#guess who’s packing up all her shit and moving out in the next two weeks while this roommate is out of the country

[futureghost97]

okay so update I’m gonna be doing something Evil and I legitimately hate that I’m doing it… legit wish that I had the luxury of being nice in this situation

[flowerfreya]

Best 3/4

Part 9 of the office AU

Masterlist

The boys figured that they need to lay off reader and the best way to do that is to back with their ex (boys are dumb)

Pairing : Poly!141 x reader

A/n: sorry there’s a lot of Simon x reader , he’s my comfort character and my fav trope is I har everyone but you and he gives that so much. I’m not the best writer so I have trouble with flow sometimes so bare with me

You’ve been working for 141 industries for about 2 months now, it’s nice to have your own. Own money, your own car, and your own apartment. You think that the boys have gotten back with their ex, and that is making you feels some things that if you didn’t care you shouldn’t feel.

Their ex only seems to like all of them except for Simon , he seems almost like an afterthought to her. She rolls in the office, always leaves the front door open and just waltzes into John’s office , without even an ask to see if he’s in a meeting.

“I’m sorry ,he’s in a mee-”, she interrupts you with a wave and a fake smile, goes in and shuts the door and closes the blinds. You huff out a breath and look up to see Simon staring at you , letting out a small shrug. Simon and you both stand up, it’s lunch time. Everyday at the same time , you get up and eat lunch , whether that is in the breakroom or getting something to eat at a fast food place. Simon started joining you a little over two weeks ago, you noticed that Simon doesn’t really bring lunch just eats shit out of the vending machine.

You started making and packing extra food for him.

“I have extra food today, if you want some”, you sit down at the same table next to him.

“`M good”, as he opens a bag of chips.

“Please just eat, I always make too much food”, shoving the food towards him. He gives you a look and you give him a small smile and nod your head towards the food.

“So, how long have you guys been dating”, you wave your hand in a you know who gesture.

He makes a hum noise, “who?”

“The women in Price’s office” .

“Oh,I guess our girlfriend”.

“She doesn’t seem to like to hang out with you”

“Yeah, well I’m not the best guy”.

“I beg to differ”, you think that Simon is the nicest guy you’ve met. He helped you when he really didn’t have too and likes to eat lunch with you and appreciates your food too.

You hear a shrill , “Receptionist”,she can’t even remember your name. She kind of slaps the table like she’s hitting a bell. You see her just standing there , waiting for you.

“Yes”

“I need you to clear John’s schedule for tomorrow afternoon”

You turn to look at John in office with the door shut, focused on his computer,”Uhh does John now about this”, you question.

“Of course, sweetie”, she is using her fake customer voice , you know because you are using it too.

“ I think, I’m going to ask him , just in case”, you start to move in the direction of his office. No way he really wants to clear his schedule, you’ve never seen him take lunch. A whole afternoon off, no way.

You knock as you push the door open, “Hi, Mr.Price, just trying to fig-”,

“Not now”.

“Oh well I was-”

He looks up then with a harsh brown and a closed mouth speaking through his teeth , “Not now”.

It shocks you, he’s never talked to you like that but you have been talked to like that a lot. Your natural response is to quiet down and get out the way. You quietly back out the room and sit back down at your desk.

You look up at her still waiting for you to clear the schedule, “I guess it’s fine”

“Wonderful” , she has such a wide smile and is so pretty. You think you hate her.

“Opps almost forgot”, she walks to Soap and gives him a big kiss and you can definitely see tongue. You want to look away but you can’t help it , it’s enticing. She lets out a little giggle and wipes her mouth and then saunters out the door.

Simon is sitting there, no kiss received, and is staring at you.

[lost-girl-2021]

Adopted Spider Headcanons (Metkayina Edition)

I've been reading fics where Spider's adopted by Ronal and Tonowari the past couple days and now I'm obsessed. The problem is that I mostly write angst and I really wanna read hurt/comfort, lol.

I feel like the typical/common way that I see Spider get taken in is basically him doing his little beach bum shit after everything and slowly getting adopted into their family. And I eat it up. Every. Single. Time.

Spider: *Building a campfire, roasting his own food* Ronal/Tonowari/Tsireya or Anoung: *Why is the Sully's adoptive son alone on the beach?* *Oh well, mine now*

I feel like Ronal would definitely be way at first, she's made it no secret that she strongly dislikes Sky People. But, I'd imagine that eventually, she comes to see him not just as a human, but as a child. And a child who is alone and in need of help.

Aounung would probably be the same. I have this idea of him giving Spider a hard time (after all the carnage/damage/dead people have been handled). Like, trying to mess with him as much as possible, just being an asshole. And then, maybe Spider goes under for a long time while Aounung is on the beach weaving or something. And, even though Spider has a mask and can breath underwater as well as he does above it, Aounung somehow forgot that and freaks, thinking the human has drowned.

Aounung tossed his half-repaired net aside, diving into the water. He whipped around, eyes catching on the mess of dirty blond. Pushing further, he grabbed the boy by the armpits, shooting to the surface and pulling the human onto land. He flipped him over, meeting confused eyes as he placed a hand on his chest. He was breathing fine, not even panting from being under for so—

Spider's mask glinted in the sun. Aounung was an idiot.

"Are you . . . okay?" The smaller boy asked hesitantly, making no move to sit up.

"You were under for a long time." He mumbled, pulling away.

Spider's face split into a grin. "Did you— did you think I was— "

"Quiet." He hissed, standing up. "We will never speak of this again."

Spider's laughter followed him as he stormed away.

I feel like with Tsireya, she would've immediately been all over him. Like, this is Spider, Lo'ak's supposed best friend. The human boy who acted just like he was Na'vi. It probably started mostly as curiosity, but I think that after seeing how the Sully's interacted with Spider, she'd be confused about his place, his family. If Spider didn't sleep in the Sully's marui, didn't eat with them— then where did he do those things?

Tsireya glided along the water, Lo'ak a few feet from her. "Why doesn't Spider stay in your marui?"

Lo'ak raised a brow. "Uh . . . I don't know. He lives with the humans, I guess. Always has."

"But . . . the humans left after helping Kiri. They have not returned."

"They . . . they haven't?" He cleared his throat. "I'm sure Dad has it handled. There's probably a new shack or something for him."

Consider Spider's mask running low and there isn't a spare anywhere. As a kid, he never was gone from the shack long enough for his battery to run low and during his time with the recoms, there were always spares in someone's pack when he needed it. Idk how long the masks last, but for my own sake, I'm going to say Spider got a new one the day of the battle and it lasted him about a week. Or maybe, he managed to pillage one as the ship went down so he's on his second and it's like two weeks or so.

I think that when he saw the little red light flashing, a small beep-beep sounding, that he'd probably be like a kid who forgot there was a test. He'd just panic. But, I imagine he'd also be scared to bother the Sully's by telling them, so he'd spend the next hour searching the village (discreetly) to see if there were any pilfered batteries or masks left behind when the humans visited. Let's say he has two hours from when the mask starts flashing to change it out. And where, oh where, does he wind up when he's got a half-hour left?

Spider was not panicking. Because, when a human panicked, they breathed faster and wasted more air. Norm told him that, so it had to be true. But, he'd checked everywhere he could think of and . . . nothing. There was no shack, no Norm or Max to run to before his timer ran out. No humans. Only him. And in a matter of . . . fuck, twenty minutes, he was going to die just like a human.

He sat slumped on the beach, looking out into the water and trying his best not to openly sob. He didn't want to die crying like a little baby. It was not working out well for him. At least, he'd have a good view when he died.

"Child? What is wrong?"

Spider flinched, looking up with wide eyes at the clan leader. He'd only talked to Tonowari once, when Jake had introduced him. Of course, given his spectacular luck, the man would find him when he was on death's doorstep.

With a sniffle, he held up his beeping pack. "It's almost out. Twenty minutes."

The man frowned down, grasping the device carefully. "And that is why you're so upset? Because, you don't wish to go into the village for a new one? Did something happen? Someone make you feel unwelcome?"

"There is no new mask." There was also no home to go back to. "That was my only one."

With a cut-off gasp, he pulled Spider to his feet. He marched the boy through the village and into what he recognized as the healer's marui. The Tsahik was mixing something, but she stood as soon as they entered.

"Tonowari?" She asked, stepping closer. "What happened? Is he hurt?"

"His mask, where's the spare?"

Wordlessly, the woman pulled a mask from one of the many baskets, easily connecting the tubing and turning it on. Like, she'd done it before. Spider had no time to ask why she had such a thing before she was right in front of him.

"Take a deep breath." She ordered, unlatching the straps of his mask before pulling it off. Just as quickly, the new one was secured. Spider hadn't even moved.

I think that even before deciding to adopt Spider, Tonowari and Ronal would probably make sure he had spare masks and check what food he could/couldn't eat. Like, as soon as they realize the Sully's aren't caring for him, they'd probably subconsciously take responsibility for him. Because, he was just a kid, really. And kids were clumsy and careless and needed help, needed parents. Anoung and Tsireya, despite being independent and skilled, still needed their parents sometimes. Let their mother do their hair and insisted on their father de-gutting their catches. And Spider— Spider is fragile. He's skilled and smart and quick on his feet, but he's a human surrounded by Na'vi. Not to mention, one wrong move and he's left with a cracked mask. And what if he eats the wrong food, mistakes one fruit for another and ends up poisoned?

This ended up way longer that I thought it would be, lol. But, I really love these types of fics and if anyone has any recs or wants to hear more, my comment section is open. XD

[absurdthirst]

Unexpectedly Reunited {Joel Miller x F!Reader}

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 15.5k

Warnings: No Outbreak AU, cheating, infidelity, surprise reunions, flirting, mentions of loss of a child, seemingly unrequited love, past crushes, abandonment, fingering, vaginal sex, rougher sex, oral sex (female and male receiving), cum eating, feelings, miscommunication, angst, degrading comments

Comments: Running away to the Cape, you find someone you had never expected to see again. Joel Miller. The blast from the past manages to heal your broken heart and you learn where life has taken him to bring him here.

Co-written with @storiesofthefandomlovers

**Follow @absurdthirst-writes and turn on notifications to stay up to date on all new fics.

|| MasterList || Joel Miller MasterList ||

Click Keep Reading only if you have read the Rating and Warnings and understand the warnings may not be complete to avoid listing spoilers. As AO3 says 'creator chooses not to use warnings'. You also agree that you're the right age to be consuming anything here.

"You motherfucker!" You yell at your boyfriend who is currently buried inside of the co-worker he told you to not worry about despite you discovering him in your bed after you decided to surprise him with lunch since he works at home. He scrambles, pulling out of Sienna and you shake your head, "it's over. Get your shit out of my apartment. Today." You shriek and he covers himself up with the blanket you got from your mom for your birthday. 

"Baby please. Let me just-" He tries to explain but you cut him off. 

"Today, Jason. Today!" You yell, spinning on your heel and you rush out of your apartment with tears in your eyes. You sob as you get into your car, the lunch abandoned in the kitchen and you're no longer hungry. You sit there for hours, watching from afar as Jason moves his stuff from your place and you call your mom to tell her what happened. 

"I always told you he was a piece of shit, baby. He's an asshole. You're better off without him. Better to find this out now instead of later." She says softly. "Your aunt has that place on the Cape and she's in Italy for the next two weeks. Why don't you go there? Go relax and get out of town. Take time to get yourself together." She suggests.

The Cape, the idea has a certain appeal. Texas is currently hot, too hot, and you don’t want to be anywhere near your old group of friends and acquaintances. People that know Jason. People that might pity you, or secretly approve of him cheating on you. You imagine walking along the beach and letting the salty air seep into your skin. Maybe read a few books in a lounger and find some bar where you can just have a few drinks. Or, the house is nice, maybe you will just sit out on the deck and drink wine. “I guess. If I leave now, I could be there late tomorrow. Are you sure she won’t mind?” 

Your mom snorts through the line and you can imagine her face. “Of course not. Get your bag packed and get on the road. The key is in a little box on the garage door. Combination to open it is 9-26-13.” 

You sigh, watching as Jason closes the truck of the car with the last of his stuff. “Thanks mom, I’ll be on the road in twenty minutes. I don’t want to spend a night in that bed. I’m going to have to order another one.” 

When you arrive at your aunt’s house; you are exhausted and waste no time showering and getting into bed. The emotional drain of the past 36 hours is too much and you take a nap. When you wake up, it’s late and you have some of the snacks you brought with you while on the road. You’ll go food shopping tomorrow. You eventually fall back asleep, eager to explore tomorrow which comes far too soon when you’re woken up by drilling. You startle awake, checking the clock to see it’s 7:30 am and you whine, rubbing your eyes as you shuffle out of the bed, ready to reprimand the asshole who is drilling next door.

“Goddamn header.” Joel grunts out a curse, taking his hand off the hammer drill he had been using to wipe the sweat that is rolling into his eyes. “Send me some fuckin’ lumber that’s straight and I’ll fix the goddamn thing.” High up on the scaffolding, he’s cursing everyone from the lumber distributor to himself for taking this job. It’s been a shit show and it doesn’t seem like anything is going to go his way today.

You wrap your robe around yourself and huff as you stomp outside, raising your hand to cover your eyes from the early morning sun as you look up at the scaffolding. “Excuse me!” You yell and Joel continues drilling. “Excuse me!” You yell again and the drilling continues. “Fuck me!” You scream and the drilling stops. 

“That’s a mighty nice offer darlin’ but I barely know you.” Joel jokes as he removes his headset. 

“Why the hell are you drilling at this time in the morning?” You yell at him and he sets the drill down so he can climb down the scaffolding to talk to you. You wait, tapping your foot impatiently. 

“I was hired to do this job. I have a permit. I am starting early to avoid the rain this afternoon. Not that I have to explain myself to - wait…do I know you?” Joel asks, frowning as he removes his sunglasses to get a better look at you.

When it dawns on him who you are, his eyes widen and he murmurs your name. Never expecting to see you again. “Holy shit. What are you doing on the east coast?” He asks when he can speak again. The last time he had seen you was at his wedding. After that day, you had just….ghosted him, making him feel like your friendship had meant nothing.

As soon as he says your name you recognize him. “Joel? Joel Miller?” You gasp in shock. It’s been a while since you’ve seen the man that was your teenage crush. He was your next door neighbor and a lot older than you but you always had such a massive crush on him. You became friends after you got back from college to live with your parents again and that’s when you truly fell in love with him. Then he met Helen and you knew he would never feel the same way. Resigned to being his friend, you supported him but always secretly hoped he’d realize what was right in front of him. He didn’t and you ended up leaving town after watching him marry Helen on a beautiful summer day. He’s just as handsome. Shit, just as sexy. “I- this is my aunt’s house. You know the one who is a journalist.” You explain, “I- I came here to escape the Texas heat.” You lie, “what the hell are you doing here?” You ask, genuinely curious how a typical Texan like Joel is in the northeast.

Joel’s expression shutters, his eyes flattening slightly and he grunts. “Work.” He lies, having sensed you are lying too. You have puffy eyes, like you’ve been spending a lot of time crying, though you’re still just as beautiful as the last time he saw you. “Like I’m tryin’ to do now. But it’s a bitch and-“ he twists his neck towards the dark clouds rolling in from the west. “I want to get this sealed up before the rain starts.”

You nod, “I understand. Sorry for yelling. I just got in last night from Texas and I’m exhausted from driving nonstop. I didn’t expect the work to be done so early. I’m awake now, so carry on. I’m gonna get some coffee. Anywhere local you’d recommend?” You ask when his eyes meet yours once more and you are taken back by how handsome he is. Your memories did him no justice.

He feels bad for being rude, sighing slightly and wiping his forehead again. “Two blocks over there’s a dinner called The Fungus Among Us.” He tells you with a grin. “Vegan place, really into mushrooms, but they have great coffee. You just have to use their non-dairy creamers.”

The last person you expected to frequent a vegan cafe is Joel who used to enjoy platefuls of barbecue at the family cookouts back when you were younger and you chuckle, “you gone vegan on me?” You ask and he shakes his head, “no. Still love some ribs but I can appreciate good coffee.” You hum and he shrugs. “I’m gonna go get changed. You want me to bring you a coffee back?” You offer, wanting to make up for being rude.m

“I’m good.” He looks up towards the sky again. “Too fuckin’ hot for coffee up here.” He looks back down and smirks slightly. “Hurry up before you get wet. New England summer showers are no joke.”

You nod, “I’ll be fast. I, uh, I’ll see you around. It was great to see you again.” You wave awkwardly at him as he flips his sunglasses back down. You aren’t sure if he’s married or has kids or what his situation is so you don’t want to overstep by suggesting a reunion of some kind. 

“See you around, sweetheart.” Joel says and you offer him a smile, “bye Joel.” You say as you head back into your aunts house to get ready.

He won’t deny that he watches you when you re-emerge from the large cottage next door, or as you walk down the street. His eyes follow you as he takes what he tells himself is a five minute break. He was rude to you. And the Joel you had known wouldn’t have done that. He sighs, twisting around and trying to pop his aching back before he glances at the cloud again. They are rolling in fast and he only has about twenty minutes to finish up for the day. “Shit, Miller, get to work.”

You return back with your coffee - a good recommendation from Joel - and you’re disappointed when you don’t see him working. You feel the droplets of rain and decide to have your coffee then go grocery shopping after the rain has come and gone.

****

The drilling happens a little later around 8:45am the next morning and you look out of the bathroom window to see Joel working on the house. He lifts his shirt up to wipe his face and you can’t deny that your jaw drops. He’s still as sexy as you ever thought he was but then you remind yourself that he’s married and you shake your head to clear your lust. You decide to walk to the coffee shop again and head outside just as Joel jumps from the last section of scaffolding. “Sure I can’t get you a coffee?” You ask him, “I’m gonna head over there now.”

“I think I owe you a drink, since I was kind of an ass yesterday.” Joel admits, shuffling slightly and wiping his hands on a work rag before tossing it down. “I’ve got a few minutes, can walk over there with you, if you want?” He leaves it up to you, knowing that you might not want to do anything more than be nice.

You offer him a smile, “I’d like that.” You say and he nods, grabbing his keys and he yells out to his partner to keep an eye on things. You walk along with him and you’re quiet for a minute or so before you ask “so how long have you lived here?”

It takes Joel a moment to think back and he sighs. “Fuck.” He snorts. “Nearly ten years? Hard to think about but I’ve not even seen you in nearly twenty-five.” He wants to ask why you just stopped talking to him and coming around after he had married Helen. He hadn’t even been able to tell you that she had been a few months pregnant because his wife had wanted to keep it silent until after the first trimester. 

"Has it really been that long?" You shake your head, "I- wow. It feels like yesterday you were just getting married. Is Helen enjoying it here?" You ask, not noticing his lack of wedding band but you haven't really had a chance to look at his hands.

Joel snorts. “Helen left me when-” He breaks off and there’s that familiar ache in his chest at the thought of Sarah. “A year after we got married. Don’t know where she’s at, don’t really care, if I’m honest.” She had abandoned her child, something that he could never understand or accept. “What about you? Sure you’re married and happy, husband on a business trip and you decided to take a vacation?” 

It’s your turn to snort, “no. No. I, uh, I haven’t been married. I - I walked in on my boyfriend fucking his coworker in my apartment so I told him to pack his shit and be gone by the time I get back. Decided to take a break to avoid the pity looks and whispers around town.” You confess, glancing down the street as you adjust your purse on your shoulder.

“Wow. You must have been with a real douche bag.” Joel scoffs. “I can’t believe anyone would be stupid enough to cheat on you. There’s no fucking way he’s right in the head.” He shakes his head and huffs. “Idiot. I’m sorry, I know you don’t want to hear that. But that bastard didn’t deserve you.”  

You offer him a self deprecating smile. “I appreciate you being pissed for me. I pretty much cried the entire way to the Cape. I- I thought he was gonna propose. I’m an idiot. I believed all his lies and I- I thought he was going to be the one.” You shake your head at your own stupidity. “Well, at least someone to spend the rest of my life with.”

“You’ll find someone better.” He predicts. “Someone who cheats on you isn’t worth your time. Or your tears.” Joel looks over at you and gives you a small smile. “Maybe you’ll find one of those romance story type guys here on the Cape.” 

You chuckle, “who is already married or has more skeletons in his closet than a haunted house. I think I’ll accept the reality that I’m destined to be alone and I think I’m okay with that. It’s not too bad. Getting to do whatever you want without answering to anyone. Romance is - it’s just something they sell to give people hope.” You confess with a sigh, “I’ll stick to reading about it in novels.” You chuckle softly and turn into the coffee shop, about to open the door but Joel does a little jog to open it before you can. “Don’t lose hope. You never know who’s gonna appear.” He says and you bite your lip as you brush past him, knowing he’s the man you’ve always envisioned when you read those romance novels.

The inside of the cafe is trendy, quirky. It seems like a place where Joel would look completely out of place with his buttoned up shirt and jeans, heavy boots. No one has given him shit about it and been friendly, even though he stays away from a lot of their menu. “Have you tried the muffins? They are pretty good.” 

You shake your head, “no. I had the chia pudding the other day.” You giggle when he wrinkles his nose. “The blueberry muffin sounds good.” You hum, crossing your arms, “and a latte. You seem like a black coffee kind of guy.”

“Only way to drink coffee.” Joel agrees with a smirk. He guides you to a table and pulls out a chair for you. “I know you probably like all those syrups and half pump venti shits.” He rolls his eyes, although he likes the way you sound when you snicker. 

“I’m a vanilla girl.” You reveal and Joel raises his eyebrows playfully. “For my coffee order.” You clarify with a smirk and he walks over to the counter to order your drinks and he returns with a blueberry muffin for you. “You didn’t have to pay.” You shake your head and he shrugs, “to make up for the early morning wake up calls.” He explains and You offer him a soft smile, reaching out to touch his hand, “thank you. I- I’ve missed you, you know?”

“You missed me so much you just….disappeared?” Joel asks, wanting to know why. “I tried calling you a couple of times. Wanted you to come out with me and Helen to dinner. You just didn’t ever call me back.” 

You sigh, withdrawing your hand. “I…it was complicated.” You glance around the coffee shop, feeling his eyes burn into you. “I couldn’t stay after you…I had to get out of town and figure out what I wanted. I’m sorry I disappeared but it was for the best. You had a new life…a wife. You didn’t need me hanging around.”

It’s not an answer that satisfies him, but from the set of your jaw, you won’t give him a proper explanation. “I- you missed a lot, obviously. I had wanted to tell you that Helen was pregnant. We weren’t announcing it before the ceremony.”

You swallow harshly, not realizing that he’s a father. “Did Helen…you have a - wow. That’s - I didn’t know. No one told me - my parents didn’t tell me anything. I asked them not to.” You finish with a murmur, shifting to sit back and look at Joel just as they call his name to get the coffees.

Joel stands up, happy to go get the drinks and muffins so he doesn’t have to show how that idea upsets him. Why does he care after twenty-five years? He shouldn’t. Bringing the tray over to the table, he sets it down and doles out the items quietly.

You bite your lip as you look at him, he’s broader than ever. He was gorgeous when he was younger and he’s still gorgeous with the grays scattered in his hair. “Is your kid in the Cape or elsewhere?” You ask him, wanting to change the subject.

Joel frowns slightly, looking down at his coffee. “No.” He tells you. “She- she died. Twelve years ago. It’s why I moved here. I couldn’t live in Texas anymore.”

Your brow furrows as you gasp softly. “Oh. Oh Joel. I’m so sorry. I- shit. Me and my big mouth. I’m so sorry. Oh God. That - that’s terrible.” You choke, squeezing the coffee cup in your hand as you see the devastation in his eyes.

“It was a long time ago.” The wound is still fresh and if it were anyone else, he wouldn’t even bring it up. But you had never met Sarah, you didn’t know how wonderful she was.

“I’m sorry Joel. I know that doesn’t mean shit when you endure that kind of pain but…I really am sorry.” You say and reach out to squeeze his hand again. “I understand why you left to come here.” You tell him and his dark eyes meet yours, clouded over with the pain of losing a child. “Do you…do you maybe want to come over for dinner sometime? Catch up properly? I meant what I said. I’ve missed you.”

His immediate response is to tell you no. That it wasn’t necessary, but he can’t get the words out. “Sure.” He figures it’s a nicety. That you are saying that and then you’ll politely avoid him.

You sip your coffee as he goes quiet. Joel was never one for small talk. “So have you got a wife or girlfriend here?” You ask after a few moments, wondering if that’s why he was hesitant to accept an offer to catch up over dinner.

“No, nothing like that.” He shakes his head, frowning slightly when he remembers Tess. He should have been better to her, but he ran out of time. “Not anymore,” he adds, looking back down at his cup. “So how long are you here?”

"Two weeks. Figured that was enough time for the dust to settle and for that asshole to get his shit out of my apartment." You sigh, looking down at the table before you flick your eyes up to meet his. "I really am sorry we lost touch. All I can say is it's complicated and too much time has passed to dig into it all again."

“Yeah.” Joel just shrugs. “It’s in the past.” He knows he’s changed a lot from the man you used to know. He’s harder, his heart is cold and most times people are wary of him. “People change, move on, whatever.”

You frown at his pessimism and you know he’s changed but he always used to be so playful and fun. Life has been hard for both of you, especially Joel. You finish your muffin and soon you’re walking back to your aunt’s house. “You wanna come for dinner tomorrow?” You offer, not wanting to end this interaction on a spur note.

“Sure.” He finds himself agreeing, not minding your company and he would love a meal he didn’t cook for himself. Or Ellie cooked. “Oh- uh, I should have told you. Can someone come with me?” He asks, not sure if you’d want a kid around.

You are surprised but don't ask who, wondering if he has a friend or something. "Uh, sure. Yeah. That's fine. Any allergies or things they don't like?" You ask, wanting to be sure before you plan what you want to cook.

“Nahhhh.” Joel snorts, shaking his head at the crazy things that Ellie has eaten. “She’ll eat anything. Nearly indestructible stomach, I swear.”

You are curious, barely able to swallow down the inquiries but you manage and offer him a smile, "sounds good. Wanna say seven?" You ask and he nods. You stand on your aunt's driveway and Joel rubs the back of his neck. "I'll see you tomorrow." He says and you rock on your heels, crossing your arms. "See you tomorrow, Joel." You smile and watch for a second as he spins on his heel and makes his way back to the neighbor's house.

****

“So whoooo are we having dinner with?” Joel rolls his eyes and ramps down the urge to bite back with something sarcastic. That would only make the girl more curious about who you are. 

“She’s an old friend.” Joel explains, “she’s in town and I thought I might be good to not have to put up with your shit cooking for a night.” He reaches over and pulls on her ponytail, grinning when she scowls and slaps his hand away. 

“Hey man, not my fault your cooking tastes like shit. You taught me.”

You wipe down your apron as you watch the water boil for the pasta. The doorbell rings and you take the apron off, making your way over to the door to open it to greet Joel and his mystery guest. You had purposefully avoided looking out of the windows this morning when Joel was working. You are shocked when you see a teenager with Joel, having convinced yourself it was another woman and he was trying to hint at it but you didn't pick it up.

“Woah. She’s a babe!” Ellie’s eyes widen and she sends Joel a smirk. “No wonder you didn’t talk about her. You gotta date, old man? Why the hell are you bringing me with you?” 

Joel rolls his eyes and reaches up to smack the back of Ellie’s head. “Behave.” He warns her before apologizing to you. “Sorry. She’s feral. Not a goddamn manner in her body.”

You fluster at the girl's compliment and you look at Joel with a chuckle, "don't worry. I've had worse with my cousins and their kids." You promise and step aside so that he and the kid can enter. You tell her your name as she walks past you and she offers you a grin and tells you her name is Ellie. "Hope you like chicken parm." You hum as you shut the door behind you.

“I love anything that he didn’t cook.” She hooks her thumb over at Joel and smirks. “He thinks heating Chef Boy-r-dee is a good meal.” She tells you, knowing that Joel is shuffling in embarrassment and not caring a lick. She likes to bust his balls.

You chuckle, remembering how hopeless Joel was in the kitchen. He even called you up one night to ask you to rescue the meal he was trying to cook Helen for a date night. It had been hard to help but you would’ve done anything for him back then. Still would if you’re honest. You ask Ellie what she wants to drink when they enter the open plan kitchen. “Damnnn. This is a nice place you got here.” Ellie says and you shake your head, “it’s my aunt’s. I live in Texas.” You explain and Ellie glances at Joel. 

“Texas, huh?” She says, raising her eyebrows and Joel ignores her. 

“Yeah. Joel and I used to be neighbors.” You explain a little more.

“So you can tell me what he used to be like?” She asks conspiratorially. “Before he became so boring.”

You lean in conspiratorially towards Ellie. “He’s always been boring.” You whisper playfully and Joel rolls his eyes. 

Ellie nods, “makes sense.” You chuckle and Joel huffs, biting his lip to smother his smirk. 

“Joel has always been a good guy. Grumpy, but he has always done the right thing.” You say, “and he tries to let everyone think he’s a grumpy bastard but he’s actually got a good sense of humor.” You say and Ellie shakes her head, “he doesn’t laugh at my jokes!” She whines and you smirk, “oh he’s laughing. Just on the inside.”

“No, I’m not.” Joel grumps and huffs, trying to hide a smirk. He likes to bust on Ellie as much as she busts on him, just in different ways. If he tries to be too soft with the girl, she will shut down. “Hope it wasn’t too much trouble for dinner. We would have been good with pizza.”

You shake your head, “it’s nice to cook. I am usually so busy with work and my ex…he was a vegan which made it almost impossible to cook what I know but I love cooking. I’ve missed it. Hopefully it’s good.” You say and turn back to the stove to put the pasta on to cook. “You want a soda?” You ask Ellie, knowing Joel will want a beer. The teenager nods and you hand her a soda before handing Joel a bottle of beer. “Go sit at the table. Dinner will be right up.” You say as you set your glass of wine down.

“Ellie and I will clean up.” Joel offers. He might suck in the kitchen, but he knows how to clean up a mess and it wouldn’t be fair to expect you to wait on them. “Sound good?”

“You’re my guests.” You protest but Joel shakes his head, “we can do the dishes.” You sigh, knowing you’re best to not argue, and turn back to the stove. It doesn’t take long for you to set the serving dishes on the table. “Dig in.” You order and Ellie groans, “shit. That looks good.” 

“Ellie.” Joel warns softly and you chuckle, “hopefully it tastes good.”

“I'm sure it’s great.” Joel tells you with a quick smile as he cuts into the chicken cutlet. “Thank you, it’s nice to have a good meal.” He admits. Often times it was something from a box or fast food for them. “And did you remember what beer I drink? Or was it a lucky guess?”

You bite your lip and fluster slightly, “I, uh, I remembered.” You confess, having remembered every detail about the man opposite you. Your heart is still thumping when his dark eyes meet yours. 

Neither of you notice the way Ellie smirks as she cuts into her chicken. “This is fucking awesome. You’re a great cook. Right, Joel?” Ellie hints at her foster dad.

"Huh?" He's been trying not to make it obvious that he's having a moment with the chicken farm. Looking up, he sees that he's being asked a question. "Yeah, oh yeah, it's delicious." He praises. "I don't know if I've had chicken parm this good in forever." He promises.

Your stomach twists with their praise, pleased they are enjoying it and you dig in yourself, hungry after cooking for most of the afternoon. “So Ellie is your daughter?” You ask Joel and Ellie snorts, “he wishes. I’m just his foster kid. He and my mom were friends and when he found out I was in home after home, he took me in.” Ellie says and you smile, “always knew you were a softie.” You tease and Joel grunts his response.

The truth was more complicated and filled in infinitely more guilt. Joel had gone down a dark path after Sarah had died. He was Ellie's mother's dealer. Giving her the drugs even though she was using more and more and that it could kill her. He had told himself that it wasn't his problem until he had learned about Ellie. He had started avoiding the woman's calls until he learned she had died of an overdose. No other family other than Ellie, it had felt like it was his fault so he had done the work to become the kid's guardian.

You can sense there's more but you don't push. The three of you have small talk, Ellie mainly asking questions about what Joel was like when you knew him back in the day and you explain that you were good friends until he got married and you decided to leave town. "You left? And didn't keep in touch?" Ellie asks with a frown and you tap your fingers on the table, "it was complicated."

Joel snorts and doubts that, but he doesn't voice it. You keep saying it's complicated, but you won't even say more than that to him. Ellie rolls her eyes and sighs. "Just say you love him already. There. Done." She turns to Joel and pitches her voice up slightly. "Joel, I was in love with you so I couldn't stand to see you married." She says, pretending to be you before she looks back over at you with a shake of her head. "Now. Was that hard?"

Your jaw drops slightly as the teenager calls you out and reveals the reason you left within an hour of meeting you. "I, uh, it - um -" You stammer and Joel shakes his head. 

"Ellie. Don't be rude." He reprimands her and she waves her hand towards you, "I'm right, aren't I?" She asks and you stand up, grabbing your plate. 

"I have dessert. You like chocolate cake?" You ask and grab the teenager's plate.

“Stop being a little shit.” Joel hisses the moment you disappear out of sight. “She doesn’t love me. She’s just getting over a break up.” Ellie’s grin falls and she looks upset over her comments. “And you have to open your big mouth.”

You sigh as you cut into the cake you bought earlier and serve three plates. You carry them back over to the table on the tray and Ellie’s eyes widen as she takes it in. “Holy shit, that looks delicious.” She says and you chuckle, “I didn’t make this. I’m not a good baker.” You confess as you sit back down.

“I doubt that.” Joel tells you. “I’m sure you are a good baker, but Ellie never turns down cake.”

“I never do either.” You wink at Ellie, wanting to lighten the atmosphere and you dig into the cake. After the cake is eaten, Ellie tells you about her school and how she wants to learn to play the guitar. “Joel used to play guitar.” You reveal, remembering how you used to hear him practicing in his bedroom.

“You never told me that.” Ellie sounds downright offended that he had never told her about his musical proclivity. 

“Haven’t told you a lot.” He grunts, smirking slightly when she pouts at him. 

“But you can teach me, and then I won’t have to pay someone.” 

He chuckles and raises a brow at his foster kid. “I’ll take payment in the form of chores being done on time and completely.”

You chuckle and realize that Joel is just as soft as you remember him but he’s covered by a hard exterior…like a piece of candy. Sweet but sour. “Deal.” Ellie says despite knowing she will slack a little bit she hopes Joel will at least teach her the basics. “So are you gonna be seeing Joel again?” Ellie probes and you shrug, “well, he’s working next door so I think it’s inevitable.”

Joel rolls his eyes at the scheming tone of the girl’s voice. “Maybe I should ask you when you are going to see Vanessa again.” He huffs with a small smirk. “You seemed to be really into hanging out with her.”

You lean in a little closer with a smile, “who’s Vanessa?” You ask and Ellie blushes, “she’s, uh, she’s this girl from math and she - she’s really pretty.” Ellie murmurs and you reach out to touch her arm, “then maybe you should tell her that.” You suggest and Ellie rears back and shakes her head. “Oh no. No. I, uh, I don’t know if she likes me.” Ellie confesses and you say, “well, you’ll never know unless you ask.” You suggest softly and Ellie bites her lip until her expression hardens a little, “I could say the same thing to you guys.” She says, looking between you and Joel. 

You shake your head, “we are friends. Have always been friends.” You say and don’t notice Joel frown slightly. “Anyway, I, uh, I’m sure you have an early start. Do you want to take the rest of the cake home? I won’t eat all of that.”

“I know the kid will want it.” He won’t admit that he might go to the kitchen in the middle of the night to sneak a piece. “Come on.” He motions towards Ellie. “Let’s get in there and clean up. Show our appreciation for the good meal.”

Ellie, for once, doesn’t groan about doing dishes and you already have most of it in the dishwasher so it’s only the serving plates and plates you ate off of. “It’s okay.” You try to argue but Joel and Ellie already have a well rehearsed wash and dry system. You stand there with your glass of wine and admire Joel.

You had obviously washed as you cooked, so there weren’t as many dishes as when Joel decides he’s gonna actually cook. Once the last one is washed and handed off to Ellie to dry, Joel rinses the rag and starts to wipe down your counters. “Tell you what?” He jokes. “You feed us like that and we’ll do all the dishes every time. Might even do your laundry too.”

You chuckle and hold your hand out towards Joel, “that’s a deal, Miller.” You joke and he squeezes your hand, sending electricity up your arm at his touch and your heart thumps. You stare at him for a moment until Ellie clears her throat and looks between you with a shit eating grin until Joel lets go of your hand. They finish washing up and you hand them the box of cake to take with them when you escort them out of your house “it was great to meet you, Ellie.”

"It was pretty cool to meet you too." Ellie smirks. "I think I'll probably see a lot more of you too." She predicts before shooting out the door. "Thanks for the food!" She shouts as she waves the cake box over her head.

You chuckle when Joel rolls his eyes, “she’s a handful.” He says and you reach up to squeeze his shoulder, “she’s a good kid. And you’re a good man for taking her in.” You say and he leans in to softly kiss your cheek. 

“Thanks for dinner, sweetheart. See you around.” He winks at you and you fluster, nodding before you shut the door. Your heart is fluttering, the ghost of his kiss on your cheek and you know that your love for him has never gone away, it’s just been concealed. 

**** 

The next morning, you’re woken up by Joel and his crew again and you sigh, getting ready for the day. When you open the curtains, your jaw drops as you come face to face with Joel working , his shirt looped into his jeans. “Shit.” You hiss, your stomach twisting with arousal as you watch his shoulder muscles move.

Joel sees the curtains opening on the bedroom you are obviously using in your aunt’s house. He looks back down at the board he was nailing into place and smirks. It was hot as hell today and that might have prompted him to take his shirt off. All the while, telling himself that Ellie’s prodding about how much you two obviously liked each other was a bunch of BS. You had been friends. He’s sure he had taken his shirt off around you at some point, so why shouldn’t he be comfortable.

Your mouth is dry as you try to discreetly watch. You hadn’t seen Joel without his shirt off and the muscles moving has you wanting to get back into bed and imagine Joel in it with you. Instead, you force yourself to get ready for the day and brew some coffee. The doorbell rings around mid morning and you brush yourself down as you move to open the door. “Joel. What’s up?” You ask, his shirt still off, he’s covered in some kind of grease, and you swallow harshly. “I hate to ask this but do you think I could use your shower? I got grease all over me from trying to fix my tool. Can I - I’ll be quick.” He asks and you nod, “of course. It’s upstairs to the left.” You say, “I can run your stuff through the washer if you want?” You offer.

“Thanks.” He shoots you a grin. “I appreciate it. This job has been nothing but a pain in my ass, but at least the view is nice.” He tells you, aware that he’s flirting, but he can’t help himself. He’s been thinking about you all day. Wondering what you’ve been doing.

You bite your lip as he grins at you and you aren’t sure if he’s flirting or not. You watch him as he carefully makes his way upstairs after taking off his boots at the door and you try to busy yourself by making some iced tea for when he’s done showering. Logically, you know he doesn’t have a spare set of clothes yet you’re still surprised when he appears with a towel wrapped around his waist and you swear your heart stops. Fuck, he looks gorgeous. You want to lean in and lick the drops of water speeding down his chest and stomach to be absorbed by the towel.

Joel shuffles slightly. “Sorry. I didn’t think about the fact I had nothing to put on.” He admits, rubbing the back of his neck. “And I- I swiped some of your deodorant.” He chuckles awkwardly. “Probably the best I’ve smelled all day.”

“That - That’s okay.” You nod, torn between stepping forward to rip the towel from his body and running to your room to disappear. “I, uh, I made some iced tea if you want some.” Joel nods and you pour him a glass. “I’ll put your things in the washer.” You hold your arms out and take the dirty clothes, quick to walk into the laundry room to put his clothes on to wash.

He hadn’t missed the way your breaking hitched, and he reasons that Ellie was right. You want him. Instead of drinking the tea, he puts it down and quietly follows behind you. Crowding in behind you as you close the lid to start it and smirks when you gasp as you turn around. “Sorry, realized I forgot to give you everything.” He rasps out, reaching for his towel. “Can’t forget that.”

Your eyes widen and you bite your lip to stop the whimper escaping. Joel is naked. In your aunt’s laundry room. You spin around and place the towel in the washer before pressing the button to start it. His hands find your waist and he pushes up against you, “Joel.” You whimper, “I- oh God.” You gasp when he kisses your neck. 

“I want you.” He confesses, “you want me, darlin’?” He asks and your knees would buckle if he didn’t have you pressed up against the washer. 

“I need you. I’ve wanted you since I met you.” You confess breathlessly.

His hardening cock twitches against your ass and he groans. “That is why you left.” He huffs. “Fuck, I wish I had known.” He squeezes your hips and then slides his hands around so he can unbutton your jeans. “I would have taken you to bed before I met Helen. Always thought you were a pretty thing. Never seemed like you wanted more with me, so I didn’t push.”

You turn your head to kiss his jaw. “I thought you thought of me as the dumb kid next door. Never saw me as the woman I became. I thought you just saw me as a friend. When you told me you were engaged to Helen - I - I couldn’t stick around and watch you be a family.” You confess as he pulls the zipper down and you gasp when he shoves your jeans down your thighs, his hand quickly pushing into your panties to rub your clit. “Joel.” You moan, reaching up to turn his head so you can press your lips against his.

He knows that this will change everything but he’s tired of being alone. Tired of the regrets he has and you have always been one of them. His work rough fingers press and rub your clit while his other hand slides under your shirt and pushes your bra up so he can fondle your tits. “Never thought you were a girl. You aren’t that much younger than me. Hated how much I wanted you. How much I thought about you.”

You gasp when he rubs your clit just right and you grind your hips back against his aching cock. “God. I- I thought about you all the time.” You confess and reach behind you to grip his cock in your hand. “I want you, Joel.” You whimper, needing to feel him inside of you after so many years of wondering what he would feel like.

“Then you’ll get me.” Joel promises. “Right after you cum on my fingers.” He twists his wrist so he can push two thick fingers inside you and rub your clit with his thumb. Groaning and twitching in your hand when your walls squeeze his fingers tight. “I’ll fuck your little pussy right. Make you forget all about that douche bag in Texas. Show you how a man should be treating you.”

His words send a whine up your throat and you squeeze his cock in your grip as his fingers stretch you out. “Oh God. Jo- Joel.” You gasp when his thumb presses harder against your clit. It’s more than you’ve felt in years while having sex and you are grateful for his hand squeezing your breast to keep you upright and pressed against the washer. “Shit. That - it’s so good.” You pant, knowing that Jason never made you feel like this. He never used to finger you until you came, just until you were wet. You’re a little embarrassed when you look back on it later to say that you came astonishingly quick, clamping down on his digits with a moan of his name.

“Good girl.” Joel moans when he feels your body tense and shake. “Fuck, your such a good girl for me. Bet you taste delicious, don’t cha?” He groans, the slickness coating his fingers makes it easier to work you through your orgasm until he feels your knees buckle and you collapse against the washing machine. “Fuck. You needed that, didn’t you. Still want me to fuck you or do you need a cigarette?” He jokes. He’s throbbing in your hand, but if you don’t want to go any farther, he won’t push. He doesn’t want you to regret it or feel like he’s taking advantage of your broken heart.

You squeeze his cock again, "don't you dare stop, Miller. I- I've wanted you for forever. I need you inside of me." You plead breathlessly, pussy still fluttering around his fingers, "please." You add pathetically, needing this even if it's one time.

“I’m so fuckin’ glad you said that.” Joel confesses as he pulls his soaked fingers out of you. “Otherwise I was gonna need to jerk off right now.” He kisses your neck and pushes your feet apart with his own to spread you out. “It’s gonna be quick.” He warns. “Been a long fuckin’ time for me.”

"I don't care. You can cum inside of me." You promise, bracing yourself on the vibrating washer as he positions himself at your entrance and starts to push inside of you. You whine when his cock slips inside of you, already stretching you out. "Fuck. You are so big." You moan, knowing that you've never had anyone this thick inside of you.

​​Joel groans your name roughly, rolling his hips until they are pressed against your ass and both hands are filled with your tits. “So goddamn tight.” He rasps in your ear, twitching when you clench around him. “Better than my dreams, better than I could have ever imagined. So tight around my dick.”

You reach behind you to tangle your fingers in his damp hair. He starts to move inside of you, a whine escaping your lips as the friction is delicious, and you rest your cheek on the washer. “Soooo gooood.” Your voice vibrates too and Joel chuckles darkly, making you clench around him again.

He moves his hands down to grip your waist, holding tight to you as he braces his legs. Starting to rock into you faster and harder to make your body slam against the machine you are leaning against. “Fuck baby, you’re goddamn perfect.” He grunts out, gritting his teeth. “Touch your pretty little clit while I fuck the shit out of you.”

You cry out in pleasure, your hand shaking as you push it between you and the machine to rub your clit. “Fuck Joel. Joel. Oh shit.” You practically sob and his fingers dig into your flesh, likely leaving bruises you’ll cherish. “Harder.” You demand, wanting to feel him for days after he leaves you.

He growls, deep in his chest and his pace increases. Slamming into you harsh enough that he rocks the machine. Loving how you take him and beg for more, how tight your cunt gets when you spasm around him. “Gonna cum.” He warns, feeling his body starting to tense. “Need you to cum, sweet girl.”

You rub your clit a little faster, wanting to cum before he does and his grunts echo in the laundry room, getting deeper and faster along with his thrusts until you fall apart. A cry rips from your mouth as you clamp down on him, practically shaking against the vibrating machine as you climax around the man you’ve wanted for so long.

As soon as you clench down around him, Joel is lost. The strangled groan pushes out of his throat as he buries his cock just as deep as he can. Painting your walls with hot spurts of his seed while he grinds into you and whimpers your name. Overwhelmed by how perfect you feel around him.

You pant, resting against the washer as Joel twitches inside of you, his lips kissing along the back of your neck. You are speechless. No one has ever fucked you like that. Your legs feel like jello and you know you'd collapse if it wasn't for him keeping you pressed against the machine.

Panting, Joel presses against your back, kissing along your neck as he tries to catch his breath. He’s out of practice, but the way your legs still shake makes him think he did it right. “Fuck.” He chuckles. “We shoulda done that years ago.”

You chuckle softly, "yes but you were married." You snort and Joel caresses your side. "I think I'm gonna need a nap after that." You confess and he smirks against your skin, reluctantly pulling out of you.

“Well, I can’t go back to work with no clothes on.” He reminds you with another chuckle. “Why don’t we take that nap?” He’s already told his crew what to do and he doesn’t want to leave you right now. Caressing your back, he watches his cum start to well up at your little hole, trying to push out.

You smile, reaching behind you to unclasp your bra after he steps back from you and you finally feel like you can stand up. You toss your bra and shirt into the laundry basket along with the rest of your clothes after using your panties to wipe his cum from between your legs. “I need to pee and then we can nap.” You say, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “You wanna head upstairs while I pee?” You ask.

“Yeah.” Joel smirks slightly when you wobble as you walk to the hall bathroom and he strides into the kitchen to grab you a bottle of water before heading upstairs to the bedroom you are using. Feeling great and hoping that you enjoyed yourself, he’s gonna have to ask you when you come up.

You struggle to get upstairs but you do it, finding Joel sitting on the edge of the bed, still naked and you admire him for a second. The sun coming through the curtains highlights the gray in his locks and you find yourself falling for him all over again. You shift to lay down on the bed, closing your eyes, “you’ve worn me out, Miller.” You joke playfully.

“You’re worn out?” It’s fucking ridiculous how he wants to touch you again, even though he knows it will be at least half an hour, maybe more before he could get it up again. “And here I was thinking about eating your pussy.” He flips back on the bed beside you. “Guess that’s out.”

You open one eye, “now I didn’t say I was that worn out.” You tease, shifting onto your side and opening both eyes to look at him. “I would happily cum on your tongue if you want to do that.” You murmur, reaching out to caress his chest.

“Figure I owe you that much.” He grunts. “Fucked you over a washing machine. Not exactly the classiest first time.” He shoots you a grin. “Shoulda been in the bed of my truck.” He leans in and presses his lips to your as he rolls you onto your back and covers you with his body. “Wanna find out how you taste. Used to think about it when I had my dick in my hand.”

​​You reach up to caress his shoulders and back, “the bed of your truck. The stars above while the radio plays. That might’ve been something I dreamed about a lot.” You confess as he kisses along your neck. “I want to suck your cock too. Imagined it so many times. How you’d look, how you’d sound.”

“Fuck.” He groans, imagining it. “You’d look so fucking pretty like that.” He agrees. “But right now, there’s no way I’m gonna get hard, baby. I’m old.”

You scoff, “you’re not old. You just need some time.” You murmur, caressing his back as he slides his hand down your side. “We have time.” You promise softly despite knowing you are on borrowed time in your aunt’s house. “Now…you mentioned something about eating me out?”

He laughs as his tongue slides between your breasts, looking up at you with a grin that makes him feel younger, lighter. “I was telling you that you were going to scream my name.” He boasts, kissing across your belly as he shuffles down the bed to move between your thighs.

You grin as you watch him until he kisses your inner thigh and your mouth falls open with a moan. “Joel.” You sigh when he kisses along the sensitive skin until you are moaning his name as his tongue slides through your folds. “Fuck.” You tilt your head back, sitting up on your elbows.

He hums, knowing you are watching him but his eyes are closed as he tastes you. Enjoying the musky, tangy taste, even mixed with his own cum. Using his hands to push your thighs apart more, he flicks his tongue over your clit before sliding down and pushing his tongue inside you.

You gasp in delight as his tongue curls deep and you shift your weight onto one elbow so you can reach out and tangle your fingers in his hair. "So good baby. So good." You coo, rocking your hips up slightly to push his tongue deeper.

Joel groans into your cunt as he tongue fucks you enthusiastically. Loving your responsiveness and how you moan his name. His fingers dig into your hips, dragging you closer as he feasts voraciously without even wanting to pull away to swallow, his spit and your juices sliding down to soak the bed under you.

"Oh God." You pant, chest heaving and you let go of his hair to squeeze your breast, pinching the nipple while his nose presses against your clit. "That - ohhh just like that." You cry as his tongue curls just right with his nose pressed against your bundle of nerves.

He hums, rubbing his broad nose against your clit to give you more. Desperate to hear you cum again and to feel you soak his face. He feels so fucking alive right now between your thighs.

"Shit. I'm - you're gonna make me cum, Joel." You pant, thighs clamping around his face as he sends you over the edge. "Fuck!" You squeal as you soak his face, almost suffocating him with your thighs as your stomach clenches with your orgasm.

Joel groans, his softening cock starting to twitch and harden. Loving how wet you are getting and how much you are soaking him. Working you through it, his eyes are fixed on your face while you moan and cry out for him.

You collapse back onto the bed, gasping to catch your breath and you swear your heart has stopped from how hard you came. It’s more than anything you felt with Jason. It’s all consuming. “So good.” You finally murmur, loosening your grip on his face as your legs come down to lay flat on the bed when he rests his chin on your mound.

He smirks, looking at your blissed out face. “Good to know that it was good.” He strokes your thigh and your hip with his hands. “Now we can nap.” He teases, winking playfully.

You shift onto your side after he snakes from between your legs to flop down on the bed beside you. “You don’t want me to-?” You ask, noticing his semi. 

“Nap first then maybe you can ride me.” He says, closing his eyes and you nod, shifting to curl into his side, watching him for several moments until you eventually drift off to sleep. 

**** 

You aren’t sure how long you’ve been asleep but you wake up to Joel snoring. You chuckle softly, knowing he would never admit to snoring, and you watch him for a moment, unable to believe you’re here with him. Your gaze slides down his body to his hard cock resting on his belly and you grin, carefully shifting to be able to kneel over his body. You gently grip his cock and lean down to take the head into your mouth, wanting to surprise him when he wakes up.

Joel grunts, the wet heat and suction around his cock pulling him out of the nap he had been enjoying. Confused for a moment before the last few hours come rushing back to him and he groans out your name. Reaching down to cup the back of your head as his eyes open. Seeing you looking up at him with a smirk in your eyes.

You take him deeper, gripping the base of his cock as you widen your jaw and choke for a second. You haven’t sucked a cock like Joel’s before and it takes you a few tries to get him down your throat without gagging.

“Good girl, fuck, watch you take that.” He marvels. Reaching around to caress your jaw and feeling the way that your jaw unhinges. “Couldn’t wait, so eager for it that you had to wake me up?” He teases.

You moan around his cock, closing your eyes as you take him deeper, your saliva dripping down his length and you pull back after a moment, working his cock with your hand. You twist your wrist and dribble some more spit onto his cock. “I couldn’t resist.” You confess, pumping him as you lean in to suck on the head, pressing your tongue against his frenulum.

“Shit.” Joel hisses, his toes curling in pleasure and his thighs tensing as his body responds to your tongue. “Cock hungry.” He grunts. “You gonna swallow? Or are you gonna tease me and not let me cum in your mouth?”

You pull back again, pumping him a little faster. “You wanna cum down my throat or do you want me to ride you? Your choice, handsome.” You coo, “I can do whatever you want. Just want you to feel good.” You promise, taking him back into your mouth.

“Fuck.” It’s such a tantalizing choice but he knows he lasts longer the second time around and then he’ll be done. It would make your jaw ache and he doesn’t want that. “Ride me, baby.” He groans. “Want to see you bounce on my cock.”

You don't argue despite wanting to watch him as he cums down your throat. You let his cock drop from your mouth and you shift to straddle his thighs, shuffling closer until you can wrap your fingers around his slick cock and position him. You sink down onto him with your eyes fixed on his, that dark gaze sends a shiver down your spine as he stretches you out. "God, Joel." You whine softly, placing your palms on his chest.

“Fuuuuuuuuck.” Joel goans out, his fingers digging into the soft flesh at your hips while you clench down around him. You’re even tighter in this position and he has the bonus of being able to look into your eyes. See your face. “Does that feel good, baby?”

"Joel. It's...shit. It's so good." You confess breathlessly and your nails dig into his chest a little as you start to rock your hips. "Shit. How does it feel so good? Never been like this before." You confess as your eyes meet his and your heart pounds in your chest, silently giving you the answer to your question.

Bracing his feet on the bed, he rocks his hips up to meet you when you lift off of him. Making both of you groan at how good it feels. “You look so good on my dick.” He groans. “Your ex is a fucking moron.” He doesn’t want you to think about that asshole, but he wants you to know that it wasn’t you. One hand slides up to cup your breast, squeezing gently. “Never wanna leave this pussy.”

His words make you clench around him and you whimper, falling forward to press your chest against his so you can kiss him. Your lips pressing against his and you tangle your fingers in his hair as he thrusts up into you. His arms wrap around you and you kiss his jaw when you pull back to take a breath. "Never want you to stop fucking me."

Joel grunts, shifting to take control. “Good-“ he pants. “Good thing I last the second time.” He starts rocking his hips up, pinning you to him as he fucks you. “It’s why I wanted you to ride me. Probably take me an hour to cum.”

You are surprised by that. Most men you've been with tend to leave you unsatisfied after finding their own orgasm. "Fuck, really?" You gasp and he chuckles, thrusting a little harder. "Yes. Gonna make you cum over and over again." You cry out when he hits deep, nudging your cervix, but you love it. "Yessss." You hiss, "do that again baby."

Joel groans and does as you demand, snapping his hips up sharply so he can push against that spot again. He might be getting older, slower, fall asleep after dinner in his chair, but he’s not going to disappoint you. Not when he has this time with you like this. Trying to give you the same performance if he had fucked you years ago. “That?” He teases. “I’ll do that as much as you want.”

The sound you let out is between a wail and a moan as he hits that spot again. “Oh shitttt.” You hiss, lost in the sensations. “Again. That- again.” You beg and he does it, making you shake above him. “Joel. Oh shit. Baby. I’m gonna - you’re gonna make me - fuuuu-” The word fading into a choke as you clamp down on his cock, soaking him as you shake above his body, your fingers tugging on his hair.

This time he slows down, rocking you through the pleasure slowly and finally stopping when you slump down into his chest. He’s still hard, buried inside you, and he hums softly as he lets you catch your breath. “That’s good, baby?” He asks quietly. “You want another one?”

You lean back to look into his face. Fingers coming up to trace the lines that have been etched onto his skin over the years you’ve not seen each other. He’s still just as devastatingly handsome though. Every line is a story you don’t know about. “Yes.” You murmur, pressing your lips to his and you shift to sit up, wanting to ride him again. Your hips rock as you reach for his hands, joining them with yours to give yourself something to hold onto as you rock on his cock.

This time, you ride him. Truly ride him. You roll your hips and circle them around and make him groan. He squeezes your hands, but he doesn’t urge you to go faster. Knowing you will cum again before he does. He doesn’t want to hurt you or wear you out, so he’s just along for the ride. Aware that the sounds from next door have stopped and the guys have gone home.

You tilt your head back as you rock your hips. It’s slower, not as frantic, and you love the way he groans when you grind down onto him. “So good Joel. God, I- I can’t believe it’s so good.” You confess, squeezing his hands before you let go of him and lean back to place your hands on his thighs, grinding forward onto his cock.

He chuckles and watches you with a sense of wonder. “It’s because you’ve not had good sex in a long time.” He downplays his prowess because all that matters is that you enjoy yourself. “God, your pussy is fucking magic.” He moans quietly, twitching violently in the warmth of your walls.

You whimper, loving how he looks beneath you, and you moan his name again, “can you-?” You reach for his hand to bring it to your stomach, sliding it down to rub your clit and you moan when he rubs it just right. “That’s it baby. Shit.” You pant, rocking a little faster and you are soon clamping down on him again, head tilted back as a choked cry escapes your lips.

Joel watches you through heavy lidded eyes as you come apart again. Enjoying the pleasure you take as much as you do, although your body is the one shaking. He rocks his hips up slightly when your pace falters to work you through it. Groaning out your name and humming as you collapse against his chest to kiss you.

You caress his cheek, “I need a second.” You admit, chest heaving as your heart pounds in your chest and you pull off of his cock. Shifting to lay beside him and you reach down to grip his length, starting to pump him slowly while you lean in to kiss him. “Can’t believe you’re in my bed.” You murmur against his lips.

​​“Hard to believe since we haven’t seen each other in so long.” Joel agrees. “But it is pretty damn good, I think.” He reaches up and cups your cheek. “I know you deserve the fucking moon.”

You grin, turning your head to kiss his palm. “So do you. Always thought you were too hard on yourself.” You murmur, continuing to pump his cock. “I want you on top of me.” You request, letting go of his cock.

“Ready for more?” His brow shoots up and he huffs. “It’s a good damn thing that I didn’t cum.” He teases you, already moving to his knees so his could climb on top of you.

You giggle, reaching up to caress his shoulders and down to his chest, reaching for his cock to position him at your entrance. “I want you to cum. Fill me up again.” You promise, “and I’ll always want more.” You reassure him and he looks at you for a moment until he swallows harshly.

“Yeah?” He asks gruffly, not waiting for you to give him an answer, just lunging forward to fill you up again while he kisses you. Swallowing your cry when he pushes deep and immediately starts to rock into you.

You moan into his mouth, tongue tangling with his as he starts to rock his hips. It’s intoxicating and you are certain that you’ve never been fucked this well before. He kisses along your neck, biting your collarbone and you pant, closing your eyes. “So good baby. So good.” You whimper as he lifts your hip higher to sink deeper inside of you.

“Glad you like my fucking.” He huffs, chuckling breathlessly. He hasn’t worked this hard to fuck a pussy in years and he’s not regretting it. You both deserve this. He actually feels like he deserves this, surprisingly. You make him feel like he does.

“Oh God.” You can’t stop rambling about how good he feels, your heart pounding in your chest and you cross your ankles behind his back, your hands caressing his shoulders, strong from his years in construction. He lowers his hips and you swear you’re gonna cum again when the hair at the base of his cock brushes your clit.

“That’s it.” Joel grunts. The position has you perfectly positioned. Loving how tight you feel and how good it feels to be cradled between your thighs, he knows he’s gonna cum this time. “One more.” He begs. “Give me one more and I’ll fill you up again.”

You pant when he pushes deeper and drops his hips again and you swear you almost black out from the extent of pleasure he’s given you and you swear you are going to gush as he hits just right and you clamp down on his cock. “Joel. Joel. Joellll.” You squeal as you cum, soaking him and your ankles pushing against his ass.

Joel groans, unable to stop himself from pushing deep and letting go. His body draws up taunt like a guitar string. “That’s it baby, gonna cum.” He moans, feeling his cock pulse as he spills ropes of cum into your perfect cunt. Emptying himself as he holds his breath, feeling like his heart is about to beat out of his chest.

You sigh, closing your eyes and tilting your head back against the pillows as he paints your walls with his cum. You feel exhausted and yet feel like you could conquer the world. Alive and vibrating with pleasure from the man above you. The words would be so easy to say. The words you’ve wanted to say for so many years but you swallow them down.

Joel groans and pulls out of you slowly, flopping onto his back with a sigh. “Now I need another nap.” He huffs, closing his eyes even as he opens his arms if you want to snuggle to him again. “Wore me out, woman.”

You shift to curl into his side, throwing your leg over his thighs and not caring about his cum dripping out of you. You sigh and kiss his chest. “That was the best sex I’ve ever had.” You confess, closing your eyes as you cuddle into him.

“Good.” Joel hums sleepily. “Best damn sex I’ve had too.” His hand curls around your body and closes his eyes again, exhausted and for once, the nightmares don’t come.

**** 

You smile as Ellie sets the blankets up in the back of Joel’s truck. You watch Joel as he comes back to the truck with an armful of popcorn. “Fuck yeah.” Ellie says and you chuckle, taking the popcorn from Joel. “You’re excited to watch Dawn of the Dead?” You ask her with amusement and she nods, “duh. It’s the original. The remake is good but it has nothing on this one.” She says and you watch Joel snort. “Come on, let’s get in the truck, it’s about to start.” He says and you climb in after he does, taking his hand.

Joel can’t believe that you wanted to spend time with Ellie, but it makes him smile as she settles down and you sit beside her. Leaning him to squeeze in on the outside. “It’s always nice when they run these.” Joel admits. “Been a long time since we’ve been, but I always loved it as a kid. Remember all those times we would hang out at the drive in? Damn thing was the only movie theater for twenty miles.”

You shift to snuggle into Joel's side after the movie begins. Ellie chomps away on the popcorn and you inhale the smoky scent of Joel as he shifts to get comfortable with the pillows behind you. The past week has been incredible, spending most days with Joel after he finishes working on the house next door and you've had dinners at your place with and without Ellie. You've wanted Ellie to feel included, that you aren't taking Joel away from her all the time, and the teenager says she's happy she doesn't have to see the miserable old bastard all the time. That made you chuckle and Joel grumble, causing Ellie to go "see? My point." You flinch during the movie, on edge despite seeing this classic before, and Joel rubs your shoulder.

He ignores the way that Ellie eyes the two of you and snickers under her breath. Pulling you against him to where you roll to your side, hooking a leg over his. He tucks his other arm behind his head. “Maybe we can do that thing downtown next week.” He mentions casually, keeping his voice low. “Kid wants to go. Could be fun.” The little town loves to hold festivals and events, especially during the summer. 

You hum, looking up at him. “I would love that.” You have been having dinners with Ellie and she’s a great kid. Feisty and her manners could use some work but she’s a good girl really. She’s gonna be a ball buster when she grows up. You and Joel have grown closer and he told you about Sarah. How he asked her to pick up milk on the way home from school because he was too busy with work to pick her up himself so she said she’d walk home and she ended up involved in an armed robbery of the grocery store. She made one wrong move to try and help a pregnant woman and ended up shot. You held Joel after he told you what happened, both of you crying for the little girl who would never grow up. Since then, you’ve spent as much time as possible together, even spending the night at Joel’s house. You never want to go home. You want to stay right here forever. You kiss Joel’s jaw when it tenses and he turns his head to softly kiss you, making your heart flutter.

Joel hums into the kiss, keeping it soft and light since the kid is sitting right next to you. He’s already planning on having you spend the night. Getting used to the feeling of your body next to his and when he’s holding you, he doesn’t dream of Sarah. He doesn’t hear her last breaths as he sleeps. He nuzzles your cheek with his nose when he pulls away. “Enjoying yourself, baby?”

“Always with you.” You whisper softly while Ellie chomps on popcorn and laughs when someone new gets bitten. It’s the most at peace you’ve been in so long. You want to tell Joel how you feel but you don’t want to ruin this between you. When you arrive back at Joel’s, you bid goodnight to Ellie and Joel is dragging you to his room. “Someone’s eager.” You giggle and he shuts the door behind you.

“Always with you.” He uses your words from earlier, but it’s true. He’s always eager to touch you, to taste you. Feeling your skin against his is unlike anything else and he’s addicted to it. He quickly pulls off your shirt and unclips your bra as he kisses along your neck, moving down to take a nipple in his mouth.

You gasp, body still on fire as much as the first time whenever he touches you. You reach for his jeans, unbuckling them and reaching in to grip his cock, loving how hard he is for you. “Joel.” You whine when he bites down on your nipple, groaning into your skin.

He loves how you whine, how you beg for him. Switching to your other breast, he shows it the same attention, squeezing your ass and then hastily unbuttoning your shorts. Needing to feel how wet you are for him.

You let go of his cock so he can shove your shorts down and he groans when his hand dives into your panties and he finds you soaking wet. You’ve never been so turned on by a man, wet from just a few kisses from Joel. Even looking at him. You whimper when his calloused fingers find your clit. “Yesss baby.” You hiss softly, reaching back to squeeze his cock.

“Fuck.” He groans against your tit. His fingers rub your clit and then he slides them deep inside you and curls up. “Want you to cum for me, then I want to fuck you.” He growls.

You can’t deny him when he wants you to cum for him. His thumb pressing against your clit and you’re so close already. “Joel. Baby. Shit.” You hiss as you clamp down on his digits, soaking them and your grip on his cock tightens.

It seems like he’s learned your body perfectly over the last week. Groaning happily when your cunt gushes around his fingers and makes it squelch when he continues to finger you. “So good baby, so good.” He praises. “You’re so good for me.”

You whimper, “yes. Yes. All yours. I- shit. Need you inside of me.” You plead, letting go of his cock to reach for his shirt. You want to pull it over his head so you can touch his skin.

It’s a frantic rush to get both of you undressed. Acting like teenagers again. He chuckles when he nearly trips over his boxers as he moves you towards the bed. “So damn eager. All the time.” He grunts, pressing his lips to yours as he pushes you down onto the bed.

You giggle, looking up at him as he shifts to kneel between your legs. You stop giggling when he looks at you and you reach up to caress his cheeks. “It’s because it’s you.” You murmur, your heart pounding in your chest and you know you can’t say those words and ruin this so you surge forward to press your lips against gis.

Joel closes his eyes and moans into your mouth. Gripping his cock and guiding himself towards your dripping entrance while your tongues tangle together. Flattening his hands on either side of your head as he starts to push inside you.

You tangle your fingers in his hair, lifting your thighs up to rest on his hips so he can sink deeper inside of you. “Joel baby. Shit. Always so thick. Stretching me out. Would’ve - would’ve let you fuck me in your truck during the movie if Ellie wasn’t there.” You reveal when he leans back to kiss along your jaw.

He hums quietly. "Could you have kept quiet?" He asks, sliding a hand up and covering your mouth. "Or would I have had to fuck you like this? Keep those pretty sounds for myself while I fuck you?"

Your moan is muffled by his palm and you whimper when he starts to move inside of you. Your cunt clenches around him, making him chuckle darkly, and you swear that alone could make you cum. His hand slides down to your neck, holding you there but not squeezing. “I would’ve tried. The - the horror screams might’ve covered mine up.”

He hums, smirking as he watches you squirm underneath him. "Maybe." He tells you doubtfully. Your screams are too loud when he's really fucking you. Although you normally save that for when he's fucking you at your aunt's house.

You slap his chest playfully and he grabs your hand, pressing it into the mattress above your head. “I could’ve kept quiet.” You huff and he thrusts particularly hard into you, making you moan a little louder than you shoulder. His eyebrow raises as you open your eyes and you roll your eyes, “okay, you made your point. Now, you gonna fuck me, Miller?” You tease, leaning up to nip his jaw.

“I’m fuckin’ you, aren’t I?” He grumbles even though he’s smirking again. He’s been doing a lot of that around you lately. Reaching back, he grabs your hand and lifts it up over your head while he slams into you again. “Addicted to it. To you.”

Your mouth falls open, all joking gone as he hits so deep inside of you. “Fuck.” You gasp, closing your eyes as he rolls his hips on the next thrust. “Shit. Me too. Addicted. To all of you.” You promise, having seen some of his darker moments when he’d wake up in the middle of the night and momentarily forget he lost Sarah. You’d held him while he settled down and neither of you spoke about it the next morning. It’s his decision to talk or not talk.

With your confession, his pace falters for a moment before he starts rocking into you faster. Snapping his hips as harshly as he can to slam into you roughly. Knocking your breath and his own out of you as he fucks you.

You lift your hips higher, sending him impossibly deeper inside of you, and you can barely breathe with the way he’s pushing deep inside of you. “Fuck baby. That’s it. God. Feels so good. So good.” You moan, squeezing his hands in yours.

“You’re so good.” He’s done everything he fucking could to show you how sexy you are. How desirable. That your ex is a dumbass. He squeezes your hand and despite the rough pace, his lips are tender on yours.

His hips grind against yours and you are close when he rubs your clit just right. “Shit. Jo-Joel. Fuck. I’m gonna - I’m gonna - Shitttttt.” You hiss as you clamp down on his cock, soaking him and your lips hover against his as he works you through it.

It’s always so surprising how quickly you cum. Making him groan as your walls squeeze hum like a vice, begging him to fill you up. He kisses you again, keeping his cock working in and out of you as he chases his own high. Thinking about you and how sexy you are, different times he’s fucked you. Wanting to cum and snuggle with you while he can. “Fuck, fuck, baby.” He pants. “So fucking good for me. Soaking my cock. Moaning my name. You’re mine, ain’t cha?”

You nod, “yes. Yes. Yours. Always been yours. You just didn’t know it.” You confess and he groans, pushing deep inside of you with a hiss as he starts to cum. “That’s it baby. Cum for me. Yes. Yes. God, that’s it.” You squeeze his hands as he scrunches his face up while he paints your walls.

“You should stay.” Joel groans out as he collapses on top of you and buries his face into your neck. Panting breathlessly and trying to find the words he needs, even though he’s never been good at them. He needs you. Much like he needed Ellie, just in a different kind of way. He doesn’t want you to leave and he knows you’ve only got a few days left.

You want to stay. More than anything. You often daydream about a life spent with Joel but you have a life back in Texas that you need to sort out. You want to stay, forget everything in Texas but you have an apartment. “I can’t. Not yet.” You murmur and caress his back, “I have stuff to figure out in Texas.” You wish you could stay with him but you have to get everything sorted.

Joel doesn’t say anything. He knows it was a long shot. He kisses you softly and pulls out of you with a groan and rolls onto his back. Quiet and suddenly wondering is you are going to go back to that asshole now that you’ve fucked someone else.

You shift into his side, kissing his chest, and you know it’s hard to explain to Joel who sees the world in absolutes. You know he isn’t happy with your answer and you’ll try to explain it better in the daylight. He is soon snoring in your ear and you murmur to him, “I love you.” You will call your parents tomorrow and see if they can help you out. 

**** 

Joel looks at you as you finish making the sandwiches for lunch. “You nearly finished with the house next door?” You ask him as you set the iced tea down in front of him as he shifts to sit at your kitchen counter. 

“Nearly.” He says and he’s been quiet since last night when you told him you weren’t staying. 

You set the plate in front of him just as the doorbell rings. He looks at you and you shake your head, “I didn’t order anything.” You say and make your way over to the front door. You open it and gasp, “Jason?”

His heart sinks as he hears your gasps but his first instinct is anger. Lurching out of his seat, Joel rushes to the door and pushes you out of the way so he can grab the asshole who hurt you. "What the fuck are you doing here?" He growls, satisfied that the man nearly squeals and flinches when Joel draws his fist back to punch him.

Jason winces and you reach up to touch Joel’s arm. “Don’t. He’s not worth it.” You say and Joel glances at you, confused that you don’t want him to beat this guy’s ass and you say no. “What do you want, Jason?” You huff and Jason adjusts his shirt after Joel lowers his arm. 

“I want you back. I made a mistake. I'm sorry baby. Please. I miss you.” You ignore that to ask him how he found you. “Your phone…still has the location shared with me.” 

You hiss at your stupidity. “I don’t - I don’t love you Jason. You hurt me. So much. Just go.” You plead and he shakes his head, trying to push into the house but Joel puffs his chest and Jason backs away. 

“Fine. Whatever. Clearly you’ve moved on. Good luck, man. She’s batshit crazy.” Jason growls, “and she needs to do some fucking kegels.” 

Joel hisses and surges forward to grab Jasón but he manages to dodge Joel and runs down the path. “Motherfucker.” Joel hisses and tries to catch him but you place your hand on his chest, “leave it baby. It’s not worth it.” You remind him and Joel shouts out, “you worthless piece of shit!” You sigh and shut the door, feeling a little shaken by Jason’s random appearance.

Joel’s angry. Pissed off that you apparently still have feelings for that fucking loser. Enough that you wouldn’t let him beat the shit out of him and teach him some fucking manners. “Charming asshole.” He grunts, not even hungry anymore. “See why you want to go back to him.” You just said you didn’t love him, but why else would you give up on everything the two of you have if not to go back to that worthless piece of shit.

Your eyes widen, “go- what the hell are you talking about, Joel? Go back to him? That’s the last thing I’d ever do. I didn’t think he’d track my fucking phone to come and find me.” You shake your head, “I don’t want him. I want you. I only want you.” You want to tell him how much but you don’t want to risk your heart again.

“Except you aren’t staying with me, are you?” He demands. “You’re gonna fuck off back to Texas and maybe tell your friends that you rebounded with some dumb construction worker who knew you from back in the day.” His own fears ride to the surface and he lashes out at you. “Poor son of a bitch actually thought he had a chance and asked you to stay.”

You shake your head, “Joel. No. I- I have to go home because I have an apartment. A job. I can’t just up and leave everything. I want to stay. More than anything in the world but we aren’t kids, we have responsibilities and I have to handle it all before I come back here. I want to stay. More than anything in the world.” You assure him, noticing how tense he is and you feel guilty for not explaining yourself before.

“Whatever.” He’s angry and irrational. A little embarrassed about how he just flung his heart out there. “I’m- I’ve got to get back to work.” He picks up his tool belt off the back of the chair and turns towards the door. Hating how vulnerable you’ve made him feel and how easily you can hurt him.

You want to run after him, scream at him that you love him, that you've always been in love with him. No one has ever made you feel like he does. Instead, you stare at the kitchen counter. You told him you'd come back but he pushed it aside. Maybe it's best that you go home before you destroy the last of your relationship with Joel. You work on packing your things, booking a flight home, and you text Ellie to tell her you are heading home first thing. She tries to call you but you ignore it, wanting to have a glass of wine or two to smother the way your heart aches at leaving Joel again. You never discussed why you left. You never told him and now you doubt you will. You organize your aunt's house, leaving it how you found it and get into bed without Joel.

“You’re a fucking dumbass.” Joel ignores the jab coming from the teenager as he stirs the pan as if it was a mission to whip the water and milk mixture the boxed dinner called for. “Joel? Joel? She’s leaving.” She stresses again. “You know, not being here anymore?” 

Slamming the spoon down, Joel turns around to glare at Ellie. “I fucking know. What do you want me to do about it?” He demands. “She’s a fucking adult. She can go where she wants.” 

The girl’s eyebrows arch up to her forehead and she rears back at the anger in Joel’s tone. “Man, you got it baaaaaaad.” She huffs. “You need to tell her how you feel.” 

Joel snorts. “I have.” He admits, shaking his head. “Doesn’t matter, stay out of it.” 

Ellie harumps at him and crosses her arms. “Go talk to her.” She demands, staring him down and he knows she won’t let this go. 

“Fine.” He grumbles, slapping his hands on his hips to search for his keys. “Won’t do any good, but I’ll go talk to her.”

The doorbell rings and you frown, getting out of bed to see who it is. Hoping it's not Jason coming back. When you see Joel through the peephole, you sigh and open the door. "Hey." You say weakly as you stand there in your pajamas in the doorway.

“Can we talk?” Joel asks, shuffling slightly on the steps and wondering if you would tell him to fuck off. He had overreacted and fucked things up. “Please?”

You nod, stepping aside so he can walk in and you shut the door behind him. “Ellie told you I booked a flight home?” You ask and he nods, pushing his hands into his jeans. “Yeah.” He clears his throat and you bite your lip, taking a moment. “I don’t think you understand me, Joel. I- I don’t want to leave. Ever. If I could stay here forever, I would. But I can’t. Not because I don’t want to. I want to. I have a life back home. A home. A job. I can't abandon that stuff. I have to sort it out and then…I was planning to come back.”

His shoulders round, knowing that he hadn’t heard you say that when he was busy being upset. “I- I’m sorry.” He murmurs quietly, hating being wrong and feeling like he’s fucked things up. “I shouldn’t have- I didn’t hear you say that. I’m- no excuse.” He tells the kid to own up to her mistakes all the time and he should do the same.

You aren’t angry with him, just upset. “I- I never told you the reason why I left when you got married…did I?” You ask and he shakes his head, his hand coming up to run it through his hair. You fiddle with your fingers and lick your lips, giving yourself a moment. “I left because I couldn’t stand to see the man I love be in love with another woman, marry another woman. It tore me apart and I thought it was easier to leave than to watch you live your life without me being the woman you chose to be with. I was so in love with you and you didn’t see it. I had to go.”

“Oh baby.” Joel closes his eyes, pulling his hands out of his pockets so he can pull you close. “I wish you had told me.” It wouldn’t have changed things, he had married her, but maybe he could have kept you as a friend. “We didn’t last a year. She wasn’t the one for me. Not really, and we both knew it.”

You know he wouldn’t change a thing because he had Sarah because he married Helen but you hug him, breathing him in. “You had Sarah so life happens for a reason and you’re here now and I - I still love you. I’m still so damn in love with you, Miller.” You confess as you pull back to look at him.

“I love you.” He murmurs softly. “I - I was going to offer to come to Texas.” He’s not stepped foot in the state since his daughter died and he really didn’t want to go back, but he would for you. “To visit you. It would be hard to move Ellie.”

You caress his cheek, “I won’t be long.” You promise, “I can work remotely so I just gotta head home to pack up and find somewhere here to buy.” You tell him, “I won’t be gone long enough for you to need to visit me. I know you can’t move because of Ellie so I’ll come here. I don’t want to run anymore. I want you.” You promise, leaning in to nudge your nose with his.

“You don’t have to buy anything.” Joel murmurs quietly. “You can move in with me and Ellie.” He knows you might not want to move in with him after your ex cheated on you in your home, but he wants to offer. “No need to waste the money when you’re gonna be in bed with me.”

You smile, pleased that he’s ready to jump all in. “You want me in your bed?” You ask and he nods, “every damn night.” You giggle softly and kiss his lower lip. “As soon as I’m back, I’ll never leave your bed.” You promise, “I’m yours. Forever. If you’ll have me.”

“Baby, I want you.” Joel wraps his arm around you and pulls you close. “I promise you, I want you. Forever. Your asshole ex threw away the greatest thing he ever had and I’m not stupid enough to do the same.”

  ​​

[no-see-um-incorrect]

Teen Asher headcannon’s 

When they were teens, Asher saved up a bunch of his allowance to buy a new game he really wanted. David needed to get a few things for the house  so he went with him, and Milo tagged along 

Milo was looking in the clothes, David was in home supply, Asher was in video games/electronics 

And Milo sees this green and white letterman jacket with MG embroidered on it. Asher(game in hand) walks over to Milo, who is staring at the jacket 

“oOoOoOo nice jacket!”

Milo lifts up the price tag ”……nice jacket, dumb price” and walks away

Immediately, Asher sets the game on the shelf next to him and start looking through the sizes

“MILO! What size are you?” Milo turns around.

“…I don’t got enough money Ash”

“I know YOU don’t but I do. what’s your size?”

“ash, I can’t ask you to do that”

“YOUR not asking. if you don’t tell me your size, I’m just gonna guess”

“…..Large…..”

That day, Milo left the mall with his jacket. David left with his home supplies.  and Asher left video gameless but with a smile on his face.

(that one was long and cheesy. Let’s speed it up)

 Asher and a tank used to sit on the roof of the pack den and throw shit at Christian 

Asher was and still is a One Direction fan 

At school, a bunch of kids were making fun of Amanda, because she bled through her pants. So Asher splashed a bunch of water on his pants so it looked like he pissed himself (for those of you who get the reference. Like in Billy Madison)

David was his first kiss. it was through a game of spin the bottle 

One of Asher’s famous phrases growing up was

“I may have been a mistake, but I was never a regret!”

Asher ask tank to prom because he knew that they weren’t going to go if no one asked 

One year for Halloween he got dressed up as a clown (not remembering that David’s dad is afraid of clowns) and Gabe accidentally clocked him 

Asher didn’t know how to spell algebra (still doesn’t)

his first job was working as a stock boy at a liquor store (to this day he still questions why they gave that job to a 16-year-old)

Out of all of them, Asher is the one who got hurt the most. Hence why he is so familiar with Marie’s rations of shit. 

After his sister said that she was moving to Michigan they got into a big fight and he stayed at David’s house for like two weeks 

Absolutely swept the floor with whoever he was playing with in Uno 

He would very frequently go into his sisters room and steal her makeup and skirts 

When he was begging for his parents to say yes, to something, he would shift and give them literal puppy dog eyes 

Haven’t done something like this in what feels like a minute 

Hope you guys enjoyed. I hope you have a fantastic week. Stay hydrated, eat some food.  all that good stuff.  Love you💋💋💋

[greenfuls-secret-chambers]

Warnings : Minors DNI, shameless smut

Reader is of legal age

1800+ words

Our Little Secret

Tripping over your feet, you successfully made your way past the crowd to the door of the bar.

It was Friday night, being the last few weeks of your third year of college , you and all of your friends decided to go out for a drink. Next thing you knew, one drink led to two, and two some how led to four.

You pushed past the heavy door, finding yourself leaning up against the building fishing in your pockets for your pack of cigarettes. Finding the pack you took one out and put it to your lips. You took out your lighter, tried to light the end but no luck.

“Well fuck, isn’t that just peachy.” You groaned

You looked around, scanning the figures around you, looking for someone who might be able to save you from your predicament. To your left you saw a man blowing smoke out of his nose.

“Hey would you mind? I need a light.” You pointed to your cigarette.

He looked up at your with green eyes and smiled. “Sure, no problem. I’ve been there a couple of times myself.” He stood up and put his hand around your cig to light it.

Holy shit, was this man TALL. Not only was he built like a damn giant, he was hot as fuck.

You stared at him in the pale moonlight, taking in his light brown hair, his bright green eyes, but also a scar that ran across his face. What you wouldn’t give to be under this mystery of a man.

“You know, it’s not polite to stare.” He smirked, as if he knew what you were thinking.

“I’m sorry!” You blushed, “My name is Y/N, thank you for the light.” You smiled, trying to not make things awkward.

“Oh yes Y/N Y/LN, I know of you, I’m Professor Remus Lupin, I teach world history at UCL.”

Your brain short circuited.

Im standing here smoking in front of a professor. NO I’m standing here drunk, smoking in front of a professor.

Worried about your image you moved your arm down by your side trying to hide your cigarette. You couldn’t afford to lose your scholarships.

Seeing you become uncomfortable he spoke,

“No need to be bashful, I’m not going to scold you for smoking. That would be hypocritical of me to do so.” He brought his hand up to his mouth and took a drag.

“Plus we are off of school grounds, so it can be our little secret.” He smirked

There it was again, that smirk was making your knees weak.

You finished your cigarette and flicked it away

“Well professor, the night is still young, I’m going back in and to grab another drink.”

“Mind if I come and join you? It is the weekend and I could use one. Grading all these exams are going to be the death of me.”

Feeling a little brave, you smiled, “Sure, since you helped me out with the light, just put yours on my tab.”

“Well I never say no to a free drink”

With that you walked through the door making your way to the bar taking a seat, Lupin following behind you.

The bartended made his way over to you, “Need another jack and coke?”

“Yes please, and could you put his on my tab?” You looked at Lupin.

“Cinnamon whiskey on the rocks.” He requested.

Within a couple of minutes your drinks were sat in front of you.

Lupin turned to look at you “For someone as sociable as you, I know you couldn’t of come alone.”

Oh shit your friends, you had completely forgotten about them. You looked around the bar, but no dice. “Well I didn’t, I guess they have already left for the night.” You looked down at your phone confirming your suspicions.

*Hey, I hope you’re alright! We waited for you to come back to the table, but Maria started to get sick so we took her back to Uni. Be safe! I’ll see you back at the dorm later*

…

An hour had past, you were now on your 6th drink of the night and you were feeling it. The night was going very well. The both of you were chatting up a storm, everything from what was going on at university to even some hobbies you both shared.

“.. and you know what,” Lupin spoke in between sips, “Professor Snape needs to have the huge stick removed from his ass, he is so insufferable to work with.”

You almost spit out your drink from laughing and lightly slapped him on the arm, “Imagine being one of his students, I have never in my life had a professor who is such a hard ass for no reason, I think that man just needs to get laid.” You giggled.

Lupin looked down at your hand, still on his arm and bit his lip. “I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks so.”

He looked up at you, taking in the sight. He hadn’t noticed early but you truly breathtaking. His eyes began to look you up and down, noticing a couple of your buttons at the top of your shirt had come undone. You skirt had rode up just slightly, giving him a view of your upper thigh.

You but your lip and quipped “You know Professor, it’s not polite to stare.”

“Y/N, no need for formalities, please call me Remus.” He replied, trying to take away from you catching him staring.

You smiled, noticing you still had your hand on his arm, you squeezed it ever so gently. This caused him to shift a little in his chair.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for another smoke.” You said trying to break the tension.

“I think you’re right.” He smiled

You both made your way outside, it had gotten a little colder which caused you to shiver.

Seeing this he asked, “I’m freezing, would you want to smoke in my car?”

Taking the opportunity not to go into hypothermic shock, as well as be alone with him, you happily agreed.

You both made your way to his car, getting into the passenger you could smell chocolate and warm spices. It was a nice change from the mustiness of the bar.

You both took out a cigarette. He lit his, waiting for him to hand you the lighter never came. He leaned over and lit your cig with his. His face only inches away from yours. Between the booze and his action, your cheeks turned red.

You both smoked in silence, stealing small glances while the other one wasn’t looking.

A few minutes went and you had both finished your smokes, flicking them out the window.

You checked your phone seeing it was almost 2am. “Well it’s getting rather late, I need to get back to the dorms soon.” You sighed.

Your hand reached for the door, but before you could open it, Remus grabbed onto your arm and pulled you over to him. Leaving you both inches away from each other’s face.

Staying in that position for what seemed like eternity, you closed the gap putting your lips to his.

He kissed you back immediately, sliding his tongue along your bottom lip, begging to be let inside, you happy obliged and parted your lips slightly, allowing him access. You both fought for dominance, but in the end letting him win.

A few seconds later he moved his hand to the back of your head, grabbing a fistful of hair, pulling you away to look at him.

This caused you to whimper. Your cheeks where flushed, and your eyes where slightly closed.

“Such a pretty girl, I was just waiting to get my hands on you.” He looked you up and down, taking in the sight before him. You skirt had rode all the way up, giving him a view of your black lace panties.

Wanting more you moaned out, “Professor please ..” Starting to rub your thighs together.

He smirked “Professor? I do recall telling you to call me by my first name.” He brought his other hand to your thighs and pushed them apart.

Taking his finger and rubbing them up your clothed slit, he lowly chuckled feeling the wetness.

“Oh I see. This little slut has a thing for getting fucked by a Professor huh? That’s quite naughty isn’t it Y/N?”

You couldn’t take it, he was turning you into a moaning mess.

“Professor Lupin, please don’t tease me, I need more.” You gasped out, grinding down on his hand.

“Exactly what I would expect from a whore like you, don’t worry my love, I’ll give you more.”

He pulled your panties over to the side and pushed two long fingers into you, immediately curling them.

With his other hand, he let go of your hair, almost causing you to lose your balance, to unbutton his pants. He pulls them down just enough to free his cock.

Your eyes grew wide at the sight. He was definitely larger than average and so thick. You have no idea how it was going to fit inside you.

He brought his hand up to your mouth and commanded, “Spit.”

You did as you were told and watch him bring his hand down to his cock, starting to stroke at the same speed he was thrusting his fingers.

He started to speed up both hands then completely stoped.

“Come here, I want you to get in my lap.”

Without hesitating you climbed over the middle console.

He slid down in his seat to give you more access. He pulled your panties back over to the side and slowly pushed you down on his cock.

“Professor Lupin, you’re stretching me out.” You moaned, bitting your lip.

He grunted as he buried himself completely to the hilt. “Y/N, you have such a tight little pussy.”

Without warning he started to thrust upward into you. Both of his hands ripped open your shirt, sending buttons flying all over his car.

He pulled your breast out of your bra and leaned forward to take a nipple into his mouth.

His thrust started to become more rough causing you to grab on to his shoulders for more stability.

“Professor please, I want you to ruin my pussy, fuck me harder.” You cried out, begging.

He released your nipple from his mouth and grabbed the back of your neck pulling you close to him.

“If you keep squeezing around my cock like that, im going to make sure you won’t be able to walk for a week.”

And with that he sped up, thrusting into you at a speed you couldn’t even fathom , before you knew it your orgasm hit you like a train

“Fuck Remus, fill up my tight pussy.” You pleaded, riding out your orgasm.

With his name leaving your mouth he sped up.

“Y/N I’m so close my darling.” He groaned

Feeling you clench around him caused his movements to become uneven. With a final thrust he emptied inside of you, panting to catch his breath.

You both sat there, slumped in the driver seat. He brought his hand up to your cheek , taking his thumb ever so gently to rake across it.

[porcelain-savior]

Hush~♡

┆Wednesday Addams x Reader ┆

❥not proodhead

❥warnings ~ slight NSFW(?) ~ Grabbing of thighs, kissing (roughly), 'dirty' jokes

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

What bad timing. Nevermore was chosen has one of three schools to go out into the wild and camp. Fun. Well it was fun for the wolves though. Not such for the vampires though, a lot of were upset.

You were putting clothes into your bag for this week long trip and you were honestly gonna upset that you had to go but a week without learning so you guess it was fine.

And plus, you were share a tent with your friends. Including Wednesday. So your mood was still alive.

Walking out of your dormroom, you placed two bags down, a small backpack then a bigger bag. People were walking back and forth down the hallway since you only have 30 minutes until you all had to go.

...

30 minutes..

"Oh shit!" You shouted, looking at a random clock that was in the hallway. The girls in the hallway looked at you weirdly once you shouted. "Y/N, you okay?" One of the girls asked, putting a hand on your shoulder. "I'm fine but we only have 30 minutes until we have to go! Not including the time we have to get on the buses!" You say, looking at her. The girls around gasp then started running away to finish packing their things. But they all knew that they would still be the first ones on the bus since almost all of the boys were asleep. Hopefully they all get left behind. (Sorry I like women)

After 10 minutes, you were walking to the bus with your bags in hand. Waving and saying hi to people that pasted by you. "Hey Y/N!" Enid shouted, running up to you. "Hi Enid." You say, walking next to her. "Have you seen Wednesday? I haven't seen her since we were in our dorm. She said she went to go check out the bus." Enid says, grabbing one of your bags. "I haven't seen her since yesterday. Maybe she's just helping putting bags away." You say, picturing if Wednesday would help or help put bugs into people's bags. "Maybe, but we'll see right now." Enid says, has they both went up to side of the bus.

People were going in and out of the bus to claim seats and to place down the bags they were gonna have on the bus. Other people helping other people with bags and other things. You and Enid placed your bags down. "I'mma go claim a seat for myself. Hopefully Wednesday doesn't ditch us." You say, grabbing your smaller bag. "Okay, I'll let you know if I find her." Enid says, smiling at you. You nodded then walking up to the bus.

There weren't a lot of people on the bus. Only a few people putting their bags down and adding a smaller pillow. You looked around the bus to find a good spot to sit until you noticed Wednesday, who was placing her backpack down on a seat in the very back. You smile and mad your way to the back.

"Hi Wednesday!" You say, standing in the aisle. Wednesday turns to look at you with that same look on her face every day. The backpack that Wednesday had opened, then Thing came out. "Hello thing!" You say, smiling at the hand. You tuned back to Wednesday, "Mind if I seat here?" You say, holding your bag tightly. Wednesday looked you up and down and sighed. "Only because I need to talk you about these murders." Wednesday says. "Great! Can I sit by the window? I want to see dear when we drive threw forest." You asked. Wednesday rolled her eyes and stood up. You smile at her then setting your bag down on your seat. "Come on Wednesday. Let's go find Enid."

After a little while, you were all called onto the buses to get ready to go. You and Wednesday were already on the bus, waiting for the bus to start moving. A lot of your friends were around but not next to you seat wise. The seat that was next to You and Wednesday was very ripped up and ugly. So no one wanted to sit on it, so no one had a clean view of you and Wednesday. Which was perfect for Wednesday.

The bus started to move and everyone was chatting away. Enid and Ajax were in front of you while Xavier was sitting with Bianca, then Yoko was off in neverland or something.

It has been over 40 minutes since the the trip started and you and Wednesday were talking about the murders, blah blah.

Everytime you and Wednesday spoke to each other in the bus, the more closer you two got with each other. It's been over an hour since the bus ride started and your legs and arms were already touching. You were slightly pushed up against the wall of where the window was on the bus while Wednesday was the caus of it since she was showing you a picture of the claw marks that this monster made. Or at least that's you thought.

Wednesday had faked that photo. Why? Well, she wanted to get more closer to you. She had already started a plan. Wednesday already knew that you had feelings for her, very deep feelings. There were two reasons to why she found out. One, you felt your diary open on your desk while she was in your dormroom. Two, everyone knows that you had deep feelings for Wednesday. Wednesday also bad feelings for you. But she honestly didn't understand them so she just thought there is a reason to why she's so attractive to you.

You were looking out the window, looking out to the small little houses that pasted by. There was a sudden jump in the bus due to the due hitting a speed bump. This caused You and Wednesday to jump, catching the both of you off guard. Since you two were in the back of the bus, that caused more...of you two to get more closer?

Meaning that Wednesday's hand landed on your thigh has more of a landing type of spot? To be honest, she was glad that had happened. Your face turns slightly red at the sudden touch of Wednesday's cold hand. It was colder then Thing's hand. "Wednesday? Are you okay? You seem a little bit...nervous?" You say, placing your hand over Wednesday's hand that on your thigh. You didn't mind it since you trusted Wednesday. You would do anything just to hold Wednesday Addams hand. But there Wednesday was. Taking the risk by making the first move.

"I'm fine. That speed bump caught me off guard." Wednesday says, looking at you with her very dark eyes. Everytime you look into them, you feel like your looking into a black hole. Being sucked in by it, like it tricking you to go in. You smile gently at her, your hand still resting on Wednesday’s hand which was still on your thigh.

"Y/N."

"Hm?"

"Look at me."

You turned your head over to look at Wednesday, who was just nose touching away for you. Your face turned into shock for a moment. Then soften has Wednesday fingers carefully and slowly rudded your thigh and a part of your hand.

"What's wrong, Wednesday?" You asked, whispering softly. "Hush." Wednesday says, slowly leaning in, then kissing you softly. Her lips were cold like her hands, but she kissed so gentle, like she was scared of messing up. Your hand and Wednesday's hand that was originally on your thigh met each other and held together. Wednesday took her other hand and placed it on the back of neck, pulling you closer. She then took her other hand away from yours and placed in on your other side of your thigh and pulled you even closer. You carefully moved your arms around her neck to get even closer till the point where both of your legs were almost on top of each other.

Wednesday was out for blood. Mainly your blood but in a different type of way. She got more carried away with you. Other times, the way she got carried away with you is when either you two are in town or doing fun stuff together. Nothing that was..dirty?

Wednesday was kissing you roughly. It's like she was upset but she was clearly having a great time with you. You honestly thought she was gonna murder you after you two made out in the back of bus, that was full of students from your school. The more and more she kissed the more the both of you started to lose your minds. It was driving the two of you mad. You wanted more and more and she wanted more. But there is only so much you can do on a bus when there's people on it. But it's completely different when there isn't anyone on it.

You two broke away from that very rough kiss and panted like dogs. "You were, so rough." You breath out. Wednesday looked at you with bored eyes. "I was bored." She said, getting away from your very red face. You frowned at Wednesday, wishing for more. Wednesday of course noticed,

"Once we get to into the tent, we can finish. But your just gonna have hush for now."

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for taking my own car to pick up my grandma despite my dad insisting on just taking his truck?

Next week I'm (24 GNC) helping my dad (58 M) move his grandma from the Midwest to his place in upstate NY. He is paying for everything on this trip- uhaul trailer, food, motel, gas. He just bought the truck used this year but it is a piece of shit, he constantly has to fix it. It's loud and uncomfortable, I just don't like it.

He's VERY insistent on just taking one vehicle, says it's too much of a hassle to navigate with 2 vehicles and you're always getting separated. To be fair, I only have moved once and don't have a lot of experience with this- I drove across the country but I was by myself so I'm sure he's right about it being more tedious with multiple vehicles. I should also note, he doesn't even want me to help drive the truck at all, he's convinced I couldn't...handle it I guess (nevermind that I've driven snowplows, cranes, forklifts and the like).

So I don't see the problem, it's just 1 night in a motel, we meet there. Phones exist- if there's a problem then we just call? My reasoning for not wanting to go with him in the truck is, as mentioned, it's unreliable and big- my grandma's knees don't work and I can't even see how we're gonna get her into the truck. I have a little hatchback sedan with plenty of storage, it's in good shape and a much safer vehicle.

My other motivation is, well, my dad and I don't get along great. He's controlling and irrational. I don't want to be trapped in a vehicle with him for a week while we get everything packed and moved. I need the option to leave and get space if I need to. There's not an easy way for me to even tell him this without him making a big deal out of it or being a hurt piss baby. My grandma and I get along fine and she specifically told me she would rather be in my car.

He didn't say it, but maybe he just doesn't want to be driving alone? He does have poor night vision. However earlier this year he drove there by himself so I doubt that's it. I don't understand why else he would be so insistent on just taking one vehicle, but maybe someone else who's moved can verify that taking two vehicles is a bad idea.

So I want to know: would I be the asshole if I just put my foot down and refused to help unless I had my car?

What are these acronyms?

[allwormdiet]

Tangle 6.5

Once more unto the fucking breach, huh?

They're fucking insane for this one, though

Jeeeeesus Christ what a maneuver though, what a stunt

What a fucking entrance! Absolutely legendary for this one, holy shit

Y'know, I guess when you're this deep into the fucking shark tank, you might as well feel some kind of zen, right? Like what's gonna happen, things get more dangerous?

Oh hey Emma, hope this scares the bejeezus out of you,

Aww, Tattletale wanted to do a fun little monologue

Also very clever that they brought the bugs along via Big Dog, way better than depending on the gallery to have enough wasps and spiders

They are clowning on these fucking PRT guys, oh my god this is embarrassing

You're getting comboed to shit by a pack of half-feral teenagers and you can't even use your foam things worth a damn. Like, Tattletale is contributing in this fight, and she doesn't fight for shit!

Right, yeah containment foam. Pretty neat actually, and it makes sense as the weapon of choice for an organization meant to handle parahuman threats. Not that it's working for them rn, but y'know, thought that counts.

I think one day Victoria is gonna make Tattletale pay for that nickname, but good lord today is not that day

Also yeah fuck Shadow Stalker

Yeah, fuck Shadow Stalker!

Hi Assault, bye Assault

Great fucking team move between Assault and Battery, their powers are remarkably complementary to each other, which means it's kind of a shame it didn't work

This fight is still so cool though, god

Yeah you know what I think I get why people would want to stay away from Triumph, that's a power combination that'll do it

Aww but he's such a good boy though, taking down the big shouty man

Not only lol, but also lmao

And here comes Armsmaster to ruin everything. Again.

What's that line from the old Mortal Kombat movie? "I've studied all your moves," but said in like a horrendous fake Australian accent?

Also Jesus Miss Militia who needs a machine gun to subdue a teenager, that's overkill

Anyway haha things can only get better from here right

Current Thoughts

It hasn't even been two weeks since they knocked over the bank, and now they're here, that's fucking ludicrous

Fucking incredible that the Undersiders have managed to put up the numbers they have so far. Four Wards, Glory Girl, Assault and Battery, and Triumph all down and out. They walked into this with like two-to-one odds and have turned the numbers around in their favor. Armsmaster is gonna be a fucking problem of course, and Velocity's gonna put up a fight (Miss Militia is about to get punked in the next chapter so her not as much) but still, that's way better odds than I think anyone would have given them

It's getting late and I'm tired, so I'm gonna leave it here for tonight. Let that cliffhanger sizzle where it stands.

[pixeldistractions]

Only bring what you can carry, he said. So Maria packed as little as she could imagine and she still couldn’t carry all of that. Never mind that Johanna was too small to pull her own suitcase.

They’d be back in December to decide what to do with the rest of the house. They had until the end of her lease in February to decide. That was for the best maybe. Maria was under no illusions about Jordan’s track record of indecisiveness, and if she intended to bind herself to that runaway train, she would do it mindfully. It was wild and unhinged and completely instinctual, but also, Maria had never felt so adult, making this decision for herself and her little girl. They all might have their opinions, but nobody could tell her what to do. And she didn’t feel wrong for it, no matter what a runaway train he might be. For a man who had so little in the way of monetary possessions, she never felt more protected than in his arms. If he said they would be okay, then she would believe him.

Knock, knock. Lou was at the door.

Lou made a face at the disarray of semi-packed suitcases on the floor. “So you’re really doing it?”

Maria didn’t answer that question.

“How am I gonna stop by to see you after work?”

“Guess you’ll have to get on a train,” Maria said with as snotty a tone as she could muster.

She went back to the floor to continue her packing, but she didn’t end up moving a single thing.

“I know how you feel,” Maria said. “I really do. A lot has happened since, but when he first told me, I was heartbroken. It’s like, this whole person is part of your life for so long, and then they decide to just go? I guess that’s what I’m doing too, isn’t it? It’s pretty shitty, I know it is. But people can’t stand still around you forever. People change and grow and move, and you can move with them or let them go. But we’ll be back. And you’re single and child-free and not broke. You can visit us, too. You should travel more, there’s a whole world to see. And you’re welcome with us any time. We’re still family.”

“God, you’re so sappy,” Lou said, wiping her eyes. “Why is my face leaking?”

“Aw, I love you too.”

Lou came to sit on the floor next to piles of folded laundry and unmarked boxes. Her nose tickled with dust.

“Please don’t tell Mom and Dad yet,” Maria begged. “Give me a week or two?”

“Don’t you think they’ll notice when you don’t need them to watch JoJo while you work?”

“I was going to bring JoJo out to see Jordan next month,” Maria said. “I’ll just say we went early.” 

“They’re going to miss her. They’ll be sad.”

“I don’t know about sad,” Maria said. “Mom thinks I’m a burden.”

“She never said that.”

“She doesn’t have to say it. She would never. Joseph died a war hero, so she so can’t say it because she doesn’t want to look bad. But I know she wished I never got married and knocked up and widowed at twenty-one in the first place, then she wouldn’t be honor bound to help me. She thinks I’m a wreck. She already raised her children, and she never wanted to help raise a grandchild, too. Well, now she doesn’t have to worry about us anymore.”

“Well, damn, sis. I don’t know about all that, but she’s still gonna worry, for sure! Just like, don’t get knocked up again.” 

“Ha ha,” Maria snarked.

“I’m serious,” Lou said. “There was a birth control recall! You need to refill it.”

“Oh.” 

“Okay.” Lou took a breath and sat up tall. Lawyer mode activated. “So you need to bring JoJo’s birth certificate, and Joseph’s death certificate, too. Did you put a hold on your mail? Do you want to give me a key to check up on things? Put travel alerts on your credit cards. Auto pay your rent while your gone. Pay your own way, and keep your money separate from his. Holy shit, you crazy fool. What the fuck are you gonna do in Nevada?”

Maria grinned. “I don’t know yet. I have no idea!”

“Thank you,” Maria said, ambushing her with a hug. Having her sister’s blessing meant the world to her, even if she never listened to a damn thing her sister ever said.

— from “boxes and squares #4.5: home is wherever you are, part 3” (9/11)

story notes: I always felt Maria had a little tension with her parents. She’s not as close to them as Lou is, or as close as she is to Lou. So now we know why?

Next ->

[sxtvrns]

the thought of you saved me

🎶 now playing: every breath you take - the police

P: Finney Blake x Fem!Reader

S: You lost a friend to The Grabber. He lost one too. When you lose the last crush friend you have, you'll do anything to get him back, and he'll do anything to get back to you.

W: major tbp spoilers, angst, cursing, mentions of kidnapping, violence, abuse, death, fluff at the end

N: I have no idea if I can get what I have in mind on here exactly the way I want it to, and also it's been like 2 months since I last watched the movie so I apologize in advance for any inaccuracy. Marie is an OC mentioned in this fic.

please interact if you enjoy!

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Marie Laura Nattings. Robin Arellano. Victims of the nightmare that's been terrorizing your town for years.

Marie was your closest friend, and you befriended Robin when Finney came into your life for the first time. Ironically enough, Marie had a crush on the school's toughest fighter, saying he'd "defend her if she ever gets bullied" or "fight for her". And now they're both missing. They've been missing.

It was only you and Finney left. Ever since you both lost someone mutually, you began to bond. You both lost your best friends to the same guy, with the same reasons to grieve. As much as you hoped they were alive, both of you were certain they'd already moved on.

Marie went missing shortly after school started. Robin went missing a mere month and few weeks after. The Grabber's habits didn't make sense; why would he leave such a large gap between killings for the other boys and mere months between Marie and Robin?

It was never even confirmed that this was The Grabber's doing but it was obvious enough to deduce the fact that it was him. Marie would've been back by now and you know it. Robin wouldn't have gone down without a fight.

You've only known Finney for a month and a few weeks, but you spent the most time with him. Sometimes he came over to your place to work on homework together. You always sat next to each other in classes together and it was always just the two of you having lunch together.

Though as time went on, those best friend feelings grew into something more. It was odd.

The simplest things he did that you wouldn't usually freak out over, like his hand gliding over yours accidentally when going to grab your pencil sharpener made your face flushed. His baseball games and/or practices he invited you to watch, his drive and determination letting out the best in him, when he let you call him 'Finn'.

They were all just simple acts of kindness and being there for each other, but you couldn't help but view them as something more.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Finn?" His eyes are focused on his math work as he lets out a hum in response. "Do you still like Donna?" He stops writing, thinking of a response. "Why are you asking?" He looks up at you from his paper. "You just... it seems like you don't like her anymore. You don't stare at her when she enters the classroom, you don't tense up when she talks to you, and–"

"I guess I don't like her. Well, I don't have a crush on her anymore, at least." As much as you feel bad for her, you also feel a bit relieved. "Really?" You ask, almost too excited. "You're the one that asked. How about you? Do you like anyone?"

Shit.

You suddenly grow bashful. You didn't mean to turn the tables on you. "Oh, um... well, I can't tell you." You say, hoping he couldn't see right through you. "It's only fair enough for me to know who you like. Just say it."

"Well, um..." You start, not planning to finish.

"Finney?" Your older sister barges into your room, both you and Finney looking up at her. "Time to go. You finish all your work yet? Did Y/N help you?" Finney begins packing his bag while you let out a discreet sigh of relief. "She did, yeah. I'll finish the rest at home." You get up along with him, going down the stairs to greet him goodbye.

That was a week ago. Ever since then, he hasn't come to school.

You tried to look on the positive side of things. Maybe he just had some really bad cold that had him bedridden. Maybe he got hurt and had to stay home for a while. But the more you thought about it, the more you realized that this was very out of character for Finney.

He preferred school more than home. If anything, he'd rather be bullied than be abused or witness abuse. He wouldn't stay home that long for anything. And then the worst possible scenario came to mind. He was taken by The Grabber.

You didn't want to admit it, but you were started to think that he was taken. There was no other possible situation. You might be overreacting and just assuming the worst, but this mostly made sense. The Grabber's victims are mostly around Finney's age and they were all boys. But then again, why did he take a girl? Why did he take your best friend?

The phone rings. Your sister goes down and picks it up. "Y/N! It's for you!" She yells, making you rush down the stairs and take it from her. "Hello? Hi, yes, this is Y/N." You speak, clasping onto the receiver with both hands. "Y/N, I’ve heard that you’re quite close with Finney Blake?" The voice on the other end says. "Yes, why?"

He sighs. "We have reasons to believe that he was taken by The Grabber. Now, don't panic; we just have to ask you a few questions and..."

The voice on the other end drowns out as you start to panic. No. God, no, not again. You've lost two people already, you aren't about to lose the last person who's been with you through all this. You need to get him back.

But how? How are you going to do anything? You're just a 13 year old girl. "...if you have any leads, or any questions, call us." You stop spacing out and the voice comes back again. "Okay. Thank you." You say, trying to hide the breaks in your voice. You hang up the phone, turning to your sister. "What happened?" She asks, expressing genuine concern.

"He was taken." You mutter softly, but loud enough for her to hear you. "Oh, Y/N..." She opens her arms and you accept her hug, sobbing into her shoulder. Her hands rub up and down your back as you cry out, drag about him and your feelings through choked out sobs. She listened. Your sister didn't say a word, but you knew she was listening to you.

Her sympathy was silent.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The phone rings.

It's been days in this dingy basement and Finney's been getting calls from dead people. From victims.

First it was Bruce, then Paperboy. Griffin and Vance followed. They all gave him advice that led to dead ends. What was the point of the code on the wall, the cable? It was all for nothing.

He was gonna die here.

He'd never get to see his sister again. He never had a proper chance to say goodbye. Goodbye to her, and goodbye to you. The thought of you crying, the thought of you in despair of losing all her friends to the same monster that keeps everyone awake at night; it only wants to make him get out sooner.

He wants to stay alive, but nothing has worked.

Finney picks up the phone, answering with a frustrated, quiet, "What?"

"Hey, Finn. What's happening?" Finney stands there, a mix of joy and sadness washing over him as he's frozen in spot. "Hey buddy, don't cry." Robin says. "I'm not." Finney wipes his face of the tears that are about to fall down his cheek. "Yes, you are. We can see you."

"We? Who's we?" Finney asks, confused. "Me and Marie. We're with you. We've been with you this whole time." Finney couldn't see it, but the ghosts of Robin and Marie are holding hands as they both stare at him. "A man never leaves a friend behind. My dad didn't leave his buddies behind when he went to 'Nan. That's why he didn't come home. And we aren't coming home either. And we aren't going to leave you behind." Robin continues.

"We'll be together again soon." Finney says. "Fuck that. You ain't gonna go like we did." Robin's grip on Marie's hand grows tighter. "I've tried everything. Nothing's worked." Finney's voice breaks as he speaks into the receiver.

"Yet."

"Robin–"

"Do you remember what I told you?" Robin asks. "That I needed to see Texas Chainsaw Massacre?" Finney half-jokes, being it the last thing he does remember. "Before that." Robin specifies. "That someday I need to stand up for myself?"

Marie watches as Finney talks into the receiver and Robin speak back to him. She saw Finney's conflict, a mix of wanting to escape and purely giving up. She wanted to say something, but the two boys kept talking and there seemed to be no way to interrupt.

"I miss you, Robin, Marie."

"Get out for us. Use what we gave you."

"I will."

"Finney?" Marie says. "Yeah?" He replies, now fully convinced that Marie was really there. "The reason The Grabber took me was because… he wanted to see if girls were as desirable as boys. But he went back to his regular male demographic and targeted Robin after killing me.” The truth scared Finney, it angered him. He felt disgusted, enraged. “When you get out… tell her I said goodbye.”

“Her?”

“Y/N.”

Y/N. The name reminds him of how he's still alive, why he's still fighting even on the verge of giving up. You and Gwen. He's fighting for you and Gwen. "I will." Finney says. He says his last goodbyes to his best friend, immediately wanting to break down after hanging up the phone. But he has to get home.

And he'll do anything to see you again.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The phone rings again. Your mother is yelling from the kitchen for someone to pick it up. You answer the phone, Gwen's voice on the other end. "Hello?" You say, sounds of hyperventilating on the other end. "Gwen? Are you okay?" You ask, concerned. "He's home. They found him." She says. You can hear her holding back tears as much as you are.

"Oh my god..." You break into tears of joy, hands trembling on the receiver. "Do you wanna see him?" She asks. "I'm grounded. I'll see him tomorrow anyways." You sniffle, wiping the tears off your face. You both say your goodbyes, trodding up the stairs. Your sister runs into you before you can get in your room. "What's wrong?" She asks. You look up to face her, glistened with tears. "Finney's alive."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Finney walks through the halls, people making way for him as they mutter about. His bullies even move out of the way, with the knowledge that Finney killed The Grabber. If he could kill a nightmare, who knows what he could do to those who hurt him.

Finney walks into his math class, stopping at the door when he sees you in your typical spot, writing swiftly until you make eye contact with him.

You freeze for a second before getting up from your seat, nearly tripping as you pace across the room. You engulf Finney in a hug, holding back tears. "Oh, Finney..." He hugs you back, feeling safe in your arms. "Are you crying?" You sniffle, wiping your tears away before they could fall. "No."

He laughs, something coming to mind. "Um, Marie wanted me to tell you something." He says, pulling away from the hug reluctantly. As much as you are confused, you don't question it. "She wanted me to tell you goodbye." Your head rests on his shoulder again.

He follows you to your shared desk, sitting down beside you and observing your expression. "I killed him. But you know that already." Finney says, sounding slightly guilty despite the torture he went through. "Don't feel bad. He deserved it. You're the toughest kid in school now, Finn." You nudge his shoulder. "Y/N, I talked to them. I talked to all the kids; Bruce, Griffin, Vance, Robin–"

"Finney?" You say, interrupting his rambling. "I never gave up on you. I prayed with Gwen every single day that you would come home and now," you're able to grab his hand without getting flustered, "now you're here. That's all that matters right now." Finney chuckles. "You wanna know something cheesy?" He returns the gesture, holding your hand. "What?"

"I thought of you every day down there." In a split second, your face was burning hot. "I thought of how happy you made me and how much I'd hate to see you cry if I didn't make it out of there." You nearly freaked out on the spot. "What about your sister?" You ask. "I thought of her, too. I thought of both of you."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"So then the phone rings for the last time, and this time Robin is talking to me and..."

Finney rambles about what he had to go through down in the basement, and how the disconnected cellphone began to ring with the voices of previous victims making him do things that contributed to The Grabber's death.

"He was with Marie, and then she told me to say goodbye for you, then The Grabber came down and I... I killed him. I snapped his neck with the phone cord and then I got out and Gwen was running to me and..." He looks like he's about to cry again. "You're a brave kid, Finn. Y'know, some people could've been stupid enough to have mercy on the guy and not kill him."

"What? No way, anyone could've killed him." You both stop at his door, Finney getting his keys from his bag. "Some people are stupid enough to forgive those who don't deserve it." You say. The door unlocks, Finney quietly opening it and dragging his bag inside. "Finn?" You say, his head perking up.

Come on, you idiot, just do it. Don't just stand there and waste his time.

You go up on your tip toes and leave a small kiss on his forehead before almost tripping down his doorsteps. "Bye! See you tomorrow!" You say, almost revealing the panic in your voice. "Yeah, bye..." He mutters, shutting the door.

His fingers touch the spot where you kissed him, feeling as if he was graced by an angel. A majestic angel who truly felt the same way about him the same he did for you.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

every breath you take, and every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, i’ll be watching you. 🎧

[fitrahgolden]

Should You Need Me: 5 - No one gets to come in

"Didi, please open the door," Edwina asked after the third unanswered knock. "It's just me. No mums."

Kate dragged herself off the couch and made slow progress towards the door. Eventually, she reached her destination, and opened the door to see the concern that was already etched on her sister's face immediately intensify as she took in Kate's appearance. Kate was well aware that her eyes were red beyond belief from all the crying she'd been doing. She needed to wash her hair. She'd barely been eating.

"Oh, Kate." Edwina crossed the threshold and hugged her sister. Kate was surprised by how much she needed this, some small comfort from someone who understood her. She'd been avoiding her family since she got home from Tom's that night, and being held by Edwina made her regret it. She needed her family right now.

Kate and Edwina moved into the living room and Edwina turned on a light, which made Kate react like a vampire. Edwina started straightening up as Kate flopped back down on the couch. A stubby loaf of bread immediately hopped up into her lap.

"Um… You got a dog, I guess?" Edwina peered at the corgi nuzzling Kate's hand.

"Yep. I call him Newton."

"He's cute," Edwina sounded cheery and Kate appreciated the effort.

"He is."

"Didi, have you been here all week?"

"I tried to be. I requested a week off from work but I had to come in for two days until they secured a substitute."

"And that's it?"

"Yeah. I mean, I've been walking around the block for Newton’s sake. I picked him up from a pet rescue on the way home after the second day and we've been getting well acquainted. I think I'm disappointing him. I'm not very good company right now."

Edwina moved to sit next to Kate on the couch.

"Have you heard from Tom?"

Kate scoffed. "Of course I haven't, Bon. And I never will."

Edwina tsked. "Don't say never, Kate. He just needs time."

"Well, I may as well think it will be never, then I can't get my hopes up." Too late.

"Do you want to hang out tonight? Do you want me to stay?" Edwina offered.

"Yes, but I meant it when I said I'm not good company right now. Just a warning."

"That's OK. We don't have to do anything. I just don't want you to be alone."

Kate wrapped her arms around her sister. "I don't want me to be alone, either."

—

Edwina stayed until the evening of the following day. She made Kate promise to respond to her family's text messages and let them know the second she needed one of them. Or all of them. Kate also promised to wash her hair, which she did as soon as Edwina left. It felt good. It made Kate want to do something productive.

As much as she hated thinking about it, she really did need to cancel the few things that she and Tom had already booked for the wedding.

Like the dress. Shit. 

Kate resisted talking herself out of it. It needed to be done, and the less she left for Tom to deal with, the better. And something about Tom potentially speaking with Anthony felt… wrong.

Kate had Anthony's phone number, but thought better of using it, and opted to call the boutique instead. That way, maybe she could talk to Alice or Genevieve. She suddenly remembered the store had closed hours ago as the line rang and was preparing to leave a message when–

"Bridgerton Formal. This is Anthony."

Damn. It. Dammit, dammit, dammit. Just fucking forge ahead, I guess. 

"Um, hi. Sorry to call so late. This is–"

"Kate."

"Yes," she breathed.

"Hey. What do you need?"

"Actually, I realised before you picked up that you guys are closed. I can come in tomorrow, if you, any of you, have time."

"Um, tomorrow is pretty packed. I'll actually be here a few hours still, in the studio, if you do want to come by."

Kate and Anthony, in the back of his shop, after hours? What could go wrong?

"Yeah, OK. I'll be there in about half an hour."

—

Anthony was waiting for Kate at the front of his shop and when he saw her coming down the sidewalk, he unlocked the door and opened it for her.

"Hey."

"Hi," Kate responded, but she didn't stop walking until she crossed the threshold and moved further into the showroom, back near the hallway that led to the back of the boutique. Once she stopped, Anthony got a good look at her. He always noticed her eyes first. They were puffy and it looked like she'd been crying so much that she had broken capillaries.

"Jesus, are you OK?"

"No, not at all. I just need to, um, cancel the dress order and settle up my account."

Oh?

"Right." Anthony turned to walk back to the door so he could lock it back, but stopped himself. "Um, we're closed, so I had the door locked. But if you don't want it to be locked, I'll leave it. Up to you."

Kate shrugged, clearly having other things on her mind. "Lock it, it's fine."

Anthony approached Kate after securing the door.

"So, you want to cancel your dress?"

"Yes," she sighed, seemingly already exasperated.

"OK. Can I get you some water or something? You look–"

"Like shit, I know."

"I was going to say 'upset.' I'm fairly certain it's not possible for you to look like shit, actually."

A warm expression crept across Kate's face for a brief moment before it was reset to something harder.

"Look, yes, the wedding is cancelled, OK? I don't want to talk about it. I just need to cancel the order. I'm gonna pay for everything. Is there a way for you to just refund Tom's card? I just… I don't want to have to send him money. He doesn't want to see me. Why won't he? And this way, he can't reject it. Because he probably would. He's a really good guy."

Kate took a huge breath. Anthony moved forward and held her by the shoulders.

"Take a second before you pass out, please."

They looked at each other as Kate's breathing slowed. She stepped out of Anthony's grip. He hesitated a moment before putting his arms down.

"Yes, to answer your question, I can refund Tom. You don't have to do anything. He'll get his money back, whether he wants it or not. And don't worry about paying anything. I'm forgiving the balance."

"What do you mean, you're 'forgiving the balance'?" Kate looked indignant. Anthony knew she was insulted. "You do that for all your cancellations?"

"No."

"So, you're making an exception for me?"

"Yes."

"Out of pity?"

"Out of liking you and wanting to do something nice for you." His answer had an edge to it.

Kate shook her head and started pacing. She suddenly looked at Anthony accusingly.

"Why have we never chatted about the wedding? Hm? You've never asked me about how Tom and I met or anything like that. Isn't that odd for someone in your line of work?"

"Yes, it is. But I could ask you the very same question, couldn’t I, Kate? If we've never talked about it, that must mean you've never brought it up either, right?"

Kate faltered, and he couldn't help but smile at leaving her speechless, which he knew only served to make her angrier.

"But if you want to know the reason on my end, it's because, unlike Tom, I'm not that good of a guy. As asinine as it is considering I was making your fucking wedding dress, those few times I was with you, I wanted to pretend that part of your life didn't exist. Because I've wanted you since the first day you walked in here. Because I want you even more now. Because all I've been able to think about since you came here and told me you called off the wedding is how much I've been wanting to kiss you and if you'll let me do that tonight."

"What?"

"You heard me."

Kate crossed her arms over her chest. "You can't be serious."

"Why not? You're unattached." Anthony shrugged.

"Barely! It's been days."

"Forgive me. I must not be up to date on the official protocols. How long after you've broken up with someone are you allowed to behave as if you've broken up with them?"

"Arsehole."

"Not an answer. When will you let me kiss you, Kate? When will you let me hold you?"

Kate seemed to lose herself for a few moments as her eyes travelled down to Anthony's lips and back. "I didn't leave him for you."

Anthony took a single step closer to her. Kate raised a cautious eyebrow as she looked down at the distance between them reducing just a little bit. She said nothing, and her mouth remained hard set.

"Good. I wouldn't want that on my conscience. Though, if I'm being honest, I'd take you however I could get you. "

Anthony chose this path of brutal honesty purposefully, and was determined to stay the course.

"I didn't leave him at all, actually. We aren't together anymore, but he's my best friend." Kate raised her head higher, but her confidence came across as false.

"Still?"

"Oh, fuck you." She laughed mirthlessly.

"Oh, let's put a pin in that. What I mean is, if it were me, only being your friend would never suffice, especially if I already knew what it was like to have you, to belong to you. I simply cannot imagine how anyone could stand to be around you and not want you, let alone an ex."

Kate scoffed. "Don't reduce him to being an 'ex.' You don't know anything about our relationship, what we've been through together."

It was Anthony's turn to cross his arms. 

"Fine. Let's talk about what I do know. I know Tom isn't your fiance anymore, or even your boyfriend. I know you've never talked to me about him. And I know that you're here right now when this business could have been handled over the phone, especially considering the state you're in."

Kate shook her head vigorously. "You're reading into things."

Fuck this. Anthony moved in on her.

"I sure as hell am, Kate. Because you won't just fucking say it. Do you want me?"

Kate looked dazed at the question. Anthony was feeling brave. He grabbed Kate's hand and held it over his heart.

"Are you aching the way I am?"

Kate swallowed as her expression softened again, this time without going back. Anthony watched the movement of her throat before he slid his cheek against hers as his mouth moved up to her ear.

"I wonder, Kate. Do you think I could make you wet for me right now?"

Kate's lips parted as she gasped at his boldness. Anthony chuckled darkly. His lips brushed against her earlobe. "Won't you let me try, Kate?"

And that was it. That was as far as Anthony was going to go. He’d made his intentions exceedingly clear. Anything more was up to Kate.

—

Kate leaned her temple against Anthony’s. She tried to steady her breath. This was a lot. Who was she fooling? She didn’t have to take care of this tonight. And Anthony was right, she didn’t have to physically be in the shop to do it. She wanted to see Anthony, and he knew it. So, she was here. She saw him. Now what?

Kate touched Anthony cheek and turned his face towards hers so their lips could meet. For all of Anthony’s aggressive posturing, the kiss actually started quite gently. Too gently, if Kate was being honest about what she wanted–what she needed–in the moment. So, she worked her hands into Anthony’s hair and pulled. His groan let her know he was taking the hint, as did him grabbing her hips and pulling her toward him in one hard jerk. She glided her tongue across his lips only to find he was already attempting access into her own mouth.

“Fuck.” He whispered without breaking contact. His hands went under the hem of her shirt as Kate desperately moved a leg over so she was straddling one of his. When Anthony moved to her neck and bit down, Kate whimpered. But something was off. She wanted this. She was sure of that. But not yet.

Not yet, not yet, not yet.

Kate moaned as she pushed Anthony back, taking a few steps back herself. They stared each other down as their chests heaved.

Kate shook her head and resumed pacing.

"Do you know how I found your boutique? Why I picked you to make my dress?"

It appeared Anthony hadn’t fully recovered. He took a few beats to respond. His jaw ticked before he said, "No, Kate, I don't."

"Tom. He spent ages researching dressmakers. And he found you. Isn't that fucked up?"

Anthony opened his mouth, but Kate continued.

"'You deserve the best, Kate.’ That’s what he said. ‘I know it’s a lot, but I want you to have the best because that’s what the love of my life deserves.'" The last word ended on a choked sob. Kate shoved the heels of her hands against her eyes.

“Ugh!” Kate looked up at the ceiling. “The love of his fucking life. And I broke his heart, and before a week has even passed, I’m here. What for what? All you can talk about is how much you want to fuck me. Am I supposed to be swooning?"

The change in Anthony's eyes, his whole face, was immediate. "You think that's all I want?" He asked, affronted.

Kate answered quickly before she could think about it. "Yes."

"Liar. This is more than that, and you fucking know it." His gaze was boring into hers and she couldn’t take it.

“I…” Kate held the tears back as she found herself speechless for the second time tonight. This was a bad idea. She wasn’t ready for this conversation. She wasn’t ready for him. Wants and needs be damned.

“I need to go. I shouldn’t be here. Can you, um… Can you unlock the door, please?”

Anthony did so without hesitating. He waited at the threshold for her. Walking past him was going to be hard, but she had to do it. For now. Kate got one foot onto the sidewalk before Anthony gently cupped her hand.

“Just–just…” He looked at their joined hands, then up at her. “Wait.” It was a soft plea.

They locked eyes. Neither could say for how long. It could have been seconds. It could have been hours. Either way, Kate was the one to break the spell. She wrenched her hand away from his.

“Good-bye, Anthony.”

And then, she was gone.

[pettyrevenge-base]

Had the roommate from hell and couldn't get rid of her so I made living with me as miserable as possible.

This happened in 2008-2009, but I thought this community would appreciate the story.  

In 2008 I had just left my husband.  I caught him cheating multiple times, and I was just over it.  A new girl (we will call her Amy) started at my job and we made a fast friendship.  I was in the middle of packing up and moving out of my house.  I needed a roommate for a new apartment I was looking at because my wages weren't going to pay the bills.  So we move in together and live peacefully together for a while.  

I was moving on with my life.  I had gotten better paying job, was spending time with my friends, and I felt ok with life at the time.  At the time I was 25, single, and NOT looking for anything serious so I had a fwb who would stop over a few times a week.  Amy was cool with it on the surface.  It did not affect her in any way.  My friend didn't hang out at our place.  He didn't eat at our place.  He didn't use our household supplies.  My relationship with him affected her exactly ZERO percent, but I guess she was a little green about the fact that I was getting some attention and she was not. She would flirt with him, go visit him where he worked, etc, but he absolutely not interested in her.  This is where things started to go downhill.

For context: She had been married a few times (she was 13 yrs older than me) and the dads had full custody of their respective kids.  She was dating someone but he was already in a relationship so he wasn't about to commit to anything besides stopping by for 30 mins after he worked the night shift every day.  I tried to point out all the red flags, but she was convinced it was love. This dude used to hit on me constantly in front her.  He was very open about being in a committed relationship with his girlfriend so I have no idea why Amy thought this was going anywhere.  

After a few months I met someone I wanted to be serious with so we started dating.  We will call the guy Tom. Tom and I got serious pretty fast. He was living in a horrible situation so he moved in with Amy and I pretty quickly.  I think it was after about a month of dating.  So we have our room and she has her own room.  The bills went from 50/50 to 33/33/34 to make sure things were still even.  We had a shared kitchen, LR, and bathroom.  

After Tom moved in,  she started openly hitting on him in front of me.  Every guy I had at my house (even just friends) she had to hit on. None of them ever took her up on it.  Every single one turned her down and I think this added greatly to her oncoming behavior.  Over the next couple of weeks Amy did a complete 180.  She stopped paying rent, refused to buy any food and would just eat whatever Tom and I bought, would not wash her dishes.  We had two cats - one hers and one mine, and she would never clean the litter in her room so her cat would use our hallway floor as a bathroom every. single. day. Every day when I got home from work there was a big steaming pile of cat shit right inside my front door sitting in the middle of a giant puddle of urine. My cat was locked in my room at night with her own supplies so there was zero chance it was her.  It was the same thing every morning by the front door.  

Whenever she was done eating the food she stole from me, she would set her plate with the leftovers ON THE KITCHEN FLOOR for her cat to pick at. She would leave the plate there for days.  To the point that if I didn't pick them up, there would be multiple plates on the floor with food in various stages of decay.  All of my dishes started going missing, except for the cat's plates, of course.  And what dishes were left, she refused to wash EVER.  She used my toilet paper, my laundry soap, EVEN MY TAMPONS.  

This went on for about 2 months and it just kept getting progressively worse. She would use panty liners every day and would change them multiple times a day and stuff them in the garbage can in the bathroom.  She would leave it there completely over flowing and spilling onto the floor for days until I caved and put on gloves and threw them out.  The can would be full in about a week so this happened a few times.  that's not even the worst of it.   My expensive DSLR went missing.  

I was a photography hobbyist at the time, but it was my dream to be a professional photographer and own my own photography business.  I would shoot stuff for friends and family as practice, and one day I grabbed my camera bag from the SHARED living room and as soon as I picked it up, I felt my heart sink into my stomach.  You know that instant dread that grips you the second you realize something truly gut wrenching has happened...  I open the bag and of course the camera is gone.  That was an expensive camera for that time of my life and it was a gift from my parents so I was truly devastated.  I couldn't prove a thing and I wasn't even sure how long it had been missing.  It could have been her bf that took it, but either way it was gone.  

So now this is it.  This is the last straw. I need this bitch out.  I went from nice girl to fucking psycho in about 30 seconds.  I'm not the violent type and I hate confrontation. I'm NOT waiting for a fucking eviction to go through and I really didn't have the money for that anyway so here's where I start my petty revenge. Amy wants to live here with me rent free, stealing my shit, hitting on my boyfriend, and neglecting her cat... so be it.  But its going to be on my fucking terms.  

One vital piece of information: in my divorce, the dickhead moved back in with mommy and I took everything from the house to my new apartment so I owned everything and the lease was in my name.  

I started by changing the wifi password and the computer password.   The following week I had my cable company come and remove the cable lines to her room.  I bought a small fridge for my room and a cabinet and put all my food and personal supplies in my bedroom and put a secure lock on my door.  I hid my pots and pans.  I locked up the soap and toilet paper.  The cabinets were EMPTY. I paid for it all, and I would be the only one using it. When her cat shit on the floor, I would pick it up and smear it on her bedroom door knob. Overflowing bathroom trash cans filled to the brim with her panty liners were dumped on her bed.  I removed the knobs to the washer and the dryer.  

I did everything possible to make her life uncomfortable. I did other small stuff. Anything that came to mind. A few months prior Amy and I had been working at the same store and she borrowed another coworkers laptop.  She ended up getting fired, but she never gave the laptop back and the coworker was really trying to get it back from her. Amy ghosted her, of course, so while she was out one day, I went in and took the laptop and gave it back to its rightful owner. Amy called the cops on me and said I stole her computer, but I explained what happened.  she admitted to the cops that the computer wasn't hers and the cops said it wasn't their problem anymore. That one really made her hate me. she wasn't working at the time so its not like she had money to do anything or buy anything.  She was literally just existing in room in my apartment.  She would disappear during the day but I have no idea where she was going.  She moved out after about 6 weeks.  

When she moved out of my apartment, I didn't even know she had left.  I just noticed she wasn't coming or going for about a week.  so Tom and I cleaned out her room.  She left clothes, broken furniture, a cardboard dresser, and FIVE 39 gallon garbage bags of trash we collected from the mass piles of panty liners, rotting food, and ordinary trash we found in the room.  It's a miracle we didn't have roaches.  I found all my missing dishes, silver ware, and cups all covered in food and grossness.  I just threw it all away.  I wish I still had the photos though.  Oddly enough, about 6 months later, I opened my back door to take out the trash and my camera was in a bag hanging from my doorknob. I know Amy definitely didn't return it.  

For about 2 years after, every time I would find out that Amy was living with someone new, I would message them and send them the photos of her room. Papers in the trash that had HER NAME on them. And I would tell them the whole story.  One time it caused the people she was living with to throw her shit out on the porch.  She had just moved in and they had small kids and they didn't want to risk it with her.  I stopped after that.   She knew it was me telling them too so I figured I had sufficiently made my point. 

Source: reddit.com/r/pettyrevenge

[donovanlizzie]

THE CORPSWOMAN

CHAPTER SIX - IT'S MORE DANGEROUS AT NIGHT

It was now night time, Eugene and Evangeline were lent against a cement pillar watching a young marine who looked about 19, counting. Evangeline then called over to him." What you doin' Daniels?" He looked over petrified, traumatised.

"Counting Japs " He timidly states then turned back around to continue what he was doing.

Evangeline  and Eugene both exchanged worried glances and she began to pick her nails.  Gunner Henny then went over to the poor boy and tried to order him to help 2nd  platoon load up but Heldaine stopped him. "Gunner, go find someone else, maybe Jenkins over the other side ?"  Henny nodded and moved away. "He can come with me, help me count the bandages and get himself some shut eye?" Evangeline offered looking over. Heldaine nodded slightly and crept forward taking the gun from Daniels. She  got up and wrapped her arm around the boy.  "Let's get you some sleep ?" She quietly  spoke once she had managed to get him up. " But there are so many to count" he spoke like a small child as she  led him to the sickbay. " I know sweetheart I know" Evangeline choked out, her  heart breaking for him, the poor soul.

By the time 08:00 came around everyone was moving out again, the cook was walking around with a pot handing out pork chops.  They weren't the best but after having to eat tinned shit for the last few weeks Evangeline was happy to eat something solid and not out of date. She ended up walking next to Eugene whist Shelton Parked himself next to him on the other side. "Saw you reading last night" he said looking over at Eugene slyly, " writing too"  "My bible?" Eugene replied glancing at Shelton wearily. " we ain't suppose to write shit down, give the japs valuable intale if they find it" Shelton carried on. "I guess I won't show it to them then" Eugene replied keeping his eyes forward and waking with the rest of the group. Shelton smirked satisfied with his answer. 

Evangeline's smile faded remembering the similar conversation she and Oswald had the night prior. 

"You got a smoke?" Shelton asked. Eugene pulled out two cigarettes, one for himself and one for Shelton. "Thanks Sledgehammer" Shelton grinned popping the cigarette in his mouth. " Sledgehammer?" Evangeline questioned grinning at the new nickname Shelton had given her friend. "I like it" She looked at Shelton and Eugene new deemed 'sledgehammer' and gave him a half smile. " you got it Raggedy Anne" Shelton winked making her  laugh " throwing your self around like a rag doll out there" . " Jesus Christ" Bill spoke up in amusement as he scurried up behind us along with Burgin. " don't worry Bill Layden , we'll call you bull-peen-hammer" Shelton called back. " A little hammer for a little man" Evangeline  chuckled making the guys laugh. " Alright rags .... snafu" Bill shot back," shit n ass .... fuck up". "Is that the best nickname you could come up with?" Evangeline  laughed. "Oh! A little joke from the little man!" Shelton, now deemed 'snafu' , joked back.

             K company  all followed Heldaine like lost puppies up the rocks, he said to them that they would be setting a perimeter for the Japanese soldiers. Evangeline had zoned out of the conversation he was having with Bill and Eugene, when the Japs has caught sight of us and began to fire. "Pull back! Let's go!" Hillbilly shouted dragging her by her bag pack (much to Evangeline's dismay) back down the slope to cover. By that point both Heldaine and Hillbilly , hell, the whole company  were all desperate to get a hold of coms, every attempt made was unsuccessful.

K company was stuck, sat in a small rocky trench trying to say as low as they could do theJaps wouldn't try to blow their heads off.       " I'm gonna have to go back , get more men up here and the orders changed" Heldaine finally announced. " Hillbilly if I don't come back the company's yours" He tapped Hillbilly on the shoulder and quickly ran off. " He's gonna come back right?" Eugene asked  " Disobey and you get  a court-martial" Shelton mumbled leaning back on a rock with another cigarette in his teeth.  Whilst they were waiting the marine who was in charge of handing out the post was wandering around.  " Sledge, Yoet, you two have something" he said handing the both of them their letters. " Thanks" Evangeline  stated bluntly noticing her mothers hand writing and putting in it her Brest pocket to read later.

__________________ It was now pitch black, Flares lit up the foxholes as k company  were now sitting in  darkness waiting for Heldaine to to come back. Henny was making the rounds telling everyone to make sure they had enough ammo and supplies for the night.  Gunner Henny was about 45 years old and had fought in world war 1.  He was part of the old breed, liked to do things the old way and stick to them.  " Did you hear the bullshit about the dog?" He grumbled leaning into our foxhole. " They think a dog can smell a Jap before I see one!" He scoffed.  " I have a dog back home" Eugene started quietly " his name is Deacon"  

Evangeline  glanced over at him and smiled as Henny ignored his input and contained; " if the Japs come through , high point with fixed bayonets and you nail em with H.E you got that?" He explained it like we were children, 

The guys nodded as he got up to walk away but then he bent back down and said " woof" and then walking away as normal. " what the fuck was that?" Shelton asked as the group all looked at each other slightly confused try to hold their  laughter in as it was noise discipline.  "Hey stove top boys - WOOF" Bill repeated mimicking Henny making them  laugh even harder, causing Shelton to wheeze.  _____________ Evangeline was sat next to Shelton as he slept once again, picking her thumbs, waiting for japs to make a move or a marine to hurt  himself.  "Remind me again why on gods earth you joined ?" Eugene asked again.  She turned to look at him with her eyebrow raised, " like I told you before, I want to help people, I was in need of a better paying job and to make my country proud" she replied. " And to find out how my brother died"  "Making your ma and pa proud?" He asked, looking over his shoulder at her. "Hopefully" Evangeline smiled slightly " That reminds me I have to reply to that letter that they sent me once I've read it" she mused tapping her breast pocket. "Read it" Eugene stated, " I wanna hear it ... if that ok?" He asked scooting closer to her. " sure" she  replied getting the letter out of her pocket. " Dear Evangeline," She began " your father and i are so happy to hear that you are doing alright where ever you are. Everyone in town is very worried about you but myself and your father know you'll be smart and safe. We hope-"     Evangeline's  reading was cut short by a small whimper that echoed through the foxholes. herself and Eugene carefully peaked put of the foxhole we were in as the cries got louder and louder. "What's that?" Shelton getting up , still half asleep. "Sounds like some guy having a nightmare" Eugene answered, watching Evangeline fold away her letter. "He'd better shut up before every jap on the island knows where we are" Shelton snapped now wide awake. "Quiet that man down!" Hillbilly whisper-yelled as the marines whimpers turned into wails.     Suddenly the man started screaming, wrestling any marine who tried to hold him down. "Yoet!" Hillbilly called over " get some morphine in him!"  Evangeline quickly grabbed her morphine needles and rushed over as more and more marines fought to hold the man down. "NO-NO-NO!" The poor man was yelling hysterically. "Give me his arm now!" She spoke as he flailed about. Once she had finally got hold of his arm and she was inches away from injecting him when he broke free, punching her  straight on the nose. Evangeline groaned in pain reeling back as blood now poured from her face. The marines were struggling again to regain control of the man.    The poor man was now begging for help as Henny began to punch him n a attempt to knock him out and shut him up. " Henny! Stop! Let me get to his goddamn arm!" She shouted in desperation trying to reach him once again. "Hit him with something!" Jay began to shout. Out of the corner of her eye, Evangeline  saw another young marine reach for the shovel he used to dig his foxhole with.  "No! Don't!" She tried to stop him but it was to late. The shovel hit the Boys head with a crack and he was finally silenced - lifeless. "God damn it" she breathed sitting back on the muddy ground and closing her eyes. "Everyone back in their holes" Hillbilly spoke eyeing Evangeline and her bloodied face. It was clear the poor bastard had broken her nose. " It had to be done Yoet, it had to " Hillbilly handed her a handkerchief. She thanked him and held it up to her  face to try and stop the bleeding and slunk back to the  fox hole. ———————————————————————————-

The next morning a blanket had been pulled over the young mans body.  "Rather him than all of us" Eugene spoke his eyes flickering between the body and Evangeline. "Sledgehammers right" Shelton answered " It had to be done".  The rest of the dead and wounded got piled onto trucks and tanks to be taken back to base to either be shipped to Australia to heal or sent back home to their families for their funerals.

Evangeline then walked over to Eugene. " You know, I think I'll take that cigarette now" She spoke breathing out sharply. "Here" Eugene stated putting a lit cigarette between her  teeth and taking the bloodied hankie form her hands. She  took a quick puff as he delectably wiped more dried blood from her face, making her wince slightly. "I'm no corpsman Rags, but you've got a messed up nose" he grimaced now fiddling with the grubby handkerchief. " Wow Sledgehammer, you really know how to talk to a lady!" Evangeline joked taking another puff of the cigarette.

"Na she ain't no Lady, A Lady wouldn't come to a place like this" Bill teased, walking past the two of them, puffing on a tiny stump of a cigarette butt before throwing it at Shelton's feet.

" Thank you" Evangeline mumbled taking the handkerchief back and tossing it to the ground, slightly laughing at Bills remark.

" Can it snafu" She quickly snapped, the group all walked on as Shelton began to snigger.

[thunck]

Another beautiful day in the dwarven fortress Bowloar, another goblin attack repelled. These guys tangle with a kobold thief and some weapon traps before limping away, less one hand between them.

Total fortress kill count is two giants, a kobold and one goblin(’s left hand). Yessir, things are looking up!

 Holy fucking shit.

I mentioned this little lady in the tags of that first giant post, and here she is again. There’s a downside to popularity, to be sure. She’s doubled in age since her last visit.

The werelizard child Usu Ramulabba infiltrated the fortress and just transformed outside our shiny refurbished temple. Our full ten-unit squad of mixed dwarves and humans is training in the barracks downstairs, directly next to the indicated stairwell. One of our glassmakers is a lot closer.

The glassmaker gets attacked and seems to be holding his own. It probably helps that the horrible night-beast attacking him is two years old.

A nearby tanner briefly joins the fray.

A dog valiantly attacks the werelizard child, and gets mauled in return.

The militia have made contact.

The dog dies on top of the temple altar, as the militia dogpiles the werelizard child and start to do some real damage.

The werelizard child is struck down by our courageous militia, its body and severed leg added to the invader corpse stockpile. Most civilians are horrified at the corpse of a human child, but the effect is somewhat ruined by the buggy sprite. I think the leg turned back correctly, though.

Now, the real fun begins. Who got bitten?

After combing the combat report, I find that two out of the three injured dwarves received bites that broke the skin. Nobody was killed in the attack, but these citizens are now incurably cursed, and will turn into werelizards at the next full moon. Presumably non-child ones. As much as it pains me, they’ll have to be exiled as soon as their wounds are treated.

The third patient, a wrestler, was being viciously grappled by the werelizard child right as it died. That must’ve been very humiliating for her, bested at her own game like that. But it’s over now, and she can get some much-deserved rest.

Son of a fucking bitch, man.

So I missed a bite in the combat report. It could happen to anyone.

The chief medical dwarf is in the tavern for this friendly fracas, and has the closest possible call. Literally the only dwarf in the fort with any medical skills.

At least our poor cursed wrestler goes down easily. Transforming in the middle of a packed tavern will do that. I comb over this combat report fucking meticulously. There’s no way I’m gonna miss another one of these fuckers. Sorry, tragically accursed fuckers. Everyone who got bitten gets the boot before they even make it to a hospital bed.

The tomb is filling up pretty quickly, although we’re reticent to bury all those dead visitors for whatever reason. The dead dwarf, Îton, is buried across from the dog that the child lizard killed. Looking in the coffin confirms that reverted werelizards just look like that.

We went ahead and made a statue of Îton, as well. Unfortunately the most notable things they did in life were moving to Bowloar last year and becoming a werelizard, and we are not commemorating that. Now hopefully we can get back to converting that outdoor pasture into a giant pit/drowning trap.

Fucking of course. In my defense, there were about 15 human poets in that room, and the combat report made zero distinction between them. Werelizard #3 doesn’t do anything but unsuccessfully attempt to shove, and is quickly beaten to death by a bunch of civilians including the high priest and a child.

What the hell is up with all our infectees having beast forms so much weaker than that human two-year-old? I guess that’s not really something to complain about.

Just a single casualty this time, who I’ve made damn sure didn’t get cursed. We’ll know how sure “damn sure” is in a few weeks.

Oh, we’re big enough for nobles now. Suddenly the werebeast problem doesn’t seem so bad.

[robertsmithclone]

I Wait For You (It’s What I Do)

Xavier Thorpe x Female Original Character (Sade Ricci)

Sade Ricci’s fangs just came in two weeks into the school year, so that means a transfer to Nevermore academy. (Does not follow show plot)

1.9k words (part five)

tw: vapes, cigarettes, pills, blood, manipulation, verbal fighting, talk about smashing someone’s face in, swearing

Posting to Ao3 under wonde_rr and Wattpad under SHADYGROVEE

Playlist : it’s in the works

chapter five masterlist

translations at the end

Once everyone had arrived at the carnival, Yoko had gone off to find Divina, Wednesday and Enid ran off to get cotton candy, Tyler had picked a fight with Xavier which Rowan was trying to put a stop to.

Sade and Ajax stood there for a moment before he tugged on her arm, moving them to start walking away.

They walked in silence for a couple minutes, taking in the lights and music all around them. Ajax spoke up once they found a funnel cake stand.

“Ever had funnel cake?” He smiled at her.

Sade could feel the weight of her pack of cigarettes in her back pocket, wishing badly for one. “No, it sounds too American.” She joked.

The boy just laughed and bought one. They walked until they found a bench, setting the cake down between them. They both took a piece and ate it, Sade’s face twisting into a look of confusion while Ajax laughed again.

“Not like how I expected. At all.” She smiled up at him and took another bite.

“Good though. Really good,” he said with his mouth full.

It was silent again for a little bit, which Sade thought was unusual based on Thornhill’s class sitting next to Ajax.

“You know they used to date.” The gorgon looked up at her. “Xavier and Tyler.”

Sade’s mouth formed a slight ‘o’ shape as she fiddled with the lighter in her hands.

Ajax shrugged. “Yeah. I don’t know if date is the right word but whatever they had was messy. Like, Xavier’s my boy y’know, I’ve never seen him so messed up. Not even after Bianca.” He shook his head.

“He dated Bianca Barclay too?” Sade sat there in slight shock, she had never actually ‘dated’ anyone for more than two weeks. Something about her just drove people away after her charm wore off.

Ajax chuckled slightly. “Yeah, Bianca freshman year into sophomore year, Tyler junior year, and he had a crush on Wednesday after he broke up with Tyler.”

All Sade could manage was “huh.”

—

Xavier, Tyler, and Rowan stood in the grass parking lot of the carnival, all with tense expressions on their faces.

“Tyler, I'm not getting into this right now! You’re just gonna spin it into you’re the only person who has ever loved me or ever will love me bullshit and I am not doing that right now!” Xavier threw his hands away from each other and started pacing.

“Well it’s true, isn’t it? Bianca broke up with you and Wednesday certainly didn’t want you…” Tyler reasoned back with a slightly smug look on his face.

“You’re doing it right now!” The artist stopped pacing to yell at the blonde boy.

“Xavier-“ Rowan tried to intervene, he could see where this was going.

“Not right now, Rowan, please. Just go.” Xavier crossed one of his arms over his chest while the other held the bridge of his nose.

Rowan glanced between the two boys for a moment before walking off into the carnival.

Tyler took a step towards Xavier, who automatically took a step back.

“Xav, please, you just need to start listening to me again.” His gaze darkened slightly as his tone became more serious.

“God, why do we still hang out with you?!” Xavier looked disgusted with the boy in front of him.

Tyler shrugged, a smirk appearing on his face. “Wednesday still has an appreciation for me, I guess.”

—

“Tyler used to say some really fucked up shit to him. Like, bad. But only me and Rowan really know about it. The others just think it was a normal breakup, I guess.” Ajax popped the last piece of funnel cake into his mouth as he spoke.

“So why do you guys still hang around him?” Sade questioned, taking a drag of the cigarette she had lit.

“Xavier wanted things to be normal.” He shrugged. “Everyone else was, is, still kind of friends with him, especially Wednesday, so he hangs around.”

The vampire scoffed, of course, Wednesday.

—

“Fuck you.” Xavier spat out the words like poison.

“It was the other way around, if my memory serves me correct.” Tyler looked like he was about to laugh.

“Seriously? You’re so childish, Ty.” There was a slight pause and the long haired boy cleared his throat like the nickname was stuck there. “Tyler.”

“I’m childish?” Tyler put a hand to his chest. “Please, you’re the one that has an obvious obsession with Sade. Why can’t you have normal crushes? Or will you just never leave your stalker school-boy phase?”

The blonde took another step closer and Xavier didn’t move back this time.

“Need I remind you that she’ll be just like the others? Once she actually gets to know you she’ll want nothing to do with you. You’ll just come crying back to me.”

Xavier’s facial expression went from angry to confused and sad in a matter of seconds.

“I. I only came to you after Wednesday rejected me because you were a manipulative prick.” The boy didn’t have the fire in him to keep yelling anymore, it was splashed with water by Tyler. He’s been playing firefighter since the middle of their relationship.

Tyler tilted his head to the side. “Well now I think you’re just saying things, but whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Xavier’s hands trembled with the urge to shove the other boy to the ground, start punching, and never stop. At least, not until his knuckles were bloody and Tyler’s face had caved in.

A couple walked by, laughing. It brought him back down to Earth for the time being, so he decided to just narrow his eyes at Tyler and walk away, bumping the blonde boy on his way towards the carnival.

—

Ajax and Sade had decided to play some games and ride some short rides, every so often escaping the crowds behind a tent to hit the gorgon’s vape. Sade had excused herself to the restroom once to take a blood pill and two painkillers, the strong smell of mainly Ajax’s blood becoming nauseatingly overwhelming.

Eventually they had run into Rowan, who seemed slightly panicked at the fact he was walking around alone, and the pair was honestly glad they had. The telekinetic boy could get himself into some interesting situations when he was panicked.

After their greetings, Ajax suggested going on the ferris wheel.

“No way. No way. Heights? Are you kidding me? No.” Rowan was shaking his head, pretty strongly objecting to the idea.

Sade put her hand on his shoulder, resting it there softly. He looked down at it. She squeezed it slightly, her red nails on display.

“It’ll be fine, ragazzo carino.” She smiled at him, “We’ll have fun.”

Ajax looked at her and then to Rowan, seeing the boy hesitate for a moment before denying the invite again.

“Look, you guys can go, but I’m not- I can’t. I’ll wait for you on the bench next to it.” He shook his head again, looking at his shoes.

Sade’s hand slid off his shoulder as she looked at Ajax, the gorgon looking back at her and shrugging.

“Okay, dolcezza. It’ll just be a few minutes.”

The two started walking towards the gate while Rowan sat down on the bench, using his inhaler quickly. Sade gave him a look of pity that he didn’t catch.

—

Once the two fast friends got on, Sade found herself really enjoying Ajax’s presence. He was really down to earth. Who knew all it took was spending one on one time with the guy out of school?

They joked easily the whole ride, taking a moment when they got to the top just to appreciate the view.

—

Rowan saw Xavier approach and immediately stood up.

“Are you okay, Xavier? What happened?”

The artist was obviously still tense, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

“I don’t wanna talk about it, Ro. Did you find anyone? I’m sorry for y’know…” He shrugged.

“Don’t worry about it, Xavier. I understand.” Rowan gave the other boy a look of sympathy. “But yeah, I found Ajax and Sade.”

Xavier’s face lit up slightly.

“They wanted to go on the ferris wheel…you know how I feel about heights.” The telekenetic’s cheeks flushed slightly.

The long haired boy looked up at the ferris wheel, seeing Sade and Ajax sitting snugly in a cart, laughing with each other and looking at the sky.

“So, what, are they like, lovey dovey all of a sudden, what’s that shit about?” He looked back at Rowan, questioning him angrily.

Rowan cringed, glancing at the ferris wheel. “No, I mean, it seems pretty platonic to me.” He shrugged slightly.

Xavier scoffed and practically threw himself down on the bench.

—

Sade decided she was mistaken about Ajax, he was just curious in the beginning. She really thought she’d get along best with Yoko, but maybe she was mistaken about that too. The vampire could see her and the gorgon becoming really good friends.

As they got off and walked back to the bench Rowan was sitting at, she got excited to see Xavier was sitting there too, but felt slightly troubled seeing the look on his face paired with his shifty eyes.

Ajax glanced at her at the same time she glanced at him, both seeing the look on their friend’s face. The gorgon shoved his hands in his pockets as they approached.

“Bellissimo! I’m so glad you’ve joined us!” Sade exclaimed as they stopped in front of the two boys, trying to hide her suspicion about Xavier’s mood. Plus she couldn’t get her mind off his past love life.

The artist turned to look at her, then glanced at Ajax.

Oh. That’s what this was about?

“Hey, Sade.” Xavier looked away from both of them again.

Rowan had gotten up, whispering with Ajax for a second. The snake haired boy sighed lightly, knowing they shouldn’t hash things out in the middle of a carnival. He just turned towards Xavier.

“You good, bro?”

The other boy glanced at him with a slight look of betrayal on his face. “Yeah.” He stared at Ajax for a second longer before turning away again.

Sade sat down next to Xavier, pulling out her cigarettes. “Wanna step away from the…uhm…you know,” she gestured with her hands, circling them at the people, the lights, the noise.

A small upside down grin broke out on his face at the girl’s attempt to convey the word chaos. “Sure, princess.”

Yeah, that went straight to her…core.

Sade shivered slightly, wondering how she would fight the urge to attack his neck once they got over to the bridge leading into the forest.

As Xavier got up and started to walk, the vampire gestured to the other two boys where they were going and followed him.

—

Once they had arrived from the short walk and lit their cigarettes (not blood infused), a sour look settled on Xavier’s face.

It was silent for a minute before he spoke up. “So you and Ajax?”

It sounded bitter, and the boy wasn’t even looking at her.

Sade half scoffed, half laughed and turned to the artist. “Gesù, no, no. Ciccio, you can’t assume things like this.” A smile appeared on her features. The boy was so jealous, it made her hands tingle.

Xavier looked at her and she almost laughed at him. He looked so bewildered, his pupils blown out wide.

“Seriously? But the ferris wheel-“

“What, friends can’t ride a ferris wheel together? Ajax is funny. We are becoming good friends.” She cut him off, still grinning. “You Americans are cuckoo.”

——

translations:

ragazzo carino - pretty boy

dolcezza - sweetness

bellissimo - gorgeous

Gesù - jesus

ciccio - honey

tags:

@solacestyles

@wxnderingthoughts