#gonna be honest my expectations for my birthday get lower and lower like every year 😭

[linabirb]

it's my birth month btw so everyone has to be real niceys to me and give me headpats and pick me up and spin me around. it's the law sorry

[ohbuckie]

Ooo 89 or 39 with college!bucky!

89. “Don’t ruin the sofa.”

wc: 1.7k (SORRY LOL)

warnings: college!bucky x fem!reader, smut, unprotected sex, exhibitionism if you squint

—

“Are you just gonna stare at me?”

His eyes rake up your body—over your hips, and your chest, and your face. “I mean...yeah.”

You kiss Bucky’s cheek and step into his apartment, setting your clutch down on the side table next to the couch. He closes the door behind you, presses himself against you, holds your waist gently in his large hands.

You’re wearing a long, red, satin dress, with matching strappy heels and diamond earrings that he gifted you for your last anniversary. It’s been three years now, since you hooked up in the backseat of his car on your first date. He’s wearing a collared button-up tucked into dress pants, ironed trimly, and his jacket is thrown over the back of the couch. His hair is slicked back neatly and his jaw shaved cleanly.

“We have to leave soon.” You warn him, placing your hand over his when his fingers grip you tightly.

“I won’t take long.”

“I don’t want to wrinkle my dress, Buck.” You whine, and he kisses the side of your neck. “Or your shirt.”

“They won’t wrinkle.”

“And if they do?”

“You’ll live, I think.”

You smile, giving up the annoyed act. He looks good, and smells good, and, if you’re being honest with yourself, you’ve been thinking about jumping his bones since you walked in.

“You’ll be quick?”

“You should know how quick I can be.” He smiles against you before taking your hand and pulling you to the couch.

“The guys aren’t home?” You ask, pulling up your dress and climbing onto his lap, holding his face in your hands and starting to kiss him.

He shakes his head and pulls away. “They went out for drinks.” He explains, gripping your ass and pushing it against his lap, where his steadily-hardening cock grows beneath you. “Will you suck me off?”

“You’re coming on awfully strong.”

“It’s a yes or no question.”

You give him another kiss, shoving his chest playfully and standing from the couch, falling to your knees. Your dress falls around you, and you hope that the floor’s been cleaned recently.

He unbuckles his only nice belt and unzips his only nice pants, shoving them down his legs far enough to be able to spread his legs, at least a little bit. You lean over his lap, untucking his cock from his underwear, wrapping your hand around it.

It stands straight up, seven or eight inches, intimidatingly. He walked you through this the second time you ever had sex, gave you instructions on how to take as much as possible down your throat—breathe through your nose, relax your muscles, swallow around him when it gets to be too much. He practically fucked your face that night, with his back pressed against the stall of a public restroom while Steve celebrated his birthday in the bar on the other side of the door.

You lick up the vein on the underside and swirl your tongue around the tip, looking up at him. His eyes are already focused on you, and he brushes a piece of hair behind your ear. You push your head down, taking a little more than half of what he’s offering. Your hand works the shaft, your lips unable to reach down that far without making your eyes water and subsequently ruining your makeup.

He shifts his hips and the head of his cock touches the back of your throat. “Fuck,” He whimpers, “sorry.”

You hum in response, bobbing your head up and down. With every movement of your neck, your panties grow wetter, thinking about what he’s about to do to you. Salty precum covers your tongue, mixing with saliva, sliding down your throat. You hollow out your cheeks with your lips around his tip, licking broadly up the slit at the top. He moans and tries not to ruin your hair by grabbing at it, though it’s proving difficult.

“Okay, okay, come up here.”

He doesn’t have to say it twice. You pull your mouth off of him, leaving him a slobbery mess, before you stand and remove your lacy thong—you’d expected this tonight, just maybe not this early. Not that you’re complaining. You move to his lap again, bracing your hands against his shoulders and letting him kiss your throat, your collarbones, the top of your breasts.

“Don’t leave any marks, Buck.”

“But-”

“We’re going to a fancy restaurant. No marks.”

“Fine.” He huffs, reaching under your dress to hold his cock still. “Sit on it.”

Your stomach tingles in response and you follow the order immediately, lifting a leg and positioning yourself over his dick, slowly sinking onto him until he’s all the way in and your skin is pressed together.

You breathe out a moan and sit for a minute with him inside of you, his hands on your bare thighs, your laps covered by the flowing fabric of your dress. You start moving slowly, lifting your hips and easing them back down a few times before picking up your pace, capturing his lips with yours to muffle any noises you might make.

The way his large palms and long fingers hold your legs works as a silent order to do as he says, or as he wills you to do. He aids you in moving your hips, pulls you down harshly with every upraise, fingernails leaving crescent-shaped craters in your soft skin. Your knees push between the cushions at the back of the couch, thighs aching dully and ass grinding forward for more friction every time you make contact with his lap.

His tongue slithers into your mouth and you accept it with grace, extending your own to him. Your lipstick is surely covering the lower half of his face—upper lip, mouth, chin, cheeks—but you wouldn’t dare stop this to check. You snake your arms around his neck, pulling yourself as close to him as possible, moaning gently into his mouth, letting him swallow it.

You both miss the door opening, and only realize that there are other people in the room with you when Steve shouts and Sam sighs annoyedly.

“Really, guys?”

You stop your movements, but Bucky keeps going, encouraging you to do the same.

“Buck-” You begin to protest.

“Just give us a minute, guys.” He interrupts. “Won’t be long.”

“Bucky, this is-”

“Five minutes.” He says, frustrated.

The guys give up, waving a hand of dismissal and walking to the hallway to find their bedrooms. “Don’t ruin the sofa.”

He chuckles and kisses across your jaw, moving his hands underneath your ass before pulling away from you. “Can we switch?”

You nod, and he wastes no time in getting you on your back. He doesn’t even pull out when he flips you, cradling your head and pecking your lips sweetly. Your legs wrap around his waist, heels pressing into the back of his thighs while he thrusts into you.

“Fuck, Bucky.”

“Feels good?”

“Yeah.” You throw your head backwards, arching your back into him.

With this new angle, you can feel him filling you a lot more. He fits into you like a piece to a puzzle, and soon finds your favorite spot with the end of his cock. He slams into you, pushing the spot like it’s an “instant orgasm” button. He looks down at where your bodies meet, and admires the way that you’re welcoming him.

“You’re so fuckin’ hot.” He moans. “You take it so well.”

Your chest heaves while you try to hold onto sanity, but when he tells you to let go, you listen. You clamp your hand over your mouth, desperate to stay quiet so that you don’t bother the guys, who are only a couple of rooms away now.

“Close?” He asks, as if to tease you. You only nod, arching your back involuntarily. “Touch yourself for me.” He says lowly against your ear, so the guys can’t hear him.

You listen, of course, and slide your hand down your clothed chest and torso until it finds your clit, sensitive and ready to be paid attention to. You rub in circles, pressing with your finger until it makes you squirm and shake. It alerts Bucky of your impending orgasm, and he whispers sweet nothings to you to help you reach what you’re chasing.

You moan and clench and tremble when he tells you how good you feel, and how he wants nothing more than you fuck you full of his cum. “God, Bucky, fuck!”

“Too loud!” You hear from down the hall, and while you continue to manipulate your sensitive bud and your orgasm carries on, you moan loudly in response—purposefully, of course.

“I’m gonna cum.” Bucky warns.

“Don’t get it on my dress.” You remind him, and it only takes a couple more thrusts before he’s entirely inside of you, holding still—with the exception of a few encouraging rolls of his hips—and pumping you full of cum.

“S’gonna come out.” He breathes. “Onto your dress, probably.”

“Be careful, then.”

“I can’t exactly stay in here forever.”

You huff. “Be quick.”

“Alright, ready?”

You nod, and he pulls out, quickly tucking his cock back into his pants and not bothering to zip them while he makes a beeline to the kitchen for towels. He runs one under water and returns, wiping you down, pressing gentle kisses to your inner thighs and lower stomach—a mannerism that starkly contrasts what he was doing only a few minutes ago.

He turns his wrist and peers at the watch face, raising his eyebrows and holding his hand for you to take. You both fix your clothes—smoothing wrinkles, fastening buttons, straightening outfits.

You crouch to the floor to pick up your panties, but he beats you to it, and looks you in your eyes while he shoves them into his pocket.

“Bucky-”

“You’ll get them back later.” He presses his lips to yours hotly. “I promise.”

[hongism]

reciprocated - j.wy (ft. c.san) 18+

↦ pairing: san x fem!reader x wooyoung ↦ genre: pwp, smut, 18+, non idol au, friends with benefits au ↦ wc: 4.0k ↦ pt 2 to belated | ↦ warnings: explicit smut, unprotected sex, oral sex: f and m, voyeurism, exhibitionism, cum eating, masturbation, creampie

​​​​​

When you and San sent Wooyoung the less than appropriate for viewing video, you had half-expected an immediate response of an extended keyboard smash or just a series of emojis conveying his both panic and excitement to be receiving such a thing. What you got in reality was radio silence on his part, and that seems to have caught San off-guard as well because he can’t seem to figure out why Wooyoung wouldn’t respond. Granted, it’s only been around a week since you sent the damn thing, but Wooyoung is notorious for responding within a fraction of a second, so the mystery becomes why hasn’t Wooyoung responded or reacted. He texts you and San regularly, either through the group chat you have with the two men or just one on one, but he does not under any circumstances mention the email attachment you sent from San’s computer. Even when San directly asked him over text if he received his birthday gift, Wooyoung just neglected to respond entirely.

San could not be more unbothered by the fact that Wooyoung won’t respond. You on the other hand can’t help but feel like he has seen the video and was so disgusted and grossed out by it that he’s just counting down the days to end your friendship. It’s a constant and bubbling anxiety in your gut, and it’s one that heightens when Friday evening rolls around and Wooyoung comes by your apartment with San to watch a movie.

The latter arrives before Wooyoung does, pushing into the apartment like he owns in and immediately making himself comfortable beside you on the couch. Your nervous exterior must be evident to him because his cheerful attitude morphs into one of concern the second he sits down.

“What’s that expression for?”

“Do you think he’s… I don’t know, weirded out?”

“By the video?” You nod hastily, and San twists to look at the ceiling. “No way. He’s probably too shy to say anything. Full guarantee he’s been using it as jerk off material every day this week.”

“Are you sure? Wouldn’t he have said something by now? I think it’s—”

“I think you’re overthinking,” San states. An idle hand comes to rest on your thigh, skin bared by the shorts you’re wearing, and he mindlessly traces faint patterns there. “I have an idea. One that I’ll only do if you’re okay with it.”

“What are you planning?” You narrow your gaze on San. The words are a bit suspicious, but San has never given you a reason not to trust him before, and you’re certain he wouldn’t do anything without your explicit permission and comfort.

“He’s too shy to talk about it, no?”

“I don’t know, San. That’s part of my concern,” you huff out in response.

“And I know him better than you do. Trust me when I say that he is merely too shy to say anything about the video.”

“So, the plan is…?”

“Threesome?”

“San!” The man all but cackles at your startled reaction and retracts his hand from your leg to clutch at his chest.

“I’m being completely serious.”

“You can’t be.” San deadpans, eyes searching yours with razor-sharp focus. “San.”

“Do you want to see how he really feels about it?”

“Of course I do but… I’m – I, well, I’m just shy about it!”

“And do you trust me to guide you through it and stop when you want to stop?” San leans towards you, and you find yourself moving with him, breaths intermingling as you get closer to each other.

“Yes, I always do, San.” He laughs under his breath once before letting his forehead fall against yours.

“And how do you feel about sex with Wooyoung?”

“I’m… I would like that a lot, I think. You aren’t gonna get jealous if Wooyoung fucks me, are you?”

“I can’t promise not to, but at the end of the day, I know—”

The thought is cut short thanks to the door popping open once more, and this time when you look up at it, it’s Wooyoung who steps through with his head tucked to his chest. You sink your teeth into your lower lip without thinking, letting San nudge you further down to the middle of the couch so he can better settle against your body. Wooyoung doesn’t even look up as he comes closer, phone in hand and screen flashing a bright light that keeps him preoccupied. That does absolutely nothing to ease your worries though, and his obvious avoidance of you and San’s forms causes an extra surge of panic to rush through you. San again detects your nerves and darts a hand out to clasp around your thigh just at the top of your knee, fingers massaging the bare skin there gently while Wooyoung positions himself on the other end of the couch. He doesn’t put a ton of distance between the two of you, which is a small reassurance, but he still won’t look up at you.

“Hey, Woo, did you–oof!” You send an elbow straight into San’s ribcage before he can finish the question. San squeezes hard at your leg and sends you a sharp and pointed glare. You return it with one of equal heat to no avail because San continues speaking, hand keeping you firmly in place. “Did you get my gift? For your birthday?”

Choi San is far too bold for your liking, you’ve decided that much.

“B-Birthday?” Wooyoung stutters. He glances up from his phone with cheeks flushed a pretty pink, and his gaze flicks between you and San for a few seconds. The silence drags. You can hardly breathe thanks to the lump in your throat. Wooyoung stares. San waits. And you are ready to burst. Then —

“For fuck’s sake, Wooyoung, do we need to reenact it on the couch for you?”

And in that moment, you truly do think you have died because there is no way in a million years that San really just said those words out loud. You jerk to bury your face against his shoulder – not helping your case since Wooyoung has most definitely seen the video and is most definitely thinking about the things you and San were doing in said video and any act of intimacy or closeness between the two of you is a dumpster fire just waiting to happen.

“No! No, no, no, no, no,” Wooyoung rambles so quickly that the words sound foreign against your ears. “You don’t – I wouldn’t – that’s too much to ask, I would never—”

“Well, you were obviously thinking about it!” San argues, not missing a beat in his remarks, and you really want nothing more than to completely disappear from existence entirely. “That boner isn’t exactly discreet!”

Whatever sound leaves your lips is nothing short of inhumane, most likely something close to a pig squealing, and San secures an arm around your waist when you throw yourself further against him. He releases a loud laugh that rings in your ear, squeezing you as tight as he can without hurting you.

“I’m sure we can work something out. You heard the way Y/N was screaming your name, didn’t you?” You’re thankful that Wooyoung can’t see your face because you are positive that your wide eyes make you look like a deer caught in headlights and he might take that as a sign of hesitance, when in reality you are already imagining Wooyoung fucking you raw while you’re bent over San’s lap. Instead, San stands up from the couch, keeping his hands on yours while he moves, and you blink up at him with the same wide eyes.

“I – I didn’t w-want to assume that she – I thought it was just… just because you were – yeah,” Wooyoung stammers. His voice grows more quiet with each passing word, and you can envision the way his chin drops to his chest as it normally does when he’s flustered.

“Didn’t want to assume that she wanted you just as badly as you want her?” San inquires, head tilting to the side as he asks the question. “Was the sight of her begging for your cock while my cum was dripping off her face not enough for you?” You need to make a mental note to beat the shit out of him after this, but you also don’t want to admit that the burning humiliation is actually causing your gut to twist with arousal. Your thighs press tightly together against the couch – a movement that doesn’t escape San’s notice. “She’s practically drooling from the thought already. Shouldn’t you give her something to do with that mouth?”

The words have their intended effect on you; they’re words San has spoken to you in less than appropriate situations time and time again, but now they seem even more filthy because Wooyoung is right there. Your lower lip trembles as a whimper slips out, and you hear Wooyoung inhale a sharp and painful breath of air.

“I won’t interrupt, don’t worry,” San murmurs, letting a finger trace over your chin. “I’ll just keep her fully occupied, yeah? How does that sound, sweetheart?”

“G-Good,” you hastily answer through a gasp.

“Mhm, then you can be good and sit still for him while I eat you out?”

“S-San.” The single word is spoken breathlessly, and you’re shocked that it even comes out with sound, to be honest. San just smirks in response, watching and waiting for you to indicate that you don’t want to do this. So when you provide a small nod of confirmation, he nudges you off the couch and onto the floor. Your knees hit the carpet painfully, but you take it in stride as best you can and move to a more comfortable position. Wooyoung remains in a state of shock, not budging one bit from his spot on the farthest cushion, and San has to lean over your kneeling form to catch hold of Wooyoung’s collar and yank him forward.

“Are you gonna make her do all the work?” He hums, pressing into Wooyoung’s personal space so much so that Wooyoung has to lean away from him.

“N-No, I’m – I’m just still a bit shocked.” He isn’t too shocked to finally sit on the center cushion and press his legs around your body, feet planted firmly on either side of your thighs. Now you can clearly see the growing erection tucked behind his jeans along with the hazy flush on his cheeks and neck that looks oh so pretty from this angle.

San moves away from the couch no doubt to make room for himself between your folds. It leaves you with the task of helping Wooyoung out of his pants, but without San’s endless confidence, you both fumble awkwardly around each other for too long before bonking heads when Wooyoung tries to tug his pants down for you. Ironically enough, the contact is all you needed to dispel the awkward energy between you two, and you share in a small laugh with hands still fumbling over each other.

“Do you… is he right?” Wooyoung asks once your hands hook around his underwear. You hesitate there, blinking up at the man in wonder for a few moments.

“Yeah, he – um, he didn’t really need to convince me to do the video,” you mumble back before embarrassment gets the better of you. “I was just worried that you wouldn’t see me like that.”

“Oh no, I definitely do! Not to, uh, sound too enthusiastic but yeah. I do.” You can only manage a tight-lipped grin in Wooyoung’s direction before taking hold of his underwear and yanking it down past his knees. A startled groan leaves him as cold air touches his stiff member, cock springing out to slap against the fabric of his shirt. The shirt doesn’t remain on for long as it is though, seeing as Wooyoung leans back and strips himself of the material without second thought. San makes a timely appearance behind you in that moment, hands running up your sides to tug your shirt off as he settles on the floor. You let him move your body into whatever position he wants while you keep your gaze firmly set on Wooyoung.

Wooyoung doesn’t maintain eye contact, however; he keeps his gaze firmly set on your body, trailing over the mounds of your breasts and the freshly exposed skin that’s left there now. His tongue pokes out to dart over his lips, and the hunger of lust gives him a newfound sense of confidence that has him leaning towards you. You sit up to meet him halfway — lips smash together in a clash of saliva and tongue, teeth clattering as they bump together. San works on pulling your pants away as well, leaving you full bare before both men, but he doesn’t give you time to be embarrassed or shy about the lack of clothes. He weasels his way between your legs and comes face to face with your now exposed cunt. A few strands of arousal are already present there just from the sight of Wooyoung’s hardened cock, which San laps up like a starved man.

The tiniest kitten lick has you whimpering, San’s hands latching around your hips and pulling you down to his chin. You brace yourself on Wooyoung’s muscled thighs. The skin is soft under your fingers, but the harsh touch has his muscles trembling and tensing under you. You dip closer to his crotch, eyes not leaving his for a second. He can only groan under his breath as you drag the flat of your tongue up his length. His cock is heavy against your tongue, a bit of saltiness lingering there thanks to the precum leaking from his tip, but you take it in stride and gulp the taste down as best you can. With a startled gasp, Wooyoung twitches in your mouth, and his hips buck up off the couch to thrust further into your wet heat.

“S-Shit,” Wooyoung mutters. He tries to still his hips to no avail because the more you move your tongue along his dick, the more he struggles to keep from jerking and writhing under your touch.

“She’s good, isn’t she?” San hums from between your legs. “Such a good little cock slut.” The words carry over your clit, sending rapid vibrations through you, and now it’s your turn to thrash from pleasure. You moan around Wooyoung’s length and squeeze his base a little tighter. Even though the ministrations from San are nothing short of amazing, you refuse to be outdone, especially when this is about Wooyoung and not you. Thus you choke back your moans and drop your mouth lower on Wooyoung’s dick, hollowing your cheeks as you bob along him.

He’s not exactly the largest – in girth or in length – but he’s most definitely a bit longer than San, as well as a tad slimmer. His cock has a slight curve to it, one that causes him to hit the back of your throat sooner than you expect, and it’s a struggle not to gag around him. Your throat does constrict a bit, but that only draws a moan from Wooyoung’s lips. He reaches up to cover the sound, clasping his fingers hard around his mouth, and you resist the urge to giggle at his flushed cheeks and embarrassment. Instead, you pull the flat of your tongue over him and explore the underside of his cock like that. You spend an ample amount of time just tracing each ridge and vein on him before pulling up to suck gently at his head. Wooyoung is especially sensitive there; he jerks and writhes the instant you start paying attention to the skin there, thighs quaking from the stimulation.

“A-Ah, wait, w-wait, I — fuck!” Wooyoung doesn’t get to finish his thought, and he reaches down to close his hand over yours, squeezing hard at the base of his cock until his member is flushed a deep red. The action catches you off-guard at first, but he doesn’t let you stay confused for long before he explains his reasoning. “D-Don’t wanna cum yet.”

“You won’t last long in me like this,” you counter through a smirk. Wooyoung’s cheeks bear a thin sheen of sweat now, which only enhances the blush across them.

“I c-can’t get it back up that quickly. If I’m gonna cum, then I want it to be in you.”

“Gosh, you’re such a smooth-talker,” you tease as you push your legs into a standing position. San doesn’t question it, merely slipping out from under you to move to another part of the room. You don’t bother to look back at him; Wooyoung holds all of your attention in the palm of his hand now. Confident hands fall onto Wooyoung’s shoulders, and you lower yourself onto his lap. A coy smirk plays at your lips, one that Wooyoung watches with rapt focus as you press his leaking erection flat against his stomach between your sweaty and naked bodies. “Makes me want you to fuck me, Wooyoungie.” You can’t keep from pushing your lips into a slight pout, hand snaking down to take hold of Wooyoung’s member again, and you jerk him with languid and deliberate strokes.

“Fu-uck, is she – is she always like this?”

“More often than not,” San chuckles from his new position off to the side, legs spread wide as he runs a hand over his own erection. “Just wait until you actually get your cock in her. Didn’t she sound so desperate and needy in the video?”

Wooyoung’s hands find your hips and grip the skin there so tightly that you can feel it bruising under his touch, but the slight sparks of pain it leaves you with are nothing short of delightful. It’s enough to cause you to let out a small whimper and clench your hand down hard on Wooyoung’s cock. That is all the incentive he needs to pull you up over his member. You guide him to your entrance without hesitation, moving as he does to meet his lips in a messy kiss. He pushes into you a bit then and exhales a small groan into your mouth that you eat up without hesitation.

“More,” you mumble against him and shove his hands out of the way. You push your hips body down as far as you can, taking his cock all the way into your tight heat. Wooyoung breaks the kiss to let out a choked gasp. He throws his head back, exposing the pretty tanned column of his neck, and you dive in without thought. Your teeth drag over the skin there with the intention to nip and bite at it, but Wooyoung runs a hair through your hair, gripping the base of your neck tight to tug you back and look you in the eye.

“Tell me how you want me to fuck you,” he all but growls, eliciting a sharp wave of arousal in your gut.

“Hard and fast like you fucking mean it,” you hiss. You grip his chin hard in your hand and pinch his cheeks together to plant a sloppy kiss on his lips.

Wooyoung takes your words in stride, securing your legs around him quickly before flipping you onto your back. A huff of air passes through your lips from the impact of hitting the couch cushions so hard, but Wooyoung doesn’t even give you a chance to catch your breath before he is pistoning his cock in and out of your cunt without any semblance of restraint or rhythm.

“Holy s-shit,” you exhale, biting back a moan just before it falls out. All you can do is secure your hands on the cushions beneath you as Wooyoung fucks you in a fit of passion and intensity. San must be enjoying the sight of you two based on the groans that slip out of his mouth, loud noises that accentuate your own and the lewd sounds coming from between your bodies. “Fuck me so good, Wooyoung, god, you feel so good in me. Want you to cum in me too, baby. Fill me up nicely, y-yeah?” It’s a miracle that you get any words out, let alone that many without endless stutters and gasps, but the effort it takes is more than worth it when you see the look in Wooyoung’s eyes. He doesn’t respond verbally; although he doesn’t particularly need to because his dick does all the talking for him in the way he fucks you deeper than before, searching for that treasured sweet spot of yours. It only takes a few thrusts for him to find it, and when he brushes over the sensitive area, you can’t contain your noises any longer.

You fling out a desperate hand in San’s direction, searching for some sort of contact from the man, but Wooyoung snatches up the limb instead. He tangles his fingers with yours as he fucks you, and it provides a delightful amount of intimacy that you were craving even when he pins that same hand behind your head to thrust into your tight walls at a different angle.

“You gonna cum, Y/N?” Wooyoung growls against the shell of your ear. He catches your lobe between his teeth, nipping at the skin in a way that has your back arching off the couch and into his body. It nearly tips you over the edge, but you hold on a little bit longer with sheer willpower to cum alongside him. “You’re so tight I can barely move.”

“Wooyoung,” you whine, writhing a bit under him as his thrusts slow down a bit. He shuts you up then and there with his lips and kisses you until you’re positively breathless.

“Cum for me, angel.” His gaze flits up to where San is sitting with cock in hand, eyes glinting dangerously for a moment. His lips touch the shell of your ear and fill it with soft pants that have you shivering. “And call out Sannie’s name for him since he’s being so good over there all on his own.”

It only takes one glance over to where San is perched for you to cum, the mere sight of him jerking his length with sweat on his brow and eyes firmly fixated on your body, and a hasty cry of his name tumbles from your lips. It must be enough to send him over the edge too because you hear him call out your name a moment later, then Wooyoung joins the two of you in sweet ecstasy, hips stuttering in their rhythm as warm cum fills your cunt. You’re so spent you can barely move or think straight in the blessed aftermath of your orgasm, but Wooyoung gets up rather quickly. He climbs off your body and steps over to where San is seated still. In the blink of an eye, he drops to his knees in front of the man – his best friend at that – and his mouth is on San’s softening cock, lapping up the evidence of his orgasm and the cum that splattered over his stomach. A giggle leaves Wooyoung’s lips as he pulls up again and swipes a finger over his mouth to collect any excess cum.

“That was fun,” he says with a smile. A straight row of glistening teeth sink into his lower lip. “And something we should do again sometime.”

“I doubt you’ll have to do much to convince us,” San mutters, eyes darting over to find yours. “Right, Y/N?”

“Sign me up.”

..

a/n: im sorry this took so lONG oidjfosij this was really hard to write for some reason so i hope it’s still good but yeet yes hello ;-;

[harrywritingsbyme]

Calm

Based Off Of This Ask

And This One

This One Too

A/N: I’m not gonna lie…I had no idea what I was going to write for tonight😭. So I went “dumpster diving” in my want to write folder and old drafts and I found these concepts from a tiny while ago that I absolutely loved. So I did a hot lil something something with them...I hope it doesn't suck and you guys like it! Enjoy🙃

Jealousy, something that you and Harry we’re very familiar with. But mainly Harry though. See, despite the fact that he’d been with you for years at this point and had been married to you for a little over two years, Harry still got jealous. In fact, Harry was even more jealous now than before he slid the sparkling ring onto your coveted left ring finger. Just the thought of anyone coming less than five feet of you with an obviously flirtatious disposition made his flags go up and his jealousy levels spike. And to be completely honest, it was all because Harry was selfish. He wanted you all to himself, and anyone who even attempted to come in between you two went on his radar and he’d go on the defense. Now even though in most situations his jealousy was unwarranted and too much for the situation at hand, you did still enjoy it a bit. You loved when Harry was possessive over you and made it known to others that you were his. It was a really nice mix of soft and sweet along with hot and sexy. 

And judging by what was going on between you and Harry right now, it was guaranteed that you and Harry were going to be enjoying a heavy dose of that sweet and spicy jealousy. The two of you were enjoying your night out at a mutual friends birthday party, and you both were having a really good time mixing and mingling while managing to stay joined at the hip for the majority of your time there. But as you continued to glide through the party with Harry, you were contently sipping on your drink which led you to quickly empty your glass and be in need of a refill. Once you unwrap yourself from Harry, let him know that you’re going to get another drink, and inquire about whether or not he wants his drink refreshed, you weave yourself through the cluster of people and over to the bar where you place your order. And in this small window of time between leaving him and placing your order, you manage to walk right into the number one situation that would cause Harry to become jealous. Talking to an attractive guy that he didn’t know at the bar. 

Now even though the sparkler on your left hand was supposed to stop any flirtatious advances towards you, it didn’t. Despite clearly being married, you were still approached by males and females who wanted to “break off a piece” in the words of Harry. And to make matters worse, you went above and beyond to make yourself up. You spent a good amount of time getting yourself together for your night out with Harry. You looked so good that you two were extremely close to not even making it out the front door. So if Harry was looking and practically drooling at the thought and/or sight of you, there was so doubt in his mind that others were looking too. And he didn’t like that one bit. So once he saw you chatting it up with a guy who’s identity was unknown to him and who was pretty obviously checking you out and flirting, Harry’s disposition immediately went from calm cool, and collected, to calm collected, and defensive. The only thing that stopped him from swiftly coming over and injecting himself into the seemingly “harmless” exchange was a friend of his that stopped him right in his tracks. And if it wasn’t for that friend, Harry would’ve marched over to where you were, pulled you away from the man who from his vantage point was up to no good, then give it to you real good as he constantly reminded you that you were his and only his. That’s what could’ve happened. But instead of all that, Harry’s jealous fire was momentarily tempered to just a sizzle. Being at just a sizzle meant that he could do the unexpected right now. 

Being at just a sizzle allowed him to politely, but not so politely pull you out of the conversation and pull you both out of the party. From the outside, everything seemed oddly fine. He didn’t have a prominent scowl on his face as he drove you both home and he didn’t have an intense grip in your thigh. He simply had a hand on the steering wheel and the other loosely planted on your thigh. Seeing him so calm was very interesting to say the least. When you saw him in your peripherals at the party, you were kind of expecting and looking forward to having a hot jealousy filled quickie in the bathroom. You were expecting and hoping for him to fuck you like he hates you but because he loves you. But no, you got a calm cool and collected Harry who simply escorted you both out of there. The only thought you two had in common during the entire ordeal and the entire ride home was that you were going to get it upon arrival.

Now you were on the money about getting it at home, you were just off at the timing. You were thinking right against the door or in the living room since he’s had time for these jealous thoughts to fester as he drove. And he did let his thoughts fester in his mind and bring back the fiery feeling inside of him. Harry was definitely, if not more jealous and possessive once you two made it back home. He was more than ready to rip your clothes off and go to town on you as he made sure that you remembered who you belonged to. But yet again, he didn’t jump right in the way you expected. He simply walked you both into the house and right upstairs to get ready for bed.

At this point, you were on edge. When was he finally going to do something?! You knew he was hard and you knew that he was jealous. This was the perfect combination for a round or many of hot and rough sex. But in this situation, he simply went about getting ready for bed and helping you get undressed as well. You were buzzing with anticipation and you were constantly thinking of the many possible segways into what was bound to happen. You were all types of confused, excited, at the prospect of finally getting what you wanted. And your dream finally came true once you and Harry quietly went through you guys’ entire nighttime routine and were in bed. Even though you weren’t necessarily trying to end up in a situation where Harry was jealous and desperate to establish in your mind that you were his, you weren’t mad at it by any means.

“You know I love you, right darling?” Harry asks randomly, propping himself up onto his elbow to peer down at you.

“Mhm.” You hum up to him in response, making sure to send him a soft and reassuring smile in the process.

“Good.” He simply replies, bringing his free hand down to the side of your face. “Because I’m gonna fuck you like I don’t.” He continues, bringing the hand down to wrap around your throat and tightening it right as he mutters the last word. Harry was hard and Harry was jealous; it was game on for him. He wasn’t going to hold back; and to be completely honest, you weren’t expecting him to. As soon as his hand tightened around your throat, a shock went to your core and you were ready to take every last thing he gave you until you were just a pile of numbness.  “I swear to you. I won’t stop until your legs are shaking and the neighbors know my name.” He growls, bringing his face down closer to yours and keeping his hand on your throat as he moves on top of you and pushes up the bottom of his t-shirt to uncover your lower half. He then gives your throat one more tight squeeze, making sure that he was pushing your head down into the pillows before releasing you. While you’re panting to catch your breath, Harry is snatching any and every (even though it was only two things) piece of clothing off of your body. After getting you fully undressed, Harry is quick to push you over and tug his own t-shirt and boxers off as well. Now that he’s fully naked as well, Harry doesn’t waste a single second to wrap his hand around and tug at his cock. He was finally free of the confines of his pants and he was finally going to be inside of you after a long night. 

As he tugs at his cock, you can feel his other hand come between your legs and begin to move up and down your folds. You felt him push his two fingers up and down your slick folds and nudge at your entrance while he grunted and relieved himself a bit behind you. As he did this you tightened your arms around the pillows beneath your head and you soaked up any form of touch from him. Knowing Harry, even though he’s mad and ready to just pound you into oblivion, he’d build up to it and just leave you both hanging in the name of making you suffer. So you were definitely praying that he’d do more and not stop all together. He did say that he wasn’t going to stop until you were shaking and the neighbors knew his name after all.

After a couple more tugs to his cock and rubs to your soaking cunt, Harry finally pushes further to the place that you both are looking forward to. Keeping his hand around his cock, he lifts himself up from his kneeling position between your legs and into the position of hovering over your body with his other hand that was once between your legs planted on the bed for support. Then without warning, Harry begins to sheath his cock between your walls. Even though he was supposed to be Mr. Tough Guy and in charge right now, he couldn’t stop himself from letting out a little whimper. Your walls just felt so good around his cock. Like so good. And he wasn’t the only one whimpering. You too were a mess at the feeling of his cock stretching your walls to accommodate your size and twitching while it’s moving deeper and deeper into you. He was so big that the thick veins on his shaft were pushing into your spongy walls, causing you to feel them glide against you as he pushed into you. Now as he slowly fills you with his cock, Harry also begins to slowly lower himself down onto you until he’s fully on top of you body. You were sandwiched between his body and the mattress, your legs were pinned down by his, and his mouth was in your neck right by your ear. He was ultimately setting you up to be a mess around him. 

“Now you’re gonna be a good girl and take it right?” He asks, keeping his mouth right on you as he spoke.

“Mhm.” You whimper shakily, waiting for him to finally start and give you what you’ve been anticipating.

“Words!” He snarls, lifting his hips to send a sharp and unexpected thrust into you.

“Yes!” You gasp, feeling his cock slam right up into your sweet spot.

“Good girl.” Harry hums delightedly before continuing his thrusts. He consistently lifts his hips up, slightly pulling his cock from you just to slam back down into you sending his cock into the deepest parts of you. As he does this, you’re full on whining into the pillows. The way he was relentlessly fucking down into you as he grunted into your ear about how you were his and that he was the only one who would ever do this to you. It was absolutely amazing.

After pinning you down and fucking you right into the mattress, Harry was ready to switch it up. He wanted to see your face as you took every inch of his cock. He wanted to watch you fall apart as he imprinted his cock into your delectable walls. So to make a long story short, Harry is quick to lift himself up from your back and flip you back into your original position in front of him. When he does this, you’re still clutching onto the pillow that was once beneath your head as you anxiously wait for him to slam back into you. Before he does though, Harry latches onto the pillow and tugs it out of your tight yet weak grip and tosses it onto the bed behind him with a cynical smirk plastered across his face. He then brings his large, and still ringed hand around your throat before lining his cock back up with your entrance and pushing back into you. Again, he goes straight into thrusting down into you. As he did, your hands frantically searched for something to grab onto as you took the deliciously hard thrusts. From this angle, you could feel him really hitting those spots inside of you and you could feel his balls slapping against you.

Harry on cloud nine right now to say the least. You felt so good around him, clenching and shaking as you took his cock. And you looked so pretty with your glossed over eyes and as you choked on your moans. 

“Now m’gonna let go and I wanna hear you use that little voice of yours. Understand?” Harry pants above you, continuing to shove his cock deep into you. With the pitiful look still spread across your face, you feverishly nod your head yes. “And if you scream loud enough, I might let you cum.” He offers, loosening his tight grip on your throat. And once he does this, you’re screaming. You’re going on and on about how good he feels and how you can feel his cock all the way in the pit of your stomach.

“Please Harry!” You loudly cry out to him, feeling your body become warmer and number with every thrust. 

“Wanna cum?” Harry grunts, beginning to slow his thrusts down to more staggered and sharp ones since his own release was fast approaching.

“Need to.” You whimper, feeling your strength to hold back dwindling by the second. But luckily for you, Harry manages to send three final thrusts into you that send you both right over into your releases. The both of you can feel each other contracting and convulsing with every spurt of your orgasms.

 The both of you were beyond and completely out of it by the end of your earth shattering releases. And despite all of the numbness and soreness that was coming your way, every last second was worth it.

Masterlist

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

I Got You (Part 1)

Summary: The reader is celebrating her two year anniversary with her fiance when her best friend from childhood, Jensen, calls. Something’s wrong with him and he tries to play it off once he remembers what night it is for her but the reader isn’t budging and that may be a good thing for the both of them...

Pairing: Jensen x reader

Word Count: 4,000ish

Warnings: language, angst, vomiting, lying, mention of alcoholism, fluff

A/N: This is a little different for me but I’m really please with how it turned out. Enjoy!

_______

“This looks delicious, babe,” said Andrew as he sat down at the table. You hummed, a little annoyed that he hadn’t let you know he’d be home two hours late. On your anniversary. Your two year anniversary. You wouldn’t mind if he ever let you know but he never, never did and always got mad when you brought it up. You poked at the food and he took a bite, making a face. “It’s a little cold.”

“Well that’s what happens when you reheat it in the microwave,” you said. He bit his tongue and continued to eat quietly, a bit of tension still in the air.

“How was your day?” he asked when he was nearly done with his food.

“Fine. Yours?” you asked, picking at your salad and ignoring the chicken.

“Good. I’m sorry I was late, babe. Why don’t we go out to eat?” he asked.

“It’s our anniversary. I wanted to make you dinner,” you said.

“I ate it,” he said. “You seem hungry still.”

“I’m fine. I just want to watch a movie or something,” you said. He didn’t say anything as he ducked into the bedroom and changed out of his suit and into some sweats and a hoodie. You cleaned up the dishes and went to the bedroom. You grabbed leggings and an old big t-shirt of Jensen’s you’d stolen from his place somewhere around season 10 if you had to guess by the number just under the back collar. You padded into the bathroom and changed out of your skinny jeans and crop top. You took off the new black lingerie you had on and put on something more comfortable. Andrew wouldn’t even notice.

You walked out of the bedroom and found him on the couch, watching some action movie. You sat down in his side and saw your phone light up at the end of the couch. A glance showed it was Jensen and that you had four missed calls from him.

“Did you put my phone on silent?” you asked, reaching over for it.

“It is our anniversary,” he said.

“Yeah and I’m also one of Jensen’s emergency contacts,” you said, rolling your eyes and quickly answering. “Jay?”

“Hey, Y/N,” he said. Something was wrong. His voice was off and it took him a minute to talk again. “Can you come over? I just found out something and I could use you right now.”

“I thought you were in Toronto this week to film for The Boys,” you said.

“I was. Flew down to Dallas for my brother’s birthday earlier. More free time and all, trying to see the family more,” he said.

“What’s he want?” sighed Andrew. You ignored him and heard Jensen take a shaky breath.

“Did someone die?” you asked quietly.

“No,” he said. “No. I found out something though and...I just grabbed a rental car and drove home the past few hours. I had to get out of there.”

“Are you alright?” you asked, already hating the pit forming in your stomach. You’d known him most of your life. You didn’t remember life without him to be honest. Sure, he was away a lot when he filmed but he was back more often now that he was doing shorter gigs and you’d always been there for each other, even during the really busy years. “Buddy.”

“No, I don’t think I’m okay,” he said. He was quiet before you heard him suck in a gasp. “Fuck. It’s your anniversary. Shit, I’m sorry, Y/N. God, like Andrew doesn’t hate me enough already. I’m so sorry. Please enjoy your night, I’ll be fine.”

“You’re my best friend and you are so not alright,” you said. “I’m gonna come over.”

“It’s our anniversary!” said Andrew as you turned to glare at him.

“Y/N, don’t. I’m-” said Jensen as you got up.

“Where the fuck are you going?” said Andrew.

“Jensen is important to me, Andrew. He’s always gonna be important to me. I know you don’t like him but he needs me right now. You don’t even care. You didn’t care about dinner or the anniversary or putting in a little bit of effort. I used to really like you too, you know. When we got engaged though, I saw what you really wanted. Well guess what. I’m not your mother. I’m not your maid and I faked it every time,” you said.

“You’re mad at me? He’s the one ruining our anniversary!” said Andrew.

“Y/N, I’m gonna go. I’m sorry,” said Jensen before you heard him hang up. You groaned and went over to the front hall to grab your jacket. You shoved your phone in your pocket as Andrew stalked over.

“Gonna go sleep with your other boyfriend, hm?”

“Something bad happened to him and frankly, the day I introduced you to him was the day you started all this. You have hated my relationship with him from the start. He has tried so hard to be your friend and you’re always mean and you leave him out. Even your friends think it’s a dick move.”

“You want your best friend or me? Cause I don’t like him and I’m never going to,” he said. 

“I hope you treat the next girl better,” you said. You took off your ring and slammed it on the front table before grabbing your keys and tugging on your boots.

“Whore,” he mumbled.

“I’d rather be his whore than your wife any day. I’ll move my stuff out tomorrow,” you said. You slammed the door shut after yourself and took a deep breath. You weren’t as upset as you thought you’d be. You’d been considering taking a break with him for the past few months but there was no going back after that. Jensen had never been anything but kind to him and always respectful of your and Andrew’s time together.

You skipped down the stairs of the apartment building and down to the garage, rushing over to your car quickly. Something was still very wrong with Jensen and you needed to get to him asap.

“Jensen,” you said twenty minutes later, finding him outside on the balcony off his bedroom, sitting in a chair with his knees tucked to his chest. There was a half full large bottle of whiskey on the ground and the plastic wrapper from where he’d opened it. His back was to you and he turned his head away as you stepped outside. “Jay, what happened.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said. You put a hand on his forehead and forced him to look at you. He was drunk. He didn’t start drinking until he’d hung up with you obviously. He was upset too and it was so rare of you to see him cry. 

“Come on,” you said, grabbing his arm. He let you tug him up and into his bathroom. You flipped on the light in the toilet and sat him down in front of it. “Did you eat dinner? Yes or no?”

“No,” he mumbled, shaking his head.

“Did you eat on the plane? At the airport?”

He shook his head again and you sighed.

“You just did about, I don’t know, seven, eight shots on an empty stomach. You’re not a kid anymore so if Taylor Gregson’s senior party is anything to go by, I expect you to start puking in the next three minutes.”

“Go away,” he said, wiping off his face.

“Yeah, see no, not happening. I’m also staying here tonight whether you want me to or not. Now sit, throw up in the toilet please, and I will make you something bland to eat and get you some not snot covered clothes, okay?”

“Why are you so nice to me?” he asked. He stared up at you and you instantly knelt down, giving him a hug as he hiccuped. 

“Cause you’re my best friend and I love you,” you said. “Jensen. What happened?”

“Don’t wanna…” he said, shaking his head.

“Did someone die?” you asked.

“No,” he said again. 

“What did you find out? Something with your brother? You said you were at his birthday party.”

“Later please,” he said quietly.

“Okay,” you said. You rubbed up and down his back and you felt him lurch a bit before you shut your eyes and felt wetness on your back. “Did you just throw up on me?”

“Yeah. Sorry,” he said.

“Really is like Taylor Gregson’s party all over again,” you said. “You stay here and I’m gonna take a shower.”

“I got it in your hair I think,” he said. He lurched again but you turned him towards the bowl and he was successful that time. “Ow.”

“Relax,” you said, running a clean hand through his hair for a beat. His body untensed a little but he was still upset and making a mess of himself. “Five minutes and then the shower is yours.”

You took about ten to deal with your hair and you ducked next door to his closet, finding some fresh clothes for the two of you. He managed to not get any sick on himself so after wiping his face off good and getting him to brush his teeth, he looked a little better. You found some pancake mix in the cupboard and started to work on that while he changed. He eventually came out, red eyed and sniffling a bit but he looked sober at least.

“Andrew’s gonna kill me for ruining his night,” he said.

“Andrew and I are over,” you said, waiting for the pan to heat up. Jensen stared as you shook up the jug. “He has always been an ass to you.”

“Y/N. I’m just...he’s your fiance. You’re supposed to prioritize him.”

“He’s supposed to respect people I care about. He is immature and arrogant and mean and he sucks so bad in bed. God, I’ve been dying to tell you how shitty ass of a fuck he is. The most damn selfish little prick I’ve ever met in my life and-”

“Y/N,” said Jensen. You took a deep breath and poured some batter on the pan. “You didn’t breakup cause of me, did you?”

“No. You were just the last straw. You didn’t call cause you wanted a ride or to talk about something that could be done later. You need me. I don’t care if it’s two in the morning, Christmas, my wedding day. You ever call me like that, you ever make me worry like this, I’ll be there in a fucking second,” you said. He lowered his head as you got a plate out for his dinner.

“I’m sorry for scaring you,” he said.

“If you thought I was busy, why didn’t you call Jared? He lives three minutes away. Three,” you said. He shrugged and you sighed. “I never want to see you doing something like that ever again. I never want you to-”

“I’m not a child,” he shot back, suddenly shooting daggers at you, his face hard and green eyes a too dark shade.

“My father is an alcoholic. You want to call him up? We’ll call him up right fucking now and he’ll tell you how it nearly destroyed his life. He is twenty years sober and he can’t have a drink for the rest of his life because he used it when he was in pain. You will never, Ackles, and I mean never, drink to mask pain again in your life,” you said. The pancake was burning and you broke away your glare, dumping the burnt batter into the trash. When you walked back, Jensen was crying at the counter again and you shut your eyes. “I’m sorry for yelling at you. I just...you know how my mom used to have me sleepover your house in the middle of a school week cause he was drunk and she didn’t want me to see it. You know how much it used to bother me. Little shrimpy ass Jensen, you would always tell me to sleep in your bed and you took the sleeping bag. I let you take care of me my whole life. You’re bigger than me, stronger than me. You will never worry about money again. You gave me rent money when I got laid off and refused to let me pay it back. You drove me home when I got drunk at a bar after a fight with Andrew. You stood up for me in seventh grade cause I liked science and Harrison Pitt was a dick to me back then. This is not me treating you like a child, Jensen. This is me helping my best friend because he’s in pain and I can’t stop it. All I can do is make him damn pancakes.”

“Can I have maple syrup?” he asked quietly after a few minutes. 

“Of course. I’ll get butter too,” you said. You cut up a few pieces and gave them along with the syrup to him. You made up more pancakes to reheat for breakfast, Jensen sniffling to himself as he ate. “Feel any better?”

“A little,” he said. “You were always too good for Andrew.”

“I always knew you didn’t like him,” you said. “But you tried. That’s what was important and a concept he apparently couldn’t understand. Good riddance. Oh and I kinda need a place to crash for a bit after my epic walkout.”

“I got plenty of room,” he said. He pushed his plate away when he finished and washed it up in the sink, grabbing the pan as you put away the leftovers.

“Even miserable you have far better manners,” you said with a small smile. He left the pan on the counter to dry and you wrapped your hands around his arm, leading him back to his bedroom and sitting him down. “It’s later. What happened?”

“My whole family’s been lying to me my whole life,” he said. He sat against the headboard and wiped off his nose. “My great aunt, like the super old one, she made a comment and then made a little face like I wasn’t supposed to know something. I mentioned it to my brother and he seemed coy but I knew then it was true. So I confronted my parents and...well it turns out that I’m adopted.”

“You’re what?” you said, scrunching up your face.

“Adopted. When I was an infant. They were never going to tell me,” he said.

“I don’t understand. I mean you kinda look like your dad and even your brother a bit and your sister has your nose.”

“Coincidence,” he said. “I’m a reject baby. I was given up because the couple that had me? They didn’t want me. I looked them up when I got home. Two hot shot lawyers at some big firm in New York. Three kids. Didn’t want this fuck up of one though. I was an accident. A mistake.”

“Jensen,” you said, wrapping your arms around him. “Jensen, you’re not...so many people get adopted. Your family loves you. You’re so much better off with who you wound up with. They adopted you because they loved you. Jensen they-”

“She used to be my mom’s friend. They adopted me because they felt sorry for me. They didn’t love me. They pitied me. They lied to me my whole life. I heard stories about when she was pregnant and the labor and they were all lies. My brother’s always known. My sister is the only one who didn’t. The whole family knew. They knew about the pathetic little baby that no one wanted the whole time,” he said.

“Hey,” you said, climbing into his lap and grabbing his arms. “You are not pathetic. I have met your parents and your family. Some nights when we were little I wanted them to be my parents. I wanted normal parents. You had the ideal family. You have the ideal family.”

“They admitted they were never going to tell me,” he said. “How fucked up is that?”

“They made a mistake in not telling you. You should have known all along,” you said, fixing the stray hairs falling over his forehead. “If I know anything though it is that they love you unconditionally. You gotta forgive them. They wanted you. You are their son and brother. They adopted you because they loved you. It sounds like your mom stopped being friends with this woman. I wonder why that was,” you said. He shut his eyes and rested his head on your chest. You shushed him as he got upset again, kissing the top of his head.

“You’re not hiding any secrets from me are you?” he asked, arms wrapped tightly around your back.

“I’ve been waiting for you to ask me out since I was thirteen years old,” you said. He raised his head up and you smiled. “S’okay. I know I’m not your-”

He kissed you out of nowhere, hand cupping the back of your neck, one long, smooth motion as you felt wetness on your cheeks. He moved back slowly, dropping his hands away, swallowing thickly.

“Sorry,” he said. You smiled and moved closer, wrapping your legs around his waist.

“Nothing to be sorry for,” you said. “Always thought I wasn’t your type.”

“You were. I was too young to understand what it was that I felt. No one’s ever felt like you. And I can’t lose you too so I played it safe. Now...I’d rather get this out of the way so I can feel miserable for the rest of my life.”

“You think our friendship is over?” you asked.

“You were engaged an hour ago and I just kissed you. Of course it’s-”

“You’re ridiculous, Ackles, I swear,” you mumbled against his lips. “Like I said, I will always be there. Now I’d love nothing more than to fulfill every teenage fantasy and adult one if I’m being fair right now. But tonight’s not the night for that. Tonight, let out whatever you’re feeling and tomorrow, we’ll talk to your folks.”

You sat back and smiled, Jensen staring at you with soft wet eyes and you remembered the little boy waiting outside school, trying not to be upset. You lay down next to him and recalled the day you met.

“Hi,” you said, the boy turning away. “Why you crying?”

“I’m not crying,” he said.

“You look like you’re crying,” you said, walking around his other side. You heard a car horn honk and looked ahead to see your dad behind the wheel of the car. You looked around and saw no other other cars there, the boy wiping his face off. “Where’s your mom or dad?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “They said they’d be right here after school.”

“Y/N!” called your dad.

“We’re waiting!” you said back, the boy looking at you.

“For what?” asked your dad.

“What’s your name?” you asked.

“Jensen Ackles,” he said quietly.

“Jensen Ackles’ parents!” you said. Your dad sighed but he just sat back in his seat and turned up the radio. “I’m Y/N Y/L/N.”

“I know. You got the blue backpack. All the other girls got pink ones,” he said.

“I like blue. I like pink too but I like blue more,” you said. “I like the cars on your backpack.”

“Thanks. Do you like cars?”

“Yeah,” you said. You sat down and took off your bag, pulling out a few hot wheels from the bottom of it. “Mom said I could bring them as long as I didn’t lose ‘em. Wanna play while we wait?”

“Okay,” he said, taking a seat next to you.

By the time you and Dean were being called over, the sky was a little dimmer and you saw your dad talking to a couple outside the car.

“I think I gotta go home now,” you said.

“Me too. I see you tomorrow,” he said, holding out the car he’d been playing with.

“You keep it in case you got to wait again. Then you’re not bored. I’ll wait with you though if dad says it’s okay,” you said. “Okay?”

“Okay,” he said. He gave you a hug and you smiled as you returned it. “Do you want to be best friends?”

“Yeah! That’s so cool!” you said. 

“Awesome!” he said. You both packed up and ran over to your parents, your dad chuckling as you waved bye to Jensen.

“Make a new friend on your first day?” he asked.

“That’s Jensen. He’s my best friend forever now,” you said. “That’s how it works. I know. Jensen’s got an older brother and he told him all about it.”

“I see. Well buckle up. I’m sure mom’s wondering where we are,” he said. You climbed in the back and saw his parents give a wave as they drove past. “That was real nice of you to talk to that boy when he was upset like that.”

“I didn’t like him crying, made me feel funny,” you said. “Like my chest had a tummy ache.”

“Oh, you’re going to prom with that boy aren’t you,” he mumbled.

“What’s prom?”

“A very, very long way away. Let’s go home, sweetheart.”

“I remember our first day too,” said Jensen. “I’m always a blabbering mess around you, aren’t I.”

“I think I understand what that tummy ache in my chest was. It’s that same feeling I got when you called earlier. I think we really were too young to understand back then what it was that we were experiencing.”

“You mean how I’ve been in love with you since I was five years old,” he chuckled. “Y/N. I still feel really, and I mean really, really shitty. But thank you for coming over. I need you, more than even I know I think.”

“I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere,” you said. You kissed him and he smiled, closing his eyes. “You want to sleep? You had a long flight and drive, not to mention day.”

“Yeah, I want to crash. I’m exhausted,” he said. You moved to get up but he sat up with you, watching you carefully. He swallowed again and you threw back the covers, climbing underneath them. 

“Not going anywhere,” you said. He got underneath with you and heard him breathe a deep breath, no sniffles in sight for the first time all night. “Jensen.”

“Yeah?” he asked.

“It’ll be okay,” you said. “I promise.”

“I know. Not looking forward to tomorrow is all,” he said.

“Well I’m going with so...can’t be all bad,” you said.

“No. Like you said back then, I stick with you, I’ll be alright,” he said. “Can you get the room light?”

“Sure,” you said. You hopped out of bed and turned off the big light, walking over to his nightstand and finding the switch. You smiled when you saw the hot wheel car on there, Jensen smiling softly as he looked up at you. “Night Jensen.”

“Good night, Y/N.”

______

A/N: Read Part 2 here!

[headheartbellarke]

Love, Owen. | OWEN PATRICK JOYNER

Requested by anon: “Hi, I have a request for Owen! He's in love with Y/N but despite all his flirty comments, she's still oblivious, and he gets mad when one day she told him that she have a date. Please and thank you x”

PAIRING(s): Owen Joyner x fem! reader

WARNING(s): angst, owen being a dumbass, some language, fluffy ending

WORD(s): 3,343

SUMMARY: in which y/n is engaged, but owen is hopelessly in love with her.

A/N: took a little creative liberty here hehe :3

    Owen taps his foot anxiously, and his roommate and best friend, Charlie, gives him a dirty look. “Can you stop that? I’m trying to text my sister.”

  “Sorry. I just feel anxious.” He admits, looking down at the grey tiles of Vancouver International airport.

  Charlie’s voice softens. “Why?”

  “I just haven’t seen her in so long and I’m scared if things are too… weird, or different.”

  “Hey, breathe, okay? She’s been your best friend for how long?” Charlie lays a hand on his shoulder.

  “Since we were five, so fourteen years.”

  “I can promise you that nothing will change, okay, buddy? It’s gonna be fine.”

  Owen nods, looking at the red, neon ‘Arrivals’ sign atop his head. He pulls out his phone from his pocket and his eyes linger on his lock screen, that is a picture of him and the person he is currently waiting for – Y/N, his best friend. He smiles at the picture – it’s them on her last birthday, and she is grinning, wearing a princess tiara and red, heart sunglasses, while he’s pouting, with a birthday cap atop his head, as she squishes his cheeks.

  He feels a tap on his back, and he turns around, his heart racing, fully expecting to see her, after two long months.

  But it’s Charlie, grinning with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

  A disappointed sigh escapes Owen, and he says, “What are you doing?”

  His friend shrugs and says, “Behind you.”

  He turns around again, and finally spots her, standing a couple feet away – and for a moment, his world tilts on its axis, and it’s just him and Y/N. Warmth courses through his veins, as his body goes on autopilot and he starts taking long strides towards her. She seems to also have frozen in time, but when she sees Owen, she runs, and jumps into his arms, wrapping her legs around his torso, and her arms around his neck.

  The momentum shocks him, but he quickly recovers and holds her steady against his body. It’s like his brain is lagging – but he feels like he’s home when her fruity smell overpowers his senses.

  “I’ve missed you, too.” Owen whispers, as she buries her face in the crook of his neck. He feels the vibrations of her laugh roll into his body as she says, “I have so much to tell you.”

  He slowly puts her down, running his hands along the length of her back. Y/N takes a step back from him, and grins, and Owen’s sure that his heart melted, just a little.

  He knows that the fact that he’s in love with her is hopeless, pointless, even. But he can’t help it – how could he? Y/N is his other half, his best friend, his family. She is the most beautiful girl he’s ever laid his eyes on, and she is as sweet as sugar. She sees good in every human being, no matter how much they’ve hurt her – and has a spark inside her, that can put all the fires in the world to shame. She knows him like the back of her hand, and has always been there for him, with no expectations.

  So, it was quite inevitable that he fell in love with her.

  She reaches a hand forward, and combs Owen’s hair with it. “Your hair’s a mess, as usual.”

  “That’s because I didn’t have you to fix it.” He replies cheekily, but Y/N just laughs.

  “Your mother told me to remind you to do your laundry.”

  He nods. “Noted. Also, did I mention that somehow you’re a hundred times more beautiful than the last time that I saw you?”

  “Pfft. Where’s Charlie?” She says, and Owen’s unsure whether she is oblivious to or ignores his blatant flirting. It’s not like it has been subtle – he loves her so much that it’s impossible for him to not give signs at this point.

  “Right here. Loving all the attention that you’re giving me, kiddo.” Charlie says, walking up to them.

  She laughs breezily, hugging him. “I’m just two years younger than you, dude.”

  “I know – holy shit, Y/N, is that an engagement ring?” Charlie’s eyes widen and Owen feels his heartbeat race. “What?”

  He looks at his best friend, and she bites her lower lip. “That’s what I’m here to tell you.”

  Owen takes a step back from their little circle, suddenly feeling breathless. “So, you’re not here because you missed me, but because you got engaged to some – some dude?”

  “No! No, that was phrased wrong. No, that’s not it.” She mumbles the last part, but he’s not convinced. “It’s not some dude, Owen – Louis asked me to marry me.”

  “Louis? The guy you’ve been dating for three months?!”

  “But I’ve known him for a year!”

  Owen shakes his head. He absolutely hates Louis. To be honest, he hates any and every boy that shows an interest in Y/N, and that’s a lot of people – and who can blame them, right? But she’s always turned down those boys, choosing to have a movie marathon with Owen instead. But Louis – he goes to college with her, and even though he hates to admit it, they are quite alike – they’re both brilliant and ambitious.

  That’s why Owen’s always felt insecure ever since she said that he had asked her out – because how could Y/N choose him over perfect Louis? Louis whose part British, part French, is obsessed with physics just as much as Y/N is, who is tall, and handsome, who volunteers at homeless centres on his weekends, and is on the soccer team?

  When they went on their first date, he didn’t think much of it. She’s always going on dates, something about living life to the fullest, and making as many connections as possible. He didn’t think that anything would come out of it, because it never does. Sure, he wishes that he’s the one that she goes with on those dates, but at least, nothing serious ever happens on them. The last serious relationship she had was during their senior year, which was also when Owen had realised that he is in love with her.

  But now, he feels a heart crushing weight, the weight of his secret, because he never, ever thought that it would go this far.

  “You’re making a huge mistake.” He mutters and Y/N’s brows furrow.

  “Owen, please, you’re my best friend. You’re supposed to support me no matter what.”

  He shakes his head. “I can’t support you when you’re throwing your entire life down the drain.”

  “You never support me. You didn’t support me in high school, and you don’t support me now.”

  “Your high school boyfriend wanted you in the kitchen with a dinner plate and refused to let you go to Stanford.”

  “That is not the point. The point is, you’re supposed to have my back. But I feel like I don’t even know you anymore. You never call me – I get it, O, you’re busy with your life – and I’m so happy for you, you know that I am, but I didn’t realize that being an actor would mean that we wouldn’t even be friends anymore.”

  Owen pauses. It’s true, he has been ignoring her. But, in his defence, whenever they would talk, Louis was around. He’s always around. It made Owen feel pure, blind hatred because he is everything that Owen is insecure about.

  “That’s your fault.”

  She raises her brows. “Really? How?”

  “Because all you talk about is Louis!” He lies. “We all know that he isn’t gonna last, Y/N.”

  Her jaw clenches. “Excuse me?”

  “You don’t know how to be in a relationship. That’s why none of them last. You’re just gonna leave him and break his heart like all the other guys.” He says, bitterly. At this point, words are just flowing out of his mouth – almost as if some imaginary faucet in his brain has been turned on.

  “You don’t know what you’re saying, O.” She looks around, and Owen knows her so well that he knows that she is trying to hide the fact that she might start crying.

  Then, before he can stop himself, years of suppressed feelings rise. “I know you, Y/N. You think you’re better than anyone, but, in reality, you’re the worst. You treat people as if they’re nothing and you never, ever care about what others feel. You don’t care about anything – me, Louis or anyone.”

  A single tear slides down her cheek, but she quickly wipes it away, and Owen finally catches a sight of her ring – a single, beautiful, big diamond on a silver ring. Simple, just as she likes.

  That makes him even more mad, and he says, “You were supposed to be my best friend – but right now I can’t even look at you, Y/N.”

  His voice cracks when he says her name.

  “Is that what you think of me?” She finally says, her voice hoarse. Just speaking frees more tears from her eyes, and Owen’s heart breaks, but he can’t stop.

  He nods, and she chokes back a sob.

  “Owen, you don’t mean that.” Charlie whispers softly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to comfort her. Owen forgot that he was here, and his throat tightens. He hates the fact that she’s friends with all his friends, and they love her as much as they love him.

  “I – I – I’m gonna stay somewhere else. Since you can’t, you know, even look at me.” She wipes her eyes with the sleeve of her sweatshirt, and Owen stops himself from reaching forward and holding her. He hates himself so much, right now – he said all those things that he didn’t mean, things that are completely false, just because he’s jealous. He hates the fact that his best friend is crying in front of him, and he has to look away because of his pride.

  “Hey, Y/N, that’s nonsense –” Charlie starts but Y/N raises a hand and says, “Please, Charlie. I – I can’t stand here and take this shit. I’m just… just gonna go.” She hooks a finger on her trolley, and drags it behind her, walking toward the exit.

  As he watches her go, Owen feels the heaviness in his chest return, like a stone. He feels his throat tighten, and his vision blur, while his mind races – he tries to catch a thought, but they’re all messy and he doesn’t know what to think. He feels like he’s trapped, like someone has put a plastic bag over his head, and he feels like there’s no air around.

  He is faintly aware of Charlie holding him, and whispering, “O, you’re having a panic attack.”

***

    “Owen? Are you alright?” Savannah asks, resting a hand on his shoulder.

  He nods. “Absolutely.”

  Madison plops on the couch beside him, in the break room. “Where’s Y/N? Wasn’t she supposed to come here yesterday?”

  Owen watches Savannah’s eyes widen as shakes her head toward Madison, who looks completely oblivious.

  “She… Uh, she… we had a fight, and she went to stay somewhere else.” He says, still reeling from yesterday’s events.

  Honestly, he doesn’t know what to do. After his panic attack at the airport, Charlie took him home and let him stay under his covers for the rest of the day, informing everyone on set that he had a bad cold and couldn’t make it. After a while, Savannah was there with bags of Chinese food for Owen and when he tried to eat, he remembered the fact that Chinese cuisine is Y/N’s favorite, and their go-to whenever they ordered take out.

  He told Charlie and Savannah that he absolutely hated himself, and that he was a horrible person, and everything that he said to Y/N were things that he is. He knows that what he said was wrong, and that there is no excuse for it, and not meaning them would not make him forget how broken his best friend looked.

  He’s spent all of today working with Booboo, avoiding Charlie and Savannah because he can’t stand the pity in their eyes for him.

  “You know, you should just apologize to her.” Savannah says, softly.

  He shakes his head. “She hates me. I know that. I know what I said is unforgivable.”

  “Owen, I’m a hundred percent sure that she could never hate you. I’ve known her for so long, so trust me on this.”

  “Well, I’ve known her longer, so trust me on this.”

  He lies on the couch he was sitting on and pulls out his headphones from his pocket.

  “Owen, come on –”

  “Just let me cry, Savannah. It’s what I deserve.”

  “That’s enough, Joyner. Get up.” Charlie says, walking up from behind them.

  “Leave me alone, Charlie.”

  “No. This is not you, all right?”

  “Maybe it is.”

  Charlie slaps him.

  “Dude! That hurt!”

  “That’s the point. Now come on, get up. You can either feel sorry for yourself and wallow in self pity for the rest of your life, or you can go to your best friend and apologize to her because you were a dick and tell her how you really feel and how you were jealous.”

  “She doesn’t –”

  Charlie slaps him again.

  “Dude, what the fuck!”

  “I’m so tired of seeing you mope. Mads, push him off the couch.”

  Madison scoffs. “I’m not gonna – OK, fine, don’t look at me like, Charlie, you’re so scary when you’re mad.” She grabs a handful of Owen’s shirt and drags him, but he gets up himself.

  “OK, fine! But I don’t know where she’s staying!”

  “Savannah will take care of that.”

  She nods. “I will. Just fix him, Charlie, okay? He looks fucking homeless.”

  “Hey!”

***

    Owen raises his fist above the white door in the white hallway of the very white hotel Y/N’s staying at. He pauses, taking a deep breath, but it’s hard because he’s feeling very anxious, and the white surroundings are making him lose it a little.

  He closes his eyes and builds up his courage. It’s hard because the person that usually makes him calm is the one making him nervous right now. Yet, he inhales a lungful of air, and knocks on the door.

  Knock’s not the correct word. He literally bangs on the door, the frustration rolling off of him in waves. His heart races in anticipation when he hears footsteps on the other side of the door which comes to a stop and Owen knows she’s checking the door hole, and wonders whether she’ll open the door now that she’s seen him.

  She does, and a little hope rises in his chest, and he thinks, or rather prays, that she doesn’t hate him. The door swings open, and she stands there, wearing a pink onesie and a nonchalant expression.

  “What do you want?” She asks, bitterly.

  “Everything’s so white, Y/N. How are you staying here?” He blurts out.

  She sighs, and proceeds to close the door, but Owen slides in, raising his hands. “Y/N. Please. Can I tell you something?”

  “Isn’t that all you’ve been doing since yesterday?” She snaps, closing the door behind him, and brushing by him during the action. Owen feels a flutter in his stomach at that.

  “I deserve that.” He admits, looking down at his shoes. “But please. Let me explain.”

  She walks away from him. “No. This time I’m talking.”

  She stares at him determinedly, and Owen gulps.

  “Yesterday – it was just another example of you… exploiting my weakness.” She pauses, taking a deep breath. “You… I…” She trails off, and that determination fades from her eyes.

  At that moment, Owen notices her left hand, or rather the absence of a ring there.

  “Y/N, where’s your ring?”

  She smiles, sadly. “Don’t you understand? This is exactly what I’m talking about! You disapproved, and I broke it off! I broke it off with a perfectly good guy, and I broke his heart, Owen. Like you said I would. Like I’ve done to every other guy that was in my life.”

  She’s going too fast, he thinks. Finally, he says, “I – I don’t understand…”

  “Of course, you don’t! You never have and you never will! It’s you, Owen. You’re my weakness. You disapproved, and I… I called off the wedding. You weren’t completely right, Owen… I mean, I don’t care about Louis, about any other guy – but I care about you. I care about you the most, and that’s why I can never be in a relationship, and I never can get married. Your opinion, you mean more to me than anyone else, and it’s why I’ve spent the entirety of yesterday crying instead of doing anything!”

  Owen’s lips part, and he’s too scared to make anything out of Y/N’s words, because this time, he wouldn’t be able to handle the disappointment that usually comes after feeling hope about them.

  “Owen… I’m in love with you, and it’s breaking me inside.”

  Right now, Y/N’s face is damp with tears, but he’s frozen. He’s been waiting, waiting, waiting to hear those words and dreaming, dreaming, dreaming of this moment, but now that it’s happening, he doesn’t know what to do. Y/N scoffs. “Of course. Just… just see yourself out, okay?”

  She turns around, wiping her face with the back of her hand, and her movement is what breaks Owen out of his trance. He takes long strides towards her, and grabs her wrist, and the contact of her cold skin on his warm skin seems to shock the both of them.

  They stand mere millimetres apart, and finally Owen speaks, “Y/N. I was jealous yesterday.”

  Her eyebrows shoot upwards, and he continues, “I mean, Louis’ perfect! He makes me feel so insecure, because he’s clearly the better choice out of the two of us. Plus, you’ve always ignored my flirting, so I thought –”

  “Flirting? When?!” She asks.

  He loses it a little. “All the time! Dude! You’re the only person with whom I flirt! Like, I can’t even help it, it just happens –”

  “Are you saying that I’ve been oblivious –”

  “I thought – okay, never mind. Anyway. That doesn’t excuse what I said last day. I’m incredibly sorry, Y/N. I hope you know that I didn’t mean a single word that I said, and you’re the most caring person in my life, all right? You… you’ve always gone out of your way to be kind, and what I said was not true and not okay at all. I’m sorry. It was just years of frustration.”

  “Well, if you hadn’t been so daft, and said something earlier –”

  “I could say the same about you – okay, that’s not the point. The point is I’m sorry. I’m sorry for yesterday, I’m sorry for ignoring you all these months because I was insecure –”

  “You ignored me because you were insecure about Louis? Clearly, you’re the superior person in my life.”

  “Y/N, have you seen his hair and his accent? Clearly not.”

  “Well, you do have a point. Still, you’re clearly more important to me.”

  Owen can feel her breath on his skin now. “I always do. Y/N. I’m in love with you, too. I’m also sorry that I’ve been an idiot –”

  “Well, in your defence, we’ve both been idiots.”

  He smiles at her and raises his right hand to caress the side of her face. She leans into the touch, closing her eyes for a second.

  “Say it again.” He whispers.

  “What?”

  “That you love me too.”

  “I love you. I love you. I love you, Ow –”

  He doesn’t let her finish, but instead cups her face with both of his hands, and presses his lips to hers, the familiar, homely sensation arising, yet again. She tastes like chocolate and everything sweet in the world. She smiles into the kiss, and when they pull apart for air, she whispers, “Never interrupt me like that again.”

  He grins, his thumb rubbing circles on her cheek. “Noted. And Y/N?”

  She hums in question, her eyes shining like stars.

  “I love you.”

  She smiles, and it lights up his world.

jatp requests open <3 as always, feedback is appreciated!

[giorno-plays-piano]

Promises

Hi dear! As agreed, I’ve changed it to dad’s friend!Bucky <3 Hope you’re going to enjoy this!

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: yandere, obsession, age gap, daddy kink, allusion to non-con, death of minor characters.

Words: 3000.

_______________________

Looking at the lonely chocolate muffin laying on the table in front of you, you closed your eyes for a couple of seconds, making a wish: it was your birthday, and you were stuck in some filthy roadside diner with no one but Mr. Barnes by your side.

Bucky. You were ought to call him Bucky, you reminded yourself, opening your eyes and blowing softly on a single candle sitting on the top of your muffin.

It wasn’t his fault you two ended up here - there had been a huge accident on your way back home, a tanker truck exploded into flames in the middle of the highway. In fact, you were lucky you were far away since several drivers and passengers who had the misfortune to be close to the truck had already been declared dead. It was all over the news, most of the people inside diner glued to the old TV hanging on the wall.

Staring at the candle, you carefully pulled it off and dropped it on a cheap white napkin, taking the muffin and eagerly having a bite. Mr. Barn... Bucky watched you from the other side of the table, his coffee already long cold. There was no smile on his face as you quietly said thank you to him, but you barely remembered him smiling at all despite knowing him for several years at the very least. He was your dad’s friend, and he often visited your house to share a beer and watch hockey with your dad late in the evening. Who could imagine it would be Bucky of all people helping you stay afloat.

“What did you wish for?” He asked you, and chuckled grimly at him, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. Apparently, you had to keep it a secret to make your wish come true, but it didn’t matter now.

“To have a family.”

You gulped down a sob and stared at the red table as Bucky reached out to pat your shoulder gently. Both of you knew what you meant, but you had no strength to talk about it again. It was still painful as hell.

“It will get better.” He said quietly as you nodded, wiping away your tears and gulping down your coke. “You need time.”

Yeah, time, that was what everyone around you kept saying as if time could change the fact you were all alone now; as if it could make you forget all that happened and keep the pain away. What could time do? Make you insensitive, unsympathetic, and unable to feel anything at all. All this time could probably do to you, sure.

He bought a couple of ham sandwiches and bottles of coke for the evening and left with you following him closely. The motel room was just as dirty as the diner, but you didn’t expect anything else, preparing to cleaning it up - anyway, there wasn’t much you could do around here. Although there were lots of people stuck here along with you two, you had no wish to go talk to them about the tragedy. You had your own already, and it was enough for you.

“Your uncle looks scary on this photo.” Your phone buzzed in your pocket, and you picked it up, reading the message from April, your best friend - your only friend, to be completely honest. “Like he’s straight out of those serial killer documentaries.”

“April, come on."

"what, I'm serious lol"

"Maybe he’s not your sunshine guy, but he’s the only one who stayed with me after all that happened."

"And he is NOT my uncle!”

“sorry girl just wanted to cheer you up”

You smiled at the text, missing Bucky’s gaze as he came closer to you.

“Who’s that?” He asked, and you raised your eyes at him, immediately getting back to your grim state.

“April. She saw the photo I sent her.” Explaining quietly, you tried pretending you were happy, stretching your lips in a thin smile and thinking whether Bucky could feel it. “She’s checking on how we are here.”

“Good.”

With that he left to bathroom, leaving you on your knees scrubbing the floor. He was bad at cleaning - really bad, missing tons of dirty spots to the point it felt like he didn’t clean anything at all. That was why you preferred doing it yourself. Besides, it was him who paid for the room and food despite you trying to share the expenses, so you felt obliged to him.

Bucky certainly wasn’t the most talkative or friendly type, but he still cared about you, supporting you the way he could. Even if he was way older than you, and a part of you still didn’t feel very comfortable around him, Bucky was the only one by your side. He agreed living with you when most of your relatives had little interest in staying even for a few days longer, leaving you all alone. He helped you with all the legal stuff you knew nothing about, never having to deal with these issues before. He gave you a drive to your university campus every morning and called you every time when you were supposed to come home, probably afraid you’d do something to yourself. That was what you thought, at least.

He was a good man. Maybe a little gruff, seemingly unfriendly, intimidating even, but still better then all those who promised to look after you and then vanished.

“I’m going to go for a walk.” Bucky said after leaving bathroom and putting his sneakers on. “Will you be okay by yourself?”

You felt shame bubbling up inside you at his words. He still thought you might be suicidal.

“Of course. I’ll be waiting here.”

With that he nodded and left you alone with a bright pack of Lysol and dirty doormat on the floor. Sighing, you felt relieved, finally staying all by yourself in the grim silence of the room. It wasn’t that bad. You weren’t stuck together somewhere in the desert with no food and shelter. Tomorrow morning you’d be able to return home from that little improvised vacation Bucky organized purely for you, staying in a cabin close to the beautiful lake in the woods. It wasn’t his fault you were spending your birthday like this, scrubbing the floor clean and wiping the dust from shelves and nightstands instead of celebrating somewhere in the club with April, drinking fancy cocktails.

In half an hour you finished the clean up and had a shower, changing into your funny pink pajamas - you knew your looked pathetic in it, considering how old it was, but it was one of the things that made you feel safe. Anyway, Bucky didn’t care about the way you looked, so you simply wore whatever you found comfortable, often looking like a kid who was too big to fit into their old clothes.

“Whatcha doin??” A message popped up on the screen as you checked your phone again.

“Gonna go to sleep, I guess. I didn’t sleep well yesterday again.”

“i have a gooood recipe for a nice 8-hour sleep”

“Really? What’s that?”

Instead of answering you clearly, she sent you a link. To your horror, instead of checking the name first you simply clicked on it and found out April sent you some porno. Groaning, you quickly turned it off, afraid somebody gonna hear it - the walls here were out of paper, you could swear.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?” You typed furiously. “Are you mad?”

“come on, what are we, holy virgins?? Ima telling you, this thing works! Just try it, you’ll be sleeping after this in no time!”

“April, even if I’m gonna believe this crap, Bucky just went for a walk. I have no clue when he’s going to come back. Do you really think I’m ready to do this when he’s around?”

“damn girl just don’t put earphones, cover yourself with a blanket and sit facing the door.” You could literally see her rolling her eyes at you. “you’re a grown up, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. When you hear the man coming, just turn it off!”

Rubbing your eyes tiredly, you muted your phone and carefully opened the link again, trying to understand what kind of porno she sent you exactly. Apparently, it was that daddy thing she kept telling you about - you read the name of the video, and your face grew unbearably hot in a second. Damn, this girl had no shame whatsoever.

But maybe she was right: you needed to release some tension that had been building up over the last months. It was quite an innocent way to do it, really, and you’d be careful enough to do it before Bucky came back, finding anything suspicious. You were a human being, after all! There was nothing nasty in what you were going to do, you tried assuring yourself.

“I’m gonna regret it.”

“NO GIRL YOU WON’T! Treat yourself!!”

Laughing, you quickly dropped your phone on your bed, taking a tablet out of your backpack along with a pair of pink socks - you couldn’t explain it, but your feet were always getting cold while you pleasured yourself. Getting comfortable on your bed and wrapping a comforter around yourself, you opened your tablet, setting the volume level low and finding that link April sent you. You threw a quick glance to the door, prepared to switch the tablet off any second if Bucky was going to show up. Shoot, were you doing it for real? Yes, yes you were.

Opening the video, you bit down on your lower lip, a little ashamed still. Trying to get these thoughts out of your head, you concentrated on what was happening in the video, watching a girl sitting on the lap of a beefy bearded man stroking her ass. He was speaking to her softly, but in a very low, husky voice, and you realized it was getting warm in between your thighs. You closed your eyes, listening to the voice that, along with a sound of him slapping the girl, was making you aroused way more than the picture itself.

"Have you been good, princess?" The man whispered, and you could see the smug grin on his face even with your eyes closed.

Yes, you have, you thought, your hand slowly trailling down your belly and touching the elastic of your cotton panties.

Fuck, you heard the sound of one more slap and bit your lip again, imagining it was you he spanked, caressing your raw, hot skin with his calloused palm, his fingers digging in your soft flesh when you tried moving away, quietly squirming from his touch. You were a good girl for him. You'd do what your daddy told you, baring your ass in front of him and getting back on his lap, moving on top of him, making him feel you through the fabric of his pants until you ruined them. Would daddy be happy if you rode him, moaning like some dirty slut until he shut you with his mouth? Would he like you cumming on his cock with your eyes rolling inside your skull out of immense pleasure?

With your fingers on your clit, you gently stroked that bundle of nerves, getting more and more wet until you soaked your panties, listening to the voice of that man and imagining being with your own daddy, somebody who would take care of you, somebody who would never leave you alone and comfort you when you needed it the most. Oh, were you crying, thinking of it? You could feel your eyes growing wet as you softly moaned. You imagined the man touching your hair and kissing your forehead, and tears were now streaming down your cheeks.

You were pathetic, you thought. You couldn't even pleasure yourself while watching porno anymore.

Softly sobbing, you kept listening to the video, touching your sleek folds and missing the shadow that descended upon you - you couldn't see the stranger behind the window, watching you sitting there on your bed with a tablet in front of you, seeing the video clearly. Maybe Bucky couldn't hear it from the outside, but he knew it - he saw it a couple of weeks ago when he felt a little lonely.

You almost cummed when you heard the steps right outside the door, inmediately hitting the screen to stop the video and hiding your tablet beneath the comforter. You didn't figure out anything better than pretending you were already asleep, aside from the fact it was barely seven.

Covering your head, you prayed Bucky didn't see anything suspicious, mentally cursing April for sending you the link. Shit, you knew this wasn't going to end well! Why on Earth did you even tried something as reckless and stupid as this when Bucky could show up any minute?

"I know you're not sleeping."

His voice sounded so much closer than you anticipated that you almost flinched, holding your breath for a couple of seconds. Fuck, did he know? Did he hear you? Could he see the tablet beneath your blanket?

You stilled, still pretending you were sleeping when Bucky landed close to you, the bed dipping under him. When he suddenly touched your leg, making you flinch involuntarily, you clamped a hand around your mouth. Shit! What was he doing? He had never ever touched you like that before. Was he mad? Did he-

"You can stop pretending, little one." As Bucky lifted your comforter, you stared at him, terrified to the core with your eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

Immediately, you tried moving away, determined to get to the other side of the room, but he quickly held you down with his hands on your wrists, getting on top of you. Shit. Staring at his dark but calm expression, you saw a strange glint in his eyes that had never been there before. The thought made you shiver.

Something was wrong with the way he hold you, looked at you - it was not like before when he treated you like some sad kid, patting your head awkwardly when you cried and rarely giving you a hug. You were staring at the man who barely reminded you of Bucky who had been coming to your house to watch a hockey game late in the evening. This man seemed like a stranger.

"Please, Mr. Barnes-"

"Shhhh." He interrupted your pleading, leaning closer to you so his dark hair brushed against your face. "Don't be scared. It's alright."

No, no, it wasn't alright in any sense, and you kept struggling, doing your best to break free from his grasp until Bucky made you yelp from pain, grabbing your hands so hard you thought you'd have bruises. When you got silent, trembling beneath him with your eyes full of tears, he got closer, his forehead touching yours as he exhaled into your face.

“P-please, I don’t want to.”

“Don’t you? I’ve seen what you’ve been doing while I was gone.” His stormy grey eyes bore into you, and you thought Bucky was angry at you watching that filthy porno. “But I won’t punish you.”

“What do you want then?” You sobbed, then froze when he kissed your cheek, and then your nose and eyelids, his chapped lips brushing softly against your skin. His touch felt warm.

“To take care of you.”

You looked at him with your watery eyes, whimpering softly when Bucky kissed your forehead as you relaxed beneath him, shocked at his words. Take care of you? What did he mean by that? Wasn’t he taking care of you already? No, now you knew why Bucky was close, and he definitely wasn’t some good Samaritan you imagined him to be. Was it all for this? Did he pretend to be your friend just to let you lower your guard?

Crying, you closed your eyes, thinking how silly you were wanting someone to be by your side, having dreams about someone taking care of you, comforting you when even the one you thought was there for you just wanted to use a silly little girl and throw her away.

“Take what you want and go.” You managed to mumble, choking on a sob. “Just leave me alone.”

Bucky raised his brows, his gaze heavy as he stared at your face wet with tears. “Why would I? Didn’t you hear what I just said, little one?”

You gave him a sarcastic smile, avoiding looking him in the eyes. “You’re here because you want to take something from me. So, take it and go. Please!”

Bucky let out a loud breath, getting off you and rolling to the side, but holding you close and pressing your face into his chest. You could feel a subtle smell of sweat coming from him; strangely, it was almost comforting. Anyway, you had no strength left to fight him, so you just laid there, his hands on your back and in your hair. His black zipped hoodie was quickly getting wet with you still sobbing quietly.

“I’m not going anywhere, little girl.” He whispered, touching the top of your head with his lips. “You’re mine to take care off. Look at you, barely able to sleep on your own. How do you think you will manage without me?”

You didn’t answer, not knowing what to say. What Bucky told you was true - you barely existed outside of your house, facing the reality where you were always alone. April was trying her best to help you come to your senses, but she wasn’t family. You needed a family.

“Will you stay?” You whimpered, shaking lightly at the though Bucky would go, too, and you would end up all by yourself, talking to four walls until one day they would talk to you, too.

“Remember your birthday wish?” He asked instead of answering your question, and you felt like the air was sucked out of your lungs. But before you had time to said something, Bucky dropped a kiss to your forehead again, caressing your head tenderly. “I am your family, little one. You will never be alone.”

______________________

Tags: @finleyjayne @alexakeyloveloki   @helenaeisenhower @villanellevi @hurricanerin​ @abyssaint @heeeyitskay @chris-evans-indian-fanfic @navegandoaciegas @rosalynshields @brattycherubwrites @sllooney @angrythingstarlight @lookiamtrying @buckysbunny @soleil-dor @stargazingfangirl18 @dillybuggg @ninefuckingoneone @iheartsebastianstan @inlovewiththefictionalcharacters

[foenixs]

aight aight idk of this is a good request but monsta x as your employees or something and they're whipped af for you?? but make it nsfw 👉🏻👈🏻🥺🥺 it's v broad I know but do with this what you want

x shy anon

Monsta X as your whipped employees

note: I'm so sorry, I forgot the nsfw part 😭 (i didn't read over the request again before starting to write it) some of these hint at sexy time but they are mainly imagines for how they would behave around you and the office after realizing they like you more than they should

This is supposed to be a lil present for you, happy birthday! ❤

if you like my fics please reblog them with a nice comment or tag

POV: You are Monsta X's employer and they are whipped for you.

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

Shownu : the servant

very hardworking; he doesn’t get distracted from his work easily but when you bend down a little too low to show him something on the screen, he turns his head away, blushing heavily

he’s very slick with the way he communicates with you, offering to make you a coffee and carrying things for you

does those things without a second thought because he wants to be useful (subconsciously he just wants to be close to you)

when you ask him why he is always following you around the office he starts to stutter, mumbling something about how he didn’t mean to be creepy he just wants to help you out, but you can tell by the way his breath hitches that there is some deeper meaning behind his actions

he ends up taking a job at another company so he can ask you out on a date (he doesn’t have to, but he wants to show you how serious he is and that he doesn’t just want to sleep his way to the top)

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

Wonho : the mess

becomes a blushing mess the minute he realises he has a crush on you

avoids eye contact when talking to you and tries to not bump into you in the office (which turns out to be harder than he thought because it’s not exactly a big office space)

he’s usually smart and quick on his feet but when you ask him a question now it takes him forever to answer and he often miscalculates numbers in his reports

you quickly notice how off he is and start to worry that something private might taint his mind, so you tell him to take a couple of days off and he looks at you with sad eyes thinking he is close to getting fired

he can’t stop thinking about you while he is at home and after his friends give him a kick in the ass to finally man up and confess to you, he calls you up, blurting “I love you” and instantly hanging up again

you pay him a visit and end up staying the night (and a couple more) and his concentration seems to return to normal as he can finally call himself yours

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

Minhyuk : the comedian

starts his day by telling the joke of the day, gets everyone to laugh and raises the spirit in the office

his workspace is covered in post it notes with little scribbles he drew himself (“Shouldn’t you be working?”, you ask him as he is drawing again; “but this is work, a work of art, like you *wink*”)

surprisingly, he always hands in his reports on time and never makes any mistakes

he tells you up front that he is attracted to you, but you take it as one of his jokes

after years of working with him he asks you why you never made him your valentine (“Why would I?”; “Well, you’ve known that I like you for three years now and you haven’t fired me yet so I’m assuming you like me back, yet you’ve never asked me out.”)

when you tell him that you thought he was just play flirting he gets all serious, telling you that he would never joke about something like that

you take your time thinking about what he had said and how you felt about him but when the 14th of February comes around you slip him a post it note with a scribble of a heart and the question “Will you be my valentine?”

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

Kihyun : the daydreaming altruist

respect the authorities and elders is his number one principle, so he never dreamed of asking you out (it seemed unprofessional and rude to him), even when your sheer presence made his heart jump out of his chest

he tries to date other people, but he can’t push down his feelings for you, every time he ends up in someone’s bed, he can’t help but moan your name

cries himself to sleep because he doesn’t want to lose you, but he also can’t move on from you

he daydreams a lot while he’s at work and barely gets anything done

when his performance review comes in you are shocked to see his low numbers and confront him about it, he is apologetic and takes full blame, lowering his head in shame

“Gosh, you’re cute…”, you mumble to yourself, trying to figure out what to do with him, “tell me what hinders you from working. Be completely honest and don’t be scared about coming off as rude, I want us to find a solution, together.”

“You”, he admits, and his sudden bluntness almost makes you fall out of your chair (you settle on late night dates and his performance miraculously enhances)

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

Hyungwon : the perfect balance

he’s considered the quiet one at the office so when he asks you to join him and his friends for a karaoke evening you are quite literally left speechless

he works hard and focused during the day and plans out crazy dates for the night

no one at the office expects you two to date since he is very good at hiding his feelings in public, but he makes sure you still feel appreciated and loved, cuddling into you and professing his love when you two are alone

you stay together for a long time, perfectly balancing your work and love life and eventho he gets job offers from other companies for higher pays, he stays loyal to you and your company till the end

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

Jooheon : the attention craver

tries to gain your attention as much as he can, thinking that’s gonna win you over

gets sulky when you don’t greet him in the morning, eventho you are clearly stressed

does everything you ask him to do and more (overachieves), knocking at your office door when he has finished his work to ask you if there’s anything else to be done (it gets to a point where you have no work for other employees left because he simply does too much, too fast)

when you tell him to go take a break you find him in the cafeteria, reading over his reports while his soup gets cold

“Do you really love working or do you just want to impress me?”, the question had been lingering on your mind for a while but when you finally confront him about it, he falls silent

he admits that he wants you to notice him and you tell him you do, but you are worried he’ll get a burnout

you tell him it’d be better if he left the company, for his own health, but before he breaks out into tears you ensure him that you have indeed fallen for him and this was the only plausible solution to ensure a serious future for you two

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

Changkyun : the fuckboy

flirts with other colleagues to make you jealous, but it only makes you see him as a fuckboy

when you tell him to mature and leave his horniness at home, he becomes beat red, his confidence dying down in his throat

everyone has a crush on him (boy or girl) and you are surprised to find out he’s turning all of them down

he would never admit his feelings for you, and he is lowkey intimidated by your assertiveness, his facade shattering to pieces the second your hand lays on his shoulder

he wants nothing more than to be bent over that stupid desk of yours, writing drabbles about his imaginations

one day he accidently attaches one of his personal word documents to an email instead of his report and when he realises his mistake, he rushes to your office to tell you to please not open the email, but you already did, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, telling him to lock the door behind him

needless to say, he is your fuckboy now

-

masterlist

-

taglist:  @euphoricsunflowers, @baa-nana, @vanillaknj, @mingiibabieee, @sub-hoshi-enthusiast, @soya-zz, @coeurbreak, @mellowriting , @submissive-bangtan

[pterodactylterrace]

Guys Like You Chapter 16

Title: Guys Like You

Chapter: 16

Chapter Summary: Meet the family

Rating: 18+

Warnings: None for this chapter

{Prologue} {Chapter 1} {Chapter 2} {Chapter 3} {Chapter 4} {Chapter 5} {Chapter 6} {Chapter 7} {Chapter 8} {Chapter 9} {Chapter 10} {Chapter 11} {Chapter 12} {Chapter 13} {Chapter 14} {Chapter 15}

"How well does she do on flights?" Henry asked quietly, nodding for Faye to slide in first to take the window seat.

"She gets sick on longer flights." Faye explained as he sat down in the aisle seat, resting the snoozing child in his lap, her chubby cheek pressed against his chest as a small bit of drool tumbled from her lower lip.

"It's a little under an hour, do you think she'll be ok?"

"She didn't get sick until after the third hour when we came to England."

"Hopefully she'll just sleep the whole time." Henry sighed, smiling fondly at the child snoozing on him. To say he was excited to introduce his girls to his family was an understatement. He had been practically vibrating with giddiness for the last two days. That in turn wound up Kal and Briar, which meant no one wanted to go to bed. Faye had counted herself lucky to get the child tucked into bed and finally asleep before 11pm the night before. Certainly not enough time for any sort of decent rest before their 6am flight. She could also tell Henry hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before, the dark circles under his eyes a dead giveaway, no matter how many times he insisted he was fine.

Maybe they could all catch a nap during the flight. That sounded incredible, though Faye wasn't sure if her nerves would allow her to actually sleep. Henry had assured her over and over that his family would love her, but she had a nagging voice in the back of her mind that kept asking her 'but what if they don't?' Would Henry leave her if his family didn't like her? What if they didn't like Briar? She could be a bit much at times. Maybe they would think she was an awful mother who couldn't control her child. She just had to keep reminding herself that Henry wasn't like that. He wasn't a controlling abuser. He wanted to see her happy. He actually loved her and she was slowly learning how to be loved in return.

Henry reluctantly slid the child from his lap and into her seat before take off, buckling the now grumpy toddler in while Faye gave Briar her stuffed bunny in an attempt to pacify her for the time being. That only resulted in the rather amusing image of an incredibly angry looking toddler hugging a very well loved stuffed bunny, glaring daggers at the seat back in front of her. The second the fasten seatbelt sign went off, Briar was back in Henry's lap, smugly snuggling back into his chest with her bunny tucked under her arm.

"I swear, she likes you more than she likes me." Faye sighed, shaking her head at her daughter.

"I never tell her no." Henry shrugged, giving the child a small squeeze.

"I've noticed." Faye grumbled.

"How do you expect me to say no to that face?" Henry challenged, nodding down to where Briar was already sleeping on him, her cheek squished up against his chest, more drool slowly soaking into his shirt.

"What if she wants to do something dangerous?"

"That's why I have her wonderful, strong, beautiful mother nearby." Henry smiled at her, chuckling at her annoyed look.

"So what are you gonna do with any future children?" Faye shot back, not missing the way Henry's entire demeanor lit up.

"I'll just have to follow your lead." He offered, trying to tame the smile from his face. This was the first time she had mentioned any more children since their scare, and just the thought was enough to make him dizzy with excitement.

"Breastfed that kid for a year and a half, and this is the thanks I get." Faye grumbled to herself, moving over to the middle seat to use Henry's bulky shoulder as a pillow.

"As much as I'd like to say I'll help you every step of the way, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be useless when it comes to that."

"Such a shame, your tits are bigger than mine."

"They are not." Henry scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Mmhmm. Mine only look nice when I roll them up into a bra so you can't see how deflated they are."

"They're the perfect size for my hands."

"And your tits are still bigger."

"Fine, but I still don't think I can breastfeed a baby." Henry relented, his face heating up when he realized the flight attendant had made it to their row with the drink cart. Her look of confused horror was one Faye would remember for years to come.

"I think we're good." Faye half laughed, Henry dropping his head in embarrassment. Sometimes people just walk up at the wrong time in a conversation.

Faye was apprehensive at first when Henry told her his brother would be picking them up from the airport. What if he instantly didn't like her? Would he just leave her there or something? It would make for a very uncomfortable car ride to say the least. Thankfully Niki and his wife turned out to be just as nice and accommodating as Henry kept assuring her they would be. Naturally, Niki stuffed his younger brother into the back seat, allowing his wife to stay up front in spite of her half hearted protest. Faye had the feeling this was an ongoing thing between them.

The sight of a toddler seat in the back, hooked in and ready to go made a strange happiness swell in her chest. Faye was grateful they had taken steps to keep her daughter safe, while Henry was slightly annoyed that he was now crushed even more. With a simple look from Niki's wife, Faye understood that this was just how the brother's were, antagonizing each other whenever possible. Niki wasted no time filling Faye in on a few stories from Henry's childhood, telling her about the time he brought a turtle home and tried to keep it in the bathtub to hide it from his parents. Then he moved on to the time he split his pants at his cousin's wedding when he was fifteen and spent the entire reception trying to talk to the bridesmaids with his underwear showing. The last one he squeezed in before his wife stopped him was when they were all younger and buried him in the snow, having convinced him that's how an igloo was built.

No one hesitated to get out and start unpacking the car once it was parked in front of a rather quaint looking house, Niki tossing Henry's bag at him, Henry 'accidentally' shoulder checking him into the back of the car good natured retaliation. Niki's wife had already gone inside to announce their arrival, giving Faye a chance to talk with her daughter before meeting everyone.

"Now remember sweetie, we need to be on our best behavior for Papa's family today, ok?" She reminded, crouching down and straightening out her daughter's jacket.

"I a good girl." Briar stated firmly, nodding her head in self assurance as she grabbed her mother's hand with her mitten covered fist.

"Yes, you've been a very good girl, even though I can tell you're really tired. I'm very proud of you, sweetheart." Faye praised, giving the child her stuffed bunny before leading her after everyone else.

"And then-" Simon wheezed, pausing to catch his breath through his laughter. "And then Henry comes back inside, covered in mud, sticks in his hair, and he's just like "well, he's not under THAT bush!'." Faye wiped a tear from her eye, holding her aching stomach. She had lost count of the stories that had been retold, everyone seeming to take a turn at ribbing each other. Henry even told the story of Faye accidentally gluing her hand to a makeup brush when she was trying to apply prosthetics. It felt almost too easy settling into his family. He had been completely honest, they were very accepting.

His mother was warm and inviting, pulling her in for a hug and whisking Faye off to the kitchen, putting a glass of wine in her hand before she had even said hello to anyone else. It felt so good to be around a family again. Faye had been close with her parents and her siblings, especially her twin sister, and it was times like this that reminded her of what she had given up to chase her dreams. She had promised to try and be home for Christmas, but life got in the way of her going back the year before. Now it was coming up, and she was wondering if Henry would be alright with going all the way across the ocean just to meet her family. Were they really that serious? She knew they were pretty serious, having moved in together, but she didn't have any prior experience to compare her current relationship to.  Would he want to spend Christmas with his family? They were all really nice and probably always spent the holidays together. Would she be interfering with a tradition by asking him to spend Christmas with her family?

"So how did you two meet?" Marianne interjected, everyone suddenly shifting their attention to the couple.

"Uhh... met at work?" Faye offered up, turning to look up at Henry to see if he had anything else to add. Always the eloquent half of the pair, Henry had plenty to tack on, telling them about how this sassy little makeup artist wouldn't give him the time of day no matter what he did to get her attention. He'd tried talking about her tattoo's: nothing. He'd tried talking about the show: nothing. He'd tried to ask her about her life: nothing.

"It wasn't until Briar's birthday that I got anywhere. I swear, if you weren't such an awful baker, you would have never even looked my way. Poor Briar made sure everyone knew you were no good at it too. Briar!" Henry called, smiling when the little girl came running in the room, a dinosaur in one hand and the other covered in a sock. "Briar, how's mummy's baking?"

"Yucky." Briar informed flatly, the adults roaring in laughter while she rushed off to go play with the other children again.

"She's actually managed to simultaneously burn and completely undercook a tray of brownies once. It was amazing."

"Wasn't that also the time I mixed up the salt and the sugar?"

"It was." Henry confirmed, pressing an adoring kiss to her temple.

"That reminds me of the time you accidentally used garlic powder instead of nutmeg in the apple pie one year." Piers turned toward his wife, laughing at her loving glare.

"Alright, alright. Enough." Simon jumped in. "We all know what needs to be discussed. Who is stronger, Superman or the Incredible Hulk?" The entire family seemed to groan in unison; this must be an age old debate.

"Superman, obviously." Henry scoffed.

"No way, the Hulk is indestructible!" Niki threw back.

"So is Superman." Charlie pointed out.

"A little bit of kryptonite and Superman is useless." Simon intervened.

"What are the odds of having kryptonite on hand, though? If we're going to be using weaknesses, when Banner couldn't shift into the Hulk during Infinity War should definitely be brought up." Faye countered.

"But we're not talking about Banner, we're talking about the Hulk, as in he already shifted." Niki complained.

"Didn't the Black Widow have some lullaby thing that turned him back?" Charlie mused.

"Come on, Faye. We all know you're just siding with Superman because you're sleeping with him." Simon teased, Faye rolling her eyes in response. She had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

By the time they returned home just two days later, Faye was utterly exhausted but filled with joy. His family was so warm and inviting. They actually liked her. They didn't look down on her. They didn't question why Henry was with someone like her. They just accepted her and her daughter as one of their own. Two more to add to the Cavill Clan.

Now that they were back at home, it felt almost empty compared to the jam packed house they had just been in. Kal was all too happy to meet everyone at the door, his food bowl still full from the last visit from the dog sitter while their mail was stacked neatly on the kitchen table waiting for them.

Henry left the bags by the bottom of the stairs to take up later, sorting the letters into two separate piles. A large envelope addressed for Faye caught his eye, curiosity prompting him to bring it straight to her.

"What's that?" Faye asked, tossing the clothing from the bags into a laundry basket.

"I don't know. Looks important. Maybe it's informing you that you just became Queen a small unknown country."

"I've always wanted my own country." Faye chuckled, ripping the envelope open and pulling out the papers inside, her face falling more and more with each passing second. Her blood ran cold as teardrops stained the paper.

"What? What's wrong? Faye, you're starting to worry me. What does it say? Is something wrong?"

"My ex... my ex is trying to sue me for custody of Briar."

@weallhaveadestiny @lunedelorient @summersong69 @mis-lil-red @lharrietg @amberangel112 @mansaaay  @nostalgicb-txh

[btsqualityy]

Heaven Sent; Part 5

Jin x Reader

Genre: Angst, hurt/comfort, fluff

Warnings: None to note.

Author’s Note: I know it’s been a while and I’m sorry! I’ve been busy with college work but here is an extra long chapter to make up for it! I hope you guys enjoy!!

Month five was normal. At least, as normal as you could get. Work was great, Aera was doing amazing, and you found yourself crying much less as time wore on. Yep, everything was good....until you hit month six.

Month six was October, which also meant that it was Aera’s birthday month. When you looked at the calendar one day and saw just how quickly October 7th was approaching, you found yourself almost dreading it because it would be Aera’s first birthday without her father. After realizing that though, you made up your mind right then and there to make sure she enjoyed her day to the fullest. 

“Wait, she asked you for what?” Jin laughed loudly, and you reached out to smack his abdomen as the two of you made your way through the grocery store together. 

“A unicorn,” you repeated, not being able to help yourself as a small giggle escaped you as well.

“I know you want her to have fun, especially this year, but don’t you think a unicorn would be hard to deliver?” Jin wondered.

“Nope. All we’d have to do is rent one of those mini ponies and put a horn on it’s head. A fake one, of course,” you added, and Jin nodded thoughtfully.

“Of course, because you’re nothing if not ethical,” he teased, making you gasp as you reached out and smacked him again. Over the past month, you and Jin had begun to spend more time together, even when he wasn’t babysitting Aera. You found that he was extremely funny, even though his dad jokes sucked, and it was refreshing to be around someone who didn’t pity you. 

“You give in to Little Heart way too much, you know that?” Jin mentioned and you gasped dramatically.

“That’s the pot calling the kettle black,” you laughed. “She’s not even 4 feet tall but all she has to do is look at you and you crumble.”

“Oh please, I’m no weakling like you,” Jin snickered.

“Oh yeah? Why are we here at the grocery store then?” You asked with a smirk.

“I have no idea,” Jin lied. 

“Let me help jog your memory then,” you smiled. “Uncle Jinnie, can you please make japchae and samgyeopsal for my birthday food? Please?” You recited the words that Aera had said to Jin not even an hour before.  

“It’s what she asked for from me for her birthday!” Jin shot back. “What was I supposed to do, say no?”

“All I’m saying is, don’t make it seem like I’m the only weak one here,” you pointed out. 

“Honestly though, how can anyone not be weak for her?” Jin smiled, making you do the same thing. “She’s too precious.”

“Yeah, she is,” you nodded in agreement.

........................................

Luckily, Aera’s actual birthday fell on a Saturday and the weather was pretty good for October so it was the beginning of a good day as you bustled around your house getting things ready for the party. 

Per Aera’s request, she only wanted your parents, Hae-il’s parents, Yoongi, Taehyung, Jin, and Jin’s friends Namjoon, Jimin, Jungkook, and Hoseok to be there so those were the people that you invited. Jin ended up showing up early in order to help you decorate and get the food ready.

“Do you think I have enough cups? And plates?” You wondered as you moved frantically between the kitchen and the dining room, setting the tableware down on the table.

‘Yes, you have enough for a small army in here!” Jin shouted back from his place in front of the stove in the kitchen. After making sure that there were enough plates and cups on the table for everyone that you expected to come, you walked back into the kitchen, having to stifle a laugh when you caught sight of Jin dancing in place to the music that was playing through the small speaker that he had brought with him. 

“Having fun?” You asked and Jin glanced at you over his shoulder, smiling evilly. 

“Yes I am, in fact,” he chuckled, setting down the spatula in his hand before turning around fully.

“Do you think that I have everything we’ll need?” You questioned and Jin nodded his head.

“You do, and you need to stop worrying so much,” he advised you, making you sigh heavily. 

“I know, but I can’t help it,” you whined childishly. 

“Dance with me,” Jin said suddenly, stepping over to you while you shook your head insistently. 

“I can’t, I need to finish getting things ready!” You squealed loudly, gasping when Jin grabbed your hands in his and began to drag you around the kitchen in a backwards conga line. 

“No, what you need to do is relax, so that’s what I’m helping you do,” he smiled, moving quickly and spinning you around before bringing you into his body.

“You make me fall, I’ll kill you,” you threatened him.

“You wouldn’t kill me on Little Heart’s birthday,” he called your bluff. “She’d never forgive you for offing her favorite person.”

“Taehyung’s her favorite person, so try again,” you replied, laughing afterwards at Jin’s wide eyes.

“Damn, you really know how to cut a man Y/N-ah,” Jin huffed, making you smile as the two of you continued to dance together. He used the hold that he had on your hands to guide you, leading you around in a small circle. A loud giggle escaped you when he almost tripped over his own feet and suddenly, you realized that you felt more carefree than you had in months; probably since Hae-il died, if you were being completely honest with yourself. 

“You’re still thinking too hard,” Jin noted and you looked back up at him. “I swear, I’m gonna be forced to dip you the same way they do on the dancing shows.”

“Jin, you better not,-” you tried to threaten but you were cut off by Jin wrapping his arms around you, pulling you close to his body and then leaning down in a bow. You squealed loudly, bringing your arms up and looping them around his neck tightly to make sure that he didn’t drop you; or that if he did, then he’d go down with you.

“Better?” He smirked and you just rolled your eyes as you shook your head. 

“You’re very annoying, you know that?” You told him. 

“I’ve been told,” he chuckled.

“Can you let me back up now?” You asked, your eyes narrowing at him when he shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know, you seem pretty comfortable down there,” he pointed out. “Less stressed.”

“I’m worrying about you potentially dropping me on my head,” you laughed. “I’m definitely still stressed.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” he replied and you could hear the seriousness in his voice. “Trust me.” He then slowly straightened his body, lifting you back up gently to make sure that he wouldn’t drop you. Once your body was vertical again, you realized that the way you had looped your arms around his neck was now causing you to be pressed right against his chest. 

“I should, uh, go finish getting things ready,” you muttered.

“And I should finish the food,” Jin nodded, reaching down and setting his index and middle fingers underneath your chin, lifting upwards so that you were looking up at him. The two of you stayed liked that for a few seconds, just looking at each other, and the rational part of your mind told you that you should do what you said and pull away but you also just didn’t want to. 

Jin was extremely handsome, anyone with eyes could see that and it wasn’t lost on you. However, being up that close made you appreciate his looks even more.

“We shouldn’t,” you spoke up suddenly and to your surprise, Jin nodded his head.

“We shouldn’t,” he agreed easily. “But God, do I want to.” His confession made your breath hitch in your throat and you felt your cheeks warm up from embarrassment. You met his gaze, your eyebrows furrowing as you tried to read the expression on his face.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, seemingly realizing the weight that his previous words held. Even more surprisingly, you found yourself lowering your head and shaking your head gently.

“It, it’s o-ok,” you stammered. You then looked back up at him, gasping when you saw that he was starting to leave forward. You panicked for about two seconds when you realized that he was going to kiss you. The grip that you had around his neck tightened even more, and you found yourself inching forward as well. 

Just as you could feel the hint of his breath against your lips, Aera’s shrill voice rang throughout the house. 

“Mommy!” She hollered, and the sheer loudness of her tiny voice made your arms fall from around Jin’s neck as you jumped about a foot in the air. You set one hand on your chest over your racing heart and the other hand on your cheek, your chest heaving as you tried to catch your breath. You then looked over at Jin, who was rubbing his hands over his face. 

“I,-” he tried to say but he was cut off by another call of your name from Aera.

“Mommy! I need help getting dressed!” She called. Giving one last glance at Jin, you stepped around him to walk out of the kitchen.

“I’m coming Love,” you replied, using every ounce of restraint in your body to not glance over your shoulder at Jin. 

........................................ 

“Grandma, grandpa!” Aera shouted after you had opened the door, revealing Hae-il’s parents, whose arms were loaded down with large gift bags for their granddaughter.

“I heard someone has a birthday today,” Jin-joo, Hae-il’s mother gasped playfully as she and Hae-il’s father Gun stepped into the house. You shut the door behind them and took the presents out of their hands, moving into the living room in order to step them down onto the table. 

“It’s me! It’s my birthday!” You heard Aera exclaim happily and you couldn’t help but to smile to yourself at how excited she was. As you moved to walk back into the front hall, Jin appeared from the kitchen and you didn’t miss the way that Jin-joo’s eyes widened at seeing him. 

“Seokjin?” She called out in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Aera requested my presence,” he told them with a smile. 

“I asked Uncle Jin to make samgyeopsal and japchae for us,” Aera added happily. “He makes it the best!”

“Even better than me?” Jin-joo wondered with a smile and Aera nodded her head shyly.

“Well, it’s good to see you son,” Gun said as he walked over to him, setting his hand on Jin’s shoulder and squeezing lightly. 

“You as well, Gun-ssi,” Jin nodded. Over the next 45 minutes, your parents, Taehyung, Yoongi, and Jin’s friends Jimin, Namjoon, Hoseok and Jungkook all showed up for the party and Aera was in absolute heaven.

“Kookie!” Aera squealed happily as Jungkook lifted her up into his arms and kissed her cheek multiple times. 

“Hey, has my baby forgotten me?” Taehyung pouted and Aera quickly lifted her head, shaking it so hard that her ponytails hit her in the face. 

“I love uncle Tae Tae,” she told him, smiling shyly afterwards. “But I love Kookie too.”

“Aww, I love you too cutie,” Jungkook smiled as he pressed another quick kiss to her cheek. 

“Tae’s gonna be pouting for the next week,” Yoongi grumbled, making you laugh because you knew that it was true. Not too long after that, Jin walked out of the kitchen and announced that the food was ready and that everyone could come eat. Walking into the dining room, you were surprised at how good the food both looked and smelled. 

“Dig in everyone,” Jin smiled and that’s exactly what everyone proceeded to do after they sat down. 

“Here, have some meat Little Heart,” Jin said to Aera as he brought his chopsticks to her lips, and she opened wide to bite into it. “Is it good?”

“So good!” She nodded happily before turning to you. “Mommy, have some meat!”

“I have some baby,” you giggled as you gestured towards your own plate.

“No, you have to eat it from uncle Jin,” she insisted, making your eyes widen just a fraction. “It tastes better that way.” You then looked over Aera’s head at Jin, who was already looking at you. 

“Y/N-ah?” He said and you knew that he was asking if it was alright. You just shrugged, watching as he picked up another piece of meat from his plate and brought the chopsticks to your lips. You accepted it easily, chewing on it thoroughly as both Aera and Jin watched you.

“Good?” Jin smiled and you nodded before swallowing. 

“Really good,” you replied, and you swore that you could see his ears get red as he looked away from you. The rest of the dinner passed in relative ease, filled with good conversation and you didn’t miss how well Yoongi and Taehyung seemed to be getting along with Jin’s friends. You were grateful for it because you knew that Aera loved all of them and it would’ve killed her if they didn’t like each other. Your daughter was nothing short of dramatic, but she got it honest. 

“Alright, I think it’s time to cut the birthday cake,” you announced once the dining table had been cleared and Aera’s eyes lit up. “Jin?”

“Happy birthday to you,” Jin began to sing as he carried the cake out of the kitchen and into the dining room, and everyone else joined in as well. 

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Aera, happy birthday to you,” everyone finished before clapping. You helped Aera stand up on her chair as Jin set the cake down on the table right in front of her.

“Make a wish Love,” you encouraged her and she nodded before shutting her eyes tightly. You all waited for a few seconds before she opened her eyes and then blew out her candles. Everyone in the room cheered loudly and you pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before moving forward to pull the candles out of the cake before any of the wax managed to drip down. 

“What did you wish for Aera?” Hoseok asked. 

“Yeah, anything cool?” Namjoon wondered.

“I can’t tell you uncle Hobi and uncle Joonie, it’s a secret!” She giggled. 

“But we’re your uncles, you can tell us,” Jimin tried to convince her but she shook her head firmly.

“Uncle Jinnie said that I can’t tell people, or else it won’t come true. Right?” She checked as she looked up at Jin and he nodded his head with a small smile.

“That’s right Little Heart,” he assured her before looking over at his friends. “So stop pressuring my baby.”

“It was just a question,” Namjoon chuckled. 

“Him and Y/N-ah sure know how to bite people’s heads off,” Yoongi grumbled and Jungkook snorted in agreement.

“Right?” He agreed. 

“Our friends are dramatic as hell,” you muttered to Jin.

“Tell me about it,” he whispered back, making you smile. You and Jin then made quick work of cutting into the cake and handing it out to everyone. Once you were done, you took a second to look around the room and you smiled at the sight. Your parents, Hae-il’s parents, and Jimin were talking to each other as they ate their cake, Aera was perched in Jin’s lap as he fed her cake and carried on a conversation with Namjoon and Yoongi at the same time, and Taehyung and Jungkook were carrying on a heated discussion about what the best video game was that came out in recent years.

Admittedly, you never imagined your daughter’s sixth birthday to look like this but as you looked around at all of the people that had shown up for your baby, it was the first time that you began to feel like just maybe, everything would turn out ok.

........................................

“Did you have fun today Love?” You asked Aera as you pulled back the covers to her bed, watching as she climbed inside before pulling the covers over her little body. It was about an hour after everyone had left, and you had managed to calm Aera down enough to get her in the bath and then into bed. 

“So much fun Mommy,” she exclaimed and you smiled.

“I’m glad to hear that,” you replied. 

“Mommy?” Aera called, and you could tell from the sudden softness of her voice that something was worrying her. 

“Yes?”

“Can I have a Daddy hug?” She asked and your heart dropped a little.

“Of course baby, come here,” you said as you opened your arms and it took less than a second for Aera to sit up and throw herself into your arms. It had been a while since she asked you to hug her the way that Hae-il used to, and you were kind of sad that she felt the need to ask again on her birthday. 

“I missed Daddy today,” she whispered and you sighed as you squoze her body gently, the same way that Hae-il used to. 

“I did too Love,” you admitted, pulling back and pressing a kiss to her forehead. 

“Is he still sending us love, like you told me?” She questioned and you didn’t hesitate to nod your head. 

“Of course. He always is,” you promised her. 

“Ok,” she said and she seemed to feel a little better at your reassurance. You helped her lay back down, tucking her in before brushing her baby hairs back away from her eyes.

“I love you Aera,” you whispered.

“I love you too Mommy,” she replied, and you gave her one last kiss before standing up and walking out of the room, making sure to leave her bedroom door cracked open just a little bit.

When you walked down the hall and back into the kitchen, you saw that Jin was still there, washing all of the dishes from dinner and dessert.

“Need some help?” You asked and Jin glanced over his shoulder, smiling gently when he saw you.

“Sure,” he said and you walked over to him, pulling up the sleeves of your shirt as he moved over to give you enough room to stand in front of the sink as well. He continued washing the dishes, handing them off to you for you to rinse and dry them before setting them down onto the counter.

Now that you finally had the quiet time to think (and Jin’s proximity to you wasn’t helping either), you began to think about this morning and what had almost happened between you and Jin. On one hand, you liked Jin. He was funny, he loved Aera almost as much as you did, and he was always there without being too overbearing. On the other hand though, you weren’t sure if you actually liked him because you were attracted to him, or because it had been 6 months since you even showed interest in a man or had one show interest in you.

Also, and what was the most glaring, he was your husband’s closest friend. Not only did you feel like you were betraying Hae-il, you also felt like it was way too soon for you to be trying to move on and if you did, what would that say to how you felt about Hae-il?

“I have no idea what I’m doing,” you confessed gently and Jin looked over at you with a raised brow. 

“About what?” 

“This, us,” you said and he made a soft noise of acknowledgement. 

“If it makes you feel better, I don’t either,” he replied and you looked over at him. “I genuinely just wanted to help you and Aera but yet here I am, developing feelings for my dead best friend’s wife.”

“It’s terrifying,” you muttered.

“It is,” he agreed easily. 

“I don’t want to use you Jin.”

“You’re not.”

“You don’t know that,” you shot back. 

“I know you’d never do that purposely, so I do know,” he replied. “I also know though, that you like me. You may not be sure why, but you do.”

“I do,” you admitted. Jin then pulled his hands out of the water, grabbing a dry towel and quickly drying his hands off before gently placing them on your face. 

“I’m willing to help you find out, if you want,” he offered and your eyes widened. 

“Jin, I don’t think I can,-” 

“I’m not asking you to marry me,” he chuckled. “I’m asking you to explore this attraction that we have between us, together. If it turns out that one or the both us are just attracted to the other because of what’s happened, then whatever. We’ll chock it up to grief and leave it at that.”

“And if it’s not just because of what’s happened?” You asked as you turned your body so that you were fully facing him. 

“Then we can be scared together and figure it out,” he smiled gently. You bit your lip as you thought about what he had said, and you realized that you did want to try and figure it out with him.

“We’ll go slow?” You questioned and Jin nodded instantly.

“As slow as you or I need to,” he promised. 

“What about Aera?” You asked suddenly.

“We don’t have to tell her right now, especially since we don’t know what’s going to happen,” he told you and you relaxed at his words. 

“Ok,” you finally relented.

“Ok?” He checked and you smiled lightly.

“Ok,” you repeated. 

“Ok,” he chuckled happily. 

“I have one request though,” you said and Jin shrugged.

“Anything.”

“Kiss me?” You asked shyly. “I know we just agreed to take things slow and everything but I’ve kind of been thinking about it since earlier and-”

“Hey,” he gently interrupted you. “You worry too much, you know that?”

“I can’t help -” you tried to excuse yourself but you were cut off by the feeling of Jin’s lips pressing against yours. You squeaked against his lips before relaxing against him and letting your eyes close, reaching out with your hands and gripping his shirt at the waist. After a few seconds, he pulled away and looked down at you, his eyes searching yours.

“Ok?” He checked in, and you slowly nodded your head as you opened your eyes to look at him.

“More than ok,” you smiled and when you thought about it, it really was ok.

[chaoticallysapphic]

the great trial part six

summary: This was meant to be the easy part. The part filled with brightness and love. The war was over and you had the love of your life all to yourself. No more Baatar, no more secrecy and no more lies. But with the calm comes the realization as all the adrenaline finally leaves you. Now you know, this is the hard part.

a/n: you can really tell I needed to be held while writing this. Thank you @medeliadracon​ for being the best editor/beta reader ever

word count: 7.9k

                               3. Tell your partner why you love them. 

Spring is near its end, the days have grown hotter as the sun beats down on the metal city. And with the end of spring comes a special day, your birthday. In the last few years, it was nothing big, Kuvira would usually promise you something great one day like an elegant necklace or first edition books. Those three birthdays spent with her felt strange and hollow. You knew each time she got so caught up in it all that she forgot. Two days before your last birthday you even heard Bolin remind her. 

And whilst she's no longer constantly busy with the task of uniting the Empire, you didn’t think she’d remember. You also didn’t expect the guests that arrived later that fateful day. 

When you wake up, feeling slightly excited about the day, you wake to an empty bed. At first, that familiar feeling of panic (smaller than any of the others before) tightens around your chest until your gaze drifts to the open door. The morning light shines through the sheer curtains you had installed in the living room and casts Kuvira in an angelic glow. 

Her dark hair has been braided, the style reminds you of the day you met. She’s sporting a pair of shorts and a large sleep shirt of yours (it used to be your dad's) along with a pair of the knitted socks you got for Winter Solstice. You bite your lip at the sight as your heart slowly begins to beat at its normal pace again. 

Slowly sitting up you stay in bed with the blankets covering your lower half as you grab her pillow and hug it. Your chin rests on top of it as you watch your lover make you breakfast. Even if she doesn’t remember, this is already better than your last three birthdays. 

You don’t know how long you sit there and dreamily watch her but you do know that when she finally catches your gaze, most of whatever she’s prepared has been set on a tray. “You're meant to be asleep,” she says in defeat. 

You bite your lip as your smile widens at her words. She grabs the glass of mango juice she was in the middle of filling when she finally felt your eyes drilling holes into her backside and places it on the tray with everything else. 

Kuvira grabs the metal tray by the handles and carefully walks over to your bed. You place her pillow down and scoot over until your back hits the headboard. You help her set the tray down, not wanting to stain the sheets if anything were to spill. Spirits, you want to cry, not because of anything bad, but simply because you can tell how much effort and time was put into the meal at hand. 

There’s a stack of apple pancakes with a cinnamon mixture drizzled on top, the pad of butter is half melted and you notice the little pitcher of syrup set beside it. There’s a small bowl of chopped fruit along with a few pieces of perfectly cooked crispy bacon. “I wanted to surprise you.” 

Gulping you look into her eyes and say “you surprised me.” Slowly, afraid of knocking over the tray you pull her close so you can softly kiss her. Your hand is on her shoulder as hers are holding her up on either side of your legs. She’s leaning over the tray as she kisses you back with such gentleness that it makes your heart clench at the love you're currently feeling. 

Kuvira reluctantly pulls away, ever since that night a month ago that ended with you sobbing she’s tried to keep either of you from getting carried away. She wants you so bad, but it’s not time, and she won’t risk the delicate balance that the two of you have recently found. 

“Happy birthday.” Tears well up at her words as you let out a wet chuckle. Every little problem has momentarily vanished in this sweet moment. She reaches her hand up to gently wipe at the tears, if not for your smile she’d be worried that you were upset. 

“Thank you….” You look down at the meal before you as you pick up the fork laid out on a napkin. “This looks amazing, Kuvira.” 

You eat in peaceful silence and Kuvira moves around so she’s sitting beside you and has her chin resting on your shoulder with her arms wrapped around you, your back pressed against her chest. The pancakes are heavenly and you thank whatever force compelled Kuvira to start cooking because this is the best thing you’ve ever eaten. 

“Do you want a bite?” You cut a piece off for her and lift your fork. She shakes her head. 

“It’s for you.” 

“But have you eaten anything yet?” 

“No, but I’ll eat something after.” You raise your fork to her lips anyways, and she sighs before opening her mouth. It’s weird feeding her but you kind of like it, once she bites the piece off you lower the fork you watch her reaction. You smirk when she groans at the taste and before you know it she’s reaching for your fork again. “Hey wait!” 

“That’s amazing and I made it, so I deserve more!” 

“It’s my birthday breakfast!” You're both grinning from ear to ear as she tries to take the fork from you. There’s a dip in the bed as you both continue to struggle over it, she’s beginning to win and there’s this smug look on her features. 

Suddenly her eyes widen as she looks behind you but before either of you can stop whatever it is she sees the sound of Lily gobbling said pancakes up fills the room. Turning slightly so you’re no longer facing Kuvira you see that the plate has been licked clean as Lily stares at you both, her tail viciously wagging back and forth. 

“Well it looks like neither of us is gonna eat them,” you say, it’s still for a moment before you laugh and Kuvira joins you. Perhaps some other day you would have scolded her but right now you're too happy to care. 

You split the bowl of fruit and bacon between the two of you and make Lily lay on the ground to keep her from stealing anything else. Her long snout is raised in the air as she sniffs the bacon that you feed Kuvira.

“What do you want to do today?” She leans back a bit and loosens her hold around your waist. You bite your lip as you try to think something up, growing up your parents would make a picnic and take you across the street to your favorite place on earth where you’d eat amongst the flowers and spend the day basking in the sun. 

Unfortunately with your house arrest that isn’t possible. Someday you’d like to spend it that way again but with Kuvira there as well and Lily napping in the sun beside you all. But today, after everything, you just want it to be as peaceful and relaxing as it possibly can. 

“I just wanna listen to the radio and cuddle you.” Kuvira warms at your words, that’s a plan she can get behind. So you both force yourselves out of bed and place the tray in the kitchen. You turn the radio on as Kuvira lays down on the couch, turning the dial so the volume is lowered a few notches you climb onto the couch and lay between her legs. Resting your head on her chest, you sigh happily when her arms wrap around you. 

The afternoon is peaceful and sometimes one of you breaks the silence to say something in hushed voices. The windows and garden door are open, which allows a cool breeze to flow through the room and graze your skin. You're just about to fall asleep when someone repeatedly knocks on your door. 

“The fuck?” Kuvira groans out. She had fallen asleep some time ago and is being rudely awoken to the knocking. Your parents aren��t meant to come over until dinner time like Kuvira and your father planned, and from what she can tell it’s only midday. 

Reluctantly you extract yourself from Kuvira’s hold and head over to the front door, by now the knocking has thankfully stopped. Sleepily rubbing your eye with one hand and you open the door with the other. Once the person on the other side catches who is greeting him he pulls you into a hug so tight it causes you to wheeze. 

“Happy birthday!” Bolin lets go of you, causing you to stumble back two steps. Kuvira’s eyes widen as she sits up and watches him place his hands on your shoulders with a grin. “You’re one year older!” 

“You… Remembered?” Your brows are raised in surprise as you notice the large gift bag behind him on the floor. Meanwhile, Kuvira is debating going to hide away in your room, not because she’s scared of Bolin but because this is your day and last time they spoke he didn’t hold back his hatred for her. 

“Of course, how could I forget one of my best friends' birthdays?” You step aside to let him in, so he grabs the bag and makes himself at home by placing it on your coffee table. Kuvira stands so she can swiftly excuse herself but stops when Bolin sends a forced smile her way. “I thought I’d come to visit Zaofu and see you, plus I missed Opal.” 

“How is she?” You’re not a massive fan of Opal ever since Kuvira told you about how she acted during her brief time away, but you know she means the world to Bolin just as Kuvira does to you. You walk over to Kuvira as you notice her eyeing the bedroom door and snuggle into her side, wrapping an arm around her waist. 

Bolin seems surprised at the open display, to be fair he found out about the two of you right before he escaped and has never witnessed the two of you share so much as a hug. “She’s doing pretty good, she’s really happy to have her family all back together again.” 

You know that’s a slight dig at Kuvira but try to ignore it, at some point you’ll pull him aside and ask him to ease up on her, for you. “Are you… Do you wanna stay for lunch?” 

To be honest the both of you probably would have slept through lunch but with the arrival of Bolin you may as well eat, three bites of pancakes with some bacon and fruit doesn’t last as long as one would think.

“Totally! We have so much catching up to do anyway.” You help Kuvira heat up some of last night's dinner along with sprucing it up with spices and some homemade bread that she made the other day. Bolin sits at the table and watches the two of you move throughout the kitchen peacefully. 

You both are so used to this that by now you know when to hand the other a utensil or keep from bumping into each other while moving around. He never thought he’d see the great uniter in a kitchen, especially in pajamas no less. Kuvira’s hair is a bit of a mess from the nap and is half out of her braid, not that she notices and you're wearing her white tank top with light blue pajama shorts. Both of you are sporting socks and are the picture of domesticity. 

He notices how healthy you look. Those years on the train were slowly killing you, your lack of appetite and resigned demeanor had made you gradually disappear, it seems like he watched your soul float out of your body sometime after the engagement.

But now you’ve gained back the weight you lost, your cheeks are full again, hair shiny and you’re… Smiling. He’s seen you smile a lot, but he realizes now they must have all been fake because this one is so obviously genuine and nothing like the others. When Kuvira passes by you, a hand grazing your back to let you know of her presence you peek at her with a look so full of love. He wonders if Kuvira knows just how much you love her. It must be a lot by the way you seem so relaxed beside her. 

Lily trots in from the garden where she was most likely barking at anyone passing by and immediately decides that she must sniff this new person. She shoves her cold snout against his arm and Bolin jumps in shock, a yelp escaping him. 

Both of you look up at the sound and when you see Lily inspecting Bolin you snort. “That’s Lily,” you begin to plate the now warm kebabs while Kuvira scoops the Papaya salad into three bowls. “She likes if you rub the backs of her ears.” 

“You got a dog?” Bolin eyes the two of you, more so Kuvira than you. Kuvira has a dog? He must be having some kind of fever dream because nothing seems correct right now. 

“Yes…” That’s the first thing Kuvira has said to Bolin since he stepped through that door. To be fair her heart is pounding as she waits to see his response. You mean too much to her to mess up right now. She can’t ruin another one of your birthdays by starting a fight with your best friend. 

“Well, that’s cool! Y’know I might need to use Lily as an excuse to get one myself, but maybe a smaller one because I’m not home a lot and I could carry a small one around. I don’t think I told you but I work for Zhu Li now.” You bring the plates over to the table and help Kuvira with the bowls. 

The last of Bolin’s words perplexes you. For the most part, you’ve been sheltered from the outside world and its news since the hospital. The last you heard about Zhu Li was her marriage to Varrick. 

She sent you a letter letting you know and saying she wished you could have made it, but she understood that you couldn’t. “What do you mean? She isn’t Varrick's assistant anymore?” 

“Oh wow you’ve really-” Bolin takes a bite of his kebab and his eyes widen at the explosion of flavor in that one bite of meat, “been left out of the loop huh? Also, this is really good.” 

“Thanks,” Kuvira says softly. Another shocker for poor Bolin, she made this? What other weird things has she been getting up to ever since she tried to enslave them? 

“Well,” Bolin brushes off Kuvira’s words, and you sigh to yourself. “Zhu Li ran for president of Republic City and won.” 

“What?!” Your eyes widen, you drop your fork back into your bowl and stare at Bolin. “Really?” 

“Yeah, and she’s ten times better than Raiko. I’m… Well, I guess I’m her assistant now, so I don’t really have much time for myself anymore, but it’s a fulfilling job.” 

You reach under the table and search for Kuvira’s hand. Your fingers brush against hers before wrapping them around hers and softly squeezing. You know she must be uncomfortable right and you’re so grateful. This can’t be easy for her.

“How did you manage to sneak away to Zaofu then?” 

“Oh she gave me the time off when she heard it was your birthday, even gave me a gift to give to you from her and Varrick.” Oh wow, if it’s from the both of them it will probably be something fancy, but knowing Zhu Li it won’t be too over the top whereas if Varrick was in control of it you’d probably have something that could be seen from a mile away. 

“I hope I can see her again sometime, Varrick too.” 

“I’m sure if you ask she’ll find some time off. You mean a lot to her after everything.” After helping her escape, is what he doesn’t say but it’s what everyone knows. Escape from Kuvira. 

“So what are they like as a couple? It shocked me when I got that letter.” And so Bolin goes on one of his tangents about everything regarding the couple. 

Apparently, they both knew about their soulmate bond from day one but Varrick had assumed it’d be one of those rare cases where the love they felt was platonic instead of romantic. But he was just shoving his feelings for her aside, and she had assumed it was platonic as well seeing as he was her boss. 

Little did either know how wrong they were and spent all of those years together slowly, inch by inch, falling in love with one another. It’s actually kind of romantic, they were if anything, friends before lovers. Sometimes you wonder if that's how it should be. 

After everything you feel like just jumping into a relationship with someone you don’t know because of words on your skin seems a bit hasty and rushed. To become friends first, to slowly get to know another allows them to learn if they are right for each other. 

Just because the universe has chosen you as soulmates doesn’t mean you have to date them, many people, those who don’t feel romantic attraction towards others, form deep friendships with their soulmate. And others leave their soulmate because, even though their bond is deeper, the other may still be bad for them. You wonder if you would have left Kuvira if you weren’t so stubborn.

You understand that at times the universe doesn’t choose correctly but you think it did for you. Perhaps at first, she wasn’t good for you but the woman she’s grown into these last few months (almost a year) is thoughtful, caring, and handles you with the utmost gentleness as if you're porcelain. It’s a transformation unlike any other. After that first kiss, it was almost always rough and fast, you had gone further into the physical aspects of your relationship far before you even knew the basics about each other. She was all-consuming in a way that slowly sucked the life out of you but now she’s slowly filling you back up and replacing the cracked pieces of your heart. Pieces she broke. 

“I’m so happy for them, I know Zhu Li seemed worried about Varrick’s reaction to her return,” you reply after he’s done regaling you of everything regarding the couple. It makes sense now that you think about it. 

You think back to the day you helped her escape as you handed her the battle plans for Republic City and how you asked her if you thought a soulmate could forgive the other over a great betrayal. 

“Do you think, what with the deeper bond and all, someone can forgive their soulmate if they betray them?”

“I hope so.” 

Whilst you were panicking over Kuvira, she was probably panicking over Varrick. Then you think about now, about the therapy sessions and the months of not talking, of not touching. The fighting and tears. There wasn’t much for Kuvira to forgive but there was so much for you to forgive. How do you answer your own question when you still aren’t so sure? 

“Oh, the trip back to Republic City whipped him into shape, it made him realize how much he loved her.” By now you’ve all finished your food and Kuvira gets up to collect all the plates. When she passes by you gently grab her wrist to slowly pull her down and leave a quick peck on her cheek. 

She can’t help the slight flush that dusts her cheeks as she stands back up after the kiss and heads to the sink. You just want to try and let her know how much you appreciate her right now, how you see the work she’s putting in. 

Bolin gets up at the display and heads over to the coffee table where he left the big, dark blue bag. He brings it over to you and sets it down on the table with an excited grin. 

“Okay, so this-” he pulls out a perfectly wrapped medium-sized box, “is from Zhu Li. I thought you could open it first and then open mine.” 

He's like an over-excited toddler as he sits down beside you. Kuvira watches from the kitchen as you tear into the wrapping paper, it falls to the floor in small heaps that she knows Lily will try to chew. 

You rip off the last piece of paper to find a black box staring back at you, sliding it onto the table you gently pull the lid off. The first thing that catches your eye is a thin metal bookmark that resembles a flower with its stem. There're words engraved onto the side that read ‘Bravery is often found in the quiet ones’. 

You think back on last year, it was a terrifying time but the two of you, the quiet ones, were braver than anyone could imagine when it came down to it. That night helping her escape made you feel like a hero in a novel, well up until the adrenaline wore off on the ride back to Zaofu. 

Together you took out a general and six guards. She destroyed the mecha suits and you destroyed the weapons. At the moment you didn’t think of yourself as brave or courageous. You were simply trying to right the wrongs of your past, trying to finally be the person you hoped to be. 

Biting your lip to keep from crying you lift the bookmark to show Kuvira “now you can stop yelling at me about our books.” 

“You practically mutilate them with that awful dog-earring,” she retorts. She can see the glisten in your eyes, but she’s too far away to see the words engraved. Kuvira doesn’t comment on it as you blink a few times to wash them away before carefully setting the bookmark onto the table. 

Pulling your gaze away from the bookmark you look towards the box to see what else is inside. There’s something wrapped up in silver tissue paper so you swiftly pull it off and are met with a sight that has you giggling. In your hands is a book titled ‘Communication for Dummies’. There’s a card that slips out of it, it’s small and white, and when you open it up you're met with Zhu Li’s neat handwriting. 

The bookmark is to help remind you of your success, 

The book is to hopefully help you find peace. 

I miss you and hope you’re having a very happy birthday. 

Thank you for everything, 

Zhu Li Moon.

You gently place the card on top of the book and put all three items back into the small black box before placing the lid back on. By now Kuvira has walked over to help you pick up the wrapping paper, which you pull yourself away from the box to do. When you hand her the fist full of paper in your hand, Bolin slides the bag your way. 

“I can’t wait to see your reaction,” he places his chin in his hands as he leans forward in his seat. He’s practically vibrating with excitement so to help calm him down you happily open up the bag and pull out all the tissue paper he stuffed inside. 

Your fingers graze across the smooth fabric and you gently grip the material to pull it out of the bag. In your hand is a mint green halter top made of stretchy fabric, with furrowed brows you pull out the other item inside that’s a pair of matching mint green pants made of the same material. 

“For when you start dancing again,” Bolin happily explains. You look down at the clothes, before you’d always just wear a tank top and sweatpants like most of the girls there but some of them, the ones who had been doing it most of their life had special outfits for practice. “I thought the best dancer I know should have something to practice in.” 

“Bolin…” You want to remind him that you aren’t a dancer and haven’t practiced with a teacher in four years. Looking at the top in one hand and pants in the other reminds you of that first day sparring with him on the train, how he believed in you and your dream. 

“There’s one more thing in there.” You bite your lip and gently set the clothes down, at the bottom of the bag is a silver shoebox. Using both of your hands you carefully pull the box out of the bag and set it on the table, Bolin sets the bag on the floor for you and watches as you carefully lift the lid. 

Inside is probably the nicest pair of dance shoes you’ve ever seen. Made of soft black leather with laces down the center they have a strong grip on the soles and you run your hand over the bottom of them before looking back up at Bolin. 

“The lady at the shop said those are best for the flying stuff, that’s what you wanna do right?” 

Flying stuff, a wet laugh leaves your lips as you vigorously nod. Unshed tears glisten in your eyes as you think about how sentimental this all is. For the last few years, you’ve felt forgotten and unimportant, like if the wind finally carried you away no one would notice. Today feels slightly overwhelming all of a sudden as your grip on the shoes tightens. 

“Are they not the right kind?” Bolin’s voice drips with concern and all you can do is shake your head as you try to calm yourself down. A few tears trickle out from the corners of your eyes and you let out a deep, shaky sigh. 

“No these are perfect, thank you.” He stands from his chair and pulls you into his arms, the shoes get squished between the two of you but you don’t care. Neither of you notice as Kuvira slips into the bedroom, this feels deeply private. She suddenly feels like an intruder in her own home and sits cross-legged on the bed with her sketchbook in front of her as she waits for him to leave. 

When Bolin pulls away from you, he notices the absences of your lover and lets out a sigh of relief, sitting back down in the chair he helps you put all the gifts back in the bag for now. 

“Are you happy, Y/n?” 

“Huh?” You furrow your brows as you wipe away the last of your tears, you feel slightly silly for crying but you know he doesn’t mind. He witnessed you cry a lot on the train. 

“I mean it’s not like before? You’re happy, and she’s finally treating you right?” Oh. You think back on the times you’d start to cry during sparring sessions, he’d always ask if you wanted to stop but you’d simply press on. It felt better to punch away the tears than wallow in them. 

It is better, you think. You’ve known for some time that you both have made vast improvements and it makes you so happy to know that your relationship won’t remain such a toxic void, slowly sucking the life out of you. There was still so much left to do though. 

“I am and…” you smile, “she is. She’s been really amazing these last few months.” Bolin feels a sense of relief in your words. You were like a sister to him and it made him feel so much better to be returning to Republic City knowing you were alright. 

“Y’know I expect you to start writing to me, I can’t just come up to Zaofu every few months to make sure you're still alive.” 

You laugh at that. Grinning you playfully let out a dramatic sigh “I guess I can fit that into my busy schedule.” Both of you talk for a while, he tells you more about his job and you inform him of the thrilling development of your plants which has him laughing with how hard you try to make it sound interesting. 

Eventually, though he has to go. Apparently, he and Opal have a dinner date that he has to go get gussied up for. When you lead him to the front door he pulls you into a tight hug just like the last one, only this time, you’re able to wrap your arms around him too. You stand like that for a minute before he finally pulls away from you, opening the door for himself he looks at you one last time. 

“If you ever need someone, I’ll come as fast as I can, okay?” You nod, to be honest, you had momentarily forgotten about how much Bolin cared for you. It's comforting to know he still cares about you after this year apart during which you’ve stayed with someone he hates. 

“I know, thank you, Bolin.” He offers you one last smile before leaving, the door softly shuts behind him, and once more it’s simply the three of you in the apartment. Lily is napping on the couch and the bedroom door is shut, you know Kuvira snuck off at some point so you leisurely walk over. Upon opening the door you find her sitting at the center of the bed, hunched over with her charcoal pencil in hand. 

“Hey,” you lean against the doorway with your arms comfortably crossed over your chest. She looks up from her sketchbook at the sound of your voice, a soft smile creeps its way onto her lips. “How’s the sketch going?” 

“I’m almost done, ‘started working on it yesterday, so I’m mainly shading right now.” She sets the pencil down and pushes some loose strands of hair behind her ear. “How was your time with him?” 

You slowly walk over and climb onto the bed, you steer clear of the book and make sure not to look down at it as you sit beside Kuvira. Your fingers run through her hair, from her nap most of it is out of the braid and she hasn’t tried to fix it. You love her like this, when she looks so relaxed and happy. “It was nice, we mainly just chatted about our lives since we last saw each other. I missed talking to him.” 

“Those were some nice things you got.” Kuvira looks down at her sketchbook and picks up the pencil to twirl between her fingers.  

“They were, I wasn’t expecting that though.” 

Kuvira sighs, raking a hand through her hair she looks at you out of the corner of her eye. “I’m sorry I can’t get something like that for you today.” Or have ever given you something like that, she thinks in a self-deprecating manner. 

She thinks of all the empty promises on all your other birthdays, the way she’d mention one day showering you in jewelry once it was all over. You’d always tell her you didn’t need fine jewels, just her, but she still feels like a bad girlfriend for not having all of that and more to hand to you on a silver platter. 

“Kuvira…” You inch closer to her until your knees are touching the side of her leg, one of your hands helps tilt her head towards you so you can look into her eyes. “You could hand me a wilted flower and I’d love it.” 

She rolls her eyes at your words, but you pull her face closer until your noses are touching. “I’m serious, I’m really happy with how today has gone, I don’t need anything. All I want is to spend the rest of the day relaxing with you.” 

“I do have something…” She replies softly. You tilt your head in question and watch as she slowly extracts herself from your hold before moving over to her nightstand. She fishes a stack of papers out of her drawer, with her back turned to you, she rearranges them and makes sure none of them have been bent or smudged. 

Kuvira is nervous, which shocks her because she’s never really been nervous. The few times she has, she realizes it’s been about you. With a final exhale Kuvira turns around and sits in front of you. Your knees are touching, you can’t see what's on the papers as she holds them close to her chest. 

“It isn’t a ruby necklace or golden ring but…” Kuvira thickly swallows as she slowly lowers the papers, you bring your hands up to carefully take them from her. “It’s all I have to give to you.” 

A gasp escapes you at the sight before you, the first paper is of a panda lily, the lines are uniformed and perfected, there’s not a single flaw in sight, not even the shading is shoddy. “These are from the past couple of months, it starts with my first few drawings and ends with the more recent ones.” You’ve never heard her sound so nervous before. She tucks her hands between her thighs, her whole body tense as she watches you silently inspect the first drawing. 

Biting your lip you carefully set the first drawing down, afraid of ripping it. The next three are all of different kinds of flowers, you realize they are flowers your dad often brings over to the house. Each one is as perfect as the last, these can’t be her first few because this looks amazing, then again it seems everything Kuvira does is amazing. 

The fifth one is a bit different, it’s of you, sort of. You can tell she had a harder time with this one, instead of having the sharp defining lines and perfect strokes it’s a bit softer, you can see some smudge marks around the hair but it’s still you. You’re looking down with your hair pushed behind your ears, it’s a side profile. 

“That’s not the best of them,” she admits. You shake your head, delicately as if scared you’ll break it your fingers graze across it. 

“I love it.” The lump in your throat slowly grows as you sift through the stack. Slowly it’s less perfect, less inanimate and lifeless, and rawer. There’s a drawing of Lily on her back with her tail wagging that you know you’ll have to frame. 

There’s one of your parents, it looks like something similar to Winter Solstice as they sit next to each other with glasses of wine in their hands. Your dad has his arm slung over your mom's shoulder as both are laughing. There are finger smudges on the corner of it and you can see the happiness in their expressions. 

Next is you and your father filling dumplings, he’s staring down at you. You're grinning from ear to ear as you stare at the half pinched dumpling in your hands. 

Then it’s you and Lily with her sitting on your lap, your arms are wrapped around her body with your eyes close, head resting against hers. The drawing makes you feel cozy and loved like you're experiencing the moment she captured on the piece of paper. 

There’s two left. The second to last one stuns you, your grips on the papers tighten just a fraction as you stare at yourself sleeping. Your hair is sprawled across the pillow, you have a hand tucked under your head with the other outstretched, most likely trying to reach for her. There’s this content look on your face, a slight smile and a scrunch of the nose. Your shirt has ridden up and bunched just under your breasts, the curve of your body on display as the blanket rests at your hips. 

“When did-” 

“Three weeks ago.” 

You nod, wetting your lips, you feel tears well up in your eyes, you can’t tear your gaze away from the drawing. Your heart swells with love for this talented woman sitting across from you. Is this what you look like in your sleep? Is this what Kuvira sees when she wakes up in the morning? 

“You just looked so peaceful,” she admits anxiously. She keeps looking at you and then the paper, there’s one left, it’s recent but it’s different from the rest. This is based on an old memory, and she doesn’t know what you’ll think of it, 

“It’s beautiful,” you breathe out, your voice shaky. This is too intimate to frame, you’ll have to get some kind of book or folder to hold this and any future ones for safekeeping. You aggressively wipe at your eyes, afraid of the tears dripping onto the paper. Carefully Kuvira extracts her hands from her thighs and brings them up to pull your hands away from your eyes, gently she wipes the tears away for you. “Sorry.” 

“It’s okay, you’re not sad right?” You shake your head in her hands, and she lets out a sigh of relief. “Well, there’s one left.” 

Thickly swallowing you nod before cautiously setting that drawing on top of the rest. Her hands move to run through your hair as you look down at the last one. You still in her hold at the image in front of you. Unlike the rest, which are clearly drawn from memory in house arrest, this one goes far back. It’s something you haven’t thought about in years, it’s of you dancing in the studio with the metal flower underneath you, petals open to reveal you mid twirl. 

You look different, younger, and stress-free with a determined expression. You vaguely remember doing this, it wasn’t part of the routine but something you sometimes did when you thought you were alone. Clearly, at some point, you weren’t as discreet as you thought with your private practices. 

Eager as ever you’d come to the studio an hour early sometimes to warm up before everyone else slowly trickled in. You’d run through the stretches Suyin taught you then practice any moves you felt insecure about, which was honestly all of them. The metal flower makes you flush as you remember your night with Kuvira, you wonder if you’ll ever be able to look at it without feeling slightly scandalized. 

That was your first time, first kiss too. It was overwhelming but also so perfect, she cradled you between her hands like you were a delicate spring flower and watched you come undone so many times before deciding to show you how to pleasure her. You were exhausted when you both finally collapsed in a tangled heap and finally knew why everyone seemed obsessed with sex. 

“Y/n?” This time tears do fall onto the paper and you mentally scold yourself, you offer a weak smile as you let her wipe away the tears. 

“These,” you place one hand on top of the pile, your other delicately holding the last drawing, “are the best gifts I have ever received.” They beat everything you could ever think of. These are things you’ll hold onto for the rest of your life and will show your grandkids. 

You’ll cherish them for the rest of your life, even the less personal ones because it’s something she made, something she deemed beautiful enough to share with you. 

Kuvira doesn’t believe you. She’s sure your parents have spoiled you with amazing gifts growing up and can’t help but believe these drawings to be some kind of a cheap cop-out. But that smile of yours as you continue to softly cry has that self-deprecating voice quieting down. 

“I wanted to talk to you about something, it’s one of the things on Dr. Hanika’s list.” 

You hum in acknowledgment of her words as you pick up the stack from the bed and carefully clutch them to your chest. It seems stupid but these drawings make you feel more loved than you’ve ever felt before. 

“I know you can’t say it to me yet and I don’t want to pressure you.” I do wish you’d say it back, she thinks. “But I wanted to tell you some reasons I love you.” 

Your eyes widen in surprise at her words, but she presses on. “I know we’ve had a rough start and I know I’m to blame for it but I do mean it when I say it to you. Because…” she takes a deep breath, “you are so sweet and caring, you treat everyone kindly but aren’t afraid to fight back when necessary. I watched you stand up for what you believed in last year and you did it so fiercely, without a doubt in your mind it seemed.” 

“You take care of those plants like they are newborn babies, so delicately that at one point in time I was jealous of the attention you gave them,” you can’t help but giggle at that, and she smiles. ”I used to get so excited when I thought about you growing up, I wondered what you’d be like, would you love me back? And then when I was sent here I gave up on the idea. It didn’t seem like I was meant to be loved by someone like that.” 

You move one of your hands away from the stack of papers and gently cup her cheek, she leans into your touch. Her heart swells when she feels your thumb gently graze her cheekbone. 

“I didn’t make anything easy and I think that was partly because I believed you were too good for me. I felt like a fraud at times but you’d always pull me out of my thoughts.” 

“You’re the only person who can do that. I think I’ve remained sane for so long because of you and I know if you weren’t there I would have gone through with my plan. I don’t know what would have happened but I know it wouldn’t have been anything good.” 

She wets her lips. “I love you even though you over-salt your food, even if you snore into my ear at night.-” You flush in embarrassment, your face tilting down, but she needs to look into your eyes for this, they help calm her. So she gently places her finger under your chins and lifts your head back up.

“You might be a bit messy or destroy our books, turn the music up too loud at times or drag mud through the kitchen but those are the kinds of things that make you who you are. Even if they drive me up the wall at times I still love them because you wouldn’t be the woman you are if you didn’t…. Take up most of the couch when we’re sitting together.” 

You can’t help how nice it feels to stretch your legs out, you think. By now there is a stream of tears racing down your cheeks and dripping off your chin. 

“I love you because for some reason, despite me pushing you away all those years you’ve stayed. Everyone else ran away when it got tough but you didn’t even though you should have.”

“I don’t think I’ve mentioned how grateful I am that you’re giving me a second chance and I hope you know that I really am trying. Not because I want things to go back to the way they were or because I want specific things from you,” like sex,” but because I love you.” 

You can’t speak right away, that lump in your throat keeps you from forming any words as you continue to quietly cry. You know your face is probably red from crying and that you are such a mess. Reluctantly you set the stack of paper down to wipe away the tears. You take a deep breath to try and calm down, it works, sort of. 

“I know you can’t say it yet and that’s okay, but I wanted to tell you this and…'' one of Kuvira’s hands slid down to yours, she laced her fingers through yours and offered a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry for being a piece of shit for so long, and I’m sorry it’s taken me four years to give you a decent birthday.”

“It’s okay…” you choke out. 

“No it’s not,” she quickly replies. Kuvira knows how you don’t like to hurt other people’s feelings, including her own. Sometimes you’ll swallow your own feelings down for other people, she’s witnessed it far too many times. 

You guys sit like that for a few minutes while you calm down, spirits you’ll have to put a cold towel on your face after this. She breathes in time with you in hopes of helping you calm down, it helps as she exhales with you then inhales. You could have used this all those years ago during one of your breakdowns on the train. 

“I do…” love you, ”and one day I’m gonna say it back but right now just know that I do.” 

It’s all you can offer, your voice is scratchy since your throat hurts from crying so much and it makes you cringe a bit to hear. Kuvira nods, she understands. That selfish, impatient part of her is internally yelling to finally hear it again, but she squashes it down. 

The rest of the afternoon is spent in each other’s arms, you fall asleep at some point and awaken to Kuvira gently cupping your cheek. When she tells you your parents are in the living room it surprises you, she lets you slowly get dressed as she leaves the room to go back to cooking with your father. When you look in the floor-length mirror in the bedroom you let out a content sigh as you brush your hand over the sundress you’ve chosen. Your hair is a bit frizzy, but it’s nothing your parents haven’t seen. 

When you finally leave the bedroom your parents cheerfully greet you with bone-crushing hugs as they rejoice at your presence. Both of your parents immediately keep up the tradition by retelling the story of your birth which has Kuvira awkwardly staring at the cutting board as she tries to bite down a chuckle at the funny parts. 

Wine glasses are pulled out, bottles popped and when the food is finally ready you move to the dining room table. It’s loud and boisterous and very similar to Winter Solstice except now the topic is solely you. It has you blushing, your head in your hands as Kuvira gets to find out about all of your embarrassing toddler stories. 

“How old was she?” 

“Four.” 

“She was four when she got a toilet seat stuck around her neck.” Spirits, you gulp down some wine. You can’t be too mad though because Kuvira is laughing, there’s a massive grin on her face. She loves this and hopes your parents never run out of stories to tell her.

 As they begin to tell the story of your first day at school your eyes meet from across the table. Their voices slowly fade away as Kuvira offers you a loving smile that you easily return. 

One day you’ll say it back, it’ll just take a bit more time. And at this moment you have a hard time not mouthing the words to her, but you’re not ready. You won’t push yourself again, so instead, you simply enjoy this moment, this quiet bubble you’ve momentarily created.

Today has been so perfect, it feels like one of Kuvira’s drawings, like it can’t be real. If you blink it’ll be gone, so you simply enjoy the moment with all three of your favorite people surrounding you. 

She may have messed up your past birthdays, but today might just be the best day of your life and you didn’t even have to leave the house for it. All you can do is hope for more mornings spent laughing in each other's arms and days where you can simply be lazy, especially as a major change comes barreling towards you.

[artificialqueens]

Someone I Genuinely Love (Taywhora) - pureCAMP

A/N - I feel like a broken record but it must be said, I feel like I exclusively write for Ortega at this point and I am not mad at it, I love her more than I love myself. Here is a short little Taywhora for my favourite scottish queen <3

The night - er, morning - was a disaster.

To be honest, Tayce had seen it coming from a mile off, and she had warned Lawrence that inviting both A’Whora and Tia was going to be an absolute shitstorm. They just plain didn’t like each other, which was fine, but A’Whora had trouble holding her sharp tongue at the best of times, and mixing in a bucket-load of alcohol and a pretty cramped house, and you had a recipe for chaos.

(And, really? A house party? Were they still seventeen?)

Nevertheless, it was Lawrence’s birthday, and she called the shots, and she drank the shots, and she got to choose who came to her house to get unreasonably pissed into the wee hours of the morning.

Tia was there pretty early - or, at least, she was on time like most of them. She was stood in the kitchen with a Smirnoff Ice in her hand, happily chatting away to Ellie, wearing a dress that Tayce had complimented, if only to make some brief conversation. It was… passable, really, a half-decent outfit if she went that far, but nothing to write home about. Unfortunately, Tayce knew A’Whora was gonna hate it, and A’Whora with a loose tongue was almost certainly gonna make a comment about it.

The girl in question rocked up late and sloppy, as per her usual style. She stumbled through the front door and leant in the frame with a tipsy smile, plush lips painted pink and dabbed with glitter, eyelashes fluttering. Her skin-tight dress was fuchsia, bright, emphasising her soft tan thighs that the fabric rode up against and clinging to every inch of her. Once neat, her dark hair was messily piled on top of her head, falling tantalisingly in front of her face.

Tayce couldn’t help but feel relieved that she’d decided to come.

“The party can finally start!” A’Whora exclaimed, raising her drink in the air with a flourish and slamming the door behind her with her heel.

“It already started, ya lazy fuck!” Lawrence yelled from the back of the house. Tayce, standing at the bottom of the stairs and looking onto the front door, made eye contact with A’Whora and giggled at their friend.

“Isn’t she charming?” Tayce gestured towards the general vicinity of Lawrence’s voice.

A’Whora crept closer, her eyes wide and expectant. “Okay, listen. I saw Tia’s snapchat earlier. Tell me she got changed before coming out tonight.”

Here we go. Tayce bit her lip. “Aurora. A’Whora Borealis. You be nice.”

“I’m not trying to be rude or anything but she looks like a fucking Year Nine at her first party wearing a Pretty Little Thing dress that her mum chose for her. I mean, is she serious about it? Is it like a joke?” A’Whora covered her mouth with the side of her hand, her tone conspiratory and judgemental. 

Tayce rolled her eyes, both fond and irritated. “Whory, be nice. She clearly likes it, let her have fun. She’s not hurting anybody.”

“She’s hurting my eyes.” A’Whora rebuffed, pursing her lips. “Not like you, though. You’re a sight for sore eyes tonight.”

Internally she was pleased, but played it off smoothly. It wasn’t like Tayce had cleverly thought out her oversized blazer and thigh-high boots combo with A’Whora in mind, of course not. It wasn’t like she’d tailored her outfit hoping for a good response from her… friend? What even was A’Whora besides a hot girl she’d known forever who she spent 50% of her time blatantly flirting back and forth with and 50% of her time denying that she was doing it?

Lawrence burst through the corridor in a flourish of colour to greet A’Whora and groaned, fanning herself with her hand. “Fuck me, I am sweating.”

Tayce blinked. “It’s October. There’s no way you’re hot, in October, in Scotland.”

“Not from the heat, fuckin’ braindead supermodel. From the weight of the crushing sexual tension in this room.”

She looked pointedly between A’Whora and Tayce, neither of whom were particularly shocked by Lawrence’s openness, having grown used to it. However, in an embarrassingly same wavelength move, both girls cocked an eyebrow.

“Aye, I’m talking about you, pinchin’ your Botox lips at me Miss A’Whora the Explorer.”

A’Whora shook her head. “The cheek! Cheek of you to suggest that something’s going on here.”

“Not sure where you’re getting your sources from, but I’d consider leaving The Sun’s team out of your investigations,” Tayce added, A’Whora trying and failing to conceal her smile as Lawrence playfully whacked her arm.

“Get to fuck with those accusations. You carry on living out your little Gavin and Stacey storyline and I’ll go ask the Pope if he’s still shitting in the woods or if bears are still Catholic. Have fun ya fucking lesbians.”

As she disappeared back into the living room, where Bimini had started blasting something with a heavy, pulsing beat, A’Whora turned back to Tayce with an offended look on her face.

“Did that William Wallace wannabe just imply that I’d be the man in the relationship just because I’m English?” She asked, reeling backwards. “Fucking cheek!”

Tayce laughed. “Well, you don’t have legs like mine…” She trailed off, predicting A’Whora’s outburst.

“Hey! Listen, we’d be a great Naomi and Kim, so shut your beautiful face and stop seducing me with that gorgeous accent.” She paused for a second, thinking, and then blinked. “I mean Naomi Campbell and Kim Kardashian, I realise that sounded like something different…”

Tayce looped her arm through A’Whora’s and started trudging down the hallway, making their way into the living room with most of the others. “I love that you think you’re anything like a Kardashian, babe. The Kylie lips maybe, but you’re no Kim.”

As the music grew louder and louder in their eyes, Bimini wrapping a drunk sweaty arm around them both and bellowing something inaudible, Tayce leaned in close to A’Whora’s ear and added, “I’d much prefer what you’ve got to what Kim’s got.”

That was the game; cat and mouse, a game of chase and coy avoidance. After that, she slipped away to dance with Asttina, sipping on her drink and trying to hide her eagerness. The next move was A’Whora’s, as they both knew, and she could play it whenever she wanted.

It was after maybe another hour of drinking and gushing with her friends about how beautiful everyone looked and how drunk they all felt that Tayce realised the atmosphere in Lawrence’s living room was a little too kind. Nothing wrong with that, of course, and a house full of drunk girls was basically the club bathroom scenario elevated to an extreme level, but a kind atmosphere meant that A’Whora had clearly gone into another room. Not good.

Making to find her, Tayce got all the way to the doorway before Ellie and Lawrence stopped her to chat about whether or not it would be stupid to play spin the bottle (it would) and whether or not they should all do some more shots (they did). Then I Wanna Dance With Somebody started playing, and by the first “Woo!”, she’d totally forgotten about her earlier mission, and ran back inside screaming and grabbing at Asttina to dance with her. 

She had to give Lawrence some credit, because her playlist was incredible. Nothing but banger after banger after banger.

About half way through Good As Hell, Tayce became aware of what sounded like shouting, underwater and garbled and messy. Though she carried on grinding against Asttina and singing along to Lizzo’s affirmations, her head checked out a little as she tried to focus on the background voices over the blaring music. It proved to be quite the struggle, being as drunk as she was, but as it turned out, she didn’t need to pay too much attention, as she wasn’t the only one that had noticed.

By the time Tia was standing outraged in the living room doorway, all eyes were on her. She looked furious, cheeks red and eyes spilling over, her fists clenched and trembling.

Lawrence quietened the music.

“So, were you gonna tell me that you all think I look like shit or did you nominate A’Whora to be the nasty cunt she usually is?” She looked down at her dress, back up, and choked back a sob. “Fuck off, the lot of you.”

Immediately, half the room started to follow her with choruses of love, their words getting tangled in a web of you’re beautiful and she doesn’t speak for us and A’Whora’s just a bitch and I like it! 

The living room felt significantly emptier with just Lawrence, Ellie and Tayce in it, the three of them frozen staring at the doorway like they couldn’t believe it had finally kicked off. After a few moments, The 1975 now playing at an awkwardly low volume, A’Whora passed the living room, peered inside with brimming eyes, and broke into a run. 

Tayce followed her on instinct, leaving Lawrence and Ellie behind. Her heart sank as she rushed through the house; one part of her took in the group of girls gathered in the kitchen, their arms hooked over a crying Tia, their tongues slicing away at A’Whora’s character with every dirty look that they sent in the direction of the now wide-open front door. 

As bad as she felt for Tia, no one was going after A’Whora. And maybe that made sense, but Tayce had never cared too much about making sense - not when it came to her. 

Luckily, she didn’t have to go too far. A little way down Lawrence’s street, a familiar figure was sitting crumpled over on the curb, her face hidden in her hands, head leaning against the lamppost under which she was illuminated. Like an angel, Tayce thought. Like a sad, stupid angel. 

“Whory. What did you do, babe? I wanna hear it from you.”

A’Whora looked up. Flecks of black mascara stained around her eyes, the shadows beginning to smudge into the eyeliner from her tears, and her lip trembled. She lowered her head, prompting Tayce to sit down on the curb next to her, legs stretched out into the empty road. 

“I told her the dress was fucking ugly, because someone’s gotta do it. I was just trying to help but I know that was an asshole thing to say and I should’ve just kept my mouth shut.” 

Tayce blinked. She hadn’t expected the remorseful part of A’Whora’s answer, if she was being honest. She usually never gave in, never admitted defeat, proudly shrugged off any offence caused while Tayce tried to interject some kindness into her. It never worked, which she’d always found frustrating, but now it was unsettling that it had. 

“I mean, I’m right. She looks like the embodiment of the fucking kid’s section of a TK Maxx.”

Tayce kissed the side of her head, A’Whora responding by resting it on Tayce’s shoulder. “I thought she was the Year Nine girl in her mum’s choice of Pretty Little Thing dresses?” She teased gently. To her relief and simultaneous heartbreak, it received a short, wet laugh. 

“I didn’t expect her to - to rip into me like that. Like she did.” 

“What happened?”

“She stood up for herself. Which is good, right?” A’Whora sniffed. “She told me I’m a vapid self-absorbed little bitch, and that she can change her shitty fashion sense while I’ll be stuck with my fake face and dog shit personality for the rest of my life. And that at least our friends like her, ‘cause they barely tolerate me.”

Tayce squeezed her eyes shut and hugged her tighter. “You gotta understand she’s coming from a place of hurt, darling. I know you know this, but you have been pretty mean to her in the past.”

A’Whora nodded weakly, throwing up a peace sign. “Karma,” She sang, the humour in it betrayed by her wobbly voice. “I deserved it, but… I didn’t realise it would hurt this much. Especially because she’s right.”

“She’s not right,” Tayce cut in immediately, a little surprised by her own fierce defensiveness. “She was just angry and upset.”

A moment of silence fell as A’Whora lapsed into thought, her face still smushed into Tayce’s shoulder. She scuffed her shoes into the stones gathered at the edge of the curb, kicking them into the road and scraping her heels into the gritty dirt. As cold as the night was, Tayce could hardly feel it with A’Whora so close.

She laughed bitterly. “Tay, look at us. Do you see any of our other friends out here? No, they’re all telling Tia how much they love her. Because they do. And I’m the nasty fucking bully that won’t go away so they just put up with me until I give them a reason to talk shit.”

“That’s not true, Whory. Sure, we gotta work on controlling that lip of yours, but the girls still love you.” Tayce paused, and then peppered a few more kisses to the top of her head. “You may be a bitch, but you’re my bitch.”

“Kinky,” A’Whora giggled, softening into her side. “You still like me?”

“I always like you.” Tayce whispered. 

Above them, the orange street lamp flickered and turned off, casting them into darkness. A crescent moon shone just above them, partially covered by clouds, and the night was quiet. Tayce leaned back, pulling A’Whora with her, until both girls were laying down, half on the pavement and half into the road, their arms around one another and heads facing the sky. A lifetime or even a minute could’ve passed as they just watched the stars, endlessly fascinated by the tiny pinpricks of light, but when Tayce turned her head, it struck her that A’Whora’s eyes sparkled better than any night sky she’d ever seen.

“I should apologise to Tia.” A’Whora murmured.

“Tomorrow.” Their voices were barely above a whisper, something unspoken and sacred about maintaining the tranquility of the silent night. “Give her time to cool off.”

“And you promise you still like me?”

Her eyes were wide, hopeful. Their faces were so close it was no effort at all. It never was. 

Not with her.

The night - er, morning -  was a disaster, but A’Whora’s lips tasted like cherry gloss and her touch was soft and gentle, and maybe things didn’t always end badly. Maybe it would be okay as long as Tayce had A’Whora and A’Whora had Tayce. 

Maybe Lawrence fucking Chaney was right.

[ohmyitsfaith]

50 days of learning love/Part 2

Pairing: Five Hargreeves x Reader

Summary: You and Five try to get along, but now that Delores is in the picture too... well it’s harder.

Warnings: Language, slight angst and probably not accurate facts about the post-apocalyptic world.

Word count: 3k

A/N: Long again, but you guys seemed to enjoy the last one, so decided to write it as quickly as I could! Also happy birthday to our beautiful, amazing and talented baby boy, who’s now 17! Yay! Enjoy!

After surviving so many things together, you felt safer with Five. Sure, he could be an asshole, but like... understandable. Living in a post-apocalyptic world with literally no food other than bugs and not too much water... for five years... yes. It was awful. But being alone does weird things with the mind...

“Seriously, when will you stop talking with that mannequin and start talking to the one living thing in this world? Me!” you asked, slightly irritated when he didn’t do anything else than talking to that stupid thing he named ‘Delores’.

“Excuse me, but-” Five started, but you cut in.

“Yes, excuse you! Five, that mannequin doesn’t understand you, nor can it think!” you said. “You talked more to it, than you ever did to me! We spent 5 days together and the most you talked to me was when you were arguing with me.”

“Well, she’s my friend! And could you stop calling her ‘it’?” he looked at you.

“Sorry, she!” you said sarcastically. “She, is not alive! She, does not understand you! She, can’t be your friend, because she, is not alive!”

“Well, rude!”

“Me? Rude?! Come on Five, look in the mirror!”

“See, you’re arguing again!”

“Jesus, you know what? Keep talking to your ‘friend’. I’m gonna escape, before you drive me mad! Ugh!” you exclaimed, truly furious.

“What’s the point anyway? We’re stuck!” he shouted after you, but you just flipped him off. Asshole...

So you started walking, hoping to clear your mind. You knew you couldn’t go far, because the night was close and you needed to get back before its fall. You didn’t know where to go. Everything looked the same. There was only destruction wherever you looked. But at least you allowed your thoughts to calm down.

You spent the next few hours to just walk around, wondering why was Five the way he is. And why did you get so mad... But then you noticed, that the sun was going down. And you were too far from your place, that you wouldn’t get back in time.

“Better find a safe place...” you sighed and started on your journey for a place to sleep in.

You were scared. Without a doubt. Somehow after 5 days of having someone next to you made you forget how scary the night was. There was no moon to keep you light. The stars were there, but they weren’t as bright.

And so went the sixth day and night.

Waking up, you felt the hot sun on your skin. You slowly opened your eyes and sat up. Looking around in the apocalypse, you saw nothing. You sighed as you got up. You knew that you needed to get back to Five, but to be honest, you didn’t really remember where you came from. So after you got your stuff, you decided to go west. Maybe that was the right path...

Meanwhile, our dear Five was a mess. Guilt ate at him for chasing you, the only other human being, away. On the other hand, you insulted Delores, therefore you insulted him. But still... he was worried when you didn’t show up even after the sun went down. And he was even more nervous when you weren’t there when he woke up.

“Stupid! Why did they go?? Why did they not stay here? Now they’re probably lost... Tell me Delores, why??” he looked at the mannequin. “Of course it’s not my fault!” he grumbled. “Fine, maybe a bit. But still. They insulted you!” the mannequin stared back dumbly. “Well, it’s not my fault they got lost!” he got a bit angrier. “Delores, don’t start. You know that... fine. We’ll search for them” he sighed.

He put the mannequin into his trunk and then started on his journey to find you. Both of you walked for hours. Both in different paths, that would not cross the other if you went on it, straight, without turns. But you are humans, so you made occasional turns. So you were beyond happy when you saw the slim, dark haired boy coming towards you. You remembered, the conversation you had before you made your escape, but frankly, you didn’t really care. Until you saw the mannequin.

“You’re an idiot. You’re an idiot and kinda crazy” you started when you reached the boy.

“You’re also an idiot and crazy. But do you expect anything else after 5 years in the apocalypse while going trough puberty?” he asked, raising his eyebrow.

“You’re right” you nodded. “But you were an asshole.”

“Always have been. But I’d rather fight with you than be alone.” he said. “Well, with Delores.”

“Fine. But we have to make some rules” you put your pinkie up.

“You really expect me to make a pinky promise with you?” he asked, but you just looked at him seriously, so he sighed and intertwined his pinkie with yours.

“You have to swear, that you’ll talk to me not only Delores” you started.

“Oh, so now you’re going to refer to her by her name?” he smirked.

“Five!”

“Fine, I swear. You have to swear not to go full crazy lady on me” he added.

“Deal” you sighed and you both put down your pinkies. “Now that that’s out of the way, we’ll need to go back.”

Five nodded as a sign that he agrees. As you headed back, he started a conversation, which surprised you.

“Tomorrow we’ll need to move.”

“Has it been a week already?” you asked, furrowing your brows.

“Yeah and we should move to another side of the town” he nodded.

“Okay, cool. At least we won’t die of boredom” you sighed.

“I’m not so sure about it” he rolled his eyes. “It’s been five years, without any kind of activity that we were used to.”

“Okay, but like now we have each other! We can play games that we did when we were young.”

“I didn’t play games. We were training and learning every day. We had half hours to spend with games on Saturdays” he told you.

“Wait, really?” you turned to him. “That’s horrible!”

“Yeah, well, when you’re part of the Umbrella Academy that’s what you get” he sighed.

“Well, then I’ll teach you some! I know a bunch!” you smiled at him.

“Y/n, no offence, but I really don’t want to. I just really want to get out of here and for that, I need to work on the equation.”

“Fine” you sighed.

For the rest of the walk, you stayed quiet. And you stayed quiet when you arrived back, and while he worked. It was kinda a quiet day. But as you went to sleep, you both wished the other a good night.

And so went the seventh day and night.

The eighth day came and went with you guys just walking to find a safe spot to spend the next seven days. Or fourteen. Depends.

Five was mostly talking to Delores or just staring ahead, while you were in silence, kinda amused when he was having an argument with Delores. Or... well himself. Being alone does strange things to the mind. Although you can’t really blame him, since all those years alone had its toll on you too. Just in a different way.

“Hey, Five?” you called the boy’s name.

“Hm?” he looked at you.

“You ever thought about the fact that there could be others, still alive?” you asked.

“Yeah, kind of, I guess. But after five years, I was losing hope. Then you came along” he said, thinking.

“Yeah. Same here. But now that I met you... what if there are? What if there are people like you. I mean with power” you said.

“I don’t know. It’s a possibility” he shrugged.

You nodded, then went back to being silent. You were in deep thought and Five was the one who pulled you out of it, when he literally pulled you aside.

“Watch you step!” he said.

You looked back to the place you were walking and you saw a hole in the ground.

“Thanks” you looked at him.

Five nodded, but watched you for a bit, in thought. But then he shrugged and let it go. As you continued on your way to find a place, the sun was climbing up its way to the top and soon, you were left with extreme warmth. But it wasn’t exactly only warmth. Some weird cold stuff came too. Like the wind, but it wasn’t that.

You looked around the sky, but saw nothing. Five noticed it too, but he quickly realized what it was.

“A storm is coming” he said.

“Oh, okay” you nodded. “It’s been a while since one was here.”

“Yeah. Well at least it’ll freshen the air and also gave us some water. Hopefully” he agreed.

“Hopefully” you sighed.

For hours you walked in silence, but by the time, the sun was beginning to lower, you noticed the dark clouds as well. From then, the storm came quicker than expected as the winds picked up. You both knew that you need to hurry when you saw the first lightning strike. So you were looking for a place more desperately. But you weren’t quick enough and a lightning struck right beside you, blinding you both for a bit and also separated you two.

“Five!” you shouted when the ringing in your ear stopped.

A small fire rose from where the lightning struck and behind the flames, you saw an unconscious Five. You were scared for him and his well-being and without a thought you walked trough the fire. It didn’t burn you or your clothes and you probably would’ve been shocked, if the sight of Five didn’t send you in a shock before.

“Come on, Five!” you kneeled down next to the boy and put your ear to his chest, and when you heard his heartbeat, you calmed down a bit.

You struggled with lifting him up, but you did none the less and carried him to the hole you saw between ruins.

“Oh, God. You’re so heavy” you grunted as you pushed into the hole and put him down.

You sat next to him, panting. You weren’t used to carrying such heavy things as the boy beside you. You were tired, but you were scared to go asleep in case something happened to Five. So you stayed awake, checking on him every now and then.

And so went the eighth day and night.

You woke up to Five grunting as he moved.

“Five?” you sat up and looked at him.

“What the hell just happened?” he asked holding his head.

“A lightning struck beside us and we both fell back. I guess you hit your head” you said. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I was hit in the head with a rock... four times” he said.

“Thank God, you’re okay” you let out the breath you’ve been holding.

“Yeah, well other than my head, I’m okay” he looked up. “Where are we?”

“I brought you here after the lightning. I didn’t want to risk anything” you said.

“Thanks” he looked at you. “For saving me.”

“I would say, anytime, but I don’t want you hurt anymore” you sighed.

“Well I don’t want another time either” he tried to stand up, but almost fell back.

“Hey, slowly, bud. Keep it slow and simple” you said, holding the boy.

“I’m fine” he said.

“Clearly not! Just... let me help. Please” you plead to the boy.

Five looked at you for a bit, but then nodded. You stood up and put your arm around his middle and then looked at him.

“Is this okay?” you asked as you felt him stiffen.

He didn’t answer for a bit and let out a shaky breath.

“Yeah” he said closing his eyes for a bit. “Yeah, let’s go.”

You nodded then slowly started walking. You made sure to look at Five every now and then to make sure he was okay. But he seemed okay, so you continued.

“If I get heavy, just let me know” he said quietly.

“You’re not heavy. I’m stronger than I look” you smiled at him warmly and he surprised you with a soft smile of his own.

He was truly a beautiful sight when he smiled. You only spent like 8 days with him, but you knew that that was a rare occasion. When you reached your stuff that you left there, you grabbed the trunk and pulled it after you.

You walked for hours until you both got hungry, so you first sat Five down, then sat next to him. You offered him the box, which he took out a few from and started to eat. After eating a bit, you drank a bit of water and then just laid back a bit and stared at the sky.

“Hey Y/n?” he started.

“Yes?” you looked at him.

“Do you think it will happen?” he asked.

“What?” you asked back.

“That we’ll get back to the original timeline?” he looked at you.

“Well... I believe in you. I believe that you can actually do it. So... yeah. I do think it will happen” you smiled.

He nodded, then stood up slowly. He slowly went to the trunk and you watched him. He lifted up the mannequin and took out something from underneath it. He slowly sat back next to you and that’s when you saw the picture.

“You miss them?” you asked.

“Every second. Don’t tell them, I said that” he looked at you and you nodded. “But yeah. I miss them like crazy. It’s just... everything happened so fast.”

“I know” you put a hand on his shoulder and he stiffened again, so you pulled it away.

“We should go” he said and you nodded, getting up.

You helped him up and you continued your way. After some hours you found a place and while Five sat (you didn’t let him help), you put everything in its place and set up your camp for the week.

And so went the ninth day and night.

When you woke up, you finally had time to realize what the fuck you did when the lightning struck. Well after. You walked through fucking fire! That’s like... crazy! At least to you. Probably not so much for Five... if he knew about it. But he didn’t.

“Hey Five?” you turned to him sometime that day.

“Hm?” he looked up from his conversation with Delores.

“Sorry... to interrupt your conversation, but... you know how I was there when the apocalypse happened?” you asked looking at your hands.

“Yeah?” he furrowed his brows.

“Well... Imighthaveanexplanation?” you spit the whole sentence out.

“What?” he asked.

“I... might have an explanation...” you looked at him, worried.

“Yes?”

“Yeah... well... a day ago, when I rescued you from the... storm... I... um... kinda walked trough fire without getting burned?” you said, but it sounded like a question, like even you weren’t sure about it.

“Wait, really?” he put down Delores, signaling that his whole attention was on you.

“Yeah” you nodded.

“Well... that would make sense” he said. “Since everything was on fire.”

“Yeah” you nodded.

“It’s a possible lead. If anything else happens, you can come to me and tell me, okay?” he asked and you smiled at him.

You guys spent the rest of the day just relaxing. Five was talking to Delores mostly, and you were drawing in the dust. Shapes, which turned into different words, then you decided to draw faces. There was different characters from tv shows and movies, and people you knew before the apocalypse. You spent a great day living out your creativity and enjoyed drawing. When the sun went down, you noticed Five looking at your drawing of a character from a tv show.

“You’re quite good at drawing” he said.

“Thank you” you smiled.

“Hm... I wouldn’t have guessed” he looked at you.

“Why?” you asked.

“You just didn’t strike me as a person who does such things” he shrugged.

“O-okay?” you furrowed your brows.

But he didn’t say anything and you put down the stick.

“Would you like to play something?” you asked.

“What?” it was his turn to furrow his brows.

“Um... I don’t know. We could start with two truths and a lie.”

“Okay...”

“Do you want me to start?” you asked as you layed down.

“Sure” he said as he layed down too.

“Okay. One... I used to pretend to have powers just like yours and would just run up and down pretending to be a hero. Two, I had a bunch of superhero figurines. And three I drew myself tattoos.”

“I would say the first one” he said looking up at the sky.

“No I actually did that. Your powers are cool. I’m not smart enough for them, but they’re definitely cool. But I never had any superhero figurines.”

“Neither did I. But I guess my first is... I used to sneak out with my siblings to have a little fun. Two, I was the first one to learn everything, not my siblings. And three I hate ice-cream.”

“Three. You can’t hate ice-cream!” you said confidently.

“I actually really do. It’s cold and bad for my throat. Frankly, not very healthy.”

“Wait, then which one is the lie? Because I’m 100% sure that you were the smartest out of all your siblings. So... you never snuck out?” you turned towads him.

“No” he replied simply.

“Oh... Well...” but you couldn’t think of anything to say.

He was looking up, but you could see the sadness in his eyes.

“I’m sorry” you put your hand on his, but he quickly pulled away, like you burned him.

“What the...” he looked at your hands. “You burned me...”

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to! I...” you sat up quickly and looked at him.

“It’s... nothing” he shook his head and slowly touched your hands.

You both gasped. Him, because it was still hot, and you because his hands felt cold.

“Okay... well, we have this to deal with too” he said.

“I’m sorry” you said.

“Don’t be” a hint of a smile run through his face, but then disappeared altogether. “Goodnight Y/n.”

“Goodnight Five” you whispered.

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[somebodycall911onabc]

More post 4x13, Maddie-centric, a little Madney, a little Buddie. I just want her to be happy. Warning for a lot of emotions in this one, folks.

Maddie is elbow deep in soapy water when her phone starts ringing. She tells Hildy to answer (being a parent has definitely taught her the wonders of technology, unlike Eddie) while she shuts off the tap and reaches for the dish towel.

“Hello?” She asks, seeing Chimney’s name scrawled across the screen. It’s been two hours since he last called—not concerning, but a deviation from the usual.

“Maddie. Are you OK? How’s Jee?”

A bad call, maybe. He could’ve lost someone.

“We’re good,” Maddie says, stealing herself. She hates to lie to him, but she’s being honest in the way he means. They’re not hurting in any way he can fix.

He breathes out a whistling breath over the phone. “Good. Good. Thank God.”

“Is something wrong?”

“No. No, I mean. I’m fine. But… Jesus…” He mutters something too low for her to hear. “It’s Eddie. He’s in the hospital — alive — but, but he got… he was shot, clean through the shoulder. Some psycho opened fire on the LAPD.”

Maddie’s heart drops to her stomach, where it stays for another hour until Chimney walks through their door. She’s holding Jee-Yun, who’s wailing like her little lungs are about to give out, but she and Chimney find each other like magnetic poles. She steps into his arms and wishes that the whole world could just drop away. Just her, and Chimney, and their daughter. That would be enough.

“It’s all over the news,” Maddie says. Jee-Yun seems to have been stunned into silence by the unexpected arrival of her dad.

“Athena says they’ve got some of the best people in the department on it,” Chimney says. “They’re gonna catch him.”

“They’d better.”

“Yeah well, otherwise, they’re going to have Amateur Detective Buck on their hands again.”

Jee-Yun starts hiccuping, picking up where she left off, and Chimney steps back to lift her out of Maddie’s arms. She lets go without a fight. She’s so tired of fighting.

“Don’t even joke about that. I’m sure he’s losing his mind—he hasn’t answered any of my calls or messages.”

Chimney attempts a smile. Or maybe all along he’d been going for that twisted grimace. “Bobby’s corralling him, don’t worry. Your brother isn’t going to do anything stupid.”

“Like drag Athena into an active investigation to chase down the man who stabbed you and kidnapped me?”

“Yeah,” Chimney says. “Exactly like that.”

Maddie turns her head to look out the window. She knows what he’s going to say in answer to her question, and she can’t bring herself to look at him when he does. “So what are you all going to do? What happens when someone targets the entire Las Angeles Fire Department?”

“Our jobs,” he says, and Maddie closes her eyes. “We have to, Maddie. We called in C-shift today, but we go back tomorrow.”

“OK,” Maddie hears herself say. What else can she do? How can she tell him that she’s afraid they’ve avoided tragedy one too many times, that she can see them all running to the end of a line, nothing but a long fall below them?

She feels like someone froze half of her in ice, then told the other half to run for her life. She feels fathoms deep in very dark water, but someone is screaming in her ear to swim up, up, up.

When Chimney pulls on the bullet-proof vest, Maddie doesn’t say anything. The human throat wasn’t made for the drawn-out scream inside her head.

Maddie doesn’t visit Eddie while he’s at the hospital. Between Jee-Yun and her own shifts at work, there isn’t time. She feels a little bad about that, but despite their small social circle, she and Eddie haven’t gotten that close over the years. Buck takes up all the air and space when he’s around, a wildfire that she and Eddie chase around and keep from burning up the furniture. But Maddie feels like she should have been there while Eddie was confined to a hospital bed, watching his friends risk the same fate as him when they pulled on their uniforms—she feels a sort of kinship with him. With that helplessness.

So she shows up at his door a week later with Jee-Yun and dinner.

Buck lets her in, which has ceased to be surprising as a general rule, but seems a little suspicious in these circumstances. She hasn’t heard anyone mention Ana’s name since the shooting.

“Jee-Jee!” Buck shouts, whisking Jee-Yun from Maddie’s arms.

“Oh, hi, how are you,” she mutters, watching Buck as he kisses Jee-Yun’s nose and grins. He looks like he needs a long shower and an even longer nap. But Jee-Yun giggles at him as he makes faces and smacks his lips. It’s sweet. It only hurts a little, seeing how good Buck is with her, when sometimes Maddie still thinks of him as that little kid she stitched up every time the world knocked him down. It only hurts a little that for Maddie, getting Jee-Yun to smile is like pulling out her own teeth with rusty pliers (i.e., really goddamn difficult).

“Hey, Maddie,” Eddie says, reaching the door. He nudges Buck aside to make room for Maddie to come in. “It’s good to see you.”

Maddie looks at his cast, at the way Eddie hunches in on himself and the blue-black bruises beneath his eyes from exhaustion and blunt-force head trauma, and feels so goddamn guilty. She should have come sooner. She should have tried harder.

“Hey,” she replies, wiggling the takeout bag, “I come with nourishment.”

“By all means,” Eddie says, sweeping his hand out to the hallway. Maddie leads the way to the kitchen, Eddie slumping behind her, Buck cooing at Jee-Yun and somehow managing not to walk into a wall.

“I figured something light and healthy would be best,” Maddie says, dropping the bag on the counter.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much doctor’s orders,” Eddie agrees. He peeks inside the canvas tote and pulls out a container, opening it up to reveal a big, green salad. “Oh, you shouldn’t have.”

“It was no problem—“ Maddie starts, but she realizes Eddie is wrinkling his nose in disgust, not gratitude. “Oh, shut up and eat your veggies. There’s chicken in it,” she adds with a laugh.

“Where?” Eddie snorts, eyeing the salad like it might come to life and strangle him with leafy hands.

“Chris! Guess who’s here!” Buck, who hasn’t heard a word of their conversation, barrels into the living room where Chris is sitting on the floor with a host of action figures.

“Don’t—don’t let her put anything in her mouth!” Maddie calls after him.

Eddie chuckles and takes a seat at the table. “How’s it going with her? With Chimney?”

“Us?” Maddie keeps her eye on the living room situation while she sits down across from Eddie. “We’re fine. How are you? Buck seems to be living in your back pocket lately.”

“Yeah, he’s been…” Eddie trails off, and Maddie glances over to see him looking at the living room. She turns her eyes back to see Buck sitting cross-legged on the floor, cradling Jee-Yun while showing Chris her tiny fingers. The first time he held Jee-Yun, Buck had lost his mind over her fingernails. They’re so small, he’d said reverently. How could anything be so small?

“I wouldn’t be here without him,” Eddie finishes. “I think I’m going to ask him to move in.” The way he says it isn’t a joke, isn’t something light-hearted about being down an arm or how Buck is free labor. He sounds contemplative. Wondrous.

“Oh,” Maddie says. “But what about… I mean, won’t that be kind of weird for Ana?”

“Buck didn’t tell you?” Eddie asks, turning back to face her and fishing a fork out of the bag. “Ana broke up with me.”

“Oh, my god.”

“I know. But it wasn’t like what happened with Chimney. Ana had the guts to say it to my face.”

“Jesus, Eddie, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. It was the right call. I’m not upset, actually.” Eddie pokes around the container until he finds a piece of chicken, throwing Maddie a smile as he picks it up. “It was the easiest breakup I’ve ever had.”

“Well, that’s… good.” Maddie pulls the bag toward her and lifts out her own salad. She’d gotten Chris chicken fingers and fries, but Eddie doesn’t have to know that. Not until he finishes his grown-up, post-ballistic-surgery food. “Then should I ask what your intentions are towards my brother?”

Eddie chokes on his lettuce. She flashes him a smile while he struggles to swallow. “He is a strapping young man,” she adds. “Very… able-bodied.”

“You’re evil,” Eddie says, laughing.

“No, just observant,” she counters. “Every time I called Buck this week, he was either with you or Chris.”

“I keep telling you people that Buck’s suspension wasn’t my fault. I was unconscious when it happened.”

“All I’m saying is, my brother wouldn’t risk losing his job for just anyone.”

“You think so?” Eddie asks, smiling down at the table.

Maddie takes a delicate bite of spinach and pomegranate seed. “My brother spent a long time running, Eddie. I always thought he was just running away, but he was running toward something. The 118 is his family. But you and Chris are special. He would bleed himself dry if it meant keeping the two of you safe.”

Eddie’s fork is paused halfway to his mouth.

“Don’t take advantage of that,” Maddie says. “If you can’t say the same for him, you need to let him go. I’ve seen him hurt too many times, Eddie.” And she doesn’t mean just Abby—she means their parents. She watched Buck drag himself through hell for a love he shouldn’t have had to fight for. She means herself, too, because she knows that the years he spent thinking she’d chosen Doug over him had cut him deeper than she had any chance of healing. Even now that he knows the truth, there’s a scar.

“You’re a good sister.” Eddie lowers his fork and meets her eyes. “I wasn’t really expecting the shovel talk a week after getting shot, but I promise you that I feel the same.”

“Well, good,” she says. Then, “Oh god, I really did corner you while you’re—I apologize. That was thoughtless and rude of me.”

Eddie just laughs. “Please, Shannon was a wreck the whole first year. She actually forgot my birthday.”

“Oh, Chimney would never let that happen,” Maddie says, feeling a genuine, soft smile cross her face. This is the first time in a week she hasn’t felt the weight of the entire world on her shoulders. It’s an unexpected, but welcome, break. “He starts dropping hints at least three months in advance.”

“I wasn’t really around to remind her,” Eddie says. “That’s my biggest regret, really. Not being around more when Chris was little.”

Ah, there’s the familiar, soul-crushing weight of the world again. It was a nice minute, while it lasted. “It must have been hard to be away from him. I can’t even imagine…” Maddie swallows, but her food tastes sour, acrid. She can imagine. She has. She’s fantasized. About walking out the door. About not coming back.

“That’s the thing,” Eddie says, “it kind of... I mean, I missed him, and I missed Shannon. And now? I would rather get shot a thousand times than leave Chris. But at the time, it was easy. Ridiculously, insanely easy.”

Maddie watches as Eddie runs his hand through his hair, a twisted smile taking over his face. “What kind of fucking father chooses a war zone over his own wife and kid, you know? I kept telling myself it was for them, it was for us. But really I was just scared. I was terrified of it, of being a husband, a father. I didn’t know how to be those things.”

There’s something unfolding inside Maddie’s chest. An old hurt, an old fear, unraveling for her to finally grasp at its edges and see the bloody, wretched mess. “I don’t either,” she admits. She hasn’t said that to anyone. Not Buck, not Athena, not Josh. Certainly not her parents. Because that thing inside her, that little girl curled in on herself to hide away her broken heart—her parents had a lot to do with it. “I’m so scared. All the time. She’s tiny, and perfect, and I’m… I’m not good enough.”

“Yeah, I get it,” Eddie says.

“No,” Maddie says. “I’m going to ruin her, Eddie. I’m a horrible mother. I don’t know what I was thinking. I can’t do this.”

“Whoah, whoah.” Eddie reaches his hand across the table to grip hers, tight. Maddie raises her other hand to her face to wipe her eyes. “You’re doing great, Maddie. You’re really good with her.”

“No, I’m not. Not really. I mean, Buck is more of a natural at this than I am.” He’s in the living room, letting Jee-Yun chew on the collar of his shirt, while Chris is talking and gesturing wildly with his hands. Buck looks happy. He looks rapt, focused. All in.

“I don’t think anyone’s naturally a good parent. I think it’s supposed to be hard. That’s how you know you’re doing it right.”

“I just don’t want to hurt her,” Maddie says, watching Buck, watching Jee-Yun, watching Chris. This beautiful tableau of a family that she wants so desperately to be part of.

“That’s normal. That fear is… hell, Maddie. That’s parenthood.”

“How do you deal with it? How do you walk around with that, knowing… knowing any moment, you might fail?”

Eddie tightens his hold on her hand, pulls on it slightly to bring her focus back around to him. “I’m going to tell you something I told Buck a long time ago,” he says. “You’re going to make mistakes. It’s not like there’s some test you can study for and get the perfect kid at the end. What matters is that you love them enough to keep trying.”

Maddie remembers Buck, what feels like a lifetime ago, staring down their parents. Love me anyway, he’d said. “It’s that simple?” She asks, feeling hollow. Feeling like she failed before she even crossed the starting line.

“Of course not,” Eddie says. “It’s hard work, loving someone. But you’re not in it alone, either. You’ve got all of us.”

He’s right. Maybe she can put a little bit of the load down, once in a while. Maybe she doesn’t have to be crushed by all that weight.

“I’m sorry,” she says, cracking a smile, “all we’re doing is talking about me.”

“Trust me, it’s a relief,” Eddie says, smiling back. “All anyone wants me to do is talk about how I’m feeling. I’m sick of talking about myself.”

“It’s nice to know you’re not the only one with problems?”

“Yeah. Exactly that.”

They share a raw, honest smile, and Maddie does feel a little bit lighter. “I’ll be sure to come back for more sage advice,” she says, pulling her hand away.

“Next time, bring pizza,” Eddie says. It makes Maddie laugh.

When she gets home, she puts Jee-Yun to bed and looks at her. Just takes in that fragile nose, the impossibly delicate eyelids, her perfect, untidy mouth. She thinks about how she’s been scared her whole life—of upsetting her parents, of hurting Buck, of losing Doug, of leaving Doug, of finding love.

But all those fears, they brought her here. So maybe this is just another journey, and maybe it’s OK to be scared.

When Chimney gets home the next morning, he crawls into bed with Maddie and Jee-Yun. Their daughter had started fussing at three in the morning, and now they were both exhausted. But Maddie holds on tight, holds Jee-Yun close, and when Chimney wraps his arms around them and drops a kiss into her hair, Maddie hears him say, "my two best girls. How did I get so lucky?"

And she thinks, this. This can be enough.

[prydeofthexmen23]

Candlelight

A Dwayne From The Lost Boys One Shot

Okay, so this is my first Lost Boys Imagine with Dwayne. It’s with one of my OCs and it’s inspired by a convo I had with @80s-whore-university. I apologize in advance for my grammar and spelling errors. Enjoy!

~*~

Laura huffed against the window, allowing her breath to fuse with the glass. She'd often done this as a child when she was bored at her grandparents house and her cousins were too busy watching Scooby Doo re-runs to notice she'd moved to another room. Her fingers traced the little white spot until it became a transparent heart. Laura smiled, then immediately frowned. “I've officially lost it.”

She wiped the heart away with her sleeve and made her way to the door, unbolting it again and peeking out. She tried to avoid the rain, but it dripped from the gutters and dotted her bangs. I don't even know why I bother, she thought, locking the door again with an exasperated sigh. If it's raining, there's no reason for him to come. They'll keep him since the Boardwalk's closed. She nodded her head. She knew their habits well. Dwayne wasn't coming - not in this weather.

"I need tea," she said to her pup. Bandit's ears perked up at the word. Tea meant cookies. Cookies meant crumbs. And crumbs meant he'd surely get a snack. In her laziness, Laura grabbed a mug from the cabinet – the little one with constellations on the side Dwayne had given her for her birthday. She smiled at the memory, then quickly filled the cup with water, and shoved it into the microwave. Pushing the buttons, Laura felt herself relax as she watched the little stars rotate under the fluorescent light.

At first, she didn't even notice his arms wrap around her torso. She'd grown accustomed to the sensation – the feeling of his arms drawing her closer, the weight of his chin on her shoulder.

"I thought you weren't coming," she whispered, relaxing into the embrace. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Bandit let me in."

"Bandit doesn't have opposable thumbs." He didn't answer, but Laura could feel him smile as he kissed her neck. "I'm surprised David let you leave."

"Oh, he didn't."

"Ah, so you betrayed your leader."

"Betrayed is a strong word," he replied, releasing her as the microwave beeped. He removed the mug, quickly moving to the cabinets above the sink. "I just left without asking.” He extracted a packet of Chamomile. After ripping the packet with teeth, a habit Laura never quite understood, but respected, Dwayne placed the tea in the mug and motioned her toward the couch.

"I'd say that's a betrayal. I mean he probably expected you to spend the day with Laddie."

"Nah, Paul and Marko have it covered. When I left, they were making a Tik Tok to Savage."

"Real classy."

"I think you mean Bougie and ratchet." Dwayne laughed as Laura's eyes widened.

"Please," she began, rubbing her eyes. "Please, never use those words again. Or you'll turn into Paul."

"Ah, and we can't have that." Dwayne grabbed some throw pillows from the couch and placed gently on the floor before taking a seat on the ground. "Come on, sweets." Laura obliged, settling herself between his legs as she sipped her tea. Dwayne flipped on the television and made his way to Netflix. He might have struggled with the concept at first, but now he couldn't get enough. The platform really did have everything he could ever dream of watching.

"Really, again?" Laura whined as he hovered over The Crown.

"You don't want to see Diana pass the Balmoral test?"

Laura looked up at him with a smirk. "Okay, the fact that you know what that is and I don't proves that you've been watching this for too long. No.” Dwayne placed a kiss on her forehead. Shit, well played. "Fine, let's watch Camilla and Charles fuck up a perfectly normal teenage girl."

"Thank you."

"You know for someone who idolizes Karl Marx, I don't think your obsession with the English monarchy is healthy."

"Shhhh.” He kissed her gently on the lips. "Let people enjoy things," he whispered as Laura laughed.

~*~

Laura felt herself begin to doze off. What is it about Chamomile that makes you sleepy? she wondered as she leaned against Dwayne. At first, he didn't seem to notice her drowsiness – too engrossed in the world of royals. For the last two hours, Laura and Dwayne had watched Diana and Charles tie the knot, have a child, travel to Australia, and, as usual, fight over his relationship with Camilla. Laura's eyes closed as Diana demanded that Charles leave Camilla...for the umtempth time. Silently, she tried to sync her breathing with Dwayne's as he lowered the volume for the newest screaming match.

"What the hell?" Dwayne cried.

Laura's eyes fluttered open. The entire room was dark, pitch black. If she wasn't sitting against Dwayne, Laura would have been more panicked.

“No! Diana was about to confront Camilla at the birthday party!"

"We must have blown a fuse,” Laura replied through her giggles. She wished she could see Dwayne’s face. Laura was certain it read frustrated fangirl.

Dwayne let out an exasperated sigh before flinging the remote onto the couch. "You okay, babe?"

"I'm good. You can see right?" She felt Dwayne nod against her before picking her up. He wrapped his arms underneath her knees as he moved to the fuse box. Using her phone, Laura tried each switch twice, flipping the little dials back and forth.

"The rain must have caused an outage."

"You got candles?"

"Kitchen," Laura replied as she snuggled into his chest. Dwayne carried her into the kitchen and helped her onto the counter, where she pulled a menorah from the cabinet.

"Got it?" he asked, stretching out his arms.

Yup," she replied, jumping back into his arms. She didn't bother to ask where he was. He was always where she needed him. Catching her again, Dwayne carried her back into the living room, where Laura struck a match. The tiny flame guided her toward the blue and white candles.

"Really?" Dwayne laughed as Laura placed the candles into their waxed slots. Gradually, the blue menorah began to glow, painting the room in a pale yellow light.

"It's all I had!" Laura protested. "Besides, my grandmother used to light hers when the power went out. It's tradition." Dwayne threw her a lopsided grin. "What? I'm serious...Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing," Dwayne said. "I didn't say anything."

"Oh shut up." She pushed him as he stood up. Taking off his leather jacket, he laid down on the couch and kicked up off his converse. In the soft candlelight, Laura took in the sight of his bare chest. He closed his eyes for a moment, shifting to get comfortable as Laura fiddled with her candles. For some reason, she was finding it difficult to concentrate.

"Enjoying the view," Dwayne teased.

"Mmmm...maybe."

"Then come join me," he said, open his arms to her. Laura obeyed, setting the final candle in place. The rain continued to beat against the sides of her home, but Laura paid it little mind. Instead, she buried her nose in the crook of Dwayne’s neck, inhaling his scent. Something about it put her at ease – even in the middle of a black out. Dwayne drew a blanket over them, rubbing gentle circles on the small of her back.

"Dwayne," Laura began. He hummed in reply, closing his eyes. "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it, baby?"

"Where'd you get this scar?” she asked, tracing over the mark on his shoulder.

"Long story," he said, placing a kiss on her lips. He was trying to change the subject and she knew it.

"We got time," she sighed through his embrace. "I don't think you're gonna be watching The Crown again anytime soon and I'm genuinely curious."

Dwayne leaned his forehead against hers. “You really wanna know, kid?” She nodded. “Alright, well...” He paused, closing his eyes again. His lips formed a thin line. Uh oh, I know that look. Laura kissed his neck.

“There’s no pressure. You don’t have to tell me.”

“I don’t mind. To be honest, I’m surprised it didn’t go away when David changed me.”

“Yeah, I thought his blood would have smoothed everything out. Made you look all shiny like Edward Cullen.”

Dwayne rolled his eyes. “Yeah I’m sure that’s what David expected too, but I guess it stuck.” He paused again, taking a deep breath.

“Take your time.”

“I got it when I was thirteen,” he continued. “When I was with some friends...Did I ever tell you my family lived on a Rez?”

“Rez?”

“Reservation. Back in the 30’s.”

“No, you didn’t,” Laura replied, trailing her fingers across his chest. Then again, she thought, you haven’t really told me anything about your past. She thought of saying so, but bit her tongue. She wanted to hear what he had to say.

“In Arizona. There’s not much to do there. It’s hot and unless you really like red rocks the view can get pretty boring.”

Laura gulped. He was talking more than usual. She wondered how long it would last.

“My friends and I always tried to invent stuff to do. Ya know, to pass the time. We’d go down to the railroads and try to find work laying tracks. But that got pretty boring after awhile. Sometimes, my friend Adam would sneak cigarettes out of his mom’s bedroom drawer and we’d smoke those.”

“Sounds like you were a handful.”

“Every thirteen year old boy is.”

“Okay, true. I’m sorry, continue.”

“Well one day, we got bored smoking and my best friend Pete got this dumb idea. Pete was a year older than me but for some reason he liked having me around. He always called me his little brother, which was funny considering he already had five little brothers to spare. I don’t even remember how Pete and I met, but he was the best.”

Dwayne rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. Looking down at Laura he smiled.

“What’s that look?”

“Nothing. I just didn’t know you were such a good storyteller.”

“Oh bullshit.”

“Keep going!” Laura exclaimed, lightly smacking his cheek. “I’m invested.” He kissed her again, deeper this time. Laura sighed softly as he pulled away. “Tease,” she whispered.

“Proud of it. Anyway, Pete, Adam and I were down by the tracks. It was almost midnight and we’d snuck out like always. We were just goofing around and waiting for the sun to come up when we heard a whistle.”

“A train?”

“Yup. Trains passed by all the time at night. They went straight through reservation because they figured the natives wouldn’t mind the noise. It was always big freights carrying supplies and sometimes hobos.”

“Dwayne-“

“That was the term we used at the time. Don’t hold it against me. After we heard the whistle, Pete got this weird look on his face. And he jumped down and went straight to the tracks, standing on them and whistling back at the train. At first, I thought it was a joke. I thought he was playing chicken with the train.”

“Like in Footloose?”

“Yeah, like that. People did that all the time. They liked to test their odds and see if they could cheat death. Thing was Pete’s dad had recently left and his family didn’t have any money to pay their rent let alone eat. I knew he was having a rough time, but I didn’t know how bad things really were, ya know? As the train got closer, that look on his face started to freak me out. Suddenly, it didn’t feel like a joke. Pete wasn’t playing chicken. He wasn’t playing at all.”

Laura felt her body stiffen and Dwayne pulled her closer in response.

“Adam and I keep yelling at him to get off the tracks. The train just kept getting closer and I started to panic. I don’t know what came over me. As soon as I saw the train lights hit Pete’s face, adrenaline took over. The next thing I knew I was on the ground on top of Pete watching the train going by. At first, I didn’t feel any pain. Then I felt dizzy and Adam yelled that I was bleeding. It took me a minute to realize my shoulder had knocked the side of the train.”

“Oh god, babe.” Laura sat up, her eyes welling with tears. Dwayne sat up too, wiping her cheeks with his thumbs.

“Hey, hey, hey I was fine. A few stitches and I was cleaned up. No broken bones and thank god because my mom would have killed me. But it was Pete that had it the worst. He kept apologizing and came to see me to make sure I recovered.”

“I’m sure he felt horrible.”

“Yeah but it made him wake up. After that, he got a job and helped his family out. I think he even got married and had some kids after I left town. We weren’t as close after what happened, but that didn’t matter.”

“You saved his life.”

“Nah,” Dwayne replied, lowering his head.

Laura placed a finger under his chin, lifting it so he met her green eyes. “You did. And you should be proud.” Laura gazed at the jagged line on his shoulder. “I think I know why you got to keep this scar.”

“Oh yeah why?”

“To remind you that you’re still a good person. To help you remember that there was a time you saved someone’s life instead of ending it.”

“Maybe,” Dwayne sighed, kissing her again. “Since when did you get so philosophical?”

“Blame Kafka. We started reading him yesterday.” Dwayne laughed. It wasn’t his usual soft giggle, but a heartier one that seemed to echo from his chest. “Thank you for sharing that with me,” Laura added as she yawned.

“Thank you for listening. It was nice to talk about Pete again.” Laura leaned into his shoulder, kissing the scar for good measure. “You tired babe?”

“A little. Your voice...it’s very soothing.”

“Lay back down baby,” Dwayne whispered as Laura rested on his chest. “Let’s go to sleep.”

“But you can’t sleep,” Laura argued, closing her eyes. “Not at this hour.”

“It’s okay. You rest. I’ll wait for the lights to come back on.”

[pellucidity-is-me]

Peter Pettigrew and Latin

Summary: Final installment in my Marauders and Latin series. Part 4, but works as a one-shot. I’m working through each Marauders’ relationship with Latin, and this is Peter Pettigrew. I’m also writing a very long story about the Marauders’ years at Hogwarts—you can find the link on my blog description!

Wordcount: 2111

Peter Pettigrew doesn't really ever find out what Latin is.

And he doesn't really care, to be honest.

The first time he has an actual conversation about the language is in the dormitory with Remus Lupin, who is Peter's best friend. They both adore James and Sirius, of course, but they can recognize that they're the underdogs. They aren't as loud and brash and bold as their dark-haired counterparts. It's always been James-and-Sirius, and then Remus-and-Peter. Remus and Peter are the afterthoughts, but that's okay.

Well, that's what Remus says, anyhow, but Peter knows the truth.

It's actually closer to James-and-Sirius and Remus, and also Peter. Remus and James are close because James loves having someone ill to take care of (and Remus is always poorly, for reasons unknown). Remus and Sirius are close because Sirius loves to vent about his parents, and Remus is a very good listener. Peter and Remus are close because they're similar (again: Remus says so, but Peter thinks he's just being kind). Remus has special and separate bonds with each of the other Marauders, but Peter is only close to Remus.

And it's so annoying. Peter spends more time around Sirius and James than Remus ever will. Remus is either ill or visiting his ill mother all the time. Remus doesn't join in on some of their more boisterous pranks. Remus sometimes prefers to spend time in the library rather than with his friends. It's Peter who gets into trouble for the sake of James and Sirius. It's Peter who claps for James when he does a fancy trick on his broom—Remus either reads a book or teases him. It's Peter who spends as much time as he can with James and Sirius, and Remus who is only their friend when he feels like it. So why is Peter still treated as an add-on? It's not fair.

Peter doesn't resent Remus, though. How could he? Remus is kind to Peter when nobody else is. Remus talks to Peter when nobody else will. Peter is always Remus' first choice, and that means the world.

James and Sirius are in a detention today, and Peter is doing schoolwork with Remus. They're talking about spells, and Remus says something about Latin roots. "What are Latin roots?" says Peter. "Are they like tree roots?"

Remus doesn't laugh, even though James and Sirius might've. He leans forward slightly and his eyes light up, just as they always do when Remus gets excited about something (they didn't used to, but now they do. Peter wonders what's changed). "It's a language," says Remus, "a very, very old language." He presses his lips together, and Peter knows that he's about to make a joke. "Older than Professor Dumbledore, even."

Peter laughs, but Remus isn't done yet. "Older than Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall combined. And older than Sirius, even though he thinks he's so old and wise just because his birthday is before ours." Remus smiles at Peter's laughter before continuing. "It's nothing like English. In English, we change the endings of verbs when the subject changes. In Latin, you change the ending of nouns, too—and adjectives have to agree with gender, and there's a whole separate tense just for when you aren't sure about something..." Remus rambles for a bit about the wonders of Latin, but Peter zones out for a bit. He doesn't really understand. "...But even though it's so different from English, a lot of the words we get—and a lot of the magic spells, especially—come from Latin," continues Remus. "Especially the big words. So when you know some Latin vocabulary, then you can guess what a word means based on the parts of Latin in it. That's a Latin root—it's part of the word that stems from Latin."

Root. Stem. What's up with all the plant terms? "Sounds complicated," says Peter.

"Oh, it is. Terribly complicated. I learned a bit of it before I went to Hogwarts, but I was never particularly good at it. I worked hard, though."

"Why'd you learn it, then?" asks Peter. He can't fathom the way that Remus' mind works sometimes. Who would learn for fun?

"Well..." Remus seems to be thinking very hard. "Sometimes languages are difficult to learn because they're always changing. Like French and English and Spanish and things. The vocabulary and slang changes all the time. But Latin isn't changing at all—it's been the same for years, and it'll never change again." He pauses. "And then there's the rules themselves. Latin has a lot of rules, but that means that it's predictable. It has relatively few exceptions to the words. And... I always found it fun to memorize things." Remus shrugs. "My life before Hogwarts was always very predictable, so Latin was comforting, in a way. Things that are constantly changing are a bit like moving targets, aren't they? My life's not predictable anymore, of course," Remus finishes with a laugh.

"It's not?"

"Are James and Sirius ever predictable?"

"Well... no." Peter smiles, but he's a bit concerned. "Does that mean you don't like us?" He dares to use the pronoun us, even though he knew that Remus was chiefly talking about James and Sirius. Peter likes being lumped together with his friends.

"That's not it at all," says Remus, waving his hands. "I think you're great. It's not what I'm used to, but maybe... it's better than what I'm used to. Moving targets are a little more fun, I think."

Peter disagrees, but he'll never say so. He thinks that his own relationship with the Marauders is a bit like a moving target—and, unlike Remus, Peter isn't quick enough to hit it. In fact, he's not even quick enough to see it until it's far too late. The expectations are always changing. The Marauders are too quick for Peter, too fast for him, too bright. Every time Peter feels like he's caught up, his friends have already moved on.

But Remus can keep up. Whenever Sirius makes a snide comment towards Remus, Remus can fire back with one equally snide. Whenever James starts babbling about things that Peter doesn't understand, Remus can keep up and ask questions without seeming stupid. Remus is a lot like Peter, but there's just something there—and Peter doesn't think it's intelligence, but it's something akin to it—that makes him a good, exciting friend.

And whatever it is, Peter doesn't have it.

At first, Peter tries to be just like James. He copies James' excitement and nonchalant attitude. He runs his hand through his thin, blond hair (it doesn't have the same effect, but he does it anyway). He thinks that perhaps he'll play Quidditch someday. He could be on the same team as James. Wouldn't that be grand?

Then Peter realizes that he's started too high. James is perfect, so Peter needs to aim a bit lower. So he makes jokes that he isn't entirely sure are kind, just like Sirius. In second year (after they'd already found out about Remus), Peter makes a rather unsavory joke about werewolves to Remus' face. Remus jokes about werewolves all the time, but there's something about Peter's joke that makes him go pale and shaky. He laughs it off, but Peter feels awful. He stops trying to be like Sirius. Sirius sometimes makes Peter feel bad about himself, and he doesn't want to do that to anyone else.

Peter decides to aim even lower. He's going to be like Remus, who seems to fit in without even trying. Peter tries for Remus' brand of deadpan humor. He sits with his hands folded, just like Remus. He lets his mouth twist upwards when he's happy instead of breaking into a huge grin. He tries to be kind to everyone, even when it isn't true. He starts lying a little bit more, just like Remus—about tiny things, just like Remus. Peter even begins to do schoolwork more, like Remus.

James and Sirius seem playfully exasperated about Remus' desire to do well in school. "That's our Moony," they say, shaking their heads and going outside to play Quidditch. But when Peter stays in to study, they look at him and scoff. "It's not that hard, Peter. You don't really need to revise for the Potions exam. It's the first one of the year. It's gonna be easy. How thick can you get?"

So Peter stops trying to be like Remus. He isn't sure what secret ingredient Remus has that makes James and Sirius love him unconditionally, but Peter has no good relationship with his friends. Even Remus seems to prefer James' company to Peter's on occasion, even though Remus and Peter are supposed to be best mates.

After a while, Peter starts to notice flaws in his friends. They are no longer the paragons of light that he once thought they were. Peter, ironically, notices flaws in Remus first.

Remus is self-pitying and self-centered. Everything always has to be about him. Whenever Peter tells him something even remotely sensitive, he can tell that Remus is pitying himself in his head, even though he doesn't say it aloud. Remus' life is worse; Remus' life is always worse. Peter doesn't mind at first, because Remus is right. But... after a while, it gets tiring.

And Remus pretends that he thinks something of Peter, but Peter knows that too much of it is a farce. Remus is better than Peter. He has suffered more, and he has still come out better. He is a harder worker, a better listener, and better with people. Peter's too slow, too hesitant, and not funny enough for Remus' tastes. And Remus knows it—he's just too polite to say so.

That hurts more than Sirius and James' disparaging comments, actually. With James and Sirius, it's obvious that the three of them are not on equal footing. But Remus seems to offer Peter crumbs of friendship that taste sweet in Peter's mouth and turn to plastic as they go down. Does Remus even like Peter? Peter isn't sure.

Oh, perhaps he's overthinking things. Perhaps Remus is a much better person than Peter thinks he is. Perhaps they all are. After all, Sirius makes exactly the same belittling comments towards Remus as he does Peter—the difference is, Remus can laugh them off, and Sirius respects him for that. And James may be conceited, but there's something much brighter underneath. James is so empathetic that it almost hurts.

Peter almost wishes that he were a werewolf.

Forget almost. Peter wishes that he were a werewolf. Maybe that's the certain something that Remus has and Peter doesn't.

James and Sirius may be the mascots of the Marauders in public, but Remus is the mascot in private. He's the glue that holds their little group together. James and Sirius would never get rid of him: no, it's too much fun to be friends with a werewolf. They love it.

James bends over backwards to take care of Remus when he's poorly. Sirius relishes the danger of having a werewolf friend. Everything is always about Remus, and Peter wants everything to be about Peter. He doesn't even need all that much; he only wants people that genuinely like him. Peter is only a Marauder because of a mixture of chance and Remus. Chance gave him position: it was the reason that he was placed into the same dormitory as the rest of them in the first place. Remus gave him means: he was the one that convinced the other Marauders to treat Peter nicely, even though Peter is now trapped in a group that isn't anything like him.

Well, he's not trapped. But he wants to be.

Peter wants to be equal with his friends more than anything. He wants it so much that his heart aches. He's happy to have friends, of course, but sometimes he feels as if he is merely witnessing a friendship instead of participating.

Peter doesn't know much about the Latin language, but he does know that a moving target is much harder to hit than a stationary one. "I think I'd like Latin," says Peter.

Remus smiles—closed-mouth, as he always does—and folds his hands on his lap. "So did I," he says, "but there are better things, aren't there? And much more useful things. Like this charm, for instance—I think you're waving your wand a bit too much. Try a smaller movement. There, that's it..."

Peter resolves to enjoy his friendship, as strange as it might be. He will not be self-pitying like Remus. It doesn't matter in the long run, does it?