#got home and realized how good and happy today was and cried a little

[kaitiedidanne]

I had a perfectly wonderful day today. As my day off with no responsibilities to tend to, I slept in, took a long, hot shower with a candle burning, and ate lunch while hanging out with my cats. After playing some video games, I took a bus to the mall. I found a cute Halloween hoodie on sale for my niece. I went to the bookstore and got some coffee and new books, then walked home. The bus was late, so it was in the rainy autumn weather, but you know what? Still a good day.

Sometimes it just hits me that I'm an adult who can do these things. I survived and I can give myself good days without feeling guilty.

[frogzxch]

The what if's for today

Pairing's: Trueform!RyomenSukuna x Concubine!Reader

Summery: what if Sukuna founds another woman and replaced reader but imma make it a happy ending lol

You we're his favorite back then, You use to get whatever you want and get away with things that if anybody do it they die by the hands of the king himself but what if he finds another concubine? When you we're about to greet him after he comes back to the temple, you suddenly stop your tracks after seeing him carrying another woman in a bridal style and the woman was touching your beloved face like it's nothing, you hesitated if you wanted to greet him and ask him who she was but you just walk away as fast as you can so you wouldn't see him, after few weeks has pass you grew distance from him, looking at the girl she looks like a goddess with the blonde long hair and the jade colored eyes it truly made you insecure about yourself as you only look like the rest of the concubine.

Sukuna started wonder where you we're he got curious that his little lily doesn't go to him that much from the past few weeks he only thought you we're busy Sukuna then look for you asking the servants where you were the servants didn't have a clue as well this made Sukuna irritated and then he goes to the place where you always go, The garden. So he went there and he saw you looking all sad and he sees how your eyes we're red from crying from last night Sukuna realized it that you we're just jealous about the new woman.

You didn't notice he was behind you and you suddenly twitch when felt two arms got your hip and then raise you up spinning your around facing him you suddenly look up at Sukuna with wide eyes and you quickly try to hide your face but Sukuna raise your chin to make you look up at him "My little lily what's wrong?" He spoke gently "You haven't greeted your king for the past few weeks" he whisper to your ears and it made you tremble you just instantly hugged him and cried more he then rubs your back and he brought you inside the temple again after some talking he kissed your forehead then your lips, ever since that day Sukuna never brings another lowly woman to make his dearest concubine upset.

As for the girl she begin to act all mighty and she even picks on you whenever Sukuna wasn't around she keep reminding you that Sukuna doesn't care about you and that you we're pathetic. One afternoon Sukuna was gonna go home late as usual the girl comes towards you in the garden and she smirks at you, you we're confuse " what do you want now.. " you we're feeding the fish in the pond when suddenly you got push down to the pond the girl spoke out " what do I want? I want your place. " you we're struggling as she keep putting your head down the water attempting to drown you, when suddenly it stop you quickly got up and started to breath again then you look beside you and the girl was on the ground lifeless then you look behind to see Sukuna furious he walks towards you and he put his kimono around you and he pulled you close and you two went back inside " Clean the mess outside Uruame " he commanded with a velvety voice you look up at him " I thought you will be home late? " his lower set of eyes looks at you and he chuckled and smirk " why are you asking that? After you almost die..from that pest " he sounded mad and you just stayed quite, then when you both arrived inside his chambers he made you changed into a new clothe and he sat you down on his bed as he also lay down beside you, you smiled softly " Silly woman. " he chuckled and kiss you then you both finally have a good rest.

[greensagephase]

Nonviolent Communication - Part 16

Pairing: Spider-Man!Miguel O'Hara x Spider-Woman!Reader Summary: Miguel and you make visits to the cemetery to talk to your loved ones. Miguel joins the spider gang for a training simulation so you can continue to rest after being sick. You go grocery shopping with him and then cook together! You debate gifting Miguel something for Father's Day. Word Count: 17.5k Warning: some depressing content; minor injury; blood; Miguel cries A/N: Edited this once, so I'm praying it's good since a lot was done at 4am today 🫠 Masterlist Music Inspo (Spotify playlist for the fanfic here) "Evergreen" - Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners "Home" - Good Neighbours (tyy Laura!!❤️)

Thank you for reading!!

Part 16

You lay fresh flowers on Peter’s resting place. You’ve collected the old ones and placed them with the other ones from your other loved ones’ graves. You always leave Peter’s for last, so you can stay with him the longest. It’s always been like this since he passed away.

A gentle breeze blows on your face as you stare at the gravestone. It’s almost another year since his death, the fifth one.

You sigh and fix the flowers, arranging them in a way that looks pretty. You always take your time with this on every grave, wanting to show love and care to your deceased loved ones even years after their deaths.

You finish fixing the flowers, admiring how colorful and fresh they are. You always opt for bright ones to lighten up Peter’s grave. You like to think that he’s here somewhere, sitting on the ground or leaning against the nearest tree, or even sitting on his own stone listening to you talk about your day. It used to help you in the early days after losing him. Now, it comforts you in a different way. Your heart aches but differently. You’ve healed, even though you once believed you wouldn’t.

You pull back. Usually, you tell Peter everything that happened during the week from the villains you’ve fought to the little moments of your day like simply having a coffee. He always loved that, hearing about your day. You intend to share all of that with him, but there’s something that’s been weighting on your mind especially, and heavily.

Harry.

He left your life in a blink of an eye, and came back just like that.

Nearly five years later, he makes an appearance, asking to reenter your life. You’ve had little time to think about his request with you growing sick the next morning and then having your period. Thankfully, you feel much better today. Your cold is mostly gone and your period’s symptoms have calmed down thanks to the medication that Miguel got you. Your body is still feeling some of the effects, like fatigue, but for the most part, you feel well. Your recovery has been a fast one and you have no doubt in your mind it’s all due to Miguel, who was like your nurse on duty, making rounds every thirty minutes and ensuring you took the medicine as it was prescribed. And then, there’s all the food he cooked and the other kind gestures, like giving you his blanket and sweatshirt, and the ointment on your nose and back.

You chuckle to yourself at the thought and decide to start your weekly moment with Peter at last, even after all these years. You tell him everything from running into Harry to getting sick and how Miguel looked after you to a brief summary of Miguel’s feelings regarding the situation with Harry.

He didn’t say it directly but you have a feeling that he’s not happy with Harry and honestly, even your other friends seemed… on edge about the situation.

His words, along with your friends’ behavior, have made you consider this situation, especially Miguel’s words. He made you realized Harry really did ghost you in a moment when you could’ve used someone’s comfort. Miguel also made you see that maybe, you did deserve a little better, even if you know that you were fully going to try and cut ties with Harry.

Now, you wonder if you would’ve done it had Harry not stepped away for whatever reason he did. Would you had allowed him to stay in your life had he stuck around? You know it’s unproductive to think about this now, so many years later but still.

A part of you is displeased that you have to worry about this now. You had simply accepted that your friendship had ended with Harry. He had his reasons and you had yours, so it felt like a silent mutual decision between you, but now? Harry is back and he wants to be part of your life again.

The question is now whether you let him, or not.

“What do I do, Peter?” you whisper. “I think - I was perfectly okay with the way things were left. Is that bad?” you ask. “I know I have no one in this universe.” Your head dips low once you say this. You truly have no one in this universe. Just you and yourself alone since Peter passed away. Staring at his gravestone, you swallow heavily.

“But I was okay with that for many years. I accepted it because I know I made that choice, to cut ties with everyone. I’ve told you what Miguel said - that I deserved better from our friends - and maybe I did, but it’s too late to think about that now. I accepted it years ago. Just like how I accepted what happened with Harry. We both walked away from each other, so it really felt like a mutual thing, you know? But now… He wants back and I don’t know if… I don’t know if I want him back. Is that a bad thing?” you whisper. “I just don’t know.” You sigh. “I don’t think my friends like the fact that he’s suddenly shown up. You should’ve seen them.” You smile softly, thinking of them. Your little family.

“You would’ve loved them, Peter. I’ve told you that already but I really do believe so. They’re amazing… They took me in and now they’re my family.”

You remain motionless and quiet for several minutes, thinking about the situation. The first thing is, maybe you did deserve better like Miguel said. Do you want that kind of person back in your life? What if Harry just walks out again?

There’s also the fact that you’re Spider-Woman. Having someone back into your life, someone who doesn’t know of your secret, will definitely stir things in your life. You’re not used to that anymore. Like, hiding your suit away in your bedroom, hidden in the closet. You don’t have to explain where little bruises come from, or why you were a bit late to something.

You can get used to that again, you suppose, but you won’t deny that hiding your identity can be exhausting and there’s always the risk of being connected to Spider-Woman. It was always a worry of yours with your parents, Aunt May, and Peter - to have them exposed to villains who made the connection.

You shake your head.

You can’t decide now. Maybe it’s too soon. It’s only been a few days since you met with him. Perhaps you ought to think about it more, give it a few more days.

“I need more time, Peter. I’ll think about it more,” you whisper softly with a sigh. You silently imagine Peter agreeing with your decision for now but your imagination is interrupted by your spider senses.

You glance around quickly, taking in your surroundings. You’ve been so lost with your thoughts you haven’t been paying attention to anything around you. Your eyes find the reason for the warning.

“Harry is coming,” you say, turning to face the grave. “I must go, Peter. I love you,” you whisper, quickly pressing your hand to the gravestone, your physical way of saying bye. “I’ll be back soon. I promise.”

You pick up your things and slip away, hiding behind a tree before Harry can catch sight of you. You watch from a distance as Harry approaches Peter’s grave, flowers in his hand.

You frown as you watch him get closer, your eyes on the flowers. You came to visit Peter very often after his death, multiple times a week, day and night. Despite coming so often, you only brought flowers once a week since they stayed fresh, and also because you’d always find other sets of flowers. You knew they were likely from friends but as the months went on, your flowers were the only ones that continued to come. Whoever else came to drop off flowers stopped two or three months after Peter’s passing.

Now, you watch as Harry stands in front of Peter’s grave with a solemn look on his face. You wonder if he ever comes to visit Peter, even without flowers. You hope he did because otherwise, it’d mean Harry didn’t visit his best friend’s grave. Not for nearly five years. It’d mean today is the first time.

You watch for a few more seconds, noticing Harry’s valet down the street standing next to the car, waiting for his boss.

With a sigh, you silently bid goodbye to Peter once more before slipping away, leaving the cemetery.

You dispose of the dead flowers somewhere appropriate and walk around your city. You’re not too happy you had to cut your visit short and leaving in a rush but you had to if you wanted to avoid Harry to avoid giving him an answer.

With your thoughts on Harry, you mindlessly walk with no clear direction. You must make a decision, sooner of later. For a moment, you wish you hadn't ran into him that day. If you hadn't, you wouldn't be here now, debating this entire ordeal. You're almost certain the stress from the encounter led to you getting sick.

You stop at the end of the street now and wait for traffic while you think about the fact that you got sick and how for the first time in years, someone took care of you.

You bring a hand to your nose, touching the tip, right where Miguel applied the ointment. You smile as you recall the moment, how gentle he was while applying the product while telling you that it was going to help you breathe better. Then, he gave you his sweatshirt and a hot tea.

You fell asleep shortly after while Miguel continued to watch over you. Lyla later told you it was like a man looking after a priceless artifact that could be stolen at any point, something that of course, brought a heat to your cheeks and stirred tenderness in you.

You're not surprised. Miguel is a kind man - a good one. He's caring and tender. He has so much love to give despite all the bad things, all the losses, that's happened to him.

You continue walking, finding yourself on your street. Of course. You'd probably find your way here even with a blindfold on since you've lived here for so long. You approach the construction site, keeping some distance as your eyes take in the progress. It seems like the building will be ready in a few more weeks, and then, it'll be time to move back.

It’ll be nice to be back.

But.

You bite the inside of your cheek. But?

Miguel flashes in your mind.

Him standing in the kitchen, cooking dinner while he talks to you. Then, there’s him sitting on the couch reading, eyebrows knitted lost in deep thought. Miguel, who taps his foot or bops his head slightly when you’re both cleaning the penthouse, the upbeat music winning over his body. There’s also him falling asleep on the couch, snoring softly, which is both endearing and heartwarming, to see that he’s actually resting when he went so long neglecting his body of it.

There’s also Miguel wishing you a good night’s sleep as you both stand in the hallway, him in front of his door wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, waiting for you to enter your bedroom first before he enters his, which you believe he does to be a gentleman. It’s so sweet.

And there’s Miguel, who said was going to miss you when you return to your universe, and who you’ll be missing right back.

It seems you’ll both be missing each other. It almost feels as though, maybe… You shake your head gently.

You’ve thought about it a lot, many nights as you’ve laid in bed. The thought seems to pop up more often now that the weeks have dwindle. It doesn’t feel like much time went by since that first day when Miguel stayed at the penthouse to ensure you rested after the early morning you had helping your building’s residents evacuate.

A sheepish smile forms on your face as you remember telling Miguel how you wanted to hug him that day. You were out of it, exhausted both mentally and physically, maybe even emotionally, and the thought slipped out of your mouth. It did lead to him offering a pinky squeeze, an open one, though. Not like before when he could easily play it off as an accident because you were handing something to each other.

You hum softly. So much has changed since that day. Living with Miguel, temporarily, has allowed your friendship to grow, so much Miguel even admitted you’re his best friend.

“Best friend,” you murmur softly to yourself as you continue to stand on the sidewalk.

You miss your little old building and your small cozy apartment. There’s always going to be a coziness, a warmth from it. It’s a special place for sure, at least in your heart. And yet… You find yourself missing the housing arrangement, even though you haven’t left yet.

You’ll miss Miguel.

You sigh and shake your head.

It’ll be okay.

Things will fall into their rightful place.

They always do.

-♡-

Back in Nueva York, Earth-928, Miguel sits on the grass. He looks up at the sky for several minutes, silently. After a few days of rain, the weather has now cleared up. Today is sunny and bright, and there’s even a gentle but nice breeze that rustles Miguel’s hair. After several minutes, he closes his eyes and just - breathes.

Recently, he’s been trying to come more often and stay for a while. In the past, he was unable to. It was too hard, and after Gabriella’s universe collapsed, even more. Despite not coming often back then, Miguel always made sure the gravestones were taken care of, that they weren’t dirty and overgrown with weeds.

Recently, however, Miguel has tried to visit more often. He supposes part of the reason is that it’s easier now. It’s been several years since Gabriel and his mother passed away. Too many. It’s hard to believe that his little brother especially has been gone for so long.

Truth be told, Miguel always assumed he’d be the first to go. It made sense for the oldest sibling to pass away first, right? That’s how he thought it’d be, but life has its twists and turns, unexpected things out of our hands happen, and somehow, Miguel is still here.

Even when there were so many times he wished he wasn’t.

Miguel opens his eyes, moving his gaze to the gravestone.

When Gabriel died, Miguel especially thought about that. Gabriel deserved to live. He was a happy, outgoing young man. He brought a smile to everyone, always lifted people’s spirits.

Miguel has always believed out of the two of them, Gabriel was the better one, something he once voiced to him.

Of course, Gabriel O’Hara denied it and told him he was no better than Miguel.

With a sigh, Miguel leans forward. Losing Gabriel, it was more than losing a brother. He lost two things: his little brother, who always told him he wasn’t “little” anymore, and his best friend.

Losing him, it was the last straw. He focused entirely on his lab, burying his grief and loss with work to try and forget the fact that he had lost his last bit of family with his mother dying a previous year. He was suddenly familyless in his twenties, alone in the world.

Of course, he had Lyla but Gabri… He was gone.

Miguel inhales softly. It hurt. So bad. He never thought he could feel any worse but he was wrong because he then experienced losing Gabriella.

After several minutes of silence, Miguel sighs. “Hola hermano [Hello, brother],” he says, speaking for the first time. He’s been coming more often these days, but usually, Miguel doesn’t speak. He looks up at the sky again. “You would’ve loved this weather.”

His words are received by a bird chirping somewhere.

“Remember when we’d play fútbol [soccer] with all the other kids from the building at this time of year? The weather was warm and nice, not too hot yet. We knew school would be out soon for the summer, and we’d be able to stay up late behind our -” Miguel pauses, looking down at the gravestone. For a moment, a fraction of a second, he almost said the word. Sometimes, despite everything, he still associates the word with the man. He supposes that’s what a whole childhood does to someone. “Behind George’s back. Mama would let us stay up late in our rooms, watching movies about superheroes, wishing we were like them.” Miguel rolls his eyes playfully, a smile tugging at his lips before it falters. “Qué días… No sabía que algún día te perdería tan pronto. Siempre pensé que seria yo el que te dejaría primero. Y yo… te extraño, Gabrielito. Extraño mi hermanito enfadoso. Que daría por verte entrar a mi laboratorio para enfadarme, tal vez con otra persona de la sociedad de la cual te hiciste amigo [What days… I didn’t know one day I’d lose you so soon. I always thought it’d be me who would leave you first. And I… I miss you, Gabrielito. I miss my little annoying brother. What I would give to see you enter my lab to annoy me, maybe with another person from the society, one you became friends with]. Or, maybe… I’d see you walking in with Y/N, telling her something embarrassing about our childhood because you thought it’d be funny.” Miguel shakes his head at that image, smiling.

“I know I haven’t talked the last few times I’ve been here, but I just - I couldn’t. Not yet, but now I am. It’s been almost a year, Gabriel, since I possibly saw you. I’m still not sure if I did, or if it was just a dream - an illusion - but my heart tells me it was real. Y/N thinks so, too. Anyway,” Miguel pauses, clearing his throat. “It’s been almost a year, hermano [brother]. A year - a whole year. I’m sorry, if you’re listening, you’re probably hating that I’m repeating myself so much but, yeah, it’s been a year. Can you believe that?” Miguel asks, pausing. The same bird, probably, chirps. Miguel’s lips purse before he continues.

“A whole lot has changed, Gabriel. A lot. I… I’m a different man than I was a year ago. I can look at myself in the mirror now. I don’t shy away from my own gaze, which is another thing. My eyes. I find myself… Happy with them, along with my fangs and talons. That’s thanks to someone, and you know her very well. Well, at least in my dreams you do. Y/N. You and her get along so well in my dreams. We both wish you were around, physically, so she could’ve met you. You would’ve loved her, I know it,” Miguel says smiling again. “She’s a big part of my life now. I finally told her the other day that she’s my best friend. Oh, and she’s living with me now. Temporarily. I think… Her building will be livable again, very soon. She’ll be returning to her universe.”

Miguel looks away, staring at his lap. He picks away some grass from his bottoms, thinking. That same bird chirps again as if responding to him. He looks up again when he hears the fluttering from somewhere on the trees.

“It’s… difficult, Gabriel. I’ve grown used to her living with me. To her presence being there, both at HQ and now at the penthouse, close by. Our routines, they just merged. Clicked. Is it bad… Is it crazy that I’d like Dulzura [sweetness] - “ Miguel stops as he hears the nickname he gave you. “I’ve given her a nickname, too, Gabri. It just slipped out of my mouth that day. Dulzura [sweetness]. She’s so sweet, so kind to me - kinder than other people would ever be. Something about her, Gabri…” Miguel shakes his head. “As I was saying, I gave her a nickname. Dulzura [sweetness] - because she’s sweet and kind - but what I wanted to ask is, if it’s crazy that I’d like her to stay? For her to continue to live at the penthouse?”

The flapping of wings makes Miguel pause. He looks up, his crimson eyes finding a red bird in mid-flight. It so happens to perch itself on Gabri’s gravestone. He stares at it, watching how the bird spreads its wings before bringing them closer to its small, delicate body. Once settled, it looks around before settling its gaze on Miguel, too, observing him.

With knitted eyebrows, Miguel continues to stare, wondering if speaking will startle the bird. He decides not to for a moment, wanting to observe the bird this close up for longer. For a moment, he wishes you were here so you could see it, too. After several seconds, the bird chirps, taking small steps over Gabriel’s gravestone. Miguel remains quiet and keeps watching before the bird chirps again, stopping and turning to look at him, now on the edge of the gravestone’s top.

“What? Can’t find food?” Miguel asks. “I’m sure there’s plenty around.”

The bird chirps again. Miguel groans softly, now he’s talking to birds. “Estoy loco, verdad, ¿Gabri? [I’m crazy, right, Gabri?] I shouldn’t… but I do. I know it’s not likely. Dulzura [sweetness], she loves her apartment, so much. She’d never consider it, plus… This was only because of what happened at her building, not for any other reason. So there’s that.” Miguel frowns, picking up blades of grass with his fingers. He twirls a piece between his thumb and forefinger. “Aun así… No puedo dejar de pensar en el día que se ira [Even then… I can’t stop thinking about the day she’ll leave]. Thinking about it - it upsets me. I have no right, I know.” He gently lets go of the grass, watching it blow away with the breeze. He turns to the bird, still there. “¿Tu que? ¿Te gusto escuchar el chisme? [What of you? You liked hearing the gossip?]” He tilts his head to the side, wondering if something is wrong with this bird, but it moves just fine, no sign of injury.

He sighs.

“… I’m going to miss her, Gabriel,” Miguel admits out loud, his thoughts still on you and the fact it’s inevitable for you to move back to your apartment. “A lot,” he whispers. “But I can’t possibly ask. I can’t put her in a hard position. So, I guess in a few weeks, I’ll be staying at the penthouse on my own. Again.”

Miguel stares at the bird, wondering what his brother would say. He’d be positive about it. He’d say something like how things will work out the way they’re supposed to. So, Miguel holds on to that thought, even if things have not always turned out great for him.

-♡-

The next day, the Spider Society’s HQ is buzzing with energy since it’s Monday. Miguel and you walk side by side as you both enter the training sector, a floor designed for all forms of training, including simulations. You glance at Miguel, who’s carrying a gym bag on his broad shoulder.

Once or so every week, you join the spider gang to do training simulations but due to the cold and your period, you’re not entirely up for it today. So, you decided to ask Miguel if he’d like to join them in your place. He seem reluctant at first but then you added that you’d be here, and he agreed.

You know Miguel works out frequently, sometimes in the afternoon when everyone is gone from HQ, but ever since you temporarily moved in with him, he’s been opting to work out at home. Apparently owning the penthouse means a private gym, which Miguel told you about a few days after you moved in when he remembered it. Of course, he said you could use it if you wanted to, especially because it’s better since it’s more private than the training sector at HQ, where all the spider people train and work out.

Today, though, it seems he might try to work out a bit with the spider gang, hence his backpack to change into other clothes once the training simulation is over. The two of you walk through the sector, the place filled with many, many gym machines and then some more to accommodate the strength of the spider people, such as big blocks of metal among other things that no regular human will ever be able to lift.

As Miguel and you walk further inside, you finally spot the group, so you both head straight for them. You’re about fifty feet away from them when someone calls your name.

“Y/N.”

Miguel and you both turn, halting. Your gaze finds none other than Ben Reilly, who you know spends a lot of time here at the training sector. You smile softly at him and wave.

“Hi, Ben,” you greet him.

“Hey,” Ben replies, giving you somewhat of a smile. He raises his arm to wave back, flexing his bare biceps as he does so, not wearing his suit but rather work out gear. “Hope you’re - feeling better.”

Tilting your head to the side, you offer yet another smile. You didn’t know that others paid that much attention, though maybe it was the fact that Miguel didn’t show up that alerted them. And maybe someone from the spider gang mentioned it, so it may have reached other members’ ears.

“That’s kind of you, Ben, thank you. I’m doing much better, for sure. I still feel a little fatigue, but the worst has passed.”

“Glad to hear that, and to see you back,” he says, nodding. “See you around.”

“Alright, see you around!”

With that, you continue walking, Miguel following a step behind, his brows knitted.

It’s like he wasn’t even there, standing next to you. He glances back, finding Ben staring in your direction but immediately looking away when he notices Miguel’s gaze. He watches for a few seconds as Reilly starts working out again. Miguel exhales deeply as he turns to face the front again.

Weird, he thinks to himself as you both approach the group.

“Huh, Miguel did show up,” Hobie says, as if he expected Miguel to back out.

“This will be so much fun! Miguel is joining us for the first time!” Pav says cheerfully.

You smile as you notice the overall excitement about Miguel joining the spider gang for training today. Over the last few months, you’ve noticed Miguel trying to be more open with them and you have to admit, this little opportunity might help even more. The fact that he even accepted makes you feel very grateful and excited, even if you’re not participating today, unfortunately. Your hope, however, is that maybe after today, Miguel might be willing to train with the group from now on, including you.

“This should be interesting,” Peter B. says with Mayday hanging out on his shoulder, before everyone starts off to the simulation square, excited and eager.

Jess steps back, taking a seat on the edge of the running track. Sometimes she participates and other times she doesn’t, today being one of those days. You nod to Miguel.

“I’m going to sit with Jess. Good luck,” you tell him softly, offering a smile of encouragement.

Miguel raises an eyebrow, playfully. “Gracias [thank you]. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” Miguel watches as you take a seat next to Jess, satisfied that you’re safe and settled down, resting.

He heads to the simulation center where everyone is already waiting for him. The holographic walls engage right away, similar to those barriers used to capture anomalies except these can be broken.

From your spot, you watch as the simulation officially begins. The system selects a random New York from the database along with a random villain from those that have been captured, using the information it has on behavior and skills.

As soon as the villain pops up, the team jumps into action, quickly agreeing on roles and tasks before they split or team up.

As Jess and you watch, Jess breaks the silence.

“So… how is it?”

“How is what?” you ask, giving her a glance.

“Living with Miguel.”

“Oh,” you reply simply. You weren’t exactly expecting that question, so you feel caught off guard for a few seconds before you collect your thoughts. “It’s… great.”

“Just great?”

You chuckle. “I’m sorry, your question caught me off guard.” You sigh, watching how Hobie and Pav launch themselves off a building, swinging easily across the city. “I’ve… It’s amazing,” you start, which makes one of Jess’s eyebrows shoot up. “It’s really nice living with someone - living with Miguel. He’s a very respectful, responsible person. So… considerate. Our routines kind of - just clicked.” You pause, watching how Miguel swings after Hobie now, telling him something. Hobie nods before he parts ways with him.

Jess hums, listening.

“I’m thankful he offered his place to stay. I never thought I’d experience a fire at my building.”

“Girl - your building - I don’t mean to be mean but,” she pauses and you laugh softly.

“Okay, maybe I shouldn’t say I never expected it. I’ll agree the building is - old.”

“I was thinking ancient but old works, too.”

Jess and you laugh again.

“I don’t mean it in a bad way,” Jess says. “It’s an older building, a fire was probably not out of the question, but I understand why you’re… attached to it.”

“It’s been my home for several years. It was the place where Peter and I started our lives together.” You lean back on your hands. “But I also do find it to be cute, in its own way. Anyway, I guess a fire in the near future was not too out of the question but still, I didn’t think - so soon, I guess. It threw me off, into an unexpected situation, and I’m thankful to Miguel for opening his home to me. To all of you for offering your homes, too.”

Jess hums again. “You know my home is still open to you.”

“I know, thank you again. Hobie and the Morales family have continued to offer, but all of you have families. I didn’t want to disrupt anyone’s life. I still feel like I’m disrupting Miguel’s.”

“You’re not,” Jess says rather quickly. She shakes her head. “You know better than most people that Miguel hardly spent time at his home. It’s only been recent that he started to, at least the nights for some reason,” she says, looking at you as if you have the answers.

You keep a neutral face. You’re close with Jess, with the spider gang, but you’re not going to reveal the reason why Miguel has been going home almost every night for a whole year. You’re not going to reveal that each weekend, you offer Miguel a sweatshirt fresh with your scent nor that his gizmo plays the sound of you sleepy breathing - that both things help him sleep because they bring him comfort, that his nightmares have slowly decreased over time.

Jess hums softly, understanding. “Whatever the reason… He goes home and sleeps, I think. That’s all that matters. And recently, because you’re staying with him, he goes home earlier. Do you know how big that is?” she asks, raising an eyebrow. “It’s huge. Before you and him - became close - there were times, very rare, when I’d find him slumped over his monitors, passed out. Most of the time though, he hardly slept. He was always in a mood because of his lack of sleep. And don’t get me started on the lack of food. He’d skip meals, too.” Jess pauses and turns to look at the team, still in the simulation. Her eyes find Miguel, thinking about what a different man he is now. “You’re not disrupting anyone’s life, much less Miguel’s - believe that.” Jess stops at that, though there’s more she’d like to say, like how ever since she met Miguel and especially after losing Gabriella, Miguel was merely existing. He went through the days in a blur, day blending into night, in that dark and lonely lab of his.

Over the last year though?

Miguel O’Hara has been living.

It’s as if he’s found a new reason to try at life.

But he’s not the only one.

Jess hums to herself and turns to look at you, offering one of those smiles that never fails to bring you comfort from your once mentor.

Maybe one day, both Miguel and you will realize what you’ve truly done for each other.

For now, Jess Drew keeps smiling at you. “I’m glad to have you here, you know? This place would be very different without you.”

You smile at Jess, thinking. “Thank you, Jess. For going back to my universe even after I first declined the invitation.”

“Don’t worry about it. You made me ask and ask again, but I’m just glad you accepted at last.”

Humming, you think back to the reason for you joining. Your Peter. Jess brought him up, hoping it’d convince you. At first you wondered how she had known about him but being part of the Spider Society for some time now, you know potential recruits are watched for a few days. Mentors make sure that potential new recruits are not a liability for the society, which means Jess probably spent a few days observing you without your knowledge until she deemed you safe for recruitment. During those days, she quickly put together your life - what your schedule was like, the people that had once being in your life, and the fact that most of your talking was with petty criminals and villains before you went to an empty home.

There’s been times over the course of your time at the Spider Society when you’ve wondered where you’d be right now if you had never joined. Of course, there might never be a way to know for sure but a part of you senses that you’d still be on your own. The mere thought fills you with sadness but even more so when you think about the possibility of never meeting the people around you.

There’s a chance you would’ve never met any of them; no Hobie, Pav, or Miles. No Gwen or Margo. No Peter B. or Jess. No Noir, Penny, or Spider-Ham.

No Miguel.

Staring at the group, who are almost done with the simulation, you give a silent thank you to Peter, your Peter, from wherever he is. He was the reason you joined the society, the one that swayed your decision.

You turn to Jess. “Thank you,” you say again.

“For what?”

“You know, going back to get me to join.”

Jess smirks. “I already told you, not to worry about it - but you’re welcome,” she says, nudging your side.

Chuckling, you nudge her back.

It’s good to be here.

With a sigh of content, you watch as the simulation ends. The spider gang steps out of the holographic walls, some of them heading to the area with machines to use them.

Jess and you continue to sit by the track race, catching up on her life. A few minutes later, you both notice Miles and Pav stick to Miguel’s side as he fixes a machine to his needs before he starts using it. He’s changed into dark sweatpants and a black t-shirt, the clothes he had in his gym bag. You nod at something Jess says, watching for a few seconds as Miguel works on his arms, Pav and Miles still at his side, talking to him.

From somewhere, you hear a man grunt, catching Jess’s and your attention.

Ben Reilly puffs out air as he lifts a barbell that no human could ever lift. His bare arms tense under the weight and he let's out another noise. His arms shake as he lowers it one more time, trying to get one last rep, but even from your spot, you can see he'll struggle to lift it.

“I think Ben has pushed it too far,” Jess remarks.

“I think he might need help putting it back,” you add, frowning. “Be right back.” You stand up and approach him, noticing the shaking even more as you walk closer. You're about six feet away from him when someone brushes past you, in front of you.

It's all so quick it leaves you feeling caught off guard, but the familiar scent immediately reaches your nose before your eyes find the person.

Miguel.

He stands behind Ben and gives you a reassuring nod. “I got it. Here Ben,” he says, offering his hands to help the other Spider-Man. You notice his suit activates even over his gym clothes. It seems he doesn't want accidental physical contact.

You nod back as Ben hands the barbell to him before Miguel places it back. Meanwhile, Ben looks at you with a defeated look.

You give him a small smile. It seems he's upset about not being able to continue his reps. You step back and go back to Jess and Peter B., who’s now sitting next to her. They seemed to be gossiping about something, giggling to themselves.

“-ckblocked!” is all you manage to hear from Peter B., giggling.

Jess laughs. “Shush!”

They both notice you and hold back from their laughter.

“Should I be concerned?” you ask, taking a seat next to Jess.

“No, don't worry about it,” Jess says more seriously.

“It's nothing. You're safe,” Peter B. says.

“Safe?” you ask, confused.

“He's just being a goofball. You know how he gets,” Jess says, discreetly nudging Parker.

You shrug and turn towards Miguel and Ben, finding him talking to Reilly still.

“There's a more efficient way to do it,” Miguel says as he take the barbell, positioning his body correctly. “Look.”

Miguel demonstrates by lifting the barbell, stretching his arms above his head. His gaze is focused, staring right ahead as he brings the barbell to his chest. His suit is back to being disengaged now that Reilly is a few feet away from him, so you can see his arms flex as he moves. Your eyes take in the sight of his sleeves, which become even more taut as his muscles flex.

Miguel continues to demonstrate by holding the barbell for a few seconds before he lifts it up again, his torso’s muscles becoming prominent beneath his t-shirt. His gaze remains focused ahead, but then, it flickers to you, meeting yours.

You hold his gaze, giving him a smile and a nod, encouraging him to go on. He returns the nod, his gaze still on you for a few seconds before Ben says something to him, making Miguel’s gaze turn away from you, almost hesitantly.

You turn away and face Jess and Peter B., who you find wiggling his eyebrows at Mayday. Jess and you laugh, returning to your conversation from earlier.

Half an hour later, you decide to do at least a little bit of walking to stretch your legs, so you begin to walk around the track on your own, leaving Jess and Peter B., along with Mayday, to talk. You see them giggling again, once you’re out of ear shot, which makes you wonder but you decide to not investigate. Probably parent stuff.

A minute or two later, Miguel falls in step with you. “Doing a little walking?” he asks, looking over at you before he wipes his brow with the back of his hand.

“Yeah, I figured I’d stretch my legs a little bit, considering I hardly moved the last few days.”

Miguel nods, smiling. “I’m glad to see you’re in better spirits, to see you back on your feet.”

You return the smile. “So am I, which… reminds me.” You hold his gaze as you stop walking. “Thank you for looking after me. I…” you trail off, collecting your thoughts. “It was a while since I had become sick, but all those times, I was on my own. I got used to looking after myself, I guess, so much I forgot what it’s like to have someone worry about and look after me. Thank you, Miguel,” you say softly. “It meant so much to me.”

Miguel hums gently, nodding. You stand in front of each other, meeting each other’s gazes. “Always,” Miguel replies, his voice low, soft. “No matter what - always.”

You almost throw your arms around him. Almost pull him towards you to embrace him and not only “tell” how thankful you are for him, but also show him by giving him the tightest, warmest hug he’s ever received in his whole life.

You almost do it.

Yet, you don’t.

You wish.

Oh, how you wish you could.

You wonder. Maybe there’s a dimension out there, one that hasn’t been discovered yet in the vast multiverse, where you’re in each other’s lives, too, with the difference that that dimension’s Miguel has never shied away from physical contact.

Maybe another version of you gets to freely hug their Miguel, or rather their version of Miguel, not that Miguel is theirs in some way.

The point is, maybe there’s a universe where you don’t hold back from hugging Miguel when you wish to. One in which your version can just hug him.

Like you wish you could right now.

You smile at him, your arms wishing to wrap around him, despite his sweat. “Always,” you whisper.

You both smile at each other, forgetting that you’re in the Spider Society’s training sector with multiple sets of eyes and ears, some curious to catch a glance or a snippet of your moment and friendship.

After a few seconds, you begin to walk together again, soft smiles on your faces.

“I was thinking - how do you feel about homemade pizza for dinner?” Miguel asks, his gaze on you despite the multiple distractions in the space.

“Homemade pizza?” you ask.

“Yes, we can customize - if you’d like to, of course. I was just thinking - I don’t know where the idea came from.”

“Homemade pizza sounds amazing! I’m up for it,” you say looking up at him giddily, which only makes Miguel happy. “We’d need to buy a few ingredients, but we can get them.”

“I was thinking of going to the grocery store. Do you want to go with me?” Miguel asks, tilting his head.

You nod immediately. “Yeah, I’d love to! Just tell me what time, so I can get regular clothes on.”

“I was thinking leaving earlier today,” Miguel says as you both keep walking.

“How early are we talking?”

Miguel grins. “Like… an hour or two.”

You hum softly in response.

“Two hours before my usual departure time,” Miguel decides in the moment, the decision an easy one in your presence.

You grin. “You made your mind up quickly.”

Miguel rolls his eyes playfully. “We can meet up at the penthouse, change, and head to the grocery store.”

“Sounds like a plan,” you answer, looking forward to some homemade pizza and quality time with your best friend.

-♡-

Miguel carries the grocery basket while you both walk down the aisles, gathering the few ingredients that are needed for dinner. Just like Miguel suggested, the two of you left HQ thirty minutes ago, two whole hours earlier than Miguel usually leaves, and went straight to the penthouse to change in to regular clothes, and are now at one of Miguel’s favorite grocery stores in Nueva York.

You’ve seen it before but you’re still in awe as you both shop around, noticing the holograms for screens from which the best deals and newest items are displayed for customers to see. You even catch sight of holographic AIs, much like Lyla, that customers can refer to if they can’t find an item.

Even though it’s just a grocery trip, you find yourself enjoying it because you get to see more of Miguel’s universe, and you’re not the only one. Miguel walks next to you, the grocery basket looking like it’s part of a child’s grocery toy set near him, with great contentment thanks to your wide eyes and “oohs” when you see something exciting. You even end up checking out the sweets aisle, where Miguel added everything that you seemed to stare at for too long to the basket despite your protest once you noticed it.

At last, the two of you head to the check out section. Even though Miguel used the “scan and go” mobile option and paid online, you must show up to this area for an employee to check the purchases. So, you both stand there and wait for your turn to show the receipt. Meanwhile, you take a sip from a coffee Miguel bought you earlier from the attached coffee shop, insisting on you getting something. You declined at first but now that you’ve had it, you’re glad he offered because it’s great. Glancing at the cup, you notice there’s less than three sips left as you both step forward for a woman to scan your receipt from Miguel’s phone.

“How are you doing today? Did you guys find everything you needed?”

You nod with a smile, letting Miguel do the talking. It’s his universe after all.

“We did, thank you,” Miguel says as the lady scans the basket, placing the items in the bags Miguel brought with him.

You finish your drink and look around, noticing garbage bins nearby. “Hey, I’m going to throw this away real quick. It’s so good, I already finished it! Thank you for buying it for me,” you say with a smile. “I’ll be right back.”

Miguel gives you a small smile and nods before you head off.

The lady, noticing the interaction, smiles. “Aww, how sweet! You bought your girlfriend a coffee. What a gentleman,” she says, making Miguel nearly choke on his own saliva, something the lady seems to miss entirely, too busy talking and scanning the items to make sure everything is as it’s supposed to be. “And based on your groceries, you’re having a homemade pizza date.” She finishes her job and steps back, smiling. “You guys have a wonderful evening together!”

Miguel nods, still coughing quietly behind a small, sheepish smile. His cheeks are red as he approaches you, trying to stop the coughing. He stops a few feet behind you as you read something about the store’s recycling system. Apparently recycling is taken more seriously in Nueva York.

Miguel clears his throat, his chest finally calming down.

Your girlfriend, the lady said too happily, too certain. Like there’s no doubt that you’re Miguel’s girlfriend. He stares at your back as you read, still feeling shocked but he composes himself when you finally turn around to face him with a happy smile.

“This is really cool, I wish we had this in my… you know,” you say, remembering not to say anything about universes. The last thing you want is for people to think you’re talking crazy.

With a short exhale, Miguel nods, finding his voice once again. “The work they do is incredible. They’re trying to implement it to more stores like this one. It’s why I shop here, they’re a far more ethical company than others whose greed leads their decisions, even when it concerns everyone,” he explains softly as you both head to the exit.

“That’s really great, I’m glad you have that here. It’s unfortunate that’s not the case in all universes.”

“I know,” Miguel replies as you both begin to walk down the sidewalk. He doesn’t even realize it, but he walks closest to the street, keeping you away from it as he easily carries the bags in one hand, like it’s nothing.

The two of you continue to chat on the way home. Miguel points out buildings to you and answers questions you ask about certain things from his universe until the two of you eventually reach Miguel’s building. Instead of sneaking in through the windows like you both usually do, you get to the penthouse though the elevator and the main front door where Miguel asks you to open it, using your own fingerprint. He added you to the security system almost a year ago, so when you press your finger, the system immediately identifies you.

Together, you put groceries away before you both head to take a shower, in your respective bathrooms, of course.

Miguel, showered and wearing lounging clothes, makes it downstairs first. He heads to the kitchen to start gathering ingredients onto one of the counters, but he gets distracted though. There, on the counter, lies one of your hair ties. He takes a seat, just for a few seconds to look at it. You must have left it while you were putting items away and simply forgot about it.

Usually, you pick everything up, never leaving your personal items lingering around for too long. Miguel knows it’s because you don’t want to make the penthouse appear “cluttered” with your belongings, which Miguel has told you before that it’s fine. It’s not like small things such as your jewelry and hair accessories is going to make the space cluttered, but it seems you’re too respectful of the place to even leave a hair tie for longer than a few hours.

Due to that, Miguel appreciates the fact that you forgot your hair tie now. The truth is, he enjoys seeing little reminders around the penthouse that you’re here. It’s so comforting to him, to know he’s not alone in this big penthouse.

He gently picks it up now, as if it’s the most delicate of things. He finds himself smiling at the sight. Who knew a simple hair tie could bring such happiness to a man? He lets it slip down his fingers, still admiring it with a smile before he slightly stretches it. He’s very careful with it as he doesn’t want to rip it somehow. He learned from his short time with Gabriella that these things are sensitive.

“Miguel? Have you seen my hair tie?” you ask from the living room, coming to the kitchen.

Startled, Miguel quietly slams it back on the counter. His hand lays flat over it for the most part, minus his talons which came out from being startled since he failed to hear your footsteps, too focused on the hair tie. He turns to the entrance just as you walk in.

“... I have not,” Miguel says and then he moves his hand, his talons withdrawn now. He turns to the counter. “Never mind, it’s here.” He picks it up and holds it out, trying to play it off like he wasn’t holding it in his fingers just seconds ago.

You reach his side and take it, looking at it while your mind wonders. You smile. “Thank you. I forgot it down here.” You slip it onto your wrist for now. “Ready to start cooking?”

Miguel nods, his cheeks dusted with a blush. He’s relieved you didn’t catch him holding your hair tie. That’d be too much, right? “Ready,” he replies, standing up.

As you begin to gather what’s needed, Miguel turns on his record player and chooses upbeat music to go with the mood.

With everything on the counter ready to go, you work on the sauce while Miguel works on the dough. He offered to work on it, saying his hands could cover more ground than your smaller ones.

“Plus, years of making tamales will help,” he says as he finds the appropriate measuring cup.

Once Miguel is done and you have the sauce on the stove, you begin to prepare the toppings side by side on the counter, chatting about what you’re putting on your pizzas. At one point, you finish with your part of the toppings, so you move on to prep the pans for the dough while Miguel dices some vegetables.

While prepping the pans, you glance at the windows, noticing the way the kitchen is illuminated with golden hues, giving Miguel’s place a very cozy vibe. You even notice little rainbows on the ceiling, which you point out to him.

Staring at them, he can’t remember ever noticing them before, until now. He smiles at the sight, finding it cute that you noticed that and shared it with him.

You eventually begin to work with the dough for your pizzas when it’s ready since it needed to do its thing. The mood is a light one as you work side by side on the counter. After the last few days with you being sick and running into Harry, this moment is a relaxing one for both Miguel and you. Time seems to slow down as you both continue to talk, at some point even about the grocery store and how you think it’s, “so cool,” which earns yourself a smile from Miguel.

You add a little bit of flour to your dough before you roll the pin over it, trying to make it into a decent circle. You turn to look at Miguel’s to see how his is doing. You notice it looks great, and also that his fingerprints are all over the dough just like yours are over your own.

“Your dough looks-” you pause when you look at his face. You instantly smile and try not to chuckle. “Great. It’s almost a perfect circle.”

“You think so?” Miguel asks giving you his attention, unaware that he has flour on his cheek and nose.

“Definitely,” you reply, smiling. Deciding not to tell him about it, you turn back to your own to keep working on it.

“Thank you,” Miguel says, feeling pleased with himself. “I’ve never made homemade pizzas before.”

You hum gently. “Me neither. It’s kind of funny, I guess. We cook a lot and we’ve never made any.”

“First time for the two of us then,” he replies with a smile, which makes you smile, too.

Silently, you both feel pleased about this - about the fact that you’re both doing something new, together.

“Hiiii, guys! Making pizza?” Lyla asks, popping out of nowhere. She floats in front of Miguel and you, taking a look down at the counter like a manager inspecting quality. “It’s looking good. You guys are good at this, look at you.” She grins and looks up at you two again.

You thank Lyla before Miguel adds a quiet “thanks” as well.

“Uh - hm,” Lyla starts but stays quiet, noticing the flour on Miguel’s face. “Picture!” Before Miguel and you can react, Lyla takes a picture. “So sweet!”

“Lyla - always the same thing with you,” Miguel says but his tone is not angry or even bothered. In a way, his tone reminds Lyla of a disappointed parent.

She grins knowing that at this point, both of you have accepted that she takes pictures whenever she wants. “It’s not the first one I’ve taken today,” she says shrugging. “I took some before I even popped up.”

You raise an eyebrow but once again, don’t feel surprised. “How many have you taken?” you ask.

“A few. I may show them to you later,” she says. “I’m still deciding.”

“I can always just look for them,” Miguel says as he adds sauce to the dough.

“Good luck with that,” Lyla says, crossing her arms over her chest. “So… are you guys just making pizzas? No movie, no telenovela?”

You turn to look Miguel. You hadn’t thought of that, and it seems neither did Miguel because he turns to look at you with a look that confirms so.

“I… Didn’t think of that,” Miguel says. “Do you want to watch a movie?”

You shrug slightly. “If you want to. I’m up for it.”

“I have the best movie rec for you guys,” Lyla says clapping her hands. “It’s about a guy and a girl. They meet up and then become best of friends and -”

“So, you’re going to give us a summary?” Miguel asks.

Lyla sighs. “You know what? I’ve changed my mind. I’ll give you guys another rec.” She taps her chin, thinking. “The guy and girl end up together in the end,” Lyla says quietly to herself with a grin, watching you two. “You guys feel like watching an action movie? Maybe a mystery one? Or a horror movie? Or - maybe a romcom?” Lyla says, laying out the options, an eyebrow raised.

“I’m not picky,” Miguel says as he watches you carefully spread sauce. “What do you want to watch, dulzura [sweetness]?”

Your hand falters for a fraction of a second when you hear the nickname. Just a few days ago Miguel said it for the first time and since then, he’s said it a few more times - dropping the nickname here and there. Every single time has been when you’re both alone, either here at the penthouse or at the lab.

Either way, it’s caught you by surprise each time without failure. You smile softly at him. “I’m not picky either, we can watch anything, really.”

“Well, if I may… I say no horror,” Lyla says. “The sun is still out. The vibes for it are not it, you know?”

“Wait, I kind of want to see how horror movies are made in this universe with all the technology you have,” you say realizing.

Lyla frowns and Miguel smiles.

“You want to? I’m not a big horror fan but there’s a few classic ones.”

“Yeah… I think I’d like that,” you say nodding.

Lyla watches as Miguel shrugs. “We’ll watch that then.”

You both continue to work on the pizzas, adding your toppings now. Lyla stays in place, arms crossed over her chest with a frown. She sighs. “I still think my first rec was better than any horror movie but what do I know? I’m just the silly AI,” she mumbles.

“What is that word the spiderlings were using today?” Miguel says as he thinks back to training earlier today. “When someone just keeps talking?

“You mean, ‘yapping?’”

“Yeah, that one. Lyla is doing that right now,” he says looking at Lyla.

“You did not -” Lyla stops and facepalms.

“Professional yapper,” you say which makes Miguel chuckle next to you.

“Not you guys calling me a profesional yapper,” Lyla says.

“She’s still going,” Miguel comments as he adds more toppings to his pizza, smirking.

“I see why you’re best friends,” Lyla says in disbelief, which makes both Miguel and you chuckle. She shakes her head, not annoyed but amused. It’s good to see the two of you smiling and laughing. She’s slightly temped to say that you’re both “professional yappers” with each other, staying up until 3am in the living room talking about the most random things, but she holds back. “I’ll set up a horror movie for you guys,” she says with a sigh, disappearing.

An hour later, Miguel and you are sitting in the living room. Neither of you planned to watch a movie today, especially not over dinner but because of Lyla’s suggestion, you’re now both sat on the ground over the coffee table. You cleared it earlier to make space for the plates and drinks, and everything else needed. The blinds have been drawn, leaving the living room in complete darkness except for the TV.

The movie starts, so Miguel and you begin to eat, sitting across from each other.

“Wow, this is great,” Miguel murmurs after he finishes eating the first bite. “Wanna try it?”

Seeing you nod, Miguel offers the plate for you to grab a slice from his.

“Try mine,” you say softly, offering your plate, too.

Hums of approval for each other’s pizzas follows. Napkins and crushed red pepper flakes are exchanged, fingers brushing in the darkness.

You watch the movie in peace, exchanging words here and there until you decide to do an intermission halfway to use the bathroom and clean the remainder of the kitchen, not having much left to do since you both tried to clean up as you were cooking to avoid having a huge mess behind. You head upstairs to your bedroom when you’re both done cleaning to grab a sweatshirt since you’ve grown cold downstairs with the AC constantly turning on. You slide it on, fixing the sleeves when you notice your hair tie, the one you were looking for earlier. You forgot you left it on the counter after arriving back from the grocery store and looked for it here in your room, having forgot where you left it.

You tug at it gently, thinking. Miguel may have been able to play it off well, but it was a second too late.

You saw him holding it and though you weren’t able to see his face, his bashful reaction when you entered the room said a lot. You’ve known for some time that Miguel doesn’t mind you leaving your items around. He’s gone on to say you’re not cluttering the space because he knows that’s how you think, and even Lyla has told you that it probably brings some sort of comfort to Miguel. You hum softly to yourself, ready to head downstairs again as you think about the hair tie when your eyes land on the bookcase inside the room. It so happens to land on a photograph of your parents. It’s a photograph you used to have on your wall back at your apartment, so of course, you have it on display here. You walk over to it, staring at your parents.

It’s hard to believe how many years have gone by since they passed away, so many more than Peter. It hurt at the time, to know that you weren’t there to save them. You miss them every day, wished they were here. Sometimes you wonder if you would’ve told them about your secret, about being Spider-Woman if they were still alive.

You don’t know. Maybe not with the dangers that come with it. You smile and place a finger on the photo, thinking about how a few weeks ago it was Mother’s Day, which reminds you of Father’s Day. With a sigh, you tap the photo gently and whisper an “I love you” to your parents’ photograph before you check your gizmo.

Sure enough, Father’s Day is this Sunday, in just a few days. You check the calendar, noticing that it’ll be Father’s Day in other universes, too, including Miguel’s.

You turn to a photo of him and you, also displayed in the bookcase.

It’s one of the photos Lyla took in the past, the day she revealed that she takes photos, to be exact. It was the day you were painting picture frames at your apartment, in the middle of redecorating, when Miguel showed up to invite you for dinner as a thank you for looking after him. You remember it now. You had paint on your face and he didn’t tell you until later on, when he wiped it away.

The memory reminds you of Miguel’s face while you were cooking earlier, his cheek and nose dusted with flour. You grin at the memory and leave your bedroom, still thinking about Father’s Day. You silently debate about it as you walk down the staircase. You’d like to gift Miguel something but you wonder if it’s a good idea at all. You don’t want to upset him, to cause him any more pain than necessary. In the past, you’ve never spent the day with him, so you don’t know what he does, if he even reacts to it. This will be the first year you’ll be in his presence for the day and a part of you feels worried.

You reach the end of the stairs, now in the living room. You hear noise in the kitchen, alerting you that Miguel is there. You turn to the wall of photographs you put together, illuminated softly by a lamp Miguel turned on earlier when you both decided to take a break.

Miguel has changed a lot, this wall is a great sign of that but you still wonder if gifting him something on Father’s Day might upset him.

“Everything okay?” Miguel asks stepping into the living room.

You turn, startled. You’re still amazed sometimes at how he manages to sneak up on you. You’d think that a man of his size would make more noise when walking but no. Sometimes he walks so silently, you don’t know he’s there until he speaks up.

“Yes, I was just - looking,” you reply, glancing back at the wall, at a photo of Gaby. You smile softly at it for a second before giving Miguel your attention. He’s already walked to the coffee table, which has been cleared once more. He places two mugs on the surface, over coasters, and sits down on the floor again.

“What did you make?” you ask but you already have an idea as you make your way over.

“Give it a second,” he says with a soft smirk, knowing that the scent will reach your nose soon enough.

You reach the table, noticing the mugs filled with a dark liquid. Your favorite.

“I’m not even going to ask how you made it so quick,” you say which makes Miguel chuckle.

“I won’t reveal my secrets, then.”

You snort softly and turn your gaze to him, noticing he still has flour on his face. “I’ll be right back.” You head to the kitchen for a napkin, returning to the table in no time. You kneel on your side of the table.

“I forgot to tell you earlier,” you start as you fold the napkin while Miguel watches you with curiosity, wondering.

“What is it?” he asks softly, his head tilting to the side.

“You have a little something - right,” you lean over the table, carefully, and reach with the napkin. “Here,” you say, wiping his cheek and then dabbing his nose gently. You pull back, not missing the way Miguel blinks in surprise, his brows knitting slightly. He didn’t protest nor pulled back though, he simply accepted it, either willingly or because he was too caught off guard.

You place the napkin down and pick up the mug, taking it in both hands and inhaling the rich scent. “Always smells so good,” you mumble bringing it to your mouth. “Thank you for making it.”

Miguel nods, still blinking. His brain is having a moment, trying to catch up. “Si [yes], you’re we- Always,” he says. stammering. “I hope you like it,” he adds picking up his own and holding it with one hand.

“Should we unpause?”

“Yeah, I - I got it.” Miguel grabs the remote and unpauses as he speaks. “Thank you for, you know, my face,” he says as the movie starts playing again.

“Always,” you say humming, your eyes on the TV once more as you settle down and get comfortable.

You watch the rest of the movie without pauses, drinking your coffees in comfy lounging clothes. Miguel threw on a sweatshirt earlier, too, so you’re both donning sweatshirts now. It’s not until the movie is over that you realize it’s the same one he offered to you when you were sick. Of course, you threw it in the wash since you were sick and returned it to him, along with his blanket.

You glance at Miguel as he reads from a book. It’s a new one. Apparently he finished the previous one while looking after you a few days ago. He turns the page, his eyes moving across the page. You’re both still sitting on the ground, across from each other.

You turn back to your tablet, looking for gifts to give fathers. You don’t even know why you searched that up, but you did, almost mindlessly, as soon as you grabbed the tablet. So now, you’re “just looking.” You’re not buying anything. You don’t think so.

As you scroll, your mind is contemplating.

Should you, or should you not?

You know it might be a hard day for Miguel but at the same time, simply ignoring the day and making it seem like it’s a regular Sunday seems cruel to you.

You chew on your bottom lip.

Which is crueler? Ignoring the day, or bringing it up?

“What are you thinking about?”

You look up, caught off guard. Miguel is staring at you, his book in one hand held open by a finger.

“I… Nothing,” you say softly.

“I don’t believe you,” Miguel replies, knowing you too well. Something is bothering you.

“I… well,” you start, trying to give yourself time to think of a little white lie. “It’s just … I’m thinking about… Yesterday.” You nod, finding a truth. “When I went to the cemetery, I saw Harry there.”

Miguel nods, not giving away that he knows you’re telling him something else. He noticed the way you were thinking, giving yourself time. He goes along with it anyway, trusting that whatever was truly on your mind, you’ll feel comfortable to share with him later on if you wish to. At least, it doesn't seem to be life or death. Still, the fact that you ran into Harry makes his brows raise.

“You did?”

“Yeah. He didn’t see me. I - I fled like a criminal from Peter’s grave,” you say wincing as you realize that’s basically how you left, running away from there before he could spot you. “I didn’t want to run into him and have to give him an answer when I don’t have one yet. Or, have to tell him that I’m still thinking about it, you know? So, I just - avoided him.”

“I don’t blame you,” Miguel replies gently, placing his book down after saving his page with a bookmark. “It’s only been a few days since you saw him again after so many years. I hope he’d understand that his request might need more than a few days to be considered.”

Leaning back on the couch, you nod, relieved Miguel didn’t notice that you very last minute thought of the Harry situation. “I’m sure he would - at least the Harry I knew back then would, but I suppose that doesn’t matter much now. Maybe I don’t know him anymore. So many years have gone by and I’ve changed. Maybe he has, too.”

“Change - is good,” Miguel answers. He knows that himself. He wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for the changes he’s made in his life, for accepting and embracing them even when there have been times when it was hard. “Maybe he has changed - matured,” he adds, leaving out that maybe he’s learned not to abandon friends in need. He frowns, his hand curling into a loose fist for a few seconds before he relaxes. “It’s only been a few days. You still have time to think about it, figure out what you think is best for you. Not for him.”

Letting Miguel’s words sink in, you nod with a small smile. “I appreciate your encouraging words. I’ll admit, this threw me off guard more than I’d like, so I find your words reassuring. I don’t need to rush and make a decision,” you say. “I just need to not feel guilty or selfish about it.”

“That’s the last thing you are,” Miguel says leaning on the coffee table slightly. “You’re not selfish for taking your time, nor would you be selfish if you chose to - step back, even if it’s for now. I’m… I have no right to say anything. I know he was in your life since your childhood, and I’m no one to tell you-” Miguel says pausing to gather his thoughts.

“You’re my best friend,” you say softly, seizing Miguel’s pause to speak. “I appreciate your thoughts, your advice - I’ll say what you once told me - you’re someone to me.”

Miguel hums, a smile forming on his lips when he hears you reciprocate his very words from so long ago. Back then, he was unable to call you his friend, so he used the word “someone” instead. “You’re someone to me, too.” Now, he can say it though, so he does. “You’re my best friend.”

Smiling back at him, your heart is elated to hear those words from Miguel’s mouth once again. To have him verbally say it - you’re his best friend.

And he’s yours.

You push down the happiness, remembering you were talking about Harry and your decision. “So… you were saying?” you ask.

“Right,” Miguel says, also recalling what the conversation is even about. “I was saying that… Well, my opinion doesn’t matter at the end of the day. No one’s does. The decision is up to you, but no one would blame you for stepping back, or asking Harry for more time to think about it, but that’s just a thought. All I hope is that you don’t feel pressure, nor stress from your decision when you make one.”

You nod, thinking about his words as you rub your thumb over your knuckles. “I don’t know right now. I don’t have a clear answer, and I don’t want to rush into making one.” You sigh and meet his gaze. “You’re right. It’s only been a few days, and I spent a lot of those days resting and sleeping, so I hardly even gave it a thought. A few more days won’t be so bad.”

“I concur,” Miguel says. “There’s plenty of time to think about it. Just - don’t get too stressed about it, okay? I have a feeling part of the reason why you got sick was because of stress you were - are - feeling about this situation.”

“I won’t, I’ll take it easy,” you reassure Miguel. “I don’t want to get sick again.”

“Me neither,” Miguel says, genuinely as he hated seeing you sick. “I hated seeing you sick, you know…”

You flash him a smile, moving your thumb from your knuckles to your wrist, feeling your hair tie. “I can imagine. I hated seeing you injured a year ago.”

He hums in response, understanding. If he hated seeing you sick with a cold, he can only imagine what he’d feel if something else - something worse - happened to you. He silently prays he never has to witness something like that with you. “Hopefully, it never gets to something like that again. For either of us.”

“I hope not,” you reply, still touching your hair tie. “By the way…”

“Yeah?” he says, raising an eyebrow.

“Do you want more café de olla [coffee]?”

Amused, he nods. “Yeah, I could go for another mug.”

“I got it then,” you say, standing up and grabbing both your mugs. Miguel thanks you as you head to the kitchen. You come back a minute later and place yours down, holding on to his. “Here,” you say, placing his in front of him.

He looks at it, smiling. “Thank you again, I appreciate it,” Miguel says softly before he notices your hair tie next to it, laying on the table. He looks up just as you sit down once more. “You dropped your hair tie,” he says picking it up, remembering earlier when you almost caught him playing with it.

“I did? Oh, I didn’t even notice,” you say, surprised. “I had it in my pocket. Hold it for me, let me get a napkin, yeah?”

“Yeah, of course.” Miguel watches you return to the kitchen, still holding your hair tie.

You return and sit down, placing napkins for each other. You notice Miguel is still holding on to your hair tie. “I think I’m just going to leave it here for now. It was bothering my wrist earlier and seems like it fell from my pocket. I don’t want to lose it,” you say. “It’s my favorite.”

Miguel nods, holding it. He places it down gently, like it’s some delicate item that might break. “You can leave it here on the coffee table, so you don’t lose it.”

“You’re right, I’m going to leave it here,” you say with a smile before you pick up your tablet again, not giving it more attention than necessary to avoid raising any suspicions.

Miguel goes back to reading after a few seconds, seeing you go back to whatever it was you were doing on your tablet.

A little while after searching the internet for gift ideas, you subtly look up.

Miguel is leaning on the couch, his book in his hand. His eyes move across the page fast, intrigued by the plot of his book. Under the coffee table, which is built in a way that allows people’s legs under, you feel his lower leg resting against your own. You hadn’t even noticed it but now that you are, you’re aware of the warmth, finding it comforting.

Up on the table, his free hand rests there. His fingers are busy playing with your hair tie. He turns it around his fingers before he slips it down his hand to his wrist so he can flip the page.

You turn back to your tablet with a smile, saying nothing for now.

It’s much later when you’re both heading upstairs to sleep that he remembers he has it, still on his wrist. He stops in front of his bedroom and turns to face you.

For a moment you think he’s just doing his normal gesture, waiting for you to enter your bedroom first before he enters his to be a gentleman but you notice his hand on his wrist.

“I have your…” he starts, trailing off.

“It’s alright,” you say from your door. “You can keep it.”

“I - what?” Miguel asks, taken aback.

“You may keep it.”

“Your hair tie…?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s your favorite.”

“I know.”

“So you should have it back, then.”

“You can give it back tomorrow if you’d like, but I don’t mind. Keep it safe for me,” you say before you yawn, covering your mouth. “Goodnight, Migs. Sleep well, okay? I’ll see you in the mornin’.” You give him a little wave and a sleepy smile before entering your room, leaving Miguel in the hallway.

His fingers remain on your hair tie, wrapped around his wrist. For a few seconds, he stands still until he shakes his head, dropping his hand from his wrist and entering his bedroom at last.

Inside his room, he heads for the bathroom to do his night routine. He makes sure to take off your hair tie to avoid getting it damp, taking it back with him to the bedroom when he’s done and placing it on his nightstand. He takes off his shirt and throws it at the end of the bed before he gets the bed ready. In a few seconds, he settles under the covers with a sigh. He stares at the ceiling for several minutes, sleep slowly coming to him as he thinks. He eventually reaches for the hair tie and slips it into his wrist before he turns on his side.

Miguel’s hand searches the other side of the bed, looking for something. Once he finds it, he tugs it towards him along with a pillow. He easily slips the pillow into it, gently tugging the fabric down so the pillow is covered. At last, Miguel hugs the pillow, now covered by your sweatshirt, to his chest.

His eyes close as your scent reaches his nose.

“Lyla - do the thing,” he murmurs. Two seconds later, his gizmo plays the recording of your breathing.

With his sleep remedies in place, Miguel slowly succumbs to his slumber as he thinks about the day. There was training with the spider gang, which he enjoyed. He might join them again if they’ll have him. There was helping Reilly, who was acting strange today. He’s never seen Reilly struggle with a set before. Weird. Then, there was grocery shopping with you.

Miguel yawns quietly, shifting slightly to get comfy.

He bought you a coffee and you seemed to love it. Oh, and for some reason the lady working there thought you were his girlfriend. Strange. Then, you made pizzas and spent the evening watching the horror movie. Café de olla [coffee] was made and drank while you did your own things in each other’s company. The conversation of Harry came back.

Half-asleep and half-awake, Miguel sighs at that before he thinks about your hair tie, now on his wrist.

And to end the day, there was the nickname.

Migs.

More asleep than anything now, Miguel smiles sleepily, hugging your sweatshirt closer. “Buenas noches, dulzura [Good night, sweetness].” -Father’s Day-

Days later, you wake up around 8am. You go through your morning routine as usual, though you know what day it is.

It’s Sunday, but not just any Sunday.

You walk downstairs after changing into regular clothes, hoping to find Miguel on the first floor. You noticed his bedroom door is fully opened, which usually means he’s already awake but when you reach the first floor, he’s nowhere to be found. You check the office downstairs and the other living room. Nothing.

Stepping into the kitchen and dining room area, you notice a thermos with a note on it.

You reach for it, feeling the warmth from the bottle as you take off the sticky note. You almost get excited about the fact that he left you a note just like how you leave some for him on some days but his message doesn’t bring a smile to your face.

Frowning, you place the sticky note on the counter with his neat handwriting.

“Went to HQ. I’ll be back in a while. - M”

It’s not surprising that he’s at HQ on a Sunday. For as long as you’ve known him, you’ve known that Miguel was always at HQ, even on the weekends. Over the last year, you’ve noticed he only goes for a bit on both days before returning home, and ever since you’ve been staying with him, he goes for an hour or so. Even then, he’s been going later in the day, not so early like today.

You have a pretty good idea why.

Father’s Day.

You wondered over the week if Miguel would mention it, whether he would react to it as the day got here. He didn’t say nor react over the week, even when Peter B. mentioned something about it to Miles on Friday in his presence at which you shot him a look.

You know Peter B. meant no wrong by it, but sometimes it seems a bit inconsiderate considering the situation and how Miguel’s loss is still fresh.

You open the thermos, the amazing scent of coffee greeting you. You sigh. The fact that he still made coffee despite the day hurts.

“You’re too good,” you whisper to yourself, thinking about him. “Lyla?”

“Hey, there,” she says appearing instantly. “You want to know about Miguel?”

“Yes,” you reply, not bothering to wonder how she knows.

“He’s… at the lab.”

“I know that much,” you reply.

”He’s just working,” Lyla says, shrugging. “He always works today.”

You nod, frowning. “So there’s no missions, no emergencies?”

“Nope. Nada [nothing]. He’s just… there.”

“I see.”

“Are you gonna - join him?” Lyla asks.

“Do you think he’ll stay there all day?” you ask, wondering.

“In the past, he has but this year with you being here… I don’t know, honestly.”

Noticing your frown and worried expression, Lyla adds, “I’ll keep an eye out for him.”

You nod, grateful. “Thank you, Lyla.”

“You got it. Just - stay put, alright?”

“Alright.”

Lyla flickers away, leaving you alone. You check the time. It’s barely about to be 8:30.

You take a seat at the counter and drink the coffee in silence, thinking about how Miguel probably wants some alone time right now. You decide to let him be until noon, at which point you’ll show up to drop off some food so he can at least eat because you have a guess he hasn’t had anything except coffee.

After finishing your coffee, you eat something before going to your universe to check on things. You stay alert to your gizmo, just in case Lyla notifies you about anything, but no notifications come.

You return home an hour later after an easy patrol. Usually there’s no crimes on holidays like these, so there was no trouble. You do some light cleaning around the penthouse to waste time before you jump in the shower and get dressed for the day.

Back in the kitchen now, you notice it’s nearly noon. There’s still no sign of Miguel even when you decide to make lunch since you didn’t eat much before you went out.

It’s an easy lunch, so it doesn’t take long to finish making it. After eating, you gather ingredients onto one of the counters to bake. You decided a few days ago that you wanted to bake something for Miguel today, even if you play it off as a regular baking day and not because it’s Father’s Day.

“Hey, he’s heading out and coming back,” Lyla says as you place the last ingredient on the counter. “He’s a little quiet but not in a bad mood.”

“Thank you for letting me know. I appreciate it, Lyla,” you reply.

“Of course. Take care,” she says, deciding that she’s not needed. Miguel will have someone with him today. You. She waves goodbye before disappearing.

With Lyla gone, you start the oven and check on the lunch. You made plenty for both yourself and Miguel, so you begin to prep it for him.

Sure enough, you hear a window from the living room open a few minutes later. You look up just in time to see Miguel enter the kitchen, donning his suit. For a few seconds, you say nothing, trying to gauge his mood.

He reaches the counter, saying nothing. The oven beeps, indicating that it’s done preheating. It catches his attention, breaking him away from his thoughts.

“…Morning,” he says at last.

“Morning,” you reply. “Do you want something to eat?”

He starts to shake his head but his stomach grumbles with the scent of food in the air. “Yeah, but don’t worry about it. I’ll eat somet-”

“I made lunch,” you interject gently. “I made plenty, if you’d like some.” You fix a plate and show it to him. Thankfully he accepts it and eats at the counter, thanking you.

You do your measuring of ingredients, subtly looking at Miguel ever once in a while as he eats. You can definitely sense a different Miguel right now.

He finishes eating and excuses himself after he puts the dirty dishes away, promising to wash them in a bit before heading upstairs.

You bake on your own for a while. Lyla eventually plays music for you through Miguel’s sound system, probably finding the mood too somber, or something.

Half an hour later, Miguel walks back into the kitchen. His hair is damp and he’s dressed in a t-shirt and sweats. He approaches the counter, watching you as you check the oven through the glass.

When you turn to see him, he offers a small smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. The sight hurts you, but you don’t let it show.

“Hey,” he says. “How’s your baking going?”

“Um - good. No problems,” you reply, for a moment not knowing how to respond.

“Good, I’m glad it’s going well.”

You nod. “Do you - Did that meal fill you up? I can make something else.”

He shakes his head. “No, I’m alright, thank you. Lunch was good - it was fulfilling.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Miguel nods, thinking. He sits down, watching as you wipe the stand mixer down.

“I’m sorry,” he says suddenly, making you stop. “Today…” Miguel trails off.

“I know,” you say softly. “You don’t have to explain. I understand.”

He sighs gently, your words soothing him. He suspected you’d know but he still wanted to let you know.

“I’m better now,” he says after a few seconds. “I just needed - to be out of the penthouse for a moment. I’m sorry for leaving.”

“You don’t have to apologize.”

“I just left a sticky note,” he says, shaking his head at himself, as if disappointed at his actions. “Not - very nice of me.”

“Miguel,” you say, straightening up and meeting his gaze. “You don’t have to apologize nor give me any explanations. I understand you needed a moment, or maybe you need the day. And that’s understandable. No one would blame you for doing so.”

Miguel’s eyes soften, he offers a smile once again. This time, it looks more lively.

“Thank you for - always being so understanding, dulzura [sweetness],” he says, so softly.

“Always,” you reply, offering a warm smile.

Miguel keeps smiling, taking in the soft look on your face. You really are so understanding, so sweet.

“I’ll be here for you,” you add. “Whatever you want to do today, I’ll be here if you need me.”

He nods, looking at the counter now. “I really - don’t want to go anywhere.”

That makes sense. There’s probably families out and about, celebrating the day.

“We can stay here then. I’ll let you be.”

“No.”

“No?” you repeat.

“No, you don’t have to - let me be. You can… You can stay with me?” he says, sounding more like a question.

“If you want to… I can.”

“Yes - please.”

So you do. You stay near Miguel all day, like glue. You eat the baked sweets together, watch TV, and read. You make dinner together when it’s time and make conversation, keeping it lighthearted.

After dinner, Miguel asks if you want to go outside with him for some fresh air. Of course, you accept. You both climb out of the penthouse and up onto the roof.

Sitting down, your legs dangle off the building as you both watch the sunset. In the distance, you can see the traffic. You both sit there in silence for a while, watching the sun.

“That was pretty,” you murmur once the sun has set.

“It was, wasn’t it?” Miguel replies.

With a smile, you nod and lean back on your hands.

“Thank you,” Miguel says, making you turn to see him. “For sticking around with me. I really appreciate it.”

“Always,” you say softly, still smiling.

Miguel copies your position, leaning back on his hands. His fingers accidentally brush yours, so he shifts his hand to avoid squeezing yours under his weight.

You both stay like that for a few minutes. The silence is nice, comforting. You think about something as you look at the sky, and it’s not the first time. You’ve thought about it multiple times throughout the day but you’re still making up your mind, wondering if it’s a good idea.

You still debate it even when you both head back inside and tell Miguel you’re washing your hands in the bathroom even though it’s a lie.

You enter your bedroom and pull out the gift bag from the closet, debating. You sigh.

It’s probably not a good idea. Maybe you can wait until next year to give him these things, or maybe on another day that’s not Father’s Day.

“Dulzura [sweetness]?” you hear Miguel’s voice. “Are you okay?”

“I - yes!” You reply, moving quickly to put the bag away. In your rush, you slam your elbow on the closet door, wincing.

“I’m coming in,” Miguel says after hearing your wince.

He steps in just as you put the gift bag inside the closet, except it falls from where you placed it. You catch it quickly, remembering that something could break.

“You hurt yourself,” Miguel says stepping closer. “Are you okay? What happened?”

You huff slowly, giving up and placing the bag on the floor carefully before rubbing your elbow.

Superhuman or not, a hit on the elbow always hurts.

“Hit my elbow,” you say, still rubbing it.

“I heard the hit, let me see,” Miguel says. “It sounded loud.”

“It’s okay, just hit it on the door.”

“Allow me?”

You nod hesitantly, your face feeling hot out of embarrassment that you hurt yourself trying to hide the bag. You show Miguel your elbow, and he hums.

“Damn, dulzura. You broke the skin somehow - hold on.”

“It’s... fine,” you say watching as he exits the room. He comes back in seconds, a first aid kit in his hand. He motions for you to take a seat on the one chair in the room, so you obey. Reluctantly.

He gets down on one knee and gets to work, opening the first aid kit.

“It’s not that bad,” you say, looking at it. There’s some blood but that’s about it. Of course, it’s still stinging like hell - somehow getting worse.

“You’re bleeding,” he says as he opens an antiseptic wipe package. “Here. Let me see your arm.”

You hold it out for him, looking at his concentrated gaze. He shocks you when he gently wraps his free hand around your forearm - his fingers warm.

He gently wipes your elbow, which makes you wince.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers gently. “Just want to clean the area.”

You nod. “I know, it’s not that bad,” you keep saying.

That makes Miguel look at your face. “Why am I surprised? You’re a stubborn one, aren’t you?” He shakes his head and turns his attention back to your elbow. He was already gentle to begin with, but somehow he’s even more now.

“I’m not stubborn,” you say after a few seconds.

“Right, and everyone at HQ thinks I’m a beam of sunlight. They call me ‘solecito’ [little sun] - maybe you’ve heard members call me that before in passing,” Miguel says sarcastically, looking at you.

With serious faces, you stare at each other for a few seconds until your lips quiver, making Miguel’s quiver, too. Unable to hold back, you laugh.

Miguel chuckles, trying to hold back from full on laughing, but in the end, Miguel O’Hara laughs.

It’s a real laugh, so full of life. It’s the kind that makes his entire chest vibrate - rich and deep.

It’s the kind you’d do anything to hear again. And again. And again.

Your laughter subsides after a few moments but grins remain on your faces as Miguel continues to tend to your wound like you’ve come back from a rough mission.

“Solecito [little sun], huh?” you ask, chuckling slightly.

“Yeah, I’m everyone’s ball of sunshine,” Miguel replies as he puts away the antiseptic wipe. “You ripped your skin - what were you even doing in such a rush?”

You look to the side. “I was - putting something away.”

Miguel turns to look at the closet, noticing the gift bag on the ground. He hardly noticed it earlier, more concerned about you than anything else when he heard you wincing.

“A gift bag?” he asks turning back to you. His mind quickly connects the dots as he tends to your cut.

“Yeah…” you simply say, staring off to the side.

“You bought something?” he asks gently while he places an adhesive bandage on you.

You turn to face him and nod. “I did, but I didn’t know how to give it to you, and then when I saw you this morning - or in the afternoon rather - I felt it wasn’t a good idea.”

Miguel hums, his gaze softening. He’s done tending your wound but his hand remains wrapped around your forearm.

“And you hit yourself trying to hide it,” he says.

“I heard you coming in.”

“I came upstairs to grab my sweatshirt and then heard you sighing. It sounded like you were disappointed, so I just wanted to make sure you were alright. I didn’t mean for you to hurt yourself,” he replies, softly.

“It’s not your fault - I was just,” you pause and wave your free arm. “I didn’t want you to see it and then, have to tell you about it. I realized it wasn’t a good idea, so.”

“I’m okay,” Miguel replies. “You didn’t have to hide it. I’m sorry you felt like you couldn’t show it to me. The first part of the day was a little hard but… the rest of the day has been better.” Miguel offers a reassuring smile. “Thanks to you. So... If you want to show me… I promise I’ll be okay.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

You nod slowly. “Alright.” You shoot your web and pull the gift bag towards you. “Um - do you want to?” you say offering the bag to him.

He nods, releasing your arm at last. He accepts the bag. After all the trouble you went though, there’s no way Miguel isn’t accepting your gift, even if it makes him feel bittersweet.

He opens the bag, still on one knee, and reaches inside. He feels different objects but he goes for something that feels round and heavy, wrapped in paper, and pulls it out. He places the bag down for a moment.

You slide off the chair and sit on the ground, joined by Miguel a second later. He opens the package gently, sensing it’s something fragile.

Pulling off all the paper, he finally reveals the item and holds it up, his gaze soft.

It’s a pottery coffee mug with traces of the color lilac, but it’s the main design that tugs the most at Miguel’s heartstrings: two bees, one smaller than the other one, and “Father’s Day” written under it.

“You remembered,” he says tenderly. “You remembered what I told you about Gaby - that she loved the color lilac and bees.”

“I did,” you answer, smiling.

Miguel smiles, his chest fluttering with happiness and pure ternura [endearment] as he stares at the coffee mug. “And you made it yourself?” He asks, knowing that you’re a hobby person, you like to try new things.

“Yes. I went to two classes this week and worked on it then. It’s not perfect, being my first time with pottery but I hope you like it regardless.”

“I love it,” Miguel says sincerely, leaving no question or doubt about it. He holds it, not wanting to let go of it. In his mind, he already knows he’ll be using this mug every day for coffee.

“I’m glad you - love it,” you say softly, happy with your idea. “There’s more though.”

“Right,” he says remembering. He places the mug down and reaches for the bag. His fingers find a small box, so he pulls that out. His curiosity grows as he realizes it’s the size of a jewelry box. He glances at you, wondering.

“Open it.”

Miguel nods, opening it gently. His eyes widen for a moment as he finds a gold bracelet, the kind that he grew up wearing as a kid.

“You…” he starts as his eyes read Gabriella’s name on the gold plate. “She had one like this, much smaller, of course. She wore it all the time, day and night. You noticed that from the photos.”

You nod. “I hope you don’t… mind,” you whisper. “I thought… it’s something you can wear sometimes, a physical reminder of her with you.”

He nods, sliding his finger over the name.

Gabriella.

“Thank you,” he whispers. “You didn’t have to - this is real gold, it must have cost a lot.”

“Don’t worry about that, please. I’m just glad you like it. I was worried - it might be too much,” you admit.

“No, no, this is - I only have one thing of hers,” Miguel confesses. “The guitar I place on the ofrenda. It’s the only physical item left, and it was pure luck that it made it, so this… Thank you.”

You can only nod, relieved that Miguel is okay with the bracelet. He takes a few moments to look at it, lost in thought, before he finally reaches for the last item. He doesn’t know what it is but it’s a flat and long item. He peels the paper carefully, revealing an art canvas.

You notice the front is facing you, so you wait for him to turn it.

When he does, his eyes soften and fill with tears.

“Dulzura,” he says. “This is - beautiful,” Miguel says, his fingers tracing the painting. A tear slides down his cheek as he stares at the image you painted of him and Gabriella.

He’s in awe with how beautiful it is, so much he needs to take a moment. He looks away from you and closes his eyes, his chest filled with emotion. He lets a breath out, swallowing the knot in his throat and looks at the painting again.

It’s him in his Spider-Man suit, face uncovered, carrying Gabriella on his shoulders. Gaby is wearing her soccer uniform, one hand in the air while she holds her soccer ball in the other one. Based on the background, they’re, here, at the penthouse.

More tears spill from Miguel’s eyes - tears you’re tempted to wipe away. You swallow the knot that’s formed in your own throat from seeing Miguel grow so emotional, and clear your throat. In a second, you pull your sweatshirt from the bed with your web and take one of the sleeves. You lift it.

“May I…?” you ask.

Miguel’s red eyes turn to you, his tears running down his damp cheeks. He doesn’t say no or yes, so you dry his cheeks with your sleeve, gently.

“I’m sorry,” you say. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

Miguel blinks a few more tears, but a smile forms on his lips. “Someone on a rooftop once told me they’re happy tears.”

You smile and pull back, remembering the time Miguel did the same for you. You told him they were happy ones.

“Happy tears are good,” you say, nodding.

“Yeah, they are,” Miguel agrees, wiping his cheek. “Thank you - this is really - so beautiful. So, so… beautiful. Thank you.”

“Always,” you whisper.

Still holding the canvas, Miguel sniffles and extends his arm. He offers his pinky finger.

And of course, you accept the gesture with your own.

You give each other a pinky hug.

“Happy Father’s Day, Migs,” you whisper.

“Thank you,” Miguel answers, still smiling with his pinky finger wrapped around yours. "Thank you, dulzura [sweetness].”

A/N: I have many thoughts about certain things in this chapter, hehehe

But anyway - I made myself cry with the Father's Day part at 2am lmao

I WISH MIGUEL HAD GABY IN HIS LIFE !!!😭😭 Gonna be sad about this all day fr but anyway, I want to say thank you to the people that replied to my post from yesterday about what you'd gift Miguel for Father's Day. I did the same thing for Christmas and I really loved incorporating readers' ideas into the fic, so I figured why not do it again and they didn't disappoint!!! @lauraolar14 @only-a-universe-away @oharaslove thank you for the lovely ideas!!!!! <33333

Also one more mention for @lauraolar14 !! The hair tie scenes were based on this fan art that was inspired by a post of NC head canons of reader (I think I'm going to start calling her Dulzura from now on, lowkey) and Miguel as temporary roommates THAT I'M STILL THINKING ABOUT SGFRYEHRUH THANK YOU LAURA!! ❤️❤️ That's enough yapping from me!! I hope you guys enjoyed this one!! I cried and laughed, and hopefully you do, too (but in a good way, you know?)!!

THANK YOU!! IT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME 🫶🏼🥺<3333333 Also, I hope you guys have a great start to your week!!!

Alondra❤️

taglist: @loverlorn @saturnknows @d1lf-loverrr @eddiestitmiguelsbigdick @freehentai @arithestrawberry @scaleniusrm @haradasaya @spidermanismyfav @bitchykittenconnoisseur @thecraziestcrayon @obi-mom-kenobi @natsury-kazuki @coraline750 @edgycatx @safixiovi @sunnyx07 @nxrdamp

@rorel1a @oceanstar19 @happishark @carmilla01 @somebodyelsethanyouthink @adora-but-ginger @angie2274 @vampi-amora @tired-writer04 @plzfeedmebread @shadow-pancake9 @tynakub @faretheeoscar @giulscomix @luvstuffies @coffeeauthorvibing @lauraolar14 @bl0osclues @pinkiemme @lil-cinn @mashiromochi @loveletterfrommwah @muzansucker @theleftkittycollection @kikookii @www-interludeshadow-com @holographicang3l @aisyakirmann @bucky-to-my-barnes @geraskier-thots @l3laze @yujyujj @taylorsmakingfuckingmacandcheese @damhanallagorm @heyohalie @kaliuea @moonsua1 @darksidescorner @geminis93 @1800-get-alife @hrrtkreuz @oharasfilipinawife @dropyoursocksandgrabyourcrocss @may4ri @t4naiis @f1-hoff @llumetrii

[l0vely-sturniolo]

HEYY GIRLIIEEEE i just found ur account and realized ur from my wattpad library too lmfao js wanted to say hi and ask if you could write a matt imagine on like if we had a tough day and js want to cuddle, lotsa tooth rotting fluff :) if no thats okay i love ur work!

TOUGH DAY

matt sturniolo x reader

summary: read above

——————————————————————————

today was just a rough day. from being late to class, to failing one my final exams, and i had a group of girls on my back talking about me all day, i just wanted to go home and be with my boyfriend matt. he always knew how to make everything better.

i wasn’t a fan of today at all. i knew when i woke up and had a gut feeling that it wasn’t gonna be a good day, that something was bound to happen.

i was currently at my locker getting what i needed for my final class of the day, when i heard the girls behind me, talking about me. again. “i heard she failed, what an idiot, that test was so easy,” they laughed. i turned to look at them, and one of the girls fake pouted at me.

“oh no, are you gonna go cry to your youtuber boyfriend? you poor thing,” they laughed again, walking away. i put my stuff back, deciding to just go home instead of to class. i quickly made my way out to my car, and back home.

the second i got home and shut the door, i let out the tears i’ve been holding in all day. “hi baby, you’re home early… what’s the matter, sweetheart?” i heard matt say, i looked up and he was coming towards me, with a frown on my face.

“i failed my test, and everyone’s so mean to me,” i let out a sob, as he pulled me into his chest. “shh shh, you’re okay, i’m right here,” he rubbed my back. “who’s being mean to my sweet girl?” he whispered, kissing my head. “these girls, they said i was an idiot because i failed, and then said i was gonna come cry to my youtuber boyfriend,” i cried into his chest.

“breathe baby, how about we lay down and we can watch a movie or something? get your pretty little head to stop thinking about it?” he said and i nodded, and he grabbed my bag and grabbed my hand, bringing me up to our shared bedroom.

i laid down and was joined by matt, who immediately pulled me into his chest. “‘m happy you came home early, wouldn’t wanna do anything else other than cuddle with my girl,” he mumbled, before kissing my head. “this is all i’ve wanted to do since i left the house,” i mumbled into his shoulder.

“we’re gonna have a better day tomorrow baby, i’ll make sure of it,” he said as he turned on the movie. “i know we will,” i smiled, and he leaned down, giving me a kiss. “i love you, i’m sorry you had a bad day sweet girl,” he said. “it’s okay. it’s getting better now,” i smiled, snuggling more into him. “and i love you more,” i smiled.

——————————————————————————

tags:

@stayingstromboli

[livingformintyoongi]

Hi!!!, How are you, I just read your one shot of Tae, called "Misunderstanding" and I loved it 💕, I wanted to ask you for one of him, where reader has had a bad day and is feeling a bit down, Tae realizing this, does a lot of things to comfort her, like cuddling.

Take your time to do it, thanks~ 💜💜.

Just another bad day

a/n: Hi! Thanks for making this request and for having loved "Misunderstanding", I really love this kind of situations, I was so excited to do this ^^. I hope it's what you expected, and sorry for the delay, I'm doing the requests in order and it's really hard to do more than one in one day. wc: 1.9k

You had had bad days in your life, like that time when you erased your thesis and had to do it from scratch, or that other time when your puppy disappeared for hours because the girl who was supposed to take care of it had left the door open. You could go on listing all the bad days you've had in your life, but this one? This one topped them all.

It all started when you woke up and realized that your alarm had decided not to go off this morning. To get to work on time, you were supposed to get up at six-thirty at the latest. It was eight o'clock. You decided that taking a bath wasn't important enough, you could do it at night without any problem. You got dressed as fast as you could and ran to the bus stop.

You were only a few feet away when it pulled away, leaving you at the stop, praying that the next bus would arrive as soon as possible. You gave up after ten minutes. You approached the edge of the sidewalk, trying to see if there were any cabs coming that you could hop into. 

For a second, you thought your luck had changed the instant you saw a cab approach you and accept the ride. That illusion was lost along with the car's gasoline when you were still half way there. You had no choice but to pay the fare and run half the way to work.

When you saw the big sign with the company's name on it, you almost cried with happiness. You crossed the street, this time much calmer, you still had 10 minutes left before the start time. 

But this was absolutely nothing to what happened next.

Today you had a very important meeting at work, one where they had practically promised you that you would get the promotion you had been waiting for years, something you knew you deserved, because your performance in this job had been impeccable. 

You had to lock yourself in the bathroom so that no one would see you crying from the impotence after they announced at the meeting that the promotion had been given to a guy who had joined the company only a year and a half ago. You weren't surprised to hear that it was the boss's son.

Still, you got up and tried to put your best face forward to the other workers, you knew none of them were to blame. The rest of the day continued with little accidents that were causing the urge to cry and the lump in your throat to become more and more unbearable.

To your good fortune, the trip home wasn't so horrible. You left on time, made the bus without any problems. You tried to concentrate on the pain your heels were causing in your heels instead of the constant throbbing that prevented you from breathing normally. All you wanted to do was lie down on your bed and sleep until tomorrow. 

You watched the bus window, letting one tear of the many you had been holding back come out as soon as you noticed the raindrops falling outside. You forgot to bring your umbrella. You wiped the tear away as quickly as you could, taking a long breath and letting your head fall back against the uncomfortable chair. Just a little longer, you thought, a few more minutes and you would finally be home.

Taehyung had arrived half an hour earlier than he was supposed to. They only had a photo shoot and an interview today, so he hadn't been surprised to get home so early either.

He wanted to call you to ask if you wanted to get something special to eat or if you had gone to dinner with some friends from work for the promotion you had told him you were getting today. He was almost as excited as you were when he heard the news and really wanted to celebrate in a big way, but he didn't want to overwhelm you either.

It took him a good few minutes to finally decide that making you dinner himself would be the best gift. There was nothing better than celebrating between the two of you, alone, comfortable and warm at home, especially when they had announced on the news that it would rain today.

He smiled big at the thought of how happy you would be to come home to find him waiting for you with open arms and a dinner specially made for you with the intention of celebrating your amazing work. 

He didn't count on the fact that you would come home soaked from head to toe, shivering from the cold and with slightly red eyes and nose. For a moment he almost went into a crisis.

"Honey, what happened, why are you so wet?" he ran to greet you at the door, grabbing your shoulders and trying to see your face. He knew something was wrong just by seeing how you avoided looking him in the eye.

"I forgot my umbrella" you whispered, leaving your heels aside and walking barefoot to your room. You needed to take a shower as soon as possible, you didn't want to get sick now, that would be the last straw. 

Taehyung followed you from behind quickly, resting his hand on your waist in an attempt to keep you on your feet. You looked so weak that he actually thought you would pass out right there. 

"Did you eat something? You look so pale," he paused in the doorway of your bedroom door, watching as you pulled your pajamas out from under your pillow. You were moving much slower than usual, and that only made his anxiety and worry increase even more, "Y/N, I'm starting to worry, did something happen at work? Did someone hurt you?" he moved closer to you, taking your shoulders as carefully as he could.

It almost broke his heart to see your tear-filled eyes and your bottom lip barely sticking out. "I'm so tired" you sobbed, wailing in frustration as you felt the tears just wouldn't stop falling. Still you tried to wipe them away with your shirt sleeve, "Today really was a horrible day. I could barely make it to work on time, my feet are killing me, and my stupid boss gave my promotion to his son" you said, trying to calm your sobs. You hated crying in front of your boyfriend. "I couldn't even go home in peace because I completely forgot that there was rain tonight." You shook your hair a little, sighing as you watched small drops of water fall to the ground.

Taehyung wasn't sure what to say. He hated seeing you like this, he had never seen you like this in the first place. He knew he might not be able to comfort you with his words, but he hoped he could with his actions.

"Why don't we take a long soak in the tub? We can stay a while relaxing there, try out the new water pumps we bought at Mrs. Kang's store" he whispered, pulling you gently until you were in his arms. He rubbed your back with his hand, while the other gave little pats on your head, "Then we put on those bear pajamas, remember them? You fell in love with them the first time you saw them in the online store." Taehyung smiled as he felt you nod against his chest. He kissed your head, keeping his lips against your hair for a few seconds before speaking again, "I made dinner, it might be a little cold when we're done, but we can heat it up in the microwave if you want, though we could also order takeout."

"Your dinner" you whispered, hugging his waist weakly. You felt a little better than when you arrived, but you still felt too collapsed to be able to hug him back properly.

"Well, my dinner it is," he laughed softly, pulling away just inches to kiss your forehead, "we could have a movie night, how about The notebook?"

"No, that one depresses me" you looked at Tae, letting your weight fall lightly against him, "Let's watch a romantic comedy, like The proposal, or 13 going to 30."

"Okay" Taehyung bent down a little, just enough so he could slip his arm behind your knees and waist, lifting you up in his arms and carrying you to the bathroom. "Let's go to the tub."

"And... done" Taehyung smiled, watching as your hair fell down your back, this time completely dry. "I reckon I did an excellent job, what do you think?" he hugged your waist, kissing your neck playfully. 

"I think you're the best thing that could have happened to me in my life" you whispered, turning to look at your boyfriend. He too had slightly damp hair, but only a little. His smile was so big that it ended up rubbing off on you almost immediately. He was right, long soaks in the tub were quite the mood lifter, or maybe it was just your boyfriend.

"You'll make me blush" he chuckled, resting his forehead on your shoulder. His hands caressed your abdomen, forming little circles around the bears your pajama print was wearing. 

"I'm just telling the truth" you turned around, hugging his neck and closing your eyes. The smell of his oatmeal shampoo flooded your nostrils. You loved that smell. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been here."

"Well, you would have fallen asleep without tasting my amazing signature dish," he murmured as he brought his nose close to yours. One of his hands stopped on your cheek, lightly caressing your cheekbones. He, unlike you, didn't have his eyes closed, refusing to do so and miss the sight of your beautiful face. Your long eyelashes, your reddish lips, your smile, every mole and mark you had. He didn't say it, but he also constantly wondered what would have become of him without you. "I love you, Y/N" he whispered against your lips, smiling "more than anything in this world, and I will do whatever it takes to keep the smile on the one I love."

You felt a slight tug on your chest, causing you to open your eyes. His gaze was so intense that it made your legs tremble. You let out a small sigh, momentarily looking at his lips.

"You don't need my permission to kiss me, you know?" he laughed playfully, pulling you closer by the waist so he could spread kisses all over your face.

"Taehyung!" you squealed with laughter, trying to resist his displays of affection. You both knew you weren't trying the least bit hard at that. 

Taehyung smiled at hearing your laughter again, pausing for a moment to look at your full face again. You looked so beautiful. "I'm sorry," he said softly, waiting for you to calm down a little from your laughter. 

As soon as you did, he kissed you. He caressed the back of your neck with his thumb, moving his lips against yours softly. He enjoyed slow, emotional kisses, they were his favorite.

You sighed as you felt his tongue enter your mouth, letting him explore at his leisure. He always took his time.

"I love you" he whispered between kisses, gently leaning you back on the bed.

"I love you more" you smiled, tangling your fingers in his hair.

"Liar" he laughed against your lips, hugging your waist.

"Liar" you smiled, breaking that little line that separated his lips from yours.

How you loved coming home on days like these.

Masterlist.

[slytherinshua]

HIT RESET

genre. fluff. comfort. warnings. jihoon had a bad day. he cuts his finger with a knife as well. food. kissing. not proofread. pairing. jihoon x reader. wc. 896. request. requested by 🌱 anon: for tws fluff with any of the 06's (an idea is: (dont have to write this specifically) maybe coming home after a long day? could be them or reader). a/n. went with jihoon for this :( he's so soft and sweet and lovely and omg i just wanna kiss his forehead and put him in my pocket.

“Ow! Darnit…” Jihoon held his hand up, examining the fresh cut on his finger with a wince. Why was everything going wrong today? He was late to work, brain foggy and frazzled the entire day. Usually he was good at picking up choreo quickly, but everything felt off that day. He was falling behind and getting tired so fast. He was mentally and physically exhausted by now, and hadn’t eaten anything since lunch at the company. Throwing together fried rice should’ve been an easy task. He’s not even sure how he managed to cut his finger while chopping veggies.

He rinsed out the wound, debating whether he should just give up on food altogether. You wouldn’t be happy about that, though. That was the other thing. You hadn’t been responding to his messages all day and he had no idea where you were. It was already getting late, but you still weren’t home. He had never realized how lonely the dorm felt when you weren’t there.

Just as he was searching through the cabinets for a box of bandaids, like magic, he heard the door open. He didn’t have high expectations. Given the luck today, he was almost 90% expecting it to be Dohoon walking through the door. But, when he peeked his head out of the bathroom door, he saw your face.

It was frankly incredible how quickly you made everything seem okay. The frustrating day was forgotten in an instant, and the cut on his finger was the last of his concerns. The only thing Jihoon cared about was falling into your arms as soon as possible.

You shared the sentiment, both of you pulling tight into a hug as soon as you dropped your bag. Jihoon’s scent relaxed your senses immediately as you buried your head into his hoodie. Placing a kiss to his neck as you pulled apart from the embrace, you smiled up at him.

“Missed you.” You mumbled, brushing aside some of his hair, thumb stroking over his cheek. He merely nodded and pulled you back into his arms with a long sigh.

“I’m so tired.” He whined into the crook of your neck, his arms holding you so tight that it was impossible to let go.

“Did you eat yet? I got takeout but it might be a bit cold… I’m sorry I took so long to get home, there was some delay—” Your explanation was cut off before you could finish, by Jihoon’s lips.

His kiss was desperate, hours of frustration bubbling down had finally cooled and then burst into overwhelming affection instead. He couldn’t contain it, he just loved you. How you always knew exactly what he needed, always apologized even when things weren’t in your control, and how you were always looking out for him. You always made everything better in a way no one else could. Jihoon knew he would’ve cried if you had talked on for any longer, so he took quicker action to stop you from making him fall any deeper in love than he already was. He was down bad, but maybe being down even worse wasn’t such a terrible thing.

You giggled when Jihoon pulled away, cupping his cheeks and pinching them softly. You warmed up the food that had gotten cold on the bus ride as Jihoon watched you from the corner of the kitchen like a little boy watching a magic show. You cleaned up the vegetables he had left out, washed the cutting board and knife, and got out bowls for both of you all at the speed of light.

“Did you cut your finger on the knife?” You asked, noticing the bandaid on his finger as you set down the bowls of food. He nodded, and you shook your head fondly, “I told you that you shouldn’t try to cook while your head isn’t clear…” 

“Why didn’t you text me today?” Jihoon pouted, feeling a lot better now that he was eating and you were right next to him. The entire day there had been this empty dull ache from your absence, and he hadn’t been able to get the feeling out of his head.

“I forgot to charge my phone last night. It was dead the whole day.” You cleared up, an apologetic smile on your face. “I promise it won’t happen again.”

“Good. I missed you terribly and Youngjae wouldn’t stop making fun of me for it. He said I was ridiculously in love with you... which is definitely true.”

“I hope I made up for it. I love you too… just in case you weren’t sure.” You looked up at the ceiling, suddenly feeling a little shy at your confession. It had been a while since you started dating Jihoon, of course. But he had always been so open with his feelings, while it took some courage for you to share how you felt. Acts of service was always your preferred love language, and Jihoon knew this well. He always felt loved by you, but every so often, it felt really nice to hear you say it.

“You made up for it completely.” He assured you, biting back a smile at just how cute you were. Despite the rocky starts to the day, Jihoon’s mind was in complete bliss by the time he went to bed. He was more in love than ever before.

↳ tws taglist (bolded could not be tagged): @eternalgyu,, @seunghancore,, @sobun1est,, @talkingsaxy,, @talking-saxy,,

@50-husbands,, @hursheys

[bomberqueen17]

letters

So in 1944 my grandpa got tuberculosis. It was bad enough that they sent him to a sanitarium up in the Adirondacks for a rest cure, which was what was recommended at the time. He'd been married to my grandmother for just a little while; they had a son, my uncle, and she was pregnant with my dad.

While he was there he wrote letters daily. He wrote a lot of letters, I think, to his parents and sister and friends. But the ones he sent to his wife, my grandma, she kept.

I don't know the chronology of it all, but after Grandma died, probably my dad found the packet of letters, as he was the one who went through her effects-- might have been his little sister, my aunt. Anyway the packet got circulated around, and then came back to my dad, who carefully organized all of the letters into a binder with individual plastic archival sleeves. Someone asked after them recently, and Mom found them and pulled them out. I was over there today, feeding her cat while she's on vacation, and so I leafed through them.

Grandpa's handwriting is similar, a bit, to my late father's, so I was able to read it reasonably easily. He started strong, the first letter he recounts how he fared in the rainstorm he'd apparently left home in, and then asks how Grandma fared.

How are you, my Baby? Did your schooner of sleep bear you safely thru the storm? If it didn't then you won't be reading this sorry excuse for a letter.

In that same letter he goes on to say,

Zounds! How can I create in this infernal bedlam? All the patients are up (as far as possible) and braying, the phone is ringing, Ma is delivering the Gettysburg Address + Pa is making more noise with a piece of wrapping paper than I could make with a hammer and a piece of steele [sic].

It rapidly escalates from there, and in a later letter he explains that the rest cure was so boring he had literally nothing to do, nothing to write home about, and so in an effort to keep from dwelling on how much he hated it there, he would write these flowery, possibly-repetitive love letters, because he simply had nothing else to talk about.

Your accounts of the marital woes of the [illegible, probably neighbors] are really hair-raising, but I don't think that the happiness of our marriage is due entirely to good fortune. As I have always said, we were made for each other a long, long time ago and our hearts refused to love anyone until the right one came along.

Looking at the postmarks, I realized they dated from right around the time of my father's birth, so I found the one that was sent the day after Dad was born, and it did not disappoint.

My beloved Words cannot express just how I feel this morning; I am all mixed up. You are so wonderful that sometimes I wonder what I ever did to deserve you. You are the one who is increasing our fortunes, for truly our children are the treasures that make us rich. You are so brave, so cool that I hold you in undying amazement. I am sure of one thing, My Darling; I know your sons will love you, not just because you are their mother, but for your own precious self, for the truly great woman you are. For the ordeal you have gone thru to bring these precious lives into being, rest assured of the eternal devotion of your menfolk. Last night all I could think of was you. I heard the night train coming into the station and my heart said "Run, run and catch the train before it is too late. Run to your loved ones and to hell with the results. Run, let nothing keep you from their sides." But my head said, "No, don't undo all that has been done. They also serve who stand and wait. Wait, and by so doing, prove your love to be more than the reckless love of youth, prove it to be the wise, guiding love that lives on long after passion has spent itself and thus spent, dies." And so I waited and the train left without me + my heart hated me for it.

Oh boy I cried, I sure did. (I had to look it up; "They also serve who only stand and wait" is from John Milton's Sonnet XIX.)

He always uses beloved or darling or somesuch as the salutation, but he often refers to her as Red within the text of the letters, because she had red hair. He occasionally made saucy references to their sex life, elsewhere in the letters. But mostly it's absolutely banger shit like this:

My thoughts and deeds, my smiles and tears, my happiness, my loneliness, my joy, my sorrow, my every breath, yea, even the final beat of my loving heart are poor blossoms placed on my altar of adoration, raised in humble gratitude to you.

Her name was Margaret, and I never knew her to have any nicknames, she just went by her name. Except to him, apparently. But as for him-- his government name was John, as was my father's, but my father never had to have a nickname, because there was never a day in his life Grandpa went by John. His name was Buddy, everyone called him Buddy, and he signed his letters as Buddy.

He died in January of 1978 of complications related to the damage to his lungs from the tuberculosis (not directly, but it was related). Grandma was standing in the hallway of the hospital, watching him sleep, waiting for him to wake up so he could meet my older sister, his third grandchild. He never did meet her.

She died in 2002 of congestive heart failure; I'd spent much of the preceding week with her and she'd spoken mostly of him.

[danikamariewrites]

Hi! Can you write a one shot (hopefully on the longer side) where reader is just struggling with anxiety and depression and Cassian is comforting her? TIA!

Fix You

Cassian x reader

A/n: hi anon! I was in the mood to write this one. I had a bad day and was feeling depressed today so it was nice to imagine Cassian taking care of me while writing this. So if you’re feeling depressed know you’re not alone and if anyone ever wants to talk my dms are open :)

Warnings: angst, mental health struggles, anxiety, depression (I didn’t proof read this so I’m sorry for any typos)

A few weeks ago you felt your depression creep in again. But there was no way you were about to have a depression episode. You and Cassian were happy. There was nothing really to stress about, your work load had increased a little but nothing you couldn’t handle.

So you pushed it down. Kept fighting your thoughts and just kept breathing. Everything was fine. Cassian didn’t suspect anything and you wanted to keep it that way. You hated feeling like a burden to him. It made you feel anxious that he would take time off of work to stay with you.

Cassian always said he didn’t mind, but a little voice in your mind told you he did mind and hated you for it. You did love that he was so willing to take care of you. No one in your life had ever been there for you like Cassian has.

All day you felt mentally exhausted. Your social battery was drained and your depressive episode was winning. You were going to fight it for Cassian and for yourself. You were supposed to be getting ready to go to Rita’s tonight with everyone but all you could do was zone out while staring at your reflection in the mirror.

You weren’t focused on imperfections, you just hated how tired you were. The bags under your eyes seemed deeper, more purple. Blinking at your reflection you felt the ache of tears build behind your eyes and that all too familiar lump form in your throat.

Closing your eyes for a few seconds you open them and let your tears flow. You felt insane for just staring at yourself with a blank face while you silently cried. It was better to let it out at home than at Rita’s surrounded by your friends.

You don’t know how long you stood there just watching yourself cry. It had to have been a while because Cassian finally knocked on the bathroom door. He didn’t wait for you to respond to come in. “Y/n?” “Yeah.” Your voice cracks and sounds far away from your body.

Cassian turns you to face him, cupping your face in his hands. His thumbs wipe away your tears as he looks at you, really looks at you like he’s searching for the answer to an unspoken question. “Is it bad again?” Your face scrunches and you begin to sob. You nod, burying your face in Cassian’s chest.

He holds you close to him before picking you up to carry you to bed. You didn’t realize he was already dressed to go out and your guilt for making him stay home made you cry harder.

Cassian jumps on the bed sitting against the headboard. He pulls into his lap and you curl into him continuing to sob. He rubs slow soothing circles on your back and gently rocks you back and forth.

You ended up crying yourself to sleep. Cassian tucked you in laying next to you. He lightly held your fingers he watched you sleep. He let out a sigh of relief knowing your mind had a break for a few hours.

Cassian always felt guilty when you got like this. He felt like a failure for missing all of the signs you were falling into a depression. He liked that he was the person you could go to, so why didn’t you come to him for help this time?

You jolted awake the next morning. Rubbing at your puffy eyes you scanned the room for Cassian. Before you could go look for him the door opened and he padded in holding two steaming mugs of tea. “Good morning princess.” He shot you small smile that you tried to return.

“Morning.” He handed you a mug, kissing your forehead. You take it with both hands letting the it warm your frozen fingers. That’s when you noticed the curtains billowing in the morning breeze. “I opened the window last night. You woke up and said you felt like you couldn’t breathe, so I wanted to let some fresh air in.”

You gave Cassian a sad smile. “Thank you.” He sat on top of the covers next to you, his wings trying to relax behind him. You could tell he wanted to talk. “Go ahead Cass. It’s ok, ask me.” You lay a reassuring hand on his knee and he takes a deep breath.

“I’m sorry I didn’t see the signs. And I want you to know that I’m always here for you. You can come to me with these things y/n, please.” Cassians voice breaks a little. You shed a few tears as you curl up in his lap again.

You hugged Cassian tight tucking your face in his neck. “I promise I’ll ask for help next time.” He relaxes and kisses the side of your head. “Good, you’re not alone y/n. I’m here for you my love.”

tags: @nyotamalfoy @auggiesolovey @bubybubsters @baybay123455 @msiecrane @aroseinvelaris @twsssmlmaa

[vodika-vibes]

Just read some of your Bly stuff. Ahhhh love Bly.

So I have a request, you and Bly are best friends, and he thinks he likes General Secura, so he asks you for advice and you offer what you can despite the fact it kills you. He even goes on a date with the General and he realizes she's not who he wants. They both realize it's not what they want. All Bly wants is you.

You Make Me Happy, When Skies Are Grey

Summary: When Bly comes to you for advice on asking General Secura out on a date, you’re happy to help, even though every word rips your heart to shreds. You want him happy, even if that happiness isn’t with you.

Pairing: Commander Bly x F!Reader

Word Count: 1513

Warnings: Reader is heartbroken at the beginning

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni

A/N: Sorry this too so long! I hope you like it! Also, I now have a super sad post-Order 66 continuation based off of this because I just had to name the story this.

You sit in your apartment, in the dark, your eyes locked on the ceiling. You trace the stars on the ceiling, while you try your hardest to ignore the burning in your eyes and the lump in your throat.

Three weeks ago, Bly came to you for advice on asking General Secura out on a date. 

Though it broke your heart, you still helped him. 

You planned the perfect first date for him and General Secura. From dinner to dancing to wrapping up at a local cafe that had a good first date ambiance. You even helped him out by buying him nice clothes for the event and giving him tips on good conversation starters that don’t revolve around the war.

You even gave him advice on the best way to ask her out, warned him about putting her on the spot and making her feel pressured to say yes.

And every word, every plan, added another crack to your fragile heart.

But, more than anything, you want him to be happy. And if his happiness comes at the expense of your own…well, so be it.

After all, Bly deserves someone as amazing as he is. Someone as gorgeous as he is. Bly and General Secura deserve each other, they’ll be great together. 

He deserves better than some IT girl. Especially some IT girl who was too nervous to admit her feelings towards him.

To give yourself some credit, your heart didn’t completely shatter until you got a comm late last night saying that he asked General Secura out on a date and she agreed, and that he was going out with her the following day.

Going out with her now.

You cried yourself to sleep last night. And you spent the whole day in bed today.

You’re allowed to be a little heartbroken. Just so long as you put the happy smile back on your face when Bly inevitably tells you how his date went.

You can be happy for him. You can.

Just…later.

You trace the constellations on your ceiling, and swallow hard to try and force the lump in your throat to go away. Bly helped you hang them when you moved into this apartment. He spent hours here, with you, helping you turn your house into a home.

You hoped…

Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it?

Annoyed, with the situation and with yourself, you push yourself up into a sitting position, and swing your legs off the bed. You’re going to shower, wash your hair, and then order your favorite pasta from the too expensive restaurant just down the street.

And then you’re going to watch your favorite animated movie from when you were a kid, and you’re going to ignore any comms that you get from Bly tonight, and you’ll be happy for him in the morning.

That decision made, you half-heartedly make your bed, and step into the fresher to start the water. 

45 minutes later, you don’t feel better, but you do feel a little more like you. And you absently drop on the couch to place your food order.

You order your favorite, and then scowl at the app that said that you needed to order more food for it to be delivered. 

“Dumb. Why is there a minimum delivery-” You bitch to the empty room, just in a bad mood in general, but you also order a second meal as well as some breadsticks and a dessert. 

At least you won’t have to worry about making dinner tomorrow.

You drop your datapad on the table, and turn to the holo. Time to find your favorite movie. You’re sure you saw it in here not that long ago-

An hour later, when you’re half way through the movie, there’s a knock on your apartment door. And you huff out a sigh as you push to your feet. It’s about time your dinner arrived, you’re starving.

You cross the apartment and push the button to open the door, “Thanks for the deliv-” You stop as you turn to look at the person on the other side of the door.

He is definitely not the delivery droid you’ve been waiting for.

“...Bly?”

Bly smiles at you, nervously. He looks nice, dressed up in the casual clothes that you bought for him, “Hey there, sunshine. Can I come in?”

You automatically move to the side, “I thought you were on a date?” You ask as he steps into your apartment and removes his shoes, “What happened?”

He glances at you, “Ah, yeah. Well, I was. And now I’m not.”

“It…” He walks deeper into your apartment and you allow the door to slam shut as you chase after him, “Bly, your reservation was half an hour ago-” You fret as you follow him into the living room.

“Yeah, I know.”

“You did show up, right?”

Bly’s gaze is directed to the cartoon on the holo, “Having a bad night, sunshine?”

“I…what?”

“You told me once that this is your Bad Day movie.” Bly clarifies, as he turns to look at you, a small frown crossing his face as he scans your face, “Sunshine, have you been crying? Your eyes are red.” He says as he steps closer to you and lightly tilts your head back so he’s able to see your face better.

You blink at him, “Bly! What’s going on? What are you doing here?”

“Ah. Right.” He releases your chin and takes a step back, “I did go to the restaurant with General Secura, at the time for the reservation, and we sat down and…” He trails off.

“...and? And what?”

“It didn’t feel right.”

“Bly, you’re not making sense. I did all of that work for you-” You seethe, “And you couldn’t even stay for the whole dinner-?”

He holds up his hands to try and calm you, “I realized, as I was sitting there with General Secura, that I didn’t want to be there with her.”

You blink at him, twice, “You’re kidding.”

“I’m not.”

“Okay, I hope you didn’t tell her that? That’s so mean.”

Bly laughs, “She also told me that being there with me felt awkward and weird.”

“Oh. I’m sorry-”

“Don’t be. She helped me figure out who I did want to be there with.”

You feel a sharp pang of hurt, though you do your best to make sure that he doesn’t see it. “Okay. So you need my help to ask this new person on a date?”

“No. I don’t, actually.” Bly replies, his gaze still locked on your face, “Sunshine, why were you crying.”

“I…watched a sad movie.” You lie, badly.

Bly takes a step towards you and very gently reaches out to brush his fingers against your cheek, “You’re a terrible liar.”

“Yeah. I know.” You mutter, “It…it’s not important, Bly. Really.”

“It’s important enough to make you cry.” Bly counters.

“Bly-”

“Is it my fault?”

You stare at him, stunned, “I…wha-...why would you ask me that?”

“It is then.” Bly murmurs, “I didn’t think…” He rubs a hand over his head, “You seemed so happy to help-”

You sigh, “I want you to be happy, Bly. No matter what.”

“And…what about your happiness?”

“Unimportant, in the grand scheme of things.” You say with an awkward shrug. A moment later, the doorbell rings, and you pull away from him to get your food from the delivery droid.

You tip the droid, and take the food, before you return to the living room, and set the bag of food on the table. “Um, so I have extra food, if you want some. They changed the minimum for delivery-” You trail off when you see the look on his face, and you shift nervously.

He looks mad. Like you said something to make him angry.

“Bly?”

His gaze locks with yours and he smiles. He steps closer to you and lightly taps your chin, “Sunshine,” Bly almost coos, “I’m going to kiss you now.”

“You…wha-” Your words are cut off by the gentle press of his lips against yours. The kiss is very chaste, very respectful, and Bly breaks the kiss soon after he instigates it, and he presses his forehead against yours.

His dark eyes scan your face again, and then he smiles wryly, “That was inappropriate of me, I suppose.”

You blink at him, dumbly, “...you can be more inappropriate with me. If you want.” You offer shyly.

He grins at you, “I might just take you up on that offer…later.” His lips graze yours, and he pulls back, “But how about, we eat this food you bought us and restart this movie and turn this into our first date.”

“...you want to date me?” You ask.

“Is that so surprising?”

“But I-”

He raises his eyebrows, “Yes?”

“General Secura is so much prettier than me-”

“I disagree. And even if she was,” Bly says, “You’re my Sunshine. How could I possibly be happy without you by my side?”

Your face heats, “...I’d like to date you,” You whisper.

“Great! Then let’s start now!”

[yumiis]

｡ﾟﾟ･｡･ﾟﾟ｡ ﾟ。 COUNTRY ISN'T BAD ; SCHLATT

　ﾟ･｡･ﾟ

genre; tooth rotting fluff

type; drabble

a/n; this is a female reader! also, look. i'm from the south, i like country music, let me fulfill my cute little fantasy. i thought this was absolutely ADORABLE. btw, this fic is inspired by a couple songs. crazy girl by eli young band, and do i by luke bryan.

read below!

Ever since Jay moved to Texas, he quickly realized most radio stations tend to play country. Whether that be modern country, 90's country, or 2000's country, it was almost all country music. Jay isn't normally the type to actively listen to that kind of stuff, so he skimmed past the channels trying to find anything else.

This morning, Jay left you in bed alone to go run some errands. You knew that he was leaving early the night before, so you kept sleeping when he left. When Jay got in the car, he was far too tired to bother flipping through channels to find music he liked. He left it on a 2000's country channel, much to his dismay.

About an hour into the road trip, some of these songs got him thinking. Specifically, about you. The lyrics weren't all about tractors and beer, the songs he heard were.. genuinely sweet. Talking about how they love their girlfriends and wives, and how beautiful they look with no makeup, or how they wish they knew how their girlfriend was when they weren't there.

It was a bit later in the day, around lunchtime, and Jay was still out running errands. He decided to call you. He pressed your contact, and after a couple rings, you picked up. "Hey, baby." He smiled as you answered.

"Hey! How's your day been without me, huh?" He sounded a bit cocky, which was usual.

"Oh, it's been fine. Gonna be honest, pretty lonely. There's no one here to make me the best sandwich ever for lunch." You sighed. He chuckled a bit, "Aw, poor thing. I'll be home soon, I'm about 30 minutes out," He paused, thinking. "Y'know I love you?"

You swallowed, "Well, yeah, I sure hope so. We do have a house together.. And pets." He nodded, "Yeah, yeah. I'll see you soon, alright babe?" You smiled, "Okay, bye hon."

After you hung up the phone, he shoved his phone in his back pocket and made his way to his car to drive home to you. Of course, with more country music.

One specific song came on, apparently called 'Crazy Girl'. It really, really reminded Jay of you. The song went on about the girl being self conscious in the relationship, thinking the man would leave her. He goes on to comfort her and tell her she's wrong. Was he.. Was Jay crying? Over a country song? No way. He needed to get home.

After what seemed like an agonizingly long car ride, he finally made it home to you. His girl. He hopped out the car, locking it and making his way to the front door. "Baby! Sugar?" He smiled as he hung his keys on the hook by the door. You turned the corner, "Jay! You're in a really good mood," You smiled into his chest as you hugged him, "What's got you feeling so happy?"

"Country music." You scoffed, almost laughing. "No way, you? You listened to country music today?" He nodded, "Yeah, I did. It's all that was on the radio, sugar." You looked to the side, then back up at Jay. "Oookay.. Were you.. crying?" You noticed the red on his cheeks, and that his face was also a bit puffy.

"What? No! What a stupid assumption." He shrugged it off. You sighed, "You're telling me why you cried later, mister."

It was around 10pm now, both of you lying in bed together. "So, Jay?" He turned over, humming in response. "Why were you crying on the way home? Tell me or else." He sighed, "Okay, okay. I.. heard this stupid country song and it really reminded me of you. It was about this insecure girl," You paused him, "Woah, okay, rude." He shook his head, "No, stupid! Let me finish!"

He continued on about what the song was about, and you almost started crying. "Oh, Jay.. That's.. that's actually really sweet." He hugged you close to his warm chest, "I love you so much. You know that?" You nodded, burrowing into his neck. "Of course I do."

Jay softly hummed, then spoke, "Maybe country music isn't that bad."

[r0-boat]

I’m in a soft mood, and I can’t stop thinking about bringing Hassel, Rika, and Larry a homemade lunch that that forgot before leaving👉👈 if that’s okay with you, just some extra cute stuff

Reader bringing homemade lunch

Pairings: Hassel, Rika, Larry

Hassel

Before he goes to work today he kisses you on the cheek; you are just cleaning the kitchen when you see his box lunch on the counter that he forgot to take with him, the school is quite a ways away, but you'd be damned if you'd let beloved go hungry, and not eating the food you carefully cooked and prepared for him.

His eyes light up the moment he sees you, Hassel is always happy to see you. but he has to ask, why did you come visit him at work today? You tell him that he's forgotten something and his eyes widen when you said his lunch on his desk.

Your poor husband is on the verge of tears because he's so lucky to have someone like you. You're so caring and thoughtful, part of him wants you to stay with him for lunch, but he knows that you might be busy with something else.

He says he missed you even though he's only been gone for a few hours, when he gives you a hug and a kiss. he asks if you need a ride home. but it was his students that got you to stay, asking you if they could draw your Pokemon partner; when the students begged Clavell, he relented. Hassel almost cried. He needed to thank his students later.

Rika

Work was really killing her today spinning on her chair with her pencil under her nose trying to ignore the grumbling in her stomach. She looked as happy as a puppy when she saw you. she asks What brings you here?

She is absolutely relieved when she sees you put the lunch down on her desk. " you're a life saver!" she explains, kissing you on the cheek. You chuckle, kissing her forehead when you turn to leave; she grabs your arm. Giving you puppy dog eyes as she begs you to stay. How could you ever say no?

Rika tries to feed you her own lunch "babe, say 'ah' !" when you protest, she pouts, " but you made it for me. You deserve to have a little taste.... unless you want my lips instead?" putting the piece of food down and wrapping her arms around your waist puckering her lips.

Geeta I had to send you home because you were distracting. Geeta was very kind thinking you for your kindness and asking if you would like a ride home. Rika's heartbroken.

Larry

He usually works right through his lunch breaks, it was you who started providing him lunch that he quit the habit. now your food is something he looks forward to everyday. is already too late when he realized he'd forgotten the lunch you made for him he was already at his office... Oh well he'll just stop by at the Eatery after work...

He was so focused on work he didn't notice you come behind him. You decided to let him work and slowly set it down next to him. by the time he notices you are already gone, but you left a cute note telling him to have a good lunch and you love him.

Larry couldn't help but smile, his heart fluttering in his chest... how he's so lucky to have somebody, he does not mess the days that he would eat alone or work without empty stomach.

After finishing, he calls you, informing you that he saw the note and thanks you again. Then asks if you want to go to the Treasure Eatery for a bit of a date after work as a thank you. You ask him why, and he says, " No particular reason, just felt appreciative of you; I want to treat you." You couldn't hide the smile in your voice. The Treasure Eatery workers absolutely adore you for caring for their tired businessman.

[tearfallpixie]

Make Mama Happy - Chapter 12

Only back a little. I am dragging today but I felt good enough to give you the next chapters. 🖤🖤🖤

Tags: @nerdraging4point0 @thesazzb @synthetic-wasp-570 @circle-with-me @beaker1636 @itsjustemily @witchyweeb34 @agravemisstake @cookiesupplier @cncohshit @faceless-mirror @nonamessblog @yournecessaryevil @black-damask1999

@lyschko666 @vinyardmauro @skulliecadaver-blog @some-daniela @latenightmusiclover @rye14-blog1 @somewhere-diamond @Shilohrosechicken @abiomens @awkwardalex @rumoured-whispers @miss570

“Heather!” I screamed. Vinny and I had gone to the airport to pick up my best friend and her boyfriend and to say I had missed her was an understatement. I’m sure to the onlookers it was comical to see two grown women running full speed at each other, but I didn’t care. I missed my best friend too much.

“Nichole!” We tackled each other in the middle of the walkway and stood there for what felt like a lifetime. “I missed you so much.”

“Never leave me for that long again or I’m cutting off all of your hair.” I cried; the threat completely empty but it got a laugh out of her.

“I promise.” We pulled away and I saw Rick standing behind her with a guilty expression.

“Hey brat. I kinda missed you.” He mumbled. “Can I get a hug?” I cocked my head but when he opened his arms, I found myself walking into them. We hugged each other for a second before pulling back and me landing a decent punch to his arm.

“I guess I kinda missed you too. But you deserved that. Asshole.” I huffed as an afterthought, pride coursing through my body as he rubbed his now sore arm with a grin. The boys hugged briefly before we made our way over to the baggage claim and found their luggage.

“You and Rick are getting along? Is the world ending?” Heather asked me quietly. We were trailing a few feet behind our boys so they couldn’t hear us over the roar of all the people returning home from the holidays.

“Don’t think to much into it. He texted me on Christmas with an apology and I decided to try to be friends. I don’t expect it to last.” I giggled. We got their stuff and headed out to the car, Rick and Vinny sitting up front and Heather and I sitting in the back. It was about a 20-minute drive back to Rickys place and I had to admire it. I hadn’t been there before so I didn’t realize that his house was sitting on a bit of land and tucked inside a bunch of trees. “Your home is beautiful Richard.” His house was a gorgeous white two story house that had giant windows looking into the living room to let in a lot of natural light.

“Thank you. I got lucky to find this property.” We unloaded their bags and Rick handed his to Vinny. “Can you take that up to my room please?” The drummer nodded and both him and Heather went inside and up the stairs. “So I was thinking Thursday afternoon we could go look at rings.” He said casually.

“Are we not going to talk about this?” I asked, my frustration with how dismissive he was being boiling over.

“What? I’m trying to.” He said stupidly.

“Not ring shopping Rick! You hate me! Why are you acting all buddy-buddy now?” I snapped.

“You’re dating Vinny. I’m stuck with you in my life now so I might as well get use to you being here.” He shrugged. “You guys seem happy too. So, I guess I was wrong about you.”

“Jesus! You can’t go 10 minutes without trying to take a jab at me, can you? Did you forget you tried to lie about me to my best friend? Tried to convince her I was scum who tried to steal you away?” I was getting seriously annoyed with him in that moment.

“I apologized for that! And I’m being truthful. I was wrong about you and I’m sorry!” He was getting angry now too. I didn’t know how we were ever going to try to make a friendship work if we couldn’t go 5 minutes without fighting.

“Yeah, whatever. This is still probably some joke so you and Vin can have one last laugh. I like him a lot, but I can never catch a break with you two.” I growled. Ricks eyes went wide but they weren’t looking at me. I turned around to see Vinny and Heather standing in the doorway of the house both of them looking sad but an underlying look of anger in Vinny’s eyes.

“Do you still think so little of me?” He asked slowly.

“Vin-“

“I invited you into my home, I let my mother take you under her wing. Hell, even my father loves you! And yet you still hold me at arm’s length.” He was scarily calm right now and it terrified me. Rick had moved over to Heather and pulled her away from what was sure to be a cat fight.

“This was all fake when it started Vinny. It was a show so you could get your mom off your back. I’m sorry if I am still having a hard time believing this is real.” I scoffed. He didn’t get a right to be mad at me for being scared.

“So the last two weeks meant nothing to you?” He had gotten closer to me and I could feel the fury rolling off of him.

“Oh, the last two weeks where you seem like you are walking on eggshells around me? Sure, you can call this a relationship but ever since we slept together on Christmas eve you’ve been acting weird around me.” I sighed. “Don’t forget this all started because he called me a whore and you believed him.” I jerked my hand at the guitarist.

“Fuck, I am so sick of you throwing that in his face! It was an idiot move and he apologized! Get over it.”

“You’re complaining about me not trusting you and yet you still defend him!” I laughed pathetically. I knew it was all too good to be true. “Fuck this. I take back what I said. I thought I loved you but you cant even be man enough to say it back and now this? I’m hurt. I get to be hurt. So if you want to choose his side then fine. I’m not going to deal with this shit anymore.”

“Rick, I’m going to go home. I need some air.” Vinny went back to his car and got in, quickly taking off without me and leaving me there with Heather and Rick. As I watched him drive away my eyes filled with tears and I barely felt myself collapse into a heap on the drive way. I had probably just ruined the best relationship of my life because of my stupidity and there was no way he was going to forgive me now. I laid there in a puddle of tears as strong arms reached down and pulled me into seated position, hugging me tightly. I glanced up to see Rick watching me with a sad smile and that made me cry even harder.

“I’m sorry.” I whispered. “I- I forgive you. I’m just-“ I couldn’t even finish my words but I could tell he understood. I wasn’t even mad at him anymore so I didn’t know why I couldn’t just let the situation go and trust in him and Vinny. He lifted me into his arms and carried me inside to his couch. He set me down and I drifted off, only barely registering the blanket he pulled up over my shoulder.

~~~~

“Mom?” Vinny whispered. He was currently standing on her porch, having driven around for the better part of 4 hours before he landed there. Tears were streaming down his face and he angrily tried to wipe them away but as he did new ones just fell.

“Vincenzo, honey, what’s wrong?” Rosa asked, grabbing his arm and pulling him inside. “Its cold dear. Come in and I will make you hot chocolate.”

“I messed up.” He mumbled. “Nichole, shes- shes amazing and perfect and kind and sweet and I like her and I ruined it all.” He went over to the couch and collapsed onto it, taking a pillow and burying his face.

“I’m sure that isn’t true. Now stop trying to suffocate yourself, that won’t win her back.” His mom scolded him, setting the hot chocolate on the table. He dropped the pillow to his lap and sighed.

“She’s never going to forgive me! It was ruined before it even started and it’s all my fault!”

“How is it your fault exactly?” She sat in the chair across from him and waited for him to respond. He hated how patient and understanding she was because all he wanted was to hate himself right now and he wanted her to hate him too. He was a horrible son.

“Because I believed Rick. He opened his god damn mouth and I believed him and that was before I even met Nichole. He was lying about her so that I would hate her. But I don’t. I love her and-“ He froze at his words and let out a frustrated yell. “I fucking love her. I’m so fucking stupid. She told me she loved me and I didn’t have the balls to say it back and now she’s gone.” He shoved the pillow over his face again and actually tried suffocating himself this time.

“Richard is your best friend. I’m sure he told you what he did with good intentions.” The pillow dropped once more and he shook his head. He wished he could just disappear and all of this would just go away. He just wanted to hold Nichole in his arms right now and hug her and tell her everything was going to be ok but he messed that all up.

“No. He told me she had been flirting with him behind Heathers back so the first time I saw her I told her we didn’t want her kind around us and she needed to leave. I treated her like trash only to find out moments later that Rick had lied to me because he didn’t want me to be with her.”

“I’m sorry. I’m confused. How did you two end up together?”

“Because Ky said you were going to set me up with someone! I didn’t want a relationship at the time so I asked her to fake date me for a while to get you off my back.” He froze and his eyes went wide. He had not meant to say that and from the look on his mother’s face, she was not amused. The way she leaned back in her chair and raised a single eyebrow terrified him. He had only seen that expression a hand full of times before. Once when his sister had a pregnancy scare in high school, once when Kyle had broken Vinny’s arm when they were wrestling, and once when Vinny himself had decided to drop out of college to pursue a career with this small band that had very little hope of succeeding at the time. This look was one you never wanted to see on Mama Mauro. “I can explain.”

[fanfiction4sooya]

I need soft fluffy smut with chaeryeong PLEASE 🙏🏽

Thanks for the ask baby, chaeryeong is in fact the love of my life so thanks for asking me to write for her!!!! 💖💖💖💖

It was a little past 5pm, you spent your whole day inside your art studio painting without even realizing that your body was tired. Life was so good and you were so happy that you just wanted to paint your heart away before going home to your girlfriend's arms.

With the soft music on the background you didn't even realize her slowly locking the door behind her, film camera in hand, smiling at your back. But as always, you felt her before actually seeing her.

"Hi, my love" You said, turning around as she smiled at you. "Recording me again?" She nodded, film camera at her eye level. "Why?"

"Because I wanna have some candid videos of you at our wedding" she said, kissing you on the cheek.

She was wearing jeans and flannel, it was her favorite outfit for work, since she owned a flower shop and she got really dirty sometimes. It was a nice contrast with your usual sundresses.

"Is this how you propose, Ms. Lee?" You said, both hands on your hips.

"No" She locked eyes with you. "This is how I tell you I wanna love you forever, love" You blushed, looking down. "I'll propose to you on a beautiful day, when my heart can't take it anymore having you only as my girlfriend"

She lowered the camera putting it aside and pulling you into a kiss, hands on both sides of your face as she caressed it there.

"You came earlier than usual" You said circling her neck with your arms, basically on your tiptoes since she was quite taller.

"I missed you too much, so I closed the shop earlier" She slowly pulled you to straddle her lap as she sat down on your studio's couch. "Also, I know you've been painting all day so I came to the rescue"

"What can I say?" You kissed the tip of her nose. "I'm inspired these days, that's why I paint so much" She softly smiled against your neck, making your heart flutter.

"And why is that?"She kissed there, her hands smoothly roaming on your thighs, making your breath hitch.

"The way you love me, that's why" You said and she kissed your lips with more intention now. She dragged her tongue against yours, massaging.

God, she was such a good kisser.

"I missed you so much today" She kissed your chest and you got goosebumps, whimpering. Her hands held your hips, setting a slow pace for you to grind. "I needed to be with you"

You kissed each other again, your clothed core slowly dragging against her jeans and making you whimper against her lips.

"Beautiful" She said, her eyes on yours as she nibbled on your jaw, hands still holding your waist. "So beautiful"

Her eyes shined with something you were yet to see on her; something heartwarming and breathtaking, as if you are some kind of treasure and she just discovered your existence. She carefully lifted your hips as she took off her jeans, pulling down your cotton panties next.

She never stopped kissing you, specially when your wet pussy made contact with her skin and both of you moaned.

"Oh, god" You said, closing your eyes as she hugged your waist pulling you impossibly closer, kissing your neck and then your lips. "Please"

"Keep going, baby" She softly spoke, feeling you pulse against her thigh and flexing so you could hump better.

You whimpered against her lips, your heart beating fast on your ears.

"Chaeryeong" You hugged her neck, eyes locked on hers as you humped harder now. "I love you" You said, tears threatening to fall from both your eyes, closing them.

"I know, baby" She guided your hips with one hand as the other cupped your chin, kissing you, caressing next. "I love you too" You cried out, clenching hard around nothing. "Cum for me" She kissed you as your climax hit hard, making you slump forward against her body.

She hugged your body kissing your shoulders, your chest. Idolizing you as she always did.

With you still on her lap, she grabbed the camera and pointed at both of you kissing.

"Tell me something" Eyes shining, camera recording everything.

"Tell you what?" You caressed her cheek, sun setting beautifully behind her.

In the middle of the chaos of your paintings and brushes, she seemed perfectly fit, as a piece of art herself.

"Say yes" She whispered, taking a small blue box from her jeans that were previously tossed aside. "The most beautiful day is any day we are together" She said as a pretty tear slowly fell from one of her eyes.

"Chaery..." You said, incredulous.

"My heart can't take it anymore, so please" She pecked your lips. "Be my wife"

There was very few things in the world you loved, but Lee Chaeryeong was the one you loved the most. Life wasn't the same without her.

"Yes".

[belle--ofthebrawl]

Hey belle. Im feeling a bit shitty both physically and mentally today. Some shit was said and it's really fucking me up.

Would it be alright to ask for some Aeon and Rain or Dew comfort? Maybe some slow stuffs thrown in?

Or just a plain ol hug?

(Darling, always. I hope this helps.)

Even the ghouls get hit with post Ritual depression.

The tour is done. The adventure is over. They're home and they don't have to follow an insane schedule anymore. They're back to showers that work, beds that are comfortable and smell like each other, spacious rooms and delicious food. And Aeon had been deliriously happy until…until he wasn't.

It didn't make sense. How he could be so insanely happy one moment, hitting his sheets with a big grin on his face only to turn over, stare at the wall and feel the elation fade until he was left with this deep, heavy sadness right in the center of his chest. And he cried. Nothing big and emotional, but he blinked and the tears just started rolling down his cheeks. He scrubbed frantically at them in shock. What was he, a kit? Whining for attention?

His room, luxurious in what little space it had, felt alone and empty. His bed was cold, with no one to snore next to him, steal all the sheets. He should have loved it, loved the solitude. But it just made him feel worse.

He's up before he realizes, heading for the door and down the hallway. Towards Rain's room and the comforting scent of someone familiar.

When he knocks, Dew opens the door.

Aeon opens his mouth to apologize for bothering them but the fire ghoul takes one look at him and grabs his elbow.

"Sad boy incoming." He says to the lump of blankets, dragging Aeon in.

"Ready for landing." Comes Rain's sleepy voice. A skinny arm sticks out and yanks Aeon in as soon as he's close enough. The blankets swoosh over his head, Rain's hugging him tight and Dew slides in behind Aeon, tossing an arm over his waist.

"Uh-" Is all Aeon can manage.

"Be shoosh." Rain says, and kisses his forehead.

"We got you." Dew murmurs into his hair. "We've all been there. You're good, you're alright."

"Oh…" Aeon's throat is swelling up and the corners of his mouth are pulling down. When he takes a deep breath, it's shuddery and embarrassing but Dew and Rain don't seem to mind. They touch him gently, chastely, Rain peppering his face with kisses while Dew brushes his lips over Aeon's shoulders.

Soon, he's shuddering for an entirely different reason. Carefully canting his hips away so he doesn't bother Rain but the water ghoul just laughs softly and Aeon feels him tug both their waistbands down. He moans as a tentacle wraps around his cock, hot and textured and moving at just the right pace. Dew shoves his hand down and cups Aeon's balls, rolling them around in his warm palm while he lazily grinds his own hardening cock between Aeon's cheeks.

"Let go," Rain says, kissing the words right into his mouth.

"We've got you." Dew says, holding him tight. "You're alright."

With the way they cling to him, making him feel good, feel seen, feel loved... Aeon has to believe them.

"Thank you," He whispers back fervently. "Thank you."

[aleksa-sims]

RL Story

CW: addiction, serious illness

Totally done and still sad because I saw Daniel and this stupid girl today I came home after work. Nico wasn’t home yet. I was kind of relieved about that. I wasn't sure, if I should tell him? I mean, nothing happened, but what I said to Daniel today was just not ok! It was totally unfair and selfish.

As soon as I got home, I went for a walk with N.’s dog. Back home I took a shower & I lay down on the bed. I wasn’t feeling so well. I got serv pain in my right knee and my hands also hurt. It bothered me so much, that I had to take a painkiller. After that it slowly got better while I fell asleep.

A little later N. came home. I heard him come up to the bedroom and watch me sleep. Nico has an extraordinary talent for disturbing me while sleeping. No, tbh it's really cute. Every morning before he leaves the house, he comes back to the bedroom to me, while I’m mostly still sleeping. He kisses me and tells me quietly that he loves me. In the beginning I found it hard to get used to. It's annoying to be woken up by him in the morning (5.00 am!) just because he has to kiss me. Yk? It wasn’t until he was gone (abroad), that I realized how much I missed being woken up by him in the morning.🩷 But back to that day, it was not in the morning, but in the evening.

N. saw the painkillers I had taken next to me on the bed, thinking I was sick or something.

Nico: Hey babe.... Are you ok?

Me: M-hm... Yea, I'm ok.... Where were you? I missed you.

Nico: I said good-bye to Damien and the others. They’re going back to Italy tomorrow.

Me: Yea, without you.... You stay here, with me. So happy about that. Right now I need you with me. I've had a really, really bad day N.... And you? How is your new team? Are they nice?

Nico: Agh...well, what can I say? Germans, yk?🤷‍♀️😉 But it was ok and it’s nice to be home, not somewhere alone abroad ..... Did you see Dilek today?

Me: No, she’s sick. She stayed home.

Nico: Are you sick too? I see you’ve taken painkillers.

Me: My knee hurt again. Somehow my whole body hurts, my hands and legs... But I'm fine. 🙂

Nico: You should tell your doc. You are pregnant. Maybe it has something to do with it?

Me: Yea, but don't worry. I know this pain. It's nothing. I’ve had this pain since I was a kid. It comes and goes, but it’s not serious. My muscles and bones are just very sensitive to pain. 🫤

Nico: It’s all right, babe. But if I see you get pain again, I’ll take you to your doc. I don’t want to scare you, you know that! But you don’t hurt for no reason. Sure, it's nothing, but it’s better to get it checked out before you need to take painkillers again.

Me: Chill Nico!! I know you’re afraid I might get addicted to painkillers . But c'mon, N.! It's just ibuprofen. 😄🤷‍♀️My pill addiction is past. I know I was difficult for you back then, but I promise, this won’t happen anymore. Love you.

Nico didn’t worry about my pill addiction, but actually about the pain I had. A few days ago, my knee hurt so badly that I could not walk. I even cried. But after I took a painkiller, it stopped again. That pain I had in my muscles and bones will get really bad after delivery. Not immediately after delivery, a few months later. But I do not want to draw too much attention to this issue now. Later, when the time comes, I will explain this in more detail. These were the first symptoms of a serious illness. Since CML is not so easy to diagnose, it will take a while for me to get the diagnosis.

And about Daniel I didn't tell Nico. I was happy with N. and we’re about to have a Baby, so I decided to somehow forget Daniel and let him go. But something happened that night!😞 Daniel texted me at 1:00 a.m. I’ll see him tomorrow again. 😢

Previous/Next

[gemini-sensei]

Angst hour because I made myself cry with this one 🥲 Also, this is not Moon hate or anything like that. Moon is just a convenient vessel for the means of this plot.

So best friend!Reader who has known Eli and Demetri since forever and she's shy, chubby, deemed an outcast for those reasons and more. She fits in great with the nerds and such. She fell for Eli a long time ago, but when he Eli flips the script and becomes Hawk, he's super confident and cool, and Reader admires him even more for it. She falls harder.

One day he comes up and asks her for advice on what kind of date to plan if he wants to ask our a girl. He tells her all of these ideas and she tells him hers, it's cute and she's super giggly. He likes her ideas and says he's going to plan the "moat perfect date ever" thanks to her.

Her heart gets a little ahead of her head and she think he's going to ask her out. She gushes to Demetri about it, super excited. He's happy for her, being the only person she's ever shared her deep, personal feelings with.

When the day comes that Hawk has planned to go through with the plan, Reader gets a little dressed up. It's nothing fancy, but it's a level above what she'd usually wear. She feels so confident and happy, but that all changes when she gets to school.

Hawk approaches her, a little nervous, but she tells him he can do anything. "You're the Hawk after all, right?"

She giggles and he smiles. He's got the boost of confidence he needs. "Thanks, Reader. I always know I can count on you. You're a really great friend."

Before Reader can respond, his whole demeanor changes. He stands a little straighter and puffs out his chest. She feels a little warmth rush to her cheeks, but it quickly turns to embarrassment.

"There she is," he says and nods to someone behind her.

She turns and sees Moon, the prettiest girl in school. Undeniably so. She has the perfect smile and laugh and radiance.

Reader feels her heart break a little. Her smile falters, but she pulls it back into place as she is faced with her best friend again.

"I'm gonna go over there and talk to her. Wish me luck," he says and she nods. She mumbles a small 'good luck' as he pats her arm and walks by. Before he completely crosses the hall, he turns and flashes her a smile. "You look great today, by the way. Totally badass."

She smiles back, but he doesn't see how plastic and fake it is because he's quick to turn forward again.

Reader slips away before she has to see him ask out another girl as tears prick her eyes. She ends up in the bathroom and cries, cries so hard she pukes and has to go home sick.

Later that day, Hawk and Demetri are hanging out when Hawk shares the good news.

"I have a date this Friday!" he says triumphantly. He's so genuinely proud of where he's managed to get himself, from shy and low rate loser to confident and tough. "It's gonna be totally awesome!"

Demetri speaks before he thinks. "That's great. Now I don't have to listen to Reader go on and on about it. She's been so excited about it all week."

He says it in a jokey manner, never bothered by Reader's feelings when she needs to let them out. He's her confidant after all.

But Hawk stops and looks at him, smiles all gone as he stares in confusion. "What did you just say?"

Demetri realizes almost immediately that he's screwed up. He tries to back track, poorly. "What do you mean?"

"Reader, you said she was excited," Hawk restates. "Why would she be excited? You said it like she's the one I'm going out with"

"Um, well... she kind of thought you were going to ask her out."

"I asked out Moon. I asked Reader to help me plan the date, ya know to get a girl's perspective and stuff. Why would I ask her for her if I were asking her out?"

"She thought it was one of those things where you were trying to get ideas of what her 'perfect first date' would be like... but now I see how skewed that thinking is..."

"Oh shit."

Hawk puts his head in his hands as he remembers Reader and her new little outfit, the smile on her face when he saw her that morning and the way her voice got small and shy when she wished him luck on asking out Moon. It all made sense, but he didn't want it to.

"Are you telling me that this whole time she's been telling me all these date ideas that she's been expecting me to ask her out?"

"...yeah..."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I thought she knew what she was talking about. I thought that you two were a for sure thing. I didn't know Moon was a part of the equation."

"Have you talked to her?"

"No."

Both boys reach for their phones. Demetri's is full of text after text from Reader while Hawk's is empty.

As Demetri scrolls through the paragraphs of "I'm so stupid for thinking he could like me," he frowns. Reader had never been the most confident. Bullies tore her down left and right until she was just a meek fat girl with low self esteem. The one time she let herself feel good about herself was because someone she cared for was making her happy, and then he'd unintentionally crushed it.

Hawk is sitting beside him, drafting up a similarly long text to Reader about how sorry he about the whole misunderstanding. But Demetri stops him with a "I don't think that's going to help."

And all Hawk can do is sit there, knowing whatever he says won't be enough, and all he can ask himself is what has he done?