#got on shift on Sunday and my manager pulled me aside when i clocked in to say thank god youre here i need you on front theyre an absolute

[nerdie-faerie]

I have got to get worse at my job cus no way can keep letting them rely on me like this

[dreamiesdotcom]

fireworks | l.jn

Summary:  New Years are chances for drastic changes, so every year you make Jeno promise to never forget several things before the clock strikes 12. Now and then he makes a note to recall all the things he's sworn on, except one: that one time that never really left his mind at all.

Word Count: 2.3k

Life was a little complicated back then, if a little harsh. He was just getting used to having his brother — stepbrother, really — and the only person he knew was Na Jaemin, whose only friend was Lee Donghyuck. That's three new people he's met in four days, and he was so overwhelmed he hid in his bedroom for a day straight.

You come in a little later, and even then he knew you were a force to be reckoned with. The stubborn Lee Donghyuck was in some way caught in your strings, and Renjun (who he's very intimidated by) allows you to pinch his cheeks — what kind of power, right?

It all starts from when he was 12 years old, newly moved to the Neighborhood, on the 23rd of December.

The first shift was when the year ended and another began, welcomed by the brightest set of fireworks Jeno's ever watched. Amidst it all, Jaemin invites all of you to go and hang-out, having already asked your parents way before he asked you all. You had pointed at him then.

"Don't forget to come, okay, Jeno?" you tell him, head slightly tilted. "We're friends now. I would seriously be upset if you don't show up!"

"Sure but uh, my parents— what's that?"

"Nana's got it under control, and well, pinky swear!" you link your pinkies together, and you offer him a sweet smile. "You break the promise and expect me to cut your fingers off."

Donghyuck's friends... are quite scary, per se, but he made a promise that night. His heart raced quickly at that thought, and he shakes slightly, but another round of fireworks burst up the sky, and this time it's much more brilliant, even more radiant, and as all of you exchange smiles, he knows that he's made friends as well.

###

Something about Jeno is astral, you concluded. He just doesn't believe it.

"You see that Jen?" you asked him one of the many times you've asked him to stay up with you. He remembers the honeyed-laughter you let out then, "That's the brightest star in the sky as seen from Earth, and it's called Sirius."

He couldn't form words then. He didn't know what it was that got him so stunned, but he knew that it was something beautiful; whether it's the stars or you.

He remembers what makes his heart go wild: "And to me, if I was the Earth, that'll be you. You're my Sirius."

Jeno hoped it meant something. He wished that it meant as much to you as it did to him because he keeps on losing sleep dreaming of how hypnotic you look, mind void of anything else aside from redamancy. He hopes it means something even after he realizes that it's just like you to associate people with celestial bodies.

"Renjun's like the moon..." you sighed wistfully, chin resting on your palms. "He seems so far away, distant and mysterious. He's the type of person you never truly know... but sometimes, a person always makes effort to glance at it more often than the others. That person knows less of his mystery and more of his misery, at that point."

"And that person, I suppose, is you? You know him the most."

"And I... the things you're implying!" you groaned. "Stop fooling around, Hyuck."

The clock moves closer to 12, and Jeno decides that it's now or never — he asks a question: "If at one point, you have to choose; would you rather have the moon or the stars?"

"I would rather have them together," comes rather too quickly, way too mindlessly. "The stars would be lonely without the moon, and it goes both ways."

"But—"

"No one's more than the other," you shrug, turning to face him. "You overheard it, didn't you? Well, don't worry about it."

Guilt washes over his face, and you shake your head slightly as you raise both your hands to cup his cheeks. It's quiet for a moment just like the way it's always been when the world holds their breaths, counting down and anticipating the last number. That space has somewhat always been empty, the one that makes him think — this silence is the type that echoes, the type that feels cold. It emphasizes all his feelings.

"You're still my Sirius, Jen," you whisper, and if you weren't so close, the fireworks would've drowned your confession. His eyes flutter at the warm feeling your words give him. "You'll always be my favorite. Now, promise me that you won't ever question that."

He nods and makes his promise, but it doesn't mean he stops being anxious. What if one day, you look up at the night sky and realize that you preferred the moon over Sirius, after all?

"I can see the hesitance in your eyes," you say even softer this time. The fireworks subside, just like the loudness of his heart, but then as if in sync they start up again — the fireworks and his heartbeat. You smiled, and both of them returned much stronger than the last. "Please don't doubt me."

It's alright, he concludes. He realizes that he doesn't need to be your favorite. Just as long as he has you — because that's what he wants the most at the moment. He wants you all to himself for as long as he can have you, and you looked so lovely that he almost tells you that and the galaxies of words occupying his mind since summer two years ago — he wants to say them slowly so you won't forget, so that he closes the tiniest distance separating the both of you that feels so big despite being unnamed, a haunting chasm that spreads further every shuddering breath —

But he doesn't.

###

It certainly is illegal.

How it happened is a little bit crazy — well, not really, but just like most of Jeno's irrational decisions, it starts from Donghyuck's stories and then boils down to his curiosity. Flash forward to right now, an unexpected but welcomed masterpiece in front of you, Jeno admiring the painted wall with delight and proudness ebbing through his veins. Around him, spray paint cans lie empty, some half-full.

'Hyuck and Renjun does it all the time, and they've never been in trouble,' Jeno said.

'You're dumb and I can't believe I'm letting you do this,' you replied.

But why should you stop?

Jeno looks regal when he's breathless like this, adrenaline sparkling in his eyes like the golden glitter staining his eyelids. This side of him is nowhere soft — it's too passionate, too unknown, too beautiful to not be overwhelming. You manage a muffled call of his name.

An instant before 23:59 turns to zero, the year beginning again. You spend half of that minute staring at each other, somewhere along the way a force pulling you so close to him.

"I need you to swear on it." you manage to say between the blurs. "Promise me we'll always stay like this."

Ten, nine, eight

"Promise." He says, raspy, pinky finger entwined with yours. He cups your cheeks, gentle, just carefully watching. He smiles. "You and me, like this, forever."

Seven, six, five

His stare is firm, but at the same time, it's so gentle. It's as if he's seeing you in a new light and he wants to miss none of it, not even a split-second. Your eyes flutter shut.

"Can I kiss you?"

Four, three, two

Your heart beats aggressively against your chest, your toes curling in your shoes out of nervousness. Despite that, you nod your head enthusiastically, something he always found so endearing.

"Of course, yes, please."

One

Fireworks burst into sparkling reds and golden yellows, both in the night skies and your hearts. Your lips each a lustrous star, crashing together ever so softly, sparkling like luminous spheres about to go supernova — the kiss a cyclopean shift to the Universe's plan.

###

People change all the time. Friends are people. It's only normal to drift apart a little, right?

After all, it doesn't matter if you don't hang out as much as then. It's reasonable, honestly. Donghyuck's been immersed in his music these days, Jaemin spends most of his time hanging around the dance studio and bothering a certain boy named Jisung (bless his heart for not murdering Jaemin yet) while Renjun's busy... doing his thing. Hell knows what he's been up to, but the last time Jeno's seen him, he has an overwhelming amount of books stacked on his table ("It's a queue, Jeno. I'm reading the next one after this once I finish!"), and he just hopes he doesn't take three years before finishing all those up.

"Why is it that it's so hard for them to make time to be normal friends?"

"It's hard for them to make time to be normal people, what do you expect?" you roll your eyes, turning off your phone and then sitting right across from him. "We'll meet next Sunday, anyway. Let's give those people hell from us both!"

From outside, the world celebrates a new incoming year, but for some odd reason, you two stayed inside his room. Light seeps in from his open window, seeping golds and violets and reds, occasional greens, and other colors. All it does is remind him of that kiss. It sends a flush on his cheeks, especially when you leaned to press a kiss on his forehead, ever so careful.

Jeno would like to believe that it was out of random, but he felt like at that moment, you knew something he didn't.

"Promise me something, yeah?" you asked, nervous. "Promise me you'll never forget that I love you."

"I pro—" he says as if a routine, but then he halts. "You what?"

The fireworks stop, and the both of you knew that it only takes a little seconds before they ignite again. You looked up to meet his gaze, mustering up courage, and making your voice silvery and clear.

"I love you," you said, shaking. "So fucking much, Jeno. Now promise me."

He stays in stunned silence for a little, and then he pulls you into a hug so tight neither of you ever wanted to let go. His breathing was shaky and so was yours, a feeling as unstable and as sweet as the kiss you two shared right after he whispered an answer, "I promise."

And that was enough for you to know that he loves you too.

("I feel cheated that you never told me. We could've been doing this for years," he nags later once you're spooning in his bed, his chest pressed against your back. You break into laughter then, still coming down from the high of sparkling lights and pure euphoria.

"We're just in time, love. There's no need to rush when we have an infinity ahead of us.")

###

It's easier to remember moments that passed like headlights on highways at full speed when all is said and done. If that makes sense at all, maybe that could be the reason why he just realized it now that neither of you two got to tell how much you wanted to be so much more than friends who confessed to having feelings for each other. You never clearly talked where you should stand.

If he were to say his truth, he'd say that there was way more than to how you looked against the bright lights exploding and the towns of stars. There's way more to you than the way you made his heart beat, skip, and ache. The truth is, you were heavenly. It made his heart do all the things it could do so he's unable to speak. The truth is, he knew where it was going, and he didn't want to travel that road. The truth is, he's been falling for the longest time, but the truth is not important.

Because not even the truth could have given you the freedom to have a choice, he says in his mind.

"Promise me you won't forget me." You looked so gentle close to him like that, skin reflecting moonlight and flares. "Please, baby. Promise me."

But it's the last thing he ever wanted to do. He doesn't want you to make him swear to never forget you — you have forever waiting ahead, and you're walking down that road hand-in-hand. Why does he need to promise to always remember when there's no reason he'll forget? It's the last thing he needs. He'll have you next to him every day and there would be no hour that expires where he doesn't hold you, no second that passes that he doesn't feel like he loves you.

He didn't want to have to promise that because people only ask to be remembered if they're planning to leave.

Jeno closes his eyes, lowering his head. "Don't do this to me."

Still, after the most painful kiss he ever had, it lingers both like sugar and poison at his lips, your name, and a promise. A promise he never wanted to make.

"We'll see each other again..." he whispers, painfully fond. "For now... for now, we'll take some time and wish that the Universe brings us back together...If the Universe doesn't do it for us, then I will. I promise."

He recalls the night before, then all the previous others that stands out with vibrant colors and the love of his life. He crosses his fingers and wishes that sometime somewhere, you look up to watch fireworks but see Sirius instead — and it reminds you to come home.

[jamestrmtx]

Fairytale Complex - [Undertale | Sans x Reader]

[Gender Neutral, Frisk's Parent Reader | Slow Burn]

Chapter Nineteen | Temmie Village (Part 1 of 2) [First] | [Previous] | [Next]

Song Referenced

+

Temmiefied Version

Alternate Chapter Title(s): Stand by Me (no duh) or The Corny One With A Song Title Reference, Part 1

• • •

The shopping district’s as busy as the roads you’ve just driven by; food courts are the most bustling with the hour your phone marks: ten minutes past noon. Contraire to her punctual self, Brenda’s running late, though you settle for waiting ten more before sending her a message. You sit by an empty booth and take the last chair available in the row to avoid disturbing those who’re already eating. Then, you pull your planner out and skip through a few pages until you find the right one. Aside from your usual schedule, you had her visiting again this Friday, a meeting with Toriel regarding some plans she wanted to discuss with you on Saturday, and another one with Sans on Sunday to arrange the second step towards homeschooling Frisk while you enrolled them somewhere else.

It’s still hard to read that last one, not for what it was, but for the fact that almost every school you’d tried to sign them up into declined having other guardians aside from you and Jerry to pick them up. They declined Toriel just as much as they declined Undyne, all due to the new rules and regulations set up in schools since the monsters’ arrival. What Toriel wanted to discuss with you was related to that, though you hadn’t been given too many details as to what it was, exactly. You glance back to your phone to see over ten minutes have passed by already, yet Brenda's nowhere to be seen. You start typing up a message, only to be interrupted by her call; the device almost slips off your hands with how abrupt it is. 

“H- Hello?” you answer, catching your breath.

She screams an accusation at you, not an ill-minded one per se, but one questioning over why you’d kept information hidden from her.

“Why didn’t you tell me you’re that close to him already?” she asks, words jarringly loud. You have to turn down the volume despite it not being set on speakerphone. “So he's going to help you with Frisk? That’s serious boyfriend material, honey!”

Thankfully, she sounds happy.

Still, a correction's deemed necessary.

“What do you mean, Brenda?”

“Auntie Brenda, mind you.”

You huff and bring a hand to the side of your neck, tension consuming it. “Alright, Auntie Brenda… Where are you right now? I don’t have much break time left anymore.”

“Just go ahead and eat, dear. I’ll drive over on the weekend.”

Right as you’re about to complain over her choices, she speaks up again, calmer than before.

“Or why not come over after you have lunch there?” she asks, words cooed. “You work close to him, don't you?”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll stay here.” You can’t help feeling a little sour over her suggestion and with the reminder you’ve waited almost half an hour for her at the mall. With the call, it’s now thirty-five minutes past noon, giving you barely sufficient time for you to eat -- let alone listen to her rambling over how she’d misinterpreted your relationship and how Sans was better than she expected him to be. “You didn’t bother him with questions about his job, right?" you add. "He’s-”

“Why would I? He’s working an office job just like you!"

“He, what?”

You can’t avoid blurting that question out; a blank canvas replaces the image of him working at a hot dog stand. You try to imagine him working an office job, but it's near impossible to. Even if he knew plenty on various subjects, the monotonous yet fast-paced ambience of a desk job didn’t quite fit with your view of who the monster was to you.

“He works an office job, honey. Don’t you know where your own boyfriend works?” You can almost hear her shaking her head, disappointment made known through the blatant change in her voice. “Shame on you!”

You pinch the bridge of your nose and stand up, too vexed to sit still. “That’s not what I meant, Bre- ...Auntie Brenda,” you say, trailing off on your words. “I just… didn’t know he worked two jobs.”

“He does?!”

You lower the volume once more, Brenda's voice taking up a speakerphone quality to it again. Her tone then grows fainter as she questions the skeleton about the legitimacy of your statement. When her voice turns louder, you figure he’s given her an answer -- one you’ve no clue of. If he had two jobs, then you’re not so sure over how she'll be reacting. And if he didn’t, then you’d inadvertently put him on the spot by letting the truth known, something that didn’t really make sense if he was supposed to be working -- or at the very least, ending his lunch break right now.

Feeling it’s going to take a while, you stand in line at one of the fast-food establishments nearest to you; a growl from your stomach reminds you time’s running out. “So what did he say?” you speak up, knowing she’s getting distracted again.

“He does!” she exclaims, almost in a cheer. “Why didn’t you tell me he was that well-off, then? You should marry him now that you’ve got the chance to.”

“Weren’t you scolding me over the opposite barely a week ago?”

“Maybe so, but that was before I knew him better, dear!”

You roll your eyes and sigh, headache worsening. “Alright, I’m hanging up now. Don’t bother him too much, and stop interrupting his-”

“Wait,” she calls, excitement still there. “Have you ever thought of learning more about monsters? There’s a bunch of workshops going on right now… And I figured you could take one, since you’re dating one and all!”

Nearly the time for you to make your order, you let your tone become sterner, hoping to get your point across. “That… That sounds good and all, but I really need to go now. My lunch break’s almost over.”

Brenda huffs. “Fine.” Her voice comes out dragged, and it’s almost possible for you to hear her pouting. “But we need to talk all about this on Friday!”

“Sure. See you then.”

“Farewell, dear!”

You hang up, slip your phone back in your pocket, and turn to the register when you’re done, right on time to make your order.

• • •

Breathe in, breathe out.

You repeat that sentence along with those actions as you clock out of work, more than ready to relax, but less than capable of with how much you've left to resolve. 

Before turning off the computer, you click on your boss's e-mail for a third time today and read it once more.

>> Come to my office as soon as you're done with your shift for the day. I'll be waiting. – Sent from my ayPhone <<

You huff and glance at the pills on your desk. Despite these being given to you by the doctor herself, you're trying not to take them as often as the instructions on the bottle tell you to. You don't want to grow dependent on them, yet -- at the same time -- it's nearly impossible for you to go by your usual routine without having the repercussions of not taking them delay your progress. The side-eyes and looks some of your co-workers offer you on occasion reveal they're not too thrilled by the idea of having someone in your state around, either. Dizziness takes over and your headache worsens; they're enough for your body to finally give in, causing you to stumble out of your desk chair and direct all gazes on you.

Breathe in, breathe out.

It's just as impossible trying to ignore everyone, and it's even more difficult trying to stand up without making a complete fool of yourself.

Breathe in, breathe-

A hand's offered out to you; you accept it, yet you refuse to look at the person until you're back to your feet.

When you do look up, you recognize who the person is in an instant. It's the same man Sans had taken a picture with the day you first met. His hair looks different, but his face and clothing style remain the same. His hand stays holding yours until you assure him you're capable of standing straight again, and even then he still has his doubts. A subtle frown shows on his visage, fueled by concern.

"Are you alright, or should I call someone?" he asks, forehead creasing. "That fall looked pretty serious."

"I'm alright," you reply, managing a smile. You're still dizzy, the headache has only grown worse, and having people still looking in your direction doesn't help much with any of that, either. Even so, having him by your side along with a few other, approachable co-workers helps with bringing you back down to earth and allows you to find some more stability before going to meet with your boss. 

"Excuse me, (L/N), but…"

You turn to the voice to see a woman -- tall, pale-skinned, and dark-haired -- offering you your phone. It takes some time, but you're able to recognize her as one of the few co-workers you spent your lunch break with before Frisk went missing. She's as professional as ever, and her formality still shows subtly through speech, yet it doesn't erase how warm and genuine her tone sounds. "Your phone broke with the fall." She pulls her hand back as soon as you have the device in your hold; her body language reveals she has a hunch in terms of just how 'alright' you really are, and what a twice-broken phone in less than a year could do to your current, physical and mental state alike. "It seems like it still works though, since it was ringing just a minute ago."

"Thank you." You turn it on to view a cracked screen. The update Alphys gave it appears to have made it more durable, based on how minor the damages are compared to the first time it fell. You're capable of unlocking it and even checking your notifications to notice you've got a few unread messages from Brenda and Frisk's school, coupled with a missed call from Sans. That last one is harder to take in. He already knew what hour you clocked out, and he had enough common sense and decency not to call you unless it was an emergency -- unlike Brenda, who didn't really know how to read the room, and Frisk's school, which called only when it was absolutely necessary. "I, uh…" You're not sure on what to do first. Brenda could be easily set aside with what she did during your lunch break, but the same couldn't be said for everything else.

Breathe in, breathe out.

You flinch at the sudden sensation of needles on your forehead and a dizziness so strong and wild, it makes your stomach far too queasy for you to manage with. Still, you combat that feeling by grabbing some gum from your belongings, taking a few, and chewing them all at once. The sharp taste and scent of mint helps wash away nausea, yet the dizziness persists.

"Do you want us to take you home, (L/N)?" the man from earlier asks, sounding more concerned than before. Meanwhile, the woman approaches you with some water, one you accept and drink as quickly as it falls in your hands. They both help sit you down on a different desk chair -- one without wheels to prevent you from falling over again. Most have left, while some stay and try to offer more aid. Your boss stands by the exit, arms crossed, stance firm, and face hard to read with how bad your symptoms have turned. "Or maybe accompany you to the bus stop, at least? You shouldn't drive in these conditions."

"It's…"

Your eyes fall on your phone again, tempted to make a decision.

With your priorities now changed to the subject of your health, you set Frisk's school aside with the knowledge they're with Toriel at this hour and forget about the meeting with your boss, aware she's already seen you from a distance. Only his name remains; truthfully, you'd rather limit how much time you spent with him, knowing what the opposite did to your heart and mind alike. You hesitate and stare blankly for a short while before you click on his missed call. One tap and two rings is all that's needed for you to reach him. It takes a second for you to answer back at him, half as much as it takes for your hand to stop shaking and for your voice to gain a better semblance of strength. It's too late to hang up now -- and his call could likely be an emergency -- so you continue forward with it.

"You don't sound too great. Everythin' okay?"

"About that…"

You share some words with him and refuse to tell him of your situation until he gives you his own reason for calling you at this hour.

"...Why did you call me?"

"It's about Frisk, but it ain't an emergency or anythin' -- it's good news, actually."

"Then why did y-"

"Listen, I don't mean to be harsh or nosy, but you sound awful right now. I can give you all the answers you need later, but could ya tell me what's wrong?"

You heave a small breath and look at the time, along with the hour of his missed call. He made it around eleven minutes past the end of your shift, so it wasn't exactly interrupting your job, but you're not sure how to interpret his call and the fact it was his first occasion calling you so close to your work schedule. Even if you were overthinking it, you didn't want to overlook anything, either. And then again, the state you're in isn't really the best for you to be questioning every little thing about your relationship with him -- at the moment, of course. "I feel sick. Kind of similar to that day at the hospital." You decide to be earnest, regardless of how dry your throat feels and how fast your heart goes. "I, well…"

"Want me to pick you up?"

Your ears turn hot while your hands do the opposite. "Y- Yeah…" Your chest tightens and your words grow faint, until you continue with, "I need your help, teddy bear."

"Teddy bear?" he asks, chuckling.

"You're calling me puddin' now, aren't you? You're a teddy bear in my eyes, then."

"I wonder why."

You smile.

"...See you in a bit?"

"'Course. I should be there in ten minutes max."

"Thank you."

With that, you say your farewells and hang up.

Now left to wait, you put your phone away, pick up the rest of your belongings, and stay with the company of your two co-workers as you make it to the exit. Your boss is still waiting next to it, yet she steps aside as do other people standing nearby, providing you with space to pass by. She says nothing, so you stop for a second, only to have her nod for you to carry on walking.

"Come to my office as soon as you recover, (L/N)."

That's the only thing she says as the door closes, leaving you with one co-worker by your left and the other by your right, both waiting in case you were to fall over again.

Breathe in, breathe out.

[First] | [Previous] | [Next]

• • •

Small but Important™ Q&A regarding healthcare and whether it's American-based or not

To clarify for everyone else possibly having that same doubt, based on a question made by a reader in terms of Chapter Six and Seven's events:

All healthcare/medical attention mentioned in this story is based off my country, meaning it's either free or at the very least, affordable enough that you don't have to choose between an Uber or an overpriced weewoo vehicle in case of a medical emergency.

For example: I pay only $10 for 4 different medicines I'm meant to take, 3 which are for a lifetime (example: thyroiditis), and the only thing my insurance doesn't cover is optometry, which is around $300 to $500 a year for a full exam and prescription!

Tl;dr: It isn't. There's no debt here so far, lol.

• • •

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[howtowhumpyourhiccup]

Winter Whumperland Day 8: Lucky

Summary: Written for Winter Whumperland Day 8. Set in a Modern AU, follows up on Day 7 'Delirium'. There was the chance meeting in that coffee shop, but it is one late evening in early June that Hiccup's life takes a sudden turn for the worse.

Rating: Mature

Characters: Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout, Toothless, Ryker, Viggo

Pairing: Vigcup, past-Hiccstrid

Words: 4 464

Fandom: How to Train Your Dragon

Prompt: “Obsessive whumper”

Whumpee: Hiccup (and Toothless in a way)

Author’s Notes: This was supposed to be up already, but I got very distracted by Attack on Titan. I finished my rewatch and I had 3 episodes of season 4 that I needed to catch up on and then I got very distracted by the reactors I follow that I know watch this show, too.

Constructive criticism is appreciated! Including on the tags!

Enjoy!

Ao3

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

There was the chance meeting in that coffee shop, but it is one late evening in early June that Hiccup's life takes a sudden turn for the worse.

It's late when he returns home from work. He's completely drained after being on his feet all day and when he steps in through the front door, what he longs for most is to kick off his shoes and prosthetic and crash onto the couch.

Someone has other ideas, as he can tell by the stomping footsteps coming up from behind him as he closes the front door.

They halt, one slipper tapping impatiently on the carpeted floor, and Hiccup knows he's in trouble. He slowly turns to see one furious Astrid Hofferson.

She'd come the second she heard the door open and she'd jumped off the couch to catch him and block his way to the living room. Her blonde hair is undone and lays comfortably on her shoulder.

"Uh, good evening? Milady?" He greets her hesitantly, deciding that a polite approach is probably a better idea than a sassy one.

"What took you so long? You were supposed to clock out two hours ago!" Astrid crosses her arms, a hip out, and awaits a good excuse. He hasn't even called her to let her know that he would be later or anything!

Hiccup puffs out a nervous breath as he shifts his weight from one foot to the other, unsure what to tell her. Upon seeing this, Astrid lets out an agitated sigh, reeling with her boyfriend's thoughtless decision-making.

"Viggo again?" She asks with a hard tone and he knows there is no denying it. Besides, she'd know if he was lying. So he nods honestly instead and she's already throwing her hands up.

"He came by at the coffee shop for a game of chess and I thought I'd entertain him for a little while!" Hiccup hurriedly replies, already imagining Astrid's disappointment in him.

"For two whole hours?!" Her voice raises, she's not too impressed.

"Ugh, yeah..."

"Hiccup, I can't believe you!" She expresses her disbelief before turning on her heels to return to the living room.

"He's obviously a lonely man, Astrid! He just wants some company and a listening ear once in a while!" He tries to reason with her as he follows her to the other room, where Snotlout is sitting on the couch.

Viggo just comes across as a lonely man to him. No partner, no kids, no friends outside of business, and a brother he rarely sees eye to eye with. It makes him want to take at least a few minutes out of his time to spend on him.

"Once in a while, he comes by almost every day, Hiccup! Today, he swallowed up two hours of your time! And after work, too!" Halting before the television, Astrid spins on her heels again to face Hiccup. "Hiccup Haddock, I know you're not a pushover, but somehow this guy gets you to let him walk all over you."

Snotlout should be annoyed that he can no longer watch the tv, the bickering couple interrupting his watch, but that matters little to him

"Heh, Viggo again, Hiccup?" He asks, finding amusement in that fact.

"You know, Hiccup, if you'd rather spend time with some lonely middle-aged dude then your own girlfriend, maybe you should go hook up with him. We'll question your kinks and tastes, though." He adds with a chuckle.

"Not funny, Snot." The couple tells him and Hiccup sighs afterward, awkwardly moving from one foot to another once more. He's tired and his leg hurts and he doesn't like fighting with Astrid. And to make matters worse, he has some news, too. It's not bad news, but he wonders if it'll be received well after Astrid's reaction.

She stands there, fuming, and she probably has plenty of reason to be. His not calling her to let her know where he's at, spending his after work hours with someone who is a virtual stranger to her, who is a creep in her eyes, pushing his own needs aside for someone who clearly has no eye out for his, ... Yup, plenty of reasons. And he might just be about to make it worse.

"Also... I won't be able to sleep here tonight." But it's better to just come out and sat it, so he tells her, his arms crossing.

"And why is that?" Astrid asks, not too pleased. It's Friday evening, she'd hoped to spend at least a little bit of time with him. You know, the time Viggo hasn't selfishly taken for himself yet.

"Well, Toothless came to find me again. I saw him sitting on the rooftop when I got back and... Well, see for yourself." Hiccup gestures towards a rather large window on one side of the room and Snotlout and Astrid look over to find the Night Fury there, watching them through the glass. He's sitting on the fire escape and looks very much like a cat expecting to be let in.

Finally seen, he yowls, wondering what's taking them so long. Hiccup has known all along that he's there, why is he making him wait?

"Oh, the neighbors are going to love this." Astrid groans, cringing at the sound. Snotlout covers his ears.

"Oh, I'm sure they will, which is why I'm dropping off my uniform and going back downstairs to meet him. I'll fly him back to the sanctuary and spent the night at my mom's because I'm-"

"Dead tired from all the work you've done? With a prosthetic?" Astrid cuts him off as she finishes his sentence for him. It's not like she thinks he can't do the same work someone else can, but Hiccup's reality is that standing on his feet all day will make him more exhausted than it would make an abled person. Astrid is aware of this, she just wishes Hiccup would be a little more self-aware from time to time.

Mouth still open, Hiccup stares at her for a moment.

"Uh, yeah, that. But anyway, I'll let you know in the morning if I'll be back tomorrow or Sunday evening." He lets her and Snotlout know before heading over to the bedroom he shares with Astrid.

He's been holding the uniform in his hands. It consists of a dark brown apron and a little hat that feels like paper, though they're all pretty sure it's not made out of paper. He hangs them both up on the coatrack hanging from their bedroom door.

When he comes back into the living room, Astrid is standing before him again.

"Okay, but I doubt he brought a saddle, so will you at least be careful?" She asks of him, still exasperated, but him spending time with Toothless is far better than the alternative, which is the middle-aged man seemingly clinging to a young adult. A young adult who isn't quite 20 yet, no less.

"Of course, Milady, when am I not?" Hiccup asks her with a smile, feeling like they are on slightly better terms now. He'll make it up to her somehow, he doesn't want her feeling like she comes second to some guy he's only known for a few weeks.

Sighing deeply, Astrid comes over and plants her lips on his for a kiss. They don't have any space in their home for a dragon as big as a Night Fury. So, unfortunately, she has no other choice but to let him go. Hiccup returns it wholeheartedly, heart skipping a beat in joy. When does she not make him happy?

When they pull away, Astrid pulls on his hoodie, straightening it out.

"Are you sure that's warm enough for the trip?" She asks him, knowing he gets cold easily. He's about the only person she knows who can still wear long sleeves in the summer. The amount of layers this man needs to get through the colder months is insane.

"I think I'll manage."

"That's not a good answer, Haddock, and you know that."

Snotlout groans in the background at seeing the affection, head rolling back, but they mostly ignore him. So he groans louder on purpose.

"How can I stand living with you two?" He questions when they look over, neither too happy with his interruption.

Toothless yowls again outside and someone shouts at "the big cat" to be quiet.

"Geez, impatient much?" Hiccup mutters under his breath and gestures to his dragon to get down from the fire escape. He should get going before Toothless gets them all kicked out of here.

"Again, be careful. And oh, don't forget to call when you arrive and tell your mom we said "hi"." Astrid quickly says as Hiccup heads for the door.

"I will! I'll see you guys later, Snotlout, Milady." At that last one, he shoots Astrid a quick smile.

Snotlout lets his head roll back again and-

"If you groan one more time, it's off to bed with you."

It takes a quick ride on the elevator down, but Hiccup is outside soon enough. It's summer and that means the air is cooler then it is during the day, but not quite cool enough. Even so, Hiccup pulls on his hoodie to cover as much of his collarbone and neck as it can before he looks up towards the top of the building.

"Bud?!" He calls out excitedly, expecting to be tackled by a dragon much bigger and much heavier than him in the next few seconds. He's bracing himself, it could come from any direction...

But instead, there is no response.

Strange.

"Bud!" Hiccup calls out again, didn't he hear him the first time? Dragons of his kind usually have a good hearing. Or he ignoring his calls? Making him wait because it's been so long since he's come by for a visit? He hates admitting it, but work has been kicking his ass. It's hard to do anything on most days and even during most weekends he finds himself in need of the mere two days of rest he can get.

"It's because you haven't worked a day in your life, son, you'll get used to it." Hiccup can hear his father say in his head and he can still feel the need to roll his eyes. He's worked! At the sanctuary and only what he was allowed to do, but he's done stuff before!

"Toothless?!" Moving from the sidewalk to between two parked cars to hopefully get a better view of the roof, Hiccup tries again, but gets no answer this time either. He was hoping to at least see some earfins pop up by now.

"Really, Toothless? Is this the time to play hide and seek?" Hiccup mutters to himself. He knows his dragon misses him terribly when they're not together, he misses him, too, but now's not the time. He's tired and he would like to fly back to the sanctuary already.

Checking the road behind him and finding the street empty for the moment, Hiccup cautiously takes another step or two back. In this part of the city, people usually don't drive as fast as they can in the busier parts. And at this hour, not too many cars come by either.

"Toothless, seriously?!" He calls up again, keeping a careful eye and ear out on either side of him. Don't tell him he's stuck on the fire escape again.

"Are you stuck?! Do I need to come get you?!" Hiccup asks, never losing sight of the street he's on. It's still quiet so far, no approaching lights, no roaring engines.

Finally, Toothless calls back to him and the call sounds far, so he must still be in the fire escape after all. Sighing, Hiccup figures he may as well look.

It's at that moment, probably by pure dumb luck, that a dark car with no plates and tinted windows comes speeding from around the corner.

Driving at speeds way, way above the limit, the car can't possibly be avoided. Hiccup sees it coming, has only seconds to stare into the blinding headlights as they come too fast, and there's nothing he can do but get hit.

The front of the vehicle hits his right side with full force first and he ends up on the hood for a brief moment. It all happens so fast, before long he rolls onto the pavement and is left to lie there on the ground. The collision broke some of his ribs, hurt his hip, dislocated his bad knee, bruised his wrists, scraped him all over, and he'll be a lucky man if that is all a hit from such speeds leaves him with.

Body hurting and unable to move, all Hiccup can do is groan. He can't get up like this. Who and why would just run him over like this? His head hurts, he must've knocked it on the ground.

After the hit, the car screeches to a halt and a man steps out. When he comes over, Hiccup can't see who it is, can barely turn his head to the approaching footsteps. When he tries, another pained groan leaves him. He can taste the metallic tang of blood on his tongue.

Everything is too much for his aching head, too much to process. He's on the verge of passing out, it's becoming black before his eyes.

The man who mowed him down stands over him. Hiccup can't see his face, but if he could, he'd see the satisfied look of another job well done. He's grabbed by his arms and pulled towards the car. Hiccup cringes at the unnecessary additional abuse his body must endure.

"W-wait... What're you... Why?" He can't struggle against him, can't keep the man from dragging him towards the car, it's taking him everything not to pass out.

When they reach the car, the trunk is opened and Hiccup is picked up and unceremoniously dropped inside. His body is in agony and he would've shouted if his ribs allowed it, but his apparent kidnapper doesn't seem to care much. If anything, he huffs and the trunk closes, bathing Hiccup in darkness.

What just happened to him? For whatever reason, whether it be the shock or the pain, he still can't move.

While this is happening, Toothless is, indeed, stuck. A fire escape isn't meant for dragons, let alone a dragon his size, nothing in a city is. This is a place for humans, which is why he thought to drag Hiccup back home himself. He wasn't coming of his own volition, so Toothless had to come and see what was taking him so long. But when he gets up to meet with his friend, he finds his tail to be stuck in the railing.

It's a hindrance and it's more annoying than a real problem. He can solve this without needing Hiccup's help, he just needs to be careful not to damage the replacement tailfin he so carefully crafted for him.

Murring impatiently as he tries to find the right angle to do this from, Astrid and Snotlout are watching him from the window, both concerned. From the corner of his eyes, he can see Astrid mouth something and she's gesturing in a way that's supposed to be helping him, but he doesn't quite get it. He's only half-looking, too.

On the other side of the building, Hiccup is calling for him and Toothless calls back once to tell him he's still coming. He just needs to be a little more patient and then he'll be there.

But then he hears a screeching that sounds like a noise one of those large metal contraptions the humans ride on would make. It's an awful sound to his ears, but not as alarming as the noise of a heavy thing hitting something not even a quarter of that thing's weight. And all of that is followed by a noise of pain Toothless is all too familiar with.

Was that Hiccup? Is someone hurting him?

Toothless knows that he needs to see what's happening and he all but tears himself free, the carefully refined leather hooking onto something metal sticking out and ripping. He hurries up the rest of the fire escape up on the roof, climbing the outside expertly like only a cat of his size and strength can, he'll be able to see more from there.

A disability has only affected his speed and agility so much, Hiccup can largely be thanked for that. As someone who is missing a leg, he knows a thing or two about loss. He reaches the roof quickly and he thinks to check the front of the building first, where the noises came from. What he sees confuses him, however.

There's a human male taking his friend and putting him in the back of that metal deathtrap.

His knowledge of humans and their strange behaviors only goes so far and he doesn't know what the intention here is, just that he doesn't like it. This screams "bad" to him and he growls in anger, claws scraping on the bricked walls. Someone is taking his rider away.

The male then gets into the "car", as they're called, and he can hear it revving to life. That's when Toothless knows it's now or never.

He's a Night Fury, leaping off tall things isn't anything new to him, so he takes a chance. He doesn't yet realize that his prosthetic tailfin is torn and that it will hinder him greatly in his pursuit. He wants to land on the vehicle itself, scare the driver, rip him out, and then get Hiccup out. His mate and that small friend of his are in their communal den. If he's loud enough, he can get them to come down and see. In the meantime, he can make sure the bigger male can't touch the car again and that he's too incapacitated to get away, too.

That's the plan, thought up in a matter of a second or two and he commits to it, he takes the leap. Except with a rip in his tailfin and the car moving away at the same time, all Toothless manages to do is scratch up the back and take the rear bumper right off.

Inside the trunk, Hiccup is almost startled to full alertness with his dragon's claws scraping above him and taking a part of the vehicle with him. There's a man's muffled cursing and what a mouth he has on him.

It takes Toothless a second too long to realize that he's holding just a piece of the car instead of the whole thing.

Did he just fail? A Night Fury isn't supposed to fail, if anything, they're supposed to be the pride of dragons! And he just failed his human?

He looks behind him, sees the tear in the cloth Hiccup made for him. He's lost his advantage and now he can't fly after the car either! He wished he'd jumped on time instead of too late, wished he'd thought to jump in front of it, too! If he'd just aimed right, he would've landed on the car instead of just snatching the rear bumper.

All that's left for him now is to chase. He's still plenty fast on the ground, he can leap, he'll find some other way to stop the damn thing. A plasma blast will land him in serious trouble, but that's not even high on the number of things he's willing to do to get Hiccup back.

They're not far, he can still see them.

But then another car comes from around the corner. They aren't driving particularly fast, but finding a dragon in your path is a startling thing and Toothless is startled in return. They almost block his path, nearly driving into the car parked nearby. Then a second comes and a third and they all screech to a halt, honking and yelling in surprise. They do nothing but hinder him in a city that's already too loud and unwelcoming and chaotic for a dragon.

Toothless has to evade them, doing whatever he can to just not get accidentally hit as he chases after his friend. He jumps onto a parked car, trying to spot the one that took Hiccup.

It's nowhere to be found.

Hiccup can hear it as he slips away, the miserable cries of a dragon in distress with cars honking in the distance, both deafeningly loud.

"I'm here, Bud, I'm... I'm here..." His words of reassurance fade as he falls unconscious, losing the fight to stay awake.

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

Pain. That's what Hiccup wakes up to hours later. An immeasurable amount of pain and the inability to breathe properly as his ribs are keeping him from it.

He groans miserably, feeling awful after someone came speeding down a relatively calm street to run him over. His head is a little slow in catching up on the events that landed him in this situation, but his body has a great memory. He hurts so much, there isn't a part of him that isn't in agony.

There are voices and an unfamiliar hand lays itself on his forehead. Is he in the hospital? Is there are a doctor or a nurse checking up on him? Oh, can they please give him something for the pain? He woke up only moments ago and he wants so desperately for it to end.

"You wanted him, now here he is." One of the voices breaks through the haze in his mind, the first words he's managing to register so far. Why does his head pound? Why is everything pounding?

He remembers headlights.

"And you felt like you had to run him over, did you?" Run over who? Can either of these two give him something to kill the pain? Or an explanation would be nice, too.

He groans louder, hoping to ask for help, but no coherent words leave him. That hand is in his hair now. Care is nice and all, but it would be much nicer if they could pick up on what he's trying to beg for here.

"You could've killed him on the spot! He might even still succumb to his injuries." No wait, that voice is familiar to him. The other one he doesn't recognize, but this one rings a vague bell. Hiccup has to open his eyes and take a look.

"Don't get my hopes up."

There are two men that he can see through a blurred vision and a dim light that's still a nightmare on his headache. He can't recognize one of them.

The other one, however...

"V...Vi... ggo?" Hiccup asks, voice hoarse. It's the first word that he manages to croak out. What's he doing in the hospital with him? Now that he thinks of it, where is Astrid? Snotlout? He can't remember if Fishlegs and the twins were home.

An image of Toothless flashes before his mind. He was there, wasn't he? Where is he now?

"you're awake, good, I was starting to worry," Viggo tells him, looking down at him with a look that isn't quite as caring as those words would suggest.

Hiccup blinks slowly in surprise.

"Where... What are you doing here? Where am I? Toothless is... What happened?" The questions are slow to leave him, but he's starting to catch up a little. He's not quite as awake as he needs to be yet. Why is this room so dim? Aren't hospital lights usually so annoyingly bright?

He wants to sit up or readjust somehow, feeling too uncomfortable with everything his body is going through. But though he tries, he only ends up worsening the pain in his right side tremendously. Whatever little progress he may have made is undone when he's forced to lie down again. His left knee hurts, did he dislocate it again?

This bed is so uncomfortable and lumpy, is this mattress even from this century anymore?

But the pain wakes him up at least and he can grasp the sort of troubling situation he's suddenly in a little more now.

This isn't the hospital.

He doesn't know what room he's in, but he can see that the little light bulb on the ceiling is bare and the only light source in this place, that the walls are brick, and the floor is made of concrete. If it weren't for the lack of storage space, he'd think that this is a basement, but that couldn't be it, right? He can't just be in someone's basement! He notices there's a ridiculously tiny bathroom off to the side, which at least looks clean.

What Hiccup's lying on is, indeed, a bed and his painful wrists are cuffed to the sides. If he wants to pull at them, he can try once or twice, but after that, they won't allow any more attempts.

Realization comes and panic sets in.

He's been kidnapped.

"Wh-what... What?!" He can't comprehend it, his thoughts and heart racing and struggling to keep up. Hyperventilating and very quickly unable to breathe at all, the rapid pace cannot mix with his broken ribs.

Did Viggo do this to him? Why would he do something like this?! Why would he hit him with a car and take him from his home?!

"Hiccup, calm yourself!" Viggo takes his shoulders and, honestly, how can he expect Hiccup not to freak out when he's been kidnapped?!

Oh Gods, Astrid was right. She was right, Viggo was bad from the start. And he's the idiot who walked right into another trap. Why does he keep getting himself into trouble like this?

Oh no, and what of his Bud? He definitely remembers his dragon being there when he was taken, what happened to him? What could've possibly happened to him?

"No... No! T-Tooth... Tooth?!" He doesn't have the air to ask, his lungs and his ribs in a fierce battle for whose needs need to be met first. They both burn.

"Hiccup, I implore you to calm!" Despite Viggo's best attempts, Hiccup doesn't listen to him, too much in a panic. If this goes on, he'll lose him before he can even start molding him to his perfect partner.

"That's never going to work, Viggo. You know there's only one solution to this." The other man, the stranger, states as he pushes him aside. A soaked cloth is pressed to Hiccup's nose and mouth, the sedative wetting it is breathed in immediately with his fast breathing and it takes its hold just as fast.

A different kind of haze settles in his mind, he's feeling woozy. It works quicker than he can realize he's being knocked out. He's going under, his breathing evening out, and his last thoughts wonders about his friends.

[soundofseventeen]

Hotels (Joshua Hong)

Lol I went cliche with this one. Have a nice day!! 💛💚

Requested by @laughinglikenialler​

2: “Stay here tonight.”

62: “Do you have a ride home?”

You and Joshua stared at the bed, neither of you believing you were in such a cliche situation. 

You had been heading to a cottage for a weekend away with friends. It was going to be a fun weekend, just everyone hanging out and making s’mores and telling stories and just relaxing after crazy work schedules. You were supposed to head up this morning with everyone, but then you got called into work by your pregnant coworker (who suddenly went into labor, you really couldn’t say no). Luckily for you, Joshua was already heading up later anyway, so he just waited for you to get done so you could at least go up together. Unluckily for you, he was the one friend you had that you might have had a big fat crush on. 

It started out okay, the drive itself not being bad. You were able to get through it by telling yourself that it was only the drive you had to be alone with him, once you got to the cottage you would be surrounded by other people and it would be more relaxing. The drive was mostly Joshua telling dumb jokes and you telling him he was ridiculous for finding that funny. You almost felt like there was this flirting tension in the car, but you just shook it off. 

Then it started to rain. Like really rain. Rain so much you couldn’t see in front of the car. Even with the headlights on, Joshua was still driving extremely slowly and focusing so hard on the road. Eventually he pulled over, looking on his phone of how much farther you two had to go. 

You let out a groan when he said it would still be another hour until you got the cottage. You had reminded him that that would have been in good weather, you both sighing. He continued to look at the map on his phone, sighing to himself. 

“There’s a hotel up the road here. We could just stop there until the rain stops?” He offered, looking at you. You showed him your phone, having pulled up the weather app. 

“We might have to get rooms. The storm is supposed to go until like 3am.” You sighed, Joshua taking a deep breath. 

“I think it’s our best shot right now.” He said, you nodding. He then began the drive to the hotel, which would have normally taken 5 minutes to get to, having taken a solid 15. Once you got there, Joshua ran in to see if there were rooms available, leaving you in the running car. He came back a few minutes later, shaking his hair when he got back in the car. 

“I knew I should have brought an umbrella.” He laughed, you shaking your head. “Good news, apparently there’s a wedding here this weekend but they managed to have one room left.” He smiled, holding up the key. 

“One room?” You said, looking at the roomkey. 

“Yeah, we gotta share, but I figure we can each take a bed.” He shrugged, you feeling relieved. Most rooms did have 2 beds in them, so you felt ridiculous for panicking. 

Until you managed to get to the room. And there was in fact only one bed. 

“...The clerk may have said it could fit two people…” Joshua said, looking at you. “I didn’t realize they meant only two people.” 

“Looks like it.” You said, staring at the bed. 

“Look, okay. You stay here tonight. I’ll sleep in the car or something-”

“Joshua, that’s ridiculous. You don’t have to sleep in the car.” You said, looking at him. Joshua let out a sigh, looking around the room. 

“Okay, then how about the chair?” He pointed, you rolling your eyes. 

“Joshua, you’re never going to fall asleep on that. We can just…” You both looked back at the bed, slightly concerned. “...share.” 

“If you say so…” Joshua said, setting down his bag. You set yours down as well, looking around. 

“I uh… I’m going to take a shower quick. Get cleaned off, you know.” You said, pointing at the bathroom. Joshua nodded, going to sit on the chair. 

“I’ll call the guys and let them know we won’t be there until tomorrow.” He said, holding up his phone. You both nodded at each other, then went your ways. 

As soon as you shut the bathroom door, you silently screamed to yourself. How was this happening? This only happened in cheesy movies! You were cursing the universe for doing this to you. After a minute of silently yelling and cursing, you realized you probably should shower, otherwise he would think you were hiding from him. So you continued to curse as you turned on the shower, happy to feel the warm water versus the freezing water outside. 

After you got out, Joshua went in, considering he got wet a bit more than you did. You didn’t know what to do while he showered, so you stared at the bed a bit trying to decide which side to pick. Eventually you decided you were being crazy, picking a side and settling in. You managed to sit as far to the edge as you could, looking around. It was a decently sized bed, so you two could probably share without anything awkward happening. You picked up your phone, checking any messages. You sighed as you saw one from your friend. 

OHMYGOD. You are not stuck in a hotel room with him right now. :O MAKE A MOVE

You quickly texted back telling them to shut up when Joshua came out, setting his wet clothes on the chair to dry. You quickly looked down to stop from staring. You weren’t used to seeing him so casual. 

“So… We should probably go to sleep, huh?” Joshua said, looking at you. “It might be best to get up early tomorrow so we can get to the cottage.” 

“Yeah, yeah we should.” You said, Joshua looking at the bed for a second longer before slightly shaking his head, getting in on the other side. 

“Uh… Good night.” He said, you muttering the same back as he turned out the light, you both falling back onto the bed as far apart from each other as you could. 

You laid there for what felt like hours. You felt this weird tension, granted that was probably from the fact that you were currently sharing a bed with the boy you were practically in love with. Your mind was racing, occasionally glancing at the clock. Only about a half hour had gone by, but you wished with everything it was morning. 

“Y/N…” You eventually heard, turning your head slightly. 

“Yeah?” 

“Can’t sleep either?” He asked, you humming in response. “Maybe it’s the rain. It’s still pretty loud.” Joshua commented, you sighing. Of course it was just the rain for him. 

“Must be.” You said, staring at the ceiling. 

“...So do you have a ride home on Sunday?” He asked, you blinking a bit. 

“I was just going to ride with my friend. I was supposed to come up with them.” You replied, Joshua nodding. 

“Oh okay.” 

“Why do you ask?” 

“No reason. I just don’t have someone to drive home with so…” 

“Do you want me to come back with you?” You asked, a little hopeful that maybe he actually wanted to spend time with you. 

“Ah, you don’t have to.” He said, and you saw the shadow of a hand wave in the air. “You can go back with the others. Probably more fun of a ride.” 

“I don’t know, the car ride was pretty fun.” You admitted, Joshua’s eyebrows raising. “You know, up until the storm hit.” You smiled as Joshua let out a laugh. 

“Yeah, the storm kind of put a damper on the weekend.” He said, you sighing. “You sound tired. We should get some sleep.” He said, you nodding. 

“Yeah. Night.” You said, rolling over on your side a bit. 

Thankfully, you had managed to fall asleep eventually. You did wake up once in the night though. 

You blinked a bit, the room still very dark. It was still the middle of the night, but the rain had finally stopped. It was very quiet in the room aside from the sound of Joshua’s even breathing. In fact, his breathing was louder than you thought it would be from the other side of the bed. You debated getting up to check the actual time but you were so warm and comfortable… 

...Your eyes shot open as you felt an arm slightly tighten around you. You slowly looked up, causing your breath to catch in your throat. Somehow, you and Joshua had moved closer together in the night, now facing each other. You were curled up into his chest, one of his arms under his head while the other was over you. His eyes were still shut and his breathing was still even. He was still asleep. 

You debated what you should do. Should you move back to your side of the bed? Should you wake him up? Should you just fall asleep and pretend you didn’t wake up? What would Joshua do if he woke up and saw this? 

Your body decided to make the decision for you, eyes slowly shutting as you started to fall asleep again, nuzzling a little bit. At your movement, Joshua shifted, his eyes opening a bit. He blinked a few times, looking at the clock behind him. He then went back to his original position, freezing as he saw you curled up by him. After a few seconds, he smiled to himself, putting his arm back over you and hugging you a bit, letting his eyes close again.

[rhetoricalrogue]

Wayhaven Week, Day 5

Prompt: Guilt/Forgiveness Pairing: Adam du Mortain + Zoe Dawson friendship, mentioned Zoe/Mason Warnings: PG-13ish cussing from Zoe, Adam being smug Words: 1,028 Summary: “Where else would I be? The beer is free and I like your company.”

“Eight ball, corner pocket.”

Zoe leaned against her pool cue and shook her head. “No way you’re going to make that shot.”

Adam studied the table before drawing back on his cue. Zoe watched as the cue ball hopped over one of her balls without touching it, hit a railing, then another railing before curving around another ball and finally knocking the eight ball into the called pocket.  “You were saying?” His eyes triumphantly flashed, bright and green, in the yellowed light from the stained glass shade over the pool table.

She grumbled and took another swig of beer. “That, right there, was some supernatural vampire cheating shit.”

He gave a cocky little smirk at her before rounding the table to rack up the rest of the balls. “And you, Detective, are a sore loser.”

“What did I say about the hours of five-oh-one in the evening and seven fifty-nine in the morning? We’re both off the clock, I’m losing my shirt, and you’re being an insufferably smug bastard; at least call me by my first name, Adam.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Alright, Zoe. Are you up for another game?”

“Sure. I almost won that last one, my luck may turn tonight.”

“I’m surprised that you’re actually here,” he commented, stepping aside so she could break.

“Where else would I be? It’s a Saturday night, we’re both off duty, and the beer is free.”

He shrugged. “I’m just surprised that you and Mason aren’t together.”

Zoe pulled back on the cue, watching as several striped balls fell into holes.  “And deprive you of my magnificent company?  Adam, I’m many things, but I’m not cruel.”

He snorted. “Ever the humble one.  It’s just that the two of you have been spending most of your free time together, I was surprised to find you here by yourself.”

She rolled her eyes. “He’s not glued to my hip. He’s a big boy who can handle going on his patrol shift without me.”  She stretched out over the table to shoot another striped ball.  “And before you start fishing for information, we’re just friends.”

“You and I are just friends. You and Mason…”

“Okay, so we’re friends with benefits.” She grinned. “Very good benefits.”

He made a face. “I don’t need details.”

“You sure? Because I can totally elaborate.”

“Zoe…”

She winced as she missed her shot. “Okay, okay. I’m just yanking your chain. I don’t kiss and tell.”

Adam chalked up his cue and surveyed the table. “At least that’s one of you.  He doesn’t give details, but Mason is giving Nate fits with all the veiled euphemisms and innuendo.”

“It wouldn’t be Mason otherwise, would it?” Zoe groaned as it was obvious that Adam had taken over the table.  Going over to the mini-fridge, she popped open another bottle of beer.  “You want to make this a little more interesting?”

“Oh? What are you thinking?”

She pulled out her wallet from her jacket she’d thrown onto one of the sofas and slapped down a five dollar bill. “Care to make a wager on the next game?”

He gave her a dubious look. “Are you sure? I mean, you’re already losing pretty spectacularly, I’d hate to steal your money while I’m at it.”

“Oh really? Trash talk all you want, but put your money where your mouth is.”  She smirked. “Unless you’re all talk and no action.”

He frowned, but reached in his back pocket for his wallet. “Only five?”

“Hey, when I gamble, I gamble smart. Grab yourself another drink, I’ll rack the table.”

--

“You, madam,” Adam said, watching as Zoe sank the eight ball into the pocket she had called for the fifth time in a row, “are a damned pool shark.”

She laughed. “And you, sir, are a sore loser.  Pay up.”

Adam grumbled, but fished out his last bill from his wallet.  “How long were you planning this?”

She made a noncommittal noise. “Probably after I threw the second game of the night.”

“You planned this all night?”

“What can I say; I play a long game.”

He grumbled as he put his cue back with more force than was necessary. Zoe was surprised it didn’t crack in two. “Well, at least you didn’t cheat while you were playing,” he conceded. “And you did manage to pull one over on me, which proves that you’re good at manipulating and hiding your motives from supernatural beings.”

“Or I just happened to beat your ass from here to Sunday.”

“And just who was calling whom insufferable and smug earlier?”

She gave him a toothy smile. “Hey, I call ‘em like I see ‘em.”  She stretched and looked at the clock. “It’s still early. You want to hit the town, see if we can team up to recoup your losses from some of the easier marks of Wayhaven?”

Adam looked at her dubiously. “You make conning people out of their money a habit of yours?”

“Hey, it’s how I earned my drinking money back in my college days.  If we get to the Rust Bucket early enough, we can probably still catch Happy Hour.”  She waved the stack of bills she had just taken off Adam. “So I don’t feel as guilty about beating you as badly as I did, I’ll pick up your cover charge.”

He rolled his eyes. “Pay for my cover charge and my drinks and I just might forgive you. I’m drinking the good stuff, not the boxed wine your bartender friend has stocked up.”

“Jesus, you’re an expensive date.  Wanna throw in a steak dinner while you’re at it?”

He shook his head as he threw her jacket to her.  “You didn’t win that much money off me.  Come on, we’ll take one of the Agency cars. I’ve had enough gambling with my life for one evening to risk driving around in your car at night.” His lips curved upwards as Zoe reflexively punched him in the arm while defending her beaten up car.

Theirs was a strange friendship, but he was grateful for it nonetheless.  Now all he had to do was try to win his money back once they got to the bar.  

[imnotwolverine]

Ready, set, …

Henry Cavill x OC Lisa - multi-chapter fic

Author’s note: Set life has its quirks and challenges. A fluffy, smutty Henry fanfiction to get you through the week. Bedroom fun found at the end. Ps. I should start thinking of a name for this series, any good suggestions?

Word count: 5.832

Disclaimer: smut and fluff

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This is part 3 of the Tea for Two story. 

Find the masterlist here.

---

< Back to part 2

An early alarm clock went. 5 am. I heard Henry groan as he rubbed his eyes. ‘Fuck.’ He moped softly, pushing himself off the bed and silencing the alarm. I looked at his naked, muscular, slightly hairy form, grasping for clothes. Kal got up yawning and stretching in turn. The morning ritual. I looked at Henry sleepily. ‘Early shoot?’ I whispered. He rumbled. ‘They changed lines. I forgot that meant an early day.’ He sat on the edge of the bed, wiping some hair from my face. ‘Hello princess.’ He said softly. ‘Well, you go do your Witchy things then. I’ll see you soon.’ I rumbled. He smiled, bending over to kiss me. ‘And we might need some new condoms at your place…just in case.’ He nodded at the dusty pack of condoms that lay discarded on the night stand. I chuckled as he kissed me more deeply. Tongues fighting. He moved on top of me, his weight pressing me down. ‘Mmpff.’ He huffed in frustration. ‘Alright.’ He sighed and nodded while unwillingly getting up. ‘Time to go. Come on Kal. See you dear.’ He blew a kiss and left. Moments later I heard the door closing behind him softly.

The first few days flew by. It was less erratic at work. Much more hectic personally. Somehow press really got air of something happening. We saw tele lenses sticking out of bushes, the odd journalist jumping us when we were drinking tea outside of the warehouses in a short break. ’Mr. Cavill. Who’s this? Are you dating?’ The loud shrieky voice sounded in my neck. I had difficulty not showing utter disgust when a camera was pushed in our faces. ‘Good sir,’ Henry said, getting up, placing his hand on the journalists chest. ‘This is private property. I must ask you to leave and request permission to shoot at the Chamber of MM Media.’ ‘But are you dating?! Mr Cavill?!’ The journalist continued, while one of the security men came strolling in, grasping the man by his shirt and pulling him away. ‘How do you stay so calm?’ I grinned, taking my last sip of tea, watching Henry sitting back down. People around us didn’t even seem very impressed, already having continued with their activities. ‘It gets easier.’ He gave me a sweet smile, which truly was creepy when he was in full costume. ‘What’s the planning for the rest of your week?’ He asked, fetching his phone from his pocket. It was Wednesday. ‘Free Friday afternoon, shopping materials for Poland on Saturday, which we’ll probably discuss on Sunday, then free again on Monday.’ He scrolled through his agenda. I took the hint and grabbed my phone as well, moving it around on the table so he could see my schedule. He grinned, looking up at me. ‘Let me get to the wardrobe department and see if we can get you off the hook on Sunday. I want to take you out for a trip.’ I raised my eyebrow. “CAST CALL, RUN THROUGH IN 5, HALL 2.4..” He looked up, then quickly returned my phone. ‘Would you like that?’ ‘Yea. Sure.’ I said, not quite sure what trip meant in this case. I shrugged as he gave me a quick peck on the lips and rushed off to hall 2.

It sure was magical, how quickly he could fix such things. Within the hour, my manager dropped by to tell me I could take the Sunday off - which usually was out of the question. I looked at her in surprise. She shrugged. ‘Orders from above.’ I squinted my eyes in disbelief. Above? But there we go. It soon was Saturday and I was in the minivan with the department, getting back from a successful shopping trip. Everyone made sure to quickly move all materials to the shipping boxes, ready to go to Poland, snipping off little bits to use for the mood-boards. After that I walked to the hall where they were shooting the last few scenes. I sat down in a director’s chair and sipped on some green tea, looking at the hustle and bustle.

Anya plopped down in the chair next to me. ‘His kisses are different now.’ She said abruptly. I looked up, raising my eyebrows. She smiled an endearing smile, then studied me for a bit. ‘Had a good shoot day?’ I asked. She shrugged. ’Twas okey. Yours?’ ‘Got some pretty materials for your future dresses actually’ ‘Mmm! Cool. Hey, but about those kisses. I think he really, really likes you. He seems different..’ He cocked her pretty head, pouting in thought. ‘Really…’ I smiled, then looked at my cup of tea. ‘So are you joining him to the premiere?’ She asked in girlish curiosity. ‘The premiere? Oh, no. I’ll let you have the honours. Don’t want to have fans going wild over some casual girl on his arm.’ She squinted at me. ‘They first thought I was the worst choice EVER for Yennefer. Now they make fan porn of me. Fans are so weird.’ She shrugged giddily. ‘I’ll let them have the illusion of Hollywood for a moment longer.’ I winked. She laid her hand over mine. ‘He accidentally grunted your name when we shot a make out scene.’ We both snickered. ‘This conversation is so weird.’ I said, laughing at her. She shrugged. ‘Actors life.’

Not much later the last scene was cut and a flurry of set members once again flew out. Anya plopped out her chair, wrapping her arms around a tall man with full sleeve arm tattoos. She kissed him with childish excitement. Without looking back they walked out together, in full conversation. ‘Ready?’ I shot up in shock from his voice. He had sneaked up behind me and was standing there with his coat flung over his shoulder. He had already changed into his regular attire. ‘Ooph.’ I laughed. ‘You are quiet as a mouse.’ I wiggled out of the chair and smiled at him. He pecked me on the lips before holding out his arm, inviting me to take it. We walked out to his car as it was just getting dark. 8.30 pm. ‘Now for our trip. I’m invited by my horse riding trainer to a farm, just squeezing in a few hours in the saddle before Poland. I figured it’d be a nice outing.’ I looked at him. ‘Horse riding?’ ‘Like all fair knights do!’ He grinned. ‘Alright. Fair prince.’ I slithered. ‘Let’s fetch stuff at our houses, walk Kal, then drive there.’ ‘This evening still?’ ‘Yep, might as well get the drive over with. Can you drive?’ ‘Yea, want to switch?’ ‘No no. Just. Curious. Shift?’ ‘Of course. European remember?’ He snickered. ‘Americans ARE lazy.’

We had some quick food, fetched our things, walked Kal, then jumped into the car to drive north. It was deep in the night when we arrived. About 1-ish. And there was nothing around except for this romantically lit farm house with some barns. We jumped out and walked up to the house, some dogs greeting us with loud barks, tails wagging. A man came out in his night shift. ‘Ey ey. Easy boys…. Mr Cavill!’ A gruff, smoke-heavy voice sounded. ‘Mr. Games!’ The men greeted with loud pats on each others backs. ‘And ye brought a sweet thing with you.’ Henry moved aside, smiling at me. ‘Lisa. And careful. She can be feisty.’ Mr Games rumbled a loud laugh and hugged me tight. ’Welcome dear. Ai that wonderful smell about you. Honeysuckle?’ I looked at him in disbelief. ‘Actually yes. I don’t like perfume’s sold on the market so I wear..honeysuckle.’ ‘Such fine smell.’ He folded his arm around my back and guided us to the main house. ‘I got ye a nice little bed made. And ye know where everythin’ is. Make yourself at home. Me wife already hit the hay, so I’ll  join ‘er if ye don’t mind.’ He chuckled with insinuating tone. ‘Of course.’ Henry said, winking. Mr Games prodded him playfully. ‘HA HA HA.’ He laughed a little too loudly, then nodded at me, before holding the door open for me. We walked inside. It was dimly lit. A wooden structured house with heavy beams, the smell of hay and horses protruding from its very core. The furniture was old english style. ‘Yer room is upstairs, hallway, far left. Bathroom right across. Sleep tight good folk.’ He whistled and his dogs eagerly followed him up the stairs, his short stubby legs making the stair steps creak heavily.

Henry yawned. ’Night cap?’ I looked at him. ‘Sure, why not. We’re off for 2 days, gods be blessed!’ I exclaimed. ‘Are you religious by the way? I’ve never asked.’ ‘Nope. You?’ ‘No, raised Christian, but not following.’ He pulled open some cabinets in the kitchen and pulled out two small brandy glasses and a bottle of strong liquor. ‘He makes his own, so, fair warning: it is strong.’ He put the filled glasses on the table. ‘Do you believe in a God?’ I asked. He sat down opposite of me, looking out at the dark fields outside. ‘I think it would be practical if there were a God. But never have I seen or heard him. So no, not a believer.’ We clinked our glasses. ‘And when did you learn to ride horses?’ ‘At my parents actually. We grew up on the Jersey Islands and our neighbours kept two ponies. Darling horses, but also so darn stubborn.’ He grinned. ‘Could you tell me about your sweetest memory of your youth, living there?’ I asked. He rolled around the drink in his glass, thinking. And so we talked for another hour or so. Eventually so tired, all we wanted to do was sleep.

It was around 10 when we woke up. And made love, as morning Henry so enjoys doing. I felt my innards burning from his pounding, laying on my back heaving heavily. ‘Goodness me.’ I laughed as he rolled over and supported his head, letting a finger travel over my body. He was panting slightly. I finally opened my eyes, seeing he was looking a bit pained. I reached out to him. ‘Hi.’ I said. ‘Hey.’ He returned, his eyes twitching between loving and regretful. I looked down at his glorious body, noticing something… missing. ‘C…ondom?’ His face broke in agony, his gaze looking at something on the bed table. ‘It broke.’ ‘Wow..you..’ I got up in shock, looking at rubber, then at him. ‘Do we need to get you a morning after pill?’ He said meekly. ‘Hopefully not, I am pretty steadfast with the pill.’ I looked at him in disbelief. He sighed, ashamed. ‘I’m so sorry.’ I let out a breath I was holding. ‘Oh I’m so glad I use the pill. Please tell me next time. Oh my..this could have gone wrong.’ He sat up, looking apologetically at me. ‘I’m so sorry.’ ‘It’s okey. I just..didn’t notice.’ I sighed, then looked at him lovingly. ‘It should be alright.’ I continued, cupping his cheek. He smiled weakly, then pulled me close. ‘Ohhh. I’m such a fool!’ He said melodramatically. I snickered as I pulled his heavy body on top of me, hugging intently.  

The day was filled with horses. Saddling horses, walking with horses, riding horses, combing horses, haying horses, moving horses from field to field. Henry clearly got the knack for it, gently and without force leading the horses around. ‘It’s all in the hips and eye contact.’ He said, leading a mare ahead, with a few horses following. It was just the two of us, as Mr. Games was drying off some horses at the stables. The day was running late and food smells were flowing out of the kitchen. ‘Mares love good hips huh?’ I joked, earning a cocky smile from him. ‘Well all joking aside, my hips are …sore.’ I said, somewhat surprised by that. He laughed at me sweetly. ‘Then let us rest.’ He said. ‘I thought you’d never say it.’ I grinned with a mocking tone. He raised an eyebrow at me, smirking.

The days flew by and before we knew it we were driving back to the Hollywood Hills. The return of bright lights, stressed out honking cars and general mess that was the city, I couldn’t help but sigh. I loved my work, my friends, the closeness of everything you need, but there sure were downsides to living in the city. He squeezed my leg while he drove south to drop me off at home. Our goodbye was sweet and relaxed. It had been good to be with each other for longer then just a few minutes. The eraticness was gone and had made place for trust and comfort. We kissed a long while in front of my door, Kal waiting impatiently to go in like he usually would. But this time we really said goodbye at the door. I stood and watched while Henry made his way down the stairs, Kal following with wagging tail. Down the stairs he turned around to look up, waving at me one last time before disappearing. We were getting better at it, I smiled, walking inside of my dark apartment. I didn’t even bother turning on lights, just dropping my stuff, brushing my teeth and heading for bed. It would be another busy week. And, the last week here in the US, which made shooting all the more crazy.

—

I was exhausted by the time it was Saturday. I could sleep anywhere, anytime. And yet I had to pack my stuff for my flight tomorrow evening. It was only now I really started to miss Bib. Usually it would be a whole hustle to get my way too old cat in the plane, having to do all these health checks, her being completely paranoid for the rest of the day. No more of that. I plopped on my bed. It was 11.30pm. I opened my Whatsapp to check on any messages. No message from him yet. I sent him a kissing emoji, followed by a sleeping emoji. ‘Flying tomorrow. When do you get to Poland?’ I fell asleep and only woke up again when the alarm clock buzzed 8 hours later. I groaned. He had responded. ‘Sleep well dear. Probably arrive there on Wednesday evening if all goes well. Wish I could travel with you :) Safe travels and contact me when you arrived!’ Followed by a picture of all his stuff being packed. All the picture frames, dog toys, some workout gear, put into boxes. I snickered. I didn’t bring quite as much with me. Just clothes and a few books. I owned this home and kept all my valuables in a locked closet, then rented out the apartment to colleagues who worked here off and on as well. I had to miss my stuff for these months, but oh well.

We were flying. I was completely dazed, barely striking up conversation with colleagues flying with me. I was too darn tired and all I wanted was that day off after landing. If anything I realised full well I wouldn’t be able to keep up this lifestyle forever. It made good money, which I invested wisely just so in a few years I could settle down and pick a more quiet hobby-that-made-some-money and live off the earnings of my investments. Always better than what most colleagues were doing; blowing through the money like there was no tomorrow. Expensive cars, clothes, going out for dinner every single night and then complaining they couldn’t go to the dry cleaners multiple times a week. Silly folk. I watched a simple romcom, listened to some music, tried to sleep in the rather uncomfortable seat I was situated in (squeezed in between two sizeable ladies who were talking extremely loud and were sweating like whales). I couldn’t describe the happiness when the captain announced we were starting to land.

*Lapalice caste*

It was morning in Poland, the sky and buildings as grey as last we were here. The communist building style really didn’t do any good for this culture. Nevertheless, it was a relief when the crew’s bus arrived and we were transported to the countryside. We were starting the set build at a castle, an artistic 20th century interpretation, absolutely lovely. A small encampment had already been made with running water, hot showers and a large food area. This would do for the next month. Our manager immediately started with nudging us to come up with ideas for the brainstorming session tomorrow, but I, like everyone else, simply ignored her. ‘Tomorrow Lazz. Don’t want to have more of us burned out.’ One of the men said, tapping her on the shoulder. We were escorted to our quarters. Shamefully..it were small bunk beds. I rolled my eyes. Well, no privacy then. Trying to stay awake for a little while longer I walked around a bit and sent a selfie with the set in the background to Henry. ‘Smells medieval to me!’ I added. ‘Gonna switch to European SIM. Add my number: 316123456789.’ Also, being back in Europe, and having switched sim cards, I took the opportunity to give my mother a call. She answered after some waiting. Always a busy woman.

‘Dear! How are you? Oh such things I’ve heard! Are you sleeping well?’ She rattled in dutch. ‘Hi mom. I’m pretty good. Kind of jet-lagging. Just arrived in Poland. So, mostly trying to stay awake now haha. How are you guys?’ ‘So good! Oh, exciting news. We got permission to start rebuilding the back of the house. It’s gonna be so pretty. I’ll send you the drawings.’ ‘Cool! With the wooden porch?’ ‘Yes. Oh it’s going to be lovely. Hey but what did I hear..or read. Are you pregnant?’ ‘What? No mom. Who told you that?’ ‘Oh my sister, you know she loves following your work. She told me you were seen with this actor and he was touching your belly and all.’ ‘If I would be pregnant I’d surely not forget to tell you mom. No. No babies coming. But I am dating, yes.’ ‘Is he good to you? Or is it a she? That’s fine too.’ ‘It’s a guy. Actor yes. And he’s a darling.’ ‘Oh so maybe babies at some point then?’ ‘Mommm.’ ‘What?! I had babies by your age.’ ‘You’re insufferable at times mom. So how are grandma and pa?’ I diverted the conversation. ‘Not great, you should call them. They have moved to a senior house and they absolutely detest it. Poor folk.’ ‘Ay…’ We chatted for a while longer. It was good to speak to her again, her voice rattling happily through the phone. At times it’s hard to remember how important family is, until you reconnect.

I ended the call and saw some more messages coming in from Henry (seen as an unknown number, since I switched SIM card). A whole selfie diary of what he had been doing that day. Working out, walking the dog, some more firewood with a shrugging emoticon (definitely hinting at jerking off) and finally a selfie of him having lunch with some of the cast. I snickered. ‘Busy man! And miss you a lot :) Especially seeing the tiny, tiny bunkbeds they got us xD Goodbye privacy..’ I typed. He responded. ‘We’ll make up for that on Wednesday then.’ Wink. I smiled, then wondered if they had installed the trailers yet for the lead actors. I started strolling around the area, and sure enough the shiny aluminium trailers appeared at the far edge of the campsite.

The next few days was mostly just scouting the area for good shoot locations, collecting material and starting the build of the set for the first week. It was decidedly more relaxed then the previous weeks. To which I was glad. It also did wonders for the team spirit. Many nights we were huddled around campfires, drinking hot wine and making music. It sure felt like a small holiday. And I got to know my colleagues a whole lot better. We worked in a team of 15 for set design. 2 Of them were apparently going to get married in a month’s time, right after our crew was let off, 5 of them had gone to the same college, and most of them were utterly curious about my relationship with Henry. I kept it a bit under the wraps, but spoke honestly about how much fun we had. And how normal it felt. And yes, we were all official. ‘You are..so lucky. Urgh.. Why not me?’ One of my gay colleagues blurted out. We all snickered. ‘It’s the vagina I’d say..otherwise you surely would have had a shot.’ I winked. He warped his mouth in oo-ing shape. ‘Oh Hell! I’d let myself be rebuilt if that means I’d have a shot.’ We all belted out a loud laugh.

Wednesday came. The sun was starting to break through the grey clouds for the first time these days. How suitable, I thought, sipping my morning tea while looking over the hunting grounds that were being prepped for a scouting scene. More bushes, white biodegradable dye after which fake snow would be added. We were sitting around a large wooden board on two scaffolds, serving as huge meeting table. Materials for clothes were splayed out. I wasn’t really paying attention, since this part of the production would be running when I was already off-duty. ‘Hey, whatcha think, light or darker blue for him?’ One of the ladies woke me from my day dreaming. I stood up and looked at the scraps of fabric. ‘Darker. Besides the bias works better on this fabric.’ The lady smiled contently. ‘I told you.’ She said, looking at the other dressmaker who shrugged in slight annoyance. ‘Like she knows anything about cloth making.’ She shot me a dirty look. I shrugged in return, smiling. ‘Who knows!’ Which annoyed her even more. ‘It is indeed a better fabric to cut on bias though.’ The other woman retorted, nodding at me to acknowledge me. After they wrapped up their little meeting, the woman came up to me. ‘You sew?’ I looked up in confusion. ‘A bit. Made some costumes for fun before I got this job actually.’ ‘Good. And you helped buy they fabrics too right?’ ‘I was more a dumb force dragging along fabric rolls, if that counts as helping.’ She smirked. ‘Well silly questions maybe. But..Any chance we can borrow you for a few hours tomorrow and stand in for some fittings. Much better then that Polish girl they found. Can’t speak english, doesn’t understand fit..Urgh. And can’t have Ciri look like a mess.’ I raised my eyebrow, surprised by the request. ‘Uhmm..I’ll have to check my schedule. We’re doing a run-through around 12. And..and I’m not sure we share the same..build…Freya and I’ ‘That’ll be fine. Both small figure. We’ll do a further fit when she arrives - she got delayed…actresses…’ I shrugged, looking at my phone to check my schedule. ‘Alright.’

Not much later the main crew arrived in a large black bus. The first one getting out was Kal, who sprinted out like he hadn’t seen daylight in days. He sniffed and peed everywhere and greeted people with great excitement. The crew gladly petted him and started helping unpacking. Henry and Anya were in conversation when they got off the bus, joking around. Freya indeed wasn’t there. Hmm.. Then Henry noticed me and smiled an even broader smile. He walked up to me, carrying some of his luggage which he dropped to the muddy grass to give me a deep kiss. ‘Hi princess.’ ‘Hey you.’ I said with cheeky smile. He looked up to see what Kal was doing, now playing with one of the camera guys. He sniffled. ‘Good to be here. How are you?’ ‘Good actually. It’s been some lovely relaxed days, just building up, having campfires and the weather’s getting better too. How was your trip?’ ‘Decent. Some turbulence which got the ladies screaming.’ He rolled his eyes with amusement. I snickered. ‘But all went well…’ He fell quiet for a bit and looked at me. And I just returned his quiet stare, smiling. ‘Already found my trailer?’ ‘In the back, far right. A trailer with a view of the lake.’ I winked. ‘Best view in town.’ He smiled in return, folding an arm around me. The very weight making me have to shift my feet in the slippery grass. He stared out over the fields around him, looking at the crew walking around with set pieces, smiling proudly. I just took the moment to wrap my arm around his lower back, leaning into him.

‘Yea let’s get my stuff to the trailer and find something to eat. I’m starving.’ He said, his stomach rumbling. I snickered, diving away from underneath his arm and walking to the bus to grab some of the stuff I knew to be his. We walked up to his trailer, his PA already waiting there to hand him his key and schedule for the first week. ‘Argh..and back to dehydration nightmare again.’ He said, glancing over the schedule. We moved his stuff in, unpacked all his picture frames and put them on top of the floating kitchen cupboards and set up some dog food and water for Kal. He walked back to the door, pulling it closed. I could see his eyes darken with lust while he pinned me against the kitchen block. ‘No bunk bed here.’ He growled. ‘Mmm I have to do a run-through in 10. Later.’ I whispered in between his shower of kisses. ‘Mmpff.’ He cupped my jaw in his large hands. ‘I can’t wait.’ ‘I know.’ I snickered, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before moving to get back outside. He stopped me with one arm, grabbing me around the waist. He bit my neck playfully. ‘Rrr.’ He growled into my ear. I giggled, squirming in his arm. ‘Let me go!’ I puffed, pushing down his arm. He turned me around with great ease and looked at me, this time more sweetly, then smiled sheepishly. ‘Come look for me when you’re done.’ He said. I nodded, then pried myself out of his iron grip and made way for the set.

The camp fires were lit again and dinner was served. With the crew slowly growing in size it became more rowdy. I joined Henry and some stunt men around a fire, huddled against him while forking around in a plate of Chinese food. It was rather bland shamefully. The men were enthusiastically talking through some of the stunt work that had been planned. Burning building jumps, fighting with dogs, monster fights, the whole shebang. Henry was joining in with great excitement. He loved doing as much stunt work on his own as he could. A little boy’s dream of his. His arms flexed while he talked, his eyes gleaming. After dinner however, he soon lost out to his jet lag. He poked me out of my dreaming stare into the fire and whispered. ‘Join me?’ I nodded and smiled a tired smile. Without further ado we excused ourselves, I brushed my teeth and went to his trailer, Kal already sleeping on the floor, only his ears twirling up in curiosity.

Just moments after he turned the lock on the door I could feel his hands roam over my body. He pulled me flush against his chest, my back towards him as he sniffed my hair. ‘I missed this smell of you.’ He rumbled, lust trailing his voice. I sniffled, turning my head slightly so I could kiss him. ‘I’ve missed YOU.’ I whispered against his lips, a smile on my lips. His arms folded around me, squeezing me even closer as his head dipped down, his lips blazing a trail on my neck. ‘Very funny..Now..I would like to be patient, but…’ He swirled me around with a force I had not experienced of him yet. I barely had time to register what was happening when he swooped me up in his arms, needing just a few long strides to lay me on the bed at the back of the trailer. He quickly stripped off his clothes as I stared at him, my dazed head needing a good moment to take in what was happening while my gaze fell on his rushed striptease. I didn’t even think about undressing myself. He took my breath away as he had done a dozen times by now. That hair tumbling in unruly curls around his face, his flexing muscles, the slight smirk on his lips and that godly chest hair. By the time he looped his thumbs around the waistband of his boxers, he raised an eyebrow at me. ‘Undress.’ He simply commanded, his voice dark. I obliged gingerly, quickly wriggling myself out of my comfy outfit as I laughed at his impatience.

I was just about to unclasp my bra when he pushed me down on the bed, crawling on top of me. I gasped as one of his hands slipped around my throat (even though he was careful) and I immediately halted any further attempts to remove my underwear as his heavy body pushed me down, his lips meeting mine. Eager hands slipped down my panties, feeling how wet I already was for him. He rumbled a low chuckle as he reached his arm out towards a small drawer next to the bed, his eyes not leaving mine. I raised an eyebrow as he rumaged around in the drawer, finding what he was looking for: a condom. He kept his eyes trained on me as he ripped the packaging with his teeth, not looking away once. I felt myself get wetter by the second as I looked in his lust-laced eyes, hearing  his ragged breath. He pumped his erection a few times before putting the condom on, his eyes finally trailing away. He looked down at his erection, now eagerly pressing against my hip. And he sure liked what he saw, because when he looked back up there was that all-familiar question in his eyes. I took a shallow breath, which was apparently enough of an answer as he pressed his lips against me more feverishly.

He was..impatient..to say the least. His lips bruised mine deliciously, making me moan and groan in response while his right hand moved aside my panties. He guided his erection to my folds, rubbing it generously against my core - earning another longing moan from me. Then he got up a bit, making eye contact once more. DO IT - I thought, but he waited, just tilting his head slightly. And so I wrapped my legs around his hip, pulling him inside of me. We both gasped, savouring the feeling of becoming one. He slumped forward a bit, leaning heavily on his arms as his head dunked down to bite the soft skin of my neck. Without breaking contact, he slowly pumped out, before pushing all the way back in. I groaned. He was so big. And hard. I scratched at his back as he started to slowly up his pace. ‘That smell.’ He rumbled, lowering it to a tone that sounded more like Geralt then Henry. I groaned and moaned as he started a frantic speed. ‘Oh gods.’ I moaned as his lips attacked my neck, jawline, cheek, forehead, eyelids. He did not leave one bit of skin untouched.

I felt he was getting closer to his release and tried to pry one of my hands in between us, to stimulate myself. He groaned, realising he had neglected my needs. I opened my eyes, seeing he gave me a pleading look before he pulled my arm away, pushing me over on my belly before pulling my hip up. My head still pressed to the mattress and my butt in the air, I felt a bit vulnerable. I tried to turn my head to see him, but he pushed my shoulder down. ‘Like that.’ He said darkly, and before I could protest he pushed back inside of me again. I groaned. He could reach even deeper in this position, hitting my cervix in a way I wasn’t sure I was enjoying fully. I wanted to sit up, change the position, but his strong arm kept pushing me down. He started to push into me again, something I wasn’t so very much enjoying. ‘Babe..’ I gasped, my voice laced with pain. He folded over me, pausing his thrusting as he finally touched my bud. I could feel his lips on the skin of my naked back. ‘That better?’ He asked, a touch concerned. I immediately felt that all familiar electricity coil up inside. I gasped again. He bent over further, involuntarily moving inside of me. I squealed it out as he hit an unfamiliar place inside of me, an orgasm bursting through me making my whole body shake. Was that my g-spot? I thought after some seconds. I had even forgotten about Henry’s heavy body pushing into me, only realising he was asking me if I was okay when the haze lifted. ‘Baby? Hey?’ He was holding himself still, his lips next to me ear. I finally managed to turn my head towards his face, a smile on my lips. ‘That was..’ I started..but couldn’t finish. I burst out into laughter. He nuzzled my cheek, finally understanding. A husky laugh rumbled through his chest. ‘Are you okay?’ He finally asked, his face more serious now. I nodded, closing my eyes and wiggling my hips, immediately feeling his erection hard inside me.

Staying folded over me like he was shielding me from the world, he started pulling and pushing into me. Again and again..and again. And boy. Did it feel good this time. His hand once more circled my nub while he played around with the angles of his thrusts. The higher he moved up my body, the more frantic were my shivers. I wasn’t even sure if it was just one very long second orgasm bursting through, or several. Not that I could even care anymore. I groaned, moaned and shivered while he pushed into me, his orgasm finally taking him over the edge as well. He groaned as his seed spilled inside of me, releasing the hand from my nub to steady himself. He took a few deep breaths, stilling himself, before gently pulling out. I flopped down on my belly, still shivering, while he rolled on his side. Our eyes met, a smirk on his lips. ‘I’ll remember that.’ He finally said as his hand travelled over my slightly shivering body. I sniffled, moving closer to kiss him. ‘Hi.’ I smiled, still dazed from my orgasms. ‘Hi.’ He responded, smiling a broad smile, pulling me even closer, folding his arms protectively around me. He nuzzled me, taking a calm breath. ‘How I missed you.’ I nodded in agreement, too spent to talk and instead just enjoying laying there in his arms until sleep overtook me. I had missed this indeed.

---

Part 4 >

[skytressmc]

How Can I Help You? || Swapfell!Sans X Reader ||Chapter 1

Description: You work at a bookstore and you love your job. One day a skeleton walks in and you help him, which you are happy to do. Bur for some reason he keeps coming back...

You loved your job. This was surprising since you worked in retail, but you just loved helping others. You loved helping someone find that perfect book or gift. It always brought a smile to your face.

Today was busy as always, though you didn't mind since it made the time go by faster. But it made it kinda hard to greet everyone that came into the store as there were so many coming in at once, but one person caught your eye as he walked in.

He wasn't human, that was the first thing you noticed. You've seen monsters before, but you've never seen a skeleton monster before. He was short, even though he wore purple heeled boots. As you looked him over, he had on a black uniform with the royal Dreemur emblem on his chest and he wore a lightly oversized purple bandana around his neck. As you looked lower, you noticed he wore matching purple gloves covering his hands. All in all, he was quite a handsome skeleton, even though he was the first monster skeleton you ever saw.

You shook your head, you needed to stop staring. You walked over to him and smiled. "Hello, sir.” He looks over at you. You were met with purple eyes; they were pretty. You pushed your thoughts aside. "Is there anything I can help you find?" He stared at you for a moment before answering, "I Am Looking For A Present For My Brother. His Birthday Is Coming Up." "Well, maybe I could help. Could you tell me what he likes to read?" You asked with a smile.

He eyed you, unsure if he should answer your question. But, he finally answered. "He Likes Astrometry." He says with a hum. "Well! We have loads of books on that subject. Follow me.” You began walking. You could hear his heels clicking, letting you know he decided to follow you.

You hum as you run your fingers along with the books. "Ah! Here they are.” You pull a couple of books from off the shelf. "These are our top-rated books on astrometry.” You held out one of the books to him. He took the book from your hand, his fingertips brushing against yours. You felt your cheeks heat up slightly, luckily he didn't notice. You cleared your throat. "Are these ones ok?" He hums. "These Will Do".

You smiled. "Wonderful! I can check you out.” You walked him to the register and began checking out his books. "Would you like these gift wrapped?" You asked, smiling at him. He stared at you, his cheeks turning a light purple. He soon looked away tsking. "Do What You Wish.” You shrugged and carefully wrapped each book. "That'll be $42.87.” He hands you the money, your hands touching again.

You handed him his change back "Have a good day, sir. I hope your brother likes the books." You smiled. He takes the bag and mumbles something. "I'm sorry, sir, what was that?" "Sans. My Name Is Sans." He says, louder. "Well, have a good day, Sans." You smiled. His cheeks turned purple again and he walked out the doors quickly, leaving your sight of vision.

What a strange skeleton.

Today was a little slower than usual. It was a Sunday, after all, so you shouldn't be surprised. You eyed the clock, seeing that your shift was almost over. You began to get ready to leave but stopped, hearing the bell on the store's door ring. You look up "Hi, welcome!” Sans came into your view and you grin. "Hey! Welcome back!" You could have sworn his cheeks turned purple again. "What brings you in today?" You ask "Cook Books. Where are they?" He asks. "Right over here." You move to a shelf. "We've got plenty. What kind of cookbook are you looking for?" You ask, glancing at him. He avoids eye contact, his cheeks still purple. "Dinner Recipes." He answers. You pull a few out. "Well, here are some that are good." You say. "Why not take a look?" You set the books on a table. He walks over, looking at them. "Did your brother like the books?" You ask. He looks up at you, surprised that you remembered. "He Likes Them." He says, looking back at the books. "Good, I'm glad." You smiled.

You look at the time. "I'm sorry, but my shift is over and my manager is really hard on us when it comes to leaving on time." You explain. "So if you need any help, my co-worker can help you.” "Oh." He sounded almost sad that you were leaving. "I hope you find one you like." You smiled. He doesn't say anything. You decided to leave him alone. You head to the backroom, getting your bag and coat out of your locker.

When you walked out, you saw Sans being checked out. You waved goodbye to him as you walked out the door. He raised his hand a little, giving a small wave back. He looked up at your co-worker. "What Is Her Name?" He asks. "Oh, that's Y/N. She's here almost every day.'' Sans hums.

He may have to come here more often.

[ificanthaveu]

Work Too Much || Shawn Mendes

Description: You’re working 2 jobs and going to school. Shawn tries to fix it in the wrong way.

A/N: Hello, this is my real life right now, so I wrote it into a story bc what else is new :) that and inspo from Summer On You by PRETTYMUCH and (obviously) Work Too Much by Julia Michaels

Word Count: 3.2k

You glanced at the clock after what felt like over an hour. You hung your head when you realized it had only been ten minutes. Closing on a Sunday was everyone’s worst nightmare which is why you got stuck with it. [Y/N] will take any shift. She’ll just do it. Every. Single. Week.

After what felt like forever, 7:00 hit, and you quickly closed the register down before moving on to the pile of dishes by the sink in the back. You’d be lucky if you got out of there by 9:00. The dishes were gone through as quickly as possible, and then the counters were wiped down. The cafe was swept and mopped and every shelf was dusted.

You glanced at the clock as you wiped up the last crumbs on the last table. 8:30. Not bad. You quickly clocked out and grabbed your bag, jogging to your bike parked in the back.

The sun was almost down as you biked to your apartment just under a mile away. Your bike was thrown in the shared garage, and you unlocked your ground level door and trudged inside. You glanced down at your phone for the first time since before your shift started at noon. One missed call and four messages from Shawn.

Leaving for the airport. Can’t wait to see you, my love.

Security is taking fucking forever, won’t be surprised if I miss my flight.

I didn’t miss it! It just got delayed! Neat!

I’ll be lucky if I get there by midnight. I’m so sorry.

You sighed as you read through them before pressing your phone to your ear to listen to the voicemail.

“Hey, hun. I know you’re probably still at work. I would’ve just called your work number, but you yelled at me last time I did that,” he said. You let out a laugh before continuing to listen.

“Anyways, my flight was delayed. I should be leaving within the hour and hopefully be with you by midnight,” he paused, and you could hear a voice over a loudspeaker in the background.

“Yeah, probably midnight,” he sighed, and you could just tell he was running his hand over his face. “I love you, baby girl. I’ll see you soon.”

With that, you set your phone down on the counter and rested your head on the cabinet in front of you. You took a deep breath before glancing at the clock ahead of you. 8:50. Three hours until Shawn would be here.

You trudged to your bedroom and grabbed your backpack before slamming it on the table and pulling out your homework due tomorrow morning. Luckily, your roommate was visiting her parents for the week which was why Shawn was coming in the first place. Time alone was rare when you both were so damn busy.

You pulled out your Economics study guide and started researching the questions.

Your mind wandered off within ten minutes as you thought about your current situation. You were in school full time, year-round and working two jobs, being a manager at one of those. You were lucky if you got to bed by midnight before waking up around 6:00 for class most mornings. You thought about dropping out multiple times, but you knew you’d never actually do it. This was hell, but it was temporary. This would all be done, and you’d be working a full-time job in less than a year. You watched everyone else at your school party every weekend and not work at all. You wished it could be that easy for you, but it just wasn’t. It also didn’t help that you were dating Shawn.

He begged you to visit him just about every other week which simply wasn’t at all possible. In the almost year you had been together, you’d flown out to visit him once. And it was a Christmas present from him you denied multiple times before he forced you to take it. He’d come to visit you as often as he could, but that wasn’t easy either.

You eventually lulled yourself to sleep on the kitchen table until your phone rang making you shoot up and reach for it.

“Hello,” you grumbled without looking to see who it was.

You heard a laugh before the voice said, “Did you really fall asleep?”

“Yeah, I’ve been up since 5:00. I’m so sorry,” you said as you shut your laptop and set it aside.

“I’m outside by the way,” he said as you heard the light knocking coming from your front door. You left your phone on the table as you ran to the door and swung it open. He could barely say a word before you jumped into his arms. He held you up with one arm as he set his bag down with the other, eventually wrapping both arms around you and holding you close. You hid your head in his neck, and your legs wrapped around his waist.

“I missed you,” you mumbled. He ran his hand up and down your back before squeezing you tightly once more and setting you down. He ran his hand lightly up and down your arm and admired you for a moment before leaning down and pressing a kiss to your lips.

You savored the moment as you wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled him closer to you. You pulled away for a moment to let him inside and close the door behind him before he wrapped his arms around you once more.

“Can we go to bed? I’m exhausted,” he mumbled into your hair. You started to nod before remembering your unfinished homework on the table.

“I have an Economics worksheet due tomorrow morning,” you said as you scrunched up your face in disgust. Shawn sighed and threw his head back dramatically.

“You work too hard,” he said as he gave you a look and made his way into the kitchen.

“I just have a few questions left. It’ll take me a half an hour, tops,” you explained to him.

“I can sit with you?” He asked. You looked at his tired eyes, and as much as you wanted to say yes, you didn’t.

“Go to bed. I’ll be there soon,” you said as you leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek before sitting back down at the table and getting back to work. He stood there for a moment and watched you before leaning down and looking at what you were studying, one hand on the back of your chair and the other next to your laptop.

“Production-possibility frontier? Riveting,” he said in a monotone voice as he squinted and tried to read what you were typing into your laptop. You turned and looked up at him.

“Go to bed, bub,” you said. He sighed and kissed the top of your head before turning to go into your room.

“If you’re not in bed in a half an hour, I’m coming to get you,” he said as he leaned out of the doorway. You rolled your eyes at him.

“Like you’ll even be awake,” you said as you turned back towards your homework.

“Ouch,” you heard from inside your room. You shook your head slightly as you went back to your homework.

A half an hour later, you finally submitted the work and packed up your things for tomorrow’s class. As if on cue, Shawn leaned out of your room. He was half asleep, his curls that definitely needed a cut were messed up, and his eyes were half shut.

“Are you coming?” He mumbled as he squinted at the light. You set down your backpack by the door and walked towards him. You gently pushed his chest back into your room, and he made his way back into the bed and waited for you to join him.

You undressed and threw on his shirt that was on the foot of your bed. He pulled back the covers for you, and you gladly climbed in, making your way into his arms.

You both sighed at the same time as you both were finally comfortable with your head on Shawn’s chest and his arm around your waist.

“You know, I’m serious when I say you work too hard,” he mumbled above you. You moved so your chin rested on his chest, and you looked up at him.

“So do you,” you said back. He rolled his eyes at you and tried to hide the smile threatening the corners of his mouth.

“But you don’t have to.”

“Neither do you.”

“I’m not getting anywhere with this, am I?”

“Nope.”

He finally gave up as you both fell asleep.

The distant ringing of your phone slowly pulled you out of sleep. You rolled over and reached for it, but it wasn’t on the side table where it would usually be. You groaned as you got out of bed to find where you left your phone last night.

You found it on the kitchen underneath your Economics notebook, and you quickly silenced it before checking the time.

6:30. Great.

You trudged your way to the shower, almost falling asleep multiple times. You got out after probably ten minutes and threw on your robe, making your way back to your room where Shawn was still sound asleep.

You quickly got dressed and threw your hair up before looking over at Shawn. His arm was holding the pillow close to him as his head was buried in it and one leg was hanging off the bed. You smiled softly at him before pressing a kiss to his head and making your way out the door.

An 8:00 am Economics class was probably the worst decision you’d ever made. Of course, there really wasn’t any other option since it wasn’t offered online like your other summer class, and the night class would’ve gotten in the way of your work schedule. So you dragged yourself here every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and forced yourself to stay awake.

As your professor went over the homework from last night, you pulled up your student account on your laptop and stared at the bar showing your degree progression, hoping for some reason that it would just leap to 100%, and you’d be done with all of this. Sure, you could skip the summer classes and J terms and graduate in 4 years like everyone else, but ever since your advisor told you there was a possibility of 3 years, you couldn’t get it out of your head. So, you’d take the late nights and early mornings if it meant saving a few thousand dollars later on.

A text from Shawn popped up on your screen and pulled you out of your trance.

Did you really ditch me???

You shook your head slowly before typing out your reply. Of course, he forgot your schedule.

In class, be home in an hour.

Want me to pick up breakfast? Coffee from the cafe down the street?

You smiled at his message and stared at it for a moment longer. He knew your small college town pretty well after visiting here numerous times in the past year. He knew how much you loved the coffee from that cafe, even if you couldn’t afford it most weeks.

That sounds perfect.

He sent a heart back, and you exited out of the messages and focused back on your professor with a newfound surge of energy.

Class let out a few minutes early, and you began the short walk back home. The door was unlocked when you got back, and you opened it to find Shawn taking your breakfast out of the to-go bag.

“Good morning,” you said as you set down your backpack. He looked up at you with a smile and walked over to you with your iced coffee in his hand.

“Your favorite,” he said with a smile before handing it to you and giving you a quick kiss.

“You’re too good to me,” you said before following him into the kitchen. He responded with a laugh and sat down across from you as you both dug into the waffles.

He asked you questions about your class, and you answered them between bites and sips.

“Do you work at all today?” He asked. You shrugged your shoulders and swallowed.

“Not really. I just have a managerial meeting at the mall at 2. It shouldn’t take more than an hour,” you said simply as you picked at what was left of your food.

Shawn just stared at you before you looked up and met his eyes.

“I don’t know how you do it,” he said. You shrugged your shoulders and took another drink of your coffee.

“Don’t really have another choice,” you said.

“Yes, you do, [Y/N],” he said with that same voice he always said it in. You calmly set your fork down and took a deep breath.

“We’re not having this conversation again,” you said, shutting it down before it could get started, but you knew that wouldn’t work. It never did.

“At least quit one job.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because then I won’t make rent or my tuition payment, so if I quit a job, then I’m either homeless or I drop out of school.”

“Not if I pay your rent.”

You tried to calm yourself down and not let yourself get mad over this again. You’d had this fight a time too many, and you were sick of it.

“Like I’ve said before, no. I’m not going to let you just pay my way for me.”

“Why not?”

“I shouldn’t have to explain why. You should just respect that I want to do it on my own,” you explained.

Shawn rested his head in his hands and ran his hands through his hair, tugging on the ends and getting more frustrated.

“You’re working yourself thin, and soon you’ll have nothing left and you won’t be able to take it anymore. You’re constantly on the verge of a breakdown, you haven’t slept a decent night’s sleep in months, you haven’t had a full day off since Easter, and you never get to visit me. I’m not asking you to let me pay for everything. I’m asking you to let me pay for one damn thing, [Y/N]. I’m just trying to make this easier on you because it kills me seeing you like this all the time,” he said as soft as he could muster up, but you could still hear the anger laced in his voice.

“Thank you for caring about me like this. I love that you want to do this, and the thought alone is enough for me to see how much you care about me. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m still going to do this on my own,” you explained for what felt like the thousandth time.

“I don’t know what else I can do anymore. I can’t keep uprooting myself once or twice a month to come see you because you can’t get time off to see me,” he said as he stared down at his empty plate.

Your heart dropped to your stomach. As many times as you’d had this fight, this was the first time he said that.

“What?” You asked as the anger built up inside of you. Before he could even answer, you spoke up again. “Are you seriously giving me an ultimatum? Either quit the job or this is done? Because that’s exactly what it sounds like.” You could feel your heart speed up as it took everything in you to not start yelling.

“Well…” he started but trailed off, not really knowing what to say. “I just want to help you.”

“I don’t need help,” you snapped. “Why can’t you just support me like I support you without questioning it? I’ve never once told you to skip an interview or a photoshoot to come see me. I’d never ask you to quit doing these things you love just because I want to see you. I love my job at the mall. Being a manager there is going to look incredible on my resume once I graduate. The coffee shop is hard, but my coworkers there are my best friends, and they’re extremely flexible with my schedule. This is temporary. I graduate in ten months, and it’ll get easier. But I’m not abandoning any of this until I have finished it. You’re asking me to quit a job now, and if I do that, how long will it be until you ask me to quit the other or drop out of school or give up my full-time job in the future? You can leave me, but my degree can’t. And I’m not going to be some trophy girlfriend who follows you around. I’ve never been that kind of person, and you know that, so why do you keep asking?”

Shawn didn’t say anything. You waited a moment before turning around and going into your room, slamming the door behind you. You laid back on your bed and stared at the ceiling as you tried to control your breathing. You could hear Shawn’s chair against the kitchen floor and his footsteps come towards your room. A gentle knock sounded against your door.

“[Y/N], honey, please let me in.” His voice sounded softer, not as angry as it did minutes before.

“It’s unlocked,” you said to the ceiling. You didn’t move as he slowly opened the door and sat at the foot of your bed and stared at the wall.

“I’m not going to leave you,” he finally said.

“I know.”

“I just want you to be happy and comfortable.”

“I am happy.”

“And comfortable?”

“I’ll get there.”

He finally turned to face you as you looked up at him. He laid down on his side next to you as you faced him, doing the same.

“You’re stubborn,” he finally said. You both cracked a smile.

“So are you.”

Shawn reached across and tucked your hair behind your ear before resting his hand on your cheek and running his thumb across your cheek.

“I got off work for the VMAs, and my summer classes will be done and fall begins a week later, so I can stay with you for the whole week,” you finally said. Shawn’s face broke out into a smile, and he practically jumped on you and pinned you down on the bed as he sat on top of you.

“When were you going to tell me this?” He said, his face inches from yours.

“Over breakfast, but then you made me mad,” you said as you gave him a look. Before you could say another word he shut you up by finally kissing you. You flipped the two of you over as you straddled his waist and pulled away for a moment.

“Are you going to let me pay for your flight?” He said as he looked up at you. You narrowed your eyes at him as he pleaded with you.

“Maybe just this once.”

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[robinskey]

Apple Pie (Billy x Reader)

Request: Could I request a BillyxReader, reader is the girl next door and Billy finds himself looking for glimpses everyday after seeing her when he first moved in doing laundry, humming and just smiling which makes Billy not mind being at home because he knows there’s just this ray of sunshine. She brings a pie she baked to welcome his family & Billy is starved for baking cos his mum used to bake for him & he hasn’t had any in years. It makes him feel really happy? I’m ready for some fluffy goodness ❤️

A/N: This prompt is freaking adorable and I’m SO glad you requested it, @sweetboibilly.

Warnings: Slightly angsty and some foul language. Also, Neil Hargrove being a jerk/implications of abuse. Story under the cut.

Billy never expected to fall for the literal girl next door.

His first glimpse of you occurred on his first night in Hawkins. In the early hours of Thursday morning, Billy’s father had dragged him out of his warm bed. He was forced to load his entire life onto a moving truck, then follow it (and his father’s erratic driving) for thousands of miles in his Camaro. Susan, Billy’s stepmother, trailed behind him in his father’s pickup truck. In the rearview mirror, Billy could see her gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles, terrified of wrecking it. Susan didn’t own a car; her driver’s license had expired years ago. She relied on her husband for transportation. Putting Susan behind the wheel had been a terrible idea. However, Neil had insisted that they didn’t have a choice. There were four people to transport in three cars, and he wasn’t about to let Susan’s fourteen-year-old daughter drive his prized possession across the country.

Late Friday evening, the caravan finally arrived at their new address. Billy found the run-down one-story house underwhelming, to say the least. Faded paint covered the chipped paneling, and overgrown vines crept up the sides of the house. The thud of Billy’s car door slamming shut caused a small critter to scurry off the porch.

After thirty-some hours of virtually-non-stop driving, everyone was exhausted and wanted nothing more than a good night’s sleep. But as the head of the household aptly reminded them, their new home was empty. They couldn’t collapse into a bed that wasn’t set up yet or press their heads into pillows that hadn’t been unpacked.

Billy glanced around, taking in his new surroundings. Flickering streetlights gleamed down on the fractured sidewalk. Small houses similar to his lined the street, all of them identically dead. 

Except for one.

In the house next to his, a light clicked on in a tiny room. The silhouette of a girl carrying a basket on her hip appeared. He watched as you placed the basket on top of a counter and started removing articles of clothing from it, then dropping them into what Billy assumed was a washing machine. Despite the chilly October air, someone had left the window open. You hummed a soft melody, which carried on the breeze to Billy’s ears. Your graceful, fluid movements mirrored those of a ballerina, the song to which you danced light and dreamlike. It was the sort of sound a person could get lost in, and Billy did-until the bark of his father bit into his trance.

“Billy! Get your ass over here, and unload these damn boxes!”

Regretfully, Billy stopped watching the pixie of a girl to help his father. He spent the next hour dragging heavy furniture into the house while his dad “supervised.” After sliding the last box into the living room, Billy collapsed on the front step, his face drenched in sweat and muscles aching. When he looked toward your house, darkness had consumed it once more, and you were long gone.

***

Billy, Susan, and Max spent Saturday unpacking boxes and reassembling furniture. (Neil had helped for about thirty minutes, but as soon as his easy chair was set up, he became useless.) Throughout the day, Billy peeked out the window whenever he could, hoping to steal a glimpse of you. Once, he spotted you walking your dog down the sidewalk. Another time, you were sweeping the porch. It wasn’t until that evening, however, when Billy was taping posters up on the walls of his new bedroom, that he was able to see you for more than a few seconds at a time.

The room across from Billy’s had been dead all day. Billy didn’t think much of it; he figured your family probably used it for storage or something. But then, a switch flipped, suddenly illuminating the space with color. To be more, accurate, actually, it illuminated the space with yellow. Everything-the pale walls, the sunflower-printed quilt over the bed, the painted dresser-everything in the room was coated in different shades of yellow. It might have made him want to vomit if you hadn’t appeared in the doorway, shifting his focus from the horrid color scheme of your bedroom to the princess who inhabited it.

He watched for several minutes while you paced around your room, ponytail swinging behind you. You brought one nail up to your lips to chew on it; clearly, something was bothering you. Eventually, you flopped onto your bed and reached for an object on the bedside table-a dandelion-hued telephone. To Billy’s surprise, he was able to make out the words you spoke into the phone-probably because of your bad habit of leaving windows open.

“Hey, Darcy. It’s Y/N,” you said. 

Y/N. What a nice name.

“Yeah, so I’m calling for advice...Apparently, we have new neighbors, and-I don’t know if they’ve got a son, Darce! My mom just mentioned at dinner that someone by the name of Neil Hargrove bought Mrs. Chesterfield’s old house...Wait, you recognize that name?” 

You listened for a moment, then shot up quickly.

“No way,” you said, almost too quietly for Billy to hear. “Wait, hang on, Darce. It’s really cold in here-I must have forgotten the close the window this morning.”

Billy dove towards the floor as you rose from your bed. Gentle footsteps padded across carpet. Then, there was a faint click of glass and the jerk of curtains being pulled. When Billy peeked out his window again, he could only make out a shadowy figure holding a rectangle up to her ear.

“You know, Billy, you’re a lot of things, but I never took you for a Peeping Tom.”

A wiry redhead stood in the doorway to his room, a smug smirk on her lips.

“Buzz off, Max,” Billy said, slamming the door in the know-it-all’s face.

***

Sunday morning.

After stirring out of bed, Billy headed towards his window. He squinted at the room opposite his in the bright sunlight, but there was not much to see. The house was still motionless, lifeless-the curtains still drawn over the window. He had no idea what time it actually was. His alarm clock read 9:32, but that couldn’t have been right. Neil never would have let Billy sleep past 7:00 for fear of him wasting the day away like a lazy bum. Finally, Billy remembered: Today, the elder Hargrove started at his new job.

Billy pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans before stumbling into the kitchen, still half-drunken with sleep. Aside from the television droning on in the corner of the room, the place was just as dead as the neighbors’. He knew Susan planned to spend the day applying to various jobs in town, but Max wouldn’t have wanted to tag along. Thankfully, a short note left on the counter explained her whereabouts: Skateboarding. Be back never.

God. They drag him to this stupid town and then ditch him within a day. 

Itching for a glass of orange juice, Billy whipped open the refrigerator door. It, of course, was empty, and it would probably stay that way for a few days, unless Billy made a trip to the grocery store himself. Not wanting to deal with the stares of overly-nosy fellow shoppers trying to place the new face, Billy settled for tap water.

He leaned against the sink as he tipped the glass to his lips. He downed the entire cup in one go, then gazed out the window. Across his overgrown lawn, Billy spotted a tiny flurry of motion. A small girl was making a beeline towards his house.

“Shit,” Billy mumbled. He panicked, knowing he had about a minute to make himself presentable. Billy wasted about thirty seconds making a mental list of hygenic priorities before realizing that if he kept thinking, he wouldn’t be able to accomplish any of them. He managed to gargle a bit of mouthwash and run a comb through his curls before a gentle fist knocked at the front door.

“Coming!” Billy called from his bedroom. He jogged through the hallway and flung open the door before actually halting to a complete stop.

You stood on the front step, slightly rocking on your heels. Billy first noticed that you were even prettier up close. Then, a sweet, fruity smell drifted to his nostrils, and he glanced down at the glass dish in your arms, covered by a dishrag.

You cleared your throat. Billy wondered if the strain in his voice had anything to do with the fact that he hadn’t showered yet today. But then you flashed him a shy smile, and it was enough to melt away his fears.

“Hi,” you piped up. “I’m Y/N. Y/N Y/L/N? My parents and I live next door. I, um-I just wanted to welcome your family to the neighborhood.”

Billy chuckled despite himself. 

“Well, sorry to disappoint, but it’s just me here,” he said.

“Consider me thoroughly disappointed,” you said with a wink. “In all honesty, though, it’s lovely to meet you, uh…”

“Billy,” he said, finally mirroring your grin. “Nice to meet you, too, Y/N.” He gestured to the covered dish in your hands. “What’s that?”

“Oh!” you cried in realization.

You tugged at the cloth, revealing a pastry with a beautiful lattice design sprinkled with sugar on top. Billy started salivating almost immediately. He hadn’t been this close in proximity to a homemade baked good like that in years. Not since, well…

“I didn’t know what kind of pie you guys would like. Heck, I didn’t even know if you guys liked sweets, but I wanted to do something nice for my new neighbors. I figured most people will at least tolerate apple pie, so...” You started bouncing on your heels again, and it was so cute that Billy almost forgot to respond.

“This looks...amazing,” he said honestly, then stepped back a little to allow you room to pass. “Do you want to come in for a bit? We could sample this masterpiece together.”

You bit your lip, gaze darting toward your house anxiously.

“I-I probably shouldn’t. My dad would lose it if he knew I was alone in a house with a guy.”

It was Billy’s turn to wink at you.

“I won’t tell him if you don’t.”

The corners of your mouth tugged upwards. You glanced toward your home once more before darting into Billy’s, claiming that “one piece of pie won’t hurt.”

Taglist: @novaddictx @sweetboibilly

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[harryfreakinstyles2]

Torn (Part 4) H.S

Harry's body relaxes in the seat across from me and it makes my heart feel like it could burst in my chest.

"So, since we are friends now," I say beyond excited that I get to ask him all the questions I have been dying to know the answers to.

"Let's get to know each other." I say with a smile and his eyes widen. "How long have you been in America?" I ask him genuinely wanting to know the answer.

I rest my elbows on the table and lean forward waiting for his answer. His smile widens across his face making his deep dimples appear, and I feel like I can't breathe. This just friends thing is going to be harder than I thought if he continues to look at me like that.

"I've been here for a little over four years now. I got a scholarship to go to school here and I kind of fell in love with the area and decided to stay after I graduated this past December."

I'm slightly surprised that he came here on scholarship, but why wouldn't he. Of course, he's smart. But what surprises me more is that he already graduated. I assumed he was still in school as well.

"Oh, you already graduated? I didn't know that!" I respond genuinely surprised.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me." Harry says with a smirk and winks at me.

I roll my eyes at him and I try not to smile as I avoid the playful smirk he is giving me that seems to be stuck on his face today. I ignore the spark it ignites in my stomach and continue with my questions.

"So what's your degree in then?" I ask continuing the conversation.

"Business management. I would like to own or run a hotel or restaurant or something like that someday." He tells me still making too much eye contact and making me shift in my seat.

"Wow! That's cool!" I say annoyed that he is not only smart and drop dead gorgeous but he also has plans for his life. "How old are you?" I blurt our on accident.

"Twenty three, but enough about me. Tell me something about you." He says copying my position and leaning towards me with his elbows on the table and he mocks me by placing his hands under his chin with a cheeky smile. He is good I will give him that.

We are closer than two friends should be while casually talking but I can't get myself to pull away even though I know I should.

"Ummm." I stutter for a minute not being able to process my thoughts when he is so close to me. "Well, I am twenty one. I will graduate in May with my degree in English. I'd like to work for a publishing company or something along those lines for a bit or maybe become an English teacher I haven't really decided yet." I say faster than normal. I keep having to look down every few seconds because his stare keeps making me flustered.

"Hmmm a teacher huh?" Is all he says in response.

His tone sounds sarcastic and his face is hard to read and I can't tell if he means it as a joke or what. Does he think I can't be a teacher? But I am already on edge "You don't even know me," I snap defensively while leaning back in my chair.

"What? Why did you say that?" He questions me in a serious tone, catching me off guard. He's staring me down and I realize he's waiting for me to answer.

"I don't know. You sounded like you were mocking me," I say my tone sharp.

"I don't know you well, yet. But I'm trying to. I want to." He states. "I was not making fun of you. I was just joking around." He looks at me with pleading eyes. "I wish you would lighten up a little. You are so serious." He says softly and I can tell by his voice that he is being sincere even though his words piss me off I try to push my irritation aside.

"Sorry. Really." I say leaning down to meet his eyes slightly thrown by his quick change in mood. "I didn't mean to snap at you. Just a habit I guess."

Lightning flashes outside the window followed by a rolling thunder distracting both of us from our conversation. I know I need to head home before the storm hits and it is getting close to my dinner plans with Julie.

"I need to head home." I sigh grabbing my backpack and car keys not wanting to leave just yet despite the change in mood.

"Okay." Is all he says in response his eyes focused on the table.

I can feel a shift and there is an uncomfortable tension between us. I get up from the table and start making my way towards the door when I realize he has nothing else to say. A weird wave of sadness hits me at his simple response wishing he would ask me to stay longer.

"Wait," I feel his now familiar warm hand wrap around my arm stopping me before I reach the door. I turn to face him not sure what to expect but happy the conversation will not end the way I thought it was going to.

"I'll see you again soon, yeah?" He asks with a soft smile. He says it like it's a question that he needs me to confirm as he searches my eyes. And just like that, everything feels okay again.

"See you soon." I confirm with a smile and walk out the door.

*

I arrive back home just as the rain starts, making me run for the front door. Rushing inside I drop my stuff on the kitchen counter and find Julie watching tv on the couch.

"Did you get the stuff for dinner?" I ask her. We have a tradition since we moved into our apartment together last year where every other Saturday she buys the groceries and I make dinner. Then we spend the evening watching Greys Anatomy on the couch together. It gives us a chance to catch up no matter how crazy our schedules get.

"Yeah, it's all in the fridge. Did you get a lot of studying done?" She says making casual conversation without looking away from the tv.

"Uhhh yeah," I say shrugging my shoulders even though she is not looking at me. The guilt comes back but this time I know I deserve it as I choose to not tell her about Harry showing up at the coffee shop and continue the conversation. "Was this all you had planned for today?" I say gesturing to her current spot on the couch hoping to get a reaction out of her.

"Basically, I was supposed to hang out with Harry but he got called into work." She responds still not looking away from the tv and I feel panicked.

I am so thrown off by her answer that I can't think of a response. Did he tell her that he had to work so he could come see me? Is she making it up? Why would she make that up? He said he told her they were done. But why would she lie about having plans with him? Why did he lie. I have no idea what the hell is going on anymore and it is starting to give me a headache.

"Hey, I was thinking we could have a movie night here tomorrow. Is that okay with you?" Julie asks me bringing my attention back to the present as she gets off the couch and joins me in the kitchen.

"Uhh yeah sure sounds good to me," I say not really paying attention.

"Awesome! I'll text everyone. Does 8 o'clock sound good to you?" Julie asks while already typing away on her phone.

"Perfect." I agree.

The evening drags on without much conversation. Julie stays on the couch while I make dinner in the kitchen replaying my conversation with Harry over and over again. One of them is lying and I can't figure out who or more importantly why. After dinner we watch one episode of Grey's and I head to my room for the rest of the night not wanting to have forced conversation with Julie any longer. I don't like how weird things feel between us now. I know it's only me. I'm so used to being able to talk to Julie about anything.

I pass out around 11 o'clock which is early for me but the last two days have been so draining I need the sleep and as soon as my head hits the pillow I am gone.

I wake the next morning still conflicted and debating whether having Harry around is worth all this confusion and the headache that follows. I know it won't end well but I am not sure that I can stay away from him. The morning and afternoon hours blur together as I stay in bed watching tv all day, my usual Sunday routine lately.

I finally look at the clock on my nightstand telling me it's now six thirty in the evening and I have been in bed all day. My stomach grumbles reminding me I haven't had anything to eat since eleven this morning so I force myself out of bed and slip on some jeans and grab my favorite hoodie. The weather outside my window is as gloomy as yesterday the clouds are covering the whole sky, and it has been raining on and off all day adding to my own gloomy mood.

I walk out of the bedroom and find Jules in the living room bringing pillows and blankets from her bedroom to the couch.

"What are you doing?" I ask her confused.

"Bringing out extra pillows and blankets for tonight." She says looking at me like I am an idiot.

"Oh crap! I forgot about that. Did you pick a movie?" I have been so in my head I forgot about her stupid movie night here tonight. I feel like I don't have the energy or mental capacity to deal with anyone. Perfect.

"No I can't decide so I'm just going to pick two and let everyone vote." She says while still arranging pillows on the couch and floor.

"Alright, well I am going to grab some food I will be back soon. Do you need anything while I am out?" I ask her secretly hoping she will say no.

"No I'm good, I bought popcorn and some candy when I was at the store yesterday and Maya and Tabs are bringing some snacks too." She tells me.

"Okay well, I'll be back." I say while grabbing my keys and heading for the front door.

"Okay see you later." She says with a smile.

As I walk to my car I sigh with relief at being alone again even if it is only for a short while.

I run through a drive-thru and back with about fifteen minutes to spare before everyone is supposed to come over. I rush into the apartment past the kitchen and Julie's room hoping she doesn't see me. And then head straight through the living room and into my room. I change out of my jeans and into some comfy yoga pants deciding to keep my hoodie on because I don't care to make to much effort in my appearance today. I finish the rest of my food in a hurry and decide to freshen up my make up a little so I don't look like complete crap when everyone comes over. Just as I finish up I hear an array of voices enter the house. Walking out of my room and into the kitchen I find Julie with Maya, Tabs, Dylan, and Sam all talking over each other loudly. Maya is pouring chips into bowls, Julie is putting popcorn into the microwave and of course, Dylan is loading the wine and beer into the fridge. I smile at my crazy group of friends even in my exhausted state.

"Is Emily coming?" I ask the whole group while taking a seat on the empty bar stool next to Sam.

"No she had to work tonight." Tabitha informs me while stealing a chip from Maya's bowl.

"Awe alright," I say disappointed because we haven't had a chance to catch up in a few weeks. "I'm gonna grab a blanket from my room really quick, will someone get me a bowl of popcorn please!" I say as sweetly as I can as I am leaving the kitchen.

I make my way back to my room and grab a blanket and pillow, and my phone from my nightstand before hearing the group make their way into the living room. I take a deep breathe already exhausted and walk back out.

Julie, Maya, Dylan, and Sam are all squished together on the couch and Tabitha took the chair which means I am stuck on the floor alone which I am actually okay with because it means I can watch the movie and relax without distractions. Just as I am getting comfortable on the floor I hear a loud knock at the door. Everyone sits not moving and then looks at me. Everyone is here already so I have no idea who it could be.

"Don't worry everyone, I'll get." I say sarcastically groaning as I get back up off the floor and they all smile trying not to laugh at my dramatic response.

I make my way to the door and open it not sure who to expect but definitely not him.

My mouth drops open stunned, "Harry?!" I whisper yell so everyone in the living room can't hear me.

[stevie-writes-the-pain-away]

Alcoholics Anonymous - Chapter Six

       I pushed my hair back as I brushed my teeth, straightening my clothes and adjusting my name tag. I always hated my preparation routine for work. It might have only been a change of clothes plus tidying myself up, but it took up so much of my energy. It sounds pathetic to some, I know, but simply living drained me enough. I put my toothbrush back and ran my fingers through my hair as I hurried towards the front door. I picked up my drawstring bag and left into the hallway, locking the apartment up behind me.

               I had a shift at a small convenience store down the street. It was my least favourite of the three part time jobs I worked considering how loud and crammed it was. We got many young customers since the building sat so little ways away from a secondary school down the street, so I had to deal with a lot of inconsiderate preteens. Not to mention how easy it would be to get robbed so I'd spend hours stocking shelves in fear until my coworker came in for their shift and I'd go on break.

        As I walked into the staff room I took out a snack bar from my bag, as well as my phone. Looking at my notifications I blinked, confused.

       "Busy tonight?" It was Cassidy.

       As much as I hated rejecting her offers, I couldn't waste any more time partying that week. "Got a shift tonight, sorry"

       "Come on," I read alongside an irritated emoticon. "You're always working, lighten up."

       "I have rent to pay, Cass," I answered with a smile.

      "Isn't three jobs a little unnecessary though?" I rolled my eyes. Sure, three jobs was a lot to juggle, but I was part time and she had her own full time job. She wouldn't understand.

       "I'm not successful like you lol."

       "Tru." I slightly winced at her response. I knew I didn't have the right to considering I pulled that self-deprecating joke on myself upon my own free will, but I guess I wasn't expecting her to answer so bluntly. I stopped complaining and began typing.

       "I digress, I'm busy, sorry."

       "Suit yourself."

       I reminded myself that I felt bad for shutting her down. She was one of my only friends and she was trying to help me but time after time I kept refusing her offers. I guess I couldn't blame myself, I had jobs to fulfill, but she wasn't wrong. Was three jobs really too many?

       No, I convinced myself. I needed the money, she just didn't realize how important it was to me that I worked hard in order to achieve. It was understandable of her though, she didn't know my position. It was just her telling me to live a little, which was also understandable. Defending Cassidy inside my head through a mental argument made me feel a little better. Realizing how dramatic of the situation I turned it into, I shook my head, finishing my lunch break and heading back to work.

       Cassidy was usually busy with work on the weekdays, going out with her friends to have fun Friday night to Sunday morning, while I spent them keeping myself distracted in different ways with my shifts at the café.

       "I feel like you're always working," my boss chuckled before he entered the next room.

       I smiled as warmly as I could. "I've got nothing else going for me right now," I mumbled as I continued stocking the shelves.

       "I know you offered to take the closing shift but . . . why don't you take this one off?"

       I looked up at him. It was considerate of him to free me of my work, especially on a Friday night, but I took the shift for a reason.

       I enjoyed Cassidy's company, along with her friends', but deep down I knew my jobs were the only thing between us; and in a way, that was a good thing. If I wasn't free, how was I going to go out and drink with Cassidy and her friends? I figured I wasn't the one who had to oblige if my managers already booked me off; it was the only excuse I had that made me feel a little less guilty. I didn't want to hurt Cassidy's feelings or push her away by telling her I didn't want to hang out willingly, so this was my key to escape, even if it was just more work. At least it got more pay; I'd get out of that apartment and into my own dorm someday.

        Packing up my things, I waved goodbye to my co worker at the cash-register, heading out the door for a night all to myself. Cassidy usually left around 7:00 PM, which was when my shift ended, so I had no problem going home right away. I could slide in right after she left and she wouldn't know I was there. I smiled at my plan, relieved I could escape a night I'd regret in the morning.

       As I unlocked the front door, I sauntered inside, throwing my belongings onto the couch as I slid against the door, shutting it. I sighed, locking it behind me before I heard footsteps from the hallway.

       "(Y/N)?" I felt my heart drop. "I thought you were working late," Cassidy smirked, working her way towards me.

       "Oh . . . I'm . . . coming home for lunch."

       "Don't you have lunch there? I already texted you during your lunch break," she pointed out.

       I froze in my spot, my face painted red. I was never good at confrontation, a big reason I'd ran away from my problems all of my life. I wished that this could be one of those problems, buts it's not like I could just move out so impulsively. "Yeah . . . I meant my dinner break."

       "Oh . . . That's a shame," Cassidy pouted. She entered the livingroom, settling down on the couch. "I was really hoping you'd join us."

       "I'm sorry, Cassidy," I sighed.

       "It's fine . . ." she brushed off. "I gotta go call the girls now about our drive."

       "You made plans but you don't have a drive?" I questioned.

       "Well, I was hoping you'd be the one to drive since I thought you'd agree to come along, but . . ."

       At that point I felt guilty. She really wanted me to come, huh?

       What if I was being selfish? Cassidy wanting me to have "fun" wasn't really her peer pressuring me, was it? It was all coming from good intention; she didn't know why I was saying no and she didn't know I shouldn't have been drinking. But I did.

       Perhaps all I needed to do was learn some self-control. That way I could join their group, assist them as their helpful driver, and reassure myself I didn't need to be intoxicated to let loose. But was self-control really as easy as I was convincing myself?

       I looked over at Cassidy sitting on the couch, scrolling through the contacts on her phone before I opened my stupid mouth. "On second thought . . ."

~~~

       I struggled to keep my eyes open, rubbing them once more and looking up at the clock. I knew I shouldn't have come to that day's session but I figured, if it got me out of the house, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. I forgot to consider the sunny weather however, burning up my eyes as I squinted my way through London on my way to the clinic. I shook my head, trying to keep focus as much as I could.

       I know my praying probably wasn't doing so good, but I wanted to convince myself if I hoped hard enough, people wouldn't be suspicious of my behaviour. I was definitely not feeling well, but was I doing a good job at hiding it? A sigh of relief escaped through my lips as the session came to an end and I carefully stood up, grabbing my bag. As everyone else moved on, I noticed Murdoc waiting for me by the door and I tilted my head in confusion. I glanced behind me as Phoebe was focused setting up for her next session and I turned back at Murdoc who smirked with crossed arms. I tried to smile at him but I knew it couldn't have looked right. He chuckled and wrapped his arm around my back, helping me walk forward. We left the building in silence and stood together outside as we watched the familiar faces of our group disappear. I wasn't sure why I didn't continue walking, but I'm not sure why I was expecting a hungover me to do anything correctly anyway.

       "And you decided to drink because . . . ?"

       I looked towards him, horrified. I figured it wouldn't be worth lying, so I dropped my face to a frown and sighed in defeat. "Is it that obvious?"

       "Not gonna lie, I'm impressed at how well you held it together in there. It wasn't even that obvious, but I know you." He slanted his head, still looking for an answer with a cocked brow.

       I shook my head, disappointed in myself, and I noticed his smirk beginning to fade. "It's nothing bad, Cassidy offered to bring me out with her friends again, so . . ."

       "Hmm . . ." It was quiet for a moment but Murdoc wasn't gonna let me get away with a sorrowful expression. "Don't be so down in the dumps about it, love," he said. I turned to him, frustrated. Why couldn't he just understand that being happy about your unhealthy habits isn't exactly healthy? He recognized my unpleasant response and laughed at me. "Seriously, (Y/N). I'm not telling you to give up on rehab, but you don't have to hate yourself for messing up-"

       "I know but I'd rather hate myself more so I'm more likely to never do it again, Murdoc," I retorted, instantly regretting it. I felt guilty for raising my voice, aside from the instant headache I received from it. I watched him blink in shock and he pursed his lips, awkwardly. He clearly wasn't expecting that from me and I wasn't either, darting my head back forward, trying to ignore the uncomfortable atmosphere I'd just created. "It's just . . . I-I don't know why I do this to myself . . . People tell me I shouldn't beat myself up but how can't I when I let myself be in that position over and over again . . . ?"

       I heard his Cuban heels tap the pavement as he inched closer to me. I felt his smirk through his sympathetic sigh. He lightly nudged my shoulder, catching my attention. "I know how you feel . . . But maybe it's best you stay away from the kids who convince you to drink with them in the first place?"

       "What are you implying? It's not like I can avoid Cass, she lives two meters away from me." I closed my eyes in defeat for a few seconds, catching some conscious sleep. I could feel Murdoc watch and I looked towards him once more, desperate for him to help me solve my problem.

       "What I'm implying is . . . maybe spend a few hours with me. We could learn more about each other . . . Maybe even stay for supper if you really want. You don't have to, but life gets boring when you've got nobody to talk to." I knew this smooth-talking character was a confident man, he could make any women fall for him whenever he wanted. I didn't take Murdoc's offer as him flirting, not when he had so many better options around us, but why did he seem to hold back so much? I could see a hint of apprehension in his eyes as we looked at each other, he couldn't hide that from me. I couldn't be special, though, there must've been plenty of other girls before me who saw exactly what I saw. I guess I was just excited to have somebody else other than Cassidy who seemed to want to get to know me.

       "You need me to come over because you can't talk to your roommates?" I questioned, barely believing it.

       "I could try, but it wouldn't be the same," Murdoc persisted. "Besides," he continued. "I've got a hangover cure I think you'll enjoy," he said.

       I wasn't sure what that meant, but I didn't hold my breath. He probably genuinely did want to help me feel better, this wasn't some sort of pick up like to get laid, and I wasn't ready to be alone again either.  His smirk remained as if it were his only means of defence when he presented any form of pure kindness to somebody. He certainly wasn't shy, but perhaps when he offered a nice gesture towards someone, he felt more vulnerable. I glanced at the ground and back up to him, "Why not?" He seemed to wear an authentic grin for once, starting for the parking lot. I wished he would've worn it more often, watching him look back at me and gesturing for me to follow him.

       With a smile on my face and pep in my step, I walked after him. He took out the keys from his pocket and alerted his drive; a red muscle car. It was in great condition on the outside but when Murdoc opened the door for me, it was trashed on the inside. I nervously grinned and sat myself down in the passenger's seat. When he closed my door and got in on the other side, he instantly picked up the piles of junk and clutter, tossing everything to the back seats. "Let's just move this," I heard him mumble. The front was soon cleared of the cigarettes, flasks, and other trash, but it still reeked of alcohol and smoke. "Sorry," he chuckled, but I just shook my head carelessly. As he started the car and revved the engine, I flinched, watching him turn the radio on and turning the volume down from its past obnoxious high. Listening to his metal, I turned my head out the window as we drove out of the parking lot.

       I heard Murdoc hum a little as the songs passed, making the drive a little more peaceful. I closed my eyes when he rolled down the windows, feeling the wind against my face cool me down from the warm Spring air. I took a deep breath in and opened my eyes as I exhaled, feeling Murdoc's eyes on me once again. I glanced back at him and he immediately looked back to the road, tapping his fingers to the beat of the aggressive rock that played.

       The wind in my hair was refreshing, and the speed we were going fuelled my adrenaline. Murdoc gave me such an addicting and adventurous craving. His company may have been new and different to my life but it was definitely something I needed. I thought of these facts over and over, comforting myself until we were getting closer and closer to the highway. "Murdoc?"

       "Hm?"

       "W-where do you live?"

       "Oh, not far at all," he claimed with confidence. "I just enjoy taking the longer route on the highway. It fuels my fire," he added with a growl.

       As soon as we entered the highway, Murdoc excited, swerving his car around the corner as we came closer to a haunted-esque home. It looked broken down and neglected, so I wasn't surprised when Murdoc's vehicle came to a screeching halt on the side of the gravel road. He took out his keys, swinging his door open; but before I could open mine, he was doing it for me. I simply smiled at his gentlemanly actions, crawling out and taking my bag with me. He secured his car and walked me to the front door, fumbling with his keys again to unlock it and push it open. "After you," he smiled.

       I quietly laughed, thanking him. "Wow," I whispered. It was definitely an oldie. The architecture wasn't very modern, as well as the wallpaper and overall building. I stood in awe, intrigued by the aura.

       "It's just us today," Murdoc said, closing the door behind us. "My ba-" he began before coughing. I turned to him, waiting for him to finish. "My roommates, I mean, go out and hang out when I go to therapy, like the fun roommates they are, so maybe you can meet them some other time," he concluded. He groaned at the thought of it, slouching as he tossed his house keys to the coat rack.

       "Oh," I nervously laughed, sympathetic towards his loneliness.

       "Whatever! Who needs 'em!" He headed up the stairs across from the entrance, looking back at me. "Coming?"

       I nodded and we walked up together, heading down the hall. "My room isn't any better than my car, but it's hopefully tolerable," he admitted, opening the creaky wooden door. I headed inside before him, looking around. It was certainly messy, but I could see more of an organized chaos rather than clutter. His room was almost exactly how I expected it to be; leather this and leather that, dark-coloured everything - the typical Murdoc Niccals aesthetic. I smiled at how perfect it felt and even noticed his bass guitar in the corner of the room.

       "You play?" I asked, pointing to the instrument leaning against the wall.

       "Hm?" he questioned, looking in my direction. "Oh, yeah! Self taught from when I was just a lad," he explained, walking forward. He picked up the guitar and sat on his bed, beginning to strum. I joined him and he winced at the awfully out of tune strings. "She's an angel when she's tuned," he said, tuning it himself.

       Finally, he began to play, and I couldn't believe my ears. He was incredible. His hands worked so gently against the strings it was almost as if some professional came down from Heaven and worked their magic themself. "You're amazing," I said. Murdoc responded with a smile, continuing to use his talent. He made it look so easy, he worked so effortlessly. "How long have you been playing?"

       "I began performing when I was just a kid, but really started playing instruments when I was ten, maybe? My uncle would come over and bring his bass with him - he played in his own little band - and eventually I found enough courage to steal one for myself and practice whenever I could," he rambled. Did he really? I wondered if he still kept that stolen bass as some sort of sentimental piece.

       Looking at his present bass I studied its style, unable to find any clues as to what brand it could've been. It definitely looked like a rare type of guitar and I found myself thinking about it hard. "Where did you get this one?"

       "I'm contemplating whether you'd believe me or not," he said, pausing the music to converse more.

       I shook my head, "Why wouldn't I?"

       Murdoc grinned mysteriously. He must've been trying to tell me to prepare for his storytime but I was already prepared to trust him when my gut told me so from the beginning. He chuckled and shuffled in his seat, beginning to play again. "Back when I was a teenager, Devil-worshipping became one of my favourite pastimes, y'know? Eventually, I started making packs, and as a trade he gave me this beauty," he said, lifting the guitar from his lap a few seconds.

       I wasn't a very religious person. I lost my faith a long time ago, and for valid reasons, but something in the back of my head believed in him. I nodded, "What did you trade him?"

       Murdoc nervously laughed, "I-I dont really remember, something about music." He got up and put his bass away on its stand before looking back at me from where he stood.

       "Have you ever thought of playing professionally?" I asked. He walked forward, towering over me.

       "Definitely. I'm not gonna lie, I've even written a few songs before, but I just . . . I don't know, I just never got around to searching for fame."

       "You've written songs before?" I asked, beaming with excitement. "May I hear?"

       Murdoc smiled at me and headed towards his writing desk, pulling out one of the drawers. In his hands he held a folder just flooding with paper, and a few fell out. He ignored them, placing the folder on the bed. "There's another one somewhere," he mumbled.

       "There's another one? I thought you said you only wrote some," I said, opening the folder.

       "Well, I wasn't expecting you to ask," he answered.

       I looked through the pieces of chicken-scratch, listening to the tunes of the sheet music in my head and reading the lyrics. I learned how to read sheet music back in high school when I took a class, and for some reason I couldn't forget how. "Murdoc . . . you're a wonderful writer, how could you hide this stuff away?"

       Murdoc shrugged, sitting on the bed beside me. "I didn't think the world wanted to hear my sappy lyrics, either."

       "Yeah . . . Not that it's anything bad, but I wasn't expecting something so soft to come from somebody who . . ." I looked back at him as waiting for me to tell who I saw him as. "Somebody who . . . seems hardcore and listens to metal."

       Murdoc chuckled, leaning closer to my ear as I proceeded to dig deeper in his work. He watched over my shoulder, "The audience needs a bit of a surprise once in a while, it brings something worth playing and someone worth playing for."

       I smiled and placed the paper down, remembering the songs in my head and what their words could mean. "What was this one inspired by?" I asked, pointing to one of the sheets. The title of the song was 'Broken' and I was instantly intrigued when I read the first line.

       "Ahh . . ." he answered. "I met this girl once and . . . to say the least, it didn't go as planned."

       I winced, glancing back at him and his pursed lips. "What happened?"

       "I'd rather not say," he spoke dramatically. "It pains me just to think about it," he continued in theatrical emotion.

       I laughed in response, "Well, I wouldn't want to put you through any bad memories . . ." It went a little quiet, the only things we did was look at each other. "What are your songs usually inspired by?"

       "Oh-h-h, life events, stories I think of, dreams, and even nightmares . . . nightmarish memories. Not very happy stuff in all honesty."

       "Well, where does all the happy stuff go when you don't write songs about them, too?"

       "It was never there in the first place," he mumbled, turning away from me. I watched his grin slip away, distracting himself with whatever was outside the bedroom window.

       Hearing him say that nearly shattered my heart. It was so unexpected, I was trying to find the right thing to respond with. "What do you mean it was never there?"

       "Let's just say life sometimes isn't the easiest to get through . . . and let's just leave it at that," he answered. "Okay?" he concluded, looking back at me.

       All I could do was stare. I knew his bad habits had to have come from somewhere but I hoped it wouldn't be something intentional. I thought he just enjoyed his beverage more and more as the years went by, but it sounded like it was purposefully an escape; similar to my relationship with alcohol. "Murdoc . . . I'm sorry."

       "It's not your fault, (Y/N). Besides, I still live on," he replied with more enthusiasm this time.

       "I know, but it definitely doesn't seem like you're living on, more just getting through the days . . . Of course, there are days where it's okay to simply make it past and focus on tomorrow but it shouldn't be like that all the time."

       Murdoc stopped responding and looked down at his lap instead. All I could do was watch and hope he wouldn't leave me in the dark, pushing me away. "I know, but I'm getting by. That's all that matters, right?"

       "But you also need to make sure you're getting by as best as you can," I encouraged. "I know it's easier said than done, but making sure you're actually living and not just surviving is important too."

       Murdoc looked back at me and smirked, "You don't have to get mushy with me, (Y/N). I've heard this a lot."

       "I know, but I want you to know that if you need somebody to talk to I'm here."

       Murdoc's face twisted into confusion. It was as if nobody pushed the way I did, and it honestly hurt me thinking that this could possibly be the first time he's heard something like this in a long time. "Thanks," he said. "I mean it . . . And you can always talk to me as well."

       "Thanks, Muds."

       All Murdoc did was nod and stand up, starting for the door. "Now, about that hangover cure . . ."

[ladybugastronaut]

Habby Birtdoy, Jordan!!

@not-so-innocent-bi-sander was borthed today a million years ago and so i wrote this for her because i lov her (:

whats a tag list? i aint ever heard of her lmao

Tonight was game night. That meant pizza, popcorn, and plenty of video games.

Virgil and Roman had been dating steadily for several years, now. It was a tradition, now, that they would set aside all plans every Sunday and spend the entire day dedicated to them. Just them.

They supposed it wasn’t officially a day to play video games, but it often led there one way or another. Roman Sander’s living room always ended up filled with the sounds of competitive jabs and hearty, victorious laughter. While cuddling was sweet, and watching movies wasn’t unpleasant, nothing solidified their bond more than Roman breaking Virgil’s winning streak after having his ass handed to him in Mario Kart for the fourth time in a row.

“Ha ha! Take that, Jolly Green Giant!” Roman cheered, standing up from the couch after narrowly dodging the blue shell that hit his boyfriend and secured his victory. He tossed the controller to the couch and strutted off to the kitchen with his empty glass and bare plate. “I am victorious!” He shouted over his shoulder, earning nothing more than an amused eye roll from his competitor.

“Nice job, shrimp. Glad to see you raised your win percentage from 0 to 20,” Virgil chuckled, hauling himself up from the cushions and following Roman with his own plate in hand. He swooped in and pressed a kiss to his cheek as he grabbed another slice of pizza, smirking at the dramatic frustration he’d instigated. He knew what would make this better though. “Wanna play Splatoon?” He glanced over his shoulder as he cracked open the Faygo and poured himself another glass.

Roman’s eyes lit up as he spun around, something mischievous glinting in them. “Oh, yes! Yes yes yes, I’ll go set up the other TV.” He rushed away, food left behind as he scurried to grab the tiny monitor in the corner of the room and hook it up next to the sofa. Virgil might have been the best at Mario Kart, but Roman absolutely dominated Splatoon. At least, this is what Virgil assumed was the reason he’d gotten so excited.

When he came back to the living room, he was confronted with half of the furniture shifted, making it so that the main television was facing one arm of the couch, while the little one was on the other side facing the other. This way, their backs would be to each other while they played. This wasn’t… what they usually did…? Frowning in confusion, he set his food down on the coffee table and moved to help Roman drag the larger monitor the rest of the way.

“Uh… whatcha doin…?”

“Oh, I want to try a game mode with you!” Roman began to explain, huffing as he pulled away and let his *much* larger boyfriend deal with the rest of the heavy lifting (though they both knew he was no better suited for it than the other). “I saw people playing hide and seek, where one person inks around the map and hides somewhere and then the other person has to go find and splat them. I figured we could try it?”

Virgil shrugged, grunting as he finally got the television in place, the cord precariously taut. One of them was going to trip over that. And it was going to be him. “I guess so.”

Roman clapped his hands excitedly, jumping onto the couch and starting up the console for the smaller screen. “Okay okay, I’m gonna set it up, just go ahead and wait for me in the friend’s lounge.” He grinned brightly as he rushed through the menus as fast as he could manage, sitting with his legs pulled together crisscross-applesauce style. “I’m gonna hide first, okay?”

Virgil shrugged again, taking his seat on the other cushion. “Sure.” He had to admit, this wasn’t going to be a great position to sit in. He was tall and his back was prone to aching. He hoped Roman didn’t mind if he leaned back against him, because he was definitely going to.

 Not much later, the pair were seated in a lobby, Roman picking the map with the largest flat area to ink. “… Shouldn’t we pick one with more hiding spots?” Virgil asked over his shoulder.

“Nah, this one’s perfect.”

“If you say so…”

Roman shifted excitedly as they entered the stage, leaning forward eagerly and ready to race the clock. “Alright, turn your camera around, wait 60 seconds, and then start looking.”

They were silent for a while in concentration, but fifteen seconds into the round, Roman began to monologue. “You know, Virge… I’m so happy you’re in my life,” he laughed gently, nudging the man behind him with his shoulder as he carefully inked the ground. “The day you walked into that bar and saved me, ha! I’d never be the same. I couldn’t imagine a world without you, Bean pole.” Virgil raised an eyebrow, feeling the temptation to turn over his shoulder and ask where this came from, but he let him continue. “You’re the most important thing in the universe, to me. You make me happier than I could have ever been alone…” He paused for a moment as he inked a particular patch on the ground. “I don’t think I could ever let you go. And as the great Beyoncé says…” One last splash of ink and he set his controller down. “… If you like it, you should put a ring on it.”

Virgil’s heart skipped a beat.

Smiling gently, Roman pulled a small box from his pocket. “Look at the map.”

Virgil felt tears rising in his eyes as he pressed x, shaking hands dropping the controller to his lap as he read the words Roman had painted for him.

“Will you marry me?”

He looked to his left and saw his tiny robust pebble on one knee, eyes glistening as he held out the engagement band to his boyfriend. “So… will you?”

Virgil couldn’t find the right words. Nothing, absolutely nothing would be able to express just how much he was in love with this man. He choked out a sob and nodded, immediately scooting off the couch and wrapping his now-fiancé in the tightest hug he’d ever given him.

“Y-Yes.”

[cole-winchester]

I Won’t Run Away

Lethal Weapon Fic 

Clayne Crawford - Seasons One and Two based ONLY!  Don’t even get me started...

Summary:

A girl from Riggs' past surfaces and they discover they’re both as screwed up as the other.  Alcohol, depression, PTSD...You name it, they’ve got it.  When feelings develop, will their past trauma stand in the way of healing one another...or will it be their downfall?

Song inspiration for Title and Pic Quote:  I Won’t Run Away

Original Characters:

Aiden Gallagher - Main character opposite Martin Riggs  (pictured her as me in my head while writing - picture her as you wish with the descriptions given in story)

Robby Anderson - Main character’s ex (Pictured as Stephen Amell)

Mike Callahan - Main character’s friend/co-worker (Pictured as Dominic Purcell)

Warnings:

This is a whump fic.  There will be characters beaten to hell and back.  Some depression and PTSD flashbacks and suicidal dialog.  Read at your own caution.

Tag List:  Tags are always open, hit me up if you want on it!

@adorkabletiff91 @garcywinchester @t-rexprincess

Part One

"You good to close up, Mike?"  I sighed lightly as I leaned on the doorway to the bar’s office, running my hand absently through my dark brown hair.  The metal door frame was cool against my bare arm as I gazed down at the man.

"Yeah I got it."  He smiled as he closed the safe and stood, turning to me.  His tall broad frame making the office look much smaller than it was.  "I'll walk you out."  

I nod, grabbing my flannel and small cross-body bag off of the hook and met him at the front doors.

"You know you don't have to walk me out each night."  I smirked as I stepped up behind him. 

"Oh don't even start, Aiden."  Mike chuckled as he opened the door for me.  "There's too many psychos around this part of town at night." 

"Yeah, but I'm a big girl."  I joked and lightly bumped his heavily muscled arm with my shoulder.

He barked out a laugh.  "Not as big as me, sweetheart.  You're what?  All of 130 soaking wet?"

I giggled as my boots scuffed the sidewalk.  As much as I wanted to be tough, Mike was right.  Any creep on the street would have to think twice with him walking beside me.  He was tall, built to the nines with his wide jaw and shaved head...he was intimidating. 

Mike had taken me under his wing when I came to LA a while back looking for a job.  His bar needed the help and plus, he didn't want me getting caught up in a shitty situation that most pretty girls end up in out here.  He was a sweetheart and with two daughters of his own, he couldn't turn away the option of helping a girl like me out.

We headed around the corner to the small parking area next to the bar.  The cool air snaking around my legs.  Mike's gaze scanned the surrounding streets for any movement in the shadows. 

I turned to him as we reached my jeep and smiled.  "Thanks, Mike." I embraced him, wrapping my arms around his waist.  "You're a good friend."

Mike chuckled and pulled back, ruffling my hair with his large hand.  "See ya Sunday, kiddo.  Have fun at the barbeque tomorrow."

I smiled as he back stepped, shoving his hands in his pockets.  "G'night, Mike."

"Night."  He waited until I was safely in my jeep and pulling out of the lot onto the street before he made his way back to the bar. 

* * * *

I walked into the house, closing and deadbolting the door behind me.  I dropped my bag on the hook in the entry way and tossed my keys onto the small table.  I stepped down the hall towards the bedroom when the kitchen light flicked on, stopping me in my tracks.  My gaze snapped to the right and landed on the figure in the middle of the kitchen, my heart pounding.  

"I missed you, Aiden."

Robby...

"No!"  I screamed as I took off down the hallway.  How could he be here?!  He's in jail!  This isn't happening!

I reached for my cell in my shorts, but found nothing.  It was gone...as if it disappeared out of my pocket.

Shit!

I neared the corner of the hallway desperately trying to get to the landline in the dining room before he could.  A force slammed into my legs, knocking them out from under me as he came around the corner.  I crashed to the floor and quickly scrambled to get to my feet when his boot collided with my head, sending me backwards against the wall.

Wake up, Aiden!  Wake the fuck up!  This isn't happening!  My thoughts screamed as my vision spun.

"You should've never opened your mouth!"  Robby's hand dug into my hair, pulling me up from the floor and slamming my back against the wall.  "You stupid fucking whore!"

"This isn't happening.  This isn't happening.  Wake up!"  I whimpered as his face came into focus.  His ice blue eyes glaring at me with pure hatred as an evil grin spread across his face.

"Oh, it's fuckin' happening, sweetheart!"  He spat at me and lunged his right hand towards my stomach.

A white hot pain pierced my midsection sending fire throughout my body.  My eyes widened in shock as his face was inches from mine.  He eased back and I looked down as he pulled a crimson knife from my body.

"I told you I'd kill you for what you did to me.  You can't hide from me."  

My knees weakened and my body went numb as he lunged forward with the knife again.

* * * *

"No!"  I screamed and flailed as I woke from the nightmare, tumbling off the bed in a tangled heap of sweat soaked sheets.  I panted frantically as I clutched my stomach where the knife had been in the dream.  The dull phantom ache of it still lingering.

I've had the same nightmare at least once a week since I'd testified against Robby, resulting in him being locked up for the next twenty years.  My shrink said it's perfectly normal in these type of circumstances...but for three years?  

He's locked up in max.  He's 3 states away.  He can't get to you.  You're safe. 

I repeat in my head, trying to calm the shaking in my hands.  I absently reach up and trace the jagged scar running from my temple down to my jaw in front of my ear.  It seems to burn at my touch, bringing back memories I've tried to put behind me.  I shake my head, willing the images away.  Untangling myself I look over to my alarm clock...the bright red letters blazing back at me...530am.  I sigh and flop back against the side of the bed.  I'd only had a couple hours of sleep since my shift at the bar.  Deciding that it was useless to try and get any more sleep, I hauled myself to my feet.  

Well... time for whiskey and some paint therapy.

I head over to the spare bedroom that I'd turned into my art studio.  The floors covered with old flat sheets, stacks of fresh canvases tipped against one wall, finished pieces tucked in protective boxes ready to be sold against another and my large easel in the center with a fresh canvas.  Aside from the bar, I had a part time afternoon shift at a local coffee shop and in my spare time, I created and sold paintings.  Some were hung in the coffee shop advertised for sale, and every few months I did a small showing downtown.  That's where I'd first met Trish Murtaugh.  Her daughter, Riana, was a regular at the coffee shop in the afternoons when she got out of school.  She'd eyed my paintings and had brought her mother to one of my showings.  Trish had fallen in love with my art immediately.  I was more of an abstract emotional artist.  Most of it consisted of blacked out female silhouettes, some profiles, some full body, with bright colors splattered, slashed or dripped down around them.  I also dabbled in realistic portraits and some custom commissioned work.

Today?  Today called for some paint throwing.  

I grabbed my bottle of whiskey and downed a shot, slamming it down on the table.  I popped a can of paint open without looking at the color and reached my fingers in, coating them in the bright purple liquid.   I stepped about five feet in front of the canvas....and flung my hand toward it like I was throwing a baseball.  

I got lost.  My mind blank with whiskey buzz and zoned in on the task at hand.  Grabbing random colors and splattering them against the sheer white background of the canvas.  The paint slightly dripping and mixing together to form its own shade.  I was in my element.  Lost in my own universe as the world around me ceased to exist. 

After a while I stepped back a moment, gazing at the splattered canvas in front of me.  The contrasting splotches of neon colors scattered across the face of it.  It needed something.  I set the can of paint down and stomped the few feet to the canvas.  I drug my fingers through the wet paint, creating swirls and spirals in strategic order around the piece.  I eyed it for another moment, gauging its story.  Satisfied with my work, I wiped my hands clean on a rag and downed another shot of whiskey, plopping down in the corner of the room.  I sighed and leaned my head back against the wall and gazed out the side window at the rising sun.  A new day had begun.

* * * *

I had managed to catch a few more hours of shut eye thanks to Mr. Daniels, when I was awoken from a text alert.  

Shit, what time was it?! 

I fumbled for my phone on the nightstand as I sat up against the headboard. 

1130AM  

Oops, guess I got more than just a few hours..

I rubbed my eyes as I opened my Messages.

Trish: You're still coming today right?

Yes.  Wouldn't miss it.  You need me to bring anything?

Trish:  Just yourself! :)  I can't wait for you to meet everyone.

Awesome.  I'll see you then!

I locked my phone and tossed it on the bed as I stretched my stiff muscles.  I had two hours before I had to be at the Murtaugh's.  Thank god Trish had texted me.

* * * *

I eased my Wrangler at the curb across from the Murtaugh residence.  I felt weird not bringing anything to the barbecue but Trish insisted, and from what I'd gathered so far in our friendship, you don't argue with her.  I glanced around at the few cars in the driveway and along the street as I stepped out onto the pavement.  At least I wasn't the first one here...that's always a little awkward.  I made my way across the street as I heard laughter coming from the backyard.  Assuming everyone was outside, I let myself in the side gate.  As I rounded the side of the house I was greeting by a decent sized group.  Some teenagers Riana's age but majority were adults that most likely worked with Trish or her husband, Roger.  

"Hey!  You made it!"  Riana bounded off of the deck to me, embracing me in an excited hug.  I laughed and hugged her back.  "Mom's inside grabbing some more wine.  Come on!"  She grabbed my hand with a big smile on her face as she led me over to the grill.  "Dad!"  

A man looked up from the grill at her call and he smiled as he stepped to us.  "Ah, this must be the famous Aiden I've heard so much about.  Roger."  He held out his hand to me.  I took his hand and smiled, laughing off his comment.   His eyes darted to my scar and quickly back to my gaze, his smile only faltering slightly before he recovered. 

"Nice to meet you."  I said as I released his hand.

"Likewise.  Trish has shown me some of your work.  You're really talented."  

"Thank you."  I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.  I was never one that accepted praise very well.

"Oh!"  Trish's voice sounded from the deck behind us.  "I'm so glad you could make it!"  She stepped down and handed Roger a plate of burgers before embracing me.  "You want something to drink?"

"Sure."  I glanced around at the coolers lining the deck.  

"There's beer in the coolers and wine inside."  She smiled and turned slightly to Roger, dropping her voice to a heated whisper.  "Is he coming?  Where is he?"

"I don't know he said he'd be here."  Roger wasn't as quiet as his wife so I was still able to catch the conversation...and then it hit me.

"Oh, god, Trish.  Tell me you're not trying to set me up with someone?"  I smirked and crossed my arms over my chest.

Both her and Roger snapped their attention back to me.  Roger looked guilty as hell and Trish plastered on a mischievous smile.  "I-I wouldn't call it 'setting you up.'  More of ... just a friendly introduction."

"Ugh."  I sighed and dropped my head back chuckling.  "While I appreciate the offer...I'm not looking to date anyone right now."  I gave her a small smile.

I hadn't opened up to her yet about my past.  This was the first time aside from my art gallery shows that we'd actually hung out.  We'd become friends but not to the point yet of sharing our deep secrets.  I'd caught her and Riana eyeing my scar each time we'd seen each other, but they both had the respect to not ask about it.  I just wasn't ready to share that dark part of my history yet with anyone.

"I'm not asking that you read anything into it.  He's a great guy.  A little rough around the edges but-"

Trish was cut off by a commotion from the side yard at the corner of the deck.

"Aw, you guys didn't have to wait for me to get here!  Let's get this party started!"  A loud male voice echoed through the yard.

"Speak of the devil."  Roger muttered as Trish threw me a smile before moving behind me towards the man.  

"Martin!  I'm glad you came!  Come here, I'd like you to meet someone."  I turned as Trish laced her arm through the man’s and guided him over toward me.

I froze.  

Martin stopped abruptly when I’d turned to face them.  Trish didn't seem concerned and stopped with him, smiling as she motioned for me to come forward.  Martin removed his sunglasses and his shocked amber gaze bore into me.  Everything around me seemed to stop as my pulse pounded in my ears as our eyes remained locked with each other.

"Martin, this is my friend-"  Trish began.

Martin breathed out in disbelief, cutting her off.  “Aiden..?”

[naturalhealthgodsway]

Taming the Clock - Managing Household Chores

So far this quarter, we've been covering Taming the Clock. April's theme was taming the clock by keeping our word. Living in a way that shows the agreements you make matter, the appointments you make matter, the promises you make matter is huge toward any kind of change in how you manage your time. May's focus has been taming the clock around town although during COVID many of those subjects have been handled closer to home. June's theme will be taming the clock in the home from chores and mealtimes to bedtime routines, boundaries and unstructured play. As the coming Thursday to Wednesday week wraps up May and begins June, June will be a 5 themed-week month. We begin this cross-over week between months on the subject of chores. How do you handle chores in your home? Does one person do most of the chores? Do you divvy them up among those who want to help? Is it mandatory that all members have certain chores they do? Do you change them up? What age do you or did you begin introducing chores to your children? In my home, I began introducing household tasks to my kids when they began making messes. As babies, this meant holding them as they grabbed a toy, then carrying them over to the toy bin so they could drop the toy into the bin and then congratulating them on help me clean up their toys. My daughter was such an avid bookworm as a baby that I taught her to put her books back on the shelf before she could read the words. She loved books so much as a baby that one night, my not-yet-ex and I heard a commotion in the bedroom. My kids shared a room at that time, and my son was busy pulling all the books of the shelf and putting them into my daughter’s crib. She was in heaven! We very quickly figured out how to give them separate rooms after that! When they played in the plastics cupboard, they had to put all the plastics away when they were done. Little age-appropriate measures to begin instilling the concept that we put back what we bring out. When I became a single mother, these lessons took on more importance because now there was only one parent in the home. Putting toys away at bedtime was already a given, but getting things ready for the next day was now added to that routine. That became so much habit after awhile that to this day, when my kids work the next day now as young adults, they prep for it the night before as a matter of course. It’s just what they do. If you introduce them to helping you put away plastic-ware in the kitchen and helping you set the table at mealtimes, helping you fold wash-clothes and lighter clothing after the laundry is dry, and helping you put the groceries away, when they are pre-school and kindergarten, you will notice something. There will come a stage when suddenly, vacuuming the couch cushions is fun! Dusting the window sills is somehow fun for them! They are declaring they’ll wash the dishes tonight, or some other chore. Grab these moments quickly and use them to teach good cleaning habits! If they are very cerebral, go ahead and explain as you go about the why’s and hows of the task and the benefits to doing it every week. This phase unfortunately tends to pass for many kids, but it will have been a shortened learning curve for various chores that you can build on as they grow. I am reminded of a time when I was still going to college my kids were ages 4 and 6. I had come down with one heck of the flu so bad I could hardly walk or talk and spent most of my time in bed. My kids, bless their little hearts at the time, tried to help out by a) plugging in the kettle on my bed which meant me spilling it when I shifted, all over that end of the bed! b) trying to do the laundry and figuring the soak cycle meant it was done, sloshing sounds got me out of bed to discover sopping wet clothes being put in the dryer! Quickly, although with difficulty, averted that electrical fire. . . c) being informed (not freaked out, just calmly) that there had been a fire on the stove. I tore out of bed as fast as my wooziness and dizziness would let me, got into the kitchen to find my daughter on a chair at the stove and my son pointing to the sink. I lifted out a T-towel now sporting a huge hole in the middle. I spun around to be reassured by the kids that they got the fire out and dinner was almost ready! Oh my word! I will NEVER forget that day! In their young little minds, they were trying to help mom out (had become a single mom when they were 3 and 5 hardly 6 months earlier) By all means as a #singlemother, when your #kids hit grades 1 and 2, start divvying up the #household #chores. Click To TweetAt that age, they can fold all the laundry minus the bed sheets. They can take turns washing the dishes. They can learn how to wash windows and mirrors and counter tops. They can learn how to work the vacuum cleaner and how to wash the floors. They can learn how to cook simple nutritious meals and can begin finessing how their toys are put away. Some will prefer by colour, others by size, others by type. Once organized, take pictures of their work and be super proud of them to begin with. As they mature and grow, change up who does what so they get experience learning how to do all the household chores. This takes some of the load of all the chores off your own shoulders. Some days you will spend more time helping them and less time being productive elsewhere, but if you are ensuring they are doing as you are teaching, you are not robbing them of this important learning period. Eventually you will be able to remind them and do something else while they do their assigned chores. This will give you time to relax a moment, or handle that phone call, get that bill paid, write that blog article, have your devotions, etc.

Another tip for managing household chores is to take your own list of chores, and break them up into a weekly list. I share this concept with graduated high schoolers in my book: Mom’s Little Black Book: Godly Advice for the High School Graduate available on Amazon. Pull out a calendar or planner, and write in which days of the week you will do which chores. Your kids’ chores can be written in this way too if setting aside one day for chores doesn’t work in your home. Having one day just for chores works best if possible, as you all know that on that day, the house gets cleaned and only smaller chores like cooking, dishes, and putting away toys are ongoing. But if your schedule is such that there is no single day when the housework can be attacked, spread it out over the course of the week. This has worked well for me for many years! Be flexible! If one person’s schedule suddenly take s drastic shift and they can’t do their chore very well anymore, shuffle the chores so that someone else gets those chores instead. If someone develops a long term mobility issue or health problem that prevents them from doing another chore, do the chore shuffle again. You will be glad you taught them how to do all the chores by the time they hit their tweens, because now it’s just a matter of adjusting who does what and the chores continue to be handled.

One thing that I see many parents doing that can honestly be a source of stress for the single mom, is that of assigning allowances to chores, as if they are paying their kids to help around the house. Don’t do this!!! Never give the impression that one should be paid to keep house and home clean and healthy! Your kids are not paying you, and no one else is paying you either. If you have a dirty home, you will get sick and so will your kids. If you have a clean home, you will be healthier and so will your kids. Many single moms are living pay cheque to pay cheque, and get stressed out thinking their 10yr olds should be getting allowances. Allowances are seen as the only way to teach them money management. Here is where I am counter-cultural and my two young adults will tell you they were none the worse for it and actually can use their money better than many of their peers. Instead of allowances, include them in discussions around how to spend the grocery shopping budget. Include them in discussions about which bills will be paid this month and which will be put off till next month if your income is genuinely that tight. Mine was for quite awhile so this was quite seriously, me back then. No judgment if this is you too. When they are given gift money, teach them to spend part of it on what they need, part of it as a thank offering to God for the gift, and part of it to something they want. When I was a child, these took the form of three envelopes under the bed: Saving, giving, spending. The saving envelope was not to be spent until it had enough in it for what I wanted to buy. The giving envelope was to be emptied every Sunday at church. The spending envelope was for things I needed. I did not grow up with an allowance either, so these envelopes did not always have anything in them. Whenever my kids wanted to spend their money, we would discuss needs versus wants and why. But I never ever ever paid them to do chores. EVER! This is a bad precedence to set and can cause trouble down the road, especially when they get friends convincing them to sit you down and discuss a raise because Johnny two houses over gets paid this much to fold his laundry and you’re only paying this much! Not a wise move. You want the household chores to be done because you are family, not employees. Anyone who lives there pitches in with the chores simply because it is their home too. Everyone has a stakes in keeping house and home clean and reasonably tidy and workable. Give some thought to how you handle chores around your home, and if you are not already divying up the chores to your children, ask yourself why and reach out if this is something you could use a little help in. Simply use the free SPA session (single parent assessment) form to give me a shout and we’ll take a few minutes to go over your situation and how you can handle it better. If you decide you could use ongoing assistance for awhile, we will discuss payment for my services and get you started on a regular coaching schedule as we work toward workable daily routines in and around your particular home’s dynamic. Read the full article

[mexican-texican]

In the Strangest of Places

Roxanne/Megamind K+ rating Writers block sucks. Especially when the story came out of nowhere and the deadline is in less than a week. But what better thing for Roxanne to do than go out for a breather, maybe get some ideas. Or meet someone along the way that could help with the push. (Slightly OOC, two quiet strangers out for a walk) updated, with FF.net and AO3 links now available! please let me in

She has a problem all of its own. Staring at the little line on her word document blink in mockery of her brain's refusal to cooperate for the segment she has been tacked with in a last minute decision to have something up for Thanksgiving day.

She doesn't know how it will come about, only that it has to (if you want to make ratings you have to give them what they want she can hear him say in her ear, the feeling of his breath like a snail being dragged across the curve of the cartilage)

(she shivers at the reliving of that feeling)

And yet the line keeps blinking, her mind dragging in that slow way the snail moves, this time across the windowsill where she keeps the outdoor plants near the fire escape. She realizes she's been staring at that damn thing move for thirty-two minutes now, her mind jumping from wondering how it managed to climb fifteen flights of stairs to I should probably put a can of beer out there and she chides herself for not being able to focus on the problem at hand.

She's stuck.

And it's not the same kind of stuck she usually gets when she's on a roll and comes to a wall on how to move forward with her work.

It's the stuck were the gears refuse to move, oil and grease dumping over the metal relentlessly and no amount of torque and lubrication can make them budge from the iron grip. Regardless of how often she leaves the laptop, or reads on other segments and stories (fact or fictional), or even decides to distract herself with a mindless task (at least that half knitted scarf she started in middle school has been done. Half assed and sad but done).

She grunts at the laptop as the clock on the top right joins in the mockery. 9:38. Thirty-eight minutes now and not a letter closer to having the file done in time for the deadline.

Shifting in her seat on the couch, the dog yawns as it translates the mood of the room through body language, having climbed up alongside her lap after she finally ignored his licking noises and hasn't bothered to tell him to get down.

why did she take in the dog on a holiday? why did Karen have to leave for a whole week for thanksgiving? She's never met anyone to enjoy the company of their own family THAT much. Regardless, she took in the angry little fur-ball and hasn't really taken the time to know him. Closing the laptop on the blank file, she proceeds to rummage her closet for immense layers of clothing for the weather (barely twenty-seven outside but you can never be too warm), grabs a hold of the miniature parka Karen brought for the dog (that's what FUR is for Roxanne had told her, to which Karen held up the hairless chihuahua) and started the routine act of getting them both bundled up for a walk.

Halfway down the elevator and she's already regretting the idea of walking the dog. He keeps growling and lunging towards every person coming in and out throughout the ride.

"Why does she love you?" she groans, completely absentminded of the fact there was still a person behind her on the ride down. This one the dog fails to intimidate, for they have interesting smells surrounding their feet.

Once they have reached the lobby she has another pang of regret, the cold unforgivingly cutting through the warm shield of her clothing. Even the dog seems to hesitate with his walking towards the front door as he breaks into a violent shiver.

She stops as the person behind her clears their way to the lobby doors, a brief moment of recalculation as she slowly waves out a finger towards the buttons and commands the elevator to drop down into the parking garage.

She knows she's just prolonging the inevitable cold but that's okay in her mind, so long as she rides without the heater on.

They drive aimlessly down the city, bright lights giving way to darkened neighborhoods, until she reaches a somewhat familiar part of town she's not sure she's ever been in before. Pulling over to a curb, she eyes the vacant streets and is relieved for the lack of other restless walkers, considering the fact that Karen specifically mentioned Gorton not liking the company of other dogs.

(you named him after Ramsay? She asked. No, I named him after the fish-sticks Karen clarified)

Turning the car off and getting the leash back on, she walks with no direction in mind. Since the buildings in the area aren't as densely packed as they would be within the downtown area, there aren't any sudden wind tunnels or drastic changing in temperature from walking by heating ducts, and the best part is no other random strangers in the dark.

With Gorton strolling ahead of her, she pays no mind to where they're heading, and even gains confidence in letting him lead with his leash unhooked. Hey, she feels like bending a few rules tonight, it's not like there's anyone around to see.

Her eyes slowly adjust to the growing darkness, a few stray floodlights lighting the way blinding her of their current path. He takes a couple of trotting steps, stops at a spot of interest to take in a few lingering smells, and continues with his nose leading the way.

It isn't until she hears the soft voiced murmuring of a person nearby and the familiar ringing of another dog's collar that she panics and tries to call out for Gorton to come back, but it's useless, the dog has as much attachment to her as a fish to a hook.

"It's okay," the voice calls out. "She's friendly."

"Yeah, but he's not."

Her ribcage suddenly hurts with worry that the dog would get injured around the other, much bigger one, its looming white figure making it look very much like a-

"Ghost, will you cut that? He's not a plaything," the man's voice calls out to the silent dog, the bouncing creature giddy with excitement, knocking over Gorton with one silent swoop of her body.

Gorton stares at the sky after having been flipped on his back, not sure what the hell just happened.

"I do apologize, she doesn't get to interact very much with other dogs, not since she lost use of her voice-box."

"Oh you poor thing," she sympathizes, wanting to kneel to give the white dog a good rubbing, but she seems to be preoccupied with, Gorton remaining on his back- is, he submitting?

"Quitter," she calls out playfully, straightening herself out and securing her hands back in the shield of her coat pockets.

"If I may ask, what, brings you around this area, at this time of night? We hardly get any visitors in our neighborhood," the man calls out. She's still having trouble making out his figure, and it's hard to tell with all the layered clothing and multiple headwear he seems to be sporting.

"Actually, I'm, stuck on a current story of mine," she replies shyly, diverting her eyes to the iced rainwater drain they stood alongside to avoid eye contact.

(Not like they could see each other's faces in the dark anyway, the way both of them remain in the shadows)

"Writer," he states more than asks, she nods in confirmation.

"Fictional, or?-"

"Journalism."

"Ah," he words out with an upwards nod of his head. "So you walking around at this time of night, and getting stuck on your story relates-?"

She runs her free hand over the arm holding the leash. "It helps clear my mind. When I get stuck in a rut."

He goes quiet, in agreement or contemplation she's not sure of, but she keeps the silence and watches the dogs do their playful dance.

"It's frustrating, you know, getting stuck on something you can clearly see in your head," she says through the quiet.

"Sometimes I'll be working on something for so long, then another story comes through, disrupting my plans. I actually had a story set aside that I had been working on for a few months now and planned on releasing it earlier this month. And I pushed the release a week. Then another. Until I got stuck, and it didn't help that my boss tossed me a non-descriptive story with a Thanksgiving deadline this Sunday. Told me to just "wing it". Could be over anything as long as it was holiday themed."

She huffs and gives a kick towards a stray pebble, never looking up towards the stranger.

"I know how that feels like."

She looks up from her downturned gaze with curious surprise, letting him go on his own.

"Sometimes I get an idea, a plo-plan. And I end up trailing another one before the first is finished. By the end of it I end up leaving a trail of notes strung together, and some-how they still make sense. Barely."

"You know sometimes taking a break does help, I've gotten my fair share of "block's" broken through a nap, eating a snack," he continues as he lifts his fingers to his mouth and letting out a whistle, calling out his dog to stand by his side with barely held in excitement.

"Sometimes it takes you doing something unexpected, taking a different route people expect from you. If anything, I'm willing to bet you could get back on that thing this very moment and tear that wall down, because sometimes you find inspiration in the strangest of places. From my experience at least."

She buries herself in the comforting warmth of her coat, a delicate smile teasing over her fingers grasping the plaid scarf around her neck.

"Hey, you know what, thanks. I'll-, I'm gonna hit the keyboard, I think, I got myself straightened out."

"No problem," the desolate voice calls out towards her shadowed figure, already turned away and heading back into the darkness that leads to her car, the small dog panting and jumping excitedly around her feet.

She doesn't see that he stands there a moment too long, watching her walk away. Doesn't notice the weak shifting of his feet, the white dog waging in place with her silent smile and floating through the air to hover by her master's elbow as he turns to head back home.

"Come on Ghost, I think I finally figured out how to fix that voice box of yours."