your chest. A little guilt mixed with, well… overwhelming affection. Did you even thank him properly? You can’t remember - everything after the cursed necklace feels like a blur. You swing your legs out of bed, wincing at the icy chill of the stone floor against your bare feet.

You walk quietly towards the boy’s dormitory. The stone floor is freezing on your bare feet as you tiptoe. Though you’re not sure why you’re being quiet - you didn’t see anyone when you walked through the Common Room earlier. You think that you and Cormac might be the only two people in the whole of Gryffindor house that are here for the holidays.

The door to the Seventh-Year boys’ dormitory creaks faintly as you push it open. “Cormac?” you whisper into the darkness.

There’s a faint stir, followed by a groggy, half-asleep voice. “Hm?”

You cross the empty room, the cold gnawing at your skin, and perch on the edge of his bed. “Are you awake?”

“Wha?” he asks, blearily.

The cold air makes goosebumps rise on your skin. “It’s me,” you say as you sit on the edge of the bed.

Cormac sits up slightly, blinking at you in confusion, his hair sticking up in every direction. “What are you doing? This is the boys’ dormitory.” He pulls the duvet to his chest. You try not to notice that he’s not wearing a t-shirt. “Are - are you okay?”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

Cormac rubs his face, his tired brain catching up. “Katie is going to be fine,” he reassures you. “We’ll visit her as soon as we’re allowed.”

“I know,” you say. She’s getting the best care possible. And it’s not like either of you can do anything about it. “It’s not just Katie. Well, that’s part of it. But it’s that I realised… you missed Christmas lunch with your Uncle - and the Minister.”

“Oh. Yeah. It’s fine. It doesn’t matter.”

“It’s not fine. It’s all you’ve been talking about for weeks,” you insist, making a conscious effort to stop your teeth from chattering. “Missing your Uncle. Seeing Scrimgeour again. The fact you stayed here with me instead… that’s like, the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

Cormac fumbles for his wand on the bedside table, muttering “Lumos.” It lights the nearest lamp. You scoot closer to him on the edge of his bed. The soft glow of the lamp bathes the room in warm light, and he turns to look at you properly, his eyes - greener than you’d ever realised - serious and searching.

“It was nothing. I told you already.”

“Well… I just wanted to say thank you -” you take a steadying breath, moving closer to him again. “- And… do this.”

Without thinking, you lean in, your heart racing. You close the distance between you and press your lips to his before you can second-guess it or get interrupted again.

Cormac pauses, completely caught off guard. You can feel the surprise in his stillness, but it lasts for barely a second before he responds with a surge of enthusiasm that almost takes your breath away.

He shrugs his bedsheets aside, sitting up so he can deepen the kiss, his lips warm and eager against yours. There’s no hesitation now, just the full force of his want, crashing into you like a tidal wave.

It’s everything you wanted it to be. He’s a good kisser. Really good.

You try to put a lot of meaning into the kiss. That you’re grateful for him staying here at Hogwarts with you. That you forgive him for his stupid, blundering mistakes before the Yule Ball.

But mostly, you try to tell him that you’ve been in love with him forever. Ever since you sat beside him on the Hogwarts Express on the first day of school.

You intended to give him a quick goodnight kiss and go back to your dormitory but the thought of leaving quickly leaves your mind when he parts his lips, tender and soft as Honeydukes caramel, as he explores the taste of your tongue. His hands wrap around your back, encouraging you closer, pulling you onto his lap so you’re straddling him.

You were freezing a minute ago but his bare chest and shoulders are warm and he doesn’t seem to mind your cold hands traversing over his body.

You need him. This is new territory. This is… you’ve never felt like this before. Well, maybe alone in your bed, but not with other people. You haven’t done anything more than kissing before.

But this is already more than just kissing, you think, as your tongue meets his again as he licks into your mouth. This is hot and heavy. You’re already starting to feel like you’re not close enough to him.

And so does he.

You feel a firm bulge pressing into your open legs and with a jolt of excitement, you realise he’s only wearing boxers. Everything below your waist throbs hot and sticky as his hips subtly twitch upwards, pressing against your pyjama shorts.

The ache between your legs is too unbearable to ignore. You adjust your hips and the friction against your bundle of nerves is white hot, almost dizzying. He responds to your movements by gripping onto your hips, his cock twitching against your pussy, just two thin pieces of material between you. You’re positively burning up now as he lets out a low groan into your mouth as you kiss him, before pulling back to suck on his bottom lip.

“Fuck…” you murmur, as you wriggle your hips impatiently. But when you say that he pulls back to look at you, his eyebrow raised. “What?” you ask.

You don’t want him to stop - not now.

“I’ve just never heard you swear before,” he grins and your cheeks burn.

You bite your lip. “It just… slipped out.”

“I like it…” he says, eyes glancing over your chest as it rises and falls rapidly in time with your breathing.

His fingers hook around the straps of your tank top, pausing just before they drop over your shoulders. The touch is featherlight like he’s waiting for something. Then his voice, low and careful, breaks through the charged silence.

“Is this okay?” he asks softly, his eyes meeting yours.

You nod and then, realising what he’s just said, you blink. “You’re... asking?”

Cormac tilts his head slightly, frowning just a little like something about your surprise bothers him. “Of course I’m asking,” he says, his voice quieter now, but insistent, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

You swallow, looking away for a moment, feeling still warmed by the way he’s watching you. Nobody’s bothered to ask you if they could touch you before. It’s…. well, it’s classic him. Considerate. Sure enough of himself that he genuinely would respect whatever answer you gave him.

It makes you want him even more.

“You can - you can touch me. Wherever you want.”

You place your hands on top of his and help him slip your straps down, pulling your top down over your breasts.

“Fuck…” Cormac takes a deep, steadying breath. He tilts his head up and looks at the hangings above the bed.

“...Cormac?” you ask, uncertainly. “Are you -?”

“Yep,” he tells the hangings. “It’s just - I mean, I’ve just - thought about this moment a lot. And in no version did it involve me - y’know - making a mess of myself just from seeing your tits.”

A mischievous smile creeps across your lips. “Are you about to?”

“I’ll be fine - wha - oh, that is not helping.”

You slowly grind your hips against his and place his hands over your breasts. The underside of his cock twitches again against your now soaked pyjama shorts.

“I’ve thought about it a lot too,” you whisper, pressing your lips against his ear. “You can cum like this. If you want.”

“That would be - ah, fuck - completely fucking embarrassing,” he says, his eyebrows knitting together.

“I think it’s hot.”

As soon as you say that, his shoulders relax and he buries his face between your tits with an agonised groan. Your hands tangle in his hair as you rock restlessly against him, moving your hips in search of the gnawing need between your legs.

Cormac swirls his tongue, open-mouthed and panting against your skin. He pushes your tits together, toying with your nipples, pinching the hardened buds between his fingertips in a way that makes you let out an involuntary squeal.

“Too hard?” he asks, concerned, and you shake your head fervently.

“Do it again,” you whimper.

You grind yourself along his rock-hard bulge, feeling exceptionally greedy as Cormac toys with your tits. Pleasure swells in your abdomen. God, this feels good. He drinks up every noise you accidentally release, as you hover on the edge - wasn’t he the one who was supposed to be close?

Suddenly, Cormac grabs your hips, stopping you from moving and you almost cry out in protest. He breathes shakily, adjusting himself.

“Did you just…”

“Not yet,” he says, and before you know it he’s manoeuvring on top of you, flipping you on your back and splaying you out on his bedsheets. “I need to find out just how sweet you taste first.”

This is more like the Cormac you know. He’s been so reserved, so unlike himself around you for the past several weeks that you almost forgot how cocky he could get.

And wow, do you like it.

“Cormac,” you whisper, feeling yourself turn crimson now under his touch.

He plants a trail of kisses along your collarbone, down your torso and pauses just below your navel. Cormac hooks his fingers in the waistband of your pyjama shorts and you arch your back so he can remove them and toss them onto the floor in a pathetic heap.

Cormac drags the pads of his fingertips across your flushed, slick pussy. “Is this… for me?” He gives you the widest, most gleeful grin you’ve ever seen plastered on his face as he laughs once, under his breath. “You’re so wet.”

“Don’t laugh,” you pout - although from the way he’s lighting up, you can tell he likes the effect he’s having on you.

“You’ve got to admit, it is kind of funny. How everyone calls you Sweet because you’ve got this ‘butter wouldn’t melt’ thing going on but here you are… sneaking into my bed in the middle of the night.”

Your hips buck as he slides his fingers through your folds, dragging your arousal across your clit. An uncontrollable whine leaves your mouth as his fingers glide up and down, up and down. He rolls his tongue against the inside of his cheek thoughtfully as he looks you over. “I wonder what other swear words you know…”

“I - ah - I told you it just slipped out -” you stammer. Goosebumps break out along your arms - this time it’s nothing to do with the cold - you’re burning up, hearing him talk to you like this. But the more you blush, the more it spurs him on.

Cormac gives you a lop-sided smirk as he drags gentle, lazy circles around your clit. “So… that kind of talk is just for me, right?” he asks. You wriggle again, opening yourself up wider, silently willing him to put his fingers inside you.

“Yes,” you whimper. He’s got you wrapped around his finger - almost literally. You’ll say anything he wants to hear. Do anything - everything that he wants. Give him anything he asks. As long as he keeps touching you like this.

You make a soft, vulnerable sound in bliss, feeling yourself slowly falling apart at how he’s circling over that little bundle of nerves that makes your eyes fucking roll back. He hisses an inhale through his teeth, watching your reaction.

And then suddenly, he’s pushing in and curling two thick fingers inside your eager, soaking wet pussy and hooking them tight against your g-spot.

“Oh.” Your hand flies blindly down to touch his face - just for something to feel - and his expression changes from a smug smile to stern concentration.

Your thumb brushes along his cheekbone, grazing the rough stubble of his jaw. He tilts his head just enough to kiss your palm, the warmth of his lips lingering against your skin, sending a spark racing up your arm.

Then his eyes find yours - those green eyes, darker now, pupils blown out with a burning intensity that knocks the breath from your lungs. The way he looks at you, unflinching, unrestrained, sends a rush of heat through you, making your heart pound and your pulse quicken.

You almost cry out when Cormac lowers his head and his soft lips envelope your clit. You clench around his fingers and tense your stomach when his tongue swirls even hotter and more dextrous than his fingers.

“Mhmm,” he says, pressing a kiss against your inner thigh before looking up with a wicked grin. His chin is wet. “You are sweet.”

You bite your lip and let your head roll back as he resumes his gentle licking. You can hardly believe this is happening. You’re trembling as you try to suppress another squeal but it’s like he can read your mind -

“It’s okay to make noise. Nobody’s here. You don’t need to hold back,” he says between sloppy sucking. You remind yourself, that you’ve been best friends for so long he can probably read the nuances of your body language.

“Ah - okay, okay. Fuck - Cormac,” is all you can manage.

“That’s my girl.”

Oh, fuck. Why did he have to call you that? Your pussy clenches tight, neediness swelling in waves in your abdomen.

And then you don’t expect the way his whole arm moves as he picks up pace. At first, you feel jostled, almost manhandled when his fingers don’t go in and out but instead curl into you with such intense pressure that you feel like you can’t keep up. It’s too fast. Too much.

Until it suddenly isn’t.

The flat of his tongue rubs against your clit in time with his fingers pressing against your g-spot. Blazing, white-hot heat twists tightly in your pelvic floor muscles. Your hand slides down to the juncture of muscle between his neck and his shoulder as you grip helplessly, feeling the relentless pressure of him stimulating that perfect spot deep inside you.

“Cormac,” you pant, as your walls twitch and tighten around those two fingers. “I’m - ha - that’s - yeah, there.”

“Mhm,” he murmurs, sending vibrations across your clit. His eyes move back to your face. You convulse around your best friend’s fingers as he pulls you closer and closer to the edge. You’ve stopped wriggling, chasing your release - you don’t need to. Your whole body goes limp as you just let him drill inside you.

“Yes,” you say, biting your lip, your eyebrows knitting together, losing yourself in the mindless sensation. “Fuck, yesyesyesyes -”

He looks into your eyes while you plead for him as he pulls the orgasm from you. You clutch on his shoulder, feeling his hand working between your legs, pulling you higher and higher and -

Fuck.

Everything plummets.

White noise rings in your ears as your insides twist and release, sending agonising pleasure rippling through your whole body, more bright and explosive than anything you’ve felt before.

His hand slows down, dragging out the boiling hot aftershock, massaging your pussy until you’re a trembling mess.

At last, he slowly slips his fingers out from inside of you and lies next to you.

Cormac can’t tear his eyes from you, watching the way your head falls back onto the pillow - his pillow - as you catch your breath, looking up at the velvet hangings above and raking your hands through your hair.

You think you must lie there in stunned silence for a full minute before you realise he’s waiting on you to say something.

“What -” you swallow, your mouth feeling dry. “What time is the Knight Bus tomorrow?”

Cormac tilts his head, concerned. “After breakfast, I think. But, I mean… if you need space or something, then that’s fine -”

“No,” you turn your head on the pillow quickly. “No, nothing like that.”

You roll on top of him so that you’re straddling him again and lean down. Your hair tickles his cheek as you lean in close enough to see every detail of his face - the faint freckles across his nose, the shadow of stubble on his jaw, even the flutter of his lashes. Every inch of him feels so present.

“I’m trying to figure out how many times we can do that before McGonagall sends us home,” you smirk and relief crosses his face.

“I thought you were trying to see if there was any way you could leave earlier,” he murmurs, his voice rough with sincerity.

You shake your head. “I want to stay here forever. I want -” You plant a kiss on his cheek and slip your hand between your bodies, your curious fingers lightly dancing over his hard cock through his boxers. “- I want you. So badly. You have no idea.”

“Pretty sure I have some idea how that feels.” Cormac reaches down to catch the waistband of his boxers with his thumbs and lets you pull out his cock. It’s just as gorgeous as the rest of him. You wrap your palm around him, feeling how warm and thick he is, and slowly jerk your wrist. His jaw tightens and he jerks his hips upwards to meet your soft, clenched fist.

“That’s - fuck, that’s good -” he says, closing his eyes, his lips slightly parted. He looks so good like this, you think, as you watch him swallow thickly, neck muscles contracting.

You adjust yourself higher up his body so that you can kiss his exposed neck. As you keep working your wrist between your bodies the tip of his cock rests against your wet folds.

“Cormac,” you whisper, your voice trembling slightly, “do you want to…?”

His eyes open, searching yours with quiet intensity. “Yeah,” he says softly like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

Your hand pauses stroking him, caught off guard by the steadiness of his answer. “You didn’t even let me finish the question.”

“I don’t need to,” he says, his voice gentle but certain. “If it’s you, the answer’s always yes.”

You can’t help it - the corners of your mouth twitch upward despite the nervous flutter in your chest and the fact that the tip of his leaking cock is pressing against your soaked entrance.

“Does it… do you know if it hurts?” you ask, your voice quieter now - hesitant.

Cormac tilts his head slightly, studying you, his brow furrowing - not in judgment, but in thought. “I don’t know,” he admits, his voice honest but calm. “I’ve never - ” He pauses for a beat, his green eyes flickering with something unreadable. “I haven’t done this before either.”

Your eyes widen. “You haven’t?”

He shakes his head, his expression softening into something almost self-conscious. “Nope.”

“Really?” The word comes out before you can stop it, your voice tinged with disbelief. Somehow, you’d always imagined him as… well, more experienced. The fact that he isn’t, that this is just as new for him, feels oddly grounding.

“Yeah, really,” he says, a small, self-deprecating smile tugging at his lips. His gaze remains fixed on yours, unwavering. “It’s not like I’ve never had the chance or anything… just none of them felt right.”

You swallow hard, your throat tight. “And… this does?”

He doesn’t hesitate. “Yeah.” His lips twitch into a faint smile. “It’s always been you, Sweet. And if you want this too, then -”

“I do. Cormac.” You swallow, the truth spilling out before you can second-guess it. “Of course, I do. I’ve been in love with you since I was eleven years old.”

“So have I,” he says, his voice low but certain. “So there’s nothing to worry about,” he says softly, like a promise. “I’ve got you.”

For once, you don’t think, don’t question. You lift your hips back slightly, just enough for the head of his cock to part your folds. Cormac holds the base of his length, positioning himself so that you can balance your weight, one hand on his chest, the other on the bed.

You sink down, feeling pressure as his cock pushes through your entrance. You shut your eyes tight, expecting pain but you open them again when you feel two large hands caressing your hips.

“Still got you, baby.”

A deep heat blooms within you, sweeping through your body like a tide and leaving your thoughts in a hazy, breathless blur. You slide down further - so slick and hot between your legs that there’s no resistance besides the stretch of him filling you up. As you lower yourself, his reassurance becomes a dark, lustful groan and his thumbs press on your hipbones.

“Fuck,” he grunts. “Fuck - that’s - yeah -”

The back of your thighs meet his hips as you bottom out and the sensation is all-consuming, a wildfire of longing that burns away reason.

His cock presses up against every part of your insides in a way that your body has craved for so long while you tried to ignore it. Every smile he flashed you from across the room, every time you brushed past him as he held a door open - it always made something in your core lurch. And now as you feel those same muscles tighten you realise the extent of your primal want for him.

“It’s… it’s in,” you whisper and it feels almost redundant to say it when it’s so patently obvious but you’re trying to tell him and yourself that you’re okay. It hurts a little - but in a good way - like when your legs ache from climbing a long flight of stairs. Except you never feel fire igniting in your belly like this when you ascend the staircase of the Astronomy Tower.

“Yeah, I’m inside you,” he says breathlessly. Then his expression changes, something flickering in his eyes - an intense, unspoken longing that unfurls in the space between you. “I’m fucking inside you,” he says again, the words low and rough, tumbling from his lips like he’s surrendering to a need he can no longer contain. He thrusts upwards and you gasp breathlessly, it’s as though the world tilts on its axis.

“You good?” he asks, grabbing firm fistfuls of your hips. You nod, your thoughts disapparating around the edges when his cock twitches inside you. “You feel perfect.”

You melt so fiercely under his compliment that you need to look away. But when you look down between your bodies and see him buried to the hilt inside you, you can see why he had to repeat himself.

This is happening - it’s real and it’s actually happening and it’s everything you ever hoped.

You lift your hips in slow, stuttered little jumps, experimenting with the way he feels inside you. Is this right? Are you good at this? Should you move more like this? But Cormac helps, his hands on your tentative hips aid your momentum as he decisively guides you forward and back and - oh.

Now, this is right.

You know for certain now, as his thick cock glides in and out of your sopping wet folds, your arousal dripping all over him, and you can’t tear your eyes away in an almost enchanted haze. You know you must feel right for him too because in almost rhythmic agreement, his cock pushes against that deep sensitive spot you need as you convulse around him.

“Oh, shit -” breathes Cormac. “Look at me, look at me.”

With difficulty, your eyes pull up weakly, looking away from his cock driving into you and meeting his gaze. He’s so present and focused - like he’s searching for something.

Cormac’s hand slides from your hip and his thumb finds your swollen clit. You gasp, realising only now how close you are to the edge. You curse and Cormac grins. This is the answer to the silent question he’d been searching for.

“Fuck -” you whine, your pussy clamping down hard around him. “Fuck, fuck, fuuuuuck -”

“That’s it, baby. Tell me how good it is.”

“Mhm,” you huff as you pick up pace, bouncing against his lap, chasing every bit of friction he has to offer you. It all melds together, the way his cock fills you up, his wet thumb rubbing against your clit, his other hand roughly guiding you up and down on him.

“Fuck - it’s good - s’good -” you try and keep focused on his gorgeous look of concentration as your floor muscles clamp down. “You’re so fucking good.”

He closes his eyes and an agonised groan tumbles from his lips when you say that.

“Yeah? You like that?”

“Yesyesyesyes,” you whimper, every syllable punctuated with you riding him. Your eyes roll back as everything winds tighter and tighter, your nerve endings alight and sparking pleasure through your body.

“Fuck, say it again,” he growls, his hips jutting up to slap against the back of your thighs.

You don’t even know when you say next. All you know is that whatever filthy words spill out, make Cormac laugh triumphantly through gritted teeth as your world shatters.

He murmurs your name - your real name, not that nickname everyone calls you - as he rubs your clit and fucks you exactly where you need him to, throwing you towards raw pleasure.

“Are you cumming again, baby?”

“Ah - uh-huh,” you choke and even that little moan in the affirmative is a struggle.

Every unbridled bounce of your hips sends your mind reeling as your orgasm crashes down over you. Your pussy throbs and twitches around him, squeezing him hard as you ride out the beautiful wave.

Fuck.

It’s messy, it’s aching, it’s blurry, it’s debilitating. You can barely see straight.

You twitch from oversensitivity as Cormac fucks himself up and into you in search of his own high. His hips thrust erratically and his face contorts in pleasure and then suddenly he’s forcing your hips down onto him, and with a guttural moan, he’s cumming deep inside you, holding you in place even as you squirm and shake through the aftershock of your own ecstasy.

Everything goes dark - you see actual stars behind your eyelids. Vaguely, you’re aware of Cormac tenderly manoeuvring you with strong, safe arms so that you’re lying at his side, your head resting on his chest. He pulls his duvet over you - it's cosy and smells like him. It's wonderful.

“You’re shaking - are you warm enough?”

“Mhm,” you murmur, feeling your eyes grow heavy as you try to keep them open. “Just tingly. It’s… it’s nice.”

Cormac tilts your chin up and he leans down to kiss you, slow and lazy. He’s soft and warm. You’re safe and pliant. His fingers tuck a loose strand of hair behind your ear and sweetly brush the curve of your jaw.

“Are you tired?” he asks.

“A little,” you say. It's an understatement. You're barely able to lift your eyelids to look at him. There’s something about being nestled here on his shoulder - like you were in front of the common room fire a few weeks ago - that just signals to your body that it’s secure and that you can relax fully. “You?”

“Yeah… I just don’t wanna fall asleep in case I’m already dreaming. I can’t believe this is real.”

“It’s real,” you sigh pleasantly, feeling his very real heartbeat in his chest as you snuggle in closer. The way he’s looking at you - like he’s seeing something precious - makes your chest ache.

“Good,” he murmurs, his voice low and soothing as he lies back on his pillow. “Because I don’t want this to end.”

You don’t want it to end either.

“I know you probably want to catch the Knight Bus tomorrow and see your family but -” he starts, hesitating slightly.

You cut him off gently. “We could stay here. For the holidays. If you want to.”

He closes his eyes, the softest smile curling his lips as his thumb brushes your shoulder. “Yeah,” he says, his voice steady now. “I want that.”

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

The Gryffindor Common Room is a blazing display of gold and red. Laughter and cheering fill the room so loudly that you can barely hear yourself think as you weave through the crowd with two butterbeers in hand.

“Cheer up, Cormac,” you say, finding him on a plump armchair in the corner of the room. You hand him a butterbeer and sit on his lap. He pulls you close, his hand resting on the back of your thigh. “We won the cup, didn’t we?”

“I really thought this was going to be my year,” he grumbles. “I might just have to face it - maybe I’m not cut out to play Quidditch.”

“I think you’re brilliant,” you say, although your words are probably meaningless - you don’t know the first thing about Quidditch.

“Oh, come on. You were there - you watched me knock Potter out with a bludger in the last game.”

“Well, Katie was still in St Mungo’s, wasn’t she? You had other things on your mind.”

Cormac tuts, as if he’s annoyed at himself for being distracted by one of his best friends being in mortal peril.

“Besides,” you say, leaning in and pressing your mouth to his ear. “You have plenty of other talents. Ones that are more… useful than Quidditch.”

“Oh, yeah?” he asks, turning to give you a lopsided grin. His tone is low, teasing, but the heat in his eyes makes your pulse quicken. “Care to elaborate?”

You don’t bother answering. Instead, you press your lips to his, letting the butterbeer bottle tilt precariously in your grip as his arms tighten around your waist. His hand slides a little higher up your thigh, the warmth of it sending sparks skittering down your spine. You tilt your head, deepening the kiss, and suddenly it feels like the whole room could catch fire from how hot your skin feels against his.

“Alright, that’s enough of the Devil’s Snare impression” Katie’s voice interrupts, dry and sharp as she drops into the armchair beside yours, looking equal parts amused and exasperated.

You pull back, flustered, trying to regain a sliver of composure. Cormac shifts slightly, but his arm stays around your waist, not bothering to hide the grin on his face.

“Do you have to keep doing that where I can see? I’ve had enough trauma this year without adding that to the list,” she says, rolling her eyes.

“Sorry,” you grin sheepishly.

“Don’t be,” Katie snorts. “Honestly, I prefer this to whatever you were doing before. It was unbearable. I mean, the pining - ” she shudders theatrically “- disgusting.”

You laugh, but Cormac just raises his butterbeer in mock toast. “Thanks for your support. Truly heartwarming.”

Katie waves a hand dismissively, clearly unbothered. “Just get me my next butterbeer so I don’t need to fight through that crowd again, and we’ll call it even.”

Cormac reaches over without missing a beat, handing her his unopened bottle. “Here. You’ve earned it.”

She raises an eyebrow, suspicious. “Why, because I nearly got cursed to death and inadvertently set the two of you up?”

“No,” Cormac says dryly, though his lips twitch. “Because you’ve basically just won us the bloody Quidditch Cup.”

You raise your butterbeer in solidarity. “To Katie.”

“To me,” she says smugly, clinking her bottle with yours before taking a long sip.

The three of you settle into easy conversation, as easy and as natural as it’s always been.

Sitting here in the glow of victory, with Katie healthy and whole, and Cormac’s arm around your waist, you feel like the luckiest person in the world.

Things are pretty sweet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tag list (let me know if you want removed/changed at any point or for any reason - if you just do not want notifications or if your hyperfixation has changed - anything! I'll remove you no questions asked) @aweidlich @xxvelvetxxxx @Dinom @Mgurl @all-by-myself98 @navs-bhat @ivebeentrashsince2001 @intense-sneezing @countlambula @chiaraanatra @daisydark @stainedpomegranatelips @doodlebook14 @il0vebeingdelulu @evabellasworld @xyzstar @lolitstiana @senassn @marmie-noir @lipstickandloveletters

#freddie stroma #cormac mclaggen #gryffindor #harry potter fanfic #harry potter fanfiction #cormac mclaggen x reader #cormac mclaggen x female reader #cormac mclaggen fanfic #cormac mclaggen fic #hyper femme reader #fanfic #christmas #merry christmas

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sandy-the-glader · 1 year ago

Note

I love your blog so much!!!! I love how you write Vigilante!

Aww that means a lot! I love taking requests so if you or anyone has any ideas send them in. I'm working on a couple one-shots at the moment so if you do end up sending them in it might take a little while and I apologize <3

#adrian chase #adrian chase x reader #adrian chase fanfiction #freddie stroma x reader

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pretendfan · 2 years ago

Text

Great opening and set up!

Looking forward to reading more👀

Pair of Aces - Chapter 1. Day One

Pair of Aces

Chapter: 1. Day One

Rating: M

Word Count: 2.6k~

Summary: After Peacemaker nearly blows the mission at the Goff mansion, Waller sends in a new team member to pick up the slack and assist Task Force X with Project Butterfly.

Content Warning: Mentions of Violence, Gratuitous Swearing, Verbal Insults

A/N: This is the intro chapter to a fairly long series I have planned, set directly after the Goff mansion mission but before Peacemaker finds out his dad's in jail. Intended as a reader-insert in 3rd POV, afab!she/her main character but nameless/description neutral, no Y/N. Vigilante x reader pairing.

[AO3 Link]

[Read Next Chapter]

If there was one thing Amanda Waller hated above all else, it was failure. While the Task Force X mission to the Goff mansion wasn't a complete and utter failure, it was still too close for Waller's comfort. Project Butterfly needed to proceed according to plan and if Peacemaker couldn't be relied on to do the job, then someone else would have to pick up the slack.

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Sensible heels clicked against the worn-down Evergreen sidewalk as a woman walked along the deserted street. She finally arrived at the correct address, double-checking her notes to be sure, before she pushed open the door to the deserted storefront. The inside of the building was a mess, with random shelves and boxes scattered everywhere. A few desks and chairs sat near the back, piled with equipment and files. Five heads turned towards her at once, following the sound of the door closing. Three men and two women were staring back at her. As she looked around, she only recognized one particular face. Her gaze settled on the stern-looking blonde woman at the front of the room and a small smile crept onto her face.

Now there's a sight for sore eyes. God, this shithole better be worth it.

She stood in silence patiently and the unfamiliar woman addressed her first.

"Hi! You must be the new girl!" A warm smile accompanied the greeting. "It's so nice to meet you. I thought I was going to be the only new girl but now you're here so that makes you the new new girl! I'm Leota Adebayo, welcome to the team."

The woman smiled back and shook the hand Adebayo extended. "Nice to meet you, hopefully, us new girls can stick together." She glanced around the room at the others. John stood up and also introduced himself quickly, shaking her hand and saying welcome.

Peacemaker remained sitting, unimpressed by the new addition. "As if this team needs more girls. What is she here for anyways? We don't need any extra help."

"Is he always this rude?" She looked around and questioned the others.

"As far as we can tell, yeah." Adebayo sighed, offering her a sympathetic look.

She rolled her eyes in response. "Delightful. Clearly Big Red has some major anger issues."

"His name isn't Big Red." A male voice replied from behind her. "It's Peacemaker."

She turned around and took a closer look at the last person in the room. She didn't recognize him at all.

Lean build, black armour, are those ... teal accent stripes? That's ... a choice. Plenty of weapons and a pretty cool sword. The full on ski mask is bold. I guess the whole outfit together is kind of intimidating in a certain way, but why teal? Man, capes are always so fucking weird.

She shook her head and finally responded to his correction. "I know but I'm definitely not

calling him that."

"Why not?" The man cocked his head to the side in confusion.

Can he even see out of that visor? That can't be comfortable.

She pulled a face. "Because it's a dumb fucking name."

"Hey! You take that back!" He jumped up suddenly and shouted at her.

She startled but held her ground, squaring up. "No way man, it's a terrible name. It doesn't even make sense."

"Are you the name police? Do you get to just randomly decide what names are cool or not?" He was becoming overly animated and louder at her antagonization.

"Yes. I've been authorized by the National Committee Of Name Judgment and they've deemed Peacemaker to be such a stupid fucking name, it's been made illegal." She deadpanned, somehow managing to keep a straight face.

"Wait, seriously? That's really fucked up." The man in teal seemed to genuinely believe her.

"I'm just fucking with you, dude." She shook her head in disbelief at his gullibility. "Though if N.C.O.N.J was real, they'd definitely make that name a crime."

"Well I bet your name is also so terrible and that's why you're being so mean!"

The woman chuckled. "You don't need to worry about my name, buddy."

"What is it? What should we call you?" Adebayo asked politely.

She shrugged. "Whatever you want."

"Your name should be Dumb Bitch then." Peacemaker laughed at his own terrible joke.

Adebayo quickly turned on him. "What the fuck Chris!"

"She said it could be whatever I wanted!" He shot back, trying to defend himself.

Harcourt glared daggers at him from across the room. "Are you fucking five?"

"She started it! My name makes perfect sense and is fucking awesome. It's kinda my whole thing!" Chris yelled out. "I cherish peace with all my heart, I don't care how many men, women, and children I need to kill to get it. I make peace, ergo Peacemaker! Come on!"

"Ergo?" Harcourt looked at Peacemaker with a strange expression on her face.

"Yeah, it means the same as 'thus' or whatever." Chris crossed his arms defensively.

"I know that, I just didn't know you knew that." Emilia paused. "Honestly I didn't think you knew 'thus' either."

"For the record," The new arrival cut in, "That motto is the stupidest thing I have ever heard and I once interrogated the Riddler."

"Wait, really?" Economos seemed genuinely interested in that tidbit.

"Well, I say interrogated but it was more like he wouldn't shut up and I kicked him a couple times before the GCPD banned me from the room."

Gordon was pissed off, but Nygma was so annoying he deserved it. 'Where does an 800-pound gorilla sleep?' What a dumbass.

It was Adebayo's turn to join in the conversation. "You've been to Gotham?"

"Yeah, sure." The woman shrugged. "Metropolis too. I go wherever there's weird shit happening and things to shoot."

"Which is exactly why you're here." Harcourt interjected, trying to get back on track. "Welcome to Waller's worst assignment. You're lucky I saw your name on the transfer list, your only other option was the Arctic." She levelled a serious look at the woman. "No idea what you did to get on her shit list but Waller must hate you even more than us right now."

Subtle as always, glad to see not much has changed.

"Nice to see you too, Blondie." She grinned at the stern blonde, easily ignoring the pointed comments about Amanda Waller.

Harcourt scowled in return. "No one has called me that in years, quit it."

"Do you two know each other?" Economos was even more interested in what was happening now.

"Oh, we go way back. Has Blondie ever told you guys about the old CIA days?" She deliberately ignored the death glare being shot at her from across the room and continued. "We were in the same rookie class at the Farm and worked together until she ran off to the DEO."

"Woah! Did you know younger Harcourt? Tell us everything!" Adebayo is thrilled at the chance to find out more about her new coworker.

Harcourt flinched and hissed at her old friend. "Don't you fucking dare."

She once again ignored the other woman's serious tone. "You should have seen her in first year! A dead ringer for Debbie Harry, feathered hair and all."

"That is the hottest thing I've ever heard." Peacemaker mumbled, way too loudly.

"Tell me, Emmy, can you still do an absolutely killer 'Call Me' at karaoke nights?" She grinned mischievously.

Emilia turned bright red while Economos burst out laughing. "Please tell me you have footage of this somewhere!"

Harcourt tensed and shot John the same patented death glare. "Under no circumstances will you ever see any evidence of these outrageous lies."

Well, that was a yes to karaoke. Same old Blondie.

"Come on Harcourt, lighten up! You're no fun" John whined back.

"Shut up Dye-beard! Leave her alone." Peacemaker jumped to Harcourt's defence.

Dye-beard?

The new girl looked closer at John and noticed his mismatched beard.

Oh, wow. He really does dye his beard.

"The half and half isn't a great look, man. Just strip the colour or put the time in to do your roots, it'll look a lot better." She offered up in an attempt to help the poor guy.

Peacemaker snorted, "Doesn't matter what he does, his beard will still look dumb."

"Well, I doubt he wants fashion advice from a guy wearing rubber dish gloves." She smirked at him.

Chris started yelling again until Harcourt whistled loudly and interrupted the commotion. "Quit it! Both of you."

"Oh come on." The woman groaned in frustration. "How can I not make fun of him? He dresses like a first-grade colour wheel and is built like a knock-off Ratchet from Transformers."

The flippant remark earned a loud laugh from Economos and a confused look from Adebayo.

"It doesn't matter, you're part of the team now. I expect everyone to keep it professional. Shut the fuck up and play nice!" Harcourt snapped at her.

Peacemaker snickered a bit at the admonishment and Harcourt turned on him, an accusatory finger outstretched. "When I said everyone, I meant it!"

Peacemaker stopped laughing and instead glared unhappily at the rest of the room.

"You know, you really should be nicer to him." The costumed man at the back interjected.

She snorted dismissively. "I'm not taking any feedback from a grown man in a costume with teal accents."

"Hey! Teal is an awesome colour!"

"For a kitchen backsplash maybe." She taunted.

"Wow, okay. It's good this kind of thing doesn't really hurt my feelings or I'd be very upset right now. You're very mean." He shook his head at her in disappointment.

She stared at him, visibly confused. "What the fuck does that even mean?"

Emilia clapped her hands loudly to interrupt them. "Seriously guys! I just told you to play nice!"

She spun around to face Harcourt. "You throw me in with a bunch of goddamn capes and just expect me to be cool with it? What the hell Em!"

"Hey I did you a favour! Would you rather be fucking around with polar bears right now? No? Then deal with it." The blonde snapped back.

Maybe the Arctic would have been a better choice than Buttfuck Nowhere, Washington. Polar bears might be easier to deal with than these costumed idiots.

She cursed under her breath in frustration and looked back at Harcourt.

Oh well. Too late for that.

She sighed in resignation. "Fine. Just tell me I'm not working directly with chrome dome over there. According to the latest report, he nearly blew the entire mission at Goff's mansion last week."

This giant oaf's incompetence is the only reason I'm stuck in this hellhole to begin with. A

killer who can't kill, fucking pathetic.

Peacemaker leapt out of his chair. "Fuck you! Nobody was prepared for that little freak Judomaster, come on! He came out of nowhere!"

"Okay, fair. The footage of that guy was insane. No one could have predicted that 'kiai' shit." She then fixed Peacemaker with a smug look. "But I was actually talking about when you bitched out behind the rifle and couldn't fire a single shot."

Chris clenched his jaw before he sat back down and muttered angrily about doves of peace under his breath.

She smirked again and continued on. "The mission report was a super fun read by the way. If that second gunman hadn't come in and cleaned up after you, the whole operation would've been a bust. That was some ace shooting too, I'd love to work with that guy instead."

Harcourt cleared her throat, redirecting the attention to her. "That's good to hear actually because you will be. Vigilante, meet your new field partner."

Vigilante? Christ, that name is almost as bad as Peacemaker.

"Who the fuck is Vigilante?"

"That's me!" The same annoying voice from behind her answered.

She froze at the sound and turned around towards him slowly.

"Oh hell no. Not you."

"What? Why not! You're the one who just said you wanted to work with me!" Vigilante was confused again.

"...what?" She was also confused by this exchange.

"You said, and I quote, 'That was some ace shooting. I'd love to work with that guy instead." He repeated back to her.

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. "...you're the second shooter from the Goff mission?"

"Yes."

She studied him further, looking him up and down. "You're the guy who hit three clean headshots at over 900m in under 2 minutes with a partially obscured view?"

"Yeah!"

"...No way." She shook her head in disbelief.

"Uh, yes way! That was totally me!" He started to get openly frustrated with her dismissal.

"Absolutely not."

"Oh it absolutely was him." Harcourt confirmed with a nod. "We didn't even ask, he just kind of showed up. But now he's officially on the team, same as you. You two are going to need to get along, you'll be spending a lot of time together in the field. I need to send you both out asap."

"Already? I just got here!" She whined at the news. "I haven't even unpacked yet."

"Is it just me and her? Why can't Peacemaker come?" Vigilante seemed upset at the new directive.

"Waller's orders, for the time being, Peacemaker needs eyes on him at all times." Harcourt looked a little antsy, anticipating that info might not land well.

As if on cue, Peacemaker jumped up and started yelling again. "What the fuck! I don't need a goddamn babysitter!"

"Well, it could be good for you to stay." Adebayo offered. "You can take the time to ... put those dove thingys on ... all the weapons?" It's an obvious attempt to gently redirect Peacemaker's attention.

Chris smacked his hands down on the table in front of him. "Yes! Good. That's a good idea. That was the problem, none of you assholes put the dove on the gun. It's always gotta have a dove! That's what fucked me up. I gotta get like, a stencil or something. I'm gonna make so many goddamn doves."

Harcourt shot Adebayo a grateful smile as Chris settled back down before turning back to Vigilante and the newcomer.

"Here's the deal. I need you two out for recon on a suspected butterfly cluster. It's just outside of town, you'll be out for about a week. In case shit goes south, you may need to clean up so bring enough gear with you."

"Seriously, a week? I just got into town and now I need to run off for a week with this guy?"

"You're the one who said you'd like to work with him." Harcourt replied with a smirk.

Vigilante shifted nervously. "A whole week out of town? I'm getting paid for this right?"

Harcourt rolled her eyes. "Yes Vigilante, you're officially on the payroll. Field pay and mileage reimbursement."

He nodded. "Okay cool. I'll have to rearrange some stuff but as long as I'm getting comped it'll be fine."

"Can you at least tell me what we're going after here? What the fuck is a butterfly?" She had read every report and file she could find associated with this project and virtually nothing in the documents explained anything.

Harcourt sighed and avoided the questioning look. "Murn will fully debrief everyone later on. For now, all I can say is they're dangerous. Monitor them, take them out if you can, and don't underestimate them."

"...Clemson Murn?"

"Yes, he's the team lead. I'm just handling things today while he's meeting with a contact."

Huh. Interesting.

"Alright. Let's just get this over with." She sighed in acceptance.

Harcourt was visibly relieved. "Great. Vig is driving, you leave at 8 pm tomorrow and check-in at the Sunset Motel."

She nodded and grabbed the file Emilia was waving at her. She said some quick goodbyes to Leota and John, pointedly ignoring Peacemaker and Vigilante on the way out. As she made her way through the streets of Evergreen on the way back to the bare-bones rental apartment that had been arranged for her, she deeply regretted her choice in employment.

Fantastic. I uproot everything, move to a new town, and immediately get stuck for a week with a cape who likes teal. I really should have picked the polar bears.

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A/N: This is the first thing I've written that isn't a script, essay, or professional document in over a decade. Comments, kudos/likes, and shares feed my soul. More chapters to come with some action, slow burn/eventual smut, and more banter.

[Next Chapter]

#peacemaker #peacemaker fanfiction #adrian chase x reader #vigilante x reader #lysenfeu fics #pair of aces fic #adrian chase #freddie stroma #adrian chase is a babe #vigilante #curently reading #fan fic recs

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frankiethedarkangel · 2 years ago

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Guys…. I met Freddie!!!! He’s such a sweetheart <3

#peacemaker #peacemaker fanfic #vigilante #freddie stroma #adrian chase x reader #adrian chase #adrian chase x y/n #adrian chase x female reader #chris smith #christopher smith #james gunn #peacemaker x you #peacemaker x reader #vigilante peacemaker #peacemaker smut #vigilante fanfiction

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pretendfan · 1 year ago

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year…{1}

{This wasn’t supposed to be happening right now, Chris Smith had been all set to leave his trailer and head out into the night for his date, but when Adrian Chase comes knocking at the door there is always trouble.

Bored with patrolling around Evergreen Adrian knew exactly where to go, hang out with his bff at his place only things don’t go to plan, and next thing he knows he’s offering to decorate Peacemakers trailer for the holiday season but there is a small catch attached.

There were bad ideas and then there was this one stupidly agreeing to go out with a work friend, leaving you zoning out of the conversation because instead you were thinking of someone else the whole time, but then a chance falls into your lap to win back the night only it’s hanging out with the very last person you wanted to see right now.}

Part one begins under the cut

“Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.”

Snorting to himself when he hears his phone chime, Christopher Smith grabs said item from beside him on the couch, whilst currently only half watching the TV because he was too busy pregaming before heading out for the night.

Off later to meet a hot blonde at one of the many local bars around here in Evergreen, with the woman in question causing a wicked grin to appear on his face, the message she had just sent him was very telling of how things were going to go down and this pleased him greatly.

Sure Chris had obvious commitments but even someone like Peacemaker needed a break, some time to just kick back and have fun, oh and he definitely was going to be getting laid tonight it was absolutely in the bag.

Finishing off his beer in one long gulp, Chris contemplates the season and that one holiday he was learning to enjoy again, courtesy of his team mates in the task force the family that he definitely hadn’t asked for.

…but were in fact a huge step up from the one that he had been born into instead.

Although there was no way that he was ever gonna wear a freaking Christmas sweater, especially the kind of ones that goofball Adrian sourced, which somehow actually pleased Harcourt but Chris didn’t need that kind of motivation he was playing the long game with his teammate.

Besides Chris had another blonde to amuse himself with tonight anyway, wearing his finest band tee shirt that showed off all the muscles he kept in check, whilst several rubbers quietly occupied his pants pocket because he was always protecting himself and others around him.

Everything was set and he was already sensing that tonight was gonna be fucking awesome, even if someone did call him with an emergency he would just put it to voice message, because it was very important that he got some self care and receiving head was pretty high up on that list.

With a smirk on his face Chris stands up from the couch, heading towards the fridge for another beer or two, might as well continue with the good mood he was encountering because absolutely nothing could mess it up right now…

Seeing zero civilians in the surrounding area Vigilante rushes across the path, head down he stealthily crosses over onto the grass, his final destination was up ahead despite being told never to turn up there unannounced again here he was.

Standing outside of his bff’s trailer which still had lights on thankfully, yet there was a severe lack of any Christmas cheer but Vigilante knew exactly how to change all of that, even though Harcourt his boss currently assumed that he was actually patrolling right now.

With his well known flourish Vigilante performs the secret knock, the one that he knew Chris would instantly know because what were best friends for, too busy to hang out with for the rest of the evening…yeah right that wasn’t going to happen.

Hearing noise from inside of the trailer causes Vigilante only to knock louder, he will be heard he decides to himself all the while quickly readjusting his red Santa hat, deciding that he looked festive as fuck and that was all what mattered right this second.

To say that Vigilante was excited for Christmas was an understatement, seeing how he would be spending time between both his parents, so naturally double the presents because he was still a child of divorce and they both always liked to put out on the gifting front.

Of course it wouldn’t actually be Vigilante attending said holiday gatherings, but he would be there in spirit because Adrian was apparently the “childish idiot”, but according to local news however Vigilante was likened to somewhere between a monster and a psychopath.

Hitting his hand palm flat on the front door Adrian smacks it as hard as he can, now wasn’t the time to be thinking about his family or what was left of it, he was here to see Chris and help him get into the festive spirit because clearly he was hopeless.

Taking a deep calming breath then slowly finishing off his latest beer, Chris gives Eagly his pet eagle and true best friend a look whilst debating whether to even open the door, because no one should be here especially not the bane of his life that was Adrian Chase.

When he hears his phone start ringing Chris curses but then finally bites the bullet, no way would he be inviting the guy in through his door because if he did Adrian would never leave, plus after the last time that he was left here alone it wasn’t going to happen again not a chance.

Unlocking the door has Chris rearranging his features until they fall back into their current position, causing the fully suited Vigilante in front of him to take a cautious step back, good he looked as pissed as he felt right now so this was gonna be very easy.

“What are you doing here Adrian, and what’s with the hat?” Chris asks with a snort folding his thick arms in front of his wide chest, waiting for the lies to fall out of his team mates mouth.

“First off it’s the most wonderful time of the year so that’s why I’m wearing this hat, and secondly I got bored patrolling so here I am ready to hangout.” Adrian expresses all of this with his gloved hands and annoying voice.

“I’m busy-“

“Can’t I just stay for a little while?” Adrian cuts off Chris in a pouty voice, whilst somehow simultaneously sneaking past him into the trailer.

“After what happened the last time!” Chris retorts back, slamming his front door in glaringly obvious annoyance, the kind that is somehow wasted on Adrian.

“The fire was put out eventually-“

“I had told you not to use my damn microwave but that doesn’t even matter right now so just get out!” Chris demands in a firm voice but even this doesn’t get a response from Adrian, who was too busy glancing around and shaking his head from side to side.

“I wanted popcorn for the movie but dude the more important question right now, is where the hell are all of your decorations?” Questions Adrian taking off his hat and mask, to reveal a red and confused face, then quickly placing his signature glasses back on so he could see again.

“Under my bed and in the bathroom because storage is shitty in this place, but look I will get around to eventually-“

“Hey, I can totally decorate for you!” Adrian announces with a boyish grin on his face as he adds “Lets drink some beers together and then I could totally have this place looking like christmas vomited all over it.”

“No way-“

“Oh please dude!” Adrian begs pulling a face that makes Chris roll his eyes but then nod resignedly, because even if he did leave his trailer the guy in front of him, would somehow try to break back in which wasn’t something he needed right now.

“I’m not leaving you here alone though.” Chris declares hurriedly, whilst leaning against the tiny kitchen counter, wondering who the hell he could get round here to watch Adrian.

The guy who was currently trying and failing to remove his thick padded gloves, still wearing his uniform the one for his full time job where people recognised him from the TV, Vigilante the freak show that even the cops had given up on…but not Chris it seemed.

“What’s the worse that could happen if you leave me here alone?” Adrian announces in a goofy voice, whilst crashing onto Chris’ couch like he practically lived here, which was sort of true.

“Fuck this! I’m calling Harcourt-“

“No way!” Shouts Adrian standing up again quickly from the couch, almost dropping his newly removed gloves in the process but he chucks them behind him instead.

“Well okay then if not Harcourt.” Begins Chris with a playful grin and a vague plan as he adds “ I know exactly who I should be calling right now.”

“Or better yet just cancel this supposed date and hang out with yours truly.” Adrian nods like it was the only answer, but the thought only causes Chris to grind his teeth together in annoyance.

“How did you know-“

“I overheard Harcourt talking to Adebayo about it earlier.” Adrian shrugs as if this was sufficient enough information about office gossip.

“Harcourt was talking about me?” Chris questions with a smile on his face, despite the situation he currently found himself in.

“Nothing positive was said I’m afraid dude-“

“Harcourt could only ever dream of hooking up with me!” Chris announces in both an angry and desperate voice, that even he can hear sounded pretty pathetic.

“This is why I would never ever get involved with someone I work with!” Adrian announces placing his hands behind his head, like he had just solved all of the world’s problems single handedly.

“You are so full of bullshit!” Laughs Chris whilst causing his friend’s face to slip as he asks indulgently “So there isn’t a certain nurse who you would wanna hook up with in the vigilante-mobile?”

“That was just a passing out loud thought-“

“Well it kind of sounded like you had thought about it a lot and also very vigorously as well I bet!” Snorts Chris whilst performing the action for jerking off, at the same time that a chuckle escapes from his lips.

“Don’t bring up the nurse right now!” Adrian deflects as he explains “When in fact it’s you who actually has someone from work you want to pound-“

“I wouldn’t let Harcourt hear you talking about her like that.” Chris shrugs definitely wishing that he hadn’t answered the door earlier, he could’ve had another beer by now instead of all this bullshit.

“You’ve still got it so bad dude-“

“Fuck you I’m going out!” Chris demands angrily but then states “ Only I have to make a call real quick so just stay here.”

“That’s exactly what I want to do bro!” Adrian chuckles to himself, quickly picking up one of the unopened beers off the messy coffee table, whilst Chris heads off in search of his phone yet again.

Staring off into the distance you briefly wonder what it was you had done in a past life to even deserve this? To paraphrase you currently wished that you were somewhere other than here, absolutely anywhere else to be honest than in this exact predicament right now.

Hearing a male voice clear his throat you look away from the very busy bar, to see your work friend Jason watching you with steely brown eyes, almost as if he knew that you weren’t interested at all which was true you definitely wasn’t.

There was no time in your life for dating right now even this was eating into your alone time, which was usually spent Netflix and chilling all by yourself which suited you perfectly, work was always busy and that was only what you really cared about…which wasn’t exactly true.

Because of course there was something or should you say someone, who occupied way too many of your thoughts despite the fact that the guy literally drove you crazy, unless he was in need of help seeing how you were somehow programmed to only serve him.

Besides it was in your actual job description being a nurse and all, but that should’ve been the last thing on your mind, considering how Jason had been talking to you whilst you had zoned out lost in your own thoughts.

Which meant that Jason had literally just got up and left the bar, leaving you sitting all alone here thinking about a certain masked menace, the one who you were avoiding for many reasons which would remain undisclosed.

Shaking your head you scold yourself for these thoughts yet again overtaking your mind, like you wasn’t even at work and still he was there fucking up your life the guy who annoyed you in real life, but often thought about when you hit that sweet spot with your teal coloured vibrator.

Trying to stay on track you quickly finish off your glass of wine, then grabbing your phone off the bar you almost drop it when you hear it start ringing, sneaking a glance at the screen you unattractively shout fuck in some random dudes face courtesy of who was calling you right now.

This was all kinds of unnecessary and absolutely not what you needed, here all alone at a bar in December with sparkly lights all around the place, and people looking like they were enjoying the festivities with very high spirits.

Sliding off the metal stool that you had been left disassociating on, you welcome yourself back on the ground feet first whilst debating the merits of answering the call, when perhaps you should’ve actually just gone after Jason instead and told him the truth.

That this set up had been doomed to fail anyway because you worked with Jason, at a hospital you frequented happy in the knowledge that this guy was just a friend, until he had asked you out for a drink and your teammate Adebayo had gushed about how it was the perfect set up which was just bullshit.

Luckily you hadn’t exactly dressed up for the occasion, wearing fitted grey jeans and a black sparkly tank top with thin straps, okay maybe you’d made some kind of effort but this had just been a practice run what for though you wasn’t exactly sure.

Seeing the call finally end you head outside the bar shrugging into your thick coat, deciding it was for the best that you hadn’t answered that call because your mind was noisy, courtesy of both alcohol and so many unanswered thoughts that were littering your brain like trash.

What if that chance back there with Jason was the best you were getting anytime soon, and you had blown it thanks to sure not exactly liking the guy that way, but you could grow to like him seeing how it would take your mind off Vigilante at least.

Because it wasn’t as if you were inundated with offers or guys swiping right, instead you usually got called a bitch a lot in the ER or were asked if you would put out in the nearest restroom, the guys in Evergreen where mostly all scum it appeared.

Yet you were hastened to add Vigilante to that depressing statement, when he had saved the task force and yourself many times whilst in return you stitched him up, and of course got to check out what he was actually hiding under that fitted black and teal suit.

How you eventually became part of the task force was a funny story actually, but ever since that fateful morning watching your ex get taken down by Peacemaker, quickly learning that the guy was in fact an alien and they did actually exist here on Earth.

Your ex had wanted to tell you something but when you had kept annoying him, the guy had gotten angry until a blur of red, white and blue interrupted the heated moment, a ruckus which had resulted in your ex being shot by Peacemaker and then the butterfly had appeared.

Dancing around your face a grey insect with large purple wings, getting closer and closer to you until a large gloved hand grabs the alien bug, practically squishing it in their hands as you recognise the person in the black and teal suit.

This was closely followed by one of the team needing medical assistance, something had hit John in the crossfire leaving him unable to move his left leg, so with your bag of supplies you had helped as best you could despite your head being in a ridiculous daze.

That was still the general consensus now when you had to either join the guys on a mission, or wait for them to come crawling back to HQ with needles, thread and sometimes shots of whisky at the ready, unless you were Vigilante who happened to just sleep off injuries like they were in fact just bad hangovers.

Yet you very much secretly enjoyed it when he needed your attention, just you and Adrian in a room together with him complaining all the while, but he was usually shirtless which sometimes made you forget to tell him to quit whining.

The thought makes a wide smile spread across your face, but then it quickly vanishes when you see that the same person is calling you once again, regrettably thanks to the alcohol you had consumed earlier you end up sliding your thumb right to take the incoming call.

“Fucking finally!” Snaps Chris as you sigh down the phone in response to his warm greeting.

“What’s happened-“

“Oh fuck it’s terrible!” Chris shouts causing you to stop in your tracks when he hurriedly adds “Something’s happened and we need your help now right now!”

“What’s happened?” You question rushing towards the nearest cab you could find, thinking of the worst scenario that could’ve befallen Peacemaker and the team.

“Just hurry up and get to my trailer!” Begins Chris but you then hear a deep laugh follow his panicked voice, which makes you quickly realise that this was some kind of shitty prank.

“Is this a joke?” You retort at the same time you hear Peacemaker laughing far louder than what was warranted, because for a second there you had worried about the team, seeing how death was almost always an impossible accident away.

“I can’t believe you fell for it y/n but I do need your help dealing with a certain masked idiot at my place.” Chris states when he finally stops laughing, which has you falling into the nearest cab, wary of what he was about to say next.

“Are you looking in the mirror again?” You deadpan then elaborate in case Chris didn’t get it “I’m saying that you’re the masked idiot.”

“Hilarious! But no I’m here with your favourite patient Vigilante and I need someone to babysit him-“

“I don’t need babysitting dude I’m in my late twenties!” Adrian shouts out in the background which you hear clearly, a smile appearing on your face in obvious betrayal.

“Why don’t you two just hang out talk about your latest conquests and braid each other’s hair?” You question innocently, but actually picturing the scenario in your head has you giggling out loud.

“Because I have a date tonight and Adrian won’t leave my trailer, I’m not leaving him here alone so you need to come round.” Chris states confidently which in turns makes you snort back at his current dilemma.

“Why do I have to come round though is Adrian hurt?” You ask flippantly but then clarify out loud “Wait, he isn’t actually hurt is he!”

“Would you get here quicker if I did actually hurt him?” Chris asks hurriedly as he then explains “I need to be out of here within the hour so hurry up!”

“I’m not coming round to your trailer!” You announce in a squeaky voice, even though you were almost half way there already, but Chris didn’t need to know that.

“Are you drunk?” Asks Chris with obvious glee whilst you proceed to snort and hiccup at the same time which doesn’t help your case an awful lot.

“I’ve had a couple of drinks but-“

“This is perfect.” Chris announces happily and before you can reply he actually hangs up the call, which makes you glare down at your screen feeling like an idiot.

What was happening here?

You were supposed to be avoiding Adrian, yet here you were actually parked outside of the trailer that he was currently residing in with Chris, who was quite clearly up to something as usual.

Taking your sweet time to pay the cab driver you had asked him to park behind the trailer, seeing how you needed a few moments to regroup and maybe sober up, that would be a great idea as well but pretty much impossible at this point.

So eventually you watch the cab leave as you wonder what was going to happen next, after the last time you had seen Adrian you were in no hurry to see him again with or without Chris in tow, because this felt like some kind of trap…what was Peacemaker really up to?

“Better put your mask back on because the nurse will be here in a few minutes to babysit you.” Chris announces to Adrian who pauses pressing the buttons on the TV remote, to glance back up at him with a horrified look on his face.

“What the fuck dude?!” Begins Adrian dropping the TV remote from his hand as he exclaims “Of all the people in this world why did you call the nurse for I don’t need her here!”

“Well I need someone here to keep you in check plus there has been this super weird energy between you two-“

“No there isn’t! Nothing happened.” Cuts in Adrian hurriedly but then instantly regrets it, when he spots the look on his team mates face.

“Dude, what did you do?” Chris asks with a tut knowing full well the kind of trouble, that Adrian somehow got himself into with members of the opposite sex.

“It wasn’t just me this time-“

Before Adrian can explain himself there is a short knock at the door, which makes Chris give his friend an amused glance, all the while Adrian looked like he was ready to throw himself out of the nearest window…interesting.

“This is gonna be so much fun!” Chris chuckles leaving Adrian to curse in his wake, as he heads over to the trailer door with a huge grin on his face.

“Can’t I come in?” You ask Chris after he opens the door, but then proceeds to lean against it smirking the whole time.

“Not yet I have a couple of questions for you to answer.” Chris explains with an amused look on his face.

“Just hurry up!” You snap bouncing from one foot to the other, seeing how the temperature had dropped again and you were freezing.

“So what is actually going on with you and Adrian then?” Chris shoots his first question straight from the hip, cocking it directly at you without even a hint of a warning.

“Did he tell you? Well believe me it was an accident my lips brushed against his-“

“Excuse me, what?!” Chris cuts in whilst laughing loudly, causing you to instinctively wrap your arms around yourself, for some added protection.

“Nothing, it was nothing and nothing is going on between us!” You nod back frantically wishing that you could press rewind, on this conversation hell the whole fucking day actually.

“It definitely sounds like a whole lot of nothing!” Quips Chris with a wink as he then steps aside, letting you walk into his trailer which you do seeking out warmth, but not thinking of what would happen next.

Watching in mild horror as Vigilante suddenly notices you then proceeds to launch himself behind the couch, ignoring the fact that you had actually seen him sans mask before, but he was currently trying to hide from you which wasn’t embarrassing at all.

Taking off your dark red coat you chuck it over an old bucket chair, clocking the confused look on Chris’ face as he reappears in the room, but then his baby blues glance down at your outfit causing you to roll your eyes.

“Looking good nurse.” Chris states with a wink which alerts Adrian who jumps up from behind the couch, hair messy and eyes wide as he finally looks in your direction.

“Oh, hey!” Adrian begins awkwardly like he had only just noticed you “What’s up?”

“Chris has asked me to come over here and watch you-“

“Watch me do what?” Adrian declares cutting you off whilst both of his eyebrows, were currently furrowed in some ridiculous thought.

“Not be an idiot-“

“See, you say an idiot but I say being productive!” Adrian states with a quick laugh as he launches himself back on the couch, only this time spreading his whole self across it so you have nowhere to sit.

“So, collecting scrap metal parts to shoot at with your masked friend here is being productive?” You retort with a small smirk, because this was usually how it was between you two.

“You’re just jealous that you can’t come along and shoot with us!” Adrian snorts then adds for clarification “Because you definitely can’t just turn up.”

“As lovely as that invite is I would have to decline seeing that in fact I have a life outside of work.” You retort back with a wide smirk.

“Did I actually interrupt something by calling you then?” Chris asks cutting off the imminent bickering that he knew was never far off, in fact it was the default setting between you two on most missions.

“Not exactly-“

“I don’t think I’ve ever not seen you in your nurses uniform it’s weird.” Adrian informs you which causes Chris, to slowly place a hand over his face clearly embarrassed.

“So, me in clothes is weird is it?” You retort back sarcastically, because this guy always got your heckles up, and managed to get under your skin within minutes.

“I’ve not seen you without any clothes on so I cannot say.” Adrian states whilst sliding his green eyes in your direction, unaware of how flirty he sounded, because on cue you could feel your cheeks already start heating up.

“Are you actually blushing?” Snorts Chris breaking the moment between them, causing you to look away from Adrian, to give Peacemaker a well timed glare which he obviously finds hilarious.

“That happens a lot then huh?” Adrian asks standing up to quickly lean forward, right into your personal space, which causes you to take a sudden step back.

“No it doesn’t.” You retort despite the glaringly obvious fact, that was clearly painted across your face.

“Whatever this is.” Begins Chris with a wave of his hand and a grin in place as he then adds “It’s adorable but I do need to go, so just amuse yourselves and don’t wait up for me.”

“This is nothing-“

“I’m so confused right now.” Adrian states cutting you off, as you glance around the living area of the trailer, still unsure as to why you were even here but here you were.

“I think you both need to talk-“

“Where are you off to anyway?” You ask Chris swiftly cutting off whatever he had been about to say.

“Like I said on the phone a hot date, just watch Adrian and if he injures himself somehow, then you’re here to help him.” Chris replies with a wink, which has you glancing at your feet instead of shooting back a retort.

“What could I actually hurt myself on?” Adrian questions out loud with a snort.

“Oh, you will always find a way dude.” Chris states smugly knowing the guy all too well, but it seemed he was in safe hands with you regardless.

“I’m offended-“

“I’m leaving, so don’t touch my alcohol and don’t destroy my trailer Adrian.” Chris cuts off his friend who nods his head, but this guy could never be trusted, he was truly a misfit.

“So how late can Adrian watch TV before I put him to bed?” You question with a laugh because this night was getting ridiculous.

“I can stay up as late as I want!” Adrian demands sulkily, like he had suddenly regressed back to being a ten year old.

“What you two get up to when I’m not here isn’t any of my business, unless you break something and then we will have some issues.” States Chris with a smirk battling against his lip as he tries not to laugh back.

“Now I’m offended.” You retort but then clock the worrying look appearing on Chris’ face.

“Yeah I can’t see you two getting up to anything interesting, always arguing at work I place my bet on you killing Adrian not long after I’ve left actually.” Chris laughs then with a final wave and check of his pants pocket, he leaves for his date with a heavy strut in his walk and his pet eagle in tow.

You shake your head watching Chris’ retreating back, whilst simultaneously wishing not for the first time tonight that you had just stayed at home, because leaving Adrian now wasn’t an option seeing how you knew how much trouble he could easily get himself into.

“Like you could ever kill me!” Jokes Adrian in a funny voice, then quickly followed by a wrinkle of his nose, that suddenly has your stomach feeling weird because he looked so damn cute.

“I think Chris was joking, but don’t underestimate my abilities-“

“Oh, I’ve seen your abilities.” Adrian informs you in a deep voice, which makes you quickly look back at his face, no acknowledgement or sign of how flirty he sounded yet again.

“So what are we doing-“

“Decorating the trailer to make it festive as fuck!” Adrian announces followed by a quick wink aimed in your direction.

“Yeah well how good are you at putting up Christmas decorations then?” You deflect unsure if you wanted to pursue that line of conversation, going by some visuals in your mind that you didn’t need right now.

“I’m amazing at decorating for Christmas, but it does depend on what things Chris has to display.” Adrian nods warming to his theme, as he continues talking about the virtues of lights and tinsel for the holiday season.

“Well you go and do that then.” You reply stepping past Adrian, to sit down on the saggy couch, whilst ignoring the look on your teammates face.

“I thought we could do it together?” Adrian questions in that puppy dog voice, the one that he knows works on Peacemaker but you would remain strong.

“I’m not moving from this couch.” You announce with a grin, quickly locating the TV remote by your left thigh.

“Why is everyone such a Scrooge?” Adrian questions out loud, but then walks out of the room in search of some decorations, you presume.

Finding a Christmas movie a quarter of the way through you drop the remote beside you, this was exactly what you needed right now, Christmas Vacation on in the background and Adrian out of your eye-line so you could regroup.

It was one thing being with Vigilante whilst the rest of the team were around the HQ, but whenever you were left alone with the guy, your resolve turned to shit and well you seemed to always humiliate yourself somehow.

The memory from recent events has you still closing your eyes, whilst tsunami sized waves of embarrassment rolled over you, like it had only happened five minutes ago and not almost a week since the work based incident.

Because a huge perk of your job was patching Adrian up, whenever he inadvertently hurt himself in some ridiculous way, you were there to fix him with memories of the guy sitting in front of you shirtless living rent free in your head.

I mean sure Adrian was handsome, kind of goofy at times and just so damn cute, he also had some issues but he was truly a sight to behold, leaving you usually with your tongue sticking out and a hand fanning your face.

Which was confusing as hell for you because on the one hand, the guy was annoying and super childish, but then he would innocently flirt and you could feel yourself melt for him each and every time.

You were damn sure that Adrian truly wasn’t aware of his behaviour around you, the other team members rarely even mentioning it now besides Chris, who was permanently in a mood to wind everyone up every second of every day regardless of time or situation.

Plus he had seen you rush out of the room you often used for triage and fixing up Adrian, with a heated expression on your face and a hand over your mouth, causing Chris to give you a double look as you rushed past him.

Because something had happened between you and Adrian not that he had even mentioned it since, and it wasn’t as if you were going to bring it up despite the fact that the memory of said moment still made your skin heat up, as if you were on fire which truly sucked…but it was all you could think about.

“Can you stop looking at me like that-“

“I’m not looking at you Adrian, I’m sewing you back together yet again.” You cut your teammate off quickly, eyes still focused on the task at hand.

“Yeah, but it’s the way your looking at my skin like you-“

“Wish that for one day you would go without hurting yourself or getting injured, well that’s actually my Christmas wish this year.” You deadpan glancing up at Adrian, whose green eyes meet yours with an inquisitive look.

“It’s not my fault I’m such a badass.” Adrian informs you with a smug smile, that has you grinning back despite yourself.

“That’s not what I would call you-“

“So, what would you call me then?” Adrian questions whilst simultaneously flinching, when you catch him with the needle in your hand.

“Sorry!” You cry looking down at your hands which were holding onto Adrian’s thigh, him sitting in front of you in just his boxers, and that obscene million dollar question left hanging in the air.

“You didn’t answer my question.” States Adrian in a deep voice, which makes you close your eyes and clench your thighs together, at the same time lost in the moment.

“Right now I would call you-“ You stop talking when you make the mistake of looking up, to see that Adrian was watching you with such an intensity, that he basically had you frozen in place.

What the fuck was happening here?

One minute you had been involved in your job, of course looking at Adrian’s thick thighs a bit too intently, but now you wanted nothing more than to…

“Look at me.” Adrian demands once again in that deep voice, the one that he wasn’t aware made you feel weak at the knees, which was fucking ridiculous.

Momentarily feeling bold you look back up at Adrian who was leaning back a little in his chair, wide shoulders framing his lean body which held smooth muscles, the kind that you had often wanted to bite well in your fantasies at least.

“What is even happening here-“

“I’m patching you up again.” You nod grabbing the large scissors to cut at the thread, hopefully signalling to Adrian that you had finished, and whatever this was could end quickly before things escalated.

“I’ve sat here so many times but right now things feel different between us-“

“Might be the drugs I gave you earlier talking there.” You deadpan causing Adrian’s eyes to bulge out of his head in obvious alarm.

“I’m joking!” You being with a laugh then quip that “I just gave you some painkillers they won’t induce this kind of sexual tension.”

“So, you feel it too then?” Adrian questions with an excited look on his face, as he tries to sit up higher in his metal seat.

“Again joking-“

“See, I don’t think you are.” Challenges Adrian with a grin as he leans closer to you, his face mere inches away from yours but you daren’t move a muscle.

“Why do you think that?” You ask in a soft voice causing Adrian to arch an eyebrow in your direction.

“I’ve noticed the way you look at me, we always argue over the most stupidest things so I think we need to figure this out.” Adrian nods as if what he has just said, made an ounce of sense because right that second you were definitely in denial.

“Stop arguing with me then-“

“Or what will you do?” Adrian cuts you off with a challenging laugh that for once doesn’t make you want to back down.

“I don’t have to do anything.” You begin with a wide smile and retort in place as you add “You want this so badly apparently, so why don’t you come and get it!”

“Are you actually offering then?” Questions Adrian with wide eyes, but then a smug grin appears across his handsome face.

“Adrian, fuck-“

Before you could finish that sentence your feel the forceful press of Adrian’s warm lips, pushed against your own which makes you let out a noise, a cross between a moan and a yelp that has you finally kissing him back.

Lips and tongues clash as you start to make out like teenagers, only with a little less saliva and more skill tasting Adrian as he consumes you with his mouth, like it was the only way for him to function being connected to you.

Seriously you could spend the rest of your life here in this moment and you wouldn’t be angry, of course that wasn’t a viable option but nothing else mattered than this moment right now, and the burn of your lips being manipulated by Adrian’s.

“Ow!” Adrian yelps suddenly causing you to leap back in your seat, his face creased up in pain.

“Did I hurt you?” You announce quickly then stand up in a panic, because that had just happened and you were mere seconds away from regretting it.

“I’m ok-“

“No, that shouldn’t have happened.” You state lamely despite your lips, hell your whole body telling you otherwise, but these thoughts were all too much so you instead decide to just escape.

“Wait-“

You hear Adrian call out but unable to look back you rush out of the room, feeling both ashamed and turned on which wasn’t a good look, especially when you almost collide with Peacemaker in your efforts of running away.

“Hey, what’s the rush?” Begins Chris with a laugh which falls flat when he notices the look on your face.

“I need some air!” You snap pushing past Chris to head left, so you could head outside and quite possibly throw up your lunch from earlier.

Sure it had only been a kiss but the way your body felt now, pushing open the HQ door with such force you worry it will smash, but instead you are left staring at it hoping to disappear because you were embarrassed.

How could you be so stupid? Nothing good could come from this, despite the fact that you actually liked Adrian, but could you deal with the teasing and bullshit from everyone else.

Not that you usually gave a shit what people thought, but you were protective of Adrian and what the others thought of him, their words were rarely kind but your heart was in the right place.

Eventually heading back you ignored the looks from both Adebayo and Harcourt, slowly walking back to the triage room to find it empty, neither Adrian or Peacemaker were nearby casing you to feel the urgent need to just avoid everyone.

That moment between you and Adrian had been fused with want, it had been pretty hot for him to make the first move, but now you were left wondering why you still cared so much…

“Fuck!” Shouts Adrian as a tall tower of magazines fall on top of him, looking in a small closet for Christmas lights but he’s found stacks of old porno’s instead.

Glancing down at his feet causes Adrian to quickly smirk to himself, as he goes to bend down and pick one up, but reminding himself that you were here he retracts his hand and continues searching for lights.

Yet knowing that you were only next door watching TV, Adrian still cannot believe his luck that you were here, despite what he had said earlier to Chris he was very happy to see you a little too happy if truth be told.

But he needed to play it cool like how he had seen Peacemaker act around woman before, so his main focus right now was to actually get some decorations up in this trailer, act like he didn’t care you were here with him when in fact the reality was a very different matter.

Sure he had said to Chris about not wanting to date at work, but the facts were very different to his words, because he definitely wanted you balanced on his lap already to hell with anything else even the dumb decorations.

Pleased with this plan Adrian turns round to look elsewhere, but his boot slips on one of the magazines sending him flying forward, holding out his hands to brace himself because he usually had reflexes like a cat.

“This is bullshit!” Cries Adrian as he grabs onto the kitchen counter, grateful that you hadn’t seen him do that because that would’ve sucked.

“What is going-“ You stop talking when you notice the magazines strewn on the floor, adult ones that clearly belonged to Peacemaker.

“I can explain! Those things fell on me I wasn’t looking at them I swear.” Adrian pleads placing both of his hands in front of his chest, making you look away from the busty redhead on one of the covers.

“I wouldn’t care even if you were but I’m sure Chris wouldn’t approve of you finding them.” You joke with a grin which Adrian mirrors, but with the added bonus of his cute dimples that makes your stomach flip.

“That’s why they were probably stashed in that little closet, I wonder what else he has in there?” Adrian questions but he notices you suddenly shaking your head in the negative.

“Let’s look for something more important-“

“You mean like the decorations?” Adrian questions with an annoyed sigh.

“No I mean beer and lots of it!” You demand with a grin adding “ The best way to spread lots of Christmas cheer is if we get into the spirit of things ourselves.”

“I know where Chris hides the vodka.”Adrian states with a smirk.

“Perfect!” You announce happily with a clap of your hands, that makes Adrian pause and stares at you funnily whilst you walk off back to the tv, avoiding those dirty magazines in the process.

#adrian chase #freddie stroma #vigilante #peacemaker #adrian chase is a babe #adrian chase x reader #christopher smith #11th street kids #freddie stroma is too powerful #christmas fanfiction #fluff and cheese #smut happens #tis the season #here it is #i’m done

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