#guys i'm so sorry for posting this and then immediately disappearing to go make dinner a;ldksjfal;sdj

[itsthewritergal]

Just let me go - Bucky Barnes x reader

Okay this one is ANGSTTYYY Also there will be a part two! Posted tomorrow :)

TW: kidnapping, swearing, suicidal thoughts, guns, angst, sadness, suicidal ideation, also I haven't proof read this aha I'm sorry!!

“Sergeant Barnes, there is someone here to see you” One of the agent said as they stepped into the training room, 

“Who?” Bucky replied curtly, being halfway through a session with Nat he didn’t exactly want to be interrupted no matter who it was 

“I don’t know but she looks upset, if I was you I’d be worried” the agent said with a laugh, making a few of the other trainee’s laugh 

“Don’t forget your rank” Bucky said bluntly, 

“Sorry Sargent Barnes” The agent said, 

“You can start sparring, I’ll be back soon and I expect to see some improvements from yesterday” Nat said following Bucky out the room, 

“Who do you think it is?” Nat asked 

“I don’t know” Bucky said 

“What about that girl you went out with the other night?” 

“I don’t think she’d come here” Bucky said with a huff, “she didn’t like me” he said 

“Ooh what about the girl from Tony’s party?” Nat suggested, it sounded as though the idea of Bucky having a girl round was entertaining to her, Bucky narrowed his eyes at Nat, 

“No” He said bluntly, 

“Tensions killing me” Nat said with a dry laugh 

“Come on Nat, leave it alone” he said, turning the corner to the common room, he stopped immediately his breath hitching in his throat for a split second, 

“Y/N?” Nat beamed running over to give her a hug almost knocking her off of her feet “It’s been like a year since I saw you!” She grinned, 

“Hey Nat” She said gently, 

“You have to stay for dinner, Wanda’s cooking, she’ll want to see you. So will Steve, and Tony, oh and Sam!” She said “I’ll text them all now, they’ll set up a place for you” 

“Nat, I don’t think—” Y/N started 

“I don’t want to hear it, you’re staying” She said pulling out her phone and quickly tapping a message, 

“Y/N” Bucky said bluntly, his voice void of all emotions. 

“Hey” Y/N cut herself off unsure of what to call him so deciding against calling him anything,  her eyes wandered to his arm,  “the black and gold suits you” She said softly “Always said silver wasn’t your colour” 

“Shuri agreed with you” Bucky nodded

An uncomfortable silence settled across the two of them, 

“I should go” She said quickly, 

“Why did you come?” He asked a part of him not wanting her to disappear, not again 

“I, uh I found, I found this”  Y/N said her cheeks flushing red as she passed Bucky a t-shirt, one that he had forgotten about, but it certainly looked more worn now than how he remembered it. His heart squeezed at the thought of her wearing it after everything

“This is why you came?” Bucky said 

“You’re right, it was stupid. I’m gonna go” Y/N said quickly,  shaking her head as she turned, Bucky knew how she felt. He had imaged many times making an excuse to go and see her, he just didn’t think she was the kind of person to go through with it. 

“Y/N! Oh my, Nat said you were here. I’ve just laid the table dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes which is just long enough for you to catch me up on your life! Sorry Buck, but she’s with me until dinner. Then you can have her back” Wanda said not offering Bucky or Y/N a second option. 

----

“So Y/N where have you been?” Tony asked as they all sat down at the table “it’s like you dropped off the face of the earth

“Just around,” She said quietly 

“I came by your apartment, but it was empty” Tony said, 

“I had to move out” 

“You moved out?” Nat said “How come?” She said worry filling her voice 

“Life happens” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. Bucky’s eyes fell on her face, watching how her eyes studied her plate not daring to look up 

“Well things always find a way of getting better” Wanda said squeezing Y/N’s hand on the top of the table 

“How about you guys, I’ve seen good things on the news” Y/N said softly 

“We’re okay” Steve said, 

“I”m pleased,” Y/N said with a smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes, 

“What’s your new apartment like?” Wanda asked, 

“It’s nice” Y/N said gently , 

“You should give me the address,” Tony said commandingly 

“I’ll send it over to you, I still don’t quite know it off by heart” She said, it was a lie. Bucky knew it was a lie, even if he couldn’t hear her heartbeat pick up, he would be able to tell from the way she couldn’t look at anyone in their eye. 

“What part of town is it?” Steve pressed, 

“I really appreciate you guys having me for dinner but I’m going to head home” She said quickly, “I’ll see you guys around” She said picking up her coat, 

“I'm sorry if I said something wrong” Steve apologised quickly, he should’ve known better than to press her, Bucky thought

“You don’t need to” Tony said trying to savour the dinner 

“Why don’t you stay for a movie?” Wanda suggested, 

“I need to go” She said standing up and quickly hurrying out of the room 

A gentle silence fell across the room, “I shouldn’t have asked her” Steve said 

“It’s not on you” Wanda said “I don’t think that anyone could have convinced her to open up to us” 

“I’ll find her address and go over tomorrow, it’ll be easier without anyone else there” Tony said fiercely, 

“She won’t talk to you” Bucky said 

“And she’ll talk to you?” Tony snapped “You’re the reason we are in this mess in the first place. She is my friend and I will do what I think is right” 

“What even happened when you broke up?” Wanda asked 

“ Nothing” Bucky said 

“Don’t lie” Tony snapped 

“What the hell did you do? I thought you two were fine” Nat asked 

“You told us all you two were fine after the breakup” Wanda said 

“Leave him alone” Steve said sternly 

Bucky sighed softly “She just came to drop off a shirt” 

“Nobody drops off a shirt after a year” Tony said “She wanted to see you and you couldn’t even give her the time of day” He snapped 

“She’ll be okay, I’ll come with you tomorrow, we can check in on her” Wanda said 

Bucky didn’t dare to say anything, he just nodded gently. It was a thank you, all be it a silent one, but a thank you none the less. 

----

“Tony, you need to see this” Wanda said as an alert popped up on the screen alerting Tony to a new message, they had been in Tony's lab for a few hours scouting out Y/N's new apartment.

“Have you seen where she is living?” Tony said scanning through the photos that FRIDAY had brought up on his screen “it’s worse than I thought”  

“Tony now” Wanda said fiercely,

“What is it?” Tony asked, turning around, his face dropping when he saw the screen. “Is that?” 

“Y/N” Wanda finished

“Who sent this” Tony asked 

“I don’t know, it’s anonymous. I can’t trace the signal either” 

“FRIDAY, call the team and get them into the conference room now” 

“Yes Mr Stark” FRIDAY answered 

“We can’t tell Bucky” Wanda said, 

“We can and we will because he is going to help us” 

“That’s a bad idea” Wanda said 

“He once was one the best assassins, no debate. As much as I don’t like the tinman, he can and will help us” Tony said leaving little room for debate. 

“Tony what the hell? We’re meant to have the week off of missions” Nat said, sitting down in a chair with a mug of coffee nursed in her hands

“This is different” Tony said, 

“How so?” Steve asked 

“This is personal” Tony said sternly, 

“It’s Y/N” Wanda whispered, 

“What happened to her?” Bucky asked 

“I was sent this video” Tony said

 “We thought it was best we watched it together” Wanda added 

“FRIDAY, play the video please”

The screen went dark for a moment and then lit up with a picture of Y/N locked in a room, Bucky felt a strange wave of familiarity wash over him 

“Tell your friends what we want” A voice spoke, it sent chills down Bucky’s spine, he put her in this position. He had done everything to keep her safe, after all these years, this was his fault. 

“They won’t come” Y/N’s voice was strangely calm 

“Don’t be difficult girl, tell them what we want” The voice spoke again 

“You want the soldier, you want someone who’s gone. But here’s the catch. Even if he wasn’t gone, even if the solider still existed he wouldn’t come. Not for me.” She said 

“We’ve done our research” The voice mused, there was a hint of amusement in it’s voice, as though it had caught Y/N out, 

“Your research is wrong. I haven’t spoken to Bucky in a year, he does’t care” Y/N snapped, a gunshot sounded through the conference room, making them jump 

“Turn it off” Bucky’s voice was quiet but cut through the entire room 

“Shooting blanks at me won’t work” Y/N snapped “If you’re going to kill me then kill me”

“Turn it off” Bucky said once more 

“We want the soldat” The voice behind the camera spoke 

“Then you’ll have to find someone who he cares about, because it  isn’t me” She snapped 

“You have six hours or she dies” 

The camera turned off and the room went dark. All eyes turned to Bucky, 

“When was this sent?” He said 

“Barely ten minutes ago” Wanda answered softly, 

“Let’s start at her apartment” Steve said firmly “Wanda, Clint you’re with me, Tony, Nat you should try and find something from the video, there might be an idea of where they’re keeping her.” 

“I need to go as well” Bucky said 

“No” Wanda said “You need to stay away from this” 

“I spent years tracking people down, I think I’m the best chance we have to finding Y/N” He said challenging anyone to speak out against him

“I’ll go as support” Sam said patting Bucky’s back comfortingly. 

“We need to go, now” Steve said 

----

Steve’s skin crawled at the sight of Y/N’s apartment.  He hesitated before pushing the door open, it creaked and echoed through the tiny studio. Clothes were thrown across the room, plates were stacked up by the sink, two blankets were half heartedly thrown across the bed, no sign of a duvet or pillow. Bucky had to tear his eyes away from her apartment for a minute to regain his composure. 

“I can’t believe she was staying here” Wanda said stepping into it

“It was a means to an end” Steve said, 

“I should have helped her” Wanda sighed softly, her eyes falling on the pile of clothes in the corner of the room,  

“We didn’t know” Clint said

“We should have” Wanda snapped “Look at how she was living, we should have been able to help” 

“She was always good at surviving” Steve said firmly 

“She shouldn’t have had to be, we are her friends and the moment her and Bucky split we left her” Wanda said, tears building in her eyes 

“They must have taken her here, look at the mess” Steve said changing the subject quickly,

“No” Bucky said softly “This is Y/N” Bucky said with a sigh

“What do you mean?” Clint asked “this is normal?” 

“When she got busy, she used to get messy, never put things away. Found it hard to do anything” Bucky said swallowing tightly  “We argued about it” He admitted 

“So did they take her here, or not?” Sam asked 

“Not here, this is normal for her. It didn’t happen here” Bucky said firmly

“Ok so that’s something” Sam said, attempting at a loose sense of positivity

“It must’ve happened by the compound” Wanda said “think about it, if they wanted Bucky then surely they’d be keeping tabs on him. When she left last night they must have taken the next best thing to get to him” She said 

“We need to look at security cameras”  Clint suggested 

“Who wants Bucky though?” Sam said, “I think we’re focussing too much on Y/N, rather than on what they want” 

“Hydra” Steve said through pursed lips 

“It can’t be” Wanda said 

“It has to be” Clint confirmed “It makes the most sense” 

“So who are we looking at? Zemo?” Sam asked 

“Maybe” Steve said “Doesn’t feel right though”, Steve’s thought was cut short by his phone ringing 

“Steve, I’ve got an address” Tony said, “suit up”

----

Bucky couldn’t stop shaking, he’d been on tougher missions, he’d been in tougher briefings, he had almost died more times than he could count. But this felt like the worst day of his life, 

“We’ve been sent an address,” Tony said 

“It’s a trap” Nat said 

“We don’t know that” Steve suggested, “Who sent it to you?” 

“It came with a video, it was from the same people as before” 

“What’s the video?” Sam asked, noticing the tension that had fallen across the room, 

Tony instructed FRIDAY to play the video, Y/N’s face was brought up on the screen, 

“Y/N tell them what you just told me” The voice spoke 

“No” She spat through gritted teeth, her hair was matted with blood which dripped slowly from a wound on her hair line, her face was bruised and Bucky was silently pleased he could only see to the base on her neck, anymore and he was sure he would throw up. The skin he had once pressed kisses to so gently was purple and blotted with blood. 

“Our captive here has a death wish” The voice said again, “She had her little suicide letters in her pocket when we caught her” it sneered 

“Shut the hell up” Y/N snapped, there was something in her eyes that scared Bucky, she looked so void of the love that she had once been filled with 

“She was on the top of a building when we found her, she’s only got 3 hours left avengers. Are you going to give in to her wishes?” 

“Just kill me” She whispered 

“What was that?” The voice asked, it was mocking her, teasing her, it was a sight that Bucky couldn’t stand 

“Kill me!” She shouted, her voice sent chills down each of the spines of her old friends “Just kill me” She said settling into a bought of sobs, 

The video stopped and cut to a map with a pin placed directly in it. 

“We need to go” Steve said “We leave in 5” 

----

The quinjet landed softly and Bucky could feel a knot growing in his stomach, he had been on enough rescue missions to know the ways that this could go. It was an old hydra base, one that Bucky was sure should’ve been emptied years ago. But here it stood, admittedly it was partly falling down but the cells were deep underground and the structures were built to last. He knew that much well enough, if he strained his ears he would swear that he could hear Y/N’s cries, but he convinced himself it was all in his head. 

“She’s going to be okay” Steve said 

“I can’t loose her Steve” Bucky admitted “I’ve lost her once, I can’t watch her die” 

“Then don’t let her” Steve said 

Bucky followed behind the rest of the team, Wanda stood beside him, 

“Do you want me to take the fear away?” She asked under her breath, knowing nobody else would be able to hear her 

“No, I need it” Bucky said, he didn’t explain anything else but Wanda nodded, 

“Let’s go get Y/N home” Wanda said

Bucky followed Tony’s lead, any other mission he would have tried to take the lead off of Tony but he couldn’t for this. Y/N needed Tony’s planning, Y/N’s life couldn’t be in Bucky’s hands. He would never forgive himself if anything happened. They descended into the base, it was too quiet for Bucky’s liking. Hydra would never have kept it this quiet, something was wrong. 

“Welcome home soldat” the words echoed through the halls, 

“They know we are here” Steve muttered, 

“She’s down here” Tony said, taking another set of steps downwards, Bucky could hear her shallow breaths getting louder slowly with each step he took. 

“Y/N?” Steve called out, 

“I told you to fucking kill me” Y/N screamed,  Tony immediately picked up the pace to a run following the sound of her voice.  Their footsteps echoed through the concrete walls, as they came across a long hallway filled with cells made of glass. Bucky’s skin crawled at the sight. This was what he wanted to protect Y/N from, she shouldn’t see this.  

“KIll me” Her voice rang through the cells, 

“Soldat” Bucky turned to find the voice behind him. “Do the honours?” The man said, he was older than Bucky thought he would be. 

“We’re surrounded” Steve said, 

“There’s no getting out of this” The man sneered, 

“That’s kind of where you are wrong” Tony said smartly, “You really think there’s only four of us?” He laughed 

“What?” 

“The rest of our team have cleared out your base, and they’re on their way” He said with a smirk “Also not only have we got two super soldiers, we’ve also got a freaky witch and me, ironman, you might of heard of me” 

“Ironman, you forget. You have an unstable winter soldier on your team, All I have to do is say a few words and he’s under my control right?” 

“Doesn’t work anymore” Bucky snapped 

“I’m bored” Nat said sneaking up from behind, with a wicked grin she pulled the trigger and the body fell to the ground with a thud. Instantly Bucky turned and shot the guard who was keeping him surrounded “God why are all the people we go against so boring” Nat said with a huff, once they had dealt with the guards. 

“Let’s just get Y/N” Tony said letting out a breath. 

Wanda took a step away from the group into a nearby cell, it was as though she felt her. 

“Guys she’s here” Wanda called, 

Bucky took a deep breath and turned the corner, Y/N sat slumped on a chair, out of breath and covered in bruises and dried blood. 

“Please” She whimpered 

“We’re going to get you out of here” Wanda said slowly untying her gently 

“Please no” She cried 

“You’re safe” Steve said kneeling at her side 

“No Please, let me go” She said 

“We’re letting you go, you’re going to be ok” 

“No, please” She sobbed again “You have to let me die” She cried as Wanda pulled the ties away from her 

“Y/N, we can’t do that” Steve said, 

“You’re going to be okay” Tony promised

“Just let me go please?” 

PART TWO

[georgeclarkesgf]

forgetful | george clarke

the minute george stepped into the flat, he knew something was off.

"y/n? you here?" walking further into the flat, he found y/n in the kitchen making herself a cup of tea, "hey, sorry i'm back so late. we missed t-"

"don't. i can't believe you. all i asked was that you not plan to film today and i wake up to a message telling me you've gone to film a video for arthur. do you even know why i asked you to stay home today?"

he was trying to remember, really he was. but his mind was blank and the guilt began to seep in, only just noticing the tears that left stains on her cheeks.

"no. of course you don't. my parents are in town george. i planned a nice lunch, maybe go on a walk, come back to the flat for a few drinks, but all that went to shit because you left to film a stupid video and then ignored my messages all day. you know how important it is to me that you get along with my parents so having to cancel on them last minute because you weren't even here was not something i wanted to have to do." the tears in her eyes were threatening to fall again, hating how needy and pathetic she sounded.

"we can sti-" george tried, again quickly being shut down.

"no george, i'm mad at you. you don't get to say it'll be alright and that we can still do something. we're not playing happy families. you've hurt me. when we sort this out, then we organise something else."

now the guilt was in full swing and he immediately started to think of ways he could make it up to her, knowing it would take a lot of grovelling to get back onto her good side.

"i'm going to bed, i love you." a soft kiss being placed on his lips.

"i love you too." slight relief evident on his face, knowing she'll never not say 'i love you', even during an argument.

she rounded the kitchen island, starting to make her way to his room and get ready for bed. george watched as she closed the door, still stood in the kitchen, contemplating whether to follow her or give her some space.

he decided on the latter.

--------

it was nearing midnight when george decided he needed some sleep, and the dip in the bed as he got comfortable was enough to wake y/n, a groan leaving her lips.

"sorry. i didn't mean to wake you," she let out an agitated hum of acknowledgement and rolled over, curling into george's side, unable to resist the heat his body always provided, "still mad at me?"

"yep." she responded, accentuating the 'p'.

"okay. can we talk about it?"

"i've said my peace. you go."

"i really am sorry sweetheart, i feel awful," her nails were running along the lines and dips of his stomach, a habit he'd grown accustomed to over the several months they'd been together, "the video was planned ages ago and i didn't even realise the dates clashed. when you reminded me of 'that thing' that was happening today i thought you meant filming. i promise to make it up to you. and your parents. please say they don't hate me."

george hoped it was enough, not that he wouldn't do anything she asked to get her to forgive him, but he couldn't stand the thought of her staying mad at him.

in y/n's head, he was forgiven. during her time alone, she realised she didn't even give him a chance to explain before locking herself in his room for the rest of the night.

"i'm sorry too," george was slightly taken aback by this, unsure what she was apologising for, "i shouldn't have stormed off like that. not even letting you speak before i disappeared all night. and my parents don't hate you. we can do dinner tomorrow if that's okay with you?"

"that's more than okay. i have my whole day free to spend with you and them. we can do whatever you guys want. i love you."

"i love you. so much. even if you are forgetful."

and george stuck to his promise. safe to say y/n's parents like george more than her.

a/n have this as an 'i'm sorry i haven't posted in a while present' <3

[vrajitosarehaos]

Healed (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

summary: you finally come out of an emotional sadness and decide to go out with Bucky to dinner, without thinking about who you would end up running into.

words: 3219

A/N: My other blog where I published my one-shots (thewxtchwhowrites) was deleted out of nowhere without explanation, so now I upload it here on the main one. Enjoy 💖

You were carefully walking down the stairs and your heels started making noise as they hit the steps, causing Bucky and Steve who were talking near the door to turn to look at you.

Bucky looked nervous, and it was no wonder, the truth is that he had not been on a date in more than 70 or 80 years, with everything that had happened in his life these last few years since the 40s.

Steve seemed to calm him down, when the blond turned to look at you he had a smile on his lips, he looked like a proud older brother.

As you walked down the stairs you wondered how you had really gotten to this day, and the truth is that the whole series of events had been very convoluted and fun...

Or at least now that you were feeling better.

You had been depressed for a couple of months and it was because your boyfriend with whom you had been in a relationship for five years had broken up with you overnight with a simple message:

"I can't keep doing this, forgive me."

Your eyes began to fill with tears as you continued reading as best you could:

"I owe you what I am today. And it hurts me to tell you this, I don't know, I feel like I'm really screwing up by leaving all these years behind." Your tears no longer let you see, your vision was blurred. "But I want to make that decision and continue alone from now on. Maybe we can be friends in the future."

Bastard. You thought to yourself, it was obvious that there was something strange about his behavior after you both had your last movie date, but you decided not to listen to your intuition even though Natasha had warned you.

"I don't know, honey, I think you should be prepared…" Natasha sat on your bed and sighed, taking one of your pillows in her hands, and noticing one of the photographs you had on your wall where you and your now ex-boyfriend ex-boyfriend, were at a Coney Island fair with ice cream on your faces.

"But Nat…" You said while shaking your head. You were delusional, without a doubt. "We've been together for five years, I don't think we'll break up. He's just a little stressed because his business isn't going well."

There were times when your ex-boyfriend would disappear for weeks, claiming that he was busy working or trying to run his business (a music store that his grandfather had owned for many years) and sometimes when you logged on to social media after work, you would notice that he was still online sharing posts or tweeting, although he didn't respond to your chat.

Sometimes he'd leave you on 'read' or sometimes he just wouldn't seem to open the chat, which was… strange.

Until it happened.

Even the final message of that long paragraph of excuses had a rather late apology that said:

"I'm very sorry, not only for the moment in which I'm telling you all this. But also for what I've put you through and how I treated you, not speaking to you for weeks and then coming to you to write all this shit."

That last message definitely led to long hours of crying, especially at night in your room at the Avenger Compound, not wanting to leave your room, maybe just to eat with everyone or for missions, and then return to your room.

You were even more temperamental during missions, you hit harder, and you were even more reckless, which Bucky noticed immediately, he knew that attitude and hatred.

The first thing Nat, Wanda, and Maria Hill did when they found out was brought you ice cream and have a girls' night out, which ended relatively well, at least until Wanda put on a movie and the guy's name was your ex's.

A couple of nights later you heard a soft knock on your door, you were crying as quietly as you could, and you thought that maybe you had woken up Steve or Nat who were sleeping in the adjoining rooms, when you got up and opened the door, it was Bucky.

"Bucky?" You asked with some confusion.

"I… I brought you this." Bucky took a cookie out of his pants pocket, when you took it you could feel that it was broken. "I accidentally sat on the cookie while I was on my way here on the motorcycle, sorry."

That, even if it was something simple, made you laugh, and maybe it was the first time in five fucking months that you laughed sincerely and not in a forced way.

Bucky after you thanked him, he nodded softly with a shy smile on his lips and left saying goodnight.

You look at Bucky's face as a smile began to form on his lips as you walked down the stairs, it seemed like he saw the most beautiful thing on the planet and he even had a small bouquet of flowers for you in his hands.

As soon as you finished walking down the stairs, Bucky approached you at the bottom of them.

"You look…" Bucky started to say, but stayed silent.

"Do I look too dressed up? Is too much?" You said nervously, touching your hair and ironing your dress with your hands at the level of your stomach, it had been Nat and Wanda's idea to groom you as if you were a little doll even though you weren't totally used to it.

“No, you look like an angel…” Bucky interrupted you. He continued to look at you with those blue eyes, it was a kind, sweet look. You felt your cheeks redden and you let out a nervous laugh.

Steve raised his eyebrows at such a compliment, and since you had your back to Steve, he took the opportunity to give Bucky a thumbs up.

"Oh, this is for you." Bucky gave you the small bouquet of flowers that you took carefully, they smelled delicious.

“James, you didn't have to do it." you said in a whisper, looking between the flowers and Bucky.

You didn't remember that a man had ever given you flowers before, your ex in itself was not a person to give you that type of details and you, sometimes, didn't allow yourself to receive them either.

But for some reason with Bucky, the fact that he gave you those details, it felt different.

“It's true.” He put his hands in the pocket of his black pants, nodding at your comment. "I didn't have to, but I wanted to do it."

That comment caught your attention.

Steve patted both of you gently like a father and opened the door to the compound, smiling.

"Have fun…" Steve looked at you and nodded his approval as if you were his little sister. "But not too much."

Steve looked at Bucky when he said that last sentence, that was definitely a warning to him, Bucky just shrugged and let you take his arm as they walked to the motorcycle to Izzy's.

Honestly, you don't know how it happened, but it happened.

You began to spend more time with Bucky as the days and even weeks went by, first he asked you for help to play a prank on Sam by painting Nightwing as if it were a stingray and recording it to show in the group chat that you all shared.

Then you would help him with technological issues or you would end up sitting in the compound's cinema watching old movies while you listened to him tell you things about how things were in those times.

And maybe some embarrassing stories about Steve.

You discovered that he was chivalrous, opening the door for you and even letting you in first by placing either of his two hands just under your back in a protective manner. Even when you had to take something somewhere he offered himself, not allowing you to do it.

Including the bowl of popcorn, because he didn't want you to get burned.

You thought that sometimes Bucky was an exaggerator, but you began to notice that he did things that even your ex-boyfriend had stopped doing after being together for a while.

When you and Bucky went out on the street, he always offered you his right arm, since he felt a little insecure offering you his left arm, the mechanical one. However, that insecurity started to disappear and then he didn't care which arm you grabbed as long as you held his arm when you walked.

The times when neither of you could sleep and you stayed talking, whether in your bed or his, he didn't fall asleep while you were talking about those topics that you were both passionate about, nor did he change the subject, he just watched you with attention.

Bucky even remembered the things you had said to him a couple of months or weeks ago and that you didn't even remember what you had said to him.

You were healing little by little, starting to be you again.

And somehow he was healing too.

If you were at one of Tony's parties or maybe at a mission meeting, sometimes you would look at Bucky when he wasn't looking at you, and the other way around would also happen, and if you caught each other looking, both would just smile like a couple of fools and look away.

One night you heard a soft knock on your door, you recognized that soft knock, when you opened your door it was Bucky again, but he looked different tonight.

"Hi..." Bucky said slowly, seeming a little nervous, his right hand resting on the frame of your door, trying to look casual. "I wanted to invite you to dinner, well, it's not really a dinner."

You could notice and see Bucky's nervousness when trying to say things as he had (probably) rehearsed them in front of the bathroom mirror and he added:

"Or yes, maybe it is, I don't know."

You interrupted his rambling with a smile on your lips, gently raising a hand to the level of your chest.

"Yes..." That's what you said, you noticed how his eyes softened at the fact that you had agreed. "Yes, I'd like to go."

He nodded repeatedly and sighed in relief, letting out a soft chuckle.

"So Friday at eight sounds good to you?" Bucky was clearing his throat, trying to hide his excitement that you had accepted dinner, you nodded. "Okay, I'll see you on Friday."

Bucky quickly kissed your cheek, wished you goodnight, and left without stopping smiling like a fool.

When you two arrived at Izzy's, Bucky greeted Leah with a smile, she seemed surprised but happy that she now finally saw him with someone other than Mr. Nakajima, especially seeing you walk in with him.

You and Bucky sat at one of the tables and you had a sneaking suspicion that someone was watching you, but you weren't sure after all there were more people than usual today, it was Friday.

After a couple of laughs, drinks, Asian food and bad jokes, a few caresses on your hand from his you noticed out of the corner of your eye that someone was approaching the table and you swore it was a waiter.

But it was your ex.

“Y/N…” Your ex said in a firm voice, looking from Bucky reluctantly and then back to you. "What are you doing here with him?"

The audacity of this idiot. You thought as you heard those words come out of your ex's mouth.

"The real question is, what are YOU doing here?" You responded rudely as a frown began to form on your forehead.

"So you're the… man who broke her heart." Bucky told him in a calm voice, but he was really trying to stop himself from smashing your ex-boyfriend's face into the pretty little sushi boat that was on the table, because he didn't want to ruin your night.

Bucky slowly stood up from the chair, making your ex jump a little, maybe he was nervous with Bucky's presence.

And the truth is he should be nervous.

Bucky was quite tall, strong and even if he didn't have a vibranium left arm, he would have enough strength to change your ex-boyfriend's health status to deceased if he tried to go far with you.

And on top of that he had to avoid at all costs breaking the second rule that he had agreed upon with Dr. Raynor in therapy: No one gets hurt.

Your ex scrunched his face in disapproval at Bucky's words, not believing what he was hearing, but now you understood many things, you had been receiving notifications on social networks, especially from Instagram indicating that your ex occasionally looked at the stories you published.

Part of you didn't understand why you continued to have him on Instagram, perhaps because you used that social network very little, but whatever, now you understood what your ex was doing there.

"What? N-No, I was confused…" Your ex started to speak, he even tried to get a little closer to you, but he couldn't since Bucky gently moved his left arm that was covered by a glove. "Now my mind is more than clear and I want us to go back Y/N."

Bucky tried to talk to him by placing his right hand on his shoulder.

"Look, son…" But your ex just moved, removing Bucky's hand from his shoulder.

"Don't call me son, we are the same age, pal." Your ex responded aggressively, while rolling his eyes, looking back at you.

Very few knew that Bucky was actually 106 years old, which if you had been in another situation you would have found it funny.

"Look, I don't know what you've been through in these eight or nine months, but she and I are together, and she's not interested in getting back with you or anyone else." Bucky spoke in a fairly firm tone of voice, being respectful.

You began to feel anxious, you felt your stomach turn not only from nervousness, but from the embarrassment you were experiencing in the establishment, many of the people at the adjacent tables were looking towards you.

"Are you really going to throw away all these years together with me, by being with him?" Your ex-boyfriend spoke softly, as if he was trying to manipulate you. "Y/N? I know you haven't forgotten me, you still love me, I know that."

You looked between both men, there was some doubt in your eyes or that's what Bucky thought he saw in you, maybe it was embarrassment.

You got up from your seat and enter the bathroom of the place with tears in your eyes, on many occasions you had dreamed of something similar, dreams that ended in nightmares that you tried to ignore some nights, many ended with your ex calling you different things like 'bitch', 'whore' or 'ungrateful witch' while throwing things at you or shaking you.

You ended up waking up drenched in sweat many nights, breathing heavily and then crying silently until sleep overcame you, although those tears and nightmares ended up being silenced by Bucky on more than one occasion while he slept next to you, stroking your hair or hugging you in his arms.

You had entered the bathroom and locked yourself inside one of the stalls, you were hyperventilating, you didn't think the wound would reopen again, you really thought you were over that, you didn't know how much time had passed, you were just sitting on the toilet seat with tears in your eyes.

Until your train of thought stopped when you heard the door to the women's bathroom open wide, hearing soft footsteps coming in and seeming to have stopped near the mirror.

"Y/N?" It was Leah's voice, it sounded soft because the bathroom had quite an echo. "Are you okay, do you need anything?"

"He's gone?" You asked shakily, leaving the bathroom stall, as soon as Leah saw you with your makeup smeared with tears, she gently tilted her head, giving you an empathetic look and approached you.

Leah nodded at your question.

"Yes, between Mr. Nakajima, Bucky and I, we took that being out of the restaurant." Leah rolled her eyes, she reached into the pockets of her apron for a handkerchief with a couple of flowers embroidered on it and wiped your face. "I really thought James was going to break his face, I was already thinking about what to replace the restaurant furniture with… they are made of old wood."

Both laughed at the comment, although you also imagined Mr. Nakajima, who had a bad temper, pushing your ex out of the restaurant door.

He was a man with a quite volatile temperament, like Bucky's.

When you returned to the restaurant you didn't see Bucky, he was outside leaning on his motorcycle, you said goodbye to Mr. Nakajima who was also leaving the restaurant with you and of course to Leah, thanking both.

Mr. Nakajima opened the door for you and let you out first.

"Pretty ladies first" Mr. Nakajima said with a kind smile, which made you laugh, and that made Bucky turn his head to the door of the establishment and approach you.

"Are you ok?" Bucky gently took your face in his hands, caressing your cheeks with his thumbs.

You looked into his eyes and you could feel that he was still upset by your ex's attitude, in fact, he seemed a little uncomfortable, perhaps remembering your look of doubt.

You nodded silently. You had a thoughtful look again.

"Honey…" Bucky began to speak softly, lowering his hands to his sides. It was the first time he had called you that pet name since you had started talking and going out. "I know I'm not the easiest person to deal with."

You remained silent, listening to what he had to say.

"I have nightmares at night, I have anger issues, I'm 106 years old…" Bucky chuckled, looking away from your eyes for a moment to see a couple of people crossing the street during the lonely night. "Even other problems, especially because of my past, so I will totally understand if you want to get back with him."

You didn't know what your expression really was, but Bucky seemed surprised as he looked back at you.

"What? I said something wrong?" Bucky asked, maybe you looked at him like he was crazy.

"I'm really going to have to talk to Dr. Raynor." You said nodding with a smile on your lips.

Bucky looked at you confused, he didn't understand what the mention from his psychologist that he was seeing it had to do with this conversation.

“Oh please…” You rolled your eyes, sometimes you forgot that Bucky was born before penicillin. "It means that I'd be crazy if you think I'm going to choose my ex. I like you, James B-"

Bucky leaned forward, crashing his lips against yours and bringing his hands back to your face, your eyes instinctively closed, enjoying the kiss which became more intense and then you both separated, gasping for air, without saying a word...

You two now knew how the other felt.

[justwearthegoddamncardigan]

Hello ! Eh could you May write a minho x reader (the maze runner ofc bc I'm currently obsessed and I love your writing) we're he and reader have a cute lil picknick date in the savehaven bc happy endings are deserved

Happy endings are most definitely deserved. Also, the line between cuteness and cheesiness was definitely blurred with this one. Hope you enjoy!

First date

Minho x gender neutral!reader

Set post-tdc

Scrolling through pinterest for these photos is incredibly fun but also the most offensive slap in the face as a single person TT

Also, Newt is alive!

Warnings: language

He's been planning for weeks.

You know this because no matter how subtle he tries to be, you've seen the way he's been throwing you weird looks and acting uncharacteristically skittish and suspicious ever since you got to the Safe Haven.

He'd asked you earlier that day (Mr. oh so casual and cool), caught your hand before going off to work. "Y/n, can I take you to dinner tonight?"

As prepared and expectant as you thought you were, you'd just stuttered out a surprised yes and stood there blushing as he grinned and walked away.

But now he's standing in your open door, and you know that this is the moment he's been planning for weeks.

You drink in the sight of him, framed by the sunset behind, and you can tell that the smile on his face is nervous, despite how well he's hiding it.

"Hey," you say, running a self conscious hand through your hair. The Safe Haven is a place for refuge, and doesn't have much in terms of fancy clothes, so you're dressed in a plain long-sleeved shirt and... you're reluctant to say you're wearing sweatpants to a date, but they're pretty much sweatpants.

Minho's dressed similarly, just a grey T-shirt (likely to make you panic over his arms) and a jacket slung over his shoulder, presumably in case it gets cold later.

Still, he gazes at you like you hung the moon, and says in the most genuine, sincere tone, "You look beautiful."

Fuck. "Thanks," you manage to say. "You do too."

Minho smirks. "I know."

"God-" you huff out a breath, rolling your eyes and pushing him out the door.

He nudges you with his shoulder, grinning at you, and you let out a laugh, relaxing instantly. You can read it in his eyes; it's just me. The one person in the world you're most comfortable with.

"Darling?" he says smoothly, offering you his arm with a cocky grin on his face.

Your heartrate picks up, but you simply raise an eyebrow at him. Two can play at that game. You slide your hand into the crook of his elbow and lift onto your toes to whisper in his ear. "Let's go, baby."

You smirk at the flustered expression that crosses his face, before he recovers and starts to lead you forward. "Let's."

So, you and Minho... technically haven't had a first date yet.

You got together after escaping the Maze and WCKD, your first kiss being a searing, desperate, we-almost-got-killed-by-zombies crush of mouths. From then, you haven't had the chance to go on a proper date.

Basically, you have no idea what to expect as he leads you to Newt and Thomas' hut.

Minho shoots you quick smile as he knocks on the hut door, which immediately opens.

You're greeted by twin smirks, before Thomas disappears into the hut with Minho, who squeezes your hand and gives a quick "back in a sec".

"Any idea what he's got planned for you?" asks Newt, leaning on the door frame.

"Not a clue," you reply. "You got anything to share?"

"Can't spoil it, sorry," says Newt, shrugging.

He glances over his shoulder. "Look, I've got about five seconds now where I could give you the shovel talk, but I really don't think you, or Minho, need that, so I'm just gonna give you this: You guys are perfect together. Have fun, yeah?"

You huff out a laugh, ducking your head. "We will. Thanks, Newt."

He nods at you as the other boys come back, and your eyes drop to the picnic basket clutched in Minho's hand. "What-"

Minho chuckles at your widened eyes. "Come on, we're going to the beach."

⭒----⭒

"Minho, this is amazing," you say incredulously, staring at the picnic spread out in front of you. There's a blanket thrown over the sand, with food boxes and drinks resting on it. Plus, a lantern sits in the centre, casting a warm glow over your faces.

"You like it?" asks Minho, a smile tugging at his lips.

You nestle closer to him and wrap your arms around his neck, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "It's perfect. I love it."

Time floats by as the two of you talk and eat, watching the sunset and trying to stop the napkins flying away in the breeze (you have to slap a hand over them, and Minho nearly knocks over a drink catching the one that escapes your grasp, and neither of you can stop giggling; yes, giggling).

"Here, just pack it all in the basket."

"Yeah- shit, where'd it go?"

"I've got it," says Minho, tossing the cups in.

You place the picnic basket behind you, on one of the corners of the blanket.

"Hang on," you mutter. You grab a couple more rocks to weigh down the blanket so the corners stop flicking up. "Fuck- shit," you shake your head as the sand flies into your face, and you groan to yourself as you brush it off.

You drop the last rock into place, dusting off your palms and nodding at your handiwork, before turning and- oh.

Minho's sitting back, hands braced under his shoulders, with the softest, fondest, most tender expression on his face. Just... watching you.

You smile self-consciously, and he shakes his head, face breaking into a smile. He sits forward, raising his hands and opening his arms in a 'come here' gesture, and you oblige immediately, melting into him.

"I love you," he whispers, lips pressing against your head.

You lift your eyes to meet his, nudging your noses together. "I love you too," you reply softly, before capturing his lips in a kiss.

You push him down gently, rolling over on top so you can slot your mouth over his, one hand cupped around his face as he loops his arms around you to pull you closer.

He tastes like sea air, and the sweet cordial you were drinking earlier, and home.

"Wait, wait."

You let out a small noise as Minho breaks the kiss, pulling away.

"I had one more surprise planned for tonight," he tells you, reaching into a hidden box.

You watch curiously as he hooks up a speaker and turns on a small screen.

Minho grins at you as his finger hovers over a 'play' button on the screen.

"You didn't," you breathe.

"I did," he responds.

"Minho, how'd you even find-"

You stop speaking as light instrumental music fills your ears, and you close your eyes as the present blurs into the past.

"We look stupid."

"I really don't care."

Bare feet whisper through the grass as you join hands with Minho.

You step through the sand, taking Minho's hand.

"I mean, I did promise you."

"I'll get you music next time, trust me."

"It's okay, just dance with me now."

Two figures spin in the darkness, moving with no rhythm, no song playing to guide.

Minho's face glows in the lamplight, and he twirls you as the music swells.

He catches you in his arms as you spin back to him, and you tip your head up so you're nose to nose.

Then you're kissing, arms wrapping around each other as the water sweeps up around your ankles.

"This is perfect," you murmur. "You're perfect."

Minho laughs softly. "Nah, that's you, sweetheart."

IM BACK TY FOR WAITING

[ollieneedsamilkshake]

I've never posted my writing on tumbler before, so here we go! (I'm currently very nervous, please tell me if it is shit <3)

TW: shit writing, grammar mistakes and swears <333

The one time. The one time I invited Sylus to Lincon. The plan was simple, easy- there was no room for error.

We had planned to go get milkshakes (despite his insistence that it was chemical trash, and his private chef could make us something much more original and delicious) and then head home, to Zayne. He'd informed me of his surgeries for the day, so it wouldn't interfer with our date night.

Easy. Simple.

Why. Oh why. Did it go wrong?

"Oreo?" Sylus gives me a skeptical look, as I happily slurped my milkshake, practically skipping down the street. "Of all the flavours, why Oreo?" His eyebrows arched, not hiding the perplexed look in his vivid red eyes.

"It's the best flavour!.. and the only one I've tried..." I argue, slurping obnoxiously loud tk prove my point. I narrow my eyes, glaring at the simple coke he'd bought. Who the HELL goes to five guys, and doesn't buy a milkshake? Or a burger? "Stop ruining the fun. Your being annoying, Sy."

His stupid rich laugh. Say ' I'm rich, better than you, get bitches and secretly run the biggest criminal organisation,' without without saying it.

"Whatever you say, Sweetie." Sylus rolls his eyes, and pulls his phone out. "Need a lift home, kitten?"

I don't get a chance to answer, when I hear his smooth, calculated tone. And the undertone of undeniable anger. Shit.

"MC?" FUCK.

Fuck. Oh shit. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no-

".. Am I interrupting?"

I don't need to turn around to know who it is.

Zayne stands tall and rigid- his dark black hair concealing those beautiful eyes as usual. He grips a packet of Haribos in his hand- the veins buldging, against the scars littered across the back of his hand. Oh shiit. He's pissed. And he bought me a sweeties? Awww- He's still pissed.

Zayne's eyes flick between me and Sylus. Sylus who is inches away from me. Who just called me sweetie, and KITTEN in the space of twenty seconds.

"Who's this." Sylus's voice cuts through the already tense air. The man's red eyes glare at Zayne, looking my boyfriend up and down with distaste.

"I told you about Zayne! Zayne, this is my fri-"

"Nice to meet you. Didn't we have a dinner reservation to get to?" Zayne's voice is like ice. His footsteps steady and measured, Zayne walks to my side, taking my hand.

I don't miss the look which passes over his face as he spots the milkshake. I try smile- but Zayne looks away from me, focusing his attention on the scowling Sylus.

"..Sweetie.." Sylus's voice has a dangerous undertone, like a predator preparing to pounce. He shifts his weight, his hands going to his sides.

The two men glare at each other. What the fuck. I hold my breathe, waiting for one of them to snap. Images of Sylus dashing my boyfriend across the street, or Zayne making my best friend into a popsicle.

Black and red tendrils of mist slowly form around Sylus's wrist, flexing and moving dangerously. Ice begins to form on Zayne's hands, the white tendrils glistening in the afternoon sunlight.

I quickly rub Zayne's forearm, trying to calm him. "Sy, I'll see you later. Thanks for a fun day out."

Zayne exhales slightly, squeezing my hand back- a silent acknowledgement, despite the tense look on his ussually tranquil face. His Hazel eyes are tense, his jaw tight.

"Anytime sweetie. Have fun at your ... dinner." Sylus gives me a smirk and strides down the street, disappearing moments later.

"You didn't tell me you where with someone today." Zayne's voice is tight, his eyes watching the spot where Sylus has just been. An unreadable expression mounts his face.

I immediately squeeze his hands, ignoring the sharp feeling of the remaining ice. "I'm sorry- I thought you where busy today. Nothing was going on th-"

"I know. Don't worry." Zayne gives me a small, reserved smile- his whole demeanor softening, after seeing my brief panic. He bends down ,just slightly, and brushes my hair from my face.

"How?" I can't help but ask. I must sound dumb. But, Zayne chuckes and pinches my cheek.

"I trust you, my aurora."

Thank you for reading <333

Nika's Open Mic Night!

𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕪 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕟 𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕒𝕓/𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕚𝕟

Calling all the LADS writers of Tumblr

Please read → Everyone and anyone is free to join. Write something for the prompt and tag someone who you'd like to see participate. You can do it in a reblog to this post or make your own post. Your character can be a self-insert, your MC, or an OC If you make your own post please add me in your taglist or tag it with #nikasopenmicnight I love reading you guys work. For those who make a separate post for your work I'm going to be making an ongoing list with links to all the stories on this post. There is no deadline have fun !

Okay I'll shut up now here's the prompt

the prompt: running into your main lads man (boyfriend) while you're out with your second favorite lads man (as a friend) and how they would react. [Credit: Anon]

I'll go first....

This was supposed to be a quick trip, in and out, get what I need and leave. I should’ve gone to a different store because I knew better than to think I'd make a ‘quick trip’ to target. Dumbass. Nothing was ever a quick trip when me and Raf hung out. So here I am buying all new decor for my library at home. Rafayel stood by giving his opinion even when I didn't ask for it “How many blankets does one girl need?”

“There’s no such thing as too many blankets” I giggled as I squat down to chose a fluffy red blanket. I knew Sylus would like this no matter how much he likes to act like he doesn't care for them I see how he throws one over his lap when it’s within reach. “Thinking of me?” I jump at the sudden sound of his voice looking up to see his tall frame looming over me. It wasn’t uncommon for him to pop-up on me considering he has my location. I couldn’t help the smile that split my face in two as I looked up at him. I stood up and shoved the blanket in this direction. “What do you think?” His hand gently ran up and down the fabric, but his intense stare was fixated over my shoulder “It’s nice”

I turned to see Raf giving Sylus a just as intense stare, but instead of a frown like Sylus he had a smile on his face. His smile didn’t reach his eyes and I could practically feel the lightning cracking between them. Am I in the middle of some kind of pissing contest? Men. “Sylus stop being rude he's my friend” I poked him in his side which made him jolt, but he finally looked at me. His gaze softened slightly as our eyes locked. “Princess i’m not doing anything” He poked me in my forehead and I swatted his hand away; he knows I hate when he does that. “Don’t play dumb” I scowled at him and all he did was give me that sexy ass smirk. Sometimes I wish he was ugly …. no I don’t. Sylus put his gaze back on Rafayel and pulled me impossibly close to him by my waist. “Apologies if I'm interrupting, but we have an appointment with a tailor that we can’t miss”

Why is he lying? This is the first i’m hearing of said appointment. I struggled in his hold trying to pry his fingers from my waist, but he gave me a few small squeezes making me snort with laughter.

Raf didn’t even try to argue he threw his hands up in surrender “No worries I have paintings to finish” he grabbed his items that he tossed in the cart, gave my nose a pinch along with a quick “I’ll talk to you later” and sauntered off. The second Rafayel was out of sight I managed to wiggle my way out of Sylus' iron grip “What appointment are you talking about?”

“There isn’t one I just didn’t like the way he looks at you” He said in a matter-of-fact tone as if I was supposed to know that. “How exactly does he look at me?”

“The same way I look at you” I narrowed my eyes at him inquisitively; he returned the same look and I knew he was mocking me. “So you don’t trust me” It was more of a statement rather than a question.

“And here I thought your deductive reasoning skills were improving” he shifted his weight as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I trust you sweetie I don’t trust him he wants to be more than a friend” something was off although he seemed annoyed I could tell that it wasn’t me he was upset with. All of his tells were on full display by the way he avoided eye contact with and how his fingers absentmindedly tapped on his bicep. “Are you jealous?” I teased poking his chest repeatedly. He glowered at me as I tried and failed to stop the evil grin that spread across my face. “You’re enjoying this a little too much for my liking”

“You’re so cute when you're jealous” I reached up to pinch his cheek but as always he grabbed my wrist before I could even get close. “Enough” he’s so sick of my shit, but it’s not like he’s going anywhere. "Don't worry no one can steal me from you"

tagging w/ no pressure ;

@who-mentioned-rhys-larsen @irandial @ollieneedsamilkshake @phoenixiaxia @luxis-journal

@deepspacenova @world-of-hearts @comatosebunny09 @leighsartworks216 @awesomephilosophus

@ersharyzst

[lunetual]

hiiii meg!!!!! what about 4, 8, 19, 26!!!!!!!

MILLOVED (millie beloved) ty for sending in!! i wuv you i hope you've been having a nice day <3

4) Favorite B-side? ah.... as you know i am a b-side girlie! i think most of the time i like a b-side better than a title track but hmm perhaps to.lie by e'last my beloved serotonin track <33

8) Song you always have on rotation? i genuinely feel like it would be sick and twisted of me to not say comma by kihyun. like not a day has passed since its release that i have not listened to it at least once and usually several more times.... more long term though despite not being a proper melody i have never not wanted to listen to missing you by btob lol

19) What is your all time favourite music video? 0X1=LOVESONG (I KNOW I LOVE YOU) ft. Seori by tubatu it literally chewed up my brain and spat it back out it irrevocably changed me it is so lodged into my heart and mind and i genuinely think i've gifed every second of it in the past year... it just encapsulates many many things i love, chief amongst them the aching nostalgia of summers you'll never get back, found family, and a melody that you feel in your chest and your stomach.........

26) What has been your favorite comeback of the year? WAH hmm i've liked a lot of cbs this year!! i will give it to my best friend (real, not parasocial) kang daniel for his first full album! i think it's a really good listen and it's so cohesive and you can tell he put a lot of thought into all the tracks he chose to include. also 1000x is one of his best songs i literally levitate when i listen to her

[mysticpetals]

Supermarket runs

Pairing: Jake × mc (Syianne)

Genre: fluff, humor

Words: 2.5k

Summary: Three times Jake ran into Syianne and one time he actually made plans.

Anonymous asked: Hello. If you do still requests, can you do 27 and 40, with Jake and MC from Duskwood from fluff? Sorry I forgot to add that.

Prompts: 27. "Are you blushing?" 40. "Why are you so afraid of loving?"

Notes: here it is! A cute meet up fic with Jake's point of view. I hope you like this one because it's going to be the last thing I'll be posting for a while 😬

Jake had reached his new hideout just a few hours ago.

After evading yet another capture from the government and planting false trails in his wake, he had escaped to a small town, renting an apartment for the time being.

Opening the door to his new house for a few days, he put his cat down, opened his cage and let him explore. Glitch immediately disappeared and Jake put his bags down, sighing tiredly.

He needed to make a quick run to the store nearby, getting some food and other essential items since it was clear that they didn't stock it in the room.

Before he could change his mind, Jake picked up his wallet, locking the door and walked to the store he came across on his way over to the apartment.

It was a medium sized store, probably the one of the few in this small town. Jake browsed the shelves picking up the things he needed along the way. He avoided eye contact with everyone, putting his hood up.

When he was done, he quietly put the few cup noodles and microwaveable dinners on the counter and waited for the cashier to scan his items. Just as he went to pick up the first item, the cashier's phone rang and he glanced at the screen, eyes widening in surprise before his face settled into panic.

"Oh shit, oh shit, I completely forgot," he mumbled to himself frantically and giving Jake an apologetic glance, ran towards the back room.

Well then, it wasn't like he was in any hurry either. He didn't want to go back so soon anyway. He rocked back on his heels, adjusting his mask so that it still covered the lower half of his face and looked around in boredom.

From the backroom, he could hear two voices arguing, one male and other female and just when he thought that maybe it was going to take a while, the cashier ran out of the room, hefting a jacket over his shoulders and looked back.

"I owe you one, Syianne! Thank you so much!"

Jake tilted his head on hearing the familiar name, memories of conversations with his Syianne creeping up.

"You really do, Percy! I better have a three day weekend after this!" The girl shouted back and Jake smiled behind his mask. She even sounded like her.

The cashier yelled back something but he was already out the door to hear properly. The girl came out from the back, wearing her uniform jacket and grumbling about having to do two shifts, but Jake had frozen.

"Sorry about that. My coworker forgot about the date with his girlfriend and had to bolt. Between you and me, she's pretty scary so I'd be running too," she said, already ringing up his few items but Jake couldn't reply. He kept staring at her familiar face, which he had accidentally accessed when going through her chats before.

This was his Syianne.

She glanced at him, probably wondering why he didn't say anything before looking back on the screen. He broke out of his stupor when she told him the total and held up a bag with his items.

His fingers brushed against her and it felt like a lifetime, blood rushing to his cheeks and heart pacing.

"Thank you," he said and got a smile in return.

"You're welcome! Sorry about the delay earlier."

He shook his head rapidly, telling her that it was no trouble and he completely understood. That made her smile widen, her eyes crinkling with happiness.

"Come again soon!"

Oh, he'd be coming back very soon, indeed.

The first thing he did after reaching home was to power on his laptop and search for Syianne's location. Glitch hissed angrily at him for disturbing his slumber atop the chair he was now sitting in but Jake's eyes were fixed on the screen.

The results baffled him, as it showed her living in a completely different country from when he had searched her before, when he had just gotten her number. And then, realisation dawned on him that she might be using a VPN.

He banged his head on the table in frustration but also a little impressed that Syianne had thought of doing something like this to protect her identity.

He was supposed to stay away from all of them, to prevent pulling people into his messes but now one of the most important people in his life literally worked a walk away from his hiding place. He couldn't change places so frequently as it hadn't even been a day and he had to give some time to the police to cool off, before he got on the move again.

He sighed, too wound up to make anything but cup noodles, he got up and went into the kitchen. Glitch trailed behind him, sniping at his heels for his own food and Jake emptied the last can of cat food into Glitch's bowl.

With a jolt, he realised that he would have to go to the supermarket tomorrow again and it brought him equal parts of excitement as well as anxiety at the thought of seeing Syianne again.

———

The next evening, he put the cans of cat food on the counter and was disappointed to find that the guy from yesterday – Percy, if he recalled right – was going to scan his items.

Jake shifted the mask on his face and looked around to see if Syianne was somewhere but to no avail. If Percy noticed him looking around, he didn't say anything. When he grabbed the bag from him, the employee room opened and Syianne came out wearing casual clothes, a bag slung over her shoulder.

"See you tomorrow, Percy!"

She came out from behind the counter and her eyes widened in surprise as they fell on him.

"Oh hi! You're the one from yesterday."

Jake cleared his throat and let out a hesitant, "Y-yeah."

Percy snickered, throwing a knowing look at Jake before turning to Syianne.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, idiot. Bring some coffee with you." He handed Jake his bag as he scrambled to bring out his wallet to pay and gave him a wide smile.

"Syianne here works the morning shifts." He winked and Jake was mortified to hear the amusement in his voice, knowing that he had been caught.

"I'm not bringing you anything until I get my three-day weekend. Anyway, nice to see you again…." She trailed off when she turned to Jake and his mind went into overdrive as he thought about whether he should tell her his real name or not.

"Phil." He blurted out, "My name's Phil."

She tilted her head, no doubt thinking about that bartender from Duskwood who was currently locked up in jail.

"Funny, I know a guy named Phil. Not from around here though." She glanced at the door giving him a final smile.

"Because all the customers come in the evening." Percy complained and Syianne only rolled her eyes at his antics.

"Well, come by in the morning if you want to chat. It's pretty chill that time."

"Deal with it. Anyway, see you tomorrow." She waved one last time and walked out, Jake's eyes following her figure until she disappeared around the corner.

"She's sweet and a little too trustful. I better not hear any complaints about you from her Phil or I won't hesitate to throw a punch or two." Percy threatened and Jake flushed before muttering a hasty excuse and practically running out of the store.

She actually talked to him today and hearing her voice, her words just made it harder for him to stay away. But it was okay if he didn't tell her who he was, right? She won't be in any danger then, right?

These thoughts chased him as he walked back to his temporary home, almost tripping over Glitch when he entered and found a disgruntled cat, waiting for his food.

———

The next morning, Jake worked in his room, occasionally shooing away Glitch who was determined to get his daily dose of affection.

"Just a minute, Glitch." He muttered, typing rapidly, his eyes scanning the screen with an eerie quickness.

A loud, disgruntled meow from his cat breaks the silence again and Jake heaved a frustrated sigh, pushing his laptop away and glaring at the culprit.

"Fine, you little devil! I'll give you breakfast first."

He walked out of the room, Glitch trailing behind him, purring in appreciation and hopped on to a chair while Jake took out the instant pancake mixture that he had recently bought. And that reminded him of the fact that Syianne was here, so close and whether he should tell her or not.

Making the pancakes in a daze, he put a plate in front of Glitch who immediately started gobbling it up. Jake huffed out a laugh and made his own plate, sitting across from his cat. The syrup was towards Glitch and when he leaned forward to take it, he was met by Glitch's paw swatting at his hand.

"What the hell? You ate already! Let me eat too!"

Glitch's paw rested on the syrup bottle and edged it towards the end of the table.

Jake froze.

"Glitch, no. Give me the syrup."

The bottle shifted a bit more.

"No, Glitch. Stop that."

The cat looked at him and stopped and Jake gave a sigh of relief, only to throw back his head in exasperation at the next moment as the bottle was finally pushed off the table.

"You little devil! I'm going to—"

The cat sprang up and ran into the other room, leaving Jake in the kitchen alone.

"Why is it always me?"

———

After cleaning up the kitchen and eating pancakes without any syrup, Jake found himself in the supermarket once again, embarrassed about being there everyday for the last three or so days.

When he put his items on the counter, including a syrup in a plastic bottle this time, he found himself facing Syianne who gave her an amused look.

"Having a good day, Phil?"

It took a moment for Jake to understand that she was talking to him and he flushed when he met her gaze.

"Not really. My cat decided to be an asshole today."

Syianne laughed and if Jake could have heard it everyday, he would. When she scanned his bandaids, she raised an eyebrow, and Jake gave her a sheepish smile, showing her his poorly wrapped hand.

"Oh no, that looks bad," she said but Jake only shook his head.

"It's better than it looks, I promise. I'm just bad at wrapping things up."

She didn't smile but only looked behind him. Seeing no more customers, she gestured for him to come to her side of the counter. Confused, he did as she asked and understanding dawned on him when he saw her opening the packet of gauze he had just bought.

"Oh, no, no. It's okay. I can do it at home." He rushed but she didn't listen, silently asking for him to hold his hand forward. When he realised that Syianne wasn't going to take no for an answer, he sighed and put his hand forward, face heating up and he regretted forgetting to wear a face mask that day.

"Are you blushing?" She asked teasingly and his flush only worsened.

"I-I'm not used to other people caring for me."

She hummed.

"That must be lonely."

She carefully unwrapped his hand, winching at the sight of blood and cleaned it with antiseptic wipes, before wrapping a bandage around the cut. Her hands were gentle but firm, as if she knew what she was doing and had done it a hundred times before. Jake was suddenly hit with a weird nostalgia, a feeling of wanting to know who she was, how many siblings she had, what her goals were.

He didn't realise when she had stopped, staring at him, as he was looking at her and only after several minutes had passed, did Syianne dropped her hands, letting him know that she was done.

The thought struck him like lightning and he quickly grabbed his bags, muttering another thank you and getting a simple smile in return. Before he knew, he was out on the streets and on the way to his house, his thoughts a raging turmoil.

"Thank you very much." He spoke softly, quietly, overwhelmed by such a gesture from her. He was essentially a stranger and she had still helped him, not knowing who he was.

She didn't know who he was.

What was he doing? Going to see her like that, finding excuses to go to the supermarket in hopes of seeing her? What did he want to accomplish?

He released a shaky sigh, running his hands through his hair, when he reached the place. Glitch, knowing that it wasn't the time for his shenanigans, only gave a welcoming meow from his place on the couch.

Maybe it was time he started searching again.

Jake opened his laptop but the ping from his phone made him look for it, heart quickening when he saw her name on it.

Syianne [5:00 pm]

Hey Jake!

How are you doing? I hope you're safe

I patched up a guy today who came in at work. He had a cat too!

Anyway, I don't know why I'm still writing but I hope you're safe and nobody got to you

Why are you so afraid of loving?

Sorry, insensitive question. Ignore that

Waiting for when you come back

...I'm still looking forward to that date

Jake's lips quirked at her messages, warmed by her concern. She had messaged him everyday ever since he went into hiding again. He hadn't replied then, being busy because of his relocation, but now….

In a bold move, very uncharacteristic for him, he messaged her back.

Jake [5:03 pm]

What if I told you that the guy you patched up was me?

Syianne [5:04 pm]

What?

His name was Phil

Oh

Jake waited as she typed and erased, all of it going on for two minutes before she stopped. Jake had a sudden, terrible feeling that perhaps he had made a mistake but soon enough, she replied.

Syianne [5:06 pm]

You're cute in real life as well <3

Jake laughed, amused by her flirty response and decided that perhaps he'd stay there for a few more days.

Syianne [5:06 pm]

What about that date at the Chinese restaurant you promised me?

Jake [5:07 pm]

Does tomorrow work for you? ;)

[no-whump-on-main]

Apartment 307-8 (Grabbed by the hair)

Hi guys!! I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. School and work have been crazy but luckily I'm out of school next week so I'll have much more time and be posting more frequently! Apologies for the short chapter, I have no idea why but it just kicked my butt lol. I tried doing some cool multimedia stuff, I hope you enjoy! This is @sableflynn's BTHB request, grabbed by the hair.

TWs: Creepy, possessive whumper, mention of branding, also this chapter made me sad bc I love my mom and Elora's mom is sad so warning for that lmao

Elora was still lying there crying hours later. The tears had slowed from her initial keening sobs, but they still fell steadily down her face, accumulating in a small puddle on the tile by her head. She could see a bit of her reflection in the salty water; just her eyes, mostly. She saw green eyes that had once been so full of hope and life that were fading, the slow abandonment of hope almost making them gray out. She wanted to lie there forever, staring into her own eyes, until oblivion took her. If she cleared her head enough, she could pretend she was elsewhere, somewhere warm and loving; the blanket draped over her body did help with the fantasy, though she always knew somewhere in the back of her head that it was just that: a fantasy. She was still here. With him.

Clyde tried to give her time to recover, but his patience wore eventually. He began to get antsy after a few hours of watching her lie there, doing nothing but cry. Admittedly, he did enjoy it at first-seeing her so weak, so docile, because of him-but it eventually grew tiresome. Watching each tear drip down into the puddle became like watching paint dry.

He stood up abruptly. Elora was startled by the motion, flinching before stilling and watching him very carefully. What was he going to do?

“Get up,” he said simply.

Elora froze. She still felt sick, dizzy with pain and the lingering scent of her burning flesh in the bathroom. But why would he care about that? Why should she disobey him, when she knew what would happen?

Yet pride and pain got the better of her again.

“I can’t,” she whimpered. She felt weak. “I hurt. You hurt me.”

The piercing sound of a loud, sudden laugh began to echo through the bathroom. It reminded Elora of the laugh of a hyena. She winced.

“Darling, did you not think that was the point?”

Her expression hardened and her heart thumped in her chest. That was the point. She wanted to say something, but her mouth suddenly got dry.

The man simply grinned. “Get up,” he repeated, but she didn’t. She just laid there, dumbfounded.

He groaned angrily, rolling his eyes. “Fine,” he grumbled. “Be that way.”

He gathered up her hair in his hand, locked his fingers in a tight fist, and pulled up. Elora yelped and scrambled to get to her feet to relieve the pain, but he didn’t give her the chance; he carelessly dragged her off, out of the bathroom, through the hallway, and into the living room. She screamed and thrashed wildly, her hands desperately trying to push him away as her scalp burned like fire. Again and again, her feet scraped the ground to no avail, kicking and kicking but never able to gain enough traction to stand as she was mercilessly dragged. The man finally dropped her on the floor at the foot of a worn leather couch, releasing his death grip on her hair. Her hands immediately flew up to her head, applying gentle pressure to her scalp to try to ease the burning pain as she looked around the new room.

The living room was barren, like the man had half moved into it then given up. There was a dusty box in the corner, the couch, a worn coffee table, a small stand, and an old TV. Other than that, it was empty, in an eerie way. The aged carpet spanned the floor like an ocean.

The pressure didn’t do much and Elora dropped her hands, still wincing as the man plopped himself on the couch behind her, the leather making a loud crackling noise as he sat. She whipped her head around as her shoulders raised up to her ears instinctively. The man made a sour face, his features twisting into an ugly frown.

“Relax,” he commanded, forcefully pushing her shoulders down. At first, she tried to wiggle away, but that idea was abandoned when he tightened his grip, clearly as a warning. He grabbed the TV remote from the arm of the couch and turned it on. It started on some history channel documentary about cars, but Clyde quickly flipped through channels until he found the local news station.

A grin spread across his face as he read the blue banner spanning across the bottom of the screen. They were just in time.

UP NEXT: CAPE COD GIRL GOES MISSING; DESPERATE MOTHER PLEADS FOR HER RETURN

His hands wandered to Elora’s scalp and began to gently card through her hair. She inhaled sharply, and it took everything she had in her not to immediately shove him off. Somehow the gentleness felt worse than the pain; the false sense of care disgusted her. He was a maniac. He hurt her, he branded her, and now he was sitting on the couch petting her hair, pretending like none of it happened. It didn’t escape her attention how he set her on the floor instead of the couch, below him, like a dog.

The banner was bad enough, but she felt sick to her stomach when the station cut to a reporter sitting at a desk with a picture of her on half of the screen. It was the picture her mom took of her at the orchard last fall. It was candid; she remembered it. She was intently focused on a butterfly off on a tree, ignoring her mom as she snapped the photo. It was one of her favorite pictures of herself. And now, it was plastered all over the news.

The reporter on the TV began to speak. “Tonight, a desperate mother pleads for her missing daughter’s safe return. Elora Larkin, nineteen, of Barnstable county, Massachusetts has been missing since Friday night. She was last seen walking home from her job at Agathangelou’s bakery, wearing khakis, a black t-shirt, and black sneakers. The police have opened a tip line and are offering an unspecified reward for any information that leads to Miss Larkin.”

Elora felt a lurching sensation in her stomach, so visceral she wanted to throw up. That was her. On the news. Gone. Missing.

Behind her, the man chuckled.

“Look at that, baby. You’re all over New England.”

“I’m not your baby,” she snapped, turning around. But her head was spinning. All over New England? It wasn’t the Cape Cod news station on the TV. It wasn’t even a state news channel. It was entirely unfamiliar, the reporter’s face one she’d never seen.. So he’d taken her across state lines, making her chances of being found lower yet.

The man shushed her and put a finger up to her lips. “Watch.” She almost bit him, but decided it wasn’t worth the inevitable punishment that would follow. Besides, they might say something useful, something that could help her. She needed to pay attention.

The screen changed, and a missing persons poster popped up. Hers.

It was up for a minute before it faded away as the reporter came back on the screen.

“Such a sad story. Everyone in the studio is hoping and praying for her safe return. Unfortunately, vigilance is so important in this day and age. Up next, we have a recording of a press conference with the girl’s mother.

The girl’s mother. Her mother. Elora felt her heartbeat thumping in her chest.

And there she was. Jodie was standing at a podium in a building that had to be a police station. Demetrios was standing by her side, offering support by merely being present. While Elora hadn’t seen him cry even once in all the years she’d known him, he now looked like he was on the verge of tears.

Her mom started to speak. She looked so sad. Withered, like the life had been sucked out of her, from fear and overthinking and sleepless nights.

“My daughter-My daughter Elora has been missing since Friday night. She’s got-she’s got blonde hair, and green eyes, and she’s real tall. I’m sure pictures have gone around by now. She was walking home from work and-and then she disappeared. We were supposed to have dinner Sunday and she never came. It was supposed to be her weekend off. I- If someone has her, please, I’m begging you, let her go. Bring her home safe. She’s a good kid, she works hard, she rescues cats in her spare time...she doesn’t deserve this. And Elora, if you’re seeing this, I love you. I love you so much, honey. If you chose to leave, please just tell us you’re okay. It’s okay. You can go see the world, just tell us you’re okay. And if something-something bad happened, we’re gonna find you. I promise, baby, I love you and we’re gonna bring you home. Promise.”

At that point, she set the microphone down and began to cry, tears streaming down her face as she hurried off to an exit, the cameras following her for a few moments. Elora’s heart twisted in knots. Seeing her mom’s face brought her so much joy, yet knowing how worried she had to be made her feel sick with guilt.

But she promised. She promised she’d find her.

“That your mom?”

Elora stilled. He already knew the answer.

"She’s kinda pathetic. Could barely keep it together long enough to tell them about you.”

She went cold. “Stop,” she seethed. Her voice was eerily calm, given her anger.

"Or what?” he replied, twisting her hair up in his hand and giving it another tug.

Elora was silent. There was no or what. She knew that.

The reporter came back on the screen.

“Well, folks, that’s all we have on the case for tonight. Remember to be safe and vigilant. This has been Hannah Brown with News12.”

The man released her hair, picked up the remote, and turned off the T.V.

“Notice how they only talked about you, not me?”

Elora turned her head around. She was crying.

“What?”

He scoffed. “I said, notice how they only ran their mouths about you the whole time. Never said a word about me. You know what that means? They don’t know jack shit about me. They don’t know who you’re with or where you are. I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but we’re in Connecticut. We crossed state lines twice. They’re never going to find you, you know that?

She tried to hide it, but he could see her expression falling with every word he said, hope beginning to seep out of her. She shook her head vigorously, her bottom lip trembling.

“N-no! No, they will, you’re just crazy! You’re just fucking crazy!”

A scowl formed on his lips. “No, they won’t.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but in a split second, his hand was gripping tightly around her throat, cutting off her air. Her eyes went wide.

“No one is coming to save you.”

Elora swallowed, fear bright in her eyes. She tried to rip herself away, but the man raked his fingers across the fresh brand on her collarbone, sending her to the ground, keeling in pain.

“We could’ve had a nice evening if you behaved. Listened,” he grumbled, standing and once again grabbing her hair tightly before dragging her off towards the bathroom.

Tags: @exploringspaceinpyjamas @all-whumped-out @badthingshappenbingo

[your-daily-biaswrecking]

Attention and Care

pairing: Jimin x female reader

genre: angst, fluff, established relationship au

word count: 2.8k | reading time: 14 min

warnings: none

summary: Jimin must be the only person in the world who complains about his girlfriend not complaining... When Amy doesn't pester him to come home early (like the rest of the members) he starts thinking she might not care for him as much.

A/N: Amy=y/n basically, she’s the reader, I just wanted to use a name instead of y/n. It comes from Army! This is the first fic I write on here. I will post more soon and probably create a masterlist after I have a few. Also, there could be a smutty part 2 if you guys like this one!

Masterlist  |  Read on AO3

Yoongi's phone vibrated on the table. The screen lit up and illuminated his face as he peeked over it. The rest of the boys groaned.

"Is it your girl?" Hoseok asked with his mouth full. "Are you going to leave already?"

"No, that's not it…" Yoongi mumbled, picking up his chopsticks again and going for the barbequed ribs at the center of the table.

"Ah, hyung. We don't even get to eat all together anymore," Jungkook complained. "Don't go yet."

"What are you even talking about, we're together all the time. We work all day."

"Yes, but we don't eat like this. You all go back to your girlfriends or whatever," the youngest continued, pouting.

"Well, what did you expect?" Jimin laughed, covering his mouth with his unoccupied hand. "We want to spend time with the people we love, too."

Jin waved his hands around. "Ah, leave him. He's just sulky 'cause he's still single." Immediately, he let out a short, high-pitched scream when Jungkook punched him on his side. As the two continued arguing, Yoongi's phone vibrated again. This time he picked it up and read through his texts, and before he could even reply to his girlfriend, the members spoke up again.

"She's really impatient, isn't she?" Hoseok joked.

"Does she miss you so much? Are you going to go to her?" Taehyung added.

"Honestly, it's getting somewhat late. I'll leave in a bit too." Namjoon seemed to take his hyung's side, although in reality, he knew someone was waiting for him, too.

"Ah… sorry guys," Yoongi said and got up, eyes still glued to his phone. "I'll leave first."

There were a couple of sighs and complains, but he didn't stay long enough to listen to them. He grabbed his coat and was out of the room. It wasn't like they weren't used to this, anyway. Every time they decided to hang out like this, someone would bail or call it an early night for the sake of spending time with their partners. Whether it was Yoongi the one to go first, or Hoseok, or Namjoon, once someone broke the group, the others seemed to disappear very easily.

"Oh, come on, Jimin," Taehyung looked at his best friend with sympathetic eyes. "You know how it is- she'll start getting jealous and be moody if I stay here too late. She hasn't seen me all day, you understand that, right?" He talked while he put on his coat.

"Neither has my girlfriend, but it's not like she'll make a scene because I'm out having dinner with my friends," Jimin replied.

Tae glanced at him one last time. "Well, what can I say? You have a very cool girlfriend. Goodnight!" he called and left.

"Yeah right!" Jungkook scoffed. "He's only using his girl as an excuse. I know he really just wants to go see her instead of stay here."

Jimin looked down at his mostly empty plate. He took a deep breath as he played with the leftovers, pushing them around in circles. "I don't know…" he mumbled. He quietly took his phone out of his pocket, under the table. It was 10:13 pm and there were only three of them left. And he had no texts, no missed calls. He put his phone back in his pocket and looked at the boys again. "You see how they always get calls and stuff? Maybe they really are waiting for them at home. What if they get in trouble?"

"For what? Having a late dinner with their members? It's not like we're hanging out with other women, anyway."

Jin suddenly stood up, earning a death stare from the maknae. "I'm leaving too. I promised I'd be back by 10, I don't want her to worry, you know?"

Jungkook didn't even protest. He just looked at the only other member left there with a defeated look in his eyes. "Jimin…" he sighed. "You're the only one who doesn't dump me. Even though you're in a relationship, you still find time for me. I appreciate that."

The older boy bit his bottom lip aggressively. He rolled his eyes and went back to playing with his food. "Sure. I have a girlfriend, that doesn't mean I'll stop hanging out with you," he said sounding almost angry. Jungkook just thought he shared his frustration.

"Exactly!" he exclaimed, stuffing his mouth with whatever meat was left on the table. Jimin eyed him, momentarily wondering how he could still be eating. He took out his phone again, just enough to check the screen, and sighed when there was nothing new.

"You really do have the coolest girlfriend, hyung," the boy spoke after he swallowed. "She never complains, right? I like Amy. Should I just come over to hang out with you two after this? Since everyone else left?"

His eyes widened at that and he whipped his head to the side. "No!" he said before he had come up with an excuse as to why. "Uh… well... I'm really tired today, Jungkookie." He lowered his voice and started rubbing the back of his neck for extra effect. "I want to go to sleep. Maybe you can come tomorrow?" But Jungkook just narrowed his eyes at his lame act. "Amy will have probably fallen asleep already, anyway. That must be why she hasn't called me yet."

That seemed to convince him a little bit. He dropped his shoulders and pouted. "Alright," he agreed. "Let's go home. Tomorrow all three of us can watch a movie or something after dance practice, right?"

Jimin was already on his feet before Jungkook finished his sentence. "Yeah, a movie sounds good. Let's go."

He arrived outside your shared apartment at 10:54 pm. Looking at the closed door, he wondered whether you had actually fallen asleep. He knew you were quite a night owl, but he just thought maybe that would be a decent excuse. Or maybe it'd be worse.

"Oh, you're here?"

He almost didn't hear your voice, lost in thought as he were. But it brought him back to earth, and he noticed you sat at the corner of the couch, a lamp by your side and a book in your hands. You smiled warmly and marked the page you were at before closing your book and getting up to walk to your boyfriend.

"What's with the long face? Did something happen?"

"Huh?" Jimin's eyebrows shot up, only then letting go of the door handle he was clenching. He ran a hand through his hair, avoiding eye contact. "Uh… no, nothing."

You tilted your head to the side and gave him a playful but incredulous look. You put your hands on his waist and pulled him slightly towards you, but he didn't come as easily as he normally did. "You sure? Because you're literally pouting right now," you remarked, placing a peck on his puffy lips.

"It's just that…" Jimin ran a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes. He pulled away, his shoulders heavily going up and down as he sighed. He looked at you with the corner of his eyes. "What did you do while I was out?"

"Oh, well…" Your eyes lit up and you cracked a cocky smile, swaying slightly as you smoothly started walking towards the kitchen. "I don't know if you noticed anything when you walked in, but I actually–"

"Did you even care if I came back?"

You froze in your place. Your smile dropped, a frown taking its place in your face. "Jimin… what?"

He just gave you a casual shrug, as if he was just spitballing. "I don't know, did you care when I came back, or if I came back at all?"

"What are you even talking about?" You walked closer. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… Do you care whether we're together or not? Do you care about me?"

You placed your hands on his shoulders to look at him better. He wasn't avoiding your eyes anymore; instead, he was piercing through them with his unblinking, watery ones. "Jimin, baby, did you drink? Of course I care about you, what kind of question is that?"

He simply said: "Oh," and munched on his bottom lip. You grabbed both his cheeks, but he pulled you away. He turned around, not to go anywhere. He just stood there, facing the wall.

"Baby, why would you ask me something like that?" you repeated.

"Oh, no reason. Just 'cause you never seem to care if I'm with the boys instead of you. You never care if I work all day or don't see you for weeks. You don't even care when I have to work with other women. That's why I'm asking; do you even care about me?"

You closed your eyes shut and shook your head. Did you hear that right? "Wait… When you say I don't care about you, you mean I don't complain and I don't get jealous?"

Jimin finally turned back around. He ran both his hands through his hair, pulling at it. "I- I'm not saying I want you to complain, I just– I mean, why don't you ever ask me to spend more time with you?"

"Because I know you have work and other responsibilities! I respect that. Did you not want me to be understanding or something?"

"No but… like, when I'm not working. You could say we have to be together all the time. You only get to see so little of me, and you don't even want that?"

You laughed. How was this even a real argument? You looked towards the kitchen and your laughter turned bitter and stopped abruptly. "Are you serious right now?" Jimin's eyebrows dropped at the sudden change in your tone. "You think I like that you're working all the time? That we can't even go on a date, that I only get to see you with the stopwatch? When you leave for months to go on tour, do you think I throw parties back here? No, I go to sleep every night alone, with nothing to distract me."

Jimin took a step back. He hadn't expected you to talk back like this. Or actually, he hadn't expected you to have thought about this before, which you clearly had. "If you feel like that, why don't you show it? Why don't you say anything?" he said trying his best to keep his sulky posture.

You took one look at his pouty lips and remembered it wasn't your place to get angry right now. You had admittedly gotten a little offended that your boyfriend would even think something like that, but you should be reassuring him he's wrong, not opening up a new argument. You sighed while slightly rolling your eyes. Your hands found his chubby cheeks and you pulled him close.

"Because I know this is difficult. I knew the moment I decided to get into this relationship." You caressed his cheekbone and moved a hair strand away from his eyes. "It's difficult for me and it's difficult for you, and I didn't want to make it even more so by complaining all the time. Jimin…" you whispered his name as delicately as you could, giving him no other choice but to look at you, "–of course I want to be with you as much as I can. If it was up to me, I'd be with you 24/7. But I understand you can't spend all your free time on me. What do you want me to do, keep you on a leash? Ban you from seeing your friends or anyone other than me?"

Your boyfriend looked down and kicked his foot, his tongue probing at his cheek. "That'd be better than not even sending me a text while I'm out…"

You started sulking, too. It was true, you didn't send him any texts that evening. And maybe, just maybe, that could be an excuse to feel a little neglected. But it just happened so, and he was reading too much into it. "I knew you were with the boys, I didn't want to disturb you…" you mumbled your explanation.

Jimin didn't raise his head, but raised his eyes, looking up at you, still with that same pout. "All the other guys constantly get texts and calls from their girlfriends asking them to come home, it's not like one more text from you would be a hassle…"

You bit your lower lip. "I didn't know…" You pulled him closer and left a tiny peck on his lips. "I'm sorry, I didn't know baby." You pecked him again. "From now on, I promise that I will text you anytime I miss you, just to let you know. And if you can come see me, even better."

Although his expression didn't change much –his frown might have gotten even deeper, actually– you could tell that his mood had taken a 180° turn. Jimin made a sound of contentment in the back of his throat. His small fingers crept up your pajama shirt and grabbed it tightly. He quickly pecked your lips, too, as if he was trying to do it before you could stop him.

"You don't need to worry about seeming clingy, Amy. Give me all the clingy you got, I really don't mind," he spoke sheepishly.

You chuckled. "You don't mind? You seem like you desperately need it, actually." You managed to get a glimpse of your boyfriend's blush before he buried his face in the crook of your neck. "Ah, what am I going to do with you…" you laughed, fluffing his hair and rubbing his back. "You know, you must be the only person in the world who complains about his girlfriend not complaining."

Jimin pulled back looking all offended. "I'm not complaining! I'm just- it's just, you know, complaining is a lot better than not saying anything. If you don't say anything then I'll just think you don't care."

Before he could pout again, you grabbed his face and squished his lips together. "No… You know, I can't always tell you everything," you said. "And sometimes it's better that we're not together." Jimin's eyes looked like they were going to pop off his head. You just went over this whole argument, and this is what you decide to say? He opened his mouth all wide and round, ready to go off in his thick satoori accent, when you squished his lips even more and hushed him. "Tonight, for example, just because I didn't text you didn't mean I wasn't thinking about you." You finally released him, taking his hand into yours and walking towards the kitchen. "I tried to ask you this when you came in but… didn't you notice anything?"

Jimin frowned. He looked around, perked his ears, sniffed the room… His mouth formed a tiny 'o' and he looked at you innocently. "What's that smell?"

You pouted at him, trying to look a little hurt, while you opened the oven. "Well… while you were out with your buddies, I got kinda bored. And I decided to bake you a cake for when you come home."

"A cake?" Jimin chirped and moved immediately to grab the pan from your hands. It wasn't anything too elaborate, a simple chocolate cake with no decorations or anything. You just liked baking stuff when you had nothing much to do. "For me?" your boyfriend asked, suddenly regretting ever starting an argument with you.

"I'll eat too, what did you think?" you chuckled.

After you had cut a few slices, warmed up a couple of cups of milk to go with it, too, you watched your boyfriend munch on the warm cake from across the counter. You noticed how he was sitting, with his legs spread out and his arms supporting most of his body weight. He looked tired, something you had missed when he walked in due to his energetic temper. You stuffed your face with the last bite of cake and stared at his thighs. He wanted clingy, right? You got up and walked to him, sitting on his lap while making sure you didn't put too much weight on him. You snaked an arm over his neck and used your other hand to feed him a few more bites.

"So…" you purred. "Do you think I should make you feel good tonight to show you how much I care about you?" Jimin stopped chewing, looked in your eyes, and swallowed. A smirk started forming on his lips and he almost opened his mouth to talk, when you continued. "Or should you make me feel good as an apology for ever doubting me?"

Your fingertips fondled with the tiny hair at the back of his neck and you felt how he got goosebumps just by that. Not ever looking away, he clapped his hands together to rid them of any crumbs, and grabbed your waist, urging you to straddle him. His smirk appeared on his lips again and his stare got darker, pupils dilated, head slightly lowered.

"Hmm… I think we got time for both."

[spideywars]

tell me the world’s alright

pairing: peter parker x stark!reader

a/n: this is a WIP that I've been working on over the winter break. I've written about 10k worth of words towards this story and I'd love to post it all! So here's a sneak peek of chapter one, I'd love feedback!

words: 1.3k of 10k+

warnings: future violence, possible smut, ptsd symptoms

summary: after the blip and when everyone including you disappeared, you realized that things weren't as safe as you thought. Even under your father's iron wing, you knew the world was going to be a very dangerous place. (Takes place after endgame, Tony survives).

-

The web fluid bubbled from the heat as you squinted down at the suit in front of you. The wires were so small and delicate you had to have stupid magnifying eye-glasses on that were heavy along the bridge of your nose. It caused your gloved finger to flick at the frame to push it back up because of how much it slid down.

"Come on," you mumbled. Your lip was raw from biting it so much, your muscles were sore, but you were so close you could see the finish line. This was something that not even your father was able to do, with constant trial-runs and annoying training sessions that end in failures. But the answer hits you at the strangest times.

In particular, this time it was when you were eating dinner. Pepper and Tony were sat between you arguing as you sat at the end of the unnecessarily large dining room table. You picked at the last of your roasted red peppers, and just one flick of your wrist and a glance down at one pepper slipping off the plate and landing on the table, it came to you.

So now you're here, and you won't let either of your parents into the room. Pepper is more worried, her knocking becoming so frantic you had to yell at her to back off. You're in a zone, another world where finally, finally you can get Peter the suit that he needs to survive anything that comes his way.

It's one spark from the wire as you connect it to your new design when the suit came to life in color. It illuminated the room, his spider symbol in the middle shining onto the ceiling. It was brighter, everything was, something that reminded you of Black Panther's suit, but minus the vibranium.

"Oh my god." You had to chuckle at yourself, hands throwing the magnifying glasses onto the lab table and pushing your stool away so you could stand back and stare at your invention.

Peter can now heal ten times faster, you've managed to mix his DNA in with the suit to cause triple the amount of cell healing. A bullet is just a scratch, a machine gun is a bruise. Everything that can kill a human being in one go will be nothing to him.

"Y/N" It's Tony this time, probably being forced by your mother to do the parenting now. But you're smiling ear to ear, eyes watering with joy as you witness the thing you've been struggling with for months since the blip.

"Listen kid your mom is raging at me right now cause of you and I'd appreciate if you'd come out and give her some reassurance you're all good." You blink slowly out of your daze, now moving towards the suit again to power it off and place it on the charger.

"And uhm, if you don't come out soon I'm blasting my way in and I'm taking the damage costs out of your bank account."

You giggle at that, quickly fixing up the suit and cleaning up the area before rushing towards the laboratory down and unlocking it. You open it to see Tony leaning against the door frame, one of his brows immediately raising at your lab coat and gloves.

"What's up, Einstein?" His question makes you roll your eyes, and you don't say a word to him as you maneuver around his body to get upstairs. He's hot on your heals though. You can just feel the irritation radiating off him.

"I don't really appreciate the silence after you've just come out of my laboratory looking like you've just cured cancer. Mind sharing with the man paying for your equipment?" He's on thin ice, and Tony knows how to pick and prod at your emotions until you spill the beans. But you feel like you're floating on a cloud right now. You don't really know what to say, who to tell.

Well, you know exactly who you're going to tell. But that person isn't present at the moment. He's probably studying for a biology quiz or swinging across the city.

"I-I just need time to think." You say without faltering your steps up the stairs and towards the kitchen where you see your mother gathering dishes and placing them in the dishwasher.

"That's great, wonderful." The sarcasm is dripping from your father's mouth, but that's the usual. You ignore it easily, moving towards the trash can near the dishwasher to throw your gloves inside, just so Pepper can see you have finally exited your little cave.

"Jesus, finally." Pepper breaths out as she drops one of the plates a little too roughly into the wrack before maneuvering around it to give you a hug. It's a short pulse before she's putting you at arm's length to give you that disturbing stare where she looks inside you and at your soul. It makes you shiver, and you prepare for what's bound to happen next.

"You scared me by just getting up and leaving like that. Especially going downstairs to lock yourself in that lab." She shakes you a bit, and you place your hands onto her own that are squeezing at your shoulders.

"I'm sorry, it's just-"

"It better not be anything to do with Parker and that damn suit. I told you I would handle that." Tony cuts you off, and that throws you off completely. Well, not completely. You know your father doesn't like you involved with his...other work. But Peter was your best friend and someone that you couldn't risk losing.

After the blip and when everyone including you disappeared, you realized that things weren't really as safe as you thought. Even under your father's iron wing, you knew the world was going to be a very dangerous place.

You needed to step in.

"Dad, you know I can't just back off from this..." You glare at him over Pepper's shoulder. He glared back with just as much force.

"It's easy, especially when you have school and work and friends to hang out with. You have something called a life and this," he motions with his hands towards you and your lab coat, "is not your life."

That makes your jaw clench. He doesn't really have the right to own your life. But apparently, since he owns basically everything in the world, he's entitled to own you too.

"God, I'm not one of your toys. You can't just program me to do what you want, not this time." You throw your hands in the air and shift out of your mother's hold. Pepper looks upset, torn between the fight with her brows furrowed and lips tight.

"Oh don't bring out the ownership card again Y/N Stark. You know the only reason I'm doing this is to-"

"Protect me!" You yell, stopping your stomp out of the kitchen to twirl around and point an accusing finger right at your father's reactor. He blinks at you, surprised but still showing the sparks of anger flowing through him.

You don't allow him to speak again. You're grabbing your coat and shuffling on your shoes before he can even blurt out another snarky remark.

"Y/N," it's Pepper this time, eyes wide and concerned as she rushes into the front hallway where you stood with the front door slightly ajar. You halt in the middle of your exit to stare back at her, listening.

"If you're going to him, please, just be careful. Call me."

That's enough to make you nod with the smallest smile before you slip out and slam the door behind you.

_________

I am so excited about this work and I hope you guys are too! Feedback is really appreciated and hopefully I can get the full chapter out by next week.

[bijackkellys]

thunderstruck ; part three

safe haven.

Fandom: Newsies (All Media Types) Relationships: Jack Kelly/David Jacobs/Katherine Plumber Pulitzer Word Count: 4,352 Dedications: a huge huge shoutout to my beta and gf @mistyw273 without whom this fic would not exist! tag list (if you’d like to be added to this list just send me an ask or dm!): @dimenovelcowboy​ @santa-fe-maniac @pulitzers-world @yo-let-me-get-a-milkyway @verified-dumbass @jewishdavidjacobs @agentsnickers @thetruthabouttheboy @the-games-changing Author’s Note: yes i know what i said and i'm aware that it's been WEEKS since i posted and i have absolutely nothing to say for myself. except that i'm the worst. and also that i'm going to stop making promises and tell you guys straight out that i'm probably not going to be any better at updating from this point forward, especially considering i'm working on college apps and sat prep right now. but it's fine! i hope the fact that this chapter is only like 10 words less than all the other chapters so far put together sort of makes up for it? but i kind of hate this part; i have a ton of exposition to get through so i'm really really sorry if it sucks and you've waited this long for like 4.3k of bullshit. i'm also sorry that i still haven't introduced kath—she will get here in the next chapter and she will play no small role in this fic, i promise!! we've just got a lot to get through leading up to that. anyway, thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed so far, and if you're still here despite my questionable reliability (or lack thereof) i love you, personally. tws for this chapter includes a minor panic attack, mentions of vomiting but it's pretty brief, and that's about it.

read it on ao3

MEDDA IS SINGING when they get to her apartment. 

Even through the closed door, Jack can hear her voice lilting down the corridor, a bittersweet melody that he can’t quite remember but loves all the same. It makes him falter, makes his throat close up as warmth and the ache of missing her spread through his chest in time with each other. He doesn’t know what she’ll say when she sees him, and the thought of her viewing him as a killer nearly makes his knees buckle. Distantly he thinks that it doesn’t matter what the world has been told as long as she believes him.

“Is this it?” the older boy says behind him, gesturing to the door that Jack is staring at. He’d mostly been quiet the whole walk here, but now he’s looking at Jack expectantly.

Jack nods and pushes back the tide of emotions swelling in his chest. If he waits any longer he might never be able to do this. He knocks twice on the door, and her singing cuts off abruptly; he hears her voice saying “Coming!” and then the lock clicking as the door swings open.

“Hi, Miss Medda,” Jack says hoarsely. 

She stares at him. For this brief, terrible moment, he thinks she’s going to turn him away, and then she’s crying and oh, she pulls him into a hug. Something he’s been trying to hold back since he found himself running in the streets hours ago spills forth. In her arms he can’t stop the tears; he feels suddenly twelve years old again, scared and small but not alone, not anymore.

“You’re alive,” she’s saying, over and over, like a mantra. “Oh, baby, you’re really here.”

Jack clings to her tightly. “I didn’t do it,” he breathes, desperate for her to know as she runs a hand through his hair. “The fire—that wasn’t me.”

“I didn’t believe them for one second.” Medda pulls him back at arm’s length. “But where have you been?”

He winces, looks away. “The Refuge. I just escaped.” Her mouth opens again but he shakes his head slightly and she nods, understanding immediately. 

“It’s okay, sweetie. We’ll talk later,” she says, and cups his cheek with a gentle hand. He leans into it, starved of positive contact like this for so long. “Jack Kelly,” she says warmly, her eyes shining—he’s gotten so used to hearing his name spit at him like a curse—“I thought I’d never see you again.” She huffs a laugh and smiles at him, wiping at his eyes with her thumb. “Don’t you ever disappear on me like that again, you understand?”

He gives a watery chuckle, maybe his first in months. “I’ll do my best, Miss Medda.”

She pulls him into another hug, squeezing his shoulders tightly, before her eyes come to rest on the two boys still standing awkwardly in the hallway. “And who are your new friends?” she asks.

“Oh, this is—” Jack breaks off, realizing abruptly that they had never gotten to introductions. The younger of the two steps forward and puffs his chest out.  

“I’m Les, and this is my brother, David,” he says brightly. He’s been solemn since Jack met him, no doubt jarred by his experience with the Snatchers, but Medda’s warmth is notoriously infectious. Even the kid’s older brother—Davey—cracks a smile.

“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am,” he says politely, and Medda beams and waves a hand.

“None of that. It’s Miss Medda to you, darling. Come on in,” She steps out of the doorway and gestures inside, placing a gentle hand on the small of Jack’s back as she ushers him in. He’s grateful for it, a grounding presence that reminds him he’s really here in front of her. “Stay as long as you like, boys.”

In the last few hours alone, Jack has felt like he’s been thrust into an entirely different world. Entering Medda’s apartment is a burst of shining familiarity; there’s the elegant wooden piano in the corner, the blooming plants lining the windowsills, the photos of the theater and the paintings Jack has done over the years hanging on the walls. The faint smell of cinnamon in the air. He may never have lived here, but it feels like coming home all the same.

“I’ve still got the clothes you’ve left here, if you want to change,” Medda tells him. “I’ll get something going for us to eat—how does Sancocho sound? I don’t have any plantains, and now I know it’s not quite the same without them—”

“That sounds incredible, Miss Medda,” Jack says, his mouth already watering. For as long as he’s known her, Medda has always made it a point to give him and the other boys a taste of home however she can manage. She’d tested recipes for Sancocho for months until she’d perfected the warm, rich stew that always drew up distant memories of Jack’s mother. 

Medda smiles at him and bustles into the kitchen, pulling vegetables from the fridge. “David, Les, is there anything you two don’t eat?” she calls to them.

“Oh, we keep Kosher, so no pork, shellfish, or meat and dairy together? And Les can’t have peanuts. Sorry,” Davey responds quickly.

“No worries, darling, this recipe doesn’t call for any of that anyway. Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours—Jack, why don’t you go clean up and get some rest? You look exhausted, baby.”

It’s one of those things he doesn’t fully realize until she points out, and then it hits him full-force; he thinks his legs will give with the impact of it. He’s tired and starved and wants absolutely nothing more than to take a hot shower and eat and sleep through the next day—and in truth the only thing holding him back is the still-stinging bite of the cuffs around his wrists. 

“Uh, Miss Medda—you got a screwdriver somewhere around here?” he asks tentatively, rubbing at the skin underneath them.

Her gaze drifts to his hands and she winces in sympathy. “In the office down the hall. There’s a toolkit on the shelf—you need some help, Jack?”

He shakes his head. “No, I’ve got it,” he says as he heads into the room.

It turns out to be harder than he expected. He spends a good ten minutes hacking at the cuffs with a screwdriver, but all he really succeeds in doing is scraping his wrists raw. He’s getting desperate, though—the longer he’s stripped of his powers, the less he feels like himself, and the silver steel is nothing but a jolting reminder of everything that’s happened. He needs to find a way to get these stupid things off. 

“It doesn’t look like you’ve got it.”

Jack’s head snaps up to see Davey standing in the doorway, his hands in his pockets. His expression is hard to read, half-concerned but laced with something else, and he’s sort of tentative as he steps into the room and kneels down beside Jack. “Here, let me.” He holds his hand out for the screwdriver. 

Jack gives it to him and splays his hands out in between them. Davey switches out the head of the tool for a tiny flathead and gets to work on the right cuff, astonishingly careful. His slender, practiced fingers pry open a tiny panel on the side of the cuff, exposing the circuit board underneath.

“You seem to know what you’re doing,” Jack notes.

Davey pauses his movement for a split second and then continues without looking up. “I was captain of my high school robotics team for two years,” he responds. “And I’m an engineering major.”

Jack clings to this small piece of information; it’s the first thing he’s learned about Davey since they met, and he’s already desperate for more. “Where do you go?” he asks. At this, Davey tenses up, and Jack bites back a wince. “I’m not trying to interrogate you,” he says flatly, after a moment. “Guess I just...thought you’d changed your mind about me.”

Davey’s dark eyes latch on to Jack’s for just a moment before darting away. “I don’t know yet,” he answers finally. He prods at the wires of the cuff; there’s this crinkle in his brow that Jack can’t help but think is sort of endearing. “Miss Medda seems like a really good person,” he continues, still barely looking at Jack. “And she clearly loves you a lot. It’s possible you could be lying to her, too, but the way you were when you saw her—no one’s that good of an actor.”

“So what’s your holdup?”

“I’m not sure what to believe.” Davey twists the screwdriver and bites his lip, then meets Jack’s gaze at last. “After you—after the hospital burned down, the whole city was in chaos. No one knew what to think or who to blame—the police revealed that the sprinkler line had been damaged, and that some of the exits had been sealed, and that the fire started because the power box had been tampered with.”

Jack’s stomach twists. “I don’t understand...you—you’re saying it wasn’t an accident?”

“I think if it had been, it would’ve been contained a lot faster,” Davey says darkly. “It hadn’t even been a week before The World published a full story about how it was Strike’s doing. Jack, there were witness statements, sources explaining how your powers could’ve caused this—”

“I was trying to save people,”

“A lot of people thought you had done it by accident. Or that you’d...snapped, or something.”

“I nearly died in that fire.” He isn’t entirely sure he hadn’t, to be honest. Everything since then is blurry and out of place, and he feels like he’s been set right back to grappling desperately for a handhold, like he’s in the center of an inferno all over again—

There’s a click of metal on metal and the cuff on his right hand clatters to the floor. 

“Got it,” Davey says, and suddenly Jack can breathe again. Even with the cuff still circling his left hand, he feels electricity surge through him, that familiar hum of lightning beneath his skin. A part of him he hasn’t felt in so, so long. 

Sparks dance over his fingertips, and the air fills with static. He can see the hairs on Davey’s arms standing on end and despite everything, fights the urge to laugh. Davey looks at him, eyes wide with amazement, and Jack wonders if he can taste the power in the air, too. 

“Thanks,” Jack says, breathless as he runs his hand over the torn skin of his wrist. 

Davey nods and gently takes his left hand, starting the process again and evidently more sure of what he’s doing now. “Jack,” he begins, but whatever he’s going to say next, Jack doesn’t let him finish.

“Someone set me up,” he says fiercely, trying hard not to sound as desperate for Davey to believe him as he really is. “Whatever evidence and witnesses they had—it was fake.”

“Okay, but why?” Davey presses. “Why go through all this trouble to frame a dead man? How did they get The World to publish a bunch of false information? And if someone really is trying to pin this on you,” there’s a click, and the cuff around Jack’s left hand pings against the ground, “who set the fire in the first place?”

-

Jack can’t remember the last time he’d had a hot shower. Even before the fire—and god, Jack is really about to start categorizing his life events as before and after his death, like that’s not absolutely insane—the lodging house never really had a surplus of hot water, especially with so many of them. Standing under it now, though, everything else melts into the background. There are scars and bruises along his skin that he hadn’t even noted before, but the water is like instant relief; he doesn’t have to think, just lets it wash him clean.

By the time he gets out, the effects of the drugs, which have been weaning away for hours now, seem completely gone. Everything is sharper, like he’s been thrusted into high-definition, his thoughts clearer and his memories—well, his memories becoming more painful by the second.

It’s not easy, trying to push it all back. As he pulls on fresh clothes, Jack stares at himself in the mirror, at the jagged scars raised against his chest and the tiny spots that pockmark his forearms where he remembers needles going in, and tries to reconcile this picture of himself—exhausted and hollowed out and afraid—with the identity he’d spent so long building up from the ground. He doesn’t look like Strike, New York City’s favorite vigilante. He looks like a scared kid.

He doesn’t know what to do. Something bigger than himself is brewing in the city, he knows it, he has to stop it. But he doesn’t know how. People are counting on him and Jack just wants to forget any of this ever happened.

There’s so much noise. Davey’s questions are ringing in his ears and behind them there are voices telling him he’s never, ever going to get out, and he thinks he might be on fire. Everything is too hot and too loud and hurts.

There’s nothing in his stomach to throw up, but he dry heaves over the toilet anyway.

Jack sits back on the cold tile floor and drags his knees up to his chest. He could just go—break out the money he’s been saving and skip town, hop on a bus all the way to Santa Fe. Crutchie could come with him, and he could change his name—again—and start fresh. Never see this place again.

Except there’s an arsonist on the loose in the city. There are Snatchers all over the streets, and maybe Jack wants nothing more than to leave it but New York is still his city, still his place to protect. He can’t just leave.

Jack tilts his head towards the ceiling, biting back the urge to scream. The unsteady silence is broken by a tentative knock at the door, and then Medda’s voice—“Jack, honey,” she says, “Dinner’s ready. You okay in there?”

Slowly, he picks himself off the floor, pulls the loose hoodie hanging on the door on over his clean t-shirt, takes a shuddering breath. “I’ll be right out,” he calls through the door, and glances at his reflection one more time. He can be Strike again. He can do this. 

And even if he can’t, he has to.

-

The Sancocho is perfect, warm and spicy and brimming with the taste of home. By the time he’s inhaled maybe three servings and helped clear the dishes, Jack is so exhausted that he doesn’t even make it to the guest room. He just stumbles towards the couch and collapses there with the sunlight still spilling in through the windows, falling hard and fast into a heavy sleep.

It’s dark when he bolts awake. He feels hot and breathless, his heart racing against his ribcage, and whatever awful memory had invaded his dreams left the sharp taste of metal in his mouth. Sparks flicker across his fingers, blinding blue-white in the darkness, and Jack curls his hands into fists to quell the lightning brimming in his veins. His eyes dart to the clock on the wall; it’s just past one in the morning. He doesn’t think he’ll get back to sleep any time soon.

He maneuvers around the coffee table to stumble blindly towards the kitchen instead. A dim glow catches his eye, then; Davey is sitting at the bar stools, hunched over his laptop.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Jack says, and Davey starts and then swears.

“Jeez, you gave me a heart attack,” he huffs as Jack chuckles lightly and fills a glass with water. “I thought you were still asleep. And...no. You?”

Jack shrugs. “I slept okay, got a few good hours. But I don’t think I can go back to bed. What are you doing?” he asks, nodding towards the open laptop.

Davey hesitates. “Miss Medda let me borrow her computer. I’m trying to contact the rest of my family,” he replies, his gaze flitting between the screen and Jack’s eyes. “When Les and I ran off there were already Snatchers at our house. None of them have powers, though. Just Les.” He works his lip between his teeth. “They said not to contact them in case the Snatchers found some way to trace it back to us, but I set up a separate email account and sent them a vague message, hoping they’ll know it’s me. I just need to know if they’re okay.”

Jack’s chest twists in sympathy. Davey’s family is just one more example of all the lives the Snatchers have torn apart—and Jack is the poster boy for their whole agenda. He has to fix this, for Davey, and for the rest of his city. “You’ll see them again soon, Davey,” he says—yet another promise he can’t afford to break—“I’m gonna make this right, okay?”

“How?” Davey scoffs. “You don’t even know where to start.”

Jack slips his hands into the pockets of his clean hoodie and feels the familiar weight of the flash drive he’d placed there. Actually, he might have some idea. “Can I use the computer?” Jack says, barely waiting for Davey’s nod before taking a seat on the barstool beside him and plugging the flash drive in. 

“What is that?” Davey’s brow furrows.

“Honestly? I’m not sure. I took this from a computer in the Refuge’s control room, hoping I’d find something important. Maybe something here could give us a clue of what’s really going on.” There’s only a handful of files on the drive, and they’re labeled with numbers instead of actual names. Jack opens the first one and feels his heart sink. “Shit. It’s encrypted.”

“Let me try,” Davey says, pulling the laptop towards him and typing furiously. The computer makes a few error noises in protest as he works through the code, but Davey is laser-focused, seems to know exactly what he’s doing. He’s some kind of genius. “Got it,” he announces after a few minutes. Sure enough, the screen flickers, and rows of text begin to replace the numbers and symbols from before.

“That was incredible,” Jack tells him.

Davey shrugs and ducks his head, smiling just a little before turning back to the screen. “They look like email exchanges. Between some guy named Snyder—” Jack feels a cold trickle of shock run through him at that name, “—and...Joseph Pulitzer.”

“Wait, Pulitzer?” Jack leans forward to read over Davey’s shoulder. “As in the CEO of The World?”

“He’s running for mayor in next month’s election,” Davey explains. “It looks like he’s trying to get Snyder’s support? He’s promising money to fund the Refuge. But why would—shit.” There’s something dawning on his expression as he looks up at Jack, eyes blown wide. “Jack, a lot of his campaign has relied on anti-super propaganda. And...The World was the one who first published the story about you setting the fire.”

The realization crashes into him, hard and fast. “He’s the one who framed me.” Jack feels a hot rush of anger surge through him. “For what, a political platform? So that he could give the people a common enemy? Holy shit, did he set that fire for this...twisted agenda?” 

“I can’t believe this,” Davey shakes his head, leaning back in his chair and tugging his hands through his dark hair, shell-shocked. “How could he do something like this?”

How could he?

“I’m going to kill him,” Jack says fiercely, and the lights above him flicker. He stands up, feeling wild, brimming with untamed fury—innocent people died for Pulitzer’s insane power grab, and he has to pay for that. He can’t get away with this, he won’t; Jack can’t find it in himself to mitigate his anger right now, he needs to find Pulitzer and fix this.

“Jack—Jack!” Davey’s hand latches around his wrist and a shock like static electricity bursts between them, making him pull back. “Wait. You’re not thinking clearly.”

“What, you just want me to let him walk? He killed people, Davey. Innocent people.”

“You don’t actually know that yet.”

“I know enough,” Jack snaps, pulling back. “This can’t all be a coincidence, it makes too much sense. He has to be behind this, behind everything.”

“I’m not arguing that.” Davey is astonishingly calm; Jack doesn’t know how he can keep his resolve right now, after finding out something this sick. “But what are you going to do, break into his house and murder him? What is that going to solve? Things are only gonna get worse for supers.”

Jack hesitates. Davey is right—a personal attack on one of the most influential people in New York would make him even more of a villain than he already is. And every super in the city would suffer from it. He can’t make this some sort of revenge plot; he has to be smart about it. He takes a shuddering breath. “Then I’ll expose him. These emails—”

“—aren’t enough. All you have from this is a theory. Pulitzer would just find a way to spin it, make you look like the bad guy here. Again.” He shakes his head. “He holds all the cards right now. We have to find hard, indisputable evidence. What we need is a way to get close to him.”

“We?” Out of everything, that’s the word Jack gets hung up on. Davey’s making it sound as though they’re partners. 

Davey looks at him for a second. “I believe you, Jack,” he says finally. “I’m sorry I didn’t before. I don’t think you set that fire, and if we’re right, and Pulitzer did frame you, and we can find proof...we might be able to stop everything. Shut down the Refuge for good.”

“No, no—I’m not dragging you into this any further than I already have,” Jack stops him before he can go any further. His whole time as Strike, he’s been a solo act for a reason—not for lack of Race or Specs or Elmer trying to get him to let them join him—but because he can’t bring himself to pull someone else into this life. Especially not someone like Davey, who’s an engineering student, and a genius, and has a family. He’s got his whole life ahead of him. “I appreciate everything you’ve done to help me so far, I really do, but I can take it from here. You and your brother just lay low and stay out of trouble.”

“You can’t do this by yourself,” Davey argues. There’s something hardening behind his eyes, something bright and sharp and determined. “I’ve already shown you what I can do, so let me help you.”

“It’s too dangerous.”

He snorts, defensive. “I can handle it.”

“You think so?” Jack stares him down, skin buzzing. “I almost died because of this, and I may not remember everything about the Refuge, but I can tell you that it wasn’t pretty. If we try to take Pulitzer, there’s a good chance we don’t make it out alive.”

Davey doesn’t break his gaze. “But if we do it together, we double our odds,” he says quietly. When Jack snorts and turns away, Davey keeps going. “This is so much bigger than you or me, Jack. If we can pull this off, we could make New York safe for supers again. I promised that I would protect Les, but I can’t do that as long as there are Snatchers roaming the streets and as long as Pulitzer has power. And you can’t protect this city if you’re dead.” 

Jack wishes he didn’t have a point. “You could get hurt,” he counters. “You don’t even have powers.”

“You’ll protect me,” Davey replies swiftly, and something in Jack’s stomach twists.

“You have an awful lot of faith for someone who didn’t trust me an hour ago,” he says grimly, eyes darting away from Davey’s fierce ones.

“You don’t have to do this alone,” Davey presses, unrelenting, and god, the offer is tempting. Davey clearly knows his way around his computers and technology, a skill that could be really helpful here, and more than that, Jack stupidly, selfishly doesn’t want to do this by himself. He wants a partner. He’s tired of being alone, and he hates himself for it. 

“We do this on my terms,” Jack says finally, and in the corner of his eye, he can see Davey smiling. “I say get out, you get out. You’ve got to be smart about this. Got it?”

“Understood,” Davey nods. “I’ll be okay, Jack. I promise. So where do we start?”

“It’s like you said, we have to get close to Pulitzer.” Jack sits back down, racks his brain for anything that could help. Pulitzer is a private person, watching the rest of the city from high off the ground; getting close to him would require someone who already knows him well. He can practically see the lightbulb over his head when it hits him—he knows the perfect candidate. He just hopes she’ll be willing to join them.

“I know someone who might be able to help,” Jack says, already drafting an email—coded words like the two of them used to use when he was just starting out as Strike. “She interned as Pulitzer’s personal assistant for a while when she was in high school, but the last time I saw her she was a journalism student, working for The Sun. She may not work for him anymore, but she knew Pulitzer as well as anyone.” Jack takes a deep breath and pleads silently that she’ll believe him, then sends the message. 

“And you think she’ll know what to do?” Davey asks.

“I’m sure of it.” Jack has always had faith in her; he knows she’ll come through, will fight for what she believes in. “If cards are what we’re playing,” he tells Davey, suddenly brimming with a newfound sense of determination, “then Katherine Plumber is our ace.”

[presidentlauraroslin]

Types of kisses prompts: 16. Chrisjen/Cotyar, 33. Bobbie/Cotyar, 42. Bobbie/Chrisjen (I'm not even gonna bother putting any "or's" between these anymore)

So, shocker, I did do all of them. Behind a cut, because otherwise it would be a hella long post. 

16.Chrisjen/Cotyar - One person pouting, only to have it removed by a kiss fromthe other person.

Therewas something oddly satisfying in watching Chrisjen be out of her element.Cotyar didn’t necessarily enjoy seeing her be this uncomfortable, but she wasthe kind of person who could walk into any situation and own it, made it play out exactly the way she wanted it. To see her brow furrowed, her lips pursed and practicallyjump out of her chair as soon as they had gotten the all clear that the dropshiphad docked and leave the cramped area was new and it was interesting. Althoughprobably not a good thing to have her in this nervous of a mindset if they weregoing to deal with Mao.

He leftthe marine to fend for herself and followed Chrisjen to a small private areawhere he found her pacing, the click of her heels muffled against the carpet.She shot him a dirty look as he closed the door behind him. Oh good, she wasstill in a terrible mood. “If you mention that we’re walking into a trap onemore goddamn time, I will have you tossed out of this fucking ship.”

“I wouldn’tdream of it.” The look in her eyes could have melted the hull of the ship andit said that she knew he would definitely dream of it. For now he would keepthose comments to himself. He never was sure when she was serious with herthreats to do grievous bodily harm. But the amusement he felt at watching herbe uncomfortable was starting to fade and he sighed, watching her walk thelength of the space. “You need to breathe.”

“I amfucking breathing,” she snapped and stopped pacing. Cotyar raised his hands insurrender and carefully approached her, glad to see that she was letting him.He could see that she was breathing, but it was a little shallow and irregular.It made sense in a way. She could fight any battle, take on any enemy, but thiswasn’t a fight. This was fear, or at least a huge discomfort, and she wasn’t goodat fighting herself.

“No, youneed to breathe, properly.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and ignoredthe incredulous expression on her face. “I’m afraid your heart will give outand I would hate to blame your death on the Martian back there.”

Chrisjengave him a spectacular eyeroll, but he spotted the smallest hint of a smile inthe corner of her mouth and there wasn’t any anger behind her next curse as herhands lightly landed on his hips. “Motherfucker.”

“Youalright?” he asked a little more seriously. As much as he had smirked when shehad been seemed a little scared, even though he knew her fear was justifiedafter the transport from Pallas incident, but he kind of needed her to bealright. Chrisjen looked up at him and he immediately realized he shouldn’thave asked her that. He shook his head slightly and squeezed her shoulders. “Stupidquestion.”

“It was.I just fucking hate space and space travel and everything associated with it.” Thegrip on his hips tightened and she looked almost more defeated than she didannoyed. She was even pouting, even though he had learned to not point that outanymore, because she always vehemently denied it. It was endearing and theallure of her bottom lip was too much to resist. Giving her plenty of time toshove him away, he leaned closer until there was only a hair’s breadth betweenthem.

When shedidn’t stop him, he closed even that small distance, kissing her softly,capturing her bottom lip between his own. He actually felt some of the tensionin her shoulders disappear as she kissed him back. It made him wish they hadmore time, that there wasn’t a Martian marine on board whom he still didn’tquite trust. He wanted to be on Earth with a bed so he could give her what sheneeded, what they both wanted. But for now a kiss would have to do, until thismess was resolved.

“Wasthat supposed to be distracting?” she asked, arching an eyebrow, her lipsticksomehow still perfect. Cotyar shrugged, tracing her bottom lip with his thumb.

“Yep.”It had been as much a distracting move as it had been something he had wantedto do before they reached Mao’s ship. It was a trap they were flying into and atrap he wasn’t sure he was prepared for, could prepare for. But Cotyar didn’twant to tell her that, even though he suspected Chrisjen already knew. Sheusually did.

“It didn’twork.” She raised her chin defiantly. Her pout was gone, so was the worry inher eyes and tension she had carried. Kissing her had worked, but he wouldgladly play along to make this moment last longer. Her hands moved from hiships to underneath his jacket, her palms warm through the fabric of his shirtagainst his lower back.

“I cantry again.”

“I thinkyou should.” Chrisjen met him halfway when he leaned down to kiss her again.

33.Bobbie/Cotyar - An unexpected kiss that shocks the one receiving it.

Cotyarfelt nervous which was a strange sensation that he hadn’t felt quite like thisin years. By some miracle he had survived getting off Mao’s ship, had beenpicked up by the UNN, had a gut wound healed and then had managed to get to vacsuit before the protomolecule had reached him. And now here he was, on JamesHolden’s ship with Chrisjen, who had slapped him squarely across the facebefore wrapping her arms around him and cursing him into the next century. 

Theremay have also been some kisses which would have ended up in some desperate sexif they hadn’t gotten the message that Holden was coming back with a bunch ofkids and more importantly, an injured Draper. He had watched her being carriedin by the pilot, limping, every inch of her bruised. She had given him an emptylook before the drugs kicked in and she had passed out, which was probably forthe better.

So nowhere he sat, watching her heartbeat, waiting for Chrisjen to return or for thedrugs to slowly stop working, whichever happened first. It turned out it was the latterwhen Bobbie’s heartrate increased a little and her eyes began to flutter open.Cotyar immediately moved to her side, carefully taking her hand, wanting to bean anchor for her as she returned to reality.

“HeyMarine,” he whispered. It took a moment for Bobbie’s eyes to focus on him andthen another for her to realize who she was looking at. When it finally clickedshe gave him a groggy smile and squeezed his fingers. He felt a warmth settlein his stomach as he looked at her.

“Spy.You made it.” Her skin was still more bruise than its original shade, but therewas no mistaking that accent or that tone. This was Bobbie Draper and she washere and she was alive. He had to resist the sudden urge to hug her as reliefcoursed through his veins. She was a marine, she was supposed to risky, stupidshit, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been scared when Chrisjen had told himwhat she had done.

“Barely.You look worse though.” What was gunshot wound and a little protomoleculecompared to going one on one with a hybrid and living to tell the tale? Bobbietried to smile.

“Ah, youshould see the other guy.” It was probably for the best that he couldn’t. The Rocinantehad nuked the site of the lab, destroying all evidence of the protomoleculethere, including Bobbie’s hybrid. But the big mechanic had already told himBobbie had done quite a number on him, emptying her gun into its head.

“Youkilled your dragon, huh?” Bobbie took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Whenshe opened them again, there were tears in her eyes and Cotyar felt his heartbreak a little. She was so strong and powerful, had saved his ass and Chrisjen’s,had destroyed something that was impossible to destroy, but she was stillhuman. Carefully he wiped away a tear that nearly rolled into her hairline,letting his thumb rest against her cheekbone.

“I did.”She didn’t sound proud or victorious. She sounded tired, like it hadn’t beenthe catharsis she had sought. He could have told her that slaying your dragonsdoesn’t give you the peace you seek, but she wouldn’t have listened. At leastnow she knew.

“Youscared her, Marine. You scared me when I heard what you did.” He had no doubtChrisjen would tell her all about how terrified she had been in a less thansubtle way, but he wanted to say it as well. He got wanting to get revenge, butnot at the near cost of one’s own life. The tired expression on Bobbie’s facewas changed into of sadness as if it suddenly hit her that she had people whocared about her on this ship.

On animpulse, on the feeling that he didn’t want to lose her, Cotyar leaned down andpressed a soft kiss to her lips. Bobbie inhaled sharply, but after a moment aher lips started moving against his, the grip she had on his fingers tighteninguntil it hurt. Cotyar smiled and pulled back, kissing her forehead beforelooking down at her. “Don’t scare us again.”

Bobbielooked thoroughly confused and speechless, pressing her lips together as if shecouldn’t quite believe what had just happened. Somehow he could barely believeit himself. “I – what?”

“We’lltalk about it later. Just rest and heal.”

42.Bobbie/Chrisjen - Distracting kisses from someone that are meant to stop theother person from finishing their work, and give them kisses instead.

Chrisjenhad the talent of firing orders at people faster than any PDC could. Bobbie wasa little awestruck watching her as Chrisjen walked into the apartment in the UNbuilding, talking to one of her assistants no doubt. Bobbie almost felt sorryfor who was on the other end and she hoped they were recording thisconversation. Confirming appointments there, canceling them somewhere else,blacklisting one motherfucking idiot and inviting another to dinner.

As shepoured herself a drink, Chrisjen smiled at her, rolled her eyes and continuedtalking. Bobbie smiled back as she muted the television, smiling wider when shewas handed a glass of whiskey most Martians could only dream of. She caughtChrisjen’s wrist before she could walk away and brushed her lips against theinside of her palm, looking up to watch Chrisjen’s lips part and the tip of hertongue flick out to wet her bottom lip.

“Fuck…No,not you. Where was I?” Bobbie felt an immense of amount of pride that such a smallgesture had managed to momentarily distract Chrisjen. Chrisjen caressed hercheek and walked away, gesturing to open the door to the small outside area.She looked so beautiful today, draped in gold and blue that moved like it wasliquid. She looked like royalty from centuries ago and it just made Bobbierealize that she had barely spent any time together.

Abandoningthe whiskey without ever taking a sip, she decided to take advantage of the factthat Chrisjen was on an audio-only call. Bobbie walked up behind her and trailedher fingers down her arm before wrapping her arms around Chrisjen’s waist andresting her chin on her shoulder, breathing in the fresh air, even as thecomforting sound of Chrisjen voice continued to hurl orders.

WhenChrisjen didn’t stop, even though she had once stated she preferred to do aslittle work as possible at home (before grumbling that this fucking apartmentwould never be home), Bobbie turned her head. The line from her neck the edgeof her shoulder was bare, except for a necklace. Smirking, she kissed justbehind Chrisjen’s ear, knowing it would make it shiver. She wasn’t disappointedwhen she could her stiffen in her arms.

Sadly,she barely faltered in her fairly one-sided conversation, so Bobbie moved tokiss her neck, barely there kisses at first, slowly building up the pressure,until she was just shy of leaving a mark, nipping at the sensitive skin withher teeth as Chrisjen seemed to lose her train of thought several times andcovered Bobbie’s hands with her own, seemingly to steady herself. Bobbie smiledagainst her neck and bit softly just above the necklace.

Withoutwarning, Chrisjen muted her earpiece and spun around her arms. She was a littleflushed, her eyes were dark and she looked a slightly heated. Good. That hadbeen exactly what she wanted.

“Bobbie…”Chrisjen tried to sound exasperated, but Bobbie could see straight through that.She was turned on and it wouldn’t take much to have her put down work for thenight. She missed her and she wanted her.

“Yes, ma’am?”she tried innocently.

“Don’t ‘ma’am’me. You know exactly what you’re doing.” Chrisjen actually poked her in thechest with her finger and Bobbie smiled. It was cute when she was pretending tobe annoyed with her.

“And I’mnot gonna stop. Earth will continue spinning if you stop working for a moment.Send that poor girl home and spend some time with me.” Chrisjen narrowed hereyes, but Bobbie didn’t budge. She just held her close, looking down at her,waiting for her to give in already. Thankfully, that didn’t take long when Chrisjensuddenly sighed.

“Fuck,fine.” She unceremoniously hung up on her assistant and tossed her earpiece onthe table. “You have my full attention.”

Bobbiedidn’t bother responding. She simply picked Chrisjen up and kissed her properlyas she walked her over to the bed.

[pl-dubois]

hey love. i'm gonna say angst: #8, fluff: #4, and misc: #12 & 16 i get that's a lot so if you don't wanna do em you are under no obligation to ❤️

hey, it’s the anon again :) idk if you already knew what boys you wanted to write about [if you did then don’t listen to me, do what you want, seriously!!!] but if you were looking for requests for boys too then hartsy or patty would be 👌

Angst #8: “Is that blood?” “…..No?”

You knew something was off the moment you opened the door to find TK on the other side.

“Oh, hey Y/N!” he said cheerfully, standing to the side so you could step inside.  “I was just heading out, had to make sure Patty got home alright. I’ll see you guys later.”

With his words, Travis took his leave and you closed the door behind him, a little confused by what he had said.  Why had he needed to make sure Nolan got home safe?  It was still early in the night, the game hadn’t been over long enough for them to get really wasted.  Almost immediately, concern overtook your mind.

Making your way to your bedroom, you pushed the half-closed door open to find your boyfriend sitting on the bed, checking his phone.

“Hey, babe,” he said with a smile when he looked up. “I was just about to call you.  How was dinner? I missed you tonight.”

Instead of acknowledging his words, you phrased your own question.  “Are you okay?”

His smile faltered as he responded, sighing, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Why was Travis here then?”

“We both agreed it would be better if he drove me home instead of me driving myself.  He was just making sure I got up here okay.”  His mumbling made it clear that he was reluctant to tell you, but his tone was the obvious indicator that he didn’t want you to worry.

“What do you mean, got up here okay?”

By not receiving a response from your boyfriend, your apprehension got the better of you.  You stepped towards him to examine his face, reaching out to touch him gently, but he quickly turned his head away from you when he realized what you were doing.

“Babe-” he started in protest, but you had already caught a glimpse of what you hated most about the sport he played.

“Is that blood?” you asked, taking a step back and crossing your arms.

“…..No?”

“Nolan James!” you exclaimed, moving back in towards him.  You took his face in your hands, carefully yet firmly, and assessed the damage that had been done.  He had a few small lacerations on the side of his head and near his temple, although to your dismay, when you took a closer look, you noticed he also had a set of nasty stitches criss-crossing across his ear.  “Baby, what happened…?”

“Took a puck to the head,” he mumbled, looking a little guilty.  “I’m sorry-“

You shook your head, successfully cutting his unnecessary apology off while you ran your fingers through his soft hair, scratching his scalp with your nails gently. “Are sure you’re okay, Nol? I’m just worried.”

“I know,” he sighed, reaching to pull you closer by the back of your thighs to stand between his.  “And yeah, I think so. My head hurts a little, but other than that I’m okay.”

You just nodded, pulling Nolan’s head to your chest as you hugged him tightly.  His hands were warm on your legs and the feeling brought your head back down to reality; you took a shaky breath as you were suddenly overcome with a feeling of love and gratefulness.  His injury could’ve been so much worse, you were lucky all he got were a couple of stitches and placed on concussion protocol.  

Pulling away from your embrace, Nolan brought a hand up to brush against your cheek, wiping away the few tears that had gathered there unknown to you.  You leaned into his touch, sighing softly.

“I’m okay, really,” he offered you a small smile of reassurance.  “Head injuries always look worse than they actually are.”

“That’s very true,” you nodded, a small smile forming on your face; relieved wasn’t even close to describing the emotions you were feeling.  “I’m just glad you’re okay, Nol.”

“Believe me, I am too,” he laughed softly, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear.  Catching his hand as he pulled it away, you pressed a kiss to the inside of his wrist.  Using the grasp you already had on him, Nolan pulled you in close and pressed a soft kiss to your lips. 

“I love you so much,” you sighed happily, letting your hands rest on his shoulders. 

“I love you more,” he returned with a grin, stroking your sides lovingly. 

“Debatable, but I’ll let it slide this time.”

Nolan’s soft laughter at your response made your heart soar.  Kissing his head softly, you pulled away from his embrace. 

“I know you’re probably exhausted,” you said, making your way slowly to the bedroom door, “so you go to bed.  I’ll grab you some ice and set alarms for every three hours.”

Settling back against the pillows, Nolan’s eyes were filled with absolute adoration.  “I love you so fucking much.”

“I love you, babe.” Blowing him a quick kiss, you disappeared from the room. 

______

Fluff #4: “Have you always been this beautiful?” 

Falling in to bed with Carter had always been easy, but it was getting back out of it that was harder.  The two of you had agreed on the whole friends with benefits thing ages ago, and you had even been adamant about no strings attached. However, that definitely didn’t stop you from developing feelings for him along the way. 

Your latest rendezvous had brought you to Carter’s apartment and you found yourself staring at the ceiling after Carter had fallen asleep, unable to calm your wandering thoughts.  The sex had been amazing as always, you’d for sure feel the after effects of it in the morning, but you wondered for how much longer you could continue hooking up with Carter while also keeping your emotions at bay.  You could’ve stayed lost in your thoughts for hours, but a feeling of being watched stirred you from the depths of your mind.  Rolling onto your side toward Carter, you were met with his green eyes gazing at you.  A warm hand came to rest on your bare thigh as you struggled to find words.

“I thought you were- you’re awake?” you managed to get out, brain still slightly foggy from the post-sex haze you were in.

Carter nodded, beginning to trace shapes with gentle fingers across your skin.  “And so are you.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” you mumbled truthfully.  He didn’t need to know the exact details on why couldn’t rest.  

“Me neither,” he replied softly, his hand moving up your body to continue his soft touches on your arm.  As he spoke, you noticed something in his eyes; it wasn’t lustful like it usually was when the two of you were together, it was something that you had never seen before from Carter.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” you questioned, laughing softly.

“Like what?” His hand stilled as he moved to brush the hair out of your face; it took everything in you to not completely melt into his touch.  “God… Have you always been this beautiful?”

“Carter-” you started only to be cut off by your friend’s soft lips against your own.  Too shocked for a moment to recognize what was happening, you quickly reciprocated and drew closer to his body.  The kiss was different than the rough, rushed ones you had shared before in the heat of passion; it was gentle and full of unspoken words you couldn’t quite decipher.

When the two of you finally broke apart, he looked almost a little guilty.  

“Look, I know we said we wouldn’t do feelings with the whole friends with benefits thing, but,” he paused to let out a soft laugh to himself, “I really like you.”

Taken aback at his words, it took you a moment to find yours.  “Well that’s a relief… I’ve been in love with you for years.”

Dissolving into laughter, the next kiss the two of you shared was enough to prompt Carter into rolling himself back on top of you.  You easily fell back into your old habits; though this time, instead of just another drunk hookup with hidden emotions, there was love and care in every caress of your bodies. 

______

Misc. #12: “Can we please stop running? I think I’m dying.” 

Why you agreed to go on an early morning run with your boyfriend, you’d never know. 

You knew going into it that keeping up with Carter was going to be a challenge; he was a professional athlete and you were lucky if you found the motivation to go to the gym.  However, even though you knew what you were getting yourself into, it was still somehow a surprise to you when your body started screaming for oxygen and water about half a mile in. 

“Can we please stop running?” you managed to gasp out.  “I think I’m dying.”

Chuckling softly, Carter slowed his pace until you were stopped on the side of the road where you had been running.

“You okay?” he asked, a small teasing smile threatening to show on his face. Not having enough air to respond, you gave him a glare that spoke for you.

Resting your hands on top of your head to help open up your chest more, you finally managed to stop gasping for air. 

“I cannot BELIEVE you talked me into running with you,” you sighed, shaking your head.  “God, I’m so mad at you right now. It’s almost like you plan-“ You stopped as Carter laughed again, finally realizing that he had played you like a fool. 

“What can I say?” he shrugged with a grin. “You’re cute when you’re angry.”

“Carter!” you exclaimed, throwing your hands down exasperatedly. “Are you serious right now?!”

“See, now you’re just proving my point.”  The grin on your boyfriend’s face grew as he pulled you closer.

Smacking lightly at his chest, you whined, “Stop I’m all gross and sweaty. And I’m still mad at you.”

“Don’t care.”  And with his words, he picked you up, easily throwing you over his shoulder as he started walking again. 

“Oh my God- Babe! Put me down!” you shrieked, not able to help the laughter that escaped your mouth. 

“Not until you’re done being mad at me.” Carter’s laughter joined your own after pressing a kiss to your thigh. 

“Guess I’m gonna be here awhile then.”

______

Misc. #16: “YOU SAID TO BE HONEST STOP HITTING ME!”

Going dress shopping wasn’t at the top of either of your lists, but it had to be done—at least that’s what Nolan kept telling himself while waiting for you to show him your latest discovery. 

Looking at yourself in the dressing room mirror, you weren’t really sure what to think. Sure the dress was gorgeous, but it was also much more revealing than you were used to, not to mention more scandalous than what Nolan was used to seeing you in. Taking a deep breath, you emerged from the dressing room to show the garment to your awaiting boyfriend.  When he looked up from his phone to take in the sight of you, you couldn’t quite place the reaction on his face. 

“Be honest,” you said slowly, “how do I look in this dress?”

Setting his phone down completely, the next words out of your boyfriend’s mouth were anything but PG. 

“That dress looks amazing on you.” Sitting on the edge of his chair and lowering his voice, he continued, “I can’t wait to peel it off your gorgeous body and take you apart with my-“

“Shush!” you hissed, leaping over to where he was, your eyes wide in surprise.

“Tongue.” He finished his sentence proudly with a cocky smirk.  As red as your face was from his comments, the color left by your hard smacks to his arm would rival it. 

“YOU SAID TO BE HONEST STOP HITTING ME!” Nolan laughed, trying to avoid your blows. 

“We. Are. In public, Nolan.” You spoke through gritted teeth, not wanting to draw anyone’s attention to you, stilling your hands. Taking a second to glance around, luckily for you, you found that no one was near you to hear his smart remark. 

“I thought you were into that.” A wolfish grin played on his features while his hands made their way to your ass.

“Nolan Patrick!” you exclaimed before quickly dropping the volume of your voice again.  “Not here! Let me buy this dress and then you can do all the things you said you would when we get home.”

“Promise?”

“Pinky swear, baby.”

[goldngguk]

red // 05

part one of trilogy series

warnings // fluffy cuteness, jealous kookie

word count // 2.3k

trilogy masterlist

Don't do it. It won't end well, you know that. You can't let this happen. But then again, maybe there's no point in trying. Maybe this is all inevitable. Maybe you don't have a choice. Do we ever?

She was startled awake to the sound of loud vibrations against her bedside table. The wood trembled from the sensations of her phone as it received a new message. She groaned, rolling over and stretching for the device.

She laid her head against her pillow trying to recall what her dream had been about. It didn't really even feel like a dream. It was more like the voice in her head speaking to her through the darkness. But what was it talking about? Too exhausted to think or get up, she set her phone down only to watch it vibrate again when a new message popped up.

《???:》 Y/n?

She blinked at the unknown number for a few seconds before remembering who it was. She had given him her number at the café the day before during their conversation. She immediately added the number to a new contact.

Jungkook sat on a couch in his dorm room pleading with himself not to sound so cringeworthy. Forcing a conversation with her was something he did not want to do, especially if it was about something as unimportant as her obviously messed up sleep schedule.

He chuckled at the message causing Yoongi to look up from the burrito of blankets he had wrapped himself with. "What's so funny?"

Jungkook glanced up at his older roommate before shaking his head. "It's nothing, hyung. Go back to your nap."

"It's okay. I should be getting up now anyway. They'll call us down soon." Yoongi rolled out of bed and Jungkook's eyes went back to his phone.

-

After showering and finishing her hair and makeup, Y/n headed for the filming room.

"Hey, Y/n!"

Jimin jogged up beside her. "How are you today?"

"I'm good, thanks. I'm ready to get to work."

Jimin giggled. "Me too. I don't like to sit for too long." Y/n smiled and the two walked together to meet the group.

"Oh, look who's late," Jungkook said when Jimin entered the room.

"I am not late!"

"Everyone else is already here though," he smirked. Hobi laughed and punched him in the arm.

"You haven't even started yet! Besides, Y/n came with me!"

Jungkook's eyes flickered towards hers as she followed Jimin into the room. He felt his stomach drop. Why is she with him? Were they together? What were they doing? He watched the questions consume his mind. I don't like it.

Y/n took a seat next to him, immediately making his negative thoughts disappear. "Hi," she smiled.

"Hello." He tried to choke back the next sentence, but it seemed he couldn't help himself; it just slipped out. "You look pretty."

"Oh, thanks," she replied before turning her attention towards the staff who would be directing the episode.

Jungkook nodded and looked down to play with his thumbs. I can't believe I just said that. It seemed like all of his confidence from the night before flew right out the window when he saw her come in with Jimin. Of course, he wouldn't be a problem for Jungkook; the golden maknae who could do anything. At least he hoped not. He really hoped not.

The staff finished putting the set together and began to record. The first episode of the second season (ep. 21) of Run would be a relaxed episode, saving the more intense games and plots for later. Today would be a board game competition. “You will split up into two teams of six and play two out of three games. The third game will be all vs. all. If the winner of the third game is from the losing team of the first two games, the team can avoid the punishment picked by the staff.” The members nodded and began to decide their teams. The first group included Jimin, Yoongi, Taehyung, Hayden, Hobi, and Maya. The opposing team was made up of Jin, Mason, Namjoon, Y/n, Jungkook, and Cyrus. “Now that the teams are made, we will discuss the first game. It's water beads. There is a piece of filter paper placed on a hollow stand. Each of you will drop a bead or a drop of water onto the paper. The person to make the beads break and fall through the paper is the loser.”

Each team took turns adding beads until the overconfident Kim Seokjin decided to push his luck and dump a straw full of water onto the paper. Needless to say, the paper broke and Jin's team lost the first game. “Well that didn't go as planned,” he shook his head as Jungkook slapped his shoulder.

The second game was a test for the BTS members to see how many English words they could memorize on a card in ten seconds without the help of Culture. Jin recited five of his six words, while Namjoon got all of his. “Dog, dinosaur, duck, jello, jam, jerk, cracker, crocodile…”

Jimin snickered before attempting to mock him. “Crocodoll,” he said with a roll of his tongue. Hobi joined his fun, giggling, “Crocodiiiile.”

Jungkook went last. He looked up in thought before remembering his words. “Stream, strong, streamer, rabbit, ring, rocket. Was that it? I think that's all I have.” Everyone praised him for his memory and dialect.

“That was really good, Jungkook!” Y/n said, patting him on the back. His cheeks turned rosey and he smiled back at her. After watching the other team crash and burn, it was decided that Jungkook's team was the winner of the second game.

The third game which would be played individually was Uno. Within a few times around the circle, Y/n was the first to go out. She jumped from her spot and took a seat on the couch behind them. Taehyung seemed to not fully understand the concept of the game. “Tae,” Joon said, slapping him on the knee. “You didn't say uno. You have to draw four cards.” This went on for a while until the members made a game out of it.

“Okay guys, he gets it. You have to let him say it when he lays his card down.” Without even realizing how it happened, Taehyung went out and got second place. Hobi was right behind him.

After a few more rounds, Y/n laid her hand on Jungkook's shoulder and discreetly held up a 1 until he realized. “UNO!” He gasped. “Uno, uno, uno, uno!” He flung his final card across the room causing everyone to bust out in a fit of laughter. Only a minute later did he play the card and get fourth place.

“You would have lost if I hadn't told you,” she giggled as Jungkook held up his hand for a high five.

“They didn't even notice!” They both laughed as they watched the game continue until it was just Jimin and Yoongi left. In order to save time, the boys decided they would draw cards. Whoever held the highest card would be the last winner. Jimin drew a green eight while Yoongi played a red reverse.

“What is that worth? Did we even establish this card?”

Jimin waved his hand at him. “It's okay, hyung. I'll allow it. You can redraw.”

“Awww,” Y/n cooed. “Jimin, that's so sweet.”

Jungkook's gaze shot between Jimin and Y/n. Sweet? What is that supposed to mean? Does she like him? He could feel his face heat up for the hundredth time that week and his fists clenched into balls-- not that Jimin was any threat to him. He couldn't possibly be.

Yoongi drew a draw 4 card, making Jimin the loser despite his good sportsmanship. “That's okay, Chim. You're still the best sport here.” At this point, Jungkook's blood was boiling. Jimin was stealing all of her attention. He needed to do something, anything that would bring her back to him. He noticed the way she leaned on the couch, exposing her hand on the cushion next to him. He slowly crept his hand closer until his fingers feathered over hers. She immediately looked up at him, but she didn't withdraw due to the considerable amount of butterflies fluttering in her stomach. What is he doing?

He mentally celebrated his success before pulling his hand away. Jimin who?

The twelvesome wrapped the shoot and the staff declared dinner would be ready soon. The punishment for Jimin's team was to clean up afterward.

“Hey, Y/n. C'mere for a sec.”

Hayden and Maya were still standing in the middle of the room. She turned in her heels dramatically and made her way to them.

“Yeah?”

“So, Maya's been filling me in on a few things-”

“Oh good god, Maya what did you tell him?” She asked her sternly.

“Just what he needs to know. I'll be going now.” She winked at Y/n and left the room with a swing in her step.

“I swear that girl gets on my nerves sometimes.”

“Don't change the subject. As your very best friend, I demand to know what's going on between you and Jungkook.”

“Hayden, nothing is going on between us! We literally met three days ago, and you know Maya! She's always trying to hook me up with random people. This is no different.”

Hayden nodded his head, staring at her suspiciously. “So you would tell me if something was going on?”

“Of course! What about me do you not know?”

“Okay, Y/n. I believe you. I just think Jungkook might have an eye for you.”

“Good grief.”

“That's all I'm saying. He's showing signs and I think we've all noticed.”

“Kay Sherlock, I'll be sure to keep you posted. Can we go eat now? I'm starving.”

“Yeah yeah, let's eat. But seriously-”

“Hayden!”

-

After an uneventful dinner, everyone turned in for the night. When arriving at their dorm, Y/n shoved Maya inside and kicked the door shut behind her. “Why would you talk to Hayden? We talked about this. It's nothing and I don't understand why you keep insisting that it is.”

“I'm sorry, Y/nickname. I didn't think you'd be that pressed about it.” Y/n followed her into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

“I'm not pressed, Maya. I'm tired. You always do this. Every time I interact with a male that isn't in our band, you blow it out of proportion. I don't want a boyfriend. If I did, I would have one. But I don't. I thought that after everything I went through with Luke that you would understand that.”

“I know. You're right. I just get so excited when you loosen up. You work so hard all the time and I care about your feelings. I want you to be happy.” Exiting the bathroom, the two sat on their mattresses to face each other. Maya looked into Y/n's eyes, reading her like an open book. “I know you're lonely,” she spoke softly.

“I'm not lonely, My. I have the greatest friends in the world to share my life with. And I know you care.”

“That's not what I meant,” she said tilting her head endearingly.

“I know what you meant. But I don't have time for that kind of thing. In our career, you have to decide what you want; love or success. You can't have both. Between the touring, the practice and recording, red carpets and events, press following around every corner; it can be too much for some people to understand.”

“I think there's someone who understands that perfectly.”

“Which only means double the time apart.”

“So celebrities and normal people alike are both no-nos.”

“Now you're getting it.”

“Okay! Okay, I'll leave you alone. Just- at least think about it. I really think having a little fun could be good for you right now.”

“If it will make you feel better, then fine. I will. Now go to sleep.” The girls each climbed into their beds-Maya almost immediately drifting off. Before Y/n could shut her eyes, she heard her phone vibrating.

a.n. // DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO THE TIMES IN THE TEXTS. THEY ARE NOT CORRESPONDENT TO THE STORY. Oooh, who's Luke? And what does he have to do with you?

taglist // @darkdragonskies @kalisica